Twist

Chapter 27: Fools

The Autobots barely passed her a glance when she returned to their base. She thought they'd all immediately turn around and shoot her in the face, but they didn't seem the least bit concerned, even as she activated their groundbridge and ran to Megatron.

"I have it," Temptest slid to her pedes. "I got it. He—he gave it to me."

"How sweet of him," Megatron murmured. "The fool."

Temptest frowned. "Excuse me? He was— you don't understand."

Megatron looked up at her and smirked. "Oh, really, sweetspark? I think you're the one who doesn't understand."

Temptest glared. "Why— wha... Mm..."

Her optics widened, and suddenly she was standing up, backing away. Megatron grinned, his sharp denta flashing in the dark air. His blue optics deepened in color and blood-red light flooded through. His smooth, silver face darkened with black scars, and his red highlights turned a foreboding purple. Slowly, almost mockingly so, Megatron rose to his pedes and fixed his predatory gaze on her.

"You fragging slagbag," Temptest ripped her blaster off her side and pointed it at his helm. "You tricked me."

"Guilty as charged," Megatron chuckled. "But you fell for it, twice. It's a rather terrible first two impressions for me to get of my new daughter. Gullible and dumb."

Temptest snarled and activated her comms, only to receive a rather loud screeching sound in her audio receiver. Momentarily, the loud noise caught her attention, and the split nanosecond was just enough time for Megatron to snap forward, snatch her new blaster away, and then shove her back.

She stumbled, bringing the matrix close to her chassis, and kicked his servo away when he tried to grab her. Megatron wasn't fazed in the slightest. He let his arm roll with the kick while swinging his other arm around, blaster humming to life. Temptest ducked, narrowly avoiding getting decapitated, and rolled back.

The femme popped back up and transformed. In any other situation, her first instinct would have been to fight, but this time, Temptest had something far more precious to protect.

Temptest took to the skies, Megatron on her tail, and tried comming the others again. The only reply was a loud screech that rattled her processor. Megatron followed, hot on her tail, shooting rapidly. 

There weren't many flying Autobots, so Temptest could admit her skills in dodging midair weren't the best. Everything Starscream had ever taught her about seeker practices came to mind. Tricks and games were her strategies as she circled back and spun under Megatron. It bought her some time, but soon enough, one of those purple blasts hit her wing and Temptest lost all control. The ground was spiraling up to catch her, and she doubted the greeting would be anything but painful.

She tilted her nose up and tried for some semblance of a landing before transforming. Her frame hit the ground and rolled.

This was becoming far too common a practice.

Temptest cradled the matrix in her arms and quickly checked to ensure it was undamaged. A quick sigh of relief left her intake before someone slammed their pede into her back, sending her facefirst into the ground and the matrix flew out in front of them.

"I expected more from the warrior I raised," Megatron mused. "I suppose you can only expect so much good training from a weak spark like your sire."

"Shut up!" Temptest sneered. "You have no idea who he is!"

She flexed her newly sharpened claws and curled her backstrut up, swiping at his knee. Megatron merely shifted back, unimpressed. Temptest gritted her denta, wrapping her legs around his retreating leg and yanking him. Megatron fell like a mountain, slamming into her helm as he went down. Temptest's processor momentarily shorted out, but she rolled out of muscle memory, regaining her senses and pouncing on him.