Scene #8708: Cybertron: Behind the Blast-4

Owner	Pose
Combaticon	It was something Swindle said over the radio, months ago, that comes to mind: The idea that Energon can have different flavors and consistencies and that Cybertronians both detect these-- and have preferences. It's Swindle himself who puts Madeleine in contact with a shady character by the name of Lockdown. A hook-handed bounty hunter 'bot who, in exchange for some modifications provided by Swindle, hands over illegally obtained data on Cloudcover's purchasing history. Such resources are a common thing for bounty hunters like him, it seems. And it seems like Cloudcover is aware of how he can be traced-- because in records that fell off a truck from the DJD, there's been no activity in his credit accounts since just before the bridge disaster. Back to square one-- Not quite. A lot of photography of Cloudcover in the DJD data package includes him with a larger, bulkier robot in gray and white and purple. When asked, Lockdown freely identifies him as Thunderhead. "Consider it a favor. I'll cash out later." That's the last contact with Lockdown... And a fantastic new lead. Swindle's financial digging produces a very active history in Thunderhead's name. All centered in a particular area of the eastern coastline of Hydrax Plateau. Easily reached from the spaceport and space bridge nexus. Several of them including the particular Energon mix favored in Cloudcover's more outdated history and not matching the mix normally picked up by Thunderhead. The Chargin' Chucks and Hooligan Goombas have more or less confirmed neither 'bot has been on the Northern continent in some time. It's in spreading their activities south across Hydrax that Thunderhead is sighted, that same bulky 'bot lugging energon canisters into a partially restored bunker. The building has been converted to suit the recently new, smaller size of the average Cybertronian; this turned it into a two-story affair the size of a large house... but, being a bunker, there's only one exit the fugitives could take. Given the conversation with the APB representatives, it's no surprise Onslaught is not present, nor any of the other Combaticons. He opted to stay at Hydrax and observe from afar. Knowing his vehicle mode is an artillery platform, it's possible he could still help even from that far away if it comes down to it, but he clearly would rather not. "You did not get these from me." What he did do is provide electronic handcuffs. Stasis Cuffs, he called them, which shut down a Cybertronian's mobility center so long as they're properly attached.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine and Bowser are holed up in a building within sight of the bunker Thunderhead's been visiting. The huntress has been trading shifts with a couple Koopas watching the exit through binoculars - she figures, it's beneath the Koopa King himself to do simple surveillance. Instead she's been keeping him busy with steady deliveries of chicken wings, by way of Swindle. "So," she finally says, passing the binoculars off to a koopa, "Think this guy was working by himself, Bowser? I feel like this public of an attack, you don't do it alone. At the very least he's got Thunderhead covering for him, but I feel like there's more of a conspiracy to this than just two 'bots. Wanna talk to him first, or should we just act the muscle and leave the questioning to the DJD or the Autobots?"
Bowser	Bowser may have entirely forgot that this was an investigation and not an American Football expedition. He is in the classic coach sweater and sweaters, holding a clipboard, bellowing at the teams to tighten up! JUST TIGHTEN UP! So Madeleine had to call Bowser, who is there, wearing a flame effect sweat suit with a whistle and clipboard. He chomps on a chicken wing, biting through the entire thing and chomping it down. He takes the binoculars between two fingers, holding them up to his eyes to squint through. He has to think that through, not wanting to provide a DUMB answer. "Anyone who blows up a bridge when no one is watching is a CHICKEN. And a chicken is usually a minion." He finally nods, that sounds good. He tosses the rest of the plate into his mouth, chicken wings and plate and all, chomping it down once. "Let's see what we got! You talk, I'll wedgie those stupid robots!"
