One would haveta wonder...

Of all the times…

"I'd advise you to step out of the cell, Lord Megatron, something is happening to him."

He'd been expecting it, since he had no more serum and time was running out. Well, Megatron wanted a show, he'd get his show. There was a sudden stillness that overcame Starscream and his head dropped as if he'd gone offline, letting his hunger take control when usually he'd fight it. Megatron and Soundwave could tell that he wasn't completely offline, as he was twitching and his body was still rigid; other than that, to them, he seemed to be out of it. The two watched curiously to see what would happen. Starscream's head rose and their optics met. The intense stare that came from him burned with a strange, hungering rage neither Megatron nor Soundwave had ever seen before. The look in his optics turned crazy, the brow furrowing as he stared at them both. They seemed to become brighter and then changed color to nearly gray. There was no doubt these optics were very aware of what was going on, flicking to each of the mechs, letting them know he was watching them, calculating them. Probably deciding which to attack first.

This was bad.

As he stared, Megatron and Soundwave were so mesmerized by his optics, that they barely noticed the changes taking place on his body. It started with his body color darkening to the point of almost black. There was very little of him with any silver when it was complete. At his joints and down his arms to the tips of his fingers, grew solid metal spikes. His claws grew longer and more talon-like. In his mouth, sharp teeth-like protrusions appeared and elongated. From all of his seams and cracks, a purple light vaguely shined. What they couldn't see was the massive increase in his strength and in his speed. There was a shrill shriek of what sounded like pain coming from him as his transformation completed and his hunger took over completely. There was no mistaking that sound. It had been heard before, but no one had known for certain what it was… until now.

Megatron, stunned into stillness by this transformation, forgot about leaving the cell as Soundwave had advised, far more interested in watching his new weapon with eagerness. Starscream looked much more dangerous than Megatron would have thought. In fact, a transformation of this kind was unexpected. He wanted to see him at his full, cursed splendor, and this was it.

Further away outside the cell, Soundwave couldn't tell what it was he'd felt from Starscream for that split second their optics met, but the horrible fear that followed had him wondering about his own survival chances against this creature. The readings he was getting were off the charts! He'd never seen anything like it! Needing to understand Starscream's condition begged that he must remain here no matter how much he felt like a sparkling and wanted to hide. Apprehensively watching, he studied The Fallen – he also took a second look at his chains as something in the back of his mind wanted to check and make sure they were still there. For that split second, he wondered if they would be strong enough.

The SiC acted as if his mind was completely gone, yet there was a knowing look to him. Soundwave stole a glance at Megatron, whose smirk seemed to widen at the sight. He had to wonder why, since he was still in the cell with Starscream, not having heeded his warning. This was going to turn ugly for someone.

Arrogant as he was and believing he could take on this creature, Megatron did not heed Soundwave's warning. He stood still and calm. "You certainly have turned hideous, haven't you, Starscream?" he noted, seeing what reaction, if any at all, he would get.

The reaction he got was not what he was expecting. Starscream, having already decided upon attacking, hissed and yanked his left arm free of the chains with little effort and he swiped the air in front of him, reaching for him. Megatron dodged the swipe and backed up a step. "The darkness in your spark will be mine!" the Seeker hissed coldly in a voice unlike his own. He lightly pulled at the other restraints, pretending the others were too tough for him to break, knowing that Megatron was within striking distance if he stepped closer. That, and he just might be stupid enough to do it. Starscream glanced at the chains on his other arm, and then the ones on his legs and looked towards the ones who thought they were keeping him bound.

Megatron watched with slight apprehension now. Perhaps the chain on his arm was weak and that was why Starscream had broken that one so easily. The leader grinned arrogantly.

There was another strange hiss from The Fallen as his darkened gaze fixed on the mech before him. He gave Megatron an evil smile. The leader's spark was right before him and he would have it. Waiting until Megatron relaxed a little, he lunged for him, ripping free of all the other upper chains. Getting hold of him by a leg, he caused the Decepticon leader to fall onto his back in surprise and that was all the Seeker needed. The seeker wasted no time in trying to get to his spark chamber.

Megatron, caught off guard because he didn't think Starscream had that kind of strength, felt the Seeker's claws on his leg as they dug and ripped into his armor with frightening ease. Before he knew it, the monster was pulling him toward himself, having not broken the chains on his legs just yet. He let out an involuntary hiss as Starscream's claws tore energon lines deep where he'd had hold of him. Reaching towards the spot where Starscream had him, he called, "Starscream! You insolent fool! Unhand me!"

Megatron was in mortal danger, Soundwave knew it. He'd warned him to get out of the cell, but his leader hadn't listened. Quickly, he stepped forward, reaching for Starscream who ignored him, seeming hell bent on getting to Megatron's spark. Not able to get over The Fallen's brute strength, he tried to use a couple of different weapons on Starscream, but nothing seemed to work. He was astonished at how fast the creature actually healed and was becoming more worried about Megatron. The arsenal he'd used would have done major damage to a small combiner. The proof of that was on Megatron where the energy had hit him in his attempt to get him free. The Seeker seemed to only shrug them off as though they were nothing. Just how powerful had Starscream become?

