Chapter 45 – In the end, there was you

I felt an anger and a white-hot rage building up inside me, possessing me as I was tackled to the ground. All of my emotions I had been holding at bay over the past few days, maybe the past few millennia, were unleashed in a torrent. All my fear, anger, frustration, hurt, grief, and worry flooded my systems and spurred me on as never before.

I leapt back to my pedes and grabbed a fallen tree trunk, slamming it into Megatron as I called him ''WEAK!'' I threw it aside after it knocked him off balance and deflected his right hook with my right forearm before landing a solid punch in the middle of his back. ''PUNY!" I yelled at him and he grunted as my fist connected with him. Megatron turned back to hit me and I ducked easily before brining my right arm around to connect with his face, ''WASTE OF METAL!'' the power of my blow sent him flying backwards.

I unsheathed my energon blade from my right arm and stepped up to slice at Megatron as he rolled back to his pedes. ''JUNK YARD SCRAP!'' As I brought my blade down several times round his helm and chest before backhanding him hard with my right servo, sending energon flying. I spun around before him, grabbed his helm with my left servo and threw him to the ground with a growl.

At my frenzied and savage attack, I could sense the smallest amount of fear emanating from Megatron as he yelled, ''DECEPTICONS!'' calling for his minions to join the attack. I was aware of Grindor, the helicopter, landing off to my right and Starscream had arrived too, slamming into some trees. /AUTOBOTS! WHERE ARE YOU?/, I commed urgently as the odds were suddenly tipped well out of my favour.

I continued to fight Megatron as I noticed Starscream run towards something. /SAM!/. Noticing the fleeing form of the boy, Megatron had also tried to disengage me and follow after Sam. I chased him, tackling him to the ground before quickly springing up deflecting a blow and grabbing a leg he kicked out at me. I brought my energon blade down on his leg joint with enough force to severely bend it out of shape and almost snap it. I then brought my left knee up to slam into his helm and send him backwards onto his aft.

I had lost sight of Sam which hopefully meant he was safe somewhere. At this point Starscream made his presence known as he ran at me firing. I turned around and gave him a solid right uppercut to his helm at the same time bringing my left arm down and punching him in the back of the helm with my left servo. I pivoted around with my momentum as he lurched to the ground and then grabbed him in a helm lock as he began firing.

Megatron had since gotten to his feet and was running towards me again. As I held Starscream in a helm lock, I simply lashed backwards with my left pede and kicked Megatron fair in the chest, sending him sprawling once again. I reached around with my other arm and grabbed hold of Starscream's chest, straining to lift him bodily off the ground. I swung him around and then – UP, lashing out and kicking him hard in the faceplates. I could hear Bumblebee's and Ironhide's engines roaring loudly as they raced to my position.

I could feel my body starting to fatigue. /HURRY/, I thought to myself as Megatron yelled at me, ''THERE IS ANOTHER SOURCE OF ENERGON ON THIS PLANET. THE BOY COULD LEAD US TO IT!'' I swung back at Megatron and sent him stumbling backwards again before Starscream caught me off guard and punched me from behind. As I struggled to regain my footing, Grindor grabbed me by my helm and lifted me off the ground, running his blades against my side. I slashed back at him with my energon blade and he dropped me for a moment before Starscream took over again.

I tried to defend myself, but I was surrounded and could feel my energon reserves depleting rapidly, my battle-damaged CPU began to issue different codes and malfunctions at me. I stumbled slightly and then I felt Megatron slam into me, hitting me across my back before grabbing me by my helm and sending me flying backwards. I narrowly missed impaling myself on a jagged tree trunk.

I rolled to my pedes as quickly as possible, but I was too late to defend myself against the roundhouse kick Megatron delivered. I groaned out loud as his pede slammed into my faceplates, shattering part of my mouthguard and various other parts of my face, ripping one of the metal visors from above my windscreen off and sending energon flying. I fell heavily to the ground as I heard Sam scream in terror, ''OPTIMUS!''

Pain tore through my body. Having been severely jolted, I shakily began to get to my pedes only to be greeted by a blast to my chest and several rapid fire machine gun blasts Starscream sent in my direction which sent me stumbling backwards past Megatron, who backhanded me as he loaded his cannon and the fired at me, almost point blank.

The shot landed in the middle of my chest and I felt the flames and the heat tear through me. The force of the impact sent me soaring backwards about 100 metres, landing heavily on the ground before a fleeing Sam as he ran to hide behind a fallen tree branch. I slid to a stop, rolling to my side. My body was on fire, it ached and bled. I could feel the dents and gouges, the severed lines, the torn and jagged metal. I spat broken bits of metal plating from inside my dermas, along with bits of dirt and grass I had ingested as I landed on the ground. /Primus, give me strength/.

