Here is part 2 of Mad Metal, introducing the one and only Barricade. Keep in mind, my knowledge of him only comes from the movies, and no other sources(Though I should take a look at the IDW comics at some point in my life). This arc will most certainly be far shorter than Once Human, as I'm sure it will end in three parts.
To those that have favorited, followed, and reviewed this story, I thank you all. And to those that haven't and also enjoy this story, I hope you consider doing any of the three.
I hope you enjoy.
Mad Metal, Part 2
Kamilo - Cap'n's Catches
Jasper… was silent. He was doubtful. There was no way he heard those words correctly. Not only did Aiko know Roe, but she was her… her mom?
Jasper coughed before speaking up, "Sorry, I think I might've misheard. Roe, did you just say–"
"What are you doing here, Mom?" Roe said as she barged by a shocked Jasper.
"What do you think, Roe? I'm getting my employee back. He's due for work. What are you doing here, Roe?" Aiko said, her animosity clear in her voice.
"I'm here on a date… with him!" Roe grabbed Jasper's shoulder, who was quietly observing the mother and daughter.
Aiko saw Roe touching Jasper, and her eyes darted between the two in shock. That wasn't the answer she was expecting.
Aiko's eyes landed on Jasper with sheer surprise, "You… you can't be serious… with him?"
Roe groaned before saying, "Yes, I am, Mom. I've known Jasper Judge for quite a few years. We graduated. He finally asked me out, we went out to eat, and here we are. Trying to enjoy our lunch date."
Jasper felt happy knowing that she enjoyed the lunch date… only to go wide-eyed when Roe gave him a dirty side-eye.
"Jasper, why are you working with my mom?"
Jasper threw up his hands, saying, "I swear, I didn't know she was your mom. Nor that you were her kid. I just… got a job and started working under her."
"Hmm… okay, I believe you," Roe said before jolting her head in Aiko's direction, "But you have a lot to say."
Aiko's stare hardened, "The hell I do."
Mother and daughter inched their faces closer together, letting Jasper see the uncanny family resemblance. How did he not see it before? They stared at each other, gauging each other's expressions, their resentment growing.
Roe was the first to speak, in a hushed tone, yet still loud enough for Jasper to hear.
"Did you do this on purpose? Did you know about him?"
Aiko scoffed, saying, "Do you think that I spy on your love life all the time? I don't care who you date."
"Really? Because I do remember you doing exactly that when I was a teen!"
"You were too young to date, Roe. Teen boys are dogs, and I chased them off like dogs."
"You completely ruined my dating life. I couldn't find the courage to date anyone in college out of fear of what you'd do to them. When Jasper asked me out, I thought things would be different. But here you are."
"It's not like that at all, Roe, it's just… Why him?"
Aiko gestured to Jasper, and he was starting to think that they either intended this to be private, or they forgot he was there.
Roe's mouth was left open, then she quickly chuckled, "Oh, I see now. You're doing exactly what grandfather would do."
Aiko appeared rather insulted by that, and said, "Absolutely not! My father would have lambasted you with no end for choosing to date a foreigner. I don't care about that."
"Then what is it about him that you don't like!?"
"Will you two stop talking about me like I'm not two feet next to you!?"
Both Roe and Aiko turned in shock to the suddenly speaking Jasper, now fed up about being spoken about yet not acknowledged. But he saw that their shock remained as they stared at him like he just walked on water.
"... What? What did I say?"
Roe was the first to speak up, "Jasper, you know Korean?"
"What? Of course I–"
Jasper stopped talking when he realized it: The U.T.M. He pulled it up in his vision, and realized that it detected the Korean language from both Roe and Aiko. And therefore, was translating his words into Korean without him even knowing it.
Even when it does something good, this body of his only causes more issues.
"I-I do, yeah… I took a couple lessons. I was hoping that one day, I could have a full conversation with you in Korean," Jasper said in English, lying through his teeth.
