| abstract
| - The Wayside Chapel used to be a place to come and pray to Primus, where anyone could come for a sympathetic audio from one of the monks. But that was before the war. The chapel is a shadow of its former self, and not even worse off as the local gang has claimed it as their own. The Skorponoks are in full force, hanging out inside and outside the building. Typically mech bravado mixes with the few femmes that hang out with them. Hot Wheels steps out of the old run down chapel, "Wow.. you boys sure know how to pick a groovy pad as HQ." he smirks to one of the other racers, "You know..was Cubicron too shabby of a hangout.. so you guys got this dust bowl?" he jerks to the building with a thumb Arcee happens to be with Hot Rod (Hot Wheels). "It's very...interesting," Arcee says. The surroundings do look incongruous to the purpose they've been put to. Seems almost a sacrilege to her. Shark is also with them, but hanging back a bit after the last time they had run into the group. He lets Hot Wheels handle things since he's gotten in on their good side. For now the mech is going to watch, listen, and see how this unfolds. The group turns to look toward Hot Wheels and Arcee. The leader of the group jerks his head a bit, "Cubricon is controlled by the mafia and gangs down there man, and we ain't ready to mess with them." he steps toward Hot Wheels, though he is giving Arcee a thorough looking over. "I see you somehow wrangled the pink and white femme. Gave us a run for our credits last we met." Hot Rod narrows his red optics at the gang leader as he moves closer to Arcee, "Aw come on.. you're scared of the mafia? Those mechs are two bit thugs! I thought you guys were made of sterner stuff." then he moves to stand between the leader and Arcee, "Hey, all I had to do was show her what being with a real mech was like.. ha, I guess she liked the feeling." he pauses before adding, "How can you blame her? I mean what’s more exciting.. being with a Scorponok champion or some loser Autobot goody good bot?" Arcee chuckles. "Oh yes, you showed me," she says to "Hot Wheels". "This is way more exciting. Now, will you fellas show me a good race again? I was getting bored." Shark would be offended by that little jibe, but luckily for the in disguise Hot Rod the mech knows he's playing his part, reminding them of who they met when they met Arcee so they can enjoy a good laugh. "I dunno, ya never know when a goody-good can be all good fun like, wot wit dem bein' all ga-ga an' easy ter control 'n all..." comes what could only vaguely be called a droll from the usually chipper femme. She had just entered, and behind her was a dented trailer packed with unlabeled cargo. The petit femme places a hand on her studded waist and arches an optic ridge, her gaze shifting to the leader. "Got ther goods ya requested, nice 'n fast, ther way ya like it." The leader gives Hot Wheels a smirk, "Not afraid, just gotta be prepared for them. They got a firm hold down there, cannot go down there with more numbers and some weaponry." then he scoffs the younger mech openly, "Real mech huh? I happen to be one of those flames." then a nod to Arcee, "Oh I think we could show you a race lovely one." he purrs softly, then a turn of the head toward Swivel, "Ah there you are..." Hot Rod turns to look at Arcee and the leader, a visible look of displeasure in his boyish red optics, " Hey hands off my femme!" he moves closer to Arcee and whispers to her, "You shouldn't be here." then he sighs as his task has just gotten that more complicated now that he has to worry about something happening to Arcee. Then his attention turns to Swivel, "I thought you said you wanted to give her a good race.. why don't YOU race me?" he smirks to the leader as he crosses his arms over his chest plate. "Yes, why don't you race him?" Arcee says to "Hot Wheels", "I'd love to see how you do." She winks at him. The jealousy displayed by "Hot Wheels" is amusing her. Shark hms as he spots Swivel joining in, this just got more interesting... and complicated... at the same time. He keeps to his position, watching over things from his hiding spot. He checks the weapon that Jackknife gave him before heading out here, making sure it’s loaded. Oh yeah, there's gonna be some payback. It just makes him grin thinking the chaos he's gonna cause. Swivel pats a hand on the delivery she brought, showing open pride for a job well done. She then turns and claps her hands together. "So.... any tough mechs gonner help me un..." she doesn't finish her sentence as her presence takes a back seat to the challenge of a new upstart against the leader. She