Chapter Three - Company

Hello again! And we're back with another chapter.

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After driving for a few breems, Nitro spotted a familiar shape up ahead.

"What is Roadrage doing way out here?" the two-wheeler wondered to himself. "Can't be looking for me..."

Figuring it was safe to approach the armoured terrain vehicle, Nitro sped ahead, quickly catching up.

Hearing the familiar engine, Roadrage stopped, pulling off the road. Nitro came to a halt, not far off.

The two transformed and stood studying each other warily for several kliks.

"What are you doing out here, mechling?" Roadrage grumbled, crossing his servos.

"I could ask you the same thing," Nitro shot back. He tilted his helm, narrowing his optics. "Did the boss give you a job this far out?"

Roadrage scanned the horizon behind the short youngling. He then turned his attention back to him. "No. I'm leaving."

Nitro's optics widened. "Leaving? As in, you're done?"

"Yep."

"Oh."

They stood in silence for a few kliks.

"You are too I'm guessing," grunted the red and black thug.

"Yes, I'm sick of it," Nitro growled.

Roadrage scoffed, rolling his optics. "That's not news to me, mechling. You've been wanting to leave for awhile now."

"Who told you that," hissed the grey and blue menacingly. He took a few steps forward, baring his denta. "Does Razordrift or the boss know?"

"No, I doubt it. You hid it well from them. Let yourself be less guarded with me and Gadget I guess."

Nitro relaxed. "Oh. Where are you going?"

Turning, Roadrage moved back onto the road. "Kaon."

"Oh. Me too."

The hulking warrior let out a sigh. "Just when I think I'd gotten rid of them all," he muttered. Looking over his shoulder, he begrudgingly asked, "You coming with me then?"

Shrugging, Nitro followed him onto the road and transformed. "I suppose I might as well. Since we're both going the same direction."

Roadrage said nothing more. He transformed back into his alt and rumbled off.

Nitro hit the accelerator and followed. He could easily outpace the bigger mech, but stayed just behind him.

"Well, this sure wasn't how I expected this offcycle to go," Nitro thought.

"I don't like this youngling. At least he's quiet. I really hope he finds someone more interesting to follow when we get to Kaon," thought Roadrage. "And I better not find anyone else who wants to follow me around. Just my luck Nitro decided to up and leave the same time I do. And the same road. Seriously, Primus must hate me."


"Well, Kaon isn't a whole lot different than Slaughter City. So far," thought the blue and grey as he trailed his traveling companion.

Nitro and Roadrage had reached Kaon a few orns after they'd begun traveling. So far, Roadrage had tolerated the young mechling's presence.

Just like he tolerated everyone's presence.

Nitro wasn't sure why Roadrage didn't just go live by himself in the Manganese Mountains or the Cable Jungles.

"Okay, so now that we are in Kaon, what do you plan to do?" Nitro asked, looking up at Roadrage.

"Try to find some energon. Not get mugged or offlined. I dunno," Roadrage grunted. He continued to walk, seeming to know where he was going.

Nitro did not know where he was going, so he continued to follow Roadrage.

A mecha starting following them, just far enough away that they didn't notice, but close enough to keep track of them. Soon, another one joined.

After a while, Nitro got the feeling he was being watched.

Moving closer to Roadrage, he gestured for the big mech to lower his helm. Once the mech did, Nitro lowly said, "Think someone's watching or following. You feel it?"

"Yep," came the grunted response.

"Think it's a friendly?"

Roadrage snorted. "Likely not, Nitro. Be on guard."

"I always am."

The two carried on as if they hadn't noticed. The mecha still followed at a distance.

"This way," growled Roadrage lowly. He led the way down a rickety staircase leading to the next layer.

Once beneath the surface, they found a place to watch.

Shortly after they'd hidden themselves, a small femme came slinking down the stairs. She was young, possibly no older than Nitro. Her optics darted about as she ventured carefully from the surface. The way she moved was like a predator, hunting her prey. She carried a staff in her right servo, the weapon almost as tall as herself.

Behind her, came a mech, a little older than her. He was of an average build and height, several feet taller than the femmeling. Even stealthier than his companion, also checking his surroundings carefully. At his waist, several daggers in sheaths were attached.

"Siblings," muttered Roadrage lowly, watching their pursuers warily. "Trained to work as a team no doubt."

"Well," Nitro whispered back, silently sliding a dagger from the sheath at his waist. "So are we."

Sending the mechling a slight grin, Roadrage pulled a gun from subspace and moved around the side of the building they were hiding beside.

Nitro rapidly found a way to scale the short building. Laying almost flat, he crawled to the edge, peering over it.

Roadrage had positioned himself right at the corner, blending in with the shadows.

The two mecha kept coming, looking around in puzzlement.

They were not doing a very good job at finding their lost quarry.

Once in reach, Roadrage sprang forward, grabbing the mechling. He spun him around to face his sister, pinning his servos to his sides with one of his.

The femmeling, overcoming her surprise quickly, brought her staff forward, the end pointed towards her brother's captor.

