The teenage girl giggled as her boyfriend placed a sloppy kiss on her neck and slid his hand in her back pocket as they walked.
The pair was one familiar to most: The pretty good girl and the bad boy trouble maker.
"Oh stop it," she laughed. "Now what did you want to show me?"
"You won't believe it baby, I just found it abandoned here." He lead her off the side of the road and over several feet through the brush.
She gasped when she saw its red paint glimmer through the trees.
"Oh wow! Is this a Lamborghini Countach? And it's just deserted here!" She squealed in amazement. "How did you find this?"
"I found it a half hour ago. Saw it's paint through the trees as I was passing by to come get you."
"It's so pretty," She ran her finger tips lightly over the red hood. The metal was so smooth it felt buttery.
"Sure the paintjob's a little messed up but Damn!" The boy admired it. "Someone just abandoned it here to rust."
She sighed. "What a shame. I'd love to go for a ride. I'd love to just sit in the seat. It's such a nice car. "
Suddenly an idea struck her head and she grinned mischievously. She sidled up to her boyfriend's side and lazily started tracing circles on his chest with her finger. "A really nice car."
He got the hint. "Hey baby. Wanna go for a ride?"
She bat her eyelashes. "I thought you'd never ask."
To his surprise the doors were unlocked. He got in the Driver's seat while his girlfriend got in on the passenger's side. He quickly got to work on hotwiring the vehicle.
The vehicle that wasn't really a car.
000000000
From the sounds of it, you would've figured the Decepticons were watching the WWF or something, not watching their own teammates getting thrashed on the big screen.
"Ooooh!" the Decepticons roared in unison. Sunstreaker went and dropkicked the black and blue seeker in the face before coming swiftly down and sweeping the orange one's feet from under him.
The blue-black and orange seekers were managing themselves much better than the previous four had. Both were from the same Trine and had some semblance of the concept of teamwork. Their goal: taking down the furious gold mech.
Yet with every blow they managed to land on Sunstreaker, the madder the Autobot got, making him fight harder, faster and more viciously then before.
The two thought they were wearing him down. Unbeknownst to the seekers, Sunstreaker was actually just getting more pissed off and determined the longer he was separated from his brother, and since they both had a similar form to the one who had "taken" Sideswipe he simply decided to take his rage out on them.
The black seeker landed a blow, shattering some pieces of armor off of Sunstreaker's side. That only served to anger Sunstreaker further. Making full use of colorful terminology as he acted, the gold mech grabbed the mech's arm, putting it in painful arm bar before ripping the limb out of its socket.
"Did you see that?" Blitzwing crowed. "He twisted his arm straight off!"
"That was awesome! I gotta learn how to do that!" Frenzy decided to give it a try.
"Ack! Not on me you dolt!" Rumble did not appreciate the effort.
It was like Super Bowl Night in the Nemesis. Or cage fight night. Or gladiatorial ring night. Well it was entertaining anyway. The Decepticons rarely had time to relax and enjoy something that they all agreed on. In a weird way, watching the Sunstreaker vs. Seekers death matches were pulling together the mechs into something that vaguely resembled camaraderie and a sense of calm.
What does that tell you about the Decepticons?
Nonetheless, everyone was enjoying themselves.
Most everyone anyway.
"I think I'm gonna be sick," Thundercracker growled looking away from the screen. "How can we watch our fellow Decepticons, no, our fellow seekers just get brutalized like that?"
"Easily. With energon snacks. Want one?" Never taking his optics off the screen, Skywarp waved an energon goody in Thundercracker's direction.
"This is your fault." Thundercracker seethed. "Our Seeker brethren are getting killed because you don't remember where you put his brother."
"Oh come on. It's one Autobot. If they can't take him on they probably deserve to die. We fight those two like every day, and we're still functioning. You even dropped that one," that one being Sunstreaker, "on his head yesterday."
'I suppose I did', he sighed. Out of the corner of his optic he saw Sunstreaker run through the blue-black seeker with his energy blade and cringed. "Did you really kill his brother?"
