So, I finally had time to complete this chapter. I hope my explanation of the situation is understandable! And thanks for the wonderful comments!~
On a side note - I absolutely love the Knock Out x Starscream pairing! (as much as I do MegaStar) And I adore jealous!Megatron as well. I believe you can guess where this is going. But in this story I'm aiming for a friendship (maybe with some benefits lol) between KO and SS. The fic will ultimately be MxSS.
Another side note - I have already planned something for Soundwave, have patience!
Enjoy!
"Optimus, I think I discovered how the prototype works and how…no, when its effect ceases." said Ratchet, looking at his leader with a strange light in his eyes.
The blue and red mech nodded and waited for the other to continue.
"You know about a certain group among the scientists back on Cybertron?" the ambulance vented a sigh. "They used to be so obsessed with exploring new worlds and communicating with other sentient beings. A bit fanatical if you ask me."
Prime nodded again. He knew the community Ratchet was talking about. It had had quite the number of members. Most of them had boarded spaceships, had set course to foreign planets and had never returned. No one knew any of their courses or destinations, so a rescue party had never been sent.
"You think the ship we found yesterday belongs to them." It wasn't even a question; there was no reason for one anyway. "What do you suppose happened to the crew members? We found no remains."
The doctor's optics saddened. "There were no remains because they lost their Cybertronian frames." He signed again and poked the prototype. "This is very unstable. It requires further development before it can work properly without firing randomly. But those idiot scientists probably thought it was close enough to completion. My guess is the prototype activated when the ship crashed and turned the whole crew into the most 'advanced' life form on this planet."
"But it must have crashed at least a dozen thousands years ago."
"Yeah… The scientists...they are all dead, most likely. I don't think they were able to survive in their new bodies even for a few days. And even if they did survive for a while, it wasn't long enough to meet the requirements for the reversal process to activate."
"Reversal process? So, there is a way to return Megatron, Starscream, Knock Out and Breakdown back to their original frames?" Prime asked, a little bit of hope in his voice.
Ratchet looked him in the optics, a mixture of emotions playing on his face plates. He just couldn't decide exactly what his feelings about the whole situation were.
"Yes… kind of. There's nothing anyone but them can do. When the requirements are met, the reversal process will start on its own." the medic said, opening a hatch in the prototype to reveal a chart and instructions below it. "Now, as I mentioned, the scientist were kind of extreme in their methods. They firmly believed that one can get to know another species' true nature only by walking among them as one of them. And they considered such a mission successful only when they have experienced all possible basic emotions while in their new bodies."
Ratchet pointed at the chart to emphasize his words. Prime focused his optics on it as well. It consisted of two columns – the left one was smaller and named 'Primary Emotions' while the right one contained more information and held the title 'Secondary Emotions'.
The Autobot leader's optics quickly started reading.
Fear: Nervousness, Horror
Sadness: Sympathy, Neglect, Shame, Disappointment, Sadness, Suffering
Anger: Torment, Envy, Disgust, Rage, Exasperation, Irritation
Surprise: Surprise
Joy: Relief, Enthrallment, Optimism, Pride, Contentment, Zest, Cheerfulness
Love: Longing, Lust, Affection
When he finished the list he couldn't keep a small groan escaping his mouth plates. Some emotions would be easy to… achieve, if not achieved already, but others…
"Impossible, right?" Ratchet's voice cut Prime's train of thoughts. "Moreover, these emotions have to be caused by other humans and their behavior. But that included them as well because they would be human then. But even so, there's just no way that our resident Cons would feel all of these. Ever."
Optimus sighed. He could see the medic's point but refused to believe there was no hope.
"Do they have to experience all emotions each or as a group?"
"Ah yes! I forgot to explain that. They have to experience them as a group. I don't see how they'd succeed, Optimus." Ratchet looked in the Con's room direction and frowned.
A small smile found its way on Prime's lip components and his optics gleamed with mirth.
"Perhaps there's more to them that meets the eye."
