| abstract
| - Drug abuse is the use or overuse of any drug in a manner that deviates from the prescribed pattern of use. It is usually self-administered. House is known for abusing Vicodin Drug abuse is a frequent differential on the show, and is usually Chase's "go to" diagnosis. However, although the patient has abused drugs in several episodes of the show, it is rarely if ever the correct diagnosis (the primary exception being Control, where the patient abused an emetic as part of her bulimia). However, as House has pointed out, even drug abusers get sick. This was never proved more clearly than in the episode Games where the patient, a habitual abuser of illegal drugs and nicotine, actually had an atypical presentation of measles. The societal response to drug abuse was discussed in the Michael Tritter story arc, when it was discussed whether House's drug problems should be dealt with by doctors, with rehab, or within the criminal justice system. However, all of these approaches have problems. Given the current state of drug enforcement in the United States, it is difficult or impossible for a physician to prescribe large amounts of narcotics to a patient, even if there appears to be a therapeutic need for those drugs. For example, it is often difficult to determine whether House's need for Vicodin is due to an addiction or the very real chronic pain in his right leg. Although rehab has shown promise, the vast majority of drug abusers (including alcoholics) will suffer some sort of relapse before permanently giving up the drug. Complicating the process is that the symptoms of withdrawal from a drug can occasionally be more dangerous than the continued use of the drug. This article is a , please help House Wikia by expanding it.
- Finding the black market on Pz-Zazz is easier than one might think. A few centuries ago, there was no such thing. A few decades ago, it was mobile, its location kept tightly under wraps, passed on from those in the know to a favoured few. Now, however, it is firmly in place and takes up perhaps more space than the legitimate shopping district. Con men, tiny accordian players, and wizened organ grinders abound, mingling with hard-bitten weapons dealers and drug lords. Anything can be bought or sold here, and it is. It's just a matter of finding the right street, and there are so very many wrong ones to turn down. Contents: Shadow Clutch Backfire Sit-Com Obvious exits: East leads to Shopping District - Pz-Zazz. Astrotrain has arrived. Black Market - Pz-Zazz Finding the black market on Pz-Zazz is easier than one might think. A few centuries ago, there was no such thing. A few decades ago, it was mobile, its location kept tightly under wraps, passed on from those in the know to a favoured few. Now, however, it is firmly in place and takes up perhaps more space than the legitimate shopping district. Con men, tiny accordian players, and wizened organ grinders abound, mingling with hard-bitten weapons dealers and drug lords. Anything can be bought ot sold here, and it is. It's just a matter of finding the right street, and there are so very many wrong ones to turn down. Contents: Decepticon Space Shuttle Shadow Clutch Backfire Sit-Com Obvious exits: East leads to Shopping District - Pz-Zazz. Somewhere on Planet Pz-Zazz, a bunch of reptilian aliens are shuffling about in front of a warehouse, waiting for someone. They glare about, occasionally checking their wrist-watches and other various chronometers. The Decepticons have been told that this warehouse is filled with potent, strength-boosting fuel additives of tremendous power. Surely if the Decepticons got them first they'd have an edge on the Autobots! Speaking of the Autobots, thanks to Repugnus, they also know about the warehouse and what it contains. Currently, the Monsterbot is leading a group of Autobots down the various grimy alleys of Pz-Zazz down to the warehouse, grinning maniacally. "Stay close, guys! Wouldn't want you to be kidnapped and sold off into the slave trade, now, would we?" Sit-Com sticks close like Robin to Batman. "Holy BATF!" he says, "Are we going to NARC on them? I should have brought my Nancy Reagan pamphlets." The Junkion is decked out like some living anti-drug slogan. On his chest is a button that says 'Say NO to drugs' and his wrist-TV is playing an endless loop of the eggfrying "this is your brain, this is your brain on drugs--any questions?' commercial. Strength-boosting fuel additives of tremendous power? That sounds like something that would be both beneficial to the Decepticon empire AND could make for a killer additive to the next generation of intoxicating drinks. How could Astrotrain NOT be here!? Dipping into the atmosphere of planet Pz-zazz, the space shuttle starts to descend towards the predetermined location of the warehouse, appearing as