[mostly open log]
WHO: Mikaela, Graham & The Decepticons of the Hollow
WHAT: Mikaela and Graham were picked up by Blitzwing :3
WHERE: A terranium B|
WHEN: After this.
WARNINGS/NOTES: Open only to the residents of Magnum's humble abode <3
( It all started with a walk in the park, see... )
WHAT: Mikaela and Graham were picked up by Blitzwing :3
WHERE: A terranium B|
WHEN: After this.
WARNINGS/NOTES: Open only to the residents of Magnum's humble abode <3
( It all started with a walk in the park, see... )
Magnum had been...adjusting. It was the best word he could come up with, given the circumstances...
And getting used to a new body was a little bit like being brought online for the first time. There were, thankfully, a number of differences--For one, he knew how to actually walk already, and knew how to process system input, and hadn't had to start from scratch figuring out which part of the signals he received was 'high' and which was 'low.' For two, Black Arachnia had been...pretty intelligent about the design. It resembled his old body in a number of ways, and even the transformation joints were similar--leaving his new alt-mode a bit like a flying tank with short, powerful wing-thrusters. This did not bother him in the least.
The fight with Barricade and Bonecrusher had worked out a number of the kinks, too, and he'd been able to get with Glit immediately after to patch up the scrapes (and rewire his left and right legs back to their corresponding controls. That had been a bit embarassing.) All in all, the reactivation was proving to be a pleasant diversion, and immensely satisfactory...
But he still did not know what to do with flight.
He knew his next eight strategic moves in the Nexus proper, but he still kept running unfamiliar appendages into doorways (and he was not enjoying how sensitive new components were turning out to be.) It had taken him some time to work up the...well, courage to venture forth into the city and give them a try...
And now that he had, he found himself pacing, back and forth, trying to work through all that he had learned about flying as a bird.
It wasn't much.
And...admittedly, it would be easier if there weren't that distracting mumbling in the background.
...
Well.
That was something he could deal with, at least...
...and so he stalked forward towards the common-room, optics blazing with annoyance, in full preparation to insist on silence for a time...
And stopped, dead, at what he actually found.
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He was peering at it closely, and abruptly hopped back to give another swing at the thing with all the intensity and poise of an All-star ballplayer. He was going to get them out of there one way or another. "It must be like...I don't know, super glass or something... or maybe they have some new type'a material here that I don't know about- not that I know everything of course but you think that glass is glass is glass, no matter where you're from..." he prattled, tossing a glance at Mikaela before he got ready to swing again- and froze.
Oh, they weren't alone here anymore.
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"Bulletproof...serious...plexiglass. Something out of a movie, I think." With a huff, she jumps back down from her rock, attempt at finding a latch failed. "You'd think glass is glass, but I'm not so sure, it's probably got...nano technology in it or something."
Mikaela hefts a chunk of rock in her hand, then hurls it at the cracked glass in frustration.
That's the time she notices their new 'visitor'. Her mouth hangs open in a shocked look as she comes to a stop next to Graham, after he'd stopped.
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He...
No.
He was not seeing this.
It had to be Lugnut's doing...it had to be...
And yet, at the same time, that was equally impossible since he'd told the Malgian bomber no. (Hadn't he?)
In fact, so ridiculous is the situation, that his hand hand impacted with his helmet before he'd even realized, and he was already counting silently to 3 million in his mind.
This, was not happening.
"Its reinforced with a negative field generator, actually." His voice attempted to be even, though he did not look up yet through the shielding of his fingers over his face. "...even if you crack the glass, you can't escape."
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Graham recovered not long after realizing who exactly was standing there, a grin twitching on his face as though it was uncertain if it was supposed to be there or not. "Hey..." Was this a joke? This had to be some joke.
And then he blinked at the first words that came from Magnum's mouth. Not a greeting, but an explanation. It didn't really make him happy to hear it. "Wait, wait- what? Somethin' that won't break even if it breaks? Well that's just cheatin' is what it is!"
He prodded at the glass with the wrench like it were some new-found adversary. "That aside though, what're you doin' here, Me-" He caught himself. "-Magnum. Or do you got some unexplained, nonsensical obsession for puppies that we don't know about, too? Whatever that means, mind you- I'm still tryin' to figure that one out, but I think that'll be more trouble than it's worth!"
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Though it didn't particularly look as though Magnum had planned this - the sound of metal hitting metal when head met hand and the actual visual of Magnum doing something like that was a fairly good indication that he was not behind Blitzwing's 'acquisition' of the two humans.
She can't stop the hysterical giggle that slips past her lips. Covering her mouth and attempting to hide the sound, she gives a polite cough.
"We'd um...both really appreciate it if you could, uh...let us out."
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...had he been intending to keep them in the first place.
"And why do you want puppies?"
This completely did not make sense, and he was hiding a barely supressed fury. They were in his secret underground lair, and he hadn't known about it. Somebody was going to answer for this.
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"More pets for me?" he asked hopefully, turning towards Magnum.
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With everything else moving as it was, it should not have been a surprise to him that Dirge would show up now of all times. He'd come quickly. Perhaps those claims of being the 'fastest' jet weren't all 'air,' after all...
This was such a pity, though. He'd not had time to prepare himself, sufficiently, for Dirge's arrival, or for what, precisely, he was going to say while there was Mikaela in the room.
It just meant he'd have to be creative.
