AN: Sooo…hi? I have been gone longer than I thought I would and I am sorry for that. I honestly thought my fan fiction account was worth pennies and dirt at this point considering how bad I am with schedules. I have been gone for many reasons, the main one being that it's my last year of my GCSEs and I really want to do good for this year because they are probably the most important parts of my education. Also because I have been stuck..for ideas with all of my story and self doubt that no one will like them. Also with my Taap story…I realise that it is too gory and traumatic for some people…well I may scrap it.

But I recently got a comment on Snap, and I thought why not? I mean they said please and what not. My literature skills have improved quite a bit so maybe I'm not so cringy anymore.

With further ado, Optimus, the stage is yours.


The ground shook and zoomed underneath his vision and his massive peds as he ran, rocks and small clusters of dirt shook themselves loose and danced off of the ground in methodically timed steps. His breath hitched and gasped despite the fact that no oxygen was required for his gears to keep on turning, purely out of anxious spite though he let the gas travel around his system briefly allowing himself to appreciate the cool air caressing his hot, steam boiled insides.

Bright optics looked wide ahead, their icy glass casing keeping the luminescent optic fluid from spilling out from parental angst.

They had been tricked, falling from the blade of their own honour, felled and flayed from the dagger of which the assassins humble and pride held. It had meant to be a routine mission of gathering energon, they should have doubted their hope, no energon readings were ever that high. Not in war times, never in war times. Optimus had let his team run off as he dealt with Megatron, aware of the fact that they were no better than he. Dealing with the bigger threat and letting his team gather the energon while the deception tyrant was occupied was merely a tactical point of view, Megatron was an effort that everyone struggled with.

Of course he should have realised it was a trap when his com link to Ratchet, who was their bridge back and Arcee, his second in command, cut short; even she wasn't that headstrong. He had made an error, a mistake and one that could be fatal.

So he ran, the wheels on his peds shredded from driving madly to his family.


The cave entrance was a Black hole to Unicron's realm in the dark cold night, a great gaping maw of historic, war eroded rock. It hung open with its cavernous pit spewing forth black nothingness towards the cold blue

moon. It was eerily quiet, only the melancholic whistle of the wind as it roamed around the dessert rock mountains with aimless determination. The acrid scent of energon hung in the air, a suffocating, thick fog. Bitter and unwelcoming to his senses, he feared the worst.

He stopped short to examine his surroundings, his life meant the most, he was the only link to Ratchet and home. His sensor indicated that no enemies were around his area, yet the fizzing crackle of his com link reminded him that decepticons were the fallen gods of deception.

A thick squelching noise took his fancy and he looked down, the liquid was bright blue even in this light and had a oily aspect to it, energon. He looked to the mouth of the cave, the drips of water like saliva of a rabid dog.

He took a step forwards into Hell.


Darkness enveloped his view for moments on end as he felt his way through the cave, aware that enemies might be near by. His helm was a wild beast inside, angry and terrified that he may have lost one of his own, not as a soldier or a Prime, but as a mech who saw his younger team mates as family. Optimus had not had family for eons, stolen from the burning volcano of war and he had little time to talk to his Autobots as this new title was thrust upon him – Prime – and yet he was never primed for the title. He felt conflicted at his title, the weight of Cybertron on his shoulders that brought him to his knees, the looks of hope from a soldier that he had never had the time to ask what his designation was as the light of his optics died to a cold frozen look of utter adoration. That was what made him stand up and carry the weight of a world and another world with it.

A groan caught his attention, snapping his thoughts away. Looking to his left, the brief flicker of stasis dulled blue optics danced in his peripheral. Bulkhead. The great mech lay on the ground, his jaw slightly off to one side and a great gash down his side that looked fresh with energon, his left ped was bent at an odd and uncomfortable angle. He looked up to the prime and with a creaking moan moved the hull of his body to face him.

