Maccaddam's Talent Extravaganza

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-< Blurr Posed on Dec 04 07:46PM CST >-- Advertisements for an event at Maccaddam's Old Oil house have been circulating Rodion and beyond, some kind of impromptu talent show that no one has to sign up for? Sounds like a recipe for utter chaos but apparently chaos is popular--the bar is jam-packed to the brim on the night of the event.
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A round, well-decorated platform has been set up at the rear of the establishment, with all tables and seating arranged in front of it. Those interested in putting on a show are lining up to the side, where a bar employee is making sure no one is planning anything...-too- dangerous.

Blurr is somewhere in the crowd, probably surrounded by a bunch of people who never quit being fans of him from his racing days. There are plenty of those, you know. < Swindle Posed on Dec 04 07:49PM CST >- Swindle is present, after all, with such a facility filled with hundreds of potential clients, how could he resist? Once he enters, he proceeds to mingle and glad-hand as he makes his way towards the bar, as if he was running for mayor or something. -< Arcee Posed on Dec 04 07:53PM CST >-- Arcee strolls into Maccaddam's, deciding that this place could probably use a little security, especially when they throw their doors open wide during wartime and trust overenergized mechs to behave themselves. To her, that sounds like a recipe for disaster. She heads inside and takes a seat at one of the side tables, so she can get a better view of who's in here and what they're doing. ---< Wheeljack Posed on Dec 04 07:53PM CST > There's some sort of event going on? Wheeljack had no idea! Can't really blame him though, he's been hard at work on certain... issues for the last several days in his workshop. It's just needing a drink break from the work schedual that the engineer meanders in, only to stop and scratch his head with one hand at the huge crowd. "Huh. I'd make a crack about load bearing capacities but no one else is here that'd appreciate math jokes." ---< Starscream Posed on Dec 04 08:04PM CST >--- Starscream has had a hard day and just wants to sit and enjoy some -- what the slag is going on here? The awesome looking Seeker stands in the doorway and just looks around. So much for quiet. But, hes heres now so might as well make the best of it. He walks in and over to a table in a better section of the bar and sits down. He notices Autobots and Neutrals and Decepticons here. This won't end well. -< Blurr Posed on Dec 04 08:22PM CST >-- Yes, there are 'Bots from all walks of life here, though most of them are neutrals, so a fight probably won't be advisable. That is if you're considerate of unaffiliated folks...which not everyone is.

The music changes suddenly, to a more fanfare-esque tune, and a colorful mech gets up on stage, his countenance cheery. "Hellooooo femmes and gentlemechs! Welcome to Maccaddam's Talent Extravaganza!" he shouts as his voice is amplified over the sound system. "Looks like we've got a fantastic lineup, so get ready for some fun! Of course, if you think you have something to contribute, feel free to see Echo over there to get yourself situated!" He guestures toward the line of people waiting to have their act approved. "Aaaand without further ado, our first performer, Pendulum of Proteus Minor!"

There's a cheer from the crowd as the first performer steps onto the stage and the music changes once more. Looks to be some kind of dancer.

Meanwhile, Blurr catches sight of Arcee and wanders over the table she's selected, sitting himself down without really asking. "Needed a break, huh?" ---< Wheeljack Posed on Dec 04 08:26PM CST > Huh. Guess the place is trying to keep up some social acitivity even with the conflict looming over Cybertron. This seems like the sort of place Jazz would be handing out, but looking over the crowd Wheeljack spots some other familir Autobots instead. Well comrades are still comrades, even if they're not ones you know quite as well. So the engineer ambles over to the same table as Blurr and Arcee. "Guess I'm not the only one that picked a business to cool his actuators for a bit." -< Arcee Posed on Dec 04 08:30PM CST >-- Arcee gets an irritated expression as the emcee begins loudly announcing the show. She doesn't mind noisy bars, but...talent shows have never really been her thing. They seem frivilous to her, but at the same time, it must seem like a huge relief in the civilian sector to have entertainment venues available once more after the long period of time such venues were disallowed by law.

