"OC Episode #5"

[Venatrix]

After the ground collapsed, she leaped, and dug her claws into rock, and climbed up. Once up she shook the dust of her fur.
Venatrix didn't say a word during the entire trip, until she heard the water as well.
"It seems like we're going for a swim."
Unlike Cheetor, Venatrix didn't mind the water. The creatures where she based her beastmode on, where hunters both on land as in the waters.
She herself enjoyed a fish which she caught herself every once in a while.

Now she waited patiently in the back of the group of unlikely allies, for whats to come.

------------------------

Valkyrie observed the plot unfold around her.
For now she was safe within the trees, but even she knew, this wouldn't be for long.
Then Optimus his clone attacked.
Fromm the mission reports she stored in her memory banks, this wasn't the first time both Maximals and Predacons fought this particular foe.

She watched as Whitegrazer took it upon herself to look after Optimus Primal, while giving her and Dinobot an impossible task.
A few option ran inside her mind as a few microseconds went by.
It was easy to conclude that Optimus was sustaining the damage his clone should sustain.
Perhaps this "link" also worked the other way around?
If that was the case, someone needed to inflict damage to Optimus Primal directly.
This also gave birth to the possibility that it didn't work both ways, which means they are either linked remotely, or are linked through subspace.
If so, then the only way to save Optimus from suffering more damage, is to knock him into stasis lock.

There are more possibilities which she needed to explore during this time.
The Maximal bird circled back to the Location of Optimus Primal and Whitegrazer, and landed next to them, with one hand firmly grasped by her powerful talons.
"Optimus. I need to confirm a few theories to resolve this situation. These theories can not be tested without my inflicting rather painful wounds on your body. So i ask permission to proceed."

She kept her sight firmly focused at the area Clear Convoy was supposed to be according to her observations, and the battle the others forced him into.
If this worked, she should notice something happen.
Hopefully a physical reaction to her damaging the real Optimus, if he gave his blessing to impale he lower arm with her razor sharp talons.

[New Moon]

Frilla turned as she heard rushing water as the others did and quickly went back around to the other side. Unlike the other larger Predacons and Maximals she would have been easily swept away, least the others though might have had a chance. Though she couldn't help but wonder where the aliens could have gotten water or were able to even make a trap in an underground maze.

--------------------------------

Feralnight looked to where she heard the crash but before she flew towards the invisible clone the sound of Optimus' holler made her look back. He was in pain? Thinking back to earlier in the battle the fuzor remembered some damage the clone had taken when posing as Optimus before and she looked back again in wonder. The two were linked somehow?Her leader didn't have a scratch on him save for his injury by the clone. "Manterror stop!" She called when realizing what was wrong and dove towards the mantis to stop him from dismembering the Primal Clone.

[Night-Hunter]

Saber groaned quietly as she regained consciousness, she had a splitting head and her right front felt numb and she couldn't move it.

"Saber-Fang, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, I hear you." She tries to get up, but her legs won't support her, she growled as pain shot up her right front leg. "Ugh. I think my right front leg is dislocated."

"AAAAAARGH!" "By... Primus,"

Saber lifted her head, ears pricked forward at the sound of Optimus in pain.

Optimus! She screamed in her mind.

* * *

Inferno turned his head at the sound of Primal's screams of pain, which was strange seeing how he wasn't even in battle with the clone. He had to wait to fire, seeing how he couldn't see the imposter.

In the name of the Royalty, he will buuurrrnnn! He thought with a growl.

* * *
Sonar was literally drooling as he went to attack the Phantom.

"Manterror stop!"

That caught Sonar's attention and he narrowed his optics.

Might as well humor her. He thought then fired a sonic blast at Manterror, the blast was powerful enough to knock him several feet back... away from the Primal clone.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: How I love Manterror. Cracks me up. ))

"Something is going on here."

"It feels like... cyber venom," Optimus told Whitegrazer, looking up at her. Perhaps the more he described to them about what he was experiencing, the more it would help them figure out what was going on. He began to calm down as the effects were fading from his cloaked clone. The more this kept happening, the more helpless he felt.

