17.Dec.05

Drain of Lost Past - Act 2

By: Kidcat and MariaSunderland 

Part 7

          ~ Mommy's Unforgiving ~

It had been two weeks now that Felina had been brought back to the Axalon after the fight back at the Predacon Base. The huntress had awakened once the platform had reached the command center with Optimus and Rhinox. However, worry rather then relief had shown on the two robots. Rhinox had put her down and she had casually walked out of sight and to her quarters without even trying to pry the magnum from Optimus or giving the hint of a glance to the crew watching her carefully. That blank stare Rhinox had been so afraid of had not disappeared, and neither had the madness. But she had shown no aggressive moves toward the Maximals and had confined herself.

And now two weeks had passed since then. Two weeks and still Felina had yet to come out of her quarters.

In those two weeks, it had been rather quiet. The Predacons had not attacked, which was fortunate, and the Maximals went about their business. The whole GoldenFire and Alana ordeal had definitely affected them one way or another. Some more then others, but no one quite spoke of it anymore. It was like a bad dream they were trying to forget, and for good reasons. However, whenever someone had attempted to approach Felina - Rhinox, Optimus, SilverBolt and Cheetor had all given it a try at random moments - they had been shot out of her quarters or met no response at all from the cyborg as if her mind had drifted off elsewhere. No success for any of them. Gemini had preferred not to give it a shot after the incident with Alana back at the Predacon territory. Telling the story to the crew had been difficult. Cheetor had seen Felina's actions as well, and he too was still shaken up by what he had seen. The crew had grown that more tensed at the telling of the awful story.

It was Rhinox who had been the most affected. He had seen the insanity in Felina's eyes, and still he blamed himself for I; even more when his little girl had shot him out of her quarters. She had never hit him, but had he protested longer, he might have ended up with his nose blasted right off.

In the Command Center, Rattrap's hand at poker was a losing one. The hollow-hand from the computer kept waving him bye-bye in a bluff, but it hardly was. The computer always won, so when it came down to it, it was more mockery then bluffing on the computer's part. Still, Rattrap forced himself on until he would lose because he was too stubborn to let it go. When the game crashed down and shut off on its own - well, it was SilverBolt that had shut it down from the command table - the transmetal figure cursed aloud and swirled around on the chair.

"Maybe it's your turn to pay Felina a little visit, don't you think?" SilverBolt said with his hand still hovering above the button that had turned off the poker game.

"Heeey!” Rattrap pointed at him, "Y'turned off mah game for 'dat?! Whataya, loopy?!"

Gemini smirked at him, "You were losing anyway."

"Says you!" the rat glared at her.

"That's right! Says me!" Gemini rolled her eyes and shook her head, turning back to the computer where she and Rhinox were working. Something about a soon to come Sentinel upgrade...

Rhinox made a heavy sigh, his large shoulders falling heavily over, his gaze down, "Let it go, Silverbolt... When she feels ready, she'll come out and talk. Otherwise... It's best to leave her alone. You saw how she responded to the rest of us…”

"Yeah", Rattrap crossed his arms and leaned over, "And after what Gemini and the kid told us about their encounter with her, I'd rather keep a safe distance. I value my metal hide, know what I'm sayin'?"

SilverBolt shook his head, "What she needs, is to feel we care! How would you have reacted in her place? If BlackAr--", he interrupted himself and cleared his throat before continuing, "If someone close to me were to lose their life on my account, I just might have reacted the same, if not worst.”

 There was a deadly silence in the command center, one where it seemed the Maximals were thinking things over but did not dare comment, so Silverbolt tried again, "So we failed the first few times! If you fail, you try again, simple as that!"

"Nuh-huh! Count me out, Bird Dog! I ain't goin' in 'dere and get my pelt punctured by Fiona the Robot Huntress”, Rattrap circled his finger on the left of his head to imitate a crazy person, "Had enough oh 'dat when she came to our crew, but no one listened, so guess who ended up ten times in the CR Chamber after nearly two weeks with her bein' here? Me! I'd rather not repeat 'em times, thank you very much!"

"What about Gemini the Robot Huntress then?" Gemini challenged him with her back still turned on him.

Rattrap only uttered an annoyed “Heh!” and dropped the subject.

Silverbolt's fists clenched by his side, his teeth bearing out under pursed lips, his eyes narrowing while he marched closer to Rattrap, "Are you so much of a coward that you won't help your lady when she needs you the most?"

Rattrap rose from his seat, his eyes wide with surprise and anger, "Woah woah! Where'd 'dat come from!?"

Dinobot made a creepy grin, showing his shark-like teeth, "He does... (snarl)... have a point, vermin."

Rattrap pointed at Dinobot menacingly, "Y'stay outta dis', Chopper Face!" But before more could be said, Rattrap was lifted from the floor; his silver feet dangling over while SilverBolt forced him to follow down the corridor, "H-HEY! Y'put me down right now, y'big macro! Cut it out!"

"Not until you have a chat with Felina."

"She's gonna slag me, 'Bolt! What part of 'dat didn't y'understand?! If she was ready to blast Spots, y'can be sure I ain't gonna get outta 'dis  in one piece!"

