A tank rolled through a railway’s scrap yard, its barrel moving back and forth as if it were looking for something. As it rolled, its pilot, a human man dressed like a pompous gentleman, was using his radio. “Deceptitran, this is Straxus!” he snarled angrily. “Deceptitran, report! Where are you, you fat idiot?!” No one responded. “…Dammit, this isn’t the time to play hide and seek! Come in!” Still no response. “…Fine, we’ll play this game!” The man disappeared and the tank turned into a massive robot. Straxus activated a wrist-mounted flashlight and looked around the scrap yard. “If I were an overweight, gluttonous, imitation Chompazoid, where would I be?” He kept looking around the mountains of derelict metal. Old engines of all types, steam, diesel, electric, were rusting away, waiting for their final end to be melted down in the Smelter’s Shed so the metal would be cleaned of impurities and recycled into something new. “Come on out!” roared Straxus. He then saw the outline of a fat robot, just a head smaller than him, with wheels instead of legs. “There you are!” he roared. “What’s the idea?! Why have you not reported back?!” There was no response. “…Deceptitran?” Straxus’ anger was replaced with a little fear. “…Deceptitran, please say something.” The head then tumbled off the body! Straxus yelped and shined his light on the head. The optics were offline, and the color of the helmet was gunmetal gray! He then looked at the body to see a massive hole blown through the torso where the Spark Chamber would be! Straxus was now terrified! That was two Terrorcons down!
“Quite the sight, is it not?” came a voice over Straxus’ radio. The voice was raspy and gave Straxus a clue about the culprit’s identity.
“Where are you, Megatron?!” he called, trying to hide his fear. “Show yourself!”
“So eager to meet your death?” replied Megatron. “Well, I’m all to happy to oblige!” A tank of a different design then burst from one of the scrap piles and then transformed into the Decepticon Lord! “YOU WORM!” he roared as he activated his concealed arm-mounted sword and brought it down towards Straxus. Straxus blocked with his axe and the weapons became locked! “You’ll pay for this betrayal, Straxus! I’m angry! Blisteringly so! And do you know what happens when I become so angry? I’ll give you a hint, people die!”
“You don’t frighten me, Megatron!” snarled Straxus. “Unlike you, I’ve learned to choose my allies wisely!” He managed to untangle his axe and shoved Megatron backwards. Megatron fell to his knee and panted. Straxus continued talking. “You’re nothing but a bad joke! What were you thinking, joining forces with Optimus Prime and the Autobots?! He’s your enemy, remember?! …Or is it that you want to get back to your old Autobot roots? You honestly expect me to grovel to someone like that? Pah! Not likely! I have no need for you! All we ever did, since you became Lord, was fight one meaningless battle after another! What was the point?! You wanted to control Cybertron AND the universe but…we both know that will never happen now! Starscream’s departure from your little team proved that you lost control of the Decepticons! So, what kind of a leader does that make you if you can’t manage your own kind?! A pretty poor one, if you ask me! Unicron, on the other hand, is COMPLETELY different! His power is enormous! He’s totally invincible! And, with someone like us Terrorcons to advise him on matters of importance, like which planets to obliterate and who’s solar system to enslave, well, I see no reason why we shouldn’t have a successful partnership!”
“You always DID like the sound of your own voice,” muttered Megatron. The radio was still on, so Straxus heard that and became enraged.
“I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL UNICRON BLASTS YOU TO PIECES AND I SCATTER YOUR DUST ALL OVER THE UNIVERSE!” Straxus raised his axe and Megatron…fired a stream of lightning at him! The attack took Straxus by surprise and overloaded his systems. This treatment lasted for a few second before Megatron stopped. Straxus then fell backwards, smoking from the attack.
“Like you once said,” chuckled Megatron. “Talking excessively leads to defeat…Master.”
Straxus slowly came back online. His optics returned to their crisp state as he took in the surroundings. He was in some sort of large shed, and he was held in place by a large mechanical claw. The diagnostics report came in. He blinked as he read it. It indicated a malfunction in his T-cog and his weapons systems. “…Locus. Locus. Locus. Locus.” He chanted for a good minute until horror set in…he COULDN’T use magic. “Wha…? Wha-who…?”
“Me, obviously, my old teacher.” Megatron’s holo-form stepped from the shadows. “Did you get your diagnostics report yet? …Good. Let me help clarify the errors.” He pulled a cloth back and revealed a T-cog and a metal brick with wires coming out of the smaller sides. “And the reason you can’t simply use Locus is because I cast Resigno on you three times over while you were unconscious. You CAN’T use magic anymore.”
“…My student, you disappoint me,” sighed Straxus. “You had your chance to kill me, and you didn’t take it.”
“I needed you to see HOW you would die.” Megatron then pressed a button and the floor beneath Straxus opened to reveal a smelting pool. Megatron then tossed the T-cog and Weapons System link into the molten metal and Straxus observed them melting into the liquid material. He then looked desperately for something near the claw that was restraining him, anything to get him out of there and avoid that grisly fate! When he saw none, he looked at Megatron. “Take solace, you will be the last to die via smelting pool. Quite a way to go. Given your predilections, it’s only justice that you die in the same manner as your victims. Now, you’re wondering what happened to Deceptitran. How did he get that hole in his chest? Simple, he served as an adequate test of my being able to use the Requiem Blaster. Yes, that’s right. The Three Powers have been reforged. Optimus added a link to the Matrix, so they aren’t limited to just a Prime. Unicron’s going to be experiencing a tougher time than he prepared for. Now, on the subject of what comes after you, it’s obvious I’ll need to seek out an apprentice. I’ve learned all that I needed from you as a Necromancer.”
“Megatron! Wait!” begged Straxus. “I didn’t mean what I said! We can work something out! I can teach you more techniques!”
“I already told you, I learned all that I needed from you. However, I WILL be altering things a bit. That ridiculous ‘Rule of Two’, for a start, that’s going bye-bye. My apprentice won’t need to kill me to be a new master. There will be a new order, the Black Order of Mages. Perhaps a White Order will rise to balance it out, I’m not sure. In any case, now that I’ve tested the Requiem Blaster, I’m joining Optimus’ team in the Unicron Games. We’re going to beat your master next week. So, I’ll give you two options! Either I shoot you in the head, here and now,” Straxus shook his head in a terrified manner, “or you can get yourself out of your situation before you meet your molten end! And, if you do, there will be nowhere to hide!” Megatron then pressed a button on the control panel, and the claw restraining Straxus descended, bringing him closer to the smelting pool.
“MEGATRON!” wailed Straxus. “YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE ME HERE! MEGATRON! SAVE ME! PLEASE! DON’T DO THIS!”
“Straxus, if you dare to have dreams of power above your station and mental faculty, you WILL be consumed by them!” The claw was now level with the opening and released Straxus. He tumbled into the molten metal and screamed in agony. The heat overloaded his systems as he thrashed around before his brain shut down and his Spark faded. Straxus was now offline. Megatron then hauled Deceptitran’s head and body into the smelting pool and let the molten metal do its work. He then raised the claw and closed the pool’s cover. He then pressed another button and more machinery whirred to life, separating the impurities from the rest of the metal, and pouring it into molds, ready to be used for construction. Megatron then made a policy change concerning executions. The Smelting Pools are only to be used for the disposal of corpses, not as a means of execution. He then left the scrap yard, heading to the rendezvous point.