Author's Note: Dear readers, thank you for your reviews. Keep them coming.
Finishing up the series is going to take it past Season 3, which will not end the way you expect it I can assure you.
Exiles
XVI - Tunnel Vision
00000
Autobot Outpost Omega Two - March 18th, 2012 - 5:30 pm
"The download of the Iacon Database may have been incomplete but we now have six sets of coordinates decoded by the ship," Ratchet said.
"You mean Trypticon?" Jazz corrected.
"Jazz," Optimus said pointedly. "It might be better if we minimize revealing what we know. Megatron kept that secret for a good reason. Such information may be too tempting for those who find the idea of having a titan under their command so appealing. I shouldn't have to tell you what would happen if Trypticon ever regains his ability to transform."
Jazz looked terrified for a moment. "Gotcha," he said, a tad shakily.
Optimus continued Ratchet's thought. "We must act quickly as Megatron possesses the same set of coordinates and will not hesitate to locate the potential doomsday devices that lie at the site of each."
The Autobot mainframe displayed the six set of coordinates as followed:
New York City.
Antarctica, about 100 miles from an American military/science facility.
Salmon-Challis Forest in Idaho.
The Chimborazo Volcano in Ecuador.
The Congo Basin in Africa.
The Hokkaido Mountains in Japan.
"If we have any hope of recovering the Iacon relics before the Decepticons do, we must divide our resources," Optimus said.
"Optimus," Ratchet said. "While our numbers have increased, we still remain outnumbered."
"Regardless, this is a race we cannot afford to lose."
00000
Nemesis Warship - 200 miles east off the coast of New York
"Dispatching multiple squads will be essential so that we may pursue all six locations simultaneously," Megatron said as Soundwave made the necessary programs for keeping in contact with multiple squads at once.
"As such, it seems I'll have to take one of the coordinates myself. I don't doubt Optimus will not sit this one out, so neither will I. I'm afraid I'm going to have to order you to remain on the ship, Soundwave. You may supervise the squads, but until Oil Slick gives you a clean bill of health, you are benched."
Soundwave flinched but said nothing.
The door converted open and Knockout entered with a band of Decepticon miners at his back.
"Lord Megatron, I've assembled a mining team as you requested. Breakdown and I have often embarked on missions like this. In memory of my fallen comrade, I intend to do so again."
The medic said with his usual flair, a defense mechanism so as to hide the emotion of the agony of his 'absent' partner and best friend.
Megatron failed to detect this and saw it as no more than Knockout's infamous cockiness.
He frowned.
"This is a mission, not one of your racing exertions." Megatron put a finger in Knockout's face. "Stop your preening! Execute this mission with a surgeon's skill! Do you understand me, Knockout?!"
Knockout shuddered with a nervous smile. "Explicitly, Lord Megatron."
"However, the loss of your partner I understand has left you rather vulnerable. Therefore, I believed it wise to enlist some backup for you."
Knockout sensed a large presence behind him.
He flinched when he saw the hulking yet slim Insecticon standing over him.
Kickback grinned as he looked down at the medic, clicking his mandibles.
"How repellant," Knockout said unsurely.
"Oh no, Kickback is the one watching the back of your backup," Megatron said with some amusement.
Knockout cocked an eyebrow, then he yelped as a sharp punch hit him in the center of his back.
He gasped when he turned and saw the grinning, cocky demeanor of Flamewar.
"You?!"
"Me."
Megatron smirked. "I'll leave you two to get acquainted. I must go and dispatch the other squads. And Knockout-!"
The medic gulped before turning. "Yes my leige?"
Megatron fixed the medic with a deadly look. "No funny business, understand?"
Without thinking, finding the idea so ridiculous, Knockout waved a dismissive hand. "Her? As if! I'd sooner call on an Insecticon."
Megatron shook his head.
Knockout paused and then felt a terrible foreboding.
He turned to see Flamewar's face contort into a mask of rage as she raised a fist.
Knockout raised his hands instinctively in an attempt to defend himself.
Megatron stopped the blow by grabbing Flamewar's entire arm.
