CHAP 38

"Take care of the space rangers for me, get me donuts, do as I tell you or I'll kill your little toy," Shadowstar growled as she stalked down the hall toward the location where Mira and Booster were said to be. "Who does that purple people eater think he is?! He's not my boss and how dare he black mail me like that!" she slammed her fist against the wall, a habit she'd begun to form since she'd wound up in this world as a way of relieving stress. "I would like to know who told him about my lust for Prowl? I bet it was Warp Darkmatter that big mouthed blue skinned idiot!. It has to be him! Oh, when I get my hands on him he's going to regret ever opening his big mouth."

She slammed her fists into the wall once more, creating a loud booming sound that echoed both ways down the hall. "Big mouthed aliens," she grumbled, her optics dimming. "Always telling people things they don't need to hear. It's not any of Zurg's business how I feel about Prowl and how dare he use it to make me compliant! Slag head!"

She paused a moment, breathing heavily, trying to clam down. "Oh.. when I get out of this I'm going to-"

"Shadowstar," Zurg's voice spoke into her audio unit, interrupting her tirade. "You're not planning on doing something you shouldn't, are you?"

"Of course not," she said sweetly, or attempting to sound sweet. "Why would I?"

Why is the link still open? I thought I shut that. Blasted commlink!

"Good," he said, sounding satisfied."Well you'd better get moving. Because they're getting close to where you are."

"Tell me something I don't know." she muttered. Speaking louder she said. "I'm already on it."

Sari acted as a bodyguard as Nos-4-a2 and her walked down the halls toward the main control room of Zurg's palace. Whenever they ran into opposition, in the shape of hornets, Sari would take them out then rip out their power cores and offer them to the energy vampire who happily consumed took them like a child being offered candy. By the time they reached the control room, they had left a huge mess of robot parts behind them and Nos-4-a2 was at full power which meant his mood was better. He was even smiling in that sinister way again and humming too, though it was off key. Sari didn't comment on it, since she was being controlled by him and thus could not be insulting. If she'd been herself she would have pointed it out.

Sari entered the control room first while Nos-4-a2 waited in the hallway, still humming to himself. There were a few grubs seated in front of the monitors, drinking coffee and yakking about football scores. It took them a moment to notice the creature standing in the doorway with the glowing red eyes and bright blue blades.

"Wah!" they exclaimed, dropping their mugs and hiding behind their chairs. "What are you?" one asked, quivering.

"I am the collector of last souls," Sari said in a sinister voice as she walked toward them. She grinned madly. "and I am here to collect."

The Grubs didn't stick around. Not wanting this lunatic to carry out their threat, they turned tail and ran out the door, right past Nos-4-a2 who they didn't even notice. He watched them run down the hall, an amused smile on his triangular face.

"Master!" Sari called from inside. "They're gone. You can come in now."

"Lovely." he moved inside and headed over to the control panel. "Oh ravishing," he said happily. He hovered over the control panel and ran his hand over the keyboard "They left it online too. That will make things easier."

Sari moved out of the way so he could work better. Nos-4-a2 looked at the computer's for a moment then reached down and ripped off the top of the control panel. "Let's have some fun," he said, holding it with both hands. "I think I'll find out how long it take for daddy dearest to get a headache." Then he bit into it.

It was surprising to find that there were absolutely no hornets guarding any part of the palace. Booster and Mira cautiously made their way through the palace, their nerves on edge, expecting some kind of confrontation. But nothing happened. There was not a single black and yellow machine around, which was strange.

"Do you think Zurg knows we're here and is purposely allowing us to roam the palace so he can lure us into a false sense of security?" Booster wanted to know. 'I mean.. ever since we got here we haven't seen anybody."

"I don't know," Mira replied, peaking around a corner. "But if he is it's not going to work. I can sense trouble. I don't exactly know where it is but it's close."

He looked down at her, expectantly. "How close?"

"Close enough to be a problem," she replied, frowning thoughtfully. "Let's keep moving."

