My My, What Red Eyes You Have} Knockout/OPEN

[Danielle Messick]

Just off the outskirts of Jasper, Nevada
December 15, 2024
11:58 PM

The night air was a bit crisp, and Danielle Messick had underestimated its biding chill. Her skin was taken over by goose bumps, her breath almost visible in the night. Looking about with her deep olive green eyes, a wave of a lighter shade sweeping around her hybrid pupils. Her gaze trailed around her home's trees and the land they called their own upon. Her orange hair, tied back in a short pony tail waved to the side as she looked up to view the clouds above. The sky was currently blanketed with them, but no sign of rain just yet perhaps. She looked back in front of her, her hands being withdrawn from her pockets to cross over her chest in an attempt to try and bring warmth to herself. Her black Converse trekked the ground, gravel and dirt on the side of the road below her feet gave her position away. Her head phones were planted inside her ears, walking peacefully, the music chorus speaking of rainy nights in her ear drums which appeared to want to play along with the beat of the music. Cold Hailey Windy Night was the long name of it, of which she had picked up on her trip to Colorado.

Danny's eyes swept the empty road ahead of her, glad to finally have some time to herself though she wouldn't mind more with her dad. Her voice softly hummed along with the song, entertaining herself by turning in her quieted walk to try and tap along with the song here and there. Ten ten bun, the sound her feet brought to the ground before her. Turning the music up louder so that's all that she could hear as another breeze spited her, trying to ignore the fact she was somewhat chilled. Perhaps, next time, more than just a white t-shirt and jeans. As she moved, her teenage curves worked with her. Glad to have the freedom her speed allowed her on nights like these.

[Knock Out]

Danielle Messick wasn't the only one speeding that night.

Sometimes, the red medic thought in mild annoyance, these human street races would be found by the resident Law Enforcement, and quite obviously they would try to chase down anyone participating. The racers would split to try and confuse the cops, but unfortunately, he'd been the one to get stuck with the noisy Police car chasing him desperately. Now usually, he would've simply been able to round a corner, speed up, and lose the cop in a matter of seconds. But this road was one with very few corners. It would be hard to lose this one.

Hard, but not impossible. He simply had to get to a point where he wouldn't be seen by any witnesses, and deal with the cop as he normally would; in his true form. Had Danny not had her music up so loud, she might have heard the revving engine of Knock Out and the noisy sirens of his pursuer before they suddenly sped passed her. The red medic didn't notice her, though, and was quick to literally burst into his robot form, spin back, and grab the cop car with the startled Policeman inside by its front bumper, swinging it in a 180 degrees circle before letting it fly towards a large rock and smash straight into it.

[Danielle Messick]

She hopped back onto her feet, the song nearing the end but not quite there. She looked down at the scuff marks on her shoes, a story etched and burnt into them here and there. Sometimes it got annoying with how many times she needed to replace them. They often were worn out easily with all of her speedy running if she wasn't carefully.

The only distraction from that was a slight gust created as a flash of red and then a flash of black, white, and lights passed her. She was pushed forward slightly, stopping to watch what appeared to be a police officer chasing after a speeding car, trying to out run law enforcement. She blinked, wondering if she should aid the officer or just watch and make sure that nothing got out of hand. Plucking the ear buds from her ears, she shoved them back in her pocket, hear thought of being weaponless other than the tools upon her belt interrupted as she watched the red car shift with aggressive speeds. Her jaw dropped quickly at that, her eyes widening. Even for her, the sight of the flying car holding the innocent who was there to protect and aid the public crashed into the side of rock with a sickening display of bangs, crunches, and a loud slam. The way it hit, how could the passenger or perhaps passengers, have survived?..

Her death glare lay on Knockout, removing the wrench from her belt, pulling back, and launching it forward in an angered blur like a bullet directly for Knockouts chassis. From there, she turned off the spot, not caring for who just saw that, darting towards the police car crashed. "Is there anyone still alive?! Help is here! Speak up! I'm going to get you out!" Anger filled her that the mech had done so, those red optics, Decepticon. She glanced back, trying to pry upon the door before punching in what glass remained in the window, only to find that the human inside had been demolished. His entire upper body was crushed, the seat wrecked beyond repair as well.

