Author's Note

Hello! So, the ending didn't turn out nearly as long as I thought it would. Guess I just never realized how much of the Mission City stuff didn't really involve Sam, meaning, in effect, Ari isn't apart of it either. So, in the end, this turned out average length, but oh well. At least everyone gets what they want now, fast update and all in one shot!

Okay, now for reviews...actually, you know what, I'm sorry, but I'm feeling really lazy today so I'm not going to do reviews this chapter. It was mostly you guys saying what you wanted me to do with this end of movie stuff anyway. I will say this though, congrats to SunnySides for being my 100th reviewer! Thank you all for the lovely reviews and just because I'm lazy today that doesn't mean I still don't want reviews!

Okay, go onward and read!


The Battle of Mission City

Not far into the drive the other Autobots catch up to them and join their procession of vehicles. Thanks to their speeding it's only about another five minutes until they make it to the busy freeway just outside the city. The Autobots and soldiers merge into the heavy traffic while trying to stay together as best they can. Ari turns to look out the back window when a blur of black and white catches her eye. She locks onto it, a black and white cop car that is gaining on their line of cars. There is no mistaking who it is.

"Frag," Ari says. "Sides, it's that same cop car from before. It's Barricade."

Sideswipe growls. "I thought we got rid of him."

"I guess not. And it doesn't look like he's alone." Driving alongside Barricade is an armored vehicle that is using a claw-scoop-thing at the end of a robotic arm to shovel cars out of the way.

"That's Bonecrusher. We have to make it into the city before he catches up to us."

Optimus, Ratchet, and Ironhide move to block the two Decepticons from advancing further, but then Bonecrusher transforms, using the wheels at the back of his heels as skates so that he glides across the pavement. He goes out of his way to barrel through a bus, breaking it in half and instantly setting the two pieces on fire. Ari swears she sees a smile on his face for the destruction and death he just caused.

As Bonecrusher gains on them Optimus transforms, ready for a fight. Bonecrusher tackles him and they both tumble off of the overpass they are on. Ari tries to keep them in sight, wanting to make sure Optimus is okay, but they keep driving towards the city and soon the two mechs are gone.

"Optimus will be okay, right?" Ari asks, her eyes still looking back, searching, even though she knows it's useless now.

"Pit yeah. Optimus can take care of Bonecrusher with his optics closed. He'll finish him off and meet back up with us in Mission City in no time."

Ari faces forward again just as buildings start to surround them. They head towards a pawn shop so that Lennox can stop and get radios in the hopes of contacting any military aircraft in the area. They keep moving through the city until a jet flies by overhead. Everyone stops and gets out. Ari does as well with the AllSpark in hand, determined not to let it out of her sight.

Lennox releases a canister of green smoke among their group while Epps attempts to contact the jet with his radio.

"Raptor, raptor, do you copy?" Epps says, eyes intent on the jet. "We have you visual. Green smoke is the mark. Provide air cover and vector Black Hawks for extraction."

There is no answer and Ari gets a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

It is confirmed when Ironhide transforms and shouts, "It's Starscream!"

Civilian humans start to panic at the sudden appearance of a giant robot but Ari knows they're about to have something else to be afraid of. Starscream is heading towards them to make another pass, to fire at them. Ari and the soldiers fall back while Ironhide and Sideswipe move in front of them, holding up a semi-truck to use as a shield.

Starscream fires two missiles, the first one missing but the second one hitting the semi head on. The impact sends everyone falling, Ari being thrown into the side of Sunstreaker's alt mode since she was standing right next to him. Dust rises into the air and she sees stars for a few moments, her head spinning. Once everything clears she gets to her feet, her hands instantly grabbing onto the AllSpark again.

"You alright?" Sunstreaker asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She looks Sunny over. "Didn't even give you a scratch."

"You better not have," he says with a huff. "Something tells me I'm about to get enough of them. Don't need you humans giving me some, too."

Ari chuckles and then looks over the destruction, the soldiers who are getting back on their feet, and picking out the Autobots one by one to make sure they are alright. Ironhide is still in one piece, though she knows it would take a lot to bring him down.

"Where's Sideswipe?" Sunny suddenly asks and Ari looks at him in confusion. He sounds worried and Sunny never sounds worried. "He's hurt. Bad. I can feel it."

Her breath hitches and she looks out over the destruction again until her eyes catch a flash of silver. "There!" she points towards the form of Sideswipe crawling out of a dent he make in the side of a delivery truck and she rushes towards him. Sunstreaker transforms and follows behind her.

