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Rodimus grimaced inside the control room tower. The lumbering body of Trypticon loomed closer. It would be just like it was at the Ark—the whole thing destroyed. And now the only thing that could save them was if Metroplex transformed. The Decepticons had stopped attacking. They knew it would be pointless to prolong the fight against the Autobots when Trypticon would end the battle soon. Rodimus leaned against the window, he placed his hands on the glass to peer at the city. The Decepticons had managed to knock out their frontal defense cannons, leaving their eastern side exposed to a siege. The guns could be controlled manually, but there weren't enough Autobots to take every gun. Essentially, they were sitting ducks.
"I need Metroplex now. Is his transformation cog fixed?"
Scamper answered the transmission. His voice echoed like he was in a tunnel. "I'm in his transformation chamber. The cog's working fine."
"Then what's the—"
"I don't know, Prime. Looks like there's nothing stopping him from transforming. I think it's just a matter of him choosing not to."
"Why would he…" Rodimus stared out the window. He saw the silent towers, the white buildings resting, while a cerulean sky painted it overhead as though nothing were wrong. But in the alleys and streets, Rodimus saw his comrades fighting with the Deceptions. One getting shot after the other. He spotted Arcee and Blaster and Grimlock on a low roof firing at Decepticons climbing the wall… and then it dawned on Rodimus. The entire city was fighting together—as if the city itself were fighting as one. Rodimus stepped away from the window. He happened to catch the red reflection of himself in the window and for a moment he made a mistake. He thought he saw a transparent Optimus…
The image made him shake. Then he gathered his nerves. It saddened him. "Optimus… I need you… I need your help." He felt a warmth in his chest. A glowing light emanated from his breastplate and he realized the Matrix had quietly responded. He became aware of a growing sound of moving machinery and the sight of changing landscape before his eyes.
Several towers collapsed, sheathing within the buildings' side panels. The city streets bent upwards and folded down on their ramps. Two large white arms emerged from the city heights and then the knees buckled and a black head emerged from a white building crowned with ruby red smokestacks on either side of the head. A giant body emerged from a sentient city. Then with a mighty slump, every panel and protrusion had collapsed into place.
Metroplex raised his head so his crimson eyes were in line with the beast. He knelt on his knee with his side facing Rodimus' command tower.
Rodimus couldn't tell if Metroplex could see him or not through the window of his tower. Perhaps he could see him through the corner of his eye. Metroplex made no response or nod in Rodimus' direction, but he felt something from the giant. Even though he made no gesture or signal, Rodimus felt the unwavering feeling that Metroplex knew the Prime was watching him. And now, as he rose from his knees to his full height, it seemed Metroplex was saying, Behold now, Prime, what I must do. We both have our mission and neither must fail.
Metroplex towered over everything. His shoulders were high enough to disrupt atmosphere. At his height, Trypticon measured a slight head—a Titan's head—below his own. He was more than ready to grapple the monster.
"Metroplex!" A shriek from the city reached the white Titan's ear. He turned to look at the city street where it had come from. The call was heard down in the road, in an alley where a bench and a control station that looked like an old-fashioned payphone lay nestled between two large city-planted trees. A lone red and white Autobot stood near the giant hydraulic station. He was still shouting to get the Titan's attention. He only stopped waving his hand when the Titan spotted him. "Give him what for!" The Autobot eagerly slammed the hydraulic station's emergency lever with his left hand. With the collapse of the lever, several city towers on the block transformed, revealing a secret. These were not city skyscrapers after all, they were giant vaults with facades to look like skyscrapers. Inside, there was a cache of weapons, large as cannon but small enough to be held like rifles in the Titan's grip. Six-Gun leaped into the air, flying to one of the artillery rifles and transformed; he became a component of the weapon, integrating into the gun's barrel machinery. Metroplex wrapped his hand around the handle and removed it from the fake skyscraper. He grabbed another gun from a false building sitting on his left side. Now he was not only a match against the invading monster, but armed as well with his comrade in arms. The Titan lowered the crimson barrels at his foe ahead of him. Trypticon paused his march.
The mechanical dinosaur lowered his shoulder-mounted barrels to target the city guardian. They paused, staring at each other. The eerie moment of silence felt like a muffling of action for everyone fighting. The teams of Autobots and Decepticons turned their attention to witness the clash between their two champions. Leinad held in her breath, stunned by what she saw. When she released that breath, it was like time resumed from its frozen perch, and it returned in an unleashed flurry of artillery fire. The Titan's ammunition pierced windows and concrete and many roads were wrecked.
