Warning: torture
Fury dominated his thoughts, his actions as he paced along an empty hall. Almost six joors later and Megatron still wanted nothing more than to take his frustration and anger out on the nearest thing, but the wall had already been punched enough and he couldn't afford to have it collapsing. 'How could Wayward have kept this from me?' And was that even his name? Megatron snorted. Of course it probably wasn't.
This entire time he had been lied to by one of the only bots he trusted! It felt like a betrayal that sunk deep into his chassis, unable to get over how Wayward had so casually gone about it.
In some bitterly ironic way, Megatron knew what Wayward was talking about, to be deceived and used-was he being used by him too? 'Does any of this mean anything to him? Is he only invested in me to prevent my supposed turn to evil?' he could not believe that he would ever do anything to put the planet in jeopardy, to destroy the very place he sought to save from itself.
'Yet that's exactly what he claims happens.' The thought came furiously, piercing through the plethora of emotions that riled through Megatron. And that Soundwave kept this form him...was there anyone he could actually trust?
Was anything Wayward had told him true? Or was it all just one constructed lie? Megatron could count on one servo what he knew to be true, what Wayward himself couldn't have predicted. Even if he entertained for one second that what the little mech said was the truth, then obviously the future had changed, could be changed.
But doubts settled into Megatron's mind- what if this had happened before? What was he to do then, if he was repeating a pattern that could never be changed? As much as he didn't want to, he needed to know what had changed, if anything. That would mean speaking to Wayward, but Megatron was still not inclined to let the fury ebb away with him at his deceit. But for the future of his world, of all the suffering the lower caste endured...Megatron would have to put aside his anger for their betterment.
Megatron vented deeply, and forced himself to march back to the office. Soundwave glanced up, but the silver mech waved for him to continue with his work as he went to the back room. He opened the door, and found Wayward on the berth drinking energon. Several cubes lied at his pedes. The little mech tensed when he came in, fear in his optics. "I…am still very angry with you." He said bluntly.
Wayward glanced away. "And you have a right to be, just as I do." He said with a clipped tone.
Megatron narrowed his optics, but decided not to comment on it. "Say I believed you, what has changed so far?"
"Sh...Shockwave discovering dark energon. I think." Wayward murmured, as though unsure. "And you don't seem nearly as bloodthirsty as you were in the future..."
"Well that's good." Megatron said sarcastically.
Wayward huffed, glowering at him. "And I obviously didn't see Shockwave's doing all this scrap to me." He flinched, the pain of it likely still fresh in his mind. "And…er, you took your name earlier, though that was my fault."
The mech glowered, waiting for more, other than just his name. "And?" He persisted, scowling still.
Wayward appeared to be thinking. "Well, Orion got here earlier than he was supposed to." He admitted. "And I'm pretty sure Knock Out did too."
"And? What is to be done to prevent this ruinous future you come from?" Megatron all but snarled, wanting him to get to facts, the details.
Wayward stiffened, and he scowled back. "I'm trying to think!" he snapped. "Though a good place to start is not to get pissy when you don't get to be a Prime!"
Megatron narrowed his optics. "Why would I even want such a position?"
"You will," Wayward retorted, "and you'll get angry when you don't, and Orion does!"
"Orion? The data clerk?" Megatron stated incredulously.
Wayward's mouth tightened into a line. "Yes. He'll become a great leader; compassionate, steady, more than capable of holding his own in a fight."
Megatron could hardly believe the picture, given what little he had gleaned from Orion's personality. "Truly?" Wayward nodded tersely, his plating tense, and the words had been said with more conviction than anything so far. "And how much of what you said is because of what he means to you in this future?"
Wayward tense, optics widening. "What?"
"You speak fondly of him, as though you were close. What is he to you?"
Wayward's vents hitched, sputtering. "He was someone I looked up too, someone I had been willing to give up everything to save." He explained strongly.
