I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS
"I can't do it Lightrunner. I'm so nervous I think I could go into stasis lock any nanoclick," Lumina muttered, sitting on the stone sofa of the autobot base.
"Hold on Lumina, you can't just leave him at the altar," Lightrunner responded, "You've got to pull through and do what you were destined to do: be bonded with Optimus!"
The yellow femme's reassuring words did little to confort her, but making up her mind, Lumina raise her head and said, "I'm ready..."
Lightrunner smiled deeply and stood, "Then let's get going, we're late enough as it is"
Optimus shifted nervoulsy from foot to foot as the seconds ticked by. The guests were getting restless and Lumina was a no-show so far. One thing ran through Prime's mind: will she come? As he exchanged a silent glance with Ratchet, two engine roars could be heard coming down the road as a rider less sun yellow Suzuki zipped around the block corner, followed by a familiar silver Ferrari. Optimus' face lit up immediately and he failed to notice his spark skip a beat at the thought of what was to come. Lightrunner was the first to transform and take her place among the other autobots standing near the fountain centerpiece. Expectant eyes watched as Lumina proceeded down the aisle slowly, her amber optics reaching the red and blue mech she was soon to be bonded with. Suddenly overcome with new confidence, she hastened her step, nearing the end of the walkway in four strides at length.
The two autobots stood face to face as Ratchet prepared to cite the ancient vows of the bonding ritual.
"Are you alright?" Optimus whispered, gripping Lumina's servo softly.
"Yes, it was some pre-wedding jitters so to speak. I'm better now," she spoke quietly.
"Good because if you didn't come, I was going to come to you if I had to," he grinned, making Lumina giggle slightly.
"Oh Optimus, nothing could possibly ruin this day for me."
As the two kept their gazes locked on each other, Ratchet just began to speak. As he finished the very first line, a rocket blast thundered across the pavement and another one followed suit, only amongst the guests, sending organics and robots alike scattering for cover. The earth trembled beneath them as Lumina grasped onto Optimus.
"What's going on?!" she shouted above the turmoil and screams. Looking around desperately, her advanced optics couldn't pierce the smoke, but her hearing sensors picked up on the faint sounds of rotor blades.
"Optimus, it's the decep-" but her voice was cut short as another rocket blast separated the two.
All that could be heard was the pained scream of Lumina as she was blown back and away from her bonded.
As the smoke began to clear, four figures emerged from the black: Megatron, Lugnut, Blitzwing, and Blackarachnia. The screaming died down to a hushed murmur as the decepticons stood their ground among the rubble.
Spotting Prime, Megatron smiled darkly, "You know, it's quite rude to not have invited us, isn't that right Lugnut?"
Immediately the hulking monstrosity fired more rockets into the park, where the ground spurted up in a geyser of rock and flames as a sign of agreement. Optimus managed to scramble to his feet in time to deflect Megatron's blade with his energon axe. Sparks flickered along the metallic blade.
"Perhaps you'd like to apologize," he smirked, obviously having no strain on his grip.
The red and blue bot struggled to push the decepticon back, but was ambushed from behind by Blitzwing's pyro attacks. Grimacing in pain, he gave no edge and pushed harder, managing to gain some ground.
"What do you want Megatron?!" Prime demanded.
"Only the satisfaction of making you suffer!"
"What?! What do you mean by that?"
"I mean this: Blackarachnia!!!"
Much to Optimus' horror, Lumina came skidding on her back towards them, dents and scrapes in her armor. She lept up to defend herself against the barrage of the spider con's rapid attacks. Not having time to grab her blaster, the silver femme was forced to jump back then defend.
"Other than the allspark, this is your one true weakness Prime!" Megatron hissed.
Blackarachnia fired a jet of web which pinned Lumina's arms to her sides, "I am so going to enjoy this."
