"If you want to make the world a better place,
Take a look at yourself,
Then make a change"

»«

Agent Fowler regarded Megatron in silence, the government official taking in his new appearance with some surprise; it was not what he expected when Ratchet had briefly told them about Megatron's armor upgrade thanks to Unicron. The Decepticon was slightly taller, and purple energon pulsed through him in higher quantities, giving him an eerie glow. His optics remained red, yet they contrasted oddly with the rest of his coloring.

Dana walked up the stairs to be a little more optic-level with the Cybertronians, watching as Ratchet took Megatron to the designated med-bay area.

"I'm going to give you a quick scan." The medic explained as he opened his arm console. "You've been traveling in deep space, Primus only know what you might have picked up in there."

"I'm certain the only thing I could possibly contract is space madness; though some may contest that I already have it." Megatron replied with an unhappy growl, yet he sat when the medic told him to.

Ratchet scanned him, his beam immediately turning red as it picked up the massive quantity of dark energon within the warlord's systems, not reading much else besides it.

"Quite frankly, I would suggest flushing out the dark energon," Ratchet stated briskly, completely serious. "It's a poison to your systems and could leave you susceptible to its affects. Even with Unicron locked up in his containment unit, there's always the risk that he could attempt to regain control over your modified body."

"Where did you end up putting him?" Megatron asked. "I didn't think the Autobots had the means to keep such a powerful and dangerous entity secure and locked up."

"We do," Ratchet was brief, "and that is a need to know information. You have no need to know." His optics didn't meet Megatron's, the former Decepticon guessing that it meant the location of Unicron was obvious.

"You returned him to Earth's core," he guessed, "but I doubt you opened the containment unit and set him free. I assume he has been returned to his spark chamber?"

Ratchet glared at him, not at all happy. But there was no use trying to lie to the Decepticon.

"Yes. It's the one place few would think to look." The medic turned off his scanner, now quite snippy. "Are we going to do a whole-systems flush or are you going to simply refuse to do it?"

"The dark energon lies within my very spark." Megatron stood, gesturing to the center of his chest. "It cannot be removed without surgery."

"Then surgery is what we will do," Ratchet pointed to the medical berth, "I refuse to put too much faith in someone who still contains the blood of Unicron in their veins. It would be much safer - for all of us I'm sure - to remove it and dispose of it properly."

Megatron raised an optic ridge. "Do you know what will happen if you remove the shard?"

"Will he still have the same power-ups Unicron did?" Dana asked from her perch, drawing all optics on her. "Furthermore, does that armor even come with physical weapons? He can transform into an alternate mode, that much is obvious, but what about his sword and canons?"

"I have never been equipped with any alternative transformations other than my 'alternate mode,' as you put it." He paused, clearly unhappy with his next line of dialogue. "My model type does not come with weapons pre-installed. My fusion canon, and my sword, had to be built in."

"Unicron may have upgraded your armor, but, I'm sure if I can whittle away some of the excess, your fusion canon may be useable again." Ratchet took his arm without permission, much to the gladiator's chagrin, and twisted it from one side to the other. "Yes, I can see it is still hidden within the more . . . Earthen parts." The medic tilted his helm as he took the gladiator in. "Additionally, you will need an Earth-based vehicle form if you want to ever leave this base. If I can remove some of the excess, and unnecessary, armor pieces, that will increase your chances of being able to obtain an more inconspicuous mode of transport."

Megatron frowned. "I was meant for the sky, medic. Why would I possibly want an Earth-based vehicle?"

"You misunderstand," Agent Fowler explained, "what you need is something from Earth, be it a car, jet, or even a submarine. Though I would suggest the first two if you want to remain inconspicuous. However, unless you're comfortable being a Boeing 747, you're gonna have to downsize a lot."

"Unfortunately, Agent Fowler, it is much harder to downgrade a Cybertronian than to upgrade them." Ratchet set Megatron's arm down, finally. "And due to his size, there really is only one sort of vehicle mode that comes to mind which would fit him."

"Prime's." Fowler guessed.

"Indeed."

Megatron laughed harshly. "How ironic. I come to Earth, and I must use Optimus Prime's chosen alternate mode to blend in. Is there not a jet of some sort which would be large enough for me?"

"I can hook up with my boys at the Pentagon, and see if the military has something." Agent Fowler twisted his lip in an unhappy expression. "But I don't think they'd be willing to give any sort of military power to you, considering your history with Earth."

"Don't worry Agent Fowler, I am just as reluctant." Ratchet stated, crossing his arms at the ex-warlord. "Which is why I am going to remove the Dark Energon. In addition, I will be flushing out your systems and remodifying your body. The technology from the Harbinger should allow me to do all of that with minimal risk. I only need you to be a willing participant."

