Hwee! Vunduba! I got chapter three finished! I know that it's late, but, well... I think my computer may be possessed again, let's just leave it at that. Hopes you enjoy!
Disclaimer: This chapter makes no sense. If I owned Transformers, don't you think my writing kills would be better?
Deja-Vu
Chapter 3 – Labyrinth
Soundwave and Jo arrived at a small door not far from the Command Center. Well, small in comparison to the other doors they had passed. It was still humongous compared to Jo, who was still chattering away on his shoulder, and didn't notice when the mech she was on stopped in front of it and entered a short pass-code. She did notice, however, when the door slid open.
"This is a fragging closet!" She exclaimed, obviously unhappy. "I know I'm a human, but seriously? A supply closet?"
The telepath winced at the shrill noise so close to his audial receptors and reached up to grab the irritated human, but she proved too nimble and hopped up onto the top of his head.
"Joanne: Desist climbing and return to the ground," he ordered, but Jo was not interested in listening. "You know that symbol you guys got? Yeah. Your head looks like it. Are you the mascot or something?" Soundwave sighed at the tease and shook his head forward quickly enough for Jo to fall off into his waiting hands.
"I am obliged to inform you that if you fail to heed my orders tomorrow, Joanne, I will be ordered to exterminate you. As Frenzy seems to have developed a liking for you, your death would more than likely impede his performance, and that would not be desired, as Megatron would then order his torture or death. Understand?"
The expression of fear and slight revulsion on Jo's face made clear her answer, and she was quiet as Soundwave placed her on the ground. No promises after that, however.
"That's scrapped," Jo cursed softly as she turned towards the closet. "Why would anyone be a Decepticon if th' threat is death? 'Course, I ain't doin' much better at th' mo'…" She trailed off as she noticed her belongings on the floor, by a stack of crates larger than her. Soundwave almost wanted to hear more of what the femmling had to say, but, as he remembered, he still needed to debrief Blitzwing. With a quick telepathic message to Frenzy and Rumble to watch Jo, Soundwave left her to examine her limited possessions.
Most of the bags seemed to have not been rummaged through, Jo noticed straightaway. "Tha's good. Means they din't take m' danj'rus stuff. Or m' food. Speakin' o' food…" Jo trailed off again as she dived for the box she had grabbed last. She wrenched the lid off to reveal a survival kit, instant ramen, and various army rations. Selecting an MRE with Chinese food on the front, Jo set the cooking supplies up to warm the food. Then she turned to examine her 'quarters'.
"Eh, Ah guess i's go' enough room," she muttered, glancing up at the piles of boxes. The one closest to her had slats of some sort on the side. "Perfect fer han'holes," With that thought, Jo scrambled up the side nimbly, and used the vantage point to survey her small domain. There were a few other towers of crates, and some odd looking machinery, but for the most part, the closet was barren. The purple metal floor and walls were oppressing, and no windows were to be seen. In fact, the only lighting in the room was from a strange, moderately glowing panel on the ceiling.
A slight hissing sound from the now boiling packet on the floor reminded Jo of her food, and her growling stomach. She jumped down, and was just starting to eat the prepared MRE, when Frenzy came in the closet with another 'con about his size.
"Hey, Frenze! Who's your friend?" Jo said through a mouth full of noodles. Frenzy was about to respond when the red cassetticon butted in.
"Heh, I'm surprised ya don't know who I am, sweet-cheeks," he said cockily. Frenzy slapped his spindly hands over his head. "I'm Rumble, just the hottest Cybertronian this side of Primus! What's your name, gorgeous?"
Jo stuck out her tongue, pretending to gag. "Interspecies flirting! Ew!" A devilish smirk crossed her face as she stuck a piece of chicken in her mouth. "I'm Autobot Head-Muncher. Nice to meetcha, Rumb's."
Both Cassetticons reset their optics quickly, and backed away slowly from the still eating human, who was trying not to choke on her food with laughter. "A-a-are you-ou s-s-seri-eriou-ous?" Frenzy stuttered, worried that he had made a fatal mistake when observing her.
