Starscream knelt in the spilt paint and jagged shards. The scattered and fragmented remains of equations completely covered the room. Bulkhead continued to mutter on as he walked around as if he were in a lab, examining and inspecting non-existent screens and making comments on non-existent experiments.
"This… this was all supposed to help you," Starscream hissed. Finishing the equation for Bulkhead was supposed to cure the Wrecker, not plunge him even further into his dissociated fantasy.
Starscream used to always have a plan. Some kind of scheme to put into place, some course of action, something, anything—
But whenever he looked up at Bulkhead, his processor went blank. For one of the first times in his life, he had no clue what to say or do to fix this. No amount of begging or pleading would bring Bulkhead back. Unlike so many of his past problems, he could not fix them by pleading for help.
There was no one left to plead to.
He groaned and rested the back of his helm against the cold metal door. Optimus didn't want him. He replayed the memory of the distraught Prime shutting the door in his faceplate and pretended to not feel a twinge of pain. It was perfectly reasonable that the Autobots didn't want him. Starscream laughed bitterly as Bulkhead continued to shuffle around through the ruined equations and blue paint splattered everywhere. If he squinted, the spilt blue paint didn't look like paint—it looked like spilt energon, like hot acidic blue blood spilt everywhere.
Starscream's frame jolted. If the paint truly was blood, then it would not even be a fraction of the blood he'd spilt over the course of the entire war.
He was not wanted. Optimus and the Autobots thought him to be weak—he was not weak! Starscream growled and kicked the wall. He was not weak, he was not.
"Oh, Starscream, oh Starscream," Bulkhead whispered over and over again.
So then why did he feel so weak whenever he looked at Bulkhead?
"What does that slagger want now?" Arcee's voice echoed.
"Megatron's talking about… returning his property?" Bumblebee beeped.
"What?!" Ratchet shouted.
Their voices drifted down the hall and through a narrow crack beneath the metal door. A sense of dread settled in Starscream's tank. He was not wanted in the main room. They did not want him to know what was going on. He just needed to ignore the voices, ignore the meeting he was unwanted at, and just step away from the door.
Starscream tightened his struts and prepared to get up and walk away.
He heard Optimus sigh heavily. "Autobots… we must answer his call."
Starscream's frame locked up. No. No.
No.
It couldn't be him, not so soon. He had just escaped Megatron and now the warlord was already re-entering his life—
Optimus's voice drifted through the crack next. "Megatron is in possession of the data cylinder. If we could somehow get it back from him—"
"—then we could maybe get the data to exit Bulkhead's helm and re-enter the cylinder," Ratchet finished.
A sense of hope tingled within Starscream's struts.
"I should not have to ask you to give me that which I rightfully deserve!" Megatron's voice shouted. He was calling the base, and now the Autobots were talking to him. Starscream froze and felt indecision rise up within his helm—he wanted to run into the main room and punch the computer so Megatron could never call ever again, but another part of him wanted to run in the opposite direction and hide in the shadows forever.
"And what would that be?" Starscream heard Optimus ask.
"Everything. The Primehood, Starscream, the formula, the logs—"
"How did you find out about the logs?"
He knew. Megatron somehow knew. Whenever the warlord knew something that Starscream didn't, he would always get a cold and cruel glint of malice in his blood-red optics. He could see Megatron's arrogant faceplace in his imagination, a sneer on his faceplates as he leered down at Starscream and lorded over him—
"How could I not? The Wrecker prattled on about them nonstop," Megatron scoffed. "Tell me, with whose voice does he speak? His own, or that of a dead mech's?"
"What is the point of all this, Megatron?" Optimus asked.
"Is a brother not allowed to make house calls—?"
"Do not tread there, Megatron," Optimus said. Starscream did not need to be able to see the Prime to know that Optimus's entire frame was now tensed up. "That word is dead to me."
For a moment there was silence. Starscream increased the sensitivity of his audials. He knew that he should not eavesdrop, no, but he couldn't help but listen anyway.
"Oh!" Megatron laughed. His laughter sounded like the screech of metal being shredded apart. "Oh, Optimus, we were brothers once, yes, and we still are and still always will be. But you are no longer my main brother. This 'house call' was not meant for you—"
Starscream froze. No. No. No.
Bulkhead ran over to the Seeker and held Starscream as he began to shake harder. He clutched the Seeker close to his green armor and stroked his wing as he continued to ramble off logs.
"My end will bring about yours, his end will bring about yours—"
"This call is not for you…" Megatron began. "I wish to speak to my other brother. The smaller one. The lesser one. The one who escaped ."
Starscream tried to run away from the door and away from the warlord's voice, but Bulkhead's grip was too tight. He screamed into Bulkhead's armor and held his forehelm up against the Wrecker's dirtied plating. He clutched onto Bulkhead's armor so tightly that his talons left tiny scratches behind in the green paint.
"I am calling for Starscream. Put the Seeker on the line."
Two heavy pedesteps stomped through the base as Optimus stomped over to the computer console. "I will never put Starscream before you ever again, whether it be the comm line or the line of battle. I will not allow you to harm Starscream any longer—I will not allow him to even hear your voice ever again."
Starscream slapped his servos over his audials, but the warlord's voice still drifted through them and into his helm. He wanted to hear every word, but at the same time he wanted to hear none of them. Megatron laughed and laughed and laughed. "Far too late for that, Prime. He hears my voice in his helm both day and night—I know this very well. I am a part of him and he is a part of me."
Ratchet scoffed. "Did you call just to monologue, or do you actually want something from us?!"
"I remember you, Ratchet," Megatron purred. That was the same tone of voice the warlord used whenever he tried to teach Starscream the ways of the world—the tone of voice he used when he told Starscream that in order to stop feeling pain, he needed to inflict pain. "Starscream is a patient you will not be able to save. But fine then, if you insist on getting right to business... give me the data. Now."
"You don't deserve it," Ratchet snapped.
Starscream burst free of Bulkhead's grip and ran to the other side of the room and as far away from the door and the wretched voices as possible. He pictured himself in the sky, high and cold and free, away from this dusty base, away from Earth—but even more importantly, away from Megatron and his malice-filled voice.
"I deserve to have the entire universe," Megatron breathed.
"The universe is ours to explore, Starscream," Bulkhead whispered as he grabbed a paintbrush and began to paint something new onto the floor.
Starscream grit his dentae. He was physically there in that room, but he did not have to be mentally there. He offlined his optics and pictured himself flying even faster, flying flying flying—
"But most importantly, I deserve to have him! " Megatron shouted. His shout echoed through the entire base and made the paint in a nearby paintcan shudder a bit.
