Nexus and Demented 'Verse. The boonies, lair, and sign area. BittyBolt's Adventure

[marsthewriter]

Two friends: *have been chatting on AIM, but now suddenly find themselves sitting instead on a largish and very comfy Nexus couch. One looks around and shrugs. The other either thinks she's dreaming, doesn't really notice, or is so busy with what she is working on and keeping an eye on the adorable little babychibi Silverbolt who is laying beside her that she doesn't react much either*

Scruffy Chick: Sunstreaker's a dork.

Mars: Pretty much agreed in the headspace as well. Random, anyway. Not sure of the opinions of the others since most of them don't have a Sunstreaker in their realities.

Scruffy Chick: What do you think, bittyBolt?

'Bolt: *was sleeping* *upright* *bleary* *huh, what?* *rubs optics*

Scruffy Chick: Oops. *offers him a bunny shaped blankie*

'Bolt: *had stayed up kinda late with Mom two nights in row* . . . *tired smile* *takes blanket* *thumbs up before curling up in it*

Scruffy Chick: D'awww.

'Bolt: *sleeeeeeeep* *unconsciously shifts closer to where Mom's working*

Scruffy Chick: Awww.

Mars: XD *then looks at the blue floral animal shaped quilt* ...Bunny-skin blanket? *blames Rhythm for the morbid thought*

Scruffy Chick: Flat bunny

Mars: *pats BittyBolt, then blinks* He almost went normal there.

Scruffy Chick: Meep.

BittyBolt: *patpats Mom's leg* *kinda awake*

Scruffy Chick: *wibble* But I like bittyBolt

Mars: I know. He's the most successful doll you've given me. :P XD He's comforting.

Scruffy Chick: XD

'Bolt: *wrapped up in his bunny blanket* *hands Mom a note*

Scruffy Chick: Ooo?

Mars: *unwraps note* Aha! A clue!

Scruffy Chick: Clue?

Mars: Yes! . . . I just need to decipher the handwriting.

Scruffy Chick: *chuckles*

Mars: ...If this is handwriting and not telepathy. *gets distracted by a Perceptor going by* 0_0

'Bolt: *patpats Mom and points at paper*

Mars: *holds paper up to her face* *turns paper over*

'Bolt: *thumb up*

Mars: Thanks, kid.

Scruffy Chick: LOL

Mars: Okay, so it's not a note from him.

Scruffy Chick: What is it?

Mars: Ransom? . . . No. The language translator's having a hard time getting it into my head.

Scruffy Chick: Bummer.

Mars: The general sense I'm getting is that he went out and then something happened. He's below ground, somewhere?

Scruffy Chick: Ohhhh. Big Bolt?

Mars: Yeah. Good thing he's ‘fraid of heights and not claustrophobic--Oh. He's with some of the team. Goodness. Silverbolt goes missing and my brain's a wreck.

Scruffy Chick: Eep.

'Bolt: *to Scruffy Chick* *Crayons?*

Scruffy Chick: You want 'em, or you got 'em?

'Bolt: *nothing in hands* *Pwease?*

Scruffy Chick: *gives him nice big fat crayons that don't smell tasty*

'Bolt: *perks* *Scruffy Chick had crayons* *thumbs up in thanks* *doesn't eat crayons, Mommy taught him* *Mom just doesn't have any crayons in apartment* *takes piece of paper he got from Mom's printer and starts coloring with the black crayon*

Scruffy Chick: I just don't have any tasty smelling ones left.

'Bolt: *no time for smelly crayons* *drawing for Mom!!*

Mars: Agggggg. *still trying to decipher note*

Scruffy Chick: *gives LOL paddle*

Mars: *thought process screeching halt* 0_o What?

Scruffy Chick: Wap the note.

Mars: . . . Worth a try, I guess. *takes paddle and WAP*

Scruffy Chick: Did it help?

Mars: . . . It didn't do anything.

Scruffy Chick: Bummer.

Mars: *hands the LOL paddle back* Thanks anyway.

'Bolt: *drawingdrawing*

Scruffy Chick: *baps self absently with paddle*

Mars: o_o

Scruffy Chick: Mun immunity

Mars: Right.

Scruffy Chick: I instigated it after certain bots spent a night randomly tapping me with it.

Mars: . . . Wow.

'Bolt: *getting excited*

Scruffy Chick: *watches the drawing*

'Bolt: *crayon stroke* *crayon stroke* . . . *Tada!* *goes to show Mom*

Scruffy Chick: *watches*

Mars: What have you got there, 'Bolt?

Scruffy Chick: What is it?

'Bolt: *holds up his picture, which is a black circle--probably supposed to be some kind of cave--with different colored figures within the "cave"* *said figures bear a child's resemblance to the Aerialbots* *particularly with a child's knack to show people as they are* *Slingshot's representation is particularly rude*

Scruffy Chick: Yup. They're in a hole. And bigBolt isn't you! *hugga bitty*

'Bolt: *lets go of one side of drawing, letting it fall, to lift up finger* *wasn't done!* *flips over picture*

Scruffy Chick: *looks*

'Bolt: *this side of the page is a lot more colorful, filled to the brim with different images* *. . . and also has an "X" at one point and a part that has a little house and "Home" at another*

Scruffy Chick: Uh, do you understand this part, Mars?

Mars: *comes in closer* . . . Looks kinda like a map ta me.

Scruffy Chick: Ohhhhh. *calls to a passing movie 'Hide that she knows*

lady'Hide: What?

'Bolt: *smiiiiile* *Mom knew what it was* . . . *ah!* *big person!* *hides behind Mom*

lady'Hide: *gruffness softens as she spots that little movement. Piece of soft energon goodie appears at bitty level*

'Bolt: *stays hidden* *doesn't appear interested in the goodie*

Scruffy Chick: Ironhide just wants to see your map, 'Bolt. She's okay. She's got her own bitty

'Bolt: *had been protesting because it was map time, not snack time* . . . *looks up at Mom* *tugs shirt and gestures with map* *bot!Lady's so big* *what if something happens to map?*

lady'Hide: *gently* Here. Let me scan it.

Mars: *to 'Bolt* You just have to hold it up where she can see it.

'Bolt: . . . *looks down at map* *then holds it up over his head really high*

lady'Hide: *makes a light play over it so that he can see that she's scanned it, then contemplates it*

'Bolt: *puts it down once the light's done* *looks at it himself*

lady'Hide: Do you know which reality this is? Or is it a nexus or headspace?

'Bolt: *points* *thataway!* *which could mean anything, really*

lady'Hide: *shrugs and goes thataway*

'Bolt: 0_0 *blinkblink*

Scruffy Chick: Wrong way?

'Bolt: *looks down at map*

Scruffy Chick: Hey, 'Hide, come back. You're doing it wrong.

'Bolt: *it's on his map!*

lady'Hide: *pauses and makes a holo of the map and studies it*

'Bolt: *sees Hide has hers up and points*

lady'Hide: *puts map down where he can reach it*

'Bolt: *hands real map to Mom before toddling over and pointing* *follows the line from "Home"*

lady'Hide: This is home? Where we are?

'Bolt: *goes over and hugs Mom* *Mom is home, of course*

lady'Hide: Ahhh, I think I know where they are.

Mars: Really?

lady'Hide: *nods and takes out a PINpoint*

Mars: *watches*

lady'Hide: *presses PINpoint button and gets a rude sound* *frowns, and then looks at the bitty* I think I need help, kid. Want to come with?

Mars: *looks down at 'Bolt* Want to help find bigger Silverbolt?

'Bolt: *has been helping, Mom* *people just don't understand!!* *yes, want to go!* . . . *but thinks that big!Hide is kinda scary*

lady'Hide: *has hunkered down and is making soft rumbling sounds to bitty'Bolt*

Mars: It's okay, 'Bolt. She's not gonna hurt ya.

'Bolt: . . . *looks like he's gearing self up to go with 'Hide--and then he remembers something* *forgot to put away crayons!*

Scruffy Chick: Aww. I'll do that for you. Mom will tell me where to put them.

'Bolt: *but they were Scruffy Chick's crayons?*

Scruffy Chick: Nah. I gave them to you.

'Bolt: 0_0 . . . *enthusiastic thumbs up in thanks!*

Scruffy Chick: :D

'Bolt: *okay, crayons taken care of* *ummmm, see*

lady'Hide: *gruffly but gently* Hope my kid turns out as cute as you. Might be hard, with who he's made from.

