The team awaited for Ratchet to come out of the lab. He, Bulkhead and Star were locked there for a while. Then, all of a sudden, the lab door opened and the medic bot wiped his hands.
"Well, it costed a long time, but she's ready to go out and see the world," he said. "Come on, girl. Don't be shy." Starshine appeared, escorted by Bulkhead, and the team was delighted: her paint job shone brightly and healthily, the wounds on her arms were completely repaired, and her wings were carefully tucked away for safety.
"Now that's what I call an improvement," Sari complimented "You really outdone yourselves."
"She chose herself the pieces she wanted, apparently Bumblebee's Earth mode impressed her," Bulkhead commented.
"Heh, what can I do if she has good taste?" Bee commented.
"What gave me more trouble however, were her wings. I had to made them retractable so she could stop stumbling around when she walked," The medic bot commented as she demonstrated.
"Then, they can come out when she needs them," Optimus commented. "Pretty much like mine." He showed her his own wings.
"You medics should deserve more attention. You work so hard to help bots of all kinds," Star complimented. Ratchet let out a chuckle out at the commendment of his efforts.
"Trust me, girl. It is better to be an unknown hero."
"So, I assume you're ready for going out and seeing Cybertron tomorrow?" Bee invited Star. With a nod, she agreed. "It's gonna be awesome!" As he changed to vehicle mode, however, he noticed a frown on Star's face.
"Uh… Why she didn't transform?" Bulkhead asked.
"That's another thing I need to warn," Ratchet explained, as Bee reverted to robot mode. "While I analyzed her, I discovered that Megatron's swords not only impaled her spark chamber, but also her transformation cog. In other words, she can't transform into any vehicle." The team was surprised, and Bee gasped.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Star. I-I didn't meant to, I-" He tried apologizing, but Star's hand stopped him.
"It's okay, Bee, really. You didn't offended me. It's not like I could transform anyway." Star assured.
"Well… but you still wanna see everything tomorrow?"
"Of course, "big brother"." Star chuckled. Bee smiled, comforted, and the team smiled as well.
Far away from there, Starscream and the Decepticons awaited for Slipstream's return. A purple-colored Elite Guard ship landed, and Swindle walked out, along with two Starscream clones, one green and yellow and the other, completely red.
"You've got a lot of nerve coming back, after what you pulled," Lugnut commneted.
"Salutations, Swindle. I believe Slipstream clarified the great plans I formulated once she found you," Starscream greeted.
"Yeah, yeah, she did. And made some serious wreck on my ship. But let's talk about business," The salesmech clapped twice, calling for the clones that followed him. "These clones were only possible to be made thanks to the genetic signature and cloning techniques I acquired. You can say this salesmech has learned a few new tricks to gain customers. Their names, by the way, are Dirge and Thrust."
"You made a magnifecent job. These two are so admirable," the sycophant clone commented.
"I don't wanna know what these two represent from Starscream," Ramjet commented.
"Not fair! Why do they have the right to question?" Thrust commented.
"The best team position is mine, and no one takes my place," Dirge decided. "Mine!"
"Asked and answered," Starscream commented. "But I will only believe their efficiency once I see them in battle."
"I promise you, new Decepticon leader, you will be surprised with what these two have," Swindle guaranteed. "Now about the compensation..."
"You can have the honors of testing your new weaponry once we catch those foolish Autobots' attention."
"In these hard business times, I'm taking any opportunity." Swindle agreed.
On the ship, all the team had retired to their rooms. Bumblebee was going to be the last one, but then he noticed Star was on the top of the ship, stargazing again.
"Star? Are you okay?"
"Yes… I told you I felt comfortable watching the stars..." Star assured. Bee climbed up and sat close to her.
"You… feel lonely?" Bee asked.
"No… I'm fine. I was just… remembering..."
"... you learned what happened to Starscream now, right?"
