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

[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."

[redshitlord]

Oh boy. You only got called Autobot by someone who... wasn't. At least, in his experience. All the 'Cons said it that way.

"Then it must be on the complete other side of this... uh." His gaze flicked around at the crater. "... really great... city..."

It was everything he had in him not to use air quotes right there.

[crabcake]

Well, he's certainly not an Autbot! Not so much a Decepticon, either, but it's closer to the mark, really.

"Cybertronian city," Rampage clarifies. "Surely you recognize your home planet?"

[redshitlord]

"Uh huh. Right. Because there're so many... plant things... on Cybertron."

Okay, he couldn't keep the scorn out of his voice there, folding his arms and scowling. One foot idly kicked at a clump of grass.

[crabcake]

Rampage gives a noncommittal shrug and a loud laugh. "Believe me or not, it won't change the truth of the matter."

His voice deepens into a deeply serious tone. "But this is Cybertron. Or what's left of it." His tone lightens up again. "A Cybertron, anyway."

[redshitlord]

"Yeah? Why am I supposed to believe you?"

Because if this guy wasn't an Autobot, there was no reason to believe him, right? After all, Decepticons liked to lie. Steeljaw did it all the time. Like refueling or something.

"Wait --" But that catches his attention. "What do you mean 'what's left of it'?"

[crabcake]

"No reason, but then it doesn't really matter if you do. You'll learn."

Rampage spreads his arms wide with a little mad laugh, encompassing the crater and everything beyond. "Welcome to the ruins of Cybertron! I doubt you'll enjoy your stay, but as it is there's no way back, so you might want to get used to it."

[redshitlord]

Well that's not ominous at all.

He takes another step back, his hand moving to the sword at his back out of reflex. That was not a good sounding laugh. And the words made his spark feel like it dropped six inches in his chest.

"Ruins? Cybertron's not ruined. It's just fine!"

[crabcake]

Sideswipe reaching for his weapon just makes Rampage laugh harder. He almost hopes the Autobot attacks him. It would be an entertaining - though likely brief - diversion.

"Cybertron has never been fine," Rampage says. "An unfortunate effect of being populated by people."

People are terrible. Every single one of them, it's just a matter of degrees.

[redshitlord]

"Yes, it was. I was just there!"

Or... he had been there. A while ago. Maybe longer. How different was Earth time compared to Cybertronian time? Bee never said, and it hadn't ever been important enough to ask. Until now, apparently.

His hand twitches, debating whether or not to pull the blade. If only to make himself feel better.

"And the bots weren't bad either! Maybe you're just mad because you got thrown in jail with all your 'con buddies."

[crabcake]

Rampage stares at Sideswipe, one of his brows slowly rising higher than the other. He'd admittedly been in something resembling jail, he supposes, but...

"'Con... buddies?" Then he breaks out in howling raucous laughter, hard enough to make his shoulders shake and his alt-mode legs quake.

He's not sure what's funnier, the idea that he was a Decepticon or the idea that any of them had been his 'buddies'.

[redshitlord]

Well. That's... not the reaction he was expecting. Not in the slightest. He stares for a minute. His hand drops away from the sword in surprise.

"W... well! That's what you are!"

Right?

[crabcake]

Sideswipe's confusion only makes Rampage laugh harder and he doubles over, slapping his hands on his knees.

"Hardly!" he manages to howl between cackles.

[redshitlord]

"Then... what are you supposed to be!"

If he sounds indignant, it's because all the laughing is wounding his teenage pride.

[crabcake]

The solution to hurt teenage pride is to hate everyone so that nobody's opinion matters, Sideswipe.

Rampage's laughter finally calms a bit, and his optics blaze bright as he answers. "A weapon. An Autobot weapon."

[redshitlord]

"Yeah right!"

He takes a more defensive stance, his hands dramatically on his hips. There was no way that was true. Weapons were swords and guns and things like that. They weren't crazy crab-bots.

Right?

"I think you're just full of scrap. Why don't you go crawl back to Steeljaw and sell him that story?"

[crabcake]

Honestly, Sideswipe, there isn't a single Decepticon sigil on him, scratched or otherwise. Nor are there any Autobot symbols, but there you go.

Rampage crosses his arms, sobering a bit as he stares down at Sideswipe. "Even if I had any idea who that was, I don't go crawling to anybody. They come crawling to me."

His horns quirk and he shifts a hand to his chin. "Though more likely they'd be crawling away from me. Because they no longer have legs." He chuckles at his own 'joke'.

[redshitlord]

Very true, but... he's not exactly looking too hard. He's just assuming here. He was already on edge before this conversation started. He could have tried one of his stories, or made something up, but... now it's too late.

Now he's fumbling backward for the sword again, like a giant, bladed security blanket.

"That's so messed up. Can you even hear yourself right now?" he asks, trying to put more confident sneering into the words than he actually feels. "Is that supposed to scare me or what?"

[crabcake]

Rampage laughs again. 'Messed up'. Now that's a bit of an understatement.

"Yes, well," he says conversationally. "They may have made a few mistakes with me."

Like treating him like a soulless experiment rather than a person. That was a pretty shitty thing to do. That sort of thing messes with a guy's head a little.

He waves a hand at Sidwswipe's bluster. "I don't need words to scare you. You're already practically quaking in your plating."

[redshitlord]

"Huh?"

Some of the false bravado faded a bit in sheer confusion. What was he even talking about? Bad training or something?

But then it came right back.

"No way. I've seen scarier things than you back on Earth."

Thunderhoof counted. Right? At least a charging Thunderhoof counted.

[crabcake]

"Of course," Rampage says, giving a little chuckle.

Then he lunges towards Sideswipe, horns and mandibles flared, optics blazing poisonous green, massive hands reaching out for the Autobot...

He's not actually planning to grab him, but he's certainly going to make a show of trying.

[redshitlord]

Well. That. Probably should have been expected. Boasting his prowess to a bot that was clearly unhinged. He flings himself back, drawing his sword as he moves. What he lacks in experience, he tends to make up for in speed.

Hopefully it's enough time to dodge, to put his sword in between himself and the oncoming crazy.

[crabcake]

Rampage could have stopped himself short as Sideswipe dodges back and brandishes his sword. Instead, he lets his momentum keep carrying him forward stopping short of the Autobot, but not of his weapon. He gives a little grunt as the blade slides into him, slicing neatly into thick metal.

[redshitlord]

... oh.

Oh no.

Sideswipe talks a big talk. He swings his little sword around like he's some kind of war hero. Like someone who knows what he's doing. Like he's been in fights and scrapes and personally carved up half a dozen opponents.

But he's never... really needed to. Not like that. Hacked and slashed at the Decepticons on Earth, sure. But their armor shrugged it off, more or less.

He just sort of stares down at the weapon, going still and practically gaping at it.

[crabcake]

Rampage lets out a choked gasp, then an exaggerated sort of gurgle - honestly, it's a pretty good imitation of someone dying, he's heard it enough times - as he stumbles slightly towards Sideswipe, optics open wide, imploringly...

And then Rampage simply straightens up and steps back, sliding his body off the sword. As the wound quickly beings to seal itself up, he falls back into wild laughter. He'd expected to unsettle the Autobot with his uncanny healing abilities, but he hadn't realized how disturbed Sideswipe would be about simply stabbing him!