Wild Ride (Cyberverse Mech!reader X Hot Rod)

2: Imprisonment

"Get in there, Decepticon!" One of the Autobot brig guards barked as I was shoved inside a high security cell. "And stay there for the rest of your days!"

"Heh, this is better than he deserves." Another guard said as he entered a specific keycode into a side panel that activated a set of laser bars and sealed me inside.

"To think Megatron actually sparked a bot to create him. Pathetic."  The first guard said.

"Probably some pleasure bot he found." The second guard laughed.

"Do not speak of my carrier like that!" I snapped angrily as I thrusted my arms through the bars and grabbed the guard.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Back up!" The first guard barked as he jabbed me with a shock staff, the jolt of electricity sending me to the floor.

"Thanks, psycho is really as dangerous as the stories tell." The guard I tried to grab said.

"He's nothing more than a monster. So, as a monster, he stays in a cage." I watched with distain as the two guards left, forcing my frame to a stand and going over to the recharge slab and sitting with my head in my hands. I began to think about everything I've done, the deaths I've caused, all to chase a killer that was behind me the entire time. The more I thought about it, the more pieces of the deceptive puzzle fell into place.

Megatron was the one who led me down this path. He told me to go after certain bots not because they were  truly suspects and all were involved in the murder of my carrier, but because he was using me to do assassinations. The pattern became clearer and clearer the longer I sat. I wasn't investigating anything or shaking up some sort of Autobot conspiracy ring, I was nothing more than a tool. A monster.

I was the monster who played a massive role in the toppling of the Old Senate and the murder of Alpha Trion. I was the monster who executed half of the Elite Guard. I was the one who made the Decepticons as powerful as they are now.

All because I wanted to avenge the death of my carrier. My arrogant desire for vengeance blinded me to the reality of my deeds.

'Those guards are right.' I thought to myself as I pulled my legs to my chest and hid my face in my knees. 'I am a monster that deserves worse.'

For days, I stayed in that cell. I refused to consume any of the energon that the guards would sometimes slide into my cell. I'd ignore the passing of bots that would occasionally gawk at me before leaving. Most days, I would be scrunched in the corner with my head leaning against the wall, and most nights, I didn't recharge. It got to the point where I became sickly from both lack of fuel and lack of recharge. None of the other bots noticed, however, that it was until Hot Rod passed by my cell one day and noticed the small supply of untouched energon and my dull, exhausted expression.

"Optimus, Ratchet, can you both come down to the brig?" Hot Rod called over his comlink. I glanced over to him with a blank expression before returning back to my blank stares. "It's Y/D, he's... something is definitely wrong. I'm gonna try and talk to him, but I think it would be a good idea if both of you came." Hot Rod then went up to the bars and gave me a sad look. "Y/D?" I didn't answer him as I continued to stare blankly at the floor. "Y/D, what's wrong?" Again, I said nothing.

"Hot Rod. What is his status?" I heard Optimus say as he and Ratchet arrived outside my cell, the pair of them looking in with concern.

"Come to gawk at the monster?" I muttered, startling the trio since this was the first time I spoke in around 15 days. I then turned my head and stared at the Prime with exhausted and lifeless optics. "Or have you finally decided to deactivate me?"

"Deactivate? Why would we do that?" Hot Rod asked.

"Because what else would heroes do to monsters?" I tried to stand, but the effects of my starvation and lack of recharge wouldn't allow it. The movement caused my systems to go wild with alerts, and I felt extremely weak. My colors began to become duller and duller until there was barely any hue to them. I was on death's door, yet I couldn't cross it.

"Y/D, you aren't a monster." Hot Rod said as he lowered the bars and picked up one of the energon rations. He then knelt down next to me and offered the ration to me with a strangely kind expression on his face. "You were mislead almost your entire life. No one is to blame but Megatron. I know it doesn't feel like it, but it's true."

"I deserve death."

"No one deserves that." He said softly as he took my hand and gently placed the energon ration into it. "And no one deserves this kind of punishment you are giving yourself."

"There's no way out of this Hot Rod." I muttered. "If I continue living, I'll only be a prisoner. If I escape, I'll have nowhere to run or hide." I then stared down at the ration with fading optics. "There's no hope for me." Hot Rod then looked over to Optimus with a pleading expression on his face.

"Optimus, please. We need to give him a chance to start over." He said. "Please, I'll watch over him and make sure he's okay and stuff." I was honestly quite surprised by the younger bot, but I was too weak to express it on my face.

"Hot Rod, no offense, kid, but... you and a Decepticon? Specifically, Megatron's kid? That's a disaster waiting to happen." Ratchet said.

"Optimus gave Drift a second chance. Why not Y/D?" Hot Rod argued. Optimus then looked over to me and saw his two options. Either he gave me a chance to start over, or he executes me.

"Y/D, if I offer you safe haven. Will you abandon the Decepticons?" Optimus asked. I looked over to him and nodded. "Then I will give you a chance." A smile crossed Hot Rod's face, and he turned his gaze back to me. While the bots had been talking, I had finished the ration and was in a sound recharge against the wall.