Tomorrow Never Dies...

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, but I do own Charissa Robbins and Whiplash.

Chapter One: Stranger Danger.

A young girl sat at a desk, scribbling down answers onto a piece of paper. She was about 5'5, with long, curly brown hair, a bang covering her right eye, and mischievously dark chocolate eyes that were dull and bored at the moment. She wasn't very skinny, but she had sharp curves that gave her a feminine look, her baggy shirt hiding them just a little. That day was free dress day for the school, so she wore a black T-shirt with an Iron Maiden logo on it, flare jeans, and black converse. All in all, she was a beautiful, intelligent young girl, but she couldn't seem to relaize that. She was a sociopathic loner by nature, and didn't like socializing much either.

Mrs. Archer, the algebra teacher heard a knock at the door and went outside to talk to the principal. "I'll be back." As soon as she left, a small group of kids turned on the lone girl, sneering. "Hey, Charissa, have trouble getting into your desk?" "No, but I could say the same to you, Terry." "Watch what you say, girl, or I'll have my homies get you." "Right. I'd tear their spines out and choke them with it."

Two other students, a boy and a girl laughed, starting to throw out insults about the girl's appearance. Charissa tried to ignore them, but you could see her eyes sparkle with tears threatening to spill over. "Are you gonna cry, whore?" "I wish you'd die... I'll have revenge someday."

"Right. HAHAHAHAHAAAA!"They laughed, the sharp sound making Charissa cringe. Just the sound of their harsh laughter brought back so many painful memories.

A small tremor shook the room, causing everyone to go quiet. It slowly rose in power, desks shaking, books falling and dozing students snapping awake. It began to rock the room, throwing people around like ragdolls. The center of the room began to twist and sink in on itself, as if a whirlpool had sprung to life underground. Desks were slowly pulled towards it as the room creaked and moaned, walls chipping and falling apart.

"What the hell?" Charissa pulled back, kicking the desk away and backing up against the wall. She backed up, going towards the door when she saw one of her worst enemies, slip down and fall down, going towards the whirlpool, shrieking out in fear. All the other students were afraid and uncaring, all pushing to escape.

"I hate that whore, but..." She growled, sliding across the floor, taking her hand and holding it tightly. "Why are YOU helping me?"

"I care."

Charissa pulled the girl up, helping her stand. They began running towards the door, when a shelf fell, slamming into Charissa, knocking her down and sliding her towards the hole. "ALEXIA! Help!" She cried out fearfully, clawing at the ground. The girl stood there, then shrugged. "I don't help uglies." With that she exited the room, fleeing down the hall. Charissa hissed, groping at the tile floor, pulling herself back up until she could stand back up, the ground shaking beneath her, almost making her fall back down. "Shit..."

The center had begun to sink into darkness, sucking up anything unfortunate enough to fall into it. A desk slipped into the hole and immediately began bouncing, shattring and cracking as if in a huge blender. It went away, to say the least, and the metal tip of a spinning something broke the surface, a shrill whir piercing the air. And still, the room sank.

"Oh, what the fuck? Is this Zombie Nazis?" She made a dash for the door, the shaking room causing her to fall again, the only thing keeping her from falling down into the dark hole was grabbing onto the window sill, grabbing on tight for dear life since the room was shaking too hard for her to get across.

Looking out the window, she could see that nearly half the school had already evacuated. "I'm gonna die... Fuck..." She tried pulling herself up, barely doing it, clutching onto the windowsill as the world around her shook angrily.

Then, stillness. Nothing moved, save for a few falling tiles. The room was violently bowed, everything piled in the center. Faintly, the noise of machinery could be heard from the small hole in the middle of the room. The door was torn and wedged inside of its frame, unable to move.

"Ah... What happened? Is it finished?" She wondered over to the door, jerking at it, but was unable to make it open. "I guess I'm stuck in here... At least it stopped." Charissa sighed, brushing her bang from her eye and wandering over to the center of the room and looking down into it. "I wonder what that noise is...?"

There was a rush of movement, and a huge metal optic, glowing red, filled the entire hole. It focused on her for a few seconds, then pulled back.

"AHHH!" Charissa yelped in surprise, jerking back up against the wall, eye twitching nervously. "What the frick was that?" She pulled back, fearful and cautious.

A powerful whirring noise filled the air once more, only instead of the floor sinking, it exploded outward. A massive drill, the size of most of a bus, at least, burst through the ground, spraying the room with dirt, concrete and wood panels. Bits of desk were tossed about like toys, shredded by the huge piece of machinery. The drill slowed its spin, still rotating, digging into the ground beside the hole. A massive, three fingered arm shot out from the hole, smashing and digging into the floor on the opposite side of the hole, thick armor plating shifting with each movement.

Then, it began to pull itself up. A huge, thick body with what looked to be an armored windshield pushed up and out, the slope simultaneously giving it a pot-belly-esque look and widening the hole, pushing out from all sides. A comparatively small head stood on the body, bigger than she was, cylindrical, a thick mask covering the entire face, leaving nothing but a visor from vision. Then, it stopped moving. The room creaked and rocked as the robot shifted and moved in the hole, but its thick midsection kept it in place. And in the hole. "Blast it!"

