Author's note. Sorry for taking so long to update, as I'm sure some of you know, I've been busy with several other stories including my other Armada fic, The Transformer Kids. If you haven't read it, check it up and leave me a little review.
Anyway, despite getting punished, the kids still manage to find more trouble.
Also, this isn't a Starscream/Alexis story, though I am fond of that pairing. But Starscream has grown somewhat fond of his charge but like any one would after looking after something. Just to make this clear.
Also it's been suggested that I introduce some other Armada characters and I'm thinking of doing that but which ones do you want to see? With thanks to Cutlass-Cougar who gave me some great suggestions for this chapter.
Enjoy and please review.
With a small grunt, Starscream awoke and on-lined his optics. As he sat up, his gaze travelled to a small cage next to his berth, inside of which was a small form. As he squinted at her, she shifted uneasily, her body curled tightly up as she clung to the material she was lying on.
As he watched, he felt his Spark twist slightly at the sight, knowing that he had caused most of her pain the night before. But he'd been so worried and angry, when he'd caught them trying to escape that he had reacted, and had punished them. But a part of him wondered if three spankings were really necessary, especially as he'd been made to give the third. But it was Megatron's orders and he had to carry them out, so there was nothing to be done.
But as he leaned over the cage Alexis was in, she gave a small whimper of pain and he saw the lines of pain etched in her face. This managed to make him feel slightly guiltier than he already was, but brushing it away, he said.
"Are you awake, Alexis?"
"Yes," she answered softly, still hugging her pillow tightly.
"I hoped you recharged well," Starscream said as he got up from his berth and stretched out his joints.
"Very well," she replied in an even softer voice.
Starscream frowned at the tone but shook it off. As he reached for a cup of Energon, he remembered that she needed to eat, it had been a while since the children had last been fed. He nodded to his Minicon Swindle, sending him an order over the comm., to get Alexis some food and to remind Demolisher and Cyclonus to do the same.
After finishing his cup, he got up and attended to his after recharge ritual of limbering up, so that he was fully prepared for the cycle ahead. After doing that, he sat down again, and taking a cloth gave his gun a quick polish, it didn't do to neglect his weapons.
As he finished, he saw that the young human still hadn't moved and this concerned him. Reaching over, he unlocked the top of the cage and reached in to gently lift her out. She sat up his hand, not smiling as he placed her on the table top. Shoving a small bowl of water towards her, he said.
"You can use that to wash up if you like."
"Thank you," she said with a very small smile.
Out of the corner of his optic, he watched her give her face and hands a scrub with the cold water. She shivered slightly but didn't seem to really mind that much. But then she lowered her mouth to the water and sucked some of it out. And after swirling it, she spat into the container she had used the night before, and he remembered how they'd been punished.
He couldn't help but give a small smile, they'd actually had the gall to swear at Megatron of all Mechs. Unfortunately for them, Megatron did not permit children to curse and had made the Minicons wash their mouths out with soap. Hopefully that would have cured them of their cheeky tongues, is not, his leader wouldn't hesitate to do the same again and again, until they learned their lesson.
When the girl had finished, she sat down with a sigh, now watching him. He pretending he didn't notice and starting tinkering with some computer components. There was silence until Swindle arrived back with the food.
After handing Alexis a bowl of food which resembled red porridge, Swindle beeped to his master, that he com'd the over Minicons to ensure the boys were fed. Starscream nodded, showing his Minicon he was pleased and the two of them started working on different bits of equipment together.
Eventually he heard the sound of something scrapping and saw Alexis mopping up the last few scraps with her fingers. She gave him a smile of gratitude as she finished and then went to wash her hands again. Considering the way she'd wolfed her food down, he'd have to make sure she was feed more often.
He suddenly remembered how the kids had entertained them all yesterday, he'd quite enjoyed it. But then he frowned, though Megatron had said he'd reward them, he still hadn't and was probably unlikely to do so now. But that didn't mean he could do something for the kids.
