Megatronus' POV:
I woke up, panting. I can't remember what I saw, but all I knew was that it scared me. A nightmare, maybe? I was surprised that I was laying down on my back. I was sure I was leaning against the wall. Did Orion reposition me? It didn't matter. I was online now. I looked around my room. He was nowhere to be seen. Which was fine, I was feeling a lot better now. I soon realized the new device in the corner of my room. It looked like some sort of small computer. I decided not to mess with it, at least not until I find out what it is.
I walked out of the room, only to find Orion waiting right outside the door. He seemed saddened. "What's... wrong?" I asked quietly. He gave a small, sad smile.
"I bet you weren't given much of a choice when you entered the arena." I froze. What did he mean by that?
"I...No. We weren't given much of a choice." I responded. "But it was the only way we could get people's attention." Orion frowned.
"You'd never hurt anyone... Not willingly..." I silently laughed at that. Of course, I'd never willing hurt someone. If anything, I'd only be able to hurt or deactivate someone in blind rage. Then again, if I had the chance, I'd definitely try to deactivate all of the High Council. But I know I'm not strong enough to fight them on my own, not without risk of deactivation. "Um..." I looked up at Orion. "I know this is a strange request, but... can..." he paused. "May I see your spark?" He asked. I stared as he began to scratch the back of his neck again. He wasn't wrong. It really was a strange request.
I questioned his motives, but so far, he hasn't done anything to earn my distrust. "Sure...?" I opened my spark chamber, confused of why he'd want to see my spark. I heard him gasp, silently. I looked to see covering his mouth in shock. "Wha?"
"It- It's cracked..." he whispered to himself. I just stood there, frozen. Though it didn't surprise me that my spark was cracked. What surprised me was the fact that he hadn't known. Most gladiators had to deal with a cracked spark. It was normal in Kaon, due to the abuse of our masters.
"Y-Yeah." I stuttered. "I didn't think you'd find that surprising, though..." I confessed. He gave me a look of disbelief.
"What do you mean?" He asked, clearly confused.
"I mean- it's normal for gladiators to exit the training room with a cracked spark. Especially in Kaon..." I explained. "My-- Our masters weren't exactly friendly." I could hardly read Orion's expression. Angry, disgusted, perhaps guilty? I closed my spark chamber. That glare of his almost makes it seem like it could shatter my spark with one glance.
"What is their name?" he asked, his tone heated. What did he mean by?
"Name?" I asked. I wasn't entirely sure what a name was.
"Uh- Sorry! I meant their...designation." I thought about it. I couldn't really remember my master's designation. I barely even used it.
"Uh...I-I..." I wasn't sure how to answer. I wanted to tell him, but I couldn't remember. "I-I barely even used his..." I paused. "Why can't I remember?" I growled. Now, I was getting frustrated.
"Don't-- worry about it..." He muttered. I looked up to see him scowl. "He's probably dead by now." Dead? What does that mean? I couldn't tell what he was thinking. I went to grab his servo, but he pulled away again. "Anyway, the team all want a chance to get to know you...again." Surprising, considering they wanted to deactivate me the first time we've met. "They were worried after yesterday." he stated. Were they really worried? I find that hard to believe. Another expression I couldn't read on his face, he seemed concerned. He looked up at me. "The natives of this planet... They are here today."
"Natives?" I asked.
"Yeah... They call themselves humans..." I got even more confused.
"This planet..." I repeated in whisper. "Wait- So... this... isn't Cybertron?" I asked. He frowned.
"No... We're... we are on planet Earth." he replied.
"Why? Wh- What about Cybertron?" Orion only sighed sadly, which worried me. Why are we on a different planet? Did we evacuate or...? "Pax..." I paused, unsure if I wanted an answer. He wasn't even looking at me anymore. "What happened to Cybertron?" I asked quietly.
"It...," he paused. "Cybertron was destroyed..." I froze. Our home planet... was destroyed? Why? We were just on it, weren't we?
"W--" I paused, once again staring at the ground beneath me. "Wh-What could have caused this?" I asked in disbelief.
"After the war started... The very blood of Unicron had corrupted our planet's core..." I looked up at him, his expression showed nothing but guilt. Unicron? Did Soundwave really go through with the plan? "Our planet is no longer habitable..." he spoke, almost in a whisper. I mindlessly started scratching at my arms. Scraping at the very surface that protected my frame. I hadn't even noticed what I was doing until Orion suddenly grabbed at my wrists. I jerked back at first. "Don't!" he yelped. "Why are you doing that?" he asked, concern escaped his voice box. I looked down at my arms to see what I had done, the marks that I left. I looked back up at him, concern written all over his face.
