C.M.D: Another month and another update~ I'm feeling super generous (and I'm been extra inspired) so I'm gonna throw TWO chapters at you all. Y'know, in celebration of the day of love! 3
For little over a month, things had gone quiet on Earth. There were no attacks, no kidnappings (attempted or otherwise) and certainly no tail or headlight seen from Megatron and his lackeys. It was a surreal experience.
"...do you think Sky-Byte's gonna defect?"
The question caught Side Burn off-guard; straightening his wheels he kept driving, opening his end of the comm to the inquirer.
"What are you on?," he returned to Wedge, headlights flashing at the bulldozer struggling to keep pace with him as the Autobots sped down the global bridge. "You trying to psych me out and steal my win for the competition?"
"My team is leading two to one," the orange Autobot shot back testily, his engine grunting in turn. Though that may have had more to do with the taxing speeds at which Wedge was trying to move at. "Anyway," he added, "I'm being serious. Sky-Byte's been kinda different for a while. We barely see him nowadays and he definitely hasn't been up to many tricks. Not since CGA Tower."
"Oh, you mean the one he knocked down?," Side Burn asked sarcastically.
The bulldozer snorted again, a small puff of black smoke escaping his stack. "Okay, but he didn't hurt anybody! And he worked with us to make sure they were all safely put back on the ground," Wedge said. "Not to mention that all the trouble has been from Scourge and his buddies recently."
The blue mech continued to roll forward along the space bridge nexus road, keeping an optic out for their exit. "And who exactly helped make Scourge, hm?"
"And who also rescued Dr. Onishi and brought him back to Koji- the very same guy that we're currently on a mission for?," the shorter Autobot rebutted, ire rich in his vocalizer.
Side Burn fell quiet for a moment. He couldn't contest that Sky-Byte had actually released Dr. Onishi- especially considering he'd been the one to spot him with Koji first. He had also been the first to open fire on the shark and not relent until their human friend had gotten between them. Just remembering that twisted the dodge viper's tanks in guilt... Why? He didn't know.
"Well, he's still a Predacon," Side Burn replied half-sparkedly.
"Jeez... Do you know what the term 'defect' means, Side Burn?," Wedge asked, swerving a little closer to the dodge viper. "You should stop hanging out with Ultra Magnus so much. You're becoming a real big grouch, like he is."
The blue Autobot pulled away from the bulldozer. "Yeah, well you're a real brat too! And who even told you that me and Magnus have been hanging out?"
Wedge was quick to reply. "Koji. Yeah, I talk to him too sometimes! There's not as many projects for the Build Team now that we've mapped most of Earth and he's around base often. Even he thinks Sky-Byte's a good 'bot, just on the wrong side."
"If you think he's so great, why don't you just make a fanclub then?," Side Burn suggested in poor humor. Just saying that made him want to gag a little.
"I don't need to. The kids at Koji's school already did. He gave me one of his extra pins; it's in my cab too."
The dodge viper nearly ran off the the road and into the walls that time. "Side Burn, you okay?!," X-Brawn shouted from behind him.
Side Burn didn't respond as he centered himself back on the bridge. "You know," he hissed, his processor still reeling from the shock and making him moody, "You should get your slagging helm checked. No Predacon cares one iota about Autobots; every single one of them wants us dead! I don't know how you function being that stupid."
"Wha- JERK!," Wedge shouted indignantly as the blue speedster gunned his engine, rocketing away from the bulldozer.
xxXxXxx
"Well that was an absolute waste of time. As per usual."
Slapper trudged through the Megastar on heavy pedes, not minding that his massive servos slid along the floor, collecting dust on his webbing. Sky-Byte walked ahead of him, equally as hunched over and miserable.
"Hey, boss, what are we going to do now?," the toad asked.
He shouldn't have been too surprised that he was ignored but it certainly didn't improve his mood anymore.
"Ah, Sky-Byte, Slapper!," a vocalizer called from up ahead. "You're back!"
The red mech peeked around the taller Predacon's legs, finding Dark Scream and Gas Skunk standing at the end of the hall, waiting for them.
"Everything got fragged up again, huh?," Gas Skunk started first, his expression devoid of any sympathy.
"Well, yeah but it's mostly 'cause that black wheelbarrow had to keep interrupting us," Slapper grumbled irritably. "Sky-Byte actually had a good plan for once!"
