Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.


WARNING: This chapter might unsettle some readers, so beware.


Authoress: *gulps* *sneaking out of room*

Megatron: *raises optic ridge* And just where do you think you are going?

Authoress: *freezes* Heh...

Megatron: *look hardens* It has been almost an entire year without an update. You had better start explaining.

Authoress: *gulps*


And here is a response to my Guest review!

Thank you so much for the review! I am so glad that you all are enjoying my stories, especially this one. It's not a bad time and I am alright. Just stressed at work with all of this COVID craziness going around. Seeing your review inspired me to get my aft into gear and get this story a well-deserved update along with another story of mine. I won't be giving up on this story anytime soon. Today has been a decent day, so thank you. I hope you all have an amazing day as well! Until the next response, TTYL! *waves*


Chapter 5: First Connection

Megatron's 1st P.O.V.

As I flew off toward the base, the prisoner unconscious, and in my servos, I thought about the surprising success of my plan to capture Dunce. Starscream and Blitzwing played their parts as did Lightning Bug, Lugnut, and Lockdown. We were able to capture this strange little Autobot with very little trouble. It had been easy for me to keep the mech distracted long enough for Lockdown do administer a sedative to this nervous Autobot.

"Lugnut, when we land, prepare the holding cell," I ordered the cyclops mech.

"Yes, oh glorious leader," Was his response. It was hard not to sigh when he did so.

While it was true that I had insisted on the 'Lord Megatron' phrase and various other phrases after I lost my way and before my defeat against Optimus Prime, I now realized how silly that was. I did not want to rule Cybertron when the Decepticons finally won. I wanted to set up a fair government system that would not be as easily corrupted and a force that would stop the corruption when it arose.

But, I had become power-hungry and ruined the chance that I had to move those ideas forward. Now, I had to make up for the lost time. And one stope to help me accomplish that would be learning about this strange Autobot.

Looking at the mech, I realized that he might need some energon once he came out of the forced stasis we put him in. "Starscream, when we get to the base, I want you to get a cube of energon ready for our guest. We do not want him to feel like he is going to be hurt by us."

"That makes sense since we are trying to convert him to our side," My second in command responded before silence took over our flight. Well, that was until Starscream spoke again, "Megatron, we need more information on Dunce. There is still a large chunk of his history that is not on file. Are we going to ask him about that?"

Shaking my helm, I glanced down at said mech before speaking. "Not at first. We want him to feel comfortable around us. If I am not there with him, then it will be you and we need to make sure that he is relaxed. So, let him ask the questions at first. It will give him a feeling of comfort before we question him. It will most likely take a while to get him to talk but we have to go at his speed. He is our best bet of converting an Autobot at this click and, if we convert him, then I have a feeling that we may be able to get a few more of the Autobots here on this planet, including the white cyber-ninja called Jazz."

It did not take long for Starscream to respond. "That makes sense. I'll make sure to get him his cube." He then flew on ahead.

Of course, that left me alone with my thoughts. The mech in my servos right now seemed so different than the other Autobots. I was determined to find out why. He acted like a shell of a soldier until he was placed in a situation where he had to fight. Then, he would momentarily shine, only to go back to becoming that shell, more afraid than before.

Finally arriving at the base, I touched down before carrying Dunce inside. We were using a different cave than we were the last time that my Decepticons and I were on Earth, but it was still close to Detroit and, like last time, this cave had an ample supply of carbon deposits to make our energy signatures. Overall, a decent headquarters on this planet.

As I walked down the hall, the Autobot laid out across my arms, I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if the mech woke up at this very click. Given the mech's nervous nature, he would probably be afraid...terrified more like it. After that, well, I wasn't even sure. I didn't have enough information on Dunce to know how he would react. Hopefully, I would find out all the information that I could about Dunce.

Turning a corner, I saw that Lugnut was standing by Dunce's holding cell. "I have prepared his cell oh wonderful leader."

I let out a sigh at the use of the over-praise. It was time to stop this foolishness once and for all. "Lugnut, you have been loyal to me ever since I first started my campaign to end the corruption of the Autobot council. When I first started, I did not want a title, and simply went by Megatron. I wish for that to be the case again. While being kept prisoner by the Autobots was a dreadful experience, it did remind me of who I was and why I started this war in the first place. I wanted to bring equality back to Cybertron. Please, from now on, address me as Megatron; nothing more."