She puts her order in for a very light-blend energex, nothing particularly potent, then she smiles cheerfully as Blurr and then Wheeljack join her at the table. "Hey, how's it going?" Arcee greets them. She notices Starscream, wondering to herself if he's part of the 'talent' this evening. "Just decided to drop in here to make sure things stayed peaceful." ---< Blast Off Posed on Dec 04 08:32PM CST > Off in a dark corner of the bar, something stirs. It's a bit hard to make out what it is at first, for it appears that someone (probably a drunken someone) carelessly tossed their cape on it, mistaking it for a coatrack. But it twitches once, then twice. Definitely not a coatrack. Eventually a muffled, rather confused *huff*? can be heard, and a black hand reaches out from under the cape to gaze blearily at the crowded scene all around. Blast Off drank, fell asleep, and has been here since before the crowds gathered and is just now waking up. He pushes the cape aside, but it still hangs from the tailfin that sticks out of his back- and the fin is apparently what got mistaken for a coatrack earlier. He keeps pretty still for now, systems still coming online, and tries to make sense of everything. Oh, and deal with the hangover. Uuuugh. He doesn't even try to get too vertical just yet. Then, oh Primus, some announcer steps up and speak REALLY LOUDLY and Blast Off can only stare, still bleary-opticed. < Swindle Posed on Dec 04 08:36PM CST >- Swindle looks over in surprise as a "coatrack" stirs and removes a cloak, and it turns out to be Blast Off. He makes his way over to the dark corner. "Oh, hey, Blast Off," he says, "You been here for hours?" He rubs the back of his head while evaluating his apparently hung-over Combatibro. ---< Starscream Posed on Dec 04 08:41PM CST >--- Starscream orders the best enerwing the place has and pulls out a very highclass enercig, lights it but before he can pull the frist draw of it, the announcer makes the.. announcement of what's in store for the bar tonight. He makes a half audible groan and thankfully his wine has arrived so he takes a long pull and then scans the audiance with poorly masked disinterest. The Seeker spots Arcee and the two bots with her and then.. wait, is that Blast Off? How discraceful. -< Blurr Posed on Dec 04 08:43PM CST >-- Blurr waves to Wheeljack as the engineer makes his way over. "Psh, c'mon Arcee, don't turn this into another patrol. Everyone needs time to relax and not think about war. Even people like Wheeljack, right?" he asks, glancing over at him.

He also orders something very light. Because you know, he can't handle anything that heavy without completely stasis locking. One of the disadvantages of being so...well, light. Gotta be light in order to be fast. "So 'Jack, what have you been up to? You going to jump on stage at any point you think?" ---< Wheeljack Posed on Dec 04 08:46PM CST > "-Especially- mechs like Wheeljack," replies the engineer, his luminators flickering in time with the chortle that follows as he pulls up a chair for himself and sits down. "Trust me, sometimes Operations is even more stressfull than being out on the battlefield. Why do you think someone like Ratchet can drain an enerkeg on his own!"

In contrast to the two otehr Bots he orders a big mug of something that's got some chemical additive to it that makes the energon foam up around the top in puffy pinkness. "Besides, you work -all- the time and you turn into somebot like -Prowl-." ---< Blast Off Posed on Dec 04 08:58PM CST > Blast Off looks up as someone comes closer. It takes his optics a moment to adjust, but they seem to know his name? Oh wait, he knows that voice. His thoughts and sight crystalize at about the same time. "Swindle? What the smelt did I..." He blinks and looks around. "Well... Have I been in recharge? Command kept me so busy lately dealing with Autobots and sparks and scouting and..." He realizes he's rambling and hushes, trying to straighten up a bit now and sound at least a little bit less *lost*. "What's going on?" < Swindle Posed on Dec 04 09:01PM CST >- "Oh, it's some big do, some mech set up for social reasons," Swindle replies, "You know, if you want some audio dampers, I can sell 'em to ya cheap, it looks like you just woke up and you look like your audios are shorting." -< Arcee Posed on Dec 04 09:14PM CST >-- "Mmh, whatever..." Arcee sighs, glancing to Wheeljack and then to Blurr just before her drink arrives. "Yeah, I guess you both are right, but I'm so used to trouble breaking out in venues like this, now. It just seems to happen automatically. The tensions are so high these days that a little energex and a grudge can quite literally bring down the house." She sips her drink, then pulls something out of subspace and sort of hides it in her seat, on the edge beside her hip out of plain sight. For a moment, she watches Starscream pensively, then she looks over toward the Combaticons. "So," she says to her tablemates, "You mechs going to get up and sing and dance?" -< Blurr Posed on Dec 04 09:26PM CST >-- Blurr sighs. "True, I guess. But not all trouble has to be your responsibility to take care of." He smirks slightly, as his drink arrives as well. He quirks an optic ridge at Wheeljack. "Stressful huh? What have you been stressed about lately?"

