Drain of a Lost Past

17.Dec.05

Drain of Lost Past - Act 2

Part 6

~ Brain Drain ~

Snow outstretched the horizon on this night which seemed to last forever in the lands of the north.

A week prior to Rhinox and Optimus' expedition, a terrible fight had taken place miles and miles away back in Predacon territory near their respective base. That horrible fight had led to a breakout between one of the Maximals and the rest of the crew. Though it was to be expected, worry had installed itself rapidly upon the Maximals until the leader and Rhinox decided to go and hope to find the missing link.

It was Rattrap who had had the idea first. Felina had been nowhere to be found for three days by then, and the increasing fear that something could have happened to her was not a miss. Then once they had contacted Tigatron, he had confirmed the huntress' location in the Great North. Somehow, to Rattrap, it seemed logical the huntress would have found refuge back to the cave he and Felina had spent some time in while on their mission to retrieve Tigatron. (Trust me Partner). Gemini had asked to follow them but she had yet to find the attire for the cold in the area, so she had remained by the Axalon's communicator with Cheetor. Rattrap was probably also there or not too far to hear what was to come next even if he never said a word. It was his own way to deal with things and that was fine with everyone.

Optimus glided on his board while Rhinox, in his robot mode, sat and went along with the ride, keeping communications opened with the Maximal base. The clear skies were a plus for the contact to be at least 60%. The fact that the communication line was overly stretched probably meant the Predacons could have overheard the conversation but it mattered very little for now.

Eventually, they came to the opening of the cave where Rattrap and Felina had temporarily resided near the Alien Paradise months ago. Black stripes and a pair of green eyes awaited them as well by the entrance: Tigatron. He stretched his feline body and moved forward to meet his comrades.

"I did not want to startle her so I only observed from afar."

"And...?", Optimus asked.

The tiger shook his head; "She's not off-line nor in stasis lock, just as your sensors indicated when you managed to get a signal from her."

"The signal was very faint because of the distance", Rhinox let him know, "It could have been induced to errors."

Tigatron smiled, "I assure you, Rhinox, she's not in danger."

"Maybe not physically..." Rhinox concluded and moved into the cave.

Optimus transformed to robot mode and followed his comrade into the dark opening. Tigatron took one last look outside then entered as well, keeping close to the Maximal leader. Following Felina's footsteps in the snow was nowhere near difficult. She had not been there very long considering she had done most of the walk by foot. Soon, they came to find her, crouched and her head leaning down over her chest. She held scratches from the previous fight, some heavier then others, but they were minor injuries. By her side rested the magnum, which she so rarely used, but once during the last deadly battle.

Still, the fact that it laid by her side raised suspicions in the Maximals' minds. If she had intended to defend herself, she would have remained away from sleep mode. Unease came to Optimus when he realized she had probably contemplated an easier way out of her current situation. Either she had fallen asleep thinking about ending her newfound robotic life right there, or she had thought it over and let it go. One way or another, it made his circuits freeze over, and not because of the cold.

(Aww, what's wrong? Are you going to cry now? After so long... Perhaps you need it?)

Rhinox felt it too, and Tigatron was most likely no exception. The large green robot lowered himself by the cyborg and lifted her up from her position and into his arms. She groaned and opened her eyes, looking up at him. Calmly, far more calmly then what any of them had expected her reaction to be, she closed her eyes again and let herself drift back to sleep mode. The blank stare she had given Rhinox made a pinch to his spark.

Fragments of the madness he had witnessed in her earlier still remained. Even worst was how he could now tell that she did not care. She did not care at all who had come to her rescue and taken her from her hiding place. It could have been Megatron lifting her up in his arms and still she would not have cared for the outcome.

(You should have died. You should be dead and forgotten. Your efforts, they were always worthless. You're worthless, you piece of shit.)

Optimus took care of the weapon she had left untouched and put a hand over Rhinox' shoulder.

(Not even human. Piece of crap. Not even human. You try to be but you're not. You're an experiment. You belong to the lab. Little girl belongs to the lab.)

"This is bad, Optimus", Rhinox informed his leader, "What I saw, back there, and now, that was...."

Optimus nodded his understanding. It was blind, but he made sure Rhinox knew he was not alone to deal with this.

Rhinox sighed heavily, ready to let Optimus know the unknown, and recalling partially what had caused Felina to cut herself from the world and -

---------------------------------------------------

- as it had been, the meeting between Maximals and Predacons was being held near the Predacon Base. Like a duel, Optimus, Rhinox, AirRazor, Silverbolt, and now Cheetor and Gemini, who had joined them shortly, were facing Megatron, Tarantulas, Terrorsaur and Quickstrike. Little did Felina and Gemini know the Beast Wars had begun with a similar duel.