tilts her head to the side, curious about how this will all pan out. She keeps comments to herself, although the close observer will note it is taking a lot of will power for her not to maintain her chatterbox tendencies. She clasps her hands together to keep them still as she watches with child-like anticipation. The leader grins a bit to the tone from Hot Wheels, "Was I touching "your femme"?" he asks, making little quote signs with his fingers. Then a chuckle at the challenge, "Oh really. Think you can take me.. /youngling/?" he inquires with an accent on the youngling, "I don't think you got the engine to take me down." There's woots, hollars, and cries of agreement from the rest of the group. Then he looks to Arcee, rubbing at his chin and smirking, "On one condition. I win, I get a date with you without him around." Hot Rod snorts and winks at Arcee, "Try to keep old timer and I'll try not to get too much exhaust in your grill." he spouts off confidently then transforms into his racer mode and revs his engines as he moves towards the starting line, "First one to Cubicron and back is the winner.. what do you say?" "Well, now, that's assuming you can beat him," Arcee says with a wink. "Since I'm pretty sure he can beat you, agreed." Shark sits back to watch how this is going to unfold. Hopefully Hot Rod got his engines looked at by a medic! Else this is going to be ugly! The leader transforms to his vehicular form and revs his engine, "Let's do this, Cubricon and back sounds like a good romp to me." he states, moving to a spot next to Swivel, "You can start us up eh babe?" he asks with a chuckle. Swivel tilts her head to the other side as 'Hot Wheels' gets his engine rearing to go. She glances over at Arcee almost questioning the femme's sanity to be alright with such an arrangement. Then again, she had to keep reminding herself that femmes had best get used to being thought of as property around these sorts. Her optics glance over at some of the other gang gals before they jump to attention when she is addressed by the leader. She stares with her wide purple optics and points to her chest plate mouthing 'who me' before quickly nodding and heading over to where Hot Rod is rumbling, waiting for a race. She takes a few steps to the side to make sure not to get scuffed. Rolling her shoulders back she holds out an arm perpendicular to herself. She prepares her most girly voice possible, which isn't hard for the already feminine timbers of her vocalizers. "Aight! On yer marks... get set..." she pauses dramatically before finally shouting "GO!" and lifting her arm and stepping back. If she wasn't afraid of the more jumpy mechs overreacting, she would have even fired a pistol. Vroom! Vrooom! Then off they go! Tires peeling out, rubber burning out noxious smoke! The two are off and out of sight... it will be a short while before they return, after all Cubricon is a fair jaunt! Taweret picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Taweret rolls a 19! Taweret picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Taweret rolls a 4! Taweret picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Taweret rolls a 14! Taweret picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Taweret rolls a 5! Taweret picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Taweret rolls a 12! Taweret picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Taweret rolls a 2! Arcee smirks triumphantly as the Leader loses to Hot Wheels. "I knew it," she says, "Nobody can beat Hot Wheels." Arcee waits patiently for the Leader and "Hot Wheels" to return. "Come on, Hot Wheels!" she cheers. Shark shakes his head, shifting a bit in his hiding spot as he keeps his scanners going... just in case they get any unexpected visitors. His little chaos making can wait for the whole gang is speeding around. Swivel balls her punitive hands into fists as she watches the mechs screech off into the distance. She takes a few more steps away, not wanting to get bulled over by any spectators that went racing off for a good view of the race, as opposed to those happy to wait at the finish line. However, she remains faithfully perched around the finish line. It was only good manners since she started them off. Her optics glance over to Arcee. "Ya gotter lotter faith in tha hot shot," she remarks conversationally. It’s some minutes later and the sound of overcharged engines can be heard drawing closer. The nearer they get, the louder the sound becomes. It's clear though that Hot Wheels has the leader beat by at least a couple car lengths. The two reach the finish line, which happens to be Swivel. The