little more than a glowing meteor in the sky that's drawing closer and closer with each passing second. "Alright, so we get in there. We punch a whole bunch of faces in, and we grab the stuff and all's good." What, you didn't think they were actually here tod o honest -business- right? "Can I skip the punching," Shadow asks, idly examining his sword, "and go right to the slicing?" The scout is normally rather quiet, but even he finds the need to speak up from time to time. Especially where swords are concerned. Black Market - Pz-Zazz Finding the black market on Pz-Zazz is easier than one might think. A few centuries ago, there was no such thing. A few decades ago, it was mobile, its location kept tightly under wraps, passed on from those in the know to a favoured few. Now, however, it is firmly in place and takes up perhaps more space than the legitimate shopping district. Con men, tiny accordian players, and wizened organ grinders abound, mingling with hard-bitten weapons dealers and drug lords. Anything can be bought ot sold here, and it is. It's just a matter of finding the right street, and there are so very many wrong ones to turn down. Contents: Decepticon Space Shuttle Shadow Clutch Backfire Sit-Com Obvious exits: East leads to Shopping District - Pz-Zazz. Even after repeated verbal lashings and promise of immense pain, Backfire still creeps dangerously close to the faux pilot's chair inside of Astrotrain's altmode. All he wanted was to sit behind the wheel, give it a spin.. you know! But noooooooooooo, Mr. Touchy wouldn't be having any of that. And so Backfire stalks closer once again, Astrotrain's concentration most likely on breaking atmosphere and locating the warehouse. When his voice comes in over the comm, Backfire's spooked.. falling forward and bashing his head off the front console. "SONUVA! Slowly stirring, the Seeker holds his head. "Yeah yeah, I know the drill partner. And NO, Shadow.. it's in the Decepticon handbook that you must PUNCH!" he stammers, "At least once. Then you can slice to your core's every whimsical desire!!" Shadow raises an optic ridge at Backfire. "Since when is there a handbook?" He shakes his head. "Never mind. But as you wish..." A woolly drug dealer takes offense to Sit-Com's positive messages and dire warnings of the effects of drug abuse, and so he charges to the Junkion and tries to shove him up against an alley wall and snarls, "Turn that crap off, metal-head, or I'll turn YOU off... PERMANENTLY!" Repugnus turns as the Junkion is assaulted and just smirks. "Oh, dear, Sit-Com. You'd better kill that drug dealer in a jiffy. We got things to do and such." Bug Creature then slyly glances up at the sky. "Right on time..." The creature spins and twists about into Repugnus's robot mode! The Junkion sighs and does the wax-on, wax-off maneuver to parry the attack of the drug dealer. "Users don't win, and winners don't use, so don't use drugs, don't use drugs," he sings, to the tune of another anti-drug commercial that popped up on his wrist TV. "Back off partner. Next time I wax you good." Decepticon Space Shuttle certainly isn't having any touchy touchies on his control panels, ESPECIALLY from Backfire. Perhaps the seeker was helped in falling over by a sudden rapid course-change with the space shuttle too! "Shoot, stab, punch, burninate, do whatever the frag you wanna do. Just put em down and we'll grab the stuff we want!" The orange glow on his underside finally starts to fade as the heat of re-entry bleeds off. "There's the warehouse. Now, enough jawin and let's get to work!" And the hatch in the bottom of Astrotrain's frame opens up...DIRECTLY under Backfire. At least Shadow gets the dignity of being able to disembark by himself. A series of heavy booms shake the air as the space shuttle rockets overhead, still breaking the sound barrier as he keeps slowing down. "Yes, I concur." Backfire laments, still rubbing his helm from the fall prior. Then suddenly, swiftly.. there's no floor. The Seeker is plummeting from the spacecraft at a tremendous rate, frantically clawing at the air in desperation. And then it dawns on him, he can FLY! Anti-gravs kick in and he's under control of his own descent. <> Backfire transmits on the shortwave, trying to locate the warehouse from above. <> Most Decepticons would probably point and laugh at Backfire. Shadow happens to be a polite mech, and doesn't do that. He casually rests the flat of his sword on his shoulder as he approaches the hatch and jumps through, promptly activating his anti-gravs. He may be the same rank as Backfire, but he's no leader, and is content to simply follow the other Decepticon. On the other hand, Backfire's an idiot. It so happens that the aliens in front of the warehouse have spotted the Decepticons and are trying to wave them down rather impatiently. Meanwhile, the