More than meets the eye 30/10/2007

Author's notes

Sorry guys, this chapter seems very rushed but I don't want to drag out the story any longer that it is. I feel my interest starting to wane as I haven't watched the 2007 film in quite a while plus my new work is starting soon and I must get this out of the way. So I apologise about the rush pace of the fighting but I think I've exhausted my pool of plot twists. I hope you will all still enjoy and review by the end of reading this page. Thanks for all your support to date.

The end is near everyone. Prepare yourselves. I estimate one more chapter, followed by an epilogue, then perhaps an Omake followed by credits. And don't worry, it is a serious Omake, no racial jokes in it.

Hope you guys are preparing for your end-of-story-reviews. Especially to those who read, have me in their favourite story and author's list but I never hear so much as a peep from you all.

Updated 31/10/2007 – Sorry guys, I completely forgot about Kup. Damn it, I had the nagging feeling I was missing someone, even after I proofread the chapter but it didn't occur to me who until I ran through my checklist while planning for the next chapter. So I'm replacing Trailbreaker trashing Starscream with Kup instead. Kup will be an M1 Abrams tank.

Without further ado…..

Chapter 29: Endgame part 2

Blitzwing was getting more and more worried about the ground situation as he sensed Brawl, Vortex, Swindle and Onslaught killed or disabled. The only ones left were Blast Off, who was still fighting with Elita and Soundwave along with his three remaining mini-cons still capable of fighting; Ravage, Laserbeak and Ratbat, all of which were currently engaged by Bumblebee, Kasumi and even Elder Cologne. Elsewhere Arcee, Jazz and Prowl along with the rest of the Nerima Wrecking
Crew were slaughtering the drones with no serious opposition. As if that wasn't enough, the already massive reinforcements from the Western nations had already entered the city with more fighter aircraft about to join their aerial battle. So far despite Tracks and Trailbreaker's efforts, the Decepticon air force had managed to kill most of the human fighters, totally annihilating the Russian Squadron while the Chinese squadron only had three left, the Japanese squadron had five and the F 22 Raptors reduced to six. But the number of drones they led was now reduced by at least thirty, leaving only seventy-eight more drones at the Seeker's disposal.

The air battle then expanded to four times its current size as American F-16s, F-15s, F-18s, F-22s, an experimental squad of four F-35 Lightnings, Chinese MIG 29s, J-11s, J-10s, various Sukhoi fighter jets, Japanese F-18s, F-15s, even the Taiwanese indigenous fighters joined the fray. The seventy-eight drones and their seven Decepticon masters were now slightly outnumbered at two to one in the human air forces favour. The newcomers were also protected by Trailbreaker's shields. Trailbreaker in the meantime was leading a small force of American A-10 "Warthog" aircraft, basically large anti-tank busters, to engage the Decepticon drones on the outskirts of the city. The leader, who was dark grey instead of dark green, could also be identified by the Autobot symbol on its body.

"Starscream! The situation on the ground is unravelling! I've got to get down there and rally the drones! They're useless without us!" Blitzwing shouted as his Sukhoi PAF FA dived to the ground towards Ratchet. The Decepticon ignored his wing leader's rants as he flew towards Ratchet. He managed to control the thirty tank drones Ratchet was fighting then coordinated their attacks.

The Autobot medic was surprised as the drones suddenly re-organised themselves, avoiding Ratchet in one on one fights and instead, bunched together to fire their still potent weapons at Ratchet. He quickly became the one to avoid the drones as his own firepower was not enough to counter their combined fire. Moreover the more heavily armoured tank drones were shielding the weaker drones and Ratchet's gun was not suited for anti-armour.

As if that wasn't enough, he found himself the receiving end of a missile from Blitzwing as he zoomed by. "Decepticon drones! Press on!" he shouted. Ratchet barely managed to stay on his feet as the missile impacted on his armour. Three tank drones in front then transformed into their tank modes while another three tank drones from behind aimed their own guns, making a total of six tank drones now focusing their weapons on Ratchet.

Fortunately, Ironhide who was on the roof, spotted Ratchet's predicament and with a mighty roar, leaped down in front of Ratchet just as the tank drones fired. All six tank shells hit Ironhide's chest and lower body, creating six smoking holes but otherwise did not seem to harm the old Autobot that badly.

Ratchet groaned and shouted at Ironhide, "Ironhide you imbecile! Do you know how much time I'll have to take to repair that?"

"Hey, at least you WILL be there to repair me," Ironhide retorted as he fired his arm cannons back at the drones, easily destroying the tank drones. He then cried as another missile hit him at the back, followed by Blitzwing zooming past his head.

"That Decepticon is really starting to bug me!" Ironhide hissed as now another group of tank drones were converging on them from another direction.

Ratchet snorted and stood back to back with Ironhide. "You think? Better get Chromia and Hound to start hunting Blitzwing, he's the only land warrior apart from Blast Off and the Constructicons who can lead the drones and pose a serious threat to the allied army."

"There's still too many drones left in the sky! Trailbreaker's shield can only hold for so many shots, and now he has to divide his energy to all two hundred of the human fighters! That crazy old fool is now fighting as well!" Ironhide said as he dodged the tank shots from the drones.

Ratchet used his buzzsaw as a shield as well as he fired his own cannon. "Then our job is clear: ignore the drones and take down the Decepticons! Bloody hell, where the hell is help when you need it?"

