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Denial
They weren’t at war but it still felt ominous, seeking aid from a Decepticon friendly location. For such a new faction, the Decepticons had grown devastatingly fast from within the shadows of Megatronus Prime’s ancient seat of power, the Fortress City of Kaon. Optimus attributed that to the ill feelings towards the Primes after the betrayal of Sentinel. That or he did not want to believe the sudden appearance of Megatronus’ face decorating rebels and anti-Prime rallies was the doing of someone who he once considered a friend. Perhaps even more.
He would need to earn the trust of the people, he knew that. And to do that he needed to deal with the ever looming threat of the Quintessons.
Unfortunately for him, he had been struck by a Quintesson Soldier who had ambushed him. His entire right arm had lost power but still, it hadn’t stopped him achieving victory with his Autobots and a small band of Decepticons. A Quintesson Command Ship threatening the city of Kalis was no small feat. Though Kalis was now a mostly Decepticon sympathetic city, they had praised and welcomed the Autobots after their joint victory. The city welcomed him and his entourage into their great halls to recharge and refuel. Promising medical aid to those who needed it.
Optimus would be lying if he didn’t admit that it unnerved him to see flags with Megatronus Prime’s face being flown so freely and so brazenly. It was concerning when none of the leaders of Kalis came to thank him or greet them as they were settled into recuperate. He had wanted to discuss with them the plan moving forward. And the ever looming Decepticon threat.
Kalis was a huge resource of raw minerals for both Cybertronians and Quintessons. It was also a spark hotspot and was important for bots who could not carry but wanted to be a creator. It was a precious place, a sacred place and it needed to be protected.
Optimus looked up from the medical berth he was sitting on as he heard a commotion outside of his private medical room. His disconnected limb hung lifeless at his side but it did not mean that the Prime was helpless by any degree. The yelling stopped as Prime heard two loud thuds and with horror, the Prime realised that his two guards had hit the ground, hopefully unconscious and not dead.
Optimus stood, his axe at the ready to take out any who dared oppose a Prime. The door slid open and the Prime froze as a huge mech entered. A very familiar mech that he hadn’t seen for almost a cycle now, all silver and with blazing red optics that burned like the slag pits of Unicron.
“Dee?” He asked, completely shocked. “Dee, what are you doing here?”
A snarl erupted from the mech and to Optimus’s horror, small razor sharp fangs were bared at him.
D16 didn't have fangs. Or at the very least he hadn’t noticed them before.
“My name is Megatron, Optimus Prime,” The large mech snarled. “You would do well to remember that!”
His tone was cold, his voice was deep and there was no trace of the warmth that once made Orion Pax’s spark flutter with excitement and delight.
Optimus knew that D16 had adopted a new name. He had seen it during playbacks of the incident in which D16 had killed Sentinel. It horrified him. But it horrified him more that he hadn’t been able to stop it. He hadn’t been able to save his friend from being consumed by his own rage.
“Right, yes, Megatron,” Optimus nodded quietly, acknowledging the name. “While I appreciate your Decepticons assistance, what are you doing here?”
There was a pause as Megatron surveyed him, his optics briefly examining the axe which Optimus lowered but did not disarm.
“Making sure to welcome the ‘heroes’ that saved the city are being treated well,” Megatron answered though his tone was not caring in the slightest. “Or did you intend to banish me from Kalis too? You’ll find that you’ll have a hard time trying to do so.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Optimus defended. “Dee- Megatron, what’s happening here? We’ve lost contact with the council of Kalis for many orns. Then we got word that they were being attacked by Quintesson ships and came to help. What is going on?”
Megatron frowned, his optics darting out of the window to stare out at the city.
“Kalis was ruled by a Functionist Council,” Megatron explained, his voice graveled and spiteful. “They were a target for the former leader of the High Guard, not Starscream, someone actually competent. The High Guard before Sentinel’s betrayal was ruthless and did its job well. They drove most of the Functionists into hiding to the point that their movement was broken but then Sentinel came along and destroyed their hard work. I’m simply finishing what they started.”
In other words, I killed them and placed Kalis under my own rule.
“By making a show of murdering people,” Optimus spat distastefully. “Megatron, this is not the way. The people need justice, not brutality!”
“The people of Kalis have been waiting for justice for over 120 cycles!” Megatron snarled in his face and it took everything in Optimus to not flinch or react. “If you had actually come to Kalis and talked to the people, actually listened to them you would have realised how oppressed they were. But no, you decided to stay in Iacon and sit upon your golden tower and look down on the people you supposedly ‘help’! You are just a false Prime, like Sentinel! No wonder the people of Kalis turned to me when they attempted to reach out to you but received no help! Because, Orion Pax always knew what was best for everyone, right? Because Orion Pax never once bothered to listen to his friend and what they wanted, right?”
Ah, so that’s what this was about.
“Megatron– I’m sorry, I know I wasn’t the best friend to you as Orion,” Optimus started, his optics staring deep into Megatron’s frighteningly enraged red optics, pleading for any remains of his old friend. “I wish, I wish things had gone differently. I wish I had had time to help you, to get through to you, to explain everything. Everything happened so quickly… I– I regret banishing you from Iacon.”
Megatron stared back at him for a moment before a dark shadow passed across his optics and his engine began to rumble and growl violently.
“So you could imprison me and then lecture me all day? So you can posture and mock me while I rust in a cell? I think not, Prime,” Megatron barked before he let out a cruel, mocking laugh. “I consider my banishment a mercy. I consider it a blessing, for now, I have the chance to make things right and return the favor.”