Skywarp shrugged. "Probably. I've dropped Autobots from that height before and can't think of any that survived right off hand. In fact most of them explode on impact. It's pretty cool actually."
If Skywarp did indeed, kill one of the twins, Thundercracker guessed it must've been a fluke. It was just… Well Skywarp was an idiot. Given he was a vicious idiot but still.
Skywarp was dangerous and Thundercracker was aware of this. In fact if he actually used his teleporting powers for something useful, Skywarp would be one of the biggest threats in the Decepticon army, more so then he already was. One day, Thundercracker contemplated, he might figure that out.
But no. Not even after actually using his power to dispose of one of the Autobots most skilled warriors was he aware of this. Because it had been a fluke. Because Skywarp had the IQ level of fly ash (and he was just as flighty).
One day it might occur to Skywarp that, "Hey! I'm pretty talented. Teleporting is a useful skill. Let's use some strategy!" Until then he would probably just use his ability to push Autobots (and Decepticons) down elevator shafts, or to teleport large rooms of elderly people having bingo night to the middle of the Arctic Circle (Which he tried last Labor Day).
"Last chance. Energon snack?"
Thundercracker swatted his hand away and glared.
"Alright. No energon snacks for you then." With that Skywarp turned his attention back at the screen.
Thundercracker quietly left his flighty trine mate, and he made his way through the jeering crowd to his leader.
So Skywarp didn't care about their fellow Seekers. That was understandable. Seekers weren't usually overly concerned with mechs outside their trine. And it wasn't that Thundercracker particularly liked any of the ones fighting Sunstreaker. He just felt somewhat loyal to them simply because they were birds a feather. They were beings of the same kind and that was enough to make him feel somewhat queasy about the whole situation.
He at least wanted to know why they were basically being sent to their doom. He'd feel a lot better about the whole thing if there was at least some kind of justification behind it all.
So he braced himself and asked.
"Lord Megatron," Thundercracker started in a respectful tone. "May I enquire as to what your plan is regarding this Autobot?"
He was trying to be discrete but somehow half of the room heard him. A good lot of them turned their attention from the monitors to see why Thundercracker was addressing their leader.
The Tyrant seemed to contemplate the question and a look crossed Megatron's face.
Thundercracker, to his horror, recognized that look.
That was Megatron's recruiting face.
"It appears that this particular Autobot would actually make a decent addition to the Decepticon ranks. He is a warrior whose talents are wasted by Prime. We're merely wearing him down at the moment."
Thundercracker blanched.
Megatron smirked at his own genius. "I believe he will be an excellent credit to our forces, and since you two are already so familiar with each other from the battle field I'm sure it will take him no time to adjust."
'I don't want to work with him! I already work with two homicidal maniacs that almost kill me on a daily basis with their stupidity!" Thundercracker screamed in his head.
Just a few days ago Skywarp pulled a dumb malicious prank on him. Him! Thundercracker! The guy he hated the least. At least it was a mild prank. All he did was remove the floor from his feet on the launch pad. It only took three days to recover from having his wings bent backwards from the fall…
Skywarp was sort of a jerk
But back to other more pressing matters; Thundercracker ignored his internal concerns and opted to use more tactful words out loud.
"Sir, what if he doesn't want to defect?" Thundercracker asked.
"He won't have choice in the matter. We'll simply take him down, forcefully reprogram him as we see fit, and make him a full-fledged Decepticon warrior whether he wants to be or not."
Many of the Decepticons who had been listening in where not sure how to take that news and shifted back and forth uncomfortably.
"Hey, everyone?" Frenzy spoke up. "I hate to break it to you all but the bat-shit insane car bot's not on the screen anymore."
He was right. All that was on the screen were the two smoking seeker corpses.
"What?" Megatron barked. "Where'd he go?"
At that note the door to the command room was blown out of its track by a powerful front kick, and there, in all of his homicidal glory stood Sunstreaker. He was dinged up, scratched up, splashed with energon which for the most part was not his, and the look in his optics was slightly more than a bit crazed.
