capitalh | will they sing tho

Sometimes Starscream does experience remorse. It's usually fleeting, and has more to do with second guessing himself than any sort of sympathy for others, but it does happen.

As he prepares to leave the Conquest, Energon harvester in hand, he has one of those moments of self doubt... but all at once it's crushed under a resurgence of rage and butthurt from his stupid disagreement with Megatron.

It's overwhelming as he marches out the front door and into the hot desert air, and he feels the unfamiliar need to express his feelings, somehow, in some way...

Well how else, but through song?

He marches out of immediate earshot of anyone in the ship and picks up a sort of jaunty tune.

"That's it! I've had it. I so hate to be dramatic, but it's time for me to fly the coop."

(He then turns on his heel to make a few rude gestures back at the ship)

"Fantastic! Fine! I am drawing the line, before I wind up a pile of smelted goop!"

He pauses between lines to look extremely confused. What he hell is happening? Keep moving like normal maybe it'll stop-

"I was a fool to let you run the show! I'm cutting you loose, Megs, Look out below! Arrividerci! C'est la vie!"

Here, at the end of that line, he does a fancy transformation, all the while wondering when the heck he learned those foreign words. English was the only Earth language he'd picked up so far.

"Hope all goes well! I'm lookin' out for me!"

Well that was... weird. He just decides to pretend that didn't happen and heads towards Orion's coordinates, muttering to himself high up in the air as he sees Orions alt mode parked below.

"Ah, Orion Pax... one gigantic dupe, ready for deceiving... and I'm the one holding all the cards!"

Okay seriously if he's going to keep saying things out loud like that unbidden, it's going to be difficult to keep this situation under control the way he wants it. He transforms and lands across from Orion, greeting him cautiously in case he starts gushing words out without a second thought once more. "Orion... you couldn't have picked a cooler place to meet up, I suppose? It's utterly unbearable out here."

Thankfully, Orion has yet to notice the singing going on, and so he reacts to Starscream with something other than baffled incredulity. Instead he just transforms into his base mode, and nods.

"My apologies. I felt that full disclosure was our best option."

"Fair enough." He tilts his head, sizing Orion up curiously while trying to ignore the goddamn music buzzing in the background. "Your wounds have been healed... did the Autobots finally obtain a proper medic?"

Orion frowns, and awkward hedges around that answer. He doesn't want to give anything he doesn't have to until Starscream at least tells him what his plan is and what he intends for Orion to do.

"I was able to find someone who could attend to my wounds," he says, doing some sizing up of his own. "...What plan did you wish to speak to me about, Commander Starscream?"

"My apologies. I was delaying on discussing the matter because it is... well, unpleasant, in nature." He puts on his best mournful look, like he is reluctant to say what he's about to say next. "What I have in mind isn't so much a team up, as you may hope... I do not intend to allow the Autobots to take Megatron down, only to then force the surrender of all Decepticon forces. Our troops, they would never stand for such a sudden shift in power."

He pauses to vent a huge sigh and let his shoulders and wings sag, like this next bit is particularly difficult. "What I propose is the removal of Megatron, to pave the way for my own rise... Then, I may ease the men into calling off this war. It's the only way to do this without retaliation. But in order to reach thatpoint, Megatron must be put down, and I am in need of some sort of weapon that will allow me to even the playing field. Do you see where I am going with this?"

The moment that Starscream suggests that Megatron must be "put down" Orion's hesitation shows clearly on his face. He's not...he can't just help Starscream kill Megatron so that he can take power. Even if he trusted Starscream more than he does right now, he heard what he had done to Arcee and her partner in the past, and he knows that she would never go for it.

And he made a promise in regard to the Forge, and he intends to keep it.

"You want me to use the Forge," he says, his voice terse with discomfort. "...I will not. I gave my word that I would not use it for either side, and I intend to keep that promise. This war will not end with me giving the Autobots' enemies more of an advantage than they already have."

Starscream doesn't look displeased quite yet, but there's the hints of a storm brewing under his otherwise placid expression. "Not even for the sake of removing a mutual enemy from this world to put peace within grasp? I understand your trepidation, Orion, but there's this earth saying that I think applies very well right here: 'You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs'."

Please just say yes, Orion. He wouldn't care about forcing the other bot to do his bidding but it will just be so much cleaner and take less energy if the former Prime will just go along with this willingly.

Orion stares at him for a few moments, before shaking his head sadly and looking away. He can't do this, for multiple reasons. More than anything, though, the idea of extinguishing Megatron's spark causes him too much pain.

"I am sorry," he says, more quietly. "But there is no guarantee of the ramifications of this action, and I do not trust you enough to commit to something so sensitive." He crosses his arms around his chest. "I have no desire to participate in the making of any omelettes of this variety."

