My second short TFA fic. I think this is gonna end up as a collection of my post-TFA short fics that take little 'glimpses' (hence the title) at what could have happened after Optimus Prime and his crew returned to Cybertron as heroes. This second TFA story of mine is very short and could be considered to have occurred soon before or after Prowl's funeral from Eulogy to a Fallen Hero. I'll let you all decide for yourselves how you would like to organise these short fics chronologically. Again, this story comes primarily from Optimus Prime's perspective (like most of my fics ) as he pays a visit to Ultra Magnus at a Cybertronian Infirmary. Note that the italics indicate Optimus Prime's memories. Enjoy. Not In Your Programming The newly repaired body of the Autobot Supreme Commander lay motionless beneath him on a repair bed, still hooked onto spark support systems, optics offline, apparently in stasis. Never had he looked so fragile, so weak. Optimus Prime stood beside the vulnerable body of Ultra Magnus, gazing down at him in solemn silence. Cybertron's new hero had been granted access to see Ultra Magnus soon after returning to Cybertron. He now was alone with him in one of the Elite Guard Infirmary's private quarters. Though it was a heavy weapon that seemed too large for the young Autobot captain to bear, in his arms, across his chest, Optimus Prime carried the mighty Magnus Hammer confidently and with silent strength. His gaze shifted to the giant hammer in his hands. "We need to use the Magnus Hammer." "I...we can't use that." He felt the weight of the hammer, its power, its burden... "I told you we need the Magnus Hammer!" "I...I just don't feel that using it is in my programming." "Sometimes fate makes its own programming." Optimus' hands tightened around the hammer's thick handle. His optics shifted back contemplatively to the body of Ultra Magnus that was laid out beneath him. "And Prime, don't try to be a hero. It's not in your programming." His mind travelled back to his final battle on Earth. With the great weapon of Ultra Magnus in his hands, Optimus Prime had struck down the feared leader of the Decepticons. Wielding its power, he had defeated Megatron. "I know you don't think I'm programmed to be a hero, but work with me will you!" Dropping the hammer horizontally in his grip, Optimus Prime leaned forward and gently laid it beside Ultra Magnus. He then stood back. "I believe this is yours, Ultra Magnus," the young Prime said respectfully in a low voice, "Thank you for lending me your weapon, Sir. I would not have been able to bring Megatron back to Cybertron without it." "I always knew you had a special spark, Optimus. And your stellar cycles of service have more than proven it." Optimus' blue optics fell sadly. "You told me before that I wasn't programmed to be a hero...," he uttered tonelessly. "Cadet Optimus, you are hereby...expelled from Autobot Academy and ineligible for service in the Elite Guard." "I had hoped that someday you would achieve greatness, perhaps even prove yourself a worthy Magnus. But clearly being a hero is not in your programming." "You were right," Optimus continued quietly, "I wasn't programmed to be a hero back then..." "Do you have any idea what it's like to embark on a path only to find it so completely twisted and turned that you have no idea where you are?!" "Oddly enough, I do." A firm look of self-belief slowly rose in Optimus' blue optics. "But you were also wrong," he quietly declared down at Ultra Magnus, "Because I learnt to become a hero on Earth. I had to fight there to protect us all from the Decepticons. I was the only one there who could." "Well, Optimus Prime, it appears you were right about the Decepticons." "I went against my programming, the rules, what everyone told me. I was pushed, looked down upon, faced impossible odds, but I made a stand and held on to what I believed in." "But there are times when following your gut is more important than acting by the book. Wouldn't you agree, Optimus Prime?" Optimus' gaze drifted upwards. "All my life, I dreamed of being a hero. And now, after fighting, after sacrificing, I finally know what it means to be one. I wasn't programmed for greatness like you said, Sir, but fate has made me become more than what I was..." "I agree, Optimus Prime." Optimus' optics widened in surprise and dropped back down as he heard Ultra Magnus' voice. The Autobot Supreme Commander was looking up at him with a tired smile. "You weren't programmed to be a hero. You have grown into one instead," he breathed heavily. Ultra Magnus lifted a weak hand up toward Optimus. The young Prime reached for it and grasped it firmly. Pride glowed in the weary face of Ultra Magnus. His words reverberated powerfully in Optimus Prime's audio receptors. "You have proven yourself capable of greatness, Optimus Prime. I knew you could."
