Pawsy: Heya! Sorry it's been awhile. Got stuck with exams and last minute projects. Love being an art major, though. Anyway, to start off, I want to thank my reviewers in order : Super Metal Sonic, Syntia 13, Seiberwing, Fangsire, and Morncreek. Thank You and Happy New Years Eve! .:bows:. Welcome back!
Frieza: Why did you come back?
Pawsy: .:smacks him:. Stop that! When did you become my worst enemy?
Frieza: Well spike spine….
Pawsy: .:stares:. Oh you didn't…………..winged devil.
Frieza: Blue back!
Pawsy: Night crawler!
Babidi: Pawsy does not own 'Beast Wars,' obviously or that show would be crazier than it already is. I think Hasbro owns them, but w/e. Maniac belongs to the zombies outside for all we know.
AN: By the way, proof reading and a few of Maniac's quotes were provided by Pawsy's dear older brother, Fangsire. Hi Fangsy!
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Better Half pt. 2
My Name Is…
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No…no…it couldn't be. Megatron approaches the figure. Yes, it does look very much like himself…but that can't be! He looks at his own frame to possibly register what has happened. How could some doppelganger even exist? Maybe he's seeing things. A hallucination brought upon by the lightning strike. Yes! That's it! That has to be it! All he needs is a few cycles in the CR tank and everything would be fine. The bizarre image would disappear. In fact, now would be a good time to consider looking into repairs. Getting struck by lightning can not be good for one's own internal systems.
He turns and starts to the door of his quarters. A brief attempt to ignore what is in his room when he hears the figure move again. He quickly swivels around to see the figure stirring…moving…opening its optics.
"What the slag…?" Megatron says to himself. The look-a-like grimaces slightly as it brings its hand to the back of its head. In other words, where it made contact with the wall. Not sure what to make of this, Megatron takes a step forward. So it's awake. That is surprising, but he never expected it to speak.
"oooooOOW!" The figure screeches in pain, startling Megatron slightly. "Slag it all! Man that hurt!" The copy cat growls momentarily as it looks around the room.
"I mean, seriously!" it fumes. "What kind of genius lays his hands on a computer during a lightning storm!? Never listens, I swear it!" The figure continues fuming as Megatron tries to access its coming. Finally, he begins to get agitated and demands answers.
"Who are you?" Megatron barks the command, as if he knew this double his entire life. The figure doesn't look up immediately.
"Who the slag wants to know?" it snaps back. Seeing Megatron, though, it falls silent.
"Well? I asked you a question?" He tries to sound demanding, but even he could hear himself falter slightly. How does one act in this situation?
The figure reacts strangely to, well, everything. First, it points to Megatron, wordlessly mouthing some unknown words. Then it falls silent, its arms going limp by its side, as if taking a moment to process its surroundings. Slowly, it starts to raise its arms up. Focusing its optics on its hands, it goes slack jawed.
"Nooo…." It drawls.
Megatron stares at the figure strangely. What in the name of Cybertron is it doing?
"Am I?" the figure mutters to no one in particular. It looks to Megatron, then itself, then Megatron again, then back to itself…. The pattern repeats for a brief moment before it stares at its hands again. Finally, it speaks.
"I'm…free?" a small twisted grin starts to appear. "I'm free…I'm…free…." It starts to giggle madly. Without warning, it bursts out in a bizarre laughter as it jumps up to its feet. This new action catches Megatron completely off guard.
"Oh yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! YES!" it giggles insanely. To Megatron, this thing is becoming more disturbing by the second.
"I'm free! I'm free! I'm free! I'm free! I'm free!" it sings slightly while bounding throughout the room. Megatron continues to stare. What the slagging pit is going on? During the bizarre activity before him, Megatron manages to find his voice again.
"Who are you?" the stunned Predacon asks. The figure stops its somewhat victory dance and looks to see who is speaking. Turning around, it sees Megatron.
