Yeah. Set in Skyfire and Starscream's quarters right after Megatron does
THIS. The lights cut out and...then there is chaos. >;D Obviously set before
this entry.
Starscream: *Starscream is diligently working his way through the datapads when the lights go out. So much for THAT. An audial-shattering scream emanates from his half of the quarters-lab combination, followed by the clatter of datapads hitting the floor.*
Skyfire: *Skyfire, for his part, was unfortunately working in his lab replicating various chemicals when the lights suddenly cut out. One wrong slip of the hand sends the concoction in his hands tumbling to the floor with a crash. The scream, however, startles Skyfire enough to make him stumble backwards, tripping over some of the equipment laying about for his ship, falling back with a boom and a long series of curses. His flailing feet and wings, as well as the force of his fall, only make things worse as spilt chemicals that should not be mixed or agitated DO SO. The resulting explosion, though relatively mild, makes for a good concussive blast, as well as a rather lovely green-flamed fireball bursting upwards and scorching the ceiling as Skyfire watches on in shock, before it burns out abruptly and leaves him in pitch darkness once more*
…..S-Starscream? Are you alright? *He calls out, in shock and still staring at after-images of the fireball, and hauling himself off the ground, remembering the scream that sent him there in the first place*
Starscream: ...I'm okay did something explode in there? *calls back, sounding like someone who is hanging onto the urge to not scream again by his dental plates*
Skyfire: ...Yes. Yes something did. *blankly, still sounding rather stunned, pawing at the edge of his now rather crispy lab table and trying to find his way across the lab without tripping over anything* I don't suppose the lights are out in there too, are they? It completely dark in here and I can't see a slagging th-! *the crash and swearing that follow indicate rather obvious failure in that whole 'not tripping' thing*
Starscream: Yeah they're out! Are you okay? *Starscream's voice is a little higher-pitched than normal, if that's possible.*
Skyfire: I'm fine, I'm fine! But slag, ouch, I think I just crunched something that sounded suspiciously like a sample analysis chamber. Damn it all. Why did the power cut out? Are we under attack? *curiously, noting the higher pitch of Starscream's voice but not yet thinking about the real likely cause as he fumbles for the door between lab and living quarters*
Starscream: Nah, there'd be alarms... *not moving an inch*
Skyfire: Ah. *fumbles and curses lightly as several more things get knocked aside and/or crunched under the shuttle’s weight* ...Never before have I desired an alt mode with proper external lighting... *mutters, finally reaching the door and fumbling further for the keypad, peering blankly into the room that is just as dark as the lab* ...Starscream? Where are you?
Starscream: In here...
Skyfire: *pauses for moment, worried by the tone he can hear in Starscream's voice...which he can somehow hear over the absolutely horrid music he suddenly notices coming through the comm system in the walls* ...what the SLAG? *steps cautiously inwards, cringing when he feels a datapad crunch under his feet* Starscream, love, are you alright? And what in Primus' name is that awful sound?
Starscream: I think it's music. I'm tempted to turn my au... di...o... It's Hello Kitty. Megatron must be behind this.
Skyfire: 'Hello Kitty'? Megatron? What would he... The paint. I suppose this is his retaliation then? Hnn. Lovely. *acidly, pressing further into the room* Where exactly are you, Starscream? *frowns before - hello! Switches to infrared vision, looking around for a Starscream-shaped blob of reds and yellows*
Starscream: *Mostly yellows. Some whites! He is CERTAINLY not panicking and not overheating himself by trying to stop his intakes so as to better hear* In here....
Skyfire: *catches sight of that seeker-blob that is reading as 'far-too-hot' on his scanners and frowns, inching around cold and dark tables and consoles to reach Starscream, resting a hand on what he thinks should be a shoulder, concerned* ...Starscream?
Starscream: *That is another shriek as Starscream JUMPS, flailing claws-out in Skyfire's direction*
Skyfire: *shouts shortly, a sound of startled shock as claws latch on to his armor and upset his balance yet again, stumbling back and fumbling for the wall as he tries to keep himself and a sudden armload of flailing seeker upright* S-Starscream-! What-?!
Starscream: *reflexively opens his ntakes again, panting for air to cool his systems* Skyfire is that you?! *Panic-stricken Seeker is panic-stricken.*
Skyfire: *gasps and stands back up properly, holding on to Starscream and staring down at his heat-signature as his vision is clouded by the sudden billows of heat the seekers intake system is giving off* W-what? Starscream, of course it's me! Who else would it be? *frowns, his own intakes whirling to life with worry, struggling to grasp at just what could possibly be going on...before slowly recalling the night-light issue. He'd never seen it happen before, but the dark was apparently what was affecting Starscream so very badly.* ...Starscream? Love?
