Darkness That Lies Within
By Taratron and Onyxfang, 2008
Author's Notes: Characterization of Manterror is copyrighted by Taratron. Laserbeak is copyrighted by Onyxfang as she is a completely different character than the G1 character and only very very loosely design-wise based off the Beast wars Action Figure. The story is property of both of us, don't steal it or Manterror will be paying a visit to show a revved us razor edged ion disc up your tailpipe! Enjoy!
Right now a big decision
Violence as polished steel
This is something different
Don't know how big this feels
No time for asking questions
No time for wondering
We've had enough of you now
You've heard everything
You want to play a new game
You put on this blindfold
You do what we tell you
You do as you're told
Used to be the leader
Now comes the time to serve
Maybe we'll show some mercy
Maybe you'll get what you deserve
Countdown to the end, but make it go faster
This is your disaster
Countdown to the end, but make it go faster
Come on down, my friend
It's time to meet your master
~Nine Inch Nails, Meet Your Master, 2007
It was near sundown, as the night patrol shifts were heading out, and the day ones coursing in; when the alarm went off on every com in the Darkside, notice from their leader of a meeting, now, in the promenade. Far away and below the bridge area, Manterror growled to himself, irritated at the interruption, but checked off his last place over his data pad, insuring all the heats were off his many, many experiments, all the cages were secure, and his lab, with small quarters attached (he did have other quarters, but when he worked here nonstop, it made sense to be below), and only then did he beast mode and fly most of the way to the main promenade, where Megatron sat on his thrown, looking dark as he so often did.
The rest of the troops shuffled in, largely waiting for the news on the hovercrafts, or seated at the consoles; Manterror himself barely noticed the small barred cell next to Megatron, let alone the femme inside it...
Terrorsaur muttered something to Waspinator and the wasp buzzed a childish giggle, though if it was at the mantis or the femme, he couldn't be sure. A pair of anxious large green eyes peered from Megatron to the encircled Predacons and back, claws clicking on the cage floor.
Manterror did not even glance at the other flyers; over the past year he had heard every comment as to his parentage, had suffered many surprise attacks and slashes and brawls from fellow Predacons...had, of course, tried repeatedly to reach his wayward father, to be attacked on that end as well, and had finally cut all hope for it, for any support from his creator....and it had not hurt the mantis either that he often left his fellow Predacons in the R chamber after snide remarks or direct attacks, but none of them dared attack him now, for fear of his toxins, and where they might end up (Terrorsaur himself had once sliced his hand open on a hidden ion disc in the handle of his own blaster, and been comatose for nearly three days, despite the R). But he remained silent as Megatron spoke.
"Predacons, we have ourselves a new addition, yessss." The tyrant waved slightly, bringing the cell before his throne. "Transform, you." To the rest of his troops, he continued. "Unfortunately, she lacks any and all experience in warfare....did not even know how to transform, noooo.....as a Predacon, she is worthless."
The small creature blinked her large green eyes uncertainly. In the shadows she could dimly be made out to be a Rhamphorhynchus, a genus of long-tailed pterosaurs in the Jurassic period. She was roughly Rattrap's size in beast mode but when she transformed and stood up she was closer to Blackarachnia in form and mass. Her coloring was still masked by darkness.
The tyrant smiled darkly, watching the mass of males look her over; it was, of course, a form of insanity with his next words, but Megatron was, if nothing else, a realist: he had a crew formed largely of convicted criminals, all of them, save one, male...and blasting the failures to the R had no good response from them. Bribery would. "Manterror, she is yours now." The mantis paused, antennae half raised. "Your slave and property. The rest of you, take heart, yessss.....Manterror has succeeded where you have failed. This is his reward....the next downed pod could be yours. Dismissed."
Inferno oddly did not seem stricken by the news, though he had been with Megatron at the time the new bot was captured and had as much claim to her as anyone; but he also lived only to serve Megatron, he needed no gifts or bribery.
The others began to file out with the occasional disgruntle comment, mostly on the behalf of the scarlet flyer.
Terrorsaur looked sharply annoyed and muttered loudly as he stalked out, "How come HE always gets rewarded? All he does is sit in his lab on his skid plates while the rest of us get shot up..."
