#sorry for talking about needing to watch rescue bots it will happen again

[dragoncarrion]

if i dont rewatch rescue bots soon i will kill someone

[annabelle-creart]

Life of Rescue Bots Shenanigans. Part 22:

This is also long, take your time

...

"Heatwave" Cody asked from behind, Heatwave was in front of the principal door, watching he rain fall "is everything alright?"

"What? Yes, sure!" Heatwave replied with a soft tune "why are you awake?"

"I couldn't sleep" the kid replied "are you sure you're okay? Today's not your shift"

"I'm okay, I promise" but his elbows were low, and his smile wasn't good, but how could Cody make him say what's wrong?

"Are you sure? You can talk with me"

"Don't worry about that, kid, it's just a thing of mine"

Ahg, always this excuse! The typical 'you're too young to understand', Cody really hated that feeling

---

"Heatwave, you can't really be serious!" Boulder tried to catch his attention

"Boulder, please, I don't want to talk about that"

"But you need to tell it to someone! It is not okay to deal with everything by yourself"

"I don't want to fight with you"

"I'm not fighting!"

A crash interrupted the scene, Boulder looked out of the ship, Salvage just let something fall

"I'm sorry, I-"

"No, no, it's okay!" Boulder got closer and helped Salvage get the pieces

"Thanks" Salvage said "I didn't want to snoop or something, but are you and Heatwave, okay?"

"Yeah! Sure! Just something! Don't worry about that!"

But Boulder seemed worried, nonetheless, Salvage preferred not to ask anymore and go

---

"GIVE IT TO MEEEEEEE!!!!"

"BUT YOU ALREADY PLAYED WITH IT!!!!"

"BUT CODY GAVE IT TO MEEEE!" the twins were fighting, again, for the toy, Frenzy was doing anything on his servos to not to let Rumble have it

"BUT HE ALSO GAVE IT TO MEE!!" Rumble was pulling as much as she could, unfortunately, the pull was hard, and the force of it made them fall afterwards, noticing they broke the toy

"NOOOOOO!!"

"No..."

"You broke it!" Frenzy's optics started to drop liquid, also, his voice box sounded shattered

"Frenzy, I-"

"What are you two doing?!" A big, imponent voice sounded from behind both sparklings "what is this?"

"Am..." Rumble didn't know what to say, Frenzy was still crying loudly

"Ahg" Soundwave yelled "fine, let's make this easy" they said before sitting on the floor near the two sparklings "what happened?"

"I..."

"It's easy, just split it up"

"I wanted to play with Cody's gift, but Rumble didn't want to let go"

"IT WAS MY FAVORITE!!" Frenzy again started to cry harder and louder, Soundwave didn't enjoy the sound of it, but to ignore wouldn't make any good

"Hey, Frenzy" Soundwave called "look at me" Frenzy tried to stop a bit to hear the bigger bot better "some things broke easily, that's normal, but what have I told you it's better?"

"Sniff. To f-fix it?"

"Exactly" Soundwave pet Frenzy's helm while getting Rumble closer "now, what if we get calm, and we fix this later, okay?" Both sparklings moved their heads on agreement at the same time "good" Soundwave stood up, letting the twins climb on their shoulder "let's see if I can do something for it. And you will learn to share! Okay?"

"Okay..."

"F-fine"

“Fine, I like that, you´re learning, now, what do you say to each other?” Soundwave asked

“Sorry?”

“Yes”

“Sorry”

“I like that, Frenzy. Now you feel better?”

“Yes” both sparklings said simultaneously

“I like that”

---

"IIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH" the little thing started to cry, again, how was that possible? It was already fed, and okay? Shockwave was driving crazy on it, he had to shut him immediately or the thing will wake the other two

"Frag, frag, frag, frag, frag" Shockwave started to repeat to himself, it was already a waste of time to ask the rest to take care of them while he couldn't, he didn't want to ask the rest again "c'mon, what do you need? Please, don't cry!" Shockwave took the creature on his arms; it was so tiny that it was a shame "what do you need?" Shock already was about to collapse, the only thing he could do was to cradle the creature on him, it didn't even have a name, none of them. What could he do? Sing to them? Tell them a story? "Ah... once upon a time, something? A thing like you? That was on a big, old and abandoned building..." Shock didn't knew or understood, but the sound of his voice actually relaxed the creature, maybe that was what it needed "ah, it lived alone? No! With other two creatures like... whatever, ah..." Shockwave continued with his relate, and the creature started to calm down, breathing normally, but their optics still looked inflated.

Shockwave managed to tell as much as he could, it had passed a lot of time since he tell anything that he just invented, only for his little siblings when they were sparklings, finally, the creature felt asleep, Shock relaxed again, but seeing the creature so peaceful again... Shockwave wondered if the creature felt all the love and care he never felt from Core, his tutor...

It hurt him, but he was glad that the creature felt secure on his arms, despite all the bad things he had done with those

---

"Aw" Break's voice was elongated and sweet as never before

"They look fine" Knock Out told to Shockwave "I don't see anything out of normal"

"They're so cuuteeeeee!" Break said with passion and love, but the creature bites his finger with such fervor that it seemed it wanted to eat it "it is hunting!"

"Yes- frag!" Shock took the creature from Break's arms "I'm sorry"

"No, it's okay! Is a sparkling"

"They're too little to be sparklings" Shock said, putting the creature again on something that seemed a cradle "I was thinking to call them 'new sparks', as a combination of newborns and sparks"

"Aw"

"Pff- Break, you're such a crybaby!" Knock Out laughed at his conjux emotion, happy of him being this vulnerable

"I like that name!" Cody got closer from Heatwave´s shoulder, he could see the three creatures easily "and their individual names?"

"I think something with 'wave' would match" Heatwave chuckled

"Haha! That's a good idea"

"Please, no, at least not today" Shock excused himself "I still don't know how to name them-"

"Oh- fuck!" Blurr cursed when she trips up, she wanted to move through the room but instead made something fall "oh- frag-fuck- I'm sorry!"

"Are you okay?!" Break asked quickly, getting closer to see her properly

"Yes! Yes- I'm sorry. Please, tell me that wasn't important!"

"Fortunately for you, it wasn't" Shock wave said sarcastically, but unfortunately for him, his sense of humor was so broken no one believed it was a joke "sorry, don't worry, I can fix it later"

"Frag! Thanks, Shocky, can I call you like that?"

"No"

"Sorry, Shockwave"

"Well, at least while you're alright" Breakdown pet Blurr's shoulders with care, like greeting she was okay, she smiled back at him

"Thanks, big guy"

"No problem, kiddo!"

---

"But-"

"Oh, Blades! I'll be okay! Stop worrying so much!" Sissi shouted fiercely at Blades, who was about to do like the five complaint of the day "it's just a little trick!"

"And you're like my little sister! I can't let you hurt yourself"

"Oh, don't worry!"

"At least let me call Dani or Graham if we need back up!"

"Too late" Sissi said, about to jump the cliff, the rings were already set up, so, it would be a fast track "bye!"

"AAAHHH!" Blades shocked when she saw Sissi jump into the abyss, transforming in a drone quickly and reaching height

For a moment, Blades felt her spark was going to explode in that moment, until Sissi started to play around the rings, she usually wasn't this brave, and that killed Blades deeply

Actually, Sissi was really good, she was fast but also mastered the air perfectly, compared to Blades, Sissi had her flyer alt mode since a lot of years ago, she was better at flying than Blades and was really good.

She was about to land when suddenly...

"SISSI!!" Blades shouted loudly the moment she watched the sparkling fall on the ground, her frame didn't seem okay, like half-transformed. Blades transformed and flew quickly to her position "Are you okay?! Are you hurt?! Why are you-?! Let me see that!"

"Ay!" Sissi yelled when Blades tried to touch her "That hurts!"

"I know, that happens, but I need to touch it"

"No!" For Sissi was impossible to move again, everything hurts "you were right!"

"What?! No!" Blades tried to put again her servos on Sissi, talking softly "that was incredible!"

"Really?"

"Yes! I would never do something like that! I mean, you are really good, almost as good as Dani, and she is the best pilot I've ever met"

"You're lying!"

"I'm not! Sissi, if it really makes you happy, you shouldn't let it because it could hurt, that's what bravery is about and you did it really good, you inspired me"

"...thank you- AHHHH! FRAG!"

"Language" Blades joked, using her words as distraction for Sissi to not to notice she was getting closer to rearrange her piece, so, she could transform properly

"That hurts!"

"The best things hurt, I guess..."

"Pff, well… thanks"

"You're welcome, Sis"

"Hm! Now I get why everyone was mad about me having an alt mode, sparklings are not supposed to transform"

"Is actually because the pieces of the alt mode don’t grow with the bot, but whatever it happens, I will help you"

"Thanks, big sis"

"Lil sis, yes!"

---

“Heatwave?”

“Boulder, I-”

“Don´t start! Heatwave, I know something´s wrong” Boulder sat at his side, as close as they could “please, you can´t just hide everything from us! I´m worried, and I don´t want to live like this”

“You´re not living in a lie! Don´t exaggerate”

“See? You promise me you would be more honest!”

“I know, and I´m being honest!”

“Then, tell me! What´s wrong?” Boulder looked at Heatwave like a puppy, hoping for him to react, Boulder knew Heatwave enough to understand something was off, and Cody already told him “Okay, first, why don´t you want to tell me?”

“Boulder-”

“Reply that first!”

“ahg… I feel better staying with it, not to sharing it is easier”

“Is easier, but is better? Do you really feel better by keeping this for yourself?”

Heatwave for a moment was like frozen, deep in his spark he knew his siblings were feeling the same

“Did someone tell you?”

“Cody, Shockwave, Soundwave, Blades had noticed you more sad, Salvage had saw you decayed! Even Kade had told me you´re not as humorous as before”

“Everyone?”

“Yes… please, tell me if something´s wrong, so we can help you, but I can’t do anything if you act like nothing´s happening”

Wait, it actually remembered him of something…

“Let´s talk, properly”

He promised himself while ago he would never lie… what was he doing now?

It has sense now, the weird feeling of not telling Cody what he had, to sub estimate a kid is the worst thing someone could do, but here he was, acting and lying like his tutor

“Heatwave?”

“I… you´re right, I don´t feel the same ultimately”

“Since Shockwave arrived?”

“Before, since the cadets arrived”

“Why? They´re doing really good!”

“It is not because of that, is because…” Heatwave paused a moment, like trying to formulate the words correctly “Boulder, am I doing it fine? Am I a good tutor?”

“Why do you say that?” Boulder was both surprised and puzzled “Heatwave, haven´t you see them? How they arrived and how are they doing?”

“I´m not alone! Boulder, you´re so kind and good, and Chase is maybe the best teacher I had met, and Blades is a really good big sibling for them; Soundwave already has experience, Chief always manages to keep them array, Kade always makes them laugh, Graham and Dani always show them the good and teach them the bad, Cody shows them responsibility. Even Shockwave, Knock Out and Breakdown do what they need, and now the new sparks! I…” Heatwave hugged his knees, trying not to shatter his voice “I feel sometimes I´m what´s left over and the only thing I do is to yell at them”

“No!” Boulder took Heatwave´s cheekplates with their servos “Heatwave, please, don´t say that! You´re doing as much as you can and that´s what really matters! When we noticed Sissi was sick, who was the first one to stay with her?”

“Blades”

“You! Even if Blades was there, you never leave her side unless there was a rescue! And when Cody wants to show something to the rest, who is the first one to look at it?”

“Chief Burns”

“You! Heatwave, Cody really cares and wants to include you in his life! And when Blurr got in problems, who was the first one to look for her?”

“Chase”

“You! Chase was there, yes, but you also maintain at her side while Chase was fixing everything. And when Salvage almost burns the junkyard?”

“You”

“You also were there! The first thing you did was too get inside and search for him!” Boulder kept Heatwave´s faceplate placed to look at them “Heatwave, you protect them and care for them, maybe there´s things to fix but this is the way you show them you care! This is the way you tell them you love them! If you never cared, you wouldn´t ask me this!”

“Do you… really think I´m doing it right?”

“I don´t think it, I believe it, so, think everything you want, the answer is in front of you. And if you want some help, here we are”

Heatwave placed his servos on Boulder´s, trying not to drop a glint or something

“Don´t make yourself the strong one in front of me”

Boulder was too kind, Heatwave let himself fall on Boulder´s embrace, Heatwave finally felt a little relieved with the answer “Thank you”

---

“Chaseeeeeey!”

“We already talked about nicknames”

“Fine!” Blurr sighed, rolling her optics as usual “but that wasn´t what I wanted to say”

“What is it then?”

“Ta-dah!” Blurr showed Chase a paper, which Chase took to look at it better

“Do you want me to give my opinion?”

“Yeeeeesssss…”

“Okay. It has a lot of studs, the calligraphy is terrible, the answers are poorly described…” Chase was about to continue, but for accident, he looked at Blurr´s sad look, then, Chase realized the tune she had a moment ago was of happiness and attention, which was not usual this days, she retired her gaze when Chase looked at her, but even if Chase was bad with facial expressions, the rest of her corporal language tell everything, it actually reminded him of something he lived time ago, the moment that marked an after and a before in his story, one of the reasons why he was like that “you have made your job, stay like that.” He remembered his tutor told him when he was a sparkling. He looked again at the paper, noticing also compared to other days…

“you´re answers are correct this time”

“Really?” she looked at him straight in the optic

“Yes, we can work on the calligraphy later, and maybe you should use a pencil instead of a pen to evade the studs, but everything is correct.” Chase took a pen and marked the answers as correct “you had improved a lot since you started, stay like that-” Chase wanted to finish his sentence, but instead, Blurr hugged him before

“THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!”