"Save your strength."
Flamewar scoffed. "Fine."
Megatron let go of the girl.
"You're dismissed."
Flamewar harrumphed and stormed off. Kickback strode after her, but not before giving a condemning wink to Knockout.
"It would be in your best interests not to antagonize her, Doctor."
"D-Duly noted, Lord Megatron."
00000
Autobot Outpost Omega Two - 5:40 pm
"Arcee, Bumblebee, the two of you are the best choice to navigate through such a densely-populated area."
"Optimus, with all due respect," Jack said. "New York has a population of over eight million. There's too great a chance of being seen, even underground."
"You going somewhere with this?" Arcee asked.
Jack smiled. "You'll need a face man. Someone who can run interference if their cover is blown."
Nurse Darby wanted to protest but she understood that once her son made his mind up, there's no shifting it.
"I'll come too," Miko said. "I grew up in the city and I know subways like Wheeljack's knows the in and out of a proton grenade."
"Heh," Wheeljack said.
"Miko-"
"I'm not asking Darby!" Miko snapped, poking a finger in the boy's chest.
Optimus smiled. "Very well. Miko will accompany Jack and the others."
"Yes!"
June shook her head with an amused smile.
Agent Fowler would've been the obvious choice given his field experience but he was still receiving from the shock treatment that Frenzy gave him.
"What about the other coordinates?" Jon asked.
"One thing at a time kid," Jazz said. "We're planning on the run and we don't have a lot of time to plan. We gotta rip and run."
"So we're all agreed," Optimus said, as he eyed June who gave him an approving if acted begrudging nod. "Initiate transport and triangulate the location of the other five relics."
00000
Manhattan - 6:45 pm (EST)
A green vortex exploded in an alley between two buildings of an abandoned apartment complex.
Given that the sun was going down, a groundbridge would be less inconspicuous.
Arcee, ridden by Jack, proceeded through the groundbridge, followed by Bumblebee who had Miko as his passenger.
They crossed a bridge overseeing an underground tunnel that was clearly under construction.
"Construction," Miko said triumphantly. "A fact of life in the big city."
00000
6:50 pm
A massive driller worked at the old underground tunnel.
Knockout and Flamewar oversaw the operation.
Both of them fidgeted impatiently, but none more so than Knockout.
"Can we pick up the pace please? This humidity down here is starting to corrode my undercarriage."
Flamewar feigned a tragic look. "Aw! Your undercarriage is corroding?! Waah! Waah! Oh boo hoo!"
Knockout glared at the Frontliner but jumped when something huge bumped into him from behind.
The growl caused him to turn fast.
Kickback stared down at the medic.
"Must you hover?!"
"Sorry doc," Kickback sneered. "I'm bored bored bored."
Knockout furrowed his brow. "What's wrong with this bug's mouth?"
Kickback snarled and might've put his claws on the medic if Flamewar hadn't held him back.
Flamewar glared. "His name is Kickback and we don't know."
00000
In the tunnel, barely even audible, the group heard the sound of drilling.
Arcee frowned. "Cons."
There was a door to their left leading to an adjoining tunnel.
"This way!" Miko shouted as she took off through the door.
"Miko!" Jack cried. "Wait! Stay with the group!"
Miko ignored him.
Jack chased after her.
Frustrated, Arcee threw her hands up.
Bumblebee shook his head with amusement.
Jack managed to catch up to Miko just as she made it to the end of the hallway and to the adjoining tunnel.
Jack grabbed her by the arm but angrily, she ripped the arm out of his grip.
Jack was taken aback by this.
And hurt.
"Miko, what is your-?!"
A blinding light flashed into their eyes.
Hold it right there!" said a voice in a megaphone. "What are you kids doing down here?!"
A man almost as big as Captain Fanzone approached the kids.
He wore a reflective work vest and a yellow hard hat.
He was of Mediterranean descent and had a few weeks old stubble on his face.
And he was mad.
Arcee and Bumblebee watched from the other end of the door.
"Scrap," Arcee said under her breath.
"I asked you kids a question, what are you doing down here?!"
