A new chapter! Also edited by Cathleigh.

=Chapter-13=

"The Two Stars"

Megatron flew towards the given coordinates, an archipelago placed next to the African west coast. It was troublesome because the human activity was getting bigger and bigger as they approached the islands, and many of those activities happened to be military. If such an energy beam had been discharged, it was expected that the humans would also be interested. But when some military jets came closer to stop them, or just to investigate, the Decepticon leader simply greeted them with some heavy shots from his fusion cannon which happened to be really effective. After that, it was funny to see how humans suddenly decided to investigate somewhere else, as always.

However, something happened that he had not expected.

There was a shape hanging in the sky, and it obviously was neither a human creation nor one of the Autobots on Earth; it wasn't that big and it seemed to be mostly dark coated, with a shape that was clearly a Cybertronian, so it had to be another mech of unknown alignment. This was totally unexpected. As Megatron approached it, he realized that the mech was waiting for him and his troops, till finally he realized it was the same guy who had contacted him through the private link, telling him that he had to stop both Starscreams.

The Decepticon Leader grunted, feeling manipulated by this guy, so in spite of his earlier words, he decided to face him up first and stopped in midair in front of the mech, glaring at him as his troops just stopped behind him in perfect formation. It was certain that the unknown mech was of average size, with a purple coat with grey and yellow spots and meaningful red optics, which revealed him as a military frame type despite looking almost like a drone, quite weak in physical terms; the two wheels on his back meant his alternative mode was grounded, which also was kind of unusual among the military type. Certainly he wore the same masked head with two big kibbles at both sides and had a certain resemblance with the ninja-bot Nightbird that Megatron had seen on the screen; he also carried only two cannons on his lower arms as weapons.

Now he had seen him in person, he just thought that the mech certainly looked weak, but his confident pose and the urgency of his warning made him appear suspicious and oddly dangerous. Looking for an answer, Megatron glanced at Soundwave, who had just stopped in midair almost behind him, and perhaps slightly apart from his usual place; the Communicators Officer said nothing and the rest of his troops remained still in their usual places, waiting for orders as they threw suspicious glances at the drone-like Cybertronian.

"Thank you for coming, Megatron," the unknown mech greeted him unexpectedly.

The Decepticon leader just sneered before talking. "Who are you? Why have you come here?"

"It does not matter, Megatron," the masked mech answered. "Everything will be answered at the right time. Now, the only important thing is to stop both Starscreams."

"I know those two must be plotting something, but why is that a problem? Why do you say those two are with the Autobots?"

"They could side themselves with the Autobots, as seems to be the case. We must stop them."

"Nonsense! Starscream can be an incorrigible buffoon, but he's not a traitor to the Decepticon cause," Megatron barked.

At first, the unknown mech seemed oddly overwhelmed by such an affirmation, but he managed to stay calm and kept talking in an effort to explain himself.

"I believe you, but I've found out that the Autobots have discovered a new weapon that could turn the result of the war to their side, and both Starscreams are with them."

"What? Do you mean the energy beam?" Megatron exclaimed, and the unknown mech nodded. "Are the Autobots behind that?"

"It seems to be so , sir."

Megatron frowned. He didn't know this mech, and he certainly didn't have any record of his identity in his memory banks, but the masked mech seemed truly interested in helping him despite not wearing any symbol. Could this mech be the unknown guy who had talked with the foreign Starscream? Such a possibility would open a new discussion.

"Why should I believe you since you aren't a Decepticon?" he asked.

"Being a Decepticon or not being one doesn't matter. I came here to help you because I believe the Autobots cannot reach such a powerful weapon. The Decepticons will be in serious problems if such a thing happens, and besides, your second in command and his counterpart are with them right now."

The Decepticon leader remained unimpressive. Yes, this mech was right: he and the Decepticons couldn't allow such a thing to happen, and he had to stop it; but this mech seemed too interested in stopping both Starscreams, who Megatron imagined were being held as prisoners or something else, but had never sided with the Autobots. So he turned towards Soundwave once again, seeking for an answer from his mind-reading officer, however he was met again with a trembling mech who could barely manage to remain in his place.

"Soundwave?" he asked, almost as if trying to snap him back to reality.

The indigo mech appeared really awkward about the question, avoiding looking directly at the unknown mech, as he was unable to contact with him. Finally, he gave an answer, but it seemed empty of meaning.

"He's telling the truth. Both Starscreams are related with the energy beam. There is somebody else with them, too."

Megatron nodded, but he knew there was something odd here because the indigo mech had just pointed what they already knew and it didn't confirm whether this mech was the foreign Starscream's hidden contact or not. Soundwave had answered in his usual flat tone, but his answer lacked further information, and his attitude was caused by fear. Megatron could be an egomaniac, but certainly he wasn't stupid, so he turned his face towards the unknown mech and glared at him.

"It seems you're telling the truth. But who are you? Why should I follow your commands even if they're real? Even if you dare to appear in front of me to give me such commands!"

