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"You just came out of one, so maybe I can pick up on the residuals..." Donnie murmurs, pulling his goggles back down to scan her.

"I picked up the spike of energy from when the portal opened, just before you came through," he continues, bringing up his computer with a sweep of a hand over his wrist. He taps at it before lifting his head to scan the skies.

"Haven't picked up anything else before then, but then this is the first I've been up topside in a while."

Donnie looks back at his holoscreen, pulling up windows and a map showing patchy areas that might be where power still hasn't been completely restored.

The residual energy is faint - similar to the spacebridge, but not. Different yet the same; perhaps a touch of faint magic, too.

"Like when the spacebridge brought in newcomers, then?" It's really all she has to compare it to, outside of when the energon shipments made the journey into the Dark Nebula. But that was more a blip, not a spike. Something designed to be hidden.

"Understandable, considering." She peers at the map before frowning. She's not seeing anything herself...

"What is that?" She points to a faint dot in an otherwise power-less sector hit hard by the Kraang invasion.

Something about the energy reading is distorted but also familiar-ish.

"Huh..." Donnie strokes his chin as he studies the scans. He's not sure that there'd been magic involved with the Space Bridge, but he's not quite sure what to classify the Primes' power as.

"Sort of? It does take a tremendous amount of energy when it does function in that manner- energy that we hadn't managed to pinpoint where it was coming from, since it would have been enough to drain the entire ship."

Donnie hits a few more keys, glad to see the last relay he'd just installed seems to be operating. He hadn't gotten a chance to calibrate things before he'd been nabbed.

"That... Hm." He focuses on that sector, toggling a few overlays, bringing up the outline of the city's map.

"...that's near Metro Tower. That was more or less ground zero for where the Kraang established their gateway to pull their ship through. Also the most contaminated area, although I think whatever the Kraang left behind should be mostly benign without their influence. No less gross though."

Esmeryl is extremely tempted to ignore it, to do anything else that doesn't have her acting like some goody two shoes Autobot. Talking science with Donnie, aiding him with his relays. Finding something she could disguise as.

(Changing her colours to something not Kraang-ish.)

She sighs silently. "Mostly is not all. We should investigate, if only to ensure we kill it should it prove to be a threat."

"..." Donnie drums his fingers against his arm as he stares at that little anomaly. Going back there is the last thing he wants to do but... This is kind of why he's got his system up.

He sighs.

"Yeah. We probably should," he grumbles, shoving his goggles up as he turns to face Esmeryl.

"First, though... Where is your tech-bo?"

She nods to the wooden one he has with him. ".... did it break?"

She hopes not.

"Ah..."

He actually winces at the reminder. Sighing again for completely different reasons, Donnie steps over to kick his bō up from the ground, catching it in hand.

"It did. Destroyed back with our home. Unrelated incident from the Kraang," he adds, his expression hard. Certainly he's learned and gained so much then, but the loss still hurts when he's allowed to think about it.

"I am sorry for its loss." Esmeryl means it. She knows well how proud he was of it, and how much it meant to him. "May this one serve you just as well."

Even so, she transforms back into her alt, and with a wry smile, settles into a cat-loaf so he may climb on for a ride, if he wishes. "You may create a saddle, if you desire."

Not that she'd ever let him fall.

Donnie smiles bitterly, not necessarily at Esmeryl, but man. He misses his tech-bō sometimes.

"This one's just as much mine," he says, giving it a spin. He lifts his head, unable to keep from a grin as he watches her transform then, and he clambers up between her wings, just behind her neck.

"I think I'll be fine." He pulls up his map again, tapping in a quick lock on their destination. "All right, ready when you are."

Oh. Oh dear. While she'd swiftly become used to the new height difference and how to use it to her advantage, it is another thing entirely when he's riding her like a horse. It's an odd feeling, but one she is fine with. If she wasn't, she would never have consented, or consented only under duress.

"Very well. Let us depart."

Take off is done at a running leap, and soon enough, they climb into the air, going higher and higher with each powerful wing stroke. Flight this time is far smoother and far less perilous for Donnie, considering Esme is keeping an optic on him.

"I am curious... When we met here, you seemed afraid. Why?"

