#have those sticking out of his metal helmet like two antennas

[beastking-golion]

Saw a fic about vastaya Viktor and if you ask me he’s definitely a bird (or salamander if you wanna super angstify him- cough cough Rio cough).

[shatteredglassanimated]

Shattered Glass Animated Season 1 Episode 7 - Thrill Of The Hunt

Blackarachnia is forced to re-live a traumatic event from her past when Megatron is kidnapped by a mysterious mech named Lockdown.

“Can you believe the depravity of some humans? This so.. primitive and vulgar! I think I’m going to regurgitate just from looking at it.” Blackarachnia looked down on the crate in front of her with barely veiled disgust.

Megatron raised an eye-ridge beside her putting down an identical container. “It is merely a box of spare parts, Blackarachnia.”

Blackarachnia huffed. “You mean the Resistance actually uses those for their machines? That’s even worse!”

The metal parts in the box glinted innocently in the moonlight shining down on the old warehouse. Following a tip from the Resistance, the Decepticons had searched the place out in order to provide their human allies with some much needed materials. Not all of it could be taken of course, but the Decepticons had resolved to transport as many of them as possible.

“Well, they don’t have much of a choice now, do they?” Blitzwing chuckled, walking over to lay a hand on Blackarachnia’s shoulder. “Try not to think too much about it. Just enjoy the temporary silence.”

Megatron nodded. “Blitzwing is right. I know things have been stressful lately and I have been demanding a lot from you and Starscream in particular. A simple errand like this might be the closes we will come to resting for a while.”

Blackarachnia ex-vented, crossing her servos. “Fine. I’ll try. It’s just...” He bent stingers twitched on her back, eliciting a couple of small sparks. “I’ve been having a bad feeling ever since we got here. My stingers are aching worse than usual. Normally, that means trouble.”

Megatron looked at her, optics growing sad. “We... have never spoken about that mission since, have we? It must still trouble you.”

Blackarachnia stiffened. “It doesn’t matter, because I still don’t want to talk about it,” she snapped, glaring up at Megatron.

“W-Well, you don’t need to,” Blitzwing said quickly, laying a calming servo on the smaller femme’s shoulder-plate. “Like I’ve been saying, perhaps we should just enjoy the quit night.”

Just then, the sound of an engine tor through the air. At almost the same time, a red light flared up, across the field. The Decepticons whirled around. The source turned out to be a black and dark-blue muscle car, flashing it’s headlights right at them.

“So much for silence,” Blackarachnia remarked, clenching her hands into fists.

Megatron raised a hand to placate her. “Easy now. It might well just be a human who lost their way.”

“I don’t think so,” Blitzwing said nervously, optics never leaving the muscle car. “Aaron told me this district has been vacated for solar cycles.”

Megatron frowned. “Perhaps we should-”

Before he could finish, the car jerked forward. It raced at the three Decepticons, on a clear collision course. They jumped aside, the car narrowly missing them. The muscle car didn’t stop, instead driving onto the road and towards the city.

“Do you think it’s one of Sumdac’s?” Blitzwing asked, staring after it with wide optics.

Megatron’s optics narrowed. “If it is, we cannot risk it getting away. Both of you, transform and rise up!”

Blackarachnia, Blitzwing and Megatron transformed. Megatron informed Starscream and Lugnut about what happend over the comlink, while Blackarachnia jumped onto Blitzwing’s vehicle mode, digging her pincers in to not fall off. The followed the car from the air as it sped through the streets, it’s driver evidently not caring whether or not the citizens were fast enough to dive out of their way.

A human man and woman attemtped to cross the street, as the car turned around the corner, making no effort to slow down. Megatron quickly transformed into robot-mode. He landed on a nearby rood, cut the billboard off with one of his swords, then jumped down onto the street with the board on his back, creating a makeshift-ramp.

The muscle car neither slowed nor stopped. It raced up the ramp and jumped right over the terrified humans, landing and driving on as if nothing happened.

“Perhaps you should look both ways before crossing the street next time,” Megatron joked to the humans, setting aside the board.

The humans nodded hastily, then quickly made their way to the sidewalk.

A few streets away, Blackarachnia and Blitzwing scanned the ground for the muscle car. Blackarachnia jumped off of Blitzwing’s back, transforming into he robot-mode and planted herself firmly in the car’s way. The car didn’t stop. It drove at her, engine’s howling.

Blackarachnia stiffened. The sound was familiar, somehow. It seemed to drown out everything else around them. She thought she heard someone call her name, but by that point she wasn’t in the present anymore.

                                            -----------------------------------

Blackarachnia made her way through the dark alleys of Central City as silently as she could manage, optical sensors always vigilant. Although she had studied the citiy’s map extensively and so far the infiltration had been going smoothly, her pessimistic nature prevented her from cooling it a little just yet. After all, she had rather painful past experiences with running out of luck at the worst time possible. For what had to be the hundredth time this solar cycle she silently cursed Megatron for having chosen her for this particular mission.

“You have been on Cybertron more recently than all of us,” he had said, almost apologetic. “And your organic half makes it impossible for them to pick up your energy signature. I know of no other bot I could entrust this mission to. Please give it some thought.”

In the end she had caved, with grumbling and more than a few words that some would call unbecoming of a femme.  After all, Megatron rarely asked a fellow Decepticon to put themselves in danger if he wasn’t absolutely sure they could handle it. Or if he didn’t have a choice. With this, it was a mix of both. Blackarachnia had to admit, she had already been half convinced to go when he had told her it was an extraction mission.

One of their spies, who had been penetrating the Autobot Intelligence Office for some time now, was said to have been compromised. He’d apparently run into trouble trying to escape the Elite Guard and was now stranded somewhere around the area she was currently sneaking through. Hearing this story, something in her spark just...reacted. Blackarachnia knew, probably better than anyone else, what it was like to be alone on a hostile planet, with seemingly no one coming to your aid. Merely remembering the feeling of despair and fear made her flinch.

But she had been found eventually. And so would their spy.

A re-assessment of the area’s map on her wrist-monitor told her she was getting close to the rendezvous point.  Keeping her optical sensors open for any hints of a trap, she stepped out of another alley and onto a deserted cross-road between four large structures. If their intel was correct, the area was largely deserted, so there was no risk of a random Cybertronian citizen suddenly sticking their helm out of a window and surprising her or her target. Speaking of…

There was no sign of another bot here. Had she come to the wrong place? Just as she thought about risking a scan of the perimeters, she heard clunky, uneasy steps coming from her right. She whirled around, stingers at the ready. Across from her stood an Autobot, about two times shorter than her, stocky in build, with a strange, blue ornament on his helmet right above his piercing red optical sensors, leaning heavily on the wall to his right.

Blackarchnia was about to jump him and give him a good taste of her narcotic venom, when he raised a hand.

“Wait! I’m the one...you are supposed to meet.”

His voice sounded exhausted, like he was in great pain. Blackarchnia halted in her movements, giving him a skeptical look. “You’ll excuse me if I find that hard to believe.”

The Autobot chuckled sheepishly. “I am deeply sorry for my appearance. Normally I would change and show you my real form but you see...I’ve had a few altercations on my way here.” He stepped out a bit further into the light. Blackarachnia flinched.

His right leg had been ripped off from the knee up, leaving nothing but a couple of sparking cables. That was enough to dispel most of her leftover doubt. She highly doubted any Autobot would go so far as to dismember themselves on that level just to fool a potential infiltrator. Letting some of the tension go out from her body, she made her way over to the spy, supporting him on his free shoulder and getting a closer look at his leg. The cables shocked her when she attempted to examine them manually, making both of them hiss in pain.

“Well, that’s gonna be a real fixer-upper later on,” she remarked with grim humor.

The spy-bot groaned, sinking into her shoulder a bit. She nudged him lightly.

“Hey, stay with me! You can take all the stasis naps you like later, but right now I need you to stay online. What’s your name?”

The question seemed to at least partially pull him out of his pain induced daze. “They… gave me the name Longarm… when I came into their ranks…but…my real name is…Shockwave...Ma’am.”

That got a smile out of her. “Don’t give me that ‘ma’am’ slag. We’re both Decepticons, aren’t we? Call me Blackarachnia.”

“Y-yes, ma’am – yes, Blackarachnia,” Shockwave quickly corrected himself returning her smile. She couldn’t help but notice it looked a little weird on that Autobot face-plate of his, like he wasn’t used to making expressions. Nevertheless, it was nice to see he was comfortable with her presence. She had expected at least some comments about her organic parts, but she supposed his situation gave him little room to complain.

“Good. Now that that’s out of the way, I need you to listen Shockwave. You see those two antennae on my back?” He nodded. “They’re stingers that release a strong, narcotic venom when applied. I’m going to use them on you, so I can patch up your leg.”

“N-no!” Shockwave exclaimed, optics wide with fear. He tried to straighten himself in order to look at her, which proved to be both difficult and painful with his damaged servo. “I carry valuable…access codes...in my processor. They are too important...to be lost!”

Blackarachnia sighed, adjusting her position so he wouldn’t fall over. “Cool your crankcase, will you? It’s just a small dose. I’d need to administer ten times that much to damage your memory core.”

That seemed to calm him down a bit.  After thinking it over a little, he gave her a nod. Blackarachnia had to suppress a relieved vent. Repairing him while he was still fully online would have been extremely unpleasant for them both.

She shifted her arms so she was now holding him around his shoulders. “This will sting a little,” she warned him, gently touching her stingers to the spots between his shoulder plates and his helmet. When she released her venom he flinched a little, but then slowly went numb in her arms, his optical sensors slowly offlining themselves.

She lowered him to the ground and leaned him against the opposite wall, pulling out the tools she needed to work on his leg. It took quite a bit of time, since she didn’t have exactly the right spare parts on hand. The defaults she’d packed for emergencies would have to do for now. With their help she at least managed to re-build the base structure of a leg.

Just when she was about to adjust her handiwork a little, she heard a noise down the street. Blackarachnia turned around quickly, putting herself between the direction she thought she’d heard the sound coming from and Shockwave’s motionless chassis. She strained her optical sensors to the max, but try as she might, she couldn’t make out anything in this darkness. Then someone called her name...

                                 --------------------------------------------

“Blackarachnia!”

She flinched. Someone tackled her, throwing her to the side. They rolled around, her ending up on top.

The muscle car sped by, backlights slowly disappearing into the night.

Megatron touched down next to them. “Are you alright?“ he asked, bending down to offer them his hands.

“I’m fine,” Blackarachnia snapped, slapping away the hand offered to her and jumping off of Blitzwing.

A whirring sound informed her that Blitzwing had switched.

“You call that fine?” Hothead yelled. He, too, ignored Megatron’s offered hand when he pushed himself onto his pedes. “You froze up like it was december and you still had a crankcase!”

Blackarachnia whirled around, glaring up at Hothead. “I didn’t freeze up! I just...” She paused, stingers on her back twitching. “My Cybertronian parts must have glitched.”

“Well, you’re evidently not the only one glitching,” Hothead huffed, glaring in the direction the muscle car had disappeared in. “What was that human’s malfunction?”

                             ---------------------------------------------

The muscle car drove down the streets. It had dimmed it’s lights for the time being. Inside, a small monsitor lit up, showing images of the three Decepticons that had chased it a few moments ago.

                              -------------------------------------------

Back at the mines, Blackarachnia stared intently onto a screen in fron tof her. It displayed a scan of her stingers. The venom-flow was irregular, but that wasn’t new. There was nothing else out of the ordinary. That should have calmed her down. Instead, the feeling of dread in her tanks only grew. That muscle car had awakened memories. Memories long buried. It send off wanring bells in the back of her processor. She didn’t want them to be right.

“If I’m not mistaken, this marks your tenth self-diagnostic tonight,” someone said behind her.

Blackarachnia turned. Megatron was standing in the doorway, smiling slightly. “How many more will there be?”

“As many as neccessary,” Blackarachnia answered curtly, turning back to the screen.

“Do your stingers bother you that intensely?” Megatron asked.

Blackarachnia stiffened. “Still don’t wanna talk about it.”

“You should.” She heard Megatron stepping closer. “Believe me, I understand better than anyone the need to surpress the darkness in ones past. But sometimes, it might help to open up. To a friend, or an unbiased third party. You know I am always there if you wish to get something off of your chestplate.”

“Are you done?” Blackarachnia snapped.

Megatron ex-vented. “Apparently I am.”

She heard him walk out of the room. Part of her felt guilty. She knew he’d only wanted to help. But the part of her that dreaed the possibility of re-living that one solar cycle again, after having successfully buried it for so long wanted to stay put and find something else to blame for what had happened earlier.

Her optics stayed glued to the monitor. Eventually she gave up, switching off the monitor. She crossed her servos and tapped her pede in thought. She should apologize. Perhaps even voice her suspicions. There was nothing to gain from hiding in the med-bay.

Determined to get over herself, she walked out into the tunnels and made her way to the main room.

She heard Professor Black’s voice before she entered to see the group assembled in front of the monitor. He had chosen to settle in the Decepticons’ base, instead of accompanying the rest of the humans, reasoning that if anything were to happen, the Decepticons already knew of a way to “contain” him.

“-so I have been monitoring the local traffic police. And I’ve come across these surveillance recordings.” He had to have done something after that Blackarachnia couldn’t see.

The screen displayed footage from the view of a police drone’s in-built camera, chasing a familiar muscle car. Blackarachnia stiffened as soon as she saw the dark blue headlights. The omnious glow filled out her vision, until suddenly the walls of the mines were once again replaced with the streets of a small, cybertronian city.

                              ----------------------------------------

Cursing under her breath, Blackarachnia  turned back to her patient.

“Change in plans,” she murmured, although she doubted he could hear her. “We’re moving out now. Sorry in advance for the next part, but I think you’ll agree I’m a little out of options.”

She produced a long spider threat and wrapped Shockwave up tightly, giving the string a few tugs to make sure it wouldn’t come off. Then she changed into her spider form, using her hind-legs to lift Shockwave onto her back and secure him there. He was heavier than she’d anticipated and she briefly wondered if that was because he had to compress his true size and mass into this presumably smaller Autobot chassis. She made a mental note to ask him about it later.

“I’ve got our escape route all mapped out,” she told him, keeping her voice low in case her audio sensor hadn’t been acting up earlier. “Hang in there, I’ll have you home in under an orbital cycle.”

Swift as can be she crawled into the narrow street behind her. She would make her way back to the nearest sewer plate, use her string to get herself and Shockwave down and from there it was only a few clicks to her small, but fast ship. If she was lucky, Shockwave should have rebooted himself again once they were on board and she wouldn’t have to spend the long ride home in complete silence. She was rather curious to hear his story.

What could have possibly been important enough to break off his mission, steal from the Autobot Elite Guard and try to make a run for it on the same orbital cycle? If nothing else, having these questions answered would satisfy her curiosity. If he was even allowed to tell her, she mused.

She was torn out of her thoughts by the unmistakable click of biolights being activated. Right behind her. Blackarachnia cursed internally. The next moment, a piercing blue light flared up all around her, making her squint and slow down. Fortunately, her training prevented her from stopping in her tracks entirely. It also caused her to come out of her daze way faster than a civilian would have.

