Cheetor and Softpaw began their exploration of the seemingly endless and mysterious underground world. They were absolutely fascinated by everything they saw. Plants as green and healthy as the ones above, some enticing fruits, and beautiful flowers of all colours. This was truly a thriving ecosystem, though there seemed to be a distinct lack of wildlife. It was certainly odd, but the two discerned that maybe mammals didn't inhabit this underground ecosystem. They had not yet ventured too far in the jungle, so there might be more for them to discover the further they went.

Softpaw was the most fascinated by the scenery, but there was a lingering sense of unease that prevented her from getting too excited. The maximal bunny stopped to look at a flower. "Think there's anything dangerous down here? Apart from the manic Predacon arachnid?"

He stopped beside her, looking all around. "I don't know, Hops. Let's just keep our guard up and we'll be fine. We may be banged up, but as long as we're still kicking, we can handle anything that comes at us. Besides," he glanced at her with a smug smile, "we're the best dynamic duo." He smiled confidently.

Softpaw cocked a brow ridge and smirked, "Hmm, I'd have said Jaggid and Greyback were the best duo."

"Aww, come on Cotton Ball, don't ruin the moment for me," he answered sheepishly.

"Or Airazor and Tigatron..." she continued casually but pointedly, trying to contain her amusement. He tried to interject but she playfully continued, "Optimus and Rhinox go way back...heck, even Rattrap and Dinobot when they're not at each other's throats."

She let out a hearty laugh when he gave a flustered grunt of defeat.

"Fine. Whatever. But what about Tigatron and Coldstrike, they can be the icy duo." Softpaw nodded nonchalantly, though mention of the polar bear did catch her off guard. Cheetor continued with a knowing grin, "Or do you believe Coldstrike should have a different partner, hmm?"

"Oh look, something to investigate!" she said quickly, pretending to be highly interested in a falling leaf some distance away. Cheetor clenched his fist victoriously and they moved on.

With the conclusion of their light ribbing, they cautiously resumed their expedition through the forest. Along the way, they discovered new types of plants, but still no fauna; not even insects. This was extra puzzling: how did the plants germinate without any wildlife to aid them?

This, along with an unexplainable nagging sensation in the back of his mind, kept Cheetor on edge. Something about that place seemed familiar, but he couldn't grasp what. He got lost in his thoughts trying to figure it out, when Softpaw's musings interrupted his thoughts.

"I think Tigatron would love this place," she commented lightly, looking up and staring at the cavern's ceiling. "Hope he's okay. All I remember is the blast, then everything going dark..." Her voice trailed off, her brow furrowing in concern.

Cheetor nudged her, his tone reassuring, "Hey, don't worry. Big Cat's tough, he can handle himself. But right now we've gotta focus on our mission: collect as much data on this place as we can, until we find a way out." The cheetah paused, as his gaze diverted to a stalagmite he spotted through the vegetation. A smirk crept onto his face. "We stalag-might learn something!"

The bunny gave her friend a reproachful look, but cou;ldn't help smiling. "Boooo! Get off the stage!"

"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad."

"You're right, it was a cat-tastrophe."

Cheetor slow clapped. "Ha ha. You just had to take the chance to hop in, didn't you?"

"Yep. You have to admit, it was purr-fect timing."

The pair barely had time to laugh at their own pun-tastic brilliance, before Cheetor froze when he heard a sudden crack nearby. He quickly adopted a defensive position. Softpaw, alarmed, followed suit, though she wasn't sure what he was reacting to.

Cheetor suddenly saw a blue spider web shoot out from between the trees, heading straight for them. The young cheetah reacted fast and crouched down to avoid it, pulling his partner down along as well, then dragged her behind a tree for cover.

Tarantulas' voice sent a chill down his spine. "Come out Maximals. It's useless to hide from me."

"Oh no you don't, you eight-legged freak!" He fired at the spider rapidly, but he seemed to only hit the foliage behind him. Regardless, Tarantulas ducked for cover behind a thick tree and Cheetor did the same, dragging Softpaw with him. "Thanks for the cover fire," he spat somewhat irritatedly at her. She gave him a dumbfounded look, which riled him up. "We're pinned by Tarantulas, get your head in the game, Hops!"

The bunny peeked out of her cover spot, scanning the area for the Predacon spider. But she couldn't detect his signal. Perhaps it was the same as earlier, where they hadn't detected Inferno and Waspinator. "Cheets, I can't get a lock on him," she said hurriedly, and confused.

The cheetah turned to her. "Are you kidding me? He's right th- ugh, fine, whatever. I can handle him." He leapt out of his hiding place and saw his quarry running off deep into the forest.. "Hey, get back here!" He transformed into beast mode and sprinted after the spider.

