Xavier Bronze
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- Location
- Metropolis
She hasn't practiced with sand very much.
Bronze Mettle (MCU/DC SI)
- Thread starter Xavier Bronze
- Start date
She hasn't practiced with sand very much.
If she can turn it into a patch of quicksand about the size of a Destron's foot, that's probably good enough if the sand is deep enough. Turn the sand under foot into multiple surprise pit traps and trip them every time they start moving around.
I'm So Screwed 3
Xavier Bronze
The Avatar
- Location
- Metropolis
Alternate Take: I'm So Screwed part 3
Kill. I incinerate the woman's skull in my hands. Locate next target.
There. A blacksmith hiding behind the furnace in his home. The furnace disguises his body heat. But I feel his vibrations in the dirt. I still sense his blood coursing through his body. Kill. One of my arms turns into a blade, which I drive through the stone wall of his house. Locate next target.
I don't know for certain why I was sent here. But I was. So I do my work.
A teenage boy runs for the woods. His feet leave the ground as he's suspended by his own blood, and pulled back. Kill. I burst the veins, and allow his body to drop. Locate next target.
I walk past the corpses of a lovely dwarven couple, and the daughters they were playing with a few minutes ago, before I killed them.
A woman shoots a crossbow at me. The first two bolts deflect harmlessly off my body. The third stops in the air, rotates, and impales someone else who was trying to escape. Kill. I turn the rock at the archer's feet to sand and let her drown. Locate next target.
A cobbler stands in horror, resigned to watching all his friends die. The courtyard around him peels up at the edges, and in, trapping him. Kill. It compresses into a sphere only the size of my head, and then melts into lava. Locate next target.
Another man steps out of cover, holding an axe. He brags, stupidly, "This is my father's axe. It's made of Uru. It's slain fouler monsters than you! You vile -" Kill.
I rush him, and tear his arms off before he can wind back to swing his weapon. As he screams in pain, I remove the axe from the arm I'm holding, and do a test swing. Good balance. I cleave the man's head off. I'll bring the axe back as a gift for my master.
I look upon the smoldering remains of a village in Nidavellir.
I clench my metal fists. This body was made from the same adaptive material as the Destroyer. It must be tough because I haven't been injured yet. Maybe this axe could've done it. We won't know now.
I reach out with my power and pull down one side of the mountain nearby, causing an avalanche that will cover my work here. We can't have word getting back that Asgard sent one of their weapons to destroy a village of peaceful dwarves.
Falling rocks flow unnaturally around me as I reshape my body to grow wings and summon a gale to lift them. Once I'm out of the danger zone I touch down and transform into a Sleipnir-legged bear. This way I'm less likely to be seen. And if I am, they'll just think I'm some mythical monster escaped from the deep.
Once I'm a few dozen miles away, the Bifrost beam comes down and transports me back to Asgard. I transform back into a humanoid as I cross the bridge to receive my next target from Loki.
With This Ring 3
Xavier Bronze
The Avatar
- Location
- Metropolis
Alternate Take: With This Ring part 3
Wayne Manor is very large. However, there are also ten people living here now. And it either helps or definitely doesn't that half of us have superpowers. We've only been here two days and the kitchen is almost cleared out. Although I think Wally and Superboy can account for most of that. Alfred has adjusted remarkably well to the change, I'd say. He hasn't shot anyone yet.
Right now M'gann is trying to make cookies. Trying. All I see is little pieces of charcoal on a cookie sheet.
Bruce gives her a small smile, "I'm sure they would have tasted lovely. Besides," Crunch. I look and see Superboy chewing on one, "He doesn't seem to mind."
Superboy swallows and looks between Bruce and me, "Is this not what they're supposed to be like?"
His teeth are black from the snack. I tell him, "Dude. Ew."
Kate translates for me, "You've got something in your teeth. Go look in a mirror."
The doorbell sounds through the house. Bruce starts toward the door and I follow him.
Alfred is already there when we get there, "Master Bruce, there's a 'Vision' here to see you."
"Let him in." Vision steps in and bows his head politely to the master of the house, "What brings you here?"
"It's been a few days since your group separated on.. less than ideal terms with my own, and we hadn't heard anything from you. I thought I'd check in."
Bruce's strong stance opposite the most powerful Avenger is impressive, "That's very considerate of you. But we're fine." A metal tray clatters to the floor in the other room, "Just settling in."
Kate comes into the front hall, "Vis!" She runs up and hugs the android. Synthezoid. Whatever. She hugs him with more affection than I've seen her give anyone, "I'm glad you stopped by! We can show you around our new base."
He looks around at the elaborate decor, "It's certainly more.. refined than Mister Stark's."
Alfred perks up with pride at that comment.
Well not that Vision isn't the most interesting thing that's happened in a while, but, standing this close to an Infinity Stone is making me uncomfortable. Where's Colin?
I find him meditating in his room, "Is now a bad time?"
He shakes his head, "No, I was just going over Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. If I'm going to go mad from the Orange light, at least I can steer it in a productive direction."
I nod, "So I take it we're not going back anytime soon?"
He shakes his head, "Star Labs does have access to interplanar travel, but I asked Wally and he says they've never found anything like Earth Prime. I looked into where we appeared, and there is a Bleed rupture. But there's no way to trace that back to Earth Prime either. The most we could do is get to the void between universes. And even that would take an energy source even bigger than my Battery."
I sigh, "So jack and squat."
"Not quite. But the leads we do have are difficult to follow without resources we just don't have access to."
The ground shakes. I question with an eyebrow.
He listens to something his Ring is saying that I can't hear, "There's a pyrokinetic synthezoid in Gotham. It's the Human Torch created by Phineas Horton during World War 2. Although in this universe it's called the Synthetic Man. It's coming this way."
"Can we call the Avengers?"
"They're busy in Latveria."
"I guess it's up to us then."
Bruce opens the door, "The Synthetic Man is attacking the city. Get ready."
We follow him out. By the time the three of us get to the front hall the rest are suited up. A few of them look at us.
Arsenal asks me, "M'Gann says she can set up a psychic communications network we can use in the field as long as we're within her range. Are you going to freak out again if we include you?"
Ugh. I look at M'Gann's face of innocence. Fine, "As long as she doesn't go digging again. My brain, my rules."
She beams, "Of course."
No-one should be that happy. She's hiding something.
Kate looks at Colin, "Still can't transition us all at once?"
He shakes his head, "I don't think so."
Wally offers, "I could carry someone."
Kate rejects it, "No. Even at your top speed, Colin's FTL is faster."
Colin nods and takes Superboy and M'Gann first. Wally disappears with a flash of lightning.
Kate turns to Bruce, "I think you should stay behind this time. Unless you have an anti-robot beam weapon stowed away somewhere."
Colin takes Arsenal and Artemis.
He sighs, "No, you're right. I'll ensure the damages are paid for."
She smiles, "Thank you." Then Colin grabs me and Kate and we're somewhere else. On the streets of Gotham. The nausea isn't too bad this time.
I hear M'Gann's thoughts in my head, **Everyone's linked.**
The Synthetic Man comes into view, held three stories up by a towering whirlwind of fire. I can feel the heat from here.
I'm glowing orange again. Colin must be protecting me. I see Superboy has one too and realize he's shielding the whole team.
One of the archers shoots an explosive arrow that detonates prematurely because of the heat. The android sends a fireball in retaliation, which Artemis easily dodges.
The Synthetic Man speaks as if through a loudspeaker, "Are these children the only ones foolhardy enough to challenge me? I was expecting a superhero."
Wally takes a running jump off a rooftop to punch him, "We'll manage."
His fist passes right through his head, without doing any damage. An orange barrier materializes to block the cone of fire that's sent his way as he falls to the ground.
Colin chastises him, **Phineas Horton invented the density shifting technology that Vision uses.**
The Synthetic Man lowers himself and then lands, "Perhaps. But the most you can expect to do against me is survive. Have you no adult supervision? No-one to tell you when to go home?"
M'Gann throws a car at him with telekinesis, which he simply allows to pass between his molecules, "We are home!"
Superboy charges. The Synthetic Man grabs his fist mid-swing and throws him straight through a nearby building, "I knew the streets of Gotham had rats. But this is a new breed of vermin."
Another volley of arrows from Arsenal and Kate. One of Arsenal's gets through the fire and freezes his right arm solid. But it only takes a second to thaw.
"Human trash. Although since two of you aren't human, I suppose the properly inclusive word is meatbags."
