Underground

The Autobots and Decepticons battle over another Mini-Con, and we learn about why nobody talks crap about Red Alert.

Original American Air Date: November 1st, 2002.

Characters (in order of appearance): Hot Shot, Red Alert, Rad, Carlos, Alexis, Optimus Prime, Street Action Team, Megatron, Cyclonus, Demolishor, Starscream, Leader-1, Blackout, Swindle, Longarm, [Smokescreen (Armada)|Smokescreen]], Bonecrusher, Crumplezone, Drillbit

Summary
Underground, in the ruins of the Mini-Con ship, Red Alert and Hot Shot work to salvage what they can, while the kids take a passive interest. Hot Shot whines that this kind of labor isn't his forte, and Rad offers to take his place. Just then, Optimus sends a message over the PA system, instruction everybody to return to the control room to prepare to go after another activated Mini-Con panel. The computer determines the panel to be in an urban area, and the kids suit up. The Autobots warp to their destination.

Within the ambiguous city, the Autobots determine the Mini-Con panel to be underground, and Alexis finds an entrance into the cities subway system for the Autobots to drive into. But a problem emerges when an active train heads directly for Optimus who doesn't have enough room to manuever out of its path. Only at the last second is Optimus able to turn away and avoid killing the astonished train operator. The danger passed, the Autobots break up and explore the underground, searching for the Mini-Con.

Hot Shot casually drives by civilians in what appears to be an underground shopping area, confused at why the bystanders find his pressence to be irregular. Red Alert drives alongside a train, confusing some children. And Optimus Prime observes that driving around the subway system is like exploring a maze. Elsewhere, the Decepticons have infiltrated the sewer system, to Cyclonus's distaste. When Megatron has trouble manuvering, he and the Decepticons deploy their Minicons to search for them.

Following a staircase Alexis has found, the kids locate a subway station that's has evidently been out of comission, and Alexis declares her ambition to become President of the United States, and under her administration, no subway station falls into disrepair. Indifferent to Alexis's political agenda, Street Action Team Mini-cons combine into Perceptor and locate the Mini-Con within a ceiling panel, but the panel is inches away from Perceptor's grasp. Using a ladder to gain height, Carlos is able to get a grip onto the Mini-Con panel and pull it out from the ceiling, being caught by Alexis. Rad decides they should take the panel to the Autobots, when the three come under a sudden attack from a blue hook.

Running away from their new attacker, the kids run into an area where they are trapped by non-functional subway cars. The kids jump into one of the cabs, but find themselves trapped between their assailant, and the Decepticon's Mini-Cons. Thinking quickly; the kids jump out a window and ride away, hiding in a cavern. Laserbreak is deployed to find Optimus.

Receiving information pertaining to the Mini-Con from Black-Out, Megatron blasts his way into the sewer, while Optimus gets the same information from Laserbeak. Megatron and his cronies are the first to locate the kids, and they quickly surround them. Just then, the children are saved by the mysterious assailant from earlier. After the mysterious robot transforms, the Decepticons manage to bury him, the Mini-Con panel, and the kids beneath some rubble.

The Autobots arrive just in time to see Cyclonus pick up the Mini-Con panel and activate it, revealing it to be Drillbit. Having technically won the battle, the Decepticons retreat. The Autobots quickly prepare to try to unbury the kids to see if they're still alive, when the orange assailant emerges from the dirt, having used his body to protect the kids. Hot Shot identifies the bot as Smokescreen. Smokescreen apologizes for not meeting up the Autobots earlier and Rad is happy to have made a new friend, who was only briefly trying to maybe kill him.

Notable quotes

 * "Once I become President, I'll change all that, you'll see! I'll put an end to the misuse of public property and THEN I'll work on saving the environment and I'll end world hunger." - Alexis.


 * "Hello kids, looks like you picked a 'dead end' if you know what I mean.!" - Carlos


 * "Stay where you are, and nobody gets hurt, once we have the Mini-Con, we'll be on our way. Then you Autobots can dig in the dirt all you like.." - Demolishor

Aberrations / Errors / Contrarieties

 * Hot Shot passes by an adult female and child looking into a story window, on display in the store is a toy car that uses the same animation model and colors as Hot-Shot.
 * When deploying their Mini-Cons, instead of Crumplezone. cyclonus deploys Longarm. When confronting the kids on the subway cart, instead of Longarm or Crumplezone, there's Bonecrusher. Crumplezone finally appears when the Decepticon Mini-Cons are running after the kids.