The violent rattling shook Leinad's ears, making her cover them. She winced to try and blot out the thundering.
Trypticon centered his firepower on Metroplex's crimson guns. He managed to dislodge the weapons from the Titan's grip. They crashed to the floor. Six-Gun, dizzy from the fall, crawled out from under the immense fallen rifle.
Metroplex stooped to search where Six-Gun fell. The small Autobot waved back. "I'm okay! It's up to you now!" At least he had bought some time, at least there were some bullet cases littering the ground.
Metroplex clenched his fists as Trypticon took a couple heavy steps toward him. "You betrayed your own kind, Trypticon." His haunting rumbling voice carried as far as the hills. "The crying of those whose sparks you devoured will now be avenged."
"I thought you would have expired by now, hurnn." Trypticon said. Leinad felt the vibrations of his growls in her chest. "Neither of us should be here, sheh. It will be a pleasure to witness your final struggle… as I tear you apart, gruh."
"You have always hated everyone… Why?"
"It's not enough for me to succeed... Others should fail. Hrah."
Metroplex squeezed his black hands into fists. "You desire you never existed, if you hate yourself so much, then I'll do you the favor and grant your wish."
Trypticon reared up to bark out a dismissal, but instead he blew his crimson destructive beam from his maw. It had been a trick.
The pulse of red light made impact on Metroplex. The giant became obscured by black smoke from the searing of metal.
Arcee was shocked. "Metroplex!"
But the smoke cleared to reveal Metroplex. He was huddled behind his forearms, they had taken the brunt of the blast. His arms had been scorched black. He shot his chest forward and pulled his shoulders back. A volley of fire issued from every cannon on the surface of Metroplex.
The impacted shot battered Trypticon's body. Bright orange explosions erupted up the reptilian hide. Plumes of smoke twisted up around his massive neck and nostrils. Trypticon roared and reared back.
Metroplex didn't waste the opportunity, he charged through the smoke field. Trypticon's vision was blurred from the smoke and the cloud of debris hid Metroplex until the giant was already within swinging distance. He charged through the smoke cloud and appeared in front of Trypticon to the Titan's surprise. Metroplex's black fist came up from below and a colossal uppercut thrust into Trypticon's jaw.
The black titan staggered backwards, nearly toppling. He raised his tail to keep from falling. The monster turned around, facing away from Metroplex.
Metroplex noticed late, the heavy tail swinging his way. The tail whipped Metroplex in the middle, crashing into the titan. The windows and steel girders that held the buildings together in the Decepticon's tail and the Autobot's midsection bent and shattered. Metroplex flung off his feet from the blow and landed five city districts away.
His vision was clouded by broken optic cables, scattering electrical discharges across his optics. His body felt tremendous red damage around his midsection. It was like a submarine had been dropped on his abdomen. The weight of it was monstrous, but he had to lift himself up. He rose to his knees. The Titan heaved. With another lunge of energy, he lifted himself to his feet.
Trypticon fired a volley of missiles at Metroplex while he was still finding his footing. The shells burst against his metal skin, tearing into his hide. Metroplex charged with his fists swinging. He pummeled Trypticon's face with left and right hooks. "This… is… for… every… one… of… my friends!" He finished the assault with a fierce straight arm thrust into Trypticon's belly, which thrust the monster back five paces.
The monster, Trypticon, bounded toward Metroplex with open jaws. The white Autobot shielded himself with his arm. He felt the titanium teeth snap together around his right arm. He felt the jaws tighten on his wrist. Metroplex let out a painful bellow. He felt the steel pillars of his arm snap. He raised his left arm high over his head and brought his fist down onto Trypticon's head. It landed on the orange eye. Shards and twisted metal splintered off Trypticon's steel skull. The monster let out a scream and loosened Metroplex's arm.
Metroplex pushed himself away from his foe, looking down at the ruin of his right arm. He put himself into a defensive stance, not knowing what to expect. Black fluids and oil bled down from his joints and torn body.
Trypticon brought his violet claw to his eyes—what remained of his eye. The right part of his head was bashed in. His one good eye found Metroplex. Trypticon roared in anger. He charged at Metroplex and the Titan stood with palms out to catch the beast.
