CHAPTER 25
Optimus could not believe what he had just witnessed. He had only seen the scene in its last few seconds before arriving, but it was enough to know that Bulkhead had defied orders and started attacking Starscream with brute force. Unfortunately, the Seeker had not been so lucky this time; Prime and Ultra Magnus were too late when they arrived, for by then he had already been brutally crushed to death.
As soon as Bulkhead had killed the Decepticon, the sparklings had begun screaming right away; even though they had not opened their eyes yet, and it was doubtful they understood anything they heard yet, it was as if they could somehow feel their parent's death. Perhaps it was the so-called 'iron bond' that theoretically existed between parent and sparkling. Perhaps it was the same as a spark-bond, like the one that had existed between Skyquake and Dreadwing while the twins were still alive.
Optimus looked from the dead Seeker in Bulkhead's servo to the crying sparklings in his arms. They had little chances of survival now.
"These sparklings will starve unless we find a way to convince them to take regular energon now," he said gloomily. "Prepare to return to…"
A faint rattling sound cut Prime off from his words. They looked around at the trees to see what had made that sound.
"Did you hear that?" Bulkhead asked uncertain. The others nodded. The rattling noise returned, this time louder than before - it sounded frighteningly familiar. The Wrecker felt a slight vibration in his right servo, the one holding Starscream. He looked at the crushed Seeker and felt his spark skip a beat. The wounds had started to leak again, and the optics were wide open, now glowing a purple color, focused on the Wrecker.
"Take…thisss…"
The missile on the Seeker's right arm went off, and the following explosion sent all four mechs flying off in different directions; the Autobots each slammed into a tree while Starscream fell onto the ground. The demolished Seeker rose shakily to his legs, taking a blurry look at the Autobots as they tried to sit up; the sparklings in Prime's arms had been startled by the blast, but they seemed to be unharmed.
While the Autobots were recovering from the explosion, Starscream limped over by the trees Bulkhead had hidden himself among before. He looked down and found the two sparklings with the red and green sparks. He picked them up with his right servo under groans of pain and ran off with them as the Autobots got back on their legs.
"Don't let him get away!" Ultra Magnus shouted, and the Seeker realized they were running after him.
"How in the AllSpark is he still alive?" Bulkhead exclaimed.
"I do not know," Optimus replied, "but it is a pure miracle that he did!"
What are they talking about? Starscream thought confused. I mean, I feel wrecked and everything, but not downright for the scrap yard…
"What if he tries to attack us?" Bulkhead asked concerned.
"He will not attack as long as we still have these two sparklings," Optimus assured him.
Oh yeah? Starscream thought daringly. You clearly don't know of Decepticon recklessness... He knew this was a bad idea, but if the sparklings survived the explosion before, they were much tougher than they looked. For a brief moment, he turned around and aimed his left arm at the Autobots, clenched his fist and fired the missile after them. The explosion sounded, and he used the distraction to jump between some trees and kneeled down to hide among the bushes, wings lowered so they wouldn't give him away. He held his sparklings close to his chest to keep them quiet, while remaining completely still himself.
He saw the Autobots running out right in front of where he was. They looked around for him, but couldn't seem to spot him anywhere.
"Well that was unexpected," Bulkhead said. "Seems he really doesn't care about the sparklings' safety after all!"
"He must be somewhere nearby," Ultra Magnus said certain. "He can't have gone that far in his current state."
"Split up and keep your optics open," Optimus ordered. As the Prime passed him, Starscream saw to his relief that the sparklings were still safe and sound.
He felt a strange sensation at his chest and looked down; the sparklings were licking the energon leaking from his wounds. He felt a little uncomfortable about it, but there was something else that bothered him even more.
According to the Autobots, he had been in a state that looked like death. Yet now he was alive, mobile and capable of running, albeit rather painful. He remembered how severely the pain had been when Bulkhead had smashed him with his wrecking ball, and how much it hurt when he woke up again. Yet that pain felt so minor now that it had become irrelevant. Why?
What was happening to him…?
After making sure the Autobots were out of hearing range, Starscream left his hiding place and went toward the burrow, where he had hidden the other two sparklings. He had just arrived when he heard a faint scream coming from the burrow. He stiffened and put down the sparklings he was holding, rushing over and ripped the bush off the hole. A badger had bitten onto the pink sparkling's leg, and this one was screaming in fear and probably also in pain.