"So that's why you came to the past?" Megatron snarled, recognizing that he spoke in the past tense. "He's dead in your timeline and you would do anything to save him?"
Wayward stared at him, and shook his head. "That-it's more complicated." He said quietly. "He'd lost his memory, and the only way to retrieve it was to use the key to Vector Sigma to get it back."
Optics narrowed, judging the mech before him. Wayward squirmed under the gaze, deeply uncomfortable. "And I am to believe you have seen such a thing?" Megatron questioned dubiously.
Wayward nodded rapidly. "Yes, but...just for safety, may I keep it a secret for now? It's...too dangerous for anyone else to know about it."
"Fine." Megatron chewed out. "Anything else I should be aware of? More secrets that you've been keeping from me?"
Wayward looked down, frowning. "No, nothing I can think of right now."
"When your foggy memories come to mind, don't hesitate to inform me." Megatron turned to leave, scowling deeply still.
"H-hey, you're not being fair!" He heard Wayward snap at him from behind. "It's not like you haven't kept things secret!"
Megatron stopped, venting deeply with anger at Wayward and himself. "Yes, I'm aware." he gritted out.
With that, he left the room, closing the door behind him.
Jack sighed heavily, chest tight and heavy. This wasn't going to be an easy time, for either of them. He really wished he had something stronger, but didn't think the ensuing hangover would be worth it. He finished up the cube he had, and tried to figure out what to do next. It was up to Megatron about whether or not he still accepted him, but he hoped he still kept his promise. Selfish of him to want, Jack knew, but he didn't want to lose Megatron, his friendship even more. 'I really have become attached to him.' he thought and walked out the room. "...I'm going down to the pits. Going to get into a fight or two." Jack said to Soundwave, who said nothing as Jack made his way out.
He wondered if the rules had changed though; was it still a fight to the death? Or just make a good show? Jack wasn't sure, just that he wanted to unleash his own aggression and fury. He found Knock Out in the waiting room, just looking to have finished up the last bot. "Knock Out." he called.
The medic looked up, blinking. "Wayward, you're out?"
"I just needed to work off some of my anger." Jack replied.
Knock Out looked sour. "So I'm going to be patching up even more bots then, is that it?"
"You're still getting paid." Jack replied.
"Touché. Try not to seriously maim them though. I just patched them up." The medic asked of him.
"I'll see what I can do." Jack muttered, moving past him.
He made his way to the opening, and waited for his name to be called. From what he could gather, it seemed killing was out. Jack scowled at how he would need to either go for non-lethal strikes, or bare-handed hits. Bitterness seeped into his spark. 'I'm not any good at hand to hand.' he thought, but tensed when his stage name was called, along with an unfamiliar one. He stepped forward into the ring, grabbing a weapon as he prepped for a fight. He couldn't kill, Jack reminded himself sharply. 'No killing, just think of it like a...like a spar.'
Jack vented deeply, and that was why he'd grabbed a spear, but made sure to use the blunt end for the harder hits. Jack looked over at his opponent, who had also grabbed a staff. They were a femme, with black plating and red and orange accents that clashed with her silver face but something about her red optics made him uneasy.
Jack heard the roar of the crowd, and wondered if she could hear him. "Non-lethal?"
Flamewar smirked at him. "One of the new roles, but let's keep everyone entertained, shall we?"
"I'm game if you are." Jack retorted, raising the spear as the countdown began.
Flamewar smirked back at him, and lunged forward when the clock rang. Jack dropped to avoid the strike, but grunted when the end of the femme's staff struck him in the chest, shoving him back.
Jack raised his spear to block her next strike, and kicked out a leg that cut her leg plating. His optics widened when before his own optics that her red plates stitched back up, scarring over the cut. "Y-what?" he asked surprised, but grunted as another strike caught him on the cheek, the blunt end scratching him as well.
Flamewar smirked again as the plating stitched, graying over. "Ah, so you're one those too, guess I should welcome you to the club."