"Dinobot, Valkryie, I will look after Optimus. You guys better keep the clone alive." "I don't know why this is happening but somehow the clone's injuries are becoming Optimus'."

Keep the alien alive? Even those words were disturbing to Primal's audio sensors but he understood what she was thinking. "I think... when he thrusted his sword through me the last time we fought... it did something to me," he explained to Whitegrazer. "As if it left something inside." Shaking his head, Optimus added, "The tests Rhinox performed on me were inconclusive."

"What nice ligaments you have! Oh how much better they would look away from you're body! But don't worry, I'll be sure this hurts you for more than a nonoclick."

Still invisible, "Clear Convoy" forced himself to sit up. His advanced immune system was already fighting the venom and he was capable of moving a bit. Watching the mantis approach him, he glared and lifted his left arm, firing off his wrist cannons at the blade and then rolling across the ground away from him. The rolling didn't help his damaged right shoulder, but it was worth it to escape the Predacon's attack.

"Manterror stop!"

Coming to a stop, the alien staggered to his feet as quickly as he could, nearly collapsing twice from the wound in his leg and the cyber venom that kept it a little numb as some lingered in his system. Hearing Feralnight holler after this Manterror bot, and then seeing Sonar actually firing at his own teammate, he didn't quite understand what was going on.

Primal suddenly took a deep breath and grabbed his right shoulder - when Clear Convoy rolled - as he kept his back against the boulder he had propped himself up against. Growling, he darkened his optics and bowed his head.

"Optimus. I need to confirm a few theories to resolve this situation. These theories can not be tested without my inflicting rather painful wounds on your body. So i ask permission to proceed."

It took Optimus a minute before he finally looked up at Valkyrie. Studying her, his red optics shifted to Whitegrazer before returning back to Valkyrie. "All right," he agreed. His leg twitched - when his clone attempted to stand - and he inhaled deeply. The leader knew they had to figure something out together to deal with this alien. He couldn't do this alone.

-----

"Yeah, I hear you." "Ugh. I think my right front leg is dislocated."

Watching his fellow feline trying to stand, Tigatron frowned and said, "Hold still, Saber-Fang." Seeing her react, he, too, heard Optimus cry out, but he remained focused on his duty. "Do not concern yourself with Optimus. Whitegrazer, Valkyrie and Dinobot are with him," he assured Saber. Moving down to her legs, he examined the injured one and said, "I'm going to adjust your leg and pop it back into place. You may experience some pain," Tigatron warned her. Gently placing his hands on the former general's leg, he rotated it slightly and snapped it back to where it belonged. "How does that feel?"

-----

"Rattrap, stop!" "That stalagmite has a symbol on it. We better stay clear of it!"

Rattrap stopped in his tracks as soon as Airazor cried out his name, expecting something to happen. Looking up at the ceiling of the cavern, he saw what she had spotted. "Eh. Good eyes, Airazor," he said, looking back at her. Glancing around, he took a wider path away from the marked stalagmite and continued walking. "This way, guys. Steer clear of dat symbol up dere," he warned those behind him.

[Alak]

Orcariner nodded to acknowledge the warning. It was nice to know that they have a way of recognizing danger before falling into the traps. The question that burned inside the Maximal's mind was whether or not this symbol would be uniform for all traps. Who knew if there were other ways of activating the wrath of this alien structure. Orcariner wished he had read Tigatron's old report regarding the floating island more closely. It contained details regarding similar technology. One thing that he remembered from his own experiences was that the aliens were more alerted to the robot modes. Orcariner chose not to bring this to the others' attention at that point in time because that would eliminate their light sources as well as their mobility. Whatever dangers lay ahead, their group would just have to face them head on.

[WorpeX]

((For the record OOP, Stalagmites are on the ground. XD Stalactites are on the ceiling. Doesn't matter though.))



About to strike his first blow, the clone was somehow able to move out of the way just in time. How was that possible? The cybervenom should have kept him subdued for a rather lengthy period of time... unless the creature was immune or really quick at healing. In that case, it probably best not to get in a fight with him. The clone had let out a shot as he rolled away, but luckily, the mantis was quick enough to avoid it. He only had one useable blade left, losing the last one would render him useless in any future battles. Of course, he could resort to kicking and screaming, but that wasn't nearly as effective... or fun.

