The next day wasn't much different, at least not until the morning turned to the afternoon's spectrum. Again, something appeared on the outskirts of town, and again the townsfolk headed out to see what it was. They were amazed to see a large portal beginning to open up, and Lightning instantly gripped Foxy tightly, thinking that this was similar to her wishing on a star.
The others didn't want her leaving either, and instantly packed in the two in the middle of the group, Foxy watching with amazed horror as one, two, three large metal-like creatures appeared out of the portal. They were huge, even bigger then a car, and they walked on two legs, like her. "Lightning, now's a good time to run. NOW." Gradually, the entire pack moved backwards, with Doc again at the front. "Hello?" One of the newcomers looked down at him, and they could see that the eyes of the creature didn't look very much like eyes, or that the creature looked in any way human. In fact, it seemed like the only thing Foxy and this… thing had in common was that they both walked on two legs. "You have the fleshling. Excellent. Give it to us." "The what?" A giant hand pointed to Foxy, who looked pale but otherwise unafraid. "She's not a 'fleshling', she's Foxy." "Very well, give it to us. Now. Otherwise we'll have to steal it from you." Doc rolled backwards in surprise. "And who do ya think ya are? Foxy's stayin' right here!" "Sheriff, shush!" Foxy hissed. "Who am I? Easily understandable, since you talking vehicles know nothing about our world. I am the leader of the Decepticons, Megatron." At this, the giant biped lowered himself down to their level, and the others backed up in a hurry. "Why do ya want Foxy? She's been livin' here for years." "That's the reason why. Others of your kind are complaining about her. They state that she is a nuisance. I am here to take her back."
"No." Foxy's voice alerted the others to her presence, and she squirmed her way out from underneath Lightning, then stood up. "What was that, fleshling? I thought you said no." "I did. I'll say it again, too. No. I don't want to leave. This is my home." "It doesn't appear that you've got much say in the matter, fleshie." The large biped hissed, then without warning began reaching for her. "Hey! Watch it!" She exclaimed, ducking to avoid the giant hand, the others backing up. "Foxy!" "I'm all right, I'm all right!" "What's the big idea? Why are you so intent on taking Foxy? She belongs here!" Lightning exclaimed, and in return got Megatron's head brought down close to him. "I have been patient with all of you. I have come up with adequate reasons for you to relinquish the fleshie to me. Still you have not. I really wouldn't want this to escalate into a battle." "That's what it'll come to then." Foxy had spoken, and the look on her face hardened. "I advise you, fleshie. Come quietly." "No. And you know what? You can't make me." She replied, crossing her arms and folding them against her chest with a frown. She sat down on Lightning's hood, giving Megatron a slight glare. "That's where you're wrong, fleshie." He picked her up in one giant hand, but she screamed and wriggled her way out.
"Sarge! Shoot him! He's bad! Do it!" Came her shrill cries as she ran away from this large biped named Megatron. Foxy barely heard the shot as she tried to run around the portal, only to be stopped by the other two. "Name's Starscream." "And Barricade." Foxy watched with horror as the one she thought was called Barricade scanned Sheriff, and her jaw dropped as Barricade instantly looked like Sheriff, without the eyes and mouth. "Sheriff!" She screamed the squad car's name, then took off running towards town, her mind panicking. She yelped and threw herself to the side as a large foot stepped behind her, rolling through the sand. She scrambled to her feet, then continued running. "Fleshie, we will not hesitate to kill you if you don't come quietly!"
There was a loud roar from who she guessed was Megatron, then she screamed as he tried to scoop her up again. She again wriggled out of his grasp, but to her shock, he swatted her with a finger, sending her flying through the dirt. "Don't make me hurt you, fleshie! I don't want you getting damaged, but if you won't come quietly, then we're going to have to!" He sounded angry this time, and Foxy rapidly got up, wincing at a broken rib. She took off running towards the town again, having veered off towards the Butte. "Foxy!" "Sarge! Take the freaking shot!" Came her scream, and she heard one go whizzing by her. "Ah! Slag all of you!" Came a loud roar, and she didn't look over her shoulder to see who had been hit. She just kept running, sure that she was going to die. She screamed again as he grabbed her tail between two fingers and lifted her up to optic level. "Now, fleshie. Are you going to come with us, or let this silly game continue?" She did nothing but hiss at him, and yank her tail out of his grasp. Little did she know how far of a drop it was.
