Chapter 21: The Big Picture Part 1
(Alternative Title: The One That Got Away)
Rad stared at his lunch, the sandwich suddenly unappetizing as he couldn't get out of his head how Hot Shot had just dropped him off Saturday and left without a word. It had been three days, but guilt still gnawed at him. Kero certainly wasn't happy that Shield chose Hot Shot, but Rad was too upset to care.
"Hey, Rad?" The blond glanced at Carlos, who nudged him in the shoulder. "You've been looking kinda bummed out, something wrong?"
Rad opened his mouth, and the words came out before he could stop himself. "Ray's leaving Friday for her exam, and I have to go live with my aunt and uncle." He winced; it wasn't the other truth, but this had been bothering him too.
Alexis stiffened, her eyes widening. "What?" she whispered. "But-but she'll miss Mother's Day!"
Carlos let out a frustrated groan. "Get with the program, Alexis. Rad's got bigger things to do deal with; how's High Wire supposed to live with him? I hate Grindor being in the garage in my own house."
"Then it's a good thing Rachel's going to be watching you tonight and you can let him out." Alexis said, her expression deadpan.
Carlos scowled at her, and snorted. "You get this one."
Rad looked between his friends, smiling slightly but unable to commit to a full one. He chanced a bite out of his sandwich, and while the taste was dry and bland to him, he managed to eat at least a piece. He set his lunch back into its box, and blinked as he noticed Kelly walking up to them, her face flushing the closer she got to the bench the trio were sitting on. Rad glanced up at the sky; it wasn't particularly hot out, so what was wrong? "Hi, Kelly, are you okay?"
Kelly's flush went up to her hairline. She bit her lip briefly, hands tightening on the folded part of her paper bag. "I'm fine," she said curtly, "but I was wondering..." she faltered, but tensed up and marched on, "my aunt arrived last night. She's here to try and start up a dojo, and she said I could bring my friends along for a class."
Carlos crossed his arms. "Kinda hard to do since you don't have friends."
Kelly winced, and Alexis scowled, snapping, "Carlos!"
The younger brunette breathed in deep, and she glared fiercely at Carlos as well before nervously looking back at Rad. "So-so I was wondering if you'd like to go after school tommorow?"
Rad blinked, and he glanced away, his eyes scanning over the other kids shuffling around the schoolyard with their own lunches. "What does your aunt teach?"
Kelly rubbed the back of her neck, smiling shyly. "All kinds of things; she's an awesome black belt."
"Not to mention she doesn't keep from bragging about her next win." Alexis drawled. Kelly furrowed her brow, and Alexis bit her lip. "It would be nice to see her again though," she said thoughtfully, and smiled faintly, "okay, count me in."
Kelly nodded, and looked at Rad. The blond winced, seeing the hope in her eyes. It spoke to something deep inside him though, and he sighed quietly.
"Okay, I'll ask Ray." he said.
Kelly beamed, and in a flash she lunged forward to hug Rad. They both froze, but while Rad was more shocked, Kelly appeared a hairsbreath from fainting. "I-I have to go!" she rushed out, and all but sprinted away.
Rad furrowed his brow, and looked at Alexis who was staring wide-eyed and Carlos' jaw dropped. "Uh, she looked kinda sick. Is she gonna be okay?"
Alexis blinked rapidly, appearing dazed before shaking her head as she got up. "Probably," she crumpled her empty paper bag, "though I'd better go make sure she doesn't pass out. I'll see you later, or not." she shrugged awkwardly, and briskly trailed off to follow Kelly.
'I hope Kelly's okay.' Rad thought, and glanced at Carlos. "You thinking of going?"
"Nah, not really into martial arts." Carlos replied. "I'm gonna be a vet."
Rad blinked. "Don't you need, well, take school seriously to get a good science grade?"
Carlos huffed. "I'll take things seriously when we get to high school." he clapped Rad on the shoulder. "We're still kids, we got all the time in the world to put off worryin' about that stuff."
"Yeah." Rad said softly, but inside his stomach churned. 'Fifty-three cards, and I've barely scratched the surface. Hot Shot doesn't trust me, and neither do Create and Shield. Is this what being an adult means?' If so, Rad hated it.
In the back of his mind he'd wondered about his predecessor; Kero gave hints every once in a while, but he always kept quiet about bigger things like who or where they were now. Rad couldn't help but think of how Kero saw him; if this whole card mess happened once before, how much did he measure up?
