| abstract | - IN THE MIDWEST At the University of Chicago, the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists adjusts the Doomsday Clock to three minutes to midnight. Everyone in America is completely oblivious to the foreshadowing taking place, because have you ever seen the movie Idiocracy? ON THE PACIFIC COAST The Olympics are now officially over, and the truce between the Autobots and Decepticons has finally come to an end. As if to celebrate the event, Blitzwing streaks across an early morning Californian sky like the great invader he was built to be, casting an ominous shadow over Hollywood Hills as he jets along. The triplechanger's fuselage opens wide like the filleted belly of a cod, scores of bomblets dropping out to lay waste to the heart of a multi-billion dollar American industry. Cruisin'. It is always such a nice day to get a cruise on. Especially for the likes of the yellow VW beetle that's drifting along the Hollywood Hills Highway for no other reason than to just be out for a drive. He's got some morning music playing through his radio as he makes the most out of this patrol. After all, with the truce being over, there is bound to be some Decepticon Activity any minute no-- BOOM! BOOM! BOOMAH!! "Seriously?! This early?!" Bumblebee picks up the acceleration, speeding forward and flipping up and unwinding into his robot form with ease, leaping over random vehicles that may or may not be in his way as he lifts his optics to the terror above. "Hey, Loser! Your aim's off! Galvatron's hutt is six states over!" Might as well start tossing the witty banter now. Especially if it'll stop the bombs from getting dropped. MiG-25PD "Foxbat-E" banks with a tip of a violet wing and swoops low across the small Hollywood Hills mountain chain, leaving a bombastic trail of destruction in his wake. Warner Bros. and Universal Studios smolder in ruin, scores of noxious black columns rising up to pollute what would otherwise be a beautiful Californian sunrise. Both long and short range sensor suites pick up Bumblebee before the tiny Autobot shouts after the triplechanger, but the minibot's accosting certainly assists Blitzwing in pinpointing the Autobot's position. With a fierce nosedive not unlike a peregrine falcon, Blitzwing rockets down to strafe Bumblebee with more up close and personal weapon systems. "And if you think I'm gonna' just stand here and let you blow this town to pieces-" Bumblebee puts on the brakes as he spots the giant jet of doom headed his direction. His optics go slightly wide for a half second. "... then you've got another thing coming?" Bee's voice is lower now as he turns around on a dime and takes off running in the opposite direction. As weapon systems lock on, he leaps and flips over something random enough to give him a second to not get blasted on. He tucks and rolls with the landing though, skidding and sparking to a halt as quick as possible. When Bumblebee pops up, he's on one knee and he's holding a small Energon Battle Pistol. Which, compared to the weapons on Blitzwing, looks like a toy. But whatever. "Attention Decepticon Flyers. You're about to experience some seriously awesome Autobot turbulence! Please, don't buckle up." PEW PEW PEW!! A small volley of shots are fired just to see if Bee can't steer this annoying bird off course. MiG-25PD "Foxbat-E" 's wings snap in close to his fuselage, and like a missile himself, screams past Bumblebee at nearly Mach 2. The giant jet kicks up a roiling rooster tail of desert debris along the winding hillside, coating the immediate vacinity in a sticky hot fog of dirt. The engines on the MiG stir up the pot as it shuttles past, tail fins tickled with the Minibot's retaliatory strike. The triplechanger wags his aftmost ailerons in a teasing gesture before completely upending and violently stabbing at the ground. At the last possible second, Blitzwing lands on the pavement with a deafing thud in the guise of a German tank, throttling toward Bumblebee and crushing a few abandoned cars in his path. *THOOM! THOOM* The 125mm turret adorning the tank mercilessly belches hot slugs of depleted uranium at the Autobot. "Lemme show you what a real gun looks like, kid!" Blitzwing transforms into a Leopard 2A6M tank. "I'd say pick on someone your own size..." The firm and inspiring Judd Nelson tones come from atop the Warner Bros iconic water tower, miraculously spared by Blitzwing's Michael Bay levels of destruction. Rodimus Prime, angered by the destruction, focused on the Decepticon. "But I've yet to meet the Decepticon that could take down Bumblebee." Prime leaps from his perch, landing beside Bumblebee as Blitzwing opens fire. "Recess is over, Blitzwing. Tanks but no tanks." He adds a blast of photons from his wrist gauntlets to further