*NOTE TO READERS: IF YOU DON'T READ MY AUTHOR'S NOTES AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF MY CHAPTERS, PLEASE START DOING THAT. I HAVE THESE HERE FOR A REASON.*

Yay! I got this updated sooner than I expected. Now after this one, I'm going to go back to my regular writing schedule and update my fics. in order. I need to be disciplined! *shakes finger at self* Focus, Chuck, focus! *smacks self* Ow! Okay! I'll focus harder and be more disciplined, don't hit me anymore! *goes to smack self again but grabs hand* Stop it! … What the pit am I doing?!

AllSpark Princess—Of course. You know this girl. ;)

WolfAssassin369—I can assure you that Optimus doesn't come in to this fight. Unfortunately for Hunter and everyone else.

Shadescribe—Yay! I made you feel uncomfortable! It's always fun when I do that. XD

Alice Gone Madd-*chanting* Go, Hunter! Go, Hunter, go! Go, Hunter! Go, Hunter, go!

I do not own Transformers or anything in relation. I only own Hunter, the Hybrid race, and any other character that you may not recognize.

X-Ray Dog; Reign of Hell

5

Ω Abyssus Effrego Puter Ω

(Hell Breaks Loose)

"I can see daylight up ahead!" Miko announced, stopping a pointing at a sunlit opening at the end of the tunnel they were traveling.

"Finally!" Jack exclaimed, sick and tired of running blind in the dark. He was sure his hands, knees, shins, and toes were completely black and blue and scraped by now from stubbing, tripping and falling, and bashing against something. If he never saw pitch blackness again, it would be too soon.

"Something's not right here," Raf suddenly announced, eyes locked on his phone.

Miko and Jack looked back at him. "What is it, Raf?" Jack questioned.

The younger boy shook his head, not looking up. "The 'bots' signatures," he said, confusion on his face. "They're still there, but they're not moving like they were before."

"The Decepti-creeps must have trapped 'em!" Miko exclaimed, anger rising up inside her.

"Come on!" Jack said, running towards the opening at the end of the cavern.

When they reached the opening, the kids froze and blinked for a moment, dazzled by the bright sunlight. Once their eyes had adjusted, they all looked out. The first thing they saw was an utterly huge cavern brimful with energon and for a second they marveled at the sight. Then they looked down into the cave to see dozens of 'cons going about the business excavating said energon. In the very center of them, near what must have been an elevator that went up into the Decepticon warship, stood Starscream, surveying the activity. The self-appointed Decepticon Lord was too lazy to actually help with the harvesting. Imagine that. And right near starscream, chained in a circle around a large spire of energon, and under guard by a squad of 'cons, were Bulkhead, Arcee, and Bumblebee.

"The 'cons did capture the 'bots," Raf gulped in a hushed tone.

"Those dirty rats!" Miko exclaimed at a loud whisper. "They can't do that the 'bots—especially not to Bulkhead! I'll make 'em pay!"

"Hey," Jack suddenly remarked, scanning the area again and again, "do either of you see Hunter down there?"

Miko quickly shut up and all the kids began looking hard and close at the area where Team Prime was being held captive. The Hybrid was chained up with the others, but she wasn't chained up anywhere else either. "You don't think Starscream took her up into the ship do you?" Raf asked, starting to worry for his friend.

"I dunno," Jack confessed, praying that wasn't what happened. They all knew Starscream's feelings for Hunter, and if Starscream had taken her up into the Nemesis, it would be for one purpose and one purpose only. Nobody wanted that to happen.

"There she is," Miko announced, touching Jack's shoulder and pointing.

Jack followed the girl's finger until his gaze finally lighted on a large cage located on the far side of the elevator, surrounded by even more 'cons than the 'bots were. At first he couldn't see anything there because of the mechs, but once he look closer, the seventeen-year-old caught a bright flash of scarlet. Miko was right. Hunter was in that cage and being kept under heavy guard. "We gotta get down there," he stated. "We can't let the 'cons take them as prisoners."

"Duh!" Miko exclaimed. That was the most obvious statement of the year.

"But how exactly do we get down there?" Raf asked the big question. He looked down over the edge they were standing near at the large drop. The 'bots may have been able to jump down there easily enough, but there was no way they—as humans—would be able to jump down there… and live.

"Easy," Miko stated. She turned to the left and pointed at the spires of energon that jutted out of the side of the cavern wall. "Well climb down those. It'll be just like a ladder." Without a second thought, the sixteen-year-old crouched down and made a flying leap over to the first spire. She landed, but the surface was slicker than she anticipated and she started to slip and fall. She left out a quiet shriek. "Whoa-oh!"

"Miko!" the boys exclaimed, reaching out towards her.

