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| - It's tough being a grounded Aerialbot, isn't it? On the plus side, Air Raid has gotten to see an awful lot of San Francisco from the lower perspective, seeing things he normally wouldn't, mingling with people he normally would fly over... ...or at least it would be a plus if he enjoyed that sort of thing. If nothing else it -has- given him an opportunity to at least see or hear a few things that he usually doesn't see. Like that feeling of NEARLY GETTING CRASHED INTO by traffic...and by the same damn car no less! Though this time the convertible full of teenagers screeches to a halt in a squealing of tires as it -deliberately- pulls up next to where Air Raid is dominating a large portion of the sidewalk and the grass beyond. "Heeeey Aerialdude!" The driver calls out with a quick wave of one hand, "Have ya heard the latest!?" Air Raid actually HAS been enjoying the lowered perspective. When he hasn't been pissed off or reminded of his predicament. And he doesn't seem to be in a terrible mood now, all punch-drunk on that ego stroke he'd gotten a while ago. Upon being called Aerialdude, he turns and looks down, "I guess not, fill me in, yeah?" The teen driver leans down to flick on the radio, fiddling with it for a few moments before he finds what he's looking for. Cutting right into the middle of a special announcement. "**...unknown at this time. But it is reported that giant robotic monsters are currently attacking the Stantco steel mill located in the industrial outskirts of San Francisco. Authorities are advising residents to stay inside as Decepticon activity is likely..." Just as quickly as the radio came on, it is switched off again and the teen beams for good measure, "You hear that!? That's only a couple blocks away, and we're the first ones to hear about it!" As if to punctuate this, there is a loud explosion heard in the distance, and a single column of smoke starting to rise upwards into the sky. Air Raid punches his fist into his palm. "All right! Don't sweat it, I'll take care of this! You should probably get inside, got it?" With a brief, heroic pose and the whipping out of his rifle, he nearly falls on his face from trying to transform, and hastily recovers to jog towards the column. "Inside!?" The teen driver just blanches at that, eyes wide as he lowers his sunglasses to gawk at Air Raid, "When there's Decepticons on the loose? NO WAY, we're gonna help!" There's nothing worse than a bunch of teenagers all starting to hype up on adrenaline mixed with that feeling of personal invincibility, and it's starting to spread to the four in the car like wildfire as they all cheer in unison. "We'll race ya there, Aerialbot dude!" And with that, the car is already peeling out in a squeal of tires, starting to shoot -past- Air Raid and also heading towards the thick column of smoke rising into the sky. Meanwhile... An entire concrete wall caves in, smashed into bits as a large body passes through. Steel workers scatter in all directions to avoid crashing debris, even as the angular metal frames spill out into the main smelting area of the steel plant. Five bodies in all in fact, and at their helm none other than the unmistakable two-headed form of their leader. "Hrnnnh...Terrorcons, spread out! Find what we came for!" One head looks one way, the other in a different direction as Hun-Grrr scans the area. The white and blue landshark of the group pauses at the edge of one of the vats full of molten metal, sniffing at the contents, while Cut Throat soars overhead in the huge chamber, searching from the air. Apparently the Terrorcons aren't exactly sure what the item they're looking for looks like... And Blot...well, Blot finds a nearby pipe that he proceeds to break open, spilling industrial waste all over the floor that he begins to roll around in gleefully. Mechanical Orthrus does what his Commander, er, commands and begins the search; making sure to step around Blot and his toxic shenanigans. One head hangs low, sweeping back and forth over the ground like it was tracking a scent while the other is held high. A cluster of barrels catches his interest so the green-and-yellow Terrorcon marches over to them and swings a clawed paw to topple them over. That was fun. What was he looking for again?Oh right! "Hun-Grrr, sir, what..uh... what does this stuff look like? This would probably go faster if we had something to go by." Air Raid pauses, confused. "Wait... er..." He's not rightly sure what to make of the gung-ho attitudes. Typically he'd cheer them on, but these are humans! It's dangerous! But before he can say anything more, off the teens go. "Hey! HEY!" he shouts, struggling