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Gina Harkins was not amused. All she wanted to do was have an exciting day with her friends in some small country halfway around the world. But all she had done so far was sit on a rock with Sureshock for 20 minutes outside the entrance to one of the most mysterious places in Emmeria-the Precht Catacombs.

Named after the massive battle that had taken place within, the Precht Catacombs was originally an underground community that was built by a colony of the Ottoman Empire as an expansion project in 1370. This took place when the empire was facing rebellions across its territory, and an invading army of barbarians stormed the caves and clashed with the defending army in a furious battle that lasted almost seven days and nights, and in the end, no one came back out save for a few dozen soldiers on both sides. What exactly happened there was a mystery and people who investigated the caves over the ages tended to disappear. The cause of these disappearances was mainly speculation for the local authorities and the archeological community, and no one has been inside since then.

Gina had always wanted to see those caves, but she never thought she’d actually get the chance, as her father definitely wasn’t going to take her there herself (and he hasn’t made contact with them in almost three years). But now that she was friends with a group of aliens who had instant transportation technology at their fingertips, she could go anywhere in the world and be back for dinner.

She had originally planned to go with just Sureshock and Bumblebee, who stayed with her a lot these days as she was a walking encyclopedia of Terran knowledge, but Ratchet tagged along for reasons he had yet to explain to her. Which led to her waiting for Ratchet and Bumblebee to finish whatever the hell they came here to do so she could have some fun.

“Gina, relax. Ratchet said that he won’t take too long. They’ll only be a few more minutes.” Sureshock said.

“Sureshock, I don’t have time to relax. I’m only a few feet away from one of the most amazing exotic cities in the world and I can’t go in because Ratchet had to get first dibs on me. The surprise is totally ruined for me now!”

The orange femme sighed. It amazed her at how Gina, though incredibly smart for her age, could act like a five year old when annoyed. Though she had to admit, it was one of the things she liked about the girl that made her unique. A bit overbearing, but unique nonetheless.

Ratchet exited the cave with Bumblebee in tow, looking at his scanner with a serious expression.

“Strange, I’m still getting these readings.” He muttered.

“You sure the scanner isn’t acting glitch?” Bumblebee asked. The glare Ratchet sent him was an answer in itself.

“What’s wrong guys?” Gina asked.

“According to these readings, the cave has traces of energon in it.” Ratchet said.

Gina and Sureshock traded surprised looks. Teletran-1 didn’t detect any energon in the area
when it bridged them there, and they certainly didn’t detect any hidden veins upon arrival.

“That is strange.” Sureshock nodded. Gina smiled.

“And worth investigating.” She said.

“No, Gina, this might be serious, and the last thing I need is Prowl interrupting my work to
scold me for taking you into the field and showing I have a heart.” Ratchet said.

“Ratchet, I waited a long time to see these catacombs and I am not going to let you or anyone else stop me from getting my fix! Now I am going in there to uncover ancient secrets whether you like it or not!” Gina screamed.

The two Autobots looked down at the determined blonde, then at each other. Bumblebee only shrugged as if to say ‘she’s your charge, you deal with her’. The medic sighed and looked at Gina.

“Fine, Gina, you can come along. But stay close and don’t-“

“Touch anything. I know. I’m not Annie, Ratchet.” Gina smiled.

Ratchet couldn’t keep the smile off his face and held out his hand. Gina stepped onto his palm and together they entered the cave first, leaving Bumblebee and Sureshock behind.

“He spoils her too much.” Bumblebee remarked. He looked down and saw Sureshock glaring at him. “What’s with the face?”

“And where were you in that conversation? You know I don’t want Gina hanging around potential battlefields and that includes energon mines.”

“Don’t worry, Sureshock. Ratchet and I explore part of the cave where the signals were coming from and we found nothing, not even little energon crystals. I doubt there’s anything dangerous about this place save for a few loose rocks.” He said and walked into the tunnel. “Let’s catch up with them before we’re left behind and lose them.”

Sureshock sighed and followed after Bumblebee. Honestly, was she the only one around here with common sense?

XXXXXX

“Wow.” Gina whispered awestruck.

