(Untitled)

[l33tmedic]

Somewhere over the Nexus, a portal opens...and out falls a very large, white bear. And unfortunately, as bears lack wings and/or anti-grav devices, this particular one suddenly finds itself under the cruel influence of gravity, harsh mistress that she is

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[dumbassludge]

"Ratchet?" Sludge tilts his head for a moment.

Then he grins wide and rushes over brings Ratchet into rough hug.

"Ratchet!"

[l33tmedic]

"HRRK!" As big as Ratchet is, he's dwarfed by the Dinobot and finds himself locked into a bear hug that shames the name of his own alt mode. "Gah, easy on the greeting, Sludge. I just fell out of a hole in the sky and--"

He looks up at Sludge. Something's not quite right, here. The last he saw of Slag, Sludge, Swoop and Snarl, they were still in stasis and waiting to be debugged and reprogrammed after being Shockwave's slaves for the longest time. Maybe the implosion just sort of...fixed things?

"--and, uh... Yeah. I fell and it hurt. I know you're glad to see me, but please don't hurt me more," he finishes lamely, forcing a lopsided smile. "Where are the other Dinobots?"

[dumbassludge]

Sludge smile apologeticaly. "Me, Sludge sorry. Me just miss you." Of course he does this with a content rumble of happiness from the Dinobot. "Him, Grimlock with Slag on Dinobot Island. Swoop and Snarl on Cybertron."

And then as if it just hit him.

"Why you, Ratchet, a bear?"

[l33tmedic]

Ratchet stiffens, the fur on his shoulders bristling visibly. These are NOT his Dinobots...are they? Damn that busy body with the sword... As if I didn't have enough experience with parallel worlds, I think he's gone and dropped me into one of them.

He tries to come up with an answer to the question, one that won't cause a bad reaction, yet might reveal a bit more information about what's going on. Oh, who am I kidding? There probably is no right answer for this guy and no matter what I say, this is likely going to end poorly. "Good question, really. There was a little incident with Skids and some machine he built. I don't think you were there, then. Prowl and I asked you and the other Dinobots to go to Australia on a mission."

[tf_atalanta]

Just when she thought she's seen everything, a beast-former version of Ratchet literally falls out of the sky.

"...A Ratchet that turns into a bear," she mutters. "Didn't see that one coming."

[l33tmedic]

"Yet, somehow, it's preferable to some of the things the others got turned into. Er, wherever the others happen to be right now, anyway," he says, rubbing the back of his helm with one clawed hand. The fact that she knows and associates the name "Ratchet" with him solidifies his belief that he is indeed in some other worldly place where parallel universes are open to one another. "Who are you?"

[tf_atalanta]

"I'm kinda morbidly curious about what the others are..." He's right about that. "I'm Atalanta," she responds. "Welcome to the insanity that is the Nexus."

[l33tmedic]

"Interesting name. 'Atalanta'. Hm." He seems to decide that fits her well enough before continuing. "Well, for starters, Jazz could only speak cat for a few days. He sounded like a run-on Meow Mix commercial. Uh, let's see... Smokescreen turned into a femme. First Aid turned human. Tracks sort of turned out like me, except he was a blue fox and his sister was a white fox. Mainframe was a rabbit. As in a real rabbit. With glasses. A lot of other stuff happened, but I don't have the flow chart in front of me. I think it was Red Alert who decided to keep a record of what was going on and who was turning into what as reality went to the Pit and back. I guess he figured if someone didn't, we were bound to lose someone at some point."

[variable_focus]

The tiny camera-bird slows to a hover as he gets a look at the newcomer. "No, but I can try and look for her if you like."

[l33tmedic]

"Oh... Really?" Ratchet seems a bit taken off guard by the sudden and kind offer, but hurries to pull a miniature holoprojector from subspace, anyway. When he turns it on, an image of a little red robot with six tires making up part of his kibble appears. The medic gazes at that sadly for a moment, but then clicks ahead a few images to one of silverly femme with bat wings folded against her back. Her optics are a golden yellow. Despite her feminine figure, however, her weapon of choice is a large rocket launcher. "She looks like this and her name is Delphia. We got separated... I'm just hoping she's here, somewhere."

[variable_focus]

Laserbeak focuses on the image, committing it to memory. "There's a good chance! I mean, lots of people turn up here and people who know each other tend to come in pretty close together, at least time-wise."

He looks back up at Ratchet. "If I catch sight or sound of her, you'll be the first to know." He's more confident than he usually is. This is a job he's used to.

[l33tmedic]

"Thank you so much! Really, I can't thank you enough. I just hope everyone I knew is alright, starting with her. And since I really don't have anywhere else to go, I guess I'll just...be here in the meantime." He tries to force a smile in an attempt not to look TOO worried.

[shockslave]

A short distance away, another Transformer has found himself in this place. His lone optic flashes as he sees the sign... but then he sees something else that makes him even less happy than the general confusion.

"By the sacred name of Allyson Hannigan," Shockwave says, slowly getting to his feet. "Of all the Cybertronians to find myself unstuck in time with..."

He glares at Ratchet a moment, then his shoulders slump in dejection. "Suddenly, all the jagged pieces of my life come into place, don't they? ...my life is over. I'm in the Pit. Where is it?" He shakes one fist in the air. "Where is the Andy Gibb music, Primus? That's all that's missing, isn't it?" He drops to his knees. "I never should have played god! I never... should... have... played... god..."

He stops a moment, then looks at Ratchet again. "At any rate, how are you doing? Started to booze it up yet, drunkie?"

[l33tmedic]

Ratchet stiffens at the sound of the familiar voice, a shiver running up his neural spine, one optic ridge twitching. "Awww sh--

--ockwave!" he finishes as he turns around, forcing the fakiest fake smile ever. Talking through gritted dental plates he walks over to the Decepticon Regent. There is not a single doubt in his processor that this is the Shockwave he knows. Not one. Who else would swear by Allyson Hannigan? "Oh ho ho, how good it is to see your...um...face. You're still calling that a face, aren't you? Can you really CALL it a face if you've only got one facial feature? And NO, I haven't started boozing it up. I wasn't lucky enough to fall through Maccadams before being dumped here!"

[shockslave]

"Yes, of course it would be you. I detected your foul stench from the moment I arrived, Obi Wan Kaboozie." He glances down at the car hood of his alt mode, carefully inspecting it for scratches and dings. He then turns his attention back to the Autobot. "I take it you've learned at least something in the time you've been here? Such as where we are?"

[l33tmedic]

"Oh, very clever. I see you spent your last moments in our reality surfing Youtube for new insults. Where were YOU when Starscream showed up on our front lawn with a Rocklord?" Ratchet watches Shockwave inspect his chassis for scratches before intentionally flicking some loose white fur all over the pristine sheen of what looks like newly waxed car hood. "And yes, I have, as a matter of fact. Remember when reality came apart the first time? Well, now we're apparently jammed in some crossing between all realities."

One optic narrows. "...and don't you think for one astrosecond that I've forgotten what you did to the Dinobots."

[l33tmedic]

"Somehow I get the feeling 'often' is going to translate into every six hours or so, but that might be worth a try."