“My audials!”

“Ah! Sorry, I forgot, hehe, sorry, but thank you, I will do better with my calligraphy! I promise!”

“Good.”

Blurr retired with paper in hand, celebrating with emotion and about to shout to the world she did something good and that matters, Chase wasn´t a fan of this type of hypes, but seeing his apprentice like this, celebrating her own achievements without comparing herself with him was… nice, it felt warm in his spark, he genuinely felt happy, this was how his tutor felt? Was she really proud of him? Or did she said all of that, so he could become the bot that he is now, because if that´s the case, there´s better ways, and now was his duty to search for it, but whatever it was, he was happy with her improvement

“This is how it feels, eh, Mural?”

[guardian-of-fandoms]

Earlier:

"Put your hands where we can see them!"

Charlie studied the figure, trying to understand what he was looking at.

The Stranger's face was concealed by a helmet, his face obscured by tinted glass.

He wore strange tactical gear, a metal plate with an engraved heartbeat covering his chest, with an olive green jacket beneath, and similar green pants with a reflective silver stripe on each leg.

but what caught his eye the most, was his light arm, which appeared to be robotic in nature, pulsing with a golden glow.

He couldn't see his eyes, but Charlie couldn't shake the feeling that the observation went both ways.

His head tilted, taking in the rescue team, slowly circling around him.

".... This is so weird..."

His voice had an odd distortion, Charlie assumed from the helmet.

"Young Man, i'm going to have to ask you some questions."

A soft, glitchy chuckle echoed from the helmet, the stranger turning a circle as he studied the team.

"If this is about Doc Greene's lab, I'll replace everything I took, but right now, bigger things are happening."

"That's not the issue right now, son. I'm sure we can talk this out, if-"

"Don't.... don't call me that...."

The stranger suddenly whipped around, once again facing the older man.

".... Don't call me that... Please...."

".... I'm sorry, I... I didn't mean to upset you. But I am going to have to ask you to come with me. I'm sure we can sort this all out, but the lab's security caught you tampering with.... sensitive materials."

"If this is about the time machine, relax, I'm not here for that."

The mention of the time machine was like striking a match, the entire team shooting each other frantic, confused glances.

"How do you-"

"That's not important right now, none of this matters right now!!!"

He turned back around, trying to find an opening in the group.

"I have a job to do. As charming as it is to see you all again, I need to go-"

"Please stay where you are."

Heatwave leaned in, his stiff, "Robot" voice barely holding steady against the orange blaze of his optics.

But the figure only stared up at him, and chuckled.

"You can drop the act, Heatwave."

Heatwave's jaw dropped.

"Alright, that's it!"

Kade stormed up, his jaw set into a deep scowl.

"I don't know WHO you are, but i've had enough of you! Start talking, or else!"

The stranger only sighed, shaking his head.

"You never change, do you, Kade? Just as hardheaded as I remember you.... I missed it. But I don't have time. So i'm sorry."

Kade didn't even have time to process before a flash of gold knocked him aside.

The stranger's arm glowed and crackled with electricity, the team rushing into action as Heatwave thrust his hand out, steadying a dazed kade.

The stranger tried to duck left, but Boulder stomped in front of him, with Dani rushing behind him.

"I don't want to do this!"

"Then i reccomend putting your hands in the air."

Chase leaned in, frowning sternly.

"Under suspicion of theft and assult, I request you surrender."

The stranger heard Dani behind him, then suddenly stop cold in her tracks, as she spotted something on the back of his armor.

engraved into the back of his armor, was the rescue bot insignia.

"... What....."

The stranger was quick to take advantage of the distraction, reaching behind him to grab Dani's arm, sending her stumbling into Graham, before leaping to the side and pulling Kade out of Heatwave's grasp, and crashing into his siblings.

"Get your hands off my children!"

Charlie charged forward, but the stranger easily avoided him, before jumping into the road, and grabbing a traffic light.

Everyone watched in shock as he grasped the device, energy sparking and crackling around his robotic arm, as the light began flicking, before dying completely, dropping to the street with a heavy thunk.

The golden light flashed violently, electricity snapping and lashing out, the stranger holding his arm out as the team stared on in shock.

"I really didn't want to do this. But you have to trust me when i say, it's for your own good."

he pulled a small metal object out of his pocket, and threw it towards the Burns, before blasting it with electrity.

the item split in half, thick cables extending from the middle, before they wrapped around the four burns, restraining the four tightly, and leaving them to collapse to the ground in an undignified heap, the two halves locking back together with a metalic clink as the four struggled.

The four started struggling, and as the Bots surrounded him, Heatwave was practically snarling.

"Oh, you're going to regret that..."

"Who says I don't already?"

The stranger blasted his arm down at the pavement, launching him backwards into the air, where he landed on Blades's shoulder, causing the timid bot to squeak in shock, before slapping another metal square onto his shoulder.

"What are you- Wait!"

Panic filled blades as he struggled, sparks shooting from the device as he yelled, "I- I can't move!!!"

"That's a magnetic-lock EMP, it'll wear off in about ten minutes."

"BLADES!"

The stranger barely had time to leap away before Boulder grabbed at him, but was quick to slap another square onto his hand, the bot gasping as he realized that he was also immobile.

"Hey!"

"Not another move!! You are being aprehended for agrivated assault!!"

The figure met Chase's gaze, sighing.

"Sorry, but i'm about to break a whole lot more laws."

He blasted over another square, and Chase could only sigh dissapointedly as he froze in place.

"That's. Enough."

Now, Heatwave was furious, his jaw clenched in a scowl and grinding together as he seethed from raw fury.

"I don't know who you are, but you've just made the biggest mistake of your life."

"Not even close."

The stranger held out another metal object, but this one was different, it was longer, and as it unfolded itself, he dropped it to the ground, where it shaped into a flat board, a glowing core in the center causing it to levitate off the ground.

"A hoverboard?"

The stranger hopped on, and met Heatwave's optics dead on.

"I'm sorry to do this, I really, really am, but I didn't have a choice."

"Hey, Mystery Man!!!"

The four on the ground were struggling wity the cables, and Kade glared over.

"Feels like you had a choice to me! Listen here, you knockoff Power Ranger, You mind telling us why you did all this?! Who are you?! What'd we ever do to you?!"

The stranger merely shook his head, as the board started rising up.

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

"Hey, forget somebody?"

Heatwave practically snarled.

"In case you haven't noticed, you missed one. Do. Your. Worst."

The stranger raised his arm, sputtering and sparking with the last bit of stolen electricity.

"Who says I'm doing anything to you?"

"You took out the entire team without hesitation, why leave me?"

the Figure guestured out, where some stragglers had come to gawk in the streets.

"You can't be seen without a driver, and yours is a little tied up right now, so I know you can't follow me. And besides... Let's just say... I owe you."

The figure pulled another item out, this time a small sphere.

"I never wanted to do this. I'm sorry. But believe me... This is for your own good. You want no part in what's happening here."

With that, he blasted the sphere, and the area exploded into thick smoke, everything becoming indistinct, with the bots only hearing the hacking coughs of their human partners.

By the time the smoke faded, the stranger was long gone.

Heatwave could only bite back rage, before he heard the call of,

"Little help?"

He turned, seeing the four still on the ground, writhing as they attempted to deal with their restraints.

He stomped over, and leaned down, carefully crushing the two metal blocks between his fingers.

Instantly, the cables grew slack, easily falling away, and the four all pulled away to catch their breath and pick themselves up.

To the side, blades watched as the small square beeped loudly, before detaching and dropping to the ground, Blades letting out a sigh in relief as stretched his joints.

"Whew! That's better!"

Heatwave moved to pry the device off Boulder, while Kade stared out the cables, a bad feeling washing over him.

Okay, anybody else seriously weirded out? Who the HELL was that?! How does he know us?! And how did he wipe the floor with us like that, I mean, that was just embarassing!!"

Dani nodded, adding,

"Did anybody else see the back of his armour?! He had the Rescue Bot insignia!!"

Graham gingerely picked the discarded EMP device off the street, musing as he studied it.

"Not to mention, he knew how to take down all of us easily, but didn't actually hurt any of us. In fact, he was acting like... he wanted to protect us, somehow.... That's... odd...."

Kade rolled his eyes, grumbling,

"Getting tied up and frozen still ain't ideal. And speaking of, congrats, Heatwave, guess you're his favorite."

Heatwave had moved on to removing chase's device, his eyes narrowed.

"He knows we're cybertronians, he knew i wouldn't blow my cover going after him, he knew how to disable us, whoever this is, he's dangerous. I don't know how he knows any of this, but whoever that is, we have to find him."

"And we will."

The chief pulled out his phone, glancing at a flood of messages from Doc Greene.

"Doc's got eyes on him, he's heading towards the woods, and it looks like he's chasing after something."

"Wait, did you say the woods?"

Dani's eyes widened, and a realization suddenly shot across everyone.

".... THE CAMPING TRIP!!"

-

Now:

The mechanical monster easily evaded the attack, his twisted form allowing to move in ways the teen fighting him couldn't.

"You fascinate me.... You truly fascinate me. You claim what you do is in the name of justice, that you seek to avenge those you have lost... Yet you lie to their faces. You attack them, you restrain them, you even decieve your own dimensional counterpart. How very intriguing..."

"This isn't their fight!"

The hoverboard sputtered and sparked, as he tried to ignore the burning sensation in his chest, the exhaustion from the very core of his being.

"You killed my family, and i swear on my life, I will not let the Cody of this world feel the agony I did. If i have to lie to him, if i have to fight the faces of the people I love, then i'll loath myself every second, but I will do it again and again until my dying breath."

"You, Cody Burns, are the most fascinating person I have ever encountered."

The monster's long, razer sharp claws that had formerly been fingers lashed out, Cody's hastily formed field barely holding them back as they slashed at his helmet.

The momster's glowing red eyes stared at him, the protective shell of it's head tilting as it flashed him an uncanny sneer.

"I cannot wait to dissect your body, after I tear your heart right from your chest as you weep, dying with the knowledge that you have failed again."

Under his battered helmet, Cody grit his teeth, his eyes flashing a golden glow as he pushed the claws back, the twisting metal rotating and reforming itself as he fumbled in his pocket, before pulling out a small device.

"If i go down, then i'm dragging you with me."

He revved back, before charging forward, grabbing the hoverboard with his cybernetic, and draining all the power from, before channeling everything he possibly could into the arm, leaping right at the artifical madman, and clinging to his chest.

"What are you doing?!"

"Destroying you once and for all."

Cody pressed the disk to the glowing gem in the center of it's chest, and pressed his cybernetic against it, letting it build to maximum power.

"You would really go as far as murder?"

Cody looked up, and his helmet slightly opened, allowing the piercing red eyes to stare at the scarred, battered face.

"You haven't been human for a long time, Morocco. All you are now is a defective killing machine."

His helmet re-covered his face, and he closed his eyes.

Neither being truly processed the explosion.

The next thing to enter Cody's mind was the shatter of his helmet as he slammed against a tree, roughly crashing to the ground.

The trickle of blood filled his senses, he couldn't even pinpoint where it was coming from, his brain screaming a thousand times over from the blistering, burning pain filing his systems.

He'd used absolutley everything he had.

Yet, his left hand drifted to his jacket, a burning, wet cough escaping him, red staining his lips as he pulled one last item out of his pocket.

His old comnlink, unusable now, worn with age and disrepair.

But it served a new purpose now.

he pressed the button on the top, and it popped open, the inside hollowed out to reveal an old, weathered photo.

His younger self proudly beaming into the cameras, his sibling's faces a mix of horror and confusion, with his dad merely looking tired.

he pressed the comn to his chest, and sighed.

Only for horror to fill him, at the sound of an echoed, glitched laugh.

"Oh... How truly ironic...."

He forced his head to turn, bile rising in his throat.

The monster's stance was crooked.

One leg was missing half at the joint, the frame warped, the metal scorched and mishapen as it weathered the flames around it's feet, one hand half buried in the scorched earth, and it's face peeled back to the raw wires and plating.

The gem at it's core was gone, but a warping, sparking ball of electricity encompased the being, seeming to pulse like a putrid heart.

"How riviting.... This power... I've never felt anything like this before...."

No.

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no NO NO NO NO NO HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD, DEAD AT LAST

IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE OVER

But as he lay there, helpless and unnmoving, the monster shambled it's way towards him, it's voice glitching and breaking.

"That little trick took all the power you had, didn't it? Your little trick is quite impressive, if foolhardy. Once again, cody burns.... You surprise me.... Perhaps I shouldn't dispose of you so hastily..."

"FREEZE!!"

The Rescue Team stormed the area, instantly growing uneasy over the sight of the monster.

"My my.... isn't this a grand little reunion..."

The monster turned a slow circle, giving the rescue team a clear look at the damaged, inhuman frame.

"How uncanny.... I imagine this must be how you feel.... Seeing the faces of the ones you knew, knowing they are not the same. It must be like seeing ghosts..."

"S-stop... stop..."

Cody wheezed through strained breath, dark spots lapping at his eyes.

The figure leaned back, it's broken arms outstretched as it turned a slow circle.

"Everything you've done to destroy me has only made me stronger. After so many years, after so much blood, tell me. Who's truly being destroyed by this battle?"

"Back away slowly."

