"You are a failure!" The words were bellowed in his face. Each syllable falling forth lined with razors and distaste. "You are nothing but a pathetic excuse of a wretch!"

Clang!

The room resounded with the clatter of his frame colliding with the wall.

"Useless!"

Crack!

A hefty kick to his middle.

"I fail to see the reason why I keep you active anymore!"

Snap!

The foot came down again and he felt a portion of his wing shatter.

This was how the beating went on. Insults and injury mounted upon one another and forcefully lobed at the creature upon the floor. The broken mech who's screams died away long ago, who's optics were dark as he retreated into his mind as best he could and faceplates stained with streaks of coolant and the very energon he spilled now. The one who simply lay as still and complacent as a rag doll through the whole ordeal because the fight had long since run out.

In the darkness of his mind though, where the hits were only bothersome, distanced noises and the pain was over written by a sweet self produced Novocaine of time, a mass cacophony of upheaval was at work. Shrieks or protest fell together with wailing in disjointed harmony.

Cries of outrage rang up with every insult and softly cascading sobbing filled the shadows at every blow landed. This was the world of noise the seeker was immersed in and still so distant from. Truthfully he couldn't even recollect if any true thought had ever passed through his mind before or if it had always simply been this orchestra of sorrow.

It hardly mattered to the battered creature at the moment though. For with the noise the mech atleast kept his mind away from the mounting pain and flare of warnings within his processors view.

He was able to rest easily with his twisted lullaby among the howling of his thoughts. For so long it continued until all at once everything halted. The noise faded, no, all the screams and wailing and moaning did not fade it halted. Within a single moment his lulling cacophony was torn away and leaving him in the thick silence of it all. It left the battered creature floating in a cradle of tar, audios smothered and seemingly all senses dampened in the mass.

It was often this happened. His lullaby was clipped and he was pushed up through the cloudy and still depths of the storms decline back into the waking world once more by the same forceful hand who plunged him beneath the surface.

This time was different though...

When the noise was silenced and he was pulled above his systems cycled harshly, calling for air they seemed to deprive themselves in that time. There was always a rush of color and light and pain, as if one were waking from a nightmare. Or better, being plunged into a fresh Hell.

This time though there was no influx of sensory information. Apart from a single portal viewing the murky outside world. It was by this window he could see out to the room he would normally gaze upon, to see his leader turn his back and strode off. Though the light of the throne chamber did not pierce his optics with it's usual needles nor did his head pound with the thunder of Megatron's stride, and fascination took him for the briefest of moments to allow him to wonder how he could see out but still be free of the burden of awakening.

No he couldn't truly be awake... but than if he was not than where was the comfort of his chorus while he hid away in forced slumber? Where were the caterwauls of his dreams, those that called to him even while images played through his wary processor? If he were dreaming than why of such a bland image as this repeated scene?

A tumult of questions flooded his already strained CPU, though all through out a befuddling wave of calm stayed with him. Keeping him at bay for all he did. As if a sedative to allow only the softest of pleasant emotions to touch him in his limbo had been injected through his lines and left him to his world.

And one emotion that gained allowance into the seeker's conscious, or subconscious as it may stand, was curiosity as, before his own optics, the screen into the world began to move.

"Pathetic." Megatron wrinkled his olfactory at the sight of his second laying so still. The tyrant knew for fact that he had not pushed the seeker to deactivation though the mess before him now was larger than normal and to the untrained optic would suggest otherwise. It was all only fitting though.

One of the greatest plans to date had gone awry in the heat of battle. The blunder could have been the key to his victory in the right angle if not for his lieutenants insufferable ways! In only fitting manner the silver war lord had doled out punishment to meet the situation appropriately and had made clear just were Starscream stood in the chain and where he was to continue to reside.

With a sharp movement he turned on his heal and strode in favor to his throne, already his communications link with his third opening.

Soundwave!

Soundwave: reporting. What is it my liege?

Make note to come by here later and clean up this mess on the floor and have him sent to the medbay.

Affirmative. Is that all Lord Megatron?

Yes. Carry on.

With those clipped words Megatron cut his link and thanked the high heavens there was to be at least a single competent mech aboard his ship. He never had to punish Soundwave, nor did he ever have reason to doubt his thirds loyalty as he did his seconds. It was all a mockery to the system of command how he let Starscream by with so much and..

The internal rant was cut off quite abruptly as the large mech hit the floor just before his throne.

A growl of confusion and pain ripped it's way out of his vocalizer as he pushed his weight up onto his arms and looked down to the steadily pooling energon that leaked from his destroyed knee. The wound itself still burned and crackled from the energy of the apparent shot that hit it that had left most of the internal structure blooming outwards. It was a shot that took enormous accuracy and would be pride worthy if not directed towards the leader.

