The Silent Light - Part 2 (A Megatron x Starscream (Megastar) Fanfiction)

EPISODE 35 - An Identity

Starscream gulps down the sweetened energon in his clay bowl as he looks over at the rising sun. It's elegant rays warm his frigid skin, dashing heat across his soft lips. Megatron snatches a glowing, gummy cubes in his own concoction and pops it into his mouth, the stickiness jamming between his teeth.

Starscream finishes off his delightful breakfast of desserts and goodies and sets his bowl on the ground next to a small mountain of tin wrappers and copper foils. Megatron was already showing signs of returning to the endless void within his own consciousness. When they were preparing food, he would occasionally lock up, his mystified eyes darting around, trying to stave off sleep. When the dream set in, then he was locked into a hellacious spattering of spiraling ideas and interconnectivity for the next day, trying to let his brain sort it logically.

"If we did make a living being," Starscream starts, placing his head on Megatron's arm. "is it inside of you now? Like you are its vessel instead of the Silent Light?"

"I don't know. I think-"

Megatron's thought cuts short as a soft wailing rolls through the morning fog sleeping on the hills in the distance. Megatron and Starscream both watch as a grey figure dashes through the grasses, disturbing the marmalade light of the rising sun as it coats the ground. The ominous cries increase as the familiar silhouette grows closer. Ryo sprints up to them, the decorative rocks that Megatron laid up to their home crunching beneath his slender feet. Black tears coil down his cheeks.

"Dads, I messed up!" Ryo caws, rubbing his puffy eyes with a shivering hand.

Starscream gets to his feet, fixated on the emotional outpouring of his comrade. "What happened?"

Ryo sputters some nonsense, trying to capture his words. He shakes his hands helplessly. "I...I...I've been s-so bad. I-I've been so m-mean."

Starscream gathers Ryo into his arms, pulling him into a soothing embrace. "It's Shockwave, not you."

"N-No!" Ryo caterwauls before he looks down at Megatron. "I'm so sorry. I-I just didn't realize you couldn't handle me. I-I'm sorry I'm too bright and there is too much in me and now I hurt Shockwave!"

Megatron stews in shocked silence, his optics wide and glazed as he absorbs Ryo's presence. Starscream swoops between them, placing his hand on Ryo's quivering forearm. "What happened?"

Ryo points a harsh, meaningful finger at the empty blue sky. "That's me!"

A flash of fear ripples through Starscream's face, but he quickly realigns himself, banishing any sign of concern. "Ryo, I don't really understand."

Ryo siphons in a ragged breath and places his palms on his temples, his optics bright and deranged. His lips purse and stretch as they prod about for the right thing to say, the right thing to do. When nothing pieces itself together just right, Ryo falls to his knees, burying his face in his fingers as sobs rock through his back. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Panic starts to ensue in Starscream's spark. "Ryo, what did you do?"

"Shockwave is hurt and I don't know what to do!"

Megatron scoots up to Ryo and forces his hands down, revealing Ryo's distraught, dirty face. Tears are smudged around like old watercolor, and a dribble of lubricant rolls from his nose. "Hurt how? Where is he?"

"He's in his lab. He was having a seizure."

"What?!" Megatron yelps.

"I'm going!" Starscream announces, his T-cog lurching in his waist.

"Starscream, wait-!"

The spiral of his T-cog and the spark of his engines overrode Megatron's command, and Megatron and Ryo squint their optics as they are abandoned in a sheet of airborne dust and leaves. As the cloud settles, Megatron yanks Ryo to his feet.

"He's seizing and you left him alone?!"

"I-"

"Don't tell me you had no option. You have a device to contact us. Shockwave does too. And his lab has many of them!"

Ryo's mouth hangs open, some soft sounds lurching from his throat. He shuts his lips, swallowing any comebacks or explanations. He looks down at his hands, a sudden shyness absorbing him. Megatron gently takes Ryo's slender shoulders between his monstrous hands, pulling the bot closer in. Ryo meets his optics once more.

"You showed him, didn't you?"

Ryo gulps.

"You're mad at him so you showed him as punishment."

Ryo shakes his head slightly. "I would...never. I wanted to make everything better. I thought because if I gave him infinite knowledge, he would love me again. We would be in love again. I just want someone to know. Know what everything is. Know what I am." Ryo opens his chest, revealing not a spark, but a highly compacted black hole. "Megatron, can you tell me what I am? You've seen me. What am I? Please, dad, I want to know!"