Yay! I updated another story despite my laziness and other non-important things. SORRY I took so long for this update...I'm trying to finish this story up soon (which probably won't be soon since college starts in 8 friggin days EEK!) Anyways, I'll shut up and let you guys read this now.

5. When We Were Young

High school was different, a lot different than junior high. Megatron saw the snotty people only become snottier; the preppy people became more preppy, and so on and so forth. Hypothetically, a person was supposed to mature more as they went through high school, but Megatron didn't see that happening. All the Autobots had done was become hornier and more delusional with Optimus Prime's continued speeches.

No, sadly the Autobot gang membership hadn't decreased nor slowed down in its membership. Other Academies were joining in on the act, Optimus was able to meet with other schools and talk to Autobot groups there. Ninth year at the Academy was slow and uneventful. Megatron hated it…he couldn't wait to get out. The people, his classmates were infuriating. They were stupid, blind, and completely naïve to what was going on around them in society.

Yes there were poor people, yes there was slavery, rape, theft, corruption, lies, murder, hatred, abuse, prostitution, drugs, and insubordination…Megatron was almost surprised that Optimus could find anything good to say about the Golden Age and glory of Cybertron. "Glory of Cybertron," he mumbled to himself as he slammed his locker shut, "It's a bad joke."

"What's that?" Megabyte asked as she came up beside him.

Megatron looked at her and sighed heavily, "I hate Optimus…I can't take another word he says about how wonderful our planet is."

"Hey, you're not the only one."

"One of these days I'm going to do something about it."

"Like what?"

Megatron glanced around and then whispered, "Bring the Golden Age to an end. You care to help me?"

"I don't know…we might get in trouble."

Megatron scowled, "And who really cares? Think about it Megabyte, we'd be able to rule the planet by ourselves, regardless of what everyone else thinks. To rule over Optimus Prime and the rest of his brainwashed bums…can you just imagine it Megs? You and me…and Starscream, Thundercracker, Soundwave and Sideways, Skywarp, and the rest of the guys."

Megabyte smiled, "It would be nice…especially over Elita. I can have her killed, slowly and painfully, and Optimus can watch."

Megatron grinned, "We'd have to start with a city…why not Kaon? Then we can move on to Iacon, the capital city."

"We'd need more people though, besides the few of us."

"Let's get word of the Decepticons out then. I'm sure we can triple our membership by the end of the year."

"Alright, I'll talk to Starscream and the rest of them. Inform some of your femme friends, like uh…is it Nightbird?"

"Gosh you don't know my friends very well. Yes, Nightbird and Blackarachnia."

"Get them informed on our group then. Cybertron will be ours."

Megabyte nodded, "See you later Megatron."

"You too Megabyte."

And they parted and went in separate directions. Megatron immediately went to find Starscream, and it didn't take him long to find him and then some. Starscream was talking with Thundercracker and Sideways and Megatron saw that he could hit three birds with one stone.

"Hey Starscream," he called as he approached the trio.

Starscream looked up when he saw him and returned the greeting by saying, "Hey, what's up?"

"Okay, it's about the Decepticons and I know you guys are all members, well, I want to increase our membership so that way we can compete with Optimus."

"Wait a minute now," Starscream said, "Just what do you mean by compete?"

"Come on Screamer, none of us here like what Optimus has to say, wouldn't you like the chance to run him into the ground and then walk all over him?"

"What are you getting at?" Thundercracker inquired, "We all know you have the universe's biggest grudge against Optimus, but why do you have to involve us?"

"I know this is going to sound a little ridiculous…but I want to take over the planet."

Sideways laughed, "And just how do you plan on doing that?"

"Well, if we get people to join the Decepticons then we would be able to form an army. This Golden Age has to end sometime; we can't allow Optimus to continue brainwashing people into believing there is glory on Cybertron."

"So you want to create glory?" Soundwave asked as he approached Megatron.

Megatron shook his head, "No, there will never be glory. I want to show everyone that, I want to rule over all those who have hurt us."

"What about us though? If you take over this planet…" Starscream trailed off at the impossibility of it all.

"You guys will help me. We'll all rule over different sections of Cybertron, kind of like what they do right now with the Senators, except Sentinel Prime is the head ruler."

"I like the sounds of that," Skywarp grinned as he came up to the group of mechs.

