(Joint post between OOP and myself)
As soon as he heard a knock on his metal door, Megatron started to roll his optics with a sigh of irritation. Who was it, and what could possibly be worth interrupting his down time?
But then his audio sensors recognized his new Predacon’s voice; Rampage. Now he was somewhat intrigued, but it could simply be his first pathetic and inevitably failed attempt at getting reacquainted his the half of his spark that was now in the tyrant’s possession.
Well, let us see what this is about, he thought as curiosity got the better of him in his currently comfortable and confident state.
“My dear Rampage, do come in,” Megatron invited the crab with a polite voice while he remained standing next to his spark - which was encased in its vice still sitting where he left it - and the CR tank and remotely opened the door to his quarters for the experiment to enter as he faced him in his direction. He purposely didn’t approach him to keep some distance between them in case the crustacean decided to attack him to retrieve his spark.
“What can I do to accommodate you?” His friendly tone was covered in slime as he smiled smugly at him.
Rampage.., the pretender thought as he entered the door. He hadn't been aware of the tyrant giving his new pet a name. Fortunately it was his target that had enlightened him of such an important event and thus prevented him from making a fool out of himself and entirely losing the element of surprise.
"Now that I'm a part of your team, I figured we should get properly introduced," the crab imitator said as he entered the room, glancing around as if it had been his first visit here. Of course it truly wasn't, but he hadn't been to Megatron's quarters since his very brief stay here while posing as Nexus Prime, back when he first showed his true colors to the tyrant. How fitting that he would now be invited back here to finish him off.
He paused, stopping in his tracks, as he noticed the glowing spark stuck in the vice, obviously located close to the tyrant. Megatron was many things but not a fool.. Well, in this particular instance he was, since he would no doubt never have opened his doors to the shapeshifter if he had even an inkling of doubt about his true identity. Not wanting to appear overly interested in the spark, the tall crab turned his green gaze back to the tyrant.
"I come with a proposition for you."
Of course Megatron watched him closely and cautiously as he stepped into his private room in his robot mode. Luckily for the crab, Rampage didn’t appear to be readily armed, otherwise Megatron would have put him in his place and kicked him out.
“Properly introduced?” he repeated while narrowing an optic at him.
“I beg to differ. Introductions have been finalized between us. I’m fully aware as to who you are and what you’re capable of.” It didn’t matter to Megatron if that wasn’t a two-way street. But what the crab said next grabbed his attention. Although he pondered what he could possibly offer him. And what did he desire in return? His spark? Hah! Never.
“A proposition you say? Well, this should be enthralling.” There was some sarcasm in his deep voice as if he was already expecting a pitiful bribe.
“Captivate me,” Megatron allowed him to speak further.
The fake Rampage took a step closer, eyeing the tyrant intently. It had been a little while since the two of them had been this close, as Zodiac recalled, but the Predacon leader had certainly been just as cautious then as he was now. Not that it would make any difference in the end.
"It's quite a simple proposal," the pretender told the tyrant as he took yet another step closer.
"And you will give me what I want, or I will feast on your wretched hide." There was no hesitation in his voice, just cold, calculated words. Truth. As Megatron was about to discover.
The shapeshifter didn't seem overly phased by the normally intimidating tyrant. And why would he be? Megatron still believed him to be the real Rampage, a name most fitting for the crab from what the renegade had seen thus far.
As their optics locked and the large bot approached him step by step, Megatron narrowed both of his eyes now and reached over to grab the spark in its contraption without taking his glare off of him.
“You ought to choose your next words and actions more carefully, Rampage,” he warned him although he didn’t step back. The Predacon leader stood his ground since he believe he had the upper hand. Surely this lower life form had better sense than to bluntly threaten Megatron like this. He gave him one more chance to correct his current attitude as he held up his spark to remind the crab what was going to happen if he took one more step.
The pretender chuckled darkly as Megatron grabbed his only, and quite frankly useless, defense mechanism, and held it up for Rampage to see. But he did halt his movements for but a moment.
"I'm immortal, you flippant fool," the crab look-alike reminded the tyrant.
"You may hurt me, but you will never break me."
