| abstract | - It is a cool evening this Halloween out at Salem's Lappin Park. The place has been decked out in Halloween decorations by the Protectobots and other helpers, from the Autobots, EDC, Junkions, and even local Salem residents. There are numerous venues set up for apple/energon bobbing, pin the tail on the donkey/Cassettibot, scary ghost story campfires, and tons of costume contests. There's tour guides going around taking youngsters around, telling the story about the Salem Witch Trials from 1692. Just about everyone, from human to Transformer to other, is dressed up as something or other. There's a lot of the conventional stuff, like devils and ghosts and witches and princesses, but the majority of guests are dressed up as the most popular toy and cartoon franchise around: The Transformers. It is like Botcon gone horribly horribly wrong (or wronger), except that most of them are children so it is adorable rather than creepy. First Aid, decked out in a black and tan paintjob, a fake windshield on his back, a cardboard cannon on his shoulder, and the rear section of a jeep on the back of his legs. He's manning the ticket booth, though the admission fee is just a donation. All proceeds go to UNICEF. First Aid hands out safety brochures to a family entering the park. "That'll be five hundred dollars, please." One of the children laughs at this, and First Aid laughs too. "Hee hee! I'm just kidding. I wouldn't actually charge money for this. I'm only getting in character. Go on in and enjoy!" Mr. Grumpypants himself, Gears, is present. Though he looks very much the same, he's wearing a painted cardboard box from the 'neck' down that looks like a radio, and his head has Neon Light Tubing outlining it. He looks like...a Jukebox? "For the love of Prime don't try to play anything on me," he says, "I'm not Blaster or Jazz." Foxfire is hanging about near a large jack-o'-lantern, lying down with his head lifted, ears perked, and tail idly swishing. He's watching the various humans and studying their costumes, and though he seems calm at the moment, he's actually quite excited. After all, what other time of the year can he get free enercandy? Grapple waddles about in a full-body costume of a generic Cybertronian house. Why he chose orange for the color is anyone's guess, and it does seem like the only way he's able to see is from little eyeholes by a 'window'. Many a curious child asks -- and most guess 'gumdrop', for some reason --, and the architect is all too happy to explain all about cybertronian architecture. So, it's educational as well! .. Until those children flee from boredom, anyway. But Grapple doesn't seem to mind and, really, seems quite cheerful. Look out, it's a Decepticon! Oh, wait. Those guns look to be hastily rolled sheet metal, and the eyes are the wrong shade of red. 'Onslaught' stands tall behind 'Swindle', arms crossed and trying to look imposing, while winking at the youngsters entering the park to enjoy the festivities. "Sure is a good turn-out. You should be able to get a bunch of credits for your little 'project'." A tall and inposing looking red,gray and blue Decepticon Seeker walks up toward the ticket booth where 'Swindle' is at. "What are you looking at?" A synthed screechy voice says that bears somewhat of a similarity to the late Starscream. In fact this looks like Starscream but isnt he a ghost? The left wing dropped down a bit on the robot suddenly and Starscream quickly elbows it back into place. When did the Autobots get a Porsche girl? Om well, must be someone new from Cybertron. Or it could just be Nightbeat in drag with a hacked voice chip. He does that sometimes. Primus only knows why. She takes demure, mincing steps to the ticket booth, and she withdraws the Cybertronian equivalent of a cute little change purse to make her donation. When she sees 'Swindle', she recoils in shock and horror, exclaiming, "Oh, no, Combaticons around all the children?" She wags a finger and narrows her optics, "I do hope you intend to be /good/ Combaticons for the night." Someone is in character. Perhaps a bit too much. Markdown is dressed as... an employee from his own store! Which basically amounts to him wearing a giant red apron with the "A-Mart" logo printed upon it. "Hello, everyone!" Markdown says, greeting humans as they clear First Aid's booth. He hands candy to children as they walk by, and if he spots any teens of working age, he'll hand them a job application form, which most of them don't quite know what to do with. "Welcome to the party!" Not only that, but Markdown appears to have set up a "Sponsored by A-Mart!" sign near his present position, just to let everyone know who paid for all of this, and subtly suggesting where they should go shopping. First Aid waves his hand dismissively at Ons- I mean Hot Spot. "Oh I wouldn't worry about it. I'm not in it for the credits. I'm... oh, wait, I mean naturally I /am/ in it for the money. In fact money is all I ever care about. Everything else is secondary and of little importance to me because of my greedy one-track mind! Hee hee!" First Aid has to wipe a robo-tear away from his optic. "Oh Combaticons, is there nothing they will not do?" S'why nobody goes to First Aid when trash talking is required. The 'Combaticon' hands out some more brochures. A few kids who look way too old for trick or treating take them, but roll theie eyes and chuck them in the nearest garbage once they think nobody is looking. They try their best to escape Markdown's job applications. Jobs are for dweebs. 'Swindle' then looks over at 'Starscream' and is clearly impressed. "Wow! That's a fantastic get-up. It really does look like Starscream!" Pause. "...you aren't some other Seeker trying to infiltrate our Halloween event, are you?" While he waits for an answer, he catches sight of a foxy gal (not Foxfire) in pink strutting in. "..." First Aid says at Nihgbteat's costume. Blades Standing before you is a predominantly gun metal gray and purple robot of Cybertronian nature. A large pair of rotors made of alien composite alloy is attached to this Cybertronian's back. You notice that the gray armour plating is actually nothing more than just flimsy pieces of cardboard hastily coloured, and the shoddy job shows as there are quite a few spots of brown cardboard still exposed. There is a poorly drawn Decepticon emblem taped across the chest of the Cybertronian. A dull gray plastic helmet is worn on the head of this Cybertronian and is accompanied by an equally dull gray faceplate. An red optic band completes the facial appearance of this cheaply made monstrosity. You notice on the front of this Cybertronian there is a sign that reads, "Hello. I am Vortex, Combaticon Failure extraordinare. Please don't judge me just because I was made with inferior material." Rodimus Prime Purple and gray, in the shades normally sported by Galvatron, this strange vehicle's front 'cab' end bears a distinct resemblance to Rodimus Prime. A Decepticon symbol on the front has been modified so that it has a tongue hanging out in a 'durr' type expression. The vehicle also still has a trailer, but most of it (except for a portion used to cover his robot mode legs) is open air, and sitting on the flat-bed form, held in place with a clamp, is what looks like a giant soda bottle painted orange, the opening and lid peeking over the cab-front and resting on the purple spoilers. Chemlights have been tied to the bottle top to suggest, perhaps, a glowing weapon ready to fire, but they sway and dangle when the vehicle moves. Blades stumbles around with noticable difficulty as he tries to keep the the poorly attached cardboard on his body frame from falling off. Various children are gathered around near the base of the Prot--- err Combaticon's feet. He keeps one hand around his forehead, pressing the optic band against himself and speaks out, albit in a muffled tone thanks to the mouthplate covering his mouth, "Guys I think I'm falling apart. Someone cover the children babysitting for me, eh? I need to head to the back and glue these blasted thing to my face." Giant Orange Soda Bottle On A Weird Sports-Car-Truck-Thing With A Trailer rumbles into the area, perhaps running a bit late, and pulls up near the entry booth. The 'muzzle' of his 'cannon' (aka his giant soda bottle) glows, but since it's lit up by chemlights, it glows pretty constantly anyway. "NYARGH!" the vehicle shouts in what is obvious Rodimus Prime's voice doing a very bad impersonation of Galvatron. "Tremble before me, mortals, for I am Galvatron, and I shall smote y- I shall smike yo-" and then he just loses it, bursting out laughing. He transforms up into robot mode and grips his midsection as he continues his laughing. "I'm sorry," Rodimus Prime grins from beneath his purple-painted robot-sized Burger King crown. "I just couldn't keep from laughing." As he speaks, he removes a large, orange, cardboard cylinder from subspace and straps it to his arm. He spies Fireflight and grins, then forces a sneer. "A Starscream costume? This is bad comedy!" He presses a little button attached to his arm 'cannon,' and it makes some electronic 'pewpewpew' noises as he points the 'cannon' at Fireflight. Giant Orange Soda Bottle On A Weird Sports-Car-Truck-Thing With A Trailer transforms into his Robot mode. Foxfire glances up as Rodimus arrives. His ears twitch, and then he gets to his paws, a smirk crossing his muzzle. He approaches his leader and circles him to examine his costume. "Not bad, chief. I'd say you look better than the real thing!" 