Chapter 37: Lair Navigation

Optimus Prime, Sly Cooper, Elita-One, Inspector Carmelita Fox, Bumblebee, "The Murray", Bulkhead and The Panda King walk into the dark and creepy lair. No Decepticons in sight. Carmelita sees the cell she was trapped in for days and sighs in relief.

Carm: Thank God Ratchet isn't here!

Sly: (Grins) Why?

Carm: (Scowls) You know why!

Bumblebee: I don't. What happened here while you were trapped here Carmelita?

Sly: Well…

Carmelita gives him a "Say one more word of what happened and I'm gonna fucking kill you!" expression.

Sly: We helped Starscream escape. I mean you know him. He's Megatron's bitch.

Murray, Sly, Bee and Bulkhead are silent for a moment and then burst out laughing.

Sly: (Still laughing) He got officially demoted after being kicked around by Megs for years and was replaced by, at the time, a pile of scrap!

Bulkhead: (Laughing) Is Megatron really THAT desperate!?

Optimus: (Raises his voice) Focus on the mission, people!

Elita gives Carm a wink, as if she knows what happened between her and the Ringtail.

Carm: (To herself) Oh God!

Optimus' command doesn't last for long.

Kremzeek: KREMZEEK!

Sly: Aww no! Not this thing!

Kremzeek: KREMZEEK!

Panda King: (Fascinated) What is this creature?

Sly: Some creature we let loose while Penelope was chasing us in the Weapons room.

Murray: Penelope!?

Sly: Tell you another time.

Murray: (To PK) Let me guess, you want to use it for fireworks?

Panda King: Ancient legends from where I come say that pieces of a Dragon's breath occasionally came to life and wrecked havoc. It is said that it can bring you good luck if you catch one.

Kremzeek: KREMZEEK!

PK starts chasing the small creature through a different hallway. Separating from the group.

Optimus: Panda King, get back here!

Sly: Don't worry. If he can probably take on a Decepticon, he'll be fine.

Optimus: (Sighs) For someone who claims to be a King, he does not seem to act one.

Sly: He was more threatening when I first fought him.

The group enter Shockwave's lab and see wires hanging from the walls and ceiling. Bumblebee lightly punches a computer and it and a few around it boot up. They show schematics, designs and blueprints,etc. They show some of Shockwave's recent projects including…

Sly/Carm: Penelope?

Optimus: (Sighs) She tried to attack me. I questioned her motives. I did not hurt her. I just lightly threw her back and she was suddenly quiet.

Carm: Megatron…..once implied that he wanted to do more of these organic-to-Decepticon experiments…that I would possibly be next…. I feel Penelope after the experiment…..she wasn't brainwashed, but felt obligated to stay with them because she had nowhere else to go.

Elita: What a sad fate.

Carm: If you ask me, if they attempted to make me into a Decepticon after an experiment, I would just kick their asses and run. Though as an officer, I question what kind of alternate mode I would have? There would be so many good options.

Sly: If you were a giant transforming robot, I would still love ya'. Reminds me of the time you wore that magical evil mask and….grew…..pretty big….

She gives him a dirty expression, as usual.

Carm: I question your secret fetishes, Ringtail. Also, I think YOU would make a perfect Decepticon because you are SO amazing at deception like when you….let's say….i dunno…fake having amnesia for a good while.

Sly: Oh! You STILL won't let that go, will you!? Even after you said you knew I never had amnesia and even played along with it at first!

Bumblebee: You two argue a lot for a couple that from what I've heard apparently loves each other.

Murray spots a vial in the lab. It contains a lot of purple tiger fur and drops of blood. It's labeled something in Cybertronian language.

Murray: Hey, Bulky. What's this read?

Bulkhead: "Neyla DNA samples".

Sly: DNA samples? Carmelita, didn't you tell me they found Neyla's dead body inside of Clockwerk and then disposed of it?

Carm: Ye-Yes. But there must be a reason why they have samples of her? Shockwave must be planning something.

Sly: Should we take it?

Carm: Maybe on the way out. We have bigger priorities right now.

Sly: True. True.

The group continues through the hallways. Bulkhead sees a huge locked doorway with a keypad beside it and is curious. He keeps smashing and punching it with his strength before it bashes open. The light from the hallway lights the dark room and reveals its contents.

Bulkhead: (Horrified) Uhhhhh…..GUYS!

Everyone looks into the room and are absolutely terrified by what they see. The room Penelope went into earlier. The wall seemingly has words burned onto it saying "THEY ARE ALL DEAD" and in front of it….about a dozen…dead…Autobot…..bodies…. Their metal is rusted, some limbs and heads torn off and again, mouths wide open implying very scary final moments. Optimus, horrified, gloomy and very depressed, takes a look at them and recognizes all of them. They were his former Autobot soldiers who either fell in battle or went missing. He sorrowfully names who he recognizes.

Optimus: Gears…..Powerglide…..Tracks…. Huffer….

Bumblebee sees one dead bot. The one with his resemblance that Penelope took the T-Cog from earlier. He doesn't say his name, but is tearing up from both depression and memories

Bumblebee: (Crying) He…..always felt like he was in my shadow due to our similar appearances…..I understood what he felt….…I've always been a favorite of the group….so he always did death-defying stunts in order to make the team like him more and then they did….but one day, he went on a recon mission…and never came back…..