"You call that a reward?" hissed the widow as she followed slightly. "Being watched night and day? I'd think he trusts the mantis even less than Legs....Tarantulas patrols whenever he wants, and the mantis is kept inside....so either Megs can't even trust him out of the base, or he's got something good enough to keep from patrol or sentry duty....I'd rather patrol every day and have my privacy."
Terrorsaur turned to glance at her with a lurid smirk full of implication, flashing his needle sharp teeth that were so deceptively disguised by his perfectly formed mouth, "Well if you ever NEED to be watched constantly I'd gladly
volunteer...
"Slag off." She stalked down the corridor away from the flyers who headed for the lift to return to patrol duties.....of course, she did have a point....if Manterror had any secret agendas, Megatron already knew about them. What price freedom....
Manterror remained silent, wings flickering uncertainly, knowing that to object would see him sent to the R.
Megatron himself had already turned to his work, ignoring the new master and slave as her cell settled and opened onto the main walkway, Manterror watching her as a mantis does its prey, silent.
She hesitantly emerged from the cage, taking everything in with optics as vividly green as her beast mode eyes. Her bot mode form was pleasingly sleek, adorned in flame like stripe markings from her beast mode, burningly vivid blue which faded into bright hot pink with black at the core. The majority of her color scheme made up of varying shades of purple and powdery lavender. Her feet were long and arched like those of her beast mode, her wings folded on her back like a fallen angel's. Delicate black hands clasp and unclasp at her sides, tipped with fine claws. All these things Manterror took in with a glance, but no interest. She could have resembled a female Rattrap and he wouldn't have cared. At the moment she was just an added nuisance.
At least the gaze upon her wasn't undressing her, as the other pterosaur and the spider had been, she mused, which was a small comfort. "Follow me." And he turned abruptly, flying away, over and around and down another hallway, leading deeper inside the ship, past several hot chutes of lava-spiraled air, until he landed, with several metallic clicks from his clawed feet, at his lab door. He never once checked to see if she had followed.
Which she had without question, shifting back to beast mode and landing with the sound of a flag caught in the wind as her wings folded.
"I will make this simple," he said shortly, not even bothering to look at her, "You are my slave and I am your master, and you will speak only when spoken to, and never leave this room." He keyed in, quickly, with the tip of his claw, entering the room's pass code, not allowing her to see, and the door opened; He stalked in first, the door firmly locking behind her, her permanent home....a very large room, with a hallway leading off to a locked door, but the room she was in, very...strange, to say the least, with several glass and metal tanks containing live animals, some insects, many, many spiders, some snakes and frogs, and along the far back wall, a row of computer monitors and consoles, many of them alight and whirring with data. So much to take in...!
His words had sent a pang of panic through her as she glanced back through the slit of the closing doors before they slammed shut. Everything was so...new. Even the lava with its lively glowing burn had seemed so beautiful to her amazed eyes. But now they took on a whole new gleam of fascination as she walked along the tanks, staring into each one in turn, memorizing the life forms within.
"First rule....do not touch anything. No beakers, no needles, no cages. I work in toxins, and not in making anti-venoms for them." The mantis stood before her, antennae raised, eyes cold. Even in beast mode he towered over her, nearly as tall as Megatron's tyrannosaurus mode. "I do not want a servant or a slave, but far be it for me to refuse a gift. Now, transform, and you may speak. What is your name?"
She looked at him quickly and transformed without ever uttering her code. Her voice was soft but with an underlying potential for sultriness, like Angelina Jolie's if either had known who that was. But there was not even the faintest hint in her eyes or voice of deception or the ability to be deceptive, "Laserbeak."
"You're not very good at this already, I'm afraid....do you realize the gravity of your situation?"
"I...y-yes,' she nodded, ducking her head obediently. She flinched with the realization that she should have addressed him more properly, but was unsure whether to call him "Master" or "Sir". The large purple Predacon who seemed to be leader had identified him as "Manterror" but she was entirely aware her station was far below his and to address him by name would be insulting, as if she were assuming they were equals.
"Do you?" And he transformed suddenly, revealing her master for the first time....he was only inches shorter than Megatron, slashes of oranges and purples stark on his lanky green frame; his claws were larger than her arms, and were lined with dried and old mech blood, and his face, with burning, almost demon-like optics, and teeth more fitted to dinosaur or demon than any bot, his purple wings folded around his back. So much taller than her, and though he was thin, she could easily see the strength in him...