“Go find someone else to play with, Auto-bastard!” she snapped, spitting a sticky spider-threat onto the nearest structure and pulling both her and Shockwave upward. She regretted the decision almost immediately. It was one thing to swing around when she was alone and had all her servos free, it was another thing entirely to be doing it with a Primus knew how many tons heavy fellow Decepticon on her back.

Both of them ended up smacking against the structures wall far lower and harder than she would have liked. 

No time whining over spilled oil, she thought, clenching her denta when her sensitive belly protested against the rough impact.

With a determined vent, she started climbing, using two of her hindlegs to check on her passenger. Fortunately, the string securing Shcokwave’s chassis to hers seemed to hold tight for the moment. Dragging him and herself on top of the structure, she took a quick look around. Going into the sewers where she had intended to was not an option anymore. But she was good enough at terrain assessment to relate the structures around her to the map she’d been studying before her departure.

The area was densely cultivated enough for her to jump from one structure to another, even with Shockwave on her back. The Autobot had no way of following her up here fast enough to see where exactly she went. Taking as much of a run-up as she could with the weight on her back, she jumped onto the structure to her right. Her joints began to ache from the impact but she paid it no mind. She could work out her dents when she was back on the ship.

Repeating the process a few times, she made her way over Central City, optical and audio sensors sharp. She had no desire to be jumped like that again. Eventually, her internalized map of the area told her she was close to another sewer entrance. It was farther away from the ship than her original access point, but certainly safer to use for now. She carefully crawled down the side of the structure she was currently on, grunting with effort.

“You owe me big time for this,” she whispered, forelegs scraping as she tried to prevent herself from slipping.

It became easier to walk when they were back on the ground. Then trickier again, when she had to use her pincers and forelegs to open the duct cover. Then even more tricky when she had to rope Shockwaves’ still motionless form down into the dark, without making too much noise. At least she could climb down in robot-mode this time.

Her steps seemed to echo unbearably loud on the ladder, only barely drowned out by the sound of muck and oil rushing by. When she had made it all the way down, she took some time to check up on her charge. He was still not fully online. Good for him.

And then she heard the roar of an engine. Blackarachnia cursed. She transformed back into her spider-form and clumsily heaved Shockwave on her back. When the pursuer came around the corner, she was already scurrying down the pipe. Suddenly, a row of spikes protruded from the ground. If she’s still had tires in her alt-mode, they would have been shredded. As it was, one of her spider-legs merely stepped unlucky, coming directly on top of one of the spikes.

Blackarachnia hissed in pain, using her seven intact legs to make a turns. She let Shockwave slide off her back. She had no chance of out-running this Autbot with an injured leg and a massive weight on her back. There was no other option but to fight. She transformed into robot-mode, quickly laying a hand on Shockwave’s servo, not letting her optics leave the Autobot.

He was about a few steps away from both of them. When he saw she had transformed, he stopped and did the same. Blackarachnia clenched her denta. He was taller than her, but a lot of ‘Bots were. There were spikes all over his shoulder-plates and neck. His optics were a strange tint of blue. Not as light as a Decepticons, but not entirely dark either.

“Now what are you hiding, spider-bot?” he grinned. “Wouldn’t be a Decepticon-double agent by any chance?”

He raised an arm. His fist came loose, shooting right at her head. Blackarachnia pulled up her arm, hoping that donwloading Shockwave had provided her with something useful. It did. There was now and arm-canon mounted on her servo. One shot and the Autobot’s projectile exploded into tiny pieces.

Blackarachnia lunged forward, stingers out. She didn’t want to give her opoonent time to recover. Unfortunately, he hadn’t needed it anyway. The Autbot grabber by her unarmed servo and threw her over his hip and on her back, hard.

He made a disapproving sound, off-set by the ever-present, smug grin on his face-plate. “That all you got? You’re gonna put me to sleep.”

Blackrachnia glared at him. “I’ll put you to sleep alright.”

She bent her stingers down on his arms. When he pulled back, she raised her arms cannon and shot at his head. He dodged. The beam his the ceiling instead, making rubble rain down on her. Balckarachna grunted, trying to pull herself out. The Autobot looked down on her triumpahtnly.

He pulled his intact servo back. The last thing she saw was his fist coming down on her face-plate.

                                      -----------------------------------

“Blackarachnia?”

Her optics activated in a snap. Blitzwing was standing in front of her, already in vehicle mode.

“Did you hear what Megatron said? We will be searching the human in the muscle car from the sky.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t throw a rod,” she snapped at him. She rubbed her servo. There was no arm canon.

“Blackarachnia,” Megatron’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts. “If you feel unwell, you can monitor us with Professor Black from here.”

“I’m fine!” Without waiting for a response, Blackarachnia transformed into her alt-mode and jumped onto Blitzwing. “Let’s ‘rise up’ or whatever.”

She could feel the others were not entirely convinced, even without seeing their face-plates. Her irritation grew. Why couldn’t they just drop it? It was her problem, not theirs.

The Decepticons took off towards the city. It didn’t take them long to find the muscle car again. It wasn’t particularly hiding. When Lugnut spotted it engaged in a police chase, several droned in hot pursuit.

On Megatron’s orders, Lugnut took care of the drones. Megatron flew closer to the ground.

“Human,” he called out to the still dirving car. “This does not have to get violent. We only wish to talk.”

Instead of answering or stopping, the car’s exhauts port released two strange little balls. Upon touching the ground, they released a thick black smoke, clouding the Decepticon’s vision. Megatron barely managed to stop himself after almost ramming into another human vehicle coming down the street.

It’s humand river hit the breaks as soon he saw Megatron’s robot-mode, but couldn’t prevent his vehicle from ramming tino the Decepticon’s leg. Megatron bent down to eye-level with the human.

“I apologize for the damage to yor vehicle. I believe something called ‘insurance’ will take care of it?”

The human nodded silently, eyes wide. Megatron gace him what he hoped was an ecouraging smile, then transformed and took off again.

Meanwhile, Blitzwing and Balackarachnia were already on the muscle car’s tail again.

“Lugnut,” Blitzwing called. “We are sending him your way!”

Lugnut’s red biolights flashed up in fron of the muscle car.

The car’s hood slid open,and a strange looking contraction rose up from it. It turned to Blitzwing, then to Lugnut, shooting out two strange projectiles while doing so. The two Decepticons had not time to evade. Both of them were hit.

Blackarachnia hurt Blitzwing make strange sound underneath her in warning. His vocalizer sounded glitched and slow. Thinking quickly, she shot a thread out to a nearby building and drilled her legs into his armor-plating, just before his engines gave out.

The thread caught them mid-air, enough for Blackarachnia to lower them down to the ground slowly. She jumped off and both her, Blitzwing and Lugnut transformed back into robot-mode.

“Coward!” Lugnut huffed. “Relying on such dirty tricks...”

Blackarachnia didn’t answer. She was starin at nothing i particular, optics wide.

“That car...,” she croaked, slowly wrapping her servos around herself. “That weapon just now...No, it’s impossible!”

                                 -----------------------------------------------------

She came back online slowly. The first thing she noticed was a strong ache in her stingers. When she tried to move them, pain shot down her back and she hissed. She was lying on a metal floor, the room around her dimly lit. Shockwave was nowhere in sight.

She scrambled to her feet, still only barely conscious and limped towards the light. It turned out to be a forcefield-door. She was in a cell. Blackarachnia fought down the panic that threatened to overwhelm her at the realization. If the Autobot wanted to kill her, he’d had every opportunity to do while she was in stasis.

She was still online. And sicne the Autobot had shown an interest in Shockwave, he probably was too. They could still escape. She laid her servo on the field, only to retract it immediately when it shocked her.

“Those copy-powers of yours won’t work here,” a familiar amused voice informed her. “That’s a modified stasis field. Organic or not, touching it’s gonna sting pretty bad.”

The Autobot stepped in front of her cell, grinning. He had replaced the hand she’d destroyed with a hook.

Blackarachnia glared at him, hands curling into fists. “You Autobot-bastard!” she spat.

The Autobot chuckled. “Oh, I’m not one of them. Name’s Lockdown.I’m what you’d call... a bounty hunter.“ Lockdown took another step forward to allow her a good view of his chest insgnia. Or lack thereof. Where a faction-insignia would normally be was nothing but emoty soace and a black spot. “Autobots pay real good for info,” he continued in a conversational tone, leaning on the wall. “Battle plans, access codes. Your friend should net me some sweet upgrades.”

Blackarachnia kept glowering at him, but mentally she made an ex-vent of relief. So Shockwave was still alive.

Lockdown’s voice pulled her attention back. “Of course you know what I really live for.“ His grin widened. There was something in it that she didn’t like at all. Apart from everything else. “Hunting trophies. Now you didn’t really have anything, being a part-organic freak and all.” He pulled out a flask containign a deep purple liquid. Blackarachnia felt her tanks freeze at the sight of it. “But that neom of yours? Not too shabby either.”

She suddenly felt very ill. Her stingers. He had.. he had...

                                   -----------------------------------------

The sound of an all too familiar engine pulled her back to reality. She saw Megatron fly over the roofs in his vehicle mode. She doubted he would hear her if she called out to him now. She would have to try and catch up to him before he caught up with the ‘muscle car’. Blackarachnia shot a string up to a near-bay roof and pulled herself up, not even hearing Blitzwing calling after her.

Megatron had caught up to the muscle car in the meantime. He landed in frot of it, blockign it’s way and transformed back into robot-mode.

“I belive that is enough damage for one night,” he said, coldly looking down at the car. “Now please, step out of your vehicle human.”

“Just one problem,” A metallic voice responded. The car jerked up. Two legs formed, followed by a torso and a head, smirking. “I am the vehicle.”

Megatron’s optics went wide. “Lockdown?”

“The same,” Lockdown grinned, lifting his right arm. A strange gun rose out of his upper servo. Before Megatron could react, a strange vial-like projectle shot out of the weapon, hitting him square in the chest-plate.

Megatron made a glitched noise. He dropped donw to his knees and collapsed.

“But save the reunion-talk until we get to my ship,” Lockdown said, steping over and pulling Megatron’s limp body over his shoulders.

Blackarachnia saw what was happening when she touched down on the street. She raced towards Lockdown and Megatron. Lockdown turned around to her. A hidden compartment in his chest-plate opened, dropping two of his smoke balls. Him and Megatron were onscured from view in seconds.

Blackarachnia ran into the smoke desperately trying and failing to make out two shapes in it. When the smoke dispersed, she was alone on the street.

She shook, gripping her helm with her hands. “Megatron... no...”

                                          -----------------------------------

“My scans show no signs of Megatron or the muscle car,” Starscream said.

His ervos were crossed and he was tapping his pede. Both signs that he was anxious, Blackarachnia knew. Understandable. She felt like her armor-plating would crack from all the tension in her body. And her and Megatron weren’t nearly as close as Starscream and Megatron were.

When the rest of the team had arrived at her location, she had told them in quick, short sentences what had happened.

“How does a human just disappear with Megatron and mask his energy signature?” Blitzwing asked no one in particular.

Lugnut turned to look at Blackarachnia, his single optic unreadable. “Would you happen to have an answer to that, Blackarachnia? You saw him last.”

Blakcarachnia flinched. “How should I know?” she snapped, fingers gripping her arms even tighter. “I’m a medi-bot, not a field commander!”

The others stared at her in surprise.

“Is there something you are not telling us about this human?” Blitzwing asked.

Unwanted images flashed before her optics: The cell, the vial with her venom that he’d stolen, Shockwave...

“It’s not a human,” Blackarachnia said slowly. “And it’s not a car. It’s an Autobot, sorta. His name’s Lockdown. He captured me while I was on an undercover extraction-mission lots of stellar cycles ago. He’s... the one responsible for this.” She gestured to her bent stingers. “He’s a bounty hunter. Delivers ‘Cons like us to the Autbots in exchange for upgrades. And takes our personal modifications as trophies.”

                                           -------------------------------------

While Blackarachnia told her story, many miles away Lockdown stepped onto the main room of his ship. He was content. The hunt and extraction had gone off without a hitch.

He walked over to the berth he’d laid Megatron on. The Deception was a great deal bigger and stronger than his usual bounties. But the carbonfiber cables holding his arms and legs to the berth could have held a raging warframe for stellar cycles.

Megatron was online, but didn’t struggle like most who had found themselves in his position. His optics just wandered around the room, as if looking for something. Or someone. When he noticed Lockdown had entered, those optics turned to look at him.

“Why?” Megatron asked. “You helped us back in the Great War. What happened?”

Lockdown shrugged, crossing his servos. “Times are changing Megatron. The ‘Bots started to crack down harder on any ‘sympathizers’ to you ‘Cons. I’m just doing what I have to to stay online. And to get upgrades to help keep me stay online.,” He hesitated for a second. “For what it’s worth, it’s nothing personal. I always liked you, Megatron. You were one of the few mechs who put their credit chits were their intake was.”

Megatron snorted. “I’m flattered. I suppose that admiration is the reason my swords are gone?”

Lockdown chuckled. “Ah, you noticed huh?”

He walked over to one of the shelves on the wall. Dozens of modifications and trophies were arranged on the boards, each from a different bounty. Lockdown didn’t need to search long. He knew his trophies well. Giving an almost rueful smirk, he pulled out two long-swords.

“I’ve been thinking, maybe I’ll send them back later. Y’know, leave your ‘Cons something to mourn ya’ with.”

“They will find you before you even leave this planet,” Megatron said, optics hard.

Lockdown put the swords away. “Good. I could use some spare parts.“

                                           ----------------------------------

Blitzwing, Starscream, Lugnut and Blackarachnia touched donw on the ground again, transforming back into their robot-modes.

“We have been searching for mega cycles,” Blitzwing said disheartened. “Where in the world could they be?”

Blackarachnia snarled, fists shaking. “How did I not see it? Lockdown was chasing us the whole time! Hiding in plain sight. And we bought it, bulk, cable and-”

“Wait!” Starscream interrupted. His optics had lit up. “Hiding in plain sight... That’s the answer!” He put a hand to his helm to activate his comlink. “Professor Black, could you overlay the sattelite image of Old Detroit my scan produced with an older one?”

“Of course,” Professor Black answered. “Just let me call up the map from three days ago... huh, that’s strange. There’s a warehouse on your scan that wasn’t there before. Is that of any help?”

“It most certainly is!” Starscream said. “Thank you, professor.”

“A holographic cloak...” Blackarachnia said quietly, optics wide.

Starscream nodded, expression having turned grim. “Masking the bounty hunter’s ship, no doubt. Clever.”

Blitzwing’s faceplate switched to Hothead. “Not clever enough!” Hothead grinned, cracking his knuckles. “Let’s go kick his tailfins in!”

Him, Starscream and Lugnut transformed into their vehicle modes. Blackarachnia stayed where she was.

“I...” she looked down on the ground, arms wrapped around herself again. “I can’t go back there.”

“Are your circuits crossed?” Lugnut shouted. “That scum has our leader!”

Blackarachnia didn’t answer. She couldn’t look at any of them.

“No time to argue,” she heard Starscream say. Her spark sank at the barely hidden disappointment in his voice.

