Ratchet vs. Klank - Dirge for the Fallen [Closed]
((From here...))
Dead City, yet again. What was it about this place that kept drawing them back?
Well, this time...the corpse of the fallen one.
Klank surfs the alleys of the city as fast as he dares, not wanting to leave Steiner too far behind as the big mech runs along behind him as quickly as his damaged legs will allow. Both of them are dangerously low on energy, their leaks and other wounds affecting their ability to function. Stone faced as he navigates towards the dead zone area of the city, Klank says not a word as they hurry onward. They had heard Moledive behind them as they fled Nellis, but one Autobot is no match for them both, even in their sorry state.
As they enter the deserted town square, the smell of spilled fluids heavy in the air, Klank leaps from his hover board, allowing it to glide to a stop on its own. Not missing a beat, he jogs past the beat up bodies of several Dracons, ignoring them all for the one corpse that differs from them all in color and customization. As he looks upon the fallen form of his fellow Monstercon, Steiner catching up a few beats later, a look of horror overtakes Klank's faceplate. Feelings foreign to him since his early vorns on Cybertron well up in his spark, washing over him in unmistakable, painful waves.
Guilt. Loss. Sorrow. Loneliness.
"Drakkan... Oh, dear Primus!" Kneeling alongside the torn up Decepticon, Klank cradles the dragon head of his departed companion in his good arm, voice cracking. "Drakkan, lad... Look what they have done to you. How could this have come to pass...? I have failed you."
"Doctor..." Standing over them both, Steiner looks upon them with agony welling up in his own spark. As optic fluids starts to drip down the sides of his face, he kneels and rests one hand on Klank's back. "Can't...can't fix? Drakkan..."
"No, dear boy. This...is something no one can fix," Klank admits with a suppressed sob. "He's gone, Steiner. Drakkan is gone. The wretched beasts have taken him..."
The big mech's arms encircle Klank where he kneels, pulling both living and deceased close in a trembling embrace.
---
"You cannot do this alone!"
"Stay out of this, Tracks! You don't know what these Decepticons have put Ratchet through!"
"It doesn't matter whether or not I know! They have hurt my fellow Autobots and they have hurt me, therefore making this my business!"
"They deserve death and nothing less! They cannot be contained!" Moledive shouts back over the wind as the two jet down from above and rocket over the crumbling buildings. "I intend to finish this here and now this time, the judgment of anyone else be damned!"
"We'll find them in a horrid state! You are aware of this?" Tracks calls back as he pulls even with the fused Pretender. "Now that one of them is dead, they'll fight like cornered animals!"
Moledive smirks. "Just the way I like it..."
Seconds later, the square comes into view...and within it, their quarry and their fallen comrade. Slowing up, the pair ready their weapons of choice as they enter the open area and land less than fifty feet from Klank and Steiner.
"I hope you pair of creeps are ready to join him." Moledive ignites his other beam blade, holding it forward. "We've given you enough chances."
"Stand up and turn slowly with your hands over your heads," Tracks instructs, both sets of double-barreled gauntlet blasters trained on their foes.
Steiner is the first to turn, but his face is a mask of pure rage. Electricity crackles menacingly over his shoulders, but his vicious demeanor is suddenly quelled by a hand on his forearm.
"Stand down, Steiner." Klank regards both Autobots with a look of unsettling calm. "They did not kill Drakkan and I will not have them kill you."
"It's too late for that approach, Klank. Hands in the air. We'll execute you both here and be done with it!" Moledive growls, taking a few more steps forward.
The Monstercon leader cants his head slightly to one side, suddenly frowning. "Oh, it may well end here... But I think it'll be the end of us all."
"What're you--"
The Pretender is cut short as Tracks nudges him with one forearm. Moledive follows the Corvette's gaze...
The square is once again surrounded. Dozens upon dozens of starved Dracons are creeping up to the perimeter through the alleys, their blood red optics aglow in the shadows as they size up their next potential victims. Klank watches them with narrowed optics behind his band, frown deepening.
"They don't distinguish between Autobot or Decepticon. They only know winners and losers in the fight for life, and they will devour their own should they fall," Klank says quietly. "They hate us as much as they hate you; we have slaughtered dozens of them in order to guard our own turf here. What you call Dracons are Decepticon abominations, failed weapon projects from the war on Cybertron long before the Ark launch. They are here, part of Dead City, as are bits and pieces of our lost reality. Drakkan was one of their ranks until true sentience found its way into his processors... He could think. Make decisions. They are merely ruled by what you may refer to as animal instinct. He hated them as one fierce hunter hates another who acts as competition."