"Believe as you wish", SilverBolt concluded, stopped at the door that would lead to Felina's quarters, had the door open wide - it was not locked, oddly enough - and with a good swing, threw the transmetal robot into the huntress' quarters.

"Hey hey WAIT! WOAH!” Rattrap landed on all fours about two feet from the door, which closed down as soon as SilverBolt had the chance to do so and locked it with his own voice code recognition. Rattrap, not yet paying attention to Felina, sprung to his feet and slammed his fists against the door, "Open up, 'Bolt! Open up!"

"No", came SilverBolt's voice from the other side.

"If y'don't unlock 'dat door I'll have mah wheel stuck so far up y'furry butt it'll short out y'voice box for a week, y'puppy slag!”  Rattrap cried, but gasped when he heard Felina's voice behind him.

"Well, that would be a sight for sore eyes", she said with a low and nearly expressionless voice.

Rattrap spun around with his back set against the door. As soon as he saw the blaster in Felina's hands, he drew out his own weapon as well as one of the wheels from his beast form for protection. The others had not gotten shot because they had left the room before it could get ugly. The door was locked on him, so there was no escape.

The fake sound of running water he had missed until now matched the scene he came to find. A light blush crossed his cheeks with a silly thought, but upon finding out Felina's armor was still on, it more or less vanished. Besides, she looked like a mess. Felina was crouched down in the 'shower' where fluids similar to those Megatron would use for his bath were running down her body. Rhinox had made one for her upon her request in the first few weeks she had entered the Beast Wars. It somewhat looked liked a bluish rainbow slipping down her purple skin and silver armor. Her hair was set to hide half of her face while her showing eye was partially closed, looking at him, definitely not impressed. 

"If y'pull dat trigger, y'bet I'll pull it on my side too, Alley Cat!" he warned her.

"Hm... Good enough of a deal", she said and let her blaster drop to the floor by the shower with a heavy thud.

Rattrap blinked, "Uh... heh... 'dat's it? 'Dat's all it takes?"

"Well, no one told me they'd shoot back 'till now, and I'm no position for a fight like this. Y'win, Flat Nose."

Rattrap raised an eyebrow but remained on his guards nevertheless. There had to be a catch somehow, somewhere. Recalling the earlier events and Gemini and Cheetor's story, he hardly believed all she had to offer was a calm "you win" and put her weapons away. There had to be something more.

Only the next question struck him as even more odd. She uncovered the other half of her face, stretched her arms over her knees, and leaned her head back against the wall behind her, "Do you think you're a good person?"

Still on his high guards and well aware it could be nothing but a trick, he still rose an eyebrow and tilted his head to the left curiously, "Come again?"

She looked at him with that same unimpressed look, "I don't think I'm a good person at all."

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

The fight raged on near the Predacon base. A fight none of the automatons could quite comprehend. The Beast Wars had gone on forever, and though they were fighting now, it was probably simply to keep up with the routine. At this point, for this particular fight anyway, that's all it was. The Predacons hoped for a few kills, while the Maximals defended themselves as best as they could. Most of the fighting, however, happened under cover, hiding behind boulders and shooting randomly once in a while. Frankly, at this point, neither side seemed quite sure what they were fighting for.

The sound of a motor roared over to where Cheetor was hidden and shooting at QuickStrike once in a while. He'd rise from his position and try out a good shot at the Predacon, but both enemies seemed to end up missing most of their shots so far. Cheetor's earlier forced transformation had rendered him weak, so his aiming and firing skills had gone down the drain.

"Come on, thin horn! Show me what'y'got!" QuickStrike taunted him, "Don't be such a pussy cat!"

"I'll show you!" Cheetor cried, was about to take another shot when the motor sound not only became clear, it turned into a shadow above him.

When a detonation charge appeared at QuickStrike's feet, he moved back a step with his eyes wide.

"What in tarnation!?", next came green lasers which blew the charge and sent the Predacon over into a puff of smoke.

Rattrap crashed down behind the boulder where Cheetor was hiding, while Dinobot slammed his feet down heavily on the concrete. Of course, the duo had not yet taken care of QuickStrike, but it gave Cheetor a moment to breathe. Rattrap's leg was still in a bad shape, so he remained sitting beside Cheetor with his pistol ready to fire at any sign of danger. After all, none of the Maximals were aware of GoldenFire's death, and Alana was still missing.

"Thanks guys", Cheetor sighed in relief, but he shook his head, "What about Tarantulas?"

"Still digestin' da few detonation charges I introduced him to", Rattrap sneered, "he ain't gonna be a problem for a while!"

"Alright!" Cheetor gave Rattrap a high-five and set himself ready when he heard Quickstrike curse behind them, "He just won't go down! I swear!"

"Well... surely he won't stay up much longer when outnumbered like this", Dinobot snarled, "Even handling him alone is hardly a challenge."

"Yeah well, you're not the one who ended up a scrambled bot", Cheetor complained, "Gears are still hurting bad..."

