Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.
Authoress: *cheers* No more sicky! *dances*
Megatron: *nods* And I see you have made up for it with a timely update.
Authoress: *smiles* Yep!
Chapter 4: With a Touch of Planning
Dunce's 1st P.O.V.
A groan escaped my vocals as I woke up. While I had fixed the dents that I received from Sentinel the other day, that didn't stop my chassis from being unbearable sore when I got up. But, I knew that I had to. If I didn't, then I would be beaten again. That would cause my chassis to be even sorer. But, as I got up, I realized that I was in my room. How the frag had I gotten here? The last thing that I remembered was that I was watching the monitors since I didn't want to be around Sentinel and, unfortunately, he was at the Autobot warehouse. Who had moved me? I doubted that it was Sentinel because he would have yelled at me for falling into recharge.
"One way to find out," I muttered to myself before I walked out of my room and to the bridge.
I felt confused at the scene that was before me. Sitting in the seat was one of Optimus' teammates, Templar was his name. On the floor leaning against the console was Setophis and he looked like he was in a deep recharge. Then, I saw that Jazz and his friend Prowl were in recharge on one of the bench seats together. As I stared at the two of them, I remembered the relief I had felt when Jazz had rejoined Sentinel's team.
When I had been first assigned to work with Sentinel, it had been horrible. I had no one to talk to and each solar cycle became harder and harder to deal with. Ever solar cycle, bots jeering at me, shoving me around, and treating me like I was a complete idiot. Honestly, I was close to believing them on that point. But, everything changed when Jazz rejoined Sentinel's team.
I had heard Sentinel complain about Jazz whenever the mech was brought up and that had made me nervous about Jazz when he first started to work with us. If Sentinel had been worried about the mech, then I felt that I had even more of a reason to be worried. But, to my surprise, Jaz had been friendly. A lot more friendly than most bots had ever been towards me. Soon, I started to talk with Jazz about small random subjects and I was glad when Jazz would engage me in actual conversation and considered my opinion.
Now, all for of these bots were helping me...when most bots wouldn't. They seemed to be nice, though I hadn't talked to Templar much. If the three others were willing to help me like this like Jazz would from time to time, then they were worth the strain being friends with them might put on me when Sentinel realized it. Until then, though, there had to be something else that I could do. Something that I could do to show them that I appreciated what they were doing for me. But, I wasn't sure what. Something would come to processor eventually. But, I wanted to think about it first.
"So you woke up early. Interesting." I nearly jumped out of my plating when a voice suddenly said that. I glanced around in panic for a nano before realizing that the voice came from Templar. I turned to the mech as he seemed to be studying me. "I am sorry if I startled you, Dunce. That was not my intention."
No! He wasn't responsible for this. "No, it's alright. I should have been more aware. Nothing for you to apologize for." It was hard not to wince as my chassis reminded me of its soreness as I moved apologetically.
A strange look flashed on Templar's faceplate that I couldn't identify but before he could say anything, a dark blue servo reached up and grabbed Templar's shoulder and started to pull, causing the bot to be off-balance in his seat. "Ugh, remind me to not fall into recharge sitting like that again." I felt guilty as he seemed to wince, once he stood up, as he tried to stretch out his soreness. He wouldn't have even been there if they hadn't come to help me.
"Jazz, you need to get off of me." I turned to where Prowl and Jazz were and saw that the black two-wheeler was trying to get Jazz's half-online chassis off of him.
Jazz, who seemed to be hugging Prowl, just shook his helm and pulled Prowl closer. "No. It's too comfy."
Prowl, though, was not letting Jazz go back to recharge. "Jazz, you are the last mech to come out of recharge. That means you need to get your chassis off of me."
This time, Jazz seemed to hesitate before he bolted up and looked around. Once his visor landed on me, he smiled. "Dunce! How are you feeling?"
Putting on a smile to cover the soreness that I felt, I responded, "Pretty good Jazz."
"How did you recharge?" I glanced at Templar as he asked that and I saw a worried look on his processor. "I heard that yesterday was the first solar you have been in actual combat with the Decepticons and some bots don't take to that alright."
