The sound of large metallic feet clanged against the floor of the once great Decepticon starship called the Harbringer. The ship was dark save for the few flickering lights that still had the Energon to function. Each footstep left a small puddle from the robot’s long sojourn under the sea from the Arctic location of his victory against both Optimus Prime and Darkwing. He was ridiculously low on Energon himself since he had to walk the entire way due to the fact he still did not possess a T-cog, a situation that he would rectify soon enough. He walked into the abandoned laboratory and switched on a few more lights. He activated a switch and the room was surrounded by a shield before he pushed a few buttons on the suit he wore and disengaged the Apex armor that had protected him from his enemies and the pressures of the ocean floor. He set the armor into a locker before he adjusted the field to only protect the relic so that its energy signature would be masked from both Autobot and Decepticon sensors. He then went to retrieve some Energon to refuel from his dwindling supply. He knew that he would have to try to find more soon, but he figured that he should repair himself first. He put off that task due to his curiosity about the relics that might be here on Earth. As one of the lead Decepticon scientists he had once been part of the development process of many weapons. There was one in particular that he thought might have the potential to wreak havoc against all his enemies. Luckily for him there was a particular energy signature that this weapon possessed which might allow him to isolate its position without having to take any risk. He had to make sure that his scans were low powered and on rotating frequencies in order to ensure Soundwave did not pick up on them. It took longer than he wanted, but the computer system finally isolated the location. “I expected better from the Autobots. They should have destroyed you when they had the chance,” Starsceam cackled with a wicked grin. He then checked the coordinates of the other teams hunting for relics and was happy to learn they were not anywhere near the one he picked out. He hoped they would stay busy enough to stay out of his way. He headed back into the laboratory for what he knew would be a most painful procedure.

It was excellent to be able to once again soar in the rightful place amongst the clouds. Starscream continued to monitor the locations of the other Transformer teams while he banked toward his destination. No other signs of interference were on his scanners, but he still had the Apex armor with him just in case. He figured he would need it also to retrieve the item he was searching for and perhaps also for retrieving some Dark Energon to use in a little experiment he wanted to perform. He knew that he would still be hard pressed to beat Megatron, but what if the Decepticon leader was no longer the only one that could control other Transformers through Dark Energon? Then perhaps he would have a chance to take his rightful place as the Decepticon high commander once and for all. Starscream began his decent toward an active volcano on one of the islands that made up Hawaii. It was about two in the morning local time and the natives were fairly unaware to the fact that he approached. According to his sensor readings the object he was looking for was within the layers of magma that formed the volcano wall. He would have to dive into the magma or spend many hours digging through the base of the volcano stone to get to it. He transformed from jet mode and landed at the edge of the volcano where he felt the intense heat from the magma nearly scorch his armor plating. “Here goes everything,” Starscream commented to himself before he withdrew the Apex armor and bonded with it. The armor wrapped around him and quickly isolated the heat from his body. Starscream carefully reached out one of the armor hands and dipped a couple of the fingers into the magma to test whether or not it would survive the temperatures. The armor’s readouts quickly indicated that its shielding would hold up to thirty minutes before it would begin to fail. “More than enough time,” Starscream laughed before he dived into the volcano.

“Hey Prime, I just got a call stating an unauthorized jet landed in Hawaii very near one of the most active volcanoes. We also have a report of someone seeing a giant man jump into it. Might be one of our enemies,” an elderly and slightly paunched African-American man in a grey suit stated.

“It could be Starscream in the Apex armor Agent Fowler. No other Decepticon would attempt to risk the temperatures there. I am uncertain we can do anything at the moment to stop him from achieving his goal. We are already stretched thin trying to retrieve the other relics and I am trying to decode the Iaccon database so we can attempt to get ahead of the Decepticons,” Optimus Prime commented.

“Then I will send some of my men to at least play interference. We can’t let Starscream get what he wants without a fight,” Agent Fowler stated. “I know you don’t want possible human casualties Prime, but we both know that Starscream’s more unstable than Megatron. There is no telling what he will do if he achieves his goals,” Agent Fowler added.