When she's a few feet in front of Sides she notices his legs. "No….," she says in horror, tears prickling at her eyes. His legs, they're just…gone. "Ratchet!"

"I don't think Ratchet has time to fix this," Sides says with a half-smile. "Looks like I'm out of this fight."

Sunstreaker shakes his head. "Idiot. What were you thinking, getting yourself trashed like that?"

"Trust me, I had other ideas."

Things start to explode again and they look over to see a tank coming down the street. The soldiers and the remaining Autobots, besides Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, get ready for a fight.

Sideswipe gets himself sitting up against a pile of rubble with this shattered legs lying out in front of him. He looks at Ari with pleading eyes. "Ari, you've got to go."

"What?" she asks in disbelief. "No! I'm not leaving you!"

"You have to. You have to keep the AllSpark safe. You need to get out of here before the Decepticons find it and you."

"No, I'm not leaving you! You would never leave me so I'm not going to leave you!"

"Ari-"

She shakes her head defiantly. "No!"

Sideswipe looks at his brother. "Sunny, you have to take her."

"No way, mech," Sunny says. "I'm not leaving you either. What would you do if a Decepticon decided to attack you?"

"This isn't about me!" Sides snaps angrily. "This is about saving everyone! If the Decepticons get a hold of it, then all of this is for nothing."

Ari squeezes her eyes tight, not wanting to hear it. She knows that if she hears it a part of her will agree with him. She should leave, get the AllSpark somewhere safe. Not just to save them, but the entire human race. The whole planet. Pit, the whole universe. That's what's at stake. If the Decepticons aren't stopped here, then there will be no stopping them.

But she can't just leave Sideswipe. She's afraid that if she does, if she leaves him here with no legs, so completely vulnerable, he'll die.

All around her there are explosions and gunshots and cries of pain and metallic noises. And in the middle of it all Ari cries at her complete helplessness. She's so tired of feeling helpless. She was helpless to keep her mother from leaving. She was helpless to keep her father from drinking and then beating her. She has always been helpless. And now she is helpless to save Sideswipe. Her first friend, someone she cares about more than anyone and who actually cares about her in return. There is nothing she can do to help him.

Her shoulders shake as tears stream down her face.

A few land on the AllSpark.

A blue glow starts to filter in through her eyelids.

"What the frag?" she hears Sunstreaker say.

Ari opens her eyes to see the AllSpark…glowing. There are several Cybertronian symbols carved into the Cube and the one that is larger than all the rest is glowing a soft blue. Then another, smaller symbol on the same side begins to glow. And then another on a different side starts to do the same. And then another, and another, and another, until there are seven symbols glowing in all, the large one and six smaller symbols, one on each side of the cube. The glowing symbols begin to dim, all except for one of the smaller symbols. It glows brighter.

Others have started to notice what's going on. The battle ceases for a moment as humans and Cybertronians alike stare at the AllSpark in wonderment, none of the Cybertronians seeming to ever have seen something like this happen before.

Sparks arc out of the Cube, a lot like they did when Ari first touched it, except now they reach out for Sideswipe. They caress his leg until the remarkable happens. Before their eyes new metal and wire begins to form. Sideswipe's legs grow back. Once the process is complete the glowing and sparking stops.

Sideswipe gets up on his new legs, bending at the knee several times to test them out and they seem fine. "What the frag just happened?" he asks in awe.

"I don't know," Ari says, looking down at the Cube in her hands. "But I'm glad it did."

Thank you, AllSpark…or Primus…or whoever just did that. Just…thank you.

Everything begins to move again. The Decepticons resume attacking, Megatron coming out of nowhere to take a few swipes at the Autobots.

His red optics lock onto Ari holding the AllSpark. She gulps. He had seen it, too.

The tank Decepticon gets back up. Another Decepticon, this one a helicopter, lands on a nearby building.

Things are getting pretty bad.

"Ari," Lennox yells, running towards her.

"Did you see what just happened?" she asks him.

"Yeah, yeah, I did, but that's another confusing discussion for another time. We have to get the Cube out of here but I can't leave my guys. Take this flare," he hands the red flammable stick to her. "Okay, there's a tall, white building with statues on top. Go to the roof. Set the flare."

Ari looks down at the flare and the Cube in her hands and then back up at Lennox. She nods. "Alright. Where is this building?"

Lennox points it out to her. She licks her lips anxiously. It's several blocks away. "We'll hold them off, you just run straight for that building and signal the chopper with the flare, alright?"