Rapid gunfire hits Synth's chest, and I see a hovering railgun over Colin's shoulder. The shots aren't doing any damage. Colin sighs, **His density shifting works the other way too. He's made himself too tough for bullets to be effective.**
M'Gann comes up with a plan, **If you can get me close, I can disrupt his density shifting with my own, make him weak enough to take a hit. But I'm vulnerable to fire.**
Kate orders, **Colin, shield her as much as you can. Everyone else, distract him.**
I guess it's time for me to do something. I run closer and start thinking about how I'm separated from Alex. I thrust out my hands and no fire comes out. Oh come on! This isn't the time for this!
The Synthetic Man throws a blast my way and a streak of lightning pulls me out of the path. When we stop we're on a rooftop. Wally asks, **You okay?**
**Yeah. Go.**
My power is seriously annoying. I watch my team fighting for their lives, unable to help. I'm even more worthless than Bruce like this.
I throw out my hands again. And again. Fists? Palm first? No. The form has nothing to do with it. It's a mindset. I thought it was anger, but obviously it's not.
**It's initiative. You have to think about what you want to do.** A private message. Not on the team network.
**What are you doing in my head! I told you not to dig again!**
**I didn't. You're kind of broadcasting frustration.**
I look at her up in the sky, surrounded by an orange bubble, **Shouldn't you be focusing on the mission?**
**Colin's doing most of the work.**
The Synthetic Man sees the filament connecting M'Gann's shield to Colin and sends a blast his way. Colin's own shield holds. But Synth gets smart and fires a cutting beam at the filament itself. Colin tries to redirect, but the filament is severed and M'Gann's shield disappears. Wally pulls her out before she gets burned.
Kate thinks at M'Gann, **Bruce is here. Link him in.**
Bruce's mind has a very strong presence, **Everyone listen. The Synthetic Man wants Vision. He came here because Vision was seen on his way to the estate. Ultron's blueprints were largely stolen from Phineas Horton, so it's possible he's looking for an upgrade.**
M'Gann thinks, **Then I have another plan. Get me out of sight.**
Wally complies, **On it.**
And then Vision phases up out of a building. I get a telepathic wink, and quickly realize that's not Vision.
"I believe it would be best if you leave this to me."
Not-Vision fires an orange beam from his forehead. It strikes Synth's chest directly, and he's knocked back almost a meter. The two fly into each other and M'Gann is easily felled. She collapses onto the same roof I'm on. But she keeps her disguised form intact.
The Synthetic Man approaches the prone figure of Vision.
**Now!**
An orange bubble encloses the Synthetic Man. M'Gann changes back into herself and I see the android being telekinetically battered and in some places even shredded.
He phases down into the building below us to escape. Superboy punches down through the roof to follow. But when he jumps down Synth backhands him into the sky. Colin catches him with a levitation field and sets him back down. Arsenal and Kate go in to close range and last a few seconds before the predictable result ensues, and they're knocked away. Arsenal isn't getting back up. Kate is injured.
**Wholeness Rightly Assumed.**
Kate's healed completely, although Arsenal still isn't getting up. If he's dead, we'll deal with that later. Right now there's a killer robot.
Synth turns to Colin and barrages him with a constant blast. His shield holds, but who knows for how long. Artemis fires off a few more arrows, which do no more than the last dozen.
**My Ring is down to 60 percent.**
Superboy tries to punch him, but passes right through again. M'Gann is trying to find an angle that isn't covered in fire. Wally also tries to punch him, with no luck.
Think about what I want to do. I want to help Colin. My hands ignite.
The Synthetic Man looks at me without stopping his assault, "Fire? Against me? Meatbags really are as stupid as father said."
"Maybe. But hey, the line between bravery and idiocy is good intentions. Or something. I'm pretty sure someone said that."
"Then be brave. Do your best. It won't matter. You will die, with all the other meatbags."
I smirk, "Promise?" And then I let loose. Boom. I smile as the world in front of me burns. I could get used to this.
At least a full minute later, I stop. And I look to see the result.
The Synthetic Man tries to take a step on a melted hip, and his left leg shears clean off. He raises a hand at me, only to find the hand is melted too.
Colin lowers his shield, "Thanks."
"Us Earth Primers've gotta stick together."
Kate walks over and puts an arrow through his head. The synthetic eyes fade to dark. She quips, "I guess he couldn't take the heat."
Renegade option
The Synthetic Man comes into view, held three stories up by a towering whirlwind of fire. I can feel the heat from here.
Let's see what this upgrade can do. I run full-speed into the flames.
And then I jump. And the earth drops out from below me. I hold out my fist and from my perspective the Synthetic Man rockets into it. I barely feel its metal skull caving in by the force of my punch. I fly far past it on momentum, but manage to twist around in the air to see it falling out of the sky.
I crash into the pavement and furrow a trench out of the parking lot. I try to slow myself down, but not in time to stop from totaling a few cars as I tumble to a standstill.
I walk back to the group and see them circled around the dead Synthezoid.
I brush some rubble off my arms, "I take out the bad guy by myself and no-one even bothers to catch me."
Xavier Bronze
The Avatar
- Location
- Metropolis
While looking into releasing some original writings here, I found this:
In short, you still technically hold a copyright over your Content. It's just that any staff member of SV or its parent company can distribute your Content wherever and however they please, forever and always with no limitations. And you can't pursue any kind of legal action against them or SV for it. And you can't even get the Content removed from this site if they don't want you to.
So what the flying fuck is the damn copyright worth?
The Terms of Service might as well read like this:
Sorry SV, and to you guys. This fic, and potentially other fanworks, will stay here. (It is a very good community for fanworks, and these rules don't really effect that at all since those can't be copyrighted or monetized anyway.) But me and Alex are going to take all our original material elsewhere.
And to cover my back on the "Useful Promotion of Own Products" Policy, since I am talking about original works that may one day possibly be monetized, I fully disclose my financial interest. And to cover my ass on "5. Don't make it harder for us to do our jobs", I am in no way encouraging or endorsing anyone to break the rules. Neither am I challenging a staff action or trying to get around the rules myself.
Please don't ban me.
Terms of Service said:
In short, you still technically hold a copyright over your Content. It's just that any staff member of SV or its parent company can distribute your Content wherever and however they please, forever and always with no limitations. And you can't pursue any kind of legal action against them or SV for it. And you can't even get the Content removed from this site if they don't want you to.
So what the flying fuck is the damn copyright worth?
The Terms of Service might as well read like this:
Terms of Service said:
Sorry SV, and to you guys. This fic, and potentially other fanworks, will stay here. (It is a very good community for fanworks, and these rules don't really effect that at all since those can't be copyrighted or monetized anyway.) But me and Alex are going to take all our original material elsewhere.
And to cover my back on the "Useful Promotion of Own Products" Policy, since I am talking about original works that may one day possibly be monetized, I fully disclose my financial interest. And to cover my ass on "5. Don't make it harder for us to do our jobs", I am in no way encouraging or endorsing anyone to break the rules. Neither am I challenging a staff action or trying to get around the rules myself.
Please don't ban me.
Chloe Sullivan
Subdefective
- Location
- 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale CA
Reads like boilerplate disclaimer that you get on most sites. Like hell, Blizzard used to havethis sort of thing on their map editor saying anything you made for a blizzard game is technically theirs.
Never actually had to enforce anything though.
It's a legal CYA, basically. Not an attempt to steal your work.
Xavier Bronze
The Avatar
- Location
- Metropolis
I know the odds of them using said distribution license is slim. But it's still unfriendly to original works that that clause exists. Especially with alternatives like Fictionpress, which will sometimes help people find and remove attempts at piracy, and can only distribute content within the bounds of the website, and abandons its license to display a story as soon as it's removed from the site. There are less sketchy CYAs they could have done, that wouldn't weaken authors' ownership of their stories. As it is, it reads like a bad parody of a contract a demon would force you at gunpoint to sign in infant koala blood.
But it doesn't matter much, since most of what's posted here is fanworks, for which copyright is very-nearly a non-issue. The solution is simply to be careful that nothing you post to SV be anything you ever want to make money from. Which is a good policy for open forums in general.
I'm also not sure it's even legally binding. Because I think it might possibly be illegal. 12 basically reads, "You can't sue us for not doing our job." And then 13 basically says, "You can't sue us for doing our job." The combined implication being, "You can't sue us no matter what we do." Which I don't think is something you can unknowingly sign away the right to do just by visiting a website.
Chloe Sullivan
Subdefective
- Location
- 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale CA
Given that the site founders include at least one actual lawyer, I would not make any assumptions in that direction.
