Transitional Stages

by V the Happy Lurker

"How come you never let me drive?" It all started out with a simple question and a car wash. Things snowballed after that... Slash, UST, angst, body horror, general horror, and an unhealthy dose of CRACK.

12. Stage 02-02: Latency

Note: Note: Warnings for this and subsequent chapters include: period accurate language that includes slurs, homophobia, very politically incorrect attitudes about disabilities and mental illness in general, and other sensitive topics. There is also body horror as well as body dysmorphism, stalking behaviors, self-harming, moral ambivalent to outright criminal behavior, discussion of conspiracy theory nonsense, violence, brutality, and fnord. Please remember that this is a work of fiction. Actions taken by the characters are to progress the plot or otherwise enhance the story. If it sounds dangerous, illegal, or morally dubious to do in the real world, then the author wishes to remind you that you shouldn't do it yourself nor do I condone a lot of shit that went down in the 80s and 90s.

"So these are the Autobot Catacombs?" asked Hellrider as he transformed and caught up to Deadlock at the gate.

"Yes, but before we go in, I need to make a few things clear. First, if we run into any Autobots, let me do all the talking."

"Why?"

"Because Hot Rod knows me," Deadlock said quietly. "As do most of the Autobot resistance on Cybertron. You see, I am one of few Decepticons who openly admit having a desire to see a peaceful resolution to this futile war. And Hot Rod's trying to talk me into defecting (which I'm now very seriously considering…), so I've got the best chance at convincing them to let us take the body. I doubt they'll extend the same courtesy to you…"

"What makes you think that? You think I wanted to be a Decepticon?"

"I literally just meet you. You've done nothing to convince you are anything but devoted the Decepticons. You are part of a special forces team personally created by Shockwave and lead by a Stage Sixer, so it is very easy to assume your dedication to the cause (or at least, your loyalty to Shockwave…) is absolute. That said Stage Sixer also happens to be Overlord will make any sane person view you as, at best, a dangerously unstable and violent lunatic."

Hellrider gaped at him. "Huh? Why the fuck would they think that?"

"Overlord has been incredibly vocal about how he views you and the rest of the team as being like his own children. It's not too much of stretch for people to think that his depravity and madness has rubbed off on you all," Deadlock said in the driest tone. "From what I've seen so far, I think that might be a rather accurate assumption in your case…"

"Oh, come on! You're making it sound like I'm a homicidal maniac!"

Deadlock gave him a very cold look, hands going to rest on the swords at each hip. "You're a sparkeater. Homicidal maniac would be a drastic step up from the kind of fiend you are."

"They don't have to know about. At least, not right now," Raoul suddenly replied in weak yet hopeful voice. "Maybe after I've explain things…"

"Even if you hide your true nature, vile creature, there's another reason they won't believe you."

Hellrider snatched back control as he hissed, "And that would be…?"

"Lord Megatron himself is keenly interested in you and your career. That little fact alone would make any attempt of yours to defect to the Autobots appear deeply suspect."

"That doesn't mean shit, old man. I can't be the only Decepticon to jump ship. I mean, fuck! You just said you're thinking about defecting!"

"Yes, I did and I am. But your current status as one of the High Command's favorites would make any attempts you'd make to defect immediately subject to intense scrutiny and the deepest suspicion. And that's even without considering that you are a literal demon spawn."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because one: Soundwave is the chief spymaster for the Decepticons as well as Lord Megatron's closest advisor despite Starscream being nominally second-in-command. He's made it no secret that he is grooming you to become an officer (and to be his new bunk warmer…). Soundwave has even made comments that you might one day take your place in the High Command. Two: Shockwave has been doing everything he can to eradicate the Autobot resistance on Cybertron. From what I got out of Bombshell, he has seen to it that you were trained extensively in espionage and, more importantly, infiltration. Also, Shockwave was the one who ordered that you be built… sorry, be rebuilt as a civilian model when they rebuilt you. And three: They've done this before. Several times. And now Elita and the others are extremely careful about vetting any defectors."

"So why the fuck are they cool about [mamabicho] you?"

"I'm sorry? What's a [mamabicho]?"

"[Bicho] means 'bug' in Spanish."

"That's an Earth language, yes?"

"Yeah. I… uh, I learned some languages while I was stuck there."

"And it apparently isn't one Chip knows," Deadlock said after zoning out a moment to try looking it up. "I've been trying to learn some Earth languages and I already got a language packs for Japanese, Korean, and several variants of Chinese from Squawktalk a few cycles ago. Unfortunately, the one he had for English was corrupted but Chip has been very helpful about teaching me what he knows to fill in the gaps. He's been very kind, given the situation."

"Oh! So you're all buddy buddy with Chip but I get treated like shit?!"

"Chip was a victim of circumstances. He's a human who you forced into becoming monster or suffer a horrific death. Desperation and fear make people willing to agree to the most terrible of bargains. And he's also rather young, too. Still just a child by human standards"

"[I'm the same age, chocha," Raoul whispered bitterly as he slipped into English.

"…what did you say?"

"Nevermind," snapped Hellrider as he quickly shunted Raoul down again. "All that I want to know is why the Autobots would be more willing to trust a [chocha] like you rather than me"

"That's the thing: They don't trust me. Except for Hot Rod and Moonracer, the Autobots are still unsure of my motives. It's taken over five giga-cycles just to convince them rest of them that I might actually be sincere about defecting. And, I must continue to remind you that there's also the tiny little fact that you are literally a monster straight from the Pit itself. So I strongly doubt anyone with even the tiniest bit of self preservation instinct would ever give you a chance to explain yourself before fleeing in terror or blowing your head off. And your voice is nightmarish."

"Fine. You talk, I'll just stand around looking pretty."

"Good. Now that's settled, the next thing you must do is stay right be my side at all times. And you are not to touch anything, understand?"

Hellrider sighed. "[Christ]… You sound like my mother…"

"…Key-rice-ta?" asked Deadlock, giving him a confused look.

"Eh… It's something I picked up on Earth…" Hellrider said quickly, laughing it off. "But don't you think that's going a bit too far? I mean, we're already going in there to do some body snatching. Ain't like I'm one of those sickos who rape corpses!"

"I'm serious. It's going to be hard enough to persuade them to let us take Kaput's corpse even if I wasn't with a creature like you. I can only imagine what will happen should I just left you roaming around doing the good holiest Lord knows what! I cannot guarantee your safety if you wander off. So, keep close, stay quiet, and be on your best behavior, all right?"

"Right. Anything else?"

"Just one last thing," he said with a grim frown as he overrode the lock. "If things go bad, tell them you're binary bonded to a human child."

"What the hell?! No. No I will not."

"Look, I get it. You don't like people knowing that you have to rely on an organic to function now. But that might be the only saving grace you have right now. See, I overheard that a couple of very young humans were on Cybertron now and I've noticed you seem to be usually comfortable using Earth language. So I'm connecting a few dots here that the one you're now binary bonded with is one of the Autobots' pets."

"[I'm not a pet!]" snapped Raoul, bursting free in rage.

"…I'm sorry?"

"They're not 'pets'," hissed Hellrider as he wrenched back control. "They're friends and allies of the Autobots. It's degrading to talk about them that way, [chocha]. They might be aliens, but humans are sentient, free-willed people who just happen to be organic and small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. So show some respect, [motherfucker]."

Deadlock stared at him in shocked and angry silence for a long moment, then cleared his vents to steady himself. "All right… I apologize. Didn't realize it was such a sensitive subject for you… sorry again, I meant for the both of you. But now I'm connecting some more dots… And if the lines lead to where I think they're going, then it must have been the Autobots who did this to both of you because the only organics we have are the Nebulans Zarak has 'recruited'. And given how most people feel about that kind of thing, one or both of you had to literally be on death's door before they'd do something as drastic as binding a Cybertronian to an organic. It was an emergency procedure, wasn't it?"

Hellrider said nothing and glared indignantly.

"Judging by the look on your face, I guess that was the case. And, I'm going out on a limb here, but they only did it to save the human, right?"

Hellrider stayed silent, but couldn't hide his anger.

"I guess I'm right," Deadlock said quietly. "Because, why in the Pit would Ratchet save someone who is not only a Decepticon and one of Shockwave's proteges, but also a fucking Sparkeater?"

Staying silent, Hellrider tried to put up a blank face as he sensed that there were people nearby staring at them.

"I assume that they gave you both a choice in the matter, didn't they? Freedom is the right of all sentient beings… Or so Rod keeps telling me."

The silence was profound and heavy with a slow burning fury.

"Did they give you choice?" Deadlock asked again, now sympathetic and genuinely concerned instead of the disgusted condescension he had been giving Hellrider up till now.

"Yeah, [chocha]. I chose this."

"Did the human choose this fate, too?"

There was a brief moment of doubt before Raoul said softly, "Yes."

"I see," said Deadlock, frowning as he thought about it. "You both chose this, but I think neither of you had enough time to really consider the consequences. Emergencies call for fast decisions and I know Ratchet would have done everything he could to save both your lives, but it is odd they even considered this drastic a procedure. That Ratchet signed off on it would only be because they were truly desperate to save Rah-ool. But why you?"

"Maybe I was just the most convenient body they had."

"It's a very strange choice. Surely one of the Autobots would have stepped up, but none of them did. Which is extremely out of character for nearly every Autobot I've encountered."

"Maybe they didn't have the time…"

"Possible, but I doubt that. From what I've heard about the 'master' procedure, they could have kept the organic, in this case Rah-ool, on life support long enough to find a volunteer among the Autobots. But instead they immediately bonded the boy to a Decepticon? That doesn't make any sense. It's such a bizarre choice that it makes me wonder…"

"About what?"

Deadlock sighed. "Well, there's a few things that don't quite add up with the story you're giving me. While it's possible that the Autobots didn't realize you were a Decepticon, given that you're a civilian ground model as well completely unaware of your monstrous true nature, but that is explainable by the fact that most doubt creatures of darkness like you exist. I love him to death, but Ratchet's a rather ardent skeptic. And Jazz or Tracks would have been more than willing to be bound to the human."

"Why do you say that?" snapped Hellrider.

"You do realize that Soundwave has been keeping a very close eye on that little human since they first encountered him, right?" said Deadlock. "He's got plenty of evidence showing that not only does Tracks clearly have a… uh, a rather intimate relationship with Rah-ool, but Jazz and Blaster also feel the same. And I don't think that's just because of bleed over, either. Since Blaster is a carrier, he can't binary bond to anything but his cassettes, which leaves Tracks and Jazz. And they were both in the Neu Yor-ka at the time. Therefore, Ratchet had two mechs available who would gladly do whatever they could to save that kid. He could have let either of them become Rah-ool's binary partner. But he didn't. He used you. Which is really strange…"

"…I doubt Tracks would have done it," Raoul said quietly. "He… he saw me… Saw that human like being a bad case of rust rash…"

Deadlock raised a brow, then laughed. "Oh, sweetie… You should hear some of the crap he's called Jazz and Blaster! Like Ratchet, that mech's love language is snark and other verbal abuse…"

"Tracks also has… had a defect in his spark chamber. Even if he volunteered, Ratchet would have certainly turned him down as it would have likely killed them both."

"There was still Jazz. He's pretty healthy."

Hellrider squirmed a little. "Uh… maybe… Maybe he wasn't there in time…"

"Or maybe…" Pausing a moment to think it, Deadlock briefly gave Hellrider a once over. "Or maybe it wasn't the Autobots after all. I mean, Zarak and Scorponok are willing to perform truly diabolical experiments. They have even retro-engineered the Headmaster process, not to mention they have that little abomination around to create 'God Masters'. And I know Scorponok would be very keen on having his own pet mnemosurgeon…"

"What makes you think I'm a mnemosurgeon?"

"It's those needles," he said politely, gesturing at Hellrider's hands. "They're very obvious if you know what to look for. The inscription is also a dead give away. I personally got to see those very hands when I was forced into rehab before the war started…"

"Mnemosurgery ain't an effective way to cure an addiction," Hellrider said in a distracted tone, feeling edgy and painfully aware everything. "Too much of a risk of accidentally deadshotting all the reward centers, leading to profound mental damage that will completely lobotomizes the subject and put them into a vegetative state. Or induce such severe depression that is almost assured to lead to the subject's suicide."

"You're right, it's not good for rehabilitating addicts. But junkies, convicts, and other social trash made good dummies to practice on…" Deadlock said mildly. "Which is a big reason why mnemosurgeons are something of a persona no gratis among the Decepticon ranks, usually killed on sight as per Megatron's orders. So many of us found ourselves left to the tender mercies of bastards like Trepan and Tumbler. Most other 'cons also don't exactly view having to live with an organic bound to them as an ideal outcome, either. So it's extremely strange to see that you're not only equipped to perform mnemosurgery but also that you're binary bound to a human so extremely close to Tracks, who is an Autobot… Especially because, if I recall correctly, that one not only publicly humiliated both Soundwave and Starscream but also Lord Megatron himself… It does make me seriously wonder why this Rah-ool wound up bonded to a monster like yourself…"

"The fuck do you know, old man?" Hellrider snapped. "Wait a fucking minute. I never said my name was…" He stopped suddenly when Deadlock suddenly smiled at him.

"No, you never did tell me his name. Didn't have to. And now that I've know and have confirmed who your binary partner is, I can say that I know a lot more about your situation than you realize," said Deadlock. "It's clear that whoever did this wasn't worried about whether or not you'd be stable for long. It's possible that they were purposely trying evoke the ego death of…"

"I was dying," came Raoul's timid reply. "There wasn't really a choice. Don't fucking stand there and say you wouldn't have done the same…"

"…you sound… different again," Deadlock replied quietly. "Where has all the bravado and aggression, monster? Am I still speaking to Hellrider or…?"

"Who fucking cares?!" snapped Hellrider as he reasserted himself.

"I see…" Deadlock took a deep breath. "I'm going to be frank with you. Your best chance is to play to the Autobots sympathy for the organics. And, while you are a monster who deserves to die, that poor little human doesn't. So you are going to tell them about that 'Rah-ool' you're partnered with as soon as possible should shit go sideways. Just pray that we don't run into Springer…"

"Why? Does the guy hate organic lifeforms or something?"

"No," Deadlock muttered. "He doesn't give a flaming slag about that. But, while not as callous as his mentor Impactor, he is just as a firm believer in 'acceptable losses' as the old bastard was… And the Wreckers have no love for vile creatures of darkness like you, get me?"

"Yeah, I get it…"

"Good."

With that, they crept into the Autobots' necropolis.

The moment they entered, Hellrider got a creepy sense that they were being watched and followed. He couldn't tell if it was just his nerves or it they really were being tailed. After straining a bit, he did catch sight of figures moving along the side streets and the roof tops, but that might have been just his imagination. Or maybe he just saw mourners wandering around to pay their respects… Or looters scrounging for parts.

