"While you two check news sources, I'll go ahead and scout the area," Rastun responds. His Astafanel then takes to the skies and flies overhead, looking for any disturbances. So far, everything looks typical for a city with this size and population. The most notable thing Rastun has spotted so far is a rather out of place gummy bear vending machine. He continues his recon, hoping to find something of substance.

Brainwave quickly filtered through the local television feed.

"Well this is pointless, the humans have over two thousand channels and not one of them has anything useful. What a ridiculous species."

"If there are as many other Cybertronian's in this city as you're implying isn't standing here in the open a rather bad idea?"

"Huh? Oh, why would it? Exactly how many of them could possible recognize you except Sideways?" Right as he finished saying that a Lamborghini Diablo labeled as a fire chief's vehicle that had just passed the end of the street they were on slowly backed up as if taking another look before turning down the road to approach them. "Well that seems a bit out of place... And look, Cybertronian. I should really stop talking."

"That car... It can't be..." The vehicle seemed oddly familiar to Megatron and brought forth nothing but ill feelings.

The car pulled up to the duo and transformed. "MY QUEEN, that is you!"

Megatron stood there in abstract horror slowly shaking his head back and forth. "NO, not you!"

Brainwave paid no mind to Megatron's reaction and scanned the new individual. "Interesting, he is from a universal stream that is an offshoot of yours but you both fought in the Universe War. This could be useful for getting through traffic without running over everyone in sight. Wait, aren't you the Inferno with no offensive weapons?"

Inferno, being who he is, quickly responded exactly as you'd expect. "You dare insult the colony? BURN!" Spraying Brainwave with his arm mounted foam dispenser. Brainwave simply glared at the former ant bot while Megatron laughed at the show.

Rastun looks at the display below and is mildly amused. He'd never think this Megatron, or any Megatron for that matter, would be called a queen of all things. Perhaps there is some gender issue he's missing? Well, he can make commentary on that later. As for the new Cybertronian below, he doesn't seem to be armed with weapons of any sort. The fire extinguisher is probably the best he has. Hopefully those two can make some use of him. He continues flying overhead and would alert them once he spots any sign of disturbance.

After cleaning himself off Brainwave crosses his arms and continued to stare at the new Predacon.

"Stop looking at me like that! I didn't know you were a servant of the queen."

"I'm not!" The Transtech indignantly replied. "And stop calling me that! How many times do you have to be told that?" Megatron quickly added.

Brainwave weighed his options, dig through the police database and hope it has something of use for finding Sideways or... ask the ant.

"So this is probably really really dumb of me but I want to ask you something. Do you know if there have been reports of an unknown motorcycle causing problems?"

"Yes! The humans do a terrible job at coding their communications. They seem far too happy to take me for a ride."

"Well good news then, yes! Lead the way Inferno. And between you and me you may want to work on the way you word things. That could be horribly misinterpreted."

"At once my qu..." Quickly stopping Megatron's displeasure he wisely chose another word. "Royalty."

Leaning over to Brainwave Megatron whispered a question. "You can reprogram him right?"

Ignoring Megatron the Transtech simply transformed and followed the stupid, crazy ant. This totally wasn't going to turn into another mess.

"Useless pompous jackass."

Judging from a few of the interactions that took place below, Rastun has a vague feeling that Brainwave is getting annoyed by everything going on at the moment. He can't blame him, but Rastun felt the same way soon after he first met Brainwave and Megatron, the latter of whom going by the alias of Joe Convoy. Clearly, this is something that needs to be commented on.

"Brainwave, as much as I hate to use the cliched 'welcome to my world' line, I feel it's rather appropriate now," he says, then adds, "I hope you enjoy your stay, because you likely won't be leaving it for a long time."

The group followed Inferno to the area with the highest frequency of assumed Sideways encounters. A decisions immediately regretted as it gave off a lawless vibe that made the disturbed Predacon's presence unwanted. The sheer volume of tread marks on the road indicated it was a routine street race location.

"Well makes sense he'd hang around a place like this. Just the sort of people he'd like." Unfortunately, despite these people likely being wanton criminals, using them as bait wouldn't be prudent. No need to do something outlandish and draw even more attention to them. "While we can be certain he will show up here again I'd prefer to not have to confront him in a mass of humans if it can be helped. This place should only be a back up plan."

