Sea of Tranquility Chapter 10: Like Old Times

Starscream stared at the filthy repurposed warehouse Megatron called a home.

"You call this dump a base?"

Three weeks had passed since his strange battle and eventual admittance to the hospital. The doctors and nurses had apparently believed Megatron's story that they were an ordinary squabbling father and son. Now forced to walk around in human bodies, Starscream felt a bit degraded from his "downgrade."

Megatron, surprisingly, took it all in stride.

"This was once a human storage unit before the Second Impact wiped out the coastal regions and displaced everything. With all the chaos, anything with a ceiling was an invaluable shelter."

"You've been a human that long? You've haven't gone soft, have you?"

Megatron smirked, then explained further.

"You see, Starscream, I was just as distraught as you were when I realized I had to adopt a human disguise. After all, who would choose to be an ordinary human over being a Cybertronian with powerful strength, weaponry, and a transformation cog?"

"Well, that's your fault for picking a pistol as an alternate mode. Even Shockwave and Soundwave chose to become cars after a while."

"Ah, but I can still obtain a car." Megatron retorted, gesturing to the silver Nissan 370Z they used to get home from the hospital, now parked in the corner.

"By the way, how did you afford that car?"

"Oh, I stole that from Takahashi's place."

"That crime boss on the news? You're the one who shot him?!"

"Yes! If you recall, my alternate mode comes with a scope, a barrel extension/suppressor, and a detachable collapsible stock. I sniped the felon as he and his bodyguards were running away from your beating at Prime's hands."

"You're welcome," Starscream replied sarcastically.

"Once Takahashi went 'offline,' his followers started fighting amongst themselves, much like Decepticons every now and then. I took the chance to raid their inventories."

"Heh. You should've seen the Decepticons after I threw you out of the shuttle, no offense."

"None taken. It was probably one of your more effective attempts at ousting me."

Starscream took a moment to calm himself, then continued.

"Anyways, I meant to ask you about what happened after Astrotrain."

"As we floated towards the brink of death, I saw a planet moving towards us. When it got closer, I was awestruck to meet Unicron himself face-to-face."

"Unicron?! As in the 'Eater of Planets, Destroyer of Galaxies?' That Unicron?!"

"Yes, Starscream, the legends are true. I accepted his offer of becoming his herald, and he granted me a new body, the one you called Galvatron."

Suddenly Starscream bellowed.

"Galvatron was YOU?! I knew it! I knew that whole 'alternate universe' thing was a lie!"

"Yet, here we are. Besides, if I told you the truth, you would've caused even more trouble at the hospital after your little panic attack."

Starscream huffed.

"Fine, continue the story."

"After humiliating you at your coronation, I suddenly remembered that Shockwave was quite the ambitious one too. He, Deathsaurus, and Esmeral perforated Scourge, Cyclonus, and I with Cosmic Rust guns in nanoseconds. The Sweeps immediately surrendered, too, those cowards!"

Starscream paused, then he laughed.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's what you get for ruining my moment, Megatron! Oh, that Shockwave! I should treat him to Maccadam's when we get back! Oh, ho ho!"

Annoyed, Megatron slapped Starscream.

"Quiet, fool! They were aiming for you! As a consequence of my ignorance, Skywarp, Thundercracker, and I suddenly awoke to find ourselves in our old bodies and in Antarctica, just in time for the whole place to explode. After somehow surviving that, we made our way to Japan where we met you."

"How come I haven't seen Skywarp and Thundercracker?"

"They were amongst the fighter jets shooting at you that night. In hindsight, you should've been nicer to them."

Starscream slowly turned beet red.

As if on cue, Skywarp and Thundercracker returned to the "base."

"Lord Megatron, we have returned with the supplies for- STARSCREAM?!"

"Oh, scrap." Skywarp squeaked timidly.

"YOU TRAITOROUS BASTAAAAARDS!"

Starscream chased the duo, screaming obscenities all the while.

Megatron simply sighed at the mayhem.

"Just like old times."

Meanwhile, across the city...

Bumblebee escorted Shinji as they both walked to Tokyo-3 First Municipal Junior High School. The streets were still packed from all the road repairs after the last Angel Attack. Even with the Autobots assisting reconstruction efforts, progress took time.

"You seem happy today, Shinji. That's an improvement," said Bumblebee.

"Yeah, I was a nervous wreck before I met you and the other Autobots.

So far, you guys and Misato are the only ones I really can call friends."

"Let's hope you'll make more today."

Shinji felt surprisingly calm about starting his first day of school.

Typical transfer students would be nervous, but he had just slain an eldritch abomination with the help of alien robot allies with only a slight concussion to prove it. Anything after that would seem natural.

As they approached the school, the pair noticed some schoolgirls whispering excitedly as they approached the entrance.

"See? You've already got fans!"

"I think those are yours, Bumblebee."

"Oh. Well, I'm sure they'll warm up to you eventually. See ya later!"

With that, Bumblebee waved goodbye and left, still in his holomatter avatar.

Shinji could've sworn he heard swooning.

As he moved towards Class 2-A, Shinji heard more swooning, only this time it was male.

"Mr. Maruyama had to be reshuffled to Class 2-B. So, I'll be your teacher from now on, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am!" the male students shouted rather suggestively.

"A new teacher?" Shinji thought.

He opened the door and entered the classroom.

Shinji was immediately taken aback by the new teacher's appearance.

She somewhat resembled a slightly younger Misato, with the figure to match.

Her hair was dark sapphire blue with purple and raspberry streaks, tied into a ponytail.

She wore glasses over her oddly violet eyes and a relatively modest dress shirt and skirt that nonetheless accentuated her shapely legs.

"Good morning, Ikari. I'm Ms. Towa Sawashiro. Class, this is our new transfer student, Shinji Ikari. I expect all of you to treat him with respect."

Bonus Character File: Megatron

Alt. Mode: Customized Walther P-38 pistol

Rank: Decepticon Supreme Leader

Brief Bio: Megatron was once a peaceful Energon miner turned part-time philosopher who was caught up in the political violence of Functionist-era Cybertron. After narrowly escaping a prison ship, Megatron refined his combat skills in the gladiatorial pits of Kaon. Now armed with intellect, charisma, and massive firepower, Megatron started an armed revolution against the Council, allying himself with internal reformers such as Orion Pax. However, once the Council fell, Megatron became corrupted by his megalomania and paranoia, turning against his moderate allies, including Pax's faction, the Autobots. The ensuing war dragged on for millennia, devastating many worlds in the process, starting with Cybertron. After so many years of bloodshed, can Megatron ever return to his righteous self?

Holomatter Avatar: Takeshi Kitano as Otomo, Outrage film series.