Miko slipped and fell over the side of the spire, but she managed to snag it before she fell all the way to the floor. Quickly she scrambled back up on top and clung to the energon for dear life. Once she'd stopped shaking so much, she wiped her brow and grinned back at the boys with a wink. "Easy-peasey." She then climbed down to the next spire down.

Raf and Jack watched after her before meeting each other's gazes and shrugging. There was only once way down and this was it. But they really wished it wasn't! They started to follow Miko's lead, only trying to be more careful than she had been at first.

Sitting in the corner of the cage, Hunter groaned and slammed her head back against the bar behind her. She felt like an animal inside this thing. Needless to say she didn't like it, but escape didn't seem to be happening anytime soon. She'd already tried breaking out, but the cage was made up of that stupid metal that not even she could mangle or weld through. Not to mention the fact that she was being guarded. There was no point in looking for a way out of here now. She was trapped. They were all trapped.

"Leave us," Starscream's voice reached the Hybrid's audio-receptors, and she looked up to see the squad of Decepticons filing away from the cage to reveal the self-titled Emperor of Destruction himself standing there. Once again he was gazing down at her desire and want.

A deep growl rumbled up from Hunter's chestplate and she instinctively tensed up, ready to fight if she had to. And she would probably have to. "Ya know, 'Screamy," she said, "you'd be able to see me better if I wasn't in this cage. You can let me out. I promise I won't hurt you."

Chuckling, Starscream stalked forward and knelt down beside the cage so that he was on her level. "I may love you with a passion as fervent as the fires of Pit, my dear," he purred, causing the femmlings tank to churn, "but that doesn't mean I trust you in the least bit."

"Well, what'd'ya know?" Hunter remarked with a dark smirk behind her battle mask. "You are smarter than you look."

"Oh, believe me, Hunter," Starscream assured her, "I am more intelligent than you know." With that, 'Screamer raised his gloved hand once more and held it out towards her before turning the dial and making a grasping motion.

"Ah!" Much to Hunter's horror she was pulled out of her corner and across the floor of the cage towards Starscream, unable to stop herself no matter how hard she fought. She braced her feet against the bars in an effort to keep as much distance as she could between herself and the perverted mech, but unfortunately Starscream had a new tactic up his sleeve as well.

Crooking his digit, the mech made a "come to me" motion with it, using the telekinetic force of the gauntlet to force the young Hybrid to sit up and lean forward. Their faces were centimeters apart, separated only by the bars and Hunter's mask. "Quit resisting," he said. "It will be worth it."

"As if!" Hunter spat. "I'll quit resisting when you're dead and gone!"

Starscream chuckled and shook his head at her. She most definitely had spunk—there was no doubt about that. And he liked spunk. "You are a most stubborn femme," he declared, voice think and husky. To some other femmes he may have sounded very sexy. But this was Hunter he was talking to, and of all the things she thought of Starscream as, 'sexy' wasn't one of them.

"Oh, really? What was your first clue, Strip-o-Gram?"

Starscream snarled, his face shadowing with anger, evidently not taking kindly to his new nickname. How was it possible for a femme to be as alluring and yet as infuriating as Hunter was? What the Pit was stopping him from just snuffing her right now? Oh, yeah. He was hopelessly, obsessively in love with everything about her. Not to mention the fact that she was a beloved member of the Autobot team, the spark-daughter of a very protective Prime, and would come back to life and scrap him in return. "You little glitch," he snarled.

Well aware that she'd revved the Decepticon Lord off and quite proud of herself for it, Hunter smirked behind her mask. "Takes one to know one, Starscream."

Roaring with rage, Starscream released the femmling from the telekinetic hold of the glove, got back up on his feet and quickly stormed away, red in the face. How the heck was it possible to be so attracted to and in love with someone and yet be so repulsed by and furious with them at once? Love was a very strange thing.

"Yeah, that's right, you walk your huffy self away from here," Hunter called bitingly after him. She snorted and scooted back to the far corner of the cage, situating herself as comfortably as she could. "Friggin' prima donna."

"Pst! Hunter!" a voice whispered. "Hunter!"

"Hmm?" Hunter sat up and looked around. She finally spotted three familiar faces peeking out from behind a large spire of energon several yards away. Her sapphire blue optics tripled in size and her jaw slightly dropped open. "You guys!" she whispered back incredulously.

Checking to make sure the coast was clear, Jack, Miko, and Raf broke out from their hiding place and sprinted towards their friends cage. Unfortunately the bars were spaced so that a Hybrid wouldn't be able to get out even if in organic form, so that meant they couldn't get into the cage either. They'd have to be extra careful and keep an eye out for any Decepticon coming their way. "Hey, Jailbird!" Miko greeted her friend with a cheesy grin.