But Roe took the lie in strides, even saying 'Aw' with appreciation. Aiko, however, was glaring at Jasper in disappointment.
The Division Major's patience was stretched thin, and she grasped her daughter's shoulder.
"Roe, we can talk about this later. But for now, I need Jasper for something important. Got it?" Aiko said in plain English with a stern face.
With hesitation, Roe sighed, "Fine… I'll leave you two to it."
Aiko was relieved, and gestured Jasper to the truck. But before they could leave, Roe quickly grabbed Jasper's shoulder to stop him.
Roe grinned, and loudly said, "It was a nice lunch date, Jasper."
Jasper was slightly embarrassed by the loud proclamation, noticing Aiko looking back at her daughter with a scoff.
"Uh, no problem, Ro–"
Jasper was interrupted by Roe when she pulled down his head and gave him a kiss. Jasper was shocked by this alone, only for that feeling to be amplified when the kiss went on for much longer, with Roe's hand grasping at Jasper's neck and closing her eyes in satisfaction.
After a fair while, Roe separated the kiss with an exaggerated 'mwah', leaving Jasper speechless. Why would she…
Then Jasper noticed Roe's sly grin as she looked upon her mother, who was seething through gritted teeth and clenched fists.
"You're a very good kisser, Jasper," Roe said while looking directly at her mother, who turned away from the sight.
"... I'm going to get killed, aren't I?" Jasper commented.
"Haha, definitely not… probably not…" Roe's face contorted with her thoughts, and then smiled awkwardly, "Sorry about that. It really was a good kiss, though. See ya."
Jasper waved a nervous goodbye to Roe, who walked away with a mischievous smile on her face. He got into the driver's seat of his truck form, and got even more nervous when Aiko got into the passenger seat with a sour look.
"Drive," Aiko ordered Jasper.
Jasper said no words as he reversed from his parking spot and got onto the street. After a few moments, they drove away from Kamilo and out of sight of anyone as they went down a lonely forest road. In dead silence. Jasper was expecting many things, but the lack of a response from Aiko… It made him beyond anxious.
Eventually, Jasper couldn't take the silence. He had to say something.
"So… you're Roe's mom, huh? That's surprising. I didn't even know you had kids."
Silence from the Division Major. Not even a sound of acknowledgement.
Somehow, this was worse than being shot at by Decepticons. At least then, he knew he could shoot back.
"... Why her?" Aiko finally muttered.
Jasper was surprised at the question, and simply answered with, "Huh?"
"Why, of all the women on this planet, did you have to be dating my daughter?"
"Hey, it's not like I wanted to date her because she's your daughter. I didn't even know you two were related. No, I wanted to date her because I like her. She's a good friend, is intelligent, is somehow both responsible and mischievous–"
"Stop talking about my daughter like I don't know her," Aiko spat out.
"Okay, what is it? Why do you not like the idea of me dating her? I know you have a reason, so you might as well tell me."
This earned a bewildered stare from Aiko, who said, "Are you… Are you serious? I don't know, you can tell me yourself, Jasper Judge. Or should I say, Hollowpoint!?" Aiko bumped her fist on the truck's dashboard–Jasper's dashboard–while looking right at his hardlight form.
Somehow, yet again, Jasper nearly forgot his robot body, and felt like a fool for doing so.
"Ma'am, if you think I would ever hurt Roe, you are sorely mistaken," Jasper said.
Aiko sighed, and said, "Jasper, you just don't understand. You're an Autobot. The enemy of the Decepticons. And while I've seen you lay your life down just to save us, you have to remember: the Decepticons are ruthless. If they see a weak link, they won't hesitate to break it just to gain the upper hand on you. And in this case… Roe is that weak link. She's only human compared to those monsters."
Jasper couldn't say anything to that. He didn't want to ever think about that. But deep down, he knew that was a possibility. He joined the Autobots for that reason. To defend those he held dearly from the Decepticons. But… would that mean…
Would that mean that he could never see his loved ones again?