Yet as fierce as he appeared to be, he was also looking tired. Obviously the seekers Megatron had thrown against him had done their jobs and wore the soldier down. There was no way that the yellow Autobot could put up much of a fight against the Decepticons now in the state he was in.
Megatron had been right, Thundercracker realized. The Autobot was strong but even Sunstreaker had his limits. He was in no condition to defend himself anymore. He would be captured, and he would be reprogrammed.
Megatron knew this and grinned. 'I can just see the look that will be on Prime's insufferable face when he comes face to face with his own warrior on the battlefield.'
"Give me," Sunstreaker huffed sounding a little worn down, "my brother back. Where is he?"
"Or what, Autobot?" Megatron played along, though he really didn't know where Sunstreaker's twin was. "You are not exactly in a position suitable enough to make demands of me or my forces. I don't think I'll tell you his location."
Sunstreaker totally did not call his bluff. That basically sealed the deal in his head that, yes, the Decepticons had his twin.
Lacking any negotiating leverage other than his brute strength and, his energon blade, Sunstreaker decided to once again fall back on the "I'm f-ing crazy! Don't mess with me" solution. "Then I'll just have to beat it out of you!"
"You are a fool if you think you'll survive the attempt, Autobot," Megatron's gaze hardened. "But there is one way you may make it out with your life intact. Cut all ties with your Autobot allies, and join the Decepticon cause."
"I don't want to hear you spewing your crap. I want my brother back."
"Fool. You seem to think you have a choice in the matter."
Sunstreaker was done speaking. He dropped his weight and charged at the nearest con.
This was an incredibly stupid thing to do. Even Sunstreaker probably knew in the back of his mind that he stood a snowballs chance in Maui against almost the entirety of the Decepticon forces in his battered condition. But at that moment he was not rational. At that moment all he saw was red. In his mind his brother, the thing dearest to him, was almost in reach, and the only thing preventing him from being with Sideswipe was the Decepticons.
In his head, though he was outgunned and outnumbered, it seemed completely logical to plow through the enemy if it meant getting his brother back.
Later, what happened next would be seen as an extremely lucky event that probably saved Sunstreaker's life. Yet even though it would end up being the thing that prevented Sunstreaker from getting killed by a hoard of Decepticons, it didn't feel so lucky at the time.
Just before he punched a hole through Ramjet his rescue party decided to make themselves evident. Like a mockery of angels dropping in from the heavens the five Aerialbots crashed through the ceiling and wouldn't you know it, one of them dropped right on top of Sunstreaker driving him into the ground.
It stopped the gold mech's suicidal rampage before it began, but it also gave him a bit of a concussion.
It was good that the Decepticon command center was actually above water at the moment or they all would've been waterlogged. Instead they were merely stuck with a new Sunroof.
"Sunstreaker! We're here to save…ya." Silverbolt looked around wildly, not seeing the golden mech.
There was just a crowd of angry and bewildered Decepticons circling them.
"I could've sworn this is where Sunstreaker's signal was. Are you sure this was right?" Silverbolt asked Skydive.
The amateur strategist looked a little concerned. "I think something went wrong. We weren't supposed to end up in their command center! These were supposed to be the barracks!"
"Yeah, I'm not seeing gold curmudgeon anywhere," Air Raid growled.
"Hey, Air Raid." Firelight started slowly.
"What?"
"Look down."
He did so and found that he was standing on top of the mech they were supposed to be rescuing.
"Oh frak." Air Raid cringed and hopped off the Lambo's back. Slingshot let out a loud guffaw.
Sunstreaker remained sprawled unmoving on the ground.
"I think we just killed Sunstreaker." Air Raid said quietly, the fear of Ratchet blossoming in the pit of his intakes.
"Dude. What do you mean we?" Slingshot raised an eye ridge.
Sunstreaker groaned.
There were some sighs of relief and some sighs of disappointment. From both sides.
"Never mind! False alarm. He's not dead." Fireflight declared to the rest as if they couldn't figure it out for themselves.
