Making something based on an old idea I once had for tfone megs/d-16.
After the script was released, I had a thought, especially with how many people would joke saying 'D-16 grabbed Orion, Megatron let him go'- Megatron and D-16 are separate people. Like- different mechs entirely.
Megatron is a defensive alter, formed to protect D-16 from any dangers, be it physical, mental, or emotional. From what I know from my little knowledge in IDW, cold-batches are mocked and hated by most Cybertronian's, and I heavily hc D-16 and B-127 are cold-batches. Being a mech with who is a cold-batch, cogless, and is most often times mistaken as dead, he was put through the brunt of the bullying against other miners, and almost every mining guard in the beginning.
A brutal beating in his first weeks of being online caused 'Megatron' to form and take over, protecting D-16 from the pain and guilt of hurting others for his own safety, though he had no designation then. He rarely came out after then, as after the first few times most mechs left D-16 alone out of fear. Orion never knew about this, as they were still new to being around each other.
When D-16 learned the truth about Sentinel's actions, and his eyes became orange after being given a cog, he was unknowingly mimicking 'Megatron,' the surge of anger from the betrayal making him forget to think properly.
At the pit scene, when Orion was barely functioning, D-16 was terrified. Terrified of losing his friend/lover, and him being the reason he was going to die in the first place. His eyes lighten up to an amber yellow in the movie, and in that moment 'Megatron' believed he was in danger.
So when D-16 lowered his head, he was blacking out and letting 'Megatron' take over (think like how Cruella came alive after Ella let her in from 2019). That's why his eye's became red right after, and he became far more aggressive than D-16 ever was.
Again. All my thoughts for an old au idea, not a headcanon.
