#not just blaster poses but blaster poses at odd angles

[undertalethingems]

Unexpected Guests Chapter Ten, Act Two: Page 11

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Papyrus' special attack lives up to the 'attack' part of it's name, delivering an impressive 3 hit combo! But Gaster finally lands a solid hit of his own...

The long battle continues next time, on Feb. 1st!

[thanksjro]

More Than Meets the Eye #22- If You Don’t Love Thunderclash, Get Better Soon I Guess

One last issue before we reach Comic Event Hell.

Time to use a dead man to set up the rest of the nonsense that’s got to happen, because apparently 14 issues of setup, including six issues of literal prelude, wasn’t enough.

The first bit of information we’re presented with is the fact that Chromedome and Swerve are on the opposite sides of the camera-shy scale. I guess that’s bound to happen when your spouse has had his video-cam literally connected to his brain for at least several thousand years.

The art may look really gritty and hardcore here, but this is actually due to a filter Rewind has over all his footage that he’s neglected to take off, because it made all the wartime propaganda he would stuff into people’s heads all the more brutal-looking.

No, this is the style of our artist for this issue, James Raiz, who we’ll be seeing a fair bit of over the next several issues. Raiz has worked on the Transformers franchise over the course of multiple license-holders, as well as contributed to both Marvel and DC comics. He also works in special effects, including matte painting and VFX. That’s just neat.

Anyway, the reason Swerve’s completely frozen in place isn’t because Rewind  switched out his head-mounted camera for a gun that goes off if it hears you make a self-deprecating joke, but rather because he’s conducting interviews with everyone in the main cast. We get all their introductions, Cyclonus makes a statement about his political stances, Drift sounds like he’s high as a kite, First Aid strikes a sassy pose while not being bitter in the slightest, and Ultra Magnus makes a move that would get him murdered on any given film set in the universe.

You do NOT use your bare fucking hand to clean a camera lens, mister. Go get a microfiber cloth and try the fuck again, you complete and utter duffel bag of a creature.

We get a quick cut of the speech Rodimus made back in issue #1, with an angle that implies that Rewind was in the front row of the front row, then cut over to Rodimus asking Rewind to document their Capital-Q Quest. This is where we establish that this film doesn’t only contain footage from Rewind’s personal camera, but also that of the Lost Light’s security system.

Which feels like the sort of access you maybe wouldn’t want to give some nosy little film buff, especially when you have a secret giant serial killing sadist living in your basement like a disappointing adult child.

See? He was given the job to record the adventures of the Lost Light not five minutes ago, and he’s already using his powers for evil. Eavesdropping evil. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, Rodimus, and you just handed it to the guy with a massive Dominus Ambus-shaped chip on his shoulder.

So Rewind’s got permission to film just about whatever he wants, and Rodimus figures it’ll be nonstop action from here to the finish line! Fights! Intrigue! Mild hijinks and peril! Explosions aplomb! Oh man, I can’t wait to see what kinds of crazy shit will happen on this absolute roller coaster of a Quest!

Smashcut to Swerve literally falling asleep in the middle of a conversation. Yeah, as it turns out, no quest, capital Q or not, is nonstop action. Which is good, honestly, because that kind of seems like it would be exhausting after the first week or so.

Swerve, Tailgate, and Rewind are discussing cool alt-modes, which seems like an odd topic, seeing as Tailgate and Swerve have basically the same situation going on there, leaving Rewind alone in the camp of “does not have wheels”.

I worry about you sometimes, Rewind. Internalized Functionism is a very real problem. Uh, well, in your universe anyway. Us humans have to deal with regular ol’ classism and racism.

Rung gets brought up, and it’s revealed that the wheel on his back is almost purely cosmetic; it doesn’t even actually attach to his body. The lads decide that they’ve got nothing better to do, and set up a gentlemen’s wager- first one to figure out Rung’s whole deal gets 100 space-dollars.

Throwing shit at people’s heads will be a major plot point in the climax of this comic series.

Swerve’s go at trying to win the bet involved tossing a grenade at Rung to hit him in the neural cluster, which is rumored to be able to force an involuntary mode change if done correctly. Obviously, it didn’t work this go around. Then our narrative focus switches over to the crew’s hobbies.

You were listening to Prince, weren’t you, Magnus? Not even deep space is safe from the Cease and Desist.

Skids’ hobby is meeting new people, because he suffers from the terrible curse of being so fucking good at everything he tries, he always ends up dropping whatever he picked up, because what’s the point? This acts as a segue into another flashback, to even MORE bullshit that the fellas got roped into on Hedonia.

These are the Stentarians. They’re like the Cybertronians, if they were better in every way.

And by “better”, I, of course, mean “more bloodthirsty, warmongering, and driven enough to make their civil war last about as long as the Jurassic Period”. Also, they’re all combiners by default, and Whirl seems a little TOO into their whole situation. So much so, in fact, that when the Imperial Guard of their race show up to kill them, he decides to do them a solid by single-handedly ending their entire war.

You know, in most cases you’re supposed to show and not tell for visual media. This is way funnier, though, so it can be excused.

We jump back into the interviews, and Rewind’s just asked everyone if they’re happy. This might seem like an odd question, until you remember that everyone on-board this ship has crippling depression and PTSD, and Rewind’s married to one of the saddest motherfuckers to ever exist, so he probably has this question loaded into the proverbial chamber at any given moment. We won’t cover all of the answers here, because they’ll be more poignant to reflect back on later in the comic run, but let’s take a gander at the characters who’ve completed the first leg of their character arcs this season.

Drift, is that perhaps… an honest expression of your inner thought processes happening right there? Has Rewind broken through your carefully crafted persona, if even for just a moment, with his question? Perish the thought!

Because Tailgate outed himself as being baby in issue #21, I have zero doubt he’s not exaggerating here. He was a janitor, then he fell in a hole and became Dirt-Nap Supreme for six million years; even the most boring day on the Lost Light’s got to be better than that.

And it’s nice to see Chromedome on a good day for once. Hopefully he reveled in it while he had the chance, because this interview takes place maybe a couple weeks before he fucks everything up big time and has to blow up his husband with a missile strike.

Getting back to the Mystery of the Rungian Alt-Mode plotline, we see Rung using his backpack as a wheelbarrow- no idea what he’s actually pushing in the damned thing- and wearing the most disgruntled face I’ve seen him pull in a hot minute. Someone yells for him to come down the eerily unlit and sinister-looking hallway, which he does. Rung would not do well in a horror film.

