"It's been a lot on the past 19 cycles. I don't know what to do. He has cut up the rations for everyone once more. Again. I've been trying to manipulate him while he's under the influence, but all it did was make him shove that slag down my throat. I can't do that anymore."
★*★*★*★
Starscream stumbled out of Megatron's chamber, catching his throat with his servo. It burned, he could feel it writhing under his plating, wanting to get out, to consume, to make me part of him.
He tried to pull air into his vents, but he couldn't, it was blocking his vents system. His vision darkened, his optics glitching between it's original fiery red and the dark purple of the damned energon.
He gagged and struggled, falling to his knees while he tried to force his body to expell the invasive liquid. I couldn't, it was in too deep.
- Why. . . WHY WON'T IT COME OUT?!
He kept squirming, trying to purge out the not so foreign substance from his body, but all it did was send a ringing pain through his helm. He clutched it with his other servo, making him crumble to the cold floor below.
Everything was too much.
Those sounds were too loud, the lights shone brighter than they should, it was too confusing.
It was becoming annoying.
- SCREAMER!
The voice of an unassuming Vehicon, who just happened to pass by, rang through the hallway. They noticed the writhing mess on the floor, recognizing his SIC, with their expression opening in horror. He closed the distance with large strides, kneeling down to his side.
- W-WHAT'S GOING ON?? CAN YOU HEAR ME?
Starscream couldn't understand him anymore. His consciousness faded away as the dark energon took over. Struggling was pointless.
Everything felt like a blur. He couldn't make out sounds, shapes were distorted into unrecognition, depth was long forgotten, nothing made sense anymore. It was like a fever dream, if cybertronians can even have those. That was until we woke up.
★*★*★*★
- He's stable! Breakdown, fetch me the fragging scanner!
Bright, sterile lights shone from above, blinding him for a moment. Starscream growled as he tried to sit up, only to be pushed down gently onto the berth by the Decepticon medic.
- Don't even THINK about it! Keep it down, will ya??
Knockout had a more stern tone to his vocal, as he took the scanner from Breakdown's servos.
- What. . . Why am I here?
- He glitched you again, Screamer.
The Decepticon medic scowled, this wasn't like him, but who is acting like themselves lately?
- One of the troopers found you struggling on the floor by his chamber. They panicked and ended up warning half of the base.
He typed away onto the scanner, hoovering it above the SIC, gently picking up data as it beeped every now and then. Probably not a good sign.
- I should say, you are messier than I expected while under the glitching.
- Messier?
Starscream inquired, confused by the last statement. He watched as the careful servos of Knockout did their work on keeping him conscious.
- Yes. You caused a lot of trouble.
That's when he froze. He set the scanner aside, now giving his total attention to them.
- Don't you remember? You went mad all of the sudden. You weren't making sense, so o speak, attacking anything that moved and-
‐And you almost behelmed Thundercracker.
Breakdown said with a snicker.
- EXCUSE ME??
The brute chuckled at the sound of their confused vocal.
- HA! You really outdone yourself this time.
(Author's note: after this warning, the writing may be subjected to a different style, as this was written WAY later than the start of the chapter.)
Starscream didn't even snap back, he just vented out of frustration. He looked at his surroundings, getting calmer at the notice that he was on the medbay. He barely registered whatever Breakdown told Knockout before he left the chamber, leaving the SIC and the medic by themselves.
The silence grew heavier around the two bots. Knockout wasn't about to engage with a confused seeker, especially Starscream, so he left him be while he worked on something else.
"What even happened?. . . Why can't I remember what I did?. . ."
The inquiry ate at his processor, nagging in the back of his mind. His mind was a blur of everything. Shouting, incoherent ramble, the sickening sound of someone purging their systems out, it was all coming at once, and it overwhelmed him.
He clutched his helm for a moment, his vents becoming short and ragged for a breath moment, gaze unsteady and shaky as he tried to make sense of it. However, his inner torment was broken by a grounding servo on his shoulder.
Knockout looked back at him, not with his usual grin, but an expression laced with concern and worry. Their optics locked with Starscream's, a silent message for him, "I'm here."
- Deep vents, alright? Focus on me and my vocals.