"Let him go," she hissed, plating on her shoulders and back rising slightly. Her doorwings twitched as she pressed a button on the side of her staff. Electricity arced around the end.

Roadrage smirked, adjusting his grip on the mechling. He touched the end of his gun's barrel to his captive's helm.

Nitro chose that moment to strike.

Flipping himself off the building, he landed silently in a crouch behind the femmeling.

Her brother saw and tried to warn her, flicking one of his doorwings towards the two-wheeler.

She began to turn, but not fast enough.

With a swift kick, her staff went flying, clattering across the ground. Nitro closed the distance between them and brought his servo around the femmeling.

"I wouldn't move," he warned, angling his knife towards her neck cables.

"Leave her alone," snarled the brother, daring to struggle against his captor's brawny servo.

"Why were you following us?" growled Roadrage.

"What's it to you?" snapped the femme.

Nitro rolled his optics. "Seriously?"

"Tell us," prodded the red and black, pressing his gun harder against the mechling's helm. "Or I'll blow his helm off. And you'll lose yours."

To extend the point, Nitro brought his knife closer, touching the edge to the sister's neck cables.

"Well, what do you think?" she spat angrily. "You're not from around here. Might've had something of interest."

"Taser," her brother said calmly. "Calm down."

"Calm down?" she asked incredulously. "Umm, hello. What do you want me to do? They caught us! Say, my name is Taser, he's Dagger and we were trying to steal from you? Please let us go so we can try again later."

Her brother, apparently named Dagger, let out a loud vent. "Sure. Whatever."

Nitro and Roadrage exchanged a look.

"Amateurs. Obviously," grunted Roadrage. "Look we'll let you go, but only if you get lost. Fast. If we catch you two again, you're goners. Got it?"

"Yes, sir," Dagger said quietly.

"Fine," hissed Taser, crossing her servos.

Roadrage released Dagger, nodding for Nitro to do the same to Taser. The siblings quickly moved out of reach, watching the two carefully.

"Hey. You're about the same age as us," Taser said, taking a look at Nitro, whom she hadn't seen yet. "How come you were able to sneak up on us?"

"Cause he knows how to properly sneak up on mecha," Roadrage muttered. He glared menacingly down at the pair. "What are you two still here for?"

The siblings exchanged a glance, then looked back at Roadrage.

"Did- Did you teach him?" Dagger asked, doorwings twitching. "You are stealthy too."

Roadrage rolled his optics, knowing exactly where he was going with the conversation.

"Yes, some. He had a different teacher as well. No, I'm not teaching you two anything. If you want to go find this one's other teacher, be my guest. Just know, he's more likely to offline you then teach you."

With that, Roadrage began walking away. He didn't go back up to the surface, but kept moving in the direction they had been previously.

Nitro gave the siblings one last unfriendly glance before following.

The sound of two pairs of pedesteps began following them.

"Not more younglings following me," groaned Roadrage. He refused to acknowledge them, unless they decided to try and be hostile again.

Nitro, however, kept a watchful optic on them. Yes, they were somewhat inexperienced. But, they were sneaky. He had a feeling that they knew how to use their weapons at least decently too.

Dagger seemed to be the calmer, more sensible of the two. He watched Nitro and Roadrage carefully, observing them and readying himself in case they decided to attack again.

Taser was a little less even tempered it seemed. Possibly more violent as well. Right now, she was curious about the two strangers.

"If you two don't know your way around, then you should find someone who does," Roadrage called over his shoulder. "I haven't been in Kaon for vorns."

Nitro knew he was telling them to go away. They did too.

"Actually," Taser said, choosing to ignore the hint. "We don't exactly know our way around. Yet."

"Great. I don't care," grumbled Roadrage.

"Have you been to Kaon before?" Taser asked, directing her question at Nitro.

Who decided to ignore her.

"Maybe if we ignore them, they'll just leave on their own," he thought.

"I don't think I've heard him talk. Okay, one sentence," whispered Dagger. "But that is it. And it was a pretty common thing for mecha to say when holding someone hostage."

"Interesting," Taser whispered back. "Think he doesn't know anything else?"

Overhearing them, Nitro rolled his optics, picking up the pace a bit. He sent Roadrage an internal comm.

"Can we lose these two? They are annoying."

Roadrage quickly replied. "I would really enjoy getting rid of them. But the parasites should leave on their own. Eventually."

Somehow, Nitro doubted that.


"So, you've been wandering around Kaon for a few decacycles now," Dagger said.

He sat on the ground, sharpening one of his knives. His sister sat beside him, watching. A bored expression was on her faceplate.

Nitro glanced down at them from his perch on a nearby lamppost. "Don't like it, go away."

"Wow, the quiet one speaks such wise words," droned Taser, not looking up.

"I don't have a specific destination," grunted Roadrage. He was taking stock of what they had managed to steal that orn.

Most of the stuff, Nitro had acquired. Roadrage found some energon being stored in an unsupervised storage building. The two mecha that decided to tag along had proved themselves semi-useful and had found some things too.

