In Greek mythology, Cerberus or Kerberos was the hound of Hades, a monstrous three-headed dog with a snake for a tail and snakes down his back like a mane. Cerberus guarded the gate to Hades and ensured that spirits of the dead could enter, but none could exit. In Dante's Inferno, he is described as having a human head. This symbolizes the possibility of Cerberus being more human than animal.

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Chapter 11

The fall of Cerberus

The never discreet steps of Megatron could be heard on the marble floor during the first moments of dawn.

If there was one single terrestrial hour the Decepticon leader found somewhat enjoyable, it was dawn. Unstable, undefined between night and day, virgin…

Virgin.

He couldn't avoid staring at the place beside the Command Center. His glance was received by the coldness of closed doors.

Do you know what a virgin is, Megatron?

Megatron frowned. Strong waves of anger threatened to invade his apparent exterior coldness. Taking those doors down and destroying the human female was too tempting.

But was that what he wanted, to see her body crushed, turned into a disgusting mass of blood and bones, just like her father had ended?

Megatron returned his glance to the big window ahead of him that was showing the pinkish lights that had started to illuminate the desert. Once again, the hypnotic effect of dawn worked gently on his disturbed mind, returning him to the lie that his inner peace was.

She wasn't there.

Away from the reach of his optics, her penetrating perfume not attacking his sensors, her voice not stabbing his audios with its irreverence… But it was her eyes, especially her eyes, which were not there to challenge him, to struggle to reach that place without limits that was the pure essence of his tyranny.

Nor was her body there.

Her small, soft, repulsive organic body…

Virgin. Yes, Megatron knew what a virgin was. He had known it that surreal night in which a princess bled for him.

Megatron almost welcomed the footsteps that could be heard behind him. Disregarding the erratic and insignificant thoughts of his mind and redirecting his fury toward the interests of the Decepticon Empire was a priority.

"Report, Soundwave," he said without turning back to the newcomer.

"Units Ramjet and Dirge shot down at coordinates 42.0 N, 75.0 W, 15.0 W, 6.0 N, location known as the Sargasso Sea," the cold and monotonic voice replied back.

Megatron narrowed his optics during the brief astro second that he always took to control his anger every time circumstances or the incompetence of his soldiers resulted in the failure of his plans.

"When did it happen?" he rasped.

"Half breem ago. Thrust reports Autobot ambush."

"Where is Thrust?"

"Back at headquarters."

"What about the others?"

"Ramjet was almost terminated and Dirge is missing. Reparation and search labours have already been initiated."

Megatron kept his glance fixated on the every-second-clearer desert outside the window. "What a nerve Prime has… attacking us so close to our base…"

Soundwave remained silent, waiting for the orders he knew were coming. With the same coldness with which he had announced the almost lethal attack on his comrades in arms, he prepared himself to fulfill any instruction Megatron dictated. It would be a logical order, of that he had no doubt, and the best course of action. Soundwave was certain about Megatron's leadership, despite the altered mental state he had perceived in his Commander's mind without the need to penetrate his thoughts.

That was the only thing disturbing the unbreakable stoic façade of the Decepticon Communications Officer in that moment, nevertheless. Megatron had always been impossible to read. The strength of his personality and the absolute dominion of his emotions made entering his mind a nightmare for any telepath. To actually feel his mental barriers become momentarily unstable was as new as it was confusing, but Soundwave disregarded any doubts. They were not relevant for the Decepticon cause and it wasn't his place to find out the reasons.

Megatron stared firmly at his lieutenant. Soundwave knew, of course he had to know. What was next? Thanking his discretion? Punishing his knowledge?

Shame was an unknown feeling for the Decepticon leader, and it would remain that way.

"Make sure to find Dirge and reschedule the mission for tonight. We can't proceed with the next phase of our plan without that shipment of Cybertronium. Failure is not an option. If Prime wants a fight, a fight he shall have. Notify the Triplechangers to be ready; they will be the escort. I will personally supervise the mission."