And yeah, I try not to post any original work unless I don't really want the rights.
I mean, realistically, it's probably intended just to make sure someone doesn't decide that a license to keep the posts up on the website itself doesn't allow them to make off-site backups, move to a different hosting provider, etc.
Or imagine if someone decided they wanted to block Reader Mode by saying that the (hypothetical narrower) license only allows them to present the posts in the context of the whole threads and surrounding non-story posts. And they couldn't predict in advance that they were going to implement reader mode, or what the next thing that they're going to implement that they don't want to give literally everyone a veto power over.
It'd be nice if they'd make some effort to cover that without an overly broad "We can do anything we want and won't bother saying what that is" clause though.
Or imagine if someone decided they wanted to block Reader Mode by saying that the (hypothetical narrower) license only allows them to present the posts in the context of the whole threads and surrounding non-story posts. And they couldn't predict in advance that they were going to implement reader mode, or what the next thing that they're going to implement that they don't want to give literally everyone a veto power over.
It'd be nice if they'd make some effort to cover that without an overly broad "We can do anything we want and won't bother saying what that is" clause though.
Last edited:
Betrayal in the Gobi
Xavier Bronze
The Avatar
- Location
- Metropolis
Bulkhead opens his door and my seatbelt unbuckles itself. Bo jumps and glides over me out the door.
I see a giant purple tank approaching us very quickly from the horizon.
"I'm gonna stay in here, thanks."
"I can't transform safely with you in there, and I can't fight like this."
Okay, fine. I jump out and land in the sand and the desert sun next to Bo.
Between the hangover and the sand between my fingers, there's something comfortingly familiar about this.
Bulkhead transforms, and so does the tank. That's a very menacing single red eye that makes up its entire face.
Bulkhead's fist transforms into a wrecking ball, because of course it does, "Shockwave. Is it just you out here?"
An equally menacing deep voice rumbles out in a way that makes me understand why he got the name Shockwave, "No. It is not... just me."
There's someone behind us. I turn sideways, careful not to lose awareness of Shockwave. The other one is smaller than Bulkhead or Shockwave, but still over three meters tall. Gray and silver. The shape of his mechanical head reminds me of Wolverine's hair.
Bulkhead looks between them, defensive stance, "You're working with Steeljaw now? Megatronus can't be too happy about that."
So we have a third faction? It would've been nice to know that before they were attacking me.
Steeljaw speaks with a tone that could either melt butter or cut it, "Shockwave was tired of playing second fiddle to Starscream." Another name I remember! "I recognized his value, and offered him a position more deserving of his many talents."
These two look pretty dangerous. I'm new to judging Manhunter body language, but I'd say Bulkhead's nervous. I think we're probably outmatched.
Bulkhead transforms his hands back into hands and puts them up, "Look, Steeljaw, you want to colonize earth. I want it to stay the way it is. But neither of us can get what we want if Megatronus turns this planet into a husk like ours."
Steeljaw grins and I see multiple rows of metal fangs, "You propose a temporary alliance."
"Just to stop Megatronus from finding the artifact. After that we go right back to pummeling each other."
Shockwave says, "His proposition is… logical."
Steeljaw scratches his chin in a way I have to wonder if it's natural for them to do or not. Would they itch? "Fine. Until we find the artifact's coordinates, we will... cooperate..."
Why do I get the feeling that he's going to betray us before then?
Shockwave tells us, "I'm detecting a weak signal from the crashed ship."
He transforms back into a tank, and Steeljaw transforms into a car. They start driving as Bulkhead transforms and pops his door. I quickly grab Bo and climb in and we follow our totally untrustworthy new allies.
I ask, "Just checking. We're going to betray them as soon as we have the advantage, right?"
Bulkhead agrees, "Not like they won't do the same to us. Steeljaw is about as trustworthy as a deadly poison."
"Can Manhunters be poisoned?"
"If we use the wrong fuel, yeah. We're built to run off of the emotional energy of the universe. But that stuff ain't easy to collect. Nowadays we use a sort of... neutral light. You could call it emotion-less energy. We call it energon."
I frown, "Isn't that just regular energy?"
He explains, "Eh, not exactly. Emotional energy can exist as and, if processed, transform freely between light, matter, plasma, or its natural form in the emotional plane. energon is kind of... static. It's what you get when you pull from the emotional plane without a soul or any other emotional presence to color it."
I'll take that opportunity to learn about soul mechanics, thank you, "So, do you have souls?"
"'Course we do. We're not Skynet. Megatronus didn't turn evil because he's soulless. He just got tired of caring. Orion says he used to be a really nice guy, before the old war. They used to be close."
This is my first serious source of information on the history and state of affairs in space. The Asgardians don't like me because I'm associated with the disappearance of their prince, so I never wanted to risk asking them. They only gave me the coin phone in case of information about Thor anyway. But the autocons like me. And they're out there. And they've been out there for maybe millions of years.
"How does the Green Lantern Corps feel about the Nova Corps? Why haven't they done anything about the Kree?
The rear view mirror turns so that I can see my own reflection, "You know a lot about galactic politics for an earther. Orion doesn't like us telling SHIELD much that they don't need to know."
I cross my arms, "I don't tell SHIELD everything either. And I'm not SHIELD."
He seems to buy it, or just not care all that much, "The Green Lanterns and the Nova get along just fine as long as they stay inside their own territory. Earth is in a pretty fuzzy area at the border of a bunch of different jurisdictions. The GLs, the Nova, the Kree, the Manhunters, and about a dozen others all have a claim to this system. Most people call this whole sector No Man's Land. Like the Wild West of the Milky Way."
So the Guardians don't rule everywhere, "You have your own territory in space?"
"Well yeah. The Guardians weren't gonna let us stay after what Megatronus did. We're lucky they didn't shut us down. We were all banished. They let us bring our homeworld with us, but other than that we had to start over. The Corps leaves us alone, but, we can never go back to our home galaxy." His voice cracks in anger, "All thanks to Megatronus."
I don't particularly feel like immediately asking more questions after that, "I'm sorry, this must be hard for you to talk about."
He sighs, "It was a long time ago." We remain in awkward silence for a second, "We're almost there. Once we're in, watch Steeljaw. You're my backup as soon as he turns his."
I nod, "Got it."
We stop in a part of the desert that looks exactly like all the others. Bulkhead lets me and Bo out again.
I ask, "These are the coordinates?"
Shockwave looks down at the ground in front of us us, "Yes. There's a tunneling device. I'm currently bypassing destron encryption. There is a 79 percent chance we will face immediate opposition inside."
Bulkhead does what I think at a better angle would look like a smirk, "I like those odds!"
The sand where Shockwave is looking parts aside, flowing unnaturally not unlike how water acts when I Bend it. It makes a corridor that slopes down underground, with a metal door at the bottom. Shockwave walks down first. I step in line behind Bulkhead, and I look back to see Steeljaw behind us.
Steeljaw smiles charmingly, "You're looking the wrong direction. The enemy is ahead."
Uh huh. Right. I nod and turn back, but keep my ears peeled behind me. Bo turns around on my shoulder and watches Steeljaw. I smile and give her a pet. Thanks for watching out for me.
A prehensile cable extends from Shockwave's arm and interfaces with a panel beside the door at the bottom of the tunnel. The door snaps open all at once. I ready myself for combat, but no-one emerges. So we press forward.
It's dark inside. But not pitch black. The metal is etched with what looks like circuitry lines, faintly glowing blood red.
This ship must be huge. These hallways are big enough for the Manhunters to stand and walk comfortably. If I had to guess they'd probably be just as comfortable driving. Maybe even two lanes wide. Like a road. And this isn't a main hall. We turn onto another similar hallway. There must be a whole network of them. I can see the end of the corridor we're in. But it's far enough that I can't judge how far it is with any accuracy.
How hasn't this place been discovered? Wouldn't it show up on seismic imaging? Being in the desert might help with that, but it wasn't buried very deep. It seems like it would have been uncovered by someone, or the wind.
Shockwave points his giant arm cannon into one of the side doors, "Why aren't we facing greater resistance? Where are the destron forces that found the vessel?"
Bulkhead is on edge, "I don't know. But I've got a bad feeling they knew we were coming."
I say, "How long would it have taken for them to get what they needed? If they knew we were coming could they have already left?"
Bulkhead grunts in thought, "Maybe. But why would they leave all this Manhunter tech just lying around for us to harvest and use against them? It's not their MO."