He then reached out his hand, demonstrating a yanking motion with it as if he planned to thrust his entire arm through the tyrant's chest and yank out his spark. He wanted to see for himself if Megatron would face certain death with his endless smugness, or if he as well could be brought to a state of hopelessness and despair. In short, he wanted to toy a bit with his would-be victim before finishing the job. Truth be told, he lied when he insinuated that Megatron had a choice in this matter. Just like he had lied so many times before to almost everyone he came across.
“My, what a short memory you have,” he said as he scowled at the crab now for his insolent words that were followed up by his physically threatening gesture.
“I don’t need to break you, Rampage. I just need to use you as I see fit!” With that, Megatron squeezed the spark quite harshly and almost allowed a grin to appear on his face as he eagerly anticipated the misery and suffering that he was about to inflict on the invincible crustacean to make him behave and fall to his knees in front of his sharp, purple toes. How disappointedly predictable this interaction turned out to be.
The fake rampage followed the movements of Megatron's arm as it started applying pressure to the contraption that resulted in the spark getting squeezed. Of course the shapeshifter couldn't feel the pain, but part of him did wonder if the real Rampage could feel some of it at that moment. Regardless, he still feigned the discomfort, not wanting to alert Megatron as to his true intentions just yet. Not until he was closer.
He made a grunting sound, moving his arm up to his own chest as if his spark was pounding violently within. In a sense he guess it was, but it was out of excitement for his upcoming kill more than anything.
"Enough..," he moaned, refusing to show weakness, taking what appeared to be a couple of staggering steps towards his tormentor.
But after the tyrant had kept applying pressure to the spark for another moment or two, the shapeshifter thought it best to drop to his knees, seemingly in excruciating pain, mostly to keep the pain from subduing his partner in crime from his task. He only needed Megatron to come another step closer..
“No,” the TransMetal tyrannosaurus failed yo comply.
“You will yield and learn your place!” The grin briefly appeared as Rampage reacted as expected, until Megatron felt that it didn’t seem as painful as it should have been. Sure, there was the groaning and begging and collapsing to his knees, but the tyrant wasn’t satisfied. Something felt amiss. As if he needed a closer examination to his skepticism, he took a step toward him and immediately stopped when he noticed that what was also not present was the flashing of energy surging through Rampage’s body like he would have been experiencing energon build up. Why wasn’t that happening this time? He started to retract his step forward by picking up his foot and moving it backward.
Zodiac in Rampage's form paused his performance as Megatron seized his approach and in fact took a step backwards. daring to look up at the tyrant to see the hesitation in his optics. So the tyrant wouldn't step into his little trap.. Well then, he'd just have to force him.
Suddenly bursting to his feet despite the continued pressure applied to the spark, the pretender closed the gap between Megatron and himself in a couple quick steps. His face was one of determination, yet he said nothing as he reached his arm around and grabbed for the back of Megatron's neck in order to force him forward. His free hand was prepared to plunge several large spikes into Megatron's chest, intended to incapacitate and possibly kill the tyrant.
Megatron managed a growl when he saw the fake Rampage jump to his feet despite him clamping down on the spark even further. It was in that moment that he realized it couldn’t be Protoform X.
“ZODIAC!” he hollered in sheer rage. How dare he show himself in the Darksyde and sneak his way into his quarters! How dare he! Using his other hand, he drew his tail gun weapon but didn’t have enough time to charge it and fire it at the shape shifter. All he could do was use it to block Zodiac’s hand with the spikes. He pushed against it to keep them from penetrating his armor. Unfortunately, the renegade’s hand on the back of his neck had been planted there firmly and pushed him downward against his will. Megatron had no choice but to drop Rampage’s spark, which banged loudly on the floor, and use that hand to reach his neck to try and pry Zodiac’s fake, red, pudgy fingers off of it.
Zodiac grinned, well as far as he was able to in this form, when Megatron called out his name with such fury it would surely have made a lesser bot tremble in fear. But the shapeshifter didn't budge, not when he had Cryotek's favorite student exactly where he wanted him. Why the crime lord had always favored Megatron was beyond the shapeshifter. It wasn't as if the purple tyrant possessed any special abilities like he did, or held any particular loyalty towards his teacher. Not at all.