Aiko looked upon Jasper and saw his knuckles turn white as they clenched on the driver's wheel. Yet it wasn't anger on his face... But frustration. Nostalgia. Loss.
Why did I have to be chosen, he thought to himself.
Aiko wanted to say something to the poor man, but couldn't. So instead, she brought up her radio and ordered Ratchet to open a ground bridge near them. And as they left through the green portal in silence, she pondered: what should she do with Jasper?
Unknown Mountain Cliff
On a quiet cliff near the top of a mountain, there was no one in sight. The only thing to live there was a single mountain goat, grazing on some solitary grass.
Suddenly, the air exploded in sound as a ground bridge formed, scaring away the mountain goat as Starscream and Soundwave stomped their way through the now-closing portal.
Starscream looked around inquisitively, not seeing anything of note.
"Soundwave, are you certain Barricade's pod is nearby?" Starscream asked an investigative Soundwave.
Soundwave was focused on scanning his surroundings for a familiar signal.
"The tracker places the stasis pod underground and out of sight of any Autobot or human."
Starscream groaned lightly, before saying, "Would have been easier if we just kept him on the Nemesis. Why didn't Megatron do that?"
"Megatron didn't want him to waste space on the ship." Soundwave simply answered.
Starscream was surprised by this. It wasn't like the Nemesis was struggling with space. No, Megatron wanted him off the ship because he was displeased with Barricade.
Just what did the unstable Decepticon do to anger Megatron that much?
That thought was ended swiftly when Starscream heard a beep from Soundwave's scanner: the signal was discovered. They know where the pod is now.
"The stasis pod is down the mountain, inside a cave system near the ground level." Soundwave pointed out.
"Excellent. Let's wake him up."
Starscream proceeded to jump off the cliff and transformed into his jet mode, boosting off to fly to the ground. Soundwave simply watched his leader leaving him behind, and wordlessly summoned a ground bridge to follow.
Autobot Hideout - Missile Silo
In the base, Ratchet was manning the ground bridge while Bumblebee was stretching his body, readying himself for the mission at hand. And standing in the rafters, Ralph was on his laptop while Jackson watched as the ground bridge was activated. From the green swirling portal, they appeared: Jasper in his truck form, with Aiko in the passenger seat.
Ratchet sighed, saying, "There you are. When you said it would be a moment, I thought you meant an actual Earth moment."
Aiko got out of the truck with a dying solemn look, and simply said, "There were… complications. But I got him. Are you ready for your mission, Jasper?"
Aiko looked at the driver's seat to find a rather detached Jasper, looking out the driver's seat window in his hardlight form.
"... Yeah, I'm about as ready as can be."
Bumblebee beeped confusingly as he patted Jasper's roof, then proceeded to gesture his servos upward with encouraging beeps.
"'Bee said you should transform and stretch. This mission won't be requiring you to stay in your vehicle mode," Ralph said without looking up.
"Uh, yeah, sure," Jasper said as he followed orders, transforming into his robot mode, the face of which carried his dejected stare.
As Jasper went on to follow Bumblebee's movements in stretching, Jackson climbed down and approached the concerned Aiko.
"Alright, what did you say to him?" Jackson asked, his arms crossed.
"... A lot that he wasn't ready for… is it ready, Ratchet?"
"It is."
Ratchet walked away from his console, his pedes heavy on the solid concrete, and reached a large garage door. He reached down and threw it up, the loud metal clanging as it rolled up, and revealed a device that was similar to a copper-colored computer system on Earth, but it was more… advanced than the other consoles, with a holographic keyboard and quite a few blinking lights. As the light hit its screen, it turned from black to a solid green, with the words 'Teletraan-I Activating…' popping up, albeit slowly. It was quite a contrast compared to the rest of the base, like it was taken from a completely different Era.
Ratchet sighed, "I swear, this machine has seen better days…"
The doctor then hit a couple keys and brought up a map of the U.S. West Coast, coordinates already locked onto a location. One high in the mountains.
