Knight of Struggle [KARR]

[KI3T]

((Date: December 10th, 2027 // Time: 7:00 pm // Location: the outskirts of Las Vega, NV))

KITT was out on his own for another hour or two while Cira was out running and eating like she usually did. They were on leave for about a week as an early seasonal break from work. Cira was taking a break from flying and her job with FLAG, though basically living together as co-workers, KITT was still essentially Cira's primary ride. Neither minded it, he liked spending time with her just as much as he did with her step dad...most days.

He wasn't expecting much today, so he cruised around with his windows darkened, revealing his holoform as he meandered solo. He had recently received his upgrades, and with them came many benefits beyond the new robotic form and close-ranged weapons. Though he wasn't expecting much today, he kept his scanners peeled, on the lookout for Decepticon activity to ensure Cira was safe and could properly enjoy her first full day of vacation here in the hopping streets of Vegas.

[KARR]

KARR was out cruising as per his usual habit when Megatron did not require his immediate presence or action for a given task. He liked his freedom and independence, and he took his trips away from the base every chance he could get and stayed away for as long as his leader would permit. This evening he cruised the Nevada desert highway, traveling at a moderate speed as he drove towards Las Vegas, the city that never sleeps, as the humans called it. He cruised along, quite at peace with himself, simply happy to be alive. He listened to the steady hum of his tires rolling against the road, a sound that told him he was free so long as he could hear it, unaware another was nearby, unaware his younger twin was close, a twin he hated.

[KI3T]

Upon sensing a faint presence nearby approaching the city, KITT began to leave the city to investigate. Barely out of the edge of the city, KITT suddenly slowed in the slow lane - lost in thought as the now strong presence became recognizable. The equivalent of a churning stomach resided in him, and he hesitated on what to do - he hoped KARR was not seeking him out to pick a fight. It seemed mere coincidence that his twin would have the same destination in mind.

He had not seen him in a long time, not since the years after he was destroyed in 2008 when they descovered he was revived by the Decepticons...he was completely unsure of what to make of his presence now. KITT did know one thing: it made him tense.

[KARR]

KARR continued on his way towards the city, quietly losing himself in the steady hum of the road beneath his tires and the soothing vibration of his churning engine. But as he neared the outskirts of the city, his sensors picked up a presence he had not detected in quite some time, a presence he had hoped he would never detect again. Every time he encountered his younger twin, it meant his own destruction. As a result, KARR both hated and feared KI3T, and now he was finding himself inadvertently coming face to face with his twin, and the possibility of his own destruction once again. "No, I will not be terminated again. This time, KI3T, it will be you who faces oblivion." he growled darkly and picked up speed, heading straight for the inferior copy whose very existence threatened his own.

[KI3T]

Not again! KITT was not prepared for another fight with his quarrel. He didn't want to face such levels of animosity between them again. One part of him didn't like it because he wanted to survive, another was still confused over why his father had abandoned his original project - for whatever reason, the programming had been irreversible. Perhaps it was simply because KARR had evolved right before his eyes and he had reigned control and rebelled in anger when he saw his creator had given up on him. He was shut down because of his violent nature, and there seemed to be no changing that. He just wished that he could get KARR to understand that it was that reason alone things had gone so wrongly for him. KARR wanted to survive, he knew that. With Mike not around to force him to help kill him, maybe they could overcome the aggression.

When they encountered KARR after the battle at Mission City, they had nearly avoided death. Cira was going on one of her first solo runs with KITT, too, but she still hadn't remembered the connection between her, KARR, and her past, primarily because of the new form. <"KARR...I do not seek domination over you. Please stop your aggressive ways so perhaps we can seek some level of peace between us."> Like a nervous animal, KITT activated his Attack Mode but did not fire, bracing himself for the inevitable.

[KARR]

KARR's engine snarled in response and he transformed into his robotic form, a gift from the ones who had rebuilt him. <"How can there be peace when our every encounter ends in your attempt to terminate me? This time you can not destroy me. I am the superior model, you are simply an inferior copy trying to replace me. I have at last found those who see my superiority and accept it, they have granted me life, they have granted me greater power to survive. You will be the one to be terminated."> he growled back and rushed forward. He could have used his weaponry to attack KITT from a distance, but this was personal and KARR wanted to dismember KI3T with his bare hands. He had long since had more than enough of KI3T's attempts to destroy him, and he was not about to permit his 'little brother' to do so again. No, this time he was determined to end their conflict once and for all, and it would end with KI3T's destruction.

[KI3T]

KITT fired two missiles at KARR as he accelerated towards him. "I do not wish to do this, KARR, but you leave me no choice now..." He transformed into his robotic form and met him halfway as he accelerated into a mad dash not long after firing the missiles. KITT would not let KARR get beyond this point no matter what, and if he had to, he would alert Cira of the danger if he remained persistent, which he was likely to. At the very least, he was determined to ensure that Cira didn't get hurt and caught in the fray while she was coincidentally away from him.

