Hunt for the Thirteen

Knockout

Chains bound both the red medic and human to the wall, poor Bata 20 feet off the ground.

Her armor still covered her body in her colors of neon blue and pink but hee built-in weapons were deactivated. Her batons sat at a human table across from that.

The metal walls were freezing, even causing the giant Cybertronian to shiver.

"Nice hospitality." Knockout hissed. "Always thought one-of-the-thirteen would have better accommodations than a decepticon holding cell."

"Actually, the cold is nice." Bata said, a very experienced reviewer of decepticon cells.

"Not helping."

Nexus stared up at them from the ground. Her armor was off and she now wore an X-men shirt with pants with Scooby snacks on them.

She looked like Mia. She dressed like Mia. But she wasn't the scrappy girl who had aided the autobots so many times.

But her eyes weren't focus and they even rolled into the back of her head a few times, but only for a few seconds.

Knockout and Bata glanced at each other. Her mask armor was down and she mouthed communicating with when MiaNexus roared.

"COMBINATION!"

Knockout stared at her in fear and concern.

Nexus, acting as if she had just woken up, looked at her prisoners in surprise, as if she had forgotten they were there.

But then a terrifying grin took over her human face.

"Sorry about that. Now, where were we?"

"You were about to brag about how you are going to rip the names of the relic holders out of Maim's processor." Bata growled. "A process that will most likely cause unreversable damage if not death."

Nexus's face fell for just a moment. "That will not happen." The grin returned. "I will not allow it."

"She's of your brother, Onyx." Bata continued. "One of the few left in this world who knew him personally. You're going to risk that? For a bunch of meaningless weapons."

Nexus cackled. "Meaningless? Come now, dimensional guardian, you of all people know how powerful the relics are."

"What do you want more? The relics, or your siblings?" Bata asked.

Nexus froze, her face lowering to look at the ground.

"Cause I wouldn't trade my brothers for all the power in the world." Bata continued.

She looked to Knockout.

"Oh, me." The medic sputtered. "Well I could never even fathom trading anything for Breakdown. Or BJ."

Bata smirked. BJ was her baby niece, daughter of her older sister Mary and her wife Aldira. Breakdown and Knockout hid out with them as robots in disguise.

And Breakdown and Knockout were such dotting alien uncles.

"I knew you loved them like family." Bata said.

"Quiet."

It didn't feel like a cell where they were chained and at the mercy of an insane prime.

It felt like every time they were imprisoned by a decepticon and either Bata or Mia went off into tangents to annoy their captor to death.

Until the human's brown eyes finally met theirs again.

"I am not planning of using the weapons for my own game as you think." Nexus spat. "And I will succeed in my plans and everything will be alright."

Knockout scoffed. "What, is that supposed to be comforting? Give that same speech to Maim, who you have tied down on a disection table in the other room. See if she believes everything will be all right."

The possessed human clutched her teeth. "As soon as I get what I want, this will be finished."

Knockout didn't know how to feel about her "finish". What did that spell for the autobots? The earth? What did that mean for Mia?

Was Nexus only finished when she was?

"And what does that mean? What do you want?" Bata glared down, as if she was in charge.

Nexus snickered. "So many people have asked me that. Its quiet simple. I believe you would do the same, if you were ever in my position."

She turned and walked to large metal doors. They opened as she stepped out.

"And believe me," she said as the doors slowly began to shut. "That is a position I never want anyone else to suffer."

  
 

Minutes ticked by. After failed to break from his chains, Knockout prepared himself for the screams to come.

The jacking of Maim's processor would not be painless.

But Bata, blood as thick as energon, refused to give up.

"Come on Knockout!" She shouted. "Your body is made of METAL! Break through these things like Mikey cuts cheese!"

"If this about scratching your paint Knockout I swear."

"I think I'm getting somewhere."

"You said that earlier." Knockout rolled his optics.

But with a glint of a spark, she took a 20 foot plunge, landing comforted by her armor.

Knockout stood before her, agape. "How did you..."

She held up her arms, showing off her armored wrists. Some of it had been sanded and chipped away.

"I sanded them against the chains and ka-bow!" Bata explained as she grabbed her batons.

While the top side was smooth polished wood, the bottom had saw-tooth blades dug into it.

Climbing up the bot ("WATCH IT! Your shoes are covered in New York grime!"), Bata cut the the chain binding his arms and legs.

"Now what?" Knockout asked as he rubbed his wrist and checked his paint job. "This situation does not fall under my experience as a medic."

Bata checked the panel for the door. It showed if anyone was directly outside, which was a no.

"Now?" Bata said as her head was enveloped with armor. She clicked a button.

The large doors slid open soundlessly, revealing a dark hallway so long they couldn't see the end of it.

"Now we find us a Prime."