CHAPTER 8

Thundercracker and Skywarp were finally able to calm Shadowstar down. She let them drag her into a secluded area where they set her gently on the floor and held her there until she stopped screaming. Once she was her old self again, she slumped down and refused to meet either ones optics. "I'm sorry," she said over and over. "I should have better control of myself. It won't happen again."

"That's okay," Skywarp told her.

Thundercracker was interested in something else. "Why did Starscream react that way?" he asked her, standing over her. "What did you do to him?"

She looked away. "I can't explain it," she replied. "Even if I did you wouldn't understand."

"What do you mean?" he pressed.

She still refused to give any answers. "It's best you didn't know," she told him.

Thundercracker looked like he wanted to press it further but the look Skywarp gave him made him stay silent.Why is he looking at me like that? Does he know what it is? "You'd better do something about that damage," he said, pointing at her chest.

Both Shadowstar and Skywarp looked down at the damage. A hole, not as big as the one that had killed her, had been blow in her armor. Her back also had some damages, thanks to Starscream's temper, but not as sever at the frontal damages. "That looks bad," Skywarp said, refering to the frontal damage. "We'd better get you repaired."

Shadowstar nodded. She hadn't really noticed her damage until Thundercracker had mentioned it. Now she realized just how sever it was and leaned forward, wrapping hers arms around it. Skywarp was worried. What if she went off line again? He looked up at Thundercracker. "Let's get her to the repair bay," he said.

Optimus Prime hadn't expected Jazz and the others to get back so soon. He was surprised to see them but before he could ask why they were back he noticed Seaspray and Powerglide carrying Jazz into the Ark. He ran toward them, worried about the Porsche. "What happened?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," Powerglide replied. "But I have a guess." He noticed the question in his boss's optics. "I'll explain later. First we'd better get him inside."

Optimus nodded. "Good idea."

He helped them carry the off line Jazz into the base and into the repair bay where Ratchet was. The medic stared at the Autobots as they carried in Jazz and set him on the examining table. "What happened to him?" he asked, walking toward the table to take a look.

"A Decepti-chick did something to him," Powerglide replied.

The others stared at him, their optics full of questions.

The plane explained. "I found Jazz in the arms of a female Decepticon," he said, gesturing at the other robot, pointing out the two puncture marks on his neck. "She's gotta be some kind of vampire or something to cause those marks."

The other Autobots stared at the marks. "A Decepticon vampire," Optimus said, putting his hand on his chin, thoughtfully. "I wonder if Megatron has something to do with this."

'Probably," Powerglide said, shrugging. "I wouldn't put it past him."

"Hmm." Optimus mused for a moment. "Or maybe he found her."

"Found her?" the others stared at him.

"Jazz mentioned them carrying some kind of body out of that old military base," Prime explained. "The one they tried to steal energy from. If it was her, she was already there."

"But how did she get there?"

"I don't know," he replied, shaking his head. "But we'd better find out." he put his hands on his hips and looked at the three Autobots. "Ratchet, you see if you can fix Jazz. Seaspray get Bumblebee and Perceptor. Tell them I want to talk to them."

"Right away," Seaspray said, walking out of the room.

"What do you want me to do, Prime?" Powerglide asked, willing to help out any way he could.

"You help Ratchet fix Jazz," he replied. "Try to get him online as soon as possible." the plane nodded and Prime started out of the room. I hope this isn't as serious as it seems...

""What happened to the Autobots?" Skywarp asked as he led Shadowstar to the repair bay.

"I dealt with them," she said flatly. "I don't think they'll come back."

He looked at her face. "How do you know that?"

She smiled and the black and purple seeker saw her fangs. "I just do," she replied.

He didn't push it. Instead he changed the subject. "May I ask you something?"

She stopped smiling and her fangs disappeared. "You can ask me anything after I've repaired myself," she replied, as they stepped into the repair bay. Her answer was reassuring and he waited for her to do so. She sat down on the table in the room. As she began fixing the damage she'd sustained from Powerglide and Jazz he stood back and watched. She seemed to be doing a good job. He found himself admiring her structure, similar yet different from his own. She is beautiful, he thought.Dangerous but beautiful. Isn't it always that way?

"Uh, Skywarp?" her voice cut into his thoughts.

He snapped out of it. "Huh?"

She looked at him. "I can't get the damage on my back," she said. "Can you help me?"

"Uh, sure," he said, a little hesitantly. He wasn't sure he wanted to get too close to her. Who knows what she would do? In the end the slight attraction he had toward her won and he walked over to her, picking up some tools. She turned her back to him and he started working on the damage.

