Trust Me Partner

Chapter 2

- Dumb Flaw -

"Hey Fena! Come check this out!"

Felina rolled her eyes. Cheetor always wanted to show her something he thought would be new to her. It was never interesting, it was rarely fun, and it was often extremely childish as well. Nevertheless, she found herself moving toward him to see what great new program he wanted to show her this time.

"Look! This is ultra-gear! Kill the dead!", he said, tapping on the controller madly to shoot zombies in a police station.

"Kill the... oh no… Y'kidding me, right?"

She looked at the screen and gulped loudly. The dead walked... the dead was moving, moaning and reaching for her; loose skin and infectious blood pouring...

"Are you crazy playin ‘em damn games?!", she suddenly snapped, "y'gotta be deranged!"

"It's just Resident Evil", he grinned clumsilly, "A very old game. Thought you'd like it since you seem to like fighting and all these beginning of the millennium things. It's about this company that --"

"I KNOW WHAT IT IS!!" she yelled at him.

"Woah... sorry Fena. Didn't want to make you upset..."

"Yeah well... You did a lousy job!"

"Ooooh what's SHE afraid of, hmmm?" she heard Rattrap from behind.

Felina growled loudly as Cheetor let out a large grin to play along, "Oh just the walking dead and company conspiracies."

Rattrap's eyes widened and his jaw dropped opened, "Uh... well... uh..." He looked at the screen, his face contorted in disgust, "Man! What's da mattah with ya, Kiddo? 'Dis ain't no game for ya!"

"What is it with you two?! It's just a game! The zombies try to eat your flesh and you shoot them!"

Both partners twitched.

"You just need to shoot them before they eat you alive. Nothing big to--"

"SHUT UP!" they both screamed.

"Oooookay... Mind elaborating?"

At that moment, when both Felina and Rattrap sided on letting Cheetor in on their reaction, Optimus entered the command center, "What's all this fuss about? We can hear you from across the base."

"Sorry daddy, I was just playin' a little video game, sniffle sniffle cry cry", Felina said in a child's voice.

"And she's afraid of it", Cheetor smirked but then got hit in the back of the head by Rattrap.

"See kid, THAT's y'problem, y'dunno WHEN t’a be afraid."

"Gah... Déjà vu..." Cheetor moaned and rubbed the back of his head.

Optimus shook his head quickly, annoyed, "If you would have paid more attention, you could have noticed that AirRazor was calling for help!"

"Who? Oh yeah...the tiger loving budgie...so?"

“It's a good thing SilverBolt answered her call and got there to help her in time! No thanks to you", he told the three Maximals gravely.

"Yah well", Rattrap began, "If SHE hadn't held us up, I might of been able to catch ‘dat call in time"

Felina's mouth dropped, "If I hadn't held you up you woulda been readin' porn, so shut up! You wouldn't have caught the call anyways."

"Uh..."

At that instant, saving Rattrap from the conversation, SilverBolt came in. He was carrying a very injured AirRazor. Her robot form was taken by what seemed like major energon surges, causing immediate and painful convulsions. How was it possible when all the energon had been transformed into stable cubes? How could energon take over her body like so? However, what struck her surrounding teammates were her legs, covered into a strange crystallized substance. At least she was conscious... Or perhaps that was the problem… Her situation worried Optimus to the core. Since Tigatron wasn't with her, he knew that something bad had happened.

"You should get back to beast mode. It should stop the surges", he told her gently.

She shook her head painfully, "I... c-can't..."

"What??" the leader gasped.

Felina frowned. Somehow… she knew... she felt she knew what was happening, without any comprehension of anything yet...

*“child... come...”*

She coughed, feeling her throat close on itself, but somehow was able to contain it.

AirRazor was exhausted and could hardly find the right words to explain anything, but she insisted on telling her story nonetheless. Things were mixed up, sometimes didn't even make sense. Her voice was sometimes so low that it was hard to distinguish the words from the breathing. The crystals had gained her stomach by the time she was done her tale.

Finally, SilverBolt put her in the CR chamber with extreme caution as to not make the situation worst for her. He hoped it could help. Cheetor looked away as the door closed on the paralyzed robot, feeling somewhat guilty for playing games when a friend was in need.

"Poor 'Razor...no one deserves such a treatment..."

