Nightshade and their parents happily reunited. Alex and Dorothy both thanked Nightshade once more.
Both of them left shortly after, promising to return soon, leaving The dugout to return to its lonesome silence.
Nightshade approached Hashtag. "Excuse me Hashtag, was it Agent Schloeder or Agent Croft who came here?" They inquired.
"It was both of em" Hashtag responded. "Croft was pretty conspicuous though. She stayed behind a few minutes after John, I mean Schloeder, left."
"Odd. Why?" Nightshade inquired
"Beats me. And then she ran off into the forest, according to mom." Hashtag replied in a laid back tone.
Nightshade felt a tinge of worry creeping up on them. "Which way? North?" They asked as their voice shook
"I think so that's the way the house faces. Are you alright?" She responded, now concerned.
"Of course! It all makes sense. GHOST wasn't tracking our energon. They were tracking Tarantulas's. Why didn't I see it sooner!" Nightshade had begun to panic. "Hashtag I need to call somebody."
Hashtag hesitated, but handed over the phone. "Nightshade, hasn't he evaded GHOST for years?"
Nightshade didn't respond as they hurriedly dialed the number of the Decepticon base.
"Pick up pick up pick up" Nightshade said in a panicked voice.
"Who's this?" The voice in the other end spoke in a bored sounding tone.
"Lord Starscream, it's Nightshade! I have an urgent message." Nightshade said frantically,
Nightshade was not paying attention to Thrash asking "why are they calling a Decepticon for help?" And Hashtag answering "Starscream was the one who saved them."
"Well go ahead, if it's indeed urgent." Starscream replied.
Nightshade wondered if they didn't sound panicked over the phone. "You need to tell Tarantulas to hide or escape! GHOST has figured out he stays in the cemetery."
"What? how?" Starscream spoke in a raised voice. "He's the most careful of all the Decepticons, he'd never slip up and let himself get found by GHOST. Ugh. Nevermind, I'll see if I can get a hold of him. I'll call you back." Starscream sounded concerned now. That did not ease Nightshade's worries. Starscream hung up leaving Nightshade in silence, waiting for him to call back.
5 Minutes passed. Thrash spoke up "Hey, Tarantulas is that genius scientist right? He's probably planned for something like this." He said, trying to reassure Nightshade.
"I hope you're right…" nightshade said in a soft voice.
Nightshade grew more worried with each passing moment.
25 minutes later the phone rang. Nightshade reflexively answered, as the Terrans gathered around them. They also want Tarantulas to be alright. Nightshade realized.
"Hello? Starscream?" Nightshade quickly said.
"Yes." His tone was indecipherable. "I was able to contact Tarantulas. Unfortunately we fear the worst. Agent Croft found his laboratory. What resulted was an ambush followed by a standoff. However, after that, an agent fired at him and Tarantulas attacked. That agent is definitely very injured, probably dead." Starscream explains in a serious tone.
"I see." Nightshade responded, as their siblings gasped.
"It.. gets worse. He was cornered in his lab. And quickly overpowered. I'm sorry, Nightshade. He's been captured…" Starscream said in a solemn tone. "He wanted you to know that hes grateful for your warning. There was nothing more I could've done. I'm sorry." Starscream finished speaking, possibly awaiting a response that never came. He hung up after moments of silence.
Nightshade was speechless. They felt something inside them snap. They felt as though their vision was blurring. No, it was blurring. They were crying. They curled up, hiding their face.
The other Terrans tried to comfort them, but to no avail.