Decepticon Interim: Fountain of, err, Romance

[Skystrike/Skylar Stringers]

After a few minutes of some quite tricky flying, Skystrike managed to land with Dead End and Starfighter still in her arms. It wasn’t that either of them were particularly heavy, no, it was simply that the added kibble bits made it particularly tricky to keep a hold of them. At least she’d finally gotten to the fountain.

Now that the berkut was here though, she found herself peering over Dead End’s back, trying to figure out how to place them on the thing without either of them waking up with something bent. Needlenose hadn’t exactly specified on how he wanted them actually fitted on it.

The fountain was pretty simple really, the typical bowl inside a circular pool of water with the bowl in the center looking vaguely like a local flora Skystrike had seen. Vines had edged towards the outer edges, the green speckled by brightly colored flowers that stood out against the fountain’s darker grey coloring. It wasn’t particularly fancy, but it made up for that in its size. In fact, she could put them on the center of the bowl.

With a pause and some sense of reluctance, the seeker activated her antigravs once more and hovered over with some difficulty. After that, it was just a simple matter of placing the two unconscious bodies on the bowl although she did have to switch them around slightly so that Dead End was on top simply because Starfighter’s wings made a far more stable base. It’d also stop either of them from falling off if they attempted to do something silly after waking up.

With that done, Skystrike landed back on the edge of the pool, tilting her head slightly as she looked over her handiwork. It was good enough, and neither of them should be in terrible discomfort.

Uttering a low growl to herself, she turned and walked off to find a suitable place to stand guard.

[Frenzy]

Very, very faintly, so faintly that even Soundwave might not have heard it, there is the sound of metal toes skittering over a metal road. Something small and brightly silver drifts into the plaza, bright blue optics darting every which way.

None of the stupid, huge, so heavily armored they ought to clank Decepticons moving here.

What was that? People in the fountain! Frenzy froze, then jerked his gaze all around the plaza then up at the sky. Bright optics brightened even further as he increased magnification to make sure no one was watching. Finally, finally, after being absolutely sure no one saw him, he skulked over to take a closer look at the wet mechs.

He tittered derisively when he got a good look at them, then opened up a line to his partner. //Barr'cade! Come see.//

[Barricade]

// Acknowledged. // He doesn't bother asking if it's clear; either it is, or it is not and Frenzy has a reason for exposing them now.

Short of physically placing his processor into a new body one tenth his size, it's impossible for Barricade to approach the plaza surrounding the massive fountain with the same stealth and speed that Frenzy can manage. Even so, he manages a respectably quiet enough approach as he joins his partner at the fountain.

That nasty, toothy smile twists his features as he peers at the afflicted Decepticons bound in such a delightfully compromising position there. These strange Decepticons may be clumsy and awkward looking with their boxy, over-armored shapes, but this is deliciously hilarious despite that.

It is good to know, however, that a certain amount of... amusement is tolerated within this hodge-podge group. Barricade tilts a knowing, sly look down at Frenzy, still grinning in his fiendish way. This will certainly make things more entertaining - not that he would allow the alternative to hinder him in the least.

[Frenzy]

Frenzy's fingers twitch as he chases down something about his new alternate mode...

"Pictures! I can take pictures! But no-good quality, just for seeing, not for spying. Fsck. But get pictures!"

With that, he leaps off the rim of the fountain straight at Barricade. He hits the shin of the larger Transformer, magna-grips on his toecaps activating and four hands grabbing on firmly. Up and up, he scrambles, completely at ease with using Barricade as a jungle gym.

He's in a good mood, so he avoids the little bundle of sensors right there that sting and bite when pressure's put on them. Instead he goes up and over the dark metal, then shimmies down Barricade's arms to sit in his hand.

"Just point at the love-nest," he directs before transforming.

---

Picture-taking capability of new alt-mode is admin-approved, but like Frenzy noted, the quality ain't too great.

Using Barricade as a jungle gym done with player's permission.

[Barricade]

Pictures? He is simply too much, well, himself to ever admit to anything as sappily sentimental as adoring his terrible little partner... Not without promptly ripping the spark out of any mechs near enough to make note of such an observation, that is.

Engine and voice both rumble through his frame in a dark chuckle as he complies, angling Frenzy toward the tangled pair.

[Frenzy]

Why someone thought to install camera abilities in a stereo is puzzling. Then again, one could ask the same of camera-phones.

