The two robots both let out a cry of battle before they charged towards each other, with each step they took shaking the ground upon which they walked. As Fluttershy watched the two giants barrel towards each other, her survival instincts kicked in and the teenager pushed herself to her feet so that she could run as far away as possible. She had just started to run before the giant robots crashed into each other, generating a shockwave that tore Fluttershy from her feet and hurled her across the ground with the sound of a car crash.
As Fluttershy skidded across the ground on her face, Ratchet began to dissect his opponent. Fuel let out a laugh as he lifted his left arm and threw a punch at Ratchet's head, one which the doctor ducked underneath. Ratchet attempted to severe the central motor within the Deceptacons chest, only for Fuel to leap back to avoid being sliced. Ratchet went in for another slice, only to have his scalpel caught by the hand of Fuel.
"Come on old timer, surely you can do better than that!" Fuel yelled before he crashed his fist into Ratchet's lower jaw, nearly knocking the veteran off of his feet. Ratchet recovered his senses in time to rip his blade from Fuel's hand, before backing away and rethinking his strategy.
The Deceptacon that he was up against was younger, faster and had far more to prove than Ratchet. 'But that makes him exceptionally vulnerable to any attacks on his pride,' Ratchet though in an experts opinion. Ratchet crossed his scalpels before lunging forward once more, driving the tip of his blade towards the Deceptacon symbol on Fuel's chest. Once more, Fuel caught the blade.
"Is that really all you can do? The legendary Ratchet, one of the bots that brought down Megatron, is nothing more than just a myth?" Fuel asked with a laugh, yet he never moved the blade away from where Ratchet had been aiming. Instead, he took that time shifting his left hand into an axe. "Well, at least I'll be able to tell the bots that I put an end to that legend."
"Here's the thing about legends, no matter how absurd they may seen. There's always a hint of truth in them!" Ratchet snarled before his blade retracted back into his arm, which then shifted into a Neutron Assault rifle. Fuel had just enough time to let his optics widen in shock, before Ratchet unloaded the full power of the assault rifle into his chest.
Fuel roared in pain as the laser blasts tore into his armor, forcing him to fall back and take shelter behind a column that held up an overpass in order to get out of fire. Ratchet ceased firing when his foe was out of his sight. He kept his gun aimed at where Fuel had hidden behind the pillar before he slowly began to make his way towards the column.
"Come out with your hands up con and maybe you'll get back to Cybertron in one piece," Ratchet advised the Deceptacon.
"Keep yapping and you'll never make it back to Cybertron!" Fuel roared before he rolled out from behind cover, both of his arms changed from appendages to twin cyber cannons. Ratchet sprinted sideways as Fuel began to fire, the rounds of the cannons lighting up the ground where Ratchet was just a moment before. As he ran Ratchet took aim with his rifle and returned fire towards Fuel, who started moving to the side to avoid being hit as well.
"Megatron must have been softer than the stories said if he was taken down by a bot as weak as you!" Fuel said with a cackle, before he lifted both cannons and began to vent his weapons. "But don't worry, the new con in charge is far beyond anything Megatron was. And once I drag your twisted shell back to him, you'll get an up close look at his power."
'Now!' Ratchet thought before his form began to change, folding and compacting to change from a giant robot to an ambulance. He hit the ground wheels first, which screeched before Ratchet hurled himself towards Fuel. Fuel's optics widened once more before he took a fully loaded ambulance to the chest, which knocked him off of his feet. Fuel slammed onto his back while Ratchet transformed as he descended from his tackle.
Ratchet hit the ground legs first and sprinted towards Fuel, who was beginning to start to sit up. Before Fuel evne had the chance to think of a counter attack, Ratchet drove his foot into the face of the Deceptacon and flattened him once more.
"Game over, punk," Ratchet informed the con as a blade shot out of Ratchet's wrist. Ratchet pointed the blade at Fuel's face, watching as Fuel's optics slowly focused on the blade just inches from his face. "Surrender and come quietly. Or else you're going to have a few new scratches on your paint job."
"You think I'm scared of a rusted old bot like you? I already called for backup the moment you ran me off the road," Fuel said with a smirk, which grew even wider when Ratchet's eyes narrowed. "They'll be here for me any moment. You got lucky against one con. Let's see how you handle a dozen of us."