"Cheetor, wait!" Softpaw yelled in vain, as he was already out of earshot. She sighed heavily and ran after him.

Soon, Cheetor caught up with Tarantulas in a clearing near a stream. He Maximised and aimed his weapon at him. The spider merely chuckled. "Careful with that toy, child. You could poke someone's optic out with that."

Snarling, Cheetor retorted, "Just wait till this 'child' takes you down!" He began firing just as Tarantulas attempted an escape over the river. One if his hits landed, and he fell in a crumpled heap in the shallows. "Gotcha!" The cheetah exclaimed triumphantly. He started to move toward him, but a sound alerted him and he spun around. But there was nothing to be seen. When he turned back to the river, to his horror, Tarantulas was gone.

Panicked, he searched for him, but could not locate him. In fact, there was not even a trace of him. He scratched his head, then heard footsteps behind him. Assuming it was Softpaw, he began saying, "About time. Tarantulas got away but he couldn't have gone far, we can still..." He froze in surprise when he saw who the footsteps belonged to. "Optimus?"

The Maximal commander had come from out of the trees, followed by Rattrap and a number of the crew.

Cheetor felt such relief at the sight of his comrades that he ran to them without a second thought. "Thank the Matrix you guys are here, you won't believe the craziness we've been through today!" He began explaining what had happened, but his voice slowly trailed off when he saw the stoney expressions everyone was giving him. "Uh...guys?"

Optimus gave him a cool look, and said in an equally icy tone of voice, "I think you've done enough, Cheetor."

"W-what? But..." Chetor stammered, completely taken aback.

"I said enough. You were given orders, and you disobeyed them. Again." His disappointment cut into Cheetor like a knife.

"Don't you ever get tired of messing things up, and leaving the rest of us to clean up your mess, kid?" Rattrap sneered.

Dinobot snarled. "This is what happens when you entrust an important mission to a mere child."

Rhinox shook his head slowly. "You cause more trouble than you're worth."

Cheetor felt himself back up as they advanced slowly on him. "C-c'mon guys, knock it off..."

Coldstrike was at the back of the group but strode to the front in a confrontational manner and snarled, "You abandoned your teammate in unfamiliar territory. What kind of Maximal are you?"

All these comments started echoing in Cheetor's mind. The words repeated and overlapped each other, making him clutch his head, hoping that might make it stop. But it did not stop. The other Maximals were stepping closer to him with each word. He screwed his optics shut, and all the young bot could hear was everyone saying his name repeatedly, their voices disparaging and angry. He hit his clenched fists against his head as hard as he could to make the tirade of degradation stop.

Suddenly, a new voice shouted, "Cheetor!" This addition somehow made the others slowly fade until they disappeared completely. It was a very concerned looking Softpaw. "Cheetor? Are you alright? What happened?"

"What, you don't have any 'constructive' criticism for me?" he snapped, still feeling tense, and deeply hurt. His chest was rising and falling rapidly and he was shaking.

All she could manage in reply was, "Uhhh..."

Suddenly he was aware that the two of them were alone. "W-where's Optimus? A-and the others??" he asked in bewilderment.

The bunny stared at her friend, at a loss for words. "Cheetor...did your circuits get fried during the cave in?"

"No, Softpaw!" he retorted, offended. "I'm not crazy, they were just here. And that spider freak got away." The cheetah lowered his head, remembering what everyone was saying about him.

She exhaled uncomfortably, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Cheets...there was no one here. I didn't see or hear anyone except you. When you ran off after Tarantulas, there weren't any other tracks; only yours." He looked at her, perplexed, as she continued, "So whatever you saw, it wasn't real."

Cheetor contemplated her words. Everything that happened...hadn't actually happened? It had all seemed so real. Why had he seen and heard those things? His posture slumped.

Softpaw let out a sigh. "A lot's happened today, and I doubt that we're done either." She gently took his arm and guided him into a seated position. "Perhaps after all that's gone down today, you're seeing things because of stress. You should rest." He was about to protest, but she cut him off. "Don't argue with me Cheetor. I may still be in training, but I'm still the medic here." Her tone was gentle, but stern.

Cheetor grumbled in defeat. "Okay, Hops. I'll rest, but only for a while. Like you said, we're not done. We still have a mission, and we gotta find a way out. Or at least try to find a way to contact base. Besides," he looked around, feeling uneasy, "I have a feeling this place has a few more surprises in store for us."

Softpaw nodded in agreement, allowing Cheetor to lean against her as a brace, as well as provide comfort. While the cat rested his optics, she kept watch, wondering what was waiting for them on the next part of their journey.