The most suspicious of looks is plastered on his face as he joins the god, still looking as if Unicron stretched and contorted him in several directions.
“…Why?”
“Why not? From what I’ve been learning, and can see with your current state, you went through quite the ordeal with a fragment of Unicron. I haven’t seen this happen in a very long time.”
The deity wasn’t in the state of Prophet as others were used to seeing him. Primus looked like a full knight in armor with wings draped at his sides and loosely cloaked over his shoulders. It was a form better suited to his immense power. As was the size to match Megatron’s new appearance.
“We… Never really got to talk, did we? About anything when you were still yourself. I’ve held conversations with others, but never quite you. Not at any length. My memory isn’t as it should right now, so you’ll have to forgive any mistakes I make.”
Golden optics looked out from beneath a retracted visor. Holds out a glass of a liquid that seemed to shift between a heavy metal liquid and smoke. It was perfectly safe as Primus himself took a sip. “And I would congratulate you on beating Unicron if I wasn’t concerned for the cost and toll it’s taken on you.”
To him, Primus looked like ancient depictions of himself, as instantly recognizable as he was to the Chaosbringer. Righteous order and violent chaos. Looking down at the drink, it was hard not to be reminded of the last time he’d been made to share one with his opposite. There was even pain in his chest now as there was back then, though from something closer to grief than anger. Taking the strange drink, Megatron stares into its swirling mist rather than partake just yet.
“Not since you claimed I was not unworthy of you. Not since you… Prophet said that he would try to cleanse my frame of dark energon if I asked.” There goes the drink, half-downed in one swig.
“…This wretched cost was worth being free of him again.”
The most suspicious of looks is plastered on his face as he joins the god, still looking as if Unicron stretched and contorted him in several directions.
(Have some head pats he doesn’t have to lean down for!)
(But the smile Megatron receives is as big and glowing as ever.)
Even more of a good thing.
(Bee takes stock of his friend.)
You’re looking more like yourself, my lord.
Less rust, less… protrusions. If everything goes well, Singer will have me back to my familiar appearance in less than a month. I’ll enjoy freely walking the halls again.
I can, like, vividly relate to bring the wrong size right now. But…
(He holds out a hand to compare it to Megatron’s. In both their biggened states, it puts them at about the ratio they are normally.)
Still…
You can still easily ride on my shoulders. (He smiles gently, comforted by their normal proportions, at least for now.)
Soon we’ll both be the right sizes again, but I don’t mind the temporary shift.
(Have some head pats he doesn’t have to lean down for!)
(But the smile Megatron receives is as big and glowing as ever.)
Even more of a good thing.
(Bee takes stock of his friend.)
You’re looking more like yourself, my lord.
Less rust, less… protrusions. If everything goes well, Singer will have me back to my familiar appearance in less than a month. I’ll enjoy freely walking the halls again.
because she continues to be the one I blabber at. And like she so eloquently put it when I wondered if I’ve ever written about Megatron and Optimus’ enemy dynamics: “Hskshaldldhsls GO”.
So let’s go. Let’s dwell in the meaning and form of “archenemies”.
Megatron certainly has many enemies, a mech in his position can’t really avoid that, but there’s only one archenemy. How do we know this?
Archenemy is the ultimate opponent, the one true enemy who is the pinnacle of everything that opposes you in this world. Archenemy is the focusing point of all the opposing forces, the perfect idea of the enemy to the point that they are like a negative mirror image of yourself.
Archenemy is the perfect match, both in mentality and strength. Their ideology and ethics and goals are in direct conflict with the other half, but the strength is matched, creating a “stable” relationship. Stable, because archenemy relationship is a long-term commitment and requires molding one’s own plans to match the other’s, and because of the matched strength neither gains the upper hand in the relationship, keeping it from being destroyed.
A really good, long-term archenemy relationship is actually so perfect it involves a certain note of affection. That affection is also what separates archenemies from your regular, less perfect enemies.
Archenemy is familiar, worthy of time and dedication. Fighting them is a special occasion that takes effort.
Archenemy means respect. We know Megatron doesn’t value any other opponent as much as he values Optimus. Optimus is the one he addresses by name, whose strength he recognizes and who takes priority over all others. Others simply don’t compare.
Optimus Prime is the one who “never disappoints”, “listens to reason”, and who must be slain by his own hand. He recognizes the might of his archenemy even before his own subordinates, for example scoffing at Dreadwing, one of his most loyal officers, that he shouldn’t try to take out Optimus because he is way above his skill-level and strength. Megatron even jokingly says to Soundwave that he will be very surprised if they ever hear of Dreadwing again after Dreadwing persists and goes to challenge the Prime.
Archenemy means dedication. They will take over your “darkest dreams”, like Ratchet describes Megatron’s coma dream in Sick mind (1.13), but they are also what brings you out of them.
Because no fantasy can match the real thing.
Yes, what is it that you want the most? The most in the whole universe?
You want your archenemy. You want to be their match, you want to keep fighting them, until the very end. The end that needs to meet a very distinctive and special standards before it’s allowed to happen, the end that has to be just the two of you after a very, very long time of glorious battles and light-years of shared travel and all your darkest dreams and wildest fantasies come true.
You could also say, forever.
TFP Megatron respects Optimus Prime so much that he even praises him that he would have made a fine Decepticon and when they were both battling in Egypt, Megatron tells Optimus Prime,
“At last we take our rightful places Optimus, as GODS!!! Wielding the powers of the cosmos.”
AGE: Early 50′s by human standards, many millions of years old irl
FAVORITE PIC(s) OF MUSE:
QUESTIONS.
