Author's note. Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter, I really appreciated them. Hope this chapter goes down well too.

Enjoy and please review.

Megatron could not help but smirk at the gaping humans below him, the open-mouthed disbelief and horror on their expressions was very amusing. He leaned down slightly, leering as they shrank back from him.

"Still think I'm lying about my name?" he chuckled.

"This….this can't be real?" Carling stammered, his eyes almost popping out of his head.

"Can't it?" Megatron smirked, reaching out to touch just under his chin with the tip of his claw. The man swallowed heavily, pushing away the claw and stepping a nervous step back. Megatron didn't stop him, just said.

"Do I not feel real?"

"You….I…," Carling tried to say, the others seemed too shocked to speak. "A-are you in that robot?"

Megatron let out a burst of laughter, causing all of them to flinch at the sound.

"You think I'm a human?" he said mockingly. "Oh, that is priceless."

"Then what are you?" was the frustrated yet fearful response.

"I am part of a powerful race from another planet," Megatron explained. "As you observed, I am a transforming robot and so are my men."

"W-why are you here?" was the next, expected question.

"There are some….artefacts from my planet that have ended up here," he answered the small group of humans. "I and others of my kind are here to search for them."

"And before you ask," he added as one of them opened their mouth. "We are not interested in you or this planet. We are only here to find what is ours and return to our home world."

"Then how did our children become involved?" one of the creators managed to speak up and ask. "Why did you take them?"

"Essentially, those little dears are the ones who found and activated one of the artefacts, and inadvertently summoned us here," he explained before smiling fondly. "Ah, you should have seen their faces when I appeared, so shocked. Though little Alexis did manage to take charge and urged the boys into action."

The girl in question creators beamed proudly at this.

"So you took them because they saw you?" one of the others asked.

"Not quite, you could say our paths crossed again during a….disagreement over the artefacts between some other transformers. The children got caught up in it and I ended up taking them with me," he explained, he didn't intend to tell these humans the full story.

"And why did you keep them?" Carling questioned with a frown.

"I told you, they amuse me," Megatron reminded him silkily. "Our search takes time, they provide a suitable distraction during our downtime. They are very vibrant little things."

The humans looked like they didn't know how to take this statement. Since they still seemed rather freaked out by his appearance, he decided to have a little mercy on them.

"Transform!"

Predictably, they all jumped as he suddenly folded away into his tank mode before projecting his holo image. Smirking, he folded his arms and asked. "Better?"

"Uh….yeah…yeah," Carling swallowed, very much unnerved but prepared to solider on. "Well, I think…we want to discuss how you treat the kids."

"Oh?" Megatron stated with a raised brow.

"In the last call, it was mentioned that you physically punish them," the man stated, sounding determined to get through this. All the creators stiffened at this reminder.

"Yes and?" Megatron huffed, no doubt complaints were coming his way.

"Why do you do it?" Carling questioned seriously. "We've just seen how big you are, you could hurt them."

"I know my own strength," the Decepticon told him. "I may be much stronger than a human but I am fully in control. I have never damaged them while punishing them though of course they did not enjoy the experience."

"But surely it's not necessary," Carling persisted. "You could just…put them in time out or something like that."

"I require discipline and obedience," was Megatron's response while thinking this human would get on great with that soft sparked Prime. "And 'time out' would not curb them of their rebellious nature, I did not spank them initially. My little pets constantly test the limits of my patience and rules, if they are not planning some new mischief, then they are questioning my every action."

"I admit I'm impressed by their resilience and ability to bounce back from chastisement," he added musingly. Considering they weren't armoured, the way they could still joke and mess around even when in pain was remarkable.

"But…still," the man tried. "Physical discipline by what is essentially their captor will be very hard on them. Even if they seem fine now."

"As long as they behave, they are not punished," Megatron told him, he certainly wasn't going to be talked out of disciplining the children. "And when they are obedient, I give them rewards, such as the day out they are having. But regardless, I ensure they are well taken care of."

"Each child has a guardian who takes personal care of them. You heard Rad's on the comm," Megatron continued. "And while they are firm, I'm sure it will please you to know they are very doting on them."

A bit too doting at times in his opinion but at least he trusted them not to disobey him. They never hesitated to punish them, it was just they preferred seeing the children happy. To be fair, he also enjoyed seeing them in good form, he was just stricter.

"Demolisher can appear stern but he is patient and caring towards Rad. He often ensures the boy is kept occupied with little tasks."

They all listened with rapt attention to his descriptions.

"Carlos is looked after by Cyclonus who can be a little…boisterous but he seems to make Carlos laugh. He apparently likes to give the children edible treats."

