#feral Optimus

[tfrinpin]

Hullo. I am amongst the living.

This little idea kept nagging at me, so here we are: TFP where Op goes ✨FERAL✨

So y’know that whole shtick about “they had a secret relationship all along?” Well this is sort of like that, basically— yes, Megs and Op have had a secret relationship ever since the Orion arc. Megs kept in contact because he missed Optimus SO MUCH. And the war has been going on for so long. Also they can fix Cybertron together. But MOSTLY Megs missed Optimus.

Things go along, now they’re definitely considering peace time and even drafting a treaty to share with their respective factions.

But a little bump in the road comes in the form of someone that Megs DID NOT expect to see— MegaZarak. And instead of Zarak heavily injures Optimus or tortures him, like a previous idea I’ve had before— I’ve thought of something a little more heart wrenching. Shit goes down right when Prime and Megs are about to establish peace: Zarak beats out Megs from the title as leader of the Decepticons. He retreats, and escapes via ground ridge thanks to Optimus and the crew. Knockout, BreakDown, SW, and DreadWing follow after him, ever the loyal soldiers (and they also dont want to deal with Zarak). But Optimus gets nabbed just before he jumps through the ground bridge, and he’s now a prisoner to Zarak. So to fuck with Megs even more, Zarak uses the Botched Synthetic Energon to make Op go FERAL.

Like he’s a literal beast on a leash, fangs and all— and Megs, when staging a rescue operation, is torn because he doesnt want to hurt Op, but he has no choice because OP IS FERAL AND HE WILL LITERALLY GET HIS FACE RIPPED OFF. Optimus’ optics are the striking green just like when Ratchet messed around with it earlier on in the series. (Don’t do drugs kids)

He’s got Optimus pinned and he’s trying disparately to pierce through the feral veil that’s blinding the Prime. And there’s a small, tiny moment where Optimus calms down, and his optics flash blue. He tries to speak but his words are staticky and jumbled. Megs reaches out a soothing hand over Op’s face, but unfortunately the touching moment is short lived when Optimus’ optics flash green again, and he goes back to fighting like a rabid animal.

Megs has no choice to knock Optimus out and take him to the wreckage of the Harbinger where both bots and cons have established a new base since the one is Jasper got blown to bits. So Megs is looking through the cell door of the brig, watching as a feral Op is chained to a wall, snarling, growling, and trying to rid himself of his bindings. Ratchet establishes that it’ll probably take days, maybe WEEKS to flush the botched synthetic energon from Prime’s frame. Megs, ever the stubborn mech, refuses to give up on his Prime— so he sits, and waits, and assists where he can in order to bring his Prime back to himself.

So yeah, an idea where Optimus is pretty much having to be treated like a wild beast the whole time until they can get the botched synth energon out of him.

You’re welcome.

[nebulaoftheprimes]

Zoomies

Ok, so imagine that Pax was raised out in the Wilds and he was raised by sparkeaters. I have this scene in my head where sparkling Pax is just running from one end of the den to the other and his adopted parents and some of his older siblings are either watching him (making sure he does not injure himself) or continuing to go about daily life (this happens often and there's still work to do). Some of the younger pups are tumbling after him because Big Brother looks like he's having fun and they want to have fun too.

Once he's older and can go outside the den, he runs around the large clearing the pack lives in. Some other pups join him, because

a) it looks like fun

b) they're bored

c) it's good stamina training so the parents approve.

The parents also encourage them to go and run for a few hours because it gets the pups out of the den, it's something productive, and they can get a nice nap in while they run around.

After Orion gets caught by Trion or somebot, he still has the crippling urge to just run. This scared the living Pits out of the archives at first because first of all, WHERE DID THIS FERAL DEMON COME FROM!?!?! Oh, Head Archivist Trion adopted him? Why!?

Secondly, they had thought a big, wild mechanimal had gotten into the Hall because Pax still had his claws which left long thin groves carved into the polished floors. He was also quiet as frag and could easily sneak up on unsuspecting archivists, interns, or innocent readers.

Once Megatronus got comfortable with the fact the yes, Orion genuinely wanted to help his cause even though he came from the high caste, and no, he wasn't going to sabotage it and he really thought Megatronus had the right idea, he would ask Orion to teach him how to move about just as quietly as him. Now I'm not saying Megatronus wasn't quiet already, because he was. It's just that he large even by cybertronain standards and the fact he was taught by civilized macha. Not someone whose survival depended on silent steps, he wasn't trained by somebot who walk freely amoung sparkeaters with no fear. But seriously, Orion could walk on gravel and not make a sound.

Megatronus and the other gladiators wouldn't care that he grew up with any cybertronian's nightmare (second to only Unicron) as family. He ate living creatures for fuel? Yeah, big deal, any miner had to drink engeron from the lines of their dead fellow in the event of a cave-in. He has claws and fangs, and his armor's sharp and pointed? Welcome to Kaon folks. He could easily blend into the shadows and scare someone? Boo-hoo, pay better attention to your surroundings. He liked to climb walls and hang out on the ceiling? Slightly less normal, but at least it was him and not a feral insecticon looking for a meal. If Orion wasn't working, sleeping, or hanging with his (very few) Iaconian friends, you could bet your bottom dollar he was either talking to Megatronus, Soundwave, Barricade, Breakdown, Starscream, talking to some combination of them, planning the next rally, editing Megatronus' poems, speeches, or any of his writing, he was in Kaon.

Because Kaon was much more accepting than Iacon. He didn't have to shrink on himself, making himself as small and unnoticeable as he possibly could in public, while trying not to spook patrons with his armor and claws. He didn't have to talk less to keep his fangs from being seen as often or have to tuck his servos away for fear of someone complaining he might break a datapad or something fragile. In Kaon, people just accepted he was from the Wilds and continued about their day. In Kaon, Orion could catch an electro-dove midflight with his bare denta (something he wouldn't even dream about doing in Iacon), and bots observe, nod in appreciation of a successful hunt, and continue on as Orion would scarf down the bird in two bites. He understands the importance of fresh food, not wasting it like his fellow upper castemates, good for him. The gladiators knew when Orion got his now dubbed 'zoomies' because if you didn't move out of the way, prepare to be a springboard for Orion to bounce off of. He was small, but when that mech built up momentum, he was a fragging force of nature.

As Optimus Prime, he still had the urge to run, to be free. He just put a stopper on his base instincts, shoved them way down, and went on leading. Much to Ratchet's annoyance. The medic had met with Orion through a meeting of the trainees of important political figures, the younglings who were learning under the guidance of their seniors. No one had wanted to talk to him at that meeting, or any of the following meetings so he just sat in a corner and listened. Ratchet keeps noticing that the understudy of Head Archivist Alpha Trion keeps being ignored, walks over to him, and sticks his servo out, saying. "Hey, I'm Ratchet. I'm training to be the OMC of Iacon. Who are you?"