As if on queue, an enraged battle cry was heard as a Nissan GTR police car zoomed towards the second approaching group of drones and out of them, Ranma, Ryoga, Cologne and Mousse leapt out, followed by the transformed Prowl and all proceeded to fight the Decepticon drones in their midst. Ironhide and Ratchet then turned their attention to Blitzwing but the other group of tanks still kept their attention to the ground while Blitzwing bombarded them with missiles and strafing runs with its own laser cannon. The battle was still difficult as more drones converged on their position to fight the NWC and Autobots.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

"Heeeaaaaaaaghhhhhhh!" Kasumi cried as she stabbed her beam sabre at Ravage just as he pounced at her. Rocket boosters at his side fired and pushed him to the side but Kasumi's blade still caught him slightly on the shoulder, drawing a growl of pain from the Decepticon. He prowled around Kasumi, snarling and spitting like a cat as the Tendo sister gripped her beam sabre with both hands. The Tendo sister glared back in response behind her helmet.

"Here kitty kitty kitty," Kasumi purred as she warily faced Ravage.

Quick as lightning, Ravage ran towards Kasumi, zig-zagging to confuse Kasumi then pounced barely half a metre away. Kasumi thrust her sabre forward but missed again as Ravage's full weight bore on her. This time, she took full advantage of her enhanced strength to grab Ravage's throat with one hand then struck Ravage's gut where she had earlier fired her bolter shells from her wrist Storm bolters. The panther roared in pain then quickly transformed into bipedal form and dealt a devastating kick with both legs, making Kasumi go "oomph" as she felt the impact even through her armour and was thrown back.

He wasted no time and was instantly on top of Kasumi, who desperately lifted her left hand in defence, which Ravage then caught in his jaws. The Decepticon savagely tried to rip it off and at the same time, pushed Kasumi against a wall. Kasumi tried to stab Ravage with the beam sabre in her other hand but Ravage still had two free hands, one of which the hand that held the beam sabre while the other was now on her throat, claws trying to pierce the inner-powersuit to her throat.

She started seeing yellow again in her HUD and in desperation, activated her backpack's own rocket boosters and pushed Ravage into the other side of the street. They slammed into a jewellery shop and crashed through its bullet proof glass displays. Ravage actually cried and released his mouth grip on Kasumi's arm as the light from Kasumi's boosters lit up all the nearby diamonds into a blinding but dazzling display of lights. Kasumi's eyes widened beneath the helmet as she suddenly realised that the lights were hurting Ravage's eyesight. He seemed to have no problem against sunlight but at concentrated light….

While still pushing Ravage against the wall of the jewellery shop, she once again aimed her freed gauntlets into Ravage but instead of shooting into his belly, she shot into Ravage's arm holding her sabre wielding hand. The Storm Bolters fired and in a small but horrible explosion of armour melted and mechanical workings destroyed, Ravage's left arm detached from his shoulder. The Decepticon was in agony but refused to give up the fight. He used his remaining arm to grab Kasumi's gauntlet which had just fired and with his own teeth, bit into her sabre arm to prevent her from stabbing her.

This time Kasumi cried as Ravage used every ounce of strength he had left in him to bite off Kasumi's arm. His fangs finally penetrated the plate armour, pierced through the powersuit underneath, into the flesh of her arms and finally, pressing in on her bone. She resorted to kneeing the Decepticon panther repeatedly but unfortunately, Ravage was not a human or any other Earth animal for that matter and therefore had no weakness between his legs. She tried to anchor him with her legs but Ravage started pushing Kasumi around in a grotesque waltz of death as the two wrestled with each other.

Through his biting, he managed to mouth maliciously, "Ahhhh, fresh blood, so this is what you taste like. I wonder if your heart is just as sweet?"

Kasumi fumed as she struggled with the Decepticon. "My heart is not for you!" she angrily shouted then with all of her strength, she slammed Ravage's head into a glass display which showcased a pair of huge diamond earrings, each roughly the size of a golf ball but was roughly shamed like a stalactite. Somehow, the sharp end of the two pieces of diamonds pierced into Ravage's eyes and once again made him howl as he released Kasumi and started moving madly around the store, smashing every display and covering his eyes with his remaining arm.

"MY EYES! MY EYES! MY EYES!" he screamed in pain.

Kasumi was for once annoyed as the familiar feeling of pity once again reared its gentle head in her heart, even for Ravage who had caused her so much pain in the past. She gritted her teeth, telling herself that Ravage was far from disabled then picked up the beam sabre from where she had dropped it when Ravage bit into her arm. Her sword arm now had a large and bloody gash in it which pained her greatly but the inner Exo-suit had injected nanobots into her arm to begin healing it, as well as self-repairing itself from Ravage's damage. The plate armour could not heal itself though.

She turned off the beam sabre and took out a sphere-shaped grenade out of her pocket. "Ravage, hold still for a minute. I'll stop the pain for you," she said in a gentle and sincere voice. She truly was as she could not bear anyone in pain even if it was a Decepticon.

Miraculously, Ravage actually stopped moving around and pleaded with Kasumi, "Please, stop the pain, stop the pain!" whether Ravage meant for Kasumi to kill him and end his misery or he really wanted Kasumi's sincere offer for help, Kasumi would never know. It didn't matter as she really meant to disable the Decepticon only. She threw the grenade at Ravage's feet then quickly ran out of the store.

