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pastelgrungewrecker · 4 years ago

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Legacies and the Fools They Ensnare

[And when the time comes, explain to the children...]

“Chasin’ storms is how a man spits in the face of his god.”, your mother warned you once, arthritic hand resting over where her missing limb once resided, squeezing a jigsaw puzzle shoulder, “I chased ‘em once too- but the one’s in a human soul are the most dangerous.”

“Those ones chew ya up an’ spit ya out. Be mindful of scorned hearts.”

And then the court summons arrived.

Ratchet stared at it in shock, stuttering over his words as he read the names and read them over and over and tried to process what he was seeing.

He had received a court summons. He had received official notice that he was to attend a hearing... to decide CHILD SUPPORT.

His communications were overrun- clogged with conversations between him and his mother, him and his lawyer (on retainer, a contact from before his graduation, an old friend dressed in gold and just fiery enough to bicker unending), and attempts to call the other name on the paperwork.

Perceptor’s number went dead after three days of frantic calls.

His lawyer (dressed in gold, dressed in loopholes) calmed his nerves, assuring him that, without a doubt, “such hellish demands won’t be allowed in MY courtroom, come now” and “everyone has a bitter ex, Doctor, it stands to reason that they’d want a slice of a pie they have no right to.”

Ratchet pretended he didn’t see a similarly gilded intern stare at them both in disgust.

Ratchet’s mother, the woman and medic whose name he inherited, gave him nothing but brimstone words and a hellfire snarl- a lecture on responsibility and a heavy accusation.

“DAMMIT BOY, I DIDN’T GIVE AN ARM FOR YOU TO TURN INTO YOUR DADDY!”

And Ratchet fumbled his words, snarling back about how could he have known, he wasn’t told until now, this isn’t his fault-

His mother breathed fire on the videocall, her eyes burning and her nostrils flaring like a bull about to charge as she spat, “WHAT’DJA THINK WAS GONNA HAPPEN, DIPPIN’ INTA ALL THOSE COOKIE JARS?!”

And Ratchet froze for only a moment, just long enough for her to dig her claws into every argument he had roiling in his head and heart to tear him down to the foundations- to expose his ego to the sun and let it shrivel like mold, like hyphae burned by the very air it needed as they searched out soothing words to nourish his self-image.

He saw movement behind his mother, and locked onto it- Hearing a soft coo and a mumble as his mother sighed softly and leaned to the side.

“I know baby, c’mon. Nana is sorry she was loud, she knows better.”

Ratchet felt his breath catch as he saw wild tousled curls he knew from his old school pictures- now in Perceptor’s India ink black. Bright eyes looked at the screen, and a pudgy hand reached out and wiggled fingers in a wave.

“Henyo!”

“Hi there.”

Nana, as she had called herself, looked at her grown son, her frown etched into her face, “Ratchet, meet y’r son. First Aid. Percy came t’me after he fu- flippin’ caught you an’ Pharma of all people.”

“...”

“He wanted t’surprise you that night. He’d just foun’ out he was carryin’. You surprised him instead, didn’t you.”

“...Look, I paid for my faux-pas okay; I get it, I was wrong, but it doesn’t explain these outrageous claims he’s demanding-!”

“I told him what t’demand.”

The words fell like boulders over a cliff edge- careening down his spinal cord to crash into his stomach and tighten it with betrayed nausea.

“You... Ma, you what?”

“You made a baby, son.”, she said coldly, “You made a LIFE. An’ that means you got responsibilities. And by god, I won’t let you dodge them; not like he did. You are gonna help raise this boy, Perceptor willing- or you’ll give the means to make this baby’s life perfect, do you fuckin’ understand me?!”

The child in question gasped softly, patting his Nana’s cheek with a tiny Perceptor-grade scowl at her saying such a naughty word.

“I know baby, I’m sorry.”

“Okie. Sowwy mean no soap.”

“That’s right.”

Ratchet looked at his mother, at his... his son, his CHILD... And thought back to the struggle he’d lived through once. He felt a knot tie in his stomach as he covered his mouth with his hands- the realization that he nearly DID choose the same route as his own absent father.

