Double Sided Trouble

AN: THANK YOU TO MY AWESOME PATRONS: ALEXLUKE, GIRAFFECHAN, and RAP BEAR for your continued support and feedback!

AN2: Has anyone else noticed we're about to hit an anniversary? Come July, this story will be 8 years old! Hard to believe! I STILL cant imagine I would be writing this 8 years after my initial idea. Wow… just.. WOW!

THANK YOU TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF MY READERS / FOLLOWERS FOR STICKING WITH ME ALL THESE YEARS!

So I'm thinking I should do something fun for an anniversary. It has to be a milestone to continue to write a story after 8 years and maintain high readership and new, exciting adventures that keep people coming back for more.

Any ideas on what I could do to commemorate the occasion? Like a double posting on the day or something similar?

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Sunstreaker sighed, sending annoyance to his brother. It was returned, laced with amusement.

Sunstreaker rolled his optics. His twin really had some screws loose. He could find humor in the deadliest, hopeless, dangerous of circumstances. Only a complete idiot would find their current predicament amusing.

"You will divulge the code I seek, or I will tear your cortex apart," came a strut tingling voice from the shadows.

Sideswipe feigned fear for a split second before his face cracked into a handsome grin.

"Mine's already fragged, but good luck trying," he challenged happily.

Sunstreaker wanted to groan and throttle his twin for his flippancy. Now was not the time to mouth off. Then again, Sideswipe didn't have an 'off' button when it came to his mouth.

Their interrogator, (a bulky purple mech with a gravely voice,) sluggishly stepped up to the exam table where Sideswipe was restrained. Sunstreaker was similarly restrained on a table opposite, a wide metal shelving unit housing vicious looking tools situated between them. A small tray on wheels was nearby, its surface covered in silver tools and spent energon.

Instruments of torture and despair. They had witnessed much suffering and loss of life. They glinted evilly in the harsh overhead lighting.

When most prisoners were confronted by a mech with a preceding bad reputation, one optic, and a huge assortment of torture devises leering at them, they'd oil themselves in fear.

But not the infamous split spark twins.

One glared in open hostility, murder shining in his midnight blue optics.

The other looked…excited. Like he was about to receive a special treat.

Not a typical reaction when meeting the infamous Decepticon interrogator.

Shockwave had been performing experiments and interrogations since his activation. He had a long history of examination and cataloguing of a subject's reaction. His reputation was well known all over Cybertron and the outer reaches of the galaxy. It was highly unlikely the two prisoners did not know of Shockwave or his savagery.

Then again, they weren't acting the way they should when confronted with the deadly interrogator/inventor.

It was illogical.

They should be trembling, plating rattling in fear. Panic should be reflected in their optics. Pleas for mercy and begging for their lives should be pouring from their vocalizers.

Even those who appeared stoic and unmoving were slowly peeled and examined, their fake bravado falling away to reveal the simpering masses of metal hid behind their tough exteriors. It was easy to discern the cracks in their bravado and chip away at their psyche. Shockwave was good at his job. He knew how to intimidate without appearing to do so.

But these two displayed no fear of him or his instruments of torment. One was abnormally aggressive, the other, manically….happy?

That did not compute.

Why would one feel happy about their impending termination?

That didn't compute at all.

"Do you not comprehend the magnitude of your situation?" Shockwave asked.

"Yeah," Sideswipe gave a one sided shrug. It was difficult as he was strapped to the exam table. "But we're not worried about what you might do."

"Are you not aware of my reputation?" Shockwave asked.

What kind of mech wouldn't be worried about being tortured into termination?

These two really were aberrations!

"We've had worse."

"I highly doubt it." Shockwave wasn't a vain mech but he had eons of experience.

"Whatever you do to us, we'll do to you," Sunstreaker added with a glower. "But we won't be as gentle."

"That would require your survival of the proceedings."

Shockwave was glad he was built of stronger stuff. The gold one was making his plating crawl. Something about him was off-putting.

"Piece of oil cake!" Sideswipe hooted.

