Chapter XI
Megatron was wondering why Blitzwing hadn't shown up yet; it had been several days with no report from the triple-changer. He was beginning to think that humans really were not what they seemed after all. They were probably torturing the tar out of the lunatic right now.
Even Starscream himself was impressed with the human race, and grateful. For so long he had been trying to ignore that annoying whelp and now he was gone. Finally gone! If he ever met one of the filthy little organics, he would be sure to thank it, then kill it. But the seeker's dream shattered when Megatron had said they were going to Earth and first retrieve Blitzwing before finding the All Spark. He thought that maybe he had found some sort of information about it to make their search go more smoothly.
"If I ever see that sad excuse of a Decepticon again…" Starscream muttered to himself.
"Stop your sniveling, Starscream," Lugnut roared. "Mighty Megatron has commanded us and we shall obey, for we are-"
"Will you just shut up?!" Starscream shouted. Maybe Lugnut could skip to the head of the seeker's killing list above Blitzwing.
*
"Icefire, yo! There's something wrong with him!" Darkjaw ran up to the dragon, out of breath.
"Who are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about Blitzy."
"There's something wrong with him?"
"Yes!"
"And you just now figured that out?"
"No, no, no. I don't mean that! I mean that each time I speak to him, he stops in a middle of sentence and says something else like 'He's coming to get me', and he says it in a different language."
"Tell to me later, I need to talk to Biba, okay?"
"Sure…" the shark sighed and ran off back to the lake to test if Blitzwing would glitch out on him again. Icefire walked over to a band of thick trees where she was sure Biba was hanging around. And speaking of hanging around…
"Hi!" the monkey screeched, hanging by her tail, upside-down, on a tree and nearly scared Icefire to death since she was so close. "Did I scare you?"
"Close," the dragon breathed. "You were close."
"Darn," Biba pouted. "I wanted to see you fall backwards…"
"I, uh…wanted to ask you something. It's about Megatron coming here." Icefire scratched her head, not knowing how the monkey would respond.
"Yeah?" Biba stared blankly.
"Well…Do you think you're ready? You know, to fight whatever comes your way?" Icefire tried to make this sound so that Biba could understand it. "Just think for a bit, close your eyes." Biba obeyed. "Now, you see Megatron, the big, scary man…What are you gonna do?"
"I'm-a run up to him an' tear his face off!" Biba cheered, still having her eyes closed. Icefire smiled.
"Think you can dodge him if he tries to hit you?"
"Bring it on!" Biba opened her eyes and smiled. "Sis taught me that."
"Typical Panthora…" Icefire smiled back and her hand out. The monkey was so small that she was almost smaller than her hand. "Want to go play with Bubba?" That was what Biba used to call her older brother.
"Bubby!" she shouted joyfully. "Where's Bubby?"
"He's at home, in the cave."
A sad look went across Biba's face. "I wanna go back home," she repeated for another time that Icefire had lost count.
"We'll get home somehow, but for now, we have to fight the big, bad meanie man!"
"Yeah!" Biba grunted. She held out her fists and gave her tail to the dragon. "Hold me back!"
Icefire laughed at the little girl's enthusiasm. On the way back, Icefire heard a gunshot ring out across the land. She looked up to see the birds fly away from the spot where the bang took place. She locked onto its location and let Biba go to follow. Biba started swinging on trees, following Icefire who flew low to the canopies. She landed twenty meters away from the shot and whispered to the monkey to be quiet as they tip-toed to the area. Icefire shook back a couple of branches to take a better the look. She saw a female deer laying on the ground, dead.
"Oh!" Biba gasped. Icefire told the monkey to be silent once more and the monkey took her paws to her mouth and stared at the fallen deer. Icefire took another glance and spotted two men in hunter's clothes walking towards the deer. One poked it with its gun.
"Is it dead?" the other asked.
"Yep, she's dead all right," the man answered. Icefire's and Biba's minds were set on the men and suddenly their vision changed as they saw them. There was a circle around one head and another around the other. A line formed from each circle and on top of the circle gave their names. The man who poked the doe was named Marty Stevens and the other was his blood relative, Henry Stevens.