Hunter rolled her eyes at the name. "What the heck are you three doing here?" she asked, still whispering and retracting her battle mask. "You're supposed to be back at the base!"

"You honestly have to ask us what we're doing here?" Jack shot back with a skeptical look. Seriously? Did Hunter not know who she was talking to?

"Okay, yeah, never mind. Redundant question," Hunter agreed with a wave of her hand. "But still you guys shouldn't be here. It's way too dangerous! What would've happened if the 'cons saw you? What's gonna happen if they do see you?!"

"But we're here to help get you guys out," Raf insisted with a hopeful smile.

"How?" Hunter inquired. "We've all tried to get loose already. Nothing's worked."

"How about picking the locks?" Raf suggested.

"No good. They're keycard locks."

"Where's the keycard?" Jack questioned.

"Starscream has it in one of his interiors," Hunter answered. "You'll never get it from him without him knowing."

"What about your flame-saber?" Miko asked. "I'll bet you could slice your way out of this cage with that thing."

"They took it from me," Hunter replied glumly, "along with my bow and arrows." She pointed over to where Starscream was standing, watching as his mechs excavated the energon deposit and trying to cool off. "Starscream has 'em over there by him on the rock."

"This looks like a mission for us, guys," Miko said, looking excited by the prospect. "Don't worry, Hunt, we'll get you kick-aft sword over here to you!"

"How?" Raf asked. "Starscream's guarding it."

"Yeah, Miko," Jack agreed. "It's not just a simple matter of walking over there and asking him to give us the sword and bringing it back here. We're gonna have to sneak it away from him, and with Starscream standing right there, and the flame-saber all the way up on top of the rock we have to climb in order to get to it, the odds aren't exactly in our favor."

"Which is why we're gonna have a distraction," Miko stated.

"What distraction?" Raf asked.

With that, Miko turned back and looked up at Hunter with a devious grin.

Seeing her friend's grin, Hunter cocked an optic-ridge, not understanding at first. Then she got it. She gasped, her optics widening and her stomach churning once again in revulsion at the very thought of what Miko was implying. "No," she said. "No, no, no! Forget it—I'm not doin' that crap. I will be scarred for life if I do that and I'm already scarred for life because of him!"

"Well it's the only way you're gonna be able to get your sword back," Miko pointed out firmly, fists on her hips.

Hunter became quiet, pressing her lipplates into a firm line at this. Miko was right, and she knew it, but that didn't make the situation any better or less disgusting. "I almost wonder if it's worth it," she murmured, more to herself than to her friends. Sighing in defeat, the Hybrid motioned for her friends to come around on the far side of the cage, where they would be out of sight when Starscream came over. Then she stood. Fixing her gaze on Starscream, the teen swallowed down her queasiness and steeled herself for what she was about to do. "Dad, please forgive me," she whispered. Finally she retracted her battlemask and went over to the cage corner that was closest to Starscream and leaned up against the bars. Putting on a coy smile, the femmling began running a hand provocatively over her chassis. "Oh, Starscream," she called in her best seductive voice. She made herself sick with it, but it must have worked because Starscream rapidly wheeled around to face her, optics wide and interested. Too interested. Ignoring her nerves and the snickers of her friends, Hunter kept up her façade. "Oh, Starscream, can you come over here please? I would…" she swallowed hard, "… love to talk to you."

Almost instantly the Seeker was coming her way, looking even more intrigued by this change of events. "Yes, my love?" he questioned eagerly.

Hunter internally squirmed at the term, but kept her mask on as best she could. "You know, I was just thinking about what you said before and I realize that you're right."

"I am?"

"Yes, you are. It's such a strain for me to resist you, and now I realize why. Because I…" she had to bite her lip to keep herself from throwing up and force herself to keep eye contact, "… I am in love with you." Oh, sick. She was gonna be soooo sick….

Starscream swallowed hard, optics widening even more. His tank was nothing but excited jitters and his head felt light and airy. Was he hearing this right? Was this really happening? This wasn't some sick, sadistic, lucid daydream right—she was actually standing here before him saying these things? "You… you're in love with me?"

Hunter leaned forward with half-lidded optics. "Very much so," she rumbled throatily, voice low. "I always have, I've just been too much a fool up till now to see it."

"You have?"

"He's buying it," Hunter thought in amusement to herself. "He's actually buying it! So much for not trusting me worth slag, huh? Oh, yes," the voiced. "I was blind and stupid and foolish and you opened my eyes to my true feelings. I am forever indebted to you, Starscream."

