"Well then, I believe it is time to vote," Chromedome said calmly.
"No, I don't want to… I can't!" Rewind shouted, now knowing what to do.
"Rewind, you can vote for whoever you want to as everyone else will make up for you. Your vote is meaningless," Chromedome told him.
"No, that can't be," Rewind whispered.
"Well, I agree with Chromedome. It's time to vote!" Monobear interrupted, grabbing everyone's attention. "Get your electroID out and vote for who you think is the culprit. Will you guess correctly or be oh so very wrong?" Monobear asked them. Almost immediately, Chromedome grabbed his and voted, being the first done. Wildrider followed closely behind, voting without a second look. After that, everyone else hesistated, looking at Rewind broken from before making their vote. The final person was Rewind, who hadn't even gotten his out yet. "Hey, you! Get out and vote! Or am I going to have two punishments today?" Monobear sadistically pondered.
"Rewind, get it out and vote," Chromedome chastised.
"But… Chrome-"
"Do you want my death to be meaningless?" he asked him.
"W-what? No, of course not."
"Then vote. It doesn't matter who you vote for, my fate is decided. Please, you have to live for me," Chromedome begged him. Rewind looked up at him, pleading with him not to. "Please."
"But… but," Rewind said.
"Okay, you got thirty seconds to vote before I punish you," Monobear told him, wanting to know if he would get to finished him off as well.
"For Primus's sake, vote already!" Ratchet screamed at him.
"Please, Rewind. Don't give up like this," Beachcomber told him.
"Please…," Chromedome begged him. "You can survive without me."
Rewind looked around, thinking it through. "15!" Monobear shouted. His announcement shook him out of his daze and he fumbled for the electroID. "10!" Rewind quickly looked around for someone to vote for, unsure if he wanted to go through with it. "5!" Monobear shouted. Finally, Rewind made his choice, picked it, and confirmed it. "Hey all, the votes have been given! It's time to see the results!" Monobear shouted, ignoring Rewind's grief. "Let's see if you chose correctly!"
At that, the slot machine came back and spin around everyone's pixelated faces. It kept going until it landed on three faces of Chromedome. At that, another burst of coins and confetti showered everyone, signifying that they were terribly right. "Correct! Chromedome, the Ultimate Mnemosurgeon, killed Counterpunch A.K.A. Punch, the Ultimate Double Agent! Best of all, the vote was unanimous. Even Chromey's little lover voted for him," Monobear announced.
"I'm… so… sorry," Rewind could barely muttered, holding on to the stand. He couldn't help it. This wasn't how him and Chromedome were supposed to be! They should've been together throughout the Reconstruction of Cybertron. It was supposed to be a happy ending. There should've been no more deaths. No one else should've been-
He felt someone's arms close around him timely and gave a little yelped when he realized it was Chromedome. "I'm sorry that this has to happen," he told him softly, his voice breaking a little bit. "I know this was supposed to end with the both of us getting out of here, but I'm afraid that isn't going to happen."
"I'm so sorry I voted… for you," he told him.
"Don't. You were just doing the right thing," he told him.
"Why…?" Ratchet said. "Why did you get in a fight with Counterpunch?" Chromedome barely paid him any attention as he answered.
"Well, it was more like Counterpunch fighting with himself. We were about to do the operation when he started hallucinating," he told him.
"Hallucinating?" Jazz asked.
"Yes. He started envisioning Rewind as him and lost control. Before I could get a chance he knocked me back, losing his knife, and attacking Rewind. I had to stop him, so I grabbed for the nearest object. I was expecting a blunt object, something that wouldn't do too much damage, but instead, I grabbed the knife," he said, holding onto Rewind gently. "You know the rest."
"That hallucination… it must've been Punch trying to stop you from doing the operation," Perceptor realized. "He figured out what was about to happened, so he had to put a stop to it somehow. Instead, it ended up getting the both of them killed," he finished, withdrawn.
"As well as getting Chromedome killed as well," Dead End pointed out.
"Yes, although I guess I have it coming due to being sloppy," Chromedome muttered. "If I kept my senses in line and think things through, I probably could've taken Counterpunch down without killing him. I didn't want anyone else to die."
"If you didn't want anyone to die, than why didn't you tell us you killed him when you had that chance and why did you go to all the trouble of throwing us off track?" Mirage asked him accusingly.
"Rewind didn't want me to die," Chromedome answered simply.
"That's it?" Skywarp questioned.
"Yes. It was Rewind's idea to do a cover-up and he made me promised that I wouldn't help you in any way. I agreed, although I wouldn't put up a fight if you did figured out it was me," Chromedome explained to them.
"So, the desire to protect a love one caused you to try and get everyone else killed," Bludgeon summarized.
"Well, I guess so," Chromedome agreed, letting go of Rewind.
