This is for you
Clay had somehow managed to compose himself as he stood in the elevator descending down to his lab. 'A' held on tightly to Clay's hand, his palm was sweaty and the scientist knew that 'A' was just as nervous as he was. However, they both had a bit of moral support, Tabitha stood next to them, her arms crossed as she tapped her foot impatiently.
None of them spoke as the elevator doors slowly slid open and they walked out into the long hall. Clay's under-workers bustled about, all doing what they could to move the project along. Occasionally they would nod to Clay, a form of respect for their project manager.
“Quite a lot of people down here.” Tabitha sighed, trying to make small talk. She knew her boys were having a rough day, so she tried her best to ease the tension. Clay grumbled in response, nodding to her.
They made their way through the main lab and past Clay's tall office, then neared a sector labeled simply as GYM. None of the workers lingered on this side of the facility and the place grew noticeably quieter. Tabitha noticed as 'A' let out a shaky sigh when they entered the GYM, no doubt he was upset to be there.
“It's okay 'A',” Tabitha kneeled beside him, grabbing his other hand. His claws twitched and he bit his lower lip, his emerald eyes gazing desperately into her own. “Today we are going to watch your training session and I wont let a thing happen to you. I swear.” She ruffled his hair lovingly. 'A' seemed to relax as he took her words to heart, hoping that he could trust her.
Clay however was a panicked mess, sweat rolled down his brow like a fountain and his feet moved in a jittery manner. Tabitha gave him a quick pat on the back and they continued through the GYM.
Bright lights suddenly blinded the mechanic as she entered the GYM, causing her to squint momentarily. Before her was a small hip level wall, blocking off the equipment from the foyer. The GYM area was wide with a large tumbling mat. Bench presses and treadmills lined the wall. Ropes dangled from the tall ceilings and a trampoline rested across the room. There were all kinds of bars and beams that Tabitha could only guess what their purpose was. In the middle of the room stood a tall burly man, he held a clipboard up to his face.
Tabitha immediately gritted her teeth when her eyes fell upon him, this had to be the “big scary man” 'A' had told her about, she hated him.
Clay gave a nudge and the boy quickly hurried off to a small locker room near the entrance. After a minute or two 'A' re-appeared, wearing what Tabitha guessed was his workout clothes. He had two little knee pads hugging his legs, loose shorts and a tight tank top on. 'A' scurried back to Clay, grabbing his leg and wrapping his arms around him in one last attempt to sway the scientists mind. Clay didn't move, didn't say a word. His fists were clenched and shaking and Tabitha knew he was struggling.
Finally, the trainer looked up from his clipboard, spying the group on the other side of the wall.
“About time.” His voice boomed, it was so strong Tabitha could have sworn it caused a gust of wind. “Get over here kid, it's time to start your training.” He growled, already sounding like his patience was running thin. Experiment A yelped, climbing over the wall obediently at the sound of his angered voice. Clay hunched over, holding his hands over his eyes as he inhaled sharply.
“I can't watch this, I can't be here, I can't I can't I can't...” He muttered frantically under his breath. Tabitha moved closer to him, grabbing one of his hands gently.
“Hey, Clay-Jar, calm down for a second.” She cooed, trying to coax him to look at her. “You don't need to be here if it's going to make you have a panic attack. Go back to your room, take a nap, eat something, I don't know, just go calm down somewhere. I've got this.” She assured him. Clay took a deep breath, finally meeting her gaze.
“I don't know Tabby...I...” he stopped, pausing as she rubbed her fingers through his hair. He felt the pent up tensions and frustration fade away and he knew she was right, he needed a nap. He quietly let her massage his head for a second before continuing,
“Ok...I'll go.” And with that he turned and scurried out of the room, refusing to glance back and see 'A', who looked simply heart broken. Once Clay had gone, Tabitha turned her full attention back to the center of the GYM where 'A' stood, trying not to cry over the fact that Clay had left...again. Tabitha offered him an encouraging thumbs up, which he returned with a brave smile.