Lugnut stared at me in shock. For a nano, I was sure that I had broken the mech. However, to my surprise, his faceplate suddenly grew serious and he nodded slowly. "I knew that you would return to your beliefs Megatron. That is why I stayed loyal to you."

Shock flooded my systems when Lugnut responded like that. I had been so used to Lugnut preaching my name wherever he went that I had forgotten how Lugnut acted before that time. Lugnut wasn't the over-glorifying type that he had portrayed during my fall into madness, but a calm and dangerous Decepticon. The purple bomber only took to sounding like that to reflect the change that happened in me. Exactly how he said he would.

I still remembered that solar cycle, so long ago, that he swore to do just that.

Flashback

Explosions rocketed the small area that we Decepticons were using as a base. The Autobots had us cornered and there was not much hope of us winning this battle. However, I had my top lieutenants circle a map with me to see if there was any way to get out of the crisis we were in.

"If our larger troops could hold the Autobots back, then the rest of our forces could escape through the pass," Starscream observed.

I glanced at the map in that area and saw that Starscream was correct. But, there were not that many large troops that could hold the line. Lugnut, Strika, myself, and some of our lower-ranking troops would be all that would hold the Autobots back. Hopefully, it would be enough. "That sounds like as good a plan as we are going to have," I stated before I turned to the others. "Prepare your squadrons to make a retreat. When we start our attack, get out of here."

All of my lieutenants nodded and most of them left the room. Well, all except for Lugnut, who I motioned to stay behind. "Is there something you need before we go into battle Megatron?" Lugnut asked.

Nodding, I responded, "I fear that I may, one solar, turn into the very sort of being that I am wishing to rid Cybertron of. If I do, I am counting on you to show me that I am doing so."

The two of us stood in silence for a click before Lugnut responded. "I believe that I know the way to. If you ever turn into that which you hate, I will turn into the kind of soldier which you cannot stand. The kind of soldier that is ever glorifying his lord and master and continuously trying to win his approval."

That sounded like a good plan. If there was one thing that I could not stand, it was that of my fellow, equal Cybertronian brothers, and sisters calling me 'lord' and 'master'. If Lugnut di that, surely I would see the error of what I was doing. "That is a very good plan Lugnut. Now," I then took out one of my swords. "Let's go give the Autobots a living Pit."

End of Flashback.

Nodding, I glanced at Lugnut. "Thank you Lugnut. Now, I need to get our guest settled before he awakens. Starscream will be by with his energon momentarily."

Lugnut nodded in response before he walked down the hall. That was a good sign. My Decepticons were coming closer together and, soon, we would be strong enough to challenge the Autobots again….once we bolstered our numbers slightly. And that part of our plan would start with Dunce.

Walking into Dunce's holding cell, I gently laid the Autobot down, so as not to wake him. Then, I stood to my full height and stared at the still Autobot. Something about how he was laying bothered me. I wasn't sure why, but it seemed like Dunce seemed nervous even in his recharge. Shaking my helm, I walked out of the cell. I would find out more about the young mech when Ducne was ready to talk.

Is he still out?" Starscream asked as he walked in, a cube of energon for Dunce in his servo.

Nodding, I glanced back at the Autobot. "Yes. Place his cube on the table by his berth. Then, if you wouldn't mind, stand guard and call me when he wakes up. I wish to talk to him personally."

Starscream bowed his helm. "Of course. And, may I just say that it is a pleasure to have you back Megatron. 'Lord' Megatron never was quite the same as you." Of course, he had a smirk on his faceplate at the end of that.

Cheeky seeker. Shaking my helm, I walked toward the throne room. Starscream seemed to be returning to the way he was before the power-hunger took over my Decepticons. He was still sarcastic, but I could tell that there was true loyalty in the seeker now.

That was not the only thought to come to my processor as I walked, however. Strangely, it was an old tune that I had heard while in the gladiatorial ring. It was quite old, so old that the words were long forgotten. But, the tune had survived. It had been a source of hope for me during that time. Now, I found myself humming the haunting tune as I thought of my existence so far.

