Chapter 50

The rooftop was eerily empty, the last untouched part of the crumbling city. Alexander's heart pounded as his eyes darted across the open space—no cover, no escape. But he knew it was only a matter of time. Behind him, the sound of metal groaning and concrete shattering filled the air, and then, like a nightmare breaking free, Megatron erupted from the stairwell. The enormous Decepticon rose up through the wreckage, his dark, hulking form framed by the swirling debris.

"CLEVER INSECT," Megatron growled, his glowing red optics locking onto Alexander with predatory focus.

Alexander stood frozen for a split second, his every nerve screaming in terror. There was nowhere left to run. The Decepticon leader towered over him, his massive frame casting a long shadow across the rooftop. Slowly, with deliberate malice, Megatron extended a hand in his direction. Each finger was like a steel pillar, poised to crush.

"IT IS OVER. GIVE ME THE CUBE."

Alexander's breath caught in his throat, his grip tightening on the Cube. The weight of the world seemed to bear down on him, but there was no surrender in his eyes. Not today.

"Fuck you!" he shouted, and in an instant, he was gone—a blur of blue light streaking towards the edge of the roof.

Without hesitation, he launched himself into the air. The wind rushed past him as he soared downward, the city streets rushing up to meet him. His armor, sleek and agile, absorbed the impact as he hit the ground, rolling once before popping back up to his feet. His heart raced, his mind spinning, but he couldn't stop. He glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Megatron leap after him, his massive form blotting out the sky for a moment.

Before Megatron could reach him, a massive figure tore through a nearby building—Optimus Prime. The Autobot leader, with every ounce of his strength, lunged at Megatron mid-air, slamming into the Decepticon with titanic force. The impact was like a thunderclap, and both leaders were sent crashing to the ground, their enormous bodies smashing through concrete and steel. The ground shook beneath the force of their collision, debris and dust filling the air in a choking cloud.

Alexander stumbled back, watching in awe as the two titans grappled, their strikes shaking the very earth. In that moment, he knew the stakes. The Cube, still pulsing with energy in his hands, was the key to everything. He looked down at the glowing artifact, his mind racing. Sam's method.

It was the only way.

He had seen what happened before, how the Cube's raw power could be used to obliterate Megatron, taking him out once and for all. But it would mean the destruction of the Cube too. And now, standing there, witnessing the ferocity of as Optimus and Megatron continued there battle, Alexander knew what he had to do.

The battlefield was a chaotic symphony of destruction. Smoke and fire rose from the crumbling cityscape, and the air was thick with the scent of burning metal and the thunderous roars of engines and pulse blasts. Alexander stood, cradling the Cube, watching in disbelief as Blackout, in his massive chopper form, arrived and transformed into his towering robot mode. His rotors spun with a menacing hum as he readied to join Megatron in overpowering Optimus Prime.

Just as Blackout prepared to strike, the military sprung into action. Painted by laser targeting systems, he became the focal point for the incoming F-22 Raptors, their jets screaming overhead as they lined up for attack runs.

Blackout noticed the lasers and swiftly turned his attention towards the soldiers, unleashing a barrage of pulse blasts that sent debris flying and forced them into cover.

But Ignored by soldiers, agents, Decepticons, and Optimus's robots alike, Mikaela who searched for some way to contribute to the ongoing battle. Parked in a nearby towaway zone, a tow truck beckoned. Smashing the window with a chunk of concrete, she climbed inside. Hoping for keys, she found none. The same piece of broken roadway that had secured her entrance served to batter loose the ignition assembly. Expert fingers and agile teeth stripped wires and brought them together, generating sparks. "Come on, come on, " she muttered anxiously. More sparks were followed by a throaty rumble as the engine finally turned over. Straightening in the seat, she looked over a shoulder and threw the truck into reverse.

In the heat and confusion of combat there was someone else besides her no one was paying any attention to, Mikaela knew. Bringing the tow truck around, she hurried out and around to the back. She found the tow chains stored and waiting where they ought to be. Pulling them out as she had done with other car chains so many times before, she dragged them over to the recumbent Bumblebee and began draping them around the metal shoulders. The procedure didn't take long. Not much difference, she reflected as she searched for the ex-ternal crane control, between shoulders and fenders. Locating the correct lever and pushing it down drew the chains taut and hauled the yellow-andblack shape erect. But all the seriously wounded robot could do was sit upright.

In front of her she could see soldiers popping up and down inside a building to fire in the direction of the transformed Blackout, and the robot responding by unleashing periodic pulse blasts in their direction.

Blackout gave no indication that he was aware of the presence behind him. Taking a deep breath and gripping the wheel tightly in both hands, she floored the accelerator, dragging Bumblebee between abandoned cars, the robot's wide body snapping off doors as the tow truck gathered speed. "I'll aim, you shoot!" she yelled back out the open window. Appropriately angry music—the heavy metal was not unexpected —blasted understandingly from the robot's torso as he readied an arm cannon. "Bumblebee," she howled as the transformed tank loomed larger and larger in the windshield, "blast that mother . . . !"

The rest of her sentence was drowned out as the precisely aligned shot from the injured robot screamed past her. It was followed closely by a second. Both pulse blasts slammed into Blackout, who was getting overwhelmed.

"Nice shot!" she yelled out the window. She had driven for her father in demolition derbies, but never in one where the opposing vehicles shot back at you.

Lennox and his soldiers appeared out of holes in the ground and began plastering the immense mechanoid's armored body with a fusillade of mini sabot rounds. These were far from lethal—but they were distracting. Not unlike insects. "Laze targets!" the captain shouted. "Hit 'em, hit 'em— hurry, Epps!"

"I'm on it—rain's coming, get out your umbrellas!" the technical sergeant yelled back over the din of handheld launchers repeatedly unleashing their contents.