Some time later.
"What do you want?" Demolisher asked as he answered the door and saw Starscream standing there with Alexis.
"I want your charge for something," Starscream said.
Demolisher rubbed his forehead and optics irritably, it was clear he wanted to go back to his berth. Though he didn't sleep like Cyclonus slept, he hated being disturbed when he was.
"What for?" he grumbled as Alexis craned her neck, trying to spot Rad.
"I want to show them something, I'll bring him back straight afterwards," Starscream said simply.
Demolisher gave another grumble but he disappeared into his room and returned a moment later with Rad in his hand. After handing him to Starscream , he said.
"Be sure to bring him back," and promptly closed the door.
Starscream next went to Cyclonus's room, but instead of knocking, just went in and took Carlos off the sleeping helicopter's chest.
"Huh?" said Carlos as he woke up. "What's happening?"
"I don't know," replied Rad. "Alexis?"
"I'm not sure...." Alexis suddenly gasped as Starscream stopped and held them up to gaze out of a window.
There in front of them, in all its shinning glory, was the Earth. The kids were all spellbound as they took in their home planet, it seemed both small and huge at the same time.
"Oh my," Alexis exclaimed as Carlos went, "Wow."
Rad didn't say anything but he was no less awestruck by the sight before their eyes. There, in all its glory, was the Earth, a shimmering jewel of blue and green. The kids couldn't say anything for several minutes, and then Alexis turned to Starscream with tears of happiness and said just two words.
"Thank you."
Later in the day.
Carlos's POV.
When you are punished, you normally back down and resolve to behave. However, if you were Carlos, you simply fumed about getting punished and tried to think of ways to get even. Earlier, after waking up, Carlos had moped a bit before Cyclonus had been woken by Swindle to remind him to feed his charge.
Grumbling, Cyclonus had done that, handing Carlos a bowl of dried food and a bottle of water, before going back to sleep. Carlos himself had then gone back to sleep, after eating his breakfast and seeing that Cyclonus wasn't going to be waking any time soon.
And then Starscream had come and had taken the kids to see the Earth from their position on the Moon and it had been one of the most extraordinary experiences of Carlos's life. Unfortunately, it hadn't lasted long and Carlos had found himself back in Cyclonus's room with nothing to do. That is until he decided to play a little prank on the sleeping Decepticon.
He'd put together a greasy ball of oil and some strange thick stuff that reminded him of lard. He'd even constructed a crude catapult so that he could launch it, all he had to was wait of the right moment....
"Cyclonus, are you just going to laze around all day?" a loud voice suddenly demanded as a large purple and green Mech entered the room.
Taken by surprise, Carlos accidently stamped on his launcher and the next second Megatron got the surprise of his life as an oily ball hit him right in the face.
"Opps," Carlos said as Megatron slowly turned to glare at him, oil dripping down his face. "Sorry man, I wasn't aiming for you."
Five swats later, Megatron stormed out the room leaving Carlos once again lying on his front, muttering about old grouches that couldn't take a joke. As he grumbled, Cyclonus chose that moment to finally wake up. Rubbing his optics, he looked at Carlos and frowned.
"Hey, what's with you?"
Carlos's reply was a curse which thankfully Cyclonus didn't understand due to that fact it was in Spanish. He got the jest however.
"Hey," he said sternly, giving Carlos a poke in the side. "Don't you get snippy with me just cause you woke up in a bad mood."
Carlos just growled under his breath, swatting away Cyclonus's poking finger. He swore that somehow he'd get his own back on that overgrown stag beetle. One way or another.
Rad's POV.
Rad hummed slightly to himself as he scrubbed. After being taken but to Demolisher's after getting to see the Earth with his friends, he'd been forced to hang about while the large Decepticon slept. It wasn't too bad as it meant he could explore the room he was in.
That had actually been quite fun but finally he saw Demolisher waking up, and scrambled back to his place on the worktop next to the box he'd been made to sleep in. Once Demolisher had woken properly and had some Energon, he'd eyed Rad, obviously wondering what he was going to do with him.
