Thank you for the reviews guys :) I guess there're no problems with this story so it's safe to continue. So, we finally come to the moment of truth. You have no idea how long I've been waiting to end the whole month scenario and get on to a mini-saga that will span chapters 39-43 or 44. I promise that the next few chapters will be anything but dull. But the only problem is this boring bridging chapter. As usual, reviews are much loved and appreciated and please enjoy the update!

Chapter 38 Christening of Evil

(July 5th – 8:00am)

"Come 'round, Cyndi!"

The first thing she heard was a voice calling to her. She felt someone slap her left check gently as if the person was trying to wake her up. As her senses came back to her slowly, she could feel that she was being held in someone's warm, soft arms; a contrast to what she was used to.

"She's waking up," Amanda whispered. "Stop slapping her, Darien. At least we don't have to pour water on her face."

At last, Cynthia opened up her eyes. When she revealed them to her brother and sister, they were bloodshot and she bore unsightly, unflattering bags beneath her eyes. The pained groan that came out of her parted lips further emphasized the fact she was suffering from the effects of a hangover.

"What…" Cyndi said in a gravelly voice. She cleared her throat and sat up, seeing that Darien was cradling her in his arms. "What's going on? Where am I? Why can't I remember anything?"

"You were so drunk last night," her brother said.

Instantly, Cynthia looked down at her body to see if her clothes were still on her. She sighed in relief and rubbed her temples. For a moment, she thought she was in her underwear and her bra that looked as if they were ready to fall off her frame in tatters. To see that she was in a t-shirt (that was moist with her drool), shorts and flip-flops, she felt as if she could breathe again.

"I am just so happy that I'm in my clothes," she shook her head. "I seriously cannot remember anything… I remember getting a little buzz and then singing songs. After that, it's all a blur." The eldest sibling in the trio wrinkled her nose. "What was I doing?"

"Oh, you should've seen the stuff you were doing," Amanda smiled wryly. "You were giving your honey lap dances and then you decided it was a good idea to hit on Lockdown."

Cyndi looked like she was completely aghast with what her sister had reported. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped steeper.

"No, you're lying!" she shook her head. "I'm not that much of a…floosy!"

"I'm serious," Amanda nodded. "I have it all recorded on my phone and I plan on posting it on YouTube for the whole world to see! It'll be a meme, just watch! 'Chick gives lap dances and flirts with alien robots'… I can see it now!"

"You will do no such thing! Give me your phone right now and I will delete every single second of it!"

"I'm joking!" Amanda laughed shortly. "Darien, Lockdown and I split when you started getting freaky with Blitzwing. We met up an hour later and you were passed out."

"Define 'freaky'!" She grasped her sister by the front of her shirt. "Was I wearing clothes when you found me?"

"For God's sake, yes!" Darien said, exasperated. "You were just drunk… We'll leave it at that."

Cyndi observed her surroundings, noticing she and her family members were in a forest. With effort, she stood up onto her feet, getting a little head rush simultaneously.

"Why are we in the woods?" she asked.

"Because we're seeing Megatron at any minute," Darien answered.

The girl turned around, seeing the entrance to the mine behind her. Standing at the mouth of the abandoned cave was Lockdown who was babysitting the organics. Mentally, she face-palmed herself for acting so blind and naïve due to the hangover she was warring with.

"How do I look?" she said.

"To be honest, horrible," Mandy said bluntly. "You look like, well, you were drunk and partying."

"Magnificent. What a way to be inducted into Megatron's service… Why didn't anyone stop me from drinking too much?"

"Because you were scary," said Darien. "No one wants to deal with you when you're angry, Sis."

They could feel a slight tremor in the earth. The three looked at each other for a moment, trying to see if someone could offer an explanation for this disturbance. Their answer was given to them seconds later when they saw Lugnut approach Lockdown from the darkness of the mine.

"Glorious Megatron commands you to enter," he motioned to the organics. "He will receive you now. Do not stall."

(…)

The three Humans were experiencing a painfully unpleasant bout of nostalgia as they walked down the same corridor they traversed through one month earlier. Back in June, they were terrified out of their minds and even now, they couldn't help to not feel anxious and fearful although they had an occupation chosen for themselves. The mere thought of Megatron throwing an evil glare at them made their blood turn to slush in their veins. All they wanted was to be welcomed by Megatron unceremoniously and then be allowed to leave and take a breather from confronting him. They even prayed he would forget about them altogether and they'd be spared of serving him. However, neither of the three saw it was likely that the head 'Con would let them off so freely considering how much of an issue it was.