Jo burst out laughing loudly, unable to stifle it (She has poor self control. Can you tell?) and Frenzy realized that she had been teasing them. He pinged Rumble that, and the red brother's optics narrowed, annoyed. He snatched the MRE container from Jo's hands, scanning it warily.
"What's this fuel supposed to be, anyways? Reconstituted poultry flesh, saline compounds, wires of an organic glue… Is this really supposed to be a nutritional substance?"
Jo grabbed the food back, scowling. "Dude, if I could drink pure energy for life, I would. But that would kill me, and this stuff tastes good. Bugger off."
Frenzy sighed with a twitch as his brother and Jo kept squabbling over food, then moved on to something about females. Humans seemed more complicated than he initially thought.
-----------Somewhere in Nevada---------
The large door squeaked slightly as it slid open, revealing a tired Jazz. He immediately walked over to his berth and flopped down on it, making the soft material covering the metal nearly blow out. The saboteur glared at the small digital clock across from him, as if it had scorned him. The screen innocently displayed the time; it was only seven forty-eight, but it felt like midnight. Jazz rolled onto his back and resumed his glaring, now at the ceiling.
The Decepticons had attacked again. Maybe it wasn't as bad as it could be; no-one was dead, and only three humans were injured, and minimal damage had been done to property. That didn't stop Jazz from being angry and pretty dang worried. The 'cons had abducted a kid. Glenn had called right after the news had come in; apparently, he was tight with the girl, and thought it was his fault she was snatched. Prowl told the hacker it probably was. Jazz kicked him for being insensitive. Optimus scolded the both of them. Jazz knew he shouldn't have 'assaulted' his superior, but, honestly, Prowler was being a prick. A youngling got kidnapped, and was probably terrified because she was surrounded by hostile giant robots, and all the 2iC could say was that it was an unfortunate casualty, all because of Glenn. And Jazz had to be online for a mission debriefing at four in the fragging morning the next day.
Groaning, Jazz turned on his stereo system, and tried to drift into recharge and get a decent amount. Knowing the events of the day, the next mission would be Pit…
-----------The Nemesis----------
Jo let out a sigh of relief as the door to the closet closed. She was tired and Rumble got on her nerves. Frenzy tried to help, but… Well, the red brother had absolutely no reason to fear anything when he pulled out some pile-driver-thingies. Now the walls were dented and Jo's half-eaten MRE was smashed on the floor.
The human stretched and hopped off of the makeshift bed she had set up using a sleeping bag and some foam stuff. She was just getting changed into some pajamas when the full force of the day hit her.
"Primus," she muttered, almost falling over. "Ah've been 'bducted by gian' alien robo's who're threatenin' t' kill me. M'family's been attack'd. M'house's been d'stroyed. Why idn't dis botherin' me?"
Jo was still puzzling that out as she climbed back up the crate and crawled into her sleeping bag. A million thoughts had been going through her head since everything had started, true, but the most affected she had been was when Starscream had blown up her house. Jo hiccupped a bit, hoping her parents and sister were okay, before thinking, again, about how nothing felt… strange about the day. It's not as if stuff like this happened everyday, and yet, that's what it felt like to her. This big purple spaceship, home to an insane number of hostile robot aliens (from what she had heard) felt more like home in the first hour than her home had felt all her life.
But that doesn't mean I can sleep in tomorrow, Jo mused, curling up. Well, I can, but I like living. Need to get to sleep…
-------Dream-------
The prank of the vorn! Or at least, the quartex. That's what it's supposed to be. Only, my brother's late. He's always late to everything. Can't blame him though; that's our motto! Not "be late", but "fashionably late". Well, either way, it's been a few breems and I wanna get going, or else Red's gonna get all fritzy again 'cuz he can't see us on camera.
"'Sup, sis? Wha's th' prank dis time?" My bro pops up over the edge of the pipeline I'm sittin' on, doing his best not to scratch his silver paintjob (my blue coloring's already scrapped, unfortunately) and I do my best to look disappointed with him.