But in the end, Megatron had stolen that which belonged to Cryotek and had deserted him to flee to this planet.. This Earth. Cryotek had been furious, of course, but he hadn't had the option of going after his former pupil at that time. It was almost ironic that it would be Cryotek's own creation that would now put an end to the traitorous Megatron, and yet Zodiac held no more loyalty towards Cryotek anymore either.
As Megatron dropped the caged spark, the pretender chose to ignore it for now. If he had attempted to grab it, he would merely be giving the tyrant the upper hand. No, he had to finish the job first. Both of Megatron's hands were busy now, one attempting to keep the renegade from pushing him closer to the spikes while the other attempted to hold the spikes from puncturing through his armor. During this process, the spikes slashed into Megatron's hands, ripping the metal apart to leave superficial rifts in the hand. Zodiac almost laughed at the tyrant's futile struggle against the inevitable. And as he finally burst into laughter, the spikes on the arm started growing longer. Meanwhile his grip on the tyrant's neck didn't falter.
The Predacon warlord cried out in pain when the sharp objects stabbed through his hand, tearing it and causing him to release his large weapon. Clenching his jaws, he refused this being his fate. This fool had no idea what he was doing! He was compromising everything Megatron was working so hard to achieve in the ultimate galactic conquest! He growled and kept pushing Zodiac’s hand as much as he could even though it ached and burned from its injuries. No, he refused! This would not be his demise! Activating his twin engines, he reversed their thrust and attempted to pull himself backwards to escape the false Rampage’s grasp.
The sudden firing of Megatron's thrusters is what caused Zodiac to lose control over his foe's movements, the ignited thrusters causing too much of a resistance for him to be able to hold on. The pretender let go, allowing the tyrant this small and very short lived victory. Watching the tyrant resist his fate, Zodiac wasted no time stepping between Megatron and the spark.
"Face it, Megatron, you're outmatched," the renegade told the tyrant coldly.
"Do you honestly think that you can stop me? Why prolong your suffering?"
While the Predacon leader had lost his weapon, Zodiac still had all of his. Yet he didn't pull out any firearms, not wanting to alert the other Predacons who were bound to come to investigate if they heard the weapons being fired. The renegade looked at his opponent, enjoying the sight of his seeping wounds, relishing in the change in status of his enemy before he, too, started changing. His armor shifting, colors taking on a different hue as he changed his form to that of Megatron himself while he proceeded to close the gap between the two of them yet again.
Megatron’s back slammed against the wall once Zodiac released him and he cut the thrust to his engines. He held his terribly wounded hand in the other as though it was an attempt to protect it but it wouldn’t have mattered. Some mech fluid dribbled down the fingers dripping on to the metal floor. He gave his foe the angriest of glares as he growled at his words. How did it come to this? How could Megatron have been so obtuse?! Why exactly was Zodiac doing this? Shouldn’t he be pestering Primal and trying to exterminate HIS spark?!
The Predacon watched Zodiac’s appearance shift before his very optics only to find him staring at himself. How convenient. Then he began advancing toward him again. Megatron activated his shoulder-mounted guns and fired them at the shape shifter.
“Outmatched?” Megatron spat on the word.
“I have so much set in motion that not even my untimely demise can stop it,” he bluffed. To an extent. The Predacon leader had many precautions in place that it would be almost impossible to imprison him for long periods of time or terminate him. Zodiac would see. What a fool! Then again, he had no idea what the renegade was up to.
“You had best retreat before the calvary arrives. You won’t escape that easily, Zodiac! Nooo!”
The clone merely smiled, having copied that wicked grin Megatron often used, down to the last detail. The other male was pummeling him with shots, but these only slowed his movements down a little and occasionally he cringed a bit as the shots hit him. Fortunately his nanomachines were quick to repair the damages, and he wasn't about to give Megatron the chance to keep firing until he had exhausted the shapeshifter's healing abilities.
"Escape? Oh, I'm flattered you're so concerned about my well being, but I'm precisely where I want to be," he told the other male, having resorted to copying his voice as well, all the while approaching the wounded male.