I've always believed that experience from the "School of Hard Knocks" will trump anything learned only by the book. To be handed everything is to never expect yourself to strive for anything. Optimus may never have been programmed for greatness, yet he was loyal, honest, brave and self-sacrificing, the traits of a true hero. Those are things that can only be learned from outside experiences not instantly or magically available from a downloaded program. Dang, it's hard to put this in words, but I realy believe I'd follow someone like Optimus through the Pit and back again...twice. I like these snippets.. They sometimes say so much more that a novel.
D'aaaaw... what a moving story. Loved the characterization of Optimus Prime and the ending has a nice touch.
Optimus seems to inspire that kind of faith. And Animated's OP's journey to becoming a hero is particularly inspiring imo. There is a quote from Marty Isenberg in an online interview somewhere where he summed up the main message of the TFA series as: 'Don't let anybody tell you who or what you are.' I think that fits TFA Optimus very well. You mean the reversal of the Optimus and Magnus' death bed roles from the '86 movie? You grace me with your acknowledgement, Kickback!
You know its a good story when one of the boss munkkys(Kickback) likes it. But we already knew everything outta your head's perfect. I really liked this one. A bit of "reconcilation" with Ultra Magnus and Prime.
Made a slight change to one of the dialogue lines: "I went against my programming, the rules, what everyone told me. I was pushed, looked down upon, faced impossible odds, but I made a stand and held on to what I believed in." Not a significant alteration, but i think the last clause sounds better than the previous one. Now if only TFA Ultra Magnus had a Matrix of Leadership to pass on to Optimus...oh wait, Optimus already has it on a chain! And not all my ideas are perfect, but thanks for the confidence!
Another wonderful TFA epilogue B_O.. again, you used some of my fave Prime lines and memories from TFA and gave us some closure as to Ultra Magnus' fate (and Prime's)-- at least it's one we like better than the series ending...Good job as always
Fresh from mourning the loss of one friend (Prowl), Optimus Prime now reflects on another. This next story sees Optimus thinking back on the tragedy of Elita One as he moves into new accomodation on Cybertron. Did he lose more than just a dear friend with her? Such a personal issue remains unresolved... Note again that the italics indicate Optimus' thoughts and memories. Clearing Cobwebs There was a an acknowledging beep from the sliding doors as Optimus Prime entered his new living quarters. The automatic lights switched on as he stepped into the room and the sight of a high-standard living space greeted his surprised blue optics. Taking a few more steps further into a modern-designed seating area, the young Prime dropped the metal box of belongings and supplies he was carrying to the floor and, resting his hands on his hips, scanned his new sumptuous living quarters. It was wide, spacious, well-lit and furnished and had a wonderful balcony view of Iacon through sliding glass doors on one side. Optimus had to marvel at it. The Council had really been generous to him in offering him this new living space. But then why should he be surprised? After all, he and his crew had brought the feared leader of the Decepticons and his notorious lieutenants back to Cybertron in stasis cuffs. All of Cybertron was hailing them as heroes. Soon after arriving back on Cybertron, Optimus and his team had become the focus of great interest from just about everyone: the Council, the Elite Guard, scientists, the media and the public. Suddenly bots that had never paid them much attention before were coming up to them with detailed factual knowledge about them from their records. Even bots they had never met before were hearing about them. It seemed like almost every bot on Cybertron was eager to find out more about the Space Bridge repair crew that had captured Megatron. The praise and questions they were being inundated with by random bots was fast becoming overwhelming. It was getting difficult avoiding all the attention nearly every time they were out in public. Bulkhead was being recognised for his Space Bridge expertise. Bumblebee had been acknowledged as an Elite Guard warrior (finally authorising his unofficial use of battle-grade stingers). Sari had been approached with a degree of wariness and curiosity at the same time, but she was fast