rest of the gang is dead silent as the leader transforms and shakes his head, "You saw it here all, I've finally been bested." he intones. Arcee smirks triumphantly as the Leader loses to Hot Wheels. "I knew it," she says, "Nobody can beat Hot Wheels." So much for the Leader's hope of dating Arcee! Shark smirks! That was just too much! So going to buy that kid a drink once this is over. That is if this is the mission that brings these punks in that is... all depends on this weapon of Jackknife's right now. Swivel jumps to attention when she hears the noise of the racers returning and holds out an arm, keeping a distance so not to be struck down by either speed demon. When Hot Wheels rolls in first she lifts her arm and yells out "WINNER!". She keeps her optics tentatively on the leader to see how he takes to losing. Seeing was appears to be a graceful loss, she relaxes a little. However, asking for her payment right now, even if the boss seems to be handling his loss well, didn't seem very smart. So instead Swivel just seeks out some tough mechs to help her finally get the cargo unloaded. The leader chuckled a little bit "I went easy on you this time Hot Shot." he states, deliberately renaming the other mech "Cause I like you. You're all right." he notes as his engine revs up, rolling towards the others. Truth? Lie to cover his loss? Hard to tell really. He pulls up next to Swivel slightly as he transforms into his black, sleek shiny self.(is that correct?) "Likely story," Arcee mutters under her breath. "Well done!" she says to "Hot Wheels". He watches the leader pull up to Swivel and watches what he does. Shark hms as he watches Swivel try to get some of the mechs to help her with cargo stuff. He idly taps on the weapon in his hand, hmm, what would those punks have asked for he wonders... Swivel straightens her back a little when she sees the leader pull over to her. She quickly puts on a lopsided smile as she finishes passing one of the unlabeled crates to a larger mech. "Yer such a generous boss, boss, to pull ther race like that!" she praises openly. "Definitely short stuff. Thanks for the help." he flips a coin to her, extra pay as he dusts his hands off with a grin, turning to peer at the others "Uncrate it and enjoy yourselves, leave some for me, and our visitors!" he waves to Hot Wheels and Arcee. "We'll have a relaxin' time tonight. You young punks go race some and practice if you want." Arcee is curious about what's in the crates. She goes over to them and peers. "Hmmm, now what's this?" she wonders. Shark smiles as he sees a few of the group transforming and readying to race. "Bout time." he whispers, shifting the weapon into both hands. He has it preloaded and ready to rock, just have to wait for the right moment.. then chaos! Swivel trips over herself to catch the coin, fumbling with it and almost falling forward in an attempt to catch it. The result is her ending in a comically precarious stance, but triumphant in not letting her tip hit the ground. Relief washing visibly over her features, she slowly draws herself up only to slouch as she glances around. If it were for pigmentation, her face would be sporting a slight blush. "Thank ya boss, yer ther best!" "Woah, careful there!" chuckles the mech as he watches her "Maybe lay off the heavy stuff right? And don’t call me boss. I'm Grease." he notes simply to her, nodding. "Just drinks my good lady. " explains the other mech easily "After all, cant' have a party without drinks." It was nice decent grate energon. "Oh. I think I'll try some," Arcee says, "You don't mind, do you?" Shark clicks his inter Bot radio, "Magnum, you in position mech?" he asks, "I'm ready to give this group a lesson they won't soon forget when you are." The weapon of Jackknife's is pointed toward the group already starting up a little race around the chapel. "On my mark hm?" he furthers. Swivel lets out a sheepish giggle and rubs the back of what constitutes as a neck. "Alrighty, Bo... Grease! Dun suppose ya got me next job lined up?" she inquires, her optics darting between the mechs opening the crates and back to Grease. Of course, she figures there isn't another job right now, since it was time to party, but she always felt better asking. Playing the part of the simpering lackey was certainly not beneath Swivel if it got her a bonus. "Sit back and relax kid." notes Grease as he tosses a bottle to Arcee and a smaller one to Rod. on purpose. Arcee chuckles at the smaller bottle tossed to Hot Wheels. She opens the bottle she's given and takes a sip. "Hmmm, not bad. Not bad at all." She takes another swig. "So where did you find