Author's Note: I'm glad that most of you got the clue as to whom the Big Mech is. If you didn't, well…go look in the reviews. It should've been dead obvious by now. Thank you for all of the reviews! I'm sorry that I haven't been updating lately…I've had really bad writer's block. I hope this chapter does well to appease you guys, I think it was a bit better than the last few chapters I've made.

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, Nightwind.

Chapter 13: Game Rules

The first prophecy I am giving you calls upon your guardianship, Barricade. Within this premonition, you will take on the responsibility of protecting Starscream against harm; your speed and size will be your greatest attributors as what you will face in large and devastating force—Bumblebee will be your greatest alley.

"Wait, wait, Bumblebee?"

Yes, Bumblebee. When things come to pass, you will know it when you see it. Blackout will also aid you considerably—your objective, deemed by Megatron, will only fuel their own promise to protect you. You will need their strength to get through these terrible trials, for Unicron will attempt to thwart them with his evilest intentions. You may even see familiar faces, but by through their optics lies the true evil of what they aim for—to take Starscream. At whatever cost, you must prevent this, even if its necessary to vanish for awhile. Bad things are coming, Barricade. With my guidance and your physical presence in this situation, I shall not fail my children, and you will help me do this.

--

I'm sorry.

Skywarp smiled gently, optics closing briefly before opening again.

Tell him I'm so very, very sorry.

It's okay, beige cousin. He is fine. Do not cry anymore…

"It seems like he's feeling better," Sunstreaker remarked from the far end of the medical berth, glancing at Ratchet.

"Indeed he is," replied the officer from his position with a smile despite himself; it appeared that his intuition had been correct after all.

Skywarp softly purred; he had always enjoyed tantalizing his newborn armor with the feeling of his shell against the wall—but against another Cybertronian's armor was even a greater sensation.

Especially when it made them feel better, too.

Skywarp ignored the elder mechs as he shuttered his optics in appeasement and continued on with his routine, allowing his sensitive armor to slide against the lengthy panels of Bumblebee's head. Usually such an affectionate action would be reserved only for the most privileged 'bots, like Starscream or Sunstreaker, but since his cousin was presently absent and his guardian asked him this small favor, he had a hard time refusing. After all, seeing the golden scout in so much pain was not something that Skywarp found himself too comfortable with—and he knew just how to make it go away.

The tiny jet release a small sound of contentment as he nuzzled a small cable jutting out from under Bumblebee's optic, making the larger close his own tiredly while he silently enjoyed the effects of Skywarp's 'petting'. Waking up to the feeling of overwhelming pain and nausea hadn't been particularly something that Bumblebee had been looking forward to—that was, until, he had felt a small touch on his aching neck and, when he half expected it to be a Decepticon taking advantage of his weakened state, he had found it to be quite the opposite. Finally, probably after some fifteen breems, the pain began to give way to far higher, lighter sensation. While it seemed awkward that Skywarp should be acting like he did, like a small pup snuggling against its creator, the yellow 'bot disregarded his nagging sense of humility for once and simply allowed Skywarp to work his magic.

After all, it wasn't everyday a mech was blasted with enough energy to shred metal upon contact and sent fifty feet up into the air. Saving the world could wait for another joor or so while he endured the pain and enjoyed Skywarp's generosity.

--

Well, my brother, it has been a long, long time.

Not long enough for my tastes, brother.

Well, isn't that unfortunate? And to think, you being the benevolent one of the pair. I say, you've gotten quite snappy in your old age.

Do not attempt to taunt me, Unicron, for you know what that brings you—and how dare you take this beyond what you're capable of doing.

Look who's doing the taunting now? I'm just doing what I've always been meant to do…destroy!

I will not let you harm my children.

I'm afraid you're a bit late now…you allowing this to proceed as deep as it has only benefits me more; the Autobots reinforce such positive thoughts on Starscream's part, and that's only going to get me further with my plans. Not like it matters much, anyways, being that I've already set the future course of this universe. Once more we shall retain absolute balance: nothingness.

You do not take under consideration the force you will have to stand against—the Autobots and Decepticons act as a continuous means of existences: life, death, and me. I will NOT let you take that away from them!

