Disappearing Act

Uptown San Francisco - North America

This part of San Francisco is one of the few areas left mostly untouched by the weather of the last decade. The steep, curving roads are still lined with beautiful old houses, some of them almost a century old. Flower pots grace the roadsides and are cultivated meticulously. Some of the streets even show the old brick roads underneath. Occasionally, you see one of the famous cable cars pass you down the streets, and people hop on and off of them at random. Fisherman's Wharf is visible in the distance, and people will give you directions to Lombard Street if you ask. The scent of the flowers mingles with the smell of fresh-baked sourdough and the slight fish scent from the Wharf. A weathered old man passes you with a fruit cart. It's covered with fresh strawberries, oranges, bananas, and other tasty items.

Contents: Brownstone Apartment Building Meghan Skellton's Apartment Lassiter Residence  Alex Hammond's Apartment Alex Hammond's Office The Awakening Chinatown

Rumble has arrived.

Rumble is slinking around the back streets of San Francisco's Chinatown, looking for some shady opportunities to use the identification cards and lines of credit available to one Reidan Wesley, whom Rumble mugged no less than a week ago. Maybe he could find a good munitions dealer down this way.

Rewind is here to take in the incredible sights of Chinatown. He walks along a busy street, marveling at the amazing diversity of... well, everything. The streets are packed with goods of all sorts, the architecture alone makes the trip here worthwhile, and the smells of good food waft down from shops. Too bad he can't eat human food. But he walks along, camera recording it all.

As Rewind reviews footage from the past few minutes -- there had been an interesting older man he had encountered, a Chinese cook on a smoke break who took an interest in the tape Bot and greeted him excitedly in Mandarin -- there's something really suspicious-looking in the alley beside the restaurant. For perhaps a few microseconds of footage, he could swear he sees some strange movement in the alley. Not human movement; it's too swift and doesn't move in a human fashion, but it is seen behind this cook. (Some trick of the light, perhaps?)

Rewind does indeed review the footage he recorded- a good videographer checks to make sure he has the footage he wants so he doesn't just wind up having to go back and film again. And the tape-bot had really hoped the cook's footage would come out well, since he was a really interesting fellow. As he reviews it now, he does indeed notice the odd... trick of light? He's not sure... but there's something just a bit... suspicious about it.

Rewind looks back to where he filmed the man- it's not far. He heads back and looks into the alley in question. Should he enter?

The alleyway is dirty, full of decidedly nasty things. But the thing that stands out almost instantly to Rewind is a severely injured man. It isn't the cook, but it's definitely someone who's just been injured rather violently by way of blunt force trauma. He's still squirming slowly, groaning, and blood's soaking the front of his clothes.

Rewind 's optics widen. "OH! Are... are you OK?!?" He runs up to the man, bringing a medkit out of subspace. "Oh geez.... you don't look Ok." Frantically, he rummages through the kit. Of course, it's mostly for mechanical beings, not organic ones... but this is an AUTOBOT med kit, so there are just a few basic gauze pads and whatnot. He rips one open and tries to apply it to the injured human. "Who did this to you?"

The injured man looks like he might need to go to a hospital pretty soon, or risk losing his life. The really strange thing is that he looks like he might have been hit or even run over by a car, but there's no way a car could fit into this narrow alley. "Eehhhh...*cough* Don't...please...I give up..." Trembling in pain and fear, the man pulls a large-caliber gun out of his blood-stained jacket, and places it at Rewind's feet in a gesture of surrender. "Don't kill me...I give up!"

Rewind stares as the man does that, gazing down at the gun and then the man again in bafflement. What the slag? He's acting almost... almost like he's been mugged. The Autobot starts looking all around the alley suspiciously, but first.... Rewind gets up, runs out of the alley until he sees the friendly cook and some companions. "Please, there's someone hurt in the alleyway! He needs help!" Also, the tape-bot dials an emergency channel on his radio, which should hopefully send help to the man.

And now, with that taken care of.... he runs back to the man, trying to make him as comfortable as possible,"You're going to be Ok, I'm not trying to hurt you... and I've sent help for you. But... who hurt you? Which way did he go, can you show me?"