Ratchet's response was to slam his fist right between Fuel's eyes, sending the con into sleep mode. Fuel fell back without another word. Ratchet let out a tired sigh as he stood victorious, but after taking a moment to recover he cast his glance towards the horizon. His eyes narrowed as he spied the faintest traces of movement off in the distance, informing him that he had little time to act.
Ratchet then turned his gaze towards Fluttershy, who had used her common sense to flee for her life while the two robots had battled it out. The Autobot shook his head at her actions before he transformed back into an ambulance. He chased after the fleeing teenager and with his wheels he caught up with her in under a few moments.
Fluttershy let out a yelp as the ambulance raced by her before skidding to a stop in her path. She glanced around in hopes of spying another way out, but wherever she looked the ambulance would then drive into her line of sight, telling her that there was no chance for her to escape.
"Fluttershy, I need you to listen to me," Ratchet said in his metallic voice. Fluttershy backed away from the ambulance, which then moved closer to her. "I know that you are scared right now and probably have no idea that is going on, but I need you to come with me."
"Yeah, the last vehicle that could turn into a giant robot I came across kidnapped me. I have zero reason to trust you," Fluttershy said to Ratchet in a very calm tone. She placed her hands together and then placed her fingers under her chin. "So instead of going with you like you suggested, I am, and this might seem out there, going to go home and sleep the rest of this day off. It was nice to meet you, whoever you are, and goodbye."
"Hold it," Ratchet barked, freezing Fluttershy in her tracks. "...look, I know you don't trust me. And you shouldn't after how you're first encounter with a transformer went. But unfortunately, the guy I just knocked out called his friends and they're on their way to grab you and scrap me."
"Wait, so more jerks like that are on their way?" Fluttershy asked. She then crouched down and held her hands to her head. "Oh my gosh, what should I do? Do I run? Would running even help me get away from robots that can transform into cars?"
"The way I see it, you've got two options," Ratchet said to Fluttershy, who looked up at the ambulance once more. "You can come with me and I'll do my best to outrun the cons. Or you can stay here and leave yourself at the mercy of the friends of the bot that kidnapped you. Think about it and be quick, because they'll be on us in a matter of minutes."
"Okay, you're making it sound like you're the better choice of those two options, but why should I trust you?" Fluttershy put forward. "I mean, you don't exactly sound nice and I know nothing about you. The only reason you sound like the better choice is because you haven't tried to kidnap me. Why should I trust you?"
"Because like you said. I haven't tried to kidnap you yet," Ratchet replied before the ambulance's door opened up. "Get in."
"And if I say no?"
"Then I'll will take you by force. For your own protection."
"This day started off so nicely," Fluttershy muttered to herself. But then she turned her gaze towards the distance and her eyes went wide. There were at least ten different vehicles all driving towards them, but despite the different chaises all of them were the same purple and black color of Fuel. For a brief moment she considered her options before racing towards the ambulance.
In a single motion Fluttershy hopped into the passengers seat and slammed the door shut behind her. The moment she was in the seat the seatbelt wrapped itself around her, strapping her safely in place. She could hear the ambulance's tires squealing as they began to spin rapidly, before the whole ambulance lurched forward. Ratchet drove up back onto the main road and tore off down the road, his siren's blaring to life.
"Um, so now that I'm completely trapped, care to tell me who you are and what's going on?" Fluttershy asked, before an explosion went off outside of the ambulance. A shriek escaped Fluttershy's lips and she held her hands over her head, while the ambulance began to make some drastic movement choices as more explosions rocked the outside of the rescue vehicle.
"What's going on is that those cons in purple are after you! It's my job to make sure that they don't get their claws on you. Hang on!" Ratchet roared as he put the pedal to the metal. As the rescue vehicle raced down the road, Fluttershy looked out the window to notice that the other vehicles she had seen were quickly gaining on them, despite Ratchet's head start.
"Um, they're catching up to us," Fluttershy informed Ratchet before another explosion rocked the ambulance.
"I noticed!"
"Can I do anything to help? Maybe help you steer or something like that?" Fluttershy asked.
"Can you stay seated?"
"Yes."
"Can you not touch anything?"
"Yes?"
"Can you be quiet?"
"Oh, I'm very good at that one."
"Well then congratulations, Fluttershy," Ratchet said before a laser shot by the front of the ambulance. "You're already helping."