"I find that hard to believe."
"Maybe he's just out of practice," Dark Scream defended, fixing the skunk with a glower. "It's not as though Megatron allows us to give any input in battle strategies anymore. Not since his favourite gravel-muncher was made."
"I'm definitely getting tired of being memo'd cleaning duty," Slapper agreed. "Apparently we're beneath even being yelled into grunt work."
The black and yellow mech shook his helm. "You can't even manage a half decent job at that, grease bucket. You get toad slime everywhere. Megatron should just stick you in the ventilation shaft to collect any debris coming into the ship."
"Hey, that's not-"
"So," Dark Scream cut in, falling into step with the silent Sky-Byte as he continued to walk past the others, "Scourge messed up this time then? I bet he's super mad at the gas-guzzler!"
"No," was all the shark mumbled, not slowing or adjusting his speed for his new walking partner.
The cerulean mech's ecstatic expression dimmed to one of confusion. "But-"
"I mean, Scourge mangled our plan earlier and pinned the fault on us," Slapper elaborated from behind the pair, "But Sky-Byte did make it worse by trying to tackle Optimus during a hostage exchange."
"Who was the hostage?," Gas Skunk inquired curiously.
The toad rubbed his helm in thought. "Ehh... The orange one? From the Reno Crew?"
"Build Team!," Dark Scream corrected with an impatient hiss, snapping his helm towards the other Predacons. "What do I even collect intel for?!"
"You don't," the skunk insulted. "You're aerial laser fodder. So, wait, what were they exchanging?"
"Oh, one of these," the red mech supplied, drawing a little bit of metal out of his subspace.
Dark Scream practically shot back down the hall to his companions. "Is that an O-part," he gaped in disbelief.
"Not a real one," Slapper said, tucking it to his chestplates as the squirrel tried to snatch it. "Sky-Byte crafted a bunch of fakes so the Autobots would take them instead, leaving us with the real ones. He said he spent all night perfecting them. They were so good even Scourge got confused... And then he let the Autobots take the real ones 'cause he was too stupid to know the difference."
"Where does the tackling come in though?," Gas Skunk asked.
"Captain Chum over there thought it'd be smart to try and mix up the fake ones with the real ones by knocking Optimus over... But only made Megatron drop the build-bot, which led a bunch of Autobots raining laser fire down on us."
"Yep, sounds like jelly-brain over there."
Dark Scream glanced quickly at their frozen lieutenant, who had paused at the next juncture and was clearly listening. "Hey, stop that!," he snapped at the two taller Predacons, "So, okay, that last bit was pretty dumb but that's a really smart plan Sky-Byte came up with! What's a real problem is how often that reject Auto-crank keeps foiling perfect, Predacon schemes!"
Gas Skunk snorted derisively, leaning into the other's face. "He's spent all this time making cosmetic accessories and I'm supposed to applaud him for that? Hey, Sky-Byte, was this a grand scheme of yours or did you cobble it together after your frag up with the human?," he yelled to the older Predacon's backstruts.
"Yeah, what's with you doing Scourge favors anyhow?," Slapper piped in.
Dark Scream looked horrified and he contemplated gouging out the arrogant skunk's optics when he heard the shark reply... Though not in the manner which he expected.
"Just destroy the remainders," he ordered flatly. "They were a failure... Among other things..."
The black and yellow mech gave a short, cruel chuckle as Sky-Byte continued his dismal trudging, into the next corridor and out of sight. "I knew it! How pathetic can you get?!"
"No more than you," Dark Scream grumbled, arms crossing over his torso testily.
Slapper put his fake artifact away again, shaking his helm. "The concept might have been cool but Sky-Byte isn't ever good at the 'doing' part," he remarked.
"Exactly!," Gas Skunk agreed. "Are you actually trying to defend fish-breath? Why?!"
The squirrel hunched his shoulders up to his helm, defensive against the unwanted prying, especially by the likes of the black and yellow Predacon. "Maybe I'm just tired of a bunch of wind bags running their mouths instead of doing something themselves! You haven't exactly helped to knock Scourge off the ladder in forever, so sue me if I'm not going to slag the one beast who might save us from eventual smelting!," he shouted, spinning on his pede and stomping off down the way Sky-Byte had went.