With viper-like speed, the con rammed her heel into the side of Lumina's head, followed by a swift dropkick to the chest, crushing Lumina's armor beneath. The autobot stumbled backwards still wrenching violently to free her arms, but she was forced to jump back as Blackarachnia rushed her. With one last tug, Lumina was free, blaster pointed and shooting. The two went back and forth in a hypnotic dance like that of any other as Optimus' strength waned slightly.
"Tired yet?" Megatron questioned and took the iniative, shoving back.
The autobot leader grunted in frustration as his feet slid across the turf with a groaning metallic sound.
"You see Prime, you are weak, I am strong. I do not let petty feelings such as love weigh me down, that is why you lose!"
Optimus doubled over in pain as Megatron's knee connected with his abdomen, followed by a new wave of pain as the very blade he sought to deflect dug into his right shoulder at the joint.
"It's pointless to fight on," Megatron voiced malevolently. "These feelings will be your end"
"You're wrong Megatron! These feelings don't make me weak, they make me stronger! And that is something you decepticons will never understand!"
With a metal-crunching blow, Optimus' fist plummeted into Megatron's side and he managed to rise to one knee, his servos on the hilt of the decepticon's deadly sword. Getting a firm grip, Prime pulled it right out, trying not to sever any important wires while holding back a pain-spurred yell. Energon leaked from the open wound, but he paid no mind as he charged the con leader with the very sword that once called for his doom. Megatron shook off the blow and rushed the oncoming bot, moving at the last minute and dodging the death strike completely. As Optimus screeched to a halt, he lost his footing trying to turn around in time to avoid a hot blast of plasma to the back. Thrown forward by the momentum, he cried out in agony as another shot plastered his back melting the first layer of his armor.
Getting in a hard left hook, Lumina knocked Blackarachnia on her can, followed by a finishing scissor kick, rendering the decepticon offline temporarily. Feeling her spark seem to split in two, Lumina's audio perceptors heard Optimus' scream like a bell. Her optics widened on fear as a white hot plasma bolt barreled his way. It struck home once again as her bonded struggled to rise.
"No! Get away from him!" she shouted and charged forward, blind with rage.
Megatron, expecting this, waited for the onslaught, a mysterious object hidden in his servo.
As the silver femme neared, she heard someone shout to her, "LUMINA!!!!! IT'S A TRAP!!! STOP!!!!"
But she had no time to being at full sprinting speed towards Megatron. Within his reach now, the decepticon found her arm and pulled her forward followed by a sting slap to Lumina's exposed neck. She land amongst the debris of the now destroyed fountain, inner systems flashing red with an all system failure.
"Aughhh!!! What's going on?!" she screamed, joints locking up.
An electrical surge pulsated through her entire frame, her spark being overworked.
"Ugh! Someone-aughhh!!!!!" Lumina lurched in pain, as her spark seemed to go into a robotic version of a heart attack.
With one final attempt to reach her neck, the very air around her seem to crackle in electricity as a final burst scrambled her circuits. Optimus gasped in shock as an unearthly wail pierced his very core and then dead silence.
The very essence of time seemed to slow down as Optimus seeked out the source of the sound. Finding it, he went stark still as Lumina's body fell forward slowly, as if in a fluid motion. As he finally found his voice, it was too late. Megatron stood over the still femme and a deathly gleam came into his optics.
"Wha-what did you do to h-her?!" he groaned, on his knees at this point.
Reaching down, the con peeled something off Lumina's neck.
"This," he gestured to, "is an EMP Patch, a weapon specially modified to bring down autobots in the most painful way, but not necessarily kill them. Worked like a charm, didn't it?"
He turned to Optimus and approached him painfully slow. "I'll leave you with this last thing to live on: how do you expect to protect your bonded if you cannot protect yourself? Until you are able to do so, she will be mine, whether by her choice or force, either works."
Megatron's chilling words echoed in Optimus' processor as his systems began to shut down from lack of energon: how do I protect her if I can't even protect myself?