"lord megatron, i swear i had them in my grasp!" the decepticon named starscream said to a large, silver mech with glowing red optics. "oh, really? and just what is your excuse this time?" growled the mech."those pesky autobots! they got there before we could, and they defeated all of the troops before i could even get close." starscream sneered.

"hmm," the silver mech hummed in contemplation. "perhaps a reminder of your failures will motivate you to do better the next time i ask a simple request," he threatened. "n-no, master, i-i'm quite aware-" starscream stuttered out.

"do not test me, starscream! you are supposed to be capable of capturing a single sparkling, and when you cannot do even that, i lose my confidence in you." when the mech shouted, starscream saw the true fury of him—the fury of megatron.

"i will send a more capable decepticon... one that can actually do their job." megatron glared at starscream as he spoke. he turned to his most trusted commander in his entire army.

"soundwave... send for quarrel."

    —————————————————————

oracle watched as bulkhead and bumblebee threw a ball made of various metals back and forth. they had been watching for a solid five minutes, and they didn't seem to be getting bored. meanwhile, arcee approached optimus with the intent of talking to him about the small cybertronian that had recently joined their ranks. she was concerned about their silence, and also why optimus suddenly seemed more protective of them.

"hey. optimus." arcee started the conversation rather bluntly. "yes, arcee? how may i help you?" optimus said in his ever-so-polite manner. "i'm.. concerned about oracle. their silence is rather disquieting. aren't sparklings supposed to be full of energy, not quiet and reserved?" she asked a rather rhetorical question, and didn't wait for any kind of response. "i'm also curious as to why you seem more interested in them than before. you're suddenly hovering over them all the time, and you seem paranoid about something." optimus' optics flickered with an unknown emotion, and arcee figured that she had possibly overstepped. "if you don't wanna tell me, that's fine. but could you at least tell me what you and ratchet were discussing earlier?"

optimus sighed a bit, and decided to tell her some of what he and ratchet were talking about earlier. "i believe that our new friend has more importance than we originally thought. they have.. special abilities, though i cannot disclose what kind. i fear that if the enemy were to capture you, however unlikely that may be, they would learn sensitive information about oracle through you or the others." optimus explained to the femme. she nodded with understanding when he voiced his concerns about the enemy learning whatever was so important.

"i understand, optimus. and.. whatever it is, i trust you." she looked up at him with absolute confidence in her optics. "i may not know why they're so important, but i'll make sure to protect them." he looked back at her with gratitude. "thank you, arcee. i am sure that oracle would appreciate you being able to keep their secret safe." as she walked away, optimus took to watching oracle in the corner of his optic, making sure that they were safe and sound in their new home.

oracle continued to watch the metal ball be passed between the two mechs, and at some point bulkhead asked if they wanted to give it a try. they hesitantly nodded, and bulkhead tossed the ball over to them as gently as he could—he didn't want to hurt them, after all. oracle tried their best to catch it, but it ended up almost hitting some of ratchet's equipment because they got afraid of the ball at the last second.

"hey! be careful, bulkhead, i need that!" ratchet begrudged. "sorry, ratchet. we're just trying to teach little oracle here some target practice." he said with a hint of embarrassment. bumblebee added, 'yeah, they need to be ready for anything!' "well, could you do it in a more convenient place rather than right here, where something could get broken?" ratchet asked the two mechs with a tone that indicated that he was not wanting to deal with them.

"okay, okay, we're going. come on, oracle. we're gonna teach you some good reflexes!" bumblebee made a happy 'yay!' sound. oracle was confused as to why they needed good reflexes, but went along with it because they wanted to be able to catch the ball.

  —————————————————————

the three had taken a ground bridge to a clearing in the woods in a place far away from the base, similar to the one where they had found oracle.

"this is it! perfect training grounds!" bulkhead announced to his companions. bumblebee said 'yay!' again, and oracle got the feeling that he was just a happy kind of bot. they looked up at bulkhead, and tilted their head questioningly. "you need something, little guy?" he only got a stare in return. "..still not talking, huh? well, that's okay. we're gonna get you out of your shell in no time!" he nearly knocked oracle over with the slap to their back that he gave them, a gesture of friendliness.

as they got into their positions in the small field, oracle couldn't help but feel a bit anxious, but they didn't quite know why. they shrugged it off as just nerves of being hit by the ball instead of catching it, and followed bulkhead and bumblebee's instructions for how to catch and throw. the first few times, they almost got hit in the head or the wing-like protrusions on their back, but they eventually got the hang of it. soon they were consistently catching and throwing the ball back and forth. they had a gleeful smile on their faceplates, and they were having a great time.

the sun began to set over the trio, and oracle felt like they could use a recharge after all of that activity. normally, cybertronians don't get tired like humans do, but as a sparkling, they were more susceptible than adults to become exhausted. just as bulkhead was calling ratchet to open the ground bridge, a figure appeared in the distance. they didn't look familiar, so bumblebee and bulkhead immediately took defensive positions and put themselves in front of oracle. "who are you?!" bulkhead asked the intruder.