Hellrider strained his senses just a bit more and this his surprise, he not only picked up each individual that was closely following them but also faintly heard them talking. Over an encrypted line, he asked quietly, "[Hey old man, you hear that?]"

"[Hear what?]"

"[The voices]" Hellrider said, wincing at how crazy that sounded. "[They're whispers, but I can make out at least six distinct voices. Three female, two male, and one that I can't… uh, wait. That's Arcee's voice. …damn, she sounds super butch in Cybertronian…]"

"[Uh-huh…]" muttered Deadlock with a skeptical huff. "[You're saying that you can hear Arcee talking out loud while she's following us?]"

Annoyed, Hellrider focused on Arcee's voice and suddenly find himself taking a deep dive into a garbled maze of her mind that froze him in his tracks. Disoriented and shocked, he mentally stumbled around in her subconscious mind, recoiling at the horrific experiments Jhiaxus did to her in the past but feeling oddly delighted to see that Arcee's most recent memories were of an unexpected happy reunion with Greenlight. He managed restrain himself from peeping too far in on their private moments, which also had the side-effect of allowing Hellrider to find his way out of her mind. Once he was back in his own head, Hellrider could only marvel at how he'd managed to view Arcee's mind without needing a direct cranial interface.

Curious, Hellrider started to reach out to one of the others but was interrupted by Deadlock violently shaking him.

"[Hey!]" softly barked Deadlock as he let go. "[This ain't the time or place to zone out!]"

"[…hang on a second, you old bastard. I'm trying to check something…]"

Ignoring the anxious glare from Deadlock, Hellrider reached out to the next closest 'voice' he heard. It was a guy that such a painfully vapid airhead that he almost backed out to probe someone else. And then he picked up a very recent memory of the guy having a call with his friend, a hideous brute called 'Slag' to tell him that the Aerialbots had arrived safely.

Just going by how they talked and the way Slag clearly was trying hard to curb his cruder side, Hellrider thought Slag was the airhead's boyfriend but a bit more digging show that the pair were just very close friends. The two of them were a lot more intimate and cuddly with each other than what guys on Earth would see as being 'just' friends, but he realized that was likely a cultural difference. It reminded him of the kind of shit he'd seen girls get up at those slumber parties he'd sneak into as the token 'gay' friend, with the pair even sleeping nestle up together as often as they could. Unfortunately, as sweet and lovey-dovey as it all was, this was a situation the airhead was not at all happy about.

The airhead, who was named Fireflight, had been doing his best to put across that he not only was in love with Slag but wanted to ride the big bastard's rod until his pelvis broke. But even when he outright said that, Slag just laughed it off as a joke and act like all the flirting was just Fireflight being super friendly because he was a 'good, nice fly-bot'. And Firelight already knew, in graphic detail thanks to Blades being unusually chatty on the trip over, that the big guy had racked up a list of conquests almost as long and liked it rough. The image of Blades stunned face when Fireflight had expressed that was exactly what he wanted was vivid in his memory. That Blades guy had been genuinely taken off guard to hear that sort of thing coming out of his mouth as he also thought that Fireflight who'd never do 'that kind of thing'. It been even funnier when Fireflight had followed that by announcing that he was the reason the normally energetic Hot Spot had spent most of the time since they left Earth recovering from all the things they did the night before they left by taking the mother of all power naps. He only stopped giving Blades a graphic play-by-play replay when the other Autobot revealed that all the Protectobots were brothers (and, to Raoul's surprise, Jazz's kids too).

A brief glance at the airhead's mental roster of sexual conquests showed Hellrider that Fireflight was very experienced in doing 'that kind of thing'. Even Raoul was shocked by the fact that Fireflight had a body count so high it was in the triple digits. It was something Fireflight not only made no attempt to keep secret, but he would giddily brag about it whenever anyone asked. Slag had to knew that Fireflight wasn't some innocent little virgin, and yet he never seemed to catch on that Fireflight was down for him bad…

As he dug around in Fireflight's mind, he soon got why the guy was so damn popular. Fireflight was such a charmingly ditzy klutz of a twink that Hellrider found himself growing oddly fond of this stranger the more he looked into his mind. He clearly had plenty of options if he wanted sex as well as a relationship. But instead, Fireflight had decided to subject himself to keeping up an agonizingly chaste relationship with Slag while taking out his frustrations on whoever was available… The only exception being Sunstreaker since while Slag's bizarre selective obliviousness had driven him to desperation, even this airhead was bright enough not to get involved in with the queen of disaster.

In fact, Fireflight's mind was now idly wandering off paying attention to the two Decepticons ('Rod's evil boyfriend' and 'the weird new guy who was pretty hot for being like a total creepy zombie dude') to wonder if Percy would be interested in going another round when they got back…

After getting over his utter shock at witnessing that side of Perceptor, (which confirmed to Raoul that, yes, Perceptor was really into kinky shit…) Hellrider quietly filed that along with the other vicariously experienced encounters he'd gotten from Fireflight away for later. He was a bit annoyed to find that Fireflight had managed to focus again just long enough to get several pictures of him, mainly just zoomed in shots of his aft, but Hellrider had more important things in mind just then.

Probing around some more, Hellrider quietly made a note of what he'd learned not only about the guy's utter mess of a love-life but also the details he'd dredged up about the Aerialbots and a few other interesting tidbits that might be useful later, like the fact that Slag was one of the Dinobots, that his brothers and the Protectobots were combiners, and that Fireflight had caught that short asshole Powerglide had been cheating on his girlfriend with a human. The ditz even managed to focus long enough to learn some passcodes and the locations of various hidden Autobot strongholds throughout Cybertron, very useful bits of information indeed. Unfortunately, Hellrider couldn't find anything concrete about Tracks' current state since Fireflight was too… well, flighty to pay attention to little things like that, so he just cut his loses and backed out of Fireflight's mind.

"[Uh, are you okay?]" asked Deadlock, giving him a puzzled look. "[You're… smiling.]"

"[What's wrong with that?]" he replied, grinning even more so that his fangs fully showed.

"[Quit it.]

"[Why? I thought a Decepticon with fangs was normal. I see you got a set, [chocha]. Claws, too.]"

"[Yes, a lot of Cybertronians have them. It's a very common trait. But the mouth glowing isn't. It's creepy…]"

"[How long was I gone?]"

"[Huh? Oh…uh, you were just staring off into space for a few kilks.]"

"[Really?]" Hellrider could sense the others who were watching for their hiding places, eager to go looking through more memories. He even picked up three more Autobots were approaching and another unknown person heading to the other side of the catacombs away from them. "[How long do you think they'll let us just hang here before they just start shooting?]"

"[I don't know, but I don't want to find out. We better get moving]" grumbled Deadlock as he glanced up at one of the rooftops for a moment, nodded slowly with a slight gesture of his hand as if signaling someone before he went down the alley.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hellrider saw the briefest glint of a scoped rifle and a tiny flash of red disappear from a nearby rooftop.

Sighing in disappointment, Hellrider dutifully followed after him.

As they silently walked along, Hellrider couldn't help but notice how much cleaner and well-tended for everything there looked. It was obvious that the Autobots took better care of their fallen comrades than the Decepticons. It was even more obvious that they weren't also looting the corpses for spare parts or sick kicks. Well, if they were, the Autobots at least had the decency to re-inter whatever was left. Along the street they came out onto were nearly pristine monuments to the dead, especially a large number of statues mixed in with planters of crystalline trees and mineral flowering shrubs that exuded the softest perfumes. There were even screens and holographic displays that triggered at their approach, showing off highlight reels of the crypts occupants in life. The whole place reminded him of a large park, like if they turned Central Park into a cemetery.

All in all, it made Raoul painfully homesick.

"[You okay?]" asked Deadlock as they came to a sudden stop.

"[Uh… yeah. I'm fine.]"

"[You sure? You look sick.]"

"[…I'm fine.]"

Deadlock gently took him by the shoulder. "[No, you're not. Come over here and sit for a klik.]"

Hellrider let the old mech steer him over to a bench and sat down. He didn't want to admit that it was just his human side getting all sentimental, but all that mind reading had made him a bit lightheaded so taking a break was probably a good idea. It wouldn't be smart to faint in the middle of hostile territory.

Standing off to the side, Deadlock kept watch while Hellrider got a grip. He perked up abruptly, smiling at someone coming out of one of the alleyways. "Hi, kid! You doing well today?"

"Oh, hi!" The guy was a blazing red with a flame motif and obviously had a sports car as an alt. He looked to Hellrider like he was from the Brat Pack, sounding and even looking a lot like a robotic Judd Nelson. "What you doing around here?"

"It's a long story," he replied. "But I'm glad we ran into you. For this kind of task, it's best to have a forge-fire wavelength going on and you certainly bring that kind of positive energy."

"You still into that?"

"Yes. Have you reconsidered joining the faith?"

The guy laughed, his whole cheerful demeanor pleasantly breaking the somber dignity that had been overwhelming the place. "Depends. You reconsider joining the Autobots, old man?"

"No. But to be perfectly honest," said Deadlock as his expression went grim again and he glanced briefly at Hellrider. "Given the depths to which our Lord Protector has sunk to, I am seriously thinking your offer over."

"Look, man, just go ahead and do it! Trust me, you'll be so much happier that you did." The guy's thousand-watt smile dimmed slightly when he noticed Hellrider. "Uh, what's up with the corpse? Don't tell me the Battlecharger's broke in and stole it…"

"I'm alive," said Hellrider, sitting up with a grin showing off fangs.

"Holy shit! What the hell is that?"

"Hot Rod, this is Hellrider. Hellrider, Hot Rod."

"Huh… I'd have thought your name would be Bender…" Hellrider said, checking the guy out, noticing not only was he rather attractively built but also giving off such overwhelming twink vibes that his gaydar was buzzing like mad. It took all his self-control not to sneakily prod Hot Rod's mind to see whether or not he was available.

Hot Rod just stared at him a moment, confusion and fear battling for dominance in his expression. "I don't mean to be rude, but what in the Pit is the deal with your paint-job?"

Hellrider stood up and stretched, suddenly feeling much better and glad he'd kept the visor down. "I dunno… Maybe I'm a spectralist in mourning…"

"Uh… sure…" Hot Rod said, clearly checking him out. Hellrider took a little look in his mind, catching the following thoughts, 'Whoa… Dude's, like, super tall for a civilian model… Must be the legs. He's got great, long legs… Bet he was a dancer or something… Maybe he used to be a Seeker model. That explain why he's so tall and thin but also very athletic… Handsome, too… Wonder what he looks like with the visor up… Oh crap! He knows I'm staring at him…'

Out loud, in a slightly sheepish tone, Hot Rod said, "I am so sorry for your loss. Must've hit you hard, huh?"
"Actually, those are not mourning colors. A dull gray face with white trim and all black panels with a full body matte finish are the colors of those who have given themselves up to gaining total vengeance," grumbled Deadlock. "The kind of revenge that is so utterly destructive that those seeking it don't expect to come back alive. You have effectively declared yourself to be dead and damned for the sake of vendetta."

"Really? Well, that's convenient!" Hellrider replied with dark laugh. "Because I'm looking to rain furious vengeance down on the fucker who murdered Tracks…"

"But he's alive," said Hot Rod, settling on being politely confused while he continued ogling Hellrider.

"What?"

"Tracks is still alive," he repeated, so focused on his leering that he didn't notice the shocked look on Hellrider's face. "You do mean the blue guy with a weird 'flying car' alt and a galactic sized ego, right? Giant flaming chicken on his chest plate? Snobby as fuck and as vain as Sunstreaker?"

"Yeah. That's him."

"Yeah, he's alive. Not doing to great, though," said Hot Rod in worried tone as he looked up and met Hellrider's eye. "He's supposed to be on 'medical leave' until further notice, but Tracks bullied Skyfire into bringing him along to search for these humans that got kidnapped. He's been really torn up about it, especially about the one called 'Rah-Ool'…" Deadlock started to say something, but Hot Rod cut him off with a tired huff. "Look, old man… I already got bitched at by Ratchet, Ironhide, Chromia, Kup, and Ultra Magus for not sending him back to Earth or to a medical facility immediately. At least Elita-One backed me up on letting him stay to help and we've got plenty of medics on hand now Arcee's got her certification. He's currently back at the base, probably bitching at First Aid again about…"

In one swift motion, Raoul grabbed hold of Hot Rod's shoulders. "I need you to take me to him right now!"

"Ouch! Why?"

"I… It's… Look, it's fucking complicated, okay?" Raoul snapped, his grip tightening. "But I need to speak to Tracks. Right now. It's important!"

"Seriously?! I just meet you and, well, you are a Decepticon…"

Claws digging into the plating deep enough to puncture fuel lines, Raoul's voice dropped to a deranged growl. "Take me to Tracks or I'll—"

A sword-point at his throat cut him short.

"Get your hands off him," came the quiet snarl of a very tall, very burly green mech as he kept the blade against Hellrider's neck.

"Calm down man," Hot Rod said as he was released. "The guy's just really… uh, intense about things. You know how crazy religious guys get…"

The guy said nothing, moving so that he was standing between Hot Rod and Hellrider. The sword stayed at Hellrider's throat and the guy had an indifferent expression like separating heads from shoulders was just a day job for him. And Hellrider didn't need to peek into this guy's mind to see that he gladly would have already done just that if Hot Rod wasn't there.

Hot Rod let out a groan, clearly done with the green guy's shit. "Seriously? Will you put that away, Springer? I mean, sure, he's kind of sinister looking with that paint job and a glowy blue mouth, but that's likely just because he's one of those 'edgy' types. The guy's probably from the creche Tracks used to work for and he imprinted on the jerk like Bluestreak did. He must've thought the guy got killed during the Fall of Praxus and…"

Placing his free hand over Hot Rod's mouth to hush him, Springer kept glaring at Hellrider as he spoke in a scarily quiet way. "I know the marks of abomination when I see them. Deadlock, get this thing out of here."

"Look man," Raoul snapped, defiant despite the blade pressing dangerously hard and Springer being significantly bigger than any of them. Even though they were about the same height, Springer clearly had a weight advantage on Raoul as well as a sword. "Just let me explain. I have to see Tracks right now because I'm—"

"Shut. Your. Fucking. Mouth." The sword-point twitched, nicking a fuel line and causing energon to leak down his neck. Staying deathly calm, he turned to Deadlock. "Old man, either take this abomination from here right now or you'll be hauling it back in pieces."

Without a word, Deadlock grabbed Hellrider's arm and dragged him away at a composed but very fast pace while Hot Rod mouthed apologies. He looked oddly tiny standing in Springer's shadow and Hellrider got the oddest sense that this wasn't the first time the big guy had pulled a stunt like this. It was also very obvious to him that, at least in Springer's opinion, Hot Rod was already spoken for.