Mars: lol Well, kids are cute in their own way. *to 'Bolt* Do you want your map, 'Bolt?

lady'Hide: *makes holo map*

'Bolt: *no hesitation* *yes, wants his map*

lady'Hide: *okay, puts her copy away*

Mars: Here you go. *hands 'Bolt his map* Sorry, 'Hide. He's really insistent right now.

'Bolt: *maaaaap*

lady'Hide: No problem. *cracks a slight grin* I'm from a sparklet reality. *so she knows bitties*

Mars: Ah. Good to know I'm not alone. *not expecting a yes* *to 'Bolt* You sure you don't want your crayons?

'Bolt: *thiiiiiiiiiiinks* *epiphany!* *yes, would like crayons*

lady'Hide: You can use mine.

'Bolt: *staaares* *she has crayons too?*

Scruffy Chick: Where do you think all the tasty smelling ones went? She's got cravings.

Mars: lol

lady'Hide: *taking out crayons*

'Bolt: *shakes head to refocus after getting distracted by fact Lady!Hide has crayons* *need to stop stalling* *bigger him in trouble*

Mars: You have paper too?

lady'Hide: *takes out a pad of lilac colour lined paper*

Mars: I don't think I have to ask if you've got food with ya either. *hunkers down next to 'Bolt* You be careful, okay?

'Bolt: *wide-opticked* *had almost forgotten* *hugs Mom* *yes, will be careful*

lady'Hide: *grinning as she watches the little guy hug*

Mars: *gives him a peck on the head* Love you.

'Bolt: *last squeeze* *loves you too, Mom!*

lady'Hide: Ready? Do you need that? *nods to bunny blanket*

'Bolt: *looks over* *considers* *is it gonna be cold?* *is it gonna be that late?* *is there a need?* *yeah, kinda like his bigger self right now*

lady'Hide: I've got a lot of storage space.

'Bolt: *looks over* *hmmmmmmmm* *'kay!* *picks up blanket and hands it to Lady!Hide*

lady'Hide: *stores it carefully, letting him see the panel over the compartment so that he knows where it is*

'Bolt: *Noted!*

lady'Hide: Alright. Are you ready?

'Bolt: *nods, yes*

lady'Hide: Okay. Point the way. *scoops him up and then holds little guy reassuringly close so he knows he's safe at that height*

'Bolt: *whoa, got picked up!* *uhhhh* *oh yes!* *points in the direction that he pointed earlier*

lady'Hide: *goes that way, absently playing soft children's music on her radio as she goes*

Mars: *is gonna pretend isn't thinking about how high 'Bolt is right now*

'Bolt: *ladyHide's gonna come to a bit of shock in the next few steps as a portal opens up in front of them and engulfs them*

lady'Hide: Ah. There's the glitch. *frowns and looks around for anything dangerous*

'Bolt: *not a glitch, it was on the map as the shimmering ellipse on the line from "Home"* *nothing dangerous . . . yet*

lady'Hide: *glances at map, and then starts walking in the right direction*

'Bolt: *now ladyHide's got it* *points!*

lady'Hide: *chuckles, then grumbles softly at somebody before turning her attention back to her little passenger* My kid's excited. Let's see the map again.

'Bolt: *kid?* *looks around* . . . *wait, map* *puts where they can see it*

lady'Hide: *sees the glancing* He's got a berth in a deep pocket. *not going to tell the little guy about spark budding!*

'Bolt: *deep pocket?* 0_o? *looks up at 'Hide as they walk over bright green grass and pass a waterfall* *kid is in an ocean?*

lady'Hide: *in reply to the look as they pass the falls* Pocket like your blanket's in. Only deeper. By my spark.

'Bolt: *looks confused for a minute before he carefully starts swinging his arms like a human child pretending to hold a baby since he's still holding the all important Map* *??*

lady'Hide: *uncertainly* Baby?

'Bolt: *nods* *questioning headtilt*

lady'Hide: *hopes she's answering the right question* Yes, he's my baby.

'Bolt: *. . . swings his arm again* *then stops and points insistently twice in direction of his cradled arm* *is actual baby?* *infant bot?*

lady'Hide: Yes. Baby bots happen where I come from.

'Bolt: . . . *was his question answered?* *Kid is baby? . . . yes* *nods to self* . . . *gently pat pats ladyHide's armor* *shh, little baby, shh*

sparklet: *is a very faint and friendly 'ting!' as he taps back*

'Bolt: *startles* *wide-opticked* *had not been expecting that!*

lady'Hide: *gently* He patted you back. Show me the map again? *has it, but likes to include him*

'Bolt: *blinkblink* . . . *looks up at ladyHide* . . . *huh?* *. . . map?* *oh!* *map* *holds it out*

lady'Hide: *checks it carefully, and then goes the right direction*

'Bolt: *over the tree tops, mountains start to appear* *nowhere near as high as the Himalayas or the Rockies, but still kinda high up* *well, maybe some of the Rockies*

lady'Hide: Hmm. Snow. *looks up there while still keeping her sensors open for danger*

'Bolt: *birds swoop kinda low overhead and there are sounds of predators moving through the trees*

lady'Hide: *not too worried about those, though she makes sure that the bitty in her hands is sheltered and safe against her chest*

'Bolt: *kinda distracted by the wolves just on the other side of the trees lining the forest path*

lady'Hide: What's there, huh, kid?

'Bolt: *looks up at her* *scary stuff* *crayon?*

lady'Hide: *crayons!*

'Bolt: *makes sure ladyHide hasn't stopped in her tracks before subspacing his map and asking for paper*

lady'Hide: *still walking. Paper!*

'Bolt: *oh, good* *thumb up* *dr'wdr'wdr'w!*

lady'Hide: *decides those furry things are annoying. They look like tire tinklers. Protective and comforting hand over the little drawer* There's going to be noise. Don't be scared, alright?

'Bolt: O_O;;; *nonono!* *dr'wdr'wdr'w!!!!* *done!* *patpatpat!*

lady'Hide: *lifts hand and looks*

'Bolt: *lady still moving?* *points to sheet!* *Drawings: two figures that resemble wolves, one bigger than the other* *the bigger one is circled* *he points to this and then points to the surrounding forest* *then he points to another part of the sheet*

lady'Hide: *still walking. Looks at that part of the paper*

'Bolt: *other part’s a bit more incoherent due to his rush: different creatures with arrows in between and then other creatures . . . breathing fire of some kind?*

lady'Hide: So honking my horn won't scare those off?

'Bolt: *relief* *no, these aren’t your average wolves*

lady'Hide: How about some Petra from the stereo?

'Bolt: *questioning headtilt* *what's "Petra"?*

lady'Hide: *very softly plays 'Jekyll and Hyde' by way of explanation*

'Bolt: *wide-opticked as the music plays and then fearfully looks over to where he said the wolves were*

lady'Hide: No, huh? *turns music off as she keeps walking* Too bad you don't have coordinates.

'Bolt: *hands make an explosion* *PINpoints don't work here*

lady'Hide: Figures. *quiet grumble*

'Bolt: *staring at the edge of the forest, startling when he hears a growl*

lady'Hide: *cannon!* *no shoot, though*

'Bolt: *cowers as a wolf comes shooting out of the forest behind them, landing on the path and facing them* *wolf is a much larger brute than those normally found on earth* *is also breathing heavily as saliva drops from its jaws and it stares at them with mismatched eyes*

lady'Hide: *scowls and scans the thing*

'Bolt: *the wolf could almost be a Transformer, but the tech is all wrong and is somehow still organic with all those tech implants* *or with what normally would be called tech implants* *seems some kind of dark magic's gotten involved* *it's just messed up, okay?*

lady'Hide: ...EMP gun. *reaches into a pocket*

'Bolt: *peeking and hoping and hoping and hoping*

lady'Hide: *takes out the nifty toy she picked up in the Nexus a while back, aims at wolf, and presses the firing stud*

'Bolt: *the wolf leaps then . . . and takes a direct hit* *. . . before also mutating*

lady'Hide: ... Prime. *growl*

'Bolt: *he tried to explain how messed up it was*

lady'Hide: *puts away EMP gun, and folds out cannon again* Should I try this?

'Bolt: *as he watches the mutation happening* *nope!* *patpats LadyHide's arm* *points other direction* *Run, run!*

lady'Hide: *transforms with bitty in cab and goes that way* *mighty engine roar!*

'Bolt: o_o!!! *behind them something charges down a hill and hits the mutating creature*

lady'Hide: *scans back that way to see what that is* Hold on, kid. *seatbelts the bitty*

'Bolt: *it's not really clear* *but it probably wouldn't be a good idea to go back and ask* *is still wide-opticked*

lady'Hide: *just puts the pedal to the metal*

'Bolt: *clearly hasn't been transferred to a cab during someone's transform before* *is still recovering*

lady'Hide: *produces blankie* *also, checks her copy of the map*

'Bolt: *. . . blankie!* *starts to recover* *gets his map out of subspace* *ladyHide's slightly off course*

lady'Hide: *course corrects* Easy, kid. You're safe.

