Author's note. The road to fatherhood isn't going to be easy for poor Megatron.
Suggestions are welcome.
Enjoy and please.
"Hey," Rad said as he saw how miserable his friends where. "Let's think about how we can escape."
They were currently waiting for the Minicons to arrive; Megatron had ordered them to play with the kids. While they normally enjoyed interacting with the Minicons but they just didn't feel like it at the moment. Their bodies were currently morphing from human to Minicon and they could barely wrap their minds around it.
And this was why Rad wanted to focus his friends on something else, their planned escape. Up until now, they'd been too scared to attempt such a thing but now they had motivation. Megatron had messed with their bodies and had made it clear that he had no intentions of fixing the problem. So their only hope lay with the Autobots and that's why they needed to get away from this base.
"How are we going to get past that Warp Gate?" Alexis questioned. "You know what happened last time, we were almost Warped goodness knows where."
"Well, that's the first bit we need to work on," Rad said wryly. "How to work the Warp Gate."
"Hmm," Carlos said thoughtfully. "We know the Cons have keys, maybe we can nick one from them."
The other two nodded, unlike the Autobots who just typed in a command into their computer, the Decepticons all carried keys. It seemed this was to prevent the Minicons or any prisoners escaping. Stealing any key carried a lot of risk but none of them had any idea how to hack the Warp Gate, unlike that Bounty Hunter who'd rescued Optimus. They didn't feel much warmth towards said Bounty Hunter, thanks to him, they'd been recaptured and Megatron had been able to insert those orbs into their Sparks.
They wondered vaguely whether he was still with the Autobots but didn't really care. As long as he didn't try something with them again, they wouldn't pay him any attention if he was at the Autobot base.
"What about Cyclonus?" Alexis suddenly suggested. "He's always asleep; think we could steal a key from him?"
"Maybe," Carlos said slowly with a small grin. "I'll keep a lookout; see if I can find it. Maybe you guys can watch your guys?"
Rad and Alexis, they'd keep a close eye on their guardians in case they were careless with their keys. They heard a sound and turned to see some of the Minicons trooping in, with their friends Motors at the head. With only a small effort, they smiled and greeted them as the Minicons came over to them.
"How are you?" Motors beeped and they smiled tiredly.
"Not too bad amigos, just trying to forget Megatron's latest scheme," Carlos said causally.
Leader-One calmly looked them up and down, saying softly.
"He's changing you?"
"He is," Rad confined grimly. "He wants us to become Minicons and maybe transformers. And we've no idea how to stop him."
Leader-One gave them a sad smile as he said.
"I'm afraid none of us can change you back."
He hesitated and said.
"And I'm not sure if anything can be done, we can sense your Sparks. They are part of your life force now."
The kids grimaced before Alexis.
"Well, that wouldn't be so bad...we just want to remain human, we don't want Megatron doing things to our bodies. Especially without our permission, that's the worst part. And he expects us to call him..."
She broke off, she couldn't go on.
Bonecrusher gently put a hand on her shoulder.
"It'll be okay, you kids have survived so far," he chirped optimistically. "You've just gotta keep going."
"Thanks, Crusher," Alexis said with a small smile, calling him by his nickname. Bonecrusher just didn't sound as friendly as Crusher. "We'll do our best."
They didn't mention that they were planning to escape; none of them wanted the Minicons to get into trouble. The kids thought of their own Minicons and their hearts ached, it had been so long since they'd seen them last. What would Highwire, Grindor and Sureshock think of their time away and transformation? Would they still want to be friends?
The kids certainly hoped so but for now, they were just going to play with these Minicons. They did wish they could all be together, the Autobot and Decepticon Minicons but it wasn't possible right now. Maybe someday.
"Wanna play tag?" Motors suggested with a grin and soon, everyone was running back the place, laughing loudly.
The Brig, sometime later
Starscream sat waiting in the brig, dredging Megatron's inevitable arrival. His leader was hopping mad and it was only thanks to Scavenger's intervention that he'd escaped a bad beating. But who knew what Megatron would do when he finally arrived, would he only receive a light beating with a heavy glossia lashing. Megatorn didn't even have to raise his voice; just that cold, hard tone was enough to make you cringe with humiliation.
Starscream clenched his fists, he knew that technically he'd disobeyed his leader and gone behind his back but he'd gone to for the kids. Megatron had practically beaten them black and blue, not to mention thoroughly taunted them about the situation they were in. He'd just wanted to cheer them up a little and the most sure fire way of doing this was to take them to Earth for a little while. It wasn't as though they'd disobeyed; they'd called their creators but given no hint as to where they were.
