Rec. Room

[Spiritimus Prime]

Blazestorm quietly remained curled up in a ball, her forearms and legs tucked protectively underneath her crimson wings that were illuminated by tints of silver on her wing joints, while her tail was wrapped around her front paws, almost like as if she was trying to hide from the rest of the world. She looked like an innocent puppy trying to keep warm in the middle of winter.
But underneath that fine armour of hers, her mainframe was wrestling with her Spark. She could not help but blame herself for what had happened to Spiritimus. Because of her brashness and determination to prove herself worthy in her elders' optics that she was not a sparkling. But deep down, no matter how hard she tried, she would always remain a child and never grow up.
A soft whimper was emitted deep within her throat as she tried to chase away the thoughts that possessed her. Ones that fought furiously with her Spark and telling her that she should blame herself for what she had done to cause her leader so much pain and torture. What right did she have to live when her Prime was busy suffering from the connection that she shared with Nephthys Prime.

Fenix and Purus glanced at each other worriedly before they looked back at Blazestorm, watching her every move with concern. They knew she was a determined youngling that wanted nothing more than to be accepted by her elders, especially by Leohawk and Starblaze. Those two were the bodyguards of Spiritimus, and their loyalty to her was only surpassed by their wisdom and knowledge that had come from their long friendship with the blue and silver femme.
"She's still not over it, is she?" Purus asked as he tinkered around with a gadget he had been fiddling with on their journey throughout the cosmos.
Fenix shook her head sadly in response to her mate's question. "I'm afraid not," she replied softly. "After what had happened six months ago on that planet, I think Blazestorm is feeling lower than the ground itself. She's always so high-spirited and willing to help out. But after that moment where Leohawk yelled at her for endangering our Prime, I think she's resorted to her old ways."
Purus lifted an optic ridge and twitched his tail in confusion. "What old ways?" he asked curiously. "You never told me much about Blazestorm since I first arrived on your team and fell head over heels for you."
Fenix allowed a warm smile to cross her lips. "You never asked about her past," she replied. "When we first met her, she was a wild and furious beast that was determined to kill. If it had not been for Spiritimus, we wouldn't be here."
"What did she do?"
"From what I can remember, Spiritimus fought Blazestorm in a physical battle where they only used their alt modes to duke it out on each other. It was several hours later that Spiritimus touched a spot in Blazestorm's Spark and awakened the Autobot spirit that she had deep inside her systems. Sometimes I keep forgetting that she's a lot younger than she appears to be."
"How old is she exactly?"
"She's only an Earth year old," came the solemn response.
Purus felt his jaw drop. He could not believe what he was hearing. Blazestorm looked like she was about Fenix's age, not just some mere sparkling.
"Physically she is not a sparkling, Purus," said Fenix quietly. "Despite her body being that of a full grown femme, her mind is an equivilant to that of a five-year old human child. Just like Hotshot long ago, Blazestorm is cocky, overconfident, and determined to prove to us that she can look after herself and not be sparklingsitted by either one of us. It's just so strange that someone like her was built to be an ultimate killing machine against us, and still have the pure innocence of a youngling. Her temper is what keeps her sane, Purus, and we sometimes need to remember that pushing her buttons is never a good idea. Remember that time when you first met her and us? You two never had a very good start with each other."
"Yeah, I remember that," Purus replied as his fingers stopped fiddling with his gadget. "I sometimes ask myself why the Decepticons would do such a thing to create a creature like Nephthys and make him still have the brutalilty of a Decepticon, even though he does not fight alongside them."

"That is because he is the opposite of Spiritimus. You should know that already, Purus."

