"Some things in life are too complicated to explain in any language."

~Haruki Murakami, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

>>·<<

" - and how long shall we wait for this corruption to infect the very core of our world?! How long shall we allow those Iacon pigs to gorge on their hedonistic ideals while we toil in the mines and fight for our lives in this gladitorial arena?!"

"I remember this fight," Megatronus sat next to Soundwave inside of the Kaon arena, the silent communications officer reclined back with his legs crossed. "This was after I had defeated a Combiner - no small feat."

The crowd roared in response to Megatronus' words, some screaming profanities that the gladiator brushed aside, caring only for those that called his name and begged for more of his wisdom. The memory shifted to Megatronus standing proudly atop of a massive cybernetic beast, the creature slain by his sword and fusion canon. He now sported more scars, some of them having yet to fully heal.

"The Senate has attempted to end my life on multiple occasions, but I will not be silenced!" The gladiator screamed to the crowd. "I will not allow them to make a martyr of me just yet! Not while I still have more to say!"

Megatronus gazed toward Soundwave, who was now standing in a more secluded part of the arena. His blue optics gazed at the slender Decepticon with some confusion. "Why these memories?" He asked. "I know what happened here, I know all of my fights, my speeches. Why relive them?"

Soundwave instead silently pointed past Megatron, down the dark hall in which they resided. There, they saw the Soundwave of the past, before his modifications, narrow optics analyzing the gladiator with cold calculations.

"Are you sure about this?" A sleazy Cybertronian, Swindle, emerged from the shadows beside him. "A Councilman of Zeta Prime going against the most powerful gladiator in all of Kaonic memory, one that adopted the blasphemous name of Megatronus?"

"I am more sure than I have been in a long time," Soundwave answered, giving Swindle a hefty amount of shanix. "My other attempts have been thwarted thus far. Zeta Prime has demanded his execution. While I normally work in the shadows, this time I will make it much more personal."

Swindle snorted. "It sounds more like an elaborate plot for your execution. But whatever. Not like we couldn't use less of you Iacon trash."

Megatronus' optics widened, taking a step back as he gazed at Soundwave.

"It was you." He said, despite it being so obvious. "All this time, and it was you attempting to kill me?"

Soundwave did not answer, instead changing the memory. The shocked Megatronus whirled on the fine metallic floor of the arena as a shout of anger rang out from behind him, the unpleasant sound of metal on metal his only warning before Soundwave - traitorous Soundwave - flew past him. His past self followed quickly, massive sword unsheathed and prepared to end the silent mech.

"You declare yourself a warrior for Zeta Prime," Megatronus mocked. "Why do you follow a False Prime, Iaconian? Why do you allow yourself to eat up his teachings and purge common sense?"

Soundwave avoided the blow, spinning to his pedes with incredible speed.

"Cybertron is becoming poisoned, and we will fix it," the mech hissed, his arms blocking the next swipe, his staff spinning in his servo. The sharp, spiked ends hummed in the warm Kaonic air, displacing the fine metal shards beneath them. "Zeta Prime speaks of wisdom and truth - "

"- while sitting on his throne of shanix and energon," Megatronus sneered. "Zeta Prime came from a privileged society, one that rewards his laziness with all he could ever ask for. Do you think, Soundwave, that your False Prime will bring about a second Golden Age? Look around you! The only thing that is golden is your armor, and his words! The rest is falling to rust!"

Soundwave grit his denta. He could see why this gladiator, ex-miner, was so popular. He had a way with words that was impressive, and deliciously deceptive. He also appealed to the lower caste, the majority - a dangerous threat to the Cybertronian government.

He managed to gain the upper servo with Megatronus, the crowd going absolutely wild as this nobody threw their once favorable gladiator to the ground, intending to finish him swiftly. As his sword raised to complete his perogative, all he received was a lethal grin.

"And what is a follower of Zeta Prime doing here? Coming to kill gladiators and eradicate the society of what you consider to be garbage? Why would a councilman dirty his servos in a place like this?"

Soundwave paused. And that very nearly cost him his life.

Megatronus slammed their helms together in the split moment of hesitation, throwing the mech off of him. The crowd roared again, watching their prize rise to his pedes, and begin to beat the scrap out of what could have been his destruction.

"I convinced you, here," Megatronus realized. "I turned you from your mission and made you a follower."

Soundwave merely nodded. Now, Megatronus would make a decision, as he intended. He had finally revealed his treachery to his master as a test to who he was. If Megatronus was as bent on war and destruction as he had been as Megatron, he would prove as such by attempting to kill Soundwave, one he had once trusted with his life, even saved from a battlefield. Then, of course, there would be nothing to show the mech - and he was certain Megatronus would then continue his treachery and attempt to slaughter the Autobots. 

Should Megatronus instead forgive Soundwave, the mech would continue to show him memories, and show Megatronus the consequences of his bloodlust. There would be little glory, as the Decepticon cause only initially began as something great, before devolving into a dictatorship. Peace through tyranny.

The silent communications officer had decided this was what Megatron would have wanted him to do. Truth be told, Soundwave wanted to be neutral and allow Megatronus to chose his own path, but this situation did not logically call for that. Starscream would have chosen to manipulate him, and more than likely Optimus Prime would unintentionally manipulate the gladiator. Thus, Soundwave would do the same based on what he found here, in this moment.

"Did you try to offline me at any other point in time?" Megatronus asked.