"What are you doing?" Rewind asked him.
"Isn't it obvious? I need to be executed," Chromedome told him, turning to Monobear. "Well then, I guess it's time."
"If you say so," Monobear agreed, getting ready to get it started.
"No, don't!" Rewind shouted, getting in front of Chromedome. "Please, take me instead. Let him live!"
"Sorry, but you're not a rule-breaker. You're big lover over there is. Therefore, he needs to be executed," Monobear explained to him. "Upupupu, you're despair is wonderful."
"Rewind," Chromedome said, gaining his attention, "please, don't make my death a waste. Live for me and everyone else."
"But- but-"
"Please, for me," he asked him, placing a hand lovingly on his shoulders.
"I… I…," Rewind hesitated, not exactly sure what to say. "I can try."
"Good," Chromedome said, looking at Monobear. "Okay, do your worst."
"Oh, I attend to," Monobear replied, rubbing his paws together in anticipation. "Okay, everyone, let's give a cheer for Chromedome's punishment and it's a very special one for out Ultimate Mnemosurgeon," he announced. With that, the red button came out of the ground, ready for Monobear to push it and begin the execution. Right before he hit it with his gavel, Chromedome turned to Rewind and said one last thing to him.
"You know, I knew this was going to happen once again. I'm just glad I'm the one that has to die instead of the one I love," he told him. Rewind wanted to respond, but he couldn't get it out in time as Monobear hit the button and the chains dragged Chromedome to his execution.
GAME OVER
CHROMEDOME HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY
COMMENCING EXECUTION
Chromedome sat on a chair, strapped to it, in a white, sterile room. One look at the chair would confirm that it was a chair often used in mnemosurgery where a dangerous patient had to be secured so that they couldn't get loose. Perfect thing for a murderer.
On the wall in from of him, a window was placed so that everyone else could have a front-row place to the execution. Everyone was watching with a sense of dread, none more than Rewind who had his body pressed against the window, watching Chromedome with what looked like coolant coming from his optics.
BRAINDEAD
The door on the side opened, showing Monobear pushing in a device on a trolley. The device was a strange one with a sign on the side reading:
The Monobrain Examiner
The new mnemosurgery device sure to make mnemosurgeons obsolete
He brought the device behind Chromedome and gave an exaggerated sigh and wiped a nonexistent sweat off himself before giving a thumbs up to the crowd behind the window and gave a little wink to Rewind in a suggestive way.
Chromedome couldn't see the device due being unable to move, but he knew that whatever it was going to be bad, which was confirmed by the strange look on everyone's faces as Monobear showed off the device.
Monobear pressed a button and the device came to life, ready to perform its duty. Five long tentacles with needles at the end of them came out of the machine, showing off to everyone. In a few seconds, the tentacles switched gears and inserted themselves into the back of Chromedome's head. He gave a slight gasp, but otherwise didn't react to it.
The needles scrapped themselves inside of his head, causing a bit of pain, as they looked for the brain. After a few seconds of agonizing searching, they found it and insert themselves in it.
Chromedome remain still as he waited for the needles to kill him, but was surprised when the needles retracted themselves a few seconds later and back into the machine, turning off.
Monobear wasn't expecting this and pushed a few more buttons to try and get the thing working again. Suddenly the machine came back to life and the tentacles appeared again. However, these came armed with long, sinister looking blades. Monobear looked surprised before giving a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. This was good as well.
Chromedome, as he had his back to it, didn't know what was going on, but judging by everyone's faces going from confused to horrified in a second confirmed that whatever was coming was worse than the needles.
Suddenly, one of the blades came down and slammed itself into the back of his head. This brought out a very loud scream from Chromedome and a louder one from Rewind, much to the bear's satisfaction. Not long after that, three of the remaining blades smashed themselves into his head, each one amplifying the pain.
Chromedome was not doing too good, taking short ragged breaths. It was hard to feel anything other than pain as the knives remained stuck in his head, one of them jutting out of the front of his face where his right optic was.
Luckily, his lack of screaming was being carried by Rewind, banging his fists against the wall and screaming louder than Siren in a screaming contest. Luckily for Chromedome, he couldn't hear it as the room was meant for them to hear him, but not vice versa.
The last tentacle waved around before launching itself up into the air and came down to the top of his head and kept going down until it sunk itself deep into his spark. Chromedome gave one final breath before resting in the chair, unmoving, energon sliding down from his head.
Monobear looked at the body, analyzing it thoroughly before giving a nod of his head.
Perfect.
"Chromedome!" Rewind shouted in anguish as he gazed at the dead form of Chromedome, his spark torn in two.
"Woo! That was awesome, do you agree?" Monobear asked them.
"What do you think, you wretched thing," Blast Off chided, looking away in disgust.
"Holy…," Beachcomber whispered, feeling he was about to faint. "He didn't deserve that."