Combaticon	To be fair to Bowser, the Chargin' Chucks have amassed a not-insubstantial number of Cybertronian fans too. Mostly 'bots who hadn't been to Earth and thus hadn't been exposed to human sports before. The little exhibitionary tour has become the start of an amateur robot football league in the making. Those 'bots aren't here, though, on the fringes of Hydrax. Thunderhead pauses at the entrance to the bunker, shooting a look over his shoulder at just the right time for Bowser to see him do it. He even has to lower one of his back-mounted wings to see behind him. Once satisfied, the Autobot folds both wings down and steps inside with one container under each arm. The approach can't help but make some noise due to the state of the ground here, with bits of wreckage and glass still strewn about. When something cracks under Madeleine's foot, Thunderhead drops the containers immediately and wheels around before they've even landed. He's already raised his arms, exposing the lightning guns on his wrists. A battle mask has slid in over his face as well, similar to the one Onslaught is always wearing. After a moment, the 'bot relaxes. A voice calls from inside. "What's all the noise out there, TH? You suddenly turn into a fumblebot or somethin'?" "Nothin' to worry about," the visible bot tilts his head towards the building interior without taking his eyes off Bowser or Madeleine's approach, "Couple'a organics. Probably got lost." The lightning guns retract and he holds his hands out to either side, "Yo. If you're lookin' for the spaceport I can point you. This place is still under construction, y'see."
Madeleine Cadrasteia	"Lost, huh?" Madeleine plants her hands on her hips, a hint of a smirk growing on her face. "You think that's why we're here?" She theatrically twirls the stasis cuffs around one finger. "Sorry to relieve you of the notion, but we're here for YOU. And your friend inside. So why don't you let us in and we can have a little chat? Nobody needs to get hurt," she says, stepping forward.
Bowser	Bowser stands over Thunderhead, putting one fist into the other hand to crack his knuckles. He then reaches out and grabs the side of the bunker opening. With a screech, the metal tears apart as Bowser takes a chunk out of it with one hand. He then pulls it up to his face. With a single savage bite, he bites the piece of metal clean in half before tossing it away. "I'm going inside, nerd. You got a problem with that?"
Combaticon	> "We're here for YOU. And your friend inside." "Slag," is all Thunderhead says, the white points of his blue eyes snapping to the stasis cuffs Madeleine shows off. When Bowser leans over him, he barks, "We got a PROBLEM--!" Rearing back, the jet'bot kicks one of the Energon containers at his feet, launching it directly at Madeleine. He follows it up by aiming his wrist blaster, piercing the canister with a bright blue energy bolt. It trails smoke, then flames, and promptly explodes. "These organics are with the APB!" The bunker roof explodes. A cone-headed bright blue robot soars out of it, hovering in the smoke as he swings his own arm-mounted lasers downward, "So we take 'em out! If the APB figures out it was us, it's all for nothin'!"
Bowser	One arm up to protect himself from the worst of the concussive blast hitting his face, Bowser simply doesn't move. The fire and energy smashes into him, burning around his sides. There are two furrows in the ground where Bowser has slid fully back away from the point of the blast. Then a hand reaches out. Bowser is NOT gentle. He grabs Madeleine like a javelin, simply putting one huge hand around her waist and lifting her up over his head. He takes two heavy steps, and with a PERFECT javelin throw form, HURLS Madeleine up at Cloudcover. Then his eyes travel down, locking on Thunderhead. "I SAID, I'm going inside." Bowser would never let himself be called a liar. He rears back one fist, throwing it at Thunderhead's face to push them into the building!
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine vaults over the hurtling energon canister and forward to avoid the worst of the blast, but she isn't entirely spared from a spray of burning fuel hitting her in the back. This places her close enough to Bowser that she gets an idea... "Bowser! Throw me at the blue one!" She shouts. With a laugh, the Koopa King flings her skyward, and she draws her spear as she flies toward Cloudcover. She lands spear-point first against one of Cloudcover's broad leg-fins, then clambers up the Autobot's body. Standing on her spear, she grapples with the transformer, holding on as best she can before breathing out a cloud of icy vapor. The mist swirls around the duo, quickly coalescing into an icy coating that threatens to bring Cloudcover crashing back to the ground! As he falls, Madeleine, still clinging to his body, kicks at her spear to tilt his leg-fin just right that he veers onto a collision course toward Thunderhead.