Growing up in the mines, a mech without a name had been a rough life. I thought I could make it better by entering the gladiatorial arena so I did. While there, I became popular among the other Cybertronians like myself; degraded, treated as less than equal as the 'higher class' leaders and noble-bots. Starving and scrounging for energon to survive while the higher class stuffed themselves sick with excess energon, and nervous about what would happen if I stood up to them. Eventually, I had taken the step past the nervous fears and entered the world of politics.

"Megatron, what are we going to do now?" I found my humming and reminiscing of days long gone interrupted as Shockwave spoke, being in the throne room which I had just entered.

Staring at Shockwave, I gave him the only answer I could. "This is a risky chance but, like the other risky moves that I have made in my existence, it will be worth any hardships if it pays off. We must wait for Dunce to wake up. Once he does, then it starts."

Dunce's 1st P.O.V.

As I slowly came out of recharge, I was confused. The berth beneath me felt more...comfortable than the one that I normally slept on. Plus, there seemed to be a small echo in the room. I could hear it as I moved on this berth. Where was I? Did I end up back at the Autobot warehouse and their berths were more comfortable? Realized that there was only one way to figure out my answers, I onlined my optics.

And internally panicked.

I was not on the Steelhaven, nor was I at the Autobot warehouse. AS the most recent events of my life came rushing back to me, I realized with dread exactly where I was; the Decepticon base.

"This can't be happening," I whispered to myself, pressing my servos against my helm like doing so would make this nightmare go away. But, it wasn't. No matter how hard I pressed, no matter how many times I repeated that same line to myself over and over, it wasn't changing anything. Primus no! Please no!

Why had I been captured? I didn't know anything about the Autobot plans or security. I was useless to them. A screw-up. They didn't need me, so why did the Decepticons capture me? They would learn that they didn't need me either. Frag, most bots on Cybertron wouldn't even care that I was in this mess. On Earth here, well, maybe most of them would… especially Jazz. But, none of them could negotiate with the Decepticons even opened those negotiations for my release.

Tales of torture stories I had heard came to my processor, causing a shiver to go up my spinal-strut. I was being held by vicious monsters, who were probably biting at the bit at who was going to have the first crack at me. I felt my intakes quicken as these thoughts streamlined through my processor. No. I wasn't ready. I wasn't trained for this. I wasn't supposed to be in this sort of situation. I was useless. I had no training. How could I hope to stand against what these Decepticons had planned for,

My spark stilled as I heard the sound of heavy pedesteps echoing off the walls. Slowly, they seemed to be coming toward me. Semi-consciously, I found myself shrinking back until my backplates hit the wall behind me. The only way I could move further away from the sound was to pul my knees against my chest plate. I couldn't even think properly as my chassis started to shake, fear slicing away at me. I had a feeling that I knew which of the Decepticons was about to arrive in front of my cell. There was only one bot that would have to come by, sooner or later, since I was a prisoner.

"Ah, I see you are awake. Good." Megatron. I was right. My shaking increased as the leader of the Decepticons appeared in front of my cell. Outside of my shaking, I couldn't move. I was scared out of my circuits. If I thought that Sentinel hit hard, then I couldn't imagine what sort of power Megatron could pack behind his hits. An involuntary chill went through my spinal-strut at the thought. "Can you speak?"

I jumped as I realized I had not answered him. Scrap! I knew better! Always answer immediately, or risk being reprimanded. I needed to answer him. So, I gave one slow nod. "Y...yes, sir."

A strange look crossed his faceplate that I couldn't identify. That was never good. A look I didn't know meant that I couldn't prepare myself for what was to follow. "I am Megatron, as I am sure you know. What is your designation?"

What was going on? This was not the line of questioning I thought I would be experiencing. Was Megatron, the vicious and ruthless leader of the Decepticons acting...nice? No. That couldn't be. While I wasn't sure what he was playing at, I had to make sure to play my part right to make sure I survived this. It was then that I realized that Megatron was waiting for an answer. "I'm...I'm Dunce."

"Dunce." His repeating my designation caused me to pause in all of my movements. Was this going to be where he started the torture, scraping my plating off of my chassis one thin slice of precious metal at a time? "How often have you been off of Cybertron?"

