CHAP 16
Prowl was suspicious. What could this space ranger robot possibly want to discuss with him? Was he just going to insult him again? The Autobot had learned to be wary of anything XR said because he had always spoken him with rudeness or sarcasm, or in a tone that implied he was about to. But something about the way the smaller robot was looking at him made him realize that maybe XR wasn't intending to do or say either option. That made Prowl respond with. "Talk to me about what? What could you possibly want to exchange?"
"Well," Xr said, putting his hands behind his back and doing that thing with his foot that Sari sometimes did when she got into trouble and was trying to explain her way out of it. Was he feeling guilty about something? "It's kind of about what you said earlier."
"I said a lot of things," the cyber ninja reminded him, shortly. "You will have to be more specific." This had better be good.
XR went to the topic he meant instantly. "When you explained why you ran from Nos-4-a2," he answered.
Oh that, the painful subject. He should have known. But. Why did the other robot want to talk to him about that? "I already told you and your comrades why I did what I did," the Autobot replied, folding his arms. "Why do you want me to talk about it some more? I'd rather not go there."
"Well ,you see," XR said, hesitantly. He had a reason for bringing that touchy subject up again. But he wasn't really sure if Prowl would even listen to him if he explained himself. Not after the way he'd acted toward him. But he'd done some thinking after Mira had had a long talk with him and he felt he should tell Prowl about his own.. encounter with an energy vampire. Just to get a few things cleared up and form a mutual understanding about it. "I wanted to tell you something."
The cyber ninja raised an eye ridge. "What is that?" Are you going to get to the point now?
"Well you see...."
"Yes?"
"Well you know how you said that the reason you ran was because you remembered your encounter with that vampire from your dimension," he said slowly. When Prowl nodded he forced himself to continue. Prowl sensed XR was having a hard time getting it all out. "Well I shouldn't have said what I did about it."
"I'm sure you had a good reason," the cyber ninja told him. "Or you were just being ignorant because you didn't understand what I meant because it never happened to you."
"No, that's not it," XR said, waving his hands and shaking his head. "It did happen to me and that's why I never should have said it."
Prowl stared at him for a moment, startled. It happened to him? Well this was unexpected. He never anticipated that the robot would say something like that. "What do you mean?"
XR sighed. This was going to take awhile to explain. "Do you have time for a story?" he asked.
To be honest the cyber ninja didn't. He was determined to find Sari before something happened to her but something told him he was already too late anyway. If he was too late... it didn't matter anymore.
I'm sorry, Sari.
"Okay," he said, sitting down. "But can you make it the abridged version, please? Since we're in a hurry."
"Well I can try anyway."
Nos-4-a2's reflexes saved his head, jerking it back just in time. The blue energy orb shot past his head and into the ceiling where is exploded and tiny, sparkling, blue specks of energy rained down. While he was distracted Sari lunged out of the coffin, grabbing Nos-4-a2 by the arms and knocking him over. He landed on his back on the floor with the girl on top of him.
"Ugh! Get off me, you wench!" the energy vampire shouted, struggling to free himself.
"I don't think so," she said, raising her arm and activating one of the blades. She held it over his chest, where she thought the power core would be. "I think I'll finish the job this time before I even consider moving." This time I won't freak out or feel guilty for no reason.
"You will do no such thing!" he growled.
His words seemed empty while she had the advantage. "Yeah and who's going to stop me?"
He smiled. "How about that?"
"How about wha-" A noise alerted her to movement behind her. She thought she was something moving, behind a pile of empty robot shells. Wait! What was that thing? It looked huge!
Nos-4-a2 was talking. "Come to me, my child," he was saying.
Sari looked back at him. "What are you doing, freak?"
His smile got bigger. "Look for yourself."
She looked back again. Now a robot stood behind her, a huge black thing with glowing red eyes and wide arms, walking heavily as if it couldn't hold itself up. It raised its one arm and fired at her with a gun mounted on it. Sari was forced to dived off of the energy vampire to prevent injury. When she did Nos-4-a2 got up, activated his ember wings, and lunged after her.
She dodged out of the way and he missed. The ground exploded in front of her, which told her the slave was firing. She turned to the zombie robot and jumped on it's head, stabbing at it's face and chest with her blades. One of them pierced the chest and the power core beneath. Its optics flickered then blinked out, the body falling heavily to the floor.
She sighed, deactivating her swords. One less thing to worry about. Now for the vampire.
Suddenly something grabbed her from behind and lifted her into the air. She gasped and lashed out with her elbow, slamming it into a metal torso. The person grunted and let her go. She landed on her hands and knees on the floor and looked up. Nos-4-a2 floated above her, holding his stomach plating, and looking angry.
