Transformers Prime: I am Allspark

Alpha Trion felt the wave of energy radiating from Cybertron's core. The Matrix of Leadership had awakened. A brilliant light flashed through his wise optics, and a silent relief filled his spark.

Without hesitating, he turned to Elita.

"There is no longer any reason to wait. Orion has fulfilled his destiny. Now, our mission is another."

Elita blinked, momentarily perplexed. But when she saw the unshakable certainty in the old Prime's gaze, she felt comforted. Realization hit her like an electric shock. Orion had done it.

A small smile curved her lips, though her moment of reprieve was short-lived. The distant roar of explosions and the echo of gunfire in the streets of Iacon reminded her of the grim reality.

She nodded firmly. "Let's go."

Wasting no time, the two stepped out of the hidden tunnel and sprinted through the ancient corridors of the library.

Elita led with sure, agile strides, while Alpha Trion followed as swiftly as his venerable gears allowed.

Chaos reigned beyond the walls. The red glow of bombardment lit the metallic sky, and the deafening roar of battle grew more intense with each passing second. Civilians fled for cover as Decepticons advanced ruthlessly.

"Sir Alpha, will the library withstand the explosions?" Elita asked, activating the Autobot channel on her systems.

"The library can hold for a time, but not indefinitely. For now, just bring the civilians inside to take shelter," Alpha Trion replied, fully aware the structure could only withstand high-caliber Energon weaponry. "But be cautious, some Decepticons may try to slip in among the crowd."

Elita nodded, transformed into her vehicle mode, and sped off through the smoke-choked streets.

The city of Iacon... Day 1 of the war

Amid the fury of battle, the Autobot base trembled under the Decepticon bombardment. The ground cracked with the impact of blasts, while enemy ships unleashed volleys of Energon from above. On the ground, legions of Decepticons marched mercilessly, tearing through everything in their path.

Ultra Magnus watched the battle unfold from the command room, the scarlet glow of explosions reflecting off his armor. The base's defenses were stretched to breaking point. He studied the monitors, the Energon force fields were collapsing rapidly. The barrier would fail in minutes, and then everyone inside would be exterminated.

"All Autobots, immediate evacuation! I repeat, immediate evacuation!" His voice rang out through the comms.

There was no more time to fight. He had already sent half of his troops to protect the most vulnerable civilians and places like hospitals, shelters, and evacuation centers. Now, those remaining to defend the base needed to escape before it was too late.

The Autobots paused for a moment, but then complied. One by one, they fell back, using escape portals to reach safe zones across the city.

Ultra Magnus waited. He would not leave until he was certain everyone had evacuated.

Seconds stretched like eternal cycles. Explosions shook the surrounding walls. The ceiling began to crumble. He glared at the monitors one final time to ensure no one was left behind.

He activated the manual core controls and initiated the overload sequence. The countdown glowed on the screen:

10… 9… 8…

The Decepticons' roars echoed down the corridor. They were nearly breaching the command hall.

7… 6… 5…

Ultra Magnus opened an emergency portal and stood before it. The core pulsed with unstable energy behind him—enough to make the explosion visible beyond the planet's domain.

4… 3… 2…

At the last moment, he took a firm step and leaped through the portal.

The base vanished in a blinding flash of fire and energy that lit the city's skies. The shockwave swept away nearby Decepticons and obliterated ships and troops in a single, devastating burst.

When Ultra Magnus emerged on the far side, he turned to watch the explosion consume the remnants of the base. Though not the last Autobot stronghold in the city, its loss still wounded his pride deep.

He charged through the streets amid the chaos, each stride shaking the ground. His right arm transformed into an Energon cannon, and with precise shots, he felled Decepticons threatening his troops. Explosions rent the air, casting bluish flares across Cybertron's ruins.

Seeing their commander at the frontlines rekindled a fierce resolve within the Autobots. They rallied, forming a protective perimeter around the remaining civilians still desperate to escape.

Yet whatever fragile hope lingered was swiftly extinguished as colossal shadows swept over them.

On the horizon, dozens of Decepticon warships emerged, their titanic silhouettes blotting out the sky itself. Their cannons roared to life, unleashing volleys of energy powerful enough to reduce the entire region to ash.

In the bridge of the lead ship, Megatron watched the battle unfold. He stood tall, his crimson optics reflecting the fires consuming Cybertron.

Beside him, Soundwave remained silent and still. Not even the frenzy of war disturbed his enigmatic presence.

