Ever, Ever After
past MegatronusxOrion Pax
Megatron had known the look on the Primes visage – it was the same look the gladiator had gotten from Orion when he went into the pits. The look spoke volumes for what Optimus refused to say. His old lover was a walking corpse. From the hope still on the groups faces, they did not know the Prime as well as they thought they did.
Orion Pax had always put others before himself, Optimus Prime was much the same way. The worst part was, the Prime would gladly sacrifice himself for the continuation on their race. Nothing would stop the Prime from placing the Allspark back in the center of Cybertron.
Megatron had seen the Prime dive into the Well. A few minutes had passed and sparks exploded creating hot spots all around the planet. Megatron couldn't help but smile, the planet was alive. Optimus Prime may be gone, but the next generation all held a bit of Optimus in each of them.
Millenniums had passed, Cybertron had been rebuilt for the most part, the first hot spot sparks had matured into their adult frames, no longer needing mentors. They were all able to enter into their own careers, something the Decepticons had fought for – in the beginning.
Megatron had stayed hidden, hiding in the streets, staying on the run. He had remained in Tarn, when he had found an abandoned building left over from the war, still in pieces, a monument for what should never be forgotten, a war that almost killed their race.
The once warlord had remained in piece for a while, only emerging for energon and other necessities at night, when the town was in recharge. But one cycle, like reliving a memory, a young mech had found him. A color scheme that reminded him of the first mech to show him any form of mercy.
"Hello?" called a young voice, "I hope I'm not bothering you." A voice that reminded him of the red and blue mech who he had fought and loved for so long.
Megatron sat up, his frame rusted and dented from vorns of neglect, "Go away. I don't take visitors."
"Please sir," pleaded the young Mech. "I have seen you come out of this place at night. I recognize you from holo-vids and history texts."
"Go away, you'll get nothing from me," stated Megatron. He wanted to leave the war behind, live alone in this old imperfect building. Surrounded by the garbage and necessities that he found in the other citizens garbage.
"Please sir, I have brought you energon, I thought maybe you might need it. My names Optronix, I was hoping to talk to you too." stated the young mech.
"Well Optronix," stated Megatron spatting the name out in disgust, "Named after the hero of your people are you? Why are you really here? It can't be just to talk over some energon."
"I am in university at Tarn, I have a history paper due," started Optronix. "I was assigned the war, and I wanted to better understand what went wrong."
"That's it? That's all you want? How it all went wrong? How I'm still alive and the great Optimus Prime is dead in the Well of Allsparks?" asked Megaton.
"No- I didn't mean it like that," stated Optronix quickly, his intention was not to offend the ex-warlord. "There isn't a lot about the beginning of the war, just the middle and end, and no one has been able to find Optimus Primes personal journals on the matter."
Megatron watched the young mech talk, it reminded him of Orion Pax. "I'll humor you, you remind me of a mech I once knew."
"If you want you can stay with me, instead of here. I have running water, heat, energon," offered Optronix.
"No, my place is here, hidden in the rubble of this abandoned building left over from the mess I created. The only thing I ask, is you leave when you have your resources" stated Megatron.
Optronix nodded, it was the least he could do.
Megatron sighed, wondering where to begin. "I guess we'll start with my past: I was sparked in Tarn. The hot spot I was kindled in belonged to a miner company in Tarn. My mentors were a pic ax and a shovel. I didn't know much about anything other than mining, the educational system available today – free for everyone, was rare and for those of a higher class. I grew up never knowing what our sun looked like, nor what the moon bases looked like. I eventually got out – ran away as an adolescent. Drank my weight in high grade running to Kaon. They had quick credits available in the Pits. I was never told I might not make it out alive, I was just told there was money in it."
Optronix stared in wonder, no one had bothered to tell the learning students that Megatron had a real life before the war, not that he had just appeared at the war.
"I had made a name for my self fighting in the pits, I had never had a name before, not to my self. At first they called me D-16 that was the tunnel I worked in while mining. I was winning every match they placed me in; and I caught one mechs attention a smaller framed mech from Iacon: Orion Pax. He would one day come to be known as Optimus Prime, I had not known that at the time- no one did."
"He had come to write a report on the gladiators, we met a couple of time so he could get material for the report, but even after he had finished the report he still visited the pits. He kept telling me he still needed resources for the report, but I had been given a copy and he had done a wonderful job. I let him keep up the alibis, especially if it got him to come back. We had chemistry, he was a soft, kind, and patient while I was loud, brash, and not the kindest of mechs. We evened each other out, I think that's what the both of us were looking for."