The trainer chucked his clipboard across the room and slid to a stop against a far wall.
“Alright, warm up with the stretches I showed you, then give me ten laps.” He practically shouted. 'A' nodded and quickly began stretching and prepping. Tabitha watched carefully, so far everything seemed normal. Stretching was important before a workout to prevent injuries, this much she knew, however, when it was time for him to run ten laps, she became skeptical.
'A' was panting and clearly struggling by lap five, his breaths heavy, his legs felt like lead. His heart was beating so fast it hurt to even breath, the air was sharp and painful as it filled his aching lungs and he wanted nothing more to just flop down on the ground for a minute or two.
“Why are you slowing down? Keep going!” The trainer growled in frustration as A's run dwindled into a sort of speed walk.
“Come on 'A', you've got this!” Tabitha shouted from her spot on the wall. She had taken to sitting on it and letting her legs dangle over onto the GYM side. The trainer did a double take when he heard her voice echo through the room. He scratched his head as he grumbled under his breath, a little put off by her sudden outburst. 'A', however, found the strength he needed as he rounded the corner on lap eight, a spall pang of joy rushed through him as her voice reached his ears. He finished the ten laps, all be it slow, but strong, his trainer adding two extra cool down laps for him to walk.
Once that was over they moved on to other things, like trampoline, which 'A' quite enjoyed. Tabitha was beginning to question why Clay was so freaked out, so far nothing bad had happened. Experiment A had finished his ten laps strong and was currently smiling wildly as he practiced his flips on the trampoline.
“So far so good.” Tabitha sighed, glad that trainer seemed to be going easy on him.
Across the room she could hear him yell something out, for once his voice didn't echo around the whole room. She watched as 'A' stopped jumping and hopped off the trampoline, following his trainer across the room towards one of the thick ropes that dangled from the ceiling.
“Climb.” He instructed, then turned to retrieve his clip board from across the GYM. Tabitha was surprised, was he really going to let 'A' climb the rope without a spotter? What if he fell? He could easily break a bone. The ceiling was at least three to four storied high, this was beyond dangerous.
“Maybe he wont climb to the top.” She thought, watching as 'A' grabbed the rope. She knew he was an expert climber, but even the best had slip ups, she rubbed one of the scars on her arm, remembering a time when she too had made a mistake. It was easy to get too comfortable in her workshop, and when this happened, she often got clumsy which usually resulted in her smacking her thumb with a hammer, however, other times, she wasn't so lucky.
'A' wriggled up half way up the rope like the stalker he was, making it look far too easy. He paused after a moment, looking up towards the ceiling then back at the ground. By now his trainer was across the GYM, clipboard in hand.
“Well? What are you waiting for? Climb the whole thing.” His voice boomed. 'A' flenched, but continued to climb regardless. The trainer then turned back to his clipboard, not bothering to even watch the child. Tabitha's was furious, she immediately leapt off the wall. Someone had to stand under the rope, just to make sure, and if the trainer wouldn't do it, then she would. Quickly she jogged over, reaching the rope just as 'A' made it to the top ringing a bell that was dangling near him.
“Now climb down.” The trainer demanded, his eyes still glues on his papers.
“Be careful.” Tabitha called up, watching as he nimbly began his descent. The trainer's head snapped up, his brows knitting together when he spied her standing under the rope.
“Hey! What are you doing? You aren't allowed on the GYM floor.” He roared like an angry animal, marching back towards them. Tabitha turned, staring back at him with a matching fury.
“I'm doing your job. I'm not about to let him fall and get hurt.” She yelled back. She could tell the trainer was pissed, his clipboard began to crack in his grip.
“Woman, get out of my GYM!!” He practically screamed. Tabitha was about to give him a piece of her mind when 'A' yelped from above. His sweaty palm slipped as he tried to grip the rope. He panicked and flailed his arms, trying to reach for it again. However it was too late and he found himself plummeting towards the ground. He covered his eyes instinctively and screamed in terror.