The man begins relaxing somewhat once Rewind runs to get help, and an ambulance can be heard in the distance a short time later. As Rewind returns, the man seems to panic. "H...He looked kinda like YOU," he pants, clutching his chest. "No way was he human."

It's hard to believe that a cute little tape-bot like Rewind could cause fear, but this man is trembling at the very sight of him, despite his kindness. "He ran back there an' flew over that fence," he says, pointing toward a fence-like structure obscuring the back end of the alley.

Rewind 's optics narrow a bit. "Oh, he DID, did he?" Rewind is starting to get a clearer picture now. Sounds like one of Soundwave's punks. Oh LOVELY. As some people run up to help the man, Rewind leaves him in their care. He's only making the poor guy nervous, after all. He nods to the man, "Thanks. Sorry... I'm going to find who did this to you and... have a ...*talk* with him. This isn't OK. And I have an idea of who he might be. And you're right, he's not human. I wish I could say he's not Cybertronian, either... but I bet he is. Unfortunately."

The Autobot heads off in the direction the man pointed, though sadly for him- he can't fly. So the tape-bot has to slowly climb over the fence instead, grumbling a bit to himself. "Why oh why haven't we figured out this flight thing yet, yeesh..."

Once Rewind makes it over the fence, he'll see a second side to the alleyway, and there's Rumble with a cache of weapons and ammunition, sorting it out into small piles. Apparently, the injured man was some sort of weapons dealer...

At the moment, he's consumed in what he's doing, so Rewind has an element of surprise.

Rewind notices Rumble, and stops. Yep, that's about who he thought it would be. He shakes his head disapprovingly... there is just so much NOPE here it's almost ridiculous. Even if the man was an arms dealer, he didn't deserve to be hospitalized... especially by a punk Con who is... going to do WHAT exactly with those guns anyway? Is Rumble taking up a new hobby, or has he decided to branch out his weapon supply?

The tape-bot slides in closer, trying not to be noticed. He watches a bit longer, then suddenly a voice pipes up behind Rumble: "SMILE! You're on candid camera!!! Inquiring minds want to get a feel for the down and dirty streets of San Francisco, and you look about as down and dirty as they get! Mind if I interview you for our story?" A flash goes off in Rumble's direction, and if it actually works... maybe Rumble will be confused for at least while longer as to who is actually speaking to him?

Combat: Rewind strikes Rumble with his SMILE!!! attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Rumble's Accuracy! (Blinded)

"What th-?? HEY!!!" Rumble gets a faceful of bright, blinding light, and he staggers about. "...You're gonna wish you never did that, creep! You don't even know who you're dealin' with!!" Perhaps Rewind's ruse worked; it doesn't appear that Rumble knows who just got him in the face with all that flash, but it's definitely pissed him off beyond a doubt. He lurches towards the area where he last saw Rewind. "I'll give you a smile, I'll shove that smile all the way up your aft, you--" A series of really, really rude words follows. Some of them are English, and others Cybertronian, but none of them are very nice. Then he begins swinging his fists violently.

Combat: Rumble strikes Rewind with his Right Cross (Punch) attack!

Rewind gets hits by one of Rumble's punches and it sends him staggering back a bit. He then jumps back further, circling around. "Woah, there, mech.... I'm afraid your langauge is not suitable for viewing by our television demographic! We're trying to be a family show, you know!"

Meanwhile, the tape-bot is bringing out some of his weapons. He hasn't had a lot of chance to use them in awhile. Pulling out a glue gun, he looks at it, then at Rumble. "Now, if you would just be so kind as to hold still, so I can get an up close shot at- I mean of- your face!" He tries not to snicker at that, then fires the gun at the Cassetticon's feet, trying to stick him in place.

Combat: Rewind strikes Rumble with his Stay Still Would Ya? attack! Combat: That attack has locked on Rumble. (LOCKON)

Rumble is about to start kicking Rewind down -- and then, quite suddenly, he finds himself hit by...is that...GLUE??

Suddenly, he feels his movement's being impeded. By...GLUE. "WHAT did you JUST DO," Rumble growls, looking furious and confounded all at once. "Hey!! I know you!! I know who you are!!!" Suddenly, he's better able to focus on this 'reporter'. "You're Blaster's flunky! You think this is real funny, don't you. Well, guess what..." He grins sadistically. "You're gonna do what I tell you to do -- or else, I'm gonna pound the ever-lovin' snot outta the ground, annnnnnnd I don't really think the faultlines 'round here are too stable."