He was flying, flying flying flying—
"I will not hand Starscream over to your talons. I made the mistake of letting him fall into your clutches all those years ago—a mistake I will not repeat..." Optimus said.
"Oh, Starscream," Bulkhead whispered softly.
Starscream froze. What did the Prime mean by that?
Megatron laughed. "No, you won't, which is why when the time comes, I will take him by force. Why keep him around? He is nothing without me, nothing!"
He was flying, flying and flying—
"I will rip the Seeker out of the sky if I must!"
He was flying, now he was falling. The peaceful image of the high and cold and blue sky turned blood-red and now Megatron was trying to grab him, was reaching for him—
A wave of dizziness struck Starscream and he fell to his knees. Bulkhead knelt in front of him and held Starscream's helm in his paint-covered servos. Everything was blue, the color of blood, the paint was blue, Bulkhead's optics were blue, the lights were blue, the color of blood.
The cold and familiar chill of panic inundated his struts as he began to shake harder and harder. He felt as if he were floating and was far far away from the base, somewhere far away in a sky as blue as blood with Megatron leering at him and laughing at him and—
"He is mine. His spark is mine. His plating is mine. His mesh is mine, his blood is mine, his mind is mine!" Megatron shouted.
"The only thing that you own, Megatron—" Optimus began to say. Starscream's wasn't sure, but he thought he heard a faint growl in the back of the Prime's throat.
" — is Starscream!" Megatron finished.
"No," Optimus said slowly and coldly. " The only thing you truly own is your responsibility for your crimes.
"Starscream needs me, Prime," Megatron rasped.
"He has the potential to become something amazing—but only without you in his life."
"I saw the way he looked at that Wrecker!" Megatron snapped.
He was going to die. Starscream felt an all-encompassing dread spread through his frame. He was going to die and at Megatrons's servos, the warlord would find a way to kill him, he'd find the base any moment now and he would kill him, he was going to die—
"Flying. Dying," Bulkhead whispered. He tightly grabbed ahold of Starscream's frame and held the Seeker tight. "Flying. Dying."
He felt as if his frame had been drenched into an ice cold vat. He felt cold, colder than he had ever felt before, and as he sat there and shook and cried he wondered—is this what Skyfire had felt like?
"That was the same way he had looked at his trinemates," Megatron mused. "The same way he used to look at me . I am tempted to let the data rot the Wrecker's brain away so that it will also rot the Seeker's spark away. I am so very very tempted…"
"Take the data," Optimus said tightly. "Take. It."
"In due time. His processor must be nearly entirely gone, yes? I suppose Starscream helped with that…"
"I grow tired of your nonsense, Megatron," Optimus sighed.
Starscream looked up at Bulkhead with wide optics. "Is this my fault? Is it my fault your processor is r-rotting away? I encouraged you to keep reciting the logs, I told you to keep reciting them, I told you and told you, over and over again to keep reciting, and now look!" Starscream shook out. A wave of lightheadedness struck his frame and he tilted forward and into Bulkhead's arms.
This was all his fault.
"Starscream ruins all that he touches—Vos, his trinemates, you, himself—he is his own greatest weakness. Do you seriously think the wretch will allow you to purge the Wrecker of the precious data? If the data vanishes, then so do all those precious last words… all those long lost logs of a dead meach."
"How do you know about that? Do you know the mech whose voice has taken over Bulkhead's?" Optimus asked.
"That does not matter. What matters is that I know the Seeker better than he even knows himself. He will never be able to let go, never—"
"Let go, Starscream," Bulkhead whispered. "Let go. "
Starscream curled up into a small ball. "A-are you Skyfire or Bulkhead right now?"
The green mech was silent for a moment. His optics lit up and shined blue.
"Both."
"He is far too clingy, too overaliant, too zealous—it is all rather amusing!" Megatron sighed. "When he loves something, he grows to love it so much that he will destroy everything to protect it—ironically, that is how he ended up destroying the things he loved most in his life. His own servo moves against himself. He defines himself by the things he loves. Without those things, he is worthless and has no meaning!"
"Starscream defined himself as a Decepticon, yet also grew to hate you!" Bumblebee beeped.
"He loves me," Megatron said breathily. "He just doesn't understand that yet. He soon will, though. Soon."
Bulkhead got up and marched over to the other side of the room. He grabbed a massive metal plate and slammed it over the door. The sound of Megatron's voice was cut off and the room fell into silence. Paint dripped down from the newly-made painting upon the plate and splattered onto the floor.
Starscream took a deep vent and rose to his pedes. He looked up at the metal plate and his optics widened.
"Is that?..."
It was a new painting this time. It was poorly made and was only paint splattered onto rough metal—
But the figures of Starscream and Bulkhead were unmistakable.
Not Skyfire.
Bulkhead.
"You… you painted yourself beside me. Not Skyfire—you painted yourself! Do you remember yourself, Wrecker?"
Bulkhead stared into space and twitched. "Just… just a little— oh, Starscream —but… you helped."
Starscream stepped back as confusion filled his field. "How?! I just made things worse! Slag, I even encouraged the logs to take over your processor!"
"You cowered from Megatron the same way you cowered from the Enforcers."
The paint dripped off of the metal plate and made a plink noise as it hit the floor. Starscream offlined his optics and held his helm in his servos as he listened to the paint melt away all around them.
"Bulkhead, all of our progress is..."
"Gone. Melted. I know. And— S-subspace Log 47 —I'm gonna be gone too." Bulkhead stepped forward and looked into Starscream's optics. "Let's get outta here and hit the trail one last time. Just you, me, and Miko."
Starscream shook his helm and sighed. "But the Autobots…"
"Don't need to know! I'll ask for their— my end will bring about yours —forgiveness rather than their permission! Use your remote groundbridge thingy and we can be outta here and away from these creepy paintings and equations in no time!"
"This is a bad idea," Starscream moaned.
"When has that ever stopped me? Listen, Star. I'm gonna hit the dunes with my lil' Wrecker one last time—and I want you to be there so I can finish reciting the logs. There's only a few more left, I can feel it. It's up to you if you wanna be there or not…"
Starscream grit his dentae. "It is partly my fault you're even in this mess in the first place. I'll come."
"Great!" Bulkhead laughed as he clapped his servos together. For a split second a violent shudder coursed through his frame, but then it stopped. He walked over to the door and moved away the metal plate that blocked it.
