capitalh | [closed]

Entry tags:

[closed]

Who: Knock Out and Starscream
Where: A secluded viewpoint around the San Francisco Bay area
When: Forward dated a tad, not to long after Starscream makes contact with the Signless.
What: Starscream (with Knock Out in tow) successfully manages to do something right. So of course things are going to suddenly get even worse.
Warnings: None right now? Knockout is inappropriately sensual 100% of the time and Starscream is a turd. There's your warning.

It was a flawlessly executed plan, if he did say so himself.

For the first time since landing on this pitiful rock, something was finally going Starscream's way. Being trapped on an alien planet with barely any resources doesn't leave a guy with much to do other than skim the internet relentlessly for the hours between bouts of scrounging for Energon, but all that time on the 'net had actually paid off this time.

He'd located an energon harvester. Or at least, what he assumed to be an energon harvester, under lock and key in a museum in San Francisco, guarded by humans who had no notion of the nature of the tool they possessed. It had been a simple matter of taking Knock Out with him on a little side trip up north, and between the two of them human security was no issue. They were in and out with their prize before the humans even knew what had hit them.

So yes, Starscream was ecstatic. Not only was the harvester itself a grand prize to bring back to Megatron (once he got around to getting in touch with him), but he could also harvest and present the limitless bounty of energon hidden within this planet along with it.

Outside the limits of the city, he finally transformed and landed atop a secluded cliff overlooking the San Francisco bay. It was a "scenic viewpoint" for human tourists, but it was late at night and blessedly abandoned right now. He turned in time to see Knock Out drive up, and grinned triumphantly.

"Oh I love when a plan comes together so perfectly," he laughed, practically trembling with excitement.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Knock Out transforms as soon as he reaches Starscream, his mouth quirking up into a self-satisfied grin. Yes, the plan had gone off surprisingly well, all things considered... It's been a while since Knock Out actually worked with anyone -- not since he and Breakdown were last separated -- and honestly, he hadn't been expecting it to go over especially well. He's really only doing this because he doesn't see much of a choice, and he's got almost as much of a vested interest in not inciting Megatron's wrath as Starscream does. Yes, the energon harvester will certainly make a nice offering to their Lord Megatron once they're able to make contact with him.

"Yes, we did do nicely, didn't we?" Knock Out says smugly, practically preening. He examines the newly-retrieved artifact in his hand, turning it over so that it catches the sunlight. "I think Lord Megatron will be inclined to look on us rather more kindly once we return this little beauty to him."

Edited 2014-03-29 11:42 (UTC)

"That's the idea," Starscream purred. "...Of course we will want to make sure it works properly... I think a test run is in order."

Maybe he was being a little bit overly cautious, but he couldn't even begin to imagine the horrors it would bring down on him if they turned in a false lead. It was too bad he couldn't just plan to use the harvester on Megatron himself and suck him dry of every last bit of energon, but the circumstances wouldn't allow...

He extends one hand expectantly towards Knockout. "Give it here, Knockout. We should be certain that it functions properly before we get too far ahead of ourselves."

Knock Out does the slightest of double takes, balking immediately as he stares at Starscream. He takes a healthy step back away from Starscream, optics brightening in alarm. A nervous laugh escapes his vocalizer. "Wh -- ha -- you can't be serious," he says quickly, eyeing Starscream as though he'd like to believe he's not. "You don't know what this thing will do to me! It could drain my spark in five seconds! And you want to test it on me -- a fellow Decepticon -- your comrade?"

Okay, maybe comrade is pushing it a bit after the last five years of doing absolutely fuck all for the Decepticon cause, but really -- torture, possibly even death, after he played a crucial role in retrieving this artifact? Frag that.

Starscream looks incredibly vexed, as he doesn't really comprehend what Knockout is getting at for a moment, and then it clicks and he lets out the most exasperated, melodramatic sigh-and-eye-rolling combination possible, his hands dropping to his side. "Not on you, imbecile. Have you forgotten that I've been reading up on the geological surveys of this area for any mention of unusual mineral presence? AKA, energon deposits?"

Honestly, there was no trust in this partnership whatsoever. He extends the hand again, palm up and impatiently waving his fingers in a beckoning motion this time. "Quit your sniveling and hand it here already, I know of a suitable location very near by and we haven't got all night to stand around here."

Well, somebody feels stupid.

Still, what was he supposed to think? With a menacing attitude like that... Knock Out has no doubt Starscream wouldn't hesitate to use the energon harvester on him; it's not as if he hasn't displayed comparably treacherous behavior in the past. Honestly...

