Ruby - Transformers: The Last Knight

A Major Lie

A dozen armed TRF soldiers surrounded Cade. He raised his hands above his head and shot Ruby a warning glance. She took a step backwards, further into the darkness of her cover. Her heart soared then plummeted again in the space of a second. Nobody moved. The tense silence made it feel as though time had stopped.

Cade froze, the soldiers held for orders, and Ruby remained hidden, eyes locked on Lennox; what was wrong with him? She made to move, ready to reveal herself, when another soldier entered the circle. Ruby honed in on his badge. He was in charge, not Lennox. And who knew what his orders were.

The man strode right up to Cade and pushed the barrel of his gun against his throat. Ruby felt the familiar hum through her body as she activated her power. Unbeknownst to the soldier, his gun just became nothing more than an odd-shaped club.

Bumble Bee burst out of the shadows across from her, crashing to pieces the moment the circle opened fire on him. Black and yellow limbs bounced everywhere, kicking up dust and littering the clearing. The soldiers looked surprised, then smug. The corners of Ruby's mouth twitched. 

Wait for it... 

The moment their guards were down, each of Bumble Bee's limbs sprung back into action on their own accord. Parts whizzed through the air, knocking half the team out cold. Ruby cringed as several tonnes of metal banged one of them right in the face. 

Bee materialized before them, as if a giant invisible hand rebuilt him. He swung his canon blaster, flattening the remaining men until only Lennox was left standing. Cade turned the tables, holding the man's own (and still quite useless) gun to his temple. Lennox aimed at Cade.

"Come on, it doesn't have to be like this," Lennox groaned.

Bee stomped his foot, shaking the ground. He trained his canon on Lennox.

Ruby disabled their weapons and narrowed her eyes. The Major she once worked for was different. His eyes were rimmed red, grey hairs mingled amongst the brown, and the glowing courage, the willingness to fight for what he believed in, had gone.

"Just shoot him Lennox!" spat the man in Cade's grip, "And destroy that yellow alien scum!"

"But he's an autobot," said Lennox. He flexed his fingers near the trigger.

"So? They're all the same."

Cade shook him, "Shut up!"

Ruby slowly edged round, keeping her cover, until she was behind Cade and his hostage. She raised her right wrist. The light caught her bracelet, and Major Lennox's eyes flickered to her. Even half hidden, she saw the recognition flash across his face. He didn't relax. He didn't smile. He looked horrified. And threw down his gun.

"What are you doing?" screamed his comrade,

"What's the point? It won't fire anyway."

Bee's canon disarmed with a click and a whine.

"Now," said Cade, still gripping the man, "We're gonna walk out of here. You won't follow."

Lennox kept his eyes on the ground and nodded once.

Bumble Bee transformed, parts whirring and whooshing. Cade shoved the man at Lennox and ran for the Camaro. 

Ruby remained still, hardly daring to breath. She watched Lennox, who watched her back until Bee's revving engine faded away.

The man finished checked up on his soldiers and swore. One had to be carried, but the rest came round just fine and hobbled after their commander, nursing sore heads.

"Lennox!" he barked.

"I'll make my own way back," he replied.

"Suit yourself."

Lennox picked up his weapon and started walking. Ruby stalked after him, keeping a healthy distance and out of sight until she was sure they weren't being followed.

Lennox turned to face her in a narrow alley of tall rubble. The rotting scent of death lingered, dead metal, dead flesh. Ruby clenched her fists. The bracelet gave off a pulse of white light in response.

"I never thought I'd see you again," Lennox whispered, "How are you? You look good."

Ruby snorted. She couldn't say the same about him.

"Oh, you know," Ruby waved her hand, "Kept prisoner, saved the world, survived a brain haemorrhage, got engaged, You?"

His eyebrows popped. "Wow. Do I know him?"

"No."

"Well, I, er, took some time out. I had to come back when the invasion started last year."

"Invasion?" snapped Ruby, "They just need a place to call home,"

"I have to ask you, where is the big guy?"

Ruby bit her lip and averted her eyes, "I don't know."

"Where'd he go? What's he doing?"

Ruby ground her teeth, "I said I don't know."

"You must know something. The Optimus I knew wouldn't leave you,"

Ouch. Ruby's skin tingled; "Where ever he is, I'm sure he's still trying to help,"

"It doesn't seem like it."

"What happened to you?"

He continued to dodge her questions with more of his own; "Do you know what's coming?"

Ruby blinked. Her mind flashed back to a few days ago, when Tom had asked her over breakfast, "What's coming?" he'd said, "You were restless last night. You kept crying, 'it's coming!'"

"No," said Ruby to Lennox, though it felt like a lie. She didn't remember what she'd been dreaming about, but the feeling of unease had grown within her ever since.

"We heard it from NASA yesterday. An object is headed for Earth, something big. It'll be here in three days. So if you know anything, please-"

"Shh!" Ruby spun round, readying herself. The energon sensor Cade had installed in her phone was alarming in the pocket of her jeans. She pulled it out. Whatever, or rather, whoever had triggered it, was close.

Lennox raised his gun and motioned for Ruby to lead on. They crept through the rubble, and went underground. 

Flashing red and blue lights glowed ahead. Ruby made sure to stay a couple of corners behind it. Decepticons had developed annoyingly good senses in their exile.

A deep, bloodcurdling growl shook the tunnels. Ruby's shoulders sagged. Seriously? She'd heard that growl so many times over the years. It was unmistakable.

Megatron was like a particularly persistent tumour. No matter how many times he was cut off, he just kept coming back.

Drift and the others had hunted Galvatron and his transformium prototypes all over the planet. Although they'd manage to eliminate what they hoped was all of the prototypes, Galvatron had eluded them. Now, here he was, essentially on their doorstep.

Ruby inched forward to catch a glimpse. The flashing lights came from Barricade, who transformed from a cruiser. She'd heard of him, and then there was a big, ugly decepticon who looked as if he'd taken his look from the Minotaur. Giant metal tusks curled around his face, failing to mask a row of malicious sharp teeth.

"Yeager has found something," said Barricade, "A knight gave it to him,"

"Is it what we seek?" said the other bot, in a voice so rumbly it was hard to make out the words, in Megatron's voice.

How had he changed his form again? Where, exactly, had he been this past year?

"It is highly likely."

"Then we must kill him, and take it. Before it arrives."

Megatron raked his metal claws down the wall, scraping and shredding until the roof shook.

Ruby and Lennox scrammed before they became collateral.