CONSENT TO ME
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Warning: Physical and Psychological Torture
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"Oh, I'm brainwashed,
Double-O who, seven digits,
Connect me to you, Sweet Center,
Baby-baby, take me with you."
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Optimus Prime rarely found himself in a position of absolute helplessness, and most of the time he merely pushed through it and squashed his feelings of inadequacy until he could deal with them later. The horrific turn of events which now left him without an arm and the loss of a magnificent weapon left him sunken in his self-pity. For once, he did not rise from his recharge when his systems gave the all-clear, but instead left himself in a suspended state of thought.
The schematics of his body were pressed into his processor, the diagram showing him areas of major damage that would need time to heal. It did not escape his notice that the estimated times of full recovery were longer than normal; Ratchet's absence was all too noticeable. But whoever had assisted him, be it his own team or the humans, had done much better than he could do himself. He most likely would have died otherwise.
It terrified him to think what Megatron would do now. The tyrant had become increasingly unpredictable, and each new relic seemed to be even greater than the last. He felt they could not delay any longer, but simultaneously he was experiencing the crushing weight of failure. It was hard telling what state Arcee was in, even more impossible to gauge what Ratchet may be like. And Jack . . . his human ally had once again fallen victim to kidnapping by the Decepticons. This assault, however, had almost seemed calculated. Megatron had contacted Jack before, and Optimus had sensed the boy was hiding something. He also had incorrectly assumed that Jack would balk at the idea of leaving the safety of the Autobot base.
Had Jack . . . allowed himself to be captured?
The thought was ridiculous, and he pushed it away. Megatron may have an excellent way with words, but even he could not convince a sentient creature to give up its free will so easily. Something behind the scenes was going on, and it made Optimus all the more uncomfortable. It sickened him to think that the tyrant was using Jack or Ratchet to psychologically manipulate the other, though it raised questions. As much as it pained him to think it, capturing both Arcee and Jack would be more beneficial, considering their guardian-charge bond. But that could also suggest their medic was the sole target, and Jack was merely a means to an end.
Which meant once Megatron got what he wanted, the human would die.
The thought finally pulled the Prime from his "sleeping" state and onlined his systems for good, charging up his body and activating his optics. An overhead light quickly overloaded most of his sensors and he closed them again, briefly, allowing them to recover before opening them up again.
"Hey big guy, feelin' alright?"
"Agent Fowler," he turned his head toward the voice, his vision focusing on the dark human in front of him. He managed an ex-ventilation of partial relief, blinking a few times while taking in his surroundings. It was apparent that this was not the original base. "Where am I?"
"We moved you to the new base," Fowler informed him, gesturing to the area around him without a specific indication in mind. "Once Arcee woke, we thought it would be best to get a move on. You've been asleep for almost two days, Prime. We were starting to worry."
"My apologies. I sustained quite a bit of damage in the fight," Optimus sat up, immediately feeling the void where his arm once was. Lightly touching the area, he noticed that the protoform had sealed neatly, and his armor rounded off and smoothed for a more natural look. "Have we . . . received any word?"
Agent Fowler shook his head. "Not yet," he sighed. "No ransom, not even a twisted video to show us if the doc or kid is alright. The 'cons have been silent, and though I've got every available hand scanning databases for any sign of Jack, nothing suspicious has popped up yet. Which either means the 'cons are taking care of him, or . . . we'll get a hit real soon."
Optimus looked around and saw the rest of the base was empty, frowning a little in concern. "Where is everyone?"
"Scouting for energon, as per usual," he was reassured, Agent Fowler moving to the computers. "Bulkhead just checked in about two minutes ago. Bumblebee and Arcee are doin' fine as well. I've got things covered here, if you need to rest for a little while longer."
"I will be alright," the Prime stood, the movement throwing him a touch off balance and causing him to sway. He managed to catch himself before he could fall over, sighing softly and realizing this could get frustrating.
His disability did not go unnoticed by Agent Fowler. "I managed to obtain an at-home physical therapy schedule you can use to get back on your feet, if that's something you're interested in. The person providing it was a professional, but naturally we couldn't just invite her into base. So we settled for this."
"That may indeed be useful. Thank you, Agent Fowler," Optimus was genuinely touched by the extra effort made by their liaison. Sometimes he forgot just how much the Autobots had seemed to grow on the human.
"It's no problem. Just get better as fast as you can, Prime. Megatron hasn't made any moves yet, but it's only a matter of time."
"I am well aware of that, Agent Fowler," he acknowledged, looking around the new base. It was a bit smaller than what they were used to, but they could adapt just fine. Everything that could be moved at a reasonable speed was here, and even the Groundbridge had been deconstructed and shipped here while he was still in stasis, which was in itself impressive. They were going to settle in virtually seamlessly, and for that he was grateful.
