Tut,Tut! It looks like rain!

[Hellbender]

Yes sir. Understood, sir." Hellbender stands at attention and nods a bit more formally. "Ah can't say Ah'm surprised--Ah remember that there video."

--and the utter, shameful terror it evoked. Of course, if Unicron had been here, it would or had destroyed Cybertron.

"Where to, then?"

[Victoria Raines]

He considers Hellbender's question. They have options, of course. Several of them. There seem to be many planets in common between realities, though there is one which hold Shockwave's attention for a completely selfish reason.

An insignificant little mudball called Earth.

But first, they must determine the full truth. Has this reality's Cybertron truly become mere fragments of metal floating about the universe, its inhabitants lost, or is it merely damaged, wounded?

Can it be saved? Salvaged?

What of this reality's own Matrix?

Many questions, all sliding through the purple Decepticon's mind in the space of a few seconds.

"That remains to be determined. After all, we do not know yet if this group will follow me, now do we? I will honestly be surprised if Starscream does not order Spinister and Needlenose to cut me down at some point, and if they attempt that...there will be chaos amongst us."

[Hellbender]

"That... would be bad," Hellbender agrees. "Ah'd hate to have to kill Needlenose and Spinister--they're from my reality and they're good soldiers, not raving nutjobs like some of them back home." Fangry, Bombburst, Hellbender is thinking of you.

"Though Misfire isn't a nutjob, he's just jinxed at shootin'" Hellbender smiles wryly.

He resumes his slow amble about the room. "Well... Megatron didn't seem to have problems with folks followin' Starscream instead of him. He had problems with troopers followin' you and Scorponok, instead, sir. Ah don't know how much difference it makes that he's not the same Starscream, but folks from my reality ain't really used to Starscream bein' a successful leader. They are used to you takin' over, and doing more damage to the Autobots in one day than Megatron did in all his years."

[Victoria Raines]

Shockwave is not quite sure he likes this pedestal Hellbender just shoved beneath him. While the gunformer could most definitely orchestrate such a move, do such damage to their opponents, it is not something Shockwave currently wishes to do. There are too many factors which must be considered.

Not to mention the fact that Rodimus Prime needs to be kept alive is possible. Shockwave had not expected a killing shot on them both when he gave Spinister that order- merely, perhaps, an incapacitating one.

"Hrm. That begs the question: why did he take my orders, if he only answers to the head? Especially when they both worry that I might proves as...unstable as their own?" Shockwave muses aloud. "No matter. At any rate, there is much to be done and much to be considered before any such move is made. I would prefer to not instigate a small-scale civil war."

"Now, kindly explain to me the issue you had with Blitzwing, and why it was necessary to risk the possible wasting of resources to repair yourselves and the base itself?"

[Hellbender]

"Ah dunno, sir. Maybe they've had time to figure you're not quite like our Shockwave, sir. Ah missed the part where whatever happened to make the Mayhems think you're unstable, suh. Somethin' about a time war, and Ah think Ah'm from the part that didn't happen. Good thing for us it didn't happen, too. Seriously." Hellbender's tone turns flat.

"Yes sir, Ah can agree with that. The civil war we had back home kept us 'Cons from gettin' anything done while the Autobots were havin' there own little civil war. Though if these here 'Bots are ever nuts enough to pick Grimlock to lead them when the Prime or the Emirate goes down, could get seriously interestin'," Hellbender nods, with just a trace of a smirk.

..which promptly vanishes at Shockwave's question. "We had a disagreement on battlefield actions, sir. We settled it. Ah'd prefer not to go into details, if that's all right with you, sir."

[Victoria Raines]

One head fin tilts back a fraction. "And if it is not all right?" he counters, tone even and... a shade cool, "Do you think I inquire after your reasoning for nothing more than idle curiosity, or to carry tales out of school?"