You silly, silly old fool, Primus. Don't you realize that you are only making them suffer all the more for what you put them through? I offer them respite from their continuous struggle, the pain, the distress…I offer them sleep. I offer them the calming peace of—

They attain peace without the complete annihilation of the entire universe. That is what existence is—a struggle. It makes us cherish what is most valued to our sparks and our spirits and makes us fight, not out of spite, because at least one side has to stand for what's right. It is not your place to choose their death, it is but mine. I created them and I want life for them; I did not see it back when we first began our own struggle, but I see it now. The concept of love and faith, justice and truth within this dark time also makes me realize that I, too, am willing to stand for what I believe in!

--

Skyfire could no longer ignore it.

Starscream was glaring at him—and for a good reason, too. For the past joor, Skyfire had done nothing but ask questions, and while the mini seeker tried to retaliate with his own, the ivory shuttle had merely brushed them away. Now the little beige one sat there, silently smoldering while refusing to continue on with the discussion they were having until Skyfire had done the honor of giving Starscream his own answers.

"I was afraid this was going to happen," the larger stated, straightening to his full height as he stared down at the sparkling below him.

Starscream merely continued to glare daggers at the other, a scowl etched on his features that usually wasn't there. For some reason, Skyfire found himself at a relief from this. Probably due to the fact that he was so shaken up at losing his old friend to the hands of something unknown, he was attempting to push the child away to once again create the impossible, temperamental seeker he had previously known. Suddenly the other sat up from laying down on the workbench and patted his lap of invisible dirt, looking down at the metal counter sourly. "Yeah, well, shoulda thought of that earlier, shouldn't have you?" the other returned, surprising Skyfire of the tone he used. "But whatever; I understand you. You, Skyfire—

—just make me downright pissed off,' snarled the blue and white seeker, a sneer coming across his face like he had a personal introduction to a flail. The expression alone was enough to send a slight chill down Skyfire's back, the room looking suddenly small as his blasters attached to both arms seemed particularly ominous. 'But you're just too damn good for that, aren't you? You just everybody's buddy, calm and sweet and generous, hells, you should be the next Optimus Prime you're simply so—'

"Hey, what's wrong with you?"

The snappish tone instantly broke Skyfire's thoughts as he was dumped back into reality, the dawning realization that his memories had just overflowed his core processor and scared the living pit out of him. What had just happened? At one moment, he was arguing with the miniature form of the Raptor he considered a newborn sparkling, and the next he was seeing back some millennia ago, bickering with the proud and zealous scientist. But it felt like one and the same—one disagreement seemed just as compensated as the latter, and Skyfire found himself afraid of that fact.

"I'd like to ask you the same question," came the quiet response from the larger as he stared down upon the other. Starscream flinched at this; his expression scrunched and hurt, his teeth bearing like an animal would if it were threatened. Such an expression captured Starscream's insecurity like nothing Skyfire had ever seen before—suddenly there was no distinct line between his spark and appearance and he couldn't have felt more guilty for it. "I—I didn't mean to—"

"Yeah, I know," Starscream interrupted before the elder could even apologize. "It's okay. You're the only one who seems to notice it, anyways."

"Notice what?"

"I'm not dumb, but everybody thinks I am. They think I can't do anything by myself; I don't want them to know because I think they'll hate me and besides—what difference does it make anyways? So long as I have Optimus, things will be okay," muttered the smaller before he turned away, gazing at the wall in with a distant expression. For a brief moment, Skyfire swore that Starscream looked like he was about to cry before the little one shook his head, glancing back at the ivory mech with the most amount of spite he'd ever seen the youngling portray. "After all, with this power I have…all I try to create is destroyed. I knew it. I just knew it…Wheeljack is so stupid. Why couldn't he see it? I knew that things would go bad…"

"Did you really know?" Skyfire blurted, unable to take the speech his Starscream was giving—it sounded all too familiar to the ones of the past, the ones that tore at the larger mech's spark. He didn't know what to do then, but after so much thinking of what went wrong to separate them, he knew exactly what to say now. "Or did you expect it?"