Their engines activated and when she finally found the courage to look back up, they were already disappearing into the night sky.

                                    ------------------------------------------

“You have the leader of the Decepticon rebellion?” Sentinel Prime’s faceplate was full of disbelief.

“Sure do,” Lockdown responded, leaning back in his chair to look up at the monitor. “And I hope your payment’s gonna be proportionate to the occasion.”

Sentinel Prime frowned. “You will get your upgrades, bounty hunter. So long as I get results. Though I am surprised you would sell Megatron out in this manner, considering your history with the Decepticon-faction.”

Lockdown’s grin dropped and he leaned forward. “My reasoning’s none of your concern. Just send me the coordinates I can deliver him to and have my reward ready.”

He ended the call before Sentinel could say anything else.

                                 ---------------------------------------------------

Starscream, Blitzwing and Lugnut landed a few feet away from the false warehouse’s ccordinates, changing back into robot-mode as they did so.

Starscream looked up at the ‘building’, frowning. “Lockdown is smart. We have to be smarter. Be careful when apporaching.”

“To the pit with that,” Lugnut snarled. “Let us seize the traitor!”

Before Blitzwing or Starscream could stop him, he charged at the warehouse with a fierce battle-cry, explosives-servo raised.

                                -------------------------------------------------------

The alarms inside the ship blared. Lockdown observed the camrea footage on his monitor, showing the three Decepticons outside.

“For a race built for fightin’ you’re predictable as ever,” he told them. He pressed a few buttons on the control panel, then headed outside, readjusting his hook.

                                -----------------------------------------------------------

Outside, laser-guns rose out from the false building’s roof, firing at the approaching Decepticons.

Starscream and Blitzwing barely dodged the first few shots. Blitzwing hissed in pain when one of the laser-projectiles hit his left wing.

Starscream propelled himself into the air, skillfully dodging the barrage. Quickly he touched down behind on of the canons, then cut it loose with his claws and shot down the remaining canons.

Lugnut had barely noticed the bombardment. He stubbornly charged for the wall, trampling one of the downed guns without even realizing. He crashed through the wall and into a dark room.

A pair of dark-blue biolights flared up at the other side of the room.

“Come to face your punishment, traitor?” Lugnut growled, readying his explosive.

Lockdown transformed into robot-mode. “Bring it on, Decepticon,” he said, raising his arms.

Lugnut roared and ran forward bringing his arm down on Lockdown. Lockdown jumped aside. Lugnut’s arm hit the wall behind him. The explosive set off, thrpwing him backwards. Lugnut goraned, trying to push himself back up, only to be surrounded by a thick, black fog.

“You think this can hurt me?” Lugnut shouted into the nothingness.

Lockdown appeared at the edge of his vision, dark-blue optics piercing through the fog. “Don’t have to hurt you.”

The fog spread and solidifed, trapping Lugnut in place. Lugnut roared in anger, trying to tear himself free. “Coward! Fight like a Decepticon!”

But Lockdown had already exited the room.

                                  --------------------------------------------------

Blitzwing patrolled the perimeter, sensors at their all-time high. He flinched, whe he heard Lockdown’s engine. Looking around, he saw the bounty hunter’s vehicle mood sped past a nerbay corner.

“I have optics on the bounty hunter,” he called over comlink, transforming into his jet-mode.

He tailed Lockdown through several streets. Hothead took control, changing their vehicle mode from jet to tank.

“You can’t run from me forever, Autobot-scum!” he shouted, turning his canon on Lockdown. A stream of fire shot out of the barrel. Lockdown swerved sideways, narrowly avoiding it.

As if in response, Lockdown transformed his the right door of his vehicle back into an arm, hand clutching a familiar sword.

The tank halted for a moment. “That is Megatron‘s sword!”

Lockdown cut through a nearby pipe on a building. Oil spilled out onto the street. Hothead’s treads slipped, causing him to spin around. He crashed into a nearby wire fence. The impact made him transform into robot-mode, throwing him onto his back, hard. Hothead groaned in pain.

Lockdown appeared in his vision, sword still in hand. “M-hm. Megatron’s sword. And soon I’ll have your flame-thrower.”

He raised the sword over his helm, preparing to cut Hothead’s canon off. He heard a noise behind him. Lockdown whipped around, just in time to see a metal elbo coming towards him.

Starscream rammed into te bounty hunter, throwing him away from Hot head. He landed right between the two, putting his body in front of Hothead. His optics were deadset on Lockdown.

Lockdown stumbled back to his pedes, laughing and rubbing the soot from his face-plate. “Almost forgot about you. Figures Megatron’s number two’d be just as scrappy as him. Gotta say, I’m impressed, Starscream. Been eons since anybody got the drop on me.”

Starscream smirked. “Next time will be much sooner.”

He raised his arm and shot a null-ray at Lockdown. Lockdown blocked it with the sword in his hand, then transformed his left arm into a chainsaw and lunged at Starscream. Starscream dodged his first two strikes, then got both of Lockdown’s wrists. He transformed his intake into the sonic canon and shot Lockdown right in the chest, propelling him onto a scrap-heap.

Lockdown pushed himself up, glaring at Starscream, who was holding Megatron’s stolen sword in his hand. Starscream walked over to him, then grabbed his chainsaw servo and yanked him up, bringing them face-plate to face-plate.

“Where is Megatron?” he asked, voice dangerously low and optics narrowing.

Lockdown grinned at him. “You’ll see him very soon.”

Starscream frowned, then flinched. He looked down. Lockdown was holding a strange gun to his chest-plate. A small vial, obviously just fired from the same gun, was sticking out of it, now almost empty. Starscream felt numbness spread to his limbs. He dropped Lockdown and passed out.

“You still got it Starscream. Always liked your style,” Lockdown told him, rubbing his wrist. “You and I could probably teach each other a few tricks.” His smirk widened and he reached for the sword. “If I wasn’t about to, you know. Hand you over to the Autobots.”

“Step away from the Decepticon.”

Lockdown turned around. Blackarachnia was standing in the entrance to the alleyway. Her optics were steely.

“Wait, I know you,” Lockdown said, tapping the gun in his servo. “My ahdny little venom, right? I’m not good with names and faces, but I never forget a trophy. How’re the old stingers? Still dented?”

Blackarachnia glared at him, gritting her denta.

Lockdown chuckled. “Maybe I should break’em off for good this time.Seems to me there not much use to you know anyways.”

“You’ll never take another trophy from a Decepticon ever again,” Blackarachnia said coldly, sliding into a fighting position.

“No?” Lockdown asked. “Who’s gonna stop me?”

Blackarachnia held his gaze. “Me.”

Lockdown snorted. “You couldn’t stop an oil leak! But don’t worry. I got all I wanted from you a long time ago.”

Blackarachnia screamed and threw herself at Lockdown. Lockdown merely raised the strange gun and shot. The vial hit her straight in the chest-plate, Blackarachnia made a glitched sound, then collapsed.

Lockdown huffed in amusement. “Now that was just sad.” He truned around to leave, but then suddenly felt something wrap itself around his pede. He looked down just in time to see a white thread  before he was aprubtly thrown into the air and against a wall. He jumped up, only to see Blakcarachnia standing across frm him, seemingly unfazed.

“What the-?” He exclaimed. “I shut you down!”

He hastily pulled up the gun and fired another shot. Blackarachnia raised a servo and easily caught the vial in her hand, crushing it. Before Lockdown had time to react, she opened her intake and transformed it into a smaller version of Starscream’s sonic-gun, taking a straight shot at Lockdown and hitting him square in the chest-plate.

He flew backwards, hitting a nearby streetlamp with a yelp and crushed down on the ground.

“Humans call it playing possum,” Blackarachnia said, walking over to him. Don’t ask me what a possum is.”

She opened her intake again, shooting a clump of thread and pinning his body to the ground.

“I guess it never occurred to you that the venom wouldn’t work on the one ‘Con who produced it,” she told him bitterly.

When she was sure he couldn’t get up again, she turned and ran over to the ‘warehouse’. Their was only one door and it was several times smaller than her. She wouldn’t fit, even in her spider-form.

“Think,” she mumbled to herself, feeling the walls around the door. “It’s a ship. There’s an air lock, not a door.”

Here hand brushed over a strange bump where only smooth wall should be. She gripped into it and pulled. The area around the door tore off, revealing an air lock just about two helms taller and wider than her. The ‘bump’ turned out to be a panel for access. Blacjarachnia pressed her palm against it and activated her download.

The acces protocols flooded into her processor and back into the panel. A siren sounded from insde and the air lock opened to a dark hallways. Blackarachnia looked into the nothingness in front of her. She vented deeply, then stepped inside.

For a while there was only her and the silence of the horribly familiar ship. Memories came back to her and every time they did, she supressed them just as quickly.

She heard Lockdown brag about how good Autbots payed for info. She heard her own voice, desperately calling Shockwave’s name. The worst was the memory of Shockwave’s own pleading voice, asking her to-

There was another door in front of her. Blackarachnia tore herself out of her thoughts and picked up her pace. The door opened to admit her into a larger room, illuminated only by a few ceiling lights. They shone down onto a wide berth. And tied to it was-

“Megatron!” Blackarachnia exclaimed.

Megatron raised his helm, weakly, as if he had trouble moving. “Blackarachnia?”

She ran over to his side and pressed a button on a panel next to the berth. The cables holding Megatron down reatreated: Megatron pushed himself up into a sitting position, grimacing slightly. Blackarachnia felt a mixture of shame and anger. Lockdown had used another venom dart to make sure Megatron couldn’t escape while he fought off the rest of them.

She pulled her emergency-scanner out of her storage compartment. “Hold still,” she told Megatron, letting the scanner wander over his upper body. “And don’t try to talk. I need to make some adjusments.”

Warning sirnes started blaring through the room. The ground underneath them started to shake.

Blackarachnia cursed. “Launch sequence starting. We gotta move!”

She pulled Megatron off the berth and onto his pedes. He was leaning onto her heavily, but still doing his best to walk. They made their way over to the door. Just as she was about to reach out to the panel, the door slid open, revealing Lockdown.

He grabbed her around the neck, puleld her out of Megatron’s grip and threw her across the room before she could react. Blackarachnia crashed into one of the shelves, trophies flaiing down aroudn her.

“Playing possum, huh?” she heard Lockdown snicker through her daze. “Gotta remember that one.”

                                              --------------------------------

Outside, Blitzwing was treated to a rude awakening when the ground started to shake under him.

He gave a pained groan, pushing hismelf up and putting a hand to his still aching helm.

“Why do I have the feeling I will not like what I am about to see?” he mumbled to himself, looking up. The warehouse in front of him folded in on itself, revealing a I-G 200 class starship. The ship lifted off the ground and into the sky.

Blitzwing ex-vented. “I knew it.”

                                           ---------------------------------------

Blackarachnia jumped to her pedes. Using the last of her download, she brought out the sonic gun in her intake and fired at Lockdown. Lockdown dodged and pulled out Megatron’s sword, preparing to swipe at her. Blakcarachnia flinched and stumbled backwards, falling onto her back.

Lockdown placed his pede on her mid-section and grinned down at her, sword raised. “Y’know, I’m really starting to warm up to those copy-powers and strings of yours. Pitiy your a half-organic freak. Maybe those mods would’ve even been worth clearing some space on the trophy case.“

Blackarachnia glared up at him. “You like trohpies?” She bent her helm backwards an spat a long thread onto the nearby shelf. “Have your fill!”

Before Lockdown could react, she grabbed onto the threat. I collided with Lockdown, pushing him off of her and burying him underneath it. He let go of the sword in the process. Blackarachnia caught it ba the handle when it fell, getting back up and walking over to Lockdown.

“Time was I would have used my venom to end this fight painlessly,” she said icily, watching him writhe in pain. “Too bad I can’t dose it properly anymore, huh?”

She turned to get Megatron, when she heard a gltiched noise coming from Lockdown. When she looked at him he was raising his hook-servo. The strange gun, the one he’d used her venom with, rose out of his arm.

“Cyber venom,” he rasped, looking at her with pleading optics. “Use it. Please... please!”

She stared at him. His words were familar. Terribly familiar.

                                      ---------------------------------------------

As soon as the bounty hunter was gone, she started to search her cell. It didn’t take a long to find a spot next to the door close enough to the control panel for a partial download. A few nanokliks later and she was sneaking down the ships hallway.

Voices in the distance led her to a bigger room. Light spilled out from underneath the door.

“You must have some primo-info in that processor, spy-con,” she heard Lockdown say.  “Cause you’re gonna get interrogated by Ultra Magnus himself. Now don’t go anywhere. I have to set up the call.”

She jumped up to cling to the ceiling just in time before the door slid open. Lockdown walked out, fiddling with a device on his wrist.She waited until he disappeared down the hallway, then jumped down and quickly entered the room.

Shockwave was tied to an up-right standing berth. He looked tired and in pain. The proto-leg she’d assembled for his destroyed one looked wrong on him. He perked up when he heard her enter.

“Blackarachnia?”

She motioned for him be quiet, and threw a quickly look back at the door. Lockdown wasn’t coming. She hurried over to Shockwave and started to pull on the cables tying him down.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“What’s it look like?” she hissed. “I’m getting you out of here!”

Shockwave shook his helm. “There is no time! He will be back any nanoklik.”

“Well, I’m not leaving here without you!” she snapped up at him. Her servos started to shake. “I’m not leaving you here.”

Shockwave shook his helm again. “Your stingers. Use a heavy dosage. Destroy my memory core.”

“What?” Blackarachnia stared at him, horrified. “Shockwave, no-”

“Blackarachnia, the access codes I’ve loaded into my processor are crucial for the Decepticon’s continued survival!“ Shockwave’s voice was pleading. “We can’t allow Ultra Magnus to get them back!”

Blackarachnia hesitated. It would tae her more time than she had to get through these cables. But her stingers were still hurting and she had no doubt Lockdown had damaged them when he had extracted venom from her. Was she evne able to produce venom anymore? And if so, how could she use it to hurt a fellow Decepticon?

“Blackarachnia,” Shockwave said, looking at her with pleading optics. “Please!”

In that moment, they both heard steps outside the door. Blackarachnia gulped, then nodded. She laid her servos on Shckwave’s shoulderplate and lowered her stingers, flinching. It felt like she was trying to move a damaged servo.

She knew something was wrong as soon as she started to insert the venom into Shockwave’s body. Instead of a steady flow, the venom rushed through her stingers all at once. When it sepped into Shockwave’s system he jerked and then screamed in pain.

“Shockwave!”

Blackarachnia pulled her stingers back immediately, but it was too late. Shockwave had stipped screaming. He was hanging limply from the berth, optics havin offlined themselves. The blue orb on his upper faceplate had gone dark.

Blackarachnia started shaking.

“Shockwave...?” she asked, voice sounding strangely small in her audials.

Instinctively, she scanned his body. She couldn’t pick up an energy signature.

“No...,” she whispered. She stepped back from the berth, shaking.

“What the-?!”

She whipped around. Lockdown was standing in the door. She didn’t give him the chance to react. Blackarachnia dove right under his grabbing servos, running out into the hallway and out of the ship.