"Y'cowards!" QuickStrike cried and shot randomly at the boulder, cracking it along the way. The Maximals' hiding spot was not going to be of much use any longer, "C'mon! Gotta side three on one, huh? Well I can take ya!"

"Doesn't he know any other song?" Cheetor asked.

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

Megatron would take a sickening pleasure in trying to rid Optimus from the Beast Wars, each move more treacherous and disturbingly violent then the next. GoldenFire and Alana mattered little now. Primal was alone and injured - though little - and the Predacon would try anything to get the advantage over his enemies.

"This is madness, Megatron!" Optimus shouted and managed to duck and roll away from one of Megatron's rays, "This fight is beyond our reach!"

Megatron only laughed, "On the contrary, Optimus Primal! Any occasion is a good one to be rid you!"

Optimus escaped another random shot from the Predacon leader and slammed into him, knocking him over, "This is not about the Beast Wars right now!"

"Oh spare me!" Megatron growled and gave Optimus a double kick to the stomach to send him flying against the next boulder, "It is always about the Beast Wars! It doesn't matter when and where, as long as we're here, YES!"

"You want your war, take your war, Megatron!" a new voice interrupted the current fight.

"What!?", Megatron exclaimed before he was hit by a rain of explosive bullets. Crying in rage, he attempted to cover himself with the help of his free arm and his own weapon. Only the blasts were too much for the transmetal Predacon, and soon he began moving back step by step until he was trapped between the opponent and a rock monument.

When the attack finally ended, Megatron escaped an exhausted growl and fell sitting down with his back still against the boulder. Spitting out a few teeth, he narrowed his eyes and glanced over at his broken weapon. His body was covered in burnt wounds and scratches as well, some bleeding oil from their orifice.

"Rhinox!" Optimus ran over to the green robot while sending quick glances at the enemy in case he might have a few more tricks up his sleeve.

Rhinox fell back to his knees, from both exhaustion and the deep wound of his leg, and let go of his still smoking chain guns. A hole, created by GoldenFire's hand was set between the rhinoceros' teeth, while his body, like Megatron's, was covered in battle wounds.

"Optimus... you.... 'lright....?", he attempted. His shoulders fell over into a heavy and tired sigh. His whole body was shaking as if his circuits were going into overdrive, his large teeth shattering together into a feverish shiver. "Y... Jus' g-got out... o-of... R.. Chuh-amber... not... a-agu-gain... nuh-not y-yet... I... guh-go... I go..."

Optimus shook his head, alarmed, "Get back to Beast Mode! You'll regenerate faster until we get you out of harms".

As if responding to what Optimus had said, Rhinox' internal computer spoke next, [Damage to internal circuits conclusive. Revert to Beast Mode or Stasis Lock is imminent. Repeat; Revert to Beast Mode or Stasis Lock is imminent.]

A soft smile appeared over Rhinox's lips, as if he was not listening to his robotic body's warnings, ".... 'elina.... said same.. t-thing..."

"Felina?" Optimus came to realize the huntress had indeed disappeared.

"Golden... Fire gone... F-Fe... lina k-kuh-k"

[Last Warning. Revert to Beast Mode. Revert to Beast Mode. Danger Danger Danger.]

Optimus nodded and pushed his hands in front of Rhinox to stop him from talking, "I understand, but now is not the time! You must get back to Beast Mode!"

Rhinox' gaze only stared down, that soft smile still crossing his lips. He was obviously in his own universe by then, the damage too important to his circuitry. Small, bright sparkles came from the joints where GoldenFire had tried to pry out his arms, and now rays of lightning seemed to be going across his large Maximal body.

"... m'little... g-gu-rl... n-never suh-saw it comin'... little girl... h-he cuh-alled her ... luh-ab r-rat. Lab rat, Opti-mus... I never s.. saw past it... thu-thought he was f-friend... G.. good father... thought he was... sh-shoul' have know'... s-s-shoulda... s-seen it cuh-c-comin'... could've s-saved m'l'll g-guh-rl...." His body twitched uncontrollably from the surges by then.

[Danger. Danger.]

 "... coulda... s-s-sav-ed h-her... m-my g-g-g", his voice box shut over with a distortion, and before anyone could do more, Rhinox's optics shut off while his internal computer decided to go into stasis lock. He fell over on his belly with a loud and heavy thud, his head hitting against the concrete and bouncing three times in the process until it went limb.

"RHINOX!", Optimus shouted, but was shot back down, flipping him over on his back and away from his friend.

"Do not ignore me, you Maximal buffoon!", Megatron raged. Barely standing but stubborn and strong, the Predacon Leader had been able to get back into the battle, firing a missile right for Optimus' chest plate, burning the opponent over. Sprinting in a heavy run, the ground shook under Megatron. However, he never expected a new intrusion when blasts were sent at his feet and sent him sprawling meters away.

Moving on his elbows and sitting up, Optimus shook his head, and then smiled with contentment when AirRazor landed by his side. She kneeled by him, smiled and with a questioning look, raised her thumb up. Her voice box was still deactivated from GoldenFire's previous attack.

"That was just Prime, AirRazor", he managed back to his feet with a bit of the lady's help, but his look soon came back to extreme worry.