"As you command, Megatron."

Soundwave was about to leave, but he stopped. He knew Megatron too well to know when there was something else left to say.

"The humans…" Megatron spoke again, his voice noticeably more calmed than his previous words.

Soundwave stared at him, waiting.

"Did you take care of their government system?" the Decepticon leader continued.

"Affirmative. Council of Ministers under control. Only two members resisted."

Megatron smirked. "And I suppose you sent Ravage on a little hunting trip."

Soundwave nodded. "Both humans were terminated. Discretion maintained."

"Good, very good Soundwave. That Council was nothing more than a joke under our deceased ally's reign after all, and it's my intention to keep it that way. It will continue to be a mirage, just as the legit heir of the throne. The absurd mechanisms of the weak web of appearances that human politics is reminds me of Cybertron before the war. Disgusting."

Soundwave agreed internally, trying to ignore the different inflexion in Megatron's voice when he had fleetingly mentioned the human princess.

Fleeting was also the glance Megatron passed over the closed doors beside the Command Center.

"Soundwave."

"Yes, Megatron?"

"Prepare everything for tonight, and make sure Thrust gets punished for abandoning his wingmates."

"As you command."

This time there was nothing left to say. There were things Megatron would never speak of.

Soundwave nodded one last time and went out of the room.

Despite his anger, Megatron couldn't avoid feeling some sort of gratitude toward his Communications Officer. Soundwave knew better, that was a big truth, but his discretion was as remarkable as his loyalty.

"Going somewhere, Astrogeek?"

The voice was seconded by battle cries coming from the sky. Five planes in combat formation broke the tranquility of the night with their engines.

Disappointed by the failure of his initial taunt, Air Raid changed verbal aggression for physical. Two heat-seeking missiles made their way toward the Decepticon space shuttle, and they would have caused great damage if they hadn't been destroyed by very accurate laser shots that came from somewhere within the clouds.

"Attacking the rearguard, Aerialbots? Nice to see you are upgrading your tactics," growled Blitzwing as he charged at full speed toward Air Raid and Slingshot.

Both Aerialbots avoided the assault and counterattacked with erratic doses of laser fire that barely grazed the jet fighter.

A powerful blast that could only come from a fusion cannon broke the ordered formation of the flying Autobots. Fireflight began to fall toward the ocean, leaving a dark trace of smoke behind.

"They have dispersed! Decepticons, terminate them!" Megatron shouted as he emerged from the black waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Beside him, Octane erupted from the sea also, transformed in his Boeing 767 jet mode, flying upward in a straight line and ignoring the immediate attack of Skydive. "Salt-water is bad for my paintjob. You will pay for this with pain, Autobots!" he said as he headed toward the dark clouds.

"Aerialbots, reunite and transform into Superioaaarrrggghh!!"

Silverbolt couldn't finish. Fierce and strong arms came from above and brutally embraced him. One of the things every Aerialbot knew was that close combat with Astrotrain had to be avoided by all means.

Taking advantage of the momentary surprise factor, Megatron and Blitzwing shot point blank against the three Aerialbots that were still flying.

Silverbolt forced his engines but couldn't get rid of Astrotrain's lethal hug; the Triplechanger laughing maniacally as he quickly gained altitude.

"So you are afraid of heights, Autobot? How embarrassing for you. I don't know how you even dare to call yourself a flier."

The Aerialbot leader continued struggling but all resistance was useless. Now the battle was inner. He had to keep his panic under control, trying to forget the fact that every astro second the distance between him and the marine surface increased drastically.

Astrotrain cackled evilly. "Looking straight ahead? No! Look down, always look down! At least die like a flier, you cowardly pile of reject parts."

Despite his fears, Silverbolt directed his optic sensors downward. Many mecano meters below, the battle continued. Air Raid, Skydive and Slingshot shared fire and aerial acrobatics with Megatron and Blitzwing. Neither Fireflight nor Octane were anywhere to be seen.

