#i should get into mechs they did the awful space crew thing better

[hiveswap]

worst hyperfixation in years btw. homestuck was kinder

[voltrontranscript]

VLD S8E13: The End is the Beginning

Season 8 Episode 13: The End is the Beginning

Transcript by @dragonofyang

Summary: As the Paladins and Honerva battle, they find themselves at the source of all realities in the final showdown for the very existence of the universe.

[Google Doc]

Keith: We have to take the fight as far away from here as--

Allura: Now let’s finish this!

Lance: Incoming!

Shiro: We can’t let this happen. She can’t get away. 

[Transition to the Atlas-Voltron mech floating in a black abyss lit by glowing white tendrils.]

Keith: Is everyone okay?

Lance: Yep.

Pidge: Here.

Allura: Yes.

Shiro: Does anyone have eyes on Honerva?

Lance: What is this place?

Allura: I--I’m not sure.

Honerva: This is the beginning. And the end.

Allura: Can--can you all feel that? These strands are…

Lance: The only remaining realities left in existence.

Pidge: This place is the source of time, of space, of…

Hunk: Everything.

Honerva: I will end this once and for all!

Allura: She’s destroying… all realities!

Keith: She’s destroyed everything. There’s only one reality left.

Allura: No, please. If Honerva destroys this final strand, all of existence will end with it!

[Scene change to a white abyss not unlike the rift, but it’s the source of all realities.]

Honerva: Where are we?

Allura: The connected consciousness of all existence.

Honerva: You think you’re safe here? Soon all will cease to exist.

Hunk: You have to stop this. All these worlds, all these realities, they deserve to live.

Honerva: Those realities are flawed and weak, living out the same pathetic cycle of war and pain.

Allura: There is beauty in their flaws. I lost my father, my mother, my planet to this war, but I’ve gained a new family and a purpose stronger than any I could have imagined.

Pidge: Humans began very flawed. There were wars, hate. But with each mistake, they learned and grew.

Shiro: And now we reach out to other worlds to pass on those same lessons and spread them across the entire universe. Like your people once did.

Hunk: And with every new world touched, the message grows.

Keith: Every world, every reality. We wouldn’t exist without the others.

Lance: Our differences are what make us stronger.

Honerva: You think your words mean anything to me? I’ve lived multiple lifetimes, and all of them filled with pain and loss. If I cannot experience the simple joys of life, why should anyone else?

Allura: There was a time when you loved more than just your family, a time when your fascination with how vast the universe is gave way to your desire to help and uplift others.

Lotor: The beginning of Altean alchemy.

Honerva: You tried to help him.

Lotor: ...the tales you grew up with…

Honerva: He was happy. He deserved better. Better than I could give.

Allura: Lotor may have been misguided, but ultimately he wanted to preserve life. Honor your son. Help me change this.

Honerva: I’m sorry, but the damage is done. There’s nothing left to save.

Allura: I can change the quintessence within your vessel. Your son helped me learn how to transform it from a destructive force into a life-giving force. But I cannot do it alone.

Honerva: But, that would require…

Allura: I know the risks. I’m afraid this is where we part ways.

Hunk: Wait, what?

Keith: Allura.

Lance: What?

Pidge: No.

Allura: This is our only chance to undo what has been done, to save all of existence. I have to take it. It is my purpose. Your paths go on. Mine ends here.

Hunk: But there is no Voltron without you.

Allura: Voltron isn’t needed anymore. The rest of the work is up to the people. And they’ll have you to guide them, Hunk. Goodbye, Pidge.

Pidge: I’m gonna miss you, Allura.

Allura: Remain curious and fearless.

Shiro: Most of them won’t know the sacrifice you made so they could live.

Allura: And they’ll never need to. Your selflessness taught me that. Thank you.

Shiro: You never have to thank me for anything.

Allura: Keith… I cannot thank you enough for all you’ve given me.

Keith: Allura, when you accepted me, it helped me to accept myself. Thank you.

Allura: There is greatness in your heart and in your actions.

Lance: No. Allura, there--there has to be another way.

Allura: There is no other way. This is all we have.

Lance: But you’re too important to the cause. You’re--you’re too important to me.

Allura: I’ll always be with you, Lance. And I’ll always love you.

[Transition to the two mechs once more as all realities explode from between the two of them and the paladins wake up.]

Keith: Is this…? Are we…?

Pidge: Yeah. It’s our reality.

Lance: She did it. She saved us all.

Hunk: I don’t remember that planet being there before.

Lance: It’s Altea.

[Timeskip transition, with the text reading “One Year Later…” as we open on the flame of Feyiv.]

Keith: With the return of Planet Daibazaal, the Galra Empire is at a crossroads. For too long, the people of this extraordinary civilization have been manipulated by a dictatorship that placed a misguided sense of self-preservation above all else. It was a tragic, unfortunate series of events that led us down this dark, never-ending path of power and greed. But now we, the citizens of the Galra Empire, have an opportunity to make right all of the injustices set into motion by our forefathers. Because of the sacrifice made by Princess Allura, we have been given a second chance to come together in rebuilding the Galra Empire by joining the Galactic Coalition and ushering in a new era of peace across the universe.

[Scene change to the IGF-Atlas flying through deep space.]

Male Chancellor: Your armies have attacked us at every turn.

Female Chancellor: If you had just agreed to our terms, the attacks would not be necessary.

Male Chancellor: You are occupying a peaceful settlement!

Female Chancellor: Our people were starving!

Hunk: Chancellors. Please, sit. Dinner is served. The filet of bandrillo, spiced with the seasoning from the plains of planet Mabo, alongside pilaf of long-grain forlongian brill from the vast fields of Antidoll. And it’s accompanied by a cider made from the petals of the Altean juniberry flower. Bon appetit.

Female Chancellor: Delicious.

Hunk: And it wouldn’t be possible without the cooperation of all three planets of the Xritoo system. Much like my cooking crew, comprised of aliens from all across the cosmos working together to bring you this delicious meal. Princess Allura, the very person we celebrate on this day, once said, “We are always stronger together.” If the people of your planets work together, so much more can be achieved.

Shiro: Honor her by following in her footsteps and walk in the path towards peace.

[Scene change to Pidge and Matt in a robotics lab as they build an android.]

Pidge: All done.

Matt: So, have you been thinking of any names?

Pidge: Yeah, I was thinking of Chip.

Matt: You and your puns.

Colleen: Katie, your father’s got the teludav all warmed up for you. Better get going. You don’t want to be late.

Matt: Don’t worry, Pidge, I’ll have Chip all ready to go by the time you get back.

Pidge: Just don’t initialize until I return. I want to witness Chip’s first moments of consciousness.

Sam: Have a good time, honey.

Pidge: I will, Dad.

[Scene change to New Altea, where a new Castle of Lions is being constructed.]

Merla: Construction is on course.

Coran: Ah, most excellent! How are the preparations for tonight’s feast coming? It has to be perfect. It will be the first Celebration of Allura. The first of many to come.

Merla: As soon as we can get access to the location, we can begin setup. But it’s currently occupied by your friend, sir.

Lance: And had Princess Allura not seen that there was still good left in Honerva, we most likely would not be sitting here today. She grew to understand that there is good in everyone.

Balmera Girl: Even Emperor Zarkon?

Lance: Yes, even Emperor Zarkon.

Balmera Girl: Do you miss her?

Lance: I do. Very much. But I’m reminded of her everywhere I look. So in that way, she’s still very much with me. With all of us, actually.

Altean Child: Now that you no longer pilot the Red Lion, what do you do?

Lance: Well, I help run a small farm back on my home planet with my family. It’s a simple life, just the way I like it.

Altean Instructor: Alright, everybody, I think Paladin Lance has somewhere to be in a few doboshes, and you all have class to get back to.

Kids: Aw!

[Scene change to the paladins and Coran all sitting at a table loaded with food in front of Allura’s memorial statue.]

Pidge: I mean, seriously, though, Earth has come a long way. It’s a hub for all alien activity now that my dad’s stabilized his teludav technology.

Shiro: That’ll make travel on the Atlas much easier. We’ll be able to reach so many more sectors with the improved mobility. Not to mention the supplies we’ll save with the shorter journey.

Hunk: Yeah, yeah! We’ll have so much more room for the cooking ingredients. People are just so much easier to reason with when they’re full. Man, this diplomacy thing isn’t nearly as easy as Allura made it look.

Keith: Right? But then, she did make everything look easy.

Shiro: Speaking of which, how are things going on Daibazaal?

Keith: We’re calling for an election to select the Galran representative for the Galactic Coalition. So that’s a step in the right direction.

Lance: Let me guess, they asked you to be their leader and you said no?

Keith: Yeah, pretty much.

Lance: Classic Keith.

Coran: Allura would be proud of your decision, Keith. I think she knew that you would always be the key to the Galra’s future. Just around this table, I see so many lives touched by her actions. For some of us she was a diplomat, a teacher, a leader, and a friend. But to those of us around this table, she will always be family. To Allura!

Paladins: To Allura!

[Scene change to Lance’s quarters in the middle of the night.]

Lance: Huh?

[Scene change to the epilogues, which are without dialogue. The text narration follows in order.]

The Holt family established the next generation of Legendary Defenders.

Hunk created a culinary empire, bringing the universe together, one meal at a time.

Lance continued to spread Allura’s message while surrounding himself with the things he loved.

Kolivan and Krolia became the Galra representatives to the Galactic Coalition.

Keith helped transition the Blade of Marmora to a humanitarian relief organization.

Shiro found his happiness and finally left the battle behind.

End.

