AU Halftone's reality and the Nexus. Iacon and the sign area. Down the turborabbit hole.
"There goes a fine, upstanding young Autobot who will go far in the world," said Ultra Magnus approvingly as he watched the tall young car-former nearly bounce out of the room.
"He makes me tired just looking at him," grumbled Rodimus, faceplanting on his desk with his arms sprawled before him. "Does he have to bounce everywhere?"
Ultra Magnus shook his head. "That pep serves him well in his role as the President of the United State's main transport."
"Still makes me tired...." Rodimus' grumbling trailed off into a soft snore as his night of staying up and reading reports caught up with him.
* * *
As soon as he stepped through the door, Halftone knew something was wrong.
The bizarre scenery, flying whales, and massive, hideous sign were only half the hint. There was also just a wrong 'feel' to the place. Wherever he was, he was pretty sure it was nowhere near Autobot City's front gate.
Quashing his first impulse to call Rainbird and see if she and the sparklets were still there, he instead carefully took another look around the place where he found himself. In the process he realized what the sign said. A question? Yes. He had a lot of those. Maybe the sign's command that one be asked would mean that they'd be answered.
"This is the Sign Nexus," said a female voice from behind him.
Halftone whirled, his voice giving a slight squeak as he expressed his surprise at having been snuck up on.
"Easy," said the pale tawny gold femme, holding up her hands in a non-threatening manner as her tall blue companion did the same. "You're safe here. There's an anti-violence field."
Halftone's frown deepened as he saw the lack of badges on both bots, but their blue optics gave him a pretty good idea that they were alright. "Okay, great. But me being safe doesn't *squeak* get me back to the White House garage, and President Pratt has somewhere to go today."
"No problem." The pale blue mech's voice was young and cheerful, and his optics twinkled in a friendly way as he offered Halftone a small device. "This'll get you home in no time! Pacer set it, so the coordinates're right."
"Coordinates?" Halftone's voice squeaked again softly as he reached for the little gadget, finding himself trusting the kid despite his misgivings.
"Yeah, for where you want to be. And a few more useful places, like the Black Dog." The blue mech grinned.
"What's the Black Dog?" Halftone asked as he gave the doohicker a quick scan.
"Only the best place to get energon cookies in the entire Multiverse." Blue guy's grin widened and his optics got brighter.
That got Halftone's attention. "Energon cookies? The cinna ones?"
"Yup! And all the other flavors."
"Wait! There are other flavors?" Halftone's optics widened. Then he checked his chrono. "Would I be able to go get some in five minutes?"
"You can time hop right back to the time you left." Blue guy was now going ^_^. There was no other way to describe his expression.
"Great! Show the way, mech." Halftone's grin threatened to split his face. If there was anything he liked better than a job well done or a rousing good sparring session, it was deceptiscout cookies.
* * *
"Hey, Jordan. Why does the car smell like cinnamon?" wondered the President a few moments later from where she was sitting in the back seat doing last minute revisions to a speech.
Halftone gave a guilty little squeak. But even in limo mode he still couldn't stop grinning. There was going to be a party in Autobot City tonight!
"He makes me tired just looking at him," grumbled Rodimus, faceplanting on his desk with his arms sprawled before him. "Does he have to bounce everywhere?"
Ultra Magnus shook his head. "That pep serves him well in his role as the President of the United State's main transport."
"Still makes me tired...." Rodimus' grumbling trailed off into a soft snore as his night of staying up and reading reports caught up with him.
* * *
As soon as he stepped through the door, Halftone knew something was wrong.
The bizarre scenery, flying whales, and massive, hideous sign were only half the hint. There was also just a wrong 'feel' to the place. Wherever he was, he was pretty sure it was nowhere near Autobot City's front gate.
Quashing his first impulse to call Rainbird and see if she and the sparklets were still there, he instead carefully took another look around the place where he found himself. In the process he realized what the sign said. A question? Yes. He had a lot of those. Maybe the sign's command that one be asked would mean that they'd be answered.
"This is the Sign Nexus," said a female voice from behind him.
Halftone whirled, his voice giving a slight squeak as he expressed his surprise at having been snuck up on.
"Easy," said the pale tawny gold femme, holding up her hands in a non-threatening manner as her tall blue companion did the same. "You're safe here. There's an anti-violence field."
Halftone's frown deepened as he saw the lack of badges on both bots, but their blue optics gave him a pretty good idea that they were alright. "Okay, great. But me being safe doesn't *squeak* get me back to the White House garage, and President Pratt has somewhere to go today."
"No problem." The pale blue mech's voice was young and cheerful, and his optics twinkled in a friendly way as he offered Halftone a small device. "This'll get you home in no time! Pacer set it, so the coordinates're right."
"Coordinates?" Halftone's voice squeaked again softly as he reached for the little gadget, finding himself trusting the kid despite his misgivings.
"Yeah, for where you want to be. And a few more useful places, like the Black Dog." The blue mech grinned.
"What's the Black Dog?" Halftone asked as he gave the doohicker a quick scan.
"Only the best place to get energon cookies in the entire Multiverse." Blue guy's grin widened and his optics got brighter.
That got Halftone's attention. "Energon cookies? The cinna ones?"
"Yup! And all the other flavors."
"Wait! There are other flavors?" Halftone's optics widened. Then he checked his chrono. "Would I be able to go get some in five minutes?"
"You can time hop right back to the time you left." Blue guy was now going ^_^. There was no other way to describe his expression.
"Great! Show the way, mech." Halftone's grin threatened to split his face. If there was anything he liked better than a job well done or a rousing good sparring session, it was deceptiscout cookies.
* * *
"Hey, Jordan. Why does the car smell like cinnamon?" wondered the President a few moments later from where she was sitting in the back seat doing last minute revisions to a speech.
Halftone gave a guilty little squeak. But even in limo mode he still couldn't stop grinning. There was going to be a party in Autobot City tonight!