|
|
Post by Needlenose on Feb 16, 2008 18:43:14 GMT -5
OOC: This takes place shortly after the end of the CtF threads, but prior to any of the DZ-3 stuff.
Needlenose stands silently near the fountain, head high, optics narrowed, arms crossed. His antennae are perked up, his expression is proud. His demeanor is at odds with his purpose here: to be subjected to public punishment. His Targetmaster partners are no where in sight.
Come one, come all, Needlenose thinks angrily to himself. Come and watch the show. If I'm to be punished, I'll take it like a Decepticon, he decides, but I'll also make sure they get a damned fine show.
He uncrosses his arms and lowers his fists to his side. His hands clench and he glowers out at the courtyard. Maybe not the best of circumstances, but one way or another, today he'll be a star, and will give a performance as befits one.
|
|
Eye-fire
Major
In two minds about everything
Posts: 597
|
Post by Eye-fire on Feb 16, 2008 18:51:39 GMT -5
Eye-Fire lifts himself from a side alley onto one of the buildings that circle the fountain. He doesn't appear to have noticed Needlenose yet, and has his optic trained at what looks like another radio tower of some sort.
The faint whirs of his optic zooming in and out as he looks at it in detail can he heard, and eventually he mutters something to the effect of "too flimsy." before zooming his optic back in.
He looks around for another moment before turning around... and nearly falling of the building backwards. He catches himself though, his gun arm already raised and readied.
"Oh, sorry Needlenose. I wasn't expecting anybody to be out here." He says lowering his arm and retracting the gun barrel.
"Why are you out here, anyway?" As he sits himself down on the buildings roof.
|
|
|
|
Post by Spinister on Feb 16, 2008 18:55:04 GMT -5
Spinister appears just behind Needlenose and reaches out to rap him on the shoulder with his knuckles. It's harder than a tap but not an all-out blow, serving merely to get Needlenose's attention, no more, no less. For someone who may have been watching, it's hard to tell how Spinister could have gotten there, seemingly out of nowhere, but if one traces the obstacles, a path becomes possible, albeit tricky.
Spinister is not entirely happy to be here. Ultimately, the blame falls on Spinister's shoulders, not Needlenose's. It's Spinister's fault for thinking that Needlenose could do interviews on his own. The real punishment comes not in this farce here but in how the Decepticons will suffer from not utilizing resources in the most effective manner due to the missing data.
Still, Spinister has never been gentle when Needlenose failed him. He isn't about to start now.
|
|
|
|
Post by Needlenose on Feb 16, 2008 19:56:04 GMT -5
"Oh, you haven't heard, Eye-fire?" Needlenose all-but growls. "I'm today's entertainment."
His shoulders jerk slightly as Spinister raps him on the shoulder. It's not unusual for Spinister to come out of nowhere, so Needlenose isn't completely surprised, but if Spinister couldn't sneak up on Needlenose, he wouldn't be Spinister.
He tilts his head and glances back at his superior. "So. Do we get started now, or do we wait for the audience?"
OOC: BTW, to keep the thread-rotation from getting too far out of control, it's requested that those who don't have things to do every round move into 'skippable' mode.
|
|
Eye-fire
Major
In two minds about everything
Posts: 597
|
Post by Eye-fire on Feb 16, 2008 20:07:23 GMT -5
"Entertain-Oh." Eye-Fire says as he thinks back to something somebody said about something like this going on today. He wasn't paying much attention, he was about to head out and spy out more sniper nests so he may add to his already large list.
Standing up and dropping back down in an alley, Eye-Fire transforms himself into his rifle mode, human sized, and hunkers down in a shadow. No need for anyone else to see him here.
Unless of course someone does something stupid.
___________________________________
OOC: skippable.
|
|
|
|
Post by Victoria Raines on Feb 16, 2008 20:12:06 GMT -5
Shockwave rounds a corner of one of the buildings, pausing upon entering the courtyard to take in the scene. He had to admire that Spinister's is not letting his personal dynamic with Needlenose (whatever that may be) interfere with the execution of his responsibilities. Shockwave had not asked for public punishment. For that matter, had only the three of them been present at the revelation of Needlenose's error, Shockwave would have handled the situation differently from the off. But he could not fail to acknowledge such an error in mixed company.