01. What would be their Twitter name? What sorts of tweets would they tweet?
@ gladlyguilty he’d use it as a sort of announcement page, tweeting out times and dates of upcoming events, job listings and opportunities. He’d also have a private account where he would post and retweet photos, mostly of the sky and fanart of himself and his partners.
02. What’s their favorite genre of movies? Of music?
Classic rock and alternative for music, musicals for movies.
03. What’s on their top queue on Netflix?
Planet Earth, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Great British Baking Show, Chicago, Sweeney Todd
04. What’s their favorite scent? Do they smell like that?
Snow. It’s a uniquely fresh and pure smell, relatively newly discovered- but no, he smells nothing like it.
05. Apple or Android?
If he had either of these it’d probably be Android, disliking the clean-cut and sterile look of Apple
06. Favorite Season? Least favorite season?
Favorite: Fall. On Earth it was worth a superfluous flight or two. Least favorite: Spring. It’s deceptively beautiful but everything is wet.
07. Are they a bottom or top or versatile?
He acts like a top but is more than happy to take either role if someone can manage to do it for him.
08. Describe their morning routine. Do they wake up early or sleep in? Do they press the snooze button a bunch of times or do they immediately get up?
Megatron has trouble falling back to sleep if he’s been woken up. If he has an alarm set there’s really no point in trying to stay in bed, so he’s up right away- but is thornier than usual until he’s refueled.
09. If they were to be compared to a canon character, who would that be? ( Spirit animal )
Hm… I see a lot of similarities between him and other corrupted big bads, like this one:
10. Finish this sentence, muse: What would ___ do?
Megatron found himself unable to sleep despite having filmed something for an upcoming public announcement earlier. He looked over at Soundwave’s form, silent and unmoving as ever. Laserbeak slept docked in his chest, which rose and fell in incredibly minute intervals that may easily be missed if one didn’t stare. Nothing was improving, and if those readings were accurate, Singer was having to give him higher doses of medication. He would have to ask about that.
As it did often now, Megatron’s mind wandered. Perhaps something in his archived files would keep him occupied, some memory that would give insight into a solution here. Instead, a datapacket titled “Personal Guidelines, Subject: Atonement” sat unopened at the forefront of his archives, sent from Soundwave’s alternate. He thought he had deleted it… He may as well listen to what the defector had to say.
Most days, nothing beyond a certain level of unpleasantness happened in Soundwave’s territory without his knowledge. Fights which could not be resolved were mediated by Ravage, who had become known for being cold and impartial but fair. Repairs and medical issues were either seen to by those with the skill to perform them or outsourced to mechs from other settlements. Threats both non-sentient and otherwise were swiftly dealt with in whichever manner Soundwave considered most appropriate – typically by thoroughly convincing them that they were not the most dangerous creatures in the area.
A small part of Megatron took great pleasure in how uncomfortable Soundwave looked when he first appeared. How anxiety read so easily in the angles of his tensed and unsure frame.
The rest of him turns the reason that he’s able to read those cues so well into a distilled ball of bitter resentment. He sneers as if he can taste the feeling, wanting to spit it back into this other Soundwave’s mask. Instead, the only warning before he swings is the release for his sword to slide from its place in his arm. It’s not a move motivated by impulse alone; from experience, he knows that giving this opponent too much time to prepare is a deadly mistake.
“You’ve made that perfectly clear, old friend!! Fleeing somewhere I could not follow, throwing your lances from afar! All that I could tolerate, even if I couldn’t forgive your loss!”
Megatron may not have tusks, but he may as well have horns, and his claws are no less capable. While he does not dwarf the tyton, he’s gained enough mass to meet him in sheer size.
Remaining seated seems like the best choice for this, in an attempt to seem as non-threatening in this form as possible. Singer looks nervously between the two of them, before returning to his work station to give them space.
“Unwillingly, I assure you. I am in the process of returning my frame to normal… after Unicron’s possession of it.” He did not meet Blackout’s optics but watched the helo’s shoulder instead, keeping his field reigned tightly in. His reveal could be disastrous, but it had to be done.
Blackout despises gods. All gods, not even just the “bad” ones – Unicron and Primus are both halves to the horrible whole as far as the forty-four foot tyton is concerned. Neither of them have ever meant anything good for him.
Clutching one of the necks of his 2-neck harpguitar nervously, as he had been intending on serenading what he thought was a sick Megatron with music, the rotorflier swallows.
“Unicron, huh?” he mumbles almost under his breath. “Always some good news. You’d think gods would have better shit to do than meddle with mortals, huh?”
Singer has all but been forgotten for the tyton. His focus is entirely on the “boss”, the mech he followed into war for so long. For the wrong reasons, a voice chimes from the black depths of his mind, but Blackout squashes it.
You have no reason to feel such loyalty to this mech, Soul Eater whispers.
Shut it.
You joined his cause so you could further your own. Does he know that? Does he know you killed his own soldiers half as often as you killed the enemy?
SHUT UP.
Blackout shakes his head sharply once and the concentrated fearful look vanishes under a charming smile. “Shit happens,” he quips, moving over to plant his aft on the empty medical berth across from Megatron. “Are you feeling better?”
Considerably tense, but that was to be expected. Honestly, the quick return to casual conversation is a welcome surprise; he’d half-expected Blackout to attack him, or turn right around and leave. As soon as the tyton begins to relax, Megatron does too, looking a little more like himself again with a fanged grin.
“Eto luchshe, chem byt’ mertvym. You’re looking much better, yourself. But of course, it’s near impossible to keep a gladiator down for long.” Hopefully the same would hold true for his conjunx. “A little music and nostalgia certainly couldn’t hurt, either.”
Megatron's back up 