Were-Cars eight

[dragonofdispair]

summary: 2007 movieverse. mostly pre-earth: some archetypes are universal. some legends transcend species. and sometimes there's nothing left to do but out race the moons.

disclaimer: names, places and concepts that are recognizable aren't mine. since i shamelessly raided a list of mini-cons from armada for names, i don't even own the oc's. i do own the plot, though.

warnings: battle violence. cussing. lots of weirdness. eventual male pronoun robot / male pronoun robot romance.



Were-Cars of Cybertron: part eight

Later, Prowl surreptitiously watched Rhythm confer with the grey mech he'd noted earlier. The red and yellow pair were busy playfully (Prowl hoped) wrestling in an empty area of the garden. Rhythm didn't interrupt them, simply asked something of the grey mech, whose lengthy answer included a discrete gesture to Prowl and Red Alert at the tech chess table.

The red one then noticed Rhythm and shoved the yellow one off him to greet the silver were-car. Yellow scowled and swiped the armor on the back of Red's leg before also standing to crowd into the small group. Prowl was very careful to both note the body language displayed by the four and maintain the fiction that he wasn't watching them. He was startled to note that Rhythm was the smallest of the four, maybe two thirds the height of the grey mech (who was shorter than the red and yellow pair by a good amount). Considering the grey mech was the exact same build as Prowl himself ... Prowl hadn't even noticed that he'd been looking down on the were-car, or that Rhythm had been looking up.

Then Yellow shoved Red, Red barked out a laugh that could be heard all the way across the garden, Yellow bristled and Red took off running, with Yellow close behind -- a race or a fight; it hardly mattered which. Rhythm and Grey watched them go. Shaking his head, Rhythm reached out to run his claws gently over the flat armor of one of the grey mech's sensory panels. Grey leaned the panel into the touch, but didn't touch back.

That short exchange was one Prowl had seen many times while dealing with the were-cars in Praxis, though Rhythm had been much gentler about it than any in Praxis generally were.

Prowl turned his full attention to the datapad currently being held by Red Alert so Rhythm wouldn't notice that the black and white police-mech had seen his interaction with the other were-cars.

"I'm not interrupting, am I?"

Prowl looked up at Rhythm's greeting, the tiniest bit startled -- sure, he'd known Rhythm was coming to over to them, but the mech had been so quiet that without looking at him, Prowl hadn't noticed him actually get close. Red Alert looked up much more startled. Prowl held out a hand before the other police-mech could say anything.

"Not at all. We were waiting for you." He responded to the greeting.

Rhythm grinned as he reached over to another table to pull over a stool so he could sit with the two police-mechs. "Was Skyfire helpful?"

So the were-car wasn't going to apologize for running off earlier. That was alright, Prowl had not expected him to. "Yes, quite."

He ignored Red Alert's glare and reached over to fiddle with one of the tech-chess pieces. He wanted to invite Prowl to another game, Prowl could easily see, as he'd said he wanted after their first. But he didn't. "So what'cha want t' do now?"

This Prowl and Red Alert had decided while waiting. Not that the next steps were obscure ones. "We need to find the were-tanks. Skyfire's information indicates two may be missing. Then if you can take us to the were-cycles, please do. There is a chance they might have witnessed something."

He hummed a short tune as he thought. Despite the hesitation, Prowl didn't get the sense he was reluctant to share the information, just taking a moment to organize his thoughts. "Can take you t' where the tanks should be easy enough, except Perceptor. Skyfire said he'd be back tomorrow, so I'm guessing he's not the one missing." Rhythm stopped to check for any reaction to Perceptor's name. There was none. "Did you figure him out or did Skyfire tell you?"

"Skyfire confirmed it."

"S'far as I know, Perceptor don't really mind people knowing about him, but he's probably the only 'shifter I know who'd really have t' work t' be noticed as one. He don't mind that much either. What'cha gonna do if Backtrack and Brawl are missing?"

