"It's not funny, Megatron!" shouted Starscream to his leader. All around him came more sounds of amusement and he saw Skywarp almost choking on his voice processor in hysterics. "Look at me! Just look at me!"

"I am looking at you, Starscream. It's hard to do anything else!" chuckled Megatron, giving his Air Commander the once-over. "I can't say this is an improvement, but then again, I always said your ambition to take over the Decepticons was transparent, and now your frame is, too!"

Starscream felt a snap somewhere near his aft and trembled. That was it. He was going to die by falling to pieces and Megatron and the rest were only going to sit around, point and laugh. Starscream reflected on his current predicament, leading his trine to what was supposedly the source of unlimited power to be tapped for energon. It had been a small lake near a little cave, innocent-looking and still.

But it wasn't a "lake" at all, but a living creature of enormous energy. When Starscream got close to it, it attacked him, washing over him like acid rain and changing his molecular structure to this glassy, brittle, clear slag. He couldn't even transform because doing so caused some cracks to appear in his frame – they'd had to call for help and Astrotrain had to come pick him up.

"Primus, Starscream, put something on!" cackled Skywarp. "I can see your crankshaft, not an image I want in my processor!"

There was a swell of laughter again and Starscream wanted to blast the smiles off their faceplates with his null rays, but that wouldn't have worked either. He was completely humiliated. The accident had not only changed his frame but also made it totally transparent, leaving his workings and spark visible to everyone.

Starscream felt a small crack beginning in his wings and he cried out: "This substance is as brittle as baked slag! My entire structure will be destroyed and you're laughing? DO SOMETHING!"

Megatron finally calmed down and motioned to Hook. "What has caused this and does it pose a threat to the rest of us?"

The Constructicon's surgical engineer studied Starscream closely. "No, this seems localized to just Starscream. It looks like the energy creature managed to crystallize Starscream's outer structure while leaving his inner workings intact. He's very lucky, if his entire being had been crystallized, he would have offlined immediately."

"You see?" shrieked the Seeker. "I could have died, you miserable fools!"

"Hmm, but you didn't! And you let the creature get away!" snapped Megatron. "Such a source of power could have ensured our victory over the Autobots. Hook, can he be repaired or is this change permanent?"

"I do have a re-moleculizer that I used on Cybertron to help rebuild some of the buildings damaged in the war," said Hook. "In theory, it should work to restore Starscream's original molecular structure, but I've never used it on a living mechanism before. I'd have to make some modifications."

"How long will that take?" asked Starscream, feeling his servos start to flake and crumble. He couldn't take much more of this; at this rate, there wouldn't be a structure left to restore!

"Three Earth days," said Hook. "All I can do for you now is coat you with a substance that will harden your frame a bit more. The minerals and alloys of this planet are not very strong, so you still will not be able to transform, fly or use your weapons. If you try, it is certain something – like your head – will snap right off. And I can't fix that!"

Starscream gulped. Not be able to fly? Or even defend himself? Just a strong wind could mean the end of him. "What am I going to do now? Just stand in one spot for three Earth days?"

Megatron's optics sparkled mischievously. "Not a bad idea, Starscream. Hook – this substance you speak of, can it withstand this miserable Earth phenomenon they call 'winter'?"

"Yes, it is proof against the elements, and in fact, being in cold air might help its cohesiveness, and it will insulate his circuitry against the cold," said Hook, looking puzzled. "Why do you ask, mighty Megatron?"

"Yes, leader, what does the temperature have to do with this predicament?" asked Starscream, growing suspicious.

"Well, you obviously are of no use as an Air Commander or a Decepticon soldier or even to pick up energon," said Megatron. "Yet you cannot just do nothing and expect to be fed your usual energon. So in that case, I have a special mission for you, one that will keep you relatively safe and out of harm's way while Hook works to bring you back to normal – or whatever it is you were before this!"

"A mission?" Starscream's optics narrowed. "What can I do looking like this? And I can barely moved without something falling off!"

"For this mission, you will not have to move at all," said Megatron. "Soundwave has detected another potential energy source. Unfortunately, it is located near a metropolis of flesh creatures, and you know that Prime and his fools can't bear to be away from the fleshlings very long, and they will come if the humans report Decepticon activity. I need you to keep watch on the energy source until I can send for reinforcements from Cybertron to attack the area and plunder the energy!"

"Brilliant plan, fearless leader," snarked Starscream. "The flesh creatures will never notice me just standing there, especially since I cannot transform and disguise myself as usual!"

Megatron flashed a sinister grin. "No, Starscream, the humans will notice you, but they will not realize you are a Decepticon. They have their winter festival these days and your unfortunate accident can be turned to our advantage. You will be able to hide in plain sight! Trust me when I say that the way you are now will be appropriate."

Starscream sighed. He knew he had no choice. It was either that or stay in his berth and not get fed his energon rations.

"All right, and how will I get to the mission site?"

"Astrotrain will conduct you and set you in place," said Megatron, waving toward the triple-changer. "He will remain close by in case you are in distress or the Autobots arrive unexpectedly. We will join you in three Earth days with the reinforcements and with Hook's re-moleculizer."

"Fine. Let's get this over with," Starscream muttered, walking gingerly toward Astrotrain. Maybe, he thought, it wouldn't be so bad. He could use some time away from Megatron, and at least this way, he'd be spared any "accidents" from the Decepticon leader's fusion cannon. He walked into Astrotrain, and frowned in puzzlement when, just before the doors closed, he saw Megatron doubled over in laughter.

Sallie was so excited. Dad and Mom had decided to take her and Rusty, their little dog, out to see the world's biggest Christmas tree, which was located in a lovely little area just the town over. Sallie had seen the huge tree on TV and Dad said it was almost as big as a building and that it had taken hundreds of people to decorate it. Sallie had never seen a tree grow so big, but Dad had said it wasn't a real tree, it was made of plastic and things, but it looked like a real tree, and that was good enough.

The young girl and her family joined the huge crowd that had come out and they all gazed up at the tree in reverence, oohing and ahhing over the bright lights and shiny ornaments.

"Look, Mom!" said Sally pointing. "There's the star on top! Isn't it pretty!"

"Yes, dear, quite lovely. I wonder how they were able to go up so high to put it there."

"A helicopter, probably," said her husband. "It's got to be huge for us to be able to see it from all the way down here."

"I wish we could fly up and see it closer," said Sally with a wide smile. "I think it's the prettiest Christmas star I've ever seen!"

High above, Starscream shivered in the cold, atop his little platform on the very top of the tree-like structure, his servos and wings spread out in five-point formation. He knew that one false move and he'd smash to pieces on the ground far below. The flesh creatures had gathered around this monstrosity called a 'Christmas' tree for the last two days, and he'd not heard from Megatron once, except for a brief moment when Reflector had come. Starscream thought he was delivering a message from their leader, but the slagger had only come on Megatron's order to snap a picture of his Air Commander in his "new role."

Starscream grit his dentals – but not too hard – and plotted his revenge, but his enhanced audios picked up on the young human girl's compliment, and a small smile flitted across his faceplates. He was certain Megatron had felt he'd be miserable in this mission, and he was, to a degree, but he knew the leader would probably offline with rage if he knew just how many of the flesh creatures had stood around admiring his beauty. Maybe these organics weren't so stupid after all.

The end