"Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it."
~Baltasar Gracián, The Art of Worldly Wisdom
>>•<<
"Megatron is no more. And Jack has succumbed to the evil that is anger and vengeance."
The base was silent as Optimus walked through the Groundbridge, his steps slow and solemn. In his arms he carried Megatron, or his husk at least, and carefully maneuvered him to an empty corner of the base, not having the spark to leave him there to rust regardless of their lack of room for him.
"Jack . . . Did this?" Ratchet voices the question on everyone's processor.
Optimus nodded, speaking in a softer tone that usual. "Yes. He first wounded Megatron and then destroyed his spark." He paused, before continuing. "I almost believed that in doing so Jack saved himself. But it seems that Megatron's corruption had already spread throughout, and after learning about the loss of his mother, Jack has become bent on revenge."
Miko was ever the hopeful one. "But he can turn back, right? Jack can't be evil forever!"
"This kind of thing is unprecedented." Ratchet explains. "We have no idea what will happen to Jack now. But I recommend we get those Decepticon spark shards out of you as soon as possible!"
"Jack's piece died inside him, so it's safe to say that we can just remove them, right?"
Ratchet shook his helm, answering Smokscreen's question. "A spark bond is still a spark bond, regardless of how it was formed. Because only half of one has been created, the effects aren't nearly as strong- which is why Jack didn't die when Megatron did. But outright removing those shards could cause Miko and Rafael's sparks to offline, and they would soon follow."
"Which is why you need us- me and Bee." Bulkhead reasoned. Arcee felt her spark twinge when she wasn't included.
Jack doesn't need me anymore.
The medic nodded. "If I can successfully replace the Decepticon shards with yours, then that will serve as the replacement and keep Miko and Rafael alive."
"Then what are you waiting for?" Wheeljack questioned.
"The fact that this is completely unprecedented and not even close to any procedure I have performed in the past, there are many ways this could go wrong!!" Ratchet began to rant. "And then I could lose four patients instead of none at all! Or at the very least, two!"
"If the risk is worth the outcome, and if your patients are willing, I will condone this procedure." Optimus rumbled. "And though Megatron's spark is tainted more than most, I believe it would be safest to eradicate all traces of the Decepticons completely."
"You can count me in!" Miko said with more enthusiasm than Ratchet cared for. "You ready to do this, Bulk?"
"Anything for you." The sweet Wrecker replied, fist-bumping his charge.
Bumblebee whirred his agreement, and all optics fell on Raf.
The boy hesitated for a long time, tapping his fingers together nervously. "I . . . I'll do it." He said finally, Ratchet becoming more gentle towards him.
"Rafael, I will not be offended if you're too uncomfortable to try." The medic says. "Every patient has a right to say no, regardless of what doctors or anyone else says."
"I'll do it." The boy tells him with more confidence. "I'm tired of being an experiment for the Decepticons. But I'll be one one last time for you."
Ratchet was inexplicably touched by the statement, in an odd sort of way. The old medic nodded in confirmation, then looked over at the rusting corpse of Megatron, sighing. "Where are we going to put him?"
"Until Agent Fowler gets here, we will have to wait before properly disposing of Megatron's body." Optimus replied. "He will most likely know a place where no humans- not even MECH -will be able to find him."
"We could just dump him in the ocean." Miko replied. "You guys don't float, right?"
"Optimus is right. We should wait for Agent Fowler to make the call." Ultra Magnus countered her. "He knows more about Earth than any of you younglings do."
The girl look offended by the statement. "Dude, I lived next to an ocean! I lived on a island! I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about."
"Miko." Bulkhead warned, not wanting her to get on anybody's nerves.
"Hey! Just because we're not human anymore doesn't mean that we know any less about our own planet!" She argued, and the reason for her increasing upsetness became very clear.
Ultra Magnus tried to remedy that. "I meant no offense; I simply meant that since Agent Fowler is older, he may have more knowledge about the secret places on Earth."
Miko huffed, taking the apology but not very happy about it.
Rafael remained quiet, equally as upset as Miko. It worried him, too, what had happened to Jack could also happen to him or Miko. He didn't want to hurt Bee, or any of his friends or family on Earth. He didn't even want to hurt the Decepticons either, but that was moreso for timid reasons and his dislike of hurting anybody, really.
His spark ached. Really, all Rafael wanted was to be human again.
"We also must update Fowler on the situation." Optimus continued gravely, changing the subject. "Jack may now be a threat to humanity as he is to the Decepticons and us. What his intentions are, we cannot be for certain. But we must use the upmost caution if we see him in battle."
"He offlined Megatron!" Bulkhead looked confused. "How could he be a threat to us?"
"Did you not hear the last part of that conversation?!" Ratchet snapped. "Optimus told us that Jack threatened him, and was going to do the same to Optimus as he did Megatron! Is that not threatening to you?!"
