Holy CRAP I completely forgot to upload the rest of this!
Whiplash did little besides pace in a circle around her cell. Every now and then she would grow bored with her current mode and transform, only to resume pacing in her other body. On the second day, three energon cubes appeared out of nowhere in the center of the room.
To keep your strength up, the Zookeeper said. Never let it be said that I don't take care of my guests.
She scowled up at the ceiling, because that was as good a place as any to scowl when it was everywhere. "Forget it."
Now now. I have already been feeding that photosynthetic plant matter you have grafted onto your body. Matching the wavelengths of light you require is child's play to me. Or did you not notice you were practically on the verge of blooming?
Whiplash froze and took mental stock of herself. She raised her hand to take a good look at the forest hound's face mounted on the side. Sure enough, the bark looked healthy, almost radiant. The grass mane which hung off the back of her robot head was fullbodied and lustrous. It hadn't been this healthy since her last visit planetside.
She could almost hear the smug grin in the Zookeeper's voice as it went on, You have already been accepting my care, so it makes very little sense to be picky about it now. And if you do not cooperate, we can do it the hard way…
"All right, fine!" she snapped. She had a feeling that whatever the "hard way" was, he would enjoy it too much. And she wouldn't give him that. She took the cubes and drained them quickly. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of enjoying herself either.
But then she realized she'd absorbed too much fuel too fast. Static overcharge. Like when Cassidy drank something too cold too fast, he would grasp his head as if he were in pain. A similar whammy hit her, but its affect was more of the mind. The world spun; inhibitions peeled away.
"Oh man," she slurred. "Oh man. Shoulda been more careful. Wut a rush." The sound of her own voice humored her for some reason, and she grinned. "Hee. I shound funny. I think I'm… uh… what'sh th'word?"
No answer.
"Fine, be that way." She dropped onto her aft. Her tailed wriggled in the floor around her, and for a moment she tried to grab on. It dodged her hand of its own volition. She giggled. "C'mere y'bastard," she taunted her own body part. It came closer, but when she tried to snatch it again it swished out of her reach. "Fine, be that way," she told it too.
She looked around the room, hoping there would be something fun to do. "I don't suppose you got any video games? A book? A dirty magazine? C'mon, don't leave a gal hanging!"
Still no answer.
"Screw it," she grumbled, then louder "Screw you!" She fell the rest of the way down, onto her back and laughed mirthlessly. "Screw it, I'mma nap."
Lights out.
"I can't believe it. Even locked in a box you can't stay out of trouble," Moonhunter's voice said inside her head.
No, it wasn't inside her head, it was coming from outside. He was just pulsing it through her internal communicator so she could hear it while offline. Whiplash reactivated. Déjà vu. Like the first time, she wished she hadn't, but for different reasons. Her processor ached from the last vestiges of overcharge.
Moonhunter stood outside the box, hands on his hips and giving her that look of sanctimonious annoyance only a straight-lace could give. Well what did he expect? She'd grown up on the streets while he had been off galavanting amongst the stars, looking to avenge her death when she had been alive the whole time. Maybe if he'd actually stuck around to look for her then she would have turned out more like him. That thought made her shudder and sent another wave of nausea through her processor. Her, like Moonhunter? Ugh.
She looked for Cassidy but he wasn't around. Of course, Moonhunter wouldn't have brought him back. Instead, a human she did not recognize stood behind him, handcuffed and gagged. She couldn't believe it…
"A deal's a deal!" Moonhunter shouted at the walls. "Now let her go!"
The apparition reformed near beside Moonhunter. Is this my human? It sounded gleeful, like a child about to open a Christmas present. Whiplash thought she was going to hurl.
"This is a human," Moonhunter said. "Jude Goldstein. Earth-stock. A very rare and special breed."
Oh?
"He's…" Moonhunter looked at the human, then back at the apparition. The human looked absolutely terrified. "Jewish."
Oh! I've heard of those!
"Of course you have. Now… the exchange?"
Yes, yes, of course! the Zookeeper said. The glass window winked out of existence. Just put Jude Goldstein in there.
Whiplash almost refused to go. Being gagged, Jude was expressing his unwillingness the only way he could, by shaking his head emphatically. How could she live free knowing it was at the expense of another living being?
"Whiplash, come on out of there," Moonhunter insisted. "Come on. Trust me, I know what I'm doing."