The Predacons were highly outnumbered, and Optimus made sure to let Megatron know about that fact. However, the transmetal tyrannosaurus rex only laughed back. He had hidden cards, and those were about to show their faces soon enough. Megatron was very sure of himself. He was extremely confident in what was to come next.

This was how Felina, Rattrap, and Dinobot found the field to be once they came out. Rattrap had reverted to his beast mode for the short while, and Dinobot had also remained that way for a little bit. It was obvious either team had yet to notice their presence, and for now, that was fine. It made preparations for an ambush easier.

Unfortunately, the forming of a plan was to be postponed. It was Felina who noticed the figure standing behind the Maximals on top of a hill nearby. GoldenFire's weapon was not only in his hand, it was about to be sent toward the group and would probably kill them all in one swing! If not, it would surely scatter them, and that would make the fighting easier on the outnumbered Predacons.

Rattrap and Dinobot saw it next. Dinobot transformed to robot mode immediately while Rattrap gasped loudly when the star shaped weapon came slashing down on his comrades.

"What the heck is 'DAT!"

Felina ran forward, "DUCK! GET THE FUCK OUTTA THERE!", she desperately cried.

It did catch both sides attention at once when she ran for them. This manoeuvre also saved the Predacons however. Somehow, GoldenFire's aim did not seem to go for only the Maximals at this point. Megatron would see this immediately as treachery. Felina and Gemini understood it as another memory lapse deletion. Had he known better, GoldenFire would have been more careful in his act. Either he did not remember whose side he was on, or he had blindly thrown the weapon. Could have been both options as well.

There was only a whistling sound and what looked like a shadow passing through the Maximal and Predacon group. The time to react was, in the end, nearly non-existent. A small amount of oil spat from Rhinox's stomach, where a deep line had appeared between the teeth as if it needed a false smile; SilverBolt's left arm was rendered out of order as it swung and flew to land at his feet in a small puddle of mech-fluid; AirRazor was fast but did not quite avoid the blades. Her hands reached quickly to her neck, a choking sound escaping her soft lips, leaving oil move threw her fingers and mouth. The damage looked worst then it truly was in the end. Her voice sensors had been cut off from the hit, but her vision had also turned to a blur. Fighting was barely an option any longer. On the Predacon side, the injuries were similar. Thanks to Felina's working, they were able to attempt getting away from the unsuspecting star shaped blade. Terrorsaur was first to feel the hit when it tore at his left side, leaving burst opened metal and lose wires to view. He looked like GoldenFire had tried to use a can opener on him.

"Whu-what!?", Cheetor cried out of surprise while stepping away from GoldenFire's spinning weapon.

Now it was Rattrap who took the initiative when he saw the trajectory the blades were taking. Sprinting his wheels, he rolled closer to his comrades but not too close yet either, then transformed with one knee down: his hurt leg.

"IT'S COMIN' BACK!" He warned them all.

This time, his actions, as well as Dinobots were not put to a waste. He drew his blaster, followed by three good shots. Dinobot fired once as well, attempting to divert the boomerang effect from GoldenFire's weapon.

Terrorsaur took the hit first, yet again, and it was thanks to him that the weapon made less damage among the warriors then it should have when it tore at his right shoulder and a part of his back and chest. Dinobot and Rattrap's move had barely diverted the powerful star-shaped boomerang. It was an instant fall to stasis lock for the Predacon then. Megatron growled impatiently, ducking away from the danger. He was one of the lucky untouched ones. Optimus moved back but three fingers from his right hand were chopped right off. Gemini dove down and covered her head with her hands long before the blade came even near her.

The star-shaped weapon returned to its owner next, stains of mech-fluid now showing over the silver of the blades.

"Christ!" Felina breathed.

"I knew you were a fool Primal", GoldenFire's voice echoed from where he stood, " but throwing yourself and your crew into the lion's mouth like that was the worst move you’ve ever made. And all for what? For a lab rat, that's what."

Felina's fists clenched at her side. When he spoke of the lab rat, GoldenFire was not referring to Rattrap but to her. To him, that's all she was. All she had always been, all she would ever be. It hurt so much she felt like she was about to throw up. She could taste the bile in the back of her throat already. The grin he held, the grin of pure evil, it was for her and her alone. He saw her way past the Predacons and the Maximals tossed over and getting back to their feet. Way passed Rattrap and Dinobot. He wanted to hurt Felina. Did he even remember why? Probably not, but he just wanted to see her suffer. It was to that smile that Felina recalled her mother's death.

