AN: I´m sorry if the fight seems to be lacking or rushed but I couldn´t be much invested in it when it´s with a one-off character with so little development. Also, after this chapter I will be skipping the episode Scrapheap because, in all honesty, I have no idea how to make it work.
BTW Dragonlver22 sent in some questions along with his review and I´d like to make an announcement. If you have any questions PM or send a review so I can answer here for everyone to see. As long as I don´t give away crucial plot info I´ll do my best to answer all questions posed so far.
To answer Dragonlver22: Doomsday is a lot more complex under her superficial persona, if you were to pay close attention to her you´d be able to tell something doesn´t add up. Also, about the ages Silverbot and Mayhem aren´t that far apart, with Silver being the oldest and, in my headcanon, they´re close to Bumblebee´s age with Arcee being older. Solarflare and Megatron are close in age with Doomsday being the eldest, followed by them and close behind Airachnid.
"No, no, no, no, no, no! Aww scrap, I lost again."
"I´ll never understand how I keep beating you in fighting games. Rematch?"
"And I´ll never understand why I keep agreeing to play with you. And you´re on."
The triple-changer had given up keeping score at about Radical´s fiftieth victory over him in the world of virtual fights. The smaller bot knew all the moves, all the combos, all… everything about any game he took a fancy to. Doomsday claimed that he first had taken interest in Cyber Poker and Praxus Fold ´Em when she played with Stagefright´s crew but he had no idea what card games had to do with fighting games.
"Ok, I have to ask. Aren´t you two worried about them?" Arcee had expected a bigger reaction from the Makers but up until that point nothing had happened and it was starting to bother her.
Silverbot didn´t take his eyes off the virtual fight. "Who? Mayhem? I told you, she can take care of herself. Unlike me, because he´s wiping the floor with my aft." When ´Player 1 WINS´ appeared on-screen once again the triple-changer hung his helm. "Aww, scrap."
"No! Solarflare, Doomsday and Airachnid. It´s been a week and they haven´t said anything."
"Oh. Well, yeah, but we have to wait for them to dry out. It´s not like they´ll offline or anything like it, just get really tired and maybe a bit cranky."
"He´s right. I´ve seen mom do crazier things than go clean." Radical set his remote down to stand up and stretch out his joints. "Trust us, there´s nothing to worry about. Although I must admit I´d love to have seen what they used to be like back in the day."
"What were they like?" Bulkhead, who´d also been keeping them company, wanted to know more. If he was going to be told Solarflare used to be like Mayhem he´d probably blow a fuse or two.
"A lot more fun."
"You mean more irresponsible." Silverbot narrowed his optics at the sparkling´s response. They both knew the same things but had different views on it. "I remember Doomsday B.R., Before Radical, and she was either sticking someone with something or letting anyone stick it to her."
Radical was taken aback by, what he perceived to be, the attack on his Carrier and did not fall short when retaliating in a normal tone of voice. "As if yours was any better B.V., Before Victory. She only cut back because she was real happy instead of high-grade happy. Also, mom told me he was one the rare ones that didn´t drink besides first generations Makers that joined in so it fits."
Deciding it wouldn´t do them good to have the same argument again, Silverbot gave up but not without a last nonchalant comment. "Well, at least mine didn´t swear like it was going out of style."
"Hey, those are my earliest memories. She only stopped because my first words weren´t exactly conventional." Radical would blush if he could. Sometimes he´d curse and realize it until someone pointed it out. "The damage is done, either way, I know lots of curses going back to I think as far as Buildertongue. Kaonic, Murion, Legion, I know almost all of them." He wasn´t sure whether to be proud or ashamed but shrugged either way. "Now that I think about it my berthtime songs were also very inappropriate. I don´t know why she though it was a good idea to sing a sparkling songs with explicit lyrics."
"That explains what we heard when we rescued you." Bulkhead thought back to the day they´d found him lying near the energon explosion. "Someone so young shouldn´t know half the stuff you do."
"Like I said before, I´m not that young."
"While your conversation seems to have delved into a ´fascinating´ subject, I´d like to know how someone can survive with a high-grade addiction for that long. Their insides should´ve shut down if they consumed it often, even if in small doses." Ratchet had been trying to focus on… something. Even he couldn´t remember what when the conversation started to become more interesting than his work (but he´d never admit to it). There were a few questions he´d like to ask about Airachnid but he couldn´t do so without seeming interested.