"Yes… but that was no longer the Starscream I met once. My friend was destroyed a long time ago. I miss him, but there's nothing else I can do."
"Then..."
"Sometimes, you don't have a reason to feel sad. You just do, and it ceases after a while," Star affirmed. Bee nodded, and they started stargazing together.
"Oh, I have something for you," he said, showing her a box. "It took me a while to find the right kind, but… there you go." Star gasped in pleasant surprise: it were two Stingers, similar to Bee's. And already with her arm color. "If you're gonna be part of our team, you'll have to defend yourself."
"That's really nice, Bumblebee," Star commented, with a happy smile. "Thank you." She hugged him again, startling him.
"Heh. I'll never get used to that."
The next day, Optimus and Ratchet got an early call from Jazz. He wanted to see them in Trypticon. Sari, Bee and Bulkhead were more than ready to show everything great on Cybertron.
Then, as they walked by the Jet Twins, that were taking a sip of fresh Energon, their optics got locked on Starshine.
"Wow… who is beautiful bot there?" Jetfire asked, as he and Jetstorm got closer.
"Never saw such good looks in training."
"Oh… um, thanks.. I guess." Star looked away with a shy smile. Sari chuckled, and Bee pouted.
"Have you been here long? Never really saw you around."
"Where your insignia is? Never been at Boot Camp?"
"I like your smile, is cute."
"Optics good-looking as we-"
"Okay, you two! Stop bugging her already!" Bee spoke up, showing his Stingers. "Man…" he commented, as she pushed Star to go on.
"What's up with them?" Bulkhead asked, while Sari held back her laughter. The twins sighed together.
Sari showed the Metroplex to Star, and they soon met Arcee with her classmates.
"Oh, that must be the delightful young Bot you helped. I'll be more than happy to help her as well." The teacher Bot complimented the young Bot, making Star a bit shy.
"Hm… Autobot and Decepticon parts that blend together." Nightbeat analyzed it with her magnifying glass. "Amazing."
"Um-"
"Where are your wings?" Hosehead asked. "Sari said you had wings."
"Uh-"
"WOW! I really like your colours! Where did you got such a bright painting?!" Siren spoke out loudly. Star fell down, startled.
"Okay, easy, guys," Sari commented.
"I'm not that much, really…" Star said, rubbing her arm.
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Bumblebee said. "I know the Decepti-creeps told you otherwise, but they didn't knew better."
"He's right. You will have now friends that truly appreciate you," Arcee assured with a smile.
"Thanks… but I still feel a bit worried… that curse I carry can be dangerous..." Star commented.
"Trust me, girl. Nothing able to scare Megatron should be called a curse." Sari tried to cheer her up. Star gave her an unsure smile.
Optimus and Ratchet visited Trypticon Prison, and witnessed the mess left.
"So, yesterday while we were busy with Starshine, there was a jailbreak?" The medic Bot asked. "I wonder why we weren't warned about the runaway Decepticons..."
"It was Sentinel's time of interrogate the prisoners," Jazz explained.
"Sure… covering up stories like always. I'm glad you called us, Jazz," Optimus said, seriously staring at the self-proclaimed Magnus.
"They caused a lot of trouble, but didn't bothered to free their boss," the Cyber-Ninja pointed out. Megatron remained locked on his cell.
"Well, then we have the most valuable testemony to the jailbreak," Optimus commented.
"All right, Decepticon scum, spill it out!" Sentinel scolded, knocking on the cell's energy door. "Where did your friends ran off to?!" Megatron grunted, refusing to answer.
"Please, any information is essential. Even from a Decepticon." Optimus stepped forward.
"If I can't do anything now… what much of a choice do I have?" Megatron sighed. "He's not worthy of leadership, yet my fellow Decepticons managed to stab me in the back and follow him…"
"We all know even your faction isn't fully reliable," Team Prime's leader asked. "Who freed them and left you?"
"Just the betrayer Bot that stranded me on Earth in the first place."
