#25 - Possession

Part 3: Deviation

Starfeather stepped onto the platform that would lift her into the Maximal base. She felt sure that Optimus Primal's plan to try and regain the base would work as long as she did her part. Yet, she was beginning to feel bad for the other Predacons. They had worked hard to capture this place and suspected nothing. Terrorsaur even suffered a broken nose.

She sighed. She reminded herself that they were supposed to be the bad guys here and that evil must never triumph. But... her wingmates weren't evil. To her, it seemed like they were just caught up in the wrong crowd. Maybe, once things went back to normal, she could dig deeper into her friends' pasts and find out how they ended up here in the first place. She already knew a little bit of Terrorsaur's story. Maybe he was ready to tell her more.

Her meeting with Terrorsaur had perked her up a bit and she was thankful that they had gotten things smoothed out for the time being.

The raven walked into the bridge once the lift had stopped. She intended to find Starscream and give her report that she had found nothing except some fading tracks that headed into the forest. Except that someone swiftly came up behind her, clamped a hand over her mouth and nose and snaked a painfully strong arm around her waist. Starfeather tried to scream but her airways were blocked. She tried to break free from her captor's grasp, but he was too strong. He took her out of the empty control center and down lesser-used hallways until they came to one of the storage bays.

By now, Starfeather was beginning to lose consciousness as she fought for breath and to escape and fight back. Soon enough, her captor released his hold on her face and grabbed her throat and slammed her against a stack of crates. She cried out as the side of her face hit the metal box, squeezing her optics tight.

"What do you want with me?!" she wailed.

"I want to know exactly how long this little game of yours has been going on." For a second, she thought it was Terrorsaur talking to her, but that couldn't be right. For one, Terrorsaur was at the Predacon base. For another, the voice was deeper and gravelly. It had to be Starscream.

"What are you talking about?" she rasped, honestly not having any clue as to what Starscream was demanding. He growled and punched her in the side. She cried out in pain again, tears leaking from her optics.

"I'm referring to your rather intimate relationship with the Maximals, ex-human."

She gasped, the intended insult not even registering in her mind. Oh no. When had he seen her talk with them? How much had he seen? Who else knew? This couldn't be happening!

"They had me cornered! They wouldn't let me go alive until I said I'd be a double agent for them!" she wheezed in an attempt to lie her way out. His grip tightened around her neck. She squeaked hoarsely.

"You're lying!" He slapped the exposed side of her face. She hissed at the stinging pain. He roughly turned her around to face him, digging his fingers into her shoulders. "How long have you been spying for them?" he demanded. All he got in response was a shriek.

"I never wanted to hurt anyone! I just want to go home!" Her spark was beating wildly in panic. What was he going to do? How would she get out of this?

"You're not going home and you never will go home! Now tell me how long you've been spying for the Maximals!"

"Just kill me, please!" she sobbed. "I'd rather die than face everyone after this!"

Suddenly, his grip loosened and Starscream lightly touched her still throbbing cheek and wiped away her tears. She flinched at his gentle touch.

"Oh, but I have no intentions of killing you wastefully, little femme," he murmured. Starfeather opened her aqua green optics to stare at him. Oh no. Was he after her too? This could not be happening...

"Wh-what do you w-want?" she stuttered again, beginning to tremble in impending fear as images of past harassments came to mind. He chuckled in his throat, almost a purr of amusement.

"I merely want information in exchange for your good company."

"I-I'm already s-seeing someone and someone else wants m-me," she hiccupped.

"No no no, I don't want you like that," he said then picked her up, cradling her to his chest like a young toddler. "You see, I've never had the chance to raise someone after myself and I think you would make a wonderful student seeing as you are the youngest Predacon."

She looked up at him unsurely.

"Student?" she questioned.

"Yes, basically I'll teach you my method on how to gain status and influence people to achieve your goals."

She stared at the eagle with confusion. Something felt amiss about all this. One minute, Starscream had been attacking her. The next, he was holding her like a large baby and offering to train her under himself. She wasn't even sure that he was only going to do just that. It could be a cover-up for something else. But what? Perhaps the best way to get out of this was to accept and play along.

"A-alight... I joined them about eight months ago because I was tired of taking kicks from Megatron. So, I became a spy to help the Maximals defeat him." She knew she had lied again, but she didn't care. No one else knew her true reasons so she was safe, right?

