Of Praxians and Organic Felines: Chappie 3
A/N: HIIIEE! GOMENASAI MINNA! Life has been so hectic lately, even with the recent break for Thanksgiving, and I completely forgot to upload this! *embarrassed blush* It's been sitting on my computer since Tuesday and I've only recently gone back and proofread it... *sheepishly* I know I said I'd get it out earlier than this, but OMG! *grins excitedly* LOOK AT ALL THESE REVIEWS! You all seriously don't know how amazing this is for me~! I'm so happy that you enjoy this little crack fic of mine~! *laughs* Well, here's the last chappie of this little tri-shot! It's the biggest one yet (practically chappies 1 & 2 added together!), so I hope it was worth the wait! Please enjoy it and leave a review on the way out!
Disclaimer: *checks through Cyber Monday sales* ...nope, no listings for the right to the Transformers franchise. Guess I won't be owning it then. Too bad, so sad...
WARNING: Um, so in the summary it warns of mild gore. That's in section 3 if you're a bit skittish or have problems with that. Unfortunately, it is also the main idea of the story. (There's also a scattering throughout section 2.) I won't spoil it for you now, but be careful to all delicate readers out there! ENJOY~!
_The LINE BREAK Is A Lie (Not Really)_
"Thank you for joining us here today," a shadowed figure stood up from their seat at the round table as they addressed the seven other darkened figures in the room, "I trust I don't need to explain the reason we've all gathered, but I would like to stress the importance of this mission. The vital information we pose to gather could greatly affect not only the Autobots as a whole but the entirety of our race. That is why I need to impress upon you the importance of being absolutely certain that you wish to be here." The shadowed figure leaned forward, servos pressing into the table, "There is no room for half-sparked mechs in this mission. Are you all certain you wish to continue?" They looked around at the other seven figures, watching as each of them nodded… except for one who raised a servo.
Sideswipe sighed, deflating a bit, "What is it Mirage?"
The former noble scowled lightly, lowering his servo as he answered, "I have no desire to be here. May I leave?"
"Awww... don't be like tha' 'Raj!" Jazz whined as he reached over to poke his subordinate in the shoulder. "Ya ruined the ominous atmosphere!"
Mirage twitched, regretting his decision to allow Hound to drag him to—whatever this was.
"Yeah, 'Raj, you can't leave! We need your skills if we wanna pull this off!" An enthusiastic Bumblebee chimed in.
"You—you do want to be here, right 'Raj?" Mirage froze as he heard that almost teary tone from Hound. He turned to the mech quickly and gave him a small, slightly panicked smile.
"Of course, Hound! I would not have come if I was opposed to being here!" Mirage reassured the other mech. Trailbreaker snorted from the other side of Hound, muttering something about 'being totally whipped'. Mirage ignored him with practiced ease.
Jazz laughed, "Awesome, mech! Let's get started, 'kay? Here," he pressed a button and suddenly a holographic display light up in the middle of the table, "these are some o' da specs Ah got from Hatchet's files on da structure of doorwings."
As the image was displayed, Blaster was looking at his friend in bewilderment. How had Jazz set up a high-tech holographic display in a storage room that wasn't supposed to be connected to the energy network in less than the ten breems it took for them to get to the "emergency secret meeting" without even hinting that he'd set it up? Then again, Blaster mused to himself as he half-listened to the others talking about the sensitivity of wings in both Seekers and Praxians, Jazz was the Head of the Special Operations division… maybe he really didn't want to know…
"So, now we need to assign groups to collect the information before we plan the next stage! Time's 1640 hours right now… If we assign jobs now, we can meet up tomorrow at the same time to start coming up with a game plan. Jazz, can you and the special ops guys get data on Prowl's movements? Especially on the way he uses his wings." Sideswipe looked at his fellow schemer. Jazz grinned and nodded.
"Sure thing, Siders. You and Sunny gonna do recon on da flight capables?"
Sideswipe grinned, "Yep! Me and Sunny got that!" He yelped as his twin smacked him over the helm.
"Do not call me 'Sunny'! Or at least use proper fragging grammar when you do! Glitch."
Sideswipe laughed, rubbing the back of his helm, "Sorry, Sunflower!" Another clang was ignored as Jazz turned to Hound and Trailbreaker.
"Ya think ya can study up on organic felines and try ta give us a hint of wha' we're gonna deal wit? Smokey did say it's a fairly similar reaction."
Hound grinned, "No problem!" Trailbreaker nodded beside him.