Later she wouldn’t remember how she managed to find her own ship.Or how she made it home to New Kaon. All she would remember was Shockwave’s lifeless body.

                                           ------------------------------------

In the present, Blackarachnia glowered down at Lockdown. She curled her hands into fist so tightly they shook.

“You want me,” she said, slowly apporaching Lockdown. “To use that venom to make your pain go away?”

Lockdown grabbed one of his ‘trophies’ , a whip, from the ground and swung it at her. Blackarachnia caught the lash in mids.air, then stomped on the shelves lying on top of him, hard.

Lockdown screamed, letting go of the whip.

Blackarachnia leaned down to him. “I used that venom for medical purposes,” she told him, voice shaking with rage. “Thanks to you it’s nothing more than a weapon now.”

She grabber the gun still mounted on his servo and ripped it off. Lockdown roared in agony, thrashing around but unable to free himself. Blackarachnia slid open a panel on her own wrist and attached the gun to it. She turned around and shot a vial at the nearby control panel.

“No!” she heard Lockdown shout behind her.

The panel threw sparks. The ship lurched. Lockdown, unable to grab onto anything, was thrown against a wall.

“That was for Shockwave,” Blackarachnia hissed.

She ran over to Megatron. He was barely online, but he moved when she pulle dhim to his pedes. Together they ran to the exit. Blackarachnia slammed her fist into the panel. The door opened, allowing Blackarachnia to see just how far above the ground her an Megatron were.

“No turning back now,” she mumbled.

She jumped down, pulling Megatron with her. When they came to building-level, she fired several threats at a nearby roof, wrapping them around herself and Megatron.

“Hold on, Megatron,” she shouted over the wind. “That’s gonna hurt a little!”

The strings holding them pulled taught a few meters over the concrete, aprubtly halting their fall. Then it snapped, resulting in them both painfully landing on the ground with a smack.

Due to the venom still preventing Megatron from more comlicated movement, and the rest of the Decepticons too far awaythey had to walk back to the mines. Slowly and painfully.

                                             ----------------------------------

Blackarachnia finished her medical scan and stuffed the scanner back into her compartment.

“How are you healing?” she asked Megatron.

When they had finally arrived in the mines in the morning, she had ushered him into the medbay right away. The others hadn’t come back yet. Professor Black had been worried when he’d seen them pass by, but Blackarachnia had managed to put his questions off for later, reasoning that she would have to see if Megatron had sustained any injuries from his time with Lockdonw or her escue attempt.

He hadn’t, but she had scanned him anyway, just to be sure.

“The venom is almost out of my systems,” Megatron replied, briefly letting a servo hover over the spot in which Lockdown tranquilized him. “But I am grateful you took the time to look over me.”

Blackarchnia shook her helm. “Not what I meant.”

Megatron ex-vented. “Let us just say I have a better understanding what you went through stellar cycles ago. And why you do not wish to talk about it.”

Blackarachnia flinched.

“Actually,” she said, crossing her servos and looking down on the floor. “It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s just... not easy for me. To remember. But maybe I should.” A little quieter she added: “He deserved better than this.”

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. Megatron was smiling at her softly.

“Then I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to talk about at least parts of it sometimes? With a trusted friend?”

Blackarachnia hesitated. Then she ex-vented and let her servos drop to her sides. “What do you want to know?”

[creaturecarnival]

Gogomaggedon Part 7

Almost to the halfway point!

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6]

Name: Lessi

Description: Sometimes feels a little low. You might need to perk him up.

Ability: Shock-Absorber

Aw, poor guy. Judging from the description and ability, it seems like maybe absorbing all of whatever impacts he’s receiving is not great for his mental stability. At least he’s got that helmet which his eyes are sticking out of. Cute design choice, but probably not great for protecting your noggin.

3.5/5

Name: Lessei

Description: Moves his head to the rhythm of any music.

Ability: Rotating Neck

When I imagine someone moving their head to the rhythm of music, rotating isn’t the first action that comes to mind, but it is pretty hilarious to imagine someone walking down the street blasting speed metal as they furiously rotate their head faster than your eyes can even track. I like the classic look of a helmet or hair that makes the eyes look half-lidded, but the design is pretty plain otherwise.

3.5/5

Name: Pop

Description: Loves music and dances non-stop.

Ability: Top Rhythm

This review really likes making me type “rhythm” apparently. Pop is pretty simplistic, but pretty cute anyway. The blocky eye-shape and dotted-line mouth make me wonder if she’s a robot, but that’s probably overthinking it.

3.5/5

Name: Popo

Description: Doesn't like too many bumps but with his lucky star he is a very skillful player.

Ability: Lucky Star

Oh cool, another trans one! At least I feel like Pop is pretty female-coded. I mean, in the South American/Asian line, her name is Lynda and the wiki uses she/her pronouns, so I’m counting it. Popo is pretty wild, with Pop’s bangs turning into some kind of… helmet? It’s hard to tell, but much like Lessi, his eyes are on that part rather than the actual “head” itself.

4/5

Name: DJ-Imon

Description: Absorbs ideas through its star.

Ability: Mental Strength

What is going on with all the headphone guys?? Well, whatever it is, I guess it’s okay, because their designs have all ranged from alright to good. The aforementioned “star” looks more like a cartoon explosion, but I guess stars are just big, prolonged explosions, right? Hey, do you think before it goes on stage it says “Well… looks like Imon.” Get it??? Like... because of... never mind.

3.5/5

Name: Imooki

Description: A voice in his earphones tells him the rules of every game. He's got such a terrible memory.

Ability: Voice Recorder

I don’t know what it is about Imooki, but I think he’s very cute. Maybe it’s the silly face with the little bitty eyes, or maybe it’s that the grooves that were originally DJ-Imon’s teeth now just look like funny little Thanos chin-grooves (I have an Imooki, which is literally the only way I ever would have known that considering it looks like they filled in those grooves for the official sticker art). His description only makes him even more endearing.

4/5

Name: Jelly

Description: Brave enough for any battle.

Ability: Super Warrior

Just kind of an alright knight guy. Not much to report on here except that it’s funny that a brave warrior’s name would be “Jelly”.

3/5

Name: Jezo

Description: A long losing streak has made this once confident Gogo suddenly very modest.

Ability: Macromodesty

Other than the fact that their ability sounds like some kind of bizarre euphemism, Jezo is a MAJOR upgrade from Jelly. They were always one of my favorites as a kid, too. I just love that nervous face, and the red-orange-on-white color combo is really nice.

5/5

Name: Sumon

Description: Traps his enemies inside his huge powerful jaws.

Ability: Mouth-Cage

Oh I really like this one. Just a big weird mouth with snail-like antennae. He even appears to have stripes that run vertically along his body, much like a snail does! What more could you ask for?

5/5

Name: Sumi

Description: Full of encouragement. Sumi welcomes everyone with open arms.

Ability: Hugs

D’aw! I was kind of expecting them to make the mouth into an eye, but instead they made it into a face! They look like they’re wearing some kind of space suit, and it’s very cute. Also, I like how the ability doesn’t have any descriptors like “Super Hugs” or “Encouraging Hugs”. Just “Hugs”. 

4/5

One more review and we’ll have met 80 Gogos! That’s as many as a full series, but because my hubris will be my eventual downfall and we’re doing two series at once, we’ll still have 80 more to go. I didn’t call this Gogomaggedon for nothing!

[nyacat39]

KHUX: The Lost Ones Ch8

Last Chapter

Next Chapter

First Chapter

Winds of Change:

Ventus walked down the familiar streets of Daybreak Town, holding a notepad and a pencil as he took notes with a bored look on his face. He was supposed to check on the Dandelions today… and in all honesty this was probably his least favorite of the chores that all of them swapped through. To do this one has to usually check their physical conditions within the pods they all rested in… before climbing into a modified pod and going in to check out the “Data World” all their minds were in.

What are we even looking for here? Everything looks like how it did before the War began… Ventus thought as he looked down to the check list in the notebook and marked off a few more boxes as it seemed nothing was off. The young blond found himself sitting down near a fountain as he nearly finished with his job for the day, a bored sigh making itself well known as he slumped in his seat.

I’d rather be back at the clock tower then here… least I have friends there. Ventus thought as he raised a hand up to rub at metal of the partial helmet piece that Blaine had given him. The kid practically wore the prototype armor piece all the time, well aside from when he went to bed that is. As he felt the cold metal on his fingertips, his bored look slowly shifted to a sadder one.

Then again… they’ve all been busy for a while now. Is… is this going to keep up once we all become official union leaders? Am I… am I going to lose them again?  

“You okay kid?” a female voice caught the young blonde boy off guard, making him stumble in his seat a bit before looking towards the voice.

A teenage blond girl, who looked to be around the same age as Lauriam and Blaine. Her hair was a little unkempt with some bangs hanging above her left eye and two spikes that stuck up like little antennae. She had a light blue colored jacket over a white blouse, a black tie, a black skirt with a belt that had a chain attached to it and light blue, knee high boots. Her teal colored eyes looked surprised by his reaction.

“Oh geez, sorry kid.” The girl rubbed at the back of her neck as she watched Ventus scramble to straighten up.

“Uh… it’s uh… it’s fine really!” Ventus exclaimed, while in his head he was practically screaming as he remembered the rule they all made, to try not to interact with any of the Dandelions in the Data World. It wouldn’t do well to have “conflicting memories” after all… plus for Ventus he had a hard time opening up enough to make new friends. Hell he felt awkward just even saying “Hi” to Ephemer’s friend Avery. “You… You uh, you just…. Caught me off guard!”

The confused expression on the girls face made Ventus want bury his face into his hands and scream his lungs out.

“Okaay?” She spoke up looking the younger blond over a bit, and making Ven feel like he needed to run away right now. “Doesn’t really answer my first question though kid.”

“Uh, w...what was that again?”

“Are you okay? From your reaction, something’s going on.”

Darkness take me now. Ventus thought as he practically felt sweat rolling down the back of his neck, as the girls teal eyes looked him over with a calculating gaze. The blonde teen soon let out a small, thoughtful hum as she crossed her arms.

“... First time fighting heartless?”

Whatever Ventus had thought she was thinking about, died right then and there.

“YES! VERY NEW! JUST GOT MY KEYBLADE AND EVERYTHING!” Ventus exclaimed with little to no thought as he latched onto what he Dandelion member thought, his voice a little squeaky from his earlier nerves affecting him. However as soon as he shouted the whole thing, the young blond boy froze, his blue eyes wide as he realized he might have screwed up… especially as he saw her looking at him with surprise… and a hint of suspicion.

“No need to be blowing out my eardrums kid…” She hissed quietly, raising her pinky finger up and clearing out one of her ears.

“S-Sorry…” Ventus looked down immediately, his eyes practically looking for anyway to get out of this place.

“It’s fine. Look kid… what did you say your name was again?” The girl sighed as she tilted her head a little bit, her eyes seeming to take everything about Ventus in, right down to the armor piece that made itself at home around his lower jaw and back of the head.

“You uh… you never asked before ma’am…” Ventus countered, mentally marking down a point of exit not to far away.

“Shit… knew I forgot something.” Ventus’s head raised up in surprise. She just swore! Sure, Skuld would say “Damn” and “Hell” sometimes, but this was a couple notches above those two words! He remembered hearing Blaine say it once after stubbing his toe… only to get slapped upside the head by Lauriam. It had to be a really bad word if Lauriam got violent about it!

….

Somewhere back in the real clock tower. Lauriam felt a sudden urge to go into the Data world and slap someone across the face. Blaine, who was with him in the same room, turned to the pink haired boy with a unsettled look on his half hidden face.

“... You ever get the feeling something pure in the world just got a little tainted?” Blaine asked in the uncomfortable silence the two had felt. The books they had been looking through going completely ignored for the moment.

“Yeah… and I have no idea why…”

….

“My sister would give me hell about this if she knew…” The girl sighed, completely unaware of the flabbergasted look on Ventus’s face from her earlier comment. Turning towards the younger blonde, the unknown girl straightened up a bit. “Name’s Elrena. Who are you kid?”

“Uh Ven…” Ventus stopped, wanting to slap himself on the head for sticking around instead of running like he was planning.

“Nice. Now-” Before Elrena could continue the sound of the clock tower chiming cut her off, and providing a perfect cover for Ventus.

“Oh man it’s that late already! Sorry gotta go! Nice meeting you, BYE!” Ventus exclaimed as he quickly darted away from the fountain area and away from the scene, with every intention to get back to the real world as he ran.

“Wha- Hey wait!” Elrena exclaimed as she tried to reach out for the younger boy, but was to late as Ventus ran away. “... I didn’t get to ask him about my sister…”

Looking a little downcasted by this, the blue clad girl began to turn around but paused when she saw the notebook Ventus had earlier sitting down next to his seat.

“Shit…” Picking the notebook up, Elrena turned and booked it right after Ventus, not knowing that she wouldn’t be able to find him until an hour later into her search. Even when asking other Keyblade wielders she ran into if they had seen “Ven”, no one even seemed to have even caught a glimpse of the kid.

Where the hell did he go? The blonde thought to herself, glancing down to the notebook with a frown. Glancing around before looking back at the notebook, the teen bit at her lower lip as temptation reared its head.

“Don’t do it Sis! That’s someone else's personal belonging!” She imagined her little sister yelling at her… making Elrena’s heart ache a bit at the reminder that the younger girl was missing still.

“People sometimes place information on where they live inside the cover. If it’s important enough for Ven, he probably at least put down a street address.” The voice of her stepbrother popped up in her mind, soothing away the pain a bit, though a faint sense of longing was still there.

… Sorry Litzia…

The blonde teen opened the notebook.

….

Ventus practically hopped out of the pod the minute he woke up outside of the Data World. As he did, the young blonde felt his head hit someone else's, knocking both back a little in pain.

“Ow… What happened?” the voice of Skuld asked as Ventus rubbed at his own, pain filled head at the moment.

“Sorry Skuld…” Ventus hissed, carefully pulling himself out of the modified pod this time and a little bit away from the black haired teen to get some space.

“Nah, Nah it’s fine… Man you’ve got a tough skull there Ven.” Skuld commented as the pain started to lessen a bit.

“Sorry… again.” Ventus responded immediately before looking up at the older teen for a moment. “What… What brings you down here?”

“What? Oh crap right! You and I are on food duty today, so I was wondering what you think we should prepare.” Skuld answered, motioning for Ventus to follow her. The young blond blinked for a moment before ginning and following along.

“Maybe we could make a cake!”

“Nice try mister, real food first.”

“Aw, but Skuld!”

As the two walked away, within one of the pods that rested in the Garden, teal eyes slowly opened for the first time in almost a year.

[dawnquafam]

And What If Your Heart Breaks?

*cracks knuckles* Been waiting to write this one. Based on this post by @rileywrites-parker. (I’ll probably upload to AO3 and FF tomorrow, but for now, I don’t have the time.)

Word count: 1573

Warnings: This battle got pretty graphic. Major character death. A N G S T.

