Editing once again!


Starlit's View:

Things were too quiet now. Jazz wasn't around to keep Prowl busy and the twins weren't in the living area cheering Bumblebee and Sari when they played video games. I was sitting by them in a chair made of old tires watching them race around a track made of rainbows.

Speaking of the twins, they had understood my feelings. Jetfire apologized for pushing me into to it and Jetstorm said we would always be friends. However, both of their optics showed a bit of sorrow at my words. I was happy that they weren't angry at me, but that didn't settle my conflicted feelings. I liked them yes, but I wasn't sure if I felt anything other than friendship towards them.

"Yes!" Bumblebee cried out, making me jump out of my thoughts. "I win again!"

"Ah man!" Sari crossed her arms and pouted. "That's the fifth time in a row!"

"Sure you don't want to play?" Bee asked me, ignoring Sari's complaint and holding out a third controller. "Sari got new ones so we can do four player games now."

"Yeah, don't break them this time!" Sari teased him.

"No, I'm content just watching." I smiled softly. I had played with them earlier but had been too distracted to really do any damage. I had kicked Bee's skid plates in this game previously though. Sari had laughed and Bee had been in shock.

"You sure? I could really use you help in kicking his butt." Sari tilted her head towards the yellow bot.

"She just got lucky!" Bee puffed up in pride. "I bet she can't do it again." He was trying to get me riled up so I would play. It wasn't working.

"Sorry guys, I'm just not in the mood." I got up and headed back towards my room. I could feel them watching me leave.

"She ok?" I heard Sari whisper.

"I'm…not sure." Bee whispered back.


While I was walking past Prowl's room, I heard him humming. He was practicing this thing called processor over matter. I had asked him if he would teach me, but he said it was too advanced for me. Eventually I would get there.

"Prowl?" I peeked in. He lifted his head in acknowledgment. "Can…Um…can I come in?"

"Of course." He motioned for me to take a seat in front of him. "What's on your mind? You seem troubled." I envied how he could read bots so easily.

"I…don't know…" I said honestly as I sat down in front of him, mirroring his pose. "If I tell you something…will you swear to not get mad?" He raised an optic ridge at that.

"Sure." He sounded wary about it, but was opened to it at least.

I took a deep intake and begin. "Ok, so I like this bot but…I'm afraid if I ask him if he likes me, he'll reject me." I paused to gage his reaction. His face was completely blank. "But if he doesn't reject me…what do I do?"

"Starlit, you're still very young. Are you sure you like this bot?" Prowl questioned. I nodded. "Then…you should tell him. If he does reject you, there are plenty of other bots out there." There was also a hidden threat hidden in that answer, like if he ever found the bot he'd offline him. "Was that helpful?"

Not really…"I guess so…" I left my real thoughts out.

"I'm sorry, I'm not really the bot to ask these kind of things. If you would like, you could call Jazz. He might have more advice on this kind of thing." He offered. It was true, Prowl didn't seem to be the most romantic bot; and yet he somehow ended up bonding with Jazz.

"Maybe." I smiled. "Thanks any way." I was about to get up and leave when Prowl suggested we train. He said it might help clear my mind.


My joints hurt so badly after the two megacycles of training today. He was teaching me throws and how to escape from holds. I thought it was going to be fun, finally learning how to get away, but pit I have never been so wrong. I don't know how many times I ended up lying flat on the training mat. I swear the air got knocked out of me a few times. I did manage to throw him once, only for him to sweep my legs out from under me. He told me I should always be on guard as he pinned me again.

Right now all I wanted to do to refuel and relax for a while. Bumblebee had taken Sari home so it was, thankfully, quiet in the main room for once. I don't think I could take the noise right now.

Relaxing apparently wasn't going to happen however, because as soon as I got to the energon station, a warning blared onto the computer screen. There was apparently a distress signal coming from a warehouse.

"Looks like there's a fire near the pier!" Optimus called to everyone as he ran down from the computer consoles. "Autobots, transform and roll out!"

I watched as Ratchet, Bulkhead and Optimus passed me to leave the base. I sighed in despair as I would once again be left behind.

"Why have you not transformed?" I jumped at Prowl's voice behind me.

"You said I had too…"

"It's only a fire. You may join us." He transformed and waited for me to do the same. I beamed as I transformed as speed out of the base, Prowl following close behind.


It was so nice to get out and use my wheels again. Sure, it hadn't been all that long since I had been out of the base, but that was when I flew with the twins. I didn't have a chance to use my wheels and race along the roads.

"Hey! Look who's finally been released!" Bee teased as I made my way up next to him, passing the others as I went. He met up with us on the highway.

