Last time in Strifes Revenge...

"You..." Syndrome shivered as a hand snaked over his shoulder plates

"You're coming with me... And don't try anything funny. I can see through your camouflage thanks to my other two captives..."

The white mech gritted his teeth as Strife pulled him up roughly, shunting him towards the exit of the cell. Biting his bottom lip, Syndrome looked back at Napalm, then at Skartplug. He gulped quietly, almost falling over when the brown mech behind him pushed him further.

"Hurry up! I don't have all day..."

To Be Continued...

...Again.

"Guys are you sure this is a good idea? Skarts is gonna kill us when he finds out!"

"Don't be such a wuss Bullet! What he don't know can't hurt him! Besides! We're only getting some bandages for the Ds burns! No biggy!"

Bullet sighed, pulling some drawers out and scanning the objects inside quickly. He shoved them closed again as he realised they were full of useless stuff. Diablos sat on the other side of the room, unable to help due to the thick burns that covered his hands. Diode on the otherhand wasn't paying any attention to his wounds as he scanned several datapads. The white mech sighed, swapping pads as he paced slowly.

"Dode what tha fuck are you doin?"

Diode looked up from his reading, his scratched blue optics meeting the clear blue of his brothers.

"I'm lookin fer sumin bout Storms problem! Get ta kno a lil more on it init!"

Diablos just shrugged, his attention back to the silver Subaru as he sped around the room, pulling open drawers and cabinets alike as he looked for the bandages.

"Aha!" Airstrike smiled as he pulled out a white container and several bandages from a small white cabinet, several glass vials falling from the shelves and smashing against the ground as he did so. Bullet winced as each of them fell, a purple and blue mixture oozing together and forming a large puddle on the floor. The black jet just ignored the liquids, walking over to Diablos and applying the white cloth.

"Hey Diode! Get your aft over here and let me sort you out will ya?"

Diode looked up again from his reading, swapping datapads. He scanned the top quickly, his optics lighting up slightly.

"Hang on I tink I got sumin! Holy... Speedz read dis man!"

Bullet blinked, but walked over. Diode pointed to a few lines, moving his hand so the other could read it.

"Bloody hell..."

Airstrike looked up from his work "What is it Bullet?"

"Seems Storm's been in here everytime Syndrome has either been critically hurt or missing... well almost everytime anyway"

Airstrike shrugged "And?"

"And... don't you get it? Firestorm only fritzes up when Syndromes in trouble! That would explain why he's suddenly gone all strange now..."

Diablos blinked blankly at his brother, silently asking for an explanation. Diode sighed.

"Dem two are like linked someway! Dey ain't related an I doubt they're bonded, so how the fuck..." he trailed off into his own thoughts. Bullet continued to read the datapad, noting down some things in his head.

"Listen to this Striker. 'Overheating and severe headaches are usually the main signs of the breakdown. Other symptoms include high pitched screaming, frame spasms and coughing, often changing into choking as the pain surges progress. The panicked state of the body leaves the memory core unprotected, sometimes resulting into temporary memory loss or severe headaches for the next few cycles. So far I have found no cure for this unknown problem but a heavy dose of anestetic seems to lul the pain to a bearable state until Syndrome has returned.' Seems Skartplug's known about this for a while..."

Airstrike took several small objects out of the white container he held, using them to secure the bandages in place. Diablos twitched his hands slightly, checking he could still move them if he needed to. Diode wasn't really complaining about his own burns, too busy reading another datapad.

"Cordin ta da medbots notes Stormz been like dis since not too long afta Drome got ere"

"Meaning?"

Bullet sighed irritably. He knew Airstrike was thick, but he couldn't be THAT thick! "Theres some sort of link between those two! When Syndromes hurt or missing, Firestorm goes like this! Its like Diode and Diablos Strike! Watch!"

Bullet whispered something in Diode ear, which he nodded to, holding out one of his burnt hands hesitantly. Bullet slapped it at full force, causing the white to jerk and cry out, mimiked by Diablos. Airstrike looked from white to black then back again, thinking it through. Diablos hissed, shaking his own hand.

"Fuck sake Speedz don't do that!"

"I'm sorry! Proved my point though! NOW do you get it?"

"I think so... so you think everytime Syndrome's hurt, Firestorm feels it?"

"Something like that yeah."

Airstrike tilted his head "You think it happens on the other way as well? Ya know... Syndrome feel what Firestorm does?"

Bullet shrugged "Hope not, or he's gonna feel pretty slagged right now..."

"Come now Syndrome... surely you couldn't of overlooked that your life would be reduced to this!"

Syndrome screamed, writhing against the chains Strife had used to strap him down with. The brown mech chuckled, ripping off another piece of armour plating and inserting a long metal rod, attached to a red wire. He smirked, placing three more of them into seperate exposed wires. Syndrome shook his head, his optics pleading for the other to stop. Strife just shrugged the look off, slowly walking over to a nearby control panel. Flicking a few switches and turning a knob to 'MAX', The brown mech eyed up a button, his index finger gently stroaking it. The grey mech felt his circuitry heating up in a panic, his green optics shifting from the button to Strife and back again.

"You know Drome... Stormcrow liked you. She liked you because you were unique... because you were different... but I don't... to me, you're just a freak."

He pressed the button. Several thousand volts of electricity surged through the machinery and into Syndromes exposed frame. The saboteur screamed, the chains locked around his arms snapping under the pressure. The first thing that came to his mind was to pull out the rods, which he did, earning a growl from the brown mech as he stomped over, grabbing one of the poles and the grey mechs arm, forcing it back in.

"G-get off!"

"No!"

Syndrome cried out, his vocaliser getting hoarse from all the screaming he had been doing. His own hand latched onto the shock rod, wrestling with Strife. The device continued to emit its electric pulse, but neither of them cared. Syndrome just wanted to get away. He wanted to return to headquarters with the other captive Freelancers where he knew he was safe. Strife on the otherhand just wanted one thing. To make the grey mech infront of him suffar how he'd made him suffar.

"W-why won't you just leave me and my team alone!?"

Strife's golden optics narrowed menacingly and his smirk disappeared as he pushed the bar aside. Syndrome immeadiatly grabbed onto his arm, falling to one knee as he clutched his exposed circuitry. Strife shouted in rage, kicking him in the side repeatidly.

"You want to know why I want you dead? You want to know WHY I won't just leave you to live your fancy life with your team mates?! You want to know WHY?! I'll fragging tell you why! You killed my happiness! You killed the only friend I had! My best friend! Thanks to you, I have nowhere to go! I have no family! I have no life! I feel nothing anymore! Just emptyness! Lonliness! Misery! Do you have ANY idea how that feels!? How hard it is to wake up every morning knowing that you have nobody!? How hard it is to know that everyday is the same! Day in day out! No one coming to your rescue! No one coming to help you! No one coming to my rescue! I don't have anything left! I don't have friends! I don't have a family! I have NOTHING! And it's all thanks to you!"

Syndrome was speechless. He couldn't even register the pain in his side as fluids seeped out onto the ground beside him. Strife kicked him again, grabbing his arm and hauling his captive to his feet. He grabbed a nearby object, holding it to the saboteurs head.

"You wanted to know why... so I told you. And now... Now I'll show you how it feels to be empty... How it feels for me, day in day out, knowing that the one person that took it all away is alive and well, resting in a proper berth in a safe environment with fresh energon, clean running water, friends, family, comrades whatever you want to call them safe and sound... there to help... to tell you it's gonna be ok... I'll show you what its like to feel dead inside..."

To Be Contined...