SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you haven't seen all of Transformers Prime and Predacons Rising, and read Transformers: Exodus, go no further! I refer to major plot developments that will give spoilers, and also half of this story won't make any sense if you don't read the novel. You really ought to play Fall of Cybertron and/ or read the Rage of the Dinobots and Beast Hunters comics as well. Everyone should, just because they are so awesome.
Legal stuff: I don't own any of these characters or settings and this is just a fan work.
Last time Starscream offered to trade what he knew about Shockwave in exchange for medical attention from Ratchet. Before he got very far, Shockwave remotely unleashed a deadly trap, and Ratchet had to enlist a reluctant Knockout to save Starscream's life...
>>>Several days pass, and
I have no idea what happens besides the 2 doc bots working on Starscream and
Ratchet checking to make sure Ultra Magnus is fully recovered from his own
encounter with Predacons. Reconstruction, which started in Kaon, is progressing
well in both Iacon and Kaon now.<<<
“Well, Ultra Magnus, you’ve got a
clean bill of health.” Ratchet offered his hand, but Ultra Magnus was so large
his feet were already on the floor. He stood up.
“Thank you, doctor.”
“You should thank Knockout too. He
is a fine surgeon.”
“Ah yes, the reformed Decepticon.
He seems a bit impertinent, but on the whole, he’s not a bad bot. It gives me
hope that other Decepticons returning from space will abide by the new peace.
If no one tries to persuade them otherwise.” He frowned at Starscream, still
unconscious on the next bed.
“What of the Predacons?”
Ratchet shrugged. “They seem to be
lying low. Megatron brought Predaking to an uneasy truce, and Bumblebee is
working on it. I believe things will eventually work out with them if we leave
them alone. Predaking seems honest, although he is justly angry and incredibly
powerful.”
Ultra Magnus looked up as a new bot
walked past outside. Ratchet smiled.
“You should go see the Well of
AllSparks. It’s beautiful. If you’re lucky, a new Cybertronian may climb up
near you and you can help him into the world.”
He watched Ultra Magnus leave and
ran another scan on Starscream. He’d been healthy enough to wake up for a while,
but when Ratchet had brought him out of stasis, his and Knockout’s bickering
had been too much to bear. So he’d made an excuse and put him under again.
“New Seekers have come out of the
Well,” Ratchet said, although he still didn’t think people in stasis could
hear. “Too bad there’s no one to show them how to really fly.” No Seekers or Aerialbots had returned from
space yet, and the run-of-the-mill flying Decepticon troopers weren’t that
impressive.
“This might help.”
Ratchet turned to see Knockout
carrying an absolutely pristine wing exactly like Starscream’s.
“Where did you get that?” he asked,
amazed.
“The hold of the Nemesis has four dead clones Starscream sent to assassinate
– ”
“Ep ep ep ep! I don’t want to
know.” Ratchet held up his hand. “This whole affair is sordid enough without
the ghoulish backstory.”
Knockout shrugged and leaned the
wing against the table, then went to help Ratchet turn Starscream over so they
could work on his back.
“You think it’s a good idea to give
him his wings back?” he asked.
Ratchet sighed. “Personally, I
think it will mean trouble. But since you found a wing to give him, I don’t see
how we can’t.”
“Sorry,” said Knockout. “Maybe we
can wait, and use it to get him on our side.”
“Withholding a natural part of
someone’s anatomy to extract a promise of good behavior?” Ratchet said. “A
promise made under such duress would hardly be believable, ethical
considerations aside.”
“It was just a thought. Starscream’s not so good with
promises anyway.” Knockout said. “Well, maybe he’ll at least be grateful enough
to be nice to me for a change.”
Ratchet gave him a hopeless look.
“Hey, I can dream.”
They had already mostly repaired
Starscream’s back, taking apart his engine housing and repairing all the
damaged Energon lines that would have exploded if he’d tried to fly, and
adjusting every blade on his turbines just right. That was why Ratchet was glad
to have Knockout’s help. In some ways Seekers were delicate in spite of how
dangerous they were, and it was easy for something to go wrong. Some small part
of Ratchet had seen no point in restoring Starscream’s engine, since he
couldn’t fly anyway, but once Knockout got going, he was a perfectionist. He’d
even ground down all the ugly welds
Shockwave had done, and the pitting where dragonfire and Energon had melted
Starscream’s surfaces, hammered out all the dents, and filled and repainted the
gouges.
