Stages - prompt from charloft
Ever wake up to find that you're a household name? You've suddenly become absurdly famous and waiting in lines is a thing of the past. However, part and parcel with the perks come the responsibilities. Ribbon-cuttings, commencements, you've likely to get invited to participate. No such thing as good publicity, right? Tonight, deliver a speech for some sort of event. It could be anything. How does the crowd react? Do you draw a crowd? If not, do you wish you did?
Their lives were over with the announcement. They'd managed to rig up a television in time to see the Big Truck Optimus Prime and the other Autobots holding a press conference. Revealing themselves. Revealing all of them. "We are so fucked," he heard Lex mutter next to him. "We're not going to be able to twitch a servo without cameras showing up."
"Maybe you won't, big clunker," Gremlin, sitting in the front, twisted to look at the office printer, lashing his plug-in tail. "I will." The argument descended into chaos after that, and Dispensor slipped away, into the street. It might be nice to finally be able to walk down the street during the day. Not having to hide himself all the time. Even if it turned into an endless parade of rescuing kittens from trees and fixing the things that the Decepticons broke. That could be okay, right?
And it was, for a while. People started calling them the 'Heroes of Mission City', and their leaders invited them to all sorts of events. Acer and Jac went to a good half-dozen tech store openings. Applecarver had television appearances as the world's smallest DJ, and Dispensor finally got to show off his dance moves to someone besides Seth and the other Cybertronians he knew. X-Caliber even participated in a charity auction for a children's organization - someone gave $20,000 to use him as their vehicle for a day.
Half of their problems were the Decepticons, who finally knew where they were. The attacks were only occasional, but they were brutal, and the Infiltrators were the ones who had to clean up after them. The other half of their problems were the Autobots. They came through, trying to recruit them, and inevitably one or more of the Decepticons reared their heads. It just gave them more work afterward, since almost all of the Autobots were bigger than the Infiltrators and caused more damage, and never stayed to help with the repairs. Both problems could be traced back to the press. They couldn't get a single moment to themselves; even their warehouse had been compromised as a safe hiding place.
The Infiltrators started to polarize. Slowly, at first, with little comments. Jax or Gremlin would pipe up about how the Decepticons wouldn't have held a press conference and made all of them known. X-Caliber would sometimes mutter back that the Decepticons would have just killed all of the humans instead. Then Applecarver was put offline in one of the battles between the Autobots and Decepticons. Accusations were thrown between the group of just which side was responsible. Dispensor gingerly held his friend's tiny body in one servo, shaking his head. The others started yelling. "SILENCE!" he shouted, voice booming and echoing in the gutted warehouse. Even Lex quieted down. "One of our comrads is offline and all you can think of is who to blame! All of them are to blame for this, just like all of them are to blame for the loss of the Cube!"
Someone said the Allspark would still be around if it wasn't for the Autobot's human, Sam, and the arguing started again. He put one of his other servos over their fallen friend to shield his body, then walked over and slammed his two free servos into the chasses of Lex and X-Caliber both. They were both much larger than he, but they both buckled and staggered back at the punches. "If you have all taken sides, then get out of here. Go to your Murderers and your Killers. You dishonor Applecarver's memory." Over the next few days, they did start leaving. Gremlin was the first to go, changing his name back to Ejector and hitching a ride in the Decepticon Barricade. Jac and Lex followed him soon after another fight with X-Caliber and Acer. Weapons had been drawn and they simply left. X-Caliber stayed a while longer, trying to convince Dispensor to come with him and join the Autobots. "They are no better than the Decepticons," he'd groused, getting up and walking away.
To the Nexus, to Seth because he needed someone to talk to and to have some privacy. And to Lockdown because the monster was the closest thing he had to a friend like him left. "You need a hacker, and I need a job. If Face Changer Blitzwing hits me again, I leave. And we stay out of the spotlight, with no exceptions. Are these terms acceptable?"
"You got some nerve, 'Pen, ordering me around." The bigger Cybertronian clapped him on his shoulderplate. "Welcome to the business."
Their lives were over with the announcement. They'd managed to rig up a television in time to see the Big Truck Optimus Prime and the other Autobots holding a press conference. Revealing themselves. Revealing all of them. "We are so fucked," he heard Lex mutter next to him. "We're not going to be able to twitch a servo without cameras showing up."
"Maybe you won't, big clunker," Gremlin, sitting in the front, twisted to look at the office printer, lashing his plug-in tail. "I will." The argument descended into chaos after that, and Dispensor slipped away, into the street. It might be nice to finally be able to walk down the street during the day. Not having to hide himself all the time. Even if it turned into an endless parade of rescuing kittens from trees and fixing the things that the Decepticons broke. That could be okay, right?
And it was, for a while. People started calling them the 'Heroes of Mission City', and their leaders invited them to all sorts of events. Acer and Jac went to a good half-dozen tech store openings. Applecarver had television appearances as the world's smallest DJ, and Dispensor finally got to show off his dance moves to someone besides Seth and the other Cybertronians he knew. X-Caliber even participated in a charity auction for a children's organization - someone gave $20,000 to use him as their vehicle for a day.
Half of their problems were the Decepticons, who finally knew where they were. The attacks were only occasional, but they were brutal, and the Infiltrators were the ones who had to clean up after them. The other half of their problems were the Autobots. They came through, trying to recruit them, and inevitably one or more of the Decepticons reared their heads. It just gave them more work afterward, since almost all of the Autobots were bigger than the Infiltrators and caused more damage, and never stayed to help with the repairs. Both problems could be traced back to the press. They couldn't get a single moment to themselves; even their warehouse had been compromised as a safe hiding place.
The Infiltrators started to polarize. Slowly, at first, with little comments. Jax or Gremlin would pipe up about how the Decepticons wouldn't have held a press conference and made all of them known. X-Caliber would sometimes mutter back that the Decepticons would have just killed all of the humans instead. Then Applecarver was put offline in one of the battles between the Autobots and Decepticons. Accusations were thrown between the group of just which side was responsible. Dispensor gingerly held his friend's tiny body in one servo, shaking his head. The others started yelling. "SILENCE!" he shouted, voice booming and echoing in the gutted warehouse. Even Lex quieted down. "One of our comrads is offline and all you can think of is who to blame! All of them are to blame for this, just like all of them are to blame for the loss of the Cube!"
Someone said the Allspark would still be around if it wasn't for the Autobot's human, Sam, and the arguing started again. He put one of his other servos over their fallen friend to shield his body, then walked over and slammed his two free servos into the chasses of Lex and X-Caliber both. They were both much larger than he, but they both buckled and staggered back at the punches. "If you have all taken sides, then get out of here. Go to your Murderers and your Killers. You dishonor Applecarver's memory." Over the next few days, they did start leaving. Gremlin was the first to go, changing his name back to Ejector and hitching a ride in the Decepticon Barricade. Jac and Lex followed him soon after another fight with X-Caliber and Acer. Weapons had been drawn and they simply left. X-Caliber stayed a while longer, trying to convince Dispensor to come with him and join the Autobots. "They are no better than the Decepticons," he'd groused, getting up and walking away.
To the Nexus, to Seth because he needed someone to talk to and to have some privacy. And to Lockdown because the monster was the closest thing he had to a friend like him left. "You need a hacker, and I need a job. If Face Changer Blitzwing hits me again, I leave. And we stay out of the spotlight, with no exceptions. Are these terms acceptable?"
"You got some nerve, 'Pen, ordering me around." The bigger Cybertronian clapped him on his shoulderplate. "Welcome to the business."