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The Lost Light had barely entered Cybertron’s atmosphere when he got the comm message:
Rodimus,
Polish yourself up before you come to my place. We’re going to a very special event tonight.
-High Chancellor Starscream I
Never one to disappoint, Rodimus showed up at Starscream’s doorstep freshly waxed from helm to pedes, burning with curiosity about what this “very special event” could possibly be. He was momentarily distracted from his train of thought, however, when Starscream opened the door- his plating, as well, had been fastidiously polished, although Rodimus didn’t get a very good look before he threw himself forward to hug him.
“Why, hello to you too,” Starscream said, laughter in his voice as he wrapped his arms around Rodimus in return. Their embrace lasted a few seconds more before the seeker gently pushed Rodimus back by the shoulders, looking him up and down appraisingly. “I’m glad to see you followed my instructions. It’s more of a formality than anything, but… well, let’s just say there’s some people I’m hoping to make a good impression on.”
Rodimus’s brow furrowed. “Where are we going, anyway? Your message wasn’t very specific.”
Starscream grinned. “Why, Rodimus, we’re going to the movies.”
✩✮✩
“I didn’t even know there were any movie theaters on Cybertron,” Rodimus remarked, staring up at the brightly-lit edifice.
Starscream nodded. “That’s because there weren’t any until now- this is the first one built since the war. My hope is that this will encourage a revival of Cybertronian arts.”
Rodimus turned his attention to the portion of the theater’s sign meant to advertise the films currently being shown. There was only one name at the moment: Doctor Susan. “Why does that sound like the title of an Earth movie, though?”
“Well, it was… inspired by Earth media, as far as I understand. The production itself is one hundred percent Cybertronian, however,” Starscream explained. “Now come on, I don’t want to spoil it for you and we need to get good seats.”
The inside of the theater was really quite nice- the floor of the lobby was shiny black tile, the walls a rich maroon with gold accents and fancy light fixtures. The ceiling was extremely high- as was the case with most Cybertronian public buildings, to accommodate the wide variety of sizes possible among their species. Taking Rodimus’s hand, Starscream led him down one of the hallways branching off from the lobby, and into one of the theaters.
The room’s lights were already dimmed, making it difficult to see who was there. Rodimus did manage to pick out a few faces, however, including Knock Out and Breakdown, who waved at them from the back, and, oddly enough, Sunstreaker, who was slouched in the front row with Bob in the seat next to him.
Starscream towed Rodimus to a seat towards the front, although he seemed distracted, as if he was trying to spot someone in particular in the poor lighting. Evidently giving up, he took a seat as well, not letting go of his hand.
Rodimus had heard that human movies in theaters were often prefaced by several lengthy trailers for other movies- however, as there were no other Cybertronian movies to advertise for, the movie thankfully started quite promptly, after a polite reminder to please dim all external lighting for the duration of the film. And said film was… quite something.
The lead role of the movie, the titular “Doctor Susan,” was played by a jet, who Rodimus recognized as Starscream’s former comrade Skywarp. For some reason, Susan’s love interest was played by what looked like a D.O.C. maintenance drone painted red, it’s lines somewhat awkwardly voiced over. The main conflict seemed to revolve around the terminal illness that a patient at Doctor Susan’s hospital had contracted, who was played by what was unmistakably Sunstreaker’s pet insecticon (which, at least, explained why the Autobot was in attendance). At this point, Rodimus was beginning to wonder just what the production budget of this movie was.
At last, in the climactic scene of the movie, Doctor Susan found a miraculous cure for the patient’s disease, sagely intoning afterwards, “I think, someday, we’ll be happy, and everything will be all right, because it’s statistically improbable for that to not happen at some point.” The profoundness of the scene was somewhat disrupted by the barking of a dog, which had been inexplicably in the background of nearly the entire movie.
In the end, Doctor Susan got married to Josh Boyfriend, who changed his last name to Josh Husband for the occasion, and the screen faded to black.
As the credits rolled, Starscream tugged on Rodimus’s hand to get his attention, looking at him expectantly. “Well? What did you think?”
“Well, uh…” Rodimus struggled for a moment with how to answer. “I’ve certainly never seen another movie like it! Using human names for Cybertronians was an interesting touch.”
“Yes, well, that’s Thundercracker for you. Very avant-garde,” Starscream said smoothly. As he spoke, the lights in the theater came back on, bringing the volume of the conversations in the theater up with them. “And next comes the really fun part- I’ve arranged for an after-party, for a little extra hype for the movie.”
Sure enough, as they walked back out of the theater, signs reading “DOCTOR SUSAN PREMIERE PARTY” directed them to a decent-sized conference room, also part of the movie theater. A decent number of people were already milling around, and Rodimus spotted Blurr serving up drinks behind a small bar. As his back was turned to the door, Starscream abruptly let go of his hand and started clapping, a few others in the room following suit. Confused, Rodimus turned around, and quickly deduced the reason why.
Thundercracker stood in the doorway, an Earth dog in a spacesuit in one hand and a human in a spacesuit perched on his shoulder, looking half happy, half embarrassed. Rodimus belatedly joined in the clapping. “What’s with the human?” he muttered to Starscream, confused.
“Oh, I think that’s the fleshie he befriended when he was on Earth. I hope it doesn’t wander around too much, or we’re going to really have to watch our...” Starscream remarked, but trailed off uncertainly as Thundercracker headed right in their direction. He straightened up, smiling at the other seeker, but Rodimus felt his hand tighten nervously around his.
