Sometimes, our pasts have a way of catching up with us. In many forms. The ones that hurt the most are the ones that come to us in the form of metal, reopening wounds or adding more. It places a face of what our decisions have done. Though, I know you are still trying to figure it out. What Zodiac is holding against you.
Optimus merely gave Whitegrazer an intentionally exasperated huff through his nose like an irritated gorilla flashing a subtle warning to an intruder. The whole situation was getting on his nerves. Zodiac continued pulling him in one direction to squeeze his spark, the whispers encouraged him to just get it over with, and the white mare was pulling him down another completely different path to maintain his compassion and stability.
"And yet, after everything, here we are," Primal bluntly pointed out while Zodiac interrupted his thoughts. "I still stand. And you're at my mercy." A slight smile appeared as his thumb gently rubbed the control of the remote in his hand by his side."Perhaps I won't have to given your recent track record in leadership. How long could it possibly take to let you lead them into oblivion on your own accord, Optimus? You've already come close a few times."
Do it. Don't taunt, just do it. Show him you're not a squeamish coward, a voice told Primal.
"Everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes, no matter what actions we take, we still lose. But no matter the losses we suffered, we bounced back."
You did too. And you will bounce back from this.
You make it sound so easy and natural. It can't be that simple, Whitegrazer, he told her. But I could end all of this right now with a push of a finger, just like he wanted to do in the hangar. Only this time, he'll be the only one to perish. What do I need answers for? I can't trust him anyway.
"We won't be losing anything if I simply delete the threat from the equation," Primal growled."What do I care about your losses?," "When you are about to lose so much more?"
"You failed to kill me twice, Zodiac. You had your chance back when I was vulnerable outside the Axalon. I was at your mercy then. If you shot me at that moment, you would had won. But you, instead, chose to shoot Aurora. To cause a ripping effect of agony through me to Optimus, your real target. You tricked me, you used me, but Aurora survived."
"And still you have no clue what my true intentions were when selecting my target that fateful day.. No, my dear, I did not fail to kill you twice."
The Maximal Commander watched Zodiac carefully. Something Whitegrazer said actually made him flinch, which was interesting."You figured out that Optimus must have possessed something which alerted him to your tricks back at the Darksyde. You wanted confirmation." "If you weren't planning on killing me then, as you seem to imply, then your action suggests to me that you wanted to break me and Optimus. Am I wrong?"
"Do not pretend to know where I come from, horse, for that could prove to be a very grave mistake... And your downfall should you insist on pushing me far enough. You assume too much yet know nothing."
Zodiac grew quiet momentarily, but Primal doubted it was because her words meant something to him. He was probably just ignoring them and thinking about any possible escape route. Meanwhile, it gave Optimus some time to go back to his memory records, digging deeper and deeper, following the bread crumbs that had been buried many years ago."I don't assume anything, Zodiac." "You have shown us your character by the actions you have taken this far. Your ruthlessness, calculating, yet feeding on the pain you cause others."
Optimus, you don't have to continue this now. You could come back later. We could try and sort out all of these memories together or alone if you that's what you want. You don't have to do this in front of Zodiac.
He gave Whitegrazer a dismissive wave, which probably gave away their empathetic communication but he couldn't care less at that point. Everyone knew about it now anyway. I will figure it out, he emphasized. It's now or never. He's obviously not going to tell us, and quite frankly, even if he did, I doubt I could trust his words. I've had enough of this dance, so we're going to get to the bottom of this. Now. No matter what kind of monster it would make Optimus out to be. A liar? A hypocrite? A terrible, unforgivable, untrustworthy leader? Would he lose his entire crew's respect? Probably all of the above.
"You're not helping," he warned the shape shifter dryly, nearly pressing the button on the remote to electrocute him again. Fortunately, Whitegrazer's next question, which also gained a result, helped deter him from doing so."Go ahead," "See your precious Nexus for the hypocrite he truly could be."
"Zodiac, despite every thing you have done, I don't hate you. I'm willing to listen to what you have to say. You went through all this effort. Why?"
"Because they took everything from me!,"
During the silence of the highly anticipated, climatic answers, there were a couple loud clangs heard on the metal floor. By his feet laid the remote to the cage that had just fallen out of his hand. "His freedom... His very being..." Optimus muttered almost inaudibly as more remembrance suddenly came back to him now while he was staring off into space. He was there, in a bigger way than he could have previously imagined. Protoform X, which was also a horrible experiment, wasn't the only project he had been involved with, and that devastated him. After all this time, he had done even more wrong than he had thought. He tried remaining composed during this revelation..."What is it? What was stolen from you?"
"I did," Primal confessed, his gaze slowly returning to Zodiac's. Suddenly, to the leader, it was just him and the shape shifter in the room. "I didn't want to," he then clarified. "I thought it was wrong. I was more of the pencil-pusher then, a data logger, simply overseeing the progress and procedures. I didn't enjoy watching you suffer. But I was young and naive, and I was told that what we were doing to you was in our best interest. Like a fool I believed them... I trusted them. ...Against my better judgment and morals. Instinct told me that it wasn't going to work but no one listened. And then it happened. Outpost 62. I remember, you disobeyed your orders and programming. You slaughtered all of those bots, taking their lives." He paused briefly recalling the hit on the back of his head which knocked him out that fiery, chaotic night when he was alone, surrounded by screaming and whimpering, blood and devastation. "Why didn't you just kill me then?" he inquired curiously. Optimus appeared calm and guilty on the outside now, but inside he was confused, his confidence slipping and crumbling, upset, disappointed with himself, angry, sad, lost, alone. What more could Zodiac want?"They took my very identity!," ".. They tried to make me in their own image, shoved something else in that was more compliant.. Easier for them to control." "You destroyed my life.. and for that I vowed to destroy yours."
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"Eh, I ain't so sure about dat..." he politely disagreed with Wintersong."We'll get through this Rattrap, even if this situation is difficult enough we still are moving and functioning. Long as we are nothing is going to bring us down that easily."
"Exactly. There may be no comin' back for him, Winter. You realize how serious dat is, right? A bot can only take so much, even one as stoic, stubborn and compassionate as Optimus. He ain't invincible. Everybody's got a breaking point, and he's been tested physically, mentally and emotionally. I think somethin' happened to him at the Darksyde. Somethin' was disconnected," Rattrap explained with concern and paranoia."As for Primal, I think we can only do the best we can to pull the big monkey from his stupor. Even this is uncharacteristic of him, and downright concerning."
"Nope. Definitely don't need dat," he agreed with the TransMetal tigress."More then willing to lend a hand Rattrap and hopefully Cheetor pulls through soon. Think we've had more then enough concerns in the last few days, don't need another worry on our plates."