Megatron ran forward as Minerva fell to her hands and knees, mirroring his previous position.
"Enough!" Megatron yelled, covering her small body with his own. "The human has no part in this!"
Unicron chuckled. Soundwave's soul had merged with his own. Their lust was one and the same. Destruction. Anger.
Revenge.
"On the contrary," Unicron raised his servo, "you standing over her says the opposite."
The lightning flashed again and Megatron yelled as it coursed through him before hitting Minerva. Both of them collapsed, their bodies unable to handle the mental torment.
Megatron pulled her closer to him and looked up. "Please. I am begging you. You may keep me here for an eternity. I deserve it. But do not harm the human."
Minerva pushed herself onto weak legs. "No! Megatron doesn't deserve this either! He's changed!"
"All the more reason," Unicron replied before striking them again. Megatron fell back and Minerva hit his leg. The two cried out together, their bodies shaking in agony.
Minerva looked at Megatron. "How do we stop them?"
Megatron shook his helm hopelessly. "We cannot. Unicron has more power, more will to destroy, more than we could ever hope to obtain. He has trapped us within our own minds and made us his prisoner."
Minerva opened her mouth but was cut off as they were struck again. She screamed, tears falling down her face. This kind of pain was new to her. Megatron pushed himself up and fell over her, curling his body around hers. They could not die here, but the pain was all too real.
Unicron sneered down at them. "Now we shall destroy the Prime, and after him, Primus himself. Cybertron will be no more. I will hunt down every last cybertronian until the end of their time."
He glanced at Minerva. "And once my body is free, Earth will be destroyed in one fatal blow."
"Ahhh!" Megatron and Minerva cried out again as they were struck.
"For the rest of eternity, all you shall know is pain and suffering."
Minerva shook her head. "No. I can't do this." She looked up at Megatron's face hovering over her. "We have to fight."
"There is no fighting him."
Minerva grunted and spasmed as they were struck again. Megatron gritted his denta and brought his helm down, almost touching her with his forehead.
Minerva weakly reached up and pressed her hand against his helm. "We're going to be here for an eternity. If ever there was a chance for us to escape, it would be now, before-"
She cried out again. Despite his own pain, Megatron had the nerve to find himself growing angry. How did this pointless torture fix the sorrow in Soundwave's spark? Lazerbeak was not coming back, the Decepticons were gone, so revenge was but a trivial task to be done in honor of the fallen. This was nothing trivial.
It was pain.
Megatron pulled his helm up, optics drawn to Unicron's figure, which was now slimmed to fit Soundwave's image of himself. Soundwave was gone. Lost to the darkness that Unicron was.
Megatron's friends were nothing, his purpose was abandoned, his pride was tarnished-he only had one thing left and so help him if Megatron was determined to keep her safe. With a small grunt, Megatron scooped Minerva from the floor and rose to his pedes. His optics were alight with the spirit of a gladiator; this was the spirit he'd lost to Unicron.
Unicron turned toward them, momentarily pausing in the havoc he was currently wreaking on the Pentagon and in the strikes of lightning he had been dealing to them. Minerva grasped Megatron's digits and pulled herself to her knees.
"You were right," Megatron told her, his sword sliding out of it's place. "I will not stand to watch anyone else be abused. Not me. Not you. We will fight him until our dying breaths."
Minerva's chuckle was strained, but her clenched fists came easily. "Good."
With a small cry, Megatron leaped forward, charging at the god. Unicron only grinned and raised his servo, sending another piercing bolt of purple lightning coursing through them. He stumbled, yelling out and holding Minerva tighter.
She jerked and clasped onto his middle finger; her chin trembled as she raised her head to look at Unicron. Dangerous violet optics clashed with dirt brown. Minerva had little to offer in a physical battle between a god and a warlord, but when it came to will, she was not lacking.
There was no giving up. No retreat. No surrender.
She was going to show this son of a bīțćh what she was made of. Flesh and bone and determination. He could break her down to dust, but he'd never break her.
Megatron climbed to his pedes again, invigorated by the hand gripping his own. He glanced at Minerva and grinned, his sharp denta flashing.
They charged.