Trypticon ran forward to trample over Metroplex, yet at the last second, Metroplex jolted out of the way in a deftful sidestep and let Trypticon run past him. All that inertia moved the monster forward like an immense locomotive with a dragging tail. Metroplex seized the tail and pulled with his massive strength. The shocked Trypticon found himself dragged backward while Metroplex swung the gargantuan tail, whirling it around him. Metroplex managed to turn with such force that he lifted Trypticon off his feet and continued spinning. The white and black titan spun until he could no longer grip the giant and let him loose with one last heave.
Trypticon sailed through the air, an entire city launched like a volley ball, soaring high enough to cut through clouds and hurled ten zip codes away. The Titan Trypticon cleaved into the mountain, and he crashed with the force of a meteor. Boulders rained down while pillars of dust rose to blanket the mountain. A pile of rubble slid over Trypticon's battered body.
Metroplex fell onto his back, drained of energy. Trypticon was unresponsive. While the Autobots cheered on Metroplex, hoping he would reawaken, it seemed the Titan had no more oomph to lift himself. No one knew what would happen now.
Rodimus had deserted the Command Tower. He stood with the Autobots on a tower of Autobot City. In the distance he saw Galvatron and his troops mounted on the hill outside the city. They were watching the battle between the two Titans as they were.
"C'mon Metroplex! Get up!" Swerve yelled.
"Awaken Metroplex!" Wreck-Gar shouted.
Within the Trypticon's cranial cavern, a loathsome feeling burned inside Necro's breast. He was aware of Trypticon's collapsed body and the giant's weakened life force which now hummed in slower rhythms. Once more, the claustrophobic feeling emerged, reminding him of the millennia trapped inside the freezing cell of the Titan's body on that remote planet. Never again would he allow himself that sort of burden. His chest burned for victory, and he would wrest it from the dead hands of Metroplex. Necro opened the chambers of his spark to connect his circuits with Trypticon's. He reached within himself for the shells of the sparks that Trypticon consumed. The energy of those Titan Masters had been digested and stored into the small space of Necro's body. And now Necro released that energy so that the spirits of the devoured flowed out of him and into Trypticon's fiber cable veins. The harvested energy flowed like a torrent, and Trypticon's eyes glowed with revitalized fury. His arms dug through the fallen heap of earth until he began to crawl out from under the pile of boulders.
"What's happening, Metroplex?" Arcee asked. "You need to get up. This is no time to nap."
"He's exhausted," Rodimus said. "His energon reserves are used up."
Leinad noticed Trypticon's movement from underneath the rubble. "Then why is he able to get up?"
Bomber's eyes became stark white. "It's that small Titan Master inside his head. It's giving Trypticon its energy."
"We need to do something Rodimus," Arcee said. "If we don't… Metroplex will be destroyed by Trypticon."
Rodimus, Leinad and Arcee watched in horrified silence as Trypticon rose fully on his hind legs. The monster turned around. His face was twisted into a snarl. It was a look of extreme hatred and loathing. He turned to look at the fallen Metroplex and, with newly found resolve, lumbered toward his supine foe.
"What are we going to do?" Arcee gripped Rodimus' shoulder.
Arcee's eyes sought Leinad's. The two nodded in unison. Then she and Leinad attempted to fuse. When Leinad locked in, Arcee's body bolted upright. Her body seized up and she had an electric seizure. Arcee screamed and separated from Leinad. Her body was flung against the wall. Leinad was tossed the other way, transforming back into her small, bot form.
"What happened?" Rodimus said.
Arcee was knocked out, she made no response. He went to check on Leinad. She was crouched, trembling but conscious.
"I don't know," she said. "When we connected, there was a lot of electricity and… it just didn't work."
Rodimus lifted Leinad's small white body. He shook his head, unable to figure out what happened. He set her upright seated in her hover chair near Arcee. "Wreck-Gar, see if you can rouse her."
"Arcee, girl, come on. It's the Nineth inning. The Cubs have got players on second and third and we need a home run to even the score!" He shook her shoulders gently.
Arcee swiveled her head. "Wha—the Cubs?"
"Al'Right! Now let's get you up to bat." Wreck-Gar helped her to her feet.
