//------------------------------// // Out Of This World // Story: Top Of The List // by dudenotactive //------------------------------// As the three ran, Arcee couldn't help but question where they were heading. All she could think of was running, Tarn lingered in her mind, a sense of dread filled her spark from the mere thought of that Decepticon. "Alright you two, you better give me more information!" Shockwave continued running as he turned his head and stared at her. "The DJD is composed of five Decepticons, these five are specialists upgraded to take down even the toughest Cybertronian there is. Tarn and his team do not listen to logic, once you are on the list, it would be very troublesome just to bargain." "And what's worse, is that they are relentless unless something higher on the list pops up!" Starscream squirmed a little on the spot. "And I hate to say it, but I do believe that our chances are better with you Arcee." "Smartest thing that has ever come out of your mouth Screamer!" Arcee for once agreed with the seeker. "So how about you convince grumpy over there?" "Hey uh... Shockwave?" "Silence you fool, our plan comes first, then I'll reconsider if it fails." Shockwave glanced over to the Autobot. "And I will look pass our differences just this once." "And I'll try not to call you names..." Arcee replied.  Before Shockwave could even retort, Starscream had raised his hands up to point towards some blinking lights up ahead. "L-look! The authorities!" "Wait," Agree came to a halt followed by Shockwave. "what are they doing here?" "Who cares?" Starscream scoffed as he continued running towards the lights. "The farther away I get from Tarn the faster I can begin my master plan!" "Starscream wait!" Arcee tried to stop him but he simply brushed her off and went straight towards the guards.  "Officer! Officer! It's me, the one and only Starscream! I'm here to turn myself in and..." His steps began to slow until he just stood there with optics wide open and his jaw quivering as he attempted to form a word.  What greeted him was not an Autobot guard, but simply sparkless corpses of what they used to be. Their bodies are riddled with holes caused by blaster shots. All shared the same fate, all but one. Corpses were littered around the empty street but one was just standing there. It shook Starscream to the core as he stared at the work of one of Tarn's lapdogs. He came to the conclusion since this was a signature style of none other than Vos. Arcee had finally caught up with the seeker and gasped audibly once her eyes landed on the carnage, especially the corpse that still stood on his feet. She scowled as she approached the dead and inspected it. There were no blaster wounds, the obvious cause of death was on the face. Holes, dozens of them were drilled into this bot's face destroying everything. Arcee pulled down the corpse and laid it on the ground to finally rest, her spark ached that she once again meets death in the field.  Shockwave was passive and unreadable, Starscream simply fidgeted in place as his eyes darted around warily. Reacting to the softest of noise in fear of whatever lurks in the shadows.  "This is Vos' work." Shockwave commented.  "Thank you for your observation Shockwave. What would we do without your intelligent mind and your one eyed face!?" Starscream scowled at his fellow Decepticon.  "Hey!" Arcee scolded the seeker and straightened herself. "If you want to live to see tomorrow, you have to work together! So no bickering." Shockwave eyed her carefully then shook his head. "A millennium of war, maybe more, yet you allow us to live. If the situation was not dire, then-" "Yeah, yeah. You would have shot me by now." Arcee rolled her eyes at him. "Optimus would have helped you guys despite the past, he would even try to reason with this Tarn guy." "Right before he smashes Tarn to pieces or the other way around." Starscream added. "Trust me, the only way we can even get through Tarn is if we have something he wants. And let me tell you what I have: Nothing!" "Shut it Screamer, let's just move on." Arcee motioned for Shockwave to lead the way, to which he obliged.  "Optimus would have helped us indeed..." He muttered as he walked past her.  And just as the two followed, a slim Decepticon had stepped out of the shadows watching the three running off. He raised a small device close to his face and spoke a strange language.  "Affirmative," Tarn's voice came from the device. "keep shadowing them and we will converge to your location. Over and out, Vos." Vos chuckled lightly as he stored away the device, his eyes focused solely on Starscream as he ran with the others. Shockwave came to a stop and so did the rest. Arcee stared blankly at the area the cyclops had led them to. An old unfinished construction site that was untouched for so long that the place was practically covered in cobwebs. There were some construction machines laying around and were just so dusty that Arcee was sure they would be useless without a maintenance check first. "We are here." Shockwave said as he walked into the area. "So what exactly do we do here?" Arcee inquired.  Shockwave did not answer, he sauntered over to one of the vehicles and slammed his fist into it then pulled out a strange weapon. It was a small gun with a really short but thick barrel. It looked too weak to even harm a target, it also does not seem to be able to take out farther targets. "You hid a gun... in a backhoe?" "This construction site was left unfinished for two years, and the place you stand on right now was previously a lab of mine. I had anonymously sent a cease and desist order to the ones in charge of the operation using a deed to the land owned by me. Then I simply gathered what was left and hid my... inventions where no one would ever find them. And this is not just a gun you simpleton, this is a project that I have been meaning to finish." "Yes, yes." Starscream rolled his eyes. "And yet they did not question it. Autobots these days are just too stupid." He said before receiving a glare from Arcee. "I will go into details of how I succeeded in reclaiming what is mine for another day. First, I must finish my work." Shockwave placed the gun on top of the backhoe and began to tinker with it.  "Then I bring you both to the council." Arcee added.  "I have ways to escape imprisonment, but you may take Starscream once we defeat the DJD." "What!?" Starscream exclaimed with disbelief.  Arcee rolled her eyes at both mechs. "Whatever... I called for backup, they'll be here any minute now." "I'm afraid that you three do not have a minute to spare." A blaster round slammed into Starscream's back sending him down to the ground with a yelp.  Shockwave and Arcee snapped towards the direction and saw what Shockwave Starscream feared to see today. The DJD of all its glory. Tarn stood with a large high powered rifle in his hands while Helex, Tesarus, and Kaon stood next to him. There was also a strange rabid looking creature at their feet which snarled towards Shockwave.  "Starscream, are you alive?" Shockwave inquired as he raised his cannon towards the DJD.  "N-never better..." The seeker said meekly as he rose back to his feet, only to feel a little lighter than before. That's when he noticed the odd looks he was receiving from the femme and his fellow scientist. "What?" "Later." Arcee said before taking out her guns.  "I agree." Said Shockwave.  Starscream began checking himself for anything that was out of place, only to find his right wing nonexistent. "My wing!" "Yes," Tarn smiled under his mask. "I had to take the chance and ground you Starscream. This way you can't fly off to who knows where." "I call dibs!" Kaon shouted as the Tesla coils on his shoulders charged up with electricity.  "Only after I tear Screamer's legs off." Tesarus chuckled deeply.  "What now? It's a five on two situation, six if we count that... drooling thing." Arcee didn't want to admit it, but it was the truth.  "Wait, what about me?" Starscream questioned.  "Cuffs stays on Screamer!" She said much to Starscream's disappointment. "You are useless in your current state." Shockwave said nonchalantly. "I have a better plan, we distract them while you finish my project." "A grand idea!" Starscream smiled as he swiped the gun out of Shockwave's hand with his cuffed ones and started inching away. "Now, how about I take this weapon and-" A blaster shot stopped Starscream from taking another step. "Sorry Starscream, but you're not getting out of my sight this time." Tarn said as he tossed aside his rifle only for it to transform into Vos.  Vos said something in a foreign tongue that is unknown to Arcee, which was unnerving since he was pointing a finger at her.  "You're right Vos, this is a great day to play with some Autobots." Tarn chuckled. "So let us show the great Arcee how the DJD deals with traitors." "Not so fast!" All optics snapped towards the entrance to find a lone Autobot standing there. He stood there proudly for all to see. "Am I late to the party Arcee?" "Who's this shrimp?" Helex asked the others.  "No clue." Answered Kaon.  