Starscream shook his head, "It sounds like a foolish dream. Megatron we're only ninth year students, we still have three years left after this one and then the rest of our lives. I don't know about you, but I plan on going to a military Academy after I get done here. I don't care about what Optimus says…we know its wrong, that's all that matters."

"Well fine, while you go to that military Academy we'll be ruling the planet," Skywarp quipped, crossing his arms.

Megatron grinned, "We'll start small. Right now all we need to do is get more members."

"So we spread the word about the Decepticons?" Thundercracker asked.

Megatron nodded, "That's all I need you guys to do right now."

"Well, that's not very complicated. You could have told us that in the first place."

"Sorry TC."

"So what do you want us to say?" questioned Sideways, "We can't go out there and say directly that we're out to conquer the planet someday."

"We'll say that Optimus is lying and that you should join the Decepticons in order to learn the truth," Megatron answered.

"It sounds like we're going to need statistics then," Soundwave remarked with a grin hidden behind his facemask.

"If you don't mind getting those," Megatron responded.

"Not at all."

"Okay then…so, who's with me?"

Everyone agreed, with the exception of Starscream, who did finally agree after a bit of hesitation. "I'll help," he said, "Just as long as this doesn't ruin my chances into getting into a flight Academy."

"I thought it was a military one?" Skywarp asked.

"Whatever, it's the same thing, a military flight school."

"You should've been more specific."

"Just zip it before I make you."

Skywarp shook his head and then Thundercracker looked to Megatron, "What about Megabyte?"

"She's informing some of her friends, trying to find anyone who would want to join."

"I'm going to make fliers!" Skywarp exclaimed almost too excitedly before he walked away heading towards a computer lab.

The group watched him walk away and then Megatron said, "I'm going to go look for her. Elita's friends tend to roam the hallways looking for her so they can torment her."

"You know Megatron, you mine as well tell Megabyte that you love her," Starscream admitted.

Megatron felt his cheeks flush, "I don't love her."

"You're always around her; you have this weird need to protect her, you flirt with her to a degree. Don't think I haven't noticed, I think the whole Academy thinks you guys are dating or that you're going to date at some point in the future."

"We're just friends."

"Then explain the blush."

Megatron felt the blush burn brighter on his cheeks, "I swear to you Starscream—

"Stop denying it. We don't care that you like her. Just stop pretending that you don't…Primus knows, you guys might be life mates…don't ruin your chances now Megatron."

"I'll…think about it," Megatron reluctantly admitted, "But I'm not going to guarantee anything."

Starscream shrugged, "Whatever. Just don't come crying to me when you realize you've made the biggest mistake in the world."

Megatron just shot him a skeptical look as he walked away, determined to find Megabyte to see what kind of progress she had made. And it didn't take him very long to find her. She was in the ninth year hallway, talking with Blackarachnia and Nightbird about the idea of the Decepticons and furthering their membership.

The Decepticon leader walked up to them and Blackarachnia giggled, "Are you insane, really?"

Megatron glanced at Megabyte before asking, "Why?"

"Come on, we're in ninth year, it seems like you would wise-up and gain a little maturity at some point. It's impossible for you to conquer this planet. The idea of it is beyond simply ridiculous."

"At this point in the planning process it seems that way," Megatron admitted, "But if we get membership like the Autobots, it's possible."

Blackarachnia shrugged, "Maybe, but I doubt it."

"Regardless, I think the whole idea of at least trying to stop Optimus from spreading anymore falsehoods is really entertaining," Nightbird confessed, optics shimmering at Megatron.

"So you'll join?" Megabyte asked, eyeing Nightbird warily.

Nightbird nodded, "Of course. I don't like Optimus and his Autobots. You should too Blackarachnia, you don't like them either."

"Fine, but if this ruins my chances of trying to further my education after the Academy, I'm coming after you," and she directed her glare right at Megatron.

"Make my day," he remarked with venom.

Blackarachnia huffed and walked away, Nightbird following after her. Megatron looked down at Megabyte and said, "I really don't know how you are friends with her."

"She started it," Megabyte quickly responded, "But they know to spread the word too…you know I got thinking."

"A dangerous thing," Megatron commented.

"Well now we know why Cybertron is so messed up," she stated, causing Megatron to smile, "Anyways, I have an idea about how to increase our membership."

"Enlighten me."

"I don't know if the Autobots did this or not, but we could hang posters throughout the city and other cities to get more people in on it."

Megatron rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Maybe we should wait to do that. We don't want to get law enforcement after us…yet."

