Chapter 7: Seeing Blue I
A/N: Thank you for the reviews! ...I was actually a little indecisive as to how long the fanfics gonna run, but now I have a better idea! Thank you again!
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"Go now, Skywarp."
"No way 'Screamer! You can move your legs right? C'mon!"
She looked back hopelessly at the debris that buried her legs, listening to the roar of Autobot engines nearing their location. Starscream could only warn her team mates before she herself got caught in the landslide. Thankfully, the stray boulders did not crush her head, but the rest of her body was pinned, leaving her head and her arms sticking out of the dull landscape like a sore thumb. It would take a few hours for the Constructicon team to dig her out, and time was not an option when Megatron had already called for a retreat, leaving her and her persistent team mate begging to stay.
'Damn that Ironhinge, Ironwide, Iron-whatever he is,' she cursed inwardly.
"C'mon 'Screamer, I'll pull ya' out! We can worry about those hot legs later-" supporting his legs on the rocks underneath the female con, the purple seeker hastily grabbed her arms and started yanking forcibly. A sharp pain grew in her shoulder joints and she had to struggle against the purple jet to stop his futile attempts at freeing her.
"Skywarp, stop!"
He dropped her arms unceremoniously, wearing a defeated frown. She narrowed her optics at the Autobot vehicles drawing closer.
"Leave now." she hissed dangerously. "That's an order, Skywarp."
"...Code?"
"CW4-TRE."
"But-!"
"You heard me!" she slapped the ground with her hand, ignoring his pitiful look.
"...See you in four weeks, 'Screamer," he gave a weak wave and leapt to the sky. Starscream watched the purple and black F-15 beat a hasty retreat safely. Resting her forehead on the ground, she did not notice a pair of red legs approach her. Nor did she care.
"Well I'll be, if it ain't Megatraun's second-in-command."
"Great observation, Autobot lackey."
"Ahrnhide's th' name, and bustin' your chops' th' game, Stahscream."
'Well, at least he knows my name', she thought. It was embarrassing enough that she was caught underneath a cheap tactic, being one of the fastest aerials con who could easily fly away, but to save her team mates from looking stupid? 'They owe me BIG time.'
"Y' sound a li'll diff'rent thar...what's wrong? Ah' busted yer' vocalisers too? C'mawn, don't be rude...yh' could a'least look up at the guy who nailed yer tailfin!"
The sound of Autobot feet grew louder, and judging by the vibrations of one heavy pair, she knew she was in the presence of the Autobot leader with the rest of his army behind him.
"Well guys, looks like we've got ourselves a prisoner. Good work Ironhide."
"Thanks Phrime'!"
"You slag, Starscream! That's for my paintjob! It took days to wash off all that oil..."
'If Autobots did not get any vainer...'
"Hey, Starscreamy!"
'Don't call me that. Slag, I'm not listening to you all. Do your worst.' she sighed to herself.
"Remember ol' Jazz? Busted my fender back at the oil field? Now I know I ain't the only one who knows how to rock!"
'Primus, kill me NOW.'
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"That's Starscream?!"
"As far as we know, it seems that he...or she, has adopted a new body frame. But it is Starscream nonetheless."
Numerous blue optics and visors were pushing against one another to look at the small monitor of the prison bay for a glance at the curiosity. The captured femme con sat in a foetal position looking small, battered and miserable in the dark corner, subconsciously trying to place herself as far away as she can from the cameras. The Autobot leader put aside his natural curiosity to discuss her release, and the general hubbub over the monitor's was soon dispersed by Red Alert, leaving the scattering Autobot's to create scenarios predicting the seekers change in appearance. The saboteur happily took his guard shift and spun into his chair, resting his head on his hands. The old red mech stood behind the Porsche, watching patiently.
"Poor angel."
"Watchu' talkin' 'bout? She's a Decepticawn prisenerh'!"
"But she's hurt, man, I see the energon leaking outta her little leg."
"Now now Jazz, don't you be goin' soft with me aroundh'!"
"Hey man, I'm just sayin'. Maybe if we patch it up, she'll last a little longer for negotiations?"
A short pause and a grumble followed.
"...Aw, all RWIGHT'! But if she bolts, her leg's not the only thing that's gawna hurt!"
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The red and grey Autobot trudged towards the energon bar cells where the seeker sat motionless, carrying a toolbox in his hands. Irregular sized pellets were scattered around her body like petals, some of them resting on their mark. Ironhide took note of the same expression she wore when she was first caged in her own cell.
"Ah' see the Lambo' brother's got to ya' first?"
"I didn't know the Autobots had children in their army."