“A!” Tabitha gasped, watching him carefully. She positioned herself just in time, catching him skilfully in her arm.
“Oh my god!” Tabitha exclaimed, her voice shaky from the sudden rush of adrenalin pumping through her. 'A' opened his eyes and immediately wrapped his arms around her neck, a sigh of relief escaped him.
“WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!” Tabitha was shocked as the trainer stormed up behind her, yanking her shoulder to spin her around.
“Excuse me!? I just saved him from getting hurt. What's wrong with you?” She hissed, squinting bitterly towards him. The man threw his clip board back onto the ground and yanked 'A' out of her grasp, tossing him on the ground as well.
“You just ruined a chance for him to learn a lesson! If he fell and hit the ground, then next time I make him climb he either will make sure not to fall or try to use his wings!” The trainer screamed, his face was turning red.
“That's the dumbest thing ever! He is a child, you can't just let him fall from three stories up, he could get killed!” Tabitha placed her hands on her hips, refusing to let him intimidate her. “If you refuse to spot him, then I will!” She barked.
“Oh no you will not! I order you to leave my GYM at once.” He pointed towards the door, his burly arm flexing.
“I'm not going anywhere, and if you are going to continue this training session, then I am going to be here, spotting him!” She jabbed her finger at his chest, pushing him out of her personal space.
“YOU ARE NOT A TRAINER! NOW LEAVE BEFORE I MAKE YOU LEAVE.” He screamed, the veins in his neck pulsing with rage.
“You don't scare me.” She grumbled in return, watching as his fury boiled over.
“Well, if you're so tough, then why don't you prove it to me. Fight me, right here, right now. If you win you can stay, if not then I wont hesitate to beat that stubborn life out of you. Otherwise, you better march you ass right out that door, right now.” He cracked his knuckles threateningly. Tabitha could feel her anger growing, this man was nothing but pure trash. She took a moment to study his muscular arms and wide shoulders, he was much bigger than her, no doubt stronger. Her eyes then fell on 'A', who was huddled against the wall now, shaking at the sight of the furious monster man. She clenched her fist, her leather glove tightening around her fingers, she could take him...for 'A'.
“Fine! I'll fight you!” She blurted out, and without warning smashed her fist right into his slender nose. The trainer shrieked, a growl rising from his belly as he stumbled back, holding his hands over his nose.
Tabitha took a moment to step back, her fists protecting her face as she carefully watched him.
“You winch!” He hissed, looking up suddenly. His nose was a crooked mess with blood dribbling to his chin. He didn't hesitate and flung himself towards her, his fist held behind him. Tabitha barely dodged in time as he tumbled past her. Quickly she spun around, sending her heavy boot into his back, knocking him on his stomach. A loud “oof” escaped him, but he wasn't down long.
With his massive arm he swiped her feet out from under her, causing her to lose her balance as well. However, before she could fall, she nimbly rolled across the GYM floor and out of harms way. When she finally hopped to her feet, she was shocked to find the trainer already on his feet and charging towards her again.
“You think you're so sneaky.” He chuckled, faking a punch and grabbing her wrist instead before she could dodge him again. His brute strength made it easy for him to rip her off the ground and slam her across the matted floor.
'A' shrieked in surprise as Tabitha rolled across the mat like a tumble weed and collided with the metal wall.
“I wasn't kidding when I said I would beat the life out of you. We Hyperion's never hold back.” He spat a trail of blood from his mouth, laughing as he watched her struggle to her feet. Tabitha took a second to catch her breath, the attack had knocked the wind out of her, but that was it. She furrowed her brows, watching as he sneered smugly down at her.
“All right,” she thought to herself, “don't hold back.” She instinctively reached for her mallet, but realized she had left her tool belt back in the garage. She never would have guessed she would need it to pummel a massive jerk. Deciding it was time to get creative, she bent down, pretending to dust herself off, instead she reached for her boot laces, undoing the tie.