Charlie quickly got out of Chase, the latter switching modes as Charlie tenatively stepped closer.

"Back away from that young man.... Whatever you are."

A glitched, distorted, echoing chuckle escaped the twisted abomination, it's ugly head coming directly face the Chief.

"Chief Burns.... It's been so long..."

Charlie eye's went wide.

"That voice... Doctor Morocco?"

"Yes and no... Big things have happened here... Things you will no doubt struggle to comprehend... I look forward to it."

His head tilted back to the floor, meeting Cody's horrified eyes.

"Congratulations.... You've made me most curious. And so, I extend this, for I desire to see what unfolds next. So... Until we meet again..."

The glowing core of the monster's body emmited a bright flash, causing everyone to avert their eyes, and smoke flooded the area.

"No... No...."

Charlie charged through the billowing smoke, but it was too late.

The monster was gone.

"No... no... no... I failed.. I failed... I.. fa... failed..."

Charlie dropped to one knee, as he recognized the broken peices of the helmet.

"DANI, BLADES, HE NEEDS MEDICAL NOW!"

The teen turned his face away, almost trembling.

"You.. shouldn't.... not your fight..."

"Young man, please, save your strength, we're going to get you to a hospital, alright? Can you tell me your name?"

There was a moment of hesitation, before the teen let out a deep sigh, an turned his head.

Charlie was taken aback instantly, the inherent familiarity of the face he was seeing.

The shape of his face, the blonde hair that was down to his shoulders.

Despite the thick scar across his cheek, the cavernous dark circles underneath his eyes,

Charlie knew.

He would always know.

".... Cody?"

"Not... Exactly.... I'm not... yours..."

The rest of the team had begun to circle around by that point, a shocked, horrified feeling settling across all of them.

without a second thought, charlie gently cupped his face, brushing a long strand of hair out from his eyes.

"Who are you?"

The teen coughed, charlie stepping aside as Dani raced up, wincing at the blood trailing down his face and soaking through his jacket.

"My name... Is Cody Burns... And I am from another dimension. I came here to stop my world's doctor Morocco..... You're all in danger.... I... I have..."

"The only thing you're doing right now is going to the hospital."

Dani unloaded a stretcher from Blades's cab, her face tight.

"Dad, help me with him."

"On it."

"No... no I don't... I need..."

Kade watched a small object slipped his his hands, before his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he passed out.

Dani instantly checked his pulse, Charlie helping to manuver him onto the stretcher.

"He's alive, but whatever the hell happened here, he's not doing good."

"Get him out of here. I'll meet you at the hospital as soon as I can, but first I need to have a word with Doc. Kade, Heatwave, check on the camping trip, see if they saw anything and make sure nobody got hurt. Don't tell Cody and Frankie what's going on. Graham, Boulder, clean up the area the best you can."

He helped Dani load up the stretcher, and Kade snagged the small item, tucking it into his pocket.

Dani situated herself, and Blades's window closed, and he quickly took off.

With gone, Kade just couldn't hold it back.

".... WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!?!"

"... That's what need to find out."

Charlie nodded to Chase, and he switched modes, his door popping open.

"Keep me informed, if you find anything. I need to have a word with Doc, see if he can figure anything out."

He hopped in, and Chase drove off.

Graham and Kade exchanged a look with each other, Graham numbly saying,

"Well... That was... a lot..."

"No. It's all just.... a trick or something."

Kade started pacing, his hand pulling the item out of his pocket.

"No, No, I'm not buying it. Whoever that guy is, he ATTACKED us. Hello, THIS IS GRIFFIN ROCK. He's got to be... I dunno, A clone, or... or something! I'll even accept time travel, we KNOW time travel is real!"

"But that's just it."

Graham took a knee, gathering up the broken parts of the helmet, wincing at the sight of blood staining some of the shards.

"If something as crazy as time travel can be real, why not another dimension?"

Kade opened his palm, and stared at the old comnlink.

"... No, something isn't right here!"

He squeezed the comn, and stopped, as it popped open.

".... what..."

"What is it?"

Kade motioned him over, with Heatwave and Boulder taking a peek as well.

Graham leaned in, and felt his breath hitch in his chest.

"... No way..."

He knew that photo...

"Isn't that-"

"The same photo dad took after our first mission, after we found out the bots are aliens."

He knew it so well.

Cody had the thing framed, hanging it in the bunker.

Heatwave stared down, gazing at the photo before glancing at the broken helmet pieces in Graham's hands.

"... If that really is Cody, then.... what happened?"

"Heatwave, don't tell me you think-"

"I don't know what to think."

Heatwave sighed, guetsuring around at the damage.

"Graham has a point. If we can get mixed up in time travel mayhem, and see an alternate timeline where Morocco took over the island, then why not? Why not have another dimension where Cody is some sort of... hardened warrior or something? After all the chaos i've seen here, i've learned one thing. For better or for worse, anything is possible."

Kade clicked the makeshift locket closed, shoving it into his pocket as he groaned.

"Yeah... And that's what worries me..."

[silkling]

This is part three of an ask box fic. For part one or two, click below.

Part 1 Part 2

———————————————————————————————————

There was shocked silence, and then Dani put a hand on his cheek. “So twins are one spark that was split by the Well, and gestalts are many Sparks that were merged by it?”

Blades paused, then nodded. “Yeah.” he whispered.

“So you have brothers then? How many?” Kade asked.

Blades swallowed. “Four.” he wrapped his arms around himself. The others could tell something was wrong, they just didn’t know what. “Hot Spot, Streetwise, Groove, and First Aid.”

“Soooo…..where are they? What happened to them?” Kade asked bluntly.

Blades flinched, looking away. “I don’t know.”

“What?” Dani seemed confused. “Don’t you have a spark bond with them, like Dreadwing was saying?”

“I…do.”

“Then how-“

“Stasis.” Chase cut her off, sounding horrified. “We were in stasis. I do not know much about spark bonds, but I do remember reading that stasis is another way to mute a bond. We were in stasis for thousands of years, and after Cybertron fell, they probably fled far away.”

Blades swallowed. “If they’re even still alive.” he closed his optics. “The stasis, combined with the distance, would have muted the bond enough for the breaking of it not to kill me if they’d died. In stasis, I wouldn’t have even felt it break.” He opened his optics to meet the gazes of his teammates, optics wide and welling with cooling fluid. The forces of his emotions were so strong it was making his frame overheat, which caused his optics to leak the fluid in an attempt to cool him down. “All I know is, I woke up from stasis after the crash and I couldn’t feel them anymore. I felt them before we went into stasis. We were too far to communicate with words, but they sensed how scared I was and they just kept sending me worry and reassurance.” he whimpered. “But when I woke up I didn’t even have that. I don’t know where my brothers are or if they’re even alive. That’s what really hurts.”

There was a long beat of silence, and then Dani was pressing herself to his face to hug him. “Oh, Blades.” she said, sounding so pained and sad.

Blades felt a hand on his back, and looked up to see Dreadwimg staring at him, a knowing look in his optics. “I’m truly sorry, little one. At least when I was separated from my brother, I could use the bond to tell he still lived.”

Blades could only whimper again, and then his team was gathering around him. Dreadwing stepped back to give them space, and he watched at the small, odd little family came together to comfort the distressed flyer.

Blades just shook, forced to finally confront the reality of the situation. He hadn’t let himself think about it, before now. Now really. But he’d finally been forced to and he wished he hadn’t. He just wanted his brothers back. He missed them. He didn’t protest as Boulder gathered him close, and instead curled in to take the comfort his teammates were offering. Eventually, he exhausted himself, and he slipped into a light recharge, dreaming of days long past.

——————————

Another week passed, and they’d finally contacted Optimus. The Prime had in very brief details explained something about a fight for the restoration of Cybertron, before agreeing to come talk with Dreadwing. They had indeed talked when he’d arrived at the island, and the Prime had agreed with Dreadwing’s continued presence here as long as the Burns agreed, and as long as the Seeker informed him before leaving Griffin Rock. Dreadwing had agreed to those terms, and the Prime had taken his leave once more.

Now, the Seeker was finally fully settled in the little bunker. It wasn’t an impressive space, but he wouldn’t be picky. Currently, it was late night, and the humans were asleep and the younglings in recharge. Or at least, most of them were. The little copter was missing. Dreadwing had noticed how he’d seemed more withdrawn ever since he’d confessed to being gestalt. The Seeker couldn’t blame the poor mechling, not really. So, when he realized the little bot was missing, he only sighed and went to search for him.

He found Blades in the courtyard by the firehouse, sitting on the ground and staring at the stars. He sat himself next to the youngling, frowning. “You should be recharging, little one.”

Blades looked at him, then back up. “I can’t. I keep remembering.” he sounded miserable.

Dreadwinf sighed. “Tell me, then. What is is that scares you more: holding on to hope that your brothers still live, or believing in the chance that they have been offlined?”

Blades flinched. “I don’t know. Both hurt.” he whispered. “Dreadwing, the last thing they ever felt from me was fear. What if they thought I was being hunted and killed like the other off world Rescue Bot teams? I asked Optimus when he was here. I know the Rescue Force massacre happened a only about an orn after we went into stasis.”

Dreadwing stilled, considering. That was a very likely scenario. “I do not know what they thought.” he said honestly. “Perhaps they did believe that. Perhaps they held o to hope that you escaped and searched for you. Perhaps they search for you still. Perhaps they were offlined in the War.” he sighed. “I cannot give you the answers, little one. Cybertron’s children are scattered, and I would not know where to tell you to begin searching, even if I knew for certain they were alive.”

Blades whimpered, and Dreadwing wasn’t surprised when the youngling turned to curl into his side. The Seeker draped an arm over the shaking shoulders and quivering rotors, holding the mechling close as he grieved. He wished he could help Blades more, but the truth was that he couldn’t. No one could. Blades would have to decide how to handle this himself.

As the youngling shook against his side, Dreadwing lifted his own gaze to the stars.

Can you see me, Skyquake? Would you approve of this? I would hope so. These mechlings need proper guidance, and the Prime refuses to give it. Starscream can wait. I hope you can forgive me for making you wait for your vengeance.

Blades hiccuped against him, curling even tighter against his side, and Dreadwing gently petted the trembling rotors. Slowly, the smaller flyer relaxed, until he had eventually slipped into recharge while tucked into the Seeker’s side.

Dreadwing stared at him for a long moment, then left out an breath of a chuckle and turned his gaze back up.

Primus, I’ve gone soft.

———————————————————————————————————

Holy crap it’s done. I finished it. I hope my asker is happy. That was a monster and a half. It was fun to write, and I very much enjoyed it, but dear god was it long. My muse kept screaming ideas at me the whole time. Seriously you have no idea.

Also, can you all tell Blades is my favorite? Can you tell? Because he is. I adore him. I hope you don’t mind that I included the Protectobot Blades idea in. I’ve seen it floating around a few other places before now, so the idea isn’t originally mine, but I really like it and I think it fits with his character, so here we are.

With that done, I’m off to finish my next ask box prompt. It should be up in the next couple days. It will be nowhere as long as this one. In fact, most ask box fics will even get two posts long, so don’t get used to this.

[votederpycausemufins]

I... don’t know what comment to make about this chapter. Oh, uh? i got like maaaaybe an hour of sleep last night? not even? I read fanfics.  @petrichormeraki

Grian ignored the other smp members as he tried to get through the portal. Stupid watcher form and stupid small portals! He just needed Tommy. Tommy needed to be safe. Mumbo wasn’t leaving so he would be safe, but Tommy was through this portal. That wasn’t safe.

He went through the portal himself, just leave him. No, obviously Philza pulled him in there. We are going a little crazy though, maybe it’s safer? No way!; We were protecting him, not Dadza. Should we even be calling him dadza? Watcher.; Release them from the portal. Is there any way to get smaller. I take back what I said about the 6 wings being cool, they’re just in the way now. Make one of the bots go there for him? If Jrumbot goes, he won’t be coming back. Lol yeah, he wouldn’t.

There were a lot of good suggestions, though two similar ones stood out. He could send someone through to get Tommy. Grian started to make another watcher portal to pull someone out, but then shook his head. No, why grab one of them? That wouldn’t be safe for Tommy. He closed the portal again, then looked around and grabbed Mumbo. The redstoner didn’t expect it and had no time to resist and now could only rest helplessly in Grian’s talons.

Grian plopped down on the ground to get better movement of his legs. For a moment things got even fuzzier. What did he have? Was it food? He moved it closer. Oh no, that’s Mumbo! That is not food. Why did he have Mumbo?

You idiot we need Grumbot. Is Grian okay? Guys, what if this is our fault? Mumbo can probably get us to Grumbot. DO NOT EAT THE MUMBO! Guys, it’s obvious why he thought Mumbo was food. Dude, say it and you might get banned. Watcher.; Release them from the portal. Lol I’m only joking. What if he just uses Mumbo instead of the bots? He can rebuild Grumbot if he dies. Dude, not cool. Noooo what if grumbot diesssss!

Grian briefly thought about opening the portal again. Grumbot wouldn’t like it if he got broken and Grian didn’t want to send Mambo there. Mambo. Mambo is a fun type of music. Is there any music around? That would be nice to listen to.

Aaand we’re losing him again. Is Zloy going to come fix this or what? Pixlriffs might instead. Guys, Caterpillar rave! Oh no what have you done! Boo chee boo chee boo chee bu.