"—he is mine, his soul is mine, so hand the Seeker over, Optimus!" Megatron's voice shouted and boomed through the crack in the door.
Bulkhead slammed the metal plate back over the door again. It muffled Megatron's voice and there was silence yet again.
"Er…" Bulkhead bit his lip. "Let's just wait a few minutes for them to finish up their spat first, yeah?"
Starscream shakily nodded. Bulkhead plopped onto the floor beside him with a clang and the two of them sat there in silence as they looked out over all of the paintings and equations.
"Huh, you know, I'm not that bad of an artist!" Bulkhead laughed as he pointed at one of his paintings on the wall.
Starscream squinted at it and hummed. "Yes, that is a lovely depiction of a scraplet you painted right there."
Bulkhead blinked and looked at him.
"...That's Miko."
The two of them crept out into the hallway. The only sound came from Bulkhead's engine and Starscream's overworked vents. He ran down the hall to his room and pried the metal door open.
The groundbridge remote sat right on the table. Starscream snatched it up and readied himself to press the coordinates in—but froze. He'd gotten the remote from the crashed Autobot ship, yes—but why was a Decepticon groundbridge remote on an Autobot ship full of Enforcers in the first place?
"C'mon, hurry up, Starry!" Bulkhead whined.
"Oh no, please don't tell me that's my new nickname," Starscream moaned.
"Oh, Starrryyyyy!"
Pedesteps thudded down the hall. Starscream froze and looked out into the dark hallways that stretched before them.
"Starry, calm down, it's fine, it's fine!" Bulkhead said.
It was Megatron. It had to be. He had just called to threaten them all and to tell them that he would one day reclaim Starscream—it had to be the warlord coming down the hall, he had to run —
"Don't run, please don't run," Bulkhead begged. He moved forward and tried to block Starscream's view of the dark hall, but it was too late. The silhouette of a large mech loomed in the dark right behind Bulkhead.
Panic erupted within him. He stumbled backwards and slammed his frame into the back of the wall. It was Megatron, Megatron, Megatron—
Optimus stepped into the light. Pity and grief infused his field.
Starscream's jaw dropped. "Wha… it's just you…"
Optimus knelt down and frowned. "How much did you hear?"
His spark pulsed. If he admitted to Optimus that he had overheard the call, then Optimus would know that Starscream had disobeyed him. If Optimus knew that he had been disobeyed, then he would be disappointed in him, and with disappointment came punishment and pain—
Optimus gently grabbed the back of Starscream's helm and tilted their helms together so that their forehelms were pressed together. "You have not disappointed me. You will not be punished. There will be no pain."
Starscream choked back a sob. "I said that aloud, d-didn't I?"
Optimus nodded. "Yes." He looked down at the remote Starscream clutched tightly in his talon.
"I swear I wasn't trying to escape, I swear!" Starscream sputtered.
"Wait, Optimus, it's not what it looks like!" Bulkhead said.
Optimus held up his servo and they both fell silent. "Are the two of you going somewhere?" he asked grimly.
"I…" Bulkhead wringed his servos together. "I was thinkin' maybe Miko and Starry and I should just… get away for a lil' while and…"
"...and enjoy your last moments together?" Optimus finished for him.
Bulkhead nodded.
The Prime sighed heavily and rose to his pedes. "I will not deprive you both of the opportunity to be together one last time."
"Hah, thanks OP! Let's go pick up Miko and then hit the dunes!" he laughed as he grabbed the remote from Starscream and fiddled with it.
Optimus knelt down and placed his servo atop Starscream's shoulder. Starscream flinched at the contact and Optimus's optics widened.
"Enjoy him while you still have him. And please…" Optimus whispered as Bulkhead excitedly chattered on.
Starscream leaned in to hear the Prime better.
"...comm us if anything goes wrong," Optimus finished.
"Oh yeah! Got it!" Bulkhead laughed as a groundbridge whirled to life in the hallway. He grabbed ahold of Starscream's talon and leaped through the bridge with a whoop. Starscream looked back at Optimus as he was pulled through the bridge.
The concerned look on Optimus's faceplate was the last thing he saw before the green light of the bridge overwhelmed everything.
Starscream laid on his back and stared up at the stars. An engine rumbled in the night and he sat up as Bulkhead drove up to him. Miko sat in his front seat and banged her head to metal music as Bulkhead pulled up beside Starscream.
"Sorry for the wait, Jas—er, Miko's home is a little ways away. So, d'ya like it?" he asked.
Starscream squinted into the distance. "Uh, like what?"
"The sand! The wild road! The desert makes for rough riding, Starry! You should get yourself some wheels and try it out!"
A shudder ran through Starscream's frame and he fluttered his single scarred wing. "Me? Wheels? No! No no no, Megatron joked about turning me into a grounder often enough, I don't need—"
Bulkhead rumbled his engine and Starscream fell silent. "Hey, we're just out here to have a good time, let's not chat about Buckethead. I suppose that you could say that we are…"
"Do not—!"
" Seeking some fun!"
"Oh, just go drive off! Where the slag even are we?" Starscream said. He looked out across the harsh red cliffs of a desert.
Bulkhead revved his engine and drove around off in his alt-mode with Miko inside of him. He raced and skidded across the desert floor and sent huge plumes of red dust into the air with every rapid turn of his wheels. His two headlights shot two beams of yellow light into the dusty and dark night. Starscream stood a ways off and squinted at the two of them through the dust.
"Somewhere fun!" Miko shrieked over the comms.
Starscream scoffed. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"
"Shouldn't you be in jail?" Miko snapped.
Starscream flared out his remaining wing in offense as Bulkhead laughed loudly.
"Yep, you two really are a match!"
Starscream sighed and lounged against a rock. "What the slag are you even doing out here?! The two of you engage in this… tomfoolery… every few days or so?"
"It's dune riding!" Bulkhead laughed.
"It's tomfoolery with sand involved. What I still don't entirely understand is why did you invite me here?"
Bulkhead drove over a high rock ridge and went air-borne for a split moment. Starscream felt a pang of jealousy upon realizing that the Wrecker was better at getting into the air than he was. He forlornly flapped his single scarred wing.
"I gotta read the rest of the logs out to ya, Starry! Gotta take advantage of every single second we have before… before..." Bulkhead trailed off.
"I understand," Starscream sighed. Bulkhead was himself again—for now—but it was only a matter of time before Skyfire's memories returned in full force and claimed the Wrecker for good.
Starscream lounged back against the rock and stared up at the thousands of stars above. He listened to the skid and whir of Bulkhead's tires and the sound of his voice.