She begun screaming in a panic, only to land on something reasonably soft. "Sarge..." She gripped his roof tightly. "Get us the hell outta here!" She heard the dirt churning underneath his tires, and they were off, speeding towards town, zigging and zagging every so often. "Foxy! Look out!" She didn't look back, instead just leapt off Sarge's roof. "Sarge, drive! You go right, I'll go left!" She screamed, and he nodded once. "Affirmative!" The two did just that, Foxy screaming again as Megatron gripped her tail in his hands. "All right, you pile of scrap, have some of this!" She fired a missile from her tail, and was satisfied to see him stagger back with a yelp of surprise. "You slagging fleshie!" He roared, and Foxy spotted a familiar shape rolling up to her from behind Megatron. "Get back! I'll shoot!" She exclaimed, her tail at the ready. Her gatling guns popped out of her sides, and she began firing at the imitation Sheriff. "Little fleshie!" She screamed as Starscream swooped in from behind her, and launched a missile at him. There was another missile from behind Starscream that hit him in the shoulder, making him stagger. She darted by his form rapidly, only to find that the one who had shot the missile had been… "Doc?!" "Foxy, run! Don't just stand there!" He shouted, already lining up another shot. "Thanks!" Came her hasty call, and she was off again, jumping, bobbing, and weaving through the others, the buildings, and bushes.
She wanted to lead him towards Tailfin Pass, but she was tiring quickly. Making a last ditch effort, she began sprinting as fast as she could towards Tailfin Pass, knowing that the forest was a good place to hide. She darted in there, and ducked as a missile came whizzing by her. When she looked, she saw Barricade, chasing after her. "Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no." She hissed, beginning to look for a place to hide, frantically scanning the landscape. Her only hope would be the tight cliffs of Tailfin Pass, as she soon came to realize, and she made her way there, swerving and dodging the hailstorm of bullets and missiles, along with trees.
She reached the beginning of the cliffs, and sighed, thankful that the town ran no risk of getting destroyed. There was another missile, and she yelped, scrambling inside a cave that thankfully only she could fit into. She huddled near the back, panting, clutching at the side with her broken rib, a sharp pain coming with every frantic gasp for breath. Abruptly, she yelped and cringed as a loud boom and shaking sounded at the front of her cave. "Fleshie, come out, come out wherever you are!" There was another boom and the entire cave shuddered. Small stones and dirt began falling on Foxy, but she shielded her head with her hands and remained hidden. "We know you're in there, fleshie! Come out so we don't kill you by mistake!" Her eyes widened, and she did just that, streaking out between two of their feet, she didn't know who it was. She began climbing along the cliffs, her breath coming in ragged gasps because of her rib. She screamed as a single claw wrapped around her, and began curling around her, intent on pulling her right off the rock. "Where do you think you're going? Not up the rocks." "Let me go! I'll bite you!" "You go right ahead." To her surprise Barricade didn't seem concerned whatsoever, so she did, and instantly drew back at a sharp, sudden, intense pain. "Shouldn't bite, it's not nice." Starscream replied snidely, wagging a finger at her. She growled and went to bite him too, but again got that pain. She drew back with a yelp, making the three laugh. "It's feisty!" "Let me go, you bastardized… what are you guys, exactly?" "Decepticons." "I know that, trust me. But… where are you from?" "Cybertron." "Are you Cybertronians, then? Instead of Decepticons?" She watched as Starscream, the one who was holding her, looked to Barricade, who was now out of his Sheriff disguise, and began conversing quietly, pondering over what Foxy had said. Of course, Starscream's grip loosened just a little, just enough for Foxy to slip out and slide down his back to land on the ground. "Slagging fleshie!"
She took off again, towards town, not really wanting to but knowing that the others could help. Besides, she wanted their faces to be the last thing she saw in this world that she loved so much. "Somebody, shoot them!" She wailed, not even bothering to slow her descent. She watched as Sarge, Doc, the real Sheriff, and Lightning set up their aim, and she dove behind them as they fired simultaneously. She heard a roar of pain, and knew one of them had gotten seriously hit. "Again, please!" She cried, and there was another set of missiles being shot towards the three robots. Another roar of pain, this time with a loud, echoing thud. She peeked around the group of cars, only to see Megatron and Starscream charging for her. Barricade must've been the one to get hit.