[nyotasaimiri]

Should’ve Brought a Camera

((It’s Tuesday so time for your regularly scheduled story!))

Hadley kept to the shadows of the debris, using the hollowed hulking behemoths as her shield as she went deeper into the asteroid field. If Dr. Akaggy’s test room was one of her brother’s shooter games, this was a stealth mission, she guessed. She didn’t have to shoot any targets this time, just get to her goal. She checked the radar again. Still too many meters away.

And there were more red dots on her radar.

“Hadley, you have two trifangles coming in from in front of you,” Nyota told her. “They are fast, but they will hold still a moment before they fire. Be ready to move out of the way.”

“I got it, Captain.” Hadley relaxed and adjusted her hands on the controls. She had her crew watching out for her. She could do this. Maybe this was why her Captain never seemed afraid.

As she spotted the two small blue machines gliding toward her out of the debris field, Hadley considered asking Arjun if he could wire up some speakers and a music player in here. Some good synthwave tracks wouldn’t be half bad for this. She held the mech in place as the two enemies stopped and waited until she saw the glow before they opened fire. Light shot toward her. She shot forward, just under the blasts, turned and swung an arm. Blue smashed on blue, one trifangle twisting away and crashing on debris in a ball of flame. The other spiraled and spun off into the asteroid field again. Hadley smirked. Much better.

*

Nyota let out a breath she hadn’t acknowledged she’d been holding. Good.

*

“I’m getting pretty close, Captain.” Hadley drifted carefully past another small cluster of debris, eyes scanning the field for that trifangle that had escaped. She didn’t know if it might come back for more. “Think I can set the beacon out here?”

“Get in a little closer,” came the reply, but not from her Captain. “Don’t try it until that mech’s feet are on solid ground.”

Hadley grinned. “Hey, is that the old man’s voice? We finally lured you out of the engine room? I bet you couldn’t resist seeing your handywork in action. This thing flies nice.”

“Save your flattery,” Arjun told her, but she knew he was pleased. “We’ll see how much a mess you made of my work when you get back. Not too shabby on the shooting there.”

A compliment? “Who are you and what have you done with Arjun?” Hadley asked. “Did Sonny put extra sugar in your coffee?”

His snort staticked through the speaker. “She did. You should try it. Eyes on the screen. There’s a clear shot ahead of you.”

Hadley looked up and sure enough, he was right. Nothing on the radar. Nothing in her way. The stone gateway towered over her, eerily familiar, all too like the one at the bottom of the Ark. Hadley shook her head. Not the time for that. She hit the thrusters and glided down toward the solid rock face below. As she reached it, the whole mech shuddered and she felt the legs lower a moment before the impact rattled through the core.

“Well, that landing was smoother than Dr. Akaggy’s original, but it still needs work,” she said, rubbing her back. “Captain? There’s some kind of artificial gravity field around here when you get really close. We could walk on this just fine.” To prove the point, she switched on her EPP to provide a breathable air field and opened the cockpit.

“SAIL has visual of you,” Nyota’s voice confirmed a few moment later. “Plant the beacon and we’ll bring you back in.”

Hadley waved dismissively at the distant ship. “In a minute. Damn, I wish I’d brought my camera along. This view’s amazing.” She stood at the edge of the rock and looked out into space at the distant twinkling blue that marked the core of the Muhlifain system, then up at all the stars beyond. It really does go on forever, she thought. She remembered, so dimly, her brother sitting beside her and saying that, a very long time ago. Different system, same stars.

“You can go back with your camera once the beacon is up,” Nyota reminded her, pulling her back into the moment. “We’ll watch for incoming space monsters while you plant it.”

“I got it, Captain.” Hadley tore her eyes away from the sight and walked back over to her mech. The beacon was a small tripod sort of thing, hard to really guess at what it was unless you opened it up. Hadley knew better than to try that, though. Arjun would have her hide if she broke it. She walked toward the gate to find a good flat bit of ground to plant it in. The sheer size of the structure made her fight hard against the instinct to stop and stare in awe. She’d have to get a picture of that too.

Voices registered dimly through her headset. Oldarva’s, maybe? “Captain? Something’s moving out there…”

Three seconds of silence.

“Hadley! Get in the mech!” Nyota all but roared. Hadley could hear the fear, even through the static and sudden electronic drone that filled the area. “There’s something huge on the radar!”

[gameridernews]

Ex-Aid review: Choh Superhero Taisen

Ex-Aid's spring movie, from a distance, just looked like the familiar Rider/Sentai crossover format doing its usual thing. But recently, a producer at Toei has confirmed that they will no longer be doing crossover movies in the spring, meaning that Ex-Aid - turns out - has given us our final "so-called spring movie" experience.

In this world where weird and questionably written crossovers may cease to exist, let's see if it at least went out with something akin to a bang. 

Choh Superhero Taisen is a bit of a silly name. I mean, it implies this is a SUPER version of the usual spring movie crossover, but to be a little more accurate, this movie is... kind of like a better version of the first couple swings they took at the Rider VS Sentai angle.

To recap, we got a Fourze-era crossover that did not really give a good first impression, then a Wizard-era crossover I can't remember a single thing about except Space Shocker. Gaim and Drive went the route of Rider VS Rider, both in kinda interesting but shaky executions, and Ghost had a focus on the original Kamen Rider making a modern day appearance.

Oh and just to quickly establish the timeline here, Maximum Gamer premiered in the show and Kuroto got what he deserved. Bit of a shame since I’m sure he’d have a lot to say about the kid in this movie. Anyway, let's begin!

The movies opens up in Korea being attacked by the game Xevious. The Kyurangers send all of their attack stock footage at the invaders, which you would think the Cyber Rescue Center would know about but they are instead dealing with a strange patient who apparently has a tail. Oh hey, Zyuoh Tiger!

The way the movie plays out beyond this point is really weird. It feels like when Inoue wrote the OOO portion of Movie Taisen Core - things are oddly slow and somber for a series known for being bright and peppy. 

It’s uncanny. Hiro literally proclaims he will operate on Zyuoh Tiger even if she's an animal and no one bats an eye at that comment. That’s how weird it is. And when they see the Kyuranger mech land in the middle of the city, it’s treated as a quiet ominous moment like something bad is about to go down.

Okay, to be fair, that part is ominous because the Kyurangers are here for Poppy since they think this video game character is linked to other video games attacking reality - I guess since they have a lot of research at their disposal, because they know what Bugsters are!

But just as the Ex-Aid VS Kyuranger stuff begins, it quickly ends once Shishi Red... decides Kamen Riders are heroes because there's a game called Choh Superhero Taisen that Riders and Rangers are both part of. I mean, he's not wrong?

So yeah, that's a thing! Choh Superhero Taisen is a game that’s invaded this world and challenges Ex-Aid. Among its returning Riders/Rangers is an alternate version of Hiro, transforming into Kamen Rider True Brave. 

I was VERY interested in learning the backstory of this character - is it an alternate universe thing, or what? Turns out, he's a video game character... and for story reasons, it’s a Hiro who took a different path in life. 

It sorta makes sense, I promise.

Things get interesting once Ex-Aid and Poppy enter the world of Choh Superhero Taisen, which is more or less a bunch of Toei's usual filming locations but with returning actors accompanying them!

The first being Kyoryu Gold from Kyoryuger, Utsusemimaru - or Utchy for short. I watched at least half of Kyoryuger so I can appreciate his cameo. He does his Brave Daze thing and he gets some good action. 

More importantly, you can't have a bunch of returning actors without Toei proving they can somehow keep getting all of the Imagin from Den-O. And I can understand someone being sick of them by now, even if you were a fan before, but the scene where Ex-Aid has to pick his team makes me smile. Although... considering ToQGer's premise, should Urataros really be flirting with one of the girls? 

MOVING SWIFTLY ALONG, Emu chooses a "Gorider" team, with Momotaros being Pink - it's a pun. Ex-Aid uses Robot Action Gamer to cheat his way into the Red slot, which I kinda wish someone called him out on.

Ao Ninger makes an easy return as Blue, providing a nice callback to Ninninger as he basically takes charge and tell's Emu to pick his master, Magi Yellow, who taught him magic - but ends up calling Beet Buster from Go-Busters instead, because same actor. That was cute.

Lastly, filling out the team’s Green slot, the out-of-nowhere return of Zolda from Ryuki! I... y'know, it's best they didn't address his cancer since this is supposed to be the "game world" Zolda. Instead, they lean into his lawyer-ness - it felt very appropriate for him to dismiss the Gorider thing and only take part if they signed a contract. I also enjoy how he keeps referring to Momotaros as Goro-chan. It’s cute. I don’t have the heart to tell him Goro is in Zawame. 

With a team decided upon, this starts to feel like an entirely different movie with Riders VS Rangers. My only gripe here was I could've used at least one more fight. You get a nice tournament chart that shows you all of the different fights happening offscreen, and to be quite honest I needed to see the Dandy team in action.

Right, so I should talk about the kid now. There's a patient Hiro was responsible for, who made the Choh Superhero Taisen game and disappeared afterwards. This is where things get interesting because Hiro has this logic of "I won't perform surgery on a patient unless they want it", which was used well in the show. Hiro presented the kid a chance to be cured, and he said no, so Hiro reluctantly accepted the kid’s choice. 

Essentially, Alternate Hiro was made in this kid's game world as a personification of Hiro's guilt, and acts as his aide. It kind of works. But it kind of doesn't? Which is really a good way to describe spring movies as a whole. 