Thankfully, I could answer the mech honestly. "Pretty nicely. I didn't have any nightmares about the Decepticons." Of course, that was because the recharge dreams that I had were too cryptic to be nightmares. The Decepticons had been in my dreams but the tone didn't suggest a nightmare. Instead, it almost seemed...peaceful. But, I knew that was impossible. The Decepticons were war-bent monsters driven by their want to dominate others and the Autobots were the only beings standing in their way.
"That's good," Templar said with a sigh of relief. Why was he so worried about me? Most bots I had barely met were never that worried. He was strange.
"Hey mechs," Prowl started. "Jazz and I were planning on going on patrol through the city this morning. Any of you want to come with us?"
Patrol? Without informing Sentinel about it? After the beating I got last night, I was nervous about doing anything that might anger my superior. I didn't want to experience another beating like that anytime soon.
"Sure, I'd like to get to know Earth better," Templar said with a small smile.
I mean, I liked Jazz and I was starting to like Prowl. With all the stories I had heard about him from Jazz, it was hard for even me not to start liking him quickly. Even Templar and Setophis were bots that I might bring in like I had Jazz one solar.
"Sorry mechs, but I need to get off on my own for a few cycles. Just explore this planet a little on my own." Setophis answered Prowl.
But, the four of them had helped me last solar. If Sentinel would have walked in and seen me asleep in front of the monitor, then I would have been slagged. They had covered for me and, even though Setophis wasn't going to be going, this would be a start to paying the bots who helped me back.
"Dunce, what about you?" Jazz asked me with a pleading look he always did when he wanted me to do something with him.
Letting out a vent to calm myself about the risks of all of this, I nodded and smiled. "Sure. It'll be great to see the rest of Detroit."
Jazz let out a whooping sound before he grabbed my arm and started to pull me toward the entrance. I vaguely heard Prowl yell after Jazz about pulling my arm out of its socket but I just smiled. Jazz seemed happy. He was my best friend and, to make him happy was worth losing an arm for.
Eventually, Prowl and Templar joined us outside and, once Setophis drove off away from town, the four of us started to walk down the streets. It felt so strange doing this. Walking down the road with bots around me, who were with me and happy to be around me. It was so different from when I was at home. Yet, I didn't mind. The sun was partly covered by clouds and so there was a cool tint to the morning air. It felt amazing and made the morning even more complete.
"Hey Dunce, do you want to get your alt mode?" Jazz suddenly asked.
I wanted to say yes. On Cybertron, before boot camp, I loved to race around with my caretaker around the old gladiator pits in Kaon. He would take me there so I could burn rubber to my spark's content. But, this wasn't then, and I was already risking a lot in coming out without informing Sentinel. So, I shook my helm. "Not yet Jazz." At his crestfallen look, I had to think of something to say to make him feel better. "I'll get one eventually. But, for now, I think I'll walk. Can you imagine how much I might miss if I was racing around here with an alt mode?"
"That is a very wise idea," Templar added with a smile. "Many bots miss out on what is around them when they race everywhere they are supposed to be." That seemed to close the argument as Jazz nodded before the four of us continued to walk around Detroit.
The city, while large in human terms, seemed so small and urban compared to Iacon and it was quite nice. While noises filled the air, it was much quieter than Iacon was during the time. Usually, bots were yelling at each other to get out of the way. The streets were all cramped so you had to fight your way through the crowds or risk being late. I had made sure to learn how to either avoid the foot traffic or move through it quickly once I started to work for Sentinel.
But, here on Earth, there was no problem walking around and it felt nice not to be so cramped when we walked around. "Earth has a lot of space to move around," I commented as we turned a corner. Sumdac toward was right in front of us and it seemed that we were heading in that direction. It was strange to think that all of this beauty and positive technology had originated from Megatron himself, the evil leader of the Decepticons.
I shivered at the thought of the warlord and our previous...skirmish against each other. I wouldn't call it a fight because I was only keeping him away until I could get away from him. But, the look that Megatron had given me before he retreated was bothering me. In the back of my helm, I feared that I had somehow caught Megatron's attention with the way that I had dodged him. Thankfully, Sentinel hadn't asked me where I had learned to react like that. It had been before I had come to the Elite Guard and had been done in secret...off the books in other words.