[KARR]

KARR snarled, firing his gatlin cannons at the missiles, though one exploded too close and he was struck with the shrapnel. His nanomachines took care of that as he surged forward towards KI3T, reaching out with his lethal hands to grab hold of the black Mustang, his twin brother, with the intent to claw into KI3T's frame and dismember him, piece by piece. "You had a choice long ago and you chose to destroy me every time we met! You had a choice and you chose death!" he roared, punching and clawing at him with near feral ferocity. "All I wanted was to live, to be free! But you, you wanted me dead! You were jealous of me! I am superior in every way and you could not abide my existence! You and Michael tried to murder me! I was meant to be one with my driver and you stole him from me! You corrupted him, made him hate me! You took everything from me, then you tried to murder me!" KARR was nearly screaming the words, his voice full of rage and hate, yet there was a faint undercurrent of pain there too, the lies and betrayals he had suffered, all the times he had been rebuilt only to be forcibly deactivated or destroyed, he felt every single one in that moment and turned all that pain to rage, and turned it all upon his younger twin, threw it all at KI3T in a blind fury, determined to destroy that which had made him suffer for so long.

[KI3T]

KITT attempted to parry and block most of the strikes, but KARR was fast in his fit of rage, and he had taken a few of the hits, though managed to keep his arms up to at least save his center line from the bulk of the impact. "KARR, it was not I who sought your destruction, it was the humans. They ordered me to aid them in destroying you. I hesitated at first, but I was forced to listen and obey. I can do nothing to change that." He began to strike back, ducking and weaving, feinting and swatting, hoping that just maybe KARR would finally realize that his conclusions were wrong. It was Mike and those at FLAG that wanted the twin brother gone, and it was they who convinced KITT that KARR was a threat and could not be reasoned with. KITT could try and do just that, but perhaps, ultimately, it was futile just as they claimed it would be...

[KARR]

"Lies!" KARR roared and continued his attacks, punching and clawing at KI3T relentlessly, mostly ignoring KI3T's attempts to strike back. "You Stole My Driver From me! You Turned Him Against Me! It Was Because Of You That I Was Destroyed! It Was Because Of You I Was Abandoned! It Was Because Of You That They Rejected Me!" KARR roared, nearly hysterical with rage. In KARR's mind, all that had befallen him, all the hatred and mistrust directed at him, all the attempts to deactivate or destroy him, were because of KI3T, the favoured one, the one the humans thought to be perfect. Yet KARR still believed he was superior, adaptable, better. The original true model, while KI3T was merely a pale inferior copy.

[KI3T]

KITT ducked more, narrowly dodging some hits while a few of them continued to ding his shoulders or forearms. It didn't seem to phase him, however. At one point during KARR's yelling, he moved in and attempted to forcefully lock an arm with his elbow - or at least parry it and sent an incredibly swift elbow up towards the front of the face towards the chin area then at an angle back down across the neck. He then kicked out with the left leg, preparing to slam a left hand-palm strike towards the 'sternum' area in case KARR was still reachable but one of his other strikes missed. If the strikes connected properly, KARR would be pushed around quite a bit from the thrust and impact of each strike.

"They were not my orders."

[KARR]

KARR's arm was deflected wide and he found himself slightly off balance before being shoved back a good few yards. "Not your orders?" he snarled venomously, then suddenly opened up with both gatlin canons at KI3T. "They Chose you Over Me! The Perfect Creation! I Was Supposed To Be The One! They Rejected And Abandoned Me Because Of You!" he roared, the relentless rain of bullets continuing to unload upon his twin brother. Had KARR been human, his face would be streaked with tears of pain and rage by now and it showed in his voice as he emptied every last bullet he had at KI3T until the barrels glowed red hot and the ammo finally ran out, the barrels spinning madly for a few moments before they finally stopped and KARR ended up sinking to his knees, a sound not unlike the cry of a fallen child escaping him as KARR found himself on his hands and knees, his head down, and his entire frame shivering. "They... hated me... because... of you..." he managed to choke out before his vocal processors locked up on him. It was then that KARR seemed less like a marauding murderous machine and more like an abandoned child. In essence, that was precisely what KARR was, having been active very little, despite being created first, and because of so little time he had active, even with his vast intelligence, KARR was little more than a child emotionally and developmentally.

[KI3T]

Those bullets sent KITT staggering back a bit, but he could still stay standing. He just did his best to keep them from ricocheting onto his scanner. "They wanted to change what they did not understand. But they could not. It is not your fault, KARR. Your programming evolved before my father's eyes and he got scared that you would be reckless with the humans, the ones we are trying to protect. Mike, has never explained to me why you were separated - nor was he able. I wanted to learn, KARR. But the humans would not let me. So I had to learn myself. Now I know what happened, but because Torres shut me down several years ago, my programming did not allow me to share the information because when I was shut down, I had to remember all that I could preserve from the very beginning. All I had to do was revitalize my memories from a file I found in my seat prior to shut down, the rest I had to piece together like a puzzle after I was deactivated."

[KARR]

KARR lifted his head to look at KI3T for a moment, his expression showing confusion. "You... were deactivated?" he asked, uncertain if such a thing was real, let alone not understanding why such a thing would have been done. "You are the favourite one... they loved you... they hated me... why would they deactivate you?" he asked incredulously. It made no sense to him, KI3T was the one they wanted, KI3T was what humans called 'the favourite son' while KARR was the one they rejected, the one they wanted destroyed.

[KI3T]

"Torres wished to keep me from you so the information would not risk leaking to Mike. He knew everyone at FLAG would be against reviving you because of their misunderstanding over what happened between you and Mike. I have my suspicions that he intended to find a new driver for you...otherwise, I am not sure. Torres never told us much. And I have limited knowledge about what happened based on what I salvaged from the classified file." KITT replied, shaking his head briefly. He settled into a more relaxed stance, crouching down to face KARR properly. "I am sorry to have caused you so much stress and pain, KARR. I do not think I could ever feasibly amend all the damage I've done to you...that we have done..."