The mech swallowed and licked his lipplates. "Hunter…"

"Come here," Hunter said, crooking a finger. "Close your optics and lean in close. Let me tell you exactly how I want to thank you, my love."

Looking more than eager now, Starscream did just that a happy smile on his lipplates.

Hunter rolled her eyes skyward and quietly groaned, wishing more than anything she didn't have to do this. She wasn't even positive she had the stomach for it. Swallowing hard, the teen squeezed her optics shut and leaned in to the mech's audio-receptor and began to whisper the most explicit, juiciest, and filthiest things she could think of.

With Starscream well distracted, the kids darted out from their hiding place in the shadow of the cage and sprinted across to the rock that Hunter's weapons were sitting upon. They all stood around the base of it and gazed upward. It wasn't the very biggest boulder in the world, but it was certainly large enough to keep what they wanted well out of their reach. "Well, that's convenient," Miko muttered. "How are we supposed to get up there to it? There's like basically no incline until you're about half-way up!"

"Maybe… if we all got up on each other's shoulders?" Raf suggested a little uncertainly.

"Worth a shot," Jack said with a nod. He walked over towards the base of the boulder and crouched down. "Come on, Miko. You up first, then Raf."

Miko came forward and stepped over Jack's shoulders before slowly sitting down on his shoulders. Then she turned to Raf and held out a hand to him. "Come on," she said.

Grabbing her hand, Raf clambered up onto her shoulders and took his own seat there.

With everybody situated, Jack slowly rose up to stand again, groaning, trembling, and slightly swaying under the weight. Once he was at full height, the boy let go of Miko's ankles and braced his hands against the boulder to prop himself up. "Okay, Raf," he grunted, doing his best to not buckle under the weight of his two friends, "see if you can climb up now. Miko, hold him and don't let him fall."

Moving by slow centimeters, Raf managed to get to the point where he was standing on Miko's shoulders, her hands wrapped around his feet as he wobbled back and forth. "Whoa-oh!" The thirteen-year-old braced himself against the boulder to steady himself. He looked up. There seemed to be enough incline now for him to be able to scramble up to the top. "I think I can get up there," he said. "Brace yourselves." The young boy crouched down slightly and then launched himself off Miko's shoulders and up, gaining a good hand and foothold on the rock. Unfortunately he also caused Jack and Miko to tumble over backwards in a heap on the cavern floor. "Sorry," he mumbled. Then he clambered the rest of the way up the rock to the top. Crouching down for a moment, the boy peeked around, just to make sure there were not Decepticons watching, then he stood and made his way over to Hunter's flame-saber.

The weapon was in sleep-mode, as it usually was when Hunter wasn't using it, so Raf didn't really have to worry about damaging the blade if he banged it around (could the blade ven be damaged?) or hurting himself or anyone else. Because she had been in Cybertronian form when it had been taken from her, the saber was that size. The boy internally groaned at this. This thing was probably going to be pretty heavy and a glitch to move. At least it was already somewhat sloped down the incline. Getting behind the weapon, Raf placed his hands on the smooth golden surface and started pushing with all his might. At first, the sword wouldn't budge. But then it slowly started to move until finally it was sloped down the incline enough that it started sliding on its own. Raf wasn't prepared for this and he went tumbling down to the ground with the flame-saber as well, unhurt but a bit dazed. "Whoa-oh! Oof!"

"Way to go, Raf!" Miko cheered.

Jack shushed her and hurried over to the flame-saber, kneeling down beside it and getting his arms around it. "Come on," he said quietly. "Let's get this over to Hunter. I think she's had enough of distracting Starscream for one day."

And, oh, how correct Mr. Darby was. Hunter was very nearly literally sick with what she was whispering into Starscream's audio-receptor to keep him distracted and buy the kids time. She had never been more appalled by herself. Where the heck was she even coming up with half the stuff she was feeding 'Screamer's imagination with?! "If Dad heard any of this," the teen thought to herself, "he'd wash my mouth out with soap until it was all I could taste for the rest of the year. I actually might just end up doing that to myself. Ugh! Come on, guys! Hurry up before I puke here!" All at once, the Hybrid felt something cool, firm, and smooth slide between her fingers and up into the palm of her waiting hand.

"Hunter," the barely there whisper was Jack's.

Smirking even as she continued to whisper dirty nothing's into her obsessive stalker's audio-receptor, Hunter opened her eyes, looked down and gripped the hilt of her flame-saber firmly. About time! Carefully she pulled it through the bars and into the cage. The blade awakened. Meeting the gazes of her friends she winked and once again motioned them around to the shadow of the cage, then she turned back to her most unwanted wanna-be lover. "You wanna know what else, Starscream?" she asked, voice still sultry and throaty.

