Life on the Nemesis had become notably... different, since Breakdown's passing. Strange occurrences and sounds echoed down the dark hallways, terrifying any innocent Eradicon within hearing distance. And then Knock Out would walk down the hall.
The petite red medic hadn't been the same since the news had been broken to him, obviously. He floated around the Nemesis, tending to his duties as normal, but Knock Out simply wasn't himself. He was normally chatty and social, to the point that he'd been referred to as the Decepticon equivalent of "bubbly" or "bouncy", and it had been Starscream who'd come up with that.
But now, as Megatron turned to regard his lone medic, the little mech simply shuffled passed, his head and optics turned down. He still showed respect and submission, as any soldier should, but he lacked the playful vigour he'd always had before.
And it made Dreadwing ache with guilt.
He often visited the med-bay, simply to give the medic company. Knock Out had firmly said that he didn't blame the new First lieutenant for his partner's death, but Dreadwing still felt responsible.
But what really intrigued Megatron were the strange things circulating around the medic, which the red mech seemed otherwise unaware of. The tyrant once approached Knock Out about it, but his physician merely blinked and shrugged.
"I'm sorry my lord; I don't quite follow..." And then the lights had gone out. But again, the medic didn't seem to notice! It was as if he was in his own little bubble; like the only thing wrong with the world to him was his own mournfulness over Breakdown's demise. And it frustrated Megatron to no end.
Soundwave's scanners were unable to detect anything out of the ordinary, (mostly because every time he tried, the entire computer system shut down under mysterious circumstance) but Megatron could definitely feel something different. Specifically, when he passed the medic in the hallways, he always found himself shoved to the ground, as if a giant and pushed passed him to keep up with Knock Out.
"What is going on around here?" he bellowed into the hollows of the control room. Himself and Soundwave were the only bots present, as the systems had shut down again. Soundwave basically ignored his master in favour of getting the ship's security and computer back online, but pretended to lend a sympathetic audio to the gladiator.
"It's as if thin air is out to get us!" Megatron growled, clenching his fists. Soundwave glanced over his shoulder. "Soundwave, you know I do not believe in such rubbish!" Soundwave made the faintest of shrugs. Megatron bared his teeth and turned away.
The suggestion of ghosts and curses was simply ludicrous! True, he believed in the Well of All Sparks, and even Unicron's domain, otherwise known as the Pitt; but he was of the opinion that once a Cybertronian died, their Sparks stayed in either of the realms.
The lights went out again and the air went frosty. Then the doors opened and Knock Out shuffled in.
"My lord, I have the reports you wish for." He murmured half-sparkedly, holding up a datapad. Megatron and Soundwave stared at him, then glanced to each other.
"Thank you... Knock Out..." Megatron said slowly, taking the pad from his medic. Knock Out bowed shakily, the removed himself from the room silently.
The lights came back on and the air was warm again.
"... Of course... there's always room for error..." Megatron gulped, glaring at the light bulbs accusingly.
.X.
Apparently, having a 'cursed' mech, as the Eradicons called him now, on the battle field was within Megatron's favour. In the heat of battle, something would always seem to go wrong for the Autobots when the got too close to Knock Out, especially for Bulkhead.
Bumblebee would suddenly trip or find himself choking on the remnants of his voice box. Arcee would be flung to the other side of the field as if she'd been punched. Optimus at one point found his blaster blocking up, and in his desperation to see what was wrong, it went off in his face as he stupidly looked down the barrel.
But for poor Bulkhead...
Cliffs fell on his head, unexplained explosions went off beneath his feet, dents and gashes appeared painfully all over his body, and he even found himself fall to his knees and gagging, as if he was being strangled.
All whenever they tried to attack Knock Out.
Megatron scratched his helm questioningly, looking rather comical in Soundwave's opinion. He stared bluntly at a hacking Bulkhead as a panicky Arcee and flustered Prime tried to pry the invisible hands away from their comrade's throat.
The medic scurried behind Dreadwing, as were the lieutenant's orders, and Bulkhead was suddenly released.
Soundwave took notes of this; of how Knock Out's invisible guardian seemed comforted when the medic was near to Dreadwing.
.X.
The moment the black and yellow femme appeared over the cliff edge, Megatron knew that no power in the universe would stop Knock Out when he let out that snarl.
Before even Arcee could react; the medic lunged after Airachnid at breakneck speed, in robot mode surprisingly. The blue and pink femme paused for a minute, then followed suit, though she had to transform to catch up with Knock Out.
Dreadwing quickly transformed and flew after the medic, yelling for him to halt. But he was ultimately ignored as Knock Out tackled Airachnid to the ground.