"Subspace Log 17… I am recording this log while out flying! I missed the wind—the Enforcers will try to take our wings from us, but I won't let anybody ever hurt your wings."
Starscream flinched and flapped his lone wing. Miko whooped as Bulkhead drove in tight circles and sent a cloud of dust up into the air.
"I wish you could get to fly too, but somebody has to stay behind and mine for energon I guess. So this has left me the perfect opportunity to record a log! I can tell that your morale is dropping. You don't think we will be able to overcome the Enforcers…"
Bulkhead drove at full speed right towards the rock Starscream was sitting on. The Seeker shrieked and jumped out of the way right as Bulkhead suddenly swerved to the side and drove off. Miko whooped with laughter.
"You need to be stronger, Starscream!" both Bulkhead and Skyfire laughed. "I know you have it in you to be strong. Your strength is just hidden away. One of your biggest enemies is not just the Enforcers, but yourself. I know that you can be more than what you currently are."
Bulkhead swerved past the edge of a cliff. A thousand foot drop to a rocky canyon waited below and he drove right along the edge of the sheer drop. Starscream's spark leaped into his throat, but then Bulkhead drove off and away from the edge.
"You are so much stronger than you really know, Starscream. If only… if only I could somehow get you to realize that. You want somebody to come along and save us, but if you unlocked your inner strength—"
Bulkhead whooped along with Miko as he drove in a tight figure-eight across the dusty desert floor.
" — then we could save ourselves."
Bulkhead drove right past Starscream and his tires sent a spray of pebbles right at the Seeker. He laughed and then swerved away again.
"Wait… something's not right here in the clouds…"
Bulkhead slowed down to a halt.
"Aww…" Miko whined over the comms. Starscream heard her thump her fist against Bulkhead's dashboard. "What's with the buzzkill, huh?"
Bulkhead drove in reverse and backed away from something. Starscream looked off into the distance to see whatever had the Wrecker so spooked, but all he saw was the cliffs far ahead and the plunge below into the red valley.
"I'm not alone... Oh Primus, I think the Enforcers found me!" Bulkhead cried out. For a single moment, Bulkhead sounded nothing like himself—he sounded exactly like Skyfire.
The gravel crunched under his tires as he rapidly drove in reverse and right towards Starscream. Starscream yelped and leaped backward right as Bulkhead suddenly came to a halt right in front of the Seeker.
"They're here," Bulkhead whispered. Pure fear filled his field and mixed with the dust in the air.
Starscream squinted through the dark glass of Bulkhead's rear window and saw Miko in the front seat. She had a look of pure confusion on her face.
A deep sense of dread settled in his tank. "Fleshie, get out of Bulkhead."
"What?" she cried out over the comms. "Just when the fun has begun?"
"Human, do as I say!"
Bulkhead began to shake.
"No, I'm not getting out! This is way too fun! Stop being jealous of us! Bulk's just having a bad flux, that's all."
"I need to fly faster," Bulkhead whispered. "The Enforcers, they're coming in, closer and closer, I need to…"
"Miko!" Starscream shouted as he slammed his fist against Bulkhead's rear window.
Miko shook her fist at him. "Hey, don't you dare hurt him!"
"Miko, he might hurt you! "
"I must…" Bulkhead began to say as he revved his engine.
"No, slag it!" Starscream yelled.
Bulkhead's headlights flared with light. "I must fly. "
He revved his engine and took off.
Starscream tried to grab Bulkhead, but then the Wrecker's tires sent out a spray of rocks at the Seeker. Starscream stumbled back and coughed dust and pebbles out of his vents as Bulkhead rocketed away across the dusty desert floor. Miko obliviously whooped in joy.
"I need to go faster, there's an Enforcer right below me!" Bulkhead cried.
"A what?" Miko yelped as Bulkhead drove right over a giant rock.
"No, wait, faster!"
He shot across the desert floor at full speed and left a cloud of dust in his wake.
"Oh Primus, they're catching up!"
Bulkhead swerved around and drove rapidly at the cliff edge as he dodged the non-existent Enforcers chasing him. Starscream's spark froze as he revved his engine again and aggressively shot across the desert.
"I need to go even faster—"
Miko shrieked over the comms. It sounded nothing like the happy shrieks she had been making just a few moments ago.
"Faster—"
Bulkhead gunned his engine and drove right at the cliff at full speed. At any moment now he'd slow down just like before, right? Right?
"Primus, they're fast!"
Bulkhead drove over the ridge again and briefly went airborne. His tires slammed back into the ground—but instead of slowing down like last time, he revved his engine again and put on even more speed.
"Bulkhead, slow down!" Starscream cried out. He knew nothing about how grounder racing worked though, so maybe this was just some normal thing grounders did?
"Stop, Bulk, you're going too fast!" Miko screamed.
Bulkhead would never consciously scare Miko like this. Never.
Starscream watched in horror as Bulkhead unconsciously drove towards the cliff at a blazing fast speed.
"Bulkhead, you are not Skyfire! You are not being chased!" he shouted after him.
He ignored the Seeker and growled his engine as he went even faster. "I need to fly away to safety!"
Starscream kicked the desert floor and sent a plume of dust into the air. "Slag it, Autobot, you can't fly!"
"I need to fly, I need to fly —"
"—You're going to die! " Starscream screamed. The Wrecker ignored him and continued to put on even more speed as Miko shrieked her lungs out over the comm.
Flying.
Dying.
It made no difference to Bulkhead.
"Miko, jump out of him right now!"
She continued to shriek over the comms.
"Oh, slag! " Starscream swore. He leaped off of his rock and broke into a full run across the desert. He hurriedly activated his comms.
"Prime, pick up, slag it!" he swore as he ran right at Bulkhead. His legs were no match for the speed of Bulkhead's tires.
"Starscream, what's wrong?" Optimus said over the other end.
"Bulkhead thinks he's a shuttle and now he's fleeing from fake Enforcers!"
"What?"
The edge of the cliff rapidly grew closer and closer and closer as Bulkhead drove at it at full speed.
"He's going to drive off of a cliff with Miko inside!"
"Starscream—" Optimus began to say.
Time seemed to slow down for him. There's no way the Autobots could help in time. It would take them a minute to all go through the bridge, and there were only a few seconds left before Bulkhead plummeted over the cliff with Miko inside.
Starscream ran even faster and felt the struts within his frame burn as he forced himself forward. Bulkhead drove right at the cliff edge—
"No, slag it!" Starscream shrieked.
