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"AWWW YEAHHHH," crowed Frenzy, happily dancing in a circle.
Blitzwing was happily clapping from outside the door, while Rumble stood just inside, laughing at Frenzy's antics. They had gone to an abandoned repair shop, only barely finding the right materials to repair Frenzy's voice with. Blitzwing had been too big to fit in, so he sat outside, watching from the shop window.
"I'm tellin' ya, a week without being able to talk is like...TORTURE! And uh, don't tell Soundwave, but I forgot what I did for him to make me wait to get it fixed anyways." Frenzy settled down finally, stepping back beside his twin.
"Ya probably played your music too loud. Again. You really gotta work on finding the right volume, I know ya can go high, but you know big guy's still tweakin' with us."
"Yeah yeah. So, uh," Frenzy looked out at Blitzwing, "What's this about gatherin' decepticons?"
"Perhaps it is best if I explain it to everyone all at once. I will take you where you wish, if you give me directions." Blitzwing held out his hands and lowered them to the ground.
"Eh, you're not too much bigger than Soundwave, you'll fit where we're goin'." Rumble stepped out and onto Blitzwing's hands, followed by Frenzy, and they were lifted to perch on his shoulders. "Not quite as roomy as big guy, but not bad!" He patted Blitzwing on the head, who began walking. "Keep goin' northwest from here, we kinda been livin' in a culvert thing under the city."
"'Roomy.' I am assuming you travel on his shoulders, also?"
"Yeah, we're part of his arsemal! ...We ain't been sent out to fight yet, but we totally got some moves to bust up whoever thinks they can butt heads with -us-!" Frenzy only sounded a tiny bit unsure about being sent out to fight, because he and Rumble were still works in progress, but he sounded rather eager about testing his skills.
"Ah. So that is why you are so small."
"We're not that small! We're bigger than the humans." Rumble had seen them up close before, when he had snuck out one time to see where all the noise and music had been coming from. It turned out they lived underneath a giant rave hall, which Soundwave unhappily blamed Frenzy and Rumble's taste in music on. "Are all bots big like you an Soundwave?"
"Most, yes. And some, like Lugnut and Megatron, are even taller. However, even the smallest bots I've seen yet have been much larger than you two. Do not let this discourage you, though. Small can also be fast. What are your alt forms, if I may ask?" Blitzwing was still curious, and even with such an up-close inspection, he hadn't been able to figure it out.
"Subwoofers! We make with the BOOM BOOM BOOM! Amplify sounds, cause quakes. We're awesome." Frenzy nodded. "About a mile south from here now, and we'll be there."
Course adjusted, Blitzwing continued. "Ah. Music. I have not listened to music for a few thousand years, now..."
Rumble and Frenzy's optics would've bugged out of their sockets, if they'd been able to.
"A few THOUSAND years? Why?" Rumble was about ready to start shaking Blitzwing's head around. "Me an Frenzy ain't gone longer than a day without music! How can anyone go -that- long?"
"Between the war, and unavailability of the resources for it, well... It has not been a priority. You learn to deal with it. I do enjoy it, but it really is not something at the forefront of my mind."
"...Oh. ..Well... Hey! I know! I'll show you some awesome earth tunes sometime. Ya know, Soundwave says these humans are all bad an stuff, but.. They make some pretty cool music." Rumble patted Blitzwing on the head. "Ya don't know what you're missin'! Anyways, see that arch over there with all the plants an junk growing over it? That's where we gotta go."
Blitzwing stopped at the tunnel entrance, and the twins slid off his shoulders as he lowered to the ground. The entrance was not large, but it was not small, and with his downturned wings, he would have no difficulty fitting in through, just as Rumble had said. They led the way through the tunnel with a few simple twists and turns, before stopping at a large, messily constructed door of wood. Within the door of wood was set another door, this one Rumble and Frenzy sized.
This door Frenzy opened, and stepped inside. "HEY BIG GUY! I can talk again! And... We uh, kinda brought something home, you might wanna come out and see this!"
There was a faint rustling noise coming from behind the door, and Frenzy shut the small one, stepping back as the larger one opened. Soundwave came out, noticing first the taller decepticon in front of him, but then Rumble as he piped up.
"Can we keep him?"
"Oh! Look TC, a map!"
Skywarp loved maps. He didn't know why, but just looking at one, and knowing where you were, where other points on the map were, and the possible routes to get from one point to another... It satisfied something in him. Maps weren't dangerous to him, though he'd heard of humans getting things called papercuts from the ones on earth, and they were portable, easy to store, and most importantly.. Not dangerous!
"Ah, yes. A building map. I see it has the locations of everyone posted here. I want to see who's where, hold this." He passed the cube to Skywarp, who took it carefully.
Handling it for the first time, Skywarp noticed it was a slightly familiar shade of blue. He'd seen this color on someone before, but he couldn't quite remember. If he couldn't remember, however, maybe it wasn't that important... Oh well. The building map was quite small, and the egomaniac was blocking it while he was looking at it, so Skywarp would have to wait his turn...if TC even waited that long after he finished. He took this opportunity to glance around the building. It was nothing fancy, and actually quite simplified. Nothing was on the walls, save for the decepticon symbol here and there, and there was that shadow again, and...oh. ...OH.
"TC!"
"Not now, I'm busy!"
The shadow was MOVING. Skywarp squeezed the cube to his chest, and ran...then popped out of sight from the middle of nowhere.
Shockwave had a wonderfully refreshing recharge. He woke up earlier that morning, taking time to review the news datapads, and work out his schedule for the day, all while slowly absorbing his morning cube of energon. He was prepared and ready for the day, and exited his room...to be greeted by a high speed bonk upside the head by an unknown object. Caught off guard, he staggered a bit, before standing upright, looking around. A smaller purple and black Seeker was sprawled out on the floor facefirst, but what really caught his attention was the thing that had hit him in the head.
Skywarp scrambled up, finding another, larger, purple and black mech picking up the cube he'd dropped when he accidentally warped, and tripped over his own feet. He raised his hand, approaching slowly. This mech looked SCARY. He could probably bite, even if he didn't look like he had a mouth.
"E-excuse me, th-that...m... May I p-please, please have it back? I-I need it!"
Shockwave inspected the cube, turning it over and around. It was warm to the touch still, and now that he really bothered looking at it, he could see the spark was still faintly pulsing inside, struggling to live. He looked over at the bot who had tripped, who was now wringing his hands, looking at him like he was ready to jump at him and tear his spark out. ...Perhaps a little fun wouldn't hurt. He stepped forward, bringing himself to his full height, stretching his legs out a little.
"You need this?"
Skywarp stepped back when he realized this mech was apparently a lot taller than he'd originally thought... So scary!
"Please, I... It doesn't belong to me, it's someone else's!"
"Do you know what...or who this is?"
"No..."
"Does who this...'belongs to'...know who or what this is?"
With each question, Shockwave had been stepping closer and closer to Skywarp, and this was starting to intimidate him so much, that it hadn't even occured to Skywarp to lie about it.
"No..."
"I see." Shockwave held up the cube. "I happen to know exactly what, and who this is. You have no business being in possession of it. You may kindly run along. -Now-."
With the emphasis on the now and the final step forward, this was enough to make Skywarp yelp, and run down the hall.
Only when he'd gotten to the first floor to start running to Thundercracker, who had obviously not noticed he was gone, did he realize...he was probably going to be in trouble for losing the cube. Then again... TC was probably the lesser of the two evils. ...Maybe. ...Oh boy.