Cynthia stared at Lockdown and Lugnut as they led the organics through the tunnel which led them to the mine's inner chambers. She flinched when she could hear a bat's wings beat at the air above her.

"So…" Amanda cleared her throat, "what exactly is going to happen?"

"What do you think is going to happen, fleshling?" Lugnut said shortly. "You will offer what you can to mighty Megatron and he will provide the final decision."

"Okay… Um, what'll happen if we do get accepted? Is the Decepticon symbol going to be tattooed onto our skin?"

"Since you are weak Humans, you wouldn't survive the branding…" The titanic Decepticon glanced over his shoulder to look the blonde in the eye. "However, a mark of some sort ought to be placed on you to remind you of your allegiance to Megatron." He cackled darkly. "Perhaps you should be branded just like the lot of us… Except for this unruly bounty hunting scum."

Amanda swallowed hard. She really, really hoped that wouldn't come to be. She was blessed to not be seriously pestered by acne and she took pride in her clear skin. Imagining the mark of the Decepticon etched into her flesh made her spine tingle uncomfortably.

"I think it would be a bad move on the other hand," Lockdown cut in. "They're offering themselves as spies, right? Then what better disguise to wear than to not bear the crest at all?"

Lugnut grumbled grudgingly at the clever mech's opinion.

"Megatron and Megatron alone will decide what to do with these weaklings," the hefty behemoth bitterly reminded.

"It's going to be real fun working with you, Titanic," Amanda jeered.

"Mandy, shut up," her sister scolded her. "We don't need this now."

"What did you just call me, insect?" Lugnut halted in his footsteps and faced the Human who had taunted him.

"Drop it," Darien urged.

"Titanic!" Mandy repeated defiantly. "You heard me!"

Lockdown jabbed Lugnut in his back with his hooked servo. The zealous 'Con turned his helm to face his inorganic company.

"Leave her be," he said. "She doesn't know when to shut her mouth."

"She must learn if she is to become our ally," Lugnut countered. "If Megatron wishes to dispose of these pitiful creatures, I will happily kill the fair-haired one." He turned his unnerving gaze onto Cynthia. "And she will be next."

Cyndi only frowned and chose not to get into a squabble with him.

"Are we done, children?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"Thank you, Cynthia," Lockdown nodded. "Once again, you are the voice of reason. If that fat tanker won't take you to Megatron, I will. We're almost at the end of the hall." He pointed to an opening that had to have been a few hundred feet away from where they stood. "Moving on…"

Lockdown led the three Humans to the light. Growling in displeasure, Lugnut followed close behind, being mindful to not squash the organics despite the fact he really wanted to.

A minute later, the siblings found themselves back in the fateful room that they had stood in a month earlier. In the middle of the room there stood Megatron, Starscream and Blitzwing. The triple changer had regained his true height and this was particularly evidenced by the form of Sumdac who stood at his metal boots with the shrink ray in his hands. The four had been patiently waiting to welcome in their newest comrades.

"Ah, you all appear to be in decent spirits," Megatron acknowledged. "I see that is all fair and well. But perhaps you are all masters of disguising visible signs of fear? Correct me if I am wrong."

"You're terrifying," Mandy admitted. "But we must do this…"

"You were the one who put up the most fight and spunk about being absorbed into my ranks. Blitzwing or Lockdown must've broken you to make you bend to reality and accept it."

"I'm not that dumb, sir."

"Oh, I see your sister's manners finally rubbed onto you as well. It's about time."

Cynthia almost completely ignored Megatron unintentionally as she studied Blitzwing. Once more, she was an ant to him. She felt happy for him that he was himself again yet she also felt a little angry and robbed. Of course she felt both blessed and slightly plighted with his presence for the month but she was also terribly upset that she couldn't become particularly close to him. Now that he had been restored to his proper stature, she believed she was going to go through a withdrawl now, much like a drug addict deprived of their personal Satan. Already, she didn't know what she was going to do later on that evening. Or the next evening… Or the next evening after that.

Blitzwing smiled softly back at her, silently and tenderly accepting her presence in the room. He was massively relieved and pleased he was normalized but he already missed the things he could do in his minimized state. Already, he was concoting plans within his helm to swipe the Professor's device when no one was looking and make Cynthia melt into his arms again. Just the mere thought of going back to his cold, hard, lonesome berth was so unsatisfying and cruel.

