Dinner Time

[skidaddle]

Who: Skids and YOU!
What: Sparkeater Skids is roaming the Haven, looking for delicious robots whose souls he can eat.
Where: EVERYWHERE MWAHAHAHAHAH.
When: For a few days before and after this post.
Notes:
Skids is a Sparkeater, and as such is ravenous for the life energy that powers Cybertronians. Most robots that aren't Cybertronian are safe, but if you think your robot has anything close to a spark I'm more than willing to fudge it and have him try to give it a bite.

How does this work?

In canon, the humanoid sparkeater seems to have some method of coaxing a transformer's processor out of their head, which effectively locks them up and releases their spark, so to speak. He then eats it. However, there are other sparkeating turbofoxes which don't have so complicated a ritual and seem to be capable of just getting a spark chamber open and giving it a nom. I'm cool with whatever, so if you'd like your character to go through some spark-chewing trauma but survive intact, just note that when you post!

Skids is still Skids, just species swapped. Therefore, it still looks like him but with a lot more rust, randomly missing panels, and tentacles. Glorious, H.R. Giger tentacles. He's still himself in there, so if you're organic it will be possible to talk to him and even reason with him. If you've got a spark, though, his hunger will overpower his reason and he'll go after it. However, unless you note that you want your spark chewed (or eaten! I'm game for some good old death) then I'll let your character find a way to escape unscathed, possibly via comedic pratfall.

Questions? Just ask on plurk or send me a PM~

~~~

Everything had been hazy, since his race with Blurr. He'd been out setting up some new courses for Shepard to try her driving on and had seen the blue car zipping by. It had sparked an idea in his head.

Somehow, that idea had sparked something else.

His casual desire to chase after the racecar had turned into an intense desire to chase after the racecar, and he'd found new speed welling from within. He'd been able to keep up.

He'd been able to catch up.

He'd been ready to do so much more.

Blurr had been saved from his intense hunger, however, and when Skids tried to think how that had happened his mind became fuzzy. One moment there had been Blurr, and the next moment there wasn't. When there was no more Blurr, his need had shifted, and he'd...smelled?...something else. Something new.

Starving, he'd chased after it, only to be thwarted again. And again. And again.

Everything, now, was chasing, seeking some indefinable satiation that could quell the hunger driving him on. He'd contacted friends. He'd wanted to see them.

He'd wanted to rip them open and feast on their insides. That was simple.

It was everything else that was complex.


~~~

Comments

( action ) let me know if this doesn't work.

[pendragon]

Saber was a bit busy. Between helping out Blurr in his confusion, she was also assisting others over the Link and now was relaying supplies to some temples where she knew they were needed for the new-found humans.

She also really needed to go to Police HQ.

On her travels from Vector's quadrant to Prima's, Saber comes across someone she's sure she recognizes, but.. perhaps not? The green blur slows down to a walking speed, the energy thrown off from her accelerated motions ceasing.

Was that.. Skids? The knight's eyes narrow. She's very certain she didn't remember tentacles coming out of the Cybertronian, but- ah, Blurr had said something about Skids turning into a spark eater and attacking him. And with Blurr mentioning to her how important sparks were, that wasn't likely a good thing.

Saber begins to cautiously approach Skids, and once she's about twenty feet away, simply calls his name in a questioning way. Surely, he'd recognize her?

Its perfect!

[skidaddle]

He's paused for the moment, trying to catch wind of a trail.

Any trail.

So many of them had grown weak or stale as everyone changed. Without a spark close by, he found himself suddenly aware of what he was doing, and how he was thinking, and that some small part of his mind was aware his thinking was wrong.

"Saber..."

He tries to say the name, but it doesn't come out right. Instead, there is raw screeching from a warped-vocalizer, and dull optics that turn to face the human girl.

He recognizes her.

She does not have a spark.

He moves towards her nonetheless, no longer standing still but floating forward suddenly, and stopping just shy, fingers reaching toward.

