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scalyfishman December 16 2009, 11:26:17 UTC
Depth Charge, when he woke up, wasn't just cranky. Oh, no. He was furious.

Maybe he'd had it coming to him- he'd been letting his guard down a lot over the last couple of days, getting complacent, just sucking up the daily grind and rolling with it without blowing a gasket or two over it when he probably should have done. Well, to the Pit with that. Nothing justified what they'd done to him. Nothing. They could tear out his circuits or rip out his gears, but his processor- his personality core, Primus, his mind- that was strictly off-limits. Do not pass Go, do not collect energon ( ... )

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hailmegatron December 17 2009, 00:10:45 UTC
[Did you want something, Mr. Officer~?]

Lugnut trudged into the sun room, mood slightly lifted by the idea of finding and slaughtering Landel with HK-47 and those meatbags he'd mentioned, but still miserably morose, and shaky from the yawning emptiness that was burrowing into his fuel tank.

Blitzwing gone, Megatron gone, Scourge deserted, the Maximal...

... right over there.

He blinked, wondering if he'd crossed a wire or two. But the Maximal hadn't replied the day before, how could he be there?

With a shudder, he decided it was better to ask, and stormed over towards Depth Charge, demanding loudly, "You! Why didn't you respond to the bulletin yesterday?!" How dare he make Lugnut wo-- make Lugnut think he was gone, too!

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scalyfishman December 17 2009, 10:08:31 UTC
And what better way to start the day than with a little Pr- Decepticon invasion? It was difficult to miss the man's towering bulk as he made his way into the room, but Depth Charge didn't move- he knew he wouldn't have to. The second Lugnut spotted him he was already standing over him, proving once and for all that big didn't mean slow.

Still... he couldn't help but feel kind of (make that kind of really) guilty (guilt?! He didn't owe that mudflap anything!) at having put the guy through the wringer like that. The way he was moving before, that wasn't right to see- big, powerful Lugnut, reducing to trailing around like a lost sparkling. And he'd lost Blitzwing, too. And they did have a truce, sort of. And he did kind of like the gu-

Oh, no. Better to stop that train of thought right there.

"Identity crisis," he answered in a flat, almost bored voice, as though it were an adequate excuse for giving Lugnut what looked like a spark-attack.

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hailmegatron December 17 2009, 16:18:27 UTC
Lugnut blinked, thrown for a moment, then regrouped and ordered, angrily, "Don't do that again." How, how dare the Maximal make him think...

He shuddered, bloodshot eyes going even redder, and snarled wordlessly at Depth charge as he collapsed onto a couch. He was definitely not relieved that a... a really completely hated enemy like the Maximal was...

The snarl broke off into a soft, mushy, organic sound that Lugnut didn't even realize he'd made until a moment later. Then he pretended he hadn't made it, looking away from the Maximal with overdone disdain, forcing something indistinct about deception being something Decepticons did, not Autobots, and fisted his hands in his lap to keep them from shaking.

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scalyfishman December 17 2009, 18:31:14 UTC
Depth Charge simply shrugged off the command- yeah, whatever, I'll maybe think about it. It could only have been more indifferent if he'd yawned and studied his nails at the same time.

You couldn't have faulted his acting skills if you'd tried. Yanking the guy's crankcase wasn't what he'd had in mind, of course- far from it- but the last thing he wanted was for Lugnut to know just how deeply they'd managed to screw with him. After all, they might have been friends not enemies, but-

- what in the galaxy...? Depth Charge's brow contracted into a frown as he realised that Lugnut was shaking like a leaf. For a moment, all he could do was stare. He shifted, then, softly, muttered: "... sorry." And then he blinked, because he definitely hadn't meant to say it out loud. "Didn't mean to mess with you." Or that.

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hailmegatron December 17 2009, 19:39:08 UTC
"... I don't need apologies from a Maximal," Lugnut growled, half-sparkedly, then looked back towards DC, willing himself to stop looking weak and quivering (what was he, Starscream?) and looking for something to say.

"... Lord Megatron is gone," he blurted, fists tightening until it hurt, then looked away again.

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scalyfishman December 18 2009, 19:07:46 UTC
Of course he didn't. Depth Charge sighed a little, at a loss- that was typical 'con slag, but what about the shaking? Just what was... oh.

