CHAP 23

The guy working at the cart was beginning to freak out. This robot was serious. "Okay fine," he said, quickly getting some hot dogs ready. He didn't want to face this crazy machines' wrath. "Do you want a bag for them?"

Nos's grinned. Now they were getting somewhere. "If you don't mind," he said, grinning evilly and leaning closer, invading the kid's space even more.

The kid put the hog dogs in a bag and handed it to him with shaking hands. "Here, no charge," he said trembling.

"Why thank you," Nos said, taking the bag. "How very generous of you."

Suddenly a bolt of plasma hit his hand, nearly making him drop the bag. Nos let out a roar of pain and turned his head, wanting to get a look at anyone who would dare to shoot at him. His optics focused on XR who was toting two guns like someone from an old Western movie. "Freeze, vampire!" he shouted. "In the name of the Galactic Alliance, you're under arrest! Put down the dogs and give yourself up!"

Nos-4-a2, instead of surrendering, roared at XR then lunged. XR's optics widened. "This I wasn't expecting. AAAAAHHH!"

Before the vampire could grab or bite him Prowl tackled robot space ranger, knocking him to the ground. Nos flew over their heads and into the air where he took off, not looking back. He still held the bag of food.

"He's getting away!" the space ranger shouted, watching him fly off. Prowl, who was on top of him, looked down at XR, his expression totally unhappy. "What?"

"You're not making this any easier," the cyber ninja said, getting up. He looked angry. "I was hoping we'd be able to follow him back to his lair, not play cop!.Did you really expect him to tell us anything with that stunt?"

"It was better than your plan!" XR shouted.

Prowl ignored him and lifted his head and searched the sky for the robot. He could just barely make him out because by then he was far away. "Now he's getting away." he activated his jetpack. "I hope we can still track him from this distance. No thanks to you."

"Hey, don't blame me!"

"I am blaming you," the cyber ninja snapped, grabbing the other robot's arm and shooting into the air. "Because you're the one who shot at him."

"No."

"What do you mean 'no'?" Warp Darkmatter demanded, looking at her and frowning. What was she saying that for? "I didn't even suggest anything!"

Shadowstar turned her head to glare at him. "No, but you were thinking it," she stated firmly.

"What, can you read minds now?" he questioned.

"No," she answered, folding her arms and giving him a look. "I can just tell when somebody is about to say or suggest something stupid."

"How would you know it was stupid if you don't even give the person a chance to say it?" he shot back.

"I can tell."

"You can not!"

"Fine then," she said, leaning toward him. "Tell what you were going to say and let me be the judge of whether it was stupid or not."

"I was only going to suggest that maybe before we got to Trade World if you wanted to take a quick detour and, you know, do something?" he replied, sounding as if such an idea wasn't anything to get upset about.

She growled and leaned closer, invading his space further."I will say this once and only once," she hissed, grabbing the arm rest of his seat and crushing it under her hands. "I do not like being hit on by organic creatures, especially annoying ones with big egos." she lifted a finger and poked him in the face with it. "So if you want to keep that head of yours attached to your shoulders, you will stop trying to get under my plating!"

"So I guess that's a no then," he said, cowering under her glare.

"That's more than a no, flesh bag," she stated, her optics flaring angrily. "That's a 'not on your life'!" she moved back to her seat and stared straight ahead, brooding. Crazy organic. What's with him anyway? Can't he take a hint? she glanced back over at him. He looks like one of those annoying womanizer guys that thinks no is yes, only shorter. She resisted the urge to kick him again just to make a point. If she did that he might think she was flirting.

Yuck!

He looked at her and grinned. She made a face and looked away. Yup. It went in one ear and out the other. she slumped down a bit and glared darkly out the windshield. Stupid being. Stupid stupid being. That Zurg guy did this on purpose! He just wants to get revenge for me not liking his music. That has to be the reason for why he dumped this pea brain on me, not because I don't know my way around this galaxy. That made sense to her. Yes! That must be it! Once I get back to that planet with that stupid wannabe I'm going to tell him a thing or two about his sense of humor, because it's not the least bit funny.

"Hey, Shadow," Warp said.

"What?" she snapped, looking back at him.

"Do you like the Beatles?"

Sari placed the finally piece of robot parts on the pile then stepped back to survey her work. The pile was so high it reached over her head like a mountain. For a moment she considered climbing it and trying to escape the lair but decided against it. The mess would just fall down if she tried that.