They moved further down the hall, watching each other's back. It kind of felt like they were being over dramatic seeing as there were no enemies to fight but they were space rangers and space rangers took no chances. Besides; the enemy was there, Mira felt it.

"Do you really think it's-" he began to ask.

"Shh!" she hissed, putting up a hand for silence. "I think I found it." then, before he could ask her any questions, she ghosted through the wall, leaving him by himself.

Mira came out of the wall a pretty good distance from where she and Booster had been standing. She looked around herself, her laser arm aimed at ready, expecting something to be there. But there was no threat. Whatever she was sensing must be hiding somewhere close by. I'm going to have to find it, she realized. I just hope Booster stays put until I get back.

She dashed down the hall. "I also hope nothing happens to him.."

Booster was still where she left him but was beginning to feel nervous. Even if he didn't have Tangean senses he still felt as if something was watching him. He looked around himself a few times, his laser pointed out just in case. So far nothing had jumped out at him but it only helped to make him even more unsettled.

"Where are you?" he asked, his eyes sweeping the hall. "Show yourself."

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

He sighed. "Maybe I'm just being jumpy," he told himself. "Maybe there really isn't anything there and she's just imagining it." he turned back to the way she went. "Maybe I should-" a figured blocked his progress. "AH! What are you?"

The creature, a black and red being with wings and sinister glowing red optics, grinned, baring two sharp, white fangs. "I'm sure you already know the answer to that question, space ranger."

Booster seemed to fumble for a moment then he aimed his laser at her chest. "Don't move!" he ordered. "In the name of the Galactic Alliance you're under arrest."

She looked from him to the laser to his face again, raising an eye ridge in amusement. "Is that supposed to scare me?" she questioned, walking toward him. "Because it doesn't. Let me show you how it's done."

The red space ranger backed away from her, his laser still trained on her spark chamber. "I said don't move!" he ordered. "Don't make me shoot you."

"Oh, don't worry about that," she assured him, smirking. "You won't."

She lunged.

Booster panicked and dodged out of the way. She landed on the floor where he'd been standing and twisted around, swinging her leg, tripping him. He hit the floor hard. She got up first and came at him. He aimed his laser at her and fired. It hit her in the chest, breaking the glass over her cockpit and exposing the spark.

She screamed in pain and backed away, her hand instantly covering the area as blue mech fluid bled out of the broken chamber. "I can't believe you did that," she whined.

While the fembot was distracted Booster got to his feet and came at her, punching her square in the face. She flew into the air until she hit the ceiling then crashed to the floor, landing painfully on her back. "Ow," she moaned, sitting up and grabbing her aching face. "Zurg said this would be easy-huh?"

The laser pointer was locked on her face. She lifted her head and saw the Joadian space ranger aiming his laser at her. "Like I said, don't move," he ordered.

She glared up at him, baring her fangs. "You really think you can take me out that easily?" she demanded. "If you think that, you've got another thing coming."

Shadowstar moved fast, kicking Booster's arm so it aimed at the ceiling. When she did this he accidentally fired the laser, the beam hitting the ceiling and breaking out large chunks that rained down on him. The femme quickly dived out of the way. When she looked back she saw the alien buried under chunks of plaster. But he was unconscious or dead?

No the alien wasn't either of those things. He was alive and was actually trying to get out from under the mess.

"You sure are stubborn," she growled, walking over to him, her one hand still covering her exposed spark chamber. She knelt down in front of him. "How about I take care of that?"

Booster growled at her and tried to punch her face. She instinctually moved her head back, avoiding the blow. "Oh now don't be like that," she said, condescendingly. "It's not like I'm going to kill you. Zurg never said he wanted you dead, even though he also didn't mention keeping you alive either. I'm just going to make sure you can't do anything for awhile."

When he tried to punch her again, she grabbed his arm and held it away from her face. He tried to pull it free but she was strong for such a petite looking figure and he couldn't get it back. She stared at his arm, studying the suit. It was mechanical, though it felt a bit like normal clothing. She could feel the energy thrumming inside through her fingers.

"Let go of me!" he shouted.

