At nearly 6,000 words for the story alone, this is the second longest one-shot I've ever written. This is part of what I was doing the past two or so weeks. The other part is something I'm writing for meteor prime (yes meteor, I'm still working on it, don't you worry). I started getting bored with this one towards the end, so that's why it seems rushed after a certain point.
I dedicate this story in the memory of my little squirrel friend, Jericho, who didn't make it across the street in time. I admire that he at least managed to make it to the grass on the other side before he finally succumbed to his injuries. I always knew he was a tough squirrel. I'm gonna miss feeding him Doritos and watching him get after the bird feeder. And of course "Hushabye" started playing the second I began typing this. Ironic, as this is the second time the song's been associated with the death of a beloved animal via cars.
Barricade pulled into the alleyway where Blackout had asked to meet him, wondering what was so important that he had to hurry over right away in the middle of the night. Transforming into his bipedal mode, he moved closer to where he found Blackout, on his knees and holding his audio receptor parallel to the ground.
"What's the matter? Did Scorponok tunnel his way under the cement and get stuck there again?" Barricade asked sleepily. He wanted to hurry this up so he could go back to bed.
"No…Scorponok's at home. But listen…you have better hearing than I do, and I just want to make sure I'm not going crazy," Blackout replied, motioning for Barricade to come closer.
Barricade got down on his knees in front of him. "Blackout, I've known you for years, and trust me- you went off the rails on a crazy train a long time ago."
"Oh, ha ha…just shut up and listen!" Blackout grabbed ahold of him and roughly shoved his head against the ground.
After the initial pain from having the side of his face smashed against cement wore off, Barricade listened carefully, pushing Blackout's hand off his neck in the meanwhile. "What are we listening for?"
"Shh!" Blackout interrupted. They both remained silent until they heard a strange sound coming from underground. "There! Did you hear that?!"
Barricade looked amazed that there was actually something there. "Yeah! What is it?"
"Shh!" Blackout interrupted again. They both listened carefully until they heard it once more.
Barricade lifted his head up and reached out to touch the edge of an old pipe that was sticking out of the ground. "It's coming from in here…"
"Is it?" Blackout scooted closer and looked inside. "Oh my god! You're right! There's a kitten stuck in the bottom!"
Barricade peered in as well. "Oh, will you look at that. Well, we figured it out. Let's go so I can get back to sleep." He stood up to transform and looked back with confusion when Blackout didn't do the same. "Blackout? Coming?"
Blackout looked panicked and desperately looked for a way to get the kitten out. "She must have fallen in! She looks so scared!" he said, ignoring Barricade entirely.
Barricade sighed. "Come on, Blackout! I'm tired! I want to go home!" His optics widened when Blackout began to noisily tear at the ground below. "What the hell are you doing?! Someone's going to hear that and see us!" He looked around to make sure no humans were approaching.
Blackout threw a large chunk of cement through a garage door. "I can't leave her here! She's just a baby!" Barricade ducked as another chunk of cement flew his way and crashed into someone's car, setting off its alarm. "She's too young to die now!"
"Blackout, please! Stop!" Barricade was almost crying from fear when several houselights flickered on and he could hear dogs barking and babies crying. "Blackout, is it worth getting us caught?!"
"Yes! I love animals!" Blackout countered, tearing the piping out of the ground, popping it apart, and freeing the kitten from her prison. She mewled softly, shaking from the ordeal, and curling up in Blackout's hand.
Blackout held on to the kitten, careful not to hurt her, and snatched Barricade off the ground, running off with both of them before the humans came out of their homes and saw them.
"What the hell happened to the alley?!" one of the residents asked, standing on his back porch.
"It was those damn Germans, I tell ya!" an old man with a shotgun replied.
"Robert, we've been through this…World War II ended in '45..." another resident reassured him.
Blackout stroked the tiny little black kitten with white booties and markings, eliciting a purr from the animal. "I think I'll call her Mittens," he said fondly.
Barricade walked alongside him down the base's hallway, still visibly shaken up from having nearly been caught over a cat. "Starscream's not going to like the fact that you brought an Earth animal into the base," he cautioned.
"I don't give a damn what Starscream likes," Blackout replied coldly. He watched Mittens playfully bat at his finger with her claws extended and smiled.
