Human Bot

Chapter 5

- The Taming -

A punch in the right shoulder… a kick in the left one… She wasn't fighting much against them. One kick in the stomach... another one... another one... And Tarantulas still held her, enjoying the pain she had to go through.

"Ooooh, Wazzpinator killing cat bot. Huntrezz not so hard to beat. Wazzpinator love it when there iz no rezzzistance, bzzz..."

Megatron advanced on her. She opened her eyes to see the Predacon leader with his finger on her nose.

"You know", he said, "You ARE a little pest, yesss. If I didn't know better, I could mistake you with that little vermin, Rattrap."

Why that goddam little fuck!!! How dare he!??

"Man, if that was an insult, y'made my day, Mega-honey", she said with sarcasm.

"You are a brave one to face me like that, oh yesss. But this shall avail you not! Nooo! I'll give you one last chance. Yes or no."

"You tried this before and all y'got was my spit in your face, which I can do again, mind you. I'll give you 3 guesses and the two first ones don't count! So get your dirty fingers off me NOW!"

"I suppose this means no", he said as he pinched her nose.

"Woo! Oh God, oh dear, oh God! That pineapple on your shoulders is thinkin' and talkin'! Oh wait... I forgot, it's your head," she mocked without a smile.

With this he slapped her with rage again and turned to Tarantulas, giving him an affirmative sign before looking back at Felina once more. "You will regret your rudeness, yesss. Tarantulas do it!"

The insane one turned her over, and looked at her in the eyes, "You poor, poor thing. Hard to believe a whole galaxy could be scared of such a fragile little bird." He let another wave of laughter escape.

(....h...he...help....)

"Looks like I found some time to toy with you after all!!"

(you're lucky I have no time to toy with you)

"You..." she said in a low voice of despair, “I... re... member… It was you... in there... brought me back...ugh..."

"Ah I see your memory is starting to come back to you!" again, this laughter.

Then before she knew it, she was trapped within one of the robot's energy web. He moved his clawed fingers on her right cheek and stared for a moment. Then, snickering, he pressed one of the buttons on his arm. Instantly, an electric discharge went through the web, giving Felina horrible spasms of pain, draining her energy. As her reserves were leaving, a sleepy feeling began to take over.

Isn't this nice, she thought, I'm gonna die without even puttin’ up a real fight... well... I guess that's what I was kinda lookin' for. After all I've been through... So much for a fierce fighter...

She closed her eyes, ready and accepting her upcoming death at last... and suddenly realized the electric discharge had stopped. She used what energy she had left to open her eyes again, her eyelids so heavy, and she got a glimpse of Tarantulas’ face, now black with smoke... and Rhinox, who was using him as a punching bag.

Feeling nauseous, everything went dark, as if a black sail had covered her eyes. The last thing she heard was her name, or she thought, before fainting out of tiredness.

Lights flashed before her eyes, on the ceiling, going quickly, like she was being dragged through a small corridor.

Hospital?

Experiment room?

Death?

Things go round and round and you fall and crawl and never come back the same...

Where am I going now?

A light breeze caressed her cheek, waking her. Rhinox held her in his arms, protecting her from the Predacon attack, shooting his chain guns at them once in a while.

"Uhhhh.... I...I... "

"Shsssh", he whispered, "Everything will be all right. Just relax. You're energy was stolen but you'll be on your feet in no time."

"Whuh-why w-would y-you... care?"

He smiled. Things had changed after the years but she was still his little girl, huntress or not, criminal or not, robot or human. At this very moment, he had sworn to protect her, whatever would happen. And maybe she read his thoughts and it somehow hurt her. She turned her head to make sure not to see his face. After everything she had done, he still cared and was ready to help her.

Wonderful error. When she turned her head, a gun was put against her nose. She growled as she saw the face of her aggressor.

That doesn't surprise me of you...

"Rattrap! What are you doing?!" Rhinox shouted, scared of his friend's attitude.

"I'm doin' what we came here for. Helpin' us all by finishin' her off before she annihilates US!"

"If you don't want that nose of yours to get any flatter, you'd better put that gun away," Rhinox warned the rat.

"If it was just for me, I--"

"Would have taken her away from the fight, like you're going to do right now. GO!"

Rattrap didn't have the time to answer. The big robot had forced the rat to hold onto the female and went to help the others. Felina looked at Rattrap and narrowed her eyes. "Aw man, y'ain't dead yet? I know vermins... like you... are hard to get rid of... but... this... is ridiculous... "

"Yeah? Well y'can just go--"

Rhinox looked at him with menacing eyes. Another warning. Maybe it was more reasonable for the rat not to say anything after all. But it wasn't easy since with such insults. He obeyed and walked away from the battle.

"So... y'liked my little game earlier, didn't you?" she smirked.

He felt the blush coming to his face again, "Shut up."

"Oh yeesssir! Y'know, ... I f-feel just way better knowin' dat'... MY life is in YOUR... capable hands."