Even when she was outside the store, she saw the temperature gauge on her HUD dropped suddenly to near zero, as well as the wound on her arm suddenly became freezing cold. She looked back at the store and saw that the entire store had been frozen with thick layers of ice covering the jewels, ironically creating a beautiful ice landscape studded with jewels. In the middle of the ice-wonderland she had created, stood Ravage with his jaws still crying out while one hand covered his eyes, frozen to the point where his survival instincts put him into stasis lock otherwise the cold would kill his spark. She shivered as she saw the sight of the frozen Ravage and prayed that he froze fast enough that he didn't feel any pain.

Her HUD suddenly indicated the presence of Laserbeak and Ratbat. She turned around to see the hawk and bat like Decepticons diving unto her. She quickly aimed both her wrist-mounted Storm Bolters at both and fired.

"Oh my," she blinked as the Storm Bolters made a clicking sound, indicating that they had run out of ammunition. She tried to draw out her beam sabre but realised in horror that she would be too late.

Ratbat and Laserbeak suddenly screamed, as they became the target of numerous automatic weapons from the surrounding buildings and behind her. She turned to find herself staring at the grim and black face of a soldier. It took a moment for her to realise that his attire was that of a US soldier and the face was black because the soldier was an African American. He was followed by a large number of soldiers on the streets, both US and Chinese who proceeded to pepper Laserbeak with mobile anti-tank weapnry. She tried to tell them not to kill Ratbat and Laserbeak completely but it did not take much to destroy the flying Decepticons. Their wings were destroyed and both fell to the ground. After one minute of sustained fire, they didn't get up again. She cried for the soldiers to stop their shooting but could not do it short of actually blocking and protecting Laserbeak and Ratbat, which was something Kasumi, somehow didn't think of doing.

She gave an angry stare at the soldier nearest to her, a Chinese soldier who held her laser rifle and wordlessly handed it to her. She then saw that several of the soldiers had moved to the jewellery store and were now aiming their weapons at the frozen Ravage.

To their astonishment, she pulled off her helmet, stomped to the front of the jewellery shop, faced them all and gave them a death glare that withered the hardened US Navy SEALs and Chinese Special forces. She spoke in both Mandarin and English.

"If you destroy anymore Cybertronians than necessary, I will be MOST displeased," she said in an icy tone. The African American captain of the Navy Seals wanted to ask her to step aside but the look in her eye DARED him to defy her more than the beam sabre in her hand did. The leader of the Chinese Special forces wisely did nothing. He was proficient in chi-martial arts and could already see a deadly red aura surrounding Kasumi.

"Concentrate your efforts on the drones. You can identify them by their lifeless and non-glowing eyes. Only the true Decepticons have the symbol on their persons. Leave the rest to the Autobots, they are our friends and have sworn to arrest their brethren," Kasumi said once she was satisfied her message was heard.

The Navy SEAL captain finally said, "Miss, its dangerous here, you best head west out of the city to our command post….."

His answer was Kasumi putting on her helmet, transforming her legs into the flying skateboard and flying to Bumblebee.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Starscream screeched as two missiles somehow hit his body, resulting in two small scars. Unfortunately for him, the scars were enough to compromise his stealth ability, enabling all the other aircraft to finally "see" him on their radars. He was immediately engaged by more than twenty jet fighters whose squadrons had nearly been destroyed and were set on avenging them. He had to switch between transforming in mid-air to destroy the craft chasing him then transforming back again to assume a less conspicuous profile. The aerial battle was not taking up all of his attention though. He was well aware of the ground situation worsening as Trailbreaker's A-10 team cut a swath of destruction across the drone forces. Trailbreaker's force fields, combined with the fact that A-10 Warthogs were heavily armoured even by Cybertronian standards made them extremely difficult to shoot down.

If that wasn't enough, the human tanks and soldiers were being guided into the city by Blurr, who helped the humans by distracting the drones so that they could get proper shots at the drones. The bulk of their forces were heading towards the fight between Omega Supreme and Devastator, no doubt to reinforce the former Dark Guardian.

He then located three duels being fought in the city: Megatron versus Prime, Bumblebee versus Soundwave and Elita versus Blast Off. He snarled as he spotted Bumblebee, Kasumi and Soundwave, his three least favourite beings after Megatron.

"Skywarp, take command of the wing! I've got some unfinished business on the ground! When I come back, I want nothing in the air but Decepticons! Ramjet follow me!" Starscream shouted as he dived towards the ground towards one of the duels. Then both of them fired missiles into the ground.

Bumblebee gasped as one of his legs was blown off by Starscream's missile but he quickly pulled Soundwave in front of him just in time to block another missile from Ramjet. Soundwave/Frenzy screamed as Starscream's missile penetrated deep into his chest, nearly destroying Soundwave's Spark. He quickly dropped Soundwave to the ground but the next thing he knew, Ramjet actually ploughed into him, right into a building and out the other side.

"Bumblebee!" Kasumi cried as she flew towards the yellow Autobot. But her way was barred when Starscream dropped down, transformed in front of her then gripped her with his two hands.

"Puny insect, I'll crush you like a bug," Starscream said viciously. Her response was some of his fingers being blown off as the rifle that Kasumi still held in her hands fired and destroyed them. He shrieked and let go of Kasumi, nursing his finger almost pathetically.

"You know what, I'm getting sick and tired of your obscene language, Decepticon. Now if you will excuse me, I have to help Bumblebee," she turned around with her nose in the air and her back to Starscream as she flew towards Bumblebee.