AirRazor escaped a silent gasp at the sight of Rhinox's bashed over metal structure. Ahead, Megatron was already trying to get back up and would probably attack them again. Without wasting more time, Optimus opened communication over to his remaining crew.

"SilverBolt, I need you here right now. We're taking Rhinox back to base!"

There was a moment of silence, then, "Right away, sir!"

"Good! Cheetor, Rattrap, I want you to locate Gemini and Felina. Bring them home if you can! "

Another short silence, and again, communication opened back, among Cheetor's voice came gunfire, "Sure thing, Big Bot! I'll get a lock on their location as soon as I can!"

Next came Rattrap's voice, "Y'got it, Big Banana! Gonna meet y'back t'base!"

"From what Rhinox informed me, GoldenFire's out of the game. I don't know about Alana, so you two are to be careful out there. Anything goes wrong, grab both girls

and withdraw. We don't need dead friends on our hands!"

"Heh! We'll take care of things here", Rattrap informed him, "We ain't goin' down da pit! We're made out o' pure golden bolts I tell ya! Y'jus' worry 'bout gettin' Rhinox back t'safety."

"We will. Good luck. Over and out." He glanced over at AirRazor, "Can you help carry Rhinox until we meet up with SilverBolt?"

AirRazor nodded her approval.

Both Optimus and AirRazor grabbed one large and heavy arm each and lifted their lifeless friend to carry him out of harm. From below, Megatron screamed with his rage turning blood red while attempting a few more shots at the Maximals who were soon out of sight.

"BLAST IT AAAAAALL!!!!"

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

Gemini had gone off on her own, thinking Cheetor or maybe Rhinox had followed her once the heavy dust had blinded both Predacons and Maximals. It had not been the case however, and when she had realised she was on her own, someone had indeed found her, but not for help: it was for a kill.

The dust dissipated eventually and both shadows emerged facing each other. Alana's killer eyes - they were wide and the black of them were so small it showed how much madness could be within the clone of Alana Frangiatti - glowed for the blood that would spill. They were like crystals of ice asking to pierce Gemini’s soft skin. Confidence, or truthfully overconfidence was on the woman's side; when you think you’re too good to lose, that you'll always find a way back to life, it can be an interesting advantage.

Alana had her dagger in hand, but also a small pistol. One that could cause heavy piercing damage or a burning blast, Gemini could not yet tell.

"It was you, you ruined everything! If you had not interfered, it would have worked! It would have!"

Gemini smirked in defiance, “Yep! Sure am proud of what I did too!”

Without waiting for any further comments from Felina’s mother, Gemini leaped in front of her with her nails extended to their maximum. One bloody line was made upon the woman's arm.

Alana gasped loudly and stepped back, nearly dropping the gun, but when she managed to get her balance back, it was a smile that came across the woman's red lips, "Oh my, that was a swift move you did there, but..."

Gemini raised a brow, stepping back and keeping her eye on the gun Alana still held. Looked like the hit had not made her drop the weapon, which made the situation that much more dangerous.

Alana's smile remained, looking at the wound. “Not very deep.... Hm... Don't tell me you're hesitating.” 

A low growl came from Gemini's throat, "I was sent here for a reason, and I'm going to finish my mission!” 

“Poor Fiona… A shame she has to send a kid because she cannot face the truth herself”, the woman sighed, and played with the dagger around her fingers, "She's probably already dead as we speak. Trying to be human, what a fool that girl is. She was never human to start with so I don't know why she bothered. Oh don't look at me that way, Gemini", she waved her hand, "I mean, I should know my daughter well enough. I raised her. Well, for the little while I could. She was such a whimpering little baby. I don't know how the Maximals can stand her at all. She's only good for the lab. Come to think of it, so are you, guinea pig."

“Watch it!" Gemini warned while the gem upon her forehead would glow.

Alana drew her head back into a laughter similar to that of her now late husband, "Oh please"

She walked closer to Gemini with her hips moving left and right mockingly. The younger human looked left and right, from Alana's hand to the other, to anticipate where Alana would strike next. Alana lowered herself with her hands over her thighs and looking up at Gemini.

"Alright, I'm done. You can shoot me now. Well, what are you waiting for? Blow me out; I'm just a clone after all, no? Everything I know about Fiona was programmed into my head, so what do I know, huh? Go on, finish your mission."

Gemini's teeth clenched tightly and she stepped back once, the gem still glowing. Alana rose back to her full height, a sickening grin of victory upon her lips.

"Oh my my, that's what I thought. You can't finish it, can you", she sighed in annoyance, "You've had all the opportunities to kill me, and yet I'm still standing with a scratch. You could have at least had the decency to chop off my arm if you wanted me to drop the weapon. You were always like that: can't take a life, can't finish what you started. Fiona was always the one bloodying her hands in guts and wires. That's so selfish of you, but I'm not surprised. I mean, you're just a kid after all."

"You don't know what I can do", Gemini hissed.

