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Title: Primordials need Warning Stickers Location: A Dead End shanty, Polyhex Date: 3 April 2015 Summary: Bloodhound gets a visit from her favorite (only) Primordial "friend" and learns why they aren't known for being good house guests. |
As night falls on the eastern edge of Polyhex it finds 'nobody' on a rooftop; Spectrum has sprawled herself out on top of an empty shack to watch the stars pass overhead. It's an old habit that she's been indulging more often lately, coping with the world's chaotic spiral by falling back on millenia-old routines, and the open space helps her think. Due in part to her namesake ability, stale air and confined spaces are much like being deafened and they tend to leave her mildly claustrophobic.
Having picked a (recently) ownerless shanty with a slightly caved-in roof, the white and brown femme is mostly out of sight from the streets below as her blue optics glint towards the sky. She sighs pensively while replaying the day's news events in her head - something she's been doing for a while.
With all recent happenings it's a wonder why Chimera would dare to even show her face in the city. Granted, this is the Dead End, a place where no one except those with nothing left go, but still. At least she's smart enough to cover herself, her tall form stalking the dirty streets from beneath a large, tattered cloak.
So why, one might ask, has she come to this Primus-forsaken place? To seek out a certain individual, that's why. At a crossroads now, the giant femme pauses, head tilting up just slightly to eek out a single scent mingling amongst the thousands, before continuing onward down into a grouping of run down houses. The scent is familiar, yet.. changed in a way, but that doesn't stop her as she halts outside the seemingly empty shanty. Others would enter, but Chimera remains outside, optics and audials vigilant as she speaks up, "Scrapheap, I know you're around here. I need to talk to you."
Being stalked by scent... if Bloodhound had a better appreciation for how the towering femme had just found her, she might groan at the irony. There's a long pause as the repaired robot recognizes both the voice and the name but needs time to reconcile them with the present.
"I'm up top," she calls back slowly but in a stronger voice than she used to use. While not exactly flushed with energon, the empty is no longer desperately starved for it.
There's just enough room on the roof for two robots to be comfortable but given the sector's construction standards, the Primordial might or might not want to test that.
First a hand would be seen grabbing the edge of the building, tugging slightly to test, then the other, before finally Chimera's hulking figure hauls itself up onto the room and she settles on her knees before the other femme. She's about to speak further, but is forced to pause when taking in Spectrum's entirety, head tilting as she leans in and peers closer with those jade optics glowing beneath the hood.
"You look... different. Huh." She comments, intrigued. "Less likely to fall apart in a stiff wind." Chimera lifts a clawed hand to pull back he hood and greets Spec with a fanged smirk. "Well that's good. At least I know now I won't find you dead anywhere anytime soon. Though from what I've been hearing, that may still be possible..." Saying this, she lifts her head to look off in the direction of Kaon.
"I made a deal with Mortilus so to speak," Bloodhound replies. She looks over as the hulking primordial climbs up with a mixture of amusement and surprise... and then mild discomfort as the roof creaks ominously. "On second thought you might want to climb back doOw slag it!"
One weld pops, then another and another like a quiet prelude before the sharp and cacophonous symphony of collapsing sheet metal accompanies a short but hectic fall into the ex-shanty's living room. It's also the ex-shanty's only room and now more of a walled in pile of scrap and femmes. The roofing splits at a seam between the pair, leaving Bloodhound to tumble into the gap where she is summarily buried under debris. With her internals now protected by armor like they're supposed to be it's at least not the most hazardous thing that could happen to her today. Thankfully it's light metal... unless Chimera follows it.
Chimera perks up at the mention of Mortilus and turns back to the femme. Unfortunately the beast isn't familiar with that idiom, since she actually knew Mortilus personally, so she eyes the other skeptically and opens her mouth to speak. But all that comes out it a small yelp of surprise when the roof caves in and drops the both of them into the room below.
Spectrum would have indeed been crushed by the tumbling Primordial, however bestial instincts kick in and she twists mid-fall to land on hands and feet in a crouch above the smaller femme covered in debris. The whole event happens in the flicker of an optic, so it takes Chimera's mind a moment to catch up after reflex took over, her 'mane' remaining bristled for a few seconds until she blinks and comes back to reality.
"Er.." A large hand gingerly nudges aside some of the scrap on the femme she hovers over now. "That was.. my fault. You alright?"