He peers at Echo, the mech who's supposed to be handling the performances. "Might do a little something myself." People always like seeing him show off. Well, except people like -Blast Off-. ---< Starscream Posed on Dec 04 09:26PM CST >--- Starscream keeps looking over at Blast Off and keeps working on his drink. And then he keeps hitting his smoke. It's like the more he stares at the state the Combaticon is in the more he drinks his drink and smokes his cig. Finally he stands and heads toward Blast Off's table, walking right by the table with Arcee, Wheeljack, and Blurr in the process. ---< Wheeljack Posed on Dec 04 09:27PM CST > Wheeljack holds up his hands. "I didn't even know there was something going on. I just needed a break from... things. You can probably guess who and what." Awkward moment is avoided by his drink though... Does that mouth plate of his actually have grating in it like it looks sometimes? Whatever it is, he doesn't have any drouble drinking through it, it would seem. ---< Blast Off Posed on Dec 04 09:36PM CST > Blast Off looks blearily at Swindle, arms stretched out on the table in front of him and groans. "Do they have to do it HERE? //NOW??//" *Hufff*. At his teammate's offer, he actually looks tempted for a moment, raising his finger as if to say yes.... and then stops himself, placing it back down on the table. "...No." He shakes his head slowly from side to side. "I'm improving. Just... give me an astrosecond." Then he looks up. "What're *you* doing here?" Starscream is noticed and the shuttle stiffens a little, hands starting to clench. "What's *he* doing here?" < Swindle Posed on Dec 04 09:37PM CST >- Swindle pats his combatibro's shoulder. "Eh, don't worry about it," he says, "I'm here to scout for pigeonmechs, and Starscream's just likely in it for the drinks. I don't think he was expecting this event any more than you were." He gives Blast Off his trademark winning smile. -< Arcee Posed on Dec 04 09:43PM CST >-- Arcee smiles slightly as Starscream passes the table, but she makes no comments. She's not going to try and start anything with the easily-riled Seeker. Then she looks toward Blurr brightly. "You totally should! Go do something! Do it!" she urges him. Then, she gestures toward the stage, looking over toward Wheeljack. "Blurr could charm the house down and win first prize, don't you think? I mean, he'd have to be better than that one on right now, that one /there/..."

As she's gesturing toward the stage, her other hand palms a small weaponlike device, and she begins very subtly taking aim at Blast Off. ---< Wheeljack Posed on Dec 04 09:46PM CST > "I dunno," Wheeljack replies after wiping some of the ener-foam off his faceplate with the back of his hand. Not that a foamy 'mouth' would stop him from talking much since it doesn't impend his flashers. "Blurr's thing is -racing-." He's just giving the other Autobot a goodnatured ribbing. And maybe a bit farther encouragement to actually do something. ---< Starscream Posed on Dec 04 09:49PM CST >--- Starscream stops in front of Blast Off and Swindle's table and just stares at the Shuttleformer for a moment. "No I wasn't expecting this rediculous 'entertainment' here tonight, Swindle." he begins smooth and dangerous all the while not taking his optics off Blast Off. "I also wasn't expecting to see someone the calibre you claim you are, Blast Off, sleeping off an over energizing like a common gutter turborat in public either." he stands there waiting to see what the Combaticon's reply to that will be. ---< Blast Off Posed on Dec 04 09:55PM CST > "I suppose." He looks at Starscream a bit unhappily as the Seeker keeps coming towards them. "And yes, it makes sense you'd find plenty of fools at a place like this." he glares over at the stage where somemech is performing right now. Then the Seeker arrives and he's NOT happy. Blast Off straightens more to glare up at HIM next. "I beg your pardon?! I'll have you know I was working overtime- including that little job with *you*, I might add, and then I just stopped here to get a drink. I- I was NOT recharging. Don't be ridiculous! I was...uh, I was simply keeping a low profile in case my skills as a sniper were needed. " Yeah right. As he protests to Starscream, he doesn't notice Arcee taking aim at him. -< Blurr Posed on Dec 04 09:58PM CST >-- Blurr chuckles, taking a swig from his drink. "Is that a challenge I hear?" He taunts at Wheeljack. "Well, I bet you couldn't do any -better-." Given his celebrity upbringing, there's no doubt Blurr is an excellent crowd-pleaser. More to being a famous racer than just racing, you know.

At Arcee's urging, he indeed does get up and of course he -cuts- in line to see Echo, a few people balk at but the hosts don't appear to care. It's -Blurr-, after all. Seriously. -Everyone- wants to see him, that's good for business! Swindle would totally understand.

Thus, in no time at all, the speedster up on stage holding a series of flamboyantly-decorated batons. The crowd roars its approval as he starts off by running halfway up the wall then somersaulting down onto the stage--it seems his popularity hasn't died down yet, even in the midst of the conflict. He then begins to juggle the batons at an incredible pace, first between his hands, then between his hands -and- feet, and then in multiple different positions and orientations. Then, he starts juggling them with -the crowd-. They love it, of course. This is the loudest they've been.

