There's nothing certain left to know
And now the cracks begin to show!
--"Nobody's Side"
Okay, so this took a while, and as compensation, you're getting two chapters! :) Okay, a chapter and an interlude, but hey... Thanks again to Albedo and MeRLin, from whom you could all learn a valuable lesson: review! ;) And usagihunter, who now gets the "more" he/she asked for. :)
Warning: more villainising of the Autobots and Maximals. Why? Cuz it's fun. ;)
The roof flew past, no more than four hand-breadths above his head, yet he didn't seem to notice. Sitting on the top of the Cybertropolis Express, legs folded beneath him, Slash noticed very litlle but his friend, lying spread-eagled next to him.
"Did we really want to know this?" Megatron asked, voice nearly inaudible over the roar of the transport.
Slash blinked, optics focusing on his friend, rather than a point beyond him. "No... No, I don't think we did."
Megatron sat up, the wind tugging at him as if wanting to throw him off the transport. "And why not? Is history not worth some amount of pain?"
The tan robot shook his head and looked away. "No. Battle is worth pain; long forgotten history is not."
"But it is a battle!" Megatron shifted, helmet coming dangerously close to the ceiling, before he settled down, legs crossed. "It's a battle to restore the glory of our past!" His optics turned sly. "Our honour..."
Slash scowled at him, dangling his legs over the side of the transport. "Don't be ridiculous."
Megatron sighed. "I'm not. We have this information; now how can we use it?" He stared at nothing, chewing at his lower lip.
Slash gave him a vaguely surprised look, then shook his head.
What they've just discovered; Slash was still stunned over the audacity, the lengths the Autobots and Maximals had gone to, not just taking the relic, but claiming it as their own. The ruthlessness was frightening, coming from what were considered merciful and just beings. And the realisation of, If they can do this, what can't they do? What more are they hiding?
But Megatron. Slash frowned as his companion again. Megatron had an ability to switch mental directions in a second, and it was a deeply frustrating quirk, often leaving Slash or whoever else the purple mech was talking to stranded in a conversation. Appearantly, this talent extended to the theft of their history, and the use thereof.
"I must admit, it's quite brilliant, yeess..."
Slash started and blinked at Megatron. "What is?"
"Well, the very idea." Megatron grinned and shifted again, leaning closer to his friend. "The best way of hiding, is always to be right under your enemiy's nose. Robots in disguise, remember?" He demonstratively tapped a small metal plate on his chest, one of the bumper shields of his alternate mode. "So of course, they hide it so we know where it is, but still can't see it. Why would we want to? It is, after all, supposed to be a Maximal relic..." His voice turned bitter at the end.
Slash didn't know whether to be relieved that Megatron did have a reaction, or to be nervous about the pure fury reflected in his voice.
"The question, though," continued Megatron, once again calm, "is what can we do with this... Is what is on the Disk worth our lives - which we will give, should we step forth - or on the other hand, is it too valuable to lose should the Maximals feel threatened and destroy it?"
"Only they know," growled Slash, kicking idly at the hull of the Express.
Megatron sighed and flopped backwards, once again sprawling on the metal surface. "Yeess... That is the problem."
"It's not simply a problem, Megatron," Slash said quietly. "It's an obstacle we cannot overcome. How would we convince anyone? You couldn't even convince me till today, so how hard will those who matter be?" He looked away. "Face it, my friend. This is beyond hope."
"No!" Megatron sat up abruptly, scowling at Slash. "That's not true! We're Predacons, warriors by nature! We will keep fighting, remember?"
Slash shook his head. "No. You're right, we're Predacons." His voice rose. "And we're not even allowed in inner Cybertropolis, let alone the Museum of Cybertronian history! Don't you understand? There's nothing we can do!" He still didn't look at his friend, the stunned silence stretching out between them.
A soft sigh. "I know. Too many have tried, and all have failed." Megatron rubbed his optics. "I just... I just don't want to believe that it'll always be like this. Rationed Energon, forced territories, peacekeepers telling us why we're wrong and why our ancestors were pure evil."
Slash looked over his shoulder at him.