'Bolt: *settles down with his blanket* *oh, good* *she found the fork* *studies map*

lady'Hide: Any more problem spots I need to watch for?

'Bolt: *points to mountains*

lady'Hide: More glitches?

'Bolt: *looks for his wolf paper*

lady'Hide: What do you need? *offers crayons and the pad that still holds the wolf paper*

'Bolt: *wide optics* *she found his paper!*

lady'Hide: That's the one you wanted? *leaves crayons and pad on the seat next to him, since he's too little to fill a seat anyway*

'Bolt: *takes his sheet from the pad* *points to it and then holds his hand flat and wiggles it a little* *kinda the same thing as the wolf*

lady'Hide: I'm going to kick your friends’ skidplates when I find them. *says this cheerfully*

'Bolt: *wide optics* *Why?*

lady'Hide: To show my appreciation for them getting stuck in a place where my guns don't even work.

'Bolt: *sad* *it wasn't them!*

lady'Hide: Hey. *rubs his back with the back of the seat* Easy.

'Bolt: *still looking sad* *slides down in chair and goes deeper into his blanket* *only partially comforted by the rubbing*

lady'Hide: *sigh* I won't hurt anybody. Ratchet would probably have a fit if I tried it anyway.

'Bolt: *saaad* *it wasn't them* *. . . Ratchet?*

lady'Hide: What is it? *slight course correction and cautiously opens an Autobot frequency to see if anyone's pinging*

'Bolt: *had only been wondering which 'Ratchet' you were talking about*

lady'Hide: *will repeat what she said last in bits* I won't hurt anybody?

'Bolt: *waves* *no, no, after that*

lady'Hide: Ratchet would have a fit?

'Bolt: *nod*

lady'Hide: He's my mate, and the old coot seems to have forgotten I can take care of myself.

'Bolt: *ohhhhhhhhhhhh* *patpat*

lady'Hide: Heh. Thanks, kid.

'Bolt: *smile* *you're welcome*

lady'Hide: *checks the map*

'Bolt: *looks like you're gonna have to go through the mountains*

lady'Hide: *grumble grouch, starts into the mountains*

'Bolt: *looking kinda tired*

lady'Hide: I have the map. Why don't you help your blanket have a nap?

'Bolt: *looks at ladyHide doubtfully*

lady'Hide: I've done alright so far, haven't I?

'Bolt: *points to the first step*

lady'Hide: ... After that one. Wait. There's another portal?

'Bolt: *shrug* *possibly* *runs his finger around points of the map*

lady'Hide: ...Are those places portals might be?

'Bolt: *portals . . . or something like that*

lady'Hide: Do I avoid those?

'Bolt: . . . *some* *it depends*

lady'Hide: Alright, I'll wake you up when we reach the first one.

'Bolt: *still looks skeptical*

lady'Hide: ... Do you want me to stop and sit here? You need sleep.

'Bolt: *nods* *and then yawns*

lady'Hide: *sighs and parks, then plays the very soft children's music*

'Bolt: *looks around to see where best put map* . . . *hmmm* *subspaces* *sticks the wolf picture back on top of the pad before cuddling under his blanket again* *siiiiiiiiiiiigh*

lady'Hide: *sits there and keeps watch, grumbling very softly as her son enjoys her lack of motion by wriggling and poking around*


two hours later


lady'Hide: *absent staring contest is go. Truck vs toad!*

'Bolt: *sleeps for a few minutes more before he startles awake and looks around him, deeply confused*

lady'Hide: *rocks on her shocks and rumbles, absently humming a lullaby that hasn't been heard in a few million years*

'Bolt: *not recognizing anything at the moment* *this isn't Mom's* *stops at the movement and noises*

lady'Hide: Your blanket's there, kid. Shhh. Did you sleep enough?

'Bolt: *starting to calm down as he remembers the purpose of the pad next to him and why he's in what is called a truck cab* *clutches the blanket that is still partly around him* *starts to nod yes, but then starts looking tired again*

lady'Hide: Think you can help me move ahead a bit more before you sleep again? *still rocking, but no longer humming*

'Bolt: *starts to give a sleepy nod before he double takes and then points to something hovering out ladyHide's window*

lady'Hide: *scans!*

'Bolt: *hovering thing is an ugly little fellow* *"pixie" would be a good word for it since it's got wings and a troublemaker's disposition, but it's as ugly as a goblin or some such creature* *the ugly thing is cackling up a storm as it points at 'Bolt* *'Bolt knows too much it thinks!* *Sleep, little nuisance, sleep!*

'Bolt: *pointpoint!* *then makes a motion at ladyHide's horn!* *Hornhorn!*

lady'Hide: *airhorn is GO*

'Bolt: *the ugly pixie startles and holds its ears before flying away* *but, hee, hee, it got the little pipsqueak, yesss~!*

lady'Hide: *crash of bass guitar to finish!* You okay, kid?

'Bolt: *droopy and tired* . . . *food?*

lady'Hide: *opens her glove compartment, and lo, it holds energon goodies of the classic type, and also a lovely package of what looks a lot like bratwurst, but smells like oil and minerals and yum*

'Bolt: *looks somewhat disappointed* *not quite what he was thinking* *but, will try to make his way over there to see what'll help . . . but his seat belt prevents him*

lady'Hide: *lets him go* What's wrong?

'Bolt: *tiredly waves it off--somewhat unconvincingly* *crawls over to the glove compartment*

lady'Hide: Draw me a picture.

'Bolt: *stops and ROllls over* *mmmm* *okay, CRAWL*

lady'Hide: *nudges pad and crayons over with her seat*

'Bolt: *tired thumbs up in thanks* *holds a crayon to his face and taptaps while he thinks of what to draw that she'll understand*

lady'Hide: *waits, also starts off in the direction the map says she should go now*

'Bolt: *startled out of thoughts by the movement and a new wave of tiredness* *lost his idea as he tries to keep himself awake*

lady'Hide: You need some grease. That would give you some energy.

'Bolt: *looks kinda lost* *supposed to help!* *can't think!*

lady'Hide: *produces a silver tendril that pulls a tube of high performance axle grease out of the glove compartment. Pokes it gently at the bitty mouth* Open up.

'Bolt: *Mom taught him to be obedient and has his alternates' tendency to be well-behaved anyway, so he opens his mouth when requested*

lady'Hide: *gives him some of the thick, sweet fuel*

'Bolt: *almost sputters the fuel, but he takes it in*

lady'Hide: Not good? *draws the tube back a bit*

'Bolt: *he was surprised, mostly* *but it was good enough that he's got some of his wakefulness back* *gonna take advantage of it to draw what he needs*

lady'Hide: *offers more grease* This stuff's not bad on blitzcake.

'Bolt: *looking kinda resigned as he draws, taking the grease when he feels himself slipping* *doesn't really hearing what ladyHide's saying*

lady'Hide: *confident that that much carbon will make any bitty hyper*

'Bolt: *still looking sad, and he's still fighting the sleepiness* *finishes his drawings and stares at them for a bit, one crayon still held in his hand*

lady'Hide: Can I see? *gruff and gentle* *then pauses* This is one of the portal spots on the map.

'Bolt: o_o!!!! *paper falls as he makes sudden movement* *pointsawaypointsaway!*

lady'Hide: *follows directions with alacrity* Go around it?

'Bolt: *awayaway!* *yes, yes!* *away!*

lady'Hide: *goes!*

'Bolt: *and behind them, ladyHide will see a very large creature emerge from the portal and look around as it stands on its hind legs*

lady'Hide: *soft growl* Looks like a squishy Megatron.

'Bolt: *this creature is not purple!* *. . . well, not all of it!*

lady'Hide: *sees what he's doing* Neither is the Megatron I know.

'Bolt: *looks kinda sheepish as he begins to calm down and appear tired again* *. . . not supposed to know about the animal one* >_>;;;

lady'Hide: Show me what you drew.

'Bolt: *looks around for his paper* *lands on his stomach as he reaches for it*

lady'Hide: *puts down the grease and uses the tendril to get the paper for him*

'Bolt: *tired thumb up in thanks* *turns to drawing* *points to a picture of the creature that has got an equal sign between it and a black heart and a drawing of the wolf creature from earlier* *Read: Thing met a few minutes ago was bad news and messed up*

lady'Hide: Got it.

