Chapter 81:

Day Fourteen: Sunday Afternoon Vos, Cybertron Time 12:45 P.M.:

Shockwave grabbed Soundwave and George, "The three of us will bring Megatron in. Hopefully as dignified as possible. Esmeralda, you can stay here with Thundercracker and Skywarp. Hopefully, the less of us out there, he'll make less of a scene."

"Let's hope so," the Hooded Ma nodded in agreement.

Such a shame their efforts were in vain.

"NOOOOOOO! I DON'T WANNA DO THIS!" Megatron screamed through his coolant tears as he was helped from the limo and into the Church. "I CAN'T DO THIS! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?! I CAN'T LET HIM GO! I CAN'T! I JUST CAN'T!"

"Megatron, please," Shockwave shushed as he pulled the Decepticon Leader inside, "we have to do this. We must put poor Starscream to rest properly."

"REST PROPERLY?!" Megatron shrilled, "HOW CAN I DO THAT?! I LOVED HIM!"

The Dean Emeritus, his Head Chanter, a Jet Vehicon named James, and his Vehicon Sexton Pete all stood at the back of the Church, ready to begin the Services. They just needed Megatron to get seated, which apparently was going to prove to be a struggle.

"AAAUUUUGGGGHHHHH!" the former Gladiator screamed in an undignified manner.

"Stop it, Megatron," Soundwave grumbled, "we're in a Church!"

Megatron: "DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!"

The three mechs pulled him along as Megatron forced them to drag him down the center aisle. The Dean Emeritus didn't flinch; he had seen it all.

Cascade watching, Ratbat watching, all the Decepticons watching, all of Vos watching, Laserbeak taping all the way, as Megatron completely lost his cool. His reputation was totally awash.

Soundwave was horrified at how the decorum had been thrown completely out the window! Rumble and Frenzy watched their Father try to take back control of the situation and thinking of how he would NEVER tolerate that kind of behavior of either of them or their siblings. Thundercracker watched Megatron and felt like crying himself, Starscream's deactivation hitting him once again; Skywarp looked totally lost.

Megatron freaked out and refused to continue walking, grabbing onto a wooden pew, "NO! NO! NO!"

"Megatron, stop it," his Mother pinching the bridge between her smell receptors.

"Just, please, sit down," Shockwave tried, helping the Decepticon Leader to sit in the first pew a seat away from Thundercracker, "You're upsetting everyone."

Megatron hollered, "What do I care about everyone else?! I just lost Starscream!"

"We have ALL lost Starscream here," Soundwave exhorted, "but you're the one acting like an idiot now! Show some respect!"

"Respect for who?!" Megatron bellowed back, "YOU?! It's YOUR fault! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

"Respect for Starscream," Soundwave scolded, ever too conscious of Ratbat's watchful optics on him, "you are disrupting Starscream's Funeral!"

Megatron roared now, "WE WOULDN'T BE AT STARSCREAM'S FUNERAL IF YOU HAD SAVED HIM, YOU SLAGGER!"

Before the Tapedeck could smack his friend to bring him back to the here and now, George asked him, "Do you need your beeper?"

"Beeper?!" Megatron was completely offended that they had a beeper for medical treatment, "For what?! The white-coated Vehicons to take me away?!"

"We were fearful that you would pass out," Shockwave tried to defuse the situation, "or suffer a nervous breakdown."

"I am PERFECTLY capable of handling myself!" the former Great Gladiator of Tarn insisted, "I don't need this big slagger or any of his psycho-therapy!" He scooted over for Shockwave to sit down, "Just leave me alone! All of you!"

"Very well," Shockwave sighed and signaled Pete that they were ready.

The hymn was sung by James in a falsetto, and the mourners all stood. Megatron had to be silently pulled up by Shockwave.

Normally during a Vosian Funeral, when there was a chassis, the casket was wheeled to the Altar at the beginning of the Services, but since there wasn't one, the Dean Emeritus would walk with his Chanter and Sexton, respectively, down the center aisle towards the Altar.

First, the Parish Council filed in, followed by the Clergy, with the Dean Emeritus last in line. The Dean Emeritus, the same Dean Emeritus that had presided over Darkwing's Funeral and the Seekers' graduation from the Cybertron War Academy, presided over the services today. His tall hat, of which the Earth's Pope's papal hat was based on, gleamed into the light shining in from the Tiffany windows. His robe was black for the Funeral.

Shockwave sat at the left end of the first pew, with Megatron being held between him and Esmeralda. Then Thundercracker and Skywarp; it was a shorter pew because of a pillar. Behind them, Soundwave, Ravage, Rumble and Frenzy, the Seekers' Creators, and the Coneheaded Seekers in the second, longer pew; Ratbat directly behind Soundwave. Laserbeak chose to perch on the right-hand side of a side pew seat so that he could get the entire service on tape at the best angle.