He decided it would be best if he continued with the decoding of the Iacon database. They were already extremely behind as it was, and could not afford to give Megatron any more of an advantage. He hoped the Star Saber could not be utilized to its full potential in the Decepticon's servos, but he would only put so much faith in such a notion. He could not afford to just assume any longer.
Ratchet and Jack, as well as all of Earth, depended on it.
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Jack cracked open a bottle of water and took several gulps, thankful to have every drop. He did not dare to ask where Soundwave found the supplies, only silently accepting what was given to him and eating what he tried to call a balanced meal. His mother certainly would not approve, but he was unsure if it was because some of the stuff was not vegan, or just plain unhealthy in general.
Ratchet, however, had refused his energon ration. The medic was once again resisting, his mixed emotions causing him to lash out to his captors, angry and spatting at Soundwave when the Decepticon tried to force-feed him. But the whole ordeal almost seemed fake, as if the third in command was not trying. That concerned Jack. Eventually the silent mech just gave up, striding out with the full cube in servo and leaving Ratchet to wallow in his version of hunger.
The truth was, Ratchet did not feel like refueling. His tanks turned and twisted as he thought about what Megatron had shown him. The day the war had broken out Orion told him what happened, how Megatron threatened to kill the entire High Council if it meant getting what he wanted. He forgot to mention the part where the members had ignored him and did what they do best: dismissed the gladiator. Sure, Megatron was no treat, but their apathy was telling. The High Council only granted him an audience because they believed it would quiet his growing following of Decepticons. Instead, they had underestimated Megatron's drive and intelligence, a mistake that cost them dearly.
The pertinent information made him wonder why Orion Pax had not said anything about it. Why did he neglect to tell Ratchet the truth? Did Alpha Trion request he not? Was he afraid of what Ratchet would think?
Megatron's speech had been, much to his personal disappointment, moving. He had been able to see what Ratchet had been blind to for many years, though the medic partially blamed it on his own privilege. It was easy to ignore the voices of the suffering until one was a sufferer themselves. It was not until he set up a clinic in Rodion - with the help of Megatronus no less - that he became more aware of the deterioration of Cybertron. He had sided with Orion's view because he had been his friend, and Megatron only by proxy. After the Decepticon's betrayal he hated the tyrant even more, seeing the repercussions that was the severing of an amica endura bond firsthand, and having to nurse Orion Pax back to health.
Now . . . he found himself questioning his own beliefs. And he realized who had truly destroyed their friendship that day.
Ratchet refused energon for two reasons: resistance, as was expected of him, but the fear of complying and falling victim to even more sympathy for this mech he had come to despise so vehemently. The concept of changing his ideals was foreign, and it terrified him.
Rejection, however, was the wrong thing to do.
The doors opened again a few minutes later to a trio of Vehicons marching in, Megatron dwarfing them as he walked in their wake. As if on autopilot Ratchet stood, placing his pede between them and Jack. The human seemed as defeated as him, the pair unable to talk, much less look at one another. The medic could not say he blamed him. Regardless, it was his duty to protect the boy from whatever sick and twisted games Megatron planned to play.
"I would highly suggest you step away from the boy, lest you accidentally crush him," Megatron sneered in his direction. The Vehicons made quick work of the medic by dragging him to the center of the room and yanking his servos up, energon cuffs securing the medic before his body was hoisted into the air again. He yowled in pain briefly before securing his glossa between his denta and shutting his optics. He was certain Megatron would try to beat him within an inch of his life, then force feed him energon. It was what he had done before.
Instead, Soundwave re-entered the room without the blue energon cube, standing eerily still in the quiet. The obedient servant of Megatron stood off to the side as the Vehicons left, finished with their job.
Jack backed into a corner and tried to make himself as small as possible, however the chills down his back told him that at least one pair of optics was on him. He looked over at Soundwave, his heart already beating in his chest and stomach twisting in agony. Suddenly he regretted eating all of that food, now worried he would just throw it back up. Witnessing one torture session with Ratchet had been bad enough, two if one counted the video and three with the cortical psychic patch. He did not want to witness any more.
"You understand the price you pay for refusing energon, yes?" Megatron asked, his vocalizer all too slick with the Decepticon dialect. Only he could make it sound like a poetic language.
"Save it," Ratchet growled, glancing up at the tyrant with a hateful expression. "Just get on with it already. There's no point in waiting."
The Decepticon bared his denta in a twisted grin. "We will coerce you to consume the energon. Or would you prefer the human consumed it instead?"
"What are you going to do, dunk him in?" The Autobot spat back. "The energon could kill him!"