Combat: Rumble takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Rewind throws up his hands, like "ya got me". "Alright, my cover's been blown. But really, *flunky*? FLUNKY? I work for Blaster, but I'm not his "flunky". I'd say if anybody's a flunky it's you Cassetticons.... you all just seem to jump at Soundwave's beck and call, don't you? I mean... do you ever dare think for yourself? What IS all this, anyway?"

He stops at Rumble's threat, however. The Con has a point, and could do some damage, that's true. But he has to think whatever Rumble has in mind is NOT going to anything HE likes. So he delays. "Hey, hey, let's be reasonable here. Just cool your jets. Or... piledrivers. Whatever. And... what exactly did you want me to do, hmmm?"

Combat: Rewind takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

"I *do* think for myself, mech, all the time!" Rumble insists. "Matter a'fact, you mighta passed my last 'good idea' on the way over that fence, heheh. The human didn't like the terms of my agreement with him, so he shot me!" He shows Rewind a small indent in his shoulder armor. "The nerve, right? So I gave him a piledriver to the chest. BOOM!" He chuckles with revolting amusement. "Hell, I thought I hadda good deal for him, but he's the one who screwed up that transaction! I offered him --" He somehow realizes that he's not only talking to an Autobot, but he's also still stuck in a puddle of glue. "Well you get the idea! As for YOU...uhhh..." OK, Rumble isn't exactly a brilliant mastermind. He hasn't thought that far ahead, yet. "I'm gonna take you back to Buzzsaw!"

Rewind rubs his faceplate grimly as he listens to Rumble gloat about all the damage he's caused. "Yes, I get... the idea. And I get something else... you're a punk, Rumble. Just a bully who likes to boss around anyone you think is weaker than you. And unfortunately, these humans are... at least physically. You nearly killed that guy, Rumble. I know you don't care, but I do. And every time you hurt people, Autobots just have *that much more* incentive to find you and STOP you. And we're NOT weaker than you."

He takes a step closer. "Take me back to Buzzsaw? Sorry, I'm afraid I just can't agree to that. I couldn't hang out with someone who's idea of "art" is the still-dripping processors of his latest victims. I guess it's too... avant-garde for my tastes?" With that, he pulls out the next gun- this time it's one that doesn't just do tricks.

"I want you to leave, Rumble. And if I don't succeed, someone else will. And we're gonna keep trying until we drive you away- where you can't hurt these people anymore." He stands and waits for an answer.

"That's not true, I'm no bully! That moron over there tried to rip me off," Rumble says in annoyance. "You woulda piledrived his stupid face too, if he ripped you off an' you had piledrivers! An' my brother isn't a vonned guard. He's a superior information-gatherin' mech, just like me! You're just scared cause you're made of junk, an' we're better than you, admit it!" He leers cruelly. "Since you got so much love for that ripoff artist over there...how bout you let me go on my way, an' I won't go back over that wall an' finish the job I started, hm??"

Rewind looks at Rumble doubtfully. "Somehow.... somehow I really doubt I would have "pile-drived his stupid face"... no matter what he said, or what I had. And your brother isn't... what?" The tape-bot blinks, then refrains from facepalming. He doesn't bother trying to correct the Cassetticon, though.

He just looks at Rumble ever-so-slightly-smugly. "If you're so much better than me, then how come YOU'RE the one stuck in the puddle of glue right now, hmm?" Still giving Rumble that look, he says, "I'd be willing to let you leave.... if you agree to leave this city. With an Autobot escort to ENSURE that you leave."

"What?! You're fulla rust, you know that??" Rumble is still stuck in place, and this is infuriating him a great deal. And he can't really piledrive the glue, or he might break his own feet off in the process. If he transforms into a cassette, he's utterly powerless and completely helpless. "You and your stupid GLUE...how the frag was I s'posed to know you carried around glue?? That's so STUPID!!" Never mind that it's managed to stop Rumble for the time being!