"I think we got one! Again!" This time, she joined the ranks, her tail arched over her head, missiles pumping out of it like baseballs out of an electric pitching machine set on high. She just barely remembered to slow down enough so the others could keep pace with her, and began firing them off at the same rate as the townsfolk. "You fragging cars! And that fleshie too!" Abruptly, she screamed as she was swiped up by a hand, and heard the others' shouts of panic. "Foxy!" "Foxy!" She growled and tried biting again, but drew back. She had no clue what was going on, or why her teeth weren't causing these 'Decepticons' harm. She managed to squeeze her way out of the hand, and kept her tail pinned tightly to her side. She jumped, only to cry out as she smacked into another hand, lower to the ground. "You're quite the escape artist, fleshie." "Let me go! I'll-I'll-" "You aren't gonna do a fragging thing, and you know it." There was Starscream's sarcastic tone, and she growled, firing off a missile into the opening she could see. "Ah! Slagging, fragging fleshie!" She did it again, and got a loud yelp before there was an unearthly sound, a creaking, groaning sort of sound, then she felt the hands beginning to sway.
"Starscream! You fragging 'con! Why didn't you pin down the tail?!" There was Megatron's angry shout, and then she felt herself beginning to fall, along with the hands. She screamed at the rough impact, but thankfully, the hands opened, and she was free. "Foxy!" "Shoot him! Both of them!" She screeched, her voice nearly gone from screaming so much. "Do it!" She shot a missile towards Megatron as well, but yelped as he flung her into the dirt, cringing as more injuries were added to her form. These… Decepticons were made of nothing but sharp metal, it seemed, and could easily injure her just by touching her the wrong way, as Megatron had. She tried to get up, but fumbled as her foot gave out underneath her. She tried again, frantically, and was able to begin hobbling towards the others. "You will be killed for that, fleshie!" She heard Megatron's angry roar, and yelped as her tail was grabbed a hold of. She shot another missile, blindly, and heard it hit its mark.
"Foxy! No!" "Lightning!" She tried struggling, but glancing over her shoulder, she saw that Megatron had wrapped her tail around a finger, and was holding onto it securely. "Let me go, you insolent, ignorant bully! You're nothing but a low-down, scummy fragging sewing machine!" That remark earned her a warning 'tap' against the head by one of his fingers, although it was more like a slap. It did the trick, and Foxy fell silent, at least for the moment. With her tail unable to get a good shot in, she tried using her hologram and changing into a Porsche, but it didn't work. "Frag! It can change too?!" "It must be an Autobot." She heard Megatron growl. "What if I am?!" She sassed back, and again got finger-slapped. "Quiet, fleshie! If you were, we'd kill you on the spot." "Oh. Lightning!" She screamed, and began squirming and thrashing. Not only had Megatron decided to grab her tail, but also the back of her shirt, as well. "I'll kill you all! I've got power you don't!"
This made the two laugh, and one of them secured her tail again, before closing her in a fist. She could see for miles, although she was unable to get down. She spotted the others, and tried to get enough air into her lungs, at least. "Let me out!" She wailed, gazing down at the others pleadingly, her eyes filling with tears, knowing that this very well could be the last time she saw any of them. "Foxy!" "Lightning!" "Foxy!" "Don't forget me okay?" She called, her voice wavering. "Foxy, just make your way out! C'mon, you can still fight!" "Lightning, don't forget me? Please! I'll never forget any of you! Please!" "I won't, Foxy! None of us will!" "I'll miss you!" She called, but began to struggle again when whoever was carrying her turned away. "Hey! No struggling, fleshie! You're ours now!" "Let me go, you fragging, slagging mentally-obscure excuse for a robot!" Her captor stopped at that, and to her horror, she was slapped roughly, straight across the head. "You wanna run that by me again, fleshie? I'll drop you right here, so your little family can watch you splat on the ground. How's that sound?" She didn't respond, the tears already flowing from her eyes. "That's what I thought."