She smiled to herself and turned around, taking in the much cleaner space. The room actually looked bigger without robot parts littering the floor and now she could finally see the floor which wasn't all that pleasing to the eyes to begin with. Ah well. Nos-4-a2 had told her to clean up the junk, not to criticize his choice of living space. "Not that his bed is any netter," she commented, walking over to the coffin in the middle of the room. Without the parts it seemed to take longer. "He sleeps in something that should be under the ground, not sitting out in the open." she giggled to herself. "It's kind of silly placing a robot vampire in a coffin. Not even Shadowstar stooped to vampiric stereotypes this much."

The techno organic girl reached up and touched the coffin. "I for one wouldn't want to sleep in something like this. It would make me claustrophobic." she smiled and gave the casket a thump. "It wouldn't bother him much. He's a robot after all. He doesn't need to breath."

Not that real vampires breath either.

She lifted her head and gazed longingly at the exit. "Speaking of robots, I wonder when Prowl's going to get me out of this?"

He's not. a voice in her head replied. The voice of doubt. If he wanted to save you he would have been here by now.

"That's not true," she protested emphatically. "He just can't find me easily because he doesn't know where to look. But he will. He always has."

How many times are you going to tell yourself that?

"As many times as I have to." she sighed and looked away. "Even if it takes a long time. Prowl would never give up on me. He's my friend."

A friend who abandoned you.

She shook her head, trying to make the voice go away. Where was this doubt coming from? She had no reason to be thinking that way about Prowl. Her always came to save her. She remembered when he'd gone all the way to Dinobot Island to get her away from Meltdown.

Even if he did run away when he could have saved you. that voice pointed out.

I already discussed this with you! He's got a reason for doing that and when he saves me he'll explain why he did such a thing.

If he comes to save you.

When. she insisted stubbornly. Not, if. When.

A noise alerted her. She raised her head and looked up at the exit which was so far out of her reach just as Nos-4-a2 came flying in. For a moment he hovered there, scanning the room as if he expected her to be gone. When he spotted her he dived down at her. As he got closer she saw the look on his face. He wasn't happy. I wonder what gave his fangs cavities?

When Nos reached her, he thrust the back he'd been holding into her hands. "Here," he said, angrily. "Here's that food. I hope you're happy. I went through a lot of trouble to get it for you."

Sari opened and bag and looked inside. She saw two hot dogs that looked like they'd been tossed around inside a drier lying on the bottom. "What did you do to them?" she asked.

The energy vampire glared at her. He gone out of his usual characterization to get her this and she was complaining because it wasn't perfect? Who did she think he was?! Nos-4-a2 was tempted to take that bag out of her hands and dump the contents over her head but he resisted the urge because it wouldn't be in character for him. "Just be happy I got you anything, brat," he growled, folding his arms and making a broody face.

Something told the girl it hadn't been easy, as he said he'd gone through a lot of trouble to get them. This realization actually gave her a very sick pleasure. It served him right if he had trouble. He deserved it. "Well it mustn't have been too bad since you got my food." she pulled one of the hot dogs out and licking her lips in anticipation. Even if it did look like it had been in the middle of a battle it was food, real food. I just hope it doesn't taste like bugs or something. She was a little cautious about the food in this universe thanks to Star Command's funky menu. Well at least it's not lima beans.

She bit into the hog dog. It tasted normal. She smiled in satisfaction and continued munching. Nos-4-a2 watched her with a disgusted look on his face. She could tell he thought her choice of fule was gross but he wasn't any better. After all he fed on robots and doing that wasn't exactly the most clean choice of feeding either.

After what I've been through it's almost not worth it just for energy, he thought to himself. Maybe I should just drain the rest and get this over with. But he couldn't do that. If he did he might go offline from an overdose. Blasted tasty energy! Why does it have to make me act that way?!

When Sari was finished she wadded up the bag and tossed it over her shoulder. It hit the floor with a papery clatter. She noticed an annoyed look cross his face when she did this, but chose to ignore it. Why was he so upset she threw her junk on the floor? He wasn't the neatest person either!

"By the way, in case you haven't noticed I finished cleaning, master," she said sarcastically.

"I noticed," he said, looking unamused by her tone. "At least you're useful for other things besides food."

She folded her arms and glared at him. "You know you're not going to get away with this," she stated. "I'm not going to be here forever and be your food. Prowl will come for me and you're going to regret it."

"Such bravado from dinner," he said, unimpressed. "Let me tell you something, my dear. If this Prowl wanted to save you he would have been here by now."

"He just don't know where to look," she insisted. 'Once he finds your trail he and the space rangers come for me and teach you a lesson in manners!"

He laughed at her statement and moved away. "I doubt that. I've had run ins with Lightyear before and the only thing I've learned from that was to not repeat the same mistakes over besides if they did come here I wouldn't be the one to fight them." he grinned. "That's what I have you for, my dear."

"If you think I'll fight my friends you got another thing coming."