—and plummeted over the side of it.
"Flying," Bulkhead softly whispered over the comms.
Starscream ran right to the edge and watched Bulkhead drop down to the rocky desert floor far below as Miko screamed within him. All of the Autobots panickedly yelled over the comms, but all Starscream could hear in that moment was the sound of the wind as it whistled past Bulkhead's falling frame. He transformed back to his root-mode in mid-air and looked out at the desert with wide blue optics.
"I g-gotta fly!" Bulkhead's voice drifted in the wind.
Starscream stood upon the cliff edge as he looked down into the canyon with pure horror. Bulkhead and Miko were only seconds away from impacting the ground.
Seconds.
He flared his wing. He only had the one—but it would have to do.
He transformed and then plummeted to the ground alongside Bulkhead. The Wrecker watched Starscream's alt-mode fall beside him as they fell to the ground.
Starscream activated his engine and flew underneath Bulkhead. Starscream shot towards the ground and he transformed back into his root-mode right as he was about to impact the desert floor. He slammed onto the ground and he knelt in the dust as Bulkhead's shadow fell over him.
Bulkhead plummeted through the air right towards the Seeker's helm.
"Oh, Primus!" Starscream shrieked.
He threw his servos up just in time to catch the Wrecker. Bulkhead slammed down into Starscream with a massive clang and Starscream screamed with the effort of catching the massive mech. He was forced down to a single knee and knelt there in the desert sand with Bulkhead strewn across his back and wing.
A large cloud of dust rose up into the air and spun around them. Starscream offlined his optics and held them tightly shut as his entire frame creaked and groaned with the effort of holding Bulkhead.
"Starscream!" Optimus called.
He looked up at the cliff far above and saw the rest of the Autobots standing atop it.
He hoisted Bulkhead off of his back with a massive groan of effort and collapsed into the desert sand. Starscream's vents ran hot and heavy and error messages flashed across his HUD.
"Idiot!" Starscream hissed out. He lightly punched Bulkhead's arm, but the Wrecker had no reaction. He continued to stare off into space as he slowly turned his helm to regard the Seeker.
"See, I knew you had the strength in you, Starscream," Bulkhead wheezed. He offlined his optics and let out a quiet breath. "You saved me from the Enforcers. You saved me."
"I did what I had to," Starscream sighed. "I just wish it wasn't so hard. Why'd you have to go and drive off a cliff, you imbecile?! Because... because of Skyfire. My dead brother is the reason my new one is dying."
Bulkhead's chestplate shifted and Miko popped her head out. She looked up at Starscream with wide eyes.
He froze. "Um. Did you hear that?"
Miko nodded her head slowly. She shakily pulled herself out of Bulkhead's armor and clambered over to Starscream.
"Uh, no, please don't approach," Starscream moaned. He was getting sick of this bold little human and her brazen stupidity. She'd just complain at him and accuse him of being a 'buzzkill.' He offlined his optics and awaited her inevitable tirade.
"At first, you called me fleshie," she said softly.
Starscream cracked a single optic open and looked at her. She shook slightly and had her hands drawn up into fists by her side.
"Then you called me human…"
She stepped closer to him and climbed up onto his arm.
"Then you called me by my name… 'cause you were scared. You were scared for me. Not just for him—but for me. "
Starscream's jaw dropped. He tried to think of something to say to this, but his processor came up empty.
Miko laughed bitterly and wiped some of the desert dust off of her. "I guess you're not such a buzzkill after all."
Engines rumbled in the air as the Autobots finished driving down the hillside. The sounds of transformation echoed across the desert. Optimus folded out of his alt-mode and ran up to all of them with pure worry in his field. He knelt in the dust beside Bulkhead and looked the unconscious Wrecker over.
"He went into shutdown, I think," Starscream breathed out. Optimus's helm shot up and his shoulders fell in relief at the sight of Starscream and Miko.
"You caught him," Arcee said. It was not a question. She stood by Bulkhead's helm and looked at the Seeker with wide optics.
"Pfft, of course I did," Starscream huffed. "What else was I supposed to do?"
"I thought you would, I don't know…" Arcee scoffed.
"Let them fall?"
Arcee shut her intake and pressed it into a thin line.
"Ugh," Starscream rolled his optics as Ratchet ran up to him and Bulkhead. "Don't even bother—I know the answer."
"Don't move!" Ratchet hissed at them as he looked them over. "Overall, Bulkhead seems fine. It's Starscream I'm worried about."
"Can I just stay here on the desert floor for a little while? Maybe for like a few days? My frame is really not up for much else."
Optimus smiled and put a servo upon his shoulder. "You have done well, Starscream. I am proud of you for saving both Bulkhead and Miko. Now we need to get you back to base."
"Subspace log 47… subspace log 58… You had the strength in you all along, Starscream. All along. You just needed some motivation, that's all. "
He jolted and craned his helm up to look at Bulkhead. The Wrecker's optics were wide open again and he stared off into the night sky as he muttered on and on.
"Slag it!" Starscream shrieked as he punched the desert floor. Optimus helped him to his knees and held the Seeker tightly to him. "How could he still be having stupid hallucinations?! He nearly got himself killed with them, why can't he just—"
Optimus held Starscream and rumbled his engine soothingly. "You did all that you could."
"I could've done more! I could've still enjoyed him while he was him and not… whatever he is now! I could've refused to listen to the logs, but I wanted to hear them, you know that? I wanted to hear them so so badly, so I urged him on, and now look where that's gotten us!"
A new groundbridge opened up before them and Bumblebee helped Ratchet carry Bulkhead's frame into the vortex. Arcee stood a ways off and watched Starscream shake in Optimus's grip.
Bulkhead reached his servo out to Starscream as he was dragged through the bridge. "I worry that my end will bring about yours…"
Starscream stared at the ceiling. His entire frame ached, all the way from the tip of his crest to the tips of his pedes.
Bulkhead recharged in a medical berth right beside him. His mouth moved as he recited the logs in his sleep.
He could still feel gritty grains of sand in his joints. He wanted nothing more than to let his processor go perfectly blank so that he could forget about what happened, but the sand in his joints served as a constant reminder.
Something shuffled across the floor. Starscream craned his helm over the edge of his berth and winced as a bright light came on and shone right in his optics. His spark pulsed in his chestplates and fear shot through his field.
"Whoever you are, turn that fragging thing off!" he quietly hissed.
The light changed direction and Miko pointed it at herself. "Pssst! My phone light won't last forever!"