this stuff?" Magnum is indeed in position. How the large, noisy Mech actually GOT into his position is likely due to the greasers paying attention to other things. Magnum raises Jackknife's weapon and loads the glue shot in, knowing firsthand what it can do. Magnum cocks the weapon and peers out from his hiding spot with an optic. "I am ready." Magnum radios in return to Shark, waiting for the signal. "Sit back and relax kid." notes Grease as he tosses a bottle to Arcee and a smaller one to Rod. on purpose. He then turns to open his own, sharing it with his girl. Suddenly, everyone’s radios started to hiss loudly. Shark smirks toothily, "I got the spikes in. I'll shoot toward the back four of the grouping, you aim for the front four. Then we both reload and repeat the shots, both with black light at those that are in root mood to keep them occupied. Try not to tag Arcee or Swivel." he states, then he takes aim, "Ready. Mark!" Off goes his load, the crossbow type of weapon sending out its package which splits up about midway to their targets and the spikes coming down to land amongst the racers. Swivel grabs a hold of her trailer to wheel it out lest it get wrecked by one of the members wheeling about with abandon, but stops short when Arcee asks where they got the energon. There is a slight tic under her eight optic, but she forces on a smile. "I canna tell ya!" she peeps before something catches her attention. Swivel frowns at the sound of her radio hissing and she quickly turns it down. Just as she was about to resume wheeling out her trailer, the weapon is unleashed and she lets out an undignified squawk of surprise. Before Shark gives the signal, Magnum replies. "I have the glue. Hopefully this can catch more than just the lead racers. I hate that it has to resort to this, but we do what we must." Then on Shark's signal, Magnum swings out of his hiding area as well. He takes aim and fires the glue shot for affect towards the front of the group. Magnum picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Magnum rolls a 3! Psykeout's optics can be seen bouncing at the top of the hill, just to the right of the chapel. His hands are clasped behind his back as he crosses the crest, his head hung low. He pays no heed to the voices, as he doesn't know exactly where they are or where they are coming from. It would be easy to look up and survey the crowd, but his presence inspires so much reaction, that it will be better this way. A piece of glass tinkles as it falls from the frame, as though even inanimate objects try to run away from the Deception psychologist. There's confusion as the first mechs' tires burst and they skid, several colliding into each other. The others that are missed suddenly scatter in all directions, zipping so that very little glue landed on them. Angry shouts passed back and forth as they start to spread out and home in on Magnums' position now, the Leader, Grease, turning to scowl that way "Radios jammed then this? I knew Autobots were no good... " Shark picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Shark rolls a 16! Shark reloads his weapon with a black light load. Even if the radio hisses with static, at least the plan was in place. He smirks as tires burst and mechs go skidding out of control. Sucks to be them! His scanners beep at him as a Con signal appears on it. Hmm, well not it got even MORE interesting! Swivel lets out a secondary squeal as one of the inflicted mechs goes skidding into her trailer, laying into it with enough force to bend it completely out of shape. Quick reflexes work in her favor as she manages to escape a similar fate, but amidst the chaos she loudly laments the loss of her property. "EEE MY TRAILER!" she wails in protest only to get out of the way of another struck and confused Scorp. Magnum needs to get a better shot off if he wants to help one of his fellow Autobots. Quietly cursing himself for lack of accuracy, Magnum makes a mental note that he needs to spend more time at the firing range. Since the racers have scattered and are coming in hot, Magnum decides to stick with the plan. He loads up the black light shot, and fires at the Skorps that are further out. Magnum picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Magnum rolls a 20! Psykeout crosses over the top of the hill, stands beside the opening to the chapel and leans against the door's opening. His optics flicker, as he watches down at the group below. He catches a glimpse of Swivel and a smirk curls at the corner of his lips. Then Magnum fires off that shot and his concentration is broken. His fingers tap the edge of the laser