"I highly doubt it," Shockwave said. If he was capable of facial features, he would be displaying skepticism. "We are hidden deep within a Decepticon bunker, within a Decepticon territory, surrounded by Decepticon forces. No one knows where you are. This bunker is heavily shielded. There is no hope for rescue."

"Oh, we don't need a rescue," Sideswipe beamed, still smiles and annoying happiness. "We'll bust out on our own."

"And frag everything in our path," Sunstreaker added maliciously.

"Highly unlikely," Shockwave scoffed.

"Oh, you don't know our reputation," Sideswipe put in cheerily.

"I have a reputation of my own," Shockwave said, sounding prideful. He withdrew a long purple cable slightly darker than his own plating. "I will have those codes, or I will destroy your CPUs in the process."

"They're already fragged!" Sideswipe crowed with a chortle.

"Will you hurry up and get on with it?" Sunstreaker asked with a sigh of exasperation. "The slagger is annoying me with all that giddiness."

Shockwave paused. Never had a mech or femme told him to 'hurry up.'

Once again, he got the sensation that something was off. After years of interrogating prisons and random, unwilling subjects, there was a predictable pattern.

Fear. Compromise. Bargaining. Begging. Bribery.

All were expected emotional responses.

These two abnormalities didn't fit the previous experiences. Of course, they were aberrations, so previous victims wouldn't provide optimal comparison.

But still… there was an undeniable inkling that something didn't compute.

It wasn't bravado or a false façade or even the idle bantering to buy time to mount an escape or affect rescue.

Perhaps they were up to something, though Shockwave couldn't fathom what. He could only deal in logic. With the tangible and explainable. Facts and statistics. Science ruled his existence. Abnormalities and anomalies had no place in his world.

Neither did the two mechs currently occupying his exam tables. If they survived the cortical psychic patches, he could devote some time to studying their unique and highly irregular biology. They may be of use to the Decepticon cause.

Shockwave checked the cable before inserting the dominate end into the main port at the side of his head typically used by medics during states of emergency and unconsciousness. It provided a direct link into a bot's meta. The cortical patch Shockwave perfected allowed him to use medical codes to override fail safes and firewalls within a bot's mind and give him unlimited access into the innermost part of a Cybertronian, and direct his area in inquiry to gain the information he sought.

Shockwave held the opposite end of the cable that would connect him with the mind of his victim and paused upon finding Sideswipe's broadening smile. The mech perked up, as if excitedly expecting a reward.

Most troubling.

Maybe it wasn't wise to start with one so obviously unbalanced?

Best to start with the one who wasn't grinning like a maniac.

Shocked turned from the red prisoner to the gold one on his left.

Instead of smiling, this one scowled, bearing his denta in a sneer.

Good.

More mentally stable.

Shockwave could work with that. He stepped toward the golden mech and much to his secret relief, the golden mech started growling in warning.

"Not a good idea," Sideswipe called from the other table. "Sunstreaker doesn't like to be touched."

"He will endure," Shockwave stated flatly, coming to stand by the table the golden mech reposed on. This close he could see how handsome the mech's features were even through the scowl.

Sunstreaker throttled his engine on high, warning the encroaching one optic mech. The air hummed. Both their plating vibrated. There was an underlying scent of burnt ozone.

Sunstreaker was about to go nova.

Shockwave, ignorant of this fact, probed the side of Sunstreaker's helm, searching for his main access port. A soft click was heard and the thin metal retracted, revealing the port.

"Nice knowing you," Sideswipe called. "Any last words?"

Shockwave hovered the connecting piece above Sunstreaker's port. It was difficult as Sunstreaker was thrashing his head, trying to ward off the mech's violation.

"You will be next," Shockwave said menacingly to Sideswipe as he grasped Sunstreaker's helm to steady him and jammed in the cable.

"Doubtful," Sideswipe muttered, watching the purple mech establish a connection. "Dumb aft."

Shockwave found the connection easy, the golden mech's meta inviting him in with minimal resistance. Apparently the golden mech didn't have adequate firewalls and other preventative measures, else he would have been harder for Shockwave to hack.

