The Brat Prince of Vos
Chapter 14
Continuity: Pre- and Post-TF:A, a little bit of AU here and there
Warnings: A bit of violence?
Pairings: Megatron x Starscream, but nothing too slashy yet.
This chapter is a bit sad, I think, but most of you seemed to be expecting it to come sooner or later. Ah well.
The next few chapters are spaced less close together in terms of time - there are lots of timeskips and things abound, so pay attention! ;) Hopefully it should be obvious when things are taking place.
The tall mech surveyed the battlefield.
In the distance, Lugnut was finishing off an Autobot, trying to extract information from his helpless enemy in the most roundabout way possible - even Strika was more effective at getting information out of Autobots, and she could only half speak common Cybertronian. On the west side, a little closer, Blitzwing was laughing at Primus knew what - it looked to be a corpse that he was arranging in an odd position. The mech twisted the lens of his optic, trying to get a closer look…oh. Oh. Blitzwing had gotten hold of several corpses, and was arranging them in the form of rude words.
The mech was interrupted from his thoughts when his comm.-link buzzed into life. "Starscream. Report."
"We're finished here, Megatron," Starscream replied, flicking his wings. In the corner of his optic, he saw movement low on the ground, and he shot his null ray at it automatically - a high pitched scream confirmed his suspicions, and Lugnut hurriedly charged over to finish the job. "The Autobots have been successfully defeated."
"Rest your troops for the next hour - Shockwave has reported another resistance group on the north side, five kilometres away. Engage once your troops are ready," Megatron ordered. He sounded weary, and just about ready to rip an Autobot's head off. Again.
"Yes, my Lord," Starscream answered with a sigh. Disengaging his comm.-link, he began to round up his unit.
"This is ridiculous."
Blitzwing's icy face looked up from their make-shift campfire. The intelligence had proved to be a false lead - that, or the resistance group had fled once they heard the Decepticons flying over. "Vat iz, Starscream?" he asked.
"This!" the Seeker gestured at the ruined city around them, exasperated. "This war! It was supposed to be over in a couple of centuries, tops! How long has it been now?" he demanded.
"Ohh, a millennia? No no, it haz been one thouzand, five hundred und thirty seven years," Blitzwing said honestly.
"Right, right," grumbled Starscream. "I was a slagging youngling when this war started."
Blitzwing's face shifted into the black, laughing personality. "Und look vhat a handsome adult mech you turned out to be! Ahahaha!" he screeched. Starscream just snorted, refusing to listen to anything the crazy side of Blitzwing had to say.
His comm.-link burst into life again. "What now?" he groused, activating it quickly.
"Vos has fallen," Megatron said simply. "The Autobots have demolished the entire city. I thought you'd want to know."
Starscream almost stalled his systems in surprise. Before Megatron could disconnect the line, he quickly spoke up. "How…how many were left inside the city?"
"Just the palace residents - there were no survivors. The citizens fled two weeks ago. The army is with us. Cyclonus is stationed on one of the moons with a small unit."
Starscream thought for a moment, then nodded to himself. The Seeker answered with one word, then disconnected the line. "Good."
His unit sat around the campfire in silence. Then, Blitzwing's cold, blue face spun into view once more, and in an acid tone, announced "Long live Starscream, King of Vos."
He'd had enough. He slapped Starscream hard across the cheek.
It had started earlier that day, when the Autobots had managed a crushing defeat against the Decepticon siege on Iacon. Starscream, Shockwave, Strika, every one of his generals and commanders had warned him it would end in disaster. They retreated, miserable and disheartened, morale sinking the lowest it had ever been since the start of the war.
And then, Starscream brought it up.
"We should be bonded by now," he said simply, letting himself into Megatron's quarters.
"Not now, Starscream," growled the tyrant, not raising his optics from the battle plans in front of him, covering the desk.
"This war has gone for two millennia now. Today was the anniversary of our first battle," Starscream stated, seating himself on the edge of the desk.
"Not. Now. Starscream," Megatron repeated, still not raising his optics. The Air Commander's own optics twitched in irritation.
"It was supposed to be easy," he hissed. "Nobody even knows what the body count is now, it's gone on so long. Twelve potential heirs to the throne of Vos - all gone. Who would have thought poor little Starscream, thirteenth in line, would ever become the King of Vos? You? Because if that's what you wanted, you got it."
"Yes," Megatron snarled sarcastically, clenching his fists. "And you know what you said when it happened? You said 'Good'. That was your exact word. Do not try and imply to ME that you are grieving for your siblings. We both know exactly how you felt about your family."
"I'm saying that this war has gone on for too long!" snapped the Seeker. "The population of Cybertron has gone down by three quarters! By the time one side wins, there won't be anyone left to rule over!"
Megatron said nothing, opening and closing his fists in an attempt to calm himself. Starscream chose to ignore it.
"We were supposed to be bonded by now," he repeated sulkily.
"FOR THE LOVE OF PRIMUS, STARSCREAM!" roared the Decepticon leader. "This is not all about you! This is a war!"
"No, it's all about you, isn't it?" the Seeker replied, pitch rising with each word until he was shrieking. "I am the heir to the throne of Vos now! I could tell all the Seekers that you played the King for a fool, that you never bonded with me! I could take them all back to Vos, and rebuild my city, but you! You won't settle for anything less than the entire planet, will you? No, it's not enough that we control most of the planet! You just want more and more! We're stretched too thin, you fool! The Autobots are getting through the cracks everywhere we go, because you aren't content to just-"
He'd had enough. He slapped Starscream hard across the cheek.
Time seemed to stop in that moment - Megatron was almost surprised that he'd hit his intended, and Starscream just gaped at him stupidly, optics wide. Then the Seeker raised his claws to his cheek, slow as a glacier. He withdrew his hand and looked at it in surprise, as if he was seeing it for the first time, then looked back at Megatron.
Without a word, he stood and left the room.
The Decepticon Commander stared after Starscream for a long time - until finally, he roared, punching the wall of his office so hard that his metal fingers cracked open, the words of a youngling echoing around his head;
"Do you like me?"