emphasize his point. Bumblebee was in the middle of trash talking Blitzwing on his comm when shots are fired and Bumblebee takes one to the shoulder. It spins him around and he hits the ground hard, where there is a grunt of pain. As he flips over, he notices the SHIMMERING HEROICS OF RODIMUS PRIME in his immediate vicinity. His optics go slightly wide because for a half-second, in the light, it was Optimus Prime. But then Bumblebee blinks and reality sets back in. With a grunt, Bee rolls back up to his feet and gives his Energon Battle Pistol a trusty twirl. "Right on, Rodimus." Bee says to his sudden tag team partner and then he's turning towards Blitztank. "You heard him, Blunderwing! Leave now or stay and get pwn'd!" Bumblebee takes the moment to witty banter and stares at the tank, putting those epic optics to good use so he and Rodimus can layeth the smacketh down. "Head's up, Rodimus..." And Bee's back into Comm Chatter. Leopard 2A6M cackles maniacally as he pounds round after round at Bumblebee, causing a whole new series of explosions across Hollywood that have nothing to do with a summer blockbuster. Finely-tuned precision machinery works feverishly to keep the delivery bay loaded with ammunition just as quickly as the triplechanger can expend it. Advancing on the diminutive Autobot mouse like a hungry mecah-mountain lion, Blitzwing fails to pay any modicum of attention to the short wave signature sweeper that alerts him to big trouble - trouble in the guise of the good guy numero uno. Blitzwing pays for his negligence in situational awareness, scores of ablative armor plating melting away like tissue paper held over a candle at the reception of Prime's persistence of firepower. "Errrgh," the triplechanger intones, training that giant barrel now on Rodimus. "Maybe that's because sentimental saps like you never let us finish the job!" Rodimus Prime dashes forward, weaving between explosive rounds as his targetting systems upload data from Bumblebee. "Finish the job, Blitzwing?" Prime tenses for a moment, and leaps into the air, hand transforming into a whirring buzzsaw. With shades of Sunstreaker, he lands in a crouch, balanced on Blitzwing's tank cannon, buzzsaw poised to strike. Prime smirks. "You've never struck me as a closer." He slashes down, aiming to castrate the tank. Or at least cause him some severe performance problems. Bumblebee is on the move. He's always on the move. That's how these things go, y'know. It is what makes everything that much more epic. And while Rodimus is dealing with Blitzwing, so up close and personal, Bumblebee makes with the running and diving for some cover. The big guns are probably going to start coming out now and, well, it'll be better for the Bee if he's not squashed. "Hang tight, Rodimus! Best idea ever coming right up!" And just like that, the Bumblebee is... where the hell did he go? Leopard 2A6M visually shudders as each salvo escapes the turret barrel, lighting the immediate area up in chiaroscuro fashion while heavy pistons hiss with severe recoil. Despite the dynamic forces of physics working against him, Blitzwing rolls on! Though... perhaps closing Prime to melee range as a tank wasn't the brightest move in his playbook - but sometimes Blitzwing can bite off more than he can chew AND HE LIKES IT THAT WAY "GRAAAAH!" Blitzwing shouts as he's promptly emasculated for his efforts, the Prime's saw blade digging easily into his cannon and severing the weapon at the base of the turret housing. Reflexively, the triplechanger shifts into his robot form now that one of his three phases has been rendered effectively inert. Forgetting his initial charge, Blitzwing stands to meet Rodimus defiantly. "Heh! Closer? Like Optimus was?! Ha ha!" Blitzwing laughs, wiping a sheen of purple blood away from his faux teeth plates with a huff while simultaneously drawing his electron sabre. The weapon glows with a bright pink hue, casting eerie shadows across the triplechanger's face while he sneers at Rodimus. "Big talk coming from you! I remember before you inherited that mystic bauble. I wasn't impressed then - and I sure as shit ain't impressed now!" Blitzwing growls fiendishly and lunges at Rodimus then, hoping to lop that buzzsaw arm off in the same fashion that Rodimus removed his cannon barrel just a moment ago. Blitzwing transforms into his robot mode. Adrenaline pumping, a loudmouth to drop, and people to protect. It's times like this that Rodimus thinks less like a Prime and more like Hot Rod- often to his detriment. The Autobot stays in Blitzwing's face, unwilling to back down as the Triplechanger throws shade. Sadly, the tactic works for Blitzwing, and Prime swings his buzzsaw hand in a parry against the much stronger blade. He swears as the scimitar slashes