((I have returned with a new chapter! I figured since people reviewed and fav'd and followed my story I should reward them. And thus this came about. All of the chapters from here on out will be named after songs if I can help it and there will also be snippets of lyrics that try to fit the mood of what's going on. I must also say, I love the new Optimus Prime, to be truthful. He's so badaft it's awesome. And the flashbacks in this chapter are in italics and shift from general POV to Optimus POV which is what I will generally be doing for most of this story. If you have song ideas and/or plot ideas, please submit them via review, thank you! And don't forget to tell everyone else about it!))
Chapter 1- Ultimate Showdown
This is the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny
Good guys, bad guys, and explosions, as far as the eye can see
And only one will win
I wonder who it will be
This is the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny- Ultimate Showdown, Lemon Demon
Flashback
Optimus's POV
I noticed a tense air in the base almost immediately after I came back online. The halls were empty, so I assumed everyone had to be in the main hub, where Ratchet liked to spend his days (and nights). One of these days, I would have to convince him to leave the base, just for a few hours. If he kept staring at the computer screen all through the night, his optics were going to explode. Everyone was crowded around Ratchet, who had pulled up something on the main screen.
"Optimus, you'd better come take a look at this," Ratchet's voice was breathless.
"What is it, old friend?" I came up, stopping immediately when I saw it. The headlines weren't much to pay attention to. All that needed to be seen was the large Decepticon-Megatron's new Combiner, Devestator-attacking New York City. In the middle of broad daylight. While a film crew was capturing his every movements.
The reporter was saying something of an 'alien invasion' and that the government was 'looking into it' and that they would 'be given information as it came to them'. All I could think of was how many civilian casualties this could have resulted in.
The alarm beeped and a second later, the elevator doors opened. Special Agent Fowler burst in. His Megatron impersonation was startling.
"Prime!" he barked. "What the heck happened out there? I thought you were supposed to stop things like that from happening."
"We've just found out about it, Agent Fowler," I contained my voice.
"Why would Megatron pull such a bold move?" Arcee asked. "It doesn't make sense."
"Who knows what goes on in that head of his?" Bulkhead grunted. "I say we get in there and smash some 'Cons."
"All I know is that my superiors are chewing my aft off, which I in turn have to do to you," Fowler interrupted. "We're trying to keep this a secret and 'Conzilla out there isn't exactly inconspicuous."
"We are on it, Agent Fowler," I nodded. Turning to my team, I uttered, "Autobots, prepare to roll out."
~.~.~.~.~.
Our arrival in New York (in disguise, of course) was far too late. Devestator had already left, no doubt returning to the Decepticon warship to report his findings back to Megatron.
/Is that it?/ Bumblebee buzzed. /We come here, drive around, and go back?/
"No doubt there are other Decepticons lurking in the city," I responded. "We will split up and search. If you find anything, call another."
"Understood," they parted into traffic. I went down a side, quiet (well, for New York) road. Everything about this was screaming that it was a trap, that something was going to go wrong. I kept a good lookout for any suspicious activity. After several minutes, I was tempted to return, when something hit me in the side.
Not willing to tempt Agent Fowler's anger, I resisted transforming. My opponent, however, did not. He had no alt mode, it appeared, because he remained in his normal form. His body was lean, almost like a protoform's, optics the blood red of a Decepticon's. An almost perpetual smirk graced his face.
"Optimus Prime," his voice was chilling. "I'm glad to finally meet you in person. Megatron has told me much about you. Are you sure you would not like to make yourself more comfortable?"
"Who are you?" My optics shifted. There were no humans that I could discern, so I transformed, bringing out my blaster menacingly. My faceplate slid into place.
The Decepticon did something that was, in every sense, disturbing. A beam from his optics scanned over every part of my body. Then, he shook wildly, twisting and convulsing, as though he were having a seizure. He grew taller, optics shifting in shade, kibble locking into place. A new red and blue paintjob replaced his pale white one.
There now stood another me, another Optimus Prime, watching me.
"I'm you,"
~.~.~.~.~.
General POV
Makeshift had to smirk in his new disguise. It had taken some work to bring down Optimus Prime, but the Autobot leader eventually fell. Especially hard when Dreadwing hit him from behind while 'Shift had him distracted. Now he'd caught up with the Autobots, and had returned to the Autobot base. No one seemed to suspect anything. It was all going according to plan.
