Chapter 11 : New Wings
A/N: Just found out what a cycle meant…and I'm still confused. The meaning fluctuates between comics, cartoons and continuities, new and old, so I'm not going to think anymore (yay!) Thanks to everyone for the alerts and stuff…there are too many to keep track off, and I don't want to spam people with my 'thank you' emails and what-not. Might change story synopsis according to the plot, 'cause I've never really planned anything! Also, this chapter came quite quick because…because…enjoy the fic! 8P
Update: Reposted this chapter because I forgot to add an extra paragraph or two (or three)…sorry! ENJOY the fic! XP
Black.
Or some other colour representing the gloomy, anguished, tragic connotation of darkness, which didn't necessarily connote a non-functioning system. Since when was death a specific colour anyway? As if the personage or concept, or concept of the personage was fickle, as to what colour is suppose to flag it's existence. Death was death, coming and going when others call it. Things stop moving, lights start dimming, and the body becomes a limp shell, stayed in the last posture one left it to be.
So, this must be what death feels like, for an hour or so. He refused to turn his optic points online. He was tired. He had exhausted himself the day before his mind had awoken again, and now he preferred to just loiter in the darkness in his lethargic mulling. Wiggling his tiny digits was enough proof that he was awake and functioning healthily.
Wait. Three hours.
Three hours ago, he was not suppose to touch the floor around his recharge bed, not scamper around the halls, and not collect dirt like he'd love to. No one mentioned not climbing up the walls to fly out of his quarters. Optics online.
Another day, another creator to annoy…or just the same one. Depends.
It didn't matter what he would do, whether he was winging the halls at Mach one (a new method to drop loose finger joints), liberating cyber ticks from their unnatural carton prisons (freedom is the right of all sentient ticks), or tugging Shockwave's peculiar head with a cyber tick infestation. She'd always put on this aggravated look on one side of her face when something was not up to her difficult standards, and when she's not being testy she was being…what was the word? Condasendeeng? Sahrcastick? Mean was an easier word to pronounce. At least Shockwave, with his indifferent personality to everything is (to his perception), more patient. After all, the purple Decepticon was his tutor of worldly experience, and if he could recall the ocular Transformer's words, Shockwave reprised the same role with his father before him, except his father was already a full-grown Transformer who was too large for Shockwave's shoulders to carry. Or Skywarp. He missed Skywarp. Skywarp was the only Transformer that understands him fully.
Has anyone see the purple seeker's coolest joke yet? It was so funny, it was the good kind of mean. Except, Thundercracker had to pick himself up from that nasty slope of sharp objects.
Who told him to transform in mid-fall anyway? Like that was a practical solution to end his clumsy tumbling. Apart from accelerating his descent, it ripped his wings, limbs and from his soon-to-be stumpy body. It looked quite painful. Taking energon pot shots at him didn't help, but the sparkling didn't care.
The world was his playground, and no one could take that away from him.
"COLDSHOCK? COLDSHOCK WHERE ARE YOU?"
…Uh-oh.
"COLDSHOCK COME HERE RIGHT NOW OR I'M GOING TO COUNT TO THREE AND WHEN YOU'RE NOT OUT HERE I'M GOING TO-!"
To what? Come get him? Coldshock could not recall when his creator stopped using her internal comm. link. Oh, right. His internal universally-open-to-all-channels RADIO comm. link, effective in drowning out the shrill cry of any creator. She must have placed a motion sensor device over his door again; was the chores on Cybertron finished that his creator didn't have enough to do outside his life?
Five seconds later, Starscream was carrying Coldshock underneath her armpit like a sack of potatoes, a glorified arrangement for Megatron's protégé, surely.
Five human months had already whizzed by, and Starscream was suffering from ennui that plagued the dying planet. Her usual wingmates were occupied with Earthen duties, meaning that the red seeker was left to her own devices on their home world; not that there was much time or resources to be collected to serve her ambitions. Upon arriving on Cybertron, Shockwave was updating Starscream on the current Autobot threats in his riveting manner of droning, and after a good grumbling session she proceeded to 'clean up his mess'. Five months did the flurried seeker interchanging military duties with maternal duties, with a resolute sparkling on her hands to make the task less easier for them both. Truth be told, Coldshock loved her like a Decepticon creation should, and when Starscream was finished for the lunar cycle, she would enter his quarters to escape from the end of the day, with a wearied look on her face. The sparkling could feel a sad warmth stroke his system, but he didn't know why.