into the buzzsaw, sending sparks and energon flying. The pain brings Prime back into the moment, and he transforms, peeling out past Blitzwing to put some distance between the two...And hopefully to keep him distracted long enough for Bumblebee to make his play. "Remind me to add 'impress Blitzwing' to the top of my 'to do' list," he banters to no one in particular as he comes around for a charge... Rodimus Prime transforms into a Cybertronian Racing Winnebago! Bumblebee is scurrying around as if he has all the time in the world. Which is definitely what he's got as long as he remains out of sight. Rodimus and Blitzwing are going head to head and it looks awesome. He's actually paused in his hiding spot for a moment to watch the action. "Too cool." is whispered, before he's shaken out of his viewing pleasure and back into the fight. And when Rodimus transforms, Bumblebee smirks and disappears once again. Somewhere in the midst of the firefight, Bumblebee makes a bee-line (haha!) for the winnebago and pops up onto it like he was there the whole time. "Smile! You're on Candid Camera!" More terran insults are sent at Blitzwing as Bumblebee latches onto the controls of the RodiTurret and swings it around to start firing at the Bad News Blitz. Blitzwing laughs wickedly as his crackling blade mangles Rodimus' own circular saw, the resultant fountain of bright sparks bouncing off of the triplechanger to illuminate his contoured face in even more radical ways than before. When Rodimus eventually breaks the deadlock and peels off in his more terrestrial mode, Blitzwing lifts his chin and spits a viscous loogie of Transformer blood after the Prime in a show of disdain. "Yeah, that's what I thought, punk!" Blitzwing laughs, whipping his sabre about with bravado and withdrawing his gyro-rifle. The triplechanger breaks the chamber open over a forearm, pulling a special round from subspace and loading the slide. Blitzwing pops the rifle shut again and levells the fearsome firearm at the winnebago barreling down upon him. Though before he can ruin that beautiful (not really) paint job, Bumblbee catches Blitzwing by surprise and splatters him with high-powered artillery! "Seriously?!" Blitzwing mutters, jumping up on flaring boot-thrusters and converting to his most agile mode. Blitzwing, now in jet mode, takes off at the pair of Autobots, spilling a sea of bomblets onto the road before them. "Special delivery!" Blitzwing takes to the skies as a MiG-25PD Foxbat-E jet. Bumblebee lets go of the turret just in time to get rocked something harsh by the bombs that get dropped. "Cheapshot!" He gets knocked off the top of the Pimppebago and hits the ground hard. "... ugh... what.." Bumblebee feels like an explosive truck hit the wall near him and has knocked him for something akin to a loop. He rolls to the right some, attempting to get eyes on the Evil Jet. He raises a small canon up and fires off nothing that looks like anything but a LIGHT! An EMP light that just shines off in the direction of Blitzwing and marks him for Shootability!! "All you, Rodimus!" And Bee lays all the way down to try and rest for a second. Cybertronian Racing Winnebago transforms as Bumblee is shot off of his back. "Bee!" He starts receiving targetting data before he even spots the smaller 'Bot- even Prime underestimates the little guy, sometimes. Bumblebee's assistance points out something rather helpful- Blitzwing's contrails are leaving behind predictable strafing patterns. If he can hit where Blitz *will be* instead of shooting as where is is... Prime pulls the 'T' off of the burning Universal Studios sign at his feet and flings it like a massive throwing star! Rodimus Prime dares to transform into his ROBOT MODE! He has the touch AND the power! MiG-25PD "Foxbat-E" cackles ruefully as the series of miniature explosions (relatively speaking) ignite with enough force to knock Bumblebee from his perch atop Rodimus, though he hasn't much more time than that to gloat before his fuselage is unceremoniously pierced with a giant Terran character. "Gah!" Blitzwing barks as the MiG's air frame dents horribly inward and causes the entire craft to pitch wildly. Blitzwing barrel rolls out of control until he comes crashing down to Earth again, yet this instance is no where near as graceful as it was earlier. A dust cloud erupts from where Blitzwing impacts the terrain, and it is a long moment before any activity can be seen from within the newly formed crater. Never one to disappoint, however, Blitzwing shoots up over the lip of the earthy indentation as an angry tank, opening fire on absolutely everything he can. "Come on down, Autobrats!" Blitzwing transforms into a Leopard 2A6M tank. Leopard 2A6M opens fire with the 7.62mm anti-aircraft machine gun mounted near