"It is especially good to see that you are in fair spirits, Cynthia," Starscream shot a debonair smile at her. "I hope that you no longer hold ill will towards our last encounter. I know I am certainly ready to call a ceasefire for the hostility."

Blitzwing's serene grin shattered and he glared daggers at the seeker when he saw he was speaking to Cynthia. Starscream could almost sense the evil thoughts being directed towards him from his brother but he shrugged them off.

"I'm ready to bury the hatchet if you are," she said, feeling a little intimidated. "I know I certainly feel indebted to you considering you came up with the suggestion for Megatron."

Megatron raised a brow plate in surprise. Blitzwing growled like a bear being poked by a stick.

"You mean that Starscream was the one who helped you decide what to do for me?" he asked. "Last time I checked, he hated you."

Strategically, Cyndi avoided the latter sentence Megatron said. As far as she knew, it was still sensitive territory to traverse.

"He did," she confirmed. "Starscream suggested something to me and I had finally decided to use it because my siblings and I couldn't think of any other option."

"I had it in mind ze whole time!" Hothead jealously boasted. "I vas just vaiting to see if zhey could zhink of ozher options besides vhat I had in mind!"

"Down, boy," Starscream smirked. "Let's not spill energon while our new comrades are still trying to get used to things."

"Tell me what you have finalized on," the silver bot said. "Enough of this foolish, trivial rambling."

"Spies," Darien said, realizing it was best to not keep Megatron waiting, "we'll become spies for you."

"Think of it, Megatron," Cynthia picked up. "Who will expect us to serve you? Not many people in their right mind would serve the Decepticons…" She paused to recover the potential offensiveness she leaked out. "Of course, we had no choice but surely you understand where I'm coming from?"

Megatron meditatively placed a servo on his chin and contemplated over the matter. He was still perplexed and vexed that his second in command had actually assisted them in selecting a profession for the Decepticon cause. Although he found himself tolerating Cynthia at best, he admitted that she could be calculating, brave and cautious if the situation called for it. That, he saw, had good potential to be honed into legitimate and ultimately, useful espionage skills.

His optics flitted from Cynthia to her brother and sister who flanked her. They were common organics, blending in with the mainstream of the populace. One was an awkward, teenaged boy and the other two were blossoming, young women. When he looked at them, he didn't see or imagine them harboring a dark secret. They didn't even appear threatening.

Megatron then refocused his gaze onto the ring leader of the organic trio. When he looked into her eyes, he saw fear lurking within her. He knew that she was as terrified as confronting him the first time. As far as he was concerned, he had her before he he even decided on what to do…

"You will serve me well because you are afraid of me," he said, speaking directly to her, ignoring Amanda and Darien. "That and your devotion to your lover further binds you to me… Are you sure this is what you wish to do for me?"

"I can speak for all three of us," she said, "yes. We will serve you as spies. We have no other talents we can offer you. We're not mercenaries or geniuses. It's the least we can do besides being target practice."

Megatron laughed at that.

"Believe it or not, you and your siblings are a little above being used for target practice," the head Decepticon folded his servos together. "You are all deceitful, you know that? None of your fellow Humans nor the Autobots would suspect you of being in league with me… Cynthia, I am aware of your close encounters with them and how they may possibly be keeping you tucked away in the backs of their memory cores. So, you must be markedly cautious in their midst. If that is what you wish to be, then I can accommodate you accordingly."

"So…" Darien pressed warily. "Are we allowed to live?"

"My boy, you most certainly will live. You will live to serve me."

At the same time, the siblings felt dread and relief. They felt dread because none of them wished to have been forced to serve Megatron. The relief came from the revelation that their offer had been accepted and were allowed to keep their lives. If they had a greater range of choices to select from, they wouldn't be standing in his midst, getting ready to reluctantly pledge their allegiance to the mechanical monster to begin with.

"Spies," Megatron grinned, "my spies. I can assure you three that working for me is not a horrid death sentence granted that you play your cards wisely and discreetly." His gazed hardened on Cynthia. "Cynthia, I am hereby entrusting you to tutor and preside over your brother and sister. Since you are obviously the smartest and eldest one, I wish for you to keep them out of trouble and remind them of their place. I know you will do whatever is necessary to ensure my wishes."

"I understand," Cyndi said. She bit down on her tongue with force, trying her hardest to force back a stream of tears. Sorrowfully, she nodded her head at her new lord and master. "Amanda and Darien will listen to me. No offense to you, Megatron, but they are not as stupid as you perceive them to be. Trust me, they know to remain tight-lipped about the matter. No one will know of our servitude to you other than those in this room…"

"Very good, I shall hold you to your word and honor, Cynthia. Blitzwing is absolutely confident in your ability to keep this in the shadows and I must say I am finding myself in accordance with him."

