Trichess Part 8
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CYRWAY: Slight oversight. Won't happen again.
GECKO: *Megatron voice* Now turn around and drop your skidplate! *Switches to Beasties Megatron* Yessss...
A painful yell came out of another prison cell.
CYRWAY: Dammit, Tracks, Jazz is STRAIGHT!!!
Wheeljack had unsuccessfully tried to short-circuit the force field.
GECKO: Way to go, MacGuyver!
GIR: Stargate!
Bishoph was damned good...
CYRWAY: I thought that was Triple H...
Bishoph! How Megatron hated the sound of that name!
GECKO: Him and most WWE and former WCW wrestlers.
Beloved, you and Ravage must escape! Flee as far as you can!
GIR: Fly! Fly my pretties!
GECKO: I take it you're not the only one who's been reading the Human Condition, Ace.
CYRWAY: *bounces* Thundercracker and Skywarp shonnen ai! Yay!
GIR: *bounces with her* YAY!!!
Megatron, I'm not going to leave you in the clutches of this.... asshole!
GECKO: A..S S...H O...L E! Everybody!
ALL THREE with a random chorus, including Minicon beeps and The Cheat's incomprehensible mumblings in the background: A...S S...H O...L E!
Damned, beat it! You have to get away! Please!
CYRWAY: Ah, screw it. There's other fleshlings just like her in the world.
GECKO: I'm sure Star Ruby would appreciate your orders.
No! I'm gonna get you out of there! No matter the cost.
GECKO: HIT THE DECK! *Drops to the ground*
GIR plays the intro music to "The Touch" as Cyrway takes his antenna for a karaoke microphone, just before an anvil drops on top of her. She falls back onto the floor, unconscious.
GECKO: Thank god for small miracles.
GIR: Aw, I wanted to get the anvil....
Magic! No...!
GECKO: Megatron, yes!
GOURRY: *jumps back into Cyrway's seat.* What did I miss?
GECKO: You had a chance to escape and you didn't take it?
GOURRY: The fic was so good, I couldn't just leave it!
GECKO: *facefaults*
"No..." Megatron whispered nearly soundlessly. He stared at the bars, optics opened wide. "Great Cybertron, please,... Don't do it...!"
GIR: He looks so sad....I know what would cheer him up!
GECKO: A Nightbird blow-up doll?
"What the matter, Megatron?" Optimus Prime asked.
GECKO: Fangirl...sucking my will...to live...
GOURRY: Protecting his love from the clutches of evil....*sniffs*
GIR: I'm evil! I'm evil! *Cheers and runs around his seat.*
He understood as less as Starscream what the Decepticon leader wanted.
GECKO: Oh, like Optimus and Elita were the chaste conservative Republicans.
But Megatron did not react, just standing there, staring sightlessly into space.
GIR: Do you see the Tallest, master Megatron?
Magic hastened through the night-darkened forest, every step secure. Ravage followed her just a few meters behind. They had to gain distance from the lights that streamed out of the base into the forest.
GOURRY sits on the edge of his seat and bites his nails.
Bishoph's men might not have their night adjusted eyes, but the two had to deal with night-vision goggles and infra-red sight devices.
GECKO: Once again, technology overcomes old world magic.
GIR: I want to learn magic! *Looks up at Gecko.* Wanna see my head disappear?
Fortunately their pursuers had no idea that Magic had already been warned and therefore could react in advance.
ALL THREE: Of course...
GIR: *points to Magic.* She's right here! She's right here!
GOURRY: That's not nice!
GECKO: Yeah, who's side are you on? *Blinks* Who's side am I on? *Breaks down.* Oh my god, I'm rooting for the SNADs!
Close to the approach, in a larger distance to their hunters, she suddenly stopped and listened closely. The noise of an diesel engine came from the far.
GECKO: Octane to the rescue!
BROOKLYN *from off screen* Pretty bad when the most wishy-washy of canon characters is the one being cheered for.
GECKO: *stands up and points off screen.* If you're gonna heckle, traitor, get back on screen!
GOURRY: Yeah!
GIR: No! Hold on. Yeah!
The vehicle was heading for the base.
GECKO: Go Octane!
Magic looked with serious eyes at her four-legged companion, saying:
GOURRY: I'm in the mood for ice cream.
GIR: Chocolate bubble gum!
"Listen, Ravage, I need your help; I have to get into Bishoph's base..."
GECKO: Is she suicidal?
No - that was impossible, that was much too dangerous! Ravage snarled slightly. Why was she behaving so strangely all of a sudden? Why had she collapsed shortly ago?
GIR: *pets Ravage again.* Can I keep him?
GOURRY: Aww, that's so cute....
"Ravage, I know that Bishoph has captured the others," she explained. "We're the only ones still free."
GECKO: Wait! What about the coneheads?
BROOKLYN: *off screen* Captured.
GECKO: Reflector?
BROOKLYN: Captured.
GECKO: Aerialbots?
BROOKLYN: Not built yet.
GECKO: Constructicons?
BROOKLYN: Good question.
GECKO: Hot Rod?
GIR: Cavalier? Artemis? Star Ruby? Vanguard? Naked Ultra Magnus? *Bounces* Naked Ultra Magnus!
GECKO: Ace killed him. *Gets a taze gun to his leg.*
How could she know?
BROOKLYN: Dues ex machina.
"Ravage..." She took the black cat of prey's head with her hands and looked into the shining red optics. "You've felt it for the entire time! You feel a familiar soul in my presence..."
GOURRY: Aw...
GECKO: He's a cat. Like he's care.
Yes, she was right. He just did not exactly know who...
GECKO: Boot him away. That'll give him a hint.
CYRWAY: *on the floor* No, dear, that's Vig.
"It's Megatron," she answered. "I have a kind of telepathic contact with him..."
GECKO: Sucks to be you.
GIR: Suck! *Sucks at his straw hard, making slurping noises.*
The diesel noise got closer.
GOURRY: Who could it be?
GECKO: Octane and Sandstorm racing.
"...He is my mate, Ravage, I love him!
GOURRY: Oh, how sweet! *Cries* I love happy endings!
GECKO: *dryly* I'm going to be sick.
GIR: *brightly* Me too! *Pukes up more of the soda.* Tastes like Dr. Pepper!
He had been with me the night before you were kidnapped.
GECKO: Please! No details!
BROOKLYN: Coming from the leader of the HentaiXpress, that's a surprise.
GECKO: *stands up again.* What did I tell you, traitor?!
BROOKLYN: I'm leaving, I'm leaving...
And through him I know that the others have been captured."
GECKO: We knew that too...we just didn't have to sleep with the buckethead to learn it.
She breathed deeply.
"Are you going to help me now...?"
GIR: Yes. Wait a minute. No.
The truck's driver barely had time to step on the brake as the animal jumped in front of the radiator,
GOURRY: *covers his face.* I can't watch!
GECKO: Thuddump! And that was the last time Ravage ever trusts a fleshy bot.
spitting furiously, and disappeared again into the forest right afterwards.
He gulped dryly, staring into the darkness.
"My god, what was that?" he stammered, wiping the sweat of fear from his forehead.
GECKO: *waves his hand at the screen slowly.* You did not see anything. Continue on your duty. You saw nothing....
Those glowing red eyes...!
His hands were ice cold and trembled when he was shifting the gear to continue his drive. During all this excitement he had missed that at the same time, someone had fumbled with the rear door of his truck....
GECKO: Hey, it's Riding with Death all over again!
Arriving at the main gate, he had nearly recovered from his shock. The two guards checked his documents.
GOURRY: Any food?
GECKO: Let's see...porn magazines, porn videos, porn music...