"Yo' late, bro." He just laughs.
"Yeah, yeah, yeh know wha' we say-"
I cut him off, waving a hand. "Do it wif style or don' bothe' doin' it, an' tha' includes arrivin' fash'nibly late, Ah know. Bu' we're off camera an' Red's gonna get Prowler-"
"Who's gonna cop a fit. Got it. So, wha's th' plan?"
I gesture flamboyantly at a pile of scrap metal and medical tubing. I can tell, beneath his visor, he's skeptical.
"Art supplies? How're we gonna get better'n th' Twins 'f we're jus' throwin' confetti a' bots?"
Smirking, I pick up a piece of scrap, and fold it into a 'v' shape. Then, using some of the tubing I had already tied into a ring, I launch it at him. The rubbery material flings the piece of metal pretty fast, and upon impact, leaves a nick in his paintjob.
"Ow!"
"Da's th' point! It hur's enough t' make yeh jump, an' leave a scratch, bu' i's no' enough t' make yeh go t' Ratchet!"
"Wi'sh 's goo', cuz he's still piss'd a' us."
"Cuz 'Bee was followin' us through th' ven's?"
"Yeah, bu' i's no' like we tol' him t' go int' the intake area. Ah'm jus' glad he di'nt ge' too hur'."
"Bu' 'f we ha'nt been dere, he'da bleed ou'. 'Course, 's still our faul' he was dere, bu' dat can' be help'd."
Suddenly, I get pelted with one of my little ammo thingies, and I jump a bit off the pipe. They really do hurt! I glare at my twin. " Wha' wasat fo'?"
"Yo' makin' me feel all d'press'd. Now, tell m' wha' we're doin' fo' dis prank, an' we c'n ge' start'd!" He smirked widely, and I can't help but do the same. I grab some more ammo and start folding it, explaining at the same time.
"M'kay. Dese li'l guys 're th' 'seekers', cuz dey're th' same shape 'n stuff. We launch'em at th' nex' mech t' walk by an' leave 'em scratched up, an' boom, Sunny an' Sides ain't th' bes' ambush prank'ers anymore."
My silver twin looks at me expectantly, knowing I'm not finished. "An' who's th' nex' mech walkin' by?"
"It may or may no' be a high ranker. Ah mean, we are in th' Prime's hall, ain't we?" The smirk across my face is just like his, I can tell, and he starts folding the metal scraps as well.
"Same bet as usual? E'rybody bu' th' specials're two poin's, Dad 'n Pops 're five anti-poin's, 'Hide's ten poin's, Ratch's twen'y poin's an' Prowler's a hun'red poin's?"
"Eh, acshully…" I say, pausing to think. "Ah think Ratch's gonna hafta be off limi's. Cuz he's still torqued b'yon' b'lief. An' Ah like livin'."
He nods, and crouches down into a predator's position. "Go' i', sis. Le's ambush th' slagga'!!!"
We were laying on the pipe for what felt like a vorn and a half (though it was really probably only half-a-cycle) and getting pretty restless, when I hear loud footsteps echoing down the hall. I hold my hand up, signaling for my bro to wait, and then I hear the mech right under us, so…
"Chaaarrgggeeeee!!!!!"
Needless to say, we can't really see who we're shooting at, but we are definitely shooting. It's really fun, and my pump's working really fast, and me and my bro aren't even bothering to speak out loud, we're just jabbering along our spark-bond, and the seekers are flying like plasma shots, and then, well, we're out of ammo.
And we see who we were shooting at.
He's big, red and white, and torqued.
Aww, fraggin' Pit! My bro cusses over our bond. I look over at him as the mech begins shaking with anger.
"Ah, Jazz?"
"Yeah?"
"RUUUNNNNN!!!!!!"