"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you…"
Starscream's optics narrowed when he saw the kitten Blackout was holding. "What did I tell you about bringing Earth things into the base?" he growled. "It always ends badly, Blackout!"
"She's just a kitten, Starscream! What harm can she do?" he asked.
"That's what you said when you brought home that Furby. Remember the Furby, Blackout? REMEMBER THE FURBY?!" Starscream snapped.
All was quiet in the Decepticon base, as it was just another boring Sunday afternoon…at least until every Decepticon present ran through the base, screaming. A lone Furby hobbled after them, repeating the phrase, "Feed me!"
"Yes, I remember the Furby," Blackout grumbled bitterly. "It was only two days ago…"
Bonecrusher shivered on the couch at the memory, burying his face into Barricade's side in fear. "I took the batteries out, and it was still moving!" he whimpered.
Barricade wrapped his arms around him and patted his head. "It's okay now, Bonecrusher. Starscream smashed it with a cinder block."
"She was stuck in a pipe! I couldn't just leave her there, so I brought her home with me," Blackout replied. "I already have a pet, what's one more?" He held her out in front of Starscream's face. "Isn't she cute? How can you say 'no' to this face?"
Starscream looked at the cat, who whimpered and buried her face into her paws, trying to hide from Starscream. "I can honestly say with a straight face, 'no'." He pushed the kitten out of his face. "Get rid of it!"
Getting annoyed by the bickering, Barricade stood up and stomped over to Starscream. "Okay, you know what Starscream?! I was dragged away from my sleep for this cat!" He pointed towards Mittens. "Blackout then proceeded to manhandle me, then tore out the street, alerting the neighborhood to our presence in their back yard! He then dragged me back home like somebody's bitch and accidentally dropped me on my head when we arrived!" Blackout and Bonecrusher exchanged looks. "After the hell he put me through for that stupid fur beast, the damn thing's staying! Got that?!" Starscream looked surprised and a little bit scared at Barricade's violent outburst and just nodded. "Good! I'm going back to bed, and the first person to disturb me dies at sunrise!" Barricade then stormed off towards his room and presumably slumped over his berth. They could all hear him screaming into a pillow from where they were.
"Okay…so apparently the kitten stays…" Starscream said, wondering what had just happened. "But if she claws up or pisses on anything of mine, she's out of here, got it?"
"She won't do that! My kitty's well-behaved, right Mittens?" Blackout asked the kitten. She mewled and rubbed up against his fingers. "See? She won't do any of that."
Starscream wondered for a second if Blackout had lost it, then shrugged it off and walked out of the room. "I'll just take your word for it, Blackout."
Scorponok was curled up in a snug little ball on Blackout's pillow when he sensed his master approaching the room. He picked his head up, wagging the tip of his tail slightly, then sprung forward as the door opened. He noticed that Blackout seemed to be holding something and parked his kiester on his right foot, his way of saying, "I'm not letting you move until you show me what it is."
Blackout looked down at the scorpion sitting on his foot and smiled. "Hey Scorponok, I brought you a little sister!" he said excitedly.
Scorponok cocked his head to the left side. Huh?
Kneeling down so Scorponok could see, Blackout held out the kitten in front of his face. "Her name's Mittens!" Scorponok sniffed at Mittens, causing the cat to bat at his face. Scorponok jerked back and shook his head, glaring at the kitten. "Aww! She likes you!" Blackout smiled, watching the kitten jump out of his hands and bat at Scorponok's tail.
Scorponok narrowed his optics at her and lifted his tail up off the ground so she couldn't reach it anymore and pushed Mittens away with his rear foot. She latched onto his leg and jumped up onto his back, kneading at him with her sharp little kitty claws extended. Scorponok dug at the ground and made short, painful screeching noises as she did so, angry that he couldn't impale her on his tail with Blackout standing there. Finally the pain stopped and Mittens curled up on him for a nap while tears of pain leaked out of Scorponok's optics.
"That's so cute!" Blackout said happily, lifting Scorponok off the ground, careful not to wake Mittens, and carried him to his berth with the kitten balanced on top of him.
Ow… Scorponok sobbed.