"Greed and self-interest, hm? I like the way you think, Starfeather," he praised. "Now, let's get those dents taken care of."

The raven only whimpered softly and lowered her gaze. She wondered if Starscream was telling the truth about what he was going to do with her. He was certainly acting like he wanted some fun with her, but going about it a different way than Megatron. After a few moments of him silently carrying her to the CR chambers, Starfeather decided to speak.

"Are you going to tell anyone or have you already?" she asked quietly.

"Of course not, little femme," Starscream replied. "That would only make everyone mad with you and Megatron would most certainly and unwisely want you killed for your treachery. That wouldn't do, now would it?"

She looked down at her clasped hands and shook her head. Despite herself, she snuggled closer into his chest and closed her optics, longing for some form of comfort. What had she done? Why had she agreed to be a spy? Why had she agreed to what Starscream had offered? Why did she even have to be here?

-x-

Starscream smirked to himself as the door to the CR chamber hissed shut. The little girl turned transformer was even weaker and stupid than he had first calculated, hence making matters easier. And with Blackarachnia under his spell, everything was going according to plan.

-x-

Within the hour, Starfeather was fully erased of her indentions, but her uneasiness remained. She felt like her finally patched-up world had suddenly collapsed all over again. All that she had tried to hide had the blanket ripped away for everyone to see. She continued to sit in the welcoming darkness of the CR chamber and wonder what was going to become of all this.

After what seemed like days, the raven ventured from the safety of the chambers to face Starscream once again. She did still have that blasted report to give. She made a sour face at the remembrance of the nickname the eagle had given her.

"Little femme," she spat. "That's almost as bad as "my dear"."

-x-

That evening, the raven was feeling jittery. Number one was because she knew the Maximals would be coming any minute. Number two, someone who she really didn't trust knew her big secret. Strange and fortunate, she thought, that he didn't ask her if the Maximals were planning anything. Oh well, if the plan worked, she could always say that they didn't notify her because of their situation. She was pacing up and down in the main control room, listening to the soft humming of the cooling systems of the computers all around her. She repeatedly glanced at the perimeter radar that was currently up on one of the main screens, watching for Maximal signatures. She sighed and continued her pacing until she bumped into someone.

She gasped and looked up to see it was Starscream. She groaned inwardly. What did he want now?

"Yes?"

"I couldn't help but notice that you seem very anxious," he said, almost smugly. "Is anything the matter?"

"What do you think is the matter?" she snapped.

"Yes... then I want you to stop worrying about it, little femme," he ordered in a quiet tone. "You can trust me, whether you think you can or not."

"Somehow, that doesn't comfort me," Starfeather huffed and turned to the monitor. Starscream tisked his tongue and put a hand to her shoulder.

"Now don't be like that. I'm sure-" He was cut off by a blaring alarm, warning that intruders were in the vicinity. Both snapped their heads toward the radar screen. It looked as if all of the Maximals were approaching. The eagle set his jaw and glared at the femme.

"Why didn't you tell me they were going to attack?"

"Y-you didn't ask," she stammered. She yelped when he roughly grabbed her arm and growled. "They're not attacking! They're coming to surrender..." He continued to glare down at her.

"Surrender?" he repeated. She looked down at the floor.

"Yes... D-dinobot needs a CR chamber."

Stupid girl. He would have to teach her some respect when he had the time. Right now, this seemed the perfect opportunity to attempt his plans. If all worked accordingly, both the ex-human and the she-spider would be bowing to his every whim, not to mention all the other bolt brains this Megatron had collected. Starscream opened a comm. channel to Blackarachnia and Scorponok.

"Converge at the bridge ASAP. We have company." He then turned on Starfeather. "You stay by me."

She visibly gulped and nodded. When the scorpion and black widow entered the room, Starscream gave the order to crowd onto one of the two lifts and greet their guests. Just as the raven had said, Optimus Primal stated that he and his team were putting up their armaments on behalf of their injured comrade.

The Predacons had stepped off the lift and were lined up before the group of weather-beaten Maximals, all in their beast modes save for Optimus. Blackarachnia and Starfeather were on either side of Starscream and Scorponok was near the she-spider. The eagle lifted an optic ridge.

"This all seems too convenient... Tell me, Primal, why should I not just have you all blown into oblivion here and now?"

"We..." Optimus sighed. He had to forcibly push the words from his mouth. "We will do whatever you want." Starscream paused a moment to mull this over with narrowed optics. Soon, he nodded his head.

