A Cursed Pair
Suggested Themes:
Main Themes- Don't Stop Me Now by Foxes, Take Me to Church by Hozier
Bumblebee loves Halloween. He loves seeing the humans dress up and get candy or pull pranks. However, this Halloween would have been melancholic in comparison to last Halloween. Or it would've been if Bumblebee stayed on the base. Sari is depressed that she still hasn't found a clue to where her missing father could be or what even happened to him. Lately, Bumblebee has been watching so many movies and TV shows with Sari to cheer her up that he got sick at even looking at a monitor. She almost didn't want to go trick-or-treating this year, but, surprisingly, Prowl was able to convince her to get out of the base. Well, only after agreeing to go trick-or-treating with her. She even continued the tradition of dressing up as an Autobot; this year, she's dressed as Prowl without his upgrades.
The Autobot Crew has plans for Halloween night. Excluding Prowl and Sari, the rest of the Autobots are actually quite busy. Optimus has to go to a charity gala in order to further repair relations between Autobots and humans for the wake of destruction in Detroit. Bulkhead is checking out this Halloween-themed art exhibit at some small-time art gala. Ratchet is holed up in his room, enjoying the tenuous peace. Bumblebee is on Albion, trying to find an AllSpark fragment before Optimus and the gang notice that he and the key are missing.
He actually, quite accidently, went into a museum earlier today to avoid another marathon of watching TV with a moping Sari. Honestly, he needed some space, and Ratchet seemed very understanding. Of course, he muttered something wearisome about younglings. The curator immediately ran up to Bumblebee. For a nanosecond, Bumblebee thought he was going to get kicked out even though the museum was large enough to accommodate Bulkhead himself. However, the curator told Bumblebee of a weird, blue fragment that was embedded in a book part of the Camelot collection. He thought it was something that the Autobots would be interested in.
Unfortunately, the book was "returned" to the owner. However, the curator was able to tell him that the man was from a place called Albion. The way that the curator said "Albion" reminded Bumblebee of some wizard that is about to send an unwitting hero on a near-suicidal quest. Bumblebee wasn't too worried about coming up with a lie to get out of the base for the night. He told everyone that he was going to drive around in the desert. Prowl was naturally suspicious, but Sari distracted him with getting his help for her costume. Although, Ratchet was staying at the base for the night; the old medic was too busy repairing his tools and reading old medical files to pay any attention to Bumblebee sneaking into Sari's room and swiping the key.
Albion isn't what Bumblebee thought it would be, he thought the place would be fairly like Detroit or even like Dinobot Island. Albion is like…an impossible dream. The place lacked any Sumdac bots to pick up trash or act as food vendors. There are so many trees and ruins of long-forgotten castles that Bumblebee almost thought he was in a middle of a fairytale. There are houses, but most of them are made of wood rather than of concrete and steel like the ones in Detroit. There are cars, but it seems that most of the humans would rather walk. Bumblebee finds it amusing seeing everyone would rather dress up like a wizard or a witch than anything else. Bumblebee would like to admire the costumes more, but he has to hurry. Luckily for him, it would seem, the key dimly glows, meaning that the fragment is nearby! Even better, there are no Decepticons to cause confusion or property damage! This is going to be easy! Bumblebee sincerely believed, while simultaneously jinxing himself in the process.
Megatron has never been more pleased to be away from the Autobot-infested city of Detroit. In fact, he has never been more content to be away from his Lieutenants. Blitzwing was busy stuck in Random and singing a song from an organic named Rammstein. Lugnut's incessant idol-worshipping was even grating on his circuits more than usual. The organic was being irritatingly weepy, reminding Megatron of Autobot prisoners that had more fortitude than the puny organic. Thankfully, an AllSpark fragment decided to reveal itself on their radars. He immediately told his Lieutenants to stay put, while he goes in pursuit of the fragment.
The fragment is located somewhere in a place called Albion. Compared to Detroit, Albion is infested with greenery and costumed organics begging for sweets. These organics have no idea that a Decepticon was hovering above them. And that includes the very familiar, Autobot hybrid driving very specifically north on the tar road. Clearly, the Autobot is also tracking the fragment, but knows where exactly it is. Megatron will follow the Autobot and take the fragment. The added bonus is that he might get to kill this Autobot.