"She reminds me of someone," Cheetor said flying around the rat all the while laughing, and protecting him from Predacon attacks.

Rattrap growled, "Get lost!"

"Hey, I was just joking around... why does it make you so upset?"

"Cheetor, she's a MURDERER! I dunno if y'get dat, but she's dangerous and could easily kill us all."

"But she didn't", Cheetor said rather softly, wisely even.

"Well I..."

Rattrap did not know what to say no more. Primus, the kid was right. She made him suffer earlier, but had she been serious, he would have been dead long before she would have stabbed him. He looked at her again, her eyes now closed, her consciousness drifting away with the energy and-

"SLAG!!!"

"What is it?" Cheetor exclaimed.

Rattrap quickly put her down. "Cheetor, listen ta me. I want ya t'take her back to base and to the CR chambers now!"

"Why?"

"Cause we're loosin her! She's goin' down with ‘dat little bit of energy left!"

Cheetor quickly landed and let Rattrap put the body on his back. "I thought you didn't mind her dying."

"Yah well, it's for Rhinox ‘dat I'm doin' 'dis cause I woulda blasted her head off a while back."

"Right..." And Cheetor was gone within a nano-click to save the huntress from death.

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

Cheetor entered the empty room quickly, and set Felina down slowly. The panel leading to the chambers opened wide, revealing the empty space. He went back to the young woman and set her inside. As he was about to close it, he stopped in the middle of his move, hearing her pleadings.

"Mamma.... mamma... please wake up... mamma...? Gemi... be careful... not.... good..."

Cheetor let sadness invade him. Whatever she had become was not her fault. Her past had been a cruel one, and most of it was unknown. He had compassion for this young one…

He closed the panel and waited for his comrades to come back.

--------

The next day, Felina was helped out of the CR Chamber. Most of her energy was back, but she felt weak from the web's discharges. The effects would not vanish yet. Rhinox was the one who helped her to the floor gently, holding her head up. Her eyes opened, looked around, and she escaped a sigh.

"Whu...?"

"It's all right, Felina, you're safe now", Rhinox told her.

"Whatever... who... cares... Why.... did you even... save me...?"

"Because we DO care", Optimus put his hand on her shoulder, smiling, "If you wish to join us, you are welcome. Besides, I'm sure that our big buddy here wouldn't mind."

"WHAT?!!" Rattrap exclaimed. "Aw, for bootin' up cold! She's gonna k-"

He didn't have time to finish his phrase. Tigatron clamped a hand over Rattrap's mouth to make him shut up.

"Hmm… A-After a-a-all I... did to you? W-Where's the... c-catch...?"

"No catch, I promise. Changing is not an easy thing, but if you promise to TRY, I'm sure there could be much improvement and we could get along well, at least until the end of the Beast Wars."

She looked down and didn't say a word. How could they be even remotely nice to her? She didn't trust them and believed all of this to be a stupid trap in which she would fall into... Then again, Rhinox was not the kind to play tricks, and especially not on HER...

"I still t-think... there's a ... catch...", she breathed.

Optimus let out a soft laughter, "No tricks, it's a promise. I know it won't be easy for you", he said, "I would have reacted the same way you did. It's not easy to trust you either, but we have nothing to lose. It's your choice... I'll understand if you refuse... "

She took a look at Rhinox, trying to find an answer. Rhinox smiled at her, giving an affirmative sign. She had no choice, really. It was them or death. She was on an unknown planet and knew nothing of her surroundings. She had no choice but to accept for now.

"I... guess you're right", she lied, "I've... got... nuthin’ to lose... but d-don't... expect me to be... nice every... day... "

"Don't worry, I'm not", he let her know reassuringly, not knowing yet that he might regret his choice later...

She was tired and ready to go to sleep, her eyelids again too heavy, but she felt something touch her neck in a purr and giving her shivers. She opened her eyes again and the first thing she saw was a white fur ball before realizing the kitten she had taken her beast form from had followed her.

"Looks like it tamed you," Rhinox said in a laugh.

"Joy."

"I think it would be a good idea to keep her."

At these words, the sound of Rattrap trying to free himself from Tigatron's grip was not surprising. But at his great disappointment, AirRazor and Silverbolt came in to help the tiger 'bot to hold the furious rat down. After all, three cats and one rat did not mix well, don't you think?

"What should... I call... her?" Felina asked while fighting the sleepy feeling.

Rhinox looked at the sky through that large window he had been looking through every evenings, that was now of a crimson color, thinking. The morning. He looked back at her and showed a tender smile. "How about Fiona?"

A thin smile played the corners of her lips, "I like it. Oh and… thanks... Uncle Big R."

For the first time since her mother had died, Rhinox recognized the little girl with an angelic face. If he had not been a robot, he believed tears would have run down his cheeks at the moment...

She closed her eyes and fell asleep. No one spoke, watching the sun now showing its face and letting the night hide.

"The sunrise," Optimus said, "Beautiful as ever. The perfect time for a new robot to come on line... "

End of Human Bot