“It's going to take a whole lot more than that to stop me.” She grinned, leaping towards him, prepared to kick at his face. He leaned back, ready to catch her leg, but what he got instead was her boot and it easily slipped off, causing him to stumble back.
Tabitha took the opportunity to charge towards the other side of the room where she had spied the rack of weights.
“Get back here!” He barked, racing after her. Tabitha wasn't picky and grabbed the first weight in reach, it was a heavy beast with two 40 pound disks on either side. Quickly she undid the ring on the right side, letting two of the disks slide to the ground,
“Close enough.” She muttered, gripping it in her fist like her trusty mallet. With a new sense of determination, she spun on her heels and swung the mallet just in time to collide with the trainers ribs as he made a jump for her.
There was a loud crack and instantly Tabitha knew she had broken something.
“No mercy, remember?” She teased as he stumbled onto his right knee, clutching at his side. He looked at her with a fresh rage gleaming in his blood shot eyes.
“Yeah, no mercy.” He smiled, Tabitha's eyes falling down to where his hand rested on the two weighted disks she had dropped.
“Crap!” Tabitha exclaimed, clumsily leaping to the right as the two metal spheres were fiercely thrown towards her. She skidded onto the trampoline, hissing as the surface skinned her elbow. She managed to catch a glimpse of the far wall where the two weights had been thrown. They were both sticking out of the metal wall, having pierced through it like it was nothing but butter.
“He wasn't kidding.” She gasped, realizing the trainer really wasn't holding back. She rolled over just in time to see him climbing onto the trampoline, two massive weights in either hand.
“You've gone and changed the rules now.” He curled one of the weights to show off his bulky biceps.
“I didn't realize there were rules for self defense.” She remarked, hopping up, the trampoline wobbled as she stood.
“Shows your lack of understanding for hand to hand combat.” He retorted, leaping up and using the spring of the trampoline to catapult himself towards her.
Tabitha bounced up like a rubber ball, smashing the makeshift mallet into his shoulder as she landed. The force caused her to wobble back, losing her footing. The trainer growled, shaking his shoulder as if he could shake the pain away. Quickly he shot back up into the air, landing much too close to her. The impact from his bounce hurled her up. She skilfully turned, ready to land on her feet, however, he caught her with a double bounce, landing a half second before her. The trampoline surface rippled under her feet and she found herself flying too high for comfort.
The trainer was jus out of her arms reach and she swung at him, hoping to get in a good one before they landed, but he had similar ideas. He twisted in the air, kicking her harshly with his own boot.
Tabitha yelped as his boot bruised her hip, making her twist in the air. She looked down, hoping to land on the bouncy surface with her back, but realized too late that he had pushed her too far. Tabitha landed with a loud thud on the GYM floor, crushing her right arm under her body. She skidded to a stop by a bench press, her mallet rolling in the opposite direction. Tabitha took a shaky breath, trying to push herself up, she moved her right arm for support, but collapsed back to her side when a sharp pain shot through her arm. She turned her head enough to see the trainer hopping off the trampoline and looming towards her like an angry bull. Beyond him she spied 'A' shaking and sobbing against the brick wall, his hands covering his head. She had to get up.
Quickly she rolled over, using her other arm to push herself up, she struggled to her feet and darted for her weapon.
“Oh no you don't.” The trainer hissed, dropping his weights. He roughly grabbed up the heavy bar that hung over the bench press, chucking it easily in her direction. The bar smacked into her back, pushing her to the ground like she was nothing but a scrawny bean pole. Tabitha shrieked as she again landed on her already aching arm.
She strained to sit up but the bar was too heavy, she only had enough room to roll over, just in time to see the trainers hand reaching for her head. His chunky fingers gripped around her neck and he slid her out from under the bar, lifting her up. Tabitha struggled to get away, but her toes barely scraped the ground, and in an attempt to silence her, he raised her higher still. Tabitha gripped his wrists to ease the tension on her neck, but it didn't do much help.