“Perhaps you should at least follow Starscream. It may be that he has allied again with M.E.C.H. I hope that is not the case as we do not need more human interference in the hunt for the relics. Their resources could prove problematic should they help Starscream attempt to retrieve relics for their own nefarious purposes,” Optimus Prime instructed. “I got you Prime,” Agent Fowler nodded his agreement. He then radioed the orders to his people to follow Starscream when the Decepticon emerges from the magma and to relay all video feeds back to Autobot base.

It was slow moving through the magma and then an even harder task to smash through the stone layers with the armor’s fists. The armor was heating up rather quickly since he was totally emerged in the molten rock. By the time he reached his goal he had less than five minutes left to escape the lava, fortunately that was plenty of time to get out. When he emerged with his prize the armor was glowing from the heat it had absorbed. In his left hand he carried a chunk of stone that surrounded the item he once helped to create. He used the right fist of the armor to smash the stone apart and wipe away the fragments from the containment unit. Starscream disengaged the Apex armor as soon as it cooled enough to not be dangerous to touch and put it back inside his storage compartment. He then held up the relic and looked inside one of the monitoring points. Light flashed across his optics when the creature stored inside recognized him. “Kremzeek?” the creature weakly stated.

“Yes, my pet. You will be recharged and released very soon, but first I need to make a few adjustments. Hopefully they won’t hurt a bit,” Starscream commented with a grin. He scanned the area for human interference before he transformed and flew off with his prize.

An SR-71 Blackbird that supposedly was decommissioned flew just out of the reach of the Decepticon’s sensors and relayed the video feed back to Autobot base. “The bogey’s flying the coop, do you want us to engage?” the pilot asked. He was already priming the missile batteries in the hopes that he would get to see more action than watching the Decepticon leave.

“Negative, just follow him and keep up the surveillance as best you can soldier,” Agent Fowler replied.

Back at Autobot base Ratchet watched the video alongside Optimus Prime. “Of all the diode-blowing dim-wittery! I know I ordered that thing to be eradicated entirely. Who decided to keep it around?” Ratchet said angrily. He was glaring at Optimus Prime.

“Sentinel Prime and the Autobot Elders though that it might be able to be repurposed as a means to create new Autobot sparks. With the loss of the Allspark they were desperate to find ways to create new life. Kremzeek represented a new life form even if it was highly dangerous to our own. It was only trying to survive with the programming available to it at the time,” Optimus Prime replied.

“Anyone care to explain exactly what a Kremzeek is?” Agent Fowler asked.

“Think of it as the nastiest computer virus ever created except that it is pure energy. It can jump from robot to robot, multiplying and controlling whatever electronic device it can infect. It caused a great deal of trouble back on Cybertron before I was able to help capture it. Starscream was one of the designers of that terrible weapon and he’ll most likely use it against us all,” Ratchet said sadly.

“What if that thing infects the Internet? It could spread across the globe in seconds,” Raff asked.

“Could it do that?” Mika asked.

“Every electronic device and system on the planet could become compromised. We would have a global disaster on our hands,” Jack commented when he figured out the ramifications.

“How did you capture it before?” Agent Fowler asked with a frown on his face.

“Luckily for you humans it will not harm your organic bodies. The box you saw it stored in has a simulated organic insulator surrounding the circuit trap. The Kremzeeks are attracted to large energy sources in order to draw from them and multiply per their programming. We had to use a very large amount of Energon to draw them together before we were able to dissipate their energy, but evidently someone kept me in the dark about one surviving intact,” Ratchet groaned.

“It would be better if we can assure that Starscream does not get the chance to release this one,” Optimus Prime stated. “Bumblebee and Arcee will take the ground bridge to the coordinates your surveillance officer provides when Starscream stops. We need to get Kremzeek away from Starscream and, if at all possible, retrieve the Apex armor as well. Whatever he has planned we cannot allow Kremzeek to return to the hands of the Decepticons,” Optimus Prime ordered.