Carmelita comforts him. After the brief mourning, everyone continues down the halls and curiously walks into an empty semi-lit room where they suspect some Decepticons are hiding, at least according to Prime. They don't see any, but when no one is looking, Prime and Sly sneak out and close the secure door shut. The rest hear Prime transform from the outside and quickly back again.

Elita: What are you doing!?

Optimus: My truck trailer is blocking the door. This oncoming fight is between me, Sly and our worst enemies.

Sly: It's for your own good. All of you.

Bulkhead/Bumblebee: PRIME!

Elita: (Angirly) OPTIMUS PRIME!

Carm: (Angirly) SLY COOPER, IF YOU DON'T GET US OU-!

Sly: YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! You'll cuff me and put me in the slammer for good. It's not like I've heard that a thousand times! …..I love you….Carmelita….

Carm:...Sly…..

The Prime and Cooper walk off. Bulkhead and Murray try to charge at the door, but even for one of the strongest Autobots like Bulkhead, it ain't working.

Murray: I thought Prime's trailer was like…holographic or something?

Bulkhead: Something like that. It's very hard to explain. Seemingly he just very conveniently has a ton of very heavy material in it.

Elita-One has an idea.

Elita: (Calls Arcee) Arcee! This is Elita! Prime and Sly…..trapped us.

Arcee: (Over call) What!?

Elita: (Calling) It's…complicated. Basically they want to fight their enemies on their own. But can you send someone in here to help us out of this room? Also how is the battle currently going?

Outside

Arcee: (Calling) We thought we were getting close to winning but the Decepticons are getting up.

Elita: (Over call) Who is still up and fighting?

Arcee: (Calling) Prowl is too busy protecting and fending both Windblade AND Blurr. Ratchet still isn't back. Ironhide is down, but thankfully not dead. There's me, Hot Rod, Springer, Jazz, Grimlock and Wheeljack. That Cooper Van kid has seemingly lost some, if not all of his violent confidence and I gotta be honest, that Dimitri guy kinda sucks at fighting.

Elita: (Over call) Which Decepticons currently remain?

Arcee: (Calling) The Seekers, Slipstream, Skywarp, Ramjet and Thrust. Shatter, Dropkick, Alpha Strike, An armored Shockwave and that new Mouse girl bot. Knock-Out was a bit weak after me and Carm kicked his ass, but has gotten up. I guess that's a given since he's a medic. To say we're pretty occupied now is a bit of an understatement.

Elita: (Over call) Just keep fighting the best you can!

Back in the trapped room.

Elita: So our forces outside seem to be outnumbered, but I propose we somehow get out of here, help Prime and Sly kill Megatron against their wills and basically the battle for us would probably be won.

Murray: But how will we get out?

The group ponders for a while until Carmelita spots a sizable vent on the wall and quickly thinks of something.

Carm: Bumblebee! Shoot that vent open.

Bee does so with his blaster. Carm does her high jump up to the vent.

Carm: Look, I'm going to help the guys, but please don't take this as me basically abandoning you. Keep charging at that door and it'll eventually bust open, then you can help us.

The guys aren't sure about it, but Elita trusts her.

Elita: Be careful!

Carm: Lo hare!

Carmelita starts to crawl through the vents. The four left behind afterwards hear scampering of something coming from somewhere in the room.

Murray: (Yelps) What was that!?

A small, cute purple looking spider drone with a little blaster on top of it walks slowly out of the shadows.

Murray: Aww! It's just a little cute looking Cybertronian bug….of some kind….I presume….what i-?

Before he can finish his sentence, Elita shoots the drone.

Murray: Hey! Why'd you do that!?

Elita: That's one of Shockwave's drones. They may look small and unassuming, but when they're in hordes, they can be a bit a nuisance.

They all hear more scampering and out of the shadows from a corner of the partially lit room creeps out a horde of Shockwave drones, who start to blast at the four, but they all keep dodging.

Elita: Murray! Bulkhead! You two keep ramming the door until it can hopefully bust open! Me and Bee will cover you from these little Bugs'a glitches!

Two of them keep shooting at the drones while the other two keep ramming the door. Murray can now see why Prime and Elita are a couple, observing that she's a really good commander like him.

Meanwhile, Inspector Fox is quickly crawling through the vents and soon gets out of them and back into the hallways and then runs in the direction of familiar distant voices. She finds herself right behind Sly and Prime and quietly and sneakily follows as the two get ready to fight.

Optimus: Are you sure about this and prepared? Are you ready?

Sly: (Nervously gulps) Ready as I'll ever be.

Prime pulls out his Ion Blaster and ignites his Energon Axe while Sly pulls out his Cooper cane and equips his Exo-suit arm cannon.

Sly: If Megatron is killed, It'll end this current battle, but does it also mean the Eons or whatever of Cybertronian war will be over for good?

Optimus Prime, the Autobot Leader, is silent, not giving an answer as he and Sly Cooper, the Master Thief, approach the throne room.

The moment of truth has arrived.