I wonder what's happened so far; [open]

[loltraitorlol]

who; Starscream and people who aren't sleeping
what; Starscream wanders around in ghost!form and does his best Transformers: Armada impression bawww insert linkin park here introspects about his current situation; possibly, people go "why the hell is there a weird looking cyborg ghost running around"
where; a public park somewhere in Kurzwiel
when;

Comments

oh lol here we go. FEEL FREE TO JUST BACKHAND HIM OUT OF THE WAY.

[loltraitorlol]

He'd flown again, after a time, unable to simply sit still, then landed back on a roof, walking around and trying to get a sense of things. To make things make sense in his head.

And then someone had stepped right through him.

Even if it happened often he still didn't like it. He'd thought that since he was visible enough - for Primus' sake, he glowed in the dark! - that he could avoid this sort of thing. But no. No, people still plowed right on through him as though he wasn't there.

Stepping out from inside... was this someone's leg? he floated back a few paces, trying to see what idiot had done this. Probably a poor plan to launch into a tongue lashing, but...

"... wh- YOU!?"

Megatron.

Of all the people to -

This only supported his theory that the universe did, in fact, hate him with a passion.

This Megatron... this one was clearly from another world. From the smooth lines of the Decepticon commander's form Starscream could tell that this was the legendary Megatron he'd heard about from Optimus and Sentinel Prime. The helicopter alternate mode only confirmed that idea. It was... strange, actually. The similarities to his own Megatron were evident, much moreso than with the Predacon who had taken that name. This really was an alternate of his hated Commander.

"You!" he repeated, this time with rage rather than surprise.

It was strange, how simple the idea was. And how stupid. He was a ghost, was he not? Why not take the ultimate prize, right here, right now?

Perhaps for the same reason you didn't try to take Galvatron?

With a snarl, he leaped towards Megatron, intent on possessing the Decepticon leader.

[cybertronismine]

There had been the strangest sense of dislocation in his leg, but he had dismissed it as mere sensor malfunction. A slight tweak he would have to rectify. Nothing of any great importance. Exactly like Starscream. He continued to examine the cityscape laid out before him, hoping for some sign, some bit of intelligence to assist him in unraveling this strange puzzle. And then there was a shriek from near his foot. He stepped back with a puzzled frown and looked down to see a strange, glowing apparition.

It was a cross between a human and some sort of Cybertronian - he recognized the lines, the design from Thundercracker. But this was not the strange Seeker. No, it was someone else entirely. Small, half-human, a gaping hole torn through his chest, but-

"Starscream."

That had to be the answer. Who else would have such fervent hatred in their voice? Even Optimus did not truly hate. He was far too much of an Autobot for that. It all fell into place. The strange drone. The outbursts over this place's communications network. The arrogance. How interesting. Of course, he hardly had time to consider the full ramifications as the odd "ghost" hurled itself at him. Contemptuously, reflexively, he brought a massive metal hand around in a backhanded blow to send the other Cybertronian spinning away from him.

[loltraitorlol]

Wham.

Starscream was sent spinning through the air, heels over head as he fell through part of the building they were standing on. A few moments later, he righted himself.

"... ow! What the scrap!?"

That... that had hurt! How the frag was that even possible? No one could touch him, he knew that, he was insubstantial. Well, alright - he could touch some hard and soft light holograms as if they were solid, but Megatron was neither of these things. He ached as though he'd been hit with a sledgehammer.

... in some ways, that was almost nice. He hadn't been able to feel anything in this shape, and the bird-bot and the drone's sensors were extraordinarily primitive. That had felt real.

Which is idiotic! You were just punched, you moron! Don't dwell on how lovely it is to feel pain! Right. Ow! Not fun! Grr!

He zipped back towards Megatron, floating so that he hung in front of the Decepticon's face.

"What the frag was that?" he snapped. "You touched me! You shouldn't be able to touch me, I'm dead!"

And then, at long last, the tiny voice that was what little common sense Starscream had broke through.

You've blown your cover rather spectacularly there, haven't you.

"Oh. Oh bolts," he said, his shoulders slumping. "You know I'm here."

