Part Three
Rampage stared at the rock formation. It looked familiar... "Wait!"
Depth Charge paused, turning to look at him. "What?" he asked impatiently.
The crab pointed with once of his claws towards the distant hulk of an island. "I think I know where she is."
* * * * *
The real world faded away as Overdose went offline. Instead, she was in a city. The street in front of her was abandoned. Behind her, she knew, there was an open doorway that she had just staggered out of. On the walkway to one side was a gold-and-blue transformer with a familiar face. Her face. She was turned away from Overdose, looking down the street with fear on her face.
In front of her, walking down the street, was someone with pitch-black armor, but very little similarity to Overdose. She was taller, much taller, and blocky in a very old style of construction. The purple sign on her shoulder gave no doubt to what she was.
So, this was to be the meeting place, the showdown. This street, where the nameless one had been given a choice, and Overdose had been born. The place where the destroyer in front of her should have died at last.
"I greet you, Venom," Overdose said quietly, sadly. She lifted her arms and reached behind her back in front of her fins. When she drew them back, they held two blades; long, elegant daggers with hilts topped by colorful bunches of fins.
"Overdose," Venom said briefly. A gigantic broad sword, its blade painted the same dull black as herself, was held easily in her hand. She cast a look down at the nameless transformer. "Little No-Name, stay out of our way. I'll get to you soon enough."
The gold and blue robot's face displayed her fear quite clearly, but she wordlessly moved away, backing up against the buildings lining the street. She flattened herself there, watching the colorful and dark move towards each other slowly.
* * * * *
When Depth Charge and Rampage came to the tunnels, they knew they were in the right place. Brilliant paint still clung to the rock where it had been scraped off of Overdose's ship.
Rampage groaned. "I can't fit into the tunnels!"
The manta ray beside him swam down and tried to fit himself into an opening. He barely managed to pop through. When he was inside, he turned and looked back. "Where am I supposed to be looking for her?" he called to Rampage.
The crab shrugged. "I don't have a clue. Just keep looking around until you see something."
"I probably won't fit into some of the tunnels," Depth Charge said doubtfully. He started to glide off, but was jerked to a halt by a claw pinching closed on his tail. "Wha--"
"If you hurt her again," Rampage said grimly, "I'll let HER kill you." With that, he let the ray go. Slightly bewildered, Depth Charge swam away through the tunnels.
* * * * *
There was a clash, bright colors meeting the absence of color. The colored one was thrown to the side, the nameless one sprinting aside to let her land against the building and fall to the ground.
Overdose pressed one of her flame-colored gloves to her side, where Venom's broad sword had sliced into her. Strangely-colored mechfluid pulsed out between her fingers as she forced herself to her feet, gritting her teeth against the pain. She retrieved her daggers from the ground and glared defiantly at the advancing giant.
Venom laughed, raising her sword again. "You have more courage than I thought," she commented sarcastically. "Not that it'll do you an good!" The dull black blade swept down towards the comparatively small transformer, who brandished her blades in a 'V' that caught it.
The impact knocked the loony femme to her knees, and she screamed with intolerable pain from her side and straining arms. Venom pushed down, pressuring Overdose backwards. At the same time, she attacked with something much subtler than brute force. Both knew that Overdose's wound would prove fatal if given enough time, so Venom was in no hurry to win. Instead, she wanted her opponent to feel despair, to give up before the battle was definitely won.
Memories surrounded them, the buildings turning into scenes from the past. Dead, dying, tortured, despairing; the memories showed things Overdose had tried to forget. She felt no regret for her torturing of hundreds of people, nor did she regret killing. But the innocents who had died when the Predacon Secret Police bombed the building she had been staying in? She remembered desperately digging for survivors, for her little pet kitten she had just gotten on Earth, knowing she didn't have much time before her enemies arrived and hating herself for fleeing the wreckage. People who had died fighting by her side, all hurtful, hating memories.
All the memories pressed in around her, and Overdose faltered, her injury draining her strength no worse than the pain and tiredness that struck her suddenly. The dull black blade drew closer to her chest, and she had the desire to let it end her meaningless life. She fought against that lassitude, reaching out for the good and fun things she must have done. She couldn't reach them, and only her crazy stubbornness was keeping Venom's sword from piercing her.