"I have come up with a much more . . . efficient solution," Megatron rasped in English. The declaration made chills crawl up Jack's spine, having been completely oblivious to the first half of the conversation. Ratchet watched as the red optics of the enemy focused on his temporary human charge, feeling panic well up in his cables.
"Megatron, what do you think you're doing?" He hissed, tugging against the chains which restrained him. "Leave him alone!"
"You have refused your energon ration, and no longer care about your own physical wellbeing," the dictator replied apathetically, taking a few steps toward Jack. "But perhaps I can get you to agree with a little motivation."
He took one last step, taking a half second to still his body before his armor began to shift and move.
Jack yelped and took several steps back as Megatron seemed to move towards him, his mouth dropping open and heart hammering in his chest when he realized what was going on. His back hit the cold metal wall, a looming shadow trapping him in place.
Talons reached out at lightning speed and gripped Jack's neck, cutting off a terrified scream with a squeeze. On instinct the human gripped the massive arm that had him in its grasp, fingers grappling for a hold as his feet lashed out. Wisely, Megatron kept the human at arm's length, watching him gasp for air - how primitive - with hard optics. Even with his reduced size he was far larger than the average human, however it was enough to give Jack unwanted one on one attention.
Ratchet fought against the restraints, what he realized now was an insurance that the Autobot would not take advantage of the situation and squash the Decepticon warlord underfoot like an ant. It was rare to see Megatron display his mass displacement at such an extreme level, but it only solidified just how serious he was becoming with his threats.
"I will tell you only one more time, medic: take your energon ration, or I give it to the human," he did not take his optics off of Jack, watching him writhe. Only when he could sense the human's attempts at freedom weakening did he slacken his grip.
Sucking in air, Jack felt his eyes water in pain. He looked over at Ratchet, lungs too deprived of oxygen to formulate words. Not only could consuming energon kill him . . . it might be extremely painful. Surely Megatron could not be serious -
His Autobot companion hung his helm. Even if he wanted to continue defying Megatron, the Decepticon had finally revealed his trump card. He could do anything he wished; because the medic would never, ever endanger Jack's life. "Fine," he snarled. "Give me the energon."
"I knew you could be reasoned with," despite the deal, Megatron did not release his prey. Jack shuddered, Megatron's sharp armor creating painful divets in his fingers.
There was something else going on, and the tyrant was all too aware that he would need Ratchet's continued compliance, keeping Jack trapped in his hold. His gaze shifted to Knock Out as the Decepticon CMO slunk into the room, a choked rasp escaping his throat as his bloodshot eyes landed on the cube.
No, no, no.
"You can't be serious!" Ratchet begged. "I said I would consume energon! I never agreed to -"
"You did," Megatron cut him off, his crimson optics fading to a sick purple color in the presence of the Dark Energon cube. "My previous threat - promise - still stands. Drink it, Ratchet, or he will."
Jack focused on Soundwave in the corner of the room, seeing the flashing red light which betrayed his recorder. He quickly looked away, not wanting the receivers, his family and friends, to see the terrified, desperate look in his eyes. Megatron would make them watch their medic, and Optimus' closest friend, become infected with dark energon.
Ratchet shuttered his optics, opening them with a vicious glare. "Don't hurt him," he said. "And I will do it."
Jack felt the tyrant's grip loosen as he chuckled, the terrible sound originating in the center of his chassis before leaving his mouth. Purple optics bore into his human captive, glittering with an unknown purpose. It was difficult to tell what the Decepticon was thinking, however Jack did not really want to know.
"An excellent choice," Jack flinched when the dictator reverted back to his native tongue. "Give him the energon. If he so much as chokes on it, I kill the boy."
"Of course, my liege," Knock Out bowed, finishing the distance between himself and Ratchet, the two medics making optic-contact.
Jack squirmed in Megatron's grip, and much to his surprise the titan finally let him go. He landed on his feet and stumbled backwards, holding his own throat as he fell on his butt. Sucking in air, Jack looked up to see Megatron had turned his back to him, and was instead watching the medics' interactions.
"Open up," Knock Out crooned, earning a glare from the elder medic. Ratchet glanced over at Jack, his expression twisting into something vaguely shameful, before he returned his gaze to the purple cube. The liquid inside made his tanks churn, however he could not back out now.
Taking a deep breath the Autobot allowed the corner of the cube to touch his lip plates, tilting his head back and letting it wash down his intake. He shuddered at the bitter taste, his armor clamping down tightly as he could feel it burn through his systems. Like the synthetic energon, a new feeling washed over his body, however this time instead of invigorating him it was painful.
Jack flinched when Ratchet let out a pained yowl of protest, barely halfway through the cube before he had to stop and rest, his body started to shudder. Megatron merely watched with satisfaction, signaling Knock Out to force the rest down their prisoner's throat. It was clear Ratchet had little control over himself, the medic simultaneously rejecting the substance even while he allowed it to flow across his glossa and into his tank. With every drop he became more passive, eventually unable to resist as the last few sips were emptied from the cube.
