Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers Prime. I only own the OC George Edwards/Bladewolf.
"We're supposed to be at a Rock concert but all I see is... rock!"
I opened my eyes to glance at Miko from where I was standing, leaning against some rocks next to Jack who was sitting down, his hands behind his head. Me, Jack and Miko had come to this cave entrance with Arcee and Bulkhead after Ratchet detected an Energon signature traced to this mine, which happened to be an old Decepticon mine operation. We were suspicious at detecting an Energon signature here when the 'Cons never left Energon behind in their mines once finished. Arcee and Bulkhead had gone inside while I stayed outside with Jack and Miko, mostly to keep an eye on Miko.
In response to Miko's annoyed mood, Jack just yawned. "Relax, Miko. The show doesn't start for 2 hours."
"And Ratchet can get you there in seconds tops, we'll be done here soon." I said to reassure her so she can stop complaining.
Miko glares at us both. "Do you know how long I've waited to see Slash Monkey?" Before Jack can answer, Miko yells. "FOREVER! And it's their only U.S. date!"
"There's a shock." I said with a roll of my eyes.
Jack nodded in agreement, saying sarcastically. "Who doesn't love obscure Bulgarian shriek metal?"
"Yeah, like I said once. I love heavy metal and rock music like any other guy, but I actually like to HEAR what the lyrics rather than just have it be screamed in my ear." I said. Hearing the sound of loud footsteps, we look towards the cave to see Arcee and Bulkhead make their way out. "Find anything?"
"Not really." Acree answers while staring at the scanner in Bulkheads hand. "But all appearances, the mine's been stripped.
"But I'm getting a signal. It's faint, but it's definitely Energon." He answers.
"Whoa!" I hear Miko gasp a little in wonderment.
"Doesn't make sense. This operation has been abandoned four, maybe five years. And Decepticons never leave Energon behind." Arcee began to surmise as to why we were getting something here when the 'cons already got to it long ago.
"It's not like them to leave something behind." I said with a frown. "Not with a 'Con like Soundwave being the eyes and ears."
"Uh, guys?" Jack caught our attention and he points at the cave entrance... which Miko was running into.
"Cool!" She shouted, her voice echoing as she disappeared into the dark cave.
"She went in. Unbelievable." Arcee says in disbelief.
"I really got to start seeing this before it happens." I couldn't help but mutter with a headshake.
"Really? Have you met her?" Jack asked the both of us as we all stared into the cave.
"Miko, get back here!" Bulkhead called out to her as he ran in the cave to find her.
"It would be kind of interesting to see… You know, if it were—"
"Safe?" Arcee finished Jacks sentence in the form of question, considering we knew exactly what he's implying and barely being subtle in what he wanted to do: He wanted to go in too. "A stripped mine can be structurally unstable, Jack." She warned him.
"I promise to step lightly." He said.
"Just… don't tell your mom." Arcee hesitated before saying. They both looked at me for an answer, in which I simply shrugged. If the place hadn't collapsed yet, I saw no reason for it to do so with the 2 of us added. All in agreement we made our way inside the cave and began going after our 2 comrades.
Although it wasn't as easy as I first thought because we had come to a crossing of several tunnels… and we had no idea which one they went through. Taking a gamble, and looking at the tracks that seem best fit for our Autobot and human friend that came through here.
"Arcee, George, found some-" Suddenly the radio came to life with Bulkhead trying to contact us, but it started to break up at the end.
"Bulk? Say again. You're breaking up." I called back over the radio but I mostly got static.
"Bulkhead? Bulkhead, do you read?" Arcee tried to contact him too but got zip like me. "Scrap. The mineral composition down here is causing interference."
"That's not good." I grunted and looked down the tunnel we were in. "Let's find them quickly. I got a bad feeling about this place." The others nodded in agreement so we picked up the pace a little. "I feel like we're in some kind of horror movie."
"Yeah, and there's some creepy monster roaming around." Jack said jokingly.
I smirked at him. "Dibs on a horror movie when we get back. See who can get scared the most."
Jack scoffed. "I never get scared."
"Need I remind you of when we first met Airachnid?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"That's a whole different matter." Jack tried to say.
"Uh-huh." I said with a roll of my eyes. "If anything, that day was a horror movie come to life when we met the creepy-crawly. Still, not scarier than Friday the 13th or A Nightmare on Elm Street. Hmm... I'm bringing in Jazz and Cliff on this, see if they can get scared."
"Good luck with that." Arcee said but her tone was filled with amusement at mine and Jack's banter, as well as the idea of Cliffjumper and Jazz being scared by human horror movies.
"...You have ceased to be of use to me, Starscream." An all too familiar voice came from up ahead as Jack and I came upon a slightly lit up open cavern… where Megatron and Starscream were, the Seeker on his knee with Megatron's cannon in his face. "So you shall simply cease to be."
"Speaking of horror movie monsters." I muttered to Jack and Arcee as we all froze when both Decepticons turned towards us.
"You?!" Starscream shouted when he saw me. Neither of us had forgotten that day on the Decepticon warship when Starscream tortured me.
