Author's note. With thanks to Mrs Bumblebee and Akirisan X for their suggestions, they've been a big help for this chapter.
Sliverblaze belongs to me, all the other characters belong to Hasbro.
Suggestions are welcome.
Enjoy and please review.
Megatron fumed as he stomped along his base's corridors. He could feel his anger growing as he thought about those little brats insolence in assuming that he was just a mindless thug who was only capable of violence.
"Frag it," he hissed, kicking aside a piece of debris.
He passed an open window which looked out onto the rocky moon surface. Outside, his men were training and seemed to be getting on well. Scavenger was getting on better with them now and had started overseeing their training. So far, everything looked to be going well, at least they weren't fighting each other.
He paused at the window, watching them.
Cyclonus was grinning as he aimed at a target that was darting about. But a burst of laser fire from his blaster managed to obliterate it. Scavenger nodded his approval before gesturing towards Demolisher. The beige coloured Decepticon loaded up his cannon before aiming it as well.
Starscream he noted was cleaning his gun but he also looked pretty focused. Megatron felt a brief flash of pride before anger swept through him again. Though he and Starscream didn't always get on but at least the Seeker was never insolent, none of his men were. Unlike those three children with their quick tongues and over active imagination.
His optics flashed a fiery red, the more he thought about them, the angrier he became. How dare they judge him when they had no idea why he was the way he was. Alright, so he liked fighting, the heat of battle but there was more to it than that.
Unbidden, the image of a beautiful, smiling Femme rose within his processor. He'd already stalked past that window that showed his men but now he stopped again. Pain flashed across his Spark as he thought about her.
Her name had been Sliverblaze and she had been his Spark Mate. With a streamlined body and a glowing silver colour streaked with blue, she'd truly been beautiful. She'd been one of the best Decepticon Warrior Femmes, able to hold her own against much larger Mechs, even him.
Her skill had been with blades, twin sabres that she kept on her back, ready to draw at a moment's notice. She'd had a special attack where she swirled them and herself in a spinning circle and could pretty much take out most others. Her brilliant red optics had always sparkled with mischief as she teasingly rid you of your weapons. It was enough to make any Mech's jaw drop.
Courting her hadn't been easy, she'd had many suitors, all vying for her affection. She'd rejected them all until it came to Megatron. Not that he'd had it easy, she hadn't made it easy. She was a no nonsense, independent Femme. But once he won her Spark, she was the sweetest, most loyal mate he could have hoped for.
Not that both of them really changed, she was still no nonsense and he was still a rather rough character. The difference was that they now had each other, to support and love. Megatron had a tangible reason to become the best, to prove that he was worthy of her Spark.
And when he'd finally been named leader of the Decepticons, she'd been so proud. That had been the best moment of his life, the triumph of beating his rivals, the feeling of incredible power and the love of his mate. They'd made love so many times in those days and each one had been beyond wonderful.
Life had been utterly perfect.
But then it had all gone wrong. Relationships had been getting strained between the two factions, there were many confrontations. Sliverblaze had urged him to keep the peace, she'd believed that War between the Autobots and Decepticons would only be disastrous. So for her sake and that of his troops, he'd done his best to tone it down.
Sadly, the Autobot leader hadn't been as accommodating.
Megatron had always believed that Optimus wasn't as saintly as everyone seemed to think. He had an inner rage and thirst for battle that was normally hidden from the outside world. Only Mechs like Megatron ever glimpsed it and knew that it was only waiting to be unleashed.
Despite this, Optimus Prime was still a brave, noble Autobot. He was incredibly kind as well as clever with a very cunning streak. So for all his faults, he was the absolute perfect model of an Autobot leader. He was truly good. His predecessor wasn't.
Nova Prime had been a large, unpleasant Mech who had enjoyed his power and prestige a bit too much. When things became strained, he'd done nothing to soothe things over, he'd actually encouraged it. In the end, it was almost as though he wanted all out War.