Bloodhound groans as she pushes some aside as well and looks up at a pair of jade optics gazing down at her. There goes her view of the stars...
"I'm okay. I was wondering how long that coat of paint would last," she replies as a quick survey confirms that no, she isn't missing any limbs or impaled on a piece of rusted steel. After brushing herself mostly free the empty doesn't bother trying to get up. Having a primordial looming over her might have something to do with that but then again, she did want to talk.
Chimera would have been happy to keep another pinned down if they were prey, but she doesn't see the femme beneath her as food as she did upon their first meeting. Rather, she sees potential in her. A kindred spirit, if you would. So she's not about to let her lay down amongst the scrap, Spectrum soon finding Chim's large hands engulfing her waist as she picks her up and stands. "Well.. At least you've got a skylight." Chim glances up through the roof and smirks until she looks back and sets Spec on her feet.
"But you won't be needing this place much longer. Trouble's brewing on this planet. Something that might end up almost tearing it apart just like before... History repeats itself, and this feels exactly as it did when Mortilus challenged the Guiding Hand. This Megatron now challenges big forces. We need to take action before we're swept up on the losing side or buried and forgotten." Piercing jades, one of the few lights in the room, glow intently down at the small femme as a clawed hand extends, palm up. "You may not be one of Mortilus, but I still sense promise in you. That's why I'm here. To ask you to come with me to figure out what to do next. ...And you know this new age better than I do, so I need your help."
Bloodhound is set onto her feet with a bit of a thud and she grins a bit at being mechhandled by the larger robot. Her expression dampens at the topic Chimera opens with and she regards the primordial with a steeled face that she's had to use a lot lately. The smaller robot's age, experience, and time in the Vanguard show through as she stands straight and even and her blue optics look back with a fitting seriousness. "I've done some scouting and I have findings that I can share," she answers tersely as she reaches out to take the larger femme's hand but pauses just short. Chimera might notice she's not the only one with claws now.
"Where to?"
Chimera does indeed notice those claws, though no hesitation is shown when taking the hand within her own, careful yet firm. The femme's acceptance to follow the beast brings an all too pleased smile to her features, lips curling devilishly at the corners as a deep purr rumbles from the depths of her chest and she tugs Spec a step closer to her looming form.
"Excellent, I was hoping you'd agree.. We have two immediate goals. One, we must get in contact with whatever Decepticons remain outside of prison and offer to lend them our assistance. Secondly, more my own personal goal than anything, I need to find those like me, if they even still exist in this age. The city you call Harmonex draws me.. but I've also sensed things west of here. Still, I think first we need to look into these Decepticons."
Bloodhound lets herself be drawn in impassively, her mind too preoccupied to let her more casual side back out now. "Not so fast," she disagrees. "There's more to the situation now..."
"Decepticons escaped, the senate is dead, and Kaon is being conquered as we speak. I've reached out to one, and to a member of the Security Forces, and to an 'Autobot'. The Decepticons aren't perfect; there's no guarantee we'll be safe there - you in particular." The smaller femme looks up optic-to-optic and studies Chimera's expression. "They're violent, they're angry, and their aim is to conquer the current government by force and establish, in tyranny, casteless peace. They consider it benevolent tyranny."
"I have less data on the new group of 'Autobots' but their doctrine is much sweeter; peace through understanding and talk, a minimum of necessary force... but they've aligned themselves opposite the Decepticons to stem a potential slaughter. Assuming the security force fails to restore order and is run over, that's going to be a problem."
Chimera hadn't heard of the breakout yet, so the news draws a curious look from her. The beast releases the other's hand and rubs at her own chin while Spec relays the latest information. "Mmm.. Peace through understanding doesn't interest me. Mortilus wanted to rule the cosmos with an iron fist, so I fully believe in this Decepticon ideal." She actually smirks now. "It reminds me of the old days.. Plus, I doubt these Autobots would approve of how I do things. However.. You've talked to both sides, so who do you believe in the most? I have my mind set on where to go in this war, but do you? ..Will you come with me?"
"I've got no interest in wanton slaughter or the sick fun of demented murderers, but there are Decepticons with sense in their circuits," Bloodhound replies with a note of derision. "I like the Decepticons more but I also don't trust them."
Looking up as high as she needs to for Chimera's face, the scienceformer makes her next question frank and direct, "Would you kill me now if we're going to be enemies in a millenia?"
