Disclaimer: Blablabla, BW don't belong to me, blablabla.
Author's note: As Sapphire kindly pointed out, neither of these guys are very much in character. I agree, actually.And I have to apologize to those of you who are strict fans. Also I think I should explain. There area few legitimate reasons for this other than the author wanting to turn them into fluffy bunnies :P. First of all, the idea of the fic is to explore how things might go differently and if the characters acted the same things would stay the same in the end. For example, I think Rampage acquired most of his arrogance AFTER he escaped. And since he didn't manage to escape this time, and since he now has someone familliar around and since things are just so surreal... I think he's a bit of a different character. Which does not mean he'll make a tearful speech saying "All I ever wanted was love!" :P. I find that a bit lame even in characters for whom such a thing would be IN character :D.But the most important reason for them being OOC has to do with Silver Dawn and the plot :D. Oh, and sorry for the rant :-#. On with the fic now.
Chapter five
The strangest conversation
Dedicated to Rakshash for taking the time to drop me a word ;)
Oh, what now? What's going on NOW?
Depth Charge would have preferred to pace around in his cell but instead he was sitting carefully motionless by the gap in the wall, listening.
He might as well have paced. There was nothing to hear. And nothing to see. The other transformer was lying on the floor out of his line of vision also completely motionless. Dr. Clearcut had left cycles ago dragging the heavy piece of equipment behind her. But what exactly WAS that equipment and what it did was what concerned Depth Charge right now. It didn't seem like his question would get answered soon.
All right, perhaps whatever it was had just stunned Rampage effectively so he would be no threat.
Yeah, right, and they would do that in the middle of the night and exactly now when he was ALREADY not much of a threat.
Wrong! Rampage is ALWAYS a threat.
In a locked cell, chained to the floor, weakened with his spark split into three pieces?
Yes, even like that, he's still a threat!
But his initial distrust towards Rampage was in this instance overruled by his recently found distrust towards Dr. Clearcut. Which stung more right now because there was a time in another world when he had somewhat trusted her. He had thought it was all the High Council's fault and the doctors had merely been ordered what to do and gotten killed for it.
Slagging naivety. I should've known there's no such thing as an innocent 'bot.
But there must be! Otherwise, who the slag am I protecting?
A small sound pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Rampage?"
A small pause. Then…
"What are you? Another like me perhaps?" the former crab murmured.
"What? I'm not… What?"
"Yes, yes, I feel your pain, your desperation."
"What the Pit are you talking about?"
"Your Spark is powerful! Fight your way free! Fight!"
"I'll fight your sorry skidplate if you don't tell me what the slag's gotten to you!"
"No, do not speak."
Depth Charge gaped at the hole in the wall.
All right, that's it, he's lost it. What am I thinking? He never HAD it in the first place. But now he's hallucinating, great. I wonder what's Clearcut's actually done to him.
"None shall hurt you now. I am your friend. Your only friend. I will protect you." Rampage uttered.
Depth Charge slumped on the floor tiredly.
"Yeah, yeah. I wish you'd shut up. And I wonder who is it that you're really talking to. Probably lying to some innocent victim to get them to trust you and then kill them."
He withdrew slightly from the wall, disgusted by the very idea. But the killer spoke again. And Depth Charge couldn't resist the urge to answer. He just HAD to talk to someone, even if the bot in question didn't hear a thing he said. Actually, even better if he didn't hear. It was safer.
"Do you have a name my twisted friend?" Rampage asked gently.
"Yeah, Crab Killer, pleased to meet you. Primus, did I just say that? It's official, I'm mad. Well… big deal."
"You must do it, my friend. Channel your pain at him. Then, release it."
"I would. But I can't get to you."
"No, you will not have It Optimus. The darkness of Its Spark echoes my own. It belongs with me."
"OK, OK, maybe not a victim then. Who the Pit are you talking about?" the Guardian mused.
Rampage actually had a companion? No way. He's probably having some freaky dream. But… Wait, did he say 'Optimus'? Something during the Beast Wars? And what would he be calling 'It'.
He though for a moment. He vaguely remembered Silverbolt trying to bug him with some story about Rampage and a messed up mutant from a pod. He hadn't listened.
But then I rarely ever do.
He felt just the tiniest pang of guilt. But he didn't have time to think about it as a fluid-freezing howl of agony pierced the air making the Guardian jump a meter. Then it abruptly ended and was replaced with heavy breathing and clatter of chains.
"Er… Rampage?"
"She messed with my brain!" the other robot whispered to himself.
"What?"
"Huh? Oh, Fish Face, it's you."
He fell silent for a while, slightly flustered despite himself. Then thought better of it. What was the point?
"The slagging bitch has gotten to my memory banks and is prodding my mind to provoke a reaction." He clarified aloud.
"As if the body experiments weren't enough!" he muttered lowly a second later, once again talking more to himself than to his neighbour. "What could she hope to gain? Destroy any personality I have? Turn me into a drone? Yes, that would finally get them the desired result. They wish! I wish too… I wish it were that easy to become a mindless creature. And she HAD to dig for the one thing I would have preferred to keep to myself. She HAD to get to Transmutate."
"Who?"
There was a pause.
"Slag off, Depth Charge."
There HAS to be a reason why I keep blurting out things like that! I wouldn't be surprised if it's the slagging scientists' fault again. They've probably given me something or… It's gotta be something Clearcut though up. In any case, this is NOT normal!