Rage filled the human's veins as his Autobot companion's helm slumped forward, the last of Ratchet's free will siphoned from him. He glared at Megatron's back, almost able to visualize the infuriating grin on his face whilst his fingers curled into fists. Scanning the Cybertron's reduced frame, he looked for any sort of weakness that he could access and use for his own advantage. Surely the lord of the Decepticons was not impenetrable. He had nearly died multiple times over the course of Jack knowing this alien war existed. There had to be something.
His eyes affixed on the Cybertronian's neck, finding that the only real place he could swiftly attempt some sort of attack was there. The back of his helm covered the important veins, but if Jack could reach around him . . .
As resolve settled within him, Jack made his move.
Without a sound he rushed forward, pushing himself to sprint the short distance as fast as possible in order to maximize surprise. Megatron was too preoccupied by his new project to notice anything, Jack releasing his rage with a scream of anger as he leapt forward.
His first thought when he collided with Megatron was just how light he was, his attack actually forcing the Cybertronian to take a step forward to regain balance. Quickly latching on, Jack quickly circled a hand around his neck in an attempt to grab something vital, ending up aiming too high and gripping his sharp chin.
Years of fighting for survival had honed Megatron's reflexes to perfection, the former gladiator not even having to think about his next move. Thrusting his head back he felt it collide with Jack's skull, snarling in rage as he reached back and gripped the back of his shirt. His claws tore through the material as he viciously ripped the human off of him, slamming him into the ground. Wide blue eyes looked up at him, a stunned breath leaving his lungs. A bruise had already formed, racing from the corner of his left eye and snaking into his hairline, part of his delicate optical covering red from bruising there too.
Megatron glanced at the shredded fabric in his joints, then the temporarily stunned human at his pedes. The threat taken care of and him realizing it was just the harmless human, the dictator could not help but laugh.
"Such spirit!" He sneered, kneeling down and reaching out for Jack. The human shot out his own hands in an attempt to stop him, delicate fingers lacing with sharp digits, as if he could ever possess any strength to stop the lord of the Decepticons. "Alas, even the most impressive of deeds against me cannot go unpunished."
With that he closed his digits in a crushing force, Jack screaming as he was painfully picked up by his hands and thrown against the wall. The back of his head cracked against the metal and he began seeing stars, his whole body in pain. Allowing himself to slide down he fell on his knees, tremors making it difficult to even sit up. He barely saw the streak of silver that came towards him, colliding with the right side of his face and sending him full-force into the ground.
Groaning, Jack could vaguely feel something wet run down his face, the taste of blood worming its way into his mouth. Instinctively he curled up into a ball on the floor, trying to look as non-threatening as possible and hopefully incite Megatron to stop. The tyrant's mocking laugh rang in his ears, Jack feeling cold air brush against his ear.
"I think you have endured enough, for now," Megatron concluded. Chills crawled up Jack's spine when he realized the air was the equivalent of the metal being's breath.
Megatron stood, leaving the pathetic human to nurse his wounds. Pulling from his subspace he built back up his frame, his fellow Decepticon officers standing at attention as he once again returned to his full height. A brief sense of vertigo glitched his vision, having not used such extreme mass displacement in a long time. However it did not seem to bother him at all from the perspective of Knock Out or Soundwave.
Seamlessly turning to gaze at his new pet, he noted with some dissatisfaction that Ratchet was still unconscious.
"Allow them to rest," he said, waving a servo to indicate he was referring to both of their prisoners. "I will return to see the results of our little experiment when the Autobot has regained consciousness."
"As for the surgery, my lord?" Knock Out asked timidly.
A pleased smile crossed his master's face. Ah, yes, he had nearly forgotten about it.
"Prepare your medical bay," Megatron ordered the bright red medic. "While we wait, let us use this opportunity to perform a different sort of test." The dictator bared his teeth in a savage, vengeful grin.
He could not wait to see the digits of Optimus Prime wrap around Ratchet's throat.
⬵⤁
I've got another art project for ya'll!
So I recently found this song called "My Demons" by Starset, which you might notice was referenced by @Bumblemus_Prime and @FlammusPrimus in a previous chapter. When listening to it, it sounds like Ratchet is speaking to Megatron - that thought will likely make more sense with a few more chapters.
Here is the link to the song (which you can buy on Apple Music): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSvOTw8UH6s
I'm still learning how to Art, so my anatomy is a bit wonky . . .
Poor Ratchet. I haven't been merciful to him or Jack in this story . . . but don't expect it to get better, haha. Thank you all for reading!!