He winds up at Swerve’s, where Tailgate, Swerve, Brainstorm, and someone who is most likely Trailcutter, given the colors, are hanging out in their alt-modes. Tailgate’s ploy to find out Rung’s deal is to do what he does best- lie! They’re having an alt-mode party, and wouldn’t Rung like to join in? There are, of course, logistical issues with being a car in a bar, especially when your drink is on the table and your head is tucked up somewhere in your torso, but never mind all that! Let’s get crazy!

This doesn’t work either. Maybe we should cut out the middle man here and just get Rung drunk enough to agree to a wet alt-mode contest.

No, I don’t have any idea how that would work.

In our next vignette, Rodimus comes into the comms room, Rewind trailing behind him like a grim shadow of death, to see what the hell Blaster wants, other than just the hugest glass of water.

Raiz’s work is very detailed, and you really feel the weight of these giant metal space robots, but everyone looks like they’ve been put through a food dehydrator.

We get a lot of build up to the character who’s about to be introduced, with a common opinion being shared amongst everyone- even Tailgate, who hates successful people like his life depends on it.

Lovely readers, put your hands together for the ideal male partner for Autobots, Decepticons, and Neutrals alike:

A man with so much charisma and charm that only Rodimus could hate him, Thuderclash brings to IDW what everyone wishes Optimus Prime would, making our disappointing space dad even more mediocre by comparison. He fights for justice, and freedom, and the good of the universe- and he does it all while having a chronic medical condition that forces him to stay within a certain distance of his ship that is also a life-support machine, otherwise he will die. Despite his handicaps, Thunderclash seemingly brings to others what they need most, even if they don’t even realize that they needed it in the first place.

He also, in this one scene, appeals to Drift’s religious sensibilities, does a secret best-friend dance with Ratchet (who he helped to pass his medical exams- yes, Ratchet), and congratulates Rodimus on his questing so far.

Thunderclash is one of those characters that everyone in-universe is supposed to love, and I completely buy it- because he’s completely genuine and humble about all of this the entire time.

Compare this to the last time Roberts wrote Thunderclash, in Eugenesis.

Where he was an ex-Decepticon.

And kind of an abrasive asshole.

And then he died.

Y’know, now that I think of it, Eugenesis Thunderclash and MTMTE Ambulon being basically the same character makes a whole lot of sense, even without the horrors of Roberts’ Twitter getting involved.

Thunderclash reveals that he, too, is on a quest to find the Knights of Cybertron, much to Rodimus’ chagrin. But first he needs the Lost Light to break out the jumper cables, and then for his second in command to stop threatening his life.

Turns out, not everyone is as obvious as the Cybertronians with their naming conventions. Whirl assassinated the wrong folks; I’m sure the Galactic Council is utterly thrilled. Paddox wants to steal the quantum engine technology for the good of his people, so they can kick the ass of the up-and-coming Terradore leader.

Completely unaware of the situation unfolding here in the lab, Swerve is directing Rung towards the warm, loving aura of Thunderclash for another go at winning the gentlemen’s wager- through the power of lying about having friends, Swerve’s “agreed” to get Rung Thunderclash’s autograph, in exchange for getting to check that Rung’s transformation cog is still working. Then they bump into the nightmare currently unfolding. My, whoever will save us from this dreaded menace, who holds a gun to the head of the Autobots’ greatest warrior, confidant, friend, and perhaps even lover?

How about a bartender and a giant vape pen?

Okay, so Rung doesn’t actually turn into a vape. It turns out that the Mystery of the Rungian Alt-Mode is also a mystery to the man himself. Because Rung is old as shit, the Functionists got to see this bullshit for themselves, and ended up testing him over and over and over trying to figure it out, lest he prove to be a flaw in their fascist ideologies. Fun fact: fascists HATE it when people they’re trying to oppress don’t play to their expectations.

The Functionists were the ones who gave Rung his little wheelie backpack, to make him at least appear useful. This sort of treatment tends to warp one’s head a bit, which would explain why he’s bothered to keep it for so long- internalized functionism’s a real bitch.

At least he’s not giving teenagers nicotine addictions under the guise of being somewhat better than cigarettes.

Back with Rodimus and Cybertron’s Autobot of the Year for 40,000 consecutive years, we get the unfortunate news that jump-starting Thunderclash’s ship is going to make the Quest go a bit slower for the Lost Light, much to Rodimus’ horror, though he does his best to put on a brave face; after all, that’s what heroes do, isn’t it?

It’s at this point that it’s revealed that “Little Victories” was being screened to all the Circle of Light members who didn’t get murdered or turned into Legislators on Luna 1, and man are these guys pissy. What was meant to be a recruitment video turned out to do just the opposite, because none of these guys want anything to do with what the Lost Light’s got going on.

Too bad Rewind didn’t have time for a cleaner cut for showing. Maybe they could have at least snagged a couple of these guys to tag along.

As all of the Circle of Light leave the theatre to go call everyone’s favorite Autobot to see if he needs a more crew members, the film plays on behind Skids, back to the interviews, as everyone promises more adventures just waiting on the horizon.

You’re not even on this trip anymore, you dork.

Chromedome gives us the title drop for the movie and issue, and we cut to Rewind organizing a group photo of all the interviewees.

And then Rewind died horribly like a week later. Thus ends season one of More Than Meets the Eye!

While I’m here, I’d like to take the time to cover a little bit of cut content from this issue, a scene between Drift and Ratchet.

Drift, during his interview, recalls the time that Ratchet called him into his office for a very serious discussion about his/Pharma’s hands.

Yeah, turns out they’re haunted.

Well, no, not really, because this is a prank. But Drift doesn’t know that yet.

Ratchet demonstrates this hand-haunting by punching Drift in the face, as he screams damnation at Pharma’s ghost. Drift, because he is a spiritual man, knows exactly what to do to deal with this possession; he draws his sword and chops Ratchet’s hands off, then throws them out the airlock.

This, too, is a prank, not that Ratchet knows it right away, yelling at Drift that he’s crippled him.

Clearly, these two belong together.