"Master, they must be absorbed fully into our ranks," Lugnut reminded. "How shall we place our mark upon them?"

"I'm sorry, I'm not getting a tattoo!" Amanda said staunchly. "Please don't make us wear the Decepticon mark!"

Blitzwing looked at Megatron worryingly, hoping the organics wouldn't be touched by the purple seal. The marks from Starscream's claws had unfortunately turned into fading scars on Cynthia's flesh and he felt awful and powerless regarding not preventing that from happening. Imagining her with the Decepticon insignia on her made him so ill that he could almost smell the burning flesh.

"See, he's doing it again," Lockdown huffed. "I tried to tell Slag For Brains that branding the Humans would be a bad idea, particularly if they were to serve as spies for you, Megatron. If the Autobots were to suspect them of serving you and if they saw the marks upon them, then they would be caught. That in itself would unfold into a pleasant menagerie of events…"

The most powerful Cybertronian present could see the rather sane reasoning in Lockdown's argument. Very quickly, he found himself agreeing with Lockdown's cleverness. As he approved of the bounty hunter's sharp processor, Megatron had frowned upon Lugnut's impulse and sadistic desire to cause the Humans agony. If these organics didn't devote themselves to him, he'd allow the juggernaut to do what he pleased with them.

"Lugnut, you must learn to accept these three organics," Megatron instructed. "Whether you like or not, they are our allies now. I have allowed them to join us and you are to treat them as comrades. If I find any one of them dead, I will know who had committed such a crime and I will be severely displeased with you. If you are as loyal and devoted to me as you boast that you are, you will obey me and show them respect and civility. They must be welcomed and shown the ropes around here."

Lugnut grumbled but didn't do much of it. He lowered his helm steeply and bowed to Megatron.

"I hear and obey your word, Mighty Megatron," he said. "I will accept the Humans since it is your command."

"I don't need to be forced to be civil to our new friends," Starscream grinned. He knelt down to get a closer look at them. "Honestly, I didn't think you three would live to be accepted by Megatron, our leader. Consider it a great honor. When we finally subdue this planet, you three can become the rulers and answer only to him."

"Oh, I never thought of it that way," Amanda grinned. "I can be a queen?"

"Yes, if you serve your master well, he will make you one."

"Can I have diamond earrings, a ring with a topaz gem and a throne made of gold?"

"It can be done."

"Maybe this won't be so bad after all! I wouldn't mind being a queen at all!" Cynthia stepped on her sister's foot forcefully, making the blonde jump and yelp in pain. "Cyndi, what gives?"

For the entire time, Professor Sumdac said nothing. All he did was thrust his full attention onto the young Earthlings, studying their every single movement and listening intently to ever single word they uttered. Clearly, he could see the fear lying beneath their seemingly calm exteriors. Still, he regretted suggesting to Megatron that they could prove themselves useful but he also believed that they would have been slain without his intervention. Although he didn't know how exactly the siblings would react to being absorbed into the Decepticon ranks, what he did know was that they had to react quickly or else they would most likely perish.

"So, it has been finally decided," Megatron proclaimed. "Darien, Amanda, Cynthia… I hereby, formally welcome you into our little family. If you were actually Cybertronians, you'd receive the honorary Decepticon badge but Lockdown convinced me otherwise considering you are organic spies. So, our relationship must be built solidly upon words and mutual trust..." He paused for a second or two. "Now, I understand that there is reluctance in your hearts… No, I'm actually quite sure of it. Let me be clear to all three of you that I control you now. Yes, you may go about your lives as normal so that you don't stick out and make others suspicious of you. But you must also understand that when I am summoning you for your assistance or services, you better drop whatever you are doing and answer the call. I also still demand you three to remain quiet about your alliance to me. You also ought to stay away from those Autobots unless if I order you to get close to them. I will assume you're committing treason and I will kill you for fraternizing with the enemy. Have I made myself clear?"

"Crystal clear," Darien emphasized. "I'm no honor roll student in my class but I get it."

"Totally," Amanda said, folding her arms across her chest. "I'll be a good little minion because I love life too much! I'll try to be James Bond with breasts!"

"We understand," Cynthia said at last. "I will keep my brother and sister in line too."