"When all this is over, Cybertron will be mine," Megatron whispered, his voice a cold promise amidst the chaos. Below, utter destruction unfolded at his command.

One of the Decepticons overseeing external cameras scanned the data as the ship's cannons began targeting. His visor flared with alert when he identified a high-value target amid the battlefield.

"Lord Megatron!" the operator's voice crackled in urgency. "We've detected Ultra Magnus in the combat zone! He is leading the evacuation with a dozen Autobots!"

Megatron turned slowly, his expression hardening. Ultra Magnus… a formidable adversary, perhaps the only Autobot physically capable of facing him blow for blow. But that didn't matter. Another thought consumed him, fanning his rage like a brewing storm.

Orion Pax was missing, the worm who had stolen the destiny that rightfully belonged to him could not have simply vanished. Someone knew where he was. And that someone was Ultra Magnus.

Megatron clenched his fists, the metal creaking under the colossal force he exerted.

"Ready the cannons to keep the Autobots occupied," he snarled. "Ultra Magnus is mine. I will crush him myself!"

Without waiting for further orders, Megatron strode through the hangar, his footsteps reverberating like thunder. As he reached the hatch, he didn't wait for the ramp to lower.

He leaped and transformed into his war jet, throttling his turbines to full power. The roar of ripping air rang with deafening intensity.

The Decepticon leader fell like a meteor. Just before impact, he shapeshifted, smashing the ground with his fist to cushion the blow and slow his descent. His landing carved a crater, hurling debris and sparks in all directions. Nearby Autobots were flung aside like empty shells, and a stunned silence fell over the ruined street.

Then, with a slow, predatory motion, Megatron rose from the dust and rubble, his red optics glowing like burning embers.

The Autobot commander met Megatron's gaze unflinchingly. If he was to kill the Decepticon leader, let it be then, before things got worse.

Megatron grinned, a cruel, savage smile.

"No more games, Magnus," his voice thundered with fury. "You will tell me where Orion Pax is… or I will tear the answer from you, piece by piece."

Ultra Magnus raised a battle cry and charged with full force. His left arm became an Energon cannon, and without hesitation, he unleashed a salvo of precise blasts at Megatron. The explosions struck the tyrant head-on, bathing the devastated street in violent flashes.

But Megatron did not falter. He pressed forward, dismissing the blasts as mere annoyances. His armor, scorched by the Energon bursts, held fast. The scorn in his red optics burned with cruel defiance.

Before Ultra Magnus could react, Megatron struck. His fist rose in a devastating arc. Magnus barely evaded, the punch clearing past him with terrifying force. The impact fractured the street metal as though it were fragile glass.

Wasting no time, Ultra Magnus reverted his arms to normal, preparing for close quarters combat. He clenched his fists and landed a solid blow on Megatron's face.

The punch connected with a resounding impact, but Megatron merely sneered, a cruel smile curling across his face, dripping with contempt.

Ultra Magnus staggered backward, disbelief and frustration boiling in his spark. That perfectly placed strike… had done nothing to the Decepticon warlord.

With deliberate slowness, Megatron raised his hand and brushed it lightly over the spot where the blow had landed, as if mocking the very effort. His piercing, glacial gaze locked onto Magnus, predatory, unyielding, promising only ruin.

"That it?" Megatron's voice boomed. "Is that all the great Autobot commander has to offer?"

Then, before Magnus could recover, Megatron counterattacked.

His fist moved with astonishing speed. The blow struck Magnus in the chest, hurling him backward like discarded scrap. He slammed through a metal wall and skidded meter after meter before finally coming to rest.

Megatron approached slowly, like a predator closing in on wounded prey.

"You are disappointing, Magnus," his voice dripped derision. "I expected more of you. Longer endurance."

Ultra Magnus gritted his teeth as he tried to get up. However, he realized that the impact had damaged internal parts of his system. Megatron just laughed as if the Autobot's determination were pathetic.

"I will crush you," he declared coldly. "Then, when you are under my feet, I will wrench Orion's location from your spark!"

Megatron advanced, each step echoing like thunder across the smoldering ruins. His crimson optics burned with a searing hatred as he watched Magnus struggle to regain his footing.

Without haste, he extended his right arm. With a sharp, metallic click, a blade slid forth from his forearm, his faithful sword, forged for conquest. It gleamed under the flickering lights of the battlefield, a hungry edge thirsting for Energon.

"Rise, Magnus," Megatron's voice was low, unyielding, a rumble of iron and disdain. "If you wish to die as a warrior, at least make me exert the slightest effort. I have no taste for prey that falls so easily."