"Oh, Marten," one guard mocked as he was browsing through the fright list. "Not this awful canned grub again!"
GOURRY: *brightly* I'll eat it!
"Sorry, Ed," the driver regretted, shrugging. "The boss had ordered so.
GECKO: The bastard.
But, something strange happened to me..." He started to whisper.
GIR: A black cat crossed his path!
GECKO: Like all red shirts, he's going to die.
GOURRY: Oh, no!
GECKO: Can we go back to Grimlock and Shrapnel fighting? Now that was entertainment.
"...A strange thing jumped right in front of my truck. At first I thought it was an animal, but... It had glowing red eyes!"
GECKO: Not to mention missiles on his hips.
"Yah, yah..." the guard said, unimpressed. "That is one of our boss' toys...
GECKO: Bishoph's into bestiality? The pig.
GIR: Pig? Where? Here pig, here pig...
They're about to catch it."
He wiped at the beams of strong flashlights that, in the forest, lit up everywhere among the trees now. The driver swallowed.
GOURRY: Don't worry, if you're good, he won't hurt you!
GECKO: Decepticon bad, Gourry.
GOURRY: Not in this fic!
GECKO: *grumbles* Sometimes I envy your simple mind, jellyfish-brain.
GIR: Jellyfish! Weee!
"And when it comes here...?"
GECKO: We tuck our heads between our knees and kiss our asses goodbye.
"...The cyber detectors will sound the alarm! Hey, the entire area is covered by an electronic security fence against that stuff.
GECKO: Yes, inform the viewers at home everything, Dr. No!
Now get that snake food into the hangar!"
GIR: Ooooooooo...snakes!
The truck continued its way through the area.
Hopefully, Ravage could manage to keep the pursuers away from his plates. Magic crouched among boxes with imprints that identified the contents as beans, corned beef, goulash soup, peeled tomatoes and similar stuff.
GOURRY: *starts drooling.* Hungry....
GIR: Here you go! *Gives him a bag of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans*
She now hid her face behind her neckerchief and had pulled the hood of her black sports sweater over her head to camouflage herself a bit.
GECKO: There. Now you look more like Nightbird.
She probably looked like a mixture of ten percent ninja
GECKO: Well, Dylan ain't gonna like this fic any more.
and ninety percent anti-social troublemaker. Let's say ninety-five percent troublemaker...
GECKO: How about dropping the ninja entirely?
The vehicle stopped and a box of pineapple slices looked suspiciously as it wanted to beat the stowaway to death, but thankfully remained in place.
GECKO: What do you mean thankfully? *Looks over at Gourry and GIR.* What's wrong with you two?
GOURRY: *gags* Vomit...flavour...*retches*
"Hey, Lou, where's everybody?" she heard the driver bellow.
GIR: Surprise party! Yay!
"Outside, searching for a robot," a voice that was a bit further away answered, bellowing as well.
"Bullshit!" the driver cursed. "Shall I carry out the entire garbage alone?"
"I'm gonna get a forklift from the rear while you're making yourself comfortable in the office..."
Steps went away.
GECKO yawns.
Magic carefully opened the door, sniffing instinctively. It smelled like metal, exhaust gas and rubber, exactly like in a large garage. She could also still slightly sense the smell of the two men.
GOURRY: That's what happens when they don't bathe. *Blinks and sniffs under his arm.* Oh, wait, that's me.
As quickly as she could, the young woman slipped out of the door and disappeared in the dead centre under the truck. Indeed, she got stuck in some kind of huge garage. Everywhere were parked vehicles like the semi-trucks she had met close to the Mount St. Hillary and the white Mercedes. But there were also two APCs and three Jeeps in here. According to its futuristic architecture, the hall was reminiscent more of a hangar for space ships than of a parking lot for terrestrial vehicles of the twentieth century.
GECKO: All we need is Jeff Goldblum to save this fic--wait, he couldn't save Jurassic Park II....
Magic looked around. Over there, a door was open and the room behind it dark...
The coast was clear!
GOURRY and GIR: Yay!!!
GECKO: Save for those doberman cyborgs!
In the shadow of the ramp, she slipped across the hall, stole along between some of the vehicles, and fortunately reached her goal at last.
GECKO: The long-awaited climax. Oh, wait, that was back in chapter three.
Her heart beat like mad and she started to fear the returning men could hear the hammering pulse.
GIR: If I had a hammer!
"You are an idiot, Magic,"
GECKO: We know!
CYRWAY: You should have abandoned Megatron when you had the chance!
GECKO: Either stay dead or sit up, Ace.
she thought afterwards. "Of course they can't hear ya!"
But this knowledge did calm her not for a bit. She still was afraid of being discovered. Her hands were ice-cold and bloodless.
GOURRY: So they're useless? Oh no!
"Trust me, nobody gets into here without being seen," Lou remarked in the distance.
ALL THREE: Riiiight.
GIR: He's silly! *giggles*
"'n' least of all the machines, for 'em we've Cyberdetectors. 'n' our cam'ras see everythin'..."
GECKO: Save for fangirls. They're undetectable and everywhere.
"Everything...?"
"Everythin'...! No mice-hunting owl has ever swept in without been seen by us!
GOURRY: That's not good!
We honestly filmed a few really cool nature scenes..."
GECKO: Including two teenagers doing the nasty...
Okay - this was a small sitting-room, possibly for the guards. Magic was able to see a table and four chairs in the dark. But how to go on now? Her hands trembled strongly... What did she have in her pockets? Some chewing gum, an old receipt, two peanuts, a damaged metal ball-point pen and her Swiss army knife...
GIR: MacGuyver's gonna build a Stargate! Wheeeee!
There should be guys who are able to make a bomb out of chewing gum, a ball-point pen and a salt-cellar by using a Swiss army knife. Lacking a salt-cellar, Magic had to think of an alternative quickly.
GECKO: Because the first idea was stupid.
GOURRY: How about offering the bad guys some gum?
GIR: What was the receipt for?
Hectically, she looked around in the darkness. There was the ventilation shaft!
ALL THREE: OF COURSE!!!
GECKO: I can't believe I stayed here since the beginning....
While she was chewing the entire gum at one time, she was unscrewing the grating as fast as possible.
GOURRY: Brilliant! Using the gum for its intended purpose!
GECKO: What scares me is that you're totally serious and sincere.
Fortunately the men were occupied with their load.
GECKO: *sniggers, then bursts out laughing.*
Now, Magic scraped the thread holes in the aluminium frame larger, to the regret of her pocket knife's blade. With a part of the chewing gum she fixed the screws to their original position in the grating. With the rest of the gum, she cleaned up the metal turnings from the ground before she crept into the shaft.. Carefully, so that the screws could not fall off again, she placed the grating to its place again afterwards. The turning-filled rest of the chewing gum supported the construction additionally.
GIR: *awed* MacGuyver.... *giggles*
GECKO: Actually, I think that was from a MacGuyver episode.
The later someone noticed that she was inside the base, the better.
GIR: *points repeatedly to the grate.* She's not in there! She's not in there!
The shafts were dark, slippery and draughty. Actually, Magic had expected to make acquaintance with some spiders. But obviously the eight-legged beings thought that it was too dry and too uncomfortable in here. Besides, the same went for her... She tried to swallow the panic-induced sickness that crept up her gullet again.
GOURRY: I can't believe I got the vomit flavoured bean... *gags*
But no matter how afraid Magic was, she bravely she crawled on her way.
Megatron had learned from the new prisoners that the cell tract was nine levels below ground. So, she had to get deeper down the complex.
She managed to descend three levels inside the shafts. But climbing down to the fourth, she lost her hold inside the slippery tubes. She nearly broke her bones when she crashed.
