Title: The Prime
Genre: Action/Drama, Friendship/Romance
Rating: T for mild transformer swearing, some violence, and crude language
Short Summary:
When a young mech destined to be the next Prime is exiled by his evil uncle, he must learn what it means to become a great leader.

Chapter Fourteen

For nearly twenty vorns, he had ruled the once glorious city of Iacon.

And for nearly twenty vorns, there was always someone who had to complain about something. He was forced to listen to his so called subjects complain about how things were going. And Megatron was growing tired of it.

First it had been Alpha Trion after Sentinel's death. He had gone to Megatron, demanding to know what really happened to The True Prime, Sentinel Prime and the future Prime.

Megatron hadn't liked that one bit for numerous reasons. He had expected the old mech to be dead but instead found out that Sideways had not only failed to kill him, he ended up dead, himself.

The new Prime had almost forgotten what Alpha Trion could do when he was cornered. He was a Prime of Old, after all. So he could fight well.

Megatron saw to it that Alpha Trion was demoted and chased out of Iacon, stating he was too old and senile to continue to be respected. A lot of the Iaconians believed him. Though few became suspicious when Alpha Trion had been banished from Iacon and placed in a Glitch ward in the Darkhelm prison.

Though he had only been there for a vorn before Beta somehow set him free and saw to it that he was well kept out of Megatron's filthy reach. No one knew where he was and Beta took the secret of his whereabouts back to the Well of All Sparks when she mysteriously died. Everyone believed the Lady Prime had died of spark break from the loss of her most beloved.

But no one truly knew that it had been Dark Energon poisoning caused by Megatron.

The second thing that caused a problem for Megatron's rule was the High Council. They didn't agree that he would be a suitable Prime.

Megatron had them shut up pretty fast with black mail and threats. He even had some of them killed mysteriously or some had gone missing. No one knew the truth of what happened to them and no one dared to know.

Because the third complaint made was about the so called fraction, The Decepticons.

Megatron made a huge show out of hunting down the leader of the fraction and stated he had captured him. He put the blame on a criminal, as well. Someone no one would miss at all. It had been Outlaw, the father of Prowl. He even had a public execution for the criminal. The criminal had been ruthlessly executed by Megatron's new Security Advisor, Barricade and his High Communications Officer, Soundwave. They had torn him a part.

As an extra show, Megatron demanded the loyalty of the Decepticons and they gave in right to it. When in truth, he had always been the true Leader.

And some knew that the moment the Decepticons became Megatron's most trusted soldiers and law officers. They made sure throughout the city that that all mechs and femmes respected their leader or die.

Iacon City had become a very dark, terrifying place, indeed. It was full of darkness and unhappiness. But no one dared to defy Lord Megatron Prime. Because if they did, the Decepticons would kill them. There had been a few protests against Megatron's rule and many ended up dead, enslaved or in the Darkhelm prison which was now being run by Cyclonus, the Seeker.

That had been another thing of interest and anger. Megatron had waited for many solar cycles before revealing that there had been survivors from Vos. He had claimed to be their savior and now, he had many Seekers in his command.

By that time, the Seekers had had been taught by Cyclonus and Shockwave and most of them were quite bad tempered and dangerous. The leader of all of the Seekers, however, didn't particular like being so violent like the others were. He actually hated it. But after being taught that it was The High Council and a Praxian said to be dead now that destroyed almost all of his kind, Thundercracker did have quite the temper on him. He happened to be Megatron's least favorite, however, even though he was made Air Commander of the Seeker Force.

As of now, Megatron was sitting in the throne room, listening to a certain medical officer rant about how he needed more supplies of special made energon.

"I need specific energon for transfusions! It does not help that your Decepticons keeps stealing from my emergency energon cabinet!" Ratchet complained grumpily.

Huffing in irritation, Megatron tapped his servos against his chair's arm. "Ratchet, I told you before, it is not me you need to request energon from. I left Shockwave in charge of the energon levels to be handed out. And it is the femmes who gather the energon for him to split up among the faculty uses." He told the medic in a bored tone.

Ratchet huffed in irritation and folded his arms. "My Lord Prime, your scientist gladiator, Shockwave refused to give me energon. He told me that he needed most of the gathered for his insane experiments. Now, I need to have emergency energon backed up because there has been too many butchery that YOUR Decepticons does. I have too many patients that need that energon or they will die without it." He continued to hound the so called Prime.