"Do ya think we'll get caught doing this?" Henry said shakily.
"What, way out here in the deepest part o' the forest? Yeah, right." He spat at the ground. "Start usin' yer head, moron."
Icefire growled deeply. She knew it was wrong to kill a female deer, especially just outside the camping zone. She wished she had a few Native Americans over here to teach them how to hunt. What she heard from her favorite history teacher was that they gave the animals a chance to escape. If they didn't escape that meant their god allowed them to have it.
Apparently, the brothers heard her and held their guns close.
"What wassat?" Henry whimpered. Marty took out a cigarette and lit it.
"Prob'ly just a wolf," he muttered. He loaded a bullet and cocked his gun. He held it up to his dominant eye and looked for the owner of the growl. "Come out, ya stupid animal!"
"Stupid?!" Biba shouted. The Stevens brothers flinched and stared at where Biba had shouted. They saw a little metal monkey and a large mechanical human-dragon…and they looked angry!
"Did you just call us stupid, you filthy little hunter!" Icefire shouted at the paralyzed men. "It's against the law to shoot a doe, and you know it! I should turn you in for this!"
Marty took his hand to the side of his head. "I must-a had too many beers."
"You shouldn't even have any by the dirty looks of you!" the dragon growled. She stepped out from the trees to reveal her entire form. The brothers held their guns up and their eyes wide open. "Now, answer this riddle."
"What?!" Henry screamed.
"It's every dragon's law; the riddle's answer decides the human's fate. If you answer correctly, I'll let you live, but you shall still be tortured, then turned in to the rangers. If you fail, you die where you stand."
"But that's not fair! We don't want either!" Marty shouted.
"It is fair!" Icefire roared, baring her teeth. They seemed to grow larger the angrier she became. "Either you live or you die."
The brothers looked at each other with fear and figured they were right. "Lay it on us."
Icefire smiled and looked at Biba on her shoulder. "Now, don't answer this for them, okay? I've told you this before." Biba nodded rapidly and the dragon turned back to her victims and started her riddle.
"As I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with seven wives. Each wife had seven sacks. Each sack had seven cats. Each cat had seven kits. Kits, cats, sacks, and wives; how many were going to St. Ives?"
"One!" Henry blurted out. Marty slapped his brother.
"Are you nuts?!" he shouted. "There's more than that!"
"No! It's a trick question! 'How many were goin' to St. Ives'? At the beginning of the riddle, she said only 'I was going to St. Ives' and on the way she met the man. On the way there! The answer is one!"
"Smart man," Icefire grinned. Marty looked up at the dragon in fear, but Henry still held the smile on his face from when he answered right. The smile disappeared as Icefire transformed into a true dragon and Biba into a real form of a monkey. The dragon picked up both the men by the hoods of their coats with her teeth and lifted into the sky.
"You said ya'd let us live!" Marty screeched.
"What I said was 'I'll let you live and be tortured, then turned in to the rangers'. You're coming back with me for stage one of our agreement."
"Wow, Ith-fire," Biba whispered. "You hard-core!"
"Thanks, Biba," Icefire replied, and flew on to the cave where she saw Nightfang and Goldwing waiting for her. They stared buggy-eyed at the men that the leader and the youngest of the Maximals had captured.
"Are you insane?" Nightfang roared, making the brothers jump. "We were supposed to keep ourselves secret!"
"Don't worry, 'Fang," Icefire grinned and transformed back. "When we're done with them, they'll look so banged up that the rangers will think they're just crazy."
"Well, the kitty cats ought-a have fun with this!" Goldwing smirked. "Can you tell us what they did?"
"They killed a pretty deer!" Biba whined.
"They shot a doe outside the camping zones," Icefire cleared up. "It's against the law to shoot here and least of all shoot a female deer. I gave them a riddle to answer, one gave the right answer, and now I'm letting them live long enough to be tortured and put into jail."
The golden eagle and the blue wolf stared at what they thought was their cousin. Nightfang spoke up. "And why?"