the turret hatch, since Rodimus was so mean earlier and stole his tank barrel. Bumblebee stays down. When stuff starts getting shot all over the place, Bumblebee sticks close to the ground as much as possible. He rolls to the side, popping up and behind some random abandoned vehicles and waits for a break in the firing... "Wait. What?" Bumblebee steps backwards and stares at the car he was ducked behind. "I hate these cars." Bee pushes back up to his feet fully and backsteps for a moment before stepping forward and KICKING the yellow and black Camaro in the side to send it rolling end over end over end towards the crater and hopefully the tank inside. It's a shame that he's not standing next to a fallen WB sign, since it's actually a shield...The 'U' in Universal StUdios that Rodimus pulls free doesn't nearly as good a job, as rounds from Blitzwing's mini guns burn into his chestplate. A car goes flying at the Decepticon, and Prime glances over at Bumblebee, amusement flickering across his optics. "Nice improvisation. Let's see if I can't make the most of the opening." Prime tosses the bullet riddled U away and sprints towards Blitzwing, opening fire with twin photon eliminators! Leopard 2A6M brazenly charges after the pair of Autobots, despite a cacophonous orchestra of alarms, klaxons, red LEDs, and sirens all warning him that just about any tactic save for retreating RIGHT NOW is probably going to end up with him being terminated at the girlish hands of Rodimus Prime. Blitzwing scoffs at the very notion, choosing instead to override his own system safety interlocks despite their best efforts to preserve his existence. "Enough with the kiddy gloves, Prime! Now it gets seriou-AUGH!" Blitzwing grunts sharply as the cheap Autobot fascimile tumbles into his front end, snakes under his axles and high-centers the tank. Hanging precariously over the Camaro, Blitzwing's tank treads wheel wildly for purchase in the air even as Rodimus draws his renowned Photon Eliminators. The triplechanger is summarily awash with heavy thermodynamics and blinding light, tumbling himself end over end across the pavement. Another tanky somsersault complete, Blitzwing shoots off into the skies as a barely lift-capable Russian jet, streaking away from Prime and his little buddy. Blitzwing takes to the skies as a MiG-25PD Foxbat-E jet. Triggerhappy had heard Blitzwing's broken transmission over the comms. Once he arrives within optic range, he finds to his surprise that Blitzing is attempting to take on Bumblebee and Rodimus Prime at the same time! Heh! And everyone thought HE was reckless! Ooh...Blitz is in bad shape, too. Which doesn't come as a surprise, either. "DON'T WORRY BLITZWING, I'LL SAVE YOU!" He calls out as he descends from above, and sprays high-energy photons in all directions. Black Dassault Rafale arrives on the scene following a call out from a fellow Decepticon. Not 2 seconds within range the fuselage gets raked by shots from Triggerhappy. <> The Rafale manages to remain stable and dives towards Blitzwing's position. Bumblebee hops to his feet and looks up at the retreating jet. In that next moment, he nods to himself, dusts off his hands (and his shoulders because Bumblebee Pimp Status) and turns to head off in the direction of Rodimus. "Thanks for the assist, Rodimus. I didn't want to have to handle all that too--" And this is when Triggerhappy appears and sprays photons all over the place. In fact, Bumblebee raises an optic and steps backwards, letting the photon energy pass harmlessly by him. Shrug. "... easily. I can't make those Cons look /too/ bad right after the Truce, y'know?" Bee is smiling even though he's looking around at all the wreckage that has happened thanks to bombs and such. Upon hearing Triggerhappy's bold pronouncement, Blitzwing cringes. Or rather, he would cringe right now if he weren't in jet mode. "No, Triggerhappy! I'm quite all right! Trust m-AUGH!" Blitzwing, despite his susbantial injuries, manages to duck, bob, weave, barrel roll, twist, and spin his way free of the Targetmaster's blanket of laser fire. The MiG throttles into Triggerhappy, knocking the aerial aside to physically illustrate the tone in his voice. "Knock it off! BACK TO BASE!" The triplechanger sparks and stutters all the way home. Rodimus Prime shrugs off Triggerhappy's strafing run as well, nodding at Bumblebee. "Well, we handled things this time...I'm not thrilled that Blitzwing was able to show up in our backyard, however. Let's get Operations in here to start cleaning up. I'm amazed we didn't have any casualities." Black Dassault Rafale banks and follows Blitzwing out of the area hanging in the back of the formation to provide cover for the injured Decepticon. <>
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