"You pesky rat!" he exclaimed and furiously grabbed the badger and threw it on the ground outside. His claws had pierced right through its skin, and it twisted and turned on the ground in pain. He kicked it angrily towards the trees and let it bleed to death, turning his attention back to the two sparklings in the burrow.
"Are you okay?" he asked the pink one concerned and picked it up with his clean servo. He was still whimpering, but having his parent there to save him seemed to have calmed him down. His leg had gained some blue dents, but fortunately it wasn't leaking. He heaved a sigh of relief and picked up the blue sparkling as well, returning to the red and green ones. He held the blue and pink sparklings in his right servo, while holding the red and green sparklings in his left servo. He looked into the forest with speculation.
"How do I get the last two?" he asked himself. "They're still with Prime. They must be so scared…"
He heard a rustling and looked to his left. Bulkhead barged through and stiffened as he spotted the Seeker with four sparklings in his arms.
"Starscream!" he exclaimed, and Starscream took it as a cue to run. He stormed off at full speed in a random direction with Bulkhead right behind him, keeping as tight a grip on his sparklings as he possibly could, desperately trying to think of a way out of the forest.
Please let there be a glade, please let there be a glade, please let there be a glade… he thought anxiously.
"Scream! Slow down!" Bulkhead yelled right behind him. "I'm not gonna hurt you again, I swear!"
"YEAH RIGHT!" Starscream screamed back. "I'M NOT FALLING FOR THAT, AUTOBOT!"
By the sight of something red and blue in front of him, he stopped in his tracks and ran to the left. He let out a scream as he saw Ultra Magnus barge out from the trees in front of him, but as he was about to run back, he realized he was surrounded: Bulkhead, Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus had cut off his exits from three different directions, rendering him unable to escape in either direction without getting caught.
"Starscream," Optimus said calmly, holding the remaining two sparklings in his left servo and held out the other arm stretched against the Seeker. "Surrender and we shall not harm you anymore."
"Lies," he hissed with lowered wings, looking anxiously from side to side, trying to find a way out, while the three Autobots walked slowly closer to him. "You won't hold back one second to terminate me, I know it!"
"I made a mistake before," Bulkhead admitted. "But I'm not gonna make it again."
"Mistake? Yeah right! I never did trust the Wreckers," the Seeker spat at him, holding his sparklings closer, as if trying to hide them. "You lunatics love to destroy, don't you?"
"Says you," Bulkhead replied. "When do you not like destroying stuff?"
"I've changed," he said desperately as the Autobots were mere meters from him. "I'm not the weakling you knew before. I'm competent! I matter! And…if you ever try to kill me again, I can assure you people will get you for it!"
"What 'people'? Decepticons?"
Starscream looked up and noticed he had been standing in a glade all along. He smiled, and his wings went up again. "You'd love to know that, wouldn't you?"
In a swift movement, he changed to plane mode in a horizontal angle and pulled the four sparklings inside his cockpit. Before any of the Autobots could catch him, he activated his thrusters and set off from the ground, zooming into the sky, escaping the forest.
"No…" Optimus said, while the sparklings he was holding were whimpering in distress.
"We were so close," Bulkhead said despairingly. "We almost had him, but instead we lost four of the sparklings!"
"I should have jumped him when I had the chance," Magnus said in self-anger.
"Autobots," Optimus began, and they paid attention to him. "Prepare to return to base."
"What?" Bulkhead exclaimed in disbelief. "But—"
"Starscream will not likely return here soon, as he knows it was a trap and that he cannot possibly take down all of us. He will likely wait for a better opportunity to get these last two sparklings in his possession. For now, let us return and think of a new plan."
Starscream felt a bit more chilly and sore than usual when he soared through the sky, probably because of his still-open wounds, but otherwise it was an okay flight. Except for the bloated feeling he got from the filled cockpit that was barely roomy enough for the four sparklings to fit inside. They didn't seem to mind the limited space though – it almost seemed like they were back home.
He didn't dare stray too far from the forest, as his two last sparklings were still with the Autobots, but he would not be able to rescue them while keeping an eye on four others. So he scouted the nearby mountains and found one with a small cave near the peak. He transformed and caught the sparklings in midair. He investigated the cave; it wasn't very deep, and this time there were no animals waiting to attack his offspring. He put down each of them on the floor inside and then wondered how to prevent them from leaving and falling off the mountain. He peeked outside and found a convenient boulder near the opening. He went outside and put in all his strength to push the boulder in front of the cave mouth – it was really hard, but he had tried holding up a heavier rock than this one, and compared to the collapsing ceiling of an energon mine, this boulder was light as a feather.
