Transformers2005 - Saturday, January 17, 1998, 1:55 AM
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Groove slows his winking and eventually stops all together. "Ahh, much 
better! You do good work."
Whiz holsters her tools and grins. "Thank you for the compliment, person 
I have never seen before and will probably never see again."
Groove gives Whiz a nod. "Have a good existance, I'm going to the bar to 
have a drink."
Rodimus Prime waves the nearest attendant over and murmurs something to 
her, gesturing across at Whiz.
Groove walks away, suddenly developing a limp in order to disguise 
himself more. He continues it all the way to the bar and sits at one of 
the comfortable stools.
Maverick tosses a quick glance at the retreating Groove, then puts a 
little more distance between him and Whiz, moving over to talk to a few 
half-drunk bar patrons...
Whiz rubs the back of her neck and gazes around in confusion, her optics 
crinkling as she tries to remember why she came in here in the first 
place.
The silver femme-bot nods briskly and heads back to the bar, 
disappearing into the back for several moments. After a while, she 
returns with a drink and delivers it to Whiz, with a knowing wink. "Guy 
with the flames over there says it's on him, and he'd like to talk."
A green scaled bar-tender greets Groove with a nod, "What'll it be 
sssssir?"
Whiz erms and blinks at the waitress, then grins and says unnecessarily 
loudly, "Oh, you mean the one with the tacky paintjob?"
Rodimus Prime rolls his optics and thunks his head back against the edge 
of the pool with a sigh.
The waitress glances over at him, grins and whispers conspiringly to 
Whiz, "I'd go for it." Then disappears into the crowd again.
Groove thinks for a moment before answering a smile flashing and 
disappearing before the scowl returns, "Gimmie my usual!"
Whiz stares after the waitress for a long moment, then shrugs and 
meanders over to poolside. With a grin, she asks, "Am I not supposed to 
know who you are, either?"
Maverick quietly waves one of the bartenders over as he chats quietly to 
an avian-shaped robot. He hands the bartender a few credits and orders a 
Drunk Special for his soon-to-be-loose-lipped 'friend'..the cheap stuff 
that tends to make people drunk and talkative a lot faster...
Rodimus Prime shrugs, keeping his tone low. "You tell me. What's up with 
those jokers?"
The bartender returns a confused look, "I've never ssseen you here 
before in my life!"
Groove nods, and slides a few credits toward the bartender. "Yes you 
have."
Whiz eyes the oilbath and pokes a finger in suspiciously. Finding the 
temperature fine and the contaminant content low, she slips in and 
shrugs a little. She mutters to Rodimus Prime, "Don't... I... then, 
they've... I... Groove's... be a... Maverick is... toward clueless. 
They... told... thing." 
You sense Whiz eyes the oilbath and pokes a finger in suspiciously. 
Finding the temperature fine and the contaminant content low, she slips 
in and shrugs a little. "Don't ask me. I ran into them in the street, 
and since then, they've been pretending they don't know who I am. I 
think Groove's trying to be a tough guy and Maverick is leaning toward 
clueless. They haven't told me a thing."
The avianbot quickly downs the drink, muttering his thanks, then 
proceeds to immediately fall, unconscious, off the barstool....
Maverick frowns slightly at this, and mumbles to himself, "Probably 
didn't know anything useful, anyway..."
The bartender shakes his head and takes the credits, "Whatever buddy..."
Rodimus Prime chuckles, stretching under the surface of the liquid. He 
mutters to Whiz, "... haven't seen anyone... then?" 
Whiz senses "Rodimus Prime chuckles, stretching under the surface of the 
liquid. "You haven't seen anyone else around, then?""
Returning with a red concoction, the bartender places it in front of 
Groove. He flashes a smile and winks at the bartender before taking the 
drink.
Whiz tilts her head for a second, then shakes her head as if dismissing 
some odd notion. "Uhm, no. But I don't know how they got here, either."
Maverick sighs, and decides that this isn't exactly the best plan for 
him...
Rodimus Prime hmms. "I guess keying in a broadband inquiry wouldn't be 
good. Too many snoopers."
Whiz mutters to Rodimus Prime, "... can't be looking for... found us. 
But..."
Whiz whispers "They can't be looking for us, because they've already 
found us. But they *are* looking for *something*."
Groove casually takes a sip of the bubbling red drink. His optics flash 
brightly and he quickly begins to cough, trying his best to muffle it. 