Starscream purposely made his flight pattern a bit erratic after he left Hawaii in order to ensure that he was not being followed. His sensors seemed to have an occasional read of a human plane following just outside their range. It was too convenient and Starscream figured that it had to be one of Optimus Prime’s human allies. Perhaps Agent Fowler himself was tailing him. Of course, this would not do. For his next step in the plan needed to be completely private in order for him to get away with the supply he needed. Starscream slowed some in order to make sure that the tail was entirely within sensor range before he performed an aerial maneuver no non-sentient airplane could copy. It was a matter of microseconds before he was able to lock his missiles and blow the human fighter out of the sky. He then kicked in his thrusters to maximum and sped toward his destination through the cloud cover.

Twenty five minutes later Starscream transformed and landed beside an old dry well. “Ever since Unicron’s awakening there have been many more places to find Dark Energon,” Starscream commented to himself. He hopped into the well and fell down to the floor. “It is too tight in here for the Apex armor so I am going to have to do this the old-fashioned way. He aimed his right arm at the bottom of the well and fired. The explosion caused a great deal of dust to be kicked up and several of the stones along the wall came loose to nearly pound new dents in Starscream’s chassis. Starscream coughed at the dust until it settled to reveal his prize. A cluster of Dark Energon crystals were exposed ready for harvesting. “I have to work fast, Megatron will assuredly detect the Dark Energon and send Vehicons to retrieve it,” Starscream commented. He quickly began to cut apart the cluster and store it away for transport.

Less than five minutes passed before a ground bridge portal opened up near his coordinates. Starscream had hoped perhaps one of the other Decepticons that held rank might also come through, but it was only Vehicons. He wanted to get even with Darkwing for trying to assume his former command. He watched as the Vehicons jumped into the well and then he blew it up atop of them. It was enough to let him escape from the vicinity with his prize.

Megatron watched the scene play out at the well from the command deck of the Nemisis, “Starscream, you traitorous mechanoid. What are you up to now? I don’t have the time for this. Soundwave I want you to find out what he is up to as soon as you finish decoding the Iaccon database. We still have relics to retrieve.” Megatron knew that Starscream was now in the possession of Dark Energon, but he was completely confident that he was the only one that would ever figure out how to use it to create and control Transformer zombies. Starscream’s failure to control Skyquake was proof enough of that.

“Prime, I have a report of a Decepticon involved explosion at an old well in the Arizona desert. We have mop up teams heading there now, but they are also picking up trace amounts of Dark Energon. One report also states Starscream may have been in the area just prior to the explosion,” Agent Fowler reported.

“Why does Starscream want Dark Energon? He hasn’t been able to use it so far,” Jack asked.

All eyes and optics turned toward Ratchet. The Autobot medic sighed and turned toward the computer. “If I know Starscream he is probably going to try to feed the Kremzeek Dark Energon in some kind of experiment to see if he can use them to control other Transformers similar to how Megatron can control the zombie robots. I will run some simulations based on my old Kremzeek data, but it does not look good for any of us,” Ratchet explained. He began to type away at the input console.

“Can I help?” Raff asked eagerly.

“Yes, I want you to look through my data on the Kremzeek programming and see if you can understand enough of it to perhaps create a virus to change the critter’s purpose. It’s a long shot, but if we could do that we might be able to slip a spanner into Starscream’s plans,” Ratchet replied.

“Is there anything Miko and I can do?” Jack asked. Bumblebee and Arcee were also looking to help out.

Ratchet stopped for a moment to think. “Yes, perhaps you can be useful. I will need a few items to attempt to build another circuit trap like the one Starscream has. Of course, this time we do not need to use simulated organic matter. I will send a list of items to Miko’s cell phone,” Ratchet replied.

“You mean you’re sending us shopping? Aw, come on!” Miko complained.

“It is an important task Miko and you don’t think we can just waltz into your local Wal Mart and pick this stuff up ourselves, do you?” Arcee stated.

“Lameo,” Miko continued, “I know why not ask Jack’s mom to pick up the stuff and drop it off? I know Mr. Fowler would like to see her again.”

