Hey all, sorry didn't post for a while, too pumped up about posting MJ tomorrow. Wasn't sure if I wanted to [post both tomorrow, or post FS today and get reviews for two days. I love getting reviews to his won out.
Canikostar99: I will admit, I never thought of it that way. I do like it, but this chapter kinda blows a hole in that theory. And don't put it past me, I'm all about the anguish.
Neon: Yeah, in a way I like Twitch even if he is too twitchy. And no, I'm not spoiling the plot. I have the whole thing written and everything will be revealed.
Answerthecall: Yes, I terrible. that's already been established. :D
Child of Jon snow: Yeah, he probably will. And he might. *evil smirk*
Coolgal22:Truth be told, that dumb little flashback was what started this entire story. I just had to write something like that but then I knew they would have to be separated and so this whole thing popped out. and it needed a tiny bit of humor.
HeartsGuardianSol: Yeah, I think at that point we'd all be missing a lot of people.
"This is nice, you know that?" Sideswipe asked quietly. I didn't feel like moving so I just hummed in acknowledgement.
"I mean, when was the last time we got to relax for a bit?"
Again I hummed, preferring to soak up the sun. I had to admit, I hadn't relaxed like this in metacycles. It was… nice. With a content moan I shoved Sideswipe over, rolling onto my chassis even as Sideswipe snickered and moved over.
"You must be part Praxian the way you like to soak up the sun." He said with a laugh, readjusting his position beside me and laying down on his back, his own contentment flooding my spark. I returned the feeling automatically and for the first time I kinda wished my paint was a darker color.
You? Black? That's a joke.
Sideswipe snickered. I elbowed him in the side but he continued to laugh. Strangling him would require moving so I ignored him.
Aww, you're purring.
I onlined an optic to glare at my twin. He grinned at me cheekily before laying back down. I ignored him with a huff, offlining my optic again to relax.
I cringed even as Sideswipe groaned out loud as a familiar ID signature register on my scanners and a few moments later a voice spoke up.
"Aren't you two supposed to be on shift?" Prowl asked. I ignored him.
"Oh come on Prowl, we've been going steady for five cycles. We were just going to relax a bit while it's still sunny and warm out." Sideswipe whined, even as I felt Prowl's doorwinged shadow drift over me.
'Off him for me. He's blocking my sun.
I told Sideswipe. I felt him laugh.
Then we would be locked up in the brig and miss this sun entirely.
True… fraggit.
"You were both supposed to be inside." Prowl repeated, oblivious to our conversation. "Sunstreaker, are you even listening to me? Sunstreaker? Sunstreaker, wake up!"
xxXXxx
It was Slate quietly growling that brought me back online.
Frag, when did I fall into recharge?
I slowly sat up, my wounds no longer as sore after being forced to spend three more orns with Twitch. The glitch-
Heh. Twitch the Glitch.
-was working me hard. Any other time and I would have been appalled and flat out murderous had the situation been any different. But it was the same with Silver beating the slag out of us in the Rings.
Either you get stronger and learn to fight, or you lie down and terminate.
I needed to get stronger and the only way was to allow Twitch to work me like a slave. Again, it was only because we both knew I needed to force my frame to repair itself.
And just like in the Rings, I survived.
I shook my helm, getting back to the present and Slate standing by the door, fangs bared and quietly snarling. With a slight wince I got up, no longer stumbling and fuel levels up to a tolerable 64%.
"What's going on femmeling?" I asked quietly, reaching out to touch her back. She stopped growling for a nano-klick to whine at me before her audio receptors shot up again, attention focused on the door outside.
Straining my own audios I heard voices. One was Twitch's but I didn't recognise the other. As quietly as I could I slunk into the main room, over to the still broken window to listen.
"Keep your voice down! He's got some tamed turbofox following him around. I can't get near the mech with that thing standing over him at night."
What? What the frag is he talking about?!
"You said you could get those codes!" Another voice, far rougher, growled.
Codes? What codes? I don't know any codes. I'm a frontliner, a grunt. I don't get told slag like codes.
"He isn't going anywhere Downfall. I've been drugging him since I found him. It's not doing a lot but it has slowed him down."
No wonder Slate wouldn't touch my energon! The spawn of a glitch!
"What do you mean it's not effecting him? That's the most potent stuff you have."
"It's Sunstreaker. He and his twin have probably been on so many drugs nothing effects them. Much more of that and he'll taste something off."
"I want him docile Twitch. I know what those two are capable. They're dangerous." Downfall hissed.
"You're telling me?! I've lost track how many times he's almost skewered me with those blades of his!"
"I don't care if you have to pin him to the ground and strip the codes from his processor! Get those codes!"
"That's fraggin suicide! What part of 'pet turbofox' did you miss! That thing is too smart for it's own good and it will tear my throat out before I'll get near Sunstreaker. And if I survive that beast, then I have to deal with that mech himself!"
There was the sound of metal hitting metal and a muffled cry of pain.
"The only reason you're still functioning Twitch, is because you're still useful. Remember that." Downfall growled before I heard the sound of a transformation and a powerful motor roar to life. I quickly moved back to my room where Slate was still standing in the doorway.
"Lay down Slate." I ordered, pointing at the blankets and she finally moved there, laying down and her optics glowing in the dark. I lay down beside her, my back to the wall and forced my systems to settle. I finally shuttered my optics, faking recharge and not a moment too late. The door slid open and I heard Twitch walk in, muttering under his breath.
