You Take His Place.
A/N: This is not an Easter story.
Rating: M
Summary: When Sam is captured by the Decepticons in retaliation for the death of Megatron and the destruction of the AllSpark, he has no idea what they have in store for him.
You Take His Place.
Sam was walking in the Mall- he had thought he wouldn't need Miles or Bumblebee's help to get a pint of milk, he'd just gone on his bike - and he was just going into the store when a pretty female police officer said to him "I'm new in the neighbourhood here, is this the best place for a soda and a sandwich?"
"You can buy it here, or there's a roadside diner a few blocks down where you can watch the street from the tables outside," said Sam, who had always been taught to be polite to police officers. It hadn't worked once, but this was different, lightning couldn't strike twice, could it?
"Oh, that sounds great, buy what you need and come back out and direct me, and I'll cruise over there in my prowl car." Sam got the milk and came out again and walked down the street with her, blushing awkwardly.
"You just go past that sign for Metroplex mall, two blocks down, and it's round the corner to the right. I have to get back, Mom's waiting for this, leastways,-" A strong hand grabbed him with a grip stronger than a girl of her frame should have had, and put him in the dark car.
"I've been working on my holoform" she said, her voice going deep and gravelly.
It was Barricade, and his holoform was very strong and solid- Sam had not suspected enough to notice the number of the car until it was too late.
He took Sam to a multi-storey car park and yanked him out before a dark blue security van and a blue-gray pickup, who both immediately transformed into two new monster robots.
Sam went pale and began to sweat. This was not good.
"Oh shit!" he said quietly.
"Meet my comrades, Payload and Dropkick," Barricade said "We are going to decide what to do with you to punish you for what you've done."
"Put him in a cell, chained up," said Payload.
"They don't have ghoulish dungeons nowadays," said Sam, "You taking me to Disneyland?" he asked with false bravado.
"They do at our base," said Payload with a deep laugh.
"Call Lord Starscream, let him punish him, we'll get a reward," said Dropkick.
"No, I want to make him suffer," said Barricade. "You destroyed the AllSpark, you killed Megatron, you take his place!"
Sam threw up his hands, a 'WTF?' expression on his face "How do you expect me to do that?"
"I don't know!" said Barricade, "That's your problem, not ours! You have to replace the AllSpark too!" Privately, Sam thought that that was a taller order than replacing Megatron, but he didn't dare say so.
"Chaining him up in a cell in our base will make him suffer, believe me," said Payload stubbornly, "My ideas are always being ignored!"
"I'm going to call Lord Starscream anyway!" said Dropkick, determined to get his reward.
"Lord Starscream? He has no right to that title, at least Megatron was Lord Protector, Starscream would not be leader if this fleshbag had not pushed the AllSpark in Megatron's chest!" said Payload sarcastically, indicating Sam with a blue hand.
Dropkick looked wildly from side to side as if he expected Starscream to appear and blast Payload, pointing at him with a trembling gray clawed metal digit. "He would exterminate you as a traitor if he heard that!"
In the base it might have won some backup, but Barricade was the dominant mech here.
"Shut your vocal processor! He speaks sense! Taking him to the base is a good idea, but not chained up in a cell! Not Yet!" His last words were particularly loud, evil and threatening.
Payload's red optics flashed in triumph.
Sam tried to dodge away, although there was not really much point, they were all bigger than him, and even if the two new ones weren't more intelligent and agile, they' d been in this war far longer than he had. A long grappling hand came out of the dark blue Decepticon's chest, scooped him up, and put him in Barricade's open door as he quickly transformed. The other two transformed in a fast if less graceful manner, and took off after Barricade, leaving Sam trying to put on his seat belt to be safe in the speeding police car.
They got to the base and took him to a room with banks of consoles and little twinkling lights. In the middle of the room was a massive chair made of junk, also with lights and buttons on the arms.
"When we landed here 3 years ago to find the AllSpark and Lord Megatron, Blackout and I secretly gathered material to make a throne for him. Since then this control room has been constructed. Starscream won't use it. He prefers to fly round telling us to do things or sprawl in the big hangar with Thundercracker and Skywarp. Soundwave won't use it either, he prefers to use the much smaller Communications Control room, with computer help patched in by Frenzy, whom he just managed to repair when he came here. He says it uses far less power to do that. Sit and Command!" He dumped Sam unceremoniously onto the throne.
It was cold, and a sweaty frightened Sam had to control his bladder to avoid making Megatron's throne wet. He looked round for a big red self-destruct button, but there wasn't one.
Taking a big breath of air, seeing a possible way to save the situation, he said, "I'm not normally the guy to go for saving the planet, Miles does that, but your friend Soundwave is right, it's logical, you're on a planet of finite resources here, and you need all the fuel you can save. If this base can be controlled from the smaller room with less power expended, let him do it!"
"No trying to get out of it!" hissed Barricade "I know Soundwave is logical!"
"Unfortunately Starscream is leader!" said Dropkick. "He rules the skies, and will destroy your miserable planet with fire, or take over all your war machines and make the humans do all the power-providing in prison camp factories!" He had dropped the use of "Lord", since it annoyed Barricade, but the new Decepticon leader's name seemed to upset this little squishy, and he was happy to show him humans were no longer the most powerful species on this planet. He checked his subspace for a weapon that would be menacing but not instantly destroy, and quietly commed Starscream anyway. This was going to be fun, and he should be here to see it.
Starscream commed back that he'd be there instantly.
Payload had been looking under the consoles for conventional humiliating stuff though. He found a red blanket looted from an ambulance.
"I believe the Kings on this planet wear royal cloaks!" Payload said, putting it round Sam's shoulders with exaggerated obsequiousness, "and you couldn't wield any of Megatron's weapons, but here's a ball and chain that's more conveniently your size!" He took out one of a pair of shackles they'd made in case a human had to be tied up here and not in a cell and put the chain by Sam's hand, laughing.
Dropkick had found what he wanted, a melee weapon he'd brought from Cybertron. It looked like a metal stick with a jewel-like button.
"Are you gonna fight me with a lightsaber?" asked Sam nervously.
"No, this is an energon whip!" said Dropkick, as a crackle of pink lightning lanced out of one end and arced towards the vulnerable human's unprotected shoulders.