During the beginning of the war, Ratchet made him go out into the crystal spires for a few days, because he was getting jittery, and a jittery Prime isn't idle in a war. One of the more, memorable, times was when he was caught by some Decepticons (Megs was with them too)

Decepticons: *doing recon in the Old Forest [a really old spire forest the Iacon council had nominated as a planetary treasure. Bots would come from all over to stand under its towering crystal trees]*

one vehicon: *raises his servo, stopping the others*

Megs: *over comms* /what is it?/

vehicon: /somethings coming, and fast. We should hide, it might be an Autobot or two/

Decepticons: *hides along the outer edges of the clearing, they breathe a sigh of relief as a zap-deer comes running out of the crystal tree line*

vehicon: that's odd, I could've sworn there were two-

Optimus-fragging-Prime: *also comes barrelling out of tree line; pounces on deer from behind. He manages to clamp his much bigger and sharper jaw around its throat and rips its neck in half. Then processed to gobble it down in a couple minutes*

one vehicon: *stumbles back, and steps on twig*

Op: *freezes and snaps his gaze up; growling. Stops as Megs slowly steps out hands out and open*

Megs: hello old friend

Op: *slowly creeps up to him; sniffs his servo before snorting a turns away, leaving the cleaning*

To be fair, he gets a massive scowling from Ratchet when he goes back to the war front. He shuts down his higher processing power when Ratch kicks him out of society for a few days, so that's why he came up to Megs and didn't shoot.

On Earth, the kids find out, and they (Miko) love the idea of Optimus running up and down the halls when no one's at base. They could also set up a race on an abandoned road for him. Once Op's secret is out, the children, plus Agent Flower and Mrs. Darby, convince everyone to a race. It's simply they will race each other and Optimus until they don't feel like it anymore. Optimus is the last to get tired, so for the next few hours, everyone's just watching Op run back and forth, wearing the biggest smile anyone had seen him with since the start of the war.

[am-1-ty]

Tamed wilds and sharp claws

This is based off of @nebulaoftheprimes Zoomies! post (which i loved so much) This is the first fanfiction I've written on here so I apologise for any bad spelling/grammar in advance.

Title: Tamed wilds and sharp claws Words: 8274

Optimus Prime wasn't always the large symbol of hope. He wasn't always Optimus Prime, he was once Orion Pax and before that…well before that he was just trying to survive. Meals were scarce, even more so when many of the mechanimals would hibernate through the colder stellar cycles.

Then he was found by Alpha Trion.

He was on a scouting mission, roaming the forest when he decided to venture further out of his territory, just to see if he could catch anything good when there was shuffling to the side. The mech in front of him was no doubt a bigger predator, and while Orion had sharper plating he had only just started to grow into his adult frame.

Alpha Trion had no idea that anyone lived out in the wilderness of Cybertron; the mech in front of him looked no less than fourteen vorns, barely tall enough for a fully grown mech. Trion found himself with two options as he looked upon the young mech, plating high in defence and sharp denta bared in a warning.

It was more than a surprise to find a mech as young as he was with no others around him. It made him weary. This was meant to be a round, to secure the perimeter of the west side of Iacon. He did not expect to come away with much.

He knew that he had guards behind him, they were his trusty squadron but he couldn't just leave the poor sparkling here to fend for himself. “Hello little one” Trion tried to look less threatening, crouching down onto his pedes and holding out his servo. “Are you alone?” The mech in front of him looked up with weariness in his eyes, finials flat against his helm.

“Can you understand me?” He took the silence as a no when the sparkling leaned forwards on his servos, trying to gauge the scent of Trion when he held up his right servo. A sharp pinch is all Orion felt before the mech in front of him came closer. He hissed, a sharp warning sound before lashing out with his claws. A disgruntled shout was all he heard before his moves became lethargic and the world went black.

Trion turned to the selection of guards behind him, all looking various shades of guilty and confused. “I didn't mean shoot him” The guard to the far right hid his tranq behind his frame and Trion sighed looking back at the twitching mech, his frame still sporting his protoform colours.

“I can't leave him here” Trion moved to pick the mech up when one of the mechs behind him held up a servo “sir, is that really the best course of action?”

Trion crouched down beside the young mech, his processor whirring with all of the different outcomes of this. He nodded “I'll figure something out”. With the limp mech now safely secure in his arms a thought crossed his mind. Raising a wild sparkling would be hard granted but, as he made his way back to Iacon (planning to take the backroads of course) he couldn't help but feel that the light mech in his arms felt too right to be a coincidence. Trion smiled as he carefully made his way towards the archive tower, a new future beginning to unfold before his optics.

Orion awoke the same cycle, his processor fuzzy and the room smelled strongly of chemicals. The city of Iacon was loud and bright and overwhelming and he had woken up in a strange place that was not his nest at all. His instincts screamed at him that he was in the territory of another, bigger, stronger mech. He was lucky to be alive. That he should use this opportunity to run.

He had barely gotten off the berth when Alpha Trion opened the door slowly. Orion paused, lowering his body into a crouch (it was easier to run) before growling deeply, a warning fluctuating throughout his EM-Field.

That was until a tentative field wrapped around his, it was warm and it was soothing and it was so unlike anything that Orion had experienced. It made him stop, and reevaluate the situation. It was only then he noticed that the bigger mech held a tray, a cube filled with raw energon sat and Orion knew that it had been long before he had his last meal.

Orion wasn’t a fool, he knew what the bigger mech was trying to do. And it was working.

—

He had been introduced as Orion Pax, the understudy of Alpha Trion and they had left it at that. Ratchet was curious at most, sceptical of the mech at least. He looked small, underage and malnourished, barely grown out of his protoform. The next meeting the mech had sat in a corner behind Alpha Trion. He was silent, almost blanketing himself in the shadows that whispered behind him. His frame was small for the age that Ratchet guessed. Ten maybe eleven vorns at most. Sharp pointed joints and greyed oversized armour that seemed too clean for the amount of times he’d noticed the mech clamouring around the tower.

It carried on for the next three meetings. Orion always trailed after Alpha Trion, head low and shoulders curled. His eyes however were constantly on high alert, it was only after the third meeting Ratchet noticed he was looking for escape routes. Always seated near the window. Never properly focused.

Orion was a puzzle and Ratchet wanted to figure him out.

After the fourth meeting, the medic in training decided that he would finally introduce himself. He waited until many of the trainees and the mentors had left the room. His mentor would always make small talk with some of the others, similarly encouraging Ratchet to do the same. This however was like encouraging a brick wall to go out and make friends with birds. Ratchet never saw the appeal of making friends before Orion came along. He liked being by himself, thank you very much.

Ratchet didn't bother telling his Mentor where he was going, they were both in the room at least. The mech approached Orion, and it barely took a nano-klick before Orion’s gaze was on his, finials flicking up in interest before folding down again.

Ratchet paused, it was predatory, almost like he was analysing how to accurately offline him in a matter of klicks. Ratchet righted himself and stuck out his servo “Hey, I’m Ratchet. I'm training to be the OMC of Iacon. Who are you?" Orion didn't immediately take his hand, he stared, before quickly looking over to Alpha Trion. Ratchet didn't mind, it only intrigued him more as Alpha Trion gestured to shaking his servos and Orion made a small ‘oh’ before grabbing Ratchet’s servo and giving it a rough shake.

“Orion” the mech said as he leaned in closer, Ratchet observed as his eyes became unfocused for a nano-klick before leaning back, obviously content with whatever he had decided as his finials flicked upwards.

“Meeting pleasantries” he continued, and Ratchet’s optical ridge furrowed as he heard a small clink from Alpha Trion and whispered ‘nice to meet you’ before Orion repeated the sentence “nice to meet you”.