"We, uh, are on a field trip with our school," Miko fibbed. "But we got lost."
"Oh really?" said the construction worker, clearly not buying it.
"I insisted that we stay with the group but Leonard here wanted to look for fossils."
Jack smiled nervously, trying to look innocent.
Miko put on her best 'helpless girl' and tried to sound as sweet as possible without sounding the least bit staged.
"I wanna go home, can you help us Mr-?"
"Vogel."
The man approached the kids with a friendly smile. "But you can call me Vogel. You ever ride a sweeper train before?"
Jack sent a silent message to Arcee to move on, to which she nodded.
Jack and Miko followed Vogel onto the sweeper train.
Jack noticed by Miko's body posture, her stiffness, avoiding eye contact and the iron-hard look on her face, he could tell she was angry about something.
Very angry.
Miko only gave him a single look at him from the corner of her eye through narrowed slits.
Jack gulped.
As it turned out, Vogel is some kind of conspiracy theorist, of the notion that aliens used these colonial old tunnels to build their army and use mankind as slave labor.
Once she was sure his attention was not on them, Miko jumped off the train.
Jack followed of course.
Once the sweeper train was out of view, Miko and Jack continued on.
Miko was moving on ahead at a quicker pace.
"Miko, slow down," Jack said. "It's hard enough to keep with you as it is."
"Whatever."
Jack frowned.
He was starting to really dislike his girlfriend's flippancy.
00000
7:20 pm
"We got something sir," one of the miners said, noticing a metallic glint in the edge of the hole, clearly of Cybertronian-make.
Knockout fidgeted all the more. "Get it and get it fast! Those cursed Autobots will be here soon! They may be here already!"
Flamewar grinned savagely. "I hope it's Arcee."
Knockout looked at her with annoyance. "You should enjoy the peace while it lasts."
"Pfft," Flamewar said. "We'll have peace when the Autobots either surrender or are all dead!"
Feeling conflicted, Knockout stared at her. "Even the ones who helped save Brawl?"
Flamewar hesitated but only for a moment and she gave him an ugly look. "Doesn't erase what they did to our home."
Knockout didn't look at her.
An Insecticon screech echoed in the tunnel.
Flamewar and Knockout looked in the direction of the ferocious sound.
Blaster fire followed.
"Autobots!" Flamewar cried as she gave pursuit. "Stay with the relic!"
Knockout turned back to the miners at work. "Get that relic! Double time! Or Megatron will have our sparks!"
Kickback thrusted his claws, intending on impaling Bumblebee but the scout masterfully flipped and maneuvered out of the way.
He kicked the Insecticon in the face.
Arcee rained blaster fire from the rear, so that the bug was covered on all sides while Bee stuck to melee.
Flamewar crashed into her from behind.
She pinned the two-wheeler down.
Arcee kicked her off and the two squared off.
"Time to settle old scores like we were meant to!" Flamewar challenged.
Arcee groaned. "What are you talking about?!"
"Don't play dumb!" Flamewar threw a right hook and Arcee blocked it.
Flamewar gave a spin kick and Arcee blocked it with a kick of her own, did a handstand and launched a double kick right in her opponent's face.
"The stories of the Great Arcee have been whispered across the galaxy! She can't be caught! No Con can hold her for long! Her skill is unmatched! And I'm sick and tired of hearing them!"
"Why do you care?" Arcee asked.
"Why?!" Flamewar brandished her flamethrowers and blasted a jet of blue fire.
Arcee transformed and did a loop across the ceiling of the tunnel to avoid the flames.
"Do you know how hard it was for me to rise up through the ranks as a two-wheeler?! I was told by my instructor I'd never cut it as a warrior! I made it but I wasn't deemed the best! You were! I will not be content with being second-best! And I won't rest until you fall by my hand!"
Arcee took this in as she narrowly avoided getting cooked alive.
So that's it.
On Cybertron, there were minorities as much as there were class issues.
Seekers. Wheelgrinders. Insecticons. Maximals or Beastformers. Two-wheelers.
Two-wheelers were considered the weakest and perhaps the closest thing to expendable.