"O-okay." She looks up at Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, with Ironhide and Ratchet now standing next to them.

"Ari, we will protect you," Ironhide says.

Sideswipe gives her a wide grin and unsheathes his blades. "You know we will. You have nothing to fear."

Ari takes a deep breath. She is scared out of her mind. So much could go wrong between here and that building. She could die trying to do this. But she has to. It's like her great-great grandfather used to say: No sacrifice, no victory. She must be willing to sacrifice herself now if she is ever going to make it. If they are ever going to defeat the Decepticons once and for all.

She returns Sideswipe's grin. "Let's do this."

And then she takes off running.

Ari weaves around debris as she runs for her life, explosions sounding too close for comfort behind her. The Decepticons know she has the AllSpark now and they are coming after her for it. But she has four Autobots covering her. She can make it. She can make it.

The Decepticon chopper lands down the street and fires. Ironhide steps in front of Ari and blocks the attack with a car but he ends up falling to the side in the process. Ari doesn't know how injured he is but there is no time to check. The chopper transforms and flies by right over her head.

She just keeps running as fast as she can.

After another block Starscream lands right in front of her and she's forced to stop and roll to the side to avoid the cars he shoves out of his way and straight at her.

Ratchet and Ironhide step up to fight him off while Ari gets up again to run with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker on either side of her making sure she gets away.

The building is only a few blocks away when Ari chances a look at a passing alley. Something catches her eye and she stops to get a better look. She knows those faceplates.

It's Jazz, lying in two pieces, in worse shape than Sideswipe was, with energon pulling beneath him.

"Ari, we can't stop," Sunstreaker says impatiently. He fires off a few shots at a Decepticon behind them with his blaster. "We have to keep going."

"But it's Jazz," Ari says while running up to the fallen Autobot. His optics are barely still online. "I have to help him."

"There's no time," Sides says. "Ratchet will take care of him later. We have to get you and the Cube to that building now! We can't stop or the Decepticons will get you."

"I'll be fine. I just need two minutes." She gives them a wry grin. "Surely the infamous twins can hold off a few Decepticons for that long."

She knows she has them when they look at each other with matching mischievous optics. "You know we can," Sunny says. "Come on, Sides, lets show these mechs who they're dealing with." And then they fall out of sight of the mouth of the alley, but she knows they won't go too far.

Ari turns back to Jazz, placing a hand on his arm. The metal is so cold, unlike the warmth she knows there should be.

"Please," she whispers. "Whoever is listening, please, help me like you did before with Sideswipe. I don't know if it was the Cube itself or maybe even Primus, but I could use your help again. Jazz is going to die if you don't help him now."

Nothing happens for a minute and she starts to think that maybe she was wrong. But then the same symbol as before starts to glow. She stares down at it with a smile. Arcs of blue energy reach out for Jazz's two halves, lifting his legs back over to the rest of his body and joining them back together. When everything stops Ari stares at the vacant optics hoping she wasn't too late.

They blink blue once, then turn off again. They blink again, several times in the same second, and then go dark. Then they turn on, staying on this time, and Jazz coughs as his ventilation system starts to kick in again.

Jazz groans as he sits up, rubbing his head with one hand. "Wha' happened?" he asks. "Thought I was on mah way back to the Well o' Sparks."

"Not quite, Jazz," Ari says with a soft smile. "You can't leave us yet. Still too many Decepticons who haven't gotten a piece of you yet."

"You know tha's right." He gets up on his feet, unsteady at first, but then finding his balance. "Need an escort, lil' lady?"

"Yes, if you don't mind. I think my original two are probably a little tied up at the moment." They head back out of the mouth of the alley and see that, yes, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are engaged with fighting off a Decepticon, twin grins on their faces as they work together with twin blades to fight him off. Ari catches Sideswipe's optic and she nods to him. He nods in acknowledgment and she takes off towards the building again with Jazz by her side. Once he sees her safely inside he goes off to join the fight with the rest of them.

It's an old abandoned building with nothing inside. Ari wonders what it used to be as she heads across the huge space to a hallway that hopefully leads to the stairs, but her thoughts are interrupted when she hears a voice, "Give me the Cube, girl!"

Ari doesn't have to look back outside to know that it is Megatron.

She runs towards the stairs with added urgency.

As she makes it into the hallway of the second story she hears a loud crash of glass shattering. "I smell you, girl."