Before they were even out of sight, Hellrider clearly heard Hot Rod laying into Springer for 'overreacting' and not at least hearing Hellrider out first. He was using that very specific tone of voice Raoul knew all too well as the classic 'girlfriend pissed off with her boyfriend for embarrassing her by being an overprotective dumbass again'. He couldn't make out Springer's reply as the guy was oddly soft-spoken for having an accent that must have been straight out of Cybertron's version of Boston, but Hot Rod was certainly not taking it well and scoffing loudly about his boy losing his shit over a 'stupid myth'. The conversation was shaping up to be a very public argument as Hot Rod was clearly the type to not give a damn about who heard their relationship drama. But they were soon out of earshot so Hellrider never caught what was said next and he realized he was out of range to do any remote probing, though at least now he had knew how far it went. It also told him that the Autobots he had managed to probe had been uncomfortable close to them the whole time.

Once they were back outside the wall, Deadlock rounded on him. "What the everloving fuck were you thinking?! I told you to let me do the talking."

"We need to go back," Raoul said sharply. "I must to talk to Tracks right now. Maybe after I apologize, Hot Rod can…"

"No. You are going to go right back to the Tower." Before Raoul could argue, he cut him off sharply. "Look boy, the only reason Springer even let you walk out in one piece was because Hot Rod-"

"Is his boyfriend?"

"Uh, actually, no. Rod's still single despite being of age, thanks to a very overprotective Ultra Magus. Trust me. I have had firsthand experience to prove that. But the boy very close to Springer and also a good friend of mine, so you should be glad we were lucky enough to meet him first."

"If Rod's such a good friend, then why didn't you back me up, [chocha]?"

"Because you one: are a sparkeater. And two: you hurt Hot Rod."

Hellrider cringed as Raoul kept talking rather hysterically, glancing at the energon on his claws. "I didn't mean to… It's just that when he said Tracks was alive I… I lost control and…"

"That doesn't matter," Deadlock said with a sigh, his tone softening. "I understand that you're both a bit emotional about Tracks. But you still put your hands on Hot Rod while Springer was watching. For him, that's a good enough reason to at least beat the living slag out of you."

"I could take Mean Green in a fight," replied Hellrider, shoving Raoul aside once more as he absentmindedly licked a claw. He was surprised to find that it was incredibly tasty, but stopped sucking on his fingers when he noticed the disturbed look on Deadlock's face. He quickly pulled his hand away and shut his face plate to keep from licking them some more.

"Maybe you could have. But could you take out the other femmes to?"

"So we were being followed by more people than Arcee, weren't we?"

"Obviously. They're very vigilant. They have sniper nests all over the place. And I know that Percy… uh, Perceptor can easily take us both out with one shot. But I suppose one of few dubious benefits of being a sparkeater is having the supernaturally powerful senses."

"All the better to hunt prey with, my dear!" he laughed, sneaking a peek into Deadlock's head just long enough to catch that the old man had quite an interesting history with Perceptor before something distracted him. "Hey, wait a second… 'Other femmes'? That guy's a chick?"

"Technically, yes…" grumbled Deadlock. "But it's another 'sensitive subject' with Springer that will get him almost as angry as bothering Hot Rod would. He identifies as 'male', and we are going to respect that by not misgendering others. So how about you never mention it again, okay?"

"Fine. But we still need to go back in there for Kaput."

"No. You're going to return to the Tower and repair Chip."

"I thought I asked Painkiller to see if Scrapper…"

"He's probably too busy chaperoning Knock Out while they work on Breakdown. Scrapper doesn't think it's 'proper' to leave that idiot kid alone with a guy best known for fucking younger mechs…" muttered Deadlock, being clearly unaware of his own hypocrisy given that Perceptor and Hot Rod were both much younger than him. "So, you go back and work on your buddy. I'm going to hang here for a bit while Springer calms down before I go back and try to talk Hot Rod or Chromia into letting me take Kaput's body. Which is going to be really hard after the stunt you pulled…"

"You don't have to bother," said Firefly as he rounded the corner with something bundled into a tarp. "While you two were drawing the Autobots' attention, I went in and got it already."

"I need to apologize to Hot Rod," Raoul said quietly. "He seems like a pretty decent guy… A bit bitchy, sure, but with a boyfriend like that… I didn't mean to scare him like that…"

Firefly just shook his head as he transformed. "You are too softhearted, boy. But Deadlock is right. You should wait awhile before approaching the Autobots again. And Shockwave is getting annoyed by your antics. The Devil finds it hilarious, though…"

"All right… all right! I get the point." Vents rattling in frustration, Hellrider help Deadlock rig the body so Firefly could fly it back before they shifted into vehicle mode as well and sped after him.

Shockwave was waiting with a newly repaired Starscream at his side. "I trust you acquired the supplementary material?"

"Yes, sir," Hellrider replied, coming out of vehicle mode.

"Also, thanks for the confirmation that the Autobots are actively searching for the missing humans," rasped Starscream. "It seems your chronic idiocy is turning out to be very beneficial for us."

"You're welcome," he hissed back, snapping his faceplate close to better hide his facial expressions. He followed behind Shockwave as they carried the body to an operating room. The case of photonic crystals sat on the workbench to the side along with Kaput's head and a tray of tools.

"Hi guys," said Chip with a nervous cheerfulness, now in tiny blue and gold robot mode and leaning heavily on a pair of crutches. "Scrapper got me a new cog and I already called to let Mindwipe know I'll be staying to help."

"You don't have to, but thanks man," Hellrider said as they placed the body on the table. He stripped off the tarp, revealing a body that looked pretty pristine except for the ripped off stump of a neck. As he examined the body, the others shuffled out leaving just Chip, himself and Starscream. Hellrider briefly glanced up to give the Air Commander a dirty look. "What?"

"I'm curious to see how this process works," Starscream answered, stepping back to stand in a corner out of the way but with a clear view.

"I know there's at least one camera in here," grumbled Hellrider as he inspected and prepared the body. "You don't need to stay."

"I prefer a much closer view."

Hellrider said nothing, picking up that Starscream was clearly there to observe his interactions with Chip too. As he worked, Hellrider knew they must suspect he'd tried to use the excuse of retrieving Kaput's body as a pretext to approach the Autobots. They had to know that Deadlock's loyalty to the Decepticons was fading fast and that Raoul had seen an opportunity to get the old man to help him escape.

As he and Chip started cleaning up the body to begin working on it, Hellrider went over to the basin to wash his hands and mull over his current options for getting free.

First, he needed time to plan out his escape with Chip and Vester. They were likely the only two who'd be worth saving. Presser had gone completely nuts from becoming a literal god, Painkiller had already drunk too deeply of the Kool Aid, Victor was a lost cause even before he became a Decepticon, Overlord was… well, Overlord, and Firefly… Well, he might be able to talk Firefly into going with them, though Hellrider knew he'd have to show it would be in the mercenary bastard's best interest. But that would be a hard sell, so Hellrider settled on just getting out alive with Chip and Vester.

Given the reactions he'd gotten from Springer and nearly every other mech he'd interacted with so far, it was going to be harder to convince the Autobots that he sincerely wanted to defect. Even if he got a chance to speak to Tracks, Hellrider knew he'd likely be unable to convince the big guy he wasn't a monster… at least, not just at this moment. He needed somebody who could back him up and show them that he was not actually a threat to them. His best shot was going to be getting on Hot Rod's good side, given that the guy seemed to be open to welcoming in Decepticon deserters and more willing to hear him out. Hot Rod would be crucial in winning over the Autobots as he appeared to be most willing to listen to Hellrider. Both Raoul and Hellrider were willing to do whatever they needed to convince Hot Rod to help… and it didn't hurt the guy was a pretty boy who clearly was at least a switch-hitter. Yes, Hot Rod was indeed to key to getting out of this situation.

Until then, Hellrider had to be a loyal little soldier and build up the trust of his commanders. Patience was the key. No matter how badly he wanted to see Tracks again, Hellrider was going to have to keep from openly approaching the Autobots. Maybe he could get Deadlock to arrange a meeting with either Hot Rod, though he wasn't sure the religious fruitcake would be willing to help a 'monster' again. But Hellrider would worry about that later. For the time being, he would keep his head down and follow orders.

Hellrider took the head and began to delicate process of reattaching it to the neck. Once he finished, he opened up the chest to access Kaput's lasercore and inspect it.

Starscream moved closer. "There's been significant scorching."

"Yeah. A decapitation triggered terminal surge will do that," muttered Hellrider as he began cleaning out the chamber to get a better look.

"Is it going to be structurally stable enough to house a spark?" Starscream asked, moving aside to let Chip bring over a tray of supplies.

"The damage was mainly to his neural cluster. In reattaching the head, I had to replace the entire thing, so that's no longer going to be an issue. He also has damage to his left optic…"

"If my information is correct, that was a pre-existing condition."

"It wouldn't be too hard for me to-"

"You are already wasting enough time as it is. If this process works, he can function without such a repair."

"What do you mean 'if'?"

"The surge might have done too much damage for him to be revived."

"Actually, the damage is mostly superficial, likely due to the abrupt pulse that caused the spark to snuff itself when it overcompensated for the disruption. See?" He gently scratched off the soot to reveal the inner lining. He reached up and pulled a magnifying scanner over to get a better look at the chamber as he began wiping it out. "There's no substantial cracking in the lining itself. The cracks that are there can be filled in with quick-set resin so there's no need to strip and replace it. The body overall looks like it's good. I'm still going to run a full diagnostic before attempting to tether the spark. It's going take time, though."

Starscream stepped back again. "Very well. Proceed."

Hellrider did the fill-ins, then hooked up the leads to the room's terminal, taking care to set it up so the scans would be as thorough as possible. As it ran, Starscream spoke up again.

"While we wait, tell me how does this procedure work exactly?"

Hem-hawing as he tried to figure out a suitably intelligent reply, Hellrider finally just shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. Once I'm sure the body's good, I was just going to stick his spark back in, give him a boost and hope for the best."

Starscream just looked at him silently for a long time, then said dryly, "Well, now I am glad we're starting out with an Autobot. If things go wrong, you won't damage anything valuable…"

Hellrider said nothing as they turned their attention to the screens. While keeping an eye on the various progress bars and status gauges, he carefully reached out to look into Starscream's mind. He was absolutely blindsided to find that the Air Commander wasn't dwelling on some vile scheme but was looking back on a time before the War.

"Do you need anything, Starscream?" asked a younger Skyfire, looking away from the console with a bemused smile vivid in Starscream's memory.

"There's… uh, there's something I'd like to talk to you about."

The gentle shyness threw Hellrider for a moment, almost causing him to retreat to avoid triggering something. But he stayed, curious about what the hell was that feeling he was getting from the big shrieking bastard.

"Is it about the itinerary?"

"No… Not really."

The giant frowned slightly. "Is something wrong?"

"Forgive me, but I need to ask you a rather personal question, Skyfire."

"All right."

"Are you… seeing anyone?"

"Romantically?"

"…yes."

"Well, no."

"May I ask why not?"

Skyfire shrugged. "We've been so busy scouting for new fuel sources, I really haven't had the time to pursue anything more than casual partners. Besides, it's rather difficult to keep up a long-distance relationship."

"What if they were a fellow scout?"

"Uh, oh…" Skyfire cleared his vents, a bit flustered suddenly. "Well, that would solve the issue of distance, but I don't think it's wise to date your coworkers. Emotional outbursts and other such things can cause quite a lot of problems. Especially in such a dangerous line of work like ours."

"I see." The crushing disappointment hit like a bomb, but Starscream kept it under wraps as he turned to leave. "I'll just go and see if they've finished loading the supplies and…"

"Wait." A gentle hand on his shoulder stopped Starscream, then turned him back to face a very concerned Skyfire. "Starscream, is something wrong? You've been acting strangely ever since we came back from the 08-74D sector."

"It's nothing."

"Is there something you're trying to tell me, Starscream?"

In the wash of emotion and desperation, it finally dawned on Hellrider what Starscream was feeling: love. He was in love… and completely at a loss as to how to even begin expressing it to Skyfire.

"I was just curious, that's all," he lied, mentally beating himself up over his social ineptitude. Instead of confessing, he just smiled and said sternly, "And you have a good point. Emotional hang-ups can be quite problematic, especially if an emergency arises. But…"

"But…?"

"I want to let you know, I respect you as a colleague and a fellow scientist," Starscream blurted out clumsily. "You are the only one who I can honestly say I have ever considered not just an equal but a… a good friend. I would do anything for you, Skyfire. And… and I'm glad to have you as my… my partner. In scouting, that is."

Skyfire smiled, wrapping him in a tight hug. "And I feel the same, my friend."

Awkwardly, Starscream hugged him back, then pulled away as he started out into the hall. "…thanks. I'll… I'll just be going… friend."

It was only once he was sure that Skyfire was well out of earshot before Starscream slammed a fist against the wall in frustration, leaving a sizable dent in the metal paneling.

Suddenly, the memories jumped forward and a broken, desperate Starscream was standing before a committee at the Scientific Institute after finally being released from the mental health clinic they'd had shipped him off to for a long 'rest' as soon as he'd returned.

"We have reviewed your proposal to return to Sector 13-42S to retrieve the body of Skyfire," the chairman droned in a bored tone as he and the other elites looked down upon him with patronizing indifference. "And it is the decision of the committee that the proposal must be denied as it has been determined to be not only futile but a waste of resources."

"The proposal wasn't to 'retrieve a body'," snapped Starscream, his voice now that familiar screeching tone.. "It was to rescue my comrade. He's still alive."

"The committee has already made their decision, Starscream."

"But he's still alive!" Starscream shouted, his tone taking on a faintly hysterical edge. "Skyfire survived the ice storm, but was too damaged by the crash. This caused him to fall into a coma to conserve energy and stabilize himself while awaiting rescue. If I can go back with a team, we could—"

"It has already been decided, Starscream. Skyfire is as good as dead and we shall not waste either the time or the resources sending personnel out just to bring a corpse home. Nor shall we allow you to waste more of our time on these useless appeals. Therefore, we shall hear no more on the matter. You are dismissed."

"But you can't-"

"Yes, we can," the chairman replied coldly. "It's been over a meta-cycle since the accident and your return to Cybertron. Even if he had been in stasis the whole time, Skyfire has likely suffered too much damage by being trapped in such a hostile environment to survive long enough for a team to be deployed. And we cannot risk even more lives or, more importantly, waste yet more fuel just to go search for a corpse! Surely you must know that we cannot sacrifice precious resources on such idiocy, Starscream!."

