╬ [Video] :: Location - Wastelands

[young_upstart]

[The feed seems a little shaky at first, but once it comes into focus, all one can see is the dark stretch of the skies above, dotted with the pinpoint lights of distant stars, and perhaps just at its edge, one might catch the fringes of the Lambda's glow.]

Ugh...

[The view shifts, completely tilting on its side to capture the unmistakable grounds of the bleak landscape outside of the Haven. For a moment it remains that way, and then suddenly there's a gasp, and the world blurs as someone jerks to sit upright. It's then that the perhaps familiar magenta and orange paint job can be seen, as well as the stunned face of the young Autobot who so proudly wears it.]

Wh-

[He's getting this weird feeling of déjà vu.]

...where am I? I thought...

Comments

[Video]

[arnhaid]

... You see any lights or anything? Anywhere?

[Video]

[young_upstart]

Not counting the stars in the sky? Uh...

...looks like there's...some kind of beacon? High up, but that looks a pretty good distance from wherever out here is.

[He takes another slow look around.]

It's really empty...

[Video]

[arnhaid]

... Beacon.

Why the scrap aren't you up in one of the temples...

Head for that thing.

[Video]

[young_upstart]

Huh, the last time I was here it seemed like the temples were off limits.

[There's a pause after he says this, and he tries to hang on to that flash of thought.]

-the first time I came here, I woke up in...that over-sized scrap heap.

[Video]

[arnhaid]

Off limits? What's that supposed to mean?

... Somethin' about this isn't right. I don't like it.

[Video]

[young_upstart]

They didn't want us in. The ones that didn't have a-

[Wait, that's right. He looks at his arm.]

-a glyph, I think Ultra Magnus called it?

[Video]

[arnhaid]

Didn't want you in? Because of some dumb tattoo on your arm?

[Video]

[young_upstart]

[The younger Autobot nods slowly.]

-or a lack thereof. A bunch of us arrived without them. Made everyone nervous. Especially those... ah. The guys in charge around here...

[Video]

[arnhaid]

... You got one now, right?

[Video]

[young_upstart]

Yeah... Yeah, I do.

[He doesn't know how but there it is.]

[Video]

[arnhaid]

Then we got time to figure the rest out later. Don't we?

[Video]

[young_upstart]

Right. You're right.

[Just focus on one thing at a time for now. Probably better anyway. His memory's still a little fragmented, but it's the things he's starting to recall that are concerning him.]

Anyway, you said follow the beacon-thing, right? Let's see if I can transform...

[It's a little rough in going, but despite his earlier stiffness, the Autobot still manages to convert into alt-mode.]

[Video]

[arnhaid]

Yeah, follow that.

I'll see if I can't meet you out there.

[Audio]

[young_upstart]

Got it.

[His engine revs. At least nothing seems busted. Heeere he goes!]

Thanks. I'll keep an eye out for you.

[Audio]

[arnhaid]

Sure thing, kid.

[Vrooom vroom.]

[young_upstart]

[It doesn't take him long to take things to full speed. There's nothing out here, and the faster he goes, the more distance he eats. He has no idea why his navigational systems are all glitched, but at least even he can follow a giant beam of light.

And he remembers things as he goes. The familiar feeling of the rough terrain beneath his wheels. The bleak landscape....]

[arnhaid]

[Ironhide will be there, true to his word, waiting and scowling.]

[None of this makes sense. No one said anything about bots showing up without marks or getting kicked out of temples or Hot Rod being here...]

[... one of these days, this place better start making sense.]

[young_upstart]

[His speeding always gets him into trouble. Everyone should know this by now. This time really isn't his fault though.

The memories come in flashes. Zooming wildly around the Junk Pile, trying to get away (from what?)- a large tank. A pink Autobot that wasn't Arcee- a flash of green-

And then all he sees is the shadowy figure of a tall Cybertronian, hefting something over her head--

-it clears abruptly, and all that he sees in front of him is Ironhide. Brakes scream as his tires screech in a last ditch effort to swerve and avoid the older Autobot, causing him to spin out. He goes tumbling out of alt-mode, landing on his back. Again.]

[arnhaid]

[Okay, that's not what he expected.]

[Ironhide curses, and... well, he doesn't really dart sideways, he's too big and bulky to do that. But he certainly takes a few big steps out of the way of the swerving car.]

[The look on his face when Hot Rod transforms is... displeased, to say the least.]

Yeah, you're seein' a medic.

[young_upstart]

...I have got to stop doing that.

[Hot Rod groans, slowly sitting himself up. He looks sheepishly at Ironhide.]