“Hey Starscream,” said Thundercracker, sounding a little uncertain himself. “Long time no see. I mean obviously we messaged about the party and stuff, but uh… yeah. Haven’t seen you in a while. Cybertron either, for that matter.”
“Well, I’d say it looks a fair bit better than it did the last time you saw it,” Starscream said wryly, but then his tone turned serious. “And I’d… like to hope I’m better than I was the last time you saw me, too. It’s nice to see you again, Thundercracker.”
Thundercracker seemed at a loss for words for a moment, before the human on his shoulder elbowed him in the head. “Hey TC, are you gonna introduce me, or what?”
“All right, jeez!” the blue jet exclaimed, the tense mood instantly broken. “Marissa, this is Starscream, leader of Cybertron and an old comrade of mine from the war. And this is… wait, Hot Rod? Are you two…?”
“It’s Rodimus now, actually,” Rodimus corrected him. “And, uh, yeah. I’m surprised you haven’t heard by now.”
“Uh, right, sorry, I’ve been a little out of the loop,” Thundercracker said sheepishly. “Starscream, Rodimus, this is Marissa Faireborn, an officer in the Earth Defense Command. And this,” he held up the dog carefully cradled in his hand, “is Buster, my very best friend.” Buster perked up and barked at the sound of her name, and Thundercracker smiled at her adoringly.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you both,” Starscream said cordially. “I, as the leader of this planet, have been working to improve relations with our allied worlds, which, thanks to Optimus Prime, now apparently includes Earth. So, allow me to welcome you to Cybertron.”
“Huh,” Marissa remarked to Thundercracker, although loudly enough for the other two to hear, “He’s really not as bad as the Autobots keep acting like he is.”
Starscream didn’t seem to know how to respond to that. Fortunately, he was rescued from having to as Knock Out approached, his conjunx endura close behind. “Hey there! Thundercracker, is it? I loved the movie. I mean, Velocitron has movies, sure, but…”
“...They’re all about racing,” Breakdown finished his sentence. “Seriously, all of them.”
“So this was, quite literally, a nice change of pace,” Knock Out concluded, chuckling at his own pun.
“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed it!” Thundercracker said brightly. “Making a movie has been my dream for a long time. It’s all turned out so much better than I ever hoped.”
Knock Out opened his mouth to speak again, but the group’s conversation was once more interrupted by yet another arrival to the party.
“I’m here, sorry I’m late!” Hollered the star of the movie himself- Skywarp- as he sauntered into the room.
Thundercracker smiled bemusedly, turning to wave with the arm that wasn’t supporting a human and a dog. “Over here, ‘Warp!”
“Hey, Thundercracker!” Skywarp exclaimed, hurrying over. “Sorry I missed the movie. I’m super bad at estimating travel times now that I’m trying not to warp as much,” he said sheepishly, before his eyes widened a bit as he took in who Thundercracker was talking to. “Oh, hey Star! Long time no see!”
Rodimus snorted at Starscream’s brief grimace at the nickname. “Hello, Skywarp,” the seeker returned pleasantly, regaining his composure. “You did a very nice job in the movie- who knew you had a hidden talent for acting?”
Skywarp grinned. “I dunno, I think the real ‘hidden talent’ award goes to TC here. I guess not being at war’s letting us learn all kinds of new stuff about ourselves.”
As the trio continued to converse, Rodimus started to feel increasingly like he was intruding on something. These three had a history older than the war itself- he was just Starscream’s new datemate. He was considering following Knock Out and Breakdown’s example and wandering off to the bar when he felt Starscream tug on his hand.
“Yes, well,” Starscream was saying to the other two, “How the two of us ended up getting together is a very long and dramatic story.”
Rodimus nodded, pretending he’d been listening the whole time. “Oh yeah, totally.”
“Well, I think that’ll have to be a story for another time,” said Thundercracker, gesturing to his two organic passengers. “The oxygen in these guys’ suits will only last another hour or so, and I don’t want to take any chances.”
“See, this is why you don’t invite fleshies to parties, TC,” Skywarp said accusingly, earning himself a glare from Marissa and a disgruntled bark from Buster.
“It’s not like I’m never coming back ever,” Thundercracker sniped back, hovering a protective hand over the dog. “I’ve been meaning to start visiting Cybertron more often lately, anyway,” he added, a little more quietly.
“Well, shoot me a message next time you make the trip- I can give you a tour,” Starscream offered.
Thundercracker grinned. “I’ll see if I can make the time. I do have my new career as a movie director to keep up with, after all.” Starscream just rolled his eyes, waving as the other seeker left the room.
The party started to wind down once Thundercracker left- Knock Out and Breakdown called it a night shortly after he did, and soon Skywarp left too, promising to come back to visit soon, and to drag Thundercracker along with him if he had to.
As they left the party as well, the streets of Iacon shining with the night life around them, Rodimus glanced over at Starscream, whose hand he was still holding, and noted that he was smiling a little. “So, that went well, huh?”
Starscream nodded. “It really did. I never really expected us three to have a chance to make amends after… everything that happened.” His expression cracked into a grin, then. “But I guess as Doctor Susan said, it’s statistically improbable for everything to not be all right at some point.”