"Let them die, Ratchet! That is an order! I do not have the patience to deal with this right now! The less tanks to fill, the better!" Megatron growled viciously.

Gaping at Megatron in shock, Ratchet could not believe he said that. "My Lo-Lord! Some of my patients are sparklings and younglings! Ones that were beaten for even supposedly annoying your Decepticons!" He sputtered in shock.

Rolling his optics, Megatron shook his head as he glanced past Ratchet and saw Soundwave and Barricade enter, the latter looking quite put out. "I do not rightly care. I don't care about weak aft sparklings or younglings who annoy my mechs and cannot survive like they should. Now if you are finished complaining, get back to work." He growled.

Glaring up at Megatron, Ratchet shook his head before turning towards the door, starting to leave. "Would have never had this problem if Sentinel were still alive." He muttered as quietly as he could.

It was when there came a roar of rage from behind the medic did he regret saying that out loud.

Because a megaclick later, Ratchet found himself slammed against the wall with a crushing grip on his vocoder. He choked and sputtered as he looked fearfully at Megatron, who glared dangerously at him.

"I told you and everyone to NEVER mention that name again in my presence!" Megatron snarled as he shoved Ratchet higher up the wall, who gasped and sputtered.

"I...gasp...I am so-sorry...My Lo-Lord! I wo-won't do it...urk...! I wo-won't do it ag-again!" Ratchet gasped from the crushing grip.

Megatron growled threatening before he threw the medic across the floor, scraping and crashing violently against the metal. "You're right about that, you old fool!" He shot Barricade a sharp look. "I grow tired of his constant complaining, Barricade! Arrest him and then when you are done with me, take him out to the Badlands and shoot him!" He snapped.

Ratchet, still gasping and choking, looked up with fear in his optics. He felt dread wash through him, not believing what he just heard. "N-no! You cannot possibly...!" He was cut off when Barricade roughly grabbed him, yanking him to his feet. "Get your servos off of me! I am a medic, Megatron! And one of the best in this city! You cannot possibly mean to...!"

"Oh, shut up, old mech! He don't need you!" Barricade snapped roughly putting stasis locks on the medic's wrists, locking them behind his back. "There is plenty of medics in the city that can take over your duties!"

Ratchet shot him a dark look before turning that look onto Megatron. "Yes, but not of my proficiency! You cannot do this!" He said loudly.

Megatron snorted darkly as he went back to his throne. "Well, I just did. Get him out now!" He snapped.

Barricade nodded and dragged Ratchet towards the doors where Decepticon guards were waiting to drag him out. "Take him out to the Badlands and shoot him. Bring back his head to prove you did your jobs right." He ordered them.

The guards nodded as they roughly grabbed the hysterical medic and started dragging him out.

"Megatron! You can go to the Pits! You are the worse Prime we ever had! Long live Sentinel Prime!" Ratchet bellowed out from the hall.

"Make sure you make it long and suffering before you kill him!" Barricade called out before turning to see the dark glower on Megatron's face. He knew that his Leader had not liked that last bit at all from Ratchet. "Don't listen to that old senile mech, Lord Megatron. He don't know a true Prime when he sees him." He tried to cheer him up.

Megatron growled but looked away. "You are right, Barricade. But answer me this. Why is it that I feel he is right? Why is it whenever I go out, I feel doubt in every gaze that I meet? Why do these ridiculous fools believe that I am the worse Prime? I have heard the mutters and whispers. I feel as if every one of these pathetic subjects hates me. I feel as if a terrible hunger is nagging at me. Baring at my very core. Something is missing in my rule!" He shot a look towards Soundwave. "Soundwave, what is that my pathetic brother had that I do not?!"

Soundwave straightened, standing at attention. "Suggestion: Lady Prime." He said blankly.

Narrowing his optics, Megatron rubbing the bottom of his face plates, looking interested. That was a thought. He had everything he ever wanted but a mate. Without a mate, he didn't have sparklings, things to carry on his great legacy for when he finally returned to the Well of All Sparks.

Barricade snorted as he folded his arms. "Thinking about mating then, My Lord?" He asked with amusement.

Megatron smirked at the thought. "Actually, I think it is high time I did take a mate. I do need an heir to take over for when I do deactivate. With a sparkling or several, I will practically have immortality." He then looked at Soundwave again. "List all capable sparkling bearing femmes we have at the moment. Who is the best femme among them all?" He demanded.

"Megatron!"