He knew that loyalty and obedience to your leader was one of the most important aspects of being a soldier, as well as honour. He was loyal to Megatron and he did obey him normally, that incident had just been a one off where he didn't fully obey his leader. Starscream groaned, the more he thought about it, the worse he felt. The Seeker knew that when the time came for Megatron to deliver his punishment, he'd just have to take it like a Mech and a Decepticon solider.
There suddenly came the heavy tread of footsteps and he knew Megatron was coming. He sighed in relief; at least he wouldn't have to wait any longer. He stood up, straightening his back and waiting for his leader to come into view.
He didn't have to wait long.
"Starscream," Megatron growled his expression still thunderous.
"Sir," Starscream replied quietly and respectively.
"I have been thinking on how best to deal with you," Megatron began, opening the cell and coming into it.
Starscream didn't move, even when Megatron loomed over him. His leader hated cowardice and he'd only make the situation worse by showing weakness. Even when Megatron moved so that his face was just a few inches from Starscream's, the Seeker didn't flinch. His leader stared right into his orange optics before speaking.
"Scavenger thinks I shouldn't beat you," Megatron said slowly and carefully. "That despite your disobedience, you are just a young soldier and therefore prone to making mistakes."
Megatron did not sound particularly impressed by this reasoning and Starscream hoped this wouldn't make things worse for him. He heaved a small sigh of relief when Megatron added.
"I value Scavenger's judgement; he has overseen the training of many young, inexperienced bots including Optimus. He's tough on those he's trains and is exceedingly no nonsense. So, if he believes you are too young to be beaten, he likely has a point."
Starscream tried not to react but his optics probably showed how relieved he was about not being beaten. Megatron's cold look didn't change but he wasn't in a rage which was usually a good sign. The large Decepticon suddenly reached up and grasped the back of Starscream's neck, making the Seeker unconsciously flinch. That was a very vulnerable place even though he knew Megatron would not simply kill him for no reason.
"But you do need to be punished Starscream," Megatron told him calmly. "Even if no harm has been done, if those Autobots had realised where you were, they would have snatched up those children in an instant. And then how would we have gotten them back?"
"I don't know sir," Starscream said quietly as Megatron waited for him to answer. He did briefly wonder, Megatron was more attached than he'd imagined to those children. However, he didn't have time to ponder this question as Megatron gripped him a little harder.
"So I've been wondering how I should punish you if I can't beat you," Megatron continued. "And it occurred to me that since you're such a young soldier, perhaps I should punish you accordingly."
"I don't...," Starscream began but was cut off when he was suddenly dragged downwards.
It took him a moment to realise that this was because Megatron had suddenly twisted and sat down on the cell's berth. Starscream was bent double, completely unbalanced with the only thing holding him up was his leader's tight grip. His arms waved madly, he had no idea what was happening and didn't like this position.
Before he could do anything, he found himself being dragged across a surface and with a jolt of horrified shock he realised it was Megatron's knees. What in Primus's name was his leader doing...surely he wasn't going to...?
"Megatron?" Starscream gasped out, clinging tightly to his leader's knees. "Wh-what are you doing?"
He could almost feel Megatron smirk as he said.
"Giving you a punishment appropriate to a Youngling."
"No!" yelped Starscream as he realised what was about to happen but he couldn't stop the first hit.
SMACK!
He couldn't believe this, this couldn't be happening. Megatron just couldn't be...spanking him, like a human child? No, Megatron would never do that to him, never bestow the punishment reserved for the kids...
Smack!
"Megatron sir," Starscream couldn't' help but exclaim as another hard smack connected with his aft. "You can't punish me like this!"
"Oh yes I can solider," Megatron said grimly, keeping his grip on Starscream tight and firm. "So you'd better get used to this because I'm not stopping until I'm satisfied you've been punished."
"But this is for children," Starscream almost wailed but managed to restrain himself. "I am a grown Mech, one of your Elite Decepticons."
"And you've disappointed me," Megatron retorted coolly, giving Starscream an extra hard smack which caused stinging pain to blossom across his aft.
Of course, Starscream's aft was armoured so it didn't hurt as quickly as it did for the kids but it was still a vulnerable point. It wasn't quite as well armoured as the rest of his body as it frankly was on the bottom of the list of most likely to be hit spots. But it was being hit now and Megatron wasn't pulling his hits, he didn't need to because it would take a lot to actually damage the Seeker using this method.
"Megatron, why don't you just beat me?" he asked rather desperately. "I can take it."
"I'm sure you could," Megatron said simply, still smacking. "But I'm certainly not going to punish you the way you want to be punished. If you need to suffer a little humiliation in order to learn never to disobey me again...then so be it."
Starscream groaned, he could not believe this was happening. He briefly considered struggling, trying to break away but even if it succeeded, Megatron would be beyond furious. Besides, the chances of actually getting away were very slim, Megatron had too good a hold on him and really would beat him if he tried to run for it. Running from punishment was cowardly anyway and he was no coward.