learning to adapt to Cybertronian life. And she seemed certain that she had a purpose to fulfil linked to protoforms. And Ratchet had managed to avoid much of the attention by keeping himself behind doors and occupied with looking after Omega Supreme and Arcee. As for Optimus himself, the members of the High Council were taking particular interest in him, especially Councillor Alpha Trion. The old Autobot representative for the civilian guilds of Cybertron had spoken with him informally already, wanting to get to know him better. Optimus felt almost as if he was considering him as a candidate for something, some position or role, though Optimus could not guess what exactly. Alpha Trion was quite skilled in ambiguity, but he had expressed concerns over Sentinel Prime's rapid and eager attempt to rise to power as the new Magnus whilst Ultra Magnus was still in recovery from his attack. Optimus did not know what Alpha Trion was intending for him if anything, but the aged bot obviously had thousands of stellar cycles of experience and wisdom behind him and Optimus instinctively felt he could trust him. Alpha Trion had personally insisted that he should move out of his previous old, small and humble living quarters into a new one, a very classy new one by the looks of it. Optimus sighed uncertainly as he took in the sight of his wonderful new living quarters. So was this supposed to be amongst the luxuries that recognised heroes enjoyed? Was this a part of his reward for capturing Megatron and his Decepticon warriors, bringing home a reactivated Omega Supreme, saving Earth and by extension Cybertron and returning stolen protoforms and a re-forged Allspark to Cybertron? The whole experience of returning home to a hero's welcome on Cybertron had been incredible and surreal, something Optimus had dreamed of but never expected to happen. Going from lowly Space Bridge repair bots to heroes of Earth and Cybertron had been an impossible achievement. And now, it felt strange to be receiving recognition and rewards after all the battles and personal struggles on Earth. But it didn't feel right or appropriate for him to be enjoying anything too much, not after all the destructive and desperate fighting and their loss of a comrade... He and his team had done only what had to be done in their situation on Earth. Everything they had done and achieved there was remarkable, but it hadn't felt that way when they had been risking spark and limb against the Decepticons. Optimus had learnt that true heroes didn't do what they did for rewards or glory, but because it was the right and necessary thing to do. Optimus shut off his optics. He saw Prowl's dark offline body once again. "He sacrificed his spark to save us." His optics came back online. They had paid a heavy price for their victory over the Decepticons. Optimus wasn't sure it had been entirely worth it. But then, this was what real heroes had to live with: loss. This was what real heroes did: they sacrificed. He accepted those truths bitterly. At least Prowl had been honoured and sent off properly at a public funeral which Optimus himself had delivered a eulogy at. But nothing could ease the terrible absence of the ninja-bot in his team. His death had made their victory over the Decepticons a hollow and solemn one. After everything they had been and pulled through together, all the battles they had fought side by side and survived on Earth, why couldn't they all have made it through to the end? Pushing aside his unhappy thoughts, the young Autobot captain knelt down to begin unpacking his box of belongings. He lifted open the lid of the metal box and began taking out old possessions and placing them on the highly polished metal floor: worn gear, basic tools, data-pads, picture frames... For a few minutes, he silently unpacked his personal items. He checked his wrist chronometer at one point for time. He had an appointment with several old Autobot Academy classmates in a mega-cycle at Macaddams Oil Bar, a reunion organised by Sentinel Prime oddly enough. Optimus had been rather surprised when Sentinel had approached him in an uncharacteristically friendly manner soon after his arrival back on Cybertron, insisting that they should go out for an oil drink with some of their old cadet friends from their Academy days to celebrate his triumphant return home. Sentinel inviting him out for a celebration outing? Optimus had been suspicious obviously, but Sentinel wouldn't take no for an answer from him. And he had apparently already made arrangements with their old Academy