"Not until I fix what you broke," she replied then sunk her teeth into the suit.

Zap!

The power of his suit drained out of it and into the femme. He didn't really feel it go but a warning sound informed his the power was draining. Not wanting his suit to become useless he tried to pull himself free but it did little good.

But she did not drain all the power. She only consumed enough to fix her broken spark chamber. Oh, she was tempted to take it all but something told her she might have to use these guys later, should Zurg decide he really did want to kill her.

They could prove to be a good diversion while she made her escape. After all, what was more important? Killing her or dealing with Star Command space rangers?

Once she was done with her snack she let go of his arm and stood over him, deciding what she wanted to do. She looked down at the alien for a moment then her optics fell on the ceiling parts pinning him to the floor. Without a word she moved toward them and began to lift them off.

"Where do you think Nos-4-a2 might have taken Sari?" Prowl asked XR as they moved quickly through the halls of Zurg's palace.

"I haven't the faintest idea," he replied, shrugging. How could he know that? He couldn't get inside the energy vampire's head. Prowl always seemed to ask him about Nos-4-a2's behavior about things seeing as he was once his servant. Just because he'd been under his control didn't mean he knew how he thought. It was a little annoying. "But wherever it is, I doubt he's treating her respectfully."

"Don't say that!" the Autobot snapped, horrified by the very suggestion. "Sari's not like that!"

"I didn't mean it that way," the robot responded, defensively. "I just meant that-"

"Forget it," the cyber ninja cut him off, not wanting to discuss it any further. "I'm not sure I want to know."

"Well if you want to find her why don't you use those ninja powers of yours you used back there?" Xr suggested, referring to when they'd been in the dungeon. "They seemed to work then."

"Processor Over Matter doesn't work like that," Prowl told him, sounding offended by his suggestion. "I can only use it to move objects, not find people."

"Oh. Well then that just stinks, doesn't it?"

The Autobot ignored him. "Let's just keep moving," he said.

"Fine fine."

Mira still wasn't having any luck finding the threat but she began to feel that the further she moved away from the spot where she'd left Booster the fainter the feeling became. This told her that she was moving away from it. "But if I'm moving away," she said to herself. 'That means-"

Then she heard the sound of the ceiling caving in and her hunch was confirmed. "Craters," she cursed, diving into the wall and heading back to Booster. "I should have known this was a trap."

Mira came out of the wall a few seconds later. She looked around until she spotted Booster lying on the floor. He was unconscious. "Booster!" the Tangean space ranger exclaimed, running over to him and kneeling down. "Are you all right?"

"I'm afraid he won't be able to answer that for awhile," a voice spoke up behind her.

Mira jumped then looked over her shoulder. She saw the energy vampire femme standing behind her with her hands resting on her slim, black hips. "You!"

Shadowstar smirked. "Me. More or less."

"What did you do to him?" Mira demanded, standing up and facing the femme.

"Well I didn't bite him if that's what you're thinking," she replied, making a face. "I don't drink blood." she looked disgusted at the very idea. "The very idea is appalling. All I did was knock him out. He'll be fine. You've got nothing to worry about, flesh bag."

Mira glared at her. She recognized this fembot. She'd seen her in the sewer back on Trade World when they'd run into Warp Darkmatter. She was the robot Prowl and Sari were after. "You're Shadowstar," she stated.

The femme smiled. "I shouldn't be surprised you know my name," she stated. "Seeing as the Autobot is on your side." she cocked her head. "I bet he told you everything about me too."

"I didn't think from what Prowl said about you that you'd willingly work for anybody," Mira stated, pointing into her face. "But here you are working for evil emperor Zurg. So what did he promise you? Power? Wealth? An unending supply of machines to feed upon?"

"What he promised me isn't any of your business," Shadowstar growled. "The only thing you need to worry about is what's going to happen after I bring the both of you in."

Mira smirked. "Oh yeah?" she asked. "Well don't get your hopes up. I've got no intention of letting that happen." she aimed her wrist laser at the femme. "But since you insist on causing trouble, then I'm going to bring you in."