The blunt question startled the sparkling so much that he completely lost his angry appeal and glanced up Skyfire in surprise, his mouth slightly open as he tried to defend himself: "I…no, I don't—"

"I noticed the songs you sing, yes," Skyfire added, crouching so that he was optic-level with the little one, deeming them equals before he continued, "I noticed that everything you do is insecure and loathing to yourself; you never believe in yourself and never trust what you're capable of doing. You say that things are fine, sure, but I know you're too smart to let yourself believe that, either. The only way you can express yourself is through your voice, and that's the only way that your regrets and your helplessness can be released. But tell me, exactly—what are you giving into? What deadly form of evil can you not ignore?"

Starscream fell back on his skidplate as the last words were ground from Skyfire's lips, and immediately the ivory wished he could steal back every single syllable. Staring at the larger, the youngling's face shifted through a mix of emotions until it finally settled on the deepest and most spark-tugging expression of hurt and regret. "What do you know?!" he then cried, he cried, sky-blue optics growing dark and angry, flecks of crimson springing forth from their depths, "You don't have it haunting your every step and standing just outside the door, waiting for you! Watching you're every move!" Starscream was practically screaming now, tears pouring over his immature faceplates, "You're not caught in the middle, forced to act as the port between good things and bad! You don't know anything!"

The room suddenly shuddered, the florescent lights above the scientist's head blinking under the stress that was produced. Skyfire already recognized what was happening, even if he didn't see it. When Wheeljack's results had returned, the white mech realized that Starscream not only produced energy through his voice, but also through high-frequency radio waves, so powerful and high that no Transformer could hear. To what the humans could perceive it as, the waves were like the background music to his vocals, offering good proof as to why so much destruction was made. It was proven when things went array, even when Starscream wasn't exorcising his voice, but beyond that, showed how much Skyfire had upset the little one.

"What do you know—" snarled the smaller as he rose from his sitting position, his optics sparking flares of crimson, "—about what I've had to suffer through? The only one I knew how to trust was Blackbird, and even then the monster took him away from me! It killed my creators, stole everything I ever knew and loved away from me! So what could you possibly know?!"

"Starscream—Starscream! Calm down, please!" Skyfire gasped, thoroughly not enjoying the feeling of his body compressing, electricity jumping from around the consoles of the computers to capture him. Shouts could be heard from the halls as the Autobots tried to find what exactly the pit was going wrong with their ship—no doubt the Ark was nearly broke free from its rocky confines of the mountain it had been wedged into. If Starscream continued his behavior, they would no doubt have enough power, probably, to travel in space. That, of course, could always be evaluated at a later date; right now Skyfire had to get the beige one to relax or else the elder would find him in a very uncomfortable position with Jazz, Sideswipe, Thundercracker and Prime. "If you would just tell me, we could—"

"And let that evil abomination take Optimus and Thundercracker and Skywarp away from me?! I don't think so!" Starscream snapped, the purest form of energy swirling about him like it was a part of him—his emotions being conveyed through the passion of music… "I've had enough of being the victim! That fragging monster will no longer have control of me…I'll be sure of it!" Suddenly, as though by a miracle, a shift of the air in the room drastically changed; when Skyfire feared the worst that Starscream might completely lose it, the sensations he began receiving made it oddly clear that he wished for no such thing. "I don't…" he whispered, the red in his optics seeping back into the overwhelming, innocent blue depths, "want to lose another opi and dani."

"Then…" the ivory mech returned, catching the youngling's attention, "tell us what's going on. Please. It's…your only hope."

Starscream stared up at the other, optics full of worry, fear, most of all apprehension of the unknown for the both of them. But, seeing the sincerity in the familiar 'bot's soft sapphire orbs, the honesty he showed the smaller, Starscream was beginning to find it harder and harder to silence the secrets and regret he had kept bottled up inside him for so long. The Autobots—his family in all their crazy, spontaneous behaviors—had shown him nothing but trust and belief for who he was. He had kept it surrounded by heavy, thick walls from the outside for this long; he couldn't do it much further. No matter what, the monster would always come creeping back into his life. It had with creators, Blackbird, and now it had found them through his singing…

Skyfire was right. It was time to change this and maybe things, for once, would turn out right.

"You probably won't believe me," Starscream murmured, allowing the energy to disperse around him as he silenced the power the Big Mech had offered to him at his creation, "but I'll do my best to tell you the truth without stopping."

The white mech across from him appeared relieved and smiled at him, the gentle smile that though Starscream had yet to see, he nonetheless felt he knew it and the kindness it retained.