He has no idea what an omelette is.

For the record, Starscream only has the barest idea of what an omelette is. He knows it involves multiple eggs. That's about it.

Now he actually looks legitimately remorseful, if a little offended that Orion doesn't trust him at all. "Very well... I can't say I'm not disappointed, but if you have made you decision, well... I suppose there isn't very much I can do about that..."

He starts to turn part way, as if he's going to leave it at that and take his leave, but what he's actually doing is retrieving the harvester from one of his robot pockets. In a flash he holds it in front of him and activates it, directing it's pull at Orion.

"...Other than to give you some time in the brig to come over to my point of view, that is," he snarls.

Orion is just about to feel sort of bad - that is, a couple seconds before Starscream pulls out a weapon and fucking attacks him.

At first he has genuinely no idea that's happening to him - it's just like a wave of nausea and exhaustion that seems to drain his entire body. He can barely focus enough to figure it out, but he gradually does. He knows that things from the Archive. By the Allspark.

He immediately collapses to his knees, already feeling worse than he had when he'd been running on fumes. The feeling of his energon being drained from his body so quickly is somehow deeply violating and painful all at once.

He tries to bring out one of his guns to distract Starscream's aim with blasterfire, but with his energy supplies already disappearing so rapidly, he can't even charge a shot.

"Starscream - stop!" is all he can manage to plead.

The only response Orion gets at first is one of Starscream's shitty, cruel chuckles as he watches the other bot go to his knees. Then the music starts back up.

Aw fuck it. Why bother fighting it. Lets belt this shit, gleefully.

"I know, I'm fickle, but I’ve been playing second fiddle, and I don't get any respect." He pauses the device looks down at Orion, now that they're at more of a comparable height, one hand on his hip and the other tossing the harvester up and down playfully.

"I help run this thing, but this busted wing," he nods his head back at the wing Megatron grabbed him by when he first showed up on Earth, "is the only thanks that I get! I’ve never found a friend that I can trust. They promise me engex, and leave me growing rust! That's some reward for loyalty! From here on in, I'm looking out for me!"

Having Starscream sing a weird song along to inexplicable music while assaulting you with an energon harvester is truly the stuff nightmares are made of, and this experience will probably haunt Orion for the rest of his life.

Presently, though, he's just doing his best just to keep from passing out, struggling to get up off of his knees. His body is a robust one, as they go, and so with a growl of frustration, Orion manages to haul himself off the ground long enough to lunge at the seeker clumsily.

There are other things he could be doing, like calling for help or sending his coordinates, but for some reason doing something that breaks the rythm of the song feels completely impossible.

Starscream just laughs again and lazily side-steps the lunge, firing up the harvester again with another flourish before continuing. Damn this shit feels good.

"Oh, I don't need nobody else! I'll never fail, I'll cover my own tail, I can take care of myself!"

Now seems like as good a time as any to get right up in Orion's face and sing the last verse through a devious little grin. "You know, it just doesn’t pay to give a frag; I'm giving all my spark, what do I get? Less than slag! I'm through with this, I'm flying free, from here on in, I'm looking out for me!"

Holy scrap that was cathartic. Time to hold for applause.

Orion cries out miserably when Starscream turns on the harvester again, feeling like his internal mechanisms have mysteriously fallen out. He's barely conscious when Starscream gets up in his gets up in his face, though he still manages to look terribly betrayed.

Why is he so naive? Why does he keep doing this? Why is Starscream singing?

In the end, though, Starscream doesn't get applause from Orion. Instead he just gets to see the larger bot basically pass out into the sand.

Still crouching down next to the unconscious bot, Starscream reaches out and taps Orion's helm with the back of one claw. His suddenly takes on a far more serious, deadlier tone.

"It is my destiny to lead the Decepticons, and eventually to lead Cybertron to greater glory... and you will help me take the next step towards achieving that goal, willing or not. Your Megatronus won't even see it coming."

and with that he straightens back up.

Now how the heck is he going to move several tons of unconscious bot. Mmmmmaybe he didn't think this part through very well, he's starting to realize.

"Won't he," rumbles a familiar voice from somewhere behind him. Megatron landed a few moments ago, it seems, but between the sound of the energon harvester and Starscream's energetic background music, it was a little easier to miss than usual. He'd suspected something might be up as soon as he'd noticed Starscream leave, and the energy spike from the harvester made him particularly easy to locate.

Starscream flinches, and then freezes. He doesn't even turn to face Megatron. The fear in him is too strong, and he is pretty certain he can probably imagine the look on his face anyway.

Then comes the inevitable question: "Ahaha... Lord Megatron..." Fuck. "H-how long... have you been there..."