“Nice to meet you too Orion”

—

Orion had never taken a proper liking to Iacon. Despite never once being outside of the building that Alpha Trion had deemed safe enough to set up his own base. His own nest. During the first few stellar cycles Orion had been introduced to the world he was supposed to live in.

Taught to read and write and speak in the advanced Cybertronian language. Taught the basic mannerisms and the greeting and the behaviours. The shiny city of Iacon panning out before him when he looks out of the windows. It all looked so terrifying. His armour itched with the need to run and he wanted to bury himself in a hole, only ready to come out when he deemed it was safe from the confinements of society. Although he would never dream of not being grateful for his mentor's wisdom, he could not deny the rabid gnawing that consumed his chassis.

The first time he felt like this, the building didn't properly recover, and this was the archives introduction of the new trainee of Alpha Trion.

It had started with one or two mechs pointing out the deep grooves that were implanted into the ceiling. Then there were complaints about some thinking that there was a wild mechanimal roaming the archives.

The mystery was finally solved by an unsuspecting, undeserving mech who unfortunately looked up at the wrong time to spot piercing blue optics hanging from the top of one of the tablet shelves. She (understandingly) screamed and that’s how Alpha Trion got called down. He scruffed a squirming Orion and personally dealt with the situation.

The archives were a cold and silver polished building, and it was quiet, too quiet for somemech who was raised in the constant echoing of the wilds. Although the frequents who entered didn't mind Orion completely, they weren't the most accepting bunch. Unnerved by his silent movements and the glint of his fangs when the light got too bright. In the wilds, those who survived depended on stealth, of the silence of their steps but here in Iacon, it made him an outsider.

The group of young interns that Alpha Trion had introduced to him whispered behind his back, false rumours of where had come from -the wild, dangerous place he once called home. They didn't understand that he wasn't a threat, not to them.

But he was different, and they feared what they didn’t understand.

Expressing these thoughts towards Alpha Trion served to be a short comfort of ‘they’ll grow used to it’ and a pat of his helm.

—

It was a short trip to Kaon. That was all that Alpha Trion had described it as.

Orion was weary to get on the ship, it was loud and crackling with mech-made energy and it was something that he was taught to hide from, not hop right on. It took some luring but Alpha Trion eventually managed to get Orion on board. A small clingy Orion wasn’t the end of the world anyway.

The conference room was boring, to put it plainly. Orion had stuck to the side of Alpha Trion throughout the trip. Digging his claws into his mentor's armour when anymech came too close to him, snarling before Alpha Trion reprimanded him with a short and sharp click. His first impression thankfully kept most mech’s away anyway.

He unfortunately had to wait outside the room whilst Alpha Trion was discussing with the other higher caste council. There was a bench outside of the room, but Orion ignored that in favour of pacing the hallway, his optics scanning the building for escape routes.

When Orion reached the end of the hallway, an open window caught his attention. There he looked out upon the industrial landscape of Kaon, below the tower he stood on though was a stadium. It was loud, mechs shouting and cheering, blinding lights searched over the sky in long foul swoops. Highlighting the clouds that hung low, kissing the tops of the buildings. Orion’s attention wavered. Usually big bright lights and shouting meant danger, but since living in Iacon, it only meant something more interesting than whatever was going on in the archives.

Orion looked back at the hallway, he didn't know how long the meeting was going to take or how long his mentor would stay afterwards. Trion would always say that Orion’s curiosity would get him in the most trouble. This served as a quick and short thought and Orion jumped out the window.

—

The stadium was packed with all different types, shapes and sizes. Mech crammed into seats around the roaring stands and Orion felt overwhelmed with the amount of noise reverberating through his audials. He had half a mind to mute them when his eyes caught on the arena.

A grey mech, he was running rampant around the stage, low to the ground and fast. It made something in his chassis contract and the sudden urge to join the mech flowed through every circuit in his build.

Orion eyed the other competitor, a blue and white mech with a similar build to the grey mech. He was stock still, looking and trying to anticipate what the grey mech’s plan was. That was strike number one.

The other competitor on the stage watched as the grey mech zig zagged closer and closer to the other, dust clouds following in his wake. The grey mech turned away for a split second before grabbing a struggling competitor and body slamming the blue and white mech into the ground.

The crowd went manic. Cogs and bolts flew as the stands erupted in a tsunami of cheers and Orion muted his audials in panic, finials flat against his head, he ran to the nearest safe place he could see.

Slowly he brought his audials back online. The hallway that he had dashed into muffled a lot of the noise and he placed a servo on the cold wall. It grounded him for a moment as he slid down to sit on the gravel. Orion would regret it later when he would still have stones and sand falling out of his armour an hour later but that was a problem for future Orion. After a moment of muffled cheers and vents being blasted at full force, he heard quiet footsteps.

Orion righted himself, turning with a curious gaze to the darkened tunnel and decided to investigate. A small part of himself (a part that might not ever be snuffed out) had already declared that this hiding spot was his. He was the bigger predator, he would fight the creature that had decided to invade his territory.

It was there that he ran into the large grey mech, at least two times bigger than he was, armour sharp and eyes a blazing red. Scrap, he was definitely not the bigger predator. They stared at each other for a while the datapad in the larger mech’s dimmed at the lack of stimuli.

“Hello” The mech said, and Orion was too stunned, too overwhelmed by the events of the cycle that he forgot to respond. Too concentrated on picking apart this mech’s weaknesses whether he realised it or not. Up close Orion could see how the mech’s armour glinted with rough edges and battle scars from years of training and battles.

The mech didn't back down, didn't shy away from Orion’s predatory gaze. In fact he was more intrigued if anything. As the more he stared the higher Orion’s plating rose, an adorable attempt at intimidation.

“I didn't hear you come round the corner” the mech said “I must be more tired than I thought” the grey mech laughed. It was husky and deep and it seemed to slip down his throat like honey.

“What are you doing here young mech?” ah questions. He could do this.

“Loud” Orion croaked out and he internally cringed at the simplicity of his answer, he knew better words than that.

“Yes I suppose it is” The grey mech knelt down “i don't do well with crowds either” he smiled, and Orion noted how he did not display his denta like many others and how Alpha Trion taught him to smile.

“Im Megatronus” and oh! Orion had read about him in one of the tablets, Alpha Trion blatantly complained about his rebellion that he leads, he wasn't just a gladiator, he threw speeches left right and centre. Megatronus spoke up against the higher up’s, he connected the downtrodden, spoke up for the miners and the labourers of Kaon, the Cybertronians living underneath the heavy weight of the council’s iron rules. He was known for being the fiercest fighter in the vast chambers of Kaon's fighting arenas, where the shadows would linger, covering the air with thick smoke and sparks of raw ambition crackled, lighting up the stadiums. The Kaon fighting pits! So that's where he was!

Orion suddenly felt a lot more confident as he answered “Nice to meet you, my name is Orion”.

“Orion?” Megatronus mulled it over “that's a very interesting name”. There was a pause, Megatronus’ eyes searched his before the larger mech finally decided to break the muffled shouts of the stadium with “You’re not from Kaon are you, young mech?”

Despite how many times that Orion scuffed up his armour, how many times he rolled in the dirt or covered himself in the scent of fresh growth and outdated energon on his scouting trips. The new armour would always be washed clean at the end of the day. Shiny and presentable. Just like Alpha Trion.