"And please enlighten me on how you plan on stopping me," he then added, genuinely curious how the tyrant could even think he'd get out of this one alive.
As he walked, almost casually slow, he pulled out the large broadsword he had once lost on the exploding mountain, having gone back there to retrieve it after he had regained his powers.
"Come now, Megatron, you are making this harder than it has to be.." He swung the sword at the tyrant, who conveniently was forced up against the wall.
“A magician never reveals his secrets!” Megatron exclaimed, obviously having learned from his past mishaps to not boast and share information about his schemes until he had already succeeded in fulfilling them. And this time was no different despite how bleak his future seemed at the moment. Zodiac may have been able to copy him to a tee, which almost made Megatron admire how devilish and intimidating his facial expressions and mannerisms were in others’ optics since he could see them now for himself, but he could never truly be Megatron. He didn’t have the intuition, intelligence and cunning to stay three steps ahead of everyone else on that planet. Only Megatron had been bequeathed with that kind of programming. He even triumphed Cryotek in that aspect.
Observing Zodiac wielding the sword and swinging it, Megatron was cornered and had no where to go. What was he going to do with the long blade? Well, he had a few guesses but he hoped it wouldn’t be swung at his head...
Zodiac finally closed on the last few steps, the sword pointed menacingly at Megatron's abdomen as his clone came face to face with his foe once more. He held the sword there, pressing the tip against the other male, hoping to catch a squirming motion, a tremor, anything showing how helpless the tyrant truly felt right now.
"Do keep in mind that magicians eventually run out of rehearsed tricks.. and you, my friend, have reached the end."
Keeping the sword pressed firmly against the other male, the pretender swiftly moved the arm with the spikes to the tyrant's throat.
"I was going to make this a clean death but you had to force my hand..," he then whispered in the tyrant's own voice as he leaned in close. While talking, he also moved closer, forcing the blade and the spikes closer to the tyrant's armor until they started penetrating.
The motion was fluid, but slower than it strictly had to be in order to savor the pain he was inflicting on the other male. Zodiac held the sword steady and firmly against the tyrant's abdomen, using the t-rex as leverage as he pushed the sword harder against the armor until it dented and then started to crack. To add to the pain, the renegade made sure to twist the blade, intending to cause as much damage as he possibly could. It wasn't going to be the swift death the changeling had initially planned for, oh no, instead he was going to let the tyrant suffer as he would be helplessly left to bleed out on the floor. A fitting testament to someone who viewed himself to be superior to everyone else when he clearly wasn't.
Fortunately Megatron had just recently been taking a bath so he had clearly not been prepared for such a double cross. Not too surprising, really, since the tyrant wrongly presumed everyone feared him. He had always thought himself to be better.. smarter.. more brutal than anyone else. Zodiac had come to see these traits the first time the two of them spoke face to face, in these same quarters ironically when the shapeshifter had first revealed his true identity to the tyrant. There was a certain irony to the fact that it was going to end here as well.
Megatron, cornered against the wall, was well aware that he had nothing in his possession to use against Zodiac. His bullets from his beast mode’s claws that were mounted on his shoulders would do little to the shape shifter who could simply regenerate his pierced armor. And everything else in his grasp was metal which the pretender could just absorb. It would seem, for once in a long time, he was at a disadvantage. And as his optics followed the sword’s motions while his foe approached him, he surmised that the only way out of this was to take the puncture of the blade and allow Zodiac to get away. After all, his CR tank was right there, so all he would have to do is jump in to repair himself. Again.
The sharp tip of the blade touched his abdomen, and then Zodiac added more pressure. He was slow of course; Megs would have performed the stabbing the same way on him had their roles been reversed. He was still despite the sharpness beginning to pain him. He maintained his glare and kept his optics on his clone instead of watching the blade sink further into him. By now he had dropped his hands to his side while the one kept dripping fluid on the floor and throbbing.
“Have I?” Megatron replied with a cold tone.
