Machine

written by Rose Dincht

Disclaimer - I do not own Beast Wars or Elfen Lied. Beast Wars is (c) to Mainframe and Elfen Lied is (c) to ADV Films and whoever made the manga. This was an idea based off of an RPG I participated in with my friends.

"Oquam sancta... quam serena... quam benigma..."

A strong force smashed into her head. She felt the blow drive the metal mask into her temple and breaking her skin before the mask itself shattered. Blood pumped out of the gash and streamed across her cheek and down her throat. At the same time, her body felt lifeless. Balance no longer existed for her... it was as if she was thrown out into space. Her body was falling backwards, her hair whipped and enwrapped around her frame, yet gravity didn't seem to exist for her. The last thing she remembered was that weightless feeling, the stinging of her hair whipping against her naked flesh, the sticky, coppery feel of her blood on her skin, and then the coldness of the ocean.

"Quam amoena... O castitus lilium..."

For all she knew, she was at the bottom of the ocean. Or she was back in that prison, awaiting termination. However, she certainly did not expect to wake up in a place such as this. She found herself standing in a large, open field. Her legs felt cramped and sore, the wind made her shiver, and she noticed that the blood still hadn't stopped flowing. It was now streaming down her neck, chest, and slowly making it's way across her stomach. All the while, it seemed as if she was holding her breath as well. When her lips parted and she exhaled, her breath escaped in quivers. It took her some time for her eyes to focus, but as soon as her vision was adjusted, she felt her body grow weak.

Her legs gave out and she collapsed onto the grass. She gripped the green shards tightly, trying with all her might to stay awake and not pass into unconsciousness. Yet the bleeding gash continued to sting, her head throbbed, and she couldn't help but feel completely and utterly lost in this unknown world.

For a long time her ears were buzzing, until finally silence emerged. Silence was soon accompanied by the wind, and then the sounds of pawprints. When she lifted her head, her red eyes squinted automatically at the brightness of the sun. Inwardly she was afraid of sheilding the light with her arms for fear of falling over. Yet through squinted eyelids, she focused on a creature before her.

A large gorilla. This came across as a surprise to her... she hadn't seen one of these before in a long time. At the moment however, the memory of that time long, long ago didn't make her feel very pleasant. The gorilla drew nearer until it was a least a foot or so away from her, his large body blocking the sunlight and allowing her eyes to relax. It glanced at her curiously, lifting his long, black arm and brushing it's paw against her cheek and then up to her temple. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought that it was trying to wipe away the blood.

Then it's paw rose higher, brushing against her pink hair.. then stroking her horns.

Her eyes widened. In an instant she gave a loud, monstrous growl. And in a split second, she watched as the gorilla split in half, it's blood spraying in every direction as it collapsed onto the grass before her. She growled low in the pit of her throat, her eyes continuing to squint at the sunlight beated against her and the blood of the gorilla dripped from her forehead into her eyes. Her once fair, pale skin was now dripping with crimson... she had to admit, it wasn't the most pleasant feeling in the world.

Then, she heard a laugh from behind her.

"Ahh yes... how I wish I could see that wonderful display on someone who's appearance seems to fit the description of that dull beast." the voice was deep, yet not exactly as monotoned as hers. It was also masculine, and for lack of better terms, rather lively.

She glanced over her should and saw the figure of a large, purple T-rex. At that, she shook her head, convincing herself inwardly that dinosaurs no longer existed and if they did, they wouldn't be speaking. Apparentally, the beast seemed to have read her thoughts.

"I assume you are not of this world, are you?" the dinosaur continued, then moved it's head forward, observing her. "You speak, do you not?"

She narrowed her eyes slightly. This was no hallucination. Whatever this creature was, it obviously was interested in her. He also didn't seem to mind the blood that had completely covered the front of her body. That could only mean one thing: it wasn't anything like an animal. Animals knew no hatred... this one did. And when she didn't give him a response, he tilted his head from one side to another, observing her more curiously.

"Very well then... I suppose a more... formal approach would be in the best interest."

At that, the creature's body began to break apart slightly, then shift into a newer form. It was then when she saw the creature for what it actually was: a machine. A robot of some sort, with the same features of a T-Rex, but the body structure of a human. One arm (which had the head of the T-rex on it) seemed to form into a rather large gun. The robot still kept it's purple color, yet had a pair of red eyes. She rose her eyebrows at that... now things were getting rather interesting.

"I am Megatron..." he introduced himself, placing a hand on his metal chest, then gesturing his arm to her. "And you are...?"

She didn't have the strength to speak. Nor did she want to. Her entire body was ebbing with pain, and all the while she felt as if she was going to collapse and die. Apparentally, this Megatron character could see her distress. He lowered his arm and approached her. She caught a glimpse of him looking upon her with mild disgust before she stopped glancing over her shoulder and allowed her head to hang.

He thinks I'm disgusting. she thought to herself. A putrid human... that's exactly what he thinks I am.

She wanted to attack. Her body was exhausted, but she knew they never grew tired. When Megatron approached her, she was very tempted to cast them out and rip him to shreds. But he merely knelt down and grasped her shoulder with his large, metal hand. The cold metal against her flesh made her shiver for a moment, and his eyes scanned over her for the longest of times.

"You're quite... different from the creatures living here. More evolved than those putrid monkeys, yes..." he said, then glanced at her scalp. "And what are those, may I inquire? They appear to be bone or cartiledge ofsome sort..."

"Horns..." she hissed through her teeth, making Megatron jump back slightly. "They... are horns..."

"Ahh... so you do speak. Then please, indulge me with your name..." he said.

At this point, she was too exhausted to send them forth. She hadn't a clue of how strong this machine was or how much damage he could endure. She breathed heavily, narrowed her eyes, and tried desperately to ignore the pain in her limbs and still bleeding temple.

"L...u...c...y..."