DMK: YAY! SOMEONE GUESSED IT RIGHT!
Hotshot: Yeah! *applauds* A big hand to the guy for picking it up first! …as much as I don't like the idea…
DMK: …oh hell, he's being nice to you again. Quitcher glitchin' and moaning and just say my disclaimer… I haven't done that in a while…
Hotshot: fine fine… Duel Mistress Kay doesn't own Transformers… if she did, she wouldn't be here on this site…
DMK: thaaaaank you! And now, chapter 13! …Which, sorry, is mainly a filler… but Cait gets a boost to her self-esteem in combat! She comes SO close to-*cuts to chapter before she ruins it*
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Chapter 13
BOOM!
"OW! DANGIT! LAY OFF!"
Scavenger smirked as he lowered his fist for a split second. "If you ask Megatron to 'lay off' do you HONESTLY think he will?"
"Well, no but-"
"Then quit whining!" With another lunge, Scavenger rammed Caitlin hard, sending her stumbling backwards. "And fight back!"
Oh, how she wanted to, but she still thought of all of them more as friends than as members of the same team. She didn't like hurting them. "Well if you want it, come and get it!" Still in her robot mode, she went on the attack, beating the air with her large wings and using the thrusters mounted in her feet to rise over his head. But she had left one thing unguarded: her dragon tail.
"You don't have a good memory bank, do you?" He asked flatly, grabbing the long tail and yanking it hard. Swinging her over his head, he threw her into the ground roughly.
"…ow…" She muttered, getting to her knees methodically.
"Hm, well your endurance is sure improving," He speculated, watching her with both smugness and satisfaction.
"It'd have to with the way you throw me around…" She said more to herself, rising fully to her feet again. "Alright, fine, let's just continue already…"
"And your work ethic is improving, too. Good," The mercenary/warrior/combat teacher added as he assumed a fighting stance. At an unspoken command, they both leapt back into the fray.
Powerlinking with Rollbar, he unleashed his hip-mounted cannon, which Caitlin managed to dodge with a bit of effort. Unfortunately, she was so focused on that, that she neglected the blow that soon followed. Dashing forward, Scavenger hit her side hard, sending the femme reeling. Before hitting the ground however, she transformed into her dragon form and landed on all fours. ((A note: It's almost identical to the Red-Eyes black Metal Dragon… but is blue-green and has sky-blue optics… ^^'')) Baring her fangs, she turned quickly, and rose to her hind legs. Two wing beats and a dash later, Caitlin slammed, claws-first into her teacher, pushing him onto his back. She let the tips of her heat element-infused claws sink into his chest armor, but not deep enough to hurt him. Her mouth was half-open, a fireball igniting deep in the dragon's throat.
Unfortunately for Scavenger, her midsection was no longer open to attack. She was learning. "Hm… impressive… But sadly..." he began lowly. If anything, she had too much power to throw around. As one last-ditch ploy, Scavenger reached up with his large hands, and grabbed the dragon around the neck. "It's not over!"
Screeching with shock and surprise, Caitlin tried to rear back, but Scavenger had a firm hold on her, his fingers able to wrap fully around her neck. "LET ME GO!"
"I don't think so," He answered in his same, calm voice.
"Bad move, Scavey." With that, she drew her head back, and bit down hard.
"OW!" He let go quickly and stepped back. "Well…you're certainly learning to adapt to any battle situation you find yourself in…" he again speculated, nursing his injured arm a bit tenderly. They seemed like mere pinpricks to him, but they did sting, and her teeth had torn right through the treads on his arm, small amounts of mechfluid rising through the small holes.
Smiling, Caitlin transformed back. "Ha, so I'm not as bad as I was before… I think…"
"No…" he flexed his fingers and wrist painfully. "You're certainly not…"
"You gonna be alright???" She asked, peering at his arm from a safe distance, just in case he was trying to get her to lower her guard.
"Fine. It's a scratch. Nothing a bit of maintenance won't cure…"
"Good…so uhh… do we continue?"
He sighed. "I believe that's enough for now… You ALMOST beat me… almost. That deserves a break…"
"Yay! Umm… I mean, yes sir." She corrected herself, standing straight. "And next time I'm NOT going to lose."
He grinned at her vigor, and nodded. "I just might hold you to that…now get out of here before I change my mind."
"Fine, fine…" Turning on her heel, she walked out of the training hall rather slowly, wincing from the invisible 'bruises' she had suffered. "ow… dang…he hits too hard…" Suddenly, she heard music.
HER music. And it was coming from Jetfire's quarters. "Breaking the Habit" was the song, to be precise.
"Aw MAN! JETFIRE! WHO SAID YOU COULD USE MY LINKIN PARK CD?!"
Jetfire jumped out of his chair. "GAH!" he turned to see Caitlin, who had a peeved look on her face. "Eh-eh… Sideswipe said I could…??" He responded weakly.
She huffed. "O…kay…."
The Vice commander looked pleading. "PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE can I copy it????? Please???"
She put her hands on her hips. "Fine, but next time, ASK me for it?"
"Promise… oh, and uhh… can I borrow Sum 41 when I'm done?"
Caitlin looked at him. "What's with the music?"
"Well that earth music is really good! Well, I like it anyways…So can I?"
"Sure… just don't scratch them… I can't really go back to Media Play and buy me another "Meteora" if ya do…"
"Cross my spark, hope to fry, stick a laser needle in my optic!"
The femme about facevaulted. "Alright…at least I found that darn CD…I thought Carlos took it or something…"
"Naw, mainframe lapse on my part… So how was training today? You're supposed to be there for another half an hour or two…"
"…I finally ALMOST beat Scavenger…" She sighed in exasperation. "He's just too good, man."
"That's why he's a teacher. You saw how Hotshot changed after he got trained… and Sideswipe, too."
"True…well, I guess that's fine then… But I fought dirty…" she added a bit flustered. "Bit him when he grabbed me 'round the neck…"
"Ooh, nice move though…"
"So…you ever get around to 'the plan'?" Caitlin asked spontaneously.
Jetfire nearly fell over. "YOU SAW WHAT THEY DID TO US LAST TIME!!! …of course. But I think we should wait a while before we try it…"
"Yeah… anyway, I'm gonna go shoot some targets…hang with Hotshot, ya know…"
"Go ahead. Just keep an eye out… the war may be over, but there is always that chance…"
"Great, you've got me paranoid." She sighed heavily. "Well I'm outta here…" She turned and walked out, Jetfire busy plotting revenge…
TBC
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DMK: argh. That was pointless. Really. Took me two study halls and half my lunch period. Blah… :P And Cobalt, sorry, but it ISN'T Optimus. :D Mwahahahaha…Remember, he was a DECEPTICON…and there was a one-liner in the last chapter that pretty much gave it away. So if ya REALLY wanna know…go back and read near the end of the fight… You'll get it. With all of those hints repeated, I leave you now… Ja Ne…