CHAP 27
Prowl lunged forward, breaking Mira's grip on his arm, and took off down the tunnel after the techno organic girl before anyone could stop him. The damage he'd sustain was forgotten for now, all he cared about was getting Sari back. I have to stop her! he thought. I have to break his control!
"Prowl!" he heard Buzz Lightyear calling after him. "Stop!"
The Autobot ignored the space ranger and kept on going. He knew what the man was going to say and didn't want to hear it. I have to get to Sari. That's all that matters right now.
If he had to fight with Nos-4-a2 or Shadowstar in the state he was in he would do it too. With the way he was feeling right now no amount of damage could stop him from saving the one he cared about. Behind him he could hear the sound of running footsteps. The others were following him. But were they there to save Sari, capture Nos-4-a2, or keep him from doing anything they though was stupid? he didn't care what they intended. He knew what he wanted to do and he was going to make it happen, even if the others didn't think he could.
Just stay out of my way. All of you.
Shadowstar threw the drunken, laughing Nos-4-a2 to the side and faced Sari who was coming for her. She noticed the girl's face, especially her eyes which were red, looked different. This told her better than any words that the girl was the other vampire's slave. Which meant she really was a machine after all, even if she looked like a human. I knew she was a freak but I didn't think she was one that much!
"Come and get me freak!" she shouted.
Not like the techno organic wasn't already. Halfway there Sari changed position, changing her lunge to a kick. Her foot slammed hard into Shadowstar's chest, knocking her back against the steep walls. She hit it hard, a crack running down her wing.
The femme, screaming in pain and anger, pushed herself away from the wall and lunged at the girl who was gently sliding down the walls to the floor. She raised her head just as Shadowstar slammed into her, knocking her toward the floor and into the pile of robot parts Sari had worked so hard to set up. Pieces of dead robots crashed onto them.
She landed on top of the girl, pinning her down by holding her arms and resting her knees on her stomach. "You should have stayed out of this, you little brat," she snarled, ignoring the mess around her. "Now I'm going to kill you like I should have all those months ago when you refused to give me that key!"
Sari screamed in her face and tried to activated her blades, but since Shadowstar was holding her arms away from her body, they were useless. "Not this time, freak," the femme said. "You're not going to ruin my plans this time."
"But I am!"
A bolt of green plasma hit her in the back, knocking her off Sari. She fell into the mess of parts, landing on a bed or robot corpses. Sari quickly got to her feet and charged at Shadowstar who kicked her in the stomach when she got close. The girl flew across the room until her back slammed into Nos-4-a2's coffin, cracking her head on the edge and slumping to the floor, dazed. The femme got to her feet and glared up at Nos-4-a2 who was smiling at her with a look of childish glee. "I got you! Heheheehee!" he giggled, pointing at her.
"You're going to regret that, you stupid drunk!" she yelled, reactivating her thrusters and shooting into the air.
She slammed into his chest and wrapped her arms around his narrow waist. She then deactivated her thrusters and allowed them both to crash to the ground. They both hit the concrete floor hard but since Nos was below her, he took the brunt of the blow. He screamed in pain as a deep crack spidered up his back. "How do you like that, wannabe?" she demanded, punning him down with her one hand and punching him in the face. "That should teach you to humiliate me like that!"
"Leave Master alone!" Sari screamed recovering and running toward the girl.
Shadowstar looked up and gave the techno organic girl a look of annoyance. "Shut your face, you stupid little freak," she ordered. She then pulled a three barreled gun out of nowhere and shot the girl in the chest with it. Sari slammed into the coffin again. "You're annoying me. Stupid techno organic freak."
She looked back at Nos-4-a2 who was struggling to free himself from her grip but not accomplishing much. In his drunken state he wasn't as powerful or strong. "Don't even try getting away," she said. "With the way are right now you wouldn't be able to put up a good fight." She raised the gun as if to shoot him with it. 'Now hold still. This will only hurt for a minute!"
Before she could pull the trigger a throwing star came flying out of nowhere and lodged itself into her hand. She roared in pain, dropping the gun as her red optics locked onto the projectile. Gold and three pointed. Familiar.
"Shadowstar!" a voice above shouted.
She lifted her head. She could make out Prowl's gold and black frame standing at tne edge of the tunnel, high above her head. He was looking down at her with worry on his face. But he wasn't worried about her. No, she could tell he was worried about the girl. "Prowlly," she said, when he jumped down and faced her. "My precieus little plaything. Are you here for take your medicine?"
Prowl obviously didn't want to get into that. He, ignoring her inquiry, asked her. "Where is Sari?"
