Where There's A Spark part 11

A twisted sheet of metal smashed into the wall. Single optic whirring, Lugnut followed its path while observing his Leader with his lesser side optical sensors. His servomotors whined unhappily; he had never seen his glorious Master this angry, not even when that filthy traitor was revealed as the one responsible for sending the Decepticon Lord offline. The last fifty stellar cycles had been very hard for the stocky mech. He knew in his central processor that Megatron yet lived...when every other Decepticon thought their Leader gone for good. Fortunately he had been partnered with Blitzwing. The crazed triple-changer's reaction had been gratifying, despite that he, too, believed Megatron was lost to them; who cared about the identity of their replacement Leader? Such an insult to their Master had to be repaid first. Spilled Energon, crushed metal, broken Spark chambers; a response befitting their noble Lord.

"Starscream has gone too far this time! Desiring to lead the Decepticons is one thing, but allying with Autobots! What could have possessed that cowardly traitor to do such a thing?"

Megatron looked at his triple-changer lieutenant. "Blitzwing! Do any of you have an idea?"

Cold spun to Random. "Ahahahahaha! Starscream is crazy!"

"Ve vill CRUSH that slagging piece of scum!"

"Perhapz..." Cold paused, apparently at odds with his other personalities. "There is..."

"Ooh, but zat iz ze craziest idea I haf evar heard!"

"Agreed! Not even Lugnut vould be ZAT stupid!" Hot roared. Lugnut's optic narrowed. True, he didn't have much to speak of in the way of processing power, but he was one of the few to realize the majesty of their Leader. Why couldn't other Decepticons see this, see Megatron's strength and power?

Blitzwing's rational side regained control. "Yez, but ze possibility exists zat..." He frowned. "How else could zey haf found our base? And zere iz ze matter of zat AllSpark shard zat vent miszing. Starscream had it, but ve did not detect his energy signal in ze vicinity of ze underground fragment."

Lugnut stormed over and slammed Blitzwing up against the wall. "Your Master asked you a question! Answer!" He was well-known for his patience; as long as it did not adversely affect his Lord or the glorious Decepticon Empire, it was irrelevant and beneath his notice. Threats...he would give his very Spark as Megatron commanded, though there was very little that could actually harm his Leader. However, he would not tolerate any slight towards their Master.

Blitzwing knew this well. "Ah, Zpark Bond! Noszing elze makes senze!" Cold-Blitzwing spluttered.

"Let him go, Lugnut."

The hulking bot quickly complied.

Megatron strode towards Blitzwing. "Normally, I would take a suggestion like that as mockery..."

Blitzwing quivered slightly, but his personality remained stable. Hot was not incapable of reason; his formidable prowess on the battlefield was only eclipsed by his tendency to let blind rage dictate his actions. And not even Random would dare to provoke Megatron in this state.

"...but since two of you agree, and your less stable personality does not...I am inclined to believe you." He turned and walked back to his throne. Blitzwing clambered to his pedes and stood by Lugnut, awaiting orders.

"So...Spark Bonding is in use once more," Megatron mused. His soldiers knew better than to interrupt him when he was planning.

In the early stellar cycles of the Great War, before the Autobot Elite Guard and Ultra Magnus became so rigidly oppressive, forbidding so many things, such as flight-capable Autobots (jump jets, booster rockets, and other short-range modifications were the exception), Bonding was fairly common, even among Decepticon ranks.

There was one main problem: the organic could not be coerced or threatened into the Bond. But they weren't known as the Decepticons for nothing. His soldiers were well versed in trickery and misdirection; Megatron owed his own Spark to his ability to deceive Professor Sumdac into believing he was an Autobot and in convincing the human not to reveal his continued existence.

What could that glitch-processor Seeker be thinking? Megatron's SIC wasn't stupid; Starscream would have known how vulnerable a Spark Partner would make him.

An evil smile stretched across the Decepticon Warlord's faceplate. Starscream had made his final mistake.

"Why is she still here?" Spike's girlfriend pointed an accusing finger out into the living room.

Skyler glowered at Carly over the book she was reading. "I live here, too." Carly had, once again, decided to 'forgive' Spike and they were officially dating again.

The blond widened her eyes innocently. "Oh, really? I would have thought you'd be too scared to come back here after what happened. I mean, Megatron and the Decepticons and all..."

"Don't feel like it," Skyler grumbled.

"C'mon, sis, what're you scared of? It's not likely you're going to run into Starscream at the mall." He grinned at Carly.