“No, sir, Iacon is where I reside” hmm, it seemed like the practice conversations he would have with Ratchet is paying off “I’ve read your speeches, what you fight for is very brave and admirable”.

The mech’s optics dimmed and he scoffed "what would a prissy Iacon mech know about needing to fight” Orion knew that it wasn't a question. If not for the seething anger and annoyance that reverberated around the mech but for the curling snarl that displayed sharp white denta. Orion didn't know what he did wrong, the mech liked him before didn't he? Was it something of his status, did he have a bad relationship with Iacon?

Alpha Trion never liked him, perhaps that was it?

“Why are you here anyway? What business do you have with the Kaon pits?” The large mech pushed forwards as Orion curled back, this was a predator and Orion knew not to mess with predators. But he couldn't run away from this fight “Were you sent by the council? To find the flaws in our ways?” Orion shook his helm helplessly.

“I heard cheers, I was curious is all” Orion felt his servos hit the wall and his spark whirled rapidly, he was trapped.

Megatronus smirked, leaning closer knowing that he had gotten the spy trapped and ignoring his pleas “I wonder what the higher council will say when I caught one of their-” It was sharp and fast and painful. Megatronus cried out as Orion scrambled back, claws out and sharp denta bared in a warning. The scrape across Megatronus’ armour was steadily oozing energon and he looked at the young mech, surprise drawn across his faceplates.

“Well look at that, the glitch mouse had claws” The grey mech looked down at Orion, they had to at least be the same age but the other looked small and malnourished, sharpened armour and his optics formed slits.

“You weren't raised in Iacon, were you?” Orion paused, his vents working overtime to cool his internal workings and shook his head.

“My home was what Trion calls the wilds.” Megatronus furrowed his optical ridges before smiling and nodding.

“My apologies for my rude introduction little glitch mouse, come visit the Kaon Pits anytime, maybe then you can teach me how you did that neat trick” Megatronus smiled when the pupils of Orion's optics expanded, his finials flicking up.

“I enjoy our next talk”

—

The introduction between Megatronus and Orion sparked and lit a brilliant blazing flame and despite what Alpha Trion internally thought, he was glad at least that Orion had made a few friends other than Ratchet. He should have expected that they were going to be more of the unruly type but that did little to stop Orion. Instead it further intrigued him, Orion never found solace in Iacon, but in the dark, industrial city of Kaon he found freedom. More freedom than he had felt in the last three vorns. Megatronus did not berate him if his words got too harsh or if he didnt use the right tone, nor his fellow colleagues. They did not teach him the ways of the new society nor did they try. Instead he taught them.

He taught them how to move silently, how to blanket yourself in the shadows when capturing your prey and to never stay still. The gladiators of Kaon were far unlike the archivists, they didn't care for Orion’s past. That he had grown up surrounded by a multitude of cybertronian nightmares. They didn't care because to them, it only made him stronger. They accepted him as he was, claws and all.

It had posed a few misunderstandings when he was first introduced however, on the surface he looked like just another mech who wanted to join Megatronus’ cause. And if Megatronus trusted him, why shouldn't they? When mech’s would finish their battles and reside in the common space it took a while for them to realise that Orion scampering up the walls and along the ceiling, his claws leaving deep grooves in the steel walls, was going to become a regular thing.

Megatronus had once caught Orion doing it, mumbling something to himself about where the holes in the wall came from as one of his friends patted his arm “at least it's not a feral insecticon, we'll take the small wins”.

Orion was overwhelmed with the change in acceptance and he held onto it with both servos. He revelled in the fact that he didn't have to shrink inwards on himself, he didn't have to make himself as small and unnoticeable as he possibly could in public. He didn't have to worry about spooking patrons with his armour and claws.

He talked loud and proud, fangs glinting sharply in the low light of the city, using his hands freely in expression, and not fearing that someone would tell him to put them away in fear he would break the fragile objects around him. Mechs did more than just accept him, they embraced him into their groups, laughing when his optics were consumed by his pupils and jumped around when he got excited. In Kaon, Orion would be able to catch an electro-dove mid flight with his bare denta (something that he wouldn't even dream about doing in Iacon) and bots that were in the area would observe, nod in appreciation of a successful hunt and continue on as Orion would scarf down the bird in two bites. Megatorn (who would normally go flying with Orion at least once a deca-cycle) openly laughed whenever this occurred, it was a sound that Orion wanted to bottle in a jar and keep for the rest of eternity.

When the urge seized Orion once again, spark becoming bound within his chassis and processor dizzy with the amount of new information it held, he ran. It became clear, with both the mechs in the Kaon Pits and the surrounding neighbourhood that if you got in the way whilst Orion got his (dubbed by Megatronus) ‘Zoomies’ because you failed to get yourself out of the way in time, be prepared to become the next cybertronian springboard. Sometimes, some gladiator mech’s joined him, picking out different routes and buildings that they would all safely get over, laughing as they raced through the dark streets of Kaon. In those moments, Orion felt more alive than he had done in years.

He was no longer who he once was, unnamed mech just trying to survive out in unmarked territory, nor was he the quiet understudy archivist of Iacon that he had built his position around. Not when he was out here. Out here, he was something in between. Something wild and untamed, yet with a mind as sharp as his claws.

–

When Orion became chained by his new name, it was a lot harder to sneak out (it was a lot harder to do anything besides work). He had learned quickly during his time in Iacon that he was to place a stopper on his base instincts. That he shouldnt behave like that if he wanted to become a civilised mech. So, he did. Optimus (Not Orion anymore) was a leader, strong and powerful, and if his berth looked a bit more like a nest, or if he snarled and hissed at decepticons in the mists of battle, that was nobody’s business but his. His urge to run, to devour and maim gnawed at him beneath the weight of responsibility.

—

Ratchet wasn't an oblivious mech. He could see how Optimus had gotten twitchy at the start of the war, couped up in some base whilst trying to decipher the Decepticons messages. It was hard, especially since he was constantly surrounded by new people without having Alpha Trion to hide behind when things got too overwhelming. Becoming someone new almost overnight was suffocating for any mech.

Ratchet would see the way that his servos’ would clench, his early morning prowls around the base and the late night kitchen raids. Ratchet was sure that he had seen Optimus climb on top of the energon cooler once, but he didn't mention it.

This was why when he came into Optimus’ hab suite to find Optimus lying on one of the metal beams above his berth he put his foot down.

“You need to go out,” Ratchet said the next morning, his fingers flying on the datapad in rapid succession. Optimus paused, the crates of broken tablets clunking in front of him, “what?”

“You heard me, you’ve been cooped up in this base and it's driving both you and me mad.” Ratchet grumbled, finishing off his sentence on the data pad and turning to Optimus. “That wasn't a suggestion”.

“Ratchet, I need to be here, helping” Optimus put the box down, his armour plate rising in an attempt to make his point known. “There is too much at stake fo-”.

Ratchet stared at him, quiet and still. He crossed his arms over his chassis. Optimus shrank back.

“Just a few cycles, that's all i ask” Ratchet smiled, Optimus was always known to be big and strong, all knowing. In the end Ratchet always knew the truth. He was barely over 20 vorns after all. “It will be good for you, to burn off that energy and shutting down your higher processing”. He noted the way that Optimus seemed to stiffen.

“I know you haven’t done it in a while” Ratchet paused, forcing Optimus to make optic contact with him. “It's needed though”.