"I accept. Bring him forward." He then beckoned the femmes to listen closely. "Lesson one, always show compassion as a useful cover for your true motives," he instructed softly. Starfeather straightened and stared at him. Number one, this was not what she wanted to be learning. Number two, Blackarachnia was in on this schooling thing too? She couldn't believe this. She felt betrayed that he had lied to her by saying she was the only one he was going to take under his wing. Then again, she was surprised that she had believed him at all.

Her train of thought was put to a halt when Starscream ordered she fly back up the platform shaft with her fellow student. The girls glared at each other. The raven stiffly held out a hand and Blackarachnia grudgingly took it. Starfeather was careful not to bang her passenger around on the way up, however much she wanted to. She figured it best not to start another quarrel today.

-x-

Once the CR chamber door closed on Dinobot, the ex-Seeker turned to Optimus.

"Now then, you shall reap the appropriate reward for your trust and good faith. Starfeather, if you will, disarm him," Starscream ordered smoothly, causing said raven to jump. "Force him to transform and then chain him in the brig."

Starfeather looked from him to Optimus then to the other two Predacons in the room and back again. She swallowed her guilt and came to the Maximal leader.

"You heard him, transform you worthless piece of slag!" she barked. Optimus did so without a word and met her eye to eye. They seemed to exchange what needed to be said with just their looks and Starfeather shoved him on toward the brig.

"He ordered me to do this on purpose," she muttered as she went along with Primal ahead of her.

"He's testing you to see if you can be trusted and how useful you will be to him," Optimus tried to sooth quietly. She shook her head.

"You don't understand, sir. He overheard me communicating with you at some point and he wants to use me against you."

"Where were you when you last used the communicator?" he asked.

"I was... near the western border," she answered.

"Starscream must have followed you then," Optimus concluded. "You're going to have to be more careful now. If worse comes to worst, you may need to leave to protect yourself and everyone else."

"But Optimus-" Her optics widened in horror.

"Shh," he warned and pointed back behind them, emphasizing that the Predacons might overhear.

"I can't just get up and go," she hissed. "Terrorsaur would go off the wall and I don't want to know what Waspinator would do. He might literally go insane. Fuck it, he could seriously hurt or kill himself!"

"Then..." Optimus ventured slowly. "If you three are as close as you always tell me, why not try and convince them to leave with you?"

Starfeather stopped dead in her tracks, mouth open and staring at her commander in utter shock. Of course. Why hadn't she thought of that before?

"Maybe... but right now, permission to restrain you, sir?" She saluted.

"At ease. Permission granted," he chuckled.

-x-

When Starfeather returned to the bridge, Starscream ordered that they go back outside and inform the Maximals waiting there about the situation. The raven sighed, but did as she was told. Starscream noticed this, but didn't show it. He would deal with her after he was done with the Maximals. The four Predacons were assembled back outside, Starscream front and center, the femmes on his either side, and Scorponok by the she-spider.

"Attention fools," the eagle addressed the Maximals. "The raptor and the ape are now my prisoners. They will be disposed of you choose not to obey my orders!"

Starfeather closed her optics and sighed sadly at the astonished and angry shouts of her secret comrades.

"We had an agreement Starscream!" Tigatron stated.

"And now we have another one," the ex-Seeker said coldly, leaning forward to make himself clear. "If you wish the lives of your comrade and commander to be spared, you will attack the Predacon base and bring Terrorsaur and Waspinator to me alive."

The raven jerked her attention to him the second the names of her wingmates passed from his lips.

"What?!" she exclaimed aloud. The gold mech ignored her as Scorponok's yellow visor narrowed and Cheetor gasped.

"The Pred base?" the cheetah repeated. "What is this?!"

"It's called 'treachery'!" Scorponok said and aiming his claw missile launcher at Starscream, but Starscream was quicker. He shot the scorpion in the shoulder, causing him to spin like a clumsy dancer performing a pirouette. Blackarachnia acted next, blasting his other shoulder and making him twirl again only in the opposite direction. Starscream then looked expectantly at Starfeather. She stared at him, not believing what he was asking, no, commanding her to do.

"Finish him," he ordered darkly, his gravelly voice low.

She somehow was able to tear her optics away from him and look at Scorponok in the face. Both sides of his gray body were blackened and smoking, energon mixed with oil beginning to ooze from the wounds. The raven slowly pulled out her gun and took aim at his midsection, her hands shaking. Scorponok looked back at her, visor filled with resentment and pain. No matter how much she didn't like him, she really didn't want to shoot him.