[cybertronismine]

"That never really did stop the Starscream from my own universe from returning," Megatron mused. "Of course, he had a shard of the All Spark in his forehead."

He eyed the ghastly monstrosity floating just in front of his vision. How very strange. How very interesting. He'd never seen something like it. Of course, he'd also encountered many other strange things. He took a step back to get a better look. "You, however, are very much a... ghost. Unlike him."

Ghost. And how he normally spurned such dramatics. "And so even here, I find you. Or at least a version of you. To think you and I were beginning to tolerate each other back in Nautilus - such is life. What do you expect me to do to you? Rant? Attempt to annihilate you? Allow me to make one thing abundantly clear - you are not the Starscream I know. I do not have a quarrel with you unless you wish to make one, in which case I will gladly annihilate you for any sort of treachery or attempts on my life."

He leaned forward slightly, optics burning. "Do not mistake my lack of concern as weakness."

That said, he settled back, servos clasped in front of him. "But your story must be long to bring you here looking like..." He waved a hand. "This."

[loltraitorlol]

"To be perfectly frank, yes," said Starscream, folding his arms and giving his very best petulant glare. "My own Megatron would have ranted my audials off. And if he had been in the state he was when he killed me the first time, he'd likely keep trying to kill me and I'd then get to laugh at him."

He shrugged. "Forgive me, mighty Megatron, but old habits do die hard."

The little snippet about the Starscream in Nautilus gave him pause, though. They had... begun to tolerate each other? And then the bit about no quarrel...

"... wait, so..." he paused, giving Megatron a peculiar look. "You aren't going to demand my subservience? You aren't going to try to beat me into submission...?"

This seemed... odd. His Megatron would have thrown a fit. His Megatron would have torn off his arms and beat him over the head until he relented and came crawling back.

"Very well, then. A truce," he said. "For the moment, at least. My... apologies for my reaction. And indeed, your attitude I'd say is hardly weakness. My own Megatron was a fool, he'd chase a single bit of petty vengeance halfway across the galaxy. You, at least, seem to have some idea that priorities actually matter."

He tilted his head, also floating back to get a better look at this Megatron. Very, very peculiar. And he was so much more well spoken than his own, in a different way than that impostor. It was disconcerting. He was reminded of Megatron when he'd first joined the Decepticons, of what he'd then seen as a powerful and noble leader worthy of his support.

But you are so much more than a mere follower...

And that helmet shape still made him want to punch things.

"It is an extremely long story," he said. "And I would not be averse to telling it, if you actually care to hear. After all, you're not my Megatron, and... I suppose, thus, not the one to whom my hate should be directed."

He mused, rubbing his chin. "However... I do enjoy keeping my secrets, Lord Megatron. If I were to tell you my story, I'd be interested to hear yours. And I would also ask that you keep my secrets. There are... individuals here who I would rather not be alerted to my presence."

[cybertronismine]

It was wonderful when things fell into place. Every time something went according to plan, Megatron felt a sense of accomplishment. When he twisted someone to do what he wished. When he made others think that Megatron's idea was really their own. That was the beauty of words over brute force - although force most definitely had its place in Megatron's arsenal. A place of pride, in fact, but it was not the most suitable tool for every situation. He smiled tightly - Starscream would serve him again, just as he always did. Excellent.

"Vengeance has a certain satisfaction to it, but seeing your plans come to fruition - that is something else entirely. The first thing I did after recovering from Starscream's failed attempt against me was to annihilate him. It would've worked were it not for the shard of the All Spark embedded in his skull plating. I am no fool - keeping around a treacherous follower did me no good at the time - although he certainly had his uses later, so I suppose it was fortunate he did not die."

He watched Starscream carefully for any sign of disgruntlement, attack, any betrayal of emotion. Humans, Cybertronians - they were all manipulated just as easily. "For Starscream you're rather intelligent. I will listen - and I will keep your secret. For now, at any rate."

Unspoken, of course, was the threat that if Starscream decided to cross him, everyone on the station would know who he was and where he was.

[loltraitorlol]

And of course Starscream fell for it - all too easily. It was the flattery that did it - he knew as well as anyone that the last bit had been a compliment. He lived for compliments. His wings actually perked up at that.

