The mech crouched down, a sneer covering his face. This is the mech that changed Sunstreaker into the mech he was. He ruined Sunstreaker, hurting him. "I can sense fear and shock," he mocked. "What are you doing here?" I snapped, stepping back. "Sunstreaker isn't here anymore to save your butt!" he mocked and grabbed me. I hissed in pain and shock. "Obsessed with my son," he scoffed, looking at me. "Megatron already predicted this..." he mocked. "I don't care if you kill me" I sneered. "You have the same temper as my son had," he scoffed and dropped me on the ground. I groaned and looked up at him as he transformed and his holoform hoped out. A man around his early forties.

He grabbed me, dragging me inside towards the basement where he tied me up with chains on a metal bed frame. I was struggling to keep breathing in this mess. "What do you want?" I snapped. "You have too much value to just kill. You bonded with my son, weren't you?" He asked. I glared at him. "I was... once," I snapped. He hummed and approached me. "You and him... I have always wondered if someone would actually love that failure," he mocked. "Sunny is not a failure!" I sneered. "You're so in love with him, you're blind to his true nature!" He snarled.

"You made him like that! You ruined him!" I spat. He hit me. "Don't talk to me like that!" He shouted. I flinched and looked away. "The only monster here is you," I sulked. He laughed coldly and glared at me. "What's your name?" I asked. "Does it matter what my name is? Didn't Sunstreaker tell about me?" He scoffed. "How could you have hurt him! He was innocent! He's such a sweet loving mech and you dared to hurt him like that! He was only sparkling. An innocent sparkling!" I shouted.

"He deserved to be loved and so did Sideswipe."

"My sons were in an accident. We never wanted sparklings. Sunstreaker was just ugly and stupid," he scowled. "That brat always showed his ugly drawings, like we are interested in that," he scowled. I was only able to shake my head. "He wanted to be noticed and loved."

"I am Whiplash," he said, glancing at me. "I hate you..." I sneered and looked away. "I don't care." He shrugged and leaned against the wall. "Why did you take all these photos of me?" I asked. "I didn't take these pictures..." he said. I frowned, "you didn't take them?" I asked. I frowned and stared at the wall for a moment. "Why do I want to take photos of you?" he asked. "I am going to tell you a story..." he said, walking towards the table and grabbed a knife. "A story I have never told anyone before. I had no one to share it with anyway because some knew and some were too afraid to be confronted with Cybertron's dark past," he said, turning back towards me.

"A very long time ago, millions of years before the war broke out. A mech, with pitch black optics ruled the streets at nights. This 'mech' was a little older than the twins were. He has thousands of kills on his name and he got the nickname 'the ripper'. A very feared mech, that wasn't afraid to hurt others. That mech was so obsessed with killing that he forgot about anything else, he only had one goal, but then Sunstreaker became a champion in the pits and people started to fear Sunstreaker more than they feared this mech. The bot was filled with rage, hate and jealousy that someone else was more feared than he was. That's how rivalry began between Sunstreaker and 'the ripper'. Two sick psychopaths fighting each other to be more feared than the other. One day... something happened. No one knows what happened but Sunstreaker didn't want to fight the ripper anymore. He feared him. Like I said, no one knows why."

"Why do you tell me this story?" I asked. Whiplash came closer. "I am telling you this story because this may be valuable for you later," he said. I frowned while Whiplash pointed at the wall. "There's another psycho looking for you," he said, pointing at the photos. "So, what do you want to do? Why do you want me to know this information?" I asked. "Because this mech was on earth to kill Sunstreaker, his only rival but now he's dead... he can do whatever he wants," he said, looking at the wall. "Because he knew Sunstreaker was able to kill him?" I asked. "No, because he doesn't have to worry about my stupid son being in his way," he scowled. "How about we make a deal?" he asked. I frowned, "You will be the bait to catch this mech... so I can hand him over to Megatron and in return, I will leave you alone." I frowned, "you killed all those soldiers at the base!"

"I did it so they turned their back on you. So you can't call for help and it worked, didn't it?" he asked. "You did exactly what I had in mind. I didn't want you to die, you had to stay alive," he said. "You are more special than you realize," he said before clapping his hands together. "There is so much you don't know about Sunstreaker nor about what is going to happen in the near future," he scowled. "What's in it for you?" I asked. Whiplash laughed mockingly. "I hate my sons more than you probably realize, from the moment they were born, I wanted them dead," he sneered. I snorted and shook my head. "If there's anything I could do to make them feel miserable I would," he snarled. "Sunstreaker is dead and that's the biggest gift I ever got." I was filled with rage at his words.

"Megatron promised me something... I don't really care about you or Sideswipe. He'll die soon anyway. He's in very bad shape," he said. A frown covered my face. "Split spark twins die without one another and Sideswipe's time has nearly come. You'll be on your own and everyone will believe you killed those soldiers. No one is coming for you and no one will save you!" he sneered, pointing at me before leaving me here chained in the basement.

+ The past, 19 million years ago; Cybertron +

"Sideswipe."

My brother looked up. "I need a red crayon." My younger twin jumped on his feet and handed me a red crayon, sitting beside me with his teddybear. "This is Optimus Prime! One day, Sides... I am just like him!" I showed him the drawing. "I love it," my brother chirped and smiled. "I am going to show daddy!" I jumped back up on my feet and ran down. "Mommy! Daddy! Look what I made!" I squealed. They looked up from whatever they were drinking. "Look, this Optimus Prime and he's fighting a monster!"

