In this story, Rachel meets Upgrade. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I only own Rachel.
When Machines Attack
Rachel woke up feeling like she had hit a brick wall. Her head ached and she felt confined as she then realized she couldn't move her arms or legs. Waking up some more, she found herself strapped to an electric chair in a gray-stoned room.
"Really?" she asked herself. "Either the Knights are getting very desperate or very stupid."
The door to her left opened and she saw three knights enter, one held a remote that Rachel was certain was the 'ON' switch for the electric chair.
"Miss Jocklin," said one of the Knights. "Tell us where the aliens are or else."
Rachel tried to breathe in and out to calm down. She didn't know what to say and frankly she didn't want to get zapped.
"Speak!" said the Knight in front of her.
She turned to him and said, "Go get burned." The moment she said it, she realized she shouldn't have as the knight held up the controller and set the dial on it to a certain power. Rachel didn't need a genius to tell her that it was set to severely electrocute her.
"Then join your father in death," said the knight as he pointed the controller at her.
A tear slipped down her face as she remembered her father, how he had died from a long illness not too long ago. She closed her eyes, bracing herself, although she knew that wouldn't be any help.
Suddenly, she heard the knight mutter angrily. "What is wrong with this thing?" he asked. "It should have turned on the electric chair."
Rachel realized something was wrong and opened her eyes just in time to see her cuffs turn green and black along with the rest of the chair and the metal power cords were rapidly turning the same colors.
"What is this madness?!" the knight exclaimed as his two friends drew their swords in preparation. A huge shapeless mass rose up from a cluster of metal tubes to take on a humanoid shape.
"Your worst nightmare," said a voice that sounded highly computerized and a bit scary. Rachel watched with horror as the mass of metal tubes move and form a huge monster. She realized the monster was controlling them when she felt her cuffs release her and she staggered away, trying to wrap her mind around everything as every machine in the room became animated, surrounding the Knights and battling them and while the Knights fought back, they were no match for the machines that made them retreat.
Rachel raced as fast as she could toward a hole that one of the haywire machines had made when it hit the wall with some sort of energy beam and quickly escaped, but something grabbed her before she got far.
"Take a ride, kid," said that same voice that had spoken to the Knights as suddenly the figure morphed into a car and placed her in the driver's seat and took off. Rachel trembled as she tried to fight down her panic as she registered how fast they were going.
"Slow down!" she begged, feeling scared.
"Don't worry!" she heard him say. "We're almost there!"
The next thing she knew, he stopped outside the Grant Mansion! Rachel climbed out of his car form, her whole body shaking hard as she fell forward, prompting him to transform and catch her. She grasped his arms to prevent herself from falling over.
"Easy, Rachel," he said, scooping her up in his arms. "I'll carry you."
She looked up at him. "How do you know my name?" she asked him.
"I've been watching you for a while now," he answered. "Word has spread to the galaxies about a young human girl who accepts aliens and protects them from enemies, like the Forever Knights."
Somehow knowing he was telling the truth, she now smiled. "Thank you for saving me and for getting me out of there fast," she said to him. "What do I call you?"
"Upgrade," he responded. "And you're welcome."
She smiled and hugged him. He returned the hug as he walked into Grant Mansion, where he was immediately accepted as a member of the lovable, growing family Rachel was proud to call hers.
How was it? Please review!
GoldGuardian2418