The interior of the cave was massive-basically it was one large cavern hollowed out over the centuries and supported by a number of natural stone pillars. This cavern was connected to a number of tunnels that led deeper into the system. But the most eye-catching feature were the stone buildings built out from the cave walls, constructed in a similar style to Elladan architecture. Everything was old and word, with most of the buildings looking desolate from erosion and misuse. Even Ratchet had to admit that the adaptability of these people were amazing to have used stone for building materials.

“What a strange way to live. With this settlement so deep inside the cavern, there’s no way for the people who lived here to get any sunlight, much less grow food here.” Ratchet said.

“It wasn’t by choice. The people who lived here had to move in under the orders of their emperor. The entire village was conceived as an expansion project to cover as much territory as possible. The imperial court tested it with civilians before coming up with the concept of setting up military installations in remote areas such as this cave to better get the jump on the barbarian tribes that were giving them grief.” Gina said. Walking up to one of the houses made of irregularly shaped blocks, she ran her hand along the rough stone. “Of course, when a massive barbarian host arrived to attack this place, the cave became a tomb with no way out. You can guess the rest. Trying to build a community this far out in imperial territory was next to impossible, but they tried and managed, at least, for a time.”

“That’s the thing, Gina. How were they able to make anything from this rock?” Ratchet asked. He glanced at the houses, noting how many of them were severely damaged or outright destroyed. From his understanding, the humans of that era didn’t have small scale weapons capable of causing
such damage, so what caused such destruction?

“Who knows? But that’s the fun of it. Finding out how these supposedly “primitive” people were capable of doing all this without modern tools.” She said smiling. Then she noticed they were two people short. “Where’s Bee and Sureshock?”

Ratchet, upon realizing that their companions were nowhere to be found, looked around. “They must’ve gotten lost along the way. These tunnels are like a maze down here.”

“That’s not good, Ratchet. It’s easy to lose your way down here without a map and there are some large animals that might give you some problems too.”

“Animals? What animals?” Ratchet questioned, not liking the sound of that at all. Gina sheepishly cleared her throat and looked at her feet. “Gina…”

“Well, I may have neglected to mention that there might be Gargoyles living in the caves. They’re a species of dragon that like to live in dark places like this.” She admitted.

“You were planning to go into a cave home to a species of dragon known to be vicious toward humans with only Bumblebee and Sureshock as your protection?”

“Gargoyles aren’t that hard to chase off. They live in the deeper parts of the cave in the lower levels. Just shine some light in their faces and they’ll scatter.” Gina said with a huff.”

“Gina, you make protecting you a very difficult thing to do, you know that?” Ratchet sighed and
called Bumblebee. “Bee, its Ratchet. Can you read me?”

XXXXXX

Bumblebee and Sureshock entered another cavern somewhere else in the caves. Unlike the cavern Gina and Ratchet were in, this cave was harbored a fair amount of naturally glowing hephaestium crystals embedded in the walls.

“This place is a little ominous.” Bumblebee muttered. Sureshock looked around nervously.

“Bee, where are they? I thought we would’ve run into them by now.” She said.

“Maybe we took a wrong turn at that fork back there. Probably should’ve stuck close to them at the start.” Bumblebee said and shrugged. “Oh well, since we’re here, we can look into that
energon signal we detected earlier.”

“Excuse me! Did you forget that our friends are missing in a cave that could be home to
dangerous beasts that like munching on little girls and old Autobots?” Sureshock exclaimed.

“Sureshock, trust me. Gina’s a big girl who knows when to run and Ratchet is no slouch when it comes to defending himself. And we have our own job to do here as well, so please work with me on this, okay?”

Sureshock vented and turned away from him, making Bumblebee sigh. He knew she was a bit over protective of Gina, but she really needed to let loose every once in a while.

“Look, will it help if I call them and see how they’re doing?” He asked.

“Maybe.” She answered.

Bumblebee called up Ratchet on his comm, but he only got static in his audials. “Ratchet? Ratchet, you read me?”

“What’s wrong?”

“No reply. I can’t get a proper signal down here.” He said. He looked around at the rocks and
crystals around them. “Must be the mineral composition.”

“Seriously, Bee, we should go find them.”

“Relax, they’ll be fine. Have some faith in their survival skills.” Bumblebee told her. There was no point in worrying about their friends when they were probably in more need of assistance
than them. “Now, help e get some samples for Ratchet. He might be able to make sense of this place.”

