The sun was sinking lower in the sky casting, the jungle with an ethereal orange pink glow. The shade under the canopy grew darker, but dim enough to see. The dusk air was crisp and a bit colder than the previous nights, with a slight breeze swaying the plants to the rainforest rhythm.

​Knockout was walking through the crisp, cool air, unable to hold back a shiver. The sweltering heat they had suffered through only hours before had been replaced by a brittle cold wind that chilled the red mech to the core.

Fragging Earth weather.

He clutched Lazerbeak tighter in his arms to try and give some warmth to the minicon. Luckily, the sun had not set and painted a beautiful swirl of colors across the sky.

If there was one good thing about being stuck in this Primus forsaken jungle, it was its magnificent sunsets. Knockout had to admit he always found a bit of serenity in watching Earth sunsets, even if it was only through his small med bay window aboard the Nemesis. It was a paint palette the sky decided to gift him when Knockout was brainstorming new ideas for a finish paint job.

​Knockout looked up ahead to the Air Commander he was currently following.

Starscream was stepping nimbly through the underbrush with his wings lowered in an attempt to not catch them on any vines.

Knockout couldn't imagine how the slender mech could even stand the cold air with such a thin frame. The wind had to be blowing right through him.

​Knockout was too late to warn his commander when Starscream's heel suddenly caught on a weed, making him stumble - a sharp jolt of pain shot through his injured ankle. He buckled to the ground with a stifled cry. Knockout rushed over and offered a servo to his friend who was now clutching his heel with gritted denta.

​"Scrap that hurt!" Starscream hissed angrily.

​"Don't press on it too hard or you might rupture something." Knockout said pulling the seeker to his feet.

​"Yes, yes I know! That foul plant came out of nowhere." The seeker grumbled crossing his servos and stomping on the weed with his good heel, "I hate this place."

​Knockout laughed, "Now, Scream, don't fuss. We'll get out of here soon." He waved his servo in a dismissive manner.

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm serious," Knockout shot him a winning smile, "I promise, I'll get us out of here. After all, I have a medic's wit and the drive of a racer."

​"Don't talk to me like I'm some helpless sparkling." Starscream squeaked in a very sparkling-like way.

"Hmm, it's becoming difficult not to."

Starscream bristled, crimson optics seemingly growing redder.

"Look at you all fumed up." Knockout chided, his grin growing wider, "Such a petty thing you are."

"I am the Decepticon Second in Command and I will still be treated as such!" He snapped, taking a quick glance at his surroundings, "No matter where we may be."

​"There you go again with your position." Knockout gave an exasperated sigh, "You know, it would mean a whole lot more if our leader actually treated you as such too."

​Starscream scowled and clenched his servos. "I am a far superior leader to Megatron anyway,"

He spread his wings and preened proudly, the scuffed silver glinting ever so slightly in the dimmed skies.

​"Spare me the self-satisfaction, Scream. You'll never earn any respect from bots if you treat them like scrap all the time."

​"I do not!" Starscream hissed, "Even if I did, some still deserve to be treated as such with their attitudes. Quite possibly a certain vain, red four-wheeler I know." The seeker huffed. "Besides, some of those mechs don't even deserve to be called Decepticons."

​Knockout felt his anger begin to boil, how could this mech even function with ideals like that?

"That's a ridiculous way of thinking, Starscream." Knockout said, his voice low, "How can you call yourself a leader thinking like that?"

"Oh, so if I think like that, it's a crime but if Megatron acts that way for a millennia it's excusable."

Starscream and his twisted words...

"I never said his actions were excusable," Knockout shot him a look, "I never will."

"Such strong convictions, doctor," Starscream drawled, taking a few more steps deeper into the forest, his entire frame seething, "I am not used to seeing you so quick to defend your actions."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"You know very well what it means."

"No, Screamer, I don't." Knockout fumed, "Why dont you enlighten me?"

The silver of Starscream's wings shone with a brilliant, cold glow in the light of the sky, but the narrowed crimson red of his optics cut through the harmonious scene like a knife.

