ROCK'EM SOCK'EM ROBOTS [BIG OPEN FIGHT LOG]

[sufferist]

Who: Signless, Robots, and YOU
Where: City Hall, and all over downtown LA.
When: April 14th
What: Signless bates the Cybetronians into having a big fight in downtown LA while attempting to get a valuable artifact. Earth civilians and superheroes are SUPER WELCOME to notice the fuss and try to stop the fighting/safe people from collateral damage.
Warnings: SUDDENLY ROBOT ULTRAVIOLENCE

Signless leaves himself, and the hammer, visible at first. He wants them to see him, to know that the battle is imminent - and with any luck, a conflict will start. He'll do his best to disappear and keep them hunting for him as as long as possible after he's initially been spotted. Maximum collateral damage is his goal.

It also helps that he's an empath. He'll be taking whatever opportunities he can to agitate people's emotions, whether it be anger, panic, or fear, in the attempt to make ever more chaos.

This is a party style log, meaning you can make you own threads and scenarios. Signless will be around with the hammer. LET'S MAKE THIS AS BIG OF A CLUSTERFUCK AS POSSIBLE, GUYS.

Comments

[deadpartners]

All the air rushes from Arcee's vents, it seems, at the impact -- she hits the wall and it explodes in a flurry of dust and glass and concrete around her. More than the shock of pain that ripples through her, the sheer ease with which Megatron tossed her aside makes her falter. This isn't like fighting Starscream, cocky and arrogant, always overstepping -- Megatron's confidence comes from the solid, unshakable knowledge that he can pummel anything in his immediate path, because he always has.

But Arcee can't afford to give up now. She grits her teeth, staggers to her feet -- and starts for Megatron again, ducking and weaving as she fires. She'll use her smaller size to her advantage -- get in close -- and when she launches herself into the air, gaining altitude off the wall of a nearby building, still firing away, it's with a foot extended to drive a solid kick right into Megatron's face.

[bigfuckinggun]

Megatron turns his head, snarling, in Orion's direction, just in time to fail to catch Arcee's boot to the face.

He staggers back, reeling from the impact, but he catches himself before he can fall, and draws himself up again, incandescent with fury.

He lunges for her with a roar, seizes her by the head with one hand; "Do you wish to help her, Orion Pax?" he snarls, throwing the Autobot against the ground. He meets Orion's stare, his own right optic still sparking, an ugly black mark on his face from the impact of Arcee's foot. He brings his own foot down on her back, to hold her in place. "Then fight me!"

[thanksoptimus]

Orion stares at him. He thinks to himself that this whole thing really couldn't have gone worse. He wishes he knew what he could say to make this stop, to convince Megatron to stop, but nothing is coming. Everything he tries just seems to make Megatron angrier and with Arcee's life at risk he doesn't dare.

He ends up doing something he will immediately regret and feel shame for many hours afterward - he freezes, his hands raised in a futile gesture of pacification.

He had prayed that it wouldn't have to be like this.

[bigfuckinggun]

Megatron laughs.

It starts out small – unpleasant but small – but it builds, in true supervillain fashion, until he's throwing his head back, shoulders shaking with the force of his cruel mirth.

He kicks Arcee out from under his ridiculous metal hoof, but his optics are still on Orion.

"So this is what it comes to!" His mouth twists in a sneer. "Very well. Leave, if you will not fight; I am thoroughly sick of the sight of you." He lifts his cannon, powering up with a low hum.

"Starscream," he adds, almost as an afterthought; he doesn't turn to look for his second in command, but he hasn't heard him transform and take off, so he assumes he's still there. "The Forge."

[starscheme]

Starscream had just been content to watch until now, but he stiffens in surprise and scrambles to stand at attention when Megatron addresses him directly, even if he doesn't turn to see it. He'd almost forgotten the reason for their being here, exposed in the middle of the city.

He offers a few hastily yelped apologies and takes off, leaving the three of them to their big ol' drama fest. It sounds like Megatron has really snapped at any rate and he was absolutely nothing to do with any of that.

[deadpartners]

"Leave Orion out of this," Arcee snarls, staggering somehow to her feet. Even as she steps in front of Orion, staring down the barrel of Megatron's absurd arm cannon, she has the cold sense in her spark that she's staring certain death in the face. But she's gotten this far; she's not about to stop now. She can't stop now. After all Megatron's done, after all Orion's been through -- after Optimus put his trust in her...

She takes one dogged step, then another, as quick as she can, still firing up at Megatron with a look of grim determination about her. In just a few swift minutes, Megatron's already given her a solid beating -- her plating is dented, scuffed and scraped, and she knows she must be leaking energon -- but her optics blaze as bright as ever.

"Leave him alone, Megatron. I think you've done enough to him. This is between you and me -- and it ends here!"