Sureshock groaned and moved to climb on top of an eroded boulder. She really hoped that things went well, because she had a bad feeling about this place.

XXXXXX

Ratchet hummed as he studied the deep claw marks in the ground near the village. The markings were obviously not natural; something made them, something strong enough to cut through solid stone with ease judging from the relatively smooth gouges. He looked at the rest of the area he was in; this part of the village was practically demolished, with little of the houses remaining. In fact, it looked like the aftermath of a battle between Bots and Cons.

“Something wrong, Ratchet?” Gina asked.

“Gina, you said that two armies fought down here in the past, right?” He inquired.

“Yeah, the stories make it out to be a massacre.”

“What were the chances of them being able to wheel artillery here?”

“Nill. The cavern is too small for catapults, so I highly doubt it.” Gina saw the troubled look on his face. “What did you find out?”

“This part of the cave looks like it was hit by something big. There are craters and claw marks that aren’t present in other parts of the village.” Ratchet explained. “It’s as if a large scale battle had gone down here, but there aren’t any human remains lying around. Is there an animal that lives in caves that’s strong enough to cut through stone?”

“That’s a good question, but I don’t have an answer for that.” Gina answered. She went deeper into the battle scarred part of the cave and looked out with pursed lips. “I imagine that something did happen down here that we didn’t know about. Remember, Ratchet, everything people know about this place is mostly speculat-oh!”

Gina yelped as she tripped over something and fell face first into the ground, knocking her glasses off. Ratchet ran over to her.

“Are you okay, Gina?”

“I’m fine.” She said and felt around for her glass. She found them next to something that felt like cloth and put them on, leaning back onto her knees. “What did I trip over? There’s barely anything on the grou-ahhh!”

Gina screamed upon seeing a skeletal human hand sticking out of the dirt. She fell back on her behind and screambled back until her back hit Ratchet’s leg.

“Calm down, Gina, it’s just a hand.” Ratchet said. He shined his headlights on the ground and frowned. “What is a skeleton doing here, though?”

Gina looked further up the rugged pathway and gulped. “R-Ratchet?”

“Yes?”

She pointed ahead and Ratchet followed her shaking finger to a rather gruesome sight. Bones. Bones littered the ravaged village. Some were fully intact skeletons while others were broken apart, either smashed or shattered like splintered wood. Ratchet quietly swore.

“Primus above, what is this?”

“It’s…the remains of the soldiers who fought down here.” Gina said, calming herself with a few deep breathes. She hummed in thought as she noticed something curious. “Huh, for bones that are
a few centuries old, they look to be in surprisingly good condition.”

Ratchet leaned down over the bones. The panel on his right arm flipped open and he ran some scans over the remains. After studying the readings he got back, Ratchet’s face turned dark.

“Gina, these remains aren’t centuries old,” He said. “They’re a few months old. These people were killed just recently.”

“What? But how’s that possible?” She questioned. Looking down, she noticed a piece of torn cloth on one of the bony arms and pulled it off.

It was a sleeve from a military uniform. It was dark red with the symbol of a hammer and a star in the background. The symbol of the Yuktobanian military.

“This belongs to a soldier from Yuktobania, and I’m guessing most of these guys are soldiers.” Gina didn’t feel so confident as she was a few minutes ago. Were any of these skeletons even from the Ottoman Empire? “Ratchet, I think I might have fragged up.”

“Don’t worry,” Ratchet picked her up and held her in his hand. “We’re going to find Bee and Sureshock and the-“

A loud metallic howl rattled the cave and Ratchet was rammed from behind by something large. Holding Gina close to keep her from getting crushed, he tucked himself into a roll and back up against one of the stalagmites. The attacker, cloaked in shadows, gave a painfully loud hiss and charged at him. Ratchet’s body reshaped into his alt mode, dumping Gina into his seat before driving back in reverse. Sick of running away from this beast in the dark, Ratchet switched on his headlights to get a good look at their attacker.

To his surprise, it was a cybertronian, but not a normal one. This mechanoid was larger, sporting a hunched over hulking form with dark green and black armor, with powerful limbs and a face consisting of a red visor and a gaping mouth full of sharp teeth grinding together.

“What the hell is that thing?!” Gina screamed.

“An Insecticon!”

“A what?”