"Hmm?" the mech hummed dreamily, nursing the thoughts and images she's already put into his head. His optics drifted open half-mast and he looked at her.

Still smiling sweetly, Hunter batted her eyes and said, "You're a completely gullible idiot." As she said it her voice returned to normal and her smile turned into a scowl.

That shook the Decepticon out of his dream and he shook his head before staring at her in surprise. It hadn't sunk in yet. "What?"

Sending her pyrokinesis down into her flame-saber, Hunter ignited the long sharp blade with hot, blue fire. Grasping the hilt with both hands, the femmling swung the sword back over her shoulder and then forward with a yell. "Ahhh!" With all her strength she slammed the blade against the metal bars of the cage and was rewarded when they gave and flew back, the whole side of the cage very nearly exploding off. She was free!

Blown back by the concussion of the strike, Starscream hit the floor in a heap and rolled onto his side, lifting himself up onto his hands. He stared back over his shoulder in sheer awe. How in the name of Primus could she have broken through those bars? It was impossible!

Wasting no time, Hunter sprang out of her cage and sprinted across to where the others were being held under guard. Drawing her saber back again, the teen threw it forward once more, sending out a wave of flame at the ring of the Decepticons. It slammed into them concussively, not just melting some of their armor but also knocking them to the floor, those that had been closest, snuffed. Darting forward, razors extended, Hunter sliced through her teammates' bonds.

"'Bout time!" Arcee nearly laughed. Immediately extracting her arm blades, she went after a 'con.

"Hey, I was locked up in a cage," Hunter answered. "What do you expect me to do?"

"Sure, sure," Bulkhead teased as he too began clobbering 'cons. "The old "I was locked in a cage excuse"."

"I'm serious, Bulkhead," Hunter stated drily. She sliced through a 'con with her flame-saber as he came her way.

/Outta curiosity,\\ Bumblebee said, coming up behind her and taking out a 'con as it came at her, /what were you saying to Starscream over there?\\

Hunter's tank churned. "You don't wanna know. Whoa!" Without warning, Hunter was suddenly lifted off her feet and up into the air by an invisible force and pulled across to Starscream. The femmling growled. She really hated the stupid gauntlet of his!

"I'm not finished with you yet!" Starscream bellowed, seething with anger. "You think you can just tease me so cruelly like that and just walk away and expect to forget what you said?!" He was so PO-ed that his voice was cracking and squeaking.

Hunter rolled her optics. "Oh, please, stop being such a chick, 'Screamer!" she spat back. "You can't honestly expect me to believe that you actually believed every single word of what I said. You can't honestly expect me to believe that you actually thought I was really in love with you."

Starscream remained silent for a moment. The venom seemed to leave his faceplate and for a second or two he looked hurt, but then the rage came flooding back and he turned up the dial on the gauntlet and balled his hand into a fist. "You little glitch!"

"Hah-ahh!" Hunter cried out in pain as the telekinetic force holding her aloft began to constrict tightly around her, slowly crushing her. Gritting her denta she tried to fight back.

All at once Starscream was blasted in the chest with a laser cannon, subsequently knocking out the telekinesis as well and he was blown backwards. "Ugh!"

Free, Hunter dropped to the floor and landed in a crouch before standing back up to full height again. She turned around to see Bulkhead poised there, arm extended and cannon still smoking. She smiled. "I owe ya, Green Giant."

"I'll add it to your tab."

Snorting, Hunter put on her battle mask and turned back to face a recovering Starscream. Her lipplates pulled back in a snarl behind her mask and her optic-ridges furrowed as she fixed her gaze on the mech. Igniting her flame-saber again, the teen activated her shield. With a battle cry she charged, sword raised and ready to strike.

Groaning, Starscream sat up and shook off his daze, rubbing at the scorch mark on his chestplate. When he heard a yell he looked up to see a scarlet and black-and-silver femmling baring down on him, sword raised and ready. His optics widened. Gauntleted hand flying up his other hand darted to the dial and he turned it all the way up.

"Hrah!" Hunter swung the flame-saber down as hard as she could, ready to extinguish Starscream's spark for good when it suddenly meet some sort of barrier and rebounded off of it with such force that it went flying out of her hands and across the cavern. Hunter herself fell over backwards. "Oof!" Dazed she laid there, trying comprehend what had just happened.

Getting to his feet with a grunt, Starscream gazed down at the prone femmling with a sinister sneer and snickered. "The gauntlet allows me to implement more than mere telekinetic force, Hunter," he declared. "Force fields are a particular asset of its abilities as well. You cannot touch me."

Shaking off her stupor, Hunter rolled into a backwards somersault and got back up onto her feet, deactivating her shield. "That's what you think," she snarled.

