The Brat Prince of Vos
Chapter 25
Continuity: Pre- and Post-TF:A, a little bit of AU here and there
Warnings: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR ENDGAME!
Pairings: Megatron x Starscream, Cyclonus x Galvatron, Strika x Lugnut. Sort of, anyway.
Wow, we've gone past the 100 reviews mark for this story! Thank you so much for your support everyone!
I'm so glad you've been enjoying it, but I'm afraid I'm not rewarding you story-wise, because this chapter ends with...you guessed it, another cliffhanger XD
"That should hold you up for now, sir," Oil Slick said, welding a final wound shut. "I'll still need to have a look at some of the circuits that got damaged, possibly reconstruct your entire right arm…"
"What Oil Slick means is that you need to refuel before he can work on you any further, my Lord," Cyclonus supplied calmly, setting down the box of tools he had been carrying for the chemist.
The Decepticon Commander nodded absently, looking drained.
"…Maybe you should stay in the med bay for now, sir," the chemist said, a hint of worry colouring his voice. "I'll go get you some energon." The purple jet nodded to his fellow team mate, seating himself on a repair berth opposite Megatron.
"…Where's…?" the tyrant mumbled groggily. Oil Slick had given him some sort of chemical to ease the pain when he turned his sensor nets back on, but it was having the added side effect of making the silver mech drowsy.
"…Starscream's body?" Cyclonus finished for Megatron. "Don't worry about that now. He's safe - I made sure of it. He's not going anywhere while we're repairing you."
Megatron nodded slightly, squinting his optics to try and focus on the purple jet. "…See…him…?"
"Now?" the flier frowned. "I really don't think you should be getting up right now, my Lord."
"Need…to…see…" insisted Megatron, expression darkening murderously even under the blanket of drugs.
Cyclonus just sighed, shaking his head. He walked to the other side of the med-bay, patting the wall for a moment, before he found the fake tile that covered the access panel. He slowly entered the codes, and the wall slid back to reveal a collection of cryostasis pods. The jet hesitated a moment, looking back at Megatron, who was staring at him eagerly.
Slowly, Cyclonus opened up Starscream's cryostasis pod.
Megatron gasped, standing up with a wobble. He stumbled forward despite the purple jet's protests, finally collapsing in front of the pod. "Star…scream…"
"Lord Megatron, please," begged the jet, placing an arm on Megatron's shoulder, "you've seen him now, you've seen he's fine. Now, you need to lie back down."
The tyrant seemed to completely ignore him, scrabbling back up and leaning heavily on the side of the pod. He ran a finger delicately along Starscream's wing - perfectly smooth, not a crack, chip or dent in sight…so different to the last time he'd seen him.
"He's…beautiful, isn't…he?" Megatron said absently.
That was enough, Cyclonus decided, and he forcibly dragged the Decepticon commander back to the repair berth.
"Strika," Megatron rumbled, "I would like to commend you and your team for a spectacularly efficient rescue operation. You have my thanks, and I am sure Shockwave, Lugnut, Blitzwing and…those other two, appreciate it just as much as I." If she could, Strika was sure she would have blushed, but instead, she just puffed her chest out with pride, optics glittering. Lugnut couldn't help beaming with pride for his bondmate too, shuffling closer to her. "I cannot thank you and your team enough," he continued.
Then, he pointed at the Starscream clones with one black finger - now fully intact, thanks to Oil Slick. "You four, however, I require something…more from," he said smoothly, beckoning them forward.
Thundercracker and Ramjet strode closer with their heads up in the air, while Skywarp cowered behind them, Sunstorm clasping his hands with a grin. The Decepticon Warlord motioned to Cyclonus, and the ex-Minister of Vos brought the cryostasis pod into the command room.
The clones looked down at their creator. Thundercracker grimaced. Skywarp almost fainted, but the blue clone propped his weak, young brother up. Sunstorm looked down at his polished (if dead) creator admiringly, while Ramjet didn't seem to know what to think.
"He gave you life," Megatron said softly, standing up to come and look down at the pod holding Starscream's shell. "Now, I need you to return the favour."
"What?" Thundercracker snarled, "I'm not giving up my life for him! I'm far superior to this rusty slagger!"
The Decepticon tyrant backhanded the blue clone across the face, sending him reeling to the floor - but then turned back to Starscream as if nothing had ever happened. "Each of you are kept online by a shard of the all-spark, which he broke off from his own to power you," the silver mech continued. "I won't force you to give up your entire shard - although I could," - he glared at Thundercracker - "and all I require is a small piece of each of yours."
Skywarp was the first to open his spark chamber - probably out of fear. "It's not going to…to hurt, is it?" he whined, prodding at his shard. The tyrant just frowned at him, and with a terrified squeak, Skywarp reached in and snapped a piece off. Gingerly, he placed it in Megatron's outstretched hand. Sunstorm and Ramjet just shrugged, and did the same. Thundercracker was last to obey, breaking off a part of the shard with a sulky pout.
Megatron looked down at the four pieces in his hands for a moment, and Team Chaar exchanged nervous glances with Shockwave, Blitzwing and Lugnut. Then, he closed his hand tightly, as if he intended to break the pieces even smaller - but when he opened his hand up again, there was only one, larger shard, equal in size to the ones the clones had been left with.
Cyclonus reached into the cryostasis pod, opening up Starscream's empty spark chamber delicately. The shard was placed inside by Megatron, and for a moment, there was silence.
Slowly, the colour started to come back into Starscream - fuchsia and blue-grey, until it spread to his orange cockpit. With a soft whine, his sytems booted up, his optics powering online last. The Seeker blinked up at the ceiling, rubbing his optics groggily.
As his optics focused, he looked up to see Megatron, the clones, and Cyclonus staring down at him expectantly.
He screamed.