"Finish him now!" Starscream barked, causing her to jump. His patience was draining fast.

Cheetor watched the ordeal in disbelief, not only about what Starscream was doing, but the way Starfeather was acting. She was behaving like she was being forced to kill a friend. Cheetor knew that she didn't really consider Scorponok a friend or even too much of a family. Why was she so hesitant to even shoot the dog-loyal idiot?

Starfeather gulped and gazed back at the scorpion. By now, he was glaring at her, just daring her to fire. She closed her optics and gradually squeezed on the trigger. Her blaster fired and her arms braced against the recoil. She opened her optics to see Scorponok's fleeting figure, screaming as he disappeared. She sighed and allowed her arms to fall limp at her sides, her blaster clattering to the dusty ground. However, the eagle gave her a pat on the back.

"There, there, that wasn't so hard now was it?"

She said nothing. Blackarachnia huffed. Rattrap had had enough.

"You're nothing but a lousy, scheming, snake in the grass, Decepticon!" he spat, rearing on his hind legs and pointing. Starscream smirked.

"Flattery will get you flattened, vermin. Now, obey my orders!"

The Maximals looked at each other before turning to Rhinox. The rhino sighed.

"We don't have a choice," he said in defeat. The others tried to protest, but realizing that if they didn't, ol' Screamer could very well kill Primal and Dinobot. Starfeather watched as they left. She also noticed that Cheetor kept glancing back at her. She wondered what he was thinking, if he was upset with her. It wasn't her fault that Starscream had found her out. She had no choice but to obey him. She looked down at her feet and let out a breath of hot air. This week just kept getting worse and worse.

-x-

After they had gone inside, Starscream ordered to speak with Starfeather alone. The bridge was empty and he was backing her into a corner by the CR chamber.

"What did Primal say to you?" the eagle growled low. "Tell me or suffer the consequences, girl."

"He- he just said he was di-disappointed in me that I didn't tell him about your true m-motives," she stammered, beginning to quiver under his glare. Her back touched the cold wall and she quietly yelped. "I d-didn't tell him about you finding me out."

"I hope you are telling me the truth, little femme... for your sake," he said dangerously and turned and stalked away. He was not at all convinced. Yet, he knew that she could be telling the truth. He decided to let her go this time.

The raven moaned as she slid down the wall until she was sitting against it. Her arms laid limp on the floor beside her and her forehead fell to rest on her knees. She considered crying to get rid of the stress, but chose not to. Crying wouldn't solve her problems or really make her feel better. Maybe a song would cheer her up a bit… Who was she kidding? Now wasn't the time for listening to music. Well... she remembered that she hadn't gotten her energon for the day...

Oh, whatever. Starfeather stood up and brushed herself off. Reaching into her subspace, she took out her most prized possession, slipped the headphones over her head, and scrolled through the artist list she had as she made her way to where the Maximals kept their energon stored. She selected a group and a song, hitting repeat. She hummed the tune softly to herself as she approached the bins and selected a reddish hued cube. She sat on a nearby crate and rapped her heels lightly against it to the beat of the song. She took a few sips of the energizing liquid, licking her lips when she set the cube next to her. She then sang the chorus quietly to herself. However, her voice unwittingly grew louder and her optics shut off as she became lost in the lyrics.

"I wanna sleep under a different piece of sky. I wanna live a little bit before I die. I wanna be so close to Heaven that I see angels. Carry me oh so far away. May my body never touch the ground and if I promise you I'll be back someday, will you set me free so I can fly away? Fly away, fly away-"

The sound of a pair of hands clapping jerked her back to reality. Starfeather gasped, frantically punching the power button, and looked up to the doorway only to see the last individual that she wanted to hear her singing.

"You have quite a vocal talent, little femme," Starscream praised, giving an amused smirk. "Though, I am not familiar with the tune."

"Well, um... I, uh, it's... it's an earth song." Starfeather's body was fighting its self on whether it should heat up or pale. She was feeling rather uneasy and set her gaze on her half-empty cube. He gave a grunt and a slight nod of acknowledgment. It was then he noticed the small turquoise device in her hand and visible between her fingers were the glittering colors of red and white.

"What is that?" the ex-Seeker questioned. By now, Starfeather's body had settled on heating her face.

