May 25th, 2003
~Whiplash(D), Onslaught(D)

The Wild Surge - Bar

     Dimly lit and noisy, Dead End's only bar is never lacking in patrons. While the energon isn't of the best quality, many of the chemical additives are unique to the place, and so highly prized by those who can afford them, even outside of the city. For those less affluent, the wall behind the bar still offers old, contaminated energon and various forms of crude-grade fuel as well as the more acceptable low and high grade energon, plus some interesting compounds that are better left to the imagination.


Onslaught [Robot] [D] 
Whiplash [Robot] [D]

Obvious Exits:
 -O- Out leads to Dead End - North Strip

-Moonlight meanders into the bar. And, as one would expect from the femme, she looks around for some friendly faces. She finds Whiplash and Onslaught, which are a couple of good substitutes because neither of them could really be called 'friendly'. But they will do, and so she heads over to them with a grin and a wave.
-Whiplash says, "I'm not so much worried about 'drinking and partying' as about making sure you don't fall over on me for lack of energon. I mean, I *could* drag you back to Darkmount on my own - probably - but how many Autobots could I kill along the way, with that kinda hindrance?" Again, a faint trace of amusement flickers through.
-Onslaught looks at Whiplash for a brief moment as if considering his answer, before in fact responding, "You'd be able to kill many more than if I were active, as I would probably not allow you to slaughter them without a plan...hence, no killing." briefly noting Moonlight's presence, and giving her a quick wave.
-Whiplash's glowing-violet optics narrow at that - and as Moonlight steps over to join them, she does not hesitate to recruit her to the task. "Here, Moonlight, *you* tell him."
-Moonlight slides easily into one of the seats without waiting for an invite. Of course, if they actually object, she can always leave again. She arches a questioning optic ridge towards Whiplash. "Tell him what?"
-Whiplash says, "That he oughtta keep his energon levels up to something approaching functional. Dedication is all well and wonderful, but not if you forget to keep yourself at fighting speed."
-Onslaught sighs and quickly snatches the offered drink, not wanting to hear any more of the prattle about him, as he quickly downs whatever it was that was his apparent energon treat, and still, relaxing all the while.
-Moonlight grins and nods her head in Onslaught's general direction. "She has a point." She winks. "Besides, those of us who sell the stuff really don't like to see people abstaining."
-Whiplash nods a little in approval, and in order to be sociable, pours a tiny amount of the content of the MedusaSaur-label bottle into one of the glasses. She tilts the bottle toward Moonlight. "Want some?"
-Moonlight gives Whiplash a nod. "Sure, why not."
-Whiplash halfway fills one of the other empty glasses sitting at the table, and scoots it over toward Moonlight. She glances at Onslaught, and asks, "How about you? I'll warn you, this stuff is a little more potent. That's why I don't drink much of it at any one time."
-Onslaught shrugs as he regards Whiplash, feeling more and more energized by the moment, "Go for it...I can handle quite a bit I'd say...least I used to be able to...so lay it on me."
-Whiplash smiles faintly and seems pleased enough to share, regardless of how restrained she is about her own consumption. She fills a third glass halfway and nudges it toward Onslaught. "So," she says, "I finally caught up with Starfire. She's been stuck out at the Hellpits this whole time. Kinda like I've been stuck with Dirge's guest."
-Moonlight takes the energon with wise yet not exactly cautious sips and apparently enjoys it. "Just out of mild curiosity, where /do/ you get this stuff 'Lash?"
-Whiplash's optics darken a little and her tentacles increase their pace just slightly, as though the topic isn't entirely pleasant to her. "Solar found a whole case of these things - or some scavenger did, and sold 'em to him. They were underground somewhere, buried for who knows how long. With the label just like that, look!" She tilts the bottle into the light, showing the perfect black silhouette of the MedusaSaur mode on the label. "No one knows where they came from, or why they'd have *that* image on the front." More tentacle-flickering back and forth. "And when this supply's gone, that's the end of 'em. I keep re-filling this bottle, but that won't last forever."
-Moonlight nods and fits her fingertips together. "Interesting story. Who knows, maybe you were the source of inspiration to someone back in your gladiator days. It's pretty good stuff. Maybe I should take a sampling back with me to see if I can reproduce it."
-Whiplash regards Moonlight intently for a long moment. "Hm," she remarks finally. "Maybe that's it. Maybe there's nothing more to it than that." She sounds like she doesn't quite believe that, though. "But - the box they came in was made of wood. How often do you see *wood* on Cybertron? And we know it came from off-planet. That's the only thing the techs were able to figure out for sure."  Whiplash is in fact more protective of the bottle than its contents, and scoots it closer to herself on the table.