I ask, almost dreading the answer, "Is a bomb their MO? Could they have rigged the place to blow?"
And Steeljaw is immediately driving away. I'll take that as a yes.
Bulkhead transforms, "Get in. Shockwave. Where would the engine room be in a ship like this?"
I grab Bo and climb in as Shockwave transforms too, and we're on our way, "Close. We may only have minutes to deactivate the destruct sequence."
I add, "Or less. Should we take Steeljaw's lead and just leave? They probably destroyed the evidence we were looking for anyway."
Bulkhead disagrees, "No. They might have left something behind. Right now this is our only lead toward finding the weapon. And maybe they missed something Shockwave or Ratchet can use."
"Have you called the others yet?"
"Too risky. The destrons cracked our communications last week and they've been monitoring everything."
Shockwave backs me up, "Logic dictates that the destrons planted the transmission that I followed here. They are already aware of your position and likely course of action. Additional risk from making contact is negligible compared to the assistance that your allies could provide."
He's obviously not happy about the idea, "Alright. I guess if it can't make things any worse."
Why is Shockwave still here when his leader skipped out on us? Is he just smarter? Braver? It makes me wonder why Steeljaw's in charge. Then again, he does seem like quite the silver tongued fox.
We enter a cavernous room with pulsating lights running through the wall circuitry, all collecting in a central pillar that is making a very unsafe humming-buzzing sound. That must be the engine.
Shockwave transforms and interfaces with it the same way he did the door, "The energon feedback will become critical in one-hundred and fifty seconds."
I get out of Bulkhead and ask, "Can you stop it?"
"The energon must be drained into a compatible conduit or containment module, or the release would be even more devastating than the destruct sequence."
"What does that mean?"
Bulkhead sighs, and transforms, "It means one of us is gonna have to eat all the raw energon in the ship."
Shockwave turns expectantly to Bulkhead, pulling a cable out of the engine and handing it to him.
I can't fucking believe this, "Can't you just send it back into the rest of the ship? Or both of you take it so it isn't as deadly?"
Bulkhead takes the cable and plugs it into the back of his neck. His seams and joints start to glow the same faint red as the ship, "It ain't deadly. At least at first. ...Ratchet'll fix me up as soon as we get back."
I'm... not convinced. I don't think he is either.
He groans in pain and bends over as the engine drains free of its light. A glowing red liquid drips from his eyes.
Bo grrs. The stone latch on one of my water pouches clicks open at a covert hand gesture.
Shockwave points his arm cannon at Bulkhead's head, "Your sacrifice will not be in vain."
And at my command a stream of water flies out to intercept the barrel of the charging weapon. As soon as it splashes against the end, I freeze it.
The extra weight throws off his aim, and the shot only hits Bulkhead's shoulder. Bulkhead immediately retaliates with a wrecking ball to the eye-face, which cracks the lens and sends him sprawling back. Shockwave reaches out for balance and grabs the engine column. I feel the air sizzle with static right before red lightning arcs throughout Shockwave's body and out to the surrounding floor. I urgently hop back several steps to get further out of the danger zone.
Bulkhead labors to stand and unplugs himself from the ruined engine. We look at the smoking heap of humanoid metal.
I see a giant purple tank approaching us very quickly from the horizon.
"I'm gonna stay in here, thanks."
"I can't transform safely with you in there, and I can't fight like this."
Okay, fine. I jump out and land in the sand and the desert sun next to Bo.
Between the hangover and the sand between my fingers, there's something comfortingly familiar about this.
Bulkhead transforms, and so does the tank. That's a very menacing single red eye that makes up its entire face.
Bulkhead's fist transforms into a wrecking ball, because of course it does, "Shockwave. Is it just you out here?"
An equally menacing deep voice rumbles out in a way that makes me understand why he got the name Shockwave, "No. It is not... just me."
There's someone behind us. I turn sideways, careful not to lose awareness of Shockwave. The other one is smaller than Bulkhead or Shockwave, but still over three meters tall. Gray and silver. The shape of his mechanical head reminds me of Wolverine's hair.
Bulkhead looks between them, defensive stance, "You're working with Steeljaw now? Megatronus can't be too happy about that."
So we have a third faction? It would've been nice to know that before they were attacking me.
Steeljaw speaks with a tone that could either melt butter or cut it, "Shockwave was tired of playing second fiddle to Starscream." Another name I remember! "I recognized his value, and offered him a position more deserving of his many talents."
These two look pretty dangerous. I'm new to judging Manhunter body language, but I'd say Bulkhead's nervous. I think we're probably outmatched.
Bulkhead transforms his hands back into hands and puts them up, "Look, Steeljaw, you want to colonize earth. I want it to stay the way it is. But neither of us can get what we want if Megatronus turns this planet into a husk like ours."
Steeljaw grins and I see multiple rows of metal fangs, "You propose a temporary alliance."
"Just to stop Megatronus from finding the artifact. After that we go right back to pummeling each other."
Shockwave says, "His proposition is… logical."
Steeljaw scratches his chin in a way I have to wonder if it's natural for them to do or not. Would they itch? "Fine. Until we find the artifact's coordinates, we will... cooperate..."
Why do I get the feeling that he's going to betray us before then?
Shockwave tells us, "I'm detecting a weak signal from the crashed ship."
He transforms back into a tank, and Steeljaw transforms into a car. They start driving as Bulkhead transforms and pops his door. I quickly grab Bo and climb in and we follow our totally untrustworthy new allies.
I ask, "Just checking. We're going to betray them as soon as we have the advantage, right?"
Bulkhead agrees, "Not like they won't do the same to us. Steeljaw is about as trustworthy as a deadly poison."
"Can Manhunters be poisoned?"
"If we use the wrong fuel, yeah. We're built to run off of the emotional energy of the universe. But that stuff ain't easy to collect. Nowadays we use a sort of... neutral light. You could call it emotion-less energy. We call it energon."
I frown, "Isn't that just regular energy?"
He explains, "Eh, not exactly. Emotional energy can exist as and, if processed, transform freely between light, matter, plasma, or its natural form in the emotional plane. energon is kind of... static. It's what you get when you pull from the emotional plane without a soul or any other emotional presence to color it."
I'll take that opportunity to learn about soul mechanics, thank you, "So, do you have souls?"
"'Course we do. We're not Skynet. Megatronus didn't turn evil because he's soulless. He just got tired of caring. Orion says he used to be a really nice guy, before the old war. They used to be close."
This is my first serious source of information on the history and state of affairs in space. The Asgardians don't like me because I'm associated with the disappearance of their prince, so I never wanted to risk asking them. They only gave me the coin phone in case of information about Thor anyway. But the autocons like me. And they're out there. And they've been out there for maybe millions of years.
"How does the Green Lantern Corps feel about the Nova Corps? Why haven't they done anything about the Kree?
The rear view mirror turns so that I can see my own reflection, "You know a lot about galactic politics for an earther. Orion doesn't like us telling SHIELD much that they don't need to know."
I cross my arms, "I don't tell SHIELD everything either. And I'm not SHIELD."
He seems to buy it, or just not care all that much, "The Green Lanterns and the Nova get along just fine as long as they stay inside their own territory. Earth is in a pretty fuzzy area at the border of a bunch of different jurisdictions. The GLs, the Nova, the Kree, the Manhunters, and about a dozen others all have a claim to this system. Most people call this whole sector No Man's Land. Like the Wild West of the Milky Way."
So the Guardians don't rule everywhere, "You have your own territory in space?"
"Well yeah. The Guardians weren't gonna let us stay after what Megatronus did. We're lucky they didn't shut us down. We were all banished. They let us bring our homeworld with us, but other than that we had to start over. The Corps leaves us alone, but, we can never go back to our home galaxy." His voice cracks in anger, "All thanks to Megatronus."
I don't particularly feel like immediately asking more questions after that, "I'm sorry, this must be hard for you to talk about."
He sighs, "It was a long time ago." We remain in awkward silence for a second, "We're almost there. Once we're in, watch Steeljaw. You're my backup as soon as he turns his."
I nod, "Got it."
We stop in a part of the desert that looks exactly like all the others. Bulkhead lets me and Bo out again.
I ask, "These are the coordinates?"
Shockwave looks down at the ground in front of us us, "Yes. There's a tunneling device. I'm currently bypassing destron encryption. There is a 79 percent chance we will face immediate opposition inside."
Bulkhead does what I think at a better angle would look like a smirk, "I like those odds!"