Optimus frowned, optics darting around the room trying to focus on anything but the conversation at hand, “but-”

“But nothing, as your medic I insist” Optimus scoffed at those words “playing the medic role now are we?” Ratchet dutifully ignored him “go out to the crystal spires for today and if you really don't like it come back, but i won't bother you for a few cycles if you decide to stay there”. Ratchet came close, his EM-Field wrapping around Optimus like a warm safe blanket. Optimus hesitated, if something were to happen whilst he was gone, but he trusted Ratchet. Eventually he sighed and Optimus met Ratchet's optics.

“If the medic says so”.

Ratchet smiled, and laughed, patting Optimus on his shoulder “come on, i'll see you out”.

—

The wilderness echoed around him, a quiet whisper of home enveloped his helm and Optimus smiled. Claws sunk into the ground, the familiar feeling of dirt under his pedes. He didn't walk. He ran.

—

It was supposed to be nothing more than a scouting mission, even if his spark ached for the familiar soil under his pedes and the smell of Iacon. Megatron had told his lieutenant that it was nothing more than that. Even if Starscream had looked him up and down with hooded eyes and a knowing smirk plastered across his faceplate.

"You're in charge until I'm back" Megatron had mumbled, his voice echoing round the bow (starscream had lovingly nicknamed it the throne room) "I trust you'll be responsible" Megatron turned towards the door, smiling slightly at the way starscream's face lit up.

He decided to take some lowly recruits, it would have looked odd if he just went out by himself anyway.

He had decided to scout the west side of Iacon, the Old forest was what many of the locals had called it. Some even claimed that the forest grew only a few cycles after Primus transformed himself into Cybertron. The woodland stretched for miles, bushy mountains and valleys filled with spires that stretched higher than many of the buildings that were splayed out across Iacon.

The local council had deemed it a planetary treasure and mechs from all over Cybertron would come to various parts just to marvel and stand under the hundreds of acres of towering crystal trees.

Megtron had led his small squadron to the outskirts of one of the small openings and led them inside. Telling each and every one of them to keep guard as Iacon was known for having the most top security system there was. After all, Optimus Prime (Bah, such a silly name if you asked Megatron) resided in the city. Only the best for Mr. Prime himself.

Megatron remembered a time when big titles didn't matter, not when they had each other's back. Not when each other was all they had.

A squadron up at the front raised his servo and Megatron raised an optical ridge. His audials picking up the shuffling of the trees and the clinking of leaves, optics scanning their surroundings and looking for threats between the trees.

He eventually gave up after a second, turning to his comms and hushing a quiet but harsh 'what is it?'. There was only a slight pause before a voice overcame the right side of his audial and the squadron's voice came overhead.

‘Something is coming’ he said ‘and fast. We should hide, it might be an Autobot or two’ the rest of the mechs around him stiffened up and Megatron rolled his eyes. He knew that most of the Decepicons were part of normal civilisation and society before they joined his cause. They couldn’t have not been, unless there was some secret organisation of mechs he didn’t know about.

(Which was highly unlikely)

They pushed themselves back towards the trees, blanketing themselves in the darkness of the surrounding night that whispered along the edges of the clearing. Many of their frames, thankfully, were among the greyer colours.

There was an intake of breaths as galloping footsteps came closer, pushing sheddings of crystal shards across the ground as a zap-deer came rushing through the trees, clearly in distress about something.

Megatron heard a collective outtake of vents at the built up pressure he was sure they were all experiencing. He paused at a quiet whisper of the mech from before (god forbid it he knew their name) “that's odd, I could've sworn there were two-“

That’s when he sees him. Optimus-fragging-prime in all of his large matrix holding glory. The mech barreled through the treeline, his plating littered with scrapes and dents and his claws freshly sharpened.

The squadron watched on in horror as Optimus (THE Optimus prime, oh Lord high protector and kind leader of the autobots) jumped on top of the zap-deer, pinning it down and sinking his claws into its mesh as easily as melted steel.

It occurred to megatron then two things: 1. Optimus was out of his mind, both figuratively and literally 2. Megatron has no idea how the autobots haven’t already won this war (and he’s starting to think that Optimus is losing on purpose)

Optimus’ jaw unhinged and the squadron got a short glint of his fangs before he ripped off the head of the zap-deer, the throat split open in a spray of energon and despite the nauseating fear surrounding his squadron, Megatron could help but feel impressed.

He knew that Orio-Optimus (before he was Optimus) grew up in the wilds. The active base coding in his processor looked almost to be snuffed out by the time Megatron saw him leading the autobots.

He knew though. Megatron knew that Orio-Optimus (he was Optimus now) could never forget who he was before Primus chose him. He watched on as Optimus feasted on his newest kill, almost smiling at the horrified looks on his squadron's faces.

It didn’t last long though as one of the mechs took a step back, clearly unnerved by the whole ordeal, and stepped on a broken piece of crystal. It crushed loudly under his pede and he winced, optics widening as optimus’ head spun round. Optics slit and fangs bared in a warning growl at the trespasser. (Fully intent on mauling them I hope you know)

This stopped however as Megatron stepped out in front of the mech. Forcing Optimus’ gaze on him as he approached the edge of the cleaning. Shadows chased away by the moonlight shining off of the crystals.

Optimus stared at him for a moment and Megatron could see how his optics quivered before shrinking down again.

Megatron waited, crouched on one knee, servo’s out and open.

“Hello old friend”

Optimus paused, his primal mind assessing the situation before slowly creeping closer. He noticed his own scent on the other mech, it was light and old but it was there.

Megatron felt the light brush of Orion’s face plate as he sniffed his servo. The warmth radiating off of him made him almost miss the quiet nights they would share together. Couped up in their berths with only each other’s holograms for light and nights they would sneak over the wall together. Nights that only the stars bore witness to.

It ended as soon as it started, this time with an ex-ventilation and a judging sound of a snort before Optimus turned and ran out of the clearing, his claws leaving deep sinking marks in the ground. And megatron with a warm spark.

He didn’t like what they fought for, a commanding leader who lied to their subjects and made bargains with devils. But he would never forget his first friend.

There was silence for a while before one of the mechs behind him turned to the others and whispered “anyone wanna tell me what the hell just happened?”

Megatron turned to point his cannon at them, his face plates curling to reveal a snarl. “If any single mech that was here today tells anyone else what happened here, I will slaughter you alive and feed your remains to Optimus. Is that understood?”

He got a chorus of “yes, sir!” And he relaxed, happy with the threat he imposed.

—

When Optimus got the short ping through his audial, Ratchet's calming voice echoing through his helm it was a struggle to accept his higher processing.

“Optimus, are you there?” Ratchet’s voice reverberated around his helm and Optimus found himself wincing at the volume. Resetting his voice box after a few days of not using it for the advanced cybertronian language he slowly replied to the medic.

“Here” he heard a humm from the other side of the comm and he found it difficult not to repeat the sound in an attempt to soothe Ratchet from a nonexistent threat.

“Are you ready to come back to Iacon? We might have found a lead on the Decepticons” He could tell by the clacking in the background that Ratchet was typing furiously on a tablet and Optimus internally chuckled at his friend's antics.

“I'm on my way back now” Optimus smiled and brushed himself off, excited to get one last run on his way back to Iacon.

