Fireblade: Come Out and Play

[Runamuck]

If he hasn't removed all doubt by now that he's a few diodes short of a motherboard, then Runamuck really isn't doing his job.

He takes a quick shot with his friction rifle; sure, fire and water don't mix all that well, but maybe if he's lucky he'll at least mess up that finish a bit more. Lasers do go through water without too much trouble, though. Shoving the friction rifle back into his leg yet again, Runamuck dives into the water, swimming after Xaaron and firing away. His odds of hitting anything aren't so great, but collateral damage isn't such a bad goal.

[Emirate Xaaron]

Did Runamuck just try to set the sewer on fire? Emirate Xaaron is bring chased by a complete lunatic.

Still, Runamuck really can't compete with Galvatron in that department, only Galvatron, oddly, wasn't trying to kill Emirate Xaaron.

Emirate Xaaron keeps himself under the brackish water, as much as he can. He can't see to dodge that way, but being whipped back and forth by the water and slammed into the sides of the channel makes that a moot point. At least he's harder for Runamuck to see if he stays down. He takes some shots from the laser rifle, making a bubbling noise of pain, and his armour is going to breach eventually, exposing his circuits to all this sewer muck.

They're coming to a fork in the sewer, and Emirate Xaaron surface, heading very deliberately toward the left fork. Once barely inside, he ducks under the water, grabs the separator (Ya gotta keep 'em separated!), and swings himself into the right fork.

Hopefully Runamuck will take the left fork. There's a really steep drop off that way that dumps into the river.

[Runamuck]

Runamuck isn't filled with the power of a dark god driving him mad, but he tries.

Still merrily firing away, Runamuck doesn't even notice the fork until he crashes straight into it, denting the wall and adding another mark to his already-dented head. Good thing he doesn't keep anything really important in there.

He doesn't even realize he's drifted the wrong way until he surfaces to look for Xaaron and notices the water ending in a flat line in the distance. Odd, a growing roar from that direction, too...

Oh, slag.

Kicking and paddling as hard as he can, Runamuck just makes the side wall before the drop, digging his fingers into the tunnel wall and barely getting a grip. Scrabbling for purchase, his laser rifle slips, falling over the edge and tumbling into the river below. He can make it back, but it's going to take some work against the water pressure. By then, his target will probably have escaped. Damn.

[Emirate Xaaron]

In the right fork, Emirate Xaaron manages to latch onto the side and has a long, frustrating, slippery time of pulling himself back up to the walkway.

He shakes himself, which does little to help the clinging filth, and leans heavily against the wall, resting for a moment. Emirate Xaaron checks over his injuries, frowning sharply. A few shots to his back, peppered around his shoulders, and one on his front. Some go fairly deep. He aches.

He's had worse. Emirate Xaaron continues, heading along the walkway at a trot, his sodden feet leaving a clear trail of footsteps. He has a head start, to be sure, but the Battlecharger won't have any difficulty in tracking him, if he doesn't desire to give up the chase.

[Runamuck]

Once in a while, even Runamuck gets a good idea. Like using the sewer current to catch up faster. Sure, he can't swim that well, but he gets the fun of having his shredded spoiler pieces poking up out of the water like some kind of aquatic predator's fin. Dundundundunnnnnn......

Okay, back to business now.

Runamuck digs his fingers into the wall, gouging out finger grips and hauling himself up out of the muck. His white finish is streaked with black and green and other stuff he doesn't want to look at too closely. As he finally makes it up to the walkway and straightens up, a deluge of filth drops out through his busted windshield, slopping all over the ground.

Smacking himself in the side of the head to knock water out of his audials, Runamuck finally notices the tracks on the ground. He takes out his remaining gun and starts to follow along.

[Emirate Xaaron]

Based off of Airazor's report, Emirate Xaaron is trying to figure out the best place to insert himself. After some internal debate, he has decided on bothering Sky-Byte and the artillery piece, as it sounds like no one is bothering them at the moment, and that will not do. He did, however, also consider assisting the beleaguered gunners or Wheelie and Oracle.

He does not yet hear Runamuck following him, but the sound of metal foot slapping against a wet metal walkway will not surprise him, when Runamuck does come into audio range. Runamuck has been an extremely tenacious opponent, Emirate Xaaron will give him that. He concentrates on taking the quickest way to the manhole that will put him near Sky-Byte.

[Runamuck]

Sneaking is not Runamuck's strong suit. Neither is patience, if he's not being forced into it. Gunning down the chain of command wasn't on his order sheet, but nobody can fault him for trying.

If Xaaron were to glance back, he'd see Runamuck's lights long before the stained Battlecharger comes into view. That alone would probably give him all the warning he likely needs to avoid the following shot from the friction rifle. Either way, the echoing sound of footsteps in time with the approaching lights speeds up.

