Author notes: So, real life has apparently killed my writing time. Oh, real life, why must you interfere so much..?
Also, it seems the gods of FFNet have made another strange edit. I sort of understand the 'no run on sentences' thing, as it could be a website. I don't really get the 'remove standard line breaks' thing, but what the hey. Now, it seems if I end a sentence in both a question mark and an exclamation mark - like a shouted question - one of the punctuation marks are removed. This baffles me.
SO. With a test: Test one? Test two! Test three? Test four? And test five !
Let's see how that works.
Things should speed along a bit now, just had to get some of the basic 'this is how it starts' stuff out of the way. I estimate five chapters more of Hubcap. Let's see if I'm correct.
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Fireflies are flying higher
They draw their wings up in the sky
Something I cannot read now
For my vision is blurred
We all are ruled by our fears below
Higher high
We are stuck and can't get out again
There's more than we deny
And there's more than meets the eye
- 'Higher High', Epica
Souvenir: The Six
Chapter Four
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Hubcap had bathed in public, before. In fact, he couldn't recall more than a spare few instances that he had cleaned himself in any sort of privacy. It simply wasn't the way most people did things. For most of Cybertron's population, public washracks were the norm and had long since been set up as a common sight around the planet.
No matter what district Hubcap has found himself in, there had always been at least one washrack station. As far as he had known, only the wealthy ever really bothered to privatize something as ordinary as cleaning; most bots went to the same bathhouses that their creators had gone to and that was that. The concept that it should be anything different never crossed their processors.
Although, considering the con-artist that he was, Hubcap had always avoided the no-cost washracks in the poorer districts; thievery, even of one's own armor, wasn't unheard of in those places and they often smelled strangely, besides.
What made the present so intolerable and humiliating wasn't that he was being cleansed in front of other optics at all; he was used to that. It wasn't even the claws running over his frame and picking at every scar and scuff caused by the previous night, although that was a small horror in itself.
What truly set the minibot in to a shaking mess of scattered, panic-filled thoughts were the comments.
"Oh-ho!" A leering Decepticon from the next cubicle over laughed. "Looks like Shockwave finally got himself a little frag-toy!"
"A minibot, even!" Another roared as if it were the funniest joke he had ever heard. "Hey, are they as tight as everyone says?"
"Hey, Shockwave!" Someone from deeper in the washracks yelled. "Can the rest of us have a go at him some time?" Whoops, cheers and laughter echoed the suggestion.
Shockwave didn't so much as twitch; he simply kept on cleaning as if he hadn't heard any of it.
Hubcap covered his audios and tried to pretend he wasn't there.
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When the collar was latched around his throat again, Hubcap didn't fight it, although he did shudder at the feel of it; the need to escape the washracks was strong enough to override any humiliation he may have felt. The continued snickers and leers were all but impossible to ignore or pretend away.
The leash was pulled and he followed. He didn't know where he was being taken, now, and he didn't particularly care; all that mattered, with his mind numb and shellshocked, was to get out of that room as quickly as possible. All he had the sense to do was to follow the monster on the other end of the chain.
As he walked, he wrapped his arms around himself in a tight embrace and nearly stumbled on his own shaking legs.
For a time - and time was another thing that he was quickly losing track of -, the halls that passed by quieted in to a much more tolerable hum. Words were made indecipherable with distance and the softer, more casual tones. The minibot didn't look up once, gaze focused on the floor in front of him.
Along the way, a few puddles of partially dried pink were passed; a shudder coursed through his frame at every new sighting.
Suddenly, volume exploded; the minibot's helm shot up in alarm, only to realize that it was coming from an open door that Shockwave had approached. Beyond it were dozens upon dozens of Decepticons, mingling and chatting in what looked like an otherwise ordinary cafeteria.
With recognition came relief; it was only a mess hall. He couldn't think of any danger or humiliation that could happen here; nothing like the washracks of a few moments before, at any rate.
They stepped inside; the cafeteria was large but not spacious, made crowded by numerous long tables and a high number of tall and bulky frames. The only place that seemed comfortable to sit at was a pair of highly ornate, decorative tables in a separate alcove.