GECKO: And if that wasn't enough to alert the bad guys...erm...shit, now I'm confused who the bad guys are!
She rested for a while in the lower traverse shaft, breathing heavily. She was all in a sweat, trembling like an aspen leaf when she drew the neckerchief from her face to make her breath easier. A big boulder seemed to press against her lungs which hindered them to intake air. Possibly she had injured her vertebrae a bit by the fall.
GOURRY: Oh, no! Quick, is there a doctor in the house?!
GECKO: Speaking of which, if Bishoph was a telepath, couldn't he pick her up even easier than the Cybertronians?
Inside the ventilation shafts, it was like creeping through the tracheas of a giant, sleeping insect.
GECKO: *Shrapnel voice* I'm having trouble swallowing, swallowing.
GIR: WAYWARD MARTIAN! YAY!!!!
She had to expect constantly that the beast would wake up to take a deep, fatal breath...
No, she was no hero. She had never wanted to be one! But she had to go on to save her mate, her family!
GOURRY: You must! For the sake of all that's good, you must continue, Magic!
GECKO: Decepticons are bad guys!
BROOKLYN: *off screen, Holden McNeil* Fic-tion-al Cha-rac-ters!
From time to time there was a bit of light coming through some grating openings into the shaft, painting lines onto the walls. Most of the rooms that showed themselves to Magic then were of no interest: three offices, a dressing room with smocks hanging in it,
GECKO: Complete with naked nerds with pasty skin....
a sitting-room with a little kitchen...
GIR: Self-contained bad guy lair! But where are the defense gnomes?
But one room gained her interest as she saw it. It was crammed with weapons and ammunition - Terrestrial!
GECKO: Now we're cooking with napalm!
She used her feet to press the grating out of the wall. This time she would not be able to camouflage her action again. However, she managed to press the cover somehow back into place. Luckily, the opening was hidden behind a shelf.
GOURRY: Brilliant!
GECKO: Stupid on Bishoph's part, really.
She could hear steps from the corridor outside. Right away, Magic dodged behind a wooden box. The door opened.
GECKO: Dib's behind this all along!
GIR: The master would want me to bring back the earth creature's head! But that's not really nice, so I'm just going to play video games instead.
"Someone in there?" somebody asked harshly.
GOURRY: Nope! No one here!
The young woman breathed with her mouth wide open so not to make any noise.
GECKO: Tying the kerchief with the knot under your nose does the same thing. *Tsktsk* And you had the nerve to call yourself a ninja.
CYRWAY: Well, she is the Nightbird of the fic...
GOURRY: Amy, that's not nice!
GECKO: Yeah, if I had the choice between the two...okay, maybe we could put the good parts of Magic and the good parts of Nightbird...wait...
But there was a strange scratching which came from a completely different corner of the room to be heard, like fingernails that scraped over metal.
GIR: Starscream's singing again!
Then something tumbled onto the ground.
The man at the door breathed in relief.
"Just those damned rats again," he mumbled and closed the door, leaving.
GECKO: And Master Splinter rushes forward and kicks the guard's ass.
Magic felt how the fist around her stomach loosened its grasp. But the strangling feeling in her throat remained.
GOURRY: You're in enemy territory, dear, the feeling is normal.
Carefully she crawled out of her hiding place to look unexpectedly into two tiny, black eyes. Probably their owner was even more shocked than her in this moment. Ramrod stiff the rat sat there, terrified, not moving an inch. The tiny heart hammering even faster than normal.
Magic smiled calmingly at the animal. It had a small white dot in its dark fur, right between the brown-pink ears.
GIR: Ooooooohhhh!!! Come here, Rat! I want to love you! *Rushes the screen and bounces off.*
"You've already saved my life, small one", the woman whispered. "Thank you."
She placed the two nuts which she had had still in her pocket in front of the rodent. Then she started to search for a weapon that she knew how to handle.
GECKO: "Let's see...I need either a wand, staff, or sword..."
A silent gnawing told her that her thanks had finally been accepted. After a short search, Magic chose a 45er, loaded the pistol, and put a handful of bullets into her pocket.
CYRWAY: *stands up in a daze, staring at the screen.* I thought most 45s were magazine loaders. Mental note to ask my friend Straxus online tonight. *Falls back onto the floor.*
"Okay, Betsy, I'm not Mike Hammer and you're not Megatron," she whispered to the weapon.
GECKO: "I'm not John Critchon and you're not Wynona..."
GOURRY: Well, that's not a Walther P38...
"Nevertheless, I hope the co-operation will be successful...!"
GECKO: Anita Blake: Decepticon Hunter.
GIR: Wheeeee!
With a few steps she reached the door. She listened - everything was quiet. Magic dragged the neckerchief over her chin and nose and hit the opening device. The door wing slipped aside. Again she sniffed. But only the smell of powder and lubricating oil on dark metal met her nose.
A gray corridor with brown PVC floor,
GECKO: Made from unused Heroes of Cybertron figures....
no possibility to take cover... Magic started to run as fast and as silently as she could. A T-crossing - she stopped, listened, smelled, continued running - the 45er always in firing position.
GOURRY: I sure hope she doesn't trip.
CYRWAY: Gun control is using both hands! *Goes back to snoring*
Until now she had been damn lucky!
GECKO: Beginner's luck.
The control panel at the end of the corridor told her that the door beside it lead to an elevator. Magic hit the yellow shining button. Seconds, long as hours, passed until the elevator finally approached. The young woman was in a sweat - hopefully no-one came out of the next door...!
GECKO: And behold! She's attacked by cyborg dobermans.
Nobody came and the elevator was, as it opened, empty. She slipped inside. Where was the emergency exit? There, in the ceiling!
GOURRY: *enthralled* Wow...she's done this before!
GIR: She needs theme music! *Starts humming an excited tuneless ditty.*
Hectically, she opened the small flap, hit hastily the number of the level she desired, and dragged herself up through the small opening by the will to survive. Now she lay on the roof, saw the level doors rush by, heard the singing of the steel rope which held the elevator. It sang a song of the decent into a hell that could only be invented by an insane human mind.
GECKO: Ah, Trent Renzor.
The shaft was gloomy and suffocatingly hot. It stank like lubricating oil. Magic held frantically to any kind of protruding part, feeling like she had to vomit every second, but managed again to convince her gullet of the right way of nurture transportation.
Ninth level, the elevator door opened. Not a noise was to be heard, so Magic let herself down into the cabin again. After a securing look around, she left the elevator.
GOURRY: Good going Magic!
GIR: *still humming "theme music."*
Down here, everything looked even more futuristic then upstairs. Not only the walls and ceilings, but also the floor was metal: steel-gray gridirons through which she could see cobber-colored cable shaft. Every few meters, there was a computer terminal integrated in the wall.
GECKO: Chrono Trigger: 2300AD.
BEWARE OF THE AMBUSHES - Magic feared that every second an Alien could jerk out of the shadows to attack her.
GECKO: Ladies and Gentlemen, this fic will now be illustrated by HR Giger.
CYRWAY: Quick! Someone give Starscream WarWorld and the Creation Matrix!
GECKO kicks her.
She could feel Megatron being close now.
GIR: He's right behind you! *Continues the theme music.*
"Hold! Don't move!"
GIR holds a painful note.
Frightened, the young woman jerked around to see how the guard's revolver cocked - then the shot burst ...
GECKO: It's Matrix time! *Air-guitars fast-beat trance battle music*
Like in slow motion, the uniformed man fell onto his knees. The six-shot gun slipped out of his powerless hand, tumbling onto the gridiron. Finally, he tilted forward like a wet sack.
GOURRY: You didn't have to kill him!