"Manterror stop!"

While slightly disappointed that he couldn't hack the clones limbs off easily, he wasn't about to give up. He heard the pitiful cries of the other flying Maximal, but they didn't concern him. She likely just wanted to take the kill for herself. He wouldn't let her, the clone was to be his prize! The Maximal's could not steal his glory that easily. About to make another move towards the fake primal, the Mantis was soon knocked clear off his feat from Sonar's attack. A Predicon dared fight him? So much for teammates. His loyalty towards the Predicon team was weak as it was, and now one of his own dared fire upon him?

In a fit of rage, Manterror screamed and activated his stealth mode. Knowing that it was useless if he was in clear sight, he scurried off into nearby bushes so his adversary couldn't see him. If the bat wished to play like that, he would as well. The others could deal with the clone if they wished to prevent Manterror from killing him so badly. Sonar however, had a lesson he needed to be taught. A lesson that only ended in dismemberment!

[NaitoKage]

(You put down Stalagmite first Worpex, so she didn't screw it up. )
Tarantulus's optic band narrowed as he watched the clone get back up, while his teammates acted foolishly. He loaded another missile, still keeping his distance and pointed it towards the creature, then fired.

As the missile came closer to the clone, it exploded in midair discharging a cyber web net over the creature, the sticky ends latching to the ground as it then started to constrict and shine. Fools! What do you think you're doing?! That creature is out to exterminate us all! We have no time for your maximal sentiment and stupid squabbles, it'll just take the opportunity to escape! he then loaded another missile into his launcher, tipped with Cyber venom and pointed it towards the creature So you survived one dose..your immune system is impressive, but not unheard of...And I have no problem with administering an overdose. he gave out a dark chuckle.

__________________

Icebreaker looked towards Starshadow and nodded Sounds like a plan.. his visor then slid up revealing his optics more clearly. unfornately I can't detect them with my tactical visor, so I guess we'll have to use regular optics.

The three soon discovered a splitting path with one going straight and two leading to tunnels to the left and right. Icebreaker raised his hand to his chin as pondered for a moment I have no idea how the layout of this place works..I guess head in the direction closest to were they may have disappeared.. but they disappeared from multiple spots..Er.. I guess we go left?

______________

Megatron closed in on the scene of the battle, noticing the group of Maximals and Predacons as he walked closer, his T-rex eyes narrowed.

[Night-Hunter]

"Hold still, Saber-Fang."

Saber laid perfectlly still, but she was still worried about Optimus.

"Do not concern yourself with Optimus. Whitegrazer, Valkyrie and Dinobot are with him,"

"I know, but I can't help but worry about him." She said quietly.

"I'm going to adjust your leg and pop it back into place. You may experience some pain,"

She nodded the braced herself for the moment of pain. She bared her teeth and growled in pain her optics flashing neon green for a split second as her arm was popped back into place.

"How does that feel?"

She unsheathed her claws then drew them back into her paw.

"Well, I can feel my arm again, thank you Tigatron." She said siting up.

She still felt a little light headed, probably just the side affect from the injection.

* * *

Sonar raised an eye brow at Manterror scream in rage, he knew that the Mantis would be furious with him but he wasn't excepting him to take it personally.

Scrap. He thought when Manterror activated his stealth mode and scurried off into some bushes. This can't be good.

He closed his eyes again and sent out another continuous waves of sound in all directions, he may not be able to hear the crazed Mantis comming but at least he would be able to see him and make sure he doesn't lose a limb before he gets a chance to at least defend himself.

Fools! What do you think you're doing?! That creature is out to exterminate us all! We have no time for your maximal sentiment and stupid squabbles, it'll just take the opportunity to escape!

Sonar ignored Tarantula's rant, the clone could wait, right now he just had to avoid getting torn to shreds by a very upset praying mantis.

[starshadow]

Starshadow and Cecaelia stood still. Split paths were never their favourites. When Icebreaker suggested to go left, the femmes said, "Lead the way!"

There would be traps eventually.

