//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Editing Complete // Story: Transformers Prime: The Equestrian War(Revival in Progress) // by ALoyalAutobot //------------------------------// Getting the Team Together - Part 2 Everfree Forest In the middle of the forest, a couple of squirrels was running to and fro; collecting acorns when their scavenger hunt was suddenly interrupted by a loud footstep, then another. Each step louder than the last. They sprinted to the closest bush to hide from the predator hunting for their next meal. They didn't want to be on the menu, whatever is coming. The creature emerged from the bushes, walking on two legs connected to a wide green torso. It also has fat arms making it appear to be very strong. The small balls of fur heard it grunt and growl in frustration, thinking the giant is angry for turning up empty handed. They watched the green giant's every move inside the bush. The giant was tugging his leg on a vine with a surprisingly strong grip compared to his massive size, making the vine look like a piece of sewing thread. Bulkhead gives his leg one last tug, snapping the vine in two. He growls in frustration as he brushes any stowaway-leaves still hanging around his chest. "Grr... where is that swamp?" he asks himself, "'Not very far', he says... my hide. Whoa!" Another lose vine grabs a hold of his foot, his body beginning to fall, face-first. His tower-collapsing body stops just as fast as it began. Once again, he was a victim of tangled vines. "Ugh... why do big guys like me get the humiliation..." he sulks, "At least no one saw this," Looking from the corner of his optics, he spotted two furry critters hiding under a small bush. When it dawned on them it can see them, they fled to the trees, leaping from branch to branch in an attempt to escape the beast. "Eh, who can blame them. I am pretty intimidating, especially to the Cons," he thought while smirking to himself. His moment of silence was interrupted by a fierce growl... untangling himself, he quickly got back onto his feet. His hands then turned into massive, spiky-looking wrecking balls. The source of the growl emerged from the bushes it was concealed in, giving Bulkhead a good look at his opponent. It had the body of a lion, the wings of a bat, and the tail of a scorpion with horns on its head. It was pretty large, it could almost reach up past his chestplate if it stood on it's back legs. Whatever this "thing" was, it looks like a tough opponent. Bulkhead was feeling rather edgy... and he was looking for something to smash. However, he knew better than to use his own strength against a living creature, "I'm not in the mood right now, kitty cat. Go home." Rather than heed his warning, it gave a battle cry before charging at its opponent. At the last minute, Bulkhead slammed his melee weapons right into it's skull. Instead of losing it's noggin, it got back on it's feet. It shook his head to remove any dizziness from the impact. Bulkhead is surprised this strange creature's head didn't seem to come clean off. Instead, that punch left behind a black eye. Feeling cocky, he chuckled then started taunting his opponent, "You've got a pretty thick skull there. Most skulls I smash would pop off or became a new piece of alloy," the large beast roared and charged at him, already irritated of his smack talk. The beast's plan only found itself in a dazed confusion. It charged, then was punched back by Bulkhead's huge weapons. It pounced, only to be smashed into some trees. Over and over again, it keeps trying to land a strike on this new trespasser. The battle was faring more on the giant than the beast, but it wasn't giving up on this fight. Sometime later after a series of punches and kicks, it grew tired and exhausted. Despite being battered, though, it still wouldn't give up. It was struggling to protect it's honor for the pack. Bulkhead is fed up with it's stubbornness to stay down. He pressed his foot into the beast's chest, applying pressure to ensure it couldn't get back up. Whipping out his blaster, Bulkhead is ready to wrap this up. Ready to finish the fight. Ready to end this stubborn excuse of a creature. He starts charging up his blaster to ensure a good, clean shot. He needed to regroup with his team, and he's not going to let it slow him down. Once it was fully charged, he pointed at the head, "I've put up with your ignorance to quit. I told you I wasn't in the mood. Now, you'll see what happens when you put down your chance to survive," it simply growled at him, as if trying to say, 'do it already.' "Wreckers don't call for back up, they call for clean up," Bulkhead recited his old team's motto in his head, sort of a Wrecker's policy... but... this doesn't... feel right... sure, this thing attacked him, but this was different... this isn't a Decepticon bent on their destruction. No, it was a battle for honor... "Optimus wouldn't do it, not like this..." he