“After all, I am not a magician,” he corrected him despite the analogy he just used to compare his seemingly incredible tricks and escapes from death. The Predacon leader was forced to lift his chin as Zodiac’s spikes came to his neck. He swallowed, and he strained a little to keep his angry gaze on him considering the angle of his head now. How did he let it come to this? Although he’d never admit it, he was in a really bad situation at that moment. And it was about to get worse. Megatron inhaled just before the largest of the sharp weapons started to pierce him. Feeling it sting at first as his armor cracked and then penetrated inside of him, he exhaled and closed his optics. It was, indeed, extremely painful. And with his spikes still keeping his head tilted up, there was no comfortable position he could tamper with to help him cope. He groaned as he could feel the sword slide further into him, the blade severing wires and tubes and stripping some gears. His jaws were clenched as he bared his chrome teeth trying not to give Zodiac the satisfaction of him crying out in anguish. Then the blade started to twist, and Megatron balled his fists, banging them against the wall. Fluid began seeping out of the wound around the sword down his pelvis and then trickling down his leg. His body trembled, not that he wanted it do, but there was a lot of pain being processed by his sensors that his internal computer couldn’t divert anywhere else. He exhaled deeply again and coughed even though the spikes at his neck granted him very little movement or else they would stab him as well.
Zodiac, while maintaining Megatron's form, smiled quite viciously as he kept applying pressure to the long sword, forcing it to penetrate ever deeper into the tyrant's abdomen. The spikes on his arm did a fairly good job at encouraging the Predacon leader to stay put and not attempt escape, or he would surely be bleeding out all the quicker. Abdominal wounds were, after all, a relatively slow way to die. Which is exactly what the renegade wanted to achieve.
He wanted the tyrant to suffer, much the same way he had been made to suffer at the hands of Cryotek, Nexus Prime, the lot of them. They were all going to pay, starting with Megatron, and when he returned to Cybertron in the future but at a stage prior to the Predacons fleeing to Earth the shapeshifter was going to have the pleasure of doing it all again. On the irony..
Upon noticing the tyrant refusing to cry out in the agonizing pain he was surely feeling right now, the pretender tilted his head and gritted his teeth as he applied more pressure to speed the process up a bit. Such futile show of pride.. The stubborn fool. Even Nexus Prime had cried out at the end. Well, by then it had been more like a whimper. Pathetic. "
You know.. After we're done here, I might just stay in your form and rule the Predacons as my own," the renegade told the tyrant in cold, calculated words meant to provoke and break his spirit down.
A deep growl erupted in Megatron’s throat. Oh, how he desired to tear his clone’s head off and toss his body into the lava! Then they would finally be done with this pathetic, jealous, and juvenile that had been wreaking havoc on both factions for far too long now! But the sword... By the Pit, the pain was excruciating. He wanted to hunch over and cross his arms over the deep wound on his abdomen but he couldn’t, not without those long needles penetrating his neck. Megatron thought he despised the shape shifter before, but now he loathed him to the point of clamping his beast mode’s jaws around his chest and shedding him apart, crushing his spark once and for all. He would terminate him since Primal obviously didn’t have the guts to do it! It was his fault that Zodiac showed up there in the first place, so once he was done thrashing the shape shifter, he would return his hunger for death on Optimus.
Zodiac’s last words
really infuriated Megatron. It wasn’t because he cared about his Predacons, it was because he refused to allow anyone to impersonate him and ruin his reputation. So, Megatron finally gave in in hopes to lower Zodiac’s guard, no matter how briefly, and he hollered out in agony. What he was going to do next was going to really, really hurt. While the Predacon leader was not a fan of pain, unlike the real Rampage, he was also not a fan of dying, certainly not by the likes of this cretin. So, he immediately used his arm to thrust it at Zodiac’s with the spikes at his neck, and then he went to reach for the pretender’s hand that was holding the sword’s handle. But instead of trying to pull the blade out, which would be futile, he pushed it in further and quicker while screaming in his clone’s face from the anguish and feeling the sword sliding right through his body. Fortunately it was not near his heavily protected spark. At the same time, he lifted one of his feet and planted the bottom of it against the wall behind him to use it as leverage as he pushed himself off of it and lunged his entire body at Zodiac.
Zodiac smugness grew when the tyrant finally gave in and verbalized his pain with a holler.
