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| - Golden Gate Park The woods here are evenly spaced, the roads weaving among the trees and carefully trimmed rows of bushes while giving way every few hundred feet to open patches of lush green grass, carefully watered by automatic sprinkler systems. People on bicycles, on horses, on foot and even a few riding in cars are all about, enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of the park that has provided comfort to millions of world-weary residents of San Francisco for nearly seventy years. Although not actually part of the Park, the nearby San Francisco Zoo still provides a rare glimpse of animals long near-extinct. Occasional breaks in the trees and other foliage provide spectacular views of the foam-flecked waves of the leaden sea. It's a rainy, and pretty yucky day overall in San Franscico. But it's good for one thing. When you're a blue and gray jet, you can easily hide in the storm clouds, bopping in an out of them as Vertigo flies along in her MiG-29 alternate mode, scanning the ground below, searching for something.. or someone. "Okay.. he's a dino, he should be on Earth.. where oh where.." she hums quietly as she drops down out of the coulds again to take another look, looping around the Bank of America building and wisely staying out of the way of the radar loops of Autobot sensors. "Well, if I don't find him.. maybe I have to go to plan B." she admits to herself. "No. I'll find him." When Vertigo had requested support, Spinister had better things to do. Mysterious, agenda furthering things. "Are you going to be pissed at me all day?!" Singe demands from his wing. "Yeah, I volunteered us! But it's because it's a good opportunity! NOTHING to do with Vertigo or her shiny metal curves!" Spinister has no response as they shadow her from a distance. Grimlock is easy to find. To be fair, there's not a trail of burning wreckage to follow (yet), but Grimlock's still pretty easy to find. Currently, he's trudging through the park, uncaring of the rain pattering off of his armor like so many Decepticon lasers have before. He's walking away from the Japanese Tea Garden- disappointed? Maybe. "Hn. Me Grimlock no see what big deal is. Not even ninjas there or anythings! Unless...maybe me Grimlock no -SEE- ninjas, 'cause they sneaky. Hm." He murmurs to himself in what passes for self-introspection for a Dinobot. Hubcap is kinda wondering why he so often gets assigned to accompany Grimlock. It happens too often to be random... "Well, Ninja are renowned for sneakiness. Some people think they never even existed, which is /really/ sneaky." Then he adds, "Tea was good, though." Oh, ninjas. That would be soo much, fun.. no. Behave. Vertigo finally spots her quary and sucks in an intake of air, that pops through her frame. Before she drops towards the ground, she sends a message towards Spinister. With a giggle, she starts towards the ground, trying to stay out of the Dinobot's sight as she settles behind a row of houses. "Mommy, there's a plane outside our window!" a young boy yells towards the front of is house. And while he watches, the same plane transforms. "Now it's becoming a Cybertronian!" "That's nice, Timmy." the mom calls back. And after settling, Vertigo gets into character summoning forth a hologram that covers her frame, and starts to form battle damage and energon leaking from numerous wounds. She coughs a few times for effect. "It's a girl Cybertronian!" Timmy calls out. "Stop watching those Japanese cartoons!" the mom yells back. And now, 'Flashback' starts to come out of hiding, coughing weakly as she holds a hand up over her damaged face. "...help me." she rasps, a messenger pack in her free hand. "Hnf. Tea is stupid. And why tea guy wear dress? Me Grimlock thought you get tea from butler-guy in fancy suit." He rumbles. Of course, as the dinobot strides along through the rain, he halts in his tracks as he sees 'Flashback' staggering out from...somewhere. "Uuuuuh." Grimlock says, and looks down at Hubcap. "You know how fix stuff? 