Ultra Magnus attempted to stand, but his circuits flared with damage. Before he could find his footing, other Autobots leapt into the fray.

Loyal warriors rallied to their commander, weapons poised to fell the Decepticon leader and end this madness.

The first Autobot, a brave soldier, barely had time to react. Megatron swung his blade, burying it in the warrior's chest and piercing his spark. With brutal ease, he yanked the blade upward, bisecting the Autobot's body almost cleanly.

The second Autobot came moments later, attempting a rear strike. A fatal mistake against someone like Megatron, who pivoted, seized him by the neck with his left hand. The Autobot struggled in desperation until Megatron simply twisted his head off as though it were a broken toy.

The third tried to fire from a distance, but Megatron unleashed his fusion cannon before he could even aim. The projectile struck the Autobot's chest, tearing a scorching hole through his armor.

Ultra Magnus watched helplessly, seeing each of his soldiers perish in seconds. He tried to rise as quickly as he could, but the last blow had truly impaired his movement.

The final Autobot lunged in a desperate attack, wielding a double-edged blade. He swung at Megatron's flanks, but the Decepticon sidestepped with a single step, grabbed the Autobot by the arm, and with a brutal jerk, dismembered him completely. The body collapsed to the ground, convulsing as its Energon drained—until Megatron crushed its head beneath his heel.

Megatron wiped the energon fluid from his blade and refocused his gaze on Ultra Magnus.

"Is that it?" he asked with a sneer of scorn. "These were the brave soldiers of the Autobots? What a disappointment."

He pointed the energon-stained blade at Magnus, who was angry with himself for failing to protect his soldiers.

"And now, where were we?"

Megatron advanced slowly, already envisioning the most excruciating ways to dismantle Ultra Magnus piece by piece. He wouldn't grant a quick death… Magnus would suffer until he begged for extinction. But then… the ground shook.

A deep rumble rolled across Cybertron, vibrating through buildings and scattered rubble. Megatron halted, feeling the tremor under his feet; his instincts screamed something was coming.

From the Well of AllSparks—where Primus had ignited the first spark of life with the AllSpark to birth Cybertronians—the dormant source had reignited like a supernova. A wave of energy exploded skyward like a rising comet.

A brilliant light tore through the war-torn sky of Cybertron, cutting through the darkness like a falling star. It streaked across devastated cities, then redirected toward the battlefield.

Megatron lifted his gaze, his red optics narrowing as he watched the star hurtle straight at him.

KA-THOOM!

The impact shook everything around it, creating a massive crater and scattering debris in all directions. A shockwave swept across the street, propelling shards of metal and entire building wreckage through the air like grains of sand.

For a moment, silence reigned, the rising smoke from the crater obscured whatever had caused this cataclysm.

Megatron growled, clenching his fists as the dust settled, expecting another Autobot to emerge and confront him.

But at the heart of the impact crater stood an imposing Cybertronian, a living fortress nearly ten meters tall. His red armor, accented with deep blues, exuded formidable presence.

His armor gleamed from recent refurbishment, strong and polished. His eyes shone with the power of the Matrix of Leadership in a blueish hue, like the light of a star.

Behind him, Ultra Magnus looked up in surprise. The commander instinctively knew who stood before him, though he was absentminded amidst the shock of the moment.

Megatron narrowed his eyes, looking slightly confused but alert to anyone brave enough to face him.

The new warrior raised his head and glared at the Decepticon tyrant.

Then, with a voice that echoed like thunder, he declared his arrival:

"D...last chance: end this madness now, or you'll force me to use methods I'd rather avoid."

Megatron took a step forward, his eyes alight with disbelief and restrained fury.

The imposing, unyielding figure before him was impressive. Even more impressive was his gaze: firm and determined—unlike any expression Megatron had ever seen in the bot he had once called brother.

"No..."

Megatron clenched his fists, his spark crackling with energy as he squinted. This couldn't be real.

"Orion...?" he snarled, voice dripping with incredulity and a simmering rage. He refused to believe it.

The brother he had known, the idealist, the naive youth who once walked by his side, the damned librarian, could not stand before him like this.

The figure lifted his gaze, voice echoing firm as thunder before a storm.

"Once, perhaps. Now, I am Optimus Prime."

He tightened his metallic fists, feeling the Matrix's energy pulse through his spark.

The name resounded like a decree, a proclamation that made the very air tremble, as though something in the universe had shifted at that moment.