This bit of cut script was lucky enough to have gotten drawn by the colorist for MTMTE Season 1, Josh Burcham. Burcham’s line art is iconic- you won’t mistake him for anyone else. It’s rough and angular, and honestly just very charming. I’m a sucker for this sort of style. If you want to see his adaptation of this chunk of script- and trust me, you do- the link’s right here:

https://dcjosh.tumblr.com/post/107665292031/its-done-the-mtmte-22-deleted-scene-in-all-its

[optimusphillip]

OptimusPhillip Reviews 20: Transformers: Studio Series 32 Optimus Prime

It’s hard to believe it’s been more than a decade since the original Michael Bay Transformers movie came out. As much as I’ve grown to dislike the film series, I really enjoyed them as a kid, and even still I have a lot of nostalgia for the first movie. Not to mention, they have had quite a large impact on the Transformers franchise in general, so it makes sense that Hasbro and Takara would launch a toyline dedicated to revisiting these films... if for no other reason than the original toys didn’t really age well. And while my focus as of late has been on the G1 style toys, I have accumulated my fair share of Studio Series toys, so I should probably take a look at them as well. And what better place to start than with the big bot himself, Optimus Prime? Specifically, this is the second release of Optimus Prime, based on his appearance in the 2007 movie.

Truck Mode

Like in the film, Optimus transforms into a Peterbilt 379 semi-truck. Unfortunately, however, I find this to be a rather weak mode. Just looking at him, you can plainly see the robot mode feet sitting on the truck bed, which do nothing to hide the massive gap between the two halves. There is a trailer hitch molded in, but it barely resembles anything in real life. Then there’s the sides. Looking at the figure from the side, you can see the sides of the robot thighs, the transformation hinges, and hints of the robot shoulders. Furthermore, the steps leading up to the door are comically undersized and recessed, and the toolboxes by the gas tanks are completely absent. Best I can tell, these are all artifacts of the remolding process. The original release of this mold, Prime’s Revenge of the Fallen body, hides most of the robot parts behind panels, and retains the proper steps and toolboxes. But the toy had to be remolded for reasons we’ll get into later on, so those parts had to be replaced, leaving us with a weaker truck mode. Though that doesn’t explain why they removed some of the flood lights from the roof.

It’s not just aesthetics that suffer for the remolding. Due to the way the wheels transform, it’s difficult to get all six of them on the ground at once. Plus there seems to be something keeping the front of the truck from holding together correctly. Again, neither of these problems were present on the ROTF version, so I can only assume this is the result of the re-engineered transformation creating clearance issues.

There are some positives, though. For one, there is storage in this mode for his gun accessory. It can either tab into the slots on either side of his sleeper cab, it can attach to a pair of tabs on either side of the nose, or it can store on the “truck bed”. Also, the colors are nicer here than on the ROTF version. The red is much brighter and there’s a lot more silver. It’s still missing the gold gradient on the nose, and the blue flames on the rear fenders, but it’s still much better looking color-wise than the first release. I just wish the mold was as good as the first one.

Conversion

Transforming this figure is very different from the Siege figures I’ve covered. While figures like Siege Prime or Starscream do have difficult transformations, they’re still fairly clean all things considered. Here, there are a lot of parts that clash together, and a lot of steps that need to be done at the same time. For example, the nose of the truck needs to be split apart and unfurled before the rear can be brought down, and the rear needs to be brought down before the sleeper can transform, and the sleeper needs to be fully transformed before the nose can be brought up to form the arms. Once you get some practice in it becomes easy enough, but it’s definitely not as clean as the Siege line. Just a consequence of the movie aesthetic.

Robot Mode

The robot mode is where most of the retooling comes together. While the Revenge of the Fallen release had a much cleaner truck mode, this version has a much better looking robot mode. Compared to that toy, the chest is slimmed down and lacks the center hinge, the backpack is far cleaner, and the tires on his thighs are far more visible. Though I will say that the armpit fenders still make him look a bit... overweight. Still, he is far more screen accurate than the initial release.

The movie Transformers are infamous for their intricate designs, so naturally this figure has a lot of molded detail. You can see all kinds of mechanical elements and panels molded into his shins and biceps, all the overlapping armor plates on his thighs and arms, and of course all the interconnected truck parts that make up his torso. They even molded in the ab detailing he had in the movie, even though most of it is barely visible. He’s a really nice looking figure, though the deco leaves some to be desired.

He’s also decently articulated. Ball-jointed neck, universal shoulders with adjustable guards, bicep swivels, 90 degree elbows, and wrist rotation. Below the belt, he has a waist swivel universal hips, thigh swivels, almost 135 degree knees, and universal ankles. However, the truck tires on his thighs do impede some of the motion, especially when it comes to turning the waist or thighs. Still, you can get some decent poses out of him, and he’s pretty easy to balance thanks to his large feet.

While the Revenge of the Fallen version came with his battle blades, this version includes the ion blaster he used throughout the original trilogy. While it doesn’t form out of his fuel tanks, it is sculpted to match the gun used in the films, and it even has a burn mark on the muzzle. It fits snugly into his hands, though it does look a bit small in proportion. Maybe that’s just my imagination, though. If you don’t want him holding it, you can store it on his back like in truck mode, but it looks a bit odd in this mode. I prefer to just pose him with it, though it can also be mounted on the bottom of his forearm. While I don’t own the first release of the mold, I’m told he can also hold that figure’s blade weapons, though it’s an awkward fit with his remolded forearms.

Of course, his final feature, and the other reason for all the remolds, is that he can combine with Studio Series Leader Jetfire... a figure I do not own, so I cannot comment on that feature right now. If I ever get him, I do plan to do a review of him where I follow up on the combination.

Backdrop

Just real quick, I would like to comment on the included backdrop that comes standard with all Studio Series figures. They’re all constructed the same way: corrugated cardboard, with the bottom folded into a box, and a flap on either side. In addition to extending the backdrop, the right flap has the Studio Series logo, with the figure’s ID number at the top, and the left flap bears the Transformers logo and an Autobot sigil. Then in the middle of the stand piece is the logo of whatever film the toy is based on. The only difference between the backdrops, aside from the printing, is that larger figures have larger backdrops, so I’m not going to go over this again for the other toys.

This figure’s backdrop is based on the “Highway Showdown” scene from the first movie. Specifically, it depicts the highway overpass off of which Bonecrusher tackles Optimus. It’s a decent enough match to the movie; not frame perfect, but very familiar. Though I question why they chose this specific shot to recreate: I would’ve personally gone for either the beginning of the fight at the top of the overpass, or the end of the fight below the overpass, since it feels like an unnatural angle for a standing backdrop.