GECKO: She's the German Anita Blake.
Magic's forefinger let the 45er's trigger flip back into its former position.
The man was dead! She did not need to feel his pulse, she knew it. She had been able to hear how his heart had stopped beating. Blood dripped onto the cable shafts beneath the grid. A morbid smack was audible as the fluid hit the metal tubes.
CYRWAY: What can I say? Anita Blake. Sleep with the enemy, kill the more evil dudes...
Magic climbed over the corpse and walked on.
Strange - she had already shot a human to death, but she had no feeling about it, no horror, no regret.
GOURRY: *makes whimpering noises.*
GECKO: Okay, that we can blame on Megatron.
She did not even have sympathy for this man. He had fulfilled his task and was replaceable.
GIR: So he's not going to wake up?
GECKO: "Back to the front! You will do, what I say, when I say, back to the front!"
Maybe she was so cold-blooded because to pull a trigger was so easy. No, she was sure, even if she had had no weapon in this moment she would not have hesitated to mangle him by claws and teeth. She had to survive so that her pack could survive...!
GOURRY: Oh, dear...
GECKO: I'm telling you, Mag, Megatron's controlling you!
Scrapper and Grapple lay in their cells, stunned.
BROOKLYN: *off camera* See? They captured the Constructicons!
GECKO: Shut up, traitor! Chiros! *His pike staff appears in his hand and he marches offscreen to do battle with Brooklyn.*
CYRWAY claims Gecko's chair.
Their prison mates cared for them the best that they could.
CYRWAY: *an epic battle of staff and sword ensures in the background* Aw...no shonnen ai Constructicon scenes...
GIR: Bagels?
CYRWAY: That's Hoist, dear.
GIR: Donuts?
They had tried to dig through the prisons walls. Then they had hit the defence net that was hidden inside.
"Yup, the boss calculates everything," the guard, a man like a bull, grinned, standing legs spread in the corridor between the bars. "That's all hermetically closed."
CYRWAY: Someone kick him in the gonads.
As the sight of the injured robots started to bore him,
GOURRY: So when do we get to see some fighting?
CYRWAY: It's getting to you too, isn't it, Gourry-dear?
he dragged himself back to his place between the controls to take a deep swig from his coffee mug.
GIR: COFFEE!!! *Runs around screaming happily*
A silent hiss told him that the door to the corridor was opening.
The relief, at last!
GOURRY: I bet he needed to use the bathroom after all that coffee.
But it was not the relief. He nearly swallowed his coffee the wrong way as the barrel of a 45er stared at him.
CYRWAY: So is it a stick up or a hold up?
"Mug down! Slowly...!" the black-masked person at the trigger ordered coldly. Only the voice and the anatomy made him guess that it was a woman.
CYRWAY: And the way she was carrying.
"It's Mag!" Bumblebee silently whispered.
GOURRY: How do you silently whisper?
CYRWAY: It's called "mouthing"
GIR: *jumps up and gives Gourry a big kiss* I kiss Gaz like that!
"The energon mouse got further than us..." Frenzy nodded.
CYRWAY: Yeah, she had no one to mouth off to.
Megatron smiled softly.
GOURRY: I bet Optimus Prime was wondering what was going on. *Sniffs* Of course, he would understand the power of love.
CYRWAY: You know, Gourry, if it wasn't for your kiss with Lina in the second season finale....
GOURRY: I kissed Lina?
My crazy little Magic...!
GIR: My crazy little Megatron! *giggles*
"Okay, okay, lady, don't panic..." the guard stammered, doing as told, placing the coffee on the control table again.
CYRWAY: She's got the gun, I don't think she's the one panicking.
"Now, my dear, you are going to open the cells," the intruder continued. "But no bad tricks! My friend Betsy just had a hors-d'oeuvre and is still very hungry..."
CYRWAY: Oh, sure, brag about it, why don't you?
GOURRY: Betsy?
GIR: Mr. Carter! *bounces*
With sweating hands, the guard started to operate the controls, always having a wary eye on the finger at the trigger.
CYRWAY: Well, at least he's smart...
.
In this moment, the door opened again. A short moment of inattention... the man hit the pistol out of Magic's hand!
CYRWAY: Very smart, yes....
GOURRY: Oh no! *Bites his nails as Gecko is thrown across the screen, then rushes back to the other side with a war cry.*
"Get her!" Bishoph's voice thundered in her ears.
"Magic! No!" Megatron yelled, horrified. He barely stopped himself from slamming mindlessly against the force field .
CYRWAY: Typical Megatron.
GIR: Can I do that? I like blowing up!
Starscream was confused.
GOURRY: So am I...
CYRWAY: What else is new?
Magic...?
ALL THREE: Uh oh....
CYRWAY: Mag! Your secret's out!
The two guards who kept Bishoph company attacked at once. They did not have firearms,
CYRWAY: Idiots.
except for the RDA guns,
GOURRY: What are those anyway?
but they were trained in hand to hand combat.
CYRWAY: Especially in the fighting style of "Yo, bitch, my man ain't yo' baby's daddy!"
Before she could react, the first guard grasped Magic's wrist. But instead of defending herself against the attack, she quickly as a lightning made dodging movement. Dragged along by his own swing, the man lost his balance and stumbled around uncontrollably. Suddenly Magic got his wrist, making a counter-action out of the dynamic's flow. The leverage dragged the man backwards as if he was just a doll. Harshly he crashed on his back onto the floor to get, by return of post, a kick against the chin.
GOURRY: We've got fighting!
BROOKLYN: *flops into the seat next to Gourry.* It's about time.
GOURRY: Where's Gecko?
BROOKLYN: *nonchalantly as he cleans his sword with a rag* I killed him.
*Silence*
CYRWAY: Oh my god, they killed Gecko!
GIR: YAY!!!
GECKO: *off screen* You bastards!!!
Were was Betsy? There! In the corner...
CYRWAY: So much for the Bob Skir approach.
The second guard managed to catch Magic. She let herself fall backwards and so swept him also off his feet. Sadly, she did not get rid of him this way as she had hoped. The man was still able to hold on to her. He tried to pinch her arms to keep her calm.
BROOKLYN: I have news for you; that won't calm her down.
But before he was able to act out the grip, his prisoner jerked forward like a ferret and bit.
GIR: She had sharp, pointy teeth! *Makes squeaking noises.* Can I have a ferret, master?
She buried her teeth deeply into his throat, the windpipe's cartilage crunching in a critical way.
ALL FOUR: Pleasant. *GIR screams and covers his eyes.*
She tasted fresh blood. The man tilted aside, breath rattling in his throat.
Magic hastened cross the room, trying to reach the 45er. Inside her, her skill, her animal instinct to protect her family, and Megatron's battle experience somehow had merged into a deadly mixture.
CYRWAY: I wonder if she was bullied in school.
The third guard got in her way just as she reached the pistol. She jumped aside, rolled over her shoulder, pulled up the weapon, and shot... With ice-cold precision, the bullet beat through the man's skull right between the eyes.
BROOKLYN: Robots fighting robots, I like. But this is turning out to be more of an Anita Blake novel.
CYRWAY: And even then, Anita had backup.
GIR: I'm gonna play with the wereleopards now! Here kitty kitty kitty....
Slowly, Magic rose, the pistol's barrel aiming at Bishoph's head.
GOURRY: I don't know if I should cheer or be horrified.
CYRWAY: Are you aware of the repercussions involved in this?
BROOKLYN: Like she cares...after all, she's a Decepticon.
CYRWAY: Good point.... *To the screen* YOU HAVE FORSAKEN THE HUMAN RACE!!!
