"Scourge, why are you laughing?" Galvatron's voice boomed out, demanding an answer.
Scourge shook his head. Why was he laughing? He heard Galvatron's arm Cannon fire and came into the chamber. Then he was laughing.
"Take Cyclonus to get fixed, oaf!" Galvatron snarled at the Sweep commander.
"At... At once, mighty Galvatron!" Scourge said, standing to attention before aiding a Sweep in carrying Cyclonus to the repair bay.
As the Sweep checked Scourge's memory pathways, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched, on the workbench he sat on.
"Maybe you have been working too hard, Scourge." said the Sweep.
"You can never work too hard for the glory of the Decepticon cause!" said Scourge. "Maybe I have been under fueling myself..."
"Well you check out..." the Sweep said, putting the scanner away. "But I'm no medic..."
"Fine, fine..." muttered Scourge, standing from the workbench. Everything had been strange since they aprehended Octane in the Crypt at Cybertron. And the feeling he was being watched was getting more and more regular.
Astrotrain and Rumble had just gotten back to Charr with a tanker of fuel, stolen from some lesser species. It was being converted into Energon already by Mixmaster. Scourge went past the him and the converters and into the recharge area where Astrotrain was just getting into a recharge bath.
"Hey Scourge. Seen the load me and the squirt grabbed?" asked Astrotrain. "Keep us fueled for at least four mega-cycles."
"Yes, most impressive Astrotrain..." Scourge muttered, getting into another recharge bath as Rumble came into the cave.
"Speaking of the sqiurt..." Astrotrain chuckled.
Suddenly Rumble grabbed one of his weapons from his back and aimed it at Scourge. "Die traitor!" came an unusually tinny yell as the purple casette opened fire on the cave roof above Scourge.
Scourge dived out of the way of the crumbling rock as it smashed into the bath. "Have you lost your logic circuits!" he shouted and grabbed a chunk of rock, using it as a shield from another volley of blasts from Rumble's weapon. "Astrotrain! Stop him!"
Astrotrain got out of the bath and grabbed Rumble from behind, hooking his arms under the smaller Decepticon's and putting his hands on the back of his head. "Come on small fry, can't I even refuel without you causing a fuss?" the triple-changer asked.
"Whu... What's goin' on? Hey get yer hands offa me!" called out Rumble, not seeming to know what was happening. "What are you doin' Astrotrain?" he asked.
Scourge got up, leaving his scorched rock 'shield' on the floor, and walked over to them. "Explain yourself, Rumble!" he demanded, motioning for Astrotrain to lift Rumble up.
"I ain't got nothin' to explain, ya pink nail polish wearin' Mech!" called Rumble. "I was outside countin' off which Autobot's I wanna dismantle and suddenly tall grey an' ugly has me in a wrestlin' hold!"
Scourge remembered what happened earlier. Not remebering why he was laughing. Could this be an Autobot plot? "Go to the repair bay and get checked over. It seems you wern't yourself..." he said, waving his hand for Astrotrain to put Rumble down.
Astrotrain hesitated for a second but let go of Rumble, causing him to hit the ground with an audible thud. "Now can I finish my recharge?" he asked, hiking his thumb behind himself towards the recharge bath.
Scourge went into his private room and sat on a make-shift seat in the corner. "I told Cyclonus it was a bad idea..." he said aloud to himself. "But this is all Octane's fault... If he hadn't gone into the crypt..."
"Then I would not have had the means to escape!" a voice rang out.
Scourge practically jumped up from his seat as he looked around the empty room. "Who's there?" he asked, remembering Rumble shout out in the same voice earlier.
"Surely you remember me, Scourge? Or should I say, brother?" came the voice as the source of it came through the wall and seat Scourge was just on, without leaving a mark.
"Starscream?" called out Scourge, backing towards another wall.