Chimera's thoughts of this femme begin to sink the moment she opens her mouth. She can see past her denial of slaughter and the like, but asking that sort of question forces all pleasantries to drop from the monster's features. The smaller femme is left looking up at a blank face set with intense optics, almost drilling into her with the heat of her gaze.
Then, in a split second, Chimera's upper lip curls and she lashes a hand out quick to encircle Spec's throat and shove her back against the flimsy metal sheet that makes up the wall. "Don't go asking that unless you're truly ready to meet the Allspark.." She mutters darkly, her massive form now blocking out the light of the stars and casting the other in shadow.
This is where she remains for several seconds, now silently observing her 'prey' of sorts. Would she really kill her though..? "...I wouldn't kill you though, no." She finally says, leaning down and in against the femme, hand remaining firmly on her neck while the other draws up to ghost along a cheek in an oddly tender gesture. "I don't outright kill those who've captured my interest." Voice is softer now so only the two of them can hear, though a darkness still lingers at the edges of deceptively alluring tone. "I make them /beg/ for the sweet release of death, but I make sure to keep them just on the edge. I won't let Mortilus have anyone until /I/ think they're finally ready to be ferried off into the afterlife. ...Is this how you'd like to know me from now on?"
As Bloodhound is slammed into the loose metal behind her, there's a choking sound of pinched fuel lines and a sound of bending metal as the wall reshapes to accommodate her and her neck groans in Chimera's grip. In the same moment the empty's claws move down to her sides, threatening with a light touch to tear at her abdomen in return. Like the last time her optics don't waver and the white robot's gaze narrows to a shape not far from the primordial's own.
Then, she smiles. "Yeah, you're a good fit for the Decepticons," she agrees in a hoarse voice. "I do hope they don't cut you open for study..."
Chimera hesitates at that smile, looking confused until she speaks. ..Was that just a test? If it was then it certainly got the femme riled up for nothing. With a soft huff she presses lips into a thin line and releases the scienceformer. "Hn.. Don't toy with me like that." She grumbles and knits brows down at the femme. "It's bad for your health."
Chimera would have apologized, but it isn't exactly her style, so she can only touch gingerly along the neck she previous squeezed, remaining close to the still cornered Spectrum. "...Why is it your aren't afraid of me?" She asks indirectly, looking slightly troubled and perplexed. Everyone was afraid of her, in the past and even now. Yet this femme smiles while being choked and threatened with torture.
Bloodhound coughs a bit as she gets circulation back to her head and her voicebox decompresses. "You just don't frighten me. Why are there exactly five members of the Guiding Hand?" she offers unhelpfully, trading one question for a rhetorical one of her own.
"Hn.. Because there's five fingers on a hand? I don't know, don't change the subject." Chimera growls softly, though there isn't any threat in it, merely some agitation. "You're an odd femme.." She speaks quietly, eyeing the other intently while hand travels up from her neck and glides thumb across her jaw, ghosting claw along with it. "..Probably why I came seeking you out. You're not afraid of me, you have yet to give me your name, and you give off the aura of a beast more than your frame dictates. There's more to you than meets the optic.."
Chimera leans in closer now, almost temptingly so, allowing the heat of inner bellows to be felt from her 'breath'. Optics remain on the blues before her and hand holds jaw gently as she mutters softly. "Maybe I'll figure it out someday... But for now, stay safe. Stay alive. I'll be back tomorrow night and we'll talk more." It's then that she lets her go and stands to her full height, smirking down. "And don't worry about staying here. I'll be sure to find you wherever you go." With that said she nods and starts to make her way to the door.
Bloodhound's own claws brush against Chimera's sides in a reminder of their presence as her systems begin to slow down again. The empty takes unhurried breaths as she listens and smiles enough to show just a few teeth. When the warmth of the primordial's systems wash over her, she takes in a particularly deep breath, catching the scent and taste of hot oxides, scorched fuel, and hints of energon.
"I'll try not to make you travel too far," she replies playfully, pulling herself off of the wall as well once Chimera has had her say. Bloodhound takes a moment to brush off her armor again as she watches the primordial leave. "Maybe next time we'll meet without you pinning me to something."
Chimera can only pause in the doorway at that last comment, one hand on the frame as her head turns to glance over her shoulder. "I don't think you'd like that as much. But maybe I'll let you try your hand at it next time." She muses back just as playfully and offers a wink before drawing hood back up into place and slipping off into the night.