Epilogue: Legacy of Kings

Maybe it was absolute bedlam that wrought their choices that day. Or did their nuptial union grant her leniency from her lord? It might be possible that Megatron gave small pockets of mercy to the lucky few, as long as it was out of public eye. Perhaps, between her dementia, the tyrant saw a semblance of subservience in his queen. Was it hope, that his mate would one day serve him with genuine loyally? Selflessness even?

She couldn't find any conclusion to her thoughts that day, being lost, beaten and mentally shredded during the carnage. As for her selflessness, today might be enough proof. Decked in her royal apparel, Starscream planned to practice her usual sarcasm, not only to chisel a scowl on her partner's face, but to distract herself from the orderly masses, stationed below the tower that her royal posterior is roosted in. Waves of proud Decepticons flooded the scenery beyond the horizon, but their queen was more focused on a lone mech amidst the crowd. Even without an elevated platform, the dark general stood out among the rest, his poise professionally still, his optics keen for future conquests and his spark emblazoned as a staunch Decepticon.

The weight of fulfilling his father's expectations had been quelled vorns ago and no one called Gigatron by his birth name, except those closest to him and any other Transformer who needed an immediate death wish. To Starscream, he will always be Coldshock, the happy-go-lucky creation who took all manner of maltreatment to meet his father's standards. Megatron could not be disappointed, especially when his son's infancy bought Optimus Prime's trust and in later cycles, his doom. Was the dictator envious of his child's achievement at crippling his arch foe? Starscream sensed a tiny semblance of animosity towards the subject, but stayed her tongue...with a cocky smirk.

'Mother, is there something on my head?'

The she-con whipped her mind to her son's question, sent through their personal communication link.

'Did something fly by and take a massive dump on my helmet? You've been staring at my dome for the past breem, ma, seriously...(is it THAT bad?)'

Starscream chuckled at his crude intercom. Even when Coldshock/Gigatron inherited his father's permanent glare, her creation had a cheeky sense of humour. 'Child, this is Cybertron, there are no organic birds here-'

'Was it Buzzsaw? That little pecker stole my energon snacks.'

'No, he's in Beacon Tassad-10.'

'Mother?'

She sighed to herself. '...Yes?'

'I love youuuuuuuuuuu~'

'...Yes...yes you do, (Coldshock)...'

'Do you know how much I love you?'

'By the Inferno-'

'I love you so super-duper much, I'd liquidise both moons!'

'Good-bye, Coldshock.'

'Kissies! Muah-!'

The red seeker quietly pondered Gigatron's sober face during that conversation and decided to busy herself with something else instead. Having caught her own reflection in a mirror, the femme con started to search for any imperfections in her spotless regalia. The sudden entrance of her youngest creations threatened her personal upkeep, as they ran in circles around her creaseless mantle, crying to spill each other's energon; Thundercracker and Skywarp shortly followed suit, trying to catch her twins in vain. The charade finally stopped when Starscream swiped them from the floor and into her troops' arms.

"All I asked is for you two to watch them for THREE breems!" Starscream chided, ignoring her indigo creations pulling faces at her wingmates.

"Sorry Starscream, we-yahAAAAARHHH!" cried Thundercracker, when the naughtier twin decided to test his teeth on the blue seeker's hand. A steely look from their mother ended the younglings behaviour, who hid behind the ruffled mechs like startled insects, trying to escape her glowering optics. The group created a mosaic with their stillness, until their queen thought her creations were going to behave appropriately. Her cloak glided as she turned to face the balcony, which Megatron was to address the crowd from and checked her children again.

"Behave, or I won't be the one punishing YOU," she hissed at her children and gave her wingmates a look of disappointment. "Where is Megatron? He's suppose to be here by now!"

"Soundwave's running through some last minute stuff with him, 'Screamer," said Skywarp. Starscream switched her optics to the blue seeker and he continued the sentence. "Social slash political things...he'll be here in less than an astrosecond. Don't worry about the crowd, it isn't your first time anyway!"

"Address me by my proper title and don't call me 'Screamer when Megatron is around," she reminded the duo. "Although, I don't mind the old moniker."

The twins knew their mother's wrath was averted, when her knees gently touched the ground and the sparklings hopped into her embrace. She cupped their heads in her palms and brought them closer to receive a small peck each. "(Behave, and your father will be very pleased with you both!)"

The youngsters nodded in reply and replaced their usual demeanour with a strong stance, after they sucker punched one another. The Decepticon queen raised herself to her full height, just as her husband entered the room and her wingmates made their subtle exit. The ruby jewel on his crown captured his queen's reflection, as Megatron made his way to the waiting seeker.