sighs, then lowers his blaster. He lifted his foot off the beast. It looked up at him in confusion. "Go home, before I change my mind," he grunted. The beast seemed to... well, it walked up to him. It was limping, somewhat, but still walking. The beast stared at his opponent, then raised it's paw toward him. It took Bulkhead a minute to recognize what this gesture meant, then very carefully grasped it's paw and gave a gentle, but firm shake. The beast was showing him... respect, if that made any sense. The beast then turned away to return to wherever it resides. Bulkhead chuckled to himself, "Heh, guess I made a new rival. An odd, mixed up, random animal rival, but a rival... more or less," he smiles to himself, then proceeded to complete his task of reuniting with his team. "One thing for certain, we're not on Earth anymore," he reminded himself of the strange creature he dueled. It's not everyday you get to fight a creature of imagination. He managed to take a few steps until another noise grabbed his attention. This time, it was the sound of an engine. The forest was pretty quiet, so if something is making a noise only a car could make then that could mean more Autobots. He pressed his stubby finger into his Comm Link then opened a channel for the receiving end to pick up, "This is Bulkhead, does any Bot receive? Over," he patiently waited for an answer, then was responded by a female voice. "This is Arcee, I read you Bulk. Are you alright?" Bulkhead's spirits soared, a huge wave of relief flushing out his worries and doubts, "I'm fine, Cee. An out-of-control Ground Bridge landing in Primus-knows-where, fighting a mutated bat-lion, and get a few scratches here and there. I'm still functional," he got a chuckle from his Comms. "Heh, with a big Bot like yourself, almost nothing is ever a threat to you, let alone surprised. Scratch and dents, and no complaints," she said while chuckling lightly. Bulkhead replied with a chuckle himself, "Just join the Wrecker's for a while, then you'll see where I got my battle scars from," he suddenly remembered his task, "Hey, Bee filled me in a little while ago. He's in a swamp somewhere in the forest. Any idea where that might be?" "I think I got an idea," the response was so close he turned to see Arcee right next to him. "Whoa, how'd you get here so fast?!" the surreal arrival time was shocking to say the least, even startled the big bruiser of Team Prime. "I wasn't enlisted as a Scout for nothing, Bulk. Plus, it's hard to miss a big lug like you," she answered, a mischievous, cheeky smirk on her face. "Don't sneak up on me like that, thought you were a Decepticon Cloaker for a second," he responded with irritation in his voice. There would be a couple of times when they weren't out on Curb-Side duty, battling Decepticons, or scouting for Energon that she'd sneak up on one or two members of Team Prime and spook them when they least expect it... with the exception of Optimus Prime for obvious reasons. "You're so gullable, Bulk. It's funny watching you suddenly lose your cool," she lightly chuckles again, then got back to their goal of reaching the rest of Team Prime, "Just through those trees lies a crevice up ahead, then we head a little bit further to the North and we should arrive at the destination in no time," Arcee informs the big, seemingly unintelligent, Bulkhead. After Bulkhead cooled off, a mental command to his Transforming Cog, or T-Cog for short, then he transforms into a green, heavy terrain vehicle. It's a little slow when it comes to horsepower, but this type of vehicle is perfect for the slightly humid and muddy forest. "What're we waiting for? Let's hit the road." Arcee, nodding in agreement, transforms into a motor powered bicycle. They both drove off, getting anxious to get together to think of a plan. Right now, finding the team is their top priority. Elsewhere in the Everfree Forest Twilight could feel her head dripping with sweat, a small trickle of fluid seeping through her pours to keep her cool. Her left foreleg came to her forehead, brushing the stream of liquid off her brow. If she knew she was going to be out here for a while, she'd come prepare. But nope, she had to let her curiousity and excitement for science prevented her from thinking of preparing her and her friends for the search. "You live, you learn," as they always say and a magical, Alicorn Princess was no exception. Her ears perked up to a groan, turning to see it was Rarity complaining... again. The tenth time she's been whining during the search, and it's only been an hour! Twilight was losing her patience with the drama act. Applejack wasn't faring any better, her face giving an agitated frown. The strong, orange mare is about ready to take the overly dramatic unicorn to some mud puddle somewhere, and start coating her fur in several wads of filth for half an hour. Applejack may have learned to put aside their differences, but her tolerance