One Twisted Rabbit
G1 Movie: Let's just say that seeker trines do share a bond; unlike mating bonds, however, they can be broken without causing the others to perish as well. Unfortunately, the surviving trine mates tend to go a little odd as a result. When the injured seekers were tossed from Astrotrain during the return trip to Cybertron, Skywarp offlined fairly quickly afterward; Thundercracker was in bad enough shape that his condition deteriorated as a result and, in an effort to keep all three from falling one after the other, broke the link remaining between him and Starscream.
At the time it happened, Starscream was still running on the Cybertronian equivalent of adrenaline and didn't realize what had happened until after the argument on who would be the new leader started. The only one who noticed that the SIC went silent and odd was Astrotrain, who kept his own council until they got 'home'; then he conferred quickly with his fellow triple-changers when it became clear to them that the seeker was starting to suffer the effects of a broken trine bond. The triple-changers already had a plan of action ready to go by the time Galvatron and company arrived:
Octane took off for parts unknown with the almost-catatonic Starscream (the missing trine bond is detrimental and he's only getting worse).
Astrotrain and Blitzwing remained behind, keeping in contact with Octane somehow to let him know how things are going with the Decepticons while at the same time keeping track of Starscream's status.
Eventually Galvatron starts asking questions and sending one or another of his reformatted soldiers out in search of the two missing Decepticons. Yet every time they close in on Octane he takes off with the seeker again, and Scourge is trying to figure out why he needs to know what's going on regarding Starscream.
A. The closer they get to finding Octane and Starscream, more of his previous persona (Thundercracker) starts to awaken within Scourge. Severing the bond didn't destroy it entirely, and the part that still holds to the trine link is trying to reconnect with the remaining member of his wing; in the meantime, the more he's dragged away when the link starts to renew, the worse Starscream's condition gets. He's at the point of wanting to go offline but isn't able to due to Octane watching him so closely.
B. The missing trine bond causes Starscream to slowly become detached from the world. When Octane is checking in with the other triple-changers, someone (either rogue Autobot, neutral, or Decepticon bearing a grudge) attacks the seeker; Starscream only fights back out of instinct but doesn't seem to realize that it's actually happening. Octane returns in time to keep the attacker from killing Starscream, but not soon enough to prevent an unwanted merge. Oddly enough, shortly afterward Starscream begins to act somewhat like his old self. Octane doesn't realize that it is only because the seeker instinctively wants the spark he's now carrying to survive, whether he wants to remain online or not.
C. Some combination of both the previous routes; Scourge manages to track down Octane and Starscream after the attack, but rather than report back to Galvatron he finds himself keeping a silent watch on the pair without revealing his presence. Somehow the spark Starscream is carrying belonged to his fully-deactivated trine mate, who wasn't ready to go offline and chose to return in an effort to reunite the trine. Whether or not the Thundercracker persona fully overtakes Scourge is up for debate.
...no, I don't know where any of this came from. Apparently I need to stop drinking Dr. Pepper and doing Latin homework right before bed, because I think most of this crap I dreamed O.o
At the time it happened, Starscream was still running on the Cybertronian equivalent of adrenaline and didn't realize what had happened until after the argument on who would be the new leader started. The only one who noticed that the SIC went silent and odd was Astrotrain, who kept his own council until they got 'home'; then he conferred quickly with his fellow triple-changers when it became clear to them that the seeker was starting to suffer the effects of a broken trine bond. The triple-changers already had a plan of action ready to go by the time Galvatron and company arrived:
Octane took off for parts unknown with the almost-catatonic Starscream (the missing trine bond is detrimental and he's only getting worse).
Astrotrain and Blitzwing remained behind, keeping in contact with Octane somehow to let him know how things are going with the Decepticons while at the same time keeping track of Starscream's status.
Eventually Galvatron starts asking questions and sending one or another of his reformatted soldiers out in search of the two missing Decepticons. Yet every time they close in on Octane he takes off with the seeker again, and Scourge is trying to figure out why he needs to know what's going on regarding Starscream.
A. The closer they get to finding Octane and Starscream, more of his previous persona (Thundercracker) starts to awaken within Scourge. Severing the bond didn't destroy it entirely, and the part that still holds to the trine link is trying to reconnect with the remaining member of his wing; in the meantime, the more he's dragged away when the link starts to renew, the worse Starscream's condition gets. He's at the point of wanting to go offline but isn't able to due to Octane watching him so closely.
B. The missing trine bond causes Starscream to slowly become detached from the world. When Octane is checking in with the other triple-changers, someone (either rogue Autobot, neutral, or Decepticon bearing a grudge) attacks the seeker; Starscream only fights back out of instinct but doesn't seem to realize that it's actually happening. Octane returns in time to keep the attacker from killing Starscream, but not soon enough to prevent an unwanted merge. Oddly enough, shortly afterward Starscream begins to act somewhat like his old self. Octane doesn't realize that it is only because the seeker instinctively wants the spark he's now carrying to survive, whether he wants to remain online or not.
C. Some combination of both the previous routes; Scourge manages to track down Octane and Starscream after the attack, but rather than report back to Galvatron he finds himself keeping a silent watch on the pair without revealing his presence. Somehow the spark Starscream is carrying belonged to his fully-deactivated trine mate, who wasn't ready to go offline and chose to return in an effort to reunite the trine. Whether or not the Thundercracker persona fully overtakes Scourge is up for debate.
...no, I don't know where any of this came from. Apparently I need to stop drinking Dr. Pepper and doing Latin homework right before bed, because I think most of this crap I dreamed O.o