"You moralfags make this far more complicated than it needs to be." Fumed Megatron. "Obviously a trouble maker like Sideways would be doing something to entertain himself between races, yes. You should check the highway with the heaviest traffic Rastun. It's the best place to cause pointless drama."

Without commentary, Rastun flies towards the bustling highway. Vehicles of all sorts are congregated there, including a few motorcycles. Unfortunately, the one they are all looking for is not present among them. Watching traffic isn't exactly the most eventful part of a mission, but it is a welcome reprieve from the nonsensical happenings of Carbombya. At least he doesn't have to worry about sentient buildings here. Hopefully, at least.

Boringverse



On May 21st, Cosmic Era 70 an Alien Spacecraft went into orbit over Earth.

Ignoring all attempts to communicate it released several clouds of spores into the upper layers of the atmosphere over the ORB union.

The spores multiplied rapidly and blocked out the sun, after seven days the spores began to rain down wiping out most of the macro-scale life in the country.

In the aftermath of the attack ORB has been reduced to a Mutant overrun wasteland with an enigmatic Biomass slowly consuming the former nation.

Shanghai

Unknown to his new pursuers Sideways had been tailing this "Lance" idiot as he set up a new branch to his drug ring in Shanghai. He had decided kicking the moron into the gummy bears wasn't humiliating enough and wanted to really piss him off before he was done. Lance, being the special person that he is, wasted no time pissing off the local mafia with his... original attitude. In short this entire situation was a goldmine for entertainment. Having scoped out the seaport warehouse Lance was storing his "product" in Sideways teleported in to destroy it wondering how long it would take the 2 groups to figure out someone was messing with them both. Opening fire he leveled the building then transformed and rode off making sure as many people as possible saw him as he stormed out of the port.

"And now the fun begins."

Deathsaurer said
Unknown to his new pursuers Sideways had been tailing this "Lance" idiot as he set up a new branch to his drug ring in Shanghai. He had decided kicking the moron into the gummy bears wasn't humiliating enough and wanted to really piss him off before he was done. Lance, being the special person that he is, wasted no time pissing off the local mafia with his... original attitude. In short this entire situation was a goldmine for entertainment. Having scoped out the seaport warehouse Lance was storing his "product" in Sideways teleported in to destroy it wondering how long it would take the 2 groups to figure out someone was messing with them both. Opening fire he leveled the building then transformed and rode off making sure as many people as possible saw him as he stormed out of the port."And now the fun begins."

One of the storage facilities Lance had setup around Shanghai, the seaport warehouse, having been ganked sent him into a rage, "Who would dare take a stand against me? 80% of the drug trade and trafficking in this city already belongs to me!! What fool would try and declare war now?" he said rubbing his chin. "Hmm, perhaps it was some young upstart?! No one else would try and fuck with me at this juncture. Except Zhou Kang. Why didnt I see this before, only he would even have the muscle to put a dent in my operation. Maybe I should send him a message" Lance said to himself smirking.

"Boss, who are you talking to?" muttered one of his new subjugated thugs. The others quickly moved out of the way." Guys what wron-" before the goon could finish his sentence he turned to see Lances eyes glowing red with rage. Before he uttered another sound he was a stain on the wall. The only thing left of him were his shins, the tops of which were smoldering.

"Do I have to repeat myself?" The goons all shouted "no sir!" in unison, They scattered in preparation for an attack on the rival drug lord

Sideways went on the prowl to find new targets for his seemingly endless spree of trolling.

His sensors picked up the location of a police raid on a group of Local drug dealing ring affiliated with the international criminal organization called the Headhunters.

“Perfect” he said aloud as he began speeding to the shootout.

The officers were pinned down by Headhunter Stormtroopers and local drug traffickers.
The Stormtroopers were being led by a ranking headhunter called Gristle.
The Police Squads were too ill equipped to deal with the Headhunters equipment and it seemed like the raid would end up being botched.

“I’m on your side!” Rang a unseen voice
A purple motorcycle came crashing through the window and stopped in front of the dealers.

Before the Headhunters or their allies could even register the abnormality of the motorcycles lack of a rider they were hit with a sonic pulse that left them on their knees.