"Come back here bitch! Don't you know who I am?!" Starscream screamed as he aimed his disruptor gun at Kasumi.

Chu chu chu cha chi…. Starscream heard the sounds of transformation and turned around to see an M1 Abrams tank complete its transformation into a huge dark green Autobot. A massive green fist met his face as Kup punched Starscream. The Decepticon fell to the ground face first and tasted the dirt on the road. He struggled to get on his feet then turned to see the green hulking form of Kup, who was even bigger than Starscream.

'Oh I know who you are alright, you're the coward who betrayed five thousand Cybertronians at Tiger Pax to save your own skin!" Kup growled as one of his arms transformed into a huge greatsword that was as tall as Kup himself. He then proceeded to swing his sword at the suddenly white Starscream.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

All over the city, the battle gradually turned in favour of the Autobots and human forces. Despite Blitzwing's best efforts, the ground forces were well nigh destroyed and he was forced to return to the air only to find Thundercracker and Dirge destroyed, with only Sky Warp and Thrust remaining with a handful of drones. The human air forces were down by 75 and Tracks was smoking from several direct hits but still they fought on ferociously against the Decepticons.

Unfortunately for Blitzwing, as he climbed into the air, three sets of guns from Chromia, Hound and Ironhide fired upon him, turning the silver and pristine Sukhoi PAK FA into a flaming wreck as it fell from the sky. The three then returned their attention to taking down all the rest of the Decepticon air drones.

On the ground, Soundwave finally met their ends at the hands of a team of Navy SEALS who threw specially designed anti-tank grenades into the hole at Soundwave's chest that had earlier been made accidentally by Ramjet. At the same time, the main body of Chinese and American tanks found Soundwave and destroyed the Decepticon APC.

Ten minutes after Trailbreaker took out his sword, Starscream was on his knees, begging for mercy from Kup, his body thoroughly beaten and his back facing dozens of tanks and soldiers wielding anti-armour weaponry.

Omega finally managed to defeat Devastator by crushing his head with his claw. Unfortunately for the Constructicons, all of their collective consciousness had been placed there and to have it destroyed was akin to ripping out all of their brains. All six of them screamed and disconnected themselves, their minds fried and reduced to the level of drones. As soon as they disconnected, the human tank divisions finished the job of destroying the Constructicons as they had been waiting for Omega to separate Devastator first before engaging, as the gestalt would have been invulnerable to human weaponry.

Like Starscream, Ramjet's biggest and last mistake was focusing on crushing Kasumi in his hands before a direct shot at point blank range from Bumblebee's solar cannon incinerated his chest and sent his Spark to oblivion. The yellow Autobot and eldest Tendo sister were exhausted but still found energy to transform and drive to help the Chinese Army destroy the drones.

Prowl, Ratchet, Jazz and Arcee continued to aid the human forces wipe out the Decepticon drones. The drones may have been leaderless by now but they were still technologically superior to the humans. Even the smallest of Cybertronian enhanced car could take on a US M1 Abrams Tank and for this reason, the four Autobots served mainly as distractions while the human forces focused fire on the drones. No quarter was given by either side at this point, the battle became too heated as humans joined the battle. Brawl, Starscream and Ravage were the only ones who were saved by their enemy's mercy that day.

Dusk approached and soon there were only two sources of fighting in the city. Both of them had moved to the Tiananmen Square once more and were fighting on open ground: Optimus and Elita versus Blast Off and Megatron.

With a mighty burst of strength, Optimus gripped the chain of Megatron's flail with one hand and Megatron's arm with the other and then tore them apart, breaking the chain. The Decepticon leader roared and tried to impale Optimus Prime with the spike that jutted out of Megatron's other claw but the Optimus blocked with his right hand than gave a left hook so powerful, it propelled Megatron into the air away from Optimus and towards Elita and Blast Off.

At the same time, Elita managed to cut the shaft of Blast Off's axe close to the axe blade, resulting in Blast Off holding only the staff end. She then dealt a devastating kick that was disproportionate to her size and propelled the white Decepticon towards Megatron.

The two crashed into each other comically in mid air and fell to the floor. Megatron furiously pushed off Blast Off, saying, "Incompetent fool! You couldn't even defeat a female! You dare to call yourself a Decepticon?!"

Blast Off's eyes flashed but he said calmly, "My Lord Megatron, the battle is turning against us. We must retreat and fight another day. Without the Key, we cannot hope to face the humans AND the Autobots united."

This time, Megatron viciously backhanded Blast Off into the ground. "So not only you're incompetent, you are a coward as well? I won't rest until I have Prime's spark and Kasumi's heart for lunch!" he roared as he transformed into his alien jet form and flew straight at Prime.

The Autobot leader sighed and said, "Here we go again," before Megatron crashed into him. Instead of climbing into the air, Megatron proceeded to plough straight into a line of buildings in the city, using Prime as a battering ram. The destruction he wrecked created havoc for both the human forces and the drones they were fighting. He went through twelve buildings with Optimus clinging on to him for dear life before stopping at an urban battle between Bumblebee, Prowl and Kasumi with the drones.

His weaponry underneath his alien jet fired and Bumblebee, despite being one legged had to dodge while Prowl quickly somersaulted out of the way. But Kasumi's was nearly shot by a purple disruptor ray that grazed her backpack and caused the rocket boosters in it to explode. She cried as the explosion destroyed part of her inner-Exosuit and burnt her back but more importantly, the shot had inadvertently opened the backpack resulting in the Matrix coming out of it and dropped to the ground.