"You kill everyone around you, and you claim to be better than me?" Venom mocked, pressing her advantage. The colors swirling through Overdose's fins dimmed, fading gradually as her despair leeched away her will to live.
* * * * *
Depth Charge turned the corner into the tunnel...and it was a dead end.
"Slag!" He made a tight turn in the narrow area, resigned to the fact that his fins were too wide to avoid scraping them along the walls. He had learned that by consistently ending up in dead ends like this. So he flinched as his fin headed towards the ceiling of the tunnel...
...and then stared in surprise as it went through it. On the bit of fin that poked through the ceiling, he felt air!
* * * * *
The flash of blue and gold at the edge of her vision brought Overdose's attention to the side. The nameless transformer hovered there, standing at the edge of the memories as she anxiously watched the others. A slight flicker of color broke the darkening gray of Overdose's fins; a bit of hope broke through the despair.
"Help me," she whispered.
The other shook her head, terrified eyes locked on the towering Venom, who was laughing as she slowly pressed down on her sword.
"Help me," Overdose pleaded. Together they might be able to defeat the titan. If they didn't stop Venom, she would take over their body and destroy anything she touched.
They both knew it, but still the nameless 'bot withdrew into the shadows. She didn't believe she had the strength to fight against the darkness. Overdose might, but her strength was draining away. No hope. She couldn't act against Venom.
* * * * *
Depth Charge hauled himself out of the water into the darkness of a cave. Light blazed from other caves connected to this one, and he knew he had found Overdose's home.
"Overdose?" he called. There was no answer, so he cautiously headed into the cave system, staring at the things he saw as he went.
* * * * *
Distantly, Depth Charge's voice was heard. "Overdose?"
Venom's head snapped up from where her foe was almost flat against the ground now, still straining despite the fact that she didn't stand a chance. "Who--?"
"Depth Charge," Overdose breathed. Memories that didn't hurt her pierced the miasma of self-hate around her, and Venom snarled in anger.
"He tried to kill you!"
"It was a mistake!" Overdose screamed back. Venom exerted her control over their surroundings, and Overdose didn't have the strength to counter the move. The memories that had given her hope disappeared, and she knew it would take something drastic to get them back.
Drastic?
Her eyes slid to the side, where the nameless one stood watching. It was a crazy idea. It would never work. She was insane to consider it.
Exactly.
"Help me!" Overdose demanded of the noncombatant.
The nameless 'bot stepped forward, drawn by the command. She knew what Overdose wanted. How could she not, when they were so similar? And it would never work...would it? But it wasn't DIRECT action against Venom...
The two locked eyes while Venom began laughing again at her imminent victory. Soon she would be free from the shell of insanity and amnesia. Soon she would spread her destruction again!
Then she frowned and looked down at her foe. Overdose wasn't looking at her as she strained against the sword at her breast. Instead, she was... "NO!"
* * * * *
Overdose/nameless opened her eyes. "Depth Charge," she breathed. "Depth Charge!"
"Overdose?!" There was the sound of running footsteps, and then the ray-bot looked into the cave. His eyes widened at the sight of the darkened fins on the still femme, but he came closer. "Over--"
"Help me," she moaned.
"What? How?" Depth Charge knelt next to where she was lying motionless in her chair. Only the shuddering waves of dulling color going through her fins and eyes indicated she was alive; her lips barely moved. "What's wrong?" he asked urgently. This wasn't the vibrantly alive femme he knew.
"Lean closer," came the whisp of sound. The ray-bot hesitated, but he had to move closer just to hear her voice. "...closer..."
* * * * *
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Venom shrieked angrily. She threw her full weight against the sword, no longer willing to delay the kill.
Overdose deflected the attack to above her head with her daggers, pinning the very edge of one of her fins to the street as the sword buried itself in the ground. "Something YOU would never do," she gasped.
* * * * *
Depth Charge yelled in surprise as one of Overdose's arms shot up, cupping the back of his head in her hand. The yell was cut off abruptly as her arm flexed, dragging his head down...to meet hers.