"You medics are all the same. Calling yourselves heroes for saving bots' lives while you look on with indifference as their bodies are broken."

The seeker's voice was even and dangerously low, but the cruel venom that dripped from Starscream's words stung like a brand in Knockout's spark.

"Starscream, I'm warning you."

"Did I press some sensitive buttons, doctor?"

"Starscream, you're just frustrated and in pain," Knockout said slowly, watching the Commander take a few more steps and swivel his gaze to the medic's, the stare sharp as a dagger, "You're not yourself."

"Spare me your nonsense that attempts to silence the truth."

"Starscream . . . you're tired."

"You do not mind it do you?"

"Starscream . . ."

"My pain. You ignore it so easily."

Knockout scowled, his frame tense, "Starscream please-"

"It's been bothering me our entire trip, Knockout," Starscream flared his wings, "Do not think I don't see right through your little charade!"

"I am hiding no charade!"

"You are. You've ignored my pain thus far for years but suddenly we find ourselves in this maze of a forest and my pain and discomfort is suddenly one of your top priorities." The commander balled his servos into fists, "What are you planning, wretch?"

So impatient . . .

"Starscream if you would just shut up and listen to me-"

"You are a part of his audience!"

"Listen!"

"You! All of you! You're all the same!" Starscream hissed his voice hoarse with rage, "You left me when I needed you, medic."

"That's not true and you know it."

"Stop pretending with me!"

"Starscream-"

"That's Commander Starscream."

So infuriating . . .

"I'm not hiding anything from you, Starscream," Knockout insisted, his servos clenching, "You make unfair judgements!"

"Coward!" Starscream hissed, "Cowards! All of you!"

"You're a disgraceful mech. You don't treat your teammates with an ounce of respect. How do they even tolerate you!"

​"Why would I treat the mechs who beat me with respect when all they give me is pain!"

​"They treat you that way because they are fed up with your traitorous scrap! Whenever a mech tries to act as an ally to you, you stab them in the back."

​"I have learned you cannot trust anyone! I won't let any bot best me! Anybot who does not strike first is a fool!"

​"Can't you just relax and give a bot a chance! Having someone to rely on is possible!"

​"Never! Every bot is just an obstacle in my way to become a leader! I do not need partners, those are for the weak!"

​"That's why you will live the rest of your sorry little life alone!"

​"A small price to pay for the opportunity only the strongest mechs accomplish! My life will at least be meaningful compared to yours! How dare you stand on the sidelines!"

​"Your spark should never have been formed, you fragging waste of space!" Knockout threw his fists in the air and shouted with blinding, violent fury, "Some other more deserving bot could be alive right now if the creators left you as a scrapheap like where you belong!

​Starscream froze. The fiery rage in his optics faltered. Knockout let the anger drive him.

"You will die a corrupted shell and no one will ever mourn you!"

It felt as if an inferno had ravaged his insides, and Knockout was not so quick to stifle it. It was ridiculous the way this bot acted. It was cruel and dishonorable. It was infuriating and unfair. It was a constant, twisted cycle of betrayal and opportunity where the spark had to be made of stone cold cement to leave behind anyone and everyone who dared step in his way. How dare he call Knockout's life not meaningful when the only driving force in the commander's life was ambition. A sick, distorted sense of ambition!

Starscream glared daggers, "Knockout -"

"You're pathetic." Knockout hissed.

He was done taking this verbal abuse.

"You want to know why I stand to the side and watch you suffer?"

The seeker's optics widened.

Knockout's stare was colder than ice.

"Because you deserved it."

The entire rainforest fell silent around them. The birds stopped chirping. The leaves stopped rustling. The animals stopped skittering. Or was that just him?

Starscream looked as if Knockout had physically struck him.

The medic watched his opponent come apart at the seams.

Starscream unclenched his servos and his form untensed, is expression of rage became one of pure shock. He mouth opened, but no sound escaped his vocalizer, as if Knockout's confession strangled his throat from retorting.

The brittle wind snakes its way through the trees, chilling Knockout to the core.