"…idiocy?" hissed Starscream. "Idiocy?! The only idiocy is see here is that of old men grown callous and cowardly in their pursuit of power over the common good, all too eager to sacrifice our lives just to—"

"Starscream, if you persist in this insanity, I fear that the council will have no other choice than to have you committed to the Institute of Higher Programming for more intensive treatment. Are we clear?"

"…"

"Skyfire is dead. You must accept that… and the decision of this council! Starscream, do you understand?"

"I understand perfectly, sir."

"Good. You are dismissed."

Numb with rage, Starscream left the room.

Another jump, this time there was a battle going on.

Specifically, the Fall of Praxus.

Starscream was on the tower bridge, looking down at the sniveling former chairman for the Scientific Institute and the other elites as they desperately tried to save their lives.

"We have reached a decision," he said, nervously holding out a crown. "If you and your men spare the city, we shall have you formally declared ruler of Praxus. Think of it, Starscream. You will no longer be just a madman's foot-soldier. You'll be a king!"

Starscream just smiled kindly as he took the crown and recalled every lost moment he could have had with Skyfire. Thundercracker and Skywarp closed in as he sweetly said, "You make a very interesting offer. I do find the idea rather appealing. But you can no longer give me what I want. So, we have reviewed your proposal and it is the decision of the committee that the proposal must be denied as it has been determined to be not only futile but a waste of my fucking time."

They opened fire, slaughtering them. Subspacing the crown, Starscream felt deeply satisfied that not only had he at last he avenged his Skyfire but now was well on the way achieving true greatness. Conquest, after all, was made from the ashes of one's enemies…

"The scan is finished," Starscream said quietly, bringing Hellrider back to the present. "Everything is optimal."

"Right." Still a bit shaken at finding out Starscream actually cared about anything other than himself, Hellrider double-checked the results then took out Kaput's spark. He started to put it, but Starscream stopped him.

"Wait." Before Hellrider could ask or even argue, the Air Commander wired a killswitch into Kaput's lasercore. "There. You may proceed."

"What the fuck is that for?"

"Insurance. I want to be certain of the Autobot's compliance."

Hellrider glared at him, but realized that he really couldn't risk arguing. Instead, he popped the spark into the chamber, gently using his needles to tether it in. He paused, realized that Starscream had about point about having a bit of 'insurance', and did a little subtle arranging in the laser core to make sure Kaput wouldn't turn on him. Then he closed the core, attached a set of booster cables to give the body a jolt.

Kaput convulsed and writhed, his systems finally taking over after the fourth jolt.

"He should be able to sustain a pulse now," Hellrider said, unhooking the cables. "No sure how long till he comes back to, though."

"That's it?" asked Starscream. "That was all you had to do?"

"Uh, yeah. That's what I told you I was going to do."

"I just expected the process to be a bit more involved," Starscream grumbled with a gesture of his claw. "This was just so… anticlimactic."

"He's coming back around," Chip said suddenly.

"…what in the Pit?" Kaput groaned sitting up slowly and cradling his head in his hands. "What was I drinking last cycle?"

"Good. He's responsive," said Starscream as he went to the door. "I will leave you idiots to it, then."

"Why is Screamer here?"

"Well, you were murdered by getting decapitated by Fangry and I brought you back to life because I need the help," Hellrider said politely. "Now you're working for the Decepticons. And Starscream's apparently such a fucking bitch because his boyfriend joined the Autobots…"

The punch sent Hellrider sprawling across Kaput's lap.

"If I ever catch you peeping into my mind again, I will kill you. Now, break's over. Get back to work."

Kaput groggily looked at Hellrider's hand as Starscream stormed out. "Uh, Trepan? Is that you?"

"No, just got his hands," grumbled Hellrider as he got up and offered one to him. "I'm Hellrider, by the way. And the little guy's Chip."

Kaput just kept staring at Hellrider's hands. "…please tell me you cleaned those things."

"Oh… sorry!" he went back to the basin to wash again then went back over to offer a hand to Kaput. "Better?"

"Depends. Are those Trepan's hands?"

"Yeah."

"Then you better have autoclaved them."

"Lockdown took them and apparently he always cleans the parts he steals. So, yes. They were autoclaved."

"Great." Ignoring the friendly gesture, Kaput got up and went over to the case of photonic crystals. "What are we doing with these?"

"Shockwave wants to turn Horri-Bull, Fangry, and Squeezeplay into Headmasters."

"Head-whats?"

"Headmasters," Hellrider repeated as he took up the case. "They're Nebulans binary-bound to a Cybertronian as their head and cranial module."

"Oh, that sounds amazing…-ly horrible," huffed Kaput as rolled to the door. "Well, let's just get this over with so I can get a fucking drink!"

"Uh, you're not bothered by the fact that guy murdered you?" asked Chip as they headed down the hallway.

"It was Fangry," Kaput said as they followed Hellrider, who was going slow so Chip could keep up. "I'm surprised he left enough to rebuild…"

They had barely stepped into the other operating room before Hellrider stopped and began to gag. "Oh my god… What the hell is that smell?"

Kaput took a little sniff. "I want to say that's Horri-Bull, but it's nowhere near foul enough."

"We washed the corpses before the inhumation," said Scrapper, cutting on the exhaust fans to try and clear out the stink. "The other two only took us a few joors to get cleaned up, but we had to spend over eight cycles scrubbing Horri-Bull before they'd allow us to place his rotten carcass in the crypt. About the only good thing about it was it gave Mixmaster plenty of time to get samples because the filthy bastard apparently had several colonies of previously unknown life growing in his filthy aft…"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" asked Hellrider, still gagging despite the mask having some impressive intake filters. "Didn't Horri-Bull bath?!"

"Nope! It was a point of pride, you see," grumbled Scrapper as he pushed the gurney with the disgusting bulk closer to the vent hood. "I sent Scavenger to fetch some odor neutralizer blocks, so try and bear it till he gets back."

Grumbling about how anyone could stand being that nasty, Hellrider sat the case down on a bench and went over to the basin with Kaput and Chip. He even gave Chip a boost up to reach it before washing up himself He over to the other two gurneys, gave each a quick inspection, then turned to Kaput and pointed to the purple and gold one. "Okay. They all look pretty bad, but this one's the least fucked up. And don't smell like a backed up sewer in Hell. So let's start with… uh, what's his name…?"

"Squeezeplay."

"Yeah. Let's start with him."

"Right." Kaput looked around a moment, then back to Hellrider. "Uh, where are their heads?"

"Here," came a deep voice as a massive green mech came in, followed by Scavenger with armfuls of plastic cubes and a pretty blue robot pushing a cart that had the three heads and a large box on the bottom. "I have completed the conversion to the Master system, so all that is left to be done is rebuilding the bodies, modify the necks to accept their new heads, and reigniting their sparks. Then necessary parts are in the tray below their respective head. Commander Starscream has notified me that the procedure shouldn't take very long. You will have Moonheart and Scavenger at your command to assist in addition to Chip, as Scrapper is needed for the Battle Fortress restoration. I expect you to have this done within the next joor and you will notify me immediately once you have completed your task. Then I shall give you further orders."

"Uh, and who the fuck are you?" asked Hellrider when the big mech started to leave.

The others stared at him in horror. Even Chip looked scared as the big mech stopped and turned back around.

"Excuse me, but I believe I have given you an order and…"

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure chain of command goes: Scrapper, Knock Out, and Shockwave. Now who the fuck are you?"

Before the big mech could respond, Overlord appeared with a huge smile as he gave the big mech a friendly hug. "This, Hellrider, is my fellow general Black Zarak. Also known as Scorponok."

Scorponok just stood stiffly, glaring at Overlord. "Am I correct to presume this is another one of yours, Overlord?"

"Indeed!" He reached over and dragged a reluctant Hellrider into the hug as well. "He's like a son to me!"

The look on Scorponok's face was peak contempt as he slipped out of Overlord's embrace. "Right… Well, I believe we have wasted enough time. I believe your 'son' has work to do while you and I have some important matters to discus with Shockwave and her royal highness."

With that, Scorponok turned and briskly marched out of the operating theater. Overlord gave Hellrider one last squeeze before letting him go and patting him on the head. "Don't mind him, my boy. He's still pissed that Deathsaurus has sent Megaemperess along to see that Megatron's orders are being followed both to the letter and the intent."

"I thought that Deathsaurus guy didn't get along with Megs…"

"Oh, they hate each other," Overlord said brightly. "But Deathsaurus hates Scorponok even more. It's a rivalry that Megatron has exploited for millennia to keep them from joining forces to overthrow him as 'Emperor of Destruction'."

"Then what's your deal? You want to murder the Old Slagmaker, right?"

"Yes! But not out of any desire to rule. I simply wish to face him a duel to the death," came the cheerful reply. "Just he and I, one on one. Until then, I shall try and be patient while doing my best to get this ridiculous war over with so we can properly have our battle. Besides, I also have to make sure you and the rest of our family are properly established first. I want to make sure I have a legacy in case I die. Now, you and Chip just take your time and make sure to do a good job while I go deal with our 'glorious leaders'."

Once Overlord had left, the blue robot (who Hellrider guessed was Moonheart) gave him a funny look as she handed Scavenger the box. "Wait. I thought you were one of Soundwave's wards, sir."

"Doesn't matter," he said curtly, going back to Squeezeplay. "And what's with the 'sir'?"

"Uh, because you outrank all of us, Hellrider, sir," Moonheart replied softly, going over to wash her hands.

"Yeah," said Scavenger as he started packing more of the little gel filled cubes around the reeking corpse of Horri-Bull. "Needy finally sent over the tech spec files Scrapper requested for your team and it turns out you're a Captain, sir. So our chain of command actually goes: The Emperor of Destruction Lord Megatron, Chief Marshall Starscream, the Senior Generals of the Decepticon Armies, Major General Shockwave, Brigadier General Soundwave, Senior Colonels Glit and Nickel, Lieutenant Colonel Knock Out, Colonel Devastator, you and Captain Scrapper, Staff Sergeant Hook, and then the rest of us in the Medical/Applied Sciences/Weapons Division, Hellrider sir!"

"Hey, wait a second," Chip said suddenly. "I thought Soundwave was Megatron's second-in-command."

"That 'chain of command' is just on paper, kid. Among the Decepticons, you take orders from whomever can stomp your ass," huffed Kaput as he took out a photonic crystal to examine it. "Huh. These look pretty good for having been stripped out and left in a mind bank for Primus knows how long…"

"Actually, you all were dead, so I had to fish your sparks out of the Well," Hellrider said in a matter of fact tone as he started inspecting the damage to Squeezeplay's body. He only stopped when he noticed Kaput and Moonheart were staring at him in utter shock.

"…you what?" asked Kaput.

"I had to get your sparks out of the Well because you guys were dead," Hellrider said again. "Well, I really was just there to get Horri-Bull, Fangry, and Squeezeplay, but since I had to use your head as bait for Fangry, you wound up coming along too. Is this really that hard to understand?"

Kaput gaped at him in horror. "Wait… You're telling me I was dead?!"

"Yeah. The decapitation caused a terminal feedback loop that snuffed out your spark, Kaput." Hellrider turned to the still stunned Moonheart. "Hey, sweetie, you mind giving me a pry bar so I can get his chest open? This plate is bent all to hell and jammed in."

She just stared at him. "You… you really went to the Well of All Sparks? And you… you can raise the dead?!"

"Uh, yeah," he said with a shrug. "Look, it's not really all that amazing. I just fixed Kaput's body, stuffed his spark back in, and gave it a boost to kickstart his systems. Pretty routine kind of thing."

"That… is not routine, sir," Moonheart said in a frightened whisper.

"What's your spark type?" Kaput asked suddenly.

"What?"

"What's your spark type?" he repeated, putting the crystal back before he closed the distance between them. "She's right about that not being routine. So I've got to know if…"

"I'm one of those 'Point One Percenters', right?" Hellrider finished. He casually opened his chest plate and lasercore, filling the room with a faint green glow and causing Moonheart to shyly cover her face while still peeking a little between her fingers. "Well, yeah. I suppose I am. Vitreous positive, too, if that matters."

Suddenly, someone smacked Hellrider upside his helmet.

"Hey! Close it up, there's a lady present!" rumbled Thundercracker as he staggered over to Scavenger, dragging a barely coherent Skywarp along with him. "On of you mind hooking him up to an IV drip purge? We went out drinking with the Rainmakers and didn't expect Screamer to be back on his feet this soon."

Before Scavenger could respond, Skywarp drunkenly jerked around to glare at Hellrider. He abruptly lurched away from Thundercracker the get up in his face with a nasty hiss, "Oh… you're here? Good! I've got a question to ask, dirt eater!"

Closing his chest, Hellrider just crossed his arms. "Okay. Ask away!"

"Did you fuck him?" Skywarp asked, pointing at the other Seeker.

Thundercracker groaned angrily. "Oh, not this fucking shit again…"

"I got to know!" Skywarp snarled. "He's just fine flashing a roomful of people. Must've did porn before the War too… So, did you two fuck?"

Hellrider politely said, "No."

"Oh… Oh! You lying little glitch…" came the deranged laugh before Skywarp took a swing at him, toppling to the floor when Hellrider ducked away.

Sighing in frustration, Thundercracker grabbed hold of Skywarp before he could take another swing. "Warp, quit it. You're drunk."

"So fucking what, you lying, cheating bastard!" he growled, flailing and struggling to get free. "I saw the paint transfers on your armor!"

"Those were yellow, Warp," chirped Scavenger brightly, only to flinch back in fear at the absolutely murderous glare Thundercracker gave him.

Skywarp's expression darkened. "Yellow, huh? You screwing Sunstreaker again, TC?"

Hellrider snuck a peek into Thundercracker's mind, only to be stunned to see that the big guy was fucking a different Autobot. One who was much shorter and definitely not the type Hellrider had expected to even have a sex life at all given how wholesome and innocent the guy seemed.

"Warp, please. This ain't the time…"

"You bastard!" Skywarp hissed, struggling to get free from Thundercracker's grasp. "You've been fucking that lousy piece of slag lambo again, you goddamn unfaithful, disloyal fucker!"

"Oh, as if you're one to talk, Skywarp," Starscream said as he came in with a group of robots, one large and dark, a pair of femmes and a ridiculous tiny one. "At least Sunstreaker is an adult, unlike Rumble and Frenzy…"

"I thought they were legal! I even checked their IDs, Screamer!" Skywarp rasped in annoyance.

"You do realize fake identification exists, right?" said the dark robot in a rather pleasant yet bored tone.

"Stay out of this, you creepy little fuck!" Skywarp snapped, 'bamf!-ing' out of Thundercracker's grip to get up in the dark robot's faceplate. "I ain't going to take this slag from you or anybody!"

The dark robot just looked at Starscream and mildly asked, "Commander? Do you mind restraining your trine-mate before I kill him?"