They locked eyes.
"You're trying my patience, little girl," he growled.
He didn't scare her. "Oh, shut up."
She got back to her feet and jumped at him. Nos-4-a2 let her come. When she was close enough, he slammed his hand into her stomach .
She gasped, the air knocked out of her, and fell heavily to the floor. He was right behind her, his clawed hands out in front of him as if to grab her again. She landed on her side but flipped over onto her back, reactivating both blades and shoving them up at the oncoming vampire. He caught sight of them just in time and pulled up, avoiding another impaling. "That trick won't work a second time."
It doesn't have to. It just has to keep you away from me.
She got her legs under her and bounced to her feet, running sideways when he shot a plasma bolt at her. The blast hit a pile of robots instead. Their power cores that still had some energy left, burst, causing the machines to explode. The percussion knocked her off her feed and sent her flying across the room. She crashed to the floor near the far wall, scraping her knee against the rough concrete. She let out a yelp of pain and sat down, grabbing the wound. The gash was deep and bleeding a deep purple color.
"Rats," she hissed, wincing at the pain, her eyes locked on the blood which was glowing, therefore sending out a strong energy signature. "Double rats."
"Hmmm what is that I am smelling?" a voice said above her.
Uh oh!
Sari lifted her head, Nos-4-a2 was hovering over her again, his optics locked on her like landing lights. No, he wasn't looking at her. He was looking at her scrape, more directly the blood oozing from it. That glowing blood with its powerful energy signature.
Huh? What's with him? Is he some kind of shark?!
"What have we here?" he said, slowly coming toward her.
Vampiric shark. Well he's not going to feed on this swimmer. She raised her hand, creating another orb. "Stay away from me!" she shouted.
But he ignored her. He slapped her hand away then grabbed her leg when he was close enough to do so. She screamed and tried to kick him with her other leg. He easily grabbed her ankle and held it away from his head. His optics were still focused on her wound which was still oozing purple blood. "Well I've never seen this before. Interesting..." he ran his tongue over it, making Sari shudder.
I hope it makes you sick!
For a moment he made no reaction at all, like he was trying to decide whether he liked it or not. Then he looked right into Sari's eyes and that told her everything she needed to know. A chill ran up and down her spine and she knew she was in big trouble
"You see," XR began his story. "A couple of years ago Buzz, Mira, Booster and I responded to a distress signal from a ship that was being attacked by Warp Darkmatter, you don't know who he is." he added before Prowl could inquire. "The cargo of that ship was a coffin shaped box, that seemed to drain energy. At the time we had no idea what was inside it but Zurg semed interested in the box so we took in back to Star Command."
"What exactly was in that box?" Prowl questioned.
XR's face grew serious. "Nos-4-a2," he answered. "But we didn't know that at the time. On the way back I was told to go down and check on it and well..." he was having a hard time telling this part. He didn't like remembering it, he still had nightmares about it sometimes. "Nos-4-a2 woke up and attacked me and drained my energy."
Prowl didn't reply but that sounded similar to his own incident. Only he'd been stupid enough to go and look for Shadowstar himself because he thought he could deal with her himself without help. How stupid he had been.
XR was pacing now, his hands behind his back. "Anyway later when we finally got to Star Command, Nos-4-a2 woke up again and forced me to help him take over Star Command."
The cyber ninja's optics flickered. "He forced you?"
"Hey, Cybertronian vampire robot's aren't the only ones who can make slaves out of other robots," he reminded him. "To make a long story short. With the help of my good buddy Booster I was able to break free from Nos-4-a2's control and incapacitate. Afterward he was taken to PC-7 but got out a few times." he sighed. "He's had it out for me since."
"So he wants revenge on you?"
"You could say that."
Prowl folded his arms and sighed. "You're right," he agreed. "That doesn't sound much different than my own story except for a few small things." he stood up. "but why are you telling me this? What made you want to tell me?"
"Well," XR said. "I guess what I meant by that was I shouldn't have, you know, been so rude to you since we've been in the same situation. I should have been more thoughtful."
"Yes, you should have," Prowl agreed, walking past him. "But now that you have told me I hope this means you're going to be less of a nuisance toward me." he looked back at the robot. "I don't mean your sarcastic nature because that seems to be part of your personality and you can't help it-"
"Hey!" XR shouted, looking offended."
"-but the other parts," he said, ignoring the other robot's indignation. The truth hurt, but he needed to hear it. "I don't really understand why you were acting that way toward me anyway."
"Oh it doesn't matter anymore," XR told him, not wanting to get into that subject. "I was just being a little.... Well I was jealous."
The Autobot looked startled. "Of me?" that was a first. "Why would you be jealous of me?"