Others around him look stangely in his direction. He holds up the drink, 
"I love this stuff!"
Maverick leans on the bar, looking down the row of drunk patrons and 
trying to find someone sober enough to stay awake, but drunk enough not 
to remember anything he asks...
Whiz looks over at the other two Autobots and squints a little, shaking 
her head.
Rodimus Prime murmurs over the rim of his glass, "Well, if they're not 
drunk at least Groove is putting on a good act..."
Whiz stifles a chuckle behind her hand. "At least they're enjoying 
themselves."
Charnel comes in through the steel doors.
Groove begins chatting with a slug like creature in front of him. "What 
are you drinking? I got this great red stuff."
Whiz is lounging in an oilbath tub with Rodimus, holding an untouched 
drink and occasionally looking askance at the other patrons of the bar - 
two robotic ones in particular.
Charnel ducks in the door, a cloud of dust whirling in, and off him,... 
he scans the room critically at first,... scowls slightly,... and walks 
to the bar <right past the waitress of course.>
Whiz looks around curiously. "So where did you leave Sky Lynx, anyway?"
You say, "Oh, he was here... got restless and went out to stretch his 
wings a while ago."
Charnel flumps down on a stool,.. looking irritably at a piece of 
armored plating hitting the floor,... "don chyu worry 'bout it sunshine" 
off handely to the waitress, "Mr. Clean'll clean it till it shines,.. Be 
leaving no pieces o meself here, where they don't even know your name."
Maverick frowns slightly, seeing most of the people near him are in 
varying states of unconsciousness.. He stands up and moves to another 
section of the bar...
Whiz says brightly, "Never know, then, he might run into someone he 
knows."
Whiz shrugs slightly, "Or someone he doesn't, you know, given the way 
things are going."
The slug creature says nothing, but proceeds to drip a slimey fluid 
substance on Groove's foot. Groove looks down at his foot and grimaces 
before nodding at the creature and moving on down the bar.
Rodimus Prime blinks. "What's that-- oh." He grins. "I can't wait to 
hear this one."
Whiz suddenly yells out loud and leaps up, throwing her drink all over 
the place as she flies into the air, arms and legs flailing.
Charnel goes back to ignoring her, calling to the bartender, in an 
unforgetable accent,... "A dry martini,... shaken, not stirred."
Rodimus Prime startles, barely keeping his own glass in hand as he jumps 
back. "What?"
Maverick's attention is quickly drawn to the shrieking Whiz, though many 
of the patrons around him are too drunk to care.
Whiz lands with a loud splash, perching on the edge of the oilbath's 
seat and peering suspiciously into the water with a shocked expression 
in her optics.
Whiz demands, "What on Cybertron is in there?!"
Charnel turns around, eyeing the green femme. Not bothering to bless the 
Bartender with a response, who looks at him rather blankly at the 
mention of a martini,...
Charnel offers helpfully,... "Oil?"
Groove's optics flash as Whiz leaps. He waches carefully for signs of 
danger.
Those who are indeed looking will note there's a HUGE difference between 
the quality shine of Whiz's armor that was underneath the water as 
compared to the armor that was not underneath.
Rodimus Prime squints puzzledly, then makes the connection. "Oh. It's 
the little... pipe-cleaner things. they're harmless. Not sure when they 
got put in, though. They weren't here last time I was here."
Whiz pokes her hands around under the oil, trying to feel out what's 
actually under the surface.
Groove for the first time notices Rodimus. He continues working down the 
bar, talking with people.
Charnel shrugs slightly, turning back to the bar,.. and manages to look 
started when the bartender hasn't brought him a drink.
Maverick keeps an optic on Rodimus and Whiz, curious, as he finds a new 
seat at the bar...
Rodimus Prime grins. "Really. They're just little brush-animals."
Whiz gropes around under the surface, which probably looks pretty weird 
in itself, until she's satisfied that she's answered the riddle of what 
lurks out of sight. "Oh. Well..." she looks up and notices that she's 
drawn some attention. "Er, it just sort of surprised me... they should 
warn people or something..."
Charnel spins around in his chair,.... leaning back on the bar. the bar, 
however, has other plans as his metallic joints make contact with it's 
nearly frictionless surface,.. follow the tendancy to slide rather 
quickly off,....
Groove works his way to the end of the bar and moves about the building. 
Stopping momentarily to look at a slot-machine like device. The flashing 
lights catching his attention. A small compartment in his leg opens and 
he takes out a credit to feed to the machine.