drug dealer accosting Sit-Com is trying to smack around the Junkion, but finds his every blow parried by the Junkion's strange martial arts style. "What the f--man, screw this!" He throws up his hands and wanders off to peddle his wares elsewhere. "Man, you should have killed him!" Repugnus says with a disappointed sigh. "Ah well, we can still kill the drug dealers at the warehouse. We should be coming up on it." He waves Sit-Com along. Avalanche has arrived. "Wax on, wax off. Up, down, up, down," Sit-Com says, "We'll rub them out if we have to." He follows Repugnus. While not totally opposed to killing, particularly drug dealers, but right now he'd rather torture them with anti drug TV PSAs. Decepticon Space Shuttle loops back after disgorging his passengers, losing the last of his re-entry speed and transforming as he upends, then comes down to land in front of the warehouse with the heavy *BOOM* of a big mech making contact with the surface. With rifle in hand and oh-so-casually slung over his right shoulder, he turns to peer towards the dealers, that were waving at him. "So." He says almost TOO conversationally. "Got what we came here for?" In a chorus of shifting and spinning parts, Astrotrain's body spins and lifts up into his large robot mode. Backfire delays his fall, to come in step with Astrotrain and land right behind him. Hefting the Hypno-Ray Rifle in his arms, he tries to look as non-chalant and casual as the triple-changer. What comes out is a Seeker puffing his chest out and holding his gun backwards. "Yeah! Got the stuff or what??" Shadow quietly lands behind Astrotrain and Backfire, deactivating his anti-gravs upon making contact with the ground. He still has his sword resting on his shoulder, and he looks like he's ready to slice someone up should the situation call for it, despite keeping up his usual calm demeanor. He stands in silence, letting the other Decepticons handle things. After a moment, however, he says casually, "Your gun is facing the wrong way, Backfire." It probably won't do any good telling Backfire that, though. "Shhhh, deadly art of confusion.. if I'm confused, maybe they won't be so deadly." Backfire whispers. "Yeah, I--" one of the drug dealers begins, but then stops when he gets a look at how Backfire's holding his gun. "--uh, we got the stuff, IF you got the payment. Oh, and next time you guys contact us, could... you get someone else to do it? That guy who called us..." He looks awkward for a moment. "...he wouldn't stop grinning, and he had this... creepy little laugh." Meanwhile, Repugnus peers around the corner of a rusted metal crate down at the warehouse, grinning evilly. "Ooh, that's them, Sit-Com!" Repugnus says with a creepy little laugh. "Let's wait for the Decepticons to betray and start murdering the drug dealers, then we can move in in the confusion." Sit-Com nods at Repugnus. He watches the Decepticons interact with the Drug Dealers, and strokes his chin thoughtfully. He mutes his wrist-TV for now. "Sounds good to me. Epic doublecross. In 4...3...2...1..." Astrotrain chuckles, "Heh heh heh, yeah we got your payment right here," his grip starts to tighten on his rifle, his entire body starting to move a bit... ...until he pauses for a second. There are times the triplechanger shows about as much foresight as a slug. But there are -other- times that little details don't quite escape his notice. "...wait a minute. Creepy little laugh? What're you talkin about? You guys called -us-, didn't ya?" He narrows his optics and frowns a bit. Shadow decides to ignore Backfire's weird logic, instead setting his focus on the conversation between Astrotrain and the drug dealers. He narrows his yellow optics slightly, a theory forming in his processor. He steps closer to Astrotrain and whispers to him, so that no one else can overhear. Shadow mutters to Astrotrain, "This... be... likely set..." "Creepy grin and hyena laugh? Hrm, wait.. don't tell me. It was Galvatron! No, too obvious. Carjack? Nah, he's been busy. Swindle.. nope, he doesn't smile a whole lot. Razorclaw??" Backfire rambles, trying to guess who the mystery caller was. The drug dealer shrugs. "No, you guys called US. You said you wanted our stuff, and we got a boatload of it back there. And look, we could tell this guy was a Decepticon. He was nasty as all get-out. Pure frickin' evil. I know the type and I wouldn't have dealt with him if he didn't offer a crapload 'a money." Repugnus, meanwhile, scowls at how things are going. "Hrrrmm. Have to postpone that countdown I think. We need a way of provoking them into getting back on script!" He scratches his chin thoughtfully. "But how could we do that...." Shadow sighs. "Backfire, just be quiet. Please." "Just hit the reset button," Sit-Com suggests. But where are they to find one? Maybe they just need a