"Well everyone seemed to be interested in all your super high tech stuff and it ticked me off," the space ranger robot explained, shrugging. "Just forget it. I was being childish."
"Oh." so that explained the cold wind coming from the robot back at the space station then on 42. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because it's not important," XR replied. "I was being petty, that's all. Of course everyone would find you fascinating. You have stuff I don't have."
Prowl smirked. "Well don't feel so down," he said. "You have stuff I don't and if I blew up the way you did back on Star Command, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
"Really?"
Prowl nodded. "Like I said before Cybertronians have sparks. Sparks are very delicate, like human hearts. If they are destroyed there is not way to get them back."
XR honestly wasn't sure how to react to that or what to think. The only time he ever saw sparks was when the LGMs used a blow torch to repair him or build new weapons, but he somehow doubted that the sparks the Autobot was talking about looked like that. This fact made him unusually curious.
"May I see it?"
Prowl was surprised by such an unusual request. "See what?" he asked.
"That thing you're talking about," the space ranger robot replied. "That sparky thing."
"Spark," the Autobot corrected. "Why do you want to see it?"
"Just call it curiosity."
The cyber ninja hesitated. "Well I-"
"Hey, you guys going to stay up there and chat all day?" Buzz Lightyear's voice shouted up to them, cutting off the rest of his sentence. "I thought you wanted to find Sari!"
The human space rangers words brought Prowl's thought back to the techno organic girl and their problem. "Not now," he told XR, meeting his yellow colored optics. "Maybe after we find Sari."
"Fine," XR said, looking slightly annoyed. Why did Buzz have to speak up now? "But I'm going to hold you to that." he headed toward the edge of the roof then jumped off but not before saying. "and I won't forget."
"No," Prowl agreed, moving to follow him. "I don't think you will."
Hail Zurg! Hail Zurg! Hail the Evil Emperor Zurg! He is the most evil-
"Somebody please shut off that stupid music!" Shadowstar screamed, unable to listen to another verse.
But of course nobody ran to do what she commanded. The only sound she heard was the rest of the anthem, over and over and over. It was beginning to drive her crazy. But that was Zurg's intent. That or have the song so engraved in her hardware that it would start playing around with her thinking.
Well she wasn't going to let either thing happen. Not if she could help it. If she had to she'd go into her own processor through thought and activate one of those viruses lying dorment there just to end her misery.
But she wasn't at that point yet, not did she intend to get there.
"I'm sorry."
Upon hearing another voice she lifted her head, the only thing she could still move freely, and locked eyes with the prisoner in the cell across the room from her. The Grub that had let her out. She had forgotten that they'd also locked him down there.
Shadowstar sighed and shook her head, "It wasn't your fault," she told him. "I shouldn't have been dumb enough to think I could get out easily with an annoying little bug following me around and not warning me about inferior robots and stupid blue skinned flesh bags with firepower."
"I said I was sorry," the Grub replied, looking more upset than angry. "and I didn't tell you sooner because-"
"Because why?" she snapped, cutting him off. "Because you wanted us to get caught? It that it? Was this whole thing a trick? A joke that moron in the dress thought up with you just to drive me out of my mind?"
"No," he said. "Evil Emperor Zurg never told me to do anything. You're the one who convinced me to let you out."
"And I've regretted it every moment afterward," she muttered more to herself than to him. She clenched her fists, trying to break free from the magnet's hold. "Sparks! Stupid magnets!"
"If we have a nullifier we could deactivate those magnets," the Grub said.
"But we don't," she retorted. "and even if we did, you wouldn't be able to use it because you're on the other side of the room and I'd still be stuck in this Pit forsaken cell!"
"At least you'd be able to move."
He had a point there. If if she was still stuck in the cell being able to move freely again would make her feel better. But it wasn't going to happen.
She flopped her head back against the mattress and stared up at the ceiling. Nullifier. Too bad one of those weren't built into me. Ugh I can't believe all my rotten luck. All I wanted was some revenge! Is that too much to ask? It's the only thing I thought about while I was back in the stockade and the only thing I wanted to do when I got out. But no! All I've gotten is jinxed with things beyond my control! First I fall through a space bridge, I get my energy stolen by a stupid vampire wannabe, then I get captured by a blue freak who takes me to the planet of an even worse freak who wears a dress, then I get taken down by simple machines and now I'm locked in a cell and I can't even move!
She screamed. "Will nothing go my way?!"
"I don't know," a voice that did not belong to the Grub spoke up. "What would you like to go your way?"
She lifted her head. That purple clad weirdo stood outside her cell, grinning. "What do you want?" she demanded, glaring at him. This guy was the last person she wanted to see at the moment. "Here to deal with me now? Well bring it on, ugly! I dare you to try killing me!"
