Ruby - Origins - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Ancient Energy

"There is a story," Optimus began, "that has been whispered among our race for centuries. 

'Once, a long time ago, our kind visited Earth before. Their leader, distant relative of mine, watched an old human man forge a silver garment for his youngest daughter. The leader saw how pure it was, how much love had been poured into the gift. He knew that this would make it a powerful item: it would accept energy."

Every pair of eyes, human and robot, fixed upon Ruby's wrist. Ruby shifted her feet, relaxing when their attention returned to Optimus;

"After the man retired for the nigh, the leader stole the silver bangle, and using the Cube, he transferred a large amount of energy into the silver. When he showed his colleagues what he had done, they were outraged. They made the decision to return the bracelet, which was done without delay. And so, the little girl wore it day and night, and they bonded-"

"Sorry," interrupted Ruby, "But what do you mean 'they bonded'?"

Major Lennox, Tyrese and a few other humans present all stared up questioningly at Optimus, having had the same thought. 

"And what is this Cube?" added Ruby.

Major Lennox whispered to her; "It held all of this power, and could give life to the transformers. It was recently destroyed to prevent it from being misused."

"Ah."

Optimus carried on,

"Indeed. The Cube gives life to our race. When the silver bracelet was given energy, it too, possibly had the ability to give life, it was almost like a living thing its self. 

'It bonded to the girl, in a way which allowed energy to flow between them. It made her a unique girl, with strange abilities. It was said that she had a certain understanding about our race, more so than her own. This statement has been interpreted in many ways, but no one alive today truly knows what that means.'

'Not much else is remembered about the girl, but the story goes on to say that the silver bangle was passed down to every other generation of her human family, grandmothers to granddaughters. Whilst the story still rang with truth, members of our race felt threatened by humans with this power, and tried to destroy it. Eventually, the energy was sealed by a Prime, meaning that the power of the bangle was trapped within it, unable to flow into the wearer." 

Optimus continued to stare at Ruby after he had finished, his eyes glowing curiously, but she had a feeling he was lost in his own thoughts.

"So, what happened then?" asked Ruby, "Did the bangle vanish into history? Was it stolen or something?"

Optimus tilted his head, "Nothing happened. It wasn't considered a threat any more. My people left Earth, and the story became a myth."

"Right," began Ruby; she chewed her tongue, "Let me get this straight: you all think that this is that same bangle?" she raised her right wrist, "and I'm a descendant of this gifted daughter? Pffftt."

Insane. All of it.

"Who did you get the bangle from, Ruby?" Optimus asked, "Because if you are not the descendant, we need to know who is."

Heat rushed to her cheeks. She looked at her feet; her hands twisted together as she answered, in a barely-audio whisper, "Mygrnss."

"What?" said Tyrese; the pitch of his voice high and his face screwed up. Ruby pursed her lips,

"My grandma," she said clearly.

"Well there you go then!" Tyrese slapped his thigh.

"And who did your grandmother get it from?" Optimus leant his head further towards Ruby.

"Her grandma," she mumbled, still looking at her own feet. Stupid. So, stupid.

"You must be the true descendant," Optimus straightened up and turned to Ironhide, "Well done Ironhide. If you hadn't of suggested it, Ruby would be in the clutches of the decepticons."

Sideswipe clapped Ironhide on the back with his hard metal hand. The robots began to talk amongst themselves, discussing Ironhide's brief encounter with Megatron, whilst Optimus began talking to Major Lennox.

Ruby stood by herself, stunned. So she was the descendant of this girl that bonded with a piece of silver, which she wore on her own wrist right now, and it held some sort of power. 

Great. How come the alien robots were here, had come back from wherever, and how come humans knew the alien robots? It didn't add up. 

Major Lennox called Ruby over to him to discuss what to do next.

"Optimus insists that you stay here, at base."

"What?" she cried, "What about my studies?! And I think my family may notice if I appear to of vanished off the Earth."

Okay, so she stretched the truth a bit. She hadn't much family.

Major Lennox turned to Optimus, "You see! I told you she would object."

Panic rose in her throat, no way could she remain here for the rest of her life, with nothing to do except be protected by aliens from aliens.

Optimus narrowed his eyes. Ruby found herself coming up with angry retorts to use if he tried to persuade her to stay.

"May I see the silver garment?" asked Optimus.

"I don't want to – what? Ok." Ruby was going to say that she didn't want to stay here, but she slipped the bangle off her wrist and handed it to Optimus. He handled it carefully, holding it between his thumb and finger. It looked so tiny in his giant hands. 

"The binding my ancestor placed upon it has weakened considerably over the centuries. Some of the power already flows between it and Ruby."

Ruby swayed on her feet.

"And this means...?"

"We can not take the garment away from you."

"Why would you want to do that?" Ruby tried to conceal her anger.

"So you could go home and be safe. But you would become weak and sick without the bangle. Your body is used to the presence of its power." Optimus flexed his jaw, trying to come up with a solution.

"So what do you propose we do?" Ratchet asked Optimus,

"The best thing I can think of is to terminate the binding, and allow Ruby to help us, if she wants to of course."

"Sure why not? Sounds like the best option to me." Ruby shrugged.

"Don't you want to think about this first? It would be a pretty big commitment," warned Major Lennox, "We don't know what it could do to you. It could even kill you."

"What's to think about? If I go home without the bangle, I get sick, if I go home with it, I get attacked by mental metal aliens, if I stay here with it as it is, I'm useless and get very bored. Besides, I owe Ironhide my life. I want to help."

"You can't argue with that logic," said Tyrese, "Welcome to NEST, high five!"

Ruby slapped her hand against his, her spirits rising.

"Alright. We might as well undo the binding now, but I cannot be sure how it will affect you Ruby," said Optimus, "It could just enhance your strength automatically; it could hurt you at first or make you very tired."

He didn't say it could kill her, but he hadn't corrected Lennox either.

Ruby shrugged it off and held out the bangle: Optimus took it and, with it resting in the palm of his hand; he shot it with a laser. It began to glow...