The purple mech had the fleeting sensation of ease and relief, mentally chiding the weakness of the golden mech's mind and laughable resistance. Shockwave would have the needed codes in no time.

Then came the pain.

It crashed and waved and pulled him under into its darkness, suffocating him. Shockwave was unable to mount a defense against the onslaught pouring from the golden mech directly into his cortex.

Sunstreaker focused on the neural link, seeking the intruder who dared hack him. Once capturing the unfortunate mech in his mental hold, Sunstreaker bombarded him with every excruciating memory, phantom pain, hatred, anger, loathing, everything he experienced in life and concentrated it upon the one dumb enough to link consciousness with him.

Darkness and a wiry, raw, vicious consciousness, tangled and garbled and mixed with the sensation of another, an echo of Sideswipe magnifying the pain and torment.

Unable to cope with the emotional torrent, Shockwave fell to the floor, writhing and jerking as Sunstreaker continued to bleed hatred over their connection. The cable practically throbbed in tandem to the dual sparks who endured suffering on unfathomable levels, now being freely shared with a mech who was unprepared (and unable) to handle the mental onslaught.

Sighing, Sideswipe watched the purple mech shudder in convulsions, a high pitched whine erupting from his tortured vocalizer.

"Told you," he singsonged happily.

With a deft twist, Sunstreaker finally broke his restraints. He has used Sideswipe's distraction to advantage, loosening his bonds. It took some finagling, his mind still sending a lifetime of suffering and sorrow into the unfortunate Con seizing on the floor, but Sunstreaker was able to wiggle free, tearing his bonds.

He glared down at his pedes to the mech who was dumb enough to link with him. If Shockwave possessed standard optics, they would have been rolled back into his head or blacked out from blown fuses. There were several pops and hissing gears from Shockwave's chassis, signaling an eminent shut down.

Sunstreaker hastily withdrew his mind and emotions, tucking them safely back into his own meta, and ripped the connection cable from his port. He tossed it to the twitching, unconscious mech who tried to share what was supposed to be private.

"Fragger," Sunstreaker spat, swinging his leg as hard as he could toward the mech's helm.

There was a screeching of metal as Shockwave's helm partially severed, circuits and cables exposed at his neck as his head hung at an awkward angle.

"He looks marginally better," Sideswipe quipped, rattling his bonds to get his twin's attention.

Sunstreaker hurried to his twin, freeing him and offering a quick punch to the face out of spite. It was Sideswipe's idiocy that got them captured in the first place. Sunstreaker would make sure his twin was properly schooled when they returned behind friendly lines. Right now, he needed the slagger to help him escape.

There was the sound of heavy pede falls approaching.

"Oh, we're going to have company," Sideswipe said, subspacing a rifle loaded with incendiary pellets he stole from one of his commanders. (he wouldn't miss it)

"Fun," Sunstreaker said, grabbing Shockwave's arm and giving it a mighty wrench.

With a creak of bending metal, his arm came free, providing Sunstreaker with a wide shield that also doubled as a heavy weapon.

The door opened to reveal several Cons who weren't used to finding Shockwave's lab specimens loose and enacting revenge. They offered very little resistance as the twins took their momentary distraction to charge, effectively terminating the mechs where they stood.

The twins raced down the long palely illuminated hall, rounding the corner and terminating the three mechs who happened to appear from a doorway. Onward they moved, unsure of their location but determined to escape. They wound their way through the labyrinth, Sideswipe providing direction. He took in Shockwave's boast of the twins being in a Con base, deep in Con territory and hoped he guessed the correct direction to escape.

Not that such a thing bothered either twin.

They thrived on minimal odds, proving them wrong time and time again. If they were unable to escape, they'd burn the place to the ground just out of principal.

But this time, Primus was smiling. They found the exit, Sunstreaker slamming Shockwave's palm into the scanner to allow access. The door buzzed, granting the twins freedom.

Outside the compound was a bedraggled building used as a guise to cover the Con base of operations. The twins noted its location to relay to their superiors. They planned on coming back, fully armed and ready to rip the Cons a new orifice.