'Starscream' looks at 'Swindle'. "Oh no I wouldnt be tha--" Fireflight stops suddenly and activates his voice changer, "OF course, Swindle." he says as 'starscream'. "We will take over this party and then I and the rest of the Combaticons here will have the ultimate weapon to defeat --" he stops and gasps as he sees 'Galvatron' fire at him, "I was only kidding, Galvatron!" The 'girl' pauses and looks at 'Swindle' uncertainly, unsure of what to make of his reaction, before finally offering her donation to the fake con man. She chirps, "Arigatou! It is so nice to see so many enjoying the festivities, but some of the costumes are a bit scary, don't you think?" And then 'Galvatron' arrives. The 'girl' eeeks and promptly tries to hide behind whoever is handy. Groove is near the ticket booth passing out bags of candy. Every time a little kid dressed up like a transformer passes by, Groove points and does a silly dance. It takes him a good moment to recognize Nightbeat. He awkwardly salutes in response, "Yes ma'am, we'll be good tonight! Hmm, Seeker?" Groove is dressed up as Blast Off tonight, and apparently put a bit more time into is costume, seeing as it's not build out of cardboard or soda bottles. Now he feels out of place! "Don't worry about it Blades, I'll cover ya'. Yo Prime, far out get-up!" Grapple seems to be ignoring just about everyone as he waddled by. Under the fully covering costume, he can be heard grumbling a little. It may seem a bit strange until the splatter can be seen on his costume. Aww, someone egged his house. A-Mart Employee's head pivots towards Blades, and, with a frown, Markdown opens his driver side door, rummages around inside, then, and pulls out a bottle of something or other. He holds it out to Blades. "Try this Gorilla Glue! I guarantee it'll stick to anything, and last for a long time! As for the kids, I got just the thing!" He stoops down by the swarm of children accosting the Protectobot, and holds out a collection of DVD's! "These ones are normally fives, but you can have 'em for free. More movies just like them are on sale at low prices at my store, so let your parents know about the great deals!" Some of the children shriek as 'Sunkist Action Galvatron' approaches, and Markdown just chuckles. "Hahaha, ah, don't worry, that's not really Galvatron. I think he's allergic to car modes, anyway." Fairway walks over to Groove, positively poofy in his red vest, and having just a bit of trouble seeing through his handmade Marty McFly mask. He watches as children run by, many of them dressed as Autobots. He sees one full-grown man lingering near the ticket booth, a black candy bag in his hand, dressed like Optimus Prime. "Friend Groove," he calls, raising his pink hoverboard, "and...Combaticons! And Starscream? A fine evening for such festivities, yes?" He slaps down a good sum of credits for 'Swindle' and then steps to Groove's side. "I wonder if you would be so kind as to fill me in on the origins of this...ceremony." Hot Spot's Onslaught-like calm demeanor is broken as Nightbeat's femenine appearance illicits a giggle from behind his faceplate. "Well, you've certainly managed to pull off another great scheme, 'Swindle'," Hot spot says with audible quotes. "You've got everyone fooled into thinking this is just a party!" Rodimus's antics are just too much, bringing more mirth to hot Spot's occluded eyes and he laughs some more, chuckling firmly enough to dislodge one of the faux-Onslaught guns from his back. Meanwhile, the real Galvatron finds himself inexplicably overcome with anger, and slaps a Sweep for no reason. First Aid nods to 'Vortex'. "Sure thing, Blades. Go get yourself fixed up. Maybe if we Combaticons had an actual doctor instead of someone who would probably just sell us for spare parts this sort of thing would not happen. Curse us and our evil diabolical and usually one-dimensional ways!" First Aid gives a little pumpfist, failing miserably at looking evil. First Aid doesn't actually think Swindle would do that. He's exaggerating. I mean you'd have to be a real dick to do that to your mates. Suddenly there's a beep from First Aid's internal alarm clock. The Protaticon looks over at Onslaught, "It's time for the Safety Awareness lesson. Shall we pull out the piece du resistance?" Swindle sets the brochures aside for now. Dee-Kal has arrived. Dee-Kal combs a strand from her optics. The 'girl' raises her black-painted hands to the sides of her face, and she frets, "Oh no, Mr. Onslaught! You are going to pieces. You see, your guns are falling off. Perhaps that helpful A-Mart employee can use his Gorilla Glue to put you back together?" Because heaven forbid she actually ever do anything useful herself. "Well, Foxfire, that's not exactly hard," Rodimus answers Indiana Fox, immediately falling back out of character. He doesn't seem able to successfully stay 'in character' for more than a minute straight. "And thanks!" he adds to Groove. He swaggers over and attempts to give 'Starscream' a friendly punch in the arm. "And aw! I forgive you! Only so many times I can kill you off, after all! His still-blue optics flicker in surprise, however, as the children panic, and he holds up calming hands as he crouches down to be closer to their level. "Nonononono!" he soothes. "I'm not really Galvatron! It's just a costume! See?" And then he takes off his purple Burger King crown to show them. Fireflight stares at Fairway and it takes him a moment to get the connection of his costume from his alt mode. He laughs, "Indeed, Marty, a fine evening it is!" he says in his voice changer trying to talk even a bit like how he remembered Starscream to be, and secretly wondering how this Seeker ever lived with that voice. An eery fog seems to be rolling in from the outskirts of the town. Salem.. a pinicle point in American history that helped to bring about the camp-fire stories, legends of mysteries and other ghostly tales to scare young kids. Through this fog you can see a figure walking slowly. It is a rather tall imposing figure.. squarish in the chest with large strong arms and legs. The being approaches ever more closely using the fog to hide his true form.. his true essence.. Finally the large being catches up to the rolling fog front and emerges through. His chest is dark red and shaped like a truck's front.. windows, grill and all - while his arms and legs are a midnight blue. In his right hand he holds an immense flamberge sword.. black and blood red in color and pulsating with dark energies that are held within. As you gaze up and done the being's form you can't help but notice something is wrong, or rather.. missing. This robot has no head!! As much as this robot might look like a famed hero of 'ol.. no head rests upon his shoulders above his chest. No gentle smile exudes from him... Just a feeling of great evil of being unjustly wronged in the past. The being walks with great purpose. Each stride a perfect step. Each step an unwavering mark towards his goals. Sightless as he may be by traditional means, he swings his large sword with accuracy and aim.. He swings his sword with intent.. on taking your head!! Jukebox Gears meanders about, muttering. "It's cold," he complains, "Where's the energon bobbing? I'm getting depleted all up in here." Groove fails to remain mellow as Fairway strolls up with his McFly-suit. "Yes! Yes! Oh man, you have to enter the contest!" The cyclebot just stands there for a moment, taking it all in, "And the hoverboard and th'... Hi Starscream! Glad you could join us. Okay, Marty... the origins? Umm..." A little orange Cybertronian house seems to have been set by the apple bobbing booth. Occasionally, it wiggles, and there appears to be a person inside it. The 'girl' screams a bit more at the sight of the Headless Prime, and she loses her head! Literally. It just sort of falls off her shoulders. She staggers for a few moments before collapsing down to the ground... and a Porsche. Her head shakes itself and transforms. A rather disgruntled figure that might be female, if you squint and have a good imagination, stands where the head was, blonde-haired and blue eyed, in a Japanese school uniform. A soft padding of shoes and a slight swish among the trees... something new, large and dark, as befits the theme, makes a slight bow and apologetic laugh as it arrives. But wait... this is no Transformer... or is it? Since *when* were Cybertronians ... fuzzy..? Fireflight takes the punch in the arm and grabs his red shoulder peice and arm laser and smiles at Rodimus then chuckles at his comment. He looks over toward the kids as Roddy assures them hes not really Galvatron, hears Groove call his name and waves. Then suddenly the temperature drops, too suddenly and he looks around. "What is going on?" he says and his voice synth actviates through about half of it so it sounds all weird. "A few dabs of his glue might be helpful, but I think it'll have to wait." Onslaught replies to Minerva. Hot spot can be just as punctual as has Combaticon counterpart, and the slowly-disintegrating 'Onslaught' nods in agreement to his little merchantile buddy. "Wnenever you're ready, initiate plan 29102030, protocol alpha." Foxfire sits up on his haunches and gestures with his forepaws in an attempt to help Rodimus calm the children. "Galvatron's not really here, see? It's just a costume! Don't worry, though..." One optic dims, giving the impression that he's winking. "If Galvatron *does* show up, I'll bite 'im for ya!" He grins, then perks his ears and frowns slightly as the fog rolls in. "What in the...?" And then...a headless robot! Foxfire barks once, alarmed, and jumps to his feet with a snarl, a clear indication that he's frightened... Blades gives Groove a wave of thanks and scrambles to the corner of where he is approached with the offer of Gorilla Glue. Never the one to think too far ahead, Blades eagerly accepts the glue, "Niiiice, I owe you one." The fake Combaticon shuffles his way over to the corner, and begins applying the sticky substance all over the areas of his costume that's barely staying on. "Well I'll be dipped. This thing works a like wonder." Shortly afterwards a new and improved looking Vortex appears back into the crowd, "Thanks for the cover folks." Blades falls into an extremely exaggerated pose, think Power Rangers or those crazy Sentai shows. His right hand is outstretched and he exclaims to the children around him, "Rawwwwr!" Fairway is about to ask what contest there is to be entered when the headless Prime materializes from the mist and seems to remove Minerva's head! He is genuinely startled despite the fact that part of him knows exactly what's going on. He clutches Groove's arm instinctively, jumping. "Primus," he exclaims, "What an excellent costume!" He approaches the headless apparition. "Well done, friend. Might I ask who you are underneath all that?" The headless Optimus Prime swings his large sword out at the nearest of onlookers to his entrance. The blade glows eerily and pulsates right before slicing off the head of some poor girl. Not bothering to take notice that the head has now transformed he being continues on its path.. stalking forward with dark hidden powers lingering within its form. He strikes out once more towards another robotic being here. But a tree gets in the way. However the tree gets cleaved in twain as if it was already made of thin paper and not a few centuries old hard wood. He raises his left arm up into the air, and with an almost skeleton finger points down the street towards his intended target. If others should however get in his way.. he will gladly relieve them of their has as well. The more.. the merrier.. and the more he can feed to the dark sinister powers that compel him forward. 