Trust Me Partner

Chapter 4

Rattrap took a look outside and noticed the storm when he woke up. He scratched his head and waited a bit before he began focussing on his surroundings and finally sitting up, "Well... Guess I missed a lot, huh?"

Felina went back to robot mode and sat down beside him, "Nah. Not much. Just the beginning of the storm, and me trying to find my way through it with y'constant babblin' on how y'didn't wanna go to work and using lame excuses ", she answered sarcastically.

"Err... yeah...Well..."

"Too short to be a cop, hmmm?"

"Heeeeyyy don't ya-"

"I won't tell the others... yet", a devilish smile appeared upon her face.

"Say, somethin's just botherin' me here", he looked at her in the eyes, "Why didn't y'shoot me?"

She seemed surprised at the question... and looked down. She didn't really know herself… except that she had gotten scared when she tried to shoot him. Of course she didn't want to admit it. Was it guilt? Perhaps. Maybe she did not feel his time had come yet. Whatever it was, she did not feel the need to talk about it.

He raised an eyebrow, "Well, why?"

"I...dunno", she whispered as if ashamed.

"'Dat ain't an answer."

She growled and gave him a severe look. He wouldn’t give up until he got the answer he wanted, and obviously, she had no intention to admit anything.

"Well?" he repeated again.

"SHIT! I JUST TOLD YOU! I DUNNO! I DUNNO! I DUNNO!!!!! ", she cried.

He gave a quick chuckle at her reaction, and grinned amusingly, "Say, am I drivin' ya crazy?"

Her reply came as a menacing hiss, but then she calmed herself and took a deep breath, "My turn to ask a question."

"Aw man, ah dunno. Considerin' y'didn't answer mine, I don't think I c--"

"Did you... Have y'seen anyone... strange lately...?", she cut him off.

"Y'mean besides your majesty?"

She narrowed her eyes, whispering through her teeth, "asshole....", but she took a deep breathe and gained back her composure, "No, not like that... Like... Like a shadow or somethin'... but without anyone around to complete it, y'know what I'm sayin'? And then it would just disappear a moment later..."

"Nuh huh. Haven't seen any oh 'dose. I'm sane, y'see?"

"Argh! Never mind!" she hissed in frustration.

Rattrap turned over his right arm, the palm of his hand face up, revealing the panel on his forearm. It sprung open and a device came out which he took before slapping down the panel again to lock it.

"Is there anythin' that doesn't come out of y'arms?" Felina asked sarcastically.

At first he looked surprised, but then that amused smile of his was back. Narrowing his eyes, he passed his arm around her shoulders, "Well, if y'really wanna find out...."

She growled and violently pushed him away, "Get away from me!"

"Yeah well, y'know what 'dey say: Curiosity killed the cat", he sniffed snobbishly, and removed his arm.

"Beg pardon? And what was that s'pposed to mean?!"

Working on the device, he lounged indolently against one of the walls of the ice cave, pressing the buttons surrounding it. It made a quick beeping noise to signal to its owner that it was ready to be used.

"Hey! I asked you a question!" Felina repeated furiously, "What the HELL did y'mean by THAT?!"

"Hmmmm... ", he answered, his eyes still on the device, "like y'dunno. Really Darlin', y'disapointin' me..."

She slapped him hard across the face as an answer to his stupid comment. He jumped back on his feet, taking out his gun in reflex, ready to fight again. Only when he focused on his target, he found she had gotten up just as quickly and had drawn her blaster out as well, pointing it as his head also.

"Just go rot in Hell, y'fuckin' asshole!" Felina hissed through clenched teeth, "You can't just talk to me like that!"

*“child... our...”*

"Watch me, bitch!"

*“child... our... child…”*

"Give me y'best shot...aaarrhhh..."

*"ours... ouRS... OURS"*

Felina's hands went to her head as she cried out in pain. She gritted her teeth, shivering, trying not to feel the aches that some unknown field sent through her whole body. It could have been energon fields building up, but it seemed to be more then just that. It couldn't be, not like this...

"Nuh-No! Shut it up! Shut it up...muh-make it...stuh-stop... aaaarrhhh!"

[Warning], the device shouted, [Strong alien energy signature detected. Please alert units approaching.]

‘What da slag?’ Rattrap thought, hesitating to come closer to the suffering female. His fingers now gripped the handle of his blaster painfully, still holding the weapon to Felina's face in defense. "Must be energon fields", he told her, "Just get back ta beast mode."

"Nuh-no, that's not it...somethin' ...stronger...e-evil.... "

"I'm TELLING ya!"