Grian started dancing. The voices were making nice music. Oh and what was that? Mamb- Mumbo was saying something. “Grian? Are you okay? What’s going on?” That’s right, he wanted someone looking for Tommy! And Mumbo could do that, couldn’t he. So Grian put Mumbo through the portal. No the infinity portal. Why did he almost put Mumbo in the watcher portal. In fact, why was that there? He was supposed to get something from there right? Why did his head hurt so much?

Grian stopped thinking about that when Mumbo came back through the portal, but he didn’t have Tommy, so the Watcher pushed him back. But again he returned. And again and again and again! He couldn’t get Tommy back if Mumbo didn’t get Tommy. Wait, he was talking.

Grian focused on Mumbo as he spoke. “Grian, that portal that keeps appearing, did you put Xisuma and Tubbo in there? Yes or no.” Oh he was always so nice. He knew just what to do. “Yes. And. No.” Mumbo’s own voice came back.

“What do you mean yes and no?” Oh wait, how do I put it so you can answer. Hmm… Oh, maybe one at a time? Is Xisuma in there?” “Yes.” “Is Tubbo in there?” “No.” Mumbo rubbed his chin. “Okay, well, we still need Xisuma back.” Why did he need Xisuma back, he would just keep letting these enemies in. “Your form is a bit dangerous right now, and if you somehow killed one of us, there’s the chance we couldn’t come back.”

Grian scoffed at the idea. He wouldn’t hurt his friends. They were his friends! How could Mumbo suggest such a thing! But… Tommy probably had that fear. Maybe he had gone willingly because he was scared of that. Oh no what had he done! Grian opened the portal again and then flew into it.

Crumb had curled up on Iskall’s back and started to sleep. None of them had any idea how long they had been falling, just that slowly they had gone from one to two to four and now to seven. Iskall was projecting a game of checkers with his eye which two smp members were playing with to pass the time.

There was a noise, and everyone paused to look up, expecting to see someone new falling in to join them, but they were surprised to see Grian. The lack of gravity proved a problem as some smp members drew their swords and axes with enough force to actually start them spinning around. The Watcher stared down at everyone before speaking. “What is going on? I thought, well last I saw there were only four of you!”

“Grian?” Xisuma spoke up, hopeful about his lucid state. 

“Right, this is a watcher plane!” He ignored Xisuma for the time being. I wish I could remember what I was doing before I came in here.

“Maybe you were here to get us out?” Xisuma spoke up again, getting Grian’s attention.

“Oh X, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking. I mean I literally don’t know since I can’t remember what I was doing just a minute ago. But yeah, getting you all out of here does seem reasonable and… oddly familiar. Probably just me trying to remember.

“Are you doing okay?” Xisuma asked, really taking in Grian’s form.

“Yes and no? I don’t know what’s happening. The other Watchers pulled me away to help me sort of figure out what’s going on, but it’s not the perfect method to let me know what’s going on. For all I know the moment I leave, I’ll try to throw you all back in here.”

“Woah, dat’s a giant bird man!” Crumb exclaimed, waking up from her nap. Grian looked down at her, cocking his head to the side.

“Hello there. I don’t think I’ve met you.”

“Oh! I’m Crumb! My dad is Sprinklez!”

“Sprinkles?”

“Jordan Sparklez. One of my friends from the vault days.”

“Right. Vault gods.” Grian frowned. “Never were a fan of them. Freaked me out when no one could see where you three went.” He then chuckled. “You know, if all of you were here, I would have thought it was their fault.”

“Yeah, well Antonio didn’t make it, though H did.” Iskall pointed to Hbomb, who waved.

“Well, that might do it. I can’t be sure but… once you’re out, before I can do anything more, you’ll need to shout out about it possibly being Vault gods. Zloy should see.”

“Zloy?” One of the smp members asked, making Xisuma look over at them.

“Grian Is a Watcher who just resides in Hermitcraft. There are Watchers, normally multiple, that watch every world. Grian’s told me that one named Zloy is a Watcher of Hermitcraft.”

Grian nodded. “Yeah, you guys have a number of them, but the one in charge is Gxrgeous.” Grian shook his head. “We’re getting off topic. I’ll grab onto some of you and the rest hold onto me.”

After everyone was situated, Grian flew them up and out through the portal he came in through in the first place. The sudden change of energy affecting him made him crash, sending most of the rescued people flying. Immediately, Xisuma was shouting into the air the message Grian wanted sent and just as he finished, he was grabbed again by Grian.

This was good. He got Xisuma out. Mumbo would be very happy. But wait, there are more people out. Why are they out too? They are supposed to go in the portal. They must have escaped when he was grabbing Xisuma. That wouldn’t do. 

Grian tried to grab the others that were rescued from the portal, but a few of them followed Mumbo’s guidance to the infinity portal and escaped that way. Grian was upset, but ultimately it was fine. They were still gone. There were just two left to get rid of. This cat thing and one other person. 

Isn’t that thing a shapeshifter? Oh, what if she turns into a giant cat? Small brain: Godzilla vs King Kong, Big brain: Grian vs shapeshifting cat. Cat vs bird will not go well. If grian is tweety and the cat is sylvester, he’ll be fiiiiiine. Hey, if it’s really Tommy’s friend, maybe it’ll also leave.

Grian stopped listening to try and grab Crumb before she could do anything more. Just before his talons could wrap around her, a form moved in front of her, holding a sword of some purple material. “Stay away from my kid.” They spoke. For a moment Grian was upset at the new opponent before realizing it would be much easier to get rid of these people with them now in the same place.

A portal formed behind Crumb and Sparklez. Grian could see as the cat noticed it and panicked, though her dad refused to talk his guard down. When the watcher attempted to push them in, he was stopped by Xisuma. “Grian, you need to stop.”

“You need to stop.” Grian replied, wanting the admin to get out of the way.

We kinda did just try to save X, so we don’t want to get rid of him again. Maybe these two are fine and we can just leave them. Why does that guy look familiar? Watcher; Tubbo. What kinda sword is that? Ah yes, I too call my cat my child. Again, isn’t she a shapeshifter?

Grian was trying to figure out why the voices thought this person was familiar. And why had someone mentioned Tubbo. Suddenly one idea popped in his head. “෦႑፩㍘¹١₁𝟘 ꘠❶᱑⓿౸۰༳๑ ႐Ⅰ㍘〇¹႞٠१ ౦Ⅰឱ꣠༠৴០߁” He asked, but no one seemed to respond well, most of them covering their ears. A few people cried in pain, but one stood out. Grian looked at Mumbo and immediately regretted saying anything. The mustached man looked like he was in agony.

Right now everything else could wait. Grian moved and grabbed Mumbo. Grian heard someone try to stop him, but this was important. He took to the air and let magic swirl around him until he was suddenly back at his mansion. The watcher ignored whatever Tubbo was saying to focus on the redstoner, hoping nothing too horrible would happen to him. “M-Mumbo…” Grian mumbled, worried about what might happen.

Tubbo moved closer and immediately Grian was ready to attack them. How dare he try to get closer to Mumbo! But then Grian saw how terrified he looked. Tubbo was Tommy’s friend. He cared for Tommy as much as Grian cared for Mumbo. Or almost as much. Grian… Grian should bring them back together. He needed to. Why did he need to? He didn’t question it and just grabbed Tubbo. The teen seemed to yell in fear, but the Watcher didn’t listen, just took the two of them back to the infinity portal.

Grian put Tubbo through the portal before sitting down in front of it. If anyone could bring Tommy back, it would be them. Their world wasn’t safe and Tommy would want to come back. So he would. It was just a matter of time.

Zloy mumbled as he looked at the documents Pixlriffs had brought. Vault gods weren’t common to deal with, but it would help explain why none of the Watchers could figure out what was going on. Zloy sent for someone to find Pritt since they had the most experience with Vault gods in recent times. The biggest event had been when three of Zloy’s hermits were taken by the Vault gods, but smaller events had occurred after that. 

In an accident, they had tried to make claim to Grian, not recognizing his Watcher status. Immediately after that, they tried for Mumbo, but that was also shut down. He doubted they were attempting to go after Grian again, but at the same time, he knew there was some truth to their claim on him. Vault gods were powered by the voices that were channeled through a person. Everyone had the potential for that, some more than others. The three hermits had taken days to recover from the sudden silence that met them on their return. And Grian had always been hearing them. He had learned to block them out, but maybe that wasn’t enough anymore. And if it wasn’t a Vault god, what could do all this?

Dream got the notification of Tubbo’s return. Everyone was back. He could close the portal. But an idea crept up from the back of his mind. What if they tried it again? What if one of them built a new portal and it led to somewhere else. Using a Watcher was helpful, and Dream didn’t want to give that up.

The former admin turned to look at the still unconscious form of Tommy. He could try and use the connection to convince the Watcher to come here. Then he could close the portal. It would be perfect.

[kookies2000]

My thoughts on the final. 8 out of 10 for me and here's why.

Positives first.

The villains. I love Bradford as a villain and his plan really was flawless. To me, Bradford is the scariest type of villain there is. Scrooge trusted this man for almost his whole life. Trusted him enough to be in charge of his money, and secrets. Only to get betrayed at the end. This is an actual thing that happens in real life. People we love, people we know for our whole lives, could just suddenly become horrible people and our love and trust in them breaks. And it hurts like crazy. And that's Bradford right there. He was close to Scrooge and betrayed him. Now the fact that Bradford never saw himself as the villian adds more to why these types of people are horrible. They blame others for their misfortune or for their bad traits. Like how Bradford told the family to look what they made him into after he grew into a monster. He's trying to put the blame on others instead of acknowledging that he's doing this to himself. Like at least the other villains like Glomp Gold and Magica know their villains. They're self aware unlike Bradford. Bradford doesn't like the thought of being a villain so he blames those that see him as the villain. Like dude! You imprisoned Gandra for indefinitely, trapped Ludwig Von Drake who just wanted to talk things out with you, imprisoned innocent people like Panchito and Jose. Why those two? Just because they were tricked into performing a concert at The Feast of the Flower? He straight up murdered his agents, and threw Donald in too. Not to mention he played a part in tearing the family apart once. And he keeps justifying it by saying "I'm not a villain". Which makes it worse! You can't just say you're not a villain or that others are trying to make you look like the villain. If you're not the villain then there's no need to say it. So yeah, I enjoy Bradford as a villain because he's the most realistic of the three main villains we had. Someone who has some good points but executes them poorly.

I also enjoyed the other villains like Phantom Bot and Pepper. I ship these two so much. 💖. Pepper being her talkative self and speaking her mind while Blot is being the strong silent type. My favorite line is also from Pepper "Look Blot! He's a full grown man with the strength of a baby!" I LOVE YOU PEPPER!!! And Blot being his aggressive self is enough for me. And thank you Lena for setting Gene free! Rockerduck being his spoiled self was also a treat. Having his servant fight for him and ordering a drink while he fought. 😂 Don Karnage was his lovable singing self, also he is dead now right? No way he survived that plane crash. Congratulations Dewey, you murdered a man while singing just like I always knew you would. Heron was also great. There's no doubt in my mind that she had some kind of attraction to Bradford after that "Oh Bradford, how villainous 😏" before dying. There's just something hilarious about Heron gracefully accepting betrayal and death like that. 😂 Steelbeaks was great. Finally using that smart ray on himself and still being the imbecile he is! Glomp Gold, Magica and the Beagles special appearance was also a treat.

Ok so our heros! I have to talk about Drake, Fenton and Launchpad! I love Drake for his balance of goofiness and heroicness. He's clearly a man who wants what's best for everyone and loves to be in the spotlight as well. Not to mention just how much fun it is to watch him being all goofy. He may have a child-like side and loves being the goofy hero he is, but he has his serious moments. Showing that just because you have a child-like personality doesn't mean you're not mature enough to handle serious situations. Just the way Drake comforted Fenton by telling him he isn't alone on this, to let others help him warms my heart. He knows Fenton so well and grew a personal connection with him. To the point where he refuses to believe Fenton is Gizmoduck. 😂 Poor guy is in denial. I feel bad for him because he's always in GizmoDucks shadow, which is why I screamed so loud when he and GizmoDuck shared the spotlight in the beginning of the fight with Steelbeaks. Great moment! And Fenton! I adore him and I love him so much more after this episode too! He was always the man with a heart of gold and always put others first. And they added even more to his character by making him such a romantic towards Gandra. I'm 100% sure she was on his mind throughout this whole adventure. Just the fact that he says it out loud that he wants to rescue her and his first reaction when they landed at the Lost Library was to rescue the prisoners was adorable. We all know he wanted to go save the prisoner's to find Gandra. Yeah I know he also cares for everyone else just as much but Gandra will always hold a special place in his heart. And then we have the moment with the two in the end credits. Just pure adorableness! Falling together, Fenton becoming GizmoDuck and catching her like he always does!!! Ah I can't help it! These two are cute!!! I also like how Fenton never did get to rescue her but it was Huey and the others that did and then she helped on rescuing the others. Breaks that whole damsel in distress cliche. I'm so sorry Fenton that you didn't get your shining armor moment, maybe next time? Then we have Launchpad. That guy finally had his shining moment. He was so insecure about not being a superhero that he couldn't see he was the one that inspired Fenton and Drake to become heros. That moment was so sweet and the fact that Launchpadpad became Gizmoduck was what made it perfect. And I loved how he crashed the suit too. 😂 and even the Gizmo Suit has an attitude "Eh, close enough."

