come along to the great unknown

[redshitlord]

Who: RiD Sideswipe and YOU
Where: the CRATER then CITY
When: NOW
What: An Actual Child arrives on the planet of manchildren and... well.  Things happen.
Warnings: POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR THE NEW CARTOON?? that's about it.


[SCENARIO A - CRATER]
This... is not the scrap yard.  Not even close.  It looks a little like Earth at first -- what with the plant life and everything.  So for an instant, he thinks maybe that's what it is.  He made a wrong turn, or this is some sort of joke Grimlock is playing.  Dumping him off in the wilderness to see who can get back first.  That would make sense.

Sort of.

"Okay, really funny," he grumbles into what he thinks is his comm unit.  "You win, you're hilarious, whatever.  Strongarm put you up to this, right?  Because of the whole patrol-taking thing?"

There's no answer.  No nothing.  Just silence.  Which... he likes to pretend makes sense if they're mad at him for some reason.

Except when the red bot staggers out of the little copse of scrubby plant life, it's... apparent this is nowhere near anything like Earth.  It's not like anything he's ever seen before, actually.  He actually stumbles a little, staring around him in wide-eyed shock.  He keeps his comm pulled up, just in case.    Just in case some Decepticon had the ability to mess around with his head or make him hallucinate or whatever Bee had been babbling about.

"C-C'mon!  This really isn't funny!  I was kidding about that part!  Bee?  Grims?  I'll take Strongarm even!  Throw me a word here!"

More silence -- heavy and cloying and a little unnerving after so much time in close quarters with other bots and humans.  After a life (albeit a short one) spent living in the middle of a big city.  There's just so much nothing, it boggles his mind trying to pick up any familiar sound at all.  The next word out of him is a little shaky, at odds with his earlier, brash, shouting.

"... guys?"



[ SCENARIO B - THE CITY ]
... it doesn't get any better when the lanky young bot arrives in the city proper.  In fact, it gets worse.

The last time Sideswipe saw Cybertron, it was restored.  More or less.  Bots everywhere.  Life everywhere.  Enough to where they needed a police force to mitigate things.  But this... this is just wrong.  He can recognize it as Cybertronian, but that's it.  It looks like the place has been through a war, compared to the Cybertron he knew.

That thought, for someone whose "serious action" is only dodging authorities and collecting rogue Decepticon criminals, is horrifying.  He actually stops in his tracks, staring at the shell of a building on the edges of the city, looking it up and down in what is pretty much mute horror.

"This is... this is so not okay."

It's about all he can say.  The building is all he can stare at, stupidly.  Not even thinking to watch his surroundings.

This is not how he wanted to come home to Cybertron.  Not in the least.

Comments

BEE

[planate]

Enter obnoxious minibot, stage left. Pipes has decided to say 'hi' to everyone that won't rip his face off because of all the alternate universes. He has to meet everyone, it's important. So, of course, when he sees the new bright red guy, he has to pop over. Not like he has a busy schedule, anyway. Scavenging here, there, maybe swinging by the medibay. Lots of free time.

He calls over to Sideswipe, from across the road. "Hi! Are you looking for something?" Bright as ever, completely unfazed by everything that's upsetting Sideswipe.

i read that and it took me too long to realize B not Bumblebee

[redshitlord]

Honestly, Pipes is sort of a welcome sight. He's not imposing, he's cheerful-looking. His shoulders relax a bit, and he ends up hurrying over to Piples, still looking distressed.

"Yeah! A building that's not totally trashed."

Despite his words, there's something... earnest and desperate in them. Please tell him this was just some weird accident. Please tell him this isn't how the whole planet looks.

red....

[planate]

"Ah. Well. You might be out of luck, here." he shrugs casually.

Pipes does notice Sideswipe's demeanour, though.

"If it helps, we're not the only ones here."

I WAS REALLY TIRED...

[redshitlord]

"Wh -- what are you talking about? What happened!"

No, that doesn't really help. If other bots are here, then why does the planet look like this? It shouldn't. There should be nothing wrong with this place...

Aside from maybe a toppled statue -- whoops.

adorable

[planate]

Woops!

He holds his hands out. "It's okay. I was told that this isn't the Cybertron we know. That's what most of the science-y types here have figured."

Which is good, considering it mean Starscream didn't actually manage to ruin everything.

AY

[crabcake]

There's a scuff on the ground behind him, immediately followed by a deep voice, "You seem lost."

There's no Decepticon symbol on the mech looming behind Sideswipe - and he certainly is looming, taller than anyone the Autobot is likely to have dealt with - but he does have animalistic traits to him that seem common on the 'Cons from the universe Sideswipe is from. Multi-jointed legs curl over his shoulders, massive crab-like claws resting against his back.

Not that Rampage is a Decepticon or from Sideswipe's universe. He's just really bored and this Autobot feels troubled. Maybe he can trouble him some more.

[redshitlord]

He jumps. The silence had been so absolute, he hadn't realized he wasn't alone out here. Probably stupid, but... then again... when had he ever been good at making decisions? He jumps, and turns as quickly as possible. Slowly... staring upward.

It was like looking at Grimlock, really. Huge and menacing.

And...

Covered in vaguely animal-looking pieces. He takes a half-step back.

"Uh, nope! Not at all! Just sort of... you know. Passing through! On my way somewhere!"

[crabcake]

Ah, it's good to be intimidating. He just loves the prickle of someone's fear on his spark in the morning.