"That's more like it," he told the wounded male as way of praise, if one could even call it that. And for a moment, Zodiac stopped applying pressure to the sword and gave Megatron a chance to take a breath. That flickering moment was short lived, however, as Megatron did something most surprising. Despite the imminent danger he was in and the spikes pushing against his neck to discourage any such movements, the tyrant suddenly thrust his hand out to force his own spiked arm away. The shapeshifter growled and retracted the spikes, only to stop in his tracks when he noticed Megatron actually assisting with pushing the sword in through his abdomen.
And within a moment, the crazed Predacon leader managed to lunge at the shapeshifter, using his entire body weight as a weapon in an attempt to tackle him to the ground. Unable to hold on to the sword with such a brute force coming at him, Zodiac dropped the weapon and it remained plunged through Megatron's body. Unwilling to give the tyrant any chance to actually pin him, the shapeshifter immediately twisted sideways in an attempt to avoid the raging warrior's attack. While physically Megatron could still be stronger than the renegade, he was also wounded, bleeding, and his movements would no doubt be slowed as a result. So all the renegade had to do was avoid getting trapped and he would still win this encounter.
The warlord’s retaliation was a success! To a degree. At least it managed to get him away from him, but since Zodiac avoided his tackle, Megatron landed on the floor with a loud thud on his hands and knees, the sword still protruding from his abdomen. He breathed heavily facing the floor as the fluid dripped quicker now from the sword’s handle and began puddling below him. His wounded hand smeared blood across the metal flooring as well.
Refusing to yield in this fight, he slowly pushed himself up to a kneeling position and glared at his clone. Bleeding and labored breathing, his abdomen pounded and throbbed. His internal wiring felt twisted and coiled around the blade, he wrapped his good hand around the handle and yanked it out of him. Megatron gave out a short but loud cry in doing so, but he held up the blade in a defensive manner while the leak from the deep stab went from a trickle to a steady stream. He was losing fluid and energon quickly.
For the briefest of moments, the shapeshifter seemed to hesitate. Megatron's resilience had caught him off guard and the last thing he needed was an enraged tyrant managing to get a hold of him. But as he looked down at the bleeding mess kneeling on the floor, his gasps for air, and his movements anything but steady, it occurred to the renegade that his plan was indeed succeeding.
The smile returning to his face, Zodiac crouched down to be at eye level with the tyrant. He stayed at a relatively safe distance, of course, not being quite the fool Megatron had mistaken him for, but he still wanted to be close enough for the dying Predacon leader to hear him.
"An impressive show of strength, I admit, but ultimately little more than futile. You will die here," he said, his voice calm, almost soothing in a sense.
"It's over, Megatron." And with those words, he stood up and started moving around the tyrant to avoid the giant blade he was now trying to defend himself with. His hand started shimmering as he walked, materializing a sharp dagger to finish the job.
Megatron gave him a sneer while he crouched down to his level. He wasn’t going to expire like this! But since he didn’t have the energy to continue fighting, he opted not to retort. It would have been in Megatron’s best interest to allow him to leave in order for him to save himself or call for help once the threat retreated.
Each cough made the t-rex cringe in anguish, and each breath expanded and deflated his chest. Megatron’s optics followed Zodiac as he stood and began walking around him, noticing his hand shimmering. Now what was he up to? He tried turning his head as far as he could to keep an optic on his intentions since it would be too much for him to move his entire body in the fatally wounded state it was in.
One day, he would be able to say those words to Zodiac, and he would celebrate greatly in doing so.
Zodiac moved all the way around Megatron, but instead of attacking him again, at least immediately, he maneuvered over to the cryo tank located only a short distance away from the tyrant. Once there, he turned to glance at the wounded Predacon with a slight grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"I hope you weren't counting on this to save you," he told the tyrant before suddenly plunging his dagger-hand into the control console of the cryo tank, sinking the weapon deep enough into the circuitry to cause sparks and smoke to appear. And moments later the tank went dark, no longer functional.
He then yanked his blade back and turned to the tyrant once more. Now there was only one thing left to do..