"Welcome, my superbly grand and GLORIOUS leader, Megatron!" Starscream purred into his neck and glided her fingers across his broad chest.

"(Cut the slag)," he growled in reply. The couple smiled at the shared joke while Starscream arranged her husband's spaulders, so that they sat in perfect symmetry on his shoulders.

"Are you nervous?" Megatron asked, as his optics followed her adroit fingers, stroking any impurities out of his cloak.

"You wish!" she laughed. "Gigatron's in place and the twins (as you can see), are not flying off the walls. Well? Aren't you proud of them?"

"I can't say I'm not," Megatron squinted when he saw one of the twins store away an energon slingshot. The female seeker firmly tugged at the ends of her mate's cloak and leaned into him. "Why don't you just say yes, you big hunk of handsome metal!"

"Starscream, I know it's very, VERY hard for you and many other females to resist me, but right now, you'll just have to try your best!"

"(You're so full of it!)" she scrunched her face at him and he pulled his in false surprise. "The crowd is waiting for you."

She inhaled deeply and held her youngling's tiny hands, when her lord made deep strides to the balcony. Soon, the masses cheered his name and the scarlet female stretched her lips to a cheeky grin; Megatron was so used to their song and praise, his nonchalance could be mistaken for boredom. Of course, this was only her scant opinion, as she belonged to the supposedly 'meagre' opposite of the Decepticon mechs. The simple-minded majority revered him in blind admiration and she could understand their reasons, even if they reeked of stupidity. He was as charming as they come, which was an aspect his son inherited, learnt and adopted in his roguish youth.

Even she was convinced of his greatness the first time they met, all nervous and bashful in a finger-twining manner, that the femme con was niggled by her past reactions; did she carry her gullibility to the present and would jump through hoops for him? Starscream shook her head to herself. Never! At least, not until he offered a good incentive for her to make a leap.

An odd ululation stole Starscream from her musings and she tuned her audio receptors to the noise outside. The chant, 'All hail Megatron!' sounded distorted in one half of the crowd. Her leader looked equally puzzled at the garbled cry, until the words became ominously transparent.

All hail Megatron! All hail Megatron! All hail Gigatron!

"Starscream, are you hearing this?"

ALL HAIL GIGATRON!

"WHAT'S GOING ON?"

"I-! I don't know, Megatron!"

DECEPTICONS! The civil war has almost past, and now, the TRUE race of Cybertron shall conquer all those who don't share our proud name! It is time for a new change! A NEW rule! A NEW LEADER!

"Soundwave, prepare for battle, Code: Zero Infinity!"

Megatron's time is over! As he chose to take the mantle of leadership, he should know what's coming for him! THAT, is the legacy of kings and tyrants alike, who fail to reach their zenith!

'Negative.'

"WHAT?"

'Soundwave faction alignment: Decepticon leader, Gigatron.'

Decepticons, you have fought long and hard, just to satisfy the wishes of ONE mech! But, I-! I will give you what you REALLY want!

"Starscream, take our 'loyal' creations to a safe place!"

Those who cooperate will be spared their fate!

"I will deal with this fool's heresy!"

Like many cycles before, it happened once more. The iron walls crumbled before her, as the immovable monuments of Cybertron were torn from the very ground that birthed them. She heard a black cannon growl in anticipation of the upcoming battle and the heavy stomps of a combat-ready mech, who exited the room in anger and haste. It was like the day she wed her master and became his equal. When chaos erupted from false tranquillity and swallowed them whole. Save for one exception:

Today, Starscream was well aware of her son's plans.

Today was similar to some other days, where she single-handedly brought down Megatron's painstaking strategies, whether it was to destroy Earth, dominate Cybertron or both. As the jittering twins clasped their mother, frightened out of their body shells, she stroked them with eerily, calm hands and carried their weight in each arm.

"(Don't cry, my darlings,)" she whispered as two pairs of optics darted at her, alarmed and perplexed by her composed tone of voice. Her confident smile held no sincerity, as they were surrounded by mayhem. The younglings felt a chill arrest their systems and soon realised, they were scared of their own mother.

"Everything's going to be all right...trust me."

A/N: I'd like to thank everyone for reading, supporting, reviewing and giving critiques for this fanfic! I hope you guys and gals enjoyed my puny attempts at writing. I know the endings got a predictable twist (amateur writers, the lot of them!) But I guess Starscream's always been a scheming, dastardly, ambiguously homosexual non-human! (Hurh?) Anyway, thank you very much again!

For those who continued reading from the first fanfic, I hoped you've enjoyed it to the end! If you're wondering why I took so long to reply, blame 'fanfictiondotnet' for screwing up my account! ;P