While standing up straight, Optimus fits very nicely onto the stand in robot mode, though his backpack does butt up against the backdrop when he’s fully on the base. Also, some poses don’t quite work, due to things like his backpack or his arms knocking the backdrop down. On the plus side, the side flaps do fold out if you want to get some wider poses in. I take issue with the fact that there’s only enough room on the base for one figure when this is supposed to depict a fight scene, but that’s probably more of a nitpick than anything. He also fits surprisingly well in truck mode. There’s a bit of overhang on the ends, and he only really fits at one angle, but all six wheels are within the edges of the base, so I’d say it counts.

Final Thoughts

Studio Series 32 Optimus Prime is a mixed bag of a figure. On the one hand, he has great articulation, an impressive amount of sculpted detail, a better color scheme, and looks much better in robot mode than the first release. On the other hand, the vehicle mode suffers quite a bit for those upgrades, with visible robot parts and issues holding together. Not to mention, there are much better Voyager Primes out there, like the 2010 Battle Blades figure. Really, this toy’s main saving grace is its ability to combine with Jetfire, something that no Voyager Prime toy has done before. If that feature doesn’t appeal to you, I’d honestly recommend trying to hunt down the Battle Blades Prime over this. That said, however, the Studio Series figure is still decent enough, and if you can’t find the Battle Blades for a decent price, this is a pretty good alternative.

[zonebunny]

Hello, Old Girl

AKA the moment when Party Poison finds the Trans AM 

Puffing his freshly-dyed hair out of his eyes, Party Poison’s features are punctured by a wince as he hauls himself out of the deep pit he’d been exploring for the last twenty minutes or so; letting out a heavy sigh of defeat.

“Nope, just junk over here! Any luck over at your end, Kiddo?”

“Just a load of ol’ papers!”

The Fab Four were currently standing in the middle of the scrapyard that spread out from Zone 1 and way out beyond as far as the eye could see; almost touching the border of Zone 2. This huge junkyard was where everything Better Living Industries couldn’t stand the sight of usually ended up - hence why the Killjoys were stood in the middle of it. For scavengers like themselves, this was practically a goldmine on some good days; but on others like today, their luck ran out and their hopeful searches came up empty.

It also didn’t help that today was one of the hottest days of the summer, and when you were out in the middle of the desert that certainly wasn’t a very comfortable experience to be out in, let alone working. The Killjoys had only been out scavenging for about an hour or so and they were already badly sunburnt, filthy and starving hungry, each carrying a pitifully-empty sack each.

“Ugh, this is fuckin’ pointless! All I’ve found is a few shitty pieces of scrapmetal, and they’ll only get a couple of carbons each if we’re lucky!” 

A whine to Poison’s left made him squint up at the shorter figure hunched over one of the more towering junkpiles, the scarlet-haired leader raising his hand up to shield his eyes as he focuses on Fun Ghoul, who was waving his bag in the air to emphasise his statement; the contents clinking against each other dully.

“Whatcha find? Droid parts?”

“Yeah; got a few batteries and what looks like part of a hand - actually, might be a foot…” As Ghoul speaks, he looks into the depths of his bag and tilts his head at an odd angle to examine his finds, frowning in distaste. “What a shit haul.”

“Hey, don’t give up hope yet. At least you didn’t get oil in your hair…” Another voice pipes up as the figure of Jet Star appears from behind what looked like the remains of an old refrigerator, the wild-haired Killjoy tugging at his ‘fro to prove that his hair was in fact matted with old oil, his face screwed-up in disgust.

“Yikes. That’ll suck trying to get that out of your hair…”

Kobra Kid finally rejoins the group, and like Ghoul he was holding a rather empty sack in his right hand. Jet’s sat on top of the fridge, containing a burnt-out toaster that he figured he might be able to salvage some parts from and a few stray half-empty battery packs. Poison had been the most successful so far, with a handful of old records he’d found at the bottom of an old box of Murder magazines and a couple of BLI-issued blasters that he reckoned he’d be able to polish up and paint for commissions.

“The sun’s gonna start getting low soon. Wanna call it a day or keep on at it?” Kid suggests, looking to his brother for answers - as leader, it was his call. As Poison dusts his hands off on his already-filthy jeans, he glances between his friends; noticing how weary and exhausted they all looked. It had been a tough day for them all.

“We’ll finish up here for the day, then check out that ghost-town nearby that Doc told us about the other day. Pony reckons that it’s been untouched, and I sure want first-dibs on anything decent we can find.” Poison states, the other three nodding eagerly in agreement - they were keen to finish up and head home as soon as possible.

After another hour of thorough scavenging, the Killjoys finally admit defeat as they haul their sacks of scrapmetal and other trading goods back to Show Pony’s van, ready to hit the road again and explore this desert-town. Once their finds had been stashed safely in the back of the van, the Fab Four pile on into it and settle down for the journey; Jet Star climbing behind the wheel with Kid sitting up in front beside him.

With a low groan, Poison slides himself down the side of the van and spreads his legs out in front of him; looking like a broken toy puppet. Ghoul mimics his pose across from him, tucking his knees up to his chest and resting his back against the cold metal of the van’s door, rubbing the back of his aching neck and wincing.

“Fuck, I got burnt bad…”

“I got some aloe vera in my bag!” Jet calls over his shoulder, waving to Kid to go get it. Kobra does so instantly, ducking down and pulling the brown satchel up into his lap and proceeding to fumble around in it until he found what he was looking for; the cutting of aloe vera that Jet carried on him practically at all times. Kid holds out the green stalk to Ghoul, who accepts it eagerly and squeezes the end of it to make it ooze sap.

“Oh, thank Destroya.” Ghoul sighs out happily in relief as he rubs the end of the plant along the back of his neck, his expression one of pure bliss. The look on his face was almost erotic, which causes Poison to go pink and quickly look down - he could easily picture that same look on Ghoul’s face when he was doing something else…

“You alright, Poise? You’ve been pretty quiet today…” Kobra then pipes up, turning around in his seat and folding his arms over the back of it so he could see and talk to his big brother. Poison couldn’t help a small smile appear on his face at the sight of Kid - the sun looked good on him, his features flushed and tan beneath the smears of dirt and oil on his baby brother’s face. Kid’s shades were now balanced on his bright blonde hair, which was all messed-up over his forehead from working all day.

“Yeah, I’m alright. Just wish we could’ve gotten a better haul than we did…” Poison shrugs, letting out a low sigh through his nose. There had been days when they’d found so much good stuff that they’d had a struggle getting it all to fit in the van to take home; it made the huddle of sacks in the corner now look even more pitiful in comparison.