The masked mech remained silent for some nano-kliks, looking at the Decepticon leader as he evaluated what to say. Megatron just glared back, he wasn't about to concede to that mech and only wanted explanations.

"I understand. I didn't think it was necessary, but at this point I guess I have to reveal my identity here," the masked mech said. Then, he raised a servo and passed it over his chest: a glow appeared behind his fingers, which traced in their path a Decepticon symbol; when the mech removed his servo, his chest was clearly decorated with the purple symbol used by the rebellion cause of the military frame type Cybertronians.

Megatron stared at the symbol, perhaps secretly pleased by what he saw, but also distrustful since he had never seen this type of covering before. Was it a hologram? Then, he raised his optics and glared at the unknown mech.

"My name is Sideways, and I'm a secret agent in the Decepticon Army," the masked mech announced in a tone that tried to sound like a revelation.

There were some murmurs from behind the higher rank officers. Even if they were part of the Decepticon elite army, they had heard nothing about a special agent on Earth, and it was obvious their leader didn't know that either.

"'Secret agent?'And why haven't I been informed about this? Did Shockwave send you here?" Megatron asked without hiding his distrust.

"No. I came here following the foreign Starscream," the mech called Sideways answered. "I come from the same universe as him, as you can guess from my appearance."

After hearing such an announcement, Megatron barely managed to hide his surprise. Yes, it was obvious he had been suspicious of the identity of the masked mech and the urgency of his request; but none of that had made him think that this mech came from the same universe as the foreign Starscream; such a possibility hadn't come across his mental processor and the revelation was shocking. After the initial surprise, his optics narrowed and he studied the masked mech, taking note of the physical differences between the Cybertronians here and what the now white faced Starscream had said: blue optics hadn't been a must among military types; the kibbles had been very prominent, the servos used to be squared shape, and the joints used to be naked. Yes, this mech fit that description, but again, Megatron glanced at Soundwave, who still remained silent behind him.

"He tells the truth, Megatron. His name is Sideways and he comes from the same universe as the foreign Starscream," Soundwave explained in his usual cold tone, but even so, Megatron noticed the indigo mech was scared, which made him distrustful of the masked mech.

"I see," was Megatron's flat answer. "And why should I listen to you, Sideways?"

"As I said, I come from the same place, so prudence was necessary. It's my duty as secret agent because Starscream, in my universe, is a traitor to Decepticon cause. I'm here because I must stop him."

"What? A traitor?" Megatron exclaimed in genuinely surprise. In spite of himself, Megatron couldn't hide his shock; it was hard to believe because that seeker had shown nothing but loyalty and politeness towards him, being almost the opposite of his SIC, and that was something he had used to keep his counterpart in line.

The mech called Sideways noticed that, of course, and it made him gain more self-confidence in his quest to convince the Decepticon leader of his proposal to stop both seekers. Megatron always was a stubborn one mixed with suspiciousness, so trying to convince him was always a hard task, even for somebody like Sideways.

"Yes, sir. I know it's hard to believe but in my universe, Starscream allied himself with the Autobots and it has created a lot of problems for the Decepticons," the masked mech explained. "Perhaps the Starscream of this universe may be loyal to the Decepticon cause, but not the one from mine… And now, they both are together with the Autobots and a dangerous weapon is about to get discovered."

Megatron understood now. Yes, perhaps this Sideways mech was suspicious and his words had nothing to do with the explanations he got from the foreign Starscream, which according to Soundwave were the truth. But perhaps the seeker had hidden facts and, when he related the fight between Optimus and his own counterpart, what had really happened was that his counterpart was trying to kill him along with the annoying Autobots' leader. Anyway, whatever it was, Sideways had brought new matters that needed an answer… Later, he would deal with that "secret agent" and his demanding behavior.

"Enough!" Megatron barked, "No more explanations are needed. Just lead us to where they are now."

"Of course, my leader," Sideways answered, "It's this way."

Nobody could say Megatron was used to flying behind somebody else, but that day it happened.

Thundercracker had observed the whole scene with more skepticism than usual. He was already feeling quite awkward about the whole issue, but the meeting with this new mech had just made everything even messier, and he was totally sure he couldn't trust him.

Megatron hadn't noticed Thundercracker's reaction because all his troops were behind him, and in spite of what people said about his having optics in the back of his helmet in order to prevent any backstabbing, the truth was Megatron couldn't be aware of everything. One of those things was the fact Soundwave had hidden himself just behind his back as soon as the unknown masked mech had appeared, and that even in spite of his usual cold and monotone voice, the Communicators Officer was obviously trembling almost the whole time. Did that mean Soundwave was afraid of this mech? How? Why? At first, that guy wasn't a big deal: even if the masked mech had some strong weapons, any of the Decepticons there could beat the hell out of him in hand-to-hand combat; perhaps Soundwave had noticed something dangerous in him in spite his (apparently) weak looks, and he was so scared than he didn't dare to articulate any warning in front of him.

Thundercracker had also reached such a conclusion and it made him feel really nervous.