They were looked down as much as Seekers looked down on every one that is deemed below them.
The lower-class of lower-class.
Arcee worked hard through sheer determination and will, defiant of the social norms to be the very best.
And now she was not only one of Optimus Prime's chiefest lieutenants but also one of the most feared warriors in Cybertronian history.
Flamewar was no different.
She climbed the ladder through a sea of her own blood and tears to get where she was today. But for some reason, she never got the recognition she desired.
Wherever she went, it was her name that was whispered in fear and reverence.
Compared to Arcee, Flamewar was deemed 'almost but not quite,' thanks in no small way to the fact that she was unfocused and undisciplined.
It infuriated Flamewar to the point that she wanted Arcee dead, not only for the many friends who are dead because of her but so that her fellow Decepticons would stop making fun of her behind her back.
Arcee revved full speed through the smoke and fire.
And she crashed right into Flamewar, transformed and planted her hard into the ground, blasters at the ready.
Flamewar had no chance of defending herself from this onslaught.
"Surrender," Arcee said.
"I'd rather die," Flamewar seethed.
"Autobot!"
Arcee used her peripheral vision without craning her head and saw the Insecticon Kickback holding an unconscious Bumblebee by his head.
"Surrender, or the scout dies-dies-dies."
Arcee cursed inwardly.
00000
7:40 pm
Jack and Miko continued down the tunnel where they heard the drilling, being extremely careful to keep close to any doors so as to avoid being seen if Vogel doubled back.
The journey back had been quiet.
"Miko-"
"This way!"
Miko ran ahead.
"Miko!"
Jack caught up to her but she just quickened her pace.
"Miko! Miko! Stop!"
Jack grabbed Miko by the shoulder and she slapped the hand away.
"Miko! What's wrong?! What did I do?!"
"What did you do?" Miko repeated, her voice cold as ice. "What did you do?!"
"I-Is this about me almost getting killed on the warship?"
Miko's honey-brown eyes were full of fury but they rimmed with tears.
"It's more than that, Jackrabbit."
Jack's face went warm with anxiety. He and Miko never had an argument before, not like this. He had talks with his mother about this, that there would be times when he and Miko would have 'disagreements.' June had coached Jack on how to handle them.
The key was to listen and give her his full attention.
"You don't still have feelings for Sierra, do you?"
Jack recoiled as if struck.
"What?! Miko, of course not! I'm over her and very much with you. Why would you think otherwise?"
"The way you looked at her when we got back from the warship, after she saved your butt."
"Oh, that. Miko, she saved my life. I was only thanking her, nothing more. Maybe I played it up more than I should, but that was it."
Miko looked uncertain, but she seemed to accept the explanation.
"There's more, isn't there?" Jack asked.
Miko waved her hand. "Later, we got a relic to find."
That same blinding light suddenly appeared in their faces.
"Lost huh?" Vogel said, angrier than ever. "You two are going to have to explain yourselves before the New York Transit Authority."
Miko and Jack looked at one another.
"I think we should tell him the truth," Miko said.
Jack gulped. "The truth is…we lost our dog."
Vogel wasn't buying it. "You're wasting your breath."
Miko threw her hands up. "We're trying to prevent aliens from unearthing an ancient relic that may or may not be a weapon of mass destruction."
Vogel stared in disbelief at first.
Then he smiled.
"I thought I heard something high-pitched and weird coming from track 5. And I know for a fact that there isn't supposed to be any drilling schedule for another month."
00000
7:50 pm
Arcee and Bumblebee laid battered and unconscious on the tracks.
Kickback dusted off his claws, tittering with satisfaction. "That'll teach you-you-you."
Knockout groaned in annoyance.
"Sir, we have it!" One of the miners said, withdrawing the drill.
"Ha-ha!" Knockout exclaimed in triumph.
Flamewar stood there with her arms crossed, a look of bitter defeat on her face.
The miners pulled out a large spherical canister and placed it carefully on the ground.
Knockout popped the lid open and withdrew a small spherical device with four curved claw-like pincers in its center.