“It’s alright, man; it’s like you said - good days and bad days…” Ghoul pipes up, smiling reassuringly and holding out the cutting of aloe vera to Poison; he’d burned his hand on the top of the bumper of a wrecked-up car earlier on. With little smile of gratitude, Poison accepts the cutting and smears the cooling gel-like sap over the shiny red burn running along his thumb and down towards the middle of his palm, wincing as it starts to tingle.

“Hey, we might get lucky at this place! Ponyboy sounded excited.” Jet comments, his eyes still fixed on the road ahead. Ghoul laughs at this, rolling his eyes.

“Pony gets excited over everything, Starman. It’s part of what makes them so...well, Pony.”

“Got that right.” Kid agrees, smiling fondly at the thought of their fabulous sparkly friend back at the Diner, who was currently looking after the Girl while the Fab Four were out scavenging. They made the best babysitter.

“Let’s just hope they’re right…” Poison murmurs, a hopeful look in his eyes as he turns his gaze out the back windows of the van as he watches the Zones zip past behind them; dust billowing into the air in their wake.

                                                  ==============

As Jet pulls the van up to the rotting gates of the town, the Killjoys peer through the window at their surroundings in both curiosity and caution - the place sure was abandoned alright, which gave it that creepy haunted vibe that made them feel like they were being watched, though the only life around aside from them were a few scraggly stray desert cats that prowled about and watched them exit the van with wide lamp-like eyes, before scurrying away back into the shadows.

“Stick close - any sign of trouble, shout.” Poison murmurs to the others once they bundle out of the van, his hand resting over his holster where the handle of his yellow blaster stuck out. The others nod curtly before they disband, heading in different directions in order to spread out and cover more ground quickly.

As Ghoul makes his way towards what appeared to be the old town hall and Kid towards the nearest run-down store, Jet remains on the main street while Poison ventures off towards a row of old houses - by the looks of things, the people who once lived here simply dropped everything and disappeared. There were a number of old rusted cars littered about the street, so as Jet started exploring them Poison makes his way towards a house with a front porch and cracked windows; the front door hanging off his hinges.

Something had been here, definitely; but it was impossible to tell if it had been fellow Killjoys or desert-dwellers or Draculoids. As Poison carefully steps onto the first creaky step of the patio, his hand comes to rest firmly over the handle of his blaster as he peers into the depths of the house through the broken windows - or what remained of them, anyway.

Tattered curtains drifted ghost-like in the hot desert wind as Poison slowly steps past the threshold, sand crunching under his feet. The winds had blown sand and desert debris right into the interior of the house, the carpets now looking more like a beach than flooring. However, Poison spies a few cupboards that looked pretty promising and so quickly gets to work; pulling them open and rummaging inside.

Pony had been partially right; he doubted that Killjoys had been here, as there was plenty of supplies and items that they wouldn’t have just left behind. However, he had a suspicion that perhaps some Waveheads might have used this place as a pit-stop at some point once. It made sense; the town was a perfect suntrap, and the way there had been furniture littered about the street gave Poison the idea that a group might have stopped by here while in the search for a hit - those junkies would follow the sun even when it set if they could.

That would explain why so many abandoned belongings still remained here; Waveheads didn’t care for material items.

The chest of drawers Poison was now looking through was proving to be already much more successful than the scavenging site - he was finding jewellry, old photos, papers, books. Anything of trade value or personal interest he slipped into the open sack at his feet, pleased to see it gradually swelling in size; especially when he comes across a whole rack of jackets and shoes, some of which would clean up rather nicely with some TLC.

As Poison passes through to the kitchen, he follows his reflection on every mirrored surface - he felt like such an intruder into this home, despite the fact it certainly hadn’t been a home in a very long time. His gaze then lingers on a countertop that was littered with picture-frames, depicting the same family - a mother, father, and two sons.

Poison felt a hard lump suddenly form in his throat as he slowly extends his hand towards the frame taking centreplace, which was the largest photo of the lot - a cracked and faded portrait of the two sons, two brothers. The oldest was blonde, the youngest was brunette; they both looked to be no older than between ten and twelve years old.

Poison then wondered what had happened to them; what had caused this family to suddenly leave their entire lives behind, to run away. He couldn’t understand why he was feeling so odd about this - he didn’t know these people, they were strangers. He figured he was feeling so strange because it was most likely that they were dead now, and this was all that remained of them - the only proof that they ever existed…

Quickly shaking it off, Poison sets the photo down again and looks away; no, don’t think about it too much. You’re here for a reason.

With a low sigh, Poison rearranges the sack he was carrying over his shoulder and slips into the kitchen, setting the sack down again at his feet with a low grunt before starting to rummage through the cupboards. To his dismay, they were mostly empty, but he did manage to find some pots and pans and utensils that would still come in handy, so into the sack they went. Just as he loops a frying-pan to the outside of the bag, Poison’s eyes then linger on an object lying in a decorative bowl on the kitchen table; his eyes widening in realisation.

Keys. Car keys.

And where there’s car keys, there may be a working car…

Excitement bubbling up inside him, Poison picks up the keys and gazes down at them sitting in the palm of his hand for a second; his thumb brushing against the grooves of the main key. Could he really get so lucky…?

Picking up his bag as quickly as he could, Poison’s eyes dart around the room and he spies a backdoor at the end of the hallway; that sure looked promising. Figuring that he couldn’t really carry much else and that he could always return to this place to explore further if needed, Poison pads silently down the hallway and nudges open the backdoor with his shoulder, which to his delight led straight out to what he could see what appeared to be a garage.

Oh please, please, please…

Almost stumbling over his boots in eagerness, Poison sets his sack down at his feet again as his eyes scan over the garage door, looking for a way to open it. At the bottom he sees a padlock, and at first he curses; thinking he’d reached a dead-end. But then he remembers the keys and quickly pulls them back out of his pocket, and with a jolt of excitement he sees that it does have a smaller key that looks like it could work out with this padlock rather nicely…

Taking a deep breath, Poison kneels down and carefully starts to fumble with the padlock; feeling shock vibrate through his bones when the key actually fits. He then takes a step back logically, calming himself down - he shouldn’t get his hopes up, after all. There was a very slim chance that there could be anything behind this metal door…

Not wasting a second longer - and unable to wait - Party Poison unlocks the padlock and takes hold of the door, sliding it upwards. Poison immediately wafts away the dust that had clouded up into the air as he does so, coughing quietly, and as sunlight filters into the interior of the garage for the first time in years, Poison takes a careful step forward and squints inside - and when he sees the sight that met him he stumbles back a step in shock; his eyes as wide as saucers.