'Bolt: *hesitates* *looks at two other drawings before he settles on a last* *it is a drawing of a straw in a drink* *and what kinda looks like a cocoon?*

lady'Hide: *compares picture to her databank* You want a drink of energon? And... a Cybertron Sunrise?

'Bolt: *reeeeeeaches for a crayon before he gives up and tiredly rolls over, slowly sits up again, and points at the straw* *then he swings his arms back and forth like he's carrying a bundle*

lady'Hide: Baby? You want sparklet blend energon?

'Bolt: *hits his face with his palm* *. . . was he calling it the wrong thing?* 0_o?

lady'Hide: Mild energon for tiny guys like you?

'Bolt: *goes back to his other picture* *this one of an "older woman"--to a bitty like 'Bolt everyone is older than him--who's got the air of being kind and generous and gentle, but also not your stereotypical woman either, instead someone you'd expect to actually exist* *said woman is holding two licorice type things, one the color of Sunrises and other Strawbaby* *'Bolt points to this and hope ladyHide understands* *if not, he's not sure what's he's gonna do*

lady'Hide: *sudden rumble of laughter* You want gummies.

'Bolt: *sighs* *not quite* *ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm* *blinks off the sleep* *looks at his crayon . . . and then himself* *epiphany!* *reaches over and picks up the red*

lady'Hide: *produces a package of strawbabies from another compartment. These smell just like one of the strips!*

'Bolt: *freezes!* *that'sitthat'sit!* *fallsoverinHAPPY*

lady'Hide: *sets the package beside him, and then dips one into grease and makes it vanish somewhere. Pleased rumble*

'Bolt: *reeeaches for one, looking incredibly thoughtful--and like he's giving Thanks or something--before he puts it into his mouth and looks at peace*

lady'Hide: *pleased that she had what he needed* *still traveling, and still keeping a close scanner on their surroundings*

'Bolt: *just looking incredibly grateful that he'll be able to help out now and not hinder the mission* *nibbles on some more as he takes out his map*

lady'Hide: *offers the tendril with a little speaker on the end* Say something to your mom?

'Bolt: *have you heard him say a word yet?* *. . . thinks on it* *blows his Mom a kiss*

lady'Hide: *chuckles and transmits that, then puts the speaker away* Good kid.

'Bolt: *why not, he loves his mom* *And with his strawbabies defending him from pixie curses, he doesn't have to worry about worrying her*

lady'Hide: *finds a wooden skewer and offers it to him*

'Bolt: *tilts his head in a question as he looks at it*

lady'Hide: Strawbaby portability.

'Bolt: *smiles at that* *shishkabobbed Strawbaby!*

lady'Hide: Let's see where this next portal is. Hrrrm. Alright, what do I do now?

'Bolt: *realizes where they are on the map* *looks frightened again as they drive up the mountain road* *dangerdanger!*

lady'Hide: Go around?

'Bolt: *nods enthusiastically* *looks at the narrowness of the road* *but carefully!*

lady'Hide: *isn't a four wheel drive for nothing!* *carefully around she goes, and then watches as they drive away from it*

'Bolt: *another close call as the monster seen through the glimpse of the portal emerges and runs down the road the way they came before getting pounced upon by a playful mate*

lady'Hide: Yeesh.

'Bolt: *and now the two are rolling down the side of the mountain*

lady'Hide: *rumbles and absently flexes one folded away cannon* *but continues on her way*

'Bolt: *and waaaaaaaaay up there, ladyHide will see the shimmering ellipse of another portal that looks like it's almost a mountain cave itself* *this portal's got a shadow of a creature and red eyes staring out of it*

lady'Hide: That one's not even trying to be sneaky. *snorts*

'Bolt: *doesn't seem too concerned about that one, despite the intensity of its stare, as he carefully stores his shishkabobbed Strawbabies in his subspace in case he's ever alone without ladyHide's store*

lady'Hide: That one's not a hostile? *watching the little guy's disinterest* *also, offers another skewer*

'Bolt: *shrugs, creature is* *then points at his optics with two fingers and then points those two fingers outward as he moves his head back and forth* *it just watches everything* *perks at the second skewer and repeats the process of the first*

lady'Hide: Ah. *is also watching everything* You're welcome. Lemme know if you need another one. I think there are a couple more.

'Bolt: *his optics widen as he realizes he didn't give her a thumbs up!* o_o

lady'Hide: What's wrong?

'Bolt: *looks over ashamed* *sheepishly holds up his thumb*

lady'Hide: *rubs his back with her seat* Don't worry about it. You've got something to do there.

'Bolt: *still, he was taught better than this! And in realities where he's Team Leader, he knows better than this!*

lady'Hide: *pat pat* *sticks out her holo of the map so that he can see that she's checking it*

'Bolt: *looks only somewhat reassured* *looks between his map and hers*

lady'Hide: You're little. Sometimes it's hard for little bots to concentrate on more than one thing. *sticks a blinking dot on her map to show where they are. Dot moves along the trail as they do*

'Bolt: *looks somewhat confused before he realizes she was referring to the map* *knows exactly where they are* *still doesn't think she understands how he knows these things*

lady'Hide: *nope, doesn't. But the dot amuses her* Weren't you sticking strawbabies?

'Bolt: *last one stuck!* *puts it into his subspace*

lady'Hide: Want another?

'Bolt: *he thinks on it* *hmmmmmmm* *shakes his head* *had only been doing 'just in case,' doesn't think there will be an actual need* *thumbs up in thanks as he takes another Strawbaby from the package and nibbles on it*

lady'Hide: *rumbles a chuckle* Alright. *uses tendril to tuck his blanket around him*

'Bolt: *looks content as one of his new friends is tucked around him, looks at the map, and nibbles on his Strawbaby, even as they continue through the winding mountain roads with the various creatures looking down at them*

lady'Hide: *rummaging around* Hey. Annie wanted to give this to a baby. *tendril offers bitty'Bolt a small, jointed green teddy bear* You want it?

'Bolt: *looks up and around* *baby?* *tilts his head*

lady'Hide: Somebody littler than her. *seems to shrug without rocking the bitty* I think you'd count.

'Bolt: *looks confused* *points at her and then does the "baby cradling" motion*

lady'Hide: *gently* He's going to be bigger than you. The doll would be too small for him.

'Bolt: *looks at her before taking the green bear and looking at it thoughtfully*

bear: *has very very soft short fur* *also... has floppy limbs, with magnets in the paws*

'Bolt: *pets it carefully* *kinda startles when the movement causes the paws to move together*

lady'Hide: It can hold onto you.

'Bolt: *not sure what to do*

lady'Hide: What's wrong?

'Bolt: *a few things* *he doesn't have a lot of toys or stuffed animals since he's really new* *and then he's got this mission he's supposed to be focusing on* *and then he's not sure if he really deserves this*

lady'Hide: ...Should I ask your mom?

'Bolt: *more silence as he thinks* *nods*

lady'Hide: *calls the Mars*

Mars: Um, hello? *not sure who's calling*

lady'Hide: This is Ironhide. We're still on our way, but I need to ask you a question.

Mars: Why? Did something happen?

lady'Hide: Nah. I just have this little tiny soft doll with magnets in its hands and feet. Can I give it to 'Bolt?

Mars: *not the question she was expecting, but hey!* Sure. He'd probably like that.

lady'Hide: What do you think, 'Bolt?

'Bolt: *looks down at the bear* *Mom seems to be okay with it . . .* *and he does like it*

lady'Hide: *sticks it to his front* *to him and to Mars* Someone just got a hug.

Mars: *chuckles*

'Bolt: *surprised! as the bear initiates a hug*

lady'Hide: I'll call you if anything else happens. Oh, and I gave him a couple pointy things to store strawbabies on. *has learned accountability to mothers by working with Annabell and her mother*

Mars: I'd be more worried about those if he weren't a little bot. And thank you for keeping an eye on him!

lady'Hide: No problem. !!! Oh sl... eeep. I think that was how they say gopher here. *absently hangs up* Never mind. It was a rock.