Laserbeak stared up at him in blunt awe, her mouth open slightly, but not afraid. Not yet. The way she looked at him he could have been Prime himself standing before her.
It was only then that she noticed the slight humming noise in the room, starting when he had transformed, and her optics were drawn to the source: his large green and orange claws, whirls of purple whizzing within them, though one slowed enough for her to see: it was a projectile, revving to be fired.... "Do you understand me, servant girl? Slave?"
"Yes..." she hesitated, still unsure how to address him, "Yes, sir. I understand. I am at your mercy."
"Did Megatron speak the truth? You didn't even know how to transform? .....what do you know?" Well.....if nothing else Megatron had commented to himself that a female sex slave might only increase his other troops' successes, if Manterror received her....of course, did she know what he had meant?
"I knew, just…not the way he told me to…" she said slowly, certainly not wanting him to think her an incompetent fool.
"What did he inform you of.....your new roles as a slave..."
She shook her head, "He did not inform me. I thought it not my place to ask. He said…I was fortunate he'd decided not to have me melted down for scrap, that he was gracious enough to let me live even though I'm of no use to him..."
She hesitated, trying to address his earlier question, turning her optics momentarily to the table of cages and tanks, "I know...what these are…though I've never seen them before. I know their role in the system of their natural order, their capabilities. But I never imagined they'd be so..." she paused, her voice barely a whisper,"...beautiful…"
He watched her coolly, unmoved. ".....and what value do you have to me, slave. You are not a chemist and I have no need of guinea pigs as test subjects." From his gaze, he would gladly melt her down for scrap....
Her optics flickered rapidly, blinking as she thought rapidly of a way to delay her destruction before admitting truthfully, "I...I don't know. I will do whatever you ask of me."
Her optics flickered again to a tank containing a golden silk orb-weaver spider, fascinated, drinking in its movement as if trying to absorb everything she could before he destroyed her if he chose to do so.
Manterror looked her over, silently, still privately disgusted by this. Good bug gets a treat, here, have a slave...she was very likely a spy for Megatron regardless. ".....you do know why you were given to me, don't you....?"
Her attention snapped back to him, "Megatron said it was because you were to be rewarded for your successes."
"Yes, but specifically you.....you realize that I own you, spark and all." This entire thing disgusted him, nearly as much as the quiet despair that a month ago, six months ago, he would have taken and left her at the Axalon...
She paused, hesitating, but by nature she was poor liar. Flickers, tiny sparks of electricity, memory, surged through her processor as she took in the room once more, prompting her directive programming to forefront. "I was a scientist once. I'm of little use except in the lab, though Megatron did not know this. So...I would presume I am to be an example. You are his favored warrior and more than capable of reducing me to any number of pitiful but still alive states that could be used to subdue and intimidate his less than admirable crew members."
"What kind of scientist?" He seated himself in a large chair, wings over the back side, interested despite himself. In that brief nanoclick she felt a surge of warmth towards him, and trust. Perhaps he would not destroy her after all.
"A biologist. I specialize in organic species." She paused, remembering better than to touch the tank she gestured to, "This spider is an Australian funnel-web spider...extremely toxic to primates, but almost utterly harmless to other animals. The female's venom is six times more potent than the male's..." she paused, looking down humbly after her outburst, "Which...you likely already knew..."
He was silent for several minutes, taking this in. ".....you do have intelligence, slave....you are to speak of this to no one else."
She nodded quickly, eager to please, her spark pulsing rapidly with joy. All she had know since activation on this strange world was fear, trepidation, mixed with wonder, but now perhaps she had found a kindred spirit, someone who understood her…
Poor, naïve little bot…
"Good of you not to mention this to Megatron. And you are never to leave this room unless you accompany me, and you are not to let anyone else in. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir,' she nodded quickly, then paused, her curiously overwhelming her logic circuits which told her to remain silent, "If I may ask…why would I speak of this to Megatron? My understanding is I report directly to you, and only you."