Mr. Fowler had a surprised and slightly blushed look on his face. “Knock it off Miko, we’re going,” Jack stated firmly. “Come on Arcee, let’s get this done,” Jack ordered. Arcee saluted at him before she transformed into her bike mode and let him board. Bumblebee transformed as well and opened a door for Miko to get in.

“OK, but if there are any feminine hygiene products on that list I am so going to sue for sexual harassment,” Miko stated before she got in and buckled up. Bumblebee made several beeping noises.

“Um, I’ll explain sex to you later Bee,” Raff said with a bit of a blush on his face.

“Perhaps I should explain the birds and the bees to Bumblebee and all the Autobots later,” Agent Fowler stepped in. Raff nodded his agreement before they watched the two Autobots drive out of the base toward the town of Jasper.

“From what I have read, birds and bees have nothing to do with human reproduction,” Ratchet said in a puzzled tone.

“Later, old friend,” Optimus Prime commented to try to get them to return to the subject of the Dark Energon infused Kremzeek.

“Kremzeek!” The small electrical ball bellowed as it was being contained within another small shield generator. It was very angry because Starscream had siphoned away more of its power at first. This was to make it even hungrier to absorb whatever energy source he provided. The level was almost where Starscream wanted it and he quickly began to feed in small shards of Dark Energon. At first Kremzeek did not want anything to do with these crystals, but soon its hunger could not resist the offering. Starscream had already manipulated the code slightly to change it in the hopes to better control the Kremzeek. After a few crystal shards the Kremzeek’s energy pattern took on the coloration of the Dark Energon. His outline turned a slight pink with a dark purple glow in its eyes and black energy replacing the normally yellow/white sparking energy. The creature tried to attack him through the shield.

“None of that now, Dark Zeek. You will obey me as your master or I will destroy you. Soon I will release you against all my enemies and you can feed to your spark’s desire. But for now, you must grow. Eat more and do as I say. I will leave this planet to you once I am done with my revenge against the Transformers,” Starscream snickered before he fed more of the crystals into the shield.

It took almost a day and a trip out to fetch more Dark Energon before Starscream was able to get his pet big enough for his purpose. The traitorous Decepticon Lieutenant then had an idea about who should be the first to set the Dark Zeek on to test out his ability to control it. He had to fetch much more Energon before he was able to begin his next step. It was a tricky proposition because he needed to open two space bridge portals close enough to each other where he once went into a dimension slightly out of alignment with their current one. Starscream split off a piece of the Dark Zeek and placed the new one into a containment unit. He then flew out to the proper coordinates and remotely opened the twin space bridges. He dropped the box into the flux between the bridges and it was transported to what he hoped was where the zombie Skyquake still roamed. He flew to a bluff where he could watch the portals and waited. Starscream nervously paced and kept his sensors on alert for the first sign of either Autobot or Decepticon presence. He knew they might be busy looking for the other relics, but he did not want to take any chances with being found out here. Starscream’s hopes for this plan were beginning to fade along with the Energon that was powering the two space bridge portals before the form of Skyquake lumbered ungracefully out of one of them. Starscream smiled, “As the humans say: the third time looks to be my charm.” He then shut off the portals and flew down to greet his pet.

Skyquake stood there a bit jittery, as if the robot wanted to be in more than one place at that time. “Kremzeek?” the robot’s voice bellowed. The optics nearly reminded Starscream of the look an expectant puppy might give to its owner.

It then dawned on him that the Dark Zeek was just like that in many ways and expected some kind of reward. “Good boy, now follow me back home and I will give you a treat. Transform and follow daddy,” Starscream instructed. He resisted the urge to add a pet to the large robot’s head. It could possibly cause the Dark Zeek to attempt to hug him or some other such nonsense that would cause him harm. Starscream transformed into his jet mode and flew off toward his temporary base and the Kremzeek soon followed. “Won’t Megatron be so surprised to see you? Ha ha ha,” Starscream exclaimed in delight.

The sound of his large feet clanging across the deck echoed throughout the metal hallway as he stormed into the command deck. His brow was in a cross position while he bellowed, “What is it now Soundwave? I was in the middle of my Dark Energon infusion for the day.” Megatron did not like to be interrupted in the middle of that process since it meant a longer painful time to repeat it. Soudwave only pointed to the view screen with a nod. “You bothered me for Starscream?” Megatron shook his head.