"THERE'S NO RAW ENERGON ON THE PLANET ANYMORE!" she finally yelled at him in despair and fell to her knees as she did so.

All he could do was stand there in awe. She was right. What in the inferno could have been wrong with her?

[Second warning, strong alien energy signature detected. Please alert units approaching]

"What units?" he finally asked the device, his eyes remaining on her as well as the pistol at all times.

[Units Optimus Primal, Cheetor and SilverBolt. Coordinates 0.2.5.4.]

"L-Look", he said, "Just get back ta beast mode, and... and we'll wait for the flyers..."

In a flip kick, Felina had kicked Rattrap's gun from his hands and took it for herself now pointing both her weapon and his right back at him. Raising his hands to show he meant no harm and was unarmed, he moved a few steps back, "No wait! Alley Cat! We bettah wait! 'Dose aliens-"

"No", she hissed, the pistols trembling dangerously in her hands, "I ain't waitin' for any goddamed machines..."

"But, whatcha gonna do?!"

"I... I'll... find... t... them..."

"Them? Who's Them? Hey Alley Cat! Wait! Argh SLAG!"

With the little energy she had left, Felina ran outside and disappeared into the storm before the rat's very eyes. He hesitated for a brief moment.. Why did she suddenly seem to know where she was going?

[Warning], the device shouted again, [Strong alien energy signature detected. Please alert units approaching.]

"Yeah, I KNOW", he reminded the device and sighed heavilly. With these warnings, and the cat's weird reaction to them, he did not really like the idea of remaining alone in a dark cave, especially since the Huntress had departed with his weapon. He decided to follow her, unsure of himself, of what could happen or of what the alien energy signature could mean or do...

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The wind had stopped blowing. He wasn't feeling the twinge of the cold anymore, nor the harsh snow and hail scratching his metallic body. He shivered as he felt a sudden heat wave hit him hard and fast. A pleasant, irresistible smell of flowers surrounded him, but he did not take the risk of opening his eyes yet, and kept walking ahead.

"I'm dead...right?"

"No you're not" he heard the voice of a female, "Now MAKE 'DAT GODDAM' SPIDER GO AWAaaaAAAaaaAAYYYY!!!"

The warm sun blinded Rattrap as he opened his eyes. He saw the garden and was hypnotised by the magnificent view. That’s when he suddenly realized that, once more, he was holding Felina, shaking and crying in his arms. It seemed that the fields weren't affecting her anymore, and that was good for now.

"A-Alley Cat, y'okay... and ...please, stop squeezin' me like 'dat ...I ...can't breathe..."

"And that's s'pposed ta be a bad thing?" she cried, "Who cares if y'can't breathe! There's a spider over THERE!!!" she pointed to one of the violets.

He TRIED to get a bit closer. Indeed, there was a spider, though not a very big one: rather small in fact, half the size of his robotic finger, a pink and white miniature replication of BlackArachnia's beast form. He shook his head and slapped it away. "'Dere ya go, now, please, lemme go."

"Are you sure it's gone?"

"Yup."

"Sure, sure?"

"Yes!"

"Really sure?"

"I'm warnin' ya...I'm startin' to like your body pressing--."

"Stop. Stop right there if you value your hands." When she pushed him away he offered no resistance, even raising his hands to show they were in no unwanted place, and watched her turn her back to him and walk away. He chuckled and followed her with again that amused smile from back in the cave. The fact that she was back to normal was a major relief.

A weird looking fountain appeared with a bluish liquid emerging. It was the exact description AirRazor had made, but had she never mentioned the weird looking cube floating above it, nor the other big one next to it. Weird questions came to his mind. How had Felina been able to suddenly find the paradise like so? It was as if she had known exactly where it was. Why hadn't he been affected by the energon surge...or alien energy signature? The device had shown that the surge was strong enough to put even a transmetal in stasis lock, or even worst… What about Felina? She wasn’t even a transmetal, and she was fine. Well, as far as 'fine' was for the moment.

"Um... Alley Cat?"

She didn't answer, her look fixed on the floating cube as if she were hypnotized...

"Hello?"

Still no answer… And the cube was becoming lighter.

"Alley cat? Ya okay?"

No answer. The cube was glowing brighter. He stepped in front of her, blocking her view of the object. A good glance at the red of her eyes made him realize with horror that she wasn't there any longer. Her body was still standing, but those eyes possessed a glassy stare, showing her mind and soul were clearly elsewhere. He attempted to bring her back by slapping her lightly on the left cheek.

He got no answer.