"…Sit here, child."
Coldshock wanted to question his creator as to why he should reinforce her possession of his being, but he thought otherwise. She was wearing that dead-serious look again, which means no smart remarks; so he let her drop his bottom on a chair in the observation room, with no complaints following after.
"…I've been on Cybertron for too many cycles, lacking social contact-" Starscream took a side-glance to Shockwave, and turned back to address her sparkling. "-And I can't take it anymore. I can't stand it to the point where I've been confiding in you like you're a full grown Transformer…which is wrong, if we were Autobots. Our home is here, and our Decepticons are on that mud-ball…"
Coldshock waited for Starscream to get to her point, wearing his latest blank stare. His first and only impression of females is that they were hissy like his creator, and knowing Starscream's distrust of other females to care for him, Coldshock concluded that the majority of the female population was paranoid too. The sparkling stopped his careless daydreaming when she lifted him from his seat to cradle him between her arms.
"…So you're coming to Earth to stay in the Nemesis, with your lord Megatron and I."
Despite their relations, Coldshock had never seen Megatron in real steel before. To the sparkling, his great leader was burdened with arduous responsibilities that he had no time to visit Cybertron, even if it took less than an astrosecond. Talking to the Decepticon leader was also non-existent, although his silver creator did throw pocket-sized queries to Starscream about Coldshock's well-being, and took her answers with apparent disinterest. Maybe Megatron didn't want to speak to him, but the idea sent shivers down his circuitry. The dictator's fierce stature was always glaring on some large screened propaganda, and it scared the sparkling more that in comparison to his reflection, he looked similar to the giant intimidator.
"Oh, don't worry, child. Earth has a lot of dirt, and you like dirt, don't you? Your 'uncle' 'Warp and TC will be there too. When you grow older, you can crush Earth's inhabitants like the worms of planet Quelar," the red female stopped loitering in circles. "Don't bring any Earth worms back to the base, do you hear me?"
Coldshock was determined to collect as many Earthen invertebrate he could find, and place it in her waxing cream. Taking a second glance at her optics beaming a threatening glow, Coldshock reduced the number of creatures to five zeros.
"Your things are being collected, and I'm going to update your memory banks with Earth's native languages. Some other basic Earthen knowledge should be enough." Starscream let her sparkling walk to the space bridge alongside her feet, where Shockwave greeted them both, and wished Coldshock the best of luck. "As soon as we arrive on Earth, I want you to be on your best behaviour, so no running amok with your vocal processors turned to the max until you settle into your new room. The Nemesis is a military base, not a day care centre…but I want you there, and so does Megatron. He wants you to see how we work, so you'll get the idea."
Like he had a choice of the matter, and Coldshock clamped on to her white leg before the space bridge swallowed them in it's light.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
"Slag, I'm hungry. When is 'Screamer comin', anyway? …I'm hungry."
"You already said it the first time, 'Warp. As long as she's coming, I'm happy. Really sucks being acting commander for you bozos."
"Hey TC, can you say that to all the coneheads and not get seven colours of slag kicked outta your exhaust port? Moronic…moron."
"And the lesson we've learnt today is: always ration your energon supply, 'cause a depleted supply means low cranial power!"
"Why don't you fly into a wall, Thunderbutt!"
"Ooh, name calling, so mature, SkyCRAP."
"Takes one to know one, cockpit sniffer!"
"Purple infected molar germ!"
"MORON-A-TRON!"
The duo ceased their bickering when Megatron turned his attention to the Thundercracker and Skywarp, 'waiting quietly' next to the space bridge. The seeker's wishes were soon fulfilled, when the weather took a sudden change over their heads, and brought about a familiar beam onto the space bridge. As the doors opened, Coldshock espied his other creator standing at a good distance away from the gate. Megatron's vision was not aimed at Starscream's feet, and Coldshock felt neglected in his silence. His female creator started an eager pace towards the Decepticon leader as the sparkling waited by her comrades, and Megatron's second-in-command greeted him with expected formalities.
"Aerial commander Starscream reporting for duty, lord Megatron," Coldshock recorded Starscream's clenched fist to her breast, before the couple started talking again. In substitute for his creator's leg, the sparkling instinctively filled the space between his arms with Skywarp's calf, resting his helmet on the seeker's knee.
"Hey squirt, long time no see!" Coldshock faced the owner's voice, and took small relief in familiarity. "Recognise him? That's your big old mech, standing right there!"