All of a sudden, it became a scramble between all of them to catch the Matrix. Megatron transformed himself, forcing Prime to let go of him and quickly dived towards the Matrix, just as the Tendo sister landed on the ground and took up the Autobot artefact in her hands. Her eyes went wide at the sight of the falling Megatron but she was saved by the valiant effort of Bumblebee who propelled himself towards her and shoved her out of Megatron's outstretched claw. Kasumi was then caught by Prowl who quickly backed away from the rampaging Megatron. Unfortunately, this meant Bumblebee's own arm, which was his right hand gun arm was caught in Megatron's grip instead.

Prime who had leaped off Megatron to the street earlier then took out his axe and tried to strike off Megatron's arm, which gripped Bumblebee. But Megatron, whose mind was now focused on the Matrix, merely threw Bumblebee backwards at Prime, causing him to stumble and fall as his loyal warrior slammed into him. Both of them looked in horror as Megatron chased Prowl. They took out their firearms and tried to shoot at Megatron but the Decepticon leader was already running away, hot on the heels of Prowl.

"Oh shit, Kasumi hold on!" Prowl shouted as he pressed Kasumi against his chest with one arm and started to run from the rampaging Megatron. Kasumi could only hold the Matrix tightly to her own chest with one arm while the other also held on to Prowl's.

"THE MATRIX! MINE! GIVE ME THE MATRIX BITCH!" Megatron roared as he pursued the smaller Autobot. Prowl wanted to transform into his car mode but at the moment, the street was considerably destroyed and littered with dead drones and craters rendering it unsuitable for his vehicle mode, so he was reduced to running from the vastly larger and surprisingly agile Decepticon leader.

Kasumi quickly transmitted a message to Prime and Bumblebee through her Exo-suit. Then she shouted to Megatron, "Didn't your mother ever tell you to say PLEASE when you ask for something?!" she actually taunted the Decepticon leader.

"Kasumi, what are you doing?!" Prowl shouted as he narrowly dodged a flail swing by the enraged Megatron.

"Just keep running to the left Prowl! At the next corner, leap as soon as you turn!" Kasumi replied.

The Autobot strategist grinned as he realised Kasumi's plan. "As you wish my lady," he mockingly said.

It was quite a long stretch of road and Prowl more than once had to avoid Megatron's flail as the Decepticon leader would often catch up with them and tried to smash them as soon as his flail was in range. The Autobot was marginally more agile though but the flail already scored a glancing blow at his shoulder, causing Kasumi to cry in concern.

"Is that fear I smell from you? It better be fear because you have no idea what I'm going to do to you Kasumi!"

Prowl quickly turned around the corner and instantly leaped. His eyes became wide as he realised what he just avoided.

"You can run but you can't…." Megatron ranted as he turned around the corner.

CRASH!!!

Optimus Prime's massive Peterbilt Carrier form slammed into Megatron just as he turned into the street and this time, it was Prime who ploughed through several buildings with Megatron stuck on the Peterbilt's long nose. The Decepticon leader roared in pain as this time, he was used as a battering ram into the buildings, ironically reversing the position he had put Prime through. The Autobot leader only smashed him through three buildings though. After that he braked and caused Megatron to fall forward a few meters in front of him, winded and dazed.

The Autobot leader then transformed back and was instantly on his guard with his axe in his right hand. "Give it up Megatron. You've lost. The humans are winning and it won't be long before Blast Off is defeated by Elita."

Megatron growled and struggled to his feet, his flail in his right hand. "Don't mention that lily livered honour smitten lace panty loving pathetic excuse of a Cybertronian! He is not fit to be a Decepticon anymore!" he shouted as he dashed towards Optimus Prime.

Prime's eyes narrowed. "Have you lost your mind? Blast Off is one your greatest and competent soldiers and you discard him for his loyalty?" he could not believe what Megatron was saying as he dodged the mad Decepticon's flail. Somehow, being on the edge of defeat had unhinged Megatron's mind.

"No, I can't be defeated! I was created to win! No one can stand before me! I am invincible!" Megatron cackled maniacally as he tried to crush his brother.

He swung his flail to the right at Prime. In an amazing display of martial arts, Prime backed away and turned his body anti-clockwise just as the flail missed him and smashed itself into a building some five stories above the ground. As Prime turned, his left leg lifted off the ground and then stepped on the flail's chain, pinning the flail head to the building while Prime faced Megatron upon completing his turn. In his right hand, the axe had disappeared and in its place was the high-powered energy rifle aimed directly into Megatron's chest. The Decepticon leader furiously tried to pull the flail head back but it was firmly pinned to the building by Optimus' left foot.

"Stop this madness Megatron! Don't make me kill you!" Prime shouted as his finger hovered above the trigger. Fervently he prayed that he wouldn't have to do this, despite accepting that this fate was possibly inevitable.

Megatron did not seem to hear Prime, his mind hell bent on murdering his brother and Kasumi. Nothing else mattered. Not even his dream of galactic conquest mattered anymore. The only thing that would give him joy now was killing Prime and tormenting Kasumi. He roared and thrust his left claw at Prime's chest.