Surely she's not that intimidating. She is but a wife and civilian!

This....is kind of weird now that he's sitting here, but he leans forward once Esmeryl starts off, wondering if it would be more preferable for him to be between her wings, but he isn't sure how close they come together in flight.

He lowers his goggles again, toggling his map overlay as he looks around so he can direct them to their target destination.

"Oh. The Kraang... They had some kind of armor suits that they used. Similar color. Modeled after organic forms of a sort. Well, one of them was, and April said the other one they'd fought was quadrupedal. So...I thought maybe..."

They move in much the same way a bird's would, though eventually it eases into more of a soar as she rides the thermals.

"Understandable," Esmeryl says with a small hum of understanding. Given the destruction and damage she's seeing, she certainly doesn't blame him for the assumption.

Her colours shift, taking on predominantly royal blue and purple tones and gold and white detailing to match.

"I was headed out to deal with slavers. These colours should better suit?"

She will change them again if there's any issue.

Oh right, she can do that. Donnie can't help but marvel.

"Invisible would be better. People are probably just as on edge after everything. It's best to not attract attention. You have a stealth palette?"

It's almost funny how her head tilts slightly, as if stealth is a rarely entertained idea, but then she frowns. While she doesn't care how on edge people are, she does care that it would put her son in danger should people take umbrage to her presence.

"I possess no stealth modifications. Though, I am in possession of a stealth pro and I can change my colours on a whim, and I have my disguise tech." she says slowly, colours changing to match the sky. "That... shall have to suffice?"

The last part is a question and acknowledgement that Donnie knows the lay of the land situation far better than she does.

Vaguely he remembers the last time they'd gone undercover... His expression flattens.

"Well...a color-scheme that's less bright. Dark colors, matte finish- not sure if you can do the latter but... Oh, well, that works," Donnie says as he watches her tones shift beneath him.

"I still recommend keeping a darker scheme once we land. Ah... northwest by forty-five degrees. See that building that's practically covered in biogoop? The reading's coming from around the outside of it..?"

"Will do as we come into land," she agrees, adjusting her angle mid-glide without hesitation, wingbeats deep and even as she banks towards the target direction.

"And I though insect-kin tech was disgusting..." Optics narrow at the pink-coated building, a gross monument to a thwarted invasion. She takes in the shadows and colours of the building before her own colours shift yet again, into something matte and dull. A mix of dark greys, dark pinks, dull blues; anything that could match and make it that much harder for them to be seen.

"Guide me in, if you please."

Not that she isn't keeping her own eyes out for whatever the reading could be -incase it's hostile, incase she needs to abort and get them to safety (much as she'd rather fight, a fight here would only attract attention). But as far as she's seeing, it's all pink goop.

Not that she's getting too close to it.

"It was kinda gross, but fascinating in a way..." Donnie frowns, stroking his chin. "I guess in some ways, not entirely unlike Kraang tech..."

He scans the ground below, pointing. "There, by that subway entrance. ...I think the readings I'm picking up are underground- that'd explain why it's so faint." He swallows. It hadn't exactly been fun the last time he'd been underground beneath Metro Tower.

Edited 2025-08-09 02:26 (UTC)

"Oh?" She asks, clearly interested in what he has to say about the topic, even as she comes in for a landing, trotting forward as she folds her wings back.

Though she doesn't enter, not yet. She can sense his hesitation, and she can only guess what awaits down below is far worse than the surface. "We shall wait until you are ready to continue on."

Donnie hops down once they've landed. "Yeah... I think that since the Kraang are essentially alien brains, they directly interface with their tech to make use of it. ...that's how I controlled their ship."

He steps carefully towards the stairwell, rolling back his shoulders. There shouldn't be anything to worry about. The Kraang are gone. This should all be inert. At least that's what he thinks, anyway. He really isn't sure how much sentience any of these things still might possess.

Taking a deep breath, Donnie steels himself before taking a step down with a nod. They're not getting anything done standing around.

Knowing what she does of Donnie's aversion of touch, she can only imagine the pit it would have been for him. "I see."

Part of her ponders if she could have done it. Decides that no, she couldn't have. Just the sight of the biomass is enough for her. But, again... control of a ship? She could make an exception for it. For power. "Down here, you shall not interface with it unless you wish it."

