Ch. 179

Walking the halls of the Nemesis with soldiers on either side as his protection had once been a dream for Starscream. In this situation, now, with all that had happened, the dream was now a nightmare. C.Y.L.A.S. and Hardshell were hardly the soldiers he had imagined and Megatron's lurking presence at any moment was another disappointment... more a travesty.

"Aren't we almost there?"

C.Y.L.A.S. rolled his optics, "Weren't the Insecticons in your predictions before?"

Starscream grumbled, "Yes, but I never had to interact with them. They just sort of... did their own thing."

The black mech glanced at him, "... Just around the corner," he gestured down another intersection, "the door at the end of the hall."

Starscream felt the larger presence of huddled chassises even before they turned down the hall to the left side. The Insecticon hive was an overbearing feeling, a vibration tickling on the ends of his wings as they drew near. Hardshell grumbled and wandered ahead to open the door, the mech grateful to be back amongst his kin. Even C.Y.L.A.S. seemed to shudder with a similar excitement, his spider legs stretching out enough to rival the size of his own wings. Starscream did his best to hide a smirk.

'I know something you don't...'

"Starscream," the black mech frowned, "are you coming inside or shall I escort you elsewhere?"

It took a lot in the silver mech not to purr. He knew something. Something he was very certain his temporary warden did not. The seeker couldn't hide his strut, he couldn't hide the newly born confident air exuding from him. As he walked into the room that hummed with the chattering mandibles and snaps of resting Insecticons, Starscream allowed himself a chuckle.

'I know something, C.Y.L.A.S.,' he thought to himself as he twirled back around to face the disfigured mech, 'I know something. And you don't.'

"Someone is in a better mood," C.Y.L.A.S. smirked, shutting the door after he walked in, "Care to share what's made you so happy before you tell me what we discussed earlier?"

The seeker's optics brightened in the dark of the room, "Mmm, no C.Y.L.A.S... No, no... no. I think we're going to have... a different conversation."

C.Y.L.A.S.'s smirk disappeared; he looked more concerned, "... Really? What did you have in mind then?"

Starscream hummed gently as though thinking then gasped, "Oh yes! You're going to help me overthrow Megatron."

The black mech's wings and spider legs fell flat, "You're... being very forward about this," he gestured around them, "considering where you are."

The seeker stepped forward, "I don't believe I have anything to worry about. You want him dead and buried just as badly as I do. And what's wrong with combining those efforts?"

C.Y.L.A.S. looked confused. Not concerned anymore, not worried or mortified. Just confused.

"Say he is overthrown. Do you think I'd allow you to escape me?"

Starscream shrugged, "I could kill you myself. You really don't worry me as much as you'd like to think."

The black mech glared, "You are playing with fire."

"Again, not as much as you think," the seeker smirked, "especially since I could have you killed, right now, and not because I could fake an injury and blame you..."

C.Y.L.A.S. paced lightly and stared at the mech before him, sizing him up.

When he said nothing, Starscream purred loudly in a sing-song voice, "I know something you don't, C.Y.L.A.S.~"

The black mech snarled lowly but held back. What could the seeker know? The hive around him buzzed louder as he glared the taunting seeker down. He was becoming irritated.

"What do you know? What do you think you know?"

Insecticons around them began to stir, to snap their jaws and hiss down at them.

Starscream teasingly beckoned C.Y.L.A.S. closer, whispering, "Take a look around you. It seems your human scientists gave you more of Airachnid than you realized. You have an army waiting to serve you right here..." he gestured around them, then tsked, "and if I tell Megatron... hmm, I don't think he'd take too kindly in letting you live long enough to figure out how to control them..."

C.Y.L.A.S.'s look of surprise and anger became a furious mix. His wings were now high on his back, vibrating rapidly, as his spider legs reared up. 'Livid' was a soft description for how the disfigured mech felt.

Starscream pouted and tapped his chin in thought, "You don't believe me, do you? You think I'm trying to have you killed without a legitimate reason. Well, we already know you want him gone, so how about I prove the rest of it to you?"

The black mech stiffened and stepped back. He wasn't about to have himself mauled and killed because of Starscream's stupidity.

"Starscream, don't you dare-"

"Shut up and side with me!"

The seeker lunged at the disfigured mech with all he had. He expected everything that was going to happen next. Insecticons from all around them dropped like bombs, slamming into the floor below as they bellowed and shrieked. Starscream felt his hiccup activate smoothly, once to dodge a bug that nearly crushed him and again when sharp mandibles almost crushed his helm in a large bite. The path to C.Y.L.A.S. was clear. He ran forward and felt exactly what he needed to: Insecticon claws tearing into his left side, leaving a leaking gash that sprayed his attacker with energon.

C.Y.L.A.S.'s mismatched optics widened and he screamed, throwing Hardshell to the side as the mech stared down at the energon on his servo, "NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Starscream coughed and laughed as he writhed, curling in tightly. He felt C.Y.L.A.S. attempt a very human action, pressing his servo into the wound to stop the leaking, but the energon continued to flow and Starscream couldn't help but sneer.

"Y-you're going to listen to me now..."

"Shut up! Shut up, shut- someone get me a med kit, NOW!"

Insecticons wailed and scattered, Hardshell chattering nervously.

"C.Y.L.A.S.~" Starscream purred, "listen- listen to me-"

The black mech snarled, grabbing a med kit from an Insecticon that offered it carefully, "I said shut up!"

The seeker smacked the box away, "Listen! Hardshell didn't do this to me- I tried to kill myself and you stopped me. You are going to take me to the med bay. You are going to keep your mouth shut and you are going to help me-"

"Stop talking!"

"-you are GOING to help me kill him! You are going to align yourself with me or so help you, you'll be gutted slowly for this. And I don't mean because I was harmed. He'll kill you for having this ability. They came to your aid, they follow your orders. If Megatron finds out, you'll be killed."

C.Y.L.A.S. growled deeply and stopped moving, slowly taking in the moment. He embraced the need for a long, deep intake, then stood, taking the shuddering seeker with him.

"We will discuss this later."

"A-agree," Starscream hissed, "or you'll die before you get me to the med bay."

"Starscream-"

"Nnnnnow!" the silver mech snarled through gritted dentals.

C.Y.L.A.S. lifted Starscream up, carrying him out of the room, and huffed, "Fine. When the time is right, we'll take him down," he murmured; he paused at the lifts, looking down at the trembling, leaking mech in his arm, "... but don't underestimate me. If you think I'll replace him only to let you go, you're wrong. In the end, you'll have to accept being my dear Starscream."

The seeker growled and jabbed sharply with his bound servos into the black mech's side, nearly causing his captor to drop him, "Don't call me that."