Yup. Shouldn't've said anything about there being only one more chapter before we finally got back to present day to catch up with Team Prime and Ally. That was the plan, but I knew I probably wouldn't stick to it and I didn't. From now on, I'll just keep my mouth shut about number of chapters….

Like I said, the plan, when starting this chapter, was to recount the remaining time of what happened to Hunter when she went missing for a week. Obviously that did not happen here. I got it in my head to do a snippet from Steel's POV because I thought it'd be different and refreshing. And, boy, was it ever! I had so much fun writing in his POV it went on a little longer than I originally intended it to and… well… it kinda became the chapter. And then I found the song for it and there was no turning back. However, I still feel it's a good chapter because we get to see more about what Steel is really like and what he's going through as well as Hunter. I hope you guys enjoy it anyway.

Alice Gone Madd—Well, she has raw cosmic energy flowing throughout ever molecule in her body and she's NOT connected with Primus while it's going on so that he can help share the load. I don't imagine that'd feel very nice, do you? XD

WolfAssassin369—She did, but that's all I'll say about it for now. ;)

AllSpark Princess—Okay, good. It was terrifying enough for me, but I wasn't sure I wrote enough to get any kind of emotion out of anyone else. I'm glad to know that it is scary to someone else besides me. Because, ya know, I'm a wuss and very easy to scare. -_-'

Now on with the story! Enjoy! And if you'll excuse me, I have some baby goats I need to go check on, so happy new year and peace!

ALSO: THIS CHAPTER IS NOT NAMED AFTER THE BAND. IT'S NOT. IT'S NOT.

I do not own Transformers or anything in relation. I only own Hunter, the Hybrid race, and any other character that you may not recognize.

"Consider this… consider this the hint of the century. Consider this… the slip that brought me to my knees failed. What if all these fantasies come flailing around? Now I've said… now I've said too much…." Lacuna Coil; Losing My Religion

23

Ω Perforabit VelumΩ

(Piercing the Veil)

Two days later;

THWAK!

"AAAHHH!"

THWAK!

"AAAHHH-AHHHH!"

THAWK!

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Steel winced sharply. He wasn't even the one being whipped and he could still feel the solid, heavy impact of the blow from the lash, the metal tip biting into the flesh of his back. It was all the young man could do to keep his eyes glued on the sight and not turn away. Oh, how he wanted to look away! But he couldn't; they'd all been ordered to keep their eyes on the flogging and not look away—so keep watching he would. No matter how it killed him. And it did kill him, in so many ways than one. Steel hated this! He hated watching Hunter be put through such agony! To be punished and whipped bloody and raw himself was one thing—he deserved it, he could handle it—but to watch his little cousin endure the same treatment…

No.

No, it wasn't the same treatment; it was much, much worse than anything he'd ever received. Hunter was far stronger and more powerful than he was, and that meant her punishment was much more severe and drawn out. At this point, she'd easily been whipped twice as long as he'd ever been. And the whip was enchanted this time, to make the strikes more powerful and the tip to rip deeper into her back. And, judging from the way the wounds weren't healing, it had also been spelled to interfere with Hunter's healing factor in order for the pain to last longer. And try as he might, Steel couldn't remember a time when his grandmother had had him stripped bare and chained by hands and feet to a post in front of the entire Lunation to endure a whipping. Come to think of it, his grandmother had had numerous of her followers punished, but he couldn't remember a single one of them having to endure it in the same circumstances Hunter was forced to now. Obviously his grandmother had decided that pain wasn't enough of a punishment for his cousin: humiliation had to be factored in as well.

It was horrible! More than anything, nineteen-year-old wanted to run up onto the platform, rip the whip from his grandfather's hands, and put a stop to this. More than anything he wanted to get Hunter out of there and away from this. He couldn't see her face, as she was chained to the column with her bloody and shredded backside facing the crowd, but he was positive tears had to be streaming down her face with her teeth gritted to the breaking point. He could see her hands were trembling in a white-knuckle grip around the chains that bound her arms high above her head. The links had cut into her palms, she held them so tightly. Energon dripped glistening in the hot Egyptian sun down her arms from it. It would be a mercy for her to just pass out, but Steel knew his grandmother and forced Hunter to take a potion that would keep her conscious throughout the whole ordeal. Just another piece of the punishment.