"I'd like to see you try, boy!" came the reply as Skywarp's rage fully turned to the dark mech, who Hellrider noted was tall enough to be eye level to the Seeker.

Before the guy could follow through with his threat, the tiny robot slid in between them and gave him a little shove back. "I got this, Tarn." Turning to Skywarp, she angrily barked, "Now you listen here, sweetspark! I not only built your ass, I also did the work when your transitioned! And don't you fucking think I won't undo it all with a sledgehammer if you don't sit your ass down and behave!"

"Yes, ma'am." Skywarp slumped in defeat as he went over to sit on an empty workbench and sulk while Scavenger hooked him up to a drip.

"Well, now that's done, mind explaining what the fuck you all are doing?" asked Hellrider, glaring at Starscream. "We've got work to do, commander."

"Tarn and Nickel were interested in witnessing the 'miraculous' resurrection of the dead," Starscream said in a blase tone as he gestured at the huge mech and the tiny one. "I told them it was pretty simple, simple enough to be described in one sentence, but they insisted on seeing for themselves."

"And what are they doing?" he asked, pointing to the other two.

"Oh, I'm just wanted spend some time with my darling!" chirped the pink one as she grabbed onto a very disinterested Starscream's arm.

Hellrider sighed sadly. "Oh, honey… Honey, no."

"Huh?" she asked, giving him a nasty look. "What do you mean 'no'?!"

"Honey, he's gay."

She gave him a vacant stare, clearly not understanding what he meant.

"Screamer's a homosexual, honey."

"What?!" she gasped, staring at Starscream in shock. "So, you… you're one of those weirdos who only like males?"

"Afraid so, sweetie," Hellrider replied in a pitying tone.

She stammered a moment, then said quietly, "…well, I can always change… I mean, I guess I can convert over to being a mech model…"

"Don't bother. I'm not interested. And I'll have you all know that the correct term for my orientation is 'demisexual'," Starscream replied in a monotone as he pried her off and lightly pushing her over to Thundercracker.

"And he's already married, Lunaclub," Thundercracker added as gently as he could, giving her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

Starscream let out a quiet growl. "For the last time: Skyfire was not my Conjunx nor my Amica. Our relationship was strictly one of professional respect and never anything more than that. My feelings for him were that of a platonic admiration for a much esteemed colleague. Nothing more! Now will you please just drop it?"

Hellrider didn't need to snoop into either of their minds to know that not only was Starscream lying his ass off but Thundercracker knew.

But the blue Seeker let it slid, turning a smile to Lunaclub. "Hey sweetie, do me a favor and go tell Needlenose to get some industrial strength cleaning supplies from Windsweeper, then bring Needy back here."

"Uh, why?"

"Because the first thing we're going to do after this guy brings him back is make Horri-Bull take a fucking bath," he replied, gesturing at the body that stubbornly continued to smell even worse than death.

"That's an order, Lunaclub," Starscream added when she started to argue.

With a perky 'YES, SIR!', she darted off to find Needlenose.

"Okay. Now, what's your deal?" Hellrider asked of the black and gold femme with the camera drones hovering near her shoulder.

"Shockwave asked me to document this," she replied with a smirk. "Seems the camera in the other room was malfunctioning when you did it the first time, so they didn't get anything."

He glanced at Starscream, noticing the hint of a grin and picking up that 'malfunction' was planned. Though why eluded Hellrider. He was tempted to probe Starscream's mind again to figure out what he was plotting but quickly decided against that. He'd already fucked up and let him know that he could remotely access other's minds, so Hellrider knew he wouldn't be able to get anything useful out of Starscream. So he just politely said, "Well, then we better get on with it. Will you all please stand over there so my team and I can work?"

They stepped away except for Nickel, who was drying her hands off as she climbed up on a mobile step over to get a better look at the body.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking a look at this mess," she replied, inspecting the neck stump. "Bumblebee really did a number on these idiots…"

"Bumblebee?" asked Thundercracker, giving her a funny look.

"Yeah… He blew their heads off."

"But Screamer, you told me it was…"

Before Thundercracker could say more, Hellrider cut him off by asking in a bemused tone, "You mean little bitty Bumblebee did all this?!"

"I guess you never saw all the footage, huh?" she said, taking the pry-bar from Chip to start working on getting Squeezeplay open. "See, he infiltrated one of our outposts on the Jungle Planet with Mirage and a pair of Autobot affiliated native 'Maximals' to steal the plans for the original Mobile Fortress and destroy the base. It does look like that was done by a sniper, but that was because Bumblebee got hold of the detonator linked their cortex bombs and triggered it to save himself after getting caught."

"The detonator was for bombs he'd planted to destroy the base, not for ones in their heads," said Presser in a soft purr from the back of his mind. "Starscream knows that Soundwave remotely triggered them, though the reason he told his older brother about it eludes us at the moment."

"Why?" he asked under his breath.

"Come and see…"

With a mental lurch, Hellrider was jerked out of the present into what he guessed was the near past. He was high up looking down on Soundwave and Scorponok as they watched a screen showing the badly damaged Fangry, Squeezeplay, and Horri-Bull chasing down a wounded Bumblebee.

"These are your 'volunteers'?" asked Scorponok, sneering at Soundwave. "You expect me to use them? They are utterly worthless!"

"Negative. They are optimal for our needs."

"They are three of the most disobedient, vilest, and stupidest mechs in the universe… How in the Pit is this 'optimal'?"

"You shall see," said Soundwave, tapping a sequence into the keypad before him.

Just as the gruesome trio cornered Bumblebee, Squeezeplay's head exploded causing pinkish energon to splash all over the minibot and something invisible shaped like a regular sized mech.

"Soundwave…?" said Fangry as the remaining two stopped to stare at the corpse. "Didn't he take out the…"

Fangry's head blew apart in another burst of gore before he could finish the sentence. While Bumblebee just stared in shock, Horri-Bull looked straight at the surveillance camera.

"WE HAD A DEAL, YOU FUCKING BASTA-" His scream of rage was cut short by the explosion destroying his head, splattering Bumblebee and the blue mech that had appeared suddenly beside him with even more gory energon.

"…well, that was impressive," said Scorponok in a dry tone as they watched the robotic triceratops charge in, paused to look the carnage a moment, then let Bumblebee climb up onto his back before they ran out, cleanly escaping. "Keeping the cortex bombs that had been installed after they were made gladiators was a good idea. Useful in case of an emergency. And I suppose this was a good way to deal with their failure to stop the Autobots from sending off the plans… But it was a pointless gesture."

"Was it?"

"I can't use corpses, you idiotic freak!" snapped Scorponok getting up in Soundwave's faceplate and jabbing him hard in the cassette panel. "I already explained the procedure requires living hosts to bond with. I won't stand by and let you mock me, you miserable mutated monstrosity!"

"Zed claims they can bring back the dead," said Megatron as he came out of shadows to stand by Soundwave.

Scorponok quickly backed off then glared up at the point Hellrider was watching from. "You seriously aren't going to believe that abomination can…"

"Actually, that's not what we said," corrected the Devil Z, from whose eyes Hellrider realized he had been watching them. "I said that our prophet shall bring them back."

"And where is this prophet?" spat Scorponok.

"He's still on Earth," Megatron replied. "I have left it to Starscream to prepare him for his induction into our ranks."

"I was not aware there were any neutrals on that dirtball willing to join the cause."

"He's currently not alive. And the rest of him is still a human."

"A human?!"

"For the moment," replied Megatron. "Zed has shown they are capable not only of bringing back the dead but also of uplifting lesser beings, as you have seen with Mega and Giga as well as Firefly, Bushwhacker, Stalker, Buster, Hydra, and Painkiller."

"I admit that those six all have proven to be worthy recruits with Painkiller being a truly exceptional soldier. And the mergers of their sparks with something so primitive as a human has produced remarkably powerful individuals. I would have never believed that it could be possible to unlocking the secret of how to artificially creating outliers from normal sparks would be achieved with such a garbage species," said Scorponok. "But I must remind you that the first two have been binary bonded to Overlord. A situation that I say would be anything but uplifting for any sane being. And you also left out that catatonic failure of a clone…"

Smiling, Megatron spoke with a polite and rather pleasant tone. "They both are still useful to us, Scorponok. And I happen to be very fond of Slick. He simply needs time to adjust… The procedure is quite taxing on the minds of those who've been uplifted. But I've noticed that Overlord's erratic behavior has been greatly tempered by the bond with his God Masters. Overlord also knows better than to insult Soundwave in my presence."

Before Scorponok could respond, Megatron immediately slammed a fist into the other mech's abdomen. The beating that followed was brief but brutal, leaving Scorponok a whimpering battered mess on the floor.

Soundwave gave a creepy giggle, following dutifully after Megatron as the Lord Protector left the room and the scene went black.

"Hey!" Nickel was now standing on Squeezeplay's still closed chest, poking him with the pry bar. "Anybody home?"

"Huh! Oh, sorry. Zoned out a bit…"

"Well, quit it. I need a hand getting him open."

He took the pry bar while Nickel took two wedges. With a small jerk, Hellrider popped the plate and she stuffed the wedges in to keep it open. They looked down inside.

"Damn," said Hellrider. "That don't look good. And what's that gooey stuff near his… oh. Oh, that's just nasty."

"Actually, I think that's from burst lines when Bee stabbed him in the groin," Nickel said as she began to clear out the goo. "Guy's whole unit is pretty fucked up, so the Battlechargers couldn't use it."

"Is that how he got the puncture wounds to his torso, too?" asked Hellrider, inspecting the holes in his chest plate. "They look too small and like they were made by a horn instead of a vibroblade. I'd say the Dinobot did this, but these were done with a single point instead of three…"

"Stockade's not a Dinobot," said Nickel. "They are not affiliated with the Maximals at all. Rather antagonistic to each other, actually, given that the Dinobots were originally native-born Cybertronians with normal modes while the Maximals are all colonials who always start out as primitives."

"Okay. Still doesn't explain why these holes don't match."

"He ran into Magna Stampede first, while he was in unicorn mode."

Hellrider paused midway through using a grinder to clean up the edges. "I'm sorry. He's a what?"

"His alt's a unicorn," repeated Nickel as she worked. "They're a reclusive herbivore native the cathodic forests of Nebulan. Vicious fucking things, too, from what I've heard."

"Unicorns are mythical creatures on Earth," said Chip while passing her parts. "But I guess it is possible that a similar creature might exist on another planet."

"You speak as if you are not one of us, tiny one," Tarn courteously said but his stare was cold and menacing.

"I am a… uh, well, I was as human."

"Bound to a primitive? And a rather weak one, that," continued Tarn as he stepped a bit closer.

"I'm not bound to anyone. I…"

"We figured out how to convert a human into a seed crystal with their psyche imprinted on it that could then be activated into a spark," said Hellrider quickly, putting himself between Chip and Tarn with the grinder held threateningly. "That's why he's so small and has a bunny alt mode. Chip likes rabbits, so he chose to be one when he was… uh, uplifted."

"And is he the only example of such an affront to the natural order?" Tarn asked, his voice going lower as it stayed polite but now taking on a funny undertone that wasn't quite a threat but no where near as nice as he was acting.

"He's not an affront to anything, asshole. Now, back off and let us work," hissed Hellrider as he felt a slight pressure behind his eyes and in his chest.

"I merely want to know if there are any more like him." The undertone was somehow getting stronger, just enough to really annoy Hellrider.

"Look, will you back the fuck off? You're giving me a headache."

Tarn's eyes narrowed as he spoke, the undertone to his lowering voice becoming unpleasantly persistent. "A headache, you say? Is that all?"

Nickel quit working on the body and came over to them. "Tarn don't. We've talked about this…"

"Ma'am, I would suggest you please not get in the way. I do not want anything unfortunate to happen to you. This is not of your concern." He never looked away form Hellrider and his deep voice never stopped being polite but the undertone was now making Hellrider feel slightly ill. "I merely want an answer to my questions. Are there any other human-sparked creatures…?"

"Who the fuck cares?" huffed Hellrider. "You guys need all the help you can get because the Autobots are clearly winning the war. Hell, it might be smarter to just give up and surrender before Cybertron dies completely."

"That," said Tarn, his voice rumbling as the undertone ramped up. "Is treason. And do you know what happens to those that betray the cause?"

The whole room went deathly quiet, then Nickel said sharply, "Tarn, no!"

"The punishment is death. Death to all faithless traitors," Tarn said in what would have been a sweet and mellow bass if not for that now constant glitching undertone in his voice.

For a moment, Hellrider just stood there staring at the larger mech who was now humming smugly, the noise making his headache just that much worse. When Tarn finally went quiet, he gagged a bit then gave a bitter laugh. "Really? What, you gonna shoot me at dawn or some shit? Lock me up and leave me to rot somewhere? You know, now I get why the Decepticon army is in such shitty shape. And how the Autobots keep kicking your asses despite having mostly 'civilian' models. You morons keeping offing the only people in your ranks with any brains or common sense."

The silence was profoundly leaden over the room as they all stared at Hellrider. It was like they expected him to spontaneously explode.

"…how?" asked Tarn, utterly confused.

"How what?"

"How are you still alive?"

Hellrider just shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe somebody up there just likes me… Or they really hate my ass. It's kind of hard to tell given all the shit I've put with lately. Now get out of the way. I've got work to do."

"…you should be dead now," Tarn said weakly.

"Well, I'm not. Though your voice makes me want to upchuck and die, if that makes you feel any better."

Tarn said nothing, simply going back to where he'd been standing.

"Hmmm… interesting…" Starscream said softly.

"Why is this 'interesting'?!" huffed Hellrider.

"Tarn can kill with just his voice," Nickel replied flatly. "And I will have a long talk with the boy about trying to murder medics after we're done with this."

"With all due respect ma'am, he has just committed treason on top of all his crimes against nature and…"

"We will talk about it later, Tarn."

"Yes, ma'am."

Hellrider gave her a funny look. "What are you, his mother?"

"I'm old enough to be his great-grandmother, kid. And I am also the only person he trusts to his and the DJD repairs. Now, can we please drop it and get back to work?"

"Yes, ma'am!" replied Hellrider. While they were clearing out the damaged parts and mucking out a variety of congealed fluids, he came across bundles wrapped up in foil stuffed up behind Squeezeplay's fuel tank. Hellrider pulled them out and opened one up to see it had several plastic packets of glowing capsules. "Ooooh… Looks like somebody was a mule!"

"Actually, I think he turns into some kind of crab thing," said Chip.

"He means Squeezeplay was smuggling drugs, sweetie," Nickel said, staring at the capsules. "Looks like a mix of nucleon and a circuit speeders. Probably C10's or C15's knowing the Monstercons…"

Hellrider was glad his grin was hidden by the faceplate. "So you're telling me this is speed?"