He does not know what Spinister has planned, and is actually rather curious about how, exactly, the Mayhem intends to punish his subordinate. At the same time, the tiniest ghost of an emotion slips through from his buried processors, as he notes the almost defiant look of pride in Needlenose's expression. The jet should be thanking Primus that Shockwave did not choose to handle this punishment himself. If Shockwave worried Needlenose before....
Spinister's appearance from seemingly nowhere catches Shockwave's attention. And so it begins. Shockwave settles himself against the wall of one of the buildings, waiting, watching.
OOC: skippable
|
|
Ratbat
Cadet
I would have gotten away with it too, if not for those meddling kids!
Posts: 88
|
Post by Ratbat on Feb 17, 2008 0:10:36 GMT -5
Ratbat swoops out of the sky and finds himself a convenient perch from which to watch the goings on. The Mayhem Attack Squad was always an... interesting part of the Decepticon hierarchy; sometimes it seemed they were used on Decepticons just as often as they were on Autobots. They were outside standard chains of command, deadly in their arts, and culled from everything from the most sophisticated to the dregs of society.
All together, this ought to be quite the show.
OOC: Skippable.
|
|
|
|
Post by Spinister on Feb 17, 2008 20:38:55 GMT -5
Spinister reaches out to grab Needlenose by the neck with both hands without warning. Connect or not, he says slowly, "Now. It is a Decepticon's personal responsibility to stay informed, and if he fails in that duty, it is no one's fault but his own," even if it means said Decepticon misses an exciting show of public humiliation.
Spinister picked the fountain because it is where Starfighter and Dead End were bound as punishment, and it's nice and public. It has the right associations. Perhaps 'taking you out to fountain' will become an euphemism in the interdimensional lexicon.
There is one other reason why he picked the fountain, but he'll get to that shortly.
|
|
|
|
Post by Needlenose on Feb 17, 2008 23:37:40 GMT -5
Needlenose flinches. There is a moment where he has to force himself not to dodge, but Spinister's hands find their mark.
"Of course... my commander..." Needlenose rasps out. "My failure... is no one's fault... but my own..."
His hands go up to grasp at Spinister's arms, automatically trying to lessen the pressure against his neck. He will accept his punishment, to a point.
But after that point... well, it is also a Decepticon's responsibility to see to their own well being, to defend themselves. And Needlenose has had enough failures of late.
|
|
|
|
Post by Starfighter on Feb 18, 2008 0:28:51 GMT -5
Starfighter's towards the back of whatever crowd that chooses to form. He isn't much for gore, but trainwreck syndrome can bring even the most squeamish.
He does wince at the site of that particular fountain. But whatever it was, he knows it won't be fatal. Death's something that happens to smaller people.
OOC: Skippable
|
|
|
|
Post by Demolishor on Feb 18, 2008 0:36:43 GMT -5
Demolishor trundles up to the collective and transformers, nudging his way in until he's in front of anyone taller than him.
Ooh, public punishment. Always fun. Not that Demolishor's in favor of 'con-on-'con brutality unless he's the one doing the inflicting, but it's only a little infraction. Surely it'll be more fun and humilating than beating beyond recognition.
Then again, that's what he'd thought Megatron would do to Starscream and he'd wound up having to practically save the idiot jet's life. Not that Starscream ever showed any gratitude and he probably deserved to die anyway, but...it wasn't right to just get beaten down like that when you'd barely done anything wrong. Autobots you could abuse, trample, mangle, but it never sat right with Demolishor when a commander just started bashing in someone's face because they couldn't stand the thought that they'd lost fair and square to a stronger force.
Even when it was Megatron himself. Needlenose wasn't someone Demolishor particularly liked, but if it really came down to life and death...Demolishor wasn't really sure what he'd do.