Megatron had done his best to ignore his insults but in the end, enough for enough. Hostilities were announced though it wasn't yet War. The two factions started to engage in skirmishes which resulted in a lot of casualties. But even then, there was a chance they could have worked things out.
And then something happened that was utterly unforgiveable in Megatron's mind and in most of his soldiers.
His beloved Spark Mate, his precious Sliverblaze was brutally killed. By Nova Prime.
She'd gone to defend some younglings from marauding Autobots with the Prime leading them. She managed to protect them but Prime had taunted her. She cut him down with her sharp glossia and embarrassed the mighty Prime. So he'd duelled her and...she'd gone down.
Nova Prime had apparently sneered as the life had left her body and left her in a pool of her own Energon. She'd given him enough wounds to make an impression but sadly, not enough to finish him off.
A part of him had died that day with her and he'd never been the same without her bright smile lighting his days.
Instead, a fire had been light within him, a dark burning fire that would not be sated until he had his revenge. But he never got his revenge for Nova Prime was killed by an old Decepticon rival, though not before leaving the Matrix of leadership onto a successor, who became Optimus Prime.
His anger and grief had only increased with his loss of closure over Sliverblaze's death. And with the introduction of the Minicons, things came to ahead and War was declared. The two factions of Cybertron had fought bitterly ever since with no end in sight.
He often mused that was why he hated Optimus. If only he'd been as corrupt, as hateful as Nova Prime, then Megatron could have killed him and gotten his revenge. But no, Optimus was a noble bot so that even if Megatron succeeded in destroying him, he wouldn't have avenged his mate's death.
But no, that damn Prime had to be reasonable, honourable and downright likeable.
He growled, storming into the Throne Room, now very mad. His optics fixed and narrowed on the lonely cage sitting next to his throne. By the looks of things, the three kids had settled down for a nap. Somehow, this only annoyed him even more, they should be utterly repentant for their actions.
So he stamped over to them and glared down at their sleeping forms. The fact they looked uncomfortable didn't mellow him in the slightest, he needed an outlet for his anger and they were going to be it.
"Wake up, you little brats!" he roared and they all woke up with cries of shock.
He watched them scramble to untangle themselves and stand. Finally, they stood before him, looking very sheepish as he stared imperiously down at them. To his satisfaction, they looked nervous and a little scared about what he was going to do to them.
All the better.
"So," he began, in a cold voice of fury.
"You thought it would be funny to mock me with Optimus, did you?"
"We didn't mean to," Carlos muttered softly but didn't bother to finish his sentence.
"And yet you still did it," Megatron said sharply.
"And I do not appreciate being taunted behind my back," he continued before adding.
"Would you like me to make fun of you with my men behind your backs? Or even right in front of you?"
"We wouldn't," Rad said quietly.
"Too right," Megatron growled.
He now dropped heavily into his throne, the vibrations making the kids stagger about in their cage. He now rubbed a palm across his face before glancing at them again.
"I have done my best to install some respect into you three but it seems that they have been in vain."
The kids burst out with protests but he quickly silenced them with a look.
"Now I'm going to say this once and once only," he began, his tone as serious as it had ever been.
"I have my reasons for the way I am, reasons that do not in any way concern you. I suppose you didn't even stop to think there might be another reason why I fight so much other than the fact I'm addicted?"
"No," Alexis whispered quietly, hanging her head in shame.
"No," Megatron agreed. "And despite what dear Optimus says, I don't think you're sorry enough."
Their faces paled considerably as he said this. They knew what he meant.
"So as well as grounding, I think you three could also do with a good spanking."
"No, please, not that," Alexis begged as he opened the cage in order to stick his hand in.
"Dude, Rad's still sore," Carlos protested, backing away from Megatron's grabbing hand.
"Don't worry, I'll be careful," Megatron sneered, tapping them against the bars and drawing them out.
He pulled Carlos out and dumped him on his lap. He then took Rad out albeit slightly gentler. He then went for Alexis, grabbed her and started to lift her out. But as she was pulled out of cage, her necklace suddenly went tumbling out of her pocket and it bounced nosily along the cage's floor.