“Perceptor graduated, not that you’d care.”

“How would you kn-”

“Didja call him? Didja REMEMBER?”

“...”

Nana cooed at the little boy perched on her lap happily, huffing a laugh when he reached for her hair (grey and platinum and wound round into a bun, today, like it had been so long ago) before she looked back to Ratchet.

“I raised you better’n this, son. I raised you t’be better than the man who left you be’ind. Only for me to see you pull the same bullhockey. I’ve seen the communiques between lawyers, now- I’ve seen the accusations levelled at the person who carried this child for nine months and four days.”

“How do you-”

“Percy’s been livin’ with me since Aid came into the world. He had no one else t’turn to.”

Ratchet felt his face go cold at the rage in his mother’s eyes.

“And my family ain’t ones to run. Well. I thought that’s how it was.”

She adjusted her hold on First Aid.

“Lookin’ at you, maybe I was wrong. Next time we talk, it’ll be legalese son. I gotta go make sure Percy’s hormones ain’t makin’ him sick again. Good aft’rnoon to ya.”

The screen went dark.

Ratchet sat with his reflection, feeling the hot tears beading in his eyes like they always did when his mother was right and he didn’t want her to be.

He murmured for his console to videocomm his lawyer.

“Hello Doctor Ratchet, Intern-”

“Tell him to drop our side. Tell him I’m acquiescing to Perceptor’s requests, all of them. None of them are out of line, as we once thought... Perceptor was right to make his demands.”

The intern paused, and smiled, “As you wish sir. And... Good on you, for stepping up.”

Ratchet nodded, and the comm shut down.

He sat in the silence, remembering the bright eyes and round cheeks and the way his heart flipped at the way he heard Perceptor’s voice in a toddler’s giggling greeting.

#pastelwrites #tf #humanformers #ratchet #perceptor #nanaratch #using crims humanformers for evil and also chaos

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pastelgrungewrecker · 3 years ago

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Hit, Run || Sg-Ish

They tell me I'm a god, I'm lost in the facade {x}

“If this is what we think it is- we need to make it as difficult as possible for those kids to be targeted.”, said Stormy’s face on the vidscreen.

“How do you propose we do that, exactly?”, sighed Perceptor as his double handed him a mug of blonde coffee- the scent carrying a tang of creme liquer.

“...We have to split them up. Send Mimi here- to me and Aid. With her injuries she’s going to need med backup-”

“Then wouldn’t it be more logical to have her with me and Ratchet, precious?”

“No, it wouldn’t. I’m going to need to prod her for information; and with how close she is to her big brother, he’ll be good for her to lean on as well. You and Ratch should take Quickdraw and Chrona. It’s best they stay together, I think. Your residence is also the hardest to find, after all. If anything, it’ll be the last one compromised and the last thing we need is a Wild Whirl on the loose.”

Stormy looked over to where Whirl leaned against the wall, staring out the window and unmoving for the past hour, “...If he’s anything like mine, then he could become a very heavy danger in an instant. This is all a careful balance, not just of the remaining siblings but of parents as well.”

Brainstorm sighed, “...Much as I hate to agree, you’re probably right. We’ll pack tonight.”

Mimi made sure to spend all the time she could, clinging tight to her remaining two siblings- kisses to temples and just a little extra time fussing over braids and pre-bedtime hairbrushing.

Furiously cooking to pack away favorite foods while the double of her Si-Si watched with something soft in his eyes.

“Sugar-child, come now. Come here.”

“No, no I can’t I. I have to... I have to make sure I can. I can take care of them when. When they aren’t h-he-he-”

Her breathing began to spiral, her hands began to shake and tears fell heavy and plinked onto a counter that she still needed to clean to play like everything was normal.

“Ooooh, precious girl- so long taking care of every soul around you that you don’t know how to stop.”, whispered Percy, pulling the now crying young woman into a tight hug and letting her tears drench a shoulder, “It’s okay, it’s okay- you’ll be alright my darling- You’ll be alright little kit, I promise. They’ll be home before you know it, I swear.”