"Eventually somewhere along the line the humble librarian from Iacon fell in love with the coarse gladiator from Kaon, and the other way around. I'm not ashamed to admit I fell in love, I never will be."
Optronix looked to the mech, involved in the story, "If you two were in love why did you two fight for so long?"
"I'll get to that part youngling, patience." chuckled Megatron, he may have looked like an exact replica of the librarian and Prime, but he didn't have his patience.
"It took an embarrassing amount of time for us to admit to one another, I had named Orion my Medical Proxy – normally reserved for Conjunx Endura. I had been hurt in the battle that night, the mech hadn't won, but gave me an extremely hard time to earn my win. Orion Pax had been called, I fell in to stasis. My spark had almost given out. I don't know what happened other than that, but when I woke Orion was in recharge next to me.
"Eventually Orion woke, the look I got from him when he realized I was up should have said it all. We had confessed to one another then and there. Our relationship had never been approved of, originally that's why we started the cause. To be accepted, to be able to call one another Conjunx Endura freely. We eventually gained popularity with the people of Kaon, Tarn, and Vos. They began to call me Megatronus – after The Fallen, a Prime with his name forever removed from history because of his radical ideas.
"We did our research, constructed an argument, got a hearing with the council. It all went down hill quickly. They had pissed me off," started Megatron. "I violently attacked them, claiming that I would destroy them. Needless to say, I was quickly shoved aside and Orion Pax stood in front of the council, with talks of a peaceful solution, bargaining with the council and people. At that point I had never figured that it would have worked, the council was already too far gone. Too corrupt. Orion still held a belief that they could be bargained with.
"That's when it happened, when Orion Pax died and Optimus Prime was born. It was right in the middle of the council chambers, in front of every one. For the longest time I didn't know who to hate more, the council for taking away my Conjunx Endura or Orion for taking the Prime title and becoming a puppet for the council – betraying me.
"We separated our causes, Soundwave came up with 'Decepticons' for us, we were tired of being swindled by those in charge. And Optimus Prime and his band of flukes became the Autobots," stated Megatron.
"And that's how the war started," stated Megatron. "I miss understood Orions intentions, took them in the wrong way and the war that almost killed our planet was because I couldn't keep my anger in check."
"What changed, you had a noble beginning at first, to stop frame sorting. Eventually you just wanted to do unto others what was done to you, what happened?" asked Optronix.
"I slowly grew insane, messed around with Dark Energon, grew lonely. I did things that to this day I'm not proud of. Pit, even when I did them I'm pretty sure I wasn't proud of it. I just lost touch of what really mattered and it took my Conjunx Endura sacrificing himself to kick me back in reality. Do you have enough for your paper?"
"Yeah," smiled Optronix. "I do, thank you sir."
"Don't call me Sir. The war is over, I don't deserve the title, call me by my name, Optronix." stated Megatron.
"Sorry," smiled Optronix, "Thank you Megatron. I appreciate you helping me out."
Megatron remained silent making sure the young mech got out of his shelter, once Optronix was out Megatron laid down once more. Heading into recharge, dreaming of the librarian he had loved so long ago.
Optronix had written the paper, and finally had gotten it back. His grade had been high, like always. He smiled walking into the abandoned shelter he had found the old war lord in the first time they met.
"Hello, Megatron?" asked Optronix. He looked around the building for any sign of the old mech.
Optronix walked deeper into the building, worried about the old mech. "Megatron?" he looked around finding a frame laying on the ground under a worn thermal, the cube he had left a few cycles ago still full. "Megatron?"
Optronix shook the war lords shoulder in an attempt to wake him. "Megatron?" when no response came he rolled the large mech onto his back, resting his helm over the plating protecting his spark. Listening for a beat, he kept listening, waiting for any sign of life. Optronix had spent an hour like that, listening. Eventually he had convinced him self he was gone, one with the Well of Allsparks.
"Thank you for everything Megatron," smiled Optronix. "You helped me a lot."
Optronix glanced over to a pile that hadn't been there the last time he visited. A pile of data pads, worn and old. He picked one up, turning it over carefully seeing if there was a label, then turned it on. It was full of journal entries, of Orion Pax and an early Optimus Prime. Megatron had them the whole time, no wonder no one saw these journals, when the Decepticons raided the Hall of Records Megatron must have picked them up.
Optronix held them close placing them in his subspace. He would read through them first and donate them to the Hall of Records when he was done. "May you find your Conjunx Endura, and live peacefully in the Well. Till we meet again, may Primus watch your spark."