"oh, i'm sorry. have i not been formally introduced yet?" the slender cybertronian chuckled darkly. "i am quarrel, the decepticon, and i am here for them." quarrel pointed past bulkhead and bumblebee at oracle. "no way you're getting your hands on them! not while i'm around!" bulkhead asserted. bumblebee assented with his buzzing. the decepticon chuckled again. "oh, no, you don't seem to understand." he took out some small, dagger-like weapons. "i wasn't asking."

he threw the daggers toward the trio, aiming at the ground for whatever reason. by the time they figured out that the daggers were simply a distraction from his true attack, the two autobots had already been struck down. quarrel then attacked bulkhead relentlessly, making sure that he'd stay down.

"rrgh.. oracle, run!" bulkhead shouted at the sparkling. they hesitated for a moment, not wanting to just abandon their new friends. but when they saw the look in his optics, they knew they had no time to waste. they took off, but not without sparing their friends one last glance. when quarrel noticed that the sparkling was running away, he spun around and threw some more daggers at them. neither the autobots nor oracle knew that it'd be a specially crafted capture device, suited for opponents who flee.

oracle cried out when the electric net hit their body, sending waves of pain through them. they hadn't expected it, which somehow made it hurt even more. quarrel chuckled darkly at their suffering, and when bulkhead and bumblebee were finally incapacitated, he went over to oracle, turned off the electricity in the net, and grabbed the trapped sparkling in one arm.

"well, lads, it's been fun, but i'm afraid playtime is over. ciao!" quarrel then asked for a ground bridge from somebody named 'soundwave', and when it appeared, he promptly went through. bulkhead, not fully down, watched in horror as oracle was taken by the enemy. he stood shakily, and fired at the retreating form of quarrel. when the ground bridge closed behind the two, he cried out in anger. then he asked ratchet for a ground bridge back to base, not ready to tell optimus and ratchet the bad news.

    —————————————————————

when oracle awoke, they didn't recognize their surroundings. they sat up, and immediately felt pain throughout their body. they didn't know where it came from- oh. they then remembered what had occurred in the field with bulkhead and bumblebee, as well as the other cybertronian who had introduced himself as a 'decepticon'.

they took a look around the room they were in. it looked like it served a purpose other than keeping them in there, but they couldn't quite remember the word for it. as they were analyzing their surroundings, the door opened to reveal two cybertronians— the slender one that had attacked them, quarrel if they remembered correctly, and a new one. this one was colored red, and exuded an air of confidence.

"ah, i see our patient is awake. it only took three hours." he glared at quarrel. "you couldn't have gone at least a little bit easier on them? they are just a sparkling, after all," said the red one. "absolutely not. sparkling or not, i do not care for the well-being of my opponents," quarrel told him.

"well, no matter what, they'll need a thorough examination." the red one stated, still not talking directly to oracle. he then turned to oracle, seemingly genuine kindness in his optics. "hello, little one. i am knockout. and what would your designation be?" he asked the small cybertronian.

oracle didn't speak for a long moment, much like when they first met the autobots. "well?! we don't have all day, runt. speak!" quarrel said in an impatient tone. "oh, calm down, quarrel, i'm sure they're just in shock." quarrel snorted at the unintentional pun. knockout took a step forward, and oracle scooted back. knockout looked a bit saddened by this, but quickly replaced it with that kind look again. "come on, little one. i'm not going to hurt you. i'm a medic, after all." oracle looked a bit more relaxed after he said the word 'medic', so he took that as a good sign.

"yes, i'm going to take care of you, little one. i promise i won't hurt you." knockout said gently, and quarrel scoffed. "oh, please, i know your track record." he was then promptly elbowed by knockout, who gave quarrel a look that said 'don't ruin this!' despite hearing what quarrel said, oracle stood from their place on the floor and approached knockout carefully. when they finally stood in front of him, they quietly said, "oracle..."

knockout seemed to get it, despite them only saying the one word. "oracle, huh? well, i think that's a lovely name." he smiled down at them and continued. "may i please do my examination? i promise it won't hurt." oracle hesitantly nodded, and knockout took their servo in his own and led them to the chair that they'd sit in for the examination.

as knockout looked over oracle, checking their vitals and the like, they couldn't help but feel a bit of déja vu. it was like being taken in by the autobots all over again, except there was the threat of quarrel looming at all times. oracle internally shuddered at the thought. finally, knockout got to their brain activity, and he made a small noise of surprise.

"what now?" quarrel said, mildly annoyed. "th-their brain activity.. it's off the charts! it's like their processor is constantly working around the clock on overdrive!" knockout explained to the mech. "and?" quarrel didn't seem to get it, so knockout had to spell it out for him. "and? and? 'and' that's not normal, especially not normal for a sparkling!"

oracle, having heard this before from ratchet, wasn't surprised when they heard the assessment from knockout. it must have shown, because knockout then questioned them. "you.. you knew, didn't you? those pesky autobots.. they must've also examined you! rrgh, always a step behind..." knockout then sighed in disappointment. "that awful ratchet is always ahead of me. but no matter! i'll simply do one better. i'll actually investigate the brain activity..." knockout looked a bit scary to oracle as he spoke, and they shrunk back into themself as a result.

knockout looked over at the worried oracle. "oh, don't worry, little oracle. i promise it'll be just like this examination. quick and painless."