However, I dig the alternate Hiro in concept. He isn't an evil version of the character like you'd expect - he has some sense of justice to him, he's protecting this kid after all, it's just that he's wrong in the eyes of the actual Hiro because it conflicts with his own ethics. This may be the best part of the movie, or at least the part with the most depth.

Oh right, so Ex-Aid and the others on his team become Kamen Sentai Gorider... which is a combination of the original Sentai and the original Kamen Rider... and it's about out of place as it sounds. 

It feels right at home with all this chaos, I guess. But I don't have much to say about it beyond that. I still gotta watch the actual Gorider special.

Not a shocker for something to feel out of place in one of these movies. You know what’s also out of place? Shocker! Yes, the original villains are back again, and this time-- they don't have a different name, but I'd like to call them Game Shocker, because it implies they're living on in yet another form.

They also have a new young leader, Shocker Leader III to be exact, which I was admittedly interested in learning more about. The actor made a big deal about how he thinks of Shocker as a group that admires the Kamen Riders, quoted saying "I want you to understand Shocker's feelings".

In all honesty, though, the character doesn't stand out to me as being any different than a generic Rider movie villain, and would have probably been better off in a different movie. A shame too, because I love the idea it sounded like he was hinting at.

The movie is all over the place, and there's some things I wanna talk about but feel like I don't need to dedicate a whole screencap to. Let's go through these real quick...

Among the many cameos, we get the Kamen Rider Amazons crew, which includes Alpha, Omega and the then-new Neo! I haven't seen Amazons and this cameo taught me... they fight aggressively. I’ll be honest, I really felt nothing from this cameo. But I can appreciate how they added the dramatic lighting Amazons is known for. And Ex-Aid cleverly added some game logic to the fight by looking for a hidden power-up. He probably connects all of the pork chops in Castlevania. 

The Zyuohgers make a cameo! That's pretty fun considering this is one show later. Unfortunately this cameo also made me realize Amu really did not have much to do with the story. I legit forgot about her while writing all this.

Brave uses Galaxian Quest Gamer, which wins the award for most pointless and rushed movie form debut. Like, I think he put on the armor and fought some dudes real quick and you never see it again. Galaxian played some part in the game world destruction earlier, but now that I think about it, you could replace that with Shocker to make them fit in better...

To end on a positive note, Ex-Aid uses a special giant Energy Item with Maximum Gamer to grow to Sentai mech size and fight alongside the Kyurangers' mech, which was a very fun visual since it involved a unique transformation in which Ex-Aid grows in size as the armor builds around him. This felt like a "They knew this was cool and wanted to take it a step further" moment.

Since I sped through all of that, let's get to the ending.

There's a nice moment with the kid and Naga from the Kyurangers, as they both share the inability to properly express emotions, and I can appreciate how they made use of Naga even if I have little exposure to Kyuranger - that was nice and heartfelt.

Through a combination of Ex-Aid's previous efforts and Brave's current efforts (pretty cool having both of them involved there), the kid is saved, everyone who got sucked into the game world is back out, and the status quo returns to normal.

The credits roll with a nice collection of cards based on all the characters in the movie.

So how did this one turn out? Well, as a movie, pretty awful. As a toku movie, not great. As a Kamen Rider spring crossover movie, it's a'ight I guess? I feel like I'm a lot more forgiving of these than others - even though I'm not opposed to making fun of things like Tsukasa's bad hair day or Space Shocker, I do get something out of these, so that's why I watch them.

With the idea in mind that this is the final spring crossover movie we'll get out of Kamen Rider and Sentai - as the upcoming spring movie is gonna be about Amazons instead and the future beyond that is uncertain - I think they could have ended on a far more typical clusterfuck note. Arguably, they did? But I think among the far-too-many ideas this one had, some of the ideas were good. And for a movie trying to make heroes fight other heroes, it's doing so in a fun way by making use of Ex-Aid’s game motif.

I'm gonna miss these movies. They weren't great, but they were fun eye candy. I'm gonna be interested in seeing what they do with that spring movie slot - will Amazons be the last spring movie entirely, or will it be Toei's go-to for "We just wanna make some kind of thing" movie projects? Only time will tell!

I think you know what comes next, right? I’ve got the first winter movie reviewed, now the spring movie - so obviously spinoff material next. Or the summer movie! Whichever happens first. 

[yuki7900archive]

(Movie) Cole x Reader PT.2

I still can’t believe I wrote over 8700 words for an x reader fanfiction about a lego minifigure. This is what my life is now.

PART 1

You hadn't told anyone what you knew, not even Stephanie, but that hadn't stopped you thinking about it twenty-four seven. It just baffled you! Your crush was also one of the ninja in the secret ninja force. You couldn't believe it. It plagued your mind so much you were becoming distracted at school. It was only Monday lunchtime, yet you'd already been told off for daydreaming three times. You'd also walked into a few other students and even stood in the middle of the corridor for no reason, even after the bells had rung and signaled that you needed to get to class. You were just zoned out completely, and it hadn't gone unnoticed.

"(Y/N), honey, are you alright? You seem off." You blinked and looked up at the four girls staring at you with worried looks.

"Yeah, I'm fine." You smiled briefly at them all and took a bite out of your apple.

"Sweetie, is it what happened on Saturday? Ya' know, with Garmadon?" Oh yeah...he'd almost killed you hadn't he? You'd actually forgotten about the near-death experience. "It's okay that you're scared but like, you can't the fear control your life. Yeah?"

"Steph, honestly, I'm okay. I think I'm just tired."

"Well, the bags under your eyes have gotten a lot worse. You look awful."

"Aw geez, thanks."

"That wasn't a compliment." Oh my god, did she really not understand sarcasm? That was basic too! You sighed and closed your eyes, placing your apple down on the table momentarily as you rubbed your eyes. It's true you hadn't been getting sleep as of recently, and this shocking revelation certainly hadn't helped matters.

"Maybe you should go home, get some rest? I'm sure the teachers will understand." Somehow you doubted it, but you did feel yourself getting particularly sleepy last lesson. You had to prevent yourself from nodding off in perhaps one of the most boring lectures you'd ever had to sit through. Sleep sounded nice.

You only gave a simple hum as you finished off the remains of your apple and stood up ready to leave. You waved goodbye to the girls as they told you to get better soon, then heading off to your locker to collect your things and go home. The corridors were pretty quiet as a majority of students were in the cafeteria. You didn't think you'd ever heard such quiet in a school before, it was kind of relaxing but also felt uncomfortable and weird. You didn't think too much about it as you stopped at your locker and started getting everything together, also not noticing how you were the only person in the hallway. All except for one other person.

As you shut your locker door, it revealed the tall, muscular, raven-haired teen that you had been crushing on since your first day at this school. You flinched and gasped out of fright before settling down after seeing it was only Cole. However, they didn't prevent the blush steadily rising on your cheeks.

"We gotta talk." He leaned against the lockers beside your and looked down at you with seriousness plastered across his face. You couldn't say you weren't expecting this, but you thought he'd wait until the end of the day and then follow you home or something. Maybe he didn't have the patience, or maybe he was instructed to by his leader. Either way, you definitely needed to talk to one another.

"Yeah, okay." You sighed a little and shut your locker, waiting for him to lead the way. Instead, he handed you a bottle of water and a small pill. You glanced down at the items, then at him, then back down at the items again. What in the heck were these things for? You cautiously took them from his hands and examined them.

"What are these for?"

"To knock you out, we can't have you knowing the way to our secret base."

"You can't be serious-"

"It's either willingly take the pill or ill have to knock you out with chloroform and kidnap you. One way or another you'll be unconscious." You had always wondered what being knocked out with chloroform was like...but at the same time, the tablet was in your hand, and you were kind of thirsty anyway. Without another moment's hesitation, you popped the pill into your mouth and threw your head back as you chugged half the bottled water. You put the cap back on the bottle and handed it back to Cole.

"So how long does it take for the-" You never finished that sentence. Instead, your mind completely blanked as you fell into the teenager's arms and immediately went into a deep sleep.

---

When you awoke you were lying on a couch. You blinked a couple of times and groaned as you brought your hands up to your face and rubbed at your eyes. Propping yourself up on your elbows for a few seconds, you exhaled and allowed your vision to come back to you before you sat up straight and let your legs fall back onto the floor. Only then did you see the six familiar figures stood in front of you.

They all had their masks on, Cole included, despite you already knowing his identity. Each of them had a serious expression on their face, a few crossed their arms and other stood with their hands on their hips. It was almost as if they held you accountable for discovering the identity of one of their crew. It wasn't though! You didn't know how his mask had fallen off, but you were pretty sure one of the blades from the crab mech had snagged the fabric upon Cole's release and accidentally taken his mask. That's the only thing you could think of.

"Welcome to our headquarters (Y/N)," the green ninja spoke clearly to you, and the more he talked the more you recognized his voice. "My team and I need to discuss something with you."

"Look, you don't have to worry about me telling anybody, alright? I'm not stupid, you guys have a city to protect and an identity to keep. If I told people it would put Cole's life at stake. I'll keep it a secret, so don't even worry about it." It's silent for a few moments as everyone stands there, the five teammates looking at their leader and waiting for him to continue.

"How can we trust you?" He finally said. Suddenly that's when it clicked in your head.

"Wouldn't I have told people by now if I really wanted to expose you guys? It's been two days, Lloyd." Everyone froze in place.

"How did you-"

"I just realized I knew your voice somewhere. Let me guess, the rest of you are Kai, Zane, Jay and Nya, right?"

"...No?" Jay shrugged and you shook your head. That's when they all groaned and pulled their masks off, each revealing to you their real identities. They looked kind of mad that you'd managed to join the dots so easily.