Blazestorm, Purus, and Fenix lifted their heads and saw Starblaze standing in the middle of the doorway. They saw no sign of Leohawk, so it was possible that he may have decided to stay behind to do other things, such as caring and watching over Spiritimus's unconscious form.
They watched as she approached them and sat down crosslegged in between them.
"How did it go, Star?" Purus asked as Blazestorm returned to her position. She obviously appeared to not be interested in the conversation or the appearance of the Vice Commander of the United Heroes and Ground Assault expert.
"Optimus took it pretty well when Leohawk explained everything to him," Starblaze answered softly, knowing of Blazestorm's foul mood without even looking.
"So what do we do now?" Fenix asked.
Starblaze sighed as her taloned fingers dug into her thick armour. "To tell you the truth, I do not know. Rodimus is now in charge of the Autobots, and, until either Spiritimus or Optimus recover from their injuries, none of us aren't going anywhere if you expect us to leave Earth."
"None of us were thinking that, Star," said Fenix honestly. "We were wondering if you were going to give up your position as Vice Commander of the United Heroes and allow us to work under the command of Optimus or anyone else who is charge. Or perhaps just work with the Autobots until this pointless war is over."
The large femme lowered her head and thought about it for a moment. She didn't know what to do. Without Spiritimus to be there to guide them, they were as helpless as a newborn puppy and as blind as a bat. It seemed so strange of her to be in charge until further notice with Spiritimus's condition, but she was used to her responsibility.
"I think," she finally said, "we'll wait until Spiritimus recovers and decides the fate of the team. Until then, we'll still function as a group like we always do."
"What about serving as Rodimus's bodyguards like you did with Spiritimus?" Purus asked.
Starblaze smiled and shook her head. "Sorry, Purus, but my loyalties lie with Spiritimus like Leohawk does. However, I know that Optimus would want me to switch my charge over to Rodimus. We need to be cautious because of the previous battle with the Decepticons. If anything happened to Rodimus, only Jetfire would be there to lead the Autobots and I can tell he doesn't want that."
"So do it then," said Fenix.
"I will, but I would need to get Rodimus's permission first. Knowing Leohawk, he would probably be keeping his true end of the bargain with Optimus as Spiritimus's personal bodyguard."
"No hurry there," came Blazestorm's cold words.
All three rolled their optics at Blazestorm's comment. She was still in one of those moods of hers, and they could tell she was determined to not show that she cared about what was going on.
"What's your problem?" Fenix hissed suddenly. She never liked to fight with the young femme, but there were times when Blazestorm did drive her crazy and it was starting to go overboard.
No response from Blazestorm. That was obvious too. She was trying to prevent herself from snapping at her comrades. And if that happened, they could always expect her to go on one of her little rampages.

[Spiritimus Prime]

When Fenix realised she was not going to get an answer from the silver and red femme, she could only snort and return her attention back onto the others. She turned her optics into a frown and furiously tapped her talons on the hard floor.
"Still, I think that the rest of us should be Rodimus's bodyguards until further notice," she said, speaking both hers and Purus's mind at once. "Of course, it may not be an easy job. Since Rodimus is now in charge of the Autobots, I'm sure that Nephthys will be hot on his heels when he gets his chance."

"You can count me out of your bodyguard business!"

All four turned their heads towards the young femme. Their shock was spread when they saw Blazestorm stand up on all four legs and glaring icy cold daggers at each and every one of them, as if she was trying to decide whether or not they were friend or foe.
"What are you talking about, Storm?" Starblaze asked as she lifted an optic ridge.

Blazestorm emitted a deep hiss at Starblaze, silencing her at once. Her body language indicated that she was still in that foul mood of hers and that speaking terms was beyond her listening skills.
"I will not take part in your bodyguard business," she repeated. "I'm sick of fighting, and I'm sick of listening to you and you going around telling me what to do!"
She lashed out with her tail and it scraped across the wall, leaving a large imprint of where her tailblade had made contact with it. Spitting, hissing, and bristling like a terrified cat, she spread her wings and flew for the door as fast as she could, way before Starblaze, Fenix, or Purus could even react.