"That, my dear, is what I know."

"Care to test that theory?"

"By all means, be my guest."

That was all the invitation Hunter needed. Curling her hands into rock-hard fists, Hunter started up a barrage on the force field. "Hrah!" Letting a fist fly, the sixteen-year-old struck the force field as hard as she could. A ripple went through it, but that was all. "Hyah!" She hit it again. Another ripple nothing more. She kept at it, hitting faster and harder each time and still nothing happened, but she refused to give up. If she'd cracked a huge force field while battling Bombardier she could break this one to pieces and she would, no matter what it took. "Hah!" Hunter struck the field again and, while she did nothing to damage the field, she did manage to make Starscream skid back a bit with the force.

Starscream laughed. "Is that all you have?!" he challenged, clearly enjoying this.

Smirking and retracting her mask, Hunter sucked in a deep intake of air and let it loose in one of the loudest, most piercing, most reverberating sonic scream she'd ever sounded off. The force of it was enough to not only drive Starscream back to slam against the cavern wall but also blow apart piles of rubble and shatter energon spires that happened to be in range. "That more to your liking, Starscream?" she snarled.

Glaring up at her Starscream simply growled back.

Breaking into an immediate dead run, Hunter sped forward and began slamming her fists against her opponents protective shield again, taking advantage of the fact that she had him cornered. She kept hitting faster and faster and faster until her arms were just a blur with hyperspeed, drilling away at the shield.

When she still wasn't breaking through, Starscream began to smirk and then laugh evilly. "See?!" he guffawed. "You can't touch me! No matter how hard you try, you can't…" he dropped off when he heard the sound of a sharp crack. Looking down at where the femmling was punching, he saw a large crack that was quickly expanding into a spider-web of fissures and cracks. His optics widened in horror and disbelief. She was doing it. She was actually breaking through the force field! "No!" he screamed. "No, this isn't possible! No!"

Hunter, having increased her force once she'd heard the first crack, continued to drill away at the force field, focusing all her attention and power on it. Her fists were starting to ache, as were her arm joints and muscle cables, but she kept at it. She was going to break that force field and she was going to get rid of the stupid gauntlet! Drawing back her right fist one more time, the femmling let it fly forward and smash against the force field as hard as she could make it and was rewarded with a shattering sound as the field blew apart. Without a second to spare, Hunter grabbed Starscream's gauntleted hand and quickly ripped the gauntlet off, crushing it in her grip as she did. She threw it somewhere behind her. "What were you saying, Starscream?" she questioned sarcastically, voice rumbling and dangerous.

Cornered and receiving the death glare, Starscream did the one thing he could think of. He reached out, seized hold of a decent sized stock of Hunter's copper cyber-hair and yanked it as hard as he could. It worked in the sense that it made Hunter yelp out in pain and stumble off to the side, but it also backfired because he received a jarring electrical shock from the act. The mech cried out in greater pain than the femmling had. Both parties stumbled away from each other, Starscream hitting the floor as he joints and cables smoked from the fry.

Instinctively grabbing her wires and combing her digits through them, Hunter stared down at her opponent in some confusion. What in the name of Primus? "I can send out electrical jolts through my cyber-hair?" she asked softly of herself as it all started to make sense. A grin slowly parted her lips. "Cool! Whoa-oh! Oof!" The teen's feet were suddenly knocked out from under her and she collided with the cavern floor. The sound of whirring and clanking came to her audio-receptors and a moment later she saw Starscream in his alternate mode zooming up into the air, trying to get away. Snarling, the Hybrid quickly rose into a kneeling position and rocketed off the ground, using her pyrokinesis to propel herself through the air. "You're not getting away!" she roared. Snagging hold of his tail stabilizer, Hunter whipped around and threw him back down towards the ground. "Hrraahh!"

"Yaahh!" Unable to stabilize himself again, 'Screamer transformed just before he crashed into the rock. He went bouncing across the cavern floor before he finally slammed into a large spire of energon and was stopped. Shaking his head the 'con rubbed it, along with numerous other sore and damaged places on his body. His wings were particularly beat up. He wasn't going to be able to fly anytime soon, that was for sure. The Emperor of Destruction looked up with wide, dreading optics as his aggressor touched down in front of him. Gulping he shrunk away.

"You didn't think you'd get away that easily, did you, Starscream?" Hunter asked, a hand on her hip, glaring down at the mech. When she was angry, the femmling's eyes always seemed to become a deeper and more vivid shade of sapphire, though in reality they stayed the same shade. "You tie up my teammates, put me in a cage like some animal, and you think I'll just let you fly off just like that?" Chuckling darkly, the teen shook her head. "Think again, lover boy." Priming a cannon, Hunter extended her arm and took careful aim at the downed 'con—she couldn't miss at this range if she'd wanted to. "Surrender, Starscream," she ordered, voice taking on that rolling thunder, battle-field quality she'd picked up from Optimus. "I won't tell you again."