Thankfully, we're down the hall and out of sight before Ratchet yells his now-trademark "TWINS!" and chases after us, and we're both laughin' and thinkin' we should have checked who it was first……
-------Another Dream-------
The world is falling down around us. It must be. That's the only explanation for the screams and gunshots I hear right now, for the fact our Tower is shaking, and that Mom and Pops are gone. It's really scary. I mean, Beat and I were due for our upgrades today, cuz we're old enough to be younglings, but then Mom turned on the vid and saw these big guys with purple marks attacking the walls outside the city and got scared. Me and my little sis stayed in our room, playing around with our toybots - the ones that turn from vehicle to bipedal mode when you push a button, ya know – until Pops came in and told us to get in the main structure area. Until then we hadn't noticed the explosions and stuff (we thought it was from the vid Mom had on) but the vid was off and the explosions were getting louder. And now…
"Hey, Jazz?" I look down at my blue twin, and I can see lube leakin' out from under her visor, and reflected in her visor, I can see the same thing on my face. We had been crying, but come on! We're only sparklings, and the world is going to Pit…
"Yeah, Beat?"
She sniffles a little; some lube got into her intakes and is making her hiccup. "Dose're th' 'Cons Mom tol' us 'bout, ain' they? Day're 'tackin' Kalis." I frown, then look out the window at the smoke and metal fumes covering the sky that had been such a pretty purple only a few cycles before.
"Yeah."
We both shriek and grab each other then, cuz the Tower shook really bad just then, and there's this big explosion, and then there's some screaming from down below.
"Holy Primus…" I whisper, as if the 'Cons can hear us.
They just blew up the bottom of the tower!!! Beat exclaims through our twin bond, her not-voice tinged with terror. I nod at her, trying to be the 'responsible big brother' Mom and Dad always tell me to be. But another explosion wracks the Tower just then, and I bury my head in Beat's shoulder, cuz I figure, we're only five breems apart. And I'm scared, slaggit!
After a couple breems we look up, figurin' its over an' we're cool, cuz the war sounds are gone, and the Tower isn't movin' anymore. We can't feel our creators, but that's ok, since they cut off when they're busy usually. Beat wipes some lube off of her faceplates.
"Sorr' Jazz," Beat mumbles, smiling a little. I cuff her on the back of her head.
"Bou' wha', sis? We're onl' sparklin's."
"S'possed t' ge' our upgrades t' younglin' t'day." She mumbles dejectedly. I wave it off; we're both cranky cuz we're hungry. And all this of course, but that takes second fiddle t' food.
"An' wha', tha' makes us grown up? Psh. Ah like m' right t' freak ou', thanks."
Beat giggles and nods, already cheering up. She looks over to the window from where we're sitting, but all I can see is ash. 'Course, Beat's always been more a visual spark, so maybe she can see somthin' I don'…
"Th' battle's movin' away. Y'think we c'n call 'Shaft 'n 'Set now?"
From the sounds of it, Beat's right, so I loll over the edge of the sitting area, more relaxed. "Ah don' see why no'. Mom'n'Pop said no' t' till th' end o' th' battle, bu' it's gone now, so we're good."
My blue twin nods happily, and we bump our helms together like usual before we call Mom and Pop. I focus on my spark, and I feel all calm and stuff like usual, and then there's Beat flyin' around this li'l spark-place, and we goof off fer a klik b'fore getting in contact with the creators. But then a far-off explosion nabs our attention, and we get back on track.
Feeling towards the back of our sparks, we open up this little 'door' in our bond, to where our creators' sparks are. The bonds opened slowly, love and concern from our creators leakin' through…
And then me an' Beat were writhin' on the floor, our sparks feelin' like they had been tore apart, an' it feels like we been beaten or somethin', and jus' thinkin' 'Primusmakeitstop!' I kinda could feel Jetset and Crankshaft, our creators, waving sorrow and concern and love and stuff over the bond but I was more aware of Beat, who was curled into a tiny ball, pressed into my side, whimpering, and me, who was doing my best not to break my vocalizers holding in my yells.
But the… everything just… stops. The pain goes away, and Beat and I sit up, a little dazed, but ok. But when we feel out over our bond…. It's gone. There's nothin' there but a hole. Even when Mom an' Pop blocked us out, we could still feel them, but now… it was like a part of our sparks was tore out. I started to cry a little; some of Pop's charges from the sparkling center had told us about this feelin' before.