The Dean Emeritus led the first Prayer in Vosian, 'Kyri Elison,' which translated into English to Lord Have Mercy. Followed by Psalm 23:

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
our rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.

Followed by Psalm 9:

I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.

My enemies turn back;
they stumble and perish before you.
For you have upheld my right and my cause,
sitting enthroned as the righteous judge.
You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies,
you have uprooted their cities;
even the memory of them has perished.

The Lord reigns forever;
he has established his throne for judgment.
He rules the world in righteousness
and judges the peoples with equity.
The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations what he has done.
For he who avenges blood remembers;
he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.

Lord, see how my enemies persecute me!
Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,
that I may declare your praises
in the gates of Daughter Zion,
and there rejoice in your salvation.

The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;
their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
The Lord is known by his acts of justice;
the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.
The wicked go down to the realm of the dead,
all the nations that forget God.
But God will never forget the needy;
the hope of the afflicted will never perish.

Arise, Lord, do not let mortals triumph;
let the nations be judged in your presence.
Strike them with terror, Lord;
let the nations know they are only mortal.

Skywarp leaned against Thundercracker's shoulder, coolant tears flowing again. Rumble squeezed Soundwave's hand at one point, and Megatron mustered enough decorum in front of the congregation to stay quiet during the services. At one point, he took another sedative, followed by his leaning against Shockwave's shoulder and nearly falling into recharge.

"We will always miss Starscream," the Dean Emeritus stated at the end of his eulogy to his former pupil, "but we cannot grieve like one that has no hope. There is life beyond this current one, and we will see Starscream again."

At Two in the afternoon, at the conclusion of the Funeral Services, the Dean Emeritus stepped down from the Altar and shook hands with each of the main Decepticons. He was then followed by every Seeker in the Church, beginning with the last row, filing up to the Altar, kissing the Icon of Jesus Christ, then offering sympathy to Starscream's family. The Constructicons, along with the Parish Council, kept everyone in order, and all of them knew not to let Megatron start talking to the mourners and holding up the line again as he had done at Starscream's Rite of Reception.

When it was time to leave, the former Gladiator didn't put up nearly the fuss he had when he entered, instead holding onto his Mother and walking slowly back down the center aisle. Skywarp waited for his Creators to walk with the Coneheads before he climbed back into his wheelchair and let George wheel him back to the limo. Soundwave kept his distance from Megatron, not wanting his presence to rile him up again. Instead, the big blue mech simply held onto his twins and kept his black-visored optics trained on the ground.

There wasn't much talking when they all piled back into their limo, while all the other attendees did the same with their respective vehicles.

Skywarp whimpered in pain from his injuries, making his brother pull him closer. Megatron kept giving Soundwave a dirty glare. And the Tapedeck was growing tired of it.

Soundwave sighed, "I brought the beeper in case you collapsed, nothing more."

The Decepticon Leader simply huffed and looked out the window.

Day Fourteen: Sunday Afternoon Vos, Cybertron Time 2:32 P.M.:

The Funeral procession passed by Starscream and Darkwing's old building on Wires Way, then the Cybertron War Academy, where the flags were all at half-staff, and after another forty minutes or so, they finally arrived at the Vosian Cemetery.

It was even colder at the Cemetery: the winds were howling, and now the snows that had threatened all afternoon had finally arrived full blast.

"I think you should stay in the limo," Thundercracker told his brother.

Skywarp: "No! I wanna come!"

TC: "It's freezing out here, Warp! Can't you just listen to me for once?!"

Skywarp: "No!"

"Figures," the blue Seeker mumbled; George ended up taking Skywarp ahead of everyone else, pushing him clumsily in the wheelchair, bumping over the rough grounds. The young flyer was freezing cold but didn't want to admit it just yet. They got to the site ahead of everyone else so as not to expose the wheelchair or his current condition.

Soundwave picked up Rumble and Frenzy and held them close in the cold winds. And Megatron started crying again as he walked the long walk on the grass with Shockwave and Esmeralda. The Dean Emeritus and his Chanter James leading the way. His black robe flapping in the winds, matched only by the others' black capes bellowing against the typhoon-like conditions.

Ramjet, walking with Thundercracker, his Creators, and the other Coneheads, the white and black Seeker sang to himself aloud, "How do I say goodbye…to what we had…"

Ramjet singing: "The good times that made us laugh…outweighed the bad…I thought we'd get to see forever…But forever's gone away…It's so hard to say goodbye to my homie."

When they arrived at the statue of Starscream's Creator, Darkwing, a green asphalt tarp covered the grounds around it. Chairs and a podium adorned the green covering. Megatron took a chair in the center, and even HE was shivering now. Scrapper passed out roses he had received at the Church for the ceremony. Ratbat staying uncomfortably close to Soundwave and his family.

The Dean Emeritus gave another short prayer in Vosian to open the ceremony before Shockwave took the podium.