Megatron felt a flash of something he never expected to feel: doubt. But then, his teeth ground in pure fury, and he roared:

"NO!"

Megatron charged like a furious predator with an explosive movement, his sword poised to cleave Prime in half. Optimus didn't flinch or show any sign of retreating. He simply planted his feet firmly on the ground and braced for impact.

Megatron raised his blade, channeling the full fury of his wrath into a single, lethal arc meant to cleave his brother in two. But then… the strike never came.

It stopped—abruptly. Mere inches from his optics, Optimus Prime caught the blade with both hands.

Megatron's eyes widened in sheer disbelief, his mind refusing to accept what it saw. The shock was so profound, so absolute, that for several long seconds, he stood frozen, paralyzed by the impossible.

This had never happened before—not in all his years in the gladiatorial arenas—no one had ever stopped his blade like that.

No one, except once… A fragment of memory struck like lightning.

The night he freed himself from the arena's chains, when, in a careless moment, he attacked Orion's tutor—that old librarian—who halted the assault with only his fingers.

The same feeling he'd experienced that night now weighed on him again, but this time it was Orion Pax who brought it.

Optimus's armor gleamed with metallic reflection beneath the surrounding blaze, and then a battle mask slid into place.

His gaze turned cold, unyielding, something Megatron would never forget.

Swiftly and mercilessly, Optimus twisted Megatron's wrist, deflecting his blade and breaking his stance. Before the Decepticon could react, a brutal knee strike crashed into his face like thunder, sending Megatron staggering backward. Then, in one fluid, flawless motion, as if he had done it for decades, Optimus spun and delivered a devastating kick to his brother's chest.

Megatron was launched like a rogue missile, crashing through debris and slamming into a metal structure that buckled under the force.

Optimus looked down at his hands, awed that this power was truly his. He still had much to master, but the sensation was indescribable. He exhaled, tempering his emotions, he couldn't afford arrogance in the face of this new power.

Megatron rose slowly, breath ragged, feeling the echo of the impact reverberate through his entire frame. He ran his fingers near his mouth and realized energon was dripping from his lips.

Optimus remained still for a moment, watching as Megatron struggled to rise from the rubble. It was no surprise. He knew all too well how resilient his brother was, and a blow like that would never be enough to stop him.

Despite Optimus's stern and imposing stance, his eyes briefly wandered to the horizon, taking in the destruction his brother had wrought in a single day. No, this was the result of mere hours of massacre. But he knew that this disastrous sight was being mirrored all across Cybertron at that very moment.

And part of it was his fault. A battle that never had to happen—but did, and became a massacre.

"D—"

The name slipped out before he could stop it. Megatron snapped his head upward, scarlet optics aglow.

Optimus drew a steady breath. That name meant nothing now. "Megatron," he corrected, voice firm. "It didn't have to end like this… Surrender."

The silence between them was heavier than the battlefield. Optimus didn't want to kill him, didn't want to drag this to its final end. But what Megatron had done today… the atrocities… Those actions were a stain that couldn't be erased by forgiveness.

Optimus stepped slowly toward him, the weight of his choice pressing on his spark.

"This ends now."

His right arm reformed into an Energon cannon, pointing straight at Megatron. "Order your Decepticons to stand down. You still have a chance to stop this."

Megatron's gaze showed no remorse, no fear—only hatred and palpable resentment.

Optimus held his ground, showing no hesitation, though his eyes, resolute as they were, reflected someone who was not ready to take a life.

A thunderous roar drew Optimus's attention: he glanced skyward as hundreds of Decepticon fighters emerged from the smoke above, diving toward him.

The first blast detonated nearby, forcing him to retreat. The second wave came from all directions, a relentless bombardment that enveloped him in a curtain of flames, separating him from Megatron.

Optimus transformed his arms into blades and used them to deflect the fire, but it was only a matter of time, he was still adjusting to the Matrix of Leadership's power feed.

He pivoted on his heels and rushed to Ultra Magnus, who was struggling to rise.

"Hold on, Commander."

With agile strength, he hoisted him onto his shoulders, returning fire at pursuing enemies.

He reconfigured his left arm into a cannon and fired, the blast overwhelming the metal ground and rupturing it into a chasm that plunged deep into Cybertron.

Without hesitation, he leapt, carrying Magnus with him. Behind them, explosions continued as Megatron watched, his red optics reflecting the chaos.

"This isn't over, Prime." Megatron stared at the burning horizon, his eyes fixed on one specific building, the temple of the AllSpark. "The power of the Primes will be mine, one way or another."