Under a grey tarpaulin lay a large object that dominated the majority of the room; a big, car-shaped object.

Trembling in awe and excitement, Poison manages to unfreeze as he slowly steps inside; wandering around the back of the object in an almost trance-like state. This thing was huge, and by the shape under the protective tarpaulin, it certainly wasn’t anything like the lumps of scrapmetal rusting outside on the main street.

Poison then reaches forward, grabs hold of a handful of the plastic, and pulls.

As the protective layer rustles loudly as it starts to slide off the vehicle, when Poison sees the words revealed on the back he freezes up again as if he’d been stunned by a Draculoid, stumbling back a step in shock; TRANS AM.

No. Fucking. Way.

And the next thing Party Poison knew, he was standing in front of a 1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans AM. In perfect condition. Not a scratch on it’s pristine white surface.

“Holy shit…” Poison’s hushed voice seemed so loud as it echoes off the walls of the garage, extending a trembling hand to touch the bodywork of the magnificent vehicle before him; to check if it was really real. Feeling the cool metal beneath his palm, a wide slightly-crazed grin spreads over Poison’s features as his hand flies to his belt; scrambling for his communicator.

“Guys! Guys, you’ll never guess what I’ve fucking found - I’m around the back of the blue house off of Main, come and get me!” Poison hisses excitedly into the speaker, hearing the crackle of static follow for a second before a familiar voice replies through the airwaves - Ghoul.

“Oh c’mon Poise, I’m almost on the other side of town! Just spill!”

“No, you have to come see! Over and out.” Poison abruptly clicks off the channel as he clips the communicator back onto his belt; his eyes drinking in the entirety of the Trans AM eagerly, as if he were afraid it would vanish into thin air.

Poison hadn’t believed in love at first sight; not until now.

Dust crunches under Poison’s feet as he eases his way around the side of the Trans AM, not taking his eyes off of its sleek surface as he manoeuvres his way towards the driver’s seat, wanting to inspect his discovery closer. He couldn’t believe his luck; he had no idea how this family could have owned such a vehicle, let alone just left it here to rot. It was unlike any car he’d ever seen - and although Poison had to admit, he wasn’t exactly a pro on cars, he’d definitely heard of a Trans AM before - it was as almost as iconic as the DeLorean. It looked pretty similar, too, as the overall shape definitely reminded him of it.

Shielding his eyes from the setting sun, Poison leans in and peers inside through the window; praying that he wasn’t going to discover the remains of the family inside. Thankfully, he didn’t; the car was totally vacant, not so much as a child’s car-seat or a pair of fluffy-dice hanging from the wing-mirror in sight.

Poison came to the conclusion that this definitely hadn’t been the family car; it was much too pristine, unless this family had been a serious bunch of neat-freaks. He figured that this must’ve been the dad’s pride and joy, which he’d chosen to keep out of the harsh sun.

Poison then felt a pang of sadness; a car like this didn’t deserve to be locked away, kept in the dark. She deserved to be out on the road, speeding through the Zones, exploring their world…

“You beauty…” Poison breathes out loud as he spies the interior - brown leather seats, black harnesses. This car definitely had a history - one that Poison was eager to discover.

Just as Poison made to unlock the door, two sets of footsteps could be heard approaching; causing Poison to snap his head up and rest his hand over his holster. But when he heard his own name being called by a familiar voice - Kobra - he relaxes, a smug smile creeping onto his face.

“Over here! ‘Round the back, guys!”

Seconds later, a flustered Jet Star and Kobra Kid jog around the corner and come to an abrupt halt when they see what Poison had found; Kid’s expression falling into one of utter shock and amazement beneath his shades while Jet’s jaw literally drops open at the sight of the Trans, his eyes bulging out of their sockets.

“Is that…?”

“It sure is! And she’s all mine!” Poison grins like a madman, patting the hood of the Trans AM fondly as the other two approach, their eyes flickering over the bumper of the car in awe.

“How on earth did you come across this?” Jet then exclaims, walking around the passenger side and taking a peek in through the back window. “Dude, she must be worth a fortune! Look at that condition - she looks like she’s barely seen the sun!”

“I know…” Poison’s expression suddenly softens, turning his gaze back to the car as he rests his hand over the handle; hesitating just as the incoming footsteps signalled Ghoul’s arrival. 

“But that’s all gonna change, hey ol’ girl? She’s coming home with us…”

[pitchingmoundideas]

Super Smash Bros. Character Suggestion 03: PICO

Name: Pico Universe: F-Zero First Appearance: F-Zero (1990, SNES) Latest Appearance: F-Zero Climax (2004, GBA)

We’ve been off for a while, but it’s time to head back to some new Smash Bros character suggestions! This time around I decided to toss my hat into the ring with a character from the forgotten gem of a racing franchise, F-Zero! 

It’s been a LONG time coming for this series to get a newcomer to join Captain Falcon, but who? The series has dozens of racers to choose from, all with varied looks and personalities. Some want Samurai Goroh to make the upgrade from assist trophy, many want the dark and mysterious Black Shadow from X-onward. But for me, i’m going with a character that like Cap and Goroh has been around since the beginning, and actually has in-universe knowledge that makes him a perfect candidate for smash: The Poripoto Soldier and supposed hit man, PICO!

Who Is He?

Pico first appeared in the original F-Zero as one of the four playable racers alongside Captain Falcon, Samurai Goroh and Dr. Stewart. A mysterious alien racer, Pico is a member of an unnamed turtle like species. Aged somewhere in his mid-120s, his past is mysterious and unclear, always changing with every F-Zero game (the best example would be his homeworld being Death Wind in F-Zero, but Toritz 3 in F-Zero X). His vehicle is known as the Wild Goose.

A veteran who used to be a soldier for the Poripito Army’s Special Fighting Unit, having carried out many dangerous missions, he currently works as a hit-man and assassin, seemingly traveling the galaxy for his next pay alongside F-Zero racing. He’s aggressive and erratic, but manages to keep a cool head when the time comes and a job must be done. Most that mess with him usually don’t survive. He is also disliked by general F-Zero race fans due to having caused an accident on the track from his reckless driving, however this never stopped him from continuing to drive in said reckless ways. 

