A/N First off, I should warn you that I do not really know whether this story should be rated T or M. I just rated it M to be safe. If anyone thinks the T rating should suffice, tell me.
In every case, it is rated for cruelty, violence and maybe a bit torture? Megatron being... well... Megatron might be the best description.
So, about the story. Surprisingly enough it has been sitting on my laptop just short of a small eternity now. I wrote it not to long after it's prequel, but decided not to post it. Don't know what changed my mind honestly. Anyway, this is a sequel to 'just a bad night', though that story doesn't have to be read to understand this one. It would make Starscream's actions a little more understandable though.
Oh, and a warning/note. This is intended as another one shot. But if anyone truly wants me to continue it I might be willing to make a short story out of this, but only if I can find enough time to do so between my other story and my life that seems to be living me instead of the other way around...
But, I'm not keeping you any longer. Enjoy!
He screwed up.
Again.
How many times had it been? He had stopped counting quite a while ago… or was it that he had lost count? Didn't matter. Every time was exactly the same anyway.
But today…
He made a mistake. Nothing new there, it was practically part of his daily routine. He would fail on one thing or another, Megatron would threaten him with a very slow, painful death, he would beg for his life, the warlord would let it slide with a smaller punishment… that was the way it usually went. Sometimes there were some variations, Megatron threatening to kill him quickly just to get him out of his sight for one, or sometimes the warlord found a new insult to throw at him. It didn't really matter how it went… the circle would just start right back at the beginning as soon as it had ended. He would make a new mistake. Always. But this time…
This time it had been his last.
They had found out. He didn't even know how much. Not that it mattered. He knew even the slightest bit would have been enough to seal his fate.
The day they found out who he really was would be his death. He had known. He had known it from the very moment he became part of the decepticons, became the second in command. He tried to hide it and for eons… and the eons had turned into centuries. Time had passed, a lot of time, without even the slightest suspicion. But he knew that one day, he would slip up. One day, he would make the one mistake Megatron could not forgive. One day, they would find out who he truly was.
And today… today they had gotten a glimpse of it.
It had been a chance encounter, a true one in a million. They were the last he had expected to run into and they probably thought the same about him. But then, what were the yellow autobot and his pathetic human fleshbag doing in the outermost corner of the desert? He didn't know. Didn't care either. He simply followed protocol.
The fight itself had been quick; Bumblebee hadn't stood a chance against him. And the autobot had known it. It was a matter of minutes before he had him down on the ground. But even when he lost one part after the other to him… even until the very last moments he shielded his 'pet' from him with his very own body. Bumblebee had held the human right in front of his very spark when he had rested his cannon against its other side. How sickeningly heroic.
Besides fighting the urge to purge his tanks he did nothing. For a moment they had been frozen in time. Neither he nor Bumblebee had moved a single inch. He had laughed. At the yellow autobot, that pathetically weak life form the bot was seemingly willing to die for… the autobots and humans in general. He had his fun at their expense. And then…
Then he had left.
He had wounded them, threatened them, laughed at them… but not killed them. He had let them go. He had shown mercy.
They hadn't.
How they found out he didn't know. But they had. They had summoned him and he went, not knowing better than simply another meeting with some unimportant low-ranks.
He never had been more wrong in his entire life and he was pretty sure he never would be either.
Even before he had the chance to yell in surprise he had been down on the ground. Hard. Then some movement. Megatron spoke to him, the usual insults mostly. It had grown boring rather quickly. He hadn't even listened to what the warlord was saying. Pinned down he couldn't look anywhere else then the warlord's ankles. He remembered thinking they were as ugly as the rest of him before…
Before Megatron had spoken the two words that had sealed his fate.
"Kill him."
Though he couldn't move an inch even if he had wanted to, he had completely frozen. Never before had it been an order. It had been a threat used to keep him in line, an insult, a warning… but never an order. Never until now.
He only remembered thinking something along the lines of 'slag' just before he was attacked from so many sides he couldn't even register what exactly happened. One part after the other was ripped from him, shot to oblivion or simply torn right off. He didn't even get the chance to beg for his life. As the pain overwhelmed every single system he had he realized this time it was truly for real. This time, he truly would die.
With a sudden strength he didn't knew he possessed he threw the ones attacking him of his back. Warnings littering his vision and systems screaming errors… he ignored all of them as he fought off any who dared even look at him. And, surprising as it was, he managed to fend them off, even managed to make them hesitate. They were nothing more than some unimportant low ranks after all. For a split second, he even had the upper hand.
Until the warlord himself intervened.