"Too many of the fragging things…damn vehicons, meant to be mechs not insecticons. Was like some horror movie that Miko would watch. Agh frag…" He chuckled slightly before resting his helm on a rock wall.

"Bulkhead, how severe are your injuries?" Optimus kept his voice level as he spoke, sounding prime like.

"Hurts like a glitch does my jaw, good thing we don't need 'em to talk right boss? My sides feeling really cold though, maybe energon loss I 'dunno." The mech kept his composure as he put pressure to the wound. Nothing vital had been damaged which was good, yet energon loss was concerning.

"Bulkhead, where are Bumblebee and Arcee?" He could bring the two back to the mech regardless of their conscious state as for their smaller frames. Bulkhead…not so much.

"Bee scouted ahead, I heard 'Cee yell somet' about an explosion before her com cut off. I don't know who got hit by it though." The lights of his optics flickered again and the mech let out a groan.

"Bulkhead, keep pressure on the wound, I will find the other two and destroy the device blocking our signal to the base" to home, he thought.

The mech nodded in return and Optimus turned to continued his search. The cave was pitch black, an obvious observation, yet energon glowed in any of its raw or refined forms. Only did life energon not glow, mixed with oil which kept lines smooth and slick, he was reminded yet again of his headstrong and desperate mistake.

There were signs of a struggle ahead, many vehicons lay in their energon, multiple slash wounds and pulse shots, signs of Arcee he thought. No matter how stealthy the femme thought she was, she was the only one with pulse rounds and dagger sized weapons in the Autobots. Optimus had his swords, but it was obviously not him. There were also signs of an explosion, charred dirt and sand littered the area in jagged patterns, the scent of smoke and energon floated around the cave and a vehicons lay with the front of his body missing.

He spotted a lone figure propped up against the back of the wall, thrown back from the force of the explosion. Arcee lay prone, a painful standard issue decepticon ballistic knife buried in her side, one of her winglets had been bent in odd angles at different sections, the delicate limb bent from the radius of the explosion knocking her to the wall of the cave and her right arm looked as if it would drop off at any moment. Not that they couldn't reattach it later, that arm always seemed to be the limb to drop off and it was surprising she hadn't literally lost it on one of the multiple times it had been blown, torn, crushed or sliced off.

He rushed to her and tapped her firmly on the shoulder plates "Arcee? Can you hear me?" He got a moan in response and her helm lulled forwards slightly as he jolted her agitated wounds. Careful as not to bump her, he picked her up bridal style and carried her to where Bulkhead lay nearly unconscious. He placed her next to the mech and guided her to lean against the wall and not Bulkhead. Neither would appreciate being surprised and being either shot with a gun or punched with a wrecking ball, well who would now that he thought about it.

Again on the trail for his last team mate, his almost adoptive son Bumblebee, he carried on. Walking past the explosion, he came to a larger room. It was not this room that peaked his interest, but the larger one behind it and the sounds emanating from there.

"Insolent bug! What vital part should I rip from you now!? A t-cog, an optic, or maybe a spike!" The growling of Megatron's voice echoed throughout the cave like a hell hound. Mocking and carrying the bitter undertone of unhinged instantly and rage. Optimus' energon heated at the sound of the mech, he had orchestrated this plot as usual, he had tried once again to rip the Autobots apart. He heard the faint, rebellious beeping of Bumblebee, it was laced with static from injuries.

Slowly keeping around the cave wall he peered in, energon blades snapping out with a quiet thunk as they slid into their locked places. Bumblebee hung limply by the neck in Megatron's claws, the left optic on his faceplate shattered and a large indented gash lay nearby it. He had been hit around the helm with a blunt object. A large ugly wound spread from his ribs to his right thigh plates, blue and oozing sticky energon. On the same leg, his ped dangled barely attached to his ankle joint, violently torn off and many of his digits were bent in painful positions.