OOC: Likewise
|
|
Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
|
Post by Duskwing on Feb 18, 2008 2:11:35 GMT -5
Duskwing, not actually having any assigned duties at the moment, briefly wondered where Demolishor and Starfighter were going and decided to follow. He settled on a nearby building overlooking the fountain square...
Oh yeah, Needlenose was in trouble for something that happened before Duskwing reported to the base; Duskwing was fuzzy on the details. Probably something a higher-up screwed up and decided to blame on the guy at the bottom; that's the way it usually was.
Wait, wasn't Needlenose a ranker, too? A Mayhem, at that. A Mayhem getting public punishment! Now wasn't that weird. Mayhems just didn't screw up. This was weird, and it gave Duskwing something to mull over. If Mayhems did actually make mistakes--and wasn't Needlenose getting punished for a mistake?--then why hadn't he ever heard about it before?
It must have been kept secret. They probably executed their screw-ups in secret and disposed of them without anyone else ever knowing. Needlenose was getting off lucky, then. Of course, maybe he hadn't made a mistake and was just taking the blame for Spinister's or Starscream's fubar.
Duskwing turned this idea over some more; it suited his prejudices, and it explained the public punishment. Punish the scapegoat publically and distract attention from the real culprit. It was probably Starscream. Didn't Soundwave call him a "missile with a mouth" once?
Yeah, Needlenose was getting shafted. Par for the course when officers noticed you. Sucked to be him today.
---
Dude is skippable
|
|
|
|
Post by Spinister on Feb 19, 2008 13:53:48 GMT -5
Needlenose is stronger and tougher than Spinister is. The only reason why Spinister can keep his hands around Needlenose's neck is because Needlenose is allowing him to. There may be no one here who is aware of that dynamic but Needlenose and Spinister himself. Needlenose has been repaired by others, but the only one who had touched Spinister's systems, so far, is Needlenose. The dynamic remains critically important, unseen as it may be. Needlenose is accepting his punishment, even if he is trying to blunt it.
Spinister attempts to wrench Needlenose over and slam him head into the basin of the fountain for a violent dunking.
Spinister inquires, almost sounding bored, "Where are your Nebulans?"
It's also interesting to note that Spinister is being physically violent, up close. He is by nature a ranged type. It's a sign that Spinister is actually angry that he's getting in close.
|
|
|
|
Post by Needlenose on Feb 20, 2008 0:50:28 GMT -5
Needlenose allows his head to be slammed into the basin, violently. However, when he pulls his head from the water a tilts his head to catch Spinister just inside of the corner of his field of vision, his optics are narrowed angrily and his antenna lay back. He has accepted his punishment thus far, but is fast approaching his limit.
"Zigzag is in our room looking at a magazine. Sunbeam is trying to see if this town has a pool. So far, he's had no look," he rasps out.
|
|
|
|
Post by Spinister on Feb 21, 2008 20:14:52 GMT -5
"Oh, shame," Spinister replies, voice low and breathy. The onlookers won't get the significance. Maybe even Needlenose won't get the significance. The thought that skittered though Spinister's mind is horrific. Being dunked in water is humiliating for Needlenose, but it isn't going to do any damage. An organic, however, can drown. Spinister wouldn't actually kill Sunbeam or Zigzag, of course, but he could hold him down long enough that Needlenose, an unbreathing machine, would know just what it is to drown.
Singe comments in his head, You're sick, boss.
Hairsplitter protests, Just thorough.
Singe shoots back, Sycophant.
Spinister reprimands both of them, Silence.
The voices in his head cease their clamour, and he returns to considering the next step here. He attempts to lightly stroke one of Needlenose's antennae, almost teasingly. Spinister inquires, "How will you avoid these mistakes?" He pauses long enough for Needlenose to get a reply in, and then he attempts to smack his hand into the antenna, hard, almost hard enough to bend or snap the thin of metal, but not enough to damage. If it connects, there should be painfully shivery reverberations ringing in Needlenose's head.
It isn't that Decepticons hurt the ones they love. It that the ones they love are the ones best suited to hurt them.
|
|
