Fanfic / Attack On Prime

Attack on Prime is a crossover between Transformers: Prime and Attack on Titan by melishade on Archive of Our Own.

After the events of Predacons Rising, Optimus became one with Primus to ensure life would flourish on his world. But instead of eternal peace, he is somehow sent to the world of the Titans: where humans are no longer at the top of the food chain and are only safe behind walls. Optimus sees their desperation, their hope, and their passion, and decides to help humanity in the raging war against Titans, as he has said before "Freedom is the right for all sentient beings".

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This fanfic contains examples of:

• Adaptational Wimp: Armin does not become the Colossal Titan, which leads to...
• Adaptational Superpower Change: Porco inheriting the Colossal Titan instead of the Jaw Titan.
• A Day in the Limelight: The Hizuru OVA centers around Mikasa as she visits her ancestral homeland of Hizuru to learn more about her heritage and convince Hizuru to make an alliance with Paradis.
• All for Nothing: Sannes' refusal to give up information on Rod's activities ultimately fails at achieving anything once his comrade Ralph confesses to the Survey Corps, leaving him a crippled wreck after Optimus and Megatron were done with him.
• All There in the Manual: The author has written another work compiling all the other ideas they had for the story and extra drabbles connected to the main story.
• An Arm and a Leg: Annie loses her right arm after Optimus hits her with a shot from one of his blasters due to the Energon in them necrotizing it through her Titan form. She later regains it after Rod injects her with the Energon-infused Titan serum he created.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Levi asks Optimus if he can put down Megatron if he got out of control. Optimus answers that he can. Levi then presses further, asking if Optimus can handle the weight of killing Megatron. Optimus has no answer, which concerns Levi.
  Levi: "If it came down to it, would you sacrifice your feelings and put an end to Megatron if he got out of line?”
  Optimus: “If he is a threat to the population, then I must”
  Levi: “Would you be able to handle that weight? Even after you had to make that choice?”
  Optimus: “I…I do not know.”
• At Least I Admit It: As Megatron puts it to Zeke, while both men have a lot of blood on their hands, Megatron isn't so self-righteous as to justify his atrocities as something done for a greater cause compared to Zeke.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Megatron uses his deduction and planning skills to figure out that Paradis' government only seeks to maintain their privileged position at the cost of the people, noting that Annie's kidnapping and the death of the prisoners close to her cell were too suspicious for it to be ruled as an escape attempt.
• Big Damn Heroes: Megatron shows up as Reiner and Bertholdt are attacking the Survey Corps in their Titan forms to ward them off, though his arrival is not met with elation from Prime due to the former warlord's bloody history.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Averted. Bertholdt confesses his feelings for Annie this time, though the fact that he's dying from Dark Energon poisoning and taken away to be eaten by Porco to keep the Colossal Titan's power in Marley's hands makes it more tragic than heartwarming.
• Costume Evolution: Sort of the case for Ymir's Titan form, which gains a shark-like appearance after she injects the energon-enhanced Titan serum into herself.
• Death by Adaptation: Airachnid is stabbed in the spark by Megatron after the ex-tyrant arrives at Luna-1 to eliminate the threat she poses to Cybertron.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: Instead on being eaten by Armin like in canon, Bertholdt is eaten by Porco.
• The Door Slams You: In Chapter 4, one of the Military Police officers guarding Optimus calls him "a piece of trash". Since he's in vehicle mode, he responds by slamming the soldier with his door.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • When Optimus first meets the Beast Titan, it assumes that he's another Titan despite his metallic appearance.
  • Arcee's "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Optimus is because of Optimus leaving Megatron alive despite the massive genocide that Megatron did. Thing is, Optimus has been tempted to kill Megatron a few times in series like in Crossfire which Arcee was even present for.
• The Dreaded: Megatron quickly establishes himself as the most feared individual in the story, especially with the Marleyan Warriors, thanks to his utter ruthlessness in combat and willingness to bend the rules however he likes, not to mention the history he has with Optimus Prime.
  • Optimus Prime is this for Zeke Yeager, having nearly killed him with ease when he found out about how he turned humans into titans.
• Fingore: A blast from Megatron leaves Bertholdt unable to regenerate his left ring finger due to the Dark Energon nullifying his healing factor and eating him alive from the inside out.
• Giant Robot Hands Save Lives: Optimus manages to catch Pastor Nick after Hange drops him off the wall, though the pastor is knocked unconscious from the impact.
• Good Cop/Bad Cop: Optimus and Megatron show this dynamic when they interrogate Sannes, with Optimus asking the man questions on Rod Reiss' activities and Megatron bringing in various torture methods to loosen him up due to Sannes' recalcitrance.
• Good Is Not Nice: Megatron may be allied with Optimus Prime in their fight against the Titans, the Paradis government, and Marley, but he's still the brutal and headstrong 'Con we all know from canon even though he disbanded the Decepticons following the Heel Realization he received from being possessed by Unicron.