"This should be a good first mission for the civvy. Wouldn't you say, Ratchet?"
Ratchet didn't look back, still focused on Teletraan-I, "I won't deny that Energon scouting is as simple as it is necessary, though there are still a few risks. You never know what you may run into. But with Bumblebee leading the mission, Jasper will be fine."
Aiko simply responded with 'hmm' as she looked back at Jasper, still stretching with Bumblebee all while looking ever-distracted. She can't help but feel… guilty, about what she said. But she knew that she was right: He was a transformer. An Autobot… But she knew full well that he was something more. Despite the metal body, he still had a human mind. A human life. Was it her right to just take that away from him, despite him being a part of a war?
Aiko sighed while palming her eyes. Jasper's situation would give her a headache… so perhaps, it would be best to speak with some like-minded people.
Eventually, Bumblebee stopped stretching and rushed over to Ratchet with some affirming beeps.
"Understood, Bumblebee. I'm inputting the coordinates now."
Bumblebee nodded his headpiece and looked back at Jasper, urging him to come over. But as Jasper walked to him with a blank look on his face, he stopped as he noticed a little, tabby cat resting in a box on a shelf, meowing rather loudly.
"Hold on," Jasper said to Bumblebee before transforming into his truck form and leaving it in his hardlight form.
"Hey, love, how's it going?" Jasper said softly as he patted Rascal's side, "You hungry?"
Rascal meowed in response, and Jasper pulled something out of his pocket: a couple fries left over from his lunch date with Roe. He held it out to the little cat who, after a couple investigative sniffs, quickly devoured the lukewarm fries.
"Sorry it isn't real food for you. I swear, I'll get you something proper after this, okay?"
Jasper then scratched under Rascal's chin, much to her enjoyment. That alone quelled whatever bad thoughts were clouding his mind… until he looked back at a silent Aiko, who was staring at him with a face that he couldn't recognize. He looked away quickly as he recalled her words, the happy moment now gone from his mind. Quickly, his hardlight form disappeared in a bluish haze, and he transformed back into his robot form as he finally joined Bumblebee.
"Okay, listen, because I won't repeat myself again," Ratchet said as he held out a handheld device with a screen, "Teletraan-I discovered an Energon presence in this general area. You two take this scanner and search until you find the Energon signal. If you do, determine if it is something that you can harvest, and if it is safe to do so. I would suggest that you shadow Bumblebee, Jasper. He's done this kind of mission enough times."
Jasper merely nodded as he took the scanner, and turned it on after quite a few seconds of trial and error. He looked over at Bumblebee, who simply gave him a thumbs up.
"Okay, let's go," Ralph said as he closed his laptop.
Aiko quickly jumped in, saying, "Uh, actually, I'll need you here, Ralph. I need to discuss something with you and Jackson."
"R-really? But I'm the only one that can go out and understand Bumblebee. Without me, Jasper's not gonna know what he's saying."
"It's fine," Ratchet waved away, "It's a safe enough mission. Who knows? Maybe Jasper will learn to understand Bumblebee."
"Um, okay…" Ralph said, stepping back.
Ratchet, upon seeing the confirmation, flipped the switch and activated the portal.
"You first, Teach," Jasper said as he held out a servo to the portal.
As Bumblebee went through first, and Jasper was about to go next, Aiko quickly shouted something.
"Don't forget! Out on missions, you will be referred to as 'Hollowpoint'!"
Jasper didn't say a word as he nodded his headpiece and went through the ground bridge, which then was snuffed out as Ratchet flipped the switch back.
Jackson then turned to Aiko, and asked, "So, you needed to talk with us about something?"
Aiko looked upon Jackson and Ralph, and sighed. This was going to be a tough subject.
"I believe we need to talk about Jasper… and if he should be allowed to interact with humans."
On the other side of the portal…
Jasper set his pedes down on the stony grass, taking in the view of the dull-colored rocky mountains that peered down onto river valleys.