"I am, of course, the superior Starscream," he said. "Anyway... "

He crossed his legs in midair - a useless gesture, he was no more comfortable that way than he was any other way - but somehow it made him feel better.

"It begins in my home universe. In the year 2005, Megatron ordered a bold new offensive on the planet Earth. The Autobots had allied with the humans, and this was, of course, entirely unacceptable. The initial raid was a resounding success: we killed many high-ranking Autobot officers and sent their troops fleeing in confusion. Then, of course, Optimus Prime arrived."

He paused. "He is rather different from the one you know. In your universe, Prime - who I have met, by the way - is a low-ranking lackey, a simpleton. If I recall, he was some sort of what, janitor...? Point being, the Prime from my world was... different. A deadly and powerful warlord on an equal level with my Megaton. One of my Megaton's many weaknesses, by the way - though powerful, Prime was a fool, and I fail to see how my Megatron could not defeat him even with five million years of fighting!"

He gave an airy wave of his hand. "Enough digression. The point is, Optimus arrived, and this time in the ensuing confrontation they managed to kill each other. It was a long time coming and I was quite relieved. Unfortunately, the tide of battle turned then - the Autobots had managed to activate a city-wide defense system and the death of their leader caused them to rally their strength, so I ordered a retreat."

"There was a minor contest over my leadership as I made my way back to our temporary base, and there I arranged a ceremony to officially place myself as the new leader of the Decepticons. Shortly before then, we cast our Megatron's body out into the void of deep space."

"Imagine my shock and surprise when a new mech appeared at the ceremony! He was both like Megatron, and different. I later discovered that he had been resurrected by Unicron - I am not certain if you've heard of this being in your universe, but he is a planet-sized Transformer, a dark god of chaos and destruction who stands opposite to Primus and the Allspark. He called himself Galvatron now, and was very different from Megatron. His first act was to kill me, vaporizing my body with one shot of his fusion canon."

Starscream frowned, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he tried to remember this. It was still all so confusing, that first death.

"But I did not die. I awoke cycles later, alone on the abandoned space station, and found that though my body had been destroyed my spark lived on. I wandered for a time as a ghost - different than how you see me now, by the way - before trying to do something about Galvatron."

"You see, he was... insane. Unicron had vastly different ideas for how the Empire should expand. The Decepticons, of course, are about conquest. Unicron's goals were destruction, and Galvatron had gone mad, and thus followed that directive. As it turned out, Unicron had been nearly destroyed, his head severed from his body, so I made a deal with him - I would restore him by connecting his head to Cybertron itself, and he would, in turn, grant me new life."

He smirked, then. He'd always felt this had been rather clever.

"I'd lied, of course. He gave me life, and I told him where he could stick it, and went on my merry way. Only... the Autobots caught me and killed me a second time."

That had been rather unfortunate.

He paused again, giving Megaton a glance. "I trust you're following so far..?"

[cybertronismine]

How fascinating. A story very much like his own yet so far removed as to be utterly alien. Optimus a great leader? Fighting over earth? Unicron? He nodded slowly.

"Yes, yes. Do continue."

[loltraitorlol]

"Cycles passed; most of the original Autobots and Decepticons, including Galvatron himself, perished in the conflicts that followed. Eventually, the Autobots won, and signed a truce. Most of the Decepticons were excecuted; a few were granted amnesty."

"Amnesty," he snarled. "More like slavery. Second class citizens, watched at every turn to make sure they didn't go bad again..."

"Shortly thereafter, both sides underwent an upgrade. They downsized themselves to only a little larger than humans and began to call themselves Maximals and Predacons. The class divide remained in effect - Predacons, our descendants, were treated as little more than criminals. So much for the Autobot adherence to freedom, eh? Hypocrites, they've always been... but I suppose I am, to use a human idiom, preaching to the choir in that regard."

"Most records of our own war were erased by the Maximals, ostensibly to prevent anyone from following in our footsteps. I watched all this happen, haunting the space between the stars and picking up the signals from Cybertron as I hovered around transwarp relay stations. I was trying to make my way back to the planet, but en route I was captured by the Maximals."