Very subtly, Megatron’s optics enlarged at Zodiac who damaged the controls to his personal repair. Blast him! If he could attack him and slice his head clean off of his neck, he would! Outraged, his breathing increased despite it being painful, and pulled himself up to his feet. He was hunched a little as he placed his torn hand over his abdomen’s wound to try and apply pressure to it, but it continued to bleed through his fingers that hardly functioned anymore after the spikes that ripped his hand apart. His purple lips curled both from the pain and anger. Now Megatron was in a lot of trouble, but he couldn’t just quit. He had to defend his life, his pride and his future conquest. Gripping the sword tightly, he held it before him ready to attempt to deflect his next attack even though the odds were not in his favor at all by this point.
The pure hatred was clearly visible in the tyrant's optics now and Zodiac couldn't help notice the way they followed his every movement, however slight. And somehow Megatron still had a bit of fight left in him, enough to force himself up on unsteady legs and held up the sword that had been impaling through his abdominal cavity mere moments before.
Zodiac eyed him with a certain sense of amusement flickering in his optics, but Megatron's gesture did get him to rematerialize his hand instead of the dagger. Clearly he wouldn't be able to perform the final stab to the back that he had planned to do and it would be foolishness to get into a sword fight against the heavy broadsword. So instead he raised his hands up a bit as he took a step away from the tyrant, in a seemingly innocent move. Of course that was all a game, as Megatron was about to realize. And just then his shoulder mounted cannons popped into place, targeting the tyrant for one final.. and deadly.. blow.
He only took a moment to admire the look on Megatron's face before he fired the weapon at his chest and midsection.
Indeed it was odd for the victim to be wielding the same blade that had penetrated him, even still smeared with his own mech fluid, but a stabbing or slicing might do better against the shape shifter than any of his energy weapons. Besides, he needed to reserve as much power as he could now. His tail gun wasn’t far from him on the floor but he wouldn’t have the speed to grab it and use it.
It was clear in his clone’s eyes that Zodiac was finding way too much amusement in Megatron’s suffering, obviously enjoying watching his life slipping away. Could it be possible that this was it for him? The hope for survival was beginning to dwindle. Or perhaps that his simply his consciousness staring to black out as he grew dizzy.
The real Megatron didn’t believe that the fake one was about to surrender or end his tirade on the leader when he watched him raise his hands and step away. No, he had something else planned for him. Maybe it was even his final move...
When Megatron realized what it was, he didn’t have time to turn his back to the onslaught of gun fire. He dropped the sword and was forced to move backwards back against the wall again as the bullets pummeled him. Smoke and steam started to rise from the heat and damage he was taking. He felt a bullet or two lodge themselves in the hole in his abdomen. Other shots hit his face and shoulders. Eventually Megatron fell to the floor on his chest and appeared to be unconscious as his body twitched. A pool of fluid slowly started to form from under his stomach as he laid there.
Zodiac only ceased his onslaught of shots when the tyrant finally collapsed on the floor in a heap of his own limbs, circuits and mech fluid. He stood there for a moment, watching for any signs of life or movement, and then slowly made his way closer to the tyrant so that he could retrieve his sword from the floor.
"Oh don't worry, Megatron..," the renegade said as he took a step away from the still form.
"I have no intention of taking over your life and your pathetic excuse of a band of misfits. My plans reach much further than that."
He smiled ever so slightly again, put his sword away, and made his way to the door. On the way he grabbed the spark still remaining in the contraption Megatron had placed it in. It was only a matter of time before one of Megatron's lackeys found him like this, and the shapeshifter needed to be well on his way before then. So he left the room, sealing Megatron inside to meet his end in his very own tomb.
"Quickstrike ta Nemesis,"
The avian female stirred from her light slumber upon hearing Quickstrike's voice come through the radio. Ugh.. Now what? Brushing her metallic feathers back, she waited a few nanoclicks before responding to the fuzor's hail.
"Yes?" "There ain't any Maximals out here. Are you sure you gave me the right coordinates?"
Uhm.. What?
"What are you talking about? I haven't talked to you since we acquired Rampage as an ally," she replied back hesitantly. It was true the fuzor wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, so to speak, but this was just a new level of stupidity for him.