"I'm sorry. What did you say?" it says in a dull 'matter-of-fact' voice. "You see, I wasn't paying attention. I was much too busy…celebrating my freedom! YEAH!" It pretty much screams as loud as the low voice will allow. Megatron flinches slightly at the tone, then growls. In fury, he grabs the snickering double and forces it to face him.
"Who the slag are you?!" he snarls. The figure doesn't even twitch, but breaks a sly smile.
"Who do you think I am?" it smirks. Irritating. This thing is irritating. To emphasize, Megatron throws the copy against the wall and aims his tail gun at it.
"I want a clear answer from you. Who are you?" he asks again while powering up his weapon. The figure nonchalantly holds up a hand.
"Whoa now. Let's not do anything drastic. You'd hate to harm someone so….close to you." It giggles slightly again.
"What the slag…why do you look like me? Are you even real?" The figure laughs at the last question.
"Well, of course I'm real!" it snickers. "That's what's so great! And I don't look like you…"
"Then what are y-" Megatron can't help but wonder.
"I am you."
Silence.
"….what?" Megatron states. The figure nods at its own words.
"I am you! Can't you tell?" A fist hits the wall near the double's head.
"You are not me! You are nothing like me!" Megatron is reaching his breaking point. How dare this thing claim to be him! This figure is anything but him. But the copy just raises a hand and vaguely attempts to push the Predacon away.
"Yeesh, you are a tightly wound ball of nerves. How cliché. Of course, I'm not you you…" Megatron stares confused at that statement.
"I'm just…oh…I guess, about a fifty-fifty sort of you, if that makes any sense." The Predacon says nothing and tries to make sense of the words. He finally shakes the thoughts of all his theories and turns his attention back to the figure.
"What the slag are you telling me?"
"Simple, really. I'm the 'you' that you never listen to. The half that tries so hard to get your attention. To have a spot in the limelight! Hello! I've been speaking to you since you came online!" This comment really confuses Megatron.
"You've been…'speaking to me'?" he asks. "How?"
"That little voice in the back of your head? Guess who that's been?" the figure drolly states.
"…that's ridiculous…"
"That was ME!!" the figure screeches in fury. The sudden change in attitude is enough to convince Megatron to step back. The figure seethes viciously when it notices Megatron's shocked expression. Blinking slightly the double quickly calms itself. Shortly after that bizarre smile comes back.
"I've been chatting with you and you refuse to admit my existence for years…that wasn't nice…" he giggles.
"You're insane," Megatron says. The figure thinks this over and looks disgusted.
"No I'm not."
"You're mad," the Predacon says again as he goes over to his computer consol.
"No. No, I'm not," the copy whimpers. Curious he follows his 'half.'
"I can't believe I'm even acknowledging your existence."
"Hey, that's just mean." Megatron looks over at the double.
"Do you expect me to believe that I have been, in some sense, split in half? That some form of physical manifestation of my inner depths stands in this room? As if that could even begin to occur?"
"Well, if you use big words, yeah. It's just easier to say that 'I'm cut into two sides.' See? I saved you five cycles of your life."
"You're an idiot."
"No, I am not," the double states in a slightly agitated tone. Megatron tries to ignore the newcomer and turns on the computer.
"What'cha doin'?" the copy gets up right beside Megatron.
"Go away," he snarls and pushes the figure away.
"Who are you trying to get a hold of?" Megatron nearly jumps when the figure suddenly appears on the other side of him. "You are trying to contact someone, right?"
"As if it concerns you…" he shoves the copy away again. He regains his seat in his throne, when suddenly the double is standing right in front of him. It is astounding that he didn't scream in shock.
"C'mon! You can tell me who it is!"
"Get away!" Megatron snarls and attempts to kick away the annoyance. No matter how dim the figure acts, a swift kick in the side is enough to make it step back.
"Slag! What's your problem?" it looks confused by the punishment.
"You're driving me mad!" Megatron replies. The figure considers these words and then frowns.
"No. That's too long." Bored within seconds it resorts to peering over the Predacon's chair.
"Who are you trying to get? Since we're no longer together we can't share these thoughts."
"We have never been, as you put it, 'together'." Megatron flatly states.