scalpel, as he waits to see what everybody else's reaction may be. Several more fighters are hit, as they go into controlled slides to a halt. But several others escaped, now zipping randomly back and forth. With the roar of an engine, one ends up flying RIGHT AT SHARK, headlights flashing brightly to blind! Two more start to flank Magnum as Grease honks his horn, a signal. The others start to fall back - the busted-tire ones transforming to run for the exit to the underground and help the glud ones free, weapons being drawn now. "I'll replace it babe. Just get to cover. " The static increases, now a distraction. Odin has arrived. Odin picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Odin rolls a 5! Psykeout picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Psykeout rolls a 2! Shark picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Shark rolls a 13! Disco Rolls The Hard Way: +10 Ram on shark rand(1,20) Disco Rolls the Hard Way: Lasers on Magnus rand(1,20) Disco Rolls The Hard Way: +10 Ram on shark 11 Disco Rolls the Hard Way: Lasers on Magnus 10 Shark picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 <(10+) Evade Ram?> Shark rolls a 9! Magnum picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Magnum rolls a 10! Arcee picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Arcee rolls a 6! Dionysus picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Dionysus rolls a 8! Once the new race starts, Arcee has a seat and waits as she continues to sip the drink. She'd pondered joining in, but had decided against it. Shark takes aim for the group as they begin to scatter, his black light shot: takes aim for the group as they begin to scatter, his black light shot is paused though as the headlights try to blind him. He looks away and growls softly... apparently his cover is blown now. He moves out of his hiding spot, only to get rammed into for his trouble. He loses his grip on the weapon in his hand, separated from it for the moment. Oh Jackknife is gonna hurt him if he loses that! Odin picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Odin rolls a 20! Swivel sags her shoulders, knowing there was no point in further getting worked up over the busted trailer. What seemed to be the better option now would be to get the hell out of dodge while whatever was going down went down. Trying not to draw much more attention to herself, Swivel attempts to sneak off quietly, only to be caught in her tracks when she detects the chilling yet familiar presence that was lurking in the chapel doors. A more organic being would blanch and gulp, but as being just a robot, she merely allows her optics to widen as she tears her notice around, hoping maybe to not be noticed... Discordia picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Discordia rolls a 7! Arcee sees that the race has turned into a fight. Demolition Derby? She's too far away to do anything about it at the moment, plus she wants to keep her 'cover.' So she just observes from afar. Magnum manages to duck back behind his cover just by the skin of his teeth. Whew, that was a little TOO close for comfort. The rocks fly overhead and quickly land on the surface, acting as mini-projectiles. With the radios out, Magnum has to resort to shouting. "Shark! What's your status?" Magnum switches shot types, going again for the fast-acting glue. Hopefully THIS time Magnum can be more successful with it. Magnum picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Magnum rolls a 6! Psykeout pulls his hand off of the laser scalpel and brings his hand to his chin. Swivel. Walking directly towards him. The smirk on his face grows wider and he takes a step towards the femme, tapping his finger on the base of his chin, "Well, well, well...fancy meeting you here..." "You deaf there pinkie? " the leader shouts to Arcee, "I was calling the 'fall back underground' call!" he says, pointing to her and hot Rod (wherever he went) as he pulls out his own rifle. The cars scatter again at Magnum, more firepower going his way. The car that hit Shark keeps going, rolling away now as another one comes towards Shark, intending to just roll right over him! They played mean it seems. Discordia picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Discordia rolls a 11! Discordia picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Discordia rolls a 6! Shark picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Shark rolls a 3! Arcee ohs and heads for the underground as the Leader instructs. Hopefully "Hot Wheels" is also doing so as well! She conceals herself, but looks back a few times. Magnum picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Magnum rolls a 16! Shark is hoping right about now that there's a medic on call somewhere nearby since he has a feeling he's going to need one. He gets hit again, unable to reach the weapon as it skitters away from another impact over it. His radio hisses static, so there's no calling up Magnum let alone hearing the mech. So much for that. Swivel steadies herself and steels her expression to one of neutrality... well... as best as she can. There is a deal of twitching noticeable as she responds. "Yes, um, Chapel, not really your scene," she says hurriedly, her pitch higher than usual to reflect her floundering suppression of hysterics. "I was just leaving, you know, with all the chaos and... I have jobs to do and..." she trails off, trying to offer up a nonchalant shrug. Magnum sure isn't having any luck with that glue shot. And it worked SO well when it kind of... backfired against him. With a frustrated vent, Magnum ducks back behind the cover before the lasers can do any damage. Although Magnum is avoiding damage with his quick potshots, he is getting frustrated with failing to connect with the shots. Magnum looks over to Shark's position and sees him in trouble. Magnum chooses the dark shot again to provide him some concealment while he moves over to Shark's position. Magnum picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Magnum rolls a 18! Psykeout shakes his head, "No, no. No need to rush out of here," He motions to the building behind him, "Actually, I do some of my best work here." A smile crosses his face, as he stretches his arms wide and his head falls to the side, "Look familiar?" He shakes his head, "Pay no heed to that. The chapel," He motions towards the building behind him, "is a haven for those that have lost their way. A fake ideal lays inside. For it is inside of this building that I 'help' the inhabitants. I help them to see the error of their ways and guide them in the correct direction." Psykeout pauses for a moment, looking at the chaos below. He shakes his head and looks back to Swivel, "As interesting as it would be to inquire about the events down below, I think that inquiring about your recent activities is more interesting. Seeing as you're not an Autobot, pray tell what jobs do you have to attend to?" The darkness envelops Shark, and his attackers back off, not sure where he was in the cloud of darkness. A few wander blindly, before rolling off in random directions. Meanwhile, the leader takes a careful, aimed shot at Magnum "Hey Swivs! you comin?" he shouts up "Or do you want to go with your boyfriend? " The radio hisses and crackles again, the last few Scorponoks starting to fall back blindly. Then over the radio, dead silence. No communication, but no static. Discordia picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Discordia rolls a 19! Magnum picks up the dicebag and takes out a D20 Magnum rolls a 18! Arcee is well down the hole now, making her way to safety. So far, so good. When the retreat was called, she had headed there. She just hopes the Autobots don't misguidedly follow her down along with. Shark uses the darkness to grab the weapon he lost track of and get back to his feet, making a quick retreat to safety... well as quick as some damaged legs and hips will allow anyway! He glances around, looking for where 'Hot Wheels', Arcee, Magnum, and yes even Swivel are located. Frowning a bit as he spots the Con now with his own optics. Swivel pauses, sighing inwardly and is about to say something as Psykeout does what he does best.... talks. Then again, so does she. They both use a lot of words. A match made in heaven? Swivel's optics bulge when Grease refers to Psykeout as her boyfriend. She glances over looking a bit lost. "Aaaaaah... err...." she mumbles and shrinks a little. The underground... Psykeout wouldn't follow her there... right? Maybe. Probably not. But did she want to be openly associated with them by the Autobots? That could hurt her business. Not going might insult Grease, though, and that would ALSO be bad. Then there's Psykeout. He gets cranky sometimes for the strangest reasons, and not answering his question might be one of them. Swivel almost wants to cry right now. Dilemmas and her do not always mix. She finally weakly turns and waves at the hole. "Nope, I'm okay, be safe now!" she yells in her most reassured, casual tone. She glances at Psykeout's chin, not really wanting to make direct optic contact just yet. "I'd love to stay and chat, but, uh.... busy going that way now!" she says pointing in a seemingly random direction before heading off in that direction. Magnum tries to make his way towards Shark as fast as his feet allow. But Magnum is anything but fast. Magnum's sensors pick up on the leader's shot well enough and he tries to dive for safety. Alas, Magnum is too large and too slow to get over to Shark in time, and takes a shot in his side armor with a distinct *CLANG!