Hot Shot's Childhood

Part 10

Two Sparks

By: DarkAnimus

Ghost Hot Shot stood up at ComCom's shout. The figure looked a lot taller than the real Hot Shot, but that might have been a mistake of ComCom, caused by the fact that ComCom was never this intimidated by Hot Shot.

Ghost Hot Shot took a step towards ComCom and ComCom suddenly had a very strong urge to turn around an run away screaming for his mother. But his body was still frozen in fear, stopping him from moving.

"W-who are...y-you?" ComCom stuttered. He was certain that his teeth clattered a few times as he spoke. Ghost Hot Shot smirked at him. The smirk was unlike anything he had ever seen on Hot Shot's face. This strange transparent transformer was nothing like ComCom's friend.

"I am Cold Gaze", ghost Hot Shot said. The voice was very much like that of Hot Shot, but it had a strange ring to it. Ghost Hot Shot lifted his other hand to point at ComCom. "And you", he spoke. "...are unnecessary."

1.

"Stupid ComCom..." Sparky muttered to himself as he walked around the school yard. He had nothing to do but there was no way he would go to his and his friends' room. ComCom would be there. He had said so himself. And where ComCom was, there Sparky would avoid going at all costs.

"I'm not even allowed to have my own opinions..." Sparky growled, remembering the argument they had had in the cafeteria. ComCom had started talking about how the reptile bush was a plant. Not that Sparky really knew much about the topic, but he had heard about the plant-animal hybrid.

It wasn't like Sparky had started an argument on purpose, but he always got so angry when ComCom presented his opinion as the only possible solution. He had reacted on impulse, he always reacted like that. And ComCom always got mad at him, just because he thought differently than him.

Sparky kicked the ground, growling in frustration. ComCom was such an impossible case. The only reason the blue transformer even glanced twice at him was because of Hot Shot. ComCom seemed to despise Sparky with such a passion

"Stupid snob..." Sparky muttered and turned to look at the school building. Why was ComCom such a stuck-up idiot? Sparky shook his head. And why did it bother him so much what ComCom thought about him anyway? Hot Shot was his real friend. It should only matter what Hot Shot thought.

Sparky frowned. "And he thinks we're both childish..." he said to himself. And it was true. He could almost swear that Hot Shot turned his voice receivers off on purpose just so he didn't have to listen to Spaky and ComCom bickering back and forth.

Sparky shook his head again. Despite all their faults the yellow transformer still spent his time with the two of them. So, that would mean that deep down Hot Shot really enjoyed their company. Sparky sighed. He really hoped that was so.

2.

"We don't need anyone else", Cold Gaze said to ComCom while folding his arms across his chest. "We've never needed anyone. We didn't even need mom or dad. They were both in the way..."

ComCom listened to Cold Gaze's words and realized something. Cold Gaze must have been Hot Shot's brother. Why else would he be hovering over him so protectively?

"So, what happened to your mom and dad?" ComCom asked, trying to buy time. Where was Sparky when for once he might have been needed? Cold Gaze smiled, looking very satisfied. "They're dead", he said, sounding disturbingly happy.

ComCom couldn't help but gasp. Of course he had known that Hot Shot's parents were dead. Hot Shot had said so himself. It was the happy and carefree tone that Cold Gaze used that shocked him. This transformer was happy that his parents were dead!

"You really are heartless", ComCom said simply. Cold Gaze shrugged. "You think I care about your opinion?" the yellow bot said while his dark blue optics flashed, amused. "If it was up to me, you would also be dead."

A grin spread across Cold Gaze's face and ComCom was now certain that he saw sharp fangs. "I could do it, you know", Cold Gaze said while stepping towards ComCom. "D-do what?" ComCom questioned. "Kill you. Hot Shot would never have to know..."

Suddenly a groan was heard from behind Cold Gaze. Both standing transformers turned towards the sound. Hot Shot was moving; he was waking up. A relieved smile spread scross ComCom's face whereas Cold Gaze looked troubled. Hot Shot's optics flashed back online and Cold Gaze disappeared at the same instant.

ComCom rushed to his friend's side and sat on the floor on his kness. "Hot Shot?" he called out softly. Hot Shot's head turned towards him as his optics tried to focus on him. "C-ComCom?" came the weak question. ComCom nodded his head quickly. "It's me Hot Shot. Everything's ok now."

Hot Shot seemed to drift off for a moment but his optics quickly came back to focus. "I'm not cold anymore..." he muttered. "Hmm?" "I hate the cold", Hot Shot continued. "He makes me feel cold." "Cold Gaze?"

Hot Shot's optics watched his own suspiciously. "How do you know his name?" "He told me himself." Hot Shot's optics dimmed at ComCom's response. "You talked with him?" "He was like a ghost", ComCom started to explain. "He was here, but he was transparent."

Hot Shot frowned when he thought. "I didn't see him even though I could feel his touch... I thought it was just a powerful suggestion..." "He must have become visible when you lost conciousness." Hot Shot shook his head. "He couldn't have been here. There are no such things as ghosts." "The universe is large, Hot Shot. There are a lot of things that we can't explain. Our sparks are one of them. And everyone knows that those are real."