The Autobot leader pressed the trigger and a massive beam of energy momentarily connected the gun's barrel with Megatron's chest before the Decepticon leader's chest exploded in a hail of shrapnel. Megatron staggered but still moved forward. The second shot hit his chest again and further penetrated the armour. Then a third. Then a fourth. It was amazing how strong Megatron's armour was even without the Key To Vector Sigma's power. Even at the fourth shot, Megatron's Spark was still protected but then the Decepticon's own survival systems was attempting to put him into stasis lock. This forced Megatron to stop as he raged against his own body, in a desperate bid to keep on fighting rather than save himself.

Optimus Prime lowered his weapon as the lights in Megatron's eyes went out. The Decepticon's entire body stopped moving just as his claw arm with the spike jutting out of the palm was about to touch Optimus' chest. The rifle was now at point blank range of Megatron's heavily damaged chest. No matter how armoured it was, there would have been no way for Megatron to withstand the blast from Optimus' rifle cannon. Megatron life was now completely in Optimus Prime's hands.

Hate and anger suddenly filled Optimus' Spark as he gazed into his brother's lifeless eyes, with the barrel of his gun now touching Megatron's chest. His finger shivered as it pressed ever so slightly on the trigger. The Autobot leader began to tremble with rage

"You killed our father," he cried as tears of rage began to flow.

"He is your brother," Kasumi's sweet voice spoke softly from behind Prime as Bumblebee carried her in his arms while leaning against Prowl as they limped towards the two.

"You murdered Jetfire."

"He is your family."

"You butchered the people of Tiger Pax as they begged you for mercy!"

"He is your flesh and blood."

"You massacred our race and drove us to near extinction!" now it was Optimus who was becoming as hysterical as Megatron previously. His finger was dangerously pressing the trigger now and a glow of energy began to form at the gun's barrel.

"He is not worth it Optimus. Don't become what you hate," this time Optimus felt Kasumi being placed on his shoulder.

"You nearly killed Kasumi! You tortured her, raped her mind, put her through hell!"

He felt Kasumi's tears dropped on his shoulder as well as her soft hand on the side of his head as the Tendo sister detached her plate armour and part of her inner Exo-suit so that she could touch Optimus with her hand. "He didn't succeed. Optimus, I love you as a father. I love you as a friend. Please don't do this. Remember what you said: it's over. We've won."

"Please Optimus, I beg of you. You're not a murderer. You're a hero. You're God's child. Let Him settle the rest. We've done all that we can in our power. Please Optimus. Remember that we love you."

They were surrounded now. The Autobots had gathered around their leaders, leading their Decepticon prisoners in front of them. Blast Off's and Starscream's hands were bound behind them with ropes that seemed to be made of purple energy, both of them extremely damaged, though the Autobots did not fare much better. Elita warily held Blast Off's head in front of her while her blade was pressed at the Decepticon's neck. Starscream looked like a paper plane that had been crushed before it could be flown, courtesy of his fight with Kup who had taken grim pleasure in making sure Starscream could not hurt a fly again. The enormous Autobot's hand was currently gripping Starscream's neck, ready to crush it should the Decepticon attempt anything. Tracks had finally descended to the ground and transformed into his sleek robot mode at the same time Arcee and Jazz came. He was about to brag in front of Arcee but was stopped by a death glare from both of them, saying now was not the time and place.

Omega Supreme also appeared with Wheeljack at his shoulder, Hound, Chromia and Ironhide near his feet. Trailbreaker broke off from his squad of A-10s, transformed and landed on the ground next to them.

Prowl and Bumblebee stood side by side, the one legged yellow Autobot leaning to him, both of them close behind Optimus Prime.

Behind them, the human armies marvelled at the sight of the giant automatons in front of them, especially the beautiful Japanese girl standing on the great Autobot leader's shoulder, attempting to convince him to NOT destroy the monster which had devastated China in less than a week. They were wary of the situation, and even though the Autobots had just fought and bled on their side, they reluctantly remembered the orders of their superiors to destroy the Autobots as well should they become hostile.

For a moment all was quiet and the gun's energy continued to glow brighter at the barrel.

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After what seemed like an eternity, the energy glowing at the end of the gun barrel dimmed as Optimus Prime slowly released the trigger. His hand trembled and let go off the massive rifle and it dropped to the ground with a massive crash. He backed away from Megatron's still form before he leaned against the building next to him and slowly sank to the ground. Bumblebee and Prowl were immediately at his right and left side respectively, hands gripping the Autobot leader's shoulders tightly as Optimus began to sob as his floodgates opened and he started to repent all the countless years he had spent hating Megatron. Kasumi also cried as she hugged Optimus' head, her small hand trying to wipe away the enormous tears that were now gushing out in torrents.

Blast Off, in spite of his cynical attitude was utterly amazed. Kasumi had just stopped the Autobot leader, who had every right to execute his brother, with mere words and tears. He knew that the Tendo sister was far from weak, the way she held herself while in Decepticon captivity and the subsequent battles had already earned the Decepticon's respect for her. Yet she still didn't want to kill Megatron. Or rather refused to submit to her righteous anger that demanded blood for blood, life for life, eye for an eye. To forgive a monster far beyond her imagining.

It baffled Blast Off and at the same time, shook the Decepticon's belief of how the universe worked. He looked at Elita for the answer to his question.

"How in the universe can one so small, be so strong?"

"Love, Blast Off. That's all there is. It makes us all equal in strength and power regardless of our race, size and technology level. It is a power that transcends our earthly forms. Kasumi is merely trying to emulate her Lord and Saviour, who died horribly for the sins of the human race. As did Primus for us," Elita replied softly. She longed to comfort her life-companion now but trusted Kasumi to fulfil that role for the moment.

