SEVERAL SOLAR CYCLES LATER…
Tomato was sitting on the couch, watching TV with Starscream. Truthfully, he wasn't so much actually watching it as he was playing on his data pad next to Starscream, who, in contrast, seemed very absorbed into Wind Beneath My Wings again. (Now that everybody knew about his love for the show, Starscream figured he should probably just go ahead and watch.)
"I-I can't leave you," the femme Seeker from the other episode was saying to another mech. The femme seemed about to leave somewhere.
"You'll never have to, my love," he whispered, kissing her on her forehead. "No matter how far away this battle takes you, we will always be closer to each other than ever…in our sparks."
"Forever?" Tears were welling up in her optics.
"Forever." This time they kissed on the lips, as romantic music played in the background.
"Oh, dear Primus, that show stinks!" said Blackarachnia, walking into the room. "How could anyone possibly like this show?"
"We don't have to like all the same things, Blackarachnia," Starscream informed her, optics still glued to the screen.
"In other words, we know how Seekers like to behave when they're in heat," Megatron added, smirking as he joined them by the TV. Tomato had no idea what "in heat" meant, but everyone else in the room started laughing, so he laughed too (albeit rather artificially).
"I'm not in heat!" Starscream yelled. "Now let me watch my show!"
"Watch away," said Megatron. "But I know you're going clubbing tonight, and if you bring back any more femmes, you're as good as offline. Got it?"
"Got it," Starscream mumbled.
"What does 'in heat' mean?" asked Tomato innocently.
"None of your business," said Starscream.
"Son-of-a-glitch!" yelled Tomato.
"Hmm, guess he picked up bad language somewhere or another, huh?" Starscream looked up at Megatron, who was rolling his optics.
"Just ignore him, Tomato," said Megatron. "He's the one who's—"
Megatron was cut off mid-sentence by knocking on the door. Everybody jumped, because they hadn't been expecting any visitors, but Megatron went to the door, because he apparently had been expecting the visitor.
"Who is it?" asked Megatron.
"Swindle!" the visitor called. "Weapon delivery!"
"Oh, good," said Megatron, letting Swindle in. Swindle was carrying a small cardboard box. All the Decepticons gathered around, waiting to see what the weapon was this time.
"What's in here?" asked Tomato curiously.
"It's another weapon for you," Megatron explained. "You know what I always say—never bring a sword to a gunfight. So I got you a gun."
"You did?" asked Tomato, sounding surprised. "I don't think a gun like yours would work with me, my liege. That's my alt. mode, remember?"
"No, not like mine," Megatron explained. "Mine is way too big for you…and most other 'bots. I got you a handgun more suited to your size."
"Umm…okay," said Tomato. "Well, let's see it then!"
Swindle took Tomato's handgun out of the box and handed it to him. It was a battle-grade handgun, made out of a strong metal native to Cybertron. It had a silver-and-red color scheme, just like its owner, and it was big—not too big for Tomato, but still big enough to pack a punch. It was beautiful.
Tomato ran his finger over the trigger. The handgun was not loaded, but still, he felt amazed at what he could do with this during battle.
"My gun is like yours in the way that it is meant to attach to your arm," Megatron told Tomato, and carefully attached the handgun to Tomato's arm. They were similar—Megatron had a gigantic cannon on his arm, and Tomato had a more modest-sized handgun on his arm.
"So what do you think?" asked Swindle.
"It's…it's…" Tomato realized he had never actually owned a gun in his life. He was a gun, yes, but he didn't constantly have one attached to his arm like Megatron did. It could come in handy. Now, instead of using his sword, he could also shoot people in battle, which made him less easy of a target to hit. "It's fantastic!"
Megatron paid Swindle and Swindle left. Megatron loaded Tomato's gun and asked him to try it out.
"Well…um…okay, if you want me to," Tomato said nervously. He shot the gun; with a blast of fire, a bullet flew across the room. Everyone except Megatron ducked, and Tomato looked even more nervous. "Are you sure I can use this in battle?"
"Don't ever be afraid of your own weapons," Megatron told him. "You will often find them being your best friends in the heat of battle."
ONE EARTH MONTH (OR, ONE LUNAR CYCLE) LATER…
The last lunar cycle had been pretty uneventful. Tomato was practicing at using his gun, and working on getting over his fear of heights, even though this training was a lot harder than just practicing with a gun, which he actually found pretty easy. Currently, Tomato was practicing flying with Starscream at his training course.
"Okay now, transform and rise up!" called Starscream. (Tomato suspected that Starscream liked being in charge of the flying session.)