"What?! Starscream?" Ratchet gasped.
"But that's impossible! I remember he was deactivated on Earth!" Optimus commented.
"Hm… I guess I'm diggin' somethin': when me and Prowl gathered the AllSpark fragments to help on that plan, we could not find them all. Guess some bot kept one of these with itself, and brought Starscream back." Jazz thought.
"Worst idea ever. If he is back, I think we have a big problem," Optimus decided. "I'm gonna gather my team."
"Just don't feel bad if the Elite Guard captures him first," Sentinel proclaimed. "Jazz, call the twins and Blurr." As the two left, Optimus turned to the Decepticon leader.
"Don't expect them to go easy on you for now on… but thank you, Megatron," Optimus said, before leaving with Ratchet.
"Just give that betrayer what he deserves," Megatron huffed.
Starshine tried flying, following Sari's guidance.
"Okay, try to maintain this rhythm. No hurrying," The girl explained. Star felt confident at first, but as she tried landing, she couldn't get her wings to close, and ended up landing forcefully, with her face on the floor.
"Well, her flying is good… only her landing is a problem," Bumblebee came closer, as Star shook her head.
"I'm still not controlling my new parts properly." Star commneted. "Maybe that boot camp the Jet Twins commneted could be a good idea."
"Nah, you'll do better without Sentinel yelling at you all the time." Bee assured. "What about I teach you how to use your Stingers, hm?"
"I-am-sorry-to-interrupt-whatever-you-are-doing-but-I-just-got-a-call-from-Jazz-warning-about-a-jailbreak-and-Decepticons-escaping-and-I-am-sure-that-Optimus-Prime-would-appreciate-your-help-so-I-came-over-to-get-you-for-him!" Blurr came over, speaking fast as always, cutting their chat. "Got-that-so-far?"
"A jailbreak? That is not good," Star commented, and Bee and Sari looked at her.
"You got what he said?!" Sari asked.
"Oh-so-that's-your-little-sister-Jetfire-and-Jetstorm-told-me-about. Really-cute-if-she-don't-mind-me-saying," The intelligence agent complimented. Star blushed. "Oh-wait-where-are-my-manners-I-did-not-even-introduced-myself-my-name-is-Blurr-and-I'm-an-intelligence-agent-working-for-the-Elite-Guard-an-I-am-returning-slowly-to-my-duties-after-being-crushed-by-that-two-faced-monster-Shockwave-and-later-on-rescued-by-Sari."
"Shockwave did what?!" Star was shocked.
"Okay, okay. We can talk about this later. Where exactly we're needed?" Bee asked.
"Well-the-last-possible-coordinates-point-to-different-directions-therefore-I-believe-the-most-possible-location-would-be-WATCH-OUT!" Blurr moved them away at the sight of something approaching, and quickly moved them out of there.
Sounds of blasters were heard by the Autobots, as the enemies revealed themselves.
"Okay, Autobots. That's how we'll do it: either you give up or you die at our hands!" Starscream proclaimed, as he, the clones and Decepticons presented their weapons.
"It's… Starscream… he's active," Star observed from behind their hideout. "But there are… many of him now..."
"Oh, right. I didn't tell you," Bee awkwardly remembered. "Those are his clones."
"Doesn't matter, they're all going to prison," Sari decided, calling for her hammer.
"Open fire!" Both Starscream and all of his clones and Decepticon allies began shooting their null rays and plasma weapons at the Autobot team, leaving them hunkered down behind concrete walls that were torn down.
"Optimus-I-have-the-rest-of-the-team-with-me-and-we-are-being-attacked-I-beg-you-please-don't-take-long-to-come-over-just-follow-the-coordinates!" Blurr spoke up in his audio.
"Wow, does he ever stop to breathe?" Bee asked.
"We got your message, Blurr. We're on our way," Optimus alerted through audio.
"Please, tell me you have a plan until Optimus doesn't get here," Bumblebee asked Sari.
