Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, and make no profit from the writing/posting of this story. It's all in good fun.

A/N: Wow. I'm a little stunned at the positive response so far. Thanks to everyone who's left a review and/or added this to their Alerts.

Summary: Starscream gets his chance; however, things don't exactly go as planned…

Part 2

"Fellow Decepticons!" Megatron shouted over the sound of loud, obnoxious laughter. He raised his cube of high-grade Energon as he did. "It may only be a small defeat over the Autobots that I have achieved for us, but it is a victory nonetheless! Let us celebrate!"

Starscream made a sound resembling a derisive snort. He sat with his arms folded, refusing to touch the high-grade in front of him, oblivious to the curious looks that the others at the table were giving him. Glorious victory, indeed. As usual, it had been his Seekers, under his command, who had accomplished the mission, taking out a critical Autobot supply convoy; a much more successful version of their previous mission. And, of course, the commander was being positively stubborn in not recognizing their efforts. He hissed softly to himself as more laughter broke out, and he adjusted the sensitivity of his audio receptors. Briefly, he contemplated downing some high-grade, just for the slight buzz and ability to tolerate his suddenly intolerable comrades. He shook his head to that. No. There could be an opportunity here. He had to keep a clear head.

"What's the matter, Starscream?" Megatron said then, his words running together slightly. "Are you too good to celebrate with the rest of us?"

Starscream responded by deliberately averting his gaze. This normally angered his leader; this time, it only made him laugh.

"What's with the attitude, Starscream?" Megatron said, getting up somewhat shakily and walking around the table to claim the chair directly beside him. "Are you not glad for our victory?"

Starscream glared at him. "Tell them the truth, and I might be," he hissed.

"Truth?"

"You had nothing to do with the destruction of that convoy!" Starscream said, unfolding his arms to prod him in the chest. "It was my Seekers!"

Megatron's optics flashed, and he lowered his voice so that only Starscream could hear his next words. "What does it matter?" he replied. "You seem to forget, Starscream, that your Seekers - yourself included - are nothing but a means to achieve my ends. You seem to envision yourself as this great commander…"

"I don't just think so," Starscream hissed. "I've proven I am."

"Don't overestimate yourself," Megatron retorted. "You would be nothing without me."

Starscream scoffed. "I believe you've got that backwards, almighty Megatron," he said. "It's you who would be nothing without me. If I wasn't here, you would be well and truly slagged."

"You overestimate your importance, as usual," Megatron growled. "I suggest you keep your pride in check and at least pretend to be enthused about our victory."

Starscream glared at him, but said nothing else. There was no point. In his opinion, the leader's processors were addled enough at the best of times, but with a fair bit of high-grade in his system, there was just no reasoning with him. "Fine," he snapped.

"You can start by getting me some more high-grade," Megatron said, giving him a shove that nearly knocked him out of his chair. He laughed at this, as did most of the other Decepticons gathered at the table.

Starscream recovered quickly, bolting to his feet and just barely stopping himself from trying to cave in Megatron's faceplates. Temporarily stowing his pride, he stepped around the table and headed for the Energon dispenser, faceplates hot with humiliation. The old fool never missed an opportunity to lord his strength over him. Well, he would show him that there was more to it than physical strength.

Skywarp had overheard the last parts of the conversation. He looked at Starscream as he passed, saw the small, cold smile forming on his trine leader's face, and alarm flashed on his own. He nudged Thundercracker and said something that was promptly drowned out by another round of laughter nearby.

Starscream ignored them and continued walking. Anticipation seemed to heighten his senses; he was suddenly more aware of everything around him. The noise of the celebrating crowd seemed to bore right into his processors and set off a dull ache there. He would give the fools something to celebrate soon enough. He waited for the next uproar of raucous laughter, the attention of the gathered Decepticons on a particularly crude impression of defeated Autobots, and he took his chance. Taking advantage of his wingspan to shield his actions from view, he opened a small compartment in his arm, removing the small glass vial. As the cube in his other hand filled, he quickly removed the stopper and emptied the meager contents of the vial. There was a brief reaction, the Energon bubbling fiercely. And then all trace of the poison was gone. Replacing the empty vial with a mental note to destroy it as soon as possible, Starscream made his way back to the table.