After several tosses back and forth, he spots Starscream and decides to pick on him. So a baton is chucked straight at the seeker's head. Catch! ---< Wheeljack Posed on Dec 04 10:03PM CST > At the remark of him doing better Wheeljack darts his optics from one side to the other. "I'm not allowed near the premesis with any sort of fireworks, laser lights or petrorabbits, so no, I really can't do better."

And the thing people are left to wondering as Wheeljack returns to his drink is why PETRORABBITS are on that list.... -< Arcee Posed on Dec 04 10:05PM CST >-- "Uh oh, here we go," Arcee tells Wheeljack as Blurr departs to head onto the stage, hoping to maintain his attention away from what she's quietly doing in the meantime. It turns out that she need not worry -- Blurr is all the distraction she could possibly ask for. "Yeah Blurr!" she chuckles, taking a sip of her drink. And immediately after she does, she takes full advantage of the 'tossed baton' moment to 'fire' the device in her hand in Blast Off's direction.

Nothing outwardly happens when she does this; no noise is made, and the trigger just sorts of clicks back. Arcee boggles quietly, as she returns the 'weapon' to subspace. Mission accomplished? She doesn't really know. ---< Starscream Posed on Dec 04 10:09PM CST >--- Starscream listens to Blast Off's stammering explanation with narrowed optics. The crowd is getting very loud and it's adding to his annoyance when suddenly he catches something out of the corner of his optic. With the reflexes he's know for the Seeker reaches up and grabs the baton just shy of hitting his head. He pivots around toward Blurr and a slight sneer spreads across his lips. "Not fast enough." he says and flings it back at the Speedster with an equal amount of speed of his own. < Swindle Posed on Dec 04 10:11PM CST >- "Yeah, you know," Swindle says to Starscream, "Blast Off here's no sloppy overenergizer." He grins big at the Seeker. "Isn't that right, Blast Off?" He huffs at Starscream in the same manner Blast Off would. ---< Blast Off Posed on Dec 04 10:12PM CST > Oh Primus the NOISE. MAKE IT STOP. As Blurr stirs up the crowd, the cacophony causes the Combaticon shuttle to clutch his head in pain. "Uuugh. What the blazes is-?" He turns to spot- BLURR. Blast Off is REALLY not happy now, stiffening and optics widening in surprise and anger. Suddenly a baton is thrown towards them- though it appears to be aimed at Starscream. Blast Off's hand immediately slips down, ready to take his ionic blaster from subspace. Suddenly he feels as if someone just smacked him, and looks around.... but no one's there? Weird. He returns his attention to Blurr. "Watch him, he works for them." He warns Starscream and Swindle. "But if any shooting starts, he's *mine*." He spares a glance to Swindle. "Exactly! No one here can compare to my class and sophistication!" -< Blurr Posed on Dec 04 10:27PM CST >-- The baton flies back, and Blurr catches it as well. He smirks in Starscream's direction, and this time, -two- go flying over. Seems he's upping the ante! The crowd is still noisy as ever, some of them jumping up and down in an attempt to get his attention so they can get their chance to throw them, too! -< Arcee Posed on Dec 04 10:30PM CST >-- Once she's returned the prototype to subspace, Arcee sips her drink and watches Blast Off curiously from the corner of her optic, while still trying to maintain the appearence that she's watching Blurr's performance. "See, now aren't you glad you got out of the base? I know I am," she asides to Wheeljack at the table. ---< Wheeljack Posed on Dec 04 10:40PM CST > "Yeah," Wheeljack replies, giving the impression of a smirk even without a mouth to do so. "Not every day you see Starscream not trying to kill a mech for interrupting his listening to his own vocorder." ---< Blast Off Posed on Dec 04 10:48PM CST > Blast Off rubs at the back of his helmet, feeling a bit strange. He's not sure why, though. And as all this is going on, one of the Hosts again calls out for more entrants for the talent show. "C'mon folks!!! Step right up! We've got a crowd here tonight and we want *you* to show us your talent! Don't let this opportunity go to waste!" The Combaticon frowns under his faceplate and for some reason the announcer's words stir a fire within him. He's *right*. Blast Off shouldn't let this opportunity go to waste. As one of those wands suddenly whizes nearby, a brown and purple form snaps up and grabs it midair. Blast Off stands there, cape still hanging from the tailfin on his back. "That's *enough!!" He glares at Blurr. "YOU!" Finger points right at the racer. "You. Get off the stage and let a mech with REAL talent perform." -< Arcee Posed on Dec 04 10:54PM CST >-- Arcee nods in agreement to Wheeljack. Then, her optics widen in surprise, and more than a bit of horror, as Blast Off challenges Blurr to a talent competition. She stares. And STARES. "You've got to be kidding me, you have GOT. To be. Kidding. Me." Internally, she timestamps and records the footage, because every bit of this is being sent back to Prowl for review. "Is he drunk?" Arcee asks Wheeljack innocently, because she's not about to take any responsibility for this mess. ---< Starscream Posed on Dec 04 10:55PM CST >--- Starscream smirks as two batons come back at him but then his smirk turns to a sneer as Blast Off suddenly cuts in and grabs one of them. He looks at Blast Off then looks at Swindle. "What is his problem?" he asks then focuses on Blast OFf, "What is your problem?" he looks at Blurr and tosses the baton back at him and looks at him as if to say 'yea hes got the other one, what are you going to do about it? ---< Wheeljack Posed on Dec 04 10:57PM CST > Wheeljack doesn't answer at first. Instead he takes a moment to look at his empty mug, as if making sure he actually drank it all. "Well, it's gotta be real. I've hardly had enough energex to be hallucinating it." ... though just the thought of a mech with Wheeljack's, ah, reputation getting drunk enough to do that is possibly scary in its own right. -< Blurr Posed on Dec 04 11:07PM CST >-- Blurr was having a fine time, catching -all- the batons left and right and back and forth with ease with the audience screaming and cheering because they just -love- it all!