But the big surprise came when the mech revealed his name and his origin, the same "Starscream-B" as Skywarp insisted on calling him. That Sidesways mech was from the same reality, and it explained his bizarre looks for sure; but what Thundercracker found more awkward was the mech's announcement about that Starscream being a traitor to the Decepticon cause, since Thundercracker himself had felt connected to this seeker, and sometimes his questions even mirrored his own. The blue seeker trembled at the thought of him being called "traitor" because of that.

It was then that he received a transmission through the private link with Skywarp. It wasn't hard to figure out why the purple seeker wanted to talk with him now.

"Thundercracker here," the blue seeker answered.

"Hey, TC," Skywarp granted him, "Did you see that freak?"

The blue seeker sighed in his mind; he had expected his wingmate to address him for a different reason than to jank about that mech. But he couldn't say anything else. "Yes, I saw him."

"And don't you think he's a freak? I thought the 'Starscream-B' was bizarre, but this Sidesways mech is something else… Have you seen his kibbles? I honestly wonder how he can walk around."

Thundercracker sighed inside. "Yes, it's a weird mech… But it seems our kind is like that in that reality."

"Do you think so? Then, I don't want to think what kind of weirdo I am there."

"We Seekers are probably similar to 'Starscream-B'. And surely we'd look similar to him, having long cockpits, for example."

"Man, that's gross!" Skywarp complained.

"Perhaps, but I'm not worried about that right now," Thundercracker answered, finally getting the chance to vent his worries, and through the com link, he heard his wingmate sigh.

"What is it now, TC?"

"Didn't you notice Soundwave was hiding behind Megatron? Even now, while we're all flying, he keeps doing that."

Skywarp didn't say a word nor a grunt or anything else. Thundercracker glanced at him, and he knew the purple seeker was looking at his leader and the indigo mech: Soundwave truly was hiding himself behind Megatron's frame and there was more distance between them. It was a lot like the first time the foreign Starscream flew with them, but this time it was only Soundwave who put distance between himself and the weird mech.

Thundercracker couldn't help but get more and more nervous as he noticed those odd sights. He wished Skywarp would be sharper in these circumstances.

"…'Warp?" he asked tentatively.

"Yeah-yeah, you're right. Soundwave is actually shielding himself with Megatron. That's odd but I don't think it's dangerous."

"No? Why?" The navy blue seeker asked.

"Well, perhaps he's just allergic to that kind of mech, you know," Skywarp explained with a smirk.

"I am serious, 'Warp. How many times have you seen Soundwave hiding himself from a single individual behind Megatron?"

"Hm, perhaps you're right… But it doesn't matter to us," the purple seeker answered in a confident tone.

"No? How's that?"

"Because Soundwave always has been truly loyal to Megatron, and he wouldn't betray him just because he's afraid of a weirdo mech. Besides, we're the elite force, aren't we?"

At this point, Thundercracker knew to discuss his fears with Skywarp would be totally pointless; his wingmate was totally unable to understand it, and worse, his loyalty blinded him that much. Although perhaps it could be that he was just being paranoid and Skywarp was actually right… Anyway, the only thing he could do was to keep an optic on the Communicators Officer to learn what was going on.

Perhaps keeping some distance between the Sidesways mech and himself was a good idea. And perhaps, when the confrontation with his Air Commander and his "doppelganger" happened, it would be the perfect time to deal with his own fears, although such a possibility scared him even more.

Most of the Autobots weren't flyers but grounders, and only a short bunch of them could actually fly, although their skills in the air were pretty weak. Only Skyfire, who had joined them (in spirit rather than in real action) just some years ago, was a good flyer; and there was also Omega Supreme, who could fly easily in outer space… But the biggest air strike forces came from the Aerialbots, all of whom were real flyers, although they were really young.

Because of these hindrances, when the Autobots had to fight the Decepticons, they usually had problems meeting them because the place could be anywhere in that world, and many times their only option to reach them was to run at high speeds on the ground. That was why Skyfire's and Omega Supreme's help was so welcome. But neither of them was with them at that moment and the Canary Islands weren't easy to reach because they were placed in the Atlantic Ocean next to a different continent, so the best and quickest way to reach them was flying. Omega Supreme wasn't around, but the Aerialbots were, so they just had to merge together as Superion and carry the Autobots' troops over his chassis and servos as they flew all together over the Atlantic Ocean.

It was long and tedious: only miles and miles of salty water in every direction, occasionally dotted with the usually white shapes of cruise ships and gigantic merchant ships, whose travel patterns were obvious from above. However, as Superion came closer, a squadron of human war jets came to meet them, flying next to them in military formation as an escort.

"What's up with these guys, Prowl?" Jazz asked as he struggled to keep his place over Superion's nape against the strong wind.

Prowl glanced towards the jets, knowing they weren't Decepticon jets but human devices, and then he tapped the common link over his upper left arm; a tiny screen appeared and he started to talk as Jazz just watched.

"Autobots' Second in Command Prowl speaking," he began in English. "What is your purpose in coming here, human forces?"