Shockwave leans forward, props his elbows on the worktable, and cups his hand over the end of his canon as he stares impassively at Hellbender. The worm is an excellent tool, a weapon, a supporter, but he is not an equal. Shockwave thinks perhaps this pet forgets that on occasion. Not that he is owned, no; Hellbender knows exactly to whom he belongs. But perhaps he mistakes these little confidences of Shockwave's as something beyond mere ownership.

"Now," he continues, "I do not care that you had a disagreement. I do not even care that it was resolved in a physical manner; such is the nature of 'disagreements' between our kind, more often than not. But I do so abhor waste."

His optic flickers, "And your rank here is not greater than his, to place you in a position to punish him for his lacks on the battlefield."

[Hellbender]

Hellbender freezes his pacing at the hint of disapproval in Lord Shockwave's mood.

"No sir, it is not." Hellbender nods in acknowledgement. " Ah'm not his superior officer, so Ah simply expressed mah opinion to Blitzwing of him runnin' out on me and the Air Commander in the middle of a battle, sir. Ah didn't push things any further than he took 'em, sir."

He ducks his head slightly. "Ah apologize if Ah overstepped mah bounds, sir. You--the other You, from back home--did give me squad leader assignments most of the time, sir. Ah think maybe Ah got in the habit of thinkin' like a squad sergeant, sir."

[Victoria Raines]

"Hrm."

Hellbender offers explanations and excuses, all of which while perfectly plausible, nay, even acceptable, do little to address Shockwave's actual question and concern.

"A retreat had been called, and neither you nor Starscream were in any real danger. But have a care in the future when expressing such opinions, as well as how you express them."

"Were this my Blitzwing, for example, you may not have fared so well. He is to myself, as you are to your own Shockwave." Well, at least he was until Shockwave started working on Sixshot. And Shockwave's Blitzwing is a right nutter, he is; getting treated as a cell in a metaphysical battery will do that to you.

Shockwave makes a few notes on his datapad, "Have you any other concerns you wish to discuss while you've the chance?"

[Hellbender]

Alas, Hellbender lacks Soundwave's mind-reading abilities, nor is he as intelligent and as perceptive as Skyfire. To his mind, he has answered the question: he challenged Blitzwing because Blitzwing ran from battle.

"Yes, sir. Back home, our Blitzwing is one of the Top Ten, which is why Ah couldn't figure why he ran. Figured maybe it had something to do with Astrotrain and Octane not bein' here to back him up, but this here Blitzwing says he don't need them, so maybe he doesn't hang around with them all the time like the one Ah remember did." Hellbender looks a bit uncomfortable; Lord Shockwave is still unhappy with him.

"He's pretty much all right," Hellbender says, not meaning just physical health. "Like Ah said, we settled things."

"Anything else?" Hellbender starts that slow pacing around Shockwave's lab again, from one incomprehensible piece of equipment to the next.

He halts and says, "Sir, do you figure we'll be goin' up against Unicron eventually?"

[Victoria Raines]

Hellbender will have to face the fact that even the most prized hound in the pack occasionally displeases his master, and no amount of palm-licking will soothe that displeasure. But as always, the displeasure will pass soon enough, and the prized pet will once again get an extra measure of treats.

There is the barest of pauses in his work as before Shockwave answers, "Everything is an eventuality, from our being suddenly returned to our homes and fates, to this planet imploding from too much exposure to temporal disturbance, to finding myself one day performing a post-mortem on a latter-time version of myself."

"So yes, we may one day face the Chaos-Bringer. Such is our fate and function, from all that I have studied."

Shockwave picks up one of the fragments, turning it over and again in his hand. "Now, if there is nothing else, you are dismissed."

[Hellbender]

The worm-former still looks unhappy, but no doubt that's due to Shockwave's displeasure with him. "Yes, sir. Nothing more, sir."

He salutes, and thumbs the door-lock open; he's been dismissed, it's time to leave....

Before Shockwave guesses that he's terrified of facing Unicron again.

---
Out-of-thread unless stopped