Ch. 155
"My dear Starscream," Megatron purred as he pulled away from the side of a Vehicon, "I am told your gift is ready."
The seeker didn't look up from the throne he was still sitting in. The warlord had bustled about the command deck to personally, and quietly, speak with each of his drones. He was given reports in hushed tones and updated on progressions with whispered words. Starscream couldn't tell if that was to hide the fact that the Autobots might still be alive or...
The seeker flinched as Megatron went to him and took him by the arm to lift him to his peds, "Come, my dear second, this is a celebration!"
The warlord's optics fell upon the untouched cube still resting on the armrest.
Megatron's grip on the smaller mech's arm increased, only slightly, in a restrained anger that only seemed to subside when he exhaled quietly.
"You did not drink your energon."
Starscream didn't respond, his optics still cast down.
Megatron chuckled after a moment and pulled the seeker close as he walked him to the lifts, "No matter. You will drink and toast with me on the flight deck. I will have to insist upon that."
The smaller mech struggled to escape his captor's grasp, to afford himself even a few inches of space away from Megatron. But the warlord was just as strong as he had ever been. Pulling away was futile. Starscream could only dig his ped spikes into the floor to show a resistance but this act was soon abandoned when he and Megatron entered the lifts. As much as he still wanted to fight, he was weakening.
"I am so glad you have returned," the larger mech continued to praise, even if the admiration was being delivered under the sight of blinded optics, "Our combined forces will dominate every opposition, every defiant rebellion... I will have you at my side to bear witness to all the power I will soon wield..."
Starscream grimaced but continued to say nothing. Since the full manifestation of Megatron's insanity his words meant nothing, doubly so if it went alongside the warlord's own view of the situation. And because the tyrant would not listen Starscream would continue to stay quiet. Watching and waiting was his best option anyhow...
The lift door reopening onto the flight deck made Starscream begin to feel squeamish. Higher ranking Vehicons were lined up neatly about the deck, the groups each saluting as Megatron walked the seeker down the lines to an open space left on the far side of the ship deck. The sun was nearly gone over the mountains, the last reds and oranges licking at the purple and indigo hues that moved in to replace them. Starscream shuddered at the darkness and went rigid when he noticed Shockwave, Hardshell and C.Y.L.A.S. waiting at the end of the rows of Vehicons. Shockwave was holding a box.
"So, my dear Starscream," Megatron whispered into the trembling seeker's audials, "are you ready for your gift?"
Starscream shook his helm. Perhaps digging his peds into the floor again wouldn't be a bad idea. But he was already being led to the end of the watching Vehicons, to what he was certain would be the end of his own sanity. This 'gift' Megatron wished to bestow upon him made his spark sink and his tank burn. He was just as afraid as he had been in those moments before he had- The seeker shuttered his optics tightly. Probably not the best time to be thinking about 'DEAD'.
"Lord Megatron," Shockwave addressed, bowing lightly as he gripped the box, "your gift has been completed to your specifications."
Megatron chuckled, "Yes, I am excited to see what you've done with it," his optics locked on Starscream once more, "Now, my dear second, allow me to present you with something special..."
The warlord directed the seeker to stand in front of him so he was looking out at the Vehicons. Starscream clenched his servos into fists as this farce, this spectacle, began. Because that's all it really was: a show. For what, the smaller mech didn't know or want to know. So when Megatron turned to Shockwave in the last few minutes of the sun's dying light to open the box, Starscream shuttered his optics tightly. He didn't want to know, he didn't want to see. He didn't want to be there.
"Decepticons!" he heard Megatron call out over the audience, "We have finally rescued our second-in-command, returning him to his rightful place within our ranks!" a loud hurrah followed, but settled quickly, "His presence back aboard our ship will begin a new era of change, of limitless power! A power that will not just be known and feared upon this planet or our home of Cybertron, but beyond this galaxy and all galaxies that dare to challenge us!"
Starscream still refused to look. Even after the loud cheers erupted, even after they subsided. Even after he heard Megatron reach into the box and remove something from it.