"The club?" He repeated incredulously, hardly daring to believe what he was seeing here. On instinct he almost asked how she was healing when the answer hit her on the head, sending the femme sprawling as Jack struck out with his staff. The sizable dent in her helm fixed itself at a slow rate. "Shockwave!"
Flamewar grinned at him. "Isn't it great? We can get back up and keep fighting!"
Jack jumped back to avoid her staff, gritted his denta as his rage flared. "How can you say that about such a fragger!"
The femme huffed. "You having second thoughts?" she jerked her chin up. "You knew what you were signing up for, we all did!"
"I never signed up for what that lunatic had in mind." Jack snarled, striking hard, faster, fueled by his rage.
Flamewar kept pace, with all the coolness of a seasoned gladiator. Her optics narrowed as she blocked each strike, but Jack was too angry to think through what his comments could bring. Finally, Flamewar spun her staff, feinting it and Jack grunted as his spear was knocked from his grip, and her foot caught him across the face, the end of her staff pinning him to the ground by the chest. Her optics were glowing brightly, keen and realizing. "Oh, now I recognize you," she smiled darkly at him, "Shockwave's pretty little slave."
"I am no one's slave!" A leg swept from under her feet, knocking the femme down. Jack went to her front, grabbing the spear and pulled as hard as he could, yanking the weapon from her grip.
Jack snarled as he slammed the end of the spear into her shoulder, and angry as he was, he had to give it to her that she didn't cry out. She only sneered, slamming her leg into his and Jack was forced to pull back, taking the spear with him. She didn't let up, lunging for him and slammed her fist into his side, side-stepping the spear and then smashed her fist into his face. Jack grunted as his optics cracked, and he found himself back on the ground-then the spear jammed into his stomach. His scream was drowned out by the roar of the crowd.
He stared at her through optics that were healing, and it made her grin look sharper. He flinched as she pulled the spear out.
"You lost." she smirked, raising her hand to the crowd before walking away.
Jack was left cold as he dragged himself out of the arena, staggering as his wounds healed. His optics found Knock Out, grabbing his shoulder as the medic stared at him.
"What-"
"Never mind that," Jack said quickly, "help me find Megatron; some of the gladiators here are modified with Shockwave's healing he took from me, and one of them knows who I am."
"Shockwave has agents here-"
"Yes, now move! We need to root these guys out before they cause any more trouble!"
Knock Out nodded, and helped drag Jack out of the room as his healing kicked up.
"Knock Out!" Breakdown called after him. "What's going-"
"Can't talk now, we need to find Megatron before Shockwave's spies can report anything to him!" Knock Out replied, and Jack couldn't blame Breakdown for looking baffled.
"Little strong in calling them spies." Jack said.
Knock Out shrugged. "Pretty much what they are though, especially if they confirm you're here."
Jack bulldozed ahead, ignoring the guard as he forced his way through. "Soundwave! Where's Megatron? It's urgent!"
"Megatron: out making transaction. Query: cause for urgency?"
"The gladiators Shockwave wanted to modify, I was facing one and she recognized me." Jack explained. "Is there any way to see who the others were to keep an optic on them in case they want to start causing trouble?"
Soundwave's digits moved swiftly, holographic images popping up left and right, each with a video in real time running on the screen.
"There!" Jack pointed to the orange femme. "She's one of them- you have to stop her before she can leave!"
"Affirmative." Soundwave replied, and his faceless gaze seemed to be looking ahead. Slowly, one of the hired mechs to keep watch of the premises on the screen looked to be taking a comm. and nodded before following after the femme. "Action: complete."
Jack let out a relieved vent, but paused. "Scrap, what's going to happen once she's detained? She'll know something's up probably."
"Flamewar: to be interrogated." Soundwave answered. "Afterwards: Disposed of."