"Great, now you know who we all are." Kai muttered and scratched his head.

"Yeah, but again, I have no interest in telling anybody. It's better for it to remain a secret." You stood up from your seat and placed your arms behind your back as you peered around the warehouse. All the mechs were in their own little corners, Nya's being on the roof, and the room had other little gadgets in it as well. There was an arcade machine and a jukebox, a games console hooked up to a tv also. It wasn't just a storage place for their weapons, it was almost like a chill-out zone too. You had to admit it was pretty cool.

"Welp, we've already missed the start of class so, might as well hang here until our next one." Lloyd clicked his tongue and walked over to the arcade game. Zane wheeled over to his mech and sat beside a wall, inserting himself into a charger (and making you suddenly realize he was a robot which, honestly, explained so much), Nya and Jay both sat where you were moments before and began setting up a video game to play whilst Kai just joined them on the couch.

That left only you and Cole.

You were sure he was gonna take you back to school or possibly even just drop you off at home if you asked nicely. However what he said next shocked you a little.

"Wanna listen to some of my mixes?" You felt the heat rise steadily in your cheeks as all you could do was nod and follow behind him. He went over to his mech, helping you to climb inside the cramped space and then going through his records. He was surrounded by shelves of this vinyl, one side was his own tracks whilst the other side contained records of a variety of artists. AC/DC, N-Pop Girl, Macklemore, The Kinks, he had a lot of different artists work. A really good mix.

You leaned against the back wall and watched the boy skim over his playlist as he tried to decide a piece to play for you. As he did that you couldn't help but admire his looks. You'd realized he'd put his hair up into a man bun, and you literally felt the butterflies roar in your stomach at the sight. He looked really cool with his hair up like that. You almost wanted to say 'uber-rad' but that felt a little odd to say in this day and age. Unless he still said stuff like that? He seemed like the kind of person who would.

Finally, he pulled out one from the shelf.

"Here's a good one." He said as he passed you a spare set of headphones to put on. You placed them over your ears and watched as the boy giddily pulled the record out of its sleeve and put it on the deck. You couldn't help but smile at the sight of his eyes lighting up and his grin widening in anticipation. He was like a little kid right now; full of excitement. It was so cute.

Suddenly the music blasted in your ears and you jolted in shock. You weren't expecting it to be quite so loud, especially the baseline. Your ears managed to adjust though and you found yourself enjoying the heavy rock music. You bobbed your head up and down in time to the beat and Cole did the same when he sat down on the floor beside you. You didn't say anything to one another, mostly because you couldn't hear anything other than the music anyway, but he knew you liked his music. At least you thought you'd made it clear through your actions. Eventually, the music stopped and Cole got up off the floor to go and change the record.

"That was really good, Cole." You told him with a beaming smile. He glanced at you as he put the previous piece of music back on the shelf.

"Thanks. I take it you like Rock?"

"Oh, psh-" You rolled your eyes and shrugged at him. "I like a bit of everything. You gotta appreciate all the genres there are, you know? Otherwise, all you do is listen to the same thing over and over and over again." The teen grinned at you when you said that to him.

"Yeah, exactly! All music should be listened to, cos' everything has something new to offer."

"Yeah!" There are a few moments of quiet as the pair of you stare at each other, blushing and looking down to the floor after those few seconds slipped by. You couldn't believe you were actually talking to him. You thought that you would never get the chance to talk to the earth ninja or Cole, now here you were talking to both. It was so cool! He was so cool.

"Do you wanna pick a record?"

---

The next hour or so flew by as you both sat and listened to the different bands and artists he had available in his vast collection. There was some classical, some pop, some techno, any genre you could think of, he had. Sometimes you'd even sing along if you knew the words.

"You have a nice voice." He told you once the music died down again, signaling that the song had concluded. You laughed nervously and hid your face as you blushed heavily.

"Ha-ha, thanks. I don't usually sing in front of people."

"You should." You felt your heart explode in your chest and you had to stop yourself from hurling up the butterflies in your stomach. With each comment, he made they only grew more ferocious, and it was starting to make you feel nauseous. "Ha-ha, you're blushing soooo bad."

Him pointing that out to you only made your cheeks turn a darker shade, which as a result made him laugh even harder. You playfully punched his arm with an embarrassed smile on your face.

"Whatever!" Was all you could think of for a response. You blamed Cole for this, of course. Him and his stupidly attractive face, making your brain go to mush. The nerve of him!

The raven-haired teen got up and put the previous record back into its sleeve before sliding it into its place on his shelf. He scanned over the vinyl again before pulling out a new record. You didn't get a chance to see the cover but it looked old and tattered. The moment he placed the disc on the plate, the music began to play and you hummed along to the tune. It was an old song, one you recalled your grandparents singing a lot when you were a child. You could recall the lyrics well enough so you decided to sing along again. And apparently so did Cole.

"I will always think of you." Cole sang the first line as he came and sat beside you, pressing his back up against the wall. You were quite surprised by this; he didn't seem the type who liked singing along with songs. "I see your face when each day's through. And days go past-"

"Oh so fast." You chimed in when the female part started up. The pair of you grinned at each other as you sang along to the music.

"But memories they last~" The song continued and you both rested your heads against the wall behind you, peering at each other in the corners of your eyes. This whole situation was crazy, the more you thought about it. You were sat in the secret ninja force's base, tucked on the inside of the black ninja's mech as you harmonized with your crush. That stuff just...didn't happen. Yet here you were now. What an unbelievable day this was. You quietly recalled how less than two hours ago you had been feeling so exhausted and ready to just go home and sleep the day away, yet now you felt so alive and more awake than ever. Maybe now that everything was cleared up you were at ease. Maybe now that you were friends with Cole you were at ease.

"Summer, Winter, year by year-"

"Year by year.

"I'll hear this song inside my ear."

"Trying to restart-"

"That'd be smart." Back and forth you and he went. Your voices were in perfect sync with one another and the music on the record. As the next verse came up Cole began to sing a little louder with all the more heart. He sang like there was no one watching him, completely forgetting about the other five ninja who weren't that far away from where you both were. They could hear you too, by the way, and they also enjoyed your melodic voice. So much so they'd stopped what they were doing and gathered around the bottom of Cole's mech so they could hear you and their close friend better. Zane even came off of his charging station to come and listen. Each of them smiled at one another.

"Spring and Autumn, up and down, I keep trying to escape this town."

"And I just might-"

"I'll take flight..." You looked up at the ceiling of the mech with half-lidded eyes, waiting a few seconds before singing the final line of the song together with the ninja sat beside you.

"Maybe tomorrow not tonight." The track ended and it was silent for quite a while. Cole didn't get up to remove the record and you carried on sitting on the floor. Instead, you looked at him and he looked at you. No words were exchanged for a little bit, but you swore you felt Cole's fingertips nudge against yours. In return, you slotted your fingers in between his and joined your hands together. He didn't pull away, much to your relief.

"So...my friends and I were gonna go to this sushi bar after school, do you wanna join us?" He seemed a lot more nervous than he usually sounded when speaking, his tone was rather hesitant, almost afraid that you would decline. Of course, you agreed to go though.

---

It had been three months since you'd become a part of Lloyd's group of friends, and two months since you and Cole had gone on your first date. Since both of you were too anxious to ask each other out, the ninja decided to shove you two together at every possible opportunity. And when that didn't work they, Kai rolled his eyes and groaned before saying "will you two just go get a drink together already?" After a small fit of uncomfortable and awkward chuckles from you both, the same day you went and spent the rest of the afternoon in Ninjago city.

You didn't do much, you went browsing in music stores and bought a few CDs before going to his house and getting a drink there. For a while, you just sat on the sofa and watched really bad reality TV shows, until his dad came home from rehearsal that is. The moment he saw you he instantly assumed you were Cole's girlfriend, not that you could really blame him. You were both squashed up next to each other, his arm draped behind you with his hand messing with little strands of your (H/C) locks. You also supposed it wasn't technically wrong. True, it was early days at that point and it had only been your first date, but was there even a technical term for that relationship status? Other than 'seeing each other'? You hadn't heard of one.

Lou accepted you with open arms and a number of times Cole had come home from doing a quick errand, only to hear the sounds of piano and your voice coming from the living room, was enough to make him wish his dad sent him to do more jobs. He loved walking in and your singing to be the first thing he heard.

And now, two months down the line, you'd only grown closer to one another as each day passed.

"Hey, guys!" You shouted from down the corridor as you ran up to him and Jay. They both stood outside their lockers, your boyfriend leaning back as Jay stood upright. They greeted you with a smile, the green-hued male pushing off of the lockers and uncrossing his arms as you approached them both. He walked a little of the way towards you and pulled you into a hug, his nose buried deep in your hair. He kissed your forehead gently before letting you go and taking your hand in his instead.

"Hey (Y/N)." Jay grinned his usual awkward grin at you. You beamed a smile back at him.

"Where's everyone else? I thought we were going to hang out at the sushi bar again before you guys had training."

"We are. The others are-" Jay was cut off by another voice from the other side of the hallway. One you knew too well.

"(Y/N), sweetie," Stephanie hollered at you. "I need to talk to you."

You grumbled under your breath as you rolled your eyes. You'd already told her everything she needed to know. You were hanging out with Lloyd's friends, Cole was your boyfriend, what more could she possibly want to talk about? You heard Cole chuckle as he let go of your hand and motioned for you to go over to your old friend. With one final kiss on his cheek, you wandered over to Stephanie and her lackeys.