friends to come. It would have been impolite to all of them to refuse. Sentinel had said they were all eager to meet up with him again. No doubt they wanted to hear his accounts of his time on Earth. Somehow, Optimus was not entirely comfortable with the prospect of being questioned by his old Academy friends of what he had been through. Optimus shook his head. He was not looking forward to this old Academy reunion, less so because he was not sure of Sentinel's motivations for organising it. He had not really been in contact with any of his old fellow cadets for over a thousand stellar cycles. His Academy days had long ago become soured in his memory ever since his expulsion from the Academy after...the incident...on Archa Seven... As haunting thoughts of the past entered Optimus' processor, his fingers picked up an old portable holo-projector from the metal box. Optimus gazed down at it with an expression of sad recognition. Just put it away. His fingers drifted toward the activation button on the device, almost as if they were being drawn there by an invisible force. He pressed it. A holographic projection of an old video popped up into the air in front of Optimus. He was paralysed on his knees as his blue optics were hopelessly fixated on the images playing before him. They were images of Elita One... Elita was laughing. She had her slender fingers held to her lips in a mild attempt to stifle her laughter. Then as she settled down, Elita's gold helmeted turquoise face lifted up toward Optimus, smiling sweetly. Her large bright blue optics widened in surprise when she realised she was being filmed. "Optimus, is that thing on?" she asked. "Yes," the watching Optimus said simultaneously with his recorded voice from the video. A small blissful smile manifested on his face as he recalled himself standing behind the camera again. He was lost in the memory of the images playing before him. "But I'm not ready yet!" Elita protested. She began quickly wiping and dusting away at her face and body with her hands, primming herself before the camera. Optimus heard his own young laughter from the video. "Elita, you look beautiful! You always look beautiful! Trust me." "Because I'm the one who left you behind. Sentinel's not the one to blame for what you look like." Elita stopped and looked up at Optimus again. An alluring smile and slimming of her optics made Optimus gaze forlornly at her again. "What I look like is only half the story. What I am is a lot more complicated." Elita began approaching closer to the camera, closer to Optimus. Her voice dropped to a subtle flirting tone. "You think I look beautiful, Optimus?" "Leave me alone. I don't want you to see me like this anymore." Optimus listened to himself stumble clumsily with his words. "Well, yeah...I mean...not that I'm...trying to hit on...you..." "In spite of everything, my feelings for you are still hardwired into my circuits." Elita was up close to the camera and Optimus now. The paralysed young Prime felt his spark stop in his chest. "Come closer. There's something I have to tell you." Elita tilted her head slightly and seemed to gaze at Optimus thoughtfully, still giving him a flirting smile. "You sure you're not hitting on me, Optimus?" "Hold me closer." Optimus stumbled again. "I...no...no, of course not! You're my friend, Elita. I wouldn't try...something like...that..." Elita's expression seemed to fall ever so slightly. It was barely detectable. "I've already waited. For a thousand stellar cycles." "You 'are' a good 'friend', Optimus." Her voice seemed flat, almost...disappointed. "Let me earn back your trust." Suddenly Sentinel appeared next to Elita. He draped one thick arm over her shoulders. "Elita, if you're done modelling for boring camera-bot Optimus here, maybe you'd like to spend time with more exciting company. There's a party down town tonight and I've got an extra ticket just for you." Sentinel winked and grinned at Elita in his most overt display of dashing charm. His sizable chin couldn't possibly have looked more bloated than at that moment Optimus thought with dry humour. With a brief dismissive wave to Optimus behind the camera, a cocky Sentinel began guiding Elita away from the view of the camera and Optimus. The reminiscing Optimus sighed. That was so typically Sentinel. Always there when you didn't need him. Elita turned her head to cast a final glance back at Optimus as she was being led away. There was a strange look of longing in her optics... "You came back for me." Optimus reached out with one hand toward Elita's