However, the answer he got was in a certain language he couldn't understand with a strong accent, and it was obvious Prowl hadn't expected that. Jazz had to muffle his giggles when he saw how Prowl raised an eye ridge in surprise.

"It's in Arabic with a Moroccan accent, I guess," Jazz suggested. "Perhaps their airforce members cannot speak English, or they just don't understand your stoic way of talking," the Autobot with the big blue optic said in a humorous tone.

Prowl grunted, and finally he answered using Jazz's suggestion about what language they used; apparently it worked because he got an answer.

"لقد وصلنا إلى مرافقة" said a masculine voice. (1)

"لماذا؟" Prowl asked. "هناك مشاكل ؟"

"نعم، هناك أعداء بالقرب من. جزر الكناري."

The Autobot SIC grunted loudly, something which wasn't usual for him, so Jazz looked at him seriously, waiting for his explanations.

"متفق عليه. لم تتدخل." Prowl ordered with a serious tone, "نحن نحرص على المشكلة. Prowl out."

And then, the jets just turned out and flew away. The rest of Autobots forces just watched them parting from Superion massive shape.

"So what happened?" Jazz asked as he noticed Prowl had returned to his usual cold expression.

"The Decepticons. They're getting closer to the Canary Islands and they've caused problems already, so they wanted to know what we're going to do. I told them we'll deal with them."

Jazz sighed heavily. "I guess we couldn't avoid the human casualties if they went to stop the Decepticons. Fortunately those guys don't want to meddle between us."

Prowl nodded, "I guess humans are well aware now their common weapons cannot match the Decepticons."

"I guess the same… Oh, by the way!" Jazz exclaimed.

"What now?" Prowl asked.

"Did you know according to our databanks, you could have spoken to them in French, too?

Sometimes the so-called stoic Prowl had trouble trying to stop himself slapping Jazz's face… hard.

However, Jazz had his mind somewhere else, and after looking around and finding nothing except more water and clouds in the distance, he addressed Superion through their common link, since speaking aloud to the gigantic gestalt was just useless.

"Hey, Sup'! How long till we arrive and start to kick Decepticreeps's kibbles?" he asked.

"According to the navigation system, perhaps around less than an hour. Their location is imprecise, anyway.

"Oh, wonderful," Jazz exclaimed. Then, he turned towards Perceptor, who had been silent all the way over Superion's back, apparently so immersed in his thoughts. "Hey, Percy! Don't you know where exactly they are?"

The Autobot scientist seemed a little startled when the one with the big blue optic called on him so suddenly; he certainly seemed to be deeper in thought than usual.

"No, not really. They could have changed their location in the time we take to arrive here. But Teletran just managed to show us the approximate place using the energy beam's coordinates."

"To tell the truth, neither Optimus nor Wheeljack or Skyfire have told us anything about that," Prowl spoke at this point. "I find it really odd that none of them seem available now."

"Perhaps they're dealing with the Decepticreeps's latest ultimate weapon right now," Jazz suggested.

"No, I don't think so," Perceptor said. "If Prime and the others were involved in a fight, they would have told us and surely the humans would have informed us, too."

"I agree. That's the most logical response," Prowl said with a small nod.

"Then, why aren't Prime and the others answering your calls?" Jazz asked quizzically.

"Honestly, I don't know… But Teletran has confirmed that they aren't hurt or in danger. Their energy signatures are healthy and quiet," Perceptor answered.

"So what're they doing? What is so important that's making them ignore our calls?" It was obvious Jazz was nervous about whatever they were to meet.

"After the events of the past week, and the fact Skyfire and Wheeljack are both with him, I think our Prime is just dealing with our weird Decepticon friend," Perceptor explained without hiding his own amazement.

Jazz turned around, seeking Prowl's questioning face, but the Autobot with the big blue optic was just met a serious face that didn't give him any answer. The Autobot SIC didn't have an answer either, nor did he care to ask for one.

"Ok, that weirdo…" Jazz exclaimed, "but what is so important about him? And don't tell me he's the cause of the energy beam!"

"That's precisely what I'm afraid of," Perceptor answered. "We don't know what a Cybertronian like him can do."

"What he can do?" Jazz exclaimed once again. "But Superion here, the guy we're flying over now, just slammed him with only a servo."

"Yes, he did. But perhaps that seeker is able to do certain things… And perhaps Prime and the others just want to find out what that is."

"Ok, then… Why is he so silent about it? Is Prime talking with that seeker or something?" Jazz suggested. "At this point, I think I'll be able to accept any explanation, even if it is a really weird one."

The white faced seeker had been observing the interaction between his counterpart and the big and white mech, the one designated as "Skyfire". He was aware of some facts about his personality and life thanks to the recharge cycle they had both spent talking to each other in the Siberian tundra after he managed to convince the gigantic Autobot he truly did mean no harm; he was really also grateful to him because it was obvious he had passed his warning to the Prime, and thanks to that, the current meeting was happening.

For the white faced Starscream, he was just in a high debt to him, for many reasons.