Then we have the kids. Each one had their moment and I loved it. Violet was under used I'll admit, just wish they used her more. Like her woodchuck knowledge or her book smarts to find their way out of a maze, open a certain door to another room or help Lena out. Lena had her moment as well, making the airplane invisible showing just how powerful she has become. And let's consider that she nearly got killed by Phantom Blot in the first battle but this time she was able to battle him much better. Friendship really is her magic. Boyd is my favorite! I just love how him being just a head didn't even bother him one bit. Instead, Lil Bulb just uses his body to create a bobblehead Boyd. Let's not forget that "Take care of your brother." line. That one line made my heart sing. Louie was very realistic, "That is not at all comforting. I do not want to die." and he was also the same sharp boy we all know and love. I love the scene where he's pep talking Dewey into winning the battle against Don Karnage. And then we have Dewey flying the Sun Chaser by himself, fully embracing his talent. I'll talk about Huey and Webby later. Scrooge, Donald and Della also had their moment to shine as the original three! Loved it so much, just watching these three fight one last battle together was enough to almost make me cry. Beakly also had her moments like getting the chance to tell Webby the truth, even though it was a trick. I love how she wanted to make sure everyone was safe and went to fight F.O.W.L on her own only to learn her lesson near the end. The lesson that she can't keep secrets forever and she has to have trust in her family in order to win. And sure enough this lesson came from her oldest friend Scrooge Mcduck.

The humor was also the best! I loved the fact that Manny is actually some world ending monster and what does he have to say? "People change man! I just want to live a normal life!" 😆 I never expected Manny to talk let alone his voice sounding like that. And then we have the Gargoyles reference "I live again!..... Again!" Loved that, gold right there. Then we have Von Drake who admits that he isn't dead all because he doesn't have time to die! Oh if only life were that easy! Gyro was comedy gold as well with his line "When they do something right, they're heros! When things get too hard, we're children!" 😂 Love you Gyro!

Ok so one thing I have an issue with. You all know what it is so I'll make it as short as possible. Webbys backstory. I didn't like it. I have no issue with her being a clone and that Beakly found her, but Scrooge's daughter? It was unnecessary and here's why. Scrooge was already her father. He took care of her as his own, protected her, kept het happy, and was a wonderful role model to her. She was already his official none blood daughter. Making her Scrooge's blood related daughter does nothing to improve her character. If they wanted her as a clone, they could've done something else. Like maybe she could've been the clone of a well known F.O.W.L agent that died or disappeared. So F.O W.L tried to clone that agent by creating Webby. Nothing would need to change either, Beakly could've still found her, took her in and kept her safe with Scrooge. Webby would still have an identity crisis thinking she's the clone of a F.O.W.L agent and is destined to be a F.O.W.L agent. If they wanted to add June and May in, then use that same reason. Cloning F.O.W.L agents and raising them to be the evil like them. Or what about this? Use Beakley's story about her daughter. How Beakley wasn't there for her as much as she wanted to and maybe one day F.O.W.L talked Beakley's daughter into joining them. Making Beakley regret not being there for her daughter more. When her daughter tries to leave F.O.W.L she disappears all of a sudden. But then Beakly finds a baby clone of her daughter (Webby) and she takes this as a second chance to raise her daughter again. I'm just saying, anything would've been a better back story for Webby other than being Scrooge's clone. And as for Huey, he should've been the one to find the papyrus. Branford had him in his grasp. He had managed to manipulate Huey into helping him, so why not have him grab the papyrus. He is a direct descendent of Scrooge so why complicate things by having Huey talk to Webby? They weren't even sure if the papyrus was going to show itself to Webby!!! HUEY WAS RIGHT THERE BRADFORD!!!! It was so easy!!! Kidnap Huey, manipulate him into helping, then lock him up with Gyro, Drake and Gandra!!! I'm not saying I didn't enjoy Huey and Webby here, I did. Huey using his woodchuck knowledge allowing his brothers to find him and Webby using the skills her granny showed her made me proud. I love seeing these two using the skills they learned while living in the mansion.

Other than that, the final was great and I loved it. I just wish Webbys background was different and more unique than being Scrooge's daughter. Oh! And the end credits were wonderful! I love how the poster was basically a foreshadow of it!

 8/10 I loved the finale!

[inksmellsnice]

Title: The Tour Guide Rating: General Audiences Words: 1577 Pairings: Bumblebee/Blades Summary: With Earth and Cybertron finally safe, Bumblebee officially joins the Rescue Bots Academy as a full-time mentor. Naturally, Blades overthinks everything except how much he may mean to his old friend.  External Reading: FFN , AO3  Author’s Notes: @secretsolenoid​ for @toraokami303​ !! So sorry it’s late. ;u; The prompt was Blades helping Bee unwind by taking him somewhere scenic on Griffin Rock. In the end, it ended up being more about how they got to going somewhere scenic than the actual scenic location, but I hope you enjoy it all the same! I also included a reference to one of the other prompts of Optimus relaxing, because I almost did that one instead. Yes, absolutely, Optimus needs a vacation. Let this mech rest.

“…And that’s the plan to get Bumblebee to stay at the Academy full-time when he comes to visit tomorrow!” Blades said with a flourish, gesturing once again to a map of Griffin Rock, pinned haphazardly to the wall of his quarters and absolutely slathered in sticky notes, looking to Cody for a reaction.

Blade’s map included the site of every daring adventure Rescue Team Sigma-17 had gone on (that Bumblebee hadn’t accompanied them for).  A variety of other dangerous locations were also noted, and Blades seemed a little too hopeful something bad would happen at one of them during the tour… not that there was any way said tour could really be completed in a day; it had taken the copter-bot all afternoon just to explain it. Cody smiled, concerned but amused. “I thought Bumblebee already agreed to teach full time?”

Blades straightened up and stammered. “W-Well, I mean, technically yes, but I need to show him just how exciting Griffin Rock is so he doesn’t even think of changing his mind!” 

Cody leaned forward in his seat on Blades’ berth. “But what happened to all of the things you said you wanted to do with him when you had time? You never got to sing karaoke together, or play video games, or just… take a walk and catch up without some disaster cutting you o-“

“Booooring.” Blades waved his hand dramatically. “I told you I wanted to do those things years ago¸ Cody! You were like… half your height!” He crossed his arms and took a dignified stance. “I’ll have you know you’re not the only one who has matured since then.”

“Uh huh.”

It only took Cody staring his old friend down for a moment for Blades to sink on his pedes. “…And, well… Bumblebee is a war hero now. I mean, he already was, and of course even before that he was my hero, but now he’s saved Earth and Cybertron twice! Which means his tour has to be twice as impressive! I still can’t believe he’s going to be coming here to teach with us when he could be signing autographs or going on late-night talk shows, or… or…”

Blades’ started pacing. Once again, Cody knew, Blades was overthinking things, but saying that would just make him overthink more. He frowned and tried to choose his words carefully. “It just doesn’t seem like you included much time to be yourself and spend time with your friend.” 

(And obvious crush, Cody thought, but he wasn’t going to open that can of worms when Blades already looked like a single additional atom of anxiety could make him shatter like glass. Now was not the time to meddle.)

“Whaaaaat, of course I did! I’ll be giving him the tour and being my whole, extremely cool and heroic self the entire time!” Blades looked at the map again, perplexed. “Was something in my pitch not clear? Do I need to go over it again?”

“N-No!” Cody shot up from his seat with placating hands. “No, I got it the first time, buddy, and I just remembered I have… a thing. In a place. Somewhere el-”

Cody was saved from thinking up an elaborate excuse by a knock at the door.

“Blades? You in there?”   

It was Bumblebee. 

Blades squeaked and looked at the wall clock. 6:30! Bumblebee arrived half an hour ago and he wasn’t there to welcome him! The medic scrambled to the door of his room, Cody all but forgotten, smashing the button to slide open the door. “B-Bumblebee! You’re here!”

“Is everything okay? Figured you’d be outside when I-”

“When you got here! Right! I meant to be and then I just…” Blades put his hands on his helm in a panic. “I am so sorry, I-!”

Bumblebee stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Blades, cutting his flailing friend off and chuckling. “Easy, pal. I was just worried is all.” 

“…Oh,” Blades responded meekly.  Bumblebee pat him on the back and Blades sunk into the reunion hug, returning the embrace with a tight, long squeeze before backing away. “Yeah, I was…uh…” He rubbed the back of his helm sheepishly. 

Cody smirked. “Blades was just telling me about the elaborate tour he was going to take you on, all over Griffin Rock, just the two of you.” 

(Okay, maybe now was the time to meddle just a little bit.) 

Blades’ fans clicked on and he glanced at Cody with equal parts betrayal and flusterment before turning his attention to the map that had looked brilliant up until the moment Bumblebee entered the room and now looked like the rambling mess of a crazed fanbot. But Bumblebee had seen it, no turning back now. “Right! Exactly!” Blades scrambled over to the map and gestured to it. “There’s so many places I wanted to show you and so many stories I haven’t told you yet! I figured tonight you’d get settled in, and then tomorrow we could start at Old Canyon Road. One time, Jerry was transporting a truck full of chattering teeth and uranium, and…”

Bumblebee stared at the map with a flat expression and drooped optics. 

“…You don’t look excited.” Blades frowned.

“Oh, uh, it looks awesome Blades,” he said with a forced smile, “and we should totally go check all of these things out, but…” Bumblebee chose his words carefully – Blades had clearly put a lot of effort into this, no matter how casual he tried to act about it now. As it was, he felt bad for not putting on a face for his friends’ sake sooner. “Was the plan to do all of this in one day?” 

“…Too much?”

Bumblebee smiled, amused, much like Cody had before. “Maybe a little.” The helicopter sighed and his shoulders slumped. “Hey,” Bumblebee put a hand on Blades’ shoulder. “I’m not shooting it down or anything, but what’s the rush? I’m here full time now, remember?”

“I know, but…” Blades looked away from Bumblebee, to Cody, who coaxed him to keep going. “Bumblebee, you’ve gone on so many amazing adventures and saves worlds and I’ve just… I can fit nearly everything I’ve done on this map. I just thought if I didn’t show you how exciting life with us can be right away, you might change your mind and go find something cooler to do.”

Bumblebee stared at Blades for a moment. He always knew Blades looked up to him, but how long had he been feeling this down on himself? “Blades,” Bumblebee closed the distance between them, smiling softly. “I didn’t agree to teach at the Academy because I thought every day would be some big adventure. Heck, if I’m honest, I’m kind of glad that I can finally relax a little, you know? Even Optimus has been taking it a little easier.”

Blades blinked at the idea of Optimus relaxing, momentarily distracted by the strange mental image of the idolized titan chilling out with a data pad in an oil bath with a cup of high-grade. In a less serious discussion, he wouldn’t have been able to keep a straight face, but they could talk about that later.

“None of us wanted to be fighting a war forever,” Bumblebee continued. “Besides, Griffin Rock is a nice place and all, but I didn’t come here for the island…”

Bumblebee took Blades’ hand in his with a gentle squeeze, and Blades’ optics instantly locked onto his incredibly soft ones.

“…I came here to spend more time with the people I care about.” 

Blades almost fainted right then and there, because when did the bot he admired more than anybody else come to care so strongly about him in return? “O-Oh… In that case… maybe tomorrow we could take a walk and catch up…?” Blades stared at their hands for a moment, and found himself emboldened to interlace their fingers, but once he had he didn’t have the nerve to look up at Bumblebee’s reaction.

(Cody smiled and quietly made his exit while the two bots were focused on each other. Now was definitely the time to meddle.)

But, after a moment that felt like an eternity, Bumblebee bent down into Blades’ field of vision, smiling.

“Why not now? You can’t tell me you don’t know a great place to watch the sunset around here. Then after, maybe we could finally get around to that karaoke session you always talk about?”

And with the way Bumblebee looked at him, the way he said that – his hushed voice and piercing optics - it almost sounded they were discussing a date. 

Or maybe Blades’ imagination was getting away from him. Either way, he knew his answer.

“That sounds perfect.”

[petitelepus]

Birth And Name

You carry the one and only Ultra Magnus' sparklings.

It hurt, it really did hurt to see your loved one in Spark Support. You sat on your seat next to your beloved Ultra Magnus, holding his only intact arm, seeing that his whole left arm was missing. You knew Magnus wouldn't go down without a fight so how come there wasn't any proof of his opponent? You knew better, this was an assassination from Decepticons.

"Hey, Ultra noob..." You gently said, hoping that he could hear you through the coma he had fallen into. You used to call him Ultra noob ages ago back in your training days and he hated that name. Maybe calling him with it would bring him back to light. You smiled sadly and took his intact hand and placed it against your sizeable abdomen.

"Can you feel them? Your little sparklings are taking all the space in my tank." You grinned wider, imagining his face if he knew that you were carrying two protoforms in your tank. Not one, but two! He would no doubt be a proud sire.

You checked your internal clock and saw you were running late. You put your lover's hand back to his side and got up to leave, but not without leaving a kiss to your Magnus' cheek. "I'll be right back my love."

You couldn't drive well in your situation so it took you a moment, but you made it into Autobot Council. Everyone turned to look at you and you cursed your luck. They had already started the meeting.

The members like Botanica of the council made way for you in honor and you nodded at her, thanking her silently for letting you take the seat that wouldn't put any more strain on your spinal strut.

You weren't an official member of the council, but in this dark time with Ultra Magnus in a coma, you were given honorary membership in his place. As you took your seat, everyone turned their attention back to the problem at hand. Sentinel Prime.

"I'm telling you old coots, I'm just taking my rightful place as Magnus! I'm his rightful successor!" The blue bot with a huge chin shouted. You grimaced and Alpha Trion copied you. "You have no right in my mind to take over Ultra Magnus' place as Magnus."

