(Untitled)

[danielwitwicky]

Daniel cheerfully knocks on Wheelie's door. After that Cureall... no, he's not going to think about it now. Today's about Wheelie. He frowns, waiting, and finally shouts, "Yo, it's me. Sorry I was quiet for a while, the glue-on-Kup's-chair thing got me grounded," he chuckles. "But dad lifted my sentence today. Wanted to know if we could, like, head

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[quintsurvivor]

Wheelie immediatly opens the door, grinning. "I think that'd be swell. Any others going as well?"

[danielwitwicky]

"Nope," Daniel replies, "just you and me." He offers his arm, grinning. "Shall we?"

[quintsurvivor]

"Let's!" Wheelie transforms and pops open his windshield so Daniel can ride.

[quintsurvivor]

Daniel hops in, cheering as they speed through Metroplex and out the exit without notice to his father, the guards or... anyone. Which, as far as Daniel is converned, is perfectly fine.

**

Central City, where Spike had grown up and Daniel spent much of his childhood, is the same bustling metropolis it had been during Spike's youth, though much of the technology has been upgraded to fit the futuristic era of 2006. "Let's go to that one place -- Robot Arcade," Daniel suggests, grinning. "They've got some of the classics. And I think they've actually special ordered some stuff to fit minibots." After all, that was where Bumblebee had hung out with Spike.

[quintsurvivor]

"That's a cool thing for them to do; I suppose Cybertronians here aren't exactly new." Few people give more than a second glance as the orange minibot zooms through the streets to the arcade.

[danielwitwicky]

"Well, sure. You guys have been here like... forever," Daniel laughs, staring out the window at the passer-bys. He relaxes against the seat, taking comfort in the hug of the seatbelt in the safety of Wheelie's vehicle mode. He looks up at the rearview mirror. "What'd you do for fun on Cybertron? I mean back before getting stuck on Quintessa."

[quintsurvivor]

"I, uh, well...I can't recall much before my fall." Wheelie swerves around a group of children as they turn a sharp corner.

[danielwitwicky]

"Oh," Daniel mutters, staring down at the floor. He's silent after that, feeling almost... stupid. It must be painful for Wheelie. He grips the door handle as Wheelie swerves, but doesn't otherwise acknowledge it.

After a few moments, he looks back up out the window. "This is it," he says cheerfully.

[quintsurvivor]

Wheelie pops his top open again to let Daniel out, feeling a bit guilty himself for putting his problems on Daniel.

[danielwitwicky]

Daniel seems to have forgotten about it, though. He hops out ala Speed Racer, and quickly turns and motions for Wheelie to follow him in.

He loves the dark, energetic atmosphere of the video arcade. It could be a prelude to a club-going Daniel sometime in the future, but only time will tell. The dim lights with neon flashes and clicks and whirrs and computers of every sort, it reminds him of night on Cybertron. He can even smell the machinery in the air. He grins, glancing over at a VR game over in the corner with a crowd of kids around it.

"See that one?" Daniel points, not even checking to see if Wheelie's paying attention, "I heard about it months ago. I've been waiting for it ever since." He grins excitedly.

[quintsurvivor]

Wheelie looks over at it, not quite sure of the significance but happy for Daniel anyway. A few kids stare in wonder or outright envy at the kid with his very own minibot. "So what is that thing, do you shoot, dance, or sing?" Although Daniel on karaoke is an odd idea.

[victordrath]

A dark coated man strolls in cooly after Daniel and Wheelie -- but this is 2006, nobody finds men in arcades strange. Probably just some game geek.

He finds a nook between a classic Pac-man and a Tekken machine, watching the pair from a distance. Daniel doesn't seem to notice.

[danielwitwicky]

"Shoot, what else?" Daniel's grin turns mischevious -- almost malicious. "One of those VR things -- not the crap machines from the nineties, it's got like PS2-quality graphics and things." He goes over, looking at the helmet the kid is using. "It's two-player," he notes, turning to one of the attendants.

"Hey, do you have a minibot extension for that one?"

The attendant looks down, and shakes his head. "No way. We gotta special order those, and we haven't seen Bumblebee and his buddy for years. Things like that are expensive." He looks over at Wheelie. "If y'guys came in more often, maybe."

Daniel's expression falls, and he looks over at Wheelie again. "Oh." He sounds obviously disappointed. "I guess we can play something else."

[quintsurvivor]

Wheelie is inspecting the helmets and their connection to the game machine. "Hold the phone, ignore that drone." He wiggles a few wires out of place, careful not to break anything, and then begins drawing a cable out of his shoulder.

"If this'll fit, then we can play it."

[danielwitwicky]

Daniel's grin returns quickly, but the attendant looks somewhat shocked.

"I, uh, don't think that's with the rules," the attendant stammers.

Daniel looks back over, and shrugs. "They specifically say 'don't plug in minibots to the games?"

"Well, no... I..." he throws his hands up. "Whatever. You two go ahead, but if something blows up, you gotta pay for it."

[quintsurvivor]

Wheelie intertwines his cable with the wires, and suddenly the game begins. He turns to Daniel and grins. "So let's play, we haven't got all day."