Chaotic was an understatement about the battle in Wakanda. By the time Peter and the others had arrived, the Wakandan army had already been half decimated, bodies strewn across the once-peaceful plains while the lightly wounded tried to drag the severely wounded to safety. The alien Outriders were only slightly worse off. Even Captain America and Hulk were struggling, the formidable Hulkbuster suit lying in scattered pieces, while Scarlet Witch and Vision lay in a quiet copse, embracing each other even in death.

And between nearly dying on the Q ship, the race to rescue Strange, and the battle on Thanos’s homeworld, Peter was already exhausted when they landed in the midst of the chaos. The others were hardly any stronger, but Loki had seen Thor, miraculously alive despite all his worst fears, and plunged into the fray without hesitation. The four Guardians raced to back up Rocket and Groot, and Stephen limped up to Wong’s side, the two exchanging a quick hug before resuming the endless battle.

“Stay here,” Tony had tried to order before he could leave the shelter of the Milano. “Please.”

“I can’t,” Peter said, already overwhelmed by the sounds of flesh and bone and metal colliding, people screaming in agony and rage and determination, orders and names crisscrossing the air. They reverberated through him, setting his nerves on fire, pounding through his veins like the most potent adrenaline.

It’s what had always driven him, those battle sounds he recognized from the night he failed Uncle Ben. Now exponentially worse.

Tony smiled, barely even a quirk of the lips, sending the light dancing across his bruised and bloodied face. Peter could hear his breaths rattling his chest, the bones in his broken arm scraping together. “I know, kid. Just… stick near someone. Anyone. I can’t…”

I can’t lose you, neither of them could say, the sentiment hanging in the air between them. As if speaking it would curse them.

“I will,” Peter promised.

And Tony leaned in then, unbroken arm lifting, reaching for a hug. But Peter flinched back, away from the brokenness he could hear, the brokenness he wasn’t sure how Tony was standing through, let alone fight. The brokenness that he knew would shudder through their contact to make Peter’s own heart stutter in agony.

Peter whirled around and leapt into the battle, webs firing, abandoning the hug. Tony froze for half a heartbeat, his arm mercifully silencing, before shaking himself and soaring up to meet Rhodey.

And they fought. Peter’s own attacks added to the din, webs slicing through the air, his fists impacting the suit’s cushioned interior nanoseconds before the metal sank into an Outrider’s flesh. His feet thudded against the ground, air and blood whistling past his ears. The tang of blood stung his nose, Wakanda’s natural earthy scents struggling to break through, the stench of death overpowering it all.

Through it all, Peter tracked one person. One voice, laughing, joking with Rhodey and Space Peter through the pain. One heartbeat, pounding irregularly in a beaten chest.

Let it beat wrong. Just let it beat.

And, for a time that was both an eternity and the blink of an eye, it did.

An explosion ripped across the plain, tearing through Outriders and Wakandans and superheroes alike. Debris clanged against vibranium, tore through fabric and flesh, bodies ripped apart and slammed into the ground as their owners could do naught but gasp, the concussive force stealing their breath from them.

Peter slammed into the ground, tumbling through the dirt, digging his fingers in to finally bring himself to a halt. He flung his head up, helmet disappearing into his suit as he scanned the new bit of chaos. People raced in, nameless Wakandans, Cap racing towards Black Widow, King T’Challa bounding in with “Nakia!” rolling off his tongue in a scream.

Peter ignored them all, searching for a glint of sunlight off armor, breaking through the ringing in his ears to rediscover that one heartbeat. But he had to rely on his eyes, on seeing Rhodey crash to the ground by a limp body, on hearing his always-steady voice break as he pleaded with Tony to live, to discover that the heartbeat had changed.

There was no rapid, irregular beating anymore.

Instead, all Peter could hear was thump… thump… thump…

He was up and running instantly, heart pounding and blood rushing through his veins, heedless of the danger still raining down around him. Arrows, lightning, green magic, orange magic, they all took out Outriders bearing down on him, but he hardly took notice. He just ran, a single word scraping past his throat, so desperate, so panicked, so loud that his vocal chords ached and it stabbed his eardrums.

“DAD!”

Rhodey caught him as he fell, his limbs giving out the second he was next to Tony, the gentle impact shuddering throughout Peter’s body, jostling every wound. He whimpered, already detecting the stench of salt as tears welled up. He pressed a hand over a bleeding wound on Tony’s chest, the jagged remains of his suit slicing at his tender skin, his hot blood scalding the shaking appendage.

Tony just smiled, broken ribs rattling alongside his arm as he sucked in enough air to whisper, “H-hey, kid.”

“Y-you’re gonna be f-fine, right, Rhodey?” Peter pleaded, looking up at the soldier. He just lowered his head, his damaged suit creaking as he held Peter tighter.

Tony lifted one heavy hand, his strained grunt reverberating into the fingers pressed against his chest. But still he smiled, ignoring the slowing pulse of his heart to rest his fingers against Peter’s cheek. “It’s ok,” he whispered.

“Yeah, of- of course it is,” Peter said, forcing brightness past the lump in his throat. “We can get Loki over here, or- or Stephen, and they can-”

Tony moved his thumb over Peter’s lips, hardly any pressure behind the touch, but its deathly chill silenced him. “I love you,” he said, his heart thudding against Peter’s palm as he added, “son.”

Peter sobbed, tears rolling free, pain spiking as they cut through the open wounds on his face. “Don’t leave me,” he pleaded. “P-please-”

Tony’s hand fell away, landing overtop of the one Peter still pressed to his chest, still trying to stem the bleeding, even knowing that wasn’t the wound killing him. “Never,” he promised. “I’m here. Always.”

He gazed at Peter a moment longer, softly, lovingly, as if he were the entire world.

One last breath rattled his bones.

One last heartbeat tapped Peter’s palm.

And then… silence. Stillness. His eyes eased shut, his last breath leaving in a gentle puff of air.

Peter’s jaws gaped in a piercing wail, tears and spittle mingling as they fell. He leaned over, keeping his hand pressed in place, searching desperately for that heartbeat. His other arm slipped beneath Tony’s neck, wrapping tight in the hug he had denied him. And Peter’s forehead fell against Tony’s, suddenly impossible to hold up. He shook, his sobs making his lungs burn, the stench of blood and death suddenly infinitely worse.

“Peter,” Rhodey said gently, arms still wrapped around the grieving boy. “Peter, we can’t… you can’t stay here.”

Peter’s gaze darted up, landing on the Titan punching away across the battlefield. His hand clenched into a fist around Tony’s shirt, his sobs hardening, deepening into a growl that quaked in his core. “No,” he hissed. “I can’t.”

“Wait, Peter, wait-”

He shoved Rhodey backwards, guilt slicing through him as Tony’s best friend hit the ground with a pained groan. But his feet were already carrying him away, another scream shredding his throat. But this one dripped with venom, scalding Peter’s tongue, aimed straight at the being who had caused all of the death and agony tearing through Peter.

People yelled at him, chased after him, but all he heard were Thanos’s deep, chilling chuckles. Up until the moment he leapt, sailing right over the Gauntleted fist Thanos was too slow to raise, and slammed his fist into Thanos’s cheek. The Titan’s skin shredded against his teeth as they were shoved from their places, the entire jawbone slamming out of its sockets at the impact of Peter’s metal-clad fist. His own fist hit the inside of the suit, obliterating the cushioning, agony ricocheting up his bones as his skin split apart.

Thanos fell, finally properly wounded, something no one else had achieved yet. His body made the ground shake, true fear flashing in his beady eyes. Peter bared his teeth, bringing back his broken arm to rain down revenge, rage exploding within him, begging for an outlet.

But blue and green flashed beside him, sunlight glinting off swords as Nebula and Gamora intervened, driving the weapons straight into Thanos’s chest. His dying gurgle jostled Peter, scraping against his eardrums.

And then Thor was there, scooping him up. Peter kicked out, struggling, because someone needed to pay, the rage boiling within needed to go somewhere, anywhere-

The god pinned him against his own body, and Mantis knelt beside them. “Hush, little spider,” she murmured, palm against his forehead. Her antennae glowed, more blinding by the second, until the white light encompassed everything, and nothing existed.

Not his pain. Not his happiness. Not his curiosity.

After the grief that swallowed him whole, after the rage that scorched his being, Peter Parker… felt nothing.

And how could Tony be there, always in his heart, if his heart didn’t work?

[paladin-andric]

Blackheart, Chapter 2, Part 4 of 4

Alexander walked about the town, looking for somewhere to set up camp. Eventually the knight walked up a figure clad in platemail, much like himself. The figure had a large thorax and abdomen covered in platemail and antennae sticking out of its helmet, so Alexander assumed it to be some kind of bug-man.

He recalled the...insectoids spoke the same language as the reptilians, having been united under a single banner during a war long ago. When tensions sown for ages broke out into war, the costly war reduced the insects’ numbers dangerously close to extinction, though the lizards were worse off for the war as well.

Before being pushed all the way to their capital, the insectoids launched scorched earth attacks against the lizards, pillaging their enemy’s farms, destroying camps and mines, and even taking the reptilians’ capital for a day, razing and damaging as much of the city as they could before the lizards’ armies converged on their capital and recaptured it. It took decades to recover from the losses, and what few insects remained were essentially slaves to the lizards, learning their language, worshiping their gods, and serving them as laborers and soldiers.

There was animosity, fear, paranoia and resentment boiling between the two races for many years, but as these events transpired generations ago, many people of both races have forgiven and forgotten their old feud. Still some tension remained, but it wasn’t uncommon to find one of each side fraternizing as friends, and even family in some cases.

Alexander approached the...bug…person, and cleared his throat. “Ulank?” Yes sir? Alexander told himself. Despite mostly winning their liberty, the insects were still predisposed to polite servitude from the generations of programming. The knight attempted to scour his mind as tried to speak the language of lizards.

“I need help.” Not the most elegant wording, but it got the point across.

The insect bowed. “Allow me to assist, sir. What do you need?”

Very polite, Alexander thought to himself. “I need a bed. Where do new...citizens go?” Alexander smiled nervously as he fumbled his way through the conversation.

“You may lay a tent or bedroll anywhere you wish, sir. If you do not have one, I can bring you to a tent for those we found on the surface.” Alexander gazed at the insect blankly, completely unable to keep up with the monster’s words. “Anywhere,” the insect pointed his finger and circled it around the underground clearing, “or community tent.”

“Oh.” Alexander’s face turned red as he looked down at the ground, embarrassed that despite his regal status and expansive vocabulary, he made himself look like a plebeian attempting this new language.

“No worry, no worry!” The insectoid laughed, “I am impressed you know our tongue at all. It is...difficult to learn. I commend you!”

“Thank you. You are very kind.” Alexander offered a small nod. “I do not have a tent.”

“Please follow me, sir. I can show you where to rest.” Alexander followed the insectoid as it led him to what he assumed was the heart of the small town, as several creatures in platemail and chainmail stood garrisoned in small shacks. The knight assumed them to be makeshift guard towers. In the center of these tiny, one room shacks stood a huge tent. It could easily hold twenty if there was nothing but bedrolls inside.

“Here, here! Tent for rest!” The insectoid gestured to the tent flap. “Anyone without own tent can rest here! We made so if we rescue someone, they have bed to sleep in.”

Alexander offered his hand, and the insect took it and shook lightly. “Thank you. What are you, by the way? A guard?”

The insect shook its head. “Was farmer, servant to my betters! Guards saved me during attack, brought me here. I volunteered to help. I have life debt to pay to you all!”

Alexander nodded. “You are brave and kind. Thank you for your help. What is your name?”

The insect held its hands together, looking bashful. “You do me too much honor. Not important, just a serf, son of farmer family. But...it is Gerlik, sir.”

Alexander smiled. “I’m glad to meet you, Gerlik. I am Alexander. May we meet again soon.” Gerlik bowed.

“I can only hope, sir knight! Have a comfortable rest!”

Alexander entered the tent, looking around at the inside. Surprisingly, only one person was here, despite the rows and rows of bedrolls. A monster Alexander assumed to be some kind of reptilian, judging from the horns sticking out of the covers, lay with its bed covers over it, snoring loudly. The knight moved to the corner of the room, deciding to claim this bedroll for himself.

Sighing in relief, Alexander began to remove his platemail. Alexander wiped sweat from his brow as several pounds of heavy metal stopped weighing on his shoulders. The knight then removed the chainmail under the first layer of armor, leaving in a simple set of linen, consisting of a shirt, pants and a pair of wool socks.

Alexander carefully placed his armor on the floor, neatly folded and right next to his bedroll. The knight placed his sword, shield and dagger next to the armor. No longer uncomfortable, Alexander sat down and pulled the blanket that accompanied the bedroll over him, laying down.

The knight simply relaxed and daydreamed for a while, thinking of home. The sights and sounds of the forest, rivers, waterfalls...these thoughts brought great comfort to the knight, and bolstered his resolve. Eventually he grew tired, and closed his eyes.

Beginning | Previous | Next

[privateplates4u]