* Magnum keeps moving even while shot and taking fire, quickly taking up position next to Shark. "Shark, are you hurt? Magnum asks, kneeling beside him with weapon raised, pointed down range. Psykeout watches her run away, but reconsiders. There's too many variables in chasing her. Instead, Psykeout heads into the chapel and takes a seat in one of the benches. There's always another opportunity...entering a fight just isn't worth it right now. "PSYKE." a voice emits over the radio. The last of the Scorponoks were gone now, with only pieces left behind, and a large amount of Energon. Arcee makes herself scarce, and looks around for the other Skorponoks. She wonders where the real deep shelter is, as she makes her way further and deeper underground. Shark glances over at the larger mech and grimaces a bit, "Yeah, but I'll live. Guess we needed more Bots out here to deal with all these racers. But at least now we got a solid head count so we'll be better prepared. I think we should get the slag out of here. See if one of the medics is willing to fix my sorry chassis." he looks over the weapon in his hands, "Uh, you want to explain to Jackknife this damage was NOT my fault?" he asks with a hopeful grin. Swivel had gotten a ways away before the thought that all that high grade energon she'd boost - er, legally obtained was left behind in that ruckus. Scavenging was also not beneath her, and so she turns on her heel and quietly starts heading back to see if any of it was left undamaged, Psykeout or no Psykeout! Sneak sneak sneak.... "EEK!" she lets out when a voice comes over the radio, startling her already shot.... nerves? Magnum laughs. "I'd rather not make her that upset. But I can definitely be there and vouch with you, my friend. And I agree with your deduction; we definitely need more Autobots to help deal with such a large crowd. Do you require assistance to get back to the repair bay?" Magnum asks, before turning an optic around. "Shark, do you hear that on the radio? I thought they were out." Psykeout leans back in the bench, his arms stretched out on either side. The voices from outside carry in through the open doorway, but Psyke isn't paying attention to what they're saying. Just the sound registers in his circuitry. His head falls over the back of the bench and the optics go black, almost as though he's recharging outside of the recharging bed. His radio has been off for megacycles, so he wouldn't hear the voice coming out of it. After a few minutes, the voice comes again, this time somehow resonating from nearby metal or items to echo and act as speakers - 'turning on' a vibrating radio so that it was audible without radios "PSYKE!" Shark nods to Magnum, "I thought I knew wrath my friend, but Jackie she can be wrath incarnate when you ruin her weapons she worked so hard to make." he notes and then a smiles, "I think I can make it under my own power." then a pause, "Uh yeah.. but radio is dead so someone's controlling it. I swear if this is that Fumech slagger again I'm going to ask Prime to give us a better communications set up." "What was THAT?" Arcee exclaims. She wonders if anyone else heard that. "Someone was calling for one of the Decepticons!" Is there anyone around to hear her? Swivel reaches the chapel doors, hunched over so far she was nearly crawling. She pauses at the door, as that voice returns, calling for Psyke. Her optics flicker with curiosity. This might actually be.... entertaining? Her optics quickly go to some of the crates that were still intact. She worked nice and hard to get that stuff, and she'll be damned before she lets it go to waste. Quietly, she tries to sneak towards the crate. Magnum stands, offering Shark at least a hand or shoulder to lean on. "That is good to hear. Perhaps we should ask Wheeljack, Perceptor or Jackknife for that better communication system anyway. One less prone to interference." Magnum adds, noting that it might be a good idea anyway. With a laugh, Magnum replies, "That she is. You should have seen her last cycle when this weapon jammed up on me. I was covered in glue, and she had to get me out. I didn't hear the end of that for some time." Magnum says with a smile, thinking that it WAS kind of funny in retrospect. "Before we go, do you think we should try to get some of this Energon?" Magnum