My mind and schedule were lost somewhere. I should have updated forever ago. Procrastination...damn it.
Betas: Akirisan X and Francesca Zatnik :D
klik: second, breem: minute, joor: hour, orn: day, decaorn: week, lunar cycle: month, vorn: year
I own nothing.
Flyers never understood grounders. How can one be limited to just land, instead of the open sky? Wings made you feel complete and free. Nothing had ever come close to the feeling of spread wings catching a breeze to an endless sky where you soared for eternity.
Starscream longed for that; wanted it badly and now. He needed to touch the sky, to look at the sky, so as to not feel trapped. But he was a prisoner within the underwater base and a missing wing was unsuitable for flight. He couldn't even look at the clear blue atmosphere. Water was a poor substitute for sky; you could fly in both, but the ocean was too crowded and heavy.
But even if he had both wings he would still be unable to leave base. This was his prison; he was Megatron's favorite prisoner, his only prisoner. At least with both wings, he could pretend to be free.
Whatever pride the Seeker had was gone. His constant whining, pleading, and begging for his wing back had come to the point of being simply pathetic. His worthless attempts were at first displayed in private with just him and Megatron, but then it has become an open display for all to see just how desperate the Seeker was.
Grounders had thought less of him because of his obnoxious pleas for an appendage. They knew he would get it back, as he always had. This wasn't the first time he'd lost a wing. But Starscream did not seem to understand that, and was unwilling to wait; such an impatient and stubborn Seeker. Flyers knew the pain and would often feel as though they lost of a bit of their identity from missing a wing, but this was Starscream. Even the other flyers didn't feel any sympathy towards him.
Starscream's attempts were all for nothing and brought more harm than good. Nothing could sway Megatron from his word. The Seeker wouldn't receive a wing anytime soon; what he did receive were beatings and being confined to his quarters.
-0000-
Two lunar cycles had passed since then, but the open sky remained closed off, anything beyond his quarters remained closed off.
Starscream had been curled up in fetal position on his berth as he waited for punishment from Megatron. During his confinement, Starscream had been given tasks to complete- reviewing schematics, and creating blueprints for weapons -but he had refused to do either. More accurately, he couldn't do them because lack of energon had made him weak and unable to function correctly. Megatron said that he would see to it personally that Starscream received some discipline for his insubordination.
Why would Megatron keep me functioning? I am useless to him. I cannot even look over schematics. I cannot do anything right. Starscream thought to himself as he clung tight to his helm. Thundercracker has taken over the missions. He should be Air Commander. He is better than I.
Starscream's processor ached with great pain. His vision had become blurred and fragmented while his thoughts were scrambled. He was slowly becoming more and more irrational from being trapped indoors for a long period of time and from lack of sufficient energon consumption.
A faint shiver swept up the Seeker's frame as he pushed himself up from the berth and looked towards his locked door; he sensed Megatron approaching.
Megatron will come and hurt you again.
A shy glow of neon pink caught his attention; he turned and stared in horror. The energon cubes! The accumulation of neglected energon cube lay next to a far corner. If Megatron sees those he will offline me for sure! He will think I stole them!
In a panic, Starscream removed himself from his berth and stood in front of the pile. His spark had continued to skip beats from trepidation. He had to hide the cubes, had to get rid of them, and fast before Megatron arrived.
But time was running out and Megatron's presence had become more and more uncomfortable as he approached.
If Starscream had been operating correctly, he would have come up with a plan to hide the cubes. But the Seeker hadn't that option; he placed a small bomb on top the stack of energon cubes and ran out just before it detonated. The explosion was tremendous and rattled the entire floor. The steel walls managed to keep the explosion relatively inside the Seeker's quarters, which were completely destroyed.
Starscream had lost his balance, due to the blast's shock wave, and fallen a few feet from his quarters. This was the first time he had been out of his -now destroyed- quarters, but he couldn't relish the moment. Smoke crept out from cracks on the wall and bulged door. A dark silhouette was seen through the fog, each step it took rattled signals of fear from Starscream.
"What happened here?" Roared Megatron as he broke through the smoke and eyed the damage done to the outside of the quarters.
The Seeker's processor froze, all he could do was mouth a silent "I do not know."
Megatron came closer, so close that Starscream had felt the enraged heat that emanated from his frame. "Do not lie to me, Seeker. What happened?"
"I-I do not know, sir!" nervously replied Starscream. He turned his gaze away from Megatron's furious stare to look upon the damaged walls. He remained quiet after that, although his frame shook violently as he tried to brace for impact.
-0000-
The brig was cold, it always was. It felt like a cage with electric bars. There was nothing that flyers hate more than being stuck in a cage: you couldn't fly, it's so cramped that you could barely walk, you are barely fed, and it was always dark. It was the way Starscream had been living, but being trapped in the brig made him feel more like a captive, a slave for Megatron.
He had known he was going insane. It was obvious. The rest of the Decepticons had seen it too. Rational and irrational thoughts were mixed with his growing insanity. But insanity was better than deactivation. He didn't want to offline, not yet; even though his rational side believed it the best was to end this nightmare.
He felt as though he were in an asylum. Starscream's optics darted from one direction to another in trying to find some way to escape the cell. He screamed pleas to allow him freedom and to stop the voices in his head; the voices were all talking at once, talking over each other. Starscream could not understand what they were saying, and he didn't want to understand.
Suddenly the voices went silent.
"Becoming increasingly more and more insane, I see."
Starscream turned to the source of the voice and found Megatron standing on the other side of the electrical fence.
"Soundwave informs me that it was an energon explosion. Why were you hoarding energon cubes in your quarters? What were you doing? "
Starscream remained quiet; he couldn't tell Megatron the truth.
"Tell me now, Seeker, or I will keep you locked up forever!"
The voices began to stir in his processor once again, all talking over each other like before.
What if I am stuck in here forever?
He would do it. Megatron would do it!
I will rot in here. Offline!
I need to get out! Escape!
I do not want to offline!
I do not want to be here!
Please...
"Starscream!"
Can't tell the truth.
"I stole them, my Lord. T-to construct a-a weapon," stumbled Starscream.
Megatron expected that kind of answer, but it still hadn't meant that he was satisfied upon hearing it.
-0000-
"He's going insane," said Skywarp with a smile placed on his lips. Both he and Thundercracker had been looking at the screen feeding images from the brig. Starscream was kneeling on the ground, his back struts bent forward so his helm touched the floor, and both arms crossed and clutching his shaking shoulders.
"He hasn't been able to leave base in two lunar cycles. It's only understandable that he's reacting this way," replied Thundercracker as he removed his gaze from the screen only to look at the rest of the monitors that fed footage from within the base.
Skywarp remained looking at the screen. His elbow joints were set on console while his chin rested on his palm, and one finger playfully threatened to turn off the brig footage. "He deserves it for defying Lord Megatron."
Thundercracker looked back at the monitor. "Starscream has changed."
Skywarp looked startled, not by his reply but with his tone. He quickly turned to face the blue jet. "You care?" His faceplates displayed a look of worry, especially when his partner hadn't responded right away.
"No." Thundercracker looked away once again. "Not anymore," he whispered, barely audio.
Skywarp turned back to look at the monitor that held his Air Commander before he angrily shut it off.