Skywarp was staring at him with an almost pleading expression. As Starscream passed him once more, he looked up and reached for Starscream's arm. He shook his head faintly when Starscream looked down at him. "Don't," he said, just loud enough for Starscream to hear. "Just…don't, 'Screamer."

Starscream frowned, momentarily stalled by Skywarp's odd behaviour. But then Megatron let out an obnoxious, booming laugh, and his resolve was strong once more.

Megatron didn't notice the exchange between the Seekers. "Glad to see you're doing what you're told for once," he said as Starscream set the cube in front of him.

"I live to serve," Starscream retorted with a dramatic bow, walking back around to his own seat and dropping down to wait. He met Soundwave's gaze for a moment; though there was no way to tell behind the Communications Officer's visor and facemask, he knew the telepath was in no condition to go rooting around in his thoughts. Starscream's thoughts would be lost amidst the chaos, anyway. He laughed inwardly as he imagined what all of these fools were going to think when the high-grade wore off and they realized that their beloved leader was dead. If that didn't cure some of them of their habits, there wasn't much that would.

Skywarp half-rose from his seat, looking for a moment as if he wanted to intervene. Thundercracker stayed in his seat, staring hard at the floor as if he would like nothing more than for it to open up and swallow him. Rumble, completely oblivious to the tension, broke into a peal of laughter at a joke Frenzy had just told him, effectively distracting Soundwave as well.

Starscream watched intently as Megatron raised the cube to his mouth. Any moment now. Every circuit in his body seemed to tingle with anticipation. He pulled a long cycle of air through his intakes as the cube emptied. Finally, Megatron slammed the empty cube onto the table, and looked up to meet Starscream's gaze. The second-in-command couldn't help it; a wicked smile crossed his face.

It took only a moment. Confusion came over Megatron's face as he raised a hand to his throat, hunching over. Even over Rumble's continued laughter, Starscream could hear the commander's frantically cycling intakes, strangled sounds emitting from his vocalizer. A violent tremor ran through his frame; he pushed back from the table, trying to stand and falling to his knees instead. Soundwave was at Megatron's side faster than anyone had ever seen him move before. The incessant chatter that had filled the room was starting to subside as processors sluggish from overcharging began to register that something was very, very wrong.

Rumble climbed up on his chair to get a better look. "Whoa," he said. "Should we get him to repair bay?"

"Affirmative," Soundwave said, tension in the monotone of his voice. He gestured at Thundercracker to help. Together, they hauled Megatron to his feet. Their leader was still making those strangled sounds, but they were growing fainter, accompanied by the rapid flickering of his optics. He would have fallen forward if not for Soundwave's hand bracing against his chest.

Starscream watched as Megatron was half-carried from the room, smug satisfaction all over his faceplates. They would try to save him, of course. But by the time they got him to repair bay, it would be too late. The poison would make its way through his system, reach his main processors and his spark chamber, and that would be it.

Skywarp sat in his seat, shivering slightly as Starscream looked at him. "I told you not to do it," he said quietly. He shook his head, then vanished into thin air.

"Wh-what just happened?" Frenzy said, one hand against his head as he tried to figure it out.

Starscream, recovering from another bout of unusual behaviour from Skywarp, shrugged. "It seems our all-powerful leader can't hold his high-grade," he said.

"No way," Rumble said. "Y'see the way Soundwave freaked out? Somethin' was wrong."

Starscream scoffed. "The way that obsequious fool fawns over Megatron, I'm not surprised that he'd overreact," he said.

"Hey!" Rumble and Frenzy shouted in unison. "You take that back!" Rumble added, shaking a fist.