BUT THEN. Then, something -absolutely- crazy happens. Blast Off grabs one of the batons, and jumps out of the crowd, demanding that Blurr get off the stage and allow -him- to put on an act instead.

At first, the former racer just...-goggles- at him. Is he...is he insane? Exposing himself like this, knowing who Blurr is? On the one hand, he's tempted to just -shoot- the mech with his electro-laser right here and now before he can make a move, and drag him off to Luna-2. On the other hand, he'd very much like to see Blast Off try to show off something and -embarrass- himself...

The shock fades off of Blurr's face and is replaced with a smirk, finally. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? Someone trying to turn this into a contest, eh? Well you know I always love a good competition." he steps aside, as if to allow the Combaticon center stage, though he doesn't quite leave it completely. "Let's see what you've got." -< Arcee Posed on Dec 04 11:16PM CST >-- Arcee glances longingly for a moment at Wheeljack's empty drink. Suddenly, she really wishes she had ordered a stronger drink. She slowly looks over at Starscream, and deadpans, "There is not enough energex in the /galaxy/ to make this moment any less unbearable." Then, she returns her focus to what Blast Off is doing, because unfortunately for her, she's responsible for getting this footage back to Prowl. He's the one who wanted her to field-test that prototype.

But she's not happy about it. ---< Blast Off Posed on Dec 04 11:20PM CST > Blast Off smirks right back- though of course it isn't really visible under the faceplate. And he is half tempted to demonstrate his talent by shooting Blurr right then and there. His greatest talent is sharpshooting after all! His hand twitches- then the cape still draped along his tailfin falls a bit, billowing out as he shifts his weight to step forward. He catches it and drapes it over his shoulders, too. "I've got *plenty*, groundpounder." The shuttleformer steps forward again, regally, and comes up on stage. Looking around, there is something, somewhere that tells him this is *wrong*... but that doesn't make sense, so he denies it and shoves it away. Throwing the baton back at Blurr, he pffts. "Mere parlor tricks." Clapping his hands to a nearby waiter, he demands- "Bring me seven glasses of wine- now!" The mech does as told and brings them to the Combaticon quickly. Blast Off places them all along a table on stage- and then begins to sip from each glass through the hatch in his faceplate. What, is he just drinking wine as a talent? -< Blurr Posed on Dec 04 11:34PM CST >-- Blurr watches with mild amusement, waiting for him to make a fool of himself. Well he already kind of -is-. The crowd mutters, clearly disappointed in Blurr getting interrupted. "Soooo, what's the deal? Drinking engex, is that it? That's a nice talent, mech." he says wryly, while quietly readying his weapons. -< Arcee Posed on Dec 04 11:37PM CST >-- Arcee rather envies the others in the bar...the ones who can actually /leave/ before this devolves into madness. She has a sinking feeling that 'Jack is about to find an excuse out of this embarassment. And then what?? Then she'll have to stay to watch this whole mess, that's what! She frowns deeply, clearly not liking the direction this is taking. ---< Starscream Posed on Dec 04 11:40PM CST >--- Starscream watches Blast Off making a fool of himself on stage. Although he might also be doing this on purpose just to make his grand finale, whatever that will be. If he knows anything about the Combaticon is that he likes to show how better he is than everyone else. One thing he does see though on the side of the stage draws his attention. Slowly the Air Commander walks over to Blurr and with a mockingly 'nice' smile on his face he says in an equally mockingly 'nice' tone. "Now we wouldn't want to turn this into a scene would we? Think of what your adoring fans would so if they saw you shooing a drunk." he makes a half wave toward Blast Off. ---< Blast Off Posed on Dec 04 11:45PM CST > Blast Off hufffs and raises his index finger. "Don't be foolish. I mean, even MORESO than usual." The shuttleformer continues at his unhurried pace, sipping wine from each glass, until all seven have been drunk from. Each one is filled to a slightly different level. "Now *observe*." The hatch on his faceplate remains open as Blast Off leans in- and begins to blow gently across the top of each one, creating a musical note as he does so. He adjusts his ventilation output with skill, sending air currents *just so* across the top of the glasses. At first he follows an order, one, then the next, then the next. Each glass makes a different sound, thanks to the depth of the liquid inside. That's when Blast Off begins to "play" a song. And while he might look rather silly with a gaudy cape swung over his shoulders, the "music" he makes is not. It's actually rather beautiful. Perhaps unsurpisingly, it is evocative of the haunting sounds of deep space. ---< Starscream Posed on Dec 04 11:49PM CST >--- Starscream smirks and taunts Blurr. "He's showing you up, Autobot. How can you not shoot that?" -< Arcee Posed on Dec 04 11:53PM CST >-- Once Blast Off reveals that he is going to do something a little more refined than just drink, Arcee watches him intently. There's some surprise from her as he begins to play. But she's not focused on Blast Off to the point of losing all situational awareness.