What the frag? My chassis would have started shaking again at the fear I was still feeling if I wasn't so confused. Where were the questions about the Autobots? Why was I being asked about these things? But, I had to play my part. I had to answer him. "This...This is my first time, sir." While a part of me wanted to answer the Decepticon in a calm even tone, show him that I was not as terrified as I was, I couldn't even allow myself to lie like that. He might find that offensive and I was going to try as hard as I could to not offend Megatron.

However, when that strange look crossed Megatron's faceplates again, I felt my nervousness return. What the frag was that look? Did it mean that we were slowly building up to when he tortured me? While most of my thoughts were like that, I suddenly realized that it was pretty easy to talk to Megatron...so far. He hadn't shown the temper that was infamously spread through the Autobots and I was going to do everything that I could to make sure that I didn't see it. If I thought Sentinel was terrifying, then I couldn't even imagine what Megatron would be like angry.

"Really? You have never been off of Cybertron before now?" Nothing too strange about that except for the surprise in Megatron's vocals. Just confirming what I had already answered him.

"Yes."

"That's quite unusual." That seemed more to himself than to me so I didn't respond. It was not my place to respond to anything not directly said or done to me. Even then, I had to be careful. "Well, I am curious as to why the Autobots would let such a skilled mech be cooped up on Cybertron all of this time."

"I'm not that good. I was even taken out of beet camp and made to serve as Sentinel Prime's assistant. I'm worthless." Scrap! Where did that come from! I just basically told the leader of the Decepticons that he was wrong! Slag I wasn't living for much longer. Why was I talking like that? I knew...knew not to talk back to anybot, and yet here I was, running my glossa at the fragging leader of the Decepticons! Why was I so comfortable around him? He was going to be torturing me soon! I had his attention! And I knew that having the attention of an authority figure never ended well for me. Never.

I jumped when Megatron let out a laugh. Confusion flooded my systems. What was he doing? I had just told him he was wrong. Wasn't he going to come in here and teach me my place? "You are more skilled than most Autobots I have met. Not many Cybertronians can say that they were able to continuously dodge or even deflect my strikes as you did during our previous encounters. You are not useless."

You are not useless.

His voice echoed in my helm, saying those words. No, they couldn't be true! All of my existence, I had been around so many bots who confirmed that I was useless. I couldn't do anything. Anything! I was just a spare part of the Autobot cog. He had to be wrong! He had to be! "No! I am useless! I can't even be a good prisoner. I don't see why you took me! The Autobots never told me anything about anything! There is nothing in my processor that would of any interest to you!"

As soon as the words left my glossa, I felt my energon freeze in my lines. I had just...yelled at the leader of the Decepticons. I told him he was wrong! Again! What was going to happen? Why was I acting this way? What was he going to do to me now that I had challenged him? Frag I had challenged him! My intakes started to cycle as I tried to calm myself down. But I couldn't! I was going to fragging offline...and probably in the most painful way possible. What was I doing?

"You are not useless." You are not useless. "As to your information on the Autobots, I am not interested in that. What I am curious about, however, is you. From all the Autobots that I have encountered, and that is quite a few, you re different. Why?"

Panic again flooded my systems. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He...the Decepticons didn't want me for information on the Autobots? And why me? Didn't he have enough information from the spies he probably had in the Autobots? Or from his hackers going into Autobot records? What could he possibly see in me that would make him want to find out more? I was useless!

You are not useless.

My servos clenched the sides of my helm as his fragging words raced through it. Bouncing in every thought that I could have. Those words seemed to just stay there. But why? They had to be wrong. They had to be. "They have to be," My vocals let out in a whisper as I felt tremors wrack, my servos leaving scrapes on the sides of my helm.

My entire chassis froze as I heard the sound of Megatron moving. This was it. I had spoken too much and now I was going to be punished. After all this tension...this was worse than anything that Sentinel could,

"You are still getting used to being here. I should not have pushed you like that. Please, accept my apology. I will leave you to get settled." My processor then recognized the sound of his pedesteps moving away.