"Great! Now, Blaster, mah mech! Ah want ya ta look into any info on Praxians ya can. Think ya can do tha'?"
"No problem, mah mech!" Blaster smiled at his friend.
"Oh, I think there will be a slight problem."
The eight mechs holding the meeting froze as the door to the storage room slide open to reveal the one mech they didn't want to see.
Prowl stood in the doorway, a light scowl in place. Jazz was the first to move as he leapt toward the holographic display to block it from the other's view.
"Ah! Prowler! Wha're ya doin' down here?" the saboteur laughed lightly.
Prowl raised an optic ridge, "I believe I should be the one questioning you. I distinctly remember catching three of you in this room earlier. Care to explain what you were doing this time?"
Jazz's smile grew nervous and Sideswipe stepped up next to him, an equally tense smile on his face.
"Ah, you see Prowl, we—ah—we were…"
Before Sideswipe could continue, the Decepticon attack alarm sounded.
"RED ALERT! EVERYBOT GET TO YOUR BATTLE STATIONS! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! THE DECEPTICONS HAVE BREECHED THE EXTERIOR PERIMETER! PROWL, I NEED YOU UP HERE NOW! I AM NOT EXAGERATING! GET MOVING!" Red Alert screeched over the general comm.
Prowl's scowl deepened, but he turned to leave.
"All of you will be reporting to me after this battle to discuss exactly what was happening here." The Praxian swept out of the storage room, leaving behind eight slightly relieved yet horrified mechs behind.
"…at least we don't have to hear the lecture now," Sideswipe pointed out.
Sunstreaker growled at his optimism, "Shut up. Now I can't properly enjoy crushing Decepti-scum because you slaggers forgot to find somebot to play lookout."
"I cannot believe I was dragged into this…" Mirage sighed.
"Eh, don' worry 'bout it now. We got 'Cons tha' need ta be taught a lesson!" Jazz smirked, prompting everyone to rush out of the room.
Blaster sighed to himself as he followed, "Ah don' know why but Ah got a bad feeling 'bout this battle…"
_Tense LINE BREAK_
Soundwave stood at attention behind his lord, blank gaze sweeping across the assembled Decepticon troops. His lord's voice boomed across the entirety of the large hanger, the triumphant grin that had appeared on his face earlier still firmly present. However, the loyal communications officer was not paying as diligent attention as he usually did. It wasn't meant as disrespect to his lord! No, not at all. It's just that Soundwave could not stop his thoughts circling back to the reactions of the Seekers…
Now, Soundwave was not a superstitious mech and was not one to follow "instinct" over logic, but he never disregarded what he picked up from other's minds. And the level of fear—terror —that the Seekers had displayed, simultaneously at that, was not something he would dismiss. He would also follow his lord to the pit and back if his lord told him to. So it begged the question of why he was so hesitant to obey Lord Megatron's plan to bot-nap the Autobot SIC and subdue him via doorwing stroking.
He thought back to the images he'd picked up from the Seeker's thoughts. Though blurry and clearly very old, Soundwave could tell that they were memories from Cybertron and were highly emotionally charged. A burning building; unrecognizable frames littering the ground—Soundwave deleted the thought lope that stemmed from a memory that wasn't his. Why would these images come up when the Autobot SIC was mentioned? A message blazing in energon that had clearly come from the decapitated mech laying under it "Don'T tOUcH mE". The glyphs smeared with the imprints of an energon-covered servo around it—Soundwave snapped himself out of the memory, nausea turning his tanks as he forced the feeling that weren't his own away. Was Prowl connected to this?
The cheering of the Decepticons roused Soundwave out of his thoughts. He refocused just in time to hear his lord finishing his speech, the troops roaring in approval of his lord's plan, though Soundwave noticed the Seekers and other natural flyers were silent. He turned to follow his lord out of the hanger as the troops scattered to prepare for the blitz attack. Soundwave hesitated a moment before quickening his pace slightly to stand slightly behind his lord's left side so he could speak and not be overheard by any random mecha.
"My lord. Soundwave: concerned. Seekers: unusual reaction to Autobot Prowl. Request: time to analyze Autobot Prowl."
Megatron growled and swung around to face his TIC, "Are you DARING to question ME?!"
Soundwave bowed to his lord, "Soundwave: would never oppose his lord."
Megatron snorted, "The Decepticons will be attacking in 10 breems, so do NOT question me again. Go get ready! Dismissed."
"Understood, my lord," Soundwave remained bowing as he watched his lord walk away, then turned to prepare himself.