Contrary to what Prowl, Ratchet, and Optimus believe, Bumblebee is quite clever. Or at least when he's on his own. He had to be clever to survive the orphanage Pits until he was old enough to join the Autobot Boot Camp. He knows that a Decepticon, not entirely certain if it is Starscream or someone, is following him. He has several options before him. He can radio Optimus and promptly tell him where he is to get backup. He can just give up on the fragment and let the Decepticon have it. Or he can just speed up and try to go faster than the Decepticon in the sky. Like what Prowl, Ratchet, and Optimus would've predicted, Bumblebee chooses to speed up. Also, when he's on his own, he is quite reckless.
Both Megatron and Bumblebee know nothing about who has the AllSpark fragment. The person who has it is by far the most powerful person on Earth. More powerful than a whole AllSpark. He is older than any human could ever be. He has fought witches and friends. He has watched his family die. He is the last of his kind. He is stooped and has flowing white hair. He is clutching onto his book (which somehow acquired a glowing, non-magical shard) that is the only written record of his life, but it's considered largely a myth to everyone else. His duty in life is to wait for the Once and Future King to awaken. He is waiting for his dearest and best prat in the world to leave Avalon. Now nearly a thousand or so years of waiting can make anyone grouchy, but Merlin is usually calm. Well, he is until two alien robots decide to disrupt his nightly patrol.
"Don't freak out! I'm one of the good guys!" Bumblebee thought if he could make the old man laugh then he would be more receptive to listen. The old man doesn't laugh, but cringes as he hears the blades of a helicopter. Slag, it's Megatron! Bumblebee cursed.
"I need you to hand me the AllSpark fragment now! The glowing crystal thing that's on the cover!" Bumblebee almost swipes the book from the old man in order to get out of here before Megatron can transform. However, the old man glares at him and hugs the book to his chest. Megatron transforms. It's too late.
"Hand over the AllSpark fragment, organic, and I won't kill you." From his recent binge-watching of Earth movies and shows, Bumblebee almost gags at Megatron's cliché line. Such a shame, he has a rather interesting voice for a villain. Bumblebee charges up his stingers. Megatron takes out his swords in response. Bumblebee figures he must be worthy enough have his spark run through. At least, that's what all the aristocratic baddies seem to do instead of just killing the hero with a bomb.
"Old man, run!" Bumblebee commanded. Merlin gets even more annoyed. First, a yellow car-robot tells a crummy joke. Now, another giant robot is threatening him! Emrys has had enough of these impetuous alien robots! He grasps the "AllSpark fragment" and yanks it out of the book cover. He holds it out like he was going to toss it to them.
"You two are by far the most disrespectful annoyances from space that I've ever met. You, yellow one, you're a fool. You know that you're outmatched, I can see it in your pretty-blue eyes. You, grey one, you're an arrogant prat. You truly underestimate us 'organics' like so many before. A fool and a prat, what a perfect curse I have for the both of you." Bumblebee and Megatron do not understand the words that leave the old man's mouth next. All they know is that the words are certainly not from a language that they know of, or even from existing human languages. They cannot move once the old man starts his chant. They cannot even radio for assistance. The AllSpark fragment glows so brightly that the Autobot and Decepticon black out. Not shut down. Because shutting down is for inorganics.
When they came to again, the first thing that they notice is the cold and the pain of embedded rocks on their backs. Then, they realize that the old man and the AllSpark fragment is gone. Yet, the most surprising, and perhaps the worst, is yet to come. Bumblebee immediately tries to radio Optimus, but nothing happens. Megatron, unfortunately quick to adapt, is the first to realize that they are not Cybertronians anymore. They are horrifically, naked organics. The only source of amusement Megatron gets is watching the little Autobot's expression start from curiosity to panic.
"WHAT THE SLAG!?" Megatron has to stop himself from covering his ears from the Autobot's screaming. Thankfully, he has plenty of experience of tuning people out like Starscream and Lugnut.
"I thought you were sparkling, not a youngling." Megatron mockingly commented. The Autobot is 5'4 in height and has not an ounce of organic fat on him unlike the Sumdac prisoner. He has limply, curling hair that is the color of his former yellow paintjob. The hair is lightly and almost invisibly dusted across the Autobot's arms, legs, and….small cable area. His eyes, not optics anymore, are blue and bright enough to seem like two blue flames in the night. He's not the ugliest organic that Megatron has ever come across.