"They do it 'cause they're curious, that's all...most of the time they'd use sum' metal scraps. Are those-"
"-Wet?" Starscream peeled a paper pellet off her chassis and flicked the slimy glob in his direction. The red Transformer waved at the camera situated outside the cells and a few energy bars disappeared, inviting Ironhide into Starscream's prison space. Waiting for the energy bars to reappear, the older Transformer placed the toolbox next to a tense Starscream. She swiped a quick glance at the contents and frowned in disappointment when none of the tools could be used against its owner. Concentrating at the task at hand, Ironhide casually grabbed the femme con's injured leg without her approval.
"Wha-What are you doing? Get your paws off me!" she drew her leg back to herself but the red Autobot remained adamant and snatched her leg by the ankle, gripping it more forcefully.
"Hold still or ahm gonna hafta' bolt ya' to the walls if it means ya' gonna get yer busted leg fixed!" he shook her leg sternly and pressed her calf down with his free hand. Utterly disgusted and in undesirable pain, Starscream folded her arms into a tight knot and looked away from the disgruntled Autobot.
"Y' know, if my friend Jazz didn't say anythin', you'd be left here leakin', so be nice an' say thank ya' when Unca' Ahrnhide's done with ya', ya' ungrateful femme ya'!"
"'Thank ya'' for nothing, you old foggy!"
"Look, eitha' ah fix up yer leg, or we wait fer Ratchet ta' be done with th' others an' I see ya' sedated!"
Sedated was none of Starscream's options, so she held a defiant silence, twitching once in a while when Ironhide hit a sensitive circuit. Finishing the repairs by mending the open gap with a crude piece of metal, the red Transformer happily snapped his toolbox shut and stood up proudly.
"Dere'! All fixed up, and not bad if ah' say so m'self! What do ya' say now, girlie?"
The femme con slowly craned her head towards the old bot with a plastic smile on her face, and took a deep breath...
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"Oh, my, audio circuits..." the saboteur snapped his finger to pressed an intercom button.
"Jazz to Ratchet, come in Ratchet, ya' free yet old fella?"
"I'm not that old you, and stop shouting! What's the problem now?"
"Get Ironhide! He's out of Starscream's cell but he can't find his way man!"
"What happened in there?!"
"She just got up, and did a star-screamin' number at him!"
"A whatsitsnumber?"
"I don't know man, but she screamed at him an' now he said his audio's are busted and he can't see!"
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Red optics trailed Prowl and Bluestreak as they escorted the red Autobot away from her cell, freely bellowing colourful language at no one with tight hands wrapped around his broken optics. His windshield spotted a distinct crack over it, and the femme con threw an acerbic smile as Bluestreak took a quick glance at her, looking away in fear she would do something worse. There were ample opportunities to escape, but Starscream held her ground. There was much fun to be had in the Ark...
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"You have a code for these situations?"
"Yes Megatron." The purple seeker's optics were planted to the floor in submission.
"She requests that we don't pay ransom or attempt to recollect her until four human weeks have passed." his blue counterpart spoke with a small tremble in his voice. In truth, if Skywarp hadn't bungled up his orders, the Decepticon's second-in-command would not have ended up in her current predicament, and neither would they. Luckily for them, their leader had no knowledge as to what lead Starscream to be captured, and he did not wonder. Rubic optics narrowed at the duo, the latter being smart enough to not look up.
A low rumble escaped Megatron's vocaliser, lost in his own thoughts. The aerial commander was a coward, not a snitch, and having her captured was a twisted preference over his other troops. She had ample experience in worming her way out of certain difficulties she faced, even if Megatron was one of them. Observing her behaviour for the past few weeks, the Decepticon leader saw her using her more feminine traits coupled with her usual guile to get the results she wanted. She looked a little shallow at first, but careful scrutiny revealed that underneath all her wiring was Starscream intelligently exploiting her opportunistic tendencies. Assuming she had an agenda to fulfill in the Ark to benefit the Decepticon cause, Megatron would not stress so much if it wasn't Starscream inside the Ark.
A throaty cough brought the Decepticon leader out of his thoughts to the two seekers, standing dead still in their places, and the surrounding Decepticon's that could still function after today's battle.
"...Three and a half weeks. If she doesn't come back or has procured nothing, you both will suffer with her, make sure of that."
The Decepticon troops took a step back in unison from Thundercracker and Skywarp, leaving them feeling vulnerable to Megatron's mercy.
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"You're supposed to be up here watching Starscream, Jazz!"
"I know Red, but if you wanna really keep an eye on her-"
"Unacceptable! I cannot have you leave your post! Optimus will have my fender if you don't stay up here-!"
"Look Red, if anything goes wrong, I'll walk the flamin' coals man, don't worry!"