"Huh, I never did realize that you really could be taken anywhere on Earth… Awesome."
Jasper's thoughts were interrupted as Bumblebee put a servo on his shoulder pad, and pointed at the scanner in his hand.
"Oh, right, the mission… Let's go find ourselves some Energon," Jasper said with forced enthusiasm, which Bumblebee responded to with a blank stare and a thumbs up.
Jasper sighed. This was going to be a long mission.
In a mountain cave…
Within the dark, humid cave, stalactites dripping with water from above, Starscream trailed behind Soundwave. Soundwave, following the scanner, shined a light ahead from his visor, painting the surroundings a crimson red. Aside from the crackling of rocks underneath their pedes, all Starscream could hear was the beeping of Soundwave's scanner slowly ramping up in speed.
"Where is it? I don't see it." Starscream noted.
Soundwave, ever silent, kept moving onward until he stopped short. Starscream looked over Soundwave's shoulder pad, and looked over a large, underground space, clearly never touched by any humans. Soundwave began scanning everything with his red light for something not made of stone…
And then he found a large, alien craft, just bigger than either of the two Decepticons.
"Stasis pod discovered," Soundwave pointed out before jumping down and slowing his descent by digging his servo into the cave wall.
As Soundwave touched the ground floor, Starscream simply stepped off the edge and fell fast, until he blasted his backjets just strong enough to kill any downward momentum. Starscream rushed ahead of Soundwave, looking over the stasis pod and its intricacies. It was of an angular design, with bottom clamps to anchor to the floor, and the recognizable Decepticon logo on the side. This was theirs, alright.
Walking around it, Starscream noticed a monitor that was powered down, and above it a plane of clouded glass. He wiped the cloudiness away with his servo, and saw him: Barricade. His black-and-white headpiece angled down in his stasis mode that was soon to end.
Starscream grinned as he said, "Found you… Soundwave, the key."
Wordlessly, Soundwave moved in front of his Lord and procured from his chest compartment a key with circuitry glowing a rich, Energon blue. He entered it into the side of the pod and twisted it.
Suddenly, the pod shook, cold air blasting from the pod's roof as its exterior lights all shone at once to illuminate the cave room, allowing Soundwave to deactivate his visor light. Starscream quickly noticed the console powering up, stating in large letters 'Stasis Deactivating' while showing a slow-filling progress bar. The new Decepticon leader grinned at his success, looked up…
Only to jump back as he saw Barricade's crimson optics already active and staring right at him. Seeing Starscream's sudden shock made Barricade give off a slow, mischievous grin, showing off his clearly rusted dentas that made Starscream almost cringe from the sight, but he saw exactly what he wanted: a visage that could easily intimidate anyone.
Starscream grinned once more. Once the pod opened, Starscream was in for one good soldier.
Outside…
It had been half an hour, and Jasper and Bumblebee had nothing to show for it. With all the wandering about they were doing, Jasper was expecting the scanner in his servos to give him something. Anything. But the most they got was a single ping that turned out to be a small Energon shard buried in the dirt, hardly big enough to fill Bumblebee's servo.
"This is ridiculous! That hyper-advanced computer of yours pointed us to this area, right? So why in the hell is there nothing!?" Jasper yelled out as he stared down the scanner in his hands, then looked to Bumblebee.
Bumblebee simply put his servos up in a gesture that clearly told Jasper to calm down and followed it with multiple beeps and drones.
"For the love of– I don't understand!..."
Jasper wanted to continue, but couldn't bring himself to do so as he simply saw the black-and-yellow Autobot's face plate exude a certain innocence that he just couldn't yell at.
"I'm so sorry, Bumblebee… I wish I could talk to you, or have Ralph here to translate, or something. Because so far, my first-ever mission is turning out to be a complete and utter wash," Jasper said, a dejected look on his face plate as he looked at the mountains around him.
"–Have patience, my child."
