Walk Up In the Club Like

[Deleted]

Characters: Rodimus , @hot Shot
Location: Michigan Backroads
Content Warnings: Overexposure to Rodimus
Plot Summary: Rodimus lands on Earth, trying to figure out what the heck is going on with this interdimensional magic

[Deleted]

One transporter beam after randomly popping up near Earth's orbit (seriously, what the hell?) and Rodimus was zipping down Michigan back roads. Which sucked. Out of all the places to land, it had to be a place infamous for its bad roads. Well...it could've been worse. Could've been the ocean, or a lake. This planet had way too much water. Still....his undercarriage had better be just fine after this.

He'd chosen to go alone because, well, he was the captain, and he knew Earth the best of all the crew. He'd been here before, after all. So had a few of the others. But, they weren't the captain. The ship had picked up some Autobot signatures down here, so, he'd touch base with them, figure out what was going on, and then get back to the quest. Easy, right?

Oh, and an Earth alt mode. He needed one of those. Because humans don't like alien cars, apparently.

But, first things first. He opened his comms, broadcasting over the Autobot frequency.

::Yo, this is Rodimus of Nyon. Anyone read me?::

He blasted along a curve in the road, the afternoon sun glinting off his bright colors. Hopefully, he ran into somebody soon, cause this was already getting boring.

[Hot Shot]

"Boooooooooooooooooooored."

Hot Shot sat around the Autobot base, completely bored out of his processor.  There just wasn't anything fun to do!  Decepticons were laying low, they didn't need to make an Energon run, and there wasn't anywhere that Hot Shot wanted to go see.  He just wasn't in the mood to go driving around a race track or something of the like.

And so he simply just sat there, expressing how bored he was to everyone else.

As he began to tap his digits on the nearest surface, that's when the message had been received.  At first, the littlest Wrecker wasn't sure if it'd be someone exciting or another boring mech, but his mind was completely made up the second he heard the name.

Rodimus.

RODIMUS!!

He wasted absolutely no time at all in responding, except maybe for a split second to squeal in excitement, speaking to the mech he'd looked up to since forever.  :Hey!  This is Hot Shot of... well, I'm reading you!:  Hot Shot practically facepalmed.  He knew darn well he didn't remember where he was from, so why had he done that..?  Now he was gonna get all the crazy questions..

:So, uhh..  Where are you at, Rodimus?  I can meet with you over there or.."

[Deleted]

Well, that response came faster than expected. Huh. It was like someone had actually been monitoring the comms. Someone who didn't have a stick up their aft or one of those boring as hell radio voices. Cool. He wasn't sure who Hot Shot was, but, hey, dude hadn't even asked for ID codes. Rodimus was digging that. He hated waiting around for stuff like that.

::I hear ya, Hot Shot. I think...rural Michigan. Talk about boring, right? I mean, you can meet me out here if you really want. But, if you've got a teleporter or something I could come over to base. So we can you know, avoid humans spotting us.::

Not that he would normally care. He blew past one of the red octagonal signs, fast enough that it rocked in the wind that trailed after him. If he blew cover, though, Magnus was gonna be on his aft and, honestly, he wasn't in the mood. Not with the magic stuff or whatever. He wanted to ask his questions and get back to the quest.

::Oh yeah, before I forget, who's in command on base?::

That was the weird thing. They'd picked up Autobot signals...but last he checked, there weren't any Autobots on Earth. Had the boys back home returned when he was out in space? Comms had been shaky...Knowing who'd led that excursion would tell him a bit about what was going on. And who he had to talk to.

[Hot Shot]

Crap why hadn't he thought about asking if Rodimus wanted to come there?!  It had to be because he was so flustered, but at least he was trying.  This was a mech he'd looked up to for ages now, and to actually get to talk to the guy?  Holy crap..  Oh wait!  Respond!  Responding was a thing he should do.

::Oh!  Yeah.  Yeah I can do that.  Sorry.  I can open the ground bridge for ya.::

...how the heck did he operate the ground bridge?  It couldn't have been that hard, right?  Ratchet always made it look so easy.  He walked over to the controls, taking a hard look at it.  Oh crap he was gonna need exact coordinates to start this thing?  Curse you, oddly specific controls!

::That'd be Optimus Prime.  He's around and doing Prime things.::

Every word that came out of his mouth, he just wanted to smack himself.  It just all sounded so silly, and he couldn't believe he was doing that to Rodimus of all mechs!  Maybe he could try that relaxing thing.  Just take a deep breath or something and then just say what needed to be said.  It wasn't like the guy was right in front of him (yet), so it shouldn't be as hard as he was making it out to be.