“I told you not to repaint him
yet,” Ratchet said, indicating the area around the old wing they were removing.
“This is all going to get scratched up by our tools.”
Knockout smiled. “I’ll just charge
him for another case of polish.”
They moved the new wing into place,
measuring carefully to make sure it was symmetrical with the other one before
meshing its gears into place inside Starscream’s torso. Ratchet passed Knockout
tools and made adjustments as requested, impressed at how efficiently he
soldered all the wiring in place. He gave each wire a small electric charge
before sealing it, watching with satisfaction as each control surface on the
wing moved as it was supposed to.
“Just one more thing to check,” he
said at last, moving to Starscream’s side. He opened up several layers of
plating to reveal his T-cog. Very carefully, he moved the cog until it engaged
with all the other mechanisms involved in transformation. Knockout turned it
just a hair and several panels on Starscream’s back lifted up. Another fraction
more made both wings flatten and start to turn over, with perfect symmetry.
Satisfied, Knockout let the T-cog relax back into its start position, reversing
the transformation, and closed him back up.
---
Starscream opened his eyes and then blinked as Ratchet’s
scanning beam passed over his optics.
"Sorry about that," Ratchet said. “Have a look at
yourself now that you’re all fixed up.”
Starscream sat up slowly, letting his equilibrium recalibrate
after being in stasis. He looked over his paint – you couldn’t tell at all that
he’d been gnawed on and nearly torn limb from limb. His finish was exactly how
he liked it, not shiny, exactly, but with a soft, deep luster. He held his arm
up to the light, noting a subtle metallic flake that gave him just the right
amount of ostentation while still being tasteful.
“No one would guess from looking at the Autobots,” he said to
Ratchet, “but you can be quite the artist with the right inspiration.”
“Don’t look at
me. Knockout is the one you should thank.” Ratchet glared at him. “If that’s
what that was.”
“Hmm. That makes
more sense.” Starscream looked around. Knockout was nowhere to be seen. No
matter. He felt good. Nothing hurt, but beyond that, everything just felt
right. He stood up and moved around, brimming with energy, simply enjoying the
feeling of strength, agility, and... balance? A realization struck him - one he
had not allowed himself to hope for - and he looked over his shoulder, whirling
around so quickly that his wings clanged against Ratchet. Two clangs!
Ratchet reached out to steady him,
but Starscream pushed him away. He reached behind his back and ran his fingers
along the edge his wing. It was sturdy and straight, and kept going past where
he could reach. He turned to Ratchet, but it took him a cycle to find his
voice. Finally he whispered, “How… how did you do this?”
“Mostly, I
assisted Knockout. He worked tirelessly to see you through - and it was touch
and go for a while. He also found you a wing… the less said about that, the
better.”
“Well, I would
expect nothing less from him. Where is he?” Starscream peered around the room,
slowly flexing his wings up and down as he walked.
“He… wasn’t sure
he wanted to talk to you.”
“Nonsense. He
did such a good job fixing me up, I can forgive the fact that he hit me over
the head and got me arrested.” He headed for the door.
“How magnanimous
of you,” muttered Ratchet, rolling his eyes. “And where do you think you’re
going?”
“To fly of
course!” He caught himself grinning stupidly, and he didn’t care. “I cannot
wait to spread my wings!” As he said it his smile faded. He realized what was
coming before Ratchet said anything.
“You mean to fly
away! You’re not spreading your wings any time soon.”
“Like slag I’m
not!” he snapped as he punched the door controls.
The far door
across the next room opened at the same moment and Knockout stomped through.
Starscream spotted Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack outside, holding handcuffs and a
large set of wing clamps. He readied his Null Rays to fight his way out, but
then thought better of it – Wheeljack had already trained his blaster on him.
Knockout glanced at Starscream, but addressed Ratchet.
“They can not use those clamps! Have you seen the kind of
scratches they make?”
“What does it
matter?” Starscream yelled. “You’ve both wasted your time!” He shoved Knockout
aside and stormed out, holding his wrists up for Ultra Magnus to cuff before
Wheeljack could hit him. He glared back over his shoulder as they placed the
clamps around his wings and led him away.
Knockout stared
after him as the doors closed. “The…” he was almost too angry to speak “…nerve!”
“Nerve?” asked
Ratchet. “Like organic circuitry? I don’t follow you.”
“It’s just – “
Knockout threw up his hands in frustration. “It’s an Earth expression for… the
way Starscream acts!”
To be continued...
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