"What's what?" she asked, truly not knowing what Starscream was asking.

"That thing in your hand," he snapped. She visibly flinched. "What is it?"

"An iPod," she squeaked and held the item close to her chest to protect it. Starscream narrowed his violet optics and held out his hand.

"Give it to me."

Her own aqua green optics widened in surprise and fear. When she did nothing else in response, he demanded more forcefully.

"Give it to me!"

Starfeather flinched again and looked down nervously at her iPod, reluctant to let go of one of her only belongings from her past. The hope that Starscream would give it back was the only thing that made her give it to him. He roughly snatched it and brought it up to optic level. He turned it over and saw clearly the shimmering red star sticker bordered in silvery white. He noted that it was an odd coincidence that it was a star and the same colors he had.

"What does this star mean?" he demanded.

"It doesn't mean anything," she answered. "It's just a sticker Alexis gave me when... Oops." The raven clamped her mouth after saying the name of her favorite babysitter. However, the eagle snapped his attention to her.

"Alexis..." He rolled the name on his tongue once or twice. No images came to mind, but something about the name... He thought nothing more of it and carelessly tossed the device in Starfeather's general direction without a word. She gasped as she dove to catch her iPod. She did so just inches before it hit the unforgiving floor. She immediately and gently put back in her subspace and shot Starscream and heated glare. Before the eagle left down the hallway, he called over his shoulder.

"Meet me and Blackarachnia at the bridge in three cycles," he ordered and was gone. Starfeather sighed and randomly looked back at her still half-empty cube of energon. She might as well finish it and head to the command center. She did so in a few gulps and left the room and wandered absentmindedly down the halls to her destination.

Then suddenly, she stopped. Starscream said that he wanted the Maximals to bring him Terrorsaur and Waspinator, didn't he? She had to warn them! Hastily, she ducked into an empty room, made sure no one was around, and activated a channel to Terrorsaur's comm. link.

"Terrorsaur here," was the pterodactyl's response.

"Terrorsaur, please listen. It's me," Starfeather pleaded.

"Starfeather?" He sounded slightly surprised, but seemed to brush it away.

"Starscream's turned against us and has the Maximals going to attack the base you're at," she hissed. "He also ordered them to capture you and Waspy and bring you to him. You two need to either get out of there now or tell Megatron."

There was a quick pause as the red mech swiftly contemplated what to do.

"I'll grab Waspinator and we'll head beyond scanner range."

"Alright. I'll contact you again when it's safe." She nodded.

"See you later," he said.

"Bye," she replied and terminated the link. Before anyone would notice her absence, Starfeather exited the empty room and continued to the main control room. When she did get there, Blackarachnia was already waiting. The black widow narrowed her black optics.

"So," she began unpleasantly casually. "When did he pull you into this?"

"Yesterday." The raven shrugged. "Don't ask me why. I have no idea what he thinks he sees in me."

"I don't either." The she-spider smirked. Starfeather glared at her, deciding not to respond this time. Fortunately, Starscream came into the room. He eyed each of the girls in turn before speaking.

"I greatly appreciate students who are punctual," he said, nearly a purr. "Now then, if you would for us Blackarachnia, bring up a visual of the Predacon base."

She did so and the image the screen showed was one that made Starfeather gasp. Apparently, her wingmates didn't get away in time. They were just outside the base and were desperately trying to fend off the Maximals and get away. Rhinox and Tigatron were nearly on top of Waspinator and Cheetor was in beast mode, dodging Terrorsaur's shots and leaping at him like a real animal hunting him down. Airazor was helping to keep Terrorsaur in place while Rattrap covered by destroying the defense grid guns of the Predacon base.

"No..." Starfeather breathed. The eagle chuckled to himself at the sight.

"Lesson number two ladies, they're always more gullible than you'd hope."

"Lesson three, disregard lessons one and two!" came a new voice. The three jerked their heads in that direction to see Optimus Primal. He immediately fired in between the femme's at Starscream. He ducked, of course.

"He's no match for the three of us. Destroy him!" the eagle ordered. Starfeather was hesitant to shoot, but she forced herself to once Optimus had jumped to the side to avoid the other shots.

"How about I bring a friend to the party?" the Maximal leader said and blasted the CR chamber's door wide open. Dinobot burst from inside, ready to lunge at anyone who dared come near.

