Spiritimus Prime: This is what happens when you design a machine and turn Hot Shot into a sparkling. I was thinking about turning Optimus into a baby, but I wouldn't be sure who would play as the surrogate father. XD Good Primus, I must be insane to do such a thing! Hehe, I just love the way I torture Thrust in this chapter. XD Hope you like this story that has been going on through my head!

Chapter 1:

The Transformation

"Starscream, is the experiment almost ready?" Megatron's voice bellowed throughout the entire broken down ship. The echoes of the bellow bounced off the walls and rang through the red and white seeker's audio receptors, making him wince in agony as he shook his head to clear his mind of the voice.

"Yes, Megatron," Starscream replied. "It just needs one more bolt."

"Well, get on with it!" Megatron snarled.

Starscream growled to himself and took out the screwdriver and began to screw the final bolt into the steel body of the experiment. He had no idea why Megatron would demand such a tiny gun, but his suspicions of his 'leader' wanting to weaken the Autobots' defences were starting to grow. This was nothing but a coward's work! They should be planning for their next attempt to capture another Minicon, not sit on their skid-plates and do creative artwork! This was annoying Starscream to the core of his Spark, and he had to bite his bottom lip to prevent himself from saying something rude to his 'commander' when the Decepticon Tyrant had bellowed again.

"Starscream!"

"I'm done!" Starscream called as he stood up and picked up the device. It was shaped like an ordinary blaster, but it had a dish of some sort attached to its muzzle and was pale grey in appearance. Sighing, Starscream turned and left the room, heading for the Throne Room where Megatron would be waiting for him.

"So, this is it?" Megatron asked as he looked at the experiment, turning it over and over in his purple clawed fingers and looking down at Starscream, who was kneeled down on the floor in front of the Decepticon Commander. Starscream nodded briefly as Megatron pointed the device at the red and white seeker, making him wince.

"Since you've been a good soldier, I'll test it on someone else instead of you," said Megatron as he pointed the device on Thrust, who was standing next to Megatron's throne, and pulled the trigger that sent a blue and purple pulse of electricity straight towards the tactician.

Thrust gave a cry of surprise as he was bathed in a fierce cold light and he began to shrink, getting smaller and smaller by the second. There was a big popping sound as the light died down and Starscream's optics widened in sudden horror at the sight of Thrust.

The cone-head tactician had been turned into a sparkling!

At the sight of Thrust, Megatron burst out laughing, slapping his thigh and shaking his head as he tried to regain control of himself. But the more he looked at the tiny sparkling, the harder it became for Megatron to cease his laughter.

Starscream looked up at Megatron as Wheeljack and the other Decepticons came walking into the Throne Room. Demolisher's lips seemed to quiver at the sight of Thrust and, he too, burst out laughing as well. Soon the other Decepticons followed in suit until Megatron finally controlled himself and demanded everyone to shut up.

Once the laughter had quietened down (with Demolisher still sniggering), Megatron handed the device back to Starscream while the sparkling, Thrust, was starting to tear and uttered a whimper through his trembling lips.

"As much as I'd like to see Thrust like this, I suggest that you turn him back, Starscream. We may need him for this next mission," said Megatron, nodding towards Thrust. His face seemed emotionless, but Starscream could still see that his lips were trying hard to not laugh again.

Starscream obeyed as he pulled a button that had a knob on the device's side that read sparkling' on left side, and 'adult' on the other. He pulled the knob towards 'adult' and pulled the trigger that was now red and white instead of purple and blue. The electricity was warm and welcoming as it, once again, coated Thrust and he began to grow to his ordinary size.

Once Thrust was back to normal, the cone-head mech looked at himself all over to check to see if he was still in one piece. Once that was over with, he turned and growled at Megatron as his pink optics squinted in anger. "What was that for?" he demanded.

"Cool your circuits, Thrust. I needed a guineapig, but since Starscream had proved himself useful, I thought it would be funny to try it out on you instead," Megatron explained.

"Son of a glitch," Thrust muttered to himself.

Megatron ignored him and looked at the other Decepticons as Starscream watched him closely. Finally, after several minutes of silence, Starscream sighed quietly and said, "So what exactly are you planning to do with this, sir?"