He moved toward her again. "I am afraid you won't have a choice," he stated. She started walking backward as he moved closer, trying to keep some space between them. She hated when he did this. "You know how it goes. Once a vampire bites their victim they can make that being a vampire slave."

"I-if that's true why haven't you done it yet?" she challenged, trying to keep her voice from trembling.

"I don't have any use for your powers yet," he responded. "Right now the only purpose for keeping you alive is your energy but I can assure you that if and when Lightyear and the rest of his party finds us and tries to arrest me I'll make full use of all your little powers." He grabbed a lock of her hair and lifted it up, twirling the end of the strand around his finger. "and don't think I won't. I know all about your powers and abilities."

She jerked away, losing her footing and falling back into the pile of robot parts she'd unwittingly walked into. He laughed as she scrambled out of the mess. "So let me just give you a little piece of advice; If and when that happens and I do decide to use you that way I wouldn't suggest resisting. It will only cause you unnecessary pain."

"Yeah, just keep wishing!" she yelled, getting to her feet. "I am not going to become your slave! No matter what you do to me!"

He shot her a pitying smile. "So young and so naive," he said. "When it happens you won't be able to stop it. There is nothing you can do, my dear."

Prowl and XR followed Nos-4-a2 at a safe distance as he flew over city. The cyber ninja wasn't going to allow himself to lose sight of the energy vampire even though XR was protesting and trying to distract him. By some divine miracle Prowl was able to keep him in view and watched as the vampire flew into what looked like a sewer pipe and disappear. "There!" he shouted, diving downward. "I see him!"

He landed on the ground outside the pipe and after letting XR go walked over to it and peeked inside. "He must have his lair down there somewhere," he stated, poking his head inside the entrance.

"He does like to hide in disgusting dark places," XR replied. "After al,l he's a vampire and woo. Hey!" he shouted when he saw Prowl starting to climb inside the pipe. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" the cyber ninja asked, looking over his shoulder at the space ranger robot. "I'm going to find him and save Sari."

"By yourself!?"

"Yes, Sari's my responsibility."

"You can't go in there by yourself!" he shouted.

"Why not?"

"If you go in there it'll be like you plastered a Bite Me sign on your chest," XR replied, his optics wide in horror. "Now why don't you wait until we contact the others and then we can all go in at once? Then you'll have back up."

Prowl shook his head. "I do better on my own."

"Oh, don't give me that!" he shouted. "Nobody does anything well by themselves. You need help."

"I can't chance any of you getting hurt because of my problem."

"Nos-4-a2 isn't your problem, Prowl," XR stated. "He's a part of our jurisdiction, not yours. So while saving Sari might be your top priority and mission, stopping Nos-4-a2 is mine and the rest of my teams."

Prowl stared at him. When XR got like this he seemed different.

The robot space ranger wheeled over and grabbed Autobot's arm, trying to pull him away. "Don't go in there half cocked and get yourself killed," he said "I don't want to explain to Buzz or Sari when we save her that you died from stupidity."

"I'm not going to die."

"How do you know that?" XR asked. "Can you see into the future? No, you can't! I don't know if you have a superior back in your own dimension but if you did I don't think he'd approve of what you're planning on doing either!"

Why did you have to mention that? Prowl wondered. He knew exactly what Optimus would have done if Prowl tried to pull the same stunt back in his own dimension. He wouldn't be happy. In fact he'd lecture him about it, telling him it was a very unwise decision and if he did it he'd regret it in the near future. The cyber ninja didn't like being reminded of this but it was too late now. If your processor plugged into Optimus Prime's mind or something?

"No," Prowl confirmed. "He would not like it. He would say it was foolish and I must have a death wish for considering such a stunt."

"You see," XR replied. "Even your own people wouldn't want you to do this."

"But what can I do?" the cyber ninja demanded, looking torn. "I can't just leave her there with him! He could do who knows what to her and I wouldn't know it."

"Yes, you would," XR responded. "You have that link with her. Whatever happens to her you'll feel so stop being so stupid. Are you feeling anything now?"

"No."

"Then that means she's fine," the space ranger robot confirmed. "Though I don't know how much longer that will last with Nos-4-a2's appetite but I think it would be best if you waited before going in. I'll contact Buzz and tell him where we are. When they get here then we'll go in and and save Sari. Okay?"

Prowl looked back toward the pipe. For a moment XR thought he would discard his advice go in anyway but instead he nodded his head slowly and said. "Okay. We'll do it your way."

"See that wasn't so hard."

"You're wrong there," the cyber ninja whispered, feeling as if his decision was betraying the girl he promised to protect. "It was the most difficult thing I have ever chosen."