Maverick hmmms as his optics fall on an interesting-looking 
character...Charnel, in fact...
<SLIP>
Almost as soon as attention is brought to him,... Charnels head is 
hitting the edge of the bar, a new dent being added to the plethora of 
others. A string of rather colorful curses escaping him,...
Whiz whews as the Junkion takes the attention off of her, and slips back 
into the bath cautiously.
Without thinking, Maverick bends down to help the Junkion to his feet...
Rodimus Prime smirks. "No kidding. A nice sign saying there're animals 
in here would've been nice..." his attention is arrested by the Junkion, 
and he shakes his head. "I won't complain, though. This is nicer than 
listening to Ultra Magnus complain at me."
Charnel groans slightly, stumbling forwards,.. hitting the floor,...
Charnel pushes himself to his knee's,.. looking up at Maverick,.. "Sa'll 
right,... Sa'll right,..." stands, one arm on his forhead,.. the other 
behind his back, pushing his spine back into place,.. "I meant to do 
that,... really."
Groove puts his credit in the machine and pushes a flashing button. He 
takes a step back and watches octagonal blocks spin and flash furiously. 
They stop suddenly and the machine buzzes loudly at the Autobot in 
disguise. ;) Groove frowns and moves on.
Maverick nods, "Of course...." He steps back and pauses for a moment, 
clearing his throat as he tries to regain his 'tourist image'...
Charnel checks to make sure all is in place,... looks startled a moment, 
and looks back to his chair.
Rodimus Prime murmurs, "Incognito, guys... great."
Charnel mutters to himself, "... a damned leper."
Charnel picks up a handful of metal from the general area of his 
fall,... trying to figur out where it goes counting parts off on his 
fingures,...
Charnel finishes, nods, looking at the part,.. then stops,.. "Nine?'
Charnel replaces his index finger. "So, what's the night life like,..." 
looks around for the Autobot that was just standing there, "Allllrighty 
then. Note to self. Get a new writer, my inner monolouge is getting to 
weird.
Maverick hmmms and brightens as he thinks up a way to try and get some 
info from this Junkion. He motions Charnel to the bar, "Hmmm.. tell me, 
is this place popular with Junkions...?"

Oblivious to the little cybernetic drama taking place in the bar area, 
one of the Entertainment Directors for the Pleasuredome strides up to a 
microphone, taking it in his flipper-like hand and raising it to his 
mouth. "Greetings, patrons! The staff here at Cally's Pleasuredome hope 
you are enjoying our vacation with us! If you turn your attention to the 
bar, you'll see that our screens are lowering from the ceiling, and you 
know what that means..."

Various members of the crowd stir from their alcoholic haze and begin to 
cheer wildly.
Rodimus Prime smirks. "This should be interesting."
Maverick glances up as the screens lower, "What is this....?"
Groove continues moving about the casino. He stops in his tracks as the 
announcer's voice booms to life. He begins looking around in confusion.

The Entertainment Director makes a pleased sound deep in one of his 
throats. "That's right, it's time to SING! Get your requests in soon, 
folks, you know it's going to get busy! Karaoke begins in just a few 
moments, with lots of PRIZES for best vocalist, and best duo!"

As the crowd rushes to grab request cards, the screens lock into place 
and fuzz into a picture of a generic alien singing into a microphone. 
Low music fills the air.
Charnel steps back, regarding the screens. And visibly blanches, taking 
a step back,... "Awww No."
o/~ "I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony..." o/~
Charnel says, "another night at the Karaoke Cafe,... " singsongedly 
"Just what I've always wanted.""
Maverick remains seated, and prepares to turn his audials down, just in 
case...
Rodimus Prime grins wickedly for whatever reason and lounges back, 
making himself comfortable.
Groove thoughtlessly begins to follow the crowd toward the stage. He 
curiously wanders too close to the stage, wondering what all the 
attention is about.
Whiz aherms. "You're not *really* thinking of doing that, are you? Look 
at the crowds! Look how many people are around here!"
Whiz lowers her voice and whispers, "And there's other people we 
*know*..."
A four-armed, two-headed woman runs past the oilbaths, arguing with 
herself about which duet to perform. During a particularly heated 
moment, she drops an armful of request cards by the side of the pool 
before moving on.
Charnel says, "Ahhh, sirs, the Karaoke bar is empty now,.. but later, it 
will be full of drunken japeneses business men."