Starscream nodded weakly, trying to steady his air intake the best he could. Knockout silently rubbed circled on his back, also trying to help him calm down.
- Listen, I don't know what you and Megatron did inside of that chamber, but whatever happened. . . It's not going to repeat itself. He's not allowed inside of the medbay, made sure to have Soundwave block his entrance code.
It did reassure the SIC, his vents becoming more steady. He opened his optics, now averting his gaze to the medic.
- He. . . Ngh. . .
He couldn't say it, the dark energon did some damage to his vocalizer.
‐Alright, don't need to force yourself right now. Rest, I'll be a comms ping away.
Knockout then let go of the Screamer, gently, before walking away for his next duties. Starscream laid his head back into the berth with a heavy sigh, closing his optics.
"He's gonna be my offlining. . ."
★*★*★*★
(NEMESIS - COMMAND CENTER)
The command center was usually bustling with activity, reports being filed, cadets running errands, but today? It was oddly silent, if not by the presence of two figures.
- Inquire: Starscream = recovering?
Soundwave sat at his console, barely looking away from whatever data he was compiling. As the communications officer, his duty was to keep track of everything happening inside and outside of that base. He knew everything, saw everything, and his usual cold detachment showed that. But somehow he was worried about the loud Second In Command that often gave more trouble than effort to the cause.
- Well, he's stable, as far as it would concern you.
Knockout sighed, laying against a wall near the console with his servos crossed over his frame. He watched the comms officer work in deliberal silence, that weird personality of his that he never were able to crack.
- I just don't know how Starscream got that into his systems.
The mention of the Screamer doing something to his internals made Soundwave pause. For a brief moment, something eerily close to both confusion and concern flashed through his cold facade. Then, he actually looked away from the analytics, his focus now entirely on the medic.
- Knockout: Elaborate.
The sudden shift on interest caught Knockout off-guard, making his body lock-up for a nano-click.
- W-Well. . .- He stammered - The reason he became so unstable was because there was Dark Energon inside of him.
Knockout walked over to Soundwave's console, and with quiet precision, multi-tasked the analytics and data to the side, opening a new encrypted window with the surveillance system recording.
The image wasn't exactly crystal clear, but the context was. Starscream squirming on the floor, surrounded by a few worried Vehicons, and one very concerned Thundercracker. Suddenly, the feed showed him lunging against the other seeker, scene in which Knockout paused the video.
- There. See his optics?
Soundwave leaned closer to the screen, catching what Knockout meant: Starscreams usual fiery red optics were this deep, glowing purple. For the first time in Primus knows how long, the medic saw the comms officer apparently frown under his visor and mask. He tilted his helm, visibly confused.
- Inquire: How (Dark Energon) substance = Found?
- Your guess is as good as mine. I asked around for a breem but no one saw it coming into the base. Shockwave was also just as confused since he doesn't remember scavenging another batch since his last experiment vorns ago.
The revelation hung in the air, and for a long moment, none of the two spoke, but the seed of doubt has been planted:
"How did the Dark Energon get into the Nemesis?"
"Who smuggled it past their defenses?"
And most importantly. . .
"How did it end up on Starscream?"
After what could only be described as an "uncomfortable discovery" Soundwave closed the security feed. He didn't move his gaze away from the console, and after a few nano-clicks, he finally broke the silence.
- Soundwave = will investigate.
- You sure you wanna go after this?
The comms officer nodded fiercely at the medic's hesitant tone, before adding:
- Dark Energon = Threat. Threat = Safety of Decepticons compromised.
Knockout looked at Soundwave's console, then looked back at him.
‐Well, good luck, 'wave.
The comms officer nodded once more before he started typing away with renewed focus. Knockout knew he wouldn't be able to shake that off of him, so he just sighed, walking away.
★*★*★*★
(ARK - LABORATORY)
The last few cycles inside of the Ark have been tense, to say the least.
The reveal of Starscream's struggles and the possibility of Megatron having possession of the Dark Energon have triggered a chain of worry and doubt. Was he telling the truth after all?
The harsh lighting of the sterile environment bore over the research equipment, high-tech specialized on discovering and uncovering this planet they now live in. However, that's not the only use for those.