Jack stared at him. "D-disposed of?" he repeated. The thought of being a part of that made him ill, but if she talked, then Shockwave would have proof he was here, and that would be enough to get the police involved. "This doesn't feel right." he said, crossing his arms.
"Flamewar: lives, talks, reports. Outcome: police raid, arrests, disarray. You: captured." Soundwave said bluntly.
Jack flinched, closing his optics to try and block out that optic which had stared into his without mercy as Shockwave... He gritted his denta. "We don't know what the effects are," he said, "of how much the healing implants worked. If they're just restricted to implants, or are now a part of the body's system."
"Wayward: suggesting experimentation?" Soundwave questioned, looking pointedly at Knock Out, who jumped at that the thought.
"Wha- me?" He stated, startled by what they were suggesting. "I'm still in training in case you've forgotten-"
"He's right." Jack said, though it felt hollow to say. "At the very least, she should be offlined quickly. Just find out where Shockwave put the implant and remove it." he vented deeply. "I doubt Shockwave could replicate my...other power." he rubbed his chest where the spark that was very much not-natural resided. "So she should die swiftly."
Knock Out looked disgruntled by the idea; it was easier for the two gladiators to tell that he had never killed before, and if the incident with Shockwave was anything to go by, had never been in a fight either.
"Don't worry about it." Breakdown assured Knock Out quietly, having caught up to hear the last part. "When the time comes, and you can't do it, I'll do it for you."
Knock Out looked at him with widened optics. "You would?" he questioned quietly, and the blue mech nodded.
Jack's tank churned as he looked at them, the same jealously and longing in his spark. He fingers gripped his arm. "No, neither of you will have to." he said as he drew their attention. "I want to hear what she has to say, and...then once you're done looking for the implant-I'll kill her."
"You're sure?" Knock Out received a nod, to which he grimly replied, "Alright then."
"Result: Flamewar found, detained." Soundwave said. "Location: storage unit."
Jack sighed, but nodded. "Call Megatron and tell him what we're doing. He should at least be kept aware of what's happening."
"Affirmative."
"Let's go then." Jack told them, moving outside and heading to the storage. The longer he waited, the more time she had to realize what was going on.
When they got to the storage unit, Flamewar had only been tossed into the room. It would make detainer her harder, Jack griped silently. He cringed when her gaze slid over him before glancing to Soundwave.
"What's the big idea having me dragged in here? It's not like he's hurt," she paused, smirking at Jack, "well, aside from those unsightly gray areas."
"Pin her down." Jack ordered Soundwave, only slightly surprised when Soundwave actually complied. Tendrils shot out from the mech, slamming into Flamewar's arms, tossing her into the wall, where she then collapsed.
Flamewar looked dazed, but still scowled up at them. "What is this about?"'
Jack narrowed his optics. "How many of you were involved in Shockwave's experiment?"
"That's what you're interested in?" She asked, astonished. Then she started to struggle. Soundwave tilted his head.
"Modified gladiators: estimate eleven." Soundwave said, the femme optics widening. It was only from what she knew though. There was no telling if Shockwave had taken and modified even more gladiators.
Jack vented harshly. "Then we'll get the information on the others we do know about." He said, and glared at her the femme. "Have you gone to Shockwave recently? Did he give you any orders?"
Flamewar snarled at him. "Frag off!"
Jack frowned deeply, then grabbed her cheek lightly. "You know, everyone thinks that having this healing ability is so great." He started, trailing down her neck and moving to her arm. When he reached her servo, he paused. "And sure, it's nice to heal from any wound- a nick, a life-threatening injury..." Flamewar screamed as Jack bent her forefinger back, continuing until it sparked and metal bent. "Until you find yourself in a situation like this, where all that healing is only prolonging your suffering because it doesn't matter how much harm your captors inflict on your body."
Jack smiled, but it didn't reach his angry, darkening optics. "You are going to tell us what you know, whether Soundwave rips it from your head, or I snap all your fingers until you drop the tough act."
