On His Knees Dead End

[dragoness_e]

Another claim finished! This time, Dead End has gotten himself in trouble with the Lambo Twins. No smut, just violence.

On his knees

"Did you ever get that dent fixed, Sunstreaker?"

Really, he shouldn't have said it. On the other hand, the Autobots already intended to pulverize the Stunticons, so anything Dead End said probably wouldn't have made a difference. That the Stunticons had just as much intention of pulverizing the Autobots was beside the point. It was, after all, their job, while Soundwave and the Constructicons did whatever it was they were supposed to be doing with the Waterford nuclear plant.

Dead End howled down the narrow winding road that ran alongside the levee, with Sunstreaker and Sideswipe peeling out in hot pursuit. None of the other Bots followed--they were too busy with the rest of the Decepticons. Even so, pulling Sunstreaker and his brother away from the counter-attack cut the Autobot strength by two formidable warriors.

The road swerved away from the levee as it approached a chemical plant, towers of steel vats and miles of piping weaving about in an incomprehensible labyrinth. Dead End gunned his engine and bounced up the rutted drive leading over the levee to "Flatback Towing, Inc.", then spun his tires on the gravel as he swerved away from the towboat operator's business and onto the levee top.

Sunstreaker nearly caught up with him at the gravel; Dead End leaped forward, his tires sending a spray of gravel bouncing off Sunstreaker's hood and windshield. Sunstreaker screamed in rage close behind the Stunticon as all three of them raced along the hard-packed levee top.

"You slagging Decepti-creep! You pitted my windshield! I am personally going to rip your fuel pump out and shove it up your tailpipe, Dead End!" Sunstreaker evidently did not enjoy the high-speed pursuit.

"Aw, Sunny! Don't keep all the fun to yourself--I want to tear his whole exhaust system out, and I can't do that if you're busy stuffing things down his tailpipe!" Sideswipe mocked.

Ahead, the Luling suspension bridge crossed the river far above the levee--hopelessly out of reach unless one backtracked to the river road that had wandered away from the levee--or unless one could fly. Dead End jumped in car mode, hurling himself into the air, then transformed and engaged his lifters, flying toward the suspension bridge above. He drew his weapon, preparing to fire on the stymied Autobots below.

Dead End made two mistakes; he underestimated Sunstreaker, and he underestimated Sideswipe. The high-speed car chase had come to a sudden halt; Sunstreaker transformed and launched a missile at Dead End. Sideswipe transformed and activated his jetpack. He soared after Dead End.

The missile reached him first, detonating and sending him careening through the air at a crazy angle. His forcefields protected Dead End from damage, but they didn't do a thing about the new vector he'd acquired from the force of the explosion. Before he could right his plunge, Sideswipe tackled him about the waist.

The red Autobot warrior re-directed Dead End's flight, straight down into--

The river! No, not the river--worse--high-tension wires crossing the river! Dead End hit the wires hard, spread-eagled across several of them--

The massive short knocked out power to the entire East Bank, and, in the several hundred milliseconds before the wires snapped and let Dead End tumble into the water, knocked out half of Dead End's systems from the power surge. He blacked out.

When Dead End came back online, a dozen red alarms flashed at him in his diagnostic queue--including the one for his forcefield. With the sure and certain knowledge that his situation could only get worse, Dead End activated his optics.

He was being dragged out of the river by a large... golden... Autobot. Sunstreaker. Standing on the levee waiting for them was Sideswipe, smirking evilly with his hands on his hips.

"I can't believe I had to get in this filthy, muddy, polluted water and wade around in the muck just to make sure this lousy, stupid Stunticon didn't get away!" Sunstreaker growled as he grabbed Dead End by one arm and one leg and hoisted him over his head. He slammed the dark red Stunticon down on the levee shore at Sideswipe's feet.

Dead End rolled to one side and tried to get to his feet, only to be slammed onto his knees by one of Sideswipe's pile-driver punches. Metal crunched under the blow; Dead End cried out sharply. His right shoulder wheel hung askew, half-torn off. He groped for his weapon with his left hand--it was gone, dropped when the missile hit him. He was definitely going to die, and quite painfully.

"Sunny, the glitch's forcefields are down!" Sideswipe said, startled.

"Good. Exit one Stunticon," Sunstreaker said, drawing his pulse rifle.

Dead End lunged, tackling Sunstreaker around the waist. Death would claim him very soon, Dead End was sure, but he didn't intend to meet it laying down. He was a Stunticon; he'd go out fighting. It would be more interesting that way.

Sunstreaker smashed an armored fist into Dead End's wounded shoulder; the Stunticon shuddered in pain and loosened his hold--then twisted and grabbed hold of Sunstreaker's rifle with both hands. He yanked it out of the yellow Autobot's grip just as Sideswipe pulverized his back with a series of piledriver blows.

Armored glass shattered and crazed; Dead End's roof collapsed. He screamed in pain, but did not let go of the rifle. Dead End dropped to his knees, and then, unable to balance from damage to his gyros, fell over into the mud at the river's edge.

Far too many red lights blinked in his diagnostic queue. Dead End tried to roll, to raise Sunstreaker's rifle and fire at one of them, but nothing happened--he sprawled chest-down, his head turned to one side so he had a good view of the mud and grass three inches from his optics. Pain screamed at him when he tried to move, act. Sunstreaker's rifle was trapped under his body and probably bent, he noted with a small shred of satisfaction.

A big yellow foot crushed the grass blades in front of Dead End's optics. Dead End tried to focus on it, and the words being spoken. They might be important--not that he could do anything about it. "STASIS LOCK IMMINENT" blazed across his internal display and muttered in his ear.

That annoyed Dead End. He wanted to experience his death, not have it sneak up on him while he was in stasis lock. Not that he wanted to die now anyway--his bath in the river had covered him with even more muck and algae than Sunstreaker now sported and the idea of being found in such a condition infuriated Dead End. It was one thing to be tragically broken and blasted from one's last battle--it was another to look like something dredged out of the river after several weeks of getting waterlogged!

Between Sideswipe's beating and his brief affair with the high-tension wires, almost none of Dead End's motor systems were working. He couldn't transform. His radio was out. His combat radar was out. His emergency beacon... was fried.

Idiot! Dead End thought to himself, Given all the possible ways to die, I knew the chances were it would not be to my liking. And it won't really matter once I'm dead...

...but it matters, to me, now.

A yellow hand reached down and turned Dead End's head so his optics met Sunstreaker's. Ice blue optics looked into dimming violet ones.

"Sideswipe, give me your rifle," Sunstreaker said, and his voice was as cold as space. Sideswipe handed the golden Autobot his photon rifle; Sunstreaker took it and carefully rested the muzzle against Dead End's head--

Dead End thought he heard the snap-snap-snap of an auto-laser, and the ragged snarl of Breakdown's engine, then Sunstreaker's finger tightened on the trig--

STASIS LOCK.

Click.

Sunstreaker stared in horror at the non-functional rifle in his hands as the ragged howl of Breakdown's engine rose over everything.

-- FIN --

Comments

[apprentice-lurk.livejournal.com]

...Ooh.

I love the ending.

I also love the thought of Breakdown hurtling like a Fury just when Dead End blacks out. There are no words for the squee. ^_^