With a leap of the hips, mostly looking like clumsiness, Alana rolled on the ground and slammed her foot straight into Gemini's right knee, making it bend in an unnatural way. The young girl screamed in pain, feeling her bones crack uneasily. However, the pain only made her furious. The gem on her forehead glowing brighter, the beam struck beside Alana. The known mother jumped away from it; leaped on a rock, using her legs as wild springs, but Gemini was expecting that move. She raised her foot and it met Alana's face with that same bone cracking noise following Gemini’s unnatural knee bend, only it was worst. It was so much louder and so much more painful. The woman fell lying on the mud mat, holding her face between her hands, swearing to hell. 

“Why… Why you little fuck!”

Gemini grinned with victory, "Hah! Gotcha! Gotcha good!"

“Grrrroww! Gemi, are you all right?!”

Surprised by that voice and still on her highest levels of guard, she jumped behind Alana, her nails once again extended for a strike against the one asking her questions...  Then she smiled broadly. The nails retracted back into their hide, and her guards also stood down momentarily.

“Chee-Chee! You're feeling better?” 

“Yeah a little bit", he said as he landed a few feet from Gemini. His chrome cheetah eyes widened at the sight of Alana squirming on the ground and holding onto her broken nose. A part of her cheekbones had also gone along with the blow, and a few teeth had fallen with the splatters of blood the hit had created. Gemini limped slightly in Cheetor's direction.

"Felina... did you find her?"

Cheetor shook his head frantically, "I thought she'd be with you!"

"Shit..." Gemini breathed, but when Cheetor's mouth dropped opened and he yelled for her to be careful, she barely had time to leap out to the right and avoid Alana's dagger.

"L-Lab Rat's dead", Alana laughed forcefully, one hand still hiding the broken bloodied part of her face, "GoldenFire took care of her, you'll see! Fiona died like her stupid mother. In pain and confusion, and praying Jesus to spare her”, the woman continued, delighted by her fantasies, “Oh my, yes, I see it now, a bloody painful death of agony.”

“Shut up!” Cheetor let out unbelievingly, "Cheetor, Maximize!" He too was bracing himself to help Gemini.

‘Just like I promised. 'I'll protect her! I will! Watch me if I don't!’

"You don't know anything!" Cheetor cried, "Fena's strong and she'll get out of this! She'll get out of this and you'll see how she's so much stronger then any of us has ever been!"

"Are you stupid?!", Alana laughed, her hand still covering the bloody mish-mash of her face, "She's the Robot Huntress, and so is Gemini! You'll risk your life for murderers who'll most likely shoot you in the back the moment you turn around?!"

Cheetor smiled warmly. By then, rain had begun pouring down a little harder. It was not a refreshing rain though; it was warm, mostly because of the current area's temperature. Cheetor's posture was strong despite the pain his gears provided him, his chest set high as much as his confidence.

"People change. So they've made mistakes in the past. What can they do about it now? Sometimes, you have to let go of the past and see ahead. Maybe what Gemi said is true: maybe Sigma Corp. made a lot of stuff up about them to lure them into their claws, and maybe they didn't. But you know what? That doesn't matter anymore, because now's the present, and they're special to us now. Huntresses or not, they're my friends, and I trust them, no matter what. The day they'll shoot me in the back is the day they'll have a good reason to do so."

Gemini looked at Cheetor with a soft amazement, her brows upside down and her hair now sticking down to her forehead, "...Chee-Chee...."

Alana's eyes widened between her fingers. It could have been some sort of realisation, so she remained speechless for a moment, then drew her gun and pointed it at Cheetor's feet. The blast did not yet hit him, though shrapnel did, not causing much damage. 

"Hey!", Gemini cried, now furious and ran up to Alana for a swift kick to the stomach.

Alana stepped back and with a good swing, brought her elbow up in hope to give Gemini a similar nose job. Gemini saw it coming however, and ducked over from the hit, startling Alana and taking the opportunity to strike an uppercut under her chin. The woman fell over, and before she could realise what was happening, Gemini's heel came crashing down on her left cheek and turned a 360 degrees: a complete turn. A part of the flesh ripping off from the woman’s cheek echoed straight into the rain. Alana’s scream of pain was a chill through the spine; so inhuman it sounded. Hands over her torn cheek, blood moved freely between her closed fingers, her eyes wide with surprise.

Panting and looking away from the torn face, Gemini stepped back into the rain and nearly lost her balance. Cheetor was right there for her and grabbed her by the shoulders in case she would fall over, but she managed on her own.

Alana looked up from where she was, a gleam of uneasiness flashing by. Her breath seemed caught in her throat. It might be at that moment that Cheetor realized that it was better to be on Gemini's good side. She may have had a soft nature, but she could fight her way out of situations if she had to. Gemini turned to Cheetor, passing a hand in her wet brown hair. The purple stone on her forehead was still glowing slightly, the weak light illuminating her face lightly to make her even more beautiful.

"What you said... it was beautiful...", she told him softly, then took a deep breathe, "If you don't want to stay, it's alright. I mean... it won't be pretty out here..." The childish expression she seemed to wear all the time was gone at that moment.

“I… if I stay with you… there are less chances you will get hurt… Not that I mean you’ll get hurt, I mean, I can help out if you need it… I mean…”

Gemini smiled softly. “Thanks.”