Why Pico?

Pico is a character that i’ve never seen suggested for Smash, which is odd. Like Samurai Goroh and Black Shadow he has in-universe skills that would make him perfect for a fighting game like Smash, and he’s also somewhat iconic, having been of the original racers from F-Zero on SNES. He’s also a very unique character appearance wise. A green alien with a beak, long head and turtle like shell with a high pitched voice and an “off his rocker” personality. 

Lastly (and most obviously) it would finally give F-Zero a 2nd representative in Smash Bros. Captain Falcon is great but he seriously needs someone to join him, and if Nintendo themselves won’t give F-Zero love with a new game, maybe Smash Bros can help.

How Would He Play?

Pico is a very unique character compared to Captain Falcon. Using a mix of long range army weaponry and his own powerful melee attacks, Pico is a beast at all angles though best up close (with melees) and from far away (with his special moves). In terms of air game he’s somewhat weak, not having a traditional recovery move. His own erratic behavior also plays into his general playstyle, with strange body movements and varying strength that would make him one of the more interesting “power” characters in Smash. But onto his special moves!:

B: Dual Pistols- Unlike Cap, Pico actually has a few moves that he’s preformed within F-Zero itself! For his standard special, Pico whips out a pair of pistols that he quick fires at opponents. While traditional bullet-based guns in his home game, Pico instead uses laser guns for the more E rated Smash. The pistols act similarly to Fox and Falco’s Blaster and Mii Gunner’s Laser Blaze, dealing fast attacks with a bit of knockback. Pico can fire up to six blasts at once before having to wait and let his guns cool down. While firing, players can tap the control stick left and right to make Pico quickly turn around and change where he’s firing, surprising opponents from behind. 

Side B: Sniper Rifle- Another move pulled from F-Zero GX’s pilot profiles, Pico takes out a sniper rifle (once again a laser one) and gets into position, before firing a strong blast forward at opponents. The Sniper is slow, as Pico needs to actively charge it up for a few seconds (by holding Side B) before firing. As it charges, players can position a reticle on nearby fighters by moving the control stick to decide who to shoot, which is where Pico will aim his gun to fire. This offers a bit of strategy to decide who you want to target, as a strong enough snipe can send players flying. One downside to this move is Pico having to sit still as he charges and aims, leaving him wide open to attacks from others. For those that don’t want to charge, a simple tap of Side B will cause Pico to quick fire a Sniper Laser, which does less damage but can be used to slowly build damage.

Up B: Grenade Toss- The first of two original specials in Pico’s arsenal, this move has Pico toss a grenade up into the air, hopefully landing to blow up nearby any unlucky fighters. If the grenade manages to hit someone in mid-air it will instantly explode, while if it misses it will sit on the ground for a few seconds before exploding. While acting similarly enough to Snake and Sheik’s grenades, Pico can specifically aim his. By either tapping or holding Up B, Pico can toss the grenade close or far away from him, letting him set up an attack by luring an opponent near one that landed or trying to hit someone mid jump. Additionally, Pico does a short hop when he tosses a far away Grenade, giving him a very small bit of recovery. 

Down B: Shell Drop- Another original move (that Pico would supposedly use while in the army), this special sees Pico jump high into the sky before dropping down Shell first onto enemies. Acting similar to other ground pound special moves (though mainly Bowser’s), Pico’s is quite strong and can even bury people if he manages to land square on top of them. If preformed in Mid air, Pico will simply drop straight down, while when preformed on the ground he will high jump first. This, in a way, is both his strongest recovery option as well as his worst, as if players miss they will fall straight into the abyss. 

Final Smash: Wild Goose- Pico’s F-Zero vehicle, gifted to him by the General Repeat of Death Wind with a focus on combat as a special unit in the Polipoto military. For Pico’s final smash, which at first glance is a “clone” of Captain Falcon’s, the Wild Goose zooms in from off screen with a battle cry from Pico, with any racers hit landing on a futuristic race track (though a different one from Falcon’s). Suddenly, a large amount of F-Zero cars fly at the player in a massive pile up, exploding and crashing into people. Pico zooms by and drives away, laughing maniacally at the accident he just caused. This Final Smash is actually a stronger variant of Blue Falcon (doing double the damage), and is a reference to an event from F-Zero GX’s backstory. 

Anything Else?

Entrance Animation: The Wild Goose slams to a halt onto the stage, with Pico jumping out 

Victory Pose 1: Pico preforms a variety of flips while shooting his Dual Pistols, before firing one last shot at the camera. He then blows the smoke coming off the gun.

Victory Pose 2: Pico throws down a grenade which causes an explosion. When it clears, we see him walking off into the distance.

Victory Pose 3: Pico hops into the Wild Goose, closing the cockpit and saying “I have some assassinations to take care of!” before zooming off.

Up Taunt: Pico laughs maniacally, asking “Who can stop me?”

Side Taunt: Pico points out his finger, saying “THIS will be an easy kill...”

Down Taunt: Pico swings around his pistols like a gunslinger before re-holstering them.

Victory Theme: The same as Captain Falcon’s, which is a cover of the theme that plays when you win a race in F-Zero GX (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPtIOxdAclY)

[zenxenophilia]

Prompt: Prewar Orion Pax/Prowl. Orion Pax is gathering information while posing as a hooker named Omnicron Noble when he is arrested by Prowl for prostitution.

*Cackles loudly*  Oh, man!  I love this!!!  XD  Challenge accepted!  I also threw in a generous helping of Swindle, free of charge.  ;)

The dilapidated cesspool of a bar that was crammed into oneof Kaon’s numerous, filthy alleyways stunk of desperation and cheap engex.  Orion Pax had to fight the urge the recoil indisgust at the thin layer of filth that seemed to permeate the atmosphere likean omnipresent fog, despite his HUD telling him to run for it.  Rough looking mechs of all shapes andfunction were crammed along the worn down booths, from gladiators, to laborers,all of them looking as if one wrong word could set them off.

The Jump Joint seemed to havedeveloped its own seedy subculture of disreputable characters over the years,but it was the concealed back room of the establishment which interested theyoung police officer at the moment.  Thestore front area of the bar was actually just a cover for the illicitactivities going on behind closed doors. Drop a few names and pass phrases, and the doors of Kaon’s notoriousblack market would open for you.  Here,for the right price, you could get anything: weapons, exotic animals, drugs, orin Orion’s case, information.

