Prompt: "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?" - The Joker
Chapter summary: Megatron needs a little help with his new anti-gravs.

Devil in Pale Moonlight

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Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?

The Joker, "Batman", 1998

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Equipping himself with anti-gravs had been one of Megatron's better ideas. He just hadn't counted on that technology to be quite so bitchy.

Maneuvering in the air felt a bit like being over-energized on the ground: wobbly and dizzying. The Seeker model appearing out of nowhere with a crack and almost colliding with him didn't improve the situation either.

"Woah!" Skywarp rolled onto his side, avoiding the crash by barely a mechanometer, then he looped the loop and transformed right next to his leader.

"Hey, sorry." He grinned. "Didn't expect to stumble over a ground pounder."

Megatron struggled to stay airborne, humiliation burning hot in his spark. "Don't test my patience, Skywarp," he snapped.

Skywarp raised both hands placatingly, moonlight bouncing off his plating. "Alright, alright. I'll get outta your way." He gunned his engine, but then hesitated. "Uh, you may wanna try a lower setting on your gyros," he said, transmitting a quick data burst. "Like this one. Just a tip."

Megatron analyzed the transmission carefully. It seemed to be what it said, and to the Pit with it, he'd already lost most of his dignity tonight.

The effect was instantaneous. The dizziness vanished, and keeping his balance suddenly became a lot easier.

"Told ya," Skywarp triumphed.

Megatron looked him over pensively. Skywarp was a cretin and a major nuisance, but he was a flyer.

"Indeed," he concurred. "Any other 'tips'?"

Skywarp thought for a moment. "There's this thing we do when trine-flying," he said. "Nothing fancy, more like a little warm-up. Wanna try?"

Megatron would go and smelt himself down before he copped out now. "No teleporting," he decreed.

Skywarp placed two fingers over his spark. "Seeker's honor!"

The warm-up turned out to be basically a game of tag. Still, Megatron noticed in dismay how his cooling fans kept trying to activate. Skywarp was unarguably the better flyer, and he was fast. But he was also, to Megatron's great astonishment, a competent teacher, encouraging him to attempt different speeds and moves, yet at the same time providing subtle assistance whenever he overestimated his fledgling abilities.

Eventually Megatron managed to get close enough to brush his fingers against one of Skywarp's pauldrons. The Seeker pouted playfully, chuckling as he floated to the ground. "Not bad for a ground pounder," he said once they both had landed safely.

Megatron growled in warning at the nickname, but Skywarp was clearly unrepentant. He stepped closer, right into Megatron's personal space.

"So," he purred, optics twinkling. "Caught yourself a little Seeker, you did. What're you gonna do with him now?"

He flicked his ailerons suggestively, and Megatron, after a moment of surprise, responded by meshing their fields together with equal blatancy as he closed his fingers over the leading edge of a wing. "I believe I can find a suitable usage for him," he purred back.

A ground pounder's honor on that.

*Fin*

Word count: 479
Disclaimer: I do not own The Transformers, and I do not make any money with this.