In the end, the Decepticon had decided Rad could make himself useful and set him to cleaning several pieces of strange looking machinery. And Rad had actually been happy to do it, it was something to do and it wasn't too tedious.
But for some reason, Demolisehr got grumpy over something and told Rad he was taking a nap.
"I'm not having a nap," Rad said incredulously. "I've only been up for a few hours, there's no way I'm doing that.
"I said," Demolisher said in an ominous voice. "Go. To. Sleep. Now."
"No," Rad said stubbornly, glaring right back.
And the beige Decepticon had simply given him a good spanking. Surveying his limp chastised charge, Demolisehrt picked him up and placed him in the box he'd slept in before.
"And if you even move one muscle from there," Demolisher growled. "You'll get more of the same, understand."
"Yes," Rad muttered, now to sore to move anyway.
He buried his head in his arms, sometimes it really felt like he and his friends just couldn't get it right with the Decepticons. And somehow, he had a nasty feeling that said friends weren't getting off with anything either.
Alexis's POV.
"Where are you taking me?" Alexis asked as Starscream carried her through the Decepticon base corridors.
"You're going to spend the rest of this cycle with Megatron," the red Seeker replied. "There are some things I must get from Earth and then I'm going to be spending some time practicing my sword thrusts."
"Megatron?" Alexis said with a grimace. "Can't I come with you, I'd be good."
Starscream just smiled and shook his head.
"Sorry Alexis but you're staying here, where you won't escape."
"I wouldn't try to escape," Alexis insisted. "Not when Rad and Carlos are still here."
"Is that so?" Starscream chuckled. "Well, Megatron won't allow you to go in any case, so there's no point trying to convince me otherwise."
Alexis gave in, seeing that his guardian wasn't going to change his mind. They continued the journey in silence till they came to the throne room where Megatron was sitting, resting the side of his head on his fist. He appeared to be watching something but Alexis couldn't make out what it was.
The purple and green Mech smirked as they approached and held out a hand for Alexis.
"Ah Starscream, you've brought my little pet to entertain me, how thoughtful," he said, sneering down at Alexis as he took hold of her.
She grimaced as she was roughly stroked and petted, was it her imagination or did Megatron seem to have extra rough fingers today. Starscream gave her a quick pat and with a farewell, 'Be good', he left.
As Megatron continued to paw at her like she was some sort of doll, Alexis twisted round so that she could see what he'd been watching. To her surprise, it looked like some sort of Earth channel, was Megatron trying to learn more about human culture.
"You would think," Megatron now said as he ran her hair through his fingers, she really hated it when he did that. "That with the thousands of Minicons that landed on this Planet, there would be more clues as to their whereabouts."
Ah, that's what Megatron was up to, he was trying to find Minicons by searching through all the Earth channels in case one happened to mention something about the jade coloured Minicon shields. It actually made a lot of sense, and she decided that when she and the boys got back to Earth, that's what they'd do, hunt for clues on the web about the Minicons whereabouts.
Suddenly, she was placed on Megatron's arm rest but he wasn't even looking at her. As she stared, he reached out a finger to lightly caress her back.
"Dance for me," Megatron ordered offhandedly.
Alexis frowned, he hadn't even said please, but decided she should do as he had asked.
As she went through her normal routine, Megatron continued watching the footage, sometime glancing down at her and smirking. She ignored him until he said to himself.
"Pathetic."
She looked up and saw he was now reviewing battles with the Autobots here on Earth, she hadn't realised the Decepticons recorded their fights. She realised it was one of the few battles, the Autobots hadn't done well in and Megatron was currently sneering at Hotshot.
"What is Prime teaching those soldiers of his, I've seen Femmes fight better than that."
"What do you mean?" Alexis said indignantly. "Are you saying girls can't fight?"