"Yo! ALLEY CAT!... IIAAAOUCH!” He screamed with pain. It felt as if his back was shred apart from a fire shot. It was enough to bring him to his knees.

*"No one stops our child"* a strange, mixed up voice told him. It sounded like a mix of tortured voices, screaming to be free.

"Child??! What in Primus..."

Taking a look behind him, Rattrap saw Tarantulas bring his hands around Felina's shoulders, wrapping his fingers carefully around the metallic frame. She still had that scary look on her face, not realizing what was happening. Even Tarantulas was acting strange… stranger than normal anyway. Rattrap got to his feet and tried for an attack, but with a simple move of his arm, Tarantulas hit him hard enough to make him fly a few feet away.

*"Go child"*, Tarantulas said. Felina obeyed blindly and began to make her way closer to the fountain.

Tarantulas walked over to the dizzy rat with his weapons ready. Rattrap rolled to one side, avoiding deadly lasers. He reached for his blaster, but then remembered that Felina had taken it from him in the cave. All he could do was run off and hide in the flowers. A shot exploded next to him, making him flip over backwards. He pushed himself off the ground in a small jump, barely avoiding a stasis web that wrapped itself around a bush, killing it with a poisonous acid.

He noticed Felina was still walking toward the fountain, extending her hands forward to take the cube, which was glowing with more intensity. Rattrap wasn’t paying attention to Tarantulas by then which gave the Predacon the opportunity to blast Rattrap in the chest. It seemed to take all of Rattrap's strength just to get back up.

"Alley Cat! Stop! FELINA!"

*"Foolish rat"*, Tarantulas laughed, *"She's our child, and she will obey only us. Nothing shall stop her!"*

He was right. There wasn't anything he could say to stop her. The cube was still glowing brighter and brighter as the female hands approached it. Another blast was shot hitting Rattrap's shoulder. The spider kept shooting nonstop and it was now difficult for the small robot to keep up. He tripped over a golden plate and fell to the ground. As he tried to stand, he noticed another pink and white spider: same as the one he had saved Felina from a moment ago.

"'Dat's it!" he said in triumph and was back on his feet, "Felina! 'Dere's a big, ugly SPIDER on ya shoulder!"

As expected, she shrieked and was immediately down on her knees, "A SPIIIIIDER!!" she cried in despair.

*"No! You rat! You shall pay for that!"*

Tarantulas fired again. Rattrap made a quick jump, and delicately imprisoned the spider between his hands. He turned around only to see that Tarantulas was standing right there, much too close for comfort. In a flip kick, he stunned the rat bot by striking him in the face, and then proceeded to grab him by the shoulders and violently strike his head against his. Dizzy, Rattrap backed away, still holding the little arachnid between his hands. He fell to his knees, looking down and hoping that everything might finally stop spinning. A drop of dark red oil fell on his hands, slipping between his fingers, and then another one; and another one.

"Whu-What's goin' on", Felina moaned in confusion

At her words, Rattrap looked up slowly, letting a filament of oil come down from his forehead to his chin. A mischievous smile appeared upon his face.

*"Because of you"*, Tarantulas said to Rattrap,*"I will have to power-up and reactivate the cube again! I'll make sure that you will suffer a dreadful death!"*

"I don’t think so, Cobweb Face", getting back to his feet, he raced towards Felina, slipping between Tarantulas’ legs. He took the spider he was hiding between his fingers and threw it in Felina's direction; the little being landed on her arm. As expected. She shrieked at the view of the arachnid and this time Rattrap received her with open arms as she jumped into them for protection once again.

"Ya wouldn't dare harm y'child, now, would ya?" Rattrap said with an eerie grin.

*"How could you..."*

A wolf’s howl was heard and three silhouettes appeared in the sky at that same moment. It brought Felina out of the little trance her fear seemed to cause. She tried to back away from her partner, but he only held her tighter against himself. The cube behind them was still glowing with menacing rays however.

"You're using me as a shield?!" Felina shrieked in pure hatred.

"Huh? Um...possibly..."

The flyers passed by them at a breakneck speed. Furious, Tarantulas spread his poisonous webs everywhere, killing the environment around.

"Optimus, MAXIMIZE!"

"SilverBolt, MAXIMIZE!"

"Cheetor, MAXIMIZE!"

As they fought against the spider bot, the cube became so bright the rays of the sun seemed dark in comparison. Suddenly and without warning, the fountain began spreading its deadly poison, which hit everyone somehow except Felina and Tarantulas. The same crystals that had imprisoned Tigatron climbed up Rattrap's back, forcing him to free the female from his grip. She backed away immediately, watching her fellow Maximals suffer from the man-eating substance.