Starscream groaned. "Go find somebody else to antagonize. Go mess with Ratchet, he needs it. Wait, shouldn't you be at home?! Why are you still here?"
Miko was silent.
Starscream waited for her to respond, but heard nothing except the beeps and whirs of the medbay machines.
He peered over the edge of the berth and saw her looking at something. He followed her line of sight and looked up at a computer console that showed a schematic of Bulkhead's processor.
Only 14% of it remained.
Starscream heard a quiet sniffle.
"What is happening?!" Starscream harshly whispered. If that noise was what he thought it was, he'd have a spark attack. He was not equipped to handle this.
"I walked back to base after Bee gave Raf and I a ride home. I snuck in and presto, here I am. I am going to save Bulkhead," Miko whispered as she cried softly. She looked back up at Starscream and glared at him. "And it is up to you whether to come along or not!"
Starscream groaned. "And how do you plan on achieving what the greatest Cybertronian medic still alive cannot do?"
"I'm going to jog Bulk's memory! The moment he sees our ol' monster truck stadium, he'll get all of his memories back and forget about this stupid Skyfire guy."
"He is not stupid!" Starscream hissed at her.
"Do you wanna come or not?!" she hissed back.
Bulkhead stirred in his sleep. Miko hurriedly shut her phone light off and the two of them sat there silently in the darkness as Bulkhead shifted in his sleep.
"My end… yours… will bring about…" he snored.
Starscream sat up with a grunt and knelt down beside Miko. Only the bright red glow of his optics and the blue glow of the computer provided any light in the near pitch-black medbay. He opened his intake to scold her, but Miko beat him to it.
"We can do this one of two ways, bucko! Either you can come with me and save our brother… or you can stay here and mope around in your bed. What's it gonna be?" Miko said as she pointed a finger right at Starscream.
"Oh? And what's stopping me from comming Optimus and having him truck you back to… wherever it is you and your little fleshie friends live?"
Miko smiled. "Your guilt."
Starscream recoiled. "What?"
"You feel bad about what's happening to Bulk! Heck, you said that you even feel responsible for this! So there's no way in the Pit you're just gonna mope around here in bed when you could come with me and potentially save him! You've got one shot to fix this mess, buddy!"
"What—why do you even want me to come along?"
"Because you're partly responsible for all of this! You kept tryin' to get him to relive the logs, and now Bulk won't stop 'cause of you! Besides, Bulk would totally freak if he woke up and saw that his lil' Seeker brother was missing!"
Starscream sighed.
"And…" Miko began to say again. This time, she spoke much more softly and without her usual bravado. "I'm tired of watching you be sad. I want you to stop being sad. I liked you better when you were just like a Saturday morning cartoon villain—something easy to laugh at and hate. But now… now I just can't laugh at you and hate you. Not anymore."
Starscream looked up at Bulkhead. "If I choose to try and stop you…"
"Which you won't!"
"Then you'll just try to pull off this little stunt of yours tomorrow, won't you? And the day after that? And the day after that?" Starscream said as he peered down at her.
Miko smirked. "Oh, you know me too well, Star. C'mon! You have nothing to lose from helping me! If Bulk gets his memories back, then awesome! If not…" She trailed off and stared at her feet.
This was so, so stupid. He should just comm Prime and let the rest of the Autobots take care of this debacle. But on the other hand, the human would just try to perform this stunt sooner or later...
Bulkhead stirred in his sleep again. He moved his servos in the air almost as if he was stroking something, like a wing—
Oh.
"Don't you dare stop me!" Miko shouted. She threw a rock at Bulkhead's arm and it immediately woke the Wrecker up. He shot up in his berth and looked around in a panic.
"Huh? What?"
"Wake up bro! We're gonna go see some monster trucks!" Miko whooped.
"Monsters. The Council is made of monsters. They care little for us fliers—"
"Nooo!" Miko groaned. "Monster trucks! C'mon, follow me! Remember me? You… you do remember me, don't you?"
Bulkhead just stared at her. He rolled off the berth and rose to his pedes while staring intently at the little human.
"Monsters," he repeated.
"Yes! Follow me!" Miko shrieked as she ran off. Bulkhead tromped after her in a daze.
When they reached the doorway of the medbay, Miko turned on her phone light and shone it back at Starscream. "Last chance, pretty boy!"
Starscream sighed. "Pretty boy, what—? Just, no. No."
Miko just stared at him. "Are you sure?"
"Together, forever, together, forever…" Bulkhead repeated nonstop.
"No, now shoo!" Starscream hissed.
She looked at him for a moment. "And to think that I called you Bulkhead's little brother!"
Miko ran off and Bulkhead loped after her. Starscream sighed and curled back up on his medberth. This was the right choice. Just wait for the two fools to reach the main room, and then all he had to do was comm the bots to end this madness. That way nobody got in any trouble.
But then again, Bulkhead had saved him back at the river. He'd dropped him like a brick a moment later, but he still saved him nevertheless. He'll never forget the warm and worried look Bulkhead had on his faceplate when he catched his talon and saved him from the bloodied river.
He'd also never forget this day. The river, the warlord, the cliff—and now monster trucks. Starscream laughed bitterly to himself.
"The only monster here is myself," he muttered.
His optics shot wide open.
Had he really just said that?
Maybe it was the exhaustion in his struts, maybe it was the sleep deprivation, but maybe the reason he said those words to himself was because he meant them.
"I'm not a monster," he whispered into his berth.
He was not a hero either, though. Far from one. He was something in-between, this strange half-lit creature that went from serving a warlord to serving a Prime. He was no hero.
But he still could be one.
"I mean," he scoffed to himself. "What are the chances that I'll be able to help? That I'll be able to actually help jog Bulkhead's memory?"
The only noise that greeted him was the quiet whir of the medbay.
"What are the chances?" he mumbled. He looked up at the computer screen that showed how much of Bulkhead's processor still remained.
13% percent.
"What are the chances Bulkhead will be all gone by tomorrow morning?"
He could fall into recharge and just spend the night on his berth, yes. And while he'd be busy recharging, Bulkhead would be busy forgetting everything and everyone.
Starscream sat up on his berth. He wasn't seriously considering this, was he?
A plink noise echoed through the darkness. Starscream looked over and squinted at the wall beside Bulkhead's berth. He swore he heard the strange noise come from over there. He got up and walked over to the medberth. The bright red glow of his optics lit up the wall and what he saw made his spark sink.
A painting of him, Bulkhead, and Miko was smeared onto the wall.