However, what had caught his interest since the beginning was the subtle, yet constant, interaction between his counterpart and Skyfire. Even if the Air Commander never talked to others with any respect, even to himself (who was essentially him, the same person), the familiarity between the two was obvious. Skyfire talked to Starscream in a tone that suggested a certain "big brother" relationship, and more than once, they had both been in agreement about the same issue in their talk. Also, the Air Commander had taunted Skyfire quite often all the time they had been talking on that beach; yes, his counterpart had taunted everybody there, even the Prime himself, and the Starscream with blue optics was well aware of those kind of taunts between enemies… However, his counterpart's taunts towards Skyfire were clearly personal. And he also had called him "traitor".

His blue optics widened in amazement when he put two and two together and realized what had happened between his counterpart and the mech he was in debt with. Skyfire had revealed to him he'd once had a friend who currently was a Decepticon and he regretted that deeply, but had also pointed out how similar he was to his lost friend… And now, it was obvious his counterpart had been Skyfire's lost friend.

"You know each other, don't you?" he asked, catching their attention, and mentally slapping himself for asking such a question.

Skyfire and the Air Commander looked at the foreign seeker with shocked looks; their stares were certainly revealing and the white faced seeker could feel similar shocked looks from the Prime and Wheeljack.

"What did you just say?" the Air Commander asked coldly.

This time, the white faced seeker felt truly ashamed for pointing out such a thing. It didn't have anything to do with Unicron's coming, after all.

"I-I just had the feeling you both…"

The dark faced seeker twisted his glosa in a sneer, but his optics were filled with pain. It was obvious the white faced seeker had hit the nail with his guess; a quick glance towards Skyfire's sad looks just made it clearer. Now, a new idea popped into his mental processor: perhaps Skyfire was so willing to help him because he had the secret desire to make amends with his lost friend.

No, that didn't make sense. Skyfire just didn't know what was going to happen; the Air Commander's presence was just a coincidence and the gigantic white mech just didn't know who he was before the current meeting. The apparently former scientist was just a Cybertronian sick tired of the war.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be a meddler," the white faced seeker apologized.

The Air Commander was about to bark something at him, but he was stopped by a large white servo over the launchers on his shoulders and Skyfire shaking his skull, denying whatever the dark faced Starscream was about to do. Such a gesture couldn't be ignored due to their large size differences, and in spite of himself, Starscream had to give up; he just didn't want to start a fight over such a painful issue for him, and Skyfire probably felt the same.

Optimus had watched the scene with sad optics, but he soon gathered himself and, going back to the important issue, addressed the white faced seeker again.

"If Unicron makes an appearance here… Do you have any clue about how we could recognize him?" the Prime asked.

Secretly, the foreign seeker was grateful to the Prime for bringing up the main topic again, but he didn't have a perfect answer.

"I can only tell you what I know," he began. "As I said previously, Unicron had the shape of a gigantic metallic planet, kind of similar to Cybertron itself."

"And before that?" Wheeljack asked suddenly. "If Unicron meant to use those Minicons to keep our people destroying themselves, didn't you realize that before the Minicons told you so?"

Starscream's blue optics turned dim as he fell deeply in thought. Actually, Wheeljack had made a good observation which was quite surprising since he was nothing like his gloomy and resentful counterpart; however Starscream didn't have a good answer to Wheeljack's question, so eventually it was Swindle who clarified the enigma.

"Yes, Unicron infiltrated himself among the Primus' children as one of their kind."

"What!? How!?" the Prime exclaimed.

"Through Sidesways," the Minicon answered. "He took the body or something of a regular Cybertronian, and he played in the hierarchy of both sides, meaning that their battles were never decisive."

"Who is this Sidesways?" Skyfire asked suddenly.

The Air Commander recognized the name from a previous mention, so he couldn't stop himself from remarking something else. "Didn't you recognize somebody that wanted you dead?" His speech sounded half mocking. "Actually I'm surprised you've remained alive for so long."

"Well, that's why I'm here to help him anyway," Swindle grinned.

The white faced seeker grinned back at his little partner and then, he began to explain what he knew.

"Actually none of us knows who Sidesways is exactly… Perhaps he is Unicron's avatar under the shape of a regular Cybertronian, or perhaps he was a real Cybertronian that Unicron took under his command and re-shaped him somehow. The only thing I can assure you all is that Sidesways seems to own the same powers as Unicron himself."

"Powers?" Skyfire asked, an eye-ridge raised. "What kind of 'powers'?"

"Sidesways owns many skills beyond what we can do, even with the Minicons' help," the white faced Seeker explained patiently. "I've been witness to some of those, including teleportation."

The Air Commander sneered loudly at those words.

"Teleportation is not a power. It's just a skill, perhaps too personal, I agree. But for the record, even an incorrigible moron like Skywarp can do that."

"I agree," Skyfire added. "Having that sort of skills doesn't make you 'holy', and…"

Suddenly Wheeljack interrupted Skyfire's speech. "I'm sorry to say so, 'Fire… But you couldn't recognize a 'holy' being even if it hit your faceplates really hard," the engineer pointed out. Even if his face plates were hidden behind his mask, his grin was obvious, although he kept talking. "This Sidesways mech cannot have more than one skill at a time."

