Ch. 82
Starscream was unsure if he had ever seen Megatron this angry, in this timeline or plane of existence, or any other situation for that matter. The glint in his optics reminded him of a mech no one dared speak of. The kind that if you triggered a response, it was to allow your own demise. He was sure they'd recruited a few of those over the millennia, a certain Blitz-something-or-other came to mind, but these mechs were few and far between and fleeting in every sense. And now, in this moment, Megatron had that look, that triggered and broken mind response activating, the broiling, uncontrollable rage finally spilling forth, giving everyone within the area only a moment's warning as a guttural roar erupted from the volcano that was once a calculated leader.
Optimus had no time to brace himself as the warlord lunged and tackled into him, beating him relentlessly with only his fists. Starscream watched in horror as the Prime's chestplate began to buckle and crumple under the assault like tin foil, sparks burning into the snow and energon being cast around them like a shower of paint on the white, white canvas. Optimus tried to block the maniacal barrage but this made Megatron simply slam into him harder, claws opening to scratch at the already beaten chassis below.
Starscream couldn't take anymore. With a hissing wince he finally stood, his legs shaky and screamed at the top of his intake something he knew he would regret.
"Autobots! Roll out!"
The phrase was over used, he would admit it. But he had already insulted Megatron with a change in his optics, then the replacement in sigils and factions. Now, he insulted the warlord with something he knew he would never be forgiven for: the Prime's own words.
The assault on Optimus stopped, the beaten mech hardly able to move, and Megatron's psychotic glare turned on him, his voice in a hissing whisper, "You... DARE..." it was a statement, not a question, and with another roar the warlord sprinted off the Prime with his claws extended, switching his target quickly, "YOU DARE TO BETRAY ME?!"
Starscream didn't have time to vocalize a response. He ran. Every ache in his chassis screamed for him as his wound burned and the scratches finally stung and the soreness in his legs made him feel heavy. But the seeker had to ignore these problems if he were to live long enough to repair them. And with the sound of those stomping pedfalls behind him, he was certain that it wouldn't be much longer.
Starscream skidded into a warehouse for shelter and wasn't too surprised when Megatron simply crashed into the wall and frame of the building, tearing it to pieces. So much for delicacy in the situation. Starscream took this as a cue to run into a back wall and create his own escape, the seeker's weakened chassis tumbling into the snow and yet frantically flailing to grab something to support himself with. He was surprised to find something grab him instead. He was surprised further still when that something slammed him into another warehouse wall and slugged him hard in the cockpit.
"Do you see what you have done to my leader?!" Dreadwing snarled, throwing Starscream aside, "You will pay for what you have caused!"
The smaller seeker couldn't respond, his intakes sharp and painful. And within seconds a small opportunity came when Dreadwing disappeared under a mountain of snow and scrap metal, byproducts of Megatron's insane need to decimate the warehouse building and get to Starscream at the same time. The smaller mech took the chance then and limped painfully off to the side, back to where Optimus was, and sat heavily in the snow with his back to the Prime as he aimed his missiles at where he was sure the two mechs were.
"S... Star..."
"Don't speak too much," Starscream grumbled quietly, his optics glancing at any forms of movement ahead of him, "Can you move?"
Optimus nodded slowly, then spoke softly, "I can. This damage... though severe, is not..."
The seeker scooted back quietly, "You're having trouble talking, so it's not just 'severe'. Can you fight?"
The Prime nodded again, "Yes... If I plan my attacks accordingly... I can ensure your safety..."
Starscream frowned hard and his wings flicked lightly. He decided not to press the comment further. He just shook his helm and sighed quietly.
"We've been gone this long," he grumbled again, "you'd think they'd have sent back up by now..."
A loud and raspy laugh filled the area and Megatron finally reappeared on top of a roof on one of the buildings, his optics wide and his mouth in an odd smile, "Reinforcements, Starscream? Is that what you hope for? That the rest of your new brethren will come to save you and this weak excuse of a Prime? They will not come. I ensured this."