distraction. "You want I should lead them off, or do you want to, while one of us sabotages the shipment?" The dealer gives Backfire another odd look. "Dude, I don't know who even half of you guys are, okay? All I know is he had the little purple badge." "Purple badge to boot.. GEEZ, that narrows it down a WHOLE LOT!" Backfire rages, stomping his foot. "I think I can.. I think I can.. I think I can." he quietly whispers to himself, racking his limited capacity neural centers. "Carnivac?" Astrotrain listens to all the words being said back and forth, and the whisperings in his audial on top of it all. He finally comes to a conclusion after a long moment of thinking and carefully analyzing the situation. At times like this, it's when one really has a chance to shine and show their leadership qualities. "Backfire!" he says suddenly, then jabs a finger straight forward, indicating the dealer in front of him. "Knock this guy's teeth down his throat. Shadow!" He then steps to the side, "It's time we figure out what the frag's goin on here, or failing that we find -something- useful to take home!" Shadow decides it's pointless in telling Backfire to shut up, so he doesn't try anymore. He nods once to Astrotrain. "Of course, Wing Leader." Nodding, Backfire rushes towards the drug dealers.. intending to shove the butt of his rifle down their throats. "For the.. EMPIRE!!!" Only problem, one he was even reminded of, is that the rifle is backwards.. so the 'dangerous' part of the gun is forcibly shoved into the drug dealer's mouth. Then again, it came from Backfire's inventory.. it's probably not all that dangerous. But the Hypno-Ray does have some effect, making them dizzy and begin vomitting all over the place. "Carnivac? What's he turn into, a vacuum cleaner?" the drug dealer says, then he and his buddies have themselves a good old laugh. It's short-lived, however, once Astrotrain gives the word to beat the thugs up. "Woah, woah, don't take offense, I was just--HWWMMMGH!" The dealer is startled as the hypno-ray is shoved into his mouth, and worse yet, fires, and this causes the dealer such extreme nausea that he vomits all over the gun and possibly Backfire himself. As if that wasn't enough, whether due to this disgusting sight or because the hypno ray also affected them, the other dealers also begin vomiting everywhere. Repugnus, of course, is loving this, and cackles madly as this disgusting display. "Ooh, we got ourselves some fireworks! Heehee! Come on, let's move in!" He emerges from his cover and begins tiptoeing towards the Decepticons, a malicious grin plastered on his face. Shadow is a rather observant Decepticon, and quickly notices Repugnus out of the corner of his optic. He whips in the Autobot's direction, pointing his sword at him. "I wouldn't move if I were you," he states calmly. Sit-Com also starts tiptoeing, while the plucking-strings sneaking music plays from his wrist-TV. Well, at least he's not doing like Peter Griffin does. "Dah-dunt! Dah-dunt dah dunt DAH DUNT!" Falling foward, Avalanche reverts to his tiger mode. "Hah! Good job Shadow." Astrotrain states, turning towards the sound of the incoming Autobot...then the organics start barfing all over everything. Organics...and vomiting. This disgusting habit of theirs, and if Astrotrain could turn positively green, he would. As it is, he reacts in a near panic. "AUUUUUGH! GET IT AWAY! GET IT AWAY!" He lunges straight backwards to escape... ...and right out into traffic. There's a heavy blare of a horn, and some giant alien transport easily the equivelant of a giant-sized 18-wheeler Semi goes rumbling past....with Astrotrain imbedded in the front grill. *GRUNCH* "GROSSSS!!" Backfire yammers, alien puke being wretched and deposited on his forearms. Quickly yanking the rifle back, the Decepticon starts scraping his frame of excess goop. "WHAT DID YOU EAT??" Then Astrotrain gets taken out by a semi, leaving him and Shadow alone with a couple of puking drug dealers and Autobots. Needless to say, the Monsterbot moves in spite of Shadow's threat, or possibly any threat. "Autobots, MURDER WITH GREAT PREJUDICE!" Repugnus cries as he charges forward, transforming into monster mode mid-way so that he can slice into Shadow. As for the drug dealers, they're mostly rolling around on the vomit-slicked ground, groaning. Repugnus twists and flips around into his horrific creature mode! Combat: Temporarily restricting the NO-ARMOR effect from all of your attacks. "Nurse, I need Syrup of Ipecac, stat! Oh wait, nevermind. Can't we just wait til they vomit themselves to death?" Sit-Com says. "Let's give the Decepticons some Ipecac then! I just happen to have a bottle handy!" He rushes at Backfire, opening the bottle and attempting to jam the contents down the Decepticon Seeker's throat. Combat: Bug Creature strikes Shadow