-1Returning to the Ark with them, an official Autobot, Scorponok immediately began to display a side of himself the rest of the Autobots had never seen before. Megatron immediately realized that he had long since forgotten how utterly annoying the scorpion could be when he was bored, and the fact that he and Rumble almost immediately became the best of friends certainly didn't help things in the slightest, since Scorponok was proving to be a very bad influence on him. Nobody appreciated being caught in the crossfire when the scorpion taught the little red Autobot his favorite thing to do…
The sound of metal striking metal was downright deafening, almost drowning out the loud curse Ironhide let out as Scorponok bounced off his head. That was the scorpion's favorite pastime… hanging upside down from the ceiling and dropping on people's heads. His poor victim immediately swore again as Rumble followed him down, squealing and giggling all the way. Deftly twisting in midair, the little red Autobot landed lightly upon the back of his partner in crime and the two of them skittered off as fast as Scorponok's six legs could carry them, guffawing and chirruping all the while. "You little…" The scorpion didn't react to his yell at all. Rumble, for his part, merely glanced over his shoulder and emitted an electronic razzing sound that elicited more swearing and caused Scorponok to run that much faster as they rounded a corner and disappeared.
Ironhide's only real comfort in this was the fact that he wasn't alone. The two of them did this to everyone save Sarah's human form, and they only spared her because she could easily be crushed by the weight of a falling giant scorpion. When she was in her other form, however, she was fair game as well. Even Megatron wasn't spared. He alone had previously known that Scorponok could climb walls, but the Autobots hadn't had the slightest clue. Sarah wasn't too surprised that he could climb since he was a bug and bugs could do that, but his love of falling on people was a surprise. The scorpion was a holy terror without Blackout around to keep him in line, but the Autobots were surprisingly all right with that. After all, Scorponok spontaneously landing on people's heads for fun was vastly preferable to Scorponok attacking people. Even Megatron agreed.
The good thing about the scorpion's arrival was that he immediately latched on to the former Decepticon leader. Wherever Megatron went, Scorponok generally wasn't too far behind, providing a darn good distraction from his inner conflicts, all but forcing him to come out of his proverbial shell. That fact made the scorpion's obnoxious hobby almost bearable, since he was able to do what even Sarah herself could not, even with the link… get through the barriers the Decepticon had placed between himself and the world at large.
Whenever Scorponok found Megatron brooding he would immediately race over and start bonking him in the leg, wagging his stinger in that same odd way, all but demanding attention. Had the scorpion the ability to talk, the others swore he would have been flat out screaming "PAY ATTENTION TO ME!" No amount of scolding from Megatron or anyone else could stop him when he got going like that. This frustrated the Decepticon at points, since he would have preferred to just be left alone, but Scorponok's antics were downright amusing to the point of near hilarity. Hearing Megatron chuckling to himself at the scorpion's goofy persistence, Optimus began to think his brother would be all right. And it indeed seemed as though it would be so, since Barricade gravitated toward him as well, and as always he had Sarah… and Rumble.
Having served his time in the brig for attempted murder, Jazz was summarily set free. The moment he left the brig he began to act as if none of it had happened, as if he had never done anything to Megatron, as if his stay in the brig had been nothing more than the light punishment for a prank pulled. Cheerful as always, he was chatting and joking around with the rest in minutes, completely ignoring Scorponok's fairly recent arrival and pretending Barricade didn't even exist. It was all an act, though. This became obvious to Megatron when the Autobot shot him a glance that none of the others caught… a momentary glare that fairly oozed 'threat', as if to say 'this isn't over between us… not by a long shot'. For a moment, the former Decepticon leader felt something he wasn't used to feeling. Fear.
None of the other Autobots were the wiser as to what had passed… was passing… between Megatron and Jazz. All they knew was that Jazz was back, and that Megatron was withdrawing again, deeper and farther than before, this time passing beyond even the reach of Scorponok's antics. Optimus felt the small ray of hope Scorponok had brought with him begin to die. Sarah, for her part, had her suspicions as she watched the Decepticon sinking ever deeper into despair. However, she was dead sure that she had to be either imagining things or just hallucinating when she saw Jazz stop Megatron in a secluded hallway for a moment, just long enough to whisper six words to the Decepticon, words she wasn't even sure were real… "Never forget that you are unforgiven."
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…Okay, now he's just being a jerk.