Megatron just threw back his head and laughed, causing the other Decepticons to look at each other in puzzlement. When Megatron's laughter died down, he shook his head and said in a cold, emotionless tone, "Why, make the Autobots leaderless of course."

Starscream bit his bottom lip again, obviously not liking this one bit.

Optimus Prime peeked into a bushy set of trees as his golden optics squinted a little as he searched among the leaves for any signs of a Minicon. Behind him, Hot Shot looked into a tree that stood next to him, gently pushing away the branches that may have the Minicon wedged somewhere in its trunk.

As Optimus took his head out of the bushes, Hot Shot followed in suit and looked towards his commander, shaking his head as he gave the negative of not finding anything. Optimus sighed in disappointment and he went deeper into the forest with Hot Shot right behind him.

Previously, the Autobots had detected the Minicon signal that had led them to Colorado where the Decepticons had captured their first Minicon that had been Swindle and had become Starscream's partner, resulting in nearly destroying the forest. The crater of the explosion was still there and it made every one of the Autobots nervous. They had every right to be because they had split into groups. The less optics they had of searching, the more nervous they became.

Optimus had the feeling that they were walking into a trap.

Megatron huffed in annoyance as he and the other Decepticons spread out to search for the Autobots. They had created the fake signal to lure the Autobots out into the open, but so far, they had not been found yet. The device in the Decepticon's hands shook under the pressure that he was applying to it. If they did not find Prime soon, then they might as well choose a different target. But who would they choose if they couldn't find Prime? Hot Shot would be an ideal target, along with their second youngest member, Sideswipe, as well as that annoying Vice Commander, Jetfire.

So many choices and so little time, Megatron thought bitterly.

Starscream and Wheeljack returned to Megatron and transformed to their robotic forms. Wheeljack kneeled in front of the Decepticon Commander, but Starscream remained in his upright position. "Megatron, sir," said Wheeljack, "we've found Hot Shot and Optimus Prime."

About time, Megatron snarled mentally. He stood up and a slight smirk crossed his lips as he licked them hungrily. "Excellent," he said out loud. "Where are they?"

"They're not too far away from our position," Starscream replied as he pointed towards the East where the tree lines became less dense.

The place where Starscream first acquired his Minicon partner? Megatron asked himself. Why would the Autobots go there if they knew there was no Minicon since Swindle had been found? Obviously they think that there could one that they missed.

Licking his lips once more, Megatron handed the device to Starscream. "Then you shall do the honours of turning Prime into a sparkling while Wheeljack keeps Hot Shot occupied. I will be watching the whole scene, Starscream, and if I see anymore of your treacherous mistakes, then there will be serious consequences. Is that clear?" he spat.

Starscream winced a little and nodded slightly. Without another word, he transformed to jet mode and shot off with Wheeljack following close behind him. Megatron sat down on a rock and watched the scene from the cliff's edge.

Optimus Prime and Hot Shot carefully walked out into the cratered area. Both of them were highly nervous, and the more they walked towards the crater, the more their backs tingled. Optimus glanced left and right before his optics set onto the torn up tree where Starscream had sliced it in half to capture Swindle. He frowned in anger at the thought of seeing that old tree losing its life in their war. He'd rather see it die of old age rather than see a Decepticon chop it mercilessly.

Hot Shot bit his bottom lip and his hands clenched into fists. The memories of the battle were still fresh in his mind, and he could hardly get it out of his head. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

Optimus Prime looked towards Hot Shot and gently placed a hand on the young mech's shoulder, easing the tension that had been caught up in his muscle cables. Hot Shot relaxed and looked towards Optimus, smiling a little but then looking away as he tried to hide the look of distress that was picking up in his blue optics.

"It's alright, Hot Shot. Once we get the Minicon, then we'll quickly leave. Alright?" the Autobot Commander asked.

Hot Shot nodded once, his lips quivering a little as Optimus removed his hand from Hot Shot's shoulder.

With that said Optimus Prime took a step forward and prepared himself in case a Decepticon dared to attack him from in front, but he'd stepped too soon and an explosion came directly from his left. He jumped backwards and landed a few feet away, his oxygen tanks pumping the oxygen at a quickened pace as he tried to ease his breathing.

"Optimus," Hot Shot called, "to the left!"

