Evasion

Chapter 12

Starscream's optics slowly blinked online, warnings flashing. He quickly dismissed them. He groaned and slowly sat up, rubbing a servo against his helm. It hached like the Pits. He looked up and around, confused. He was in a cell, that much was obvious - blue-gray walls and floor, and an orange energy barrier locking him inside. The events of however-long-ago came back to him - being chased, the identical bots, Deseeus, an injection...

Starscream turned to the side and vomited suddenly. He scooted away from the puddle, slowly standing on shaky legs and using the wall as support. He took a look around again, now with fear in his optics, panting.

Bumblebee... where's Bumblebee? He thought.

"Hey, you alright?"

Starscream froze. It wasn't a voice he recognized immediately. It wasn't seen as friendly in his database, but it wasn't an enemy, either. He slowly padded over and looked across the hall. There, another cell resided, with bots inside. Most of them sat towards the back of the cell, while one stood at the barrier, servos pressed against it, looking at the flier. Starscream finally recognized them all - the crew of the Ark, the bot at the barrier being Ratchet. He looked into the cell next to them, seeing more bots. The Maximals.

"Starscream?" Ratchet spoke again.

Starscream looked back over at him. He was still waiting for an answer.

"I-I'm fine." The flier said, ignoring the shake in his voice, "I thought you all were deactivated. How did you get... here?"

Ratchet backed away and sighed, crossing his arms.

"Those 'heralds' or whatever they call themselves attacked us." The medic said, "Now, they're takin' us to their master."

Him. Starscream shivered. "So, we're on our way to..."

"Be smelted? Likely." Ratchet said with a shrug.

Someone padded towards them, chuckling at the comment. Ratchet and Starscream looked down the hall. All they could see was a single red optic staring back at them.

"Not smelted..." They said, walking into the light, "that would be a waste."

Deseeus. Of course, it was Deseeus. The flier glared at them.

"You." He growled, "Why can't you ever leave us alone?!"

"We left you well alone for three mega-cycles." Deseeus said, then tilting their helm and smirking, "By the way, I wanted to thank you for allowing us the time to prepare. Unicron has been busy, building an armada for us."

"'Us'? Who is us?" Starscream asked.

Someone else padded down the hall. Their pedesteps were heavy, shaking the ground. When they appeared next to Deseeus, Starscream's optics widened and he took a surprised step back.

"Me."

It was Galvatron and Nemesis Prime, or what was a horrible combination of them. It almost looked as if their bodies had been cut in half lengthwise, then welded back together. The only difference was the helm - it contained a combination of both of their helms. Galvatron's mock-crown, and Nemesis Prime's mouthguard. Their optics were also intact, though they were different colors. One was a pinkish-red (Nemesis') and one was a blazing red (Galvatron's). The voice of the amalgamation was low and raspy, both voices tangling together as well. It was like even their vocalizers had been cut in half and put together, sounding as if two beings spoke at once.

"Galvatron... Nemesis... what...?" Starscream could barely fathom what he was seeing.

"Their punishment for attempting to escape Unicron's wrath." Deseeus answered, "They are forced to live as a singular being, both thinking; both feeling."