The Space Bridge had sent Dion back to Cybertron in disgrace and morale was low. How could an Autobot be so hateful? Megatron smirked. He knew what caused it; a simple matter of believing in propaganda too much and not realizing the REAL cause of war, money. He had taken over Dion’s quarters and tailored it to his own ends. As he continued arranging things, he heard the door chime. “Yes?” he called.
“It’s your mother,” answered Windblade’s voice.
“…Enter.” Windblade came in and looked around.
“You settled in pretty well.”
“I would have been given my old quarters, but it was…occupied.”
“…Why?” Megatron guessed her question.
“Optimus didn’t tell you?”
“He admitted he didn’t follow everything.” Megatron flinched a bit.
“Simple, we started acting like Functionists towards the losers.”
“…There’s more to this.”
“Believe what you wish, but there really ISN’T…” Megatron didn’t finish his sentence as Windblade leapt onto him, shoving him into a wall. “Wha…?!”
“You betrayed us! You betrayed ME! What’s happened to you?! WHAT HAVE THE DECEPTICONS DONE TO MY BABY BOY?!”
“Enough!” Megatron shoved her off of him and got some room.
“Is it Shadowplay?!” continued Windblade. “Is that what this is?! Did Jhiaxus brainwash you?!”
“If he did, he’d still be around! Remember? Jhiaxus is dead! Any puppet of his would seek to keep him alive! I sent the D.J.D on him! So, no, it’s NOT Shadowplay and I’m sorry if that disappoints you.” Windblade stood there, staring at her wayward son.
“We believed in you back then. We dedicated our lives to you!”
“Not to me, to the Autobot cause.”
“You ARE the Autobot cause! Or, at least, that’s what Sentinel Prime believed.”
“Sentinel REALLY thought me to be the model Autobot? Mother, I had a stutter and was afraid of my own shadow! I find it hard to believe that I was a model Autobot back then! As it stands now, I’m not even the faintest glimmer of ANY type of Autobot!” Windblade scowled, then sighed.
“…The family’s carrying on without you. Optimus has plans.” Megatron arched an eyebrow.
“Optimus? I thought Dion was head of the Pax family.”
“Dion stepped down. He handed the reins of the family to Optimus. …He’s exiled himself from the public eye. He’s still on Cybertron, but he’s living as a hermit. Optimus wants to bring your father back.”
“Well then, go help him! Off you go! Go get my Ex-Decepticon father and have him finally meet his youngest son! Push! Push on! Forge ahead without me!”
“…The moment you tell me this is all a trick, that ‘Megatron, Leader of the Decepticons’ is part of some larger plan, then you’re taking Dion’s place. Optimus never wanted it, feeling that he’s got enough in terms of command already.”
“Ah, yes, Autobot loyalty. I had forgotten how toxic it can be.” Megatron then sat himself on his recharge berth. “Speaking of loyalty, I presume you were sent to spy on me?” Windblade flinched. It was true.
“Optimus’ orders. I was to watch and wait until I could be certain the new you was the real you.”
“And then?”
“…He left that up to me.”
“And you told us Father’s origins?”
“A test for you. Testing your compassion. …You failed.” The silence hung low over the room until Windblade broke it again. “I’ve been watching you ever since you surrendered. You sat in your cell with your eyes closed and your mouth turned up in a smile, and you think, and you think, and you think, and you know what I think? I think, for the first time in your life, you don’t know what you are! Writer, soldier, mentor, brother…now what?”
“Lord of the Decepticons.”
“But WHY? If you’ve had a change of Spark, you could have become a civilian; a Cybertronian, no more, no less. The two thousand years between our last war and the current one were a ripe time for you to step down! Why switch sides?!”
“…When I revealed my new allegiance to Optimus, I told him that it was because the Empty/Plenty ratio is staggering. Decepticons are disproportionally more likely to become Empties than Autobots. I wanted to hurt him, you see, because telling him he’s failed in keeping people happy, he’ll take that personally. The thing is, when I merely thought those words, when they were just in my head and I only had my memories of what I saw, I still had some small spark of disbelief that the Autobots could be so cruel. But when the words left my mouth, I realized that they COULD be so cruel, that Autobots can be just as bad as Decepticons. If the faction you believe in tells you that those who aren’t as lucky as you are just lazy and you stay silent about your doubts, then what does it matter? The problem will resolve itself in due course. But, when you actually verbalize what the problem is…” Megatron sighed. “…I grew to hate what I became in the two thousand years before today; an indolent, selfish creature. And…I decided that the best way to leave that person behind, maybe the easiest way, the only way…was to become a Decepticon.”
“…You were neither indolent nor selfish,” said Windblade, “and we all have wobbles. All of us, from time to time, we all have wobbles, and we question what we’re doing. It’s part of being a person, you wrote that down once. In years to come, when this mess is over, you’ll remember this conversation and laugh.”
“Years to come?” Megatron scoffed. “Mother, look at me. Not with the eyes of a mother, with the eyes of someone who never knew me personally. I may be only in my mid five thousands, but I feel like I’m in my hundred thousands. Those parties made me feel brittle, but even then, I feel long past my…my prime. My Spark feels like it flickers where it once flared, and this body, oh, this nonsense body, it doesn’t graft to the Spark like my previous iterations did. There’s no purchase…no bite.”
“I don’t like hearing you talk like this!” Windblade was tearing up at this moment.
“Why?”
“Because it’s not YOU! The young mech who tore down the Conclave at 500 years of age! The mech who saw to it that the arts survived, even during the Great War! The mech we followed! The mech we loved! What happened to him?!”
“…I don’t know. …I think Megatronus Pax is dead.”
“Dead? Or just resting?” The outer perimeter alarm then sounded. “Unicron?!”
“No,” rumbled Megatron. “I would have already told Optimus about that. No, it’s someone else.”
“It’s Soundwave, if you want to know.” Teletraan appeared on Megatron’s computer screen.
“…The Swap’s tomorrow, right?” asked Megatron.
“It is, but Soundwave looks mad right now.”
“I better talk with him.” Megatron got up and strode to the front door. He went outside and faced Soundwave. “Soundwave, your turn isn’t for another two weeks. I must ask that you return to base.”
“Not until you hear what Ravage found!” replied Soundwave. He then played a little audio file of Galvatron’s voice.
“Silver, you psychokinetic genius! Your scheme is working! We could potentially restore the Three Powers any day now! Galvatron to Rodimus! Galvatron to Rodimus, come in!” Megatron was stunned.
“Wh…wha…” Megatron’s stammering then stopped. It was falling into place! Galvatron had manipulated everyone into working together! He didn’t care about the Decepticons anymore! Megatron’s face contorted in rage.
“Hey, er, Optimus overheard the entire conversation,” Teletraan said over the comms.
“…Galvatron…Galvatron………GALVATROOOON!” Megatron EXPLODED in anger, the energy shorting out his inhibitor chips!
“Someone call?” asked Galvatron’s voice. Megatron then swung his mace at his future self!