The scream, "Stop it! That's enough!" burned from the center of Steel's chest all the way up to the tip of his tongue, but he held it in. He couldn't scream. He couldn't stop this. As much as he wanted to he couldn't! It wouldn't help Hunter anyway—it would only cause them to both be punished! So the young man chewed the insides of his mouth raw and curled his hands into such fists that his nails dug into the palms of his hands in order to stop himself from doing something stupid.

"Just give in!" he silently pleaded his cousin. "For the love of Primus, Hunter, stop with the goddamn heroics and just break already!"

But Hunter didn't give in.

And the punishment continued on. And on. And on. And on.

After an eternity Hunter's knees suddenly buckled, leaving her hanging awkwardly by the wrists from the column. "Ahh-ah! Ugh!"

Steel's stomach clenched in anticipation. Was this it? Was Hunter finally surrendering? Was her torture over? Thank Primus! His intense gaze darted towards his grandmother—the only other person on the platform—as the witch raised her hand in the air, signaling Ray to stop. While her expression remained sober, Steel could just catch the victorious gleam in Luna's raspberry eyes, and a pang of anger burned through his spark—anger at his grandmother for taking such delight in a triumph that had left Hunter bloody, broken, and in agony.

The young man immediately felt guilty for allowing himself to feel such a thing. This was his grandmother—his leader—his Mistress! Her actions—even if they seemed cruel—were always just and righteous; she could do no wrong. "The Lunation's mission is holy" Steel recited to himself, "it follows the vision of the Mistress. The Mistress is the true savior of our people, and the Fuser is the vessel through which she will accomplish our salvation. The Mistress shall restore honor upon the Hybrid people. These are the truths of the universe, as deemed by Primus himself." The nineteen-year-old kept repeating this over and over in his head, forcing himself to remember and place his feet on the right path again. He couldn't forget. And he could never, ever sway.

Luna was now striding across the platform towards Hunter. The witch snapped her fingers and the chains that bound the girl and column they were connected to shifted and turned and twisted until Hunter was facing the crowd.

Hunter's face was blistering red, glistening with sweat, and contorted in agony. Her eyes were swollen and red and brimful with cascading tears. Energon dribbled down her chin from her bottom lip, which was enflamed and raw from her biting of it. Her hair, which had fallen down over the front of her shoulders so that she was afforded some modesty by covering her naked chest, was matted, tangled, grimy, and stained with her own energon in some places. The sixteen-year-old looked like a walking embodiment of what Hell had to offer. She looked broken beyond repair.

Luna sneered. "I didn't want to do this, Huntress," she stated, coming to stand directly in front of the redhead and gazing down her nose at her. "I didn't want to have to punish you, but you left me no choice. You misbehaved very badly, my child. And when children misbehave they must be punished to ensure that they understand what they did was wrong. Do you understand that, Huntress?"

Hunter said nothing. She simply continued to heave for air and try to suppress the sobs and groans of pain that were refusing to be held under control. But her eyes, though shiny with tears, glared obstinantly back at Luna with all the hate and retribution that could be found in the universe.

"Come on, Hunter," Steel whispered softly, staring at Hunter in alarm. "Answer her!"

The smirk slipped from Luna's face when her granddaughter didn't respond. "Do you understand why you're being punished, Huntress?" she pressed again.

Again Hunter remained silent and scowling.

"Huntress!"

Steel shook his head in disbelief. Why wouldn't she answer? Why was she being so stubborn?! "Don't do this to yourself, Phoenix! Answer her!" he quietly urged.

Ray came forward this time to stand by his wife, his beloved and well-worn whip now coiled neatly up and clutched in his fist. "Answer your grandmother when she asks you a question, Girl!" he barked thunderously, sapphire eyes flashing.

Hunter's own sapphire eyes flickered over to his and she glared at him for a moment before finally hissing, "Yes."