<What the hell? Who are you?>

<Hi I'm sideways and I'll be your Autobot savior for today.>

<Oh you're an Autobot, well thanks for the help we’ll just take these bastards away. After the Spark outbreak and that mysterious black Kool Aid man Shanghai’s been in severe need of a someone like you.>

<Oh well I have a feeling I know that kool aid man you're talking about, want some help finding him officer? Don't worry I have just the things to help you out in case he meets with more powerful friends... >

It had been several days with no success. No street races to ambush Sideways at, no high way pile ups triggered by a mysterious motorcycle. No nothing Sideways could be reasonable attached to. In fact the only thing out of the norm was a sudden uptick in drug related gang violence but that just seemed absurd to pin on any Cybertronian.

"I give up, this bastard is good at keeping a low profile when he wants to. At this point I expect we'll have to wait for him to notice us." The Transtech sounding almost defeated.

"You know I've said this before but you're too over reliant on technology and sometimes simpler solutions are available. If he has to notice us why not call him? He knows me so I can probably get him to come see what I want."

Brainwave considered it for a moment. "Nah that's too dumb. Stupid plans like that can't possibly work."

"Oh please your super evolved race was fooled by Joe Convoy."

On one hand, Rastun also thought that was a rather dumb idea. What kind of wanted target just exposes himself to someone else because of a call? He doubts Megatron and Sideways are the best of friends anyhow. On the other, it's not like they're having much luck here. There's no trail to be found and while Rastun would suggest investigating hotspots for major crimes such as gang warfare, it's likely that there are too many of those to reliably investigate and would be overall too time-consuming. Megatron's simplistic and unlikely to work idea is, unfortunately, the only thing they can turn to.

"Alright, 'Joe', just go contact him in whatever way you can. I'm sure we don't have much to lose from trying this plan." Even when saying this, Rastun still prepares himself for the worst. These two aren't exactly magnets for good fortune.

"Ye of little faith. Just stand back and watch the master work."

Megatron took a minute to prepare himself for his performance. After clearing his throat he turned to Brainwave to ask a question. "This is going to be a frequency only Sideways is likely to pick up right? We don't need twenty eavesdroppers after all."

"Yes..."

"Excellent." Activating his com Megatron sent his message. "Attention Sideways this is, ahem, Joe. I've recently arrived in this city and noticed you're hanging around causing mayhem like you do. I thought hey, why not, let's hook up and takeover this planet for old times sake."

And the wait began.

Sidways picked up a frequency specifically tailored for him.

"Yello?"

"Attention Sideways this is, ahem, Joe. I've recently arrived in this city and noticed you're hanging around causing mayhem like you do. I thought hey, why not, let's hook up and takeover this planet for old times sake."

"Ohhhh Joe Convoy what brings you here dude? Sure you can join in. Meet me at these coordinates"

Sideways transmitted the coordinates to Joe.

Guy of Z said
"He's drawing weapons!" On Hizak pilot shouted"All forces open fire!" The squad leader shoutedThe fleet of Hizak's and Asshimar's gathered from the earlier fight pelleted the Nox with beams.