"Oh yeah…good point. Okay, we'll wait for strength in numbers before we go community-wide in our evil organization."

"Evil? Megabyte I beg to differ. The Autobots are the evil ones. We're only there to get the facts right."

"And take over the planet…and control it the way we see fit."

"Precisely."

"Just…what are your plans once Cybertron is ours?"

"I don't know yet. Probably a mass genocide of a lot of people."

"…Okay, what people?"

"Autobots because they're all wrong, completely, one-hundred-and-fifty percent wrong."

Megatron looked at him out of the corner of her optics before she grabbed his hand and pulled him behind a stairwell where they were out of sight and hearing range. "Look," she said when she had Megatron's attention, "I don't want you doing anything crazy."

"I'm not going to."

"I don't think you understand. I don't want anything bad happening to you. I don't want you going to jail; I don't want you becoming a criminal. I know a lot of people are very, very against you, your foster parents included."

Megatron looked away from her briefly, he hated it whenever his foster parents were mentioned. "What's your point?" he growled.

"I…care about you Megatron. I really believe you have a bright future ahead of you, you're better than Optimus, anybody can see that—

"But a lot of people, the majority of the students and faculty in this Academy don't see that. They really think Optimus is some sort of special, chosen, hero. And he hasn't done anything other than lie. Sure Cybertron might have some redeeming qualities, but the guy comes from a well-to-do family. He doesn't know I'm an orphan, he doesn't realize the torment and abuse I go through on a daily basis. Nobody sees, nobody sees my scars, my pain…nobody understands how alone I feel. Nobody deserves to feel like this…and I just can't believe what he says."

"I understand…and I really wish I could help you."

"Then help me," he said seizing her by the shoulders, "Help me find a way to end this pain forever, help me get rid of this pent up animosity that I just can't hide from anymore."

"I'm not that talented Megatron…I just…" she bit her lip as tears formed behind her optics, "I just want to see you happy for once, like when we were younger…when we didn't understand anything and the whole world didn't have to make sense."

"Oh Megabyte look how bitter we are at such a young age. Doesn't that show the corruption?"

"I don't want this to eat you up Megatron."

"I don't want you to worry about me."

"But I do…so much. You're the only one who has ever treated me like a normal person. You're the greatest friend I have and I don't want to lose you…I can't."

"But you'll stick with me, no matter what?"

"No matter what, because if one of us is going down, we're both going down together."

The bell rang suddenly, startling both Megatron and Megabyte. They looked at each other and Megatron slowly let his arms fall back to his sides. She sighed heavily before saying, "I'll see you in history."

And Megatron watched her walk away.

It was their third class of the day and both Megatron and Megabyte hated it. It was history class and it was a class that came quickly…too quickly. Both of the Decepticon leaders were expecting some boring lecture from their teacher, but apparently that wasn't what the teacher had in mind. He got up from his desk and moved to the front, center of the classroom. His optics roamed over the students before he smiled and said, "Class, I'm sure you're all aware of Optimus' efforts to maintain the peace and security of this planet."

Megatron made as if he rolled his optics as the rest of the class, with the exception of Megabyte, cast winks and smiles at the Autobot leader.

"So…since Optimus is becoming such a well-known and popular figure of unity and glory within our community and others, I think it would be nice to have him speak to our class today, of course that is if he wants to."

All optics were on Optimus as he smiled and said, "Sure, that's not a problem."

The teacher smiled and nodded, "Alright Optimus, the classroom is yours."

Megatron was ready to slam his head on his desk in hopes that it would send him into a self-induced coma so that he wouldn't have to listen to the speech. Instead he cast an annoyed glance over to Megabyte who was staring at her desk, a perplexed look on her face. Glancing around the room, he saw nobody was looking at them, so he gently tapped Megabyte on the arm. She looked over at him and he mouthed, "Are you okay?" She nodded her head yes and Optimus began to talk.

"I'm not exactly sure what to say that you guys haven't heard before," Optimus began, "But the Golden Age started five vorns ago, when Sentinel Prime contained and banished all the evildoers from this planet."

"All except one," Megatron thought to himself as he avoided Optimus' gaze since he knew the Autobot leader was trying to appeal directly to him.

"Since then there has been a maintained peace and unity among Cybertronians. War is out of the question nowadays—

"No it's not," the Decepticon leader seethed in his thoughts.

"And every Cybertronian enjoys an exquisite amount of freedoms."