20 Unique Rides From the 2017 Woodward Dream Cruise

It’s billed as “the world’s largest one-day automotive event,” and each year for at least the last 10 or so it has drawn between 1.0 and 1.5 million attendees and 40,000 or so vintage and, ahem, “special interest” vehicles. The cost of admission? Zip. OK, property owners along the Avenue typically charge owners a few Jacksons to back in, pop the hood, and whip out their folding chairs, but compared with the cost of any single admission ticket on California’s snooty Monterey Peninsula during the same weekend, Woodward is virtually free. Completely removing cost as a barrier to entry encourages diversity the likes of which won’t be seen at Pebble Beach any time soon, spanning from upside-down vans to bizarre oversized Ram/Cummins-powered Hudsons, rat rods, and every big- and small-block muscle machine imaginable. Motor Trend’s Detroit office garage is situated just 3,718 feet away from Woodward, but your humble technical director’s garage is a mere 518 feet off the historic Avenue. So an editorial team of four scribes and one shooter set up operations there and cruised all week, enlisting chauffeurs from FCA, GM, and Ford, covering Tuesday’s GM Design on Woodward event, and many more. Here are the highlights of the main event. Upside-Down-&-Backwards GMC Rally Wagon How ya gonna get people to look at your nice, physically shiny but culturally dull van? By turning it upside down and somehow suspending it from a smaller car’s rolling chassis. Other modifications of note include a sliding side door converted to a top-hinged hatch and a second live axle with differential to spin the van’s skyward-facing front wheels along with the rear ones at something a bit slower than apparent road speed. Visibility is provided by a second set of holes cut into the rear doors above original glass ones. Lingenfelter 1970 Oldsmobile “442” Vista Cruiser Wagon Lingenfelter Performance Engineering does most of its business building Corvette and Camaro engines, but for Woodward, why not give a classic Vista Cruiser wagon the full 442 treatment and then some? The “then some” includes a Lingenfelter LS3 Performance Engine topped with an Edelbrock supercharger good for 650 horsepower mated to a Tremec six-speed transmission spinning through a 3.73:1 Eaton posi axle. Ridetech air-ride suspension and Weld wheels round out the package. Yum. 1937 Hudson Terraplane XXXL This crazy project actually started with a normal-sized Hudson Terraplane but was stretched, widened, tallened (if that were a word) and plopped on a Dodge Ram 2500 diesel truck chassis converted to air suspension. It towers over traffic, perhaps heightening the “plane” aspect (har-har, see what we did there?) of its original nomenclature—though heaven knows what it would take to get this beast off the ground. Cushman 7-Passenger Skiff Safety first! Life jackets were being worn as this precious little wooden skiff scurried up the Avenue powered and suspended by the wee 22-hp engine and three-wheel chassis from a Cushman model 898457 Haulster refuse collector. Hopefully they didn’t drive this street-legal beauty all the way from Florida, where its motorcycle license plate hails from. Snapper’s Buggy & Machine Co. Caterpillar Buggy Here’s another “car” (pictured at left) where, without any vehicular traffic around it for scale, might almost look “normal.” Might. Actually the big Alcoa semi-tractor front wheels hint at the scale pretty well. Instead of burnouts, this one did “rolling coal” demos on demand #WeDontNeedNoStinkingParticleTraps. Tommy’s Rod Shop Chopped School Bus Folks come to Woodward from far and wide. Case in point: this too-cool-for-school bus from Guthrie, Kentucky. It’s an easy low step up from the road, but the basketball team had better watch their heads while climbing aboard. 1971 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Donk Cabrio Most of the really big-wheel cars came out to cruise after dark, perhaps to show off their underbody and wheel-well lighting, but this one was bold enough to show off its pristine bodywork in the bright afternoon sunlight. Hot rods were admitted to Pebble Beach a few years ago—can the Donks be far behind? Yes. Very far indeed. Circa 1970 Chevrolet Nova “Silver Bullet” Superbird The front license plate identifies the owner/driver as a “fortunate son,” and indeed this is some machine he has been blessed with. The mind fairly boggles as to what must be under that hood, sucking great lungfuls of air through that elaborate hood, and just imagine the rear-end stick that wing must endow this baby with when turning into Michigan International Speedway’s turn three at 200-plus mph … 1948 Chevrolet Fleetline Fastback Patina is the new black. Many cars observed had faux patina painted or stenciled onto their bodywork, but we’re rather more convinced by this one’s, erm, “finish.” Equal parts factory sheetmetal, rebar, and heavy-duty chain comprise the exterior surface with lovely details such as metal spiders on the grille. We’re not sure what the engine is, but it must be valuable—there’s a hefty padlock securing the hood. Char’s Poultry Grooming 1966 Chevrolet C10 Custom Stepside Trucks and riffs thereon were popular at Woodward this year. This 1966 Chevy is owned by retired air force serviceman Mario Guarnaccia of Mars, Pennsylvania. It’s named after his wife Charlene (Char) who is a Finn (which explains the “Finlandia” and flag inside). They have chickens, so Char decided to have the “poultry grooming” mural painted on the door. Naturally chickens don’t get dolled up, but apparently lots of folks enquire as to how the Guarnaccias groom chickens. The couple bought the truck six years ago for $600, and Mario did all the work himself, which included chopping the rearmost 2.5 feet off the 8-foot bed. Troy Police Burnout Enforcement Unit? Many jurisdictions pitch in to help secure the Woodward Dream Cruise, but the Troy, Michigan, boundaries do not include any stretch of Woodward Avenue. This “officer” must have been a tourist. Jurassic Park Motor Pool 1992 Jeep Wranglers Extreme fans will go to great lengths to express their love for movie franchises. The first two Jeeps in this lineup have completed their transition to Jurassic world tour vehicles, probably following the build instructions from www.jpmotorpool.com. The third Jeep in line has only gotten about as far as the license plate. 1956 Mercury Custom That’s our best stab at what this long, low, lovely custom started its life as before getting its Cadillac taillamps and luggage-loading-inhibitor wing. The level of body and paintwork is stunning. There are a lot of folks in the Detroit area who are exceptionally gifted in these arts … Rat Rods ‘R Us Having missed several of the last Woodward Dream Cruises, your 500-foot adjacent editor was surprised at the number of full-on ultra-slammed, heavily patinated rat rods were prowling the avenue. They’re definitely a thing—and a good thing at that. 1964 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Roadster It’s probably safe to say that during the Woodward Dream Cruise, cars originally intended to fulfill a performance mission slightly outnumber those designed for more quotidian pursuits. The Corvette Grand Sport was certainly a benchmark performer in its day. It’s a fair bet that this one’s a clone or tribute car, but we didn’t take down the seller’s number to find out for sure. 1937 Ford Model 78 Cabriolet The Woodward Dream Cruise is all about having fun, and that often involves props—such as Kermit The Frog in a coordinating shade of green. This car probably has had an interesting history—note the right-hand drive. 1968-’73 Datsun 510 Woodward welcomes all makes and models, and although domestic fare predominates, there are plenty of imported gems such as this five-and-dime Datsun wearing minor battle scars and doffing its bumpers and radio antenna. 2003 Chrysler PT Cruiser GT Art Car Art cars are a perennial feature of the Woodward Cruise, and this Marine has clearly festooned Bryan Nesbitt’s original design with about a thousand skulls, crossbones, and skeletal hands, plus more than a few handgun images thrown in for good measure. Boss Hoss 572 Bike So you think you’re a big man controlling 707 or 808 horses in a big heavy four-wheeler, eh? Well real men rock a 625-hp 572-cubic-inch Bow Tie Big Block between their legs with one-wheel drive. And they don’t bother with Snell-rated helmets or riding leathers either! 1971 Plymouth Roadrunner As night falls the illuminated engine compartments and undercarriages really start to shine, like on this high-rise dual-quad Roadrunner. But alas by about 9:30 the police start diverting traffic onto the cross streets and closing Woodward down. Of course, after the cops go to bed the most serious scofflaws return, performing illicit burnouts and minor street races on the Avenue, with all of the audible action wafting in every open bedroom window within 500 feet of Woodward. Can’t wait for next year! The post 20 Unique Rides From the 2017 Woodward Dream Cruise appeared first on Motor Trend.

http://www.motortrend.com/news/20-unique-rides-from-the-2017-woodward-dream-cruise/

[deruste]

Chapter 4 Nexum

My senses are nearly dead as I slowly try to open my eyes but I feel overpowered by a feeling of pain. “Get up you filthy excuse of an augur!” A familiar demeaning voice cried. After finally managing to open my eyes all I notice what was on top of the old residents.

“Aaaaaaah” I shake off the frail bones of my body and rub the parts that were nearly pierced by them. I start to look around me and saw that I was in a large room of some sort made of stacked bricks. I take a look around me to make sure the voice I heard was really there. I saw that there was a lizard-like being shackled to the walls with black scales and a triangle-like head and clawed hands that seemed to be trimmed to the numb, Raffite. Right next to him was another being that was covered in red scales, helmet-like head and sharp tusks emanating from both sides. That would be that rookie Typhon making three of us here but where is Kuren; I swore I heard his voice a second ago. I move parts of my body to see if any of them are broken. My four arms to be fine, aching but fine. My wings feel contorted but functioning and one of my antennas seems to be missing.

“Good, you woke up Nexum. Please use some sort of awakening spell on those moronic lizards.” The voice called again. I was not mistaken, that was Kuren’s voice. I would recognize that condescending tone like the smell of death in a burial ground, pungent and constant when around it. I looked all around but no matter where I look in the stone room there was nothing but bones and old rotten food.

“I’m over at this corner you rotten cockroach.” I turned to the farthest corner that was in the room and saw an old dull wrought iron sword collecting dust. There was a bright glowing crystal that was embedded into the hilt of the sword.

“Don’t tell me they bounded your soul into that worthless piece of iron.”

“Do you have to be so blunt? How was I supposed to know that the doppelganger had a sword that can trap souls? Just get those other bastards to wake up; we need to figure out a way out of here.” Is there any time that he isn’t an asshole?

“Wait you were sealed into a sword why didn’t they lock you in an armory? Why lock you with the rest of us?”

“How in the in the name of Azria should I know? I kept quiet for the whole time and one of the guards for some reason set me in the corner while you were out of it. Oh yeah, you also have been out for nearly a day and a half.” the feeling of pin and needles in my joint confirmed what he said.

“Well, how did the rest of the fight go?” I was knocked out half way into it I want to know the details. He started to tell me how he was stabbed and sucked into the sword and who were are assailants.

“Wait a wolf man and a 3ft green man took us all out, forget to get out of with our lives how we are gonna get out with our dignity intact.” A thought started to go through my head in that moment. “So Duran is with them or do they also have them in a cell?

“Oh yeah the lifeless statue, when I get out of here I’m going to turn him into a pile of lifeless rocks. The fool was talking with them allot so we can assume the worst.” I don’t doubt he would do that but there is still the problem of being stuck in a cell with no way out.

“Wait why wasn’t I shackled to the wall?

“Properly thought you were dead, that or they thought you were an animal or a pet either way one of the guards tried to pet you on the neck. That could have been an attempt to wring your neck but he was singing while he tried to do it or what I thought was singing at least. I don’t know what any of these guards are saying its all gibberish to me.” I steadied the sword and started to draw a circle and markings on the dirt floor. “May I ask what are you doing?”

“I’m going to heal the lizards so we can think of a way out of this place beside damned if I’m going to spend any more prolonged time with just you.” The circle was complete and after etching out some symbols on the outside of it I plunge the sword into the center of it.

“What are doing with me? The sword started to glow burning red again right in the center of the circle. It glowing so intensely I thought the crystal in the hilt was going to melt the metal.

“Killing two birds with one fireball. The spell will require more energy that I can muster now so if I put you in the middle while you’re in that sword. It can suck out the magic that is keeping you in there.”

“Finally something good came out of those mouth mandibles of yours.” The spell circle was glowing bright yellow and seemed to cool down the sword draining energy from it. But the circle started to stop glowing and started to smoke. “WHAT DID YOU DO NOW?

“Something is interfering with my magic. It stopped the spell from working and trust in unhappy about as you are.” I started to hover over Raffite and put my hand over his head, maybe if use a weaker spell it won’t be negated. “Medicam Manum!”

“You’re not very versed in arcane arts, are you? If anything this barrier is probably sucking up any magic that is used or other words it won’t work you, idiot.” Sadly the jerk was right my hands lit up like gold for a second till the light became nothing more than a golden dust on my hands. “O right before I forget to mention, YOUR FREKING NAKED YOU TWIT!”

“WHY DIDN’T TELL ME THAT EARLIER?”

“I was hoping for a cheap laugh before we all die. They're probably going to kill us for our espionage or even just because of the humans, either way, were just two handbags, three specimens for a museum and a cheap sword now. How can they have magic in all my spy work I never sensed anyone with magical ability’s.”

“Well if they were hiding from the humans they probably would have ways of hiding themselves in their sight.”

“But why with their potential they can wipe them out within a half season, Why defended such defenseless trite and on that matter wouldn’t revealing themselves be a better way defending them then?”

After pondering on that thought I got a good look around us to discern anyway out. There was a single steel door with two torches on both sides providing the only light in the cell while the rest was a simple stone dome like structure. Put in a little corner I spot a rough sack with patches on it.

“Hmp a proud augur degraded to wearing a burlap sack; maybe the gods are punishing you for past transgressions.”

“Well if something is blocking are magic ill probably have to ask for their help.”

“Well get on with it we don’t exactly have all day debate whether we have a choice in the matter.” As I draw the next circle for a ritual I try to think of which god to call upon.

“Kirina or Bolnor, Fornet?”

“Just call anyone, wait does we have anything for a tribute?”

“Unless a scrap of cloth counts as offerings no, let’s just hope they are generous and accept the bones of our predecessor.”

“And use the cloth to make some damn clothes for yours self.”

“Shut it, I need concentration!” I sat in the middle of the pentagram circle focusing my natural energies into my mind as I went through all the scripture I knew for the right one. The god of clarity no, the god of priests won’t worked. God of life, death, the elements maybe the god of history.  As I list all the gods I knew I start to hear something.

“Kalan sota tako vatnu zona fontak nullut” It’s gibberish but … it sounds familiar. It is like a memory buried deep in the deepest corners of my mind. Then it became…. how do humans describe it, “trippy”. A cluster of light began swirling around me dissolving my surroundings into what looked like a rooftop of a ruined building.

“Uhhhhh smells likes rotten fish rocked with corpses. Wait for corpse and fish on a building?” I turned my head and saw that the building seemed recently weathered a storm, a very strong storm at that if it can cause most of the other buildings split in half.  

“DRIVE THE MONGOLS BACK MEN, DON’T ALLOW THEM TO EVEN HOLD AN ICNH.”

“Wait… I know that excessive yelling anywhere.” I took steps towards the directions of the noise and to my astonishment, there was an entire army with it.

“LET THE BASTARDS DROWN OWN THEIR BLOOD, FOR THE GLORY OF SHINNU-YAH AND ALBADON!” I saw the man screaming the orders who was standing on floating stone disk with a flaming sword and shield at hand. Like Typhon, he was draconic but instead of having tusks at the sides of his face this one had horns that circled like a spiral coming outward from the sides of his head. He shared the bulky build though and sharp though teeth and used his bulk effectively while Typhon would always trip over himself. General Galron leader of the Shinnu-yah empire military and using it well from what I can see. The general forces have appeared to have had some ranks of human soldiers on the run, their defensive line has not been broken and I can see the human boom sticks projectiles only bounced off the army’s armor. “MAGES, FORWARD. LEAVE NO TRACE OF THEIR ASHES AND CAPTURE ANY CIVILIANS YOU FIND IN THE DARKEN CORNERS OF THIS CITY!” The battalion line began to have small openings with cloaked figures filling those gaps. The mages began to conjure orbs of purplish light and to chant in harmony.

“From deepest depths, we have slept, now our inborn right we recompense.” They then threw the orbs in the direction of the human army. It slowly swept through them, disintegration them one by one in blinding flashes of light.    

“Ha Ha, at this rate the humans will be defeated within the season.” just as the general started boasting a figure appeared behind him in an instant of swirling shadows.

“I have returned with news on the eastern front ser Galron and I have a directive from the council.”

“One second, Kalim. RELEASE THE HYDRAS!” The battlefield was filled with the definite roar of hydras roaming the field eating any stragglers or deserters. “What’s the message Kalim, what’s crammed in the council’s collective asses?”

“Tactfully put ser Galron, The council wants to tell you that the sprites are causing mayhem in all human territory’s and magical creatures are catching on to the humans sudden helplessness and are collectively carving out their own lands. Furthermore, the scouts have taken out some unneeded explosives from the silos.”

“And the order I’ve sent to allow the use of our siege units passed through the red tape?”

“Though the council feels that it is unneeded tough given the situation they have allowed your order to quicken the war effort. But it will take a week for them to be usable they did, however, send augurs to the eastern front.” As I listened in on their conversation I took a good look at the messenger. The messenger was one of my kind, a Kaleck being plainly oblivious from his incest physique and wings coming out of the back of his clothes. His clothes on that train of thought were leather-based in lined with red metal with trench coat-like flaps and hood concealing his face.

“At least they take that advice with great speed. Tell the council the invasion is going as planned we even found some spies that were stupid enough to try and bug our camp.”

“You’re not a concern that there were spies in your camp in the first place?”