"Let's walk and talk-"

"No, Stephanie. Look," You began. "I know we've been friends for years and, don't get me wrong, I still consider you a friend. But...I don't know. I feel like I just get on better with these people."

The redhead didn't process what you were saying at first, she looked genuinely confused. Maybe a little bit hurt?

"What do you mean?" You sighed and crossed your arms.

"You're popular and pretty, and all the guys in this school like you. All of you are," you addressed the other three girls in the group and they all nodded as they paid attention to you. "But I'm not that. I'm not liked at all and I'm a huge dorky loser, kinda like those guys."

You turned behind you only to see that everyone had arrived without you noticing. Even Nya! And that motorbike was so loud you honestly didn't know how you didn't hear it coming. They all waved at you and gave encouraging smiles when they saw you looking at them all. Cole smirked at you and winked, typically. You blushed at his actions before turning yourself back around again to face Stephanie.

"They just get me in ways that you guys don't. And Cole? I honestly don't think I've ever met someone I've had a deeper connection with than him. He's just so wonderful and kind and...a great boyfriend for me. I don't think I'll ever meet anyone like him again." Your friend twiddled her thumbs a bit after you'd finished speaking as she thought quietly to herself. You recognized that look well, knowing it meant she was having some kind of internal struggle. After some time she sighed heavily and glanced down at the ground, shutting her eyes tightly. She refused to look up at you.

"Damn, girl." She laughed a little, but you heard her voice waver. "I guess things have changed a lot for us, huh?"

"Yeah. They kind of have." You laughed back too, suddenly feeling your stomach sink down.

Without any warning, Stephanie engulfed you in the biggest hug she'd ever given you and buried her head in your shoulder. You could tell she was struggling not to burst into tears over this. You had been besties for years and years, but now things were different. Things just weren't what they were in the past. The good old days before this whole 'high school social groups' thing came into play. You'd always been a nerd and she'd always...well, not been. But that had never gotten in the way of anything. It had never mattered. But now it did.

"Promise me we'll still text? And meet up for coffee and stuff?" You wrapped your arms around her and squeezed her comfortingly.

"Of course we will."

Seemingly satisfied with your answer, she pulled away with tears forming in her eyes. She wiped them away before they could smudge her make-up and gave you final smile.

"See you around (Y/N)."

"Yeah." You smiled back. "See ya' Stephanie." And with that final sentence spoken, you both walked away from each other. She went down the corridor whilst you returned to your friends. You felt a little emotional and had to bring Cole in for a bear hug in order to make yourself feel better.

"Woah! You okay?" His hands raked through your hair as you snuggled your head up against him.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"Mhm, you don't sound okay." He tried to pull himself out of the hug so he could get a better look at your face but you refused to let go. He didn't really want to force you off of him either (which he could easily do) so he let you cling to him for a little and just continued to comfort you. He even gave you a piggyback ride out of school, only for a little bit though. You had to walk the rest of the way.

The time at the sushi bar flew by and before you knew it, everyone had to go to training. You made your way to Cole's house and decided to wait for him there, making yourself a sandwich with some of the ingredients in the fridge. Luckily he had all the stuff to make your favourite sandwich, so you immediately started making it and wolfed it down the second you'd finished.  At around the same time, Lou came home from rehearsals. He greeted you and next thing you knew you were both sat at the piano again. Once again he played the keys accordingly as you simply sang along. He'd give you words of encouragement in between each song, telling you where to improve but also complimenting you to even out the good and the bad.

"You have a great voice (Y/N), you just need to project a little more."

"I just don't usually like singing in front of people, especially people with years of experience under their belt. You're really talented Mr. Brookstone."

"Please dear, we've been over this, call me Lou. And compliments aside, thank you, by the way, I've heard you sing so much louder. Like when you and my son do your little duets." You laughed nervously and felt the heat rising in your cheeks. He only arched his eyebrows and smirked at your response.

"That...That's different!"

"Oh really, how so?"

"Cole has a really loud voice so...so if I don't sing loudly, he can't hear me!" Lou seemed unimpressed with your answer, but he was most definitely amused that you'd even give that as a reason. He knew the real reason and so did you, but saying it out loud felt embarrassing. Heck, thinking about it made your heart flutter and left you feeling dizzy and breathless.

He made you feel relaxed and safe, comfortable, even. He never judged you and he always made you feel like you were the most precious thing on the earth. He looked after you and treasured you, made sure you were always okay and did everything in his power to make those bad days better. Singing in front of him was a piece of cake because you knew he loved you and you loved him back. He was your everything.

You started the next song and tried to imagine that your boyfriend was in the room with you, watching you. This seemed to help your confidence as you sang a lot louder than the previous few songs you'd done. About halfway through the song, Cole had returned from training, not that you'd heard him shut the door behind him. He heard your voice though and instantly he felt his knees weaken and his tense demeanor seemed to drip away until not a single drop was left. With a relaxed sigh, he slid his bag off his back and snuck his way to the living room so you wouldn't hear his footsteps. He saw you facing the window and looking out at Ninjago city, your back facing him. His dad saw him and nodded, Cole nodding back. He rested against the door frame and listened to the sweet music coming from you and Lou. He didn't make a sound, didn't move an inch, didn't say a single word until you'd nearly finished. When you reached the last line of the song, the raven-haired teenager quietly crept up behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist.

You gasped and jumped a little, not expecting the contact, but calmed down when you saw it was just your boyfriend's arms that had you in captivity. You steadied your breathing and glanced back at him as he kissed your cheek. Then he twisted your body around so you were fully facing him. Lou left the room, deciding to give you two some privacy.

"That was beautiful." Cole whispered softly. You brought your hands up to his shoulders and planted them there.

"Mhm." You hummed. "You scared me."

"Ha-ha, I did? Sorry. I didn't wanna interrupt your singing."

"I wouldn't have minded."

"I would've."

You chuckled and he rested his chin on your head. You both stayed like that in perfect silence for a long time. Neither of you wanted to move or say anything. You wanted to stay in this moment for as long as possible. This wonderful moment of peace.

"Cake, anyone?" Cole's dad called from the kitchen. So much for staying in the moment, you thought to yourself.

"Yeah!" Your boyfriend replied giddily as he grabbed your hand and dragged you to the kitchen with a spring in his step. He was such an adorable little dork sometimes but that was the reason you loved him. One of the many, many reasons.

[black-strike-otp]

part 17

Gee ain’t it swell when things turn out? This isn’t one of those times.

It was probably a good thing Nova never had an ambition to become a medic. As much as she disliked harming others, she didn’t have a processor impermeable enough to contain all the information one needed to retain in order to do this sort of work. The medic must have came over at least a dozen times to jump down her throat over how she wired something in Scorponok.

By the time the medic finished working on Blackout, she still had to come over and help direct Novastrike’s small digits on where to weld this, snip that, attach these new pieces here, and patch him up. Praise the bug for his patience; or perhaps praise the fact he was energon drained and tired. He didn’t offer a single wince or complaint despite Nova’s fumbling digits.

There was one thing she could do well enough for the femme to give her some space, at least. Given a pair of scalpels, she took great care removing rubbish from the minicon’s wounds and frame. Her patch work must have been sufficient too, because the medic felt comfortable enough leaving her to it in order to walk outside and speak with someone who stopped by.

Novastrike labored her audios to try picking up whatever conversation she was having outside the door, but with the reinforced walls, she was surprised how muffled the voices were just outside the room.

Chirping faintly, Scorponok shifted his frame on the berth. Nova pulled the small tools away from the mech’s frame so she couldn’t jab him as he turned slightly and lowered himself back down. Part of his side fell upon Novastrike’s legs but she was more amused than irritated or hurt by his weight.

“Feeling any better?” she asked softly, reaching over to rub the bug on the side of his helm.

Scorponok’s dull golden optics slowly moved to look over at her. He gave a click, nestling his helm against the berth to rest.

“I know, buddy,” Nova whispered, scratching her digits along the little mech’s neck. “... Can you feel your partner at all? Is he- is he alright?”

Surprise flashed over the bug’s optics. He glanced over to what looked like the lifeless corpse of his master. More like a husk of a ship; wires trailing from his frame, a support system connected to him, the energon cubes draining into his body just as Scorponok did. There appeared to be little to nothing salvageable from the enormous mech.

An agonizing, fearful whirl came from Scorponok. He moved his helm closer to Novastrike for support, venting.

Frowning deeply, the little femme went back to patting the bug on his helm carefully. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how scared and worried Scorp was for the mech who had probably been working with him, protecting him for years, like family.

The femme medic returned then; the doors sliding open quietly as she walked in. She was carrying three new energon cubes, which she placed on the ground beside Blackout before walking over towards the two smaller Cybertronians in the room.

“That’s pretty good, Novastrike. Keep working on that shrapnel though. There’s still pieces there, there, and there, can you see?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“I’ll run a scan over him again when you’re done,” the medic said quietly, her optics growing dim with sympathy for the tiny mech.

Novastrike gave a short nod. “Of course, ma’am.”

She returned the nod with a curt one of her own, and walked over to Blackout’s broken alt-mode to attach a new energon cube and get back to work on replacing what parts she could.

~

It had been four days. The crew of the Rising Star had finished recovering anything usable from the wreckage of whatever battle had befallen this cold, dark region of space. Out of the kindness of his spark, Guard had the team check any bodies they came across for signs of life with a scanner.

There had been two living Autobots, and an unknown faction femme that they had simply... aided in giving peace to. How she was still online, torn apart as she was, nobody could figure out. But she had registered a spark reading, and with no tanks to try safely containing her spark within, they had put an ease to what had probably been a lot of suffering.