"You wouldn't know, you haven't fought against these Decepticons who did this to Magnus in million years! You have grown weak Alpha Trion!"

"If I may say, you haven't exactly been fighting against the Cons either, Sentinel." You jabbed and you took huge pleasure seeing the mech ground his denta in your direction. "What I heard, you were frozen in fear when you first time met a Decepticon!"

Sentinel was mad and with a good reason, but then he grinned and you felt like something bad was about to happen.

"Senators, all due respect I believe carrying has clouded their ability to make such major decisions." He said smugly and you saw red in fury.

"How dare you, Sentinel Prime!?" You screeched, jumping up from your seat and slamming your hands against the table. "My Magnus would never stand so low as you!"

"And what do we really know about them? They just disappeared millions of years ago and suddenly appear on this planet called Earth, where Decepticons had made their headquarters!"

"Decepticons that you overlooked and failed to inform to our Magnus!" You couldn't stop yourself, you were pissed beyond saving. "You know Sentinel, I'm actually happy that the Hammer was stolen because as long as my spark still shines I would never give Magnus Hammer in your incapable hands!"

"See what I mean!? They can't be trusted!"

"You little...!" You growled, but the damage was done. The members of the Council were whispering and talking to each other through commlinks and you weren't included in these conversations. The Alpha Orion turned to look at you apologetically. "I am sorry to inform you, but we must ask you to leave this decision to Autobot High Council."

You couldn't believe what you were hearing. They were actually believing the lies Sentinel was spouting? You were about to start a whole new war, but you felt pain shot in your abdomen. You cried out and doubled over, falling on the ground in pain as you held your abdomen.

The protoforms...! They were early!

Alpha Orion jumped up and immediately ordered you to be taken to medbay and while Sentinel screamed how you were faking it, you were taken to a safe space where your little litter was delivered. You were ordered to bedrest but you wouldn't let them take your little miracles away from you. You let Red Alert check them, but that was it, you wouldn't hand them over to anyone.

The gray little things were smaller than would have been ideal, but it didn't matter to you if they were small for their own good. They were your and your Ultra Magnus' little cuties.

But with you bedridden, you could do nothing to prevent Sentinel from becoming the next Magnus. You had to focus on keeping your sparklings safe. Sentinel would no doubt try to get revenge on you for talking against you and you feared he would try to take away your little sparklings.

Time went by and you nursed your little ones and they were soon taking their own form. They were warm against you as you watched days for them to grow. The older one took on a gray coating and the younger twin turned green and white. What was odd were their optics. They were crimson. You wondered where that coding came from, but you loved your sparklings from the bottom of your spark.

When you heard that Longarm Prime had tried to kill your Conjunx Ultra Magnus, you gave twins to the nurse and rushed to the scene where doctors were hassling over your lover and guards were looking for any evidence of the traitor. You were panting when you got to the scene and you wanted nothing more than to run over Ultra Magnus and hold him close, but security wouldn't let you.

"Give them the space they need to work." Came a scruffy voice and you turned to see an old ambulance standing on the side, much like you. You looked at the bot up and down and you thought he looked familiar. "Excuse me, but who are you?"

"Name's Ratchet. I'm a part of Optimus Prime's group back in Earth."

"Wait...!" You looked at the old mech from up to down. "You're that Ratchet! You're a war hero!"

"Haven't been hero, never was." He grunted and turned to look at the Ultra Magnus, "I chased off Shockwave who was here to kill Ultra Magnus. He shouldn't try that again."

"Chivalrous Ratchet, you have saved my Conjunx's life." You smiled and bowed lightly like you older warriors tended to do to one another.

"You show braveness and honor." You said before you grimaced, "Unlike that backstabbing Sentinel...!"

"Speaking of him..." Ratchet grumbled and hoisted up the Magnus Hammer and offered it to you. "I believe this should belong to you. As Ultra Magnus' Conjunx Endura."

"Magnus Hammer...!" You awed as you gracefully took the hammer offered to you. "But how...?"

"Shockwave had it. I believe that he is also responsible for what happened to Ultra Magnus."

"That sleazy piece of...!" You cursed under your breath and closed your eyes. You wanted to hunt him down and make him pay like you used to do in your younger days back in the war, but you were a carrier now and you had two lovely sparklings waiting for you to return back to them.

"I must stop Sentinel from getting the hammer." You said and pushed the hammer cab into the medic's hands. "Take it with you back to Earth! I will not let that backstabbing Sentinel get it."

"Will do," Ratchet promised, but you couldn't let him return to Earth just yet. You placed your hand over his shoulder plate and smiled. "Please, before you go, I must as you to join me in medbay."

"Gotta be quick. Sentinel is coming back soon."

"Can we be quick because I want to go back to Earth as soon as possible!?" Came an angry man's voice and you blinked in surprise. You looked around but saw no bot around.

"What in the name off-?"

"Down here."

You looked down and you couldn't believe what your old optics were seeing. A human? On Cybertron? You blinked and looked at Ratchet for answers. He grunted. "Captain Fanzone got sucked here and I came to rescue him. He helped to chase off Shockwave."

"Really?" You had trouble understanding what you were hearing. You spent a good while back in Earth, but you never heard a human saving an Autobot. But if it was true then this human was a hero as well. You smiled to little big human and picked him up, much to his dismay.

"Hey, watch it!"

"Captain Fanzone was it? You helped to save my Conjunx' life. I would appreciate it if you joined Ratchet and me in medbay before you leave."

"Alright, but make it quick. I can't stand machines and I have certainly had my fill today."

"I can understand that." You smiled and lead the medic and human to medbay where your little twins were resting in their separated beds. Ratchet's and Captain's optics and eyes widened and the human let out a word that sounded much like a curse.

You smiled and motioned towards the babies. "You two saved my Conjunx's life. It would be an honor for me if you would name our sparklings."

"God. They come as babies now also?" Captain asked and you gave a short laugh. This human was funny. Ratchet took a long look at the green and grey sparklings and pointed at the grey one. "Dominus. A strong name for the son of Ultra Magnus."

"Dominus..." You tried the name and smiled. "I love it. Will you name the younger one sir Fanzone?"

"Well, it sure isn't the smallest machine... But it is the smallest alien machine I've seen..." The man rubbed his chin and looked at you, "How about Minimus?"

"That's...  A fitting name." You smiled and leaned over to wiggle your servos at the newborn. "Hi Dominus! Greetings Minimus! Your carrier and sire love you so much...!"

Your spark skipped in joy when you saw your boys open their optics and look at you. You smiled and kissed them both. You had a feeling things would get better from there. 

[albertasunrise]

Coffee and Crisis - Chapter 2

Summary: Marcus has been pretty unlucky in love. With a failed Marriage and engagement under his belt, will his luck finally change when he meets a pretty, young English girl in his favourite cafe?

Warning/Content: Angst, Blood and Injury, Smut 18+

Paring: Marcus Pike/ Original Female Character

§

He woke up alone. The clean, clinical smell of a hospital assaulting his senses as he blinked a few times in an attempt to clear his mind a little. His eyes scanned his surroundings. He was in a private room. The door across from him had a clock hung above it that ticked obnoxiously loud despite the constant beep of the heart monitor beside him. There was a window to his left. The view little more than the familiar skyscrapers that occupied his day to day life. His mind wandered to Ada then and where she was… How she was. He shifted slightly in his bed and immediately regretted it, letting out a pained yell as a white-hot agony tore through his middle, rendering him limp in his uncomfortable hospital bed. A nurse sprinted into the room with a familiar face behind her, one that seemed to suck all of the air from his lungs. She was at his side in a heartbeat, taking his face in her hands as she checked him over whilst the nurse spoke words he couldn't hear.

‘Marcus?’ Her voice pulled him out of his reverie, blinking at her a few times before nodding ‘Are you in pain?’

He nodded again. His words escaped him as he stared into her green orbs, captivated by her gaze as she stroked circled on his cheek with her thumb. He knew the nurse must have done something as the pain started to ease but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Ada any more than she could tear hers away from him.

‘I’ll leave you two to catch up.’ Said the nurse with a smile.

Ada let herself sit in the chair behind her, keeping Marcus’ hand in hers as she smiled up at him. A silence hung over them for a while as the duo carefully constructed what they were going to say to each other, the words dancing on their tongues as they formed on their lips.

‘How are you?’ Asked Marcus suddenly, taking Ada by surprise.

‘I should be asking you that.’ She chuckled, giving his hand a squeeze ‘You scared the crap out of me.’ She finished, the smile falling from her face as the memories of that day flooded back ‘I thought I was going to lose you. You’d lost so much blood and they wouldn’t let me…’

‘Shhh.’ He hushed, squeezing her hand and giving her a sweet smile ‘I’m okay. I’m right here.’

Ada smiled back at him but her heart still raced in her chest, the images assaulting her mind making her breathing quicken.

~

‘Marcus?’ She sobbed, shaking his shoulder lightly in an attempt to wake him ‘No... Stay with me.’

‘He dead?’ asked one of the masked men, kicking the agent’s leg with his heavy boot.

‘He needs a hospital now!’ She growled, looking at the man with a venomous expression ‘Please!! Let him go or he’s going to die.’

‘Now why would I let my leverage go.’ He chuckled, tilting his head to one side as he spoke ‘You best do all you can to stop him from clocking out before their time’s up.’

‘I’m a nurse!.’ Came a voice suddenly, pulling everyone’s attention to a woman in the corner ‘I can help him.’

‘Fine.’ Spat the man, motioning her to move with the barrel of his gun ‘But everyone else stays where they are!.’

The nurse quickly made her way to the duo’s side, taking in the state of the agent and sucking in a breath through barred teeth.

‘He’s lost a lot of blood.’ She stated, giving Ada a pained expression ‘Help me lay him down.’

The two women carefully adjusted the man’s position so he was laying down, the nurse removing her coat and rolling it up so she could place it under his head. She placed two shaky fingers on Marcus’ neck, her eyes travelling up to Ada who was watching her carefully.

‘His pulse is very weak.’ She stated, her face grim as her eyes drifted to the windows ‘They need to hurry up or he’s not going to make it much longer.’ She stated.

The phone started to ring then, making everyone just from their skin as the ringleader forcefully picked up the phone and answered it. Ada had zoned out due to the nurse's statement, her eyes fixed on Marcus whose skin had taken on a scary shade of white.

‘We will exit from the rear of the building.’ The man ordered, motioning for his companions to make their way to the back of the cafe ‘Once we’ve left you can come in and rescue the hostages.’ He finished, slamming the phone down on the counter and looking down at Ada ‘Look’s like they came through for your boyfriend after all.’

Then he was gone and the cafe became a flurry of activity. EMT’s dropped to her side as police worked on removing the hostages from the cafe safely. The nurse who had helped her started firing off some medical jargon that Ada didn’t understand. All she could do was watch as they tried to stabilise him, hooking him up to machines as a gurney was lined up beside him. Suddenly an alarm started blaring and Ada’s stomach dropped.

'What's happening?' She screamed, her stomach twisting in knots.

‘He’s crashing.’ said one EMT as the other grabbed a familiar-looking machine.

One cut away his clothes as the other pulled out the paddles and placed them onto his now bare chest, his body arching as they shocked him.

‘Nothing.’ one stated as he placed a mask over his nose and mouth and pumped the bag attached to it a few times.

Pulling away, the other medic shocked him again. The sight of Marcus’ body arching like that making Ada feel sick and she sobbed openly as she silently willed him to come back to her. Finally, the alarm changed its tune and they all breathed a sigh of relief, quickly manoeuvring him onto the gurney and pushing him out of the cafe to the waiting ambulance. They said nothing about Ada jumping in after him, sitting her on a seat to one side as one jumped in the cab and the other continued to pump air into the agent. This was not how Ada had expected to spend her day but she knew she’d couldn’t leave him. She couldn’t lose him.

~

‘You’re thinking about it.’ He accused, giving her hand a slight tug to bring her back to awareness.

‘Sorry, it’s just…’ Her tongue felt heaving in her mouth as she let her eyes lock with his, his brown orbs glittering in the artificial light ‘You died in front of me.’ She stated ‘I had to watch them shock you twice, it was horrible.’

‘Hey, I’m okay now.’ He replied.

‘Yeah but you weren’t.’ She snapped, instantly regretting her tone ‘When they finally let me see you again you had a tube down your throat breathing for you and they’d said you were in a coma. I was told that you’d suffered a lot of trauma and that it was going to be touch and go.’ She paused to take in a shaky breath ‘When they finally took you off the vent I sat and waited for you to wake up but you wouldn’t, no matter how much I talked your ear off. I thought I was going to lose you and it killed me.’

‘How long have I been here?’ He asked suddenly as he processed what she was telling him.

‘3 weeks.’ She replied, wiping her tears away with her free hand ‘You’ve been in a coma for 3 weeks.’ She sobbed then, looking around the room a little panicked ‘And you woke up alone.’

She balled at her statement, throwing her face into her hands as great sobs racked her body. Marcus watched her in shock a moment as he processed what she’d just said before letting his hand settle on her head, stroking her hair with his fingers and waited for her to let it all out.

‘Hey.’ He said finally, carding his digits through her hair ‘It’s going to be okay now okay.’