"Then there is Starscream who takes care of Alexis," he added. "He somehow finds a way to deal with her insolent questions and ensures she has what she needs. He even has bestowed little gifts on her."

"Oh," Alexis's carrier exclaimed eagerly. "Is that the kind one?"

"The….kind one?" Megatron repeated with a frown. "What do you mean by that?"

She froze, a distinctly guilty expression rapidly appearing as a blush.

"N-nothing," she stammered but he frowned heavily at her.

"It does not seem like nothing," he said slowly, taking in how the others were looking equally nervous and guilty. "Tell me what you mean."

"I…," she said helplessly, looking at her mate who looked like he was trying to think of a good explanation, fuelling Megatron's suspicion.

"You see…," he tried but Megatron interrupted.

"Now where would you get the idea that one of my men was kind," he asked, a dangerous edge to his voice. "Because I do not recall such a thing being mentioned in your call to the children."

They all glanced at each other, looking guiltier than ever and he recognised the look of someone trying to think up a good excuse. He had no intention of allowing them to do so.

"Tell me what you mean," he growled severely. "Or do I need to question the children…?"

"No!" they yelped in a panic and Carling looked exceedingly worried as he said. "You don't need to do that, we'll….tell you what we mean."

"Do so," Megatron commanded, folding his arms sternly, he was going to get to the bottom of this.

"One of your men allowed the kids to secretly call their parents," Carling admitted quietly. "We don't know which one, Alexis only said he was very kind."

"They did what?" he practically roared, causing all of them to flinch back.

"Please, the kids only wanted to let their parents know they were alright," the detective said pleadingly. "They emphasised very strongly they couldn't say anything, nothing about you, where they were, anything. Just that you weren't planning to sexually abuse them or sell them."

Megatron eyes narrowed in a scowl, he did not like that the children and his kind solider had gone behind his back in such a fashion. The humans were worried at his obvious annoyance, they looked anxious and pleading.

"When did this happen?" Megatron finally rumbled out and he was given a date. It was from when he'd given them that severe punishment, he wondered just when it had occurred. And did that blasted Prime know anything about it?

"This was the only time," Alexis's female creator burst out and there were nods of agreement from the others. "It wasn't even for that long…"

"None of them had permission to call you in the first place," Megatron stated, a growl in his tone. Oh and didn't he know just who had allowed them to in the first place. When he got his hands on him….

"No…," Carling admitted, swallowing heavily. "Perhaps they….didn't feel comfortable asking your permission."

Megatron scoffed, as if it would ever occur to the little darlings to do such a thing.

"Perhaps," the detective said cautiously. "You could….let them off with a warning about what they did. And say they must….ask your permission in future."

"Is that so?" Megatron asked silkily. "You'd rather I didn't punish them?"

"Well…yes," Carling said rather helplessly as one of the creators burst out. "Please, you said they were having such a lovely time, don't ruin it."

An instant murmur of agreement followed this.

"I shouldn't have said anything, please," Alexis's carrier begged, looking frantic. "If you need to punish anyone, punish me."

"No!" her mate gasped. "Don't punish my wife, take me."

And Megatron was confronted with the rather bemusing experience of all these human creators talking at once, arguing about who could take punishments in their children's place. Carling was also speaking, trying to say no one was getting punished, that everyone needed to calm down. For a moment, the Decepticon leader was too surprised to react but the situation was starting to get ridiculous.

"That's enough!" he barked out and to his gratification, they fell silent instantly.

"I can see this means a lot to you," he began as they looked hopeful. "I suppose it would be such a shame to punish the children when they are so happy."

They all nodded in agreement although Carling looked concerned as he said. "It would be deeply appreciated if you didn't. And if you just talk to the kids about the call, they'll be less likely to do so in the future."

"Really?" Megatron said, tone disbelieving.

"Give them a chance," the man pleaded. "I'm sure it'll make a big difference, the kids will respect the fact you didn't punish them."

"And it won't inspire them to think they can get away with it?" Megatron pointed out.

"I think by now the kids will know how you are serious about repercussions," Carling stated ruefully. "If you tell them it'll be forgiven this time, they'll know you'll punish the next."

"Hmm," Megatron considered, the human was making some sense. He didn't want his pets thinking they'd gotten away with their call scot-free but perhaps this was a way to ensure they didn't while not ruining their day out. He had rather enjoyed their happy faces while they'd played on the sand.

"Very well," he conceded eventually. "I will not punish them but I will give them a severe warning."

They all breathed a sigh of relief he noted with mild amusement. So easy to please.

"Is….spanking your normal method of punishment?" Carling now asked hesitantly.