'Minerva' decides to spend sometime wandering about the crowds as a 'human'. These shoes are /killing/ Muzzle, though, but not as much as Muzzle's gonna kill Nightbeat when Halloween is over. So 'Minerva' the 'human' leaves 'Minerva' the 'ambulance' to sit there while 'she' wanders about. (Boy, there are way too many quotes in this pose.) As to the fuzzy entrant... well. Dee-Kal must have been watching 'Hallo, Irma' or 'Fantastic Mr Fox'. Because this is the result - a giant cartoon mink. The detail is amazing - black fur you could almost stroke, long sleeved blouse, ankle length skirt, even a pairs of spectacles balanced on her mustelid nose. It's certainly not scary. That is to say, she. Unless you think an 18 ft anthro librarian mink *is* scary. A-Mart Employee chuckles a few times, giving the kids more candy to help reassure them. "Hey, no problem, Blades. And if you need more, they're on sale at my store for three bucks per bottle." One of the kids asks, "Why do you always talk about money?" Markdown smiles, and replies, "Money makes the world go 'round, kids. Everything you buy and eat has a value, and that value's represented by money. If it didn't have any value, how would we know how much your parents' cars are worth, or how much the fuel in their cars should cost? It would be anarchy, and we should all be grateful we live in a free market society where--" "I gotta pee!" one of the kids blurts out. "Oh," Markdown says, and points at a miniature port-a-potty. "Yeah, use that port-a-potty. Just don't fall in, believe me. Hahaha!" Under his breath, he mutters, "Well, that was awkward." Then Headless Optimus arrives. Markdown's face goes blank. "Speaking of awkward..." Foxfire barks again, and does so repeatedly at the Headless Optimus. He's seriously spooked. Well, the sudden arrival of a sword-wielding headless Prime certainly stunned the wiggling orange house. Inside said house costume, Grapple boggles, stunned; he isn't sure if the costume is just in really poor taste or if, maybe, he should be worrying a little. ..And then the tree falls over. Okay, now he really is starting to worry. "..Oh, dear." 'Starscream' stares at the headless Prime. One of his arm lasers falls off and he doesnt even notice. "Guys..." he stammers, "I..I-dontthink thats a costume!" Dee-Kal Mink looks around, black ears flickering. "Oh, my. So much noise. Please keep it down. Think of the children..!" 'Swindle' looks over at the arrival of the Headless Headmaster! He slaps his cheeks a la the kid from Home Alone, "Oh no!" First Aid exclaims, "It is the dreaded. Headless Truckmech! He must be after our heads!" Either First Aid is in on this or he's managed to figure it out. Either way he's a lousy actor and his stilted fear doesn't help. The children as a whole are freaked out by the arrival of Colossus, but in the good Halloween way. Many of them can be seen hugging their parents' legs, terrified that Optimus Prime has come back from the dead (is it so far fetched?). "Eeek!" one little girl dressed up as Arcee screams as Vortex reaches for her. Her brother, dressed as Springer, points at laughs hysterically at her. Swindle meanwhile nods at Hot Spot and the other Protectobots, taking a step forward. "Gee golly, there is only one mech that can. Face the terror that is the Headless Headmaster!" The Protectobots suddenly shift into vehicle mode. How they look in their Combaticon disguises varies from Protectobot to Protectobot. Paper mache can be seen flying in as parts reconfigure, growing and merging together in what would normally be a powder blue creation, but now is camo green, tan, and silver. Rising up, Defensor stands. The paper mache works to change his colours where appropriate. There's a little paper helmet on his head that looks sort of like, "Bruticus... lives!" Defensor says, trying to emulate the Combaticon Supreme's voice. "Fear not, fellow Decepticons," Defensor says, trying to hide a smirk, "Despite my carbon copy, dull-witted personalty, I, Bruticus, shall fight this headless Optimus Prime." 'Bruticus' strikes a pose, "But I shall need the help of children everywhere to defeat this menace to the Au- er, Decepticons!" Rodimus Prime's optic ridge raises at the arrival of a headless Optimus Prime, and he quickly glances around, particularly at those who actually knew Optimus, to make sure that no one is bothered by this. The young Prime is pretty thoughtless much of the time, but still. 'Roditron' straightens. "Of *course* it's a costume," he says, tone light and dismissive, to Fireflight. Even so, and just in case, he takes a step between the children and the merging robots, headless whatevers, and everything else. Dee-Kal Mink steps backwards, her tail curved upwards out of harm's way. "With me, children, back up now. Let us give our hero some room to move shall we?" She claps gently, soft paws making a faint sound. 'Starscream' bends down and reattaches his arm laser and looks around hoping no one heard him fall for that headless robot. Pffft... thats a good costume, he thought it was some how really a headless mad transformer for a moment. Jukebox-Gears walks up to Foxfire. "The Headless Prime scaring you?" he says, "Well, as long as it doesn't start throwing flaming pumpkins, I think you're ok." Monstereo Van Helsing is fashionably late, boils and ghouls. The stalwart doctor of a thousand fields is dressed to kill... or 'slay' for the younger viewers sake. "Gentlemen. Ladies. Others. Is this party ro-HOLY HAND GRENADE, BATMAN! An undead to crash our bash?! Egad." He points at the headless Optimus and grins, in the spirit of the season. Fairway is always odd by the formation of a gestalt, Autobot or Decepticon, and this particular instance provides him a unique treat - Defensor in costume! He applauds, turning to see if anyone else is doing the same thing. It's then that he sees the librarian mink. "Yet another impressive disguise," he proclaims, "My first inclination was to attend in my altmode. It's a good thing the 'costume' part of this festival was clarified to me before I humiliated myself." He scans the crowd, impressed by virtually everyone, but his gaze is drawn back to the headless phantom and the costumed Defensor. Foxfire stops barking and raises an optic ridge at Gears. "It's a freakin' headless Optimus Prime. Of course I'm scared! Even if it *is* just a costume..." He sounds vaguely sheepish as he says that last statement. 'Minerva' didn't really know Optimus Prime all that much, and doesn't have particularly good memories of the man's better half. The costume is sort of like seeing an undead George Washington would be for American humans, though - kind of weird and disturbing. Muzzle-Minerva, being a Nebulan who never met Optimus Prime at all, is sort of puzzled by Nightbeat's unease. Muzzle-Minerva is also uncertain what to make of the giant skunk. He doesn't even know what a skunk is. And he's not sure he wants to know. So Muzzle-Minerva goes to check out the bobbing for apples thing. Dee-Kal Mink smiles sweetly, removing her spectacles and polishing the lenses with her furry black tail. "Such wonderful costumes... everyone has been working really hard..! I do hope they all get a round of applause for their efforts... yes, I do." the mink nods to herself. She's not a skunk. She's a mink. Sort of like a stoat or a weasel. ^-^ Only anthro. The headless Optimus continues to march down the dark, and now gloomy street. Some sort of animal creatures walks out in front of him as he's making his way towards his true intended target. A cartoon'ish looking creature at that.. but all the same to our evil, headless crusader. As he walks by the.. thing, he swings his sword down at the Mink to slice off its head as well! All beings... large, small.. robotic, fleshly, cartoonish.. are the same to him. All must loose their head as he was so unjustly robbed of his. And then.. his true target comes, or rather, rises into sight. The combined form of several robotic beings to form a super one. It was this beings great, great... great (x10) grandfather that had robbed him of his life.. of his head those fated centuries ago. It is this being.. upon the forces of nature itself won't protect or defend it. It is this monstrous combiner.. that shall suffer the same fate as he has.. A-Mart Employee says of the Headless Prime, in a flat tone-of-voice, "OH. I get it. You're actually *Nemesis Prime.* Well, ok, then! That makes more sense." Then, he spies a giant skunk (or something) leading a gaggle of children around, and for a moment, he says nothing. Eventually, he rubs his left temple, sighs, and mutters, "And to think, I got heckled for *my* costume before I came here." Markdown looks up as Defensor merges with a bit of concern. He's not sure it's ever a good idea to merge a gestalt in the presence of children, but then again, Defensor is the biggest sissy--er, the gentlest of the gestalts when it comes to humans. "Uh, kick NEMESIS PRIME'S butt, Defensor! Yeah. Yeah..." Grapple gets back to his wobbly costume-covered feet. In a bit of stunned curiosity, he wobbles closer to the headless Prime as the undead.. Thing.. heads down the street. "..This is a very strange festival." He says to no one in particular. Dee-Kal Mink bends down to pick up a stray decoration and restore it to its proper placing atop a pole. "Oh, look at this... such a pretty paper lantern..." She smiles, replacing the specs over her muzzle and moving her loose black ponytail behind her. "What a wonderful smurf... err, turnout. Yes." Her tail swishes gently behind her. "And on such a beautiful night!" Fireflight givew a nod at Rodimus' assurance its a costume but still isnt that convinced. Though if it is a constume hes glad only one mech heard him fall for it none the less. He watches this headless Prime and shivers a bit at how real that sword seems to be, "How is whoever that is doing that trick with that fake sword I wonder," 'Starscream' says to no one in particular. Rodimus Prime's optic-lights flicker in the equivalent of a blink. "Nemesis Prime?" he asks as Markdown begins shouting. "OOOOOOOH!" he exclaims, then looks a little relieved. Then he switches to bad-mock-Galvatron voice and raises his right, cardboard-cannon arm. "Bring him