Ch. 97

"Question," Knockout grumbled, crossing his arms, "why are we in the showers?"

Starscream purred from under a wash of scalding hot water, "Because I promised myself this. Now hush or I will splash you."

The red mech growled, "Water spots are severely unattractive-"

Breakdown patted his shoulder and pulled him aside to make room for Optimus, the Prime smiling oddly, "Are you certain this cannot wait until after your bathing session?"

"I am not bathing," the seeker insisted, "I am warming up. I can still feel the Antarctic chill under my plating."

Soundwave moved in beside Starscream unsteadily, planting himself under a hot stream of water, "Starscream: move over."

The seeker huffed as he allowed Soundwave more space, "Besides, I've been doing my best to keep my promises and in light of that, I now claim this room as my own. I never want to be that cold again."

Bulkhead frowned, "Look, Scream, I've gotten to like you, but you can't take our showers!"

Optimus gently smiled at the green mech, "Easy, Bulkhead. Starscream's tone tells us he means this as a very temporary situation."

"Yes," the seeker agreed, "as in 'this moment, I have taken your showers until I am bored of them'."

"Autobots: all your shower belongs to us."

Miko giggled from somewhere among the many peds below, "Really, 'Wave? You just had to go there?"

Starscream shook his helm, unamused, and Optimus spoke up again, "Starscream, please tell us what could not wait until after your 'warm up'."

The seeker hadn't wanted to do this, but considering what Megatron had become, what he was becoming, he really had little choice in the matter. He sighed and leant back against the wall to allow the scalding hot water to hit his neck, grumbling as he spoke.

"Despite what I have already revealed... and what I have told certain bots, I didn't tell everyone everything."

Knockout frowned, "You didn't."

Ratchet rolled his optics, "Omitting again..."

Optimus only smiled, "Then please, Starscream, go ahead. We will listen."

Starscream shuffled his peds lightly, "As you are all aware, I'm doing this for a reason... I..." he scrunched up his faceplates thinking about, "I died. I was killed. Part of it was hubris. Part of it was cruelty, to... something- someone else. Part of it was thinking another party had been dead all this time. That is how I ended up here, with all of this knowledge. And I have been reluctant to share certain details because this end may never happen now. Other events may not transpire. And, I am hesitant to say, admitting my demise in such a fashion aloud like this only makes me feel as though it will just happen again."

Ratchet frowned, "And why would you think that?"

Starscream grumbled again, "Ignoring it, not acknowledging it, keeps it hidden. At least, in my optics. Why admit it did happen when you could just as easily ignore it and say that it won't?"

Arcee smirked lightly, "So, who was the lucky mech?"

The seeker growled, "Perfect example: I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you because he isn't here. He isn't here because we have yet to discover another party. We have yet to discover this other party because etcetera, etcetera, etcetera..."

Ratchet sighed, but nodded, "And this is why you've continued to omit, because if we're not even close enough to that point..."

"It doesn't pay to worry about it yet," Starscream shrugged, "It may never happen. What we just went through was similar, but not the same. I made that point before we split up. How much I have changed I've actually been able to boil down to a mediocre science. It's so simple, even Bulkhead will understand it."

The green mech huffed a chuckle, "Go ahead. Bring it."

The seeker stretched his digits, scratching into the air at nothing, "Here is where I died. Whether or not the circumstances afterwards are the same for other bots, I'm not sure, but from what I gather my spark was supposed to go back, relive certain memories through a small sliver of time and space displacement, before moving onto whatever else there is. It didn't happen."

Soundwave, who had been silent for most of this time, began to buzz gently as his processor worked equations to fit the theory.

No one else spoke, so Starscream continued, "I never finished this transition. Something stopped me, my own personal mistake or mutation, that hit me into the side of a memory tinged with a stain of purple. I assume that was the time when I used the dark energon and was pulled through by it during our second Skyquake escapade..."