Maybe he deserved it. Moonhunter was crafty like that. He would catch some murderer, or someone who deserved to be locked up, and hand him over to the Zookeeper. He wouldn't condemn some random innocent to this hellhole. Would he?
She acquiesced, walking by Jude and Moonhunter shoved him in. The moment they passed each other, Whiplash felt a sinking in the gut she didn't have. This was really happening, and she looked at him and their eyes met and she pleaded for him to forgive her because she had no choice, Moonhunter would shut her down and haul her out if he had to. That was the way he was, he got stuff done. Even when it went against every lesson of morality he had taught her.
As they walked out of the hallway, the human's voice suddenly rung out, pleading and invoking for mercy and even damning them both. The Zookeeper must have removed his bonds. Whiplash picked up her pace to get out of there as soon as they could. That was no murderer or bad man, she could tell by the fear in his voice. Just a frightened lamb sacrificed for her.
It was quite a walk back to Moonhunter's ship, over the barren jagged mountains where she had first been kidnapped. He had parked a way's away, probably motivated out of his damn paranoia. She said nothing to him for the entire walk. She had nothing to say. The only sound came from the haunted winds whistling their displeasure around them. If he wanted her in his life so much, she was damn well sure she wasn't going to let him get any satisfaction out of it. Soon as they made it to a civilized planet she was off, she was gone. She never wanted to see him again.
They boarded the ship and Cassidy was there, at the controls. He smiled in sad relief to see her. It wasn't his fault, he was just following his daddy's orders, but he had been party to this and she hated him too. When the hatch closed behind them, she snapped. Turning on Moonhunter, she shoved him hard. "HOW COULD YOU?" she shouted, then balled up her fists and began pounding on the canine head he displayed on his chest. "WHAT THE HELL SLAG DID YOU JUST DO?"
She went on. Moonhunter just watched her patiently while she unloaded on him, accepting all her abuse and scorn. She paused, gave him a window to defend himself if he dared. But if he did dare, if he tried to justify what he had done in any way, she would hate him all the more.
But instead of words came a loud BOOM! Behind them, an explosion. Coming from the Zookeeper's ship. She turned and rushed to the window. Energy, reds and blues and yellows, an unholy lightshow, streamed into the sky from the massive orb.
Moonhunter approached her from behind. "Remember when I said that human was a 'prime specimen'?" he asked.
She reeled on him again, seeing him in a whole new light. His devious side. The trickster. Her creator had so many facets that she could not keep track of them all. "Yes?" she said hesitantly.
"I didn't mean because he was Jewish. He's metahuman. Energy-manipulator."
"Energy-manipulator?" She was starting to put it together. The Zookeeper was energy.
"That lightshow you see? It's the Zookeeper. Being dispersed. Jude's an old friend of mine. Owed me a favor."
"He's killing the Zookeeper?" she asked.
"Yep. Got a problem with that?"
"No…" she pondered it, then agreed with her initial reaction. "No. He was a menace, kidnapping people and ruining their lives."
A particularly bright comet of energy streaked from the ruined ship and flew toward them. As its glow subsided Whiplash could make out the figure of a human: Goldstein, flying right at them.
"Cassidy, stay inside. Jude'll be emitting some pretty high rads for a while," Moonhunter said as he reopened the hatch and stepped out. Whiplash stayed close behind. Jude landed before them just as the final aura around his body subsided.
"Hey, Jude," Moonhunter said.
Whiplash gave him a look. "Really?" she asked flatly. He was going to ruin the moment with a Beatles quote? "Really?"
"That was trickier than I thought. Never dealt with sentient energy before." He paused, tilted his head. "Tastes like pastrami."
Moonhunter placed his hands on his hips. "You clean?"
"Yeah. Rads are all dispersed."
"Come on, I owe you a ride home. Great acting back there, by the way. Two thumbs up."
"What about the other captives in the zoo?" Whiplash asked.
Moonhunter tilted his head toward her. "Already got that covered. There's a Maximal science vessel waiting at the edge of the system. The Axalon. They're gonna come down here and try to get as many of them home as they can."
She should have known, Moonhunter had it all covered. She was sorry she doubted him. Again. Not that she would admit it. Instead, she punched him in the arm. "Don't scare me like that again!" she chided.
"Don't get yourself kidnapped again," was his retort.
She groaned. "Deal."