"Still not gonna admit you know me, huh?" The double suddenly pounces on Megatron in a hug. "And to think we were so close!" he says in mock sorrow. Disgusted, the Predacon throws the other bot off.
"You are a maniac!" he screams at it. The copy falls silent.
"Say…what?" The bot thinks this over and grins. "Oooh! I liiiiiiiike…"
The being is becoming increasingly irritating to Megatron as he finally tries to contact Blackarachnia. It seems enough time has gone by to manually check on Inferno's completion. The female spider appears on the screen. But before the Predacon leader can utter a word the newcomer leaps before the screen.
"Heeeey! It's her! The treacherous bitch! What's up you whore?" The screen goes black just as Blackarachnia wordlessly stares back in surprise. Megatron grabs the newcomer again.
"Hello!" it cheers, as if the two never met.
"What the slag is wrong with you?!" the Predacon snarls. The copy just giggles.
"Nothing. It's what you've always wanted to say. You know it as well as I do. Just like what you said to Inferno." These words stun Megatron. How did this…thing know about that? He gets up and pushes the figure away.
"Who…are you?"
"Me?" The figure smiles. "Why, my name is Maniac."
"……Maniac?"
"Yep!" The two stand there. The now named Maniac hums a random song to himself as Megatron stares.
"You're name is Maniac?"
"Yes! It's very…fitting," Maniac smirks. "And easy to remember!"
"Wait…wait…" Megatron takes a moment to allow his thoughts to stop spinning. "You actually have a name?" Maniac curiously looks at his twin.
"Well, duh. I mean, you named me after all."
"I…I named y-" Megatron thinks this over when it hits him. " I said you are A maniac! I was not giving you a name what so ever!"
"Well, too late! I like this one! It was better than your other suggestions!"
"None of what I said earlier was a suggestion of any kind!"
"Don't care! It's my name now! Mine! Mine! Mine!"
"Fine!" Megatron bellows, hoping to silence Maniac. On cue, the other bot falls silent. A few moments of silence pass before the newcomer grows bored again.
"So now what?" he asks. Megatron doesn't hear him. Right now the Predacon leader is straining all his mental processors for an answer on how this creature came to be. How? In frustration he leans on an arm of his throne.
"This isn't happening…" the bot says quietly. "This has to be a dream, no, a nightmare. This can't be real."
"But I am," Maniac says. Megatron looks up to see his twin is face to face with him. Stifling another scream the bot falls back onto the other arm of his throne. Unfortunately, he loses balance and falls out completely. Maniac flinches as his other half makes contact with the floor, then stares at him.
"That looked kinda 'ow.'" Megatron glares up at the statement.
"What the slag is wrong with you?"
"What do you mean?" Maniac looks confused.
"Just suddenly getting before me like that? Are you mad?" Megatron growls at the other bot.
"No, I'm Maniac," he states. "Didn't we already go over this?" Megatron starts to pull himself up, cursing the situation the whole time.
"Slag it," he mutters to himself, "you're just as annoying as—"
"The ant, Inferno?" Megatron hears the statement finished for him. He looks over to Maniac who has a devilish smirk on his face.
"An over-zealous lackey who sometimes might be more useful as a target than some tag-along puppy…" Maniac steps around his twin slightly, that twisted grin never fading. "Face it Megsy. I know everything about you. Your thoughts of the crew, your own inner turmoils, your past, and a few details I'm sure you don't want seeping out. Accept it, I'm real."
Megatron stares at the newcomer, speechless over the sudden drastic change in his attitude. It is short lived, however, when a certain word comes to the forefront.
"Don't call me 'Megsy.'" the Predacon mutters irritably. Maniac's mood quickly changes again, this time to a shocked one.
"But why not?"
"Honestly, it's an even more annoying title than 'Queen!'" Megatron snarls. Maniac looks hurt.
"But we're so close…I think I should have special rights…"
"Look! I have come to acknowledge your existence," Megatron snaps. "There's obviously no excuses left for me to try other wise. Even so, I will not tolerate some dimwitted pet names that an idiotic copy came up with!" he says and points directly at Maniac to emphasize the point. Maniac, however, looks a bit peeved for another reason.