There was a beat before Megatron gestured to the window, pointing at the expansive city of Kalis beyond.
“Once you’re fixed, do not come back to Kalis,” Megatron growled, his voice low and full of menace. “After the Quintesson threat is dealt with, do not come to any city that allies itself with my Decepticons. You will not be welcome.”
Optimus Prime’s optics widened slightly as he realised what Megatron was doing. He really was returning the favor… by banishing him from the cities of Cybertron.
“Megatron, this is foolish!” Optimus shouted at Megatron’s face but the Decepticon Leader only smiled back at him cruelly.
“This is justice,” Megatron plainly stated. “When I declared that the Age of Primes was over, I meant it. Sentinel’s actions have caused Cybertron to mistrust the Primes and rightfully so. So you sit back in your golden tower and watch as Cybertron turns against you, Prime. Watch as city after city becomes a place unfriendly to you and your Autobots because soon, Iacon will be the only place you will feel safe and even then… I’ll storm the golden city with my armies and you will be nothing!”
Optimus stared at Megatron, horrified and in complete disbelief. This– this wasn’t his friend. This wasn’t D16. Or, or maybe it was and he had never noticed. His thoughts briefly drifted to D16’s violence against the punching bags, his constant playful threats of killing or hurting others. Of hurting him.
Had he been blind to the darkness in Dee’s spark this entire time?
“Dee…” Optimus tried to reach out to any part of his old friend left but fury only appeared across Megatron’s face before the Prime suddenly found himself being hit in the shoulder and shoved back.
“D16 is dead!” Megatron spat furiously. “Not Optimus Prime would ever care.”
“I do! I do care about you! I still care about you, you’re my friend, please!” The Prime implored Megatron simply turned away, his servos balling into fists.
“Friends don’t constantly ignore their friends or trick them into doing dangerous things against their will,” He hissed, his voice slightly warm, reflective even. “You say that you care about me, but did you even care about D16? Or did you just use him like everyone else did?”
Optimus felt his spark sink. Even though it was the closest that Megatron had sounded to D16, it hurt all the more.
“Dee… I’m sorry,” Optimus tried to reach out but he was rebuffed as Megatron shook off his servo.
“It’s Megatron,” Megatron corrected him again before gifting him a glare and storming out, passing a very confused Elita-1 in the corridor with nothing more than a nod of his helm in acknowledgement and a brief, “Commander.”
Optimus stared after him, his mind numb, unable to even come up with something to shout at Megatron’s back.
“Optimus? Are you alright? What happened? What did he want?” Elita asked, concerned as she looked between the retreating Megatron and Optimus.
Optimus just shook his head and gave an exhausted sigh.
“I think… I think I made a terrible mistake, Elita,” was all he could say, his voice shaky and the weight of Cybertron on his shoulders.
“Megatron’s using Kalis to build warships,” B-127 reported as their team made their way back to Iacon, the Ark falling silent at the little scout’s words. “Cliffjumper reports that the abandoned Fortress City of Kaon’s been repopulated by the High Guard. They’re rebuilding it.”
“Of course he would go to Kaon, it was Megatronus Prime’s seat of power for millions of years,” Prowl rolled his optics. “Still such a little idiot fanboy.”
“An idiot fanboy who is very clearly raising an army,” Ultra Magnus snapped at Prowl. “This is extremely bad. Megatron has the High Guard, while during Sentinel’s rule they lacked power that does not mean they were harmless. They were once Cybertron’s military. They were a force that once held the Quintesson’s in check and crushed the Functionist movement. They are not to be taken lightly!”
Optimus Prime was silent. Ultra Magnus’s words held weight to them. The Heavy weight C-Class had known the former Elite Guard, he had worked with them as one of the Blades of Megatronus. If he saw patterns in the now disgraced High Guard, he should pay attention.
“Do you think this is Megatron moving resources to combat the Quintesson’s?” He asked Magnus.
“Possibly,” Ultra Magnus agreed. “But something about this unsettles me. Megatron’s influence is spreading quick. The people who suffered under Sentinel and the former cogless understandably are more agreeable to Megatron’s more violent ways of ‘justice’. You need to put this situation under control or we will be looking at another Galvatronic Civil War.”
“Megatron is not Galvatron,” Optimus disagreed but Ultra Magnus shook his head. “Galvatron was insane! A narcissist like Sentinel! He did not do what he did for the good of his people!”
“Maybe not at this point but he is a wound on Cybertron and if he is not healed, he will continue to fester and spread,” Prowl growled angrily. “You should have killed him when you had the chance!”
Optimus felt his anger rise at Prowl’s words. He would not kill D16– Megatron. He couldn’t.
“Enough,” Optimus Prime waved his hand to dismiss those in the Bridge of the Ark. “We need to deal with the aftermath of the Quintesson’s bombing Praxus and Helix and focus on protecting civilians.”
Prowl gave a frustrated growl as Ultra Magnus shook his helm.
“You’re too emotionally invested in the Decepticon issue, stop denying the truth right in front of you! D16 is gone! He’s never coming back! You need to deal with him before he destroys us all! You need to cut the head off the snake before it bites!”
Optimus stared silently at the map of Cybertron, contemplating Prowl’s words.
Maybe he was right, maybe D16 was gone forever.
But he still had a little bit of hope that D16 still existed within Megatron.
Somewhere.