He leaned back, gently putting a hand against Mimi’s cheek with a smile, “Now- since you are no doubt the fount of knowledge! How about we sit down and make a few meal plans, write down some recipes and some good tips and tricks for helping your siblings, yeah? So you can keep them safe no matter where you go.”

“O-Okay. Okay.”, she hiccuped.

Perceptor watched his double and his daughter fondly, not realizing that would be the last time he saw her.

[In a warehouse yard, a redhead carbon copy massaged her temples as she replayed the stolen videocomm, already scanning maps and communications between family members to pin down where this First Aid was- until Kickback walks in with her optical implant glimmering a bright blue as she held up a dossier.

“Ratchet’s eldest- our Ratchet has one too. Works at the medical campus. Pulled his info as soon as I could.”

Mimosa lit up, eyes once again wild, “Excellent. Excellent- After Quickdraw’s fuck up I need to make sure to silence any loose ends- we won’t interrogate this one; but I’m sure you’ll get the practice the Doctor ordered, yeah?”

Kickback clapped her hands giddily, “Oho! You mean a LIVE patient?! Oh goody, wonderful! I’ve always wanted to perfect Father’s nervous system upgrades- they’re still a bit violent, needs more Testing.”]

The split was at night- the Good Doctor behind the wheel as Chrona and Quickdraw curled up in the backseat in sibling misery.

Percy glanced at the rearview mirror, checking on the pair, and sighing softly.

Ratchet’s grip on the wheel tightened, a brief flicker of anger as he went over what he was sent by Stormy.

“It looks like Prowl pushed the MTO program in a new direction in our timeline.”, he said quietly, “Stolen DNA, calculated matching using a customized predictive algorithm... And it by the looks of it, these kids in this timeline means they were reflected into ours but lacking primary developmental milestones that these young ones have.”

“Meaning?”, Ratchet had asked, feeling his chest creak and tighten in a mixture of rage and mourning.

“...Meaning that for every positive, a negative. QD to a Quickdraw. Dani to a Laudanum.”

“...So Percy and I.. We. We could have had a family.”

“....You do- you just. Weren’t told, and then Prowl made them into child soldiers.”

Seeing the two adolescents creeping into the house occupied by the Good Doctor and his Sniper merely broke Ratchet’s heart further; for a gentle use of the word heart. As Percy sighed gently, shaking his head before carrying the small cooler of favorite foods prepared by Mimi into a grandiose kitchen.

Chrona and Quickdraw huddled up on a massive couch- pulling one of Percy’s many favored crocheted blankets around them both as they simply... seemed to exist. Ratchet looked down, feeling for the first time at a loss. Percy tapped the controls on the sound system, the music drifted out- Ratchet hummed along, occasionally murmuring a lyric here and there and-

“...Hey, QD- Papawhirl loves this movie.”

“...Hey, yeah- this is that weird one he watches every Christmas, with the pretty brown haired lady?”

Ratchet chuckled, “Passion of Joan D’Polyex. A classic.”

“Yeah, Papawhirl watches a bunch of movies like that; his Dad used to love them too-”

Percy listened from the kitchen at the starts of conversation that led to laughter- that led to him peering out to see Ratchet gently teaching scales and songs to two terribly sad young adults.

‘Maybe this will work after all...’, mused Percy, ‘Just maybe.’

Stormy watched with guarded fondness as Aid hugged Mimi suffocatingly tight- Stardust reaching from her papa’s arm to bat at Mimi’s sideways ponytail. he couldn’t help the brief flicker of paranoia as Mimi cooed to the baby before gently taking her niece in her arms and gently rocking her.

Aid looked up, smiling at Stormy in a mixture of happiness and exhaustion.

When the medic reached his odd husband’s side, Stormy asked quietly, “Let me guess- she’s absolutely going to prop up in the feeding chair?”