A strange, powerful and misshaped laugh was heard at that moment. Alana wasn't down. She was far from it. It all happened so quickly that even Cheetor had to compute with what had just happened. The woman's arm struck around Gemini's neck to choke her. With a kick behind the knees, the devil’s mother brought Gemini down. Gemini felt coldness inside her mouth and a metallic taste followed. 

Cheetor, in all his helplessness, would curse to himself for not being able to come to his friend’s aid. He could only watch the scene where Alana had put her dagger in Gemini's mouth and was pressing it against her tongue deep in her throat. One wrong move, and it could pass threw her throat, deeply cut her cheeks, or even cut off her tongue.

“'Etiful' s-speach”, Alana told Cheetor. The left side of her face had turned to nothing but a mish-mash of meat and bones, blood pouring down the now misshaped and broken nose. The white of her left eye had filled with dark red. She could hardly speak but it was good enough for Cheetor to understand, "'on't c-call fo' back-up... kill her... rip out tong'... telli' y..."

Cheetor stared with wide eyes, his spark pulsing hard. He should have seen it coming. From where he was, he should have seen it coming! Gemini's eyes turned wide and tears began welling up.

"E-Easy..." Cheetor tried, but Alana only responded by moving the tip of the dagger against Gemini's tongue.

"'on't easy m-me..."

Gemini's eyes moved frantically, but then Cheetor noticed something, her finger pointing down to the left. Her eyes also pointed in that direction. Cheetor followed the movement and found Alana had dropped her gun to only use the dagger on Gemini. But panic struck the robot. There was no way he could reach out to the weapon and not have Gemini's grin grow wider! But Gemini's finger pointed down again, urgency in her expression. Not only that, but if he did reach the gun, there was no way of telling he wouldn't miss and hit Gemini instead.

‘I can't! I can't do that! I can't!’, he tried to tell her through his mind, but still, Gemini's gesture insisted.

"'hat y'gun... d-do... h-hero?", the woman tried to laugh but it was obvious it hurt too much to show any kind of expression on her part.

‘Cheetor! GRAB THE GUN!’ Gemini thought frantically, ‘JUST DO IT! DO IT FOR CHRIST'S SAKE! GRAB THE GUN!’

In a de-click, Cheetor seemed to understand a part in the plan he had not yet caught, and he leaped over and down toward the weapon! Alana probably only now remembered how she had dropped the weapon then, and panicked. A new pain came to her then, to her stomach this time, where Gemini's golden nails had inserted themselves deep in her belly. Gemini had reached to Alana's wrist by then, stopping her from causing any damage to her throat and tongue.

Cheetor was next to act, shooting at Alana's right shoulder - the side not holding the dagger - and she flew back on impact, falling down. In a reflex move more then anything else, Gemini spun around and the gem on her forehead shot that beam again, one that struck Alana for the last time. The shot had not been counted, not quite. There had been no aim but the shot had hit perfectly.

Alana fell over on her back with her features gone and blood gushing out of her head. A gash had been created from the middle of her face where her nose had once been, and all the way up her skull, splattering blood and grey matter around her when she hit the concrete, dead. Her eyes had also swollen out of their sockets slightly, just enough so her eyelids would never close over them fully again.

Trembling, Gemini fell sitting down, panting horribly. Adrenaline was beginning to rush out of her now, and her nerves were on end. A small cut from the dagger had been made on the left side of her mouth, bleeding a small river down her chin. Cheetor ran up to her, not daring to look at the corpse, and he too, was trembling. In fact, he felt this numb urge to vomit.

"Are you alright!?", he cried, yelled even, as if he was afraid Gemini's eardrums had somehow busted over, "Talk to me!"

"I'm fine, Chee-Chee... are you?"

"I… I think so..."

"You did good there... thank you..."

"W-Well let's not stay here m-much longer, alright? This cat isn't too found of horror movies..." he had no idea how it was about to get so much worst however.

"Yeah... I agree... let's go..."

"Go?" came a new voice, "Where is it y'can go now, huh? What did you do, huh? Did you do somethin' wrong, Gemi? You made a mess, didn't you? Uh huh, you did, uh huh! Daddy said you'd do that. He did."

"Fena...?", Cheetor whispered.

Felina was standing about ten feet from them, the magnum held tightly in her hands. Her eyes were wide, the red of her optics drawn into small circles compared to what they usually were. Red streaks of oil had stripped down her cheeks, the rain not yet washing away those tears that showed so much more then those of humans. She held a sickening smile to her too, one that showed nothing but madness and sorrow. She was hurt, hurt deeply, but she had lost herself in that pain it seemed.

"Mamma?", she asked softly.

She walked with trembling steps up to the corpse, not looking at Gemini and Cheetor as she did so. They were irrelevant to her for now. She had noticed them, seen them, but she cared little for now. Gemini and Cheetor both moved out of her way in case she might come to use the magnum on either of them. Cheetor stepped in front of Gemini then, hoping to shield her in case something went wrong.

Wrong was such a weak word for what came next.