Her lips pressed to his mouth, and the ray-bot's attempt to jerk his head back ended as his eyes widened in shock. She was KISSING him?! That was a human custom! This was NOT something sane Cybertronians did!
Just as suddenly, she went limp again, letting go of him. He stared at her, holding a hand to his mouth in stunned reaction.
* * * * *
Venom clutched her head, dropping her sword as something swept across the mental landscape, twisting the memory-screens and shattering her strength. The transformer fell to her knees in the suddenly missing street that was now simply a sheet of colors that constantly twisted and changed. "What...have you done?" she groaned.
Overdose stood up, suddenly made whole and brilliant with restored colors. "Something insane, of course," she said cheerfully. "See, this is craziness," she gestured at their surroundings. "You're sane," she pointed at Venom. "Who do you think does better in crazy places? Me, of course. All I had to do was make myself loony inside AND outside! You tried to take away that possible advantage of mine by forcing me offline. I just had to find the strength to wake up and..." she giggled, "...be myself." Overdose turned away from the weakened destroyer to look at the gold and blue glint in the shadows. "Thank you," she said seriously.
"Why?" Venom croaked at the nameless one. "I wouldn't have killed you!"
She stepped forward, looking coldly at the darkness. "Liar. Remember, you are me, and I am you. You can't lie to yourself." She glanced at Overdose, who looked briefly sad as a shard of a memory drifted by, a dead friend in it. "You didn't lie when you said Overdose killed everyone around her, but you have your own definition of 'everyone', and she doesn't do that all the time. And you never mentioned all the GOOD things she's done."
"Good?" Overdose asked curiously.
"Good," the nameless one said firmly. "X would have killed a LOT more people if you hadn't taught him to enjoy torturing individual people so much."
"Um." Overdose blinked. "That's good?"
"Relatively."
"Oh..."
Venom was slowly using her sword to help her stand. The nameless transformer looked up at her and then back at Overdose. "Besides," she said heavily, guilt at things that weren't her fault but still were hammering at her, "craziness is still better than you, and I...I don't have the strength to fight you." With that, she turned and faded away into the shadows of insanity.
Overdose looked after her. "Write me!" she yelled. She shrugged and turned back to Venom, studying the swaying giant consideringly. "I don't think I could kill you even if I wanted to," Overdose commented, "so I'll have to be more inventive. I suppose I can always go back to the tried-and-true method...after all, it's worked before." She smiled loonily as Venom howled in futile anger.
* * * * *
Depth Charge jumped back as Overdose arched her back and screamed. She promptly opened her eyes and looked around.
"Over...Overdose?" the ray-bot asked tentatively. He kept his distance from her warily.
She tilted her head and looked at him for a moment, but then twisted around and groped behind herself for something. Finding it, she plopped herself back down in the chair. Offering a smile at him, she contemplated the pill bottle. "Ah, drugs..."
"Are you alright?"
Overdose looked at him strangely. "Of course not. What kind of question is that?" She frowned suddenly and threw the pills back into the chaos of her room. "Hey, how did you find me?"
How was he going to explain this? "Er," Depth Charge searched for words, "Rampage and I kinda--"
"You and Rampage?!" Overdose bounced up and down in her seat. "I knew he'd find a boyfriend!" She clapped her hands excitedly. "This is so neat! Although I hadn't thought about him dating YOU," she said quite seriously.
Depth Charge was staring at her. "I'm not Rampage's boyfriend..." he said confusedly.
"Oh!" Overdose exclaimed happily. "You're his fiancée? When's the wedding?!"
"WHAT?!"
"Oh, lifebond, marriage, whatever," she said airily, bounding to her feet and grabbing his hand. "All the same to me! Now, c'mon! I bet I have some GREAT presents for you two!" She began dragging him out of the cave by his hand.
* * * * *
Rampage waiting anxiously, pacing impatiently. What was taking so long?!
* * * * *
Depth Charge couldn't get words past his bewilderment (Rampage? Gay?) until it was too late. Overdose had the idea in her head, and she wasn't willing to let it go.
"...so we're not fighting just because we were both worried about you, okay?" the ray-bot explained again. "I have every intention of trying to kill Rampage, now."
