Megatron gaped at the witch in front of him. How the frag did the thing know his designation? It wasn't like any other witch that Megatron had hunted had known it. They had all just called him a Paladin. They hadn't cared who he was. All they had cared about was trying to keep Megatron from killing them.
This witch was different. That much was clear. He had quite easily tricked Megatron into stepping into a trap, something no witch had ever been able to do before.
The witch smirked dryly at him, looking rather pleased with himself as he moved closer to where Megatron was being held prisoner by a force field of some kind.
Megatron attempted to sneer at the witch, trying to waylay the fear that was beginning to pump through his lines. He had no idea what this creature was planning to do to him. Megatron had no doubt that it was not going to be nice.
He met the witch's optics and tried to make himself look just slightly annoyed.
The witch kept grinning lightly. He took another step closer and casually placed a servo down on the force field. Slowly the field began to compress in on Megatron. He let out a soft growl as he dipped closer to him.
He watched in anger as it began to mold to his plating, creating a thin barrier in between his own armor and the witch's servos. The barrier froze him completely in place, preventing him from moving an inch.
The witch, almost casually, laid a servo on Megatron's arm, ignoring his angry growls.
It was then that Megatron finally lost his temper and snapped, "What do you want, you monster? You have me at a disadvantage. Well, what are you waiting for? Kill me."
Megatron immediately mentally slapped himself upside the helm in annoyance at himself for putting his pede in his mouth, again. He had always had an unfortunate habit of speaking his processor. And usually he wasn't a prisoner when he did let his vocalizer run.
The witch just chuckled and reached up, placing two blunt digits under Megatron's chin and forcing him to look down at him. Then the witch spoke again, "And why would I want to kill you?"
Megatron let out an annoyed snarl. Was this witch stupid? He snapped, "I came here to kill you. Most witches wouldn't allow their potential killer to live, if they got a chance."
"Oh, is that all?" the witch said cheerily. "What's the point of being angry with your kind when you've been corrupted by the ones you call Priests? Perhaps most of my kind have no qualms about murder, but I do. In case you haven't noticed, Paladin Megatron, I haven't killed my victims, like most of my brethren do. It's unnecessary in my opinion."
Megatron just glared back. He took offence to the Priests being referred to as corrupters. They were good people, loyal to Primus.
He responded, "Your very existence is a mar upon Cybertron itself. And you dare to lecture me about the Temple? They are good mechs."
"They only care about their translation of the Texts," the witch said. "Tell me, Paladin Megatron, why do you believe they are good? Is it because you have seen them do good things? Or is it because that's what they've told you to believe?"
Megatron just glared down at the witch at that, refusing to believe what the creature was saying. He knew the Priests. They were good mechs, they really were. He knew they were.
The witch continued to speak, "They've taught you that everything is in black and white. But what of the gray? The beings that are neither good nor evil? You can't honestly be so naïve to believe that there aren't mechs like that."
Megatron said nothing, just continued to glare at the witch.
The witch smiled a little sweetly before releasing Megatron's chin and moving towards the alter. Megatron watched him go, still frozen in place. His frustration with the creature was building. Mostly it was him trying to piece together how the witch knew his designation.
Finally, he lost control of his vocalizer again and snapped, "How do you even know my name?"
A chuckle came from the witch as he continued what he was doing at the alter; mixing two things together that Megatron couldn't see.
The witch then spoke up, a smirk clear in his voice, "That would be thanks to my little friend. She overheard you talking to that foul gang leader."
Megatron scowled, "So you have a spy in Overlord's gang?"
A chuckle came from the witch at that, "Oh no, Megatron. My little friend isn't a mech or femme. Oh, here she is now."
At that very moment Megatron watched in shock as a catbot trotted across the room towards the witch, mewing slightly. He blinked at it as the black plated catbot pushed her helm against the witch's leg and purred softly.
The witch picked up the catbot and turned to face Megatron, moving in front of him again. He held up the catbot and said with a slight smirk, "Paladin Megatron, this is my familiar, Slink. Slink, this is Paladin Megatron. Please do not scratch him."
The catbot, Slink, hissed lightly at Megatron who was staring at the catbot in shock.
Megatron gaped slightly as his thoughts caught up to what the witch had said. Did he say this catbot was his familiar? Only the most powerful witches had familiars.
Scrap. This witch was likely one of the most powerful ones that Megatron had been told about. The Priests had told all the Paladins that there were witches who could call on demons to assist and protect them and that those witches were the most dangerous of all because they had more power than a regular witch. There were rumors that they could even call upon Unicron for help and that he would answer them.
He stared at the catbot, no, the demon, in front of him, and attempted to take a step back. But of course, the magic the witch had used to trap him kept him in place.
The witch just chuckled again and let down the familiar before turning back to the alter and away from Megatron.
Megatron flinched as the familiar remained in front of him, growling lightly at him. The witch said nothing about that and returned to whatever he was doing.
And Megatron was left to wonder what exactly the creature was up to as he stood frozen in place with a familiar growling at him.
He was beginning to wish he had agreed when the Lord Paladin General had suggested he take Soundwave with him.