Starscream: *clutches at Skyfire, claws digging into armor plates, and does his best to calm himself down* ...yeah...?
Skyfire: ...the dark, then? *quietly, wrapping his arms around Starscream as firmly as he can, pressing close with a concerned frown*
Starscream: ...'m fine... *No he's not. He doesn't even sound fine.*
Skyfire: *does indeed notice* ...No. No you're not, love. *tightens his hold, running his hands across Starscream's wings and spine soothingly* It's alright though, Starscream. I promise it is.
Starscream: *clutches harder* ...it's dark... I hate the fragging dark...
Skyfire: I know love. I didn't know it was quite this bad, and I'm sorry for that...but I know better now. Come on. Lets get you out of here so we can fix whatever it was that slagger broke and get some light back in here, okay? *very calmly, grasping at Starscream and starting to suffle in the general direction of the door to the hall*
Starscream: I am going to kill him slowly... *starts picking his way back with Skyfire, towards the door*
Skyfire: ...For once I think I might join you in that, Starscream. *says with forced lightness, petting at Starscream's armor with one hand and pawing at the wall with the other, eventually reaching the indent of the door* Ah! There it is! *feels around for the keypad and...nothing. The things beeps negatively at him, with the sound of internal gears grinding, unable to move against something, before it all goes silent again (other then the Hello Kitty music,) door very much still blocking the way out.* ......
Starscream: ...of course it's not opening. *stares blindly at the door, and makes a little unhappy noise*
Skyfire: .... *proceeds to press, shove, push, nudge, bang, and hit the door in every conceivable angle, completely calm despite the apparent violence of the actions, not a sound slipping from his vocalizer the entire time* ...I don't think it is going to open. *deadpan, fist leaving once last dent in the door* It's likely somehow sealed from the outside. I don't suppose it’s too much to ask for that the other doors are unsealed? *frowns, fingers scraping against Starscream's armor. If it wasn't for the fact that the lights were cut apparently just to target Starscream he'd be a lot less aggravated by this point*
Starscream: ...isn't there something we can set on fire in the lab? *plaintively* We can check afterwards, but I can't see...
Skyfire: Well I can't see very well either, but...ah. Have you turned your infrared vision on, Starscream? *softly hesitant, edging his way back towards the lab*
Starscream: Infrared! *That is a cry of realization, as Starscream almost goes limp with relief*
Skyfire: Ah. *smiles fondly, shaking his head and stroking at his seeker's suddenly relaxed wings* ...I'm sure we can find something in the lab to burn, either way. Maybe I'll be able to find my welding torch and we'll just use that?
Starscream: Sure... If nothing else, I'm sure we've got something we can make a controlled burn with. *progressively calming down as he can see, however poorly, on infrared*
Skyfire: I'm sure we do. We'll find something, love. Too bad, though - If I had the power supply for my ship hooked up properly we would just hide out inside it with the lights on if we had to. *chuckles at the red Starscream-blob in his arms, making his way into the lab with only two more crunched datapads and one kicked/nearly upended lab table, feeling for the other door*
Starscream: What do you bet we have to entirely remove either the doors or a chunk of wall to get out...? *huffs*
Skyfire: *Groans at the idea, and groans even more then a press of the keypad only results in the same harsh beep and the sound of failing mechanics* ...Well, there is my welding torch, like I said. *wry*
Starscream: That or some sort of detonation...
Skyfire: Nonono... We're still in here. If it failed, or the concussive blast was too strong with no outlet, I wouldn't want to be trapped in here. *Sighs and with a single, fairly resigned bang on the stuck door, begins easing his way across the lab for the cargo bay door, his last hope.*
Starscream: You mean like we already are? *dryly, now almost entirely composed again* If we could direct the blast...
Skyfire: ...Well, if it burned out of control, or if the blast overheated the air and we had no way to cool ourselves, it would be even worse to still be trapped in here, don't you think? *just as dryly, smirking and giving Starscream a nudge* A blast could work, but I would prefer to not have to blow up our room or my lab when we could just cut through the wall.
Starscream: ...you're no fun. Can I blow Megatron up, at least?