When Optimus got back to Iacon it became a habit of Ratchet’s to shake his helm at the state he had gotten himself in, shove his friend over to his medical berth and gently wipe off the dried energon from his plating. A skill that Ratchet has perfected over many vorns.

—

“So…” Miko started, her voice trailing off in thought “He’s feral?”

Ratchet looked at her, faceplates tilting down in a scowl “he’s what?”

“Yeah” Raf looked up from his video game “what?”

“Miko” Jack started, his arm slinging down to rest on the couch “Optimus isn't feral” Miko whined turning to face him “not even a little?”

Raf shrugged and continued on with his game and Jack watched whilst Miko bugged Ratchet about Optimus’ backstory.

“Ratchet, pleaseeeee pretty please tell me some more” Miko leant over the bannister, her face uncomfortably close with the Medics as he took a step back grumbling something about personal space under his breath.

“I told you all that you needed to know, Optimus just needs some time to explore the surroundings without his higher processing getting in the way” Ratchet made his way over to the data pad that resided in the middle of the room, fingers drumming over the keyboard.

“Higher processing?” Jack asked and Ratchet turned, pleased that someone finally asked about something he could tell them wholeheartedly.

“Every Cybertronian is made with base coding, this allows them to walk, stand, communicate in their basic ways, ventilate, so on and so forth” Ratchet paused at the thoughtful expression on Jack’s face before Raf spoke up “so it's like babies?”

“Your human equivalent of sparklings would be babies, yes” Ratchet’s mouth formed a line “however cybertronian sparklings are much more advanced than human sparklings”.

“Babies” Miko spoke up and Ratchet nodded hurriedly with a dismissive “yes, yes I know”.

“Their higher processing is everything that a civilised mech has to learn when a sparkling, to be integrated into our society when they are grown” Ratchet turned away from the datapad, leaning against the railing and making optic contact with the kids “They learn things like the advanced cybertronian literature, manners and how to interact with other mech’s both their age and above”.

“So it's like the dual processing theory?” Miko interrupted and Raf looked up after his screen flashed a bloody red, signalling that he lost with a questioning “what?”

“The dual processing theory!” she bounced up to lean against the back of the sofa “It's basically how the human brain has type one processing which is more intuitive thinking and type two processing which is more deliberate thinking”.

The three figures looked at her and she furrowed her brows “what? I listen in class” she crossed her arms and mumbled “sometimes”.

“Right, yes” Ratchet cleared his vocaliser “I guess it's similar to that”.

“So…” Raf started, closing his laptop and looking up towards the medic “he's acting on instinct?” Ratchet nodded, servos rested on the railing and hummed in approval “that seems right”.

The kids mumbled among themselves, however they still seemed confused and Ratchet sighed “look, he just needs to run around for a bit, burn off the extra energy that he builds up” He turned back towards the data pad unbeknownst to the information bomb he’d just dropped on the kids.

“He’s got the zoomies” Miko whispered and a smile stretched across her face as she turned towards the boys behind her “guys! He's got the zoomies!”

Jack turned to her with an amused smile and Raf looked bewildered “he's got the what?”

Miko stood up, rocking on her heels “You know when cats get the zoomies? Optimus is a cat!”. Miko quickly brought out her phone, switching on youtube and showing them the first cat video that came up. Jack and Raf looked on as the video depicted a black and white night vision video of a house cat scampering around the presumed living room at frightening speeds. She paused, turning the phone towards her “just not at three am”. She dashed towards the railing, almost throwing herself over it “Ratchet!”

Ratchet looked over tiredly “Yes?”

“Does Optimus have zoomies at three am?” Ratchet looked taken aback by the question, looking around possibly for the secret camera that was recording this weird life he led “no, not that I know of”.

Miko deflated, and then perked up again “can we go and visit optimus?”

“No,” Ratchet said, and that was that. Miko pouted, deflating against the railing.

–

It was a couple of hours later, Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead had come back from a scouting mission that was deemed a tinsy bit too dangerous to take their partners on. Immediately as Bulkhead drove through the bridge Miko pounced.

“Bulkhead!” She yelled, sliding down the side of the railing as the bot transformed into his root mode. “Miko,” he replied, “how was your day?”

“Triangles” she waved him off “Did you know that Optimus gets the zoomies?” she grinned and Bulkhead leant down, confused.

“I'm sorry, he gets what?”

Jack looked up towards his partner, glad to see that she wasn't injured before leading into the same questions that Miko had “yeah, Arcee did you know about this?”

Arcee scoffed and leant against the railing beside the couch “I wasn't aware prime did anything other than work and look serious”.

“Anymech want to tell me about what happened on the scouting trip?” Ratchet turned away from his datapad and glared at the three mech’s. Bumblebee shrank away to jokingly hide behind Raf and see what new game he was playing today.

Arcee groaned “No energon, no decepticons, absolutely nothing besides death drops and skittish earth creatures”. Jack looked up in sympathy “not a very interesting day then?”

Bumblebee let out a tired whine collapsing against the railing as Raf sadly pat his helm.

“Not going to lie though” Arcee mumbled, thinking back to the previous conversation “I did once hear some shuffling outside my berth room and when I went to go and check, all I could see down the hallway was two massive glowing blue optics, I thought I was being chased down by a- what did you say they were called?”

“Demons?” Jack asked “Wizards?” chimed Raf “Zombies?” Miko yelled, clamouring on top of bulkhead as he quietly mumbled “Miko, are you sure you don't have the zoomies?”

“She absolutely does” Raf said as Arcee nodded towards Jack with the demons. “It was freaky but I'm pretty sure it was OP”. She looked around the base “speaking of OP, where is he?”

“Classified” Ratchet mumbled as Miko shouted “zooming!” over him. Arcee nodded and decided not to ask again.

“How fast can you run bulkhead?” Miko asked, now comfortably sitting on one of the bots shoulders. Bulkhead hummed for a moment “alt or root mode?”

“Root” Miko replied, swinging her legs absentmindedly and looking for a good cat video to show bulkhead. Bulkhead shrugged as best as he could without knocking Miko off “I don't know, I don't run a lot. I can go up to 300 miles per hour in alt mode though”.

“D’ya know how fast Optimus can run?” Miko asked, changing the subject with ease and Ratchet snorted with a mumbled “fragger puts claw marks in the walls with how fast he goes”.

“We should do a race!” Miko yelled, grinning from ear to ear and everyone groaned as Bumblebee buzzed ‘is that where the claw marks come from?’

—

It was past sunset when Optimus returned a cycle later, his frame caked in mud and his optic wild and dilated. Ratchet gently pulled him aside to the medical berth for the first in a long time. He gently soaked an old towel that he had found in the base, warm water and a dash of soap and busied himself with Optimus’ armour as he sat on the berth.

There was silence for a few clicks, only the sound of dripping water and clicking joints until Ratchet mumbled a soft “Miko wants to organise a race”.

It took a small number of clicks before Optimus asked, his voice box crackling after a few days of being unused “with who?”

Ratchet chuckled, making sure to keep his voice low so as to not disturb the other resting autobots “with you”.

“Me?” Ratchet hummed and smiled as Optimus echoed the sound.

“Have a night to think about it of course” Ratchet rinsed the towel, grimacing slightly at the murky colour of the water before continuing “But personally I don't think Miko will even remember she asked it the next time the kids visit”. Ratchet bit back a smile as he chipped off the dirt specks from Optimus’ face, the mech scrunching up his faceplates in silent retaliation.

