Author's Notes: Thank you for stopping by to check out this relentless little plot bunny. One thing I love to write about in TF Prime is alternate universes. There are so many possibilities for speculative fiction in this franchise, and now I'm going to give another idea a try. I am also honestly surprised no one has used the title "Killer Bee" yet. I had no clue what to call this fic until I sat down to write the first chapter, and then it just came to me. Thank goodness, because the old title was dumb. Anyway, I need to stop rambling now so you guys can get to the story you clicked here to read. Thank you for checking out "Killer Bee", and I hope you enjoy the story :)

Chapter 1

The Kindness of Strangers

Everything in the eastern sector of Iacon was burning. The war for Cybertron had been raging between the Autobots and Decepticons for thousands of vorns at this point, and neither side nor their cities looked the same as when they started. The corrupt Autobot council gave way to the fair and just rule of Optimus Prime, and the idealistic freedom fighters of the Decepticons gave way to the ruthless bloodthirsty soldiers led by their warmongering tyrant, Megatron.

Their battles had become even more heated ever since the disappearance of their planet's source of new life, the Allspark, had been launched into space by the Autobots to prevent the Decepticons from using it as a means to make more soldiers for Megatron's army.

Even their current battlefield, Iacon, had once been a rich city and the very spark of Cybertron. Now it was a faded husk that the Autobots fought desperately to defend; hoping against all hope to keep the few remaining civilians and their sparklings alive. With the recent attack on the eastern sector however, it all seemed like a hopeless endeavor.

Megatron meanwhile relished in the conquest. Optimus Prime led his troops from this city, and the ability to hurt it so easily gave the old silver warlord a sense of satisfaction. His second in command, a slender seeker named Starscream, flew beside Megatron as they surveyed the damage wrought on the former stronghold. Megatron hadn't known this SIC for very long, but his lust for power and loyalty to the Decepticon cause were qualities Megatron found admirable.

None had been spared the wrath of the Decepticons. Autobot soldiers, civilians, and even their sparklings had been slaughtered by Megatron and his forces. He enjoyed it when smaller mechs ran from his presence. He felt excitement every time his sword made contact with an enemy combatant. Even some of his own soldiers were afraid of him when he lost control of every sense except the one that told him to kill.

There was a time when he hated what he was, hated what he was built to be, but the gladiator inside him was tired of being caged and after fighting for so long he finally gave up righteousness and embraced his inner darkness. Perhaps it was hypocritical of Megatron to think of himself in such a functionalist way, but that mindset would be the key to achieving the power he so desperately craved.

Megatron dove down for a landing when he saw one of Soundwave's symbiotes, a small bipedal mech named Rumble, motion for him and Starscream. Megatron and his second transformed, and the miniature dark blue mech bowed submissively at their approach.

"Rumble, report," Megatron ordered.

Rumble's black optic visor displayed a map of the immediate area and showed a blipping yellow dot, indicating an enemy in the area heading toward their direction at a slow pace.

"Should we investigate, master?" Starscream asked.

"Indeed," Megatron purred maliciously, "Perhaps this will finally be Optimus Prime come to face me. Starscream, Rumble, with me."

Rumble transformed into a floating saucer while Megatron and Starscream turned back into Cybertronian jets. The coordinates weren't very far, but flying would still get them there much faster.

When the trio made it to where the disturbance was first logged, they arrived just in time to see a mech with an open chassis wound fall to the ground; dropping a bundle that had been in his arms. The injured mech's spark could be seen faintly flickering even from the air.

/It looks like that wounded empty dropped some cargo,/ Starscream commented over the comm, /Perhaps it is something for the Autobots.../

/Well now it is something for us,/ Megatron replied; his wicked grin obvious from vocal inflection alone.

The Decepticons swooped down and transformed, surrounding the injured mech like a group of hungry scraplets. The yellow mech was lying on his back, his blue optics fading in and out as he stared up at them in fear. His spark energy was getting fainter, and now that the Decepticons had landed they could see the thing the mech had been carrying was a newspark.

Starscream took an aggressive step forward and aimed his arm at the mech; his missile launchers at the ready.

"Should I put this Autobot wannabe out of his misery, master?" Starscream asked eagerly; ready to shoot the helpless mech.

Megatron took a couple steps forward and stared down at the mech and sparkling, and the mech's vocalizer rasped in pain and fear.

"N-No...please..." The mech practically whispered; unable to raise his voice, "I beg you...spare us. I'll...do anything..."

"Master?" Starscream asked more insistently; wanting to shoot something.

"Why waste our ammunition on the dead?" Megatron asked contemptuously.

Megatron then bent down and stared stonily at the dying mech's exposed spark. The mech tried to speak, probably to further plead for his life and the life of his sparkling, but he could say nothing more. Megatron then took the tip of his claw and barely touched the spark; he knew it would require no more pressure than that. That simple touch was enough to extinguish the spark, ending the mech's suffering once and for all.

The sparkling felt the spark bond with his creator break with the death of his sire, and he cried out for all he was worth. This act forced the Decepticons to finally notice the little being with his yellow protoform armor and big blue optics. He was small, even for a sparkling, and given the destruction in this city he was probably one of the last sparklings left alive on Cybertron; maybe for all time.

"Eurgh! That is the most irritating noise I've ever heard in my life!" Starscream shrieked, "Master, may I at least shoot this one?"

Megatron was about to answer, but then he noticed Rumble walking up to the newspark. The little thing was small, but it was still almost as big as Rumble; who only came up to Megatron's shin. Rumble picked up the crying sparkling and cradled it like a child that had just been given a new doll. This made the sparkling stop bawling for a moment to look up at the strange new presence. Rumble tilted his helm; his expression just as lifeless as ever.