Battered, beaten, and heartbroken, Foxy could do nothing but watch as they went through the portal, and ended up in what she would later come to know as the Decepticon's lair on Earth. Her Earth. "Aww, slag it all, it's leaking!" "Well toss it into the cage! We've got work to do." She was thrown roughly into a cage, and huddled at the back. The days passed, and she got more and more depressed. It felt like she was crying all the time, other then when she was sleeping. She wouldn't talk to them, and they wouldn't talk to her. In fact, it seemed like they completely ignored her, except when the robots she guessed worked under Megatron grew bored. Then it was games such as 'Poke the Fleshie', 'Tease the Fleshie', 'Anger the Fleshie', all centered around her. She learned to just huddle up in a back corner, and never even open her mouth. They'd get even more bored, swat her with a finger, then leave to find something more entertaining to do.
About a month passed, until she was rudely awoken by gunshots and loud shouting. There were voices she didn't recognize, along with the sounds of running mechanical feet. A stray shot hit the cage, and she yelped, ducking for cover. She wondered if Barricade had gotten into another fight with some of the others again, but didn't have time to dwell on that thought as an explosion near her made her scream and try to make herself disappear. Suddenly, she felt the cage being lifted, and began whimpering quietly. A large optic, as she had learned they were called, peered in at her, but this one was completely different then a 'Con. For one thing, it was blue. For another, she didn't see the same narrowed, angry expression of a 'Con. She had no idea who this robot was, and she was terrified of him. She couldn't help her shaking, nor the frantic tears leaking from her eyes. She wanted to go home, she wanted to get out of here, she wanted to get away from all these Decepticons who thought it was funny to try and torment her, she wanted to get outta here as fast as possible!
To her shock, the cage was lowered to the floor, then a robot, she couldn't identify who it was, knelt by the cage and began trying to open the door. With a loud screech, the door opened, and the giant robot, one who was almost as big as Megatron, held out a hand. "Come. It isn't safe here." Foxy decided that he couldn't be trusted, so remained in the cage, even though the door was open. "We need to leave here at once. It's in your best interest to come out." She could do nothing but whimper, her tears cascading down her cheeks, frozen in fear. There was a sigh, then a giant hand reached in and gently lifted her from the cage. Instantly she began panicking, and was told to 'Calm down' by the large robot. She fell silent at once, remembering those many nights where the 'Cons had thrown things at her, in the hopes that she would talk, or react in some way. She had, and had ended up being nearly squashed flat by Barricade as punishment.
The large robot began walking, and she huddled lower in the grasp of this robot, sure that they were taking her to a lab, or even to kill her. "What is it, Optimus? What did you find?" "A human." "What? With the Decepticons?!" "Easy, my old friend. There is nothing to fear from this human. She is more afraid of us." The large robot revealed Foxy, shaking and huddling up in a tight ball, or at least as tightly as her broken ribs, and other injuries, would allow. Her ears, which had been permanently back, stayed that way, and her tail whipped around, aiming at each and every one of them. "She's got a tail!" "That's no human, Optimus." "Actually, it is a human, Ironhide. The tail is fake." She fired a missile towards the cluster, but her shaking caused her aim to be off, so it flew over the robots' heads. "Hey! You fragging-" "Easy, Ironhide. She's scared, and I'm sure living in these conditions contributed to her fears." Foxy heard a shrill chirping, and cringed, shutting her eyes tightly, expecting the worst. When she finally dared to look, she uttered a scream and tried to scramble backwards.
There was a robot peering directly at her, a large head with yellow armor and blue optics. The chirping, humming noise sounded again, and she cringed again. "Be careful with her, Bumblebee. She is more fragile then other humans." The robot carrying her cautioned, then she was set in the other robot's grasp. She cowered as she was brought closer to the face, gazing up into the blue optics with fear. "Her optics are full of fear." The robot that was holding her had a mismatched sort of voice, almost as though he was picking through a series of radio stations, trying to find the words that fit in his sentence. "We have spent too much time here. Bumblebee, will you take the human? If she was being held captive here, then she is of great importance. We will work to gain her trust later." The robot holding her nodded, then she uttered a whimper as he began changing into a car. 'Is he Barricade?' She thought briefly, knowing that Barricade was the only one out of the Decepticons to have a car form. She cowered in the passenger seat of what appeared to be a yellow-with-black-racing-stripes Camaro, thinking that Barricade had gone with something good this time. He had stuck with Sheriff's look only until they got back to here, then he had changed it out for a faster, sleeker Saleen Mustang. She thought that Barricade had switched again, and was taking her someplace else, so could only shiver and jump in surprise when that same voice came through the radio. "You have nothing to fear. I won't hurt you." She just whimpered softly and continued shaking. She jumped as another voice came across the radio. 'Bumblebee, I'm going to need to see her when we return to base. She appeared badly injured.' 'Affirmative, Ratchet.'
