A Pet Squishy
Chapter 4: "Nowhere to Go"
In the Con Rec Room…
Lana ran for her life, dodging the huge merciless feet that were trying to snuff out her existence. She scurried under a two-story-tall metal table and desperately searched for someplace to hide. Without warning the entire table lifted off the floor and flew across the room with a mighty BANG!. Automatically her arms flew over her head to shield herself as she ran until she saw a large metal console nearby with a small space at its back. She made a B-line for the niche and dove behind it. Successfully hidden, Lana collapsed in a heap wheezing for breath and suddenly felt the pain in her body. Over her terrified gasps she could hear the whole room roar with laughter as well as an angry screeching voice.
…
"WHERE IS IT?! WHERE DID IT GO?" Starscream demanded loudly, spinning around with his null cannons glowing ready to fire should he see any small form dart into his line of sight.
Only guttural laughter answered him.
"Ha! Ha! Ha! What's the matter Screamer? Scared of a little human?" Skywarp shouted through his fit of mirth.
"YOU!" the Air Commander pointed, "You put that disgusting thing on me!"
"Brilliant deduction Starscream." Astrotrain mocked in his reverberating metal voice.
"Shut up Astrotrain!" Starscream spat nastily as he stormed closer to his guilty wingman.
The drone twins Rumble and Frenzy were leaning against each other laughing their heads off on one of the metal table tops and calling in sing song voices, "Ha! Ha! Screamer's afraid of a squishy!"
In an instant, Starscream's null rays whipped around and leveled at the two drones, "SILENCE you idiotic pests or I'll have you melted down for aft plates!"
"Can I be a femme aft plate?" Rumble asked lewdly.
Frenzy slapped his brother's shoulder giggling, "I wanna be a femme chest plate!"
The Seeker snarled and swatted them off of the table with his hand, sending them crashing into the wall. Then he stomped over to where Skywarp was about ready to short-circuit from laughing so hard. In an instant, Starscream leaped on the purple Seeker and drove him to the floor, pummeling him with his fists.
"You pile of conniving scrap!" he shrieked. "How DARE you bring that thing in here and throw it on me!"
Skywarp threw up his hands to defend his face though he was still laughing, "Hey Screamer…"
"DON'T call me THAT!" the jet Con screeched driving a booted foot into Skywarp's cockpit and cracking the tough material.
At once the pain brought Skywarp out of his mirth. He disappeared from under Starscream and reappeared behind him. With a deft kick he knocked the Second in Command into the wall. The other Cons in the room began backing off, egging the fight on. Starscream flipped onto his feet and fired twin shots from his null rays. Before Skywarp could teleport one of the beams struck him in the arm, rendering it immobile. The two Seekers locked hands and began bashing each other with metal fists.
Suddenly a deep menacing voice cut through the air, "WHAT is going on here?"
In an instant every rowdy Decepticon in the Rec Room was on his feet at attention when Megatron's imposing gun-metal gray form strode into the room. His harsh red optics darted from Con to Con until they rested on his second in command and Skywarp who were still scuffling.
"ENOUGH!" the warlord barked firing a warning shot from his massive arm cannon.
The two Seekers halted their fight, sheepishly pulling apart and standing at attention to avoid getting shot by a second blast. Megatron marched up to the pair of them, his optics scrutinizing. Starscream had multiple dents in his armor and Skywarp had a cracked cockpit and a limp arm.
He narrowed his optic shutters menacingly and pointed at Skywarp, "Skywarp, explain this!"
"SKYWARP EXPLAIN?!" Starscream shouted indignantly. "I am your Second in Command; MY word should be heard FIRST!"
A quick backhanded smack to Starscream's helmet and Megatron hissed, "Shut up Starscream! If I want you to speak I'll command it!"
When Megatron's optics directed at Skywarp the Seeker saluted and explained, "Megatron, Sir. Morale has been lower that usual on the Nemesis, so I decided to boost it with a little…entertainment."
Megatron snorted, he'd heard this excuse before. Skywarp was notorious for his prank-pulling in the Decepticon ranks; almost as bad as Rumble and Frenzy. The Decepticon Commander had little tolerance for such idiocy. But, it seemed a constant on the Nemesis during his soldiers' down-time. Sometimes he felt he commanded nothing but a bunch of well-armed morons.