But my thoughts didn't even care. This...this wasn't right. The Decepticon leader had just apologized...and then left? This wasn't how this was supposed to be happening! Something had to be going on here...it had to be! Why was this happening to me? Why?

I felt my chassis move to lay on its side as those questions continued to move through my helm. I felt exhausted. As I felt my systems start to shut down from the stress, I could hear Megatron's vocals, like a whisper as my world started to go black.

You are not useless.

Megatron's 1st P.O.V.

As the door to the holding area shut behind me, all I could feel was confused. When I had first entered his line of sight, I had expected the fear, the hesitation. That was how most prisoners reacted to my coming to see them. He probably had expected the worst. Normally, after I started to ask my questions, bots would calm down and realize that I was not going to berate them or hurt them. They would be civil for the most part, or act like regular Autobots and rebel against me. Attacking the bars to try and get some damage against me, to make their capture worth it.

Yet Dunce didn't show any of those reactions. He stayed terrified of everything I did. Like, at any word he spoke, I would lash out at him. While his response to when I reacted to this being his first time off of Cybertron was standard and usually a good sign, the distress...no, the fear that the young Autobot suddenly seemed to bleed from his chassis shocked me.

He had called himself worthless. But, that couldn't be the case. As he seemed to be holding himself together, he thought so little of himself. A mech who could hold his own in a fight against me, even defensively, was not worthless.

Of course, this might have been some sort of automatic reaction from him. So, I had let out a laugh to defuse the situation and reassured him that he was most certainly not useless. However, our talk seemed to just continue to devolve him into a panic fueled terror that he was barely holding himself into going into, literally scraping his digits against the side of his helm to keep himself grounded.

They have to be.

Those words that Dunce just barely whispered out. I would give so much to know the meaning behind those words. Why Dunce's processor felt that they needed to be uttered. What has to be? The mech was a mystery, yet that talk, as fruitless as it seemed, did shed some light on the mysterious mech.

The confirmation from Dunce that he had never left Cybertron before made me wonder why the Autobots would keep him planet-bound. He had skills, yet he seemed to be told regularly enough that he was useless to have a panic attack when told otherwise.

"Megatron, how did the talk go?" I turned to see Lockdown walking next to me, matching my pace.

I couldn't stop the sigh from escaping my vocals. "Not as well as I would have liked. I couldn't get very far in questioning him before he started to mentally break down. I didn't even realize I was pushing the mech for information until the mech was almost in a catatonic state of panic. He believes himself to be worthless. No matter what I said to him, how he was skilled in being able to keep up with me on the battlefield, none of that mattered to that thought of uselessness. However, every time he would argue that point with me, he would become almost petrified with fear."

"It sounds like he has been conditioned for quite a while." I raised an optic ridge at Lockdown's response. "It's obvious that at least one bot, though I suspect this is the result of more than one bot, has made it their mission to degrade him at every chance they get. The fear you mentioned, he probably feared what you would do to him. Since he has never left Cybertron, it is most likely that one of his 'fellow' Autobots are doing this to him. If they would do that to him, imagine what he thought you might do, as his enemy."

My optics widened as the implication of what Lockdown was suggesting registered with me. What they had done to this mech. He probably didn't even realize that he was being so mistreated. Probably thought that he deserved it. "It would not be the first time that the Autobots, and those they support, have done this. It was quite popular to do that in the arenas and slums to keep bots who had exceptional fighting skills in their place and away from the idea of a revolt."

Lockdown smirked. "Of course, that didn't stop you."

And Lockdown made a connection for me. Dunce was similar to how I was during my early life. I did as I was told and did not argue, even when the treatments and rules were truly unjust. However, back then that didn't matter. The fear of the lash and starvation kept most from standing up. Thankfully, I had made a friend in the higher class who helped break me of my fear and realize my goals.

I paused as we walked into the throne room. On the monitors, I could see the Autobots seemingly reacting to our capture of Dunce. Some seemed truly worried for the young mech. Some only seemed mildly upset, though that could be because they might not know the mech. However, it was the reaction of Sentinel Prime that interested me the most. While the mech seemed concerned, it did not seem that he was concerned for Dunce's well-being. He looked like a trapped turbo-rat.