"The girl?" she asked, holding the writhing Nos-4-a2 down. She cocked her head. "She's over there by the box."
Prowl turned his head to where she was indicating. His optics fell on a figure slumped against the coffin. "Sari!" he exclaimed, moving toward her.
As he did Shadowstar noticed the damage on his chest plate and arm. "What happened, Prowly?" she asked, licking her lips in hunger. The sight of that damage filled her with a sick pleasure. How she missed seeing him like that. "You run into trouble?"
He ignored her and reached down to pick up Sari. The girl was more important than conversing with Shadowstar right now. He would worry about the fembot later.
Once he had the girl in his arms he turned back to the femme. "You're lucky Sari's my top priority right now," he said, his voice and expression cold. "Otherwise I would have punched in your face."
She laughed at his words. "I'd like to see you try, Autobot." She really wanted him to do that too. It would be more fun than beating up on a drunken robot.
He frowned. "I'm not the only one here, you know."
"Oh yes, I saw your little friends," she stated, unimpressed. "I clearly have nothing to worry about from them. Besides." Shadowstar stood, her hands still firmly gripping those of Nos-4-a2's. He was struggling to free himself but wasn't accomplishing much besides annoying the Decepticon. "I don't have time to deal with you anyway, since I have to take care of this little nuisance." she glared at Nos who roared into her face. She didn't even flinch. "So since you have what you want for now and I have what I want, why don't we just do what we're going to do and put our little smack down on hold until then?"
Prowl looked into the air. "I'm not the one who has any say in that."
She lifted her head as well. Now more people were in the tunnel entrance. The space rangers and Warp Darkmatter with Nimrod. All the space rangers had their arm lasers aimed at her. "Don't move!" the human looking one shouted.
Warp Darkmatter, who stood beside him, hit him in the back, knocking him off the ledge. The space ranger, taken completely by surprise, landed on floor beside Shadowstar. "Sorry, Lightyear but I am afraid I can't let you do that." he activated his jet pack and pushed himself off the edge. He shouted at Shadowstar. "Yo, Shadowstar, let's go before Buzz's trigger happy rookies start shooting."
She smirked. "I was just waiting for you, fleshbag," she said before activating her thrusters and rising into the air with the other energy vampire. She spun him around and yanked his hands behind his back much as he struggled to prevent it. "Let's get moving, you wannabe."
He in turn roared into her face.
Just then Sari, alerted by his cries, came to her senses. When she saw what was going on she reacted instantly. "Master!' she screamed, struggling to free herself from Prowl's hold. "Let go of my master!"
"Sari no!" Prowl shouted trying to hold her back. He couldn't allow her to aid that energy vampire. "He's not your master!"
"Let me go, you coward!" she shrieked.
The cyber ninja did not comply. He'd lost the girl once, he wasn't going to do it again. Not after all the time, effort, and energy he'd put into finding her. "Stop it! He's not your master!" he repeated.
Sari kicked at him, her efforts to break free becoming more frantic as Shadowstar took the struggling energy vampire further into the air and out of her reach. "Let me go!" she screamed again, her voice desperate "Master!"
"No! Stop it, Sari!".
While Prowl was having a hard time holding Sari back Buzz got to his feet and activated his jet pack. The Space Ranger was going to prevent any further shot into the air until he was between the villains and the entrance, his wrist laser locked on them. "I am afraid I can't let you take him anywhere," he told them. "Nos-4-a2 is wanted for crimes against the Galactic Alliance just as you are. If any of you are leaving, it will be in handcuffs."
Warp smirked. "Come on, Buzz," he said. "You know that never works."
Shadowstar glared at the space ranger, her face hardening. How dare this fleshbag think he could order her around. "No," she said. "You're not taking me anywhere I don't want to go. You think you can take me out with your little blinking lights? Let's see you try."
Buzz shot at her. The femme dodged out of the way of the laser fire then flew at him, purposely. She swung Nos like a club and clocked the space ranger over the head with him. Buzz fell back to the floor.
"Buzz!" Booster shouted. He glared at Shadowstar. "You'll pay for that." he raised his arm and fired at her.
The laser beam hit her in the shoulder, nearly causing her to drop Nos-4-a2. She didn't loosen her hold on the vampire though. Instead she held on righter and flew over Booster's head, kicking him when she was inside the tunnel. How dare he think he could stop her like that! He would pay for hurting her!
"Whoa!" he shouted, losing his balance. He pinwheeled his arms to regain his balance but that only made it worse. He fell out of the tunnel and to the floor below. Mira and XR fired at her but she was using Nos as a shield and he got hit instead. The vampire roared in poain and once more tried to break free, not wanting to be shot anymore. Shadowstar, wrapped her right forearm around his neck and held him against her chest, preventing him from going anywhere. She shouted to Warp. "A little help here!"
