Ch. 71

Ratchet poked delicately at Starscream's leg, eliciting a yelp, "Deep, but clean enough. I'll have it patched in a moment..."

The seeker pouted, then looked to his side. Knockout was getting his mandatory check up after him. Then Arcee, then Bulkhead, then Soundwave. A line of bots with only one doctor to help them. Starscream pointed at Knockout.

"Why hasn't he taken priority?"

The red mech frowned, "Yeah, why am I not ahead on this list?"

Ratchet pointed his welder at the two of them, "Because Starscream is still leaking energon, that's why. Now hold still," the medic took hold of the seeker's leg and began to weld, Starscream pouting lightly.

The silver mech wanted to be alone with his thoughts right now. Surely his damage wasn't that extensive. Starscream yelped again when the weld had to go in deeper. Ratchet pulled away and shook his helm.

"Well, I've stopped the leaking," the medic admitted, "but you're far from being fully repaired. Knockout, I'll take a look at you now."

The red mech frowned, "I'm pretty sure Breakdown and I can handle my own examination."

Ratchet frowned, "Op, bop, bop, don't argue. This is important. If I have to work on your chassis for any reason, I think you'd rather I be familiar with it."

Knockout glared, "My chassis is a work of ART."

The older mech glared back, "And I am a physician. If you want your chassis to remain 'art' then hold still."

The red mech submitted, but only for the moment; it was clear the argument wasn't over. And Starscream was thankful for the silence that followed. He really did need to think.

Megatron had yelled at him that he couldn't die. Well that had to be a lie, didn't it? The seeker knew he was 'DEAD' in less than a year and a half. Primus, time was just flying, wasn't it? Starscream fiddled with a scratch on his arm as the comment flew threw his processor again.

"You will never escape me! And since you can't die, it won't matter WHAT I do to you!"

The seeker tried not to visibly flinch. It sounded like he was hearing Megatron right in his audials.

"And since you can't die, it won't matter WHAT I do to you!"

Starscream looked up in surprise at Soundwave's visor as he replayed the sound clip, "... Had to eavesdrop on that, did you?"

The mech slowly nodded, "Inquiry: explain."

Ratchet huffed, "Megatron yelled that at you? Then yes, Starscream, please explain."

The seeker glared, "It's nothing- it's a delusion!"

The medic pointed a scanning tool at him, "I'm nearly finished with Knockout, don't make me settle for working on you next. It would be unpleasant."

Starscream scowled, "I... don't really know what he means," he earned a glare from Ratchet and put up his servos defensively, "I really don't! The last time he and I... spoke-"

"You mean when he got you slag-faced on high grade," Knockout smirked, Breakdown chuckling quietly from the side.

The seeker growled, "He said that Unicron knew something about me, or maybe my predicament."

"Why you know things," Ratchet hummed lightly, letting Knockout get up, "So, what did he say then?"

Starscream watched as the red mech stretched and relished in his freedom; he was envious, "At the time? He said... hm..." he thought back; he may have been unbalanced at the time, but he had to have remembered some of what was going on, "He was angry at me about using the dark energon. He said my spark rejected the power of it, which I find hard to believe. I just think it didn't work because he had already used it..."

Arcee frowned slowly, "Did he say anything else?"

The seeker scoffed, "Yes, that my spark couldn't be extinguished so he was going to capture me and exploit it. I don't have any death defying power, if I did I would be emperor of Cyberton by now."

Knockout laughed, "Emperor Starscream! What a riot! That's hilar-" he stopped when he noticed the glare he was getting and coughed, "I mean... A mech can dream, can't he?"

Starscream grumbled, "Anyway, I happen to think that with Unicron's spark extinguished and unable to power the dark energon, it may have had an adverse effect on Megatron's psyche. They were connected at the time of the Chaos Bringer's demise."

"That could very well be the case, Starscream," Optimus replied deeply as he approached, smiling gently, "Ratchet, how does everyone look so far?"

The medic scoffed, "So far?" he pointed at each patient, "Ripped to pieces, an 'artistic' display, confused and dumbfounded, worse for wear, and completely unreadable," he leered at Soundwave who only stared back.

Optimus nodded, turning to Arcee, "Arcee, have you had a chance to talk to Starscream?"

The femme shook her helm, "Not yet. I can do so at a better time."

The seeker sighed audibly, "No better time than now. It's not as though Ratchet will let me slink off anywhere."

Arcee frowned softly in thought and shrugged, "Alright..."

She took in a deep intake but was cut off when Starscream quickly waved his servos, "Oh, wait, wait! Tell me how your fight with Airachnid went! Did you catch her? Did she get pulverized? If you have any details about damage to her, I want to know. It will make me happy."

Arcee frowned harder, unable to look him in the optics, "That's... what I want to talk to you about."

Starscream's optics cycled in blinks and he sighed, "You didn't see her? What about the whole Insecticon swarm I warned you about?"

The femme glared, "Starscream, Airachnid disappeared, vanished, right in the middle of our fight. We don't know where she is."