to keep up with them. "Hold up, you guys can't - ! Slaggit..." Raid spots Cut Throat first, and his fuel lines run cold. /Do not let humans die/! "Hold UP you idiots!" he barks, likely uselessly. Normally a car would have some trouble getting into the wide open expanse of the smelting area of a steel plant, but then again the Terrorcon-sized holes in the wall are allowing the load of teenagers a level of access not normally afforded to the public. Sure enough, even as Air Raid is calling out, they're still racing towards the scene at breakneck speed. "Hrnn, idiots!" Hun-Grrr snarls, taking in the actions of the other Terrorcons with both of his gazes. Blot playing in the filth like a child in a sandbox, Sinnertwin getting distracted easily. Cut Throat found a handy perch above and is looming over everything like a raven from an Edgar Allen Poe story and Rippersnapper is busy ripping open several giant vats to send molten metal spilling out over the floor in a hissing and bubbling wave of destruction. Hun-Grrr transforms, rising up to his robot mode and openly resists the urge to facepalm, "NNngh. We look for the thermite mixture the humans use in their smelting! It's important for..." "BLOT FIND IT!" The ape-like monster suddenly calls out, and indeed he's already CHOMPING DOWN on several cases that are starting to ignite and burn furiously. Not that it bothers the Terrorcon as he shovels it into his mouth with a total lack of concern. "GAH! NO! idiot! Stop!" The Terrorcon leader is starting to berate his underling....that is until a CAR suddenly goes racing past his right foot, sending him toppling over backwards with a squawk of surprise and crashing into a stack of steel girders behind him. "YEEEEEEHAW!" The driver calls out, the teenagers all hooting and hollering as they burn rubber in a sudden doughnut maneuver. Air Raid has seen the kid's vehicle before of course...it's what one would expect from a bunch of kids idolizing the Autobots. Namely with he painted on Autobot decal on the hood. Maybe it never occurred to them what this might make Decepticons think... Mechanical Orthrus just gawks at Blot like he has so many times before. The guy is always pulling some new, disgusting or stupid thing out of his butt. "We leave Blot behind next time, yeah?" he says, turning a head to his leader just in time to watch him get owned by a car of obnoxious teenagers. 'Smooth move, ex-lax' Sinnertwin is tempted to say but he doesn't think anyone else would find it as funny as he does so he transforms and starts shooting lasers everywhere like it was the friggin fourth of July. "HUN-GRR, SIR! THEY'RE WITH AN AUTOBOT!" he points to the regular car and not the Aerialbot closing in on them. Sinnertwin transforms into his robot mode. "...What the fragging... UUUUGHHH." Raid slaps his brow, unable to glean any sort of amusement or satisfaction from Hun-Grrr being sent flying. Okay, well, maybe Raid grins a little. Then shakes his head, nigh panicking when friggin Sinnertwin screams and points at the /car/. "WAIT, DAMMIT!" he yells, waving his rifle around. "They're not Autobots! Arghh! Shut UP YOU STUPID MANTICORE GRIFFIN WHATEVER!" As the crazy kids do donuts, Raid tries to draw attention, leveling his rifle on Sinnertwin. Combat: Air Raid sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Air Raid strikes Sinnertwin with his OVER HERE (Laser) attack! Little does Air Raid know that he has a stalker. Now, you may be wondering how a giant monstrous robot like Repugnus is able to discretely follow anyone. Well, the answer is that when most humans see him stomping around, giggling evilly to himself, they try to pretend that he's not there, walk around him, and get on with their lives. At the moment he's peering around the corner of an adjacent factory, optics narrowing. Up til now, he had been planning to spoil Air Raid's redemption... but... with humans on the line, he figures he might have to cancel those plans. Even so, fighting all five Terrorcons at once is a really dumb idea (as Air Raid will prove), and he tries to think of an alternative... The creature spins and twists about into Repugnus's robot mode! Rippersnapper is suitably enraged as he spots not only offending carbon-based lifeforms, but they're with an Autobot! Or so he thinks anyway. With a snarl, the landshark leaps at the speeding convertible, just missing his mark as he crashes heavily onto the ground, jaws snapping shut just inches short of their mark. "Too slow!" Cut Throat admonishes his fellow Terrorcon, swooping down in an attempt to snatch the car up, but is forced to suddenly take evasive action as incoming fire sprays past, impacting against Sinnertwin! "Gyahahahaha!" He