"Suuuure you are," Overdose said knowingly. "So where are you two going to honeymoon?"
"We're not getting married!" he shouted.
"Uh-huh," she said absently. "What do you think about this?" She held up a large blue-colored stone.
He took it automatically, and then did a double-take. "Is this..? This is the Hope Diamond! It's been missing since the humans displayed it on Cybertron!" He stared incredulously at Overdose as she chuckled nervously. "Its theft is one of the greatest mysteries in the Earth/Cybertron Alliance..."
"Uh, right." She snatched it back. "Let's just pretend you didn't see that..." Overdose carelessly tossed it off into the general clutter and started rummaging through it again. "How about--"
"Why did you kiss me?" Depth Charge burst out, half in an effort to distract her and half because the question was driving him nuts. He stepped back as the colors throughout her fins dimmed slowly.
"Because," she said shortly. Overdose stood still, staring at her hands. "Depth Charge..."
"Yeah?" He eyed the steadily darkening shades in her fins. They stopped fading and leveled off at a dull gray.
She turned to face him, her face haunted. "Do you trust me?"
The Maximal squirmed uncomfortably. Did he tell her the truth? He tried to distract her again. "Overdose, I'm really sorry about what happened before--"
"I forgive you. Do you trust me?" she asked again.
Depth Charge sighed. He couldn't lie to her. Not again. "No," he answered faintly but bluntly. "I don't."
Her eyes were shadowed as she looked at him. "Good. You should never trust me."
There was a beep, and the silent rectangle on the floor was silent no more. Bells and whistles filled the air. Bob had sorted through the Maximal and Predacon files and had finally gotten around to scanning that isolated batch of files. What he had found there set off all his alarm signals. "Like, dudette!"
The colors burst back into life as Overdose whirled to face her computer. Bob was programmed only to be that noisy when he had found something in his hacking. Was Shadowcall really alive? Was the Tripedicus Council coming after her again? Had her specially-ordered Chia Pet finally arrived? "What is it, Bob?!"
"Lieutenant Eightline is on this planet!"
* * * * *
Rampage stared at the rock formation. It looked familiar... "Wait!"
Depth Charge paused, turning to look at him. "What?" he asked impatiently.
The crab pointed with once of his claws towards the distant hulk of an island. "I think I know where she is."
* * * * *
The real world faded away as Overdose went offline. Instead, she was in a city. The street in front of her was abandoned. Behind her, she knew, there was an open doorway that she had just staggered out of. On the walkway to one side was a gold-and-blue transformer with a familiar face. Her face. She was turned away from Overdose, looking down the street with fear on her face.
In front of her, walking down the street, was someone with pitch-black armor, but very little similarity to Overdose. She was taller, much taller, and blocky in a very old style of construction. The purple sign on her shoulder gave no doubt to what she was.
So, this was to be the meeting place, the showdown. This street, where the nameless one had been given a choice, and Overdose had been born. The place where the destroyer in front of her should have died at last.
"I greet you, Venom," Overdose said quietly, sadly. She lifted her arms and reached behind her back in front of her fins. When she drew them back, they held two blades; long, elegant daggers with hilts topped by colorful bunches of fins.
"Overdose," Venom said briefly. A gigantic broad sword, its blade painted the same dull black as herself, was held easily in her hand. She cast a look down at the nameless transformer. "Little No-Name, stay out of our way. I'll get to you soon enough."
The gold and blue robot's face displayed her fear quite clearly, but she wordlessly moved away, backing up against the buildings lining the street. She flattened herself there, watching the colorful and dark move towards each other slowly.
* * * * *
When Depth Charge and Rampage came to the tunnels, they knew they were in the right place. Brilliant paint still clung to the rock where it had been scraped off of Overdose's ship.
Rampage groaned. "I can't fit into the tunnels!"
The manta ray beside him swam down and tried to fit himself into an opening. He barely managed to pop through. When he was inside, he turned and looked back. "Where am I supposed to be looking for her?" he called to Rampage.
The crab shrugged. "I don't have a clue. Just keep looking around until you see something."
