Chapter Text
Chapter 1: A Different Earth
Starscream was dead, he’d been vaporized by Unicron… and that was okay. Sure, it wasn’t the way he had envisioned his spark going out, but at least he’d proven to Galvatron that Unicron was a legitimate threat. He hoped that the combined power of the Autobots and the Decepticons would be enough. His thoughts turned to the humans he’d befriended, he could almost hear the girl, Alexis, calling his name. Her voice was really clear too, strangely clear, it was almost like…
The former Decepticon opened his eyes, finding Alexis kneeling on his chest, still wearing the spacesuit from the last mission, the green stone he'd gifted her hanging from her neck. Liquid was leaking from her eyes, tears he remembered, humans did that when they were upset.
“Alexis?”
“Starscream!” The girl let out a sob of relief, “You’re okay!”
“What are you…” Starscream looked around the forest, the only light coming from the moon shining through the leaves, “Where are we?”
The human wiped her tears away with her sleeve, “Earth, I think… the last thing I remember was Unicron being defeated when everything went black.”
Starscream caught the girl in his hand as he sat up, looking around at the massive trees that filled the area they were in. There was no mistaking it, the plant life of Earth was unique enough to be easily recognized, but how had they gotten back?
“Swindle went off to explore but he should be back soon,” Alexis said as she sat in Starscream’s palm.
“Swindle is here too?”
“Yeah…” Alexis wrapped her arms around her legs and pulled her knees to her chest, “He took your sacrifice really hard… we all did…”
“It was the only way to convince Galvatron that the threat Unicron posed was real.” Starscream stated, “Though… it didn’t hurt… if that helps?”
The sound of an engine pierced the air as the mini-con Swindle rode into view, transforming out of his vehicle mode upon reaching them. The smaller robot beeped angrily at Starscream, shaking his fist.
“Of course I didn’t tell you my plan,” Starscream huffed, “You would’ve tried to stop me.”
The mini-con let out several longer beeps.
“Yeah, yeah,” Starscream waved, feigning disinterest, “I’m glad you’re okay too.”
_
“Optimus!” Ratchet called out, “You’re going to want to see this!”
Optimus Prime walked over to the monitor, his expression shifting slightly in surprise. “It cannot be…”
The rest of Team Prime gathered, their human allies looking in confusion.
“What? What is it?” Miko leaned over the rail.
Raf looked at the screen, “Did the Cons find another relic?”
“No young Rafael, but this energy signature belongs to something just as, if not much more dangerous,” Ratchet said solemnly, “An active mini-con.”
“What, like a tiny Decepticon?” Jack asked in confusion.
“No, mini-cons were small Cybertronians who grant immense power to those they combine with.” Optimus explained, “However, they were purged into oblivion during the fall of Cybertron.”
Bumblebee made a series of electronic sounds as he punched the air several times.
“Bee’s right, what are we waiting for?” Bulkhead pounded his hands together, “Let’s roll already.”
“Hold on,” Arcee interrupted, “If the signal is active, then it means someone already found it, and if we’re seeing this—”
“Then it is likely the Decepticons are already there,” Optimus confirmed, “We must proceed with caution, Autobots, let’s roll out!”
One by one they transformed into their vehicle modes and drove off as Ratchet activated the ground-bridge. Once they were through, the humans swarmed Ratchet.
“Where are they going?” Jack asked.
Rachet grumbled, “Somewhere called California, something about red wood?”
“That sounds like the Redwood Forest!” Raf gasped. “The trees there are huge!”
Miko rolled her eyes, “Leave it to Raf to find trees cool…”
_
“What is it Soundwave?” Megatron questioned as his chief communications officer approached, “Have you deciphered another set of coordinates from the Iacon database?”
The silent Decepticon’s visor flashed with readings that caused Megatron to grumble.
“An unknown energy signal?” Megatron questioned, pondering for a moment as he viewed the data, “Deploy a squadron to the location, if this power signature is what I believe it to be, then I must seize it before Optimus can.
_
“What’s wrong?” Alexis asked as Starscream suddenly stopped walking, looking around cautiously.
