Ruby - Transformers: Dark of the Moon fanfic

The End of the End

"This is my planet!" Megatron roared.

He took out the huge alien equivalent of a rifle and blasted Sentinel in the face. He fell back, crying in anguish. Megatron tossed Sentinel aside and approached Optimus, who had gotten up and stood majestically tall against the sunset. Optimus raised his sword.

"Now now," said Megatron, cowering, "What would you be without me, Prime?"

Voice ringing with authority, Optimus stated, "Time to find out."

Optimus ripped Megatron apart as if he was nothing more than a table cloth. His metal body crumbled quite noiselessly, the only sound came from the swipes of the sword.

"Optimus," croaked Sentinel.

In her broken state, Ruby still had it in her to feel a burning hate, why wasn't that traitor dead?

"I only wanted the survival of our race," Sentinel grovelled, "You have to see why I needed to betray you,"

Optimus picked up the rifle Megatron had dropped, and cocked it.

"You didn't betray me," said Optimus with disgust, taking aim, "You betrayed yourself."

The last shot fired that day must have been the loudest. For Ruby, the sound never faded away; it rebounded around her skull, a terrible, harsh sound that broke the silence that came with the end of war. She was aware of background noise that broke out. 

And then, for some cruel reason, Ruby came back to herself. She could feel every crack in her bones, the intensity of her burnt skin, the deep gash in her injured arm, and worst of all, the agonizing rip in her stomach. She could smell the smoke again, taste the gasoline and blood, and see the sun set above her, although the air was hazy. She felt sick. So, so sick. 

Ruby tried to sit up. The effort made the world spin upside down, and more blood ran from her stomach, pooling on the ground beside her. It filled her mouth and dribbled down her chin. Ratchet came towards her, having been pushed away by Optimus who demanded his arm could be seen to later. But he looked at a loss, Ratchet didn't know what to do, apart from scan her with multi-coloured lasers. He shook his head, unable to find anything that was within his capability to fix. Optimus appeared at his side, reaching out as if to pick her up, but she shied away from his touch.

It was as if she had entered a different dimension where people did not smile, did not talk properly or move very fast. Gradually more people gathered around her.

Although she had wanted to sit, Ruby found herself sinking back to the ground, lying in her own blood. She lay down her head, dying on the cold, blood stained road. Her heart accelerated and her diaphragm muscles began to spasm, shaking her body. Her back arched and her legs shook so violently they were in danger of falling off.

Major Lennox's voice reached her, "Relax, Ruby, just relax, there's medics on the way, you'll be ok."

His voice trailed off, he didn't sound like he believed his own words. A hand appeared in hers, then more on her shoulders, and her legs. They pushed her down in an attempt to hold her still. They were hurting her more, suffocating her. Ruby wanted to scream, but her voice was already dead. She was soaked through, with blood no doubt. She couldn't see anything properly anymore; everything was blurred due to both her tears and failing strength.

Then, a gentle whisper fell upon her wounded ears.

"Ruby..."

The voice, or was it many voices, calmed her. She gave in and let them carry her off to where she felt safe once more.

****

"-can't expect anymore of her, she fought the entire war all by herself for, what, eight hours? Just her, one person, against a whole army of aliens!"

The voice was stern and sharp. It sliced through Ruby's peaceful sleep, dragging her back to consciousness.

"I know I'm in charge of this unit," said a different voice, "But I do not want to be the one to tell everyone that she's gone."

"Surely they're expecting it!" snapped the sharp voice.

There was a tangible moment, then a whisper: "It'll crush them all the same."

There was blissful silence again, and Ruby slipped back to sleep.