- How is the analysis coming in, Ratchet?
Optimus Prime stood tall, collected and calm, but his vocalizer had this concerned tone that hinted at the gnawing worry inside of his spark. Ratchet had been looking, listening and rebooting back into the comms audio that Drift caught back then. With a frustrated growl, he pushed himself away from the console, pausing the recording.
- Nothing! I couldn't find anything that could hint at the minimal deceit!
He run a servo through his face, taking a deep tired vent. He has been inside this lab for so many cycles (or almost a week in human standards) that the fluorescent lights were starting to annoy him.
- If I can give you my honest opinion, Prime, he's one nano-click away of total collapse. Whatever Megatron has been doing clearly has gotten to him.
After a small, reluctant pause, he added what Optimus didn't want to hear.
- I'm afraid he was telling the truth.
Optimus took a deep vent, in and out, closing his optics. He was thinking.
"How come we haven't noticed that before?"
After a few nano-clicks, he re-opened his optics, boring his gaze into Ratchet's
- Have you contacted Drift?
- I did. He's on patrol duty for this cycle.
- Good. Keep an audio receptor on the comms, if he finds Starscream again, we need to know.
Ratchet nodded, looking into his console. Optimus vented out, proceeding to walk out of the lab with his servos behind his back, deep in thought.
He passed by Bumblebee and Spike, who were eavesdropping, but didn't seem to mind nor pay any attention to them. Both looked at eachother in confusion and surprise.
- You actually think that Starscream can change like that?
Bumblebee snickered, however Spike seemed more reluctant.
- I don't know. If Ratchet confirmed he was telling the truth, then maybe?
Spike fiddled with his fingers, suddenly finding the floor very interesting. Bumblebee watched his human companion with curiosity, tilting his helm.
- Why do you humans are so susceptible to redemption?
- Well. . .
He started, but the voice died on his throat. For a long pause, he didn't have an answer for that. After a deep breath, he continued.
- We believe everyone has a shot into a change of heart, or spark in the case of you guys. Not everyone deserves it of course, but. . . I can't help but find Starscream's words. . . Worrying.
- Everyone thinks that too, you're not the one thinking that the dark energon thing is a proble-
- No no! — He cut Bee off — Not that! I mean the way he said it!
That earned Spike a very, very intrigued look from the Autobot Scout.
- Look, the way he was shaking while speaking? The terror behind his voice?? That isn't the sound of someone trying to play a really good lie!
He paused briefly before continuing.
- He sounded terrified, scared, maybe even incoherent. If anything, that's someone who's fleeing from demons they've been fighting for too long.
Spike's words landed like a punch between the duo, and it actually made Bumblebee rethink about the entire ordeal. With a sigh, the scout spoke.
- I guess you have a point. . . But don't go thinking he's all "sunshine and rainbows" as you like to say sometimes.
- Not thinking on it.
★*★*★*★
(NEMESIS - FLIGHT DECK)
"Knockout was reluctant to let me leave the medical wing, but after a bit of convincing, he allowed me to leave. No wonder he folded, I can be deceiving when I want to."
"Not that I want to be."
"The deck is empty during this time, most 'cons have retreated to their Hab-suites, and Megatron himself is probably among them. How foolish. How utterly. . . Grateful I am for him to not be around."
"Do you wonder. . . How can one decision change the course of your life?"
"I always had this nagging feeling in the back of my processor, keeping me alert when I should've been recharging. Something that told me I was never meant for great things. That I never would achieve anything on my life."
"When the great war started, the propaganda of the Decepticons was everything I could've wished to hear back then. Peace through an iron fist. Through strictness that would ensure everything would go well. And Megatron? He seemed like the best leader I ever had seen step his pedes in our planet."
"I was a fool"
"I was always a fool in believing that would help."
"He stripped me of everything I once had. He took away everything that used to make me who I was, and replaced with HIS vision. A twisted, savage commander with who knew no mercy."
"I don't like this"
"I never did."
Starscream opened his wings, fluttering them slightly for a moment. Peace like this was something he was both not used to and a craving he definitely wanted to saciate.
After a deep vent, he closed his optics. With a graceful leap, he took flight into the night, like he did a few nights before.