“Indigenous wildlife from Cybertron’s underground network. They were used as beasts of burden back on the War for Cybertron, so I’m really confused as to why there’s one here on Terra!” Ratchet said. When the Insecticon roared and increased its speed, he revved up his engine. “Hang on, Gina!”

Sitting inside of an Autobot while he was transforming was one of the strangest things Gina had ever experienced. Seeing ordinary parts shift and twist around her was a fascinating but terrifying sight when at the center of this twisting mass of metal. She found herself in Ratchet’s hand again as he delivered a strong kick to the Insecticon’s chest. The drone hissed and started firing laser bolts from its arms.

‘Definitely not natural if it has built-in weapons.’ Ratchet thought. He shielded Gina from the lasers and fired back with his pistol. The laser bolts knocked the Insecticon’s arm upward while it was still firing, and its blasts hit the cave ceiling. When a stray bolt hit a large stalactite, the beam dislodged it and caused it to fall.

“Scrap!” Ratchet switched to vehicle mode and shifted back to vehicle mode, moving back in reverse from the Insecticon. It tried to give chase, but the stalactite crashed right on top of it, digging into the ground and causing it to break apart.

Ratchet tried to drive away, but the ground was falling away too quickly. Ratchet and Gina were unable to get away as the ground fell away under them and they fell into the dark abyss.

XXXXXX

“What’s going on?” Sureshock asked as the cave around them began to rumble and shake.

The reverberations from the main cavern spread to the cave Bumblebee and Sureshock were in, causing the cave’s structural integrity to become unstable. Large chunks of rocks began to fall from the ceiling and walls and the scout snatched up Sureshock to keep her safe from falling rocks.

“It’s a cavein! We have to go!”

“But what about Gina and Ratchet?” Sureshock said. “They’re in trouble!”

“They won’t have a prayer if we’re taken out too!” Bumblebee said.

When the stalactites began falling on them, Bumblebee took this as their sign to leave. He
transformed and put the pedal to the metal, driving at full speed while swerving to avoid the raining boulders that could easily bury a mech of his size.

Just then, a large boulder slammed near his rear bumper and threw him out of control. His tires skidded across the ground as he tried to regain control, but he lost traction and tumbled over in a roll. Switching modes as fast as he could, Bumblebee leapt through the cave entrance with Sureshock in his hands. They both crashed into a wall and their vision was obscured by a thick cloud of dust and dirt.

XXXXXX

Gina groaned as she regained consciousness. She hit her head on Ratchet’s steering wheel in the all and now she had a small cut above her right eyebrow. Looking out the window, she saw that they were in a completely different part of the cavern, surrounded by rocks with little space
for a giant robot to properly move. “Ratchet…are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m unharmed, save for a few dents.” He replied, sounding a bit hoarse from falling such a long distance with heavy rocks crashing down on him. He quickly noticed Gina’s injury. “You’re injured.”

“I’m fine, Ratchet. It’s just-hey!”

Ratchet’s Holomatter avatar, a middle age man with short blonde hair dressed in a paramedic’s uniform, manifested in the passenger seat and began rubbing alcohol (which he got from Gaia knows where) into her cut, making it sting. She hissed a bit and he rolled his eyes.

“Don’t be a baby, I’m a medic. It’s my job to care for your well being.” He said calmly. Gina knew better than to refute him.

“Do you know how far we fell?” She asked, wincing a bit from another sting.

“No, but I believe that the insecticon is gone. For now at least.” Ratchet said. “However, I’m still worried.”

“But…it’s dead right? What’s there to be worried about?”

“Most liely, but the question remains how it came to be here in the first place. Let alone if they’re any more drones roaming these caves. Insecticons are hive creatures-they never travel
alone.”

Gina bit her lip in worry as Ratchet placed a bandage over her brow. She went for her phone, but Ratchet stopped her.

“Don’t bother. We’re too far down to get a signal.”

“Not even to call Bee and Sureshock? Maybe they’re close enough for a signal to get through.” Gina said, but her face fell when Ratchet shook his head. “They’re in trouble, Ratchet. They don’t know about the Insecticons.”

“The mineral composition in this cave scrambles my comm, but I have another idea. Could you get out, please?”

Gina hopped out to allow Ratchet to shift into his robot mode, knocking his head on the low ceiling above him. The cave they fell into was smaller and he had to bend low to move slightly. Ratchet pressed the Autobot symbol on his chest, making it beep.