"He painted it in his sleep," Starscream whispered to himself as he began to shake. "He'll… he'll be all gone by tomorrow."
"Spend time with Bulkhead while he is Bulkhead," Optimus's voice whispered in his helm. "Not anybody else. He might not always be here."
A new voice echoed through his helm. "Something might happen to me—"
Starscream's armor tightened up.
" — and if something does, then… then I need you to watch out for Miko for me," the memory of Bulkhead's voice said.
It was probably the last time he'd ever get to hear it.
"Yes, I really am asking you to keep an optic out for my lil' Wrecker if something happens to me."
Starscream groaned and held his helm in his servos.
If he tried this, he could get in serious trouble.
But if he never tried this, then he'd never forgive himself.
"It can't be that hard to operate!" Miko scoffed. "I've seen you turn the bridge on a million times!"
Bulkhead stared into space. "Flying. Dying. A small difference. Fly carefully, Starscream, because I will not always be able to save you from crashing."
"C'monnn!" Miko cried out as she lightly punched Bulkhead's leg. "You need to get the bridge to work, or otherwise we'll never get to the m-monster trucks, and you'll never get your memories back, and… and…"
Her voice broke and turned into sniffles. She stood there beside Bulkhead as he stared deep into space while mumbling.
The groundbridge lit up with a blinding flash of light and sent a burst of air across the main room. Miko looked up in shock and expected to see Bulkhead's servo on the groundbridge lever.
Instead, she saw a thin black talon.
Starscream held his talon over the bridge's lever and stared into the whirling green vortex with a steely glare. "Coordinates," he said.
Miko wiped tears from her eyes. "W-what?"
Starscream took a deep vent and continued to stare into the depths of the bridge. His talon on the lever began to shake slightly. "Where to, Miko?"
"Where to?... Oh, um, let me show you…"
She held up her phone with a pair of coordinates on it. Starscream nodded and typed them in.
"Thanks for doing this by the way—"
"Don't make me regret my decision, Miko," Starscream gritted out. He readjusted the bridge and the shimmery image of a parking lot appeared on the other side.
He scooped her up in his talon and grabbed ahold of Bulkhead's servo with his other talon. The three of them went through the bridge together as Bulkhead muttered on and on.
"My end will bring about yours…"
They found themselves in a large parking lot full of parked automobiles. Bright lights flashed from within a large stadium off in the distance. A cold wind blew out of the sky and a thousand stars shone above as Starscream guided Bulkhead through the cold and brightly-lit parking lot.
"Do you seriously think dragging Bulkhead to this...shindig… will seriously help him?" Starscream scoffed.
Miko's eyes widened. "Uh, Screamer—?"
"Shindig, hoedown, I don't care what you humans call this kind of event, I don't like it—" Starscream yelped and abruptly stopped talking. An enormous pair of arms wrapped around him from behind and he felt his frame get pushed up against the curves of Wrecker-grade armor. Starscream couldn't help but let out a high-pitched keen and sink into Bulkhead's shaky arms.
"I need you to be strong for me, Star. Okay? I worry that my end will bring about yours..."
Starscream froze in Bulkhead's warm grasp. "Um?"
"He's losin' it again, Screamer! Quick, we gotta pull him out of the memory!" Miko shrieked.
Starscream twisted his helm around to look at Bulkhead. The Wrecker stared right at him with the bluest optics he'd ever seen.
" Remember…" Bulkhead shook out. "Remember which one is Cybertron?"
"Bulkhead, now is neither the time nor the place to go planet-searching! We need to jog your memory. There's gotta be something about this wretched human place that will help you remember! Something!" Starscream snapped.
Bulkhead grabbed tightly ahold of Starscream's arm and pointed it up at a cluster of stars in the sky.
"Uhhh, what's he doin'?" Miko asked from down below.
Starscream's breath froze in his vents. Bulkhead gently pointed Starscream's talon up and at a cluster of stars in precisely the same way Skyfire had so many years ago.
He stared expectantly at Starscream as if he were waiting for him to say something.
"Bulkhead?.."
"He's acting like Skyfire again!" Miko shouted. "Did you and Sky ever do somethin' like this?"
Starscream snorted. "We never attended monster truck rallies, if that is what you are asking."
"No! I mean, has Skyfire ever grabbed ahold of your arm and told you to point out which star is Cybertron?"
Starscream gulped. The wind had been blowing so hard and it had been so very cold, but they had had a mission to complete and they needed to scout out the ice sheet. So they did. Two went into the blizzard, and one came out.
A cold wind blew across the parking lot and across their frames. For a split moment it wasn't green armor he saw, but pure shuttle white, and it wasn't the parking lot that stretched before him, but an ice sheet, cold and bright and white and endless and hungrily all-consuming—
"He's… he's reenacting Skyfire's final…" Starscream began. His voice broke at the last moment. "His final…"
Miko's glare vanished and her face softened. "...Moments?"
Starscream said nothing and looked into Bulkhead's expectant optics. "I don't know what he wants from me. He won't stop staring!"
"Maybe you gotta play along with him," Miko mused.
"Play along," Starscream muttered. He took a deep vent and looked into Bulkhead's bright blue optics. If he looked at only his optics, he could pretend that they were Skyfire's and not Bulkhead's. He sighed. "We can't see Cybertron. It's too dim."
Starscream began to shake. This was stupid and he shouldn't be doing this. Dragging a delusional mech along on some mad adventure through the middle of the night was one thing, but playing into his delusional fantasies as well? That was too much, just way too much. He tried to pry his raised arm away from Bulkhead's grasp.
Bulkhead's grip tightened and he prevented Starscream from moving his arm.
"Not if you look really hard, Starscream," Bulkhead smiled. "Really, really, hard. Look for me, Star. If I don't make it—"
"No, no, you will make it," Starscream shook out. His words came out all hitched and broken and he didn't need to act to make himself sound miserable. He felt as if he really were there out on that ice sheet with Skyfire again, saying goodbye to him. He had no idea that he had been saying goodbye to him at the time.
"You will make it!" Starscream swore. Miko's jaw dropped and she rapidly glanced back and forth between Starscream and Bulkhead.
"—then you need to know which one is Cybertron. Point to it."
Starscream moved his arm over to the star cluster and shakily pointed a single digit at the stars.
Bulkhead wiped imaginary snow off of Starscream's arm and tightly held onto it.
"Good. You found it. Now look at it, remember it—"
"Stop…" Starscream began to say. His voice broke and he snapped his intake shut. Bulkhead looked at him expectantly.