There come several clicks. Then Frenzy transforms in Barricade's hand, wriggling as he's still caught in those big black claws.

[Barricade]

Just a flexing of pistons, the whirr of a bare few servos-- the retaliating bite of interface probes, the shattering of protective firewalls... Theirs is an understanding of mutual destruction, should it ever come to that, and yet, it isn't the fear of deactivation which stays those wickedly sharp claws. As those hands shift, fingers spreading to turn the squirming hacker loose, he tells himself that it's the convenience of a known and established parameter. Just that.

Time to quit pressing his luck, though. No telling when the lovebirds in the fountain may awaken, nor when someone may wander past, which surely they must do on a regular basis - why else place them here, if it isn't a more frequented location? Cupped hands are lowered to set Frenzy back on his own feet.

"Regroup later," he states. He wants a copy of those pictures, after all, as well as whatever intelligence that Frenzy's managed to gather about the town and the rest of the Decepticons that he's willing to share. Still faintly smirking that murderer's grin, he slips back the way he came, leaving Frenzy to his skittering infiltration.

---

OOC: and the 'Cade is outta here.

[Thundercracker]

Thundercracker's been flying about searching for a likely place to land, and the plaza seems a likely enough spot. He transforms and touches down, having a look around. His paint is blackened all down one side thanks to the missile (though he'll never admit it was his own shot) and bullet marks pepper his wings, but he's not in terrible discomfort. Self-repair should handle the damages, and he's not too terribly vain, so the paint is no matter.

He doesn't catch sight of Frenzy or Skystrike right away -- it's the sight of the mechs in the fountain that catches his attention and holds it. Dead End and one of the other Seekers -- Starfighter, that was it -- are caught up in a passionate embrace in the bowl of the fountain. It takes him a minute to see the ropes that bind them, and a few moments more before he realizes they're both out cold.

Well, nice to know SOMEONE here has a sense of humor, he thinks. He was beginning to think everyone here was stuck-up and serious.

Hmmm... come to think of it, this was something Skywarp might pull if he thought he could get away with it. He wouldn't get his hopes up, however.

Walking up to the fountain, he addresses Dead End in the hopes that he's close to coming back online. "Hey, can you hear me?" he asks. "What the frag happened to you?"

[Frenzy]

Frenzy chitters as he's set down on his feet, one hand petting Barricade's claw almost absently. Then he leaps away as if burned, flinging himself at the fountain once again, scrambling up it to perch on the edge and stare at the two Transformers bound in an embrace.

"Yesyesyes," he mutters as Barricade leaves, extending himself out to almost touch one of those unconscious faces, the tip of the interface probe gleaming in the palm of his hands.

-What was that noise?!

Frenzy jerks back, tumbles off the fountain edge and back onto the pavement. He gives himself a shake as he stands up, darting glances all around.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Someone'd come, someone'd see! Hide!

Silver skitters across black in a flash of movement until Frenzy freezes in the doorway of an abandoned building.

---

OOC: This would take place just before Thundercracker arrives at the fountain.

[Dead End]

A full-on null-ray blast halts all electrical activity; it can easily send a mech into a permanent stasis that requires external aid to awaken from. Fortunately, Dead End was designed for war, and the chemical and internal combustion systems that provide his power weren't shut down by Starscream's power. Eventually the trickle of generated power forced stalled processors to reset...

The first thing Dead End was aware of were sounds--subtle sounds, the kind that drive Wildrider half-mad with fear as he looks for the enemies sneaking up on him. The trickle of water... and the skritch-skritch of metal feet scuttling about.

Dead End took note of the fact that he was hearing things, and seemed to be aware--a pleasant surprise. So, Starscream had not been so angry as to kill him after all. He probably had something worse in mind.

Dead End listened without moving or lighting his optics, an old battlefield habit of his. Never let them know you're awake and able to fight until you know what's going on. Diagnostics were green, with only a few grumbling messages about secondary processors booting up. He recalled with some chagrin his forcefields going down--Starscream's null-ray.

There was water trickling near-by, trickling over him from the feel of it, and he was in an awkward position, pressed up against something full of odd angles and curves. He could feel restraints pressing against his wrists and ankles--

Metal feet skittered rapidly away, and muted jets grumbled and whined down to a halt as something with much bigger feet dropped to the pavement with a loud "clunk-clunk". Those big feet clanked ominously nearer, then the voice of Thundercracker asked "Hey, can you hear me? What the frag happened to you?"