“What’s that?”

“A distress beacon. Similar to the emergency pulsewave the Minicon escape pod had. It’ll
hopefully transmit our location and can be detected even where normal communication equipment won’t work.”

“So we have to wait here for them to find us?”

Ratchet collapsed back into vehicle mode and allowed Gina back in. “Who says we have to wait?”

XXXXXX

Bumblebee was the first to come back online, and the first thing he noticed was that he was stuck in robot mode with a heavy weight on his chest. Craning his head, he saw that a large boulder was sitting on his chest. He pushed it off him with a grunt of effort. Coughing a bit to get the dust from his intakes, Bumblebee looked around for Sureshock.

“Sureshock, where are you?” He called out. Losing a Minicon in this situation was dangerous, especially after a cave in. When he didn’t get a reply, he grew worried. “Sureshock, answer me! Are you okay?”

“B-Bee…”

His audials honed in on the faint sound and he crawled over to a pile of rocks, where he saw a small orange hand sticking out. He cursed and quickly dug her out and cradled her in his hands. She was still in one piece, but her left side was partially crushed and he could see that her left arm and leg were out of commission, but he was glad she was okay for the most part.

“Sureshock, how are you feeling?” He asked. Sureshock’s eyes dimmed a bit before she groaned.

“I’m not in too much pain. I shut off the neural circuits in my arm and leg when the rocks came
down on me.” She said weakly. “Problem is that I can’t really move all that much.”

“Don’t move. I’ll try to find Ratchet and Gina. Doc can help you.” Bumblebee said, trying to
stay calm for her sake. This wasn’t how he wanted this trip to go at all. He really hoped the others were okay. That was when he noticed his Autobrand was beeping. “Huh?”

“What’s that?”

“My Autobrand is going off. Ratchet must be sending out a distress signal, which means that he and Gina are alright. We can still find them!” The scout smiled and looked down at the Minicon. “Don’t worry, Sureshock, you’re going to be alright.”

He looked down the tunnel and was glad to see that the way was still clear aside from a few boulders in their path. He glanced down at Sureshock and saw that she was still. She wasn’t dead, only in stasis, but that meant that she was conserving energy. Her injuries were probably more severe than he thought. He needed to get out of here before something else happened. But that also meant possibly leaving Ratchet and Gina in danger longer than he would’ve wanted.

“Sorry guys, but Sureshock needs help first.” Bumblebee muttered, looking down at the Minicon. “You may not like it, Sureshock, but Gina will kill me if anything happened to you.”

He shifted to his car mode and deposited Sureshock into his back seat. Bumblebee drove down the tunnel, squeezing through the tight paths his way. He hoped that the way back was still clear at least, or things were going to get difficult for everyone here.

XXXXXX

“With the beacon active, all we have to do is get into a better position for Bumblebee and Sureshock to extract us.” Ratchet said. He drove away from their landing point into an area with more space to make it easier for their friends to find them. “It’s not much, but it’s the best chance we have at getting out of here.”

“As long as they’re safe, I can rest easy.” Gina said, leaning back in her seat. “So these
Insecticons…they’re like cybertronian wildlife?”

“They’re vermin, in the simplest of terms. The Insecticons have lived in Cybertron’s underground network for most of their lives until the war, in which the degradation of the planet’s ecosystem forced them onto the surface and led them to attack everything in sight.” He informed her. “I don’t know how he did it, but Megatron managed to coerce them to his side and the Cons weaponized them-turned them into living weapons akin to drones.”

“But if they’re native to Cybertron, what are they doing down here on Terra? Did Megatron bring them here?”

“That’s a good question. One I have no answer to, like the existence of energon on this planet. Though, I must say that this can’t be a coincidence. Hives are usually used by Decepticon high command if they want to guard something valuable.”

“The energon.” Gina said.

“Or something worse.” Ratchet said ominously.

“Do you think that we’ll run into another Insecticon?”

“Most likely. If there is a hive down here, then it’s being led by an alpha, the strongest and smartest.”

Dread filled Gina’s heart. “You don’t think those people back in the village…they were killed by them, do you?”

“I’m afraid so, Gina. Judging from the bones, they’ve been here for a while now.”