Not another thought could cross the sparkling's mind, however, as the wall behind him crumbled at the breech of another mech's claws through the metal barrier, going straight for his tiny body. For a brief moment, all Starscream could see was shredded metal fixtures and all he could hear was Skyfire's desperate cries towards the smaller, but then, just as he turned, he came face-to-face with a purple insignia.

"Decepticons—attack!"

--

"The Autobot base has been breached, m'lord," Blackout said quietly, standing beside his leader as he glanced down at the other.

Oh yes, looked down. An action that Megatron so dearly detested right now—despite nearly five of his subordinates growing and empowering their strengths of their bodies while he, along with many behind him in shame, had continued to remain in their dormant form. Why Bonecrusher, Barricade, Blackout, Brawl (Devastator), and Soundwave (though still unconscious) had gained such grand forms the leader would never know—but there was one thing he did know, and that he hated it and loved it at the same time. After all, what better way to conquer than with an army of the ultimate soldiers, and the most loyal to boot? The downside of that fact, of course, was the distinct note that it was the leader whom had yet to change into such a marvelous production of…wherever these forms had come from.

"Is Starscream in sight?" asked the silver one in response, ignoring the pain he was inducing by clawing so hard on his left forearm.

"Brawl has him," replied the thirty-foot mech in turn, "and he is secured. Shall we continue with the next step?"

"No, have him fall back," Megatron murmured, fingers digging deep into the grey armor, "now."

"…Yessir," muttered Blackout, obviously put out that he would, yet again, have to wait to get some action in. After all, if Soundwave hadn't had that little episode of his, no doubt it would be the Pave Low on the front lines rather than the tank that took his place. Barricade was right behind, oddly quiet despite the fact he was clearly enjoying flaunting his conceded new form to the other Decepticons, while the rest of the lesser soldier followed sulkily behind them all. Well boo-hoo to them. They at least weren't leader where they had to actually hold a reputation.

Megatron, from where he was standing, immediately knew that Brawl was going to have a far harder time getting back than predicted. The moment ivory appeared through the large, gaping hole the rustic green tank had produced, the moment the leader knew he would, indeed, have to try out the new bodies a lot quicker than previously anticipated.

The massive mech deemed Skyfire shredded his way through what was remaining of their scientific lab, no doubt, before snarling and swing an arm about, not even extending its full height before he directly took a hit on Brawl. Starscream, who is silent throughout the entire mess, gave a small yelp before being caught by the other unused arm of Skyfire, who then took to his full height.

Suffice to say that many were surprised to see such a…peaceful Autobot have such an ominous form.

Skyfire backed up against the Ark, holding Starscream with a single, bulky arm that nearly hid his entire figure. Megatron felt the little one's fear and confusion; he didn't understand what was going on as of yet, but the leader knew full and well how to get a hold of the youngling and keep a good grip on him.

'Skyfire into Optimus, please respond,' the stealth bomber murmured, feeling his spark drop somewhat at the sight at not only one Decepticon gaining new forms, but four was even worse. Despite the fact that Autobots had done much the same, most of them had shrunk in size and power, aside from Sunstreaker, Thundercracker, Prime and himself…all the rest of the group had rather become scrawny from their previous bodies. It was not a particular aspect that Skyfire had a good feeling about, despite Megatron looking as old and worn as he usually was. An unfamiliar mech, however, standing right next him gave Skyfire the shivers…he had to be at least thirty feet tall…

Nothing to match his brute mass of almost sixty feet, of course.

'This is Optimus Prime,' responded the leader, Skyfire immediately relieved at hearing the other's voice.

'We have been breached—Megatron is here to claim Starscream,' the white Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit muttered resentfully.

'We have you on camera inside the base, back-up is coming immediately,' Prime replied stoutly, his battle norms coming surprisingly easy into practice from being denied for so long, 'Fire when ready. If necessary, take down the enemy even if it means Starscream watching. I can't have him fall into Decepticon hands, especially if they've gained new bodies.'

'That they have…' murmured the large one as he moved away from the others, slowly and surely, despite all optics being completely trained on him.