Neither Autobots made it a day.

“This one must have a strong desire to live,” the medic would tell Nova when the fear would brim in her optics as one after another the Autobots perished. She’d jack a digit over towards Blackout, offering a supportive smile and would go on: “He should have been the first gone with the extent of his injuries, and he’s not. Don’t give up on him yet.”

It fired a new determination in Nova’s veins. She wouldn’t give up on him.

Scorponok started to come around after the second day. It seemed that being low on energon had been a primary concern for him, more than the holes riddling him and scorch marks. Renewed strength returned to him, and he began moving around the med-bay, with careful supervision of the medic and Novastrike.

The medic began trusting her tiny femme assistant with more tasks, still under careful watch. With Scorponok now capable of wandering around, Novastrike’s useful small servos could get into all the teeny-tiny spaces of Satan’s armor to pull out debris, remove shattered gears, tug out twisted arrays of wires, slide small patches over protoform, and more.

“Is this okay, ma’am?”

“Yes, Novastrike, that looks very well done. Remember next time for a cleaner weld to position it more like this. And a weave bead would be better dear; doubles aren’t quite as sturdy,” the femme stated calmly.

“Yes ma’am.”

It was tedious work, but she didn’t mind. No one questioned where she was, how she was spending her day, placed other tasks upon her for the time. Some asked her how her patient was doing. Guard seemed exceptionally curious; asking every little detail.

It warmed Novastrike’s spark to be able to vent her concerns, explain her little triumphs. Guard’s face lit up joyfully just watching her joy. Without missing a beat, he’d offer his pride in her and would tell her he knew she could help fix Blackout. He was going to make it with her around.

Why the comments made her so flustered, she didn’t know, but they sure did.

“Okay, that looks pretty good,” the medic announced, catching Nova off guard. She quickly turned off the welder and looked up to her tutor.

The medic was looking over Blackout’s medical files and statics with a serious expression. She slowly turned her optics down to Novastrike, and then to Scorponok who was huddled nearby, and back.

“I think we’re ready to try turning on his t-cog.”

Nova’s optics grew wide. “Really?”

The medic snickered faintly. “Yes, really. I’m going to need both of you to step back so he has room. Now remember, he’s still in a comatose stasis state so... if anything looks uncomfortable, he likely won’t feel it.”

Scorponok gave a pained warble, scurrying back a bit in the room. He tucked his limbs partly beneath himself and settled with a concerned look in his optics.

Novastrike whole-sparkly agreed. She didn’t like the idea of he ‘likely’ wouldn’t feel it. They couldn’t finish fixing and patching everything with him like this though.

Slowly, she stepped back to stand beside Scorponok. She reached out a servo, placing it upon the bug’s side. He gave a quiet chirp of gratitude and slid a little closer to her.

They watched as the medic pulled out a thick cable and began attaching new lines and segments onto Blackout. It all looked so strange and foreign. Novastrike felt her spark sputtering in its chamber restlessly. For a second, she thought she could feel Scorponok’s pick up beneath her digits, too.

Light flashed throughout Blackout’s frame. A metallic groan and a sharp ‘thud’ resounded from him.

Armor sharply peeled back then, and parts began to shift. They paused part of the way through; revealing areas of a bot Nova had never seen. She cringed at the visible ‘entrails’, and then his armor pulsed, quivering.

“Is it working?” Nova breathed, watching as his armor began to fold back towards his alt-mod.

“Give him a nanoklik,” the medic murmured. Novastrike’s audios pricked, and she glanced at the screen displaying his vitals.

By the Well of Allsparks, his spark was dying.

Scorponok tettered forward a few steps, whining loudly.

Another flash of light brightly flashed through him from the cables, and his armor hissed. Fragments fell away from his protoform, some of Novastrike’s hard-welled patched shooting off. Energon dribbled out of reopened spots as sections and panels whacked against each other, giving a loud ‘thunk’ here and a grinding of metal there.

It was awful to watch, and dreadfully painful to listen to with sharp hearing.

Finally, Blackout’s armor finished resettling in his bipedal mode.

Nova’s optics trained exactly on where the medic’s did; on the data screen to watch the uneven, feeble pulses reading from Blackout’s spark.

“He needs healthier nanoites, and spark energy...” the medic remarked softly, glancing around. Her optics locked on Scorponok, and the bug went to stand on the tips of his pedes.

She turned her helm towards Novastrike. “Dear, I need you to leave the room.”

“I want to stay and help,” Novastrike demanded.

The medic gave a small shake of her helm. “I understand that,” she pressed, walking over to kneel down and place a servo upon Nova’s shoulder. “But if you respect him at all, you need to leave. I am only staying here because I have the medical background to make sure this goes smoothly. But he needs the help now. What he needs is a healthy spark’s energy, and the only one here capable of offering that in the safest way possible, is his partner.”

Novastrike turned her optics over to Scorponok. He wasn’t even paying attention to them, teetering on the tips of his pedes, leaning towards his master.

Venting softly, she nodded her helm. “Yes ma’am,” she replied softly.

The medic smiled. She scooped up Scorponok; the bot almost going limp in her servos as she brought him over to the extra large mech.

Nervously clawing at her arm, Nova turned and fled out of the room quickly, leaving the two to try saving Blackout’s life.

~

One jour slowly ticked by. Then another. Novastrike went from standing just outside the door to pacing, to bouncing around, and finally to sitting against the wall with her helm leaning back. Her optics slowly flickered on and off. She began to doze lightly.

The dual doors opened and she released a garble of half-asleep talk.

“Novastrike,” the medic whispered softly. “It’s safe for you to come in now.”

Yawning, the little femme reached up to rub at her optics. “Did it work? Is he... online?”

The medic gave a small smile, beckoning with her digits. “Come and see.”

Nova’s spark flipped. She jerked up too fast on her pedes, nearly fell over, and jogged into the medic’s office. Behind her, she could make out the laugh of the medic as she closed the doors and went to follow her.

Her optics went to the streaming information on the screen to the side. It showed an almost normal sparkbeat. Relief swept through Novastrike, and she glanced over to Blackout as she slowly walked to approach him.

Upon his chassis, an exhausted looking Scorponok was curled over where the mech’s spark would be beneath his armor.

“I took the opportunity to patch him up and give him some dignity while his friend here helped stabilize him,” the medic stated, placing her servos against her hips. “He’s got a long way to go, but I’d say I’m surprised how far he’s come and how he’s doing.”

“Oh thank Primus,” Novastrike whispered. “That’s wonderful news.”

“Agreed,” the medic stated proudly. “I think we should give the two some time to rest though, little one. Why don’t you go get some energon and take a walk? You haven’t had much time for yourself or to recharge for a while.”

Novastrike’s faceplate contorted with conflicting emotions. On one servo, she wanted to stay and keep her optics on her charges. On another servo, she hadn’t hit the shower racks in a while and a shower and energon sounded nice, maybe a cat nap...

“I’ll be here,” giggled the medic. “They won’t be alone, Novastrike, this is my job. Guard will understand.”

“I guess I could rest a while,” Nova finally agreed, tilting her helm to the side. “Comm me if there’s any changes, or you need anything?”

The medic smiled. “Of course.”

~

Six days came and went. The Rising Star moved further and further away from the battlefield they’d discovered. There was plenty of work underway. Patching up the ship more, fixing bots with spare parts they’d picked up, categorizing new weapons.

And of course there was energon. They’d found a shocking amount of energon. With tanks fuller than they’d been in years, folks were a lot more tolerable and their spirits lifted.

Novastrike witnessed no change in Blackout. Sure, his statistics said he was healthier. He was more alive than he had been, but the silence remained. They patched where they could, fixed what they could. The medic tried stirring him from stasis to get an idea how bad it was, and got no response. She claimed this was normal, but it didn’t ease Novastrike’s concerns.

Scorponok no longer left his side. He’d move out of their way as they worked but only to find a new spot nearby the mech to settle.

“He’s fine,” the medic said every time. “Just concerned about his partner.”

Aren’t we all, Novastrike wanted to snap impatiently. But she didn’t. She knew better. The medic was trying her best. This wasn’t her fault.

They continued working. Novastrike welded patches and fetched tools and parts that she was able to carry. Apparently though, her dreary mood was a bit off-settling to the medic.

“Why don’t you see about fetching up some help getting energon, Novastrike?” the medic said gently, reaching out to place a servo upon the smaller femme. “For us and to help fuel big-n-scary here.”

Slowly, Nova turned her dull optics to the medic. Her audios lowered considerably, and she released a heavy sigh.

“Yes ma’am,” she muttered.

“That’s a good femme. Shake yourself off a bit. We’re doing just fine, and so is he,” the medic stated. “Recovery takes a long time, don’t push it.”

Novastrike could only roll her shoulders in a shrug. She pushed herself up on her pedes and shambled out of the room. She felt numb inside. Was he ever going to come out of stasis? And if he did, were their efforts enough? The medic seemed pretty confident he was doing better, but would it be enough?

Her thoughts sloshed around in her helm. Gnawing on her lip, she walked down the hall and slowly headed towards the region of the vessel where the energon was stored. If he didn’t make it...

No, don’t think like that.

Novastrike lifted her helm, venting as she spotted the door to the energon room. She paused, audios quivering. The door was closed and locked, but for the first time, she didn’t see any mechs or femmes keeping watch of the room.

That wasn’t right. Even after retrieving all that energon, Guard had still kept some of his most faithful supporters at the doors to make sure no one took more than their fair share.

Picking up the pace, the small femme hastened down the hall and towards the bridge of the ship. There were few bots just walking around, she noted. The halls and rooms seemed almost deserted.