A single slit optic glanced around. After several seconds, cloven pedes made their way to one of the tables against a wall.
The table was only half filled; at Shockwaves approaching form, every set of the half dozen or so pairs of red optics widened in what looked like terror and stopped what they had been doing.
Shockwave walked to the wall by the table and clasped the tail end of the leash to a waiting hook.
As he did so, the table quickly cleared out; the Decepticons all but bolted, running in panic.
What sounded like a pleased chuckle left the monster when he noticed. Then, he began to walk away. Hubcap followed the one-eyed Decepticon with his sight, confused, before he spotted the energon dispenser that Shockwave headed towards.
The tables on either side and behind Shockwave's chosen station quickly found themselves empty, as well. Hubcap might have found it funny if he hadn't been where he was. Instead, he gulped, wondering what it meant when even other Decepticons were terrified of your captor.
It didn't take long for the monster in question to return. When he did, a single cube was set down by the tethered minibot before he took a seat at the vacated table.
Hubcap unashamedly grabbed for the cube; he hadn't refueled since before the Autotroopers had burst in to his apartment what felt like a very long time ago.
As he drank the cube, he wondered if he would ever see that apartment - or any parts of Cybertron - ever again.
With the depressing thoughts came a new flare of panic; the minibot had begun to understand what was going on and he was terrified that he couldn't escape it. The monster that had 'claimed' him certainly seemed to have things set up just for a spark slave of his size; the collar simply fit far too snug to imply otherwise.
Spark slavery was a horrible business; he had skimmed the edges of that world only once, when he had first begun his life of crime, and had been subsequently terrified enough to never get that deep in to such things ever again. That situation had him on the other end of the mess; the idea of being the object abused was something entirely different.
He had to find a way out of here.
A flash of color caught his optics; Hubcap looked up and over his partially empty cube and quickly found what had caught the corner of his vision.
Across the mess hall, chained and bound in much the same fashion as he was, sat a familiar mech. The faceplate that had earlier resembled a vacuum nozzle now sported a deep, bleeding crack all along it.
Hubcap openly gaped; Searchlight stared back with a similar surprise.
They were too far from each other to communicate properly. Still, at the sadness and realization that slowly crossed the other minibots' faceplate, Hubcap realized that the bot that he had met the day before was in exactly the same situation that he was in.
All of them must have been; the entire batch of civilians must have been spread out and claimed, as well.
Hubcap downed the rest of his cube in a single gulp, unable to stop himself from trembling.
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After the monster had finished his cube, the leash was strung on again. From there, they returned to the room with the ill-fitting furniture.
Hubcap couldn't help but whimper as he was led inside and the collar unlatched; for several terrified moments, he stared at the berth nudged against the wall and wondered if he would be attacked again. For all he knew, the monster might prefer some after-breakfast activity.
The minibot didn't move as the collar and leash were set aside. He stood there, shook and waited.
"I will return in a few megacycles."
That was not what he was expecting; stunned, Hubcap glanced up to find that the monster was already at the door. Then, the Decepticon simply left; as the door slid shut, it let out a loud 'click' as it locked shut.
Hubcap stared at the door in a stupor; it took several long minutes to understand what had just happened.
When he did, a shudder coursed through him; now, he knew exactly how the monster operated. It made sense, in a twisted, depraved sort of way; clean him, feed him, and then lock him away until it would be time to have more 'fun'.
A small garbage bin was against the wall; the minibot had the sense to grab for it before he began to vomit.
He allowed himself to heave dryly for a short while in to the now filthy bin before he pulled himself back; he had to find a way out.
So, he began to investigate the room much as he had the day before; this time, there were no delusions of pretend or wishes that it was all a dream; the pain in his chest was far too real for it to be anything else.
The only door in and out was locked; pounding his fists against it did nothing but make his wrists hurt. There was a ventilation shaft underneath the chaise and against the wall; with a cry of dismay, Hubcap found that it was far too small for even his frame to fit through. Although, he did give it a solid kick for good measure.