In a brief, startling moment, Brawl was upon him again, snarling like some murderous animal out for its prey. Because of his size, he could not jump and attempted to tackle Skyfire from the waist down, hugging the large legs to him as he slid against the dirt. The bomber held stock-still, even surpassing his own doubts as he didn't budge from his location, looking down at the tanker with an amused expression despite himself. The Decepticon snarled as he made a nasty move to take Starscream from under the larger, frustrating Skyfire enough to throw him back with one hand.

The tanker did not look particularly pleased with the other's move as he immediately scrambled to his feet, another Decepticon behind him dodging the landing of the larger. He was rather small compared to his other colleagues, his optics observing the situation in silence as he looked prepared to take Skyfire down any moment. No—that wasn't it. He was far too small. He wanted Starscream.

The youngling was trembling in his arms, petrified and noiseless as he seemed nothing but cooperative to Skyfire's needs. The fact that he was indeed so cooperative disturbed the stealth jet to no end—for, if the unfortunate event were to come, Starscream were to be capture, he might rebel when it counted most.

'Back-up soon would be very nice, Optimus…' the ivory one said wearily, glancing at the bloodthirsty crew that was closing in and hoping that he would not have to fight the whole Decepticon fleet on his own.

'Don't get your tin can inna bunch,' Jazz muttered, 'We're right behind you, hiding in the rock filaments. Jus' c'mon back and we'll do the rest.'

'Will do,' replied the larger as he rolled Starscream into the palm of his hand and—despite his better judgment and hatred for himself—tossed the sparkling over his shoulder.

This time, however, Starscream took no reservation to releasing a soft cry as he was thrown into the midst of open air, clearly in need of having surrounding protection instead of being exposed on all sides. What surprised him, and more importantly reassured him, was a crimson figure blurring across the environment, snatching his tiny form into the other's as Sideswipe collided with the ground and rolled. No little kid could be happier by the Lamborghini's presence, and Starscream made soft whirring sounds of approval as Sideswipe smirked and dipping into hiding once again.

From beyond the sheets of rock in front of them, battle erupted as Jazz, Sunstreaker, and Ironhide took the fight on cowboy western style and used the environment to their advantage. The lesser of the Decepticons were immediately taken out of commission by the surprise attack, the more advanced of the throng reacting quicker and dodging the attacks before they hit them. As the three mechs pressed their backs once more against the rocks, Jazz stated, "Took out about twenty. I didn't think that these bodies would give us such…awesomeness."

"Right. Then tell me why Megatron is still standing," Sunstreaker muttered a bit curtly, looking dead disappointed.

"Cause that helicopter took him under wraps," Ironhide hissed as he held up his revolving cannons, looking alive as they rotated and hummed with energon ready to destroy their targets.

"Who is that slagger, anyways?" Jazz wondered aloud, then twitched before, with a wild expression stated, "Which reminds me, where's Skyfire?"

'Skyfire, come in,' the weapons specialist immediately stated into his comm. link.

The response was immediate. 'I'm on top of the Ark, looking down on you. There are four or so that have new forms—Megatron not being one of them. There is one in there that looks like a spy and is the smallest; I have a feeling he's going to give us the most trouble, since he'll be able to move quickly and will be going straight for Starscream. There someone else that needs to be with Sideswipe—'

No further did Skyfire say another word than did a huge explosion score from the Ark, its thunderclap making the Earth beneath the Cybertronians tremble for a brief moment. Jazz, surprised at such a sound coming from within the Autobot base, turned to glance out at the battlefield and couldn't have been more happy to see one that he usually would groan at just the name—Grimlock.

"Where tiny one?" the Dinobot asked in a temperamental tone, glancing about as though the Decepticons weren't even there.

'You call this backup?' Skyfire asked irritably as he gave a worried glanced at Sideswipe, who was trying to relax Starscream in his frightened state.

'What's better than an overprotective sixty-foot, trigger-happy Dinobot to put on the job? We've got Sludge with Skywarp right now, and Slag will be out there in a moment to take care of anything else you need,' Wheeljack replied cheerily, and the mechs on the battlefield practically could picture his smug features without even having to see them.

