Disclaimers: Transformers © Hasbro and Takara.
Ame - New
Jason M. Lee
"Spike, get inside! Quick!"
Said human looked confused as he shook his umbrella of excess water. "What's the matter, Hound?"
The Jeep pointed almost frantically at the falling rain. "I'm talking about that!"
"That?" Brown eyes turned at the falling precipitation. "That's just rain."
Now it was the tracker's turn to be confused. "'Just rain'? No acid? No eating through whatever it can and touches?"
Spike scratched slightly damp hair. "Well, we do have acid rain but it isn't that strong to be corrosive enough and it's only in very few places. Damage the plants and trees a bit, a couple stone monuments but it's just a little below middle on the pH scale."
"So the rain here doesn't do any major damage at all?" Trailbreaker stared at the puddle growing from the dripping umbrella onto the metal floor. Mentally, he set a reminder to ask Sparkplug what a pH scale was.
"None whatsoever. Well, short of having too much or getting into places you don't want it getting into and accumulating, then it can start doing damage. Overall, it's just water falling from the sky." The human teenager tilted his head at his metallic friends. "You guys have acid rain on Cybertron?"
Barely suppressed shivers went through both Autobots. 4 million years of stasis they may have been in but it certainly didn't wipe away the memory of tiny needles burning and melting through their chassis, endangering their delicate innards. The two of them already had their fill of Ratchet's ever loud and angry lectures on going out without proper gear to protect themselves, thank you very much.
"Did that stuff ever corroded whatever it could," Hound recalled. "You couldn't go outside without at least some form of protection over your head or feet, much less making sure the buildings and structures were able to handle it. Sunstreaker and Tracks used to refuse to go outside for patrols when the stuff was falling, even if it meant disobeying Optimus or Prowl. Not that I blame the mechs."
A smile touched Spike's face, hefting his backpack. For once, he was glad to have his science books on hand. "Maybe it's time you guys had a little Weather 101. There's more than just rain here on Earth. Plus, I think Sunny and Tracks has more than just plain old H2O to worry about ruining their paint jobs."
Curiosity slid into their optics and both mechs exchanged looks. Trailbreaker's face split into a wide grin, showing off his dental plates.
"Do tell."
Outside, the spring showers continued to fall merrily.
A/N: Came without warning and any real planning. Was relaxing from my computer networking practice when it hit me out of nowhere. Well, the acid rain aspects was inspired by Koi LungFish's "Waiting for Ravage", which I recommend for those wanting to see a rare side of G1 Starscream. -gets looks- What? No, I'm not going to spoil anything else. Another inspiration was the fan-comic collab "Rain" found at the Allspark art gallery.
Had some difficulty with Spike, trying to fit his words as a teen of the 80s. Couldn't write water's molecular formula the usual way so had to stick with the above; FF. net editing wouldn't take it.
ame - Japanese for "rain"