It was only yesterday since the day Smokescreen left the Autobots and joined Megatron's side as a Decepticon. Optimus Prime and his Autobots felt ashamed for what had happened the other day. If they hadn't been so hard on Smokescreen then maybe he wouldn't of renounced the Autobots and joined the Decepticons. Team Prime were at the base when their human allies came for a visit. Jack Darby, Miko Nakadai, and Rafael Esquivel had arrived in the Autobot base after school and they got to spend time with Bumblebee, Arcee, Wheeljack, and Bulkhead while playing video games when Jack asked Optimus Prime about Smokescreen and where he was.
"Uh, Optimus? Where is Smokescreen?" The teenage human boy asked. The red and blue Autobot leader lowered his head and made a forlorn expression. He and the Autobots knew that they would have to tell the children and their other human friends the bad news even though they didn't want to, but they had to.
"Jack...We have some unfortunate news regarding our latest recruit." Optimus began. Jack was feeling concerned and confused about Smokescreen. "Smokescreen has left our base...and he joined the Decepticons." Optimus Prime told the young man. Jack gasped in shock. "No. It can't be tue. He wouldn't betray us, would he?!" Jack Darby exclaimed. Ratchet stepped in and joined the conversation, "I'm afraid that it is true, Jack. You see...Smokescreen renounced the Autobots and joined Megatron as his adopted son because we were so hard on him. Not only that, but Megatron manipulated the young bot into believing that he can tell him about his parents and what happened to them." Ratchet explained. "Parents?" Jack asked, confused. "Smokescreen's got a mom and dad?" He asked. "We're not sure if that's true. In fact, it is rare for Cybertronians to reproduce and have sparklings of their own, a term that we use for Cybertronain children. Not all of us have parents such as sires and carriers that humans would refer to as "fathers" and "mothers"." Ratchet told Jack.
"But how does it work? Does it work the same way as humans?" Jack Darby asked Ratchet. "That's the story for another time. But for now, the bad news is, Smokescreen betrayed us by joining the Decepticons and becoming Megatron's adopted son. We found out about it when we learned that Smokescreen left our base while we were recharging. We tried to commlink him in the morning, but he didn't respond. So we went outside the base to search for him. But then, when we were surrounded by Decepticons and their allies, Megatron revealed that he got Smokescreen to join his side." Ratchet explained.
"No." Jack said in betrayal. "We're sorry, Jack. It was our fault that he left us." Ratchet told him. "No, Ratchet. Megatron is the one to blame for influencing Smokescreen into becoming a Decepticon and convincing him to betray us! I was hoping that I would take him out for a spin or even a test drive, but now it seems like Smokescreen is going to tell Megatron where the Autobot's Hidden Base is!" Jack exclaimed. "No, Jack. Smokescreen may have switched sides, but he would not reveal our classified location to Megatron. At least, not yet. I believe that Smokescreen may have some good intentions and some good reasons as he told us the other day that he wants to try to change Megatron's mind about conquering the Earth and Cybertron." Optimus Prime replied, "Which is why I believe that Smokescreen joined our enemies in the hopes of reforming them so that they would not want to destroy us anymore. But even I am not certain, as I have no doubt in my mind that Megatron would still refuse to accept any form of redemption since we believe that he has some sinister plans about using Smokescreen to help him achieve his sinister goals." Optimus Prime said to Ratchet and Jack Darby.
"Optimus. It was bad enough that we lost Cliffjumper, but Smokescreen is young and strong. He's practically just as young as Jack and Megatron knows exactly how to take advantage on children by manipulating and brainwashing them since they are easily the most vulnerable and influential people out there." Ratchet said to the Prime. "Who knows how long Megatron will be keeping Smokescreen captive before he could actually corrupt his spark and brainwash him even further! We have to get him back and tell him that what he's doing is foolish! We have to do something! We can't just sit around and do nothing and let Smokescreen accept a fate worse than death! He doesn't deserve to be with Megatron as his own adopted son! Not ever!"
"Ratchet. Smokescreen will see the error of his ways if he is unable to change Megatron's mind and we will save him if need be." Optimus Prime promised. "I hope that Megatron won't force him to reveal our hidden base, but I also hope that he would at least find it in his spark to redeem himself and end this civil war once and for all."
Later that day, Jack told Miko, Rafael, and even his mother, June Darby, and Agent Fowler of what had happened and how and why Smokescreen became a Decepticon and betrayed the Autobots, despite not revealing their secret base yet. They were just as shocked as Jack and the other Autobots were and still are since Smokescreen did something so stupid as to join Megatron's side to be his surrogate son and heir to the Decepticon empire. Back on the Nemesis, Smokescreen was walking down the hallway of the Decepticon warship, feeling uneasy about being looked at by the Vehicons, Eradicons, and Insecticons, and especially Decepticons like Starscream, who was not happy to see him despite the fact that Smokescreen is no longer an Autobot.
Starscream glared at Smokescreen with hatred and disgust, but the young bot just ignored the jealous seeker and moved forward towards the Computer data base where he was hoping to find Megatron. The warlord smiled at Smokescreen and he greeted him. "Ah, Smokescreen. How nice to see you again...son." Megatron said to the young bot. "Can I...do you mind if we have a talk?" Smokescreen asked. "But of course." Megatron accepted his request before ordering Soundwave, "Leave us, Soundwave." The Decepticon communications officer left the room to give his master and his new adopted son some privacy. After he left, Megatron asked Smokescreen what he wanted to talk about.