'Bolt: *with time they start to descend from the mountains and reach the edge of the range* *every once and a while a creature is seen watching them like predators the prey, as the case with the monster at the top of the mountain, but there are no more close calls*

lady'Hide: *eats a few strawbabies and growls at things. Is watchful and just a bit on edge because of the size and helplessness of her passengers, but after all the vorns of war she's known she's still pretty relaxed. And just a little bit bored due to lack of gophers* *opens out map to check, even though she knows the map and that they're heading right*

'Bolt: *has been surprisingly calm for most of this stretch of the trek--as with the ever watching mountain peak creature* *but as they near the end of the range, he appears a bit more anxious*

lady'Hide: *notes the little guy's tension* What is it?

'Bolt: *they need to get there, they need to get--* *The edge! Finally!* *subspaces the map and gathers up the things around him into a pile before patpatting Lady'Hide's seat*

lady'Hide: Keep going?

'Bolt: *shakes head* *half starts his transformation twice and patpat's Lady'Hide's seat*

lady'Hide: *stops*

'Bolt: *well, she got half of it anyway* *half starts his transformation and then points at Lady'Hide*

lady'Hide: Yeah.. got that. *rustling sound* Here, put your stuff in here. *produces reusable shopping bag*

'Bolt: *oh* *sheepish* *pad, bear, and crayons are stuck into the bag before he suddenly gets tense*

lady'Hide: *pauses in catching him and the bag with tendrils to check and see if he's just ready for her transform or if he's reacting to something outside*

'Bolt: *all set!* *patpat* *transform!*

lady'Hide: *quick shift, sound of moving metal, a swoooop upward! Stands and frowns around at her surroundings as she absently pulls the drawstring on the shopping bag and then puts the strings over 'Bolt's arms like a backpack*

'Bolt: *they are now standing almost right on the edge of a cliff at the end of the mountains* *land stretches out in front of them and down below, very, very far below* . . . o_o *is still pretty shocked from the 'whoooooooooooa' of the transformation* *distracted as turns see what Lady'Hide's doing back there*

lady'Hide: *pat pats him, and then brings out her copy of the map again and floats it out over the empty air in front of the cliff* Alright... let's see. That's that rock, and that's that rock. *looks the right way for the cave*

'Bolt: *. . . okay, stuff is back there* *and then he wanted the pad for some--oh yes, to explain--* *suddenly wide opticked again* *patpats what he can reach* *points to the edge* *go, go!*

lady'Hide: *walks right over there and looks down, her tendrils pulling bittyBolt closer to her chest as she does*

'Bolt: *veeeeeery far down there* *but that's not what he meant* *patpats and points again . . . as something growls from behind and can be heard to pound the earth as it gets closer at lightning fast speeds*

lady'Hide: *steps over, her winch and grapple ready if needed*

'Bolt: *clings to the tendriles for dear life as they immediately go through a portal at level with the surface of the cliff and droooooooooop into pitch blackness* *Lady'Hide should have enough time to prep for landing on her feet*

lady'Hide: *senses floor and lands easily, though it'll be loud! Immediate sensor sweep with infrared and subsonics*

'Bolt: *probably not much louder than the music already in the background, coming from the direction of the dim light along a cave wall full of stalagmites and stalagtites*

lady'Hide: *aims sensors toward the noise, all except her audios. She shuts those off*

'Bolt: *the noise that shut off was that of an organ in all its gothical glory* *its pipes spanning the length of the high cave walls and gray to blend in with the facade of the cave sounding it* *and at the seat is a man dressed in dark colors*

lady'Hide: *walks up warily, one hand now sheltering the little bot she's holding as she looks at and listens with everything but audio to the world around her*

Darkly-dressed Man At The Organ: *wearing a cape around his shoulders and his manner of dress is a bit dated from what Lady'Hide is probably used to seeing* *the man only half turns from playing what Lady'Hide can no longer hear as a human would as he addresses 'Bolt* Ah. So the pipsqueak Autobot has arrived. *glances over from his playing as the organ continues to belt out its song* And still with her, I see.

'Bolt: *frowns right back at the man*

lady'Hide: *bored of not hearing. Suddenly cuts loose with full volume Petra. Let's see if 'Jekyll and Hyde' can stop the 'Phantom of the Opera' stuff*

'Bolt: *wait, he--!!!* *covers his audios*

Villian: *smirks creepily as he pulls a few stops and seemlessly plays a series of chords that cancels out the soundwaves from her Petra* *to 'Bolt again* A pert one that one. Doesn't know it's rude to interrupt a performance. . . .

lady'Hide: *looks down at bittyBolt and tries pinging him over 'comms*

'Bolt: *headtilt, yes*

Male voice in the background: *reacting to the Villain* 'Performance'?!?! You were in the middle of monologuing before you stopped, stammering, "ah, he's here!" and starting playing that blasted thing!

Villain: . . . Quiet you! *looking embarrassed*

lady'Hide: *saw those soundwaves, she did. Turns toward the voice in the background and scans that way. To the bitty in her grasp* //Can you show me anymore map?//

Male Voice in the Background: *starts to say more before another round of chords is played to cut him off.

'Bolt: *hand up* *to her: hold on*

Villain: . . . That's better. *to 'Bolt* Now, where were we? . . . Ah, yes. *presses on one of the presets on the organ, causing stops to move in and out, before playing a short, dramatic run on the organ which brings up the "house lights"*

lady'Hide: *looks bored out of her helm* *helm, though beneath the facade she's watchful and wary*

Villain: *soon won't be* *down in a crater-like pit, right near the organ, the Aerialbots are either restrained to or leaning against its walls* *the man turns so that his hands are no longer on the keys of the organ, though it's still playing softly in the background* *like a warning* A reminder of who holds the cards around here . . . *amused snort* *to 'Bolt* And you . . . Aren't you a little young to be saving the day?

'Bolt: *if human would be furrowing his brow* *gives him a thumbs down* *yes, yes he is, but you're still going down, Mr. Villain!*

lady'Hide: *just putting off boredom in waves. She's learned it's a good way to slag off people with egos* *boredom in her husky old alto voice too* What he said... *indicates the bitty*

Slingshot: *sitting there trying to shake off the shadow that has latched onto his face to muffle his comments*

Fireflight: *distracted as usually* *far away across the room where his normal tones are on the softer side* Hey! Doesn't that Bit . . . ?

Skydive: *from where she's sitting next to a visibly shaken Silverbolt* Like this guy? Yup.

Villain: *doesn't really care about you either, lady'Hide* *of the opinion that she would have been lost without the Bit* *mostly to 'Bolt* I suppose you thought I would be hampering your way with countless beasts, random portals, and endless mazes, not even giving you a second to breathe. . . . Please, don't associate me with those cheesy, overhyped kids' shows. . . . Even if I do have to admit I would have liked it if you'd fallen out of her hands. Would have made getting rid of you a lot easier. *becomes somewhat pensive and definitely thinking of something not rated G in terms of violence* Ah, yes.

lady'Hide: *watching the guy in black even as she counts the 'bots in the hole. Still looks bored, but now there is somehow a hint of warning about her*

Villain: *pays the conversation of his prisoners no mind as he focuses on his semi-wanted guests* So much for tearing off those wings and dropping you off a 40-story building.

Fireflight: *the shock is in his voice* Do what!?!? But he didn't do anything to you.

Slingshot: *FINALLY got the shadow off his face* *to Fireflight* And you're surprised, why? It's what these guys do.

Skydive: Leave the Bit alone, he can't do anything to you!

Villain: *chuckles* *as if to himself* But apparently, that's not "Gish," enough.

lady'Hide: *looks down at bittyBolt* //Looking for suggestions, kid. You've got the plan.//

'Bolt: *frowning face masked his thinking, how to get her to--ah!* *looks up at her* *makes a question mark with his hands*

lady'Hide: //You never showed me the white guy with the medic badges on your map, kid.// *decides to give the guy with the organ a stink eye*

'Bolt: *checks to see that the Villain is still distracted with the Aerialbots before pulling out his map, flipping and turning it over to show the first picture with the Aerialbots depicted in the cave* *points to under the floor* *he's not exactly visible* *and he wasn't always there*

lady'Hide: //Ah.// *glances toward the organ* //...I'm going to urk on that bleeping organ. Let's see what he thinks of that.// *takes a step forward that might be aimed at either the instrument or the pit*

'Bolt: *it's why he was able to take a nap* *. . . takes a cue from his Mom and facepalms before he doubletakes his cue from Random* o_o;;;; *nono!* *not yet!* *organ is gonna get it, really*

lady'Hide: *stops and looks down with a frown* //Well I can't do it on the organic. I'd never hear the end of it.//

Villain: Oh, and really, lady, if you've got something to say, why don't you say it where the rest of the class can hear it. *turns back to the organ and plays some audio-blasting tones that cause the Aerialbots to shudder and 'Bolt to cover his ears* Really, I go through all this trouble and you just waste my time by standing there instead of doing nothing in your own reality!!!!