Rodimus Prime glances at Whiz. "Who, me? Nah, I just like watching 
them... besides, you're too scared to do it yourself, so why should I?"
Whiz glares, "I'm not scared, I'm being reasonable."
Rodimus Prime snickers. "Scared."
Maverick tosses a quick glance back at the pair, smiling as he sees the 
unmistakeable expression on Whiz's face...
Whiz says, "I just don't want you to embarass yourself in front of 
everyone else."
Groove stands near the steps of the stage, watching the current 
performer. The music stops and the crowd cheers. The Karaoke-ist steps 
off the stage and hands the microphone to Groove who examines it 
closely.
One of the bar's patrons grabs the mic and launches into a song in a 
totally incomprehensible language, accompanied by music that sounds a 
lot like a goat bleating in different musical tones.
Rodimus Prime smirks. "Oh sure, MY welfare. Since when is this about 
me?"
Whiz smiles angelically. "I have to watch out for my leader, right?"
Rodimus Prime hmphs. "I'm just watch... is that Groove?"
Charnel takes a sidestep every now and again,.. putting considerable 
distance between himself and the bar,...
Whiz shhhhs dramatically. "No, it's someone we've never seen before, 
remember?"
You say, "Oh, right."
Groove watches the next performer use the mic and cautiously mimics the 
movement. The announcer steps up behind Groove. "Yer next." His optics 
blink.
Maverick winces visibly as he sees Groove up on the stage. He murmurs, 
"I just hope nobody recognizes him..."
Whiz leans forward a little. "Whoa, I think he's going to sing."
Whiz says, "Or try, at least."
Groove shakes his head, "No! I was just holding it..." The announcer 
jumps on stage as the current song ends. "Okay, next up we have a new 
patron to the bar...lets all give him a hand." The spotlight shines 
offstage at Groove's terrified face.
Whiz wooooooooos and claps for Groove.
Rodimus Prime raises his hands out of the oil pool and claps 
enthusiastically. "Go get em!"
Charnel says in a calm, collected french accented voice,... "And here we 
'ave the rarely seen corousal rituals of the native cybertronian,... We 
will be very quiet in our approach,... as to not startle him.
Maverick claps, as do many of the bar patrons around him, hoping nobody 
here works for that ...whatshisname fallow :)
Groove is eventually coerced onto the stage, his optics flickering in 
the spotlight. He looks off stage as a question is asked of him. He just 
shrugs and looks forward. All his attention focused on the screens in 
front of him.
Whiz glances over at the edge of the pool and sees one of the dropped 
song cards lying there. Idly, she picks it up and examines it, turning 
it over in her hands.
Charnel slumps down in a chair, leaning back, clicking the edge of his 
arm on the tub,... "On that, Greeny,.. Ever notice ol' jacky never got 
in the water? Was always his assistants,... Kinda like russion 
roulette,.. see who gets to go in wit the sharks today,....
Whiz offers helpfully, "They're not actually sharks, they're just 
polishers."
Charnel gestures to the stage,... "Ah'd imagine they'd look an aweful 
lot like that,..."Today, /clickclickclikcbooooom/ PEIRRE! get's to go in 
with the hammerheads."
Whiz scans the list of offerings, then glances up with a grin. "Poor 
Pierre."
Charnel turns around, pearing into the water,... "Yah sure? Now a bath 
wit sharks in it,.. that;d be kinda neat to watch,.. not to bathe in,.. 
but to watch would be interestin,...
Whiz taps a few buttons on the request pad, grinning like the cat that 
swallowed the canary. "Believe me, I wouldn't be in here if I thought I 
was going to get devoured."
Charnel smiles crookedly,.. "Ol Cousteau was a real leader type eh?" 
snickers slightly. "Always knew when to send in the clowns."
Maverick hmmms and leans over toward the tub as well, picking up a 
request pad, "Hmmmm... Might as well have a bit of fun if he has to be 
up there..."
The music slowly increases in volume, Groove moves awkwardly to the 
beat. The words on the screen slowly go by. Groove mumbles a few words 
in an off key pitch untill he reaches the chorus:
Rodimus Prime watches Groove with an intently amused smile, half-
listening to Whiz and the Junkion.
Whiz yells cheerily, "Shake your groove thing!"
Charnel turns back to observe groove,... a look of embarased pity on his 
face,... "Robot's die of public embarasment,.... Tonight on Geraldo 
Riviera,....