"You see what I'm able to do, Dr. Bishoph," she said. Her voice sounded like a menacing snarl. "So, either you release the Transformers and survive or I shoot you and find out by myself how to open the cells."
ALL FOUR: Shoot him! Shoot him!
Bishoph swallowed. He was afraid, sure, but he did not show it under any circumstances. Stupid situation, but he had not yet played all his trumps!
BROOKLYN: Donald or Ivana?
He concentrated...
GIR: *quickly* And his head exploded! Yay!!!
Suggestive like the music in a mall which nearly nobody was really aware of,
BROOKLYN: *hums "Bullet with Butterfly Wings"*
GOURRY: *hums the Slayers Tri theme*
CYRWAY: *hums "Haryruu no Hanekata"*
GIR: *sings the Doom Song*
so was the voice that Magic heard behind her forehead. A manipulating message which normal people never awake to.
However, Magic could hear it, even damn loud and clear:
GIR: MEGATRON WEARS THUNDERCAT UNDEROOS! *Screams and runs around in circles*
>Drop your weapon. You don't have any chance. It is better to surrender...<
It was not like the communication with her mate, not so innermost. It was shallow like a simple conversation. So, that was telepathy!
CYRWAY: Magic and psionics don't mix. At least at a Dungeons and Dragons level.
Magic grinned behind her mask. With ice-cold eyes, she looked at the doctor; the pistol did not move an inch from its position.
>Sorry, Doctor. A nice try, but without success!<
The words resounded like trombones through Bishoph's mind.
He turned as white as a sheet. She definitely had not moved her lips! It could not be... It must not be! She had telepathic abilities, too!
GECKO: *trudges back with a limp and sits on the other side of Cyrway.* Fact: All fangirls have telepathy. Ain't that right, Ace?
CYRWAY *punches him.* Don't remind me, horrid TMNT fics that they were.
The doctor tried to concentrate again. He had to know for sure. He groped closer to the other mind... Oh, god! The shield! The impenetrable shield around Megatron's mind, that was her!
BROOKLYN: You know, we figured that out in, like, the fourth chapter.
Soundwave observed the two opponents in his silent, modest way. Besides Megatron, he was the only one to realize this duel of minds.
CYRWAY: And the red ribbon of fate ties yet another fangirl to her object of desire.
GOURRY: Awwwww....
STARSCREAM: *off screen* OW!! TRAITOROUS WENCH! I WILL HAVE YOUR SPARK FOR THIS INSUBORDINATION!!!
ARTEMIS: *off screen* I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY!
*A firefight ensures in the background*
STARSCREAM: OW! MY FOOT!
GOURRY: Well, that was well-timed.
"What are you?" Bishoph whispered.
ALL FIVE: FANGIRL!!!
"An owl hunting for prey which escaped the notice of your highly modern cameras," Magic answered. "And the mouse I'm hunting is you! Open the cells!"
BROOKLYN: The symbolism is getting a little too much....
GECKO: *hums the Pumaman theme.*
Her gesture ordered him clearly to handle the controls.
Hesitantly, the fingers of the man in the white overall started to wander over the keyboard.
CYRWAY: He's going to gas the Transformers, you watch.
Magic watched him with suspicious Argus' eyes. The palms of her hands were in a sweat. Why did that need to take so long?
GECKO: Patience, youngblood.
The hairs at her neck bristled - something was wrong!
GOURRY: OH NO!
CYRWAY and BROOKLYN turn to look at him.
BROOKLYN: And you didn't expect that?
Suddenly the color of the illumination changed, a siren howled in pain.
GIR: YAY! He activated the self destruct!
"What?" Magic gasped. In that moment she got the rest of the coffee right into her face.
GIR: YAY!!!
CYRWAY: You know, this would actually be exciting had it been unpredictable.
Before she really realized what happened to her, Bishoph had pushed her aside and escaped.
GECKO: I would cheer...but I don't know who the bad guys are.
"TEN MINUTES UNTIL SELF-DESTRUCTION - EVACUATE BASE!" the emotionless voice of a machine sounded through the loudspeakers.
GOURRY: Oh my god! He DID activated the self-destruct!
GIR: YAY!!! Wait, I already said that. YAY!!!
"TEN MINUTES UNTIL SELF-DESTRUCTION - EVACUATE BASE!"
ALL FIVE: WOO WOO WOO WOO WOO!!!
"Cursed bull-shit!" Magic was boiling. This asshole had taken her for a ride!
GECKO: In a 1963 Cadillac El Dorado convertible, hot pink! With whale skin hubcaps, and all leather cow interiour and big brown baby seal eyes for headlights!
Get away! Get yourself to safety!
No!
BROOKLYN: Yes!
Magic!
GOURRY: Megatron!
Megatron started to get annoyed.
CYRWAY: The hell with the human and the Autobots! Get the slot outta Dodge!
She was exactly the same kind of pig-headed person as... him!
GECKO: I'm not too sure about that....
She hammered like mad on the controls - without success.
CYRWAY: *deadpan* Try cutting the power.
The force field remained. She had had enough!
BROOKLYN and GECKO: So have we! So have we!
She grasped the dead guard's chair and ripped it with nearly inhuman force out of its moorings. With a bursting sound, she slammed the furniture into the consol.
GIR: Aw....I wanted the base to explode....
Sparks sprayed from the slashed electronics. The biting smell of melted plastic filled the room, creeping into Magic's lungs. She coughed,gasping. At last, the field broke down!
CYRWAY: My, that was a scientific breakthrough.
Aware of the menacing danger, the Transformers were busily acting at the Vidia bars.
"The bars are moved out of the floor by a hydraulic system," Perceptor's voice sounded within the chaos of noises.
MAIN THREE: Shut up, Perceptor! And it's all your fault!
"The fortifications aren't very strong. If several of us pull on one bar, they will break off and you can push the bar back into the floor..."
MAIN THREE: WE SAID SHUT UP!
GOURRY: That's not nice!
A crushing burst from the left, interrupting his discourse. Grimlock simply bit through the bars.
ALL FIVE: *Cheer for Grimlock.*
"Of course, this is also an effective method to handle the problem," the Autobot scientist admitted.
GECKO: "Me Grimlock think you think too much."
"Hurry up, boys! Hurry up!" Magic urged nervously. She tried to help opening the cells as well as she could.
GECKO: Grimlock! Step on human!
CYRWAY: "Decepticons say we guilty of not seeing big picture, but they see too big, not see what they step on."
GECKO: No fair taking comic quotes!
The alert rang without mercy.
GIR: WOO WOO WOO WOO! *Runs around madly.* EMERGENCY! BATTLE PROTOCOL! EMERGENCY! WOO WOO WOO WOO!!!
To Magic's ears, the noise sounded like the trumpets of Jericho
GECKO and CYRWAY: Fozzy! Fozzy! Fozzy!
BROOKLYN: *deadpan* Did you have to mention that Oedipus?
GECKO: This isn't a Christine Morgan fic, Brook.
GOURRY: Huh?
CYRWAY: Ever seen "Trumpets of Jericho" by HR Giger? *Drools* Inspiration for my WarWorld pic.
GECKO: What is it with you and WarWorld? It's an Overfiend thing, isn't it?
GOURRY: Shouldn't we be paying attention to the fic and not arguing with one another?
GIR: It's the hate plague! *Screams excitedly*
that announced the fall, that announced the beginning of the end.
GECKO: I thought that was the trumpets of Gabriel.
At last, the Transformers were free! Megatron's optics met his mate's eyes.
BROOKLYN: "I've decided to go with Nightbird after all."
They were united again! Just a few meters separated them from touching.
CYRWAY: Please, spare us the romantic nonsense!