Rad felt inadequate, worsened by the weight of all that was going on, and his chest tightened. "I gotta go call Ray. I'll see you in class."
Carlos nodded. "Later, man. Hope you're feeling better."
Rad paused as he got up. 'I hope so too.' he thought, but plastered on a smile, closing his eyes to keep his friend from seeing how the gesture didn't reach his gaze. "You know me, nothing can keep me down."
The minute Rad turned away, the smile was wiped clean.
Hot Shot's shoulder joints ached. His wrists felt heavy from the weight of the blade in his servos. His knee didn't ache anymore, but that didn't make up for the rest of the pain. His vents cycled tirelessly, the sun hot on his plating; it was starting to get uncomfortable with how overworked his systems were becoming. He narrowed his optics as he lunged for a boulder, swinging down and the laser coating of the Star Saber cut it clean in half.
Hot Shot winced. His swing was off, cutting the hunk of rock at an awkward angle, causing only a chunk of the boulder to fall from the rest. It was nothing like Sword's clean cuts. His spark pulsed heavily, causing a constricting feel in his chest plates. 'With Sword I was able to do this perfectly.' The thought slipped in, and the yellow mech immediately batted it away.
His lips twisted into a scowl. He didn't need magic to help him, and what Sword did was freaky anyway. Thoughts of the card though led back to Rad, and he shut down that line of thought before it went anywhere.
"Looks like your aim's off."
Hot Shot jumped, whirling around as he was about to raise the Star Saber. He stopped though when he saw it was only Sideways. 'He really is quiet.' he thought, and relaxed his stance. "I'm still learning here."
"With how much you've improved I would think you didn't need it anymore." Sideways said.
Hot Shot shrugged, and set the Star Saber down. "Take a break, I think we need one." he said, and the three mini-cons nodded before scurrying off. Hot Shot frowned slightly when he saw the way they avoided going near Sideways. Jolt had been the same, but he didn't linger on it as Jolt's compliancy in the ruse was still raw. "So what brings you out here?"
"I came to see you." The other mech replied, and Hot Shot furrowed his ridges when there was no follow up.
"Fooor?" he stretched the word out, trying to prompt Sideways into continuing.
The mech stared at him, optics unblinking. He slowly shook his helm, and crossed his arms. "Do I need I reason?"
Embarrassment wormed its way into Hot Shot's spark. He grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "No, it's just I'm usually not used to being asked to hang out."
"Really? You seem fairly comfortable with Smokescreen." Sideways said lightly.
Hot Shot huffed. "We're friends, of course I am."
The purple and yellow mech seemed to consider him for a moment. "Do you think of me as your friend?"
Hot Shot blinked, surprise coloring his expression. "Yeah, sure do." he said, but he couldn't keep how baffled he was out of his tone. "Optimus is the boss, Red's...Red, and you and Smokey are my friends."
"What about Jolt and Rad?"
Hot Shot froze, his features tightening. His fists clenched as hurt simmered beneath the surface. "It's complicated." he vented deeply, and frowned to himself. Rad could wait, but he needed to talk to Jolt. If they were fighting longer than a 'normal' spat lasted then the others would get suspicious. 'I'm already lying enough for Rad as it is.' he thought. "I have to go, we can hang out later."
He moved around Sideways, but paused when the mech grabbed his shoulder. Hot Shot gave him a quizzical stare, but the other mech didn't say anything as he briefly rubbed the metal. Sideways retracted his servo, and stepped back before continuing on his way.
Hot Shot furrowed his ridges, his face flushing as an oddly warm feeling spread into his spark. He wondered briefly why he felt that way, but refocused on looking for Jolt instead of how confusing Sideways was being.
Stepping around a corner, he found Jolt talking with Sparkplug and Longarm, but the orangish-pink mini-con halted when he saw Hot Shot. Jolt looked down for a moment, his voice quiet. "Go on, I think it's time we had a talk anyway."
Longarm warbled something, while Sparkplug patted Jolt on the back before they both walked off.
Jolt vented, his gaze rising to meet Hot Shot's. "Let me guess, it's about the cards, isn't it?"
"You didn't say anything." Hot Shot said. "None of you did."