Soundwave allowed for a pause, then shook his helm. It was the truth; after that day, Soundwave no longer attempted any more assassinations. Megatronus had swayed him, and not long after the mech's optics were further opened to Zeta Prime's treachery. He was not the one Soundwave thought him to be, and he took an oath of silence soon after. He would rather his actions speak than his words; because Zeta Prime and the rest of the council all spoke, but never acted. The mech would never allow himself to become associated with those kinds of politicians ever again.

Megatronus acted. That was he admired most about the gladiator.

Megatronus gazed at his victory, listening to the crowd roar its approval. "Show me the war," he finally requested. "Show me what happened."

And thus Soundwave did.

"Today is the day I stand before the Council," Megatron spoke proudly. "And I will emerge from it a Prime, victorious."

Soundwave listened to Megatronus practice his speech, occasionally suggesting the lord change his tone and wording in some areas. He had an amazing grasp on politics and ideaology, though Soundwave had to credit such feats to Orion Pax. The archivist had become one of Megatron's closest allies as he shed his gladitorial persona and donned a more Iacon-appropriate political facade.

The speech was perfect, flawless. It was, instead, Megatron that was flawed. He became too bold in front of the Council, he forgot his place. The proud gladiator emerged and his true ideas and plans for Cybertron came to light, horrifying the Council as his frenzy of words threatened their annihilation. Not even the calm Orion Pax could stop Megatron's fervor, the mech looking on in horror as his friend changed before his very optics. A sickening mesh of gladiator and politician formed before them, an energonthirsty tyrant emerging and demanding the title he felt he deserved.

Megatron was denied.

Hundreds died that very same day. Overnight, the Decepticons had broken their restraint and followed their master into what would soon be a war. The massacre that sparked the destruction was merely foreshadowing to what would happen across the planet. Families were ripped apart by mentality first, physicality second. The planet was destroyed within a thousand years, but the war lasted for thousands longer. A scramble for the Matrix, the true determinant of a Prime, had begun. Hundreds fled as the energonshed came to a climax, until one day Orion Pax went missing.

Megatron demanded he be found, scoured the planet for him. Not long after, Orion Pax was declared dead, and the Autobots made a martyr of their fearless leader.

But that did not last long.

Optimus Prime emerged, the Matrix of Leadership fused with his very spark. Soundwave was the first to report it, but he was the very last to receive Megatron's rage. A whole squadron of Autobots fell under the enraged mech's servo. A scout was personally tortured and brutalized by the warlord before being left for dead. Optimus Prime had unleashed a dangerous, untamed side of Megatron that all who knew him only had an inkling it existed.

Finally, perhaps hundreds of years too late, a mass Exodus was declared. Autobots and Decepticons alike fled, searching for the other to tear apart, leaving a shadow of their former glory behind. The war had become intergalatic, no longer restrained to the confines of their home.

"Our home," Megatronus whispered, gazing upon the desolate planet from the window of the Nemesis. Soundwave allowed him to come to terms with what had happened. "I . . . I did this."

Soundwave jerked his helm. "No," he replied. "We did this."

>>·<<

Megatronus practically ripped the patch off himself once the process was over with, sitting up and venting heavily, pinching the bridge of faceplates between his optics. A small helmache had begun near the forefront of his processor, all of this almost too much to take in.

"Do you require rest, old friend?" Orion Pax, now Optimus Prime, asked him in a gentle tone.

"No," the gladiator ex-vented, shaking his helm. "No, I have already made my decision."

Optimus' optics widened, even Ratchet and Shockwave seeming shocked by his insistence. "Are you certain? I believe it would be best if you understood my side - "

"No, Ori - Optimus," Megatronus grit his denta. "I have seen enough. I have done enough. This war must end. My ideals, my goals, have changed drastically since the beginning, when I first pitted myself against all of Cybertron. We have fought for too long for this war to have any more justification; it is time we made our peace and begin to build once again."

There were long moments of silence as all parties involved soaked in this information, rather stunned by the ex-warlord's proclamation. Soundwave was most satisfied with his work, proud to see Megatronus return to his old ways. He would have never wanted the destruction of his kind, merely the overthrow of the corrupt system and equality given to all. Megatron, however, had wanted something different, had morphed into something different. But now the two were separated into their respective entities, so much so that Megatronus' pride no longer interfered with his decision making as severely as it had before.

"I suspect you want to remain a part of that process," Ratchet spoke cynically. "Perhaps even declare yourself a leader or architect of that project?"

Megatronus gave the medic an unhappy look. "I wish to see our planet restored, and the Cybertronian race enter yet another Golden Age, this time leaving none behind in its progress. I would indeed like a guiding hand, but I will not declare myself master of this project. I understand, now, that I cannot do this alone." His blue optics focused on his Autobot friend. "I need help, council. I wish to build this new world with you, Orion."

Optimus Prime gave the gladiator a rare smile. "I would be more than honored to stand by you as we usher in a new Golden Age," he answered, turning to their silent companion. "Soundwave, if you could please begin monitoring the frequencies for any Autobots and Decepticons who wish to return home," Optimus looked back to Megatronus. "And with your permission, I will catch you up on everything that has happened since the Great Exodus."

Megatronus nodded. "Yes, please," he was curious as to what had happened, and how they both ended up on this organic planet - Earth, as they referred to it.

Soundwave left the room, leaving Shockwave to attend to the cortical psychic patch operation, Ratchet remaining in the background to ensure Optimus remained safe throughout the procedure. They would not yet inform the ship of their decision, though it was agreed that, regardless, they would begin re-Cyberforming Cybertron again whilst Megatronus was caught up with the war. Optimus hoped that the Decepticons would see the revival of their planet and think twice about complaining to "losing," but he suspected there would be a few protestors. The Prime tried to believe it would all work out for the best.