A/N: 1. Sorry if the translations make no sense. I don't speak Spanish, and I have to use Google Translate.
2. I welcome criticism, but please note that this is my first fanfiction.
3. I hope it won't turn out terribly confusing and asjdhajkdhsa. I love you all, and I hope you have a wonderful time reading this.
1. Firsts
"Tazia Albina Rivera-Zabal" Fatima, the older Mexican sister squealed from the stairs and grinned. Tazia felt her stomach turn and she nearly gagged on the small peppermint that her little sister had given her. Quinceanera. She spat and scowled every time anyone mentioned the stupid celebration. She had even chopped the long, dark hair that she had kept for this day. She could still remember doing it, feeling the locks curl around her feet and slide down her small back. And even more prominent in her memory was the sound and face her mother had pulled. A look of utter repugnancia. And Tazia had loved it.
Since she was a little niña Tazia had been scrapping other girls and boys on the streets. She had even resorted to getting the other kids to call her Taz, not her 'bello y majestuoso' given name. She had never even been one for celebrations, and it itched her skin to leave as soon as she stepped down the spiralling stairs in the small house. She was greeted with gasps and wolf whistles. Her mother even dabbed her eyes and Fatima pulled little Alec, her brother, onto her shoulders. He smiled and clapped, pointing and whispering in her ear about beauty and him being so proud of his hermana. It made her heart swell with pride. That is, until her father clucked his tounge and became unable to tear his angry gaze from her newly cropped hair, the gentle flower tucked into the mohawk settled on her head. In an attempt to impress him she began to twirl, long and puffy colours flowing around her in a whirl.
That was when she fell to her knees, knocked off balance by the shaking and rumbling of the ground beneath her. Earthquake? Esto no es temporada de terremotos todavía! Taz told herself as she pulled herself up and nearly showed her mother the combat boots and completely different outfit beneath the dress. Before she could think, there was a robot busting through the sliding glass door, repeating one deadly sentance over and over."Kill human enslavers, Kill human enslavers." Taz whirled around just in time to see Fatima motion for her to have her picture taken and whisper to Alec before they were both shot down. It took all her strength to pull the dress up and wipe the makeup on it, but she knew it would never be used by any other little girl who purchased it from her mother's secondhand clothing shop. She frowned and stared at Alec's little arms, tucking him into his mother's arms quickly. It was ridículo,yes, but it would keep him safe in heaven. Before she jumped through the small window in the kitchen, she made sure to grab a large metal fire-poker and a few knifes. She used a knife to rip at the dress until it almost showed the shorts that came to her midthigh. Now it was much easier to move in, but she could still honor this day like a good daughter. She kept that one in her hand and stopped to wipe the tears collecting in her eyes, tucking the other into her hidden belt loop. Then, she let out a battle cry and jumped from the window, metal poker thrust like a spear in front of her small body.
She would take as many of the hijos de puta out as she could before the breath left her body. For Alec. For su familia.
oOoOo
Lieutenant Up frowned, the expression set deeply into his face. It was agonizing, waiting for the idiots on his team to assemble when there were people dying, family by family being slaughtered beneath the Starship Magnifier. The Commander stepped up, rest of the team in tow. Up made a small salute, and Commander Eric smiled and said "At ease, soldier.." before lowering the man's tense arm with his hands. Eric was one of the few people who actually cared about people, and it made Up relax and prepare himself mentally to go through the agonizing pain that accompanied seeing the dead bodies. Some of fellow rangers, some of innocent people who only wanted to have fun. As the pod shakily landed on the broken earth of a small village, Up shook his head and set off in his pre-ordered direction. East. He cursed under his breath as it ran him into a large line of angry robots. This was going to be difficult and risky. To get past them with the large Zapper and his immense body heart would be hard enough. He climbed the large tree and set himself to wait.
He had a wonderful view of everything through the tree. If he stood on his toes and pulled himself almost entirely onto the branch overhead, he could see what they were all headed to. Most were headed into houses where he could hear breaking glass and screams. He could remember it exactly, the night he was scarred and broken. The night he lost it all.
"Geoff, please! Take your sister and go!" Annie Harrison had screamed to her son. He grabbed his 9-year-old sister Kit and wiped the tears from his 13-year-old eyes. His father screamed and he could hear the metal clang and thud as his father's sword and him fell together. Annie jumped to her feet and gave her son directions to the storm cellar. She knew Geoff could hide there until the robots left and dissapeared. She smiled and kissed them on their foreheads for the last time ever, handing Kit her locket and Geoff her wedding ring, pushing them and locking the door before running into the hands of her maker. The hands of death and gentle, cradling arms of God.
It was hard to believe it was only 7 years ago. Amazing. Every time the day came around, he would hide himself in his room. But today, the 7th anniversary, he would shake those thoughts and make a new tradition. The anniversary of his parent's death would now be celebrated with the saving of other lives. Up shook these thoughts and looked down to where a crowd of robots were. He wanted a closer look at them, because they were shaking with mechanical laughter and hitting something that kept screaming "Carajo, me atrevo a continuar! Que todo lo que ha conseguido? Yo no soy ni su bebé, no alfeñique!" loudly, things he didn't understand. All he knew was that it was a girl, and he was going to save her.