"They were, of course, fascinated by my immortality, not to mention by the chance to examine a 'real' Decepticon, as most of our technology had been lost in the upgrade, called heretical by the High Council. I was thus taken to a secret scientific facility where..."

He stopped, then, not certain if he wanted to continue. He drew his arms around himself almost unconsciously, looking away from Megatron's faceplate. Why was he saying all this? He'd get no sympathy.

But part of him needed to say it. To announce that he was still here.

"... they cut my spark in half," he said, slowly, keeping his emotions about the matter carefully in check. It was, after all, a long time ago. "I survived, naturally, but... hn. Anyway. They cut my spark in half and used one half to create a... thing. A hideous superweapon thing. They somehow tied the energy from my spark into it so that the monster couldn't die, used the schematic data recorded within my spark along with my own memories of building Bruticus - ah, long story, that, anyway - to construct the thing's shell."

"And they were surprised when it turned out to be hopelessly treacherous," he said with a bitter laugh. "Really, what were they expecting? The thing went mad from pain and confusion as soon as they brought it online, and it destroyed the entire lab. In the process, I was set free."

He relaxed, a little. "Naturally, the only thing to do was swear revenge on everyone involved; but first I'd need a body and a ship. I... somehow fell through a transwarp rift into the past, and encountered there a group of renegade Predacons, led by some purple idiot who had taken your name in an effort to make himself look more impressive than he actually was. I took control over one of their own with the intent of repairing their ship and taking it back to Cybertron to enact my revenge, but my plans were thwarted by a betrayal. I was then launched back into the void of space, where... things got decidedly bizarre."

He let that hang in the air a moment, relaxing slightly.

[loltraitorlol]

"I found myself suddenly in a new world, without warning. I discovered quite quickly that I had been brought there by a mad AI with control over a transwarp portal - sounds familiar, doesn't it? - and told that I was expected to be a hero."

He laughed, loud and racous, like a murder of crows.

"Can you imagine? Me? Expected to play hero? To add injury to the insult, I was alive again, but in a human body. Disgusting. Granted, the machine had at least graced me with flight and my weapons, but still, to be human against my will..."

He shook his head. "Vile. Though... I admit that taste is a lovely sensation."

"I soon discovered that the idiot Predacon Megatron was there, as well as Waspinator, the being whose body I had 'borrowed' temporarily. I also found that hundreds of others had been dragged into this city to play 'hero' - everything from normal civillians to actual heroes to people like us."

"I proceeded to get a job with the intention of taking it over from the inside, at which point that Megatron was deported - er. Sometimes the insane AI would send people home without warning, very peculiar - and thus I was left in charge. Very soon others began arriving. Your Blackarachnia, for instance," he spat this name with visible vehemence, "as well as my own Soundwave."

He paused. "Who I do believe you've met. He makes a big show of calling himself Joe Howard, but I can safely assume he's already contacted you and pledged himself to your service. Be wary, though, he's... his time in the City has left him somewhat damaged. Once he was an entirely efficient Decepticon spymaster and communications officer, but he has since been severely compromised by emotions. Indeed, for a time he kept a number of human pets out of some sentimental need to have his cassette partners back. I have... reasons to avoid him."

He left it at that. "The point being that I served as the leader of what few Decepticons we had. Autobots arrived as well - your Optimus and Sentinel Prime, a Blurr, among others... on my end I gained a Shockwave and a Blitzwing. But people came and went so quickly, and we were forced to make allies with the humans..."

"It all becomes rather confusing. I made several failed attempts at taking the City for my own, but I learned from my mistakes each time, and I eventually settled for a more... sedentary mode. I created a very successful technology company, I made deals with a number of humans, and at one point... heh. This fool decided that he was going to destroy the place. He had an obsession with endless war for the sheer sake of war itself, with no point. What good is war without purpose? If it is not for conquest or vengeance then why bother? He simply enjoyed chaos, and I decided that this was not optimal, so I stopped him."

He frowned. "As revenge, the individual in question murdered Soundwave. Rather gruesomely, I might add. And there was nothing I could do to stop it."

