PREDATORY (Megatron x Starscream)

Chapter 11

"I—you—you mean, he can TALK?! In his BEAST MODE?!"

At the same time she spoke, Shockwave scrambled for the tool crates, shoving the syringe away in favor of an uncomfortably toothy buzz-saw. He clasped it firmly and stumbled back, activating it, letting the throaty whirr of active hardware fill the rapidly tensing space, echoing as if confined.

"We can speak in our vehicle modes, can't we? Well, it's the same for him. He is capable of speech just as much as we are."

"But you didn't tell me he was like us! You told me he was a predacon!"

Her voice was drowned out as Shockwave pressed the blade to the first of his binds, one confining his snout. Metal and metal clashed with a shrill scream, spitting up electrifying sparks like brightly lit strands of saliva. It took a while, but he was able to saw right through the thick cord; it flew open, rocketing apart with tension. Shockwave changed positions to start the second, and last, rope, holding his muzzle.

This one didn't seem to take as long. Once it flew apart, Megatronus scrunched up his snout, letting the plates bunch up and his lips curl back, relishing in his newfound freedom.

Shockwave was quick to back off. He gave a considerable space between the creature's helm and his short pedes. He looked tense. Shivering with breath, he stared at the predacon, listening intently to see what it might say. The electric buzzsaw fell silent as well, victim to the same biting anticipation.

Megatronus looked like he was preparing himself. Soft, chirpy growls exited the hollow basin of his throat, dripping like nectar from clenched jaws. The honey crystallized, but he broke them apart forcefully, showing the inside of his maw, still colored by energon. His lip plates moved with deliberate intention. Suddenly, the growl booming through his throat formed into words.

"Star... scream..." he boomed. It seemed like it still hurt for him to speak after being tied down and battered. "My... liege..."

Shockwave looked at her, incredulous. She looked back. "I..." She swallowed her surprise. "Speak, beast—I—I mean... Megatronus. Speak."

The predacon stretched its neck out and let out a slow, sustained rumble. It echoed up from the depths of his cavernous chest. "My dearest Queen..." he rasped. "You have shown me mercy... from the bottom of my spark, I thank you."

"Oh!" Starscream could feel Shockwave's white hot glare on her back. It was difficult to contain her alarm, but she managed to suppress a squeak. "Um! Of course! You're welcome!"

"I have been insolent and ungrateful, my liege... but you have earned my adoration. I humbly apologize—I feel I have dishonored you, not only on behalf of myself, but on the behalf of my species."

"Oh! Oh, wow," she breathed. "I mean—really, I'm very flattered... I—! Not flattered, I—I mean, thank you!" The pressure between Shockwave's frosty stare and Megatronus' pleading, ploying gape left her feeling like the the one ensnared, caught between the unexpected risings of two diametrically opposed mechs, the bitter cold and the boiling, boiling hot. Both of them burned the same.

Every time the Predacon breathed, his neck plates flared out slightly. Starscream could imagine smoke pouring out from them when he charged and fired, like exhaust from a mudflap. He swallowed, an action which seemed quite taxing on his sore neck. "I hope that I can make it up to you. I hate the idea of leaving a poor impression—especially with all you have done for me."

"Make it up to me?" Was saving my life not enough? She didn't say that second part aloud, of course—Starscream had learned a long time ago not to show gratitude.

"I want to be valuable to you. I will live under your rule and serve you as a way to prove my gratitude. The only thing I ask in return..." with a mighty heave of his landlocked chest, he shook the heavy chains binding him to the dusty earth: "...is that you let me roam free and release me."