with his Shearing Claws attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: Sit-Com misses Backfire with his Anyone want chowder? BLEAH! (Punch) attack! Shadow, meanwhile, just ignores the vomiting. And resists the urge to facepalm as Astrotrain is hit by a semi. But his attention is immediately drawn back to Repugnus as the Monsterbot suddenly attacks, slashing him across the chest and leaving a visible scratch in his armor, causing him to wince, but it's clear he's not in a lot of pain. "Murder with--you are one strange mech." And not because of the alternate mode. "Since when do Autobots murder with anything?" Not waiting for a reply, Shadow lunges forward, aiming to impale what passes for Repugnus's chest. Combat: Shadow strikes Bug Creature with his Shadow Sword attack! Combat: You took 11 damage. "Wait, you want to.. WHAT??" Backfire howls, the Junkion charging him. Floating backwards with help from the anti-gravs, the Seeker simpleton wipes some excess muck from the end of the Rifle and shoots. "PREPARE FOR MASS CONFUSION!!" The trigger on the gun is pulled, releasing a set of circular green energy rings.. they float through the air, growing in size as they travel. "Wait, will my confuse-o ray actually give a Junkion clarity?? WHAT HAVE I DONE????" Combat: Backfire sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Backfire strikes Sit-Com with his Hypno-Ray Rifle attack! Avalanche has left. Bug Creature 's disgusting face leers at Shadow as he stabs him, and it seems that, despite the blade cutting deeply into him, the Monsterbot could care less at the damage done to his body. "Heheheheh, when we do we murder? Since today!... Say. You got a pretty mouth. Can I have it!? HAHAHAHA!!!" And the psychotic Autobot leans in, even if this causes the blade to sink even deeper into his body, to try and bite Shadow's face. Meanwhile, a drug dealer tries to stand up, but succeeds only in vomiting on himself, falling over backwards, and setting off a new round of vomiting amongst his peers. Combat: Bug Creature strikes Shadow with his Give Me Your Face (Smash) attack! Combat: You took 3 damage from that attack. Sit-Com gets hit with a funny ray! He rubs his head. "We'll be right back, after these messages," he quips, taking out his sonic rifle. "Now stay tuned for THIS!" Combat: Sit-Com's Turn Down That Racket! attack on Backfire goes wild! Combat: Sit-Com strikes himself with his Turn Down That Racket! attack! Shadow doesn't even scream when Repugnus bites his face. "No, you may not!" he retorts as he attempts to detach the Monsterbot from him and shove him away and off his sword. Combat: Shadow strikes Bug Creature with his Grab attack! Combat: You took 0 damage. Backfire laughs as Sit-Com's attack backfires, which is a sight.. usually the gun only hits him. "Ahahahaha, foolish piece of Junk! You'll soon learn your lesson." he gloats, continued laughter echoing in the alley. So much so, he slips in the pile of new vomit. "GAH!" Backfire cries, fallen to his aft and once again smeared with alien half-digested foodstuffs. From his position, the Seeker unloads his heavy duty rocket launcher from his back.. which is covered in puke. "I hope these drugs are worth it!" Combat: Backfire strikes Sit-Com with his Puke Rocket! attack! [Pulled -3] Bug Creature is shoved off without much fanfare, and he pouts for a moment. "Awwww. Well, that's too bad. How about a little something to keep you nice and warm, then!" He rears back for a moment, then sprays a shower of stinging sparks at Shadow, and even directs part of the shower of sparks at Backfire. Combat: Bug Creature misses Shadow with his Spitting Sparks Area attack! Combat: Bug Creature strikes Backfire with his Spitting Sparks Area attack! "Oops," Sit-Com says, "What hit me? Homina, homina, homina, whoop whoop whoop whoop whoop whoop." He tries to shake the cobwebs out when Backfire's attack hits him. "Here, let me punch some sense into you." He cares not about the puke. He's smelled and seen worse. Combat: Sit-Com misses Backfire with his Punch attack! Avalanche has arrived. Shadow leaps into the air, aided by his anti-gravs, and hovers there, successfully avoiding Repugnus's assault. He idly runs his thumb along the edge of his sword's blade, as if testing it, despite having more or less run Repugnus through just moments before. "No, thank you," he says dryly. "I'm comfortable as is." With that, he drops down toward Repugnus! Combat: Shadow strikes Bug Creature with his Kick attack! Combat: You took 4 damage. Backfire sidesteps the clumsily thrown punch with some ease, though most of it is him skidding/slipping on the vomit. "Whoa, bad touch!" he chuckles, clenching a fist of his own. Tiny ball of light builds in the palm, but the Seeker chooses to lash out with a kick first.. one that brings him off balance