"Yes....but it is good Megatron doesn't know, that you did not give any of the information away...intelligence is not fully desired. Loyalty is." And he was loyal to Megatron now....he had no choice but to be. So many attempts with his father, always sparing his life, even risking it all by sending him that damn disc....for nothing. "Of course, as a Predacon, it is in your nature to be disloyal..."
She blinked, looking vaguely confused, "But I.." she fell silent
"Permission to speak?" She tried instead after a click of thought, deciding her interruption had been a very poor idea.
"Yes. Granted. Speak."
"My activation code is not that of a Predacon. This is why Megatron said I could not transform properly. Also, I did not tell him about my code or my former occupation because he showed no interest and never asked,' she added, a flicker of disdain crossing her green eyes in regards to Megatron's haughty dismissal of her worth and lack of curiosity. This was certainly not one her short comings because she was nothing but a bundle of curiosity and considered the need to obtain knowledge a display of higher intellect
If not a Predacon....then....a Maximal. She wasn't reprogrammed? Hmmm. "Come here, slave."
She obediently moved closer to him as he requested.
Ironically she was now a Maximal activated by Predacons in the claws of a Predacon activated by a Maximal, though she had no way of knowing this.
He waited until she was right upon him, nearly touching, they were so close....and his claws settled on her waist, holding her still, a mockery of a prelude to a kiss. And his claws, though not firmly pressed to her, with the threat of more pressure, perhaps enough to slice her in half, and his voice was ice. "Are you a Maximal, slave?"
The tone of his voice warned her instantly not to answer, but to refuse to do so would be even more foolish. However, at the moment, her tongue felt locked in place and she had no choice, staring up into those burning orange optics.
"Just yes or no, slave...."
"Yes," she forced out quietly, not hesitation in her voice so much as regret that she was certain this would anger him, "But I am loyal to you."
Of course, as far as the mantis knew, his father was a Maximal.....and the other Maximals, let us be honest, had never shown him mercy....he despised them, and himself for prior wanting to be with them, to stand by and with them, to fight the tyrant....and his claws pressed more to her, breaking her outer armor without hesitation; even without toxin, it was a deep pain....!
She clenched her teeth and hissed softly, her optics dimming but didn't try to pull away at first.
"A Maximal," he hissed softly. ".....I will tell you something, slave....we are at war with Maximals....no doubt they are desperately seeking your pod as it is...mmm....perhaps Megatron even knows you were not reprogrammed, and that is why he gave you to me." .....other Maximals? Another crew, even her family....?
She flinched then suddenly her optics burned, "You're hurting me." Ah, a little flicker of spirit under all that submission after all.
"You are mine for that," his cold voice retorted. "....and the Maximals have certainly hurt me enough...and my comrades....but I am concerned with myself.....and vengeance, not justice. Justice would entail going after those who have hurt me...vengeance means I can take you in their stead." He was trying, trying and failing to disconnect, to stop thinking of them, those damn Maximals who attacked and shot and left him for dead, and his father at the crux of them all...
"But *I* haven't hurt you. I've done nothing but what you ask, been nothing but truthful and compliant. You have no reason to punish me for something I didn't do!" Suddenly her optics glowed bright and a low powered laser beam shot out of them, not enough to do more than scorch, but enough for her to break free and back up, getting some distance between them.
Before he could move she pushed off the floor and sank her sharp clawed fingers into the ceiling, hanging upside down like a bat, crouched there, out of his reach if not out of the reach of his ion disks, "Further more, it matters little to me if other Maximals are out there looking for me. I have already stated where my loyalty lies and I do not go back on my word. Destroying me because I'm of no use to you is almost acceptable, but I will not accept punishment for a faction I don't even remember, much less serve!"
Thankfully for her, his grip on her was not deep or harsh enough to cut into her sides....unfortunately for her....he had not frozen at the optic blast, dropping instantly, his claws up and covering him, taking the brunt of the blast...but when he lowered his claws, seeing her grip the ceiling, his face had changed deeply; such rage on there made him look near insane...the calm and cool-spoken Predacon was gone.
Considering this, she thought with a growing sense of dread she should have probably tried reasoning with him first before casting the power gauntlet, but that point was probably long gone. Still being a pacifist, she tried, "Supposing you are right and Megatron did give me to you just because I'm not reprogrammed...doesn't it bother you that he finds you so predictable like a cat with a ball of yarn he can toss for his own amusement? If he wants you to destroy me, I'd say it's an insult to your intelligence to do so..."