He shook his head. "It was so fragging frustrating, and I'm getting ahead of myself. For a time we had so many Decepticons, but then the Porter kept taking them away from me, and that made my lieutenants - Shockwave and Soundwave - slowly go mad. That and their humanity, too; they were too emotional, too... human."

"I tried to correct it. I... created synthoid bodies, pretender shells, if you will. It worked marvelously for me, I could be machine again but still appear human. For the others... no. I only finished Soundwave, first, though I managed to corrupt Sentinel Prime into serving the Decepticon cause by giving him one in exchange for loyalty."

"I had one more gambit to try. I created a Vector Sigma key, a gate to the Well of All Sparks with the intent of turning Earth into a new Cybertron. It was perfect, it would have worked, but I was betrayed yet again, thwarted by those fool heroes, and... killed. Somehow."

He put a hand over the hole in his chest. "That's where this is from. Apparently, I have certain... weaknesses."

He didn't elaborate. No sense in that.

He fell silent for a while.

"And then I think I... must have been dreaming..."

He shook his head. "That's about it; hence my... current appearance."

[cybertronismine]

Megatron listened in silence throughout the story. An interesting, fascinating tale - if any of it happened to be true. He believed he could generally tell when people were lying - and so far it seemed this Starscream was telling the truth. How fascinating. Gears turned over in his head as he considered, thought, stored certain data points away for later. Of course, he had his end of the bargain to live up to, didn't he?

He nodded, expression one of intrigue and bemusement. "A... fascinating story, Starscream. It rings true - and I do believe I know how to tell when you are lying through your dental plating. Allow me that much credit."

He chuckled darkly and then went on, "You have been through much and evidently it has changed you to... one degree or another." He gave Starscream's form a pointed look. "As for my own story? I did agree to tell you and as you have treated me with such candor and respect, I suppose I must do likewise."

Megatron settled for a moment, considering where to begin. Well, the very beginning of it all seemed highly appropriate. Background was always useful, after all. "In my own universe Cybertron has and is ruled by the simpering Autobot Council - a more conservative, dreary bunch of Cybertronians you will never meet. Cybertron itself is a shining jewel set in space - a megaopolis, a shining example of civilization and technological progress. We have our outposts amidst the stars - a space-bridge network, transwarp portals to various parts of the galaxy. However... that is where our expansion ends. That is partially where my issue with the Council and their despicable, tyrannical rule lies."

He gestured to the roof, out to the stars. "While we did not want for anything - energy, space, homes - we could be much more. Might have been. Except for the crippling fear the Council instilled in our people of organics. The rather ineffective, trifling organics. And thus we remained locked on our planet, terrified of the outside universe, forbidden from even coming into contact with such beings for fear of..." He paused and his next word practically dripped contempt, "...contamination."

He turned and paced for a moment, beginning to get into the mood of his story. He did have an ego and it wasn't often he was able to discuss the long, convoluted series of events that had brought him here. That had built him, as it were. "I believed that Cybertronians should be free - free to conquer the galaxy, to be the empire I know we could've been. The Council, as you might imagine, disapproved of my words and refused to heed my advice, my plans, the possible glory. They left me no choice but to lead a revolution against them and their tyrannical, conservative rule. I was a freedom fighter."

It is patently obvious that he means every word of it. Megatron truly does believe himself to be a hero, a freedom fighter. He continues, voice rising slightly. "That war... That glorious war was long. I can still remember it. Battles fought on far flung planets for control of the space bridges. My constant search for their wretched All Spark and the power it could provide me, it could provide my Decepticons - and always it eluded me. But we were better motivated. Better equipped. Fanatical in our devotion to the cause."

To Megatron, at any rate.

"We pressed them where ever we could and Cybertron itself was ravaged, torn by war - and despite their advantages, despite their control of the space bridge network and the All Spark, I was winning. The All Spark was in my grasp - and then they deployed Omega Supreme. A Cybertronian built with one purpose in mind - to fight me. To destroy my army. And they call me a monster - I never gave a being sentience only to turn it into a weapon."

Here he paused for a moment. "You do follow, don't you?"

