A/N: This took a little longer to get out because I was sick on Saturday, went to an amusement park on Sunday, and had rehearsal for a play followed by my family birthday party. Anyways, here's the new chapter, I know you've been waiting for it, so I hope you like it.
Optimus took a step in denial as he watched his son die at Megatron's hand. There was a pain in his spark, before he felt his bond with Bumblebee grow strong again. While it felt right to have the bond with his son, he didn't want it if it meant his son was dead. The young Prime then turned towards Primus.
"Why? You said no harm would come to him. Why must you be so cruel? He's only fifteen. He's still a youngling!" Optimus had started off quietly, his voice barely above a whisper, and then grown louder as he let his anger into his voice. Primus didn't flinch at the Prime's words, and looked calmly down at his creation.
"I have my reasons, and I will explain shortly, but I don't like to explain things twice. So follow me, besides, I'm sure there is someone who wants to see you." As he said this, the Cybertronian creator started walking away, assuming that the young Prime would follow.
The darkness didn't last long, after a few seconds of blackness, it exploded in a bright light that left me blinking, trying to be able to see. Squinting at the bright landscape, I tried to figure out where I was. After a few seconds, a shadow fell upon me, and I looked up to see the six original Primes.
"Brother. We've been watching over you for a long time. It's nice to finally be able to speak to you." I took a small step back, shaking my helm, so confused. The Primes looked between themselves and then glancing back at me, and by then I found my voice.
"Why do you call me your brother? I'm not a Prime." As I said this, the ground started to shake slightly, in the same way it did whenever Optimus walked, except stronger.
"That is what I am here. There is a lot I need to explain and little time to do so." I spun around on my heels, turning to see Primus, and my father. Both of them were smiling, but my father's seemed to be a sad smile.
Not really thinking, I ran towards my father, practically flinging myself into his arms as I give him a hug. Immediately, he wrapped his arms around me, resting his held on mine, while sending love across our bond.
"Bumblebee." I look towards Primus at the sound of my name, while he knelt down so that he was closer to us. "Young one, you are a Prime. The Last Prime." I was glad that my father was still hugging me, as my legs seemed to falter.
"How could I be a Prime?" It took me a minute to get my words out, but Primus didn't seem to mind, and smiled slightly at my question before answering.
"That's how I created you. You've been a Prime your whole life, you just didn't know it. And now, like your father, it's time for you to step up into the responsibility." I shook my head and tried to take a step back, only to have my father stop me by placing his hands on my shoulders.
"How am I supposed to know what to do? I'm only fifteen."
"It was not a coincidence that it was Optimus that found you. You've had Optimus to set an example for you. Follow that example, and you will do fine." Behind me, Optimus grabbed my shoulders, squeezing them in a supportive way.
"Bumblebee, I wasn't much older than you when I found out I was a Prime. And I believe in you." I felt my father's pride in me over our bond, giving me a little bit of confidence. Looking towards Primus, he gives me a warm smile.
"And you won't have to take on the full responsibilities of being a Prime quite yet." Primus seemed to take something out of subspace and held it out to me. After hesitating for a second, I reach out and take the object in my hand, recognizing it as the Matrix of Leadership.
"The Matrix is earned not found." One of the original Primes said this, while taking a small step forward.
"Now it is time for you to return." I turned my attention back to Primus as he said this, and he rested his hand on my shoulder, on top of Optimus's hand. "Return and revive your father, Novellus Prime." The world around me started to go dark, and I wanted to stay to ask what Primus had just called me, but was pulled into darkness, the bond with my father fading once again.
Optimus let out a sigh after his son had faded from his view, before looking up at Primus.
"Novellus Prime? Is that his new name?"
"Eventually, he should go by it, but for now, it doesn't matter. Things are certainly different from when you found out that you were a Prime." Optimus nodded, agreeing that things were certainly very different.
"I've been meaning to ask about that. Out of all of the fallen warriors, friends and enemies, I haven't seen Sentinel. Does that mean he's not offline?" Before Primus could answer Optimus, the Prime felt a tugging sensation on his spark.
After the Prime had disappeared, leaving Primus and the original six Primes, Primus let out a heavy sigh. Turning towards the six Primes, they shared a look, all of them glad they didn't have to answer Optimus's question about his predecessor.
My optics onlined as I drew in a gasp of air through my vents, sitting up at the same time. Immediately I felt a hand on my shoulder, trying to get me to lie back down, while at the same time, I felt my mother's hand stroking my cheek.