“I thought I heard something,” The giant robot plucked her off his shoulder and set her down, “Stay here with Swindle, I don’t want you getting in the way if—”
A loud burst interrupted him as a green gateway opened about a hundred feet ahead.
“Hide!” Starscream hissed as he moved to block her and Swindle from view.
Alexis watched as a dozen purple transformers who all looked the same rushed out of the portal. Their arms shifted into weapons as they caught sight of Starscream, taking aim.
“Starscream!” One of the Decepticons shouted, “Surrender traitor!”
“What?” Starscream remained still, “What are you talking about?”
“Lord Megatron,” The Decepticon, “We have located the traitor—"
The events that preceded were a blur, Starscream charged at the Decepticons in front of him, finding it odd how all of them seemed to be genuinely surprised. Several of the soldiers had even aimed above him preemptively, as if expecting him to fly away. He grabbed his wing, swinging at the enemies before him as it extended into a blade. Something was wrong, the Decepticons before him fired blindly, he dodged several blasts on energy as he cleaved one in half, then beheaded another. Using his jet engines, Starscream jumped back and sliced apart several bots that had managed to get behind him.
Starscream heard the sound of another gate being opened, two far more unique Decepticons arriving, one with shiny red paint and a bulkier one missing an eye.
“What is taking so long?” The red Decepticon shouted before catching sight of Starscream. “What the— Starscream?”
The bulkier Decepticon didn’t hesitate, rushing at him as his hand shifted into a hammer. Starscream pressed his hand against the flat of his blade as he blocked the hammer, following up with a swift slash from his opponent’s blind spot. However, this allowed the red Decepticon to cut into him with a saw.
“Love the new look,” The red one taunted, “Almost makes me feel bad about scratching it!”
Starscream pushed the one-eyed Decepticon aside as he slammed into the red one, using their momentary confusion to disengage. Both of his opponents seemed equally confused when he backed up and readjusted his stance closer to where his friends were hiding.
“Hold it Breakdown,” The red Decepticon stopped his partner from charging, “This isn’t right, since when does Starscream pass up an opportunity to run?”
They stared each other down, waiting for the other to make the next move. Their standoff was interrupted by another bridge opening, several vehicles driving into view. Starscream didn’t waste time, using the confusion to lunge towards where Alexis and Swindle were hidden. He transformed into his jet mode, intending to gain some altitude to preform a dive, however one of the new arrivals had other ideas.
_
“Oh, no you don’t,” Bulkhead grabbed the escaping jet, swinging it into one of the massive trees. “The party just started!”
The jet transformed, causing the Autobot to gasp in confusion, “Starscream?”
The Decepticon traitor looked at him with genuine confusion, “Who are you?”
“What do you—” Bulkhead gagged as Starscream charged and sent the pommel of his sword into his throat.
“Bulkhead!” Arcee jumped into the air, blades extending out as she lashed at Starscream.
The two quickly realized something was wrong when Starscream not only continued to attack but intentionally passed up multiple opportunities to escape.
Starscream let out a shout as Arcee slashed at his side, the Autobot jumping into the air to finish her enemy, only for a small red car to launch into the air and transform. The Mini-con surprise attacked Arcee, transforming back into a car as it attached to Starscream, a set of large twin cannons flipping out as they gathered energy.
Behind them Optimus turned and called out in alarm, “Get down!”
The forest was engulfed in blinding light as Starscream unleashed the blasts from his cannons, the resulting explosion sending Autobots and Decepticons alike flying back. Optimus was the first to recover just in time to see a human in a strange suit climbing into Starscream’s cockpit, their face obscured by the visor of their helmet, before flying off.
“What was that?!” Ratchet shouted through their com-links, “I just detected a massive amount of energy—”
“Ratchet, contact agent Fowler immediately,” Optimus ordered, “We have a serious problem.”
_
“So let me get this straight,” Fowler held the bridge of his nose, “Starscream got his metal mitts on a tiny one of you guys and now he’s got more firepower than Megatron?”