Starscream shook his head, giving the ceiling a plaintive glance. "Oh, I'm so afraid," he said.

"You should be!" Frenzy cried, charging across the table to attack. He managed to catch Starscream, who hadn't expected such a reckless move, off-guard, and knocked the Seeker to the floor.

"You fragging little glitch!" Starscream snapped, picking him up with one hand and casually tossing him away. "I'm going to make you regret that when I've taken over as leader!"

Frenzy stopped in mid-charge.

"Whadaya mean, 'taken over as leader'?" Rumble said.

Starscream got to his feet, but didn't dignify the cassette with a reply. With the whole room's optics on him, he walked out of the room, humiliated for the second time, this time at being taken down by Frenzy of all mechs. It was almost enough to overpower the impatience that was making its way through his processors. Had Megatron gone offline yet? Were they still trying to save the old fool's life?

Skywarp suddenly appeared right in front of him. "Just been to the repair bay," he said.

Excitement jolted through Starscream's circuitry at that. "And?" he prompted. His trine-mate refused to look at him, staring hard at a wall instead. He grabbed Skywarp by the shoulder and turned him so their optics met. "Slag it, Skywarp, tell me!"

Skywarp suddenly lashed out, shoving Starscream hard in the chest. "He's dead, all right?" he snapped. "Are you happy? You killed our leader, you stupid glitch! We might as well just walk up to Autobot HQ and surrender now!"

Starscream didn't appreciate the insinuation, but he was far too exhilarated to take issue with it. He had done it! He had finally gotten rid of the old glitch! Still, Skywarp was behaving oddly, and he wasn't sure he could trust his trine-mate's word. "I'll be happy once I've confirmed it for myself," he said, shouldering his way past Skywarp and walking briskly towards the repair bay.

He found Soundwave hunched over one of the repair berths, on which the lifeless form of their commander lay. Thundercracker stood near the door.

"Skywarp just told me," Starscream said to him. "Is it true?"

Thundercracker looked at him, a pained expression on his face. He started to speak, failed, and his shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry, Starscream," he finally managed to say.

Starscream watched as Thundercracker turned and walked away. He didn't quite understand what Thundercracker was talking about, but it wasn't important. Or rather, it was less important than confirming that Megatron was dead. "Such a shame," he said as he approached the berth.

"Silence," Soundwave droned.

"I don't think you're in any position to be giving me orders," Starscream said. "Megatron's dead. I'm his second-in-command. That means I advance to leader of the Decepticons." He smiled with smug satisfaction. It was thrilling sight, Megatron lying there, dead by his hand. He leaned over the berth to peer into Megatron's grey optics -

- as they suddenly blazed to life, glowing an angry crimson even as his hand shot upwards and clamped around Starscream's neck.

The Seeker let out a screech of shock, his own optics wide as Megatron rose from the berth, hand still wrapped around Starscream's neck in a crushing grip. He pawed helplessly at Megatron's hand, fear quickly replacing his earlier excitement. He didn't understand what was going on, at least not until he recovered from the shock. He knew! his processors screeched at him. Somehow, he knew!

"No!" Starscream managed to say, even as Megatron's grip cut off vital wires and caused his processors to buzz with static. "I-I thought...you're supposed to be..."

"Dead?" Megatron snapped. "And what would give you that idea, Starscream?"

Starscream shook his head as best he could. It was hard to think; vehement denial was the best he could come up with.

Megatron used his other hand to roughly grab Starscream's arm, triggering open the compartment in his forearm. The glass vial fell out then, landing on the floor with a soft clink. With a furious snarl, he stomped hard on the glass, crunching it under his foot. "You wretched traitor," he hissed.

Starscream managed only a small whimper; the last thing he saw was Megatron's fist rushing towards his face.

*****

Again, thanks for reading! I hope to have the next part up soon. Oh, and if someone wants to help a n00b out and suggest where the violence threshold between a T and an M rating is, you would be awesome and get special mention in the next part ;)