Finally Beaten ~Taz x Up~

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The Starship Rangers stumbled back into the Starship, panting and gasping for breath. Commander Up seated himself on a chair and Specs collapsed on top of him. Taz scowled, leaning against the walls. Even as the toughest Ranger, badass Taz was exhausted after the fight.

"I bet it was that estúpido Mega-Girl! She set those goddamn robots on us!" Taz spat.

"Taz!" said Tootsie, offended. "Mega-Girl would never do that to us!"

"Oh, you think so, Tootsie?!" Taz shot back. "Remember the Robot Wars? Those robots show us years ago that they capable of doing ANYTHING to us!!"

Commander Up stood up, making Specs fall to the floor.

"Taz, Tootsie, break it up!" he said, as Tootsie was about to retort. "Come on - um, let's go to bed, it's late, and we've all worked really hard today!"

Krayonder, Specs and Tootsie muttered good-night to the remaining two and trudged to the dormitories. Taz smiled sadly at Up, who sat back down on the chair.

"Up?"

The Commander looked up.

"Yeah?"

"I - uh - well, I wanted to say, bien hecho, well done."

"What for?" Commander Up asked.

Taz flushed, then mentally hit herself. "Vamos. Aguantarse hasta, Taz. Toughen up!!" Taz had never blushed in a long time, not since Junior had snogged her (as a dare) during her Quinceanera. She turned round back to Up and smiled.

"For facing you biggest fear out there just now. Facing robots. You know, with what happen in the Robot Wars..." she trailed off. But Up smiled.

"Oh, thanks Taz. You know what we Starship Rangers say... "We're here to get the job done." Up replied.

"I never thought I say this, but I'm tired." grinned Taz, glad the awkward stage was over. "I'm going to bed. Night, Commander."

"See you tomorrow, Taz." Up yawned, shuffling away.

Taz undid her hair from her red bandana and changed into her vest and shorts. After opening the windows and locking the door, she lay down in bed and tried to fall asleep. She fell into a dream:

Flames chased her as she ran through the crowds or screaming people, robots and mass of bodies on the floor. Her pink Quinceanera dress was tattered and ripped; she didn't care, it was pink anyway. Her throat was dry as she came face to face with another robot. She drew her knife from her belt and slashed through its stomach area. The robot fell to the ground. Taz darted through the crowd once again, her heart beating fast. "UP?" she called desperately. "COMMANDER?!" There was no answer. Taz paused, but it cost her - a colossal robot picked her up by the hem for her dress and swung her in the air. A razor-sharp claw glinted in the night, as it neared her heart, she spotted Up on the floor, bleeding - the robot's claw pierced her heart and she screamed in pain as she dropped through the air - --

Taz's eyes flew open. Her forehead was drenched in cold sweat, and for the first time ever, Taz found tears in her eyes. She rolled over on her side and kicked herself hard.

"Idiota. Come on Taz, don't be such a softie." she muttered to herself, but she couldn't shake the dream out of her mind. The Starship commander was like family to her. Her mom, dad and sister had all been killed during her Quinceanera, and Up was the only one she felt close to. She shut her eyes again, and started to drift off, when-

"What the-?"

Something had picked her up by the neck of her vest. She was dangling in the air, shouting on top of her voice.

"¿Qué diablos? ¡Suéltame, que Maldito robots! " she yelled, but a steel hand had closed around her mouth. She couldn't see - someone had let gas into her room, she was passing out....

Before Taz blacked out, a familiar voice sneered out to her. "Tazia.......long time no see."

*****

Commander Up changed into his pajamas, brushed his teeth and locked the door before shutting the lights. Like Taz, he fell into a dream too:

The Commander ran through the crowd, a deep gash in his face. His boss had given him one order: LOOK OUT FOR TAZ. He didn't know why, but he never disobeyed his boss. But right now he couldn't find her. Robots everywhere. People screaming. Dead bodies on the floor. Suddenly, Up grunted in pain; a particularly steely and strong-looking robot kicked him over. He struggled as the robot's iron hands held him down and started slashing him in every place possible. He shouted out in pain, but no-one was paying attention, they were all running for their lives. Suddenly he saw something - or rather, someone - who made his heart leap in terror. Taz was being hoisted up in the air by a massive robot by what remained of her Quinceanera dress. She was screaming like a banshee, pummelling the strong fist that held her as a claw neared her chest. "NO!!" yelled Up, holding a hand out - she caught his eye one last time before the claw pierced her heart and she fell to the ground.

Up woke with a start. He sat up in bed, shaking. He'd never had a nightmare like that before, but it scared him. He'd never admit it to Taz, but she was all he had left, and he treasured her like anything else. To lose her would be horrible, heart-breaking, especially to those "estupido" robots. And he had never admitted it to Taz, but he'd never recovered from his injuries from the Robot Wars two years ago. And he'd never told her he was still terrified of robots.

"Come on, Commander. Get some sleep." He muttered, closing his eyes again. He had started to drift off, but suddenly a strong, iron hand closed itself around his throat in a choking strangle.

"Let - go---"Up choked, but the thing but its hand over his mouth. He realised with a jolt of terror that a robot was holding him up. The room started to fill with a white, semi-transparent gas. Up's eyes started to roll upwards, he was passing out....

Suddenly a voice sounded out to him, arrogant and sneering, "How nice to see you, Commander."