Steel breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

"Good," Luna replied. "And why is it that you're being punished?"

Still staring her grandfather down as he did the same, the sixteen-year-old swallowed thickly and answered in a hoarse voice, "Because I tried to escape."

"No, 'runaway' not 'escape'," Ray corrected sharply. "You're not in some kind of jail or dungeon, Huntress."

Hunter's lip curled in indignation. "I beg to differ," she growled.

Steel's eyes widened in horror as his stomach clenched harder. "Oh, Hunter," he thought to himself. "Don't backtalk Grandfather—never ever backtalk Grandfather!"

"Mind your cheek!" Ray roared. He reached out and smacked the girl across the face.

"Ack!" Hunter cried out from both the blow to her face and the way the consequential jerking of her head and neck pulled at the lash wounds on her shoulders. Sinking her teeth into her bottom lip again, she turned back to her grandparents. The gleam in her eyes was as rebellious as ever, if a bit more watery.

Steel's heart sank. He knew that look: Hunter was far from being done with fighting back. She wasn't broken. It wasn't over. It would never be over….

"Do you believe this punishment is fitting for what you attempted to do, Huntress?" Luna enquired, that stupid smirk back on her darkly painted lips.

Pulling herself up to her full height, Hunter raised her head and set her jaw in defiance. Her chest puffed out as she took a deep breath, nostrils flaring. "No," she answered firmly. "I think it's a load of bullshit. Ah!" She was slapped by her grandfather again.

"Language!" he spat.

Hunter paid his reprimand no heed. "I think all of this is a load of bullshit!" she shouted. "All of it: the entire cult and what you think you stand for! It's all bullsh-" the girl gasped as a dagger was suddenly shoved in her face. Her eyes widened in alarm as she started cross-eyed at the sharp, glinting tip no more than an inch away from her nose.

Before her could stop himself, Steel found he had taken a step forward towards the platform. When he discovered this he forced himself to stay in place, something he found that was not at all easy to do. But he did it. And he stood there, rigid as stone, eyes never leaving the interactions between his cousin and his grandparents. "Hunter…."

Ray narrowed his gaze at the girl, a deep growl rumbling up from his chest. "You watch your tongue, Huntress," he snarled, voice soft but deadly, "or I'll cut it out." He swiped the blade across the girl's face, slicing open a gash on her cheek as if to make his point.

Steel winced and turned his gaze away for a moment.

Hunter hissed and grimaced at the sharp sting of the cut. But sure enough the sensation was instantly gone, for the wound was so superficial that it started to heal up almost as soon as the skin had been spliced open. (Luckily, in this instance, Ray's dagger hadn't been charmed like his whip.) The teen glowered at the brute of a man. "Take it and shove it," she rumbled.

Steel's electric-blue gaze whipped right back around at the sound of that, horror held in it once more. She didn't just say that! She couldn't have just said that! She was pigheaded beyond measure, yes, but she wasn't stupid enough to actually say that to their grandfather! "Oh, Hunter, no!" he breathed.

Fury raged up in Ray's eyes and it looked as though he was about to dive right in and carry out his threat of removing Hunter's tongue when Luna held out an arm in front of him. He stopped and pulled back. Though it looked like it took a great deal of willpower to force himself to do that.

Steel stared on, waiting with bated breath for what would happen next. His gut twisted and churned in trepidation: he felt nauseous.

Luna fixed her granddaughter with an unfathomable gaze and looked at her that way for a long time, as if she was trying to comprehend something. Finally she shook her head. "Why?" she murmured after a moment, her expression still unreadable. "Why do you do this to yourself? You know what it means; you know you'll only face more pain the more you act out and defy me. So why must you be so obstinate and vindictive, Huntress?"

Hunter's lip curled and she raised her head so that she could look down at Luna. "Because I am the Fuser," she declared. "I am the Fuser; the Flame of Hope; the savior for our people. I'm not always happy about it but it's what I am. And because I'm the Fuser I have taken the vow to fight for good and peace and the innocent and to take a stance against all that is evil in this universe—a stance against you. And I will hold to that vow for as long as I live—upon my honor I swear it."