All of a sudden the floor right behind her explodes upward, the wood splintering into pieces as Megatron breaks through. Ari makes it into a small stairwell that appears to go straight up to the roof just in time.

By the time she makes it all the way up to the roof Ari's legs feel like jelly from all of the flights of stairs but she still keeps going as fast as she can. She can't afford to stop for anything, not even to rest for a second. Making her way across the roof she hears the sound of the chopper approaching. She hits the end of the flare against the wall she runs alongside and the pink flame comes to life. "Hey! I'm over here!" she calls out.

She keeps running, flare held high, to the edge of the roof where another chopper appears from below to pick up her and the Cube. She drops the flare and takes the Cube in both hands, reaching out beyond the edge of the roof to the man in the helicopter reaching out to take the Cube. They are just centimeters apart.

Then Ari sees Starscream fire a missile. She leans back. "Watch out!"

But they are too late. The missile collides with the top of the helicopter. Ari falls to the ground as the helicopter swerves, the tail end going over the roof and the back propeller barely missing her. She gets back on her feet and begins to run again just as Megatron catches up to her, crashing through the roof of the building from underneath.

He has her, has her trapped. She needs a place to hide. Seeing no other option, Ari gets up on the edge of the roof and eases herself behind one of the statues in the corner, barely hanging on by her fingers and toes. She tries to stay quiet despite her fear of falling backwards but it hardly matters.

"Is it fear or courage that compels you, fleshling?" Megatron says, the sound of his metallic footsteps clearly indicating he is approaching her, her attempt of hiding proving fruitless. "Give me the AllSpark and you may live to be my pet."

His pet? That doesn't sound like a very good option. Then again, falling to her death doesn't sound like a very good option either. But Ari already knows what it's like to be a pet. It would be no different than what she was to her father, someone to use and abuse whenever he pleased. And she will never go back to that life.

"I'm never giving you the AllSpark!" Ari answers.

"Oh, so unwise." Megatron then raises his weapon and severs Ari's little corner from the rest of the roof.

She screams as she falls backwards, keeping the AllSpark clutched against her chest. She wishes the Cube would give her the power of flight, but she highly doubts it can do that. Ari spins through the air, head over heels, down, down, down.

Then something catches her. Ari's heart races as she gets her bearings back. She is being held in Optimus's hand from where he hangs against two buildings.

"I've got you, Ari," he says as he holds her firmly against his chest. "Hold onto the Cube!" And then they are falling down again, with Optimus jumping from building to building, skidding down the sides to slow their decent.

A couple of stories from the ground Megatron falls on top of them from above, causing all of them to hurtle towards the ground. Ari lands on top of Optimus's chest, Megatron not far away from them. All around there are people's screams.

Ari gets up on her knees and looks at Optimus. "Are you okay?"

"I am fine," he says. "You risked your life to protect the Cube."

"No sacrifice, no victory."

"If I cannot defeat Megatron, you must push the Cube into my chest. I will sacrifice myself to destroy it. Get behind me."

Ari doesn't like the sound of that plan but she does as she is told, getting off of Optimus to hide in a large gash in the earth.

"It's you and me Megatron," Optimus says as the two Cybertronians get to their feet.

"No," Megatron replies, "It's just me, Prime."

"At the end of this day, one shall stand, one shall fall."

Megatron hits Optimus, sending him into the side of a building. "You still fight for the weak." He grabs Optimus by the back of his shoulders and flings him aside. "That is why you lose!"

Things aren't looking good, but Ari stays still. She won't destroy the AllSpark by killing Optimus. She won't, not unless it's the absolute last resort. And she doesn't believe it will come to that. Not while she still has something to say about it.

Jets arrive, friendly, non-Decepticon jets this time, and shoot at Megatron. The soldiers shoot at him as well, causing him to fall back. Debris is falling really close to where she is hiding so she makes a run for Optimus, getting behind him again. Megatron come for her, making a grab for her, but Ari ducks down so that he misses.

Ari is now lying on the ground, both Optimus and Megatron crawling towards her.

"Ari, put the Cube in my chest!" Optimus tells her. She looks at him wide-eyed. No, she can't do that. "Now, Ari!"

Megatron is coming right over top of her and she makes her choice.

Ari goes up to Megatron and shoves the Cube into his chest before he has a chance to stop her. The Cube collides with Megatron's spark, the two energies overheating each other, and they both disintegrate. Megatron cries out in pain as his lifeforce slowly dies.