and in the vomit again. What a life! Combat: Backfire sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Backfire misses Sit-Com with his Groin-Twist Kick! (Kick) attack! Bug Creature takes a dent to his skull but mostly shrugs it off. "Heh. Well. It's been fun playing with you Decepticon, but I'm not actually here for you. So..." Transforming back into robot mode, Repugnus whips out his venom laser. "...if you won't let me have your mouth, and you don't need to be warmed up, well, then, maybe you just need a break?" And he fires a sickly green beam at Shadow, which, if it hits, will paralyze the Decepticon warrior. The creature spins and twists about into Repugnus's robot mode! Combat: Repugnus sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Repugnus misses Shadow with his Venom Laser attack! Sit-Com avoids the bad touch! "Oy, I think I'll need to take five," he says, backing up as Backfire slips in vomit again. He starts fixing himself. "Physician, heal thyself." Combat: Sit-Com quickly patches up some of his minor injuries. Shadow is immediately back in the air, flipping forward and then spinning around to face Repugnus again, the beam completely missing him. He descends to the ground and lands. "Here for me or not," he replies, "you are still interfering with Decepticon business." He leaves it at that, instead rushing forward and horizontally slicing his sword in an attempt to decapitate Repugnus. Combat: Shadow misses Repugnus with his Shadow Sword attack! "Oh, you'll be taking more than FIVE!" Backfire yelps, not completely sure what he meant by the statement. But he did continue to charge the ball of energon in his hand, the sickly green color overtaking his palm.. surrounding most of his forearm now. "Err, I mispoke. you'll be taking -exactly- five!" Backfire roars out, jutting his fist forward towards the Junkion's face. Combat: Backfire sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Backfire strikes Sit-Com with his Five Finger Death Punch! attack! Combat: Backfire's attack has strange and mysterious effects on Sit-Com. Repugnus sidesteps Shadow's headlong charge, snorting, "Decepticon business? Oh, you only think you are. Truth be told, you're here on MY business." And once Shadow has passed him, Repugnus charges as well... for the warehouse. Transforming back into monster mode, Repugnus carves himself an entrance inside and runs in. Repugnus twists and flips around into his horrific creature mode! Combat: Bug Creature takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Sit-Com gets smacked again! And he's dizzy! He stumbles around clumsily, worse than a three stooge. "Who what when where how why?" He flails wildly. Combat: Sit-Com's random flailings! attack on Backfire goes wild! Combat: Sit-Com strikes himself with his random flailings! (Kick) attack! Almost like a flawless dance, Shadow spins around upon missing Repugnus. "*Your* business? Ah, you must be the one who set us up, then! The dealer did say something about a 'creepy laugh'." He pursues Repugnus, spacing his sword. He, like Repugnus himself, runs into the warehouse, using the opening that the Monsterbot created. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Shadow has 'skipped' his action for this round. Bobbing again, Backfire unclenches his fist and fades his upper torso back.. though the Junkion's attack doesn't exactly get too close. "Wait, are you trying to hit yourself? Maybe it's a vain attempt to get me to hit myself.. GAH, like that'd ever work!" The thought does cross his mind, perhaps get himself -more- pumped up for this fight than he already is? Nah. He's not THAT stupid.. right now. So instead he aims the shoulder-mounted blaster at the Junkion. "Hahaha, do you.. DARE TO BE STUPID??" Combat: Backfire strikes Sit-Com with his Bad Pun : (Laser) attack! "Creepy laugh?" Repugnus says indignantly. "You mean like this?" And then he lets loose with a creepy little laugh even as he continues to run inside the warehouse. And what should be inside the warehouse? A spaceship. Apparently, this is how the drug dealers were transporting their wares here. And evidently, they must have thought the vessel would be fairly safe inside the warehouse from being stolen because they left the ramp to the pilot's cabin down. Naturally, Repugnus rushes up this ramp, waggles his fingers at Shadow to say goodbye, then closes the ramp behind himself. Combat: Bug Creature takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] The creature spins and twists about into Repugnus's robot mode! Shadow comes to an abrupt stop at the pilot's cabin. Acting swiftly, he once more summons his sword and plunges it through the closed ramp, attempting to pry it open. Sit-Com is finished being dizzy, and realizes he's very badly damaged! He ducks behind a bunch of crates in order to