apparently finds great amusement in his comrade's plight, but is cut off as he proceeds to fly straight into the opposite wall, crashing through in a crush of more debris and ending up in a heap on the ground. Blot glances up, mouth still half full of burning thermite-like chemicals. What that's going to do to his innards is anyone's guess, but he's focused on something else. "Autobots!?" And Hun-Grrr makes his own conclusion, "Hrrngh. Autobots...and Aerialbots! Already!? Not good..." Yes, he's spotted Air Raid now, and he's made an incorrect assumption that the Aerialbot has the rest of his team present. And that can mean only one thing in his mind... ...which means the Terrorcon leader now has only one -solution- in mind. "Need more strength to crush Autobots. TERRORCONS UNITE!" Abominus has arrived. Even as the Terrorcons start to do their thing, the teens in the car are already peeling around for another pass, "Ha ha!" The ringleader calls out, "Did you see the way I knocked that big one on his aft! Take that, Decepti-creep!" "Uh...Bobby?" One of the girls in the back suddenly squeaks, wide-eyed as she stares up...up, and up some more. "DIE AUTOBOT DIE!" Sinnertwin roars, pew-pew-pewing his lasers at the regular old car like nobody's business when a real Autobot starts shooting at him. "BLARG!" he shouts eloquently, his gun leveled on Air Raid when Hun-Grrr calls for the big guns. A mess of different feelings come over Sinnertwin. On one hand, he gets to play a role in becoming a huge unstoppable killing machine. On the other, the whole merging thing..plus Blot and ugh, he can't think about it or he'll chicken out so he just transforms into his super secret third mode (a leg) and combines with his brothers to form.. "ABOMINUS RIP AND TEAR!" the monster-mashed gestalt bellows, fists clenched and shaking above it's head. The massive robot (robots?) slowly lurches forwards, a Rippersnapper coloured arm reaching out towards the car. "CRUSH AUTOBOT CAR! SMASH TINY HUMANS!" Air Raid is none-the-wiser of his fangirly stalker. He's far too occupied with trying to keep dreamy Bobby and his clique alive. They zoom around, and Raid can only thing to try and chase them, all the while flailing and shouting. This is frustrating! "What are you guys CRAZY!? Don't you see you're outmatched? Did you even think to consider-" Raid pauses, optics wide. What is he SAYING. "Glitchin'..." he curses, and curses even louder when Abominus forms up to tower over him. BUT HE'S GOT THIS. Or so he thinks, for about five seconds at least, until Abominus reaches for the car. "Frag, FRAG!" Darting forth, he tries to slide between that outstretched hand and the teens, having scooped up a lengthy piece of shrapnel to try and fend the grasp off. Combat: Air Raid strikes Abominus with his Whap! (Kick) attack! Repugnus peers around the corner again, frowns. How can he help Air Raid without getting himself killed in the process? Hm... He aims around the corner with his Venom Laser, sights it carefully on Abominus's ankle, and fires a blast into it. It won't stun such a massive machine, but it might freeze up part of its circuitry and maybe even make Abominus stumble. "BOBBY LOOK OUT!" The scream rings out as the car suddenly fishtails left, then right as the giant monster that is the combined form of the Terrorcons reaches out for the car. Metal buckles inwards as fingers start to squeeze, and the teens barely have enough time for the collective cry of, "Bail out!" before they're leaping out of the sides of the doomed convertible in short order. In the hands of a metal giant capable of knocking over skyscrapers, the car lasts about a half a second before it crumples like aluminum foil and proceeds to explode (in anime this stuff always explodes, remember) into a huge fireball that disappears into those gigantic fingers. With the four teens now in a thorough state of panic, they're at least sticking -together- as they start to figuratively run for their lives. "Cheese it! MOVE!" "I'm scared!" "I didn't know they could do that!?" "ABOMINUS CRUSH!" the mighty gestalt roars, destroying the car with a simple clench of his fist; shrapnel and chunks of glass showering the ground. Air Raid's deadly poking catches the huge Decepticon's attention and he slooowwwlly lowers his head to glare holes into the little Aerialbot. "RIP AND TEAR!" Abominus shouts, making a fist and swinging it downward to flatten Air Raid like an unwelcome house spider. At the same time, Repugnus' laser fire strikes the combiner in the blue-and-purple ankle and at first nothing seems noteworthy but within seconds sparks begin to fire off where the Blot leg meets Hun-Grrr knee and thin wisps of smoke manage to