Blackout climbed in next to them, reaching out to stroke Scorponok's face before resting against the berth for the night. Scorponok fought the urge to skewer Mittens just to get her off before finally falling into recharge as well.
Blackout tapped on Scorponok's head to wake him up. He growled at having been woken up early and buried his face under the pillow. Blackout grabbed ahold of his tail and gently pulled him out. Heavily irritated, Scorponok looked up to see what his master wanted.
"I need to go out for a bit…Barricade's hungry, and I'm worried he'll set the base on fire trying to cook for himself again," Blackout explained. "I need you to watch Mittens while I'm gone, okay?" Scorponok made a cooing sound in response. "Good. I knew I could count on you." Blackout leaned down and gave him a kiss before standing up. He kneeled in front of the table where Mittens was exploring the room and bid her goodbye as well, stroking her before leaving.
Scorponok waited for him to leave, his gaze rapidly shifting towards the cat across the room the very second the door clicked shut. Mittens mewled at him before jumping on a paper ball that Scorponok always played with. Scorponok jumped off the berth and skittered over to her, holding his tail above him in a menacing pose, contemplating whether he should eat her or not. The kitten abandoned the ball in favor of brushing against Scorponok's face, purring, causing him to jump back and make a barking sound at her, attempting to intimidate her. She moved closer, again brushing against him.
Scorponok jerked away and growled, snatching her up in his jaws and carrying her to the window. Mittens licked her paws and used them to wipe off her face as though nothing were wrong. Scorponok pushed the window open and took ahold of her in one of his claws, dangling her from the second-story window over cement like Michael Jackson's baby. Mittens attempted to turn her head back to look at him and meowed.
Scorponok looked over his shoulder as the door opened. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot my…" Blackout paused when he noticed what Scorponok was trying to do. "Scorponok, NO!"
Startled by Blackout's entry, Scorponok accidentally released his grip on the kitten, sending her flying down to the ground. Blackout shoved him aside and leapt out the window at her, catching her before she made impact. "Mittens, I'm so glad you're…" …and then he collided head-first with the concrete. Mittens looked through his fingers at him as he fell over onto the ground and looked up weakly where Scorponok was peeking out the window. Noticing him looking, Scorponok quickly pulled his head back into the room and ran to hide.
Blackout roughly booted Scorponok out into the hallway and slammed the door in his face. Distraught, Scorponok jumped against it and clawed at it, trying to get back through to the other side. He let out a desperate screech and threw his weight against the door several times, sliding down and just laying there when he realized that he wouldn't be allowed back in anytime soon. He sighed and crawled off to find someplace else to hang out while Blackout cooled down. Maybe if he was lucky, Blackout would think he ran away and freak out.
Scorponok stood at the top of the stairway and looked down nervously. It sure was a long way down… Like any ground-pounder, Scorponok didn't like heights and would have preferred taking a room on the lower level. Unfortunately his master was a flier and preferred to be up high, thus landing him one on the top floor. It normally wasn't too much of a problem since Blackout was usually there with him, but this time he was on his own. He carefully stepped out with one foot…then quickly bolted down the stairs with his optics closed, smashing into the wall at the bottom when he couldn't see that he'd already made it. Stumbling around in a daze, he accidentally stepped off the top step of the next flight and tumbled down, his fall broken when he crashed into another wall.
Lying on his back and feeling dizzy, Scorponok considered the possibility that stairs were designed by someone with a wicked sense of humor.
Mittens curled up on Blackout's pillow while he put a cold pack on his head and batted gently at his arm, mewling when he didn't immediately give her attention. Blackout reached out towards her and stroked her, the kitten rewarding him with a purr.
"I'm sorry he dropped you out a window, Mittens," he apologized, watching her rub her face against his finger. "He's never misbehaved like that before." Mittens rolled over onto her back and continued purring. "I'll let him back in in an hour or so…or at least after my head stops bleeding…" Mittens closed her eyes sleepily, only half listening as he monologued. "You like him, right? Why doesn't he like you?" He paused to wipe the energon that was bleeding down his face out of his optics. "I'd hate to have to rehome you because of him…" He felt a source of distress from Scorponok's end of their link. "He fell down the stairs…again…" Mittens looked up and meowed.