"Not at all, my dear," Megatron said in a voice dripping with condescension while he petted her on the head. "But surely you must admit that a Minicon could fight better than the way he's fighting."
Hotshot wasn't a bad soldier, he'd suffered an accident before the battle and hadn't had time to get properly fixed up. But here was Megatron making out that this was how things typically went for the yellow Autobot.
"Hotshot is a brilliant fighter," Alexis said hotly, she was not going to let Megatron belittle her Autobot friends, not when they'd done so much for her and her friends.
"I've seen him get the better of you plenty of times,"
"Mind that tone, girl," Megatron growled, giving her a tap on the head.
As she simply glared, Megatron said contemptuously.
"I don't know what Prime was thinking, he's only got two men and yet he's chosen the most useless of the bunch. What kind of a leader is that?"
"Optimus is a hundred times the leader you are," Alexis yelled back recklessly. "And he doesn't mistreat his own soldiers, unlike you."
"Right, that's it," Megatron said as he turned his rebellious pet over his knee for what felt like the hundredth time. "I've had just about enough of your sass girl, you will learn."
And he started giving her a good firm spanking. However, it seemed she wasn't finished or about to let the subject drop.
"Is violence your answer to everything," the girl under his hand yelled. "Because if it is, then I question your overall ability to lead properly."
Megatron growled in frustration.
"If it's the last thing I ever do, I will cure you of your impenitent tongue, my girl," he informed her as he continued spanking her.
Ten hard smacks later, he stopped and lifted her up and made her sit in his lap, regardless of how uncomfortable it was to do so. With a forefinger and thumb he started stroking her head again, trailing her hair between his fingers. Alexis sniffed slightly from the pain she was in but determined not to cry.
"I do not understand why you children persist in disobeying," Megatron finally said huffily. "Especially as I have been very generous with you, mark my words, others would not do the same."
Alexis didn't say anything to this so Megatron continued.
"I have not made you do anything erroneous, all I want is for you to behave like proper pets, is that too much to ask?"
Before Alexis could reply, he said with a growl.
"I suppose you're little angels for Prime and his men."
Alexis gave a snort which made Megatron look down at her.
"You make it sound as though we're just pets the Autobots," she said with a sigh of annoyance. "But we're nothing of the sort, their our friends and they treat us as such. But yes, we do get on much better with them, can you figure out why?"
Megatron smirked.
"Oh Optimus maybe soft enough to call you that, but that doesn't change the fact that you're just children and the Autobots are full grown soldiers. I assure you, that pretty soon you will be left at their base, in order to keep you safe."
Before Alexis could retort, Megatron carried on.
"You think he won't? Oh just you watch the smothering the Autobots will do when they finally get you back, I doubt he'll let you within a hundred miles of us."
"So you are going to let us go"? Alexis said quietly.
"I have said I will," Megatron said impatiently. "In time, that is. Until then, you will all behave like good little pets, I don't want to have to resort to harsher punishments."
Alexis crossed her arms, but didn't say anything. That is until Megatron gave her a sharp tap in the head.
"I don't want to have to do that, do I?"
"No," Alexis sighed.
"No....?" Megatron said silkily.
"No, sir," Alexis ground out.
Megatron glared down at her, not missing the unwilling tone. Maybe it he made it a policy to give them a daily spanking, they'd learn. But why did he get the feeling that Optimus would get wind of that and would then go on and on about it every time they met.
He hated it when Optimus started on some self righteous speech, which tended to drive him more violent than if the Autobot leader just started hitting him.
As the girl squirmed under his stroking fingers, he wondered if threatening to record them getting punished and then sending it to the Autobots would curd there shenanigans. He knew his little pets would be mortified if the Autobots saw them getting spanked, it actually might just work.
He gave a small smirk, he'd keep it in mind, even if he had to endure Prime afterwards, the benefits gained could make it all worthwhile.
Author' note. In the next chapter, there's a battle with the Autobots, and Megatron learns something very interesting, something that could help him defeat the Autobots once and for all.
Till then.