"Well, with Blitzwing it's easy. Remember? Personality conflict," the girl reminded.
"Oh… I call first dibs," Bee decided, changing to vehicle mode, and calling Blitzwing's atention. "Hello, Blitzbrain! Still can't find the ugliest among your three faces?" Just as predicted, Blitzwing began to target Bumblebee.
Star wanted to help, but her Sitngers didn't seemed to come out. Boy, she wished she and Bee had time to rehearse that...
Sari used her hammer to knock over Sunstorm, opening space for Star to move. The blue and magenta bot then felt her body wrapped up by something. It seemed like a hook wrapped around her.
"Hey… who's the gorgeous little mech with interesting optics?" Swindle asked, flirting with Starshine, as he pulled her close. She tried activaitng her Stingers, but nothing happened. "Heh… guess you can't do much, beauty… I should have guessed how useful this extension hook could be." She blushed out of pure embarssement and fear.
"Leave her alone!" Bee yelled, driving forward, attracting Blitzwing and making him bump into Swindle.
"Ugh, not the face..." He rubbed his swollen face, as the yellow mech took his sister to safety.
"Bumblebee, please. I wanna help." Star begged.
"You said it yourself: you're still not fully in control of your parts. I don't want you to get hurt." Star watched as her brother returned to the battlefield that formed on that place. She felt desperate. He was right: her Stingers were still not working, and she didn't wanted to resort to "the curse".
By that moment, she saw Starscream and Shockwave flying to an forked structure she and Bulkhead fixed, and programming coordinates. Were they planning to… escape?
"Running away like always, huh?" Slipstream approached them. "Not much of a leader posture."
"Our army is assembled, and the Autobots are in smaller number. Victory is visible. So we might as well start programming our route to conquer other places once Cybertron is ours!" Star gasped, but tried to remain silent.
"The space bridge will open at any second," Shockwave alerted.
"Then take the remaining kliks you have to beat up those weak Autobots more!" As Shockwave departed, Slipstream noticed something about the typed coordinates. It felt very familiar...
"Starscream, I think you misled on the-"
"Not now."
"But, Starscream-"
"Hush!"
"Starscream, listen to me! There's-"
"Be quiet! I don't care for what you have to say!" Starscream slapped Slipstream away, and turned around to go back to battle with Shcokwave. The female Seeker hesitated, rubbing her cheek. That was enough for Star to leave her hideout.
"Are you okay?" She asked the female Seeker.
"D-Don't ask," Slipstream quickly turned away. As Star moved a hand to her, she moved it away. "I'm fine!" Then, she softened her expression. "It was… just a slap..."
"But your face… has a scratch." She moved a hand to Slipstream's. The female Seeker looked in surprise. Never a Bot sounded so… nice with her. At the slight touch, Star's symbol glowed and her servos glowed blue, healing that scratch.
"Starshine, look out!" Sari's voice called.
"Huh?" Bulkhead came over and defended Star against Sunstorm's blasters. He and the rest of the Autobots had arrived for the battle. Slipstream took the opportunity to escape the harsh situation.
"Sorry we got late. We got a few bumps on the way, dig?" Jazz explained, as he called for his nunchakus.
"Safeguard, handle Lugnut," Sentinel ordered. "The rest, aim for Starscream's clones!"
"Sir, yes, sir!" Safeguard immediatly started fighting. Lugnut picked up and flung him back at Sentinel, making him split up back into the Jet Twins.
"Can't you do anything right?!" Sentinel scolded.
"Sorry, sir." They both commneted. Optimus sighed, facepalming.
"MINE!" Dirge leaped at Sentinel Prime, that flinched in panic. Then, Thrust attacked Optimus with his blasters, while he defended himself with his axe. Jazz handled Ramjet and Sunstorm, using his skills to keep safe from the blasters.
"What speed and grace in your moves, Autobot," Sunstorm complimented.