The warlord jumped off the roof, the ground shaking below them, but Starscream didn't move, his missiles still trained to launch, even as Megatron began to walk towards him, "I siphoned enough of my resources to create a simple little weapon that Dreadwing tells me you both now suffer from. Your COMM link units do not function and, as far as I am aware, none of your Autobots' do either. You have no forms of communication, no way to tell them that one of you is to be captured and the other killed. I may have been pushed to this moment, Starscream, but it is you who is the one to blame for its cause."
Starscream growled, knowing the warlord to be right in that sense, but huffed as he kept his aim steady, "So I am to be captured then? That's a relief to hear. From what Dreadwing was spouting off about earlier, I thought I wasn't the only one resisting your orders."
Megatron stopped walking, a confused frown on his faceplates, but said nothing.
"You should be more clear with your instructions," the seeker continued, "But I'm sure when you said 'disable for capture', there must have been something lost in the translation when Dreadwing clearly heard 'kill Starscream on sight'. I was nearly shot out of the sky. This nice little wound here on my side? I was lucky enough to escape with just that."
That look was returning again. The unbridled rage was bubbling up. Megatron swung around and aimed his cannon at a nearby building, blowing it to pieces and revealing Dreadwing to be hiding behind it.
"YOU DISREGARDED MY ORDERS FOR CAPTURE?!"
The blue mech shielded himself from falling debris and frowned, "Starscream is nothing but a traitor! He cannot advance the Decepticon army to victory in this war! We will lose with him!"
Megatron snarled, "You do not understand the powers that are at work! Only I do! Only I can achieve a transcendence that will surpass all and grant me a universal rule!"
The warlord fired again, just barely missing Dreadwing, then lunged for Starscream in a wild attempt to grab him. The seeker fired a missile, missing in the heat of the sudden attention he was awarded, then rolled to the side in a panic. The accidental misfire didn't stop Megatron from continuing his pursuit but his sloppy chase after Starscream made him momentarily forget about the Prime he had so brutally beaten until a hard slam threw him off course and Optimus stood in his way beside the small seeker.
Megatron growled and slowly stood to collect himself. Dreadwing stood some distance away, a battle within him saying to stand by his leader and yet at the same time destroy the one thing that tormented him. And Optimus readied a blaster beside Starscream, the seeker intaking deeply to help him focus on anything else but the pain.
One beat...
Megatron finally lunged forward with a loud roar as he unsheathed his blade. As Optimus ran up to meet him, he was tackled away by Dreadwing, who withdrew his own sword as the Prime switched weapons to his own. With the blue seeker occupying Optimus, Megatron turned his attention back to Starscream and gave chase once more, digging into the snow with his claws when he would begin to slip or lose leverage.
The small seeker was sure he'd never ran this much in all his function. Dodging and ducking wildly to avoid claws and the occasional rushing blade had seemed a ready occurrence before when Megatron had needed to 'remind' him of the pecking order, but this psychotic break was something new and unknown and unpredictable.
Starscream was frightened.
It didn't take at all long for a horrid grunt of pain to make the seeker hesitate in his escape, the sound clearly Optimus in some sort of distress. Starscream only managed a glance at the Prime with Dreadwing's blade firmly planted in the back of his shoulder and the blue seeker forcing his arm back as he pushed him to his knees. This hesitation brought on a second capture, his own, when he felt Megatron grab one of his large wings firmly and wrench him back hard into the middle of the compound. There was no time to regroup as the warlord jumped him and punched him hard in the faceplates to daze him, then again in the cockpit to force him down.
Optimus watched in agony, both at Starscream's pain and his own, and weakly struggled to pull free from Dreadwing, "Megatron, stop-"
Dreadwing kept him in place and scowled as his leader stalked around the small seeker, the warlord finally laughing, "This moment gives me no pleasure, my dear Starscream! I had expected far more from a creation of your caliber! Yet here you are, beaten, and it is I who have conquered you. You can't handle much more. You are finished!"
Starscream struggled to stand but couldn't. His legs were giving out. The mech softly wiped a small trickle of energon from his faceplates as he took intakes in hard pants. The opening of a bridge behind him as the warlord laughed loudly made him shudder and hang his helm in defeat. Megatron was right. He couldn't handle one thing more.