“It is good to see you in such pleasant health my liege,” Starscream stated with the utmost faked sincerity. “I have a proposition for you. I have recovered one of the relics that I am certain you wish to acquire,” Starscream began before he was interrupted with Megatron’s demand that he hand over the Apex armor. Starscream replied with a twisted grin. “Ah, yes. That item is not the one I spoke of and I believe that if you let me continue to use it we can further the Decepticon cause to collect the other relics before the Autobots do. I wish to trade this,” Starscream held up the Kremzeek containment unit, “to return to my place in the Decepticon army.”

Megatron recognized the item as did most of his closest allies that viewed the transmission. He paced the room a little while he thought, “This one item is not enough to earn your place back. Your pet was too unpredictable and you were unable to control it the way we wanted. I am not certain I even want it except to keep it out of Optimus’ hands,” Megatron began to negotiate. The other Decepticons in the room were looking at him as if he had just lost his gaskets.

Starscream visibly twitched at the idea of giving it to the Autobots. He knew Megatron was bluffing with that idea, but he also did not want to seem too anxious. “I have made a few improvements to my pet’s coding so that we can control them more easily. But, if you are not interested in acquiring it, perhaps the human MECH group will be,” Starscream commented with a grin before he made to disconnect the transmission.

“Fine, I will take the item, but you only return as a foot soldier on probation. Transmit the coordinates to pick you up,” Megatron ordered. Starscream smirked again and sent the coordinates. Then Megatron had Soundwave cut the transmission on their end. Breakdown commented that it was certain to be a trap. “Yes, I am very sure Starscream will have something up his sleeve. That is why we are not going to let him get away this time. I want both the Apex armor and the Kremzeek container he carries, absent their current master,” Megatron ordered.

Raff sat near some of the equipment Ratchet setup to produce the bio-insulation required to create a new circuit trap for the Kremzeek. Blue-green ooze gurgled its way through a set of tubes into the side lining of the circuit trap. “When you’re done with the trap are you going to make more of this stuff to insulate the bots? It kind of stinks,” Raff asked. Ratchet only glared at the human while he made some final adjustments to the mixture. “I know, not now,” Raff commented with rolled eyes. He then hopped off his viewing seat and moved toward his computer.

Arcee ran into the room, “Optimus is picking up Decepticon movement near the Arctic. He thinks that Starscream must be making his move now. He wants us to get a team together and scout the situation.”

“Now? I am nowhere near finished with the circuit trap. We are not ready to face the Kremzeek without it. I should stay here and bring it when I am done,” Ratchet complained. Arcee only said that the boss bot wanted him along for the mission and that he’d have to finish when they returned. “Raff, can you make sure that the ratio of mixture remains the same and then close off this feed when the lining is full? You can then close the seal around the edge and move the circuit trap to the space bridge, just in case,” Ratchet asked. The human nodded that he would try. “Good, thank you,” Ratchet stated in a huff before he transformed and followed Arcee back into the command center.

The Arctic shelf is one of the most inhospitable places on the mud-ball of a planet called Earth. Starscream knew that if he had not been wearing the Apex armor that his servos would have iced up long before he could have planted his little surprise for his former colleagues. He stood there in the morning sun watching as the Nemisis flew over the horizon and came to hover just above the designated meeting area. He fought the urge to smirk when he saw several Decpticons drop from the ship to the frozen ice. Megatron led the group of about a dozen of his top warriors, Insecticons and a few support Vehicons. Starscream was a bit disappointed to notice that Soundwave was not among those that came to meet him. Starscream held in his hands one of the circuit traps he designed to hold the Kremzeeks. This one was personally for Megatron.

