He was a killer.
He reveled in it - in the sensation of metal tearing beneath razor-sharp claws, of vulnerable internals shattering and pulling apart and warm fluids spilling and spraying over him and his victim. He loved their screams, he loved their struggles.
But he especially loved the look in their optics just before he ripped out their spark chamber. The sheer horror and terror and helplessness.
Oh, it was a rush. The purest intoxicant in the entire universe - that feeling of power and utter control...
He hadn't always been a murderer, of course. That was the sort of behavior one learned over time. But he had always been relentless, ruthless, cunning, sadistic, cold - it had only taken the slightest bit of molding from Lord Megatron to bring him to that next level. And it was a step he had eagerly taken, thirsty for more than simple betrayal and petty cruelty.
Barricade took quite easily to killing - quite easily, indeed.
It wasn't long, then, before his traps grew more and more complex and crafty, artfully luring his victims to him, hunting them, drawing them inexorably in before they knew what was happening. By the time it dawned on them... they were already dead, laid open to the sky and the elements and his appreciating optics. His traps were exquisite masterpieces, ensnaring many a wretchedly unlucky Autobot - and even a few Decepticons.
Truthfully, however, he had begun to grow bored with his exploits. They'd grown too easy, less fulfilling. Autobots died too readily, he lamented.
He'd long hoped for someone closer to his equal - but such an individual was not to be found amongst the rank-and-file. No, he would have to set his sightshigher to get the challenge he wanted. And it was there, among the upper ranks, that he found what he so desperately hungered for.
A true challenge.
Thusly, he found himself slowly but steadily ensnaring one of Prime's own inner circle. Stalking him on the battlefield, always remaining just below the unfailingly faithful and trusted tactician's radar... baiting him with skillfully-placed diversions and distractions.
Drawing him ever closer, ever deeper, ever further from his comrades.
Most hunts were over within an hour, rarely two.
But this one was different. He wanted this one to last, wanted the suspense to build until it was almost unbearable before making his move. So he drug it out, until the main body of the battle was far behind them, and any backup summoned would arrive far, far too late.
Several times he was sure he'd been spotted. Several times he eluded detection, gaining ground as he did so. It was a malevolently gleeful game of cat and mouse, and he was enjoying it immensely.
They were far enough away. This wolf would now feast on his unblemished lamb.
The trap was sprung, the snare drawn tight around the neck of his victim. And even the pale Autobot's tactical programming could not save him from the jaws of the predator that sprung upon his back like a wild beast.
What ensued was the most vigorous struggle Barricade had engaged in in a very painfully long time. Prime's cadre was not composed of flailing weaklings, after all, and this one was no exception. Blow for blow, his was the most entertaining fight the black Decepticon had ever fought through.
In the end, though, it didn't matter. His fall was inevitable, just like that of every Autobot and mouthy Decepticon who had come before him.
Crippled and bleeding out on the ground, the white Autobot glared up at his soon-to-be killer, a defiant glint still gleaming in his cracked optics. Barricade, ever the self-satisfied victor, just offered his prey a sickeningly sweet smile, bronze teeth shining razor-sharp in the half-light.
It was a visage that haunted the nightmare memories of hundreds of Autobot soldiers. And one that was, more often than not, the last thing hundreds more had ever - or would ever see.
A low clattering sound escaped his victim's throat as he struggled to speak. Inclining his head curiously, he crouched over him and listened, eager for the lamb's last words, however halting.
"You... won't... I w-won't... scream... for you..."
The smile, vile and venomous and promising of unspeakable things, returned.
Then, in a single, decisive blow, the long, knife-like claws of his right hand stabbed through the buckled armor, and he leaned in close. Purring with a mocking faux tenderness, he traced the claw tips of his free hand along the silvery mandible, thrilling at the agonizing squirming...
"Oh, but my dear Prowl..." he crooned, "I never asked you to."
Rending talons pulled back, drawing armor plates back with them. Beneath the layers of torn and shredded alloy, the spark chamber pulsed warmly, radiating heat and light like a miniature star. Another chill coursed through him as his prey let out a choking, strangled sound of agony.
"Don't worry, tactician. I'll ensure that Prime learns of your demise before anyone else does." The horrific smile that graced his toothy maw grew still more awful; "And I'll see to it that your little silver comrade joins you soon enough."
The look of powerless horror upon Prowl's face, as his claws seized his spark chamber and, with one last forceful wrench, tore it from his convulsing body...
Pure pleasure.
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When the tactician's neatly severed, battered head was found, literally on Prime's doorstep, panic swept the Autobot stronghold. No one rested until every last nanometer of the installation had been searched and found clear. And even then, the inescapable chill remained.
A Decepticon had been inside.
A Decepticon had killed Prime's second-in-command.
The same Decepticon had escaped, undetected, leaving an unmistakable message for all of them.
"None of you are safe. None. See how easily this one was led to its slaughter? One so vaunted for his skills and intellect?
He is dead now. And soon, so shall the rest of you be. I will not, CAN not, be stopped. I will hunt you, and draw you to me, and kill you, just as easily as I killed him. It is inevitable. I am a hunter, and you are all now my prey."
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A/N: Yes, I know I've got to update City of Darkness. Don't worry, it's coming! Slowly, but it's coming! I just want it to be as perfect as possible first :)