::Umm..  You don't by chance have the coordinates to where you are, do you?  Ratchet made this thing so oddly specific that it wants to know the coordinates before it can open the Ground Bridge.::

[Deleted]

Rodimus didn't even really notice Hot Shot's apparent blunder. Guy was young and still moving things right along. Rodimus could live with that. Still, the option presented to him was a bit odd. A ground bridge, huh? Must be a short range teleporter. Like a space bridge but different? Sciency stuff wasn't his forte. If it took him places, he was good.

Hot Shot's reply to his question of command caused him to break, hard. His tires squealed over the pavement as he screeched to a halt. Did he say Optimus Prime? Hadn't Optimus noped out after....holy frag. Did he come back to Earth on some sort of Prime good-doing mission?

::That's why he's the Prime...:: Rodimus replied, a bit distantly.

Optimus. On Earth. This was insane. He definitely hadn't seen that coming. Wow. He was torn between shock and excitement. Shock that the big OP was on Earth and excitement that...the big OP was on Earth.

::Hm? Oh, yeah, sorry 'bout that. Just...wasn't expecting to find Optimus on Earth. Gimme a sec...:: he relayed his coordinates as his wheels slowly began to move . Only to stop again, ::Wait, hold it. Did you say Ratchet? As in grumpy, old doc' bot Ratchet?::

What the hell? He knew Ratchet was aboard the Lost Light. The doc had just been bothering him the previous day about something or another. Rodimus hadn't been paying attention. Now he was on Earth too?

[Hot Shot]

Even Rodimus' confusion upon learning that Optimus was on Earth confused the poor Wrecker.  How would he have been surprised at Optimus being on Earth?  Hadn't the Prime sent out a huge message 'to all Autobots' and such?  Eh.  Maybe the message only went so far in the galaxy.

::Yeah, he's been on Earth for awhile.  Not sure how long, though.  I haven't been here long myself.::

Once he got the coordinates plugged into the Ground Bridge, he was about to power it up when he was hit with another round of questions from the older mech, this time in regards to Ratchet.  ::Plus an all too powerful urge to throw wrenches at everyone?  Yep.  That'd be him alright.::  Seemed Rodimus knew of the grump bot, or had at least heard of him.  To be fair, his stories were rather 'legendary' at best.

::Ok, opening up the Ground Bridge now.  Should be opening.. right in front of you?::

Hot Shot had managed to get the thing operational, and Rodimus would soon see a green, swirling vortex right before him.

[Deleted]

Okay, things were getting legitimately weird.

Rodimus was till frowning when the Ground Bridge opened. He rolled through, relatively quickly, and entered the Omega Base. The alien sports car's shiny finish glinted in the overhead lights as he came to a halt before transforming. He took his time, letting all the gears slide into place as he stood upright. Ratchet and Optimus? Here?

...there was only one explanation.

Ratchet had cloned himself in order to both accompany Optimus and go on the Lost-

...no, that was a stupid explanation. Never mind.

Seeing Hot Shot at the consol, Rodimus put on a smile. He'd get to the bottom of this soon enough. He moved forward, extending a servo.

"Thanks for the pickup. Those country roads are killer on the shock absorbers."

[Hot Shot]

Before Hot Shot knew it, the figure of Rodimus was walking straight into the base via the ground bridge.  It was something that was so surprising to him..

..He honestly had no idea how to react.

Hot Shot just sorta stared at Rodimus, though he didn't mean anything bad by it.  He was trying to make words, and words just would not come to him.  At the sight of the other mech's servo, he shakily grasped it so that they could shake.  Oh Primus this was getting awkward quickly and he knew he was probably not making the best of first impressions.

"Y-You're welcome.  Uh.. Rodimus.. Eheheh.. Um.. I, uh.. Nice to, um.. m-meet you.. I've.. heard so much about you and.. ohprimusicantbelieveyoureactuallyhere!"

And just like that, it got more awkward.

[Deleted]

Rodimus was honestly...concerned. Which was rare. Yeah, he got concerned about others, but, he normally just didn't...really care unless it was really bad. But, dude, Hot Shot was literally shaking and just kinda staring and...

Oh, Primus.

When they shook hands, Hot Shot stammering out a greeting and a spastic exclamation of excited disbelieve, Rodimus put it together.

He had a fan.

With this realization, one thought crossed his processor. A smug: It's about damn time. He'd been going along, being awesome for how long? And everyone seemed intent on stifling it. But, not this guy. Nope. He knew awesome when he saw it.

To the point that it was getting kinda weird.

Still, Rodimus's smile was more genuine as he just...gently retrieved his hand.

