Hmmm - strangeness here. Uploaded this, had reviews on it, then it somehow isn't there when I look today. vv odd. Reuploaded, with apologies to those who reviewed...
NobleKnightKaeru - beams - Thanks! I love it when I get reviews, and ones like these make my day. Nice to know people like my stuff; there's something about writing a long story in chapters that's really rewarding.
Soryu - Ah. Errr...well, there's more in store for my poor Screampuff yet from those two, especially in this bit, but don't worry - I've got something lined up for them too. A little revenge. By the way, any ideas from anyone on what to call them? I'm still stuck. ;)
Skins Thunderbomb - another big beam - Hee - more sweetness in this one, and a long chapter as well! Enjoy!
Impulse and impetus
The next few weeks passed without notable incident. Skyfire saw with satisfaction that Starscream avoided the two mechs wherever possible - and ignored them when it wasn't, though his self-control occasionally stretched to breaking point. At times like these Skyfire contrived impromptu tutoring sessions for the flier; just himself, the young mech and an experiment to absorb them both. Now and then Starscream wanted to talk - to ask for advice or question something he'd learnt, delighting his teacher - but equally as often they worked in an increasingly companionable silence, simply enjoying the company and the life they both loved.
These sessions became more and more frequent and regular, until Starscream eventually joked that he'd better update his lesson program to include them. Skyfire looked at him, suddenly serious, until the young mech became uncomfortable and thought he'd said something wrong - then the scientist seemed to make a decision, and asked "Would you want to?"
From then on, the extra 'lessons' were official.
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Starscream stared into the shallow tray, chin in his fists, optics narrowed and questioning.
"Nothing happened."
"Then wait."
The young flier chafed at the delay, shifting slightly from foot to foot in his impatience. The mech had always been impulsive, and he hated waiting too long for anything. Skyfire concealed a smile as he remembered the results of his pupil's short temper in earlier experiments - never boring, certainly, but on occasion spectacularly explosive.
"Be patient. It will come in its own time, not yours."
Slowly, oh so slowly as Starscream watched, tantalizing glimmerings and pinpricks of light softly started to blossom from the dank depths of the tray to form a serene network of radiant, shimmering stars.
"It's beautiful..." he breathed, wonder in his voice as he gazed entranced by the faerie glow.
Skyfire smiled wryly at his apprentice. "Worth the wait then, hmm?" he teased gently, watching the lights shine and twinkle as they reflected in Starscream's spellbound optics.
"Oh, yes..."
"Well worth the wait, sprite, like most things in life."
Starscream's optics dipped in confusion and he looked up at his teacher, pulling his gaze away from the mesmer of the lights. "What did you call me?"
"Sorry?"
"That strange word- s-prye-tt...what does it mean?"
Skyfire silently cursed his slip. "Oh... That..." He looked down at Starscream. The flier watched him with curious, lively optics - bright rubies that started to slowly dim with a hint of apprehension at his stalling...Skyfire mentally kicked himself. "A sprite. It's a mythological organic creature, very lively, curious, full of mischief..." ...a bright, shining, innocent soul. A magical being, giving light and life to those illuminated by its dazzling spark...
Impressions, reactions, certainties the scientist wasn't totally conscious of knowing. Yet.
"The description reminded me of a certain impatient student of mine."
Starscream looked at him, considering, seeming to size up his explanation and weigh it before deciding to respond. Skyfire cursed himself yet again. He knew the young mech had been called names before, been catcalled before, yet here he was blurting out an alien word with no way of knowing what Starscream would think he meant or how he'd react. He'd been sincere when he said it, accidental or not, but Skyfire had discovered you could never be entirely sure just where the impetuous flier's mercurial humours would lead him to next.
"A sprite?" Starscream said quizzically, taking care pronouncing the alien word with an enquiring glance at his teacher. He looked so serious, but Skyfire could have sworn he saw a hint of a smile lurking in those sparkling optics.
"Ah..."
"You think I'm a sprite?" the flier persisted, and Skyfire was immensely relieved to see the intrigued, quirky grin pulling at Starscream's mouth as the mech tried to imagine what a sprite was...after a moment he gave up, gurgling with delighted laughter at the relieved expression on Skyfire's face. The scientist tried to explain how he didn't want to offend the flier, but Starscream just waved his words away with an airy flick of a hand.