His paint scratched and scuffed, but to the flyer's amazement; Knock Out didn't seem to care. He snapped out his buzz-saw, promptly hacking off all of the femme's spindly spare legs. She cried out in pain, clawing and scratching at his chest and arms.
Dreadwing transformed and landed a distance away, just watching silently.
Arcee drove up and transformed as well, producing her weapons to fight Knock Out off of her prey. In an incredible display of endurance and strength, Knock Out took each shot easily to his red back, then twisted slightly and let his underused missile launcher appear on his wrist and fired a flawless shot into Arcee's middle.
Her abdomen was ripped open by the explosion, the acid of her fuel tank spewing and boiling, her circuits flying and dangling from her body as she skidded along the ground. Her scream echoed across the dessert, which Dreadwing doubted the Autobots could've missed.
Satisfied his competition was out of the way, Knock Out turned back to glower at the struggling Airachnid beneath him.
"Get off of me you slut!" She snarled, cruelly scoring at him again. Knock Out simply stared at her, though Dreadwing got the feeling he was planning and plotting her death.
"You killed him..." He mutter, producing a laser scalpel from his subspace. "I'm going to cut you apart just like you did to him, your worthless scavenger..."
The scalpel dove expertly into her optic, slicing it out with brutal precision. Her magenta eye fell to the ground with a clatter.
Her pain seemed to grant her the ability to roll over, shoving Knock Out off. She scrambled to her heeled pedes, and began running to the best of her ability, cupping the side of her pretty face the medic had cut. Said medic growled, looking up, then gave chase once again. Dreadwing spared a glance to Arcee, the weird gentlemech programming pinching at him again, but the Autobots were now tending to her.
However, Bulkhead decided to follow Knock Out.
Dreadwing did the same, running after the three mechanisms, passing a startled Optimus in the process. The Prime yelled something along the lines of; "Come back!" But Dreadwing doubted he was talking to himself.
As he kept running, he enhanced his visual intake just enough to spot Airachnid dashing into a cave in the rock face ahead of him. Knock Out followed quickly, as did Bulkhead. As did he.
The cave was dark, though holes in the jagged roofs provided spot light like illumination. Dreadwing scurried through, hearing Knock Out's shouts and Airachnid's cries.
He ran to the edge of a stone arch way, which lead to a large cavern where Airachnid stood, cornered like an animal. Knock Out was hunched up, and Dreadwing couldn't help but think of the scene he'd witnessed while waiting for Wheeljack a month prior; a starving wolf hunting a terrified rabbit.
Bulkhead suddenly appeared behind him, but Dreadwing ignored the Autobot leaning over his shoulder; they were both there for the same reason.
"You're going to suffer..." Knock Out hissed, stalking closer and closer.
"No! Please!" Airachnid sobbed, backing closer to the wall. But then Knock Out froze. She raised a questioning optic ridge at the medic, who was suddenly trembling. She spotted the two larger mechs in the archway she'd come through, both with their jaws wide open, terror instilled in their optics. Dreadwing's servo slowly raised, arm shaking, pointing in her direction.
As Airachnid turned, she found herself face to face with a one eyed mech. He body was limp, hanging by circuits and connectors, golden optic staring blankly into her undamaged one. His head tilted in an ungodly way, then he looked down at the ground she stood on. She did the same, and to her horror, hands, claws and tentacles lashed out and gripped her ankles.
A face Bulkhead recognised heaved himself out of the floor, pulling his way up Airachnid's body. Tailgate grabbed at her arms, tugging at her furiously. Airachnid's screams filled the air as her past victims grabbed at her mercilessly.
Through her struggles, Breakdown reached forward, gripping her cheeks, and snapped her neck.
Airachnid sank into the sand and rocks at her feet, glowing blue energon spattered where she'd stood.
Quiet engulfed the tomb like cavern, until Knock Out's body hit the floor with a loud thunk.
.X.
The report was... unbelievable, to say the least. Yet Megatron found himself unable to deny Dreadwing's words. He still stood in the docking station, holding the still passed out Knock Out bridal style. His lieutenant even presented Airachnid's optic to him, which Megatron had promptly crushed.
So... Airachnid was finally dead.
He allowed Dreadwing to leave, ordering him to take Knock Out back to med-bay, and stay with him until he came around. Dreadwing bowed slightly, then trudged off. Megatron turned to Soundwave, folding his arms. Soundwave noticed his master seemed to always do that when he was uncomfortable or nervous. Or both.
Dreadwing carefully lay Knock Out's prone body on the medical berth, one delicate arm draped over his scarred middle. He took hold of the medic's free, dangling servo gently.
He tried to ignore the fact he could hear Breakdown's cheerful humming.