"Why does Starscream hate me?" she asked, after a moment.

He almost stopped what he was doing at her question. Why was she asking about Starscream? "I don't know," he replied, forcing himself to continue. "He hates females for some reason, though I can't understand why."

"He told me a female betrayed him once," she replied, crossing her legs. "Is that true?"

"I don't know," he replied. "He might have been lying or that's what happened." he shrugged. "I don't talk to Starscream that much. Sure, we're wing mates and everything, but all he ever talks about it taking over."

"Hmmm."

"Why are you asking me?"

She looked over her shoulder at him. "Because I want to know why he hates me so much," she replied. "We're all going to be working together and I don't like knowing that one of my comrades hates me because of my gender." she looked sad for a split second. "I can't help it that Shockwave built me as a female."

"Shockwave built you?" he asked, his mouth dropping open in surprise.

"Yeah," she said, turning he body around, her wings knocking the tools out of Skywaprs hands. Now she was facing him and he started to get nervous again. "Shockwave built me but something went wrong during the process."

"What?"

She shook her head. "I don't know," she replied. "But I can't get energon the way everyone else can."

"What do you mean?"

She ignored the question, her attention concentrated on his face. "You're afraid of me, aren't you?"

Skywarp stared at her, taking a few steps back. He tried to deny it but she knew better. His actions were screaming it louder than any sound. But if he's afraid of me why did he get so close?

Shockwave and Megatron found the energy source Shadowstar had mentioned. It was a collection of energon cubes hidden in the former home of the Autobot Alpha Trion who'd disappeared a few years ago. Since the Autobot was no longer around to protect his energon the two wasted no time taking it. As they did Megatron decided to find out all he could about Shockwave's little female creation.

"Tell me everything you know about your creation," he said abrumptly as the two and Shockwave's drone army carried the cubes back to Shockwave's station.

The one eyed Decepticon looked at his master curiously. "What do you want to know?" he asked. "Why do you want to know?"

Megatron waved off the question. "It's not your concern," he said.

"I'm not sure about that," Shockwave disagreed, turning to face Megatron and blocking his path. "I did create her after all. I think it would be in my best interest to know why you want me to tell you about her."

"It's not anything you need to worry about," his master said off handedly. "I just want to know everything about her."

Shockwave got the feeling that Megatron planned on using the information in case Shadowstar tried anything to betray him. Her creator hesitated a moment then began to explain. "I created her a short time before you and the Autobots left Cybertron. I programed her to be my assistant. Everything seemed to be going all right at first but something went wrong when I was bringing her online."

The Decepticon leader stared at him. "What?"

He hesitated a moment then, when he noticed Megatron's expression, went on. "Her Energon processor got a virus and she can't process Energon the right way."

"What do you mean?"

"She has to get it by taking it from other things that already have it."

Megatron understood what that meant. "So you're saying she is a vampire?" he asked.

Shockwave nodded.

Megatron put his hand on his chin. "Interesting," he said thoughtfully.

Bumblebee and Perceptor were very curious about what Prime wanted to talk to them about and came to him right away when Seaspray told them the Autobot leader wanted them.

"What is it, Optimus?" Bumblebee asked, looking up at the Autobot leader. He saw the look on the taller robot's face. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure yet," Optimus replied, looking thoughtful. "But I think we're all in trouble."

"What do you mean?" Perceptor asked. "Is it the Decepticons?"

"Yes," Optimus replied, looking at the other two. He seemed worried about something. "It seems the Decepticons have activated a vampire."

The two looked at each other. "A vampire?"

Bumblebee started laughing. "A vampire?" he exclaimed. "Come on, Prime. You know vampires don't exist."

"I'm not joking," Optimus told him, his voice dead serious. 'This isn't just any kind of vampire. It's a transformer."

"A transformer?" Perceptor said. "You mean like one of us? Are you saying this vampire is from Cybertron?"

"That is exactly what I'm saying, Perceptor," the leader replied. "Remember when I told you that Jazz saw the Decepticons carrying a body out of that military base?" they nodded. "It seems that body belonged to a Decepticon. A vampire Decepticon."

They stared at him. Perceptor, ever logical, said after a few minutes. "But Decepticons vampires aren't real either. It can't be true."

"Then can you explain to me what those marks are on Jazz's neck?" Optimus asked.

"Marks on his neck?" Bumblebee gasped, his blue optics getting bigger. "What kind of marks?"

"Bite marks," his leader replied. "Powerglide saw the female Decepticon bite Jazz. If she's a vampire, we're going to have to do something about her."