He was going to show himself that he could overcome this deaths to save another's life.
oOoOo
Taz could only remember ripping a robot's head off and feeling a sharp blow to her temple. But now she was awakening, her vision blurred. She was tied by a thick cable messily, but it was too tight for her usualy tactics of weakening the loose mess of rope and wriggling free. This was a robot's doing. She looked to the ground beneath her and saw the metal feet of robots. Three. ¡Mierda! Soy un fracaso. ¿Por qué creo que yo podría tener todos estos bastardos hacia abajo en el mío propio? Taz thought to herself as she turned around and around. There was a loud whirr and the robot looked down at her with those black, lifeless eyes. If her mouth weren't so dry, she would spit on the idiota. But she was only able to glare as it began to speak. "Young fe-MALE HU-man child. I hope you en-JOY this game. Is it not a CHILD-ren game you play on birth-DAYS?" The robots around him laughed roughly, and he began to hit her with a large plank of wood. It hit her squarely in to stomach first, then the mid-thigh, then her shoulder. The pain immediately knocked the wind from her, and made her open her mouth in silent pain. But she refused to scream, refused to give them the satisfaction of hearing her suffer.
Instead, she focused herself on screaming. A robot smacked her with her metallic hand to shut her up, but that only caused her to yell louder, spitting insults through the blood dripping from her lip. "Carajo, me atrevo a continuar! Que todo lo que ha conseguido? Yo no soy ni su bebé, no alfeñique! Anda, bastardos. Me golpeó otra vez. Usted cree que porque soy una chica que no puedo tomar? Vamos a ver quién gana esta batalla!" They hit her harder across the face, making her neck snap back and causing her vision to black out momentarily. Taz was unable to stop herself from halting mid-insult to cry out. Hot damn, it was excruciating. She whimpered and they laughed, hitting harder than Taz could take.
The last things she thought she would ever see were the dots of black filling her vision, the falling of the precious white lily. The petals were brushed with a soft sugar-floss pink. It was comforting, even if it was being ruined by the blood dripping from her head, her cheek, her lip. The thought of something so beautiful shining through in the worst time made her oddly calm. It was...strange. Maybe this was why she shrieked and jumped when she heard a deep American accent burst through, country drawl filling her conciousness. "YOU OVERGROWN TOASTERS, BACK AWAY FROM THE LADY!" She heard the sound of Zapper-fire and clanking metal before the robots burst before her, sparking and twitching. There was a spark that landed gently on the lily, making it burst alight with color when the polleny part flared. She knew there was hope, and she glared up at the man. The man who had saved her, and who was now shooting at the cord. It unravelled from around her, and she dropped to her feet, determined to walk in front of him. She had shown enough weakness, but her legs couldn't do it. She collapsed at his feet, giving a soft whimper and slipping into unconciousness.
oOoOo
Up burst through the fence and shot to kill. Soon he reached the small backyard and pulled himself up to see the shape of a girl wrapped tightly with cords. She looked to be about 12, but he knew she was older. Her cheeks were slender and smooth, blood running from cuts and scrapes. She looked like a goddess, glowing red and snarling with insults. It was enough to make Up's heart skip a beat before he jumped the fence, yelling "YOU OVERGROWN TOASTERS, BACK AWAY FROM THE LADY!" He fired his Zapper and screamed a battle cry that would make a Commander 10 times his size cower in fear. Soon, he had taken down all of the robots. He smiled and shot at a rope that was hanging loose, watching the girl unfurl herself and drop down. She was swift, feirce, and perfect. The elegance was soon lost as she glared over at him with such a fire that he couldn't control a smile. He offered his arms out to carry her, but she stubbornly tried to walk up to him. She was determined to get to him, but she collapsed just as she reached his feet.
Up chuckled and scooped the small girl up. She instinctively curled herself into his arms, clutching his shirt. He grabbed a small headband and an equally small ring from the ground beneath her, and pulled his radio out. "Commander Eric, this is Lieutenant Up. I'm requesting the rover sent my way. I have a survior and she's badly beaten. Put up a good fight and killed a few robots single-handedly before I reached her. She needs a med though, over." He was welcomed almost instantly with a reply of "We've got your location, and we're on our way, hang tight. Over." He smiled and kissed the girl's forehead and grabbed her freezing hands. The inside of the headband was labeled with the name 'Taz'. It was...perfect. Taz, his- wait, what? She wasn't his, he had just met her. It embarassed him, face flaring a bright scarlet. But he sighed and rethought, deciding to call her 'Taz, Goddess of the Robots." He could just see the rover coming from around the corner when she unconciously smiled and whispered 'Thank jou, Ranger.." before drifing off.
A/N: So, what do you think? I'm a bit worried that people won't like it, but I'm by no means done.