THE NEXT MORNING…

Tomato woke up to a ray of sunshine glaring into his optics. When he looked around, he saw that he was lying down on the couch, the pillow placed behind his head. Shockwave was gone, early bird that he was, but Starscream was still sleeping in his bed, muttering to himself, one servo dangling off the bed and onto the floor.

Even though he had a huge processor ache, Tomato tried to get up and out of bed. It didn't work—he was beyond exhausted, and didn't know why.

"Starscream?" Tomato asked wearily.

"You two are absolutely splendid," Starscream was saying, while clutching his pillow. "Why, I haven't had a three-way this good in—"

"STARSCREAM!" Tomato yelled. "THERE ARE NO FEMMES HERE!"

"Huh? What?" Starscream sat up in bed and rubbed his head confusedly.

"You were talking in your sleep again," Tomato told him, feeling frustrated. "Sometimes I wish you hadn't roomed with us!"

"Is that really necessary, Tomato?" Starscream asked, lying back down again.

Tomato usually wouldn't have been so grumpy, but his processor ache was killing him, and he found himself taking it out on Starscream. "Yes, it is!"

Starscream yawned. "You know, I'm hung over too."

"Why don't we just go downstairs and see if the hotel has any painkillers?" Tomato begged. "I feel horrible."

"Oh, yeah, for your first hangover," Starscream said, rolling his optics. "I guess so. Everyone else is probably downstairs anyway by now. I'm sure Shockwave is, at least."

The two of them got out of bed and down to the lobby. Megatron was next to Shockwave, legs crossed, chewing on what appeared to be a painkiller and reading an out-of-date issue of Decepticon Weekly, absentmindedly turning the pages but still appearing bored. Shockwave was reading a book he'd checked out from the library, Spies Have More Fun. Blueberry was there too, holding one servo over her optics as if to shield herself from the bright light of the morning, although she appeared to be in stasis. In her lap was On the Origin of Species, one finger still holding her page.

"Dear Primus, I thought you two weren't going to come out of stasis for the whole solar cycle," Megatron said upon their arrival.

"Do you guys have any painkillers?" Tomato mumbled. "I have a torturous processor ache."

"Here, I brought some." Shockwave smiled and handed the painkillers to Tomato, who popped a couple of them right in his mouth.

"Where are the others?" asked Starscream.

"Lugnut is still sleeping," Shockwave told them, "and Blackarachnia was apparently having trouble with her sparkling, so Blitzwing said he wanted to stay with her for the morning."

"What, did she drink dark energon last night or something?" asked Starscream.

Shockwave shook his head. "No, that's the way sparklings are supposed to feel in the mornings."

"I wish I hadn'thad so much fizzy energon at the club," Tomato told him miserably as he sat down next to Megatron. "What…what happened last night, anyway? I don't remember a thing."

"Well, you were talking to Blueberry," Shockwave told him, sounding irritated, "and then you both just passed out right on the floor. Blackarachnia and I, being the only sober ones by that point, had to take you back to your rooms and put you to bed."

"So he didn't lose his virginity." Starscream smirked.

"Of course not," Shockwave told him rather scornfully.

"Well, you still had a good time, didn't you?" Megatron asked, glancing at Tomato, then back at his magazine.

"I had an awesome time!" Starscream told everyone, pumping his fist in the air.

"Yes, Starscream, we all know you had an awesome time," said Megatron, sounding irritated.

Not long after, Blueberry blinked and sat up. "Where…where am I? What's going on?"

"It's me," Tomato told her. "Tomato, your boyfriend."

"Oh…good morning." Blueberry smiled and sat upright, still holding her place in her book.

"What did you think of the club last night?" Tomato asked.

"I got high on energon when I said I wouldn't!" Blueberry laughed. "What would my parents say?"

"Nothing, if you don't tell them," Tomato replied, "and that's the way I want to keep it."

BACK ON THE ELITE GUARD SHIP…

Red Alert was currently on Monitor Duty, patrolling Cybertron. It was quite boring, as usual, and nothing was happening, when Blueberry's mother rushed in.

"Doctor, I have a feeling something's wrong with Blueberry," she said hurriedly. "Why don't you look for her energy signal on Nebulos, just in case?"

"Well, I don't see why not," Red Alert replied, switching the monitor equipment to Nebulos. What he found shocked him.

"What is it, Doctor?" asked Blueberry's mother upon seeing Red Alert's facial expression. Her voice was already full of worry.

"I can find Blueberry's energy signal, but it seems as though Decepticon energy signals are all around her," Red Alert said nervously. "Not only that, but I can't pick up any other Autobot energy signals…so it's only reasonable to assume that Hotwire must have been killed."

"For all we know, Blueberry could be next!" Blueberry's mother cried. "Why, there must be an all-out battle going on over there!"

"And one of the energy signals is unmistakably Megatron's," Red Alert added.

"We've got to get to Ultra Magnus!" Blueberry's mother rushed out of the room, looking beyond panicked. Several cycles later, Ultra Magnus walked into the Main Monitor Room, accompanied by Blueberry's parents.

Ultra Magnus shook his head. "I've been informed that Decepticons have arrived on Nebulos."

"Oh, I knew I shouldn't have let her go on that trip, I just knew it!" Blueberry's mother wailed, bursting into tears and burying her face in her husband's shoulder. "What kind of mother am I?"

"Don't worry, my dear," Blueberry's father told her strongly. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt our daughter."

"We've got to do something." Red Alert nodded his head firmly.

"And so we shall!" Ultra Magnus announced seriously, slamming his Magnus Hammer onto the ground importantly. "Tomorrow morning, we invade…and attack!"

TO BE CONTINUED...