CHAPTER 15
At first, Deadlock thought it was unreal.
No. Shadow Raker hadn't stabbed him.
No. Shadow Raker had only…knocked them out. He'd just disarmed him. Maybe the owner had a hidden weapon on him…
No. His mentor hadn't killed him. He couldn't kill him…
Then, Shadow Raker stepped aside. Deadlock could only watch as the victim's corpse collapsed, a pool of energon coming out from his chassis as well as from his head. Deadlock dropped his weapon, nausea overwhelming him.
No…
"Deadlock! We need to go!" Shadow Raker shouted at him.
There was no emotion in his voice…No sadness, no horror, no regret…No. He was only worried about being seen by other passing bots.
How…
"Deadlock! Now!" The Insecticon repeated.
Deadlock stared at the inanimate corpse…
The bot…hadn't it coming.
He hadn't done anything…
He would have let them go…yet Shadow Raker still killed him.
While using martial arts…exactly in the same way as he used them on Jetstorm while the latter couldn't even defend himself.
"Deadlock! Follow me or I'll abandon you! Got it?"
Deadlock barely reacted. He gave a brief glance at the Minicons. Just to check their reactions.
They were forced to undeploy to return themselves to Shadow Raker's wrists…yet he caught sight of their horror in their optics.
Had Shadow Raker already killed before?
His mentor transformed in his alt-mode, quickly heading for the door.
That's awful…Deadlock felt like he couldn't move his body anymore…
He only thought about the bot's corpse…
"Deadlock!"
It startled him.
He had to follow his mentor…else he would be arrested by Decepticon authorities…
But…was it fair?
No. Of course.
Yet he transformed. In a few minutes, Decepticon authorities would come to arrest them.
He looked away from the victim to join his group back.
His optics' light flickering out…he would never forget it.
As soon as they were far enough from the house, one already surrounded by vehicles, Deadlock transformed into his robot-mode back.
"Deadlock! What are you doing?"
He didn't reply.
He stopped to throw up in a deserted street.
"…Why did you kill him?"
Shadow Raker was still counting the number of treasures they'd brought back. Deadlock just asked him. He hadn't waited for tomorrow in the morning. He would have been unable to recharge.
Just…Why?
Why had he killed him?
Shadow Raker simply shrugged.
"…He was about to call authorities"
"He would have let us go" Deadlock said, a dark tone.
"Do you really believe it?"
There was a hint of mockery in his mentor's tone.
Was he completely indifferent to the bot's death?
"I thought you were less naïve."
"We would have dominated him…We would have knocked him out"
"It's done. We'll not waste our time over it"
He focused back on items he'd just stolen.
Items belonging to a bot…a dead bot now.
Deadlock didn't reply anything.
I'll be quiet…
He grabbed his head. He tried hard…hard to erase that bot's face out of his mind…
He couldn't…He couldn't…
"Don't act like this, Deadlock. You, more than anyone, should have expected this turn of event."
"…Stealing isn't killing…"
"Sometimes we can't do one without the other" The Insecticon simply replied.
He paused.
"Then…Why does it bother you that much? You aren't the one who stabbed him. I'm the one who dirtied my servos…for you."
He threw some other items off. Apparently, that was just garbage to him.
"You should be grateful"
"He did nothing…"
"What? Do you truly believe that what I've done is worse than the other people's acts to survive on Cybertron in these dark times? He would have perished anyway, Deadlock."
He would have perished anyway…
Somewhere, Deadlock wished he could believe it…to ease his thoughts…to ease his guilt…
However, it didn't work.
He should have reacted…he should have convinced him not to going that far…
"Ha. Here is your pay, Deadlock"
He threw an item at him.
A silvered vase…
Deadlock didn't touch it. As soon as he put his optics on, he felt no joy. No wonder. No awe.
Only disgust.
Deadlock didn't recharge tonight.
No. Whenever he closed his optics to fade into darkness, he rewatched this bot…
His last moments…
Why?
Why, yes?
For items? For money? For gems?
He'd had to kill once, to survive…
Crashthunder…his men…
At first, he'd felt no guilt…That's Deadlock or them. They'd had guns pointed on him.
And Crashthunder had been a complete scum…
But that bot had been innocent…He'd done nothing…
How could he have known? He'd come back home…not realizing he would live his last moments…
"Stop crying, Jetstorm"
He heard Shadow Raker in his room. Deadlock sat up on his berth.
Behind doors, he heard Jetstorm's weak whines…
What's going on? Was Shadow Raker punishing him? For which reason?
"You're nothing. Just like that bot…After all these years spent under my employ, you should get used to it by now."
…What was happening?...
He heard a dry noise. As if something was burying in the ground…
"You're my Minicon. You're mine whenever I want."
Then the door slammed.
Deadlock stood up to have a check.
He barely opened his berthroom's door to see Jetstorm in the halls, alone. Tears were running down on his face. He's his two servos over his stomach, shaky.
"Jetstorm?"
Suddenly, the Minicon jumped. He moved back, protecting his face as if he was expecting a blow…
"Please! I'm sorry!"
"…Sorry about what?"
Deadlock didn't understand.
Then Jetstorm seemingly realized it was Deadlock who was talking to him. The Minicon stared at him, speechless. It struck him. Deadlock didn't want to do any harm.
"…Jetstorm?" He repeated.
Jetstorm didn't reply.
He just collapsed.
-
Deadlock let Jetstorm sleep on his berth tonight.
He didn't fall into recharge anyway. Maybe a stroll would be good…
Maybe he would forget…but that was a naïve thought…how could he forget such a thing?
While Deadlock gently put Jetstorm on the berth, Jetstorm weakly opened his optics. In a quiet whisper, he asked him.
"…I need a bath…"
"Later. You aren't in good shape…"
"…I need it…"
Jetstorm fainted again.
Did he know who he was talking to?
Deadlock looked down.
He wasn't the only one haunted by what happened this night…
Jetstorm was too.
Then while giving a second look at Jetstorm, Deadlock noticed bruises on his armour.
Bruises…as well as energon.