Sky-byte
Minor
Worst Luck Ever
Posts: 334
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Post by Sky-byte on May 27, 2007 18:59:56 GMT -5
For half a second, Sky-byte thought he was coasting back under the waters near the Predacon base. The other half second made him realize that what he was currently entrenched in was definitely not salt water.
A large shark rocketed out of the sludge with great hacking coughs. Spitting out whatever made its way into his muzzle, Sky-byte thrashed his large body viciously until the majority of the mud splattered off. He remained floating above the quagmire below and studied the area around him. Last time he checked, urban Japan didn't have any sort of swamps in the middle of the city. Perhaps he stumbled into one of the Autobot's space-bridges? Oh he'd have to tell Megatron about this discovery, the leader would be so pleased...if he didn't pound the scrap about of Sky-byte first.
It wasn't his fault! The boy, it was all the boy's fault- and Scourge! Those wretched Decepticons! A wretched howl made its way out of Sky-byte's mouth and he cowered, waiting for Megatron's furious blows. But it never came. Little by little, Sky-byte unwound himself. No terrifying yells, no twin beams of fire, no raucous laughter (the last one would be from Scourge).
"Slapper? Gas Skunk? Darkscream? You imbeciles, where are you?!" Sky-byte demanded. He received no answer. "Predacons assemble!" The only answer he get was the incessant buzzing of various swampland insects.
None of his troops were here. He got nothing over the Predacon radio frequency either. The initial fear that had first crept its way into his mind evaporated faster than if Megatron had set fire to it himself. This was fantastic! No bumbling idiots. No meddlesome Decepticons. If something of great value, especially a source of energy, could be found, all the credit would go to him. Sky-byte. Then bye-bye Scourge and Megatron would see the Predacons and Sky-byte as his elite once more!
"Sky-byte, you were just born to succeed!"
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Post by Demolishor on May 27, 2007 19:02:48 GMT -5
"You're out of the loop, bug. Starscream jumped ship a few weeks ago and joined the Autobots."
Demolishor looked at Shrapnel's feet with a momentary bit of jealousy, then kept slogging determinedly through the mud. "So whoever these guys are, they're lying--hold up."
He held up a hand, gesturing for Shrapnel to stop. "Someone else is out here."
And he seems very silly.
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Post by Shrapnel on May 27, 2007 19:29:42 GMT -5
The idea of Starscream joining the Autobots made Shrapnel boggle. There's no way Starscream would undermine his chances of taking over the Decepticons that much!
Then came the yelling from somewhere behind of them. Names, insults, team-name...
Shrapnel finished off the last of his tree and transformed into insect-mode. He stayed in the air, as finding quickmud the hard way didn't suit him right now. "I'll scout behind, behind."
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Sky-byte
Minor
Worst Luck Ever
Posts: 334
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Post by Sky-byte on May 27, 2007 19:46:08 GMT -5
Mud still dripping lethargically off his form, Sky-byte slunk quietly through the air. The hum of wings of tiny insects had already become background humdrum to him, but...the loud buzz that began to originate in front of him sounded quite a bit larger than your average insect. Loathe to drop back into the mud again, Sky-byte transformed and found himself instead knee deep in the ooze.
Feeling quite more alone than he did before (though he had no idea that his radio equipment had been jammed momentarily by the thick mud) he opens up his radio again, now actually hoping that maybe his troops were out there somewhere. //Who goes there?// He frowns as his signal goes through.
"Show yourself!" His Anchor Arm spins wildly, showing his agitation.
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Post by Demolishor on May 27, 2007 19:59:26 GMT -5
"You first! Come out with your hands and weapons up and we might not shoot you." Demolishor arranged himself into a fighting stance, partially in front of his weaker companion.
To Shrapnel, he muttered, "Go around behind him. See what the heck is going on."
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Post by Shrapnel on May 27, 2007 20:28:43 GMT -5
If anyone called Shrapnel the weakest person here, he'd have to take on the room. Fortunately, no one has.
He didn't acknowledge Demolishor's command as he trundled off through the marsh grasses, sampling the vegetation as he went. A zesty taste, he noted, for plants that rustled like dry bones against mummified skin.
He circled wide, and the swath he cut actually made the sound of his approach just a bit stealthier. Somewhere behind Sky-Byte, one of the fallen trees suddenly found a large dark robotic insect on it.
Privately to Demolishor: //He's a warrior. Not symmetrical. I can't see a faction symbol, and his alternate mode looks... fishy, fishy.//
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Sky-byte
Minor
Worst Luck Ever
Posts: 334
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Post by Sky-byte on May 27, 2007 21:02:14 GMT -5
If anything he might have taken the description of fishy as a compliment...but alas he was not Demolisher and was not able to hear such a thing.
Sky-byte turned slowly about in circles, trying to make sure that he would not be ambushed by...whatever it was out there. Every few moments he would jump and make a quick turn about, as if trying to startle a hidden adversary. Said hidden adversary was mostly in his mind though. The scene might seem comical to anyone but Sky-byte.
"Who are you to go about ordering me about. I'm second in command to Megatron! No one orders me around!" Sky-byte conveniently leaves Scourge's existence out of mind. The black Optimus Prime clone doesn't deserve a place in his mind for all he cares.