"S-Sorry..." I mumbled. "I-I didn't know...I..." I stumbled on my own words. He let me go and sighed.
"Optimus." he said suddenly.
"What?" I asked.
"My designation is Optimus." he announced. I was confused, why did he suddenly change his designation? As it turns out, I didn't have to wait for an answer. "Optimus Prime..." he added. My optics widened. Orion Pax... was now a Prime?
"Y-You're a Prime?" I whispered in awe. He nodded in response. I felt a grin appear on my face. "That... That's amazing! I'm so proud of you!" I exclaimed. He gave a confused frown. Is that not what he wanted to hear?
"I thought you hated Primes?" he asked. I smirked, giving him a weak chuckle.
"I don't hate Primes... I just hate the High Council." I confessed. I rarely openly announce something like that. Especially when in front of a Prime or any type of authority figure. To my surprise, he offers a kind smile.
"Well... Guess you don't have to worry about them anymore." he spoke. He frowned suddenly.
"What's wrong?" I asked once more.
"This whole time... I thought you hated me when the Council announced that I'd be a worthy Prime instead of you... I thought I'd never be able to reason with you if I was to become a Prime." I froze. "I could've stopped you..." he added. "I should've tried to calm you down... Instead, I let you run off." His voice was breaking. It sounded as if he was about to cry. I honestly didn't think a Prime could cry. It seemed even as a Prime, Orion was still strutless. "If I had just... then maybe I could've prevented all of this..."
"This isn't your fault...It's no one's fault." I assured. I took a step closer, relieved when it didn't faze him. The last thing I wanted to do was startle him. "Things just didn't turn out as planned." I told him. "And that's okay..." I added. "I guess this just means life has a plan for us..." I smiled back when his grin disappeared. It was a small smile, but it's the first 'real' smile I've seen from him so far.
"Come on." he ordered. "The others are waiting." he said, as he gestured me to follow. Which I did. I followed Ori--Optimus back to the main base. I could hear people gasp in surprise. I looked around to see where the sound came from. Until I noticed three little creatures, who I assumed were the humans that were surprised by my presence.
"Hey." I spoke quietly, waving to the humans. They seemed a bit tense. Especially the small one. I felt Optimus' servo rest on my shoulder blades.
"Megatronus, these are the human children..." he started. "Jack, Miko, and Raf." he pointed to them as he said their names. I nodded my helm, yet they didn't respond. I tilted my head. The female giggled.
"Aww~ He tilted his head like a big puppy!" she stated. Now, I was confused.
"What's a... puppy?' I asked. Her squeal startled me. She was covering her face, her face turned bright red. The smallest male chuckled, while the tallest only smiled. "What did I say? I only asked what a puppy was?" Miko continued to giggle. I honestly didn't know what I did, I was started to feel concerned. "I-I'm confused." I confessed.
"We were, too. At first." Ratchet spoke. "You'll get used to them." he sighed.
"They seem to agitate you?" I asked.
"Often, yes..." he replied. "I honestly don't understand how the others can handle them sometimes..." he muttered.
"That's because you never had enough patience to deal with children." The blue femme mocked. Ratchet rolled his optics in response.
"Oh! Um... Apologies for changing the subject, but what are your designations?" I asked. They paused for a moment.
"I'm Arcee..." the blue femme spoke first.
"Bulkhead." the green crusher held up his servo. The yellow one sighed. "And this is Bumblebee!" he announced, pointing to the yellow scout.
"I can answer for myself!" he snapped. I jumped back.
"Bumblebee!" Ratchet spoke in a stern tone. "Don't talk to your teammates like that!" he ordered. Bumblebee beeped in anger.
"Bumblebee, what's gotten into you?" Optimus asked, calmly. Bumblebee glared at me, crossing his arms. I was starting to feel uncomfortable. He stomped off, pushing me to the side and out of the way.
"That was uncalled for!" Ratchet yelled. I stood there, frozen in place. I felt Ratchet place his servo on my shoulder. "Are you alright?" he asked. I nodded, though I was sure they could tell I was uncomfortable.
"I'll go get him..." Bulkhead sighed, running towards the scout, calling out his designation. I felt another servo rest on my shoulder.
"I'm sorry... You had to deal with that..." Optimus spoke from behind me. I felt my socket twitch. I look back at Optimus.
"I hurt him, didn't I?" I asked. "Is that why everyone here despises me?" He only stared, but that's all I needed for a response. "I thought so..." I whispered. "I'll head to my room..." I mumbled, walking towards the spare room they opened for me. I held onto my arms. Making sure no one could see my face as my optics leaked lubricants.