"Keep acting, Star, keep acting!" Miko hissed.
"Did… you just call me Star?" Starscream asked.
Bulkhead began to shake even more.
Starscream froze. "Oh, uh, right. Stop freaking out!"
Bulkhead smiled. "—and remember, Starscream. Remember where it is because I might not be there to remember it for you."
Starscream nodded and ignored the wet sensation he felt on his faceplates. Bulkhead let go of him and looked out into the night.
"Relax, Star. We'll just scout this area out, see if this is a good place to hide the cylinder—"
Starscream sobbed.
"—and then we'll be back at the Academy in no time."
Starscream wiped the coolant on his faceplate away. "Okay," he said. He tried to ignore the way the stars that surrounded Cybertron twinkled in the sky and the way Miko looked up at him with pure shock.
"Then let's go. I've got the cylinder in my cargo bay," Bulkhead said as he stumbled off.
Starscream took a deep vent and glared up at the dim stars. He just needed to get this over with and then get back to base, and then he could pretend this incident never happened. Maybe Bulkhead would come back to the base with him. Or just his empty frame.
"Are… are you okay?" Miko asked. She stood by his pede and looked up at him.
Starscream scoffed. "Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?"
Miko frowned and said nothing. She glanced back and forth between Bulkhead and Starscream. "So… did you make it?"
Starscream blinked. "Make what?"
"Make it back to Cybertron—the way your friend wanted to. Did you make it back home?"
"Ugh," Starscream rolled his optics. " Obviously. How else would I have joined Megatron and fought for Cybertron if I hadn't made it back home? Do you seriously think I was just lost in space all those years?"
He winced as Bulkhead confusedly stumbled into a bush.
Miko was silent for a moment. "...Kind of. You seem pretty lost to me. Seems kinda like you lost yourself along the way. Like… not all of you made it back to Cybertron."
"What… what do you mean?"
Miko sighed. "What I'm saying, Star, is that it kinda seems like… like a part of you stayed behind here on earth with Skyfire."
Starscream clenched his talons into fists. "No. When I returned to Cybertron, I was fine, okay?! I was perfectly fine and whole!"
Miko huffed. "Well, then why did you go crazy and join Buckethead?"
"Because—because—"
"You tried to make Megs into Skyfire's replacement, didn't you?"
Starscream froze and looked down at Miko. Her eyes widened and she took a step back.
"I… I shouldn't have said that, should I?"
Starscream began to shake. "You… how dare you…"
"How cute!" someone shouted.
Starscream whirled around and his wing shot right down.
Knock Out looked right at him with a smug expression. Starscream hurriedly turned around and began to wipe down the coolant on his own faceplate as much as he could. He couldn't let them see, couldn't let them know just how badly this was all affecting him—
"Look at us, Screamer!" Breakdown shouted as he stomped up beside Knock Out.
Starscream reached down and grabbed ahold of Miko and then ran over to Bulkhead. He was stuck in a bush and blindly stared out into space as he muttered more logs. Starscream shoved her into Bulkhead's shaky palm. "Call a bridge!" he hissed to her.
"Oh, trying to run from us now? Tsk, tsk, Starscream, you knew we'd cross paths again sooner or later! Don't be shy!" Knock Out laughed.
His processor ran into overdrive. He had to think of something, anything at all to get them out of the way. How could he possibly fight two Decepticons all while looking out for a mad mech and a squishy human?
"Hah, how could you?" Breakdown laughed.
"Wha—" Starscream shouted. He nearly turned around and exposed his coolant-covered faceplate, but he rapidly turned back around. "Did I say that out loud?"
"Hah, only every word! Got your thoughts and words all mixed up, mein Kommandant?"
"Frag off!" Starscream shouted at them as he hid his faceplate.
"Don't be shy now," Knock Out said. He stepped forward with his electro-prod clutched tightly in his servos. "We just want to talk. Show us your faceplate."
Starscream ground his dentae and felt pure panic rise up within him. He had to think, he had to think —
"C'mon, Screamer! Are you feeling a bit self-conscious, huh? Worried we'll think you're ugly?" Breakdown laughed. It was not a happy noise. "Come on, we know you're not ugly… well, on the outside at least. Show us your faceplate."
Starscream held perfectly still and kept his faceplate hidden behind his servo. Bulkhead continued to mutter in the bushes and Miko stared at Starscream with wide and horrified eyes.
"Subspace Log 47…. Subspace Log 47…"
Knock Out looked into the bushes. He glanced back and forth between the bushes and Starscream as a smile spread across his faceplate.
"Ooh, what are you hiding? You've got so many secrets, Starscream! You're hiding your friends, you're hiding your faceplate, you're hiding the true reason you. Left. Us," Knock Out said.
Starscream grit his dentae. Think, slaggit, think —
Breakdown and Knock Out glanced between each other and nodded. Breakdown began to stomp over to the bushes as he transformed his servo into a hammer.
Starscream's optics widened. No, the Decepticons couldn't be allowed to find them, if Breakdown found Bulkhead in the delusional state he was in, and if he found Miko as well— Primus, Miko was so small, so so small—
"Keep her safe for me, will ya?" Bulkhead's voice echoed in his helm.
Breakdown's grin widened and he continued to stomp towards the bushes—
There was no time to think. Just time for action.
Starscream ran over to one of the parked trucks and hefted it into the air above his helm. He grunted as he raised the vehicle up into the air and turned around. Knock Out and Breakdown's optics widened. Starscream stood there as coolant streamed down his faceplate and as his red Autobot badge shone bright in the harsh parking lot light.
He screamed as he threw the truck at them with all his might. Knock Out and Breakdown had only a second to scramble to the side as the truck slammed into the ground where they had once stood.
"Subspace Log 52…" Bulkhead muttered
A large cloud of dust flew up into the air. When it cleared, Knock Out and Breakdown stood there with wide optics.
"I worry about what you will do when I am no longer here..."
"You… you…" Breakdown sputtered as he pointed a servo at Starscream's bright red Autobot badge. Knock Out stared at the trails of coolant on the Seeker's faceplate.
"My end is near. I can feel it."
Starscream said nothing. Breakdown and Knock Out shared a glance with each other. Breakdown raised his hammer and Knock Out raised his electro-prod into the air and activated it with a crackle. He and Breakdown ran at Starscream at full speed.
Starscream shrieked, but stood his ground. He extended his talons and prepared himself for the fight of his life.
Miko gasped in horror. Bulkhead's wide blue optics widened as he watched Star.
"And I worry that your end will bring about mine..."
