Tarantulas tore and slashed his way through the undergrowth, muttering to himself about this wretched subterranean rainforest; how dense it was, and therefore very difficult to manoeuver through.

He also lamented the fact that he had two Maximals to contend with down here. Clearly the quake had not adequately covered his entrance. Were there any more in the underground world with him? Or worse, fellow Predacons? He was both confident and relieved that his previous 'encounter' with his comrades had been a mere illusion, but he would have to be careful should he come across any of his so-called teammates.

He was making his way through a particularly dense part, then suddenly felt only air beneath his foot. Before he could catch himself, he tumbled down a steep precipice, landing in a heap at the bottom, twenty feet below.

"Curses!"

However it turned out his fall was very fortuitous. A few kilometers away, across an area of jungle with few trees leading to an enormous clearing, he saw it. The obelisk, which he could see clearly now: the three segments which made up the main structure, and at the top a stone cupola that was emitting soft light. He marvelled at the lighthouse's design. Around it was impeccably carved stone in a perfect circle.

He looked behind him to calculate his position from the cave entrance he came through, and when he turned his head back, the lighthouse looked like it was slightly to the left. "How very curious. A phase shifting perception filter. Clever. But not clever enough."

He confidently made his way towards it.

~*~

Meanwhile, Cheetor and Softpaw were sprinting across the forest floor. Neither of them were very adept climbers, so getting to the top of the canopy to look for the lighthouse wasn't an option. So they stuck to their original plan of following their noses. They soon detected a scent that did not belong to the surrounding environment, much closer to them this time.

"We're closing in on it," Cheetor said, his paws loudly disturbing the leaves as they ran.

Softpaw, struggling a little to keep up with him, could only muster a breathy, "Uh huh," as a response.

Cheetor suddenly screeched to a halt, and his companion slammed into him and fell onto her back. Highly irritated, she rubbed her nose with her paw and demanded, "A little heads up would be nice, why did you stop?"

Cheetor looked alarmed. "Now that we're closer, I can tell the scent isn't Maximal..."

She sniffed, and while she couldn't determine exactly who it was, she knew he was right. A Predacon. Her body tensed and her spark started racing. It was probably Lionus. Of course it would be Lionus! Their luck had been terrible up to this point, why would it not be Lionus?

Cheetor sensed this and Maximised. "Don't worry, we can take him," he said reassuringly.

"Sure, yeah. No problem," she said unconvincingly. She followed suit and pulled out her weapon.

There was a rustling in the trees above them. They immediately looked up, but only saw the leaves falling.

Suddenly, in robot mode, Serpentia landed in their path, striking an imposing figure.

Softpaw felt her chest tighten. "Is it another illusion?"

"Afraid not," Cheetor said apprehensively, his entire body tensing. He was never happy to see a snake, let alone a Predacon one. "I see her too."

A snide grin spread across the Predacon's face. "Expecting sssomeone else, my young wanderers?"

"Hah, yeah," Softpaw expelled nervously. "Actually, it's a bit of a relief."

"Wrong, I'm afraid." The cobra bared her sharp teeth and hissed menacingly. The hood that went from the crown of her head to her upper back enlarged and she raised herself several feet into the air using her strong tail.

Soptpaw gulped. "Um. Statement retracted."

Serpentia laughed as she launched herself at the two Maximals, and battle ensued.

~*~

Airazor and Jaggid were back on their route to the lighthouse with Airazor leading in the air and Jaggid following below, this time on the ground. She had had quite enough of leaping through the trees like a chimpanzee.

Airazor was well in sight of the structure, ensuring she kept her eye on it, lest it change positions again. However, before she could have spotted Tarantulas making his way closer to it, a strong, muscular ball of fur leapt at her from a nearby boulder.

They both crashed and rolled on the ground, grunting. Airazor armed her wrist guns as she squared off against Lionus, who smugly had his blaster cannon directed at her. They stared at each other for several seconds.

"Well?" he demanded. "Who has the courage to strike first?" he finally asked, curling his lip into a cruel and taunting smile.

Airazor smiled slyly back. "Age before beauty," she said to him with a mocking flourish of her hand.

He snarled and obliged with a photon blast aimed at her head. She dodged and shot as his feet, forcing him backwards. After a few more pot shots, they were back to where they started.

"Where's your slithery friend? I was expecting a duo, not a subpar solo act," Airazor asked in a mocking tone.

"We split up to cover more ground. Or more accurately, to divide and conquer you meddling Maximals." He gave her a taunting sneer.

