Sam needed a good night's rest. What he got was hours of restless tossing and turning, followed by a rude awakening from Bumblebee's car horn! Too lazy to get up and find out what Bumblebee's 'emergency' was, Sam put his pillow over his head and sighed into the mattress. Next to the car horn, the radio started blaring a medley of songs for the whole neighborhood to hear!
"Oh baby I need you now." "Everyone's wondering. Will you come out tonight?" "And then a hero comes along. With the strength to" "Save a life." Sam groaned. He felt for his cell phone on the bedside table and texted Bumblebee a not so kind 'you annoy me' text.
what do u want?
Wheelie's in trouble! I got the location he was at while he contacted me. Who knows how far he could be from that point by now, but its a start. C'mon we've gotta go look for him! Sam reread the text in disbelief. Was he dreaming? Sam sat up in bed and texted the only sentence that could come close to the confusion he was feeling at the moment.
what did u just say?
Miles away, Wheelie continued his miserable night as MONEE's prisoner. He didn't dare recharge. But it didn't do him any good. By the time the MONEE agents came back for him, he was too exhausted to defend himself. Wheelie was simply too tired to recharge, too tired to fight, and too tired to care. The straps that held him to the table came off. He didn't move. Humans picked him up. He didn't retaliate in any way. They held him by the scruff bar and carried him into another room. Wheelie just hung limply in their hands. Some humans pointed and laughed at what used to be such a feisty little thing, but Wheelie drowned out their conversations and distracted himself with the empty thoughts inside his head. He was laid down on another table. This time in a computer lab. MONEE agents and scientists, all strangers to him, compared notes and occasionally probed at Wheelie. Now Wheelie didn't even have the energy to let out a moan of discomfort. At least he couldn't give them the satisfaction of his pain. At least not verbally. Suddenly all commotion in the lab went dead silent. Heads turned (including Wheelie's). A tall man with gray-black spiked hair and beard, jade green eyes, and a navy blue suit and tie confidently walked into the room with two body guards at his left and right.
'Whoa. Can you say "Criminal Minds"?' Wheelie thought. It was his first almost cheerful thought since he'd been captured. He felt a little better, getting the chance to laugh at someone else for a change. He smiled at how Mr. 'Perfect villain portrait' walked his way. Wheelie wondered if this freak could be real. The man looked at Wheelie eye to optic. Wheelie was startled by the unexpected stare. He approached Wheelie and all others cleared a path. Wheelie finally found the strength to stand up on his wheels. He was still much shorter than the man even with added height of the table, but Wheelie's motion in standing up sent a better message than him laying down submissively in front of who looked like one of MONEE's superiors. The man noticed Wheelie's attempt to stand tall against him, and laughed.
"Hook him up." The man ordered. "Begin Test: Electrocution Endurance. Let's see just how tough you are." If Wheelie was capable of real breathing, he would have gasped. He tried backing away but two humans already had him pinned down, and were struggling to keep him down. Wheelie fought with all the strength he could will himself to use! He pushed himself into a push-up position and refused to lay down on the table helplessly! He screamed from the massive amount of pressure being forced onto his back! One human reached under him and grabbed him by the torso. Not knowing what to do, Wheelie let his body go limp in the human's hand. The hand lifted him up a few inches and dropped him flat on the table. Before Wheelie could even think about scrambling to his knees, hands were all over him tying him up in chains, cords, and wires! Wheelie still screamed and fought till he could hardly move anymore. All that wasn't restrained was his head. When the harassment finally ceased, Wheelie had just enough time to exhale air through his vents, (It was the closest imitation of a human's 'calm down' sigh that he could make.) before he was hit with an excruciating surge of electricity! Wheelie's processor overloaded! His pain receptors were going haywire! All he could do was scream bloody murder! Nothing could channel the pain, for all of his body functions were being overworked! Through Wheelie's eyes, nothing else existed except for pain! And the pain constantly continued! He wasn't just hit with a single zap. It was a continuous charge of electrocution! Wheelie decided he couldn't last one more astrosecond living this nightmare! Before he could give it a second thought, he shut down every last form of defense, and left his body vulnerable to feel the full impact of the electricity with no protection! Wheelie didn't stand a chance against the humans' test, and offlined immediately, just as he planned to do!
The new day's light illuminated a dirty window, creating a soft glow that shined down on a motionless frame curled up on a cushioned mat in the first room he woke in. Wheelie's regenerating systems had been going non stop all night, since the second test. The MONEE guard who watched over him almost felt pity on Wheelie. Despite his allegiance to the Mission Of Nonbiological Extraterrestrial Extermination, he decided to at least let Wheelie get the proper recharge that he so desperately needed. Eventually Wheelie began to stir. Sensing that the prisoner was about to wake up soon, the guard stood over Wheelie and placed a small bottle with a tube on it close to Wheelie's face. The light stung Wheelie's optics as he slowly awoke, wondering how he was still alive. Wheelie's optics flickered as he adjusted to the uncomfortable light. He let out a tear filled cry, not caring who heard him anymore. This had to be the final straw. He'd been kidnapped, experimented, abused, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't escape. Not even through death! Wheelie cried miserably. The guard nudged the bottle closer to Wheelie. He still couldn't see too well, so he instinctively reached out for it. He grasped the bottle with his claws and felt the splash of cool liquid inside. 'Great, another formula.' Wheelie thought. Then he reconsidered his sarcastic remark. If he could cause enough damage to himself again, he could shut down again and avoid the next test. (Whether he blacked out into stasis or died going offline he really didn't care at the moment.) He found the straw-like tube and took his first sip.
The first sip tasted heavenly! It definitely wasn't energon, or a very good imitation of it. But it felt so soothing down Wheelie's tiny throat. He finally felt at total peace, for the first time since who knows when? Wheelie took in bigger gulps of the liquid. Energon didn't have much of a distinct taste. It was appetizing and refueled his body, but it didn't have a real specific taste. While drinking this new fuel (even though he wasn't too familiar with flavors,) Wheelie knew, this had to be sweet. The liquid calmed him, and also healed instantly what his body was trying to self heal all night. Wheelie's sight improved as well. He could clearly see the bottle and the guard standing over him. "I hope you enjoyed that." said the guard. He snatched the bottle away from Wheelie. Wheelie whimpered slightly as his formula of joy was taken away from him. "Lets hope that as long as we keep you on this, there won't be another accident." Wheelie sat up.
"Why didn't you let me die?" Wheelie choked. Just as Wheelie spoke, he saw the metal brace and bandage on the human's right index finger. 'Its you!' Wheelie thought. A buzzing alarm sounded off, and the human knew it was time for him to go. But before the human walked away, he told Wheelie.
"We're not through with you yet. There will be many more small scale tests before we take the fight to the big guys." The door shut closed. He was alone with no restraints. Wheelie had the chance to run. (Break out the window, crawl through the air vents, etc...) But he didn't take it. Wheelie stayed where he was on his mat, without the least bit of motivation to move.