"I don't get it," Miko Nakadai stated as she sat down.

"Get what?" Beside her Jack Darby offered up a triple espresso caramel mocha latte with chocolate sauce, which his schoolmate happily accepted. The two of them clinked their cardboard cups together before turning back to the show. Below the gantry they were both suspended on, giant mechanized fighters from another world moved purposefully about their duties, embroiled in a war amongst their species that had dragged on for ages of the Earth. Being technically non-combatant observers, the teens were enjoying a rare moment of tranquility in that seemingly endless conflict.

"How Optimus and Megatron could ever have been friends!" The Japanese transfer student took a long sip of her caffeinated beverage before giving a contented groan. She then resumed her exposition. "I mean, forget the fact that they're polar opposites now. Can you imagine a reality where the two of them could ever have gotten along? It's like Bizarro world!"

"I'll admit it seems like a stretch," Jack confided. "Still, they're both born leaders from what we've been told. Maybe after first getting to know each other as friends they just gradually came to a sort of… ideological impasse."

"That wasn't what happened."

Surprised, the teens looked down. Beneath them, Autobot medic Ratchet briefly glanced up before resuming his examination of the console before him.

"What do you mean, Ratchet?" Jack asked. "Did the two of them have a fight? Or did Megatron do something that let Optimus see what he was really like?"

"Was it over a girl?" Miko burst out enthusiastically, her face lighting up at the prospect of juicy space-age gossip. "Did the two of them fall in love with the same Transformer hottie and wound up duking it out over her? Is that what made them enemies?"

The mechanical doctor heaved a sigh, perhaps recognizing that he had knowingly entered the conversation and therefore couldn't back out now. "I'm sorry to spoil your groundless and culturally biased assumptions, but the rift between Megatronus and Orion Pax was neither gradual nor precipitated by any personal tragedy your young minds might have concocted."

His perpetual frown deepened, and both teens could not suppress a chill at the haunted tones Ratchet adopted next. "In fact…"

"Morning, Orion!"

"Good morning."

Orion Pax greeted some of his colleagues as they trundled past on the way to the archives. Right then the light on the cyber-coffee-maker lit up red, letting him know the brew had finished percolating. The young scholar removed the pot and poured two steaming hot cups of this traditional start to any Cybertronian work day. He then picked up both cups and proceeded from the kitchen, exchanging pleasantries with some of his fellow low-ranking clerks at the Iacon Hall of Records before heading to his destination.

At last Orion came out upon a balcony boasting one of the best views of the city. There he found waiting for him possibly the single greatest Spark to ever trod the sacred steel of Cybertron, at least in his experience. "Good morning, Megatronus."

"Indeed it is, Orion." The hulking gladiator turned with a smile at his approach. He accepted the cup of cyber-java from the smaller robot, and both then stood together upon the balcony, watching the sun rise over their world. They appreciated the view in silence.

Orion Pax took the time to admire this celestial splendor before focusing on the mechanized landscape below them. Spread out for as far as the optic could see, a thriving metropolis roused to greet the dawn. Living ships plied the skyways on their way to work, the roar of their engines blending together to form a pleasant background hum, one party indistinguishable from the rest. Land-based models skimmed a few feet above the streets before transforming into their bipedal modes to complete the journey into work on foot. He greatly appreciated this tranquility early in the morning. It helped him to face the alarmingly growing amount of injustices he was starting to perceive in their society, injustices which were becoming harder to ignore the more he learned.

Speaking of which, far below them, Orion noticed a blue bot being accosted by a traffic enforcement officer for parking himself in a restricted zone reserved for higher-ups. The big faceless fellow just stood there quietly holding his ticket while the police officer talked a blue streak, apparently berating him at great length for this admittedly minor infraction of the law.

Frowning, Orion Pax glanced over to see if Megatronus had picked up on the scene as well. But his charismatic colleague appeared to be absorbed in watching the sunrise without taking notice of anything else. Pax considered pointing it out to him to see what he thought, but ultimately decided against it. No sense making trouble. Instead the two friends continued in their appreciation of a civilization that had endured and prospered for millions of years.

"Good coffee today," Megatronus opined after a few moments of shared silence.

"Yes," his young admirer agreed.

The pit-fighter took another sip of cyber-caffeine. He looked into the warm steaming beverage for a few seconds contemplatively before leaning his arms against the railing and giving a contented sigh.

And then Megatronus said, "Think I'll conquer the planet."

Before them the sun continued to rise. People went about their business as usual, with no indication that anything might be wrong in their cybernetic utopia. All was right with the world.

"Wh…"

Still holding on to his coffee, Orion Pax blinked a few times at what he had just heard. Then he turned to Megatronus and said, "What?"

"Yup." Beside him, the great battle champion looked over and smiled. He drained his cup, crushed it in one mighty fist and vaulted over the edge of the balcony. Landing in the middle of the parking lot with a crash, Megatronus remained with his legs bent in a crouch for a few moments as he found his sense of balance. Then he rose upright. A sword shot out of one forearm. Raising the blade on high, the champion combatant bared his teeth and…

"YAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

… he charged at the previously mentioned traffic stop.