“Ah, I see that you still wear the Apex armor. Afraid I might go back on my promise and slag you?,” Megatron asked with a grin on his face. “You know me so well, but first let’s see the Kremzeek,” Megatron requested with an outstretched hand. The other Decepticons were circling around Starscream’s position. Starscream only nodded and handed over the circuit trap to Megatron. Megatron only placed the device at his side before he looked directly at Starscream. “I know you’ve planned some kind of trap for me. If you relinquish the Apex armor now and stop this foolishness I may let you continue to function. If not, they have orders to eliminate you by any means necessary,” Megatron threatened.

Now Starscream let the smirk he had been hiding come across his face. “Ah, well I am found out. I guess I should just lie down and let you take what you want. But, then again you have always underestimated my genius. Dark Kremzeeks attack!” With that order all of the circuit traps that were buried around Starscream blasted out of the surrounding snow and opened. The one Starscream handed over to Megatron also opened and the Dark Kremzeek jolted out of it to strike Megatron dead center in the chest.

The Dark Kremzeek that attacked Megatron bounced off him and struck the snow. He tried multiple times to enter Megatron without any result. Megatron bellowed with a laugh, “Fool! I am infused with Dark Energon. You cannot attempt to take control of me, but perhaps I can try to control you,” Megatron began to attempt to use his connection with the Dark Energon flowing through his system. The Dark Kremzeek looked toward Starscream, back toward Megatron and then back toward Starscream. It seemed not to know what it should be doing at that moment.

The other Decepticons in the landing party were not so fortunate. They quickly found most of the group had been infected by the Kremzeeks. “I still have a few more surprises here in store for you Megatron,” Starscream commented before he pressed a button on the Apex armor. Out of the depth of the snow emerged Skyquake just behind Megatron. Megatron did not move quickly enough for the other Decepticon to wrap his arms around him. “You, go get yourself a body over there,” Starscream ordered the Kremzeek he had set on Megatron. “The rest of you, I want all firepower focused on Megatron now!” Starscream ordered. He grinned as he watched his former commander struggling against his own troops.

The Autobots had arrived about mid-transaction when Starscream was about to give the circuit trap to Megatron. They watched the scene unfold from a safe distance. “This is bad, if Starscream decides that he wants to use these Dark Kremzeeks against the world rather than just the Decepticons, we’ve had it,” Ratchet stated. “If we could just capture one of them perhaps I could figure out how to reverse the Dark Energon’s effects,” he added. Bulkhead pointed out that he had not finished working on their circuit trap and thus, how were they going to capture one. “Look, Megatron just discarded the circuit trap he was holding. He probably figures it is useless to him. But, we could use it to trap that loose one,” Ratchet replied.

Optimus Prime looked sternly at the other Autobots after he nodded slowly. “Arcee and Bumblebee will be on point on this mission. You will need to work together to capture the Dark Kremzeek. The rest of us will play interference and attack the Decepticons that are attacking Megatron. Yes, I realize we will be coming to the aid of our greatest enemy, but we’ll need to distract them while you two capture the loose one. Everyone be cautious since we are not protected against their attempting to infect us too. Autobots roll out.”

“Actually, Prime. I got an idea of how we get into the middle of them without being shot at too much,” Bulkhead commented. Everyone looked at Bulkhead like this was a first. “Big snowball,” he stated with a grin. The others still looked as if he had blown a circuit.

Starscream watched the scene unfold with glee. Megatron was hard pressed to break out of Skyquake’s embrace while the other possessed Decepticons poured on their firepower. Occasionally Starscream would fire off his own shot, but he watched the Nemisis with a cautious optic. With Soundwave being the possible Decepticon left at the helm it was not sure that the communications expert would not just open fire upon them all. Starscream was sure the Apex armor would protect him, but it might not be good to have his new recruits destroyed too soon. His attention had been so focused on his revenge against Megatron that he did not hear the crunch of the snow from behind him until nearly too late. He turned to see a gigantic snow ball rolling toward him before he spotted Optimus Prime and Ratchet in their vehicle forms driving down the trail the ball made. “Autobots?” he commented in disbelief just before he jumped to dodge the snowball. He was too slow to give his Kremzeek soldiers orders before the ball careened directly through the battle and broke apart to reveal Bulkhead.