§

Marcus was discharged a few days later and Ada had made it her mission to care for him, sleeping on his couch and working from his lounge as well a caring for him. After a few more weeks he was cleared to go back to work but was limited to desk work until, something that had relieved Ada. Much to both their distaste she eventually went back home. She was glad of her office again, falling back into her old routine with ease but she found herself missing Marcus terribly. At night she was plagued with nightmares of his bloody form. His blood on her hands. She’d wake in a cold sweat, chest heaving and she would sob until she finally felt exhaustion get the better of her. She was working away when her phone buzzed on the tabletop making her leap out her skin. Picking it up she smiled when she saw Marcus’ name flashing on the screens.

‘To what do I owe this pleasure?’ She asked, grinning down the phone as she spoke.

‘Well, I wondered if you were free this evening’ He replied, his tone making her heart flutter.

‘I think I have some time.’

‘Well, I wondered if perhaps you would like to come for dinner this evening. I would love to cook for you as a thank you for everything.’

‘Marcus you don’t need to thank me.’ She replied, her voice wobbling a little.

‘No, but I want to.’ He replied ‘Shall we say 7?’

‘Sounds perfect. See you then.” She hung up and a large grin spread across her face ‘Shit what do I wear?’ she asked out loud, glancing at the time on her laptop. Only 4 hours to decide.

§

‘So where did you learn to cook like that?’ Ada asked as she sipped on her red wine, eyes fixed on Marcus as he smiled back at her.

‘My mum.’ he replied, collecting up the dishes and taking them over to the sink ‘She loved to cook and I loved to help her.’

‘I bet that your past girlfriends loved that.’ She joked, taking another sip.

‘Certainly helped.’ he replied with a chuckle, making his way back to the table and sitting down again ‘Thank you for taking care of me.’ He then said, changing the subject as he looked at her with a different expression ‘Not many girls would sleep on the couch of a man they’ve just met and nurse him back to health. You’re pretty amazing.’ He finished as he placed his large hand over hers.

‘So are you.’ She replied sweetly, her cheeks flushing at her statement.

‘Shall we go sit on the couch?’ He asked, motioning over his shoulder with his head but his gaze not leaving hers.

‘Yeah.’

Placing their glasses and the bottle down on the coffee table, they both sat, an awkward silence settling over them for a moment as neither one knew what to say. Ada felt a heat start to bloom in her belly as she looked him over. He wore a smart pair of jeans and a burnt orange shirt that complemented his golden skin tone perfectly and accentuated his muscular arms. She licked her lips at the sight. She wanted to kiss him, to feel his strong arms around her as she kissed and licked his neck and jaw. She wanted him. Scooting closer to him, they shared a heated stare. Marcus’ hand balled at his side as he fought the urge to pounce, unsure what Ada wanted but he didn’t have long to wait. She captured his lips in a heated kiss, fingers carding through his hair as her tongue traced the seam of his lips and moaning when he allowed her entry. His hands snaked around her waist, pulling her so that she was straddling his hips and his hands travelling up her shirt, leaving her breathless from the contact. Shaky fingers started to work at the buttons on his shirt as she kissed him hungrily, moaning in his mouth as his strong hands grabbed her ass and guided her hips as she started to grind against his growing arousal.

‘Are you sure?’ He breathed against her lips as he pulled away for a moment.

She just nodded, pulling open his shirt and over his shoulders, running her hands down his toned chest. He angled his hips a little giving her the delicious friction that she was craving and she could already feel herself edging towards her climax. Her jeans were unfastened in a heartbeat and his hand was cupping her sex, fingers toying with her entrance as he placed open mouth kisses down her neck.

‘Shit.’ She breathed as he pushed one thick finger into her heat, grinning against her skin at her reaction.

He planted his free hand on her back and flipped her onto her back, pushing a second digit in to join the other as he nibbled and licked her skin. When he curled his fingers and hit that spot she fell over the edge, back arching as she climaxed loudly. Her moans only made him more aroused and he quickly yanked down her jeans, taking her underwear with them.

‘Marcus I need you now.’ She breathed, pulling him close and devouring his lips.

He lined himself, teasing her a little before finally giving in to her begging and pushing in slow. She gasped a little as he stretched her out, the pain making her wince and Marcus pulled back a moment as his brow furrowed in concern.

‘Does it hurt?’

‘Just keep going.’ she breathed, hands grabbing his ass and urging him to move.

He did as he was told and filled her to the hilt, moaning at the tightness before placing soft kisses along her jaw. He stayed still for a moment, allowing her to adjust to his size before he started to rock his hips back and forth. His place started slowly as they shared sloppy kisses, Ada’s nails digging into the muscle of his back as he continuously hit that spot within that drove her closer and closer again. When she began begging him to move faster his upped his speed, knuckles going white as he gripped the arm of the couch for support. Ada’s second orgasm was intense, her whole body convulsed as he fucked her through it, praising her as she came down from her high. His own peak was not far behind and his hips stilled as he finished, kissing her sweetly as they panted in each other's arms.

‘We’re definitely doing that again this evening.’ She panted as she kissed his sweat-slick skin.

‘Definitely.’ he replied with a smile, killing her nose ‘But first… Desert!’

[fang-wolfsbane]

Transformers Animated: Morning After: Chapter 02: Recruitment, Sir?

“Congratulations young cadet. You’ve made it as an official medic for the Autobot alliance. Only a few have ever made it to your position, so be proud of yourself and work hard.”

Those had been the words from Highdrive’s commanding officer the moment he stepped out of the Autobot Academy for Medics – A.A.M. for short. The moment he graduated, Highdrive had been certain that he was going to land a position within the Elite Guard, training amongst the best of the best to serve his home planet, Cybertron.

As third in his class, he had nothing but a promising future ahead of him, until an incident within the academy dorms had cost him a far grater demotion than he had thought necessary. He had been clearing out his dorm room for the next occupant when some of his fellow students had suggested that they play one last prank on their teacher as a farewell gift. Highdrive had been reluctant at first, but not wanting to be the odd one out, he’d gone with them. The idea had been to liquify the classroom hallway from one end to the other. A harmless prank, right? He had never been so wrong.

Not only had they used energon – the very life fuel they all needed to survive – but the teacher had indeed slipped on the wet floor, tumbled out of a carelessly left open window, broke not only their entire right leg apart, but had hit their helm hard enough to cause a crack within their CPU. A security guard had heard the commotion, and before Highdrive could even think of turning to ask his so-called fellow classmates what they would do about the situation, he was the only one left behind in the entire building.

It took some heavy convincing from one of his other teachers to get him a lighter punishment than he knew he deserved, but at this point he supposed it was the best he could hope to. When he was told he was to be the assistant medic on a space bridge repair ship, he tried to convince himself that it was a learning experience. He would have preferred the stockade.

With a personal escort, probably to ensure that he didn’t try and make a break for it, Highdrive had walked into the hanger where the repair ship was waiting. It was big, there was no denying that, and old… very old. How the bots in control of the ship expected it to be able to fly was a question all on its own.

Transforming alongside his escort, Highdrive was handed off to the commanding medic he’d be serving under. An old rust bucket whose white and red paint job certainly looked like it had seen far better stellar cycles. Highdrive visibly flinched to himself, not wanting to think of what his mother would have said if she’d heard him think so ill of a bot he was supposed to learn from. It was only because of his status as a medical student that he’d been kept from getting a permanent smack on his name.

Walking up to the bot, Highdrive tried to hide a visible flinch as he held his servo out towards the older mech. In reality, their colours weren’t that different. Highdrive himself sported orange in place of the other mech’s red. In all the stellarcycles he’d spent at the academy, he’s noticed a similar scheme to all of them. He supposed that when it came to saving lives, something bright coming to the rescue was a sign of reassurance to the one awaiting assistance.

Right, that was what he had been supposed to do when he joined the academy. Save lives, not ruin them…

“Uh, it’s nice to meet you sir. My name is-”

“This the kid?” the mech before him grunted, ignoring the outstretched servo, focusing his attention solely on the bot beside him. Highdrive blinked, reigning in the urge to curl his servo into a fist as he lowered his arm back to his side. There was no doubt that the mech had heard all about Highdrive’s reason for joining – if you could call it that.

His escort nodded, and with a muttered ‘good luck’ in the old bot’s direction, turned on his ped and casually strode off, only seeming to glad that Highdrive wasn’t his problem to deal with anymore. Unlike his fist, his distain at the thought couldn’t be hidden from displaying itself on his faceplate.

“Better learn to grind your dentals here kid, or you aren’t going to last long,” were the mech’s first words to him as he turned and went back over to what Highdrive assumed to be an exterior control panel. Assumed being the key word. He could name each and every single component of a bot – even a Decepticon’s because of the few specimens from the war they’d been allowed to study – and give a list of their functions and possible malfunctions, but to take care of a ship? Surely the medic didn’t expect him to learn to do that too, did he?

Shaking his thoughts free from his CPU, Highdrive found himself jogging after the mech. “Y-Yes sir!”

“Sir, huh?” the other bot mused, stopping momentarily as a pair of pinchers revealed themselves from his forearm. It took all Highdrive’s self-control not to ask how long the other had his medical upgrade. Highdrive had been scheduled to receive his within the next week, or he would have, if the whole ordeal with his teacher hadn’t happened. Goodbye upgrade. “Haven’t heard that in a long time.”

“Is… is it a problem, sir?” Highdrive asked, shifting on his peds a little unsurely. “I could-”

“No. No… it’s fine. It shows you at least have some form of respect left in you,” the mech said, getting to work on the panel. Highdrive knew he failed at keeping the smile off his lips, taking the other’s words as a compliment, whether they were meant to come across that way or not.

“My name is Highdrive, sir. I’ll be looking forward to learning from you.”

“Ratchet,” the old bot introduced himself, frowning as he concentrated on his current task.

“That’s a pretty cool name,” Highdrive said, his smile growing until Ratchet’s blue optics focused on him, a clear, silent warning within them. He found himself taking a step back, yelping when he lost his footing and fell back onto his aft over an open toolbox carelessly left on the floor. As careless as freshly spilled energon in a dark hallway.

“Hey, watch it!” Ratchet scolded. Highdrive flinched, assuming the glare to be fixated on him until the floor began trembling as another bot, nearly three or four times his own size came bouncing over like a spry scraplet.

“Sorry Ratchet,” the bot said, one of his peds narrowly avoiding stepping on Highdrive’s digits. Yanking them away just in time almost had his spark stop. Breathing through his vents, Highdrive tilted his helm back far enough to study the army-green mech. From his build, he had probably enlisted in the military, though his supposed clumsiness left much to thought.

“Saying sorry won’t fix this ship if you break another welding wrench – again,” Ratchet hissed through gritted dentals. The bigger bot lowered his helm in shame before his own traditional Autobot blue optics whirred as they zoomed in on Highdrive’s faceplate.

“Oh, hey there! You must be the new bot,” the bulky bot said, now fully focused on, well, ‘the new bot’ as he put it. “Here, let me help you up,” and before Highdrive could even think to protest, he was yanked onto his peds by a lightly throbbing arm. He made a mental note to check his arm over for any possible dents later. “Sorry if I scared ya. I’m Bulkhead.”

“H-Highdrive,” Highdrive said, managing a nervous smile as his servo subconsciously rubbed over the previously grabbed area. Yup, there were definitely a couple of dents he’d need to buff out when he got the chance. “And no worries.”

That seemed to be enough to satisfy Bulkhead, if his smiling jawline was anything to go by. A nano sec later, he was blinking, all giddy again like a sparkling overdosed on sweetened energon. “Oh, you haven’t met Bee yet! Come on, I’ll introduce you!”

Before Highdrive could blink, he was swept up by the large Autobot and taken inside the old ship like some guest of honour. The tight squeeze holding him in place against Bulkhead’s frame was enough to warn him not to get on the other’s bad side.

“Hey Bumblebee! The new bot’s here!” Bulkhead excitedly announced as he took them into what seemed like the command room. In the commander’s chair was a slim, yellow, and grey mech, taking a stasis nap. He couldn’t be the commander, could he? Not wanting to risk upsetting his new superior on his first day, Highdrive took the plunge.

“Uh, it’s g-good to meet you, sir,” Highdrive managed to wheeze out.

“Sir?’ both Bulkhead and the smaller bot – Bumblebee – repeated, blinking at him in surprise as if he had just told them he himself was their commanding officer. Highdrive flinched, instantly regretting his assumption.

“Are you not the commander?”

“Pft, no,” Bumblebee sneered, casually flipping his peds up on the dashboard. All too comfortable with occupying the commanding seat, despite his lack in both title and possibly qualifications.

“Then why are you…?” Highdrive trailed off after noticing the way Bumblebee’s optics seemed to darken. A sore spot. A wound better left untouched. “Noted…”

“So, what frag-up got you here?” Bumblebee asked, getting to his peds, and resting his servos on his hip plating once Bulkhead deemed it safe to release his hold on Highdrive.

“I’d… rather not talk about it, if you don’t mind,” Highdrive admitted, pretending to find an interest in dust that decided the corner was a good place spot to begin its invasion.

Bumblebee casually shrugged his shoulders, pulling over a mop and bucket from who knows where, and shoved them right into Highdrive’s servos. “You’re on clean up duty. Doc bot says we gotta get this old dump clean before the new Prime gets here.”

Highdrive blinked. “Prime?”

“Uh, yeah,” Bumblebee frowned, arching an optic ridge in question, “do you not know what a Prime is?”