Prowl wasn't too happy about me speeding and told me to slow down. I chose to take it as suggestion and not a warning.

"Ha, ha…" If I had optics in my alt. mode I would have rolled them.

"Stay sharp you two, we don't know how big this fire is or if any humans are involved." Optimus chided us.

"Yeah, yeah." The yellow compacted brushed him off. "Come on boss bot, it's not like we've never dealt with a fire before."

"Yeah…but I don't see a fire." Bulkhead cut in as we turned the corner and ended up where the signal was coming from. We all came to a stop and transformed.

"What in Cybertron is going on?" Ratchet growled. "Fraggin' scanner must be busted."

"Or, we've been dooped." Prowl walked over to a trash pile on the side of the warehouse and picked up a device with a blinking red light. "This seems to be where the signal is coming from."

"Stay alert and fan out." Optimus sighed before splitting us into teams. "Bulkhead and Prowl search near the pier. Bumblebee and Starlit, see if you two can see into the warehouse and give us visual. Ratchet and I will survey the nearby warehouses." Prowl didn't seem to be too happy about being split from me but didn't argue with Optimus.


Bee took the lower windows while I jumped up and looked down from the sky lights, and over the roof tops of the other buildings. It was dark inside but from the outside you could see in pretty clearly.

"All clear so far boss bot." Bee said from over the team comm. link. "No sign of any one."

"All clear from up here too." I agreed.

"Haven't found anything over here either." Bulkhead responded.

"No sign from the next warehouse either." Prime sighed. "Something isn't right. Let's regroup and…"

"GAH!" Bumblebee's cry cut into Prime's command.

"Bee?" I called over the side of the building. I looked around but there was no sign of the yellow compact.

"Bumblebee, respond!" I could hear the fear in Optimus' voice. "We're coming to your location, Starlit. Stay where you are."

Like I had much of a choice. I jumped down from the roof and looked around where Bee had just been. I scanned the area trying to find a signal but couldn't even pick up the smallest traces of him. Prime was right, something was off.

"Looking for me?" I spun around towards the voice but was meet with a servo and was once again knocked out.


Prowl's view:

We all ran, or in my case drove, as fast as we could to where Starlit and Bumblebee were but we're too late. I hadn't been all that far away from her and again she had been kidnapped. I was angry at myself for letting this happen. I should have been with her. I mentally scolded myself for allowing us to be separated.

"Whoever did this can't be far." Ratchet was scanning for possible heat signatures and traces of their energy signatures. "They were here a click ago."

I tried to reach out to Starlit through our bond but wasn't getting anything back. There wasn't an emptiness or pain so she was still online, so it meant that she was knocked out. Slag…


Starlit's view:

I awoke to blinding lights glaring in my optics. For a nano click I thought I was back at the base on Ratchet's medical table, but as the blurriness cleared I saw that I was in fact in the place I had nightmares about. I was back on Sideways' ship. I tried to sit up but found I couldn't move. I struggled a bit before realizing the bonds tightened the more you struggled. They didn't do that last time. He must have upgraded.

"Star?" I heard a whisper to my right. I looked over and saw Bumblebee was tied to the table right next to me. "Oh good, you're awake." He sounded relived. "I thought he took you offline." Bumblebee had apparently met with Sideways while I was still out. I could tell from the dent he had in his chassis, he had made him mad.

"No, I'm ok. You?" He nodded and winced when the ties tightened.

"Ga…w-what do you think he wants?" He asked through the pain.

"I…he wants to reprogram me. He wants me to join him and the Decepticons." I wasn't sure if Prowl had told anyone else what had happened last time. I know I sure hadn't. Apparently he hadn't either by Bee's look of surprise.

"What?!" He said a bit too loudly. "How does he think he's gonna do that?!"

"Shhh! Keep it down!" I whispered. "We don't know where he is." As if on que, he came in.

"So, you're awake." I tried to look over to him but the ropes held me in place. "Let's began where we left off shall we?" He was walking around just out of sight so neither of us could see what was going on.

"Leave her alone!" Bumblebee revved and struggled in his bonds. I have no idea how he was able to struggle that much without getting completely crushed.

"Why do you care what I do?" Sideways had an edge to his voice. "You're just her teammate. It's not like you really care about her."

"I do care! She's my friend!" Sideways came to his side, where I could see him and held his sword to Bee's main energon line. Bee halted in his movements and backed as far as he could into the table.

"No! Don't!" I cried and tried to break free. Sideways flashed a dark smile.

"I see. You two are a bit more than friends, aren't you?" I watched as Bee's cheeks darkened and I felt mine darken as well. Sideways chuckled darkly. "How I will love to see you destroy him when we are done." I felt my spark drop at his words.

