The Brat Prince of Vos

Chapter 9

Continuity: Pre- and Post-TF:A, a little bit of AU here and there
Warnings: A bit of violence? None, really.
Pairings: None for this chapter, eventual Megatron x Starscream.

Uh-oh, Megatron isn't being as honest as he seems...XD Sorry this chapter ends on a bit of a cliffhanger.
Thank you again for all the lovely reviews!

King Rainmaker looked down at the scratched face of his second child, Prince Dreadwing.

"And you're telling me," the King said in his usual loud voice, "that Starscream did that to you?"

"Yes! Why must I repeat myself?" Dreadwing snarled, pointing at his face. "Look how deep these scratches are! He used his pit-damned claws, father!"

The King cycled a breath of air through his vents. "Why did he do it, then? You must have done something to slag Starscream off."

Dreadwing looked away, answering as vaguely as possible. "I just told him the truth," he spat out. "It isn't my fault if he can't handle it."

"Truth? The truth about what?" King Rainmaker asked.

"That's he's defective!" shouted Dreadwing, making the Royal Guards stationed in the room cringe. "You and mother never should have had him! His intended is coming soon and good riddance, the lunatic can take Starscream with him!"

"Megatron is a very important political ally," bristled Rainmaker. "If I hear either you or your siblings referring to him as the 'lunatic' again I will not stop him from punishing you for it. Your mother loved Starscream just as much as she loved you, Dreadwing. In my eyes, my children are all equal," the King explained, not quite convincingly. Dreadwing snorted as a medic came in and started tending to his scratched face plates.

"You keep telling yourself that, Father," sneered the cerulean flier. "Starscream is bad luck. You mark my words, he'll be the downfall of Vos."

As the second Prince stormed out the room, followed by the panicky medic who had only half finished repairing the scratches, the King sighed, burying his face in his hands with a groan. "This is getting out of control…"

"My lord," Shockwave protested for what had to be the hundredth time, "I really do feel this is most unwise."

"I have told you before, Shockwave," Megatron repeated himself, a wicked grin ghosting his features, "I have a few tricks yet. I won't be bonding with Starscream…yet, anyway."

"And how will the poor youngling react to that, I wonder," the purple Decepticon muttered, antennae drooping. Megatron glared at his subordinate as he continued to polish his dark, silver armour.

"Oh, where are the brands, anyway?" the Decepticon asked suddenly. "Cyclonus told me to bring Decepticon brands. Yet another custom of some sort."

Shockwave's single optic seemed to grow in size. "Brands?!" he nearly shrieked, "On a youngling? That's appalling!"

"By the end of the war, we will all be branded one way or another," pointed out Megatron as he worked on a particularly stubborn stain - a splash of an enemy's energon from a week or so back. "Decepticon…or Autobot."

"Megatron," Cyclonus said with his usual distant smile, arms out in greeting. "It is good to see you again."

The Decepticon leader landed on the platform along with the Royal Guards escorting him. He nodded to Cyclonus. "It is good to be here again. I need the fliers of Vos now more than ever."

Cyclonus led him inside, up the familiar spiral staircase to the same chambers Megatron had stayed in last time. "Everything is ready for your bonding," the Minister informed him. "I will have to teach you the customs surrounding it, of course."

Megatron grumbled in the back of his vocaliser, and Cyclonus chuckled. "Don't worry, Megatron. Our bonding ceremonies are surprisingly simple."

"Oh?" the Decepticon asked, arching an optic ridge quizzically.

"You will be led into a chamber," explained the Minister, "where at least one creator must say a few words - that would be the King. The other Ministers and myself will act as witnesses to the ceremony. You must brand your intended with the marks of your lineage - or, in your case, the Decepticon symbol will have to do. Then you and Starscream will be locked inside the room for the night to bond. The door is unlocked by the creator, King Rainmaker, in the morning."

"Seems easy enough," Megatron supposed with a shrug. He poured himself a cube of energon, sensing he would need it.

"Good," Cyclonus smiled, "because you have a very impatient youngling waiting for you. Shall we go?"

The Decepticon leader downed his cube and nodded, smiling deceptively. "Let's get it over with, then."