The Femme and the Beast

Back in the village, Sentinel was sitting by the fire waiting to his drink, thinking about what had happened this morning.

"How dare that femme say no to me! No one says no to me!"

"Now Sentinel, you need to stop beating yourself up like this." Swindle said, while bringing a drink for himself and the blue mech "I'm sure she'll come around eventually."

"I hope your right."

Just then the door to the bar opened and entered a frightened and slightly crazed Wheeljack.

"Someone help me!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him

"Please I need help! He's…he's got her locked in the dungeon!"

"Who?" asked a slightly drunk mech

"My daughter, Jena!" Wheeljack exclaimed "We have to go save her! There's not a minute to lose!"

"Whoa, there Wheeljack," Sentinel interjected "Who got Jena locked in a dungeon?"

Wheeljack stammered "I…I don't know what it was. I'm not even sure it was a mech! It…it was a monster, a breast! A terrible, horrible beast!"

There was a long pause of silence before everyone in the bar started cracking up laughing. Then some of the people there started making fun of Wheeljack by asking him questions about the so called beast.

"Was it a big beast?"

"He was huge! He was large and taller then anyone in this room!"

"Did he carry any weapons?"

"He did! One of his servos was a hook!"

"Did he have an ugly face?"

Wheeljack shuddered "It was hideous! He had pale white face with black markings and red optics that were the color of the fires of the pit itself! " Wheeljack started to pled again "Please won't someone help me?"

"Alright, old mech, we'll help you out." Sentinel said

Wheeljack felt his hope restored, he was smiling behind his faceplate "You will?" He felt two mechs take a hold of his arms "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

But then the two mechs tossed him out the door and into the storm where he fell into a large pile of snow.

Back in the bar one the mech who threw Wheeljack out commented "Crazy, old Wheeljack."

The other mech commented as well "He's always good for a laugh."

"Crazy, old Wheeljack," Sentinel muttered to himself, but then after a while he snapped his fingers "That's it!"

"What's it, Sentinel?" Asked Swindle

Sentinel moved closer to Swindle and then started whispering low enough so that only the tan and purple mech could hear "I figure out how I can win Jena over."

Swindle looked at him with a slightly surprised expression "Oh, really how so?"

"I realized why Jena won't leave and come with me. What to know why?" Swindle nodded his head "It's because she's always has to take care of that loony, old father of hers. But if for some reason he just happened to have to leave her, then I can just let Jena stay with me while her poor father is away."

Swindle smiled and raises an optical ridge in amusement "So I'm guessing you have a plan of some sort?"

Sentinel smiled and nodded "It's quite simple, my dear, old friend. We show a specialist just how crazy Wheeljack is, he goes to an insane asylum for who know how long and then Jena will try to do anything to make sure he doesn't stay. No matter what the cost may be she'll do it to keep her precious father safe.

"Sounds like a good plan. Do you have someone in mind that we can talk to?"

"No and I'm not really sure where we're going to find one."

Swindle grins "Well, worry not my friend. I know a mech who be perfect for the job."

Sentinel laughs evilly "Excellent."

Outside of the bar, Wheeljack manages to get himself back up. He was so disappointed that no one would listen to him. So he made a decision, he would have to go back to the castle and save Jena himself, but not tonight. He was tired and the storm was getting worse. 'Oh, Jena I can only hope you'll be safe until I get back there.' With that Wheeljack starts the long trudge back to his home, feeling any empty hole starting to develop in his spark.

Back at Lockdown's castle, Jena was still in her room crying her optics out. Until she heard a knock at the door "Who is it?"

"It's Red Alert, dear." Jena opened the door, but noticed that no one was standing there. She gasped as a teapot along with a cup came in "I was wondering if you would like some energon."

Jena wondered if maybe she was starting to go crazy "But…but you're a…" Jena backed away only to run into a closet.

"Hey, be careful!" the closet snapped

"This…this is impossible."

"Maybe so but its true." The closet then adds "I'm Strika by the way."

"I'm Bumblebee," Jena looked down to see a little yellow and black cup with two horns talking to her "You're really pretty."

Jena blushed "Uh…thank you."

"Here you go, my dear." Red Alert poured some energon from her spout into Bumblebee, who then came up to Jena "Careful it might be hot."

Jena hesitantly picked him up and took a small sip "Hmm, this is good. Thank you."

"You're welcome. You know that was very brave what you did that there." Red Alert commented

Strika then adds "We all think so. Not many bots would be able to stand up to our master like you did."

"Maybe, but now I've lost my father, my home, my dreams and everything." Jena says sadly

"Try to cheer up, Jena. Everything will turn out alright." Says Red Alert before remembering something "Oh, I almost forgot we have to go there still supper that needs to be prepared. Bumblebee lets go."

"Bye." Bumblebee says as he hops off Jena's servo and leaves the room with Red Alert

"Well, then why don't we pick you something to wear for dinner?" Strika asks "Let's see what we got." Strika opens her closet doors only for some moths to fly out, she quickly shuts them "Sorry that was a little embarrassing." She opens them once more "Now how about this one?" She pulls out a red and pink dress "I think it will look good on you."

Jena sighs "That's very nice of you, but I don't think I'll be going to dinner."

Strika gasps "But you must, the master will be very upset if you don't."

Just then the door opened and the black and gold clock known as Prowl entered the room "Pardon me for interrupting, but I like to announce that dinner is served."

Meanwhile down stairs in the dining room, Lockdown was pacing back and forth near the fireplace.

"What's taking so long?" He mutters "I told her to come down." He turns his attention to Jazz and Red Alert, who were standing on the mantle over the fire place "Why isn't she here yet?"