Ari cries out in pain as well. There is a searing heat coursing through her body, originating from the AllSpark in her hands. Blue energy is flowing from the Cube and into her, wrapping around her limbs and dissolving into her skin. There is a blinding light and she closes her eyes against it, but still she sees it. Then, in the light, there is a figure, no, figures, and one of them says something to her.

"Power such as this can never be destroyed, only transformed."

Next thing Ari knows it is over. The pain is gone, the AllSpark is no longer in her hands, and Megatron is lying dead at her feet. A quiet descends over everyone. The whole battle appears to be over now, now that the leader of the Decepticons is dead.

Ari slowly backs away and closer to Optimus. He walks towards Megatron, looking at the dimming red optics sadly.

"You left me no choice, brother," he says quietly. He then leans down in front of her. "Ari, I owe you my life. We are in your debt."

She smiles at him. "I don't know how it works on Cybertron, but here on Earth, friends never owe each other anything. Besides, there is already something you promised you'd help me with."

Optimus smiles back at her. "And we will keep that promise." He stands to address the gathering soldiers. "We have gained many new comrades this day. Thank you. All of you. You honor us with your bravery."

Among the Autobots Ari sees a pair of silver and yellow mechs and she happily runs up to them, arms held out. Sideswipe grins and picks her up into his arms.

"We did it," she says happily as she's placed sitting on his forearm.

"No," Sideswipe says, "You did it, Ari. It's finally over."

Ari frowns. He's right, it's over. So…now what? What's going to happen to the Autobots? What are the world's leaders going to do? How will they react? Will they let the Autobots stay or will they insist they leave? And what about when the Autobots fulfill their promise to her? What will happen to her then? And will she ever see them again?

Will she ever see Sideswipe again?

"So what now?" she asks, her stomach twisting in knots anxiously.

"Well, I actually have an idea about that." Sideswipe looks to Optimus. "Permission to speak, sir?"

Optimus finishes fishing one lone AllSpark shard that survived in Megatron's chest and then replies, "Of course, Sideswipe. What is it?"

"When all is said and done I would like to stay with Ari."

Ari gapes at Sideswipe, mouth and eyes wide. "B-but what about the Autobots? And Sunstreaker? You can't just leave them."

"I've already thought a lot about this, Ari, and with Megatron gone now the decision is only made easier. Things will finally be settling down now that the leader of the Decepticons is gone. All that will be left is to pick off any stragglers that are already on Earth or ever end up here. Megatron was the strongest among them, so with him gone they won't be able to come back in full force again. The Autobots won't need me to be around all the time, but if they do need me I'm just a quick Comm Link away. As for Sunny, well," he looks over at his brother, "he actually said he's going to come with me."

Ari's brow shoots skyward.

Sideswipe chuckles. "I know, right? I was surprised, too. Yeah, it'll be easier on us since distance causes our bond pain, but he really needs more of an excuse than that to stay out of the fight."

"Hey, I'll probably be helping out the Autobots a lot more than you," Sunstreaker says. "So it won't be so bad. But the main reason I agreed is because I know how you two feel about each other. Keeping you apart would be more painful than keeping us apart."

Ari and Sideswipe look at him blankly. "What are you talking about?" they both say at the same time.

Everyone cracks up laughing, Autobots and humans. Sunny shakes his head. "Wow, you're perfect for each other. Both dense in the processor. Maybe another reason I should go with you is to help things along. Looks like you're both going to be clueless without a little help." Everyone laughs harder at that but Ari and Sideswipe still look at him with questioning looks. They look at each other for a few moments and then shrug.

Whatever it is they're sure they'll figure it out eventually.

"So," Sideswipe says, getting back on topic. "Can I stay with Ari?"

"If that is her choice," Optimus says.

Sideswipe looks into Ari's pale blue eyes with hope shining in his optics.

Ari grins at him. "There is nothing I could ever possibly want more."


Author's Note

And that is the end of the first movie everyone! Wow, it's been a long adventure going through this movie, but now it is time for an even bigger adventure. It is time for me to do my own thing for a little while until I get to the events of the second movie. Although I still don't know if she's even going to college or not. Whatever happens from here to the second movie, it's going to be a lot different than what Sam would have done. I mean, I know she said that she was saving up for college but...well...after all of this, things are different now. I think you can all guess how, considering what was going on with the AllSpark this chapter. But let's set that aside for a moment.

First things first: she has to deal with her dad.

Now excuse me while I go off with "What I've Done" by Linkin Park stuck in my head.

Hope you enjoyed, PLEASE REVIEW, and see you all next time!