Ratchet placed a needle in the vial, and he took some of the substance out, "If this works, we might be able to inject Jack with it as well," he said, placing the vial down. He walked over to Starscream, "Hold out your arm Starscream," The Seeker did as commanded.
"Just hurry up and cure me," Starscream snapped. Ratchet looked at him.
"Don't test me Starscream," he warned, and placed the needle in one of his veins.
There was a flash of light, smoke appeared, and Ratchet was thrown backwards into the wall. Everyone covered their eyes as screams could be heard throughout the base. Bumblebee covered Raf and Miko, protecting them. Bulkhead turned away, closing his optics.
"Wheeljack? What's happening?" Optimus yelled over the noise.
"I...I don't know!" he answered, "I don't think this is supposed to happen!"
Moments later, the light was gone. Ratchet looked up, the needle shattered in his hand, "Well that was weird," he said, pulling himself up off the ground. He walked over to Starscream, "Starscream, how do you feel?"
"GAH! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME MEDIC?" They turned to where Starscream was standing, "I'M HIDEOUS!"
The smoke cleared, and they saw the Seeker, "Starscream you look fine," Bulkhead said. The jet looked down at himself, examining his hands, then up at them.
"Uh, Bulkhead? It's Jack," the jet said. Bulkhead's mouth dropped open.
"But...if you're Jack..then that means..." Miko turned to where Jack was sitting, and saw the boy looking in the mirror, pulling at his face, "That's Starscream," Starscream spun around.
"WHY AM I A FLESHING!" he screeched, turning back to the mirror. Starscream had jet black hair, pale skin, and red eyes. He was wearing a grey t-shirt underneath a black jacket, and dark wash jeans. Starscream looked down at himself, his eyes wide with fear.
"Well, on the good side, you're..."
"Still not cure," Ratchet said, grabbing the vial, "This isn't the cure," He turned to Wheeljack.
"Oh," Wheeljack said, "That substance is a little bit darker than the one for the cure. They looked the same to me in the cave," Wheeljack turned to Starscream, "Sorry."
"Sorry? Sorry? That's all you can say is sorry?" he snapped, "I'm a slagging fleshing!" Jack was busy examining his hands, taking in his robotic form, "And I'm still not cured!" Miko walked over to him, taking in what she saw.
"This could work," she said, tapping her chin. Everyone turned to her, "Well, if we give Megatron Jack," Jack's helm jolted up.
"What?"
"Let me finish," Miko said, turning to him, "If we give Megatron Jack, we can still look for the cure with Starscream here because he'll think that Jack is Starscream and Starscream is Jack," Optimus raised his optics, "Megatron has Arcee, and the only way we'll get her back is if we give Megatron what he wants. It will work, trust me," she said, walked over to Jack. She leaned against his knee joint, "Megatron won't figure it out. He's not that smart," She smiled. Optimus looked over at Jack.
"Well Jack. What do you say?" Jack looked up at him.
"I'll do it."
Optimus spotted Megatron in the distance, and turned to Jack, "Are you sure about this?" Jack nodded. Optimus turned back, and Megatron landed on the ground, Knock Out dragging Arcee with him. Optimus stood up straight, and met Megatron half way.
"Optimus," he said, crossing his arms, "I'm glad to see you have come to your senses," Optimus looked past him at Arcee. The blue bot was barely online.
"Give us Arcee first," Optimus said. Megatron motioned for Knock Out to walk over. Knock Out dragged Arcee over, and tossed her in front of Optimus.
"Now Starscream," Megatron demanded. Ratchet led Jack over, pretending that he was blind even though he could see. Knock Out grabbed Starscream by his arm, and pulled him over to their side, "Pleasure doing buisness with you," he sneered, and they walked away.
Ratchet knelt down by Arcee, "She's still online," he said, helping her up. Arcee leaned against him, closing her optics.
"They have...Airachnid," she whispered, as Ratchet and Optimus helped her over to everyone else, "Why...did you give him...Starscream?"
"Because that's not Starscream," Ratchet said, as they stopped in front of everyone else, "That is," He pointed to the boy next to Miko. Arcee squinted.
"No, that's..."
"We have a lot to explain to you Arcee," Optimus said, "We'll explain everything when we get back to base."
"So, the substance Ratchet injected into Starscream made him and Jack switch species," Arcee said, as Ratchet fixed up the last of her wounds. Optimus nodded, "Does June know?"
"As far as she knows, Jack is still here. Starscream is going to pretend to be Jack while we look for the real cure. Starscream is still infected with tainted energon, but the effects aren't the same when he is an organic," Optimus said.
"Does that mean I have to be Starscream's guardian?" Arcee asked. Starscream turned and looked at her.
"I don't need a guardian Autobot," he sneered.
"Yes you do. Jack had a guardian. Remember, you're not yourself, you're Jack, and Arcee never leaves Jack's side," Optimus said, walking over to him, "Speaking of which, you need to get home. All of you," he added, turning to the three humans, "Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Arcee. Take them home. Myself, Ratchet, and Wheeljack will discuss the location of the cure," The three Autobots nodded, and Ratchet activated the ground bridge.
Once they left, Optimus, Wheeljack and Ratchet gathered in Ratchet's private study, "Well, the readings suggest that the cure is still in that place we were. We just looked in the wrong place."
"And with the wrong mech," Wheeljack added, leaning back in a chair, "So we have to go back to Poland," Optimus nodded.
"I suggest that we leave as soon as they return. We need to find the cure, and we need to find it quickly."
"Before Megatron finds out that Starscream isn't Starscream," Ratchet said, looking at the map of the camp.
The name on the map of the camp was Auschwitz, and the name gave the three mechs chills by just looking at it. They didn't know what went on there, but whatever it was, they knew it wasn't good.