Ch. 32
Starscream hummed as he walked around an unused section of the New York subway tunnels. This was far easier than the caves. Even if he was going to have to do a fair bit of digging to get to the Phase Shifter. The area was just up ahead and he smirked when he saw some human equipment that had been left out to fix and repair the tunnels.
"Well, we make do with what we have," he shrugged, looking at an excavator rudely, "as long as they aren't the tips of my digits, I could not care less..."
The shovel end was what the seeker was most interested in and he looked for the best way to remove the attachment without damaging the machine too much. But he didn't see an alternative.
"I can be a little naughty once in a while," he told himself as he cut wires from the excavator's shovel and pulled the bolts from its side, "Besides, I need this more than they do."
He looked over his new tool and nodded, glancing at the dirt wall he now had to dig through.
Starscream sighed, "Well, I won't get through all this by just standing here..."
He raised his makeshift shovel high and struck into the wall hard, smiling a little when he saw it was loose enough that he wouldn't be as sore like the other times. He grimaced. Stupid Spark Extractor...
The seeker kept digging when he got a ping on his COMM; he answered as he continued to work, "A little busy here."
"Really?" came Knockout's response, "Cause I'm not. Entertain me, Psychic!"
Starscream chuckled, "I'm digging out the Phase Shifter. Primus, I should have done this first, but it's still going to take some time."
"Wasn't I supposed to get that one?"
The seeker nodded, smiling when he hit a small air pocket in the wall. Primus, he hoped there were more of those.
"Yes, you were. But you would be mortified if I told you how scratched up you got fighting for it."
Knockout went silent then softly spoke, "... How scratched?"
Starscream snickered, "It was like you swam through sandpaper."
A whimper responded and the seeker shook his helm, "Don't worry. That won't happen now."
"Yeah... yeah, you're right... So, what else is happening?"
Starscream stepped back when a chunk of the wall gave way then moved back in, "What? How do you mean?"
"The future, oh mighty Psychic!"
"Ha, ha," Starscream huffed, unamused, "You already know what's coming up..."
"Then tell me what happened with the Autobots. You didn't exactly check in, you know."
Oh frag, he'd forgotten to do that... Well, it's not like he had time to really think about all that.
The seeker paused in his work, sighing, "Yes... my apologies... Well, I had been unconscious for almost two days, so give me some credit on that, alright?"
Knockout hummed, "Fair enough. Go on."
Starscream began digging again, "Well, the ToxEn contamination was successfully removed from my chassis. But I still had to rest after that. I told them about the dark energon Big Bang, but that was about it. And last night I decided to come here after I woke up and refueled, so that's where I'm at now."
"Good, good, staying productive," Knockout chuckled, "Is it my turn now?"
The seeker frowned to himself, "You had something happen today, didn't you?"
The red mech purred over the COMM, "I did~! And I'm surprised you didn't ask about it. You did put it down as an event."
Starscream paused again. ... What was today? What was the next event...? ... Frag, Ratchet was supposed to test the synthetic energon over the past couple days! Today was the day he was supposed to punch Megatron in the faceplate!
"Frag!" the seeker yelled.
Knockout snorted, "Watch your fragging language!"
Starscream shook his helm, smiling, "Right, right, so? Tell me what happened!"
Knockout giggled, "So, ok, ready?"
"I said I was."
"Right, so Ratchet must have only gotten part of the formula, like you said he did before, cause he was way over the limit when he burst into the mine," the red mech snickered, "And... oh Primus, Breakdown was smart, he just let him walk in, cause Ratchet went straight up to Megatron and just... just... POW!"
Starscream jumped in surprise at the yell over the COMM and grumbled, "So it was worth it?"
He heard the mech sniff, "It was beautiful..."
The seeker dug harder, smiling when he hit another air pocket, "What about Ratchet? Is he alright?"
Knockout sighed, "Yeah, he's fine. Megatron put a beat on him, then left him for me to mess with. Since... you know, Ratchet knows about us, I figured I'd stitch him up a bit."
Starscream clicked his glossa at the top of his mouth, "Aw, how nice of the sweet, dear Knockout."
Knockout growled over the COMM, "Hey! It's a doctor's code! Plus we're gonna end up working with them anyway."
"How did the old mech like your handy work?"
There was a pause, "He thought my speed was impressive, but he thinks I can use a little technique."
Starscream laughed, "That's old-bot for, 'I refuse to say I'm impressed'!"
Knockout hummed, "Maybe... So, how close are you to the relic now?"
The seeker looked around him. He was pretty much inside the wall now. Only the tips of his wings were sticking out. Primus, he loved his new makeshift shovel. It was his new best friend.
"Starscream?"
Starscream nodded at his work, "Pretty close. I've been hitting a few air pockets. Glorious, already open air pockets. They've been speeding this along..."
A loud clang in front of him as the shovel came down told him he had hit something.
Knockout gasped from the other end of the COMM, "I heard that. Was that it? Or did you get hurt? Are you hurt?"
Starscream dropped the excavator shovel and dug with his servos, brushing dirt off the top of the containment lid, "I found it! Finally."
Knockout whooped on the other end, "Break... Breakdown! ... Yeah, he just got it."
Starscream heard Breakdown through Knockout's COMM, "Great, that'll make things move more smoothly."
The seeker popped off the lid and smiled, holding up the Phase Shifter, "It's pretty nice. I can see why you and Smokescreen fight over it so much."
Knockout laughed then stopped, "Wait, what? Who's Smokescreen? You haven't told me about him yet!"
Starscream let the device attach itself to his arm and he looked it over, "Well Knockout, I thought maybe holding back a thing or two would give you a bit of a surprise. It's not fun knowing everything."
The red mech grumbled, "Well, I better know what's coming up next for safety's sake."
The seeker nodded, more to himself than anything, "I won't let anything happen. Promise."