"I thought you were a psychotic, old serial-killer. Oh wait, I'm wrong, you're just the worst person in the universe." Bumblebee retorted. The Decepticon Lord is almost 6'5 and as muscular as Achilles from that "Troy" movie. He has long, ashen-silver hair that is as bushy and wild as a wolf's hair. His body is covered in hair and scars like Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, including on the area of his….cable. His eyes, not optics, are an apathetic, appraising red, very reminiscent of Hannibal Lector's eyes when he's stalking Will Graham. Bumblebee hates how Megatron is the Earth definition of a savagely, attractive older man.
"You're wrong, little Autobot, there is no such thing as a good or bad person. Only who's honest or who's deceptive. Now, let's focus on how we can turn ourselves back to our true forms. I don't want to be a wretched organic and I believe you share my sentiment." Leave it to a villain to oversimplify, and condescendingly, what it means to be a person. Bumblebee would've punched him if he wasn't smart enough to know that Megatron can still kill him without his weapons.
"I don't know maybe the AllSpark ordained to be so. It would be a fitting punishment for you to be trapped in a fragile, aging organic body. However, you are right. I don't want to be human any longer than I have to be. First, we need to get clothes because I am about to die of hypothermia here!" Bumblebee almost covers his cable area because it was the most sensitive to the cold, but he doesn't want to look weak in front of Megatron.
"And where shall we get these 'clothes'? Are we going to take it from the organics?" Of course, the Decepticon would suggest thievery. Bumblebee rolls his human eyes at Megatron's predictable suggestion.
"No, I saw a costume shop about a mile from here. I'll use my key to break into the back and get us inside." Megatron presumes "costume" is synonymous with "clothes" on Earth, so he doesn't voice a complaint. In fact, he actually follows the little Autobot as he runs to the costume shop. Megatron's mind is nagged by a familiar image of someone running exactly like the little Autobot, but he cannot fully remember the person. He blames his organic brain for this fault in memory, and not on the feeling of guilt in his heart.
The "costume shop" is as old as the trees here and the foundation needs to be replaced. However, it has a back entrance and Bumblebee's key is able to unlock it. They are able to get inside without setting off the alarms, although, Bumblebee sincerely doubts there are alarms in this place. Outside, Bumblebee can see that all the trick-or-treaters have retired for school the next morning. There are some adults, mostly drunk and slutty-looking ones, roaming the streets to hit the next party. Their walk of shame shouldn't begin until morning if Bumblebee got his Earth mating rituals right. The place smells like plastic, hot glue, and impending bankruptcy.
"Okay, it's not really going to matter what we wear since its Halloween. So you can dress up like Jason or Freddy Krueger if you wish. The dressing rooms are behind those decrepit wooden doors like four feet from us." Bumblebee jibed. However, Megatron's attention is focused on a costume that Bumblebee cannot see because Megatron was blocking his view. Bumblebee grumbles under his breath and searches for his own costume. I should be a men's small. Maybe I can be a fireman? No, I don't want to be like Optimus. Ninja? Don't want to think about Prowl right now. Vincent Van Gogh? No, I'm not Tony Curran. Doctor? Pits no! Oh, wait this one is perfect! Bumblebee grabbed the costume and ran to the changing room. Megatron follows suit and takes a stall a few doors away. It only takes ten minutes for them to get clothed and exit the dressing rooms.
"Frag me, you make Russell Crowe look like a snotty Caesar!" Megatron gives him a blank look, clearly not getting the reference. Maxxor is sporting a gladiator costume, clearly a cheap imitation of the one from "Gladiator", complete with the leather skirt, sandals, and metallic armor. All he's missing is a sword and a shield. Bumblebee thought.
"What exactly are you supposed to be, Autobot?" Bumblebee is in a loose, orange jumpsuit with a fake rocket stitched to the front. He doesn't bother to wear the plastic helmet that came with it, but gladly wears the silver moon boots. The key hangs around Bumblebee's neck. It's not glowing, indicating that the fragment is not nearby.
"I'm David Bowman!" Again, Megatron gives him the same look, but adds a frown.
"Wow, having someone not knowing slag about Earth pop culture seems funny on 'Supernatural'. I'm an astronaut. Basically, like our version of an explorer except that the humans haven't colonized any of their planets. They haven't even attempted to establish a colony on the moon." Humans are truly pathetic, Megatron's unimpressed expression declares. Bumblebee almost laughs.