"Because it wasn't our secret to tell you." Jolt replied. "Call it a weak excuse, a bad decision, but from our perspective all we saw of Rad's power was another way for it to be controlled. We knew you Autobots wouldn't think of hurting Rad, but we couldn't let the Decepticons find out-that's why we never said anything-if you didn't know you couldn't slip up."
Hot Shot absorbed what was being said, but forced himself to see beyond his own hurt. "I still don't like it, you let me think I was crazy."
"Rad made a mistake, but he still told you first." Jolt said.
"I get that, but it still hurts that you've all been keeping this from us." Hot Shot said. "What has to happen before Kero can see we can be trusted?"
"I don't know," Jolt admitted quietly, "but I think it's going to take more than just High Wire snipping at him."
"You want me to try?" Hot Shot offered, but his lips twisted up into an ironic smile. "I don't exactly think that doll is going to listen to me either."
"Then just try with Rad." Jolt said and Hot Shot blinked. "You have every right to feel we betrayed your trust, but please give us the chance to earn it again. I feel like we're going to have to do that a lot if the other Autobots find out."
Hot Shot frowned, debating with himself strongly about it. "I..." If, there was that word again. But just as much as Rad hurt him with his silence, Hot Shot found himself worried if the blond's entire reason for being his friend was just so he could get Create. That- there were no words to describe what that would do to him. "I...I need to think it over."
Megatron didn't look happy, but lately it was becoming less of a surprise. No one was foolish enough to say anything about it though, but he glared at them from his throne regardless. "Tell me, how is it we not only lost the Star Saber, but that you, Starscream, master swordsmech," he drawled the words mockingly and Starscream stiffened, "couldn't defeat one measly little Autobot?"
"He caught me by surprise, I'll be prepared next time." Starscream replied, his tone forcibly calm. Inside he was still seething by the loss; it took nearly two days to fix his wing sword.
"You talk tough, but you aren't as good as you think you are." Cyclonus said snidely.
The words made Starscream flashback to that yellow Autobot smirking at him, and his fists clenched. "I am certainly more competent than you will ever be."
"Hey!" Demolishor cut in, his expression offended. "Cyclonus has come up with more ideas than you. They don't work, but he's trying!"
Cyclonus scowled. "Did you just try to help me or insult me?"
Starscream snorted, and let out a low chuckle. "I don't know why I waste my time talking to either of you, clearly there's not an ounce of wit in those blocks you call helms."
"Oh really? From what I saw out there, you cut and ran at the first sign of difficulty." A new voice echoed from behind, and Starscream whirled around, optics narrowing in on a tall form wearing a cloak.
Demolishor and Cyclonus tensed as well, but Megatron only looked annoyed.
"You certainly took your time getting here, Scavenger." he said.
The newly identified mech scoffed, his optics roving around the decrepit room contemptuously. "You need all the firepower you can get, there was no chance you'd send us away. Even after all these years you're still just an upstart."
Starscream frowned. 'Us?' Was this old mech senile?
Megatron scowled at Scavenger all the same.
"Hey, you can't talk to Lord Megatron that way!" Cyclonus shouted.
"Show some respect!" Demolishor added.
Scavenger crossed his arms over his chest. "Respect?" he harrumphed derisively. "I knew your 'lord' before he became what he is today- he wasn't impressive then and he has yet to be now."
Megatron's servo clenched the arm of his makeshift throne tightly, but his expression was cold. "Do not forget," he said with a surprisingly quiet menace, "that you still chose in the end to follow me. Not him."
Starscream glanced between Megatron and the old bot, frown deepening as he realized they both knew each other from before the war-if Scavenger's words were to be believed. Starscream didn't think much of him still. "You said us," he drawled, "do you have some secret weapon or do you think that much of yourself?"
Scavenger turned his optics to him, his expression unreadable, but slowly a knowing smirk crossed his lips. "Ah, you must be Starscream."
Starscream jerked his chin up, preening under the recognition. "So you've heard of me have you? My reputation must have spread far and wide."
"Not really." Scavenger said flatly, and Cyclonus snickered while Demolishor hid his behind a cough. Starscream's optic twitched as even Megatron smirked. "It's just that Skywarp insults you whenever he gets a chance, quite annoying really."
A surprised jolt ran down Starscream's spine at the name, but while Cyclonus and Demolishor seemed confused by the mention, Megatron had no reaction. Anger burned in the seeker's chest. 'He knew.' he thought in offence. Composing himself, Starscream frowned. "Oh, and where is he?"