"Her story doesn't even make sense", Dinobot said as he pushed the young one out of his way. He had joined the rest of the crew as the fembot told her story, "A garden in the middle of the great north? That's ridiculous! It makes no sense."

"She's more logical than YOU are, Chopper Face", Rattrap growled as he pushed the tall robot the same way he had pushed Cheetor, "How do ya explain those crystal bits?"

"RT's got a point! We gotta go help Tigatron!" Cheetor told the raptor angrily.

Optimus moved to the center of the group, rubbing his chin, thinking, "Someone should go check it out. And I know just who to send."

"Me?" Cheetor hopped.

"Not exactly"

"Oh..." he lowered his head and shrugged.

Optimus glanced at Felina, his look saying everything, and she backed up immediately.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Y'want ME to go there? Sh'yeah right!" she pointed at Rattrap, "Why not send HIM instead?"

"Oh, he's going too", Optimus let a little smirk show but then coughed to make it go away. He had won over the huntress for once.

Rattrap frowned, "Yeah right! I'm not goin’ up ‘dere to get scrapped!"

"You want to question my orders, AGAIN?"

"I ain't gonna get killed coz y'too afraid t'go YOURSELF."

"I told you many times that I would not give an order I was not willing to do myself!"

"And y always say ‘dat at the RIGHT moments all da time too!"

"I'll go, I'm not afraid of Fena!" Cheetor exclaimed, then saw the evil glare from Felina, "Then again, Rattrap's perfect for the job!" He moved carefully behind Rhinox and smiled, showing his thumb up, "Go Fena!"

"Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!" A very impatient Rhinox finally yelled at them. The room then fell silent at once: the whole group stared at him.

He grabbed Rattrap and Felina by the back of the neck, bringing them close enough for them to feel each other’s breath on their faces. Felina had never seen him act like this before and it almost scared her. Fortunately for the two small ones, he wasn't squeezing hard...yet.

"You two are going out there. And I don't want to hear ANYTHING from you until you're both out of sight. Understand?" he hissed.

"But...but...Uncle Big R... I don't wanna go..." Felina told him in an innocent voice. It could always work: worth a shot.

He squeezed a little harder, forcing her to cough. He would never get as far as to crush her neck but it still it was enough to get his point across, "I said, I don't want to hear anything from you two until you're out of sight..." he repeated coldly.

"But then y.... won't be able... t'hear us... "

"That's what I want", he growled.

"Okay! OKAY! Fine...Argh...let go...Argh...I'm goin'...I'M GOIN'!"

"Get it? Got it? Good.... Now go..."

As Rhinox had instructed, without another word, Felina and Rattrap walked up to the elevator, which soon descended.

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‘Why the slag does it have to fall on me?’ , Rattrap moaned to himself as he drove towards the instructed destination, ‘Okay, I admit it. I'm da rodent and I can be an ass, but even I don't deserve to be with 'dat crazy Cottonel-Commercial-Kitten-Wannabe.... Well, well...a rock...’

BOOM!

Felina fell on the ground as soon as Rattrap rolled over the small object. She remained there without moving while Rattrap laughed his head off. The huntress had to get a ride on Rattrap, like Dinobot, to get to the Great North faster. Unfortunately, faster was not the case. They had begun to argue as soon as they left the base and the arguing had continued up until now.

The female bot remained on the ground, whispering and babbling stuff the rat-car couldn't hear. Intrigued and curious, he drove closer to her, trying to understand. Closer, closer, closer...

As he got there, he noticed her eyes were closed and she wasn't moving anymore… Nor was she talking. Then there was the sound of engines failing, the life fading.

"Okay", he said in a whisper, "Y' gonna get up any minute now, and like last time, act all cute and everythin', before kickin' mah ass hard...or y' lights are really out, and it's Rhinox who's gonna kick mah ass harder-"

Felina's hand suddenly grabbed his neck and stopped him in his babbling. A large devilish smile broke through her face as she did so, "Y'too curious Fast Food. It's dangerous ta get too close to a cat."

But then, Rattrap's grin was no better, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Remember what Optimus said. Y'can't hurt me."

"Ooooh, but I'll make sure it ain't gonna hurt... much", she giggled, "It's gonna be quick and painless. You won't even feel it when I'm going to crush your head and empty you of your mech-fluid and --"

His ratty paw reached for his chest quickly, "Rhinox, come in, Rhinox!"