“Look at you, so pathetic.” He laughed as she coughed and gasped for air. His thumb crushed her wind pipe and dug painfully into her skin. She closed her eyes, refusing to look at his ugly nose bent face, oh how she despised him.
'A' shrieked in horror when he saw his trainer lift Tabitha into the air like she was nothing more that a feather. He had to do something, or his trainer was sure to kill her. A's heart pounded like a drum as he climbed over the small wall and scurried out of the GYM, he needed to find help, he needed Clay.
When the fight had first begun, it was exciting. Tabitha had punched his trainer and smashed his nose, but 'A' soon realized how unevenly matched they were when she had been flung onto the mat. Soon things began to look grim, and when she fell off the trampoline, 'A' knew she was in trouble.
Quickly the young experiment darted through the lab towards Clay's tall office. He climbed the stairs, horrified to find the scientist wasn't there. Desperately he hurried back down, images of his trainer beating Tabitha to a pulp flashed in his mind. All at once he began to cry, panic overtaking him and he raced for the elevators.
The elevator had never felt so slow in his life as it casually carried him back up to the main levels of the facility. As soon as there was an opening big enough, he squeezed through the doors and ran down the hallway frantically. He whizzed past workers and robots, it seemed that everyone in the facility was out and about.
'A' ignored their grunts of disapproval as he bumped or skidded past them, his mind was elsewhere. 'A' flung himself against the lab door as soon as he saw it, sliding it open.
“Hey, get out of here no visitors..oh A it's you.” Clap-Trap paused, suspicious to see the experiment.
“Are you running away from your training again? Look, I love you little buddy, but I love Clay more. You need to go back so he doesn't get in trouble.” The persistent purple robot tried to shoo him back out the door. 'A' ignored the clattering piece of machinery and leapt over him easily, racing for Clay's bedroom door.
“C-CLAAY!” He shrieked wildly as the door gave way to him and he stumbled inside. Clay sat up suddenly, the book he had been reading sliding to the floor as he stared at 'A' concerned.
“A! W-what happened why...Where's Tabitha?” He grew worried as 'A' broke down into sobs, throwing himself into Clays lap.
“Hh-e-e-elp help.” He hiccuped, tugging at the scientists sleeves. Clay stood off the bed, letting 'A' pull him into the lab.
“A, Tabitha is there with you, you better not have run away from her.” He sighed, hoping the experiment wasn't giving her any trouble. 'A' shook his head, he wanted to tell him, needed to tell him, but his mind was racing too fast for her mouth to keep up.
“Hurt...hu-urt....T-a...Tab....tab....Momma!” he suddenly shouted, pointing at the door frantically.
“Momma?” Clay raised a brow, “Someone's mom is hurt? Whose?” Clay could feel the panic in the child's voice, but he was having a hard time what he was trying to communicate. 'A' pointed a finger to himself before stuttering,
“M-m...my....”
“Yours? What...do you mean Tabitha?” Clay's eyes widened and he quickly grabbed A's hand. “Is Tabitha hurt? What happened to her, you've got to tell me!” Clay demanded to know, leaning down to his level, but 'A' refused to stand still. He squirmed about nervously and pulled on Clay's sleeves in a desperate attempt to get him out of the lab.
“He-elp...hurt!” He shouted again, big tears bubbling down his cheeks as he pointed back to the door.
“Ok, take me there!” Clay finally stood, allowing 'A' to guide him from the lab.
“Wait for me! You're sure to need your trusty robot!' Clap-Trap called, doing his best to keep up with the two. 'A' ran as quickly as he could, not stopping whenever Clay fell behind. He didn't have time to waste, Tabitha needed help.
Authors Note: Well I had intended to resolve this issue in this chapter, but it was getting too long for me. So Tabitha's fate will have to wait (look momma i rhymed :p )
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