Ranma and Akane were standing near Elita along with the rest of the Nerima Wrecking Crew. The entire NWC was overwhelmed by the message of Elita. All of them re-examined themselves carefully for the first time. Most of them had been fighting for Ranma's love for so long but now realised how petty their so-called definition of love was compared to the display before them now.

Ukyo and Shampoo were the most ashamed as they both realised the amount of scheming they had done to make Ranma and Akane's life miserable. They both desired Ranma but now realised that they seem to want Ranma as a prize, not a person. Hell, they never even bothered to ask for Ranma's love and for the most part, just tried to force him to take a stand without realising what his true feelings were. They couldn't remember when was the last time they were willing to sacrifice their honour for Ranma, let alone their lives.

Mousse suddenly felt shameful stalking Shampoo since young, realising that for all his efforts to profess his love for her, he had never actually seek to court her heart. Instead he just attacked every other suitor that sought Shampoo's hand, even Ranma who did not even actively seek Shampoo's love. Love for Shampoo? More like pathetic obsession. The half-blind boy looked at his hands and blanched as he recalled how many times he had foolishly chased after Shampoo's love without a thought for her feelings.

He had witnessed Kasumi putting herself between the Key To Vector Sigma flail and Optimus Prime, who was just a good friend. He had witnessed her standing up to the entire NWC and uniting them against Happosai. He had seen her use the power of the Matrix to help Bumblebee destroy the Key. Most of all, he had witnessed the determination in her eyes as she, a person who never so much hurt a fly before, fought against impossible odds.

All because she loved everyone. Amazons, Autobots, Japanese, Chinese, even Decepticons.

Those in the NWC who thought they loved their targeted interests realised that compared to Kasumi's love, they were not even in the same league. Ryoga turned red with guilt as he realised how dishonourable he had been, masquerading as a pet pig to Akane and sharing her bed as well as her secrets. Even though he took special pains to make sure he didn't see Akane naked, the fact that he manipulated Ranma and didn't tell the truth to Akane now ripped through his conscience with the gentleness of a chainsaw.

Ranma and at Akane, who blushed under his intense gaze.

"Is that what love is all about? What Kasumi has done so far…. is that really love?" he asked in wonderment.

Akane nodded. "If that's not love, I don't know what is," she whispered. She then gripped Ranma's hand in hers tightly, who flinched as though expecting a mallet any moment. She silently cried as she realised that all her anger and jealousy had made Ranma this way.

"Ranma, I'm sorry for behaving like a testosterone induced girl all the time. I don't know if I can be like Kasumi, but I want to love you like her. I don't want to be a violent tomboy. I just… want to be a nice girl like Kasumi… and maybe one day, a good wife with lady-like manners and beauty," she said tearfully while looking away.

She found the pig-tailed boy's hand underneath her chin which gently pushed her face upwards so that she looked into his blue eyes. "Kawai Kune, you don't have to be like Kasumi. I like you as you are. You are a violent tomboy. However, you are MY violent tomboy," he said fiercely. Before she could respond to his insult, she found the distance between her face and Ranma's face suddenly became non-existent.

"Akane, I choose you. If you would have me that is."

He then kissed and embraced her fiercely, giving her no room to say or do anything, like reaching for the warhammer next to her. She wanted to do something to him for making that sadistic claim but quickly melted in his arms. For someone who had the tact of a rhinoceros when courting girls, and no practical dating experience, his kiss was hungry and all in all, extraordinarily sensual and loving. In the midst of the passionate kiss, she managed to convey a single word.

"Yes."

The hearts of Ukyo, Shampoo, Ryoga and Cologne fell as they saw them kiss. The three youngsters knew without a doubt that neither Ranma nor Akane would ever kiss them like that. At least not of their own volition. Ukyo and Shampoo stumbled and both found comfort in each other's arms as they realised the person that they loved was now taken away, laws and betrothals agreements be damned.

Cologne suddenly felt extremely old and instead of hanging from her staff, slid to the ground to sit on it, still leaning against her staff. Ryoga's depression could have sparked off another Shi Shi Hokodan but instead of doing so, he instead talked to the Amazon elder.

"We've lost haven't we? We've been doing everything wrong right from the start," Ryoga said as he continued to watch the two kiss passionately.

"Amen to that brother, amen. We've all been fools. As least you all have the excuse of being young and foolish. I have no such excuse. I let my own pride blind myself to what true love is and focused on the law to the exclusion of everything else. And now what would have been the greatest male addition to our tribe is now lost to us. By the ancestors, I have failed," Cologne sighed.

At that particular moment, it seemed as though God had decided to centre the universe on Ranma and Akane again and all eyes were on the two. The passionate display of love, probably the only true romantic bond in Nerima was finally out in the open for all to see. Optimus was shaken out of his grief and he smiled. Yet no one's smile was as wide or bright as the one on Kasumi's face.

"Well, it's about time," Kasumi said almost gleefully. She then turned her gaze on Bumblebee who lovingly placed a finger on Kasumi's cheek.

"Whatever you're thinking, do not worry. We'll work something out. After today, I don't think any of us will know the meaning of the word 'impossible' anymore," Bumblebee said as he caressed Kasumi's cheek. She joyfully took his finger and pressed it against her chest.