"Looks like you'll be going the same way your friend did, then." Moledive manages a smirk. "Tracks and I will just get on out of here and let them do the dirty work. Serves you both right."
"Moledive, I witnessed Drakkan's death! That is no way for anyone to meet their end!" Tracks argues, earning a look of disgust from the Pretender.
"You couldn't save Drakkan. What makes you think we can save them? Steiner can't fly. And if Klank has anything resembling honor left in that black spark of his, he'll stay and die alongside his fellow Monstercon," Moledive retorts bitterly.
The thrum of multiple engines is quickly increasing, the number of Dracons steadily growing as they converge. Far more than before, they are quickly filling the alleys and overcrowding the building tops as they climb and fly to the crumbling zeniths. Growing bold thanks to their last major kill and overwhelming numbers, some of them are starting to venture slowly into the square, jaws snapping and tails lashing.
"They can fly, as well. You are likely lucky they were too interested in my fallen companion to give chase the last time." Klank glances at the advancing ranks. The corner of his mouth suddenly twitches. "No... I daresay this will be it. At least for me."
"What are you on about?" Moledive risks a look at the nearest Dracons. "You're in no position to decide anything!"
"I have already lost Drakkan. I will not lose Steiner... You two alone cannot fly him out, but with help from my hover board, you have a chance. I will stay and distract the Dracons until you are out of range."
Tracks blinks in shock. "Are you insane? Get on your hover board! We'll get you both out!"
"They will all follow if there is no bait to hold them here and I assure you, I will distract them." Klank levels his gaze at the pair. "...and you may tell Ratchet congratulations. I have finally found someone I hate even more than I hate him. Vengeance will be mine in the end!"
"Doctor no can stay!" Steiner argues, adding his voice to the Corvette's plea. "Doctor come with Stener! No can die... No can leave... What...what Steiner do without you!?"
Gazing up at his long time companion, Klank offers the panicked, pained mech a placid smile, resolute in his idea. "You were the only one out of us who never killed. Perhaps the Autobots will make your sentence a short one. Please go with them. I told you I would protect you when I took you in and now I can't protect you anymore. Go, lad... You're smarter than you think. You'll be fine."
"Klank, no!" Steiner's pleas go unheard as Tracks hurries forward and grabs one of Steiner's hands in both of his, pulling the Decepticon away from his leader and towards the waiting hover board. "No leave! No die! PLEASE!"
"I don't know why the Pit I'm even cooperating with this mad idea!" Moledive is at Tracks' side a second later, helping to force Steiner onto the board.
Tracks gapes as he glances past Steiner. "Because at the moment, we have no choice?"
The sound of Dracon hissing is almost deafening, the horizon on all sides blocked out by one huge mass of writing, winged bodies with glowing crimson eyes. The nearest ones are less than two hundred feet away and gaining speed as they close the gap, their fellows in the alleys quickly following. The hover board whines as it's forced into the air, Tracks and Moledive guiding it on either side as it rises, their directional thrusters aiding it.
"Klank, you're sure!?" Tracks calls back. "We can accommodate you!"
"Go, you fools! This is my score to settle and I will NOT be denied!" Raising the photon pistol he took from Ratchet, Klank fires on the nearest Dracon ranks, distracting them from the hover board and its cargo. As Dracons begin to risk gliding towards it, he opens fire on them as well, sending them reeling away with shrieks of surprise and pain. "And if you dare laud me as a hero upon your return, I swear upon the Pit itself I will haunt you all until the day all are truly one!"
"KLANK!" Steiner holds one large hand out in the direction of his only remaining friend, but any further words are lost over the roar of the Autobots' thrusters as they fire to full.
"Hold tight, you blubbering idiot!" Moledive helps swing the board about, Tracks opposite him.
As another Dracon leaps towards them, they speed off, barely clearing one of the near buildings and the beasts perched on it. A few of them fly off after the hover board and its occupants, but most of them are focused on the Decepticon below, who fires on them until the pistol goes dead in his one good hand.
"My apologies, Steiner. Lord Shockwave. But I will not lose this fight..." Tearing his optics from the retreating group, Klank tosses the pistol aside and reaches up, first tearing the Decepticon insignia from his own chest, then the guard from his optics. Beneath the band, they glow as blue as any Autobot's, a thin trail of optic fluid finally racing down one side of his faceplate. Surrounded on all sides by the enemy, their jaws snapping at one another as they jostle one another, still holding back after being fired upon, Klank pulls open his chest plate and laughs. "Come closer, you vile creatures! You think you can defeat me? I think not!"