"That was an… abomination!" Ratchet shouted.
"Jeez, I think that was the most painful one so far. At least Soundwave and Brawl's were quick," Skywarp said, feeling a bit unease. Laserbeak watched the whole thing with a look of interest.
"You… despicable creature," Bludgeon muttered, looking at it with disdain.
"Aww, I thought you would appreciate my work more than that. I put a lot of effort into it," Monobear said with an cutesy sadness.
"It shows," Hoist murmured in disgust.
"Ah, well, that's it. You guys can leave and be even more consumed by despair now. Although, I think you're probably going to have to carry the widower out of here," Monobear said, pointing to Rewind, who hadn't an inch when the final blade hit.
"Rewind?" Hound asked, coming next to him and lightly shaking his shoulders. "Are you alright?"
Rewind didn't respond.
"Might be shell-shocked. The death of a conjunx endura is hard on the spark and mind and takes time to process," Ratchet told everybody.
"Well then," Hound muttered, picking up Rewind and placing him in a bridal position, "let's get him out of here. I don't think he needs to see Chromedome anymore."
"That's probably a good idea," Ratchet agreed. Everyone headed to the elevator, slowly and sluggishly. The adrenaline from the body and he trial was wearing off and everyone desperately wanted to recharge and get the awful image of Chromedome out of their memory banks. Blurr pressed the button and the elevator closed upon another class trial.
Hound gently laid Rewind on the recharge berth. He had seemed to have faint from shock and would be knocked out for a while. "So, what do you think we should do with him?" Hound asked Ratchet as he stared down at Rewind.
"Right now, we should probably have someone watch him. There is an uncomfortably high suicide rate amongst widowed conjunx enduras and he should have constant surveillance. Chromedome's death and the severity of the situation could be enough to make him do something drastic," Ratchet told him.
"Well then, I guess I'm volunteering for first watch," Hound muttered as he took a seat. "See you in the morning and I'll try to drag Rewind down as well."
"Okay. Please, watched over him carefully," Ratchet reminded him as he left the room.
"I got it," Hound muttered as the door closed. He gazed at the small, unmoving form and silently prayed that no more deaths would happen.
Blurr leaned against the railing at the mall, unable to sleep. The trial had taken its toll on most of the people there and Blurr didn't want to go to sleep with the memory of Chromedome fresh in his mind. Next to him, Mixmaster was doing the same, glaring down at Scavenger at a table who was eating the oil balls with a shaky hand.
"So, with Chromedome's death, the new area should be open. You want to go check it out?" Mixmaster asked him.
"Nah, at least, not with you," he told him.
"Now why is that?" he asked him, looking at him with a faux hurt impression.
"Bad luck. I explored this area with Counterpunch in the dead of night and he ended up dead. I don't want to sound superstitious, but I don't want to risk it," Blurr told him.
"Hmph, course not," Mixmaster muttered, looking back down at Scavenger. "I asked Scavenger if he could give me any information on who hit him, but he said he didn't see his attacker, so it's a bust. Maybe Nightbeat could wring more information out of him if he wasn't a suspect," he told him.
"Damn, I've forgotten about that," Blurr muttered, thinking it over. "I'm sure Jazz can gain something from him."
"Hopefully," Mixmaster muttered. "We may have solved Counterpunch's murder, but we still got at least one more risk around. We need to watch our back more now than ever for any murderers."
"Yeah…," Blurr muttered, looking at the bright lights. It was getting tired and would probably need to recharge soon, but that can wait. Chromedome's mangled head won't be-
What the heck was that glint?
He gazed to see Wildrider watching over him with the telescope. At being spotted, Wildrider waved at him and flashed a creepy, slasher smile that sent a chill down Blurr spine. "We have to keep an eye on Wildrider," Blurr told Mixmaster.
"Huh?" Mixmaster asked before looking up at the smiling manic. "Oh, him," he said with disgust.
"What's his problem?" Blurr asked him.
"Don't know. He's always been this way from when I've first met him, crazy psychopath," he told him with disdain. "He was a constant patient in Hook's med-bay and several people came down because of him."
"You think he'll kill anyone?" Blurr asked him.
"Of course he will. It's just a question of when he'll get bored of everyone else and decide to murder someone himself. He probably won't care if he gets caught," Mixmaaster warned him.
"Thanks for the information, although it doesn't quite soothe me," he told him.
"You're welcome. Now, do you want to go down and try those oil balls out? It could help us get our mind off the situation," he told him.
"Yeah, sure," Blurr muttered, sending Wildrider an obscene gesture with his finger before heading off with him down the steps, a creeping thought in the back of his mind.
"It's just a question of when he'll get bored of everyone else and decide to murder someone himself."
Chapter 3: Sworn to Secrecy (END)
Teachers alive: 24