"Yeah. I think that's Squeezeplay's personal stash since all three of these idiots were speeder freaks. And anything below a C45 is contraband if you're not a medic," grumbled Thundercracker as he came over to relieve him of the packets. "Also, you really do not want to take anything cut with nucleon, especially not a circuit speeder of any rating. Trust me. I've seen guys OD doing just C70's with nucleon."

"What the numbers mean?" asked Chip.

"It's the number of kliks it takes for the shit to kick in."

"…fast acting speed…" said Hellrider, giving the packets a longing look.

"Let me say it again: you DO NOT want to take these," Thundercracker said firmly as he went over to get a pharmaceutical case and lock the packets in it. "When you get done fixing the Monstercons, I'm going to dump this crap in the incinerator. I got a feeling we'll find much worse on these morons…"

"You could just let me take care of it," said Hellrider, suddenly aware that upon his back he now bore the burden of a relentless simian with a craving for crank.

"No. No, I don't think I will."

"Oh what a shock!" muttered Kaput as Thundercracker went back to standing by Skywarp with the case in hand. "A mnemonic surgeon addicted to circuit speeders. Who would have seen that coming…?"

"Yeah, about that… How come Tarn didn't try to kill you for that?" asked the yellow and black femme.

"Lord Megatron has graciously granted him a dispensation, my dear Trickdiamond," Tarn answered dryly. "It appears the he has seen the need to have a practitioner such a 'soul destroying art' within our ranks. That he's willing to continence having one at all is either a sign that Lord Megatron believes this will give us an edge on the Autobots, who have at least one mnemonic surgeon in their own ranks, or, perhaps more likely…" He shot Starscream a knowing look. "This is proof that he has been lead astray by the malign manipulations of a dishonest advisor."

"Really? Well, that's… neat," she replied, then sent Hellrider a message over a heavily encrypted line. "[Hey. If you're looking for speeders, I know a guy that can get you some. And it's the good shit. High yield C02's. Plus any other other goodies you'd like. Interested?]"

"[Maybe. Let's talk later, okay?]"

"[All right. There's a bar in Quark Square called 'The Slagmaker' that you can meet me at in three cycles. I'll introduce you to my connection and get you hooked up. Just remember to bring either parts to trade or Pre-War minted shanix. Shockwave's put trackers in the current ones.]"

"[Cool. See you there.]" Hellrider turned to Tarn. "You know, Soundwave is the chief spymaster. And Lord Megatron really doesn't like it when people talk shit about him…"

"Did I say it was Soundwave?"

"The implications were there, boy," chuckled Starscream. "Besides, Shockwave was the one who suggested having a mnemonic surgeon. They can be rather useful, unlike a certain Glitch I can mention…"

Tarn didn't respond but it was subtly clear by the way he tensed and glared that Starscream had hit a nerve. Still, his tone remained civil and calm as he said, "Well, at least some of us have shown ourselves to be useful to our Lord Protector outside of the berth."

"I'm afraid that's exclusively Soundwave's department," Starscream said sweetly. "It's his job to be Megatron's ride while I'm busy doing real work."

Chip looked over at Hellrider in confusion. "Wait, I thought Soundwave turned into a stereo."

"We're talking about the Old Slagmaker being Soundwave's bottom bitch, buddy," Hellrider replied as he went back to work.

Even with his back to Tarn, Hellrider could feel the intense hate of his glare. "Excuse me, but are you calling our beloved Lord Megatron a prostitute? I can forgive you mistaking Soundwave for a lowly pimp (probably was before the War as most Senators were…), but the latter is unforgivable…"

"Well, actually," said Needlenose as he came in with a tan and red mech pushing a well-stocked cleaning cart. "In his writings about pre-War society, Megatron often used the allegory of a beaten-down prostitute being forced to work for an abusive pimp and service equally cruel clients to talk about how the upper class of Cybertron exploited and degraded those below them. It's one of his most powerful and moving passages on the plight of the lower classes that justifies our revolution perfectly. Oh! And he actually wrote at length about the use of mnemonic surgery as a valid form of therapy when used properly. It was shadow play that he called a 'soul destroying art'."

"I do not recall such passages in any edition of Towards Peace," Tarn said in a softer and even deadlier tone of voice.

"I think it was in the 'Forgotten Texts'," replied Hellrider as he and the others medics continued repairing Squeezeplay.

"Those are actually the 'Expunged Passages', so named due to Soundwave being a bit too eager while revising to our Lord Protectors memoirs and writing while putting together his collected works," Needlenose huffed.

"Cause Soundwave not only doesn't want anybody to know the details of their sex life, he also didn't want nobody to find out Megs had been banging the former leader of the Wreckers or that he would have been down to getting it on with some kid working as an archivist at the docks name Orion Pax," Hellrider added casually without looking up from his work.

"TREASONOUS SLANDER!" barked Tarn, finally showing real anger.

Hellrider just turned to him briefly with a shrug. "What? The bastard's into rough trade and likes getting his rocks off with other blue collar boys. Nothing wrong with that. Just stating the facts."

"And this is all in Lord Megatron's own words," said Needlenose pulled out a datapad and shoved it in Tarn's face. "See?! It's all right here! And, might I say, these are some of his most exquisitely poetic writings despite being extremely graphic in nature. This candidness and vulnerability are beautiful portrayed, a moving reflection on the nature of love, sex, and other small pleasures of life. As well as being an elegant ode to drinking."

Hellrider nodded in agreement. "Yeah, those were some of the best parts in my opinion. Well, that and all the smut. The Old Slagmaker even sketched illustrations for some parts, though I have to say his skill with words far out weighs his ability to draw."

"Illustrations, you say?" said Tarn with a weird interest.

"Yes, there were pictures in the original Towards Peace," Needlenose replied. "And, while they're not as polished as a professional's, the images are still quite… uh, quite explicit in their expressiveness."

Tarn just stared at Needlenose then, for some strange reason, looked right at Thundercracker. "Someone could have faked these."

"No, they're real. Megatron even let me read the originals. And my brother can't draw for shit anyway," said Starscream with a look on his face like he wished he could unread and unsee them. "But I need to point out that all those revision were approved by Lord Megatron himself. He felt that they were a bit too…*ahem!* personal to share with the general public. The pictures were also cut for being explicit in more than just their 'expressiveness'. Especially the ones he made of Soundwave…"

"And you could just ask Kaon or Vos, you know?" huffed Needlenose. "The minute I found them, I sent Kaon a copy and he said he loaned it to Vos."

"I see…" Tarn snatched the datapad out of Needlenose's hand. "Well then, I feel I must read this for myself to compare the differences between it and the 'canonical' texts. Nickel, I trust you can handle things from here without me."

"Yes, Tarn."

"Good. Then I shall take my leave, if you don't mind."

"Go ahead, Tarn."

"Thank you, ma'am." With that, Tarn walked out and past a pair of robots bearing carts with more cleaning supplies.

"Where's he going?" asked the blue one nervously.

"To clean his gun," said Thundercracker with a rather warm laugh, jerking his hand in the universal gesture of self-abuse.

Needlenose grimaced behind his faceplate. "Ew…"

"I can autoclave that for you, if you like sir," said the tan robot in between quiet little gags.

"It's fine, Windsweeper. That was just a copy anyway. The originals and backups are all safe in the Archive."

"Can I get a copy too, please?" asked Moonheart with a weird smile as she looked up from Fangry's body.

Needlenose gave her a confused look. "Uh, why?"

"Reasons."

"Uh, I don't understand. What 'reasons'?"

The smile widened into a fang-filled grin. "You know… Reasons."

"…uh, here's my one of my other spares," Needlenose quickly handed it to her. He turned quickly away from the ecstatic femme to Hellrider and hurriedly asked "So, what did you need us to clean?"

"That." Hellrider jerked a thumb over to Horri-Bull's body. "I need you to get that not to smell."

"Get what to…" Needlenose finally looked at the gurneys and the heads. "Hey… Wait a klik! Is that Squeezeplay, Fangry and… and… oh Primus…"

"Yeah, Horri-Bull too," grumbled Hellrider, going back to working on Squeezeplay. "I've got orders to bring them back as Headmasters. But first I need you to clean your boyfriend's nasty carcass otherwise I'm going to be too busy puking to do anything. Got that, Needy?"

Needlenose stared at him blankly for a moment, then lunged but was caught by the extremely battered purple and gold mech before he could get to Hellrider. "YOU SICK FUCKING MONSTER! YOU GODDAMN GRAVEROBBING PIECE OF SHIT! YOU… YOU…"

"Christ, calm down," sighed Hellrider. "We're fixing them up so I can bring the back from the dead. Don't you want Horri-Bull back, Needy?"

"And your husband's getting a new unit, too!" chirped Lunaclub as she bounced in carrying three boxes. She held one in Needlenose's face. "It's just the same size, too! See?"

"…he's not my husband…" Needlenose said, now dangerously calm.

Hellrider paused and gave her a funny look. "Uh, honey, I think we only need one for Squeezeplay. And how did you…"

"I asked Swindle to get them for us," said Scavenger, taking the boxes and handing one to Nickel. "Though I don't know what he was doing in the Archives."

"He needs something notarized," Lunaclub said.

"And why would we need units for these guys?"

"While you were away, Chip and me did a quick inspection and found out they'd all got damaged in the personals, sir."

"Well, only Squeezeplay was… uh, damaged," said Chip. "The other two didn't have any."

"You mean they didn't have spikes?" asked Hellrider.

"No, sir. He means that they were removed, sir!"

"Probably Gutcrusher," grumbled the blue mech. "Horri-Bull and Fangry both owed him money when they died and he's fine with looting corpses."

"They're right. These aren't new," said Kaput as he took the other two boxes and looked at the parts inside. "They're all refurbished parts…"

"What?!" gasped Lunaclub. "But Lockdown said they were the 'perfect' match for them!"

"Judging by the serial numbers, I'd say that these are their original units."

"And that one is definitely Horri-Bull's," hissed Hellrider, curling his nose up. "It smell just as disgusting."

"Yeah, it's even still got some rust rash on it…" added Kaput as he put the boxes by their respective owners.

Dangling limp and livid now, Needlenose whispered, "Gutcrusher and Lockdown are fucking dead to me…"

"What?" asked the blue mech.

"Let me go, Ruckus, you're scuffing my finish," Needlenose said sharply.

"Hey! You can't boss him around like that!" huffed the blue mech. "I'm his CO, you know! I outrank you, Needy."

"Actually, Needy got a promotion," said Windsweeper. "And now he's our boss, Crankcase."

Crankcase started to complain, then glanced at Needlenose's backside as he went over to Horri-Bull's body. "…well, I can't be too mad. At least now we'll have a pretty aft to be kissing…"

"That's disgusting," grumbled Windsweeper as Chip brushed past him to bring over more parts.

"What? He's legal now!"

"I don't care. Interfacing is just… disgusting…"

"Hey, you three mind getting out of the way?" snapped Hellrider, taking note of the horrible state Ruckus was in. "What the hell happened to him?"

"Sixshot."

"I'm sorry?"

"Sixshot," repeated Crankcase. "Windsweeper got… uh, attacked by the Terrorcons and Ruckus got it into his head to take it out on Sixshot when he finally told us what really happened. And got the living hell beat out of his stupid aft for it. And he's refusing to get repaired because he won't let Windsweeper out of his sight. Only nice thing about it is Ruckus' vocalizer got fucked up and he can't talk anymore…"

"Why?"

"Sixshot choke slammed him into a wall. He slammed him into the wall about fifteen times. Then stomped on him until he went offline because Ruckus wouldn't quit trying to attack him."

"No, I mean why did your buddy go after him instead of the Terrocons?"

"Sixshot's kind of their keeper," Crankcase said. "I told him it was a stupid idea, but Ruckus… Well, he took it personally for some damn reason. I mean, TC already took care of it by getting Hook to rip out all of their…"

"Can we not talk about it any more?" snapped Windsweeper.

"For god's sake Wind, this ain't healthy…"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Look, man, you can't keep acting like they didn't…"

"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT THE HELL UP, CRANKCASE!" Windsweeper screeched before storming out with Ruckus quickly following after him.

"Uh… I think I ought to go after them…" Crankcase said nervously.

"Yeah. And tell Ruckus that as soon as I'm done here, I need to see him about repairs in Bay 12. And tell him he can bring Windsweeper along too," said Hellrider as Crankcase hurried out of the room.

Trickdiamond blinked in surprise. "Whoa… I knew it was pretty bad when Swindle sold him a new unit with a ripper-snapper mod at a ten-percent discount… Never knew it was that bad…"

"Why would Windsweeper need a new unit?" asked Chip. "And what's a ripper-snapper?"

"It's an anti-rape device," Hellrider said bluntly as he turned back to the body to help Nickel finish Squeezeplay's repairs. He even handed over all the drugs they found on him to Thundercracker without a complaint, just a longing look as it got locked in the box.

"Why would he need… oh. Oh!"

"And that is why all the Terrorcons and Sixshot currently don't have rods or valves," Thundercracker said just as bluntly. "I'll be the first to admit that none of us are saints, but everybody's got standards you know?"

"Are you a cop?" asked Hellrider without looking up from his work.

"Technically, I'm the new head of security."

"So you're a cop."

"Depends on how you define 'cop'," grumbled Thundercracker. "This is more being referee at the worst shitshow of a cage fight in the universe."

"But you do it so well!" said Starscream with a smile. "That's why I suggested you when Shockwave decided to finally bring back the position of Chief Security Officer, after all."

"Yeah… thanks a lot, asshole."

Chip frowned. "Did this Sixshot guy take part in… you know…"

"Nope!" Thundercracker replied. "It was only Cutthroat, Sinnertwin, and Blot. But since they're part of a combiner team, we had to take out Hun-gar's and Rippersnapper's too. And Abominus is… not happy about that because that means he don't have one either. And Sixshot, being the stupidly honorable bastard that he is, also had Hook castrate him too because of his 'failure to be a better example' to those idiots."

As they were talking, Hellrider reached into Squeezeplay's lasercore to do the same little tweak he'd done to Kaput. It didn't hurt to be too cautious, after all, and there was no telling what these three would do once they came back. He tried to be discrete, but Nickel noticed.

"What are you doing?"

"Just prepping the chambers for reinsertion of his spark."

She gave him a doubtful frown. "Is this part of the resurrection process? I thought you just put it in and jumped started them."

"I had to make a few adjustments, ma'am. Looks like we're done here," Hellrider said as he looked to Nickel. "What do you say, ma'am?"

"Yeah. Except for lacking a spark or a head, he's good to go."

"Okay. Fangry now," he said as they washed up then went over to his body.