The sand where Shockwave is looking parts aside, flowing unnaturally not unlike how water acts when I Bend it. It makes a corridor that slopes down underground, with a metal door at the bottom. Shockwave walks down first. I step in line behind Bulkhead, and I look back to see Steeljaw behind us.
Steeljaw smiles charmingly, "You're looking the wrong direction. The enemy is ahead."
Uh huh. Right. I nod and turn back, but keep my ears peeled behind me. Bo turns around on my shoulder and watches Steeljaw. I smile and give her a pet. Thanks for watching out for me.
A prehensile cable extends from Shockwave's arm and interfaces with a panel beside the door at the bottom of the tunnel. The door snaps open all at once. I ready myself for combat, but no-one emerges. So we press forward.
It's dark inside. But not pitch black. The metal is etched with what looks like circuitry lines, faintly glowing blood red.
This ship must be huge. These hallways are big enough for the Manhunters to stand and walk comfortably. If I had to guess they'd probably be just as comfortable driving. Maybe even two lanes wide. Like a road. And this isn't a main hall. We turn onto another similar hallway. There must be a whole network of them. I can see the end of the corridor we're in. But it's far enough that I can't judge how far it is with any accuracy.
How hasn't this place been discovered? Wouldn't it show up on seismic imaging? Being in the desert might help with that, but it wasn't buried very deep. It seems like it would have been uncovered by someone, or the wind.
Shockwave points his giant arm cannon into one of the side doors, "Why aren't we facing greater resistance? Where are the destron forces that found the vessel?"
Bulkhead is on edge, "I don't know. But I've got a bad feeling they knew we were coming."
I say, "How long would it have taken for them to get what they needed? If they knew we were coming could they have already left?"
Bulkhead grunts in thought, "Maybe. But why would they leave all this Manhunter tech just lying around for us to harvest and use against them? It's not their MO."
I ask, almost dreading the answer, "Is a bomb their MO? Could they have rigged the place to blow?"
And Steeljaw is immediately driving away. I'll take that as a yes.
Bulkhead transforms, "Get in. Shockwave. Where would the engine room be in a ship like this?"
I grab Bo and climb in as Shockwave transforms too, and we're on our way, "Close. We may only have minutes to deactivate the destruct sequence."
I add, "Or less. Should we take Steeljaw's lead and just leave? They probably destroyed the evidence we were looking for anyway."
Bulkhead disagrees, "No. They might have left something behind. Right now this is our only lead toward finding the weapon. And maybe they missed something Shockwave or Ratchet can use."
"Have you called the others yet?"
"Too risky. The destrons cracked our communications last week and they've been monitoring everything."
Shockwave backs me up, "Logic dictates that the destrons planted the transmission that I followed here. They are already aware of your position and likely course of action. Additional risk from making contact is negligible compared to the assistance that your allies could provide."
He's obviously not happy about the idea, "Alright. I guess if it can't make things any worse."
Why is Shockwave still here when his leader skipped out on us? Is he just smarter? Braver? It makes me wonder why Steeljaw's in charge. Then again, he does seem like quite the silver tongued fox.
We enter a cavernous room with pulsating lights running through the wall circuitry, all collecting in a central pillar that is making a very unsafe humming-buzzing sound. That must be the engine.
Shockwave transforms and interfaces with it the same way he did the door, "The energon feedback will become critical in one-hundred and fifty seconds."
I get out of Bulkhead and ask, "Can you stop it?"
"The energon must be drained into a compatible conduit or containment module, or the release would be even more devastating than the destruct sequence."
"What does that mean?"
Bulkhead sighs, and transforms, "It means one of us is gonna have to eat all the raw energon in the ship."
Shockwave turns expectantly to Bulkhead, pulling a cable out of the engine and handing it to him.
I can't fucking believe this, "Can't you just send it back into the rest of the ship? Or both of you take it so it isn't as deadly?"
Bulkhead takes the cable and plugs it into the back of his neck. His seams and joints start to glow the same faint red as the ship, "It ain't deadly. At least at first. ...Ratchet'll fix me up as soon as we get back."
I'm... not convinced. I don't think he is either.
He groans in pain and bends over as the engine drains free of its light. A glowing red liquid drips from his eyes.
Bo grrs. The stone latch on one of my water pouches clicks open at a covert hand gesture.
Shockwave points his arm cannon at Bulkhead's head, "Your sacrifice will not be in vain."
And at my command a stream of water flies out to intercept the barrel of the charging weapon. As soon as it splashes against the end, I freeze it.
The extra weight throws off his aim, and the shot only hits Bulkhead's shoulder. Bulkhead immediately retaliates with a wrecking ball to the eye-face, which cracks the lens and sends him sprawling back. Shockwave reaches out for balance and grabs the engine column. I feel the air sizzle with static right before red lightning arcs throughout Shockwave's body and out to the surrounding floor. I urgently hop back several steps to get further out of the danger zone.
Bulkhead labors to stand and unplugs himself from the ruined engine. We look at the smoking heap of humanoid metal.
Xavier Bronze
The Avatar
- Location
- Metropolis
Probably indirectly. This one, primarily. But that Regenesis thing does look interesting.
Maybe later. He's not dead.
Escape From the Gobi
Xavier Bronze
The Avatar
- Location
- Metropolis
I ask, "Is he dead?"
Bulkhead shakes his head, "No. Energon discharge. He'll come back online in a few minutes. We have to deal with him before he does."
"So... Lock him up? Kill him?"
The eyebrow-equivalent parts of Bulkhead's robot face narrow in a very human expression of anger, "As much as I'd love to turn this mad scientist into scrap, we still need him. He knows destron systems. He might be able to recover something Ratchet can't. Let's get out of here, I can lock down the engine room from the outside."
I frown, "Couldn't he just start up the self-destruct again?"
Bulkhead starts limping towards the door. His injured shoulder is dripping some kind of fluid, "And then we leave, and he only blows himself up."
I have to hurry to keep up because of the size difference, even when he's limping. One stride for him is over three meters. On the other end of things, Bo scurries ahead faster than either of us, and then looks back expectantly.
When we're all out of the engine room he smashes the console and the door closes. Then another even thicker door that runs floor to ceiling.
We hear cars approaching and prepare to fight. Except Bo, who seems unconcerned until I glare and gesture for her to get behind me. I'm not sure the three of us could take even the smallest Manhunter right now. He's poisoned and injured. I'm a squishy human. And I love Bo, but there isn't a lot for her to do on this mission.
Luckily the vehicles that turn onto our road are ones I recognize. Ratchet, Bumblebee, and… The red sports car. Fuck.
Bulkhead puts away his wrecking ball fists, "Ratchet! Bumblebee!" Say the red one's name!
The red one chides him, "I'm here too, you know."
"Shut your speaker-hole, destron." He's a destron? I thought he was a, what's-it, autocon. Maybe he used to be one.
Ratchet confirms my theory, "Bulkhead, as much as it pains me to admit it, Knockout has been a... faithful ally for several years. He is an autocon." Ratchet looks like he might gag.
Knockout is very pleased with himself, "You got that right."
Ratchet sees Bulkhead's injuries and steps forward, "Let me take a look at that."
Bulkhead shrugs him off, even though he's still leaking, "Don't bother. I'll be fine until we get back to base."
Ratchet growls concernedly, "Bulkhead."
Bumblebee's parts bang and grind against each other in a rhythmic way. Oh wait, that's the same language Bulkhead slipped into.
Ratchet sighs and nods, understanding the garbled mechanical noises, "You're right, Bumblebee. Where is the engine room? I need to start decrypting the ship's computer."
I point with my thumb over my shoulder, "We just locked Shockwave inside."
Ratchet strokes his chin thoughtfully, "Hmm. Now that we outnumber him that might be to our advantage. He could help me uncover any information the destrons might have left behind."
I bare my teeth, "That was the idea, but he might not be too happy to help us, since we... shoved him into the engine and knocked him out."
His jaw drops, "You what! You knocked out Shockwave?"
Bulkhead laughs, "She saved my spark. I would've been scrap if she weren't there."
I smile at him.
Bumblebee says something that sounds like an autotuned rotary saw in an echo chamber. I don't think I like that language.
Knockout points an arm cannon at the locked engine room door, "My pleasure."
The door is completely untouched after the third blast.
Ratchet sees the sparking remnants of the wall panel, "Bulkhead, did you absolutely have to smash the console?"
He flexes a shoulder, "No. But I wanted to make sure it stayed closed."
Ratchet starts digging through the fragments of the panel, "Hold on..."