Scavenger waved dismissively. "On planet somewhere; I told him to lay low until I decided if we were going to stay." he said flippantly.
Megatron was the first to react, shooting to his pedes and glared at the mech furiously. "What? I called you here to fight, not as a social visit!"
Scavenger scoffed. "Like I said, I saw your fight out there and it wasn't all that great. Why should I stay if there's no chance of winning?" he smirked infuriatingly at Megatron. "Tell you what though; just for old times sake, I'll observe your next hunt. If I see something worth sticking around for, consider me and Skywarp in."
Megatron scowled deeply at the old mech, his optics narrowed into a dark glare. "Very-well." he said through gritted denta. He stepped down from the dais and stormed towards the opposite hall of the room, glaring at the rest of them. "Don't just stand there, go find something useful to do for once!"
Scavenger made a mocking sound. "Some great leader." he muttered.
Starscream turned a sharp glare on the mech. "You shouldn't have let Skywarp off on his own, he can't be trusted to look after himself. He never listens anyway."
Scavenger narrowed his optics. "Perhaps then he simply doesn't listen to you." he said, and the seeker stiffened. The old mech turned away. "And with such a high opinion of yourself, it's no wonder. Also not surprising that Autobot managed to slice in half your shiny Star Saber knock-off," he smirked at him over his shoulder, "how's repairing that going anyhow?"
Starscream scowled at Scavenger's retreating back. 'Oh, I'll show you, you decrepit old bot.'
Demolishor frowned and glanced at Cyclonus. "You feel think we just missed something?" The helicopter stared blankly at him, and the tank sighed heavily. "Never mind."
Cyclonus' optics brightened as he saw the console's screen blink, showing a concentrated point. "Oooh! A new signal!"
Starscream looked abruptly at the screen, and his digits curled into fists. "Then why are we just standing here? Surely it would please Lord Megatron if we were to retrieve it."
"Are you serious?" Demolishor asked in confusion.
Starscream glared at them both. "I'm taking point," he said, acting as though he hadn't heard the tank, and set in co-ordinates on the warp gate, "though by all means stay here and be useless. I'm sure Lord Megatron will be happy to see that."
Both Cyclonus and Demolishor stiffened, and they reluctantly got onto the warp pad along with Starscream, who glared in the direction Scavenger left in before the gate activated, and the three of them vanished.
"So how did Rachel take you wanting to do these 'martial arts' class?"
Rad froze, but more out of surprise than fear. 'That...was new.' he thought, as High Wire's 'martial art's came out as more of a feeling than actual words. Did...did mini-con language not have an equivalent? 'I guess it's not surprising.' he added. "She's worried, though she said I could try, but I think she's too busy to...care really." he whispered, and High Wire immediately sat down beside him.
"That's not true! She's busy, but she clearly loves you."
Rad blinked from the force of the conviction in the mini-con's tone, and found himself smiling slightly. It was nice to know that Rachel and High Wire liked each other, given how tense things were after the mini-con woke up. "I know, I'm just...not sure what to feel."
"You know," Kero said from his spot on the coffee table, absently channel surfing. He only got to be in the living room for dinner because Rachel was studying in her room, "it would probably help your work resolve if you put this much thought into catching the remaining cards."
Rad scowled at the plushy. He knew Kero was just wheedling him, but it got on his nerves. "Aren't you supposed to be intune with them or something? What happened with that?"
"I'm doing that, the spirits are just better at masking themselves now." Kero retorted, but he paused and flicked the station back to a news channel he passed.
"I've been meaning to ask; what's the difference between your human forms of news? Sometimes when we pass the electronics shop they have people on the televisions reporting, but also on those...those boxes in cars or hand held things." High Wire gestured, making his confusion apparent.
Rad furrowed his brow. "I'm not sure why, maybe just to get out different ways to inform people of what's going on in the world." he caught sight of an anchorman sitting behind a desk, a sketch of a woman behind him but Rad didn't pay much attention. "Take for instance what Ms. Santiago does," he paused to let High Wire remember that she was Carlos' mother, as somtimes they stumbled over human naming conventions or titles. It seemed to make them feel better given the Autobots didn't know what to make of it either when they found out Rad and Rachel had different surnames.
"She hosts a radio show that lets people know about...well, news on the more entertaining side of things-gossip, celebrities, stuff like that, where you can call in and talk on air." Rad explained. "News channels more or less just give you facts, updates about conditions in the world..." he furrowed his brow when Kero stiffened. "Okay, what's up with you?"