"This is our forest now, Nightfang," Icefire said with pride. "We're going to protect it. If we ever can, we'll go back to Jacksonville and be like the superheroes we wanted. But first, we're starting just a bit smaller than that." She looked at the trembling men. "Consider yourselves as a warm-up before the real fighting begins. Be honored! We might even think of you as we're slaying off Megatron." She smiled and looked at Goldwing. "Did you need to speak to me?"
"Oh! Uh…Aries wants to go home a bit earlier than we anticipated. She wants to go home now!"
"But it's bright out! We can't go flying or running out when the sun's out!"
"You broke that li'l law o' yours a long time ago, missy!" Marty howled.
Icefire shot a glare at the drunk and growled. "I'll deal with you later." She looked back to Goldwing. "Tell her she might have to suck it up for a few more hours. At least until nine thirty."
"I'll be sure to tell her. Hey, did you see Tigress anywhere? I've been looking for her for ages now."
"I'll sniff her out."
"All right." He walked past her and to the Stevens. "As for you guys! We're gonna play a little game that's based on the movie Jaws. Ever heard of it?"
"The shark movie?" Henry asked dumbly.
"No, the bunny movie. Yes, the shark movie!" Nightfang roared. "Jeez! This is why I tried to get Mom to stop smoking! Goldwing, go get Darkjaw, I'll hold 'em here."
"You got it!" The eagle took off to get his brother and returned shortly with a shark that had a crooked smile on his face.
"Hunters, eh?" he chuckled. "What comes around goes around in this forest, boys! Let's see if they can swim!" The boys cheered and lifted the struggling men.
"Please! I beg you, let us go!" Henry pleaded.
"Get yer grimy hands off o' me!" Marty shouted. Nightfang shook his head.
"So rude," he mumbled. He went on fours and held the man in his teeth. Goldwing flew off in the air above the lake and had Henry in his claws. Once he was high enough above the lake, which was about four hundred feet, Henry screamed for his own mother.
"You're such a wimp!" Goldwing laughed. He used his heightened eyesight to look for the signal Darkjaw was supposed to give him. He saw the shark on the surface of the water, waving his hand around for him to drop him. Goldwing looked over to Nightfang who nodded in agreement. The wolf threw Marty fast and far over near Darkjaw and Goldwing dropped Henry right out of the sky, the man screaming like a girl. All three of the male Maximals cheered and laughed. Nightfang howled, Goldwing squawked, and Darkjaw roared. The Stevens finally dropped into the water and moved frantically, wondering where the shark might have been by now. Behind them? To the side? In front?
Below.
Darkjaw deliberately brushed by Marty's shoes softly and the brother screamed.
"What the hell was that?!" he shouted. Darkjaw swept his fin along Henry's back, scaring him stiff. Henry could not say anything, he was so cold! He'd seen Jaws before. It seemed harmless to him, but now that he was living a remixed version of it, he was counting his blessings and praying to God to live. As if he read his mind, Darkjaw stuck his head out from behind him and growled.
"Don't worry," he chuckled. "Icefire said to keep you guys alive. But she didn't saw how alive."
Both brothers were frozen. This thing was going to torture them until they were just barely living.
"I'll give you twenty seconds. How does that sound?" Darkjaw offered.
Marty didn't hesitate. "Swim, man! Swim for your life!" He splashed through the water as if he was actually going to have a good chance of out swimming a shark. They were so far away from the shore that all hope inside them had died. Darkjaw counted down from twenty and ducked under the water right after he transformed. He swam at least one hundred and thirty miles per hour and caught the two men at the same time in his jaws. He brought them under the water, swam back up, half his body over the water, and threw the brothers to the side, letting them fly fifty feet away from where he was.
"We're in deep shit because o' you!" Henry screamed at his brother.
"Me?!"
"We wouldn't be here if you hadn't shot the deer!"
"Sure, just blame it on me! You're the one that wanted to go huntin'."
"Screw huntin'! I'm gonna do a backyard barbeque like e'rybody else!"
"Damn it, he's comin'!"
Darkjaw swam at top speed--three hundred miles per hour--and caught up to them in no time flat. He grabbed them with his back fin and swam to the shore where three more figures where waiting for them. The shark dropped them on their faces into the dirt and bowed to the beings.
"Ladies," he said.