"I don't kn—Hey! Where's Leinad?"
She had disappeared. She had bolted from her spot. While everyone looked around for her, Grimlock spotted her in her hover chair, zooming as quickly as possible to Metroplex's head.
"Leinad!" Arcee shouted.
Trypticon brought his massive column of a leg high and slammed his foot onto Metroplex's head.
"The years I suffered trapped at the bottom of the sea. The humiliation. The Autobots, the Decepticons… all of them. I hate them. You will pay for everything, shah."
He pounded Metroplex again and again, Stomping it with ruthless abandon.
Arcee and Rodimus covered their mouths in horror.
"Finish it," Galvatron said.
"Once I've finished you… Your friends will be next. First the Autobots… then the Decepticons… but you will be the first…" Trypticon raised the column of his leg. One more stomp would crush Metroplex's head.
"No!" Arcee said.
Trypticon felt his movement arrested which surprised him. Trypticon felt two powerful arms lock around his midsection from behind. The silver arms pulled back with ferocity. It was Omega Supreme… back from the trash heap—badly damaged. He had held out and now was trying to stop Trypticon from finishing Metroplex.
"Omega!" Grimlock shouted.
Trypticon was dragged back. He had had enough of this annoyance. He wrestled free from the grip and spun to stare at his menace. Omega Supreme stood bold and determined, however it was obvious how badly damaged he was. The mighty Autobot had dragged himself from the site of their last battle to help Metroplex. But he appeared so fragile now that a slight rumble looked enough to topple him.
"Not much of you is left, snah. I should have finished you, herah." Trypticon unleashed a rain of gunfire against Omega. The Autobot clutched to shield himself as best he could. With Omega's vision obscured, Trypticon made a following attack and whipped his colossal tail against Omega's middle. The giant was tossed onto his back.
Now both Omega and Metroplex were slumped on the ground. Trypticon reared up. If both of these sentinels fell, it meant the end for Autobot City. And when that fell, the Autobots would have to surrender.
Rodimus spotted Leinad at last. She was hurtling full sprint toward Metroplex. He dashed from the rooftop and transformed. In his truck mode he made a mad dash which took the Autobots by surprise. Leinad was nearly at Metroplex's body when Rodimus caught up to her. Her small floating chair had taken her this far. He dove to reach her and just in time too. Leinad hadn't noticed the Decepticons on the hill. When they had seen Leinad's approach, they swept down the hill in order to capture her. Rodimus held Leinad close.
"Leinad, are you crazy!? You'll get killed!"
"No. I can help. I can give Metroplex my power."
He shook his head, the Decepticons were drawing close.
His wrist communicator buzzed from an incoming signal. He recognized the grim tone as Kup's. "Lad, we're ready to bridge down and help you. We got a whole army of bots locked and loaded."
"Are there enough to take down a 400-story dinosaur?"
"…Probably not…"
Rodimus shook his head with a smirk.
"Lad… the bridge is operational. Should I give the signal to get us down or… not…."
Neither option really mattered now.
"or…."
Or what? What else could be done?
"Or do you want us to bridge you out of there?"
"The bridge is working?" He rose into a half-seated position. "Is it working both ways?"
"Yeah. You need a lift?"
"No… but you just gave me an idea. I'm sending you three sets of coordinates. Wait for my signal."
…Galvatron had Rodimus surrounded. His goons had Rodimus 12 to one. He had Cyclonus, Soundwave… Astrotrain on his left. On his right were Scourge, and about six of Scourge's henchmen. Galvatron raised his orange barrel, centering its crosshairs on Prime's head.
"Ironic isn't it, Hot Rod." Galvatron stood to his full height. "How history tends to repeat itself."
Rodimus felt a warmth in his chest. "Prime…"
"You… have been a thorn in my side ever since I killed Optimus. But now… with your death, the last of his legacy will be extinguished. Always, failing forward, the leader of the Autobots falls right into my hands."
"At last… it will finally be over. When you die, Prime's death will be complete."
"Rodimus…" He heard a small voice coming from his chest. It was Leinad, cradled next to him. Her small white face and blue eyes peaked out from under his arm. "Bond with me."
The Prime held her close. He had no idea what she meant. Did she mean to bond her Titan Master body to his head? What if all the things they said were true? That Titan Masters animate decapitated corpses? What if she paralyzed him just like Arcee? He looked at the grimace of Galvatron who pointed his barrel at his head.
