Thirst (Transformers: Prime)

Opening

 * (episode begins showing the Nemesis warship flying as lightning crashes in the sky; we see Starscream and Knockout in Knockout's lab)
 * Starscream: (groans) Will my torment never end?! First I had to vie for Megatron's favor against that treacherous harpy Airachnid. Now I must contend with Shockwave and his incorrigible beast.
 * Knockout: Oh, look on the bright side, Starscream. At least one of them is currently on ice, locked up tight in the vault of our warship.
 * Starscream: How I would love to stuff Shockwave and his mangy abomination right into that stasis pod beside her. The only reason his project Predacon is currently in full swing is because I supervised the acquisition of his dozens of Predacon bones. (Cylas is heard moaning) Will you please keep your lab rat quiet while I'm airing my grievances?
 * (we then see Cylas, still housed in Breakdown's body and trapped in Knockout's table)
 * Cylas: (choking weakly) Starscream... help... me.
 * Starscream: (laughs) My, my, my. Whatever have you been inflicting upon poor Cylas?
 * Knockout: Ha! Well, anything that merits the need for a living petri dish. (injects Cylas with a derivative of the Synthetic Energon, making Brekdown's eyes turn green and Cylas feels the Energon channeling through him)
 * Starscream: Despite your justifiable lack of regard for his human side, it doesn't trouble you to watch what remains of your former partner endure your scientific endeavors?
 * Knockout: Not really. Besides, Cylas once had poor Breakdown pinned to his lab table. I think my former partner would be pleased to be a part.
 * (Cylas continues trying to fight back until he passes out)
 * Starscream: What just happened?
 * Knockout: You recall that synthetic Energon I recovered from the Autobots? Well, I've been reproducing the formula to test its viability as an alternative energy source. However, the compound remains erratic, and there have been side effects.
 * Starscream: Such as...?
 * Cylas: (suddenly wakes up roaring violently) Starscream, I hope you replaced your T-cog, because I'm going to tear it out all over again and feed it to Knockout!!
 * Knockout: Sheer, unbridled aggression.
 * Starscream: Such power and fury! Megatron has long desired a beast-machine supersoldier, and we now possess the means of delivering one to him.
 * (scene fades out for opening sequence)

Act 1

 * (we see Megatron in the command center contacting Shockwave)
 * Megatron: Tell me of the Predacon protoforms. What is the status of their incubation? (he overhears Shockwave's reports) Mm-hmm. Uh-huh.
 * Starscream: (coming by) Master, if I do say so myself, I have made the most intriguing discovery.

It appears that...
 * Megatron: (interrupts) Not now! Please continue, Shockwave. No, no one important.
 * (Starscream walks off frustrated)
 * Knockout: Did you speak with our liege about our little enterprise?
 * Starscream: He was otherwise engaged.
 * (they return to Knockout's lab, where Cylas is even more berserk)
 * Cylas: RRAAAAAAAAAAHH!!! OH, I AM GONNA MAKE YOU SUFFER IN WAYS YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE!!!
 * Starscream: Just how much of this synth en have you given him?
 * Knockout: Two additional doses, three at the most. But Cylas' increasingly volatile nature isn't the only wrinkle. (injects one more dose) It appears that the more green stuff I administer, the faster this monstrosity formerly known as Breakdown burns through his own natural Energon reserves.
 * Starscream: This will not do! Megatron already possesses one unruly beast, with that Predacon of his! What good is another freak of nature that cannot be controlled? (pauses and gets an idea) Wait! (smiles) I'm a fool.
 * (scene cuts to Starscream's plan)
 * Knockout: Dark Energon?! You are more than a fool, Starscream! I think your neural cluster has blown a massive fuse!
 * Starscream: Oh, on the contrary, dear Doctor.

Adding Dark Energon to the formula should provide Lord Megatron with full control over his supersoldier.
 * Knockout: Okay. True that lord Megatron seems to possess a symbiotic link to anyone or thing infused with the dark matter, allowing him to manipulate them as if they were puppets, but... have you forgotten what the so-called "Blood of Unicron" did to our warship?
 * Starscream: That was the result of a massive infusion. I am suggesting a drop or two merely enough to allow our Master to command his warrior at will.
 * Knockout: Even so, it's too drastic a measure to undertake without Shockwave's approval. I do, after all, report to him.
 * Starscream: Not on this project! Supersoldiers fall under military operations, meaning, dear Knockout, that you now report to me.

Are we clear?
 * (next, Knockout has a capsule filled with Dark Energon and injects Cylas with it)
 * Knockout: (as Cylas continues struggling) Wait for it... (then, Cylas powers down again)
 * Starscream: (irritated) Humans in any form cannot be relied upon.
 * (but then, Cylas reanimates snarling in rage)
 * Knockout: It's alive! (soon, Cylas begins breaking out of the table)
 * Starscream: (he is hit by Cylas towards a wall) Scrap! (Cylas fully breaks free, but lays down on his knees) Oh, for the love of... now what?!
 * Knockout: I tried to tell you before it's a side effect of the Synth-En. He's burned through his own natural reserves.
 * Starscream: (worriedly) Then perhaps we should withhold any infusions for a while. Might calm Cylas down a bit, make him a tad more manageable.
 * Cylas: Need... Energon. (his upper teeth become fangs and his lower jaw splits into monstrous mandibles which have veins of Dark Energon on the inside and a long, bladed proboscis emerges)