There was the thunder that proclaimed the all-destroying typhoon. A menacing roar came through the walls. It was a dying Moloch's scream of death.
CYRWAY: Now, onto Shang Tsung!
The complex began to tremble to the very foundations. The light flickered anxiously.
GIR: YAY!!!
"Get out!" Optimus Prime ordered.
GECKO: No, really.
The explosion was very close to them. The walls got dangerously long tears, the wall panel's metal screeched pitifully under the increasing pressure. The earth trembled.
BROOKLYN: Now this is original. A fanfiction that ends with an explosion and everyone dies. How morbid.
GIR: YAY!!!
BROOKLYN: How twisted.
GIR: YAY!!!
GECKO: How Cyrway.
GIR and CYRWAY: YAY!!!
"Holy, cannon barrel,"
ALL FIVE: BATMAN!
Magic swallowed. "But, I'm not related to Bruce Willis in any kind..."
BROOKLYN: Unbreakable!
CYRWAY: Fifth Element!
GOURRY: Lethal Weapon!
CYRWAY: You mean Die Hard. Mel Gibson was in Lethal Weapon.
The wall burst with agonizing lowing.
GIR: It sounds like a Wookie! *Baas like a sheep.*
Magic still noticed that Megatron dragged her to the ground to cover her with his body.
CYRWAY: Crushing...vital...organs....
Then the world around them seemed to collapse.
It was quiet, depressingly quiet. Spark-spraying wires and burning plastic were the only things which still gave light.
"You're okay, guys?" Ironhide asked, digging himself out of sundry fragments of metal and stone.
BROOKLYN: No....
"I think I'm still complete," Wheeljack mentioned.
GECKO: *as Tracks* Oh, no, my paintjob!
"Me too, if it's of any interest to you, Autobot," Scrapper interfered in the conversation.
GECKO: *as Hook.* Come on, men...let's go back to Wayward Martian's fics where we're appreciated...
CYRWAY: *as Shrapnel.* I second that notion, notion!
"Is it finally over now?" Cliffjumper asked Optimus Prime while helping Hoist out of the broken debris.
GOURRY: Is it?
GECKO: Bagel?
"I don't know," the addressed answered.
GIR: No! I'll take over the world!
"Great Matrix!" Bumblebee started and Rumble finished what he had wanted to say: "Mag!"
GOURRY: I'm confused!
"Don't stand there like idiots! Help me dig!" Starscream, who had already started to remove the debris, mocked.
BROOKLYN: Dig you out of the rubble, you mean?
GECKO: Please mean dig you out of the rubble, Screamer...
CYRWAY: Why haven't you run away?
GECKO: I thought that was Arty and Magnus's theme.
BROOKLYN: Can we keep Ace's fics out of the MiSTs?
GOURRY: Why would anyone have a band named "Hoobastank?"
BROOKLYN: *growls, dejected.*
Shortly after, though slightly stunned, the young woman was freed.
MAIN THREE: No thanks to Starscream. *Pauses* Right?
GOURRY: Starscream saved the day!
GIR: YAY!!!
CYRWAY: He had the Matrix...it's the only explanation....
"Are you hurt?" Optimus Prime wanted to know.
BROOKLYN: Painfully so.
She felt a terrible pain in her side as if parts of her bowels were ripped out.
GECKO: Damn that four alarm chili!
In a first reflex she touched the spot, but everything was as it should be, no injuries. She turned pale.
GOURRY: She left the oven on at home!
Megatron! Oh, no...!
CYRWAY: *Starscream voice* He's dead! I, Starscream, will lead now!
Ignoring that the sharp edges cut her hands bloody, she forced her way through the debris until she reached her mate.
GIR: Hoobastank! *Cheers and runs around in circles.*
The Decepticon leader was injured, a steel beam had torn open his left thorax.
CYRWAY: *still as Starscream.* He's been done in! Alas, poor Megatron, dying valiantly in battle....
He pressed his hand onto the wound, while, assisted by Magic, he got back on his feet with difficulty.
GOURRY: Awwww.... *sniffs*
CYRWAY: *stumbles, still as Starscream.* Alas, poor Megatron, who was mortally wounded in battle...
BROOKLYN: Face it, Ace, he'll never become leader.
"Not that bad, I still function," he stated.
CYRWAY: *still as Starscream.* Dammit, why don't you just die?!
"Decepticons assemble and get out of here!"
"Autobots, the same goes for us," Prime remarked. "Those not damaged, help the ones that have been damaged."
GECKO: *Ironhide voice* Who do you take us for, Prime? Decepticons?
Now the mixed group started to move. They wandered through the corridors of the dead station, searching for an exit.
GECKO: *as Tracks* Oh, my poor paintjob...Jazz, you must carry me!
Everywhere was debris, at some places burned small fires that thankfully could not spread, thanks to the rock/metal construction of the base.
CYRWAY: Unless it's napalm!
GIR: Napalm's yummy on ice cream!
Imploded computer screens hung sadly out of the walls. All was silent, but it smelled as if it was the silence which was followed by the storm.
BROOKLYN: Smells like ozone.
Megatron had lied, Magic knew. His injury was much worse than he wanted to admit; the beam had hurt some important parts.
GECKO: He'll never be able to sire children.
GOURRY: Oh, no! That's terrible!
BROOKLYN: No, it's not.
By every energetic sparkling drop that welled from between his fingers a bit of life flew out of his circuits. He kept himself on his feet with difficulty, supported by Soundwave and his mate. But his will forced him forward.
He could feel the beating of Magic's pulse, the warmth of her body. How he had missed this!
CYRWAY: Can we go back to the fighting now?
"Oh, scrap, where is the exit?" Thundercracker moaned.
BROOKLYN: If you leave the Autobots, the sky's the limit!
"Hound?" Optimus Prime asked in the scout's direction.
GIR: Bagels?
CYRWAY: That's Hoist, dear.
The addressed shook his head in regret. He had it already tried to find the right way, but his navigation systems were out of function due to damage.
GOURRY: Oh no! They're trapped!
"The rats," Magic suddenly said.
CYRWAY and GIR scream.
"We're following the rats. They knew the area better then us."
She waved at a trail of panicky escaping rodents which crossed their way at a slight distance. What might have happened to the small one with the dot between its ears? Was it still alive?
Because none of them had a better idea, the robots followed the young woman's advice. Really, the animals ran to a escape stairs that laid a bit aside. It lead up as well as deeper down,
GOURRY: It's a displacement of space/time!
GECKO: You're thinking too much, Jellyfish-head.
where further small brown bodies joined the others in a living stream that flowed upstairs. A manifold squeaking accompanied the Transformers while they climbed up to the freedom they hoped for there.
BROOKLYN: *making squishing noises; Cyrway and Gecko join him.*
GIR: *sing song voice* "Little bitty Megsie running through the base, chasin' 'round lab rats and squishing them down flat!"
The stairs were in surprisingly good condition. The reason was that they were situated at the very edge of the station, while the main explosion had raged in the center.
CYRWAY: Once again, lack of research brings forth an improbable situation.
The burden that rested on Magic's shoulder grew more and more heavy. Her mate became weaker by the second.
GECKO: *Starscream voice* I'll lighten your burden.... *Imitates cocking a hammer of a gun.*
For him, every stair was a torture. Nevertheless he toughly fought his way further up, level by level.
Finally, the escaping group reached the upper end of the stairs that lead into a high and wide corridor. It was as hot as inside a furnace, even the oxygen-lacking air seemed to glow. It stank from burned plastic,
BROOKLYN: And that's the reason you should never make anything out of PVC.
CYRWAY: Save for Heroes of Cybertron models.
molten metal
GECKO: How hot is that fire anyway?
and charred flesh.