“We don't have much to do tomorrow anyway” Ratchet placed the bucket and towel on the side of the table and turned towards the larger mech “get some rest” he smiled “medics order”.

—

Miko danced along the side of the road before making her way towards the middle, doing some sort of air guitar before bringing up the microphone to her mouth “Roll up, Roll up to the Bot 5 million!!” Miko yelled into the microphone, and everyone winced as it screeched whilst Miko decided that hitting it on the side would make it stop. Not even half an hour ago Miko had asked Optimus to a race as soon as she had entered the base after school (skipping detention as always).

He was however in the middle of a meeting with Agent Fowler at the time and the man nodded nostalgically explaining how he used to go racing with his father in ‘the old days’. Miko smiled blindingly as Optimus shrugged and agreed (anything to get him out of meetings, he preferred it much better when he would just wait outside whilst Alpha Trion dealt with the statistics)

Miko cheered and ran off to find Bulkhead and Raf (and Bumblebee) to rope them into this.

It was only when they had all gathered in the common area of the base that Jack and Arcee arrived in tow with Mrs. Darby. (Miko forced them to all be in the race).

“I don't think that’s a good name for the race” Raf called out from Bumblebee’s driving seat “we haven't been racing for 5 million years anyway”.

“Okay, yeah well i'm sure the Autobots have” Miko waved dismissively and Bumblebee let out a loud beep ‘how old do you think i am?’ as Raf snorted with laughter.

The landscape stretched as far as the eye could see, large sandy rocks scattered the sides of the road as the horizon bubbled with the heat of the July air. Ratchet sat on a nearby rock, quietly observing so that nobody would get hurt and chatting (gossiping) with June, who had positioned herself next to him.

Bumblebee, who had decided to take up the left half of the road, revved his engine loudly as Raf giggled in the driver's seat. Beside him Arcee stretched out her servos, she had taken up the mantle of running the first race on foot as it would be good for exercise. Jack, following this statement, begrudgingly asked Bulkhead if he could ride with the larger bot and Agent Fowler.

Miko would have been saying the starting times anyway so Bulkhead agreed as he revved his engine beside a grinning Arcee. Optimus had taken to running on his pedes as it seemed the most comfortable for him. If anyone asked him he would say that he was doing it for the training. A secret part of him, a deep and small part of his spark, remembered running like this with some of his younger packmates. Memories were blurry but the emotions were as clear as shards of glass. However, when he used to shuffle through these emotions, the edges cut through his spark like claws so eventually he stopped trying.

“Three!” Engines revved and Arcee dug her right pede into the ground.

“Two!” Miko giggled into the microphone and Optimus felt his processor go blank. The road stretched for miles, there were so many rocks to jump on.

“One!…” The world seemed to stop for a moment.

“Go!!” —

Arcee stopped after three rounds, her pedes hurt and the ground looked so comfortable compared to the dirt road.

Bumblebee, although he liked a good race, he much preferred to race against someone who could match his speed a bit more (he wasn't including optimus when he explained this to Raf) The yellow bot also much preferred not to be a cybertronian themed sick bag when Raf decided to start looking a bit peaky after the fifth round.

Agent Fowler had decided to give up his seat to Miko and instead do the countdown after the first round, complaining that he ‘Wasn't as young as he used to be’.

Bulkhead and Miko soared through the rounds, loud rock music playing from the bots radio as Jack had decided to ditch at round four to go and check on Arcee. For a while the only ones on the track were Optimus, Bulkhead and Miko who went up and down for Fifteen rounds until Miko admitted that she felt a bit sick after the spinning and decided to go and grab a water bottle and a cucumber sandwich that June had packed for the kids.

Ratchet had done similarly but with energon goodies and some rust sticks he’d manage to find.

Optimus, however took great pleasure in the clear roads, speeding up and down them with a speed that seemed unreal for a bot his size, the kids cheering him on from the sidelines, Bumblebee buzzing in admiration and Ratchet chuckled to himself as he watched Optimus steadily grow a bright beaming smile. At that moment he didn't look like Optimus, the great autobot leader of cybertron. To Ratchet, that moment was filled with memories of warm nights in Iacon, the dimmed lights of the medical sections and the view of the city below him. To him, he was neither Optimus nor Orion. He was something rich and wild, tired of the ropes that bound him to society. Tonight though? Tonight he was cut, unbound and free.

[thewallsaretalking-again]

GUESS WHOS HERE FOR FERAL OPTIMUS FRIDAY

[nothanksjohnny]

Let him bite _part one (I'm tired)

give me Optimus holding ratchet by his neck. He's disappointed in the medic for over working himself again. He's disappointed he allowed it to happen. It's alright he'll get him to rest as he slowly sinks his fanged denta deeper a small flow of energon streaming out of the wounds as the medic huffs and whines. Back strut shivering as a itch is scratched. A small tug has his voice hitch with underlining static. " rest. I won't repeat it dear friend." Is rumbled out of the primes mouth as his EM field hugs the medic in invisible coos and gentle touches causing a soft pleasure to cloud ratches mind. Making so sweet and willing to listen.

Give me Optimus that huffs at he to is stuck now as he holds the back of Arcees neck. " I dont need to babysitter prime I'm not a sparkling." Is snapped back with biting fangs. A growl and weight pushed upon her frame. Not enough to cause damage beyond just scuff marks to still heavy enough to make a message known. Annoyance no different than a cat scolding their kitten his audial fins twitched and flick. He'd let her fo eventually. When she learns to behave and not put herself in danger.

Give me a Optimus that grumbles as he scruffs Bumblebee. " hey they started it!" Hissed out in certain defense. Still,Annoyed, and Care I'd what flows around th two due to Optimus encircling them in his EM field. Primus he had yet to sire and yet it seemed he was just that to many of his younger soilders and scouts. Bumblebee being the one who often received his attempts to "ground" the scout. Small spats of hisses that soon dwindled into grumbles of a limp and submitting mech. It was almost enough to make Optimus smile if he didn't have a point to prove. A quick dig of his canines into the mesh and cabling of the scouts neck and he let go and softly lapped up the stray drops of energon. " Behave." He stated knowing it won't be long until he's pinning the scout again with a huff and churr.

Give me a snarling Optimus baring his teeth as he holds down wheeljack and clamps down. It isn't often he gets to personally remind his solders he chooses to speak rather than this. Keeping the others arms down but having his servos on the. Growls that vibrate the sensitive puncher wounds due to the primes bite. Many would assume it's out a malice. Perhaps he's gotten tired of repeating himself. And he has but just as he huffs and keeps Jack down its no different that a wolf keeping another member in pack from being reckless and causing trouble. Soon whrrs and tunes that could fool others of soon spilled from the wrecker mech. In plea of forgiveness and submission. "I learned my lesson damn it prime please?" Is begged through a EM field wobbling around them. A quick deeper digging o denta through mesh and the wrecker is released of the hold. Scrapes and mild denting follows through both of the mechs plating due to the scuffle that was started to pin down the cocky younger mech. Ratchet won't be pleased.

[thicctails]

The Wastes of Cybertron

haha feral Orion content make brain go brrrrr

Anyways, in De spatio inter astra I faintly eluded to Optimus having a rough past that required him to be a bit more feral. This will become far more prevalent once he gets to have Feral Baby in his vicinity for like .5 seconds. In the meantime, have babey Ratchet and his weird stray dog best friend.