Starscream's face hardened. "Never!" he hissed.

Hunter narrowed her gaze. "You'll regret that decision," she warned him, charging her cannon and getting ready to fire.

"No," Starscream replied softly, "I don't think I will." Ever so slowly he moved his hand and reached into one of his interior compartments before pulling out a small, rectangular, metal box with a red button on it. The Seeker hadn't tested this thing out yet, but it looked like he was about ready to. He pressed the button. Almost instantly the thing very literally lunged forward out of the palm of his hand and opened up and expanded into a large net of electricity. It headed straight for Hunter.

Hunter's nerves tingled hot, telling her that that thing was dangerous, but she was so completely caught off guard by the sudden movement—and the device moved so fast—that she didn't even have time to think about moving. In the blink of an eye the net was wrapped tightly around her, sending an agonizing, continuous jolt of electricity through her. "Ahhhhh!" Hunter fell backwards to the ground, the net seeming to constrict tighter. "Ahhhh-ha! Ahhhhhh!" Partly due to instinct to try and escape and partly due to her body's reflex to the electrocution, the femmling arched, strained and threw herself against the net. It grew tighter and the jolts move powerful. "Yaaaahhhh!" Tears already trickling down her cheeks, Hunter rolled over onto her side and instinctively curled into the fetal position, desperately trying to get away from the net. It burned—it hurt! It hurt so bad! As if sensing her struggling, the net drew itself even tighter and increased the voltage. Hunter screamed in sheer agony.

Hearing the Hybrid's cries, the 'bots whipped around and looked in her direction. Their optics widened. "Hunter!" they screamed at once, and began running towards her. They didn't make it that far as they were all set upon and pinned down by the Decepticons, but even then they still tried to struggle towards their teammate. "Hunter! Let her go, Starscream! Hunter!"

Smirking and chuckling, Starscream got back up on his feet and limped his way to stand over the straining femmling, gazing down at her darkly. "This is called an Agony Web," Starscream informed her. "Imagine the worst pain you've ever felt multiplied tenfold. Oh, but wait, that's right. You don't have to imagine it."

Hunter groaned and howled in pain, rolling around, fighting, and struggling, trying to find some way to get out of this net. Nothing was working! No matter how hard she tried, the net wasn't loosening, and it only seemed to grow tighter with each strain.

"You can't fight it," Starscream declared. "In fact I would just quite moving altogether if I were you. The more you struggle and strain the tighter the Web becomes and the more powerful the voltage becomes until it fries you. But of course with the electricity jolting through you, it's virtually impossible to keep from struggling, so you really can't win no matter what."

"Frag you, Starscream!" Hunter rasped through clenched denta. "Fra-ah!-ag… you! Ahhh-ha-ahhh!" The teen screwed her optics shut and writhed in agony, wanting nothing more than for it to be taken away. More than anything she wished her father was here. They could really use him right about now—she could really use him right about now. But he was thousands of miles away at the moment. And even if the Prime did sense her pain—as he most assuredly was—he wouldn't be showing up anytime soon. They were in this alone. She was in this alone.

Starscream chuckled. "That's all I ever dream of, my love," he purred. With that he leaned down and whispered into her audio-receptor, "I can make this go away, Hunter. The pain, the tightness, I can make it all go away and bring you relief. All you need to do is surrender yourself to me."

Hunter almost couldn't believe it. He was the one who had inflicted her with this pain in the first place and he still expected her to actually just give herself over to him?! The rat! "Take it…" she seethed, "… and sho-ove it! Ahhhh!"

Starscream growled softly. Without warning he felt a feather light tap on the side of his helm and looked to see that it had been a rock that struck him. He raised an optic-ridge. What in the AllSpark?

"Why don't you pick on somebody your own size, Stalkerscream?!"

Starscream looked over in the direction the voice seemed to be coming from and saw the three human children standing there, the female appearing to have been the one who threw the rock and yelled at him. A twisted, evil gleam came into his red optics as a smirk curved his lips. He stood. "Ah, I see you Autobots have brought your human pets along," he commented sinisterly. "How very stupid of you."

"You leave 'em alone, Starscream!" Bulkhead shouted, trying to break free of the 'cons who were holding him down.

"I would," Starscream stated almost too innocently for his own good, "but it appears as though they have no desire to be left alone, so I shall do as they wish." Stepping around Hunter he made his way towards the children.

