A/N: So guess who's obsessed with Transformers: Animated again? This girl. And for some reason, I got the urge to write about the Decepticons, and how maybe they're not so bad. So these are just quick little one-shots about the main four: Megatron, Blitzwing, Lugnut, and Starscream.

First up is Megatron. Sorry if he seemed OOC in the way I wrote him, and I know some of the parts of the Great War I glaze over are probably not correct at all, but I was on a role writing this, so just squint really hard, and overlook anything that's not right. Okay? :)

Disclaimer: Transformers Animated is not mine. If it was, Prowl wouldn't have... I can't say it. It's too sad. But you know what I mean.

Enjoy!

As the leader of the Decepticons, Megatron had dealt with defeat many times. And it wasn't anything to be ashamed of, because sometimes the Autobots were stronger, or more prepared, or had more fire power. He wasn't perfect. Sometimes he made a wrong call in battle. Sometimes he messed up and took a hit. He was humble in that regard.

The problem was, Megatron knew his faults. He'd grown up in a Cybertron already riddled with discontent, and had just been the one needed to bring the discontented together. And maybe it had been poor judgement to fight first, talk later, but by then it was too late and the battle had begun, and what kind of leader would he be to take a step back and say "oops, my bad?" He wouldn't even be a leader, if that were the case.

So Megatron knew his faults, and he knew he wasn't perfect, and he knew he made mistakes and screw ups, and sometimes they were really bad. Irreversibly bad. But that in itself wasn't the problem. The problem was that even though, in the dark of night during recharge, or the other brief times he had peace and quiet, he could admit this to himself, outwardly, his pride wouldn't let him. Outwardly, he was the fearless, ruthless, murder-driven leader of the Decepticons who didn't care if he sent his followers to their deaths, and ate misbehaving sparklings. (Which was a lie, and thoroughly ridiculous. Why would he ever do that?)

But truthfully, there were many that called him a great leader, because that's what he was. During the war, no one but his Decepticons saw him for the leader he was, trying to keep morale up while protecting the femmes and sparklings swept up in his side of the war. No one ever talked of that Megatron, because there were none online now who could remember, or else were too scared to say so.

But if there had been some transformer, any transformer, who talked about that Megatron, then he wasn't all that different from Ultra Magnus. His troops had also suffered, just as much as the Autobots. His mechs had had to deal with wondering if their families were alright. They also watched their homes burn to the ground, and comrades fall.

And yes, maybe sometimes, Megatron was a fearless, ruthless, murder-driven warlord. He had blown that 'bots head off that one time, as an accident, and then it was just easier to aim for the head. One shot was easier than multiple, and also less messy and less painful (he would imagine).

But he wasn't always that way. There were times when he walked through the camp of his 'cons after a very difficult battle, and helped to tend to the wounded, and gave encouraging words and praise, because these mechs were risking their lives to stand by him, and help him.

And if you caught him in a good mood, maybe he'd be talking to the femmes who had lost bondmates, expressing his sorrow at their loss. Or else he'd send someone else to do it, when he didn't think he could deliver such awful news without doing so in anger. Unfortunately, there was no one online who remembered the way he would interact with the sparklings, telling them stories and bringing them energon treats. And even if someone had gone around shouting it, no one would believe it. Because that wasn't the Megatron they knew.

But that was the problem. They didn't know him, not at all. They had lost the war against the Autobots, and his pride wouldn't have him surrender peaceably, because you know what? The Autobots weren't as goodie-goodie as they appeared. They had won the war, and the history videos all said it was due to the leadership of Ultra Magnus and the brave Autobot soldiers who did what they had to.

But what exactly did they have to do? Hmm? Well, they certainly left it up to imagination, but Megatron had been there. Had stood, helpless and horror-struck, as the Autobots "last defense," Omega Supreme, lay waste to his Decepticons. Not just the mechs, either. Built to end the Great War, this monster destroyed his army and their families, because he hadn't been programmed to know it was wrong, or unethical. He found this out much later, but it didn't make it any better when he was watching it unfold before his very optics, the mass destruction of those he had led and helped.

So when asked to peacefully surrender, he wondered if it was a cruel joke. How could they possibly ask him to peacefully surrender after they completely destroyed his army and supporters without so much as a flinch out of mercy?

Instead, he had blasted every last Autobot away from him and then blasted that damn Omega Supreme practically to the brink of offlining, before retreating to the last ship they had, with his only survivors. And that wasn't much.

After that, even his Decepticons would say he was their fearless, ruthless, murder-driven leader. He killed any Autobot he saw without mercy because they damn well didn't show any to his Decepticons. He didn't commune with his remaining officers. He ignored them except to give them commands, and even then he spoke harshly, and very little.

All they had wanted was for their views to be heard. When that seemed impossible, they fought to have them heard. When that didn't work, he had convinced himself that getting the AllSpark, the giver of life, even a little bit of it, would be enough for them to start over somewhere else, on some distant planet in a galaxy far, far away from Cybertron. He had once hoped for a peaceful resolution, but the Autobots had seen to it that any thought of peace or mercy was wiped from his processor. They wouldn't show mercy? Fine, neither would he. And may the sparks of those he had lost forgive him.