Knock Out lets out a self-conscious laugh, straightening up, but still holding the energon harvester close to his chassis. "Of -- o-of course, Commander Starscream! How...silly of me." There's still a touch of nervous static in his voice. "Ah -- please, lead the way to this energon deposit nearby."

Starscream gives him a withering look, unoccupied hand going to his hip while the other is still outstretched and waiting expectantly. He stoops slightly so that he is at proper eye level with the smaller bot and does his best to keep his voice level, but Knockout is really trying his patience now.

"Well it's likely down there," he nods his head in the direction of the cliffs edge, "at the bottom of this cliff in a seaside cave... so unless you intend to climb down there one-handed while carrying the blasted thing I suggest you relinquish it to me already so that I can do the intelligent thing and fly it down there!"

(He bets you regret having that land based alt mode now, huh Knockout.)

Honestly though, he was actually telling the truth for once. Why was it always so difficult for people to take his word on these things?

Knock Out scowls right back at Starscream, hesitating. If he hands over the energon harvester, he's likely to be at Starscream's mercy if the commander does decide he'd rather test it on the medic. After all, it's not as though he's overly fond of Knock Out of late... And besides that, what if he tries to take all the credit for this joint endeavor? Knock Out takes a half-step away from Starscream, considering his options.

"Why don't you fly down there, and I'll toss it down to you? You know, a real team effort."

Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. He could try and explain all the ways that plan could go horribly wrong but that would involve Starscream admitting that he might not be a very good catch and could end up dropping the device in the damn ocean. And like hell he's going to admit that he's not very good at something.

One more exasperated sigh turns into a steady growl and he takes one deliberate step forward. He's visibly agitated now: his wings are flared, which gives him a ridiculous appearance reminiscent of a puffed up cat.

"Why don't you quit this absurdity and," he lunges forward, lightning quick, claws grasping for the harvester, "give me the damn device!"

Knock Out tries to jerk aside, but Starscream is too fast to dodge entirely. Instead, his claws scrape along Knock Out's arm, leaving a couple of nasty gouges -- and the force of Starscream hurtling at him, even if Knock Out managed to sidestep partly out of the way, causes Knock Out to lose his balance -- and his grip.

He lets out a startled yell as the energon harvester is knocked clean out of his hands and sails gracefully off the edge of the cliff. Knock Out stares in shock, watching it go, and then he rounds on Starscream.

"Now what did you go and do that for?!"

Ordinarily he would drop everything to argue back, but-- the energon harvester-- that is his ticket off this rock--

Starscream shrieks in fear as the orb flies off the cliff face and disappears out of sight, and he skitters frantically over to the edge, desperate to locate it. Perhaps it had landed on something solid for the time being. He leans precariously over the edge, skimming the rocky shoreline for that familiar glint.

Yes-- there it is, there was still hope and-- what the hell is that next to it.

Some disgusting, fleshy, limbless earth creature is laid out lazily next to the harvester, which appears to have rolled to a stop, blocked from the water by the creatures bulk. It blinks its eyes blearily and cranes its neck up to try and identify what just collided with it.

Starscream is petrified.

"The second time this week," Knock Out's muttering to himself in disgust, examining the scratches on his arm. But -- there are slightly more pressing matters at hand. He inches over to the edge of the cliff -- out of arm's reach of Starscream, anyway -- and peers down, afraid of what he might see.

"Oh," Knock Out says in surprise. "Well, that could have been worse... Commander Starscream, why don't you go and retrieve the device?"

This shit sure looks valuable. Sure would be a shame if someone were to, say, investigatively nudge it with their moist animal nose.

"Ornt."

Starscream doesn't answer right away. Fear of losing that device is overriding all of his fury towards Knockout.

It should be a simple matter of flying down there and retrieving the harvester, but it's precariously situated against the creature. If it should decide to move, the harvester could roll before he can get down there, and there's no telling how deep that water is. Not to mention, he has no idea how to approach the dumb animal without scaring it off.

The creature speaks, and Starscream's ventilation system seizes with fright. And then he finally speaks up with a slow, measured tone.

“Knockout, if I manage to get that device back, I am going to kill you. And if I don't... I'm still going to kill you... but more slowly thank you can possibly imagine.”

Knock Out makes a noise that sounds suspiciously like a gulp with his vocalizer. Suddenly the scratches don't seem like such a big deal.

"Aha...ha... Surely not all is lost, Commander Starscream," he says quickly, glancing down at the sea lion. It's still there. This could still be salvageable. "After all, how difficult could it be to retrieve the harvester from a simple creature like that -- for the second-in-command of the Decepticons, I'd think it'd be hardly any trouble at all."