After a few seconds, the door snaps open, Shockwave standing awake and ready to fight on the other side. Knockout looks like he's about to adjust his aim before he realizes he's already pointed at Shockwave, where the door used to be. Bumblebee makes sounds that sound angry, I think.
Bulkhead snarls at Shockwave, "You're outnumbered, destron. Your only option is to work with us. Unless you want me to finish what Avatar started."
Shockwave lowers his weapon, "No need. I will cooperate, on the condition that all information recovered will be shared equally."
Ratchet growls, "Absolutely not!"
Bumblebee puts a halting hand in front of Ratchet, and makes more Manhunter-speak noises.
Knockout says, "You're right. As long as we stay ahead of Megatronus, it's worth the risk of helping Steeljaw."
I agree, "If Megatronus wants to destroy the world, I think it's probably worth it too."
Ratchet makes a frustrated growl of resignation, "Fine. Shockwave, let's get this over with."
This war has a lot of very old grudges.
Several minutes of work later, Ratchet exclaims, "I found it! An old record. A journal of our homeworld's final days, written by the captain of this ship. They were transporting one of the seven Masks of Power to a secure location when they were attacked by pirates, and crash landed. The captain loaded the relic onto an escape pod so that it wouldn't fall into the pirates' hands." He groans, "The pod's location data is corrupted. I'll need a few days to decode it."
Bo scurries over to watch Shockwave curiously as he removes two glowing chip-things from a computer console and gives one of them to Ratchet. What, seriously? We're just gonna let him take a copy? I know we said we would, but we've got him four-and-a-half to one!
Ratchet takes it, "And to the faster decoder go the spoils. A deal's a deal." Seriously?
I catch Bulkhead's eye and gesture for him to lean closer. He does, and I whisper, "Why don't we just lock him in here again and take the data? Or, at least just don't give it to him! I mean what the fuck?"
Bulkhead's voice is unnaturally quiet for his size, so even I can barely hear it, "Shockwave and Steeljaw aren't friendlies. But we can always rely on them to do what's best for themselves. And Megatronus hates Steeljaw almost as much as he hates us. If we stole that data now and went back on our deal, it would throw out any chance of them helping us in the future. That's not something we can afford to do in this war."
Damn, "I guess that makes sense. Enemy of my enemy. Evil is better than apocalyptic."
Shockwave interrupts us, "Manhunters also have superior auditory receptors. You would do well to remember that." Duh. That was stupid of me. Robots. They can just turn up the gain.
I glare at Bulkhead, "Shouldn't you have known that he could hear us?" Bo retreats to her hiding spot on my back. What's she suddenly so nervous about now?
He shrugs, "Sorry. I thought he'd be too focused on whatever it is he's doing."
Shockwave pushes a final button and alarms blare, "'What I'm doing'." A ground bridge opens behind him and he leisurely backs through, with it immediately closing again and leaving us alone.
Ratchet takes one glance at the console Shockwave was working at, "No time! Roll out!"
Everyone transforms into car-mode and I quickly climb back into Bulkhead. As we drive and the seconds stretch on, every one might be the one when this whole place blows. More seconds pass. And more. And I still can't see the door.
The circuitry on the walls glows brighter, and then individual lines start to explode, sprinkling glass-like fragments over Bulkhead's windshield.
I urge him to go faster, "Bulkhead!"
He snaps back, "I'm going as fast as I can! No front-seat driving!"
There's the door! The stick shift moves on its own and I see one of the pedals hit the metal. We abruptly turn and drift out into the sand tunnel. Right after we're out Bumblebee presses the outside panel and the blast doors close.
There's a tense pause of about eight seconds before the door buckles outward at the force of the blast inside.
Knockout asks, "Did we get the information we need?"
Ratchet starts driving up and out of the tunnel, "Yes. We need to get this data back to Fixit for analysis." The rest of the team follow him out and the sand tunnel collapses into the desert behind us as gravity reasserts itself against whatever technological force was keeping it open.
I ask, "How long will the analysis take?"
Bumblebee says something, and everyone else acts like the question has been addressed.
"Guys, I can't understand Bumblebee."
Bulkhead's mirror points at me again, "Oh, riight. Bee's translator got stolen about a decade ago."
Knockout answers me, "With Ratchet, Fixit and my own collective genius, it'll be finished by tomorrow."
Ratchet complains, "Don't be overzealous, Knockout. The encryption on this data is archaic. We'll need at least a day to even decipher the language completely. Not to mention the retrofit we'll need to even access it..."
I take a deep breath as a ground bridge opens in front of us, "During which time I will be sleeping off this hangover."
Knockout asks, "What's a hangover?"
Bulkhead shakes his head, "No. Energon discharge. He'll come back online in a few minutes. We have to deal with him before he does."
"So... Lock him up? Kill him?"
The eyebrow-equivalent parts of Bulkhead's robot face narrow in a very human expression of anger, "As much as I'd love to turn this mad scientist into scrap, we still need him. He knows destron systems. He might be able to recover something Ratchet can't. Let's get out of here, I can lock down the engine room from the outside."
I frown, "Couldn't he just start up the self-destruct again?"
Bulkhead starts limping towards the door. His injured shoulder is dripping some kind of fluid, "And then we leave, and he only blows himself up."
I have to hurry to keep up because of the size difference, even when he's limping. One stride for him is over three meters. On the other end of things, Bo scurries ahead faster than either of us, and then looks back expectantly.
When we're all out of the engine room he smashes the console and the door closes. Then another even thicker door that runs floor to ceiling.
We hear cars approaching and prepare to fight. Except Bo, who seems unconcerned until I glare and gesture for her to get behind me. I'm not sure the three of us could take even the smallest Manhunter right now. He's poisoned and injured. I'm a squishy human. And I love Bo, but there isn't a lot for her to do on this mission.
Luckily the vehicles that turn onto our road are ones I recognize. Ratchet, Bumblebee, and… The red sports car. Fuck.
Bulkhead puts away his wrecking ball fists, "Ratchet! Bumblebee!" Say the red one's name!
The red one chides him, "I'm here too, you know."
"Shut your speaker-hole, destron." He's a destron? I thought he was a, what's-it, autocon. Maybe he used to be one.
Ratchet confirms my theory, "Bulkhead, as much as it pains me to admit it, Knockout has been a... faithful ally for several years. He is an autocon." Ratchet looks like he might gag.
Knockout is very pleased with himself, "You got that right."
Ratchet sees Bulkhead's injuries and steps forward, "Let me take a look at that."
Bulkhead shrugs him off, even though he's still leaking, "Don't bother. I'll be fine until we get back to base."
Ratchet growls concernedly, "Bulkhead."
Bumblebee's parts bang and grind against each other in a rhythmic way. Oh wait, that's the same language Bulkhead slipped into.
Ratchet sighs and nods, understanding the garbled mechanical noises, "You're right, Bumblebee. Where is the engine room? I need to start decrypting the ship's computer."
I point with my thumb over my shoulder, "We just locked Shockwave inside."
Ratchet strokes his chin thoughtfully, "Hmm. Now that we outnumber him that might be to our advantage. He could help me uncover any information the destrons might have left behind."
I bare my teeth, "That was the idea, but he might not be too happy to help us, since we... shoved him into the engine and knocked him out."
His jaw drops, "You what! You knocked out Shockwave?"
Bulkhead laughs, "She saved my spark. I would've been scrap if she weren't there."
I smile at him.
Bumblebee says something that sounds like an autotuned rotary saw in an echo chamber. I don't think I like that language.
Knockout points an arm cannon at the locked engine room door, "My pleasure."
The door is completely untouched after the third blast.
Ratchet sees the sparking remnants of the wall panel, "Bulkhead, did you absolutely have to smash the console?"
He flexes a shoulder, "No. But I wanted to make sure it stayed closed."
Ratchet starts digging through the fragments of the panel, "Hold on..."
After a few seconds, the door snaps open, Shockwave standing awake and ready to fight on the other side. Knockout looks like he's about to adjust his aim before he realizes he's already pointed at Shockwave, where the door used to be. Bumblebee makes sounds that sound angry, I think.
Bulkhead snarls at Shockwave, "You're outnumbered, destron. Your only option is to work with us. Unless you want me to finish what Avatar started."
Shockwave lowers his weapon, "No need. I will cooperate, on the condition that all information recovered will be shared equally."
Ratchet growls, "Absolutely not!"
Bumblebee puts a halting hand in front of Ratchet, and makes more Manhunter-speak noises.
Knockout says, "You're right. As long as we stay ahead of Megatronus, it's worth the risk of helping Steeljaw."