"I probably won't fit into some of the tunnels," Depth Charge said doubtfully. He started to glide off, but was jerked to a halt by a claw pinching closed on his tail. "Wha--"
"If you hurt her again," Rampage said grimly, "I'll let HER kill you." With that, he let the ray go. Slightly bewildered, Depth Charge swam away through the tunnels.
* * * * *
There was a clash, bright colors meeting the absence of color. The colored one was thrown to the side, the nameless one sprinting aside to let her land against the building and fall to the ground.
Overdose pressed one of her flame-colored gloves to her side, where Venom's broad sword had sliced into her. Strangely-colored mechfluid pulsed out between her fingers as she forced herself to her feet, gritting her teeth against the pain. She retrieved her daggers from the ground and glared defiantly at the advancing giant.
Venom laughed, raising her sword again. "You have more courage than I thought," she commented sarcastically. "Not that it'll do you an good!" The dull black blade swept down towards the comparatively small transformer, who brandished her blades in a 'V' that caught it.
The impact knocked the loony femme to her knees, and she screamed with intolerable pain from her side and straining arms. Venom pushed down, pressuring Overdose backwards. At the same time, she attacked with something much subtler than brute force. Both knew that Overdose's wound would prove fatal if given enough time, so Venom was in no hurry to win. Instead, she wanted her opponent to feel despair, to give up before the battle was definitely won.
Memories surrounded them, the buildings turning into scenes from the past. Dead, dying, tortured, despairing; the memories showed things Overdose had tried to forget. She felt no regret for her torturing of hundreds of people, nor did she regret killing. But the innocents who had died when the Predacon Secret Police bombed the building she had been staying in? She remembered desperately digging for survivors, for her little pet kitten she had just gotten on Earth, knowing she didn't have much time before her enemies arrived and hating herself for fleeing the wreckage. People who had died fighting by her side, all hurtful, hating memories.
All the memories pressed in around her, and Overdose faltered, her injury draining her strength no worse than the pain and tiredness that struck her suddenly. The dull black blade drew closer to her chest, and she had the desire to let it end her meaningless life. She fought against that lassitude, reaching out for the good and fun things she must have done. She couldn't reach them, and only her crazy stubbornness was keeping Venom's sword from piercing her.
"You kill everyone around you, and you claim to be better than me?" Venom mocked, pressing her advantage. The colors swirling through Overdose's fins dimmed, fading gradually as her despair leeched away her will to live.
* * * * *
Depth Charge turned the corner into the tunnel...and it was a dead end.
"Slag!" He made a tight turn in the narrow area, resigned to the fact that his fins were too wide to avoid scraping them along the walls. He had learned that by consistently ending up in dead ends like this. So he flinched as his fin headed towards the ceiling of the tunnel...
...and then stared in surprise as it went through it. On the bit of fin that poked through the ceiling, he felt air!
* * * * *
The flash of blue and gold at the edge of her vision brought Overdose's attention to the side. The nameless transformer hovered there, standing at the edge of the memories as she anxiously watched the others. A slight flicker of color broke the darkening gray of Overdose's fins; a bit of hope broke through the despair.
"Help me," she whispered.
The other shook her head, terrified eyes locked on the towering Venom, who was laughing as she slowly pressed down on her sword.
"Help me," Overdose pleaded. Together they might be able to defeat the titan. If they didn't stop Venom, she would take over their body and destroy anything she touched.
They both knew it, but still the nameless 'bot withdrew into the shadows. She didn't believe she had the strength to fight against the darkness. Overdose might, but her strength was draining away. No hope. She couldn't act against Venom.
* * * * *
Depth Charge hauled himself out of the water into the darkness of a cave. Light blazed from other caves connected to this one, and he knew he had found Overdose's home.
"Overdose?" he called. There was no answer, so he cautiously headed into the cave system, staring at the things he saw as he went.
* * * * *
Distantly, Depth Charge's voice was heard. "Overdose?"
Venom's head snapped up from where her foe was almost flat against the ground now, still straining despite the fact that she didn't stand a chance. "Who--?"
"Depth Charge," Overdose breathed. Memories that didn't hurt her pierced the miasma of self-hate around her, and Venom snarled in anger.