Rewind grins under his faceplate. He keeps the same distance from Rumble, and points up and wags one finger while holding the elbow servo of that arm with his other hand. "Okay... let me get this straight then... I... /AND/ my glue, that keeps you safely in place, are stupid. You're smart, but thinking in advance and considering that your opponent might have unknown weapons on them... are simply haphazard rambles of fate that are far too confusing and random to have ever been foreseen. Is this right?"

"...Yeah. Yeah, that's what I'm sayin'. You gotta problem with that?!" Rumble seethes -- and then, suddenly seems to remember that he keeps laser rifles on his back, within easy reach. "Yeah! That's exactly what I'm sayin'!" He grins like a fiend, pulling one of the rifles off his shoulder harness and firing at Rewind while stuck in place. "You can use big words, but that ain't gonna stop me from bein' BETTER!"

Combat: Rumble strikes Rewind with his High-Intensity Pulse Laser (Laser) attack!

Rewind hurries over to the pile of guns Rumble had been counting. "Mind if I take these? I do believe you have obtained these illegally, and the local police would probably be VERY interested in these..." He gathers the guns in a pile quickly, then- "OOOF!" Rewind gets hit by Rumble's shot and stumbles back. This time it *hurt*, and he puts a hand up to the tear on his upper torso. Some circuits sizzle with electrical damage and he winces, then brings up his rifle. "Alright, fine, I was tiring of using "big words" on a mech who can't even understand them, anyway." Rewind fires back!

Combat: Rewind strikes Rumble with his Maybe you'll understand THIS attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Rumble's Agility! (Crippled)

"HEY!!" Rumble hollers, as he's blasted backwards out of the glue. It doesn't seem to harm him very much, but it frees him from the glue and adds to his temper by a factor of a thousand. He hops back up, and runs full-tilt toward Rewind, looking to brawl with him mano-y-mano. "Get away from my guns, you...you NERD!!" he bellows, swinging his fists as if he were some kind of hotshot prize fighter. (Which he isn't.)

Combat: Rumble strikes Rewind with his Right Cross (Punch) attack!

Rewind gets hit with a right cross, but as he stumbles back from that, he grabs Rumble's arm to try and prevent any further swings- or damage. "HEY, what's WRONG with being a NERD, anyway?" He yanks at the arm, trying to get Rumble off balance as he goes for an uppercut of his own. "And I prefer the term GEEK, you... you... street punk!"

Combat: Rewind strikes Rumble with his Revenge of the NERDS-I mean GEEKS (Punch) attack!

Rumble gets punched back, which is a bit of surprise for him. He was kind of expecting this guy to go crying back home after the first hit, but he's actually attempting to fight back! "Oh yeah?? Well...well you tell me what's the difference, geek nerd!" He begins grappling with the cassettebot, looking about as fierce as he can look in his puny little form. "Cause alla them look the same to me! An' they all get their afts kicked the same way -- just like this!!" He begins kicking at Rewind rather viciously. If he did any of this to the human prior to piledriving him in the chest, it's no wonder he looked like he was hit by a car.

Combat: Rumble strikes Rewind with his Feet of Fury (Kick) attack!

Rewind gets hit again, and finds himself stumbling back- again. This time he doesn't punch back. No, he juggles weapons again, as best he can with Rumble in such close proximity.... AHA, here it is. (Hopefully) before Rumble can realize what's happening or dodge out of the way (or at least look away), Rewind's brought up the flash again and tries to blind the other cassette with it.

"Actually, you know what *another* word for geek OR nerd is? It's *SMART*, Rumble. Both of those words mean someone who's SMART. So see? You've been admitting I'm the smart one all this time- and you didn't even KNOW it!" He can't help but go, "Ha-ha!" like Nelson in the Simpsons. And yes, Rewind watches the Simpsons. He watches a LOT of things.

Combat: Rewind strikes Rumble with his News Flash ya Dummy attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Rumble's Accuracy! (Blinded)

"AAAAHHH!!!" Rumble really, REALLY hates that flash-thing, apparently. He staggers around trying to get his optics to function again. "Just cause you gotta flashbulb don't make you smart, you scraplet!! Neither does calling my brother a vonned guard! He's got a way better job than THAT!" His optics just hurt, now. They feel like they're burning, and he's having trouble sensing things around him. "I am so gonna kill you, a bazillion times over!!" he seethes as he staggers around, bumping into the alley walls.