"Right away, my dear," he said giving her a mock salute. He flew at Mira and XR and shot at them, hitting the floor under their feet. The tunnel collapsed and they both fell, landing on top of Booster. "See ya later, rookies." he called, giving the group a mock salute before following Shadowstar out of the tunnel.
"Master!" Sari scream hysterically. She was struggling so hard Prowl was having a hard time holding her still.
"Ugh, Craters," Buzz muttered getting to his feet. When he saw Prowl was having a hard time holding Sari still he looked at Mira. "Mind uh.. doing something about that?"
The Tangean got to her feet and walked over to the techno organic girl She reached inside her head. Instantly the girl's eyes rolled back in her head and she went limp. "What did you do to her?" Prowl asked, staring at Sari in horror.
"Nothing," She said. "I just kind of knocked her out. She'll be fine."
The cyber ninja stared worriedly into the girl's face. "Did you fix what was wrong?" he asked, looking back at her. He looked desperate. "Can you fix what's wrong?"
Mira shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, Prowl," she said. "I can't do that. Only Nos-4-a2 or Sari herself can break that control. Unless of course you know of some way I don't which you really can't since you've never really encountered him before and-"
"Then we have to get him back," he exclaimed, cutting off her ramblings. The Autobot looked ready to chase after Shadowstar and Warp Darkmatter. "We can force him to break the control!"
"Hold it," Buzz said, grabbing his shoulder and holding him back. "You're in no shape to go after them. Besides.."
"Besides what?" Prowl demanded, turning his head and glaring at the space ranger. "That vampire is the only one who can give Sari back her free will. We have to get him back before they take him somewhere!"
"We will, we will," Buzz told him. "But first we have to-"
"We don't have to do anything except get him back!"
"Prowl, calm down," Mira said, vying for his attention. She grabbed his arm."We won't let them keep him. We're going to get him back but I think right now we should get Sari out of here and see if we can figure out why Warp and that female vampire want Nos-4-a2."
He calmed slightly. That sounded like a good idea. "Yes, you're right," he agreed. At that moment the damage he'd sustained from Sari's attacks started throbbing, reminding him that he wasn't even in perfect fighting condition.
His grip on Sari loosened and Booster moved to catch her before she fell to the floor. Unfortunately nobody was fast enough to catch Prowl whose optics blinked out and he fell crashing to the concrete floor.
"Unhand me you, wench!" Nos-4-a2 ordered, struggling to free himself from the fembot's grip. Being captured had sobered him up slightly, though there was still a faint buzzing in his mind. "I am one of the most respected villains in the galaxy! You have no right to-"
"Will you shut up!?" she ordered, pulled her arm back against his neck until he started choking. "Do you actually think I'm going to open that order? I'm not your slave. You don't have any control of me."
Speaking of his slave... Why hadn't she tried to rescue her master? Had the girl freed herself from his control? No, something told him he still had that link. That meant the space rangers were able to restrain her. Ugh, blasted girl! I should have known she wasn't competent!
Or maybe she was. Maybe she was taking them out now and would be coming to save her master soon. Fat chance. She was powerful but she wasn't a god.
But just in case she didn't he'd keep his control in case he needed some help to get away from these guys if he couldn't do it himself. Something told him he was going to be taken somewhere he wouldn't want to go back to. Something told him he would need to use her later on.
I won't release you, my dear. I still have further use of you.
Nos noticed the little Grub Warp was holding staring at him. The little insect was trembling as if he recognized the vampire. He giggled which let him know he wasn't sober after all though he was a little less buzzed than before. "You have googly eyes," he snickered.
The Grub ducked his head down, scared to death.
Shadowstar looked down at the energy vampire, annoyed by his sudden laughing fit. "Not this again." she muttered."Can't you stay sober?"
"I don't know, honey buns," he said in a weird sounding voice. "Can you?" then he broke out into hysterical laughter.
She sighed and rolled her eyes. There was no use talking to him. High grade. It has to be high grade, though it sure has a different affect on him.
Suddenly she stumbled, nearly dropping the vampire as she fell forward. They both hit the floor hard. But Nos didn't seem to notice. He just giggled again. "You fell down," he cackled.
"Shut up!"
"Maybe you should just knock him out," Warp said, looking over his shoulder. His expression told her he thought she should have already figured that out. "Then he will shut up."
"How am I going to knock him out if I'm holding him?" she asked, shakily getting to her feet. "It's kind of hard to hold onto him and do anything else."