"Damnit," Starblaze cursed under her breath as Blazestorm flew out the room. "If there is one thing I don't understand, it's femmes that have the mind of a sparkling."
Fenix and Purus glanced at each other and sighed in unison. It had been a long time since Blazestorm had run off. The last time she did was when Spiritimus had been a little too hard on her before coming to a conclusion that there is to be no more yelling at her.
"Let her go, Star," said Fenix gently. "If we go after her, we'll only make things worse. It is always best to let her be until she calms down and returns."
Starblaze nodded in agreement. "Spirit, how did you do it?" she whispered to herself.

[Spiritimus Prime]

As suddenly as Starblaze had spoken, there was a clicking sound and heaving breathing following in suite. The two noises combined into one whole as someone moved so swiftly, but stumbling all the more as the figure approached quickly and distressfully.
The whole group turned their heads towards the sound and they felt their jaws drop to the ground at the sight of what they did not expect. Not this soon anyway. Seeing something like this was beyond their belief, but the shock of seeing their most prized commander was anything but a shocker.
Standing in the middle of the doorway, leaning on the door's sides to support her still mending frame with wings hanging loosely by her sides and her tail just lying flat on the floor, as well as her head sagged forward in exhaustion, stood none other than Spiritimus.

Leohawk was up on his feet in an instant, his silver optics were staring wildly at her as if he had believed she had done something that was completely out of character to him. He couldn't believe that she was here when she was supposed to be recovering from her ordeal with Megatron. However, he could guess mentally that she had sensed the disturbance amongst her United Heroes and had come to see for herself what was going on.
"Lady Spiritimus Prime," he said as he took a few steps forwards towards his charge, "what are you doing here? You should be resting and recovering from your fight with Megatron."
Starblaze, Fenix, and Purus all stood up at once to address their weakened commander before they too noticed that she was not fully healed, but they were more surprised with the way how she was still walking instead of recovering like she was supposed to be. But they knew she had a stubborn mind when it came to the concerns of the wellbeing of someone who had either been hurt physically or just ranaway without even bothering to think about the consequences of their actions.
"Spirit, are you ok?" Starblaze asked as she tilted her head to one side in confusion.
The Vice Commander of the United Heroes had never seen her old friend act like this. The only time she had seen her do this was when Blazestorm had gotten so angry when Fenix and Purus had poked fun at her and had ran away, but Spiritimus had been so concerned after being nearly fatally injured and had left her recovering position to go after the young femme and talk some sense into her. This hadn't happened again up until now.

Spiritimus lifted up her head weakly, her golden optics dull with exhaustion from stumbling and running desperately to get to the Rec. Room to find out what had happened to Blazestorm. The only thing that made her still capable of moving so well was her determination to help those she cared about.
"Where... where is Blazestorm?" she asked as she suddenly started to collapse right there on the spot. Luckily, she was saved by her personal bodyguard, Leohawk. She looked up at him, her optics so dull and so lifeless it was as if the injuries she had suffered from were making her oblivious to what was going on around her.

Leohawk gently stroked his leader's scarred cheek with his taloned fingers. He understood exactly what she was going through, but he remembered that there was nothing he could do for her. Only the power of an elder Prime would be able to snap her out of her coldness or the death of Nephthys Prime would do the exact same thing.
"You really shouldn't be out of the Medbay," said Leohawk, "you will damage yourself beyond repair if you keep this up. I should get you back before you are missed."
The gold and silver mech started to lead her away from the Rec. Room, but, much to his surprise, she started to fight him aggressively. Her tail slashed into his metallic skin, her claws stabbed his joints, and her teeth cut into his wings, breaking off some of the feathers in the moment.
"Please, don't fight me, Lady Spiritimus, I have to get you back for your own sake, as well as Blazestorm's."

"What happened?!" Spiritimus shrieked as she fought like a demon, determined to get away from her protective friend and find her missing surrogate daughter. "What caused her to run away like that? Tell me!"
Suddenly she was tackled to the ground by Starblaze, but not too hard to not further injure her. She snarled and roared at the top of her oxygen tanks when Starblaze pinned her wings down while Leohawk took a hold of her dragonic head to prevent her from biting him or anything else.
"Let me go! I have to find Blazestorm!"