"Th-they're g-gone, ain' they?" Beat stutters, fresh lube trickling out from under her visor as her intakes hiccupped. I nod, mouth components quivering a little.
"Tha's why they din't wan' us contactin' dem," I mumble, listening to the sounds of battle that are fading away. I hear something like a mech calling for retreat before I continue. "So's if dey go' hur', it woul'nt hur' us…"
Beats lookin' over at a holo on the wall, a pic from a vorn or so ago, when Pops took us to play with our new wheels on an ore-hill. A frown flies across her face, and I feel a bunch of thoughts randomly flyin' around her head, but they're too… squiggly, and I can't hear them right.
"Watchoo thinkin', sis?" I ask, my voice surprisingly calm. I mean, our creators just died, shouldn't we be more upset and stuff?
She looks over at me, thoughtful. I almost laugh at the expression. Almost.
"Well, ya know wha' Jetset always said, right?"
I nod. "Yeah. 'If action is needed, do what you gotta do. Only then, if you're done, can you chill out, too.' Why?"
"Ah don' think they woulda wanted us t' jus' lay aroun'. Ah mean, this Tower's 'ficcialy dang'rous. It's movin' aroun' an' stuff, ya know? If we're still in here an' th' Tower falls, Mom an' Pop willa' died fo' nothin', an' we'll be dead too, an' that'll suck an' stuff, so, ya' know what we gotta do?"
I shake my head for a fraction of a klik, before thinkin' of what Pops had drilled inta our CPUs. "If you're ever in trouble, find an Autobot, the guys with the red marks. They'll keep you safe," he would say, an' then I knew what Beat meant, and was all proud of her for thinkin' it up by herself. "Th' Autobo's, righ'?"
Beat nods, then dashes into our room, leaving me alone for a klik. I'm still scared cuz everythin's so slagged up (Don' cuss, Jazz! Beat says over the bond, I reply with a real rude gesture, and we both laugh) bu' it was cool. Me an' Beat, it's jus' wha' we do. Go wit' da flow. An' as twisted as it was, this whole thing seemed kinda… fun? I sigh, grinning. My spark hurt and I was miserable, but I was waaay happy, too.
Pit, we're gonna be so screwed up when we're older. I blip, amused. Beat comes out of our room, nodding. But at leas' we'll have fun doin' i'!
With flair, Beat plops a box on the floor, which shakes real scarily. After a klik of balancin' so's we didn't fall, we sit down and I look in th' box, like it's our spark-orn.
Inside's some scrap, an' it don't look liike much, but Beat looks and feels real happy about it, so I try to look interested abou' it. "Sooo… Wha' is i', sis? Ah mean, scrap's coo', bu', ya'know…" Beat smirks, holdin' in a laugh.
"Ah pu' scrap on top t' keep Crankshaf' from takin' th' ac'shul stuff," she says, proudly. With a flick of her hand, the scrap flies everywhere. I realize it's her art scrap, an' it really was coverin' up somthin' cool – li'l weapony things!
I pull ou' th' piece that had m' glyphs scratched on it. It's kinda heavy, and not exactly made fer th' Prime, bu' it feels good t' hol' anyways. Beat's grabbin' some kinda blade lookin' things, bu' I'm not really payin' attention.
Ya like i', bro? Ah made it m'self! She beams widely, seeming to forget everything that's happened so far. She gets like this all th' time when it comes to her art 'n stuff.
Wha' is i', Bea'? Kin'a looks like a slingshot…
Beat reaches over an' puts a sharp… pointy… thingie, into th' fron' of th' d'vice. Then she pushes it so's it ain' aimin' at an'thin' impor'nt, and pushes a button I hadn't seen. The thingie flies out super fast with a click, and lodges in th' wall, with enough force t' make th' buildin' quiver.
"Whoa."