She fired.

Shadowstar moved out of the why by shooting into the air. She hovered over the Tangean for a moment. "You would have taken me in whether I worked for Zurg or not," she pointed out accurately. "Especially after everything Prowl told you about me. In fact; you'd arrest me just for being an energy vampire." she lunged at her. "Well I have to eat too, you know!"

Mira didn't move out of the femme's way. She just stood still and allowed her to ghost right through her body. Shadowstar's optics widened in surprise. She hadn't been expecting that! How had that organic being done it? What was she anyway?

When she came out Mira turned and kicked her in the back, knocking her to the floor.

Shadowstar landed on all fours and didn't bother wondering about it the beings abilities. She was under orders to take care of these losers and if she didn't she would never be able to get her revenge on Prowl. Sparks! I hate it when egotistical megalomaniacs use my weaknesses to their advantage.

Mira swung at her again but the fembot jumped out of the want, landing beside the unconscious Booster.

"Get away from him!" the woman shouted, firing her laser at the robot.

The Decepticon femme moved fast, reaching down and grabbing up the red alien. She lifted him off the floor and held him in front of her, using him as a sheild. The laser hit him in the chest and he cried out.

"Booster!" Mira shouted, her eyes wide in horror. "Let him go!"

"No I don't think I'll do that," the femme responded, smirking. She held him before her, her hands gripping the back of his suit. "Because if I do I know you'll just attack me and I don't want that. I've got a better idea. How about you give yourself up and then I'll let him go."

"No!"

"Then I guess I'll just keep on using him as a shield, seeing as you can't hurt me as long as I'm doing so," she said, looking at her talons. "and since he's so big even if she tried to hit me from another angle you'll only hit him that way as well."

Mira was having trouble now. She didn't want to hit Booster but she didn't want to give up either. What would Buzz do if he was here? she asked herself, grinding her teeth together in frustration. Would he give or up would he fight or would he pretend to give up until he though of a plan to escape?

She was having such a hard time making up her mind that she didn't notice Warp Darkmatter sneaking up behind her nor did she expect the blow that came after. One minute she was standing there, trying to decide what to do and the next her head filled with pain and then everything went black.

She collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

Shadowstar stared down at the Tangean then looked up at Warp. "Where did you come from?" she demanded.

Darkmatter made a face. "Your welcome," he said sarcastically. "No thanks required."

"I never asked for your help," she responded, letting go of Booster. He crashed to the floor. She ignored him, focusing her attention on the blue skinned alien. She rested her hands on her hips."Especially after you opened your big mouth and told Zurg how I felt about that Autobot."

Warp stared at her in confusion. "Huh?"

"You know what I'm talking about," she shouted, her optics flashing in anger and.. hurt? "He knows how I feel and used that to blackmail me into taking out these wannabes." she pointed an accusing finger at him "You're the only one who knew about it so it had to be you."

"I can assure you I have no idea what you're talking about," he responded looking upset that she'd think he'd do such a thing.

"Don't lie to me!" she almost screamed.

"I'm not!"

"Then how does he know?" she snapped.

"I have no idea," she replied, reaching down and picking up the unconscious Mira. "But right now I think we should just get these guys to Zurg before he gets angry."

"We can't." she stated.

"Why not."

She frowned. "I have to pick up some donuts for the jerk first."

Warp laughed.

Prowl peeked around the corner and looked down the hall, expecting to see some hornets milling around. Once again he saw nothing, except an empty hallway. He sighed in relief and pulled his head back. He leaned against the wall to rest a moment and breath to calm his frayed nerves.

"Anything there?" XR asked him.

He shook his head. "No, just like all the others."

"Hmm," XR said rubbing his chin. "I wonder where all those hornets got to? It's not like Zurg to clear the way for us. Do you think he knows we got out?"

Prowl shrugged. "You know him better than I do," he responded. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"Then what are we waiting for then?" XR asked, moving forward. He reached up and grabbed Prowl's arm as he passed him. "Let's get moving."