But why would that be? Dunce said that he had no information about the Autobots and, given his panic and fear, I was positive that the mech was not lying. So, what could make the Prime so nervous about our capture of Dunce? It made little sense.

Once Dunce had some time to relax again, I would go in there and see if I could convince Dunce to tell me why the Prime was so nervous. Maybe that was the key to unlocking Dunce? I wouldn't know, of course, until the nervous mech opened up. I had to make sure I gave Dunce the time to do just that.

"Megatron,"

I turned to see Blitzwing staring up at me with a determined look on his faceplate. "Yes, Blitzwing?"

Blitzwing bowed his helm slightly. "I heard zhat Dunce vas less open zhen you had been expecting. I had an idea."

That was interesting. I wonder just what sort of idea Blitzwing could have concerning Dunce. I had to be cautious about the triple changer. While he was loyal, his processor could turn against him in certain situations. "And just what is this idea?"

"Vell, Dunce might feel a little intimidated by jou because of jour rank as our leader. I believe zhat I might be able to help Dunce open up a little more. And ve can sing songs together!" Blitzwing suggested.

While that sounded like a reasonable idea, I still had a couple of problems with it. "Blitzwing, why do you believe that you will have better luck? And would you be able to control your personalities while talking to Dunce? The Autobot has a delicate processor balance right now as it is. If he is yelled at by your anger side, then you could destroy all that we are trying to accomplish with the young mech."

That seemed to cause the triple changer to pause for a nano before his anger personality came out and said, in a surprisingly calm voice, "I understand zhe situation Megatron, and I am villing to allow Icy and Random control vhen ve are near zhe Autobot." His calm side then took back over. "From zhe interactions zhat ve have vitnessed between Dunce and the ozher Autobots, he seems to relax around figures zhat are not in authority positions, such as yourself or Starscream. Since I do not hold a rank, he vill be more likely to trust me...or try to at least. Plus, Random's behavior should be able to defuse most situations zhat may come up between us."

While there were definite risks in allowing this, Blitzwing did make a fair point. However, I needed to make one thing clear to him. "Very well Blitzwing. However, you will be monitored and, if Dunce starts to panic as he did earlier, then let him be and leave. We cannot risk him believing us to be the monsters that the Autobots say we are. We must show him that what he has been taught has been a lie."

Blitzwing nodded once. "Zhank you for zhe opportunity, Megatron." He then walked out of the room.

Leaning back against the throne, I thought about how this talk might go. Maybe Blitzwing had a point in what he said. As he said, the footage showed that Dunce's interactions with other Autobots increased in nervousness the more authority the bot had. Blitzwing, not being ranked, might be able to reach Dunce on a level that I could not hope to at this time. However, there was only one way to truly find out. Turning on the security feed to the holding cell, I watched the young Autobot who held so many mysteries. Soon, those secrets would be out and, maybe, we would be able to convince the mech that the Autobots were truly the twisted ones.


Authoress: And there are candy gum, and sprinkled cider, and sugar fish! *giggles*

Starscream: *faceplate palms* She got sugar high again. Blitzwing! Why didn't you stop Authoress from getting into the sugar? You were on guard duty!

Icy: *cackling and bouncing off of the walls and ceiling*

Starscream: *sighs* Bribery was always her greatest skill.


AN: And here is the next chapter! *wind blows through dead area*...

...Okay, so it's been a while since I updated, but honestly, work has me beaten pretty bad lately. I'm trying to get back into the swing of writing during my free time but it is difficult. I hope you all will be able to hang in there with me.

So, in this chapter. Definitely some hard emotional responses from Dunce about all of this. Poor mech. Of course, his responses are throwing the Decepticons for a loop as well. Maybe Blitzwing will have better luck getting something through to the mech?

We will just have to wait and see.

Until next time, here are the names of the next chapters!

Chapter 6: Exit with Caution

Chapter 7: Concern

Chapter 8:... (find out next time! (hopefully sooner than a year XD ))

And that is all for now! Thank you so much to all of the people who read my stories! Even if you don't give feedback, I do appreciate the time that you take to glimpse into the shadows of my mindscape of imagination.

Well, enough of that. Please leave a review if you could. I will greatly appreciate it! Until next time thought, TTYL! *so much sugar!*