*"Destroy them my child!"*, Tarantulas ordered while pointing his finger at Felina. He seemed to be suffering from a strange energy field they were,*" Make them suffer like they once made you suffer in the past! Become the Robot Huntress again! Finish them off! Now!"*

She narrowed her eyes and advanced on him carefully, "Who are you?" Tarantulas, or whatever was inside him at least, did not answer. Still, she hesitated a moment in consideration.

‘Of course, it could be an opportunity’

She took out both she and Rattrap's weapons and pointed one at Optimus and the other at Rattrap, her finger on the triggers and ready to fire.

"Fena! N-no! Don't", Cheetor yelled in despair.

She sighed, "Ooooh, I'm gonna regret this."

In a sudden move, she turned and fired at the cube. At that moment she thought she saw a similar shot that came from behind her also strike the cube. She could tell from the other Maximals’ eyes that they had seen it too… The cube exploded after her shot, or so it seemed. But as it exploded it shot out a gleam of energy that struck the huntress in the stomach, melting into it. The other cube, which had been used as a prison for Tigatron, blew into pieces as well and freed it’s prisoner. He opened his eyes to see Felina fall in a bed of flowers.

And there was darkness...

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‘Where... am I now?’

Felina looked at the darkness that surrounded her. As she regained her strength, she found herself within some kind of prison. The intense heat made her understand she was being held prisoner in the Predacon base.

‘Well, it looks like Tarantulas won this round... heh..’

She heard a loud laughter, and then saw Megatron's T-Rex head near the bars of her cage, "Welcome back, Huntress, yeess"

"Oh great...", but to her great surprise, Rattrap appeared behind the Predacon leader, "Hey Rat Face! Get me out of here!"

Her partner only grinned. He walked over to the cage and leaned against it, "Awww don't like y'cage, Alley Cat?"

"What are you talkin' about?! Free me already!"

"Nah. He won't."

"What?!"

It happened so fast: his fingers seemed to split into sharp needle like devices and Felina's vision was suddenly cut off as pain struck her. She felt the blood flow down her face and heard Cheetor's agonizing scream –

- and then she was awake in the grass, a light breeze caressing her face. She moved up to her elbows, looking around, only seeing green land.

"What the..."

"TEACH!"

That voice... she knew too well, "Ge... Gemini?"

"You're alive!"

Felina wasn’t certain where she came from, but a young woman walked over, her arms and legs somehow shining in the light. Felina could barely see her face because of the sun’s reflection blinding her.

"How did you get here?" Felina asked in awe and happiness. She hadn’t seen her best friend and partner in crime in so long. Before she knew it she had forgotten about the bizarre event her dreams had provided.

"I traveled. Far, far...."

"Yeah but that doesn't explain -"

An explosion was heard. It caused the ground the shake and the sun was suddenly covered in dark clouds. The sky turned red, the wind stopped and the grass died.

"The Axalon!" Felina screamed, and turned to face Gemini again, "What happened?! I... oh my god… "

Gemini's face was now visible but barely held any expression. As she walked towards Felina, the huntress backed away quickly. Blood had begun flowing from the woman's face: one drop starting from the forehead and going down her face, then her nose began to bleed, along with her mouth, her ears, and then her eyes; like hungry tears ravishing the woman's skin and beauty.

"Teach... what did you... do?"

And she fell to the ground, and disappeared, like a ghost, leaving only a purple gem behind. Felina grabbed the gem and inspected it carefully. She stayed there until she felt a presence approach her from behind. Looking over her shoulder, she found SilverBolt staring at her.

"Hey! Whu-what's going on around here?"

He opened his mouth to show his teeth, dirty with blood and mechfluid. Before she could react he had wrapped his arms around her, blocking her arms from moving. Another sharp pain occurred, this time at the bottom of her neck. Blood poured down her back as SilverBolt ripped her purple flesh off with his teeth, splashing fluids all over. Felina's body became numb and weak, and her hand lost the grip she had on the gem.

As she looked up for the last time she saw, with utter surprise, was her mother and father far ahead, looking and smiling at her.

"Mamma.... help me...."

Alana yawned and took GoldenFire's arm, "I'm starting to get tired. I think I'll go get some rest... you coming GoldenFire?"

"MAMMA!"

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Felina struggled violently against SilverBolt, who was growling in frustration, "Sir! She's IMPOSSIBLE to keep in place!"

The girl's eyes opened wide and with a loud scream of madness kicked Cheetor in the chin and bit down on SilverBolt's arm.

"RIGHT BACK AT YA!" she cried to the fuzor.