"For the children, yes. My men are a different matter," Megatron told him while idly thinking maybe he should change that policy when it came to a certain Seeker…

"Wouldn't it be better," the human said cautiously. "To save spanking for more….serious offences?"

"Such as?" Megatron asked idly.

"Such as….putting themselves in danger. Or harming someone?" the detective suggested as Megatron chuckled a little at the idea of the kids being able to harm him or his men. In fairness, it probably hadn't even occurred to them. "But if it's something minor, there are alternatives."

"Like grounding," one of the creators piped up.

"Or no dessert after dinner."

"Or extra chores."

"No electronics."

"Yes, things like that," Carling agreed earnestly. "If you always spank the kids no matter what they've done, then they might as well do something worse as it means the same punishment for a minor infraction."

Megatron frowned but he was thoughtful. The kids were certainly not slowing down when it came to insolence, perhaps the knowledge that a serious infraction would earn a spanking would encourage them to be more mindful of their behaviour. It was worth a try anyway.

"You raise an interesting point," he acknowledged. "Perhaps I will try it out."

"Thank you," Carling said solemnly. "We appreciate it."

This made Megatron's lips quirk up in a small smirk. Now he asked. "Anything else?"

"Well….," the man said slowly. "If you aren't willing to let them go, then I suppose we want to make sure they're taken care of."

"I already told you they are well looked after," Megatron huffed in slight irritation, did he really need to repeat himself?

"Yes of course, I just thought we could go into a bit more detail about things such as their meals…"

"They receive food that contains all the nutrients they require," Megatron interrupted. "I had my men look into it and the children assisted."

"Okay, that's great," Carling acknowledged with a nod. "What about their routine, what do they do during the day?"

"It depends on what I and my men are doing," Megatron replied shortly, not particularly in a mood to discuss his activities with these humans. He had every intention of wrapping this up soon, he'd already shown them why their search was fruitless, and there was little else to be discussed. "We keep them active."

"Have they been able to continue their education in any capacity? Are they able to exercise?"

"To a certain extent but I may look into that if it will please you," The Decepticon leader stated, beginning to grow bored. "If that is all…"

"Wait, do they get free time, do you play with them?" a creator called out.

"Play with them?" he repeated in complete disbelief.

"Yes," they said earnestly. "Children need downtime, a chance to have some fun. You could do some nice activities with them..."

"Do robots have board games?" someone else piped up. "You and the others could do those with the children."

He stared at them, were they really suggesting this? Urgh, if that obnoxious Prime ever heard of this….

"My men may be willing to…..play with them," he finally said, mentally reminding himself not to let this get out of hand. Who knows what the likes of Cyclonus would come up with. "As for me, I enjoy spending time with them but I am not one for playing."

"So what do you do with them?" someone asked curiously.

"It varies, sometimes I simply desire their company while my systems reset. The children will entertain me with little performances or ask insolent questions. I also give them a bath if they require it," he informed them, thinking that the kids would probably need a bath after their day out. He recalled that he needed to acquire some new outfits for them, he'd research that once back to base.

"Uh, not naked though?" Carling asked awkwardly and Megatron snorted.

"They all have bathing suits and I certainly do not expose myself," he said with a roll of his optics before smirking. "Although let's just say those naughty children learned they're better off not sneaking into washrooms."

They gaped at him in disbelief, furthering his amusement.

"Wait, you don't actually have…?" one of them began.

Megatron just leered at them with a smirk.

"I did not need to know that," Carling muttered as Megatron laughed.

"You humans can be so amusing," he chuckled. Ironic that the kids could catch him more off guard than their adult creators could. Then again, they were something special. "But now it is time for my departure."

"So soon?"

"Yesss, I have things to attend to," Megatron replied lazily, planning to check up with Demolisher. Relatively speaking, it hadn't been that long since he'd done but those children were perfectly capable of getting into all sorts of mischief. "Transform!"

Predictably, they jumped at this action but were less scared this time.

"Will you contact us again?" Carling asked as Megatron towered over them. "Maybe let the kids talk to their parents?"

"I will consider it," the Decepticon leader stated. "And I'll be talking to them about that unauthorised call, if they do not so again, they won't be punished. In the meantime, it seems there are some things I must get for them."

"I see. Well, thank you for meeting with us, it was worth it," the detective told him, the others nodding while looking downcast.

"I'm sure it was," Megatron agreed before adding. "You may keep the images I gave you. Perhaps I will send more."

"That would appreciated," Carling called as Megatron stepped back before turning and walking away.

They watched until he was out of sight before Carling let out a heavy breath.

"Damn."

Author's note. In the next chapter, the kids return to the base, what happens there? Find out next time, until then.