down, Bruticus! Destroy Prime, and teach the dead to stay dead!" Then he trails off and looks around, shrugging. "Or something." Muzzle-Minerva would only be able to tell a sunk from a mink if the mink was somehow involved in a crime. He looks at the Grapple-building-thing skeptically, crossing his arms across his pointedly flat chest, and he asks in a falsetto, "So what are you supposed to be, a Quonset hut?" Foxfire stays behind Roditron's leg so as not to get stepped on. Monstereo Van Helsing strolls amongst the crowd, mingling with smiles and a 'hey how ya doin?' thrown in here and there. "Decaptimus Prime there is wonderful, who hired him?" Fairway circles the two towering robots (in disguise) to stand beside the wiggly house. "It has only just occurred to me that you, too, are an Autobot in costume! How wonderful!" To Muzzle-Minerva, he explains, "I once lived in such a house - in the months after my activation. I have fond memories of it." He then kneels to laugh with some kids who are gathering around his feet. To his surprise, one of them is dressed as himself! "How flattering!" He pats the child's head with the utmost care. "Though I do hope that silver paint is hypoallergenic, young friend." The orange house turns to stare at Minerva. "I am a standard regulation mid-sized Cybertronian house." He seems entirely too proud of this. Applause errupts from the crowd of spectators in the area at the unexpected treat of seeing the rare merging of five sentient Cybertronians in public. Eventually the crowd of people is shuffled back by the staffs in the area in order to allow the giant behemoth room to move forward. "Who is this Defensor? You are mistaken, I am Bruticus, dunce of the Decepticon Empire!" The fake Bruticus does a quick flexing of the arms at Markdown and makes sure the rest of the crowd gets a good look before turning back to the headless Optimus. The fake Bruticus moves forward and slowly jabs a finger at the decaptitated Optimus, "Ha hah! Feel the might of my finger of injustice!" Dee-Kal Mink chuckles quietly and crouches down. She sneaks up and gently makes to lifts Foxfire up into her arms. A few moments and an energon snack is in her hand to feed the cute robot fox. "Why hello, there. Are you not just a sweetie..?" Grapple then promptly turns to look at Fairway; underneath the orange.. Fabric? Styrofoam? Who knows! .., Grapple is grinning. "I lived in a near exact replica of this costume, myself. I have fond memories of this color.." A slight sigh. Gears does a double-take at Dee-Kal in her furry costume. "Whoa," he says, "What are you supposed to be?" Foxfire blinks as he is lifted. "Oh, hi, Deek." He sniffs at the enersnack, then nibbles on it. Muzzle-Minerva looks up at Fairway McFly dubious and even more dubiously at the Grapple-house. "Well. That's creative, guess? Really uses your skills, Grapple." Beachcomber has arrived. Dee-Kal Mink secures her 'victim' and holds him in her arms just like any Earth woman might a loved pet."I wished to be original. I am the librarian from Hallo Irma. I thought I would smurf as a critter to be original. Everyone seems to dress as animals or dead things on Halloween. Pong wished me to be a skunk, although I am not sure why. This is better. Do you like it?" Grapple looks back to Minerva! With the costume the way it is, he has to physically turn completely around. "Well, I wanted to show that even the common dwelling can make a beautiful costume. There's a great deal of beauty in even the most common architecture." "Oh yeah, that's...interesting," Gears says, "Hmmm, I should bob for energon. Though no telling who's been bobbing before and where they've been." Soft (or soft looking) paws stroke Foxfire on his nose, and adjust the Indiana Jones hat. Miss Mink finds another energon snack from somewhere to feed her friend. A-Mart Employee blinks. "OH! Sorry, Def--BRUTICUS!" He sighs. "Gosh, staying in character is harder than I thought. Wait. I'm supposed to be an A-Mart employee? How would I react to a Decepticon gestalt showing up?" Once again, he rummages around inside his passenger compartment, eventually pulling out a binder labeled, "A-MART DECEPTICON ATTACK POLICY." Foxfire snatches the snack and munches it. "So how d'you like my costume, Deek? I had it specially made." The headless Prime's sword slices cleanly through the mink, but it doesn't loose its head! Perplexed, the being swings his sword again to cleave off the minks head. But still nothing. Surmissing then that this mystical creature must be some agent of his dark master sent to watch his progress he bows to it and raises his sword in salute to his unseen master. he then turns to continue along on his ominous task. As he turns a large silver finger, as large as he is, comes pointing down into his face. Instantly, a flash slices through the air coming off his large sword, and severs the finger from the giant robot's hand. It might not be its head, but.. things are just getting started. The blade slashes through the air once more quickly aiming at the wrist of the combiner robot. If he must.. he will cut the robot down to size first.. and then revenge shall be his! Time to go incognito. Beachcomber spins around and folds his legs up before dropping to the ground on all four tires. Now he's a dune buggy. That's totally freaking me out man! Dee-Kal joins Fairway and watches the antics. Rodimus Prime looks down at Markdown, spying his binder. He points out it and opens his mouth, then closes it, then opens his mouth, then closes it. Then he asks, "Where'd you get that? A-Mart *HAS* a Decepticon attack policy?" Dune Buggy gives a high pitched whine of his engine as he zooms into the party. Painted with a red underside, an orange frame, and yellow seats, this buggy would look familiar to those who watched cartoons in the early 1970's. How Beachcomber knew about it is anyone's guess. Beachcomber zips around the area laughing, his new blue headlights mounted atop the chassis occasionally flicker on and off as if blinking. "I am entirely in agreement, friend," says Fairway to Grapple, "I'm an engineer myself, though this costume is meant to make me look more like a 'slacker'." He turns to watch the fight again, riveted, wondering what shall happen and suspecting some great and dazzling trickery. "I must say," he says to Dee-Kal, "This human tradition is as entertaining as it is baffling." Dee-Kal crouches, releasing Foxfire. The giant minkette motions Beachcomber over with a wave of her paw. "It is all part of life's rich... tapestry. Yes. Many cultures, many interpretations..." Her hologram blouse ripples and flickers like a mirage as a giant paint brush is extruded from her wrist pods beneath. A-Mart Employee looks up from the binder, shrugging at Rodimus. "Well, yeah. It's actually not that unusual after the Mall of America got attacked, like, 8 times or something. Now, my stores all have an underground bunker supplied with non-perishable food and water. Customers can take shelter in there until help arrives." He flips through the pages. "Oh, I'm supposed to just help direct people to safety. Bah, that's no fun." Grapple seems to smile underneath his house costume. "A.. Slacker? But that board alone is a symbol of ingenuity and movement.." One mighty, Swindle-painted boot steps forward as the somewhat-hastily costumed 'Combaticons' takes a broad(but very careful!) stride towards the Headless Prime. Just as he's pointing, however, the Headless Prime retaliates by swiping at his finger, lopping it clear off. From the way it hits the ground, it is unclear whether it was a real finger or a fake one. Still, 'Bruticus', reacts as if the blow was fatal. "Bruticus giant pansy... and so Bruticus horribly wounded!" He holds his finger with his other hand. Defensor's going for the Oscar for best acting here. Looking down at the Headless Prime, 'Bruticus' says, "You have brought enough terror this night and taken enough heads! Come, children! Lend your aid to the mighty BRUTICUS, to defeat this evil taker of heads!" Defensor's voice booms loudly above everyone's heads, but not painfully loud. "Lend us your BRAVERY in the face of danger, on this most-fearful of nights, show your bravery in the face of darkness!" The children begin to cheer and urge the other Autobots/Decepticons/Jukeboxes/A-Mart employees/etc to join in to defeat this terrible Halloween menace. One of the children dressed as Buzz Lightyear (Toy Story 7 came out last month) points his laser at the Headless Prime. "Pew pew!" Ultra Magnus has arrived. Dune Buggy calls out with a putter, "Rodger dodger!" With a ratcheting roar of his engine he zips over towards to Dee-Kal. The buggy skids to a halt and wiggles its back end with its radio antenna whipping around like a tail. "I love this human custom, it's so cool! Guess what I am! Vroom-a-zoom-zoom! Heheh." Dee-Kal chuckles. "A-room-a zoom-zoom!" She expresses her delight at seeing when she was a scrapper back with Pak-Gor. She pats the hood, and adds an extra black smiley mouth-line on the buggy, to make sure it's nice and clear. "Nyragh! Nyragh!" Roditron howls. And then, for good measure, he Nyraghs once more. "Destroy him, Bruticus! Destroy him now! Because my endurance sucks due to my horribly overpowered cannon and since I already destroyed Starscream tonight!" Then he bursts out laughing, again, once more dropping 'character' like a hot potato. Dee-Kal chuckles. "A-room-a zoom-zoom!" She expresses her delight at seeing one of her fave alt mode heroes from when she was a scrapper back with Pak-Gor. She pats the hood, and adds an extra black smiley mouth-line on the buggy, to make sure it's nice and clear. A-Mart Employee looks about awkwardly. "Huh? Uh... how do I lend my..." He watches the children pretend to fire laser beams at the headless monster, shrugs, and points his finger at him. "Um. Pew. Pew pew. Pew." After the touch-up, the brush is retracted and the Junkette is complete as a giant anthro librarian mink once again. She too joins in, aiming a clawed paw at the enemy and saying "Pew-pew-pew!" happily. Fairway smiles at the house. "And it /works/, too!" He places his hoverboard on the ground, presses a button, and holds his hand over it as it levitates! It isn't anything amazing - such technology has been commonplace since at least 2005 - but he's fairly proud of the fact that he designed it to look as though it was just a prop. This is just the kind of convoluted joke Fairway thinks is just hilarious. Called to arms, as it