Skyfire: We can blow up things afterwards to celebrate, alright? *reaches the cargo bay door and, as expected, it is thoroughly locked in place* ...Though I'm starting to think just blowing Megatron up is too good for him. *growls, giving the door a sullen kick*
Starscream: *actually finds it in himself to thrum a little* We'll think of something.
Starscream: Now, to get out of here...
Skyfire: *pauses at that thrum, shaking his head with a weak grin* We could always call for some help, find out what actually is holding the doors shut, and find out how it can be removed, before we go around cutting holes in the walls?
Starscream: And concede defeat that readily? I don't think so. *thinking* The doors themselves are probably totally sealed; where do you think is the structurally-weakest point?
Skyfire: *Sighs* I had a feeling you were going to say something like that, love. Very well. Our own escape it is. *laughs* And that seems to have been the case. Do you mean the on the doors or the walls? Cutting out the doors themselves would make for a cleaner, if more tendious repair job after, but they are fairly solid. The walls would likely be easier to cut through... *grins suddenly, a pleased, ever so slightly devious chuckle slipping out* ...do you think he thought to seal up the wash rack? If we just cut through the wall on the opposite side of the room into the wash rack, we'd have a way out and a direct connection into the room as well, which I have been thinking about installing anyway.
Starscream: *snickers, nastily* I bet he didn't. It's worth a try, anyway...
Skyfire: I think so as well. Now if I can just find my welder... *fumbles around for a moment before abandoning all dignity and drops to the floor to crawl around by his ship, sure that was the same area he left it in, and was unwilling to go and accidentally step on it while searching* While I'm looking for this, do you think you're alright to do something about that damn noise, Starscream? I don't care if we have to rip out the speakers; I can barely hear myself think.
Starscream: We shouldn't have speakers in here... *turns his head from side to side, trying to home in on the sound* I'll see if I can't find them, though...
Starscream: *starts taking careful steps, trying to triangulate*
Skyfire: They're needed, for ship-wide announcements and alarms. *grunts, metal clanging as he knocks over heavy bits of raw material for his ship that he had been welding a few days before. He was in the right area, at least.*
Starscream: Oh, you didn't take yours out...? *picks his way through the lab*
Skyfire: ...No. I assume you did, though. *shouts triumphantly from somewhere underneath the half-built ship, followed by the sound of two consecutive clicks before a WHOOSH - and then there is flame and light from the torch!*
Starscream: *makes a little shrieky noise in sheer triumph* Fuck you, Megatron!
Skyfire: *laughs and climbs out, making his way towards Starscream, though he frowns at the utter wreck his lab is now, chemicals and equipment scattered and CRUSHED like soda cans. That might take a bit to clean up and replace* ...Better, love?
Starscream: I'm fine. This place is a wreck. I'm hacking Megatron's credit card; make a wishlist.
Skyfire: Oooh! *manages to both look giddy and wickedly pleased at the same time, grinning in the torch light* It feels even better then getting a grant, Starscream. Brilliant! *smirks* I'll have to make sure that list is very through...
Starscream: Oh, good. I think I'll put a few things on it, too... *going after the speakers...* Speakers're dead. The sound's coming in from outside...
Skyfire: Outside...? Damn. He means to what? Lock us in and drive us mad with vapid, annoying music? *shakes him head, scowling, and makes his way back into their room, eyeing the wall he's going to have to cut though and going over the schematics in his head*
Starscream: That sounds about right. So maybe he didn't like having to get his face sandblasted... Oh well!
Skyfire: *laughs softly before picking a spot, lowering his battle mask over his optics, and taking the welder to a part of the wall he was sure didn't have any pipes or major electronics running through it, slowly cutting his way through the metal*
Starscream: Want help? *cranes his neck to watch what Skyfire is doing*
Skyfire: *Grins under his mask, working his way down the wall* Mhmm. Sure, once I get this part of the wall removed, we can clear out the minor cables and such running between it so I can cut through the other side. Thank you.
Starscream: What do you think about decapitating Megatron and mounting his head on a pike outside as a warning to others? *conversationally, watching Skyfire work*
Skyfire: *jerks a bit in his work, cut going rather wide* ...Err, that's rather disgusting. And possibly a bit much.
Starscream: You sure? I mean...