"Earth does have a lot of room to move," Jazz agreed, snapping me out of my thoughts before he motioned to Sumdac Tower. "Hey, want to go and see Sari? I think she wanted to talk with you more the other solar but wasn't able to due to Megatron popping up."
Turning to the three of them, I nodded. "Sure." Sari was really interesting since she was a techno-organic. In my processor's optics, I could imagine her scaring Sentinel with the fact that organic matter and technological matter could co-exist in one being. I wonder what their first encounter had been like?
Jazz laughed before he spoke. "You'll like her a lot! She's a lot like me; carefree and gets on S.P.'s nerves."
I had to force a laugh at the last part. Jazz's getting on Sentinel's nerves never helped me in the past and I doubted that Sari's added nerve-getting-on was going to make the situation any better. But, I was always willing to make a new friend. The list of friends I had was pretty short so a new friend was worth whatever extra anger was added onto Sentinel.
When we walked through the doors of Sumdac Tower, I was amazed to see how spacious it was. I had figured that, with it being a human building, I would feel cramped. But, I felt relaxed as the four of us stood in the hallway.
"Welcome to Sumdac Towers. How may I help you?"
I Jumped and stared in shock at the non-sentient bot behind the desk when it stated that.
Starscream's 1st P.O.V.
"What do you have to report?" Megatron asked me as I landed by the base. I had been sent out ahead of our attack to see what Autobots were with Dunce and what sort of trouble we may have in this operation. Megatron wanted this plan to go off as effortlessly as possible and we had to make sure to account. For our plan to work with Dunce so we could sway him to our side, we needed to be careful about the battles before we entered them.
So, I reported what I saw. "Dunce was being accompanied by the Autobots Jazz, Prowl, and Templar. From the direction they were walking when I returned to report, they were moving toward Sumdac Tower. That means that odds are, they will most likely be accompanied by the techno-organic Sari. To be safe, I would add in Bumblebee since he is with her often. It would be best to prepare like he is there even though that is not a guarantee of that. If we are to take advantage of the low numbers around the mech, we should leave as quickly as possible."
Our leader seemed to hesitate only a nano before responding. "Very well." It was lucky that Lockdown had arrived earlier than we had expected and had been around for that first fight. He would be useful for whatever our leader was going to plan. "I want to make sure that I have the Autobot Dunce secluded with me. So, Starscream, Lightning Bug, Blitwing, and Lugnut; you four will take care of one Autobot each to make sure that they do not interfere with our apprehension of Dunce. Lightning Bug, if the yellow mini-bot does not appear, then you will retreat to where I will be fighting Dunce and assist Lockdown in sedating the mech. Even with his surprising skills, subduing the mech should be simple. However, we must act quickly. The Autobots will be quick to call in reinforcements."
That sounded like a plausible plan. Of course, we were lucky that Lockdown was able to arrive sooner than we thought that he would. With him here, our capture of the mech Dunce should go by very smoothly. Now, if only getting Blitzwing to calm down would be possible, then this solar would be perfect.
However, as we all took off and made our way toward our target, I sighed as I heard Blitzwig's cackling. Not happening any solar soon.
Jazz's 1st P.O.V.
I let out a quick laugh when Dunce was startled by the secretary bot that was behind the desk. When I had first interacted with the bot, I had been very confused about it until Sari had told him that it was pre-programmed to say that. Also said that, for an AI, it did a very good job as a secretary bot. "It's pre-programmed to do that Dunce," I finally told my friend as I smiled.
Dunce, on his part, seemed embarrassed but smiled. It was a small smile, but it was there. If I was being honest, I was surprised that Dunce had agreed to come out with the three of us in the first place. With how nervous he was the other solar cycle after the fight, I had been sure that we would have to had to spend a lot of time to convince Dunce to come out.
But, the nervous bot had agreed to come out with us. Of course, I noticed that he had become pretty nervous when I suggested that he get an alt mode. Why would that have made Dunce nervous? I thought that it had been a safe thing to ask. But, since he reacted the way that he did, I didn't push the subject with him. That was especially after he gave his reason for not getting one and was backed by Templar on that point. It did make sense. But, I wouldn't give up on it. I would get my answers.
But, with Dunce, it was best to approach things at a slower pace.
"We have an appointment with Sari if you could send for her please," Templar spoke to the AI. Oops, guess I forgot to answer the secretary bot. My bad.