Rathet eyed him like he had grown a second helm, a slightly crazed look in his optics. "You did not just say that…"
The Autobot leader continued as if he hadn't heard the medic at all. "Perhaps living as humans for awhile will change their perspective on life. Only time will tell. But for now, we shall not reveal to them the information you have found. This would only worsen the situation and have the potential to make it irreversible." All seriousness has returned to the Prime's face and demeanor. "Should they ask about our progress, tell them we are still working on it."
The medic's optics grew a fraction wider in surprise. "Lie to them?"
"It is for their own good, friend."
Ratchet nodded. He understood that Optimus wanted to help them. He probably felt responsible for what had happened to them. But the doctor wasn't sure he even wanted the Cons to get back to normal.
Meanwhile.
Breakdown was the first to wake up in the morning. His eyes opened lazily and took a few moments to focus. His fuzzy brain had forgotten that he was human now and the unfamiliar surroundings startled him enough to set him in motion. He rose quickly from his position lying on the bed. Unfortunately for him, the top bunk wasn't high enough and he banged his head against it. Wincing in pain he tried to get up but the sheets were all tangled around him. He struggled angrily with them for awhile, almost ripping the fabric in frustration. When he finally freed himself, he walked straight to the bathroom.
That… 'excretion' thing organics had to do was so bothersome! It was awfully weird. All in all, human bodies were strange. But the weirdest part for Breakdown was his chest. He felt as if he was lacking parts of himself. It was so…flat.
Then he thought of Starscream. He had lost his wings, he probably felt horrible because of it. Besides, seekers loved…no, needed to fly. What would the jet do when his thirst to fly becomes too much?
Breakdown shook his head. There was no need to think about that. To distract himself, he looked at his reflection in the mirror. He didn't have time to observe his new face carefully the previous day. Something about his face was slightly different but he couldn't pinpoint it just yet. He kept staring for a good two minutes before he realized there were very tiny bits of hair growing on the lower part of his face.
Weird skin jobs…
A bang on the door cut his train of thoughts. He quickly opened it and was met by a very pissed off Megatron. Breakdown hurried to vacate the bathroom, avoiding eye contact with the angry Lord as much as possible. He wondered what had set him off so badly. Sure they were human and it sucked… and it was Megatron after all. But even so, such behavior was odd.
Once fully dressed, the blue Con peeked into Knock Out's bed only to find it empty. Strange. His friend was not one to wake up early, especially when he didn't have to. But where could he have gone?
He was about to leave their sleeping quarters in search for him when something red in Starscream's bed caught his eye. He moved closer to the sleeping Con and noticed the lump under the blankets was far bigger than it should be if it was only the seeker in there.
And he was correct. There were two bodies under the covers. Knock Out was practically lying on top of the seeker, efficiently trapping him between himself and the bed. Both humans were sleeping on their tummies with their limbs positioned in odd ways. There was a little trail of saliva from Starscream's mouth going to the pillow he was resting his head on. While Knock out's face was buried in the seeker's neck.
Breakdown couldn't stifle his chuckles at the sight. He reached for Knock Out's ear and run his forefinger on the edge. The feather light touch teased the medic and he moaned in displeasure, ducking his head further against Starscream's neck in order to avoid the annoying finger.
With a rush of air, the bathroom door opened forcibly and Megatron walked out, apparently in no better mood at all. He gave a dirty look in Breakdown's direction and stormed out of the room, shutting the door with a bang that miraculously didn't wake the sleeping Cons. They did groan in displeasure and shuffled a little though.
Breakdown bit his lower lip in order to stifle his chuckles again. For menacing evil and destructive Cons with psychopathic tendencies, they sure as heck looked cute in their human forms, cuddled up to each other like sparklings/children/whatever.
The big human felt kind of like a creep, watching them while they were sleeping. But he didn't really want to go out of the room; he might take the brunt of Megatron's inexplicable anger. And he'd rather avoid that. Maybe it was a good idea to take a shower - it would make the time pass. Maybe their leader would calm down by then. Hopefully. With that thought, Breakdown headed to the bathroom again.