Scorponok growled to himself, sulking at one end of the couch while Barricade sat at the other end, petting a snoozing Frenzy. Barricade looked around for Blackout knowing that the two were almost never far apart. Finding him nowhere, he figured Mittens had something to do with it.
"What's the matter, Scorponok? Blackout ditch you for the cat?" he teased. Scorponok snarled at him in response. "He did, didn't he? Aw…too bad." Scorponok turned around and buried his face into the couch. "Wow…it really sucks to be you, doesn't it? See…if Frenzy didn't have me, he'd always have Soundwave. But you…if you didn't have Blackout…you'd pretty much be homeless, wouldn't you?" Scorponok picked his head up quickly. "And that cat just gave you a hell of a lot of competition…" Oh, Barricade was so going to the pit for this…that is if it didn't already get a restraining order. "He might have a new favorite, Scorpy."
Oh geez, he was right! Scorponok had to do something before the kitten took his place in Blackout's spark. He stood up on the cushions and leapt off, scurrying off towards the elevator (no way in hell was he attempting the stairs again).
Bonecrusher leaned over the back of the couch and watched Scorponok scamper away. "Well that was a cruel thing to say to him."
"Thanks! I try!" Barricade replied, high-fiving him.
Scorponok clawed at the door, hoping that it wasn't too late and that Blackout would let him in. To his relief, the door did open and Blackout stepped aside to let him in, giving him a firm warning against harming Mittens. Okay…so he couldn't kill her. Blackout might not ever forgive Scorponok if he killed her. But maybe there was some other way to get rid of her?
Mittens brushed up against him, causing him to repress a growl. She then jumped up onto his back and began kneading at him again with those sharp, evil little kitty claws, causing him to shriek in pain once more as he endured it. Tears dribbled down his face when she stopped, curled up, and fell asleep on him.
"See Scorponok, she loves you. Why can't you give her a chance?" Blackout asked while Scorponok whimpered.
Blackout placed Mittens on his pillow and climbed in next to her. He looked over at Scorponok, who was curled up by himself under the desk across the room from them. Scorponok glared jealously at the kitten, who was curled up in the spot normally reserved for him.
"You can come up here with us, Scorponok. I never said you had to sleep on the floor," Blackout pointed out. Scorponok stubbornly hissed at him and looked away. "Come on up here and sleep next to me and your sister." He patted on the berth next to him to entice him to join them. Scorponok responded by wrapping his tail over his face, concealing it from view.
Blackout sighed and stroked his kitten. "Looks like it's just you and me tonight, Mittens."
Scorponok uncovered his face and watched them both, wishing that cat didn't exist. In fact, it would be nice if she just disappeared somewhere. Hmm…there's an idea…
Blackout opened the door and released Mittens and Scorponok to do as they pleased in the base before heading out himself. "Keep a close watch on her, Scorponok. It's a big base, and she's a little kitty," Blackout instructed before tending to his duties.
Yeah, sure… Scorponok thought to himself, waiting for him to turn the corner before picking the kitten up by her neck in his jaws and carrying her the other way. Let's see… He looked for some place to dump her off where it would seem like an accident that she fell in. Trash can…no. Window…already tried that. Hole in the wall…perfect! It was at her level and it was large enough for her to fit through!
He placed the kitten on the floor and nudged her towards it. Scorponok made a surprised trill when she sniffed the side of his face and gave him a few kisses. He pulled his face away and shoved her towards the hole. She slipped, trying to catch her fall before plummeting down inside.
Scorponok smiled smugly, listening to her mewl on the way down as she scrambled to snatch onto one of the pipes that ran through it. Okay…sad face…sad face… Scorponok chanted to himself before scampering off to find Blackout. Maybe he could even generate a few tears by the time he got there.
Blackout sat at the table with Barricade, taking a quick break from his duties and reading a newspaper. An article on the front page read, STREET MYSTERIOUSLY TORN APART: LOCAL WWII VETERAN BLAMES NAZIS.
Barricade seemed deep in thought when he looked up towards Blackout and asked, "How long do you think it takes a giraffe to throw up?" Blackout put down the newspaper and got to thinking on that.