"For once," Megatron continued, "I'd like to be able to take a stroll through Cybertropolis without people looking at me as if I'm below even the dirt we walk on. Not hearing someone say that my kind doesn't belong there."
Slash pulled his legs up and sighed. "The Tripreds are--"
"The Council is doing nothing!" Megatron snapped. "They talk of glorious peace, and how things will be better in the end, if we merely co-operate! Why should we be the ones to give in?!"
Slash leant back and looked up at the ceiling, silently.
"It's not supposed to be that way! It can't be, noo," continued Megatron, scratching absently at the hull.
Slash looked back down, eyeing his friend with mild annoyance. "You talk too much, Megatron, of such airy ideals that even your namesake would not take them in his mouth! Give it up. We're stuck where we are till the Elders deem us worthy as equals." He slid to the other side of the transport, waiting to roll off when the reached the tunnels under Darkmount.
Megatron sighed and followed, whispering quietly to himself, "But that's exactly it. Why must we wait for their approval?"
Leonus disappeared into the dark, and Surge frowned, throwing a wary look over his shoulder. "L-Leonus? Are you s-sure it's safe in t-there?"
"No," drifted the voice back at him. "But this is where their scent leads."
Surge sighed and followed, nervously switching his optics to infrared. "It-it's very dark..."
"Yes, it is," murmured Leonus back. "But they both seem to've cheerful--AIIGH!"
"Leonus!" Surge tripped, shuffling around in the dark, optics wide. "Leonus! What happened?!"
Silence.
"Leonus!"
"I'm... I'm okay..."
Surge scrabbled in the direction of the voice. "Where are you? What happened?"
A soft scratching and a sound of effort. "A pitfall... I was too focused on the scent..."
"Are-are you okay?" squeeked Surge.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He managed to drag himself up over the edge. "That was too close..."
"You... You don't think they fell in there, do you?" gulped Surge, peering cautiously over the edge.
Leonus shook himself and rose to all four, throwing the hole a near insulted look. "That's where the trail goes, so yeah, I do..." He carefully leant over the edge, squinting into the darkness below. "I can't even see where it ends." His voice echoed strangely through the shaft, returning distorted along with another voice.
"Leonus?" drifted weakly up from the depths.
Leonus blinked and clawed nervously at the metal under his paws. "Slash?" he called.
"How did you find this place?" another voice echoed - Megatron.
"I followed your trail! Not that it was particularly easy. Next time, leave a better scent, okay?"
"There won't be a next time," answered Slash snappishly. "Hold on, we're coming up."
Leonus stepped back, sitting on his haunches next to Surge. They waited, listening to the sounds of the two other students making their way up. Finally a blood-red pair of optics peeked over the edge, closely followed by a pair in shades of pink and magenta.
Surge stepped forward to help them up, and a soft whirr by his side told him that Leonus had transformed to do the same. Together, the four quickly shuffled out of the dark building and into the alley. Slash and Megatron both squinted and covered their optics.
"Too bright," muttered Megatron tiredly, leaning against the wall.
"Where the Pit have you been?" Leonus demanded, glaring at them both. "Laserblast is ready to kill you!"
"Isn't he always?" chuckled Megatron wryly, answered by a snort from Slash.
"It's not funny!" snapped Leonus, going into responsible-student mode. "What were you thinking, coming to this part of town?!"
Megatron smirked a bit, but shrugged, attempting to look innocent. "Wanting to see the lives of the common folk...?"
"Don't get smart-alecky with me," growled Leonus, looking rather feline, even in his robot mode.
"L-Leonus," Surge interrupted. "We s-should get b-back as-as soon as p-p-p-possible."
Leonus sighed and calmed down. "You're right..." He smiled tightly at his friend. "And take it easy, Surge; You're a bit hard to understand."
Surge nodded, twitching.
"You two," Leonus growled, glaring at Slash and Megatron. "Back to the Academy. Now!"
Megatron muttered under his breath, but headed off. Slash chuckled, sending Leonus an apologetic look.
The lion-bot sighed and patted Surge on the shoulder. "Let's go."
As the four students disappeared into the mass of people on Darkmount's streets, a mech leant against the wall, smirking in satisfaction after them. Surge and Leonus, had they looked back, would have recognised him as Darkmist.