Once everything was brought to some form of order in Robotropolis, Megatron decided that now would be an excellent time to take a tour of inspection. His troops lined a walkway and saluted…as best as their weary frames could allow. They were clearly run ragged, Eggman and the Combaticons’ doing. Of all the sights Megatron’s optics absorbed in his lifetime, the sight he saw now ranked as one of the most disappointing. They looked almost malnourished and ill-treated on the medical front, even Knock-out. Megatron decided it was time to breathe life into the dying embers of their rage. “Decepticons! My Decepticons, the days of sorrow and defeat are already behind us! I have been informed that we still have four working ships! Fully topped off on fuel and every single weapon kept well oiled for any battles! The communications problem with Cybertron is two-fold, from what Shockwave has told me! One: they have not returned any of her calls! Two: Eggman has blocked all attempts to make contact in the usual manner! But despair not! We still have allies among the stars! We shall travel to them as we journey to Cybertron! You deserve better than this and our allies shall give you better! Once we are returned to life, retribution, swift and terrible retribution, will be visited upon the Autobots and Eggman and his allies! So, take up arms and do not stop until your digits ache from squeezing the trigger of your blasters as they empty into your enemies! Revenge shall be your reward!”
“Lord Megatron,” mumbled Frenzy.
“Yes, my friend?”
“My Lord, how can I pull the trigger-” Frenzy then revealed his mangled hands “-when my hands haven’t been repaired for weeks?!” Megatron growled, not at Frenzy, but at the neglect Frenzy suffered. His mind flashed on the one fleshling that ruined his forces on Mobius. He’s eager to get to him, but some things needed to be addressed.
“Lord Megatron,” called Shockwave, “I must insist that we continue testing your body’s new armor as soon as possible.”
“You insist? Such ardor, Shockwave. I have already tested it out and it works as intended. Be proud of your contribution, or, at least, simulate the feeling.”
“My time would be better served in ruling out any stray connections to Unicron. Your current form was fashioned from his old corporeal form.” Megatron, of course, had a rebuttal on what she said.
“Shockwave, I have even reached out to him, and I assure you, he has no influence on me. You and Thundercracker have my gratitude for my resurrection, but, for now, I need you to make sure all our ships are ready for solar system egress at a moment’s notice. We are rather pressed for time now.”
“As you command, Megatron.” As Megatron left, Ravage followed behind him, giving him reports. As they walked, Megatron decided that now was the best time to visit a certain someone.
“My brothers and I,” reported Ravage, “have prepared extensive documentation about dereliction of duty in your absence and-”
“Enough, Ravage,” ordered Megatron. “Your findings will be reviewed in time.” They stopped by a human’s room. Megatron then transformed to alt-mode and activated his holo-form. “We’ve reached the final stop of my inspection tour. I wish to be left alone.”
“…As my Lord wishes.” Ravage slunk off as Megatron opened the door. Inside, the room was dark, with only the light of the outside illuminating the occupant’s features. The occupant was a broken-looking Eggman, still thinking back on what went wrong. For Megatron, he wanted Eggman’s immediate universe to consist of the anguish-dampened misery pit he dig for himself…and Megatron.
“Hello, Doctor,” greeted the Decepticon Lord. “…Come on, pick yourself up. You won’t find your dignity down on the floor.” Eggman stood up as if he was weighed down, his face looking equally heavy. “I wish to speak to you about your tenure as leader of the Decepticons.”
“Really?” scoffed Eggman. “You’d just like to have a chat about that?”
“A year, Doctor. One year to the day, you’ve commanded the Decepticons. You must be eager to tell me all about it.”
“…Why are you doing this?”
“Why am I doing what?”
“Look, I don’t care, all right?! I don’t care that you want to humiliate me before unleashing whatever absurdly creative punishment you’ve got in store-”
“Punishment?” Eggman scoffed at Megatron’s question.
“Whatever you want to call it!”
“No, I mean punishment for what, Doctor? Do you deserve punishment?”
“OH, JUST SHUT UP AND DO IT ALREADY!” Eggman shoved a gun into Megatron’s hands and made it so Megatron was pointing it at Eggman’s head. His hands never released his tormentor’s arm. The gun was in an active state, it would be so easy for Megatron to pull the trigger and end Eggman’s life. …It was too easy for Megatron. He engaged the safety and pulled his arm away so he could set the gun down.
“One year,” muttered the Decepticon Lord. “One year ago, I was punched from the Mojave Desert to Shamar and was never found until yesterday. You did not overthrow me, you merely saw a gap and meekly stepped in to fill it. Am I right? Is that how the reign of Lord Eggman began?” Eggman said nothing. “…Ah, YES! That’s not all, is it?! It’s easy to forget your credentials for the job! The culmination of your research into us led to the creation of your very own Transformers through the Allspark! The Cube itself wrote you a glowing reference as it birthed the Combaticons after so many years of inactivity! Your mastery of an ancient artefact that everyone barely understood obviously made you the most likely candidate for the position! Tell me, was the Allspark everything we hoped for after all the years the Transformers pursued it long before you were born? Did planets fall before you as you used it? Was victory a mere formality after tilting it back and forth under a strong light? Did your followers respect you simply by dint of you prancing around with it as if it were your favorite toy? I have to say, I expected this from Starscream, but YOU?” Nothing from Eggman, neither sneer nor smirk. For a moment, Megatron wondered if, while running the Decepticons into the dirt, he succeeded in destroying himself. Megatron growled as he continued. “Your silence is grating, so it falls to me to list your achievements! Under your rule, the Decepticons’ infrastructure was turned upside down as your Combaticons guzzled all necessary Energon while my soldiers were reduced to taking orders from your failed Eggacons so they could get the scraps! Shockwave was forced to call agents on Cybertron to inform them, with no way for them to inform the higher ups in any reasonable time! You resurrected your dead cousin in a form like Shadow’s, thus leading to the compromising of our moon base and the loss of our only means of keeping an eye on all enemy ships! My soldiers were treated as if they were mere Roombas that didn’t pick up as much dirt from a rug as advertised, on the verge of cannibalizing each other, so focused on their sole survival instead of the survival of the Decepticon Cause! …I hope it was everything you wished for, because this is exactly what happens when YOU get what you want.” Megatron leaned into Eggman’s ear. “All. Hail. Doctor. Eggman. You must be incredibly proud of yourself.” Eggman then grabbed the gun that laid forgotten on the table and fired on Megatron. He didn’t stop until the gun was drained of power. When Megatron still stood, Eggman remembered that he just shot a projection of lights and forcefields. He dashed past the holo-form and switched his Egg Mobile on before fleeing. Megatron teleported his holo-form into his cockpit and kicked his thrusters into gear.