Making his way to the command center, Soundwave frowned slightly behind his mask as the feeling of impending doom only grew heavier. He pushed it away again as he turned to give orders to the scrambling underlings. He would not doubt his lord's plan. Only ordinary mecha actually needed to create plans that involved gathering information and following reason. His lord was not an ordinary mech, so it would follow that his plans were not created normally either. His lord was obviously far superior to any ordinary mech, thus his plans must also be superior to an ordinary mech's plans. Soundwave pushed away the little logical voice that gave exact statistics on how wrong that reasoning was, and continued with his orders.
With the command center in order, Soundwave made his way to the main hanger and took his place behind his lord. The landing platform was raised, and soon the army was on its way. Soundwave contacted his cassettes Frenzy and Ravage, who had been sent out earlier on a sabotage mission to make a hole in the Autobot detection perimeter.
/Ravage. Frenzy: status update./
/Boss! Almost done on our end. Another breem or two and you'll have a clear path!/ Frenzy replied, his smirk apparent even over the comm.
/Decepticon troops: three breems from your position. Suggestion: Stop wasting time./
/Gotcha Boss! We'll finish up here quick then!/
Soundwave cut the transmission and updated his lord. Then he was left to his thoughts again. The bad feeling was now practically a clamp around his tank, and Soundwave knew something horrible was going to happen on this mission. He subtly looked upward at the Seekers. They were currently flying in mech form in order to keep pace with the slower ground troops, and Soundwave could easily see the terror in their optics as they drew closer to the Autobot base. Most of them were able to keep a fairly blank façade, but there were a few shaking midair, looking like they wanted nothing more than to turn away and flee back to the half-dead Cybertron. Skywarp in particular looked like he was hyperventilating, plating visibly rattling and flight path as wobbly as a new-sparked flyer. Soundwave didn't dare scan their thoughts again.
They quickly came upon Frenzy and Ravage's position, and Soundwave swept down to pick them up, returning the cassettes to their place in his chassis.
The Decepticons were ten breems from the ARK when the wail of alarms filled the air, sharp in what had been mostly silence as the planet's star gleamed from a low position in the sky.
"DECTPICONS! ATTACK!" Megatron bellowed.
Following their lord's instructions, the triple changers charged helm first toward the oncoming Autobots that were headed their way. The other grounders picked scattered positions behind boulders and other natural formations, setting up shooting positions. The Autobots were forced to scramble to avoid incoming shots.
"OPTIMUS PRIME!" Megatron bellowed as he charged his usual opponent.
This time, however, his challenge was the signal for the Stunticons to form Menasor. The Decepticon Gestalt barreled forward, intent on destruction, but was stopped as the Aerialbots formed up Superion. As soon as the Autobot's main air defense was gone, the Seekers scattered in a confusing pattern and began running ground strikes, kicking up a fairly astonishing amount of dirt in the process. Soundwave took the opportunity to pause and do a mind sweep of the entire battlefield, leaning heavily onto the boulder at his back as he felt his power reserves draining. Finally, he located his target.
/Autobot Prowl: located. Sending coordinates./ As soon as he sent the message to the Seekers, Soundwave began jamming all comm. systems, simultaneously releasing Ravage, Frenzy, and Rumble to create a bigger havoc on the battlefield. Soon enough, the ground was shaking as the twins created earthquakes and Ravage was weaving between the troops, randomly causing chaos with his blitz attacks.
The Autobots never had a chance to notice Skywarp's disappearance until a loud crack was heard behind the Autobot lines and Prowl's voice dropped from the only secure line left. Soundwave called back his cassettes as the Autobots panicked, merely watching as his lord took the opportunity to disengage from the Prime. The Decepticons withdrew as soon as their lord did, forming a wall of armor in between the Autobot troops and Megatron just as Skywarp reappeared hovering in the air slightly behind the warlord, a stunned Prowl in his grasp. The Seeker looked like he wanted to cry as he gently (for a Decepticon) set the Praxian next to Megatron, disappearing the moment he was no longer in contact with the Autobot. Soundwave glanced upward to see Skywarp clutching at Thundercracker, the usually stoic Seeker holding him close with a grim look on his face. Starscream hovered in front of his trine-mates, his plating visibly shaking, but with a look of grim determination. For what, Soundwave didn't know, but he didn't like what it implied…
Soundwave returned his attention to his lord just as Megatron grabbed the Praxian by the back of his neck and hoisted him up so that the rest of the Autobots could see him. A victorious grin was etched across Megatron's face, his ruby optics narrowed in glee, as he watched the Autoscum's faceplates go slack in horror.