"Don't worry? Don't worry?! Jazz, JAZZ! WHERE ARE YOU GOING-! ...Fine! Do what you want! But if anyone finds out at this time there's no escape! There are only a handful of Autobots on guard at night and the Decepticons aren't planning anything so if you get into trouble it won't be hard to find the bot who left his post (I won't know what to do how does Prowl put up with this...)"
The Porsche whistled a matching tune to Red Alert's ranting fading down the halls of the Ark. Listening to the echo bouncing off the walls, Jazz took the cue to whistle louder for his own amusement, changing pitch as he entered the elevator, and blowing a more jumpy beat when he reached the prison cells. Mimicking his volume control, the Porsche bent at a perfect degree, and stopped whistling when he peeped through the energy bars. There sat the magnificent second-in-command with the unchanged stony visage, glaring steadfastly at the walls in front of her.
"Hello, angel."
"...I know you're awake, super-fly. I can see those optics glowing a very, very, bright red! Trying to burn holes in them walls to escape maybe?"
Starscream curtly replied with a human swear word.
"WOAH! Now that's harsh. I can leave, but I don't think we Transformers are made fer' that kinda thing..." Jazz chuckled to himself and threw his back onto the wall facing the cell, sliding to the floor and hitting the ground with a crumpled thud. A few awkward minutes whistled by, and the seeker scooted clumsily to bare her battered wings to the saboteur for a change. Jazz's grin only grew wider.
"Why did you ask your friend to fix me, Autobot?"
"Why? Why?" the cheery Autobot exclaimed, making her sound blissfully ignorant. "That 'Ahrnhide' is the same bot thought me to treat the ladies with respect, and on behalf of my good n' grumpy friend, he's sorry he buried your behind in a giant landslide (even though you hit a high F on our audios...)"
"Charming." her voice oozed with sarcasm. Is this Autobot so bored he came down here to kill her vocally? A few breems past by, his machinery rumbling underneath his hood in tune with the slow hum of her system. She turned around to take a glance at him, and Jazz immediately gave his friendliest wave and smiled. 'Oh great. They've sent a retardobot to amuse me.'
"Go away Au-"
"Autobot, Jazz." he rolled the end of his name with extra pizzaz. The femme con raised her light body to its feet and angrily stomped towards the bars, pausing halfway to notice that the Porsche had reinacted her actions. Growing less patient with the Jazz, she held her arms akimbo and glared at him with wings tilted in an intimidating stance, only to invite the saboteur to do the same, even raising his door panels in mock imitation of her with a cheeky pout to his face.
"Graaaaah!!!" Decepticon and Autobot threw their arms into the air and tromped around.
This is it, she thought. This it the way Autobot's torture their prisoners. No wonder the Stunticons broke down after half a day in the Ark. It was not the latest technological hacking equipment used to probe into their memory circuits for information, or the application of psychological bullying into revealing Decepticon secrets. It was this one Autobot Jazz and his eccentricity! He tilted his head at an angle to look at her, and if she could see behind those visors, she swore one of his optics was raised.
An uncomfortable taut feeling shot through her circuits just by looking at him, and she knew why. She can't see his optics. Transformers with visors were a normal occurrence, but this Autobot's use of an optic accessory made her curious. There was an uncanny glow emitting behind it, and the red jet was itching to find out. Pulling a face got his attention, and she quickly folded her arms around her chest. So did he. She folded them behind her head. That wasn't hard for him. Lowered their shoulders, made their wings / door panels lift, shrug and drop. She made a fool of herself by trotting around the prison like jolly turbofox, and stopped in close proximity to the bars, hoping he would be gullible enough to-
"Girl, I'm not that stupid."
Slag.
"How many times have I played this game? Well, I've gotta say, not many Decepticon's think of doin' what you're doing, but kudos to you-"
In a flash of yellow and white, the red jet made an unprecedented attack and flitted a slim arm out of the bars, successfully swatting Jazz's visors clean off his face. The force of the energy bars violently snapped at her bodily contact with a blinding jolt and slapped the screaming jet to the floor. Waiting for the prison walls to stop rolling, Starscream straightened her shaking arms to push her numb chassis off the floor. A scratched pair of visors got her attention beneath her, and the Decepticon wasted no time looking at the saboteur, who was just helping himself off the floor. His white arms rested on his knees, Jazz shook his head to clear his neural circuits and looked up utterly confounded at what she did.
"You-!"
Maroon optics stared in disbelief at Starscream and a pair of visors in her cell.
"You're a Decepticon?!"
"...Oh crap..."
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A/N: DA DA DUN!!!! Oh, my, Primus. I love Autobot Jazz, and yeah, some writing about him too!