were, by 'Bruticus,' Fairway makes his hand into the shape of a gun and pretends to fire at the headless Prime. Muzzle-Minvera sighs. Then, trying to stay in character, he claps and squeals in that bad falsetto, "Oh, Bruticus-san is so brave, fighting the headless monster! You have my support!" He does a peace sign, juts out a hip, and winks. The headless Optimus can still hear, oddly and amasingly enough, even though for the fact that he is headless! He turns towards the cheers and shouts being issued forth from around the street. He raises his sword high once more into the air and casually stalks over towards one of the 'brave' bystanders and shows just what bravery gets you in the head - a whole lot of getting your head chopped off! The dark steeled magical blade rises through the air and severs right through the neck of the robot... the head falling helplessly to the ground. The dark figure turns to proceed to his next target (not noticing that the head he chopped off was a cardboard one and not real). The headless Prime returns to his true target once more unphased by the noises of fake gun-fire, and other cheers around him (that are slowly quieting once more from having witnessed another beheading). Using unfathomable dark energies he leaps up onto the leg of the combiner and swings his mighty sword around and into the knee joint (link) of the giant robot. One piece at a time.. until his head is all that remains to be severed! Grapple stares at the hoverboard for a moment; it doesn't seem that he gets the convoluted punnery. Then, he notices everyone is fake-firing, but his hands and arms are underneath the costume, anyway. So, he just stands there. "Oh, my. I have the distinct feeling all of this will wind up on local media." Fireflight isnt sure whats going on at this point. Everyone seems to think that headless Prime is a costume. He wants to be sure but he just can't tell. The face/helmet of his costume is obstructiing his view a bit which makes it worse. So instead he hangs back to keep an eye out on the children and distract them them away from large feet and the headless Prime. Dune Buggy laughs and giggles at the marker or whatever is tickling him. "Thanks." He putters and backs up a moment to turn and head off towards the refreshments. Reluctantly, he transforms to get a glass and downs it before going back into costume. He looks over at the Optimus and wonders if this is a costume for a headmaster Optimus prime or some kind of powerheadtargetbreastmaster with a pretender shell hanging someplace else? Ultra Magnus wanders in amongst the crowd, decked out in his super hastily made Batman costume. The pointed mask fits nicely on the white Optimus Prime doppelganger mode head, complete with a long cowl made from whatever scraps were laying around Autobot City. Instead of investing in an actual costume for the rest, he slapped on some acrylic paint complete with Batman logo on the chest. Jukebox-Gears wanders over to the bobbing barrels. He stares at the apple bobbing barrels with disgust. "Ugh," he says, "That can't be very clean." Then he heads for a barrel that has energon chips floating around. He bobs, grabbing an energon chip in his mouth. Sparks fly from his head as his neon light decorations short out. "Drat," he groans. Dee-Kal Mink claps in admiration at another fun costume, and flicks her tail from side to side. "So much fun...!" she beams, little white canines showing clearly against her sleek ebony muzzle. Defensor shifts to point with his good hand! "Yes Galvatron, my pathetic liege! I will take this sorry foe down! ...Heh!" He's terribly amused by all of this, and rather glad that everyone's playing along, even some Autobots. Kids, along with that one grown man dressed as Optimus, join in, firing fake laser beams at the undead Prime. They do quiet upon witnessing that beheading, though.
* Plink* "I AM STRUCK!" Defensor announces, and makes sure children are clear before toppling onto his side. "Attack children, attack!" A-Mart Employee pauses as his "pew pew"'s appear to have no effect. "Um. Do I keep shooting at him, or...? Bah, wish it occurred to me to invite some of my employees here. They might know how to handl this." Dee-Kal Mink joins the Grapple-House. "You could be right about the media! Oh... I think the tide of battle just smurfed..." She fans her face with a hand. "Turned, yes." she chuckles, watching the Earth children as they boldly begin their assault on the headless Prime. Grapple blinks at the large group of cheering small children. "Uhm.. I do believe telling the young ones to attack anything, even in play, may have some.. Uhm.." He stares at a young boy who attempts to mad rush the headless Prime, but is caught by his mother before gets too far. "..Hrm." Rodimus Prime spies the approaching Ultra Magnus, and casually strolls around the EPIC BATTLE to greet him. "TOO LATE, BATMAN!" he cries out in his poor Galvatron impersonation. "For I, Galvatron, will defe- eh," and he switches back to his normal voice, grinning. "How you doing, Magnus!" "Ease up Grapple." Ultra Magnus AKA Batman offers the Builderbot with a gentle pat/slap on the back. Looking up to greet Rodimus, he doubletakes before realizing how crappy his costume really is. "I am fine Rodimus, yourself?" Leaning down to stare at a lone human child in the face, the City Commander pulls the cape up over the lower half of his face. "Greetings young one, I am Batman. Defender of the innocent and stalker of the night!!" The child looks up at him saying nothing, then suddenly bursts out into a hysterical fit of tears. Fireflight watches this entire battle. He somehow still thinks this headless Prime is real... and everyones acting like its a joke. Then he sees everyone defending 'Bruticus'. He thinks for a moment and shakes his head. Starscream wouldnt so neither will he. He just watches that headless prime though. Hes sure before its over everyones going ot realize its for real. Dee-Kal Mink nods. "Children get excited. Mama says this is true of me still... it looks such fun, though!" She hears crying and goes over to investigate the crying child. Underneath the house costume, Grapple smirks ever so slightly as Ultra Magnus terrifies a small child. "Oh, dear.." Fairway laughs at Bruticus/Defensor's melodramatic fall. If he could figure out a way to get his head to come off without killing himself, he would gladly volunteer to be the headless menace's next victim! When he sees Ultra Magnus, he pretty much marks out. "Ultra Magnus!" He unspaces his copy of Batman: Year One. It has a purple bookmark sticking out of it. "You have come dresses as one of my favorite figures from human mythology! It is indeed an honor to meet you. I am Fairway, engineer." The frightened child goes unnoticed as Fairway forgets himself entirely in the presence of Magnus. Dee-Kal Mink very gently crouches. Her green eyes look kindly at the child. Then her specs slide off her nose! "Oh, my. Oh, dear... I cannot see clearly..." she pats around at the ground very gently with a furry paw. She tickles the kid as she 'searches'. "Ah, here they are..! Oh. wait. This is very soft... and *this* bit is very *tickly*..." Of COURSE Rodimus's costume is crappy! How could he properly mock Galvatron if he made a GOOD costume? He sputters a laugh as the child bursts into tears, then crouches down and holds up his hand, shooshing soothingly in an attempt to calm the child. "No, no, it's okay, it's just a costume." As Dee-Kal seems to take over the 'comforting' he shrugs and straightens back up, then grins at Ultra Magnus. "Me? Doing all right, as frustrated tyrants go." Tales.. will be told. Stories and legends will be passed down to future children, and farther into time and space. How the story plays out will vary - be different from person to person. But one thing shall remain the same in each story - that children banned together and showed more bravery than the robots present, and assaulted an internal being wrought of dark magics? No.. that can't be correct.. The headless Prime must have his revenge. As the children charged shouting their cheers, jeers.. and swinging sticks grab the attention of the dark being. Turning he takes a step toward the children. But it is not children heads that he seeks. Theirs is too pure and innocent for his master to suck the dark energy out of.. not like adults, or like the one he seeks to decap. He stomps the ground and a wall of dark black/red flame surges from the cracks in the road and erupts up to expand around the children - trapping them and keeping them at bay. As his true target, the giant menance topples over to the ground our headless un-hero leaps atop it and stalks ominously forward to seek his goal! Fireflight stands there and watches everything, occasionally giving a kid a look, trying to be 'in charactor' and even though he knows its all fun and games, that headless mech just bothers him for some reason. He seems to be bouncing from watching and enjoying himself to a bit apprehensive. And he should know better, he really should but.. still...stranger things have happened. Miss Mink super-gently tickles the little human, hopefully to cheer the child up. "No, no, you cannot be my glasses... you wriggle too much..!" she teases and then lifts delicately and sets the child on her shoulder. Somehow the specs reappear on her fuzzy nose. Dee-Kal Mink rejoins Grapple-House. Standing to full height, he regards the Autobot Leader with a glance. "So..why..Galvatron?" Then he's suddenly taken aback as his biggest fanbot comes out of the woodwork. The City Commander can't figure out if Fairway is more excited by his presence, his costume, or both? "Ah yes, Fairway. The Autobot Engineer with the shady past isn't it?" Ultra Magnus questions, offering a hand to shake the in awe Autobot. Despite Dee-kal's best efforts, the child continues to sob, only now crying for her mother. "I wanna *sob* my mommy *sob* now!!!!" A-Mart Employee frowns down at the kid who cried at Ultra Magnus's costume. "Oh, come on! That's BATMAN! He's a good guy, everyone knows that! Heck, I'm from another planet and I know that!" More quietly, he mutters, "Well, all the Batman merchandise helps, of course..." Grapple blinks at the small, crying child on Dee-kal's shoulder. He looks at the child through the house costume's little eye holes. "Hello, little one! It's all right, everything's all right.." Rodimus Prime BEAMS at Batmagnus's question. "Because it's HILARIOUS!" he answers, wide grin that's totally out of character on his face. His smile falters a little as the FIRST thing Ultra Magnus points out about Fairway is his shady past, but recovers it quickly enough. The human child suddenly bursts into a fit of rage and fear when Grapple peers at her. Dee-Kal Mink tilts her head at the sobbing girl. "Aw... gently now. So many tears. Do not worry. Now, can you see her from up here..? Maybe you can see her if you look around. Who can you see..?" Fairway is flummoxed. Is that scorn? He stashes his comic book and takes Magnus's hand, though his grip is limp. "Uh...mmm...Fairway, yes. That is I. M-magnus, I admit that I have walked a dark road, but I hope it is worth something that I have arrived at the right place...?" Grapple is thoroughly baffled by the anger the little girl directs at him. "Uhm.. Yes, can you see your.. 