CHAPTER 2
Captured
Starscream was unconscious for an uncertain amount of time before he woke up again. When he did, he found himself bound by chains around the arms and legs, the pain in his torso stinging ever so bitterly, though now he was unable to put a servo on it to soothe the pain. He was sitting on a hard floor, located in some kind of cave, from what he could tell. He wasn't sure of anything recently. He couldn't remember a single thing, other than his instincts, the ability to move and talk. It was as if he had just been brought into existence, not even knowing his own name.
He recalled being attacked by small screaming creatures and large round green objects, both of which launched fireballs of weak and powerful proportions. He tried pulling at the chains on his arms. They didn't feel particularly endurant, but for some reason he felt weak. As if he had been drained of energy at some point. If only he could remember how he had ended up out in the desert.
A desert. The place he had been in was called a desert. The path he had followed was a road. The area he had arrived in was a city, and the 'mesas' covering it were buildings. And the green objects with weird rods were tanks. For some reason all these things came to him as clearly as if he'd never forgotten them. But what were those tiny screamers? And who was he?
"Hello," a tiny voice sounded from the floor.
Starscream looked down. A tiny screamer wearing pink stood in front of him. It had something long and brown coming out of its head, and its tiny eyes were bright blue. It seemed to be smiling at him.
"H...hello," he said and was surprised how hoarse and strained his voice was. It must have been damaged by the tank's attack. "What are you?"
"I'm a girl," the screamer said. "My name is Amy. What's yours?"
Starscream looked at the girl and was silent for a moment, trying to remember. "I don't know," he replied. "Do you know who I am?"
"Sure, you're a Transformer," Amy replied. "You're one of those giant robots that turn into cars and planes, right?"
"A Transformer?" Starscream replied. "I can turn into cars and planes?"
The girl giggled at his response. "Probably not all of those. I'm guessing you can turn into a plane, since you have wings."
"Wings..." Starscream turned his head to look at his wings, which flapped in response, temporarily forgetting the pain in his chest. "Right, those are wings. I can fly with those. But...how?"
"That's for you to find out," Amy replied with a smile. "Oh, it sounds like someone's coming. Well, see you later!"
Starscream returned his gaze to the girl. "Wait!" But as he looked, she was already gone. Looking forward, he noticed a row of bars lined up in front of him. He was trapped in some kind of cage. He heard a couple of voices, one small and squeaky, another loud and dark, slightly static. The strange voice made him uneasy somehow.
"Right here," the small voice said. "I can't believe how easily we captured him, considering how many of my men were killed in the process."
In front of him appeared the Commander of the screamers from earlier...as well as a larger form, a bot like himself, but solid red and boxy. The bot had a light gray face plate, stern blue optics and a mouth in the shape of a frown, which soon turned into a toothy smile.
"Well, well, well," the bot said with a deep, thick accent. "If it isn't Starscream. Never thought I'd see yer ugly mug again."
"Why do you keep calling me that?" Starscream asked offended. "What is a 'Starscream'? Whatever it is, I certainly am not one!"
The red bot raised an optical ridge. "That's yer name, remember? Where've ye been all this time, 'Con?"
"You continue to insult me?!" Starscream shrieked, though not knowing the meaning of what the bot said. "First you call me Starscream, and then you call me Con. What does that mean, anyway?! Why won't anyone tell me anything?!"
The red bot stood straight, a seemingly surprised expression adorning his face.
"Wait, you seriously don't remember?" the bot asked. "You remember me, right? I'm Ironhide."
"Ironhide?" Starscream asked with a raised optical ridge. "Never heard of you. Do you know me?"
"Know you?" Ironhide repeated, seemingly offended for some reason. "Of course I know you, you're-"
"Hey, Ironhide," the Commander interrupted the bot. "Maybe it's better he doesn't know. We should report this to Optimus."
Ironhide silenced. "Yer right," he replied. "This could work in our favor. A'right, hey, Starscream."
"Is that my name?" Starscream asked, being less offended and more concerned. "Because if it isn't I'd advice you to stop calling me that."
"It's yer name, don't worry," Ironhide continued. "Anyways, I'm gonna go fer a while, but I'll return again later with a few friends. Then we'll see what yer up to."
"As long as you can explain to me what's going on, I don't care what you do. Get on with it!"
"Well, his attitude's not changed, at least," Ironhide said as he started leaving. "C'mon, Leon, let's go tell the others."
"Right behind you, 'Hide," Leon replied and followed the red bot.
Starscream sat back and thought about the things he had just learned.
His name was Starscream. Not a particularly respectable name, but perhaps he could make do with it. At least he knew what his name was now. And that screamer was apparently called Leon. And that red bot, was he called Ironhide?
They said something about 'the others'. Did they mean other bots? Perhaps other so-called 'Transformers' like that girl Amy said? They also said something about someone named Optimus. Perhaps this 'Optimus' knew something about him?
"So your name is Starscream, huh?" Amy's voice said all of a sudden.
Starscream looked down and saw the girl, standing right below him in the same spot she had before. Inside his cell.
"Where did you come from?" Starscream asked surprised. "How did you get in here?"
"I snuck in," Amy replied and gave a cheery smile. "I was hiding until they left. Nice to meet you, Starscream!"
Starscream frowned at the girl, more out of confusion than of annoyance.
"You are a strange 'girl', is that what you said you were?"
"I'm a human," she replied. "Leon's a human too. But I'm a girl, and he's not. He's a man."
"Human? Man? Girl?" Starscream couldn't wrap his head around all these terms. "How am I supposed to know what's what?"
"You'll figure it out soon enough," Amy chuckled. "Well, it was nice talking to you. I'll see you later!"
Starscream watched the girl scurry through the bars and leave his point of view.
"I wish I could remember. I feel like I've forgotten even the simplest of things..."