Optics belonging to all in the room turned sharply to see who stomped into the room, looking furious. And Megatron smirked as he held up a servo to Soundwave. "Scratch that order, Soundwave. I know who will be perfect." He simply stated as he eyed the femme hungrily.

The femme was a young femme of 27 vorns old. She was tall, slender, graceful and quite beautiful with gentle coral pink and silver coloring. Her optics were a blazing blue moon color, though full of anger and irritation.

"Ah, Elita One. What can I do for you?" Megatron asked in a sly tone as he eyed her frame up and down. He was definitely admiring the view.

Elita One just stormed right up to Megatron's throne, her head held up high and optics full of determination and fury. "I have seen Makeshift, Rollerforce and Blackout dragging the medical officer out of the palace! He was completely hysterical, shouting that it was not right to kill a defenseless mech! What did he mean by that?!" She demanded.

Megatron huffed in dark amusement. "The old fool has insulted me for the last time. I clearly grow tired of all of his bantering and complaints. So I am having my mechs get rid of him." He explained casually.

Elita One shook her head, looking furious. "Ratchet is the best medic we have, Megatron! You cannot kill him! We still need him! And he is a good mech! He does not deserve this!" She growled.

Shaking his head, Megatron didn't bother with all of the details. But he did have a idea. He smirked as he stood up and made his way closer to Elita One, who tensed up. "If that mech means so much to you, I can give him another chance." He told her softly.

"Thank you then." Elita One said before turning away.

"If," Megatron added slyly, causing the beautiful femme to tense up and give him a curious but suspicious look. "If you agree to be my mate and bear me sparklings."

Elita One's optics flashed with surprise before they began to burn with rage. She spun to face him, backing away, even with him stalking towards her. "No." She spoke coldly. "If you think you can black mail me into it, think again, Megatron!"

Megatron's optics flashed with annoyance before he lashed out and caught her wrist before she could get too far away from him. He ignored her cry of surprise and anger as he yanked her close to him. "Then I shall take what I want. Just as I always do." He sneered.

Elita One snarled in fury as she thrashed to get away from him. "Get your filthy servos off of me! I refuse! I will not bear any sparklings of yours!" She snapped.

"Oh, but you will, my dear little Ariel. You belong to me. Just as does all of the femmes." Megatron sneered at her as he pulled her closer.

Snarling in rage and growing fear, Elita One tried to yank herself free, finding it hard to do. Her strength was no match for Megatron's, she knew. But she absolutely refused! "Unhand me, monster!" She snarled but was ignored as Megatron started pushing her back against the wall.

So without a choice, the angry but frightened femme brought her hand up and slapped Megatron hard across the face plates, all the while raking her sharp tips down the metal.

Megatron let out a startled but angry cry as he immediately let her go and stepped back. He reached up and touched where she slapped him, feeling small trickles of energon starting to stream down his face. He looked up sharply when she dashed away only to have her path cut off by Barricade, who growled viciously at her for her attack on his Leader.

Elita One remedied that quickly by lashing out a foot and kicking him hard between the legs.

Barricade let out a horrible screech as he went down with a loud crash all the while holding his codpiece. A string of strangled swear words were emitting from his oddly high pitched vocoder but he was ignored by all.

Megatron, however, snickered as if finding it entertaining. "So feisty, Elita One. But like it or not, you will be mine. You cannot always watch your back. And when you are not expecting it, I will have you submitting to me." He chuckled darkly.

Elita One paused at the door long enough to send a snarl at him and a glare. "Never, Megatron! I will never submit to the likes of you!" She snapped before whirling around and rushing out, even as she felt an angry, humiliating but terrified sob snap out of her.

Megatron glanced at Barricade, who was still swearing threats then to Soundwave, who remained positively still. The silent mech was watching cautiously but there was a hint of disapproval surrounding him. "Soundwave, make sure she is well kept an optic on. As well warn others that if they try to pursue her, they will find their selves at the end of my fusion cannon. Elita One is mine." He warned.

Soundwave merely nodded. "Affirmative." He said in his deep monotonous voice. He pressed his servos against his chest and a compartment opened, spitting out one of his subunits; one called Frenzy. "Frenzy mission assignment: survelliance on Elita One. Report all activities and whereabouts."

Frenzy gave a jittery confirmation and dashed off through the door way to find his target.

The door slammed open and Elita One shoved herself into her quarters, where she thought she would be alone. But in her moment of panic and anxiety, she had forgotten that her roommate would be there, hiding from her own stalker.

So when her best friend came in, looking like she was about to collapse from shock, Chromia was up on her feet immediately and rushing over.