[Knock Out]

Knock Out didn't even have time to react. He had simply turned around, about to drive off and head back to the Nemesis, when all of a sudden a wrench came from seemingly nowhere and hit him right in the chest! It didn't hit him hard enough to send him flying backwards like one thrown from Ratchet would have, but it did make him stagger back in alarm, promptly reaching to pluck it out of his chest. His optics widened in horror at the large dent and scratch that was revealed from underneath it. How dare they! Snarling in irritation, he looked around to find the person who had dared-

Was that a girl? A human girl?! She was the only other person for Primus knew how many miles - aside from the dead Police officer. But how could she have possibly thrown such a tool with enough force to leave a sizeable dent in his tougher-than-most-Earth-metals armor?! Ignoring the question for now, he stalked towards the girl, removing his electric staff from a subspace and activating it, twirling it dangerously as he approached her.

[Danielle Messick]

Though she cared not that her own arm had been cut by the glass of the bent to all hell window, not being that deep with more problems to worry about, she turned from the car look back at Knockout. She hadn't been thinking, the fact that he had just done that, just took the life of someone smaller and defenseless to him, the one who gave his life to serve and protect had been more than enough to awaken her temper. A bit of blood trickled from the scratch that neared her wrist, to the inside of her elbow where it stretched. She cared not for it, stepping back and away for every much larger step the angered Decepticon medic took towards here with that weapon of his. Her fully opened olive eyes watched the menacing electrical currents dance about the staff, quite sure that was used to either fry other Cybertronians or perhaps stun them, painfully. It was built for them nonetheless, so if he hit her with that, what would that do to her?

"BACK OFF FREAK! OR YOU'LL BE THE FIRST NAME I OFFLINE ON MY SHIT LIST!" You could almost imagine that barked or snarled from an angered canine, clenching her teeth which were definitely visible as she pulled her lips back. She stepped back again, though after that, held her ground, in appearance horribly angered. Anger definitely out weighed fear right now, she was RIGHT THERE! SHE COULD OF DONE SOMETHING! She readied herself, feet spread in a manner that would make her hard to lose balance, ready to dart away in a flash. Her eyes were in a full on glare, a stink eye painted in the portrait that was her face. Both hands were waiting, at the ready on either side of her belt as if this was a gun draw fight. She didn't have much, did she have enough to cause him enough pain to get lost? She'd think to wire a bomb into this guy, but only if he could be brought down by his own staff. unfortunately, that didn't seem likely.

[Knock Out]

Knock Out's menacing advancements stopped as his optics narrowed slightly in more of a confused and suspicious way than an angry one. There were far too many familiar traits about this girl; the wrench throwing, the snappy nature, that stink eye... No, that was impossible. She couldn't be. Out of habit he swept a scan over her, only to discover that his suspicions had been right. This little girl... was the Techno Organic daughter of Ratchet himself.

An amused laugh escaped his vocal processor, though it wasn't a laugh that one would associate with a good sparked motive. "I like you, femme. You're tougher than you look." He chuckled, though his expression darkened again as he moved his staff to point it at her whilst using his free hand to point at the dent in his chest. "But you have made a very. Big. Mistake. So I'm going to give you a head start. Roughly, ooh, three human seconds. Run back to your Medic friend, girl." He then leaned closer, his trademark smirk plastered on his face. "Or should I say... run back to Daddy?"

[Danielle Messick]

The red head didn't like the way he suddenly stopped to look at her. She drew a saw blade, gnarled looking with its ragged edges, from the side of her belt with her right hand. The way things were going, well, besides the fact of how they just started of course, this was going to be trouble. Could she get him to electrocute himself? Or perhaps run him off a cliff? Could the coyote catch the road runner?

Her olive eyes, sharp, watched his movement and motions. He was ticked about being attacked with the wrench? What did he expect, would he rather the screw driver? She had better aim with the wrench, besides, it hadn't harmed him that much. Her expression hardened a bit, wanting to to him to suck it up but knowing right now that might not help herself. Her eyes were mainly on the weapon he held. That was obviously made for big Bots, that thing could fry her to death, or perhaps just near it. If she lived, what would he do with her then?