It did take a little over a cycle before he sealed the hole though, after making sure none of the sparklings had decided to crawl out and get in the way; he didn't want to accidentally squash one of his young.
After making sure the sparklings were safe, he transformed and took off again, now having forgotten about his wounds, the only thought occupying his mind being the rescue of his final two sparklings.
He arrived in the forest and strolled around, keeping his optics and audio receptors wide open. He wasn't as careful this time, getting tired of sneaking around all the time. He felt in his spark that the remaining sparklings were distressed somehow, as if it was really important for him to get to them as soon as possible. Though honestly, he just wanted to get the sparklings so he could get back to the Nemesis to get some rest, maybe in the lab so Knock Out could fix his wounds and check if the sparklings were healthy. So he just stepped out in the middle of the grass, took a deep breath and shouted loudly at the forest.
"Come and get me, Autobots! I'm right here! Come out so we can play tag – my claws in your spark chambers! If you give my sparklings back first though, I promise I won't hurt you…much!"
He waited for a few cycles, listening, watching. There was no sound of heavy footsteps, no sight of any red or blue painting, no screams of desperate sparklings, nothing. No one even answered his call. The only thing happening was a flock of birds taking off. He tried again.
"Helloooo?! I'm standing right here and waiting for you! Come and get me already!"
He waited for a few more cycles. Still nothing, although the birds had stopped chirping now, probably spooked by his yelling. A bush rustled nearby, and he looked at it with a fast-beating spark, readying his claws for combat. His excitement turned to disappointment when it turned out to be a rabbit jumping out from the bushes. It took one look at him and then ran off at full speed, disappearing as fast as it had appeared. He sighed of irritation.
"Hello?" he tried again weakly. "Anybody there? Anyone?"
A sudden thought went through his mind and he closed his optics to sense spark signatures. There were no signals in the forest anymore; only the four signals in the mountain he hid them in, and then the two others had gone to somewhere else, far, far away from where he was. He let out a moan of anger.
"Stupid," he snarled and hit himself on the head. "Of course they left when you did! Now I'll have to search for them all over again…"
A transmission beeped in through the comm. link, startling the Seeker.
"Hey, Starscream, are you there?" It was Knock Out's voice. He sighed of relief.
"Yes, I'm here, Knock Out. What do you want?"
"Really? I place you in sickbay and then you just wander off without telling me and now you—"
"What. Do. You. Want?"
"Well, since you're asking so NICELY, I've been trying to reach you for megacycles, and now it finally got through. So, why exactly did you leave?"
Starscream began explaining to him how the mission in Scotland didn't go as planned, how he fell unconscious after the birth of his sparklings, how the Autobots had taken off with them and finally how he tracked down and retrieved four of them while two remained in the Autobots' care.
"…and then I returned here, but they're already gone. How am I supposed to get the other two back now?"
"Hmm…actually, I think I have something that will help you with that…"
Back at the Autobot base, Optimus, Magnus and Bulkhead told everyone else about their failed mission. Arcee and Wheeljack had just returned from a successful mission with a Predacon spine, the first bone so far to avoid falling into Decepticon hands. Their triumph got quickly overshadowed by Prime's failed mission though. He blamed himself for everything that happened, including Bulkhead's apparent termination of the Seeker.
"It's not your fault, sir," Ultra Magnus assured him. "We were all taken by surprise."
"I underestimated Starscream's determination," Prime said gloomily. "He seems to be far more dangerous as a parent than as a soldier."
"So all he needed to go from pathetic weakling to sneaky glitch was to get knocked up," Wheeljack concluded and added, by seeing their faces: "You live among humans, you pick up a few phrasings, right?"
"Right…" Ratchet said and turned back to Optimus with a curious look. "But what was that you said about Bulkhead crushing him?"
"Well," Bulkhead answered instead. "I had pounded him thoroughly, and he looked pretty dead…but then suddenly he just…"
"He came back to life," Optimus said. "And his eyes turned purple. Almost as if he was in possession of dark energon…"
"But the energon he was bleeding?" Ratchet said intrigued. "It wasn't purple, was it?"
"No, it was blue," Bulkhead said. "I don't understand…"
"So you're saying," Raf said, "that Starscream might possess dark energon, but he isn't?"
"Well, that doesn't make sense," Miko said. "How can someone have something, yet not have it?"
"Hey, remember when he tried to raise Skyquake from his grave?" Bumblebee went in from the med bay. He and Smokescreen had been badly damaged, but luckily both were still alive.