-Moonlight doesn't finish her glass, but leaves a small ammount in the bottom. "Mysteries are things that keep life interesting, that's for sure. How long have you had that box?"
-Whiplash makes a shrugging motion with her tentacles, and inches the bottle even closer to her. "I don't have the box. Solar's got it. He tried to find out what he could, but there's just no info. It's been a couple of years now."
-Moonlight nods. "Would you be horribly offended if I tried to reproduce the contents?" she asks.
-Whiplash seems faintly surprised at the question. "Reproduce all you like," she says then, with a faint smile. "Myself, I just want to know who had the blasted bottles made." She shakes her head and then says dismissively, "But, I'll never know. So I shouldn't worry about it, right?"
-Moonlight grins. "Right. You should just enjoy what you've got of it left, and keep the bottles just because they're items of interest."
-Whiplash assures Moonlight, "Oh, I'll keep the bottle."
-Moonlight grins. "I thought you would. They /are/ rather nice bottles. I don't think anyone's going to put /my/ silhouette on a bottle."
-Whiplash says, "Well maybe it's not *me,* maybe it's just ... something that looks like me. My alt mode. We know the crate came from offworld..." she trails off into a frustrated growl, and takes an uncharacteristically large swallow of the concentrated liquid in her glass.
-Moonlight leaves the topic alone for now. Whiplash is /not/ someone that she wants to anger...ever again. "So, how is our guest coming along?"
-Whiplash says, "Our .. guest, yeah ... I got someone else to babysit him for a bit, again. Nothing much new there since I put him through a few paces in the arena. You saw the end of that, I remember."
-Moonlight nods her head. "Yeah, I remember." She makes a face. "Did better than I probably could."
-Whiplash says, "Funny you should say that. He's not a heavy hitter, but he's had some training, or at least some practice. He can evade well enough."
-Moonlight leans back comfortably in her seat. "Any leads on whether he's sincere about us or not?"
-Whiplash says, "Well, if you hear him talk about the Autobots and their lockdown of Crystal City, you'd swear he hated 'em. But Solar thinks he's not what he says he is, and I wonder if a historian needs combat training. I don't know, maybe they do, what would I know? So it's hard to say for sure, until I see him take a shot at some 'Bot in Crystal City."
-Moonlight nods her head. "You gotta admit though, everyone on this planet needs some training with all the fighting going on."
-Whiplash says, "That's just what I told him - *if* he's on the up-and-up, and *if* he's going to hang around with us. He'll have to learn how to defend himself. Can't have one of us run to his rescue every time. And he's got a long way to go until he reaches that point. But he's had *some* experience in the past, I could tell."
-Moonlight looks guilty for a moment. "I still wonder that Solar didn't try to crusify me when I joined up with you guys."
-Whiplash says, "Why would he? I figure he dug through your background pretty thoroughly and saw you were for real."
-Moonlight shrugs. "Well, I'm not exactly the most honest person after all. After one has a few identities floating around, they sort of get a rep for not being very trustworthy."
-Whiplash smirks. "Sounds like you fit right in with Intel. As long as you're honest about your intentions, that's the important part."
-Moonlight makes a face. "I have been, which is the part that most people don't like." She shrugs. "Oh well. I just hope that this fellow /is/ for real. I pity him if he isn't."
-Whiplash says, "You'd like to think so, anyway. You know, the rumor is that I hate all fence-sitters, but that's not entirely true. I don't hate 'em *all*. And I've seen one or two that there was some hope for. I'm not saying this guy's necessarily one of 'em. But it would be nice to run into one, every now and again, that's worth the effort."
-Moonlight nods and grins. "Well, if you did hate /all/ fencesitters, I would have been dead before I could make my case, right?"
-Whiplash seems pleased at that, and smiles, her optics flickering a little brighter. "I suppose," she agrees. "But you've made a pretty good Decepticon." The smile widens into a grin with a glint of sharp fangs.
-Moonlight doesn't seem so certain of that. "Most of the time, I guess."
-Whiplash says, "Now don't go doubting yourself. Last thing you ever want to do in the face of an enemy is show uncertainty. Might as well practice among friends." Her optics flicker conspiratorially, as she finishes the tiny amount of liquid left in her glass, and packs away her MedusaSaur-label bottle in preparation for heading out. "Gotta get back to my assignment," she says a little reluctantly. "I can only push my luck so long."
-Moonlight waves to Whiplash, but shows no sign of getting up again. "Well, have a good cycle then."Whiplash nods. 
-"You know where to find me if you need to." She adds with a faintly annoyed sarcasm, "In Dirge's storage box of a private cubicle, in charming company." She transforms to MedusaSaur mode and makes for the exit.