"You bore me."
For a brief moment the room was fat with silence.
"What?" Megatron finally asked.
"You…bore…me…." Maniac says slowly before returning to his normal speed again. "I mean, really! What's with the extensive sentences, bud? Do you do it just to sound smarts, 'cause it don't work!"
Megatron stares at this reply. Was Maniac kidding? And he's one to preach about being dumb. Finally the Pred leader shakes his head and goes over to the computer.
"I don't have time for this! I need to check on Inferno and Waspinator's progress," he says. Maniac resorts to pacing a corner of the room, obviously more bored than he was a few cycles ago. Then he looks to his twin.
"You know, you have this problem with talking to yourself," he says. Suddenly, his optics widen as a broad grin breaks through again. "Hey! Hey! You're talking to me, which means you're talking to yourself! Isn't that funny?" he squeals. Megatron flinches then growls quietly.
"It's…hilarious…." He seethes slightly as he tries his best to block out the other bot's voice and turns the monitor on.
Megatron is about to contact Blackarachnia when he freezes. How awkward is the conversation going to be, especially after Maniac's little interruption from earlier. Surely, as leader, he shouldn't have to worry about these trivial fools, but the female arachnid has been known to speak her mind to almost everyone. There have even been a few cases where she has even vented her anger on Megatron himself. Of course these moments are almost always short-lived, as one look is enough to remind her who is in control. Even so a headache is the last thing Megatron wants at the moment. Finally deciding against it he brings up a connection to Quickstrike's computer.
"Quickstrike!" the fuzor awakens from his slumber. Puh, some guard.
"Yes boss bot?" Quickstrike groggily tries to sound awake and stumbles to his feet. Irritated, Megatron makes a mental note to teach the Predacon what happens when one falls asleep during monitor duty.
"Good to see you doing your duties as ordered," the Pred leader says icily enough to cause a bit a dread to pass through Quickstrike's form. Seeing the bot's expression, and satisfied with the reaction, Megatron continues.
"I need you to try to gain contact with Inferno or Waspinator. See if either of them is still online."
"Uh, sir? They're already back."
"What?"
"Y-yeah, er, Inferno came back with a scrapped Waspinator. Reckon the two must've run into a mighty bit o' trouble. Looks like the ant took a lot of damage too. Both of 'em are in the c.r. tanks."
Megatron hears this and wonders just how bad the assault could've been. Waspinator getting scrapped is typical but Inferno is an extremely resilient warrior. How could he have been so severely damaged? Then it hits him. Even after what he screamed out the ant followed his orders. He allowed the Maximals to render him defunct and useless. Groaning, he sits back in his throne. Only Inferno would take a vicious outburst as a direct order. Then again, was it Megatron who said it? Surely he's thought of it countless times but he always had a good sense of control. And what was it Maniac said? About being, what was it again, the voice in the back of his head?
Megatron's thoughts suddenly shift. It's quiet….too quiet. Realizing he's left Maniac alone to his own devices for amusement he turns around in fear of what damage has already been done.
"What are you doing over ther—" But the answer is more frightening than the silence. The room is empty, except for the open doors leading outside of his quarters.
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Pawsy: Uh-oh…a Maniac is on the loose!
Frieza: Horrible pun, kiddo.
Pawsy: Tsk! Better than anything you could come up with! Ah, so we've met our dear Maniac, against Megsy's better wishes I'm sure.
Megatron: Stop calling me that!
Maniac: Megsy! Megsy! Megsy! Megsy! Megsy! Megsy!
Megatron: Shut up!
KMutt: Lord, sounds like two other people I know.
Pawsy: Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaappeeeeeeeeeeeer----- .:cracking bones:. AHH! MY ARM!!
KMutt: Only, not as violent in outcomes. Anyway, Maniac decides to take a walk and Megatron is forced to hunt him down. After all, it's going to be hard to keep his other half a secret if he's out in the open.