He had even checked behind the shelf of datapads and inside the shelf itself, hoping beyond hope for some sort of secret passage like all the villains in the movies had. Again, there was nothing.
As the hours ticked by, the terror only grew; Hubcap began to sob with the knowledge that the monster was going to return and there was only one thing that he was after.
The door was kicked and punched again in a fit of desperation; the minibot didn't try to stop himself from screaming wordlessly or from crying. The tantrum lasted what felt like a long time.
When he was spent, Hubcap curled up in the corner and waited, faceplate buried in his knees.
Then, there came a long period of silence compounded further by his panic-ridden thoughts.
Eventually, the door slid open again. The footsteps that came after that sounded very loud.
Hubcap didn't look up; instead, he curled tighter, expecting the claws to grab at him and for another assault to occur.
For several very long minutes, nothing happened. Hesitantly, he looked up.
The minibot gaped in disbelief to find that the monster was lounging on the chaise, seemingly relaxed, and holding a datapad in his claws.
At first, he was stupefied in incredulity. Then, anger began to brew; however, he was far too frightened to express it. So, he stayed where he was, curled up and silent.
Everything was far too quiet; the only noise were the clicks of the claws on the datapad itself and the occasional hum of some circuitry in the walls.
After what his chronometer told him was exactly three quarters of a megacycle, the clock above the berth let out a wild, unhappy-sounding alarm. As soon as it chimed, Shockwave glanced up and slid off the chaise.
Claws slid the datapad back in to the shelf. Then, cloven pedes made their way towards the unmoving Autobot; Hubcap tensed as terror flared.
He had known this was coming; still, as the claws gently wrapped themselves around one yellow arm and lifted him to his pedes, the minibot began to hiccup again.
"Oh, Primus, please don't, it still hurts from yesterday!" Hubcap tugged at his arm with a whimper.
With some surprise on the Autobots' end, the words seemed to have an effect; Shockwave froze mid-stride. Then, with frightening speed, the much taller Decepticon whirled to kneel in front of his prisoner.
Hubcap jolted; he couldn't tell if his captor was angry or otherwise. Not with that single optic and no expression he could make out.
He did know, however, that the claws that grabbed at the latches closing his chest together likely intended terrible things. He hiccuped and tried to squirm, but the claws held firm; it didn't take long to unlatch his chest plate from the rest of his chassis and toss it aside.
Tremors coursed through the minibot as that single optic loomed close, peering at his spark chamber. The shaking only increased as what sounded like a snarl evoked itself from the monster.
"Wonderful." The thick sarcasm came as a shock. "It's my own fault, I suppose." The monster grabbed the tossed piece of yellow armor and began to set it back on; Hubcap could only stare in shock.
The claws, however, did not let go; as the monster stood back up, he continued to pull the minibot towards the berth. The small Autobot struggled to no avail.
He expected for Shockwave to make another show of removing his chest armor again; allowing it back on must have been only a brief reprieve for further torment. He expected there to be a repeat of the previous night and for the terrible, horrible pain to come back.
Instead, he was set back on the berth and the monster laid on top of him. Shockwave grabbed for the minibot, but only to hold him close; there was no molestation against his spark chamber or even the armor above it.
"You are a lucky one." The monster whispered from above. "I will allow you to heal. Not many of our slaves have that luxury."
Then, the large, nightmarish red optic began to dim and power down. Not too long after, the Decepticon's intakes slowed in to what could only be recharge.
Hubcap simply laid there, shocked for several seconds. Then, he squirmed, trying to free himself from the heavy frame on top of him; the claws holding him close only curled tighter around him, despite that Shockwave couldn't have been awake.
With a whimper, all that the minibot could do was lie there and try to fall in to recharge as well.
He didn't sleep for the entire night.
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Fortune, fairy tales
We've all been told
Our pattern, never built, never begin
I can tell you there can't always be
A happy end to every tale
We all are ruled by our fears below
Higher high
We are stuck and can't get out again
There's more than we deny
And there's more than meets the eye
- 'Higher High', Epica