Starscream stood there right in front of Scourge, laughing in his trademark high pitched, scratch of a voice. "The look on your face!" he called, bending at the waist and slapping his knee as he laughed harder.
"You're dead!" Scourge said, pointing at the shimmering figure of the former Decepticon.
"Yes I am." Starscream said as he regained some composure. "But you can never keep a bad Mech down. Even Megatron didn't die. Though I wouldn't call being reformatted into Galvatron a much better fate..." he muttered, obviously unimpressed with the leader's new form.
"Are you here to asassinate Lord Galvatron?" Scourge asked, feeling a little easier that Starscream was talking to him instead of killing him.
"I was, at first. But then I decided to kill you." Starscream said.
Scourge grabbed for his weapon and aimed it at Starscream. "But why? Galvatron killed you, not me!" he said shakily.
"Because I couldn't control you for long. Unlike Rumble or Cyclonus, you seemed to regain control quickly..." Starscream said and started pacing, Scourge's weapon aimed at him as he moved. "But I realised I should allow you to live because of that. Although I can't fully control you, I can partially control you if I need to. But taking control of the Decepticon army is trickier without an ally, now Octane has been ousted." through all this, the red and grey former Seeker hadn't looked at Scourge once.
"So... How would I be able to help? If I lent you my body, I'd end up as dead as you." the bearded Decepticon said, motioning to Starscream.
"I find it shocking that you believe I am only after your body..." Starscream said, sounding slightly annoyed and crossing his arms across his chest. "Like I would treat my own brother like that. With all our history together..."
"I am not your brother, Starscream!" Scourge said loudly and fired at him, both annoyed and hoping to catch him unprepared.
The shot went through Starscream and blew a chunk out of the wall behind him. "You don't get it, do you?" he said, walking towards Scourge. "My Spark remained alive, even after my Laser Core, along with my body, was vaporised by Galvatron.. The commotion you and your cronies made upon entering the Crypt awoke me."
"Stay back, Starscream..." Scourge said, pressing back against the wall. Starscream ignored him, still coming slowly towards him.
"If not for you, I would still be on that Autobot infected planet. That is why I am sparing you." Starscream said softly as he stopped walking
"What about that stuff you said about Thundercracker?" Scourge asked shakily.
"I'd have shot him the first chance I had, if it suited my agenda." Starscream said, his voice serious. "Now will you help me further or will we do things the hard way?"
Scourge tore a panel off of the wall, closed his eyes and flung it at Starscream, yelling "No!"
When he opened his eyes, the room was empty. Starscream had disapeared. "Or been extinguished..." Scourge mumbled, shocking himself with the silence being broken so suddenly. "He must not have been as cohesive as he thought... The wall panel disrupted him..." He looked around the room, moving towards the door. He opened it and ran to tell Galvatron what had happened.
As the door slamed shut, Starscream came back out of the wall he had hid in. "The hard way it is..." he said and started laughing loudly.
Scourge nearly smashed into Cyclonus who was coming out of the Repair Bay. "Look out you oaf!" the larger, purple Decepticon said loudly.
"Cyclonus! Starscream was here!" Scourge said unsteadily, pointing back the way he came. "I must report it to Lord Galvatron!"
Cyclonus looked at Scourge as if he'd grown another three heads. "Do you realise how unbalanced you sound?" he said "Galvatron would blow you away, the mood he is in right now. Especially as he beleives he has vanquished Starscream twice!"
"But if I don't report it..." Scourge started, moving in the direction of the Throne Room.
Cyclonus grabbed Scourge's arm and pulled him close, speaking softly as Blitzwing walked by. "Starscream isn't here now, so he is no threat. Report this and I shall dispose of you personally. Is that understood?"
Scourge nodded slowly and turned back the way he came. "I'll just... Go and recharge..." he muttered as Cyclonus let go of him, walked down the corridor to get outside so he could go to the recharge caves.
-*Continued in the Series 3 episode Ghost In The Machine.*-