Tomato flew up into the air and his stomach churned. He thought of falling and possibly sustaining major injuries; of crashing into something; or even of being attacked by some kind of flying Autobot. Unfortunately, this caused Tomato to lose his concentration…and he crashed into a tree.
"Get me out of this tree!" Tomato hollered, not even attempting to get himself out.
"Oh, Tomato," said Starscream, flying up and rescuing Tomato from the tree.
"Wow," said Tomato, once they'd landed. "Thanks for that."
"Listen, Tomato," Starscream told Tomato seriously. "It's important to just relax when you're flying. If you're tense, this isn't going to work. Don't focus on your fears."
"There are so many things that could go wrong, though," Tomato explained, looking up at the tree that he had crashed into.
"Yes, that's true, but what I'm saying is, if you focus on those things, it's more likely that they will happen," Starscream protested. "Concentrate on improving your flying skills, instead. Be cautious, not fearful."
Feeling scared but trying to ignore it, Tomato took off into the air once again. After a little practice, he heard a menacing voice from the ground.
"This is the Elite Guard!" It was Ultra Magnus. "Come out with your servos up!"
"Oh, no!" Tomato cried, spiraling out of control and smacking into the trunk of another tree. This time, he didn't get stuck, but something decidedly worse happened—he slammed into the tree face-first (very hard), slid down the trunk, and dropped onto the ground, face-down.
"Ouch," said Starscream.
"Where is Megatron?" demanded Ultra Magnus.
"W-Who are you?" asked Tomato, scrambling up from the ground.
"We are the Elite Guard," Ultra Magnus explained. Ironhide, Jazz, and Blurr were with him. (Sentinel Prime wasn't there, because he was still supervising Optimus's team.) "We have come to place Megatron under arrest."
"Well, he won't go down without a fight!" Tomato said. "Surrender is not an option!"
"Then we're coming in!" Ironhide said back in his deep voice.
Starscream probably didn't care if Megatron got arrested—in fact, he was most likely hoping for it—but Tomato couldn't let his Master get arrested. Besides, if he did, the rest of the Decepticons would get arrested too, and the war would probably be lost.
"Megatron!" Tomato screamed. "Get out here, pronto!"
"What happened, Tomato?" asked Megatron, walking off the ship.
"Someone called the Elite Guard is here!" Tomato cried, panicked. "I don't know who they are, but they want to arrest you!"
Tomato always felt loyal to Megatron, because Megatron was the one who had taken care of him after his father had died. It was true that Megatron had killed Tomato's father, but Megatron really did care about Tomato, whether he would admit it or not, and Tomato trusted and looked up to him. (Tomato didn't remember his adoption, anyway, because he was much too small when it happened.)
"Don't worry," Megatron told Tomato, glaring at the Elite Guard. "I can take care of myself."
Without hesitating, he aimed his cannon right at Ultra Magnus and fired. Ultra Magnus fell backwards. Starscream shot at Ironhide (even though this didn't matter, because he used his iron armor to protect himself from Starscream's weaponry). Jazz attacked Megatron with his numchucks, but Megatron deflected them with his swords.
"I'll help you, Lord Megatron!" yelled Tomato. Without even thinking, he flew into the air, the adrenaline helping to rid him of his fears. He flew above Jazz's head and shot it with his handgun.
Jazz winced in pain, and Ironhide looked at Tomato. "Who just shot your head, Jazz?"
Ultra Magnus walked up to Tomato and squinted. "This 'bot looks familiar…I just can't put my finger on it…what's your name, son?"
"Why should I tell you my name?" asked Tomato.
"Don't mess with Ultra Magnus!" called Ironhide angrily. "Just tell him your name!"
"M-My name is Tomato," whispered Tomato.
Tomato didn't remember the Elite Guard, because he had been so young when he left them. But apparently, they remembered him. Ultra Magnus's blue eyes widened. That dark-red paint job…the name…the sparkling who went missing so long ago…they had found his father's sparkless shell, but he had been gone, no matter how hard they'd searched…it was him!
"Tomato!" Ultra Magnus hollered. "Autobots! Grab him! Now!"
"What?!" cried Tomato.
"Grab his arms!" they heard Ironhide yell, and Blurr raced around Tomato faster than lightning—and when he stopped, Tomato was caught in stasis lock, his hands caught in heavy shackles.
"What's going on?!" Tomato tried to struggle, but it was hopeless—not only was he in stasis lock, but Ironhide and Ultra Magnus had both of his arms in a tight grip. "Megatron, help! Help!"
Megatron fired the cannon at the Autobots again and ran toward Tomato. "Hold on!"
"Let me go!" Tomato yelled, struggling as hard as he could. "What do you want with me?"
Megatron fired the cannon again and again, and his aim was good; but it was too late. The Autobots transformed and sped away.