[Emirate Xaaron]

Emirate Xaaron does notice the gradual, worrying change in brightness, and he does look back.

He avoid the shot only very narrowly, by pressing himself tightly against the damp, curved wall. That was too close!

Emirate Xaaron runs now, trying desperately to get a balance of speed and traction. He sees the ladder for the manhole that he needs, and he jumps.

[Runamuck]

If he had it on hand, and wasn't too busy trying to kill something, Runamuck would be playing Yackety Sax, just to be annoying. Of course, the chase song should've been cued about ten minutes ago anyway.

As if to prove he's a Battlecharger by virtue of more than just build type, Runamuck drops into car mode, tires biting onto the wet flooring and sending him flying along. Too confined for rockets, and he just lost his laser rifle, but he still has general ramminess available.

So, of course, just before he catches up, Xaaron jumps for a ladder. Runamuck springs back up into robot mode, jumping into the air and grabbing for Xaaron. Or would, except that his feet slip in the muck; instead, he slides straight down onto his chest, reaching for the Emirate's ankles. Maybe if he lucks out, he can tug bling-bot down with him.

[Emirate Xaaron]

Of course, just as soon as Emirate Xaaron's fingers close around the first rung up, his ankles are grabbed. Wincing, he curses, "Primus!"

One hand slips off the rung, for his hand is damp and mucky, and it flails the air for a bit. Emirate Xaaron tenses, calming himself, and he clamps that hand on the next rung.

He looks down at Runamuck and inquires, "Going up?"

Then Emirate Xaaron attempts to lever himself back and forth, hopefully to shake Runamuck off.

[Runamuck]

Runamuck grunts, clinging on as best he can. With his hands and the Emirate's ankles both caked in sludge, however, it's inevitable that one of his hands slips off, then the other. Levering himself up to one knee, he whips his rifle out and fires up at Xaaron. Either he hits the tank or he hits the lid at the top of the ladder. Something's gonna burn today.

[Emirate Xaaron]

Emirate Xaaron really isn't all that nimble, and he's trying to climb a ladder in an enclosed space. Of course he gets hits, and he bursts into flames. Given what he's covered in, he probably smells even worse now.

With something mumbled about someone named Flame, Emirate Xaaron lets go of the rungs of the ladder and throws himself down into brackish water. It is then that he realises that he is not merely on fire. Even underwater, he feels uncomfortably hot, and as soon as he surfaces, he burst into flames again.

Emirate Xaaron ducks back underwater, because it's better than being on fire, even if he does feel like he's going to melt. He can feel his peripheral circuit boards cracking from the heat. Emirate Xaaron reasons that Runamuck must have applied some chemical coating, and so he has a call to make, while the current drags him along again and he hopes to Primus that this stuff wears up.

He's the Primus-damned Emirate Xaaron, not Aquaman.

[Runamuck]

How does a friction rifle work? Well, that's a good question. Runamuck carries one because it makes pretty wrecks. It doesn't have a lot of ammo, hence why he usually has a normal laser rifle too, but it's a lot of fun while it lasts. It's probably some kind of energy field, considering a chemical would get rattled around too much with Runamuck's driving and probably rupture. Setting himself on fire would be bad; he's not Ghost Rider or the Fallen.

Climbing back up to his feet, Runamuck waves a hand in front of his face, glad that most of his olfactory sensor is under his faceplate. Fortunately, Xaaron's not hard to follow even underwater, with all the heat leaving a boiling path on the surface of the water. Chuckling at his foe's distress, Runamuck follows along.

[Emirate Xaaron]

Emirate Xaaron has a secret weapon in his fight against Runamuck. No, it is not his ill-abused tank mode. It is Perceptor's massive intellect!

Emirate Xaaron ceases any and all attempts to move and merely lets the current passively drag him, in accordance with Perceptor's advice. A few moments after he does so, the heat starts to abate. However, the water is still dragging him, much against his will, so the heat does not vanish entirely. It is simply more tolerable.

At another fork in the sewers, EmirateXaaron wedges himself up against the fork, immediately regretting the movement required to do so, but so wedged, he can now become perfectly still, as the water is now powerless to dislodge him.

The boiling stops. Perhaps Runamuck will think that Emirate Xaaron has simply melted to death?

[Runamuck]

Runamuck crouches on the walkway over the fork for a moment. The boiling stopped about here, but the water's too murky to see, especially since Xaaron's not as shiny as he was ten minutes ago.

Or five minutes ago. Heh heh heh.

A few flakes of gold chrome floating on the surface are his only clue, but the current swiftly takes those away. He considers diving in, but the current is too strong; if he misses his guess, he's lost his target anyway, and he has no clues to go by.

With a shrug, Runamuck stands up, switching off his lights. Better call this in.