Flamewar growled, glaring at him. "As if I'd talk for Shockwave's berth warmer." Jack's optics hardened, and he snapped another of the femme's fingers. Flamewar bit her glossa to stop the scream. Through the pain she glared at him, then spat energon in his face. There was no holding back the shrieks when Jack ripped two of her fingers off.
"Well, I guess we'll see if you can regenerate too." Jack said, feeling morbidly idle. He should have been worried about his own behavior, but he was so pissed he couldn't care about it. Disconnected, he stared unblinkingly down as the stumps of her fingers slowly began to heal over than grow. "Hmm, looks like it's not that advanced then. Too bad."
"You think I'm scared of you, freak?" Flamewar snarled.
Jack wiped the energon from his cheek, glancing to the side. "You know, I was going to show mercy and make your offlining quick, but you're really tanking that good favor I was giving you."
Knock Out shifted, uncomfortable with the situation, but unable to back out now that he was involved. He hasn't seen this side of Wayward, and it disturbed him.
"Go frag yourself!" Flamewar snarled.
"Hmm. Hard way it is then. Let's see how long you can last." Jack murmured, bringing up his own hand before causally ripped his own finger off with hardly so much as a wince. He only felt numb, as if a vacuum where nothing could get to him. Slowly, he traced the bleeding nub against her face as it swiftly grew back. "I'm the original- I can come back from anything. Let's see what you come back as."
Jack held his mismatched digits to her face, more claw-like than they had been before. His talons slowly dragged along Flamewar's face, screams ringing in tandem with the screeching metal as it shredded under the pressure. Jack pulled back once he reached her neck, and listened to her heavy venting. The bleeding lines that ran down her face slowly stopped bleeding, and he blinked placidly before digging his fingers into the vein on her neck, and squeezed. The line severed, and energon began gushing out. It dripped down Jack's servo and along his arm.
Flamewar gasped, gurgling as energon seeped down her lip. She squeezed her optics shut, denta gritted.
Eventually, the lines scarred over, and the severed line reconnected. Jack glared at her. "It's only going to get worse, so are you going to tell me what I want to know?"
She stared at him, wide optic and terrified as she vented heavily during the brief pause. Looks like it finally settled on her how different they truly were.
Jack narrowed his optics again. "Were you going to report my presence here to Shockwave?"
Flamewar scowled at him, but winced as the tears in her face no doubt stung. "Yes." She spat out, hoarse and staticky.
"Have you already contacted him?" Jack demanded of her.
"No." Flamewar wheezed.
Jack narrowed his optics again, but glanced at Soundwave, who nodded in confirmation. "What were you going to report?"
"You were here." She replied. "He wanted confirmation of your location."
Jack glowered, fists clenched. "And…what was supposed to happen when he knew I was here?"
Flamewar hesitated, her lips curling in defiance. Jack vented deep, and dug his claws into her gut, pulling his fingers together to tear deep grooves into the plating. She shrieked, and shook her head. "He-he was…was going to send Makeshift to-to retrieve you without anyone noticing!"
"The bot that can take the forms of others." Jack's lip curled, revealing the beginning of fangs. "And after that? Shockwave can't shut up for a minute when he's experimenting. What did he tell you?"
"He was…going to punish you again." Flamewar said.
Jack stiffened, his form shaking minutely. He could still remember his mesh tearing as… Jack snarled at her. "What else?"
"That's all I know!" Flatbread insisted, wincing as the talons raked over her form.
Jack glared at her, but when he looked at Soundwave again, his spark churned as he removed his talons. "Then tell me where your implant is."
Flamewar remained silent, but scowled as Jack flexed his claws. "It…it's in my T-cog cavity."
Jack nodded, and stepped back. "Knock Out, can you please remove it now?"
Knock Out stared at him, grimacing as he could honestly admit to being shaken with what he'd seen. "Er, alright." He still answered though, and removed his kit. Perhaps as a bit of mercy, he shut the femme's pain receptor off before cutting into the plating.
