After about half a megacycle, Tomato and Blueberry found themselves back at the Nemesis. It was around dinnertime, so all the Decepticons were at the table, eating. They looked surprised at how injured Tomato was when he first walked in.
"Tomato?" said Megatron. "Dear Primus, what happened?"
"I got into a fight with an Autobot," Tomato explained proudly.
"Did you win?" Megatron asked him.
"Oh, he more than won!" Blueberry answered for Tomato enthusiastically. "That stupid Autobot didn't even know what hit him! Even though he was bigger than Tomato, and stabbed him and punched him, Tomato kept on fighting, and almost killed him."
"Almost killed him?" Megatron repeated.
"Well…I thought my parents might not be so happy if he died, because he used to be one of my father's trainees," Blueberry replied. "That's why the medic bot had to fix him…but if he hadn't, that Autobot would've gone offline for sure."
"So, you said Tomato got stabbed and punched?" Megatron asked.
"Yes, he punched me in my face then stabbed me four times with his dagger," Tomato told him. "Then he tried to stab me in my spark chamber…but I used your sword to defeat him. Here it is, by the way."
Tomato took out Megatron's sword and handed it to him. The sword was dripping with Carjack's raw energon, almost like a battle trophy.
"That's not all, Megatron," Blueberry added enthusiastically. "Do you see his Autobot disguise? He used that to fool my parents. So not only did he defeat an Autobot, he did it while disguising himself. Nobody figured it out!"
"I had to," Tomato said. "Carjack—my opponent—was trying to hurt Blueberry. So I couldn't just stand by and let her get hurt by him. I could never do that."
"So…you defeated an Autobot, kept fighting when you had injuries, rescued one of your comrades, and sneaked onto the Elite Guard ship?" Megatron looked impressed.
"Yes, yes, he did!" Blueberry cried ecstatically.
"Well, then, son, I couldn't be more proud." Megatron gave Tomato a one-armed hug and patted him on the back. "In fact…I think a promotion might be in order."
"Really?" Tomato cried happily.
"Yes," Megatron told him. "You can be my third-in-command. That means that if anything happens to Shockwave, you become second-in-command."
"That's great!" Tomato threw his arms around Blueberry happily, and she said that she thought it would be great, too.
"Tomato also came up with a fake name, Hotwire, so they wouldn't recognize him and make him come back to the Elite Guard," Blueberry added. "I couldn't believe it."
"It's true," said Tomato, taking off the blue optic lenses and his pretend Autobot sticker. "If I got caught, the Elite Guard would take me back…which I definitely do not want."
"We don't want it either," Megatron told him. "Now, come sit down with the rest of us and get some fizzy energon, your favorite."
"You know," said Blackarachnia as Tomato and Blueberry sat down, "I think Hotwire is a pretty good name, isn't it?"
"Umm…I guess so," Tomato replied. "Why?"
"Ve vere trying to look for a name for zat sparkling," Blitzwing explained. "Hotwire eez perfect, no?"
"As perfect as it'll get, considering I didn't want a sparkling in the first place," Blackarachnia snapped back.
"Why wouldn't you want a sparkling?" asked Blueberry, looking confounded. "I think little sparklings are always so cute."
"Do you want a sparkling?" Blackarachnia said back.
"Well…not right now," Blueberry admitted. "Like I said, I want to finish my education first…and besides, I'm only young."
"We aren't ready to be parents!" added Tomato.
"There are only about seven or eight lunar cycles yet to go," Shockwave told them. "Until then, we're just going to have to wait."
"And we all know how good Megatron is at waiting." Starscream smirked.
"I've got a war to run, and that takes priority over the little sparklings that infest my ship," Megatron replied.
"An infestation?" asked Blueberry. "Like space barnacles?"
"Something like that," said Megatron.
"Space barnacles are fascinating to study," Blueberry told him. "You know, like in Science class at school."
"Well, at least they don't make loud crying noises and keep you up at night," Blackarachnia said.
"Ve must love zee sparkling no matter vhat," Blitzwing protested.
"Never mind it," said Tomato.
"Besides, I think Wind Beneath My Wings is on," Starscream added. "To the TV!"
"This might be interesting to see…" Blueberry looked curious. "After all, I don't get the Decepticon channels, remember?"