asks, thinking it would probably be prudent to do so. Psykeout's optics flicker softly, as he hears the voice call out his name. It's not from his own radio, a piece of slag that he left in his office. There was no reason for him to consider talking to the Cons. None of them came to visit him in Dead End. None of them considered acknowledging that he was actually alive. A finger twitches softly, as the voices grow closer and the voice calling out to him resonates in his psyche. Who was calling him? Who wanted to speak with him? There were so many...so many victims. Was this just another one trying to haunt him from the junkyard? Impossible...they were destroyed. He even ate some of their cores. His optics went black once again, his head hung back over the edge of the bench. The voice is quiet again. Then softer "Psyke? " through only the radio again "Is he here??" then a pause, waiting for a reply. Shark smirks to that, then glances over at the energon, then hmms, a shake of his head before he states, "Well to be fair, Swivel brought it so why not leave it for her? Or perhaps pay her for a portion of it? Got be fair if we are to call ourselves Autobots." he chuckles, "I hope to Primus he is as I tire of your prattling!" he yells out to the mystery voice. Swivel narrows her optics as the voice peeps up again. Well it talks but can't see. Odd. Well maybe not so odd. Swivel decides to do what she usually does and does not think hard about it. Tiptoeing in the chapel, she glances over to where Psykeout is 'relaxing' on a bench. She's tempted to answer the voice, but that would be just silly. Not that she isn't prone to answer the call of disembodied voices. However, she doesn't want to attract attention as she picks up the first crate. She glances over at her wrecked trailer and frowns. It won't be easy to move it all, but she can at least recover some of it and cut her losses. Psykeout's optics flicker softly, as he hears movement from behind him. He knows the scent. He knows all too well who's at the other end of the chapel, pretending as though he doesn't exist. So possible to jump out and tear her limb from limb, but there's something inside keeping him from doing so. Instead, he listens to the conversation occurring outside. Shark's voice jars him out of his 'mode,' and he snaps his head up. There's something severely off. Not only has Psykeout heard his own name called, now there are others that are looking for him. Rushing towards the door, he pauses and points at Swivel, "We aren't done yet, femme. We have a lot to....talk about." He steps outside and spreads his arms wide, his head looking towards the sky, "WHAT?! WHAT THE FRAG DO YOU WANT, YOU USELESS PIECE OF EXISTENCE?! You call me...with no vocoder. You beg for a fight, with no armor. What do you want, femme? Do you want me to examine you? Do you want me to psychologize you? Or do you simply want to be on the receiving end of my experiment?" The frustration is obvious in his voice. Hearing the voice over and over for so long may have finally helped to push him over the edge. Then again, it could just be Psykeout being himself... Magnum nods, "I agree. I was unaware that it was her Energon, I was under the impression it was the Skorpionoks'." Magnum adds. "Either way, we should head back soon." The voice, Ironically, is finally gone. Or is it? A whisper continues, clear and yet faint "... I want psyke. He can find me. He knows where I am. The Deepest, the Darkest, black, blacker blackest. Coldest." then it was truly gone. Shark nods to Magnum, "We go then. Let Swivel have what she brought." Swivel perks up as Psykeout points at her and tells her it isn't over. She blinks her optics and stares like a doe caught in headlights, and then watches him head out and start yelling. After just staring at the doorway for a moment or two, she shrugs and picks up two crates, which is all she can carry. She COULD be nice and shove the rest down the hole the Scorps scuttled into.... yeah.... best not to lose entire favor. She begins bringing crates to the hole, planning to set aside one for herself as compensation for the trouble tonight. Swivel puts the last unbusted crate into the bunker and then stands up, feeling she had done a good thing. Sure, they are essentially a gang of sorts... but they did pay her to get that energon. She looks at the last crate and goes to pick it up, only to hear an unpleasant CRINK noise. "Eeurgh my back!" She drops the crate and places a hand on her back, frowning deeply. This is the result on her being cheap about maintenance.
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