Gas Skunk watched the cerulean mech go with a grimace, fists curled at his side. At his left, Slapper looked up and down the hall, resetting his vocalizer in the uncomfortable silence that had fallen.
"You know-"
"Shut it, booger sack!"
"O-okay..."
xxXxXxx
The rock wall cracked within, its face pounded relentlessly until showers of debris were raining down in jagged chunks. It seemed the assault would never end until the entire cliffside had been demolished.
"Enough."
The slab of rock buckled within again, a sizeable piece breaking clean off and crashing to the ground with a heavy boom of thunder.
"Side Burn, STOP!"
White servos snatched his next punch mid-swing, spinning the dodge viper away from the wall. Side Burn thrashed wildly for a klik, yet Ultra Magnus kept a firm grasp on the younger Autobots' shoulder plating, holding him in place until the worst of his companion's fit passed. Vents rattling hard as he began to settle, the blue mech attempted to shrug off the warrior's servos; becoming annoyed when he remained in the other's grasp.
"You can let go now!," Side Burn snapped.
"No," Ultra Magnus refused, scowling deeply. "You've got pent-up frustrations -fine- but if you can't adhere to my orders, then we are not training anymore. I have no interest in watching you foolishly harm yourself."
"Primus- it's just a cliff!," the blue mech shouted, twisting hard and finally managing to break free from the other's hold. He was quick to put some distance between them. "And I'm not punching it anymore, so you can leave me alone now!"
It was quiet for a moment, before a sigh left Ultra Magnus; crossing the quarry and drawing up to the dodge viper again. "Why don't you tell me about what's bothering you?," he awkwardly prompted.
"Nothing's bothering me!," Side Burn replied, barely meeting the larger Autobot's gaze. He flinched at the look the warrior gave him, shoulders slumping in self-chastise as his optics sunk to the ground. "W-well, okay, maybe... I-it's... Some of the others think, maybe, some of the Predacons could be reasoned with to leave Megatron."
"And which of those rejects do they think can be 'reasoned with'?," Ultra Magnus asked, a hint of mockery in his vocalizer.
The blue mech hesitated in his response. "S-sky... Byte?"
"W-well, it's 'cause he hasn't attacked anyone for a long while and he only sometimes shows on missions a-and even then he's only k-kind of a nuisance," Side Burn hurried to explain at his companion's scowl, "Wedge did point out he's helped with protecting humans and Koji believes he's good 'cause he saved his dad so-"
"They are Predacons," the white mech cut in sharply. He stared down on the dodge viper, his mouth twisted in a hateful scowl. "Predacons do not care about others; they are beasts capable of only carnage and destruction."
The younger Autobot opened his mouth but couldn't find any words to speak. Unbidden, an image of Sky-Byte, reciting self-written poetry, rose to the forefront of his processor.
"If you trust the words of a juvenile species and a newspark, then you are setting yourself up to be shot in the back," Ultra Magnus continued, his tone intensifying. "I have faith you are smarter than that, Side Burn, and won't fall in line with such ridiculous notions. Now, allow me to look at your servos..."
Larger servos were grasping one of his own, kindly lifting it and looking over the scrapes covering his fingers and knuckles in an act so uncharacteristic of the warrior. It was the soft stroke across the back of his palm, though, that had Side Burn yanking his servo away at once, struck by a sudden wave of nausea. "I-i-i...," he stuttered meekly at the incredulous look he was now receiving.
Side Burn slammed a servo to his comm link the moment it beeped, eager for the escape; he had barely opened his mouth before Prowl's vocalizer started shouting down the line.
"Side Burn, get back to base at once! We're on red alert!"
"W-wait, what? What's going on?," the dodge viper asked nervously.
"Wedge has gone missing. It's believed he went out searching for the Predacons, alone," his brother answered tersely. "Bridge back here at once and join the search!"
"Wedge went after Predacons alone?!," Side Burn echoed loudly, a strange weight forming in his fuel tanks at the news. Was this about Sky-Byte? "Prowl, wha- Prowl?! Hello?!"
But the line was already dead. The sound of releasing pistons caused Side Burn to turn around, finding himself standing by the massive carrier truck, engine rumbling hard enough to send little vibrations through the ground. "I'll scan the mountains," announced Ultra Magnus' faceless vocalizer, "You return to the others and help them search."