"Interesting."
Kickback and Flamewar stared in fascination.
Actually, in Flamewar's case, it was more of a lazy sense of momentary interest.
Tech was most certainly not her passion.
"Now what might you do?" Knockout thought aloud.
Kickback pointed. "Phase displacer."
"Sorry?"
"Uh sir?" One of the miners said, pointing a finger. "What is that?"
Knockout turned to the miner, then turned to what he was pointing at.
The excavation point, where the relic was extracted.
In the deepest point of the hole, there was a wall, unusually more metallic than the earth should be.
And then it seemed to move.
Almost as though it were alive.
"What the?"
Kickback's antennae twitched.
"I hear teeth," he said. "Great, big, gnashing teeth-teeth-teeth."
Knockout blanched as he put a trembling hand to his commlink.
"This is Knockout calling for a-"
"We have incoming!"
The Cons looked down the tunnel and saw in the distance lights that were fast approaching.
A train?
It bore the scent of an Autobot or at the least, organics who kept company with Autobots.
Naturally being a hunter at his core, Kickback gave into his instincts and gave chase.
He transformed into his big form and flew after the sweeper train.
"Kickback! Come back!" Flamewar screamed.
Knockout gripped his head in frustration, then his eyes bugged out when he saw the metallic wall in the excavation point gone. Nothing but an empty cavern.
He screamed, "We have to get out of these tunnels fast!"
Then the tunnels began to shake.
00000
7:55 pm
Vogel blinked as he saw the Insecticon draw in closer.
"And that would be-?"
"Trouble," Jack said.
"Understatement of the year," Miko said.
Blaster fire ricocheted off the tunnel walls and knocked the Insecticon off-course.
Vogel tried to steer the train onto another line but the switch smoked, sparked and then blew out.
"The steering's busted!"
He tried the emergency brakes but they didn't seem to respond either.
"The brakes are out! I must've burned them out trying to outrun that bug!"
"But trains go on for miles don't they?" Miko asked.
"Not this one."
Jack looked over the tunnel schematics and blanched.
"And there's a dead end at the end of this track."
Vogel nodded grimly. "Fraid so."
Miko threw her head back in frustration. "I'm really starting to hate trains!"
A dark-blue motorcycle came in closer and Arcee transformed clung to the rear of the sweeper train.
Vogel grabbed an emergency fire ax and rushed her.
"Welcome to Earth!"
But Jack and Miko stood between him and Steve, holding their hands up.
"Vogel, no!" Jack shouted.
"She's one of the good guys!" Miko exclaimed.
Vogel looked at the kids, then at Arcee, who now had a seriously annoyed look.
Oh great, another human that's seen us.
"Arcee, the brakes to this train are shot!" Jack called out over the train's engine.
"Is there another emergency override?!"
Vogel shook his head. "No ma'am! But there's a switch-track control up ahead. You just have to adjust the pole rod."
Arcee stared, clearly confused.
"You'll know it when you see it! It'll reroute us to another line!"
Arcee nodded, then transformed back into her vehicle form.
"Did she just turn into…a motorcycle?"
The ground shook and the train seemed to shake with it.
Lights in the tunnel flickered and the train lost some speed due to lack of power flowing onto the tracks.
"What was that?" Miko asked.
00000
8:00 pm
"BURROWER!"
The scream of warning came too late as the Vehicon miner was swallowed in the ground as though something huge opened up the earth under him and closed in on him.
Knockout and Bumblebee and the remaining Vehicons watched in horror.
"Let's get out of here!"
"RUN!"
The bots transformed and took off at break-neck speeds as rising and falling earth seemed to follow after them.
As though something huge were burrowing under the earth.
Bumblebee's mind was numb with shock.
What was a Cybertronian creature of this size doing on Earth?
It had to be stopped and fast.
If this thing burrowed enough tunnels, it could cause an earthquake and turn New York into rubble.
Millions would die.
But how do you kill a Burrower?
Its armor is said to be nearly impenetrable.
Wait?
Did that Insecticon say phase displacer?
A phase shifter!
That's it!
