Title: The Choice
Characters/Pairing: Galvatron/Cyclonus (briefly -- if you're someone who only likes gen, you can skim that bit. I hope you won't overlook this fic, as the point isn't the slash), Soundwave, the ever-present specter of Megatron (there's a definite reason I include him in the character list, though I can't say more without spoiling.)
Verse: G1, post-TFTM
Wordcount: 4,500+
Rating: M for some violent content, a bit of non-explicit slashiness, and general bleakness. Galvatron's mental illness gets explored in some depth here.
Warnings: It's sad. Have tissues ready. And it's about Galvatron's mental illness, which might be uncomfortable for some people.
Summary: I've been meaning to write about Cyclonus for a while. In canon, we see how loyal he is to Galvatron, but we don't see why. This pic is my answer that question. As you might expect, the answer is not a very happy one.
I play fast and loose with a couple of aspects of canon here, most notably Cyclonus's origin. It's actually my personal opinion that Cyclonus was created from Bombshell in TFTM. In this fic, however, the story demanded that he come from Skywarp instead. I think it makes Cyclonus's origin more interesting to have him evolve from someone who is generally likable and not particularly highly-esteemed, so I went for the alternate origin here. And hopefully, you'll see why I think that also fits better with this story in general.
Thanks muchly to
eerian_sadow for beta.
( The Choice )