"That means no funny business when he's around, kiddo," Thundercracker spoke to Coldshock. "So stand proud and remember to behave."
Coldshock stuck his oral probe out at the blue F-15, and Thundercracker replied with a curled smile.
"Cheeky little microcon, isn't he? (Hiding behind us all the time)," the blue jet let out a grated chuckled. "Well kid, you're gonna be staying in Starscream's old room now…hey 'Warp, think this'll change her mind? Make her move forward?"
"Dunno, TC. After the last time she stabbed another two holes in his back, the long trip away from this dump did 'em good!"
"You mean did her good. We'd to take the brunt of the blame afterwards," Coldshock's gaze back switched from purple to blue. "But I guess things have calmed down between the two again."
"Yeah…guess you can say things between 'em are moving horizontal!" Skywarp snorted to his own joke, pointing to the smaller Transformer. "(Aw-! Aw slag, forgot the kid's around!)"
Thundercracker shook his head at his short-sighted friend. Trying in futile to read his creators lips, Coldshock found Megatron stealing a small glimpse at his own creation, and narrowed his optics to accompany a slight frown. Coldshock didn't want to think of it, but if it was directed at his being, what did he do to deserve this? Stepping out in view to the seeker's movements, the young Transformer watched the adults contort their limbs to take the form of Earth's jets, while his male creator simply took flight first.
"Time ta' head back to H.Q. Hey kid, can ya' transform yet? Or are you still working out that glitch in your system?" the jets stayed their wheels on the ground, in case one of them had to carry the dark green sparkling to the Nemesis. After a good analysis of their forms, Coldshock preferred to remain in his Cybertronian jet mode on Earth, and warmed up his own thrusters.
"Heh, looks just like mommy, too. Need a running start kid-WOAH! Slow down!"
"Coldshock, you don't know the way COME BACK HERE DO YOU HEAR ME COLDSHOCK!"
Ah, the trailing words of Starscream. Coldshock felt more comfortable now that he had bred some familiarity onto this strange planet. Then again, maybe not. Getting a handful of Megatron's swift grip on his wing, Coldshock spent the rest of his journey to the Nemesis tied to his red creator in root mode. Starscream fared no better when her leader made an off-hand comment on her poor parenting skills, and the duo started their verbal sparring once again. Coldshock started hating Earth. It clearly had a negative affect on most Decepticons he had met so far and he could feel the animosity rippling from their exoskeletons.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
"I wanna go home!" the sparkling stamped his feet in mild frustration. His new living quarters is…dark! Empty! Pristine! And it was abnormally clean for no good reason! Starscream sighed at the smaller Transformer working up an unnecessary fuss. This was going to be his unwanted second home, and his options won't be open until he grew in size. She thought sparklings were naturally curious, and reinstated that vocally.
"…I thought you liked new things, Coldshock," she dully spoke. "So stay here and don't leave the room. I'll come back for you later or get someone to show you around."
"I hate it and I want to go HOME-!" with his last breath for that sentence, the younger Transformer saw a dramatic change in Starscream's manner, as she swivelled around with a countenance carved out of cold malice.
"WILL YOU SHUT UP FOR ONCE?" Coldshock leapt back in surprise and fear. "I'm SICK and TIRED of your constant griping! I've been lenient to you in hopes that you can learn without the use of brute force, but you're wearing my patience to a thin thread! What makes you think I WANT to be here in the first place? I want to be relaxing in an energon pool with no need for want for the both of us, but Cybertron is almost dead and this stupid planet is the only thing with enough resources to bring it back to life! I know you have only been online for three slagging MONTHS but you'll have to adapt fast if you don't want to get left behind! Megatron is already displeased at your behaviour and to be perfectly honest, he doesn't want a little pip-SQUEAK for a son, he wants a full-grown killing machine! Nothing goes as we want it to, and I WISH you were raised in a better time! A time where we could live and rule over everything without question! But that's not the case, Coldshock, so if you're not going to do as I say, you're going to get into trouble! And when I say trouble, I mean the trouble you won't believe could even exist!"