'Cuz me Grimlock bad at that." He pauses, and looks back to the femme. "What happen? Who shoot you so me Grimlock can go CRUSH THEM?" Whether Grimlock's saying this out of a sense of duty, or just an excuse to go break stuff remains up for debate. Mysterious Attack Copter maintains a perimeter, Singe responding to the request. <> Helicopter. Whupwhupwhupwhupwhupwhup. Hubcap stops sharply, and stares at 'Flashback.' Then he throws a hand up against Grimlock. "Hold up, something's wrong, here." "Of course something wrong! Lady bot all shot up and me Grimlock need go avenge her!" "Hn." Flashback murmurs, she wasn't expecting shortstack to be with the Dinobot. No problem. "EDC.." she manages, and drops the package. It's a tape player. As it hits, it starts to play over the radio. Franklin Cross, clear as day, discussing the end of the Cybertronian life on Earth - including the destruction of Autobot City. Knowing she won't have time to explain, she starts to fall back behind the buildings, stumbling a little, and flashes a little flare, sending it towards Spinister. "Attackers!" she calls out. And with that, 'Flashback' totally throws the Con team under the bus. Maybe she'll smooch Singe on the forehead later. Nah. "Heh...look at the fools, they have no idea it's really Vertigo!" Singe cackles as the trio watches... "I can't wait to see the look on that Dinobot's face when..." Flare. "Hell." Spinister responds immediately, swooping in torwards the two Autobots. "Singe, attack." Singe, the scorned Nebulan, is happy to oblige. "She'll rue the day she betrayed me...just like they all do..." Massive belches of fire blast torwards the Autobots, and if Vertigo is struck to, well...You know. The wounded Autobot has to keep up appearances, right? Combat: Mysterious Attack Copter strikes Grimlock with his Feeeel feeeel feeeellllllll....feel my heeeeeaaaaat! Area attack! Combat: Mysterious Attack Copter strikes Hubcap with his Feeeel feeeel feeeellllllll....feel my heeeeeaaaaat! Area attack! Combat: Mysterious Attack Copter misses MiG 29 Vertigo with his Feeeel feeeel feeeellllllll....feel my heeeeeaaaaat! Area attack! Grimlock scratches at his helmet. "Huh. EDC? Humies did that? Hnnn." He glances around- but the flare Flashback's shooting up through the rain at Spinister draws his attention! He looks through the rainy haze at the oncoming 'chopper with no small degree of enthusiasm. As soon as Spinister's within firing range, Grimlock's got his own gun out, and he's firing back, plugging away with laser blast after laser blast- he even tromps forwards, putting himself in the way of a blast that would've otherwise struck 'Flashback.' How chivalrous. "You Hubcap make sure lady-bot am okay!" he snaps, naturally falling into a command role. Combat: Grimlock strikes Mysterious Attack Copter with his Lasers! (Laser) attack! Hubcap's optics widen. "She's a 'Con, Grim, watch out for incoming!" With that he jumps forward, trying to grab the tape, which sounds like vital intel. But Singe proves he's not just a letch, and Hubcap has to retreat from the flames. Flashback is a little faster, and probably expecting a countershot. But, she has to sell it. And she does sell it well. As the car explodes nearby from Singe's shot, Flashback screeches and flies backwards. But one meticulous foot kicks the tape right at Hubcap's forehead. Hey, he wanted the tape, right? She's just the delivery girl. Falling behind, Flashback... runs for her life from the EVIL DECEPTICON. "Not today, Iwon'tdietoday, nope." And with that.. she jumps behind the buildings - with another massive explosion. Just wait for it. Vertigo succeeds in grasping Hubcap, throwing him off-balance. Getting shot to death by Grimlock was very low on Spinister's priorities today. He pulls out of his strafing run, diverting his path out of Golden Gate Park and heading towards the Presidio. Transforming into robot mode a good distance away, the trio drops behind Lucasfilm. Combat: Mysterious Attack Copter takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Spinister unfolds into his (terribly) mysterious robot mode! Also: Singe! Hairsplitter! Grimlock says, "Grr!" Grimlock looks at Hubcap. "Stupid septi-con am running off! Me Grimlock catch him! You help ladybot!" and with that, Grimlock takes to the air, soaring after Spinister! Of course, Grimlock's not exactly a fast flyer, so the Double Targetmaster will remain safe...for now, at least! Grimlock touches down on the ground some distance away, and commences prowling past rows of buildings, searching! "Come out, Septi-con! Me Grimlock not even get to punch you yet!"" Combat: Grimlock takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Ow, okay, insult to injury. Not only is Hubcap on fire, but people are also pelting his head with... Oh, hello, cassette tape. Magnetic strip, way retro. Almost absent-mindedly, he pats out the flames as he considers the tape. "Who even uses these anymore? Apart from Blaster and Soundwave..." He trails off and peers at the tape thoughtfully. "If you're a Decepticon, I'm throwing you down a drain..." Hey, all the cool kids and bots use casettes! And Vertigo is a little big to fit down a drain, you know? While she's behind the buildings and crouching from the