"Well, that was a mistake," Airazor chided.

"And why is that, deary?"

"Because now, not only are you outmatched, you're outnumbered." She smiled and looked behind Lionus. He turned around and gulped when he saw Jaggid had arrived, claws ready.

"Ah..." he said with deadpan inflection as the two ran at him.

~*~

Tarantulas had finally reached close enough to the lighthouse to fully admire its construction and detail. The first of the anomalous structures they had encountered on this mud ball had been crude and simplistic, at least on the outside. But not this one. What he had assumed were small shadows from a distance turned out to be windows, with various colours of light shining through them. Around each window were markings, presumably writing, each of which fluctuated in and out of existence if he focussed on them too long. A result of the perception filter, perhaps.

The intricacies of this marvel would have to wait, for he needed to figure out how to get inside first.

He hummed thoughtfully to himself. "There are surely defence systems here, like the ones we were told about on that flying island..." He pondered this for a while, trying to remember details of the reports he'd read on that mission, or of Blackarachnia's own accounts. He had not seen any strange markings in this jungle forest or the clearing to indicate traps. However, those hallucinations he and the Maximal feline had experienced...those might have been this ecosystem's defensive measures.

Then why was he not experiencing anything, this close to the monument? Perhaps it was the falcon's turn to have a vision.

He inched closer to the perimeter. Nothing. Feeling cocksure, Tarantulas cackled triumphantly to himself as he took several more steps. But as his foot hovered over the border line, he felt an energon surge coursing through his body, and he was flung backwards. A shield suddenly became visible around the lighthouse.

"Slag!" he cursed once he recovered.

That moment, the ground began to rumble, similarly to the earlier quakes. The base of the lighthouse began to glow ominously, and this phenomenon climbed up towards the top of the structure. When the glowing reached the cupola, a blinding burst of light exploded from it, illuminating the entire cave forest.

~*~

Airazor was in the middle of a dive towards Lionus when it happened. The sudden burst of light distracted her momentarily; the sheer and sudden brightness threw her off course, and she plummeted to the ground. She lifted her head groggily and was alarmed to see she had landed almost right next to Lionus.

He, however, didn't seem to notice her at all. He was attempting to protect his optics from the bright light with his hands. But after a few seconds, the tension in his body disappeared as he lowered his arms. His face, initially contorted in terror, softened to almost expressionless in a matter of seconds as he stared, motionless and transfixed, in the direction of the lighthouse.

Airazor got up slowly and cautiously to inspect him. He did not react to her. In fact, there was no evidence to suggest he was even aware of her presence. She moved to his side and took a closer look at his face. She saw what appeared to be a highly concentrated beam of light linking his optics to the lighthouse like a string. For the moment, he was incapacitated.

"Looks like we finally got a bit of luck Jag," she said to her comrade as she sighed with relief. Jaggid did not answer. Airazor turned her head. "Jag, did you hear what I just..."

She gasped in horror.

Jaggid was also trapped in a beam; a blank stare on her face and standing still as a statue.

Airazor ran up to her, grabbed her by the shoulders and started shaking her. "Jaggid, snap out of it! Jag!"

Nothing she did worked. She even placed herself between Jag's optics and the beam of light, to no effect. She was at a loss.

~*~

At the same time, the exact same phenomenon was witnessed by the two young Maximals, and Serpentia.

"What in the Pit?!" the snake hissed as she turned her head and optics away from the dazzling brightness.

Softpaw was not as quick to turn away, but the light did not blind her as she thought it might. There was an eerie coolness to it that was oddly mesmerising. But on instinct, she soon covered her optics with her hands. Next to her, she could feel Cheetor moving, but she was unaware of precisely what he was doing. When the light dimmed, she discovered to her shock why that was. All of the light had been concentrated on Cheetor: his optics caught in a beam that hooked him to the lighthouse.

Panicked, she grabbed his arm and tried to drag him away, all the while shouting his name. But he could not be moved. He was glued to the spot, staring into the light.

Suddenly, Softpaw was reminded that she and Cheetor were not alone.

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear," Serpentia teased with a malicious grin. "Looksss like you're on your own."

TO BE CONTINUED...

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Hope you guys enjoyed Part 1 of this collaboration fanfic! Stay tuned for Part 2! We are working on it, but we are so happy on how this turned out! ^^

Once again, I encourage you to check out my dear friend Jaggid-Edge on DeviantArt! This wouldn't be possible with out her. She did so much and worked hard to make this a great story.

See you on the next part!