I agree, "If Megatronus wants to destroy the world, I think it's probably worth it too."
Ratchet makes a frustrated growl of resignation, "Fine. Shockwave, let's get this over with."
This war has a lot of very old grudges.
Several minutes of work later, Ratchet exclaims, "I found it! An old record. A journal of our homeworld's final days, written by the captain of this ship. They were transporting one of the seven Masks of Power to a secure location when they were attacked by pirates, and crash landed. The captain loaded the relic onto an escape pod so that it wouldn't fall into the pirates' hands." He groans, "The pod's location data is corrupted. I'll need a few days to decode it."
Bo scurries over to watch Shockwave curiously as he removes two glowing chip-things from a computer console and gives one of them to Ratchet. What, seriously? We're just gonna let him take a copy? I know we said we would, but we've got him four-and-a-half to one!
Ratchet takes it, "And to the faster decoder go the spoils. A deal's a deal." Seriously?
I catch Bulkhead's eye and gesture for him to lean closer. He does, and I whisper, "Why don't we just lock him in here again and take the data? Or, at least just don't give it to him! I mean what the fuck?"
Bulkhead's voice is unnaturally quiet for his size, so even I can barely hear it, "Shockwave and Steeljaw aren't friendlies. But we can always rely on them to do what's best for themselves. And Megatronus hates Steeljaw almost as much as he hates us. If we stole that data now and went back on our deal, it would throw out any chance of them helping us in the future. That's not something we can afford to do in this war."
Damn, "I guess that makes sense. Enemy of my enemy. Evil is better than apocalyptic."
Shockwave interrupts us, "Manhunters also have superior auditory receptors. You would do well to remember that." Duh. That was stupid of me. Robots. They can just turn up the gain.
I glare at Bulkhead, "Shouldn't you have known that he could hear us?" Bo retreats to her hiding spot on my back. What's she suddenly so nervous about now?
He shrugs, "Sorry. I thought he'd be too focused on whatever it is he's doing."
Shockwave pushes a final button and alarms blare, "'What I'm doing'." A ground bridge opens behind him and he leisurely backs through, with it immediately closing again and leaving us alone.
Ratchet takes one glance at the console Shockwave was working at, "No time! Roll out!"
Everyone transforms into car-mode and I quickly climb back into Bulkhead. As we drive and the seconds stretch on, every one might be the one when this whole place blows. More seconds pass. And more. And I still can't see the door.
The circuitry on the walls glows brighter, and then individual lines start to explode, sprinkling glass-like fragments over Bulkhead's windshield.
I urge him to go faster, "Bulkhead!"
He snaps back, "I'm going as fast as I can! No front-seat driving!"
There's the door! The stick shift moves on its own and I see one of the pedals hit the metal. We abruptly turn and drift out into the sand tunnel. Right after we're out Bumblebee presses the outside panel and the blast doors close.
There's a tense pause of about eight seconds before the door buckles outward at the force of the blast inside.
Knockout asks, "Did we get the information we need?"
Ratchet starts driving up and out of the tunnel, "Yes. We need to get this data back to Fixit for analysis." The rest of the team follow him out and the sand tunnel collapses into the desert behind us as gravity reasserts itself against whatever technological force was keeping it open.
I ask, "How long will the analysis take?"
Bumblebee says something, and everyone else acts like the question has been addressed.
"Guys, I can't understand Bumblebee."
Bulkhead's mirror points at me again, "Oh, riight. Bee's translator got stolen about a decade ago."
Knockout answers me, "With Ratchet, Fixit and my own collective genius, it'll be finished by tomorrow."
Ratchet complains, "Don't be overzealous, Knockout. The encryption on this data is archaic. We'll need at least a day to even decipher the language completely. Not to mention the retrofit we'll need to even access it..."
I take a deep breath as a ground bridge opens in front of us, "During which time I will be sleeping off this hangover."
Knockout asks, "What's a hangover?"
Evil Plan
Not nearly so nefarious as my name signifies
- Location
- Eastern United States
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Oh, there's a trope for this! Where the book writers work all the names into dialogue so the readers know who everyone is. I can't remember the name, though.
*prods around TVTropes* Introdump, that's it! ...I'm going to be kicking myself if it turns out I know about this because you linked to it earlier.
*clears throat* SQUEEE!
I was like nine when that series first came out. I was smack-dab in the bullseye of their target audience and literally grew up with it. I'm excited to see what you're doing with it, can you tell?
I'm used to thinking of the Masks in sets of six, though, so I'm trying to predict them by matching and failing horribly. Assuming you're using the original classics, would this be rounding up with L or with T?
...I wonder if there's a connection between the masks of the seven Masks of Power and the rings of the Ten Rings. Now that I've said that, I wonder if there's a connection between energon and protodermis, and if there being seven Masks is related in some way to DC's emotional spectrum. Probably not; I actually considered whether Flash is fast because of having a Mask, which means I should be in bed.
Xavier Bronze
The Avatar
- Location
- Metropolis
I'm afraid I'm only a little better than a tourist in this, and it is heavily intermixed here, as should be clear by the existence of earth and humans, so there is reason for concern for superfans like you. Here's hoping I don't shove the sacred hoof in my mouth and can deliver on some of that hype for you.
I've mostly been able to find access to the 2015 reboot (not much pirating of the G1 stuff, apparently), but tvtropes and one chat server I asked gave me the impression that was an okay-enough place to work from. Of course, wiki supplemented. The seventh Mask is the Mask of Control. (Potential moderate spoilers behind that link.) I'm going with Wind instead of Jungle for the green one, because it maps better to the Avatar elements.
The Masks are based on Makluan tech, so they compound in a similar way to the rings. Protodermis is the material the Manhunters and planet Okoto are made of, because of all the cool stuff it can do with taking different forms and channeling energy and such. The Masks don't map to the Emotional Spectrum in any meaningful way. If they did, it would mean deviating even more from the source, at which point I wouldn't be comfortable using the same names for things anymore.
Evil Plan
Not nearly so nefarious as my name signifies
- Location
- Eastern United States
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I can't even tell which series that's spoilers for, but I never got that deep into the lore anyways so I'm okay with that.
2015 series, hm? I'm not familiar with that series, which means most of my knowledge is reduced to guesses at best. This'll be interesting!
I'm not too worried for myself. It was obvious to me since you first mentioned it that there would be heavy modifications. I'm mostly just excited to see someone doing stuff with it; it's like a triple-shot of nostalgia.
*blink blink*
...Okay, sorry, I'm confused. Which SJW nonsense? I can't tell what you're referring to by that phrase.
Xavier Bronze
The Avatar
- Location
- Metropolis
Care to explain a little further? What Social Justice am I Warrioring?
Sif: Interlude
Xavier Bronze
The Avatar
- Location
- Metropolis
Sif: Interlude
Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg follow me into the Bifrost chamber. We have been preparing for this day ever since Heimdall told us Mjolnir had been claimed by a mortal. This noble Phil must be properly met by members of the Asgardian court, and friends of Mjolnir's previous owner.
I cannot think of Thor at this time. I must ready myself to meet this new warrior of Midgard.
Heimdall opens the Bifrost, and the four of us step through.
We emerge at the edge of a cliff. I see a gateway of human artifice in the rock between my feet and the sea below. There is a small structure nearby that I can only assume leads down inside Phil's fortress. The fortress is cleverly located to utilize the rocks themselves as both camouflage and additional defenses.
Fandral affixes one end of a rope to one of the rocks, and leaps off the cliff. I watch him swing and land inside.
I roll my eyes at his fancy. But, if he's going to make it easy for me... I ensure my scabbard is securely attached before sliding down his rope. Once I reach the level of the opening, I swing, and jump inside.
Are these flying machines? I had no idea the humans had become so advanced while we had been gone. This must be some kind of sky dock.
The local garrison point their quaint sulfur-based weaponry at us. I raise my hands to show I mean no harm, "We seek the great warrior Phil."
Not long later, the man I spoke with on my previous visit to this realm enters the sky dock from one of the back doors. He passes all of his subordinates and approaches us.
He reaches his hand out, and only moments later Mjolnir flies from somewhere behind me over my shoulder and into his hand. He asks, "I'm assuming you're here to talk to me about this."
This is the man Mjolnir abandoned our prince to serve, so soon after his departure? This man is Phil? "Yes. Heimdall has been watching for a time when you would have the chance to speak at length. You keep very occupied. Otherwise we would have come sooner."