He walked around a bit, pacing it sounded like before I felt Slate shift and heard Twitch walk toward me. I forced myself to relax as I sensed him stop just in the doorway. Slate growled lowly and I was both impressed and surprised when I felt her stand up, her paws brushing against my shoulder guard as she stood directly between me and Twitch. A low, savage snarl was building in her throat and if I didn't know she was protecting me, I would think she was about to attack.
"You have no idea how difficult you're making my life." Twitch said quietly before he left.
I didn't dare move till I didn't hear him moving around anymore. Even then it was still two more joors before I dared online my optics. As soon as I started to move again, Slate stood up. I wrapped my servo around her muzzle to tell her to be quiet, then carefully slipped into the main room. The place was pitch black other than the blue and gold glow of mine and Slate's optics. It dawned on me then that not once in the three orns I had been here had I gotten my own energon. Twitch had always supplied it.
I couldn't believe that I had been that stupid that I hadn't checked the energon first. I had just been so desperate that I had forgotten everything that had been beaten into me.
I trusted a stranger. And I paid for it.
Sideswipe, I'm so sorry.
I knew where he kept the energon and went to the closet. At the same time, it didn't surprise me that it was locked.
Easy fix.
My right blade shot out of subspace and in a show in just how much stronger I was, I sheared the door in half. We both sensed the silent alarm go off and I couldn't help but give a feral smirk.
This is going to be fun.
I moved to the doorway to his room and waited. As I thought, not half a nano-klick later and he came barging out, in his servo a high powered blaster. He made it half a step out, froze, and I grabbed him. He squawked in surprise before I slammed him to the ground, my blade pressing into the back of his neck.
"What codes." I demanded.
"What the frag is going on Sunstreaker! For once I didn't do anything!" Twitch spat, struggling under my weight. I let the blade slip a little, the razor sharp edge biting into the back of his neck and he froze.
"Please keep moving. It's been a long time since I've terminated someone." I said quietly. "Who's Downfall? What codes did he want?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
I let my blade slide and again I felt him shudder but he didn't say anything. Whoever Downfall was scared him more than me taking his helm off.
"You know Jazz? Course you do. Everyone knows what the mech is capable." I said. "Did you know though, that he fragmented a mech so badly that it terminated him? Less than half a nano-klick."
As I figured, what armor of his that wasn't pined to the floor started to flare in alarm.
"Why are you telling me this?" Twitch demanded.
"I may not be as good as him, but I do know a thing or two about hacking." I explained, my free servo moving to the back of his neck, just above my blade edge. A small panel was all that stood between his dataport and me tearing his processor apart.
"You wouldn't. You're an Autobot." Twitch said, voice rising in panic.
"You said so yourself. The factions don't exist. Its mech against mech." I replied easily, digits feeling for a seam that I could tear the panel away.
Claws are way better for this.
Slate gave a short, quiet growl and I glanced up at her. She was gnawing on the edge of an energon cube, trying to get the glass lid off. The fact that she was after it told me it wasn't poisoned and I let a sigh of disappointment escape me.
"Guess Slate already found your stash. Lucky for you I need to keep moving." I said before I removed the blade and slammed my fisted servo into the back of his neck. He gave a strangled cry before going completely limp, unconscious.
"Should have off'ed him." I said as I got off him, walking over to Slate to pick up the cube.
Before I met the Autobots I would have too.
She almost had the lid off and I easily pried it off, setting the cube on the ground. Slate shoved her muzzle in, lapping up the liquid and I remembered that she hadn't left for the three orns I had been conscious here. I doubted she had left when I was unconscious and I knew she would be half starved by now. Crouching down, I saw the panel hidden in the cupboard that Slate had clawed aside. Inside was at least a dozen full cubes.
Should last me to Iacon.
I subspaced the cubes before standing up again, scanning his meager belongings. As much as I wanted to skewer the mech, he was right. There was nothing out there and after half a lifetime struggling to keep mine and Sideswipe's tanks above critical, I would do-
Almost.
-anything to keep that from happening again.
That being said, after the Autobots found us and we both remembered that we were real mechs, not mistakes that had been twisted into energon thirsty monsters, and even I was hesitant to condemn a mech to such a painful termination as starvation.
But with Downfall after him,
-He might beat the starvation to it.
That being said, I still needed to carry light. I had maybe a three orn fast hike to Iacon and Sideswipe.
So close!
So close Sideswipe!
"Come on Slate." I said quietly, optics darting to where the turbofox was licking the last of the energon out of the now empty cube. At her designation she perked up, then trotted to my side as I headed toward the door. "We're getting out of here."
I pressed the keypad by the door and it slid open.
To reveal a furious looking mech that stood helm and shoulder taller than me. Before I even realised what was happening he had grabbed me by my throat. It was enough to snap me out of my shock as he slammed me into the ground on my chassis and I struggled to get free. He manage to grab both my arms, pinning them behind my back with a single servo while the servo around my throat tightened.
Frag frag frag get free!
Warnings flashed across my vision as energon to my processor was cut off, my limited vision going blurry. Also, pinned on the ground as I was, my vents couldn't expand and I was overheating. I heard Slate snarl and the pressure on my neck released. I gasped for air as my vison cleared in time to hear a thud and a yelp of pain.
Slate!
I struggled again but the servo was back and I felt my gladiator coding start to activate. I bucked under the mech but he had his knee guard in my back and before the coding could fully activate, everything shut-
Ooh, lookie there. Another cliffie. Now why would I do that...?
R and R people!