Buzz woke to the sound of his commlink going off. At first he tried to ignore it by putting a pillow over his head but when the thing kept on beeping he decided it must be urgent and crossed the room where he'd set his suit on the chair to answer it. "Lightyear here."

"Buzz?" the voice on the other end was XR.

"Yeah," Lightyear said, annoyed that the robot had woken him up. He looked out the hotel window. It was still early. "This had better be important."

"Oh, it is," the robot replied. "We found Nos-4-a2."

That bit of news brought the space ranger into full wakefulness. "You have?" he asked, straightening up. "Do you have him in custody? Has he told you where he has taken the girl?"

"No to both questions," XR responded. "But we know where he is."

"If you know where he is why don't you go after him?"

On the other end of the line XR looked over at Prowl who was pacing in front of the sewer pipe. "That wouldn't be a good idea," he told him.

"Why not?"

"Because we aren't exactly prepared for it and we have no idea where in the system Nos is hiding," he explained. "I convinced the Autobot to wait until you and the others arrived before going in."

Something about XR's tone clued Buzz in on the situation. "Okay," he consented. "Good work." he got out of bed and moved across the room. "Don't go anywhere. We'll be there as soon as we can."

"Are they coming?" Prowl asked, stopping his pacing and turning back to XR.

"Yes," he responded, deactivating his comlink. "They'll be here."

Prowl looked back at the sewer pipe. He was anxious to go inside and rescue his friend but he knew he had to wait. "How long will it take?" he questioned.

"I don't know. However long it takes for them to get here." The space ranger robot noticed how edgy the cyber ninja was getting. Like any minute he'd discard good advice and go storming into Nos-4-a2's lair like a robot with a few screws loose. XR realized that the Autobot needed a distraction to get his mind off that. But what? He couldn't exactly suggest going somewhere until it was time to join the others. For one thing XR didn't know when they would arrive and for another Buzz told them to stay put and when Lightyear gave an order he expected it to be obeyed.

Even if one of the people in the group wasn't a member of the team.

Prowl stepped toward the sewer and looked inside.

"I really don't think that is wise," XR told him.

Prowl looked back at him, frowning. "I wasn't going to go inside," he replied, looking angry. "I was just trying to mentally make my way through it."

"Yeah sure you were," XR said, wheeling over to him once more. "I saw the look on your face and your body language. You intended to break your promise." he grabbed his arm and pulled him away. "Now why don't you just sit over here and wait? The others should be here soon and I don't want to tell them that you went all lone wolf on us got yourself into trouble." it was obvious XR didn't like repeating himself.

Prowl allowed the smaller robot to lead him away from the entrance. "I don't want leave her there," he said, sitting down on the pavement. "I feel like I'm abandoning her."

"You're not abandoning her," XR replied, joining him. "You're just being smart. Didn't you say earlier that the only reason you became the Shadowstar's vampiric slave was because you thought you could take care of her by yourself?"

The black and gold robot nodded, though he didn't quite get what XR was saying. That was different. He hadn't had the time to wait for the others to get there.

"You see that is what I'm talking about!" XR shouted, making the Autobot jump. "You do things by yourself and get into trouble."

"How would you know that?"

"It's a very simple thing to make a conclusion about," the robot replied, making a superior face. "Ever since we met you always seemed to have this air about you. This 'I want to do things myself' attitude." he paused for a moment. "You remind me of somebody else I know."

"Who? You?"

"No, not me," XR replied, glaring at him. "Why do people always assume I'm talking about myself all the time?"

"Because you usually are."

"Very funny. Very funny," the robot said, unimpressed. I do not always talk about myself. "Well I can assure you I'm not talking about me."

"Then who did you mean?"

"Buzz Lightyear."

"Buzz Lightyear?" Prowl asked, startled. "From what I've seen he seems comfortable working with the rest of you."

"He wasn't always that way," XR told him. " and he's had his moments, I could name a few right now but I won't, but he eventually came to realize that it's much better to work with other people than to do things himself, especially when it involved helping people."

Prowl was beginning to feel uncomfortable. He never liked being reminded of those things. "I'm better about it than I was," he told the other robot. "I used to be much worse."

XR smiled. "See, even an old robot like you can still learn things."

Prowl frowned, making it clear he wasn't happy by that statement. He wasn't that old! "I just hope the others get here soon," he said, standing up and pacing. "I don't want Sari to wait any longer than she has to." and I won't let the same thing that happened to me happen to her. Not now or ever. He stared at his hand for a moment then clenched it into a tight fist. This time I won't let my fear drive me away from the one I care about. I will do to the vampire what I had intended from the beginning. He's going to wish he had never taken her. I'll make sure of that.