Trouble With A Capital B- Chapter 1
It was a hot afternoon at the shop. "Hey, Tank! You done with those treads yet?" the boss yelled from the office.
"How many times have I told you not to call me that?" I yelled back. I rolled my eyes. I swear, sometimes it's like I work with a bunch of retarded monkeys.
"Whatever, just finish up and shut 'er down," he said, tossing me the shop keys, "I need you outta here by five."
"Can do, Captain!" I said, giving him the usual sarcastic salute and knocking my hat sideways in the process.
"I'll need you to open late tomorrow, too. I'm going to be at a meeting 'til noon and I need someone to hold down the fort while I'm out." he said as he grabbed his stuff from behind the door.
"Sure thing, Cap. You want me to empty the trash before I leave tonight, too?" I asked.
"Yeah, just keep it in the bag this time, okay?" he replied with a grin. "That wasn't my fault! Joe put glass in the bag!" I pouted.
"Suuuuure," he laughed, " You take it easy, Tank ol' girl!" He said as he walked out the door.
"You too- HEY-! WHAT DID I JUST- UUGH!" I swear, my boss is a total butthead , no doubt.
'It's getting dark early today', I thought to myself as I tied off the trash bag and made my way to the back door into the alley. As I walked past the empty crates we kept behind the shop, I heard a weird little scuffling sound coming from between them and the dumpsters and I could have sworn I saw a short little shadow in the fading light. 'Okay, that's a little different'. I knew we had rats back here, but none that big! I tossed the trash in the dumpster and started back towards the shop, but then an evil thought crossed my mind. 'I wonder how the Captain would feel about a big, fat rat in his office in the morning?' I mused.
If the Grinch could have seen my grin of pure evil at that moment, he'd be proud.
I pulled my leather welding gloves out of my belt and slipped them on; I have some pretty crazy ideas sometimes, but grabbing a wild animal without at least some protection isn't one of them. As quietly as possible, I started sneaking towards the spot where I'd last seen the little shadow. I crawled slowly onto the crate, braced myself, and prepared to pounce. The little shadow was right where I thought, so, as fast as I could be sure it's caster wasn't moving, I snatched it up! "HAH-HA!" I yelled triumphantly as I hoisted my catch into the air.
"WHAT THE-!" I gaped at the thing I had caught. A tiny, angry red face with a visor stared back at me.
"PUT ME ZE SLAG DOWN!" it demanded in a childish voice. I was so shocked that I nearly dropped it. It was about two-and-a-half feet tall and didn't look a thing like what I had planned on catching. It was mostly tan, with certain areas of purple and black. I was so busy examining it that I nearly missed the movement of the little monster rotating two minute cannons in my direction.
"HOLY-!" I cried as it fired two little fireballs that I barely managed to dodge. My grip slipped a bit, but I caught a better hold on it from behind under it's arms.
There was a small whizz and click, and I'll be darned If the thing didn't have a different face! It stopped flailing in my hands, turned towards me and said in a calm voice, "Vould jou please set me down?" If I'd had time to think of something better to say right then, I would have. Of course, since I was still in a bit of shock, my dumb self has to ask awkward questions.
"What are you?" I asked.
"I'm Cybertronian, my name ist Blitzving." It replied