"Do excuse me for a moment." He nearly growled to the two humans, lowly, and turned to greet the Jet--
--by grabbing him, turning him, and slamming him cockpit first into the nearest wall.
It happened to be the wonderfully spiky throne, but he didn't have much problem with that.
"So kind of you to come so quickly. We have business to discuss."
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Dirge was expecting a snarky response from the young tyrant- something involving 'grubby hands' and all that- not the thick fist that clamped onto his person and thrust him into the throne he had been admiring earlier.
"Nngh!"
PAIN. Two of the spikes had punched through the glass, spidery cracks branching in all directions from their points of entry. Gritting his dentals, the teal clone let out a sharp hiss.
"What was that for?!" he screeched, attempting to wrench himself free.
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Getting creative was going to have to start now, since there weren't the wonderful array of rusting parts sitting around the throne room anymore. Instead, Lugnut had installed a multitude of neon-purple light fixtures (fairly classy, he had to admit) around the breadth of the room...
And where there were light fixtures, there was electricity.
Convenient, that.
He grabbed one, pulled on its connections, and thrust the wires against Dirge's side.
There was a spark, as the current adjusted to the new resistance, and he braced himself for the slight overarc of electrical pathways through the jet...but there wasn't much he had to do but hold the wires there to let the Malgian body complete the circuit between standard voltage and ground.
(He'd learned this trick in Kaon's underground, when one of the patrons had thought it would be a grand idea to have lights installed in the arena floor. It proved more than handy, now.)
"This is for having to endure weeks in an inferior body, and listen to your insults." He pulled the wires back, away. "Success is rewarded with Generosity, Dirge. Can you guess what happens when the reverse occurs?"
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Dirge opened his mouth to voice his thoughts when a sharply unpleasant feeling at his side stopped any words from coming. A shriek came instead as his systems jolted from the electric current, random motors shorting from the improper reception of energy. Mercifully, the wires were lifted away before the complicated sensor net in his wings started to forcefully analyze the surge.
"...Inferior...? That was you?" he ground out as soon as he could, Magnum's words causing him to recall the incident with the bird cassette. But how could he have known?
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"Still, you didn't answer my question." He let the wires back closer to Dirge's side, a little lower than they had been previous so as not to be hitting already deadened circuitry. "Surely the Starscream in you somewhere knows its best to placate a Megatron, when he is mad? Making excuses only makes us angrier." He touched the wires again, briefly, to accent the stress upon the word, and shifted his grip on Dirge's backside...
...strangely, avoiding both of the jet's wings.
He didn't want to touch the wings.
While his own rear-mounted thrusters didn't have particularly large wind-receptive gliders of their own, he'd bumped into enough surfaces while getting used to them to know that they weren't...tough. And as much as he wanted to put this jet through his lessons, he had no intention of inflicting that much trauma.
"You should accept your failure. Learn from it. And move on. Begging might help, too."
He chuckled, a little, and let the threat of the wires and further grinding of the cockpit linger in the air.
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He tried futilely to lean away as the wires drew nearer again, unable to stop a soft whine from leaving his vocalizer. It was no use, Magnum's grip was solid and the circuit was completed again. Another cry of pain was let loose, echoing in the subterranean chamber. A variety of Starscream memories assured him that this was not out of the ordinary for a Megatron and his Maker had indeed done what Magnum was suggesting countless times.
But Dirge was young and had not had any sense beaten into him before this. He had no patience to learn this lesson. He wanted more than Starscream and it would not do to let any Megatron force him into submission.
"I failed at nothing! You failed! That fight was your ill-planned idea!" the jet exclaimed, actually trying to shove an elbow back into Magnum's chest.
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Other than that--he did not move.
But the wires stayed were they were, as well, and did not yet come any closer to the jet, as he listened to his quarry's plea.
He listened. And he nodded. And when he spoke again, it was softer. This was something he had not learned in Kaon--and patience did not come easy for a tyrant.
"...I know, Dirge. You are right. I was upset, and I acted brashly."
His grip changed again, still firm but relenting, somewhat, so that the jet wasn't being continually ground into a throne-spike.
"But it was my fight, and my plan, and brash or not I took every eventuality into consideration. You were my backup--and when I needed you, you were not there."
"If I cannot trust you, Dirge, to be there when I call...then you are no use to me." He stood back, pushing the jet forward once more against that spike, but, simultaneously, letting him go. "I don't believe I need to tell you what will happen when I have no further use for you."
He raised his cannon, to illustrate his point.
"Now. Do I have your cooperation, or do I need to 'give' you a 3000 volt gift?"
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So Magnum was admitting he was right? Not very common an action for a Megatron. And there was that word again..."trust". Black Arachnia has mentioned it to him and he'd wondered if it was possible to have someone else's without having to give of his own. He found himself wondering it again as the spikes pressed inward one last time before he was released.
Carefully he lifted himself away from the throne, biting down on a whimper as the protrusions slide painfully out of the holes in his cockpit. All at once a chill came over him and he turned his head to find himself looking down the barrel of that infamous cannon. It would be deja vu had the memories of this moment been his own.
"Yes...my cooperation..." he said slowly, trying not to wonder if pain was maybe one of those on the very short list of things he did not desire.
Magnum wanted to give him his trust? Actually- he'd gone so far as to say that if he could not then Dirge would be as good as dead. But he hadn't said anything about wanting Dirge's trust in return.
"I want your trust," the clone affirmed in his usual manner.
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