Combaticon	Being further from the blast, all Thunderhead has to do is shield his face when the Energon cooks off. His wings snap up to either side, exposing the mounted weapons on their undersides as he prepares for a fight. Then Bowser just picks up his companion and throws her like a spear. The very idea of doing that throws the 'bot off his game to the degree he's not able to do much to interrupt it. He's only starting to get back to himself when King Koopa winds back for the punch. It sends the bulky 'bot sailing back into the bunker, right through the door. With his wings spread out, this is enough to snap both of them right off his frame as he sails through the air. Metal slams into metal on the other side. With a groan, Thunderhead picks himself up, the attachment points of his severed wings sparking violently. In the air, Cloudcover opens fire when Madeleine is thrown at him. She's moving too fast and too suddenly to get a well-aimed shot off, though, and she successfully impales his leg. Immediately, the Autobot starts flailing around-- "Hey! Get off'a me!" It's not enough to dislodge her and she's too close for his weapons to be all that useful. He is clearly a 'bot who favors distance. Ice crystallizes over his flight surfaces as he struggles, eventually clogging up the intake for his jet booster as well as blocking the exhaust. With a shout, Cloudcover pitches backwards with just one remaining thruster active, spiralling out of control in a sharp downward pitch. He collides with Thunderhead through the bunker's blasted-open roof, sending both 'bots crashing back into Bowser during his dramatic entrance. Reality strains audibly, then cracks. The myriad colors spill out of all three in such close proximity, taking on definition in sharp black lines. A living painting splashes onto the bunker floor-- coalesces mid-splatter, and lunges at Madeleine even as it's taking the shape of a great striped cat painted in the bright rainbow of colors pulled from two Autobots and one King. "Maximal?" Cloudcover asks, dazed. Thunderhead hauls back to his feet, shoving his smaller friend off himself in the process. "As long as they're on our side--!"
Bowser	Both robots crash into Bowser's front, standing him staggering back a single step. That foot comes down, pivoting sideways to keep him from going too far. He glares down at them, "Alright, you two stupid tin cans. I'm getting tired of all this running around. I'm getting tired of this detective stuff!" He points at... he doesn't actually know which one of them is Cloudcover, so he just points at one. "YOU! Admit you blew up the bridge, you goon or I'll flatten you both into pancakes and use you to build my new RACE CAR!" Both arms come back behind Bowser, palms flat, fingers crooked, and with a mighty whistle of air, both palms come back together, right at the two Transformers' heads!
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine curses as the crash-landing throws her free of Cloudcover, then curses again, louder, as a tiger emerges from the mass of colorful bodies. "Bowser!" She calls, raising her spear in a guard position. "I need you to handle both of them for a minute!" Then the beast is upon her and there is no more time for words. She checks it with her spear, but it's only enough to keep its jaws from her throat; the tiger still has her pinned under its greater weight. Its hind claws begin to rake at her as she struggles to kick free. They haven't torn through her armor yet but it's not looking good. Then Drogrung, seemingly of its own volition, manifests a ghostly dragon's head and breathes a spray of choking poison gas. It won't do much to inorganic machines, and the Koopa King's constitution and body mass will protect him, but Madeleine and tiger alike are reduced to choking and struggling for air. Madeleine crawls away from the distracted beast and this time, when it too finds its way free of the poison cloud and pounces again, she's ready for it. The tiger's assault finds only a flimsy plastic decoy, and it's Madeleine's turn to pounce, from a dark corner of the now-skylit bunker. Leaping through the air, she brings her spear down in a wide arc, slashing at her striped assailant.