o/~ Looooovin' yoooou, is easy 'cause your beeeeeautifuuuuul....Do unt 
do unt doo ahhhhh! o/~
The last note reaches an incredibly deafining pitch, causing the 
audience to boo him off the stage.

Whiz winces at the high note, glancing around to avoid flying vegetables 
or breaking glass
Groove quickly bows as the others before him did and passes the 
microphone off to the next contestant.
Charnel winces, a glass naer him shattering, deluging him in it's rather 
odd contents,...
The emcee of the event accepts the microphone and says, "Well, it seems 
that we have a famous guest with us tonight..."
Whiz turns slowly to smirk at Rodimus.
Charnel gets s slightly uncomfortable look on his face,.. looks down at 
his chest,.. which is now florescent purple,...
Maverick quickly turns down his audials at the high note, then up again 
to listen to the emcee.
The emcee announces, "Yes folks, the Leader of the Autobots himself is 
with us, and as a special treat, he's going to sing for us. This is 
truly a rare event, so let's give him and his singing partner... er... 
'Quiz'... a hand as they sing the classic duet "I Got You Babe".
Maverick turns to Rod and Whiz, grinning and clapping.
Whiz grumbles, "That's *Whiz*" as she clambers up out of the oilbath.
Rodimus Prime blinks. "Uhm. No."
Whiz folds her arms, grinning. "C'mon, all the nice people are waiting 
to hear you sing."
Groove quickly takes a seat near the back of the room. His eyes aglow as 
he hears of the duet. He also claps loudly before calling a waitress 
over. "Gimmie one of those red things..."
Rodimus Prime hides his face. "Nooo..."
Charnel claps his hands over his head loudly, "Comeon, Robotman! Show us 
a little heart!" puts his fingers to his mouth, and let's out a high 
pitched shreaking whistle.
Whiz smirks, "What, are you *scared*...?
Maverick smiles at Rodimus, trying to act like a fanboy, "Yeah..your 
fans await!"
Rodimus Prime growls. "Why THAT song?"
Whiz says, "You suggested it before, right? It's a classic."
Rodimus Prime hisses, "I was KIDDING."
Whiz starts to giggle as she reaches out to take one of the microphones, 
which has been handed back through the crowd. She offers the other to 
Rodimus as a spotlight begins to zero in on them both.
Rodimus Prime grumbles and drags himself after Whiz, diverting his 
optics from the camera.
The emcee smiles broadly and shouts, "Come on, everyone, it looks like 
he needs some encouragement..."
As the audience applauds, the familiar strains begin to sound through 
the room. "Doo-doo, doop-doo, doo-doo, doop-doo..."
Whiz elbows Rodimus Prime and hisses, "You're first."
Charnel snickers, in a gravelly voice,... "Huhuhuh, and like,.. she has 
to be a babe,... that used to be married to a looser,..."
Rodimus Prime sighs heavily, his optics dimming as though he's preparing 
himself for some sort of mental torture. He clears his throat, flashing 
Whiz a murderous glare, and forces himself to un-grit his figurative 
teeth. In a moderately clear baritone, he stumbles nervously, "They... 
say we're young and we don't know... won't find out until we grow..."
Whiz gazes up at the screen, ignoring the glare and positively beaming 
with some kind of evil intent. Her voice catches at first, but steadies 
as she sings the next two lines, "Well I don't know if that's all true, 
'cause you got me, and Ro-o-ddy, I got you... babe"
Whiz smirks, "I got you babe."
Rodimus Prime takes a deep breath. "I got you babe." <in unison ;>
Charnel whistles again, shrilly, "Belt it out! let's here yah at the 
back o the room, boy's and girls!"
Whiz giggles on the second repetition of, "I got you babe"
Rodimus Prime shifts his weight and surreptitiously elbows Whiz in the 
side.
Maverick claps loudly.
Rodimus Prime bites down an idiotic snicker and gets the next line a 
little more smoothly, starting to warm to the subject. "They say our 
love won't pay the rent, before it's earned, our money's always 
spent..."
Whiz turns away from the lyrics on the screen and looks right at Rodimus 
for a reaction as she continues with her version of the second verse. 
"And when we take a shuttle trip, we end up late when yo-ou crash the 
ship... babe."
Rodimus Prime snaps his mouth shut, staring at Whiz, and hisses 
undertone, "Those *aren't* the words!"