[loltraitorlol]

Starscream leaned forward, clearly enraptured by the story. So similar... and yet so different. He'd heard the same arguments put forth by his own Decepticons, but never so eloquently. That, and his own Megatron made no secret of really being a tyrant, at least, not in the later stages of the war. In the beginning it had been about freedom; but later it had simply become about power.

It almost made him feel young and foolish again, like when he'd first stood in the back of a crowd, his systems nearly overclocked with passion as he listened to the then new leader's speeches.

Almost.

He is well spoken, yes; but he is a Megatron, he reminded himself. And he will expect you to be a servant, which you are not. Remember, Starscream, what you are. Your destiny.

"Of course," he said. "Remarkably similar to my own world, and yet... different, as well. It is refreshing to hear it from the other side, in fact - I'd heard Blackarachnia and Sentinel Prime speak of your world, but... obviously they are rather biased parties."

[cybertronismine]

"The Primes are fools. Blackarachnia... was useful. But she has her own agenda. I still do not fully understand her an that disturbs me. Now... where was I?"

He glanced upward for a moment and then nodded. "Ah, yes. Even then, I came within a nanocircuit's breadth of taking the All Spark. In order to 'protect' it from me and my army, they sent it into the space-bridge network. Transported halfway across the galaxy, far from myself and my loyal soldiers. We were forced to retreat, true, forced to live lives in exile, away from our home of Cybertron - but if I could find the All Spark we would be victorious. So we fled to the far reaches of the galaxy and bided our time. My soldiers would wait for my signal - the signal that I had discovered the All Spark."

He paused for a moment, thinking as one of his servos clenched into a fist. "I wandered the reaches of the galaxy for four million stellar cycles searching for it. My name passed into legend, until I became to the Autobots nothing but a boogeyman. A revenant. A phantom from a war long over, a footnote in their wretched history texts. But I finally discovered the All Spark in the hands of an Autobot space-bridge repair team led by none other than Optimus. It would've been a simple matter to destroy them, to rip the All Spark from the wreckage of their ship - if Starscream had not betrayed me."

Here his optics turned back to Starscream, burning through the phantom. If looks could kill (and Starscream could die), then Starscream would probably have been a wisp of smoke. "I was mortally wounded, but even so I could've still won if we had not been shot through space, through a transwarp rift to the planet... Earth. Interesting how it is a constant in our stories, is it not? Wounded, off-lined, I feel to the surface and of the next fifty stellar cycles I knew nothing. I might've remained there were it not for the discovery of the All Spark and the transference of an inkling of its power to my damaged central processor. During my cycles off-line a human scientist had discovered my body and used the technology to jump Earth's technology forward. I was restrained in a laboratory - an experiment. For a short time, at any rate."

Then he smiled. It was a cold, cruel smile. One of triumph. "I convinced the weak-minded human fool that I was really a severely damaged Autobot and that the Autobots active on his world - for Prime and his crew had come online before me - were truly my friends and I did not wish them to discover me in such a state. So he rebuilt my body for me. There was a child named Sari who had managed to retrieve a key - a key imbued with the All Spark's powers."

He clenched a fist with a pleased grin. "And when the time was right, when I had managed to signal my loyal followers who had come to the planet seeking the All Spark - Starscream had declared me dead - they retrieved the child's key and restored me to my true form, my true power. I eliminated Starscream - or so I thought and used the key to find the All Spark."

He frowned. "Of course, it was not to be. The Autobots shattered the All Spark rather than let it fall into my hands. The shards scattered over the planet and one... one found its way to Starscream and imbued him with life and a frustrating inability to die."

He paused. "And it is here my story takes a strange turn. For while events continued to play out in that universe, I was transported elsewhere. In spark, you might say, but spark made real."

[cybertronismine]

"I found myself in a strange and empty city known as Nautilus. Well, not precisely empty. Others were there, like myself, who had been drawn from their lives. We were told that we had been awakened. Chosen, I suppose, by some higher power to become something more in this 'City of Change'. Optimus was there, as was his assistant Ratchet and several other of his Autbot cohorts. The child, Sari, was there as well. Blitzwing and Starscream ahd also arrived, along with others from other places. We adapted. Others did not. I became allies with a human woman known as Rip van Winkle - and Starscream attempted to take over the city. He destroyed the being who called himself the Emperor of the City and infused with his power, killed me."