"Optimus Prime. It seems I've won. Put down your weapons unless you want me to crush his helm!" Megatron roared, shaking the Praxian slightly to emphasize his point.
"Autobots! …Lower your weapons." The Prime looked pained as he said this, optics focused on a smirking Megatron. "What do you plan to do, Megatron?"
The Decepticon warlord laughed, "What do I plan to do? I plan to eradicate you pests! Starting with this one!" He shook the captured Praxian in his grasp, then continued with glee, "Of course, not before I break him and strip him of every bit of useful data!"
Ironhide growled from his position behind Optimus and took a step forward, but the Autobot leader held him back. The rest of the Autobot forces tensed but remained in place. Soundwave looked at the other Autobots, seeing faces of worry or fear for their captured SIC, but nothing that justified the awful feeling that something BAD was about to happen… until he looked at the two other Praxians. Those two had looks of fear and horror, yes, but it wasn't aimed at Megatron. No, it took a mere astrosecond for Soundwave to realize they were looking at Prowl. Their little brother, if his data was correct (which it always was). Soundwave glanced at the Aerialbots, but they were still formed into the single entity Superion, and Soundwave couldn't get a good read on them. Though, judging from frame position, it looked like the giant mech wanted to run away…
He ran a light scan of the two brothers' surface thoughts, but only received a jumbled mess. 'Primus, not again! Anything but that! Nononononono… so much energon—IT'S EVERYWHERE! Make it stop! Make it STOP! He's gonna snap! Not again. Not AGAIN! Primus, please! Pleasepleaseplease… I DON'T WANT TO DIE! Soundwave cut off the mental connection as feelings of terror started to overwhelm him, all directed at a certain black and white Praxian held by his lord.
Soundwave was hesitant as he turned his attention back to his lord, or more accurately, to the Praxian still passively hanging from his lord's grasp. Megatron was ranting again, a habit his lord had, but Soundwave ignored him completely for once, drawing up his all courage and mental power as he watched the Praxian. Soundwave reached out hesitantly to scan the Autobot's thoughts.
The total and utter blankness of Prowl's mind confirmed Soundwave's fear. He had found the source of that bad feeling… And he knew.
Soundwave knew that they were totally and utterly screwed.
_Hysterically Laughing LINE BREAK_
Prowl knew he should have gone back into recharge that morning as he felt Skywarp slam something into the back of his helm. It wasn't often he had days he felt like that, but anytime he did have one, he knew it was going to turn out awful. Today was no different. The feeling was certainly justified as he felt himself being pulled along in the Seeker's teleportation. Prowl really hated his luck sometimes… especially when he realized he'd been dumped at the pedes of Megatron.
His day actually wasn't so bad at first. He had gotten a solid joor of recharge (about 6 hours in human terms), had his ornly ration of energon, and was in his office and working on his daily dose of datapads by 0800 hours. However, everything went to the pit from there. It started out with the minibots, which was something of a new experience for Prowl since it didn't usually start with them. He wasn't entirely sure what had occurred before he'd been called away from his datawork, but the results had included (but were not limited to) the entire minibot force having Bumblebee's paint scheme and him having to clear them out of a storage room they'd apparently turned into a shrine for… actually, Prowl really didn't want to remember… it was disturbing enough the first time around.
From there he'd been called by Optimus to take care of Red Alert who had locked himself in his—the security center. The paranoid mech refused to let anyone in, including Ratchet and the Prime, and Prowl had spent around 15 breems trying to talk him into unlocking the door. By that time, he had spent a good half joor away from his datawork. Which, he discovered, had "miraculously" multiplied in the time he'd been away.
He had only finished a quarter of the new datapads when he was called away again by Ratchet for his decaornly system check, which he had previously been unaware of (or just deliberately ignored). And by called away, Prowl meant that the medic of doom had threatened him with a full system flush if he wasn't down there in 5 breems. By the time he was out of the medic's lair, it was already 1630 and he was a mere two thirds of the way done with his deskwork. However, he never got back to his office. As he passed by that one hall again, Prowl had detected voices. With a vague feeling of déjà vu, he followed the sounds to the exact same storage room. Prowl was tempted to 'face-palm', but decided to push the feeling aside and confront the annoyances. It had not gone as planned with Red Alert's alarm sounding, but he wasn't going to forget about it.
The Praxian realized he was blanking out when he felt Megatron lifting him into the air by the back of his neck. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, to be picked up like an unruly sparkling, but Prowl didn't dare move incase Megatron decided to crush him. It annoyed him when the warlord decided to shake him, but he remained limp in the threatening hold.