I heard Megatron slowly stalking towards me, unsheathing his own blade, ''Is the future of our race not worth a single human life?'' he taunted me as he snipped his claw like ''servo'' together in wicked triumph.

I could hear Sam, who was cowering behind the root of the fallen tree calling out to me, ''Come on, up… get up!''

I knelt there momentarily, venting heavily to try and stop my rapidly malfunctioning systems from over-heating, my right blade drawn, my left arm supporting my weight. I ex-vented heavily as I prepared for my final assault. /THIS IS IT. ALL OR NOTHING/.

I felt a renewed sense of righteous anger and sense of purpose surge through me. I cried out, ''YOU'LL NEVER STOP AT ONE!'' I unsheathed my other energon blade from my left hand and spun around challenging, ''I'LL TAKE YOU ALL ON!'' I slammed my energon blade into Starscream and sent him flying backwards to Megatron before I rounded on Grindor and severed his arm with the rotor blades as well as some of his helicopter blades, sending them careening towards Megatron and Starscream, who narrowly avoided being sliced.

I spun around slashing in turn at Starscream and Grindor before rolling across Starscream's back and forcing him to shoot at Grindor. I sent Starscream sprawling before I stabbed my left blade deep into Megatron's damaged leg, almost severing it. I punched at his side before bringing my blade back down to stab into his chest. I rained blows down upon him eventually sending him flying again. /Keep. Fighting. Don't. Stop/.

Starscream had since returned and I easily grabbed his right arm as he took a swing at me. I brought my left blade down hard, severing his right arm and then using it as a club to beat him with. I was possessed. I heard Starscream scream out in pain and horror at my bloodlust. After I gave a mighty swing and sent him flying backwards, I leapt at Grindor who had tried to silently creep up on me, transforming my blades to hooks, and sinking them into his chest, I scaled up his larger torso as though he were nothing but a mighty, metal mountain.

Once I had positioned myself atop his shoulders, I sunk a hook into either side of his face and pulled it apart. Grindor's scream of pain combined with my yell of fury echoed throughout the woods. As I leapt down from his shoulders towards the ground again, I sunk one of my hooks into his back struts to topple him to the ground as though he were a metal tree that had just been felled. ''PIECE OF TIN!'' I cursed as I he crashed into the ground.

I stumbled for a moment, my badly damaged systems screaming at me for urgent repairs. My body felt broken and pushed to its limits, but I had to keep going. ''SAM! WHERE ARE YOU?'' I cried out as I stumbled to the ground. It was in that moment that I felt a sharp talon like digit seize my left shoulder and a blade pierce my chest plates from behind, narrowly missing my spark chamber.

I cried out in agony, clutching at my chest to try and remove the offending weapon. I screamed out in pain as I was lifted bodily from the ground, Megatron's blade impaling me. His triumphant growl deafening and mocking in my audial, ''YOU'RE SO WEAK!''

''UNH.. NO!'' I cried, wildly flailing my arms about trying to grab purchase of Megatron and fight with my last ''breaths''. I heard the click of his blaster. Time slowed for a moment as the end drew near.

/NO! SAM. MY AUTOBOTS. OC. I HAVE FAILED YOU!/. The sound of his cannon blasting through my chest and tearing me apart, ripped the very thoughts from my processor as excruciating pain coursed through my body and my chest was blown apart.

He held me aloft for a moment. His prize – after millions of years of fighting.

Megatron simultaneously released his claw like grip on my arm and withdraw the blade from my chest, I slid down to my pedes, teetering upright for a moment, in disbelief and shock. I felt my systems crash one by one, the immense pain that had ripped through me, began to fade as my spark slowed, my life force draining from me rapidly. I collapsed to the ground slowly, unable to break my fall. I had nothing left to give. I was spent. I slammed into the ground, pieces of my body snapping off and flying about. I didn't feel anything.

Smoke billowed from my chest cavity and my optics began to dim. I rolled slowly onto my back, my right servo laying limply across my body. I turned my helm around slowly to face Sam who stood there amidst the smoke, a look of utter disbelief, shock and sorrow etched into his face. There was nothing I could do except try to warn him. With the remaining strength I had, I used my dying breath to issue a warning, ''Sam….. Run.. Ru…!'' It was up to him to heed my warning. I was vaguely aware of the sound of my Autobots firing.

Darkness began to claim me, my optics shone brightly for a moment as my last thoughts flashed to ''my light''. My OC. / I DIDN'T GET TO TELL YOU…/. An image of her face smiling up at me as I rested my digit under her chin flashed through my processor.

It was the last image and the last thought I had before all went dark and my spark beat its last.