She quickly clamped his mouth shut with her hand, "Alright! Fine! Y'win! Now close that goddam comlink!"

His smile reappeared, showing great satisfaction and triumph, and he closed the link. As soon as it was done, she jumped on him, one foot on his head, and the other one on his back.

"Hey! I ain't a skateboard!"

"Y'got the brains of one. Not to mention, I ain't sittin' on that fire thing in y'back. Now roll it! Besides, you'll just enjoy it too much if I sit on y'back."

"Why I --"

"Tsk tsk, are you NOT cooperating with me? I'm sure Optimus will HATE t'hear about that. So please, let's move before the tiger gets it good."

He growled at first, thinking of making her fall off again, but since she was a robot huntress, he did not feel like ending up a Cybertronian sushi... so he decided to obey and get his revenge later: later when Rhinox or anyone else might be able to back him up in case of a violent response from her.

The wheels spun hard enough to form a dirt cloud and he was about to go when…

*“something.... coming..... kill....”*

Felina suddenly hissed in fury and jumped off. Tired of all these useless stops, Rattrap went back to robot mode.

"Now what? My head's not comfortable enough for y'royal foot?"

"Shut up..." she whispered.

She was looking around: looking for something... or someone. Curious and high on his guards, he copied the move, even though he did not know what he was supposed to be looking for. After a while though, he got impatient. Rolling his eyes, he took a seat on the ground. There was nothing but rocks and a bit of dried vegetation in this deserted area.

"What is it now?" he asked, annoyed.

"Will ya shut up already?" she whispered back.

"I don't WANNA shut up! Oh! And by the way, y'ain't in no position ta tell ME what ta do, Alley Cat!"

"Wanta bet on THAT one, Fast Food?", and she looked at him with an evil smile.

He pointed at his com-link over his chest, poking it gently to warn her, "Please... y'wouldn't want dear ‘Uncle Big R’ to know what kind oh she-devil y'are, now would ya?"

She growled at him, "Whatever. Anyway 'dere's someone else here...I can feel it."

"Oh yeah? And just HOW can y'feel 'dat?"

"The same way I felt something coming on Omacron"

He grew pale for a moment, and then shrugged it off. He did not want to think about that anymore. He had enough nightmares as it was.

"Let's just say it’s woman's intuition", she whispered and gave him an amused look.

He shook his head and turned his back to her," Yah, like ‘dat exists… If y'depend on ‘dat, we're all gonna die", inspecting the place one last time, he still saw nothing but rocks.

"YO HELLO!!!" he yelled, "ANYONE HERE?!"

Felina slugged him on the back of the head. Yet instead of the silence, which had been what he had expected, he DID get an answer: a nasty laugh that froze both him and Felina's circuits.

"Oops...oh slag..."

"Nice goin'", Felina hissed as she brought her fist in front of her partner's face.

"Tarantulas..."

"Tarantulas...?" she took a deep breath, "Why da HELL would he be called 'dat?!"

"Why, probably because he's a TARANTULA!"

She closed her eyes, biting her lower lip. A drop of sweat slipped down her forehead and somewhat disappeared through her metallic skin. Her breathing became louder, and Rattrap had the feeling that he had just found one of his partner's weak points. Moaning, she backed up and pulled Rattrap in front of her like some sort of shield.

"A...a...tarantula", she repeated nervously, "Nice… oh yes, oh so VERY nice...."

"Hey! Y'okay Alley Cat?"

"Muh-muh-me? Oh-Of course I'm o-okay...whu-what makes ya think d-'dat?"

Suddenly, Tarantulas in his beast mode jumped in front of them, laughing like a maniac.

"AAAAARRGHHH!!! A SPIDER!!!" Felina screamed these words in a strident and high voice and jumped straight into Rattrap's arms. To his great surprise, she was shaking like a poor little leaf, crying and begging for him to make the bad ugly spider go away. He opened up his arms and dropped her to the ground.

"What'ya do 'dat foooor?" she cried like a baby.

"Y'the one who ordered me not to touch ya!"

"B-but y'didn't need t-t-to lemme fall 'dat haaard..."

Rattrap just couldn't believe what he was seeing. The great huntress had suddenly turned into a crybaby.