GOURRY: Those poor guards.
The walls were thickly covered in soot. A conflagration must have forced its all-devouring way through here.
Magic was surprised that she was still alive, that she had not suffocated due to all this carbon monoxide and other poisonous gases that had built up.
BROOKLYN: Because it's a self-insertion fic! Mary-Sues cannot die!
CYRWAY: Mine did.
BROOKLYN: You blow your own characters up for your own enjoyment. You don't count.
GIR: Blow me up next, Master!
The air could not be called breathable for humans anymore.
GECKO: *to Cyrway* It's time to change the litter box, Ace.
But the unbearable heat gave her a lot more trouble.
GOURRY: I would have thought Inferno could do something by now.
GECKO: My queen, what are your orders?
BROOKLYN: Wrong Inferno, Gecks.
CYRWAY: Emergency! Fire Convoy, Emergency!
She felt as if her body was about to melt.
GECKO: *Wicked Witch of the West* I'm melting! Oh, what a world!
The salty sweat burned in the scratches on her skin.
Following the rats, the escapees made their way through a bunch of carbonized corpses that stank like steaks someone had forgotten on his barbecue grill.
GIR: I'm hungry!
Skeptically, Inferno examined the walls,
ALL FIVE: There he is!
sensed their temperature. The situation was suspiciously common to him.
GECKO: Yep. We're in a fangirl fic where she doesn't know the first thing about fire fighting.
BROOKLYN: *points to Cyrway.* And she does?
"I don't like that," he mumbled. "Not at all..."
GECKO: Neither do we!
"Prime!" he yelled loudly through the crowd. "We better hurry up. I fear a..."
ALL FIVE: BACKDRAFT!!!
Somewhere something metallic burst screaming loudly. All of a sudden it was extremely draughty inside the corridor. And that what blew around their acoustic sensors was fresh air. Something sucked it with heavy force from the outside in.
"...back draft!" Inferno finished.
CYRWAY: Can I call it or what?
"Beat it!!!!"
GECKO: *stands and, while humming Michael Jackson's "Beat It," imitates said Prince of Pop's dance.*
The beast was freed and furious! It wanted revenge! They had it imprisoned, denied the oxygen it needed to live... But now, at last, it was free and had gotten itself what it deserved! Power! It felt as it grew stronger..! It was prepared, the hunt could start. Its hunger was vast. With a raging roar it stormed forward...
BROOKLYN: Why is it that everything in this fic is a beast? Magic's a beast, fire's a beast, Megatron's a beast, the Volkswagen Beetle is a beast...
GECKO: Face it, Brook, this entire fic is all bestiality.
GIR: Here Moose! Come here, Moose!
For a moment, it was calm inside the corridor; not a breeze blew.
CYRWAY: And we're standing around here...why?
"Run, damn, run!" Inferno yelled desperately.
GIR: *jumps down from his seat and runs around the theater* WOO WOO WOO WOO WOO!!!
Suddenly and violently, the wind started to blow again, but this time it came from the opposite direction. A hurricane from the purgatory of hell:
CYRWAY: Two different realms, dear.
hot, deadly, merciless, and accompanied by an infernal roar like no animal had ever been able to do.
GIR and GECKO imitate the noise.
They hastened desperately on, though they knew already that it was senseless - the beast got closer in horrifying speed.
CYRWAY: Okay, Decepticons, get the hell out of Dodge and leave the Autobots to cook in their own fluids!
In this moment, Magic told Soundwave: "Take care of Megatron!"
BROOKLYN: Hey! She did the smart thing!
CYRWAY: Aw...I was hoping she would give him to Starscream.
She released the arm of her mate and left the Decepticon leader under the care of his communications officer.
"Magic, what...?" Megatron whispered weakly after her.
But she was already gone, running to meet the storm.
"What's she doing?" Inferno did not believe his optics. Did this Earthian go completely insane?
CYRWAY: Hell yeah!
GOURRY: Magic, no!!!
He ran after Magic, wanting to take her back. Suddenly, she stopped, standing legs spread in the corridor, hands clenched by her sides. The hot storm whipped into her face - her skin should have been charred like those of the corpses!
GECKO: Drew Barrymore in "Firestarter...." *blinks and starts singing Prodigy* "I'm a firestarter!"
Inferno grasped her arm, wanting to drag her with him, but it was impossible! She seemed to be welded to the floor.
CYRWAY: Her sneakers soles had melted.
It would have been easier for him to move Iacon's dome alone than moving her.
BROOKLYN: Then bring in Hoist and Grapple.
The beast approached!
GECKO: *begins air guitaring Twisted Sister's "The Beast"*
In a furious gallop it rushed along the corridor, ready to devour everything in its way without pity. Magic recognized the beast, the untamed element. The young woman's eyes met the glowing face with chilly frostiness. Horrifyingly fast, the doom rolled closer to the escapees.
BROOKLYN: Can we just get it over with?
CYRWAY: Incinerate everyone! Autobots, Decepticons, humans, whatever!
GOURRY: That's not nice!
GECKO: *stands up and bows his head.* "Darkness beyond twilight, crimson from blood that flows..."
Calmly, sharply, and imperatively, Magic said only a single word:
CYRWAY: "IDONTWANNADIE!!!"
GECKO: "Buried in the flow of time in thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness..."
"Stop!"
GOURRY: *realises what Gecko is chanting and, making a horrified gasp, scrambles to the other side of Brooklyn.*
GIR: Blow me up! Blow me up!
GECKO: That's what Nightbird said to Megatron--oh, shit... *The Dragon Slave spell suddenly implodes on him, sending him high into the rafters, then he drops to the ground with a sickening thud.*
BROOKLYN: And let's see how long he stays down this time.
GIR: Awwwww.... *pouts*
"I don't believe this," Inferno managed to say slowly.
ALL FOUR: Neither can we.
He could not believe his optic sensors, because what happened now was far beyond the comprehensible.
CYRWAY: Much like this fic.
A moment ago, a conflagration had come their way like an angry beast of prey. Now it collapsed into itself , dying out in a few timid, little flames - a naughty cub that stole away with lowered tail after it had been scolded by its mother.
BROOKLYN: The part fae human mates of main characters exceed even the boundaries of Gargoyles fandom.
ARIN pops up behind him and mallets him.
Magic took a deep breath, loosening her strained position. She looked at the Autobot who stood next to her, mouth open, and said: "Don't ask me, I can't explain it either..."
CYRWAY: Chiefly because there's no logical scientific explanation to it.
She dragged herself back to the others, where Thundercracker had taken her place to support Megatron. She felt sick.
BROOKLYN: You're not the only one.
GIR: *pukes up more of his soda.* Ohhh! Tab! *Pours Tab into his concoction.*
CYRWAY: Okay, that's getting gross, GIR.
No, it was not her who felt sick....
GOURRY: Stupid vomit-flavoured Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans.
If I just could help you, beloved...
It seemed as if the corridor lead to the hangar. A half-molten sign told so.
The troop continued on its way. The temperature got more comfortable every meter: the air became fresher. But right away a new obstacle appeared:
BROOKLYN: The crew at #wiigii with pitchforks and torches.
they reached a part that was nearly impassable. Debris blocked the way. The rock had crashed down and ripped a ten-meter-high gap open. The Transformers could see the stars through it. Freedom was so close that they could nearly touch it, but of all among them that were able to fly, only a few would have enough energy to do it.
GIR: HUMAN LADDER!
GOURRY: Brilliant!
CYRWAY: And only one is human, how about that...
So the group had to continue the difficult way through the debris as Megatron finally ran out of power and he collapsed, fainting.
BROOKLYN: And Magic decided that flirting with Jazz was more fun.