"Rad, how far is this station's broadcast signal?" The guardian asked stiltedly.
After taking in the name of the channel, the blond replied in confusion, "It's for the state, what's the matter?"
"That's a card." Kero muttered, and pointed at the screen.
More specifically, at the picture being shown. Rad blinked. "Are you sure? That just looks like a normal lady." It wasn't a colored in sketch, so the blond couldn't infer more than a basic appearance. She had an angular face, eyes that narrowed towards the corners and two buns on the side of her head tied with ribbon that flowed into twin tails, while straight bangs fell over her forehead. "How can she be a card?"
"The people who spotted her clearly just saw her cloaked form," Kero said, frowning as he crossed his arms-he looked really worried, "which isn't exactly good; the annoying brat-er, woman she based her form on might be older now but people might still recognize her."
Rad furrowed his brow. "You know who this is?" he asked, but didn't bother being irritated. Really, what was the point, Kero was just going to keep his secrets for as long as he could.
"Yeah, but we got bigger problems." Kero said. He pointed at the screen again. "This is Fight, no points for guessing what she does."
Rad nodded, but his eyes widened as the anchorman began speaking again about Fight.
"At an alarming rate, people are being assaulted by a young woman. No fatalities are reported, but several of the victims are still in critical condition. She has been spotted in several towns in Nebraska over the course of a week; so far robbery has been eliminated as a motive, but she has only targeted martial artists."
"Yeah, this is Fight." Kero muttered.
Rad's spine trickled with fear, pinpricks of unease raising goosebumps along his arms. "She sounds dangerous."
"She is." Kero replied. "Which is why I'll start looking for her, just finish your dinner or something." he floated up from the coffee table with a mute air about him that surprised Rad. He'd seen Kero flail and pout, but never did he act like this. Rad's stomach dropped as the guardian flew out of the area and back to Rad's room.
"I...he doesn't seem to have a lot of confidence in me." Rad said quietly.
High Wire patted his back. "Don't worry, he's also the one who didn't tell you there was another guardian."
Rad sighed and sat back against his seat. Yeah, that. He had no idea what he was supposed o think of that. Given Kero's secrecy though, when would he be considered ready to know about them? He shook his head. 'I still don't like this, but I don't have much choice but to trust Kero about this one.'
It hadn't taken long to track the energy signature to a secluded forest, caught between two human towns. Honestly, it was better to keep the human inhabitants ignorant, if only to not be hounded by their annoying persistence of nosiness. Foolish as it was for the Autobots to acquire themselves human pets, they had the foresight to keep them out the way.
'Most of the time.' Starscream thought derisively. Even his mini-con didn't seem to get into as much trouble, and Swindle actively kept trying to escape. He shook his head, shooing the thoughts away as he focused on the task. Showing up Scavenger. 'Gaining Megatron's recognition.' he reprimanded himself.
"How long have we been out here?" Cyclonus asked, a whine growing in his voice. "There's nothing to shoot at."
"There are trees, lots of trees." Starscream deadpanned, but no satisfaction followed the lack of guilt at the suggestion. 'Slag, even when I don't think of you, you're still haunting me, Overcast.'
"Maybe the reading was a dud?" Demolishor suggested. "Who knows what these energy signatures even are, they could sending out false trails for all we know."
"What would be the point? The one I saw with the mini-con just kept its signal from us. Why interfere with our mission?" Starscream retorted.
Demolishor looked both offended and huffy. "I'm just saying, don't need to get so defensive."
"Yeah, you're making this sound like you got something to prove-oh wait." Cyclonus cackled, and Starscream scowled at him before continuing down the path of trees.
But as Starscream, Cyclonus and Demolishor walked through the woods, they were startled by something crashing through the trees. The sound of the branches breaking was the only warning they received as a small, blue and white figure slammed into Cyclonus, knocking the bot back several steps as it pivoted off his chest.
The figure spun through the air, colliding itself against Demolishor, causing him to crash into a tree, which fell under the weight of the Decepticon, him falling down with it. The figure landed in front of Starscream, having dropped gracefully on a branch.
His optics widened as he finally saw what had attacked them. "What the...a human!?" he exclaimed, but upon closer inspection, he realized that no, it wasn't.