There was no motion, no hint of his action; in one moment he was still, and the next retracting his arm, wings raised, dropping slightly....and faster nearly than she could see, the two ion discs sheared into her legs, ricocheting suddenly, boomeranging back; the slashing she could perhaps bear, but the agony that ripped through her veins and insides....it was burning her alive from the inside out...!
She gasped on a cry of agony, barely maintaining her perch. Not that there was much cover she could make out in the locked room. But if only she had tried to secure herself under a computer console instead of wasting her breath. If only she'd tried harder to reason with him instead of rebelling. True, she didn't want top be a slave, but she didn't want to die either, and now that seemed a certain outcome!
The discs arched around, back behind her....and following the arch of his furious throw, slashed her even deeper on the back-stroke, nearly severing her legs at the knees, the purple shining discs rippling back from striking her; he caught them in each claw without effort, not looking alarmed at the splash of mech blood over himself now, finally looking back to her.
For a nanoclick that seemed to stretch out for an eternity she clung to her place, her claws throbbing as they seemed ready to rip free from her fingertips. She stared at him in stunned horror.
Yet he did not seem surprised; the rage had masked itself in his optics, and he smiled at her, a terrifying smile, not because of his teeth, but the sincerity of it....and within a minute, the dual gashes on her exploded in agony, twisting and locking her arms still, the burning paralysis jetting down her body, releasing pain in her chest, around her spark, her very mind...
She blinked then her optics flickered as she lost her grasp and collapsed, not even trying to catch herself as she hit the floor.
He did not look surprised when she fell; in fact, as he approached her, he was humming, humming, amused as the paralysis worked its way through her, burning too much to even allow her a whimper of pain. "....you will regret this, Maximal....perhaps you do, but not for long." A new disc flipped into place in his claw, and he revved it, creating a buzz saw as he knelt down by her, smiling softly...
She blinked her green optics tired, seeming to want to reply but too weak to do so. Primus, he was going to dissect her into spare parts right here on the floor while she still lived!
The revving circular blade pressed into her bleeding legs, slashing her further...but within that pain, there was another pain, a terrible sense of darkness, of free-falling...of the pain being removed, slowly, inch by inch, and he sat back, watching her as the paralysis agent was neutralized, as her agony began to fade....dare she make a run for it, or attack him again?
Laserbeak remained as she was, seemingly drained, and then suddenly forced every ounce of remaining energy she could find left in her to her optics lasers. No holding back this time. It was a full force blast of energy
He had expected that (optic lasers, of course, he was more than used to dealing with, with his father...), and the force of his blow, his claw jamming into her chest, rolling her forcefully, released her final blast of energy to an empty wall, breaking and releasing there, and before she could move again, his claw was over her optics, and a sudden push, a terrible pressure, and then the sound of a thousand plates of glass exploding as his jagged claw cut right through her optics, shattering them, the mech blood rising and pouring over her face, leaving her near blind...
She shrieked in pain, a sound that seemed to combine with the cry of her beast mode, almost shrill enough to shatter beakers, then whimpered clawing at the appendage doing the damage but it was admittedly feeble by now. Her spark pulsated rapidly with panic.
"So brave now, are you?" Through the shattered fragments of her optics, she could barely see her captor's face....he was, incredibly, smiling. There seemed to be an army of him, countless leering faces looming over hers due to the cracked shards of glass. "A little adjustment for you, Maximal...and when I'm through, you will be a much better slave..." And she was lifted suddenly, off the ground, in a pool of her blood, and was slammed so forcefully against the wall, the remains of her optics broke, falling to the floor, his claws tearing into her sides as he carried her off....but perhaps Primus would be merciful and she could stasis....!
She coughed spitting up a mouthful of blood and mech fluid, whispering something inaudible.
"Speak." She was dropped suddenly, harshly against something cold.
She coughed, "You…expect me not to defend myself? I'm a slave...but not a drone."
"We will see." And a sudden hiss, cool air pressed to her and her aching wounds, and the small R within his lab quickly knocked her out...