"In other words… you pulled some kind of prank on Starscream." Megatron sounded unimpressed.
Skywarp nodded, "Yes sir."
By this time Starscream's wings were vibrating he was so livid. His mouth was open ready to unleash his legendary voice, but he kept it harnessed lest Megatron beat the slag out of him. Shuttering his optics, Megatron noted the Seeker's expression and growled with dread.
Derisively he inquired, "All right, Starscream…what did he do THIS time?"
Seeming physically relieved of the burden of remaining silent, Starscream straightened his shoulders importantly and pointed at Skywarp, "Megatron, that glitch brought a flesh creature into our base and had the audacity to place its disgusting carcass on ME!"
A few snickers hissed in the room, only making Starscream glance around angrily. Megatron allowed himself a ghost of a smirk; Starscream's humiliation pleased him.
"Enough." Megatron pinned Skywarp with a stern glare, "You brought a human into my ship?"
Skywarp nodded, "Yes sir. I caught it on patrol and decided Starscream could use a little jumpstart."
With an aggressive gesture, Starscream shouted, "Jumpstart?! I am the Supreme Air Commander of the Decepticon forces, NOT a target of your childish pranks! I demand you treat me with respect!"
"Respect is earned Starscream, something you cannot grasp." Megatron degraded the Seeker. He slanted his harsh gaze to Skywarp, "Is the human terminated?"
The purple and black Seeker shrugged, "Probably." and then added with hints of disdain, "Ask our Supreme Air Commander."
"I terminated it! I know I did!" Starscream lied, trying to defend his honor.
"Well then you have nothing to complain about Starscream." the Decepticon leader concluded. His fierce optics flashed at Skywarp. "And as for you…"soundly he delivered a vicious smack to the side of Skywarp's head, "Stop these moronic displays! You are Decepticons—ACT like it!"
With a snort of contempt, Megatron left the Rec Room wondering if it was possible to reprogram the stupidity out of his forces. He severely doubted it.
Once Megatron left, most of the Cons did the same. Starscream glared daggers at his wingman.
His tone dropped to a deadly octave, "You will PAY for that Skywarp. If I see that flesh creature again, YOU and IT will meet the underside of my foot!"
"Keep dreamin' Screamer." Skywarp sneered as his treacherous wingman stormed out.
He snickered, shaking his head. Whatever revenge Starscream was planning, it would be well worth the laugh he got out of this prank.
He glanced around the Rec Room to make sure no one was watching and began calling quietly. "Squishy. Come here squishy."
…
From behind the console Lana heard Skywarp calling her. There was no way in HELL she was going to come to him EVER! Buttoning her lip she breathed shallowly to avoid detection. For all he knew she was killed by that robot called Starscream. (The name certainly fit; her ears were still ringing.)
"Come on squishy. Come out." Skywarp continued to call, searching under the metal tables and chairs. "I'm not going to hurt you. Here, squishy, squishy!"
Lana cursed in her mind, "In your dreams shit head."
A minute or two passed when Lana suddenly realized Skywarp was coming closer to her hiding place. One peek behind the console and she'd be found. She had to hide somewhere better. Just then, Lana noticed a small vent shaft a few feet away behind the console with her. Pain throbbing in her limbs and torso she lifted herself up and limped to the opening. She smiled lightly when she discovered its slats were big enough for her to slip through. Lying on her stomach she slid between the slats and entered the metal vent. It was dark but at least it was big enough for her to walk in.
With a quiet exhale she sat down, waiting for Skywarp to give up his search. It took several long minutes but eventually she heard the Decepticon curse and leave the room. A few long moments of silence passed until Lana peered down the length of the vent shaft and saw a light. The dimmest flicker of hope ignited her drive to move; perhaps that light was a way out—perhaps she could finally be free!
….
Thundercracker was monitoring a station in the Control Room with Soundwave. Typically, Soundwave ran the whole Nemesis by himself, but every now and again one of their number was assigned Control Room duty. It was typically boring and very, very quiet given present company. Soundwave only moved his head and his hands, rarely speaking unless something vital needed to be reported or adjusted.
Bored, Thundercracker tapped his arm plating wishing something half-way notable would happen. An Autobot raid would be optimal considering it would free him from this processor-numbing boredom. His hum drum stupor was shattered when Rumble and Frenzy sauntered in, laughing and talking quickly.