departing holographic form. His fingers tentatively touched her transparent image. "I promised I would." Then the holographic projection vanished. The video ended as Elita and Sentinel disappeared from view. Optimus slowly dropped his outstretched hand back down to the holo-projector device held in his other hand. He cupped the device tenderly between his palms. It was a precious recorded memory. But was it wise to keep holding on to such painful reminders of the past now? Optimus' mind wandered back to his Earth encounters with Elita, 'Blackarachnia' he mentally corrected himself. Elita, the one he remembered, was gone. She really had perished on Archa Seven a thousand stellar cycles ago. Now there was only the techno-organic Decepticon Blackarachnia in her place. She had become hard, unforgiving, distrustful, manipulative. Another part of Optimus sprang immediately to her defence against such critical descriptions; she was deeply hurt, desperate for a cure, abandoned, alone... Optimus' spark sank in his chest. What had happened to Elita One, her transformation into Blackarachnia, was his fault, no matter how justified, right or unintentional his actions had been that fateful day on Archa Seven. If he hadn't acted to save Sentinel, he would have gone back in for Elita. Then they all may have perished in the explosion... And if he had only thought to search for Elita after the explosion despite the absence of her energy signature on his scanners... Optimus' head dropped to his chest and he brought his arms around himself for comfort. It didn't matter what his reasons were, he thought glumly. The fact remained that he had left Elita behind... In his mind, the nightmare replayed itself as it had done countless times over the last thousand stellar cycles. He watched again in numbing horror as her fingers slipped through his winding cable, as she descended screaming into the exploding cavern, as he cried out her name in vain... "ELITAAA!" His hand reaching down hopelessly for her, falling out of his reach, plummeting further and further away, disappearing into the explosion, too fast, too far, too late... A sharp gasp escaped Optimus' vocaliser as the merciless vividness of the memory seized him. His arms tightened around himself instinctively. He recalled the last time he had seen her on Earth... "This time, we're not leaving without you!" "This time, I am!" Optimus shook his head in a feeble attempt to clear the cobwebs of his memories, but they always clung to him. He rose to his feet then, abandoning his unpacking. His optics were drawn to the glass doors that led out to a balcony overlooking the city of Iacon. He noticed one of Cybertron's two moons shining in the dark sky outside. Keeping the holo-projector device in his hand by his side, he moved toward the glass doors to get a better view of the celestial body. The glass doors slid open automatically as he neared them. A cool Cybertronian breeze blew over the young Autobot captain's face as walked out onto the balcony. He shut off his optics briefly to enjoy the feel of the refreshing breeze. When he onlined his optics again, Cybertron's second moon filled his vision, large and luminous, similar to Earth's single moon. She was a beautiful sight. Subconsciously, Optimus' fingers tightened slightly around the holo-projector device in his hand. Where was Blackarachnia now, Optimus wondered? Where had the transwarp energy from Wasp, 'Waspinator' Optimus corrected himself again, sent her? Was she in trouble? Was she causing trouble? Was she thinking of him like he was of her right now? Probably not. He imagined thinking of either him or Sentinel now would bring up too much bitterness and anger in Blackarachnia. She probably tried to keep them out of her mind as much as possible whilst focusing her concentration on her sole purpose of curing herself of her organic contamination. That was all she lived for now... "I am really looking forward to being all bot again." ...or was it? Despite what Sentinel had said in contrast to him after their last encounter with Blackarachnia on Dinobot Island, Optimus still believed that she had sacrificed herself to save them from Waspinator's transwarp explosion. And then there was the time before when she had left the antidote for her lethal venom for him to save Bumblebee and Prowl... Perhaps there was still something left of the Autobot Elita One left in her after all, the aspect of herself that once cared for her friends, disguised well underneath the seductive and dangerous techno-organic Decepticon