"Gimme a break, will ya? What's so scary about Tarantulas? He's just a stupid spider!"

"...I...I...know..." she whispered.

"Primus! I don't get dis one at--"

And he suddenly stopped, looking at Tarantulas, and then back at the whimpering cat'bot. A large eerie grin, evil almost, appeared upon his lips, "Sooo! It looks like someone's scared of spiders... Felina: the great robot huntress is defeated at the sight of a mere spider. Shame."

She growled, but did not stop in her lamentations, "Do you have to be such an ass about it?"

"Y'bet ah do! It's soo much FUN!"

She was up in a flash, her eyes shooting arrows of fire as they locked upon his optics, "What did y'say? Care to repeat that?"

"It's FUN ta see ya suffer", he challenged her back. "Ah could do 'dis for da rest oh mah life and never get bored."

"Than y'better enjoy it while y'still can, 'cause y'life is goin' to be VERY short."

Tarantulas, now in robot mode, stepped in between them.

"Hey!" he yelled, "I'm still here you know!"

Felina looked at him from head to toe.

"Shut up! We're arguing... uh... you... again..."

(Why hello, my dear, looks like someone had a premature awakening)

"Oh my! You found me out...and what exactly are you going to do about it? Huhuhuhuh!"

"I… uh..." She frowned, anger rising: the bastard who had made her an experiment, the one who had forced her to be what she hated the most, "THIS!"

She punched him in the face with raw violence, pulling small drops of mech-fluid out of his odd mouth.

"And THIS!"

She did a back flip, taking out her two bludgeons, hitting him time and time again in some kind of complicated combo. The transmetal spider tried to punch her back, but she blocked his arm between her weapons.

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

She got his foot hard in the stomach, causing her to lose her grip on the weapons and set her enemy free. She fell to her knees, coughing hard and trying to catch her breath.

Seems even as a robot I can lose my breath, she mocked to herself.

He came in with a punch, but before he reached her, he was shot in the arm, which caused him to stumble back in surprise. He had forgotten about the rat’s presence. The small moment was enough. Felina was back up and slugged him hard in the face with her foot, followed by an uppercut. He fell to his knees, trying to get his breath back. His glance was enraged and furious.

"Why you little-", he hissed.

He had no time to finish his sentence. She vertically stuck her the sharp blade of her sword in the middle of his face. He screamed out in pain and she punched him once more. She was about to do so again, enjoying the moment more than anything in the world for now, but Rattrap did not give her the chance to hit him again: he took her arm and forced her away from Tarantulas.

"Hey! Let go! What do y'think you're doing!?"

"We don't have time ta play! The sooner we get 'dere, the sooner we'll be back ta base! Now c'mon!"

Growling, she took one of her bludgeons and hit the one arm holding hers hard enough to hear a loud crack from it.

"Ow! What da cheese...!"

"I can walk by myself in case y'hadn't noticed, rat breath!!"

"Sure didn't seem like it a few cycles ago, miss Help Me 'Dere's A Spider!"

A roundhouse kick from the female made him flying next to a huge boulder on which he banged his head, "Aw man! 'Dat's it! I've HAD it with ya! I'm callin' Rhinox!"

But then a mischievous expression showed on her face, "Ooooh no y'wont..."

"Ooooh yes ah will. See, I'm openin' my comlink and..." But as he tried to open it, he felt… nothing. It felt like if he had a hole in his chest instead of a comlink. It took him a little bit, but he finally realized he DID have a hole in his chest replacing his com-link.

"...'Cause I'm afraid, dear, that your comlink has been temporarily removed. Yes. And no, I did NOT stick it up your ass so don’t bother lookin’. Now shut your trap, transform and get goin'!!"

"Why you...just wait 'till we get back to base...I'll make sure 'dat-"

"I SAID, shut your goddamn stupid useless trap, transform and get goin'! Or I WILL stick it up your ass!" she hissed. This time, there was nothing NEAR a smile on her face.

"Where's my comlink?!" he shot angrily.

"I'm keepin' it hostage! Y'really wanna try me? Ah don't think so. Now go. Unless you want me to shoot something else off and keep it hostage", she grinned evilly.

He growled and transformed. Felina jumped on his back as if he was a skateboard, and they made their way for the Alien Paradise.

End of part 2

Click here for part 3