Prowl scowled lightly as he listened to Megatron boast to Optimus, but froze slightly when the warlord said something about breaking him. Prowl didn't like his implications, and he really didn't like being touched…
Prime was scowling behind his mask, hating the situation Megatron had created, but was forced to hold back a growling Ironhide incase Megatron decided to crush his SIC's helm. Jazz was stock still where he stood further to Prime's right, servos clenched in frustration as he watched his sometimes-almost-friend taken hostage by the Decepticon glitches. Sure, Prowl could use some work loosening up, but he was a caring mech at spark, and Jazz was very familiar with Decepticon torture methods. No Autobot would go through that if he had something to say about it! (And this was one of the few cases he did have a say as a fellow Autobot and not just as the Spec Ops Commander.)
Jazz opened an emergency comm. link with Mirage.
/Do ya think ya can get 'im?/
/I will try./ Jazz let out a mental sigh at Mirage's firm answer.
/Wait for mah signal./ Jazz ordered, watching Megatron closely.
"It's hopeless Prime! Unless you want to surrender now and give up the war, you WILL be letting my Decepticons go! Or would you rather see your pretty little Praxian commander with his helm cracked open?" Megatron laughed, leering down at the Praxian in his grasp.
"You FRAGGER!" Ironhide yelled, but he was quieted by Optimus.
"Megatron, what do you think you'll gain from this?" Optimus spoke steadily, pushing his fear and anger down. A calming pulse from the matrix helped, but the Prime could still feel his spark pulsing faster than normal as his processor whirled through calculations. He glanced to his right at Jazz and felt a bit of relief at the minuscule nod from the saboteur.
Optimus focused back on Megatron as the warlord laughed at his question.
"I plan to end this war once and for all with my VICTORY, Prime! Now, withdraw your forces or watch me crush the spark out of your little pet!" Megatron smirked.
"GLITCH! Prowl ain't anyone's pet! Get your slagging servos OFF him, you DIM SPARKED TURBO-RAT!" Ironhide roared as he tried to surge forward again.
Jazz was about to take advantage of all the attention Ironhide was bringing to himself when he happened to glance at Prowl, who was still limp in Megatron's grip. He paused just before giving Mirage the signal at the completely blank look in the Praxian's optics. Now, Jazz may have not known the slightly cold Praxian officer all that well, but he liked to think of himself as a master at reading mechs and he'd been around Prowl for a good chunk of his career as head of Special Ops. He'd seen the mech amused; he'd seen him angry; he'd seen him grieving… heck, Jazz had even seen him mildly aroused (it was a weird experience to say the least), but Jazz had never, NEVER seen Prowl like this…
/Mirage, hold up a bit… somethin's off with Prowler./
/What is it?/
/Look at 'im./
Mirage huffed a bit, /He looks like he is being held hostage by an insane megalomaniac with ambitious universe-dominating aspirations that will never come true. What else am I to be seeing?/
/…look at his optics./
Jazz heard the other gasp slightly. /…oh…/
/Yeah. "Oh"…/
Optimus was trying to hold a furious Ironhide back and was slightly relieved when Ratchet came up behind the other, smacking the raging mech upside the helm, and dragged him back with him. He turned back to see Megatron still smirking like he knew something the Autobots didn't.
"Not a pet, you say? Ah, my ignorant little Autodolts, I must say I disagree," Megatron practically purred (which creeped more than a few mechs out), "Want me to show you why? I'll make your precious little Praxian do whatever I want… just by doing this." Megatron moved Prowl closer to him, keeping the captured mech facing his comrades, and began to stroke his free servo across the captured Praxian's doorwings.
The Autobots froze in horror as the Decepticons all smirked. Well, all the Decepticons still there. It seemed the only ones to notice the missing Seekers were Jazz and Mirage. Jazz mentally amended the list of present Decepticons when he noticed a missing Soundwave. The saboteur glanced at their own forces and realized that Smokescreen and Bluestreak had also disappeared with all of their Aerials. It was a few seconds when other mechs started to notice something was off. The silence that had settled across the battlefield was oddly eerie as Megatron continued to pet the captured Praxian.
Megatron frowned as he looked down at the Praxian he was petting. He growled slightly when the stupid Autoglitch showed no signs of complacency. He roughly scrapped his servo down one doorwing, trying to incite a reaction from the silent mech in his grasp.