"Then a sprite I am!" the young mech eventually managed, perching on a tabletop and grinning at Skyfire, who couldn't help but beam back. "I just wish my other nicknames were as original."
"Well," Skyfire snickered, "you'll always be a whimsical sprite to me."
The pair howled with laughter, and the serious lesson was officially over.
The odd hassle or run-in with Starscream's favourite brothers aside, life soon returned to a normal routine for the flier. Skyfire had had the two mechs closeted with him in his classroom for a lengthy...chat, and although he wouldn't tell Starscream what was said, the pair kept their distance from then on and the only contact between them thus far had been the odd snooty glower or uncatchable comment when the flier hove into view.
That said, Starscream had been having some teething troubles with his lab-tech project. He'd got far enough along for Skyfire, poking his head into Ripplewing's classroom on some pretext or other, to have his optic caught by the jumble of parts laid out on his tabletop. Moving fully into the room, the scientist glanced over to his colleague who was deep in an involved explanation-slash-conversation with one of the young femmes. Judging - correctly - that it would be a while before Ripplewing surfaced and could take her attention from her class, he gazed curiously over the various projects on the tables before fixing on Starscream at the back of the room.
The flier was standing facing the back wall, glaring intently at a short, tapering chunk of what looked like silver piping with a selection of wires hanging in tangles from its base. From the look on Starscream's face it was clear he wasn't happy with the way his project was going, but compared to the scattered pieces of cast alloys and bundled wiring of a few weeks ago Skyfire was impressed.
Meandering over through the tables, trying not to knock off any loose equipment - and generally succeeding - Skyfire wandered through the students, greeting them and answering any questions they had while Ripplewing was busy. Glancing up after talking to one young mech he'd seen struggling with a snarl of wiring, Skyfire saw Starscream snort in disgust and stalk back to his table, plunking himself down onto the stool to turn his prize over in his hands, fingers exploring each connection he came to for a fault, a clue, some sign of where he was going wrong.
Stretching upright Skyfire stepped carefully over towards the flier's table, but stopped just short as he watched Starscream freeze mid-motion; pursing his lips in deep concentration, the young mech drummed his fingers softly, slowly against the barrel of his 'pipe' as his optics became suddenly dim and far away. Skyfire watched him quietly, knowing he had to let the flier grow on his own...but still curious and caring enough to watch over him as he did. The flier's fingers slowed, paused, stopped; a lazy smile wreathing his face as his twin scarlet torches lit like bonfires, he upended his silver canister, fiddling with wires that jogged in his wake.
Skyfire edged forwards despite himself. He wasn't sure if he wanted Starscream to see him just yet, enjoying watching a young mind and young project blossom together, but without even flicking his sensors towards him the flier said "Hello Professor..." Rather absently, if truth be told, but Skyfire still jumped. Or would have, if he hadn't snatched at his long-won self control and held still. Starscream grinned, still not looking up at him but elbow-deep in wires gushing from an open panel in his tube. "Surprised you, didn't I?"
"That you did" Skyfire admitted, gazing curiously at the young flier. "How did you know it was me? I wasn't close enough for you to 'scan me, and I don't think you can read minds..."
Starscream laughed, at last looking up from his pipe to fix Skyfire with a mischievous smirk. "It's not just this I've been working on you know" he said, waving the pipe like a baton so the wires fluttered and curled around his wrist. "I've been modifying my sensor grids. They're more accurate and have a longer range than they did before. I think I can come up with some new variations too..." He sniggered suddenly. "I'll end up like a satellite."
Skyfire sighed. The flier's enthusiasm was infectious, and if what he said was accurate and not coloured with Starscream's usual overeagerness, it was a huge step forward for a first level student. But...
"Starscream - you could have fried your arrays and seriously damaged yourself."
"I knew what I was doing Skyfire" the young mech protested. The scientist winced at the confusion in his student's optics - I thought you'd be proud, I did it on my own - I thought you'd be pleased - but stuck to his guns. "I'm serious, Starscream. You should have had someone there in case something went wrong - what if you'd sliced through a fuel line by mistake? You'd have terminated before anyone knew something had happened!"
