Chapter One Hundred and Four
Danger in the Dark
Back with Bulkhead, Michelangelo and Pandora, the two mutants continued to bang their rocks on Bulkhead's feet as he continued to encourage them.
"Thats it! Keep it at!" Bulkhead said as he still continued to hold the roof up yet his arms were straining and he wondered if any of his veins within his arms would pop due to the pressure.
In fact Pandora noticed his arms were wobbling and she wondered how he felt.
When she trained with her family, sometimes she had to do excerises where she had to hold up a weighty object with her hands to strengthen her arms and she had to hold it for thirty seconds.
That was always tough and she hated it, and it made her wonder how it was affecting Bulkhead.
"Keep banging guys!" Bulkhead went on, grunting as he continued to hold up the roof.
"Bulk?" Michelangelo asked.
"My arms..." Bulkhead groaned "They're starting to give!"
Pandora went pale.
"Does it hurt?" she asked nervously.
"A little..." Bulkhead gritted his teeth and squinted his optics.
Michelangelo got ready to pull Pandora close to him to protect her, but they soon heard another drilling sound.
"Helps coming!" Bulkhead said "We just got to guide them here!"
Michelangelo nodded.
"Gotcha!" he said then continued to bang his rock on Bulkhead's foot.
"How long have we been down here anyway?" Pandora asked.
"I don't know Geisha." Michelangelo replied "But if we're out longer than the others expect us to be, they'll come looking for us!"
"Man I hope so!" Pandora replied as she continued to bang her rock on Bulkhead's foot.
Before long the drilling sound got louder.
"Are they any closer?" Bulkhead asked anxiously.
"I can't tell!" Michelangelo said "Even with my sensitive ninja hearing I can't place where they are!"
"Neither can I!" Pandora added "The sounds all freaky in here!"
Just then the sounds of someone trying to dig through the rubble in front of them got louder and hope rose in the two mutants and wrecker.
"Yes!" Bulkhead said triumphantly.
"Arcee found us!" Pandora grinned.
"And Hopefully Donnie and Kemeko are with her!" Michelangelo added.
But that hope soon turned to terror as they heard a cackle and an al too familer voice on the other side.
"Put any doubt of my allegiance to rest..."
"That's not Arcee!" Michelangelo squawked.
"It's Starscream!" Pandora shouted "What's he doing down here!?"
Bulkhead was stunned as well as horrified and given his position he couldn't protect Michelangelo and Pandora from the Decepticon Seeker.
"Mike! Pandora!" he ordered "Get behind me! Now!"
The turtle and Hybrid quickly moved to get behind the Wrecker but Starscream punched through the rubble sending a few rocks in their direction which they jumped to avoid and the Seeker managed to get into the cavern with them.
"Well well well, if it isn't Bulkhead and his pet vermin!" Starscream sneered as he eyes Michelangelo and Pandora.
Michelangelo pulled Pandora close to him and glared at Starscream.
"My, you do have your hands full don't you Autobot?" Starscream mocked as he looked at how Bulkhead was holding up the roof and was unable to move or do anything without bringing the ceiling down on top of them.
"Do whatever you want to me Sarscream!" Bulkhead barked "But let the mutants go!"
"No!" Pandora cried reaching for Bulkhead even though Michelangelo kept her close to him.
"We're not leaving you!"
Starscream smirked as he looked down at Pandora and Michelangelo.
"It appears the mutant girl wishes to remain!" he reached down and attempted to make a grab for Pandora but Michelangelo pulled her away and they started to move around Bulkhead as Starscream began to follow them.
"I remember you." the seeker said looking at Pandora "From what I remember you tried to imoblise me when you struck me in the ankle!"
"I hope it hurt fucker!" Pandora spat as she and Michelangelo ran to the other side of the wrecker.
"Starscream!" Bulkhead warned "Don't push me!"
"You like playing with the big robots, don't you little freak girl!" Starscream jeered.
"Leave her alone!" Michelangelo spat "Pick on someone your own size!"
But Starscream just laughed and reached down for Michelangelo and Pandora but Bulkhead lifted his foot and kicked the Seeker away from them and into the rubble.
