just another day;
WHO: Shockwave
WHEN: Sometime after Shockwave gets hurt, and has mostly healed up.
WHERE: The rooftop of the apartment building where Wave&Bug Base is.
SUMMARY: Hanging out on a roof. Aka. Corny gets bored and starts writing something, then sleeps. And then some days later at 6:30 am running on no sleep decides to finish it. I will be surprised if ( Read more... )
WHEN: Sometime after Shockwave gets hurt, and has mostly healed up.
WHERE: The rooftop of the apartment building where Wave&Bug Base is.
SUMMARY: Hanging out on a roof. Aka. Corny gets bored and starts writing something, then sleeps. And then some days later at 6:30 am running on no sleep decides to finish it. I will be surprised if ( Read more... )
He was testing his newest invention - a techno-organic control device, implanted in the back of the skull of an imPorted to control them, complete with an interface to allow him remote access. The initial, controlled phases had been splendid, but it was high time he tested it in the field. So it was that he'd taken one of his new catches - a Cybertronian - out to use him.
This one had been quite a find. A re-imPort, he'd been ported out before the horror had began and only recently returned - as Tarantulas had been looking for a Cybertronian, he'd been more than happy to take this one. A shame for him - apparently, the Autobot had been willing to comply with government regulations, to maintain status-quo and not use his powers.
No matter. Shadow Ops did what it liked, and so Tarantulas did what he liked.
The device gave him a strange double-vision - a way to see through the other's eyes. He'd needed to upgrade his own mind to parallel-process in order to use it properly, an effort which had almost gotten the government down on him and then caused problems when for a week he manifested multiple personalities, but which he'd eventually stabilized. He could use his Autobot pet's powers even as he ordered the other. Feel the poor bot scream internally, whimpering something about a Beachcomber and keep calling him Bombshell.
It was then that using said vision he noticed a burst of radiation from a rooftop.
Ohoho.
He started to meander in that direction.
"Senior Specialist Archibald - "
"Tarantulas. Use my real name," he said.
"... Tarantulas, where are you going?" snapped one of his guards.
"On a jaunt," he said. "Are you really going to stop me?"
There was an uncomfortable pause.
"Oh, I thought not, indeed. Come, my pet," he said to the Autobot. "Shall we?"
Getting to the roof took longer than expected. He forgot, for a moment, that his Autobot pet couldn't climb as well as he did, and so he was forced to let down a fire escape. Eventually, however, there he stood.
And oh, what a catch. Even in human form, even never having met the bot, he knew this one.
"Shockwave," he hissed, a smile that showed his spider's mandibles crossing his face, his secondary eyes opening just a fraction. "What a pleasure, what an absolute pleasure..."
The Autobot actually twitched, ever so slightly, standing next to him, head bowed. The violet glow in his eyes that betrayed his controlled state flickered. Leave him be, he's no slave of yours, Bombshell came the faint resistance. Futile resistance. Tarantulas merely smiled.
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How? Where?
He wouldn't be visible from street level, but from the looks of things, that didn't seem to be much of a problem for the two before him. He hadn't recognized the Autobot. Yet.
There was silence from the Decepticon for a while, as he narrowed his eyes, glaring. He was in trouble. And he'd just been so a few weeks prior.
Idiot.
How could he have been so stupid. He was just lucky that he hadn't been inside the apartment. That its location was still hidden. For all they knew, this was just some random rooftop he decided to sit upon. Soundwave and the bugs would still be safe.
"What do you want?" he practically snarled. He had little idea who this was, all he knew was that he did not have a good feeling about it.
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But he was also a wanted imPort on many, many counts; as was Soundwave and the decidedly lost Starscream. One who would be just as much a delight to experiment on as to work with.
Perceptor twitched again, straining at the mental bonds.
"A great many things. Right now, merely to talk. I've always been an admirer of yours... though I must say, it's not like you to be so careless. The government has had such a time getting their claws on you..."
"That said, I have considerable influence with them. I could offer you asylum and a fully stocked laboratory, all the imPorts you could ever desire to experiment on, the latest equipment, and the chance to never be bothered by them again. But I'd need something from you."
"Refuse, and, well," he chuckled. "Let's just say that I'm always in search of more test subjects."
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He had opened his mouth to question Tarantuals, but paused tensing up at mention of the government. Frag. If he was with the government, then he might know about the break in to the superjail some time back. He might know that he broke out Soundwave.
The offer itself sounded... tempting. Experiments, actually having a laboratory again, not being bothered by the government. But they'd already done their damage to him. Not to mention what they'd done to the only person he cared about these days.
He didn't trust this. At what price would it come.
"...Who are you?" He avoided commenting on his carelessness.
"And what do you want. I do not take kindly to being some test subject."
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And then he opened all of his eyes.
"And I want information as to the locations of the renegades Starscream and Soundwave."
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"Hn. I do not know where either of them are. Why would I."
Keep a straight face. Show no emotion. He could still lie and make it sound like the truth.
He had to.
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"You don't? Then you're of no use to me. Out here, anyway. Perceptor, if you would kindly~?"
The Autobot did not move, his head still bowed. Tarantulas sighed.
"Resisting again? You useless puppet..."
Slipping one of his extra limbs out from under his coat, he tapped at the panel on the back of Perceptor's neck. Jerkily, the Autobot raised one of his handguns and pointed it at Shockwave...
... and failed to fire.
"And what do you care for a Decepticon?" snapped Tarantulas. "No matter, I'll do this myself!"
He raised his own weapon and fired at Shockwave. It was set not for stun, but to depower. Stunning could come later.
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Which all changed when he mentioned Perceptor's name.
Eyes widened as he looked over to the one next to the spider. Quiet. That would explain things. And referring to him as a puppet. He doubted the Autobot liked any of this.