A little gratuitous chassis-kissing never hurt anyone, after all. Besides, what's Knock Out going to do about it -- jump down there? Fat chance.

The sea lion slowly slaps its tail against the rock, uncomfortably close to the golden orb, regarding the two Decepticons with dark, baleful, godless eyes. Your move, bucko.

Unfortunately, Starscream was in no such mood to be swayed by simple flattery. Which is how you know he is upset.

He gives Knockout one, wordless, scathing glare and then proceeds in a steady climb down the side of the cliff, cursing under his breath. His claws are actually well suited to this work. His feet.. not so much. They keep scrabbling awkwardly against the rock face, which is embarrassing, but he sees little choice other than to climb since flying down will probably just scare the dumb beast into fleeing. Not that it looks very quick, mind you, but the threat of losing the harvester is still very real and he doesn't want to take any chances.

He hates this planet. He hates it so, so very much.

Knock Out balks a little at that glare, but at least that's all he got -- he inches over to the edge of the cliff, crouching down to peer down at Starscream as he climbs. He's worried they'll lose the harvester too -- he'd certainly like for them to succeed -- but he's not about to go risking his finish for it, not when he can't even fly. As far as he's concerned, it's an excellent excuse to make Starscream do the work.

"You could just shoot it when you get close," Knock Out calls down helpfully. "That way it can't run away."

“Are you insane?” he hisses back up at the medic furiously. “Our weaponry is far too overpowered, it would send them both flying--”

Suddenly there's the subtle sound of breaking rock, and everything seems like it's moving in slow motion: the combined weight of the two robots perching right on the heaviest point of the rock formation is starting to become too much. Suddenly one of the natural footholds he's been utilizing breaks free and plummets shoreward, and he follows its path, a look of abject horror spreading across his face.

The rock crashes down next to the sea lion. It balks and opens its maw and lets out an alarmed scream akin to an adult human and slips into the water with lighting speed, smacking the harvester with its tail as it makes a hasty retreat. The last trace of either of them disappears into the black depths with a spark extinguishing “plunk”.

Starscream doesn't even say anything. The silence is palpable. What even is there for him to say? There it goes, his quickest ticket to not having Megatron yank his head off of his shoulders is now sinking to the bottom of the San Francisco bay. Somewhere in the distance thunder rumbles ominously.

Scrap.

Knock Out watches, optics wide, as their one ticket out of Megatron's surefire wrath disappears beneath the waves with that indescribably soulless creature. A horrific slideshow of what Megatron will do to him -- to them -- if he were ever to find out about this flashes through Knock Out's head, making his spark stutter. He'll have to find a way out of it -- some way -- because Megatron is hardly forgiving to those whole fail him this completely.

Far more immediate, however, is the backlash from Starscream. Knock Out's stunned-stupid gaze shifts to the commander of the Decepticons, dangling by his claws from a nearly sheer rock face. He doesn't look angry -- yet -- just that look of total horror on his face that Knock Out's own expression probably mirrors, but it's only a matter of time. And Knock Out decides he's not all that keen in sticking around to see it. Optics still wide and flashing a little, he backs away from the edge of the cliff, transforming in a hurry and speeding away with a frantic screech of his tires.

The sudden echoing screech of tires on pavement is all it takes to snap Starscream out of his catatonic state, and then the fury comes rushing in. How dare he turn his back on his commanding officer at a time like this!?

Starscream kicks off from the cliff face, claws ripping out of the forced handholds he had created. Transforming in a flurry of twisting metal, he tears skywards and out after the rapidly diminishing trail of dust that Knockout is leaving in his wake.

Above all else, a scream of pure, unbridled fury rings out across the Californian beachfront:

"KNOCKOUT!!!!!!

Maybe he shouldn't have tried to run.

But Starscream would've taken his fury out on him regardless, and Knock Out simply isn't interested in just letting that happen. Feeling a bit of nervous panic in his spark, he puts metal to the petal and punches it, hard, his tires grinding up sand and rock as he speeds for some kind of cover. He's fast, sure -- one of the fastest Decepticons on land -- but he can only outrun a jet for so long.

"So long" ends up being not too long at all. It's only a matter of moments before Starscream's above him, and then ahead of him, and then he's transforming and slamming down onto Knockout with an absurd amount of force, claws going straight for his tires.

This wasn't even a matter of personal affront anymore; this was about asserting his rank, and he was going to make damn sure that Knockout knew his place.