Both the officer and the offending party saw him coming. Perplexed, they glanced at one another, as though asking if the other bot could explain what this unprecedented and inexplicable sight might portend. Neither of them moved as the roaring giant approached.

With one swing of his sword, Megatronus bisected the police officer from hip to shoulder. The black-and-white chatterbox stood open-mouthed for a few seconds before his upper torso slowly slid down to the ground. Moments later the rest of his body collapsed beside him in a heap, leaving the cop to gape in utter bewilderment at his own twitching legs.

The faceless offender stared for a few seconds. Still clutching his parking ticket, he looked up at the one responsible for this unexpected deliverance. Megatronus grinned in a cheerfully bloodthirsty manner before turning and marching down the street. His other arm transformed into a cannon, and he began firing blasts into the surrounding buildings and anything else that caught his eye. Smoke and fire billowed skywards, whole towers collapsed in broken heaps, and people fled screaming as this newborn spirit of destruction continued to carve out a path of total carnage across the face of Cybertron, leaving chaos and ruin in his wake.

Back at the start of this warpath, the lone faceless bot watched in silence without saying a word.

Then he casually ripped the parking ticket in half, and again, before flinging the pieces to the wind. Afterwards he proceeded to follow his new leader.

Meanwhile, Orion Pax remained standing on the balcony for what would prove to be his last day at this job.

The two humans stared at Ratchet in absolute astonishment.

"You're kidding," Jack stated bluntly. "No warning, no… indication whatsoever beforehand something was going to happen?"

"It's true." Ratchet busied himself at his diagnosis without taking offense at their outright disbelief. "At least, that's what Optimus could clearly remember about that day. The rest went by in a blur." He continued to adjust the formulae for a few moments more, then added, "There are those who speculate that Megatron has simply been riding that same cyber-caffeine high all these millions of years. And when he finally comes down off it…" his fingers stilled over the controls, green optics clouding over, "… he's going to feel really bad about what he's done."

"Wow." Miko kicked her heels over empty space and leaned thoughtfully against the railing. "That must have been really good coffee!"

Jack let out a whistle. "No kidding."

Right then, he noticed a certain dreamy look that had settled over the pink-haired punk-rocker's face. At the same time, for some odd reason his eye was caught by lazy wisps of steam drifting off her chocolate-infused latte. So much sugar, so much caffeine, straight into her already turbo-charged system…

A terrible sense of foreboding crept over him, just as Miko raised the drink to her lips.

Immediately, Jack's hand snapped out and he grabbed the cup away.

"HEY!" She turned on him indignantly. "What's the big idea, Jack?!"

In response he shook his head. "I'm not taking any chances with you going Megatronus on us."

"Whatever," she pouted before turning back to rest her chin on the railing. After a few seconds, though, she began to drum her fingers against the steel grating, and a slow, wicked smile worked its way up her face.

"Hmmm…" she mused aloud. "Empress Nakadai! Got a nice ring to it, huh…?"

"Not funny, Miko," Jack groused. He paused. "Err… you're kidding, right… Miko?"

The girl only grinned, before hopping up and walking away.

Within the lab division of the Decepticon warship Nemesis, the mighty Megatron was hard at work on his latest plan for galactic conquest. Operating a plasma scalpel, he carefully shed the outer layer of positrons off an antimatter particle, keeping a watchful eye on their path through the generated electro-magnetic field into a storage container. The results pleased him. It would seem his theory had proven accurate so far. Soon he would develop a weapon so powerful, no force in existence would be able to stand in his way!

As he continued in his grand schemes, a feeling began to creep up on him. The Decepticon leader frowned while remaining absorbed in paring away anti-electrons for several moments.

After a while, though, his fingers slowed, then stopped altogether. The scalpel dropped from his hand to clatter against the floor.

Megatron looked up, crimson eyes going wide with swift-dawning horror.

"What have I done?" he whispered.

Right then a small blue blur swept across the lab. The next thing he knew, Megatron was surprised to find himself holding a steaming cup of freshly brewed cyber-coffee. For a while he stared at its unexpected appearance.

Then he took a small sip.

His eyes closed, and a slow smile spread over his lips.

"Ahhhhh," he sighed in bliss.

Setting down the cup, Megatron retrieved the scalpel and resumed his latest vicious scheme without a qualm.

In another part of the ship, Soundwave's flying torso component swooped in and reattached itself to its master's chest in one fluid movement. The silent communication officer continued monitoring the local frequencies without missing a beat, satisfied that he had done his part for Lord Megatron and the cause.

At that very moment a video signal came in across a Decepticon frequency. Accessing it, Soundwave abruptly found himself faced with one of the humans working for their Autobot enemies.

"Megatron! Can you hear me?" the pink-and-black creature gabbled excitedly. "If we join forces, we could rule the world! You and me, rock on forever, call me!" And she threw her head back and laughed maniacally.

Before she could speak further, another human proceeded to tackle the madwoman. "I've got her!" he cried from offscreen. "Quick, Arcee, get that decaf over here!"

The transmission cut off soon after. Soundwave contemplated the screen a few moments longer, before deleting the video in its entirety. For the benefit of all concerned.

FIN.