My eyes locked with Megatron's optics and he smirked right at me, no doubt remembering our last encounter when he used my body to get back to his own. Megatron then roared as he fired at us. I changed into Cybertronian form, deploying a Path Blaster and firing back as Arcee grabbed Jack and got him out of shooting range.
"Stay down!" I heard her order Jack before she aided me in shooting at the Decepticon Leader. I also noticed Starscream taking the chance to make a break for it, which Megatron noticed and he wasn't happy about this.
"Starscream, you dare abandon me?!" Megatron fired in the direction Starscream ran off in. Arcee and I nod at each other before we fired at the Decepticon warlord. Our shots didn't do much to him besides annoy the crap out of him because he roared in anger and returned fire to us.
"Woah!" I yelled as a shot nearly hit my head had I not ducked. Arcee and I fired, our shots hitting Megatron's arm cannon which made him end up shooting the ceiling several times.
This wasn't good because with his sustained fire to the top, already this began to break the unstable cavern that Arcee mentioned earlier. All fire ceased as everyone was thrown off balance from the shaking.
"Arcee!" I called out to her. She turned to us and moved, but she was too late as the floor collapsed under us. "Jack!" Just as I said his name, I turned around and moved closer to him just as the floor under us fell too, plunging us into darkness.
The cavern collapse was harsh, loud and would have killed most other people in this situation. Thankfully, I was Cybertronian. I had positioned myself over Jack so he wouldn't be crushed by the rocks. With a grunt, I shoved them off me and allowed Jack to walk out from under me.
"You okay?" Jack asked me worriedly.
I threw off the last rock and stood up. "Peachy." I grumbled and rolled my joints to make sure nothing was damaged. Nothing fatal, except being covered in dust that made me look like a rusty old truck.
"Arcee? Arcee!" Jack called out to our partner.
"Arcee! Arcee do you read me?" I called out to her out loud like him before I tried through our bond. 'Arcee? Baby?'
I heard a groan followed by a reassuring. 'I'm fine. Just... trapped somewhere. Nothing's damaged. Keep Jack and yourself safe, alright?'
'Long as you keep yourself safe as well. Love you.' I said.
'Love you too.'
Now that I was assured Arcee was okay, which I could feel through the bond with her, I tried to comm Bulkhead. "Bulk?"
"Oh, scrap. Arcee? Bulkhead? Miko!" Jack continued to call out but all we got was deafening silence all around. "You got anything?" He asked me as I continued to try to use my radio but I got nothing.
I shook my head. "Arcee's fine, I communicated with her through our bond. As for Bulk... Nothing. We must be too deep into the cave to get a clear signal. This deep into a mine... we have no radio to communicate with the others. First thing's first, we get out of this area and find the others... before Megatron finds us."
Jack nodded and I scooped him up, putting him on my shoulder. I was about to walk when something caught my attention, a Decepticon mining drill.
"Jackpot." I said with a smirk as I approached it and set Jack down beside the controls while I took position in front of them, narrowing my optics as I tried to figure out how this works. Thankfully, my CPU was quick to give me the information I needed.
"Know how to work this?" Jack asked me.
"Yeah." I said as I turned the drill on and smirked at the sound of the drill engine. "Now, let's get some drilling done."
I reversed the drill and went onwards, the drill tearing through rocks in our path. We didn't have a specific destination or direction in mind, only that we should tunnel through as much as we can in hopes that we would eventually make it to the surface and daylight, or at the very least any of our other teammates. However, as we crashed into one particularly rough rock wall, it forced us back to assess what we just hit.
It wasn't good. Our eyes/optics widen as we stared at the kneeling head of Megatron through a small hole in the wall. We all stare at each other in silence as the leader 'con slowly cranes his neck to the side and stares at us in his usual angry way. "I suppose helping those less fortunate would be completely out of the question." I can't tell if he's being serious or not, or making a joke. "If that is the case, you might as well use your drill to finish me. I guarantee you will never have a better opportunity than right… now."
Jack and I shared a look. I saw Jack looked hesitant to do it. Me? I don't know...
Megatron chuckled, bringing our attention to him. "If not the human boy... then you will, George." He said, looking me in the optics with a sick grin. "Go on, boy. I know you want revenge for our last encounter. You will never have another chance to end it than now. Optimus would do the same."
"No he wouldn't." Jack said firmly. "Not like that."
Megatron kept his gaze locked with mine. "Somebody doesn't agree." he said with a dark chuckle.
"George?" Jack said hesitantly as my right arm changed into a Path Blaster and I aimed it at Megatron's face, the Warlord still grinning.
"It... would be so easy to do it." I said darkly as the blaster powered up slowly. "All the lives you destroyed could be avenged. I could end this war right now..."
"Then go on." Megatron urged me with a grin. "Do it!"
I stared him down, Jack looking at me worriedly as the blaster increased in powering up and looked ready to fire...
But I lowered my weapon and changed it back to my arm.