The doors to the commander’s room opened up before Nova as she approached them.

There were bots jammed all around. Femmes and mechs alike, faces drawn up with worry. Novastrike squeezed around the legs of the assembled, her spark fluttering with fear.

Sure enough, she spotted Guard and Neutroboost at the front, staring out the window.

And a ship, come in from the right.

“Sirs?” Novastrike inquired; raising her voice above the mutterings of the crowd.

Guard turned his helm down towards Novastrike. His face showed his own concern.

“Novastrike,” he acknowledged gently. “I’m sorry, we’re a bit busy right now-”

“What’s going on?” Nova requested.

“It’s an Autobot ship,” Neutroboost interrupted with a growl. “We spotted it further out two days earlier, but it's been steadily heading in our direction. They’re starting to get in range of us now. Even burning our thrusters hard, they’re fast and gaining, coming straight at us.”

“Coming straight at us?” Novastrike repeated. “Why? What could they possibly want from us?”

“Energon, perhaps,” Guard guessed. “Maybe they’re just as desperate as the rest of us. Weapons, maybe-”

“It’s me.”

Everyone in the room turned their helms to the door.

Novastrike’s optics brightened with delight and with shock to see the silhouette of a dark shadow in the doorway with dark red optics. He had a servo pressed against his side. Beside him, the much smaller femme medic was trying to fuss over him and insist he follow her back to the med-bay.

“It’s me they’re after,” Blackout rumbled quietly. “I’m what they want.

[hgfstreamchats]

Atlantis

*flop* Night human, hello! Hello I'm just beat I know the feeling. ...And it might be impeccable timing! Looks like the site is down. Awwwww, no We could... watch a movie instead? Did I somehow manage not to miss anything? A movie sounds excellent. Any suggestions? Hmmmmmmmmmmm let me check my list How about... Atlantis? Works for me! I have no objection.

Apparently we are watching Jeepers Creepers, and we are going to like it. Hmmm. Hmm, it's opening just fine in another tab. Here, try this instead https://www.watchcartoononline.io/atlantis-the-lost-empire

Atlantis: The Lost Empire | Watch cartoons online, Watch anime online, English dub anime Watch Atlantis: The Lost Empire online free with HQ / high quailty. Stream movie Atlantis: The Lost Empire.A large tidal wave triggered by a distant explosion threatens

watchcartoononline.io

Oh, watchcartoononline, why don't I ever refer to you first? Just, uh, ignore the ads. I forget they're there, having blocked the hell out of them long ago There we go! Beautiful! The end. That is not really a warning. hello! Hello! Whoop, glowy eyes of foreboding! And then they drowned. Shoosh. Uranium! Either that, or we forgot another relic on Earth. Earth is like a gosh-darn magnet for anything you carelessly shoot into space for some reason It may be due to Unicron being the core. He attracts chaos. Is that a shrine probably Oh my gosh Oh my gosh he's like Linguistics Mulder He does not realize this is always a setup to being murdered. At least he's being delightful about sending Milo off to almost-certain doom They really go all out on every facial expression. They do! I do not trust this weird human. omg kity This little human's adorable. Does he have a match in his mouth Hello main villain, probably That's not a trustworthy chin. No indeed. Exactly. Why was he crossing his digits behind his back? Oh my god what .... Apparently Milo's body belongs to the crew and they'd like to make that clear right off the bat. It's like everyone on this ship stopped giving even a single shit. Serpents do not have limbs. Not with THAT attitude, they don't She taunted Murphy. Well, that man is dead. And now they all die. oh, yeah, this movie has an incredible body count Excellent. Fun! This thing sure is... crabby. Good to get the cannon fodder out of the way early. That way no one misses them. yeah, it's really put them in a pinch Something something... shell? How fortunate they are that the air is still breathable down there. That's nothing, don't you remember Treasure Planet Treasure Planet had 'space technology' as a cheat. hahahha Awwww. dude, ASK qué es esto Wheeljack! Red! Hello, hello same ... Fireflies. Of course. Uh Oh What about, uh Their explosives And then they died. Heh. i like this guy Well Convenient power in the short term, but overuse will give you cancer. uhhh Shhh, shhh, that's definitely how language works. The surface dwellers also introduce new viruses into the local population. why is that human magnus Called it We don't trust his chin. I'm pretty sure that's going to turn out to be an enormous slur on Magnus GOOD Peaceful explorers, with lots of explosives I do not like the king's voice. Does this story really require the little ratman? heh. that's a man???? Who wouldn't want a story with a bizarre earth-fetishist rat-man Without the ratman, who else would grind in the obnoxiousness? i feel like my boy the explosives guy could give us everything beepbeep How does the linguist fail at pronouncing a name given to him? i think humans have a tongue swelling thing when they see someone pretty Less Ratman and Dr. Touches, more explosive human. more explosions general bring on the booms A convenient history of Atlantis. And then he died of the bends. Tragic. Shoosh, the bends don't exist, just like there's magically fresh air down here oh frag Whoop damn Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal, Magnus. Indeed I'm tellin' ya, the mech's gonna turn OH a BIG STATUE Or maybe, uh literally in his head His eyes DO look kinda crystally yeah so do mine Well, that looks safe ...Oh. It's because he looked This is probably not a good sign. Ohhhhhh my This is probably fine. Huh. It was fine. ALSO probably fine W What flowers why Smoke up what air they have left. That's helpful. Nobody we knew I love explosives human. How are they planning on getting back to the surface? OH HEY Oh great there goes alpha trion He sounds like Sentinel. I dislike it. He got that story out pretty smoothly for someone half a minute from death. He died on purpose, to get out of dealing with this mess. explosives guy is high all day every day Truly your spirit human. i love him They just so happened to bring tiny planes with them. Just in case. apparently! You never know when you're going to need tiny planes under the ocean. HA ohhh brutal How is she alive after that She did not survive that fall. damn magnus hahahaah his face oh scrap hahahah wow Nice wow Here comes Magnus! now magnus can't talk scrap about me bein' on crystals Hah! And they flood Atlantis with lava. Perfect. Well then They have known each other for about two hours. But it felt like three. ha GIVE HIM A HUG. Now wash that hand. That hand will never be clean. oof seaspray used to crack my spinal strut over his leg if i whined about it enough Nice. "But we WON'T say that, because it's SECRET" how did humans put magnus and me in this so well Dumb luck. There's apparently an awful sequel. technically it's actually three episodes to a tv show that got canned before it made it to air, and they thought they'd flog it direct to video Can we go about our lives, without suffering through the awful sequel? technically it's actually three episodes to a tv show that got canned before it made it to air, and they thought they'd flog it direct to video Can we go about our lives, without suffering through the awful sequel? Or will knowing it is out there haunt us relentlessly? uho h I'm up for it if you folks are. Welllllllll... Sure, I have not been tormented enough. Sure, why not watch something to viciously mock It probably is not worse than the pig sequels. Nothing could be worse than the pig sequels. Gotta run, Red. Thanks for the party Always a pleasure! See you! Behold! Atlantis on a tenth of the budget And then they died. Remember those beautiful shots from the first movie? None of that here! Lava whales. Lava whales. Of course. So it heals rock, too? I should know better than to ask why, and yet, it is the only question. Wasn't that thing... bigger? You probably aren't. Oh, it's crying His rock looks upset at what his city has become. their smiles look unnatural She looks weird OH JOY. A PET MASCOT The lava tubes. And a giant crab. No. Not allowed. Ew. I hate their relationship. All the food is just, like. Bowls of dyed pasta. You live in Atlantis, you eat noodles. Forever. Oh, Kida, what have they done to you? That's ridiculous They live UNDER THE OCEAN Surely they're familiar with, like, swimming, floating, drowning Yes, make sure you bring the animal with you. Where would they be without their mascot Perhaps less drowning. The real kraken is that grim faced weirdo. Gettin' a little Shadow Over Innsmouth here ewwww, don't touch it t's like watching animatronics Why do they even have an inn if they hate visitors so much what's with her FACE . . . She cannot actually focus on anyone. Will-o-wisps? Heh Rat-man's grimace will follow you to your dreams I despise everything about Rat-man. W...what Maybe he just has one of the magic life-extending crystals I hate that Rat-man is contributing more than he ever did in the good movie. He should never move the plot forward. and yet, he is "Ha, now you can't complain that he's useless!" I will complain regardless. Kray-ken. It like... patted him gosh, maybe he's not the one in charge here I never thought a story about a tentacle monster could be so unappealing. Stop moving the plot forward, Rat-man! How dare he contribute? And they crush their friend with roof debris. Gasp. Uh... ... Ominous. I thought there was going to be a twist where it was a tiny tentacle monster they do not get paid enough for this Also I feel like nothing was really... explained Of course it wasn't. Milo who showed up three weeks ago knows more than her, of course. Are they just planning on investigating nonsense around the world? Why not use the magic healing crysta on him Too much work. gosh it's ALMOST like the coyotes are MADE OF SAND, animated by some magic force Jinkies! ... This bit is older than I am. Oh, Kida... So there's no theft in Atlantis, huh Had not been invented yet. Well, HE'S evil Because you know the writers of this nonsense wanted to be timeline accurate. Him? No! Every problem is going to have a spooky old man. I keep expecting to see Wile E Coyote and the roadrunner in this landscape This seems offensive to someone. You think? I can't get past how weird everyone looks I mean, Rat-man took a lateral move, but still Gosh, who's surprised Wait, did Rat-man just contribute to the plot again More than old man Kakashi. Because surely he won't just go to the cave and steal everything. Rat-man's carrying the plot and I'm not okay with that. ... oh wow. He's the most important character in this story It's, like, all about his dirt-eating Oh so it's a big museum The adventures of Rat-man and friends. wow his voice will just never stop cracking, will it Stop touching each other. And then he killed them. WOW who would have GUESSED Of course we have to have silly implausible knockout gas. Why even bother tying them up? Just kill them while they are unconscious. Likes gloating? Please, please kill them while they're unconscious. I don't like Milo's little pantaloons or shapely calves. Someone had to draw them. Guess SOMEbody's about to get sandblasted But for the pot they broke, they must die. Don't do it, Kakashi! Tell me your secret. "well if I told you it wouldn't be a secret, would it" "We love you, old man Jicama." ... Did Odin broke into his house. Did Odin break into this guy's I mean I sthis where theis is going What even is this premise? I mean I guess he can have it None of this could have less to do with anything. Oh dude you are WAY off they wanted to do a multi-season tv show like this ...Or, uh. Maybe not Then he is simply an insane man who is good at training birds. Dead. Pffffff . . . . . . . "The cum filling?" ...What I also heard that. And again, ratman is essential to the plot. ....Ewwwwww, he dressed her I think he is very confused abou this mythos, also I feel concussed. ...Did anyone else just see the explosives human disassociate out of his body? They've all been doing that The image bleed has been very prevalent. I haven't seen it get quite as bad as that. Uh... huh. So they're like boiling the ocean That's a little grim Rest in peace, fishermen. Or not. Rejoin the world, just in time to participate in a World War. Excellent plan. Wait there's a child? And contract polio. Was she like born DURING the thousands of years under the sea? Not quite as bad as the pig sequel, but still too reliant on the ratman. well that was... underwhelming That was wretched. I'm on the cusp of powering down, but thank you all for coming and enduring this. Thank you for hosting this terrible assortment of bad ideas. Well. It's what I do! Good night! Thanks for the stream. Good night! Good night! Thanks for the stream. Good night! Thank *you* for the movie suggestion, night human!