They thought about it. "Yes, he had been in possession of a crystal back then," Optimus said.
"But he took it out again, didn't he?" Bulkhead said. "I'm sure I saw him taking it out, right after you shot off his arm…"
The sparklings began crying loudly on the table. They forgot about their conversation and looked concerned at the sparklings instead. Perhaps they were hungry again, even though it had only been a few megacycles since they fed. This time, though, there was nothing to feed them with. Unless Starscream turned up soon, these sparklings were probably going to starve.
"What do we do now?" Smokescreen asked from his recharging table. "Scream is probably long gone by now, and he might still be able to track these two here."
"While that might be correct, I do not think he would try getting the remaining two while looking after the other four," Optimus theorized. "I believe he is currently either bringing the ones he has back to the warship or trying to find another place to keep them until he gets the last two. Hopefully it will provide us with enough time to—"
He was interrupted by the monitor beeping as a transmission came through. They stared at it in speculation. Who could be contacting them at this time and place? Ratchet went over to check it.
"It's an imbedded message," he concluded. "From Starscream."
"What?"
"How dare he contact us!"
"What is this about?"
"Hold on, I'll read the message," Ratchet said and opened the message written in Decepticon Regular:
"You have something that belongs to me, and I have something that belongs to you. If you ever want to see your pets again, come to my location and bring the sparklings. Do not try anything funny, or I cannot promise their safety."
"He's proposing a trade," Wheeljack concluded. "But with what?"
"'If you want to see your pets'…" Raf repeated ominously. "Could he mean us?"
"But we're right here," Miko said. "And there aren't any other humans who are close to the 'Bots!"
"Except…" Jack gasped. "Mom and Agent Fowler!"
Starscream stood on a cliff in the well-known canyon where the former Autobot base used to be, with Knock Out by his side. He was holding the human called June Darby in his servo, while the doctor was holding Agent Fowler from the human military.
"Are you certain this plan is going to work?" he asked skeptically. "These aren't exactly those kids."
"They're Autobots, they would do anything to save a pair of meaningless lives, no matter if they're friends or strangers," Knock Out pointed out and pat the Seeker on the back. "Don't you worry, Screamy, your sparklings will soon be safe and secure!"
"The more you tell me that, the less secure I become," Starscream grumbled. "Wait a second, how did you convince Soundwave to bridge you here? And with those hostages for that matter?"
"Oh, that," Knock Out said, sounding a bit nervous. "Well, you know, I just told him I…had been sent by Lord Megatron to take care of a, um…negotiation problem."
"You WHAT?!" Starscream shouted. "Do you have any idea what you have done?"
"I…kept your secret?"
"Far from it! Soundwave will report this to Megatron immediately, and then we'll both be scrap!"
"Excuse me, but isn't this your problem? I'm not the one who kept those things inside me for Primus-knows how long."
"Well, you're the one who found the problem in the first place! This is just as much your problem as it is mine!"
"Fine! See if I'll help you raising those misfits!"
"Don't you dare talk of my sparklings that way!"
"How long do you think they've been dating?" Agent Fowler asked June, not being able to help but listening to their argument.
"Not sure, but they certainly bicker like an old married couple," she replied with a crooked smile.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Starscream exclaimed agitated.
"N-nothing!" Knock Out said and growled at the humans. "Keep your fleshy mouths shut or that'll be the last thing you say!"
A GroundBridge appeared in front of them, and the two sleek mechs snapped out of the argument and stood straight as if nothing had ever happened. A few nano-cycles later, Optimus, Arcee and Wheeljack stepped out from the portal, followed closely by Jack Darby.
"Jack!" June exclaimed shocked.
"Mom!" Jack replied in fright.
"Don't worry, Jack," Arcee said with a firm voice. "She's going to be fine. They're both going to be fine."
"Yeah, we won't let anything happen to two of our comrades," Wheeljack replied.
"Good, you're here," Starscream said. "Now give them to me."
Though there were about ten meters distance between them, Optimus noticed his optics had returned to their normal red coloration, and his wounds were less extreme, though his chest, limbs and face were still scarred and leaking. Arcee held the purple sparkling in her servos while Wheeljack held the yellow sparkling.
"First we want you to release the humans," Optimus demanded.
"If I do that, you'll just leave with them and the sparklings," Starscream pointed out. "The sparklings first!"
"You'll just throw the humans off the cliff or something," Wheeljack accused.
"Don't give them any ideas," Arcee hissed at him.
"How about one human, one sparkling at a time?" Knock Out suggested. "I'm getting tired of standing around here."