"I knew what I was doing! I wasn't going to do anything stupid, and I think I know how my own sensor arrays work - I didn't need anyone's help!"
Skyfire bit back a sharp retort. Starscream was glaring at him, the earlier good mood vanished, the expected congratulations turning to scolding that left ashes in his mouth. The scientist sighed and sat next to the flier, who held his gaze reproachfully for a moment before turning away.
"Starscream, I'm not saying you can't do anything yourself."
A disbelieving snort from the young mech.
"I'm not. And I'm not trying to discourage you. I like teaching you too much to want to see you in pieces one morning if I can prevent it...I just said it wrong."
A quiet sigh from the flier; a near-unnoticeable relaxing of his shoulders was the only sign that Starscream had heard.
Skyfire waited in silence for a moment or two, but the flier stayed quiet. He was about to move away, sour regret and frustration at his laughable bungling of the situation gnawing at him, when Starscream shifted and looked vaguely in his direction.
"So..." he said slowly, carefully looking at a point three feet to Skyfire's right, "if I were to have someone there I trusted if I needed them, would you worry less about my tinkering?"
"Definitely" the scientist replied, so relieved the flier had seen his point he didn't bother about the considering sort of tone.
"Well then," Starscream said almost shyly, cocking his head to look at Skyfire "could you help me now?"
It was an apology, and Skyfire accepted it as such. "Of course! What's the problem?"
"I've had problems with the power converter for a while now." The flier frowned. "Actually, trouble with the entire grid. The theory's all there, but I couldn't come up with a viable power source that's compatible with the delicate circuitry and the fluctuation levels."
"So basically you need a refined energy cell?" It was a simplistic way of putting it, but without knowing what Starscream's pet actually was it was the best Skyfire could come up with.
"It took me a while, but I've found one."
"Oh?" The flier seemed to be taking the long route to an explanation, but it was better than a rushed version. Besides, it was Starscream's project. Let him tell it his way.
"Yep." The young mech beamed up at his teacher. "Me."
"What?!"
"Hold on!" Starscream blurted, hands in the air. "I said the theory was all there...I talked to some of the cyberbiology bunch and did some research - it's not so different from... oh, a camera attachment or something. It'll use some of my semi-processed energon, half broken down, you know?- and use my energy to run! There's no feedback or overflow or anything since it uses my surplus energy. You see?" The flier was practically bouncing off the ceiling he was so excited.
Skyfire had to admit, the theory sounded plausible - he couldn't see any flaws so far. "So what is it you need me for?"
Starscream looked hurt, as if he was insulted. Skyfire could see it was entirely put on. "To be there when I test it, of course! ...And to help me fix it on. If I attach it to my arm it would be easiest to use, but I can't connect it or weld it on myself." He gave his teacher an appealing little glance. "Can you help me? Please?"
Skyfire sighed good-humouredly. "Could those optics get any bigger?...Certainly. You know you only had to ask."
Starscream's euphoric grin nearly took the top of his faceplate off. "Perfect!"
He never noticed the stares of two mechs across the room.
Or the twin smirks as a plot crawled into their minds.
An adjoining room next to the students' lab was set aside exclusively for the testing of various inventions - thick-plated walls, floors and a high ceiling, along with extensive soundproofing, set it aside from the other standard classrooms, and students were, as a rule, banned from trying out their many projects anywhere else.
Unfortunately for Starscream it was in use, so he had to stand and jitter in the main lab until the room was free. Seeing that Ripplewing was beginning to get extremely irritable, sending death-glares at the impatient young mech, Skyfire suggested that they browse the main library for a while until the room was free. Starscream reluctantly agreed, leaving his project on the table with many anxious, longing glances back as Skyfire steered him out of the room.
It took a while for the room's occupants to finish off their tests, and by the time Ripplewing contacted Skyfire on his comlink with a snappy "Get on then, it's free," Starscream had begun drifting restlessly around the library like a lost soul. As they walked to the library he'd given Skyfire a blow-by-blow account of how his creation worked, had been put together, how he'd come up with the idea - and it had developed into a long, winding, involved conversation on everything from recent scientific breakthroughs to just how Transformers came up with those ridiculous ideas that would never, ever work. Skyfire, sitting on one of the library chairs while Starscream wandered and talked as he paced, wondered what the younger mech would make of Cybertron's other marvels - the flier's wit and sly sarcasm made him an interesting conversationalist, and his curiosity mixed with an endearing innocence that begged to be shown more of life, as much as the universe had to give. All in all, Skyfire discovered, he greatly enjoyed spending time with the spirited flier.