In the chaos, Captain Lennox took a abandoned motorcycle and charged forward on a motorcycle, weaving through debris and wreckage, and fired a sabot round into Blackout's lower body. The round struck with precision, and as Blackout let out a metallic roar, the sky overhead split open with the screech of F-22 jets. Missiles rained down from above, pounding the Decepticon from every angle. The sheer volume of firepower was too much—Blackout collapsed under the barrage, his massive form crashing into the street with a deafening thud.

But the battle was far from over.

As the diving jets unloaded missiles at the next unmissable target that was Megatron. Several punctured the layer of extreme outer armor. They slowed the giant but did not stop him as he reached for Alex. The human-inflicted wounds meant nothing to the huge mechanoid. All that mattered was the Cube, the Energon. The Source. Recover that and all else would follow inexorably and effortlessly. He bent forward, arm extending, fingers open and reaching . . .

Swinging around sharply in an arc parallel to the ground, Optimus's leg screamed through the air above Alexander 's head as he dove beneath. The heavy metal limb hit Megatron hard, driving him back but not knocking him down. The blow was a diversion, not a killing strike. "Aim the Cube at my spark!" Optimus yelled at Sam. "The merging will overwhelm both power sources and destroy it!"

"DO IT NOW!" the robot thundered.

Alexander yelled out."No way, I am letting you die."

In a blur of blue light, he closed the distance to Megatron.The towering Decepticon leader, still recovering from Optimus's blow, barely registered Alexander's rapid approach until it was too late. In an instant, Alexander was upon him, scaling Megatron's armor with breathtaking agility, using every ridge and joint like footholds on a mountain. Megatron's enormous hand reached out to swat the human away, but Alexander was too quick, darting across his frame like an insect too small and fast to crush

As Alexander reached the massive Decepticon's shoulder, Megatron roared in fury, trying to shake him off. "Insolent insect!" His voice boomed like thunder across the battlefield, but Alexander's focus was razor sharp.

"Not today!" Alexander yelled as he leaped toward Megatron's chest, the Energon Cube glowing in his hands, pulsating with unimaginable power. He landed on the Decepticon's chest plate, mere inches from his spark—the pulsating core of his being.

The blinding flash that resulted blew him backward as Megatron's overloaded spark exploded. Tendrils of un-constrained energy erupted in all directions, lightning crackling from the disintegrating ventral armor. The giant straightened and stepped backward, clutching at his chest. Inclining downward, the awful head sought and found Alexander. A hand reached toward him—and halted. Megatron took a step forward, another backward, shuddered once—and fell.

Optimus Prime approached, his metallic frame battered and scorched but still standing strong. He looked down at his fallen brother with a mixture of sorrow and resolution. There was no triumph in his gaze, only the grim understanding of what had to be done.

"You left me no choice . . . Brother. For the Energon to be dealt with, one of us had to die. I was willing for it to be me." He pivoted. "Better it was you."

Emerging from the wreckage that until that afternoon had been a bustling southside city street, Lennox searched the rubble until he found Epps. Officer and tech sergeant regarded each other for a long moment. Then hands rose up. The smack of a loud high five being exchanged echoed across the devastated street. Both men smiled. Within an hour, Epps was complaining again.

Elsewhere, **Ratchet** and **Ironhide** emerged from the smoke-choked streets, their heavy metal forms clanking against the debris-strewn ground. Ironhide, battered but resolute, supported the limping Bumblebee, the yellow Autobot's injuries making each step a monumental effort. They moved quickly, scanning the battlefield for their leader, Optimus.

Meanwhile, Alexander, still dazed from the massive blast that had knocked him down, fought to regain his footing. His high-tech armor, cracked and damaged, began to collapse back into itself, retracting piece by piece until it disappeared, leaving him standing in the open. His chest heaved, each breath laborious as the adrenaline coursed through his veins. He could feel the heat of battle still burning around him, but for a moment, it was as if the world had stopped.

Through the haze, he saw Mikaela sprinting towards him, her eyes wide with concern and relief. Without hesitation, she threw herself into his arms, the weight of the moment crashing down on both of them.

Their embrace was fierce, desperate. Her lips found his with a sudden, overwhelming intensity—her kiss was more than just passion. It was relief, fear, and the acknowledgment of survival, all pressed into that one moment. Her lips were unrelenting, clamping down on his as if afraid to let go, barely giving him a chance to breathe.

As they finally broke apart, breathless and still holding her close, Alexander looked into Mikaela's eyes, his voice a low murmur, "It's good to see you're unhurt."

She smiled softly, her fingers brushing a smudge of dirt from his cheek. "I was more worried about you," she replied, her voice catching slightly, still heavy with the tension of the fight. "You always seem to find yourself in the middle of the worst of it."

He gave her a weary grin, his hand resting on the small of her back. "Occupational hazard," he quipped.

Mikaela smiled, while Alexander then turned Optimus and said."Sorry about the Cube. In know your need it to go home and bring your world back to life."

"It is destroyed," Optimus told him."Without the Cube there is no going back. That purpose is ended now. That home is closed to us."

The enormous, gleaming metal head tilted downward to meet his gaze. "Our home must be here now. Among your kind. Among humans." And with that, he bowed, the entire immense upper body inclining in Alexander's direction until it was directly over him and parallel to the surface.

"I owe you my life," Optimus Prime told him. "Humans do not always think rationally, but you are smarter than anyone I have met. I did not anticipate what you did." Straightening, he looked toward the crater. "Neither, thankfully for all, did Megatron. We are all of us in your debt." Gathering around him, the surviving robots formed a towering circle of glistening metal. Emulating their leader, they, too, bowed toward Alexander.

While Mikaela hugged hin from the side ans leaned on the his shoulder.