"Yeah," Beat says smugly. "Issa li'l ca'pault. Ah go' th' d'sign from one o' th' hist'ry pads a' th' sparklin' center. 'Sno' like it'll take down a grown-up, bu' 'f we hi' a minicon 'r a cassette 'r a drone, it'll keep yeh safe."
I look at the li'l daggers she's holdin'. "An' why don' yeh have a gun too?"
"Ah can' aim f'slag, yeh know tha'. No t'menshin, th' gun ain' worth halfa credit fo' close combat. Tha's why. We'll balance ou', go' i?"
I nod, bein' all thoughtful an' stuff. We'll b' fine, sis. We don' gotta worry bou' anyone. We ain' gonna b' seen coz we're so small!
Tha's th' prob'm. We're tiny. Tha's why we need th' protec'shin.
Without another word, Beat gets up an' wobbles to th' door. I notice th' floor's movin' pretty bad, so when I go over, it's hard not t' fall. Beat's hand, not a claw like mine, it's on th' keypad, bu' i's all shaky. I pu' my claw on her shoulder-join', bu' don' say anythin'. I know words can' do much, so's I don'. My blue double nods, and th' door swishes open. There's smoke everywhere, bu' we go ou' anyways, our balance getting' better.
"Y'ready t' go, Jazz?" Beat asks, more happy then Ah know she is.
"Le's roll, sis!"
An' we're ou' th' door, terrifies bu' havin' th' time of our shor' li'l lives…
-------Another Dream-------
Fire is everywhere.
Buildings are falling down around me.
Who am I?
I dunno.
I wanna kill… Kill everyone! All the Autobots! All the Decepticons! Every-
There's a scream. Well, lots of screams, but I can hear this one more. Like it's in my spark!
AAAAAAAARRRRRGHHH!!!!!!!!!
Pain splits me in half, and I don' know who I am still bu' I don' wanna kill no more, I jus' gotta help'em an' then I'm runnin' to th' soun' and suddenly it's tha' guy who looks just like me an' he's been shot in half in his arm his arm's bleedin' real bad an' somecon's standin' over him but I can remember he's my twin an' I jus' jump on an' I kill th' con bu' I don' even know how cuz one second I'm here an' then he's dead an' I remember more an' I know I've done a lot of bad stuff an' I gotta make it up an' everythin's insane but I know I just gotta kill th' guy who did it an' nothin' makes any sense an'-
Waaah!!!!!
-----End Dreams-----
Jo sat bolt upright, gasping for air. The night's dreams had started out alright; the prank dream had been around for as long as she could remember, and always happened the same way, even though she couldn't ever remember and names. The strange thing was this time, everyone was robots… and it seemed more natural than ever. No, the part that left Jo gasping for air was the second dream… The one that was pure confusion and terror.
The human hopped down from the perch that her sleeping bag had been on, her footy pajamas making her skid slightly upon landing. The disaster area of the night before had been cleaned, and Jo wondered just how they had been so quiet. Shrugging it off in an attempt to feel less… disturbed… by the dream, Jo walked softly over to her bag and began making some breakfast, not noticing the ridiculously early time – Four in the morning.
-----------Somewhere in Nevada---------
Jazz onlined groggily, frustrated at the ridiculously small amount of recharge he was able to get during the night. It didn't help that the memory replay that had ran was of one of his earliest – and worst – memories. With a dramatic sigh, Jazz swung agilely out of berth, landing right next to the door and nearly smacking his helm on the wall.
"Primus help m'," he muttered, storming out to the meeting room, "If Prowl gives m' a har' time t'day, Ah'ma knockin' 'im back t' Cybertron, no matter wha' Prime says."
So, yeah. I have a tendency to write out accents phonetically, so if what Jazz, Jo, Frenzy or the rest are saying, doesn't quite make sense, just leave a review and I'll do my best to fix it in upcoming chapters!
And, er, of course there is the fact that this chapter makes little-to-little sense. I was going for a rather confused feeling, but I think this just came out... blech. What do you guys think?
Reveiw please! 15 internets per reveiwer, I swear!