"Your costume is not very fitting. It would be more appropriate if you chose to be the mechanic or even the punk." Bumblebee grins at Megatron's comment. He was just a Space Bridge Repair grunt. However, he is still a mischievous youngling, which warrants a "punk" comment from Fanzone when he meets that technophobic organic.
"Actually, it quite is, considering my origins. Quid pro quo. I'll tell you why I chose to be an astronaut if you tell me why you chose to be a gladiator." Megatron scoffs at Bumblebee's shoddy attempt of intrigue. However, at least he isn't like a certain, slimy Seeker.
"Let's just get out of here and find the old man." Neither of them has any clue on how to fight the old man. They don't have any weapons or anything to defend themselves from another of the old man's "curses". Bumblebee silently obeys Megatron's order. They leave the shop and wander around aimlessly, hoping for the key to glow.
They gain nothing. They did not find the old man, no matter how many roads they took or shops they searched. They even went back to the place that the found the old man and there was still no glow. Out of options, they wandered around a forest of witch-hazel, hoping (or at least, Bumblebee was) that the old man was hiding there if he wasn't in the town. The key still refused to glow even when they enter a field of yellow narcissuses. Bumblebee falls to the ground and just stares up at the sky. It is his way of admitting defeat to the universe. Megatron is not the kind of "man" to admit defeat, but the key-bearer isn't willing to move another inch. Megatron reluctantly concedes and lays beside the Autobot. He watches as the night is being chased away by the sun.
"Do you want to know why I wanted to join the Elite Guard?" Megatron can frankly deduce that Bumblebee joined so he can achieve the highest rank possible in the Autobot army, which was Elite Guard Commander. The yellow youngling screams of a youth desperate for excitement and glory, but, obviously, had to learn how to lick his wounds once that dream failed. Megatron could say he didn't care to know, but the Autobot's tone suggests that he has no other choice to listen. The Decepticon Lord hopes that the Autobot will be brief.
"It's true that I joined to be an Elite Guard Commander and not because I wanted to be beneficial to the Autobot race. I wanted glory and acknowledgement, but that's not the reason. I joined so I could find my way home." Megatron turns his head to look at the Autobot. He did not expect the last part. The Autobot's blue eyes are dreamy like he drank too much high-grade Energon.
"You are not from Cybertron?" Megatron knows there are colonies scattered across the galaxy. Most of the colonies are closely tied to the Autobots, except for a few. New Kaon is the only planet controlled by Decepticons, but it started off as a desolate colony outpost. The sole purpose of the planet is to be a gathering place for Decepticons.
"No, I'm not Cybertronian. My parents were from Cybertron, but I was born and raised on Klo." Klo is the only "colony" planet that has successfully remained neutrally and out of the Great Wars. It is known as the World of Enduring Peace. Megatron remembers that two of his soldiers settled there. Well, until Megatron had need of them. But only one showed up because the other died of a combination of Cosmic Rust and giving birth to a sparkling. Megatron's heart clenches painfully.
"Why would you ever leave that place?" Megatron is dreading the answer that is bound to erupt from the Autobot's upturned lips. The blue eyes are shining with cruelty.
"I went looking for my Creator. His name was Goldbug. Perhaps, Lord Megatron, you have heard of him?" Yes, by the nonexistent Primus, Megatron has and remembers him. Goldbug was one of the few Autobots to change their allegiances. He was golden and so thin that he looked like he would break if touched. The mech was taller and faster than any Autobot ever could be. He was a perfect scout. In the end, he sacrificed his spark to buy enough time for Megatron to get on "Nemesis" and leave Cybertron.
"Yes." Megatron offers no more words because Bumblebee doesn't give him time to. He is his Creator's revenge.
"My Creator, Goldbug, was all I had. We didn't leave near any habitable communities. Instead, our home laid in the climate fork of the planet. To the north were the deserts of golden sand. To the south were the lakes of sulfur. To the east and west were the great canyons of crystals. The crystals were so green that envy could never hope to compare to that color. All around our home was the planet, and I loved every centimeter of it." Megatron has never been to Klo, so this is his first description of the planet because he never got the chance to ask Goldbug. There was no time for idle chat about far-flung homes during war.