Hot Shot sighed in defeat. "I guess you're right..." he muttered and sat up on the floor. His head was spinning and he let out a groan. "You ok, Hot Shot?" Hot Shot nodded his head. "I'm fine ComCom, just a bit dizzy."

"Who is Cold Gaze, anyway?" ComCom asked. "Is he your brother?" "What gave you that idea?" "Some of the things he said." Hot Shot frowned again. "I'm not sure what he is", he admitted. "He's a part of me but very different. We are from the same source but it's really difficult to explain really. Even the Rainbow Triplets were confused."

ComCom looked at Hot Shot with hurt in his eyes. "So, you went to the triplets with this instead of Sparky and me?" he asked. Hot Shot blinked at his friend in confusion. "Actually they came to me", he said. "I think you should tell me the whole story", ComCom put in. "Otherwise I'm not going to understand this..." Hot Shot nodded.

"It was as soon as I had come to school", Hot Shot started. "The Rainbow Triplets came to me, saying that they got strange readings from me and wanted to examine me a bit. I thought that it could do no harm. They might have even managed to get rid of Cold Gaze."

"I met up with them today after classes. We met in the library and they wanted to start working immediately. I could not help but agree." Hot Shot's optics dimmed again. "They were suspecting that I had accidentally obtained two operating systems, but when they ran some test they found out that my problem was a lot more complicated."

Flashback:

Hot Shot sat still as Flaring Blade scanned his systems with a small palm-sized computer. She clicked her tongue disaprovingly after a while. Hot Shot's optics directed a questioning glace at her.

"There seems to be nothing wrong with your operating system", Flaring Blade said. IceTwister clicked her tongue exactly like her sister and folded her arms across her chest. "Then where could the problem be?" she asked.

Aqua Pulse took out another instrument and placed it against Hot Shot's chest plate. "Try not to move, please", she said. Her voice was a lot weaker than her sisters', because she was usually quiet and let her sisters do the talking.

IceTwister looked at her pale sister disaprovingly. "The chance of a spark problem is 0.01 percent", she said. "So, I really don't think that-" "Bingo!" Aqua Pulse shouted out suddenly, interrupting her sister's monologue.

Flaring Blade came closer to the device Aqua Pulse was holding and looked at the screen. Her optics widened when she saw the result. "A split spark..." she muttered.

Hot Shot's own eyes widened at the comment. "Uhh..." he started. "What does that mean exactly?" "It means you have two sparks instead of one", IceTwister said in a professional voice.

"Can anything be done?" Hot Shot asked, sounding slightly defeated. He knew that spark problems were difficult, almost impossible to repair. "We could always use the spark delete system", Flaring Blade said and Hot Shot's eyes lit up. "...but..." Hot Shot felt his mood sink. "There's a very high chance that your real spark might be accidentally destroyed."

Hot Shot sighed and his shoulders slumped. "What are the odds?" he asked. "It's a fifty-fifty chance that either your own or this other spark is destroyed." Hot Shot nodded. It was frightening but he was pretty certain that he could go through with it.

"There's a fifty percent chance that your spark is destroyed and a fifty percent chance that the other is destroyed", Flaring Blade repeated. "But there are other complications." "WHat kind of complications?" "Let's assume that the program destroyes the right spark", Flaring Blade started. "There's a possibility that the program will also destroy both of the sparks." "How high is the possibility?" "Sixty percent."

"So, the complete possibility scale is that twenty percent says that Hot Shot's spark is destroyed, sixty percent says they'll both be destroyed and twenty percent says that the foreign spark is destroyed", Aqua Pulse calculated helpfully.

"So...the chances of me surviving are twenty percent?" Hot Shot questioned. Flaring Blade looked away, IceTwister nodded and Aqua Pulse bit her bottom lip. "We're sorry, Hot Shot", Flaring Blade said quietly. "I don't think you should take the chances, it's too risky."

Hot Shot only nodded. "You're right", he replied. "The possibility of failure is too great. It would be better to just let it be."

Hot Shot stood up. "Thanks for the help", he said to the triplets. "You're welcome", Aqua Pulse said. "Even though we couldn't really do anything." "It's ok. At least I won't be clinging to any false hope anymore..."

Hot Shot shook his head and faked a smile at the triplets. They had tried to help, he should not bring them down. "I'll be ok", he said and turned around. He walked steadily out of the library. Only after he was sure that the triplets could not see him he broke into a run. He did not think he could face anyone at the current moment. He would most likely break down. He needed a sanctuary. His room was the first option he thought of.

To be continued...

Ending Notes: This chapter is probably the shortest so far. Bleh.

That calculation is pretty confusing. It goes somewhat like this. 50: Hot Shot is destroyed, from which 60: Cold Gaze's spark is also destroyed. And the other 50: Cold Gaze is destroyed, from which 60: Hot Shot's spark is also destroyed. The calculation results are:

50 divided with 100 is 0,5, 0,5 times 60 is 30. 30 plus 30 is 60. So, there's the chance of 60 percent that the body is just an empty shell after the treatment and a chance of 40 percent that either Hot Shot or Cold Gaze is spared.