[melishade]

How would everyone react to the news that Optimus used to be a federal baby before Alpha Trion found and raise him? I bet Zoe would add that to the list of things Optimus and Levi have in common.

It would be a surreal thing that they can't wrap their heads around. Like Optimus Prime? The most calm, civil, polite being that they've ever met used to be an equivalent of a rabid dog? Like they can buy the whole librarian schtick, but a feral child? Sorry, what?

Hanji does ask why Optimus doesn't remember much of it, and Optimus replies that it's kind of like a human baby. He just didn't have a proper thought or conscious to realize where he was or what was going on.

[nebulaoftheprimes]

He absolutly would, like; the hell is wrong with free food!? I hunted it and I killed it for you!

team Prime: *comes over to Ratch's medbay from time to time; are just chillen there*

Bulkhead: *freezes*

Arcee: what's wrong bulk?

Bulk: *points a shaking finger at the string of dead petro-rabbit and several species of elctro-brids* i-is someone threathing Ratchet??

window: *flies open*

everyone: *jumps a foot and a half*

Op: *causally climbs through; somehow doesn't see everyone else. He holding another string of dead mechanimals* time to go back the hot piece of slag I have to help govern now, yeyy~

Op: *sees Ratchet untouched string of animals* that fragging city bot!! What's wrong with free food!? *sniffs the old string* it's been out for weeks now!! All my hard work will go down the drain in a day or two!!! *grabs the biggest petro-rabbit and electro-hawk* well then, if he won't eat'em then I will *procesds to rip of heads with bare teeth, chew them up and spitting the now mushed head into a nearby waste bin before slaming the headless bodies back like they're fragging tequila shots*

team Prime: *looking at him in horror*

Ratchet: *walks in; he freezes at the scene*

Ratchet: *slowly pulls out a wrench and throws it at Op's helm*

Op: *caughts it*

Ratchet: oh so you'll notice flying projectils but you don't notice your own team!?!?!

Safe to say Optimus semi-truamatived his team and has a lot of explaining to do.

URGE TO READ ALIGNED CONTINUTITY BOOK SERIES INTENSIFIES

[yuukirita]

I did angst-

[transformersbrainrot]

I am so normal about them

[plainblackcanvas56]

I already made my choice long ago!

(Still can't believe that Megs canonically said this and then jumped out of a plane to save Optimus)

[devestatedutterlydevestated]

MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR TF1

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

.

.

.

.

.

"i'm done saving you."

after shooting orion POINT BLANK, hole through the chest, arm blasted off, face scorched and dropping him into a pit straight through to cybertrons core is WILD, megs. like ik this was ur guys like. sixth break up of the movie nd ik ur on ur villain arc (as u should b slay queen) but that's a crazy way to say "i think we should see other ppl" ngl

and then bro has the AUDACITY to look betrayed when optimus banishes him like girl please 💀

YOU BROKE UP W HIM FIRSTTT

anyway watch tf1 u guys this movie was peak

[nebulaoftheprimes]

Don't you do it (tf primeverse)

Autobots and Decepticons: *are holding peace talks*

Optimus: *discreetly gagging and hacking*

Starscream: *thinks he's not paying attention* is this too boring for you, Lord Prime? *is being sarcastic*

Op: *shakes his head, and then spits out a semi-digested electro-dove*............

Megs: *sighs from his end of the table* Optimus, don't do it

Op: *looks at the bird then to Megs*

Megs: don't you do it, it's already been in there once

Op: *slowly grabs it*

Megs: *points at him* don't do it, Optimus

Op: *looks him dead in the eye as he puts it back in his mouth and swallows*

Megs:......... you're unbelievable

Op: *shrugs and burps out feathers* excuse me

everyone else: *are very scared and worried*

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

So I'm fully in a Transformers Prime binge rewatch and holy SMOKES I did not remember how gay this show was. Like obviously Starscream is twinktown central and Knockout is very flamboyant, yes--but Megatron is so obsessed with Optimus (and vice versa) it's not even funny! Here's a compilation of the best moments from *just the first half of S1*:

Megatron returns after who knows how long and one of the first things out of his mouth is "No one rids me of Optimus Prime except me!!"

Megatron "dies" and Optimus is immediately depressed to the point where Ratchet asks about it and unlocks Sad Reminiscing

The Autobots are trying to figure out what the Decepticons are up to and Optimus starts with "Starscream is no Megatron, but--" just say you miss him

Megatron is literally comatose and his coma dream is him and Optimus fighting over and over again. Optimus just keeps respawning. Bro is LITERALLY living in his head rent free

In fact when Bumblebee gets inside Megatron's head Optimus is literally the First Thing he sees

Why is Bee in there? Because Optimus is deathly sick! And one of the only things that rouses Optimus from his nearly catatonic state? Learning Megatron is alive!

Megatron is also the only one who has the knowledge to save him so now they're both on their deathbeds together and their fates are linked etc. etc.

Bumblebee gets the info he needs by telling Megatron that if he doesn't give them the cure, Optimus will die (and Megatron will therefore not get to kill him)

Megatron (who had figured out this was all about Optimus before Bee even told him): "After our deep history together, to NOT watch the spark ebb from his eyes with my very own...well played, Scout." And then he gives him the cure

Starscream is about to kill Optimus and Megatron--as the FIRST thing he does after getting out of his coma--literally knocks him out of the sky, saves Optimus's life (priorities), and completely lets Optimus go. Which brings the Deliberately Saving Optimus's Life count up to 2!

Will add on as the show continues, but this is just like. 14 episodes in. At this point, forget allegations, they've been fully tried and convicted lol

[thewallsaretalking-again]

Man, there are just some things in life you just can’t make up. A few weeks after my little encounter, I went back to the docks to take a walk with my dog. We did our typical routine; walk for a little bit, grab a snack, and then go sit by the edge of the dock to watch the water. Thing was, as I was about to sit down, something jumped out of the water at me; turns out whatever it was that I had saved a few weeks ago was still here-It was also surprisingly friendly. It chirped and poked at me for a little while and then disappeared back into the water. I actually went back the next day and had the same thing happen; it seemed to like me. Maybe because I got it out of the net?

Either way, I’ve been going to the docks daily for some time now, and me and the thing have grown pretty comfortable with each other. I’ve taken to calling it Orion, after Orion the hunter, because it likes to bring me fish and other foodstuff that it catches (it’s also pretty good at it too; I saw it catch a seagull mid flight the other day). I’ve learned (and theorized) a few things about it so far:

- I think it’s male (this one has no proof I just kinda have a feeling)

- it seems to be a juvenile of some sort; it’s extremely playful and acts like a toddler

- it has fins similar to a manta ray

- it can catch sharks. Don’t ask me how I know.

- he seems to be alone; no parents, no pod (if that’s even a thing), no friends.

- he really doesn’t like nets, go figure.

- he likes to be rubbed between the eyes

- he picks up on behaviors really fast. I stuck my tongue out at him once and he’s started doing it every time I visit him. I got a picture of it earlier and taped to the top of the page. Honestly, this adds to my theory that he’s a juvenile. It’s also just extremely cute.

I kind of like being around him honestly; it’s a nice break from the monotony of everyday life. I wonder what else I’ll learn about him…

[monofazz]

Now he gets to deal with what Megatron had to