There was an explosion of colors as Megatron's sword sliced through the illusion of Unicron. Pieces of the god seemed to fly in all directions, replaced by a brilliant burst of rainbow, as if Megatron had cut into a pressurized pump of party streamers. He took a step back, digits curling protectively around his charge, and opened his optics.
He was back in his own body.
Megatron's optics shifted in an attempt to refocus and he groaned, feeling something heavy on his chassis. The blurry figure above him moved and Megatron realized who it was.
"Megatron, welcome back," Optimus said, slightly winded.
Megatron sat up and frowned, optics drawn to the chaos around them. "What... Unicron did this."
"Where is my grandfather?!" Minerva shot up from within Megatron's servo, her face displaying alarm. She looked around in a panic, searching.
"He is safe," Optimus assured her. "After we were notified of the attack, my Autobots worked with the military to evacuate the area."
"And where are they now?" Megatron questioned lowly.
Optimus pressed his derma together tightly. "They've barricaded the area. I told them I could help you and most of them believed me."
"So..." Minerva frowned worriedly, "what is going to happen to Megatron now?"
With a small shake of his helm, Optimus looked into the distance. "I don't know."
Megatron spotted the stasis cuffs locked onto Optimus waist and vented softly. He carefully transferred Minerva to Optimus's shoulder and then held out his servos, giving the Prime a look of understanding. He knew his fate.
Pained as Optimus was to admit it, there was no turning back from an attack like this. Both his people and the people of Earth were enraged. If he didn't punish Megatron for his actions, there would be severe repercussions.
"What-" Minerva noticed the shift in the air and then Megatron's outstretched servos. "No. This isn't fair. He was being controlled!"
Optimus placed the cuffs around Megatron's wrists sadly.
Megatron looked at Minerva and offered a small, mournful smile. "Perhaps. But the actions I have taken in the past do not reflect who I am now. I have done many terrible things that need repentance."
Minerva stood up, holding onto Optimus's digits tightly and leaning toward the warlord. "But that's not fair! You've changed!"
"Most will not see it that way."
Minerva scrambled for words, but as they neared the line of Autobots, Megatron gave her a grateful smile. "Minerva, had it not been for you, I would have rotted away in a cave, alone, and then Unicron and Soundwave would have forced me to do terrible things. I would have been enslaved for an eternity. I am grateful for the time and love you have given me."
Tears sprung to her eyes. "That's barely anything! You have your whole life ahead of you! You don't deserve-"
"Minerva," Megatron smiled at her. "I accepted this fate years ago. Please. Don't worry about me, I'll be okay. Go live your life."
Minerva opened her mouth in protest, but nothing came out. Instead, Optimus lightly guided Megatron into the crowd of Autobots, who all glared at the ex-warlord who was at fault for so many lost lives. Sneers and insults were tossed left and right. Minerva's eyes widened as she realized just how many bots truly hated Megatron.
How much damage he must have caused.
Minerva spotted a clearing and the trucks and men littering the ground there. Adjacent to it was a swirling green and blue portal.
"Wait, no," Minerva took a step back. They were going to leave her here and take Megatron into custody. Surrounded by Autobots, he'd be killed in days. She could see it on their faces, the undiluted hatred they had for him.
Her heart raced. Her head spun. Minerva clutched Optimus thumb tighter. Megatron was going to die. They'd just escaped Unicron and now he was going to die anyway.
"Goodbye, Minerva," Megatron said softly, not facing her.
Optimus lowered himself to a knee and held his servo to the floor. "Thank you for what you have given him."
Minerva was reluctant to step away, but a small push from his digit sent her stumbling out of his servo. She whirled around as he stood back up, barely hearing the voice shouting her name from behind or the footsteps heading her way.
This wasn't happening. This couldn't happen.
Minerva watched as the two bots approached the portal and suddenly, she'd made up her mind. Turning around, Minerva's eyes swept over the trucks and equipment before landing on what she needed.
"Minerva!" her grandfather shouted, surprised and alarmed as she suddenly sprinted away.
"Hold on!" she yelled, pulling a gun from a soldier's belt and a megaphone from another. She jumped onto the hood of a van and climbed to the roof, her eyes ablaze with determination.
Minerva turned on heel and shouted into the megaphone.