Sunstreaker whimpered and shakily started to get up.
It was at that moment that the second entourage burst forth from the walls. A giant white shuttle touched down and opened its doors. Prime, Gears, Bluestreak, Ratchet and Inferno charged from Skyfire, guns ready to be blazing.
And they bowled right over Sunstreaker just as the mech was trying to get up.
Prime, standing as tall and imposing as he could, pointed a finger heroically at the enemy leader. "Megatron!" his voice boomed. "Where are my soldiers?!"
Megatron wasn't looking at Prime. Instead he was rather fixated on Prime's feet. "It would appear that you are standing on one of them."
Prime blinked an excruciatingly slow blink and looked down. Poor Sunstreaker's Face was being driven into the floor by one of Prime's peds.
"Prime! Get your god damn goliath sized self off of him!" Ratchet shrieked. He looked poised to shove his commanding officer off the warrior.
There was no need. Optimus jumped back like he had been burned. "Oh. Um, is he all right Ratchet?"
Ratchet pulled Sunstreaker back toward the Autobot's side of the skirmish and flipped him over. It was a good thing he was built tough to break or Prime's weight would've cracked him like an egg. However, even though Sunstreaker was awake he was dazed and confused. The lights were on but nobody was home.
"Other then you smashing him into paste? I wouldn't know!" The medic snapped. "Great job everyone. What an excellent rescue mission this is turning out to be."
And then Optimus stood there looking less heroic by the minute and more and more like an admonished child who was playing too rough with the other kids.
At least half of the Decepticons in the crowd absolutely lost it, and fell into hysterics.
Even Megatron let a wolfish grin spread across his face. "It appears that this would be the day we all learned who really is in charge of you Autobots. It's to be expected though that one as weak willed as Prime would not be able to keep his soldier's in line."
That snapped Prime back into shape. He quickly made himself imposing again and was going to speak but Ratchet, who was still perched over Sunstreaker like an angry (bloodthirsty) hen protecting her nest, beat him to it.
"You shut the hell up you silt sucking waste of creation," Ratchet snarled. "I am not in the frame of mind to be dealing with your shit today!"
Several Autobot jaws were scraping the floor at that point. The Decepticons were stunned into silence.
Acid Storm broke said silence, "Did you really just speak to Lord Megatron like-"
"Yes I did you Bot fraggin son of a lime. You shut that yapper of yours before I beat it off with your wings. Know what it feels like to get them bent backwards?"
Thundercracker sighed from aside. He did.
Acid Storm bowed out gracefully to the back of the room.
Almost every Decepticon in the room was taller than Ratchet. Apparently though, being very loud and very intimidating gave you the illusion of height because a good third of them were cowering under the medic's fury.
"And you!" Ratchet pulled Sunstreaker up into a sitting position by the shoulders and started violently shaking him. Sunstreaker's head snapped back and forth, but he was still, for the most part, completely dazed from the head trauma he had just endured. "I leave you alone for a couple slaggin' hours in the medical bay while you're injured and unconscious and when I turn around what do I find? That you attacked the Primus frakkin' Decepticons on your own! Does your stupidity know no bounds?! I should leave you for spare parts! Maybe make something useful like a Primus damned door bolt to keep idiots like you inside!"
Ratchet let go and Sunstreaker slumped back to the floor looking more mystified then he had before.
Scrapper began to clap in appreciation at the display. No one else cared to join in.
"How do you deal with that Prime?" Megatron asked earnestly.
Prime sulked. "We manage."
"Irregardless, I have had enough of this. Acid Storm! While he's incapacitated, get the Autobot!"
"What?" Acid Storm squeaked from the back. "Sir! I don't believe irregardless is a word!"
Megatron gave him a scornful look and that kicked his self preservation instincts into full gear. Following the order he charged at where Sunstreaker was lying behind Ratchet. Bluestreak saw this and threw the entirety of his weight against the seeker to send him off course.
"OW! What the frack did I burn myself on?" Bluestreak went reeling in the opposite directing, the paint on his side looking a little singed.