It was a human, and at first glance he could have been mistaken about it attacking them as it was a young female with angular pale features, narrow red eyes and black hair tied in two buns on the sides of her head with red ribbon that fell in tails while straight bangs covered her forehead.
The image though flickered, as though a projector malfunctioned and the young female was replaced with something resembling a blue-white teenage girl with cropped, shoulder-length pale hair framing her face, piercing sky-blue eyes and two, long odangos. She wore a blue leotard with white trimmings and a orange-red triangle on her chest that stood out as the only break in her otherwise monotonous appearance, and long tail fins flared from the leotard, while long, finger-less gloves with high, wide-finned cuffs on the tops covered her arms just below the shoulder, and white guards were on the back of her hands, and she had on a pair of blue and white, thigh-length boots.
Human or not-and Starscream leaned towards not- she crouched into an offensive position, arms raised and curled towards her chest and Starscream glowered at the strange female challenging him.
"I don't know what you want, creature, but you're going to regret tangling with us so boldly!" The seeker bellowed, reeling back his fist before hurtling it toward the woman.
But the punch missed her entirely, and she used the opportunity to run up his arm, and delivered a surprisingly powerful punch to his chin, before unleashing a flurry of hits to his face. His servo reeled back to smack her away, but there was no resistance as he ended up striking himself in his own face.
Starscream scowled as his optics darted around, and he saw a flash of blue clinging to his arm.
"Huh? Hang on, I got the little pest!" Cyclonus shouted, the whine of blasters firing up.
Starscream's optics widened again. "Cyclonus, wait!"
Too late. Cyclonus let loose a series of blasts at the girl, but those shots only ended up hitting Starscream as she jumped away, scorching blaster burns along his plating and he doubled over onto the ground in pain, but also just to avoid being shot as Cyclonus kept firing at any blue movements through the trees.
Demolishor crawled to Starscream to avoid getting shot as well. "Commander Starscream! Are you alright?" he shouted over the din.
"Ugh, no, not with that trigger happy fool here! I'm afraid we might have to retreat." Starscream groaned in pain and no small amount of self-loathing. "Let the maniac deal with that freaky creature if he wants!"
As the two warped away, Cyclonus finally stopped shooting, simply because there was nothing left to target; trees were strewn about, bark and dust floating about in the air, and he could see no sign of the blue figure. Obviously that meant only one thing.
"Well, I sure took care of her." he bragged to himself as he glanced around at his handywork. "No sign of her, Starscream...Starscream?" He paused as he realized the seeker wasn't there either. "Demolishor?" he tried again, but received no answer. As he looked for his comrades though, he didn't realize there was a small blue figure clinging to the back of his head.
"Where did those two go?" Cyclonus wondered aloud.
And with that, the figure jumped up, using the helm as a springboard before delivering a heavy drop kick on the mech's forehead. It send him staggering backwards in pain, the shock of it taking him by surprise.
Though he was clearly in pain, clutching his forehead, the figure hadn't felt anything give completely. She'd hurt them, but it wasn't enough if it didn't show.
The figure was loathe to admit it, but she needed something more to deal with these giants.
Only then could she have a worthy challenge. Nodding to herself, she left the groaning mech and made her way to find that something-someone.
Groaning, Starscream clutched his arm as he found himself back on base, but froze as Megatron stood not several feet away with a scowl on his lips.
Demolishor tried to kneel when he saw the purple and green mech, but he winced and settled for cringing into himself. "Lord Megatron, sir-"
"Quiet!" Megatron commanded harshly, and Demolishor immediately went silent. The purple mech's optics gazed darkly at Starscream, who thought being snarky right now was less important than damage-control.
"I-I can explain!"
"You'd better!" Megatron snarled.
Starscream tensed. "I thought it prudent to track down another one of those energy readings that appeared, but this one wasn't like the other. It resembled an organic female and attacked us from nowhere."
Megatron stared at him, anger still present but there was also incredulty. "You were taken out by a female human!?"
"No!" Starscream snapped. "I was taken out by that lunatic Cyclonus and his random blasting to get her!"
Megatron looked incredibly displeased. "Just-get out, both of you." he growled. "And let this be a lesson for the next time you think of going off on your own-without my orders-is a good idea!"
Starscream bit back an instinctive retort, settling for a nod as he rushed to take care of his injuries. 'One day, you'll have to respect me. I'll show you what I'm capable of.'
First though, he wanted payback on that blue organic.
