Bazinga!
Grounders. Grounders everywhere. His wings twitched as he stalked through the crowd.
"You brought this on yourself," they said. "You knew the rules."
Those Elite didn't know what they were talking about! He had done nothing wrong. In fact, he had only done everything right.
He had been determined, hardworking, loyal. And for what? Here he was in the lower levels amidst trucks and drillers and scoops and cranes, his wings clipped in stasis bindings, trudging about on his struts like some common drone. It was positively disgusting!
Of course, in hindsight, he probably had brought this on himself. Taking responsibility for your wingmate's actions and taking responsibility for the actions themselves were two very different things. And Skywarp more than likely would have gotten himself killed the moment he set foot on the lower level.
It was his responsibility to take care of his Trine. He was their leader, after all.
And really, was Skywarp's prank so offensive? So he rigged a cryo chamber to blow in the middle of a Seeker Elite meeting with some High Council members. It only got a little cold and the boom wasn't even all that loud.
Of course the Scraplets that had been being held in the chamber for study did awaken once their circuits thawed and that one Councilman did lose an optic in the ordeal, but really, someone should have informed them of the vermin being kept as lab experiments.
Starscream would eagerly admit to anyone who asked that he still sought revenge on his wingmate after the stunt he had pulled with Skyfire, but he had no real intention of sentencing Skywarp to death by grounders.
Perhaps that was a bit extreme. He wasn't actually in any danger here on the ground. It was simply a humiliating way of punishing his pride. Being sent to the edge of Vos and told to navigate the streets until he found his way back to his quarters might not seem so bad, but the scoffs and mockery that would come from other Seekers would be torment for eons to come!
A truck sped by, splashing mucky acid rain and oil all over the lithe Seeker. Starscream moaned and imagined himself shaking the grime into Skywarp's energon rations.
He smiled at that.
Spotting a maintenance crew up ahead, he quickened his pace. Surely they would be willing to offer such magnificence as himself a simple solvent. As much as he would love forcing Skywarp to drink filthy energon, he had no intention of parading himself all the way through Vos and into the Seeker Elite towers looking as he did. It would only be that much more humiliating!
"You there," he called, catching the attention of a smaller, brownish mech who had just finished polishing the front of a store and was packing his gear in preparation of his next assignment. "Do you have any solvents with you?"
The mech groaned in annoyance with his back to Starscream. "I repair and polish windows after acid storms. Of course I keep solvents with me." He turned to face the Seeker and quirked an optic ridge. He gave Starscream and once over and smirked. "My, my… Aren't you in a predicament here? Wing clamps and all." He whistled. "What did you do, murder a commanding officer?"
Starscream huffed. "It was only a little maiming."
That caught the maintenance bot of guard. He blinked a few times before allowing his smirk to settle back on his faceplate. "Anyway, far be it from me to disregard one of Cybertron's most valued lifeforms, but, honestly, helping you wouldn't do much for me. I'd have to explain why I'm missing certain solutions and no one would believe it was to clean the armor of a Seekerling."
"Seeker."
"What?"
"Seeker. No 'ling.' Just Seeker."
"But you're so small."
"I'm more aerodynamic."
The mech rolled his optics. "Right."
Starscream tapped his pede in frustration. "Look, your plating is the color of all that is unholy. Help me get this ground filth off and I'll provide you with a full body paint job. Color of your choice."
"And buffing."
Starscream sputtered. "W-what?"
"You heard me, Seeker."
"Fine."
The brownish mech beamed and picked up one of his solvents. He moved to spray Starscream down, then paused. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"
Starscream growled. "For the love of… My name is Starscream. I train with the Elite to become commander of a fleet of energon Seekers along with my Trine mates, Skywarp and Thundercracker. My hope, however, is to work my way up to personal bodyguard of the Prime. I was caste into the Seekers, but I often work the system to satisfy my scientific curiosities. If I don't follow through on my word, you can use this information to start rumors of some immanent defection on my part."
The ugly, little grounder started to speak, but Starscream cut him off.
"And know this, little drone, if, after I have upheld my end of the deal, I find that you have taken the liberty of abusing the information I have shared, I will hunt you down, pluck you from the hole you live in and dismantle your pathetic frame piece by piece, starting with your pedes and ending with your optics. But I will not kill you, no. In fact, I will leave you alive on this very spot so that all who pass you might mock your humiliation, adding insult to injury. Are we clear?"
The maintenance bot only smiled. "Aren't you a dramatic one." He sprayed the solvent on the Seeker's face. "Honestly—Starscream, was it?—I wouldn't have turned down even the remote chance of having a flashier paint job. But since you've shared your secrets, I suppose I'll have to file them away in my memory core. Just in case."
Starscream glared at the mech.
He laughed and began to clean the Seeker's armor. "Name's Knock Out, by the way."
Thundercracker glared at his wingmate as he watched him pace across the room. "You're an idiot."
Skywarp's wings twitched. "So you've said… about a thousand times."
"I mean, I knew you were an idiot when you pulled the Skyfire stunt, but this was just a whole new level of stupid."
"Yeah, T.C. I got it."
"Council members and our commanding officers. Wow, Warp. Just wow."
The teleporter shot him a glare. "You think I don't regret that? Now my turbines are in Starscream's hands and we both know he's still upset over what I did to his dork friend!" He leaned against the wall and slumped to his seat. "He's been talkin' to the Commander for a long time, T.C. What if he has me court-martialed?" He gasped. "Or worse! What if they decide to… ground me?"
Thundercracker rolled his optics. "Well… You'd deserve it."
Skywarp sprang to his pedes and lunged at Thundercracker. "I can't get grounded, T.C.! I wouldn't survive down there! Not if I can't fly or warp away! You know how bad my social skills are!"
The thunderer pushed his brother away. "Yep. I sure do."
The door to their quarters slid open and a very angry looking Starscream stomped in.
"Hey, Screamer," Skywarp greeted, rocking back and forth nervously. "Your armor's looking pretty great today. You get a buff or something?"
Starscream glared at him.
"What's the verdict?" Thundercracker asked, feeling the intense dread of Skywarp slapping against their bond. It almost overpowered the extreme frustration wafting off their leader.
Starscream stared venomously into Skywarp's optics, making him shrink back and look away in shame. This pleased Starscream. He straightened, flexing his wings up a bit. "There will be no punishment."
The others' jaws dropped.
"Really?" Thundercracker asked, flabbergasted.
Skywarp warped to Starscream's side, throwing his arms around his Trine leader and hugging him tightly. "Oh-thank-you-thank-you-thank-you-thank-you!" He danced around the room giddily before jumping out the window and soaring through the air to release his pent up anxieties.
Starscream couldn't help smiling at his wingmate's display of elation and he absentmindedly scratched at one of his wings where the clamp had been.
Thundercracker watched him curiously. "You took his punishment, didn't you?"
Starscream frowned.
"You were grounded for him."
"Don't tell Skywarp."
Thundercracker smiled. "Wouldn't want him to think you cared about him or anything, right?"
Starscream stared blankly at him. "I need to stretch my wings."
"By all means," the blue Seeker said, gesturing at the window. He and Starscream ran for it, transformed and barreled through the sky.
It didn't take long for them to find the teleporter and they made a beeline to catch up with him.
"But seriously," Starscream said before they were close enough for the third member of their Trine to hear. "If you tell him, you die."
Thundercracker chuckled. "Whatever you say, Starscream."
Down below, a shiny, red mech was waving up at the Trine.
"Who's that?" Thundercracker asked.
Starscream mumbled, "Someone I hope to never have to speak to again."
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