'Mommy' from here?" Muzzle-Minerva looks a bit more interested when people start talking about Marty McFly's dark past. Ooooh, dirt! Just what every detective needs to know! Though not every Japanese schoolgirl. Hmph. Jukebox-Gears mutters about his shorted out neon lights that outline the top of his head. "I don't suppose someone could fix them now, could they?" he asks the medics in the group. "It only matters that you've stood the test of time friend. We are but the sum of all our decisions, just make sure not to keep things like this to yourself in the future." Ultra Magnus replies, a warm smile spreading across his face-plate ... well if he had a mouth, it'd smile. His attention is pulled back to Rodimus-Galv, "How is this function going?" He silently curses himself for involving inter-office politics with a Halloween party, silly Magnus. The librarian mink adjusts her blouse sleeve and straightens her long skirt. Her tail sways from side to side. She reaches into a pocket on the skirt and produces a packet of Oreo cookies. The packet is open at one end. "Take an Oreo. Now... let us play Where is Mommy! It is like Where is Waldo, only without the red and white stripy shirt." she leans her head to the little girl. "Mommy does not look like a man and wear a stripy top, does she?" she stage whispers, playfully. An important looking woman strides over towards Grapple and Dee-Kal. "What on /earth/ have you done to my little Sally!" The child sobs some more, mumbling "Mommy.." Grapple blinks at the important looking woman from beneath the costume. "The young one is fine, madame, I assure you.. Perhaps the festivities overwhelmed her?" "Or perhaps you two robots referring to me as a man in stripes terrified her? I heard the whole thing! Hand me Sally before you do anymore harm." the woman shouts, glaring at Grapple. Grapple just stares back. He isn't even holding the child; he's underneath an orange house costume, what is he going to do? "I.. Don't believe we actually did refer to you as a man in stripes..?" Rodimus Prime doesn't bother to hide the facepalm at Ultra Magnus's answer, the fake orange cannon wobbling on his arm as he does. He puts a comforting hand on Fairway's shoulder. "It's worth *plenty* that you're here with us now, Fairway," he assures. "You've helped me through some pretty tough times recently," he adds, thinking back to his reversion to Hot Rod not too long ago, "and it's appreciated." At Ultra Magnus's question he looks around the area, and shrugs. "Well, the floor show is... getting wrapped up? I think? And outside of that, everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, and First Aid's charity looks to be making out pretty good from the business." A-Mart Employee scratches his head as an important looking woman approaches Grapple and Dee-Kal, the latter of whom apparently kidnapped the woman's daughter. Scowling, Markdown stands still as he activates his internal cellular phone and begins calling lawyers. Fairway starts to feel relieved, though he will probably be a little embarassed for the rest of the night - to have the recent - and nearly catclysmic - debacle with Garfahnz brought up by an Autbot he considers one of the greatest Cybertronian leaders all while dressed up like Marty McFly? He nods at Magnus and Rodimus. "Yes... thanks you both." Instead of saying anything else and possibly ruining the fun of this evening, he looks back to the headless Prime and Bruticus. It's a little odd that the phantom interloper has remained in character this long, while the rest seem to have little to no concern about revealing who they are beneath their disguises. Dee-Kal Mink ahhhs! She does her crouch routine once more, ears perked forwards alertly. "Ohh, do not worry, Mistress. She is fine. Mander Magnus alarmed her with his Batman costume. We were about to locate you, in fact. I suppose we are very big to Sally, ne? She is a very fine girl! And so pretty..." The minkette looks to Sally. "Is it all right if I lift you down, Sally? Or do you wish to climb down..?" "I wanna go DOWN!" the child roars as the mother scoops her up. Placing her across the shoulder and nestling her like a baby, the important looking woman glares at Dee-Kal "You'll be hearing from my attorneys!" and briskly walks off with crying child in tow. Grapple stands there for a moment, watching the important woman walk off. He then turns to look at Dee-Kal. "..Well. That was unexpected." 'Starscream' resists the urge to scare the 'important woman' as she stomps off. Grimlock has arrived. Dee-Kal Mink allows the little girl down very gently. She looks at the mother more closely. Then she stands up. "Hai, very much so." She looks to Grapple, her mustelid features still very much in effect. "Especially as she does not know who I am. And she cannot see who you are, either, ne?" Grapple shrugs underneath the costume; the little house wobbles as he does so. "Perhaps that was the problem? Did she think we were going to harm the little one?" A-Mart Employee begins muttering to an unseen person, "Yeah, Jack, just had a little girl in here at this Halloween thing, think she got seperated from her mother, then, uh, one of the Autobots was tickling her... What? No, I don't think so. At least, I hope not. Anyway, apparently the mother found her girl and says she's going to sue, don't know about what. Kidnapping? Torture? Yeah, I know. Frivolous lawsuits are a pain, but that's what we have guys like you, Jack. So you'll take care of it? Glad to hear it. Thanks, Jack!" His call ended, Markdown gives a thumbs-up to Ultra Magnus and Rodimus Prime. "Don't worry, sirs, I got a lawyer on that irate mother thing." With a grunt and a growl, Grimlock changes into a robot T-rex! Watch out. Rodimus Prime gives Markdown a thumbs up. "THAT'S the A-Mart customer service I've come to expect! Good going, Markdown!" he answers cheerfully. Dee-Kal says, "This is a meeting of many species. Some of us are big, some small, It was announced in the media." The Furry gives a mild shrug. "If such things are likely to scare, then the parents have been given fair warning. It cannot be our fault, ne?"" ...and that's when Godzilla shows up. Well, Grim-zilla, to be precise. The dinocommander has haphazardly painted himself green, and there are little frill-thingies taped to his back. Cardboard, probably. The fire he breathes, however, is entirely authentic. *FWOOSh!* Spouting off a bit of burnination into the air to announce himself, Grimlock trompatromps into the area. "Where costume contest? Me Grimlock need to go there to get me prize for BEST THING EVER." Grapple shrugs again, but still seems to be a bit stunned by the day's events. "I suppose not. Truth be told, I am not entirely certain -what- just happened." Ultra Magnus returns the gesture, but looks awkward as all get out giving a thumbs up. "Much appreciated Markdown." he offers, walking towards a punch bowl of energon and grabbing a spare cup. Filling the disposable dixie to the brim, the Autobot lifts it to his mouth and drains about half of the concoction. Ultra Magnus fights the urge to go and talk buisness with Rodimus, instead allowing himself to become a wallflower. A-Mart Employee shrugs at Dee-Kal. "Unfortunately, that's not how the law works. The way the law works today, you could sue practically anybody over any dumb thing. I swear, people have turned into a bunch of--HOLY SMOKES!" He ducks down as he hears roaring flames. When he sees that they were coming from Grimlock, he remarks, "At this rate I'm going to have put all my lawyers on speed dial." Dee-Kal Mink sneaks her muzzle close to the house costume. *Smooch* "Let us pretend it did not happen. They have no visual proof of who is what and why and how. So, nothing happened, ne? Much easier." Rodimus Prime bursts out laughing as Grim-Zilla shows up on the scene, then applauds, his shoddy mock-cannon wobbling with every clap. "Great costume, Grimlock! I'd vote for you!" Then he adjusts the cardboard crown a little. Fairway has paid only the slightest bit of notice to the crying child and her litigious mother. He is far more concerned about what's happening with the two giant robots and their mock battle. He approaches Fireflight and is about to mention his concern that the mock fight seems one-sided as far as theatrics go, when he sees Grimlock arrive on the scene! Great gouts of flame are hard to miss. "Oh my," he says to no one, "Perhaps our friend the Dinobot could help win this 'battle' for Bruticus." Grapple simply stands there at his house costume is given a smooch. Underneath the orange suit, Grapple blushes very deeply. Robot T-Rex! hmms, and glances over at Rodimus for a moment. "Hnn. Good thing me no go as Galvy-tron. Me Grimlock ALMOST dress up as him Galvy-ton, and-" he hmms, and scratches at his head (scraping off a bit of the green paint to reveal the gunmetal grey beneath) and peers at Rodimus s'more. "Me Grimlock Godzilla. Not pressy-dent. Me Grimlock run for pressy-dent once! No get it, though." This is entirely true, for the record. Ultra Magnus has left. An angry glint flashes Defensor's crystal blue optics underneath the tinted optic bands on his face as he sees the scared children trapped by the wall of illusionary fire. Real or not, the fact is the children are frightened which is an instant no-no in Defensor's book, but he does his best to play along. Defensor's right arm (Blades) raises up and does a quick gesture, activating a mild forcefield that expands across the children before bellowing, "Fear not, children! BRUUUUUUUUUUTICUS shall keep you safe!" With the immediate situation with the children dealt with, the Defensor eyes the