Slingshot: Someone's insecure.

Villain: .>.<.!!! No one asked you!

lady'Hide: *read the villain's lips* *shrug* I'm in no hurry. You have somewhere to go?

Villain: *turns back to lady'Hide* *smug smile* Well, if you're not concerned, then you won't mind if I go on with my plans. *slight pause in the music as he changes all the stops*

Aerialbots: *all except the already shaken Silverbolt seem to pale*

'Bolt: o_o;;; *looks up* *question mark with his hands* *Stall, stall!!!*

lady'Hide: *plays dumb. Like Bobby does* *stops and gives the villain a confused seeming look* Plans? *hopes to heck she's understanding what the bitty is telling her*

Villain: *the stop pulling stops with a musically pleasing flourish*

Aerials 'Cept SB: *frozen in place*

'Bolt: *thumbs up where the Villain can't see*

lady'Hide: Plans? You're going to put on a concert? *so aping Bobby here*

Villain: *amused snort as he presses one of his presets and turns completely around* *and the music is gone with it* Been there, done that. That is my day job. No, no. What I have planned is . . . much more appealing. *like a wolf considering his favorite meal*

lady'Hide: ... *glances down at bittyBolt without moving her optics* Charity concert?

'Bolt: *both hands out in front and make slight patting motion* *this okay, but beware of similar paths*

Villain: *rhetorical question* *evenly* Do I look the sort that performs for charity?

lady'Hide: *studies him thoughtfully* You look better than that sl... scary Lady Gaga, and she does 'em. *hopes for a rant, or a cackle and boast session*

'Bolt: *careful!* *moves his hands like a river flowing* *don't linger on the subject*

Villain: *raises an eyebrow* Oh, don't get me started on that--what was the word used by the modern folk on some worlds? Oh, yes: "Poser." Attention wanter that one.

lady'Hide: Guess she didn't get the right toys and stuff when she was little. *repeating Bobby verbatim right now*

Villain: Believe me. "The hero's only as good as his weapon" is a complete farce. The equipment has nothing to do with it. Music is the song of life. It comes from the heart. *amused snort* The darker the better. . . . *looks over at the Aerialbots* Yes.

'Bolt: *wide optics* *hands together in a point* *get him back on topic!*

lady'Hide: //Noted.// Nah. I didn't mean equipment. I meant attention and appreciation and all that.

Villain: Pfffffffffffffft.

Female Voice: *VERY LOUDLY, echoing throughout the cavern* *laughing, the sound like broken bells*

lady'Hide: o.0 Slag, it's the ghost of Madonna.

Villain: *had begun to look indignant at this very rude interruption on the part of the female, but begins to laugh himself at 'Hide's comment* She got you there, sister!

Villain's Sister: *shrieks, the sound of which causes winces all around* Why you little wretch!

lady'Hide: *winces and puts a hand to her belly as she feels that shriek despite turning off her audios* That can't be good for her vox.

Villain: *looks up at the ceiling of the cave and cuts off his sister once he's had his fill of laughing* Now what do you want? Can't you see I'm in the middle of something here?

Villain's Sister: *instantly composed* Well, immediately before I was so rudely interrupted---*if she were there in person, she would probably have given lady'Hide a pointed glare*--I was going to remind you that you were that stupid child that wanted *mockingly* "the love and affection of his mother."

Villain: *fumes*

Villain's Sister: Oh, and to tell you that your little enterprise there, *sucks in air* not the work of brilliance.

lady'Hide: *pings bittyBolt as she listens to them quibble* //Keep going?//

'Bolt: *waves his hand* *hang tight* *need to wait for her to leave*

lady'Hide: *nods and lifts her brow ridges as she looks back and forth from their host to the female voice as they wrangle* *as she does so she's studying the pit and its contents*

'Bolt: *patpats Ironhide, he needs to draw*

Ironhide: //Paper, or do you want to draw on me?//

'Bolt: *considers* *on you*

Ironhide: *pulls out a whiteout pen and offers it*

'Bolt: *draws on the part of the hand not immediately visible to the Villain and isn't usually viewed anyway* *it's a quick drawing, so she's soon patpatted*

lady'Hide: *scans the drawing without looking at it with her optics* *gives a little acknowledging ping as she does so*

'Bolt: *drawing is of the organ--or at least a simplified version of it* *over it is a child's rendition of Lady'Hide's earlier scanning of the map* *to the side is a drawing of a checklist with some images of specifics needed nearby*

lady'Hide: //Scan the organ?// *is studying the checklist*

'Bolt: *nods and points the images next to the checklist which clarify the specifics* *and look for these things*

lady'Hide: *rumbles, then winces as her tank makes another sloshy rumble of its own* //Excuse me.// *scans organ for the things on the list*

'Bolt: *patpat* *poor baby*

Villain: *has devolved into childish squabbles with his sister* *well, more so* And another thing.

Villain's Sister: You wouldn't know a true villainous scheme if it hit you in the face with a frying pan, Mortimer.


Villain: *eye twitches* The name’s not. Mortimer. And makes you so expert about villainous schemes, Gertrude?!?!

Villain's Sister: *voice holds the ruffling of feathers* I've never been known by that vile name. And I know because I've happened to be successful in my little jaunt, unlike you. You can't even botch things right.

lady'Hide: //Found 'em.// *winces again* //I'm going to have gas at this rate, and then everyone including my kid will hate me.//

'Bolt: *patpat* *just hang in there for a little bit*

Villain: Well, maybe if you'd let me work in peace I'd be able to get something done around here!

Villain's Sister: Hmm. Wouldn't you. By this time, I had all the 'Cons wrapped around my little finger here.

Air Raid: . . . *sounds shocked* Am I hearing things, or did she just say she had 'Cons wrapped around her finger?

Skydive: No, I heard it too.

Villain: *doesn't seem to hear the Aerialbots* . . . No one can see your finger, sister dearest.

Villain's Sister: *silence holds the wrath of her anger for a few moments before she dismisses it* In any case, I went, I manipulated, I conquered. And what have you done so far? Interdimensional kidnaping is hardly new or even noteworthy.

Villain: *snort* It'll come. It's already worked much smoother than imagined, and it won't be as corny as your "MLP"s you're so found of.

Villain's Sister: Oh! *annoyingly cheerful* Don't you love unicorns and rainbows and things?

Slingshot: *angrily* . . . You mean that--?

Skydive: *since SB's not able to do so at the moment* Slingshot, hush!

Villain: *barely restraining self* Are you quite finished?

lady'Hide: *very quiet burp* //Excuse me. I found the things on the check list.//

'Bolt: *patpats her* *standby*

Villain's Sister: Just one more thing: There's no way you can beat me conning the 'Cons into their rainbow-y doom. Toodles! *sound of a mike hanging up*

lady'Hide: *grim and quiet* You need call waiting.

Villain: *amused snort* That won't work with her . . . But I'll get back at her soon enough.

lady'Hide: *rubs her nose and then stifles a burp that threatens to be disruptive* You get the right kind and it'd work.

Villain: I have no use for such antiquated technology. *turns back to the organ*

lady'Hide: *thinks* *gruff and sympathetic voice* So your mother...?

'Bolt: *ducks* *baaaaaaad place to go*

Villain: *turns at glares at Lady'Hide* You know, I just carry on with the plan and add to my collection . . .

lady'Hide: *quietly* Hey, I need pointers. I'm gonna be one.

Villain: *amused snort* I can't really delve as much as I would like, but you know those terrifying creatures you encountered in my humble land?

lady'Hide: *thinks of critters* *doesn't think he means that pixie thing* Yeah?

Villain: I only really wanted the runt's "older twin" at first, but the rest of them tumbled in, so why not?

lady'Hide: *pause. Blink* That's pointers on not being a lousy mother?

Villain: *. . . * *no words, just . . .*

lady'Hide: *stares back for a long moment of bewildered silence, checking in with bittyBolt as she does. Help me out here, kid*

'Bolt: *draws on her hand again: it's the Aerialbots and a pic of the villain* *points between the two of them* *need to get him back on that subject*

lady'Hide: *promptly, and without much thought* So you collect winged things?