Silverbolt let her go with yelp, and Felina stumbled into the flowers and stayed sitting there, looking at the stunned Maximals in front of her. Her breath was hard for a moment... then calmed itself as she realized that she was still in the alien paradise.

"D...dream... s'all it was..." she mumbled.

"Yo... Alley Cat... ya okay?" Rattrap attempted.

Tigatron stepped in front of her, extending his hand to help her up. She hesitated at first, but then accepted the help and was helped her feet, "Felina, you saved my life. How could I ever repay you?" he asked softly.

"Don't", she replied coldly as she violently snatched her hand from his, "and I might not scrap you myself next time I gotta save your sorry ass!"

Tigatron groaned at her insults, but simply returned to beast mode and turned to Optimus, "I see what you meant when you described her... anyway, I'll lead the way and make sure there are no more bad surprises for us to find."

"Wait", SilverBolt said and also went back to beast mode, "I'm coming with you."

"Yeah", Felina mocked, "Do so Scooby Doo, SCRAM!!!"

SilverBolt didn't react, knowing it was useless. He simply flew off and followed Tigatron.

"Well", Optimus told her, "I really thought you were going to scrap me there... Felina?"

She was starring at the fountain, seeing so many shadows around... she could even tell who it was... and she didn't like it; not at all. She snapped out of it and glared at Optimus.

"I should've. Y'stupid automatons already know too much. Things you don't need to know. I should've destroyed you and your fuckin' crew when I had the chance. All these circuits and wires must be makin' me soft or somethin'."

"Hard to notice", Rattrap commented as he put his hand in front of the hole she had made by ripping off his comlink.

"Shut your dirty trap, Flat Nose! You're no better than the others. You just... you just don't get anythin'! Anythin' at all!"

Optimus shook his head. "What are you talking about? Maybe if you settled down a little we could --"

"Stop trying to fuckin' patronize me! I have enough with a machine as father, I don't n--"

"Felina! That's enough! I'm tired of hearing you talk about how bad robots are! For your information, young one, you're a cyborg yourself, like it or not!"

She sniffed, defying Optimus with a glare, "Fine. Beast Mode."

The three robots watched her run off, following the trail Tigatron and SilverBolt's had taken.

"Whoa, what's with her all of a sudden?" Cheetor asked.

"Beats me, kiddo. She's just hard to understand. She could've blasted me to scrap many times during our little trip, but she didn't", Rattrap told the young one.

"Yes, she's a strange one", Optimus concluded, "I guess it's harder to change her than I thought... Rattrap, as soon as we get back, I want a full report on everything that happened."

"Ya got it. And what do we do with ‘dis place?"

"I'll ask Tigatron to keep an eye on it. As for you, keep an eye on the huntress. I got the feeling she and these aliens are connected, and I want to know how and why."

"Oh yeah... sure... give ME the dirty work..."

Cheetor took a look at the fountain. No more liquid came out of it anymore. It looked gloomy and dull even with the flowers around. The air was colder. The place was dying. Slowly, Rattrap walked over and picked up the golden plate. Intrigued, Optimus took it and studied the signs, one by one.

"Looks like human symbols to me..."

"You think that explains what struck Fena, Big Bot?" asked Cheetor.

"It's possible. And perhaps what she seemed to be staring at... But from what's written in Cybertronian, I really don't like what I'm reading."

Rattrap took a look over the plate, whispering the words, "Ruthless violence, useless brutality...will cause fatality..."

Optimus' eyes spotted the last line, before the alien inscriptions, "Theere will be shown, the Six Faces of The Light..."

"If ya ask me", Rattrap said, "'dis means big trouble… trouble, with a capital T..."

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Felina hid in the snow and watched the scene. Rattrap, Optimus and Cheetor went to beast mode, flying and driving away from the cold paradise. Behind them, the shadows were watching... there were five of them. As soon as the Maximals were out of sight, they seemed to wave up to her and then disappear.

She never saw them after that...

She closed her eyes and held her breath, trying not to feel the burning pain. It came from her stomach, where blood had passed through the fur coat of her beast mode, leaving red marks in the white snow. That dream had been so vivid... What did it mean? Never in her life had she dreamed of something so real, and scary. What was going to happen now?

She had acted bravely in front of the robots, like a snob, showing her bad attitude. It had all been a fake however. She had not shown the pain in fear of seeming weak before the Maximals. Finaly, her long walk back to base began. She shook her head so that the voices would go away… But a weird, mixed up voice kept telling her:

*"You are our child...our child...our child..."*

End of Trust Me Partner