[pendragon]

The knight hesitates. She does not jump back out of fright, but calmly steps back a few times to put some distance between herself and the outstretched hands.

Saber couldn't believe in the least that Skids was anything more than half aware of himself.

"Skids? What has happened to you?" she asks, her voice neutral in tone and volume. There was nothing alarming and nothing invoking in any emotion. Saber needs to evaluate him, first. Her first thought should have been to contact the police force, but Saber is used to carrying the law in a different manner. And here, her priority is to find out more about the situation before doing anything about it.

[skidaddle]

When Saber moves, Skids watches. He does not trail after her the second time, though his tentacles sway gently behind him, conveying both interest and confustion. If this isn't food, why remain?

If this can do nothing...

No.

This is more than nothing.

The sharp tentacle uncoils, laying along the ground towards Saber, and then around her. Skids' feet touch the ground.

He crouches.

Then, he gurgles a low, gravelly growl, synthesized like language. It seems to mean nothing, until Saber's communicator catches it.

"I know you."

[pendragon]

"Yes, I know you. I offered you information when you arrived and I spoke with you about the upcoming dance."

A spark eater. Blurr had said he had become that. And a spark was something imperative to a Cybertronian, she knew. Such a title would.. make one assume that a spark eater was a vile, immoral thing. And the knight did not feel that fit Skids at all.

Perhaps this was something like madness affecting Skids? Saber had experience with that from watching others in it. Rose, too, had recently been affected by something similar when turned into a dragon.

So Saber did what she could and decided to simply talk to him. It would do no harm and possibly even help him.

"I'm Saber. I believe you said my name was interesting. Do you remember?"

[warp]

After talking with Whirl, Skywarp had been idly looking for this Skids. Partly because he was curious, partly because he had the urge to deprive the skinny cousin of Shockwave his kill.

The fact that he'd have a run-in with the changed cybertronian while not necessarily looking for him, and thus not completely ready was just typical, of course.

But he'd seen something he thought could be useful later in a pile of junk and was tossing things aside to get it to, and thus concentrated on that and not his surroundings.

At least for now.

[skidaddle]

He'd been trying to find food.

He'd been trying and coming up empty every time, to the point where he had found a small, soft pile to curl up in and wait. Half in recharge, half in readiness, he'd dozed in and out of consciousness, hoping for a spark to venture near.

It had.

It had ventured very, very near.

This time, he'd stayed hidden. Every other time, the moment he'd pounced something had gone wrong and the spark had vanished. Now?

Now, the creature uncovers him, and he smirks up at Skywarp.

Those might be tentacles coming for you now.

[warp]

"The slag---!" That was, and wasn't, what he'd been looking for. The tentacles were as much a surprise as finding the rust-covered mech himself, and Skywarp stumbled back, optics widening.

"The frag are you..." Well, Whirl had said what. Kind of, he supposed. Yanking on the arm caught, his hand slid back to let the gun mounted in his wrist pop up, Skywarp, while surprised, didn't feel overly threatened yet.

Yet.

In the background, coordinates were being spat out in tip-toe readiness.

[skidaddle]

The spark hadn't vanished yet, and Skids had a strong hold on the body that tethered it. With one tentacle already twining around Skywarp's arm, the others uncoiled forward, seeking other purchases.

He knew he was missing a step. With a target this close, there was something he was supposed to be doing...some way to eject the spark.

He didn't know what it was.

This meant he'd have to go in manually, which was useful in this particular case--Skywarp had a cockpit.

"Got you," he hissed through a hopelessly broken vocalizer, and did not notice when his communicator translated it.

Neither did he notice the gun pointed towards him.

[warp]

And it wouldn't be disappearing, except for temporarily, whenever Skywarp got it in his processor that warping away might be better. For the moment, however, he was sort of horrifiedly stunned and curious.

"... Skids, huh. Augh--!" And then other tentacles came into play and Skywarp stumbled back, probably pulling the smaller mech with him out of the pile of scrap in the process, swearing and letting off a few shots from the gun in startlement.