• Good Is Not Soft:
  • Make no mistake, Optimus Prime may still be the All-Loving Hero he is in canon, but he's willing to kill his opponents if it ever comes down to that point.
  • Megatron, on the other hand, takes this even further with his willingness to fight dirty in almost every combat situation, using everything at his disposal to put his foes six feet under.
• Heroic BSoD: Optimus doesn't take the revelation that the Titans he fought were once innocent people before their transformation too well after he pieces together how the Beast Titan had so many under its command.
• I Am Not Left-Handed: Since he'd been ordered to capture the Female Titan to find out who was the shifter, Optimus held back a lot during their first encounter, and telling her as much once he captures her. On their second fight, he proceeds to show her how much he was actually holding back, leaving Annie completely terrified of Optimus in the aftermath.
• Jerkass: Megatron is nothing short of rude and violent towards everyone, even after he chills out a bit later in the story.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Megatron may be an egotistical misanthrope even after his Heel Realization, but even he has moments of goodness. The best example would be where he sacrificed three months of his freedom in Marley to give the Eldians one day to mourn for their friend with no repercussions. A friend he had a hand in killing no less.
• Kryptonite Factor: Energon is toxic to any organic being, including humans and Titans. When Optimus shoots the Female Titan with his blaster as she tries to escape, the blast not only damages the Titan's arm, but also Annie's human arm and even negates her Healing Factor, preventing her from regenerating it.
• Lesser of Two Evils: When questioned as to why he simply doesn't kill Megatron, Optimus explains that doing so would give Unicron a host, and Optimus doesn't have the means to contain, let alone fight, the God of Evil.
• Like a Son to Me: After spending so much time with Eren, Optimus has come to consider the boy his son.
• The Mentor: Optimus quickly establishes himself as this for many of the Survey Corps, specifically Eren, teaching him how to fight and giving him advice.
  • Megatron during his infiltration into Marley is assigned to teach the Eldian recruits how to better fight. He also spends time giving them advice and warning them of the dangers of being arrogant.
• The Mole: To gain more insight into Marley's military, Megatron, disguised as a human named Matthew Hayes, infiltrates its armed forces, much to his chagrin.
• Never Got to Say Goodbye: Some of Bertholdt's last thoughts are this.
  Bertholdt: He didn’t get to say goodbye! He didn’t get to say goodbye to Pieck! Zeke! Porco! His parents! The 104th! Wait! He still had so much to say!
• Nominal Hero: Megatron starts off as one thanks to his abrasive personality and ruthlessness, though Character Development sees him mellow out a little bit.
• Outside-Context Problem: Optimus and Megatron are this for Marley in spades; Marley only knows that they come from beyond the stars and that they're completely different from the Titans, and both bots have utterly trounced Marley's Shifter Warriors in the time they've been in the world of Attack on Titan.
• Parental Substitute: Optimus quickly becomes the closest thing Eren has to a father.
• Properly Paranoid: The Survey Corps rightly regard the Eldian Restorationists with suspicion due to their as-of-yet unknown goals beyond their stated motive of restoring the Eldian Empire and Zeke's part in attacking Paradis as the Beast Titan.
• Rage Breaking Point: When he learns that titans used to be humans Optimus snaps and nearly kills the Beast Titan in a blind rage.
• Reformed, but Not Tamed: Even after disbanding the Decepticons and exiling himself, Megatron is still not someone to mess with, as demonstrated by his brutal takedown of Reiner and Bertholdt.
• Rejected Apology: Megatron tries to apologize to Hanji for his poor behavior towards them. Hanji understandably doesn't accept it & tells Megatron he has to earn their forgiveness.
  Megatron: “I am sorry, Hanji Zoe, for all the pain that I have caused you.”
  Hanji: “I don’t accept your piss-poor apology, and I won’t accept your apology. Not until I actually see results with you. Whatever you want out of me, you have to earn it.”
• Spared by the Adaptation: Ymir doesn't go back to Marley & survives, though she's still affected by the curse.
  • Played Straight at first with Bertholdt, who survives & returns to Marley, then averted when he doesn't last long due to the Dark Energon fatally poisoning him, forcing Marley to feed him to Porco to preserve the Colossal Titan's power.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Anyone who works with Megatron due to the ex-warlord's prickly personality.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Megatron gets a few of these from a few characters, all well-deserved after all that he did.
  • He gets an epic one from Arcee for all that he did to the Autobots, Decepticons, Earth & Cybertron.
  Arcee: “You shouldn’t go with him.”
  Hanji: “I mean…I need an update from Megatron about Marley. It’s important for our survival, and I would like to be informed about what’s going on across the ocean.”
  Arcee: “It’s not safe.”