"Makers are naturally mores resistant to certain substances but for those who require part replacement there were the Forgers. Unfortunately the Council got scared they´d somehow achieve immortality and eternal youth so they started ´mysteriously´ disappearing. Doomsday is the last among maybe two, three? After we left Cybertron it´s hard to know what happened to everyone else." Silverbot let out a sigh. He missed everyone. "Like I was saying, their bodies got used to high-grade so, like quitting any other addictive substance, you have to stop completely and not go back. If we hadn´t left Cybertron I guarantee you Mayhem and I would be just like them, it´s a vicious cycle and breaking it is tough when dinking is part of your culture. You don´t drink, you don´t live."
The medbot shook his helm in disbelief at the explanation. "I don´t know how both of you or anyone can talk about what you did just now like it´s a normal thing."
Radical shrugged once more and picked up his remote. "It´s what we grew up with. To us, it is normal. Rematch? Anyone?"
Mayhem arrived on site to witness a green set, no doubt Skyquake, shooting at Bumblebee with clear intent to kill. The poor scout looked like he was close to swerving out of control from dodging all the bullets and there was no Optimus in sight, leading her to fear he might already have been struck down.
"Optimus, where are you?" The seeker commed in a semi-panic.
It was with great relief she heard Optimus answer. "Mayhem, do not worry about me, help Bumblebee in evading Skyquake." He sounded tired, probably injured, but he was still online.
"Sure thing." Mayhem switched comm channels. "Hey, Bee, need a lift?"
The femme shot a missile at the pursuing Skyquake, making the Decepticon have to change direction to avoid getting hit and hen again to avoid hitting the rocky walls of the canyon. The clock was ticking so she had to act fast. The two teammates used that to distraction for the Autobot to accelerate up a hill and jump high the air. Mayhem took that time to place herself right below the scout and he managed to land in his bipedal mode on top of her.
"Hold on, I´m gonna try to get right above him."
Skyquake was heading right for them. It was the perfect opportunity and if they managed to pull off the move she was thinking of they´d have a sure win. Shots were exchanged as the two seekers headed right for each other, none willing to back down. Mayhem accelerated and, just as they were about to make contact, turned upside down to let Bumblebee jump down on top of the Decepticon. Her spark raced as she recovered from the near-crash. One moment too late and the Decepticon wouldn´t be the only one going down that day.
Skyquake attempted to shake off the scout clinging onto his wing and, when that didn´t work, leaned sharply onto the canyon wall and mercilessly dragged the Autobot across it but the yellow bot did not let go. It was time for a more ´aerial´ approach. Flying higher and higher at a near vertical angle he continued his attempts to get the scout to let go and plummet to his, very messy, death.
Optimus watched the fight so to new heights and felt helpless on not being able to help in that situation beyond giving orders. "Mayhem, Agent Fowler will help. Approach the Decepticon and do not let Bumblebee fall down."
"Got it!"
The Maker soared higher, hoping to catch up with the Decepticon before Bumblebee lost his footing. She couldn´t shoot or risk injuring the scout, the poor bot was already out of his element and she couldn´t decide if he was scared or having the time of his life fighting way above the ground where he belonged. Another jet closed in but it was a human one that time. Agent Fowler, of course. Well, that settled where the Con had gotten his new alt-mode.
Bumblebee was not having the time of his life. Skyquake tried again and again to shake him off and he´d almost let go that last time. Regaining his footing on top of the jet he punched the cockpit and ripped off wiring, twice for good measure, immediately sending the Decepticon into a crash dive… Right past a speeding Mayhem. Scrap.
If the damages didn´t offline him the fall would do the trick. For both of them.
"Fowler, can you hear me?" The femme bellowed into the comm. "You´ve got to be the one to catch Bee, I´m too far away to reach him in time."
On the other side the man maintained his cool. He had an Autobot to rescue. "You don´t have to tell me twice." With steady hands, Agent Fowler got his jet beside the malfunctioning Skyquake and looked at the visibly panicked Autobot. "Any time, fella. Ground floor´s coming fast."
Bumblebee let out a few beeps, mustering up courage, and jumped to the safety of the friendly jet while leaving the other one to crash onto the ground with an explosion, offlining the previously dormant Decepticon. There would not be a repetition of what had just happened, the scout could very well guarantee that to anyone.
Optimus watched from a distance as the battle was won. He saw Bumblebee land safely (thank Primus) and Mayhem coming in for a landing. They´d won the battle but another spark had been lost. Even if Skyquake had been on the wrong side a life had ceased, none the less, and it pained him every time he had to relive the tragedies of war. The Prime approached the battered corpse and was joined by his two teammates.