try to effect some more emergency repairs. He hopes Repugnus has this all figured out. Combat: Sit-Com quickly patches up some of his minor injuries. Combat: Shadow takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] "COWARD!" Backfire cries out, when Sit-Com manages to lose him in a small dank alley.. that smells like vomit. "COME OUT AND FACE ME!" So what does he do? He just starts shooting random things a Junkion could be hiding behind. Cardboard box.. check. Trash can.. check. Vomit covered alien.. check. Crates.. ? Combat: Backfire misses Sit-Com with his When in doubt.. SHOOT EVERYTHING! (Laser) attack! [Pulled -1] Part of the hatch is pried open by Shadow's sword, but that doesn't stop Repugnus from starting the ship up and lifting off. Normally the warehouse's roof can open up to allow a ship to descend into it or depart from it, but in this case Repugnus doesn't bother with that and simply tries to smash through the roof, both because he doesn't care about the mayhem he'll cause and also to shake off his annoying passenger. Sit-Com is fortunately not behind the crates that Backfire is shooting at! Once he's done fixing, he makes a break for the shuttle! "Time to boogie!" he shouts, running quickly! "Breaker breaker, 10-4 good buddy! Coming down the road!" Combat: Sit-Com begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Repugnus, Shadow, Backfire, and Astrotrain The sword goes back into subspace as Shadow grips the torn hatch, attempting to open it further with his bare hands. He keeps a good grip on it even as the shuttle starts to take off, determined not to let Repugnus get away. The hatch gives way, revealing Repugnus at the helm. "Stubborn one, aren't you? Guess you have to have something to make up for that "Sir, yes sir" BS you probably do every day. I swear, you prim and proper types always grate me--but it's fun as hell giving you sh*t! Let me demonstrate my point..." He yanks the control stick back and forth to try and make the shuttle rock around and throw Shadow about the interior. "You know, I don't actually know how to fly this thing, hahaha!" "Dastardly dolt, I knew I should have picked door number seven!!" Backfire cries out after Sit-Com, giving chase. It's too bad there's still an excessive amount of vomit around, letting the Seeker slip in the mucky substance and knock himself right into the side of the building. "REALLY, AGAIN??" he yelps. Shaking off the effects of the fall 'n collision, Backfire notices the shuttle bursting through the roof.. most notably, Shadow being attached to it. "OH no you don't, no one makes off with a Decepticon under my ever watchful optic!!" Anti-gravs bring Backfire up to Shadow, and a moment later he's wretching at the fellow Decepticon. "NOT ON MY WATCH!" The rocking shuttle causes a bit of a problem, but Shadow manages to overcome it. And then Backfire shows up to be stupid again. "Let go, you idiot!" Shadow says irritably, raising his voice in a rare moment of him losing his cool. "I'm trying to prevent Repugnus from escaping!" Backfire may be physically stronger than Shadow, though. "Yes, save your fellow Decepticon, Backfire, or else I'll BRUTALLY TORTURE HIM!" Repugnus calls out as he steers the shuttle to the outskirts of the city in a wobbling, erratic pattern that scatters most of the other air traffic and even provokes some of the jet biker gangs into opening fire on the ship. "Noooooooooooo, I can't have you brutally torturing my biggest fans!!" Backfire screams, flailing his legs around frantically. "Who would answer all my fan mail??" Placing a knee on the shuttle, the Seeker simpleton yanks backwards with all the strength he can muster. Combat: Backfire misses Shadow with his That's What Friends Are For (Grab) attack! Backfire tugs soo furiously and tremendously, that when Shadow doesn't come unattached that easily.. he fumbles with his grip, tumbling behind the craft. Which is hunky-dory, fine and all.. except for the fact that he's dragged under and through the ship's afterburners. Worry not though, he's deposited out the rear of the craft.. on fire. "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" Shadow escapes Backfire's grasp. Instinct tells him to dash over to Repugnus, but his processor tells him not to. He wouldn't put it past Repugnus to live up to his threat, after all. He clutches the sides of the hatch and peers out at Backfire...and then winces. "For the love of..." He sighs in annoyance and leaps out from the hatch, transforming to his chopper mode and speed toward his literally flaming comrade. Yes, Shadow is loyalty enough to the Decepticons that he'd even go rescue an idiot. Shadow transforms into his chopper mode. "I'll torture them, too, with reruns of Small Wonder," Sit-Com says. "Puggy! You going to chase those Decepticons off?" The Junkion looks a