Optimus tears changed from being those of grief to tears of happiness. He gazed at the Kasumi and Bumblebee together then surveyed his Autobot comrades. All were smiling from ear to ear and to his delight and amazement, he saw Jazz shyly took Arcee's hand, who squeezed it in turn. Ironhide and Chromia's arms were around each other's shoulders and even the two violent and trigger happy Autobots had tears in their eyes. When Ironhide saw Optimus gazing at him, he furiously started wiping his eyes.

"All this pollution the humans have done to their planet has clogged up my optic sensors Prime," he gruffly said. This earned him a sharp smack at the back of his head from Chromia. This prompted a booming laugh from Omega Supreme, Wheeljack, Ratchet, Trailbreaker, Tracks and Elita. The sound of laughter, especially from Elita was like the sound of a rainfall after a long drought. Even the humans soldiers started grinning and laughing with the Autobots and this completed Optimus' happiness.

"Everyone, it is over. The war is over," he pronounced happily as everyone erupted in cheers.

Prowl groaned and swore silently. 'All this love in the air is so thick, its choking me. I'm going to die drowning in all this love.' Everyone else seemed to be melting or revelling in the current situation, even the Chinese and US soldiers who were either going "awwwwwwwwwwww" or laughing like loons with the rest of them. He knew he was a humbug, even proud of it but they had more practical matters at hand. Namely what do with Megatron who was now as stiff as a statue in stasis lock…..

The Autobot strategist froze. Megatron's eyes were lifeless. But his left hand now gripped Optimus Prime's dropped rifle cannon.

"PRIME WATCH OUT!"

Megatron's eyes suddenly blazed a hellish red, his hand lifted and aimed Optimus' rifle cannon at Kasumi.

"FUCK YOU KASUMI!" he roared as he pulled the trigger.

Optimus, Bumblebee and Kasumi barely registered Prowl's warning but when they did it was too late. They saw Megatron aiming the stolen gun and tried to take Kasumi off from Prime's shoulder but Megatron pulled the trigger before Optimus could use his hand to brush Kasumi off his shoulders or Bumblebee could grab and pull Kasumi to safety. Time seemed to slow and the three watched in horror as the energy at the centre of the rifle-cannon's barrel glowed brightly as it was about to discharge its deadly ray, almost blinding the three targets….

….. then the deadly light was blocked as someone stood between the light and cast a dark shadow on all of them. A massive explosion was heard and all three smelt the horrible scent of melted metal and ozone residue from the cannon's powerful blast.

The shadow fell backwards and lay at their feet. Lying on the ground, with a strangely serene and peaceful expression on his face, which contrasted starkly with massive burning hole at the middle of his chest, was Prowl.

"OPEN FIRE! OPEN FIRE!" thousands of guns, ranging from small pistols to the massive tanks of the Chinese and American main battle tanks fired into Megatron. The rest of the Autobots let out a furious war cry and also let loose with all their weapons. Several green dots appeared on Megatron's writhing body as it tried to withstood the massive tank rounds which at the moment were the only human weapons capable of putting a scratch on Megatron. Not for long as the US Navy SEALS marked Megatron with laser markers and from the sky, four F-35 Lightning fighters and six F-22 Raptors fired their missiles at Megatron. They were not the last missiles to be shot at Megatron as all the other air forces used the US Navy Seals targeting data to launch wave after wave of destructive missiles. A terrible rage overwhelmed everybody as they shot at Megatron, even Ranma, Ryoga and Cologne as they too released massive blasts of chi. The Decepticon leader screamed futilely as it tried to move away, to avoid being the receiving end of every weapon in the city. His screams of agony echoed for miles around.

No one cared.

Bumblebee, Optimus and Kasumi certainly didn't. At the moment, the three were frantically trying to keep the rapidly fading light in Prowl's chest from disappearing. "RATCHET! RATCHET! MEDIC!" Optimus Prime and Bumblebee shouted desperately but the Autobot Medic, like everyone else in the city, was too enraged and was only focused on making sure Megatron never got up again. Kasumi desperately tore off a piece of her inner Exo-suit and tried to put out the fire that was burning at the hole in Prowl's chest.

"Prowl! Prowl! Please hold on! Don't leave us yet! Please, don't leave me!" Kasumi cried.

Prowl's head moved slightly towards her than the light in his blue eyes faded rapidly. As did the Spark in his chest.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she screamed as she dived into the centre of Prowl's chest to catch his flickering Spark.

Amid the sound of the combined firepower of the Autobots, PRC Army, PRC Air Force, US Army, US Air Force, US Navy, Republic of China ("ROC" or Taiwan) Air Force, Japanese Self Defence Forces, Russian Air Forces and Russian Army, a long and mournful cry was heard.

To be continued…………

Author's notes

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(This is the sound of the author running away from Sithknight-Galen who is trying to strafe him from his Sith-class TIE Defender)

I hope you don't mind me making Prime cry so much. But I would like to testify that when you realised you've kept a bitter grudge and anger against someone (or several someones in my case) for so many years, and you realise it's been eating your soul and making you suffer in bitterness for so long, you WILL CRY once you let it go and present all your anger and bitterness to God. For me, I bore a grudge against bullies in high school for nearly ten years. Now imagine Prime hating Megatron's guts for thousands of years. If releasing all that hate doesn't break you down, I don't know what will.

One last thing: THIS IS NOT AN ANGST STORY!

Take care and God bless.