Warp Darkmatter sighed and turned to her. Nimrod jumped off his shoulder and onto the floor. "I'll do it," he said.
She held him up, making a face. "You'd better make sure you hit him and not me," she said.
"Don't worry," he said, grabbing Nos neck. He pulled back his fist. "Just hold him still."
But before he could Nos roared at him which made him flinch. Shadowstar also wasn't expecting the sudden reaction and relaxed her grip slightly. Nos felt her do so and broke away, activating his wings and attempting to fly away.
"Oh no, you don't!" she shouted, recovering and jumping at him.
She tackled the energy vampire to the floor, where she got into a scuffle. She found herself having a hard time holding him still. He was slippery like a fish. "Stop moving, you stupid wannabe!" she yelled. "Sparks! How can you put up such a fight when you don't have any feet!?" she looked at Warp. He was watching and not even attempting to assist. "A little help here!"
"On it." He rushed forward and joined her in the fight to keep Nos pinned down while Nimrod held back, too scared to do much of anything but tremble. Both found it hard to do. The energy vampire was desperate, which made him even stronger. He seemed too strong which was unnerving. Had the energy he'd taken given him more power?
You will have to incapacitate him.
Now she didn't have an choice. The only way thing she could think of to stop him before he broke free was the last thing she wanted to do but under the circumstances she didn't have time to be picky. Reaching out and grabbing his face she pulled his head back and bit into his neck. He roared in pain and his thrashing grew greater. She held on, draining his energy until his screams stopped and his body went limp under her.
She then let him go and stood, wiping her mouth with her hand. She noticed Warp and Nimrod staring at her. They looked disturbed. "What?" she asked.
"Nothing," Warp said, reaching down and grabbing up the energy vampire. He slung his limp form over his shoulder. "I just didn't expect you to do that."
"I didn't have a choice," she said, wiping her mouth again. She made a face and walked down the tunnel. "Let's go."
Her companions looked at each other and followed, staying a few steps behind.
What Shadowstar hadn't said was that when she bit him she'd discovered something unexpected. He actually tasted good! Not as good as Prowl, but close... dangerously close.
Sparks.
Red...
He was seeing red. Red everywhere. Red sky, red ground, a red haired girl in a blood red, floor length dress. Red eyes. Hateful red eyes. They were looking at him. She was looking at him.
But it wasn't the way he was used to. The expression was wrong. twisted and gnarled. Full of hatred. Hatred for him.
A blade. Her hand held a blade. It too was red. Something that looked like blood dripped from the glowing blade.
She was coming toward him, her expression malicious. "You abandoned me." she hissed, walking toward him with purpose driven steps. "You allowed me to be taken advantage of! Did you not feel what I felt? Did you not realize how much agony I was going through? I kept telling myself you would come but you never did." she rushed at him. "YOU NEVER DID!"
He tried to run, tried to move but he was rooted to the ground. The sword pierced his chest.
Prowl came to with a gasp. His body jerked upward, flailing his arms in desperation but something pushed him back down, preventing him from moving too much or falling. Panicking, he struggled against the pressure, trying to free himself.
"Whoa! Hold still!" a voice, sounding strained, shouted. "I'm not finished repairing you yet!"
Repairing? Prowl went limp, his struggled subsiding. Repairs. repairs are good. His optics blinked on and he found himself staring into XR's face. The robot space ranger had an expression that looked half worried and have irritated. "You," the robot cyber ninja said, relaxing slightly. "It was just you."
"Of course it was me," he said irritably. "Who else would it be?"
Something popped into the Autobot's mind. He sat upright. "Sari!" he shouted. "Where's Sari?" Vertigo set in and he instantly regretted moving so fast. His head fell forward as he groaned. "Stupid.."
XR gently pushed him back until he was lying down again. Prowl discovered then that he was in the brig, lying on one of the cots in a cell. The information didn't bother him. It felt right for some reason. I deserve it.
"Don't worry about Sari," XR said. "She's with us."
Prowl looked at her. "Where?"
"In one of the other cells," the robot replied, not looking at him. He seemed distracted for some reason. "But she's still unconscious and that's kind of a good thing."
"Why?"
"Well she's still under Nos-4-a2's control," XR explained. He rummaged in his drawer for a moment and pulled out a welding torch. "Hold still. I have to repair that hole."
Prowl went still, his attention diverted to the ceiling. I forgot.
"Why'd you have to pass out like that anyway?" the robot space ranger demanded as he worked. "Don't you realize how hard it was to get you out of the tunnel? You weight a ton!"
"I'm sorry."
XR stopped what he was doing and looked at him. "You're an idiot, you know that?"