"What the slag? STARSCREAM! You worthless glitch, DID YOU LIE TO ME?!" He roared (at nothing), "Tch, no matter… He's still my prisoner! I'll force him—" Megatron paused as Prowl turned to look at him. It was the first time the Praxian had moved on his own since he'd been captured.
The Decepticons looked back at their leader, confused when the warlord cut himself off.
Megatron finally started to notice something was off with the Praxian he held captive. He fought back the urge to drop his prisoner at the almost dead look in the others optics, his servo spasming slightly, but before he could realize it, Prowl had a light grip on his wrist. The silence returned.
"What do you think you're doing, Megatron."
Megatron felt his spark shudder at the question that was not a question. It wasn't that it was spoken in a terrifying manner or something like that! If anything, it was a calm and slightly amused tone, like the warlord had done something mildly stupid to embarrass himself. Megatron shook his helm, trying to get rid of the fear that had settled there.
"How dare you speak, scum! You—"
Before he could continue, Megatron suddenly found himself being flipped over a suddenly moving Praxian and slammed into the ground. He felt something crack beneath him and pain flare throughout his entire frame as a loud BOOM echoed across the battlefield, startling both sides. When the dust settled, everyone was startled to see the warlord on his back in a small crater with a calm Prowl staring down at him. Suddenly, a small smile graced the Praxian's face.
"Ah, ah, ah, Megatron. I don't believe that was what I asked…" Prowl tsked down at the stunned gun-former, a light teasing tone in his words.
Megatron looked up into white optics, vision taking a bit to refocus, and growled as he tried to push himself up. A kick to the side of his helm sent him tumbling to the side, and he landed roughly on his chassis a few meters away
"Now, now. No need for any of that~! You should respect your betters and answer properly when they ask you a question. Were you never taught proper etiquette?" Prowl laughed softly, a tinkling sound that rang loudly in the silence. A genuine smile spread across his face as his optics softened, still an eerie white.
The Praxian sauntered over to the downed warlord, who was pushing himself up, and grabbed him by the back of his neck, gently bending the warlord backward to look up at him.
"I'm not fond of repeating myself, but I'll make an exception this time. Now, answer me this: just what do you think you were doing?" Prowl smiled down at the silently scowling warlord. Prowl vented slightly in disappointment when there was no answer, his serene smile slipping into a pout, "Aw… you're not going to say anything? I guess I'll have to punish you then, huh?"
The surrounding mechs could only watch in horror as Prowl's optics bled from white to a dark crimson red almost faster than they could comprehend, his smile taking on an insane twist as he bared sharp fangs for all to see. The Praxian slammed Megatron's face into the ground harshly, grinding it into the rocky surface. He let go only to grab the larger mech by his shoulder guard and throw him into the air (much to the disbelief of his audience). Prowl followed Megatron up into the air, lithe frame spinning at the apex of his arc to slam one pede on the warlord's helm, driving the large mech back to the ground at an amazing speed and leaving another (abet larger) crater. The sun glinted from behind the Praxian, blocking out most of his features except for his terrifying crimson optics and part of his insane smile.
Prowl straightened as he came down, his entire frame aimed at Megatron, and everyone watching flinched at the crunching sound and Megatron's roar of pain as the rampaging Praxian landed on the warlord's arm cannon, crushing it like it was made from earthen clay. Prowl was laughing softly as he backed away from the downed Decepticon leader with a little skip.
"Aw, what's wrong, oh might Decepticon Lord? Not gonna say anything?" Prowl laughed again, watching as Megatron tried to pull himself up only to have to stay kneeling as he coughed up energon. Prowl swayed backward a bit as Megatron lunged at him, a furious look in the warlord's optics. An impassive look came over his face as Megatron reeled back with a pain filled bellow, the gun-former's left arm missing from the elbow guard down. The limb hit the ground with a loud thunk as the surrounding mechs all watched Prowl casually flick fresh energon off his servo that now held a glowing dagger.
Prowl tsked in annoyance, "I just finished buffing the polish this morning too…" he muttered before turning burning red optics on the injured warlord, "I thought I told you," he kicked Megatron squarely in the chassis, just over his spark chamber if the howl of pain was anything to go on, sending the mech sprawling onto his back, "Respect." The dagger flashed as it sank into the right knee guard with a hiss, "Your." More energon splattered onto the ground the dagger was removed, only to be plunged back into the same leg a bit higher, "Betters." The dagger ripped a large gash from its position up to Megatron's right hip, the armor crumpling like it was made out of copper. Prowl ripped the dagger from the half destroyed leg, a small smirk on his face at the pained cries. A vicious kick to the damaged leg brought out another howl of pain as the Praxian started circling the downed mech.
