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The cafeteria was crowded, but nobody was seated at any of the tables save for one mech. Everyone else huddled against the walls, watching him like he was a wild animal that had wandered into civilization, dangerous and unwelcome. He might not have noticed them, his dimmed optics focused on the table in a way that was almost meditative. His gaze rose to the soft whoosh of an opening door.
Megatron looked at his gathered Decepticons, scowled at them, and proceeded to the table in the center where the esteemed guest sat alone. Galvatron, so he was called, had a placid expression right now, his hands laying flat and his cannon pointed at nothing in particular in a way that was nearly non-threatening. Their optics met, like one side of the mirror gazing at another, but the reflection was mismatched.
"Here"s your food." The large, flat plate he"d been carrying clanged onto the table, almost falling from his hand.
Galvatron"s optics widened, but his enthusiasm darkened as soon as he looked over the contets: one gear, a handful of screws, some metal tubing, and a squat glass half-full of energon. "Mother I do not like this," he growled.
"You"ll eat it. And stop calling me mother."
Galvatron slammed his fists into the table. Everyone behind him flinched. "I said I want oil barrels!"
Megatron scoffed. "Oil barrels are expensive. You"re not getting any of ours."
Galvatron opened his mouth and screamed. There had to be some kind of defect with his personality core. It had been like this ever since he was born.
After being thrown from Astrotrain and floating into the maw of Unicron, Megatron"s memories grew hazy, but he remembered the key points. He"d bargained himself into being rebuilt but he didn"t realize that meant being literally duplicated, down to his spark data being cloned, with a few aesthetic alterations to his frame here and there, then having that strange creation unleashed alongside him.
Soundwave had overpowered Starscream and forced Astrotrain to turn around for the abandoned Decepticons, picking them up on their way to find the Matrix of Leadership. The days after had been manic as they hunted down the Autobots then teamed up to fight Unicron together. He"d assumed Galvatron"s unpredictable, bombastic behavior was a result of the dual influences within his mind, the clash between his hardcoded inability to disobey Unicron and a desire to have the approval of "mother." The death of his creator did nothing to resolve this hypothesized conflict, so Megatron concluded that, no, Galvatron was just like this.
He was still screaming. Then his voice began to crackle and he stopped, glaring at Megatron.
"No."
Galvatron took a deep breath for round two.
Starscream swooped in. Unlike the others, he hadn"t been standing back out of fear but to observe the situation. He"d been observing Galvatron and the others since his disgraceful return to the Decepticon ranks, looking for a gap in the armor so to speak. "He"s so young, Megatron. Of course he doesn"t know these things." To Starscream"s credit, Galvatron did stop, looking over curiously. Very few Decepticons had acknowledged him directly so far. "Megatron"s so cruel to you, isn"t he? I"ve seen the way he treats you."
"Starscream! That brat"s not innocent."
"I"m willing to actually teach you, uh..." Starscream paused. "What"s your name, youngling?"
Galvatron burst upright, flipping the table, sending everything on it flying through the air. "MY NAME IS GALVATRON!" He lifted his cannon, already half-charged, an electrical whine coming from it that increased in volume as the pink light within grew in size and brightness.
There was a mad scramble for the nearest exits. Nobody was brave when faced with a terror that unimaginable. His cannon went choom as the beam shot forward. The incredible heat seared the back of Megatron"s head and for half a second he was sure he would be hit even as he dove out of the way. Concussive force knocked him forward onto his face. After a moment, he realized he was alive.
Megatron had landed halfway into the hall outside the cafeteria. Most of the wall in front of him was gone, vaporized by the beam in a ragged circle large enough for most "cons to simply walk through. Beyond it, three more rooms had suddenly gained new doorways, each successive hole shrinking until the furthest wall had just a black mark on it. Smoke rose from the edges of the holes, the metal there still melting and dripping from the heat. An alarm blared after a second, the sprinklers going off overhead and in the other rooms. Two holes down, Blitzwing leaned backwards into view, his mouth hanging open in shellshocked disbelief, helm and wings singed black.
Starscream stared at the destruction in stupefied awe. Since he"d been run off during the Unicron event, he had never before experienced the level of devastation Galvatron could bring upon his target.
"Nice going," Megatron grunted, rising to his feet. "You got him upset and now we have to deal with this."
"Me? He was upset with you first."
Megatron strode towards the cafeteria.
Starscream, in a rare moment of concern, grimaced and reached a hand towards Megatron"s shoulder. "You"re going back in there?!"
He paused and half-turned. "Galvatron"s temper is mighty, but short-lived. He"ll be tired by now."
Starscream retracted his hand and looked at the damage again. "What are we going to do with him?"
Megatron sighed tiredly. "I have no idea." He entered the room. As he expected, Galvatron sat on the floor, optics dimmed sleepily. "All right. Fine. You can have one oil barrel." That made him perk up. "Only one!"
Some of the others had started returning to the room to peek at the damage. Skywarp shook his head. "You shouldn"t give him what he wants when he throws a tantrum. That just teaches him that"s how he gets things. If Cyclonus did that, I wouldn"t let him have nothing."
"Yours doesn"t talk or do anything," Megatron said.
Cyclonus, who was standing by Skywarp"s side, hung his head a little.
"Hey, don"t listen to him. You"re fine."
Galvatron jumped up and bounded forward, stopping within a couple inches of Megatron"s face. His grave, solemn expression, which never warmed no matter how happy he truly felt, was all Megatron could see. He smelled like something burning, the same as always. "Thank you mother."
He fought a cringe. It was best to avoid more uspet. "Yes...come on, so you can eat already."
The sprinklers continued to rain. Eventually, the rest of the lunch-goers found their ways back to the cafeteria and had their meal in peace, though more moistly than usual.