Meanwhile, Megatron.
Megatron stormed out of their new sleeping quarters, angrily slamming the door which won him a warning look from the Prime. The Decepticon Lord felt like a scolded child so he turned his head sideways to express his defiance and took off in the direction of the nearest corridor leading to unoccupied spaces of the base.
Ratchet was about to yell at the impudent Con when he was interrupted by a warm servo on his shoulder. He looked Prime quizzically but the larger bot just shook his helm.
"You have done well, old friend. I suggest you recharge now, there is no need to put unnecessary strain on yourself."
The medic just nodded. His leader had a point - there was nothing more he could do here. He sighed and with one last dirty look in Megatron's direction left for his recharge quarters.
Prime quickly caught up with the Decepticon lord, much to the human's displeasure. The two of them just walked around the desolate parts of the base for good half an hour. There was nothing to be seen – only empty hallways covered with spider webs and dust. Overall, it was not a pleasant place to be, not really safe either.
Megatron was getting more and more riled up with every step he took. He wanted to go for a walk to blow off some steam but he got stuck with his mortal enemy instead. The Prime's presence just irritated the warlord further and he started to growl unintentionally.
Optimus heard the threatening sounds coming from the human but decided not to comment on it. After a few more minutes of random and aimless roaming, Megatron had had enough of everything! He spun on the heels of his feet and faced the Prime with a nasty grimace on his face. He felt somewhat strange, having to look up towards others in order to speak to them. He wasn't used to it.
"Why are you following me around? Certainly you have more pressing matters to attend to."
"I cannot afford to let you wander loosely around this facility, Megatron. You may not have any means of escaping this place but you can cause damage to the base, even as a human."
The Con's eyebrows drew together. Of course Prime would follow him because of security reasons. The mech didn't do stuff for kicks after all. But the tyrant was mildly proud that the Autobot leader thought he was still able of destruction even in his pathetic organic shell. But before he could prepare his reply, the Prime spoke again.
"Now that you mentioned it, I do have a meeting to attend to soon. We are returning to the Command Center now."
Megatron was firmly standing his ground though. "You cannot command me!" The human was outraged. He would not take orders from others, especially not from Prime! The Autobot leader didn't look surprised at all by the outburst.
"I do not attempt to command you, Megatron. But I cannot leave you here especially when you do not know the way back."
The warlord blinked stupidly a few times before the words sunk in. He truly had no idea where he was or how to return. He had been too angry to pay attention to that and he had no internal navigation systems anymore. Moreover, he had no idea how massive the base was. If he took his chance and roamed on his own, it might take him hours or even days before he finds his way to the Command Center again. He growled at the realization that he had to obey the Autobot. He was totally dependant on him at the moment. Scrap!
Prime watched with interest the emotions playing on Megatron's face. But he had no time to lose anymore. He could not even afford the human's slow walking pace. He was half-unwilling and half-amused to just grab the tyrant and walk the rest of the way faster. And in the end, that was what he did.
"Apologies, Megatron. But I cannot afford to lose anymore time." The Prime's deep voice registered in the human's ears but before he had time to comprehend the meaning he was gently swoop off the ground by the collar of his uniform by two huge metal fingers. The tyrant cried out in surprise and quickly cursed himself for making such an undignified sound. He tried to wiggle and fight his way out of the hold but his puny arms didn't want to go that much up and backwards as he needed.
Optimus tightened his grip on the cloth and brought Megatron to his optics level.
"Megatron, cease the struggling. If I drop you now, at this height, the fall could cause severe damage to your body or even death."
The tyrant's countless vorns of experience in battle and his sturdy frame had made him forget what fear felt like. But now, in this weak organic shell, uneasiness slowly crept back into his spark…heart. He relaxed a bit when Prime eased him in his open palm. But the jerky motion that was caused by every step the Autobot took did nothing to calm him further. He managed to stop himself from reaching towards Prime's thumb and grabbing on it for support. That would have been utter humiliation!