"Elita One! Are you all right?!" The powder blue femme asked in grave concern.

Elita One jumped at the sound of her friend's voice but quickly shook her head, wiping energon tears from her optics. "No-nothing. I am fine." She told her, grimacing when her vocoder crackled.

Chromia knew it was a lie. She knew something had happened. She knew her best friend too well. She had grown up with her as it was. She also knew that only one could calm her down when she was upset like this and that was her mother.

So, the powder blue femme made a silent call to Firestar while taking Elita One by the shoulder plates and leading her to the berth room.

"Tell me what happened, Elita."

Trembling, Elita One shook her head before bursting into tears again and curling up until her on helm was in her lap. She couldn't tell Chromia what happened. Knowing her, she would probably charge down to the throne room and attempt to beat the living slag out of Megatron. She knew that if her friend did that, it would be forfeiting her life.

Still...she couldn't control herself or her emotions. She couldn't help but cry.

The door to the chambers opened and Firestar came rushing in, but not alone. She had the rest of the femmes with her. Moonstar, Flare-Up, Arcee and a supposedly Decepticon Seeker femme named Slipstream.

Of course when the femmes had met Slipstream when she first arrived with the other Seekers, none of them had trusted her. They believed she would try and spy on them for Megatron. They didn't trust her not to report their every cycle lives.

They were right in the beginning.

Slipstream had been assigned to stick close to the femmes, to spy on them and gain their trust. But then she had messed that job up by befriending Elita One when she first changed her name from Ariel to Elita One after her full development cycle. She had gotten to know the femmes and learning about them. She learned about their fears, their wishes, and their nightmares. She also learned that out of all of the femmes, Elita One had suffered the greatest but she remained as strong as she could. She learned that her new friend had not only lost her father but her best friend. A youngling she had had a crush on too.

It was then Slipstream came clean. She told her friends of why she had tried pretending her friend and why she tried getting close to them. They had been angry at first but it was Elita One who forgave her first and became her true friend.

"Elita, what happened?!" Firestar yelped as she hurried to her daughter's side.

Elita One shook her head as she kept her optics adverted. She didn't want them to know. She knew how angry they all would be. "I...I am fine, mother." She tried to lie casually. "It's...it is just stress."

Firestar gave her a firm look, shaking her head. "Do not lie to me, Ariel. What happened?" She asked sternly.

For a long moment, Elita One remained stubbornly quiet. But then drawing out a shaky vent, she shook her head. "Megatron...he is starting to figure out that he needs a mate to bear heirs for him. He wants me..."

The other femmes gasped in horror and shock. Firestar looked quite shaken by the news. "Did he...!" She was asking but couldn't find it in herself to ask.

Elita One shook her head quickly. "I refused. He tried to force himself upon me but I fought him off. He seemed more amused than angry that I clawed his face. But he threatened me that when I was not looking, he would come for me." She said shakily.

"That son of a glitch! I will kill him!" Chromia snarled, whirling her cannon blaster to life.

But Elita One grabbed her other arm to hold her back. "Chromia, no! You will only anger him into hurting you! Please do not go after him!" She begged.

Chromia huffed but she nodded. She had only wanted a reason to pick a fight. That was one thing about her. She was the feistiest one in the group and was looking forward to a fight. She loved weapons too and was constantly building and creating her own.

Firestar sank down beside her daughter, looking just as distraught. She knew once Megatron set his sights on something he wanted, he never gave up. "Oh, what are we going to do?" She asked helplessly.

Elita One sighed as she stood up and went to her balcony, pushing the door open. She looked around the entire city, looking at what the once glorious city had become now.

It was so dark unlike how it once had been. It was not the city full of light and happiness that she had once loved. Energon facilities were dried up and no longer mining energon. People were constantly full of fear and despair. They were forced to work and serve the Decepticons, who ran amuck as they liked. They beat the good people down into the roads and even invaded their homes, taking what they pleased.

Iacon City, one of the most glorious cities in Cybertron had become nothing but a Shadow land.

Her optics darkening, Elita One knew it had to stop. Things were not how they were supposed to be. They were not supposed to be like this. The terror, the poverty, and the practical enslavement that Megatron and his Decepticons forced upon them. She could even see the three Decepticons still dragging Ratchet through the city.

She had enough. She knew what she had to do. She knew that she had to go.

Her face plates set in determination, Elita One turned to face her mother and her femmes. "I am leaving Iacon." She said firmly.