Alongside his exposed spark case, a block of circuitry clicks and comes to life, long dormant after millions of years of remaining purposely inoperative. The wires wrap and connect his case, laser core and tanks, all hooked to a trigger system buried behind the bulk of Klank's vitals.
"Come on! What are you waiting for!?" Klank raises his one good arm, mocking laughter ringing across the square. "Attack me, you piles of scrap! DO IT!"
A lone Dracon finally breaks the line and charges toward him, jaws agape in an armor rattling roar.
The manic grin vanishes from Klank's faceplate, replaced with a hateful snarl.
"...this one's for Drakkan."
The warning beep sounds; the component goes live. The end of the Dracon's tail runs Klank through...
---
"We've got company!" Tracks glances over one shoulder to see several Dracons following on wing. "There's still another mile to the inference perimeter! We won't make it!"
Suddenly, light and sound blossom from the square behind them in a deafening array of yellow and orange, the blast radiating outward with a rolling tide of smoke and flying debris. Forcing the hover board down, Tracks and Moledive crash it behind a thick concrete and dirt barrier created by a wasted building foundation and basement. As the explosion rolls over them, the three grimace and huddle, feeling their paint burning and their coolant systems whining in protest. The screams of dying Dracons echo in their audios, just barely audible over the sound of the distant blast. Ash and debris rain down in the wake of the massive, fiery waves, dusting them in a thick coating of gray and brown. For several long moments, none of them dare to move, but as the breeze begins to clear the smoky haze, Moledive disengages himself from Tracks and Steiner, daring to fire his thrusters and rise up over the devastated city. Hovering several stories over the others, he turns his gaze in the direction of the square; several blocks in all directions have been completely obliterated. Once a circular metal and concrete monument, it is now merely a gaping crater.
"Moledive!" The fused Pretender glances down to see Tracks staring up after him, the Autobot's optics glowing defiantly against the haze. "What...what do you see?"
Moledive is silent a long moment before answering, tone strangely solemn. "Nothing... Klank had his vengeance. We won't have any more pursuit."
As Tracks helps a sobbing Steiner to get back onto the barely functional hover board, Moledive lands on the street across the way. Optics caught by the shine of an object laying against the asphalt, he reaches down to retrieve it, holding it carefully between thumb and forefinger.
Klank's optic guard, cracked down one side.
He glances once more towards the smoking crater, then turns to rejoin the others. It's over.
Dead City, yet again. What was it about this place that kept drawing them back?
Well, this time...the corpse of the fallen one.
Klank surfs the alleys of the city as fast as he dares, not wanting to leave Steiner too far behind as the big mech runs along behind him as quickly as his damaged legs will allow. Both of them are dangerously low on energy, their leaks and other wounds affecting their ability to function. Stone faced as he navigates towards the dead zone area of the city, Klank says not a word as they hurry onward. They had heard Moledive behind them as they fled Nellis, but one Autobot is no match for them both, even in their sorry state.
As they enter the deserted town square, the smell of spilled fluids heavy in the air, Klank leaps from his hover board, allowing it to glide to a stop on its own. Not missing a beat, he jogs past the beat up bodies of several Dracons, ignoring them all for the one corpse that differs from them all in color and customization. As he looks upon the fallen form of his fellow Monstercon, Steiner catching up a few beats later, a look of horror overtakes Klank's faceplate. Feelings foreign to him since his early vorns on Cybertron well up in his spark, washing over him in unmistakable, painful waves.
Guilt. Loss. Sorrow. Loneliness.
"Drakkan... Oh, dear Primus!" Kneeling alongside the torn up Decepticon, Klank cradles the dragon head of his departed companion in his good arm, voice cracking. "Drakkan, lad... Look what they have done to you. How could this have come to pass...? I have failed you."
"Doctor..." Standing over them both, Steiner looks upon them with agony welling up in his own spark. As optic fluids starts to drip down the sides of his face, he kneels and rests one hand on Klank's back. "Can't...can't fix? Drakkan..."
"No, dear boy. This...is something no one can fix," Klank admits with a suppressed sob. "He's gone, Steiner. Drakkan is gone. The wretched beasts have taken him..."
The big mech's arms encircle Klank where he kneels, pulling both living and deceased close in a trembling embrace.
---
"You cannot do this alone!"
"Stay out of this, Tracks! You don't know what these Decepticons have put Ratchet through!"
"It doesn't matter whether or not I know! They have hurt my fellow Autobots and they have hurt me, therefore making this my business!"
"They deserve death and nothing less! They cannot be contained!" Moledive shouts back over the wind as the two jet down from above and rocket over the crumbling buildings. "I intend to finish this here and now this time, the judgment of anyone else be damned!"