"Very well then," Megatron's harsh gaze softened subtly. "Consider yourselves honorary members from now until death… You see, once you come aboard, you remain with us until you perish." He looked at Blitzwing and then to Cynthia. "Blitzwing, Cynthia, I hope that you two plan on strengthening your love and aren't childishly infatuated with another because you two will be working side by side for many years granted that all goes well. To see you fall out of love with each other after all this would be truly unfortunate; mostly for the Human."

"She's mine vhether she likes it or not," said Random. He bent down and picked his beloved organic up. Treating her as if she was royalty, he carefully placed her on his shoulder. "No need to vorry, Megatron, I vill have everyzhing under control vith ze Humans! I vill show zem around and get zem used to everyzhing in no time at all! I don't mind vorking vith Cyndi for many years!"

Cyndi ground her jaw stealthily. The mentioning that she might be working for Megatron for a few decades was a truly terrifying prospect. It never hit her until then…

(one hour later…)

Amanda sat outside the mouth of the mine, waiting for her brother and sister to finish talking with Megatron. She asked to be excused and surprisingly, her new boss had no qualms about it. Just being around the silvery bot made her flustered and mortified. Sitting outside cooled her down and soothed her nerves. Not only that, she wished to be alone for a little while so she could quietly digest all that was happening around her.

More than anything else, she wished she could talk to her mother and father to seek counsel and comfort with them. She hoped that maybe her father could somehow appeal to a higher government authority and convince them to call in armed forces to subdue the Decepticon presence. Then she realized the redundancy of that action and recalled that no military force was ever really called in to deal with them. She didn't know how she was going to do it, but she made a vow to herself she was going to free herself from Megatron and make him and his cronies face justice. Then again, the promise of her ruling the Earth as Megatron's governess was extremely tempting…

"I admit it," a voice said from behind her.

She turned her head to the side to face the voice's owner. Amanda didn't jump nor was she startled because she was so used to it.

"Admit what?" she asked.

Lockdown took a few steps closer to her. He stopped when he was literally inches away from her.

"I'm not really the type to admit anything really," he went on. "But here it goes…"

Amanda felt her stomach flutter madly like a hummingbird's wings. She stood up and tilted her head upwards, looking directly into his optics. For a moment, she wondered if it was all good to be true. She braced herself.

"I enjoyed your company," he revealed. "I disliked you at first but I have to say I've grown partial towards you since we spent the month together. I know this may seem a little weird and creepy but I feel protective towards you too. You're going to be in some very deep trouble now that you work for Megatron… You didn't willingly sign up for it and you're young. I feel bad that you were dragged into this all but unfortunately, it can't be undone."

"Don't worry, I'll get back at Cynthia for ruining my life sooner or later," she brushed it off. "All I can do is go with the flow and try to not die."

He scoffed softly and smirked. "Good strategy."

"So now that I'm Megatron's slave like everyone else, what'll happen to you?" she said. "Will I see you again?"

"Of course you will. I work more often with the 'Cons than I do with the 'Bots. So, I'll be floating around like I always am."

"C-can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

She hoped he wouldn't react meanly or coarsely to what was lying on the tip of her tongue.

"I was wondering if Megatron could let you hang out with us again," she said, blushing slightly. "I have to admit when you and Blitzwing were there with us, I felt like I had the army protecting me. Not only that…" Mandy chose her words very carefully. "I like you. I like your company. I know this might come off as weird but I see you as a friend. And don't tell Cyndi this but I like you more than Blitzwing. He frightens me…"

"Don't worry, I won't tell him," Lockdown promised. "I might have slipped on that one promise with them earlier but I'll make it up and keep this one. So, you like me as your guardian, eh?"

"Yes…" She cursed herself for smiling a little too sunnily. "That is, if it's no problem for you. I know you're a bounty hunter and they've got places to go…"

"It should be no problem."

The way he sounded was confident yet nonchalant. Mandy certainly wasn't expecting a reply like that.

"Are you sure?" she pressed, testing his sureness.

"Oh, absolutely," he nodded his helm. "I've got nothing going on. It almost gets too boring on this planet sometimes. I was actually relieved Megatron made me safeguard you and your siblings because it gave me something to do. I think I can manage enduring you for a little while longer."

She placed her hands on her hips.

"You're still a jerk after all this too," she laughed.

"Respect me," he clicked his glossa. "I'm the one taking you and the other two home. I'm the only inconspicuous vehicle here. So, I might as well stick around you."

"Can we go talk to Megatron about it?"

"Might as well. Let's go." He grinned. "And you can talk to him about it. You have to get used to answering to him."