Before the blue mech could protest, the warrior was pulling out of the valley and plowing through the local foliage, leaving his younger companion to stand in the clearing awkwardly. Weakly, Side Burn transformed as well, paging T-AI his coordinates for a quick bridge home.
xxXxXxx
There was a quaint, little shrine up in the mountains; close to where the earth dropped off sharply into the ocean. Certainly a perilous location for the locals if one didn't watch their step, still, they spared no expense on the temple's construction once upon a time. That period had passed clearly. Now the once grand place of worship had been worn down to its bare bones, thick with the overgrowth of fauna and dusted in thick layers of aged salt. Only the stone altar, devoid of its gong, could be seen through the brush; the smoothened features of its guardians staring out blindly over the never-ending sea and sky.
In many ways, this shrine reminded Sky-Byte of himself: once respected and thought significant, now just a rotting fixture left forgotten to the rest of the universe. It was here that he came to meditate, when not even the ocean could fill him with joy.
He hated to say that was happening a lot recently.
Standing at the cliff's edge, the Predacon stared out into the grey horizon, optics as dim as his spark. "You are a fool, Sky-Byte," he mumbled to himself. "Why even struggle anymore? Of what value do you hold, if you are so easily replaced?"
He fell quiet after that. Tough questions those were, but it was even harder for him to contemplate the answer. Never had the shark been in such a position -infatuated with another; all his prowess and loyalty to the Predacon cause dismissed for Autobot doppelgangers- he'd been so comfortable in his place among his kin that the need had never arisen for deeper investigation. Now though, he felt unmoored in the swell of these buffeting inquiries.
Underbrush cracked as someone drew up behind Sky-Byte; venting hard, he turned about slowly, expecting to see Slapper or even Dark Scream. Optics shuttered in muted shock, still trying to process the sight before him. "You..."
"Hey," Wedge greeted, waving shyly at the older mech. He paused, but when no other response came, he gestured at the several feet of space between them. "Do, um, do you mind if I come closer?"
This couldn't be real; it had to be some simulation during a fractured recharge cycle!
"...what are you doing here?," Sky-Byte still asked.
The bulldozer took that as an affirmative to his earlier request and walked closer to the mech, halting a couple paces away when the Predacon faced him fully, tensing aggressively. "I... I'm not here to fight. I just want to talk. Honest!," the orange Autobot assured, servos lifted placatingly.
"I have nothing to say to the likes of you," the shark scowled, looming over the intruder. "So why don't you roll off, junior, before I eat you for an afternoon snack!"
"I don't think that's true," Wedge replied. "I think you really need an active audio receptor or two; you look lonely."
Sky-Byte felt his whole frame jerk at the words, reflexively transforming in a panic. "I d-don't kn-know what y-you're talking a-about," he announced, twisting to dive off the cliff, "Yo-you're crazy!"
"Wait!," Wedge cried, grabbing the Predacon's tail. He wasn't nearly big enough to stop the older mech from leaping high into the air, though Sky-Byte did pause as he heard the Autobot yelp in terror. Groaning pitifully, he returned back to the ground, falling flat on his belly as Wedge gingerly climbed off of his fins. "I-i-i... Th-thank you. I'm not a very good swimmer."
"You don't say," Sky-Byte grumbled back disinterestedly.
"Y-yeah. Being construction-certified kinda makes me heavier and a lot less mobile on certain terrain," the orange mech continued obliviously. He scooted up to the Predacon's optic, fixing it with a curious look. "Sorry if I scared you. I caught sight of you just off the new city highway development and wanted to talk. No one was willing to let me come out to meet you; they all think you're evil and sparkless. Can you believe that?"
"I don't understand why you don't...," the beast-former mumbled lowly.
Wedge prodded his companion's side with a finger. "Hey now, don't talk like that! You're pretty clever, you've got amazing artistic ability and you're super strong!," he complimented. "It's true! Everyone's always talking about your skills back at base."
The acknowledgment of his talents was enough to peak the Predacon's interest... and leave him wholly unprepared for the question that followed.
"What I don't get is: why are you with Megatron?"
