Author's Notes: Hooray! Another chapter, and it didn't take me two months this time! I don't have a lot to say this time except thank you to everyone who has read this story and others I've written on this site, and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

Chapter 11

The Search

Kaon. The gladiatorial pits. Megatronus stood before the crowd and preened; soaking in the roars and applause as he held up his trophy. The head of his enemy hung from his servo and though it was only the head of a sparkless battle drone, he knew when the time came he would be able to do the same thing to his real opponents.

His handler approached him with a sly smirk that Megatronus always mistrusted. His handler, Hyperstrike, was a conniving mech that saw Megatronus as nothing more than a means to an end. He saw all his gladiators that way. Megatronus hated belonging to such a mech, but after the mines closed and he was forced to search for other work this was the only way he had left to support himself.

Living under Hyperstrike made him feel dirty, and it made him feel used. The only good things he got from this life was his name, Megatronus, and the adoration of the bloodthirsty crowd. It wasn't much of a life, but Megatronus had a plan. He wouldn't live like this forever. Someday he would work at a job where he would be respected and he could be seen as more than just dumb muscle.

Megatronus heard the cheers die down and a hush fall over the crowd. It was time. He would fight his next opponent, a Cybertronian from Helex, and it would be a fight to the death. Megatronus couldn't afford to lose.

"Femmes and gentlemechs!" The announcer shouted into a megaphone, "Here we have our champion, the deadliest warrior in all of Kaon, our own Megatronus!"

The crowd cheered as music blared in the background to get the crowd pumped for the match, and Megatronus paced around the arena and smiled up at the crowd. He was nervous and a little sick inside, but on the outside he was the picture of strength and confidence.

"And entering the arena," the announcer continued, "A mysterious fighter from the land of Helex, the strong, the deadly, Platimus!"

Megatronus, despite the gravity of the situation, found himself snickering at the name Platimus. It sounded so weak! What exactly was he going to fight against, a microscope-former?

Platimus came into the arena then, and Megatronus could see he underestimated his new opponent. This mech was huge, bulky, and dark green! Platimus looked at him with contempt, and Megatronus frowned defiantly at the rival gladiator. He would not lose! He might be a washed out miner and the property of a pompous and arrogant seeker, but he had come too far to die like this!

The battle started slow, with each opponent circling one another. Megatronus would go in for a hit, and Platimus would dodge. Platimus would strike out, but Megatronus would parry and duck. The crowd grew restless as they waited for the first blow, and Megatronus was starting to hate them as much as he hated the rest of the situation. Admiration was nice, but to be this eager for spilled energon was just psychotic.

Finally, Platimus started running hard toward Megatronus, and the grey gladiator saw his chance! He dodged to one side, and then rammed his energy sword into Platimus as he ran past Megatronus! The blow hit Platimus in his side, and he tripped over himself before he fell hard to the ground!

Megatronus got in another hit, and then another! The crowd gasped and watched as Platimus bled out his life's energon and struggled in vain to get back up. Then the time came. The killing blow. Megatronus slowly approached the wounded mech as the crowd called for him to extinguish the other mech's spark.

Megatronus looked in the optics of his opponent, and saw the resignation and sorrow held within. Megatronus let out an intake of air, raised his sword…

Megatron awoke from his recharge with a start! A memory! It was another memory. This one was even worse than the first one. Megatron remembered that day, but his memory cut off before it told him whether or not he actually killed the mech. Given what he knew about his track record though, Megatron suspected he killed Platimus. He let out his intake and got out of his berth. He needed a cube of energon and quickly.

The most disturbing part of that vision of his past wasn't fighting Platimus. No. The worst part was remembering Hyperstrike. The red and yellow seeker and his ugly smirk made Megatron want to punch a wall! His memories were slowly coming to him, but only up to his career in Kaon. Hyperstrike's trine had also treated the young gladiator like scrap, but none were worse than Hyperstrike.

Megatron only just then remembered the time Hyperstrike forced Megatronus on his knees in front of everyone at a party one day because he felt the grey gunformer was talking back at him too often. Oh, how he had wanted to make that winged slagger pay for that!

Megatron walked to the energon storage room in relative silence. No one was on duty yet. It was still simulated night. He grabbed a cube and walked back to his room without being disturbed.

He wanted to forget again. He didn't want these new memories. He didn't want to relive the fear of Kaon's death pits or the humiliation of being forced to beg for his daily rations from that pompous Hyperstrike! Megatron knew that this was what the Decepticons fought for. They fought for freedom and they fought for the rightful place of all who contributed to society, not just the rich or the politically influential.

He wanted to talk to Chip. He needed someone to share his feelings with, and he didn't know his troops well enough to know if he could trust them. He had trusted Starscream and all that got him was a traitor. No, he would give orders and he would treat his troops fairly, but he wouldn't trust them. Not again.

He milled around until he found the guest room where Chip was staying. Hopefully the human wasn't still recharging. Megatron didn't know how long humans recharged, but he hoped he could remember the question long enough to look into it when he got back to his quarters.

"Chip?" Megatron whispered as he opened the door, "It's me, Megatron. I hope I'm not disturbing you, but I need to talk to you. I had a nigh-"

Megatron stopped speaking once he entered the room and realized Chip was gone. The bed looked like it hadn't even been slept in, and upon further inspection there was an open grate behind a bookshelf. Chip had escaped!

"No! He could hurt himself!" Megatron exclaimed despite there being no one to hear him, "I've got to find-! Wait! Who do I ask to help me search for Chip? Soundwave is scary and might hurt Chip. Hook clearly likes to torture things, so he's out. Argh! Who can I trust on this fragging ship?!"