The fact that the hiss was translated was sort of creepy, too.

I hope we can get Barricade to tag in?

[sword_redemption]

Drift's racing to Skids's coordinates, trying not to think too hard about what Shock had looked like when they'd come across him. He'd seen dead mechs before, but he'd never seen a dead mech's face filled with such...horror.

He didn't want to think about that happening to Skids.

His engines are hard to disguise as he races across the Junk Pile's verges, to the coordinates Skids had sent.

Did someone say Barricade?

[namesnotprowl]

Barricade doesn't know the first thing about what they're dealing with, but Drift said they needed a medic, so of course he came. Medical work is his thing, and he'd hand enough chance to look Skids over that he thinks he has a good idea how to handle whatever it happens to be.

Maybe he'll be able to do some good for once.

So he follows after Drift, on his metaphorical heels as they drive.

I'm saying it right now! 'Barricade!'

[skidaddle]

Skids is waiting.

Skids has been waiting with as much patience as his hunger will allow, which is not much patience. He knows that Drift will come. He knows that Drift will try to help him.

He knows that if he can hold off, he can coax Drift close enough to do what he needs to do.

How that works, he is not certain of yet.

For now, however, he crouches amongst the junk at the coordinates that he sent Drift, and waits for the other to arrive.

All I'm saying to myself right now is 'track the post, geniusfais.'

[sword_redemption]

He arrives at the coordinates, slowing down with a screech of rubber on road, using the last momentum to propel him upward to his bot mode, one sword drawn. Skids isn't here, it doesn't look like. Which means something may have happened. Which means something may need to be stabbed.

"Skids?" He walks in a slow circle, optics scanning the horizon. "Barricade. You getting anything?"

I need to do that too oops

[namesnotprowl]

Barricade slows, transforming and settling into a walk without losing step, eventually stopping to look the area over. He turns inwards to his proximity sensors with a low hum, trying to stretch their distance.

"Nothing so far." He gives up on those sensors and resorts to sniffing. Olfactory sensors were kind of old-fashioned, admittedly, but they did the trick for him once or twice. "Yeah, I got the odor of junk. And... something else." Not willing to call it Skids because something is off about it. But someone like him came through the area.

:3c

[rednotbluethx]

Well hey, there, fellow monstrosity! Frenzilla's just cruising through the neighborhood. You know, setting fire to things, tearing anything he can apart. But he does have to stop when he sees Skids.

Skids... Skids was something weird. Something curious. And he can't help but... tilt his head a little, like a dog. He's not come across anything particularly like Skids before in this place.

The desire to destroy lessened and replaced itself with juvenile curiosity. Frenzilla moved slowly on his back legs, and when close enough, gave a type of chirp ending in a tiny, curious growl.

Maybe, on some level of recollection, you were just really freakin' cool lookin' to Frenzy.

[skidaddle]

In the same way that two predators can co-exist when they rely on different prey, Skids barely registered Frenzy at first. He did not possess a spark, and was not trying to appeal to the small fraction of Skid's own personality that survived the gnawing hunger.

The animalistic chirp, however, resonated with some other part of him that was entirely instinct. Was this a threat? Was this a means to more food?

Neither were true.

It simply was, and Skids found himself able to think on it more because of this, approaching to inspect it more. His tentacles curled around him, and the tips of his feet dragged on the ground as he floated forward, but he knew he had seen nothing like this before.

[rednotbluethx]

Frenzilla was very careful to move in, meeting the sparkeater half-way. There was still that nagging desire to play with it. A part of him that just wanted a friend - and a friend that was really wicked. Though, he was still apprehensive; nostrils flaring, releasing curls of blue smoke.

Frenzilla titled his head, yellow-red eyes blinking, first pair of eyelids then the second. Skids didn't register entirely as friendly, however - a part of Frenzy knew he was one of... them. Not sure what "them" meant, but he knew they were bad and needed to be violently torn apart.