"Who is th-" His speech now was clipped with another ragged growl, boarding on howl, of pain as a secondary shot rang forth and pierced the hull of his right shoulder strut. It ripped through the infrastructure and tore into the inner workings with cold efficacy. The exit wound blossomed forth with wires and metal and wept fresh energon and oil to add to the mess upon the floor. Ruby optics were frantically searching the room, his whole frame turning over to keep his back to a firm surface.

Barley a moment passed after that before more shots followed. Piercing his left bicep and the thigh of his uninjured leg. It was then he saw his attacker. Nullray held firm and steady, once crimson optics nothing more then dark chips of ice stained with dried blood.

"STARSCREAM! What is the meaning of this you insolent fool?"

Normally the incoherent shrieks of rage and cried disillusions of power and hate that would spill forth in an audio piercing level did not come. Neither did the stony visage change as the beaten mech rose to his pedes, completely ignoring all the wounds that had been inflicted as he didn't even quake when he rose, and leveled the bland look down at Megatron.

"Answer me you coward! What is the meaning of this!"

The bellow went unheeded as the broken seeker knelt amongst the scraps and shards of his wing and grasped a single narrow sliver, holding it firm within his palm and looking upon it with defined intent, before righting himself to full height and crossing the floor with an unwavering gait.

All the while Megatron continued to rant and roar and rave at his second who only continued to ignore him up to the point Starscream stood right above his leader. With no time wasted a volley of vivid ion rays lit up the room, lining shots up and down the tyrants limbs and leaving them nothing more than a bloodied mangled mess.

Leaving the proud warlord immobile. Vulnerable.

All the while looking on with not a crack of a smile nor sneer nor even an amused flicker of his optics. Simply doing this job as any other might as they looked upon a malformation in the floor.

So uncaring and indifferent.

What is all this? Megatron thought in growing panic. This was not the norm. This was far from the classic routine he had built over vorns. Starscream may leap from a light beating and shoot off insults towards his leader, running his glossa in sheer indignation of it all and earning himself more trouble, or take a poorly aimed pot shot, to blinded mostly by whatever fluids or emotions that clouded his gaze to properly hit anything, though nothing like this should even be possible! After such a thrashing the second in command should lay until Soundwave came, and if indeed he woke he should not have the energy to aim, let alone stand, nor the coherence and capacity to cleanly immobilize his leader.

This was something far darker. Something unreal. This wasn't Starscream.

The cold opticed .. thing.. wasn't Starscream and right now he was at it's mercy.

He watched as the seeker perched upon the larger mech's waist, straddling his abdomen as one would a steer or common animal to keep them still, before setting to work.

Blade held firm Starscream lifted his fist and plunged it into the armor. The sliver of shattered metal, with it's jagged and sharp edges, worked as well as a blade as he hacked again and again into the mech's hide with efficient pace. Only when the wing shard shattered itself did the ruby and cerulean seeker begin to tear back strip after strip of metal shielding. He paid no heed to how he tore at neural arrays, nor how lines busted and chunks of dermal plating began to come up with the strips.

Starscream only cared for his task, that, it seemed, being to eviscerate the mech below him.

Pain was running wild in his systems. His lines were on fire, each node and connection flaring and screaming in protest, each wire and tube and hydraulic whining and tugging and twisting with an urge for their master to rise and fend off his assailant. Though each were denied.

With the pain occupying so much of his thoughts he couldn't eve dream to online his emergency communications. So he resorted to near unintelligible bellowing for his third which simply melted into incomprehensible cries of pain and animalistic outbursts.

It was like viewing one of the inane thrillers Skywarp and others of the Nemesis crew adored while having the screen muted. The silent viewer remained within his suspended haven, continuing to watch with disturbing peace as Megatron was brought to a halt. How the mighty leader was torn into so easily. How the energon ran so freely and the tyrant's face contorted.

Starscream could only marvel. He tried to feel disgust at how what appeared to be his own hand had rid Megatron of most of his armor and now tore free servo after servo full of dermal plating and entrails. To maybe even wrinkle his olfactory as the sight of the elder choking on thick masses of oil and energon.

The attempts had all failed.

He then tried to feel the glee over winning out over his tormentor. To be amused at his pain. To relish in the fact that no longer would he fall before the silver behemoths servo and no more would he be forced under his orders.

The most this brought around was a mild sense of pleasure. Nothing but a prickle.

Again it was disturbing to be such a way. Frustrating, frightening even, to stay so calm. At least it would be if he could feel any of those emotions that he had once thought so superfluous.

His brooding was once more disturbed by sudden light and full astonishment on his part. On his silent screen to the outside world lay the image of something thought to have not existed.