"Calm down, Spirit!" Starblaze hissed. "Do you want us to futher injure you? If you want to see Blazestorm, you're gonna have to wait. She just had a temper spasm with us and left to go cool down. We wisely let her go by herself and we believe she's outside just blowing off steam or talking to someone to help herself."
When Starblaze and Leohawk both felt the blue and silver femme calm down beneath them by stopping her desperate struggles to find the red and silver femme, they slowly released the pressure off her body, but kept themselves on top of her just in case.
"I do believe we'll be having company in a moment," said Purus as he twitched his tail and snorted a little, "both Leohawk and Starblaze should help Spiritimus back up and take her back to the Medbay. Fenix and I will go and talk to Blazestorm. We owe her an apology, especially myself when we first met. I never got to say sorry for picking on her."
Leohawk nodded in agreement and he motioned to Starblaze to help him shift their leader back into her robot mode and lead her back to the Medbay, but he had a feeling that they may encounter some lookers, who had been requested by Optimus to bring back his daughter due to running off while she had still been recovering.
Both Purus and Fenix glanced at each other worriedly, but they did not stop to ask whether or not it was a good idea to go and find Blazestorm. They both knew that their leader was very concerned for the wellbeing of the young femme, and it was for the best that they go and check up on her to see if she needed someone to talk to, other than someone she didn't know very well.
"Let's go," was all Fenix said as they left.

[cypher]

tracker had managed to catch up with spirit.
when he saw her being help, he shock his head
"i'm glad i followed, though you like you getting some good help" he took a close look at her checking her wounds, nothing that rest wouldn't help

[Spiritimus Prime]

The moment Tracker had walked in and Spiritimus had been brought back under control, Leohawk and Starblaze regarded the white mech for a moment and they smiled at the slightly embarrassed look that Spiritimus was giving.
"She was just worried about Blazestorm," said Starblaze. "She intends to worry about us whenever she senses something has happened. As a group, we have a strong bond to each other. We are a family, and have been together ever since she was appointed the title of Prime."
Leohawk nodded in agreement.
"Aye," he said. "Lady Spiritimus Prime will settle down in a moment. Fenix and Purus have gone off to see if they can apologise to Blazestorm. With the way she was behaving, she was just upset about not being taken seriously enough because of her... mental condition. You could say that Blazestorm sort of has the human mental disorder called Asperger's Syndrome. Nothing to worry about."

Spiritimus slowly calmed down and sighed gently before she lifted her head and turned her optics towards Tracker, wondering what it was that he wanted until she finally understood that her father must've sent him to find her. Slowly, she turned to Leohawk and emitted a deep growl.
"Leo," she said quietly, "you can release me now. I don't need much support as you think I do."

Leohawk blinked his silver optics and shook his head 'no'. He knew that if he let go of his commander, she may not be able to stand up again due to her injuries. The safety of his Prime was always his top priority. His life did not matter to him, as long as Spiritimus or Optimus lived.
"No, Lady Spiritimus," he said softly, "I cannot do that. Your life is far too important and I cannot afford to let you hurt yourself any further than you already have. You running down here to find Blazestorm has pushed you to your limits."

Spiritimus sighed and twitched her tail in annoyance, but she did not complain about it. She turned her head towards Tracker again and breathed smoke from her nostrils. She said nothing about what she had almost tried to do. She could feel her systems beginning to overheat from her trip down to the Rec. Room and she soon realised that she had almost lost her life when she had started to strain her body as she pushed it to its limits to find Blazestorm and sort out the young femme's concerns like she always did.
She hung her head low in shame and sighed sadly and nodded slightly. She was far too tired to do anything, and she couldn't agree more with her most trusted bodyguard. Optimus sure did make a very good choice with this mech. He was loyal to the core of his Spark, and he seemed so determined to do whatever it took to ensure her safety.