"Oh." Bulkhead simply replied, surprised by his own miscommunication. "That's . . . Not good."
"I thought so too." The medic replied sarcastically. His mood had not been in the best of spirits since Shovel had been injured, the Vehicon still under and Ratchet too worried about the adverse affects to wake him up.
The base fell to silence, Arcee having slowly detached herself from the group and stepping outside, not caring if the other human soldiers saw her. It amazed her, the lack of femme humans she saw in the military, and even the initial treatment of her arrival- until they witnessed her kick Smokescreen's aft. Then she got nothing but respect from them.
Mechs. She scoffed to herself.
But Arcee didn't care much about the humans then. Jack was on her processor, a thought that ate away at her and made her spark ache. Why did he turn on them? Why join the Decepticons?
Why declare himself their leader?
>>•<<
"This is a disaster!" Starscream hissed at his fellow Decepticons in the energon hold. It was the one place they could hold a private conversation without fear of their new tyrant detecting them.
"Oh, it's fixable." Knock Out mused. "He's young, and inexperienced. We can take him out no problemo."
"If you hadn't noticed, Knock Out, he offlined Megatron!!" Starscream snapped. "We need to figure out a way to make him submit to us, and give up his command over the Decepticons!"
"Using his mother as a hostage, would be most logical." Shockwave posits.
"He did start this rampage because Megatron foolishly led him to believe that she was dead. So that could work . . ." Starscream tapped his chin.
"Why did he suddenly go Decepticon anyways? It's not like we've done anything for him." Knock Out questions, looking at his comrades.
"Megatron originally started this project in hopes that he could create another Orion Pax, and use him as an asset to our cause." Shockwave explains. "My theory is that, when Megatron inserted a piece of his spark in the boy, he inadvertently created himself instead. And so, the experiment was more inclined to become corrupt and more Decepticon in nature. But why he would turn on his fellow Autobots completely, I do not know."
"Great, we have another Megatron on our hands." Starscream muttered. "It's only a matter of time before he begins tampering with Dark Energon himself."
"I like Shockwave's idea: let's use the human mother to force him to give up power." Knock Out says.
"And then reinstate me as first in command!" Starscream puffed his chest out, ever the prideful one.
"I suppose that would make sense." Knock Out muttered.
Soundwave silently listened to the conversation, his visor blank and reflecting the images of each Decepticon as they spoke. The communications officer was surprised, to say the least, when he saw Megatron's life signal go out, and find that Jack Darby had been the one to offline his master and comrade. He almost laughed when the foolish boy took him to be a mere drone that would instantly become loyal to his will.
He could assume that his silence is what made him seem sub-Cybertronian, but in reality his was far more intelligent and clever than any Decepticon gave him credit for; that is, except Megatron. He would avenge his master's death, but only once Jack's motives became clear and he was subdued enough to be properly neutralized.
So Soundwave was more than willing to play the part of mindless drone for a little while longer.
Knock Out asked the question they had clearly been dreading to ask. "So, who's going to get mommy dear and present her to her son?"
"I'm sure Shockwave would like to do the honors. After all, it is his experiment." Starscream made little effort to hide his distaste for the scientist.
"Would it not be most logical," Shockwave countered, "that we all present the human to him? Not only will we outnumber him, but we will also have leverage, so if he attempted to take the human and kill one of us, we would be able to better subdue him."
"Or, or," Starscream felt it dawn on him. "We use our new Predaking to rip him apart?"
Shockwave had an answer. "Then the Predacon may believe that he is now leader of the Decepticons, using the boy's logic, and then our problem would be even greater than when it started."
The Seeker huffed. "I suppose you're right. Fine, then. Let's go retrieve the human female."
Soundwave was the first to lead them out, satisfied with their plan. It was logical, manageable, and would give him the opportunity to safely and effectively do away with Jack Darby. He was not leaving any room for underestimation. Megatron had barely beat him in a gladiatorial battle, and Jack had defeated Megatron in a similar circumstance. It proved that the experiment could be dangerous, and ultimately deadly. There could be no errors in judgement here.
As they all arrived at the door, Starscream "did the honors" of opening it, each Decepticon eager to get the plan over with.
"What?!" Starscream howled when they opened the door only to find a single article of clothing- a jacket -lying in the middle of the room. "Where is she?! Where did that worm go?!"
"This isn't good. This is not good." Knock Out panicked, looking around frantically. "If we don't find her, that maniac will have our heads!!"
June ran as fast as she could down the hall, ducking under a console when she had the chance. It had been almost too easy getting away from the group of Decepticons. They must have been in a hurry to please their master to notice her run out when they left the door open.
She panted heavily, catching her breath. Megatron would be furious to hear that she got out, but that wasn't her problem now. She needed to avoid getting caught, and escape as fast as possible. She had no idea how to contact the Autobots, but there had to be some way off this ship.
And she was going to find it. She was going to go back to her boy, and make sure Megatron never hurt their family ever again.