Combaticon	The robot Bowser incidentally points at is-- Thunderhead, as he's recovering from smashing into the larger dragon turtle. The pained look on his face, clear even through his battle mask, disappears when he's demanded to confess. Hands shoot up, "I just flew escort, I didn't do one slaggin' thing!" "I'm the one who pulled it off, stop givin' other 'bots credit for my work!" Cloudcover objects from the floor. He doesn't bother getting back up. Instead, in a prone position, the smaller of the two 'bots braces his arm laser and shoots at Bowser's feet. Taking the hint, Thunderhead-- The one that's standing up-- commits to a tackle. Given the mass of the King of all Koopas... This might not end well. In Maddie's corner, the tiger almost has her. It only relents when the air suddenly turns toxic. Letting out a rumbly, choking sound, it at last lets go and bounds back a few leaps. There, it whirls around and paces to the right, further away from the struggling robots and Bowser. As soon as it sees the right silhouette-- the tiger coils and pounces again, a sinewy missile whose teeth and claws find... plastic. The beast lets out an unmistakably confused noise as its pounce turns into a tumble. It rolls, slashed, bleeding off colors like paint instead of proper blood. When it finds its feet again, the rainbow-hued hide is marked by a broad red slash mark. The tiger paces again, keeping its eyes firmly on the Huntress and letting out that low, rumbling growl so known to hungry tigers. When it feels it's found an opening-- a moment of relaxed guard, or a moment of distraction-- the beast pounces again to try and pin her under its weight and go for the neck all over again.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine's curse is, if not reliable, at least predictable, as are the tactics of its manifestations. Now that she's found her groove against the tiger the rest of the fight, though still a battle for dear life, will be a little easier. Assuming the transformers don't interfere - which is a big assumption. Even so, it's as assumption Madeleine's willing to bank on while King Bowser is between her and them. She hops back as the tiger pounces, enlarging the gap between them such that the tiger falls short and finds her spear-point instead. Given a moment's reprieve, she exhales another cloud of ice which solidifies into several ice-wolves. With numbers on her side, Madeleine can now go fully on the offensive with a flurry of spear-thrusts, chasing the tiger as it tries to draw back for another pounce.
Bowser	A great WOOF of air comes out of Bowser as he is tackled. He pulls one foot up as the laser shot fires, blasting away a section of floor. Then Bowser goes toppling, pinwheeling his arms with a "Wooah WOOOOOAH!" until he comes crashing down on his spiked shell. The ground makes a heavy CRACK underneath Bowser's weight, and for a moment, it looks like he might simply be down. Floundering on his back comically like a turtle. Then all of his limbs suck into his shell. His head and tail disappear as well, leaving only a massive spike shell on the floor. Without any sort of push or thrust, it starts to spin, tearing furrows in the floor. Concrete rips apart and metal shatters as Bowser then begins to move. Slow at first, spinning in place. Then it starts to bounce off a wall, then travel back towards another wall, building up into about the pace of a fast job, but tracking towards the Transformers!
Combaticon	The two jet'bots successfully topple Bowser over. Rather than press the attack, Thunderhead shoots a look over his shoulder at Madeleine's situation with the rainbow tiger. His eyes snap to Cloudcover, "We gotta go!" "But--!" It takes the smaller Seeker a moment to accept that the pair are outmatched, here. Frustration all over his face, he relents, "Fine!" His thrusters spin up... and then choke and die off. With a grunt, he stamps his foot, dislodging eyes still blocking the jet exhaust on his heel. Engines spin up and die again. Finally he shoots a look at the cowlings on his shoulders, still clogged, "Slag it-- My intake's still jammed..!" The delay is plenty of time. The pair's inattention on Bowser leads to them not knowing what he's up to, and they are promptly bowled over by a giant, spinning, spiked turtle shell. Their armor carved into, both Cloudcover and Thunderhead get slammed into opposing walls by King Koopa. Meanwhile, the Lisa Frank tiger falls short when Maddie jumps back. When faced with her spear, it swats at the spearhead in an effort to create a fresh opening. It's very quick. The manifestation of icy wolves, the sudden lunge of a counterattack. The tiger's roar fades as the beast disperses into a rainbow of particles that rapidly lose their color and scatter as fading white sparks.