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Megatron was bored. He had been watching the witch do something for the last few klicks and was getting tired of just standing around, frozen in place. And of course, the familiar was still growling at him which was getting on his last nerve.
And he couldn't even shift his pedes! Megatron let out a short, bored sigh as he watched the witch continue to mess around in front of the alter.
He couldn't even tell what the witch was doing! The witch could be prepping a curse for all he knew that would make Megatron forget ever meeting him and Megatron wouldn't know it until the witch completed the spell.
A growl from the familiar made Megatron want to flinch, but he wasn't able to since he was frozen in place by the witch's magic. The witch chuckled and stood to his pedes, gathering up whatever he had been working on.
The witch turned back to face Megatron, keeping his servos with, whatever he had picked up behind his back. The witch walked over to him and smiled pleasantly up at Megatron.
Megatron just glared back at the witch and said with an angry sneer, "Well? What do you want?"
The witch's smile turned into a light smirk as he said, "Pick a servo."
"Why?" asked Megatron, optics narrowing.
A chuckle came from the witch and he responded, "If you don't, I'll just leave you standing there until you do. I'm sure you're not that comfortable frozen there."
"I'm not going to play games with you," snapped Megatron.
The witch shrugged and turned away from, saying, "Very well. I hope you enjoy standing in place for the next few orns then."
Megatron just glared as the witch walked toward the curtain that had concealed him when Megatron had been searching the building. He disappeared behind it and left Megatron completely alone in the alter room.
Megatron scowled and attempted to turn his helm away, but since he was still frozen in place, he couldn't move an inch.
A huff came from his vocalizer as he attempted to ignore the familiar that was still at his pedes, growling at him.
He would just have to endure this.
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Megatron's legs felt like they were about to cave in. He had been standing in this position for a very long time. From what his chromameter was telling him it had been nearly 10 joors. That passage of time meant that the Temple had most likely realized he was missing by now.
But that wasn't going to do Megatron any good.
He had reported that he had found evidence of a witch, but he hadn't told them where he had found that evidence. Which meant that it would take them a little while to locate where exactly he was.
Megatron's legs were beginning to quake underneath him, informing him that if the magic wasn't keeping him frozen in place, they would have caved in underneath him. He shuttered his optics.
He didn't think he would be able to stand like this for the next few orns until the rest of the Paladins discovered where exactly the witch was.
And that meant he had no choice but to do what the witch wanted and play his game. At the very least if he played the witch's game, he might be able to find a way to escape.
He sighed and called out, "Alright, alright! I'll pick!"
There was silence for a brief moment before Megatron heard someone coming in from the door behind him. He heard the sound of pedes moving behind him before he felt the faint pressure of someone stepping up and pressing up behind him.
The chuckle told him it was the witch.
The witch held the contact for a while, probably drinking in the discomfort Megatron was getting from the unwanted contact. Then he stepped around him and moved slowly to face Megatron.
The witch smirked up at him faintly, his servos still behind his back, holding whatever he had been working on.
The witch spoke casually, a small gleam clear in his red visor, "Which servo, Paladin Megatron?"
Megatron grimaced and his optics twitched in between the witch's two arms.
The thing was he had no idea what he was picking from. With the servos being behind the witch's back there was no way to tell which item was less dangerous.
Finally, he let out a worried noise and picked a servo out of the hat, "Right."
The witch's smirk turned practically devious and Megatron's spark almost stopped. Had he chosen poorly? What was about to happen to him?
The witch pulled his right servo out from behind his back and revealed a red glass bottle. Megatron could see something liquid swirling within it.
The witch set down the other bottle he had been hiding behind his back and stepped forward, popping the red glass top of the bottle. A small swirl of magic came up from the bottle and Megatron tensed at it.
The witch stepped right in front of him and started to lift the bottle. Megatron snapped out, "I'm not drinking that."
The witch just smiled at him, "But you picked it Paladin Megatron. Would you prefer the other one perhaps? Because you should realize that no matter what you will be drinking one of these. I can either force it down your throat or you can drink it of your own free will. The choice is yours."
Megatron grimaced in anger. That wasn't much of a choice. He spit out, "Fine."
The witch just smirked and lifted up the bottle to Megatron's lips as the field that kept Megatron's body frozen moved a little away from his helm.
The witch began to tilt the bottle against Megatron's lip plates. Megatron gritted his dentals for a moment before he opened his mouth and allowed the witch to begin to give him the potion in the bottle.
Megatron nearly gagged at the taste of the potion in his mouth. The taste of the potion was horrible, like potions were supposed to be. It tasted like a mix of burnt Energon and gasoline.
Megatron grimaced as he tried not to purge his tanks as the potion slid down his throat and to his tanks. Slowly the witch finished pouring the potion into his mouth, probably taking some glee from the disgust in Megatron's field. And then he turned away, placing the bottle down on the alter.
Then he turned back to Megatron and smirked at him as Megatron felt the potion begin to take effect.
Megatron had no idea what it was going to do to him. He could feel his body begin to tingle all over, evidence that the magic was beginning to take effect.
Megatron felt his body begin to shrink as the witch got taller than him.
And then he stopped and was forced to look up at the witch who towered over him, smiling winningly as he bent down towards Megatron, servos held out to scoop him up.