[New Moon]

Feralnight stopped mid dive as Sonar attacked his own comrade. The fuzor couldn't help thinking that was a little overkill and simply stopping Manterror another way would have sufficed. Though it didn't seem that way with Predacons. "This isn't good." She muttered under her breathe hesitant to harm the clone when it could very well hurt Optimus. Diving down Feralnight landed not far from where the Vok Primal had been shot at by Tarantulas and took a careful aim though again she hesitated.

Looking towards the Predacons Feralnight half wanted to prevent them from harming the clone and stop further pain to the Maximal leader. Sighing the fuzor aimed again and fired a few shots towards the clone.

[Wintersong]

Snow Trix remained silent as everything went on but moved closer to where her teammates were and watched. The mantis was definitely going to be very unhappy and Sonar probably didn't care much. Observing else where she noticed Tarantulas seemed to have things under control then the fuzor was seeming to hesitate before she finally made a move. Narrowing her optics Snow Trix quietly moved around making an arch around towards Feralnight while the fuzor was busy and when she came a couple yards behind her opened fire with a few missiles towards Feralnight's wing joints.

[Blazemane]

((OOC:

One does not simply skip through the temple of doom.

Win. ))

Cheetor turned around and went as quickly as he could back to the first side. He was just in time to watch the current pour into the hole.

"I'll only flunk the test when they actually get me in stasis lock," Cheetor responded. Even he knew it was a weak comeback, but he'd say anything to defy a Predacon insulting his survival skills.

* * *

Steelclaw was glad for Airazor being able to point out the trap that lay ahead. If the Maximals could handle the traps this easily, then maybe it'd be easy to go where they were headed.

But that presented another problem. Where were they headed? Out, right? They could safely assume the transwarp signature was bait, and that it had no real, usable source. So there was no reason to stay down in a cavern filled with alien pranks. Still, how exactly would they go about... getting out? Maybe...

"Hey, Ocariner," he called ahead. "You're the resident detect-energy-and-signature 'bot, right? Can you still detect the transwarp signature down here, or is something blocking you? Because I was thinking, for the optimal effectiveness of this whole trap, the aliens would want to put the false signature close to wherever the most horribly lost place in this cavern is. You know- that way you get as many 'bots in as much trouble as possible. And well, if you can detect where the signature is, than we can make sure we're navigating away from it."

Even as he was talking, he began to realize that speaking in terms of "most horribly lost" may have been a misnomer. It was entirely possible that there was no way out of the cavern at all, save for the ceiling they'd fallen in through.

Well, anyways, one idea at a time...

* * *

Dinobot had been watching the situation in contemplative silence. He hadn't even moved when the first missile came cruising in.

He hadn't seen any reason to throw himself at the clone once he saw the confusing mass of Predacons and Maximals already attacking him, and when Whitegrazer made the realization that the clone pain became Optimus', he had further reason to stand still and think.

He wasn't sure of Valkyrie's suggestion- putting Optimus through pain to see what would happen to the clone. There was no guarantee it would affect the clone the same way. But perhaps having Optimus and the clone in stasis lock would give them the proper time to deal with the situation.

All of this was cut short when Snow Trix made an attack on Feralnight.

Transforming with his velociraptor's standard cry, he rushed at the Predacon.

Perhaps another Maximal would have said "stand down", or "there isn't time for battling amongst ourselves." But Dinobot had every intention of putting the Predacon in stasis lock. Once he found himself close enough to his target, he fired his optic lasers.

[una]

"It feels like... cyber venom," Optimus told Whitegrazer, looking up at her. Perhaps the more he described to them about what he was experiencing, the more it would help them figure out what was going on. He began to calm down as the effects were fading from his cloaked clone. The more this kept happening, the more helpless he felt.

With what Optimus descirbed it, it was no doubt that they were right in their assumptions. This was a very precarious situation their leader was in.

Keep the alien alive? Even those words were disturbing to Primal's audio sensors but he understood what she was thinking. "I think... when he thrusted his sword through me the last time we fought... it did something to me," he explained to Whitegrazer. "As if it left something inside." Shaking his head, Optimus added, "The tests Rhinox performed on me were inconclusive."