Even with his newfound strength he was no match for the former high lord protector. It didn't take long before he had found himself lying on the ground looking right into the maw of Megatron's fusion cannon. Normally this would have been the moment he'd beg for his life, groveling if need be, but as he looked at Megatron the hatred, disappointment… the pure disgust on the warlords face made clear that no matter what he did it was futile.
The warlord wouldn't stop until he was offline. Permanently.
In his last attempt to escape, to live, he had transformed, flown away as fast as his wings could carry him.
Megatron had shot him right out of the sky.
What came after he didn't remember. He could guess though. Flight-systems failing one by one, burning, a last attempt to save himself… and then the crash. He had been drifting in darkness wondering, hoping that he was dead.
Until he woke again.
At first he hardly even realized he was awake when everything remained in darkness. He could still think yes, but that was where it stopped. He couldn't move, couldn't see… he didn't even know if he could talk. The only things he was conscious of where this own thought… and pain. Pain so overwhelming that every single cell of his body withered in it. It was pure agony, so much that it made every fiber, every single part of his being wish and hope and pray for it to leave.
But it didn't.
For a moment he wondered if he was in the Pit. Darkness, complete abandonment, pain… all that thought it to be. The only thing he was missing was an angry Primus. 'Or maybe not' Starscream thought as a deep voice suddenly cut through the silence like a dagger.
"And you still refuse to offline." Whether it was meant as a statement or as a sneer… his audios were too damaged to register it. He didn't even know where the voice came from. One thing however, he knew for sure. That definitely wasn't Primus.
"Megatron," he growled, static filling his voice. Though slightly relieved to know he could still talk… fear filled his spark. He was still alive, and he was at Megatron's non-existing mercy. Mentally he sighed. At least he was sure the warlord wouldn't miss this time around. Him being immobilized and all. At least it would be quick…
"It is almost symbolic, really." Somehow he knew Megatron was slowly circling him as the mech spoke. "You know our rules Starscream. After saving an autobot you will die in its place, exactly like an autobot should." Starscream let out a pained yelp when something suddenly pressed on his already painful shoulder. What was left of it at least. "Under my feet like the worm you are."
"Frag you Megatron," Starscream said with all the venom he could get into his voice.
"Now now Starscream, you shouldn't be cursing before you die. You'll be facing Primus after all."
Starscream somehow managed to snort. "Like you even believe in Primus." A frightening familiar sound of a charging fusion cannon followed his words.
"Oh, but I do believe Starscream." Ok, that was new… Megatron a follower of Primus? That had to be the joke of the century. He snorted again at the very thought, a snort which Megatron answered with another hard blow on his shoulder. He couldn't see, but he could hear that when the warlord spoke it was very close to his audios. "I believe we will meet again in the Pit you lying, backstabbing traitor."
Oh.
Frag. That was not something he was looking forward to…
Weight lifted from his shoulder. Megatron was moving. To where he didn't know. Not that it mattered. He couldn't flee anyway. Right now, he was simply glad the mech's weight was gone.
"There is only one thing I want to know before I shoot you to oblivion." He could practically see the warlord standing in front of him, arms crossed, giving him one of those looks. A look he usually reserved for Prime. A look that meant nothing but brutal death by his hand. For a moment he wished he could have returned it with a smirk, only to see the warlord's reaction.
"Why it is you betrayed me, and the entire decepticon cause with me?"
Starscream couldn't help it. He laughed. It was a scary, hollow laugh, one he hardly even recognized as his own. But it was. "Heh. You still do not realize, do you?" As the warlord remained silent, he laughed again. "I've never been a real decepticon you fool." For a moment he let the words sink in. Waiting, he once again wished he could have seen Megatron's face. "I followed orders, yes. But I never fought for the cause. Nor for you."
He could hear the other growl in anger. He didn't care anymore. Since he was talking anyway, why not tell the rest? At least the warlord would know exactly how much of a mistake the mech had made, making him second in command.
"You honestly think that yellow bug was the first autobot I spared? Defrag your processor." He was sure his voice betrayed his amusement. Not that he really cared anymore. "I've spared dozens in the past years." The warlord's growl had just dropped an entire octave. "And you honestly think Mission city was the only thing I sabotaged? Yes, I did sabotage it, as you suspected at first. I could have grasped the Allspark minutes before you even came close to it. It was lying literally at my feet. But I didn't. I made sure you wouldn't gain its power then and I made sure you never would when I shot you down together with those flying fleshbags." If any of his face plating had survived the crash, they must be forming the most satisfied smirk he ever had had. "Why do you think you failed so often oh mighty Megatron?" he sneered.
"So you have been nothing but a traitor from the very beginning." Any other day, that tone alone was enough to frighten him onto silence.
