2. Charge (A TFP Fanfiction)

Chapter 7

"You Autobots have gone through impressive lengths to recover your leader," Megatron growled darkly. "Rest assured, I shall never underestimate you again."

I was shivering madly at the sight of the giant silver titan and the sound of his merciless voice. One look at him, and you knew he was truly evil. A bloody desire to kill and destroy lingered in his fiery optics, the ones that glistened with anger even now. A blade extended from his arm, a loud shing erupting into the air. I brought my knees up and cowered backward in fear.

Ratchet moved swiftly, turning quickly while Bulkhead and Bumblebee covered him. He bent over quickly, taking me in one servo without a second thought. I gasped at the sudden movement, but he was being gentle. I covered my mouth with my hand to prevent making any more noise that could draw attention to myself. He set me down hastily, waving his servos to tell me to remain here. I nodded with tears in my eyes, backing far under the console to stay out of sight.

"Now, I assume the one called Arcee will be coming through that portal," Megatron mused, "with the reloaded Matrix of Leadership in hand."

He has no idea Jack is with her, I realized, taking deep breaths through my nose in hopes of calming down. My back hit the end of the console and I froze, keeping utterly silent and still.

I saw three pairs of pedes rush off and stop in front of the GroundBridge. "We hold the SpaceBridge at all costs!" I heard Ratchet order, and a moment later, the three Autobots rushed the Decepticon leader. I could hear metal pounding on metal and fierce battle cries, mostly coming from my enraged guardian. I swallowed, knowing he had it hard without any blasters and that he was out of his game. But I also knew that he was probably more upset about the loss of Optimus than the rest of us were. The two were such close friends, it almost made me jealous.

"You're going down, Bucket-head!" I heard Bulkhead shout, right before I heard a loud noise, and saw Bulkhead and Megatron rolling in the distance. I shuddered as more and more sounds of battle followed. As they grew more and more frequent, I realized that the sounds of pained cries were mixed in. My heart fell to my feet as I realized that the Autobots were being beaten. I saw Bee get thrown to the floor, and a few minutes later, Ratchet was kicked beside the scout.

Optimus is really the only one who can stand up to Megatron.

Taking many shaky breaths, I dared bend over and crawl forward quietly. I peeked out the most I could without being seen, and watched in horror as Bulkhead did his best to battle the silver titan, but was only thrown into the pile. He groaned, but didn't get up, his optics closed. I shuddered violently, my heart hammering in my chest a thousand miles an hour. My vision was swimming in panic and fear for their lives, and mine.

"Ratchet, we have the Matrix," I heard Arcee say through the commlink. "We're coming through."

No, not now!

I couldn't allow Megatron to even touch Arcee or Jack. The key was at risk, and after everything we had gone through to get it... Megatron would destroy our only hope, and then the rest of us. He would kill all of us, and he would find me. And end my life, too.

He'll kill Optimus. He'll kill Ratchet. 

Fire suddenly flew up my body, but it wasn't in pain. Determination burned over me, the fear turning into an overwhelming desire to protect. I got to my feet immediately, bending down in preparation for battle. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Visions of Ratchet, what I had done to him in the past, visions of what I had become, all showered into my mind like rain. I shook my head and charged forward out of my hiding place. It didn't matter what had happened last time; this time, I wasn't under their control. This time, I was doing it for the right thing.