The large Autobot opened up his chassis and allowed Bumblebee and Arcee to dive out of him. Bulkhead then transformed into his robot mode and commented, “Whoa, my head’s still spinning.” Bumblebee played interference with the Kremzeek possessed Decepticons while Arcee headed directly for the discarded circuit trap. Optimus Prime transformed and ordered Bulkhead to take care of Skyquake cautiously, “You got it boss bot.” Optimus then grabbed Starscream to try to keep him from coming to the aid of the Kremzeeks. Bulkhead changed his hands into the wrecking balls and began to swing them to knock Skyquake’s grip on Megatron free. The Decepticon leader was surprised that the Autobots would come to his aid even though earlier they had denied they would get involved. Ratchet moved to help Arcee and tried to keep an optic on the one loose Dark Kremzeek.

With the arrival of the Autobots the Decpticon warship Nemisis began to take random shots into the battle. “Soundwave cease fire! I believe the Autobots are trying to help me,” Megatron ordered. Megatron was now free enough that he could bring his fists into the fight against Skyquake. Soon his prowess as a gladiator from his days before he formed the Decepticons proved to be Skyquake’s undoing. Both Megatron and Bulkhead smashed the large possessed Decepticon deep into the ice layer. They then turned cautiously toward each other. “Another time Autobot,” Megatron stated angrily as he wiped some Energon that leaked from his wounds off his face and transformed into his jet mode. Megatron flew up to the Nemisis to retreat for repairs.

Arcee recovered the circuit trap and gave it to Ratchet. They both ran after the loose Darkzeek. Bumblebee played interference and tried to keep the other possessed Decepticons away from their target. Optimus Prime was having difficulty trying to keep Starscream occupied. Starscream ordered the Dark Kremzeeks to attack Optimus and free him. Bulkhead quickly moved to intercept the possessed Decepticons that approached Prime’s location. “I would request haste old friend,” Optimus Prime ordered.

“Haste is perhaps the worst thing to do right now. That thing could possess any of us too. We have to be cautious and trick it into the trap,” Ratchet commented. Arcee asked how they were going to do that. Ratchet smiled, “By leaving bread crumbs, of course.” He set the trap down and began to toss out Energon chips in a trail toward the Dark Kremzeek. Arcee understood and she transformed to drive closer to the Dark Kremzeek before she also began to drop Energon chips. Ratchet placed a larger Energon cube into the circuit trap and then waited to see if the Dark Kremzeek would take the bait. Arcee moved away from the creature toward Ratchet.

The Dark Kremzeek acted much like a puppy might if it came across suspicious treats. It carefully moved toward the first Energon chip and passed a hand over it. There was a slight reaction between the Energon chip and Dark Energon that the Kremzeek was now composed of. The energy snap caused the Dark Kremzeek to snap his hand away and it emitted a small shriek. Starscream was laughing hard at the attempt, “You can’t feed them that anymore. Only Dark Energon will sustain them now. Infect the female my pet!” With that order the Dark Kremzeek turned into a black energy bolt and headed directly for Arcee.

“Oh no you don’t, “Ratchet exclaimed before he punt kicked the circuit trap directly into the Dark Kremzeek’s path. Arcee caught the circuit trap and the Dark Kremzeek bolted inside before she quickly shut the top. The Dark Kremzeek was shrieking even louder this time as it came into contact with the Energon cube that was inside of the trap. Arcee had a couple of moments where it looked like the trap might itself escape from her grip.

“Autobots, retreat to base,” Optimus Prime ordered. He picked Starscream up and tossed him at the other possessed Decepticons before he transformed into his truck mode and drove off in the direction they had arrived. Ratchet quickly activated the space bridge and they all began to drive quickly through it. The possessed Decepticons were firing their weapons at their retreat.

Starscream got back to his feet and glared at the disappearing space bridge. “You will pay for costing me my victory here Autobots, oh how you shall pay,” Starscream pronounced while he found the sky above was totally empty of the Nemisis. “Children follow me,” Starscream commanded. He knew he needed to get them to a source of Dark Energon soon or their hunger might cause them to turn on their master.