"Starscream!" the 'bots all bellowed. Hunter tried to move around so she could take the Seeker's legs out from under him while she was still in range, but the net quickly nixed that plan. She wasn't moving anywhere.

"You pathetic, fleshy little insect," Starscream sneered as he came closer and closer to the humans. "Do you actually believe you can stop me from hurting your friends?"

Miko, ever the fool-hardy daredevil of the group, put her fists on her hips and glared right back at the Decepticon. "Try us," she challenged.

"Miko!" both Jack and Raf exclaimed as they stood behind her, cowering away with every step Starscream made towards them.

"Oh-ho, believe me, child," Starscream replied, "I will. And I will make you regret ever having said that."

/Guys, run!\\ Bumblebee buzzed frantically.

"Whatever you say!" Jack replied. He snagged Miko's wrist and began running, hauling her along after him. "Come on, Raf!"

Raf ran as fast as he could, but he had never been the most athletic person and his short legs didn't help either. Even with fear and adrenaline pumping through his body he just couldn't keep up with his taller friends. Worse, he couldn't escape Starscream. Without any warning the thirteen-year-old was snagged by the back of his shirt collar and plucked up off the floor like a kitten. "Ah-ahh!" He was lifted higher and higher until he was face to face with the Emperor of Destruction himself. Staring into those sadistic optics the boy froze.

Jack and Miko stopped running and whipped around, staring up at their young friend in horror. "Raf!" they both gasped.

/Put him down, Starscream!\\ 'Bee ordered, trying to break free of his captors.

Completely ignoring the scout, Starscream lifted a scalpel sharp digit and extended it towards Raf, gently gliding the very tip down the middle of the petrified boy's torso.

"No!" Hunter screamed, still trying to struggle out of the net and towards 'Screamer at the same time. "Raf, no!" She herself being mutilated and tortured was one thing, but she was not about ready to let that happen to any of her loved one, 'bots and humans alike. "Starscream, you can't do this! Rahhhh-ahhh!" The most jarring electrical pulse yet seared through her systems, paralyzing her.

"You know," he murmured after a moment, "I have always wondered what humans look like on the inside." He pressed his fingertip harder into Raf's belly. Raf gulped and whimpered.

Adrenaline and terror slammed into Hunter's system like a wrecking ball. Starscream was going to kill Raf right there in front of all of them! She couldn't let that happen. She wouldn't! She'd struggled and fought so hard to find and save her family already, she wasn't about to lose a single one of them to some femme-legged, squeaky-voiced creeper like Starscream. With a roar, Hunter tried lunging for the 'con, but once again she was electrocuted into paralysis. "Yaaaahhhhhh!" The femmling watched on as Starscream continued to map out just how he was going to dissect Raf along the poor boy's body. Raf was horrified! He needed help and there was nothing she could do about it! "No!" Hunter screamed. "No! Raf! No!" The Hybrid curled into the fetal position once again and cried out as a new pain appeared beneath the pan of the Agony Wet. It was much more intense and sharper, cutting into her very core, making it feel as though she was being ripped apart molecule by molecule, but at the same time it felt energizing as if all the power in the universe was forcing itself into every crevice and fiber of her being. Overwhelmed with the sensation, Hunter blacked out.

An earth-quaking primal roar shook the cavern. Starscream froze right as he was about ready to slice into Raf's mid-section a chill as cold as the depths of space coming over him. That didn't sound good. Slowly, the 'con turned around to see just what was going on behind him and his optics widened in awe along with those of everyone else.

The Agony Web had been completely destroyed, the metal ends of it lying there scorched on the earth, smoking and sparking. Standing tall and erect in the place where she had been lying only seconds before was Hunter. At least, everyone was fairly sure it was Hunter. It was hard to tell because while she looked the same she looked completely different as well. Her glaring optics, which were fixed solely on Starscream, were glowing a bright blue, as was the Hybrid insignia at the center of her chest plate. Even more haunting was the ghostly silhouette of a mech outlining her body. She was just standing there, not even doing anything yet, but you could already sense the incredible power that was emanating from her. It pervaded the cavern with an overwhelming sensation. The Primus-state had been evoked.

"Not… good," Starscream whimpered softly to himself. He was right. For him this wasn't good. This most definitely wasn't good at all.

Confession #16:

Okay, it's official. "Strip-o-Gram" is my new favorite nickname for Starscream! XD I love it! If anybody else wants to use that, you can.

Confession #17:

I don't know what Hunter said to Starscream in order to distract him. Nor do I wish to. All I can tell you is that it's probably stuff even I wouldn't say to him, and I'm the one who finds his voice sexy sometimes.

Confession #18:

"Hell breaks loose" indeed.

REMEMBER TO SUBMIT YOUR HYBRID QUESTIONS!