"Long enough," replies Megatron, walking forward at a leisurely pace. "Your singing voice leaves something to be desired."
He stops at Starscream's shoulder, looking down at him with narrowed optics, and then turns to stare at the fallen Orion Pax.

"I suppose I should congratulate you on luring him to his doom," he says, but he sounds a lot more angry and disdainful than impressed. "What were you intending to do with him, Starscream?"

He's trying not to tremble now; Starscream can feel Megatron approach, feel his eyes on him. He does take some offense at that statement... He put his whole soul into that song just now, geez.

"Your critique is noted, my liege... not that I usually make a habit, of singing, as such, but..." he quirks his vocaliser nervously. "I was going to bring him back to you, naturally. What else would he be worth keeping around for?"

He knows that's a terrible lie, and one that Megatron won't believe for a second, but he's hoping that maybe if he's lucky, he might get let off the hook, seeing as he just did something incredibly useful here... even if his intentions for doing so weren't exactly innocent.

Edited 2014-07-19 00:16 (UTC)

Megatron narrows his optics. The camera zooms in on his face, slowly.

"Give me the harvester," is all he says.

That makes the energon in his veins run ice cold. Oh, the irony of the situation.

He pointedly does not move to hand the harvester over, or even move at all, save for a slight trembling starting in his wings. "Lord Megatron, please--"

Megatron holds his hand out, his demand becoming a growl, "The energon harvester, Starscream. Now."

Starscream hesitates a moment longer, says a quick prayer to himself, and turns, painfully slow, to delicately place the harvester in Megatron's hand. He still keeps his eyes carefully averted, focusing instead on golden orb that he's fairly certain is going to be used to suck him dry of all his lifeblood in the next moment.

Megatron closes his claws around the sphere with a soft clink, and lifts it up to look at it – after a moment his gaze settles back on Starscream, but he doesn't put it away. The possibility is still on the table. "What were you planning to do with Orion Pax?" he says again. "Did you hope to use the Forge for your own ends?"

"Ah. Um... The thought had crossed my mind, of course, but then again who wouldn't jump at the possibility, considering he was available for it..." Starscream's now empty hands hover at chest height, fingers twitching now and then. He doesn't tear his eyes from the harvester. Every fiber of his being is tensed to head for the goddamn hills as soon as Megatron makes a move, if he needs to.

Orion has been slipping in and out of consciousness this entire time, even while mostly unable to move, but something about Megatron's presence draws him back to the surface for a moment. His optics flicker as they open, and he makes some of those weird Peter Cullen groaning sounds (you know the ones) as he's met again with the exhausted ache that cripples his whole body.

"Mega...tron..."

His vocalizers skips and stutters, desperate and pleading.

Megatron opens his mouth to respond to Starscream, but the weird noise Orion makes catches his attention, and he looks over sharply. For a long moment he just stares at the fallen Autobot, and then Orion stutters out his name and an unfamiliar emotion twists through his spark, and his face contorts in a mixture of anger and disgust. There's the scrape of metal on metal as his claws clench around the spark extractor, and he turns abruptly back to his second in command, a fresh rage in his optics.

"I don't know what is more pathetic," he snarls; "your pitiful attempts to downplay your flagrant treachery, or the fact that you needed something this powerful to defeat a mere data clerk."

Those words cut deep, and Starscream shrinks further in on himself, flinching when Megatron starts yelling again. He might have meekly taken what verbal abuse was due to be dished out to him if Megatron had merely kept his criticisms specific to Starscream's shitty lying, but man does he take offense to that last part. Though he remains on the defensive, keeping his posture as non-threatening as possible and his lips frozen in a nervous frown, his eyes still flash defiantly. When he responds, he still sounds panicked, antsy that Megtron may still turn the device on him.

"Need I remind you that 'mere data clerk' has the build and power of the Autobot that has been causing us grief for centuries? I had no idea what to expect from him, and using the harvester... The end result is the same, it just seemed like the safer and easier method!" And he means it, because he's no risk taker. The simpler and easier the route, the better.

"The safer and easier method to plot my demise? You fool," Megatron spits. "If you were fit to lead the Decepticons, Starscream, you would never have given the energon harvester up. You should have turned it on me while you had the chance."

Now Megatron was just needlessly twisting the knife around, as far as Starscream's opinion on the matter goes, and the crushing blow to his ego struck by those words reads clearly on his face.

"B-but that wouldn't- what good would that-That is an unfair assessment!" He whines. It's obvious that he desperately wants to argue, to defend himself and his decisions, but he's far too terrified to adequately do so, struck dumb by Megatron's biting criticism. He could try and justify why he chose to hand the harvester over instead of using it, but it would only serve to incriminate him further.