"Blurr, no shooting," Arcee says absently in a way that's strangely maternal in tone. -< Blurr Posed on Dec 05 12:02AM CST >-- As Blast Off finally begins to show the crowd what he's -really- got, a hush falls over them as they listen intently to the music. Wow, it really is quite beautiful! Some of them begin to applaud, but softly, so as not to disrupt the music.

Then Starscream approaches and starts taunting Blurr. "Pff, if they're truly dedicated, they won't care. Besides, there are more -important- things in life to worry about than fans."

Unfortunately, the speedster can't hear Arcee over the din, and besides it probably wouldn't have changed his next course of action, anyway. Dashing through the crowds, he makes his way to one of the balconies above used for additional seating during events like this, and moments later, as the Combaticon is busy blowing on the glasses, he fires from above, attempting to incapacitate the shuttleformer. As soon as the shot is fired, the crowd erupts into chaos. Not knowing where the blast had come from, they desperately scramble for the exits in a panicked state. ---< Blast Off Posed on Dec 05 12:10AM CST > As the crowd starts to applaud, Blast Off's spark swells with pride. They like him, they really like him!! You know, this isn't so bad! He could get used to this. He wonders briefly if he could find a career just drinking wine and playing music. Yeah, sounds nice. And then BLURR STARTS SHOOTING. While the Combaticon's mind may have been affected by Arcee's gun, his reflexes haven't been. He is on alert the astrosecond Blurr moves, jerking himself back. The shots hit the glasses instead, shattering several instantly. The Combaticon is immediately in full on combat mode, bringing his ionic blaster out and firing back at the Autobot. "I KNEW IT!!! You're just JEALOUS!! You couldn't stand to be upstaged- LITERALLY!!" -< Arcee Posed on Dec 05 12:14AM CST >-- Arcee continues to focus on Blast Off, and then, suddenly, all hell breaks loose.

Later, when Prowl reviews the footage, he'll see Arcee's view pan upward, and she mutters, "What the fffffffff" Then, Blurr begins shooting down at Blast Off, and moments later the camera angle tumbles as Arcee is knocked to the floor by panicked mechs attempting to find the door. "BLURR!!!! Get the hell down here!! Ack!" The picture soon rights itself but is rather wobbly as Arcee gets up and begins making her way toward the balcony access. ---< Starscream Posed on Dec 05 12:19AM CST >--- Starscream watches the Autobot leap into the balcony and attack Blast Off. Nonchalantely he walks up to the mic as mechs scramble to get out. "Whats this world comeing to." he begins smoothly. "When a Decepticon can't show a talent without an Autobot-- and a famous one at that, has to take a shot at him?" < Swindle Posed on Dec 05 12:21AM CST >- Swindle facepalms. Well. This escalated quickly. Forget escalated, the situation seems to have gone entirely to slag. "Oh great, NOW what do we do?" he wonders, as he edges deep into the corner. "This ain't looking too good." -< Blurr Posed on Dec 05 12:25AM CST >-- Starscream indeed is smooth, yet he is probably the only calm one right now aside from Blurr. And maybe Swindle and Wheeljack. Everyone else has flown into a panic and probably aren't listening to the impromptu...speech?