For when he brought up the medic, her expression had softened enough as if she was questioning, when he brought up that he knew of her father so soon, so easily, she tried to keep her expression straight as her Spark gave a jump. Her left eye might of given a twitch at the most, as if holding back from widening at that. She wanted to argue, but she was going to take that three seconds! She had wasted two, wanting to cover it up with her words, before realizing that he was definitely going to fry her. She darted off the spot in a blur, one second might be all she needed to avoid the death blow. She darted right under him, lashing out with the saw blade to try and tear it through the inside of his left ankle. Targeting a certain connective joint, trying to at least strengthen her chances here. She knew the only where to go was to further herself away from help, or she would put all in danger.

[Knock Out]

The immense speed had been unexpected, but Knock Out had out of instinct moved his leg slightly so that only the exterior was scratched up and generally shredded, which only made him more angry. More work to be done when he got back to the Nemesis! With or without this girl! Still, there was nothing he liked more than the thrill of the chase. Apart from his paint job, obviously. Watching her go for the last human second that remained, he leaped forward, transforming and racing after her.

It was an interesting ability that this Techno Organic had; super speed, apparently. It was the kind of competition that he was designed for, and it made up for the street race earlier that had been cut short by the Law Enforcement. Even as a Cybertronian vehicle, which were far faster than the human ones, he considered himself one of the fastest, and it would excite him to see if he could catch up with this speedy young femme.

He still had to consider what he'd do with her if he caught her, though...

[Danielle Messick]

Her Converse touched the ground almost as fast as they lifted off of it. She leaped over a rock in the way on the side of the road, glancing back soon after the sound of a vehicular form hitting the road and tearing after its prey. She forced herself not to look back after that, her question being answered. If she hadn't of been so angry earlier, she'd be smiling right now about how she tended to out run everyone! Her upper body leaned forward to give herself more speed, she'd lead this guy to- she turned to look again, only to see how fast he had gained and the fact he had pretty much caught up. She picked up speed out of fear of being full on hit and run down, her blur tearing over the aged path of asphalt. It JUST so happened that he was built for such speeds as well?! It JUST SO HAPPENED?! From the view she got, his form looked like that of a hot rodder. Now, new question, how would she last? She ran as fast as she could at this point, though after, she could still hear him not too far behind. She couldn't run forever, and she was quite sure he could out drive her any day. Her red pony tail ripped in the wind behind her like a strained flag, her bangs somewhat in her frightened eyes as she glanced back again.

[Knock Out]

A dark chuckle sounded from Knock Out as he too sped up, getting closer and closer with each second that passed. He could simply just shoot her, but he didn't particularly want to damage her or anything. Even if he didn't actually need her alive, he did need her in one piece. He did slow down just a little bit, wanting to know how long it would take before she became too tired to run. That would certainly make things a whole lot easier when it came down to grabbing her and heading back to the Nemesis. It was either getting her too tired to do anything, or knocking her out. He wasn't that picky; either tended to work when it came down to him snatching a new test subject. Megatron might just be pleased with this, he considered.

[Danielle Messick]

Any second now, any moment.. She ran as fast as she possibly could, furthering in distance a bit before starting to the right into the large pine needle trees on the side of the road. She nearly hit one on the way in, weaving around and in between others. She darted further in, spotting the same road up ahead and deciding to avoid it. Finally, she stopped somewhere in the forest terrain. Looking about for Knockout, the questioned how difficult it might prove for him to get through the mediocre size of forest on the road side. She could keep going, there was more, but no matter what she'd meet the road that wove around it eventually. Perhaps she should have gone left..