“Not if they fail so miserably like them besides our armies will wash over this region before they can cause some damage.” BOOM a vortex began swirling somewhere of the horizon with winds that tore through a town, picking up houses and throwing them into the opposite direction of the shinnu-yah army. “I’m going to take a wild guess that would be our allies, kalim?”

“Correct sir I have other business to attend to but the council does have a matter to delegate to you.” I felt something pull my body away from them against my will.

“No, I don’t want to go yet I want to know the rest of it. Listen to me there is a force that poses trouble by all the gods listen to my warnings.” But they just stood their voices getting fainter and fainter as I’m pulled towards the ground. I should probably be more worried about where I’m being pulled towards if I didn’t already know the intent. When I first became an auger we were told the gods pulled the souls of their faithful towards their realm of providence. The fact I’m being brought to the earth should mean that the god of the underworld is trying to tell me something.

“Nexum?” Kuren voice suddenly was audible.  

“No, not now.” I need to know which god is pulling me under.

“Nexum get up now!”

“haw haw.”I was in the prison again, feeling intense exhaustion from the experience. “Why did you take me out of my trance…?” I saw a large furry figure hold Kuren from the handle.

“Rusemay.” A bluish eye appeared above me and my head started to ache and felt as though was pouring water into my exoskeleton. “Get up; it’s your turn to be questioned. Ki rai.” Golden shackles appeared on my arms and were linked to a chain grip in the jailor’s hand. He brought the sword to his snout and glared at it. “Who brought you out of the armory?”

“Wait don’t-“He sheathed the sword and yanked the chain grip.

“Try to attack anyone and I cut your head off.” I happily obliged and followed him the newly made opening in the prison. The light nearly burned my retinas and as I adjusted I saw that I was in a long hall with many doors. I looked at me and saw that the opening was gone now the large crevice now filled with dark tiles. “Go in here.” He opened a door and pushed me inside as I heard the sounds of many locks being closed.

“Guess their treating you well enough. How have you been?” A familiar tune fills my lone antennae, Him.

“Guess the snake makes himself know. How have you been Duran?”

“Pretty well enough, it’s comforting sided with my conscience than blind patriotism.” He was seated on a chair on the other end of a translucent table. The room was extremely bright and completely white spare one window tinted gray. He has the gall to interrogate me and on the crime of serving my country.

“You betrayed your nation for filthy monkeys!” He hasn’t seemed to change physically at least, he had the same symmetrical head with vacant eyes with two circles around them staring down at me.

“You fail to see what you call monkeys as actual people and now that train of thought causing the deaths of many people, who have about as much to offer us as we to them.”

“I saw how they were in Europe; a dying society waiting to bend over and take its final breath. I saw anarchy on the streets. The people rioting in all out gang war fair. They are not capable of staining themselves or living peacefully but they might under our rule. ” I turned a wandering eye to the dark window; if I focused hard enough I heard voices from the other side of it. A younger feminine and an older male one but neither sounded familiar except…

“And you think we can bring order to it? We probably end up destroying them before getting the chance to or we will just end up enslaving them.” Oh great, he’s going to talk down to me as if I was a child missing the obvious. I pulled my attention from the window and refocused on Duran  

“Do you truly know their history Duran; we are being no crueler than they were treating each other.”

“Does that excuse what is being done?” I admit I didn’t know much about Duran before we were deployed as spies, Raffite was the only reason I knew his name. A friend of a friend so to speak but I do remember him saying he can be a pompous fool but he said the same thing about Typhon. So why it was that Duran made the switch?

“Why this then, why they send you to interrogate. If they had any intelligence they would have known it wouldn’t work with you. You haven’t cut your ties enough so you have to say it to our faces.”  His started to fidget a bit as his emotionless face faced his clasped hands.

“They can give amnesty if you formally surrender to the legion and ….” He said with unnerving speed as if he lingered on any syllable he would be killed. The tone of his voice sounded like even he only half believe it.

“And?” He kept his gaze towards his clasped hands as the question hung in the air, putrefying it more and more the longer it was left unanswered.

“If you indenture yourself to your victims.”

“WHAT, I indenture to those pathetic creatures.”

“For a period of ten years, it’s either that or the headsmen’s ax.” I don’t respond at first and he just stopped there looking at his palms, so this is the justice the monkey’s allies give. “I’m told it’s an old way for traitors to work out their crimes. I’ve given you a way out so you can see the humans as I have seen them.” A spark starts to permeate my mind.

“If it’s my only option outside of my head being lopped off in a basket, I begrudgingly accept the offer.” He raised his head in response to this.

“Good now I only need to convince Typhon and Raffite.” He appeared to have forgotten Kuren, not so unexpected if he wasn’t so powerful he probably the one pushed into a fight as a glowing training dummy. I’m not looking forward to doing the bidding of a bunch of pubescent apes but it’s preferable to death. Though there is the opportunity in time. All I have to do is waiting till there’s a chance of escape available to me. Maybe I’ll bring ahead of whatever human I’m stuck with as a souvenir. “Sad to say you have to stay in your jail cell for the night. Get some rest while you can, one of the humans has been compiling a list of chores for you specifically.”

“Well then, it will be quite a disappointing sight for that human. I’m sub par at menial labor.” I heard the door behind me open and saw that the wolf again showing a look of revolt towards us, trouble in paradise I see. “Oh, Duran. Don’t expect to regain some respect with them just because you got them away from a woven basket heads. You just simply gave them a choice to become a slave to a monkey, but you would know all about that would you now. What did they bribe you with? Power? Secrets? Influence?”

“They asked. They asked after I gave my vow to offer information about Shinnu-yah after I FOUND OUT THAT OUR ARMY IS HAVING THE MAGES LEARN NULL MAGIC!”

“WHAT!” Null magic, it can’t be.

“That is why I left, that is why I’m helping the monkeys you mock. How is that for a mental image of the empire that was going to spread its marvelous influence? I found it out trough another scout and I killed that scout before he could tell anyone about my betrayal. I’ll tell you more in the morning; you won’t be able to sleep if you learn every dirty secret that scout spilled before I rung his neck.” He simulated his actions with his hands squeezing at the air in front of him in a shaking motion.

          “Back to your cell you gnat.” The wolf conjured the chain and yanked me from the neck again.

          “Isn’t this a little unnecessary?”

          “You haven’t seen the refugees, jumping at buzzing of every insect.” Guess they survived a battalion of Kalecks.

          “They have a right to be scared. My gods smiled on me and showed me a vision of the humans of being annihilated at their western front.”

          “Shut up or I’ll say screw the politics and kill you right here and now.” He raised his hand against a wall and it began to glow bluish. The wall shifted into a round entry. He pushed me and the opening changed into a regular wall. “And take your useless friend with you.” The sound of clanking metal fills the room and is going to be accompanied by Kuren’s voice, oh joy.

          “Well, that went well.”

          “The sarcasm is getting worse and worse, you know that right.”

          “You deserve it more than ever now. You gave yourself to slavery.”

          “I’m no good to the empire if I’m dead, besides don’t you think I can out Witt a human whelp.”

          “Shut your traps you two!” Oh, the joy they woke up. I saw Raffite and Typhon Unshackled, sitting on the floor dress in some spare rags inspecting the spell circle I drew.

          “The Abyss happened Nexum where are we?” Glad to know Typhon retails glibness no matter how many times he gets battered on the head.

          “It’s nice to see that you’re awake too Typhon and Raffite … we have been captured and the only way out of not getting our heads chop off is indentured service. Ser.”

          “At least you keep things interesting Nexum. Let me guess, Duran betrayed us and sold us.”

          “That’s the gist of it. He either going to have us killed by way of executioner or servitude to those …Humans.”

          “Damn it, we have no other option then. We will just have to outsmart them then maybe mislead them into security then bam we are free and find a safe spot to hide till things cool over on the front.”

          “Why not just go to the military, why hide at all.” How and why Typhon got involved into to espionage is beyond me. His kind is a people that always manage as being the bulk of infantry, so why any of them having an interest in obtaining information through subtle maneuvering is an anomaly on its own. Not to even mentioning his incompetence.

          “Because we would be executed for incompetence and probably have our corpses hung over on a crucifix for just being captured. We might even just be killed on sight just for appearing on suspicious terms.” Raffite gave a disapproving look.

          “Bottom line, we survive and if get the chance we triumph against our captures and travel towards the rest of the troops.” I prompt up Kuren so he can better join the discussion.

          “And resign ourselves to servitude? What got into you?”

          “I’m thinking for all your sakes. We are of more use alive than dead beside do you know how to get out of that blade?” Kuren went silent, I hate to admit it but he is right. If just stay alive we can probably just outlived the humans, there bound to slip up at some point. “So Nexum this circle you drew, did it yield results or have your prayer fell on death ears,” I told him about my vision putting as much detail I could about the battle. “Good General Galron should be able to push the humans to the edge. These creatures appear to have vested interest in the humans, as soon as the humans reach a breaking point they will have to divide their forces to help them. The humans get scared and that’s how we get out.”

          “Oh, I got to listen to your diabolical side. That sounds adorable.” I see Kuren has his priorities straight.

          “We appeal to their troubled heart strings and maybe try to get them near the front somehow, maybe some false hope about their families. We then help them for the time being. Then their head becomes divorced from their necks with us heading toward the Infantry with whatever info we can gather while we’re stuck here.”

          “Sounds like good enough plans we just have to put in a good performance then.”

          “Nexum what did Duran say to you other Than the deal. You seemed troubled.” Can’t seem to hide anything from him. I told him about Duran accusation about the null magic.

          “HE CLAIMED WHAT.”

          “He can’t expect us to believe this without prove.”

          “You didn’t know? The council contacted me that several mages were receiving training into null magic. Even tried to get me enlisted into the new ranks” All our eyes were on Kuren but not for pity for his current state this time.

          “I will melt you down and sell you as a back scratcher.” Wow, he actually got Typhon to sound threatening, weird day.

          “I’m inclined to agree with that statement but no Typhon. If we don’t have our unity we at the same level as humans, no matter how I want to use Kuren as tooth-pick.” Null magic, it is as sadistic as magic can be. Makes the victim lose all traces of what makes them sentient gone. And that is if they aren’t used as living bombs or carriers for the vicious disease. “Get some rest all of you. We have long days ahead of us and if they call on you for Duran’s talk. Just comply even if you want to crush the bastard.” We all turn away from each other into the corners of the prison. I try to get myself comfortable in my even though it smells like piss but compared to some bars I passed out in, it’s doable.

          “This makes you no better than Duran, you know that right.”

          “Difference being that I didn’t betray council and country for lesser beings. Now get to sleep.” When I get free from the humans I will turn Duran into ash.

[deruste]

Nexum chapter 4

My senses are near dead as I slowly try to open my eyes but I feel overpowered by a feeling of pain. "Get up you filthy excuse of an augur!" A familiar demeaning voice cried. After finally managing to open my eyes all I notice what was on top of the old residents.

“Aaaaaaah” I shake off the frail bones of my body and rub the parts that were nearly pierced by them. I start to look around me and saw that I was in a large room of some sort made of stacked bricks. I take a look around me to make sure the voice I heard was really there. I saw that there was a lizard like being shackled to the walls with black scales and a triangle-like head and clawed hands that seemed to be trimmed to the numb, Raffite. Right next to him was another being that was covered in red scales, helmet like head and sharp tusks emanating from both sides. That would be that rookie Tyhpon making three of us here but where is Kuren; I swore I heard his voice a second ago. I move parts of my body to see if any of them are broken. My four arms to be fine, aching but fine. My wings feel contorted but functioning and one of my antennas seems to be missing.

“Good, you woke up Nexum. Please use some sort of awakening spell on those moronic lizards.” The voice called again. I was not mistaken, that was Kuren’s voice. I would recognize that condescending tone like the smell of death in a burial ground, pungent and constant when around it. I looked all around but no matter where I look in the stone room there was nothing but bones and old rotten food.

“I’m over at this corner you rotten cockroach.” I turned to the farthest corner that was in the room and saw an old dull wrought iron sword collecting dust. There was a bright glowing crystal that was embedded into the hilt of the sword.

“Don’t tell me they bounded your soul into that worthless piece of iron.”

“Do you have to be so blunt? How was I supposed to know that the doppelganger had a sword that can trap souls? Just get those other bastards to wake up; we need to figure out a way out of here.” Is there any time that he isn’t an asshole?

“Wait you were sealed into a sword why didn’t they lock you in an armory? Why lock you with the rest of us?”

“How in the in the name of Azria should I know? I kept quiet for the whole time and one of the guards for some reason set me in the corner while you were out of it. Oh yeah you also have been out for nearly a day and a half.” the feeling of pin and needles in my joint confirmed what he said.

“Well how did the rest of the fight go?” I was knocked out half way into it I want to know the details. He started to tell me how he was stabbed and sucked into the sword and who were are assailants.

“Wait a wolf man and a 3ft green man took us all out, forget getting out of with our lives how we are gonna get out with our dignity intact.” A thought started go through my head in that moment. “So Duran is with them or do they also have them in a cell?

“Oh yeah the lifeless statue, when I get out of here I’m going to turn him to a pile of lifeless rocks. The fool was talking with them allot so we can assume the worst.” I don’t doubt he would do that but there is still the problem of being stuck in a cell with no way out.

“Wait why wasn’t I shackled to the wall?

“Properly thought you were dead, that or they thought you were an animal or a pet either way one of the guards tried to pet you on the neck. That could have been an attempt to wring your neck but he was singing while he tried to do it or what I thought was singing at least. I don’t know what any of these guards are saying its all gibberish to me.” I steadied the sword and started to draw a circle and markings in the dirt floor. “May I ask what are you doing?”

“I’m going to heal the lizards so we can think of a way out of this place besides damned if I’m going to spend any more prolonged time with just you.” The circle was complete and after etching out some symbols on the outside of it I plunge the sword into the center of it.

“What are doing with me? The sword started to glow burning red again right in the center of the circle. It glowing so intensely I thought the crystal in the hilt was going to melt with the metal.

“Killing two birds with one fireball. The spell will require more energy that I can muster now so if I put you in the middle while you’re in that sword. It can suck out the magic that is keeping you in there.”

“Finally something good came out of those mouth mandibles of yours.” The spell circle was glowing bright yellow and seemed to cool down the sword draining energy from it. But the circle started to stop glowing and started to smoke. “WHAT DID YOU DO NOW?

“Something is interfering with my magic. It stopped the spell from working and trust in unhappy about as you are.” I started to hover over Raffite and put my hand over his head, maybe if use a weaker spell it won’t be negated. “Medicam Manum!”

“You’re not very versed in arcane arts are you? If anything this barrier is probably sucking up any magic that is used or other words it won’t work you idiot.” Sadly the jerk was right my hands lit up like gold for a second till the light became nothing more than a golden dust on my hands. “O right before I forget to mention, YOUR FREKING NAKED YOU TWIT!”

“WHY DIDN’T TELL ME THAT EARLIER?”

“I was hoping for a cheap laugh before we all die. Their probably going to kill us for our espionage or even just because of the humans either way were just two handbags, specimen for museum and a cheap sword now. How can they have magic in all my spy work I never sensed anyone with magical ability’s.”