"That's when you began to act strangely..." Ratchet murmured quietly.

The seeker's wings popped up lightly, "Well you try coming out of an experience like that with a smile and a wave! I had just died! I had an overall removal of being 'Starscream'! I was thrust into a void of emotions and feelings only to be abruptly halted and pulled through to my past, my actual past! Tell me, what would you have done?"

Miko pipped up, "I would have gone out and done everything cool! Demolition derbies! Heavy metal concerts!" her face looked more disappointed, "Ride in a jet around the whole planet as fast as he could go."

Starscream frowned, "... Point. Taken. Regardless," he began again, "I did what I did in a state of panic. During my initial reintroduction, I had to ensure certain things happened after Optimus failed to shoot my arm off-"

Arcee laughed openly, "Your arm was supposed to get shot off?"

"I changed a lot of things, Arcee. And when I lowered my weapons, Optimus did not have to shoot," he growled, "which meant I had already displaced what was supposed to happen. I didn't really have to go along with the script then, did I?" the femme shrugged and he went on, "Then what happened after. With Breakdown."

The mech gruffly answered, "Yeah, that wasn't a picnic."

Starscream nodded, "During our assault on MECH, something happened. Do you remember, Optimus?"

The Prime nodded slightly, "Indeed, Starscream. We were almost destroyed by a missile shot by Silas's helicopter."

"Were we destroyed by this missile shot by Silas's helicopter?"

"No, Starscream," Optimus answered, amused by the playful way the seeker was addressing this next issue, "we were not."

Starscream seemed a little more pleased about this next topic of discussion, "I have a superpower. I am going to relish in saying that. I have what I call a 'hiccup'. If something or someone is coming at me, with full ability and intent of killing me, the hiccup activates. Time around me seems to slow, I get a buildup of energy and I feel moved in multiple places before 'hiccuping' into a new spot, out of danger. I would have called it a 'teleport', but having known a couple mechs who could perform such a feat, this is nothing like that. It requires no energon to activate, only a clear helm and options to move about. I've moved Optimus through the hiccup a couple times now and Arcee as well," as he stared around at the multitude of expressions, from Bulkhead's look of horror to Optimus's simple smile to Miko's wide gapping grin of complete and utter amazement, he frowned, "A word of caution, however. ToxEn very nearly rendered this hiccup useless and while I have it now, I don't know how long it will stay with me. No, I can't activate it consciously, no, it won't just suddenly happen. I need to be in very real and present danger."

Bumblebee beeped quietly, asking if the hiccup had destroyed MECH's cortical patch cord.

The seeker nodded, "It felt very much the same at the time. That could have killed me but the hiccup overloaded it. I've been very nearly shot, gouged, stabbed, and crashed into rubble, some of these on more than one occasion, and if the damage would have been fatal the hiccup saves me. And I've found that when I touch another individual while we are both in the same immediate danger, we both move."

Ratchet was shaking, "I-is there any way to record it? Test it?"

Starscream pouted, "I'm not doing that. I told you: you would have to try to KILL me to get it to work. And I'm trying to stay ALIVE."

Optimus nodded, "We will do our best to keep you safe, Starscream, but should something happen on the battlefield that we are able to witness, that will be sufficient enough. Ratchet?"

The medic sighed, "Fine, fine..."

Soundwave hummed, "Starscream: clones?"

Starscream shook his helm, "No. They didn't inherit that."

Knockout grumbled, "Sucks, too. Couldn't we have saved even one? Two Knockouts would have been glorious..."

Breakdown patted his shoulder, "Sorry, doc, one's better than two."

"As much as I hate to say it," Arcee shrugged, "it would've been nice to have your clones running around. Not only would the numbers have helped, but considering Megatron's... condition..."

Starscream brightened, a real smile on his faceplate, "Actually the reason why I asked everyone here in the first place. A new event is coming up in a day and considering we need the addition, we'll need to prepare for his arrival."