Alexis froze in her struggling as her precious necklace skittered away from her.
"What," Megatron said in a chillingly cold voice as he held her limp body. "Is that?"
"Nothing," Alexis said quickly, wishing she could reach it but unable to get out of Megatron's grasp.
"Nothing?" Megatron repeated, moving his hand to hook the necklace's chain up with a finger.
He pulled his hand out with both Alexis and the bright green stone trapped. Still holding her, he dropped the necklace into his other hand so that he could examine it. Alexis trembled as he held it in front of his optics, looking it over.
"Where did you get this?" he asked finally, his optics fixing onto her face.
"I...," she stuttered, swallowing as he glared.
She didn't want get Starscream into trouble for his kind gift, especially as he'd done it just to cheer her up. She remembered how he'd told her that Megatron took whatever he liked and that sometimes included what Starscream liked. She hadn't pressed him for details but she suspected this would be one of those occasions where Megatron took something away from his Seeker.
"It...it was a gift," she finally said, knowing she couldn't delay any longer.
"From who?" Megatron demanded, before his optics narrowed. "Or perhaps I can guess who."
She looked away as he started to toss the emerald jewel up and down in his palm. He followed its progress for a few moments before turning back to her again.
"Let's see, who the one, apart from these two,"
He indicated Rad and Carlos who were on his lap.
"That you have spent the most time with? Who'd be most likely to give you something?"
She swallowed again, nervously biting her lip as he said this very sarcastically.
"Starscream gave you this," he concluded with a hiss, his expression one of thunder.
"Yes," she mumbled, hating how she had to tell him.
"I thought so," he said coldly, now catching the necklace in his palm.
As his fingers began to curl back as though he was planning to crush it, Alexis cried out.
"Please no, don't destroy it."
He paused, his hand a half formed fist.
"Why shouldn't I?" he asked to which Rad suddenly said angrily.
"Why do you want to destroy it in the first place, Starscream hasn't done anything wrong."
Megatron's optics flashed.
"I didn't say he could go around giving any of you gifts," he snarled before sneering. "But why is it he only gave something to Alexis and not you two."
He looked down at them pointedly and they shrugged in an unconcerned way.
"Eh, I don't think jewellery my thing," Carlos said with a grin. "Girls would look at me funny if I had a bigger rock than them."
"Heh, yeah," Rad said with a small grin.
He looked back at Megatron and said.
"Can you honestly see Demolisher giving me something, I'm happy when we get on."
"Yeah, and I'd be worried about it exploding if Cyclonus gave me something," Carlos said cheerfully.
Megatron paused and for a moment it looked like he might smirk. But then he got stern again and said.
"Nevertheless, I don't like this and I'll be keeping this."
Megatron closed his fist and when he opened it again, the necklace had gone.
"What did you do with it?" Alexis cried out in horror.
"It's in Sub Space," Megatron said unconcernedly, now placing Alexis with her friends.
"And it will stay there until I say so."
Alexis looked utterly miserable about this but at the same time relived that he hadn't destroyed it. Rad took her hand and gave it a squeeze, comforting her. She gave him a grateful look before looking up at Megatron.
The Decepticon leader was just sitting there, leaning on his fist. He seemed to be lost in thought and had apparently forgotten his intention to spank them. Not that they complaining about that but they did wonder what he was thinking.
After a few minutes, they slowly settled down on his lap. He didn't react, just continued to think. His free hand lightly rested against their back, occasioning rubbing their backs. They slowly relaxed but were still a little nervous.
Eventually Alexis asked cautiously.
"Megatron?"
His optics focused and looked in her direction.
"You're not going to punish Starscream, are you?"
"Hmm," Megatron murmured, still pondering.
He actually wasn't thinking about Starscream, he was still thinking about the kids. He remembered when he and Sliverblaze had talked about having Sparklings. When he'd become leader, they'd actually had a serious discussion about it. But when War threatened, they'd put those plans aside, to wait for a more stable time.