Things went faster with his body as Moonheart had already cleaned up so they could focus on the repairs. As they worked, Hellrider noticed she was staying as far as she could from Horri-Bull's body and so was Scavenger and the others. At first, he chalked that up to the god-awful smell but then he caught on that they weren't avoiding the vilely stinking corpse. They were doing their best to keep as far away from Needlenose as possible.

The guy had been cleaning the corpse in a slow, almost tender way. He was quiet, but occasionally there were soft little noises. Hellrider presumed he was gagging, but then he realized those were sobs being choked back. Curious, Hellrider carefully looked into Needlenose's mind while he was preoccupied.

The rage hit first, a white hot blow that made Hellrider wince. It was clear that Needlenose was deeply opposed to having them use his Horri-Bull as a test subject in their sick experiments. And going just a little deeper showed he was even more angered that they were going to allow a filthy organic in a shell to put it's nasty paws all over Horri-Bull's body and spark. And worse, at least in Needlenose's mind, this was the very same dirty godforsaken little freak his brother was fucking. The very idea sickened and maddened Needlenose so much it sent him off spiraling into a fury as he started dwelling on how much he'd hated living in the Towers, how there was no justice or decency left in the world, and every little wrong Tracks had done to him no matter how trivial they'd been.

As Nickel helped him piece Fangry back together, Hellrider watched from a dark corner of Needlenose's mind as he went over his life before the War. The only nice thing Needlenose could recall was meeting and befriending Horri-Bull, even though it was so frustrating the big guy seemingly never caught on that he was desperately in love with him. Hellrider had noted that crush early on as well as the Seeker having rather self-serving memory. It was painfully obvious Horri-Bull was at least down to fuck but knew better than to mess with jailbait… And Tracks had been pretty clear, once he'd finally realized that Needlenose was actually serious about it, that he'd gladly see that the bastard got empurata if he dared put a hand on his brother. Horri-Bull had make things worse by reminding Tracks that Needlenose would come of age eventually before bluntly saying he'd be right there ready to show Needlenose 'what a real mech could do'. The only thing that stopped them brawling right then and there was Needlenose intervening to talk Horri-Bull down. Too bad Needlenose couldn't see that his brother was just trying to keep him safe from a predatory monster, instead taking it as yet another personal slight.

Yes, it was very easy for Hellrider to see that Needlenose had taken practically each and every interaction he'd had with his older brother and twisted them so he would always be the victim while Tracks was always the villain. Needlenose like to think of himself as the victim most of the time anyway, always suffering one or another injustice, but he'd made Tracks into his own personal nemesis hellbent on ruining his life forever.

There were a few moments, though, that Hellrider did agree Tracks had been an asshole, such as all the snide cracks about Needlenose's 'boyfriend' and the bullying but that was just the kind of ignorantly callous shit older brothers did. And most of what Tracks did was pretty understandable as he'd been forced to take over as 'parent'. Even through the biased lens of Needlenose's memories, it was clear to Hellrider that Tracks did sincerely love his baby brother and had been watching Needlenose go further and further down in a spiral of mental illness and political radicalism. Tracks might have been a jerk, but a lot of his nastier moments had come because he was completely at a loss as to what he could do to help his troubled brother.

There was also something troublingly familiar in the way Tracks interacted with Needlenose. As he looked through Needlenose's memories of his brother, to his own horror, Raoul came to the shocking realization that was because Tracks had been treating him just the same. The nagging, the overbearing protectiveness, the pressure on Raoul to achieve better for himself… All this had been because Tracks believed Raoul was going down the same dark path and had been desperate not to fail him like he had Needlenose.

Then, as if prompted, Needlenose thought back to the day he finally snapped.

It was just a few months before the War began. There had been a rally for the growing Decepticon movement that had turned into a march on the High Council Pavilions of Iacon to demand recognition as a valid faction along with sweeping reforms to both the law and the Senate itself.

"I told you not to come," Horri-Bull said sharply as the crowd started growing enraged with the halfhearted platitudes of the spokesman sent out to talk them down.

"Why not?" Needlenose snapped back.

"You're going to get hurt!"

"I'll be fine, Bull."

"Seriously, get the hell out of here," he shouted to be heard over the angry noise of the crowd as he tried to drag the boy out of it. "There's going to be a riot, Needy."

"Good!" Reaching into his subspace, Needlenose pulled out the bottle of high-grade he'd taken out of Tracks' stash. He popped the cap, stuffed a greasy rag into it, lit and threw it as hard as he could.

The bottle exploded against the podium and the crowd exploded into violence as the cops rushed in to start busting heads.

And Needlenose was more than happy to go in swinging against The ManTM while Horri-Bull did his best to haul the boy out of the fray.

The riot ended just as quickly as it began when back-up showed up, blasting the rioters with pulse jammer canons while the highly armed security force beat down those who couldn't or wouldn't flee.

Needlenose didn't remember much more than that as he caught a stun rod upside the head. He vaguely recalled Horri-Bull transforming as he jumped the guy that hit him, a scream, and splash of hot energon hitting his face. Then he blacked out.

He came to slowly in the berth of a med-bay. Needlenose tried to sit up, only to find he'd been strapped down. Outside the slightly opened door, he heard voices.

"There must be some other way," said Tracks in a desperate tone.

"He's gone too far this time," came the cold reply.

"But Needlenose didn't…"

"We have video proof showing he threw the first incendiary and of him assaulting multiple officers."

"You can't…"

"And you're fucking lucky Courser's made it through the operation, otherwise your brother would be going down as accessory to murder. It's a miracle he lived, given how he'd been gutted…"

"God damn it, Prowl! That was the fault of that fucking piece of…"

"Please, calm down, sir," said a softer voice. "I understand that this is very upsetting, but we're trying to help. Needlenose is sick, Tracks. He needs treatment, not jail."

"You would say that, wouldn't you?" Tracks hissed back.

Straining against the straps, Needlenose wiggled and squirmed as quietly as he could.

"I know there's a… stigma about my profession," the soft yet familiar voice said. "But please hear me out! Mnemonic surgery is only part of the therapeutic processes we offer. And Needlenose needs help, Tracks. The dissidents prey upon boys like him. They purposely seek out troubled young mechs and-"

"You're talking about him like he's some kind of lunatic!"

"He is."

"Prowl, please don't." The soft voiced mech sighed. "Look, I know this is hard for you to accept, but Needlenose has a well-documented history of mental instability and violent outbursts…"

Squirm-squirm… The straps started to loosen…

"So he can be a bit… difficult at times," replied Tracks in that overbearingly protective tone Raoul was well acquainted with. "He's been like this since our father left. Needy's just lashing out to get attention. Being a gifted child has put my little brother under a lot of stress and he's acting out as a way to deal with it. And that whole fiasco with the Chic-Chips has only made things harder for him, so he's taking it out on everyone else. I've seen this happen plenty of times. The boy just needs more structure and discipline in his life. I… I may have been too lax with him… Overindulged him too much… And then there's his friend, Horri-Bull…"

"Who ought to be glad the boy's still got intact seals, otherwise he'd be up on rape charges, too. Of course, Needlenose could have gotten replacements. A lot of rich kids who go slumming end up having to buy them sooner or latter…"

"…god dammit Prowl…"

"What? Look, Tumbler, it's clear their relationship was se-"

There was a loud bang and a thump.

The straps were much looser, but still not enough…

"That was completely uncalled for!" gasped the soft voice.

"I won't have him talk about my brother that way."

"Still, did you have to hit him?"

"It's fine. Not the first time I've been punched."

Tumbler just sighed again. "Tracks, I know you've had a lot of experience dealing with 'troubled youths'. I know you are very aware of the warning signs, too. But since Needlenose is your younger brother, you might be a bit… uh, well, a bit prone to overlook the obvious. As I said, Needlenose is sick. I know you want what's best for your brother. But Prowl is right. He's too far gone now. And I'm afraid Needlenose has gotten too out of control for you to handle alone, Tracks."

"I'm not going to stand by and let you lobotomize my brother."

"That is not at all what we're going to do!" said Tumbler.

"But shadow play…"

"It's not a lobotomy," Tumbler snapped, then he took a breath to calm down. "It's simply a… a method of correcting certain destructive thought patterns. And shadow play is only used as the very last resort. What we do at the Institute is provide troubled mechs with counseling and treatment to rehabilitate them. And, yes, mnemonic surgery is part of the process, but it's used in conjunction with various other therapies to give our patients the best possible chance of healing."

"Patients?" sneered Tracks. "I though they called the people that get sent there 'inmates'."

"The Institute for Higher Programming isn't a prison, Tracks."

"Isn't it? Then what else would you call an insane asylum then?"

"That's not what…"

"That's exactly what that godforsaken Pit is!" snapped Tracks. "Don't you stand there and try to tell me different. I've seen too many poor kids get dumped in such horrible places, forgotten and abused just because they were a bit unruly or disobedient…"

Prowl gave a hollow laugh. "That's an understatement…"

"Stay out of this. Tracks, the Institute isn't nothing like that! It's a medical facility, with doctors and nurses and therapists and specialists. Our job is to cure people, not lock them up in cells. This isn't a jail. Or an asylum. Or a dumping ground. It's… well, it's more like a rest home."

"And you're saying that this is going to be a 'rest' for Needy?"

"Yes, Tracks. That's exactly what I'm saying."

There was a long silence.

Needlenose finally managed to slid out of the straps.

"Needy has been getting worse and worse every since he meet that disgusting monster…"

On the table by the berth was an overlooked tray of tools.

"Yes, he has, hasn't he?"

In the soft fluorescence, a screwdriver gleamed.

Tracks sighed sadly. "I've tried my best, you know? I have bent over backwards trying to see that Needlenose had the best life possible…"

"I know you have."

The handle felt cool and hard in Needlenose's palm.

"But is there really nothing else we can do?"

"There's always the penal colonies or the mines. Or we can just rip out his spark and putting it in a bank."

"Prowl…"

"He did ask what the other options were."

Needlenose crept slowly to the door.

"…you say that shadow play is only a last resort, yes?"

"Yes, Tracks. I promise you we shall do everything we can to resolve Needlenose's problems as humanely as possible. But in order to do that, we're going to need your consent to treat him."

"So it's either the Institute or prison, isn't it?"

"Tracks, I know this is a difficult decision but it would be in Needlenose's best interests to undergo treatment for his mental issues."

There was another pause. Then Tracks said in quiet and broken voice, "What do you need me to sign, Tumbler?"

Tumbler had just handed over the form when Needlenose bolted out of the room, slammed the screwdriver into the back of his brother's neck and took off running.

"Hey! You home?" huffed Nickel as she poked Hellrider with a screwdriver.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah… Zoned out again."

She frowned, then shot him a private message. "[You got PSTD or something?]"

"[What?]"

"[Post-traumatic stress disorder]" she said as they finished up on Fangry. "[You're zoning out a lot and that's a symptom. Is this stuff causing you flashbacks? I heard you worked at the Institute and, well…]"

"[Don't worry about it.]" Hellrider leaned in to inspect their work. After doing a bit of 'adjusting' to Fangry's chamber, he took a step back. They all took their time at the basin before finally turning to the last gurney. "Well, I guess we can't put it off any longer…"

"Right."

They both went over to Horri-Bull's body, but Needlenose cut them off.

"No," he whispered getting up in Hellrider's face.

"We got work to do, boy," huffed Nickel.

"No. No, I am not going to let you do this to them."

Hellrider sighed. "We've got orders, Needy."

"It's Needlenose to you!"

"Whatever. You want Horri-Bull back, don't you?"

"I am not going to stand here and let you…"

"I can bring him back to you, Needy," Hellrider said calmly as he took the chic chip bracelet out to show him. "You see this? This was his most treasured thing. When I went to get him, he clung onto this like it meant more than life itself. This must have meant a lot to Horri-Bull.'

Needlenose stared at the bracelet. Then, in a faltering tone, he said, "He kept it? After all these years, he… he really kept it?"

"Yes, Needlenose. He kept it. And now I'm offering them all another chance," Hellrider continued in a gentle way. "And I'm offering you one, too. Now, what do you say? Will you let us work?"

Snatching the bracelet away, Needlenose went to stand by Starscream without another word.

Hellrider went back to the still foul-smelling corpse. "So, where do you want to start?"

"We'll begin at the legs and work up," Nickel replied.

"Right. Kaput, you mind putting the sparks in the other two?"

"Sure."

The repairs took longer than either Squeezeplay or Fangry because apparently Horri-Bull had bee horrible at doing anything but the most basic of personal maintenance. Cleaning the rusted out bits of internal struts to make sure the welded in replacements would stay properly, Hellrider forced himself not to launch into the most colorful litany of rage against such purposeful negligence.

Nickel, however, had no problem voicing her feelings.

"What the everloving fuck?!" she snarled as they continued with the repairs. "Just how in the Pit did you assholes not make this stupid bastard come in for half of this shit?!"

"Because Horri-Bull mauled things that annoyed him," Skywarp suddenly barked. "Stupid fucker even bit me once."

"Because you pushed Needy down a flight of stairs," said Thundercracker.

"What? He was being an annoying little shit again," Skywarp countered. "Besides, Needy wasn't hurt all that bad."

"He needed fifteen welds to his cranium, Warp."

"Oh, like a little head trauma's going to do much to Needy. It builds character, you know?"

"I got enough of that from my brother, Skydancer."

Teleporting to get right up in Needlenose's face, Skywarp hissed softly, "What the fuck did you just call me?"

Before Needlenose could mouth off, Starscream turned towards him and said sweetly, "You know, they don't have to bring Horri-Bull back. I mean, their trine is bound by just a Amica Endura. We could just as easily use that clone body Overlord had made of him and/or put in the spark of another. Gutcrusher does have plenty of unhoused sparks handy. Perhaps we might even find a replacement who is more competent… or at least one who understands basic hygiene. Forestock, for example, would make an excellent addition…"

"Wait, ain't he one of those crazy 'linguistic purists'?" asked Trickdiamond. "You know, the loonies that only speak Primal Vernacular."

"Ain't that hard to learn," grumbled Thundercracker. "Screamer and I both know all three forms of it."

"You were always better at it, though. You have quite a talent for language, TC. You even used to write up translations of it before the crackdowns and your dismissal from the Academy of Cultural Arts," Starscream said with a smile, still looking at Needlenose. "Needlenose, as you can see, I would have no problem replacing Horri-Bull. But, since we went to all the trouble, I prefer sticking with the current plan. And I fear I must remind you that it's very rude to misgender others, especially your superiors. Didn't you brother teach you any manners?"

The silence was deafening as Needlenose glared at Starscream.

"Now, what do you say, Needlenose?"

Through clenched teeth Needlenose forced out a little "Sorry."

"Sorry, who?" asked Starscream.

"I'm sorry, Skywarp."