Combat: Rumble takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Rewind tsks. And his love of trivia finally gets the better of him. The ignorance... it...it... it hurts. He MUST share his knowledge. "Rumble, that's not "a vonned gaurd"... it's "avant-garde"... something that means, "people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics." There. Whew, now he feels better.

Getting that trivia sharing out of his system, Rewind takes the momentary lapse of punching and shooting to run back to the cache of guns. He'd really like to make sure Rumble doesn't actually get away with these. This is important evidence for the Police, also. "Yes... well, it's a little hard to kill me a bazillion times... or even once... if you don't know where I am, isn't it?" While Rumble isn't looking, Rewind grabs the guns- and throws them in a nearby dumpster as quietly as possible. It will at least confuse the Con for awhile... unless Rumble's sight comes back too soon.

Combat: Rewind sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Rewind takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

"I knew about that Avant-Garde thing! I was just checkin' to see if YOU knew! See how I did that??" Rumble exclaims. He leans against the wall until he can see around him a bit better, then he immediately glances around. "...Hey. Where's my guns...where are they at??" He turns and glares furiously at Rewind. "I SAID WHERE ARE THEY?!?!" he screams, in a tone of voice he probably learned from Frenzy. Just completely off the rails. He barrels down the alley toward Rewind, trying to push him up against the opposite wall and strongarm him into talking. "WHERE'S MY GUNS?!!"

Combat: Rumble strikes Rewind with his Bedrock Shatter (Smash) attack! Combat: Rumble's attack has damaged your Accuracy!

Rewind tries hard not to roll his optics at that first one. "Yeeeeah, riiiight, Rumble. Uh-huh." Then Rumble screams at him, and while it's not as bad as Frenzy... tapes just have a knack for noise, and it's hard not to FEEL it. Fortunately, Rewind has a knack for noise, too, so he recovers quickly. "Wow, you make a lot of noise, even for a cassette, you know that?" Then suddenly, whammo!

"Argh!" Rewind gets slammed into a wall, with an angry street punk getting up into his personal space. The tape-bot blinks, and struggles against the Con. "They're GONE! Gone, Rumble. You know how I made your sight disappear just now? WELLLL... I can make /other/ things disappear, too. I have MANY talents... it's part of being the SMART GEEK that I am." He leans in towards the Con.

"I made your sight disappear, I made the guns disappear.... and I can MAKE YOU DISAPPEAR TOO, Rumble. So... back off! RUN while you still CAN!" With that, he tries to shove the other tape away from him. And then see if Rumble actually *believes* this. Who knows, he might be dumb enough to.

Combat: Rewind sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Rewind strikes Rumble with his Disappearing ACT (Punch) attack! Combat: Rumble compares his Intelligence to 6: Success!

"Rrgh...you KNOW where they are, Avant Nerd!!" Rumble gets shoved, and falls backwards on his butt. "...Ow." He's furious that Rewind's managed to make his guns disappear, SOMEHOW... But suddenly, Rewind catches an unexpected break.

A helicopter begins to descend. It's the medevac chopper, getting ready to life-flight Rumble's human victim to the nearest hospital. But Rumble isn't quite smart enough to realize this.

"You called BLADES for backup! You frellin' rustcan! You're so LAME I can't even stand it! You f'ed up my whole cycle! Aarrgh!!" Rumble quickly begins running in the other direction, trying to put some distance between himself and...Rewind? Well, no, he's probably more scared of the medevac copter who he seems to think is Blades. But he's on the run!

Combat: Rumble begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit.

Rewind looks up, glad to see the medivac chopper... it means help has arrived for the human who so needed it. But help has arrived for him, too, and ironically his own act of kindness pays off for his benefit as well. Funny how that works sometimes.

Rewind watches the Con head off, relieved to see him go. He chuckles a bit, then heads to where the humans are, to inform officials of the weapon stash, see the injured man off, and then inform Autobot City that Rumble is lurking about. And unfortunately, he'll probably see him again.

For now, Rewind does his own disappearing act... and vanishes from the scene of the fight.