"Don't just look at it, Rumble. Kill it!" Starscream demanded, "Lord Megatron ordered no survivors!"

"Do not presume to speak for me, Starscream," Megatron growled, and Starscream took the hint and shut up, "Now, about this little pest. Does it have a name logged into its helm?"

Rumble plugged a chord from his finger into the sparkling's neck, and a moment later the name BUMBLEBEE popped up on the visor screen.

"Bumblebee?" Starscream asked derisively.

"Rumble, give it to me," Megatron commanded.

"What? We're keeping it?!" Starscream asked incredulously.

"Don't be ridiculous," Megatron scoffed, "I have more important matters to attend to than a sparkling. Rumble, give it to me so that I may crush it."

Rumble nodded, though somewhat reluctantly, and handed off the yellow sparkling to his master. Megatron held the sparkling tightly in his servo as the little being squirmed to free himself from the big scary stranger. Megatron smiled evilly at the sparkling and brought it up to his face so that he could watch the life drain from it as it was crushed like a can. When the sparkling was close to Megatron's faceplate however, the frightened sparkling immediately punched him! The sparkling couldn't hurt him, and most his age wouldn't even think to try something like that, but the fact remained that the sparkling had just hit the slagmaker himself.

Rumble was shocked that anyone, even a newspark, would dare attack Megatron. Starscream knew it was funny, but he dared not laugh. Someone did laugh however, and that was Megatron himself.

"Hahahahaha," Megatron chuckled darkly as he regarded the tiny being in his servo, "So, the Bumblebee has a sting? Well now, I'm guessing that if you were bigger you would want to kill me, yes? Starscream, contact Shockwave. Tell him I have a new assignment for him."

"Yes, master," Starscream replied dutifully.

"Rumble, scout the area for survivors," Megatron ordered, "Exterminate what you can, and call for backup if you find an Autobot you cannot handle."

Rumble nodded and began contacting Soundwave through their guardian bond.

"Master?" Starscream suddenly piped up, "Why are we keeping this thing? It's just another Autobot sparkling, and after Optimus Prime deployed the Allspark into deep space I cannot see why you would want to spare even one of these soft sparked functionalist traitors."

"This is no soft spark, Starscream," Megatron said almost affectionately, never taking his optics off the sparkling, "I can see it in his optics, this is a killer in the making. This spawn of an Autobot pleasure drone will be molded in our likeness and trained to terminate that which gave him life. He will be shaped into a perfect Decepticon assassin. First we'll need to do something about these optics. He should have red optics if he is to be one of us."

"Of course, master," Starscream replied more to humor Megatron than anything else.

"He will also require a new designation," Megatron mused, "No warrior of mine is going into battle with a name like Bumblebee."

The sparkling started crying again, and Megatron shook him to get him to shut up. The sparkling moaned in discomfort but tried not to cry anymore. Megatron would have a laundry list of tasks for Shockwave to perform for this project. When they were finished, this little mechling would be a twisted merciless killing machine...just like Megatron himself.

Little Bumblebee was afraid. His sire had been terrified in his final moments of life, and Bumblebee knew that big scary grey guy had killed his sire. He wanted revenge, but he was too small to do anything besides cry and struggle, and he didn't even do the latter very well.

The monster that had killed his sire transformed around him, and he found himself flying through the air in the sinister alt mode. Part of Bumblebee wished he could fly too, so he could fly away from the danger and the hurt. Everything around him was on fire down below, so part of him was at least glad he was inside a protected alt...even if it did belong to the monster.

Several breems later they landed, and the monster transformed once again with his fist around Bumblebee. Bumblebee's head poked out of the fist but he couldn't even turn his neck all the way around, instead being forced to look at the monster's red optics. He could vaguely make out movement from the monster's winged lackey, but the sparkling couldn't turn his helm around to get a better look at him.

They walked into a tall dark building, and the interior was bathed in ominous purple light. It was cold inside, especially since outside had been on fire, and Bumblebee would've shivered if he had been able to move. He groaned in discomfort again, and was rewarded with another harsh squeeze from the angry monster. Bumblebee figured out it was best to be quiet.

They stopped in a large room with slightly better lighting than the others, and the monster started speaking to someone else. Bumblebee was then handed over to someone, and he looked up to see a huge purple mech with no face! A single red optic stared ahead at the giant silver monster, and Bumblebee wanted to cry at the thought of being left alone with this horrible thing. He knew he couldn't though; crying meant he would be hurt again.

The monster handed Bumblebee to the purple one, and Bumblebee couldn't help the whimper that escaped from his vocalizer. The bigger mechs continued their conversation, and Bumblebee's spark tried in vain once again to contact his creator. There was no point to this action, Bumblebee knew his creator was dead, but his spark still cried out for the comfort of his now broken bond.

A few moments later Bumblebee heard pede steps retreating from them, and he saw that the monster and his skinny sidekick were leaving. They were leaving him alone with the faceless mech!

As Bumblebee was placed on a frigid metal table he couldn't help it anymore. He sobbed for all he was worth. The faceless mech didn't punish him, but he also didn't comfort him. He merely went about his business as if Bumblebee didn't exist. That was how Bumblebee felt, too. Like he no longer existed.

The purple mech came back a few moments later and held Bumblebee down with an arm that was nothing more than a gun. Bumblebee feared this new monster was going to shoot him, but instead the faceless mech used his other servo to attach a thick hose of some sort to Bumblebee's chassis. The sparkling cried out in fear, but that act wasn't even enough to make the purple one look down at him let alone make him stop. Bumblebee knew then that whatever was going to happen, was going to happen.