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| - As Ink City enters the new year, its Transformers population continues to rise... so perhaps it was only a matter of time before the Decepticon's true leader arrived. With an explosion of ink and a scream of "I LIVE!!!!!!", Megatron emerges from the Ink Well and steps into this new world. Immediately, Starscream comes flying in to report, finding Soundwave already there -- and Megatron in a mood. Having just experienced a betrayal from his Starscream, he initially thinks this Starscream is playing dumb, and kicks and bashes him around. However, Starscream's continued pleas of innocence get him to stay his hand... not out of mercy, but rather confusion, for he knows the jet wouldn't continue to play innocent after being caught. Thus, he decides to spare him for now, asking both him and Soundwave for their status report. The news that they appear to be stranded in an alternate dimension is met with surprisingly minor frustration; the fact they've kept busy in his absence researching new creatures and other things they might be able to exploit further mollifies him. Upon seeing that Optimus Prime is also trapped in the City, Megatron can't help but try to bait his sworn enemy with mockery. Refusing to rise to the bait, Optimus informs him that fighting there is pointless -- among other reasons, death isn't permanent there, something Megatron immediately decides to test. His first attack is met with Bumblebee immediately jumping into the fray, trying to protect his leader... only to get tossed aside, cracking one of his door wings against the fountain and sending Prime into a Tranquil Fury. Then his second shot, aimed right at Prime's shoulder, forces Aisling to scramble out of her favorite spot in a hurry. Though Optimus orders them both to flee, they hesitate -- and watch in horror as he lets Megatron kill him in order to prove the truth of his warning. Megatron's joy upon murdering his former friend turns to rage when he reemerges from the Well, fresh and ready to return the demonstration if need be. This transforms into cold, tranquil fury as he chooses to back down... However, when Optimus informs him he let him win, he threatens Aisling, stating that the only thing keeping him from repeatedly killing the little fleshling in front of the Autobot is that he's deemed it a waste of time. For now. As he moves through the streets, still frustrated from having victory snatched from his grasp, Caroline happens to pass by. When he threatens her, she automatically defers to him: --Too late, she realizes her mistake. Hearing a human address him by name both shocks and outrages the silver giant, and though she tries to justify her slip, Megatron sees right through it. When she tries sticking to her story, he snaps her leg, then suspends and swings her from it while demanding the truth. She confesses to working for Starscream as a field agent, but vainly to deflect when he asks why she stinks of energon. So he decides to ask his second-in-command himself -- bringing her along for the ride back to the Nemesis. Starscream understandably panics when faced with his leader's anger, but tries to talk his way out of it, explaining their plan to set her up as a False Friend to Optimus Prime. This doesn't appease him, and his insistence that their relationship isn't a partnership and that she's more like a pet to him simply leads to his demanding that Starscream keep her caged. The only concession he makes is letting Knockout patch her up -- and only to keep her from escaping back to the Well through death. Her disappearance doesn't go unnoticed. Cave Johnson soon realizes his assistant isn't around and starts looking for her, asking for help from their friends. Or, more accurately, assuming others will help while still acting rather condescending towards everyone. Having managed to hold on to her communicator, Caroline discreetely contacts him and passes on some instructions, carefully phrased to minimize the chances of the Decepticons being able to use that information if any of them overhear. Following her directions, he collects some items from her room, which she instructs him to take to the Lucky 38 for further testing on a joint project of theirs. Eventually, Megatron decides to formally introduce himself to the city at large -- and name himself their new lord and master. To drive this point home, he sends out a live broadcast where he throws Caroline to the floor, then squashes her underneath his foot, before announcing that he's going to retrieve her from the Well and continue torturing her afterward. This claim is met with disgust, disdain and defiance -- especially from Cave and Gordon Freeman, who race to the Well with the fruits of her research, which they use to literally send the giant robot flying away. Megatron also finds himself rapidly being attacked by several other residents, both verbally and physically. Seems taking over the city won't be as easy as he expected...
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