Ravage frowned, eying Saren suspiciously. "Now that you mention it, I did briefly detect trace amounts of a foreign compound. What did you do?"
Optimus ventured into the tunnels, following the direction of the wail. Its source soon became apparent; in an open space ahead, a lone Autobot prisoner ran about in circles. His stasis cuffs were still active, so how he could have gotten down here was anyone's guess.
This incongruity wasn't what drew the large Autobot's attention however; instead, Optimus stared aghast at a large, chittering crystalline...thing
perched atop the poor soul's head. This seven-legged purple arthropod stabbed at the Autobot's eyes, mouth and neck with legs that resembled nothing so much as crystalline ice picks.
Optimus lunged forward, axe in hand and arm outstretched, hoping to pry the horrendous arachnid away from its victim's head.
edited 9th Nov '10 10:48:22 AM by SullenFrog
The Danse Macabre Codex-Saren looks briefly confused before assuming the typical contemptuous expression-
I did nothing. Has the subversion of the blocking system been proceeding as normal, or has the substance slowed it? My own scans indicate that it has a corruptive effect that is spreading through this prison.
"He could not know it. For it was not all a joke.""Things can only get better from here..." muttered Craft.
This place is far too much like the retirement centres for my liking. he thought.
Locking you up on radar since '09"...What the hell is that?" As Optimus charged at it, Jorge cursed mentally; he was completely unarmed. If only he had one-
As soon as that thought came to mind, Jorge's right arm transformed into a some sort of minigun.
He stared at it for a good while, completely baffled.
The spider plunged two legs into its victim's throat and wrenched violently to one side, tearing the poor Autobot's head clean off just as Optimus reached him.
"No!" Optimus roared, grabbing the chittering arachnid before the prisoner's body had even begun to topple. The monstrous creature squealed in protest as Optimus clenched his fist, sending cracks throughout its crystalline body; then he threw the beast to the floor with all the force he could muster, shattering it on impact.
Ravage, who had been about to reply to Saren, drew back a pace at this. That was definitely quite a different Optimus from the one he was used to.
Optimus turned his gaze to the prisoner's body, and his tone turned morose. "Forgive me, friend; I couldn't save you."
"Uh, guys?" Sideswipe called nervously, pointing down a far corridor. "I get the feeling that thing wasn't alone."
The sound of tiny claws scrabbling for purchase on corrugated steel echoed down that hallway, and Ravage could make out flickering shadows in the distance...
edited 9th Nov '10 11:49:30 AM by SullenFrog
The Danse Macabre CodexJorge walked up next to Optimus, looking down at the fallen Autobot. "He didn't deserve that...we should keep moving."
Of course, Sideswipe alerted everyone to the possible presence of other spiders. Jorge spun around and aimed his Scrapmaker down the corridor.
"Let them come. We'll tear them apart."
Jagged Alliance 2 LP (Redux) (Closed!)"that's neither here nor there; it's uncomfortable for me to be on the receiving end of this treatment."
Ravage tensed, dropping low into a crouch with a snarl. Two compartments just above his rear hips slid open, revealing a pair of small rifles.
Now this was more like it...
The spiders came into view, chittering and shrieking like the damned. There were at least two dozen of the arthropods, and they swarmed across the floor and the walls at a truly alarming speed; the beasts would be on the group in scant seconds!
Ravage growled, sending a signal to his hip-mounted guns to open fire...and received only a dry click in response. "Damn it, the magazines are empty! We'll have to do this the hard way..."
The Danse Macabre CodexNarumi used the key that unlocked his cuffs and then the key that unlocked his cell. Soundwave noticed this as he was taking Air Raid in. " Stop where you are going!" Soundwave said, but Narumi ran off. " Soundwave to Security, an Autobot has busted out... What? Other Autobots are busting out? ... Let me take this Autobot in first, I will join your squad later." Soundwave said, referring to Air Raid as he dragged him away.
Jorge attempted to fire on the spiders, but like Ravage, he was dry.
"We always do it the hard way, Ravage." A melee weapon would've really helped here. Of course, upon thinking of one, Jorge's Scrapmaker folded back into his arm, and a massive hammer was formed from it.