"And they said chivalry was dead," one smirked. The Stevens looked up to see two giant half-cats and that little monkey from before. Biba had her arms crossed and looking really ticked off! The other two had their hands on their hips and smiled evilly down at the men.
"They were wrong," said Tigress. "Thanks for getting me, Biba; this might be fun!" She crouched to the ground and leaped at the men. Henry dodged it, but Marty was way too slow and was trapped under the tiger's crushing pressure of her paw. He felt his bones crack and his lungs looking for air he couldn't capture.
"Henry!" he choked. He held out his hand, hoping his brother would help him out, but Henry was too terrified as he watched his brother slip away.
"Icefire said not to kill him!" Biba screeched. Tigress released her grip.
"Oops. My bad," she sighed. "Is he…?"
"You'll have to…try 'gain," Marty gasped. "I'm still alive…" He choked and a few drops of blood seeped through. Henry gagged as he stared at the dark red liquid. He looked up and saw the monkey stand above him.
"So, I'm stupid, huh?" she said. She cracked her knuckles and it took Henry five seconds to realize what she was about to do. She grabbed him by the pants before he crawled away and slapped the man until he had a black eye and bruises across his face. "I'm done," she said, and handed him to Panthora. The panther bowed like a ballerina and took the man.
"Welcome to Panthora's Corner of Pain. We ask you to beg for mercy and scream like a five year old school girl. But please, for the tormenter's sake, do not pee in your pants."
Henry screamed bloody murder and Panthora twitched at hearing it.
"That was…pretty good!" she sighed. She growled at the man and he whimpered again. She roared at him next, baring her sharp teeth, and almost dug them into his back. She only went two inches deep and the man begged her.
"Please! Just kill me while yer at it!" he shouted.
"Sorry!" Panthora sang. "Icefire's orders. You'll have to take your complaints to her." She squeezed the hunter until she heard a loud gag come from him. She loosened her grip and watched as his body went limp and he passed out.
A few hours later, the hunters woke up on the floor of the Maximals' cave and stared at the blood on each other's faces. Definitely not like in the movies. This was more frightening and made them realize what horrible things they've done before they shot down the deer. Had that dragon girl been spying on them or something?
"Morning, boys." Speak of the devil.
"You bitch," Marty spat. "Let us go. You said you would."
"I will let you two rest up a bit. You're going to need the energy when you want to explain to the rangers what happened to you. But, you can tell a half-truth and say you were mauled by animals." Icefire chuckled. "Darkjaw's got some fish for you over in the corner if you ever find the strength to get hungry. Apparently all we can serve any human around here is fish and lake water."
The Stevens were confused but thankful that the dragon allowed them to live and have some food and drink after they were tortured. Henry crawled over to the pile of fish and didn't care if they smelled bad or not. Food was and is food. He grabbed a large bass, took a pocket knife out, and cut the scales off the fish to take a bite. It wasn't as good as the ones his friends cooked, but it was something. He grabbed another after he was done and walked over to his brother and handed it to him.
"Eat while ya can," he said. Marty accepted the fish and ate it like a savage. He was glad he wasn't picky.
Twenty minutes later, Icefire came back.
"You two look like you're ready," she said. "Tigress will drop you off near the ranger station and you two can go from there. If you refuse the rangers, we will hunt you. You want this to happen again?"
"No, sir," Marty joked, hoping the dragon would find it offensive. Icefire just smiled and called Tigress over. She transformed into the four-legged, striped cat and softly lifted both the men onto her back. She turned and walked off into the forest.
"You boys okay?" she asked. The men remained silent. "Hey, sorry for almost killing you."
"Whatever…" Marty groaned.
"Well, they don't call me Tigress for nothing. I was destructive before I was like this."
Henry sat up straighter. "Before?"
"Shut up!" Tigress hissed. "We're here." She tipped her back to the side and let the men run off towards the ranger station. Marty waved his arms shouting "We shot the doe! We shot the doe!" Tigress giggled at the scene and prowled off back to the cave.
"Well that was fun!"
xXx
Author's Note: Just thought this would be a bit of fun to type up. *evil giggle* Honestly, the cats got more fun out of it. Icefire just had the pleasure of trying to trump them and scaring them to near death.