[bigfuckinggun]

He laughs again, looking down at her in disdain. "It ends here? And what do you expect will become of your poor, dear Orion Pax once I tear the spark from your body? Do not be a fool, Commander Arcee."

[thanksoptimus]

Megatron's question is only answered by the sharp flash and burn of Orion's energy pistols firing in his direction.

Orion has shifted his good arm into gun mode, and is glaring at Megatron as bravely as he can. His aim isn't very good, but he supposes it's the sentiment more than anything.

"You have already won," Orion says, trying to keep his vocalizer steady. "Leave us."

[deadpartners]

There's a point in a fight, Arcee knows, where you have to admit that you're out of your league. You have to know when to retreat. As a leader, it's her job to know where that line is, to make sure no one crosses it, because the most important thing, sometimes, is living to fight another day. But if she's totally honest with herself, she's not always very good at acknowledging that line.

"Over my lifeless husk he's won," Arcee bites out, breaking into a sprint forward with a pained grunt of effort. No way she's letting Megatron take this win, not when she's still standing -- not when she still stands a chance. She tumbles forward in a display of acrobatics, pushing off the ground with her hands and then her feet to launch herself into the air with a ragged yell, aiming her blaster fire at the Decepticon insignia on his chest.

[bigfuckinggun]

Orion actually firing at him comes as such a surprise that Megatron neither evades nor shields himself in time; only one shot hits, but it hits hard, and Arcee is getting up in Megatron's business again before he can turn the full brunt of his wrath on Orion. He turns to meet her, unsheathing the blade beneath his cannon.

"Your lifeless husk?" he grunts, fangs bared. "So be it."

[deadpartners]

Arcee feels a little swell of confidence when Orion manages to land a hit on Megatron, but any hits they get in are just lucky shots in the end. She's in too close to get away from his blade when he unsheaths it -- she tries to dodge nimbly out of the way but the blade catches her across the midsection, cutting deep into energon lines, and Arcee staggers back with a choked shout, one hand flying to her abdomen.

"Megatron -- " What starts as an angry shout turns into a howl of frustration as Arcee's legs buckle underneath her, and she goes down hard.

[ultramatum]

This fight has been a disaster. Magus has been delayed by humans, stopped by local law enforcement, and delayed by Decepticons. They've broken their agreement with Legion. He's lost track of the others and as far as he can tell the Forge isn't here. He's reached the limits of his patience, and they're not done yet.

By the time he manages to near the city hall, he's already been forced to desert his altmode. He comes running in from the side, one hand already cycled to energon blaster. And pulls short as he sees Arcee go down. This is bad. His face drops in shock but he steels himself immediately. He's not letting the Autobots lose another bot, not over this. He bracing himself and dashes towards Megatron, launching himself forward. He rams into the other bot with his shoulder at full speed, hoping to knock him further from Arcee.

"ORION! Get her out of here!" He barks the order as he rebalances himself from the impact, not taking his eyes off Megatron, blaster at the ready.

[thanksoptimus]

For a moment, Orion is frozen in shock, having just watched Arcee take that possibly killing strike. But Ultra Magnus's voice is all it takes. Though he's very wary of getting so close to Megatron now, he moves towards her as quickly as he can, broken leg or no broken leg.

He scoops her up into one of his massive arms and, with only one lingering glance at Megatron, launches himself into truck form, taking Arcee with him as he goes roaring away from the combat.

[bigfuckinggun]

Megatron pushes himself back to his feet, optics narrowed. He hears Orion go, but doesn't stop to watch him – his eyes, and his cannon, are fixed on Ultra Magnus as he slowly straightens up. And although he looks faintly disgusted that the Autobot took him by surprise, he certainly doesn't seem disappointed.

"Ultra Magnus," he says. "Excellent – I was beginning to fear this might already be over." It's not even a showy exaggeration, really. On the inside he still hasn't settled his feelings about that conversation with Orion – and as long as he can keep fighting people, he doesn't have to.

[ultramatum]

"This won't end until we have the Forge, Megatron."

Magnus has his blaster up and aimed on Megatron, taking stock of the situation now that Arcee is out of harms way. A one on one showdown with Megatron was hardly a situation he had expected to wind up in, but he wasn't about to back down. Even if Megatron had an arm cannon and he didn't.

It was hard to miss the sparks coming from Megatron's right eye, . Ultra Magnus leaped forward in that direction, trying to get into the Decepticon's blind spot, firing the whole time.

[bigfuckinggun]

Megatron fires at the Autobot bearing down on him, but Ultra Magnus's decision to take advantage of his blind spot pays off and Megatron's cannonfire goes wide, damaging yet more innocent architecture. Megatron snarls in anger as Ultra Magnus's blaster fire scorches his armour, and he twists around to charge at the other mech, blade first, shouting, "The Forge is already as good as mine, Autobot!"