"Why would Megatron have Devestator attack and not even try to attack us when we came there?" the one called Arcee seemed befuddled. "What's to gain from it?"
"Maybe Megatron's finally cracked," Bulkhead shrugged. "Who knows? It's not like we can read his mind."
/Maybe he just doesn't like New York,/ Bumblebee submitted. /The people there are kinda rude. Maybe somebody cut him off one too many times./
Arcee chuckled at this and Makeshift had to stop himself from rolling his optics at the attempt of humor.
"What do you think, Optimus?" Ratchet looked at him. He'd obviously picked up on Optimus's silence from the beginning.
"Whatever Megatron is planning, we will have to stop him," Make found it a lot harder to impersonate the big lug himself. "Ratchet, keep an eye out for any Decepticon activity."
"Where are you going?" Ratchet asked when Makeshift started to move.
The Decepticon turned. "To take a look around."
~.~.~.~.~.
Optimus's POV
Scrambled thoughts clustered in my mind and scattered quickly as my optics onlined. I was in a white-walled room full of chains, hanging from the ceiling. A door was closed tightly.
I tried to reflect back on how I'd gotten here, what had happened, only to draw a blank. I dug further. Primus, I couldn't even remember my own name! My last memory was of burning red optics boring into my own. Other than that, nothing. Nothing at all.
After some time of contemplating, the door slid open and two mechs came in. They were identical in color, with only a red-orange V for optics and no visible mouth. Their gazes caught me offguard, eyeing me like I was the next Energon cube.
"Who are you?" I demanded, words flying out of my mouth. "Who am I? How did I get here? Well, do you talk at all?"
"Quiet, Prime," one of the mechs hit me over the head hard with his clubbed fist. The blow caused me to flinch at the power behind his swing. Already I felt some Energon in my mouth, which I spit out. "You're lucky Lord Megatron let Knockout heal you. Otherwise, you'd be scrapped now. He's requested your presence." He lowered me to the ground, where I stumbled a bit before staying upright.
"I'm so grateful," I muttered. "I'd be even more grateful if I knew where we were and what's going on."
"He said quiet!" the mech's friend hit me too, and I found myself growing aggravated by the two. "It's not your place to question. You will follow us."
"Like slag I will," Before either could react, I shot forward, wrapping my still chained arms around the first one's neck. Twisting sharply, his head bent at an odd angle, optics dimming. His friend, frantic, pulled out a blaster, but not before I'd kicked him to the floor. The chains were shattered with ease and I stabbed him straight in the head with a sword.
Then I gaped. And stared at the newfound weapon. Where the Pit had I learned to do that?
He called me Prime, I remembered. Guess that's my name. But why does it sound familiar?
Not bothering with trivialities, I opened the door cautiously and slid out. The halls were barren except for a few passing mechs identical to the ones I'd killed. I ducked into the darkness and no one noticed me. The place wasn't familiar in the slightest.
Finally, I located something that did look familiar: a Ground Bridge, the name stuck. Subconsciously, I entered coordinates and pulled a lever. The green swirling vortex took me by surprise, the noise of it too.
"Hey you!" That was my cue to exit, the voices yelling at me. Without hesitation, I barreled through the vortex, right before it dissipated into nothing.
~.~.~.~.~.
General POV
The Autobot base, to say the least, was almost desolate.
June had driven the three kids there when their respective guardians hadn't shown up and Agent Fowler had flown in. Now the kids were scared, June worried, Fowler antsy.
"It's got to be serious if Ratchet left," Jack insisted. "I mean, he hardly ever leaves this place."
"Jack's right," Miko nodded. "Ratchet is two words: control freak."
Fowler irritably snapped his cell phone shut. "No one's seen the Autobots anywhere," he reported. "I've checked with everyone I can get in contact with and they all say nothing. The Autobots have been MIA since New York."
"Where could they have gone?" June asked. "It's not like they have a lot of options."
"Maybe the Decepticons got them," Raf was scared, mostly for Bumblebee's sake, but for the others too. "Or MECH. Do you think they'll be okay?"
At that exact moment, a Ground Bridge appeared in the middle of the room, startling everyone. A familiar red and blue form took the time to jump through and crash to the ground before it vanished.
"Optimus?" Jack was the first to speak, stunned.