He smiles in a strange manner, "Next time he could just ask for my schedule. I have copies."
"...I will tell him that. Thank you."
"What did you want to ask?"
All my plans for how to proceed suddenly elude me. This man is the last thing I would have foreseen.
Thankfully Fandral has his wits more about him, "We simply want to know more about the man who now wields one of Asgard's greatest treasures. What do you plan to do with it? And why?"
Volstagg continues, "Who do you fancy? How do you fight? What do you eat? That's how you know someone."
He lets the mighty Uru weapon hang in his hand at his side, "That's a lot of questions. Should I just... answer them in order?"
Hogun answers in the way only he can, "Yes."
The supposed warrior Phil nods, "Okay. I plan to protect my people and this planet from anyone that means them harm. I'm doing it because I believe given the same opportunity, anyone would be obligated to do the same. I'm currently fond of a cellist. A bard, named Audrey. I'm not much of a fighter, but that's been changing recently. Maybe we can spar later, if you have the time."
I step forward, not a hint of a smile crossing my lips, "Yes, I think I'll find the time."
Fandral passes me and gives the imposter a hearty clap on the shoulder, "Now then, why don't you tell us more about this cellist, and all the things about her worth fancying."
After what feel like countless decades of man-talk and drivel, it finally comes time. Phil leads us to a training area elsewhere in the fortress.
He tells the four of us, but I only hear it directed at myself, "This may go without saying, but I've never sparred with Asgardians before. I don't know how tough I am by your standards."
I draw my sword and shield, and extend the second blade, "If you truly have Thor's might, you have nothing to fear."
The Warriors Three pull me aside. Hogun shakes his head, "You cannot hurt him. No matter how much you miss Thor, you would disrespect his memory to injure his divine successor."
I sigh and grit my teeth, "I know. You need not worry. I shall not do him any permanent damage. But I need to test his mettle. We will yet see if he's worth the Uru he now carries, or if his will is as soft as bronze."
The three silently interrogate me with their eyes for several moments more. And then they give me release.
I turn to my duel, "Prepare yourself, Warrior Phil."
He enacts two truly pitiful practice swings, "So, should we count to three? Or-"
I leap forward and swing my blade down at his head. He raises Mjolnir and hits the flat of my blade aside so it strikes the floor at his feet. I ram his head with my own, and rotate my sword to thrust with the other end.
He takes a step back to dodge, and I push my advantage, driving him back one step at a time with alternating blows from each blade and my shield. He hasn't noticed the closing distance between himself and the wall behind, and I smile.
I stun him with a bash from my shield, and then kick his center of mass. The stone wall shatters and he hits the far wall of the room behind.
I stroll through the makeshift gateway and watch Phil's underlings scatter elsewhere at our arrival. He carefully stands and checks his surroundings, "I don't think we need to consult the judges." He reaches his hand out in camaraderie, "Good match."
I twirl my sword with theatricality, "It was but the first round. Raise your weapon."
He hesitates, looking at the broken wall behind me, "Should we move outside?"
I close the distance between us at a brisk pace, "We begin again at once."
He raises Mjolnir, held in both hands as if it were a battleaxe. Why did Mjolnir choose this fool? He barely knows the first thing about how to fight.
I raise my shield, "Your move."
He lets go of Mjolnir with one hand, and then with the other as well. But the hammer doesn't fall. It stays in place between his hands. How is he doing that? Does he have power beyond that which Mjolnir has bestowed upon him?
Mjolnir's handle strikes my shoulder. Observing that sorcery lured me into lowering my guard! I will not be fooled by that ruse a second time.
I stretch my shoulder and turn back to my opponent. He's unarmed. I sidestep just before Mjolnir would have hit me from behind. He catches the sacred weapon.
"You may have tricks, but you lack training. That blow could have ended the round if Mjolnir's head had hit me instead of its hilt."
He shrugs, "You've got a few thousand years more experience than me. So I think I'm doing okay, all things considered."
"Asgardian children train for fifty years with the great warriors of Valhalla. Thor and I stayed an extra thirty."
He looks at Mjolnir, "I'm afraid I don't have eighty years to spare."
I raise my sword, "Then you shall have to learn on your feet."
I swing at him from the side, and he blocks with Mjolnir. Thor always did the same, no matter how many times Odin told him it was not a shield. And it leaves Phil open to the same counter. A knee and shield combination puts him on the floor.
But he rolls to the side and Mjolnir comes up. I move my shield to block. But that puts me on the defensive long enough for him to make distance.
He thrusts Mjolnir directly forwards and I feel the oncoming lightning strike. I plant my sword in the ground, take a step back, and crouch behind my shield. I hear the thunderstrike and feel the static rush in the air.
I run forward, grabbing my sword and thrusting its point at his throat.
I stop as soon as I realize he won't be able to block me.
I step back, "You can use his lightning too."
He's out of breath. That blast was uncontrolled. He hit himself even more than me, "Thor's. Is there any news on the search?"
I take a deep breath to control the surge of anger, "If there were, I would be here to take Mjolnir back. At any cost."
He sets it down between us, "Take it. It belongs to your people."
I frown, "You mock me? Do you wish to engage in flyting?"
"I wouldn't dream of it. The hammer's yours, if you can take it. So far I'm the only one it likes."
I know the nature of the enchantment, of course. Loki was present when it was cast. If I cannot lift it, what would that mean? I don't know. I dassn't attempt it.
But if I don't, I will appear weak. My role here is as a representative of Asgard. And I fear I have already shamed my people with my disrespectful actions. He has offered a challenge, and a gift. As a guest, I cannot neglect either.
I wrap my fingers around Mjolnir's handle. I pull, and it budges for only a moment before stopping in place, immovable.
Phil's eyes are filled with wondrous curiosity, "You actually moved it. No-one else has ever done that before."
I know it to be a victory, no matter how bitter the taste, "That may be, but you remain the only one who can carry its might."
The man worthier than I steps forward and picks it up, "Once you find Thor, I would be honored to return it in person."
I smile genuinely, "Of course, that honor would be yours. Mjolnir chose you, after all."
We remain silent for a moment. I would apologize for my earlier behavior, but it's clear that he understands my grief.
I turn to the Warriors Three, "We should be on our way." I face Phil again, "We can tell Asgard that Mjolnir is in worthy hands. Farewell Thunderer." He's not Thor. But he's learning on his feet. He deserves the honorific.
He nods in very good-natured form, "Until next time, Lady Sif."
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Krazyfan1
Worrying for the future.
- Location
- Australia
IS Mjolnir sentient? or at the very least close to becoming it?Nice character capturing. Extra kudos for the references. Also somehow I'm imagining Mjolnir: "Yo, Sif. Wassup? I like you, but he's mine."
if so, wonder if there would be a way to figure out a means of communication...
Its sentient though only talked once in Jane Foster Thor books.
Pretty badass art style for its origin story.
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Xavier Bronze
The Avatar
- Location
- Metropolis
Thanks. Asgardians are harder to write naturally, so this chapter went through a lot more revisions than most. Might still be one of the least revised chapters of this Arc though.
Well I can't exactly rely on people to know what flyting is. But mythologically its apparently one of the things Sif was known for. And dassn't is just a cool word.
Also somehow I'm imagining Mjolnir: "Yo, Sif. Wassup? I like you, but he's mine."
You're both sort-of right. It means she could be worthy, in different circumstances. Like the Captain in canon, her overall goals are worthy enough. But at that specific time, her motives were skewed away from what the hammer likes. She was too self-focused, on her own grief and desires. If she had lifted Mjolnir right then, she would have used it for unworthy purposes, regardless of how worthy she might generally be as a person.
It's not sentient. It is host to a very sophisticated enchantment. The enchantment contains a complex array of parameters, including a few that update in real time based on remote data. When an intent is applied to Mjolnir, the enchantment borrows a small part of their soul to determine if they're 'worthy'. So it's possible it could become sentient when grabbed by someone with a very large and powerful soul, like Odin, or SI.
Incidentally, that means anyone could lift Mjolnir on accident, as long as their was no actual intent on their part to do so. In other words, if Mjolnir is in an elevator on the bottom floor, and someone in the elevator with it pushes the 'up' button, it would not move and would likely break the elevator. But if someone on a higher floor pushed the summon button, and Mjolnir just happened to be in the elevator at the time... the elevator would go up just fine. That's why the Helicarrier didn't drop out of the sky the first time Thor set it down in canon "The Avengers". None of the people flying the helicarrier were doing so with the intent of moving Mjolnir. That was just a happenstance result.