"Well?" Megatron roared. "What are the rest of you fools waiting for! Attack!"
A flood of Decepticons surged toward the severely outnumbered Autobots.
Fist flew, guns blazed, and many of the bots were not beneath shin kicking and biting.
Megatron strode confidently through the fray. "Well it looks like it's just you and me Prime."
"It's the same old story over and over again Megatron." Prime dropped into an aggressive stance.
"Ah, but let's see if we can finally get an end to this age old tale. One ending in your demise! And then your soldier will be ours."
"What do you want with Sunstreaker?" Prime didn't move from his position. Instead he was intent on waiting for his enemy to make the first move.
"Seriously," Gears called out from under a Constructicon dog pile. "Why do you want him?"
Something occurred to Prime at that moment. He blinked. 'There is no way.' That couldn't be it…
"His talents are being wasted by those who do not know how to control his power. He is unfit for your command, Prime. He deserves to be ruled by his own kind."
Optimus actually froze. He recognized that face. That was Megatron's recruiting face.
Oh hell no.
"MEGATRON!" Prime bellowed in frustration. "You have 18 sociopaths already! Let me keep my one!" and with that the two leaders started to grapple hand to hand.
As for the rest of the battle it was pretty chaotic.
"Well I'm not sure this rescue plan is working!" Air Raid yelled to his teammates while forcing one of the Constructicons into a full Nelson.
"If at first you don't succeed," Gears started sagely. "Give up. There's no point in being a damn fool."
"We brought you why again?" Inferno sneered at the Minibot, before getting beamed in the face by a wayward fist. "Gah! Bluestreak?"
"Sorry! I thought you were Thrust!"
"What? How in the Sam hell did you mistake me fer Thrust?!"
"I'm a SNIPER!" Bluestreak wailed. "I suck at hand to hand!"
"Then snipe for Primus's sake!"
"Ow!" Swindle cried as a bolt clipped him in the chest. "Primus, BRAWL! I'm on your side!"
"Oh," came a soft voice. "I didn't realize it was you."
"Like the inferno you didn't. YOU WERE STARING RIGHT AT ME! OW! You did it again!"
"I swear, it was an accident."
Insults were exchanged. Egos and chassis' were bruised. And at some point Slingshot was slammed into the monitor the Decepticons had been watching Sunstreaker on. It exploded into a shower of golden sparks and glass around the Aerialbot.
He had been sent sprawling from a particularly straight and true punch from… Somebody. He didn't see who got the hit in. It was probably Drag Strip. It was always Dragstrip.
With a wild war cry, he pushed himself off of the keyboard panel of the monitor, accidentally punching several random keys while doing so.
No one noticed that in crisp Cybertronian the words "Solitary confinement chamber: unlocked" flashed across the screen.
Several decks below the brawl to end all brawls a cell chamber opened. A very angry, very bright yellow seeker emerged from the depths, lighting the dark hall with his righteous fire.
Meanwhile, not at the Decepticon base, Sideswipe was waking up again.
Sideswipe was getting pissed off. More so then he had been.
He didn't even remember falling into recharge. That meant his reserves were so low, his body was basically shutting down on a whim.
He was passing out. It was a good thing it didn't happen somewhere dangerous. Last he remembered he was doing some off road driving.
At least he was in Oregon now. So close to home and yet so far. He never thought he'd ever miss the Ark in as much as he did.
Oh, he was feeling awful. He hurt all over, there were brambles in places he didn't know existed and he was so exhausted he felt as though he could melt into the ground.
He was about to rev up his engines to leave but then something wasn't quite right.
He was in some old abandoned parking lot. Somewhere he was certain he had not been before.
That and Sideswipe noticed that the temperature was increasing inside of him.
What? That was rather odd. He ran a scan….
Holy Primus! There were humans inside of him! Again! How'd they keep doing that? And they were -
Wait. What were the squishies doing…?
