An OC Request by @littletusk1 (Above picture is made by said Transformers fan)

Staring: Hellfire

Takes place in the Transformers: Armada TV series

/~\

         "I'm just not feeling the beat-" Hellfire growled, pushing his guitar to the side as he stared at the ground. The dirt was covered in scribbles and crossed out notes, none of the cords sounding right as he pieced together the chorus of his next hit single- well, it would be his next hit single, if he had a band. "Come on," he picked his guitar back up, hugging it lightly as he stared into the trees, "We haven't been stuck like this since before the war started, don't do me dirty in the middle of it."

He received no answer, so began to tickle the guitar strings in a familiar rhythm, hoping another song would bring him out of his creative stump. 

     Another hour passed by and he realized he was going nowhere, just picking at the strings in boredom before slinging the instrument over his shoulder and heading back towards the rendezvous point he was informed of two hours earlier. He wasn't late, just had time to kill and Optimus Prime told him it would be better to check in with them elsewhere. It wasn't hard to have time to spare when on patrol, and he had the shortest route. Hellfire betrayed his guitar as he strummed the air, the cheesy noises of a false guitar leaving his derma- until a low grown hit his sensitive audio. 

         "That was not the sound of my audience after a hangover-" he noted the obvious, as there was supposed to be no one around. 

     Taking a detour from his original destination, the mech peered down the cliffside curiously, staying low in case any sign of a trap reared it's ugly helm. He raised an optic brow when he saw an infamous Decepticon: Demolisher. He seemed out cold, or at least out of it as the bigger mech groaned in pain. Hellfire looked around, hoping an Autobot would just randomly appear as they always seemed to do for the 'Cons. Alas, as the cliché goes, no such miracle occurred. Hellfire was running solo.

         "Let's go break a drum stick," he crept his way down the cliff, careful of loose rocks and keeping a close optic on Demolisher. The ten ton weight seemed dead, but the occasional twitch proved that theory wrong. "Dang- That's a failed stage dive-" 

He looked up, shivering at the height.

     Hellfire inspected the enemy at a fair distance, feeling like he was stalling, hoping for someone to come find him, just not another Decepticon... Both factions were a no-show, of course, and he took the risky decision of shoveling the behemoth from the rocks, careful not to wake him up. It was a slow process, but Hellfire soon had him dragged into a cave where he took a rest from the afternoon sun. It was hot, but what made it unbearable was the humidity of this climate. It fries the circuits from all the moisture.

         "You're lucky I'm not Hot Shot," Hellfire huffed, though the passed out Decepticon didn't hear him.

     The mech was tempted to just let him bleed- but his conscience wouldn't let him. Still careful not to wake the pained 'Con he started to patch him up with the help of his three minicon friends who came together to create his guitar. They patched the more life threatening wounds, but the lesser scratches they left so it appeared like he at least got hurt- Hellfire hoped it made Demolisher less likely to be beaten by the feared Megatron. An unlikely thought, he knew, but might as well give the mech a sporting chance.

         "I think that's all we can do for him, femmes and gentlemechs," Hellfire winced as his stiff joints straightened, standing up. His chain piercing jingled on his helm, the others far quieter that dotted his faceplate when he stretched his arms above him. He took slow, lazy steps out the cave entrance, standing in the cooler sun that was finally dipping down. He was definitely late to that rendezvous now. 

         "Come on, I need my three amigos to back me up when Redalert tries to burp in my symphony." He sighed, the three minicons coming together to form his purple and orange guitar, matching his paint job. 

     Behind him, Demolisher began to awaken, only getting a glimpse of this stranger with a guitar before the mech transformed and disappeared in the form of a Harley Davidson Soft Tail, the larger than life guitar attached like a shield at his side. The heavy mech groaned as he stood, only remembering Starscream claiming he needed to check something before shooting the cliffside out from under him. So how did he get here? His optics widened.

         "More Decepticon troops!" He grinned, and instead of looking for the Autobots, which he was sent to do, Demolisher was transported back to the Decepticon Lunar Base.

     Now several days flashed by, Hellfire still stumped over his chorus as he strummed the strings again. Not the right cord, not the right tune, not the right tempo then not the right lyrics. He had forgotten about his run-in with Demolisher, more focused on finishing his song. Hot Rod had made a bet with him, claiming Hellfire was burnt-out, old news, just another retired one-hit-wonder soloist without the wherewithal to find a band. But he wasn't that, he couldn't be- He aimed higher than that.

         "Come on- guys what's wrong with us?" he whined, flopping onto the ground, a movement which shook the trees around them in the clearing, "We did it on our own before, we can do it again, right? At least until we find a band."

Their silence unsettled him.

         "We have everything else perfect. We skipped the chorus and now that's all that's left-" He sat back up. More scribbles dotted the ground, much like the previous spot, which he had to go back and cover up before a human decided to go hiking and see giant alien song lyrics. Hellfire took up the guitar again, playing the first cord to get in tune before singing the lyrics.

         "Deserted and lonely the phantom mech walks-

         Alone on the highway of stars.

         His phantom spark pulling towards home he treads-

         Alone on the highway of stars."

It seemed well enough- 

         "But the rest of the song rhymes!" Hellfire realized, scratching out his new lyrics like so many other chorus's before. He was about to get up when the rustling of leaves and the dangerous voice of Demolisher spoke through the faint breeze.

         "Why does it have to rhyme?"

     Hellfire screeched, rolling to the far end of the clearing before standing up to fight, and Demolisher failed to recognize him as an Autobot, the purple and fiery orange rock star's fisted servos hiding the symbol.

         "Didn't mean to scare you- though that was amusing." 

         "What do you want?" Hellfire spat.

         "To tell you Megatron wishes an audience with the mech who saved his loyal servant's spark," Demolisher stood proudly, "Any bot willing to heal a Decepticon, must be an equally as loyal Decepticon himself."

Hellfire would have paled, but since his metal features didn't allow this show of emotion, he just stared with a mild amount of confusion and surprise.

         "Uh- I think you got the wrong bot stagehand-" he crossed his arms over his chest plating to keep his faction secret.

         "Of course not, I may have only seen you for a mere second, but I recognize that instrument you so oddly argued with." He pointed at the six string on his back, and for once the Autobot wished he hadn't taken them along-

         "Why did I have to be the chicken in the crowd?" he winced, "Look stage diver, I don't know what drugs your on, but I didn't save you. I just dragged you into a cave and left."

         "But, my wounds-"

         "Were nowhere near life threatening," he lied, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a song to write."

He took his guitar from his back, knowing the Autobot symbol at it's base would give him away, but Demolisher's next words stopped him for a moment.

         "Why does it have to rhyme though?" His simple processor was stumped, "Why not be... I think the word is, spontaneous?"

         "Nice big word," Hellfire chuckled, smirking, "Nice advise too... Maybe I'll see you around? Every Rockstar needs a loyal audience." The mech glanced back at the other, who held an equally as cocky air.

         "I'll inform Megatron of the neutral party."

         "You do that, Stage Diver."

/~\

Hope you enjoyed! I tried to put some music and rock star terms in there. Just a sprinkling. 

The 'chicken' reference is from an Alice Cooper concert. It is said that an audience member threw a chicken on stage, to which Cooper threw back and the chicken was then torn apart violently by the audience.