Grimlock, frustrated at not being allowed to see his small friend for a few days now, had just been "released" to the public and was now set on finding the little guy, now took sight of all the Decepticons before him. And, for reasons all too known, found himself to be a bit distracted at locating Starscream compared to bashing a few heads in beforehand. Opportunity at hand, he grinned underneath his facemask before lifting a bulky arm and transforming it on will—it shifted into a massive, ominous cannon that made the remaining small fry shiver in fear and the more stable of the group become lustful for battle.

"Me Grimlock like new Decepticon brats to kill," the Dinobot said haughtily, nearly making Skyfire smack his forehead for his attention deficit disorder, despite being (at least supposedly) a highly developed mechanical being.

But Grimlock didn't care. Grimlock was having way too much fun using his new blaster.

--

"Starscream…run…"

The little one shook his head, taking a trembling step backwards from the dark, menacing mech that stood over Sideswipe. "But you're hurt…I can't leave you…not like this!"

"It doesn't matter…" he gasped, chassis digging into the unforgiving ground as a line of lubricant seeped from his mouth, "Just…run! Run to Optimus!"

"Silence, filthy Autobot," snarled the other as he kicked down upon the crimson Lamborghini again, given a short cry and a line of coughs as a response.

Starscream trembled as he watched one of his best friends fall at the behest of this unknown mech, his red, gleaming eyes staring down at the little one like two daggers, prepared for the kill. The little jet stumbled as he found himself caught in between running for his life or trying to save Sideswipe's own. He was scared to death right now, but he couldn't just leave one of his brothers to torture. Starscream had allowed that too many times—with his parents, and then with Blackbird. There was no way he could do it now, or else Sideswipe surely would be doomed.

"Let me give you a choice, little one," the ebony one then said smoothly, almost gently, red optics continuing to shine with an ominous touch, "Sideswipe here is my enemy, and I am authorized to…remove him if be it necessary for my mission. However, my mission itself is to get you. I'll make you a deal and let Sideswipe go if you come with me, without any fuss or rebellion."

Starscream felt his spark plunge. "Don't listen to him—!" Sideswipe began, optics wide and panicked as he reached out vainly before being cut off by a flail jutting into his side. He screamed in agony this time, fingers digging into the ground as a reaction before his body felt victim to tremors, a dark liquid seeping into the parched desert soil.

"Sideswipe!" cried the miniature Raptor, scrambling to his feet before he halted dead, staring at the other. Thousands of thoughts went through his little processor, but he just couldn't find the right one to get both he and Sideswipe out of this mess. None but what the scary black mech had said—and the more and more Starscream thought about it, the more it came to his realization that would be the only way. His body too small to fight, his voice too powerful to use with Sideswipe captured…there was just no other possibility. "I…" he whispered, catching both of the mech's attentions, "I…I'll…"

"Don't do it!" Sideswipe intervened, this time not stopped. "You can't go with the Decepticons! You're just too important! Too important to all the Autobots!"

"Yeah, but…I'd be useless, then," whimpered the youngling, "and you would die, just like everyone else…"

The red Autobot went silent, watching the little one who he had come to know as a little brother, a part of his family, now try to protect his own guardian. Jaw clenching, the Lamborghini felt a wave of helplessness at his broken comm. link and his battered body and his mission to protect Starscream go up in smoke. Now it would be Starscream protect the red one—and giving himself as a sacrifice.

"Don't worry," the black one continued on sweetly, like powdered sugar over soured milk, "just come with me and he'll live. As a matter of fact, everyone will live since I will take you to Megatron, and then we Decepticons shall leave. Your Autobot friends will not even be harmed."

The poisonous words sunk into innocent audio receptors, Starscream felt his tremors weakening a little when he began to see the light (be it artificial) of the situation. Of course…that's all it would take. And he couldn't bear to see anyone else get hurt over him…it would be just so easy to hand himself over. Besides, he had once lived on his own…after Blackbird had died, the monster had tried to come after him and hurt him…his step-opi. The monster. But he had lived through it and had found Optimus, had found love and happiness. And, when the first moment Starscream realized he wanted Elita-One and Optimus to be his guardians was the first moment he realized he needed to protect them.

"I'll…do it."

--

A/N: Sorry for the long update. I had an AP test on Monday and madness the rest of the week, and I've had a severe case of writer's block. If you guys have any ideas for this story, please throw them out there because I'd love to hear them and have something from the audience in there. It'd be a great help.

Read and review, please.