Starscream had his prize and began pulling Megatron closer. It wouldn't be much longer now. The more Megatron fought, the more aggravated he became, being that Starscream was stronger now than what he usually dealt with. The weapons aimed at his face by Soundwave were also pissing him off and distracting him. He swiped the air in front of him with his claws, aiming to disable the one distracting him. Soundwave reeled back and grabbed for a now bleeding, seemingly disabled arm and he was satisfied that he wouldn't bother him. His grip tightened and he pulled as Megatron tried to get free. The fact his attention was now fully on his prey gave him an advantage. "Your spark! Mine!" he cried.

Megatron, realizing he was being overpowered, turned and kicked at Starscream's face, hoping to get him to let go, but Starscream did not. The Seeker used the claws on his other hand to shred down the offending leg as the leader tried to pull away. "Soundwave, do something!" he called, not really realizing or caring that Soundwave was now injured. Starscream grabbed his hip joints, ripping whatever relays might have been there and started reaching for his chest, digging his claws in as he did so. Having no other alternative, Megatron aimed his main weapon on his right arm at Starscream. He didn't want to kill his prize so soon, but now had no choice. However, that shot was only enough to get Starscream to let go in shock. While Starscream reeled back, the leader scampered out of that cell before he could catch him again. He barely made it as Starscream effortlessly broke all of the other chains in his rampage and charged for the door. All the Seeker got was the door in the face by Soundwave, abruptly stopping him as the bars became charged and hopefully untouchable. The seeker looked at the bars and then to his missed opportunity. His hands grabbed onto the bars, showing he was unaffected by them. After giving a slight tug to see if the door would move, he said, in a dangerous tone, "Let me out of here." He knew he would have a harder time getting out than he previously thought. Still staring down the two mechs who were watching him, he had no fear whatsoever, and seemed malicious instead of just barbaric, like they were led to believe. "Let me out… Now!" he demanded again, pulling harder on the bars, using more strength to pry them apart. To Megatron and Soundwave's surprise, the bars began to bend but they did not break. There was a feral look in Starscream's optics as he realized he wasn't getting out by these means. "You can't keep me in here forever! I won't let you!"

Megatron, after composing himself and coming to terms that Starscream was a lot more powerful than he gave him credit for, smirked and then leaned back with a large laugh because the seeker had missed, pretty much. Pretending his leg wasn't as busted up as it was, he made especially sure he was not in the Seeker's reach. "You will never get out except to do what I tell you! You hear me? Never! Suffer for attacking me like that! How dare you!"

Frustrated, Starscream attacked the bars with a crash and another feral scream, his optics on the chest of the leader. "Give it to me!"

Confident he wouldn't get attacked again, Megatron returned to his conceited attitude and asked cockily, "Give you what, Starscream?"

"Give it!" The seeker hissed as he reached as far as he could out towards Megatron. Soundwave watched, happy he wasn't close to the mech now.

"My, my, what a feisty monster you are," Megatron sneered. "That was your one and only chance, Starscream, and as always, you failed."

Starscream's hand slashed the air almost quicker than anyone could follow as he tried to reach the one before him. Missing, he pulled his hand back, waiting for the next time for one of them to come too close.

"Should we feed him now?" Soundwave asked, apprehensive of their prisoner's 'condition'. He was confident Starscream would break out of that cell in time. "Letting him starve might not be within our best interests."

Megatron looked to Soundwave then back to Starscream saying, "Why not? If this is the start of it, I want to see how much worse he will get. I want to make sure he doesn't screw around on his next mission."

Soundwave was unsure why Megatron would taunt this highly dangerous creature, but did not argue. Starscream almost had him, and one would think he'd take that as a hint. They weren't dealing with anything normal. In time, this creature would take down the empire. "He's completely feral, it seems," Soundwave settled on replying, knowing his leader wouldn't listen to his fears.

"Yet he speaks. He knows what's going on and when he's spoken to, which means he has cognitive thought. I thought you said those with the curse were feral? This is an interesting twist. I want to know how aware he really is," Megatron commented.

Soundwave thought about it. Maybe this was something new. "Perhaps he is entirely sentient while in this altered state; he just cannot control his actions," he answered thoughtfully.

Starscream listened to them, although his mind was on their sparks and how he could get to them and not what they were talking about. Just then, another spark signature grabbed his attention and he looked over at a new target, gauging. The signature wasn't quite what he'd wanted but it would do if it got closer. He stood back slightly, giving the impression he would not attack.

"Lord Megatron! I heard noises!" The mech stopped upon seeing that both Soundwave and Megatron were injured. "What is going on? Is everything okay?" He then saw the being in the cell. He didn't like the look in its optics.