"W-well," Sky-Byte began tensely, a small flash of Predacon pride blooming in his chestplates, "That's because he is the greatest warrior in all the universe, deigned to upset the classes and return dignity to the Predacons! Where he leads, there is no oppression! It is under Megatron that every beast alive will know freedom and choice!"
The bulldozer listened politely, legs crossed for comfort, speaking when the older mech stopped. "Yeah, but... He doesn't seem to treat you all that well. I mean, I've only really seen the big guy a couple times, and when he isn't trying to slag us, he's yelling at you and your friends. I don't think abusing your troops is the sign of a good leader."
The shark stared at the Autobot with one optic, stunned by his younger companion's assessment. He must have been in really rough straits if he was listening to the lies of the enemy. But then again, when had Megatron last led his forces with pride and honor, instead of punishing them for every slight- real or otherwise?
"I-i think you're just trying to butter me up!," Sky-Byte protested weakly, turning his snout away from the orange youngling. "Confuse me and spring a trap on me!"
"Hey, the only one acting here is you!," Wedge returned, crawling around to catch the shark's pointed face in his two servos. "Or don't you remember confusing me about the O-parts with your theatrics?"
The Predacon stopped moving, spluttering nervously. "O-oh, we-well, you s-see-"
The bulldozer only sighed, releasing the other and sitting back on his aft. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to attack you... I'm still a little mad at your mean trick, but I know you're a good mech inside. You've been so nice to the humans, you saved Dr. Onishi, you're always sabotaging the Decepticons- slag, you even helped rescue me from Megatron by creating that distraction!," he gushed, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. "I know it's probably improper of me and all, but I think you should leave the other Predacons. Come join our side! You'll get to hang out with Koji, and you can make all sorts of those costumes like you do, and you'll actually be recognized for all the hard work you put in. Or, you could even become a member of my team! Given your amazing artistic detail, you could totally be the interior designer for any of our future projects!"
The information was coming in too fast, spoken by a highly exuberant Autobot. The fantasy of him switching sides was nearly nauseating, but it was Wedge's simple kindness and enthusiasm that really did Sky-Byte in. This -to have a sweet, young Autobot stand before him, rubbing his snout affectionately as he rambled on about a possible future together- this was the sort of thing he had imagined would take place with Side Burn. Yet it was Wedge here instead, and both his caring nature and the very spark-snuffing reality of the situation were causing the Predacon various levels of sorrow.
"U-uh, Sky-Byte?," Wedge started uncertainly, watching as the shark buried its snout into the overgrown brush with a muffled cry, "A-are you okay? Was it something I said?!"
Sky-Byte replied, but it was indistinguishable between the rocks and grass.
"Would a back scratch help?," the bulldozer asked, leaning up and firmly scritching at the beast-former's plating with careful digits. "You had a sensitive area around here last time, right?"
Black fingers moved up the hump of the back, taking care to gently rub into the main dorsel fin's connecting seams. That caused Sky-Byte to react: ripping his snout up from the ground and slightly rolling into the Autobot's servos with a gravelly purr. "T-that's...," the older mech sniffed, still a bit upset despite the pleasant scratch, "S-soooo... Nice... J-junior..."
The bulldozer chuckled, removing his servos to the Predacon's disappointment. "By the way, I made you something! Well," Wedge amended to the curious shark, who had yet to change position or return to his wallowing, "Koji and the kids at his school did a lot of the designing; I just picked the color swatches and printed this demo sticker at base. It's going to be the club's new banner. We made a fanclub about you, I should mention."
Sky-Byte could only shutter his optics in shock as the Autobot pulled a rectangular sticker out of subspace, showcasing it to the frozen Predacon before peeling off the protective backing. He had just finished processing that the sticker read 'Sky-Byte: Hero of Justice' by the time Wedge had began smoothing the colourful paper across his snout.
"There...," the orange mech whispered, pressed close to double-check that the edges were completely flat. He paused while doing so, optics dimming in contemplation, Sky-Byte saw from his one optic.
Before the shark could get his jaws open to ask the Autobot what was wrong, Wedge was lurching forwards; warm lip components pressing against his plating, right above his fanged mouth. Intakes stalled completely as the older mech watched the bulldozer slowly lean back an inch, shy smile stretching his face under blushing cheekplates.
"I-"
Just then, laser fire zipped past the pair.
C.M.D: Aaaaaaand one more, for this update!