[cypher]

Tracker chuckled slightly, but this bond was slightly different
"its a good thing she has a, family, like you to look after her. we should get her back to the medbay." he looked at spirit "you can't help anyone if you go offline. As well as the sadness it would bring to the bots that care about you" he looked to leo hawk "do you need a hand helping her back?" seeing if he could help "so who exactly is this blazestorm?"

[Spiritimus Prime]

Spiritimus couldn't help but supress a groan. She had never felt so ashamed in her entire life and nearly worry Optimus out of his armour. She hadn't meant to scare him, but her instincts to care and nurture her team was far too difficult to ignore. Her bond with them was almost as strong as the bond Optimus shared with his beloved Autobots and her.

Leohawk smiled warmly at Tracker, appreciating his offer to help his commander back to the Medbay. Gently, he placed her left arm over his neck to give her some support and nodded towards Tracker.
"Your help will be appreciated, Tracker," he said to the shuttle mech.
He was about to answer Tracker's question about Blazestorm when he felt the need to silence himself when Starblaze quickly took that opportunity to answer it herself. She was the second to know alot about the young femme, but she wasn't as close as Spiritimus was.
"Blazestorm is a very young high-tempered beserker with a cold nature. I don't think you may have seen her, but she often goes off on her own when she believes that things aren't going her way. She was created by the Decepticons to be used as a weapon against us. However, when we first met her, Spiritimus was the only one to ever approach her and calm her down enough for her to turn on her masters and destroy them. She's been in our team ever since, but most of us have a hard time getting along with her.
"Like Optimus who shares a fatherly bond with everyone on the rest of the Autobot team, especially the younger ones like Hotshot and Sideswipe, Spiritimus acts as a mother-figure to all of us, especially to Blazestorm. Without Spiritimus to calm her down, Blazestorm is just as dangerous as Cyclonus and WarMonger put together."

[cypher]

Tracker helped hold spiritmus up, adn take her to the medbay again.
he listended to what starblaze said, he nodded in agreement, during his time he met a few bots with similar problems, but they never had any help, like this blazestorm. and he was always sadded when he had to bring in a bot like that. as well as there punishment dealt by the autobot council. he shook his head, a cold look entered his eyes, sometimes they could be so uncaring.
"....i can see how that could be problem, but as long as you stand by Blazestorm things should turn out all right despite any problems. most things take to time and i wouldn't expect this to be any different." he thought back to some of the bots he brought back "in any case she is lucky that she has, friends like you, and a second chance. i've met a few bots that have never had that chance."

[Spiritimus Prime]

"Aye," agreed Leohawk. "We were even lucky to come across the planet where the whole scene was going on. We were only passing by when Lady Spiritimus," he gestured to his commander, "suggested that we head down there to check it out. I could only agree while the rest followed without a hesitation. However, we soon realised we were heading into uncharted territory. Foolish as it was and very dangerous too, but we still went there."
Starblaze nodded again in agreement to Leohawk's words, but she said nothing more. She had answered the question, and it was now wise of her to be quiet now. Only Spiritimus or Leohawk could tell of Blazestorm's past since Starblaze had not been involved in the battle nor witnessed it. She'd heard not seen.
"You should go now," she said softly. "Spiritimus's patching can only hold for so long. It will only be a matter of time before her wounds will reopen again and she'll be back to Square.1. Do make haste, but go gently. She is already tired enough as she is."
Leohawk twitched a wing, but said nothing to tell Tracker that they should move. He did not need to be told twice anyway. The patches on Spiritimus's frame was slowly breaking into pieces, with all the movement she had done the patches would fall off and Tracker would have to repatch her injuries to continue the healing process, but it may be slower than ever.
"Let us go now, Tracker," he said to his companion, "I do believe we have wasted enough time for Lady Spiritimus."

[cypher]

He smiled. uncharted territory, such wonderfull places, dangerous yes, but you always learn something new.
Tracker nodded. "of course that goes without saying." and carefully made his way towards teh medbay, he seemed to being this a lot lately.