Chapter Text
Starscream, a rogue Decepticon, has been desperately trying to find energon to keep himself alive. Using the Harbinger’s system, he found a stray Cybertronian signal, possibly energon. Starscream flew to the location and saw it was a human dig site. Something was sticking out of the dirt. Starscream slid down the slope and looked closer at the relic that had been unearthed. Starscream heard the sound of a car engine, then the sounds of transformation. He turned to see none other than Knock Out. “Knock Out? What are you doing here?”
“Megatron sent me to acquire the relic. I expected the Autobots, not you, Starscream.” Knockout smirked and jumped down into the pit.
Starscream frowned, “I’m not letting you take this relic! It could be useful to me!” Starscream said as he ran to grab it and beat Knock Out. Knock Out saw Starscream lunging forward for the relic, so he rushed to grab it. Starscream grabbed the relic as Knock Out went to swipe it from him. The two were in a tug-of-war for the relic, trying to take it from the other. One solid jerk from Starscream caused Knock Out to lose his grip on the relic, and it slipped out of Starscream’s servos. The relic landed far away with a loud cracking sound as it whirred to life. The two Decepticons saw the relic glow and a bright beam shoot out and blinded the two bots.
The light faded as Starscream adjusted his optics, but he felt strange. Starscream looked down and was horrified. He was human. He looked to his right and saw Knock Out was also human…or at least he thought it was Knock Out based on evidence. The two looked each other up and down and simultaneously began screaming in horror. The two stepped back from each other and were both horrified at their current situation.
Knock Out’s human self resembled his bot form. He was of shorter stature, with a decently muscular but not large build, and his skin was extremely pale, almost milky white. His hair and clothes are predominantly cherry red. His hair looked like his helm, with it being short and spikey but nicely styled. His clothes looked like his armor, but turned into a racing suit. A red jacket with matching red leather boots, his shirt was a black latex sleeveless top that showed off his torso nicely. He was wearing light gray pants with a black belt and a yellow buckle. His arms had tattoos on them mimicking the decals he had on his car doors. His eyes were a deep red color, which popped nicely against his pale skin. Knock Out looked at himself in horror. “This is horrendous! My lustrous finish, gone!” He said in agony, as he held out his arm and assessed his appearance.
“Your finish is the least of our concerns!” Starscream yelled back. Starscream’s human form also resembled his bot form. He was very tall and slender with a pale complexion, not nearly as pale as Knock Out, though. His outfit was also a sort of racing suit in a way that looked like his armor-plating. His jacket and pants were both a light gray, and his shirt was a dark gray button-down with a high-necked black latex shirt underneath. His signature stilettoed pedes were replaced with stiletto boots with a red sole. His clawed servos were replaced with long, slender fingers with pointed, sharp nails at the end. Or at least that’s what Starscream thinks as he is wearing dark gray gloves over them. His hair was surprisingly lush and slicked back as it was longer on top and shorter on the sides. Still light gray on top and darker gray on the shorter sides. He had a long red cow lick that seemed to defy gravity and clearly resembled his helm spike. His eyes were also a vivid red and popped.
The two were aghast at the fact that they were human and their metal bodies replaced with flesh ones. Starscream went over to the relic to undo this. The previously palm-sized relic was now almost as big as Knock Out was currently. Starscream looked over the relic and realized that when it landed, it broke, evident by the large crack in its side. Knock Out walked over and saw the damaged relic. “So now what do we do?! We can’t stay like this!” Knock Out stated.
Starscream was already getting annoyed with Knock Out, as he wasn’t helping and just complaining. “Your whining isn’t going to fix the situation, Knock Out! You're a medic. Fix it!” Starscream pointed at the gash in the side of the relic.
“With what tools, Starscream?! I don’t have any tools or any idea on how to repair ancient relics!” Knock Out spat back at the human seeker.
Starscream gasped and sputtered at Knock Out’s tone, “Well then, we have to find someone who can fix it! Call up Soundwave or something!”
“Call up Soundwave?! You think Megatron is going to let a human walk on his ship willingly?! He’ll scrap me before helping me!” Knock Out said, placing a hand on his chest for emphasis. It’s true Megatron probably wouldn’t let Knock Out back on the ship like this. But Megatron wouldn’t risk losing his chief medical officer either. Starscream also didn’t want to risk Megatron just squashing like a bug the way he currently is.
“Well, then what are we going to do then? If the Decepticons aren’t an option, then maybe try the Autobots. They love humans.” Starscream said,
Knock Out looked at him like he was an idiot. “Yeah, humans that aren’t Decepticons! They won’t help, heck, they probably would scrap the relic themselves to keep us like this!” Knock Out made a very good point, it would be in their best interest to keep them like this and no longer a threat.
“So now what? Hope we can find someone who can fix the relic. Like someone is magically going to appear that can help us.”
“Uh…I guess that would be me then, huh.” A third unknown voice said as the two Decepticons turned to see the source. A human man was standing there looking rather confused. A very tall Asian man wearing a blue coat, a graphic tee, some jeans, and some muddy-looking sneakers. He definitely wasn’t one of the workers at this site based on his attire, so then who is he?
“Who are you?! What are you doing here?!” Starscream barked at the mystery man,
“I was taking a late-night stroll through the woods over there. Then I saw a really bright light and heard you two arguing. So…you guys aren’t human? And that weird thingy over there turned you into humans?” The man pointed at the damaged relic.
Starscream and Knock Out looked at the relic and back at the man. “Well, it’s none of your concern what we are human! It only matters if you can help us or not.” Starscream said angrily, Knock Out face-palmed at Starscream’s overtly rude personality. The human man wasn’t put off by him, surprisingly, as he walked past the two towards the relic.
“This looks so strange. So alien. Kinda cool though.” The man said to himself,
“So do you have the means of repairing it?” Knock Out asked, the human man turned to him and shrugged,
“I dunno, maybe? I can fix this gash easily enough, but to get it operational again…not sure.”
“So you can cosmetically fix it? Great. That’s useless to us and not going to fix the situation.” Starscream huffed as he crossed his arms,
“Ignore him. He’s just a grouch.” Knock Out said unamused, Starscream squawked indignantly at Knock Out’s comment on him.
“It’s ok. I’d be grouchy too if I got changed into a different species. But back to if I can help you…I’m probably your best bet. Not to toot my own horn, but I’m a pretty talented scientist. There’s no puzzle I can’t solve, and this relic thingy is just another puzzle to work on.” The man’s optimism was refreshing as Knock Out felt a sense of relief.
Starscream wasn’t convinced, though, “This is more than a puzzle, human. Our lives are at stake! This isn’t a game.”
“I wasn’t saying it was. I want to help. This thing looks interesting, and if you guys are actually aliens, I would love to learn more about your people and culture.” The man smiled sweetly at Starscream,
Starscream huffed and rolled his eyes. “Fine. Since you are our only saving grace right now, I’ll allow you to help us.” Starscream said, wiggling his fingers at the human, Knock Out shook his head disapprovingly at Starscream.
“Great! My home isn’t too far from here. I can get my truck and load the relic onto it, and you guys can stay with me. I have some spare rooms at my place.” The man began making his way out of the pit. Knock Out looked at Starscream. “At least we have a place to stay. And a human who can help us.” Starscream watched the human leave the pit. “It's better than nothing, I suppose.”