He was going to grit this out, no matter how painful and humiliating this was. At least there were no witnesses to this; he would just have to pretend that this...punishment didn't happen. The Seeker concentrated on not letting any sounds of pain escape his lips, he would prove he wasn't a child. It was impossible to stop his body jerking with each hit as his systems screamed with pain. There was nothing he could do and he miserably wondered if his aft would be dented.
Was this how the kids felt? Utter humiliation and wretched pain? No wonder they were always so down after a spanking, right now he felt there was nothing worse. What was odd was that he didn't regret taking the kids down to Earth. If Megatron had punished them hard enough to leave bruises, then it must have truly been an awful punishment. They had needed something to make them feel better and his actions had resulted in their renewed happiness.
The things he did for those kids, for Alexis.
He almost smiled but another sharp smack across his rear was enough to halt that. All he could really do was grimace and pray that this wouldn't last any longer. How long did Megatron feel he needed to punish him? Maybe a beating would have been better, at least it was a lot quicker...
"What are you doing?" an outraged female voice exclaimed.
Starscream's head, which had been staring resolutely at the floor, snapped up and stared in horror at the sight of three angry kids standing outside his cell. What was particularly shocking were the glowing streaks of sliver all over their bodies, what in Primus's name had they been up to. As he stared, Megatron paused in his spanking and barked.
"What are you three doing here?"
"We were told you were going to beat up Starscream," Carlos said hotly as the other two glared at Megatron. "Let go of him."
"What's he done?" Alexis demanded as Starscream felt his systems burn with shame.
"Oh, you already know my dear," Megatron growled softly, giving Starscream's neck a warning squeeze. "In fact, I was going to discuss that with you."
"And what's that?" Rad questioned, arms folded.
With flashing optics, Megatron growled.
"That would be your little trip down to Earth...with Starscream."
The kids looked a little taken aback before Alexis said hotly.
"So what?"
"So...," Megatron growled. "None of you had permission to visit Earth, you did not even have permission to leave the base."
He paused and then added.
"Did you really think you could keep this from me?"
"We have up until now," Rad retorted insolently.
Starscream bit back a gasp of pain as Megatron's grip tightened before relaxing slightly. He could hardly believe the kids were still standing there, didn't they know Megatron would spank the pit out of them? Maybe they'd all had bad hits to the head; why else would they still be there?
"Well, I know now," Megatron growled. "And that is why I am currently punishing Starscream, for going behind my back."
"He wouldn't have done anything if you hadn't been taunting and hurting us," Alexis yelled back furiously. "Not only did you beat us hard enough to leave bruises, starve us, locked us up and then flaunted our injuries to Optimus."
"I was demonstrating to Optimus what happens when he incites those who belong to me to aid him. And in thus doing so, betray me," Megatron said in an ominous tone.
"We're not Decepticons, we don't owe you allegiance," Rad retorted angrily. "Not now, not then."
"I see," Megatron said coldly after a moment's pause. "I had hoped you would come to a different conclusion."
Starscream was utterly confused; he knew he was missing something. The way the kids and Megatron were glaring at each other, something was up. But what, he could not work out but he did feel very awkward all of a sudden. And he really wished he wasn't in such a vulnerable position, Megatron could do just about anything to him right now.
"If you hold more affection towards Optimus," Megatron said in a deadly tone. "Then I shall have to rectify that."
"What do you mean?" Carlos demanded.
"That perhaps it is time I got rid of Optimus permanently," growled Megatron.
"You wouldn't?" Alexis gasped in angry shock.
"Watch me, my girl," Megatron replied. "He was in my power barely a cycle ago, it will not be difficult to take him again. And this time, I will finish him for good, crush the Autobots and then retake the whole of Cybertron."
Megatron's voice had risen as he'd spoken, the sheer power of the voice carrying all through the brig. The kids had taken step backwards, eyes wide but Megatron wasn't finished.
"And that's not all pets. When I'm finished here, with all the Minicons and Optimus's helm on my wall, I'm taking you all back with me to Cybertron and that's where you stay. You'll never see Earth until all the other humans you know are dead."
There was a ringing silence which preceded this pronouncement.
"You monster!" Alexis burst out before turning and running away, tears streaming down her face.
"Alexis," Starscream automatically called out before silencing himself, scared of Megatron's reaction.
Trembling with rage, Carlos spat on the floor before turning and following her. Rad just stood there breathing heavily, his face rather white. And then he said.
"Great job, dad."
Without another word, he turned and run off after his friends leaving an angry Megatron and a very shell shocked Seeker.
"Dad?"
Author's note. Can the kids manage to escape and how does Megatron react? Find out next time, until then.