squeeze through crusty, mold-covered seams. "DESTROOOYY!" Abominus shouts, starting to favor his other leg. Combat: Abominus strikes Air Raid with his Splat (Punch) attack! Rodimus Prime has arrived! What more can be said? Pulling up to the scene with a screech of tires locking up, the Autobot leader has just enough time to rise up as he transforms before he spots the explosions, and then the unmistakable presence of Abominus himself rampaging through the steel mill and making a general mess of the entire place. If his optics were capable of bugging out of his head, they'd be doing so right now...but it's all the Autobot Leader can do to keep focused, as his rifle comes up in one hand and points directly towards the lumbering brute before him. "Oh this is just /great/!" Dutifully, he releases a series of blasts from his rifle to pepper at the giant behemoth's chestplate while he keys in his radio trying to get a sitrep. Combat: Rodimus Prime sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Abominus with his Photon Eliminator attack! [Pulled -5] Air Raid leeeeers up at Abominus, flexing his fingers as the gestalt crushes that sweet ride. Oh how he wants to just lob missiles and through punches. He can take this guy, sure! Abominus isn't THAT big. But the teens bring him back to reality. There's no winning this. He can hear Prime's voice in the back of his mind - protect the humans. Call for /help/. So as much as it pains him, he takes the defensive route, and tries to remain between the combiner and the fleeing teens, keeping his rifle aimed. But he's not swift enough to avoid that crushing fist. Down he goes, into the cement, slabs of it buckling and fracturing along with his armor as he's flattened into the ground. Somehow he manages to get upright, but only ends up stumbling, before collapsing again. THEN Rodimus shows up, much to his relief. Raid just gives him a wearied, helpless look before trailing after the crazy kids. Combat: Air Raid takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Repugnus pulls back out of view after firing. Hm. For some reason... he doesn't want the other Autobots to know he's here. Rodimus would probably find a way to complain about it and Air Raid's not likely to show any gratitude. So... he gets an idea. Spotting a car parked nearby, he wrenches open the driver's door, gets out a toolset--which he normally uses for torture, of course--and a small mirror, and begins to get to work. Moments later, the humans should find a car oddly started up and ready to drive off with. And Repugnus himself nowhere in sight... Rodimus Prime says, "I'll talk to you about that -later-. For now we've got this monster to deal with. I don't suppose you were lucky enough to make a chink in his armor before he merged..." The teens huddle in fear behind Air Raid as he does his best to shield them with his own body...and pays the price for it, of course. After the huge fist has withdrawn, leaving the Aerialbot smashed in its wake, the one named Bobby, the ringleader with the dreamy hair, looks over to the Aerialbot apologetically. "We're sorry, man! We didn't mean for you to get hurt!" Kind of makes you wonder what they think happens when a hundred-foot-tall murderous robot gets on the loose. The others continue to huddle together, not quite noticing the car Repugnus readied just yet...but soon enough they probably will. If they don't get stepped on in teh meantime. "Bobby what are we gonna do!?" "We gotta get out of here!" Abominus peels his fist off the floor to peer at the funny little Autobot underneath. Ugh, it's still moving! "ABOMINUS TRY AGAIN!" the combined Terrorcons bellow. He raises a pink (so scary!) fist in the air for another go at the Aerialbot but Rodimus shows up and has to be all heroic-like and start shooting at him like some kind of hero. The gestalt takes a step back on it's Blot leg, the pressure causing hot thermite to spew and dribble out of the joint and down the length of the smelly appendage until it begins to pool under his massive (also pink) foot. "ABOMINUS DESTROOOYYY!" Abominus roars, leveling his BFG at the Autobot leader and firing. Combat: Abominus misses Rodimus Prime with his anti-hero laser (Laser) attack! Repugnus decides that he's played hero long enough. Carefully moving inside of one of the factories by stooping under a garage door, he closes it behind himself and transforms. Now, with his enhanced optics, he can use X-Rays to watch the battle without fear of being spotted... and intervene further if necessary. This is one of the oldest tricks in his book and he's never gotten tired of using it. Repugnus twists and flips around into his horrific creature mode! Rodimus Prime grunts