The escape was quicker than anticipated, Shockwave lying about their secured location and exaggerated numbers. As the last Con fell, the twins disappeared into the ashen landscape surrounding the battle scarred buildings.

Racing along a tunnel, Sideswipe tried Autobot frequencies, giving their location for pick up. To his surprise, there was a attack squad ten kliks away, approaching fast. They'd meet up in a few moments. Sideswipe gave an authorization code and hunkered down on the perimeter of the shelled out city.

Sunstreaker lowered himself nearby, still holding Shockwave's lost limb. It bore dents and color schemes of Sunstreaker's victims.

"Company's coming," Sideswipe said with a cackle, opening his subspace pocket and extracting a handful of shiny silver instruments that had been on the shelf. He lofted a couple in the air, snickering as the light of his optics sparkled off the razor sharp edges. "It's almost happy time!"

"You're deranged," Sunstreaker diagnosed easily, shaking his head at his brother's antics.

Their bond was flooded with adoration and excitement, which meant Sideswipe was gearing up for a massive explosion of retribution and termination. Add to the fact he had some new toys to implement, and the Cons were in for a massive blow to their forces.

"Oh, and Shockwave wasn't?" Sideswipe countered, fingering the silver tools and examining them more closely. "Did you see the instruments he had on the wall?"

Sunstreaker opened his own subspace pocket and withdrew the handful of instruments that had been reposing on the tray. They still bore the spent energon of innocents.

"Missed that part when I was busy plotting our escape," he retorted. The tools were unique and Sunstreaker wasn't sure their exact function. But he knew who would like them. "Ratchet will like these."

Sideswipe perked up at the mention of the ghostly menace of medbay.

"Yeah, he'll love them!" Sideswipe exclaimed, placing the instruments back into his pockets to give them to the Pit spawned slagger who kept them functioning. "It's been awhile since we brought him a present from the front lines."

Sunstreaker shook his helm. Yup his brother was deranged. Then again, Sunstreaker noticed it was a commonality amongst the crew. They all seemed to be dysfunctional in one way or another.

Like their medic, who was an unstable, foul mouthed, fiery tempered demon that instantly earned the love and respect of the notorious twin terrors.

He'd like the strange instruments tucked away in the twins' subspace pockets. Perhaps when the twins joined the incoming battle group and attacked the Con base, they could pilfer a few more?

Maybe even scavenge some of the mechs for spare parts? Prime didn't approve of stripping corpses but the war was long and parts were becoming scarce. They'd have to raid the dead if they were to survive. And Sunstreaker hoped Shockwave was terminated so he could pick him apart.

Sunstreaker's optics gleamed dangerously in the low light, causing Sideswipe to shudder against his will and frown at his twin, wondering what had him so deadly enthusiastic.

Then again, Sunstreaker's bloodlust was vastly stronger than Sideswipe's own, so he shrugged it off.

When the transport arrived, the twins directed the pilot to the place they had escaped. It wasn't hard to miss. There were bodies lying at the doorway of an apparently blasted out building.

Down into the bowels of the building they went, flanked by backup and restocked in weaponry.

But the place was deserted.

Much to the twins' dismay, Shockwave's body wasn't there for desecration. Pity too. They really wanted to pluck him apart. No doubt he had been privy to much worse.

"You need to work on your kick," Sideswipe said with a grin, shouldering his rifle. "Next time, take a mech's head completely off."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Sunstreaker groused, foul mood returning now that he didn't have any Cons to take out his aggression on. On the plus side, he found all the tools left behind by Shockwave's hasty retreat. "At least we found Ratchet some new toys."

"Oh, he's going to be so tickled," Sideswipe giggled, shoveling as much into his pockets as he could. The other Autobots were performing recon and were unaware of the twins shopping spree. "Maybe if we bring him some good stuff, he'll slap us around some more?"

Sunstreaker groaned, placing the last handful of tools in his subspace.

Yup, his brother was a complete whack-job.

A small part of him wondered what would have happened if Shockwave had linked to Sideswipe instead.

It probably would have been hilarious.

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Be sure to click that button and let me know what you think. And don't forget to offer ideas to celebrate our 8 years together! :D