"...That works. Okay, let's do this!" And the Spartan began to smash spider after spider with his hammer.
Jagged Alliance 2 LP (Redux) (Closed!)Ravage snarled as he lunged forwards, pouncing on a close knot of the chittering arachnids. He crushed two of them underfoot upon landing, and began to claw and savage another pair as soon as he had regained his balance.
Other spiders quickly scuttled forward, however, and began to mob the Decepticon-turned-Autobot. The jaguar howled as their icepick legs slashed and stabbed at his sides, leaving deep rents in his chassis.
Optimus charged forward, trampling several of the beasts underfoot before picking one spider up and throwing it into another with enough force to shatter them both.
The Danse Macabre CodexJorge saw that Ravage was in need of assistance, but if he tried to help, the Spartan's hammer would smash him along with the spiders. That idea was actually tempting to Jorge, but he decided against him. For now, Ravage was more useful alive.
Jorge kept crushing spiders, but one of them caught him by surprise. It leaped up at him, grabbing and stabbing his body. The Spartan grunted as he ripped it off, leaving deep scratch marks on his chest. Jorge proceeded to throw the spider to the ground and crush it with his boot.
Jagged Alliance 2 LP (Redux) (Closed!)Optimus swung his axe in a mighty arc, cleaning a quartet of the arachnids in twain with this single blow. Bumblebee and Sideswipe finally caught up, stomping spiders and ripping them apart with their bare hands; the little yellow Autobot, seeing that Ravage was in trouble, darted forward to tackle one of the beasts assailing him.
This gave the jaguar enough room to get a leg free and kick one spider right in the face, shattering it. With this clearance, Ravage was able to break out of the press of bodies and began to maul the spiders.
Soon there were only a handful of the buggers left.
The Danse Macabre CodexGordon had snapped out of one mood an into another, very different one. One of the spiders strayed near, and he kicked it as hard as he could, before coming up on it before it could right itself and smashing it into the ground.
"Might as well get this god damn challenge over with...'' he muttered. "After all," he said, louder, "That'll end the nightmare faster, right?"
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."At last the spiders were no more, the final bug falling to pieces at Kirby's feet. At that moment, klaxons began to echo from the direction in which the arachnids had come, along with a dstorted yet obviously-prerecorded message:
"Alert! Alert! Autobot prisoners have escaped custody. Shoot to kill."
Following the sound of the alarms, Optimus quickly came upon a large vent grate set into the wall. Like the one they had passed through not so long ago, this one allowed them an excellent view of the hallway below without any risk of being seen.
Optimus motioned Bumblebee and Sideswipe over, pointing at two Decepticon soldiers standing at readyness further down the corridor. Ravage padded over, noting that the guards had their backs turned to the vent.
"Ready your energon blades," Optimus whispered. "We'll drop down and surprise them."
In response, Bumblebee and Sideswipe held out their batons—and glowing longswords took the place of their hands.
The Danse Macabre CodexDuring the fight, a black bike swerved onto the battlefield, speeding towards the horde of spiders. It then used it's booster jets to launch itself in the air. Transforming into Narumi as he rider kicks a few spiders.
"Miss me?
" Narumi asked the champions.
Kirby merely looked downtrodden.
"Boyo..."
"Translation: What's the point? This keeps going on and on. What happens if we complete this challenge? We'll get stuck in another one. No matter what happens, we're trapped in this never-ending loop. I just want to go home..."
"Evii is right though" -Saturn "I didn't know you were a bitch Evii." -Lior ValHeedless of this discussion, Optimus drew one of his mighty feet back and delivered a swift stomp kick to the vent, stoving it in. The Decepticon guards below whirled at the noise, clearly not expecting an attack to come from this angle.
"The escapees!" hollered one of the soldiers, drawing a pistol as Bumblebee and Sideswipe burst out of the duct and set upon them. "They're here!"
Bumblebee's energon sword darted out at shoulder height, removing the Decepticon's head from his body. "So glad you could notice," he quipped.
"Now we're talkin'," Sideswipe hollered as he drove his blade through the second guard's chest. "I hate sneaking around."
The Danse Macabre Codex

-the avatar finally speaks-
Ravage, have your systems encountered any contamination?
"He could not know it. For it was not all a joke."