"We'll find them in a horrid state! You are aware of this?" Tracks calls back as he pulls even with the fused Pretender. "Now that one of them is dead, they'll fight like cornered animals!"
Moledive smirks. "Just the way I like it..."
Seconds later, the square comes into view...and within it, their quarry and their fallen comrade. Slowing up, the pair ready their weapons of choice as they enter the open area and land less than fifty feet from Klank and Steiner.
"I hope you pair of creeps are ready to join him." Moledive ignites his other beam blade, holding it forward. "We've given you enough chances."
"Stand up and turn slowly with your hands over your heads," Tracks instructs, both sets of double-barreled gauntlet blasters trained on their foes.
Steiner is the first to turn, but his face is a mask of pure rage. Electricity crackles menacingly over his shoulders, but his vicious demeanor is suddenly quelled by a hand on his forearm.
"Stand down, Steiner." Klank regards both Autobots with a look of unsettling calm. "They did not kill Drakkan and I will not have them kill you."
"It's too late for that approach, Klank. Hands in the air. We'll execute you both here and be done with it!" Moledive growls, taking a few more steps forward.
The Monstercon leader cants his head slightly to one side, suddenly frowning. "Oh, it may well end here... But I think it'll be the end of us all."
"What're you--"
The Pretender is cut short as Tracks nudges him with one forearm. Moledive follows the Corvette's gaze...
The square is once again surrounded. Dozens upon dozens of starved Dracons are creeping up to the perimeter through the alleys, their blood red optics aglow in the shadows as they size up their next potential victims. Klank watches them with narrowed optics behind his band, frown deepening.
"They don't distinguish between Autobot or Decepticon. They only know winners and losers in the fight for life, and they will devour their own should they fall," Klank says quietly. "They hate us as much as they hate you; we have slaughtered dozens of them in order to guard our own turf here. What you call Dracons are Decepticon abominations, failed weapon projects from the war on Cybertron long before the Ark launch. They are here, part of Dead City, as are bits and pieces of our lost reality. Drakkan was one of their ranks until true sentience found its way into his processors... He could think. Make decisions. They are merely ruled by what you may refer to as animal instinct. He hated them as one fierce hunter hates another who acts as competition."
"Looks like you'll be going the same way your friend did, then." Moledive manages a smirk. "Tracks and I will just get on out of here and let them do the dirty work. Serves you both right."
"Moledive, I witnessed Drakkan's death! That is no way for anyone to meet their end!" Tracks argues, earning a look of disgust from the Pretender.
"You couldn't save Drakkan. What makes you think we can save them? Steiner can't fly. And if Klank has anything resembling honor left in that black spark of his, he'll stay and die alongside his fellow Monstercon," Moledive retorts bitterly.
The thrum of multiple engines is quickly increasing, the number of Dracons steadily growing as they converge. Far more than before, they are quickly filling the alleys and overcrowding the building tops as they climb and fly to the crumbling zeniths. Growing bold thanks to their last major kill and overwhelming numbers, some of them are starting to venture slowly into the square, jaws snapping and tails lashing.
"They can fly, as well. You are likely lucky they were too interested in my fallen companion to give chase the last time." Klank glances at the advancing ranks. The corner of his mouth suddenly twitches. "No... I daresay this will be it. At least for me."
"What are you on about?" Moledive risks a look at the nearest Dracons. "You're in no position to decide anything!"
"I have already lost Drakkan. I will not lose Steiner... You two alone cannot fly him out, but with help from my hover board, you have a chance. I will stay and distract the Dracons until you are out of range."
Tracks blinks in shock. "Are you insane? Get on your hover board! We'll get you both out!"
"They will all follow if there is no bait to hold them here and I assure you, I will distract them." Klank levels his gaze at the pair. "...and you may tell Ratchet congratulations. I have finally found someone I hate even more than I hate him. Vengeance will be mine in the end!"
"Doctor no can stay!" Steiner argues, adding his voice to the Corvette's plea. "Doctor come with Stener! No can die... No can leave... What...what Steiner do without you!?"
Gazing up at his long time companion, Klank offers the panicked, pained mech a placid smile, resolute in his idea. "You were the only one out of us who never killed. Perhaps the Autobots will make your sentence a short one. Please go with them. I told you I would protect you when I took you in and now I can't protect you anymore. Go, lad... You're smarter than you think. You'll be fine."
"Klank, no!" Steiner's pleas go unheard as Tracks hurries forward and grabs one of Steiner's hands in both of his, pulling the Decepticon away from his leader and towards the waiting hover board. "No leave! No die! PLEASE!"