Villain: *at length* You really are brawn sort, aren't you? *as if he really came to this conclusion just now* And in answer to your question: Hardly. And that's the part–

'Bolt: *has his wolf paper out* *points between the pictures of the messed up creatures and the Aerialbots in the pit*

Villain: Couldn't have said it better myself. . . . *stands and moves to the edge of the platform the organ's on* But the creatures are just one of my many loves. *looks back at the dominating organ* Music, for instance, is another. *waves at the air in a sweep motion* But what I really enjoy . . . is causing pain. Of the emotional sort.

lady'Hide: //I got that, kid. What do we do about it?// *aloud* Chief Weapons Officer to Optimus Prime till he turfed me out to pasture.

'Bolt: *makes a calming motion with his hand* *he knows; he had to do that to keep him talking* *makes a "keep going motion"*

Villain: *mockingly* Awww. Pity. You'll know exactly how he'll feel then.

lady'Hide: *burp nearly escapes* //I just nearly urked on this meatbag.// ...I guess?

Villain: *doesn't seem to notice now as he turns back to his organ* . . . But after this latest acquisition, I'll be able to get two in one.

Slingshot: *finally despooked* What the slag are you talking about, you crazy mad man?

lady'Hide: You know you've got an extra there that's part of another set? *more sloshy rumbling*

Slingshot: *looks to Lady'Hide* What?

Skydive: *thinking*

Villain: . . . *to Lady'Hide* So you aren't in the dark after all. But you've missed the point.

Skydive: *starting to understand* Who is it? Which Protectobot is it? And why?

lady'Hide: The only points I usually get are sharp. Or in my old man's snark. //Kid, do you have the comm frequency for that bot that asked that last question?//

'Bolt: *done*

Villain: *takes a seat at the organ*

Slingshot: Hey! 'Dive asked your jerkness a question!

lady'Hide: *thanks bittyBolt* //It's a medibot, kid. Don't waste your vox on the Phantom of the Opera.// *and then a gas bubble escapes her and she winces again* Hey. If you're a villain you're supposed to monologue. I know that much.

Villain: And so I have. But the art of monologuing is in the timing. *plays the lead in* *and the very walls of the cave seem to shift and move*

'Skydive: *shock plasters her face* // 'Aid?! . . . Ratchet's gonna freak. *and then it hits* Oh, no he didn't!//

lady'Hide: //Didn't what? The medic's somewhere down below you lot.// Uh. *urky sound. She can't help it*

'Bolt: *patpat* *almost there, almost there*

Skydive: *about to explain when the rattling of her and the other Aerialbots' platings distracts her, and she checks on Silverbolt before being mesmerized by the ground moving and shifting*

Villain: *as the song becomes progressively more dramatic* It's really easy to lure you Autobot lot. Even the most distrustful will follow, one after the other, if they believe the first is hurt or injured–

Fireflight: *watches as a whole rectangle of rock slithers along the ground like a level "escalator"*

lady'Hide: *growls at the slithery rock, her hand going to her tank as it makes more sloshing sounds. Then she winces as her son gives it several resounding kicks* You wanna bet?

Villain: *turns his head so she sees his smug grin* I had six Autobots do it just this afternoon.

Aerialbots: *looking in different directions; Slingshot looks particularly embarrassed as it ruins his image*

lady'Hide: *snorts at the Villain, then checks with the bittyBolt as her son gives a few more mighty wallops to her sloshy tank*

'Bolt: *shhh, baby, shhh* *Mommy's almost done* *to lady'Hide: carry on*

Villain: *as the "rectangle" turns into a parallelopiped (non cubic cube) and moves into the spot left by other shifting rock on the wall of the pit* I got the team leader by making him believe his oft-wayward comrade was lead astray by his curiosities. I set one of my creatures on the runt's older twin and played on his *ahem* "insecurities"--*can't help but chuckle at the brilliance of his achievement*--to drive him right into a portal of mine. With him, I might have been satisfied, and how the rest of the team came here, I believe, can be inferred as a team without a head is an orchestra without a conductor.

lady'Hide: *hand over mouth as she growls again at the shifting walls and fights the urge to kick aft* *outwardly just scowling and making pings and sloshing rumbles* *idea* But you're missing one of the set, and you've only got one of the other set.

Villain: *as the parallelpiped comes to a stop and the walls stop shaking* And the "medibot" as he's been referred--*the side of the parallelpiped open to the pit falls, leaving only bars of "rock" . . . And a glance inside of a certain, unconscious medibot*

Slingshot: First Aid?!?!? . . How did he get here?

Skydive: He and the other Protectobots responded to our call when we were worried about Silverbolt, remember?

Slingshot: And then he must have found a portal, too.

Villain: Hole in one.

lady'Hide: Wait, what was that about Ratchet going to freak?

Slingshot: *turns to look at Lady'Hide like she's crazy* Are you kidding? Why wouldn't the mech freak?

Skydive: *looking kinda peeved* First Aid is mentored by Ratchet, and I think everybody thinks Ratchet considers him what humans call a "son."

Slingshot: Yeah, just like Silverbolt is Prime--*HITS HIM*--'s. *suddenly angry as he pulls at his bonds* ONCE I GET OUT OF HERE, I'M SQUISHING YOUR SLAGGING CHASSIS!!!!

lady'Hide: *looks at the villain with something that could nearly be pity. Doesn't realize that the Ratchet that belongs to these guys is several notches less cranky and vengeful than her mate* You're street pizza.

Slingshot: You bet he is!

'Bolt: *almost time* *let him down* *pwease?*

lady'Hide: *quick glance at the bitty guy to make sure his backpack's not going to trip him up, then pulls his teddy bear off his front and sets him on the floor* When Ratchet's through with you... *squints one optic at the mother of all bangs of agreement from her belly*

'Bolt: *is freeeeeee!* *toddles over to the edge of the pit and slides down*

Slingshot: *as he continues to struggle* Nah uh, Ratchet's a wuss. He's got more to fear from me.

Silverbolt: *first words spoken this whole time* 'Chet's not wuss.

Skydive: *looks at her brother with concern*

lady'Hide: My Ratchet went head to head with Sentinel Slime. *and nearly got turned into toaster parts, but she's not adding that*

Slingshot: *is confused by that* *but isn't gonna ask questions, he needs to get out and kick some human skidplate!*

Aerialbots: *suddenly free*

Skydive: *once they're loose* Fireflight, help 'Raid get 'Aid. I've got the Silverbolts.

Villain: *something wicked this way comes! and for him!* *turns from his playing* What?!?! How did this happen?

'Bolt: *in his "bigger twin"s hands* *waves to get Lady'Hide's attention*

Slingshot: YOU'RE MINE, SLIMEBALL!

lady'Hide: *heading over toward the Silverbolts, a dirty rotten mean grin on her battered old mug* *has decided not to say anything mean to the wannabe Phantom*

Villain: Not so fast, hot shot! I've got a trick or two left! *CHORD*

Slingshot: *hands to his audios*

Villain: *plays other series of chords*

Slingshot: *thrown back several yards and lands hard on his back*

Skydive: Slingshot! *hands her brother w/ mini-brother to Lady'Hide before rushing in*

'Bolt: *waves to get Lady'Hide's attention!* *makes motion of using a gun at the organ* *but when he says!*

lady'Hide: *grin gets meaner as she shifts her armload to one side and then folds out one of those epic cannons* Ready.

Slingshot: *back on his feet* *to his sister* You take him on that side; I'll get this one!

'Raid: *herding Fireflight with his share of First Aid to where 'Hide is* Any idea how we're getting everyone out? Three of us don't seem to be able to travel in vehicle mode that well.

lady'Hide: *gruff and focused on waiting for her signal* Don't worry about it, kid.

'Hide belly: *PING!*

'Raid: *three other bots around her startles--even Silverbolt startles at that* *. . . lifts up a finger* *then decides against* . . . Play it by ear, I can do that.

Slingshot: *blasted again*

lady'Hide: *absently* Mortimer. *snort*

'Bolt: *hunkers down*

Villain: *his ogran playing just got louder*

Skydive: *blasted all the way back to where Lady'Hide is* . . . Okay, who said his name?

Villain: It's NOT MY NAME. IT'S--*ORGAN TUNES HIM OUT*

lady'Hide: Methinks the lady doth protest too much. *glance at bittyBolt*

'Bolt: *looks up at her with sad optics*

Skydive: *struggling to get up*

Slingshot: *wobbily on feet and steadying self to give it another unsucessful go*

Silverbolt: *moves like a blur over to where the Villain is perched*

lady'Hide: *worried by those sad optics* //Did I scrap it up?//

'Bolt: *sad optics for a few moments more before he is distracted by going ons in the other part of the room*

Silverbolt: LEAVE MY TEAM ALONE!! *sounds of electricity shooting through the air*

Slingshot: YOU TELL HIM, 'BOLT!

