Softpaw and Cheetor, having finished their rest, were traversing through the dense undergrowth of the rainforest. While things had been thus far uneventful, there was an uneasy feeling in the air.

Cheetor had been unusually quiet the entire way, which Softpaw noticed. The cheetah had reluctantly told her what he'd seen and heard, after much pressing. She couldn't blame him for feeling low. The Maximal bunny couldn't bear seeing her friend looking so despondent. Then a cheeky thought occurred to her. She knew Optimus probably wouldn't approve, but Cheetor needed cheering up. What harm could it cause?

She held back a few meters, then pounced onto his back and cried, "Gotcha, cheetah! Prepare yourself for the herbivore revolution!"

"Agh!" Cheetor exclaimed, surprised. "What are you doing Cotton ball?" He couldn't help but chuckle lightly.

She smiled at the sound of his laughter. "This is a bunny attack. Now surrender. Resistance is futile!"

Cheetor gave a cheeky smirk. In retaliation, he held onto her arms to make sure she couldn't get away. "Oh yeah? This cat doesn't go down easy..."

She gulped, suddenly regretting her decision as he sprinted full pelt. Softpaw held onto him for dear life, until he eventually slowed to a stop. She had her optics screwed shut, and was almost choking him for holding on so tightly.

"Hops, we've stopped. You can open your eyes now," Cheetor chuckled. The bunny eventually opened one one optic, then slid off his back, grateful to find her feet back on solid ground. "Did you enjoy the ride?" he asked with a smirk, receiving a punch on the arm.

"No fair! I try to cheer you up, and you give me a spark attack!"

"Sorry SP, you left yourself open to retaliation. I had to run with it."

"Har har. Opportunist," she replied with a huff.

The cat placed a hand on her head. Softpaw looked up at him, and saw a smile on his face. "Thank you, Hops. I really needed that."

The bunny smiled back. "What are friends for? I'm glad that..." She didn't finish her sentence, as something in the distance caught her attention. She cautiously headed towards it, and Cheetor followed her with his eyes, puzzled. "Softpaw, what's wrong?"

She didn't seem to hear him. She got closer to the trunk of a particularly thick Kapok tree, taking slow, cautious steps, until she heard a low, malicious laugh.

Lionus' dulcet tones echoed through her head as he asked silkily, "Did you miss me, bun-bun?" Her breathing quickened as her body froze. Lionus walked closer, giving her an unsettling smile. "Awww, why the face? Aren't you happy to see me? I am delighted to see you again. And we'd had such fun together before you were taken away by the Maximals."

"It was only fun for you, you psychopath," she retorted defiantly, though her voice trembled, and was barely a whisper.

The mountain lion snickered. "Oh come now. There were times when you were warming up to us, don't deny it." He sighed dramatically. "Oh well. Win some, lose some. There are always more test subjects." He smirked. "So I bid you adieu," he added ominously, transforming into beast mode and running off into the undergrowth.

Softpaw had a split second to consider the meaning behind his words. What did he mean by 'test subjects'? She was vaguely aware of Cheetor approaching her when she suddenly realised: Lionus must have captured one or more of her comrades! She couldn't let him do anything to them, so she shot off after him in beast mode.

"Hey! Where are you going?!" Cheetor yelled, running after her. "I wish she'd stop doing that..."

Softpaw had already lost track of the Predacon. A small part of her was relieved that she hadn't found him, but she must locate her friends. She soon heard a faint groan close by. Softpaw hurried over to where it came from, and what she saw made her spark sink. Jaggid, Greyback and Coldstrike were hurt, and each bound to a tree from their wrists, waist and ankles.

"Guys!" Softpaw cried as she rushed over. Fortunately they were still online, but were drifting in and out of stasis lock. "Don't worry, I'll free you, and get you somewhere safe."

As she tried to loosen the bonds on Coldstrike, he gave a pained yell. Softpaw reeled back, alarmed.

"I'm sorry! Are you al..." she began.

Coldstrike's optics snapped open, his expression fierce and his teeth bared. "What do you think you're doing?" he snarled.

She was taken aback. "I...Trying to help you, of course!"

He huffed. "Fat chance. What help can you possibly be, Miss Fluff Ball?"

As she was reeling from this comment, she heard Greyback come to. "Agreed," he said darkly. "You're weak, kid. Useless."

"What?" she answered, flustered. Her mind started flashing back to her time at the Predacon base. These comments were all sounding uncomfortably familiar. "Come on guys, you don't really believe that..."

"It doesn't matter what we believe," Jaggid said, glaring at her. "You believe it more than any of us. Isn't that right?"

Softpaw's breathing started to get sharp and irregular. "I don't know what's gotten into you guys, but it must have something to do with Lionus. I'm getting you out, so stay still!" She tried to free Greyback from his wrist restraints, but instead of unclasping the latch, she only tightened them, causing energon to surge through the wolf. He yelled painfully and his head dropped to his chest as he went into stasis lock.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Jaggid demanded angrily, baring her fangs. Then she let out a cruel laugh. "Ha. No need to answer. You're doing what you always do; making things worse."

"But I..."

"Don't interrupt!" snapped Coldstrike. He narrowed his optics and said, in a deadly soft tone, "We should have left you there..."

A sudden surge coursed through all of them from the cuffs, and they slumped.

"No!"

"Looks like your so-called 'friends' don't need you after all," Lionus said suddenly, as he crept out of the shadows. "You're only going to make things worse if you try and help. Do they even want you around? Sounds to me like..."

"Shut up!" she interrupted shrilly, taking several steps back to get away from him. "Stop it, it's not true!"

She slipped and landed on her back, cracking her head on a hard root. The world went black.

~*~

Moments later, she woke up to Cheetor shaking her awake. "Hops! Hops, you with me?"

She groaned and rubbed the back of her head, wincing. Suddenly, she shot up to a seated position and turned her head to the trees. There was nothing there...no one.

"What was the deal back there? You got all bugged out for a second, then took off," Cheetor said, slightly annoyed, but still concerned.

With her hand still on her head she answered, "I, uh...I think this hallucination thing might be contagious..."

"What do you...oh," he paused as he realised what she meant. He hesitantly asked, "What did you see?"

She explained, but vaguely. She still hadn't told anyone about the full extent of her attempted indoctrination at the hands of Lionus. But Cheetor had been part of the rescue mission to free her from the Predacon base, and knew how much it had shaken her.

"So yeah, that was oodles of fun," she said sarcastically. She tried to cover the fact that her whole body was shaking by being extra snarky, but Cheetor saw right through that.

"I wasn't affected this time," he observed, scratching his head. "Maybe it can only target one bot at a time."

"What would 'it' be?"

"Don't know. But we gotta find out." He stood. "You okay to keep going?" He held out his hand to help her up, which she took.

Softpaw said, still a little shakily, "The base must realise what's happened by now, so someone's bound to come looking for us. We should make ourselves easier to find."

"But not to the Preds..." Cheetor noted.

"Well, duh. Let's follow the river. At the very least we can get our bearings and map out this jungle as we go."

"Good idea," the cat said as he transformed to beast mode. "Off we go."

"And let's try and keep each other sane."

He chortled. "That'll be the day."

Rolling her eyes in mild amusement, Softpaw also transformed and they headed downriver.