visage... "Leave me alone. I don't want you to see me like this anymore." Most of the time, Blackarachnia's lulling words had been deceptive fronts to get what she wanted from others or to allow her to get close enough to others to strike at them. But spun into her web of lies had been fragile sincerity. At the heart of her deceptive and spiteful persona, there was concealed pain, suffering and longing. It was hard to decipher her true feelings. She had built a complicated protective shell around herself. Optimus felt like he had only glimpsed a fraction of the true extent of Blackarachnia's complexity. Only one thing was for certain about Blackarachnia, Optimus thought sadly: her trust in him and any other Autobot had been broken, and he was not sure he or anyone could ever mend it again... A soft beeping suddenly emitted from Optimus' wrist chronometer. He lifted his arm to look at the time again. It was time to go. Optimus sighed wearily. He really did not feel in the mood to be socialising with others right now. But he had agreed to meet his old Academy classmates. He couldn't disappoint them. And besides, he couldn't dwell on the past forever. He couldn't wallow in guilt over mistakes he had made before. He had to move on. He had to be strong and rise above his problems, not only for himself, but for others who depended on him as well. And now that he and his team had arrived back on Cybertron as heroes, it was a chance for a new beginning for them all, a chance to move out of their past shadows and start their lives anew. Optimus gazed up heavily one final time at the moon, his expression one of melancholy. He had a feeling in his spark that his and Blackarachnia's paths would cross again someday. Perhaps he still could reach though to her, to the small part of her that was Elita One, the next time they met. Maybe the Elita he once knew wasn't completely lost. Maybe she could still be saved. Maybe one day, she would be able to forgive him for leaving her behind... "Come with us, Elita. We'll find a cure together." ...Maybe. He dared to hope. With dull optics, Optimus turned to leave the balcony area. Unknown to him, somewhere far away, a familiar set of four red optics were gazing up sadly at another moon. A dark purple and black female form curled up in the centre of a giant spider web. Her hand stroked empty space beside her. A glistening tear streamed down her face.
black orcale you should have wrote season 4 of animated this story along with the other one is awesome. like all your other ff you pull us in and we feel the emotions of optimus talking about elita-one. again excellent job i'm the first one to post.
Not In You Programming - another great epilogue fic, Oracle. TFA Magnus is a bit of a hard character to fathom, on the one hard he told Op being a hero wasn't in his programming, but on the other he put Op in command of the ship that was Omega Supreme, so there seems to be some dichotomy in Magnus in what he may think of Op...or so it appears in the show sometimes. "You weren't programmed to be a hero. You have grown into one instead," he breathed heavily. Wonderful sentance! It sums up Magnus's wisdom and the potential saw in Op all along. It was also see a relief to see Magnus concious and talking. I know they showed his body rebuilt, but this is much better confirmation that Magnus truly is okay. And he couldn't have woken up at a better moment. Op returning the hammer reminded me of Rodimus returning the Matrix to Op. And again I must commend you on your memory of past dialogue from the series. I'll have thoughts on Collecting Cobwebs tomorrow.
Fairlady Z, I always figured Ultra Magnus deep down believed in Optimus and had high hopes for him, but after having to expel him from the Elite Guard after the Elita-1 incident, he was hoping that Optimus would still prove himself someday. And it turns out he was right! And I did have to re-listen to some of the dialogue lines from a couple of eps. I remembered certain lines, but didn't always recall them word for word. Thank you again for your thoughts!
You're welcome, Oracle. Clearing Cobwebs - Got the name wrong last post, sorry. Another great wrap up. I'm glad you included a paragraph on what the other bots in Op's crew were doing. I really love fics that just remonise like this about relationships and the "what ifs" of them. The ending was lovely, with Op and BA both looking up at the moon. How sad BA is all alone. I want to know what happens at Macadam's now. Please continue this series. You're doing a great continuation of TFA so far.
