Angst time, baby!
Okay but what if in TFP the "Orion Pax mode" is only suppressed when the Matrix is physically docked in Optimus' chest? I'm treating it like a complete circuit-- the Matrix lives behind the chestplating, encasing the spark, and is literally latched onto the spark chamber, which is part of Prime's interior chassis. (If that sounds almost parasitic, well... 👀) Anyways, the point is, if you take the Matrix out the circuit is incomplete so he's back to being Orion Pax...
The trouble with this idea of course is the fact the Matrix is bound to his very spark-- it's fused with his spark chamber, so it's not like he can just turn "Prime mode" on and off. (This ain't Yu-Gi-Oh lol)
... But what if someone did take it out?
A particularly jaded warlord, perhaps?
Like imagine Megatron and Optimus are fighting, as they have been doing for the last year or so. The war is still relatively new, the betrayal of Orion Pax is still fresh in Megatron's mind, and he just wants to tear the Prime and everything he stands for apart.
Suddenly, through a stroke of luck-- it wasn't skill alone, he can acknowledge that much-- he gains the upper hand on Prime, knocking him backwards. Megatron quickly steps forward to take advantage of the opportunity, blade drawn and poised to send Prime to the Allspark... but at the last klik he changes course and instead uses his blade as leverage to pry the Prime's chestplates open.
The Matrix is as brilliant as the legends said it would be. Megatron sneers at the light show, retracting his blade and grabbing blindly with one servo while the other shields his optics in vain. He finally feels the distinct shape of what he's been after and yanks it, hard.
The light dims considerably; Megatron is able to see again.
He has it!!
He's holding the Matrix of Leadership! The damn bauble the Council denied him! The very symbol the Autobots rally behind! If he could just destroy it he would be able to end the legacy of the Primes forever and crush the resistance, along with the spark that spins within. Megatron looks up, resolving to watch the light leave his enemy's optics...
... but something makes him hesitate, just for a moment.
Those blue optics weren't looking at him, they were fixed on the Matrix, staring at the gore in a sort of silent horror. He'd seen that expression before-- when he still fought in the Pits and was purposefully mismatched, forced to snuff the sparks of mechs who were inexperienced. As a small mercy he would make it swift and clean, but that wasn't what he'd had in mind for the Prime.
Only now the Prime didn't look like "Prime"-- the warrior with wisdom spanning eons-- he just looked hurt, scared, and confused... he looked more like...
... No, that was impossible. Orion is gone; he chose to abandon them, to forget everything and become the perfect soldier--
"M-megatronus," said a trembling voice, sounding so familiar, yet it couldn't be, "what's going on?"
Megatron's first thought is that this is a trick. A sick, cruel trick specifically designed for this moment to make him falter, and damn if it is then it's working. He's not just hesitating, he's completely frozen in shock. Mind racing, he bounces between rationality and impossibility; he mourned the loss of Orion, not just as a betrayal to the cause but as a companion gone forever...
... but a gut instinct tells him the Prime is not capable of being this duplicitous.
"... Orion?" He asks tentatively, so soft it almost couldn't be heard over the sound of battle. As if to yell would break this fragile moment, and he would slip into a reality where he was wrong.
'Please... let this be real...'
The mech stares at him, terrified for his life, looking so small and vulnerable in direct contrast to his imposing frame. Blue optics flit around, unseeing-- it's too much for him to take in, and Megatron doubts Orion had ever felt pain like this is in his function.
"Why--" the other mech (Orion!) begins to ask, but the words are cut off by the sudden onslaught of an enraged Autobot platoon.
Megatron drops the Matrix-- and Orion's spark chamber-- to move out of the way of their attack and get back to a safer position. He looks back in time to see the other mech cough up some energon and move to collect his own spark from the ground.
Mentally, Megatron kicks himself for not just crushing the spark and being done with it-- Orion had betrayed him! He should have been able to do it! But now the leader of the Autobots will live to fight another day...
Well, whomever he greets the next time they cross paths on the battlefield, he'll be ready. And if it's Orion? He'll be sure to snuff his spark.
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MBFW Clarke would be eating a breakfast burrito while Lexa walks around topless. Suddenly, Clarke has a craving for some oranges or maybe a grapefruit 😏
This just made me think of Lexa strutting around topless in the kitchen of her 6th story walk-up while Clarke sits at the breakfast table in just a tank and undies, half asleep still as she munches on the cheesy, bacony grease bomb of an egg breakfast burrito she pouted her way into making Lexa make for her (Lexa snuck spinach in there as well so... it's balanced?) while Lexa makes a joke about her boobs being juicy grapefruits. Clarke just snorts about her being far too generous. "Lex. Sweetcheeks. I've held them in my hands. They are oranges at best"
Lexa is,,, Offended but knows that's fair
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