"SPIKE!" Skyler yelled. "I told you not to mention that!"

Carly looked at Skyler oddly. "What do you - ? Ohhhh. The rumor was true, then?"

Damn. Wait for it. Waaaaiittt for it... Skyler closed her eyes.

"What was he like?" Carly said eagerly. And there it is.

"Screw it," Skyler muttered. She snatched up her bag and headed for the door. One rested hand on the doorknob as she paused. "I'm going out. Yes, I have my phone; no, I don't know when I'll be back; yes, I'll be careful. Goodbye." Skyler glared at her brother. "Don't try to follow me, Spike, I can take care of myself. 'Sides," she added in a dull voice, "anything I can't handle," one way or the other, "you couldn't help with anyways." With that, she closed the door behind her.

Carly looked at Spike. "So," she said, leaning in coyly, "what all happened with her?" This sounds like a great story!

Skyler drew in a deep breath. While the air quality was nowhere near as bad as it had been a few decades ago, it was still far from pristine. Still, it was fresher than the garage at this point. A nice, normal day for once! She sighed in pleasure. The Autobots no longer had a reason to bother her (and they hadn't, anyways, which she thought was fortunate) and Starscream hadn't bothered her since... I am so going to pay for that later.

The only unusual activity had been courtesy of the British-accented nutcase that called himself the 'Angry Archer.' He'd apparently decided to celebrate his escape from jail by robbing a bank. The police hadn't even bothered to call the Autobots (the reporters found this as amusing as the guards had); his explosive arrows (crafted after he broke out of police custody) had failed to detonate, leaving the man without an exit route. The Angry Archer was yet again cooling his heels in prison.

She was just running a simple errand. Spike's comment to his (sometimes ex-) girlfriend had reminded Skyler that she needed to resupply her backpack. And the good part was that she could just load all the groceries right into the bag, with no worries about room or weight. As long as no one noticed. It occurred to her that she could possibly be a great shoplifter, but the idea was repellant to her. Why steal when she didn't have to?

Skyler passed by an old schoolmate, Ashley Fay, who was openly eying a cute guy with dirty-blond hair and a blue shirt. Skyler grinned and gave Ashley a thumb-up, mouthing "Go for it." The young man seemed oblivious. And not too bad-looking, either, she noted with a small smile. Poor guy looks a little uncomfortable. In another situation, Skyler would have chatted him up herself. She didn't date much, and many guys (and girls) were unnerved by her close relationship with Spike, who wasn't blood-related. "He's my brother," she would protest.

She was still smiling as she paid for her groceries and went outside, stopping in a corner for a brief moment to drop the supplies in her backpack.

Maybe I'll just wander around for a bit, enjoy the nice day. I just feel like having a friendly conversation with someone. Sparkplug was right; being out and about was doing her a lot of good. A sunny day, gentle breeze, nothing importan-

Then, a voice interrupted her musings. "Excuse me miss, are you Skyler Farrier?"

She was brought back abruptly to reality. "Huh?" she could only say stupidly.

"We're coming to you live downtown with Skyler Farrier, daughter of the late Kaitlin and Joel Farrier, who was recently a prisoner of the Decepticons. According to an anonymous source, we have also learned that she recently was involved with the renegade Decepticon Starscream. Skyler! Any comments?" The newsbot shoved a microphone into her face as those nearby crowded around to listen.

"I - uh... Look! What's that over there?" Skyler sprinted away as soon as they turned around. I need to find a way to ditch these idiots and quickly. She wasn't very athletic and didn't have enough stamina for a prolonged chase; a quick sprint was all that she could manage at the time.

Skyler recognized the area she was heading into. Aw, hell no! But she could hear her pursuers gaining. No choice.

There were noticeably fewer people chasing her now. Several had broken off, as if scared of the rougher neighborhood. Skyler was worried, too, but not because she was afraid of a mugger or some other creep. She was very close to where she had run into Starscream...literally. That event (while not the worst...or even close to the worst) had started off a whole series of events. The area was already bringing back bad memories.

She stumbled around the corner and fell to the ground. Skyler gasped for breath down on her hands and knees. Her wheezing sounded unnaturally loud to her. Skyler looked up. Uh, oh, she thought. She had been a little too successful in ditching the mob. The nearby streets were completely deserted.

Hopefully she could take a longer route and get home without running into another news crew. Once I...catch...my breath...again. Whoo.