Chapter 6: Two Versus One

Megatron wasn't quick enough to draw his blade, so he was forced to use his arms to parry Arcee's blow instead. He winced as her blades clashed against his armor and used her momentum against her to throw her off.

Bumblebee came hard and fast, rushing in to attack him from the left. Megatron shifted his position, his pede sliding across the dirt, until he was standing sideways. Extending his arm, he struck the scout across the chest and sent him crashing into the wall behind him.

A blow to his knee caused him to stumble, allowing Arcee to squeeze in another attack before he recovered. The smaller femme delivered a flurry of blows to his back, though the thick plating absorbed most of the impact like it was supposed to.

Megatron's blade unsheathed as he whirled around, slicing through the space Arcee had just occupied. He used his size to his advantage, forcing her to backpedal a bit while fighting off his blows. Eventually, he changed one servo into a blaster and fired a few shots. Despite deflecting most of them, one blast hit home and launched Arcee backwards.

Distracted by the plume of dust that rose from where Arcee had crashed into a crumbling wall, Megatron failed to notice Bumblebee sneaking up behind him. The scout had leapt up and pushed himself off a wall to land a flying kick to Megatron's head.

While he was still reeling from the impact, Arcee drove his knee backwards with a sharp kick. Megatron lost his balance, yet he managed to keep his footing by shifting his weight to his other pede. He caught Bumblebee out of position, dealing a nasty gash to the scout's side. Energon immediately rushed from the fresh wound, staining the earth below him bright blue.

Arcee saw Bumblebee get wounded and snarled in frustration. She glanced between Megatron and her teammate, wondering if she should continue the attack. Reason eventually got the best of her and she reluctantly backed down.

"This isn't over." She seethed, flashing her fangs at Megatron. A groundbridge soon came for them and thankfully, no Vehicons rushed out to attack.

After they had disappeared into the portal, Megatron let out a heavy sigh. He raised his servo to wipe the energon from his mouth as he looked around, half-expecting more Autobots to ambush him from the darkness. He glanced down at his leg and gingerly put some weight on it, wincing when pain flared in his knee. "That's going to be bothersome for a while..." He muttered to himself.

<<Megatron, are you alright?! Dreadwing told me you were attacked by Autobots!>> Starscream's frantic voice came through his comn link, nearly scaring him to death.

Megatron pressed a digit to the side of his helm. <<I'm fine. Could you ask Soundwave to send a bridge for me?>>

<<Of course! One second.>>

A few moments later, a groundbridge swirled into existence. Megatron limped towards it, disappearing into its depths.

***

"You brought a human into our base?!"

Megatron groaned softly and rubbed his forehead, already feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on. Those who had stayed behind were freaking out over the fact that there was now a human among them, though some were thankfully more reserved than others.

"We had no choice! The Autobots were about to attack!" Steve tried to reason with Dreadwing, who wasn't very happy about the situation.

"They probably tracked your signal! Megatron could've gotten seriously hurt because of you!" Dreadwing snarled, having to be held back by his twin so he wouldn't attack Steve.

Steve shrunk back in fear, stumbling over his words. "I-I didn't-"

"How do we know you aren't still working for the Autobots, huh? All you drones are the same!" Dreadwing spat.

"Dreadwing, stop! It wasn't his fault!" Starscream pushed his way into the argument, trying to defend Steve.

"Enough!" Megatron's commanding voice immediately silenced all arguments. It was the first time in a long time that he actually had to raise his voice at his teammates. He hated doing it, but sometimes it was necessary to do so.

After the room went silent, Megatron let out a slow, exasperated sigh and calmed down. "Look, none of this was Steve's fault. It was mine. I should have been watching the time, but I didn't. I made the decision to bring Rafael back to base because I refuse to put a human life at risk as a result of my negligence. He is under our protection now, especially since he is aware of our presence on Earth, and has agreed to keep it a secret."

"You are trusting a human child to keep a secret? And here I thought I've heard crazier things from Insecticons..." Dreadwing muttered, ignoring the look Skyquake was giving him.

"Do you not trust your leader, Dreadwing?" Starscream spoke sharply, his wings flared in annoyance. "Megatron knows what he's doing. I mean, he's gotten us this far, hasn't he?"

Megatron gently placed his servo on Starscream's shoulder—a subtle way of telling him to stand down.

Starscream flinched a bit, looking up at Megatron. He then realized how fired up he had gotten and took a step back, blushing a little out of embarrassment. "Sorry..."

"It's alright." Megatron murmured, returning his attention to the others. "In relation to what I was talking about before, Rafael is surprisingly smart for his age. Though I do not know him well, I trust him enough to keep a secret. We are alien to his kind, as they are to us. This is the first step to potentially coexisting with the humans, so I need all of you to trust me if we are going to make this work. Do I have your trust?"

Everyone in the room looked at one another, hesitant to speak.

"You always have my trust, sir." Starscream was the first to speak up since no one else was willing.

Megatron nodded, his gaze scanning over the bots in front of him. "Anyone else?"

"I trust you with my spark." Knockout said. Breakdown soon followed, saying the same thing.

Eventually, everyone confirmed their trust in Megatron. They had never doubted him before, so why doubt him now?

Megatron sighed in relief, glad that had gone smoothly. "Thank you. I am glad that you still have faith in me as a leader. I may not be a Prime, but I am trying to be the best leader I can be."

"And we couldn't ask for more." Starscream said, smiling at him.

Megatron simply smiled in return.