as Abominus naturally takes the blow with all the manliness that one expects from a giant of that size. If it were -Optimus- he would have just shot him in the crotch and forced him to de-merge and they'd all have a good chuckle about it when it was over. But sadly, this is not to be. "Oh just wonderful..." he mutters as the huge gun swivels in his direction, and as it discharged, the Autobot leader throws himself into a forward tuck and roll, sliding along undignified on his chestplate as a huge crater is blown out of the ground where he was just a moment ago. Turning in place to look back at the smoking hole, he frowns as he listens to the radio chatter, then gets up on one knee. "Air Raid! Get those humans clear and then here's some firepower to help out!" As he says this, his trailer rolls up from seemingly out of nowhere, unfolding and opening up as the twin-barreled cannon turret rises up at the ready, swiveling around to point towards Abominus and....waiting patiently. All the gun needs is an operator. Rodimus himself does his own thing of course, aiming his Photon Eliminator and steadying it with both hands. At first towards the center of the gestalt's huge mass, but then letting his aim waver downwards, until he's pointed directly at that right knee....right where Blot meets up with one of Hun-Grrr's heads, and where the thermite mixture is bubbling and hissing its way out. A moment later, he squeezes the trigger, unleashing a devastating barrage of firepower that lights up the area around him and fills the air with thick blasts of pure energy. "Here's a little something for that trick knee of yours, Abominus!" Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Abominus with his THE BIG BANG attack! Air Raid bleeds as he remains in front of the group of teens, just rolling his optics at Bobby's apology. A conveniently placed car! "Head for the car, go!" he barks at the teens. He then tilts his helm at the radio chatter and levels his rifle on Abominus... But Rodimus offers up his killer turret cannon, and Raid finds the energy to practically vault towards it. He hops on the unfolded trailer and aims the twin barrels right where Rodimus has blasted. "Here goes nothin'..." Combat: Air Raid strikes Abominus with Rodimus Prime's Turreted Laser Cannon attack! Well at this point the humans don't need to be told twice, as they're scrambled towards the car and quickly leap inside, finding the engine running and it's ready to go. "...this looks hotwired." "Who cares? Go, GO!" And in a screech of tires peeling out, drowned out only by the two Autobots opening fire with everything they can muster, the car squeals about in a half circle and makes a break for it to get as far away as possible. Abominus throws his head back and roars a frustrated roar, obviously displeased by Rodimus' maneuverability and finesse. Stupid, sexy Prime! "ABOMINUS RIP AND TEAR! RIP AND TEAARR!" The multi-coloured combiner starts to stomp it's feet (each impact causing more and more thermite to spew and foam from the moldy leg) and swing it's arms around like a pissed of toddler throwing a tantrum in the middle of Toys R Us. Barrels of god-knows what go rolling everywhere and delicate machinery starts to shake and tumble over from the heavy shockwaves. Only the combined power of Rodimus and Air Raid (who is so uncool that he has to use Prime's weapons) is enough to halt the gestalt's hissy fit and send it down onto a hissing, smoking knee. "AUTOBOTS DIE!" the monster growls, tearing a chunk out of the floor with it's thick pink fingers and chucking it at the two robots who DARE interfere. Combat: Abominus misses Rodimus Prime with his The Floor (Ruckus) Area attack! Combat: Abominus strikes Air Raid with his The Floor (Ruckus) Area attack! Bug Creature , meanwhile, sits down crosslegged to better enjoy the show. Yep, those two seem to be doing okay. No need to endanger oneself or risk the ire of Rodimus Prime for... hell, Repugnus doesn't even know. Engaging a combiner without filling out the proper forms? Repugnus swears he can't tell the difference between Rodimus and Ultra Magnus sometimes. "Look out!" Rodimus calls out as the only chance of warning to Air Raid when Abominus 'hulks out' and proceeds to rip up the very ground to sent it hurtling towards them. Once more the Autobot leader proves to be an evasive target, lunging hard to one side as he's physically lifted off his feet and sent crashing to the ground once more. Unhurt, but undignified. Which is more than can be said for poor Air Raid. The humans are safe at least...but the Autobots certainly aren't. And they can't let Abominus go rampaging around here for much longer. He's already made a huge