approaching headless Optimus before whispering, "Sorry, but this is getting a little bit too traumatizing for the kids." Defensor reaches out to try to grab the headless Optimus and toss it towards the general direction of the Northwest Atlantic ocean, "I'm 90% sure you're going to land in the ocean, we'll come pick you up later." Jukebox Gears isn't having very much fun. But then of course, when is Gears ever having fun? A child comes up to the minibot and tries pressing a cardboard button or two. The minibot tolerates it, and when the child moves away, Gears looks down at his costume in disgust. Ugh, chocolate smears on his costume! Fireflight takes a step toward Fairway to greet him when he too spots the flames and sees Grimlock arrive. Forgetting that hes dressed up as Starscream he steps forward, "Hey there, Godzilla?" he says in his natural voice, not through the voice synth he has in side the helm of his costume. Ultra Magnus has arrived. "OH NO STARSCREAM! Me thought you dead!? Me Grimlock-" And Grimlock seems to be gearing up to bite something important off of Fireflight before he realizes; "Oh. Costume. Uh." he hmmms, and relaxes a bit (much to the benefit of all present). "Whut you want?" Rodimus Prime chuckles. "I mean for the costume contest, you big lunk!" he says, grinning and giving Grimlock a playful punch on the shoulder. His optics flicker in surprise as Defensor just plucks up headless Opti-Nemesis and tosses him in the ocean. He covers his mouth to hide the laugh, then clears his throat. Robot T-Rex! also gets punched- which, coming from Rodimus, makes even him notice! "Oh. Right." a pause "There voting? Me Grimlock thought me just show up and them gimmie cool prize 'cuz me Grimlock so great." Fireflight steps back for a second when he sees Grimlock's mouth from a way he never wanted to see Grimlocks mouth. "Prmus!!" he gasps, then relaxes when he realizes Grimlock saw through the costume. "Dress up as Starscream..." Fireflight mutters as he calms his energon pump down, "It will be fun, go ahead it will be fun.. no." goes to the punch bowl and filles one of those little cups up with energon and gulps it down quickly. Batmagnus approaches Grimzilla with caution and a friendly cheer, ener-drink dribbling down his chin. "Yes Grimlock, it's only a costume." He stands back as the two engage eachother in what can only be described as bromance, offering a suggestion. "Actually, we could just give you a prize for not wrecking the party?" Laughing, Ultra Magnus continues to pour/splash the ener-drink against his mouthplate. "Ah drats." Grapple waddles over to the punch bowl; he lifts the costume just enough to get a cup and then lets the costume fall back over him. Then, he waddles back to watch Grimzilla from a distance, sipping the cup underneath the costume. Now, he seems to be relaxing again from the bizzare night. Fairway marvels at Defensor's strength as he heaves the headless Prime entirely out of sight! He knew gestalts were strong, but this feat is impressive. "I'd like to find out who was in that costume," he says to Fireflight, "Does anyone know, do you think?" Robot T-Rex! grunts, and looks over at Batmangus. "Whut?" he asks. "Me Grimlock can get prizes for no doing anything? That no make sense." he hmmms, and proceeds to tromp over towards the energon goodies- he takes a few great handfuls (well, as much as his teeny little claws can get) and starts shovelling them into his much larger mouth. *OM NOM NOM NOM!* Fireflight looks at Fairway, "I dont know, Fairway, Im not sure it is a costume myself..." Those tales and stories will still be told throughout the ages. But as the familar story of American is known to one and and all, this scene has put a twist on the fabled classic to be told by other beings in the universe, and not just Earthlings. As the Headless Optimus makes his way up the fallen de-Bruticus' form a gigantic arm raises up (Blades). Thinking it means to strike our so-called 'nemesis' robot, he strikes out with his blade. But unwaringly he gets grasped by the other gestalt's arm. The headless robot slashes out with his sword at the fist grasping him, but before he can cut himself free he is thrown clean into the air and towards the great ocean. As he sails through the air the fake Optimus swings his flamberge wildly through the air at nothingness. Despair and rage both fill the being at being kept from his revenge. Suddenly up in the atmosphere a giant dark purple-black portal appears. Nothing can be seen through it accept the miasma of swirling colors and mists. The headless Optimus soars through the air and into the waiting portal, which vanishes upon his entrance. The headless Prime is gone for another 100 years until such time he can once more appear and seek that which wronged him. For the headless Prime was often seen here. An old robot who did not believe in phantoms or ghosts told of meeting the headless Prime coming from his trip across the country side. The Prime made him climb up on his headless body. They walked over bushes, hills, and swamps. When they reached the bridge, the Prime suddenly turned into a ghost. He threw the old man into the brook and stalked away over the treetops with a clap of thunder... A kid in a Rodimus Prime costume looks up into the sky and claps at the dark portal. "Yay!" he exclaims before reaching over to a candy bucket and scarfing down on some more Tootsie-Roll Pops. The kid's dad scratches his head, also looking up at the portal. "So... this was all an act, right?" the dad asks Defensor. "Your 'disguised' as a dinosaur ..." Batmagnus mumbles, leaning back against the wall with drink in hand. While he's saddened to see the headless Optimus Prime leave without revealing the identity of the Autobot with the tenacity to dress up as their former leader, he's at least pleased it was resolved non-the-less. "Careful with those Grimlock, don't need a Dinobot with consumption overload." Jukebox-Gears STARES at the portal. "Uh-oh," he says slowly, "That can't have been good." Defensor stands among the applauding (and slightly traumatized) crowd, flexing. "Galvatron! I have done as you asked. Praise me, PRAISE ME!" He beats his chest like an ape... and promptly sits to have himself an energoody. "Oh, cool costume Grimlock! And Batman!" Defensor looks down at the father, and nods, "Yes sir, all an act." ...Right? A-Mart Employee, on the other hand, has little use for fables. "Probably a bit extreme to chuck that guy into the ocean, but I guess it's the Autobot equivalent of a really big hook coming from off-stage to pull away a performer. Well. Gotta do whatcha gotta do." Several minutes pass after the disappearance of the headless Prime. From the outskirts of town you hear someone shouting as he comes running as fast as he can. "Hey.. hey guys. Don't leave me out of the fun." Colossus comes running up to the festivities and gathering dressed quite crudely in a red cardboard box taped around his black torseo form. The front of the cardboard box also has a silver truck grill painted on the front. His arms and legs have been painted blue as well. As he walks up he greets everyone. "Sorry I'm late everyone. I was having some real trouble trying to tape this box around me on my own. Have I missed much?" Fireflight sees the portal in the sky and spins around toward Fairway, not at all paying attention to the wings jutting out on either side of his back. "I knew it!! Look at that, Fariway." "It's a costume," Roditron assures, tone dismissive. He laughs as 'Bruticus' demands praise, and shouts, "Praise Bruticus! Excellent job dealing with that!" Then he turns towards the others and, still grinning, says, "I'd better mingle among the guests. Catch you guys later, all right?" And with that, he wanders off. Robot T-Rex! hnfs at Batmangus. "Me Grimlock do what me want! 'sides, me ALWAYS dino. But tonight me am GODZILLA GUY. Him am KING of monsters! Just like me Grimlock am KING of Autobots!" a pause, and Grimlock glances over at Rodimus. "Uh. 'cept for him. N' Kup. Maybe." Grimlock pauses, and looks on over towards the Defensor/Bruticus floor show s'more. "Hmmm." Grapple has left. Rodimus Prime has left. A-Mart Employee gives Rodimus a quick salute. "Sure thing. Well, better hand out this rest of this candy. Ooh, and the job applications, can't forget that..." Optimus Prime looks around at some of the various costumes after he arrives late. "Wow, nice costumes guys.. Who did you have help make them? I had so much trouble painting this cardboard box along with my arms and legs. Fairway stares in awe as the portal opens. "Primus," he says, "You were right, friend. We should have listened to you earlier." He claps Fireflight on the back. "It's a good thing that phantom didn't cause much more trouble!" The hook-up section of this cab extends outwards and apart bending around to form the two legs of the robot. The motor section splits into two and swivels down to each side forming the robots massive shoulders and arms. Lastly, the chest plate opens up and the head swings up into place. The tanker trailer unhitches and slowly begins backing away from the cab portion of the fuel truck and suddenly vanishes mysteriously off the screen. 'Bruticus' looks up at the portal, smiling for a job well done. That Colossus did an amazing job with- suddenly Defensor hears a voice. He turns and looks down at the newly arrived Colossus. If Autobots could turn white as a sheet, Defensor would. "..." he says. "..." all five Protectobots thinks. He hesitates and looks back up at the sky. "Could it be?" The dad of the kid looks over at Colossus. "Wait I thought the Headless Prime was supposed to b-" "Ah heh, yes that Colossus. He's quite something," Defensor interrupts. "Welllll I think that's enough fun for Bruticus today. The Combaticons have dull-witted evil to carry out. Until next time, children!" The Protectobots split apart, landing on the ground in formation. Colossus looks around at some of the various costumes after he arrives late. "Wow, nice costumes guys.. Who did you have help make them? I had so much trouble painting this cardboard box along with my arms and legs. Combat: Defensor dissolves into its component Protectobots. Blades has arrived. First Aid has arrived. Groove has arrived. Defensor has left. Fireflight nods, "Its ok, Fairway. No harm was done... I dont think?" He doesnt look to convinced no harm was done but doesnt say anything else. He doesnt want to think about it actually. A headless Prime? And it was real? Batmagnus nods to Colossus, "I had to promise extra rations to the twins before they'd help me." Groove hops down and shakes his helm a bit. As if nothing happened, he bolts back to Fairway to continue their conversation, "So, if you haven't guessed it by now, the kids dress up as scary things and go door to door for candy. As for origins, I couldn't quite tell you..." ... "Hey 'Flight, enjoying yourself? Anyone try to kill you get?"
