(Untitled)

[theprimerprime]

WHO: Sentinel Prime and Thundercracker
WHERE: A seedy bar, and subsequently the back alley behind it.
WHEN: Wednesday night at some point.
WARNINGS: Death. Violent, bloody death.
SUMMARY: Sentinel is out for justice. Or revenge. Or both. And Thundercracker...well, he's not going quietly.
FORMAT: Whatever happens, happens.

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[crackofthunder]

For his part, Thundercracker was actually in fairly good spirits, although alcohol usually helped him with that. He's slowly been starting to feel a little better about himself - the talk with Elita really crystallized a few things for him, and spending time with Rachel has done a hell of a lot towards helping him regain his footing after the Liadrin debacle.

So he's able to laugh as he steps out of the bar and onto the street, because the bartender is an amusing man. He straightens up his clothes and his posture as he takes a breath of the night air of the city. Completely unaware of Prime's presence.

[theprimerprime]

If Thundercracker was ignorant at that moment, he would not remain so for long. Sentinel wasted no time, positioning himself squarely in front of the laughing Decepticon (Laughing, after all he'd done! Oh, how sweet it would be to wipe the smile off his face.) and blocking him from making any further progress down the sidewalk. But he didn't make a move. Not yet. He wanted to make sure he did this right, and with as little violence as possible.

"Hello, Thundercracker. I'm sure you know why I'm here."

[crackofthunder]

There's a mood-changer if ever there was one.

Thundercracker's posture straightens upward in the face of the taller man, his eyes a little red from the drink, and his face hardens at the recognition of this afthole.

"I'm sure I don't, 'Prime.'"

[theprimerprime]

Nothing could take the smile off Sentinel's face now, not even Thundercracker's snide emphasis on his rank. He really didn't know what this was about? Well then, Sentinel would be more than pleased to inform him.

"I'm here because I know what you did," he taunted. "And in case you weren't aware, murder is against the law in this city. The law that it's my job to enforce."

[crackofthunder]

Thundercracker's eyes narrow, and glow a faint red at that accusation.

"What are you talking about? Are you inventing some imaginary crime out of spite? Is that what's supposed to pass for justice here?"

[theprimerprime]

"I'm not inventing anything," Sentinel countered calmly. "I don't have to. You only have yourself and your own stupidity to blame for this. Maybe it's acceptable among Decepticons to kill one's own commander, but that's not the way things work around here.

"And that's why, Thundercracker, I'm placing you under arrest for the murder of one Christopher Astrum, AKA Starscream."

[crackofthunder]

His eyes flare angrily at that, and his jaw drops in stunned surprise.

"WHAT? Are you crazy?! It's STARSCREAM! One of the deadliest Decepticons EVER! You're telling me that after NINE MILLION YEARS of fighting, I finally break away from the Decepticons only to be thrown in jail by an Autobot for it? You of all people should understand that! And you think I'M stupid?!"

[theprimerprime]

"I frankly don't care who you killed, just that you did it," Sentinel retorted. "The law is the law. I'm just doing my job. The fact that it's your sorry aft I get to lock up is just an added bonus."

He took a step forward, removing a set of stasis cuffs from the subspace compartment in his forearm as he did. "Now, remember, you have the right to remain silent. So I strongly suggest you shut up and make this as painless for yourself as possible."

[crackofthunder]

He takes a step back away from Prime, some part of his subconscious taking note that he still has subspace access. But it's hardly where his conscious mind is right now.

"The LAW? HERE? This place that abducted us all against our will to serve its whims? THIS PLACE might as well be a Decepticon!" he barks back. "You're insane! You can't do this! You can't lock me up the moment I gain my freedom!"

The desperation is starting to crack his voice.

[theprimerprime]

Sentinel shrugged, utterly unmoved by Thundercracker's increasingly frantic speech.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," he said.

And with that, he lunged at the Decepticon. Not to attack - he would have drawn a weapon if that had been the case - merely to restrain. With his superior strength, he didn't anticipate having much trouble wrangling Thundercracker into the cuffs.

[crackofthunder]

He might rethink that once Thundercracker's hands suddenly light on fire to try to break the Autobot's grip.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

[theprimerprime]

Whoa, that was unexpected. Perhaps it would have been better to review the known facts about Thundercracker's abilities before taking him on, but Sentinel always counts on his own strength and wits to pull him through where planning fails.

As it stands, he jumps back before the Decepticon has a chance to burn him too badly, then moves in again and makes an effort to take him down from behind.

[crackofthunder]

He barely has time to turn around before he's getting the shoulder in the gut that drives him down onto the pavement, rattling his head and ringing his bell something fierce. The fire evaporates from his hands as he completely loses focus...

[theprimerprime]

"Got you now, fragger..."

Sentinel is on Thundercracker as soon as he hits the ground. He's straddling the Decepticon, one hand planted on his skull and pressing his face into the asphalt while the other works at maneuvering the stasis cuffs into position. He figures he's home free, now. As soon as those cuffs are on and activated, Thundercracker won't have the energy to put up any more resistance.

[crackofthunder]

He knows full well what those stasis cuffs are capable of - Blackarachnia told him all about them, and he knows he's only got a breath or two left to act - which is why that strange ability of his - that adrenaline-induced invulnerability - kicks in enough to fight through how much his head hurts right now under that crushing strength.

His hands pop into flame just enough to help him struggle them free, and they immediately shoot up to grab Prime's head.

He screams bloody murder at this Autobot idiot, that cold cackle of Megatron's mania echoing in his mind...

Before it's drowned out instantly by the powerful sonic blast that bursts forth from his palms.

[theprimerprime]

The stasis cuffs touch Thundercracker's wrist, and then it all goes horribly wrong. Sentinel is bucked from his position with a force he hadn't known the Decepticon to possess, and then he finds himself on the defensive, Thundercracker's hands locking a vise grip onto his skull. He wraps his hands around his opponent's wrists in an effort to force them away; never mind that those hands are on fire again and burning into his palms as he tries.

And then he is out of time.

Death is instantaneous, parsed as a moment of excruciating noise followed by a moment of insensate blackness. When consciousness returns, it is in no form Sentinel has ever experienced before. He feels terror as he realizes what is happening, as his spark separates itself from his body.

No, he thinks, desperately. Not like this.

But it's too late. He's gone.