Another One?!: Book 2

Chapter 3: Retelling the Past

"How do you know Smokescreen since he was eleven?" Optimus inquired.

"All Autobot sparklings were sent to a secret base or off of Cybertron," Ratchet told them.

"Like those bases they were sent to kept them safe," Smokescreen growled.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"A massive group of autobot sparklings were found DEAD!" Smokescreen snapped harshly.

"Hey, none of the other Autobots took it lightly either," Arcee said snappy. 

Smokescreen faced her with a hostile scowl. "What do you know?"

"Excuse me." Arcee and Smokescreen became locked in a fierce stare battle.

"Smokescreen, maybe you should-" Tinker placed his hand on Smokescreen, but he only flinched away. Dead sparklings, either autobot or decepticon, was a sensitive topic for him. 

"You don't know what's it's like!" Smokescreen bellowed at Arcee. "You were probably getting out of your teens when the war brought out!"

"Smoke..." Tinker warned.

"I had a sister among them! And she was only thirteen!" Arcee bellowed in Smokescreen's face. Her words made Smokescreen's face loosen. He zoned out to figure out who was it that could be her sister.

"Was she blue too?" Smokescreen asked in a softer tone.

"No, she was white!"

"With pink markings and small blue markings next to the other marks? Moon crests on her forehead, shoulders, hands? A scar on her side and face? Had a bracelet on her left upper arm?"

Arcee's face loosened and became a confused face. "How did you...?"

"I ..." Smokescreen eyes shut trying not to see the corpses of Arcee's lost sister. "I saw her." Tinker was about to saw something, but Smokescreen continued. "Her and the other autobot sparklings that were killed by the Raven. I ... I was the one who took off her bracelet and send it to you."

"I ...." Arcee could see the pain of seeing her dead sister in Smokescreen's eyes. It wasn't fake, no doubt. "I don't know you-"

"I can only imagine." Smokescreen paused before saying, "Lossing someone you care about deeply."

"Who's the Raven?" Jack asked.

"Is he a raven-like decepticon?" Raf asked.

"She." Smokescreen mind flashed at the memory of her mad laugh. "And she wasn't a decepticon. Or an autobot. But definite a mad cyber and after Megatron killed her, no sparklings on either side have been killed."

"Wait," Tinker started, "how do you know-"

"I would sneak out and go onto Decepticon territory to try to see I could find out anything useful." Tinker's face dropped.

"How long do you do it?" Tinker asked.

"Before we moved to Icon and after running into the Raven."

"Smokescreen!" Tinker yelled. "That was incredibly dangerous!" he exclaimed before switching to a calmer voice. "Although that does explain the random intel, we got from time to time."

"I knew what I was doing!" Smokescreen protested.

"Wait," Bumblebee began and the two faced him. "How old were you went to Icon?"

"I was sixteen." Smokescreen's answer didn't make sense to anything he just said.

Somethings off, Bumblebee thought suspiciously. The random intel on the Decepticons were somethings about prison ships, bases, and even about Megatron. How did he even get anywhere near Megatron?

"Well, it also explains your tried mood on most mornings. Still can't believe you did that with ruthless decepticon killers." Smokescreen was going to say something but was stopped by Tinker. "Not decepticons are ruthless killers, I know! You've told me Sky Quake and Dreadwing's backstory multiple times."

"Waaaaait, a minute." Bulkhead began. 

"You know their backstory?" Optimus questioned.

"Like we need to know about Sky Quake," Miko boosted. "They made him wish he was never born! Or ... forged." Tinker and Smokescreen looked at her with confused expressions.

"She means we killed him," Acree translated.

"What?" A wave a sadness flew over Smokescreen.

"Why are you sad?" Miko asked.

"Sky Quake was a decepticon Smoke befriended." Tinker's words lost everyone. "Don't ask me how. For my guess is that they understood each other's pain. Plus, Smoke was twelve when they met."

"Everyone has a backstory," Smokescreen said in a small voice. "Some more painful than others. Some are more filled with certain things than other."