"Yeah? Good stuff, I hope," he chuckled in response to the comment about stuff being heard about him, "Nice to meet you too, man."

[Hot Shot]

Phew..  At least Rodimus was taking well to this.  Maybe a bit more than he should, but at least not negatively.

That helped relax Hot Shot a bit, though he was still a little nervous.

"Yeah..  Yeah, all good.  Dunno how much is, um... true or not but.. all good regardless."  Hot Shot let go of Rodimus' servo, chuckling a little bit with a nervous smile.  "You're.. kind of a big deal where I'm from.  Or.. at least where I remember being anyway.  I don't remember where I'm actually from, but uh..  Spent a lot of time with a large group of younglings looking after each other when the war broke out.  The stories we all heard about you?  It.. helped.  Helped lift spirits I mean..  Even if none of those things are true, I.. wanted to thank you for that."

The Wrecker was practically flushed at this point, just rambling in his own mind.

"I.. hope I can get a chance to know the real you better.. that is."

[Deleted]

If there was anything that could sober Rodimus, it was young bots left alone to struggle in the face of adversity. That one hit just a little too close to home. His smile slipped somewhat as memories of Nyon flashed through his processor. He pushed them away, giving a slightly more genuine smile.

He hadn't really done anything. He hadn't even been there. But, he'd managed to keep some guys going. That was pretty awesome.

"Hey, if it helps, you guys can tell whatever stories you want. And I'll try to make a few new ones."

Damn, this kid knew how to hit him right in the spark. He wasn't used to people actually caring about him like this. And liking him right off the bat. It was...almost uncomfortable. Still, he nodded.

"Sure, man. We can hang out sometime. I've gotta figure out what happened to me and my crew in the meantime. We were on a quest and drifted through a wormhole, I think? Brainstorm said something about the possibility of 'interdimensional timey-wimey, wibbly-wobbly stuff', his words, not mine," he rubbed the back of his helm, frowning, "I haven't got a clue, but, one minute we were in the middle of nowhere in space and, the next...we were literally right next to Earth."

[Hot Shot]

Hot Shot's optics widened in surprise at Rodimus' words.  He figured if anything he wouldn't like potentially fake stories about him passed around, even if these ones did shine him in good light, but here he was proven wrong.  He realized that it had helped those Hot Shot had come to know, though it helped the littlest Wrecker most of all to be honest.

"I'd... I'd like that a lot.  Thank you!"

What did confuse him was the tale of wormholes and such.  It all sounded so science fiction to him, but would Rodimus really lie about something like that?  He didn't know who this Brainstorm guy was, but he'd just role with it.  However, at the same time.. it did confirm at least one story he'd heard about the older mech, and that was just how wacky their adventures could be if they were traveling through wormholes and ending up who knew where.

"I dunno either.. but I wanna help you figure it out.  I dunno much about wormholes and 'timey-wimey' stuff, but if there's anything I can do I'll try.  I mean, I sorta owe it to ya, or.. I feel I do anyway.  I hope I'm not making this awkward or anything..  I don't wanna give you the wrong idea."

[Deleted]

Rodimus was honestly a bit off kilter. He hadn't expected to just show up and find a friend. If he listed his real friends, there was Drift....and, ah, yeah. That was about it. Damn, that was depressing. Still, if people couldn't handle him as he was, were they really his friends? Really? He didn't think so.

"Awesome! We can figure it out together! And don't worry about it. It's great to find a new pal!" he paused, bringing a hand to his chin thoughtfully, "So...to start us off, do you guys have any sciency guys around here? They might know."

Primus knew that Perceptor and Brainstorm were probably laying on the floor of the Lost Light, twitching in some kind of nerd overload right now.

[Hot Shot]

Hot Shot let out a sigh of relief as Rodimus reassured him.  It definitely helped knowing that he wasn't making things awkward or creeping the older mech out.  Sometimes die hard fans could do that, and he was honestly trying his hardest not to be that mech.

"It's great too.  Don't have that many, but is there really anything wrong with having just a couple friends?  I mean.. sure I'd like to have a lot, but it gets kinda hard."

He had to blink at the red mech's question.  He wanted to know who all the science bots were?  Wasn't something he'd expected to hear, but maybe it would help in his quest to get back to his own dimension or wherever he was from.  "There's Perceptor for one.  The guy just goes on and on and on about science stuff and you just have to quiet him to give you the abridged version.  Hmm.."  Hot Shot paused to think.  "Ratchet's kinda sciencey.  I mean, he built the whole space bridge with limited resources and stuff.  I think that's everyone, but there could be more.  Seems like a whole bunch of people turn up at once and I sorta lose track."