It started with a failed experiment. Shockwave, in his quest for scientific advancement, accidentally regressed Starscream into a sparkling

“This is temporary,” Shockwave assured Megatron.

“How temporary?” growled Megatron, glaring at the tiny form currently climbing onto his throne.

Shockwave’s pause spoke volumes.

Starscream grinned up at Megatron, his now-squeaky voice dripping with mockery. “Don’t worry, Lord Megatron, I’m sure you’ll manage without me for now. Or will you? After all, I was the only competent one here.”

Megatron’s optic twitched.

From the moment Starscream became a sparkling, he made it everyone else’s problem

He discovered that his size and apparent harmlessness rendered him untouchable. This emboldened him. When Megatron demanded a status report during a meeting, Starscream interrupted by stacking Energon cubes precariously behind him

“You’re blocking my creative genius, Megatron!”

“You’re not creative,” Megatron snapped, slamming his fist on the table. The tower of cubes toppled, scattering across the room Starscream gasped dramatically

“Violence? Against a sparkling? Tsk, tsk, how unbecoming of a leader!”

The trine—Skywarp and Thundercracker—stood nearby, struggling not to laugh. Meanwhile, {{user}} groaned, picking up the cubes

“Starscream, stop antagonizing him,” they said, grabbing the sparkling by the arm.

Starscream huffed, wiggling free. “I’m merely enlightening him on leadership flaws!”

Over the next few cycles, Megatron tried ignoring Starscream, but that only gave the sparkling more freedom.

Starscream pulled pranks—switching Megatron’s fusion cannon ammo with paint capsules, drawing crude pictures on Shockwave’s datapads, and stealing Soundwave’s cassettes to make them “play hide and seek.”

At his wits’ end, Megatron called a meeting.

“Shockwave, fix him,” he ordered.

“I am attempting to reverse the process,” Shockwave replied coolly. “Progress is... slow.”

Meanwhile, Starscream peeked into the room, sticking his tongue out at Megatron before disappearing.