  Hanji: (warningly) “Arcee.”
  Megatron: (demanding) “Is there something you want to say to me, Two-Wheeler?”
  Hanji: “Nothing needs to be said right now.. What we need now is to make sure the damage the Restorationists caused is taken care of.”
  Arcee: “And what makes you think that he’s any more trustworthy than they are?”
  Megatron: “And there it is.”
  Hanji: “Nothing is there." (Tries to separate them) "Let’s just calm down.”
  Megatron: “I hope you are aware that I helped discover Zeke’s deception.”
  Arcee: (laughs) “And what?! That’s supposed to make me feel better about you?!”
  Hanji: “Arcee, cool it! “Megatron is an ally! And we need him to help us!”
  Arcee: (angrily) “Ally?! The last time we were allies with Megatron, he kidnapped Optimus after he lost his memories! It took months to find a way to get them back and save him from your oily claws!”
  Hanji: “That’s not something I have time to focus or consider! If Optimus trust’s keeping Megatron around, then I trust his decision! And Megatron has proven his trust to us enough!”
  Arcee: (baffled) “You don’t get it, do you? What Megatron has done to every single person he has ever come across!”
  Hanji: “Hey-!”
  Arcee: (ignoring Hanji) “I mean, we can just go down that long list, but it would take ages to reach the bottom of it! Why don’t we talk about how you ended up destroying Cybertron and making it impossible for the Well to give new life?! No?! What about Cybonic Plague?! That virus wiped out millions and nearly killed Optimus! Or bringing the dead back to life because you were in such short supply of soldiers to do your bidding! Doesn’t even come close to trying to destroy Earth and kill over seven billion people on multiple occasions! Too big?! Well, we can go into specifics about tearing out Bumblebee’s voice box, leaving unable to speak properly for years! Or poisoning a twelve year old human with dark energon! Oh wait! You think humans are bugs anyway, so what does it matter?!”
  Megatron: “I have no interest in your ceaseless prattle and all the people that you’ve known that I’ve wronged!”
  Arcee: “Oh, it’s not just Autobots. It’s Decepticons, too! Every single Decepticon that followed you to the ends of the universe! They didn’t believe us when we told them you forfeited the war! Bumblebee volunteered to use a cortical psychic patch to show the memory of you forfeiting the war! They were angry! Angry that they dedicated everything to you and that you abandoned them after the damage you caused! I doubt you’d remember leaving Slipstream on Junkion to rot! Or Shadow Striker no longer being useful after you ordered Shockwave to weld parts of her dead comrades onto her body! Or getting us to kill the Predacons on Earth! Or even Soundwave being trapped in an alternate dimension! I bet you didn’t even think about him while you were here! That doesn’t even come close to what happened to Starscream! We didn’t even put him on trial! You know why?! Because we found him mutilated beyond recognition by the Predacons! He was knocked into a coma for an almost a year because of the damage! We had to rebuild his body and give him a new form just to keep him alive! He got his punishment! But you know, he started talking about you the moment he woke up, and that coming into contact with you was the worst thing he ever did! He pledged his loyalty to you, and you physically beat him into the ground! Threatening to kill him on multiple occasions for the littlest thing! He broke down! Had nightmares! After everything, you left him! You know it says something when I feel bad for the ‘Con who murdered my partner! I wouldn’t even stop him from seeking revenge against you, because who could possibly blame him?!”
  Megatron: “I heard enough!”
  Arcee: “No you haven’t! Let’s get one thing straight: You! Deserve! Nothing! You deserve to be rusting at the bottom of Earth’s ocean instead of walking around as if nothing’s wrong! As if you could somehow put everything behind you and pretend to be nice for your own selfish gain! I will never put my trust in you! I would rather die than put my life in your hands! Do you hear me?!”
  • Hanji gives a very pointed one to Megatron regarding his character.
  Hanji: “I finally understand you.”
  Megatron: “Excuse you?”
  Hanji: “After years of watching, observing, listening to second hand accounts, and analyzing your own behavior, I finally know and understand exactly what you are. You, Megatron, are a coward.”
  Megatron: "What? “Who do you think you are to say that to me?”
  Hanji: “Someone who’s been picking at your mind for three years. You resort to violence. Always. Considering your own environment and the life you’ve led, that’s all you’ve ever known. I can’t entirely fault you for that. But even after you say that you understand the meaning of oppression, according to Optimus’ account, you still resort to violence. You still resort to abusive and manipulative behavior. To people who haven’t done you any wrong. And the people who do want to extend their hand to you and possibly even help you, you resort to anger. You resort to violence because you’re not used to kindness or sincerity. You resort to violence because it’s easy. You are afraid of what someone might do if they found your weaknesses and your vulnerabilities. You are a coward to something as inevitable as change. You can’t even try to get out of your own head and get out of your own way, and I’d feel sorry for you if you didn’t actively strike fear into the hearts of my subordinates that they come into my office begging for protection from you.”