They silenced, considering their options. "The yellow one first," Starscream said. "Release him, and Knock Out will release the male."
Jack opened his mouth to protest, but Arcee signaled him to remain quiet. Wheeljack reluctantly walked over and handed over the yellow sparkling to Knock Out in exchange for Agent Fowler.
"Don't make me frag you," he threatened as he returned to the others.
"The purple one," Starscream said and pointed at Arcee. "Give her to me, and the boy will have his mother back."
"Her?" Jack wondered, but silenced as Arcee stepped forward, until she was so close to the Seeker that she could touch him.
Starscream looked longing at the sparkling in her servos, but reluctantly reached June forth, knowing that a mere second of change would be vital. He had to get the sparkling first. As Arcee slowly reached the sparkling out, they both made a quick movement, grabbed the other's hostage, retracted and jumped back quickly. Starscream looked down and saw to his satisfaction that he was holding the sparkling instead of the human. Arcee put down June so she could reunite with her son.
"No tricks," Optimus both assured and demanded. "You got what you wanted and we got what we wanted. Let us leave in peace."
Starscream smirked at him with deceit written all over his face. "I'd really wish I had an ambush waiting for you right now, but unfortunately it's just the two of us," he said disappointed. "Thank you for your cooperation, Autobots. Until next time."
Still watching the Decepticons, the Autobots and humans walked back into the GroundBridge, which closed seconds later. Starscream sighed of relief.
"Well then, it seems your plan worked after all, Knock Out," he said.
"Why thank you, Commander Starscream," Knock Out replied and handed over the other sparkling to the Seeker. "But now what are you going to do? You can't possibly be thinking of returning to the life of a rogue, are you?"
"Well, the thought did occur to me…" he admitted. "But I see now that it would be foolish. We'd be safer on Nemesis, regardless of Megatron's reaction. I suppose I'll just have to be ready for his wrath."
"It's not like you to be so…not-cowardly towards our leader. I must say, you have changed."
"I'll have you know, doctor, that if Megatron or anyone else, including you, tries to do anything to harm my sparklings, I will stop at nothing to exterminate them."
"Well, okay then," Knock Out replied decently. "But, er…where are the rest of the sparklings?"
"Right. Hold these for a moment, please," he said and gave the sparklings back to Knock Out. He transformed and took off, leaving Knock Out behind with two sparklings who now began crying loudly.
"Great. Now there's more of him."
Starscream had already arrived at the mountain cave when he realized he had just left two of his valuable sparklings with Knock Out without a second thought. While pushing the boulder aside to release his other four sparklings, he wondered why he had done that.
"Well, I guess since he knew of my secret since I discovered it myself, I suppose it's only natural for me to trust him with them…besides, he's a doctor, he'd know better how to take care of these things than I do."
He remembered how in the past, the two of them could never get along, ranging from differences between vehicle modes to gaining favor from Megatron. All that seemed to have changed since the discovery of Starscream's sparklings. Knock Out had been incredibly helpful and nice at times, despite the Seeker not staying in sickbay all the time. He was, of course, still rude as usual, but he would never have been able to get as far as he had without him. He wondered how their relationship would have been if it had been Knock Out who helped him with the birthing of the sparklings instead of the Autobots…
The boulder was finally gone from the cave, and the Seeker went in, picked up each sparkling and went outside again. They were a little cold, but their sparks were still twinkling. He switched to jet mode and let the sparklings curl up in a pile and regain heat from the warm cockpit. They purred loudly, partly from pleasantry, partly trying to tell their parent something. He didn't know what they wanted, but he would certainly find out as soon as he returned to the ship and had gotten himself fixed up.
He returned to Knock Out, transformed and held the four sparklings in his arms.
"Interesting," Knock Out remarked. "They have the same colored sparks as their wombs were…"
"Yes, yes, very interesting, now give the others to me and ask for a GroundBridge," Starscream said impatiently.
"Soundwave, I need a bridge back," Knock Out said through the comm. after giving Starscream the other two sparklings.
Mere nano-cycles later, a GroundBridge portal opened, and the two mechs stepped through it, returning to the Nemesis.
They arrived on the flight deck, met by Soundwave, Shockwave, the Predacon, several Vehicon troopers and Megatron himself. The warlord did not look pleased upon their return.
"Well, well, well," he said coldly, sending chills all the way through Starscream's body. "If it isn't Starscream. You've been missing for a while. I almost thought the Autobots had captured you. But enough of that, who are your new companions? You should introduce them to me…"