"I don't know why the Pit I'm even cooperating with this mad idea!" Moledive is at Tracks' side a second later, helping to force Steiner onto the board.
Tracks gapes as he glances past Steiner. "Because at the moment, we have no choice?"
The sound of Dracon hissing is almost deafening, the horizon on all sides blocked out by one huge mass of writing, winged bodies with glowing crimson eyes. The nearest ones are less than two hundred feet away and gaining speed as they close the gap, their fellows in the alleys quickly following. The hover board whines as it's forced into the air, Tracks and Moledive guiding it on either side as it rises, their directional thrusters aiding it.
"Klank, you're sure!?" Tracks calls back. "We can accommodate you!"
"Go, you fools! This is my score to settle and I will NOT be denied!" Raising the photon pistol he took from Ratchet, Klank fires on the nearest Dracon ranks, distracting them from the hover board and its cargo. As Dracons begin to risk gliding towards it, he opens fire on them as well, sending them reeling away with shrieks of surprise and pain. "And if you dare laud me as a hero upon your return, I swear upon the Pit itself I will haunt you all until the day all are truly one!"
"KLANK!" Steiner holds one large hand out in the direction of his only remaining friend, but any further words are lost over the roar of the Autobots' thrusters as they fire to full.
"Hold tight, you blubbering idiot!" Moledive helps swing the board about, Tracks opposite him.
As another Dracon leaps towards them, they speed off, barely clearing one of the near buildings and the beasts perched on it. A few of them fly off after the hover board and its occupants, but most of them are focused on the Decepticon below, who fires on them until the pistol goes dead in his one good hand.
"My apologies, Steiner. Lord Shockwave. But I will not lose this fight..." Tearing his optics from the retreating group, Klank tosses the pistol aside and reaches up, first tearing the Decepticon insignia from his own chest, then the guard from his optics. Beneath the band, they glow as blue as any Autobot's, a thin trail of optic fluid finally racing down one side of his faceplate. Surrounded on all sides by the enemy, their jaws snapping at one another as they jostle one another, still holding back after being fired upon, Klank pulls open his chest plate and laughs. "Come closer, you vile creatures! You think you can defeat me? I think not!"
Alongside his exposed spark case, a block of circuitry clicks and comes to life, long dormant after millions of years of remaining purposely inoperative. The wires wrap and connect his case, laser core and tanks, all hooked to a trigger system buried behind the bulk of Klank's vitals.
"Come on! What are you waiting for!?" Klank raises his one good arm, mocking laughter ringing across the square. "Attack me, you piles of scrap! DO IT!"
A lone Dracon finally breaks the line and charges toward him, jaws agape in an armor rattling roar.
The manic grin vanishes from Klank's faceplate, replaced with a hateful snarl.
"...this one's for Drakkan."
The warning beep sounds; the component goes live. The end of the Dracon's tail runs Klank through...
---
"We've got company!" Tracks glances over one shoulder to see several Dracons following on wing. "There's still another mile to the inference perimeter! We won't make it!"
Suddenly, light and sound blossom from the square behind them in a deafening array of yellow and orange, the blast radiating outward with a rolling tide of smoke and flying debris. Forcing the hover board down, Tracks and Moledive crash it behind a thick concrete and dirt barrier created by a wasted building foundation and basement. As the explosion rolls over them, the three grimace and huddle, feeling their paint burning and their coolant systems whining in protest. The screams of dying Dracons echo in their audios, just barely audible over the sound of the distant blast. Ash and debris rain down in the wake of the massive, fiery waves, dusting them in a thick coating of gray and brown. For several long moments, none of them dare to move, but as the breeze begins to clear the smoky haze, Moledive disengages himself from Tracks and Steiner, daring to fire his thrusters and rise up over the devastated city. Hovering several stories over the others, he turns his gaze in the direction of the square; several blocks in all directions have been completely obliterated. Once a circular metal and concrete monument, it is now merely a gaping crater.
"Moledive!" The fused Pretender glances down to see Tracks staring up after him, the Autobot's optics glowing defiantly against the haze. "What...what do you see?"
Moledive is silent a long moment before answering, tone strangely solemn. "Nothing... Klank had his vengeance. We won't have any more pursuit."
As Tracks helps a sobbing Steiner to get back onto the barely functional hover board, Moledive lands on the street across the way. Optics caught by the shine of an object laying against the asphalt, he reaches down to retrieve it, holding it carefully between thumb and forefinger.
Klank's optic guard, cracked down one side.
He glances once more towards the smoking crater, then turns to rejoin the others. It's over.