"I thought I had lost you. Thank Primus" For a fleeting second I wondered what my mother would think now that I was a Prime, but I chased the thought from my mind, when I felt something in my hand. Looking at it I smile as I see the Matrix.
Standing up, even though Ratchet had just ordered me not to move, I stumbled over to my father's corpse. Kneeling beside it I held the Matrix above my head, while looking to the sky. Please come back! I brought the Matrix down, slamming it into my father's empty spark chamber.
Instantaneously I felt our bond open again, as he sat up suddenly, cycling air through his vents as fast as he could. Gently I wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him, before helping him stand up. Off to the side, I saw Jetfire holding his side, looking at Optimus.
"A living Prime!"
"Two Primes." Optimus's voice had a little bit of static to it as he looked at me. I looked down at the ground, feeling uncomfortable with all of the questioning gazes. We were definitely going to have fun explaining this later.
Before anyone else could say anything The Fallen appeared right in front of us, knocking us over. He slashed at a couple of humans, and then pulled the Matrix out of my father's chest while pinning him to the ground.
"My Matrix." The Fallen growled this, before pushing off my father, and disappearing in a flash, reappearing at the top of the pyramid that was concealing the sun destroying machine. Immediately I was helping my father to his feet, worried that our bond was weaker.
"Dad, come on. The Fallen is going to activate the machine. We need to stop him." Optimus was cycling air quickly, as he used me to help support him, and I knew he was in no condition to fight. While he wasn't going to die, he had been drawing energy from the Matrix, leaving him weak since The Fallen had stolen the Matrix.
"All my Decepticon life, I never did a thing worth doing, until now." I looked towards Jetfire as he said this, worried what the old Blackbird was about to do. "Optimus, Bumblebee, take my parts, and you will have a power you've never know. Fulfill your destinies."
As he said this the Blackbird reached through the wound on his side, and pulled his spark out. Jetfire's body crashed to the ground, the spark rolling out of his hands. His words echoed in my head, and while I was a little disturbed by the idea of taking his parts, I would honor his last wish.
"Jolt! Electrify!" Ratchet called this out, and Jolt complied, attaching one of his whips to Jetfire's offlined shell, and the other to Optimus. A nod from Ratchet, and Jolt activated his whips, deconstructing Jetfire to his basic parts, and magnetizing them to me and my father.
I felt several of the panels from his wings attach to my doorwings, one of the smaller engines breaking apart and forming two smaller engines, while all of the other parts attached to Optimus. It took several seconds for the transfer to be complete, but when it was, Optimus no longer needed to use me for support.
From a glance at my father, I could see that Jetfire's parts had formed more of a jetpack for Optimus, rather than the becoming part of him like they had for me, as well as improving several of his weapons systems. He looked towards me and smiled, before nodding his head slightly, and powering up the engines on his jetpack.
"Let's go!" As soon as he said this, he shot up into the air, and I followed a second later. I easily managed to catch up and fly beside my father as we headed towards the top of the pyramid where The Fallen and Megatron were.
Of course it was then that I realized I didn't really know how I was supposed to help Optimus. My weapons were still limited, due to my age and size, and while I excelled at close combat, I certainly wouldn't be able to take either of them.
As Optimus sent encouragement across our bond, I felt a little better, only to lose it when The Fallen lifted up chunks of rubble from the base of the pyramid, using it as a shield. All three of the planes in front of us crashed into it, and they were all trained pilots. While I on the other hand, had just learned how to fly.
Trusting my father, I followed behind him, just barely making it through the floating rock barrier unharmed. Optimus tackled The Fallen, knocking him off of the pyramid, while I saw Megatron starting to charge his cannon, and aiming it towards Optimus.
Doing the only thing I could think to do, I put on a burst of speed, and rammed my shoulder into the Decepticon Warlord's stomach. Knocking him off of the pyramid, I also redirected his shot into the machine, destroying it.
Megatron and I rolled down the side of the pyramid together, and I let out a small whimper of pain every time my wings were scraped against the rock. When we hit ground instead of pyramid, pain was radiating from my right wing, and I was sure Ratchet wasn't going to be happy about it.
As I tried to push myself up, Megatron grabbed me by the back of my neck, lifting me up until my pedes were no longer on the ground. He looked at me and I shuddered at the grin on his face, not liking it at all. Megatron started carrying me until I could see Optimus and The Fallen fighting.