"Aaugh -- "

Knock Out lets out a startled yell of distress as Starscream crashes down on top of him, claws sinking into his front tires -- he loses control immediately, starting to spin out, and he plows to a messy stop with Starscream's weight pulling him down. He transforms frantically, grappling for a way to defend himself.

"Commander Starscream, please -- "

Starscream only lets go long enough for Knockout to transform, and then he's lunging right back in, seizing Knockout by the neck with one hand. He hoists the smaller bot up to eye level, face a mask of snarling rage.

"Don't try and flatter me with your apologies, Knockout!! One order. I gave you one, simple order, and you couldn't even follow that?"

His face changes, looking unsettlingly calm all of a sudden. "And this, after you performed so admirably in our endeavor in stealing the device in the first place... I'm angry for a number of reasons Knockout, the least of which being that I expected better." He's snarling again with those last two dangerously emphasized words.

All right, so transforming hadn't done him much good after all. Knock Out lets out a choked sound of panic, clawing at Starscream's hand. He's good in a fight himself, but Starscream is faster and, in some ways, stronger -- and more than that, Starscream has leverage on his side.

He cringes visibly at those remarks, trying to flinch away from Starscream. "Commander Starscream -- hrrgh -- I promise, I'll -- I'll find something else! Some other discovery to keep Lord Megatron's wrath at bay!"

Right now, Knock Out would promise away half his spark if it'd get him free of Starscream's grasp. He is not liking how this day is going.

Megatron. In his butt fury over being disrespected, he'd almost forgotten the actual reason for the whole fiasco in the first place.

It's not too difficult for him to keep a good grip on Knockout, and for a moment he just leers, his gaze boring into Knockout's.

It wasn't even worth scrapping him over. Or rather... it was, and in his spark he truly wished to act on that, but such an act would be ultimately pointless. Whether Knockout lived or died or was beaten within an inch of his life didn't make a damn difference in the end. They were both utterly doomed without that harvester or something equivalent to replace it, and it wasn't in Starscream's best interest to be working with an injured partner in that case.

Considering all that, he suddenly throws Knockout with a disgusted swing of an arm, and then looks desperate and conflicted.

"We're scrap, Knockout."

Edited 2014-04-02 04:23 (UTC)

Knock Out makes an undignified noise as he hits the ground more or less face-first, lifting his head with a wince. Ugh. Not his most dignified day ever. At least Starscream seems to be off his angry bent for the time being.

He gingerly picks himself up off the ground, dusting bits of dirt off his finish and reaching up to touch his neck. He swears, if Starscream pinched a cable...

"I -- I'm sure we can find something to appease Lord Megatron," he says, though he has doubts about that himself. "And it's not like he ever need know about this...little mishap."

Starscream huffs haughtily and transforms once more. "An excellent point Knockout... And if either of us have any sense of self preservation, he won't. I'll make damn sure of that. But our outlook is grim... The longer we wait to contact him, the angrier he will be..." And the longer they'd be stuck on this horrendous planet.

"And if you have any interest in getting out of this unscathed, you'll start focusing full time on finding a different option, or at the very least gathering energon. You've spent enough time here street racing."

Knock Out bristles slightly at that, but he's not so stupid so as to retort when he's still counting all the fresh scratches Starscream's just left on his chassis. This is going to take hours to buff out.

"Of -- of course, Commander Starscream," Knock Out says hastily, still keeping what he considers to be a safe distance from the other Decepticon. "If you'd just send me the data you have on energon deposits, I can get...right on that."

He isn't terribly keen on doing a bunch of legwork, let alone by himself, but it's not like his energon reserves are at an all-time high, either. That, at least, is something he has a vested interest in.

"Already done," he snaps. Then he continues, his tone a bit softer now, though the meaning behind his words was still one of stern authority. "And don't act so put upon, Knock Out. Everything I order you to do is with the keen hope that both of us will get out of this situation unscathed."

As if Starscream wouldn't throw him under the bus the first chance he sees, if it'd save his own finish -- right. But reluctant as he is, Knock Out can agree that right now, they have to work together. For the time being. Until they get out of this mess.

"Of course, Commander Starscream," he says, a good deal more smoothly -- and convincingly. His smile still has a nervous edge to it, and he doesn't get any closer to Starscream. "Just leave this to me."

"Good. Now.... I'm going to go back and see if there is ANYTHING we can do to fish that damn Harvester out of the water." he says with all the venom he can muster. One hard bank in the opposite direction and a roar of jets later and he's gone, zipping back towards the coastline.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[closed]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

I got so distracted by decepticon jamboree I forgot we need to wrap this up

HAHA no worries bb

Re: HAHA no worries bb