"Sir, please try to be patient." Red Alert says calmly "The poor femme lost her father and her freedom all in one day."

"Uh…master, have you thought that maybe this femme could be the one to break the spell?" Jazz asked

"Of course I have!" Lockdown snapped

"Good," Jazz praised "So you fall in love with her, she falls in love with you and bingo! No more curse, we'll be robots again and you'll be free to go beyond the forest again all by midnight."

"Jazz, you can't just rush things like love." Red Alert protested "These things take time."

"Maybe but time something we don't have. The rose is already starting to wilt." Jazz argues back

Lockdown sighs "It's no use. She so beautiful and I'm just…well look at me!"

Jazz and Red Alert look at each other unsure what to say, but eventually Red Alert speaks up "Master, you just need to help her see past all that."

"I don't know how." Lockdown grumbles

Red Alert rolls her eyes "Well, you can start by trying to act like a gentle-mech."

Jazz starts to add in his own ideas "Yeah, show her your witness."

"But be gentle."

"Shower her with confidence."

"But be sincere."

Lockdown was getting annoyed; all this pointer tips were too much for him. He almost lost it when Jazz started "And above all…you must not lose your temper!" The two appliances said in unison

Just then they heard the door open, Lockdown almost jumped, still not confident that he was ready for this. But it turned out only to be Prowl.

"Well, where is she?" Lockdown asked tensely

Prowl stuttered "Well…uh…she's…um…" Prowl sighed in defeat "She says she's not coming."

There was a brief silence before Lockdown's voice bellowed "WHAT!" It was so loud it echoed throughout the entire castle. He stormed out of the dining hall and started to make his way towards Jena's room with Prowl, Jazz and Red Alert following quickly behind him.

"Master, master, please let's not do anything hasty!" Prowl tired to appease him

When Lockdown came to the door, he pounded one it three times "I thought I told you to come down for dinner!"

"I'm not hungry." Came Jena's voice from behind the door

Lockdown let out a growl of annoyance "You'll come out or I'll…I'll break down the door!"

"Uh…master" Lockdown turned to look at Jazz "I might be wrong, but I don't think that's the best way to win her affections."

"Please, sir" Prowl pleaded "Could you attempt to be a gentle-mech?"

"But she being so…difficult!" Lockdown snarled

"Master, please gently, gently." Red Alert whispers

"Will you come down to dinner?" Lockdown asked more gently

"No." Jena replied

Lockdown looks at his servants with an "I told you so" look, but they issue him to try again.

"It would give me great pleasure," Lockdown says through gritted dentals "If you would join me for dinner." Prowl mouths at him to add a please "…Please."

"No, thank you." Jena says

"You can't stay in there forever!" Lockdown yells

"Yes, I can!" Jena says with confidence

"Fine!" Lockdown huffs "Go ahead and starve for all I care!" Lockdown turns to his servants again "If she doesn't eat with me, then she doesn't eat at all!"

Lockdown leaves to go back to his room. The three appealiences look at each other with disappointment. This could be a lot harder then they thought.

Lockdown busts the door of his room and tosses a chair aside, mumbling to himself "I ask her nicely and she refuses." He walks over to the table near the balcony "What does want me to do beg?"

He grabs hold of the mirror on the table "Show the femme." He briefly sees his own reflection before the mirror showed Jena and Strika sitting on her bed, talking to each other.

"You know the master isn't really that bad once you get to know him." Commented Strika "Why don't you give him a chance?"

"But I don't want to give him a chance," Jena protested "I don't want anything to do with him."

Lockdown looked in shock as he listened to what Jena had just said; he placed the mirror back down and sighed "Who am I kidding? She'll never see me anymore then some monster." He watched as another petal from the rose dropped down to join the four that had already fallen off "It's hopeless."

Later on that night Jena, driven by her hunger, snuck out of her room. Unaware that behind the curtain just outside her room, Arcee and Jazz were watching her leave. Jena managed to find her way through the castle and then head downstairs towards the kitchen.

In the kitchen Red Alert was putting Bumblebee to bed while Prowl was grumbling about the events that had occurred this night.

"If you ask me that femme is just being a bit stubborn. The master did try his hardest to be nice." Says Prowl

"But unless the master learns to control that temper of his, I'm afraid-"Red Alert stopped as she noticed that Jena had entered the kitchen

"Good to see you out and about, Miss Jena." Prowl says politely "Rest assured if there anything you need to make yourself more comfortable, do say so."

"Well…I am a little hungry." Jena timidly admits

"You are?" Red Alert asked "Someone start making her something to eat."

"Red Alert, remember what the master said." Prowl whispered

"Oh, for Primus sake, Prowl." Everyone turned to see Jazz and Arcee enter the kitchen "You don't want the poor femme to go hungry do you?"

"Arcee, right after all she is our guest." Jazz points out

Prowl sighs in defeat "Alright, but just keep it down. If the master finds out it will be on our heads."

After a little preparation, they manage to make a wonderful meal for Jena. Then once she was done, she helped clean the dishes. Prowl looked down at the clock that made part of his face to see it was pretty late.

"It's getting late; I suppose it's off to bed."

"Are you kidding? I couldn't possibly go to bed now." Jena exclaimed "This is my first time in an enchanted castle."

"And just made you think the castle is enchanted?" asked Prowl

Jena rolled her optics at such an obvious question "Oh, you know with the talking furniture and stuff like that. I just kind of figured it out myself." Jena thought a bit before adding "I would really like to have a look around. That is if it's okay with you of course."

"Come on, Prowl." Jazz nudges him "You know the castle better then anyone. Give her a tour."

"I suppose that would be alright."