"OH, you got me now!" Ramjet commented, before punching Jazz on the back.
"Bulkhead!" Bee called, as he prepared his turbo boosters for their launching attack. Sari called Blitzwing's attention, attacking his head with her hammer, making his faces switch constantly.
Bumblebee was launched at Starscream's direction, grabbing his feet. The Decepticon growled, and flew around to get him off.
Star gasped as she saw the Decepticons had the upper hand. She couldn't just stay there doing nothing… just this thought made her spark beat stronger.
"So you think you can fly, huh? Then, fly away!" Starscream grabbed Bee by the head and threw him away, making him land hard on the floor.
"Bumblebee!" Star screamed of despair, her eyes glowing a very bright light. Sari then had grabbed in the head by Blitzwing.
"Not bad for a "Blitz-brain", huh?" He was then surprised by a sudden attack of almost blinding light. Sari looked behind as Blitzwing let go of her. Starshine looked just like what her memories showed: she was seemingly overpowered, with energy flowing around her. She had shot a burst of high powered light through her Stinger.
"Wow…" Bee, who had recovered his conscience, couldn't believe his optics. Sari stumbled a bit away, just as Hothead Blitzwing turned to the glowing Bot.
Starshine firmly accepted the glare, and shot against him with narrowed optics. Blitzwing tossed and turned over his three perosnalities, but each attack seemed useless, or caused very minor injuries. He ceased once Star punched him in the face, and gave an uppercut, knocking him down.
Then, she walked to Bee, smiling and offering a hand to help him get up. After she lovingly embraced him, Bee watched Star flying towards Starscream. He knew now she could handle things by herself.
"Wow! Where did she got that power?" Sentinel wondered, as he observed from his fight against Dirge and Thrust.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Optimus came over and knocked the Seekers out of their formation, scattering them. Starscream tried blasting her, but Starshine defended herself well. Ducking and twisting, it was a deadly dance to see who would let up first.
"You are one annoying presence, small Bot!"
"My name is Starshine! You may not remember me anymore, but you'll not hurt my friends. I won't let you!" They engaged in a shooting battle in the air. Slipstream saw them both battling, while the other Seekers went to help their leader.
"Brothers, surround that beatiful young Bot!" Sunstorm commanded.
"Why don't I give the orders?!" Thrust complained. The female Seeker observed both the fight and the Seekers' discussion. Suddenly… that didn't felt right anymore.
Meanwhile, the Autobots seemed to have regained the upper hand. Bumblebee and Blurr managed to wrap Swindle with his own extension hook, rendering him basically harmless.
"Never flirt with my sister," Bee commented, flicking the salesmech's face.
"Boy-you-sure-have-become-over-protective-of-her-plus-we-really-should-work-together-more-often," Blurr commented. Then, they saw Safeguard knock down Lugnut atop of Blitzwing.
"Oooh, doggy pile," Random cackled.
"Yay! We are victorious!" Safeguard celebrated.
"Not yet!" Optimus alerted. "The space bridge opened. We have to turn it off!"
Starscream kept his distance from Star at first, but he slowly went closer and closer.
"It doesn't have to be like this, Starshine… we used to be friends… maybe even more..." Starscream proclaimed. Starshine gasped… he remembered? But how?
"You… you remember? But… Shockwave said..."
"You know very well someone like you would never be fully erased in my spark..." Starscream caressed her face. "You always mattered to me… always..." Starshine felt very secured with those words. As he moved closer to her, he secretly prepared his blaster. It was a trap!
"NO!" The hit of a blaster interrupt his plans, and called Star's attention. As the Decepticon fell on the ground, Slipstream revealed herself as who provided the attack.
Star, exhausted from her overpowering, fell out of weakness, but the female Seeker picked her up and helped her get down safely, for the shocking surprise of the team. Starscream took the opportunity to escape through the space bridge, along with Lugnut and Shockwave. Before they passed through, Shockwave blasted the controls, entering before the bridge closed.
