Origins: Bumblebee

Ultra Magnus

It took quite awhile for the buzz surrounding the death of Soundwave to die down. and since he had been found not far from Cybertron it had set off a widespread search to make sure that there weren't any other Decepticons nearby. Bumblebee watched all of the confusion and smiled to himself then stifled a yawn. He wanted nothing more than to fall into recharge for several hours. However, he had been contacted by someone who wanted to pay him a substantial amount of credits to kill someone. Judging by the amount it was probably someone very high up, like a high-ranking member of the Elite Guard. Maybe even Ultra Magnus himself! He straightened as he saw his client arrive and sit across from him. "All right, I'm tired and I want to get some recharge to let's just cut to the chase. Who do you want me to kill?"

"Ultra Magnus," the client said.

Bumblebee blinked and, for a moment, was incapable of doing or saying anything. He really hadn't been expecting that. His optics narrowed as he broke one of his self-imposed rules that he had created early on in his career. He leaned forward and said in a low, quiet voice, "Why in the world do you want me to do that, Sentinel Prime?"

"How did you know who I was?" Sentinel demanded his voice filled with fury.

Bumblebee leaned back and laughed heartily. "I haven't spent the last several years avoiding the Elite Guard by luck alone. Besides I don't work for anyone without knowing who they are. Not to mention, if anything goes wrong and I get caught then I'm going to want some insurance."

"I suppose I can understand that," Sentinel admitted.

"I don't mind killing Ultra Magnus for you," the assassin said. "But the price you mentioned will have to be upped."

"I'll pay whatever it takes; I just want him dead," the Elite Guard second in command growled.

"And with him out of the way you can take over the Elite Guard." Bumblebee stood and smiled. "There's no need to worry, Sentinel. By this time three days from now Ultra Magnus will be dead and you will be in charge."

"I knew I could count on you," Sentinel Prime stood as well then left the bar. Bumblebee watched him go then ordered some more high-grade. He had a feeling that he was going to need it.

Someone was going to die, Bumblebee resolved as he slowly crawled underneath a pipe. The next time he wanted to take a break then he was going to take one no matter how many credits he was offered! After this job was over the first thing he was going to do was kill Sentinel Prime for even offering him this job and then hide for a month while he got some desperately needed rest. A giggle caught his attention and he froze. Cautiously peeking out he watched as two almost completely identical Autobots chased each other through the oil refinery, tossing insults back and forth. Bumblebee smiled after them then resumed crawling. Eventually he arrived at the heart of the refinery, the place where they kept the most oil and dangerous chemicals. He opened one of the subspace compartments on his right leg and pulled out whist looked like some random pieces of junk. He carefully arranged the junk then began putting them together. Seconds later he picked up the fully assembled bomb and hid it under the main oil tank then retreated to a safe distance where he could watch his handiwork. Normally he wouldn't cause this much damaged, preferring instead to kill the target with little to no mess. However, Sentinel had stressed the importantance of Ultra Magnus being killed somewhere public and far away from the Elite Guard headquarters so as not to throw suspicion on them. Fortunately he had found out that Ultra Magnus was going to be inspecting the oil refinery today and had decided to go ahead and make his move. From his advantageous position on the roof of a nearby building he watched as the two Autobots that he had seen earlier re-appeared as they ran past him again.

"I be beating you, brother," one of them called over his shoulder.

"No I be beating you," the other bot retorted as he sped up.

Bumblebee laughed to himself at their childish antics then abruptly stopped when he realized that they were heading straight towards the bomb. Jumping to his pedes he shouted, "No!" just as there was a loud explosion. For a minute Bumblebee simply stood there, frozen as he watched the debris rain down. Eventually the sound of voices approaching drifted into his audio sensors and he turned. Amplifying his vision he was able to make out the familiar figure of Sentinel Prime and an orange bot that he didn't recognize. After sparing a longing and remorseful glance at the blazing inferno he then took off, quickly vanishing behind a screen of smoke.

Ironhide had never known that he could run so fast before. Of course it wasn't everyday that oil refineries blew up while the head of the Elite Guard was visiting either. His main concern, however, was not Ultra Magnus but rather the two Autobots that had been seen heading into this area seconds before. Ignoring the muttered curses of Sentinel he ran through the thick wall of smoke, coming into a small clearing where his optics spotted two frames in front of him. Rushing forward he checked to make that they were still online then turned and yelled, "We need a medic! They're still online!"

"The medics are on their way," a voice called then suddenly water rained down.

Ironhide scowled as he felt the cold water run down his frame before dripping onto the blackened ground. Then he focused his attention on the two Autobots. "It's going to be all right," he whispered to them. "Everything's going to be all right."

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