When the call came through, Starscream jumped into the air with a whoop and sped off towards the lab, earning himself a sigh from the librarian who'd met the flier in his previous quest for information. Skyfire stifled a laugh and started after Starscream, warning him over the com to slow down before he literally ran into someone who wasn't so understanding. With a growl and a huff, the younger mech complied and pulled in next to his teacher as they flew out into the courtyard and arced sedately up to the lab's level.
He wasn't so controlled he could resist looping the loop around Skyfire though, and burst into the corridor with a quickly muffled snort of laughter. As Skyfire landed and stood with his hands on his hips looking down at him, the younger mech bit his lip and stood there, hands clasped behind him with feet together and head bowed, in a chastened attitude that didn't fool Skyfire for a minute. He stood looking down at his student, trying not to let out the grin tugging at his mouth, and failed spectacularly when Starscream tilted his head and peeked up at him, the beginnings of a mischievous grin flickering across his face. Skyfire couldn't help but burst out laughing, which promptly set Starscream off.
"You're irrepressible!" he spluttered eventually, fighting for control of his vocaliser.
"I know" the flier sniggered, sauntering down the corridor towards the lab. "it's my best feature."
Connecting Starscream's tube - he called it a Null Ray - to his arm was a little tricky. The flier was a terrible backseat driver, telling Skyfire where to connect wires and sensors even when the scientist didn't need him to, but Skyfire could see Starscream's wingtips trembling ever so slightly. Skyfire shut off the welding torch and passed it back for his student to replace on the heavy bench.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked quietly, stepping round Starscream's wing to look him in the optics. "You don't have to test it yourself..."
He sighed at the characteristic stubborn look on the flier's face. "I'm sure! It will work, and I'll be the youngest mech to get into the Ivory Towers." He grinned up at Skyfire, the trembling gone and replaced entirely by sheer excitement and bravado. "Watch this."
Starscream turned to face a section of circuitry he'd set up, an unfeasibly large amount of wires and circuit boards connecting a small light to an equally small power source. As enthusiastic as he was, the flier had enough sense not to try anything too grandiose for a first experiment - or to risk fritzing the Academy's equipment. The idea behind his Null Ray was to interrupt the flow of electrical rigs and stop them working for a period of time - Starscream could only guess at how long the effect would last, so the main aim of the tests were as much about increasing his accuracy as checking the thing worked.
Unconsciously copying the seekers he'd tried so hard to avoid, Starscream aimed carefully at the centre of the board as Skyfire stepped back to give him some room. With a quick glance and a flash of a dazzling smile at his teacher, Starscream narrowed his optics and fired.
Watching from just behind the jet, Skyfire felt rather than saw the violent spew of purple light slam into the him as the ray exploded; with a colossal WHAM aspiteful hail of metal shards pepperedthe walls and ripped into Starscream's thinner plating with a terrible shriek that mirrored the flier's own. Skyfire stared in horror as Starscream jerked and twisted, a thin groan scouring his throat rising in pitch between locked teeth as his body spasmed; staggering and falling back as the single burst of energy drained his reserves to the dregs, the purple lightening crackling around him spat for the final time and died as Starscream crashed to the ground.
Skyfire dove to the floor beside him, scrabbling for any sign the flier was functional even as he opened his comlink to the techs in maintenance and shouted for help. He bent over Starscream's still form, desperately searching his optics for any spark of life -something, anything to show the flier was still alive.
He found none.
Dumdumdummmm...
Whoof. Long chapter. So, what went wrong with Starscream's null ray? I hear you cry. Find out in the next exciting episode...it'll be a good'n, I think. As always, please read n' review.
Starscream and Skyfire are, oddly enough, still © Hasbro. Funny that... The story, Ripplewing and the two miserable little...beggars bugging my seeker are © me.