"So, what do you want to talk about, Smokescreen?" Megatron asked. "Well...I was thinking, since I'm part of your family now...I thought I would get to know you better and maybe you'll get to know me too." Smokescreen told him. Megatron hummed with interest. "Alright." He said before he started to get to know his adopted son as he asked Smokescreen a question, "How old are you?" Smokescreen replied, "I'm nearly 16 vorns. I'm practically a teenager. How old are you, Megatron?" Megatron answered, "I'm 48 vorns. Maybe even closer to 50. I'm a lot older than Optimus Prime." Smokescreen was surprised with knowing how old Megatron is, "Wow...You're old enough to be my grandpa. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it." He apologized.
"That's fine, Smokescreen. You've grown up so big since the last time I saved you as a newborn sparkling. Tell me, do you remember having a family?" Megatron asked his adopted son. Smokescreen nodded with a sad expression on his faceplate before he replied, "I never knew my father...or my mother. I was put in an orphanage at Iacon. I was always alone. I never got adopted. I left the orphanage and trained with the elite guard. When I graduated, I got security detail at the hall of records. I spent time guarding Alpha Trion. Then the 'Cons sieged Iacon and everything went black. When I woke up, I was on a Decepticon ship as a prisoner. I managed to get off by sneaking into a pod. Then wound up here on Earth." He told Megatron.
"I'm sorry, Smokescreen. I was alone, too. I got separated from my parents when I was young long after I've been born as a nameless slave miner called, D-16. Being forced to work at the Energon Mines...and being whipped as a sparkling...was traumatizing. I learned how to fight and fend for myself and others before I used my great skills in combat to become a gladiator." Megatron said as he told his tragic backstory to Smokescreen. "They made money off of me for fighting in the arena. I struggled hard to create change, to take down the Caste System, to bring peace and equality to Cybertron...and I wanted to become a Prime. I named myself after one of the Thirteen Original Primes: Megatronus. I'm sure that Ratchet and Optimus have told you of how I came to be."
Smokescreen nodded, "Yes, but they didn't tell me about your childhood. I'm so sorry that you didn't had a good beginning. I couldn't even imagine myself being forced into slave labor and growing up to become a dictator just to make everyone suffer just as I have suffered. I wanted to become a Prime as well, but Alpha Trion told me that being a Prime and a leader is a huge responsibility. I've always looked up to Optimus Prime until I finally got to meet him and joined his team of Autobots. However, I began to live under Prime's shadow rather than bask in the glory of him as the Autobots began to doubt me because I wanted to be a hero, but I was kind of a show-off and I was pretty reckless." He said as he lowered his head in sadness.
"You are young and you're still learning. But listen to what I have to say, Smokescreen. Being a hero is not as easy as it sounds; You don't often get loved or praised, or save the day, defeat the villain, get the girl, or become a winner all the time." Megatron told Smokescreen, "It takes a lot of work and hard effort to do heroic deeds and it takes a lot more than courage to be a hero. Sometimes, you just have to do what's wrong for the right reasons. Like how you've just surrendered yourself to me to become a Decepticon and denounce the Autobots because you want to try and reason with me while also getting to know me better, even when Prime and the Autobots said otherwise. I'm surprised you didn't even tell them that you were going to make a sacrifice like that to help end the Great War." The warlord said to the young Ex-Autobot.
Smokescreen sighed, "And I know full well that this war won't be over until you and Optimus either slays the other or defeats the other. I understand that you don't want me to change your mind and reason with you. Because you've been through so much pain, tragedy and betrayal that you just won't find it in your spark to forgive." He said to Megatron before he admitted, "When I first met you, I knew that you were stronger than me and I will admit that I was very afraid of you, even though I didn't show my fear when we first met. But then, when I told you my name out loud, you somehow remembered me as the same orphan child you helped delivered from my dying mother after she gave birth to me...and you let me live as you allowed me to escape with Optimus and the Matrix of Leadership...which I used it's power to defeat you after we had fought from our last encounter when I thought you killed Optimus Prime and I refused to join you. Why didn't you just kill me when you had the chance?" He asked.
Megatron paused before he answered, "Because you reminded me so much of myself when I was young."
Smokescreen was surprised and confused with what his surrogate father meant. "Really? How so?" He asked. "Well, you and I seemed to have something in common. We both lost our parents, we both wanted to be heroes, we both looked up to our idols and wanted to be like them, and we've made poor reckless decisions that made our allies doubted us." Megatron said to Smokescreen. "When I was a sparkling, I was scared and sparkbroken when the Autobots took me away from my parents and forced me into slave labor at the Energon Mines. It wasn't until I met this one miner who's name was Terminus. He stood up for me many times, even took my placed to be whipped and punished instead of me. He was the mech who adopted me and raised me to become brave and strong as I grew older. He loved me and treated me like a son." Megatron began.
"What happened to Terminus?" Smokescreen asked. Megatron paused before he answered, "I don't know what happened to him or where he went. All I know is that they took me away from him just as they had taken me away from my parents until I was no longer a miner and was made into a gladiator." He answered before he continued, "The Autobots who owned me as their slave were Chainring, Duneblitz, and Stronghold. They were strict, controlling, and cruel towards me since they were ordered by Sentinel Prime to make sure that I wouldn't escape or even try to start a revolution against the Autobot oppressors outside of Kaon. When I first met Orion Pax outside of the gladiatorial pits of Kaon, long before he became Optimus Prime, he and I became friends and it took me megacycles to convince my slave masters to grant me permission to visit Iacon because I've never traveled outside of Kaon before." Megatron explained.