"Very impressive Optimus Primal, but I still have my wits and my superior speed!" Starscream cried and, flying a quick circle around him while pressing the button to the roof hatch, soared up and out and away.

"Thanks for the help!" Blackarachnia called after him, her words laden with sarcasm. "Remind me to return the favor." With that, she fired her grappling hook from her blaster and leaped out the hatch and out of sight. With them gone, Starfeather turned to Optimus and Dinobot.

"Optimus, Starscream wanted the other Maximals to get Terrorsaur and Waspinator and bring them to him. We have to stop him, please!"

"Calm down, Starfeather," Optimus soothed, coming to her and resting his hand on her shoulders. "We will, but you have to stay here so Starscream will think that you are still here engaging Dinobot."

"But Optim-"

"Don't force me to make that an order."

The raven was going to protest again, but sighed and nodded her head.

"Alright."

Optimus smiled sympathetically.

"I'll contact you when you can go back." That said, he took off out the hatch and was gone. Starfeather watched him go and kept her optics where he had disappeared. She hoped that the Maximal leader could save her closest friends from whatever Starscream had in mind for them.

Dinobot studied the femme staring off seemingly into space, a look of childish fear and hope upon her silvery face. She didn't belong here. She was such a delicate young woman, not even an adult by human standards. Megatron and Tarantulas would pay for the harm they had brought to this innocent. As a warrior, it was the honorable thing to do.

The raptor put his weapons away and went to a computer console to bring up a visual of the battle. The raven turned her head to watch as well, but stayed where she was. She almost looked away at what she saw. Both Terrorsaur and Waspinator had already been caught and they were just beginning to take them away. Once again, she felt like her warning had come too late.

-x-

Terrorsaur screeched as he shoved Cheetor away with his feet and leaped back into the air. Airazor was there to meet him though and they locked yet again in hand-to-hand combat. The pterodactyl growled at the falcon

"This isn't like you Maximals to just attack helpless Predacons out of the blue," he said, blocking a blow to his face. He really didn't want another bloody nose this week.

"Believe me, it was a spur of the moment kind of thing," Airazor retorted and aimed a kick at his stomach. He grabbed her foot and, smirking in brief triumph, flung her towards a rock face. She collided, her head hitting the stone hard and affectively knocking her out. She fell to the ground and didn't get up again.

Cheetor snarled from a few feet away and, transforming back to his beast form, leaped at Terrorsaur again. The cheetah grabbed hold of one of Terrorsaur's shoulder cannons in his mouth. The pterodactyl squawked and lashed out in pain before gritting his teeth.

"You wanna go for a ride, kitty cat?" he challenged and, without waiting for an answer, took off at full speed straight up into the sky. He dodged a few shots from Rattrap until he was out of range. Cheetor growled and shook his head roughly, but refused to let go.

"You're asking for it," Terrorsaur hissed and swerved sharply to the left in an attempt to dislodge his attacker. Cheetor hung on and growled again. "Let me warn you, this will hurt!" Terrorsaur swooped down into a freefall, his back and Cheetor facing the ground. The golden mech saw this coming and, a few feet from impact, he sprang off and landed on all four paws. He watched in amusement as Terrorsaur crashed into the ground, leaving a well-shaped crater.

"That sure looks like it would hurt," the cheetah said and snickered. He then jumped on top of the red mech and stared him in the face, the other's optics flickering. "So, were you warning me or were you just talking to yourself there? I'm confused."

Terrorsaur said nothing. He only gave a pained and disoriented squawk before his optics darkened. Cheetor chuckled.

"You're coming with me now, bat boy." The cheetah then locked his jaw around the other's ankle and began dragging him back to where the others were.

Meanwhile, Waspinator was fairing a little better than his wingmate, but not by much. Both his wings had been shot off and his gun was laying at the edge of a small lava flow, not to mention Tigatron was holding his arms behind him and making him kneel under the cover of a large boulder. When the wasp had been secured, Rhinox had moved to help Rattrap in destroying all the auto guns around the Predacon base.

Airazor was beginning to come around. She groaned, rolling onto her stomach. She pushed herself up and shook her head to clear her vision of the brightly colored static. She looked up and first noticed a yellow and red blur in the distance and, focusing in, saw it was Cheetor dragging a limp Terrorsaur back to this location.

I'd better go help him, she thought and slowly stood up. Regaining her sense of balance, she took to the sky and land in front of the two. "That's quite a load you have there. Need a hand?" she offered.