"Prime!" Megatron called to my father and he froze when he saw me, the fear from him nearly overwhelming me. The Fallen took his chance and knocked my father to the ground, before turning to see what had caused him to stop fighting, and smiled when he saw me.
The traitorous Prime walked over to Megatron and took me from him, looking at me like I was some sort of new pet to play with. With clawed fingers, he ran his hand over my wings, his claws easily leaving grooves in the over sensitive metal. Before I could stop myself a whimper escaped me, and a malicious grin spread across The Fallen's face.
"Leave him out of this!" My father growled this at The Fallen as he started to stand up. The Fallen simply looked at him, his hand hovering over my back in a silent threat, stopping Optimus in his tracks.
"Now why would I want to do that? It's more fun this way. Besides, I find it interesting that if you care for him so much, why does he have so many injuries?" Optimus looked away from me, and The Fallen chuckled. "Of course there are the small, little scars that are unavoidable in war, but some of these injuries are just plain reckless.
"He has several major injuries to his wings. His right arm was ripped off. His entire right leg crushed, and recently reinjured. His mangled neck and broken vocal processor." As The Fallen listed off the injuries, he ran his free hand over them, closing his hand around my neck as he spoke about it.
I cycled in air as fast as I could, his hand around my throat, the tips of his claws digging into the thin metal, bringing up memories of Tyger Pax. The Fallen laughed at this, pressing his claws in a little further until I started whimpering.
"He's only a youngling! Let him go!" My father's desperation was clear, and The Fallen growled slightly at my father's words.
"He's a Prime! And neither you nor Novellus will stand in my way!" As The Fallen yelled this, he plunged his claws into my neck, drawing a spark stopping scream from me. Weakly I tried to pull his claws out, as I continued to scream, tears streaking down my face.
My scream was cut short by The Fallen clenching his hand into a fist, crushing my vocal processor, just like Megatron had done when I was ten. As The Fallen just let me fall to the ground, a new scream filled the air, one that was filled with pure hatred.
It took me a second to realize that it was my father who was screaming, and by that point he had already charged at The Fallen, sword drawn. As he slammed into The Fallen, I noticed that Megatron was creeping up behind him.
The only thing on my processor right now was protecting my father. Weakly pushing myself up, I leaned against the nearest wall on shaking legs, and started to charge up my cannon. When Megatron moved closer to my father, I fired, the shot ripped through Megatron's helm, but I knew it was too much to ask for him to be dead.
Ignoring the warlord, I focused on the fight between my father and the traitorous Prime. The Fallen had just managed to rip one of the engines for his jetpack, and moved to hit Optimus with his staff, but wasn't expecting him to grab the staff himself.
"You chose the wrong family to mess with." Optimus growled this as he used the momentum against The Fallen, slamming the staff through The Fallen. Bending the staff around The Fallen's head, he pulled off his helmet, before pushing him to the ground near me.
Not even really thinking, I slammed my fist through his chest, shattering his spark, and killing the ancient Prime. My legs gave out at that point, and I collapsed on the floor, but before my optics offlined, I spotted the Matrix in the Fallen's hand. Weakly reaching out, I grabbed it before I was gently picked up by my father. Offering it to my father, he stroked the back of my helm gently.
"You've earned it more than I have." I continued to hold it out to him, and he let out a sigh. "Bumblebee, you need its power more than me." Nodding slightly, I curl up in my father's arms. His sparkbeat, the warmth from his chassis, and the slight pulse from the Matrix, as well as his constant presence through our bond chased any memories of Tyger Pax out of my mind.
A few minutes later, there was a commotion, and someone was gently shaking my shoulder. Weakly, I onlined my optics and looked up to see Ratchet. He seemed to be telling me something, I could see his lips moving, but all I was hearing was a garbled background noise. The medic seemed to realize this, and gave me a soft smiled before I felt a slight prick on my neck and everything faded to black.
The next time I woke up, I was looking up at a metal ceiling that wasn't that of the medbay. Almost immediately Ratchet was helping me sit up, as well as running a few basic tests like shining a light in my optics.
After explaining several things to me, Ratchet told me that my father was currently on the top of the air-craft carrier, and had apparently been in a little bit of a mood since I had been in the make shift medbay on the ship. Ratchet gave me permission to see him, so long as I was back within thirty minutes.
Eagerly I walked to the top of the air-craft carrier, and found my father at the end with his legs dangling over the edge. Walking slowly over to him, I prod him through our bond first so I didn't accidently scare him by not alerting him to my presence.