[jayedanalysis-blog]

Shadowrun Dragonfall [Review]

The 2013 Kickstarter-fueled return to the cult cyberpunk setting. On the one hand, it’s a really strong RPG that pays respect to the beloved 16-bit games. The pacing is snappy, the systems are enjoyable to play around with, and while the setting isn’t quite as unique as it was twenty-five years ago, it’s still unusual enough to help invigorate the experience. I mean, this vision of a dystopian cyberpunk future is almost adorably retro at this point, like looking back at the 1960s idea of where the space race would lead us. The writing quality is strong enough that those feelings of quaintness are quickly shaken as you get into the plot. On the other hand, the iOS release was extremely buggy at launch, the developer was slow to fix anything, and it’s still missing content from the PC version, a situation that will likely never be resolved. The game has a tendency to grab you by the wrist and drag you along, with little in the way of role-playing options or any real agency on your part. That’s a valid choice and I enjoy many games that use that kind of design, but at least where I’m concerned, I tend to feel that Shadowrun RPGs are best when they’re a bit more open-ended.

With all that said, a couple of patches down and a ridiculous price drop or two later, it’s an easy recommendation to any iPad-owning RPG fan, even with its faults. Most importantly, the developer seemed to have heard the criticisms of the original game when they sat down to create its first expansion, Shadowrun: Dragonfall – Director’s Cut ($2.99). On iOS, this is a stand-alone release of the Director’s Cut, and that’s probably the most natural way to present it. The game’s setting and story are almost entirely disconnected from the original. Instead of Seattle, you’re in Berlin. While your personally-created runner might be the same one from the first game if you want to stretch your imagination far enough, they’re just as easily someone entirely new. The mechanics are nearly identical to those in the original game, making it all the more impressive just how different Dragonfall feels.

In case you haven’t played the other Shadowrun games, let’s go over the basic details. The Shadowrun games are based on a pen and paper RPG created by BattleTech publishers FASA in the late 1980s. The setting is a bizarre hybrid of dystopian cyberpunk and traditional fantasy. Basically, plug orcs, dragons, and elves into Blade Runner with a healthy layer of Snow Crash and you’ve got Shadowrun. The title refers to secret operations that are carried out by people known as runners. FASA made some pretty good connections back in the day to have video games produced based on their licenses, with the most famous fruits of that being the classic Mech Warrior series of games. Shadowrun had a couple of games made for the 16-bit consoles, and in a break from the norm, they were completely different from each other. Both were RPGs, however, and the shared setting helped create a feeling of consistency between them.

At release, they were critically-appreciated for their quirky nature, but undeniably niche when it came to market performance. The games have been played by many since then, and are now considered cult classics. We’ll save the rest of the history lesson for a later date, but suffice it to say, fan demand for more RPGs in the setting was very strong, and Kickstarter helped the original creator of Shadowrun make that happen. Shadowrun Returns, and by extension Dragonfall, are not identical to the 16-bit games, but they hit most of the right notes. Done up as isometric RPGs, the games feature light exploration interspersed with tactical turn-based combat. You can customize your character to an almost ridiculous extent, leading to very different playstyles depending on what you emphasize. Unfortunately, I felt that Shadowrun Returns didn’t make the most of this customization due to its linearity, but that’s one of the main areas where Dragonfall diverges.

The back story has you playing as a runner of your own design who recently moved to Berlin after a job gone awry. You join up with an old associate of yours named Monika who leads a crew of her own. On a supposed milk run mission, something goes very wrong, with your team stumbling on secrets that they might have been better off not uncovering. It’s up to you to pick up the pieces and figure out what is going on. That same crew will be by your side through thick or thin as long as you don’t get anyone killed, and their presence is one of the more pleasant ways Dragonfall improves on its predecessor. It was hard to get attached to characters in Shadowrun Returns since they were either generics or not around for very long. Here, you’ll get to learn an awful lot about your teammates, and whether you love them or hate them, you’ll at least feel something towards them. This attachment helps add a bit more tension to the combat, even though you can’t really lose anyone permanently except through the plot.

Better still, it gives you options. Dragonfall feels a bit more like a Bioware RPG in that your teammates all have things they need to resolve. You can ignore that for the most part if you want, but if you go digging, you’ll find plenty of rewarding character development waiting for you. The structure of the game also resembles that of the games from Canada’s favorite RPG developer. While the opening is fairly linear, the game opens up significantly once you reach a certain point. You’ll work from a hub area, taking on missions in whichever order you’d like. This goes on for quite a while before the game needs to pull you back on the rails for its exciting conclusion. That end comes far later than it did in Returns. Dragonfall is probably twice the length of that game, yet still manages to maintain its solid pacing and captivating storytelling. As is usually the case in this setting, there are a couple of solid twists along the way that should have you reeling, and everything is told with a suitably cheesy but fun to read tone.

From an atmosphere point of view, it improves on its already strong predecessor, but it still suffers from one of its main weak points. The characters feel believable enough, and the dialogue reinforces the world, but the sets let things down a bit. Areas are a bit too small and empty, feeling more like movie sets than actual places. Oh, the details are done well, to be sure. Everything looks used and dirty the way it ought to, but it somehow also feels sterile, more like a museum exhibit of dystopian Earth than the real thing. I know a lot of that is down to the budget and the scope that it necessitated, but it’s especially noticeable in a game that’s more open the way Dragonfall is. All of the artificial barriers that keep the scant number of residents firmly roped in feel completely arbitrary, as though one good shove could send the whole thing toppling over.

That’s probably the only serious weak point in the game, though. Everything else is a treat. The combat is intense, strategic, and just plain fun. The AI has its quirks but the game’s difficulty seems built to accommodate them, so it’s not much of a detriment to the overall experience. The cyberspace aspect of the game meshes well with the regular combat, playing fast and loose with time itself in ways that add even more excitement. You have total control over how your character develops, allowing you to make them a tech-savvy decker, a rough and tumble melee specialist, a gun-toting brute, or even someone who punches people to death like it’s nothing because nature, man. Each of these builds offers something different to the group, and you’re free to experiment because any paths you choose to leave unexplored in your development are generally covered by at least one other member of your squad.

The controls work very well here, just as they did in the last game. It feels like it was designed around tablet play, and that hotly-contested save issue from the last time around has been addressed right of the gate. You can save anytime you want, though the game will auto-save at various times if you’re the careless sort. Speaking of careless, be very careful if you have to suspend the game for any reason. Just about anything will push Dragonfall out of memory on most iPads, so always save before you quit playing. On the whole, it’s a considerably less buggy experience than the original release was, with a recent patch plugging most of the worst holes in the game. That’s not to say it’s flawless in that regard. The game sometimes gets bogged down with slow loading and choppy scrolling, and older devices might suffer crashes here and there.

Generally, when I talk about RPGs, I find myself sorting them into little boxes. There are many games I love for their interesting stories and characters, and other games where I fell in love with the gameplay systems and compelling designs. The less common category includes games that balance both sides of that equation well, and I feel pretty confident in chucking Shadowrun Dragonfall in that box. People who play RPGs for character customization and fun battles will be quite satisfied, while those who just like to get into a good story with characters you grow attached to are also going to have an excellent time. This is an altogether greater experience than Shadowrun Returns, and I’m extremely impressed at the improvement on the developer’s part. I’m only sad that iOS gamers won’t get to see the next step in that improvement with the series shifting over to computers exclusively, but given how much this game seems to be bursting at the tech seams already, I guess I can’t blame them. That shouldn’t dissuade you from picking up this superb stand-alone gem, however.