Prowl didn't even need to think of the answer, "I will officially log them on police networks as missing and initiate search procedures here in Iacon. The missing person's files on the world network will note that they are not suspects and if they are found I am to be contacted." Procedure. "If they're missing, they will need to be found. Whatever their status."

For the first time, Prowl developed an opinion on the visor covering Rhythm's optics -- there was definite meaning behind the were-car's look and the visor kept Prowl from interpreting it. For once the rest of his body language didn't give any insight. Rhythm definitely had some thought or opinion on that course of action, but Prowl couldn't tell wether it was positive or negative.

Then the thought had passed or been hidden and Rhythm was saying, "If you don't mind working overtime, I can take you t' a motorcycle hangout t'night. Sorry -- I know some names, but not much else. That'll probably be your best bet for talking t' them."

Prowl nodded. Red Alert made a sound of protest and Prowl knew why. There were a good many were-motorcycles' names and contact numbers in the Iacon police database -- mostly from complaints filed against were-cars or being brought in after crashing and wrecking parts of the city -- and he thought they should simply contact them and set up to meet them on their own, without Rhythm's help. Perhaps, if it were just Red Alert or another police-mech those 'cycles knew, they could have. But Prowl was a stranger to them. It would be far more expedient to establish where he stood with the smaller shapshifters as an entire group, then start contacting individuals.

"'Kay. Want me t' take you t' Brawl's place now, then?"

"Please do."

888

Brawl's residence was quite a ways from the park. The three mechs had to take the public monorail closer before walking the rest of the way. Prowl and Red Alert could have called for police transportation, but such vehicles were most often used for prisoner transport and would have attracted more attention than was strictly necessary. And Prowl took the time to advise Nightbeat of their progress and convince the police chief that they did have probable cause to enter the residence if Backtrack and Brawl were not present.

The authorization codes came over his comm channel just as they exited the monorail.

Brawl and Backtrack lived in an apartment on some sort of long term lease -- which explained why their possessions hadn't been sold off and the apartment rented to another tenant. Judging by the size of the doorways and the reenforcement obvious in the building's structure, this building was designed to house fairly large mechs (though not as large as Skyfire) in rooms they would consider fairly small.

"I'll stay out here," Rhythm offered at the building's main entrance. "Ain't got nothing against the two of them, and s'far as I know, they ain't got nothing against me or mine, but I doubt I'd be any help in there. I'll be there," he pointed to a nearby shop advertising small energon treats that had several tables and stools set up for customers, "when you're done."

"And what are you going to do?" Red Alert questioned before Prowl could acquiesce.

Rhythm just gave the red and white a patronizing look. "I'm gonna buy energon treats and eat them," he explained as though talking to a rather dim-witted, newly built mech.

Red Alert stammered and reached for his cuffs. Rhythm growled. Not loudly, just barely loud enough to register on Prowl's sensory panels as vibration. Prowl didn't know Red Alert's model specifications, but it was possible he didn't hear the growl at all.

Prowl flicked his sensory panels, both in annoyance and to shake the feeling of the vibration off them, as he stepped between them. "Stop this -- both of you."

They subsided, glaring at each other. Deftly Prowl flicked one of his sensory panels between their line of sight to break up the staredown without one winning. "We will see you when we exit," he said to Rhythm, then turned to Red Alert. "Come on."

Neither Backtrack nor Brawl answered the intercom on the door to their flat. Instead of entering the apartment right away, Prowl buzzed the intercom on a neighbor's door and asked a few questions about the two mechs' usual routine. He discovered they should be home now, and that they neighbor hadn't seen then in a while. The blue mech freely admitted that he wasn't the most observant person, and because of that hadn't been worried about not seeing them until Prowl had buzzed, but now that he thought about it, it was a bit strange.

Combined with Skyfire's information and that the two tanks hadn't answered their door, it meant Prowl had more than enough reason to use the entry codes he'd gotten from Nightbeat.