"Damn it! Why Nox doesn't move?" Kainé voiced his frustration. After putting up a cool pose Nox suddenly froze in place, not responding to the commands.
"We suffered too much damage in the dimensional rift. Nox has entered automatic recovery mode!"
"What the hell Nox? Can't you see the enemy right in front of us!? Ignis, can't you do something?"
"I'm already trying! Overriding the Magius Mechanicus' control takes time. ETA 50 seconds."
"Great! What to do till then? Ask them for a nice chat? Oh wait! We've burned out our comms completely!" Kainé told sarcastically.
"Kainé, I sense multiple energy signatures. They're beam weapons! Over fifty sources and still counting!" Ignis warned him in a hurry.
"Shit! Just as I thought! Brace for impact!"
Hundreds of machineguns and beam rifles fired at almost the exact same time, aimed on one target. Their combined firepower was so overwhelming it bathed the newly formed crater in explosions.
This kind of brutal concentration of firepower was unprecedented in the Earth Federation's history.
the fies and thick cover of smoke hindered visual confirmation but it was certain, no machinery could survive this.
Yet...
"Superficial damage. Change in armor integrity is below 1 percent. Recovery Mode emergency override is complete in 20 seconds." Ignis reported coldly. Indeed, no machine on Earth could survive this. Except Nox wasn't from this world. It was a relic from an unknown civilization capable of traversing the multiverse. Even if Nox is just barely functioning this barrage was nothing.
"Wow, did you use another emergency barrier or something? I totally expected us to be in pieces."
"I can't. Nox's functions are locked during Recovery Mode. All hits directly impacted with our armor."
"You're kidding, right?" Still incredulous, Kainé needed a double take.
"M-particle Coating increased our armor strength drastically. The exact limits are unknown but even as we are a barrage for such antiquated weapons is no problem. Override completes in 5.4.3.2.1. Override of automatic self-recovery mechanisms is complete. Due to safety reasons output and physical capacity is limited to 0.1%. Be careful!"
"Great, that's far more than I need!"With only a portion of the Magius Mechanicus' functions unlocked Nox attained awesome power! Just a while ago a few of those beam rifle shots would've been enough to destroy the machine. But as they were now, even 0.1% of Nox's output was a frightening thought to behold!
With a single massive leap Nox passed kilometers of distance in an isntant, landing on two Asshimar type Mobile Armors as his footing.
The piked heel of Nox already edged into the machines, preventing them to get away. Several shells and beam rifle shots hit Nox's armor without even the slightest effect.
"Like I thought, these things are pretty convenient." Kainé said, referring to the two Asshimars he improvised for his flying platforms.
"Hey assholes! Do you hear me? If any one of you fear your lives I want you to leave! I count back from 10. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seve-..."
"Kainé, they can't hear you!"
"Oh, right. The speakers. Then I make sure they understand this by force. One!!"
With that Kainé set his Magnums to semi-automatic mode, power rating 1000. Each shot had enough power to annihilate an entire mech.
Kainé didn't want to kill every soldier. They were obviously just in a bad time and in a bad place. If they value their lives, they flee as soon as possible.
But Kainé also had no intention to show mercy to anyone who's in his way!

Shanghai

Brainwave stood there flabbergasted that Sideways not only answered but didn't bother asking why Megatron was there while instantly recognizing the alias and not inquiring about it either.

"Alright I'm just going to say what we're all thinking. Something isn't right here."

"Nonsense." Inferno interrupted. "The royalties plans are always without flaw."

Everyone stared at the very confused robot for a moment. "Okay, I'll amend that to anyone with a working brain."

Willy Vereb said
"" Kainé voiced his frustration. After putting up a cool pose Nox suddenly froze in place, not responding to the commands."!""""""!" Kainé told sarcastically."" Ignis warned him in a hurry.""Hundreds of machineguns and beam rifles fired at almost the exact same time, aimed on one target. Their combined firepower was so overwhelming it bathed the newly formed crater in explosions.This kind of brutal concentration of firepower was unprecedented in the Earth Federation's history.the fies and thick cover of smoke hindered visual confirmation but it was certain, no machinery could survive this.Yet..."" Ignis reported coldly. Indeed, no machine on Earth could survive this. Except Nox wasn't from this world. It was a relic from an unknown civilization capable of traversing the multiverse. Even if Nox is just barely functioning this barrage was nothing."""""" Still incredulous, Kainé needed a double take."" "!"With only a portion of the Magius Mechanicus' functions unlocked Nox attained awesome power! Just a while ago a few of those beam rifle shots would've been enough to destroy the machine. But as they were now, even 0.1% of Nox's output was a frightening thought to behold!With a single massive leap Nox passed kilometers of distance in an isntant, landing on two Asshimar type Mobile Armors as his footing.The piked heel of Nox already edged into the machines, preventing them to get away. Several shells and beam rifle shots hit Nox's armor without even the slightest effect."" Kainé said, referring to the two Asshimars he improvised for his flying platforms."""!""!"With that Kainé set his Magnums to semi-automatic mode, power rating 1000. Each shot had enough power to annihilate an entire mech.Kainé didn't want to kill every soldier. They were obviously just in a bad time and in a bad place. If they value their lives, they flee as soon as possible.But Kainé also had no intention to show mercy to anyone who's in his way!

In Jamacan’s Ship Art sat in the medbay being examined for any injuries as the battle raged outside.
Art was greatly displeased with the situation he was stuck in to say the least.
He was once again being dragged into a fight he had no chance of winning.
He observed the battle on the screen and what little hope he had was drained from him.

This must be how Sheep to the slaughter feel, holy shit I need to get the fuck out of here.

Unfortunately neither of his wingmen would allow Art to give them the slip, Jamaican received news of Arts previous act of perceived cowardice.