"What a waste." Said Mayhem at the sight of the battered frame of the Decepticon.
"Indeed. Had Skyquake chosen to stray from his master´s path we might not be burying today." He lamented.
"Oh… yeah… that´s what I meant."
Optimus turned to the seeker and put a hand on her shoulder. "Mayhem, I have to say, I had my doubts about you following my orders but you held out until given the go and I will consider you for future missions."
"Eh… thanks." She smiled in embarrassment and rubbed her helm. It would be best if she didn´t tell him anything.
"How is she?"
"Don´t make too much noise and she´ll be fine."
"Thanks, Silver."
Mayhem quietly entered her Carrier´s berthroom, shutting the door behind her with the softest of noises. It hadn´t been often she´d seen her mother go through withdrawal, at least not all the way.
The heavy-duty seeker knelt down and crossed her arms on top of the berth to rest her head on. "Hiya mom, how are you? Silver told me you woke up a little while ago."
Solarflare gave her daughter a weak smile. "Tired. I´ve never went all the way with withdrawal so it was quite the challenge."
"I can tell." The younger femme reached her servo out to wipe at some dried energon flakes on her Carrier´s faceplate. She wondered how emotional she´d become during that week with no one besides her but it had to be that way. A Maker in withdrawal could go from sad to violent in a nanoklik so it was best to do it alone, even if that made it more difficult to handle. "Listen, today I did something stupid."
The seeker lying on the berth sighed, already expecting something to have happened, but kept a positive outlook on things. With things having clamed down how bad could the mistake have been? "You´ll have to be more specific."
"In a scale from ´I ate all the oil cake´ to ´I blurted out the big secret´ it was about ´I gave someone an idea´. I confronted Starscream, you know, the seeker that´s supposed to be the new Decepticon leader. I think he´s Stagefright´s brother by the way, the frame similarities are crazy."
"You don´t look that bad, was the fight that short or… Stagefright did always describe her brother as a little difficult to deal with."
"Oh, she was right but there was no fight. I said I only wanted to talk."
It was at that point Solarflare went from suspicious to alarmed. "What did you ask?"
"How did you know I-?"
"I raised you, trust me, there´s very little I don´t know about your core personality."
There was a small silence before Mayhem got the courage to admit the truth. "I asked why he joined up with Megatron."
With a tired sigh the bedridden femme weakly put a servo on her daughter´s faceplace "Sweetspark, I told you those matters are better left in the past." She wanted to show a semblance of a smile it was only nature for Mayhem to be curious, but worry wouldn´t let her.
"I know, it´s just…I don´t know. My whole life I´ve known him as either an emerging idealist or ruthless tyrant who let power go to his processor, but I´ve seen old pictures of you two. You look… happy. Like, Victory happy."
"I knew I should've destroyed those." She hadn´t had the courage to do so in all the times she´d tried. "I knew Megatronus a long time ago but he died the day I learned what he was truly like. I´m sorry, but this subject has to die down for good. If anyone where to find out that… you know, things would change irreversibly for the worse. Please, promise me you´ll let it go."
Her Carrier´s optics spoke louder than her words. Compassion, sorrow, hope, despair, all emotions showing in them begged for the matter at hand to perish alongside the mech and Mayhem couldn´t deny the femme who´d given up so much for her that request. "I promise. I still can´t believe he´s gone for good though."
"Me neither, sweetspark. Me neither."
That blasted Soundwave had ruined everything! All Starscream had ever wanted was to achieve the power he was worthy of but life kept throwing obstacle after obstacle in his path. Nothing had survived the spacebridge incident so how had his ever-bothersome leader managed to hold on for all that time before they´d picked him up?!
When he found him the once glorious Lord Megatron had been reduced to a barely conscious shell held conscious by a sliver of dark energon. Starscream almost wanted to rip his helm out in a fit of rage but then he got a much better idea. If it was the dark energon that did the trick why not kill the bothersome pest once and for all with a swift ´extraction´? The (unfortunately still) SIC ripped the shard from Megatron´s sparkchamber but then, when all seemed to be finally going his way Laserbeak had shown up and forced him to order the transportation of Megatron´s still online battered frame to their ship.
And then here he was, on the sickbay of the Nemesis, watching the still highest ranking Decepticon be held online by a multitude of tubes and machinery along with Soundwave.
"The troops will be pleased about our success in rushing Lord Megatron into stasis. Let us hope our master pulls through." He said with barely veiled contempt.