Rodimus's head lurched back, he retracted his head within his body and Leinad climbed onto his shoulders and transformed herself. On her back was Arcee's face. She turned around. Rodimus bolted upright. The Decepticons faltered backward, they were surprised to see Rodimus's body with Arcee's head. The combined form took them by surprise when she raised her hands to protect her body. Galvatron pulled the trigger and blasted her in the middle.
It was the same cannon used to destroy so many other Transformers before. Rodimus would die.
How wretched Galvatron's face became when he saw the cannon fire glance off her body like a brittle stone bouncing off a steel wall. The Autobot Titan Master had a glow surrounding her body. An electric field surrounded her. It was like a dome of magnetic energy and it expanded outward from her body, glancing off the shots fired at her like a protective tortoise shell. She held herself close and pushed the field of energy outward violently. It sent all the Deceptions off their feet. All except Galvatron who staggered backward. The field dissipated.
"Why?!" He raised his orange barrel again. He fired at her.
She slung her gun from her hip and fired. When she did so, a white, electric pulse burst from her barrel and shot toward Galvatron. The two beams of energy collided with each other, and they detonated. Leinad fired again. She shot at Galvatron who protected himself with his arm, and the bolt from her pistol shattered the orange cannon on his arm.
Galvatron's face pulled back from a sneer into a pitiful shock of terror. His gun lay smashed on the ground. Cyclonus stood aghast at his left, freaking out over his lord's damaged arm. The Decepticons' faces twisted into horrified expressions when they saw their leader's arm and its missing orange gun.
Leinad, or whatever it was—this new Autobot which carried Arcee's face and Rodimus's body—turned to each of the fallen Decepticons in turn. They were scrambling to climb to their feet and shoot her. She shot at them until they lay on their backs, too injured to grab their weapons. Galvatron's troops, the ones that could still move, scattered like scared fleas to the wind or ran from the field. Leinad hopped off Rodimus and landed on the ground. Rodimus's head switched back to his own and he leveled his blaster onto Galvatron.
Like a good lieutenant, Cyclonus flung himself before Galvatron to protect him. He fired at Rodimus and disarmed him. The pistol flew smoking out his hand. There was a rage in Cyclonus's eyes and when he spoke it sounded like only half his thought emerged. "—Make us look like a disgrace!"
Rodimus ran forward and punched Cyclonus in the jaw then he grabbed the soldier and flung him onto the dirt where he lay unable to move. Now Rodimus faced Galvatron.
Galvatron reached for his communicator. "Trypticon, finish what you started. Destroy Autobot City."
Rodimus grabbed Galvatron around his midsection. The Decepticon leader landed over-head blows onto Rodimus and Rodimus took them all in the face. He balled his fists and smashed Galvatron's face with two blows. Then he reared up for a third punch.
Galvatron 's face became a mask of hate. "I won't be… defeated!"
The punch ended with a loud clap and Galvatron went soaring backwards. He fell onto his back and fell unconscious. His triple-pronged crown rolled off his head and down the road like a loosened spare tire.
When Rodimus' foot smashed it, Galvatron's henchmen, shrank in shock.
Rodimus reached for his communicator. "Put the Space Bridge's transportation in reverse."
"On my mark… Now!"
A beam of bright light appeared in the sky above the clouds. It spiraled down to the teleportation capsule on the furrow fair. The pillar of energy pulled everything caught in its circumference into space. It teleported bits of wreckage that had been on the ground into some unknown location. It just missed Trypticon.
Rodimus felt his spark sink with defeat.
He felt a swooping sensation and he and Leinad were yanked off their feet into the air. He realized he was being carried by someone and looked up to see the face of Bomber. The Junkion scientist had saved them before Trypticon could crush them.
"Bomber! You can fly?!"
"Need to get you two outta there. We need to escape."
Rodimus shook his head. "No!"
Bomber was shocked.
"Take us there!" Rodimus pointed to Trypticon's head.