Felina's tears, dark red like blood, moved down her cheeks in heavy flows. She stared down at the corpse of her dead cloned mother and finally fell to her knees by her side. She let the magnum drop down on the ground and moved both her hands on each side of the mutilated head. Her eyes wide and their red small, that smile of madness only became that much bigger.

"Mamma? Mamma? What are y'doin'? Mamma?"

"Oh God...", Gemini breathed and moved her hands over her mouth. This was not happening... This could not be happening. Cheetor's eyes widened considerably at the scene, one he would later wish he had never witnessed.

Felina's trembling hand reached over behind her mother's head, her fingers in the grey matter that had spilled out on the impact of Gemini's last attack.

"L-Look what they did, h-huh? L-Look at this! Daddy, Daddy's not gonna like that, nuh-huh! D-Daddy's g-gunna g-get mad if w-we don't c-clean this", she seemed to want to put whatever she could back into Alana's head, but to no avail, "N-Nuh-o more playin', Mamma. D-Daddy's gonna get mad! DADDY'S GONNA GET MAD! I DON'T WANT HIM TO BE ANGRY WITH ME, MAMMA! MAMMA!!! WHAT DO I DO?! I DUNNO WHAT TO DO!!!"

She burst out into loud cries then, her whole body trembled as if it were taken by a seizure and she collapsed over Alana's chest, hugging the still warm body, "It's muh-aking a m-muh-ess! G-give muh-e a heart b-beat mamma! P-Please! T-Talk to me, mamma... talk to me... I hear you... I hear you... I feel you... I... J-Just a bit luh-longer mamma... I d-duh-on't blame y-you f-for lyin' e-ear-lier... "

Cold, robotic hands tried to get Felina back to reality, pulling her up slowly. Felina managed back to her knees, looking straight into Gemini's eyes. The human still held the cyborg's shoulders tightly.

"Fiona?" Gemini attempted.

Felina's dazed and surprised look changed to a sweet and tender smile, but it was still far away and distant from any real emotion.

"Gemi! Gemi look! L-Look what I found!" the huntress reached down and moved Alana's lifeless hand an inch Gemini's face. The nails were chipped and blood was covering most of the fingers.

"Fiona, this isn't...."

"No look! Look! It's her wedding ring! Can't you see? It's her wedding ring! She's real, all real for me! Mamma's real! A-And daddy's not gonna get mad because she's real, don't you think so too, Gemi? Uh huh! He'll be happy! Uh huh!" Only there was no ring around any of the fingers of Alana's hand....

It was too much; Gemini frowned and quickly slapped the arm away. Before anyone could even blink she had grabbed her best friend’s other shoulder to force her to look into her eyes.

“Fiona, look at me! She WASN’T Alana! She never WAS! You have to snap out of it, PLEASE! I’m sorry, but you HAVE to come to terms with that!”

(Sometimes, you have to let go of the past and see ahead.)

"N-No...", Felina shook her head and attempted another look at the deformed face of her mother only to be brought back forcefully by Gemini's hand on her cheek.

"Fiona, stop it!" Gemini ordered, "You stop that right now and get a hold of yourself!"

(People change. So they've made mistakes in the past. What can they do about it now?)

Felina's oil soaked eyes relaxed after a few more moments of staring back at Gemini's, and then her whole body followed.

"Oh...", was all that came out of the huntress' purple lips. Gemini had no time to respond to her partner in crime's next action: Felina's hand reached down to the magnum she had previously dropped, then with a powerful push and a cry of rage, tackled and pinned the human down forcefully, "Y'did it! Y'did that, y'bitch! You fucking bitch!"

Gemini's eyes turned wide enough they seemed like they could have been taken right out of their sockets! Her own hands reached out and tried to keep the weapon from being held at her forehead. Both heavily struggling, Gemini tried to keep Felina's left arm at bay, but the robotic huntress only switched the gun to her right hand and aimed back down.

"Bitch!" Felina cried again, "Gonna put a hole in y'head like y'did her, uh huh! Watch me if I don't! Watch me if I don't! I could've been happy, Gemi! I would've been but you had to come along and crash the whole party! Had to come and ruin everything!"

"Fena!" Cheetor cried, "Stop it!" he attempted a few steps toward her but Felina's glare went right to him, "Y-you're loosing it! It was an accident! She was trying to defend herself! A-And you!"

"SHUT UP!" Felina screamed at the top of her lungs, "FUCK YOU AND YOUR EXCUSES!"

Gemini closed her eyes for a moment, as if trying to stop herself from crying, but when she opened them again there were no tears that would flow down her metallic cheeks. A look of sadness was there though. Somehow she had expected this. She kept up her struggles though; the gem on her forehead began glowing like it had in the previous fight with Alana.

"Don't make me do this, teach", Gemini breathed, "I don't want to hurt you..."

Felina burst out into an insane laughter, "Too late! Too late, made me cry, bitch! Made me cry and y'gonna find y'self with a hole in your head!"

(Huntresses or not, they're my friends, and I trust them, no matter what.)

But that laughter cut short when she found Cheetor aiming his laser weapon at her with his mouth wide and his eyes just as large! The cheetah head glowing, he cried "NO!" but Felina was just as quick, the magnum moving from Gemini's head to aim at Cheetor.