  Megatron got up from his chair and grabbed Hanji by their collar, but the Commander was unfazed.
  Hanji: “Even when confronted with the truth about how horrible you are, you resort to violence, because you are afraid of the truth, and you are afraid of what that says about you! The men and women I have fought beside for so many years have always been scared shitless of titans! They were always afraid of being eaten alive and dying a gruesome death! But even in the face of danger, they did not run! They fought and lived to survive another day, or died so that the rest of us could survive! Despite how afraid they were, they still chose to fight! I would choose a thousand Survey Corps members over any version of you! Because despite your power, you can’t confront your truth! That you never changed and that you’re still a monster who deserves nothing! And killing me won’t change that at all!”
  Hanji could see the anger reigniting in Megatron’s eyes, and was prepared to turn on their communicator to get Optimus over to their location. But that anger, got mixed in with…guilt…remorse…defeat. The titan hung his head and let go of Hanji’s collar, sitting back down in defeat.
  Megatron: “…you’re right…”
  Hanji: “Probably hurts to say that, doesn’t it?”
  Megatron: “So why are you still here? Allowing me this audience with you.”
  Hanji: “Well for starters, you’re a means to an end. I need you here to ensure Paradis survives. And frankly, we were a means to an end to you, too. But the scientist in me has always been…curious about you. I’ve seen…glimpses of humanity, albeit buried deep within you. And you push against in, and again, that goes back to your own cowardice to confronting your own feelings and actually feeling remorse for your actions. And Optimus: sweet, kind, caring Optimus, still can’t seem to get over you. He holds onto the notion that everyone deserves a shot at redemption. So…could that really apply to someone as vile as you?”
  Megatron: “No. No matter what I do to, I will never be able to atone for the millions of lives that have died by my hand.”
  Hanji: “But you know what you’ve done is wrong. And what you’ve continued to do is wrong. So here’s the big question: do you really want to continue to wallow in your misery like this? Remain trapped in this perpetual state of guilt for the rest of your long life? Or do you actually feel enough remorse to try and make amends to the people you’ve hurt?”
  Megatron: “…they won’t forgive me.”
  Hanji: “And they have every right to not. Especially for someone like you. But do you want to stay like this: a pathetic coward? Or actually become someone worthy of a second chance, like Optimus is so desperately trying to cling to with you?”
  Megatron: “…Even if I did-,”
  Hanji: “Stop saying that.”
  Megatron: “Where would I even start?”
  Hanji: “Oh there are a lot of places you can start. I’m going to make a guess that you still didn’t apologize to Armin and Mikasa about getting them worried about Annie. By the way, they came to both me and Optimus, telling me that you’ve been meeting with them multiple times, in secret. And I don’t know what the hell you’ve been saying to them, but it has them terrified of you. What the hell is wrong with you, dumping your issues onto teenagers? Go to them. Apologize for all the shit you put them through. I don’t care what they say after an attempt at your apology; they are owed one. You better not hurt them. Because if you do, like I said, I will make sure that Optimus never forgives you for the rest of your pathetic life.”
  Megatron: “I am sorry, Hanji Zoe, for all the pain that I have caused you.”
  Hanji: “I don’t accept your piss-poor apology, and I won’t accept your apology. Not until I actually see results with you. Whatever you want out of me, you have to earn it.”
  • Arcee delivers a short one to Optimus regarding his leniency towards Megatron. Optimus later admits that she was right.
  Optimus: “Arcee, what in the Allspark happened?!”
  Arcee: “I don’t take orders from you. Despite Ratchet being hopped up on syn-then, he had a great point about you. You were always soft when it came to Megatron. Even though he committed genocide on a massive scale, you thought him of all people deserved an opportunity at redemption. I should have recognized that it was you because only you would be stupid enough to leave him alive!”
• This Cannot Be!: Optimus reacts with shock and horror at Megatron's appearance just as he's about to attack Reiner and Bertholdt since he had no intention of ever seeing his former friend turned nemesis ever again.
• Trauma Button:
  • Optimus and Megatron are this for Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt, most particularly the latter.
  • Optimus is this for Zeke Yeager, more so than even Megatron, given that Optimus nearly killed him with ease when they first met. Even years later, Zeke is terrified of the Prime.
• Tranquil Fury: Optimus is beyond furious towards Nick for withholding the truth about Paradis from its people while claiming him to be a monster, calmly stating that he could have simply left them to their own devices if he wanted to instead of helping them retake their home from the Titans.
• Undying Loyalty: The Survey Corps eventually devote themselves to Optimus for his kindness, courage, and magnetism. When Autobots from Cybertron arrive and threaten to have Optimus taken away, everyone immediately leaps to Optimus' defense, willing to kill his former comrades if it means keeping him safe.

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