Ruby - Origins - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

The Master

Megatron swerved, arching back around the pyramid. Ruby held on by her finger tips, digging her nails into groves in the metal. Then he rolled.

"AH!" cried Ruby. It felt like her nails were being ripped off. 

Her body  whipped around in the air like a rag doll. Despite the wind, tearing at every inch of her, she hung on.  

 He tilted down into a dive. They headed for the ground at neck-breaking speed. Ruby's stomach got left at a higher altitude. She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for impact.

But it never came. Megatron pulled up at the last minute, engines screaming. Before Ruby could let out a sigh of relief, he dipped the wing she held on to. The sharp end of it pointed directly at the ground as he continued to circle the pyramid. 

Ruby slipped, all the way to the edge of the wing. 

"Oh no," she groaned.

The dusty ground seemed miles beneath her flailing feet. Then her fingers slid all the way off.

The second sky-dive of the day was no where near as fun as the first. Ruby's eyes streamed as the air fruitlessly tore at her, failing to slow her fall. Panic set her veins on fire. Between strands of her hair, she saw Megatron fly off. Where were the autobots?

Her speedy tumble halted as a steel claw seized her around the middle, knocking all the breath out of her lungs and bruising her chest. 

Relief was instantly replaced with fear when she turned to look at her savior. A face longer than a surf board was mere inches from her own. Greedy red eyes burned into hers, and metal projections all around its face shivered. It held an odd spear in its other hand. Ruby's jaw dropped.

"Er, hi," she said.

"Ah," it said, "You have it,"

The projections around his face all moved when he talked. His eyes moved from Ruby's to her arm, then to her wrist. 

He made to take her bracelet.

Ruby snapped back to her senses. She jumped from his hand and ran as fast as she could. 

Until Megatron blocked her path. She slid to a stop, showering his feet with hot sand. She spun on the spot, and pain smashed into her left side. His huge black fist slammed her back into the sand.

"That felt good," growled Megatron, enclosing her within his grip, "But this is going to feel better,"

And he squeezed.  

Ruby forgot all about her powers. She kicked and she screamed. He'd crush her to dust. 

"You're no longer important, little fleshling. We have other means."

Ruby stopped struggling and saw he held something in his other hand. What ever it was emitted a soft blue glow.

"Master," he turned to the new alien, "I have got it for you," Megatron handed the object to him.

Master?

The master examined it carefully, and then raised his horrible eyes back to Ruby.

"You are right," he said, "She isn't needed. Terminate the little bug."

"With pleasure," purred Megatron, giving Ruby another tight squeeze. 

She couldn't stop herself from groaning in pain. If her bones hadn't been coated with metal, he'd surely have killed her by now.

But she had a little trick up her sleeve, and she relaxed. Praying that it would work, Ruby closed her eyes and concentrated. Her body grew warm. 

It was working! She turned up the heat, building energy until she could no longer stand it. 

The power exploded from her entire body, blasting through Megatron.

He shrieked and dropped her. 

Once again, Ruby plummeted towards the ground, but she could handle this drop. She landed neatly on the sand and straightened up. 

Megatron clutched his hurt hand with his good one, astounded. His fingers melted to their core as he watched, leaving needle-thin strands of metal behind. 

Ruby's mouth twitched. Served him right.

Megatron touched one of the strands with his good hand, and it snapped clean off. He howled.

The master was no where to be seen. Ruby scanned the landscape for him. The uneasy feeling about what he was up to made her sweat. 

There! He climbed the crumbling pyramid with surprising speed. Ruby set off after him. And got four paces when Megatron's block of a foot narrowly missed her. She ran around it.

"Come back here girl!" he roared.