Jack leaned forward when he could see the sickly purple disk that stuck to her insides. "Don't touch it." He said warningly, and ripped the disk out. It was starting to ooze the same purple substance in his own system, but it was weaker. "Thank you for your help, Knock Out. You and Breakdown can go. I don't think you want to see what happens next."
"Right." Knock Out said quickly in agreement, making his way out with Breakdown behind him.
Jack looked at her, and in what felt like a distant memory he remembered talking to Megatron about how to dismantle a bot. He closed his optics, and dug his claws into the femme's chest plates. He gripped the seams, and ripped-the plating creaking and breaking as it opened.
Jack saw the glowing blue spark, staring at what could only be a normal one. He vented as he realized this would indeed be over quick. Jack reached in, and winced as he grabbed the spark with his bare servo. He squeezed, jolts of electricity going up his arm, his chest and spark tightening in unbearable pain before he ripped the spark out. It extinguished the second it left, the femme's optics going dark.
Jack frowned as he saw the burns running along his plating, noting how much slower they were healing. "Can you dispose of the body?" he asked Soundwave.
"Affirmative." He informed. Jack crouched, squatting against the wall as it all settled over him like an uncomfortable blanket. What...what had he just done? 'It's like I was a different person.' He thought, but from the energon on his hands, the grayed digits, it had been him the whole way through. Jack was terrified by what he was becoming-was it the strain, the sorrow, the anger that drove him now? Was he just too broken to care anymore?
'I don't want to be that.' He thought, but justifying it would only blanket whatever else he'd done, and that would spiral into the same mess which doomed everyone in the original timeline, wouldn't it? 'I can't lose myself like this again.' He rubbed his forehead, stressed and tired now more than ever. He was a monster. Knock Out and Breakdown probably thought he was one too.
'How am I going to explain this?' Jack thought. He stared at his hands, blinking as he vented. 'I can't sit here feeling sorry for myself, not when there's still issues to be dealt with.' He thought. Remorse did creep into his spark, as awful as Flamewar had been. "Did you get the names for the ones you could identify from her?"
"Affirmative."
Jack nodded too, venting again as he stood. "When you find them, at least give them the option of renouncing Shockwave. I-I don't know how well it'll work, but I don't want to let us be seen as monsters."
"Jack: not monstrous." Soundwave said suddenly, causing Jack to jerk his helm up.
"What?" he asked startled, wondering if he heard it right. "You-you just called me by my name."
The other mech nodded. "Jack: not monstrous." He repeated. "Jack: surviving."
Jack looked down at the floor, leaning against the wall, his optics drooping to be half-lidded even his chest tightened from the uses of his real name. "I suppose that one's way of seeing it, but I can't help worry about my every step. What if I'm just making everything worse?"
"Future: malleable." Soundwave assured. "Events: already changing."
Jack vented, glancing away briefly. Good or bad, Jack at least knew the mech was right. "I'm aware, it's…" he shook his head. "No, that's accurate." He admitted. "So, will you at least take what I said into account?"
Soundwave didn't respond for a moment. "Compromise: allowed to live if sincere, if not, they will be disposed of."
"Alright...that's fair enough." Jack conceded, when a thought came to him. "...I didn't expect you to follow my orders like you did."
Soundwave tilted his head, staring at him. "Jack: important to Megatron." He said bluntly, and Jack blinked in surprised. "Jack: important to the cause. Knowledge: valuable."
Jack rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I…wasn't expecting that, though I don't think I'm all that important to him anymore now." Jack sighed wistfully, casting his optics to the side. Shame coiled inside of him as he caught sight of Flamewar's corpse. "He's pretty ticked off..."
"Megatron: angry, but time needed to accept."
Jack rubbed his brow; all the anger, unease, self-loathing and uncertainty settled deep inside of him. "I hope that's true."