Gina groaned and slumped back in her seat. She came here to do some historical research and to have a good time with her friends, but instead she got them all trapped in a cave inhabited by giant man-eating robot insects literally bred to kill. What a day this turned out to be.

Then she made another mistake-one worthy of a scolding from Annie. “At least it can’t get any worse.”

No sooner than she said that, Ratchet was hit in the front by an energy bolt that caused him to flip over. He transformed and held her in his arms as he crashed on his back, his chest smoking. He drew his blaster and leveled it at his attacker.

“I was hoping to take you two out in one shot, but it seems I got a bit cocky.”

A large creature landed on the ground, kicking up dust. It looked like a giant robotic rhinocerous beetle, but it had light green armor and a long, curved horn that looked tougher than steel. Another Insecticon.

“Who are you?” Ratchet demanded.

“You may call me Venom, the alpha of this hive of mine.” Venom said, stalking towards his prey. “But for now, you may also know me as your executioner.”

XXXXXX

Bumblebee gave a grunt as he pushed apart the wall of boulders, jumping back to avoid the falling rocks tumbling down. When he felt the cool evening air, he knew he was free at last. It was almost sundown; they had been in that cave far longer than they intended.

“Bee? What’s with all the noise?” Sureshock asked weakly.

“We made it out, Sureshock. Took me a while, but I managed to dig us out.” He said.

“But what about-?”

“Don’t worry. I’m going back to get the others. Ratchet sent me a distress signal so he and Gina should be alri-“

An explosion boomed from inside the cave, surprising Bumblebee and Sureshock. Another one went off seconds later, followed by a loud, bestial howl.

“That doesn’t sound good.” Sureshock noted. Bumblebee frowned and placed her down on a boulder. “What are you doing?”

“My job.” Bumblebee said and ran back into the cave.

XXXXXX

Gina was hiding behind a boulder as Ratchet fought the Insecticon warrior. Despite his average combat skills, Venom was a much more fearsome warrior with savage strength and surprising speed. Ratchet couldn’t land a blow more devastating than a punch before Venom backhanded him into the wall. The sight of her friend getting trounced made Gina wince.

‘Come on, Ratchet. Don’t let a giant bug beat you.’ Gina prayed.

Ratchet rubbed his sore chin and rolled to the side to avoid getting impaled by Venom’s large horn. The Insecticon’s chitterling mandibles let out a spine tingling sound as he laughed at his foe’s weakness.

“What a day this has been. I was hoping to get a taste of the yellow one and that orange slag, but then I saw you two. It’s been so long since I ate a human.” Venom said, slowly circling Ratchet. “I see you’ve found my leftovers.”

“We have. You’re a messy eater.” Ratchet growled.

“Humans taste good, but their bones are annoying. Those things are only good for picking the flesh from my teeth. But here is an Autobot to sate my hunger, there really must be a god after all.”

“Oh do shut up. I’ve faced more horrific things in my career than a stranded Insecticon with a taste for organics.” Ratchet said. “I’m not afraid of you.”

“You will be.”

Venom lunged at Ratchet. Jumping aside to dodge Venom’s charge, Ratchet shifted his hand into his laser scalpel. He grabbed onto Venom’s back and stabbed the scalpel into the spot where his shoulder joint was. Venom roared in pain as a medical instrument used to save lives was being used to carve him up. Ratchet tried to deal as much damage as possible to Venom’s body, but he was thrown off the alpha’s back and onto the ground.

“V-very good.” Venom grunted. He went into his robot mode, his hulking emerald form trembling in rage with his two red eyes gleaming dangerously. His mouth plate slid apart to reveal a grinning maw of sharp, bloodstained teeth.

He rushed the medic and punched him in the face, followed with a kick to his chest and slammed his fists down on his back. Without giving Ratchet time to recover, Venom gripped the medic by his neck and threw him three feet across the cavern.

“Get up, Ratchet!” Gina shouted. Her heart was pounding as she watched her friend get thrashed around like a ragdoll.

Ratchet tried to get up, but the pummeling he just received had his body screaming in pain. He looked up to see Venom stomping towards him, teeth grinding together to make an ear-shattering sound akin to nails on a chalkboard. The mad look in his beady red eyes and the grin he sported made Ratchet think that this had to be one of the most unnerving individuals he ever met.