Skyfire flinched and Starscream, the dark faced one, had to muffle his laughs. Then, he met the hard glare of his counterpart, who also looked at Skyfire with the same look; it was obvious the white faced seeker didn't find it funny.

"Indeed. I'm not saying it was its only skill, but one of many," the white faced Starscream announced in a serious tone. "How many Cybertronians can open mini space-bridges by themselves? Sideways' skills were beyond what any Cybertronian can do."

Optimus was long convinced about the importance of this matter, but now Skyfire and Starscream finally seemed to take it seriously.

"Can he do that with the help of one of those Minicons?" the Air Commander asked with a frown.

"I cannot answer that," his counterpart admitted. "But I can tell he owns a Minicon who is actually his regular head."

"What? His head?" Wheeljack exclaimed before Skyfire could say the same.

The white-faced seeker nodded with a serious expression, "Yes. In fact, I recall I once saw his real face, for a nano-click. The Minicon with him isn't…"

"It isn't anything like us!" Swindle exclaimed suddenly. "In fact, I don't know if it's two fused Minicons or an independent being… I've never tried to contact them."

"I must admit… that mech sounds like a freak," the Air Commander sneered.

For once, the white faced seeker was glad his counterpart took his words seriously, even if it was because Sideways was an aberration.

The Air Commander had other different ideas in mind, though. Yes, the vivid descriptions from his counterpart about the kind of enemies he had to face back in his native universe couldn't be taken as a joke. Starscream was a hardened warrior after eons of war and he knew how to recognize a serious enemy, in spite of everything Megatron barked against his skills. He was still questioning the supposed "ultimate doom" role of that Sideways mech, Unicron or whatever… But the fact was those guys had to be serious and dangerous foes if they could manipulate those Minicon pets and their powers for their own, and also if they could open warps between different universes as it seemed to be since his counterpart had popped up here. In spite of the whole religious rant about Unicron and whatever else, the Air Commander had to admit these were serious words.

But putting these facts aside, the idea of him being "immortal" still made him feel uneasy, as well as the reason why he was like that. Yes, it was an honor: the Cybertronian that would gather together all his kind again, as some sort of "messiah", "chosen one" or whatever kind of religious ramble… But it was also terribly incongruent. First, because Starscream himself wasn't very prone to believing in Primus or any other kind of holy being beyond the Cybertronian culture; and second, because such a possibility was just useless. Even if he didn't believe in such things, others would and he could gain what he had sought for ages, perhaps in an even easier way than just overthrow Megatron and claiming he himself was the "New Leader of the Decepticons"…But all those possibilities were useless when he realized this affirmation came from a little "pet" from another universe, and the only ones who really seemed prone to believe it was Optimus Prime himself and perhaps his idiotic counterpart.

The mental picture of this sworn enemy trying to convince every Decepticon, Autobot and even Megatron himself with such a speech as "Oh! But Starscream is the chosen one to gather together our people once again; you must follow his rule," sounded like a bad joke.

A joke almost as bad as "You're immortal because to gather all the Cybertronians together is what you must do. What your life is for."

What was the human word for that? Earthlings had many cultures and beliefs, and certainly many of those claimed every being has a purpose in life, a significant one, something they cannot avoid because it's their life's purpose… Could "Darma" be the word he meant to use?

If that was so, the "Darma" that Primus had given him was an insult. He would rather be the Decepticon Leader…

Or perhaps not. Perhaps it was better to be a hero for all Cybertronians, just as his counterpart seemed to believe he could be.

Yeah, that was at the expense of his own life.

-But on the other hand, he felt like it made sense. A lot of sense.

At this point, as predicted since the Air Commander hardly had a filter between his brain and his vocalizer, he decided to address the Prime directly.

"So, Optimus…" he began, familiarity soaking his words after so many attempts to kill the Prime. "What do you truly think about me and my counterpart after such revelations?" The Air Commander could hardly hide his grin.

Such a question certainly caught everybody else off guard. Wheeljack didn't articulate a word, but his ears certainly shone for real; Skyfire's mount dropped, apparently unable to believe his lost friend could ask such a thing, perhaps because of the religious undertone of that question; the white faced Starscream was also shocked, but he quickly realized there could be a second meaning behind those words, his counterpart was skilled at that, and Swindle sighed heavily. Finally, there was Optimus himself.

"I can guess why you ask such a thing, Starscream," Optimus began after a short silence. "But if what you want to hear is that I will support you against Megatron, or help you to become 'the new leader of Cybertron', you're utterly wrong." The Prime sighed heavily before adding something else. "However, I shall support your counterpart here and you, as well, if you're able to take your given role as seriously as your counterpart does. Do you understand?"

The Air Commander gasped at such heavy words, and finally gritted his dental plates as he nodded.

"Understood," he said.

"Thank you, Optimus," his counterpart added.