"You better be, glitch." Grinning, Skywarp pointedly turned and strolled back over to Thundercracker's side.

Diversion over, things went quiet again as Hellrider and Nickel finished their work.

"Well, at least Horri-Bull wasn't holding," said Hellrider as he double-checked that everything was done then did the little tweaks to insure he had a way to keep the bastard in line. "Kaput, pass me the spark."

"Here you go."

"Thank you." With a few quick motions, he inserted it into the chamber and tethered it. He went back to the basin for another wash then he attached the heads to their respective bodies. Once he was done with that, Hellrider hooked up booster cables to the bodies and the generator. "Now, let there be life."

He cut the generator on, but nothing happened.

"…it didn't work," hissed Needlenose as he glared at Hellrider.

"It just takes a few jolts, okay?" he snapped back. But even after hitting the bodies with over thirty boosts of electricity, nothing happened. There wasn't even a twitch from them.

"How is this not working?" asked Starscream as he went over to Hellrider. "It took only four tries to get the Autobot online."

"Yeah, well, I think that's the problem," grumbled Hellrider, walking over to Kaput. He picked the Autobot up under his armpits and hoisted him up for Starscream to get a good look. "See, Kaput is a little civilian model."

"…put me down."

"Sorry." Hellrider sat Kaput down carefully. "My point is, to bring him back, I only needed a little bit of power. These assholes are great big monsters made for combat. Therefore, I think I'm going to need a lot more juice than this thing can put out to do the same for just one of them."

"Then we have a problem," Starscream replied. "Because that happens to be the most powerful generator we have."

"So why not let me hook them up to the mains?"

"And risk blacking out the entire fortress?" huffed Starscream. "No. It's too dangerous and there's no guarantee it would work. I can't approve of such an action. I do not want to put us in danger of an Autobot raid."

"Okay. Then how about we get somebody like… uh, Sharpnel?" said Hellrider. "If what Bombshell told me is correct, he could put out enough power to get this done."

"An interesting solution, but unfortunately not possible at the moment."

"Why?"

"The Insecticons are all on Earth right now."

"Then call them back here!"

"It would take too long," Starscream said in a calm tone. "The only space bridge we have on Earth at the moment is undergoing repairs after the Autobots attacked. It won't be operational for another deca-cycle. And if I had Astrotrain or Blast Off bring them, it would take triple the time even using wormholes and jump stations."

Hellrider sighed. "Then I guess we're just going to have to postpone things 'till they can get here."

"Given the developing situation on Nebulos, I fear it is of the upmost urgency that the Headmasters are brought online and deployed. Scorponok was rather clear about his pressing need for covert troops to aid Zarak's campaign against the Autobot infiltrators, So waiting is not an option," came the rather clipped reply, though Hellrider could read between the lines and pick up Starscream also wanted Scorponok out of his sight as quickly as possible.

"Hold on. I think I got a solution," said Nickel as she darted out to the hallway. In just a second, she came back dragging a dark red, lanky and unusually tall mech behind her. "Kaon would be more than happy to help out, wouldn't you Kaon?"

"With all due respects, ma'am, I must decline," he replied icily, glaring hatefully towards Horri-Bull's body. It took Hellrider a moment to realize that Kaon had no eyes, just two empty, scorched out black pits in his face. "I do not wish to be part of this blasphemous experiment."

"We have orders, Kaon," said Needlenose, taking the booster cables from Hellrider and handing them to the guy. "This is important. So can you do this for me, Kaon? Please?"

As if flipping a switch, Kaon went from cold hatred to an extremely fawning delight that was even more terrifying. "For you? Needlenose, I'll do anything! Now, move back please. I don't want to—hehe—shock you, darling."

They all made sure to give him plenty of room and, with just a brief but showy little flex of his hand, Kaon sent a pulse through the three bodies that immediately had them lurching back to life.

With a chorus of profanities, the new Headmasters sat up from their slabs and glared around the room in confusion.

"Thank you," said Needlenose as he went past Kaon to help unhook the cables from Horri-Bull.

"You're most welcome, precious one," he replied in a soft and eerie tone, staring at Needlenose longingly.

"What the fuck happened?" asked Fangry, then he saw Kaput. "Oh shit! What the fuck are you doing in hell, man?"

"Paying for that time I blew a priest in the confessional…"

"Real funny, man," snarled Thundercracker. "You better watch that shit. Some of us are religious."

Kaput gave him a serious look. "Uh, that wasn't joke."

"In his defense, the guy was really pretty," said Fangry with a smile as Kaput took the cables off him and closed his panels. "And I remember he was just as good as giving head as taking it, too. Shame he got defrocked for having a three-way with a couple of altar boys."

Hellrider rolled his eyes. "Great! Nice to see kiddie diddling priest is a universal problem…"

"Actually, we were both of age," replied Fangry. "Well, we were by the time the temple superiors caught on, anyway."

Lip curled in disgust, Thundercracker groaned. "Oh sweet Primus…"

"I know, right?" said Skywarp. "Who knew Fangry was an altar boy?"

Squeezeplay staggered to his feet."…my head feels weird…"

"That's because you were dead and now got a squishy for your head," said Skywarp helpfully.

"…we what?" barked Horri-Bull.

"You've been made into Headmasters," Needlenose said gently. "Scorponok created a method to bond Nebulans into Cybertronian so you could live again."

"Actually, it's because he wants agents capable of infiltrating organic societies as well as front-liners," said Starscream. "Also, the process apparently has the added benefit of increased fuel conservation as you three can put your bodies in stasis while your partners are active. I have already notified Scorponok the procedure has been successful and you three are to report to directly to him…" He sniffed the air with a grimace. "After, that is, Horri-Bull has gone to the washracks and gotten cleaned up."

"The fuck I am!" snapped Horri-Bull. "I ain't ever bathed in my life and I ain't about to start now!"

"Well, seeing as you need help in the matter…" Starscream smiled and went over to clap a hand on Needlenose's shoulder. "I shall have Needlenose here assist you and show you have to properly bath."

Horri-Bull glanced at Needlenose, who gone rigid. It was clear he was grinning behind his faceplate. "Really Needy? You're going to give me a bath?"

"Yes, he will," said Starscream as the other Seeker just stammered helplessly. "He is most willing to do whatever he has to for the cause. Giving a… friend a helping hand… by teaching them how to properly do their ablutions is the least Needlenose could do. And trust me when I say that we shall all be very thankful if you'd do so more often."

"And what do you want us to do?" asked Squeezeplay.

"You two are a leave to do as you please for the moment."

Fangry broke off his conversation with Kaput to glare at Starscream. "I think I'd like to ask Scorponok about why he thinks he can put a fucking organic in my head…"

"If it makes you feel better, I don't think the Nebulans involved are too happy with the arrangement either," Starscream replied in slightly bored tone. "Perhaps you'd like to use your downtime to discuss the matter with Brisko. Misery does love company, you know?"

"It ain't that bad," Squeezeplay said suddenly. "The one in my head's named Lokos and he was listening in while they were rebuilding us."

"And why should I give a shit about…"

"Says he found my stash."

"We found yours too, Fangry," Thundercracker said. "And, no, you're not getting the shit back. Though I am surprised Horri-Bull wasn't holding…"

"Needy asked me to go easy on the speeders," answered Horri-Bull.

Underneath his faceplate, Needlenose's face was flashing in embarassment while Kaon continued giving Horri-Bull a frigid glare.

"…wow," grumbled Squeezeplay. "That's why you were only doing C30s?"

"Yeah. His old lady was scared he'd OD, so made him cut back," Fangry cackled, earning a slapped upside the head from Horri-Bull.

"Fuck you. And you heard Screamer! I gotta go get cleaned up before meeting the new boss! And Needy here has orders to give me a hand…" chuckled Horri-Bull as he draped an arm around Needlenose's shoulders and walked out of the room with him.

Kaon watched them leave, glaring at Horri-Bull with utter loathing. He was about to creep after them but Nickel grabbed his hand.

"Be a good boy and go tell Tesarus to come see me in Bay 12 for his sharpening," she said politely. "Then I'll do you maintenance on you and Helex."

"What about Tarn?"

"I'll be doing his too, if he ain't too busy with his reading."

"Very well, ma'am. Shall you be doing Vos' as well?"

"I'll have the new boy here setup a med-bed for him."

"Very well, ma'am." Kaon walked out to the hall, going in the opposite direction that Needlenose had gone.

"So, how long has Kaon been stalking Needy?" Hellrider asked.

"Ever since he joined the DJD," she replied dryly. "When he became the current Kaon, Tarn has had the boy doing all our paperwork. So he had to spend a lot of time filing things into the Archives and ran into Needlenose. And now the poor boy follows him around like a lost bumble-puppy every time we're here."

"Does Needlenose even notice?"

"Nope! That kid's pretty oblivious to that kind of thing."

"Maybe Kaon'd have better luck if he just quit bathing and got a bad case of rust rash?" joked Skywarp.

With a vent rattling sigh, Thundercracker frowned at him. "Not funny, Warp. I'm going to end up being the one who has to clean that mess up."

"Uh, why?" asked Chip.

"There's going to be fight, man," Hellrider said.

"…over Needlenose?"

"Yes. A stupid reason, isn't it?" said Starscream, then he looked at Nickel. "I trust that Tarn shall be notified that I will not abide such nonsense while his team is here. I want to be clear that even the DJD are not above our laws, Nickel."

"He already knows," she replied. "And I'll have a talk with the boy about it later, okay?"

"Good. Thundercracker? Skywarp? You are coming with me to the meeting."

"Aw… Why do we got to go too?" huffed Skywarp.

"Remember what happened last time Scorponok was here?" Thundercracker muttered. "It took getting Sixshot involved to pull Screamer off of him."

"I will remind you that I will not stand there and be spoken to such a manner by the likes of him," hissed Starscream. "I am not only the Air Marshal but also the Second in Command of all Decepticons, answerable only to Megatron himself. It was a position I earned through my own hard work and merit instead of upon my backstrut like certain others I can mention. And I expect to be shown the respect such a position deserves."

"Do you have any further orders for us, Starscream?" Hellrider asked as he went over to the basin.

"No. For the moment, you are to attend to your duties and take orders from Nickel as needed. Moonheart, you are to continue assisting Hellrider. And tell your sister that she's to also help, on my orders. Scavenger, go back to helping Scrapper after you've cleaned the operating theater. The rest of you are dismissed."

With that, Starscream turned and left with his trine-mates.

After waiting a few moments to be sure they were out of earshot, Hellrider turned to Kaput. "Okay. Get up on the table and lay back."

"What?!"

"Look, don't argue with me. Just do it."

"Hey, I might be a prisoner but you can't just-"

Before he could finish, Hellrider hit Kaput with an immobilizing pulse. He picked the smaller mech up, put him on a table, and popped open his chest.

"What the fuck are you doing?" asked Fangry as he grabbed Hellrider.

"Getting rid of some superfluous hardware," he replied, jerking away before deftly removing the bomb and closing Kaput back up. "There. It'll wear off in a minute. Then you, Fangry, and Squeezeplay ought to get yourselves a stiff drink before you go see Scorponok."

"You're sending him with us?" Squeezeplay asked. "He's an Autobot…"

"And a medic. Who I'm assigning to be the caretaker of you stooges," answered Hellrider, moving out of punching range as Kaput sat back up.

"…well, you heard the bastard," growled Kaput as Fangry helped him off the table. "I could use a glass or twelve of energon wine right now."

With Fangry muttering death threats, the three left.

"What is that?" asked Chip as Hellrider handed Nickel the bomb.

"Looks like a low-yield implosive," she said as she studied it. "You know, Screamer's going to have a fit when he finds out you took it out."

"He can get bent for all I cane," Hellrider replied, washing his hands as she stepped up to the basin with him. "And why are you also going to Bay 12? There's other bays open."

"Because I'd like to let the rest of my boys meet you."

"Funny," said Trickdiamond. "I thought Tarn was leading the Justice Division."

"He might be current commander, but I've been with the DJD long enough to have worked under twelve other Tarns before him. In fact, the only member of the team whose been there longer than me is Vos."

"What happened to the other Tarns?" asked Chip.

"The Decepticon Justice Division has kind of a high turn-over rate," said Nickel sadly. "Given the nature of their work, they're priority targets for the enemy and prone to getting fragged by other 'cons."

"Because they're Lord Megatron's personal hit squad," Hellrider said.

"Actually, they're the guys that are supposed to keep law and order in the ranks," grumbled Nickel.

"So, Tarn's under the command of TC?"

"What? Why?"

"He's been promoted to Head of Security for the Decepticons," said Hellrider, zoning out briefly to look something up. "And, if what this organizational chart says is right, the DJD only answers to him or Megatron. Which means that Tarn should be taking orders from TC now, right?"

Nickel started to argue about it, paused a moment, then dryly said, "You know, to be honest, knowing what Tarn's like, I… well, let's just say the boy wouldn't be too upset about taking orders from guys like Thundercracker."

"Really?" Hellrider took a quick look into Nickel's mind, glad his faceplate kept the nasty grin on his face hidden as he saw firsthand the kind of mechs Tarn liked. "…can't blame him. There's just something about working under such a strict, dominant guy that really gets the engine running…"

"Well, we've spent enough time hanging around gossiping," huffed Nickel as she went to the door. "Now, get your afts in gear. We've got work to do."

As they filed out after her to leave Scavenger to his cleaning, Hellrider hung back in the rear with Chip just in case he needed help.

"[I don't get it. Tran came across like the kind of guy who's happier giving orders, not taking them]" Chip said over an encrypted line so the others wouldn't listen in.

"[He is in public, man]" Hellrider said. "[He is a real hard-ass and a control-freak from what I picked up from Nickel, but in the bedroom, Tarn's a sub with a humiliation fetish.]"

"[…uh, it looked like his alt is a tank.]"

"[I meant sub as in submissive.]"

"[Oh! So he's a bottom?]"

"[Eh, well… kind of. It's complicated but the difference is that a bottom is just the guy taking it in the ass from a top while a sub is letting the dominant call all the shots in the scene.]" Hellrider paused a moment, then added, "[To be completely frank, the sub is actually in control of what goes down in a scene. See, if you're doing things right, a dominant and a sub talk over what they want, what they don't want, and other things like safe words or hard limits.]"

"[Hard limits?]"

"[Basically, those are things that you won't do no matter what.]"

"[…you sound like you've done this kind of stuff before.]"

Hellrider's vents rattled as he sighed. "[Look, all I'm going to say is that I've been to a lot of leather bars and leave it at that.]"

"Hey!" Nickel shouted back at them. "Pick up the pace, boys! I ain't got all day."

"Yes, ma'am!" Scooping Chip up like a tiny child, Hellrider quickly caught up with the others as they headed down to the main repair bays.