"The only monster here is you! Now piss off with that ugly drawing! No one is interested," daddy scowled. I lowered my servo's. "I am not a monster..." I whispered. Daddy got up and grabbed me, slamming my helm against the wall. "Daddy, that hurts," I sobbed. "Have you ever looked in the mirror?" He asked. "You're ugly! What are those!" He yanked on the fin aside my helm. "That hurts," I cried. "No on in our family has something like this, not even your stupid twin brother! Honestly, you're so ugly even Optimus Prime wants you dead!" He snapped and threw me away.

Daddy grabbed my drawing and tore it apart. "No... I have been working on it for hours," I sobbed. Daddy hit me. "Het away from me! Monster!" He shouted. I sobbed but got back up on my feet. "Come on, Sunny. Let's play outside," Sideswipe whispered. I dried my tears and left the house to play. We chased each other and I forgot about what happened.

"Hey! Sideswipe! Sunstreaker!"

The jet twins ran towards us. "Can we join?" They asked in sync. "Yeah sure!" Sideswipe chirped. Jetstream smiled at me, "why that sad face?" He asked. "Oh, our daddy tore one of his drawings apart," Sideswipe replied for me. "I am sorry," Jetstream said. "Let's play and forget about it!" Jetfire said and smiled at me. I returned the smile. They're always so bright and full of energy.

"I am Optimus Prime," Jetstream stated and pointed at himself. "Why you?" Jetfire asked with a frown. "Because I say so! Sideswipe! You are my second in command, Jetfire... you're Megatron and Sunstreaker... you're the monster we need to defeat."

"Why do I need to be the monster?" I asked. "Because we are playing a game and I say so!" Jetstream stated. I bit my lip and glanced at my brother for a moment. "Oh, came on, Sunstreaker!" he said nudging my side. I agreed to play the monster. "You need to be really scary and dangerous, Sunstreaker!" Jetstream stated. I gave a small nod. "You can ran off now, we are going to catch you," Jetstream said. I gave a small nod and sprinted off, taking a few turns and bumped by accident into a mech.

I smiled at the mech. "I am sorry..." I said, getting back up on my feet. The mech was obviously annoyed with me and pushed aside. "Get out of my way!" he snarled. "I said I am sorry!" I snapped. The mech halted and turned towards me, "what did you just say, little creature!" he spat. I flinched but stood my ground. "I said... I am sorry!" I sneered. "You shouldn't run around the corner like this, afthole!" he shouted. "I am a monster so you better watch out!" I snapped. "A monster?" The mech laughed. "Yes, that's what I am," I snapped. "You're a clown, a joke and ugly piece of metal... a pure waste," he snapped and marched off.

I brushed fiercely some tears off my cheeks before grabbing a metal pipe in the bushes and ran towards the man, hitting him as hard as I could. The mech hissed in pain and anger and turned towards me, kicking me so hard it left a nasty dent. He snitched the pipe from my servo's and raised it, hitting me hard enough to knock me out. When I woke up, Sideswipe was sitting beside me. "What happened?" he asked worriedly. "Nothing," I snapped, pushing him aside and rubbed my bleeding helm. Jetfire and Jetstream stood there worriedly. "Are you okay?" Jetstream asked concerned. "Our mommy will have a look at you," Jetfire said and dragged me with him before I could protest.

"Mommy!" Jetfire called out. The femme came out of the kitchen. "Sunstreaker is hurt," he said, pointing at me. I was scared, was she going to laugh at me, tell me to piss off like my mommy does? I flinched as she reached for me and picked me up. "Don't be scared," she smoothed and sat me down on the counter. She gently examined me and cleaned up my wound. "Is he alright?" Jetfire asked, looking up at me. "He's all right, why don't you go play with your brother and Sideswipe? I will send Sunstreaker as soon as I am done, okay?" she asked, rubbing his cheek. Jetfire nodded and took the other two outside. "Don't cry, I know it hurts," she mumbled. She picked me up and sat down, holding me in her lap.

She smoothed me and I stuck my thump in my mouth, leaning into her. "What happened little one?" she asked. "I a monster... people should be afraid of me," I stated. "Why would you be a monster?" she asked. "Daddy says I am a monster... an ugly monster." She shook her helm, and rubbed my cheekplate. "A monster? You are not a monster, a sweet sparkling, that's what you are," she said and kissed my helm. "Sunny?" Sideswipe wheeled in and looked at me. The femme pulled him on her lap as well. Sideswipe hugged me. "You're feeling good enough to go play with your brother and my twins?" The femme asked. I gave a small nod. "Thank you for helping me," I said. She rubbed my cheek and placed me back on the ground. Sideswipe was already gone but the femme called me for a moment. "Sunstreaker?"

I hummed and turned around. "You are not a monster... You are a very smart mech, don't let others hurt you," she said, rubbing my helm. I gave a small nod and ran off to join the others in hide and seek.
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I am very excited for the next chapters, I finally have an idea where I want to go with the story 😏

⚠️ Be aware, the next chapter can be very disturbing!!