He walked back behind us and I heard something click. I knew that sound all too well, it was that stupid device. I struggled a bit more but stopped when I felt it slip over my head. Bumblebee gasped in horror right before Sideways flipped the switch and my world was once again thrown into darkness and pain.


Bumblebee's View:

I watched in horror as sparks flew off of Starlit's helm and she screamed in pain.

"No! Stop this! You'll take her offline!" He almost had last time from what I had heard Ratchet say. For pits sake I had seen the burn marks it had left behind.

"Oh, I fixed that little glitch." The gold and black mech stepped in front of her to check her vitals. I noticed that one of his arms was a different color and he had a deep weld in his chest plate where he had repaired himself. If my memory served me right, which it usually did, those injuries were delivered by the screaming femme next to me.

"Nice arm. Where'd you get it?" If I couldn't physically harm him, maybe I could somehow trick him into letting his guard down. I had tried earlier but he clocked me in the chassis, knocking the wind out of me. I watched as his red and black hand clenched into a fist.

"That is none of your concern." He revved. The computer screen in front of him lit up and showed the progress of Starlit's reprograming. It was progressing far too fast for my liking. The download was already at thirty percent.


Prowl's view:

Starlit's signal was still hidden but Bumblebee's had popped up. We followed it to a warehouse that was across the pier.

"I don't think this is a warehouse." Bulkhead stated the obvious as we transformed.

"No, it's not. It's a hologram." I was trying to think of a plan when I heard the weapons systems turn online and the automated voice sounded off. Looks like he wasn't going to be messing around this time. He hadn't even bothered to talk to us. I readied my weapons and was about to take out the guns when Bulkhead's wrecking balls hit the side of this ship, causing the hologram to flicker and die. He seemed to hit a main power line.

"Nice work Bulkhead! Come on!" Optimus and I took off, running straight to the main door. I just hoped we weren't too late.

Before we could even try to get into the ship, the weapons came back online and we were forced back once again. Hang on Starlit…


Bumblebee's view:

I kept trying to activate my stingers but the binds kept tightening around my wrist, making them useless. Slag it all! Come on, think of a way out! I scolded myself. I looked up in dismay at the screen. The download was now at seventy percent. If it reached a hundred, I feared even Ratchet couldn't fix the damage. I was about to give my stingers one last shot when the power suddenly cut out. I heard Sideways growl in frustration and slam his fist into the computer conceals, making is spark. By the time the emergency red lights came on, he was gone. I looked down at the bonds as I felt them go slack and was able to untangle myself from their grasp. I got up and ran over to Starlit.

"Star?!" I cried as I put my hands on the side of her face. "Starlit, say something!" I studied her face for any sign she was ok. "Slag come on! Please wake up…." I was starting to worry he had done some serious damage when she groaned in pain. Oh thank Primus…

"Bee?" She moved a bit but I made her stop.

"Hold on." I activated my stingers and blasted the binding off of her. "There, can you stand?" I asked as I took of the reprograming device off of her head. I decided to subspace it so it couldn't be used by this crazy mech again.

"I-I think so…" I helped her up and wrapped her arm around my shoulder to keep her steady.

"Do you happen to remember how to get out of here?" I asked as we started walking. She nodded and pointed the way.

"This way…" We hobbled down the dark hallway that was lit with intermitted blinking red lights. "At the end take a right. The door should be up ahead." She sounded weak. I really hoped what the crazy Decepticreep had done was still revisable.


Once we got outside we saw a battle was going on. Bulkhead had his own wrecking balls wrapped around him and was trying to get untied. Optimus and Ratchet were dodging and fighting not only Sideways but the guns on the ship and Prowl was staying right on his Sire.

"Stay here!" I sat Starlit down nearby and took aim at the 'Con. I tried to shoot but he saw me and shoved Prime into me, making my shot hit a lamp post that knocked Ratchet down.

"Sorry…" I said, rubbing where my helm had hit the ground.

"At least you got Starlit out of there." Boss bot said, helping me up as we returned to the fray.

Before we could even try to lead a hand to Prowl, Sideways threw him and jumped on top of his ship. Prowl flipped and managed to land on his feet.

"I think I've left my mark. There is no need for me to take her back. Soon, she will seek me out." Sideways laughed evilly and disappeared somewhere on the roof of his ship. I wondered if there was a hatch up there.

I saw Prowl try to run after him but the ship powered up and took off. Apparently the power to the engine wasn't cut.


Prowl's View:

I watched as the son of a glitch took off to hide away once more. I was so close to placing a tracking device on his ship but the thrusters forced me to jump back to keep from being burned. I revved in frustration but stopped my self-loathing when I heard Bumblebee talking to Starlit.