"He tried to kill you!"
"It was a mistake!" Overdose screamed back. Venom exerted her control over their surroundings, and Overdose didn't have the strength to counter the move. The memories that had given her hope disappeared, and she knew it would take something drastic to get them back.
Drastic?
Her eyes slid to the side, where the nameless one stood watching. It was a crazy idea. It would never work. She was insane to consider it.
Exactly.
"Help me!" Overdose demanded of the noncombatant.
The nameless 'bot stepped forward, drawn by the command. She knew what Overdose wanted. How could she not, when they were so similar? And it would never work...would it? But it wasn't DIRECT action against Venom...
The two locked eyes while Venom began laughing again at her imminent victory. Soon she would be free from the shell of insanity and amnesia. Soon she would spread her destruction again!
Then she frowned and looked down at her foe. Overdose wasn't looking at her as she strained against the sword at her breast. Instead, she was... "NO!"
* * * * *
Overdose/nameless opened her eyes. "Depth Charge," she breathed. "Depth Charge!"
"Overdose?!" There was the sound of running footsteps, and then the ray-bot looked into the cave. His eyes widened at the sight of the darkened fins on the still femme, but he came closer. "Over--"
"Help me," she moaned.
"What? How?" Depth Charge knelt next to where she was lying motionless in her chair. Only the shuddering waves of dulling color going through her fins and eyes indicated she was alive; her lips barely moved. "What's wrong?" he asked urgently. This wasn't the vibrantly alive femme he knew.
"Lean closer," came the whisp of sound. The ray-bot hesitated, but he had to move closer just to hear her voice. "...closer..."
* * * * *
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Venom shrieked angrily. She threw her full weight against the sword, no longer willing to delay the kill.
Overdose deflected the attack to above her head with her daggers, pinning the very edge of one of her fins to the street as the sword buried itself in the ground. "Something YOU would never do," she gasped.
* * * * *
Depth Charge yelled in surprise as one of Overdose's arms shot up, cupping the back of his head in her hand. The yell was cut off abruptly as her arm flexed, dragging his head down...to meet hers.
Her lips pressed to his mouth, and the ray-bot's attempt to jerk his head back ended as his eyes widened in shock. She was KISSING him?! That was a human custom! This was NOT something sane Cybertronians did!
Just as suddenly, she went limp again, letting go of him. He stared at her, holding a hand to his mouth in stunned reaction.
* * * * *
Venom clutched her head, dropping her sword as something swept across the mental landscape, twisting the memory-screens and shattering her strength. The transformer fell to her knees in the suddenly missing street that was now simply a sheet of colors that constantly twisted and changed. "What...have you done?" she groaned.
Overdose stood up, suddenly made whole and brilliant with restored colors. "Something insane, of course," she said cheerfully. "See, this is craziness," she gestured at their surroundings. "You're sane," she pointed at Venom. "Who do you think does better in crazy places? Me, of course. All I had to do was make myself loony inside AND outside! You tried to take away that possible advantage of mine by forcing me offline. I just had to find the strength to wake up and..." she giggled, "...be myself." Overdose turned away from the weakened destroyer to look at the gold and blue glint in the shadows. "Thank you," she said seriously.
"Why?" Venom croaked at the nameless one. "I wouldn't have killed you!"
She stepped forward, looking coldly at the darkness. "Liar. Remember, you are me, and I am you. You can't lie to yourself." She glanced at Overdose, who looked briefly sad as a shard of a memory drifted by, a dead friend in it. "You didn't lie when you said Overdose killed everyone around her, but you have your own definition of 'everyone', and she doesn't do that all the time. And you never mentioned all the GOOD things she's done."
"Good?" Overdose asked curiously.
"Good," the nameless one said firmly. "X would have killed a LOT more people if you hadn't taught him to enjoy torturing individual people so much."
"Um." Overdose blinked. "That's good?"
"Relatively."
"Oh..."
Venom was slowly using her sword to help her stand. The nameless transformer looked up at her and then back at Overdose. "Besides," she said heavily, guilt at things that weren't her fault but still were hammering at her, "craziness is still better than you, and I...I don't have the strength to fight you." With that, she turned and faded away into the shadows of insanity.
