The Transformers: The One-shots

Jazz's optics flickered, adjusting to the dim light of the chamber. The metallic walls echoed with the distant rumble of war outside, the sounds of Cybertron's unending conflict that became a constant backdrop to his thoughts. He was a scout, small and agile, but right now he felt like a trapped insect in the clutches of a titan. Above him loomed Megatron, the Decepticon commander whose very name sent shivers through his circuits.

"Tell me, Autobot," Megatron's voice rumbled like thunder, deep and menacing. "What are your plans?"

Jazz smirked, a little spark of defiance flaring inside him despite the dire situation. "I can't share the recipe for our famous energon cakes, Megatron. It's a closely-guarded secret."

Megatron's optics flared with irritation. He stood at a towering 35 feet, an imposing figure against Jazz's 13-foot frame. The size difference was staggering, making him feel like a mere glitch in the grand machine of war. Yet, Jazz couldn't shake the feeling of camaraderie with his fellow Autobots; that was something no Decepticon could strip him of—even Megatron himself.

"Do you think this is a game?" Megatron's voice dripped with venom as he loomed closer, casting a shadow over Jazz. "Your little jests won't save you."

"Who said anything about a game?" Jazz shot back, his visor gleaming defiantly. "I just thought I'd jazz up the conversation a bit. Get it?" He leaned back casually, as if there wasn't a grim fate hanging over him.

Megatron's patience wore thin. A moment later, his massive hand shot forward, fingers wrapping tightly around Jazz's neck. In one swift motion, he slammed Jazz into the wall, the impact rattling the very core of the Autobot's frame.

With a cough that rattled through his circuits, Jazz managed a chuckle despite the pain. "Listen, I don't want to be part of your weird BDSM roleplay," he quipped, letting a hint of mischief color his tone.

"Shut up!" Megatron hissed, throwing Jazz to the ground with enough force to rattle the ground beneath them. The sound reverberated through the chamber, echoing with the weight of their conflict.

"Seriously, you must be doing this for therapeutic reasons," Jazz groaned, rolling to his side. He pushed himself up slightly, optics fixing on Megatron with a devil-may-care glint. "Stress relief and all that? Not the best way to go about it—though I'm not one to judge, you do you."

Megatron's glare could have melted steel, but Jazz met it with unyielding confidence. The Decepticon lord towered over him, the sheer power radiating off him was a stark reminder of how easily he could end Jazz's existence. There was a dark part of Jazz that understood the implications of Megatron's strength, the hint of his own demise lingering like a ghost from the future. But in that moment, all that mattered was the here and now.

"Do you realize how easily I could rip you apart?" Megatron's voice was low, tinged with annoyance yet underscored by something almost... impressed.

"Yeah, I've heard that one before," Jazz smirked, his optics narrowing defiantly. "But here's the thing, Megatron—if you do that, who'll entertain you? You ever think about it? A life void of rhythm is just a dead beat."

Turmoil passed across Megatron's features, something resembling frustration battling with intrigue. Jazz had a way of talking that crept under a mech's plating, riling them up yet making them intrigued at the same time.

"You are a fool, Jazz," the commander's voice rumbled. "Your bravado won't protect you."

"Protect me? Nah, I just like to keep things light, y'know? If you want to take me out, at least let's enjoy the process." Jazz's smile was almost infectious, his spirit unwavering. In that dark chamber, he was an ember resisting the encroaching darkness.

"Enough!" Megatron roared, fists clenched. Jazz's Spark raced, but he stood firm, refusing to back down.

"Hey, if it's gonna be my last dance, I'll make it a good one."

Jazz was painfully aware of how precarious his position was, yet the depths of his being refused to betray the flicker of hope that he'd find a way out of this. He might have been a tiny Autobot standing against a mechanical behemoth, but he was not about to let fear silence his voice.

Underneath the turmoil, amidst the fractured world of Cybertron, the music of his spirit played on.

Okay, so, that part where Megatron says he could easily rip Jazz in half is actually a reference to Jazz's death in the 2007 film when he says, "You want a piece of me!? You want a piece of me!?" and Megatron says, "No, I want two!" before ripping him in half. Did you also know that in older drafts of the film Megatron was supposed to actually eat Jazz's Spark? That would have been hella gnarly. Too bad it wasn't included but in was included in the Movie Adaptation Issue 4. So that's a cool piece of Transformers history.