Not two clicks later, Sari came out of the elevator. Once she saw us, she activated her jetpack and flew over to us. "Hey, bots!" She smiled at all of us when she said that.
Seeing that Dunce seemed to be hesitant about speaking, I figured I would get the introductions started. "Sari, we haven't been able to properly introduce the two of you yet. This here is Dunce and he is a close friend of mine." I then motioned toward the techno-organic. "Dunce, this is Sari and she was the first organic that I encountered here on Earth."
Sari let out a laugh at that. "And boy were you scared Jazz! I think we still have a video. You have to see it, Dunce! You are going to offline laughing!" She then laughed for a bit. When Dunce gave a half-smile back toward her, I had a feeling that they were going to get along all right. Well, that was until Sari stopped flying around Dunce and she seemed to study him. Dunce looked nervous. "You know Dunce, you're tall for a 'Bot."
I was worried when she said that. Sari could be a bit blunt at times, I blamed her hanging out with Bumblebee. Dunce was nervous as it was, but I wasn't sure how he would take,
Laughter from Dunce caused me, and the other two full-size Autobots with me, to look at the mech. I wasn't sure what the others were feeling, but I was shocked. Dunce sounded very relaxed. "Well, it just adds to my charm." He then motioned to her. "Plus, you're not exactly the tallest around."
I smiled as sari placed her servos on her hips. "Hey! Little me is all fun!" I wasn't sure how Sari did it, but she already had Dunce in her pocket, and the usually nervous mech seemed to already be open with her.
He even started to laugh with her at her response. As Sari landed on his shoulder, I smiled. It was rare to get Dunce to laugh like that. Usually, his laughs...and all of his positive emotions for that matter, were faked. He was covering something up, that I knew, and I would find out what it was. But, it was going to be difficult. After all the time that I had known the mech, I still couldn't quite figure him out.
"Hey guys, can we go and hang out now?" Sari asked the rest of us with a smile.
All four of us nodded before we walked out of the building. I couldn't help but smile when I noticed that Sari was still sitting on Dunce's shoulder and the two were talking animatedly. While the mech was very nervous himself, he seemed to project a sense of security for those smaller than him. I had noticed it the other solar when we were in the park with the humans. They seemed nervous around the rest of us bots but, when they looked to Dunce, I had noticed that they relaxed. And now, Sari seemed to be drawn to Dunce in the same way, seeing as how she would normally be flying ahead in excitement instead of sitting on a bot's shoulder.
"Jazz," Prowl started to whisper to me while slowing down. Once Sari and Dunce were in front of us, he continued. "Dunce seems to be calming down from the other solar cycle. He seemed so...jittery that I thought that he was going to have to be medically put into recharge by Ratchet."
"Yes, I have noticed both points as well," Templar added.
So, I nodded at what they were saying before motioning over to Dunce. "He's always been this way. I've noticed that it is worse when Sentinel is around or Sentinel has just been alone with Dunce. I'm not sure what Sentinel is doing to him, but I doubt that it is the personal training that Dunce says that he gets from the mech."
Sentinel, while not scaring me personally, made me feel scared for Dunce. Dunce had no belief in his strength and always let Sentinel walk all over him. I would give anything for Dunce to stand up for himself against Sentinel...just once.
It was at this point that I noticed that Dunce and Sari had stopped walking and talking. Even though his backplates were facing us, I could see that Dunce seemed to be tense. Why was he nervous now. "Dunce, you in there?" Sari asked him while lightly tapping on the side of his helm.
It took Dunce a good three clicks before he answered. "We need to move. Now!" Dunce then grabbed Sari off of his should and shoved me, since I was the closest to him, back with him.
At first, I was surprised by Dunce's actions. He never acted like this and he looked scared. What the frag was going on? That was, of course, answered by a very familiar black and pink seeker flying through where we had been previously standing. I realized that Dunce must have heard them coming, a pretense from his nervousness.
"Comm link's not working," Prowl growled as I noticed Megatron, Lightning Bug, Lugnut, and Blitzwing coming down from the sky.
"Sari," I looked to Templar as he addressed the techno-organic. "Go and get the others. We'll need all the help that we can get right now."