That grin never vanishing, he motioned for her to come up to meet him if she cared to even try. His eyes narrowed and dimly glowed at Felina's building rage.

"Come on, little lab rat! Show me what you got! I'll drink your blood, you slagging little lowlife slug! Come at me!"

It was more then enough to set Felina into the killer zone. The people around her protested for her not to run so carelessly toward the hill. They yelled but she did not hear them.

"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU I'LL KILL YOU I'LL KILL YOU!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs!

GoldenFire was not the slightest bit scared when he saw her come for him. His head went back into laughter instead. A horrible, evil laugh that was far more chilling then any of the Predacons could produce.

Rhinox could see how bad this was going to turn out. Felina had turned careless and was about to throw herself into the pit without even thinking about a strategy to take her father down. He was going to win at this rate, and Little Fiona would see the end of her life in the worst possible way.

"Not if I can help it", Rhinox hissed furiously, shooting at the hill with his powerful chain guns. He did not even care about GoldenFire getting hurt now. His best friend had died long ago; it was time to face it. The dirt and smoke surrounded the area as the blaster bullets struck the hill, blinding Maximals and Predacons at once -

Felina came to an abrupt stop, panting from her rage. She was seeing red! The cloud around her was keeping her from a clear path to her goal, but she was not about to get defeated, no not yet --

-and a strong hand gripped Felina's neck, strangling her. Being lifted from the ground, her first reflex was to try kicking her aggressor. Anticipating the attack, the enemy only moved her higher and further away from him.

"Remember me, pussy-cat?", he giggled insanely, "GoldenFire might see you as a worthless experiment now, but you're still my little lab rat!"

She coughed and choked, "Dammit not you again!"

"That's right, the big, mean, ugly spider is back, huhuhuhuhAHAHAHAHA!" She moaned at the word 'spider' and stopped her struggling as he tightened his grip on her neck, blocking the air to her lungs. "Good girl. That's the way, relax a little", Tarantulas laughed again, "You and I need to have a little chat." She grimaced with disgust when he dared bring her closer to his face. Trembling badly, her own hands reached his in a weak attempt to free herself, which clearly failed on the first try. Again, that made him laugh, "Aww, what's wrong? Are you going to cry now? After so long... Perhaps you need it?"

"Hey! Web Face! No one has da right ta torture mah partner but me", Rattrap called out as a detonation charge blew in Tarantulas' face. The Predacon immediately released her and she was sent back on solid ground painfully. She coughed, her own hands over her metallic neck as if making sure it was all still intact.

Careless. She had been careless and had fallen into a trap.

She heard Tarantulas groan; clearly indicating he was not down yet and was up for a few more rounds.

"Y'go after Goldy-boy and Alana. I'll handle Spider-Man", Rattrap let her know while he kneeled beside her. He has limped badly up to her but he could somewhat stand right.

Felina's eyes narrowed slightly, staring and unconsciously nodding at her partner's injured leg. A slight moan of perhaps worry escaped her.

Rattrap smiled amusingly. "Lookit 'dat! I think she cares!"

Her eyes became thin slots of embarrassment. She decided to leave it at that however, and finally disappeared in the cloud of dirt to meet her destiny.

----------------------------------------------

Rhinox carefully stepped in a deserted area with his chain guns tightly in hands as if they were his very lucky charms... and they probably were at this point. He knew GoldenFire was there, and he knew all too well that it was a trap; the huge boulders everywhere you looked showed no place for an actual slim and fast escape, and it was alongside a cliff leading straight to a lava bath.

He had done it for his little girl, his Little Fiona. She would have died. She would have been killed if he had not stepped in and created this diversion. The remaining Predacons would have slagged her straight to the pit if GoldenFire had not done it himself because Felina had paid no attention to them as she had sprinted for him in her blood red rage. They had already been aiming their weapons at her too!

"RazorShell! Old buddy, old pal! Long time no see!"

Before Rhinox had time to even take a breath to answer his enemy, a hand passed through his stomach, leaving him screaming in pain as wires and mech-fluid were pulled out of him. He was, however, able to turn around on his opponent, shooting his chain guns randomly. GoldenFire jumped away from the blasters; Rhinox had time to grab his leg and strike him down. He clenched his teeth, from both psychological and physical pain, pointing his powerful weapons at GoldenFire's head.

"Oh please, Rhinox, you think you can stop me with such slow moves", GoldenFire sneered in mockery; for in a flash GoldenFire had taken hold of his gun and shot a blaster bolt right into the huge robot's face.