Skyfire: ...Yes. Fairly sure. *deadpan, and makes his way down the other side of the wall with the welder, cutting out a nice, full sized doorway* Help me with this, please? *Eases the massive piece of metal out of the wall, mindful of the hot edges*
Starscream: Anyway, it's not that disgusting... *goes to help his partner, though, just as mindful of the white-hot edges that he can see both in normal vision and in infrared: it's a bit of a headache to maintain them both, but he doesn't care*
Skyfire: Uh huh. *helps to ease the massive slab of metal against an ajoining wall, before turning to the internals of the wall.* Lets get these cleared out so we can get out, shall we? *holds up the touch for light and begins disconnecting various wires and cables from the wall. They could rewire them later.*
Starscream: I hope the slagging lights are on in there... *mutters to himself, tugging cables and wires aside*
Skyfire: That would certainly be nice. *nods and clears out the wiring, noting the total lack of sparks coming from the torn wires - the power to everything had been cut off, it seemed. Once all the wires are cleared, he raises the torch back up and starts again, cutting through the last layer of wall* ...I hope I don't cut through anything next to the wall on the other side...
Starscream: Oooh, if anything happens to that room I am going to shell Megatron and use the metal from his chassis to repair it...
Skyfire: ...I'd much rather not be interfacing you into a wall that is partially built with parts of Megatron, Starscream. *smirks under his helmet, nudging Starscream with a shoulder*
Starscream: Eugh, true, never mind... *nudges back, ready to help remove the second layer of wall*
Skyfire: *laughs and finishes the last of the cut, the massive cut-out piece coming free from the rest of the wall, hanging in place for a moment before falling forward and into the cleaning room, landing on the floor with a heavy, hollow clang* ...whoops. *However, with the new opening, the dim but present light of idling wall machinery and control panels could be seen within.*
Starscream: *that is a SCREEEE noise of glee as Starscream practically flees into the Io room*
Skyfire: *Skyfire laughs happily, slumping with relief as he makes his way into the room as well, flicking on the full lights in the process* ...Thank Primus. Better, Starscream? *thrums, resting a hand on Starscream's shoulder*
Starscream: Yeah... I am going to kill him so dead, I swear to Primus I'll do it... *purrs up at Skyfire, relieved*
Skyfire: First I'd rather find out if this door works. Would you care to do the honors, love? *gestures towards the door, while rubbing firm circles over Starscream's shoulder and wing joints, knowing his seeker would still likely be tense after all that*
Starscream: *purrs, and onlines a nullray before opening the door. You know. Just in case of a stray Megatron.*
Skyfire: *And then there was light, and Skyfire cycles a sigh of proper relief, edging out into the hall after Starscream* At least now we can see what that slagger used on the doors...
Starscream: *brings his wings up* I'm going to kill someone. *singsongs, and trots towards the door*
Skyfire: *winces but follows, eyeing the odd....welds(?) on the doors with curiosity, giving the odd substance a rather unscientific poke*
Starscream: *scratches at it curiously, leaning in to sniff* Eugh.
Skyfire: *leans in and does the same, making the exact same face* ...What a lovely smell you have discovered, Starscream.
Starscream: I didn't discover it...
Skyfire: Still, I wonder what this is, or where is came from... *pokes and scrapes at the substance, finding it as unyeilding as a weld* More importantly, I wonder where Megatron got his claws on it...
Starscream: Maybe somebody made it for him...
Skyfire: ...I'm going to have to cut this all off of here, just I know I will. Might even have to replace the doors, depending on if the substance bonded with the alloy on a molecular level or not. *growls, turbines spinning grumpily*
Starscream: You absolutely sure about having his head on a pike? *wistfully*
Skyfire: Unfortunately yes. *sighs, still somewhat growly* Perhaps we should see to the lights, first?
Starscream: Yes. *emphatically*
Skyfire: ...I don't suppose you know how to trace circuit problems, do you? *frowns*
Starscream: No! *cheerfully*
Starscream: What's the worst that could happen?
Skyfire: ...You know everything that could possibly go wrong, will go wrong now, don't you? *stares*
Starscream: And then I'll shoot it.
Skyfire: Lovely. *frowns, thinking for a moment, before noticing the nearest Ark command console in the wall* Hmm... I'm no maintenance engineer, but the ship should be able to trace the power loss, I would think...?
Starscream: It's a start.
Skyfire: *and then Skyfire and Starscream used the Ark control panel to trace the broken line, fix the rerouted power supply at the source, and fix the connection. And then there was LIGHT within their rooms once more. And then they likely banged to celebrate (and to distract Starscream from his killing intent,) because that is what they ALWAYS DO. Now they just have to clean up the massive mess, install a new door, FREE the old doors, and reap horrible, wonderful vengeance upon Megatron. THE END! :D*
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