Luna was silent, carefully regarding her granddaughter.

Then a smirk pulled at Hunter's mouth and she snorted, a wicked gleam sparkling in her eyes. "And apart from all that, on a much simpler and more personal note, I do this to piss you off because I friggin' hate you."

Steel closed his eyes, unable to watch anymore, and hung his head in defeat. "Oh, Hunter…."

Luna's face darkened. Without warning she reached out and boxed both of Hunter's ears soundly, earning a yelp from the girl. "You stupid, impudent child!" she spat. "How dare you! How dare you say such things! We are you family, Huntress—never forget that! We are your family and you will show us respect accordingly!"

Hunter had shrunk away and retreated back behind her heavy masses of tangled hair when Luna and swiped upside the head. Her face could not be seen. No one could see how she'd reacted to that statement. But it was soon made very clear exactly how Hunter felt about it.

At first the redhead was silent. And then the faintest of growls could be heard coming from her, and it steadily grew and increased in volume. Slowly, Hunter raised her head just enough so that she was glaring out at Luna behind her matted tresses. The effect made her look even more savage and extremely primitive, and it served the girl quite well in that it actually forced Ray's gaze to widen in alarm and take a small step back. Not that Hunter paid attention to that. She was entirely focused on her witch of a grandmother.

"When are you going to understand?" the sixteen-year-old seethed, eyes locked on those of the sorceress. "When are you finally going to see that I want nothing to do with you? We share blood, yes, but that does not mean that we're family—I don't claim you. I don't love you. And I never will! My family—my real family—is the one you took me away from, and they're out there looking for me right now. And I will get back to them, no matter what it takes, because they are my family and I love them and want them. Not you. I have never wanted you! So you try and break me all you want, Luna. You try and make me pliable and bendable to your will and, given enough time, you might even succeed—even stone breaks. But my love and devotion and loyalty are things you are never going to have. My desire to be a part of this family—a part of your family—is something you are never going to possess, because I am never, ever going to want anything to do with you. I will never want you, Luna. And I will never join you. Never!" As if to punch across her point even more, Hunter spat a mouthful of energon at her grandmother's feet with enough force that it splattered on the hem of the sorceress' skirts.

Steel bit his lip. That was it. There was going to be no chance for anymore mercy after that.

Luna's eyes shifted down and regarded the puddle and flecks on her dress with quiet indifference. Then her gaze came back to Hunter's. For a moment the women stared at each other, as if trying to see who would crumble first. It seemed to be Luna.

Slowly she turned away, as if to leave the scene. But then she whipped back around without warning and struck Hunter so hard across the face that the teenager swayed from her bonds, staggering one way and then the other. A murderous fire blazed in the witch's eyes now. Her face was contorted in sheer rage—the likes of which no one had ever seen from her before. "You," she fumed, "will deeply, deeply regret those claims, you arrogant brat! I am Luna Eventide James—the greatest sorceress that has ever lived! I am a goddess among gods! I am the savior of the Hybrid people—the true savior! I will be the rightful ruler of both Cybertron and Earth, and I refuse to allow a brazen and disillusioned fool such as you stand in my way!"

The sorceress suddenly seized Hunter's jaw in her hand and jerked the girl as far as the chains would allow towards her. She stuck her face in Hunter's glowering down her nose. "You believe you are unbreakable," she hissed. "You believe that you have the strength of will to withstand anything I can dream up doing to you. What you didn't take into account, Granddaughter, is that you claim your mettle and pride from me, and I have been playing this game much longer than you have." Her voice had dropped into a dangerous, menacing tone as she said that.

"I always get what I want, Hunter. One way or another, I always get it. And I refuse for this to change. Fight me all you want, but you're only causing yourself unnecessary grief because the inevitable is that you will succumb to me. And when you do, Child—and you will—I will see to it that you crumble into so many pieces that there will be no hope of you putting yourself back together. Remember this." With that, Luna released Hunter and turned away again, folding her hands primly at her waist as she began to walk away. She paused by her husband a moment. "Continue," she uttered, and then continued on.