mess of the Steel Mill...Primus knows what he'll do to the surrounding industrial district as well. "Air Raid!" he calls out, knowing that the Aerialbot must have been hit, but can't see what happened to him. Rolling over and getting up on one knee, Rodimus can see that Abominus is literally a few bodylengths away, and his mouth sets into a hard line. "Alright, I've had...ENOUGH!" Pushing to his feet, Rodimus suddenly lunges forward, ducking low under more crumbling debris, and going right -for- the huge gestalt. He tucks and rolls under an errant swiping limb, and comes up yet again just between the two huge pillar-like legs...turning to face the one on the right. "I guess it was too much to hope you'd take a hint, so let me try speaking in a language..." Clenching his rifle in both hands, Rodimus' optics narrow into slits as he braces himself, and then suddenly places the barrel a mere foot from the back of the knee, the very same one that's been weakened by the Thermite mixture that Blot had thoughtlessly eaten earlier. "...that only a dumb beast like you can understand!" At point blank range, Rodimus squeezes the trigger. And all hell breaks loose in a deafening and devastating explosion. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Abominus with Autobot Matrix of Leadership's You got the Touch... attack! Combat: Abominus is broken up by the attack! Air Raid jerks back from the explosion. He's a bit too damaged to really cheer and holler, expression rather grim as he swivels the turret back on Abominus. Only to be met with a massive chunk of granite. It knocks him clean off, and he tumbles across the span of the mill, metal grinding and armor falling loose. By the time he somewhat recovers, Rodimus brings out the big guns, and breaks the combiner apart. Raid double-takes. He'd thought only Perceptor could do that. For now, he just lingers on his hands and knees, gawking. "RODIMUS DIE!" Abominus booms, swinging his heavy and pink (seriously, they are SO friggin pink!) fists at the at the Autobot leader to pummel and slap him but the flames must make Rodimus go faster because he gets right up to the combined Terrorcons with little to no effort and just blasts them apart like they were nothing more than a house of cards. One by one, each Decepticon hits the ground with a thud until they're all laying in a pile in the center of the room. "Idiots!" Hun-Grrr growls, throwing Blot (who is still fizzling and leaking thermite) off of him. "Run away!?" Cutthroat shrieks, flailing around under Sinnertwin's butt. "RUN AWAY!" the other monsters echo, transforming into their respective robot modes and flying out of the building via the Terrorcon shaped holes in the wall. Rodimus Prime emerges from the blast crater, smokey and blackened all over, but still in one piece. His rifle hangs inert at his side, every last bit of charge left in it having been expended in that one hellish shot. There's probably a reason he almost never does that sort of thing. Waving a hand in front of his face to ward off the last tendrils of smoke, he gets clear as the Terrorcons call for the withdrawl, walking up to where Air Raid is still sprawled out on hands and knees, looking down at the Aerialbot carefully. "Alright. NOW give me the long version." And indeed it's just that which Rodimus gets, everything from the overeager teens and their idolizing of Raid (and no doubt that's in good detail) to their foolish running off to antagonize the Decepticons, despite the Aerialbot's protests, even down to Air Raid's reactions at the humans' foolish moves. For a long moment afterwards, Rodimus says nothing. He just stands there and processes what he's heard, before turning to look back at the wreckage left by Abominus. "...sounds awful familiar, doesn't it? Almost like looking in a mirror in some ways." He falls silent again for a few moments more, before popping open the panel on his chest and digging inside for something, which he pinches between thumb and forefinger. "I'm not going to bother going into great detail on this Air Raid. I'm going to let you think it over and sort it out for yourself and come to your own conclusions. In the meantime...you can have this back." A quick toss sends the transformation cog flipping through the air towards the Aerialbot. "Get First Aid or one of the other medics to pop it back in and you'll be good to go. In the future, I hope you'll do your best to let Metroplex handle Trypticon and try to -think- a little before you go charging in head first, alright? Eagerness is one thing, but I don't want you or others put in extra danger because of it. There's no 'me' in team afterall."
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