"We lost them," Sari sighed.
"He's a manipulative kind of bot now. I'm sorry." Slipstream helped Starshine getting up.
"You saved me." Star smiled weakly to the female Seeker.
"We're even," She smiled.
"I know I shouldn't ask, but… what were you trying to-"
"His calculations on the space bridge weren't correct. They pointed back to where we just came from."
"Guess he didn't cared much to where he would go. He just ran off in a hurry." Star commented.
"Maybe. Now, if you excuse me…" She called the fallen Seekers and Swindle's attention. "Okay, to Trypticon, all of us."
"I would follow you anywhere, dearest sister," Sunstorm complimented.
"I am going back!" Ramjet protested.
"Oh, yes, you are. All of you, come on!" Slipstream threatened with her weapons. The Seekers gulped. "You two, make sure they don't try escaping, okay?" She looked at Jetfire and Jetstorm.
"Hey, I'm the only giving orders around here!" Sentinel protested. "You two make sure none of them escape."
"Yes sir," The twins saluted, then turned to the female Seeker. "Yes miss." As they surrounded the Seekers, Slipstream leaded the way back to Trypticon, dragging Swindle with his own hook.
"*sigh* Bad day for business..." The salesmech lamented.
"If you want… I'll visit you there," Star suggested, as Slipstream was about to leave.
"That… would not be a bad idea," Slipstream agreed, waving at the Bot. She, on her turn, waved back with a smile, as she left.
"How did you did that?" Optimus was astonished. "How did you convinced her to… help you?"
"All I did was help her… and talk to her." Star explained.
"Simple as that?" Bee asked.
"Simple as that."
"It looks to me like more than the "enemy of my enemy" gig. This girl has some special gift," Jazz pointed out. "If you up to train with this Cyber-Ninja, we may find good use of this strength, dig?"
"I… guess I need to think, but thank you." Star smiled to him, then looked at the team. She felt really good using her "overpower" to help. Suddenly, that "curse" looked a lot more like a blessing.
"Good job," a voice rang in her audios. Kinda like someone whispered to her… but who?
Later, back to the ship, Optimus and Cliffjumper talked about the situation.
"You did a nice work catching all of Starscream's clones, especially this new femme you called for the team. We also received Swindle and Blitzwing."
"Thank you, Cliffjumper. Unfortunately, we still have to capture the ones that took the chance to escape."
"I know. And I'm sure you'll solve everything, as always."
"Yeah… but, about… him?"
"*sigh* Ultra Magnus's condition is not getting any better. He regained his conscience, but gets weaker every cycle. We are doing our best, but… the medics are not sure he'll last much time." Optimus closed his optics in worrying, receiving those news from the red mech. "Well, anything else to report?"
"...No… y-you can go now."
After Cliffjumper left, Ratchet tried comforting Optimus, with a hand on his shoulder. Then, Star came over, having listened the whole conversation. She did the same the medic Bot did.
"Everything will be okay… It'll take time, but it will." She smiled to him, trying to cheer the leader up. Optimus smiled weakly to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder. She smiled in pride, her star symbol glowing once more.
Far away from there, Starscream returned to planet Earth's moon. Lugnut and Shockwave, knowing they couldn't return to Cybertron, formulating different ideas of revenge against the Autobots.
"There's much to do around here… and I can only hope those two don't ruin everything, like that pile of scrap Slipstream!" he complained. "If I cannot even trust my own clones, what chance we have against those weak Autobots!?"
"I see you have a problem..." An eerie voice called. "But an inferior leader like you should get use to that."
"Who's there?! Who dares insult me!?" Starscream wanted o know who was speaking.
"That does not matter now. If you are really willing to do something right as a powerful Decepticon leader, I may know how to help you."
"... go on," Starscream agreed reluctantly in listening the voice, even though not knowing where it came from… even though the answer was close… and emitted a purple, sidious glow...