Eyes of the Eons

Chapter 18: Something Uncontrollable

Megatron ran forward as Minerva fell to her hands and knees, mirroring his previous position.

"Enough!" Megatron yelled, covering her small body with his own. "The human has no part in this!"

Unicron chuckled. Soundwave's soul had merged with his own. Their lust was one and the same. Destruction. Anger.

Revenge.

"On the contrary," Unicron raised his servo, "you standing over her says the opposite."

The lightning flashed again and Megatron yelled as it coursed through him before hitting Minerva. Both of them collapsed, their bodies unable to handle the mental torment.

Megatron pulled her closer to him and looked up. "Please. I am begging you. You may keep me here for an eternity. I deserve it. But do not harm the human."

Minerva pushed herself onto weak legs. "No! Megatron doesn't deserve this either! He's changed!"

"All the more reason," Unicron replied before striking them again. Megatron fell back and Minerva hit his leg. The two cried out together, their bodies shaking in agony.

Minerva looked at Megatron. "How do we stop them?"

Megatron shook his helm hopelessly. "We cannot. Unicron has more power, more will to destroy, more than we could ever hope to obtain. He has trapped us within our own minds and made us his prisoner."

Minerva opened her mouth but was cut off as they were struck again. She screamed, tears falling down her face. This kind of pain was new to her. Megatron pushed himself up and fell over her, curling his body around hers. They could not die here, but the pain was all too real.

Unicron sneered down at them. "Now we shall destroy the Prime, and after him, Primus himself. Cybertron will be no more. I will hunt down every last cybertronian until the end of their time."

He glanced at Minerva. "And once my body is free, Earth will be destroyed in one fatal blow."

"Ahhh!" Megatron and Minerva cried out again as they were struck.

"For the rest of eternity, all you shall know is pain and suffering."

Minerva shook her head. "No. I can't do this." She looked up at Megatron's face hovering over her. "We have to fight."

"There is no fighting him."

Minerva grunted and spasmed as they were struck again. Megatron gritted his denta and brought his helm down, almost touching her with his forehead.

Minerva weakly reached up and pressed her hand against his helm. "We're going to be here for an eternity. If ever there was a chance for us to escape, it would be now, before-"

She cried out again. Despite his own pain, Megatron had the nerve to find himself growing angry. How did this pointless torture fix the sorrow in Soundwave's spark? Lazerbeak was not coming back, the Decepticons were gone, so revenge was but a trivial task to be done in honor of the fallen. This was nothing trivial.

It was pain.

Megatron pulled his helm up, optics drawn to Unicron's figure, which was now slimmed to fit Soundwave's image of himself. Soundwave was gone. Lost to the darkness that Unicron was.

Megatron's friends were nothing, his purpose was abandoned, his pride was tarnished-he only had one thing left and so help him if Megatron was determined to keep her safe. With a small grunt, Megatron scooped Minerva from the floor and rose to his pedes. His optics were alight with the spirit of a gladiator; this was the spirit he'd lost to Unicron.