Jasper's face plate suddenly morphed into confusion as he heard… a line from a sermon? He looked back and only saw Bumblebee, not looking surprised in the slightest.
Jasper looked around in search of the voice, "What was…"
Jasper's attention was turned to Bumblebee as he emitted a contortion of noise, as though the sound was being switched into another in mere milliseconds.
But then that noise turned into words.
"–Some say it's fine–Oh, baby, it's just me–Your one and only pal–here on Radio Tower!"
Jasper was stunned as he heard Bumblebee… speak? Through songs, speeches, and spokespeople? No, that couldn't be right.
Still amazed, Jasper plainly asked, "Bumblebee, are you using radio channels to talk to me right now?"
Bumblebee clapped his servos together while saying, "–And the thousand dollars goes to–This guy!"
"Woah, that's so cool… Wait, you could've done that the whole time!?"
"–I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Bumblebee said, with a panicked voice and calm composure, "–We got's to–Keep on haaanging on!"
Jasper shook his headpiece, saying, "... Yeah, good point. I shouldn't expect much after half an hour. I mean, I imagine that something like this takes an hour, or two, or maybe even–"
Jasper stopped talking as his scanner started beeping loudly, picking up a signal stronger than he'd ever seen in his thirty minutes of Energon scouting. He looked to Bumblebee, who seemed just as shocked, and they quickly transformed and floored it toward the direction of the signal.
After covering a full mile in all but a minute on a dirt road, they stopped as the signal swerved to their right. What they saw was a cave entrance, just big enough for them.
Jasper transformed and said, "Yes, finally, some results…"
Jasper was held back by a transformed Bumblebee, who grabbed the scanner and moved in front of Jasper.
Jasper relented, saying, "Okay. Lead on, Teach."
Jasper followed Bumblebee into the cave entrance, quite intimidated by the darkness and silence. The only thing they followed was the signal as it got stronger and stronger.
Jasper grinned, "I hope it's a big mound. That would be a pretty good result for a first mission."
Bumblebee nodded while his radio screamed 'Yeeeaaah!' like a heavy metal singer.
Jasper chuckled a bit. He liked Bumblebee this way: he knew he was having fun using that radio. But then, thoughts on his last encounter with Aiko flooded his processor, and he felt glum yet again.
"... Hey, Bumblebee… I gotta ask you something tough…" Jasper began asking with hesitation. Would a robotic alien even be able to answer his question?
But Bumblebee stopped him by throwing his servo high in the air. Confused, Jasper was about to ask what was happening… and then he heard it. Two voices, both of which sound concerningly familiar. Bumblebee silently urged himself closer, with Jasper shortly behind him. And as their headpieces cleared the cliff's edge, they found Starscream and Soundwave… And someone else who emerged from an odd-looking pod.
Jasper's optics widened with Bumblebee's as they looked at each other. 'Oh, no' was all that Jasper could whisper. What were Decepticons doing here!?
"Awaken, my warrior, and rise to acknowledge your new Lord!" Starscream said with a flourish.
BBarricade stepped out of the pod, and just… looked around, turning his headpiece like he was taking in his surroundings for the very first time. Soundwave was observing silently, yet ready for any odd behavior from the unstable 'Con. Yet instead, he stretched his body wide, almost like he was testing something.
"... It hasn't been one hundred stellar cycles already, has it? I'd feel it in my frame otherwise," the Barricade in a gruff yet calm demeanor.
Starscream raised an optic ridge at the question, answering, "Why… yes. You are correct, Barricade. It has only been twenty."
"Oh? That's odd. Megatron isn't one to reconsider a punishment."
"Yes, well, our former Lord Megatron has been taken offline," Starscream said.
There was only silence from the black-and-white Decepticon, his headpiece cocked as though he didn't believe it. Starscream internally sighed: if this Decepticon was going to deny any leader other than Lord Megatron–
Barricade suddenly erupted in a cackle, doubling over like he just heard the funniest joke in the universe. Soundwave tilted his headpiece down in disapproval as he saw this display.