"I'm sorry." Out of all the things I was expecting Optimus to great me with, that was not one of them. "I've failed to keep you safe. I've failed you as a commander, a mentor and as a father." I shook my head as I sat down next to him.
"You haven't failed me; you've done your best. And sometimes things happen that we can't control." I told this to him through our bond, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, giving me a one armed hug. Leaning against him, we fell silent for several minutes, just enjoying each other's presence.
After a few minutes, I pulled the Matrix of Leadership out of where it had been resting in the space right underneath my spark chamber. Turning it over a few times, I hold it out towards Optimus, who looks down at me, letting out a sigh as he did so.
"Bumblebe, you don't have to give me the Matrix, you earned it." As he said this, he gently closed my hand around the Matrix.
"I might have earned it, but I'm not ready for the power or responsibility. Until a time where I am, I trust you to keep it." Optimus let out a sigh as he realized that I wasn't going to take no as an answer, and nodded, gently taking it from me, and placing it in its spot underneath his spark chamber.
As Optimus's chest plates slid back into place I leaned against him, enjoying his company. Surfing the radio, I smile slightly when I come across one of my favorite songs; Linkin Park's New Divide. Playing it softly through my speakers, listening to it until I slipped into recharge, leaning against my father.
A/N: This is not the end! There are two more chapters until I start on the next book. Speaking of the next book, I'm trying to decide between two titles, and I'd like your guys' opinions. Which do you like better? "Dark Changes" or "The Dark Side of Change"
Also, about Bumblebee's Prime name, Novellus is Latin for Young or New. I felt like it was fitting, and after trying several other words that I felt described Bumblebee in Latin I decided on Novellus. The reason for the Latin, is because Transformers seems to like Latin for names. Optimus means excellent, Magnus means great, Pax means peace, and Solus (the name of one of the Original Primes depending on different sources) means lonely, and Primus means first. I know my geek is showing, but what do you expect, I'm taking Latin for fun.
Also for those of you who were wondering how my birthday went, it went great, awesome in fact. My parents got me a car! It's not a Camero, or yellow, but it is a Volkswagen Beetle, which is what Bumblebee's alt mode was in the original cartoon. And my mom got me an Autobot keychain for the key! So I'm pretty happy, even if I do have to share the car with my brother.
artranger 27: Thanks, I definitely had a good birthday.
Witch08: Thanks, and I had to leave it there. I wanted to build up to it for my birthday. I hope that you've stopped shaking now. I definitely feel bad for Elita for a few days, but I don't think she complaining all that much, seeing how both her son and her sparkmate are alive. Bumblebee is most definitely confused, but trusts his father to guide him. You won't have to wait very long to see how I'm gonna have Dark of the Moon play out. Sentinel is one of my favorite characters, even with what he's done. And seeing how protective the others are, it won't go well, I can tell you that much, but that's about as far ahead as I've thought. =P Although I have also thought about the characters who died in that movie. And yes, I'm planning on doing Age of Extinction, and any others they might come out with. I definitely had a great birthday, and I loved the long review!
HardyGal: Thanks! Cookies are yummy. Yeah, I know you were probably expecting it to be Sam who died, but evident by this chapter, I have very good reasons to do that. I agree Epps's throwing arm needs some work, but the way they just kinda looked at each other like this happened all the time cracked me up in the movie. I really wish that both of the twins were in the movies...
Guest: Thank you, and I'm really glad that you love my story! I hope that I didn't take too long to update.
Comksreen-S: I"m laughing at Hangcliff. :) I know that I write fairly fast, but I'm always sort of amazed at how slow some people write. Compared to one of my friends, when doing a word sprint, I nearly doubled the number of words she had. But I don't always get a chance to sit down and write in big chunks, which is my preferred style of writing, so I always try and write down a few words here and there. I know as far as updating goes, I'm not that bad about updating frequently, but I know that sometimes I'll have read and followed a story and forgotten about it, and when they finally update, I look at it and wonder what happened in the story, so I always try to update frequently. I certainly don't have as much homework as you, but I also know that the US schools aren't as good as schools in other countries,so for most of the world your homework levels are probably pretty normal. I would love to share a story from my high school experiences, but I honestly can't think of any good stories to tell. But this is only my first year of high school.
Until the next time I update, and don't forget to tell me which one you like better: "Dark Changes" or "The Dark Side of Change"