He watched Starscream tremble in the cold. Or was it not the cold? The commander kept on trembling, his servos seemed unsure what to do. His spindly fingers seemed to debate between reaching out and clawing Knockout to pieces or reaching up to clutch his shoulder plates and hug himself protectively. The mental battle his body struggled to interpret spilled out like a map onto his optics.

"I..." the seeker croaked out, his voice hoarse and weak, "You mean..."

Knockout could feel his fury slowly cool at the edges, the tenseness of his frame melted away with every syllable.

No.

Anguish. Anguish was the only word to describe what Starscream's optics reflected in their deep red glow. Wide with shock and troubled with the truth, they struggled to even look the medic in the eye.

"Deserved?" Starscream said, his breaths unsteady, "I deserved ..."

No. No this was all wrong. Knockout's world seemed to topple when the gravity of his words threatened to crush his plating.

Images of Starscream crumpled on the bloody floor of the Nemesis resurfaced, flashing through his mind at dizzying speeds.

​"Starscream,"Knockout tried to form words as he reached a servo out to the seeker, "I didn't ....I wasn't thinking, I just..."

Starscream stepped back. Optics were cautious and dangerous, like the look in the eye of a wolf cornered by a hunter seconds before its world fell apart.

"No bot deserves your fate." Knockout whispered, "I don't know what came over me, Scream."

​Starscream shook his helm and looked to the floor. Voices in his helm he tried so hard to keep chained down suddenly ripped free with roaring cries.

Waste of space, they taunted.

Sniveling coward, they jeered.

Their faces, dark and hazy in the dim lights of the Nemesis, hovered over him. They laughed. They snickered. They whispered.

Starscream's servos hugged his body tightly, as if to make himself smaller. The movement was involuntary, and he cursed himself for the way Knockout winced at the action.

He didn't need Knockout's pity. He didn't need anyone's pity. He didn't need anyone. No one. No soul could be trusted.

Coward.

"I'm ... I ....," the air commander shuddered, his words coming out chopped and broken.

All those red optics glaring through the darkness like monsters hungry for cowering prey. The way they looked at him...disgust, repulsion, hate. His audios bled with the sound of their laughing while he lay there choking on his own energon.

One polished red medic looked on with indifference. Starscream searched for a sign - any tiny hint that Knockout would help him if he called out for someone, anyone to save him. His spark aches with anew kind of pin when he found none.

You deserve it. You deserve it. You deserve it.

"Primus, make it stop..." Starscream whispered, his voice lost its fever, replaced with a hollow cry for help. His servos reached up to clutch the sides of his helm, the spindly claws digging in to the metal with a harsh screech.

Why could he still hear their voices? Why could he still feel those burning slashes? Why did he still shudder from that cold steel floor? When would the memories finally leave?

He could feel fluid gather in his optics and he was aware of Knockout reaching out his servo further.

Starscream drew in a shuddering breath. Why did it feel so hard to breath? Why did his eyes burn with emotion? Why was he so afraid?

Make it stop. Make the feelings stop.

​Knockout felt his spark ache as Starscream's optics spilled over with fluid and the seeker began to quiver slightly, turning his helm away from Knockout. The red mech stepped slowly towards the commander, still holding Lazerbeak in one arm. The mini con tensed with the added distress of the commander.

​"Starscream...I don't know why I said that." Knockout whispered, keeping a distance trying not to make the seeker shudder more. "I didn't mean it. I was just angry is all. It doesn't mean anything. Please, Starscream..." Knockout felt his voice break at the way Starscream struggled to suppress the unexplainable fear that overcame him. He knew the seeker could get emotional but this was different. His tears were so...real.

"I'm so sor-" Knockout wasn't able to finish his sentence before something shot the ground nearby making the dirt and plants fly up with a loud bang!

​The red mech felt a jolt of panic that the Autobots they had run into before had returned to eliminate them. He quickly closed the distance between himself and the seeker now that Starscream was facing him once more, optics still stained from tears sliding down his face plate and frame still shuddering from whatever memories came to haunt him. The red mech tightened his grip on Lazerbeak and scanned the sky.