"This is for you, my dear Starscream," Megatron whispered to him, setting something atop his helm, "I give you... your freedom."
The seeker stiffened and slowly onlined his optics. The Vehicons cheered in awe of this thing placed upon him. He glanced at Hardshell, who was purring loudly, and C.Y.L.A.S., who was smirking widely. A quick look at Shockwave even showed a small bit of excitement as his single red optic brightened considerably.
Starscream couldn't take it. With his servos shaking and still bound at the wrists by his imbedded cuffs, he reached up to pull this 'gift' from his helm for inspection.
"I am pleased with the craftsmanship," Megatron preened, "Shockwave, you did marvelously."
"I did what I could with the materials provided," the purple mech admitted, "but it seems to convey exactly what you needed it to, my lord."
It was a crown. The 'gift' was a crown.
Starscream felt his optics well with tears and his intakes become hyperventilating pants.
It was a crown in multiple colors, each piece of it welded and fitted together in a haphazard fashion.
The seeker let out a choked whimper and C.Y.L.A.S. laughed.
"Well, would you look at that. He's speechless."
Starscream struggled to keep his grip on the accessory as he took in the details of what he was holding.
Megatron smiled and helped him hold it up, "A fine piece, wouldn't you say?" he chuckled, "But I would have to say that my favorite side," he sneered, turning the crown in the smaller mech's servo, "is this one."
Starscream felt his optics widen.
"What do you think, my dear Starscream? Such a nice red. And it even has a portion of the emblem."
The seeker didn't want to process it. The crown. This crown. Was a welding of Autobot chassis scraps.
Starscream's hyperventilating became more evident, his legs becoming too unstable to support him anymore. As Megatron took hold of him to keep him standing, the seeker began to sob. It was too much. With a wailing shriek, Starscream tore himself from the warlord's hold and threw the crown to the floor, grabbing at his helm as he screamed. His wings were starting to vibrate rapidly and he smacked C.Y.L.A.S.'s spider legs off him when they tried to pin him down.
"C.Y.L.A.S., leave him," Megatron ordered him calmly, his smile unwavering, "He needs time to fully embrace this moment."
Starscream pressed his servos into his helm harder. It wasn't happening, this wasn't happening. He couldn't be alone. They couldn't be gone. He hadn't gone through everything he did to live in this moment, to suffer this situation.
The seeker's intakes weren't cycling anymore. He couldn't catch an intake to satisfy the fire burning within him.
"I can't- I can't-," Starscream screamed.
Megatron purred, "You can. Congratulations, my dear Starscream. I have freed you from Autobot torment forever."
The seeker cried, shaking his helm, "No!" he backed away, "NO!"
"You cannot deny this any longer," the warlord laughed, "They are gone! We have finally defeated them! The Autobots, Optimus Prime, they're all dead!"
Starscream felt his hiccup charging within him and pieces of his chassis began to ripple into static, "THEY'RE NOT GONE! THEY CAN'T BE GONE! I CAN'T-"
This hiccup was different. His mind was in agony. His spark felt like it was being ripped to pieces. Hardshell moved forward to grab him and the seeker's chassis tackled into the Insecticon, his frame crackling with a sparking gold electricity and his wings passing large amounts of static between them. The bug flew out into the rows of Vehicons, shrieking in surprise and pain as he crashed into the drones. As quick as it started, the hiccup fizzled out and Starscream felt his chassis weakening again.
No one moved.
C.Y.L.A.S.'s optics widened as he remembered back to the destructive nature of this state. But the seeker had nothing left to give as he took tentative steps back and let out a strangled sob.
"I can't... do this..." he stepped to the ledge of the flight deck, watching as Megatron's optics widened, "I would rather die than let you win."
"You wouldn't," the warlord hissed quietly, "Get back here. Now."
Starscream shook his helm, "If they're dead, then I'm going with them... The last of the Autobots dies with me."
Megatron snarled loudly, "Get BACK HERE!"
The smaller mech shook his helm again and stepped back, throwing himself off the side of the Nemesis and disappearing into the darkness below, the last of the sunlight drowning in the void of the night.