Whiz ignores the fact that Rodimus skipped the cue and nods cheerfully, 
"That was you, babe."
Maverick looks straight at the pair, grinning widely, and makes a note 
to -definitely- bring this up in front of some of the other Autobots....
Groove beams a grin from the back of the room. He shakes his head slowly 
as he laughs, not believing his optics.
Rodimus Prime sputters, barely managing to drag himself back on track, 
and belts fiercely (and miraculously on-key), "I... can't believe you'd 
sing that lie, when it was you who made that shuttle fry... wasn't me, 
babe!"
Whiz looks all smug and proud of herself as the crowd goes into a 
confused silence, then erupts in laughter.
Whiz's jaw drops a little bit as Rodimus manages a comeback, but she's 
up to the challenge. Gripping her microphone, she argues, "But Rodimus, 
you know it's true - When I need trouble, I just look for you...babe."
Whiz smirks and points at Rodimus, "I got you, babe."
The crowd bursts to cheers again as Rod replies in perfect form.
Rodimus Prime grins. "You'd better think to look for me, you're so 
bogged with responsi-bil-ityyy..."
Maverick nearly doubles over laughing at Rodimus' mention of 
responsibility to Whiz...
Whiz leans in closer to Rodimus, a challenging gleam in her optic, and 
opens her mouth to sing....
Groove laughs at the antics of the two Autobots. "What are they doing?" 
He says to himself amid his laughter.
Rodimus Prime drops his tone a register, going into the bridge. "I have 
style... you're a slob... I'll just get you... to do my job." He pulls 
out the real lyrics again and fiddles with them a bit. "When I'm sad, 
you're still a clown -- if I'm scared, it's cause you're 'round!"
Rodimus Prime lowers his mic and laughs silently in Whiz's face.
Groove falls over in his chair. His laughing stops momentarily as he 
climbs back into the chair.
Whiz glares, barely able to keep from laughing herself, then raises the 
microphone for one last verse, "You should have known when I got up to 
sing - that I'd be up to so-o-ome thing... but we should leave, because 
your paint - just made that lady o-o--out there faint... babe."
Whiz smirks, "It's blinding paint, babe."
You say, "In your dreams, babe."
Whiz says, "My nightmares babe.""
And the music slows, and the final chorus...
Whiz beams, "I-I-I got you-ou-ou, Baaaaaaabe!"
Rodimus Prime drops the singing voice and overtones, "You've got nothing 
on me, babe!"
Whiz explodes into laughter as the music fades away, bending over in 
hysterics as she waves the microphone in the air for someone else to 
take.
Maverick cheers loudly, clapping.
Rodimus Prime drops the mic to his side, unable to keep the serious 
expression any longer as he collapses in laughter. "I'm going to kill 
you," he says cheerfully.
Groove stands up suddenly, the chair behind him tipping over. He begins 
clapping and whistling loudly.
Whiz giggles, "Not if I die laughing first. "
Rodimus Prime holds both his hands up triumphantly, passes the 
microphone down to the flustered-looking MC and hops down off the stage.
Whiz hops down and out of the way, as other karaoke victims mill around, 
not wanting to be the ones to have to follow that act.
The emcee clears both of his throats and says, "Well, I've just received 
word from our judges. Given the.. unique.. nature of that duet, it has 
been decided that Rodimus Prime and... er... Fizz... are the winners of 
tonight's award for the best duet!"
Rodimus Prime snickers. "I want that engraved," he mutters to Whiz. 
"Fizz."
The emcee waits for the shouting to die down, then announces, 
"Furthermore, the award for the most unique solo performance has to go 
to that stranger over there by the bar, for his very... affecting... 
rendition of "Loving You"!"
Whiz grumbles good-naturedly, "Aw, shaddap."
Rodimus Prime hee hees and traipses off cheerfully to hit up an 
awestruck waitress for a free drink.
Groove's optics blink as he hears the announcement.
Whiz yaaays and applauds for Groove, singing star.
Groove stops applauding and walks up and accepts his award, holding it 
like a newborn baby.
Maverick cheers for the winners.
Whiz accepts the award and glances at it, looking relieved when she sees 
that there are no names engraved on it.
Whiz accepts the pats on the back with a grin, choosing to ignore the 
glares from the two-headed alien that wanted to duet with herself.
Groove gives Whiz and Rod a quick thumbs-up before returning to his 
seat.