Yet that action caused him to loose concentration on holding the roof up and it was soon resting on his shoulders and back of his neck!
Starscream growled as he picked himself up and glared at Bulkhead.
"That's it Autobot!" he snarled "I will..."
"What?" Bulkhead challenged "You what? Make me bring down the ceiling on top of all of us!?
He looked down at Michelangelo and Pandora.
"Guys! Run! Get out of here!"
"But..." Pandora started.
"I'm not fragging kidding Pandora!" Bulkhead shouted "Run!"
"Yes, run Pandora." Starscream smirked looking down at the hybrid and Turtle who glared up at him "I would love to see you try!"
He knew very well that if the hybrid and turtle attempted to flee they wouldn't get very far as he knew he would be able to outrun them.
"Really," he goaded "I would!"
Just then a couple of small rocks fell from the roof and the sound of drilling was heard again, Starscream paused for a moment wondering what it was, then suddenly he shouted in shock as a ginat drill appeared and knocked him to the side and stopped before it touched Bulkhead.
The Wrecker, Michelangelo and Pandora were stunned then to their relief and delight they saw Donatello appear.
"Donnie!" Michelangelo cried "Man are we glad to see you!"
"Guys!" Donatello shouted "Are you okay?" he then looked at Bulkhead and saw how he was holding up the roof "Holy Shell!"
"Don!" Bulkhead shouted desprately as his arms got weaker "Get Mikey and Pandora out of here! Now!"
Donatello nodded and gestured to Michelangelo and Pandora to jump onto the drill.
"Come on!" he said.
Michelangelo took Pandora into his arms bridal style and leapt onto the drill.
"Get out of here!" Bulkhead ordered "I can't hold this much longer!"
"No! Bulkhead!" Pandora wailed "We can't leave you!"
"I'll be fine kid!" Bulkhead reassured Pandora "Just go with your uncles!"
"But..."
"No buts!" Bulkhead snapped "GO!"
"You heard the guy!" Michelangelo said to Donatello "Drive!"
Donatello nodded and put the drill in reverse as they back out of the cavern.
"No!" Pandora wept as she hugged Michelangelo who looked at his older brother and Kemeko.
"What happened to you two?" he asked.
"We'll explain later!" Donatello said "Right now we need to find a way out of here before Megatron digs himself free!"
"What?!" Pandora exclaimed in fear "Megatron's here too!?"
Kemeko nodded.
"We both saw him with our own eyes!"
"Hold tight!" Donatello said as he pushed the drill forward to find his way to the collapsed entrance.
After Donatello reversed the drill out of the cavern, Starscream recovered from being hit and he stood up watching the drill move out of the cavern.
"And then there were two." he growled looking over at Bulkhead.
Bulkhead meanwhile glared as he felt the height of the ceiling pushing him down.
Even in his helpless state he wasn't going to break in front of the cowardly seeker.
"If you think I'm gonna beg for mercy Starscream." he spat "Forget it!"
Star scream scoffed.
"Yes, well, begging for mercy would be quite pathetic wouldn't it?" he asked then smirked again.
"Well you're much more valuable to me alive," he knelt to Bulkhead's level as the wrecker was almost on his knees from the weight of the roof.
"Imagine Megatron's appreciation when I not only rescue him." he placed a clawed digit under Bulkhead's chin and looked him in the eyes.
"But deliver an Autobot, I belive that would restore my stature quite nicely."
But before the seeker could do anything else, he heard the sound of a ion cannon behind his head and his spark sank.
He turned around to see a dirty and with a few dents in her armour, Arcee pointing her gun at him and glaring as if looks could kill.
"Don't move Starscream!" she warned, Starscream was so alarmed he couldn't even make the words form in his mouth how shocked he was.
"hey Bulk!" Arcee called to her comrade who replied with the most relief he had felt in years.
"Hey Cee!" he said.
Arcee then looked at Starscream.
"Raise your hands!" she ordered.
Starscream took a breath as he got ready to either argue or reason with the femme but he sagged his shoulders and groaned as yet another plan had gone up in smoke.
After half an hour had passed, Arcee, Bulkhead, Donatello and Arcee had managed to get out of the collapsed mine.