​Knockout's optics landed on something flying in the orange lit sky. It was bigger than both he and Starscream combined and flew with a loud rumbling sound that rang in Knockout's audios. It almost looked like...

"Insecticon!" Starscream shrieked from beside Knockout. The seeker panicked and grabbed Knockout's arm, yanking the red mech to the side as another shot was fired near their position.

Knockout was shoved behind the seeker with such force he couldn't actually believe that scrawny Starscream was capable of such strength. Knockout's grip on Lazerbeak tightened as the little drone flapped wildly in his grasp.

The commander was up in seconds.

Starscream transformed one servo into a blaster and took aim at their attacker. The Insecticon shrieked at them in anger and Starscream pulled the trigger, the shot hitting its mark with deadly accuracy.

Knockout watched as the Insecticon was thrown off course by the blast when suddenly he was dragged up and away from the scene by sharp, slender digits.

Starscream ran as fast as he could with Knockout in tow through the darkening rainforest. The stinging words Knockout had yelled at the seeker before were shoved away in his processor as his battle instincts took over. Starscream had experienced firsthand the Insecticon's fury and he was not about to be devoured by a bug!

Starscream could hear the jarring noise of the Insecticon flying closer and the sound of plasma shots hitting the ground caught his audios. The lithe seeker increased his speed by nimbly avoiding fallen trees and slicing his razor-sharp digits through incoming vines. One plasma shot hit the ground only a few feet behind the seeker and his cargo, making both mechs jump, but they didn't dare stop. Honestly, Starscream felt as if the majority of their trip was spent running away from danger.

Knockout tried to keep up beside his fast comrade as the shots from the Insecticon grew closer. He looked up and saw the uncharacteristically grim expression on Starscream's face plates. The red mech picked up his speed a bit when he suddenly heard one of the branches near his helm snap. The two mechs had to squint in able to see ahead of them as the sun was beginning to set and the light began to dim beneath the canopy, making it difficult to navigate the already cruel rainforest realm.

Knockout could feel his energy depleting along with the dimming light. The buzzing of the Insecticon's wings was the only thing keeping him going through the maze of plants.

Knockout then felt something whisk past him near his side. He paid no mind to it as he heard the Insecticon swoop down below the tree canopy, the treetops swirling with the wind.

The large, dark Insecticon opened its toothed mouth and let out a furious screech as it followed close behind the red mech. Knockout panted, feeling out of breath, and zig-zagged behind trees and took sharp turns to try to throw the disgusting creature off his trail.

Then the red mech caught sight of something large and blue-ish in the distance. A lake! Relief flooded through him. Another shot hit only inches from his back ped.

Knockout sprinted towards the water and reached the clearing just in time to hear the Insecticon screech in outrage a distance behind him, firing shot after shot at no intended target. Knockout came to a halt at the edge of the lake and turned to look behind him.

The Insecticon was struggling in some vines as its large wings had gotten tangled. The beast was rapidly slicing its way through its ensnares, seemingly blind with fury and hunger.

Knockout looked down at the drone he still had clutched in his servos, Lazerbeak was tucked tight in his wings, trying to make himself as small as possible. This wasn't going to be easy for the little guy... Knockout opened his subspace and placed the small bird inside, hoping it would be comfortable enough.

"You may wanna sit this one out buddy," he croaked, intakes strained from the adrenaline rush.

The red mech turned back to the lake with a dreaded look on his faceplates.

Mud.

Fungus.

Grime.

It was almost so disgusting he would have rather taken his chances with the insect icon.

Almost...

Forgive me, precious finish.

With much hesitation, Knockout took a step back and dived into the cold, unforgiving water with a large splash.

As soon as he hit the water, he felt his circuits freeze from the icy current as it coursed through his armor like a bolt of electricity. The murky substance stung at Knockout's optics making it hard to see through the dark, murky underwater world.

He paddled back up to the surface and peeked his optics above the water. The Insecticon had cut itself free from the vines and was circling the area where Knockout was standing a few klicks before.

The beast growled deep in its throat and, to Knockout's great relief, flew right over the lake and into the trees ahead.