"Not my best landing ever," the Prime grunted, getting to his feet. "Ow, and there's a dislocated rotator cuff."
"Prime!" Fowler was a mix of relieved and irritated. Optimus looked at him. "Where have you been?"
"The six-million dollar question," Optimus seemed to agree with him. "And, uh, sorry, tiny, but do I know you?"
"What? What do you mean 'do you know me'?" Fowler seemed a bit more irritated at this. "You go off the radar for 6 hours and you suddenly have a lapse of memory?" He realized something. "And did you just call me tiny?"
"Yeah," Optimus didn't seem fazed. "Look, sorry if you know me but I don't know you. It's been one of those days...I think. Might help if I could remember the last few hours."
"What does he mean?" June caught on.
"Don't tell me he lost his memory again," Miko groaned. Then she perked up. "Hey, does this mean I get to go to Cybertron this time? In your face, Jack!"
Jack ignored her. "Don't you remember any of us?" he asked Optimus, slightly worried.
"Kid, I don't even know my own name," the Prime replied, sounding irritated himself. "How am I supposed to remember you? Although one of the one-eye brothers did call me Prime."
"Your name's Optimus Prime," Jack clarified. "You lead the Autobots."
Optimus's look was blank. "Oh-kay. I'll take your word for it. So where are these Autobots?"
"One-eye?" Raf repeated. "That sounds like a Vehicon. They must be on the Decepticon ship."
"Decepticon?" Optimus said. "Now you're just making stuff up. How do I know any of this is true?"
"Do you have a better explanation?" Miko challenged.
There was a pause. "No. No I don't. How do we get these Autobots off the Decepticon ship then?"
"We don't," Jack looked at him. "You do."
"Why did I think you were going to say that?"
~.~.~.~.~.
Arcee couldn't do anything but glare.
And what a glare she was giving to the Not-Optimus-Prime right now. She didn't know how Makeshift had survived their initial run-in with Wheeljack, but the Decepticon was determined to give them Pit. She had no clue where Optimus was or if he was even still alive.
Bulkhead was groggily coming to, Bumblebee out cold, and Ratchet was belting out random nonsense again. Only she was capable of giving the 'Con a 'go to the Pit and burn' look.
"If you keep that up, your face will freeze," he advised in Optimus's deep voice.
"Good," she spat.
"Oh relax, sweetspark. I'm just here to keep you entertained until the Big M gets here," he yawned with boredom and checked his internal chronometer. "Which he should be arriving right about now."
Sure enough, a door slid open and the Decepticon leader came in, an air of actual joy surrounding him. Bulkhead was now awake and Arcee nudged Bumblebee. Ratchet had slipped back into unconsciousness.
"The Autobots," Megatron purred. "What a fortuitous day this is. All of my enemies, right in my grasp, ready to be exterminated. Too bad your dear leader couldn't be here with you to watch this momentous occasion."
"What did you do to him?" Arcee hissed. "If you've hurt him-"
"He's far from hurt," Megatron assured her. "Let's just say he's never returning to the Autobots again."
"When I get my hands on you," Bulkhead growled. "'Con scum, I'll rip you apart."
Megatron's look was smoldering. "Perhaps I should kill you first. Or maybe," he turned his attention to Bumblebee, wrapping one hand around the young scout's neck. Bumblebee's optics widened in terror, "I should finish what I started eons ago."
"Leave him alone!" Arcee snarled, unable to do much more than struggle against her restraints.
"You would've made a good Decepticon," Megatron told Bumblebee, leveling his fusion cannon at 'Bee's head. "I should know. I was you. But it's better to kill you first, make an example of you."
Before anyone could kill anyone else or do anything for that matter, there came a loud screaming and whimpering from outside, along with a thudding of metal hitting metal. "Hey, stop whining," a voice scolded. "I'm shooting you gently. It could be a lot worse."
"What is it now?" Megatron turned to the door.
The door opened, revealing Optimus standing there, a Vehicon in hand. "Oh boy, the boss level," he tossed the Vehicon behind him.
"Optimus!" Megatron's optics widened. "Impossible! But you were-"
"Okay, so you know me, I somewhat remember you, let's get down to business," the Prime cut him short. "See, Megsy-can I call you Megsy? Those guys are my 'friends'," he made air quotes, "according to 'Jack', which may or may not be his real name. But still, I'm not letting you kill them until I get the truth. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Your choice."