As soon as they made it to the entrance and into the air Michelangelo took a deep breath of air and cheered.
"Whoa man! I never imagined I'd experience being trapped underground again! What we went through reminded me of how we were trapped in those caves in Skyrim!"
"That was something I'll never forget too Mikey." Donatello said then he looked at his Shell-cell which picked up a signal.
"Unlike in Skyrim where we were trapped for a few days, we were down there for two hours!"
Pandora meanwhile helped Kemeko to a boulder to let her sit down.
"Hows your ankle?" she asked.
"Painful." Kemeko winced.
"Don't worry, if we get in touch with Mutopia," Pandora suggested "Devina will heal it in a heartbeat!"
"We can do that!" Donatello said as he looked at the two girls "Gosh you're both filthy!"
"So are you!" Pandora retorted.
"We are all pretty dirty!" Bulkhead said looking at himself "And Arcee and I have a few dents Ratchet will need to sort out too."
"What are we gonna tell the others at the silo?" Kemeko asked.
"We'll tell them everything." Arcee reported.
"And Megatron? and Starscream?" Donatello questioned.
"We could finish them? Here and now?" Arcee suggested.
"Shame we didn't bring any grenades." Bulkhead said punching his right fist into his left servo.
Donatello, Michelangelo, Pandora and Kemeko looked at the mine and looked thoughtful.
"Would Optimus finish them?" Michelangelo asked.
There was a few seconds of silence until Arcee spoke again.
"No, he probably wouldn't, not like this."
"Guessed as much." Donatello said "Optimus has more honour than that."
"But Optimus wouldn't rescue him either right?" Pandora questioned.
"Come on, lets go home." Bulkhead said.
"Good idea." Michelangelo said "I could do with a shower and maybe even a week in bed after what we went through."
"I can't wait to tell the Geckolings, Sonia and Culpepper about this!" Pandora chimed in.
As she said that, she felt a sense of relief that she was free from the mine and she would see her cousins and Culpepper again and she smiled at Kemeko who despite the pain in her ankle smiled back.
As Bulkhead transformed into his vehicle mode and the two turtles, Hybrid and Kemeko climbed in, Arcee looked back at the collapsed mine with a slight smirk...
Down in the cavern where Bulkhead had been not so long ago, Starscream stood under the caving ceiling, his arms aching as he struggled to hold it up like Bulkhead had not long ago.
After Arcee had found him and Bulkhead, she forced the seeker to switch places with the wrecker then forced him to hold up the roof whilst she and Bulkhead escaped the mine.
Starscream groaned and grunted as he tried to find a way to get himself out of this humiliating predicament, until he heard footsteps and he looked to the side to see Megatron looking in and glaring at him.
"Master!" he exclaimed in relief "You're alive! Thank the Allspark!"
But Megatron continued to glower at his second in command in silence.
"I did not abandon you Master!" Starscream insisted, a hint of pleading in his voice "I returned so save you!"
"Save me?" Megatron asked, his voice giving off that he didn't believe a word that came from Starscream's mouth.
Starscream felt the roof pushing him down under it's weight and he knew it was only a matter of time before he got crushed underneath unless Megatron got him out.
"Look into my spark Lord Megatron!" Starscream continued to beg "My intentions were true! Please! Have Mercy!" he wailed desprately as the grey red eyed warlord continued to glare at him...
And thus ends the Episode 'Rock Bottom'!
Looks like Bulkhead, Arcee, Michelangelo, Donatello, Pandora and Kemeko will have a lot to tell the others when they return to the silo!
Also, Starscream's plans have again gone up in smoke and now he's at his Master's mercy again, will Megatron get him out of his pickle? Well I think a lot of you know the answer to that!
Also, when Michelangelo speaks of the incident in Skyrim, that comes from Tyroth Darkstorm's TMNT/Skyrim crossover fic 'Mutants Misplaced'
Stay tuned for the Partners Episode, which I'm gonna need to think on how to do with the mutants. also I'm going to see 'Transformers One' on Friday! I'm really looking forward to it, especially since Tyroth Darkstorm and Merging Emeperor have seen it already as it's been released where they are.