His own panic didn't stop Silverbolt from seeing clearly the Decepticons' strategy. Having such a high point of view had some advantages.

"Be careful, they are going to aaaarrrghh!!" he cried as he listened to the very disagreeable noise of his nose cone being crushed under Astrotrain's pressure.

The warning didn't arrive below, eclipsed by the sounds of the combat and the euphoria that was deaf to any attempt of communication. Suddenly Megatron retreated and Blitzwing started to fly in circles, allowing the three Aerialbots to return to an organized formation.

Hell came from above. Octane emerged from his nocturnal camouflage and bathed the enemy trine with an oily liquid.

"Eeeewww, the bastard just lubricated on us!" Slingshot cried, making use of his very wide vocabulary of human insults.

"No, it's worst than that! They are gonna…" Skydive yelled back.

Once again, a warning was suddenly interrupted by pain, silenced this time by Megatron's fusion cannon. It only took a low intensity blast for the Aerialbots to burn, the fuel sprinkled by Octane turning into a true hell.

Megatron savoured the cries of agony and the always-welcomed spectacle of the enemy falling.

But his delight was short. Blinded by victory, he didn't detect on time the big energy signal until it was over him. A gigantic arm impacted him and returned him with excessive brutality to the ocean.

The marine surface received the Decepticon leader with rough caress. As in every expression of terrestrial nature, there was no place for considerations in that frozen sea. As his body was absorbed more and more by the depth of the Atlantic Ocean, Megatron could see through the water the forms of the three Triplechangers shooting frenetically and uselessly against Omega Supreme.

Among the chaos and amazingly intact, Thrust emerged from his hiding spot and crossed the sky at supersonic speed, his hunger for vindication clear.

An escape redeeming another one… just one of the many ironies of war.

With his circuits still protesting for their long contact with salt-water and the wound on his left side aching painfully, Megatron challenged the resistance of the lustrous marble floor of the palace's entrance.

He was furious.

However, the targets of his anger weren't clear. Eternal hate toward the Autobots, toward failure… Thrust had managed to reach the meeting point with his Cybertronium charge intact, but that was no victory.

Megatron arrived to the Command Center and looked at the big window. Dawn was still distant, so too its strange tranquilizing effects. Artificial lights illuminated the exterior of the palace, creating hard and surreal shadows with the exotic vegetation that was everywhere.

Fake calm, apparent as always. The Decepticon leader never had a single moment of tranquility, not even one. More than ever he had the sudden need to discharge his fusion cannon against something, against someone… It took him very few astro seconds to realize the one he hated the most in that moment was himself.

Clenched fists could barely express his frustration. His glance fixated brutally over the closed doors. If they would open again or not, it would depend only on him. He hadn't started the game to lose control; absolute domination had to be restored.

So they opened. His hands pushed with no delicacy the object that separated him from his objective. The double doors surrendered before the silver figure whose red optics shone like two hells within the darkness.

Adara was there, waiting for him.

Her face was uncovered. There was nothing left to hide between them.

She saw the anger on Megatron's face, but most of all, she saw his lust.

And she wouldn't keep him waiting. She got up from the bed and slowly directed her hand toward her shoulder, beginning to expose the skin that he had made his property.

"Stop," his voice took over all the silences.

Adara's hand obeyed immediately, the tips of her fingers shivering over her anxious body.

They glanced at each other, woman and machine, both knowing the last veil had fallen in that small place that was still separating them.

Megatron stepped closer, his hands searching for the textile garments that separated his desire from the organic body that already belonged to him.

"This time I'll do it myself," he said.

Adara smiled, submissive but victorious. Delicious contradictions would open once again the doors of hell for her. Or was it paradise?

To be continued.

Author's notes: Lots of thanks and hugs for all the people who have been following this fic. I like to think about this story as part of some bizarre Cybetronian version of the Thousand and one Arabian nights written in an ancient data pad to be found in the very very distant future.

Very warm hugs for iratepirate for beta reading what comes from my disturbed mental processor. Thanks so much s. sis!