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Post by Demolishor on May 27, 2007 22:08:30 GMT -5
"No, I'm Megatron's right-hand man and I've never heard of you before. This is your last chance, come out and identify yourself or be shot." Demolishor moved towards him, trapping the unknown mech between himself and Shrapnel.
To Shrapnel: //Probably another crazy person, I think this swamp's full of them. Take him out, but don't do too much damage. We want him to talk.//
Privately, Demolishor was starting to wonder if he was going crazy as well. Nothing made sense, and no one around him seemed to agree with his perception of reality.
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Post by Shrapnel on May 27, 2007 23:15:40 GMT -5
The beetle skittered closer to Sky-Byte. Take him out without too damage? That was easy!
Purple rays exploded from the end of each antler, both connecting to Sky-Byte and seizing up his motor control. The Predacon could still talk, but he couldn't move.
//He's taken care of. Come out if you like, like.//
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Sky-byte
Minor
Worst Luck Ever
Posts: 334
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Post by Sky-byte on May 27, 2007 23:39:17 GMT -5
Sky-byte visibly bristled when he caught sight of Demolisher and his all too visible Decepticon insignia. "What, an Autobot hit you over the head too solidly? I am Megatron's second in command! Why would a great leader of the Predacons like him pick a Decepticon as his second in command?!"
A startled gurgle escaped his mouth when a flash of purple seemed to envelope him. When all cleared, it was as if he was encased in a block of solid ice, minus the freezing part. He glared the best he good at his adversaries. "Let me go and face me like real mechs! Cowards!"
Out of the frying pan and into the fire. At least if he were facing Megatron back at the base, he would know that his leader wouldn't be so quick to kill him. With these two, he had no assurances against termination at all. Oh confound it all!
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Post by Demolishor on May 28, 2007 0:24:52 GMT -5
"Nice trick." Demolishor stepped out of the remaining tree cover and examined their prisoner thoughtfully.
"I'm guessing sense is too much to ask for in a loony bin like this, but do you at least have a name attached to you or are we going to be calling you Fishface?"
The tank folded his arms, putting on his best 'stern general' expression. The mech looked like he'd come from the same twisted place as Shrapnel; their designs seemed to incorporate neither wheels nor wings and they were both blathering on about things that made no sense.
"And what are these 'Predacons', anyway? I've never heard of them and I've been in the Decepticons my whole life!"
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Post by Shrapnel on May 28, 2007 21:46:48 GMT -5
"Nor have I, have I."
The purple light from his antlers stood out in the dark swamp, and Shrapnel absently wondered if it would attract any local demons. It never had Demon Swamp. Well, except Kickback and Bombshell, but they didn't appreciate his "we're Balinese swamp demons" theory.
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Sky-byte
Minor
Worst Luck Ever
Posts: 334
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Post by Sky-byte on May 28, 2007 21:56:16 GMT -5
'Huh' would be an adequete word to describe Sky-byte's position right now. Being frozen in place in a dirty swamp in unfamiliar territory, with unfamiliar people, and even less than satisfactory factions and then there was the whole thing about cross-time and power-linking that was being jabbered about all across the radio. Huh just about summed it up. Fair wording, unknown Decepticon tank now known as Demolisher.
But fair wording didn't get the mech and his accomplice out of freezing him in place like some statue (a very pretty statue Sky-byte might pride himself in being though).
"How can you not have heard of Predacons? Under Megatron's mighty command we've siphoned energy off of hundreds of planets- except on Earth." The last part was muttered under Sky-byte's breath, but probably still audible to someone with good audios. "I've personally never heard of Decepticons until Megatron implemented his idea in corrupting Autobot protoforms. Blasted things named themselves Decepticons and I think Megatron should be regretting them ever since their creation!"
There. He said it. Oh it felt good to splurge without fear of retribution. Or so he thinks.
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Post by Demolishor on May 29, 2007 7:58:23 GMT -5
Demolishor rubbed the back of his head for a moment, trying to think of something authoritative and commanderly to say. Or at least something that didn't come out sounding totally stupid.
"Going by what Mr. Fancy-voice Dead End said, I'm starting to think we're not all out of the same place. I've never heard of Predacons or Insecticons or any other types of big 'cons that aren't Decepticons. And if you haven't heard of me and I haven't heard of you and Shrapnel here's never heard of either of us, maybe we're all less crazy than I thought."
Apparently the term 'Decepticon' had a flexible meaning, now. Still, they all seemed to be generally on the same side and they all used the same frequency, and even the guy they were calling Starscream sounded less Autoboty and emo than the one Demolishor knew. More allies, even strange ones, was always a good thing.
Blessed are the peacemakers, supposedly. Whoever said that wasn't a Decepticon.
Demolishor tapped Sky-byte on the chest, pointing one gun-finger at him in a vaguely non-threatening manner. "You're loyal to Megatron, right? If you're with Megatron, you count as being on our side, and I guess that's the only really important thing right now with all this weirdness going on."
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Post by Shrapnel on May 29, 2007 18:18:01 GMT -5
"If he's on our side," Shrapnel added, "I'll let him go, go."
And if Sky-Byte lied about being on their side, then Shrapnel would enjoy taking him apart circuitboard by circuitboard. No one screamed quite like someone who felt their surge protectors and circuit-breakers fused into the closed position.
The Insecticon lowered his head slightly and took a large bite out of the log he sat on. Damp on the outside, gooey on the inside. It reminded him of one of his forays into organic meat-eating. Eeuch.
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