"Knockout, give me the relic!"
"Who are you kidding?!"
"That thing will kill us and destroy the entire city unless we kill it first!"
A few Vehicons trailed behind.
The Burrower swallowed them up.
They died screaming.
Knockout cried out in terror, nearly going off the tracks.
"Give me the phaser! I'll use it to penetrate that thing's armor and snuff its spark!"
"Megatron will kill me!" Knockout screamed.
"It's him or that thing!" Bumblebee screamed back.
Knockout didn't get a chance to answer.
The Burrower's ugly head emerged.
It was as if a cold calm caused Bumblebee's sense of time to slow down.
A huge metallic head with a circular mouth and rows and rows of razor sharp teeth rose from the tracks.
Bumblebee acted fast.
It couldn't have been more than 0.4 seconds.
Bumblebee transformed, leapt onto Knockout's roof, smashed through one of his back windows, grabbed the phase shifter, attached it to his wrist and it glowed blue.
The Burrower seemed to swallow them both whole.
00000
8:05 pm
Arcee kicked against the track as hard as she could.
The switch-track control switch wouldn't budge.
She had to shift the tracks the old fashioned way.
The sweeper train was coming in fast.
Arcee was running out of time.
She kicked into the track again and again.
And then it gave at the last second.
Arcee leapt out of the way of the sweeper train as it barreled through.
The train traveled safely onto another track and safely down the tunnel.
Arcee sighed in relief.
Then she heard the intense sound of buzzing wings.
Kickback was coming.
Arcee then heard the sound of a revving motorcycle engine.
Flamewar was right behind him.
"Scrap."
Flamewar and Kickback transformed and cornered Arcee.
Kickback's mouth opened, saliva dripping from his maw, anticipating a fight to the death.
"Kickback, stay out of this. She's mine."
Kickback looked sorely disappointed.
"What about the worm?"
"Worm?" Arcee said.
"Just let me know if it gets close, then we rip and run. Our comms are still out, so calling for a bridge is a no."
Kickback nodded, weary as he looked down the tunnel.
"What did he mean by 'worm'?" Arcee demanded.
"Doesn't matter. Shut up and fight."
"No."
"No?!"
"I'm not fighting you Flamewar, you know I can beat you in a fight! I have more important things to do! And this weird grudge you have is nothing but petty insecurity! It's stupid!"
Flamewar was flabbergasted. "Stupid?!"
"Now get out of my way! I'm picking up my friends and we're taking the relic and leaving! But first, what is this 'worm' you're talking about?"
Flamewar hesitated before answering begrudgingly. "Burrower."
Arcee recoiled in dumb shock. "What?!"
"Yeah. Found it when we dug up that relic. Last I saw it, it was chasing down Pretty Boy and that kid."
Arcee was stricken. "Bee!"
"Probably ate your friend by now."
Flamewar grinned mockingly. "Too bad."
Arcee roared.
00000
8:10 pm
The Burrower roared in fury and pain as it writhed in the earth.
With a blood-curdling shriek, its head crashed through the tunnel wall and then fell.
Its head lay on the tracks.
It coughed up Energon and then died.
Bumblebee, using the phase shifter, dragged an unconscious Knockout out of the beast, as though ghosting through its dead flesh.
They were both covered in acidic fluids, their paint jobs melting off.
"Yuck," Bumblebee said. "A Burrower's spark is harder to find than I thought."
00000
"Phew!" Miko said, putting her hands on the boys' shoulders. "We're in the clear."
"We still need a way to stop though," Vogel said.
"Hey, there's something up ahead," Jack said, pointing a finger.
00000
Bumblebee's optics grew huge.
"The train! The kids!"
He looked back at the massive head of the dead Burrower.
There's no moving that out of the way.
And there was no way to stop the train in time.
Bumblebee looked at the newly-recovered relic.
It's just crazy enough to work.
Bumblebee transformed and barreled towards the sweeper train.
"Bumblebee?!" Miko cried.
Bumblebee transformed and clung on to the train. "Just hang on!" He brandished the phase shifter on his wrist. "This device will allow us to phase through that worm thing!"