Soundwave gestured to Thundercracker and they carefully placed the Decepticon leader on the ground.
CYRWAY: *Starscream voice* I Starscream now lead the Decepticons!
"Hook!" The communication officer ordered the Constructicon to come.
BROOKLYN: However, Hook did not come, due to the Constructicons and Insecticons' defection to Wayward Martian's fics.
Meanwhile, Magic tried despairingly to force herself through a heap of living metal which blocked her way to reach her mate.
GOURRY: Maybe asking nicely....?
GIR: Baweep granna weep ninni bong!
Hook was not able to do anything for Megatron.
CYRWAY: *cheers*
GOURRY: You really want Starscream leader?
BROOKLYN: Won't happen. Starscream may be second, but Soundwave has succession rights.
He needed repairs himself. When the cell's ceiling had crashed down, the falling fragments had crushed the Constructicon's forearms. But he examined the unconscious mech's wound.
GIR: Looksies no touchies!
"The left pump line is cut off closely above the Labyrinthic. If that's not bridged, the energon will soon run out completely," Hook noticed while pushing the mentioned line with stiffened fingers aside to examine further damages.
CYRWAY: *Starscream voice* Oh, let's just finish the job and get it over with...
"That wouldn't be that bad if the Green Crystal wasn't ripped out of the personal component..." he added.
"And that means?" Thundercracker, not so handy with biotechnology, wanted to know.
BROOKLYN: Which means that whatever made Megatron Megatron is gone. He's a vegetable now.
GOURRY: *starts crying* That's so sad!
"The Green Crystal is the personal component's security supply," Perceptor referred. "In case of a complete energy break down, it theoretically could keep the latter functional for about 190 Tasec. However - if it falls out a complete lack of energon is absolutely fatal."
CYRWAY: *Starscream voice* That's wonderful news--I mean, alas, poor Megatron....
Suddenly, Magic turned white as a sheet.
"No..." her lips formed without a noise. Then, all of a sudden, she roared angrily: "Do something! Or do I have to hit dents in your iron skulls first?!"
BROOKLYN: Poor, delusional Magic.
Energetically, she pushed all Transformers that were between her and her mate aside. She had to get to him. He had never blocked her out, now she would stand by him.
GOURRY: *biting his nails, on the edge of his seat.* Don't fail, Magic! You can do it!
CYRWAY: Meanwhile the Autobots are wondering what the CHOP's going on here.
"Why does the fleshling worry so much about Megatron anyway?" Astrotrain asked confused, after he felt the young woman's elbow in his plates.
BROOKLYN: You're not the only one.
"That's the way Mag is", Rumble shrugged, still unaware.
GECKO: SNAD!!! *Jumps up and reclaims his seat.*
GIR: Will you make me explode next time?
GECKO: Only if you be good.
Standing a bit aside, Starscream observed the scene. He had his own considerations...
CYRWAY: *Starscream voice* Let's see....if I blast her now...
Optimus Prime was also very thoughtful. Suddenly, he addressed the Autobot on his left.
BROOKLYN: Jazz, take the human to Torkulon.
"Ratchet, help him...!"
The other looked at him without appreciation.
GECKO: The heck with that, take Optimus to Torkulon.
GIR: Oooh! Oooh! I wanna go to Torkulon!
"Help him, Prime? Have you forgotten all the pain we owe to Megatron?" he said excitedly. "He's a monster!"
CYRWAY: Wait until you see issue #70 of the comic. Simon Furman is a twisted bastard whom we love so very much.
All the dead and injured Cybertronians Ratchet had seen during the war were a bitter memory burned into his memory chips. How often, after a Decepticon attack, he had had Transformers in the repair bay who desperately had struggled against death. How often he had fought for their lives and sadly often lost the fight. A defeat he had never been able to accept and that he still could not accept.
BROOKLYN: Finally! Someone with sense in this fic!
Now Optimus Prime demanded him to help the one who was responsible for all the pain, who had covered Cybertron with eternal war? How could Prime believe that he was still able to help the Slagmaker after all that?
GECKO: He's been sucked into the dark, twisted world of Fangirl SNADdom.
BROOKLYN: Wouldn't that be bright and sunny, optimistic world?
GIR: I wanna be melded with Wheelie!
Ratchet would always only be able to see the diabolic bestial mech in Megatron.
CYRWAY: And to think these two coexist as one for a time.
BROOKLYN: That would explain him begging Optimus Prime to kill him.
"We are Autobots," Optimus Prime replied calmly. "It's our duty. Please, help Megatron..."
Ratchet did reluctantly as ordered. He crossed the rows until he reached the place where the Decepticons had laid out Megatron. The Earthian female and this Soundwave kneeled close to the to the silver-shining body which had an cruelly ripped-open thorax.
GECKO: Remember to give him a vasecetomy whilst you're in there.
Ratchet swallowed. He really had expected to see a bestial mech but what was shown to him was a heavily injured Transformer that struggled against death...
CYRWAY: He's bending, he's bending!
BROOKLYN: Ratchet, no! You must resist the pull!
"What do you want, Autobot?" Thundercracker asked, blocking the medic's way.
"Preventing that Mother Scrappess embraces your leader,"
ALL FIVE: Who?
the other answered harshly, pushing the slightly surprised Decepticon aside. Shortly after, with Soundwave's agreement, Ratchet kneeled also beside the injured mech.
"Hook's right," the medic remarked seeing the wound. "I have to patch the line somehow. Therefore I needed a five-centimeters-long metal tube, about five to eight millimeters diameter..."
Magic hastily dug in her pockets. There, the old ball-point pen! She screwed off the front part and offered it to Ratchet, saying: "Will that do?"
CYRWAY: Wow...she's doing something I never thought about doing...
BROOKLYN: Preplanning props for a fic? It does have some uses.
GECKO: Oh, look, the Phoenix Gate. *Picks up an object from the floor.* Deflagrate muri tempi et intervalia! *Disappears in a burst of flames.*
BROOKLYN: *blinks* I'm surprised you remember that, Ace.
CYRWAY: Me too. *Blinks as well.*
The medic nodded. Not losing a moment of valuable time, he started his work. Within a few minutes the provisional line was adapted. Ratchet was able to stop the energon loss, but the low energy level made him worry. It was a miracle that Megatron's systems had not already collapsed. This Decepticon was damn tough...
CYRWAY: Until Starscream gets a chance to inject cyanide into his fuel line...
"He had to get to the Ark's repair bay as fast as possible so that I can take care of the Green Crystal. However, I fear..." Ratchet nervously clenched his left fist, "...he won't make it there. I have to stabilize him..."
"Then stabilize him," Soundwave simply answered.
GOURRY: Duct tape! Use the Duct tape!
"I would need minimum twelve units of protogenic energon to fill his conduits with! And I don't have them!" the Autobot medic hissed at him.
BROOKLYN: You know there are Autobots on the homeworld who need that energon more than Megatron!
Ratchet started to tremble in despairing rage. He hated having to watch helplessly when he was losing a patient.
GIR: *giggles*
CYRWAY: Ratchet, you bleeding heart!
"Cursed, should the Scrap Iron Brother win again...?" he pressed out of his jaw plates.
CYRWAY: Whoever he is, yes, he should.
A warm, soft hand touched his arm.
GOURRY: Awwww....
"As long as Megatron doesn't give up the fight we won't either, Ratchet," Magic stated. There were wet traces on her dust-covered cheeks. "He's going to reach the Ark - alive...!"
CYRWAY: *Starscream voice* Over my dead body--whoops, did I say that aloud?
She looked at Soundwave, who nodded in confirmation. Without a word, he lifted the Decepticon leader up and carried him along the corridor.