The Combaticon's ionic blast slams into the railing of the balcony as Blurr ducks behind it, causing it to crack and a chunk of it to fall down on top of fleeing patrons. Great, now a minibot is stuck under the debris. Blast Off had probably best take advantage of the stampede and disappear into it so that Blurr won't be able to get a clear shot--and quickly, as the blasts just keep coming like an unrelenting salvo from almost every angle imaginable as the speedster dashes back and forth on the upper level. ---< Blast Off Posed on Dec 05 12:33AM CST > Blast Off isn't interested in fleeing right now. No, he's out for energon- Blurr's energon. The Combaticon grabs a nearby bottle of wine and leaps from the stage and ducks behind a booth in the bar. "Blurr, what's the matter? Starscream's right... you're so insanely jealous of my obviously superior skill you can't even let me finish my song?" He stands straighter to take aim and throw that wine bottle at Blurr before ducking down again and skulking along as he tries to find a better shooting position. A few fleeing patrons knock into him, resulting in a loud HUFF, but he just keeps snaking through the thinning crowd. He still hasn't spotted Arcee in the confusion. He does spot Swindle, though. "Help me smelt this Autofool for once and for all!" He then pauses to shake his head.... he feels kind of weird again. What the slag was he doing up on stage, anyway? Wait, no time to wonder that now. He takes aim again and fire a volley of shots at Blurr. His engines are revving up louder all the time, though. ---< Blast Off Posed on Dec 05 12:35AM CST > He gets hit by some of those blasts, which causes him to wince in pain, but is determined to keep his attack up and win. < Swindle Posed on Dec 05 12:36AM CST >- "You got it!" Swindle says, as he goes from the corner to up where Blast Off is, pulling out his blaster and taking aim at the impudent Blurr. Who does the little speedster think he is, Rambotron? "Hey, cut that out!" Swindle says, "Some of us were listening to that!" -< Arcee Posed on Dec 05 12:38AM CST >-- Arcee doubts very much that she can catch Blurr, but there is /one/ thing she can do...

As she heads up the stairs, she radios back to the Decagon, "I'm going to need backup at Maccaddams, shots fired." Prowl started this mess! If not for that silly...prototype...thing, none of this would have happened! RIGHT?

Reaching the top of the stairs, Arcee begins bellowing. "Stand DOWN, slaggit, stand down!! What are you THINKING?? This place is full of civilians, now STAND. DOWN!" ---< Starscream Posed on Dec 05 12:40AM CST >--- Starscream motions for Blast Off to stop firing. "No need to escilate the situation, Blast Off. You were only defending yourself after all." he glances at Arcee, "I trust the report will state that, right?" -< Arcee Posed on Dec 05 12:44AM CST >-- Arcee is up in the balcony area, now. She peers down at Starscream. "You need to butt out!" she exclaims. How rude! "This is an internal matter! I...don't need to tell you what I'm including in my report!" -< Blurr Posed on Dec 05 12:52AM CST >-- "Haha! That's right, you tell him, Arcee!" Blurr laughs, ignoring her previous angry outburst. He continues to stay on the balcony, where the clear positional advantage is. "Now help me bring these criminals in so we can drag their afts to Garrus-1!"

Another volley of shots comes, this time -really- tearing up the balcony as it peppers the ceiling with holes. More debris falls.The bottle shatters against the railing, sending bits of glass everywhere.