Bowser	The shell suddenly bounces up off the ground, spins in place, and then lands rightside up. Bowser's various appendages reemerge, and he stands up with a heavy push from the ground. With that same loud plodding walk, he moves forward towards one of the two Transformers. "ALRIGHT! I can't remember which one of you two confessed to blowing up the bridge, so we're going to take both of you to Onslaught so I can go back to playing American Football!" He grabs Thunderhead by the face and head, hoisting him up in the air. Bowser doesn't know how to actually do handcuffs and he's attempting to do them one handed. Which involves swinging Thunderhand across the vertical axis, trying to catch his other arm while securing the first one. "No, just... come here!" Finally he just cuffs an arm to a leg and calls it a day.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	While Bowser is fumbling with Thunderhead, Madeleine slaps stasis cuffs on Cloudcover. She also prods him with her spear to check if he's conscious. "I hope these guys are willing to talk," she says to nobody in particular. "It'd be really bad if all the blame for this fell on them, when someone else probably set them up to it. Right, Bowser?"
Combaticon	Thunderhead is not especially conscious when Bowser picks him up. It's tossing him around that wakes him up, though all he's really able to do is make terrified noises up until the second cuff is attached. A spark surges through his body and the robot goes limp, "Slag..." Cloudcover is merely dazed, and it's an easy enough process to cuff him. Similarly, his body sparks for a second and then every 'muscle' goes completely slack. "Nobody put me up to nothin'," the autobot objects, "Ironhide said a big incident might do the trick. I planned the rest out myself." His eyes jerk towards Thunderhead, "This bolts-for-brains was just helpin' me lay low." "Hold on a nanoclick--" Thunderhead seems to have gotten his senses back, "Onslaught? Ain't that a dirty Decepticon? Since when did organics help Decepticons--!" There isn't a whole lot he can do but complain, as much as he'd like to even thrash against his restraints judging by how his tone gets angrier and angrier, "We're Autobots! We spent years protectin' organics from 'Cons--! Since when did 'Cons work with organics!?"
Madeleine Cadrasteia	"Ironhide, huh?" Madeleine leans forward, looking Cloudcover in the eyes. "So it was his idea, but you took it on yourself. What a go-getter you are. And yeah, Thunderhead, we didn't exactly trust the APB to track you down so we did it ourselves. There's folks on both sides of that bridge who want peace, you know."
Bowser	Bowser pulls Thunderhead close to his face, "I don't care which one of you is an Autobutt and which one of you is a Deceptinerd! You blew up a bridge and my friend asked for help." He puts a big claw right where a nose should be on Thunderhead's face. "Listen to me, metal breath! If you mess with Onslaught and Swindle and those other three, they mess with Bowser. You tell everyone you know!" He throws Thunderhead with a mighty thrust over onto the ground next to Cloudcover. "You mess with one of them!" He thrusts a thumb at himself, "You mess with ME!"
Combaticon	Cloudcover only sneers when Madeleine leans close to him. It's about all he can do, really. Thunderhead is thrown down next to him, landing with the heavy clanging of steel that's had a very bad day so far. Face-down and stuck at an awkward angle due to the way he's cuffed, the wing-clipped Seeker complains a bit more. "Here I thought we had the upper servo, too." Outside there's the faint squeal of brakes. Shortly after, the undeniable aroma of Mexican food. A moment after that's had some time to settle in, the unmistakable honk of a La-cu-ca-racha horn. Parked comfortably now outside the now-ruined bunker is a friendly--food truck. Face isn't really fitting, at the moment. Nested in the center of a well-worn grille is the red Autobot insignia. And, from the dash, a friendly voice, "A friend of mine said you could use my 'special talents'! Once I wrapped up business in Hydrax I came as soon as I could!"