Soundwave turned his head only minutely upon hearing and sensing his drones.
Rumble waved his arm at his host, "Man, you missed a great prank on Screamer, Boss."
Soundwave continued to work.
"Yeah! Even YOU woulda laughed at this one!" Frenzy agreed. "You shoulda seen how high Screamer jumped." the red and black drone imitated the Seeker's earlier reaction.
Soundwave didn't even look at his performance.
"Ha! Ha! Yeah. I hate Skywarp, but every now and again he comes up with some good ideas." Rumble agreed, "Why didn't we think of that?"
His brother shrugged, "Maybe we ought to catch a fleshy and use it to prank someone else!"
Thundercracker perked his head, "What?"
Rumble turned to the blue Seeker, gesturing crazily since someone was finally listening to their story, "OH! You shoulda seen it TC! Skywarp got Screamer good."
"What did you say about a fleshy?" he leaned forward, trying to hide the dread in his vocal processor.
The pair hissed with laughter, leaning into each other.
"What about a fleshy?" Thundercracker persisted.
"Skywarp snuck a human into the base and put it on Screamer's shoulder when he wasn't lookin'." Frenzy explained. "Man he was fritzed!"
Rumble imitated the Air Commander's reaction swatting at his shoulders and stomping around like he was short circuiting.
Thundercracker suddenly felt his tanks turn, "Did he KILL it?"
The pair shrugged and Rumble said, "I dunno, but it was funny."
Faking a smirk, the blue Con nodded, "Yeah. Heh heh…great prank."
Uncomfortable, Thundercracker pretended to look at his monitors again. No doubt about it…it was Lana they were talking about. He wanted to leave, but couldn't. If Soundwave suspected a sudden change in him the telepath would probably scan his mainframe and figure out the truth. He just had to play it cool until his shift ended.
….
About that same time…
Taking her time, Lana slowly moved toward the light further down the metal shaft. She pursed her lips with determination, hoping this would lead her to freedom. Suddenly she heard a distant whirring sound. She stopped. A small vibration buzzed into her feet through the metal panels. What if this vent was equipped with some kind of fan? She'd be chopped into little human bits and spewed everywhere. Or maybe some kind of toxic gas passed through these metal passageways?
"Maybe…this wasn't such a good idea."
Suddenly before she could come up with an even more gruesome scenario, one reared its metaphorical head. It sounded like a mechanical hum coupled with an electric popping. The redhead squinted deeper into the darkness of the vent shaft and saw a green light coming closer.
"OUCH!" Lana gasped as her hand was bit with a twinge of static.
The green light came closer, the humming grew louder. She stepped back and another shock hit her feet.
"OW!" she cried.
Then she saw what was producing the green light. A metal sphere with twin pairs of gyroscoping metal rings whirling around it was hovering through the tunnel. Small bolts of electricity arced off of the rings and touched every surface of the metal tunnel.
Lana wasn't sure what it was but she wasn't going to stick around to find out. Turning on her heels she ran the opposite direction, static nipping viciously at her feet like bee stings. The green glowing orb kept coming at a steady pace and Lana easily outran it but suddenly another orb came from the other direction.
"Oh no." she hissed, backpedaling the way she came.
The first orb was still coming. Trapped. Lana rocked back and forth with panic, trying to decide what to do. Then, without warning something beneath her clicked and she fell down a long dark chute with a scream. It was too dark for the young woman to see anything but her back and elbow kept striking the sides of the metal tube as she slid downward. It was like riding a metal slide but much more uncontrolled and painful. Lana screamed as she slid faster and faster until.
WHAM!
Wincing and whimpering Lana felt metal bars digging into her legs and backside. She gingerly sat up and realized the chute had dropped her up against another vent opening. Never so happy to see light, Lana squirmed through the slats, falling on her bottom in yet another purple metal corridor. Except this one was a corridor designed for giant robots to traverse. She was out of that damned air shaft—but NOW where was she? The redhead tried to stand up but a sharp pain sliced up her leg into her back, preventing such a move.
"Damn." she whispered resigning to the floor.
She must've sprained something—when and how exactly she couldn't know. Her last couple of hours had been rather life-threatening. Eyes darting about, Lana tried to decipher where she was.
"A purple corridor—that helps." she thought dismally.
How was she ever going to find her way out of this place without getting killed in the process?