As they rolled towards who-knows-where, Foxy gazed out the window the car had opened for her, up at the full moon. The air moving across her tear-stained cheeks felt wonderful, especially after the stagnant, stale air of the Decepticons' lair. She stuck her head towards the window, feeling it whipping through her hair, her eyes shutting against the sting of it. She inhaled a long, shaky breath of it, then sighed. "I told you that there was nothing to fear." Came the voice across the radio, slightly comforting. She instantly lowered in her seat, trying to disappear again. She just wanted to go home, to get away from all this. Since she couldn't possibly do that, she instead looked around the interior of this robot-car, slightly curious. One of her ears started rising slowly, followed by the other. It looked like a newer Camaro. She took a tentative sniff. It had the smell of a newer Camaro, but there was still that robotic, metallic-y smell. "Do you have a designation?" She cringed backwards, but slowly came around. "I-I don't know. I live in Radiator Springs, Arizona…" "A designation is like a name." "Oh. I'm… Foxy…" She replied in a shaky whimper. "That's your designation? It isn't longer?" "N-No. Should it be?" "I'm Bumblebee." "You're not Barricade?" "You've been hanging around the 'Cons for too long. We won't harm you. None of us." "But what about Megatron, and Barricade? They-They…" She clamped her mouth shut, suddenly afraid. "You can tell all of us what they did when we get back to base." She nodded, and fell silent, looking around the interior of the car again.
She continued looking to her heart's content, then began examining the exterior. It looked like a Camaro with black stripes. It sounded like a Camaro with black stripes. But it was a robot. That's what she couldn't wrap her mind around. She could only hope that the Decepticons hadn't harmed anyone in Radiator Springs. At this point, they had been driving for more then an hour, and she was exhausted. As though this… 'Bumblebee' could read her mind, the disjointed voice came across the radio again. "You are free to go into recharge, if you wish." "Recharge?" "What do humans normally do when they shut down for the night?" "Sleep? I-Is that what you mean?" "Affirmative, Captain!" The voice was happy, but the radio signal it had gotten that from sounded so familiar… "Was that Star Trek?" She asked, and got another voice from the radio. "Beam me up-" "Scotty!" She exclaimed in delight, her fear finally fading away. "You appear to be young, while that is very old. How do you know about this?" "I-I…" Instantly that fear was back, and her jaws clamped shut, afraid that she had said too much. There was a sigh from the radio. "In time, I hope you won't be afraid of us. For now, you should sleep." The human term coming from the robot that had previously used 'Recharge' was somewhat comforting, and she curled up in the seat, which was warm. She was fast asleep in a matter of minutes, and didn't see when Bumblebee entered a hangar, hidden in a complex on an island.
Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it! :D I'm sorry it took so long guys, I'm using a borrowed computer. :/ Besides the point, this chappie's a bit more manageable, and look! A wild band of Autobots appeared! :D
Also, a big thank you to JML Ranch for following this story! More thank you's for SunstreakersSquishy2.0 for favoriting, following, and REVIEWING my other Transformers story, Rules For Living With Foxy & The Autobots, as well as this one! My first reviewer in the Transformers fandom! :D Also favoriting and following that story are Ezra Soulthief! They've also favorited and followed me, which I cannot thank you enough for! It makes me soooooo unbelievably happy when people like my stuff enough to favorite and follow it! Still another thank you to Jazzy The Jazz for reviewing on RFLW/F&A, love the screen name! Se you guys (hopefully) On Saturday with more Rules! Roll out, CC2F!