But of course, things hadn't gotten unstable they'd ended up in War. And his beloved mate had been killed and all his hopes of a family with her had been destroyed. Since then, though he'd been with numerous Femmes, he'd never thought of settling down and having Sparklings.
But over the past few cycles, he'd started to think about it again for the first time in millions of years. When he'd first captured them, he'd only thought about holding them for Minicons. And then he'd kept them to taunt Optimus Prime and the other Autobots. However, time had passed since he'd caught Prime and still he kept them.
Why did he keep them? Was it possible that they were worming their way into his Spark and causing...affection?
He suddenly snorted, making the children jump.
Affection? For these naughty, insolent, trouble making human children. They regularly caused him grief, he'd punished them many times already and they hadn't even been here a month. And as for those smart mouths of theirs, Primus, he didn't even want to think about that.
And yet, he enjoyed watching when they slept, played and expressed delight over new things they were shown. He'd started to get used to having them around even if they caused him to feel more emotions in a single cycle than he would normally even in a single stellar cycle.
Realising that they were still waiting for answer, he turned his thoughts to his Seeker. He had felt angry when he'd found out just how close Starscream was getting to that human girl. Was it jealousy he felt? Starscream had all the time in the world to find someone and settle down, he hadn't had his Spark smashed to pieces by the violent death of his mate.
Then again, did he really want to cause a rift with his Second over this? All he'd done was give that girl a little trinket, it didn't necessarily mean anything. So why stir up bad feeling?
"No, I'm not," he said and they all sighed in relief.
Alexis grinned delighted and hugged his hand, saying.
"Thank you, thank you."
He huffed but felt a sense of pride trickle into his Spark. He did prefer their expressions of happiness to those of misery. However, he didn't show his feelings and asked.
"Are you going to behave properly?"
They nodded rapidly.
"We won't do that again," Carlos assured Megatron who smiled tightly.
"Hmm, I'm not sure about that,"
But he was stroking their backs as he said this, so they knew it was alright. They leaned against him, showing some affection to reinforce their remorse.
After a while, he sighed and said.
"If I take you back to Optimus, can I trust you three to behave this time?"
"We will," Alexis promised.
Megatron nodded.
"If you show me you can keep that promise, we'll say no more about this incident. But if not, not only will you go back in that cage, I really will give you a spanking."
They all nodded solemnly and he smiled slightly, still stroking them. And then he said.
"Alright then, let's go."
Optimus was very surprised to see Megatron walk into the brig, particularly when he saw the kids in his hand. And even more surprisingly was that they didn't look miserable or even much chastised.
"They've promised to behave themselves this time, Optimus," Megatron said by way of an explanation.
He went in and gently handed them to Optimus who set them on his lap. He then turned on his heels and quickly strode away. Instead of lingering near the brig, he went straight to the Control Room, determined to see if they kept their promise.
After he'd activated the brig's camera, he found Optimus comforting the kids who were hugging his hands. Megatron settled on his seat, leaning his head on his fist as he started listening to their conversation.
"I'm glad to see your alright kids," Optimus was saying.
"I think we learned our lesson," Rad said seriously to which Megatron smirked.
"We sure have, though he took away Alexis's necklace," Carlos said, giving his friend a regretful glance.
She sighed.
"At least he didn't destroy it or punish Starscream. It's just confiscated."
Megatron felt a small pang about that but he quickly brushed it aside. He'd made his decision and he was sticking to it. He went back to listening to their conversation, wondering what they were going to talk about.
"I'm sure you'll get it back Alexis," Optimus said gently, stroking her back lightly.
She smiled and nodded.
"Hi Optimus, since we have to be good can we ask you something?" Carlos piped up with a big grin.
"Of course, what is it?" Optimus asked.
"Megatron said you've got two wives, how does that work?" the boy asked innocently.
"Megatron said...?" Optimus said, stunned.
Megatron threw back his head and roared with laughter.
Author's note. Next time features Sideways and what he's up to with the Autobots, how does that go? Find out next time, until then.