"But what?" Perceptor wanted to know. "Megatron has her. He'll most likely find out sooner or later."

"I don't know," Optimus replied. "Let's just hope Megatron doesn't know about it yet. If he found out he'd use the information to his advantage."

"You mean like send her here to get rid of us?" Perceptor questioned.

Optimus nodded. "Exactly."

"Well then let's hope he doesn't," Bumblebee said.

Skywarp was finished repairing Shadowstar's back. "Okay," he said, putting down the tools. "I'm all done."

She turned around swiftly, so swiftly she knocked the remaining tool out of his hand. Skywarp, surprised, took a step back. She smiled at him, putting out a hand to keep him from going further. "Thank you," she said to him, her smile getting a little bigger and showing off those fangs again. "Thanks for helping me repair myself."

He stammered a reply, as he once again began to feel nervous. She was close, very close. If she tried anything he wouldn't be able to stop her. Luckily for him she didn't have that kind of thing in mind. Instead she took her hand off his shoulder and pushed herself off the table. She stood beside him a moment, watching his optics, then turned away and headed out of the room.

Without thinking he asked. "Where are you going?"

She stopped walking and turned to him, the smile no longer on her face but her expression not angry at his question. "Not very far," she replied. When he started to ask her something else she turned away, ignoring him and stepped out of the room.

He watched her go. He didn't call to her again or go after her. Something inside him was making him feel weird and he wasn't sure what to do. Fear and attraction was the worst kind of combination ever created.

"Why am I attracted to her anyway?" he asked himself. "She's dangerous. I should be avoiding her but for some reason I don't want to."

He thought about it a little more but couldn't figure out why. Maybe it was one of those things that one would never be able to draw a conclusion for. He shook his head and left the repair bay. He had other things to do and thinking about her would not help him get them done.

Starscream got over his fright once he was a safe distance away from the female. Though his fear was gone he still felt edgy. He had never seen a transformer with fangs before. Especially not on one so angry. He was lucky Thundercracker and Skywarp came when they did. A moment longer and he might have been off line right now.

"That just confirms what I've been thinking ever since we brought her here," he said to himself. "Females are dangerous." he glanced around himself. "I hope I never get that close to her again!"

He started walking. Standing in one place for a long time would just make his chances of running into her greater. He didn't want that. A few minutes later he was passing by the control room when something inside caught his attention. He stopped and back tracked a few steps. Peeking around the door frame he noticed a figure standing in front of the giant compter. It was the female.

What is she doing?

The screen came to life and he watched her look up at the screen. "So this is it," he heard her said. "This is everything I need to know about everyone, even Megatron."

Hmmm it looks like the female isn't exactly loyal after all, he thought. I knew it.

The images on the screen changed a few times then stopped on an image of a strange looking object. Next to the yellow object with the glowing blue center was an Autobot symbol. "The Autobot Matrix," the female said out loud, still staring at the screen. "The one thing that makes the Autobot leader different from the Decepticon leader." she tapped away at the keys. "Unfair advantage. Maybe if I can copy the structure of the Autobot Matrix I'll be able to make my own Marix."

"And what do you plan on doing with this fake Matrix, female?" a voice behind her wanted to know.

Shadowstar, startled, gasped and turned around quickly. Behind her stood Starscream, his hands on his hips. He was blocking the doorway. "Starscream!" she exclaimed. "What do you want?"

"I want to know what you're up to," he replied, keeping a safe distance from her, in case she tried to attack him again. He pointed a finger at the screen. "I also would like to know why you want to copy the Autobot Matrix."

"It's only fair that we Decepticons have one too," she told him, tapping at the keys and making the screen go blank. "It's an unfair advantage on the Autobots part." "But what do you plan on doing with it if you are able to create it?" he demanded, folding his arms. "Keep it for yourself?"

"No," she said offended that he would think such a thing. "I'd give it to Megatron."

He sneered at her. "Megatron doesn't have any interest in the Matrix," he informed her. "I think it would be best if you didn't waste your time."
She glared at him. "Just leave me alone," she turned from him and went back to the computer, tapping away at the keys. "I don't have time to deal with you again. I would advise you to get away from me before I teach you another lesson."

Starscream wasn't happy about her bringing it up but knew she was right. Her weird behavior before was still fresh in his mind. "You haven't heard the last of this," he told her then turned and stalked out of the room.

She watched him go then went back to what she was doing. "If I did create a Decepticon matrix I would keep it as my own little secret..." she smiled again, her fangs exposed and glowing blue in the light from the screen. "Then we'll see who leads who."

A/N

Things are starting to pick up a little.