“Well if they were hiding from the humans they probably would have ways of hiding themselves for their sight.”

“But why with their potential they can wipe them out within a half season, Why defended such defenseless trite and on that matter wouldn’t revealing themselves be a better way defending them then?”

After pondering on that thought I got a good look around us to discern anyway out. There was a single steel door with two torches on both sides providing the only light in the cell while the rest was a simple stone dome like structure. Put in a little corner I spot a rough sack with patches on it.

“Hmp a proud augur degraded to wearing a burlap sack; maybe the gods are punishing you for past transgressions.”

“Well if something is blocking are magic ill probably have to ask for their help.”

“Well get on with it we don't exactly have all day debate whether we have a choice in the matter.” As I draw a next circle for a ritual I try to think of which god to call upon.

“Kirina or Bolnor, Fornet?”

“Just call anyone, wait do we have anything for a tribute?”

“Unless scrap of cloth counts as offerings no, let’s just hope their generous and accept the bones of our predecessor.”

“And use the cloth to make some damn clothes for yours self.”

“Shut it, I need concentration!” I sat in the middle of the pentagram circle focusing my natural energies into my mind as I went through all the scripture I knew for the right one. The god of clarity no, the god of priests won't worked. God of life, death, the elements maybe the god of history.  As I list all the gods I knew I start to hear something.

“Kalan sota tako vatnu zona fontak nullut” It's gibberish but … it sounds familiar. It is like a memory buried deep in the deepest corners of my mind. Then it became.... how do humans described it, “trippy”. A cluster of light began swirling around me dissolving my surroundings into what looked like a rooftop of a ruined building.

“Uhhhhh smells likes rotten fish rocked with corpses. Wait corpse and fish on a building?” I turned my head and saw that the building seemed recently weathered a storm, a very strong storm at that if it can cause most of the other buildings split in half.  

“DRIVE THE MONGROLS BACK MEN, DON’T ALLOW THEM TO EVEN HOLD AN ICNH.”

“Wait… I know that excessive yelling anywhere.” I took steps towards the directions of the noise and to my astonishment there was an entire army with it.

“LET THE BASTARDS DROWN OWN THEIR BLOOD, FOR THE GLORY OF SHINNU-YAH AND ALBADON!” I saw the man screaming the orders who was standing on floating stone disk with flaming sword and shield at hand. Like Typhon he was a draconic but instead of having tusks at the sides of his face this one had horns that circled like a spiral coming outward from the sides of his head. He shared the bulky build though and sharp though teeth and used his bulk effectively while Typhon would always trip over himself. General Galron leader of the Shinnu-yah empire military and using it well from what I can see. The general forces have appeared to have had some ranks of human soldiers on the run, their defensive line has not been broken and I can see the human boom sticks projectiles only bounced off the army's armor. “MAGES, FORWARD. LEAVE NO TRACE OF THEIR ASHES AND CAPTURE ANY CIVILAINS YOU FIND IN THE DARKEN CORNERS OF THIS CITY!” The battalion line began to have small openings with cloaked figures filling those gaps. The mages began to conjure orbs of purplish light and to chant in harmony.

“From deepest depths we have slept, now our inborn right we recompense.” They then threw the orbs in the direction of the human army. It slowly swept through them, disintegration them one by one in blinding flashes of light.    

“Ha Ha, at this rate the humans will be defeated within the season.” just as the general started boasting a figure appeared behind him in an instant of swirling shadows.

“I have returned with news on the eastern front ser Galron and I have a directive from the council.”

“One second, Kalim. RELEASE THE HYDRAS!” The battlefield was filled with the definite roar of hydras roaming the field eating any stragglers or deserters. “What’s the message Kalim, what’s crammed in the council’s collective asses?”

“Tactfully put ser Galron, The council wants to tell you that the sprites are causing mayhem in all human territory’s and magical creatures are catching on to the humans sudden helplessness and are collectively carving out their own lands. Furthermore the scouts have taken out some unneeded explosives from the silos.”

“And the order I’ve sent to allow the use of our siege units passed through the red tape?”

“Though the council feels that it is unneeded tough given the situation they have allowed your order to quicken the war effort. But it will take a week for them to be usable they did however send augurs to the eastern front.” As I listened in on their conversation I took a good look at the messenger. The messenger was one of my kind, a Kaleck being plainly oblivious from his incest physique and wings coming out of the back of his clothes. His clothes on that train of thought were leather based in lined with red metal with trench coat-like flaps and hood concealing his face.

“At least they take that advice with great speed. Tell the council the invasion is going as planned we even found some spies that were stupid enough to try and bug our camp.”

“You’re not concern that there were spies in your camp in the first place?”

“Not if they fail so miserably like them besides our armies will wash over this region before they can cause some damage.” BOOM a vortex began swirling somewhere of the horizon with winds that tore through a town, picking up houses and throwing them into the opposite direction of the shinnu-yah army. “I’m going to take a wild guess that would be our allies, kalim?”

“Correct sir I have other business to attend to but the council does have a matter to delegate to you.” I felt something pull at my body away from them against my will.

“No I don’t want to go yet I want to know the rest of it. Listen to me there is a force that pose trouble by all the gods listen to my warnings.” But they just stood there voices getting fainter and fainter as I’m pulled towards the ground. I should be probably be more worried about where I’m being pulled towards if I didn’t already know the intent. When I first became an auger we were told the gods pulled the souls of their faithful towards their realm of providence. The fact I’m being brought to the earth should mean that the god of the underworld is trying to tell me something.

“Nexum?” Kuren voice suddenly was audible.  

“No not now.” I need know which god is pulling me under.

“Nexum get up now!”

“haw haw.”I was in the prison again, feeling intense exhaustion from the experience. “Why did you take me out of my trance…?” I saw a large furry figure hold Kuren from the handle.

“Rusemay.” A bluish eye appeared above me and my head started to ache and felt as though was pouring water into my exoskeleton. “Get up; it’s your turn to be questioned. Ki rai.” Golden shackles appeared on my arms and were linked to a chain grip in the jailor's hand. He brought the sword to his snout and glared at it. “Who brought you out of the armory?”

“Wait don’t-“He sheathed the sword and yanked the chain grip.

“Try to attack anyone and I cut your head off.” I happily obliged and followed him the newly made opening in the prison. The light nearly burned my retinas and as I adjusted I saw that I was in a long hall with many doors. I looked behind me and saw that the opening was gone now the large crevice now filled with dark tiles. “Go in here.” He opened a door and pushed me inside as I heard the sounds of many locks being closed.

“Guess their treating you well enough. How have you been?” A familiar tune fills my lone antennae, Him.

“Guess the snake makes himself know. How have you been Duran?”

“Pretty well enough, it’s comforting sided with my conscience than blind patriotism.” He was seated on a chair on the other end of a translucent table. The room was extremely bright and was completely white spare one window tinted gray. He has the gall to interrogate me and on the crime of serving my country.

“You betrayed your nation for filthy monkeys!” He hasn’t seemed to change physically at least, he had the same symmetrical head with vacant eyes with two circles around them staring down at me.

 “You fail to see what you call monkeys as actual people and now that train of thought causing the deaths of many people, who have about as much to offer us as we to them.”

“I saw how they were in Europe; a dying society waiting to bend over and take its final breath. I saw anarchy on the streets. The people rioting in all out gang war fair. They are not capable of staining themselves or living peacefully but they might under our rule. ” I turned a wandering eye to the dark window; if I focused hard enough I heard voices from the other side of it. A younger feminine and an older male one but neither sounded familiar except…

“And you think we can bring order to it? We probably end up destroying them before getting the chance to or we will just end up enslaving them.” Oh great he’s going to talk down to me as if I was a child missing the obvious. I pulled my attention from the window and refocused on Duran  

“Do you truly know their history Duran; we are being no crueler than they were treating each other.”

“Does that excuse what is being done?” I admit I didn’t know much about Duran before we were deployed as spies and Raffite was the only reason I knew his name. A friend of a friend so to speak but I do remember him saying he can be a pompous fool but he said the same thing about typhoon. So why it was that Duran made the switch?

“Why this then, why they send you to interrogate. If they had any intelligence they would have know it wouldn’t work with you. You haven’t cut your ties enough so you have to say it to our faces.”  His started to fidget a bit as his emotionless face faced his clasped hands.

“They can give amnesty if you formally surrender to the legion and ….” He said with unnerving speed as if he lingered on any syllable he would be killed. The tone of his voice sounded like even he only half believe it.

“And?” He kept his gaze towards his clasped hands as the question hung in the air, putrefying it more and more the longer it was left unanswered.

“If you indenture yourself to your victims.”

“WHAT, I indenture to those pathetic creatures.”

“For a period of ten years, it’s either that or the headsmen’s axe.” I don’t respond at first and he just stopped there looking at his palms, so this is the justice the monkey’s allies give. “I’m told it’s an old way for traitors to work out their crimes. I’ve given you a way out so you can see the humans as I have seen them.” A spark starts to permeate my mind.

“If it’s my only option outside of my head being lopped off in a basket, I begrudgingly accept the offer.” He raised his head in response to this.

“Good now I only need to convince Typhon and Raffite.” He appeared to have forgotten Kuren, not so unexpected if he wasn’t so powerful he probably the one pushed into a fight as glowing training dummy. I’m not looking forward in doing the bidding of a bunch of pubescent apes but it’s preferable to death. Though there is opportunity in time. All I have to do is waiting till there’s a chance of escape available to me. Maybe I’ll bring ahead of whatever human I’m stuck with as a souvenir. “Sad to say you have to stay in your jail cell for the night. Get some rest while you can, one of the humans has been compiling a list of chores for you specifically.”

“Well then, it will be quite a disappointing sight for that human. I’m sub par at menial labor.” I heard the door behind me open and saw that the wolf again showing a look of revolt towards us, trouble in paradise I see. “Oh, Duran. Don’t expect to regain some respect with them just because you got them away from a woven basket heads. You just simply gave them a choice to become a slave to a monkey, but you would know all about that would you now. What did they bribe you with? Power? Secrets? Influence?”

“They asked. They asked after I gave my vow to offer information about Shinnu-yah after I FOUND OUT THAT OUR ARMY IS HAVING THE MAGES LEARN NULL MAGIC!”

“WHAT!” Null magic, it can’t be.

“That is why I left, that is why I’m helping the monkeys you mock. How is that for a mental image of the empire that was going to spread its marvelous influence? I found it out trough another scout and I killed that scout before he could tell anyone about my betrayal. I’ll tell you more in the morning; you won’t be able to sleep if you learn every dirty secret that scout spilled before I rung his neck.” He simulated his actions with his hands squeezing at the air in front of him in a shaking motion.

           “Back to your cell you gnat.” The wolf conjured the chain and yanked me from the neck again.

           “Isn’t this a little unnecessary?”

           “You haven’t seen the refugees, jumping at buzzing of every insect.” Guess they survived a battalion of Kalecks.

           “They have a right to be scared. My gods smiled on me and showed me a vision of the humans of being annihilated at their western front.”

           “Shut up or I'll say screw the politics and kill you right here and now.” He raised his hand against a wall and it began to glow bluish. The wall shifted into a round entry. He pushed me and the opening changed into a regular wall. “And take your useless friend with you.” The sound of clanking metal fills the room and is going to be accompanied by Kuren’s voice, oh joy.

           “Well, that went well.”

           “The sarcasm is getting worse and worse, you know that right.”

           “You deserve it more than ever now. You gave yourself to slavery.”

           “I’m no good to the empire if I’m dead, besides don’t you think I can out Witt a human whelp.”

           “Shut your traps you two!” Oh joy they woke up. I saw Raffite and Thyphon Unshackled, sitting on the floor dress in some spare rags inspecting the spell circle I drew.

           “The Abyss happened Nexum where are we?” Glad to know Thyphon retails glibness no matter how many times he gets battered on the head.

           “It’s nice to see that you’re awake too Thyphon and Raffite … we been captured and the only way out of not getting our heads chop off is indentured service. Ser.”

           “At least you keep things interesting Nexum. Let me guess, Duran betrayed us and sold us.”

           “That’s the gist of it. He either going to have us killed by way of executioner or servitude to those …Humans.”

           “Damn it, we have no other option then. We will just have to outsmart them then maybe mislead them into security then bam we are free and find a safe spot to hide till things cool over on the front.”

           “Why not just go to the military, why hide at all.” How and why Typhon got involved into to espionage is beyond me. His kind are a people that always manage as being the bulk of infantry, so why any of them having interest of obtaining information through subtle maneuvering is an anomaly on its own but to a part of it. Not to even mentioning his incompetence.

           “Because we would be executed for incompetence and probably have our corpses hung over on  crucifix for just being captured. We might even just be killed on sight just for appearing on suspicious terms.” Raffite gave a disapproving look.

           “Bottom line, we survive and if get the chance we triumph against our captures and travel towards the rest of the troops.” I prompt up Kuren so he can better join the discussion.

           “And resign ourselves to servitude? What got into you?”

           “I’m thinking for all your sakes. We are of more use alive than dead besides do you know how to get out of that blade?” Kuren went silent, I hate to admit it but he is right. If just stay alive we can probably just outlived the humans, there bound to slip up at some point. “So Nexum this circle you drew, did it yield results or have your prayer fell on death ears.” I told him about my vision putting as much detail I could about the battle. “Good General Galron should be able to push the humans to the edge. These creatures appear to have vested interest in the humans, as soon as the humans reach a breaking point they will have to divide their forces to help them. The humans get scared and that’s how we get out.”

           “Oh I got to listen to your diabolical side. That sounds adorable.” I see Kuren has his priorities straight.

           “We appeal to their troubled heart strings and maybe try to get them near the front somehow, maybe some false hope about their families. We then help them for the time being. Then their head become divorced from their necks with us heading toward the Infantry with whatever info we can gather while we're stuck here.”

           “Sounds like a good enough plans we just have to put in a good performance then.”

           “Nexum what did Duran say to you other Than the deal. You seemed troubled.” Can’t seem to hide anything from him. I told him about Duran accusation about the null magic.

           “HE CLAIMED WHAT.”

           “He can’t expect us to believe this without prove.”

           “You didn’t know? The council contacted me that several mages were receiving training into null magic. Even tried to get me enlisted into the new ranks” All our eyes were on Kuren but not for pity for his current state this time.

           “I will melt you down and sell you as a back scratcher.” Wow he actually got Thyphon to sound threatening, weird day.

           “I’m inclined to agree with that statement but no Typhon. If we don’t have our unity we at the same level as humans, no matter how I want to use Kuren as tooth-pick.” Null magic, it is as sadistic as magic can be. Makes the victim lose all traces of what makes them sentient gone. And that is if they aren’t used as living bombs or carriers for vicious disease. “Get some rest all of you. We have long days ahead of us and if they call on you for Duran’s talk. Just comply even if you want to crush the bastard.” We all turn away from each other into the corners of the prison. I try to get myself comfortable in my even though it smells like piss but compared to some bars I passed out in, it’s doable.

           “This makes you no better than Duran, you know that right.”

           “Difference being that I didn’t betrayed council and country for lesser beings. Now get to sleep.” When I get free from the humans I will turn Duran into ash.