Scorponok came running down the hall and slid several feet across the floor when he attempted to come to an abrupt halt on a slippery mat on the kitchen floor. Blackout looked up when his pet started frantically shrieking and screamed something through their link about Mittens.
Blackout quickly stood up. "What happened to Mittens?!" he panicked. "Where is she?!" Scorponok nodded behind him and ran off to take him to where she "fell". "Don't worry, Mittens! Daddy's coming!" he called out to wherever she may be.
Scorponok tried to keep a straight face as he led Blackout towards the hole in the wall and stopped next to it, pointing at it. She fell, he said.
Blackout quickly stuck his arm into the wall, trying to feel around for her in case she landed on one of the pipes. "I can't reach her! I don't even hear her!" he said in a panic, aware that he was breaking several pipes in his frenzy. He suddenly heard a meow behind him.
Scorponok's spark sank when he heard it too. They both looked behind Blackout and saw Mittens standing there, covered in dust and debris from the wall. She must have caught onto a pipe and climbed up out of the hole while Scorponok was fetching Blackout. She meowed and brushed up against Blackout.
"Mittens! You're okay!" Blackout said excitedly, scooping her up and hugging her. She began purring and nuzzled Blackout's face. "Look, Scorponok! Your sister's okay!"
Woo, Scorponok sighed.
Mittens pawed at Blackout's foot and dropped a dead mouse at his feet, proudly showing off her prize to her daddy. Scorponok looked at the tiny mouse, thinking it was hardly a trophy. He once dragged back a male deer he'd caught to show off to Blackout. Starscream was a bit upset about it (he didn't know if it was the blood trail throughout the base that did it, or the fact that Starscream had stepped in the deer's intestines that had spilled out all over the floor), but Blackout was pretty proud of him for doing it.
…and of course he congratulated the cat for bringing back such a tiny, worthless prize. Scorponok made a mental note to haul back a grizzly bear or something later, if only to show Mittens, "Hey, look! I'm a better hunter than you are!"
"Scorponok, look at the mouse that Mittens caught!" Blackout said, holding it up so he could look.
From what he could see, she'd barely even done anything to the mouse. It only had a chewed-up head. What kind of quarry is that where all she had do was bite its head to kill it? Scorponok's deer actually put up more of a fight than that! It was hardly recognizable as a deer when he was done with it!
"She's almost as good a hunter as you are, Scorponok," Blackout added, patting Mittens gently.
Okay, that was just insulting…that cat was nowhere near as good a hunter as Scorponok was. She simply saw something run by and ran after it. Scorponok spent time stalking his prey, plotting its movements, waiting until it was unsuspecting before ambushing it. That took a whole lot more skill than just "Hey! Movement! I chase!"
"At least it's a lot less messier than your deer, too," Blackout said, freezing afterwards when he realized he'd said the wrong thing. Scorponok looked offended and turned around, crawling off someplace to be by himself. "Oh…Scorponok, I didn't mean that you didn't do a good job…I just meant that you made a huge mess I had to clean up!" Well that didn't do anything for Scorponok's self-confidence.
Scorponok squeezed into the crawlspace under Blackout's berth, which was a tight fit from all the stuff he had stored under there. Mittens shortly afterwards came in after him, snuggling up against his side and purring. She climbed up on top of him, and for a moment Scorponok considered standing up and crushing her against the bottom of the berth. She then proceeded to knead at him with those sharp, evil, demon little kitty claws, re-scratching the still healing surface before curling up on him and falling asleep. He whimpered from the pain, wondering, Why do you still love me? Can't you see how much I hate you?
Blackout waved a treat around, trying to coax Scorponok out from under the berth. He growled and turned around so he didn't have to look at Blackout anymore. Mittens, however, ran from her cover to sniff at it, turning away when it wasn't something that she herself could eat.
"Come on, Scorponok…I'm sorry! Please come out!" Scorponok hissed at him.
"How long has he been under there?" Barricade asked, leaning over the side of Blackout's berth and peeking under.
"Since this morning…I accidentally said something that upset him," Blackout replied. "Oh, I know! Want me to put on your favorite CD, Scorponok?" Scorponok made a sound of utter indifference. "Hey, Barricade, go over into my CD rack and get Love At First Sting."
"Scorponok likes the Scorpions?" Barricade asked.