“You put up a valiant effort, but you’re no warrior. You are prey, and you shall die a prey’s death!” Venom opened his jaws and reached for Ratchet, but a rock hit the side of his head. “Huh?”

He looked to the side and saw Gina standing not too far from them. She was trembling in fear, but that didn’t stop her from throwing another rock at his head. The tiny stones hitting his armor were like snowflakes on a support beam, they were barely worth noting, but the fact that this tiny creature had the nerve to attack him like she was his equal enraged Venom. And when he was angry, people died.

“You filthy little animal!” He roared and pushed Ratchet aside. “I’LL KILL YOU JUST LIKE I DID TO THE REST OF YOUR PATHETIC BRETHEREN!!!”

“GINA!” Ratchet tried to stop Venom, but the Insecticon kicked him away and ran at the terrified human child. Gina fell back and screamed, shutting her eyes.

There was a loud bang and the sound of high-pitched screams. Gina opened her eyes when she realized she was still alive and looked up to see that Venom was sporting a large hole in his shoulder. His arm was hanging by only a few cables, and he was on his knees wailing in pain. Ratchet looked up and saw Bumblebee grinning down at them.

“Hey guys!”

“Bee/Bumblebee!” Gina and Ratchet exclaimed.

Bumblebee dropped a rescue line to them. “Grab the rope before fangle fangs gets his slag together.”

Ratchet snatched Gina up and grabbed the rope. The scout began towing them up the line, but their rescue was interrupted when an enraged Venom flew at them in his beast mode.

“YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE ME! NO ONE ENTERS MY CAVE AND LIVES TO SEE THE SUN!”

Venom prepared to fire a photon blast from his horn, but an EMP grenade tossed down at him hit him in the face and exploded, releasing a surge of EMP waves along his body, causing him to seize up and fall to the ground.

“You’re gonna have to wait for another meal, bozo!” Bumblebee yelled.

Venom hit the ground and reverted to robot mode, glaring up at the fleeing Autobots. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t even feel his limbs, but the hatred in his eyes was visible. Using what little strength he had, Venom let out a roar that echoed throughout the cave and into the outside world for all to hear.

“I’ll kill you doctor. You and your human pet are mine to devour. No one gets away with humiliating an Insecticon alpha! NO ONE!”

XXXXXX

Gina sat next to Sureshock as Ratchet worked on her. Bumblebee stood guard near the cave entrance in case any unwanted visitors decided to get some fresh air.

“How is she, Ratchet?” Gina asked softly. Ratchet ran his arc welder along Sureshock’s torso and damaged arm to seal her damaged armor before glancing at her.

“She’s not in any immediate danger, if you’re still worried about that. She’ll need some time in the medibay for a day or two before she can move again.” He said. “But otherwise, she’ll make a full recover.”

“That’s good.” Gina muttered before she started sniffling. Ratchet and Bumblebee looked at her concerned.

“Gina, what’s wrong? Sureshock’s going to be fine.” Bumblebee said.

“I know, it’s just…none of this would’ve happened if I wasn’t so damn persistent in going into that stupid cave. I almost got all of us killed!” She cried.

“Gina, look at me.” Ratchet told her. She looked up at him, and he gave her a soft smile. “None of this is your fault. You could not have predicted this. What matters is that we’re safe and sound.”

“Yeah, there’s no need to cry. Just be glad we made it out of there. And think of this as a lesson to be more careful in the future, okay?” Bumblebee smiled.

“O-okay.” Gina nodded and gave them a watery smile.

Ratchet looked at the cave and walked over to the entrance. Even though they made it out, there was still no guarantee that more people won’t make the same mistake they made today. It didn’t take long to find a solution to that particular problem.

“Bee, can you hand me your grenade?”

The scout obliged his request, and he and Gina watched Ratchet toss the explosive device into
the cave. It detonated and the explosion caused the entrance to crumble, blocking the tunnel with a pile of large rocks. The ruins of Precht were sealed off from the outside world forever.

“Now no one will meet the same fate as those poor souls inside.” Ratchet said solemnly. “Let’s go home.”

“I hear you on that.” bumblebee sighed.

They went into vehicle mode, and Gina helped load Sureshock into Ratchet before hopping in with her. The Autobots drove away from the darkening forest and went on their way home.