Meanwhile, Breakdown.
Breakdown was done with his bath. He peeked into the Command Center through the tiny gap the slightly open door provided. There was no sign of Megatron or anyone else for that matter. He waited a few seconds and exited the sleeping quarters. Now that he could take his time to look around more, he noticed the space wasn't really that big. Sure, for humans it was, but for the Autobots – it was quite small actually. The Nemesis was so much better! Even creepy Soundwave and stupid drones couldn't make it worse than that.
He climbed the stairs to the platform with the sofa and sat on the comfy furniture.
It was so quite. Eerily so. There was not a single sound, not even the soothing humming of powered up technology. Some of the lights were on but just barely. The Nemesis was usually dim as well but somehow the Autobot base gave him the creeps. Not surprisingly though – he was a weak tiny organic in the enemy's lair. They could crush him like a bug at any time they see fit.
A loud and sudden creak of metal sliding over metal caused the Con to jump in alarm, his widened eyes darting around the room until he found the source of the ungodly sound.
It was Bulkhead opening a door. The green mech had just exited his recharge room and was stretching and yawning soundly. His optics were barely open, sleepiness still lingering on them. He strolled around before he noticed Breakdown. Optics met eyes and they just stared blankly at each other, awkwardness rising with every second which seemed to stretch longer than the usual.
"Uh…good morning?" the Con said, desperately trying to break the silence and the staring.
Bulkhead blinked stupidly a few times and returned the greetings with equal awkwardness.
"How did you recharge?"
"Fine. You?"
"Alright."
More silence.
"Why don't you turn the TV on?" Bulkhead asked while moving closer to the platform with the couch on it, resting his servos on the handrails.
"The what?" Breakdown's eyebrows were drawn together in confusion.
"The TV. The box on the table over there. It's a video transmitting device, sort of."
"Oh." So that was the resident entertainment unit. "How do I turn it on?"
"The remote. It's the black thing with buttons. Just click the red one." The green mech informed, pointing his finger towards the table.
Breakdown took the remote and clicked the red button. The TV powered up with a static noise and a few seconds later a man with a strange looking long stick showed on the screen. The human just sat there and stared at the lake before, all of a sudden, he jumped in alarm and started pulling the stick out of the water until some sort of organic came out of it and twisted its body in the air.
The Con's eyes widened and his jaw slackened at the sight. He didn't know what to make of it, it looked seriously weird.
'Weird organics'
"Go up a few channels."
*click* *click* *click*
'Cars, nice!'
Meanwhile, Starscream and Knock Out.
The two humans were still fast asleep but their position had changed. Starscream was lying on his back while Knock Out was still face-down and half on top of him. The seeker began to wake up unhurriedly. His eyes remained closed even though his fuzzy brain was starting to comprehend the situation and slowly remembering what had happened the previous day. He really hoped it had been just a horrible terrible nightmare but alas, it was not.
He tried to move but the weight of another human on him was not helping. His muscles were still half-asleep and he didn't have the energy to push the other off entirely. He shook the redhead slightly to wake him up but the other just shuffled a bit and remained asleep. During the motion, something hard had brushed at Starscream's thigh.
"Knock Out, take your hand off my thigh. No, get the whole of you off of me!"
Nothing happened. The other was still asleep, seemingly not registering even a word the brunet had uttered. That didn't sit well with the seeker so he shook the medic harsher. Some unintelligible gibberish followed, as well as more pressing touching on Starscream's leg.
"KNOCK OUT!" the shrill scream in the redhead's ear was more than enough to wake him up. He jumped back in surprise taking the tangled bed sheets with him. They in turn hauled the seeker. Both humans fell on the floor, Starscream crashing on top of Knock Out and successfully knocking the air out of his lungs.