Wheeljack sighed heavily. He was older than the average Autobots on Earth, and he was certainly older than the foreign Starscream… He had seen many things even before the war, and he thought Optimus was the Prime for his own reasons. But never, before the current events, had he had thought such a hideous character as Starscream could be a chosen one of Primus, and that the Prime himself would support him if it was needed.

To be fair, he hadn't thought that such behavior from the Prime would be caused by an apparently honorable Starscream from other universe.

"Yeah, right… And we will all end up calling him 'Lord Starscream'… That's nuts," he muttered.

Apparently nobody heard him, or at least nobody wanted to answer his complaint. The only reply he got was the Minicon's loud laughs, which were also answered by more muted words.

"Then, what now, Prime?" Skyfire asked after a pause.

Optimus lowered his optics and sighed heavily. The heaviness of such a question covered all them.

"Honestly… I don't know," he said finally. "I'd like to talk with Megatron, to convince him of the seriousness of Unicron's coming. I've been thinking how to make him understand since the Matrix first warned me about it, but I haven't got any idea about how to do that."

"It would be a miracle if you could convince him, Optimus," Wheeljack pointed out, "and it would also be a miracle if you got all the Decepticons to listen you, besides Megatron."

"That should be Starscream's task, I guess," Optimus answered as he looked at both Starscreams, one of them with a serious face, and the other with an eye ridge raised.

"I'm afraid I cannot guarantee I could do that, Prime," the white faced seeker explained. "When I realized how dangerous Unicron is back in my universe, I tried; I did try to convince Megatron… Even the other Optimus on my universe also tried, and the only thing I got was…" he trailed off.

"Wait… If a planet shaped ball was just above all you, why did Megatron refuse to believe any of you?" Wheeljack asked; it was much the same question that Skyfire had in mind.

"Because he was… he has always been obsessed with defeating the Autobots and Prime overall. For him, it was a secondary problem, along with Sidesways and Thrust."

"What? Thrust!?" the Air Commander exclaimed at the sudden revelation. "What's happening with Thrust?"

"He's a traitor," the white faced Starscream answered in short.

"Who? Thrust? Are you serious?" the Air Commander asked questioningly. "I know my men and I can assure you that Thrust is a loudmouthed moron, but he's definitively not a traitor."

"Eh?... Oh, no! I mean the one from my universe. He allied himself with Sidesways and Unicron, so he betrayed Megatron and all the Cybertronians… But I'm quite sure the one of this reality wouldn't do such a thing."

"That's exactly what happened," Swindle agreed with his partner. "Galvatron wanted his skid-head cut off, but when we left, he was still playing around with Sidesways, I think."

The Air Commander sneered.

Optimus, however, had other things in mind. Whether or not Thrust was a traitor wasn't his main worry right now.

"And what about the Megatron of this reality? Would he listen to you? I'm pretty sure he obviously knows your identity."

It was a sharp question. Everybody turned their attention towards Optimus, and, in a second later, towards the white faced seeker.

"He knows," the seeker answered, "but he doesn't know about the Minicons or everything else I've told you about Unicron and how I appeared in this reality, Optimus."

"That's right, if you think Soundwave hasn't blabbed to him about you and your pet," the Air Commander pointed out, but apparently his words weren't heard.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I hide myself from the masked mind reader freak?" Swindle argued, apparently still offended by that suggestion.

The Prime rubbed his masked chin with his big hand as he evaluated the situation. After such a long war, he was quite sure about how Megatron's mind worked, so he could figure out certain things, even if they involved the worrying events this Starscream had revealed to him. Perhaps if he learned how the foreign Starscream had saved his chassis from him, Optimus could figure out how to speak with Megatron.

"Do you think he would listen to you? I'm quite sure you had to convince him you were his ally against the Autobots."

The white faced Starscream nodded, "I did. It was hard to do, but I think I managed it because I was very cautious and told him exactly what he wanted to hear."

"Indeed," his counterpart added in a bitter tone, "Megatron accepted my counterpart in his army thanks to his flattering words, but nothing else. My glorious leader wouldn't listen to any serious warning coming from me!"

"Nor from me. He didn't back in my universe," the white faced seeker clarified.

There was a tense moment between everybody and in particular the two seekers. Neither seemed to be aware of the similarities between them regarding this particular issue; yes, they were different, but they seemed to deal with exactly the same problems.

"So it seems Megatron won't listen to Starscream, no matter where they come from," Skyfire announced. His tone was somehow bitter; he was the only one who dared to announce what everybody knew about the dysfunctional relationship between Starscream and Megatron.

"…And I thought Starscream would always be silver-tongued. What a deception!" Wheeljack exclaimed.

The Autobots who were there had to agree. In the past, they were able to win certain battles and booby traps so many times thanks to the differences between the Decepticon leader and his SIC; those differences that had been growing over time till they became really serious, sometimes even certain Autobots pleaded for the quarrels to happen to have easier victories. But now these differences were a problem, or at least Optimus thought so.