A glowing essence, a miniature sun ensconced within the housing of it's owner.

Megatron's spark.

"Boss wait!" Rumble cried as he thundered after Soundwave.

"Hey what's up?" Frenzy howled as he kept pace with his brother.

Both twins and the other cassettes that had not been recalled yet after their repairs were charging down the dim halls of the Nemesis after their creator who, in a sudden bought of what felt like terror from their elder, took off from their room and now pelted down the labyrinth of their home.

{Primus what's eatin' Wave?} Frenzy snipped as he slid around a corner.

{Whatevah it is it got somethin' tah do wit Megatron!} The darker of the two responded as he barely had time to note were his large creator rounded off to.

{I smell energon...} Both twins felt their optics flicker off and on in a mockery of a blink as their normaly silent sister spoke in her grim and growling tone.

{What?} Both young mechs were confused as to why Ravage would state such an obvious thing. Of course she could probably smell energon, everyone knew Starscream was getting pounded so that should some it up.

{S' just Screamah sis. Why would the Boss care?}

{No... This is far more energon than Starscream would leak. This is lethal amounts with all fluids in it.. it's Megatron's} The panther said no more as she added strength behind her loping pace, barreling between the younger generation to run at the heels of their master.

Confusion rippled up across the familial bond. Megatron's energon? Lethal? Did they have an intruder? What was going on? Megatron was to strong he couldn't -

Their questions and jumbled thoughts were brought to a clattering halt as Soundwaves voice boomed across the bond.

{STAY BACK!}

They staggered in their stride at the sudden, so informal, command. True all the cassettes were used to a bit of casual familiarity when Soundwave spoke to them but this was so... blatant and straightforward.

The two continued to head on though, be it at a slower pace, unsure of really how to react to the order. Soundwave's fear peeked and as they neared their creator , who stood still as stone in the doorway of the throne room, they could see just why.

Soundwave's bellows and orders to get back and don't look fell away from their audios like water off metal. For all their sensory functions seemed to be supplying power to their optics, which focused before them.

On the gore and mutilation and mess of entrails. On Megatron, who lay prone and bleeding on the floor with mangled limbs and open torso all within a mounting pool of his own fluids, and Starscream, who sat astride their Lord with the fire of Unicron in his optics and buried up past his forearms within the silver gladiator.

The once ruby paint, what little had been spared after the beating, was almost completely hidden beneath spatter. The right wing was nothing more than a jagged nub while the left was not far behind and well on it's way to falling off all together. The seeker's side was gashed and warped, the canopy demolished and a shoulder strut was missing. His legs, though lesser in wounds, were no better off as the fuselage of the left was blown out and all along both were missing gashes from the denta of the dinbots who had snagged the air commander in the fight previous.

All this should have rendered Starscream nothing more than an unconscious mess on the floor. Hardly able to breath. Now though he sat upon Megatron, shifting and tearing away at the glorious monster as any child would a pile of toys to find their favorite.

And it seemed Starscream had found his toy. For his movements stilled and the air became thick, holding the stench of energon and the sudden tension, and something quite like death though not completely so.

What they smelled was the final phantoms hearkening, for in those still moment the young and broken seeker cupped the housing to his tormentors spark, running his thumbs about the edges as if it were a prize, a treasure, that he had found.

It was in those few still moment Starscream was pulled from his inky bliss and allowed a moment in his body to feel the casing and the life it held, to hear the thrum of it's erratic and frantic beat that mimicked so much a hummingbirds wings, and the ragged intakes of his by standers, and the weak gargling of his felled foe.

It was in those moments everyone in the room truly experienced terror.

Then the moment faded.

The sensations of life dimmed as Starscream was sent to his blissful cradle to save him the agony of the chaos that would arise and part him from the true vile nature of this crime. Megatron took his final intake as with several sickening snaps Starscream lifted the casing, higher and higher from the lords body.

Each wire snapped with the sound of cables giving way off a bridge in the still room. Each one louder than the last as the housing spaced itself further from it's owner. Before it was held only by the single umbilical cord to tie it truly to Megatron.

It was as they watched that cord stretched thin that the twins realized just how fragile life was, as they gazed upon the immortal tyrant they had followed, with the belief nothing could kill him, hanging by a single thread in the hands of one they considered so weak.

Hanging by a single thread, before everything snapped with the sound of thunder over a still plain.

The cord recoiled back down like a beheaded snake, withering and jumping and spurting, and leaving Starscream holding the hull of the now emptying housing that just barely cradled the fading spark.

And it was as that final cord snapped and the last flicker of light floated away, leaving the housing growing cold did Starscream's window close and left him alone in the tar to think and dream blissfully and to ponder as he wished over his phantom victory.

Authors note

So I hope you enjoyed it.