"Lord Megatron!? Being offlined!? What, did a mountain fall on him!?" Barricade jokingly asked.
Starscream, ever surprised, simply said, "Almost. An Energon mine blew up with him inside. But the fate of our former Master does not matter. What matters now is that I, Lord Starscream, am the new leader of the Decepticons, and I am here to make a deal with you, Barricade."
"Really?" Barricade took one step forward, causing Starscream to jolt his headpiece back slightly, "And… what kind of a deal is it?"
Starscream, now silently nervous, said, "Well, it's simple… You serve the remaining cycles not in a stasis pod, but instead as my warrior against the Autobots."
"So you are letting me out early? That's what I would have done if I served my whole sentence," Barricade said with an investigative stare.
Starscream would have been stunned by that… if he hadn't already planned out the conversation.
"You could see it like that, but not truly. You will remain on the Nemesis when not on a mission, and will be banned from certain duties."
"Like what?" Barricade sneered.
"Interrogation," Soundwave suddenly stated.
Silence for a second, then Barricade sighed, "So you know the reason I was put in stasis?"
"I've read it. About how we captured an Autobot scout rich with information, and how you nearly offlined him with your interrogation method… of taking bites out of him like a Sharkticon beast."
Barricade gave off a laugh, and said, "Yes, I will say that my methods were poor, and Megatron was truly furious to know that I almost let a prisoner die from my own actions… but I learned from that mistake, and do not intend to make it again."
Starscream did not budge, and said, "You would still not be allowed to interrogate, even if you swore off your Sharkticon behavior."
"Oh, I never said that."
Starscream was caught off-guard by that, and asked, "What?"
Barricade grinned while showing off his rusted dentas, "After the battle of Ark's Rise, I was one of the very few left alive. Everyone that remained online was severely damaged with no Energon reserves to speak of. Yet we awaited rescue… It took thirty solar cycles before Seekers found me. All the others were gone. Why? Because when they knew the only option for Energon was all around us, they faltered… and I did not."
Starscream was stunned. Thirty solar cycles? Without an Energon refuel? How?
"When death faces you and you stand against it, you become something more. And in battle, my 'sharkticon behavior' as you call it has saved my aft far more than it has hindered me. So I will never lose what makes me dangerous, no matter what."
Starscream internally cursed out of frustration and concern. This will be far more difficult than he thought.
While the three Decepticons were discussing with each other, Jasper was internally freaking out. Starscream, Soundwave, and now this Barricade? This was bad. Really, really bad.
But where Jasper was poorly hiding his panic on his face plate, Bumblebee remained silent with widened optics.
"Bumblebee, what do we do?... Bumblebee?" Jasper whispered to a stoic Bumblebee.
"You know the only other option if you don't agree is to return to stasis, right?" Starscream stated.
"And I will say that I would agree with your terms, but I refuse to change what I am." Barricade spat back.
"And what would that be?" Starscream asked.
Jasper was having none of it, and started patting Bumblebee's back, "We gotta go, Bumblebee. We're outnumbered, we gotta run. Bumblebee!"
On one particularly hard pat, Bumblebee's chest piece bumped into the cave floor, loosening some rocks from the cliff to fall down with a piercing clank.
"What was that?" Starscream asked, rather alert as all three Decepticons looked to the cliff.
But they found nothing, as Jasper and Bumblebee moved back just in time to avoid being spotted. Starscream and Soundwave looked back at their potential candidate, while Jasper was trying to shake Bumblebee to focus.
"Bumblebee, I need you to focus!" Jasper quietly yelled into the black-and-yellow 'Bot's face plate, which still held the same expression.
Jasper was confused. Was Bumblebee… afraid? He remained brave in a massive mine battle, but here was where he faltered?
While Jasper was focused on Bumblebee, Barricade's stare remained trained on the cliff.
"You want to know what I am, Lord Starscream? I am more than just a soldier."