The Autobot's face shifted to a look of dejection. "Aw come on! It's me, Smokescreen! You know, the rookie of team Prime? One of the heroes of Cybertron? I have a statue at the capital!" The DJD sans Tarn only stared at Smokescreen, the names were not known to them and none could really give him the answer he wanted. "Welp, sometimes you can't have them all..." "Smokescreen!? Where's my backup!?" Arcee asked.  "Oh, they'll be here, I just thought of getting ahead of Bee and the rest to see if you were holding up. Guess I'm a little early, aren't I?" "Yes you are." Tarn said eyeing every single one of them. "A spectator to witness our work before experiencing it after. This day just keeps getting better... Bring me Starscream alive!" "Heck yeah!" Kaon dashed towards the seeker, palms out ready to fry the seeker with over 2000 jolts while Helex and Tesarus went after Smokescreen.  But Arcee intercepted his attacks, two swift blades to the chest sent Kaon straight down. Vos decided to take a few shots at her with his rifle only to miss them as Arcee was quicker.  "Starscream, get to work immediately!" Shockwave ordered, taking aim at his opponents.  "Right away!" Starscream did not complain, he began to work as fast as he could despite being cuffed. He hunched over the weapon and tinkered as fast as he could, he needed it done before it's too late. Smokescreen howled with excitement as two behemoths were charging straight towards him. He took out his issued pistol and shots were fired, but each shot that landed were just like tiny little pebbles for the giants.  "Come here shorty, let's see what you're made of!" Helex said as he dived for the Autobot.  "Hey, I'm not short! You guys are just incredibly big!" Smokescreen said before he sidestepped away. Only to meet a hulking fist to the mouth sending him sprawling on the ground.  His hand reached for his sidearm and quickly fired away at Tesarus. The giant stuttered back as his face was pelted with shots, luckily his ally Helex came to the rescue and lifted Smokescreen off the ground with his maw wide open. Helex went straight for the head but instead had a teeth full of Smokescreen's gun. To which the Autobot paid kindly with a left hook.  "Did you just try to bite my face!?" Smokescreen asked at the largest of the two giants.  "What? It's what I do." Helex answered.  Kaon dashed side to side escaping Shockwave's devastating cannon, shot after shot and none could land a single hit on the electrifying fiend of the DJD. And just as Shockwave had a clear shot of Kaon, their little pet jumped in and tackled his cannon away. Shockwave grunted, clearly displeased that a creature such as this had the gall to assault him. But before he could even stomp on the wretched mutt, Kaon had finally reached his destination which was right on top of Shockwave's back. Kaon wrapped his legs around the larger Decepticon tightly and raised his palms up to send a wave of electricity into Shockwave.  Starscream looked up from his work when he heard the screams of his current ally. But there was nothing he could do since he was cuffed and unable to fight properly. Shockwave tried to pull Kaon off of him but his hand could not reach the fiend. But to Kaon's surprise Shockwave limped over to Starscream, suddenly he grabbed hold of the tip of Starscream's remaining wing. Before the seeker could even complain the wing itself popped right off much to the surprise of Kaon and Starscream before it transformed into a sword.  "Oh... I forgot it does that..." Starscream muttered as Shockwave took a swing at the foreign object on his back.  Kaon yelped as the blade hacked into his left shoulder causing him to release Shockwave from his lock and falling off the cyclops. The shocker glared at Shockwave with a hand on his wound, he gritted his teeth and backed away. Shockwave simply raised his cannon and blasted Kaon point blank with no question asked. Then he trained his eye towards the rest of the DJD. Tesarus and Helex were busy with Smokescreen, Vos was really trying to get Arcee. And then there was Tarn, he simply watched from where he stood, still as a statue yet his eyes under that mask followed every step that was made. Shockwave had enough so he aimed his weapon at Tarn himself only to be tackled down by Kaon who smiled twistedly and glared at Shockwave with those empty eyes of his.  "Shocking, isn't it!?" He quipped before raising the power up to a hundred and electrocuted Shockwave once more.  "Room for one more?" Kaon looked up just in time to see blue.  Smokescreen tackled Kaon off of Shockwave and threw him across the construction site like nothing.  "Guess lighting does strike twice, huh, Shockwave?" Smokescreen jokingly said before continuing his fight with the behemoths.  "I will tear your voice box out just for that." Shockwave threatened as he joined Smokescreen's side against Helex and Tesarus with Starscream's sword at hand. But before anyone could even make another word, Tarn's voice boomed in the area. "Enough!" Shockwave, Arcee, Starscream and even Smokescreen gasped before crumbling down to their knees. Shockwave tried to glare at Tarn but found that he could not move, his body and everyone else's quaked and shivered for no reason. Arcee felt as if she was drowning, but it was impossible since they had no need to breath. Smokescreen clutched his chest as he felt a sharp pain. And Shockwave tried and failed to raise his weapon while Starscream was still hunched over Shockwave's invention. "Bring them together." Tarn commanded.  Tesarus and Helex grabbed Shockwave and Smokescreen by their arms and tossed them over to Starscream who was still hunched over the weapon. As for Vos, he simply kicked Arcee towards the others and chuckled with delight. "Now, what is about to happen is that you four will experience first hand what the DJD will do to all traitors and deserters. Starting with you, Smokescreen." "D-don't you dare!" Arcee managed to shout.  "What's happening!?" Smokescreen asked as he gasped for air. "Shush, all will come to an end, so let's savor what little time you have left, Smokescreen." Tarn chuckled deeply. "So save that voice of yours, you'll need it." "Tarn... my offer still stands..." Shockwave made one last attempt, but it was futile.  "I don't need your offer, I have you right where I want you to be..." The Justice Division circled them with Tarn closer than the rest. He motioned for Vos to grab Smokescreen, but something else caught his attention.  "M-Megatron!" It was Starscream, and he had just uttered the name of their supreme leader.  "Ah Starscream, the only time you are ever loyal to lord Megatron is when death is near. I have no idea why he kept you alive for so long." Tarn commented as he approached the seeker.  "Megatron... He is a deserter!" Tarn stared at him blankly. And the rest was unsure of what was currently running in his mind. He was silent but his aura was like fire burning anything that comes too close. Tarn simply raised his cannon towards Starscream and scoffed. "Megatron is dead. Died in Earth's atmosphere and was left there to rot. And you did nothing." "Fool!" Starscream shouted as he turned to meet the dual cannons trained right on his head. Starscream and the others had regained control over their bodies yet they were still surrounded by the DJD. "Unicron who was imprisoned on Earth revived him and took over Megatron's body! But once Unicron was vanquished, he had given up on the war, leaving Cybertron to those filthy Autobots! And more importantly, allowing me to take over the Decepticon as the rightful ruler!" "Then how come we have not heard of this!?" Tarn almost just shot Starscream right then and there but he held back.  "Only the victors write history Tarn," Starscream grinned. "and today, that victor is me!" He said as he raised Shockwave's invention right at Tarn and pulled the trigger. Only for the gun to shake violently and flashed a series of colorful lights as it screeched. "Oh..." He said as he noticed something out of place. It was not supposed to do that. "Starscream!" Shockwave would've scolded him for his incompetent mistake but the weapon blew up and consumed anything near it.  "Tarn!" Helex shouted as he tackled his leader away from the blast.  Vos and Tesarus shielded their optics as the explosion was too bright to see through. And once it faded away, there was nothing left but the weapon itself as well as a large crater.  "What now?" Helex asked his boss as he brought Tarn back to his feet.  "Aw, I wanted to grind their servos..." Tesarus whimpered. Tarn scowled under his mask and stared at the crater. He growled deeply as he approached the weapon before picking it up to inspect it. Somehow it survived the blast with no damages. Not even a single scratch was on the invention. Sirens could be heard in the distance telling Tarn that the authorities are heading their way.  "Get Kaon and call Nickel for an exfil." He sighed and lifted up a device filled with numerous names on its screen, and this is where he keeps the list. He was about to remove Shockwave and Starscream off it but something stopped him from doing so.  The device showed vital signs that the two Decepticons were still alive somehow despite the explosion. He glanced towards the weapon in his hand then back at the device. A grin formed on his face as he puts two and two together.  "Looks like our hunt isn't over just yet boys."