Little Gladiator

Chapter 34: Prisoner

Sentinel wasn't taking any chances with them. As soon as the palace doors closed, Sentinel snapped at the guards and told them to show their new 'guests' to their 'rooms' and give them a 'warm' welcome. They smirked gleefully and happily shoved Megatron and Scythe to the dungeons before chaining them to the walls. They took pride in beating up the chained couple, but one mech's attempt at doing what he wanted to Scythe ended up with him beat up. The guards struggled to figure out a mech chained to the wall by his wrists and ankles could strangle another mech on the other side of the cell.

The next orn, Sentinel came in holding Bee by his doorwings. Megatron and Scythe were livid and struggled at the sight of their little sparkling dangling in the Prime's servo, squeaking in fear every now and then.

"What have you done to him?!" Scythe yelled.

Sentinel mockingly cradled Bee in his arms and stroked his doorwings. "He's been cared for properly by me and my staff. Cybertron is already rejoicing at the return of my son-"

"He's not your son! He doesn't share your CNA!" Megaton yelled.

"And he's yours? At this point, Cybertron doesn't need any more reasons. Anyway, I came down here to tell you that the High Council has already decided your fate. A life sentence. Quite merciful, don't you think?"

"This is a violation of our rights!" Megatron snarled.

Sentinel leaned in close to the energy bars and spat back, "You are a piece of scrap. You have no rights." He turned to leave and snapped at his guards for this orn. "Make sure they know how pitiful they are."

The two seeker guards saluted their Prime and took their places at the sides of the cell. Sentinel walked away with Bee whining in his arms while the couple strained against their chains, near desperate to comfort him. Finally, they sagged against the wall.

They looked at the guards. Two seekers, possibly twins, one blue and gold, one green and silver. It looked like they came up to Megatron's shoulders and they were a little bulky for seekers. However, there was no doubt that they had a lot of strength and power to their blows. The couple waited for them to do something but they didn't do anything.

Scythe narrowed her optics and growled, "Well, aren't you-"

"Wait," the green one said. Taken aback by this sort of command, she fell silent. A few kliks later, he spoke again, "If you can stay quiet until nightfall, we'll get you out of here."

"You want to help us?" she asked.

"We don't think what Sentinel's doing is right," said the blue one. "He does not have Cybertron's best interests at spark. We'll tell you more later. Just keep quiet until night."

x x x x x

Cameras flashed left and right. Reporters scrambled for a comment from their Prime as they also asked the small sparkling in his lap for his view on things.

"Sir, how did you feel when your sparkling was taken from you?" one reporter managed to ask.

"I thought I'd never see him again!" Sentinel replied. It was true in a twisted, backward way. He had paid that idiot pitmaster to kill the tiny newspark, but lookie here! The same newspark he thought had been killed already.

"Sentinel Prime, sir, what do you plan to do with the botnappers?"

"Child abduction and abuse is a serious crime, one that may warrant a lifetime in prison." If only they knew, the idiots. "Added to the attacks on our cities, it might be possible to go for the death penalty." All he had to do was get the High Council on his side.

"And you, little one. How do you feel about being returned to your sire after all these vorns?"

Bee sniffled and held back a whine. "I want my Meggy!"

Sentinel discreetly dug his digits into Bee's back. His resulting squeaked was masked as a hiccup while the red mech told the crowd, "There is obviously some psychological damage from his time with the criminals. Rest assured that my heir will recover."

Without further ado, Sentinel picked up Bee and left the conference room. Once back in the safety of their quarters, the Prime threw Bee onto the berth and snarled, "I can't wait until I'm rid of you and your revolutionary comrades."

"Leave us alone! I wanna go home!" Bee cried.

"SILENCE, SCRAPLET!" Sentinel roared. Checking that the room was soundproofed, he said, "After I'm through with you, I'll simply arrange an 'accident' for your death. Perhaps you wandered into the shuttle tracks because you lost your toy there. Yes, that will do."

"Why can't you leave us alone!?"

"If Pitbull had done his job right, then we wouldn't be here right now." He chuckled, "Well, I would be here, not you."

"What do you want from us!?" Bee yelled.

Sentinel smirked and said, "Tell me, scraplet. Have you ever heard of the Matrix of Leadership?"