Ultimately he has no retort. He just glances down at Orion briefly and then back at Megatron, scowling miserably. Cybertronians may possess lengthy life cycles, and Starscream may be far from young, but right now he feels like a rookie scout back in basic training... a sentiment which only serves to fuel the resentment in his spark right now.

Edited 2014-07-19 06:10 (UTC)

"An unfair assessment?" he repeats incredulously. "Perhaps I could have stopped you before you used it to render me as helpless as poor Orion Pax – but you would have bought yourself an advantage. All you have now is the slim chance that you might hope to outrun me. I have endured enough of your foolishness, Starscream." Megatron takes a step towards him, hefting the harvester as though he's considering using it. "All those years," he snarls, "watching you grow arrogant –"

He's still just speaking, but as those words leave his vocaliser, more ... rhythmical ... than the way he'd usually say anything, they feel out of his control, and he breaks off in surprise with the realisation that he is starting to be accompanied by soft orchestral music. Ohhhh noooooooo

Megatron's intentions towards him confirmed, Starscream is totally prepared to full on beg and plead for his life (seriously, it'd be physically impossible for him to look any more terrified than he is right now)... and then the music starts.

Not this shit again.

"All that time, serving at your side," Starscream corrects, seamlessly slipping into the same beat with the practice of someone who just did this shit less than a few minutes ago... all as he cringes back from Megatron, posture low and submissive.

Edited 2014-07-21 04:40 (UTC)

Megatron's eyebrows pull down in confusion and he looks around as though for a hidden enemy as the music builds. Where is it coming from? What is happening?

He can't resist the music. This is terrible.

"All that time," he replies, "convinced that it was worth it, to spare your wretched hide –"

He grimaces. He wants to demand an explanation from Starscream. But, to be fair, he also wants to let him know how completely done he is, and this does seem as good an opportunity as any.

And apparently that level of acceptance is all it takes to plunge Megatron straight first into Actually Singing territory: "Now I hear you plotting to dethrone me; now you’re outright planning my demise! Standing here, it’s sadly clear..." He puts the energon harvester away – this is actually kind of invigorating – to seize Starscream roughly by the arm, yanking him closer and finishing in a growl, "To spare you was unwise..."

Starscream lets out a terrified squeal, stumbling as Megatron yanks him forward. The music keeps going in the background, which is completely and sort of hilariously at odds with the way Starscream is cowering. He's not quite singing at the moment, though he tries to put on a charming, placating smile. It just comes off as looking extremely forced.

"Alright, so I see the folly of my actions now, it's true- but did I not still you your prize? Orion Pax, I delivered him right to you!" He tugs back against Megatron's grip, taking on a sing-song tone once more: "Master, please, I beg you reconsider...!"

The worst part is, this is the point where he'd be hitting the skies by now, but something about the rhythm of the song has him glued to the spot. He's stuck for the duration, at least. If he survives that long.

"Delivered him right to me?" Megatron repeats incredulously. His grip on Starscream's arm tightens painfully, and he throws him across the sand in time with a violin crescendo. "Do you expect me to simply pretend not to have overheard you gloating to yourself about my imminent defeat simply because your folly has yielded me something I want?" he demands, striding after him and bringing one of his massive feet down on Starscream's leg before he can make an attempt get away. "I do not need you functioning to claim my prize, Starscream."

There's an audible crunch and a snap, swiftly followed by an ear-shattering howl of pain from Starscream. That definitely broke something attached to actual nerves, rather than just cracking the armored plating. He sits himself up with both hands and tries to squirm backwards, his other foot coming up at an awkward angle to kick weakly at Megatron's ankle.

There's a million excuses he can think to make, and a million more pleas to go along with them, and Starscream is all together terrified and remorseful... But the music compels him to perhaps put up a bit more of a fight than he usually might, like the only course of action that makes sense is for him to sing what he's really feeling instead of doing the smart thing and supplicating himself to Megatron.

This is perhaps not exactly the best moment to reach such a conclusion, but he can't really help himself. He stares back up at Megatron, eyes taking on an unusually steely glint, though he's still trembling with fear and pain. "Perhaps you don't need me to claim your prize, but you know you need me to help you bring the Decepticons to true glory!

He picks up the beat once more, this time actually singing. It helps that, now that he's heard Megatron belt out a tune, he's a bit more confident in his own abilities. Make fun of his singing voice, will you?

"All those years, living in your shadow..." he pauses to curse at the pain wracking his leg once before continuing. "All those years, believing you were wise. All that time, burying my feelings, and cultivating lies..."

He looks particularly taken back, concerned really, by his own words at the last part, what- Wait no he did not want to bring the question of their fucked up quasi-hatemance into this oh nooooooo

Edited 2014-07-23 02:01 (UTC)

will they sing tho

Yes they will.

fuck

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