"My Creator had to go back to Cybertron, to repay a favor he claimed. He gave me a great piece of advice, or maybe it was just a prophecy, before he left. He said, 'Once you leave Klo, Bumblebee, you'll never be able to find your way back.' He was right, but I left anyways to find him when he didn't come back. I went to Cybertron to find him, but I found nothing but disfigured corpses. I never found his body." Bumblebee isn't crying. His voice holds no bitterness, but of a choking wistfulness. Megatron almost admires the Autobot for accepting what happened to him. He almost wants to tell the yellow youth of his father's ultimate fate. He holds his tongue instead.
"Luckily, I didn't starve on the street like most younglings because I got picked-up by some well-meaning Autobot soldiers who sent me to a Pit-spawned orphanage. I got my stingers there. I wasn't born with stingers. My Creator joked because I wasn't bred for war. The orphanage's chief purpose it seemed was to create the next generation of soldiers to whoever could pay the highest price. We orphans paid the highest price." Megatron has heard of these horrible orphanages. They turned younglings into broken soldiers that couldn't think for themselves, which made them perfect, useless fodder on the battlefield.
"When I got my stingers, I incited a rebellion and burned the orphanage down. The people running it did not survive, I made sure they didn't. I don't remember what happened afterwards other than running as fast as I can away from the burning place. I do remember signing myself up to join the Elite Guard. And like humans say, the rest is history." Megatron is stunned by Bumblebee's omission. The youngling led a rebellion and killed for his freedom. Almost eerily similar to what his Creator had to do to get out of the Autobot faction. Like Creator, like sparkling. Megatron almost melancholically voiced.
"Why didn't you just steal a ship and fly home? Or even use the Space Bridge?" Bumblebee reaches out to the pinkish sky. His hand is grasping at the sun of Earth. He crushes it, but the sun still shines.
"I didn't know how to fly a ship. I got to Cybertron by being a stowaway on a merchant's ship. I thought, once I became an Elite Guard Commander, I would have the knowledge and the means of getting home. I couldn't use the Space Bridge because Klo doesn't have a Space Bridge. It's one of the ways Klo avoided being dragged into the Great Wars. Even if I have a ship, I don't remember the way home. Maybe if I pieced together the AllSpark, it will grant me a wish." Megatron can hear the resign in Bumblebee's voice. The youngling has practically given up on his dream to go home. He can't go back there, not like this. Megatron doesn't have home. It was taken from him by the Autobots, but Bumblebee wouldn't listen to that. No, the youngling is concentrated on his nostalgic fantasy. Perhaps, he's even thinking about canyons of green crystals, shining in the sun.
"You never quite explained to me why you chose to be an astronaut. As you described, astronauts are explorer of worlds. I don't think Earth and Cybertron count as worlds you've explored given your circumstances." In the end, the worlds that Bumblebee ended up on was not by his own choice. He had to be there. Megatron emphasizes with that loss of control. He is a leader. He cannot control all of the variables. Very much like this situation they were both in.
"Astronauts are Earth explorers that are supposed to do all these great things. Or at least that is what society stresses. Instead, it wasn't fast enough and they gave up on dream of exploring beyond their home. I'm like that because I thought I would do all these great things and go home. I never did. Now, I can never go back because I could never bear to abandon my friends!" Bumblebee nearly screams out the last past. He is frustrated by where his life is now and not finding the old man. Yet, he secretly loathes himself for these thoughts because he had excellent friends and found wonderful sources of entertainment. Megatron rewards Bumblebee for his vulnerability because the Decepticon Lord knows that the youngling never told this to his team. He just knows that the cursed youngling would never be able to burden them.
"I chose to be a gladiator because that was what I once was when I was a youngling like you. My home, my throne, and my Creator were robbed from me. I became a source of 'entertainment' and lived only to exact my vengeance and reclaim my home. It took a long time, but I finally reclaimed my throne. I became the Lord of all Decepticons. Not of Cybertron, but it was close enough." Now, Bumblebee is the one to be surprised. He never thought the old Decepticon would ever answer in turn. They both bared a very small part of their sparks, hearts, to each other. More than they have done with anyone else. They continue to watch the sun change the color of the sky. They are not concerned with their humanity. They are not concerned with the old man. They are not concerned of their factions. They are just two men, one young and one old, watching the sky. The astronaut and the gladiator lie together for the rest of the morning.