levels are running on thin ice. "For shame, Twilight. We've been out here for a while, and no sign of the other aliens. Can we please go home now? I barely had any time to even get ready for a walk through the forest," she complains, lifting the curls of her mane, "The heat is starting to make me sweat and it's making my hair sag," then points her hoof at her face, "Not to mention, it's ruining my make-up! And don't get me started on-" Applejack snaps her head towards Rarity, cutting her off, "FER LAN SAKES, GIRL!!! We got more important things ta worry about than yer flashy make-up," her expression was of who lost their sanity, "This is not Canterlot, this is a forest! So, drop the theater act, before ah decide ta drag ya ta Boggy Bottom Bog and dunk yer pretty face inta the swamp!" bringing Rarity's complaints to a standstill. She can tolerate Rarity's fashion issues to a certain degree, but start dragging her into the dramatic acts over the least important things, she'll give them something else to worry about. Sweat? She bathes in sweat for Celestia's sake, and she works at a farm! Rarity tried to counter Applejack's unlikely threat attempt, but stopped when she received a glare from the cowpony. She then resorted to mumbling while looking ready to tear up. Rarity is a strong mare, but being at the end of the whip is rather hurtful. Applejack sortof felt guilty for shouting at her friend like that, "Ah'm sorry, Rares. Ah'm just a lil' grumpy from not gettin' somethin' ta eat. And yer not the only one that wants ta take a break," she finishes. It looks like that got through to her, Rarity looked up at the farm mare with a forgiving smile. Applejack groaned then turned to ask the somehow caught unprepared princess, "Twi, how much farther. We're pretty tired and we really need ta take a breather," then was interrupted by some growls, not just her, but from the rest of the group, "and we're a mighty hungry." Twilight stares through the canopy of trees before turning to face the cowpony, "I don't know," she answers truthfully, "I know we are out here on short notice, but you've all seen Bumblebee use whatever that thing was to blow up that Timberwolf." The group looks at each other in fear, being reminded of the destructive power these visitors possess after Bumblebee's "demonstration". Twilight lifted her ears to the sound of somepony shouting, somewhere above them came a cry of, "Head's up!" Out of instinct, they all ducked their heads, a multi-colored trail left in a blur then done with a *crash* a little bit later. The rowdy rainbow-pegasus poked her head out of the bushes, then gave a nervous chuckle, "Heh... sorry. Wanted to make an epic entrance, didn't work out," she smiles sheepishly. "Well, did you find anything?" Twilight asks anxiously. Rainbow smirks, "Well, I am awesome at finishing a job... I found another one." "You did?! Where is it? What did it look like?" Twilight bombards Rainbow with questions. Rainbow shook her front hooves in defense, "Slow down, egghead! I'm not ready for 20 questions!" Twilight sighed before putting her notepad up, "Guess I need to find out on my own..." she says in disappointment. "That's right, egghead. You do the hard work for us," Rainbow was met with a glare. She only laughs in response. Fluttershy finds her voice and nervously asks Rainbow, "D-did you find out... anything?" Rainbow puts her right, fore-hoof up to her chin and ponders, "I think they said something about a swamp... what was it called again? Boogey Button Bug? No, Booger Glutton Big? No, it's on the tip of my tongue!" Rainbow growls in frustration. "Boggy Bottom Bog," Twilight answers. "Yeah, that's it," she smiles, repeating Twilight, "Boggy Bottom Bog! That's what I meant to say," she smirks in hollow-triumph. Twilight rolls her eyes, then faces the group, "Alright, girls. We're heading to Boggy Bottom Bog," she announces. Fluttershy smiles, "Oh, I'll get to see my froggy friends, again!" No sooner they said that, they went to reach their destination. Later, they had arrived, only to find the most unreal event unfold before them. A least five Hydras was taking up most of the space in the swamp, blocking the Mane Six(Five) from seeing their chosen meal of the day. Each head was jerking forward in an attempt to get whatever was dodging their jaws so quickly! From the mares point-of-view, it looks like a snake feeding-frenzy, aggressively attacking to nab their dinner. When the girls got a better look at their prey, there was a yellow figure from what little space they could see from. They could barely make out a green, wide giant. And they could see little of a dark-blue, skinny figure. They all gaped at the chaos in the swamp from the ledge they stand on... nothing making a sound, with the exceptional growls of the frustrated Hydras. The moment of quietness was interrupted by a cheerful giggle from a pink mare. "Oooo! Are we playing the copycat game? My turn!"