Reaching for the communicator on her belt, she lifted it and changed the source to Open Communications. ="How is this going to end Decepticon? There's more to me you don't know, you might get hurt."=

[Knock Out]

Knock Out transformed and paused just outside of the pine tree forest, his optics trying to see whether or not she had gone far before he set off into a walk. Hey, he'd played plenty of hide and seek games before; they only delayed the inevitable. He kept his staff away for now - it was likely to end up hitting a tree, and they weren't exactly the most conducting of things. His expression softened into an intrigued yet amused look as he received the open comm. Apparently there was indeed more to this girl than he realized. Then again, she was Ratchet's daughter.

="Well now, let's put it this way."= He purred in response. ="If you run, you'll only die tired."=

[Danielle Messick]

Her eyes narrowed, an almost electrical looking glare of light passed over them as she scanned the area. She brought the communicator back to her lips, speaking quietly so not to give away her position as her ears caught wind of what direction he might be coming from. ="You're picking a game with the wrong teen. You're very unfortunate that I don't have weapons on me, which means I need to make one."= She placed the saw blade she had back with the others on her belt. Tapping a button in the center, it folded to look like a curved triangle sort of blade. With that stashed, she called upon another number within a secure commlink, Perceptor's. <"Are you awake? I know we just met, but I'm in a bit of trouble. Don't conjure any ground bridges near my coordinates, I'm against a large red Decepticon right now. He looks like a hot rodder, electrical staff for a weapon, pretty boy, you know him? He knows I'm Ratchet's daughter, so I can't ask my dad or jar head over here might do something hasty. Is there any advice you can offer? Anything you might know about him? I'll try to find out more. Dad's going to be ticked if I come back on crutches again, if I come back. This guy is pretty fast.">

She kept it open for now, stashing it back on her belt as she darted off to the side. A few leaves ruffled under her feet before she silently leaped over a mossy log, looking back towards the road ahead. Crouching beneath a heavily overgrown area, brush and thick ferns scattered amongst more trees and moss, she watched the red arm come into view. She brought the comm back up, keeping it open so he might catch it. Perhaps if Perceptor had questions to figure out who he is, she could answer them. ="So pretty boy, what's your line of work? Or are you just some battle pawn?"=

[Perceptor]

It was another late night in the lab, as he was, again, working on strong signal projections that could not easily be blocked. This was another test trial. These things had to be done pretty late at night, because the signal could be disruptive to more sensitive audio receptors. That's also why he had his audio receptors shut down. And so, when he did hear something, it did indeed startle him more so than it normally would have. His little lab security system didn't help against comm messages. However, the content of the communication startled him ever more.

This was a mech that he had heard of before. He did not know much of him, but he knew that he did bad science. He did try to keep track of the others who claimed to be scientist, partially out of the old habit of watching for competitions and discoveries by colleagues. Unfortunately, scientific advancement had pretty much come to a halt recently. He did not know the mech's name, but the general description - and the staff - seemed familiar.

<"I am conscious, and I can provide a fundamental magnitude of assistance. Antecedent to your procuring injury, it is a necessity that you discover a means of grounding his rod. Also take heed that this mech will not only eradicate, but he will implement much in torment and experimentation first. You are, as you are undoubtedly conscious of, a very unique entity, in various ways. If by some peradventure you can acquisition the aforementioned rod, it would be eminently obliged to such accommodation, but don't stress yourself over it. More data supplied would be appreciated, but focus on the situation.">

He spoke very swiftly, but getting to the point wasn't exactly a specialty of his. As it was, he put the experiment away for now. He did need some rest, and Danielle would, as well, when this ended.

[/blockquote]

[Knock Out]

="Gathering intel on the enemy already, are we?"= Knock Out teased his target lightly, scanning the area thoroughly for any sign of the Techno Organic. Should he tell her just what he was, and by extension what he had planned for her? Eh, no, that would ruin the game. ="That is for me to know and you to find out."= He replied simply, not knowing that Danny now had sight of his arm as he walked slowly through the stretch of forests, eyeing everything that looked like a decent hiding place for someone so small.

His optics then caught the heavily overgrown area. Curious as ever, the red medic scanned it, and got some interesting readings back. A small smirk formed on his faceplate as he purposely, yet still slowly, walked towards the brush and thick ferns. If Danny made a run for it, she might evade him for a bit longer. If she didn't, she was as good as dead. Well, almost.