Megatron looked at him, red optics narrowed slightly. Dark energon had made the Decepticon powerful in the first place; to rid himself of it would reduce him to what he was before - which was still a fearsome adversary, but lacking the power he had been given before. He looked over at the humans, settling on the femme who leaned against the railing. She was willing to give him redemption, spurring her guardian to aid him along that path. To refuse Ratchet's help was to refuse her forgiveness.

"I am willing." He finally spoke, not looking away from Dana. "Begin the procedure, doctor."

»«

Space, an inky black void peppered with the soft lights of stars, planets, and galaxies, spans across what could almost be considered an infinite plane. Between the lights there is debris, asteroids and leftover dust from stars long gone, a threat to any being passing through it.

Between the lights that are Earth and Cybertron, many unknown worlds and stars block their paths to one another. Asteroids threaten to tear apart any ship which dares to make the journey, and plasma storms rip across the open space between galaxies, promising total destruction should anything be caught in its path.

Yet the Cybertronian within the escape pod is unaware of such threats. Locked in stasis, her pod cuts through the infinite plane, desperately searching for any sort of signal that will pull it to a set path, only going by the half set of coordinates managed to be typed in before it had deployed. The latitudes and longitude of space are indescribably long and vast, making any chance of rescue a slim to none chance, with a horribly small margin of error.

Space is silent, yet the machines inside beep quietly, flashing across her faceplate in multiple colors, waiting patiently for a reason to get its passenger to safety. Debris had scratched and dented parts of the pod, yet its stable engineering and ergonomic design keeps it intact, needing more than a few fist-sized rocks to destroy it.

As the pod neared a swirling galaxy a light switched on, a quiet and long beep going on for some time before it shut off, and activated the thrusters to set a new course. Instructions from a computer system made minute adjustments to its course, and the pod hurtled toward one of the two arms which chased one another in a gentle spiral.

"Course change initiated. New target: Planet Earth."

The Cybertronian femme still did not stir.

»«

"That hurts."

"Good. It means I'm whittling it down to the useful stuff."

Megatron growled as Ratchet continued to slowly file away the horns on the back of his helm, shaping them as the medic saw fit for practical uses. The warlord suspected Ratchet was doing such a thing on purpose, but he had already been hit once after waking up from surgery a few hours ago, and was not in the mood to get smacked again.

As the medic continued to carefully take off piece after piece of useless armor, Dana watched from her perch, ever curious. She noted how Megatron began looking much more like his old self as her guardian continued in his modifications, the ugly brown and earth-like material giving way to polished silver underneath. Ratchet was being good about keeping Megatron's original sharp and pointed shapes as they were, knowing the warlord would prefer to keep his intimidating stature.

"I'm going to have to do a lot of buffing after this, so don't think you will be going anywhere." Ratchet muttered to the Decepticon as he moved on to the front of his face, carving off sizeable chunks of helm.

"I had no intentions of leaving, considering I have a substantial amount of refueling to do." Megatron gestured to the energon lines in his arms, one sucking out the sickly purple energon, and another feeding healthy blue energon into his systems.

The medic grunted in reply, continuing with his work. His steady servos carefully sculpted Megatron back to his original form, or at least as much as the armor upgrade would allow, eventually moving down to his arms and slowly revealing the weapons trapped underneath.

As Ratchet worked Agent Fowler drove in with the vehicle they had previously discussed, Megatron having relented for the time being and allowing himself to use a simple car as a way to travel around Earth without being conspicuous. He didn't like it, as he felt much more dominant when taking to the skies, but it was something he could bear to use for a little while.

"Ready to use when you are." Agent Fowler pat the hood before he stepped away.

Megatron nodded, a red beam of light shooting from his optics as he scanned the vehicle, his internal systems storing the information as his T-cog confirmed the dimensions and compatibility, Ratchet finishing his arms just as the energon being taken out of his body began to turn blue.

"It seems you're done." Ratchet slowly slide out the first one, carefully packaging the Dark energon for disposal before taking out the second one as well. "That should keep you fueled for the next few days, if not a week at most."

"Thank you, doctor." Megatron couldn't feel the difference quite yet, but he was sure it was only a matter of time before he wanted to use his "extra" power only to find it gone.

"Are you going to test the new vehicle?" Dana asked.

Megatron paused, then nodded, standing up and moving towards the center of the base, where there was plenty of room, towering above the Autobot symbol that rested there. After a moment, his body began to move and shift, the necessary components for a ground vehicle coming into play as his T-cog gave new instructions, and within a few seconds the giant Megatron had turned into a sizeable military vehicle.

"Now that is cool." Dana smiled.

Megatron noticed it, rather surprised. In that moment, he decided it wasn't so bad.

I suppose if she likes it, I can like it too.