The traitor jumped to his feet with his star shaped boomerang and threw it toward Rhinox. The green robot had cried when the bolt had exploded in his face, leaving heavy dents and black to his features, then shrieked with pain as the blades slashed into his legs. But unlike the other times - it had probably been the contact with Rhinox's armor, which had caused the deviation, along with the fact that GoldenFire's knowledge on how to use it was running slim - the weapon did not return to it's owner; it fell a couple of meters away, along with the oil, a souvenir from its victim.

GoldenFire then took both of Rhinox's arms and pulled from left to right as hard as he could.

"Come on! I want to hear you scream and suffer R…" he blanked out for a split second, then shook his head back to reality, "whatever your name is.... Doesn't matter."

The huge robot's arms began splitting slowly away from his body in a crackling sound as it all happened.

‘And that son of a Pred used to be my best friend.... What happened to you to turn out on the cold ice like that? What did Sigma Corp. do to you?! You were never--’

- a huge hole appeared in GoldenFire's stomach as his own weapon passed through him like a hot knife in butter. There was a wet and confused "urgh!" that came from him when his mouth dropped opened. Then the blades were taken right back out and thrown out of reach. Rhinox opened his eyes and through the bloody hole the bad guy's stomach had become, saw the one who had made the move and finally awakened to reality. Gun in hand, in a move of madness, GoldenFire turned around and shot at the foolish one without much pity. But that daring person had vanished from sight, and without warning, something hit him behind the head, causing the tall robot to stumble to his knees.

Felina then kneeled by Rhinox to inspect his wounds, "He sure didn't lose an opportunity to show you his feelings, huh? Can y'get back to beast mode?" Her voice was soft and caring, but there was something to her eyes: some sort of a blank.

"Beast... mode", Rhinox's weak voice whispered from his trembling lips. The rhinoceros form took over.

"You're gonna be okay. Beast mode'll regenerate y' bot mode for a bit. Now, go home", Felina ordered with a coldness Rhinox had barely ever seen in any living being. There it was again. That blank in her eyes. There was so much more to it though.

"Ugh.... He... stronger then he --"

"Go home", she ordered again. That blank he came to believe as madness was now clearly visible.

"You should listen to your Uncle Big R, little rat", GoldenFire tried to menace the girl with the grin of malice, but he could only use a weak voice at it, his breathe coming in short.

After the eyes, it was her lips that formed an asinine smile. Felina's eyes stared down wide at first but they quickly relaxed. Her hair hung over her face, making it that more sinister. Slowly, she moved back to her feet and to her full height, and casually walked in front of her father whose hands were trying to cover the bloody hole.

"I have a name", she said. "Do you know what it is?"

GoldenFire attempted another grin, but it failed as he realized it was something he had not remembered. He should have known the answer to this, but it wouldn't come to him. It not only distracted him, it bothered him enough to get his primary thoughts off the field.

"I... Your name... it's, oh slag... It's -- " He fell to his knees from both the pain to his body as well as the heavy confusion.

Felina stood above him with her magnum in her left hand and her right hand over her hip, "Daddy daddy daddy. Forgot to recharge that chip of mine? My my, what a cheap memory we have here, huh? Your head's full of holes, but they don't filter no more, huh? How do y'like it?"

Her eyes were alive with burning vengeance; however, GoldenFire just couldn't remember why and what was happening. All he knew was that he held this bloody need to destroy Maximals, those ones anyway.... And for some unknown reason, this young girl with the shiny blue hair, who held the beauty of a dark queen, and was bringing back the taste of blood and fluid to his mouth,

(Gelatinous fluid and blood stuck to his golden lips, and with the help of his robotic tongue sucked it away)

held something special. For what it was though, he could not tell anymore. It was all gone in his head.... A large blank. A large, empty, memory dump.

"That's what I thought", Felina sniffed, and now bore a sinister smile similar to GoldenFire's previous one, "Looks like you didn't have time to recharge that reprogramming chip of yours, huh? Your memories are flyin' away. I'll bet anythin' you can't even remember your own name."

"What are you talking about?!", he shouted in despair like a kid trying to defend himself after he had lied to his mother and was starting to believe his own words. He was afraid now, panic rising with his voice, "It's... it's... it's..."

"What's the name of your wife?"

"It's...."

"When did you first meet her?"

"It's... I..."

"Wait, I got a better one for you.”

(I hope that you forget. I hope that you go insane because you cannot remember)

“This one's on your life. What's the name of your daughter?"

"Daughter?" he said quickly, yet hesitating and bringing his hands over his head, "I... don't... have... I don't know..."