"You still ok?" I turned and saw Bumblebee kneeling in front of her. As I approached, he was suddenly thrown back into Optimus.

"Yo! What was that for!?" The yellow mech yelled at her, obviously angry at her sudden outburst, but the anger was cut short and turned to concern. "Star…?"

I gasped when I looked over to her. Her usually green optics had turned red. "No…" I said more to myself than anyone.

She turned to me and activated her swords. She charged at me, lashing out and clipping Optimus' shoulder when he tried to stop her. She swung at me a few times and I was, for once, glad she didn't have the training I had to land a hit on me.

"Starlit, listen to me. You have to fight this!" I dodged a few attacks and had to block the last one with my shuriken. "I know you can hear me…" I looked into her optics and saw a small glimmer of hope when they flashed green again.

"P-Prowl?" She backed off a bit and retracted her swords. "W-what's…GAAA!" She cried out, falling to her knees, and put her hands on her forhelm as the programming he downloaded into her processor flared again, causing visible sparks along her frame. "What's happening to me?!" She sounded on the verge of tears. When she moved her hands, her right optic was red while the other remained green.

"By the Allspark…" I gasped and tried to help her up.

"No!" She pushed me away. "Stay away! I don't want to hurt you!" She looked from me to the others as if trying to find a way to escape.

"Starlit, you're not going to hurt us. We can help you. Please calm down." I put my hands up in a none threatening way.

She looked back to me with fear in her optics. It wasn't in fear of me, however, but a fear of her hurting me. She didn't have the power to now, but if the coding fully took over, she could possibly over power me.

"Kid, don't try and fight this." Ratchet said as he approached. Optimus apparently helped him up during our fight. Bumblebee was currently trying to help our green giant get out of his binds. "I'm going to put you out with a small EMP burst alright?" He was staying calm so she wouldn't lash out. She backed up a bit from him but ended up bumping into me. I put my hands on her shoulders to keep her calm and to keep her from running.

"It won't hurt." I said so only she could hear me. She looked up at me with a sad smile. While she was distracted, I signaled for Ratchet to do it. She was out like a light within a nano second.


Back at base while Ratchet was scanning her processor and seeing what he could do for her, I was with Optimus while he questioned Bumblebee about what happened on the ship.

"There really isn't much to say. Sideways had us tied up, threatened to have Starlit offline me when she was reprogrammed, and then attempted to reprogram her. It's not permeant, is it?" The yellow mech seemed worried about her condition. Honestly, we all were.

"I'm not sure." Our leader looked upset about this whole ordeal.

"This is my fault. I should have never let her come with us." I clenched my hands in to fists.

"You couldn't have known that this was a trap, Prowl. None of us saw it coming." Prime gave me a sad smile.

"How was it he was able to sneak up on you?" Bulkhead asked.

"I…really don't know. One click I was looking into the warehouse, the next I was on the ship. I…think I remember seeing his refection in the glass…" the yellow mini bot thought out loud.

"I've got good news and bad news…" Ratchet said as he came back out, cutting the yellows mechs rant. I noticed Starlit was nowhere in sight. "Good news is, her processor is not fried and I was able to temporarily contain the bad code. The bad news is, in order to purge the code completely, we need the device he used, along with the computer system."

"Well, we have half of that at least." We all turned to Bumblebee as he pulled a cybernetic looking crown out of his subspace. "I didn't want him using it again, so I took it." I was proud of the annoying yellow bot. He actually used his head for once.

"Good work Bumblebee. Now we have to figure out how to get back on to his ship to reverse what he has done." Prime praised.

"I…may have an idea." We all turned to look at Starlit, who appeared in the door way. I noticed her optics had switched their colors. Before her right optic was red but now her left was red while the right was green

"You aren't supposed to be up yet!" Ratchet barked.

"I-I know, but I might be the key…to getting back on his ship." She sounded like her systems were straining just to keep her talking. "He said…I would find him. M-meaning I might have his…ship coordinates." She had a point. How did he expect her to find him, unless he embedded the coordinates somewhere in the code.

"You're not going alone."

"And you two aren't going to be the only ones going." Optimus put a hand on my shoulder. "We will all be going."

I was glad to have a team to support us in this situation.

"It's settled. As soon as Ratchet traces the code, we head out." Prime stood. "Ratchet?"

"Already on it Prime." The red and white medic took Starlit back to the med bay.

"The rest of us, be ready to head out at a moment's notice." We nodded. We had no idea how long we had to get prepared, so we wasted no time and headed to our rooms to refresh, refuel and recharge.


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