-1Sarah awoke one morning to the feeling of having been denied something terribly important. It was as if part of her very soul had been blocked off… something she had barely been aware of having had either closed itself off or been shut down. She felt alone… so terribly alone. Sitting up, she tried to figure out the source of this feeling of utter rejection. Something had to be wrong… Deciding to ask around among her friends to see if something was up that she ought to know about, she hopped out of bed to start her day. Everyone she saw said things were all right, but that didn't make her feel any better because something was missing, someone was missing…
A sudden feeling of starkest dread filled her when she realized just who she hadn't seen yet, because then her feelings made perfect sense. The fact that she couldn't feel anything had to be a bad sign, a very bad sign… Taking off running at top speed, sprinting far faster than any normal human could ever hope to achieve and still feeling like she was going entirely too slow, she headed for the main control room just as fast as she could.
"Optimus! Optimus, have you seen Megatron?" The Autobot leader fairly jumped out of his metal skin at the sudden shout as Sarah came sailing into the room. Noting her panic, he answered truthfully, "He volunteered to go on patrol early this morning. It's a bit odd that he's not back yet…" He was even more startled at her reaction. "A bit odd?! You don't know the half of it! Optimus, he's blocking the link. If that isn't a bad sign, I don't know what would be!" That was when he realized what a mistake he'd made… He'd given his brother the opportunity to go off alone and do whatever he pleased. "Oh no," he said. Sarah interrupted him. "The link may be blocked, but it isn't broken. Wherever he is, whatever he's doing, he's still alive." Wasting no more time, Optimus turned to the computer and scanned the immediate area for Megatron's energy signature. Quickly memorizing the displayed location, he prepared to transform and head out. "Sarah, you stay here. He's my brother and I reserve the right to beat some sense into him!" An instant later, a flame-painted big rig peeled out at a speed previously thought impossible…
It was ridiculous that he'd let things go this long, Megatron decided as he stared down into the quiet expanse before him from his seat atop the ridge on the other end of the valley the Autobots called home. All was silent, save for the wind and a few random birds. The Ark was a good dozen miles away, for while the valley they had chosen was narrow, it was also very long. There were no Autobots nearby to stop him now… "Jazz is right," he said to himself. "I really am unforgiven."
He was so sick of it; so sick of everything. Sick of feeling torn up inside, sick of the pain, the guilt, the memories… His only hope had been that someday he would be forgiven, but now he had lost even that. No, there was no hope. This was the way things were, the way they would remain… unless he took a stand. He now realized that it was well within his power to end it, to stop the pain forever. He'd known this all along, so why hadn't he thought of it before? "To think the answer was right here in my hands this whole time…" And indeed it was in his hands… his cannon. A bitter chuckle escaped him as he realized the irony of it all. He was about to do to himself what he had done to more innocents and enemies than he could count. Raising the cannon, taking aim, he paused. "I'm… afraid?" And indeed he was. His hands were shaking, the cannon was shaking. A sigh escaped him. "Come on, Megatron. Just point and shoot. You've done it before." Another humorless chuckle escaped him. "After all, what's one more kill to somebody like me?"
A moment later, the valley resounded with the roar of a single thunderbolt.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I love being evil with cliffhangers sometimes.