Ch. 199

There were no real words to describe the extreme discomfort Starscream felt as he continued to stare in silence at the mech before him. For whatever reason Megatron just had to leave earlier, almost an hour earlier, it had put the seeker into the awkward situation he was in now.

Shockwave had immediately led Starscream and Predaking down to the med bay, leaving the beast outside the room to guard the door. Leaving the seeker to stare in the complete and utter silence the purple mech seemed to insist on having. This wouldn't have bothered Starscream much as he had nothing he wanted to say to the brute, but Shockwave had decided to sit across from his master's treasure and stare and for almost this full hour it had been driving the silver mech insane. No words, no utterances, only staring.

Starscream shifted in his seat on the med berth and twisted his bound wrists gently. He had been allowing his optics to wander the room, wistfully hoping to spot some graph or data file to give him some inclination as to what this mad scientist of a mech had been trifling with, but all the computer monitors were off. Knockout's usually bustling med ward had everything tidy and put away. Shockwave clearly had no problems moving into the location.

The seeker sighed quietly, glancing back at the door, "Well..." he finally exhaled, "this has been... nice... catching up... but I think I'd like to leave n-"

Shockwave lifted a clawed servo, silencing Starscream immediately, and his optic flashed as it continued to bore into him like a searing laser. He wasn't just staring to induce a level of discomfort, the silver mech knew that much, but whatever else he was trying to decipher beyond that was simply a mystery. Starscream hummed quietly; what else could he possibly try to extract from such a basic method of study?

Large wings flicked and the seeker tried once more, "Whatever you're doing, it's going unappreciated. I want-"

"What you want is irrelevant, Starscream."

The heavy voice made Starscream flinch more than the actual comment. The comment was pretty much fact. But the tone of the purple mech's voice, the sureness and firm tone was less desirable and something he wasn't readily prepared for. It was said with the underlying feeling that another sentence was supposed to follow the first. 'What you want is irrelevant. Because...'

Starscream failed at hiding a gulp and did his best to frown, "Don't toy with me," he grumbled in a half snarl, "Megatron only put you in charge of ensuring I don't do anything to disrupt any of his so called 'plans'. He only put you in charge so that I don't hurt myself again."

"'Again'," Shockwave seemed to say in an amused tone, "Yes, a second attempt on your life would be quite the disappointment, would it not?"

The seeker felt his spark sink and his chassis begin to shake; his optics widened as he barely squeaked out, "I-it would be my third..."

The purple mech sat up taller in his chair, "Insecticon claws may be similar to yours, but the damage they cause is far greater due to very visible differences in size."

Slag. Slag everything.

"I can already tell what you are thinking," Shockwave rumbled, startling Starscream once more, "and the only reason I have not yet told Megatron is because it would serve no purpose to do so. He has nothing to gain nor lose from the information. His only goal at the moment is taming you," there was a pause as though he was sizing the silver mech up, "as though you are still the pathetic, simpering, backstabbing pet you once were."

Starscream felt his fear leave him and anger replace it. He growled more defiantly and moved to stand, not backing down in the slightest when Shockwave stood to match him. The two stood chestplate to chestplate.

"I am still unsure of what you are," the purple mech stated, "but you are still a mech just like the rest of us. You will break. You may as well submit now and relinquish your power to our master before he destroys you."

"I will never stop resisting," the seeker hissed back, "because what I am, what I have become, is stronger than anything else you could imagine. No test or graph can measure it for you. It can't be seen or touched or made into some silly little spread sheet, broken down into chemicals or equations or numbers. It's not something that came be given or taken, it was something I earned," Starscream's blue optics brightened as he allowed his wings to stand tall at his back, "What Megatron wants you will never be able to present him; it's something he will never be able to have."

"Your power-"

The seeker huffed, "I'm not talking about my 'power'. I'm talking about my will. Let him abuse me, break me, he can tear me into pieces if he wants to. Because if he wants this rotten power, he can fragging take it," a smirk spread across his faceplates and he sneered, "after he finds a way to break my will."

Shockwave studied the smaller mech before him. While his statements of strength were truly nothing he could analyze with a machine or break down in a beaker, he found himself unfazed by the whole of what Starscream was communicating. Everyone had a breaking point. Everyone had a number or threshold that could be touched upon. Starscream was tough, molded by the experiences he had endured throughout his life, but he was just like everyone else. He had something that he would break for.

"You speak as though we have forced you to endure the worst we have to offer. But allow me to clarify these misinformed notions," Shockwave hummed, "When Megatron finally allows me to crack open your chestplate, your helm, and every sensory nerve inside you burns with the fire of a Decepticon's wrath, you will not only relinquish your power, you will beg for death. But I will keep you alive, Starscream, I will keep you alive and kicking and in agony for the rest of your function, so long as our leader allows your spark to stay alight."

Starscream glared, "And let me clarify for you, Shockwave," he spat, "that I may be in the worst place imaginable to hope or plan for my freedom, but I am an Autobot, plain and simple. An Autobot never gives up, never backs down and always sees a way through the darkest of hours."

Shockwave felt an energy spark against him sharply from the contact he had from Starscream's chestplate. His let his form lean back and watched with expressionless wonder as small sparks and shivers of light ghosted through and around the seeker's chassis, quick cracks of electricity sparking between his wings.

"I will accomplish what they died for," the silver mech stated, "I will do what they could not and I will free this universe from the tyranny of a monster who took the lives of so many, including the only mechs, femme and humans who gave a frag about me. I may not be as powerful or as heroic or as amazing as they were," searing tears began to glide down silver faceplates, but Starscream's glaring blue optics remained strong, "but I am an Autobot. I am a warrior. I am a survivor. I will not be stopped or defeated. I am Starscream."

Shockwave stood stiffly and adjusted his gaze. A small hum in his audials caught his attention and he reached forward quickly, grabbing the seeker's bound wrists. The energy abruptly dissipated.

"You may state all of these things," the purple mech acknowledged, "but the time to change your mind is now," he pulled him closer, almost tauntingly, "Our master has returned. There are many... 'gifts' I have arranged to be presented to you, at the behest of Lord Megatron. And he wishes to bestow my next gifts to you now."