"Ah..." Charissa stood frozen in the corner, eyes wide as she glared at the huge robotic creature. She shook the debris off, and tried to speak, but found herself choking on her words, terrified beyond belief.

The robot twisted and wriggled, grunting and muttering, but to no avail. He was completely and thoroughly stuck. With his one hand he reached up to his face, first pushing up on his visor, which slid up onto his head, the pulled down the mask, which slid down and out of sight. "Blast it all to the Pit and back! Come on, you!" He twisted and struggled, but made absolutely no progress whatsoever.

"Ah..." Charissa took a hesitant step forward, trembling in fear and swallowing hard. "A-Are you o-okay? D-Do you need a-any h-help?"

"Blasted...Who said that?" The behemoth's huge head swiveled around, scanning the room, spinning completely around. However, it didn't look down. "Blast it, if it's you Skywarp, I'm gonna shove my drill so far up your aft every time you get a cavity I'll rip your bloody head off!" He snarled, optics burning like hellfire.

"Ah..." Charissa backed up towards the wall again, looking up. "I'm, uh, d-down here... D-Don't even try to d-drill me! I'll k-kick your a-ass!" She bit her lip, immediately regretting her words.

The robot's head spun around, facing he wall, the body tilting down so its optics could focus on her. "You? I seriously doubt it."

Charissa looked up, her body still slightly quivering. "I b-bet I could! Damnit!" She growled, narrowing her eyes and puffing out her chest to look bigger and more muscular, standing her ground, heart thumping in her chest.

The robot continued to stare at her, unmoving.

"Uuuh..." She frowned, slumping over. "Can you p-please stop staring at me...? And, u-uh, do you n-need some help?"

He straightened his body, his head swiveling around to its proper forward position. "Well, unless you can dig me outta this, it seems that I'm very stuck."

"Um... Lemme see if I can help at all..." She walked forward, going around to his front. She pulled hard at the wood, tearing it away, throwing pieces and bits of debris to the side, going as fast as she could to dig him out, a nervous sweat forming on her brow.

She kicked one piece of wood sticking up, forcing it to snap. There was a rumble, and then a crash as the floor gave way around the huge robot, sending him plunging back into the darkness. One or two seconds later he flew back up through the hole, massive, thick legs, like tank treads propelling him up. His entire upper section smashed through the roof, sending bits of plaster, metal and wood everywhere. His feet dug into the floor on either side of the hole, keeping him immovably stable.

"Ah!" Charissa waved her arms, forcing herself to stay up and from falling back down into the huge, gaping hole. "Uh..." She stared up at him, still mesmerized. "You're welcome." She spoke in a certain tone, praying that it wouldn't annoy the robot.

He straightened, his upper body clearing the school roof with room to spare, masonry falling from his frame like rain. "Sure. Thanks. Whatever."

Charissa blinked up at him, frowning. "Why the hell did you do that? Wreck the school and stuff? It was...different." She shook debris from her frame, shaking her head and sprinkling it out of her hair.

The behemoth rubbed the back of his head with his hand, almost managing to look sheepish. "I, uh, actually got lost. I was supposed to be drilling for oil, but I took a wrong turn somewhere..."

"Oh. It's a normal mistake I guess. Would've been better if you had taken out one of those imbeciles... I can't believe I saved her..." The brunette frowned, crossing her arms. "Er, now what are you going to do...uh, Mr. Robot-Guy-Thing?"

"Name's Whiplash. And, uh...I dunno. You know where a place called Qatar is?"

"Oh, uh, nice name. I'm Charissa Robbins... And, yah... We just studied that place a week or two ago. It's kinda far away though..."

Whiplash looked around, spotting a globe and nudging it over to her. "About where is it?"

"Uhm..." She looked down, spinning the globe and stopping on one side, looking over it carefully. "It's right...here." She placed her finger over one area that was shaded tan, reading "QATAR" in big, bold letters. "A bit far away though, like I said."

"And according to my telemetry...I'm here..." Whiplash suddenly sat down, his huge face in an equally huge palm. "Wow. Way to go, you idiot. Only you could mess up this bad and end up on the wrong side of a planet."

Charissa blinked, then walked forward, placing a single hand, barely shaking, on his armor, frowning. "Hey... It's okay... It was just a mistake, you can get back there in no time! Eh heh..."

He smacked himself in the forehead, looking down at her. "No, I can't. My boss is always making me collapse my tunnels when I'm done, so I'd need to re-dig my way there. I don't have enough energy for a cross-planet trip!"

Charissa frowned, blinking. "Uh... Well, you could just get some more energy, if you like, and rest some... Then go to Qatar? I'm sure your boss wouldn't mind if you explained it to him!"

"Heh, you don't know Megatron..." Whiplash paused, pondering for a moment. "You...said you knew where I could get some fuel and energy?"

"Er, yah... Since you're robotic, I presume that you'd consume things like gas and oil, right? There's a gas station right down the street."

"Really? Could you show me?" Whiplash stared down at her, his optics glowing bloody scarlet. The young brunette could swear that she saw a wicked glint in those optics, as if an idea was forming in his mind like a hurricane. She shook the eerie feeling off, simply answering him.