"Thank you for coming here today, everyone," the President began, "we are gathered here to honor our beloved Decepticon Air Commander and friend, Starscream, on this…cold, cold day." He was freezing too, but he carried forth, "In the absence of his Cybertronian remains, we dedicate this plaque at the foot of his Sire's monument." He looked at it and read, "Here lays Starscream, beloved son, brother, and Trine Leader. Gone too soon, but never forgotten." The Cannon-Former, along with a Vehicon groundskeeper, secured the small stone tablet in its place above the frozen grounds. The crowd all watched silently as the two groundskeepers welded the stone in place.

Shockwave finished, "On behalf of Megatron, Thundercracker, Skywarp, their Creators, and all the Decepticons, we thank all of you for coming. I invite you all to my Tower in Iacon for the Mercy Meal, where we once again can give the family our sympathies and share our memories of our beloved Starscream."

The crowd began to return to their respective vehicles. Megatron walked back with his Mother and avoided optical contact with Soundwave. Laserbeak stayed with the Seekers while they mourned.

Skywarp wasn't ready to leave. He stood shakily and then leaned on the statue before kneeling on the snowy grounds. He was shaking so badly from the cold, which only stiffened his injured frame further, but he managed to crawl over to the plaque and run his digits over it.

"I-I'm so s-s-sorry, Star," he whispered to the cold stone that bore his Trine Leader's name, "I-I didn't mean to get you killed, I s-swear it…I love you so much." The other Seekers were not standing close enough to hear what he was saying. Thundercracker watched his youngest brother cry over their lost brother, letting him have his time with Starscream.

Skywarp: "I love you, passed the moon and the stars, the planets, and the sun, wrapped around everything times twenty million, bajillion, times infinity! That's how much I love you."

Thundercracker was crying now, too, "I don't know how we're gonna go on without him," he told the Coneheads, "We've been together since we were younglings. I don't know where we're gonna go from here. Just…" he paused to rub at his optics under his visor, "keep his torch going, I guess. Continue what he started…"

Their Creators stood silently together, leaning against each other, thinking of Starscream.

Finally, the blue Seeker saw how much Skywarp was shaking and went to him, "Warpy, we really need to go…"

"Just a little longer, TC?" the younger flyer begged, "I'm not ready…to leave him here."

They stayed another few minutes before the cold got to them, "Come on, buddy," TC finally told him as he pulled him up; they waited until everyone had started back before the black and purple Seeker got back into his wheelchair.

By the time the two Seekers got back to their limo, Skywarp was practically convulsing from the cold. TC blamed himself, and he and Soundwave quickly wrapped the youngest flyer in blankets, and Thundercracker held him next to himself for warmth. The Tapedeck wanted to get on the road, but they had to wait for Shockwave to talk with Ratbat outside their limo.

"Come on, Shockwave," Soundwave grumbled, "we have a very sick mech here."

Megatron seemed to calm again, leaning against his Mother and crying.

"I'm dreadfully sorry," Shockwave apologized as he climbed into the passenger seat of the limo, "I know we must leave now."

George didn't say anything. He just tossed his latest cigarette out the window and began driving.

Day Fourteen: Sunday Afternoon Polyhex, Cybertron Time 3:10 P.M.:

The drive back to Iacon was pretty quiet. Skywarp laid down across Thundercracker's kneeplates and fell asleep. The blue Seeker didn't want to move, simply readjusting the blanket over Skywarp's wings every so often.

"Soundwave," Megatron began, "I'm sorry I keep taking everything out on you. I don't…mean it, really."

Soundwave nodded, "It's alright," it was good to hear. The Tapedeck had Rumble recharging against him and Frenzy about to join him.

"This is Polyhex," Soundwave noted as the limo rolled through the small, suburban town. When they neared the local cemetery, Shockwave asked, "You know, Soundwave, we're a bit ahead of schedule. Would you like us to stop for a few minutes so that you can visit?"

The Tapedeck looked at Megatron, who nodded in silent agreement.

"Go ahead, Soundwave," the Hooded Ma told him.

The 3ic looked over at the sleeping black and purple Seeker, "Is he alright?"

"Oh yeah," Thundercracker noted, "he's sleeping now; he's not shivering like he was."

So, when they arrived at the Polyhexian Cemetery, Soundwave made the short walk to his Bondmate's grave, a humble stone under a tree. His sparklings did not accompany him.

"Pop likes to talk to Mom alone," Rumble explained.

Megatron watched his friend and Communications Officer walking, the black cape billowing in the winds dramatically. Megs noted, "I'll tell you, he's the only one that's really able to pull off the whole look with that cape."

"He's sadly experienced," Esmeralda stated; being a widow herself, she knew the feeling.

"I look like Dracula," Thundercracker laughed, thinking of Skywarp's joke when the younger Seeker first saw him in the attire.

After about ten minutes, Soundwave returned to the limo without saying anything. His conversations with his wife were private.