I've Done It Again

The matrix accepted Megatron, gifting him with the experiences of the thirteen primes who held the matrix before him. Unlike the previous holder of the matrix, there was no urgent danger, no prophecy that Primus desperately needed to avoid. Last time, there was a war coming, one that would destroy their planet if it continued as it was.

Before Optimus Prime received the matrix of leadership, the future would have been even more grim. The Decepticons would have been led by two mechs, both of them madly in love, and desperate to make the world a better place. They had most of the world on their side, ready to fight to the death. Their enemies would have been the treacherous Autobots, few in number but holding most of the planet's resources. The Autobots would have used all of those resources to blow up city after city, poison the energon, and completely ruin the world in an effort to get control back. Still, the Decepticons would have rather died on their pedes than live on their knees.

The Decepticons would have won, and they would not have been corrupted.

And then everyone on the planet would die.

Their race would be extinguished.

Their resources gone.

It would have been the end of Cybertron, of Cybertronians, and without his lifeforms, it would have also been the end of Primus.

That is why Optimus Prime was given the matrix of leadership. Not because he was worthy of anything special, or because he could use his new knowledge to make a better future, but because he had such incredibly strong morals that he would ensure the Autobots could not use their resources to the fullest. He would cripple them with his leadership, making them too weak to do all in their power to destroy their rivals. He would also cause many of those who might have supported the Decepticon cause to believe that the Autobots were the goods guys.

Primus had chosen Optimus Prime to prevent the cybertronian race from dying. And of course, while that aligned with the needs of the people, Primus did not do it in hopes that the world would be a better place. If that was the case, Primus would never have picked the Prime who came before Optimus. The Prime that had caused the corruption to begin with. The Prime who had caused the population of Cybertron to skyrocket during the Golden Age.

You see, Primus needs life on Cybertron. Life gives him strength. If the cybertronian race were to die, so would he. If they were to experience a population boom, he would become stronger. Strong enough to see the future. Strong enough to change it.

He was not a kind god. He was a god trying to survive, trying to thrive. Morals did not mean anything to him, they were nothing more than weaknesses. A weakness that the Autobots needed in order to ensure that they did not destroy their race.

Optimus Prime knew that.

And now, with the memories of the matrix flooding through Megatron's spark...

Megatron knew it too.

"Megatron," Primus called out to him. "Welcome back to the Well of Allsparks."

Megatron turned to look at the ancient god, his optics wide. "You... this is all your fault."

"You know now," Primus nodded. "Good."

"What do you expect to get out of making me a Prime?" Megatron demanded. "By telling me what happened?"

Primus smiled. It was a smile that seemed very kind, despite the awful revelation that Megatron just had. "The goal is not to fix you, but to fix Optimus Prime."

"What do you mean?" Megatron asked, but he knew the answer, because Optimus knew the answer too, and now his memories as a Prime and Megatron's were one. "You want to make him conform? To be like you? You want to ruin him. You filthy—"