Villain: *music becomes more complicated and dissonant and the echo of growls can be heard getting increasingly louder*

Silverbolt: Slingshot, grab him!

Slingshot: Got him!

'Bolt: *patpats Lady'Hide's arm excitedly* *nownow!*

Silverbolt and Slingshot: *clear from the organ*

lady'Hide: *needs but one urging* *BOOOM!*

Villain: *from Slingshot's hands* NOOOOOOOOO!

Slingshot: *watching the carnage unfold as explosions of electrical and magical power erupts into the air* *about the Villain's cry of anguish* And I thought his organ was loud. His lungs are killer!

'Bolt: *waves at the bots on the other side of the room* *need to get back further!!!*

Skydive: *grabbing Silverbolt as he stumbles* *also sees mini-brother* Slingshot, we need to move!

'Raid: *ready to move*

lady'Hide: *steps forward, planting her sturdy old components between the younger bots and the source of the explosions* *gestures in the direction that she came in from* Try that way.

'Bolt: *nono!!* *points behind, away from the organ* *this way, this way!*

'Raid: *doesn't need to be told twice, come on, Fireflight*

Slingshot: *yelps and shakes the hand holding the Villain, something drops from it and scurries away*

Skydive: Come on, Slingshot, let's move!

Slingshot: Hey!! *acks* I'm coming, I'm coming!

Air Raid, Fireflight, and First Aid: *disappear*

lady'Hide: Alright. That way. *still intent on bringing up the rear* *and her son is intent on providing the percussion accompaniment*

Skydive: *sees Slingshot through and makes sure Lady'Hide is coming before she and Silverbolt go through the portal*

'Bolt: *movemove!*

lady'Hide: *backing... backing... Sensors on the alert. Reaches back and down with her free hand to offer a bittybot a tiny green teddy*

'Bolt: *will take the bear* *but see how explosions surround organ and how some of the walls around it are starting to go?* *quickquick!*

lady'Hide: Go!

'Bolt: *points to exploding organ with the same seriousness as he pointed out her first mistake in not noticing the portal*

lady'Hide: I see it, kid. I'm immune to magic, and I can take a charge. Get out so I can go too.

'Bolt: *can be stubborn too, you know* *points at portal, gogo!*

lady'Hide: Go! I'm right behind you!

'Bolt: *is the only reason it's not KABOOM already*

lady'Hide: *suddenly thinks of something like this, reaches down, grabs bitty, and leaps backward*

'Bolt: *Cave as glimpsed through portal:* *FIRE, LIGHT, AND KABOOM, DUDE!!!!!!*

lady'Hide: *smirks at the mess as she flies backward, holding the bitty and his bear and his backpack close*

'Bolt: *portal closes just before the shock waves can penetrate it*

Scruffy Chick: *sits up as a bunch of bots are just suddenly standing in front of the couch* Whoa... so that's why Hormah picked us up and set our couch up on the bigger one*

Mars: o_o;;;

lady'Hide: *circulating deeply for a moment, and then she steps over and sets the bittyBolt and his loots beside his mama* I need the shopping bag back. It's not mine.

Mars: *shocked for a few moments more before 'Bolt clings to her, and she gets some semblance of reality back* Huh? Oh, right!

'Bolt: *help Mom unload the bag, which he hands to Lady'Hide*

lady'Hide: Thanks. *hand under plating to poke it into the right place so that Sarah and Will can find it under her seat as usual*

Mars: *as 'Bolt just clings to her neck* You're welcome.

Skydive: *checking on Silverbolt* Anything from 'Aid yet, 'Raid?

'Raid: I think he's coming around. Fireflight, he doesn't need to poked.

Fireflight: *stops* Are you sure? He’s not moving or anything.

Kia: *running toward the Aerialbots* Guys! Oh no! *skids to a stop and then starts calling* Ratchet, Ratchet! 'Aid's hurt!

Scruffy Chick: Hoo boy... *hand over her mouth as she watches with bemused amusement*

lady'Hide: *looks curiously over her shoulder, absently making cannon whir*

Mars: *in a o_o session at 'Bolt* *"whathappenedexactly?" is going through her mind*

'Bolt: *huuuuugs* *it's okay, Mom* *he's fine*

Aerialbots: *mixed emotions of relief and anxiousness*

Ratchet: *hurrying over as quick as possible* *scanning along the way*

Kia: *down on her knees and inspecting First Aid* Poor 'Aid. Poor brother. You'll be okay.

Ratchet: *kneels down next to 'Aid as he finish his scans* *somewhat distractedly* Silverbolt looks dazed. Is he responding to anything, Skydive?

Skydive: We had him for about--*turns to Slingshot*--What do you say five minutes?

Slingshot: It was way less than that!

Skydive: --Before he returned to this.

Ratchet: What happened?

lady'Hide: *gruffly* Some wannabe Phantom of the Opera used his fears against him. *yes, Ratchet, this is a lady*

Hide belly: *clang!*

Kia: *looks up, her delicate chin set as her big eyes study the burly black femme and take in what she just said* Poor 'Bolt.

'Bolt: *Wha? who?* *oh, not him* *goes back to comforting Mom*

Ratchet: *rubs between his optics* *sighs* I'll have to tell Prime, so he can figure out how to help him.

Scruffy Chick: *chuckles* Look at Kia.

lady'Hide: *also chuckles as she watches the little femme*

Ratchet: *looks over*

Kia: *has moved over to her favourite Aerialbot and is snuggling him and patting his arm as she purrs her youngling purr*

lady'Hide: Think that'll help? *glances at the white, red, and black medic*

Ratchet: *or that* *nods and watches*

Silverbolt: *startles and looks down at Kia blankly for a moment before he puts his arms around her* H-hey K-kia.

Ratchet: That'll do.

Kia: Aww. You need some rest. You and First Aid better come to the infirmary. Right, Ratchet? *turns her head slightly to look for her mentor*

Scruffy Chick: *to Mars, in the background* How about that? Even at that age Kias can chatter. I wonder if this one will end up Mrs. Perceptor? *way to get Ratchet watching one of his best friends, woman*

Mars: *wasn't he already half doing that?* *facepalm* Please don't get Random involved because he will have an opinion about it.

Scruffy Chick: I see no Randoms. *glances at Ratchet*

Mars: There's one in my head ready to go at the drop of a hat.

Ratchet: *focused on seeing if he can get First Aid to respond* *found nothing wrong with scans* *mech just got knocked out and now needs to self heal a little before he can really respond to anything with anything more than a peek of blue optics*

Kia: Let's bring them home, Ratchet. Please? *big eyes for mentor*

lady'Hide: *disgruntled sound as her tank sloshes and rumbles* Ugh... I better get back, too. *looks worn out and uncomfortable*

Ratchet: *gathers First Aid up in his arms* Let's do. You have Silverbolt, Kia?

Mars: o_o

Kia: *nod nod* Everybody hold hands. *gives the rest of the Aerialbots her hopeful look* And somebody touch Ratchet. He take us home.

Aerialbots: *some initial sibling shoving among the nonincapacitated bots, but they soon have it so all are touching at least one other person who's touching someone who will warp back to their reality.*

Ratchet: Everyone ready?

Kia: *looks around and nods, then hugs Silverbolt* Ready. Brace self, 'Bolt.

Silverbolt: A-all right.

Skydive: *to Ratchet* *keeps her grip on Silverbolt and crew* Go for it

Ratchet: *PINpoints them back*

lady'Hide: *groans and grumbles, but lifts her head to look at Mars* I have to go.

Mars: *looks* T-thanks for k-keeping an eye on him.

lady'Hide: *preoccupied waving away of thanks as her belly tings and pings, then moves slowly away from the couch and PINpoints out*

Scruffy Chick: *soberly* Her hubby's gonna have kittens.

Mars: *is having kittens herself, what are you talking about?* Yeeeeeeaaah. *sympathy wince*

Scruffy Chick: *checks the little pendant watch hanging from the belt loop of her battered jeans* You better go home and get to bed. I'll see you around some time or other, Lord willing.

Mars: *holds 'Bolt close* *if she is going to be able to sleep at this point* Yeah. I better get going. Nice chatting with you. *to 'Bolt* Ready to go home?

'Bolt: *already sleeping, Mom*

Scruffy Chick: *chuckles and pulls his new bunny blanket up around his shoulders, then pokes at the little green bear stuck to his chest* God bless!

Mars: Good night. :-) *wishes self home, no red shoes needed*



((Co written with random_xtras))