'WHAT THE SLAG?!' Sideswipe internally screamed in horror and disgust. He gunned his engines, and his tires began to squeal horribly against the pavement before they finally got some purchase and Sideswipe shot down the road in reverse. The human teenagers jolted apart in surprise and fear.
"What the hell are you pink flesh bags doing? Stop mating in me! GAH! Get out! Get OUT!" Sideswipe shrieked and slammed on the breaks. Both occupants of his front seat jumped with a start at the sudden screaming and were almost flung through the windshield. The girl began to shriek and cry while the boy simple tried to hang on to anything for dear life.
"Damnit! No fleshy fluid swapping! EW, GET OUT!" He flung his doors open and rattled his body violently, ending up almost on just two tires, causing the two confused teenagers to drop out.
Sideswipe didn't even bother closing his door as he revved his engines and pealed out leaving the two dazed humans in the dirt.
After five minutes of driving he slowed and stopped. He transformed and stood in the middle of the road. He wrapped his arms around himself and shivered, thoroughly traumatized by his ordeal.
"Oh Primus, I feel so violated."
And there he stood in the middle of the empty road trying to collect himself.
He stood.
And he stood.
And then he transformed and drove back.
The two teenagers were exactly where he left them, both too stunned to move. The girl was ashen and shaking while the boy was fruitlessly trying to console her. They didn't even realize that the red Lambo that had screamed at them and drove away had come back. Until it was too late.
"Oh my GOD! That car is possessed!" The teen male screamed in horror. He totally ditched his girl and began to flee. Sideswipe transformed and blocked off his escape.
The rants began.
"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?" Sideswipe screamed in anguish and disgust. For the first time Sideswipe was seeing humans as his brother usually did: As vile disgusting creatures
"W-we didn't know you were an Autobot!"
"WAS THE GIANT AUTOBOT SYMBOL ON MY HOOD NOT ENOUGH?!"
"I don't know! I- we thought it was some kind of car decal! They're popular!"
"Why the frak would you put faction symbols on your cars! Do you realize all that does is make you organics targets! WHY! Why are you all so stupid?!"
"I-I'm sorry!" The boy wailed. "We didn't even get that far before-"
Sideswipe slammed his hands over his audios. "LALALA! I'm not listening to this!"
"Well what do you want me to say? We're so sorry!" The boy screamed back. The girl was now in complete hysterics.
The conflicting emotions of rage, confrontation, disgust, and the urge to flee left Sideswipe a rattling, arm-waving mess. With his thoughts too convoluted for anything coherent, Sideswipe simply let out a frustrated cry to the heavens, transformed, and swerved away at speeds not legal anywhere except at the Autobahn.
Ratchet did his best to pull Sunstreaker out of the line of fire but it was proving to be difficult. Why were the twins so darn tall and cumbersome?
He would've tried to get Sunstreaker on Skyfire but the large white mech was too busy contending with at least half of the Combaticons.
"Come on. Wake up Sunstreaker," he pleaded futile to the catatonic bot. Sunstreaker didn't reply.
"And where do you think you're going?"
Ratchet froze.
It was Megatron. For reasons unknown he was no longer battling Prime. The Autobot leader was struggling to get back over to where Ratchet was and was literally shoving his way through the battle, but there was a lot to go through.
"Don't think that I've forgotten about you," Megatron scoffed.
Ratchet growled, giving no signs of being intimidated.
"You may as well hand him over now, Medic. It'll save you the pathetic effort."
"Stay away from them, Megatron!" Optimus called, still wading his way through the battle.
"I won't repeat myself again. Hand him over."
Ratchet did not know why Megatron wanted Sunstreaker nor did he really care. It wasn't gonna happen.
"Like hell I will," Ratchet put himself between Sunstreaker and the Malevolent Leader. "After all the effort I've put into fixing this moron you think I'm just going to hand him over and into your greasy clutches? But while we're on the subject you seem to have something of ours."
Megatron oddly enough took the Autobot's insults in stride and in fact had a glint of evil mirth in his eye. "Well it appears like we found a spineless Autobot worm that does indeed have a spine after all. But I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Don't play cute with me. Where's my red idiot?"