"Are you sure?!" Jack cried.
"Abs-itively!"
Vogel gulped. "Kids, look away."
He took Miko and Jack in his massive arms and turned them away.
Jack and Miko held each other in a bone-crushing hug.
They haven't been this scared since the DNGS incident.
"Miko?" Jack said.
"Yeah?"
Jack looked her right in the eye, tears in his own. "This is…maybe…way too soon….but…I love you."
Miko looked ready to cry too. "I don't know if it's too soon…but I love you too!"
Jack and Miko shared a soft, gentle and passionate kiss.
Vogel quietly cried at the warm moment.
I want to say I love these kids but that'd be super inappropriate right now.
The sweeper train reached the Burrower's corpse.
Bumblebee made sure the phase shifter was active.
Even when Knockout was screaming bloody murder with his back to the worm.
The train ghosted through.
The train came out the other side, Bumblebee clinging to the front, laughing triumphantly, but then stopping when he found Knockout clinging to him, crying like a woman.
Bumblebee knocked him off and Knockout fell behind the tracks.
Then Bumblebee planted his foot into the tracks in front in a final attempt to stop the train.
Earth and splinters of train tracks flew everywhere.
The train began to slow down.
Starting to feel his knee begin to throw out, Bumblebee switched to the other leg.
Bumblebee grimaced in pain but the train finally began to stop.
The train screeched to a halt.
Bumblebee fell onto the tracks, gripping his knees in pain.
Jack and Miko opened their eyes.
"We're still alive?"
Vogel laughed boisterously. "You bet we are!"
He enveloped them in a bone-crushing hug and they laughed together.
But stopped when they saw Bumblebee writhing on the ground in mild agony.
"Bumblebee!" Miko cried as she separated from the boys and leapt off the train.
Jack and Vogel followed.
"Dude! What happened to your paint job?" Miko asked.
Bee's paint job seemed to completely melt wear, just flecks of black and yellow remained.
"Burrower's purging system almost melted me and Doc Knock. That's all."
Bee smiled as he raised up the phase shifter. "Told ya it would work."
The sound of revving interrupted the happy moment.
The group turned and Bee shooed them behind him so he could activate his blasters.
He stood down when he saw the familiar midnight-blue two-wheeler.
Arcee transformed and knelt by the young scout.
"What happened to your paint job?"
"Long story."
"And the Burrower?"
Bee chuckled weakly. "Used this to penetrate its armor and snuffed out its spark. Wasn't easy."
Arcee smiled. "You crazy boy."
"Where's the bug?" Jack asked. "And that other motorcycle?"
Arcee frowned. "Time to bail. Fast." She tapped her comm.
"This is Arcee requesting an emergency groundbridge. Raf? You hear me?"
"I read you Arcee. Groundbridge incoming."
"Ratchet?"
"Sorry Arcee! Can't talk! Emergency! Incoming bridge!"
A green vortex exploded.
And Arcee began to drag a nearly-crippled Bumblebee through.
"You three! Through the bridge! Now! I just hope the others had better luck with the other five relics!"
"C'mon Vogel!" Jack exclaimed.
"To the mothership?" Vogel asked.
"Just go! Move!" Miko practically screamed, pushing both boys through the portal with surprising strength.
"Your girl is crazy!"
"I know."
"Hey!"
The portal closed.
Just as Flamewar and Kickback turned a corner, both smoking, scorched in certain places, and mad.
"The report didn't say anything about a 'third rail' in these tunnels," Flamewar complained.
"Where's the red one-one-one?"
"Knockout? Who knows? Probably complaining about his finish again."
"No."
Flamewar and Kickback looked down the tunnel to see Knockout, his finish all but melted away and corroded, staring in horror at his reflection on one of the glass windows of the sweeper train.
His face had blotches of corrosion from the Burrower's acidic contents of its stomach.
"NOOOOOOOO!"
Flamewar rolled her optics. "What a baby."
…..
VOICE CAST:
Vogel - John DiMaggio
Flamewar - Grey DeLisle
Kickback - Troy Baker