Megatron didn't know what to do, so he searched the ship for a grunt that might still be awake. He kept his optics open for Chip, but also for a mech that might be able to help him find the boy. Most of his troops were afraid of him, so at least he had a tool to use to get what he wanted from them: fear.

Thundercracker and Skywarp sat on Thundercracker's berth and contemplated what was going on between Megatron and Starscream. They had heard about the Autobot escaping from Dead End (who neglected to mention his part in the whole fiasco) and were concerned about Wheeljack being free to make more Dinobots, but something even more pressing was on their processors at the moment.

Starscream getting in trouble with Megatron wasn't anything new, but something was different about their leader lately. They didn't know what was going on, but they knew Megatron was acting differently. Megatron had said he was going to execute his traitorous SIC, and for once the other two seekers actually believed him.

"It doesn't make sense," Thundercracker pondered, "Normally Megatron is content to just humiliate or beat Starscream. Why kill him when Starscream wasn't even trying to assassinate Megatron this time?"

"Maybe he broke a camel's back with a straw," Skywarp butchered the unfamiliar human expression, "What I can't figure out is how Screamer managed to avoid getting killed for all these vorns. Honestly, this was a long time coming."

"What will we do without him, 'Warp?" Thundercracker asked morosely, "Starscream is our trine leader. He's a jerk, but without him we're not a trine. We're nothing. We won't be able to maintain our status without him, and we might even get shipped off to a worse assignment. Megatron will always distrust us, and the other 'Cons will walk all over us. What are we gonna do?"

"Rescue Screamer, duh," Skywarp said as if it were the easiest thing in the world, "He might be mad at us, but I'm sure Screamer will get over it if we save his skid plate. All we have to do is get past security, hack the cell doors open, and get Screamer out. He can figure out the rest once he's free."

"You really think this'll work?" Thundercracker asked with cautious optimism.

"Sure, why not?" Skywarp shrugged nonchalantly.

Sometimes Thundercracker envied Skywarp's simple-mindedness. Skywarp never thought too hard about what he was doing. He never hesitated. He just dove right into things and shrugged it off if something didn't go his way. Thundercracker wished he could be that carefree.

Ironhide and Mirage searched the lower decks for Chip. They found several rooms of interest, but nothing that gave them a clue to the whereabouts of the missing boy. It was simulated night, so they hadn't run into any Decepticons yet. Ironhide kept his weapon trained nonetheless, and Mirage was camouflaged somewhere in the area, but Ironhide didn't know exactly where.

Suddenly they heard footsteps coming around the corner from them at a quick pace. Ironhide motioned for Mirage to stay out of sight (as if he weren't already) while he checked the trigger on his weapon and readied it just in case.

Ironhide kept close to the wall and waited for the unwary Decepticon to either get too close or else walk on by. The mech turned the corner, and to Ironhide's surprise it was Megatron himself!

"Megatron!" Ironhide exclaimed as he readied his laser pistol.

"Huh? Oh, good! I was hoping someone was still awake!" Megatron exclaimed happily, confusing Ironhide, "I need someone to help me find my human friend Chip. He went into the ventilation system, and I've been following the path hoping to find him. I need you to search the south west corridors immediately!"

Ironhide just shuttered his optics for a second. Megatron was asking for his help? To find his prisoner? It didn't make any sense. Despite the craziness, he decided to just roll with it and help Megatron out. After all, he was looking for Chip as well, and maybe this way they would find him faster. Once Chip was with the Autobots again, then they would worry about how to give the old warlord the slip.

Skywarp teleported himself and Thundercracker to the cell block. Unfortunately he miscalculated the distance and they landed outside the cell where the guard was stationed. Luckily for them that guard was Dead End, and he was blissfully taking a nap in a chair by the door.

"Come on, TC," Skywarp whispered, "If we're quiet we won't even wake him up."

"Who cares if we do?" Thundercracker whispered back, "Dead End has all the motivation of an opened can of tuna. Let's just go."

The seekers tip-toed past the "guard" and made it inside the cell, where they saw an unusual sight. Starscream was sitting on the cot and smiling wistfully as he absentmindedly stroked a human on its head. The human did not seem to enjoy that one bit. Upon closer inspection, Thundercracker recognized the human as that whiz kid Megatron had kidnapped earlier that day. The seeker almost didn't recognize the boy without his glasses.

"Hey Screamer!" Skywarp stage-whispered, "We're here to bust you out."

Starscream looked over at him, and his expression brightened into a sort of twisted glee.

"Ah, it's about time," Starscream said in a snarky tone of voice, "My plans are almost ready to come to fruition. I just need to get down to my lab and we can get started."

"Started? With what?" Thundercracker asked despite not really wanting to know.

"With my latest experiment of course!" Starscream said in a sugary sweet tone, "We will have our own zombie army just like the Autobots, and this little human will help us test my hypothosis."

"I won't help you do anything!" Chip yelled defiantly, and was punished by being squeezed tight in Starscream's fist, causing the boy to scream.

"Any more objections?" Starscream asked once he had loosened his grip.

Chip held his ribs and whimpered. Starscream seemed satisfied that the human was sufficiently cowed and therefore turned his attention back to his trine mates.

"Alright Screamer, now I'm gonna hack the door open," Skywarp announced with an adrenaline-fueled smile.

"You know the code?" Starscream asked skeptically.

Skywarp didn't answer with words. Instead he pulled a large axe out of his subspace and literally started hacking at the borders that held the energon bars! Starscream and Thundercracker's optics went wide with shock as Skywarp merrily hacked away and sang "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay!"

After a few minutes of that, the energon bars turned off from lack of electricity and Starscream was free with his human prize. He smiled evilly at his trine mates, and they both looked apprehensive about what Starscream might be planning. They didn't look half as frightened, however, as Chip.