Starscream felt a pressure against his leg again. He was confused though because he could clearly see both of Knock Out's hands and they were not even close to his thighs. But if it wasn't the hands, what was touching his leg? Whatever it was, its persistence irritated the seeker and he pushed his thigh back against it. The motion earned him a cry of pain and something else from the medic.
"F-frag, Sta-Starscream, g-get off!" the redhead rasped, his breath coming short.
The taller human was somewhat disturbed by the reaction so he complied and rolled off the other Con. Knock Out's hands immediately went between his legs and cupped the flesh that was there protectively. The seeker was observing him. He was still confused. He had seen the…thing between his legs, even used it to… 'take a leak'. It had been completely flaccid. And whatever had been pressing against his thigh definitely wasn't.
The medic took a deep breath to calm himself. He looked in Starscream's direction and saw the confusion on the seeker's face. He almost laughed at the sight. Seriously, couldn't Starscream even guess what was going on?
"Isn't this," he made a gesture with his head towards the hands covering his crotch "reminding you of a certain something Cybertronians have in the same place?" Knock Out asked curiously, his left brow curving upwards in question.
The seeker tilted his head on one side in confusion and contemplation. He didn't seem to get what the other Con was talking about. But the medic was patient and waited for a few moments until Starscream's mind came to a realization, causing his eyes to widen and his mouth to form a 'o' in shock. Knock Out bit his lips to suppress his grin. The seeker seemed so adorably innocent… until his face twisted in a nasty grimace.
"Ew, ew, ew, EW!"
"Oh come one, Starscream. It's just the fleshy version of a spike." Regardless of his words, Knock Out found it somewhat odd that it was just hanging out while not… pressurized. It was weird to begin with. Moreover, it was terribly sensitive, which made it a weak spot during battles. It was inconvenient.
The seeker's eyes had narrowed and were sending the medic icy glares.
"If it's just the fleshy version of a spike, then do explain me why was it pressurized?" the words were hissed out.
"Huh? Oh, I don't know, I was asleep." Knock Out answered truthfully. He wondered though, why had it pressurized indeed?
"You seriously expect me to believe that?! Spikes don't just pressurize themselves, Knock Out!" Starscream's voice was getting shriller.
"Well, maybe fleshy ones do!"
"That's ridiculous! Besides, it just happened to pressurize when you were all over me in bed!" the seeker retorted sourly while his cheeks were gradually reddening.
"What are you implying?"
"That you're a pervert."
"Wow, wow, slow down. I may be sometimes but this was not the case here. I swear I was asleep and had no control over it!"
Starscream was looking at Knock Out somehow disbelievingly. But they really didn't know much about humans so perhaps the other was right. Either way, the seeker decided to give his fellow Con the benefit of the doubt. But not that much benefit.
"You're not sleeping in my bed anymore!"
Knock Out didn't agree with the idea but wasn't going to argue about it. He would just sneak in the seeker's bed when he was already asleep.
The two Cons dressed up quickly and went to the Command Center. When they exited their sleeping quarters, they froze in place, shocked by the sight before them.
There were Breakdown and Bulkhead, lively chatting like friends about something and gesturing towards a box with moving images on it. How long had they slept? But before they had time to shake off the strange images that were just branded into their brains, Prime showed from a dark corridor on the left. The blue and red mech wasted no time and gently put Megatron on the sofa, next to Breakdown. Then, he turned to face his teammate.
"Bulkhead, I have a meeting to attend to in 10 minutes. Please, escort our guests to a city where they can order food. I believe they are hungry by now."
"But—" his reply was cut of by the finality in the Autobot leader's optics.
"You are the best suited for this. Your alt mode makes you the best candidate to escort them while they are in these uniforms."
Bulkhead vented a sigh. He really wished he had chosen another alt mode. Maybe it won't be all that horrible. Hopefully.
But when he saw four sets of untrusting eyes staring at him, his optimistic thinking wasn't so optimistic anymore
"So, who's hungry?"
Thanks for reading :)