“And if what Optimus saw was true, a human is working with him,” Arcee scowled, “I don’t know what’s harder to believe, M.E.C.H. still being willing to work with Starscream, or Starscream giving a human a ride.”
“You’re all lucky Starscream missed with those cannons,” Ratchet looked over Bulkhead, “Had he managed to hit one of you directly, the consequences would have been severe.”
“Although I could be mistaken, I do not believe Starscream was trying to hit us,” Optimus admitted, “I believe there is more going on here than meets the eye…”
_
“What’s going on?” Alexis asked no one in particular as she sat in Starscream’s cockpit, “I thought the Autobots and Decepticons made a truce?”
“Not sure,” Starscream’s voice responded through the radio, “That Decepticon with the red paint acted like I looked different, but I haven’t changed my look in a while…”
Starscream grunted in pain as they hit a patch of turbulence.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Alexis asked, “I know you said—”
“I’ll live,” Starscream cut her off, “I just need to locate some energon.”
Swindle chimed in with a series of beeps.
“Good idea Swindle, cloaking our signals is probably for the best,” Starscream sighed in agreement, “At least until we can find out more about what’s going on.”
“Maybe we should—” Alexis let out a yawn, “Try to contact the Autobots, after what you did for everyone, I’m sure they’ll understand—”
“We can try that later,” Starscream interrupted, “You should power down, I can handle things.”
“I… okay,” She relented, “But only for a bit…”
Once the human was asleep Starscream let out a heavy sigh. He hadn’t been entirely truthful with her; between the wounds he’d sustained and the drain of using the Null Ray Laser Cannons he was flying low. He might be good for a bit, but he was going to need energon and soon, not to mention he had no idea what Alexis needed, he knew humans ate stuff but other than cake he didn’t know what.
Swindle beeped accusatorily at him, clearly not fooled.
“I know,” Starscream huffed as more beeping followed, “Do you think I’m not aware of the situation?”
The beeps Swindle made in response caused Starscream to pause, “Yes, that first Decepticon did say Megatron… and not Galvatron. Something is wrong about all this…”
Swindle made a whirling sound followed by several long beeps.
“Normally I’d be insulted by that, but you may have a point,” Starscream admitted, “Scanning an earth vehicle might not be a terrible idea.”
_
“Knock Out,” Megatron seethed, “You and Breakdown better have a good explanation for why you have returned to me…empty handed.”
“Lord Megatron, I know we failed to secure the mini-con,” Knock Out said fearfully, “But between Starscream attacking us and the Autobots—”
“Starscream?” Megatron rose to his full height, “You expect me to believe that this ‘mystery warrior’ who defeated both my forces and the Autobots, was STARSCREAM?”
“It’s true my lord,” Knock Out whimpered, “He’s completely lost it, it was like he was a completely different bot. I could barely believe it myself when he blocked Breakdown’s hammer.”
Megatron remained silent, turning to the warship’s console where images Soundwave had captured from the fight were displayed. The leader of the Decepticons couldn’t deny the resemblance the mysterious newcomer bore to Starscream, but the cybertronian displayed was not the sniveling cowardly traitor he was familiar with. The warrior before him was exactly that, a warrior, one who wielded his sword with a level of skill and control that couldn’t be faked. This ‘Starscream” bore the Decepticon shield as well, if he was truly a Decepticon, then he would bow before his master.
“Airachnid,” Megatron summoned his first lieutenant. “I have a task for you.”
“Yes, lord Megatron?”
“Our newly arrived comrade seems to have received a less than warm welcome,” Megatron turned to face the image of the newcomer, “See to it that he is found and returned here, where he belongs.”
“It shall be done,” Airachnid bowed before leaving, scowling once she was turned away from her leader.
Once she was gone, Knock Out turned to his master, “Forgive me for questioning you, my lord, but is sending her really—"
“Airachnid’s scheming is something I am well aware of,” Megatron cut his doctor off, “If she returns successfully then I will proceed with my original plan, but should she fall to this newcomer…”
Megatron smiled darkly, “Then my new first lieutenant will have more than earned his position.”