Recovering from her angry outburst, Starscream found her sparkling weeping to himself. She did not regret her words, but the method in which it was delivered in was beyond kindness. The truth rang clear that the astrosecond he existed before his birth, Starscream had to hide away from potential dangers that blighted the only female capable of carrying Megatron's own offspring, and the experience was downright humiliating. Having shelled herself on Cybertron as a last resort, Coldshock's social growth was stunted by the lack of like-minded sparklings (except Skywarp, king of all that is immature), and she could not afford to have him live his life as a normal sparkling. Yelling him into a corner did not elevate the situation.
"…Coldshock…"
To Coldshock, all he registered from his creator's vocal processor were the words 'don't', 'want' and 'you'.
"…You're angry at me, aren't you?"
The green sparkling changed his mind and looked up from his wet fingers. Yes. He was angry at her. Very angry. But she is his creator…and he was still angry.
The small Transformer leapt from his corner of shame to dive at the very feet that offered him shelter, and started to hail tiny fists in unbridled savagery. Starscream bent down to grab the spontaneous green sparkling biting her sensitive joints, but he quickly retreated from his attack to run back to wherever he could to ignore her. Slim blue arms levitated his limbs from the ground to squash his head underneath her chin, and the red seeker let her creation drench her shoulder with his tears.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you," she said. 'At least that part is true.'
"(…I hate you!)" Starscream drew back at the ruthless words, but softened at his feeble attempts to hurt her verbally. "I hate you!"
"Oh really…" she cooed. "How much do you hate me?"
"(I hate you…)" he thought, noticing his vision was getting warped and blurry through the counting. "…Very much! I hate you forever and ever an', an'…forever EVER!"
"Hmm, Megatron will be proud to hear this…" Starscream padded Coldshock's wet face dry, and let him continue his angry blubbering. His countenance betrayed his intentions and Starscream quietly spared her time to tend to him, his new life and their ways. "Let's hear you say that again when you're hungry…"
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
"How is the sparkling?"
"He's powered down and in recharge, my lord," Starscream answered her leader as soon as he entered his quarters, lumbering feet sounding a familiar stamp against the floor. Shutting down the monitor glazed with menial tasks, the red seeker happily turned her attention to Megatron, who was keenly itching for her after the long months apart. The deliberate slide of her hips and a delicate sea blue finger, tracing the contours of her seat was not enough to keep the mech satisfied. A great swing snatched the femme con by the hips from her seductive strut into his eager grasp, and the seeker yelped in surprise when she fell unprecedented onto the control panel. His fervent mouth tore hers open to stimulate needed reciprocation, and the femme con gladly complied, their arms tangled in a wrestling match for dominance.
"Oh, my lord, you-OW! Ah! Eek-!" Megatron crooned a deep growl at her squealing protests, as he unhesitatingly patterned teeth marks onto her neck. His play-biting ceased when her fingers clipped onto his helmet like the legs of a blue spider, and arrested his attention back to her tongue, teasing each others desires for one another. Megatron grumbled when her hands would not let him continue his work on her petite frame, as the femme con savoured the taste of her leader, letting her arms capture as much of his frame as she could.
"(…I miss you…)" she gasped in relief and drew back to look him in the optics. The silver Transformer carried his partner to rest on his recharge berth, where her wings could rest comfortably and the femme con could continue showing her gratitude to her lord.
"You won't have to be starved of my presence if you agree to something…" Starscream coyly turned to look at her wing, recognising the course this conversation was reaching to. During the length of their relationship, he had already questioned her…five times? The aerial Decepticon was unsure, but she knew he was keeping count in the recess of his mind somewhere.
"My proposals have not been clearly refused, and you don't have the intention of doing so…" the seeker leaned into his helmet, while his lips breathed warmth into her audio receptors. "…So what do you intend to do? You won't accept our union, yet you won't deny my advances either…so? What do you say to that?"
A lack of opinion from Starscream was unusual, and the tyrant rustled her out of her muted silence.
"Join me in matrimony and you will be queen of all Decepticons…I am willing to share this much with you. Together, we could establish a powerful monarchy, and you will be able to wield as much power as I have…!" the larger Decepticon could feel a pair of shivering blue hands curl along his back. "…Unless you need a clear distinction between authority. Do you want to remain a mere concubine by my side?"
The red seeker jilted underneath his weight, and the tyrant forcibly stroked her helmet back to see her reaction.
"…Is there something else you want from me, or is this a decision you females have to make with your sparks?"
Starscream cleared her throat, her countenance withered by his words.
"…I would have to say both, lord Megatron…"
A/N: Ooh, racy. I guess it's too late to say that this fic has been brought to you by…unplanned ranting!