Her grin vanished, and her bloody eyes narrowed as they fell into her father's glance, "Well, isn't that a shame."

She slammed her knee up in his face at that, and he fell beside the cliff. Had he been in a better shape, her move would have probably barely done anything to him. But he was degrading, both physically and psychologically.

Felina's smile was back, her laughter evil. She walked up to her father who was sitting up and nearly crying like a child. Her actions froze Rhinox's processors. Even he was afraid of her next move. Felina lowered herself to GoldenFire's level by bending over with her arms over her knees.

"I remember one time y'took me to the park. Yeah, it was so much fun. The cameras, they were all on us because it was a first: A transformer taking care of his human child. What a scoop. How sweet. How adorable. What a reality show. Oh, how Cybertron and Earth got along. But I fell from the swing. I got hurt and started crying, and what did you do? Do you remember what y'did? You picked me up and held me close. You looked at the wound. It wasn't bad, but I was three years old so at that age, even a mosquito bite could make me cry, just because the feeling of being hurt was unfamiliar. And do y'know what you told me?"

He blinked, his eyes wide, listening. Of course he did not remember what she was talking about. He hardly knew why he was here now, with a 32 inches wide hole in his abdomen and drooling oil from the mouth and eyes. But he listened still, hoping perhaps to catch the glimpse of a memory block that had not yet been deleted. The more the pretty woman with purple skin and blue hair spoke, the more insane he felt himself becoming.

Rhinox was also listening, agape.

"Y'had me in your arms, like this", she imitated the way a man would hold his daughter, "made sure to bring your lips to my ear and whispered, for me only to hear, 'Shut up. Stop crying and making a scene. If you don't stop, I'll give you a better reason to cry, Fiona. You want to be my daughter, you don't cry. You shut the slag up and keep quiet and be a good little princess in her paradise. I have a reputation to keep. You have five seconds to stop crying, Fiona. Five.' And I did. You never even reached two that I stopped crying. Not because I was scared. Not quite. But because, dad, I loved you so much I didn't want you to be angry with me. I wanted to be your little princess and not the lab rat you called me back home when no one watched."

Rhinox's beast jaw dropped agape. Could this be true? Could this have been going on behind his back all this time when the woman had been a child? If it were the case, it was no wonder she had turned the way she did. The result may have been inevitable. She would have turned against Cybertronians sooner or later. GoldenFire's actions toward Alana had only accelerated the process.

GoldenFire stared at Felina with his eyes wide. It could have been that the blow and the chip in his head had damaged his emotional circuitrry, but he was obviously astonished by what she was saying as if he did not believe that he could have been so cruel. Pity showed to him now. The oil coming down his cheeks from his optics probably meant he was crying.

Felina rose from her position, looking down on him for a good while, "I loved you, uh huh. I did, uh huh..."

GoldenFire shook his head and extended a hand blindly. Whatever it was for, no one would find out. Felina repeated three times how much she had loved him and how much she had wished he had cared for her even the slightest bit, and then there was one clear blast which echoed across the land: one that not only took GoldenFire's head right off his shoulders, it completely annihilated it. The nosel of the magnum still pointed down and releasing smoke, she watched the headless corpse fall back at her feet.

A feverish smile crossed her lips. Just the way she had wanted it. Just the way she had wanted to see him die. Quickly but in pain: not remembering who or what he was but finding out how much hurt he had caused. And before his emotional sensors could make him say he was sorry to feel at least a bit better, it was too late and he was gone.

The sound of his spark came next, bursting a bright light from his chest and now floating above him before it could rejoin the Matrix. Only Felina was not going to let that happen. She took a hold of her blaster, aimed, and even if Rhinox cried for her not to do it, she pulled the trigger. The spark exploded into bright fireworks, illuminating her features and her sweet smile. The shards of light melted into the ground or even before it touched the soil like October's first snow.

"Pretty....", Felina whispered with that sweet, insane smile.

She pushed the remaining body down into the pit once there was no more trace of his spark. Lava covered the body and melted it over... Felina looked at it switching shape, melting and disappearing while the light from the pit of hell under her would caress her face... After she made sure he was gone for good, she walked away from the cliff, the sweet smile of madness not leaving her features. She passed by Rhinox, looked over at him with her eyes half closed. For a moment, he was positive she was about to slag him, but she went on her way.

He walked with difficulty toward the deadly cliff edge, and looking at the bloody red puddle of mech-fluid on the ground, he closed his eyes and babbled cybertronian words, soon becoming like a little song, a prayer.

There would be no Matrix for GoldenFire.

End of Part 6

Click here for part 7