"Where did the sword stab you?" She asked, wanting to see if maybe there was something in the wound. May not be but she had to look.

It took Optimus a minute before he finally looked up at Valkyrie. Studying her, his red optics shifted to Whitegrazer before returning back to Valkyrie. "All right," he agreed. His leg twitched - when his clone attempted to stand - and he inhaled deeply. The leader knew they had to figure something out together to deal with this alien. He couldn't do this alone.

"I don't really agree with this." Whitegrazer showed her disagreement with Valkryie's suggestion, "If there is a link-"

She was interrupted by the battle behind them, watching Dinobot race off to attack Snow Trix. It was really getting heated back there, "We have to find a way to severe the link somehow."

She wished Rhinox was here. He was better suited for such things but they had to figure it out and fast.

Optimus was in pain. He was toughening it out but more may follow. She put her hand on his shoulder, "Close your optics, Optimus...deep breaths..."

It seemed that now was the right time to teach Optimus what she was about to before they were forced to quit.

((OOC: OOP, I hope this is all right. If you want me to wait a little bit more, I will and edit this post. Also, I will post for Blackarachnia tomorrow--well, exactly it is now tomorrow here so in eight hours! XD. I'm alittle confused of what is going on but I will re-read the posts after I get some sleep. ))

[Alak]

"Hey, Ocariner," he called ahead. "You're the resident detect-energy-and-signature 'bot, right? Can you still detect the transwarp signature down here, or is something blocking you? Because I was thinking, for the optimal effectiveness of this whole trap, the aliens would want to put the false signature close to wherever the most horribly lost place in this cavern is. You know- that way you get as many 'bots in as much trouble as possible. And well, if you can detect where the signature is, than we can make sure we're navigating away from it."

Orcariner paused in response to Steelclaw's question. The killer whale had been so focused on looking for lost teammates that he had completely forgotten about the transwarp signature. Switching out his radar for the map of the continent he had previously used to pursue the anomaly, Orcariner studied the data before answering the Predacon. The topography was no longer present and he was given nothing but darkness. On the other hand, there was still a blue ripple effect similar to that of the transwarp signature they were observing before.

"The transwarp signature is still there, but it's not strong at all. Considering that we're underground, I'd say the beacon was intended to be projected upwards towards the surface to catch our attentions prior to springing the trap. Since we're on a lateral plane and these walls which are made of unknown properties are hindering wave travels, the signal is much weaker. We're fortunate however, that these aliens needed to make this transwarp signature powerful enough to travel across the continent. Such a potent radiation allows it to penetrate the labyrinth and provides us an even greater precise look at where this beacon is coming from. On the other hand, logic dictates that the closer we travel to the beacon, the more populated the area will become with traps. It's not a good idea to go in that direction, but I don't know where else we could wander off to."

They were lost. There was no doubt about it. Digging through the roof would only risk a cave in. Going back to the origin of their fall would be unlikely since that room was probably now blocked off. Approaching the source which lured them here would provide an objective and possibly a way out. Since the transwarp signature had to be able to project towards the surface, that meant the ceiling density above it should be significantly weaker than the walls that imprisoned them now.

Switching topics, Orcariner asked Steelclaw, "You said something before about Predacons accepting stereotypes."

He tried hard not to sound accusative in his inquiry. Orcariner knew he was biased against the Predacon faction for personal reasons, but for the sake of receiving a sound reply, he refrained from making his following question sound aggressive.

"What are these stereotypes?"

[New Moon]

Unaware of Snow Trix coming Feralnight could only watch the other visible Predacons to see what they did though mostly she watched Tarantulas until a small explosion caused her to stumble then two others after to knock her off her feet ad land face first in the dirt, pain shooting through her systems. "Slag!" She growled turning slightly but when moving her wings more pain followed followed and the fuzor looked back to see who had fired on her. To Feralnight's dismay it had been Snow Trix which seemed had taken advantage to fire on her and not the clone instead.Standing Feralnight was fixing to fire back before she saw Dinobot coming to help and firing on the fox himself,"Thanks Dinobot."She said with a grateful nod.