Megatron tried not to whimper as the insane mech circled him. He couldn't believe this was happening! A small piece of trash like this wasn't supposed to be able to damage him this much! He was MEGATRON the leader of the Decepticons! He wasn't supposed to be beaten by an insignificant Praxian! He pulled himself up, his remaining servo stabilizing him as he favored the injured leg, and glared at the smirking Autoscum in front of him.
The surrounding mechs could only watch in rising horror at the stupidity of Megatron as the warlord growled at the furious mech that was quite literally ripping him apart.
"I will kill you—" the threat was cut off as Prowl delivered a vicious back-servo slap to his face. The Praxian grabbed Megatron's jaw, forcing the stunned warlord to face him, and leaned in with an amused sneer.
"I think you're misunderstanding something, little lord. The thing is, you are not going to do anything. I, however, will be teaching you a lesson in manners." Prowl smiled cruelly as he released the warlord, his grip leaving dents on Megatron's jaw. "You see, I really don't like it when my doorwings are touched. It's a very personal and intimate thing for Praxians, and for some bot to just touch them without permission… well, it makes me very mad. Understand? And you," here he laughed loudly, "YOU just decided to go ahead and pet them without so much as a by your leave!" Prowl laughter cut off abruptly as he looked at the warlord. Megatron couldn't stop the whimper this time at the look in the red optics. He jumped as Prowl disappeared from his view in a spark beat, only to yelp in terror as he felt the smaller mech behind him, gripping his shoulder tightly.
"You will regret it."
The hissed words were the only warning he got before he was once again thrown to the ground. More energon was coughed up, turning the dirt into gross pinkish mud, before screams of agony rang out across the still battlefield as Prowl slowly crushed Megatron's remaining servo. Another blow to his helm silenced the screaming, the Praxian seemingly annoyed with the sound now as he reached down and viciously ripped the throat apart to get at the vocal box. Several horrified mechs noted at the back of their minds that the Praxian was being extremely careful not to rip the main fuel or energon lines out, just the vocal box.
Prowl straightened and moved further down the warlord's prone frame, once again bringing out his twin energon daggers. He drove them into the downed mech's shoulder guards and left them there. Every mechs shuddered at the amused laughter of the Praxian at the warlord's silent screams. Some had already glitched and were curled up on the ground, whimpering and shaking in terror. Others were holding onto comrades and silently wailing in horror. Prowl ignored all of it as he focused on his victim, taking time in destroying the remaining leg before heading back up to crouch beside the warlord's helm. Looking into Megatron's optics, Prowl waited until they cleared enough to recognize the Praxian's presence right in front of him.
Prowl smirked slightly at the fear that was prominent in Megatron's optics when the other finally realized there was no new pain. Keeping optic contact, Prowl casually reached over the warlord's shoulders to grab the energon daggers and yank them out. Playing with the daggers now in his servos, Prowl smiled down at the pained and terrified Decepticon leader.
Megatron flinched as Prowl reached towards him, patting him softly on the top of the helm like he was some sort of turbo-dog, "You know, you're pretty lucky! Do you know why?" he asked. Megatron shook his helm furiously.
Prowl frowned at the silence before he seemed to remember something, "Oh, that's right! You can't answer me properly because I ripped out your voice box… hmm, too bad," he mused before smiling happily down at Megatron, "But don't worry, little Megsie, I won't be mad at you for that! Do you want me to tell you why you're lucky?" The warlord nodded hesitantly, trying not to annoy the Praxian.
Prowl giggled, a sound that had many mechs crying in fear, "You're lucky because I have very good restraint! If this had happened while we were still on Cybertron… well, let's just say there would be no more war~! So, see? You're very lucky because you're still online, conscious even! And you don't even have very much permanent damage!" Everyone backed up even further at that comment as they took in the warlord's shredded appearance, energon liberally decorating the area surrounding the two with scraps of metal everywhere. It was worse than almost any horror show or novel back on Cybertron. And this was Prowl with control?!
The horrified silence made Prowl laugh harder.
"Yes, yes, it's true! I learned sooo much patience when I joined Optimus' crew! Back when I was still a civilian in Praxius, I didn't have nearly this much control over my temper! But luckily this kind of thing only happened once, during a festival with Vos. One of the visiting Seekers got a bit too friendly and I didn't like it~… I think I might have scared a lot of mecha when I was teaching him a lesson about personal space!" He giggled again as comprehension started to dawn in Megatron's optics as he realized why the Seekers had been acting oddly along with Soundwave. "When I was done, he and his buddies understood personal space and respect quite well. It really was too bad he couldn't do much of anything after though..."