Charissa looked around, crossing her arms. "Er, I would, but you sorta trapped me in here..." She pointed towards the jammed door, grimacing.

"Oh." Whiplash's arm morphed, folding in on itself, extending and hollowing. The tip began to spin, a bright purple glow flashing in it. A bright bolt of energy laced forward with a high pitched scream, smashing into the far wall and blasting it to rubble no larger than Charissa's shoes. "There."

Woah... That was awesome. Y'know, these, uh, people aren't going to be nice about you wrecking the shitty school... It'll be bad to just walk out, unless you plan on stepping on them..."

"Right." Whiplash began to morph again, but this time in on himself. His head rotated down into his body, his chest extending out and four large wheels folding down from under it, pressing into the floor. His legs shortened, combined, flattened out and lay flat behind him, forming large treads that crushed everything under them. His drill rotated back as his backpack folded out, forming a flatbed for the drill to rest on. His left arm remained a cannon, folding back and up to stow behind the cab, leaving room for it to pop out on top if the need arose. Finally the symphony of mechanical perfection ended and a huge, heavy, dangerous drilling machine rumbled like a tank where a thirty foot robot once stood. The side door opened up, and Whiplash's voice rumbled out from the speakers inside. "Well? You coming or what?"

Charissa blinked, then frowned. "Uh... Yah. As long as you don't transform while I'm inside..." She slowly climbed into Whiplash, sitting down and drumming her fingers nervously on her leg. "...So, yah. Let's...go."

Whipash's powerful engine roared to life, his cab wheels climbing over the remains of the school, his treads crushing whatever was caught under them. He rolled into the light of the front of the school, earning more than a few stares from students, staff, and upholders of the law.

"Hey, wait... Can I wave? Just to freak 'em out?" The human youngling grinned, a mischevious glint in her eyes. She was a mysterious prankster by nature, and this was a perfect opportunity.

"Sure. Do whatever." Whiplash trundled forward, chewing up the grass and any pathways beneath his huge bulk.

Charissa grinned, leaning out and waving at all the people. "Ni hao!" All of their mouths gaped open as they just stared at the small girl in the huge vehicle, eyes twitching. There was one teacher that had nearly dropped dead, a pretty black woman who absolutely adored Charissa, who acted like the brunette was family. "Oh, GOD! Why is SHE in that thing? IS SHE DRIVING? CHARISSA GET OUT BEFORE YOU GET KILLED!" Charissa grinned, sliding back inside. "Don't worry Ms. D, I am fine. Thank you for the concern!" She grinned, shutting the door and leaning back. "Okay. So it's at the end of this street, the Shell Station."

"Okay. That's good." He rolled towards the parking lot, smashing through cars and truck, knocking over a bus in the process. His bulk was far greater than even the buses and fire engines, nearly twice their size. He rolled onto the street, taking up both lanes, forcing cars off the road. He rumbled towards the Shell Station, pausing just before the gas station. "What is this? There are too many buildings, not enough signs. Which one is the refill station?"

"Errr, right over there. It's the little stations with the gas pumps, the ones with numbers above them. Just go to it and, uh... Get gas."

"Got it." He rolled to the station, shoving cars out of the way, barely fitting under the overhang. He stopped in front of one of the pumps, powering down his engine. "Uuhh...Now what?"

Charissa blinked, opening the door and looking around. "Er... DO you transform and drink it out of the pump? Or do I need to, uh, find your fuel tank and put it inside you?"

"Eehh..." A panel opened on his side, and he opened the door. "It's probably filthy, but it'll have to do…" Whiplash mumbled, obviously agitated by the idea.

"This is weird..." Charissa hopped out, grabbing the pump. "Shit. I have no cash. Unless you pay, it won't give you any gas..."

Whiplash's frame shuddered, a blue light flashing from an exposed panel, hitting the pump, the digital numbers going nuts then stopping in an infinite sign. "There you go."

"Oh, that's convenient..." She took the pump and gently inserted it into Whiplash, squeezing it and letting the fuel flow into his tanks. "Alright. Tell me when to stop."

Sure." A few minutes passed as the pump released ridiculous amounts of gas, several hundred dollars worth. It finally clicked, letting Charissa take it and place it back on the holder. "Ah, thanks. So you know where all these stations are?"

"Around here, yah. Not EVERYWHERE though, but it's fairly easy for me to find any of 'em, and identify them. Why?"

"Oh, just for this." Whiplash abruptly transformed, smashing through the overhang and scooping up Charissa in his armored servo. He transformed once again, depositing her in his cab, a seatbelt snapping around her and sealing tight, holding her still. The enormous drill began to spin, angaling down and eating through the concrete like water. Within seconds he had decended into the earth, light cut away due to a sharp turn.

Charissa was too startled and horrified to speak, her heart thudding against her ribcage. Only two words echoed in her mind:

OH SHIT.

Author's Note: Yep, seems like little Charissa's in a predicament. I wonder what Whiplash plans to do with her? X3 I'll update ASAP, I just started school. :3 Please, read and review. Reviews make my world go round.

4 srs, yo.