She couldn’t see, but the Fuzor’s expression was quite a confused one. Was she suffering from amnesia?
“Uh, we were talkin’ with Rampage in the hall, and you ordered me ta go to this location ‘cause there were Maximals. So I’m tellin’ ya that you were mistaken and ya sent me our here fer no reason. Thanks fer wastin’ my time. I don’t suppose there’s a reward for bein’ dooped,” he said with disappointment as he referred to the reward that “she” had promised him.
“You know, Megatron ain’t gonna be happy about this. I knew I shouldn’t have listened to you! Now it’s my hide on the line!” Grumbling, Quickstrike started to head back the Darksyde.
Nemesis went silent after Quickstrike gave his explanation. What was he..? Then it dawned on her. Obviously she hadn't been the one to tell Quickstrike that fabricated story, which only really left one option. Well two if she believed Quickstrike was smart enough to come up with a cover story like this, but she seriously doubted he would stoop to such levels. And what would he have to gain from it anyway? No, the real culprit was a lot more sneaky than that.
Zodiac. It had to be. So he'd been at the Darksyde then, disguised as her, and talking to Rampage.. Yeah, she'd have to put an end to that quickly.
"Nemesis to Megatron, we have a situation," she said as she opened a communication link to their leader. Upon not receiving a response immediately, she then asked in a more questioning tone;
"Megatron?"
The Predacon tyrant played dead as he laid there as quietly as he could listening to Zodiac move around and brag about his plans until he finally exited his quarters. He needed help. Immediately. But who would he call? Someone he thought he could trust who wouldn’t take advantage of his current condition on Death’s door. Someone big enough to help him up or maneuver his large and heavy body. Someone who could protect him if Zodiac decided to return to make sure he perished. The best option that came to mind was Nemesis, and it was then when he heard her voice on his comm. link.
“Nemesis...” His voice was gargled and he had to take breaths between words.
“My quarters... hurry... Zodiac...” He coughed and winced from the pain. He could feel his energy draining.
Megatron's voice sounded so garbled, so very different from his usual powerful self, that Nemesis didn't hesitate on the urgency of this matter. She immediately left her quarters, heading towards Megatron's to assist him any way she could. On the way, however, she also instructed the computer to search out any intruders. Much to her dismay, however, the computer reported back that it was unable to detect any. Well, she'd just have to worry about that later. First she had to get to their leader.
When she reached his quarters, she didn't knock or wait outside the door. Instead she promptly entered, only to find the room looking like a disaster had taken place. There was a trail of mech fluid on the floor, on the wall, and at the end of said trail was a still form.
"Megatron!," she exclaimed and hurried over to him.
Megatron grunted as he pushed himself up only as far as getting his chest off of the floor, soaked in his own blood from his abdomen, when Nemesis had entered his room. He was relieved that she hadn’t run into the false Megatron instead who might have persuaded her to ignore his pleas and inadvertently leave him to die. Then again, if she hadn’t seen him, where could he have gone? He had a feeling that her urgent communication pertained to the shape shifter but he wasn’t sure how or why. And quite frankly, he didn’t care at that moment. They could address it later.
“Zodiac,” he said again looking up at her in his puddle of fluids and injuries. It was a very rare instance when Megatron would feel so vulnerable and weak and let anyone witness it within his control.
“Damaged... my tank... Disguised as me... when he left. He took... Rampage’s spark...”
Nemesis frowned upon hearing Megatron's explanation while she helped hoist him up and support him so he could at least stand on his feet. His mech fluid was dripping still, some getting on her armor as well, but she didn't really care.
"Come on," she said as she started hauling the tyrant along to another cryo tank. The remaining ones may not be as decorated as the one in Megatron's chambers, but right now he needed one quite badly. She also pondered where Zodiac was off to now. While disguised as Megatron, he could virtually go anywhere within the base without anyone raising an optic ridge about it.
"The computer didn't pick up his signature so it's possible he already left, spark and all. But don't worry. We'll track him down for this."
Megatron's feet kept threatening to give out, so Nemesis had to drag him along as fast as she could towards the nearest functional cryo bath.
But dang! That was a great post, you guys! 
Again, great job, OOP and Phoenix!