Unaware that his free servo had clenched around the entrance to the cave, Optimus narrowed his optics, blind rage thumping loudly in his audios like a roaring creature. His dents ground together subconsciously and made a horrid scraping noise as they clashed together.

Megatron grinned sadistically. His other servo softly resting near the scouts neck.

"Ah…maybe…maybe I'll just…silence you forever bug…finish my job."

Megatron didn't seem to comprehend how he had just been standing and was now flying sideways as a rage induced Optimus charged at him, almost bear hugged his hips, spun and violently slammed his body helm first into the ground, neck snapping back painfully as the force of the blow caved in one side of his helm and compacted his optic causing it to smash. Starving the decepticon leader a chance to recover, Optimus grasped his helm in a vide like grip, a digit sinking into the crushed optic and flung the mech over his shoulder despite the fact that Megatron had been laying on the cave floor mere klicks ago.

Making use of his unsheathed sword Optimus unclipped the weapon from its compactable casing spun and as the blade shot out of the casing, impaled itself inside Megatron's right knee cap as the con was picking himself slowly of the ground. It crunched with a slimy reverberance as the blade tore itself through muscle tissue and the frame itself out the back and embedded in the rock.

Megatron let out a pained yowl which was cut short as Optimus uppercut his helm which slammed into the wall, then pulling his helm Optimus through the mech across the room which caused the impaled limb to be torn clean off. Gasping in pain, Megatron tried to rise, his servos pulling his disabled lower half along the floor. As he placed his servo to haul himself up, the ped of Optimus prime pounded itself on his digits, the sound of breaking frame echoing around the room.

Barely giving him a chance, Optimus punched his opponent in the faceplate, overthrowing his frame entirely. Megatron was given a brief glance at his attacker, faceplates seemingly calm if not for the blood red optics that bore into him like a rabid bloodhound, wide and expressionless yet power consuming all the same. Megatron never saw the blade of the prime slice down and prise his entire arm off of his shoulder, nor did he see the many punches and flesh tearing gouges as the first strike rendered his optics out of their sockets.

He only heard the brief snarl of:

"Show me where all of your bases are Megatron. Because I can't seem to see them ."

And then darkness embraced him with razor sharp teeth.


Optimus stood over Megatron for what seemed like jours, anger rolling inside of him. Ashamed of his anger and yet he relished in the fact that Megatron lay under his peds, limp. Bumblebee had been dropped to the floor in his rage and had quickly subdued to stasis. Still anger pounded inside of his audios.

"…Optimus…?" A gruff voiced raised him from his thoughts.

Bulkhead stood against the entrance with Arcee leaning against him, both looking equally pale and beat up. They seemed to take turns in keeping their balance either grasping the wall or Bulkhead. They stared wide eyed at him, a wary look on their faces as if they did not know if he would attack them.

Optimus looked back down at Megatron "I let my anger get the better of me. And I do not regret it." He answered a question that had hung in the air with a clipped tone.

Arcee took a small step towards him, circling slightly, she raised her non damaged arm and in her grasp was a crushed device.

"I located the jammer before the explosion but I was knocked unconscious. Obviously. We can go home now." The last sentence sounded almost as if a prompt, as it telling him that it was over…or that her arm was near dropping point and she didn't want to put the 'days since Arcee lost her arm' counter which the children had made to spite her, back down to zero. Again.

Optimus nodded slightly and dumbly went to pick up the unconscious Bumblebee.

They walked out of the cave in a pained silence.

A sudden thunk brought them all to attention. They all looked down to the floor, of which occupied Arcee's servo. They stared at it for a klick before Arcee turned and stormed off.

Bulkhead called out to her "Don't you want your-"

"No." She replied spitefully and continued to walk away before halting and begrudgingly walking back to pick up her arm. Turned on her heel and walked off.

"Can you even feel anything there, Cee?"

"Can you feel anything there Bulkhead?"

"Feel what- Owww!"

Optimus sighed.