Megatron eyed Starscream, "...I returned of course. No one truly dies in Nautilus unless they are Unmade. Starscream himself was almost driven mad by the power contained therein and spent a very long time wandering a place known only as the Labyrinth. He was lucky to survive with his sanity intact. In any case, we formed a truce with the Autobots - after all, what is the point of a war where none can die and the object of our fighting was not present?"

He paused. "I should also explain that we were given access to a power called bending, which I mentioned earlier. With you could change your shape, alter the very fabric of reality. Creat places, things, even people had you the power. It is the alteration of the very code of the universe and we were allowed to toy with it. To practice. Time passed and I grew in power, as did others. It was revealed to us that we were to become Angelii, Ashura, even Deva in this pantheon we had uncovered. We were to become a new generation of custodians, guardians, creators of worlds and realities beyond imagining - if only we could defeat a being known as Isis and grow in power."

Megatron steepled his fingers. "The history behind Isis and the Deva is long and complex. Suffice to say she sought to control all realities. She sought to make them unchanging, static - like tiny organic creatures frozen in amber. She desired her own vision of order. I detested it. Even when she offered me everything I had wanted in my own universe - which I could technically return to, mind you, but I would berely be an observer in my own body. A horrid experience, let me tell you. In any case, she offered me power. I declined because I refuse to bend knee to anyone."

His voice rose sharply. "She attempted to take the city and we, the Awakened drove her off. And we continued to grow and shrink and become something more. It was not the City of Change for nothing. By this time I was an ashura, as you know. Someone who is responsible for repairing worlds. I had power beyond imagining. I could create cityscapes. Objects. Change shape at will. Transport myself across relatively short distances. Create a powerful shield to come to my defense. Manipulate reality to my will. The Decepticons shrank, alas. Rip van Winkle became a close companion and ally, despite her being an organic - she needed a leader and an army. I provided her with one. Starscream changed. He and I... have an understanding. It is much more like it was at the beginning then it used to be. And I continued to grow. Put plans in motion. Unfortunately, it seems I will not be able to see them bear fruit until I leave this place...."

Another pause. "The story from my home universe is rather dreary and not worth telling at this point - it is inconsequential as I plan on becoming a god."

[loltraitorlol]

Starscream almost smirked when he heard about his alternate murdering Megatron, but managed to restrain himself. He... had suspicions, here. If Megatron was able to touch him, if this Megatron was what he said he was... it could be very dangerous indeed for Starscream to anger him.

And besides. Perhaps this Megatron would prove a valuable ally. At least for the moment.

"It all sounds almost unbelievable," said Starscream. "And there would have been a time when I would have called you a liar."

He pondered for a moment. "But I see that what you say must be true. And I have known even stranger things..."

And what an idea. A reality beyond realities. Power beyond imagining.

"So it is possible to gain this power... to... Awaken, as you say. I wonder, were you to have your power intact, could you... 'wake' others, perhaps? Go to worlds and open their eyes...?"

His eyes shone red, and he flickered slightly, his outline wavering like a heat mirage.

"Because I have no more desire to be trapped on this wretched station than you do. Nor do I personally wish to return to my home - I am, after all, quite dead there; and my Cybertron has been changed beyond all recognition, a shattered husk of its former glory."

And perhaps I can find a way to take your power. If my alternate killed someone even more powerful, surely I can undo you... and all the others. Become the one, true god; standing alone before all realities...

A tiny part of him wondered if that would be at all worth the price.

[cybertronismine]

"Oh, certainly. If I actually had access to my full power it would be a trifling manner...." The lie came easily enough. And if the time ever came when he would have to follow through he could always claim that he was prevented by a power greater than he. In the unlikely situation that anyone else arrived from Nautilus, he could cover his own tracks. Besides, why would Starscream bother with any others?

"I am generally not in charge of who 'wakes', however. Still, it should be possible."

He knew Starscream. The other was probably already gloating over his demise. But he could be useful.