Megatron shook silently as he watched Prowl straighten. Finally, the Praxian's optics faded back into a purple hue before returning to his normal dark blue. Prowl turned and walked back towards the ARK, ignoring the surrounding armies as they cleared a path for him. As he walked, he looked down at his frame, pouting slightly as he realized he was covered in Megatron's energon.
Prowl sighed, "And I just finished polishing myself too… Such a waste."
The entirety of the battlefield let out a silent sigh of relief as the insane Praxian disappeared in to the ARK, a low thump sounding as Megatron finally passed out.
_Stunned LINE BREAK_
The silence lasted for a few more breems before a loud CRACK startled everyone. Skywarp had reappeared above the battlefield with Starscream and Thundercracker. He disappeared again only to return a moment later with Soundwave. The Air Commander moved to hover in front of Optimus, the other two Seeker flanking him, as Soundwave went over to his downed leader.
"I think it would be appropriate for us to withdraw. I have a feeling Megatron will want to be rethinking a lot of things if—after he wakes up…" Starscream paused, "And please tell Prowl that this wasn't the Seeker's idea at all," he said seriously to a stunned Prime. The Decepticons were quick to follow the Seeker's lead and withdraw, Soundwave literally dragging the injured frame of his leader with him, heading back to their base before the Autobots could react.
Jazz watched the enemy retreat, thoughts still occupied with Prowl's sudden personality change and his vicious and slightly demonic beat-down of Megatron.
Sunstreaker was the first to break the newly settled silence with an awed "Damn."
Sideswipe laughed, optics glowing as he bounced in place. The red frontliner was quick to start up a thrilled commentary about what had just happened, enthusiastically recounting every moment as he ranted at his brother, arms flailing everywhere.
"… Ya know, if Ah'd known Prowler could do tha' when he was pissed off, Ah woulda aimed him at the 'Cons a long time ago…" Jazz mused.
Optimus gave him a Look and Ratchet snorted from his position next to an injured Wheeljack, his servos buried in the mass of exposed wires and cables showing at the hip. Ironhide looked like he wanted to glitch, his optics switching rapidly from the ARK to where Megatron's unconscious frame had been only a few breems ago. The weapons specialist made a distressed noise and looked at Ratchet, who just laughed knowingly when he noticed it, and Ironhide was quick to turn to Optimus. The Prime, however, looked just as confused despite the Look he was giving the cheekily grinning Jazz.
Mirage sighed as he fazed back into view beside Hound, who had sparkles in his optics as he rambled to Trailbreaker about how Prowl acted exactly like a cat who was pissed off. The former noble face-palmed and groaned at the idiocy he was fated to be surrounded by. He scowled at Trailbreaker when the other mech patted him on the back sympathetically. Bumblebee was chuckling softly as Cliffjumper clung to his back like he was trying to wield himself to the yellow mech. The rest of the Autobots were in similar condition to Cliffjumper.
Sunstreaker was finally annoyed enough to smack Sideswipe upside the helm.
"Would you shut the frag up already?! It just happened! We don't need your commentary!"
Sideswipe laughed, "Aw, Sunny~, you know it was hot! I never knew how sexy Prowlie could be when he was mad!"
Sunstreaker growled and smacked his brother again, "DON'T CALL ME SUNNY!"
"HA! You didn't deny he was hot! I CALL DIBS!"
_End LINE BREAK_
A/N: Muahahaha! Lesson learned: Never pet Prowl. So, what do you think? Hilarious right? This little bad boy was spawned of a couple bunnies I found on the bunny farm and they wouldn't leave me alone! Review and tell me what you think! Spot mistakes or sentences that could use major clarification, feel free to leave a comment! I can always improve my writing~! [But for all potential flamers: Beware. My Seeker Trine is better than yours, and they are hard to keep in line.] Have an idea you want to send me or something you want me to write about? I don't mind! PM me and I'll try not to drop off the grid on you! And special thanks to all my reviewers: Rebel Fire Dark Claw, Fluffydruid, Giddy (guest), theoHIangurl, Toa Nonny, child of Jon snow, igeegeei, HeartsGuardianSol, Secret (guest), OceanSprings, Katanna Cain, Charizgrovsion, 2211Nighthawk, CarsCars2Fanatic, Daniel (guest), smokiesgirl, gillian of arenal, and all the unnamed guests! *squee* You all are amazing and I love you! Till next time~ R. Owl