Megatron watched Starscream's attention switch. Whether it was morbid curiosity or spur of the moment still-pissed-at-Starscream, he suddenly reached out with a leg and shoved the newcomer into Starscream's reach and Starscream quickly snared him. With a dark gleam in his optic, the Decepticon leader said, "Meet Starscream, the mysterious killer everyone's been talking about."

The crazy Seeker pulled his prey against the bars of the cell tightly with one arm wrapped about his neck, effectively pinning him so he could access his spark more easily.

"St-Starscream?" he asked in fear. What had Starscream become? The mech reached up in fear and confusion to try and pry his assailant's arm off, failing against Starscream's incredible strength.

Glancing up at Megatron with a sadistic, thankful grin – one which anyone else wouldn't think the Seeker could possess, Starscream then with his other hand, reached around the now struggling mech and proceeded to dig his claws deep into his chest as he screamed. He stared right at Megatron, watching the other glare right back at him. Viciously, he latched onto the mech's spark system and ripped it out, showing Megatron just what he was capable of. Not giving them a second glance, he dropped the body and turned away with his prize.

Megatron first frowned in revulsion at what had happened, and then he thought about the fact that Starscream would have done the same thing to himself. The leader smiled darkly in morbid fascination as he watched Starscream while he devoured the spark energy. "Perfect, Starscream," he purred.

After having his fill, a few moments later Starscream's looks reverted back to his original form and he turned away from Megatron, squatting on the floor. He knew the instant it had happened and didn't dare turn to look directly at Megatron. Instead, he stole a glance from the corner of his optic, seeing the injuries he had caused to him and Soundwave. He smirked.

Something else caught his attention and he looked for a moment longer, making sure he saw what he thought he saw, though he gave no indication that he saw it either except for a blatant look. The Autobots got quite a show, didn't they…? He idly wondered what Optimus Prime would think of his darker side.

The smirk on his face widened as he turned his head back around. Satisfied that Megatron was bleeding from a couple of places, his optics went back to the spark chamber in front of him. His optics then followed the trail of energon to the body next to the cell. Yes, he was disgusted with himself over it, but what he had done to Megatron made him feel slightly better. Proof Megatron was crazy to think he could control him.

He knew that the tyrant was probably grinning as wide as can be after seeing him tear into that mech, whom he identified as Squeezeplay. He casually wiped away some energon which had got on him. "You're much weaker than I thought you were, Megatron," the Seeker admitted coolly, letting him know he was well aware of what he was doing while he was frenzied. Looking Megatron straight in the optic, he saw his shock and said with a smile, "Why would you be so surprised? It's a small side effect of one of my tests. I remember everything."

Megatron, angry that he'd been overpowered by Starscream, watched as the Seeker's armor that had been damaged begin to repair alarmingly fast. It unnerved him that he'd shot him at point blank range with a high powered shot, and yet hadn't killed him or even disabled him. "Next time, you won't be so lucky."

"Yes, I will." Agreeing the luck was on his side, Starscream replied, "If this is all you have, then perhaps the Decepticons need a new leader…"

"You're mine, Starscream!"

The seeker gave Megatron the most apathetic look ever. "Unicron himself can't control me, so you have no hope to. I'd stop this foolishness while you're ahead, if I were you."

"We will see who is weaker when you haven't fed for an astro-cycle or two!" Megatron yelled in frustration, because somewhere deep down, he knew Starscream was telling the truth.

"Only you would be so stupid as to do something like that." Starscream replied calmly. He knew he had nothing to fear after this moment, so for once in his life, he was honest and didn't really care how angry Megatron got. He already knew Megatron needed him.

Angry that Starscream was making light of him, Megatron nearly roared, "Do not mock me!"

The Seeker turned his head slightly, the side of his optic on Megatron, "Or what, Mighty Megatron? You're gonna make faces at me and hope it scares me away? I think it is you who is afraid of me… and you should be. Don't ever let me get my hands on you again." He turned back around, finding interest in the wall. Just as he did, he heard Megatron's primary weapon power up and he turned, this time almost completely around and gave the leader an unconcerned expression. "Go ahead. You already know I can out-heal that weak shot of yours. I don't feel pain like you would think." He swore he saw the gears turning in the Decepticon leader's processor, surely wondering if he should shoot him or not. When Megatron didn't fire, he turned back around to continue preening his armor of whatever energon was left on him.

He would play this little game. In the end, he would win. "You might want to clean up that mess out there," he stated just as casually as before, "as no one else will want to guard me with a dismembered body lying next to the cell. Especially if they knew I was the one who did it." His head turned until he laid an optic on Soundwave. The darkness in that look made the CO back up a step. He then pointedly looked at Megatron's wounds. He smirked at him, saying, "Might want to get yourselves to Hook as well. Primus forbid they all find out you just got your afts handed to you by me."

Does Megatron really think he can control Starscream? Is he really that arrogant? I guess we find out, eh?