"Oh, I'm not here to kill you," he said, leaning toward the cell.
"Then why are you here?"
"I wish to talk," he answered.
"About what?"
"About what I mentioned earlier."
"I don't want to hear anything from you," she snapped.
He rested his hands on the bars. "Not even how to defeat a certain energy vampire?"
She stared at him. Did he just say what she thought he said? "What do you mean?"
"Oh nothing," he said, turning away from her. "You wouldn't want to hear it, especially since you have it out for me."
"I want to hear it," she told him. "Tell me!"
"Ah ah ah," he said, turning back to her and waving his finger. "First, before I tell you, you have to do something for me."
"And what would that be?" she asked, suspiciously.
"Nothing too hard." he put his hand on his chest. "You just have to pledge your undying loyalty to me."
That sounded very similar to a pledge she'd made to another megalomaniac back in her own dimension. She'd made a promise to herself after being free from his control, to never pledge her allegiance to anyone again. "No," she said, looking away. "I don't think so."
The guy looked disappointed. "Okay," he said, turning away. "I guess you'd rather stay down here and listen to my anthem some more."
"I'd rather listen to that than pledge loyality to you!" she called to his back.
"That's a shame," he replied, looking over his shoulder. "A real shame."
Sari started backing away from Nos-4-a2. Unfortunately he still had a firm grip on her leg and she wasn't getting anywhere because he kept pulling her back. "Let go of me!" she shouted, trying to hit him with an energy orb. She didn't like the look in his eyes, it was scaring her because she knew what it meant. He was going to feed. He was going to feed now!
Thanks to my stupid blood!
The sphere should have hit him point blank at such close range but the orb never even charged up. The only thing that happened was her hand opened, revealing her inner blue and black colored circuitry. Nos-4-a2's expression never changed. He reached out, grabbed her hand, and pulled it down, pinning it to the floor. She tried to pull it free but his grip was like a vice and she wasn't strong enough.
Sari knew she was in trouble. With him holding onto her leg and her hand she couldn't get away because he was much stronger than he looked. She only had one option left, even though it seemed so silly even to her own mind.
It's worth a shot anyway, if it keeps him from biting me.
She raised her other hand and slapped him across the face, hitting him as hard as she could.
He took the blow without much of a reaction. His optics did flicker in surprise for a moment then dimmed slightly. This told her she'd made a horrible mistake.
Nos-4-a2 yanked on her leg, making her fall onto her back then let it go and grabbed onto her shoulders before she could get up, pinning her to the floor. She wiggled around, trying to get him off of her but it did little good. This was it. He was going to bite her this time and she could do nothing about it.
Prowl! Why aren't you here yet?! What is taking you so long?!
But the cyber ninja wasn't there yet because he had no way of finding her and even if he did it would be too late. It was too late now. If only he hadn't panicked. Why had he panicked?!
Sari stared Nos-4-a2 right in the eyes. He met them without even flinching. She saw him lick his lips with his pronged tongue then lower his head. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the oncoming agony.
A sharp pang entered her neck, and shot painfully through her entire system. She couldn't keep herself from screaming as her energy was drained out of her. Her thoughts began to scramble and static flickered in and out of her vision like a bad television signal. This kept up for a few seconds longer than everything went dark as she blacked out.
Nos-4-a2 realized she'd lapsed into unconsciousness when her screams cut themselves off and her body went limp. He pulled his fangs out of her neck and released her shoulders. He looked at her face which had also gone limp, her eyes shut and her mouth partly open. She looked like she was sleeping. More of that strange glowing blood leaked from the bite marks in her neck, staining the chocolate colored skin.
The energy he'd taken from her coursed through his system, giving him a strange excellerated feeling. This had never happened before when he'd drained a machine. It felt... good.
He let out a giggle, feeling a bit tipsy. This was new and a little weird. For a moment everything around him went blurry. Startled, he hovered away from her, the rest of his senses dulling, making him feel like he was under water. The anti-gravity hardware faltered and he hit the concrete hard. He didn't feel anything. Instead of wincing he laughed again and flopped onto his back, staring at the ceiling.
Wait a minute! This didn't feel right! He sat up, trying to get a better grip on his sluggish thoughts. He'd read about something like this when he'd hacked into the Star Command systems and read about every single person and place on the station. Organics acted this way when they consumed too much of something called alcohol. Their motorskills were slowed, their senses were dulled, and they started acting really strangely and giggling at the weirdest things, like driving their cars into trees and laughing when they fell down the stairs. Kind of like he was doing right now.....
He blinked. What in the name of Jupiter? Am I drunk?!
A/N
Sari's energy is kind of.. well it causes strange side effects.