Megatron looked honestly bewildered by that. "What?"
"My. Red. Idiot." Ratchet enunciated slowly by loudly.
The fighting around them seemed to slow to a stop as Autobots and Decepticons alike watched with a morbid fascination at the verbal match, Medic vs. Dictator.
"You will have to be clearer Autobot. There are many red idiots amongst you."
Ratchet fumed. "My Idiot. My fool. My twit. My Jackass foul up. The red clod I've put together more times than all of you combined. Where is Sideswipe?"
"That's it!" Skywarp threw his hands in the air. "This is the second time this has happened. First the yellow nuisance then all of you! Why does everyone think we took his brother hostage?"
"Everyone thinks you took his brother hostage," Thundercracker corrected.
"Huh? Wait?" Bluestreak actually lowered his gun slightly and vocalized the question bubbling up amongst the Autobot. "You guys don't have Sideswipe?"
"I didn't take him hostage! Why the hell would I take an Autobot hostage! That's not nearly as fun as dropping them from extreme heights," Skywarp gesticulated wildly to emphasize his point.
The Autobots blanched. Ratchet looked Crestfallen.
"Megatron. What have you done?" Prime asked trying to keep the horror of what he was hearing out of his voice.
"It's not what I did, Prime. It would just so happen that one of my seekers decided to be useful. The end result is the same, however. Prime, your soldier is dead."
Shock filled Prime's system. "What?"
"He is lying in pieces somewhere in the desert. Congratulations, Prime. Not only were you unable to keep one of your best and brightest from being killed, you will also lose his brother to our side."
It was horrible. It was tragic. It was a devastating blow to the Autobot's forces.
Ratchet was so glad that Sunstreaker hadn't been aware of anything that had gone on the past several minutes. He would be devastated and heartbroken. He dreaded the mech recovering from those blows to the head. He wasn't sure he'd be able to handle the news.
Before the Decepticons could take advantage of the Autobots sudden drop in defense the drama and sorrow of the situation was completely wrecked as a voice boomed through the room. "I shall smite ye where thee stands!"
A blinding light appeared at the door Sunstreaker had kicked down earlier. Things were a lot hotter suddenly too.
Megatron closed his optics and let out an exasperated hiss. He didn't even need to look to see who ruined the moment. "Oh for the love of… who let Sunstorm out!?"
Silence.
"He's real?" A voice from the back called out.
"Ha! I called it! The betting pool is mine!" was the only response given.
"Shut up, Swindle."
"He's on fire. Was he always on fire? I honestly don't remember him being on fire."
This needed to be nipped in the bud.
"Acid Wash!" Megatron roared.
Somehow the garishly green seeker managed to make his way unnoticed through the crowd and was instantly by his commander's side. "Sir, I'm Acid Storm."
He was given a withering look.
"But uh, you can call me whatever you like, Sir."
"Get him to shut the God fire off. The last thing we need is for our underwater base to catch on fire. Again."
Acid storm blinked owlishly at his leader.
"No disrespect or anything, Lord Megatron, but what do you expect me to able to do? He's not in my trine. I have as much sway with him as Dirge has with Mixmaster."
"You're both radioactive. Figure something out."
"Actually, Sir I'm not radioactive. I'm highly acidic-"
"GO!"
Acid Storm made a hasty retreat, wondering why oh why did his leader choose to acknowledge his existence so much this of all days.
"Hey uh prime?" Inferno spoke up, breaking the Autobots out of their funk. "While they're distracted should we, ya know, get our tails outa here?"
"That is an excellent idea, Inferno. Now if you and Bluestreak would grab Sunstreaker please."
"Gotcha Prime."
The Autobots quietly snuck out of the hole they made earlier on Skyfire, as Acid Storm made a pitiful attempt at placating Sunstorm. It wasn't really working and the bright yellow seeker started to throw big wads of fire at everyone.
Acid Storm sighed, as he ducked from a fireball and narrowly avoided getting his face burned off.
If at first you don't succeed, well…darn