The crowds are thinning, but a few people are trapped under pieces of balcony. This time, a few of the blasts graze his side as his cover starts to crumble. "Hey, what was I supposed to do, just let you go? Miss the opportunity of you basically painting a big red X on your face with a sign that says SHOOT ME? Ha!" He aims the stun weapon once more at the Combaticon, continuing to fire, this time sweeping toward Swindle as well a few times. ---< Blast Off Posed on Dec 05 12:58AM CST > Blast Off looks up and- is that ARCEE??!! Smelt, there's Autobots /everywhere/ here tonight. He doesn't have much time to think of that either, though. Swindle joins him and ha- together they'll finally rid the world of this menace! "Excellent, Swindle. Onslaught will be pleased with us." He is just lifting his weapon to fire at Blurr again when Starscream commands him to cease firing. WUUUT. NO. The shuttleformer's finger twitches on his trigger, wanting SO BAD to ignore the Seeker and get his REVENGE. Not just for this, but for so many times beforehand, too. But rebel that he is at spark, Blast Off is also a trained military mech and Starscream is his Commanding Officer. He pauses there, Blurr in his sights, before finally letting out a long, loud *huffff* and lowering the blaster. At least somewhat. He remains alert and ready, however. "But Starscream, Swindle and I can put an end to him once and for all! I OWE him!" Meanwhile, the shots keep coming. A few still hit the Combaticon, knocking some ceramic tiles form his heat shield armor, though he is agile enough to avoid the worst damage. That stun gun gets drawn on him again, though, and that is NOT anything Blast off wants a piece of. He knows too well what that's like. He ducks down, trying to avoid getting hit with that, and glares at Starscream. "If I'm not supposed to shoot him, then what?" The shuttle's engines are still rumbling... ready for flight even as he asks to fight. He glances over and exclaims, "Watch out!" to his teammate as the shots near Swindle. -< Arcee Posed on Dec 05 01:02AM CST >-- Arcee is at a loss. She honestly has no idea how to stop Blurr from shooting everything in this building into dust, but then she remembers just how impulsive he is. Quickly, she heads over to one of the vacated tables where there's a barely-touched energex, and she skips over and quickly hands it to Blurr. "You're not hitting them. Drink this targeting fluid then try it again," she orders. Forget the fact that there's no such thing as targeting fluid; she's hoping he just downs it, ends up in stasis, and then she can work hard on damage control. ---< Wheeljack Posed on Dec 05 01:03AM CST > And where's Wheeljack in all this madness?

At some point during the 'performances' if we're gracious enough to call them that he went and got more drinks. Because one mug just wasn't enough to contend with the Decepticons on stage. Not that their acts were -bad-, just that... well... even if they're good there's a lot of bias floating around. And that's without making the cliche jokes about Starscream's voice. Basically, Wheeljack went and got -seriously- overcharged instead of becoming that one afthat heckler.

That is why there's several empty mugs scattered about where he's slumped over on the bar. Not moving until the sound of gunfire finally gets through the fog in his processors. That's when he bolts upright, holding up one finger pointing somewhat in the direction of the gun shots. "Thaat izz NOT me.. NOT MY.. my fault. THIS timme..." I don't know what's stranger, that he can drunken slurr words with no mouth, or that his flashers actually get as dim and erratic to match it.

And then he slumps right back over the bar. "Discresion shot! Discresion shot! It'll coost TOO MUCH to.. to try and show ener-vomiting.. with NO MOUTH." That's definatelly the rambling of a drunken mech that's not particularly sane in the first place. < Swindle Posed on Dec 05 01:15AM CST >- Garrus-1? Oh SMELT NO. Swindle casts a glance at Blast Off before a shot from Blurr's weapon nails the both of them, and he's blown back with his Combatibro. "I think we'd better get out of here if we don't want to find ourselves slapped in cuffs and dragged off," he suggests. -< Blurr Posed on Dec 05 01:21AM CST >-- Targeting fluid. Really. Blurr probably would have ignored it, but since Blast Off seems to have stopped shooting for the time being, he peers at whatever Arcee has given him to drink. Is there even such a thing? But Arcee can be trusted, of course! So he downs it quick so he can get back to--

THUD. Fortunately for Arcee, whatever that person had been drinking had been on the stronger side. The speedster just stasis locks right on top of her. -< Arcee Posed on Dec 05 01:24AM CST >-- Arcee hefts the surprisingly-light Blurr over her shoulder, and begins heading back down the stairs. She /thinks/ she can hear sirens in the distance, but maybe that's just her audials ringing from stress.

"Oy, what a mess," she sighs heavily, not paying the Decepticons much heed so much as the destruction within the bar itself. ---< Blast Off Posed on Dec 05 01:27AM CST > The talk of Garrus-1 is NOT one that rests easy with Blast Off either. If there is anything the shuttle is afraid of, it's being a prisoner again. He frowns under his faceplate and tightens his grip on his gun. "....I will NOT go back. Ever." He returns that meaningful glance to Swindle. "WE will not go back." Swindle is right though. He is almost tempted to shoot once again... but things have fallen strangely silent. Which does give them an opportunity for escape. And are those sirens he hears? Smelt. Blast Off finally makes a decision. "Alright. Let's get out of here. Blurr's destruction will have to wait. Unfortunately." Siigh. He gives a nod to an exit and starts making his way there, weapon raised and ready to fight should anyone start shooting or trying to arrest him. < Swindle Posed on Dec 05 01:30AM CST >- "Right behind ya," Swindle says, making for the exit along with his Combatibro. "I know a place we can chill til the heat blows over."

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