“You guys aren't fucking serious about fighting that thing right?”

“It is another Alien invader what choice do we have?” Ein replied

“Ummmm you can choose to not be pants shitting insane and just evacuate this place?”

“We are the Titans, we won’t be intimidated by Extraterrestrial Threats!”

“Look you hate me I get that but both of us getting killed makes no sense.”

“The only one likely to die here is you fool, either deploy with us-“

Ein suddenly drew a pistol.

“-Or be executed on the spot by Jamaican’s orders.”

“Fuck.”

Later Art was escorted in handcuffs to the Hanger.

“We are also forcing the suspected alien abductee to cooperate with us for this mission.”

“First you idiots don’t trust him now he’s your weapon make up your minds you fucking ninny’s!”

“He is a means to an end, ours sensors detect both units run off of a similar energy source.”

“What you aren't confident in that what what’s it called….the Fafnir System?”
“It is incomplete and experiential, but I will be able to show its power soon…”

“Yeah whatever...just get me out of these handcuffs already jackass.”

“Guard if you please.”

A guard walked up to Art and unshackled him; before he could even react Art punched him into Ein.

To Arts disappointment Ein quickly dodged and the unfortunate guard fell limp to the ground.
Across from him Sho was being unshackled by a more fortunate Titan.

Both pilots took to their respective mechs and took off towards Nox tailed by Ein and Serein with their own Mobile Units.

Great now I’m being railroaded into doing shit just like that kid. I'm not going to die here because Jamaican decided to fuck with me today, fuck that.

"Damn, can't these guys ever give up? Look, I'm holding back! Bail till I run out of patience!" Kainé shouted to no one since his comm systems were still down. He thought about alternatives like using his Magnum to draw letters but the idea was too stupid to consider.
"*sigh* How are we holding, Ignis?"
"We've received over 10,000 physical shells and 1,000 beam hits. Structural integrity is at 27.6988%, change since the the engagement is still below 1%. At this rate we can hold out much longer than them."
"You know that's not the point. It's just annoying. Besides, we were through quite a lot in the inter-dimensional space. How are Nox's most damaged parts?"
"M-Particle coating's effectiveness is severely reduced around the damaged parts. But unless the enemy brings forth something more powerful than their antique beam rifles it shouldn't be a liability to us."
"Antique, huh? Ignis, where are we anyways? Did you manage to find out something?"
"We're in a dimension outside of the Slam's reach. Also I accessed the databanks of the two Asshimar type Mobile Armors we're standing on. They're the Earth Federation pilots under the Titans' control. The current year is UC0085."
"Titans? Are you saying those bastards still exist?"
"Kainé, this IS an alternate universe."
"Yeah, I start to get it. But man, what a mood killer. I can at least honor people who wish to protect their country? But the Titans? That's a different case. I bet the higher ups are just sitting in their comfy armchairs while ordering the grunts to die."
"Indeed, this is just a senseless slaughter. It'd be better if we can end this quickly."
"That's it, Ignis! Our enemy are the leaders not these unfortunate soldiers. I have an idea but I'll need your cooperation."
With that Nox stopped firing and holstered its twin Magnums.
"Kainé, what are you doing?"
"Ignis listen! I need you to find me the ones leading these soldiers. A command HQ or anything!"
"I can do that but remember Kainé that our comms are dead. I can only use the old search magic technique enhanced by Nox's reactor. It has the range of 10 kilometers but I'd need to be even closer to spot their command base. Estimated to be less than a thousand meters."
"That can be done!"
Kainé exclaimed and jumped off his twin flying platforms. Nox's leg motors revitalized themselves as the giant began to run, ignoring enemy fire and intent to circle through the entire city if they need to!

Shanghai

Megatron paced back and forth formulating a plan on how to deal with the current situation.

"Okay, we all agree this is a trap. We can either ignore him and fumble around blindly or we can spring the trap. Doing so will at the very least give us an idea of what he is up to and if we're lucky we might be able to provoke him into attacking us."

Sighing heavily Brainwave responded. "Have we really reached the point we're willingly going to walk into a trap?"

"Well not exactly." Megatron countered. "I should go alone. If he meets me in person I may even be able to convince him I only worked with you long enough to take down Tarantulas and stabbed you in the back first chance I got after he ran."

"Brilliant as always Royalty."

"Please take the idiot with you. I might have to kill him if you don't."