Oh dear. That sounded alarming. Dead End activated his optics, only to find the unlit optics and silver-gray face of Starfighter filling his view. Apparently they'd been kissing in their sleep. How very peculiar. That did explain the angles and curves pressed against his body...

Dead End turned his head with an effort--someone had thoughtfully tied them together so they wouldn't be separated--and said, "Let's say that it involved Starscream, null-rays, and forgetting a cautionary word. The rest, Thundercracker, I leave up to your imagination."

[Starfighter]

Starfighter hears voices, and something moving against him, and for a brief moment he wonders if he's back home after a horrible nightmare and Starhealer has decided to camp out on his chest for no reason whatsoever.

Unfortunately there's only so long a mech can deny himself reality, and eventually he has to turn his optics back online. The tranquilizing agent's made him groggy and he can only grudgingly acknowledge that something wet is moving against him and there's something very boxy pressed around him and oh slag it's Dead End oh dear.

Starfighter makes a slurred attempt at a yelp and tugs weakly at his restraints, trying to turn as far away from Dead End as possible and deny any and all allegations that he was involved in illicit trans-rank romances. Bad enough everyone snickers when he mentions the words "private meeting with Shockwave", now he's got it even worse.

"Buh?" he asks, trying to make his vocalizer work properly again.

[Thundercracker]

Thundercracker can't help it -- or maybe he can, but he sure doesn't try very hard. He belts out a hearty laugh at the other mechs' predicament, slapping one metallic thigh all the while.

"Oh stars, and I can imagine quite a bit, Dead End!" he grins, still laughing. "Quite a bit indeed. Didn't think fliers took a fancy to ground-bounds, but maybe Starfighter's got different tastes? Heh, you two need a hand out of this mess?" He gestures at their bonds. "Or you enjoying yourselves too much?"

[Skystrike/Skylar Stringers]

Skystrike hadn’t gone too far. She’d sat down behind a building on a pale stone block after knocking a statue off of it. What had she been doing? Well, the melted windows behind her and the thin stream of smoke flowing out of her right shoulder cannon were probably a bit of a giveaway. She’d always enjoyed glasswork.

While the berkut hadn’t been completely oblivious to the snickerings of the two newcomers, she’d simply dismissed them as the other Decepticons finally finding Dead End and Starfighter. It was only when Thundercracker flew by somewhere overhead, and startled and groggy murmurs sounded from the direction of the fountain that she looked up.

The dark blue seeker stood up, shaking off the melted glass her hands resulting in a mini rain of fireballs before she stepped back around the building, heading towards the fountain once again. Ah, Dead End and Starfighter were finally awake and quite embarrassed by their predicament.

Thundercracker on the other hand was quite obviously amused. At his comment on ground-bounds, Skystrike decided she was amused as well.

“Nothing wrong with fancying ground-bounds,” She said casually as she stepped up to the edge of the pool next to the elite . “Some of them are even better than the winged deadbeats I used to know.” And it’s better than fancying Starscream, but she didn’t mention that. Instead, Skystrike turned her attention back to the two people still on the fountain, a very light smile curling the edge of her lips.

It really shouldn’t be funny anymore, but now that Dead End and Starfighter were awake… well. She idly distracted herself trying to fine the knife in her subspace pocket. Needlenose said to free them after they woke up after all.

[Dead End]

Dead End was more amused than embarrassed by his predicament, which is to say, he was not embarrassed at all. After all, he was still functional, and didn't have massive dents courtesy of Motormaster's fists.

"I don't believe these bonds were intended as serious restraints," Dead End said. By way of demonstration, he flexed his arms, snapping the rope securing his wrists behind Starfighter's wing roots. Before pulling his hands out of the way, he gave Starfighter's wings an imperceptibly brief caress; the optics behind his dimmed visor focused intently on the distressed Seeker's face. How would he react to that subtle touch?

"Perhaps," Dead End murmured in the direction of the other two Seekers as he pulled the ropes from around his head and neck, "it's more a matter of the ground-bound fancying the fliers."

[Starfighter]

Starfighter's too embarrassed to comment in his own defense, and he begins to groggily struggle out of the restraints as soon as Dead End broke them. Unfortunately, this only makes him squirm more and the world hasn't stopped being fuzzy yet.

"Don't fancy anyone," he manages to mumble before squeaking as Dead End's hands brush his wings. Why can't he just sink into the ground and stay there for a while?