That malicious gleam coming back into his eyes and the twisted grin returning to his mouth, Ray turned all of his attention back on Hunter. He snickered. Adjusting his hold on his whip, he lashed the thing out to uncoil it and it cracked in response. For a moment the man's eyes met those of his granddaughter's. Even now he found rebelliousness in them, but that would soon change. He reeled his flogging arm back, the whip snaking out behind him, and then he swung it forward with all his might. "Hah!"

The black coil sung through the air. It came down fast and hard, ready to bite and sting.

Hunter braced herself the blow.

"No!" Before he could stop himself, Steel broke into a sprint, his hyperspeed kicking in. In the blink of an eye he was between Hunter and the whip, standing as tall as he could and with his arms spread out to take up more space. The whip cracked down across his back, tearing through his clothes and into his back. A pain the young man had never known before ripped through him and he threw back his head in a howl of torment but no sound came: it hurt too much to make any sound.

Steel crumbled to his hands and knees, energon oozing from the gash in his back soaked into his clothes. Tears stung his eyes and leaked from beneath his tightly shut eyes. He sank his teeth into his tongue until it was nearly bitten off and dug his hands into the stone platform, breaking bits of it off. His breaths came in ragged spurts. A torrent of curses silently raged through the nineteen-year-old's mind as he tried his best to handle the pain. It wasn't easy.

"Steel…?"

The awestruck voice caused the blond to open his eyes and look up into the sapphire depths his cousin's stunned gaze. The look on her face was one of disbelief. Steel tried his best to force a smile, but it was nothing more than a nasty looking grimace.

With that the disbelief slightly slipped from Hunter's face and was replaced by sorrow as she pressed the lips of her gapping mouth into a thin line. She shook her head. Her eyes asked one question: "Why?"

Steel was in too much anguish to answer. Not that he would have had time to anyway, as suddenly he was being harshly wrenched up off the ground. That time he cried out as the wound in his back pulled. "Ahh!" The nineteen-year-old found himself staring into the furiously red face of his grandfather.

"YOU MORON!" Ray seethed. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Still in too much pain to answer—not to mention adding on the corresponding pain that came when Ray shook his like a ragdoll—Steel could only stare at his grandfather through watery eyes. Not that it mattered; how could he possibly answer that question? He didn't even know what he did himself! Or why he did it! He'd just… reacted.

Ray shook the boy harder, as if that would rattle a response out of him. "WELL?!"

Steel opened his mouth to try and speak, but movement out of the corner of his eye drew his attention. He looked over Ray's shoulder to his grandmother. Much to the young man's dismay, she looked just as livid as her husband. "Grandmother…" he croaked, his voice sounding pathetically small and meek, "… I-I'm sorry. I don't-"

"Silence!" Luna shrieked, swiping a hand through the air. "I will deal with you later! Silver!" she called over her shoulder.

A large, male Field Acolyte strode up the steps and bowed low. "Mistress."

"Take Master Steel to the infirmary so that he may be treated." The glint in Luna's raspberry eyes became even darker and more foreboding as she glared at her grandson and growled, "And stay there with him to ensure he doesn't try to leave and get himself into more trouble."

"Yes, Mistress," Silver replied. With that he stood and came towards Steel—who was still being held in Ray's crushing grip—took him the free arm, and started to lead him away.

Steel was relieved to be out of his grandfather's grasp, but that was only as far as the relief extended. He was still filled with dread, and while some of it was definitely reserved for the punishment he'd have to face up to later (and big time!), more of it was because of Hunter. While he was in the infirmary being taken care of, she was still going to be out here to facedown their grandparents and that damned cursed whip. "Wha-what about, Hunter?" he stammered, trying to look back over his shoulder towards his family as he was hauled off (it wasn't easy). "Is-is she-"

"She is none of your concern," Luna spat caustically.

"But…" Steel didn't have time to finish his reply. At that moment Silver had teleported and they vanished in a plume of smoke.

Confession #49:

I really hope I'm not developing a fetish for having my characters be naked. … Maybe Kill la Kill affected me more than I thought….

Confession #50:

It's not named after the band, guys. It's really, really isn't.