She pads besides him as they enter the building and head down, keen eyes sharp and alert, ears pricked forward.

At first the biomass seems inert, but the deeper they go, the more it seems as it something's been... eating it? Small bites here and there to start with, then small chunks, all ripped out by something with sharp teeth.

Something small- yet parts of the biomass on the ceiling are gone, too. Like it was ripped down, ostensibly by something larger.

Esmeryl's wings shift as the Empress frowns in thought. "Is this new?"

Edited 2025-08-11 12:59 (UTC)

"I don't think the structures here are as complicated. The last time we were down here they were mostly a reactive defense system. No interfacing."

Donnie's not sure if they could, but he hadn't really figured out when and how all those people had become Kraangified.

Once they're deep enough, he conjures up some lighting, 'mounting' the mystic-tech at the top of his staff. The light washes over some of the nibbled on remnants. The turtle frowns, unsure what to make of that. "Gross...." He sure hopes ingesting Kraang goo doesn't mutate things too... "Maybe the rats down here got hungry..?"

He blinks, looking upwards. "...I don't know if new is the word for it. Not sure if people have started studying things down here or attempting decontamination but...it doesn't make sense to have just started there, right?"

"Even so..." It's a mother's worry in her voice. As loose as her morals are, once someone is within her small circle of 'I care about you' they solidify into 'I would not see you in danger'.

Yet for all the worry, she is not shy about the awe that flickers over her face at his skills. Oh, to be a fly on the wall as he learned his skills. All her children are destined to be talented, that she is certain of. Such perfect children for a Decepticon Empress.

"Correct. It would have started as we came in. Not this. Be on your guard-"

Footfalls and voices carry in stillness, as do other sounds.

The sound of the faintest chirring comes from several bends a head. Silverfish like but there's something about it.

It'll nag at Donnie, like he knows it, but not. It's deeper and slightly older than what he'd link to Illex.

Unbidden the thought crosses his mind: If the mimic came through, couldn't find him to sad churr at when hungry, would it eat the biomass? Or would it go after mutants?

Donnie frowns at the sound, unsure that he'd imagined it or not. He cautiously continues forward, hands tightening around his staff.

Slowly he shakes his head at the thought. "That'd be disgusting," he can't help but comment, tone flat as he wouldn't put it past Illex to at least try-

Although the thought of any mimic making an appearance here, from what he's read up on them, would be disturbing, now that he thinks about it. He lowers his goggles again, flinching involuntarily as he steps on something still squishy, but at least the Kraang growths have proven to be inactive. He imagines they'd be less allowing for being chewed on if they weren't though...

"Hmm? What would?" Esme cocks her head, both in confusion and almost a desire to confirm his thoughts are on the grossness around them.

And then his goggles are down and Esmeryl stiffens slightly. "Donnie?"

The goggles reveal a trail of dried slime, kraang blood, and faint traces of mutagen that lead them onwards.

Around the 2nd bend, the trail gets bigger, more defined, and faint impressions of claws run along side it. The chirring grows louder alongside the sound of squealing Silverfish. Trapped, maybe.

By the 3rd bend, Esmeryl's ears are pinned back, the Empress ready for a fight as the chirring is loud and the shadows on the grown show a distorted something. A chest, maybe, with a struggling shadow under it. A clumsy tentacle reaching for the ceiling, though it seems to pause at the pair's footsteps.

And then the shadow is that of a normal chest (and the struggling shadow) Nothing to see here, nope!

If Donnie rounds the bend, he will find a large chest with feet, a pinned silverfish... and a piece of ceiling nearby.

Just an ordinary treasure chest! REALLY!

He continues on with his staff held in a more at-ready position, making sure to scan every possible area before him prior to proceeding.

"Something's...here..." Donnie says, focused on trying to make sure he spies whatever it is first.

The sound tickles at his memory, but this is a lot bigger. But then he's heard what a full-grown mimic sounds like, hasn't he?

Finally they come across the very out-of-the-ordinary chest, because why would there be one in the subway systems of a yet alien-gooed city? Donnie frowns.

"Hah! You're not fooling anyone, you. All right mimic, show yourself!" he announces.

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