"...Perceptor."
Shockwave twitched slightly, well this day went from good to worse in a matter of minutes. He had actually liked that Autobot, a good scientist, pretty nice to him. So this was what had happened to him.
The scientist took a step back as the gun was pointed at him, and then.
Nothing.
He held his breath as Tranatulas told off the Autobot and raised his gun. And with one more step back, he fell.
...
A few minutes of silence passed until finally a tiny little explosion of heat erupted near Tarantulas' feet.
"You call that mind control? That is pathetic. You cannot even control one little Autobot. You Predacons certainly were a sad lot, I'm glad my universe did not have to deal with such failures."
Green eyes popped up from over the ledge behind the two. Falling off the building had not been something Shockwave had actually planned. In fact it was simply luck that he had not been hit then fallen, else he certainly would not have survived the drop. Flight was incredibly useful at times, but this was no time to let his guard down. He couldn't let himself be hit.
"Perceptor, if you shoot me I am not going to help you. I most certainly do not befriend Autobots just so they can shoot at me."
He ducked back down behind the building, popping back up at the opposite end of the building next to the one the Predacon was standing on.
Current plan of action: keep a building between him and the guns. Make himself harder to hit.
"To be quite honest, Tarantulas. I much rather talking."
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"Tshhh, this was the firsssst field tessst," he hissed, his old habits coming back in his rage. "And I'm not really a Predacon."
They were a sad lot, after all. Even so, the field test was obviously a failure, so he'd have to improvise. He might not be able to fly, but he could webswing well enough. Scuttling across the ground, he shot webbing between the buildings to form a bridge, then kept going.
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Perhaps taunting him wasn't the best of ideas, but so far he knew nothing about the not-Predacon. And when his logic came and went like it did, the more he knew, the more he'd be able to focus himself on the best tactical plan.
He needed to know every reaction. And he needed to get out of this alive. If only for the fact that he was the one paying for the small apartment.
Shockwave ducked back down behind the building, looking for the next place to fly to. X-rays were incredibly handy here, he could see every dead end, every way that would lead to open space. He just had to keep ahead of Tarantulas, save Perceptor and then get out of there. Well, and lead him away from the apartment - but he was already doing that.
"When you can control the entire populace of the planet, then you can come talk to me. Go bother someone else! And leave Perceptor, I'll fix him for you. -What did you do anyway? I'd love to know how it works."
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At Shockwave's comments, Tarantulas merely laughed. "Yes, I am nobody," he said. And left it at that. Shockwave would get nothing out of it. "And I'm working on that..."
But that was far in the future. And honestly? He was more interested in destroying it. His god was hungry, after all.
"And I can't tell you that. Why ruin the surprise~?"
Unfortunately, in his talking and weaving between air conditioning units on the rooftop, he'd lost track of Shockwave.
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Alright, it had been a while but he was still a strategist. He could use this. But there was still the fact that this was out in the open, even if up high on the rooftops. He still needed to avoid alerting anyone else.
Avoid anything too explosive. Too destructive.
Shooting up from his hiding place, with all the grace of a former... space ray gun, he fired an infared energy blast straight at the spider.
"How am I ever going to fix it for you, if you wont even tell me one little secret?! Does it use waves? It should." he shouted, as he made his attempt to dive back down behind a building.
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"I'm trying to capture you, why should I tell you?" he asked, scuttling towards where he'd seen Shockwave duck down. "Unless you've changed your mind and you are offering to join up with me."
He didn't trust this. Best to just capture the Decepticon and be done with it.
"It's a wireless system, obviously," he said, simply trying to buy time. "And that is all I shall tell you."
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"Oh? But I thought you said I was useless for not having any location information. And really I can understand why you would want Starscream. He is fascinating. But Soundwave? Why would you want him?"
He pushed off from the building, only to pause floating between the building and the next. Wireless?
"Wait. That's what that is? I must really be distracted if I did not even notice it."
The Decepticon laughed. Despite his insanity allowing him emotions, his laugh had remained as cold, hollow and emotionless as ever. A dead laugh, and unsettling to top it all off.
"You know, sometimes I really do love that Shockwave of your universe. Because even if you did study your history, you would never know.
"You have told me more than enough, Tarantulas. You know that the government did have me for a while, so the fact that you did not see this coming? Hn. You're going to be in trouble. Idiotic move. I really do hope you regret shooting at me."
With a bit of a kick he sped himself around the building trying to get to a side that was closer to Perceptor. Poking his head up.
"Perceptor! I am going to ask that you try to remain within my sight, I would rather not waste unneeded energy." He could wipeout a decent chunk of the area, but if he could keep Perceptor close, then he could keep the ability to a few feet around him. He'd waste less energy that way, and avoid having to find somewhere to hide and rest.
"Strategy was not your thing, was it Tarantulas?"
With a tiny tilt of his head he killed all wireless signals. There would be no sending or receiving for now.
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"Soundwave? Simple enough - Starscream on his own is an incompetent fool. The records of this city and my own studies show that. But if he and Soundwave formed an alliance - doubtful, but possible - then all would be ruined. And further, I'm simply looking for samples of Cybertronians. I've already captured Waspinator, and - "
Electromagnetic radiation. He'd assumed the humans had simply meant energy blasts of some sort, not -
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He didn't speak (that wasn't his way). He simply raised his gun and fired.
Tarantulas had been trying to escape - scuttling down the wall between the buildings - but he was slightly, just slightly too late. The shot connected squarely in the center of his back. He felt his powers suddenly deactivate.
"Oh, frag-"
And then he fell off the wall.
Percy stood there for a few seconds before looking, idly, at the gun. There was a faint urge to just end it - turn up the power to full and aim the weapon at his own head.
No. Foolish. Your people -
"... Shockwave, I may require some assistance."
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