"I sure wouldn't mind one." The big cat smiled and transformed. They each held an arm, hoisting the unconscious body up between them, and carried him to where Tigatron was guarding Waspinator. Said wasp made a disappointed and worried buzzing noise at the sight of his wingmate. The falcon took pity on the Predacon flier. Starfeather was right when she said that Waspinator seemed so childlike at times. After she and Cheetor had set Terrorsaur in a slouched sitting position against the boulder, she knelt beside him.

"He's not damaged too badly," she tried to comfort him quietly. She felt a little awkward. "He'll be up and kicking again when he wakes up."

The wasp sighed. "Wazzpinator knowz, but that not what really bothering Wazpinator," he moped, looking down between his feet. "Wazpinator bothered becauzze Wazpinator not know what Zcreamer-bot want with uzz."

"I can understand that... I'm sorry." Airazor nodded. Waspinator looked up at her with those big blue compound optics.

"W-Wazpinator think Maximal Bird-bot not zzo bad anymore..."

"You're not so bad either... bug eyes." The falcon offered a slightly crooked smile. The two laughed softly.

Cheetor grimaced, rolling his optics, and proceeded to slap some restraining cuffs on the red mech's wrists. However, Tigatron was more open to the conversation exchanged by Waspinator and Airazor. He found that he could sympathize with the wasp and was perfectly at ease with the way Airazor was speaking to him. She was certainly a gentle soul and was fun to be around. What he really noticed about her was her fascination for nature and preference to remain outdoors and in beast form, much the same as himself.

The tiger was pulled from his thoughts when Cheetor shoved another set of the restraining cuffs at him to put on Waspinator. Tigatron took them as politely as he could at the moment and put them on the wasp's wrists. Once Rhinox was informed that both Predacon fliers were secure, he and Rattrap began to back off.

"Alright, let's move!" he called and transformed into beast form. Terrorsaur was laid across the rhino's back and Airazor volunteered to assist Waspinator. The group then fled the scene to return to the Maximal base.

-x-

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

Ooh... my head...my back... Wait, where the Pit am I?

Terrorsaur forced his unwilling optics online and was confused at what he saw. The thumping sensation was from himself laying across Rhinox's back. With further examination of his current position, confusion then turned to panic. He had been captured and was being taken to the Maximal base with no sign of other Predacon pursuit.

"Lemme go you slagging Maximals!" he screeched and lashed out in an attempt to free himself.

"Do you want to fall off and let me trample you in the process?" Rhinox threatened. Terrorsaur immediately froze and gulped. He softly growled to himself and resorted to glaring at Cheetor, who was running alongside. The cheetah glared back, his green beast mode eyes flashed with resentment. The red mech grew tired of this silent mental battle so glanced around to see if Waspinator had been captured as well. To his disappointment, his wingmate had suffered the same fate as him, but he didn't seem too upset... Was he actually talking to Airazor? Not buzzing to himself, not spitting trash talk, not complaining, but talking? This just wasn't right.

Before he could try and say anything to the two fliers, there was a scream of a great eagle. They all stopped and looked to see a giant golden eagle circling down toward them. When it was close enough, they heard it speak.

"Ah, so you Maximals were successful in your mission. Now, release them."

"What?! But we just-" Rattrap gaped at Starscream.

"Hold you vocalizer, mouse!" the eagle snapped. Rhinox gave the rat a warning look. "Now do as I say."

The other Maximals all looked to the rhino for conformation. He nodded solemnly and Airazor lowered herself and Waspinator to the ground. She said a few reassuring words to him as she took off the restraining cuffs and stepped back. The two cats transformed and helped Terrorsaur to his feet. Terrorsaur decided not to resist this time. He clenched his fists as his cuffs were removed and snarled quietly at Cheetor, who snarled back.

"Excellent. Now, come to me," Starscream ordered. Terrorsaur and Waspinator moved away from the Maximals until they stood before the golden eagle. He transformed into his robot form and smiled wirily at the fliers.

"I am sure you are wondering why I called you here so inconveniently."

"Yeah," Terrorsaur mumbled and crossed his arms. Waspinator buzzed nervously.

"I would like to make you an offer that you cannot refuse."

"And why can we not refuse it?" The pterodactyl raised an optic ridge.

"Because," Starscream said, glaring pointedly at the red mech. "Now pay close attention..."

AN: Song: Fly Away by Sugarland