Optimus looked to his left and saw Starscream hovering above them with his cannons pointing forwards and Swindle sitting behind his back in race car form. The seeker seemed to have some kind of blaster in his hand, but Optimus didn't pay much heed to it. "Starscream, you're a sight for sore optics!" he spat.

Hot Shot would've leapt for Starscream's throat right then, but Wheeljack's voice caught his attention. Turning to face the ex-bot, he saw Wheeljack with his club guns pointed right at him, a gleam in his blue optics that seemed to drive the annoyance right out of Hot Shot's systems.

"Come and get some, Hot Shot," Wheeljack said with a smirk.

"Bring it on, Wheeljack!" Hot Shot snarled as he charged towards the ex-bot and lashed out with a kick to Wheeljack's left side. But Wheeljack back flipped and released a round from one of his club guns. Hot Shot ducked the blast and took out his own gun, firing off a couple of rounds, but Wheeljack was no longer there. He'd cloaked.

Optimus Prime was keeping his optics focused on Starscream. Every part of his body was tingling once again, and he knew instantly that something was about to happen. Clenching his hands into fists, Optimus Prime charged towards Starscream, his legs coiled themselves up as he leapt into the air, front flipped and his right heel connected with Starscream's left shoulder. A howl of pain escaped Starscream's lips as a huge amount of pain swam through his joint and he realised that Prime had nearly dislocated his arm from its socket.

Growling, the red seeker took out his wingbade and lashed out at Prime's torso. The blade connected with the said target and Prime cried out in pain. Optimus fell towards the Earth and landed with a dull thud on the ground. Dust kicked up from the wake of the fall and Optimus was left in a crater that matched his body structure. Sitting up, Optimus shook his head and looked up at Starscream, anger and fury pulsing through his systems at an increasing speed.

"Where are you?" Hot Shot cried as he looked around for Wheeljack, his ever increasing annoyance getting the best of him. The more he looked around, the more annoyed he became.

"Right behind you, Hot Shot!" Wheeljack replied simply as he came out of his cloak mode and lashed out with a punch that connected with Hot Shot's right cheek. Hot Shot stumbled from the attack and took a couple of steps back, holding his cheek and rubbing it painfully. Wheeljack cloaked again and reappeared from behind the young mech, hitting him in the back with the side of his left club. Hot Shot fell to the ground as he cried out in pain.

Starscream took out the device and aimed it at Optimus Prime. The Autobot Commander was still on the verge of recovering from Starscream's blade piercing his torso and all he could do was growl in anger. He tried to stand up, but he failed miserably.

Starscream kept the device pointed at Optimus for several seconds as a smirk crossed his lips. Oh this was perfect, just seeing Optimus Prime lying helplessly on the ground while he had him at his mercy. Prime probably thought he was going to kill him, but he was sadly mistaken. "Prepare for your extermination, Prime," he said, laughing a little madly as the dish on the device began to glow.

Hot Shot looked up from his injured state and saw Starscream aiming the gun at Optimus Prime, who was struggling to get up. He snuck a look behind his back and saw Wheeljack just watching the scene, not bothering to look at his hostage. Taking this to his advantage, Hot Shot lifted his left leg and swung it underneath Wheeljack's own legs and the ex-bot landed hard on his back. Hot Shot immediately got up and ran straight towards his commander as Starscream fired.

As the purple and blue electricity sped closer towards Optimus Prime, someone shouted out Optimus' name and the golden optics quickly shifted to Hot Shot as the young mech leapt in front of the light.

An icy feeling swept over Hot Shot's body and he tried to move from the waves, but his legs felt like they were completely frozen. As the light engulfed him, Starscream, Optimus Prime and Wheeljack shielded their optics from the intensity as it continued to grow and Hot Shot's shadowed form grew smaller and smaller and the light died down before there was a very bright flash of white and an explosion. The device had exploded!

When the flash had vanished, Optimus Prime shook his head as his optics came back into focus and he gasped in shock. There was a small crater in between him and Starscream, but what shocked him the most was what was inside the crater.

Curled up like a ball was Hot Shot, but instead of being like he normally was to the world, he was nothing more but a sparkling!

Spiritimus Prime: Well, my favourite way of keeping you guys in suspence is by putting up cliffhangers. Oh man, this story already is becoming interesting! XD I hope you like this!