little concerned that the Decepticons are getting inside. "Chase them off? No need!" Repugnus replies to Sit-Com. Alas, Backfire may have done something in getting sucked through the engines--the one he went through has its turbines torn to shreds and erupts in flame. "Ah, nuts! You f***ing Decepticons, I had a perfect scheme going then you had to ruin it! I swear I'm gonna catch up to you one of these days and--oh crap!" The shuttle, despite Repugnus's best efforts, begins to lose power and drop rapidly towards the ground. "Crap crap crap--" Repugnus mutters as he finds himself descending towards a small, industrial-waste ridden lake beyond the outskirts of the city, and with a curse he bails out of the shuttle before it impacts onto the lake. Repugnus himself hits the water some time after, and he turns towards where the shuttle impacted in the water, only to see a plume of water erupt from where the shuttle should have been. "DAMMIT! Total loss!" he curses. Sit-Com uh-ohs and bails out as well! "Now what are we going to do?" he demands, glaring at Repugnus. He taps a finger on a mech-bicep. "We're stuck here with no ride!" Repugnus shrugs. "Eh. There's plenty of ships on this planet. Can always take the Space Taxi. Just gotta make sure you keep your wallet close at hand!" Sit-Com nods. "Keep your enemies close, and your wallet closer." Backfire burns still, but in the clutches of Shadow. "Heh, you do.. care!" "Who am I," Shadow murmurs, "to leave a comrade in need?" Combat: Your COMBAT flag has been cleared. "THE BESTEST FRIEND EVER!" Backfire shrieks, then promptly passes out. LATER Eventually, Repugnus manages to separate himself from the Junkion, and soon returns to the edge of the lake in which the shuttle was lost. He's not alone--with him is the mob boss Gahr'fanz, a blobby creature floating about on a hover platform. Also present are some mobsters, some of whom are manning a towing vehicle that's dragging something out of the muck. Before long, the shuttle which the Autobots and Decepticons had fought over is pulled out. "Thanks for taking care of the competition in that neck of town, Repugnus," Gahr'fanz says, bobbing forward to Repugnus as a way of nodding. "Go ahead and have what's on that shuttle, just like we agreed. I won't need it now that I got a monopoly on that new drug." "Sure thing, Gahr'fanz," Repugnus says, grinning evilly. "It took a bit effort setting this up, getting the Autobots and Decepticons to scrap with each other to cover up what I was really doing, setting up the charges in the lake to make the shuttle look like it was destroyed--but hey, I think in the end it'll prove to be worth it when I'm popping open Decepticon brains like they were zits." "What're you gonna do now?" Gahr'fanz says. "What do you think?" Repugnus replies, his grin turning dark. "I'm gonna get *high.*" ================================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/152 Posted Author Drug Deal Thwarted Fri Apr 08 Repugnus Repugnus appears on-screen, seeming to be a little worse-for-wear and strangely somber. "I received a report earlier in the week from some of my contacts on Pz'Zazz about a drug deal that was going down. Ordinarily not our concern, but the buyers were Decepticons, and the drug in question was something called Crush. Crush is a strength-boosting additive for any fuel that can be used by a machine, but when it's taken by a living machine the drug has the side-effect of causing psychotic, uncontrollable rage. We couldn't let the 'cons have this stuff, so I took Sit-Com with me to Pz'Zazz to take this deal down. "When we got there, the Decepticons were in the process of betraying and attacking the drug dealers--true to form--so we took that opportunity to hit them while they were somewhat distracted. Astrotrain was there, but he got hit by an eighteen wheeler that's actually good for something and was taken out of the fight fairly early. That left some guy who called Shadow behind, who managed to be more boring than Ultra Magnus during a mission briefing, and Backfire, who likes to make aliens throw up on themselves. I think it's some kind of sick fetish. Anyway, I tried to capture the shuttle, but unfortunately, the Decepticons used the clever "get sucked into the engines" trick to cripple it and I was forced to crash land it in a lake. I think the shuttle exploded after that. Oh well--at least the cons didn't get their hands on the contents, right?" Repugnus shrugs, and switches off the video feed. (OOC: This probably goes without saying, but Repugnus was lying about part of this mission. The shuttle was not, in fact, destroyed--he recovered it some time after with the help of a mob boss.) ==============================================================================
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