Messy was his first impression. Then revised it to clutter that had been riffled through. He was careful not to disturb anything as he did his first walkthrough to the premises. Behind him he could hear Red Alert recording everything. Only after everything was on record would anything be shifted around to examine. Still there were several things obvious even without shifting the mess around.

One cabinet that had once held nothing but medical supplies had been dumped onto the floor right in front of the now empty storage space. The supplies had been hastily sorted through, and some were obviously missing -- pre-packed boxes had been opened and some of their contents gone. They would need to do a full inventory compared to the boxes' contents lists to find out exactly what the missing supplies were.

The storage area of the energon dispenser had also been left open and again it was obvious some was missing. Again they'd need to do an inventory comparing the present contents against the device's records to find out what had been taken.

Other things, kick-knacks, cushions, datapads, and more had been pulled out of their spaces in cupboards and on shelves to be left on the floor. There was a good chance some of it also was missing, but exactly what would be harder to determine than the medical supplies and energon.

It looked like a robbery -- except Prowl could quite clearly see several things a thief would have taken with him still present in the flat, like the entertainment screen and vid disks. There was also a very thin smattering of dust over every surface indicating it hadn't been disturbed in weeks, tentatively confirming the timeframe in which the two were-tanks had disappeared.

"Done," Red Alert announced and he and Prowl started a more thorough search through the detritus.

Every computer in the flat confirmed it hadn't been active in a month or more, concretely confirming the timeframe when Backtrack and Brawl had disappeared.

The missing medical supplies consisted of wires, fluid tubing, solder and a soldering iron, a small medical welder, quite a few replacement support struts and muscular cables and every piece of temporary armor plating. Prowl was relieved to note that whoever had taken the supplies hadn't grabbed anything for dealing with neural circuitry or other vital system damage. According to the energon dispenser's records, every last bit of highgrade and most of the midgrade was missing. As he'd thought, the rest was nearly impossible to determine as missing -- volumes four through seven of a popular ten volume datapad novel set, and some tools were all Prowl could confirm as having should have been there and now gone.

What was there to be found was as or more interesting than what was missing, though. Brawl apparently surveyed the wilderness areas in his spare time and drew maps of those areas. They weren't navigation-quality maps and had such things marked on them as good spots to observe a turbofox den and what cavernous structures had interesting crystal formations. Obviously drawn for the surveyor's own amusement, but they indicated a familiarity with those areas and would provide a good starting point for searchers.

Just as interesting was a journal datapad written by Backtrack. It had been wedged between the large recharge plate and one wall, with a magnet sticking it to the wall to keep it from falling out of reach. Very well hidden. Prowl would have missed it -- had missed it -- during his search of the room, if it hadn't been for Red Alert's insistence on moving everything to see what might be behind or under it. It had taken both of them to move the plate, which was big and heavy enough to support two fairly large, heavy mechs. Neither Prowl or Red Alert were particularly big, so moving the recharge plate had been a strain.

Backtrack's journal made the strain worth it. As was to be expected from such a thing, it mostly contained rambling accounts of the writer's daily life, but on the dates corresponding with the double full, double dark, and single full moons there were references to a third were tank. At first, for a few months, the tank was only there. One account detailed the strange tank having been run off by the were-cars, but the were-tanks were content to share space with the stranger. Then the strange tank started harassing them. It was both bigger and stronger than both of them and Backtrack admitted to being somewhat scared. The last entry was a month ago, on the day before the double full moon -- the night before the second set of murders.

When Prowl and Red Alert were both certain they'd gotten everything the two of them could out of the flat, they left, Red Alert already calling the station to report the two mechs as missing, one possibly injured. Search procedures were started, with the two of them listed as vital witnesses in possible danger, and a sweeper team was called to go through the flat to find anything the two officers might have missed.

tbc



note: fast update -- i got hit with a plot stick recently. i'm in the process of typing up the next chapter too.