Skyfire also regretted that Starscream had chosen such a life purpose and had become involved in a faction war that had created too much pain to their species, destroyed their native world and buried his lost friend under the foot of a tyrannical ruler who had basically no respect for him. It could be well-deserved, but deep inside and in spite of everything, Skyfire didn't have ill feelings towards Starscream and his personal situation.

"But… why wouldn't Megatron listen to you anyway?" Wheeljack inquired as he turned his masked face towards the foreign seeker. "I mean, you did manage to convince him not to kill you, even if you only sweet-talked him."

The white faced seeker blinked in surprise. Megatron was certainly a ruthless and a powerful adversary, but it didn't occur to him that this Megatron could execute him just because he was there without asking first. On the other hand, he also had been witness to the kind of treatment his counterpart suffered at Megatron's hands, and it also explained why Megatron had allowed him to walk around the Decepticon's base.

"So?" Wheeljack inquired again, knowing this Starscream was hiding more information because he was afraid to speak.

"I-Megatron let me be part of the Decepticons here because..." the seeker glanced at his counterpart, feeling uneasy about what he was going to reveal, "because he wanted to use me against my counterpart."

"What!?" chorused the Air Commander and Skyfire with startled looks on their face plates; their reasons weren't exactly the same, though.

"Did Megatron order you to kill me!?" the dark faced Starscream barked, his voice filled with fear and indignation.

Skyfire understood his lost friend's harsh reaction; the idea of being executed by your counterpart was just sick, so he wouldn't try to stop him if he confronted his counterpart because of that. The other Starscream seemed to be a little shocked by that, though.

"No, he didn't!" the white faced seeker answered quickly, before his counterpart could get more nervous. "Not yet at least. Megatron was using me against you, but not to fight you, but to make you appear worthless and unnecessary for the Decepticon cause, just like what happened on the mission in Yakutia."

Everybody blinked at these words, but the Air Commander was the first to understand what the foreign seeker meant to say. "I see," he said as he managed to regain his composure, "That's why you were also there when…" he trailed off, but the pain covered his dark face and his azure fists were tight.

Skyfire looked at him with sad eyes. Something had definitely happened to Starscream just after the mission he had helped to sabotage. It was his duty and the big white mech didn't regret helping the Autobots, but he felt bad for Starscream's fate.

"It seems we cannot get anything from Megatron from you two," Optimus said finally in a slightly defeated tone. "Perhaps I'm the only one who can talk to Megatron and try to make him understand… But I'll need your help and perhaps the little Minicon, too."

Swindle had remained silent for the greater part of the conversation since he had made his amazing revelation, but now he refused vigorously. "No. That's Starscream's task, to gather together the Cybertronians. Yours is to fight Unicron."

"That's precisely what I mean, little Swindle. But I'll need help anyway. This is about all of Primus' Children."

The energy signature wasn't wrong. It showed that the two Starscreams were together on the southern region of one of the biggest islands of the archipelago; it also showed there were other Cybertronians with them, and one of those happened to be Optimus Prime himself. And they weren't fighting.

At first, Megatron wasn't inclined to believe this Sidesways mech, but he followed the foreign mech anyway since he claimed to know the two Starscreams could be traitors and that they could become allied with the Autobots, as stupid as that sounded. But when the Decepticons arrived to that place called "Playa de las Américas", he just couldn't believe what he saw from the sky.

They were there. The two Starscreams (looking almost identical since their armor paint was similarly matched after the changing process the foreign Starscream had talked about) remained next to each other with their pedes buried on the sandy surface of that beach; next to his SIC was that traitor friend of his, Skyfire, as if their friendship would never be broken; the catastrophic Autobot engineer, Wheeljack, was also there next to the foreign seeker; and finally there was Optimus Prime, in the middle of all them, talking mainly to the two Starscreams. There also was another little energy signature, but it was just too small to be anything serious.

The leader of the Decepticons stopped in midair in surprise, without any previous order or warning, which caused his troops to stop hastily over each other; only the masked guy called Sidesways seemed to be aware of what he was going to do. But in spite of his sudden and uncontrolled reaction, Megatron managed to control his reaction and his jaw, which had actually dropped a little.

Sidesways, however, didn't seem to be impressed, as he had expected this would happen, "Didn't I tell you, sir? The two Starscreams have allied with the Autobots."

Megatron grunted. It was hard to believe, even if the evidence had appeared in front of his optics. It could be that the foreign Starscream was truly a traitor, but not his SIC because he was truly loyal to the Decepticons' cause… The only explanation was his SIC had made a charade to gain his trust and to obtain certain benefit, perhaps to dispose of the Decepticon Leader. Prime wouldn't buy it, of course, but to defeat the Decepticons under Starscream's command was easier than to defeat them under Megatron's command.

"Yes, I see it's true," Megatron barked.

And then, he raised his cannon and aimed at them. He had to stop this right now.

N.A:

(1)The dialogue in Arabic says,

"We have come to escort you."

"Why? Are there problems?"

"Yes, the enemy is near the Canary Islands."

"Agree. Don't intervene. We will take care of the problem."