"Yeah. Why?"
"Oh…no reason…" he walked over to the CD rack. "You know, they've got an album called Blackout too…"
"Yeah, I know. I have that one too." He continued waving the treat in front of Scorponok while Barricade put the CD on for him. "Come on Scorponok. Please come out."
Cat still there? he asked.
"Yeah, she's still here," Blackout replied. Mittens sat down next to him, facing Scorponok, and meowed.
Not coming out then.
"Scorponok…what if I took you on a walk later? We'll leave Mittens at home," he offered.
Scorponok turned away from the wall and cocked his head. Promise?
"Yeah, Scorponok. I promise." Scorponok thought about it a moment before crawling out from the piles of stuff stacked everywhere, glaring at the kitten on the way out. "Maybe you can catch a bobcat or something while we're out."
"Yeah, then you can conveniently place it in front of Starscream's door so he steps on it in the morning," Barricade suggested. Blackout smiled and got that evil, distant look on his face that he always got when he was considering doing something at Starscream's expense. "Just so you know, I didn't give you that idea, 'kay?" Barricade quickly added.
Mittens watched the door, waiting for her daddy and brother to come back home. She sat on top of the desk with a catnip mouse, bored out of her mind and wanting attention. She suddenly heard something outside and looked out the window, noticing that there was a nest of baby birds in the tree outside. And well, Blackout did leave the window open…
She jumped to the window and sat there, watching the birds carefully before leaping out onto the branch.
"Okay Scorponok, we're just going to hide this in my room until tomorrow morning, got that?" Blackout asked, holding the mutilated wild mustang that Scorponok had brought down while out on their walk. Scorponok chirped happily and followed him down the hall. "We'll have to keep it in the closet so the cat doesn't get into it…"
Scorponok looked around the room when they entered, expecting Mittens to rush out and jump on him like a facehugger or something. Strange that he didn't even see her…
"Hey look, Scorponok! The mockingbirds hatched!" Blackout pointed out, looking out the window. Scorponok scampered over and jumped up onto the windowsill, peering out at the mockingbird sparklings. "Aren't they cute?" Catching onto Scorponok's train of thought, he swatted him in the head. "No, you can't eat them! I picked this room specifically because there was a mockingbird nest outside the window."
Scorponok jumped off the windowsill and began searching the room for Mittens while Blackout watched the birds. While he was at it, he gathered up her toys and dropped them in the basket that was meant to hold them. Blackout always made Scorponok put his toys away when he was done with them…why was Mittens allowed to let them lay all over the floor?
"Hey Scorponok, have you found Mittens yet?" Blackout asked, looking away from the baby mockingbirds. Scorponok shook his head, dropping a catnip mouse into the basket. "She's probably sleeping somewhere. She'll come out when she wakes up."
Scorponok decided to take advantage of this fact and pulled his yarn ball out of the basket to play with. He could never play with it with the cat around. She'd chase after it and steal it from him. Blackout watched him pounce on the ball and bat it around with his tail, all the while wondering where Mittens could be hiding.
"Scorponok, you still haven't seen Mittens?" Blackout asked a bit worriedly when it grew late and Mittens still was nowhere to be seen. Scorponok shook his head. "You didn't do something to her, did you?" He shook his head again, hoping that Blackout would believe him. Fortunately he did. "Do you think maybe she got out into the base or something?" Scorponok shrugged. "Something could have happened to her…come on, help me look!"
Blackout let Scorponok out of the room and instructed him to search one side of the base while he checked the other. Not really wanting to find Mittens, Scorponok did a half-assed search of his side before deciding to take a break.
Perhaps she finally got the hint and left. But where was it that she could have gone? Scorponok's thoughts went to the mockingbird nest, and he suddenly had an idea. Scampering back to the room, he jumped up and pushed the panel to open it, then went in, closing the door behind him with a shove of his tail. He leapt up onto the windowsill and looked out at the tree. It was possible that she had jumped out to get at the baby birds, but he and Blackout had counted four eggs before, and there were four babies in the nest, indicating she never got ahold of any of them.