But not today. Not anymore.
"No Megatron, not from the beginning. At first I did follow you, when you fought for a better Cybertron, a better future. But that didn't last long." Had his words been venomous before, right now his voice was pure acid. "You lost my loyalty centuries ago when you changed into the monster you are now. You talk about the decepticon cause? Please. The only cause you want us to follow is your own selfish grasp for power." Starscream wished he could have spit the mech in the face at his next words. "You're nothing better than the slag under my feet."
Megatron seemed to have gained an iron grip on his temper today. There was no question about that. Normally, he would have been dead at those words in less than a click. Now however, the warlord only spoke two words.
"Anything else?"
Anything else? Megatron honestly asked if there was anything else he wanted to tell that pathetic excuse for a mech? There was so much he wanted to insult that mech with he didn't know where to start. He didn't get the chance to think any of them up however.
Starscream felt his internals freeze as a weight suddenly pressed on his helmed. It was light, large and he had absolutely no doubt whatsoever what it was.
The business end of Megatrons cannon.
"I'll take that as a no."
He was scared. There was no denying that. Even though he had known he was a dead mech from the moment he woke… to really know, to be aware that you will be dying any second was a completely new type of fear. A fear he wouldn't even wish to Megatron.
There were more thoughts and emotions racing through him than he even knew his processor could handle. More than he even knew he had. They said your entire life flashed before your optics before you die? He saw nothing. He only thought. Thought and regretted.
But all thoughts shattered when the weight on his head shifted.
"Goodbye Starscream."
This was it then. Starscream would have closed his optics if he had been able to. Now, he just waited for the inevitable.
But nothing came.
"What are you waiting for?" he growled, not knowing why his executioner was stalling. "You are going to kill me, so just do it already!"
The laugh the warlord answered his words with send shivers down his systems. He had heard him laugh like this only once… and it was a memory he wished he could erase. "No, I don't think I will." The warlord said with a voice that made his internals freeze. "I changed my mind."
"WHAT!" The volume of that outburst had even hurt his own audios.
"I'm not going to finish you." The words were accompanied by the sound of a cannon powering down. Starscream couldn't believe his own audios. They had to be glitching. They just had to.
When the cannon was lifted from his head, he was so stunned he couldn't even utter a sound. He didn't have to. Megatron forced it from him. As another blow landed on his shoulder, what did that mech have with his shoulder anyway? he let out another pained cry.
The voice of the silver warlord was so soft it was almost a whisper. A whisper promising nothing but pain and horror as it spoke. "I won't kill you Starscream. No, I will let you stay here, painfully rust away for as long as your miserable life will allow it. I'll promise you Starscream, your end will not come any time soon. I will make sure no one will ever find you until the elements of this planet are done with you and you're nothing more than a dead, empty husk."
Starscream's processor couldn't even cope with what the mech had just said. It just froze. It simply couldn't compute. He couldn't…! No, not even Megatron could be this cruel! "You can't!" His voice was barely more than a shaking whisper.
"Oh, I can Starscream," Something moved. Weight lifted from his shoulder. "I can and I will."
No! His mind screamed, but his body didn't listen. This couldn't be happening!
"Rust in pain, traitor."
Starscream felt his insides freeze at the words. As he heard the warlords step further and further away, something inside him broke. He didn't want to give his torturer any more satisfaction than he was already giving, but he couldn't. He couldn't fight this. Not anymore. If he had to die a coward, so be it. "Megatron! Mercy! Have some mercy, please!" he yelled out of pure desperation.
Megatron's chuckle was colder than the freezing point of helium. "You of all mech should know I do not have mercy Starscream." He should have known. He should have realized Megatron would not show mercy to anyone, least of all him. In truth he had known. He had simply hoped for a miracle.
A miracle that did not happen.
"See you in the Pit Starscream." When the sound of transformation followed the words, he knew it was final. There was nothing he could do. Megatron was leaving. The warlord was truly leaving him.
Leaving him to die.
The sound of the flier's engine firing up didn't even register anymore. Starscream processor was only capable of screaming at him in denial, in fear. This couldn't be happening. This could not be happening! It just couldn't…
If he could have cried, he would have until his tears ran dry. If he could have moved, he would have curled himself up and screamed in agony. If he could have died… he would even have ended his life with his very own hands.
But he couldn't. He couldn't for the rest of his existence. He could only wait. Wait for his body to rust away until he was nothing more than a empty husk, wait for it to cease functioning forever… wait for Primus to collect his spark on the trice damned mud bal planet called earth at the end of time. Far from Cybertron, far from home… and far from hope.
For as long as his spark would be able to survive.