"Oh, boy, are you missing out!" Starscream told her enthusiastically. "Wind Beneath My Wings is the best TV show ever, isn't it, Tomato?"
"Starscream got me hooked," Tomato admitted.
"On his stupid soap opera," Shockwave said scornfully.
All of them went to the TV, where Starscream turned on the Seeker channel. Wind Beneath My Wings was just starting.
"Oh, you're amazing!" they heard the main character squeal. The scene was getting pretty steamy, and Blueberry was staring at the screen.
"This is pretty…um…interesting," she said, looking a little shocked.
"It's a soap opera," Starscream told her.
They watched the whole episode, in which the main character and her lover decided to get married, although they were both high on energon and it was a split-second decision.
"Now let's watch the show I wanted to watch," said Shockwave. "It's called The Travel Show."
"Oh, yeah, I've seen that show," Blueberry told him happily. "It's on one of the Autobot channels, the Navigation Channel. It tells all about fun exciting places to travel to all over the universe."
"Yes, it's always talking about interesting and special planets, moons and stars in the Candied Cyberberry," Shockwave added.
"Why is our galaxy called the Candied Cyberberry, anyway?" asked Tomato. "I've always wondered that."
"Oh, it's easy, we studied it in school a long time ago," Blueberry explained. "You see, every galaxy in the universe is named after some kind of candy. For example, Earth's galaxy is named after the Milky Way, a human candy, and ours is named the Candied Cyberberry because that's a candy we can eat."
"Very interesting," Tomato said, nodding his head.
After the commercials were over, the episode started. The announcer 'bot was saying, "Welcome to…the Travel Show!"
Everyone in the TV room cheered.
"On today's episode, we will be doing a special on the planet Nebulos, lead planet of the Nebulon Republic," the announcer was saying. "Nebulos is a wonderful vacation spot for any 'bot looking to just get away from it all. The beaches are relaxing and beautiful, and the energon goes down easy like Sunday morning."
"Wow, we lucked out!" said Tomato. "I've always wanted to watch a special on Nebulos."
"Imagine the pretty beaches," Blueberry said dreamily. "Just think of it, Tomato…just the two of us, holding hands, listening to the sounds of the waves as we watch the beautiful sunset…wouldn't that be wonderful?"
"Yes, just the two of us," Tomato agreed, snuggling up next to her. They held hands, and she kissed him on the cheek.
"Jeez, guys, get a room, will you?" said Blackarachnia irritably.
"Whatever," Tomato replied, shrugging nonchalantly, and Blueberry giggled. Now everyone knew they were deeply in love.
The special on Nebulos made it sound very appealing. At the end of the program, the announcer said, "And, for a limited time only, you have the opportunity to take an all-expense paid trip to this paradise…including a five-star luxury hotel where the loyal employees never deny a guest even the most ridiculous request! Not only that, but the restaurant has an all-you-can eat buffet, including fizzy energon, dark energon, high-grade oil…we've got everything! No discrimination against either Autobots or Decepticons—everyone is welcome! Come one, come all! Call now!"
"Wow, an all-expense paid trip to Nebulos?" asked Shockwave. "That's very interesting."
"Hmm, I could go for a nice relaxing beach trip," Blackarachnia said approvingly. "Then maybe I wouldn't be stuck on this Primus-forsaken ship every solar cycle."
"And think of zee dance parties at night!" Blitzwing shrieked, getting up and starting his dancing.
"Yeah, I bet the femmes there are really cute!" Starscream added excitedly.
"Think of all the scientific experiments I can conduct!" Blueberry told them happily. "Remember, it said in the show that there are lots of different species on Nebulos that aren't on Cybertron."
"Can we go, Lord Megatron?" Tomato pleaded. "Please?"
"I don't know…" Megatron tapped his chin decisively.
"Think of how you and I could drink dark energon on the beach, my liege!" Lugnut said.
"Absolutely not," Megatron snapped.
"Everyone else wants to go!" Tomato insisted. "Just send Lugnut on some phony mission or something and then he won't bug you, will he?"
"Well, all right, then." Megatron squeezed Tomato's shoulder. "But only because you're my third-in-command."
"Woot!" Starscream cheered excitedly. "Vacay!"
TO BE CONTINUED...