"You got it," Sari agreed before she quickly flew off in the direction of the Autobot base.
Once she was a good distance away, Templar motioned to the rest of us. "We have to make sure that they don't gang upon us. The four of us can hold them off until the others arrive as backup." While I wanted to agree with the mech, I knew he was off. From Dunce's look right now, I had a feeling that the mech did not believe that and was terrified. While Dunce was a great bot who was my friend, his defensive fighting stance meant that he wouldn't attack anybot unless he was attacked first. That, unfortunately, included Decepticons.
Before I could tell Dunce to do anything to get him away from here, I was distracted by Blitzwing coming up to me and starting to attack. I growled and tried to avoid Blitzwing but the insane triple changer seemed more focused than he normally was. That wasn't good. I needed to keep an optic on Dunce and that would be hard to do. However, when there was a pause in my fight with the triple changer, I panicked. Dunce, somehow, was once again trying to dodge Megatron as the warlord attacked him.
However, I couldn't think about that too long as Blitzwing launched another attack against me. As we fought, I took glances to my sides and noticed that Starscream had Prowl locked up in a fight and Lugnut was keeping Templar at bay. Something seemed very off about this fight. Analyzing the fight between Blitzwing and myself and I realized that Blitzwing was doing the same to me. Not fighting at full strength but enough so where I couldn't get away from him.
What were they planning? This was not like the Decepticons had fought on Earth before. Usually, they attacked fast, hard, and with devastating power. But, this was not that. This was careful, and each move seemed to be made with a reason. The one called Lightning Bug had disappeared not long after their arrival and the remaining Decepticons had attacked one of us each. They were attacking with a certain goal in processor. But, what could they be aiming for by fighting us here? Unless…
My spark clenched in panic as I looked around. Dunce and Megatron were nowhere in sight! Frag this wasn't good! I was stupid not to see what they were doing before this. The Decepticons had separated us and, at the same time, had isolated Dunce. Megatron had probably noticed Dunce's timidness during the last fight. Probably thought that Dunce would spill the secrets on the Autobots that Megatron wanted. But, it wouldn't do Megatron any good. Dunce was never told anything that the warlord could be interested in. By isolating Dunce, the Decepticon leader would be able to interrogate him in private.
I knew that Dunce would be scarred for the rest of his stellar cycles if that were to happen.
Blitzwing suddenly stepping away from me caused me to jolt in surprise. "Vell, vhile zhis has been fun Autobots, I have to split! Banana split!" Blitzwing cackled. I then watched in confusion as the three Decepticons facing us suddenly lifted into the sky and started to fly off.
"Jazz, what was that about?" Prowl asked me as he ran over.
I could only stand there in confusion. The Decepticons had just...left? Our backup wasn't even here yet and they were giving up. I glanced at the two Autobots in front of me before realization set in and I panicked, "Prowl, Templar; we have to," The sound of another bot lifting into the air caused me to glance up. "Dunce!" I yelled out in surprise.
For, in the grasp of the Decepticon leader, was an unconscious Dunce.
Authoress: *lightning flashes* Muhahahahahahahahaha!
Megatron: *frowns* Why are you laughing?
Authoress: *shrugs* The lightning is there, so why not?
Megatron: *sighs* There is no point arguing with her.
AN: And here is the next chapter everyone! Dunce has been captured by the Decepticons! What is going to happen while he is at their base? Also, with this chapter, we get to see that the four amigos are starting to worry about Dunce. But, what will happen now that he is captured by the enemy? Will Dunce survive?
Plus, we get a fun moment between Dunce and Sari first. Dunce has a way of making smaller beings feel safe around him. It was a fun moment to write. Next chapter, we see what the start of Dunce's stay with the Decepticons will be like.
So, until then, here are the next chapters!
Chapter 5: First Connection
Chapter 6: Exit with Caution
Chapter 7: ...(Find out next time!)
And that's all for now. A quick note though, if you are a Decepticon on the phone game Transformers: Earth Wars, you can join the Dragon Scouters! I have no one in my alliance yet and I am not the greatest player out there, though I try. If you want to, you all can come and join me!
Okay, enough of that. Please leave a review, either to comment or say hi, and I will greatly appreciate it! Until next time though, TTYL! *freezing fingers off typing*