"Oh." Dagger glanced up at the large mech. "We could go to Polyhex."

"That where you're from?"

The siblings nodded.

"Why don't you go back there," muttered Nitro.

"We came here to see what it was like. Everybody boasts about Kaon being a great place to get a job in the Underworld," said Taser, straightening. She shrugged. "They lied."

"Actually," Nitro corrected, looking down at the others, "There is a lot of opportunity. You mustn't be looking in the right places. Or have the right skill set."

"Nitro's right," said Roadrage. "What are you two good at. I know you're not good assassins. At least, only to normal mecha. Not fellow mecha who know how to fight."

"You're average thieves," Nitro added.

"We're- Well, we haven't figured it out yet," Dagger admitted begrudgingly.

Roadrage huffed a vent of air. "Better hurry and figure it out then younglings. You won't survive long in Kaon if you don't. Unless you wanna end up in the mines or gladiator pits, those are easy to get into."

"What do you suggest?" Dagger inquired, arching an optic ridge. "You two obviously know about this stuff. We've seen you in action. I'm assuming that you were part of some gang of some sort."

"Of a sort," hissed Nitro. He leapt from his perch and walked away. "I'm heading to the surface. Gonna scout around."

"Can I come with you?" Taser asked, already on her pedes. "I'll be quiet."

With no emotion on his face, Nitro stopped and turned. "You have that ability? I don't care, just know that if you get in trouble, I ain't helping you."

"Fine. Same goes for you then," grumbled Taser, hustling to catch up with him.

"That will go well," muttered Roadrage, watching Nitro disappear. "Dagger, make yourself useful and pack those energon crates again. We'll move them to that building over there, make it our headquarters temporarily."

"I'd rather go with my sister." Dagger was already striding past the big warrior, heading after the two younger mecha.

Normally, Roadrage wouldn't let someone under him ignore an order.

This time, he let it slide, sending an internal comm to his young partner.

Dagger didn't notice the silence from the mech. He was too focused on trying to catch up.


Nitro moved stealthily along a rooftop, just out of sight of the mecha below. He scanned the crowd. No one caught his interest.

Yet.

Not far behind him, Dagger and Taser watched.

Rolling his optics, Nitro moved closer to the edge of the roof and sat in a crouch.

Those two weren't gonna learn anything from him sitting way back there.

Unless they were trying to learn by watching how to watch mecha without their notice.

So far, they were failing at that. Nitro could pick up almost every move they made.

"They're so noisy. It's a good thing I'm content to sit here. If I was actually hunting someone, they'd destroy any advantage I had," he thought to himself. He frowned, glancing back at them over his shoulder.

"What are you two doing?"

The siblings looked at him, confused.

"Uh, watching you?" Taser replied, holding up her hands and shrugging. "What's it look like?"

"More like, what does it sound like," spat Nitro. He crept away from the edge and sat on his haunches several yards away from them. "Look, you two are making a racket. I'm lucky I don't have to concentrate on anything right now. If you don't learn to move quietly, then you won't make it here. You won't be sneaking up on anyone. Someone will sneak up on you and you won't notice."

"What do mean, we're making a racket?" hissed Dagger. "We're just sitting here."

Nitro narrowed his optics. "Yeah. And shuffling forward every few astrokliks. And fidgeting."

"What do you want us to do then?" Taser snapped.

"Stay still."

With that, Nitro rose. Running to the side, he jumped onto the roof of the adjacent building.

Taser and Dagger watched in some awe as the two-wheeler kept going, leaping over the gaps between rooftops.

"Wait! Where's he going?" sputtered Taser, scrambling to her pedes. "We're gonna lose him!"

The two siblings followed as quick as they could. Never having done this sort of thing before, they were afraid they'd miss and fall to the ground below. Offlining themselves.

Though neither one would admit it.

"How does he do that?" Dagger asked, stumbling slightly as he landed. "He's so quick!"

Taser was keeping up with her brother as best she could. "I don't know! His pedes are shorter than yours!"

Dagger sent her a look before hopping over to the next roof. "Well, you're no taller than him."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"No idea."

As the siblings were attempting to chase him, Nitro was having no trouble at all. Like he was on a casual run, he sped above the streets like it was nothing. Pausing a klik, he checked behind him.

He couldn't help but smirk.

The parasites were way behind him.

"Roadrage," Nitro said into his comm. "We might be able to lose these two faster than we thought."

"Oh?" asked the red and black thug. "Where'd you take them?"

"The rooftops."

"Good move. Disappear, then make your way back. I'll start moving. Meet me at the place I said earlier."

"Got it."

Nitro turned off his comm and started running again. He quickly picked up the pace.

The siblings might be fast in their alt modes, but Nitro was pretty certain he was faster.

Definitely faster when they were on pede.

It wouldn't take him long to completely lose them. Then, he would make his way to the ground, find an entrance to the second level, and take a few twists and turns. After that, he'd head to meet Roadrage.

If Dagger and Taser managed to track him down after all that, he would be surprised.

Nitro grinned widely as he ran. They were finally going to get rid of the two.


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