tf_bunny_farm | My Very First Post Here! (Reply)

Hi everyone! I finally decided to post some bunnies that have been percolating in my mind for a while now. This one has been stewing in my head since the end of Season 2 of Transformers: Animated. Be warned, there are some spoilers and maybe some mature content in this one.

Animated: When Optimus jammed Sari's key into the AllSpark in Part 2 of "Megatron Rising", what really happened was that he shattered its physical shell into many pieces that contained only a small fraction of the AllSpark's power. But the main bulk of its power, or Core, was divided evenly into two halves and absorbed by the two closest bots at the time (in other words, Megatron and Optimus), where they laid dormant for a time. In Part 2 of "A Bridge Too Close", when Megatron held Optimus as he was planning on throwing him through the space bridge in order to test it, the two halves of the AllSpark Core started to awaken. Gradually, their respective powers and "cognizance" would fully awaken in each mech, and would cause their respective carriers to seek out the other half in order to be whole again. There's just one big problem: the only way the two halves can become whole again is if Optimus and Megatron merged their sparks together.

This big, fat bunny has spawned several equally big... Sub-bunnies...? Bun-lets...? that, unfortunately, I don't have the time or the energy to write out myself. So I'll just list all my favorites here, and hope that some kind soul would give at least one of them a try? *pleading look*

Megatron, wondering why he's suddenly, and inexplicably, drawn to Optimus Prime and can locate him no matter how far away he is, learns that it's because of the AllSpark Half-Core contained within him. He could've found out from either another double-agent (say Punch/Counterpunch), or through Shockwave who still has some eyes and ears in the Elite Guard. The information was obtained when the Guard found an offlined, but still functional, Omega Supreme. Their scientists examine both him and his security recordings quite thoroughly, and discovered what really happened to the AllSpark and what it would take to regain it, if only in theory.

A. Once they realized this, Ultra Magnus quickly sends a team to Earth in order to bring Optimus back to Cybertron so that they can protect him and/or his half of the AllSpark Core from the Decepticons, and also try to extract the Core-half from him if possible. Whether or not they tell Optimus why he's being summoned back to Cyberton (with or without his crew) and/or when he's told could be up to the writer. Personally, I see a lot of potential for angst and disillusionment for Optimus if they just showed up and dragged him (and maybe his team) back to Cybertron without any warning whatsoever, and/or don't tell him/them why until they get back to Cybertron. At the very least, they leave another team behind on Earth in case any more Decepticons show up there.

B. Unfortunately, after Megatron was rescued by the Decepticons and was informed of the above, he manages to reach Earth before the Elite Guard and sets out to coerce Optimus into bonding with him and thus gain the full power of the AllSpark for himself. Once on Earth, Megatron would just grab Optimus while he's out on patrol all by himself (and if he hasn't realized that the visions/dreams he keeps getting of Megatron were warnings/alerts that he's coming or is there on Earth already), and force a bond on Optimus whether or not he's awake/aware/willing. Or, he could've just brought most of the Decepticon Army with him and threaten to annihilate the Earth unless Optimus surrenders himself to Megatron in return for the planet's continued safety. Naturally, Optimus does so despite Sari's and his Autobots' fervent protests.

C. As soon as Optimus is in Megatron's clutches, it was discovered that he has a set of Chastity Locks/Spark Shield installed that can only be accessed through a formal bond. (In my mind, Optimus came from a couple of well-to-do creators that had them installed while he was still a sparkling in order to protect his virtue until he's old enough to interface/bond. Regrettably, his creators were killed in a Decepticon attack before he reached his majority, and so the only way he can ever interface or sparkbond with anyone is if he's formally bonded to them.) [I got the idea of formal bonding from itsu-sual's "Beauty and the Beast" on FF.Net. It involves two bots exchanging their respective access disks (usually in a ceremony in front of witnesses, but it's not really necessary) so as to form links between their respective systems and sparks, thereby creating the foundation for a permanent bond. These links allow them to utilize each other's peripheral systems, i.e. personal comm. lines, scanners, etc., and allows access to the other's Chastity Locks and/or Spark Shield if they're installed. For more details on Chastity Locks, I'll refer you to

yami_samuraiflo 's very informative fic here. For those who have read it, the reason why Optimus never had them uninstalled was because he has his creators' old-fashioned views on interfacing and bonding--simply put, wait for "The One". The concept of Spark Shields can be found in

i_stalk_piccolo 's "In Shadows".]

Megatron, of course, demands that Optimus formally bond with him right away, but Optimus will only do so if Megatron publicly vows by all that he and the Decepticons hold sacred that they will not harm the Earth and its inhabitants if he does bond with Megatron. Otherwise, Optimus will activate his personal self-destruct sequence that every Prime has installed in case they get captured by Decepticons and tortured for information. It's unclear that if Optimus' spark goes out again, the AllSpark Half-Core would either fade away with him, or remain behind, but Megatron can't take the risk of losing access to its full powers, so he agrees to give his promise during their Formal Bonding Ceremony, as witnessed by the Decepticons, the humans, and/or the Autobot Elite Guard that had arrived too late.

Now the question here is: Will the ceremony go through successfully? Or will somebot (maybe Blackarachnia with a change of spark, one of Optimus' crew, Sentinel Prime out of a guilty conscience for the way he's treated Optimus in the past, or some other mysterious Elite Guard(s)? *cough*JetfireandJetstorm*cough*) try to disrupt the ceremony by rescuing Optimus whether he wants it or not? Who's to say that even if they did bond, Megatron would be able to access Optimus' half of the AllSpark? Or that Optimus wouldn't have spent his time preparing for the ceremony to learn about his half of the AllSpark's Core and figure out a way to keep Megatron from utilizing it? And would Optimus' will turn out to be even stronger than Megatron's thanks to his Core-half, and thus be able to take control of their bond?

*Whew!* O.O;; You know, looking back at this monster, you'd think that I would be able to write out this fic myself. Unfortunately, I suffer from plot indecisiveness and the inability to write a good ending to anything. That's why I'm letting someone else use this behemoth, if they can...