Jasper's shaking finally snapped Bumblebee out of his trance, and his optics refocused as he looked around. He pointed a digit back to the cave entrance, and Jasper knew he meant that they should leave. Finally, they can get out of there.
"I am also…"
Barricade's voice trailed off as it got closer, and Jasper and Bumblebee were taken aback when he cleared over the cliffside with his stare on the two Autobots.
"A hunter!"
Barricade shouted as he transformed his arm into a single blaster and shot at Jasper, who dove out of the way in time. As Barricade would have fired a second shot, he was interrupted by a punch to the face plate, sending him back a few meters. But Barricade's annoyance turned to joy when he saw Bumblebee in his fighting pose.
"Bumblebee… What a small universe this is." Barricade said with excitement.
Bumblebee stepped back toward Jasper at the sight of Barricade, getting closer to the cave entrance. Meanwhile, Starscream hovered upwards to see what Barricade was up to, and saw Jasper and Bumblebee.
"Autobots! And… and you!" Starscream pointed at a surprised Jasper, "You're the one who blew up the mine!"
Starscream aimed his arm blaster at Jasper, causing Jasper to look at Bumblebee for an answer. Bumblebee quickly grabbed Jasper's shoulder pad and activated his radio voice.
"–We gotta get outta here, man!"
Jasper couldn't agree more: he transformed with Bumblebee and drove away from an excited Barricade.
"I love it when prey runs away! Makes the chase all the better!"
Barricade then gave chase, while Starscream and Soundwave did their best to catch up. Eventually, they reached the outside and saw that the two Autobots were retreating down a dirt road, while Barricade was still chasing in his robot form.
"Barricade! Stand down!" Starscream ordered.
"Can't do that, Lord. I've always wanted to settle old scores. Give me the chance, and I'll return to you with two Autobot heads!"
Starscream was hesitant, but watching the Autobot that caused Slipstream and Megatron's death make his escape made him furious.
In a growl, Starscream said, "Very well! Show off your ferocity! Do what you wish with Bumblebee, but the other Autobot must live! He will be punished for what he did!"
Barricade grinned hard at the approval, his rusted dentas showing clearly to his Lordship.
"It will be my pleasure."
Barricade then rushed off, jumping slightly in the air to transform, landing on the dirt road as a black-and-white angular, alienesque four-door car. Starscream hovered as he watched his newest soldier drive off to chase the Autobots.
"What better way to cement my leadership than to execute the Autobot that destroyed Megatron… This will be promising." Starscream said.
But before he could transform and give chase, Soundwave grabbed Starscream's shoulder pad.
"What is it, Soundwave!?"
"Our scanners have detected Energon signatures," Soundwave stated.
"What does that have to do with this!?"
"Dark Energon signatures… in Mine 4E, Quadrant 24," Soundwave specified.
Starscream stopped pulling away and looked back in shock.
"You wouldn't mean… Slipstream could live?"
"And Lord Megatron."
"But that's… that's impossible! That mine explosion was enough to destroy them five times over! The scanners must be wrong!"
Starscream denied it to be true, but… what if it wasn't? What if Slipstream somehow survived? And if Megatron were to live… No, he couldn't. He didn't deserve it. But… How could Starscream be certain?
"... I will check out the signals myself. As for you, Soundwave, you must bear witness to Barricade's combat. Provide support if he needs it. No matter what, someone will be offlined today, and it better be an Autobot!"
Starscream then transformed and jetted out of there, leaving Soundwave to go flying high above the clouds. But Soundwave… didn't move.
"'Must bear witness'," Soundwave repeated in Starscream's voice, then said in his own, "Laserbeak, eject."
A cassette bursted out of Soundwave's chest opening, forming Laserbeak as it hovered in the air.
"Follow Starscream," Soundwave ordered.
Laserbeak wordlessly flew off in Starscream's direction, while Soundwave transformed into his bulky car form and began to follow down the dirt road.