His precinct had been working on aparticularly high profile case for months now: a Deception by the name ofKillstreak who was rumored to be trafficking domesticated beast modes offplanet.  But so far all of his leads hadturned up empty.  He had come here as alast ditch effort, hoping that one of the many petty criminals swarming theJump Joint would have a lead on Killstreak’s location.  Orion scratched absentmindedly at the freshpaint along his arms, feeling both itchy and incredibly self conscious.  

It had been his idea to go Kaonundercover; not even his supervisor’s knew where he was.  The choice of disguise had also beenhis.  Borrowing a friend’s airbrush,Orion had redone his entire frame in a shimmering, iridescent red, the standardfinish of the city’s pleasure mechs. Despite the flashy colors, he blended in perfectly with other denizenscrammed into the private warehouse.  Itwas the perfect way to be seen without being seen.  No one even batted an eye as he stalked up anddown the vendor booths.  

Orion’s optics narrowed as he keyedin on a familiar face.  Swindle stoodwith his back to the wall, lazily swirling a cube of high grade around as hewatched the hubbub around him with an air of quiet satisfaction.  If anyone was going to know where to findsomeone who didn’t want to be found, it was Swindle.  Orion strode over purposefully over towardsthe tan and purple mech, a million questions forming in his processor.

Swindle looked up at him from hiscube and cracked a lecherous smirk.  “Well,hello, gorgeous,” he purred sensually, drawing out the syllables unnecessarily.  

Orion nearly slapped a hand to hisown face.  Of course.  He was supposed to be undercover.  He couldn’t just walk up to Swindle and startintegrating him.  He was going to have toplay this subtle if he was going to get anything out of the arms dealer.

“My, but you’re a big one, aren’tyou?” Swindle said, keeping his lavender optics trained on Pax.  “What’s your name, beautiful?”

“Omnicron,” Orion saidautomatically, pulling out the name he had rehearsed in his head dozens oftimes that night.  “I’m usually here withKillstreak.”

“Really?  I don’t remember seeing you around before,”said Swindle with an almost indiscernible edge of suspicion in his voice.  “And trust me, I would have remembered.”

“Well, we don’t exactly come hereto be around other people if you catch my drift,” Optimus purred, amazed at hownatural the words sounded, despite the feeling of nervousness roiling in histanks.  

Swindle threw back his head with alaugh.  “Well, you won’t find him heretonight.  He left about three daysago.  Didn’t say when he was coming back.”

“Where did he go?” Orion asked,fighting to keep the steel out of his voice.

“Oh, who cares?  Some moon or other - Kol system I think - doesn’treally matter.”  Swindle leaned in closely,staring up at Orion while tracing a digit along his chest plate.  “Don’t worry, though.  I know of a few things we could do togetherinstead.”

“Everybody freeze!”  A sharp voice suddenly cut through the crowdas the back door was kicked open.  Prowlrushed in with his weapons drawn as behind him another mech with winged helmfinials readied his blaster with practiced ease.

“Better do what he says,” said theother officer.  “You won’t like him whenhe’s angry - trust me.”

“Oh, frag,” Swindle hissed as mechsbegan to scatter left and right, many of them quickly making their way throughthe back door.  Without another word, thearms dealer slipped away into the confusion and out of sight.

“Wait!” Orion cried, stumblingafter him.  By now, most of the people inthe warehouse had already made their escape.

“Stay where you are!  Don’t move!” Prowl’s voice sounded from justover his left shoulder.  

Orion silently ran through everycurse in the book as he slowly turned to face his fellow officer.  Prowl’s expression was hard, but he held hisblaster out in front of him at an odd angle, as if he wasn’t used to closequarters combat.  Orion sighed and held uphis hands in a placating gesture.  “Prowl,put the gun away.  It’s me.”

Prowl blinked in confusion, clearlycaught off guard by the familiar voice of his colleague.  He cocked his head to the side, an expressionof bewilderment on his face.  “Pax?”  Orion nodded wordlessly.  There was a full beat of silence as Prowlstood there with his mouth agape.  Andthen, as if someone had flicked a switch in his head, he let one loud, vulgarexpression of frustration, causing his partner to chuckle.

“I think you broke him,” the whiteand orange mech said.

“What do you think you’re doinghere?” Prowl snapped at Orion, regaining his senses.  “You ruined my contraband bust!”

“Me?” Orion scoffed angrily.  “You’rethe one who just scared away my lead! I was this close to getting Swindle to tell me where Killstreak sped offto, but thanks to you and your theatrics, I’m no closer to finding him thanwhen I started!”

“High command didn’t mention therewas an undercover operation going on down here,” Prowl’s partner chimed in inquiringly.

Orion’s temper fizzled as he letout a small sigh.  “That’s because… theydon’t exactly know I’m here.  I thought Icould get some more information if I went undercover.”

“Is that why your done up like somecheap pleasure bot?” Prowl asked in a scandalized tone, gesturing to Orion’sframe with the hand gun.

“Like I said – undercover,” Orionsaid, spreading his arms wide, the garish red paint flashing under the dim glowof the murky, abandoned room.  “Look,Prowl, Swindle’s got a general idea of where Killstreak went.  If we hurry, we can catch up to him and seewhat he knows.  What’da say?”

Prowl shot a look over at hiscompanion, who gave him a noncommittal shrug. With a heavy, exasperated sigh, Prowl slipped his gun back into itsholster.  “Alright, fine Pax.  But just so you know, I’m not doing this foryou.”  

Orion let out a mental sigh ofrelief.

Prowl inclined his head towards theorange and white mech as the latter stepped forward to shake Orion’s hand.  “Pax, you remember my partner, Chromedome?”

“I’ll admit, it’s been awhile,”Orion said returning the gesture.  “Prowlspeaks very highly of you.  He says youhave a real talent for police work.”

He couldn’t be sure, but he thoughthe saw the other mech wince slightly.  “Yeah,well…  Prowl says a lot of things…”

“Anyway,” Prowl said briskly,turning towards the back door.  “Are wegoing to stand here all night talking, or are we going to find our perpetrator?”

Orion rolled his optics as he movedto follow his companion.  “You work withhim, Chromedome,” he said in a conspiratorial whisper to the shorter mech athis side, “how do you put up with him every day?”

“You sound like a friend of mine,”Chromedome chuckled, stepping out into the dark, filthy alley way behind him, “Buttruthfully?  Sometimes I find it best tojust smile and nod.”