"Not all of them," Megatron thought as he glared at Optimus.

"Every individual is guaranteed an education, health protection, etc. Crime rates are down, abuse rates are down—

"That's not true," said a small voice.

All optics turned to the back of the room where Megabyte was sitting, her optics fixed intently on Optimus. He looked completely baffled that someone would even dare and try to prove him wrong. "Excuse me?" he asked, "Do you have any proof?"

"Not statistically," she answered, "But I am aware of two students in this very classroom who are abused both physically and mentally on a daily basis."

Optics searched around the room as students tried to figure out who was being abused. Megatron was even looking around trying to figure out who the second person was. "Who are they?" Optimus asked.

"I'm not going to give out their names for privacy reasons only. They know who they are and they alone understand the pain and emptiness they feel. Optimus, I think it would be very wise of you to stop all this nonsense about the glory of Cybertron."

There were gasps, some people muttered, "The crazy ex bitch is holding a grudge."

Optimus shook his head, "No. There is no need to."

"You're spreading a lot of lies. I come from a poor family, unlike you. There is no such thing as glory. There is a lot of crime, you just don't see it. There is a lot you don't see. I know a person in this classroom that is an orphan. I don't have a mother. I've seen a lot of drugs; I've seen a lot of violence. And even the ones like you, who think they're all high and mighty, have some sort of corruption going on, whether it is sexually or self-glorifying."

Optimus was shocked and appalled, and he knew he had to go on the defense, "And just how do I know what you're saying is true?"

"I can ask you the same question."

Megatron was stunned, Megabyte had the guts to stand up to the Autobot leader himself, even after the way he had hurt her.

"She does have a point," one of the Autobot students piped up.

Optimus shook his head, "No, no she doesn't." And he chuckled, "You see…Megabyte and I have a little bit of bad blood between us. Megs I apologize, once again, but you have to move on."

"What? No! See Optimus, you just don't get it!"

"Why don't you calm down and let Optimus finish Megabyte?" the teacher said, "You don't have any proof really, and Optimus did have the floor first."

"I'm the proof," Megatron heard himself say suddenly in Megabyte's defense, "I'm the orphan…I'm one of the abused students."

Megabyte looked at him, her jaw slightly dropped; he had never confessed that to anybody but her before. Now all optics were on Megatron as he continued, "I've been living in all kinds of orphanages and foster homes since I can remember. And I don't talk about my current foster parents because I want to stay here…and I don't want to move anymore."

"Megatron, you don't need to lie for your girlfriend," Optimus spoke up.

Megatron pounded his fist on the desk and stood up, "Don't tell me I'm lying when I have the papers to prove it! Its naïve scum bags like you that prove that Cybertron has no glory, no common sense, no dignity, not even one redeeming quality. How can you ignore all of us who suffer?"

"Even if you suffer," Optimus exclaimed, "It can't be that bad if I've never heard you complain about it until now. You still have your freedoms."

"No Optimus, I don't. My only freedoms are to go to this Academy. I can't decide anything else."

"That's a lie."

"No it's not; you just don't understand what it's like to be beaten by a mech that masquerades as your father. You don't understand what it's like to be besmirched by a femme that impersonates your mother. You don't understand what it's like to be locked inside your quarters because your fake parents think you'll tell on them. You don't understand what it's like to be slapped across the face when you say you're hungry. And you call me a liar."

The bell rang suddenly, but nobody moved. It wasn't until Optimus and Megatron broke their glares at one another that people slowly began to trickle out of the classroom. Megatron and Megabyte left, feeling as though they had succeeded in proving their point.

Decepticon membership began to increase drastically after that incident in the history classroom. The Autobots experienced their first significant drop in membership, but that didn't really worry Optimus as he continued his speeches. Megatron even began making his own speeches, but the school refused to recognize his organization, even though it existed. They viewed it as too pessimistic, degrading, and downright negative.

Megatron didn't care though. His plan was working.

Megatron sighed heavily. He almost missed those days. Things were almost easier back then. Now he was stuck in something humans called a midlife crisis. He didn't like it. He only wanted to be blasted back into the past where his tactics of civil disobedience worked just fine in promoting the Decepticons.

But everything went terribly wrong.

Okay, not really a cliffie, but still. I hope you guys liked this chapter. This story still has a ways to go. Thanks to everyone who has been reading and reviewing, you guys never disappoint! And uh...XD please review!