Almost everyone was stunned by A) Optimus's blunt words, B) his use of the word Megsy, and C) his apparent new personality shift. Even Megatron seemed to be temporarily frozen.
"Hello?" Optimus waved a hand. "Is there anybody in there? You have yet to say anything."
"What did you do to him?" Arcee managed to yell.
"Quiet!" Megatron turned on her, about to hit her. Something restricted his arm. When he looked, Optimus was glaring at him.
And then Optimus punched him in the face.
"That is no way to treat a lady," he snapped.
"Did he just call you a lady?" Bulkhead asked.
/What's going on?/ Bumblebee looked around. /Are we being punked?/
"I'm tempted to say yes," Arcee could only watch Optimus and Megatron fight.
"Banana phone!" Ratchet shouted.
Megatron, meanwhile, found it harder to fight Optimus. The Optimus he knew had qualms about killing or injuring others. From what he could gather, he'd somehow created an Optimus that didn't honestly care, and would probably kill him and not feel any regret over it. He was punched again in the face, burying his sword deep in Optimus's side. Optimus wrenched it out, kicking Megatron away. Laser fire rippled across the Decepticon leader's chest armor, some actually penetrating the skin, though not far enough to cause serious damage. Optimus was no sooner on him again, bringing out his own blade to crash against Megatron's. In a bizarre twist of events, Optimus broke Megatron's sword this time. Megatron fully expected him to stab the sword blade at him. Instead, Optimus tossed it back.
"You missed," Megatron managed to slam against Optimus, nearly snapping his leg in two when he put his full weight against it.
"Did I?" Optimus's smirk was positively Decepticon-ish. The thrown blade had cut Arcee's restraints. She had quickly moved to free the others. "Here's a tip, Megsy: don't underestimate your enemy's potential."
Optimus grappled with his foe again, hitting him rapidly on the face. A knee to the jaw caused Optimus to fall back.
"You were never a match for me," Megatron feigned dominance. Optimus was rubbing his jaw.
"Primus that burns," the Prime scowled. "What, do you sharpen that knee or something? Feels like it."
Megatron snatched Optimus up by the throat. "Do you ever shut up?" he hissed.
"Not often, no," Optimus admitted. "Do you ever brush your teeth? I could smell your breath from across the room. Try a breath mint why don'tcha."
Megatron's grip increased. "Any last words?"
"Just one," that was when Megatron felt the cold blade pierce his midsection where his stomach would be. "Surprise!"
He dropped Prime, who coughed slightly and vented. Energon was pouring out.
Arcee had already freed Bulkhead and Bumblebee and had just undone Ratchet's binding when Optimus snatched the medic up.
"Time to exit stage left, I think," he said. "Follow me."
The four 'Bots ran out of the room, right down the hallway. "Do you know where you're going?" Bulkhead asked.
"Nope," Prime admitted. "I'm winging it. How hard could it be?"
The next turned corner had a mob of Vehicons facing them.
/Harder than you think,/ Bee added helpfully.
"Uh, tiny?" Optimus went on his comlink. "Now might be time for that Bridge, ASAP. As in yesterday."
Before the Vehicons could charge, however, the Ground Bridge opened up. The four Autobots skidded through, and the Vehicons ran into empty air.
Megatron stumbled out of the room, Energon still flowing, hissing in pain. "Lord Megatron!" Knockout had turned a corner. "You're injured."
"Thank you, Knockout, for that newsflash," the Decepticon leader's voice was heavy with sarcasm.
They departed to the medbay, where Megatron's wounds were quickly patched.
"The Autobots have escaped, Lord Megatron," Dreadwing reported. "Should we pursue them?"
"No, Dreadwing," Megatron smiled. "We needn't worry with them. I'm sure they have problems of their own."
((I have failed fight class forever.
In truth, fight scenes, not my best work. I've done my best to draw it out some but I can't do much better than that. Yup, and Devestator, AKA the Constructicons, will have their official debute, not just a cameo, later. As for Makeshift, this is an AU for a reason. In this version, Wheeljack's grenade didn't kill him, it only put him into an indefinite stasis lock and took out most of his memories. As for his appearance, I made it up, as they never really did reveal what he looked like in the series.
Review or Optimus Prime will come to your house and 'shoot you gently'.))