Frenzilla chirped again, gave his tail a thrash. He then blasted atomic fire at the ground - away from the sparkeater. Looked up. So, show me what you got.

Friend or foe, either way, this would be fun.

[skidaddle]

At the blast of fire, Skids reacted. His encounters thus far had not been friendly to his tentacles, and more than one of them were still raw with the remnants of explosions, and blade-cuts. His speed was his ally this time--the edges of him blurring, leaving a trail of tentacles that flared as he came to a stop on the other side of Frenzy.

He screeched, admonishing the other's challenge...

Until he realized where the fire had been aiming.

The screech calmed, turning into a low chuckle, and one tentacle whipped out towards Frenzy, stopping just shy of his throat--and scritching him there, underneath.

[rednotbluethx]

There was still this "vibe" to Skids that Frenzilla didn't like. But, man - look at those wicked tentacles! And, well, sort of hard to want to maim someone when they're giving you such delightful skritches.

Frenzilla gave a deep rumble-purr in his throat, head tilting back. Even his little tail thumped happily. But, yes, back to business - Frenzilla drew away, and carefully moved aside, as if assessing the sparkeater. Such a... weird design. If he could speak, he'd ask you what those tentacles were for. But, you know, he just finds himself biting at them out of reach.

[Action] Hehehe

[sariexmachina]

Skids wasn't the only one who was hungry.

Thankfully, only organic food was on Sari's menu, and was far easier to procure than flighty, escape-prone sentients. Raiding the pantry at the Hub was a nice change of pace from the constant junk pile scavenging she'd come to endure - and far less likely to be gross and smelly than what she often found squashed under rubble. It was a bit of a ride from Nexus' temple, even on her scooter, but she'd be stocked up for the next week or so if she planned it right.

But human-style fuel or not, beneath that organic shell beat the spark of a Cybertronian.

[Action] PREPARE FOR FLIGHT

[skidaddle]

For the first while, Skids was confused.

His senses were telling him that a spark was nearby, but every time he went in pursuit off it he only encountered a human. He knew what humans were--he'd seen them. He remembered them. He wasn't so far gone that he couldn't reason when one was nearby and was definitely not a food source.

It was possible his hunger had simply grown great enough that he considered them to be one.

He didn't know this human, however, and so he started following, noticing the scent growing stronger every time he grew close.

Whether or not this girl could satisfy him, he didn't know...

...but given his recent luck, he was willing to try it.

Enjoy the feeling of being followed.

[Action] I AM PREPARED. AND LATE.

[sariexmachina]

It takes Sari a long while to even notice. Under the hum of the scooter and the bumps and jolts of driving it on an imperfect 'road' to the Hub keeps Skids hidden from her for some time. It's only when she gets inside, driving on the smoother halls toward the kitchens does she get...antsy.

There is definitely something skittering around behind her, but the only people she's seen all day are just...robots. No evil bugs running around.

Still. She drives faster, and is relieved when she pulls up to the kitchens. She grabs the crate strapped on the back of her scooter and heads inside.

[Action] ALL THE TAGS FOR YOU

[skidaddle]

When Sari leaves, Skids spends a good minute inspecting the scooter. A spark had been here, he was sure, but it was not there any longer. It had gone inside.

However, the only thing that had gone inside was the girl, and that made no sense to him. Surely, the scooter was the part with the spark?

However, it did not seem to be.

With that in mind, he floated on, following Sari through the doorway, his tentacles trailing behind him.

[Action] 83 YAY

[sariexmachina]

Inside the mismatched kitchen area, Sari is already throwing cans and boxes of non-perishables in her crate, munching on a rare and much-coveted banana all the while. Thanks to the dented mini-fridge she managed to drag into her little, lonely apartment, she can even bring back frozen foods as well, and goes right for the good stuff. Dragging over a step ladder, she can start raiding a freezer chest, chucking bags of fries and chicken fingers and even a small pint of ice cream blindly over her shoulders toward the crate.

Back to the entrance, she is oblivious to the approaching danger.