Whiz grins widely at Groove and makes a motion of applause.
Rodimus Prime returns bearing fresh drinks and offers one to Whiz to 
make up for the one she threw on the poor brush-creature.
Maverick turns around to one of the bartenders, "Do you make audio/video 
copies of performances?"
The bartender grins slowly. "This is Monacus, buddy. We sell everything. 
You lookin' for a souvenir copy of the contest, we got it."
Whiz grins, "I deserve this." She takes the drink and peers at it before 
taking a sip of it.
Maverick grins, taking out a few credits and handing them to the 
bartender, getting a datatape in return. He tosses a grin over to 
Rodimus and Whiz, making sure they see the tape before he stows it 
away...
Rodimus Prime smirks. "Just ultra-refined. Nothing spiked."
Whiz looks over Rodimus' shoulder at Maverick, her expression changing 
to horror as she sees him with the tape.
Rodimus Prime blinks. "What's the face for? It can't taste THAT bad."
Groove also calls for a drink, having spilled his other one when he fell 
out of the chair.
Whiz puts her hand on Rodimus' shoulder and steers him around to see 
Maverick waving his prize around.
Rodimus Prime stares blankly for a moment, then not so blankly, then 
with one of those "try anything and I'll KILL you" sort of looks.
Maverick smirks as he sees their expressions, "And they said I'd never 
be mischievous..."
Whiz mutters to Rodimus Prime, "... to..."
Whiz whispers "We've got to get that from him before we get back."
Groove grins as he watches Maverick taunt the others.
Rodimus Prime pauses, then smiles lazily. "What's wrong, Whiz, ashamed 
of yourself?"
Whiz grins. "Do *you* want everyone to see that?"
You say, "I could start a career. Ditch this leading thing."
Maverick chuckles to himself, quickly putting the tape into his subspace 
pocket.
Whiz chuckles, "We could get extra copies, send them to agents, maybe 
cut a record deal."
Whiz says, "You could finally get back at Mindbomb."
Rodimus Prime grunts. "Kind of after the fact there..."
Whiz thinks a little more, taking a reflective sip of the energon. 
"Y'know, it's not such a bad idea. We could learn instruments."
Whiz says, "I could adapt them to our size and everything. I've always 
wanted to learn guitar.""
Maverick takes a quick glance around the bar, and heads over to Rodimus 
and Whiz. He leans down near them and speaks under his breath, "Just act 
like I'm a fan..."
Whiz nods magnanimously, offering, "Want an autograph?"
You say, "Well, you certainly don't want to take up vocals..."
Whiz growls. "I'll have you know that most singers play the guitar too."
Maverick nods, and smiles, "Sure." He lowers his voice a bit again, 
"It'll let me talk to you without arousing anyone's suspicions..."
Whiz nods and lowers her voice. She mutters to Maverick, "... are you... 
doing up... playing detective?" 
Rodimus Prime makes a face at Whiz and asks in a lower tone, "What's 
with the spy getup, anyway?"
Maverick glances around quickly to make sure nobody can overhear him, 
"We're trying to locate Pak-Gor and FX... Whiteline thought whoever has 
them would get suspicious if they saw a bunch of Autobots snooping 
around..."
Whiz's optics narrow. "They're still missing?"
Maverick nods.
Whiz wows. "I've been all over the place, and I haven't seen a thing, 
except that Junkion ship on the launchpad. But then again, I wasn't 
really looking."
Rodimus Prime hmms. "I'll keep an optic peeled. I'm here on legitimate 
vacaion time, anyway," he smiles.
Maverick says, "Hence the new paint jobs. And," he gently taps on the 
armor plate welded over his own uniquely patterned chestplate, "This 
thing, to hide as many distinguishable features as possible...""
Whiz nods. "Well, we'll be a distraction, right? There can't be Autobots 
undercover when there's two of us being so obvious, right?"
You say, "Right. And I don't think we could possibly be more obvious."
Maverick nods, "Yeah.. Just remember, if you bump into anyone else 
incognito, you don't know them..."
You say, "Who else is here? More than just you and Groove?"
Maverick says, "There's also...Processor, Tracks, Whiteline, and Jazz."
Whiz blinks. "Talk about the cavalry."
Maverick smiles, "The more we have, the faster our search will go... I 
hope."
Rodimus Prime hmms. "I'll try to keep a high profile and be distracting, 
then," he winks.
Whiz grins at Rodimus. "I think we can manage."