If I'm lucky, maybe she jumped and didn't make it… he thought with a sadistic smile. But then if that were true, there'd be a dead cat on the pavement below. Looking down, there was no body, not even a blood splatter…no evidence whatsoever that a cat had hit it. If she had jumped out, she definitely made it. Maybe she climbed to the ground? Yeah, that seemed likely. There were branches almost all the way down with only about an 8-foot gap at the bottom. She could likely survive an 8-foot drop.
Scorponok jumped down from the window. Well, at least the cat was gone and he'd hopefully never see her again. He ran to Blackout and jumped up against his leg the second he came into the room.
"Did you find her?" Blackout asked solemnly. Scorponok shook his head. "Neither did I." He took a few steps towards his berth and slumped over the side. Scorponok jumped up next to him and nuzzled his face playfully. "Not right now, Scorponok." Scorponok pulled away, confused, and climbed on top of him, pushing his way under his rotor blades and lying down.
Great, so he finally had Blackout all to himself, and still Blackout was ignoring him in favor of the cat. Could he ever win? He recognized this depressed slump that Blackout was in, though…the only other time he'd ever been in it was that time he almost killed Scorponok when he was a baby by accidentally feeding him something that had been contaminated with a dangerous chemical. He was going to be like this for a while, or at least until the kitten showed up, unharmed.
He climbed down and leapt down onto the floor, heading out to brave the stairs again. The things he did for love…
Scorponok came to after falling down the stairs again, mentally thanking Bonecrusher for at least having the decency to step over him rather than on him like last time and sprung up onto his feet. Shaking off a bit, he scurried towards the entrance and sat in front of it, whining and scratching at it whenever someone came by. Finally, Barricade walked past and pushed it open for him.
Maneuvering through the dark, he quickly pinpointed the location of the tree outside the window and looked around for any evidence of Mittens. He picked up a scent trail and followed it out into the more wooded portion of the base's boundaries. He found her clinging to the top of a young tree with a hurt paw (probably from jumping out of the tree earlier), while a rather large, feral dog jumped up and tried to get ahold of her.
The dog stopped jumping and barking when it realized that something was behind it and slowly turned around to see a giant arachnid growling at him. It slowly backed up, whimpering, and ran crying back into the forest.
Scorponok pushed on the tree, bending it in half, and held out his other set of claws for the kitten. She jumped into his grasp and mewled while he let go of the tree, glad to have been found. Mittens slipped out of his grasp, meowed, and brushed up against his face. She then jumped up onto his back and began kneading at him with those horrendously sharp, evil, demon little kitty claws. Scorponok tried his hardest to put up with it until she curled up, made herself comfortable, and fell asleep. He wiped the tears out from under his optics and turned around to take her back to Blackout.
Blackout didn't pay any attention to Scorponok at first when he reentered the room. Scorponok pushed the kitten up next to him and then jumped up, giving him adorable little Bambi eyes while Mittens pawed at his face.
"Scorponok! You found Mittens!" Blackout said excitedly, sitting up and snatching Mittens up into his lap. "Good boy, Scorponok!" he added, patting Scorponok on the head. "Where was she?!"
Outside, Scorponok replied, nodding towards the window.
"I really should put a screen on that window," Blackout responded. "You going to at least pretend to get along with Mittens now?" Scorponok sighed and crossed his arms. "Scorponok…"
Yes, Scorponok gave in.
"Good boy." He reached out and pulled Scorponok into his side. "I love you, Scorponok."
Scorponok purred and leaned into his leg. Celebrate? he asked.
"How?" Blackout replied, giving his kitten kisses and petting her. He looked over as Scorponok wrapped his tail around the closet's doorknob and opened it, causing the dead horse to spill out. He stared at it a moment and smiled. "Yeah…let's celebrate."
"Shh!" Blackout scolded, holding his hand around Barricade's mouth to keep him from laughing. Scorponok positioned himself so that he was ready to run and held onto his sister tightly while they hid around the corner, watching Starscream's room. "Hey, Starscream!" Blackout called out before they hid again, holding in laugher.
Starscream opened his door and looked around for whoever had called him, stepping forward out into the hall. He felt something squish under his foot and looked down to find that he was standing in horse intestines. "BLACKOUT!"
"Run!" Barricade said before they bolted off laughing down the hall towards Blackout's room.
Three more days until Revenge of the Fallen! w00t!