Overdose looked after her. "Write me!" she yelled. She shrugged and turned back to Venom, studying the swaying giant consideringly. "I don't think I could kill you even if I wanted to," Overdose commented, "so I'll have to be more inventive. I suppose I can always go back to the tried-and-true method...after all, it's worked before." She smiled loonily as Venom howled in futile anger.
* * * * *
Depth Charge jumped back as Overdose arched her back and screamed. She promptly opened her eyes and looked around.
"Over...Overdose?" the ray-bot asked tentatively. He kept his distance from her warily.
She tilted her head and looked at him for a moment, but then twisted around and groped behind herself for something. Finding it, she plopped herself back down in the chair. Offering a smile at him, she contemplated the pill bottle. "Ah, drugs..."
"Are you alright?"
Overdose looked at him strangely. "Of course not. What kind of question is that?" She frowned suddenly and threw the pills back into the chaos of her room. "Hey, how did you find me?"
How was he going to explain this? "Er," Depth Charge searched for words, "Rampage and I kinda--"
"You and Rampage?!" Overdose bounced up and down in her seat. "I knew he'd find a boyfriend!" She clapped her hands excitedly. "This is so neat! Although I hadn't thought about him dating YOU," she said quite seriously.
Depth Charge was staring at her. "I'm not Rampage's boyfriend..." he said confusedly.
"Oh!" Overdose exclaimed happily. "You're his fiancée? When's the wedding?!"
"WHAT?!"
"Oh, lifebond, marriage, whatever," she said airily, bounding to her feet and grabbing his hand. "All the same to me! Now, c'mon! I bet I have some GREAT presents for you two!" She began dragging him out of the cave by his hand.
* * * * *
Rampage waiting anxiously, pacing impatiently. What was taking so long?!
* * * * *
Depth Charge couldn't get words past his bewilderment (Rampage? Gay?) until it was too late. Overdose had the idea in her head, and she wasn't willing to let it go.
"...so we're not fighting just because we were both worried about you, okay?" the ray-bot explained again. "I have every intention of trying to kill Rampage, now."
"Suuuure you are," Overdose said knowingly. "So where are you two going to honeymoon?"
"We're not getting married!" he shouted.
"Uh-huh," she said absently. "What do you think about this?" She held up a large blue-colored stone.
He took it automatically, and then did a double-take. "Is this..? This is the Hope Diamond! It's been missing since the humans displayed it on Cybertron!" He stared incredulously at Overdose as she chuckled nervously. "Its theft is one of the greatest mysteries in the Earth/Cybertron Alliance..."
"Uh, right." She snatched it back. "Let's just pretend you didn't see that..." Overdose carelessly tossed it off into the general clutter and started rummaging through it again. "How about--"
"Why did you kiss me?" Depth Charge burst out, half in an effort to distract her and half because the question was driving him nuts. He stepped back as the colors throughout her fins dimmed slowly.
"Because," she said shortly. Overdose stood still, staring at her hands. "Depth Charge..."
"Yeah?" He eyed the steadily darkening shades in her fins. They stopped fading and leveled off at a dull gray.
She turned to face him, her face haunted. "Do you trust me?"
The Maximal squirmed uncomfortably. Did he tell her the truth? He tried to distract her again. "Overdose, I'm really sorry about what happened before--"
"I forgive you. Do you trust me?" she asked again.
Depth Charge sighed. He couldn't lie to her. Not again. "No," he answered faintly but bluntly. "I don't."
Her eyes were shadowed as she looked at him. "Good. You should never trust me."
There was a beep, and the silent rectangle on the floor was silent no more. Bells and whistles filled the air. Bob had sorted through the Maximal and Predacon files and had finally gotten around to scanning that isolated batch of files. What he had found there set off all his alarm signals. "Like, dudette!"
The colors burst back into life as Overdose whirled to face her computer. Bob was programmed only to be that noisy when he had found something in his hacking. Was Shadowcall really alive? Was the Tripedicus Council coming after her again? Had her specially-ordered Chia Pet finally arrived? "What is it, Bob?!"
"Lieutenant Eightline is on this planet!"
* * * * *