“Ooooh yeah. Oh yeah hon. We’d be hard pressed to find a better guard dog.”, snorted Aid, “If memory serves, I’m pretty sure she almost chewed off a few of Blaster’s fingers for flipping QD the bird.”

“...Yeah, that’s honestly ideal levels of protective.”, mused Stormy, putting an arm around Aid’s waist protectively. A silent command through his wireless earpiece and the door locked, loudly, four times.

“Ideal levels of protective.”

That night, the world would burn down again.

It would be Mimi’s snarl of “LEAVE!” that would wake Stormy in a fury- sending him careening out only to skid to a stop at the strange sight. Aid following- armed and enraged to a degree Stormy had never seen before as the redheaded carbon copy stood in their living room; between them and Mimi as she held tight to a whimpering bundle. The intruder stood tall, weapons aimed at both the young woman and the MTO scientist as she hummed to herself.

The redhead turned, grinning with a grin Stormy recognized as he whispered, “Drift- No, Mimi?!”

Before the gunfire started, before smoke filled the room and Mimi’s scream of pain was cut short as Stormy snarled from the burn in both shoulder and his eyes.

The smoke alarm squalled it’s ring as Stormy fumbled for the door to tumble outside as he coughed- seeing Mimi begin dragged, limp and unresponsive and once again trailing crimson like when Kiki had been stolen. Stormy scrambled to his feet as Aid stumbled out of the smoke filled apartment, yelling for his baby, for his sister, as he knocked his own visor from his face to get the smoky burn to cease.

Mimi’s double shoved Mimi into a nondescript grey vehicle, rolling her eyes as Stardust began to wail and scream. She reached to grab the bundle, to toss the infant aside and cease it’s noise-

Until she hissed sharply, arm nearly buckling from the force of Mimi dazedly burying her teeth into flesh and tearing to the side.

Stormy watched as she swore and then his legs kicked into gear- charging after her only to be barreled into by a scrawny and feral frame.

A piercing screech of laughter into his face- a wild eye in Whirl’s muted arctic steel before she laughed wildy and dragged oversharp nails over the scientists eyes in rapid strikes before Aid’s pistolfire chased her back to the now revving escape vehicle.

Aid tore after it, barefeet barely keeping purchase on the street surface as he screamed Stardust’s name.

Stardust, who curled tightly against her aunt as an arm drenched in two kinds of blood held her close.

Mimi glared, vision shaky from a strike to her skull as her double stared back at her via the rearview mirror.

“Mimosa, I take it.”, said Mimi thickly, “Ugly dramatic bitches like you always use their full name like some kinda knockoff villain.”

“Big words from a victim.”, said Mimosa flatly, “You talk a big game for someone who doesn’t have a leg up on life, much less anyone else- judging by those prosthetics.”

“And you act real strong for someone who’s parents couldn’t love them- I may be missing some limbs but you’re missing a good chunk of braincells.”

The ride continued in silence.

Mimosa tapped the vehicles console, activating a call and frowning when it took entirely too long to connect.

“Quickdraw, report.”

“Oh I’ll report alright.”, was the snarled answer as the feral girl in the passenger seat made a small noise of confused recognition, “If you don’t tell me. Where my sisters are. Then I’m peeling every circuit board out of this FUCKING KNOCKOFF, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME, AND THEN I’M GONNA FIND YOUR ASS AND TURN YOUR FUCKINNG SKIN INTO WORKBOOTS-”

The call was forcibly silenced as Mimosa hung it up, her grip on the wheel tightening.

Mimi couldn’t help it- she began to laugh. She began to laugh and it filled the car until the feral girl hissed at Mimi- only to rear back as Mimi returned the action in kind; showing natural fangs and the kind of wildness that only is born of witnessing hell burn itself down before a free hand lashed out and snagged the balck, unbrushed hair.

Mimosa swore, swerving as her passanger was yanked halfway into the backseat.

“If. You. EVER. Hiss at me again, Chrona-”, growled Mimi, “Then whatever that shit-tier knockoff action figure could do to you will be CHILD’S PLAY compared to what I unleash.”

“O-k-ka-kay.”