(The day they'll shoot me in the back is the day)

Not too well calculated, the bullet was deviated when Gemini slammed both her arms up. But the loud popping sound of the gun going off still came, and Cheetor flew back and over with an impact to his head.

(they'll have a good reason to do so.)

"Hah! Gotcha!" Felina mumbled, "t-tried to betray me b-but I gotcha, robot!"

"TEACH!" Gemini's cry came next.

Now it was Felina who had no time to react when five large fingers grabbed onto her skull and lifted her easily. The grip was lost when she was thrown away from Gemini, toward the cliff leading down to the Predacon base. Felina would realize later on, once she would be hiding in the cave in the North, that Cheetor had never meant to shoot her in the first place but had intended on stopping Megatron from causing her and Gemini harm. However, in her delirium, and in the current actions, Felina had interpreted Cheetor's action otherwise, thinking he was going to shoot her down...

Gemini sat up and crawled back when Megatron's perfectly white teeth showed through his pursed lips. Finding no use for her yet however, his attention went back to Felina who, in a desperate attempt, tried to crawl over to her lost weapon. Fearless, Megatron walked with heavy steps toward her and stopped about five feet from her, his missiles ready to tear her to pieces.

Still in a crouched position, Felina crawled back and away from him, her hands trembling heavily and her weapon pointed for him, "Nuh-no! S-Stay away!"

"You have ruined everything!" Megatron raged, "You, your human and your Maximals ruined everything!!!"

"Nuh-No! D-didn't m-mean to! J-Jus' wanted y-you to l-luh-ove m-me! I s-stoped crying for y-you! St-stoped crying before y-you counted t-to two! I-I'll s-stuh-op crying! I will!"

"What are you babbling about, Huntress?!"

Behind him, Gemini stumbled to her feet quickly; not believing what she was hearing and seeing. Obviously, Megatron had not meant to save Gemini, but in his blinded rage, had acted without realizing what he had done. Earlier, Felina had faced Megatron without any sign of fear, had even mocked him. The Predacon leader was obviously injured at the moment, but now she feared him like...

(You don't know anything! Fena's strong and she'll get out of this!)

"... like it's GoldenFire...", Gemini breathed, "She thinks -- what the hell's wrong with her!?"

Upon hearing him moan she turned and saw Cheetor sit up while scratching at his head - Felina's bullet at only grazed him, leaving a clear dent in on the left side of his helmet - She hurried up to him and ordered him to get back to Beast Mode at once. They had to leave before Megatron turned around and noticed them.

"B-But Fena--"

"She's completely out of our reach! Even if we tried, we can't do anything for her now! I know she can manage! She always did! Now GO!"

(You'll see how she's so much stronger then any of us has ever been!)

"But..." Cheetor objected one last time, but saw where Gemini was coming from. If someone knew Felina better then anyone, it was Gemini. He decided to let it go for now and transformed back to Beast Mode, letting Gemini hop onto his back. It took him a few more seconds then the usual to get the propulsors of his flight mode fired up, it hurt a lot as well, but he managed a lift off. They would stand nearby in case something would happen to Felina, but at least they were out of Megatron's firing range.

Felina crawled away some more, blurting out, "D-Don't h-hurt muh-e! P-Please duh-on't h-hurt! I'm n-nuh-o l-lab r-rat!"

Her words were cut short when she moved too close to the edge and the ground gave in. The fall was about twenty feet lower then the ground she had been standing on, but she rolled it down until she touched the concrete below. Megatron stepped near the edge, but learning from Felina's mistake, did not get close enough so it would not collapse.

Below, Felina shook her head, looking back up. The red of her eyes were not so small anymore, bad to their normal size. The fear, when she looked over at the large robot, was gone, but the hurt remained. Her fall had probably put the lose bolts back in their respective places, but the feelings had not changed. She shot twice at Megatron so he would step away from the edge and she sprinted out into a desperate run.

When Megatron evaded the blasts, he also came to realize Cheetor and Gemini had departed. Growling and showing bare teeth, he opened communication to the rest of his crew.

"Felina, Gemini and Cheetor are still in the area! Find them, and obliterate them! I want them dead, yes!" He waited a moment, only to hear static from his com-link, "Inferno!? Tarantulas?! GOLDENFIRE!" he raged in the communicator, but he did not get any replies. His fist came crashing down the rock wall next to him when he clearly realized his crew had been taken down. Felina was nowhere in sight by then, nor was Cheetor and Gemini.

Suddenly, the Predacon Leader regained his composure, his stare going down on what was left of Alana. A river of blood was flowing out of her opened skull, the red fading to pink and to nothing with the help of the rain.

"Well, it appears our glorious return to Cybertron will need to be postponed", he told the corpse staring back at him, "but no matter. If the Predacon victory is not at hand today, it will be tomorrow, yes. Patience is a virtue after all. That victory can be achieved with, or without Sigma Corp."

With this conclusion, he walked with heavy steps away from the rotting corpse of the clone of Alana Frangiatti.

End of Part 7

Click here for part 8