explosions, she sets off phase 2 of her plan. She opens her bomb-bay doors (look, Singe, NOT A STRIPTEASE) and starts to pull parts from it. Scattering around the golden arm, leg, and torso of a dead femme is pretty gruesome work, but when you're in diversion, it takes that kind of fortitude. After scattering around the parts and making sure the bot symbols show well, Vertigo holograms herself as a large truck and sits some distance away, waiting for Hubcap to come find the poor dead femme. And plant the seeds doubt in his processor about what he thought he heard and saw. Did Vertigo kill this femme and bring her to Earth to drop off. Was her hologram the last throes of her life. Or is just Vertigo a dirty grave robber. The world may never know.. As Grimlock hunts, he no doubt catches SINGE waving his arms and yelling at him. "Try and stop me, Dinobot! Or you'll NEVER save...er...Amber Mackenzie!" And then he runs into the Lucasarts building. "Wait. What?" Grimlock stares at Singe, but hey, the distraction works! Grimlock chases after Singe- and as the little component runs inside, Grimlock dives forward and thrusts his arm through the door (and a bit of the wall around it), attempting to snatch Singe inside of his massive fist! Lucasarts didn't do anything for King Kong, did they? Combat: Grimlock misses Spinister with his GRABBED! (Grab) attack! Hubcap stares at the tape for another minute, then starts hitting things with it. Once he's satisfied it's not alive, he opens a storage compartment and safely stows it away. He doesn't bother himself with investigating a femme he /knows/ is a 'Con. Yeah, it's lazy, but he's Singe turns, just out of reach of the Dinobot, cackles, pointing at the big dumb oaf. "If you were as smart as you were dumb, you could build some sort of amazing Combiner team that should run the Autobots because they're so amazing! But you're NOT so you CAN'T!" Hey, remember that whupwhupwhup from earlier? It's back. A mysterious Apache chopper rises behind Grimlock, firing off two massive bombs at the building as Singe runs out the back, attempting to bring the entire complex down on the Dinobot! It's the weekend, so it's empty...except for the man who invented Jar Jar Binks, who falls into a supply closet full of sharp pencils and is stabbed to death. Singe hauls Neb butt back to the chopper. "Let's get the hell out of here, Spinister! Leave Vertigo to rot before the creepy Stego one shows up!" Spinister transforms into an Apache Attack Helicopter! A MYSTERIOUS ATTACK HELICOPTER! As the hologram fades away, the Deceptifemme realizes that someone mini thinks he's bigger than his processors. "Slag." Vertigo mutters as Hubcap doesn't take the bait. Grabbing the dead femme's torso, she chucks it at the minibot, before she takes to the skies as well. Just as much as Spinister is willing to leave her, she's totally willing to dump him. Face it, she's just too hot for you to handle, Singe~ Combat: Vertigo strikes Hubcap with her Cop a Feel on this Hubby! (Punch) attack!
* KABLOOEY!* Spinister's bombs explode as intended, leveling the Lucasarts building! Grimlock, however- remains far more upright. Sure, the concussion's rattled his bolts a bit, and singed his armor...but when's that going to slow Grimlock down? "Grr. What you say make no sense!" Grimlock says- and, he soars up into the air in pursuit, attempting to grab hold of Spinister! Bad things will likely happen after that. Combat: Grimlock misses Mysterious Attack Copter with his GRABBED! (Grab) attack! Singe shrieks, hanging onto Spin's landing rails for dear life as the Targetmaster goes evasive to get the hell away from Grimlock. The Neb swings his legs up, narrowly avoiding Dino death as the chopper pulls out of reach. Singe gets to his feet, standing on the rail and pointing at Grimlock. "YEAH! Next time, moron!" He blows a little fireball kiss at the Dinobot. It's not gonna do any damage. It's more of a dick move. And Singe is both the king AND kong of those. Combat: Mysterious Attack Copter begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. Hubcap has risen to his feet, but is still lost in thought, an error that will become apparent to him when he recovers from the concussion caused by a body to the head. Until then, he collapses onto the floor. Hopefully someone will preserve the evidence. Satisfied with smacking Hubcap and leaving him lying with a dead femme torso on him, Vertigo does the only thing she can really think of. She takes out a camera and snaps a picture, before she too transforms to race back into the darkened sky. Hey, at least it looks sorta real.
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