This suicidal Autobot… thought Bomber, but he complied. "I kinda knew you were crazy… and this proves my hypothesis." He flew in a circle back to Trypticon and dropped the two Autobots. Leinad and Rodimus flew into Trypticon's open eye and found a chamber inside. Inside, a network of humming wires and steel machinery lined a compact chamber. They spotted a raised apparatus, a console in front of a glowing monitor which was plugged into every other component by a webbed set of cables. They could see the folded component which looked like a purple decepticon, slotted into the console. When they advanced towards it, a part of the wall slid to the side and something inside lashed out to attack them. An industrial arm reached for them. Rodimus dodged under it. He flung toward the console and seized Necro. The arm clamped onto Rodimus and squeezed on him. As soon as he snatched Necro out of the component, the industrial arm ceased mangling Rodimus.
Necro transformed back into his bot form, but struggle as he might, he was unable to wrench from the larger Autobot's grip. Necro's small face revealed a frightened expression when he received a glare from Rodimus. It was this moment when he realized Rodimus was looking around the chamber and making calculations of what Necro had been doing. The jig was up. The role Necro had played was obvious to the Autobot leader who now winced in anger.
The Autobot rested his vision on the broken wall which made a hole in Trypticon's head and a thought came to mind. Rodimus carried the little Titan Master, who thrashed like a turbofish in his arms, and flung him from the gaping hole in Trypticon's eye where he fell screaming thousands of feet below.
After that, Rodimus breathed a sigh of relief. But it was a little too soon with a grim realization that Trypticon's movement persisted. The rumbling footsteps continued to move toward Metroplex. And now he had completely run out of ideas of how to stop the colossus.
"It didn't work," Rodimus said to Leinad. "We can't stop Trypticon." He picked her up into his arms.
Leinad looked at the open slot where Necro had been connected to the giant Decepticon. The neural link was still open. She looked at Rodimus. "Maybe you can't… but I can."
"What are you saying?"
"I can stop Trypticon."
He saw the neural connector and his face grew grim. "No. Leinad. You can't. This is my responsibility."
"Rodimus… you have your duty… and I…" She spared no more time. She leaped into the air and folded into her compressed state and fit herself into the neural slot.
There was a sudden jolt. Rodimus's eyes flashed with fear. The cranium chamber shook.
"Leinad!" Rodimus lunged at the neural link. He grabbed Leinad's compacted body. Then he pried to remove her from Trypticon's brain.
Trypticon roared. A bunch of electric bolts erupted across his body. The roar echoed, it was the sound of a creature in mortal pain. Trypticon grabbed at his head with his arms.
Rodimus pulled. Then he felt a tug on his own right shoulder. A strong tug yanked him from the console. He was turned about and he found himself in the grip of the industrial arm. The mechanical arm had moved itself from the cranium chamber wall and it yanked him up like a rag doll.
"Leinad!"
The arm twisted Rodimus around, he struggled to free himself. Then he felt himself hurled. He was thrown out of the open cavity in Trypticon's head and flung thousands of feet in the air. Rodimus crashed onto the city street below. The fall broke his back onto the pavement.
Trypticon continued bellowing in pain.
The roars from Trypticon roused Metroplex, who in a bolt of shock, clamored to his feet. He realized Trypticon's behavior had become erratic. He moved with jerking movements as though he had lost control of his body. Then the Autobot Titan saw the open bridge portal behind the dinosaur. He pried open the doors to his chest and extended the cannon hidden in his solar plexus. He fired a huge beam of light at the beast and sent the monster flying.
Trypticon disappeared into the light of the Space Bridge, and immediately the monster's roars died away in a faint echo. The space bridge collapsed and the monster was nowhere to be found.
Those on the ground stared at the sky where the clouds had been spread in the shape of a whirlpool, circling a tunnel of light that was no longer there.
The Decepticons gazed with horror, unable to deal with their monster having disappeared. Metroplex leered down at them and bellowed. "Get… out… of… here!" He fired the guns on his shoulders upon fleeing Decepticon troops and some caught fire as they launched themselves into the air to escape his wrath. And soon the battlefield held very few Decepticons left, vacant except for those too injured to move or dead.
From the bottom of the hill, he heard her familiar footsteps. She was running up the hill. When he turned around, Rodimus saw the cool blue eyes and that white feminine face. She held an open hand to him in a pleading manner and her other one was at her hip, balled to a fist, and knew immediately what she would ask for. A huge heaviness descended onto his chest.
"Leinad…" Arcee said.
He shook his head and diverted his eyes to the ground.
She squeezed her hand closed. And the sigh that she expelled was too painful to hear.