He stared. "He's gone? You serious?" Well, if that didn't take the energon cookie. No wonder Lugnut looked like his entire world had fallen apart- as far as he was concerned, it had. "Primus."

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hailmegatron December 18 2009, 19:33:25 UTC
"As such, he is unlikely to order me to eliminate you," Lugnut continued, ignoring the question-- of course he was serious-- his tone low and uncertain, unsteady. He continued staring at a spot on the floor, unable to face the Maximal.

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scalyfishman December 18 2009, 19:53:55 UTC
"Yeah, that's kind of a giv-" Depth Charge stopped himself right there before he could finish, because, honestly, he didn't trust himself enough. Hold on a nanoklik. Was... was this going where he thought it was? Because if it was, he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

He gave Lugnut a cool, even look, but the Decepticon was busy making eyes at the floor. Instead, he clapped a hand on his shoulder- he needed to see this in the man's face to believe it. "What does that mean, exactly?"

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hailmegatron December 18 2009, 20:44:04 UTC
Lugnut looked up, startled by the contact. "It means exactly that," he answered, slowly, then looked away again. "... I am also the ranking Decepticon officer, now," he added, not that it meant much when Scourge had deserted. "I can do anything that would not directly conflict with the interests of my fellow Decepticons."

Still speaking slowly, working it out in his head as he said it, he didn't-quite-offer, "Escaping here should be my foremost concern. And there is no reason why I could not... collaborate with others, to that end..."

He edged a look back up towards Depth Charge. It hadn't been an offer of peace, exactly, so it couldn't exactly be outright rejected or accepted, but it was still put out there, hanging between them.

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scalyfishman December 20 2009, 17:43:40 UTC
Ranking Decepticon officer... I can do anything... collaborate with others... Depth Charge let the words wash back over him in waves, random collections of sounds and syllables- it was easier than trying to get his head around just what Lugnut was implying, anyway.

On their first night... suggesting that you'd avoid kicking the opposition's skidplate if you could wasn't extraordinary by any means, not for most people, but coming from Lugnut it had been almost revolutionary. The guy was president of Megatron's fanclub, for Primus' sake, so to have some kind of truce in the first place? Now that had been crazy. Even then he hadn't been sure how much of it he'd swallowed ( ... )

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hailmegatron December 20 2009, 18:26:29 UTC
Lugnut let out a shivering breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding-- not... that he was relieved. It was just a breath, that thing this organic body demanded so constantly, and he met the Maximal's gaze almost-steadily.

"... If you have any plans for escaping this place, I will lend my assistance," Lugnut said, quietly earnest.

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scalyfishman December 21 2009, 19:27:49 UTC
There. Optic-to-op- ah, eye-to-eye contact. Depth Charge let the tension leave his shoulders, glad to have something solid he could recognise in the Decepticon at last rather than another stealth assault. They could play this one straight.

"Back atcha, big guy," he answered, nodding once and trying to ignore how strange it felt to discuss strategy with Lugnut, of all people. "So. You had any illuminations, or do we need to put our processors together?"

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hailmegatron December 21 2009, 20:33:03 UTC
Lugnut could do this. He may have been without a wingmate or a fellow Decepticon or Lord Megatron to guide him, but he had an ally (even if said ally was very nearly an Autobot), and he could do this.

In the familiar tone of reporting to someone, Lugnut answered, "HK-47 has told me he's been working with a pair of humans to explore the basement; they believe the human running this place can be reached, down there, and he has invited me to join them."

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scalyfishman December 22 2009, 13:45:27 UTC
Okay, now that was weird. Suddenly Lugnut was talking to him like he was some kind of equal. Which, he realised slowly, was about right, considering they'd just made a pact.

... hnnh. Something still didn't feel right about that. Well, whatever. Just so long as he reminded himself the alliance was with Lugnut while they were here rather than the entire slagging Decepticon army, he'd be okay. "Oh, he can, can he?" Immediately, Depth Charge leaned in, looking intrigued. "Colour me interested. What's the catch?"

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hailmegatron December 22 2009, 14:50:30 UTC
"That is what they have been told, and I am willing to risk any potential trickery or games from the slagger, if I have even a faint chance of crushing the life from his filthy organic body," Lugnut declared, though he kept his voice low enough to not attract the nurses' attentions. "... Trickery and games are very likely, though, from what I know of him," he added, rather more subdued at the thought of it.

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