Rampage crosses his arms. "Is that so? And where would that be? There's not exactly a lot around."

[redshitlord]

"Far... far away from here?"

He tries his best winning smile with that statement, spreading his hands in what he hopes is a nonthreatening-looking gesture. See, look. He doesn't even have cuffs! Granted, there's still the sword at his back, but man. This one is a little big for even someone with an ego like his to try and take on alone.

[crabcake]

Don't worry, Sideswipe. He wouldn't find you threatening even if you drew that sword on him!

"Easier said than done, little Autobot," Rampage says. "This city likes to keep us close."

Eyy

[villagepup]

Near some of the aforementioned plant life is a human-sized wolf bot, who was busying himself with all of those plants not too long ago. Now, his focus is on the red robot who's very clearly lost and uncertain about this place. Koh was in that position not too long ago, so why not extend the same courtesy that was shown to him?

The robot approaches, tilting his head curiously. "You've awakened here, as well."

[redshitlord]

What the...? Another minibot? He resists the urge to poke at it with his foot, like he did to Fixit when he thought no one was looking. See, look, Bee, he can too be a responsible something or other.

"Uh, yeah. Sure. So where's the exit?"

[villagepup]

It is never wrong to poke the wolf, even with a foot.

"I'm not sure there is an exit. I have not been told about one."

[redshitlord]

No, he's going to at least semi-behave himself. For now, anyway.

"Okay then... where's the shuttle? Escape pod?"

[villagepup]

"I am not sure. I do not think there are exits from this planet."

He looks down at the ground momentarily. "It needs to heal."

B

[rodders]

Cybertron being a ruin is something Rodimus expects, really. He's been on it too many times since the exodus to really assume it's going to be anything else. He's even gotten used to this Cybertron being full of crumbling buildings after his time back home where it had looked a little bit more livable thanks to Metroplex and no thanks to Shockwave.

"You're gonna have to be more specific," he offers unhelpfully from where he's picking around in the rubble, trying to find something to make his current place of residence less... empty. He hasn't even looked at whoever he's talking to because it's not a voice he recognizes and therefore looking at them can wait until he's found whatever it is he's looking for.

WOW RUDE DAD

[redshitlord]

His head snaps around. How in the world he hadn't noticed anyone poking around is anyone's guess. How he didn't notice someone with Rodimus' paint scheme is even more staggering. Though there is an appreciative beat of study in the awkward silence that follows -- about time he ran into someone who knew how to make themselves look good.

"Uh, maybe all of this?" he says, equally unhelpful. But one hand gestures at the crumbling buildings, hopefully to indicate their very presence. "It's not supposed to look like this!"

DEAL WITH IT KIDDO

[rodders]

"Sure it is. It's Cybertron, it always looks like this. Mostly."

Rodimus takes the time to set down whatever he was digging up to take a look at the other person. Hey, Autobot. That's good, he likes that. Sure, the helm is weird, but you can't have everything.

NO

[redshitlord]

"No, it doesn't!"

What was wrong with everyone? Why did they all think this was how things were? How the world was supposed to be? He hadn't been gone that long. This is upsetting, and like all teenagers who are upset without anything to steady them... he lashes out.

Sorry Rodimus.

"It hasn't looked like this since... I don't know! Megatron died?"

[rodders]

That gets a shark bark of surprised laughter from Rodimus, followed by a deep scowl as he kicks something convenient. "Yeah, well, Megatron's got a way of not staying dead, doesn't he?"

Fuck that guy. Seriously.

A

[taselikeabee]

People seem to spawn around the crater. It's something that Bumblebee has noted and thus he occasionally takes his 'patrol' route around the area. Just in case. Nothing really seems amiss. A little bit of yelling, but that's fairly common too. Confusion... Thinking this is a joke or some kind of illusion... Pretty normal, right? Bee had been through the same thing.

So he waits for whoever is down there to sort themselves out. To see this new one come out of the crater is more beneficial for Bumblebee than them. He has the high ground just in case a Decepticon decides it doesn't like what's going on and wants to lash out at the first thing it sees.

Hearing his name, though? That's a pause and he squints as the red Autobot climbs out.

"I don't think the ones you're looking for are here just yet."

[redshitlord]

What...?

Who even is this dumpy little guy? He's yellow, and he looks more annoyed than Strongarm is on a daily basis. Which is sort of an accomplishment, if you ask Sideswipe. Then again, no one has.

So he pauses, tilting his head and squinting back, like Bee trying to impersonate Optimus for the two-hundredth time.

"Says who?"

Oh yeah. Super smooth. Totally confident. He's got this.

[taselikeabee]

"Technically?" Bee replies, allowing a little grin. "Bumblebee. That's who."

That happens to be who he is anyway. Bee has no idea what sort of connection a different version of himself has with this guy... Doesn't matter really. The confusion of a processor trying to fit that together is still fairly funny tow watch.

[redshitlord]

"W--"

He can't even finish the word. He's just too shocked to hear that. This isn't -- it doesn't even sound like Bee. The guy is too short. Too stumpy. He's not built right. Sideswipe just ends up staring at him.

"What?"

[taselikeabee]

"How many other Cybertronians out there do you think can pull of this yellow paintjob? The only other one I know is Sunstreaker and he isn't as classy," Bee nearly snickers.

Come to think of it... It's been a while since he's seen that guy. Of course Metalhawk is yellow too but he doesn't really count. Does he? No, the guy really, really doesn't. Metalhawk is far too abrasive and twitchy to count for much of anything.