"No." I said as Megatron looked shocked. "I'm not like you. I won't kill in cold blood. You can rust down here for all I care, but if we see each other again in the battlefield... then I'll face you like a warrior and give you a warrior's death, which you don't even deserve."
I focused on the drill and moved on, but Megatron wanted to get the last say in. "I'll be sure to share the details of our little conversation with Optimus, the day I rip out his spark! And I'll be sure to rip out yours, Techno-Organic!"
I said nothing as I continued on, but my servos had clenched. Jack was looking at me with worry and concern.
"He wanted me to do it..." I said quietly. "I refused because he was defenseless, unharmed, and unable to defend himself. Killing him in cold blood like that... would've made me no different than him, and that's what he wanted. Not even Optimus would do it if he was in our position."
"Yeah." Jack nodded in agreement.
I shook my helm and focused. "Let's find Arcee, Bulkhead and Miko."
We delved into silence between the 2 of us, but the machine and rocks tearing apart and falling made all the noise we needed.
"Aah!" As well as a sharp cry of pain, but not from either of us. I stopped the drill and pulled us back, giving us a view of something but in relief and slight worry. The image before us contained 2 of our friends and 1 enemy. Miko was sprawled out on the ground but our entrance seemed to make her get up on steady feet. Bulkhead was with her and unfortunately he was in a heck of predicament because I saw a giant massive boulder being held above his head, which it looked like he was straining hard to keep aloft and possibly prevent from crushing the area he and Miko were in. The final person, the enemy, was none other than Starscream, who got up with a groan and glared at us angrily before his optics widen when he saw me.
"Hello Starscream." I growled at him and aimed a weapon at him.
"Guys! Get Miko out of here!" Bulkhead ordered us to do loudly.
"Jack, get her." I quickly tell him before aiming both my guns straight at Starscream. "I'll keep 'Scream busy."
Out of the corner of my eye I saw him nod before grabbing onto Miko and pulling her to the drill. "Come on! Come on!" He urged her on.
"Run, Miko!" Bulkhead shouted for her to go.
Finally, she stood on the drill alongside Jack as he got ready to turn the machine back on. "We can't leave Bulkhead!" She cries out.
"Don't worry, he won't be alone." I heard Jack say lastly before the drill drowned them out and carried them away from the cavern.
"And then there were 3." Starscream commented in a sadistically cheerful tone at the 2 of us with him, with Bulkhead still stuck and my aiming both my arms at him. "So delightful to see you again, George. It's been a while."
"Go frag yourself, Starscream." I growl at him. I can still remember and feel the pain I was in from what I received at Starscream's servos, the torture...
Starscream chuckled as he approached. "Fire... and this place will drop on all 3 of us."
"Do anything... and the same thing happens." I retorted.
Starscream paused, clearly not wanting to be buried down here anymore than we already more. So he opted for a different tactic. "I can see that the torture I implanted on you changed you." He mused as he looked me over. "Hmm, Shockwave would've experimented on you if he was here."
I narrowed my optics.
"Like I said before, you'd make a fine Decepticon in another life." Starscream said as he approached until we were optic to optic. "But you chose to throw your lot in with the Autobots. So, what should we do now? Perhaps I should take you both as prisoners..." Starscream aimed his weapon at Bulkhead and smirked at me. "Move and I fire at him. I'm certain I can get out of this place before those rocks above Bulkhead fall."
"Try it, Starscream." I growled before I noticed something over Starscream's shoulder and slowly smirked.
Starscream didn't notice as he started to monologue. "Imagine Megatron's appreciation when I not only rescue him but deliver 2 Autobots, 1 being the techno-Organic he wants dead. That should restore my statue quite nicely."
"I doubt Megatron would be happy with you, considering you left him down here." I reminded him.
"Well, semantics." Starscream dismissed as he walked over, still aiming his weapon at Bulkhead. "Now... surrender."
Suddenly the sound of an Energon rifle constructing then powering up caused Starscream to freeze as I smirked at him. Starscream slowly turned around to see Arcee with her gun on him, a glare that made her look insanely hot.
"Don't move, Starscream." She growled firmly, which just made her sound even sexier in my opinion.
'I heard that.' Arcee said, shooting me a wink. 'If I'm sexy, you're a stud.'
She smiled at me and Bulk. "Hey boys."
"Hey 'Cee." We said back.
Arcee focused back on Starscream. "Raise your hands."
After making Starscream take Bulkhead's place in holding up the rocks, we grabbed Miko and Jack and managed to burst our way out the cave entrance through all the rocks. I shook off the dust on me and we faced the filled up cave entrance. I looked around, there was no other signs of forced entry in or out, which meant Megatron was still down there with Starscream.
"We could finish them here and now." Arcee proposed.
"Shame we didn't bring any grenades." Bulkhead commented.
"Would Optimus finish them?" Jack asked them.
"No." I said, getting their attention as I stared at the rocks, thinking back to when I had the chance to kill Megatron and didn't take it. "He wouldn't. Not like this."
"You okay?" Arcee asked me worriedly and with concern.
I smiled at her. "I'll be fine." I then contacted base. "Ratchet, we need a Groundbridge..."