Mimi, already regretting the action when she saw sudden fear in familiar eyes, released Chrona and leaned back, thighs twitching with the lack of prosthetics.

==================

In simultaneous ridiculousness, Quickdraw had been sent with a simple directive.

Spy.

He had grumbled to himself, disgusted at the extravagance all around him as he huddled in a crawlspace above the living room of the Good Doctor and mocking his double to himself.

“How pathetic, huddling like a TODDLER.”, sighed Quickdraw as he watched QD; his ego pushing to the forefront and making him leave his focus at the door as he set to justifying his superiority.

He didn’t notice Chrona looking up with suspicion in her eyes before tailing after her brother.

Quickdraw didn’t notice when his double leaned slightly to hear Chrona’s whispers- didn’t pay attention to the guarded way the pair spoke to each other as they moved about the room set up for them by the Doctor and the Sniper.

He noticed nothing until he shifted wrong and the ceiling-floor went out from under him, sending him careening eleven feet down. he swore- gagging from the pain rocketing up and down his spine before a hand closed around his throat.

“Chrona. Please go get Doctor Ratchet very quickly.”, he hissed as his double choked, “His skills are about to be really fucking necessary.”

Chrona watched, amused and gently sadistic, “Whatcha gonna do big bro?”

Quickdraw yowled sharply as QD’s thumbnail dug hard into a cheek, forcing the prong of a mod’s circuitry to stick out with a twang of adjustment, “I’m going to fucking PEEL the trash bastard that stole my sisters...”, he snarled, “And if he knows what’s good for him he’ll start. Fucking. Talking.”

Right then, Quickdraw’s comm began to ring and QD answered it, hearing the voice on the other end as the label Unit Head flickered over the screen.

“Quickdraw, report.”

“Oh I’ll report alright.”, QD snarled as his grip on his blueing double tightened,, “If you don’t tell me. Where my sisters are. Then I’m peeling every circuit board out of this FUCKING KNOCKOFF, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME, AND THEN I’M GONNA FIND YOUR ASS AND TURN YOUR FUCKINNG SKIN INTO WORKBOOTS-”

The chime of the call dropping. Chrona couldn’t help the laughter that echoed from her as she left the room- closing the door- only to see Ratchet at the bottom of the stairs.

She leaned on the bannister, and Ratchet was impressed with the wickedness in youthful eyes.

“Don’t worry Doc- QD just has a little prisoner and his temper is REAL WAY up now.”

“...Interesting, what is he attempting?”

“He’s gonna peel that dude’s mods, obviously.”, said Chrona flatly, “And he’s only gonna stop when he gets information.”

“...It would behoove us to inform QD that Mimi and Stardust were just abducted...”, said Ratchet carefully, “...There was gunfire. Mimi was injured; her prosthetics were also left behind and broken.”

Chrona’s smile was sharp, too sharp to be natural, and she nodded. She cracked the door, relaying the message good and loud and waiting a moment for Quickdraw’s voice to bellow out in an eerie copy of Whirl’s...

“I SUGGEST YOU START TALKIN’ KNOCKOFF CAUSE NOW I’M JUST GONNA RIP IT ALL OUT!”

The sound of the double howling in excruciating pain, the sound of skin tearing along forced perforation.

Chrona shut the door tight, turning her head slightly as Ratchet now stood behind her- having ascended the steps.

“Me and QD? We were raised by Mimi, y’see.”, she said simply, “Mimi’s first rule of family- good for the goose, good for the gander. Whatever they do to you, is fair game to do to them.”

“...They say an eye for an eye and the world goes blind, young Chrona.”, warned Ratchet gently, slightly unnerved at the way the girl smiled as she heard screaming.

“Then we go for tongues, and get some peace and quiet, don’t we Mister Ratchet?”, she replied, looking fearlessly back at him, “You should call everyone- we’ll need to act fast after QD’s done. Oh- and you’re good at stitches right?”

Ratchet nodded, blinking at the thumbs up he received from Chrona.

#pastelwrites #shatteredglass #sg ish #fankids

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