* yet Muzzle-Minerva twitches a bit, and the 'ambulance' Porsche groans. More extra-dimensional ghosts and demons and junk? Ugh. Whatever. It's gone now. First Aid lands on the ground next to his fellow Protectobots with a puzzled look on his face. "So the moral of the story is... Just Be Yourself!" he tells the dad, picking an aesop at random. The doctor looks over at Minerva and gives him a thumbs up. "Classy colours, Nightbeat! They really suit you." First Aid sounds sincere. Colossus hrms back at Bat-Magnus. "Oh, really. I didn't know the 'twins' were specialized in such things. I'll have to remember that for next time. I figured I'd try posing as Optimus myself.. being that I transform into a type of semi-truck also like he does, er.. did.." Fairway welcomes Groove by lifting his hoverboard. "That much I had indeed gathered, but I am interested in the purpose of dressing up... if candy is to be given out, could it not as easily be given out to humans in their ordinary raiments? That aside, you put on an impressive performance. Did you know that monster was real and not a costumed comrade the whole time?" Blades seperates from Defensor's main body and drops back down onto the ground. "Well we better go and get Colos--" The Protectobot aerial warrior's blue optics blinks in disbelief at the sight of Colossus, in a far less impressive looking costume than earlier arriving on the scene, "Huh? How did you get back here so fast, Colossus?" As he finishes his sentence, Blades' rear end neatly breaks off and falls onto the ground, the exact location where he was chopped at earlier as a part of Defensor's limbs. "What... the... smeg?!" Dee-Kal's optics flicker and go dark, her systems shutting down. Robot T-Rex! scarfs down some more energon goodies, and then lets out a grunt, tromping about to look at the party proper. To his credit, the dinocommander doesn't step on any humans- he might even be being careful about it! He glances over at Groove and Fireflight, and hmms. "Me Grimlock ALMOST bite him face off, but me know betterer. N' stuff." A-Mart Employee hands some tangy taffy to some eight-year-olds. "Yeah, and the other moral of the story is, next time, just call the damn Ghostbusters." The children gasp at his vulgarity. "Uh. Darn ghostbusters. Darn. Yeah." Colossus turns around and looks down at the smaller Protecto-chopter robot. "Ah, Hi Blades. Get back here? I just got here. Came driving across the USA from the Ark as fast as my wheels would spin to get me here. Then put on my costume when I came running in." He watches in amasement, and amusement, as Blades looses his aft-plating. "Woah.. how'd that happen? Did any Decepticons show up to start a fight?" "Well, if my costume is any reminder ... they don't." Batmagnus replies, looking rather concerned that Colossus prefers to parade around as Optimus Prime. Perhaps he's a tad bit more sentimental than the others, maybe it's a fitting tribute to what came before him. Either way, the City Commander wanders off towards the Protectobots. "Nice showing guys, I take it this function has raised sufficient funds for the charity?" 'Swindle', aka First Aid, rushes over to Blades, who appears genuinely injured from the bout with the Headless Prime. After pulling out a scanner from his leg compartment, the doctor waves it in the direction of Blades's rear end. "Well nothing critical was severed, but you might not want to sit down until we can get that reattached." First Aid hesitates at Ultra Magnus's question. "Er, at last tally yes. Profits were up, Mr. Batman." He hopes they cover all the legal fees they'll have to deal with. "Still looks better than mine.." Colossus sighs back at Bat-Magnus. Robot T-Rex! points at Colossus. "HAW HAW HAW! You Costume am dumb!" Groove totally doesn't dig the language, and wags an accusing finger in Markdown's direction, "Uncool man, the little flower children ain't hip to that talk!" "Whoa, way harsh!" Groove exclaims, noting Blades' poor, severed rear. A-Mart Employee adds to First Aid's statement, "And if that lady sues, hopefully I can get my guys to get it thrown out of court. Barring that, I know some private investigators who can dig up all kinds of things on her. She'll wish she never bothered us! Uh, but of course, it'll all be done legally." He shrugs at Groove. "Hey, I'm sorry! Little slip, I swear!" Fairway steps toward First Aid and Blades. "A lucky injury, truly. It only stands to reason that the headless thing must have had truly bad depth perception. I would be glad to assist you, First Aid, in any repairs." Muzzle-Minerva stares at A-Mart Employee as private investigators are mentioned. Colossus frowns in the general direction of Grimlock. "And just what are you? A painted green dinosaur? Oh wait.. yes.. I heard one of the others mention a name: Godzilla. Well, all I have to say is: "Oh no, they say you got to go. Go go Godzilla, yeah. Oh no, there goes Tokyo. Go go Godzilla, yeah." A-Mart Employee stares back at Minerva. "Huh. Though... some private investigators might work for free?..." First Aid gives a grateful look towards his fellow medic, "Thank you, Fairway. We'll have Blades up and running at peak efficiency in no time flat." Unless he has a faulty signal light. He looks at Markdown with a slightly nervous expression. "I would really like us to be able to have one event that doesn't end with the courts having to get involved." Robot T-Rex! stares at Colossus. "Uuuuh. Kaaaaaay." He hmms, and looks over at the other Protectobots. "Hnn. Even if him WUZ real...which him wasn't. N' stuff- me Grimlock could beat him up. Me Grimlock beat up ghost robots before! It fun! Me Grimlock can beat up ANYBODY. Me STRONGEST ONE THERE IS!" And now Grimlock's flexing. "Eeesh... I don't know anymore. We had a fellah that looked a lot like you here just now." Blades explains to Colossus while he bends down and recovers his severed body plating and allows First Aid to do a quick scan, "Damn I didn't know that thing was real. Make it good as new later, First Aid, I've had enough embarassment for one night." The Protectobot covers his shame with pieces of his costume, "Eh, glad to be of a service Magnus, but I really got to bail." Blades squirms away from the scene and fires back at Groove as he passes him, "Dammit, Groove. That guy was the real deal! Help me find that guy so I can get my hands on him!" The Protectobot's aerial warrior waves an angry fist with his free hand before fleeing the scene. "So do I, First Aid," Markdown says. "I'd like to sell a product without a customer injuring himself with it, and suing ME for his own carelessness. But we don't always get what we want. On the other hand, I do have *lawyers,* and good ones." "I hope we don't need them," First Aid replies to Markdown in the tone that suggests they're probably going to need them. He only hopes none of the children here have nightmares over this. The doctor stands up straight and nods to Blades, "Sure thing. Just, ah, make sure to keep your rear end safe until we can reattach it." He waves to the departing Protectobot warrior. "Well Grimlock," he idly says, "If he /does/ come back, we'll be ready for him." Groove frowns after Blades, "Wait up man, think happy thoughts! He probably didn't mean it!" The hippiebot pursues the chopper, hands held out in the lotus gesture, "Zen yourself! Uhh, sweet party guys, catch up with you later!" "What!" exclaims Colossus. "Someone that looked like.. me? Last I checked - I was the only one off the assembly creation line at the time those eons ago. I have no 'twin' brother.. What thing? Just what happened here?" He takes a look as First Aid tried to re-attach the aft-platting to Blades. "Whatever transpired.. seems to have cost you guys some. Are you all ok? Sorry I wasn't here yet to help kick this thing's aft with you." Robot T-Rex! grunts. "Next time, just tell me Grimlock when party is BEFORE, so me Grimlock can show up and beat up robot ghosts. THAT SIMPLE." Fairway nods. "I can only hope that he won't be back. I wasn't particularly comforted by the size of the sword he wielded." He drops the hoverboard, steps on, and activates it. It lifts him, but just barely. He wobbles, trying to stay on, and smiles at his own clumsiness. "If you'll excuse me now, friends, I should like to try this out. Farewell!" Fireflight has left. Colossus looks over at Fairway, "Sword? You said this thing had a sword? You know what kind.. I'm kind of interested in typoes of sword myself." Fairway stops for a second to reply. "It looked to be a flamberge," he replies, "It seemed an old blade, pulsing with energy. I was certain that it was a special effect at first." First Aid nods to Grimlock, "Well we did post it on the Autobot messaging system, but I'll be sure to send you a personal invitation next time, Grimlock," First Aid promises. He's a bit too easy to push around. "Do that!" Grimlock says. "Me Grimlock wanna beat up some ghosts!" Groove has left. Colossus hrms at Fairway. "A flamberge.. yes. I studied some about them. That was a name giving to a type of sword meany centuries ago. I myself wield another type: a bastard sword. But.. *he chuckles* mine isn't puslating with energy the way you seem to be afraid that it did." Jukebox-Gears trips over something. He falls forward and flails. "Little help?" he asks. Fairway nods, holding his arms out to try and stay aloft. "It would be in out best interest to find where that portal goes, in my opinion." He hears Gears call for help and heads off. "I'll go see what he's on about! Good night, all!" Batmagnus moves to help Gears up. "Watch out Gears, you could really injure someone with such rash actions." Jukebox Gears is helped up. "I think I should take this costume off," he grumbles, "It's difficult to move in." Fairway has left. First Aid nods to Grimlock. He then spies a little girl waving to him for help over at the Pin The Tail On The Cassettibot contest, and so the doctor heads over to help her out, getting lost in the crowd of assisting others.
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