“Of course I know what a Prime is,” Highdrive found himself hissing back, earning a surprised blink from the shorter mech. All Cybertronians knew what Primes were. He’d have had to online on some far away organic planet to not know about something so simple about their planet’s culture. Slag, even the Decepticons knew what a Prime was, even if they themselves haven’t been around for eons after the war ended with the Autobots coming out on top. Breathing air out through his vents, Highdrive straightened himself out. “Why is a Prime coming here though? Is there some inspection or something?”

“Nope. Doc bot said he got demoted or something. That he’s lucky to still keep his title after whatever he did,” Bumblebee hummed, casting a glance up at Bulkhead, “though I guess we all are.”

Highdrive didn’t dare ask as he looked to the two objects in his servos. He had no idea Bumblebee could be so right.

[nitewrighter]

I hope you could write one day about Genji joining Zenyatta. I know you wrote how they met, but I mean like, Genji finally joining Zenyatta and after some time and gaining his trust, Genji opens up and shares stuff from his past (like what does he meant when he said "rescued again" and basically his deal with overwatch, his life before ow and Angela)

Continued from this fic.

I feel like Genji opening up about Angela and Overwatch wouldn’t happen until later, but Genji actually making the decision to travel with Zenyatta is a conversation I’d like to explore!!

----

Genji’s strength returned to him slowly over the next few days. While his time wandering in the desert seemed to stretch the minutes into hours, his own weakness and exhaustion seemed to make the sun wheel rapidly overhead now. The Banu Tufayl were exceedingly, almost painfully hospitable. Using Zenyatta as a translator, Genji attempted to tell them that he would repay their generosity when he was able to make it to the nearest town, but they insisted (also through Zenyatta) that no payment was necessary--the only thing they required of him was the assurance that he could continue to journey safely. The encampment was full of children and the elderly, and no small amount of omnics, a few standard biped units, but also a noticeable amount of desert combat units, squat and tank-like with glittering solar panels, some with dune-buggy like wheels and others able to shift from bipedal to quadripedal movement at ease with wide, flat, hands and feet. Genji absentmindedly watched as several children laughed and clambered all over a patient, SUV-sized camel spider-like omnic that made lowing, chortling noises as the children scrambed up and down its plated back. Despite the size of the omnics, something about the gentle way they carried themselves and looked to the children made Genji feel acutely aware of how remote and vulnerable the whole group was out here--nothing but shifting dunes and the massive bowl of the sky overhead around them...nothing like the Swiss-mountain nestled fortress of the Zurich headquarters. 

“This tribe broke off from a larger one shortly after the Omnic crisis,” a calm voice spoke and Genji flinched to attention to see Zenyatta gently floating up alongside him, “To my knowledge it is one of the few tribes in the area to welcome omnics into their community. In fairness, not everywhere is as liberal as Numbani or Oasis, and the Qu’ran states that human life can only be created organically through copulation, so I understand other tribes’ hesitation.”

“You’re Muslim?” Genji tilted his head.

“No, but I believe one must make a point of looking at different faiths of the world before they go about touting their own as a path to enlightenment,” said Zenyatta.

“...so you’re a holy man,” said Genji. Holy bot? he thought.

“I make no such claims. If anything, I would call myself a pilgrim. Are you a pilgrim as well, Genji Shimada?”

Genji flinched. “I never told you my family name,” he said warily.

“Oh?” Zenyatta’s head lifted slightly, “Well, much knowledge can be found in the Iris.”

Genji tensed slightly.

“Much knowledge can also be found by rifling through your bag and looking through your comm as well,” Zenyatta added coyly.

“...definitely not a holy man,” said Genji, folding his arms.

“We needed to know if there was someone we should contact in case you never woke up,” said Zenyatta.

Angela, Genji thought on reflex but he tamped that thought down. He looked back at the children clambering over the insectoid omnic. “So what now?”

“That depends. Why did you head out into this desert?” asked Zenyatta.

“...that’s not your concern,” said Genji.

“When you save a life, you become responsible for that life. It is very much my concern,” said Zenyatta.

Genji looked over at Zenyatta, his phrasing catching him off-guard. Not ‘I saved you so you owe me answers’ but ‘I saved you so I can’t let you go get yourself killed all over again.’ It almost reminded him of Mercy’s persistence when it came to his health.

“...I don’t know what my purpose is,” said Genji, “I hoped to find my place in the world by traveling through it.” 

“You believe the answer exists outside yourself?” said Zenyatta.

“Look at me!” the response came out of Genji louder and more flinching than he anticipated, “I don’t know if I’m man or machine! I don’t know if my body’s my own! When I look in the mirror, all I see is pain and unanswered questions.”

Zenyatta couldn’t exactly emote, but something about the way he simply stared and floated there told Genji he took his emotional response with the same calmness as everything else Genji had said.

“I--” Genji caught himself, “Sorry, I just... can’t stand it when people act like... like there’s nothing wrong with me. People pretending they don’t see it... it’s almost worse than the stares.”

“I’m not pretending about anything,” Zenyatta said plainly, “Your body is unusual, but neither of us has anything to gain from my commenting on it unless you seek my thoughts on it. Do you seek to have someone else define your own body for you?”

“I--” Genji stammered, “I... umm...”

“But I suppose the real question is, if you could not find the answer in a mirror, what made you think you would find it in the middle of a desert?”

“Well...” Genji hesitated, “I... I knew I wasn’t going to find it just staying where I was.”

“I see,” said Zenyatta, “And why carry swords in this journey of self-discovery? Do you believe you will find your purpose in a fight?” 

Genji’s hand instinctively went up to Ryū Ichimonji’s handle at its mention, but he caught himself, not touching it. “You’ll find out what you’re meant to do in this world and it won’t be killing,” he remembered Mercy’s words. But at the same time, he could never leave the Ryū Ichimonji behind--it was a part of him. His hand lowered. “I just... I wasn’t going to travel without anything to protect myself,” he murmured.

“So you do value your own life,” said Zenyatta, apparently pleasantly surprised, “That’s good.” 

“...and you’re traveling without anything to protect yourself because... you’re on a pilgrimage?” said Genji, hesitantly.

“I never said I was defenseless,” said Zenyatta.

Genji examined the bright yellow of Zenyatta’s clothes. “So where are you going?” he asked.

“Would you like to go with me?” asked Zenyatta.

“Not if I don’t know where you’re going,” said Genji.

“Really? And where was the end-point of your journey of self-discovery?” said Zenyatta.

Genji opened his mouth to speak but then caught himself. 

Zenyatta chuckled. “Frankly, I would be concerned if there was an end point,” he said.

“But do you have an end-point at all?” said Genji.

“Well... I suppose eventually I will have to return to Nepal,” Zenyatta said thoughtfully, “But when you are looking for something, you do not bound where you are looking to a single place--you simply keep moving and keep looking until you find it, correct?”

“Nepal...” Genji repeated thoughtfully, “You’re Shambali?”

“...technically, yes,” said Zenyatta glancing off. There was a flatness to his voice that caught Genji off-guard. This was the closest Zenyatta had come to sounding annoyed. He seemed to recompose himself. “But the purpose of my journey is not to spread the Shambali’s dogma--I am searching for its place in the world, like you are searching for yours.”

Genji scoffed a bit. “It has its place. At the top of best-seller book lists and with omnics shoving flowers in your face at airports--” Genji caught himself, “I mean... no offense.” 

Zenyatta glanced down, “Yes... it would appear that way, wouldn’t it?” he said, sounding a bit defeated.

“What I’m saying is, not everyone’s problems can be solved by going on about an ‘Iris’ and meditating,” said Genji.

“I would expect not,” said Zenyatta.

“...you’re not going to defend it?” said Genji.

“Should I?” said Zenyatta, “I’m sure you’re aware that it is more complex than your impression of it, but as I said, I am traveling to find the Iris’s place in the world, if I simply treat it as a one-size-fits all solution to everyone’s problems, that would miss the point. That is why I came out here,” he gestured at the camel spider omnic, now lifting one of its forelegs to let a child hang upside-down by his knees from it, giggling and chattering, “None of these omnics are Shambali, but they have found peace, family, and community, not through dogma, but through kindness, connection, and humility.”

“Don’t the Shambali talk about that sort of stuff?” said Genji. He had never really cracked a Shambali book, but ‘kindness, connection, and humility’ all seemed like Shambali fare.

“In trying to demonstrate to humans that we have the equivalent of a soul, I feel that Omnics have attempted to make the Shambali the equivalent of a religion, to tell humans ‘we have the answers’--even though, because they made us, no matter how high our processing speed, we don’t have any more answers about our place in the universe than they do. We have structure, yes, we have purpose, and people embrace that--perhaps they embrace it because our omnic-ness makes it novel---but I don’t think Omnics will find their place among humans purely by mimicking them.”

Genji huffed. “Maybe it was all the dehydration,” he started slowly, “But it almost feels as though you not having the answers is more comforting.”

“Oh?” Zenyatta glanced over at him.

“...I’m not sure if I can say I’ve gone through my whole life with people telling me what to do... but I have gone through it with these... systems... that swallowed up every part of my being, and when I couldn’t cope with those systems, I’d fall into hedonism or rage...First my family, then O--” he caught himself, “Then my work. There was a time... there was... someone... who made me feel like I believed in that work but when things started falling apart, I realized I was just clinging to her like a ship’s mast in a storm and that wasn’t fair to her. Even when I was walking through the desert I was--” he caught himself, “How different would the Shambali be from that?” he said quietly, “One more thing, one more person, one more system that I convince myself will show me my place in the world.” 

“Cycles of self. Cycles of belief. Cycles of rejection. Cycles of suffering,” said Zenyatta, “I hope to find the same answer about the Shambali myself.” He paused for a few seconds before saying, “I hope you will not find this invasive or rude, but I do believe we should travel together. I think there is much I can learn from you.” 

“You can learn--!” Genji started, “I just said that I don’t know what the hell I’m doing!”

“I’m aware,” said Zenyatta, “I believe you can learn as well.”

“From you?” said Genji.

“From your travels. From your observations. From your heart. You may ask my perspective if you so choose, but if you prefer, I can just be there to make sure you don’t pass out in the middle of a desert again.” 

“’When you save a life you become responsible for that life,’ right?” said Genji with a slight chuckle, “Is that a Shambali proverb?”

“Actually it’s mostly been attributed to David Carradine in the 1975 television show ‘Kung Fu.’ Carradine later died from autoerotic asphyxiation.”

“...you’re definitely not a holy man,” said Genji.

“I never said I was,” said Zenyatta, “However, I can be a friend, if that’s what you need.”

Genji looked back at the smattering of tents around them, the laughter and chatter of Arabic and Amharic and Omnicode, the golden dunes, some of which only barely hid that unreachable horizon. 

“I could use a friend,” said Genji. 

[just-dreaming-marvel]

ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEEN - CHATS AT DAWN

LEGACY: A Tony Stark Daughter Story

MASTERLIST

< previous

Word Count: 1,890ish

Summary: Steve calls Bailey to ask something of her. Tony and Bailey chat about what ifs.

Over the next two years, Nat and Steve still kept in secret contact with me. I would met up with them, separately, each time I came into the city. I even started to use the Stark Industry resources to help Nat the best I could without Tony finding out. Pepper found out about me helping Nat and has always known about Steve. But she understands that I’ll open up when I’m ready, and when I feel Tony is ready. It did hurt me a bit that the two didn’t fight very hard to see Tony or contact him themselves. It hurt that they didn’t want to keep in touch with their friend. 

With the help of the nano bots, the past two years have been vision and nightmare free. It’s been nice. Morgan’s growing up so fast. She’s so smart and definitely a daddy’s girl, something we have in common. We still do pranks together at night. Sometimes we even sneak outside so that we can look at the stars. Whenever possible, Morgan and I are stuck at the hip. I love to feel everyone’s emotions when we’re together. Especially those nights when Tony, Morgan, and I play around in the forts we build. Everyone is so happy, at peace. It’s a happiness that I’ve only felt a few times, and I’m really glad that we finally get to experience it more. Especially Tony. He deserves it more than anyone. 

Early one morning, I had been up all night working on some Stark Industries paperwork in Tony’s office. I needed to finish it or I’d have to go into the city for a week and I really didn’t want to. I was stopped from my rush to finish by a phone call. It was Steve. I did think that he was a little crazy for calling at the crack of dawn, but it was whatever and I was excited to hear his voice. I could feel his nervousness as soon as I answered the phone call.

“I can feel your nervousness from over the phone, Steve,” I got straight to the point. “What do you want?”

“Damn it,” he muttered. “I really was trying to hide it. I really don’t want to have to ask you to—“

“Steve. Get on with it.”

“Do you remember Scott Lang?”

“Yes, Ant-Man. He’s on the list of those who disappeared. What about him?”

“Well, he didn’t exactly disappear.”

I sat up straighter. “What are you talking about Steve?” 

“He showed up at the compound earlier this morning. Apparently, he was trapped in the quantum realm.”

���The quantum realm?”

“Yeah. Have you heard of it?”

“It’s basically a microscopic universe. You have to be extremely small to get there. How did he get stuck?”

“He went in right before the snap. He had people who were suppose to get him out, but—“

“They turned into ash before they could.” I put my head in my hand and began to rub my forehead. “Let me guess… he somehow left the quantum realm to find out that it’s been five years but to him it was a few hours?”

“Correct.”

“Why exactly did you call at the break of dawn to tell me this? Yay! You found someone who didn’t turn to ash when we thought they did. That doesn’t help those who did.”

“We have an idea.”

“I don’t know if I want to hear it.”

“We think that we can use the quantum realm to go back in time and take the stones. Then reverse what’s been done.”

I closed my eyes and shook my head. I knew exactly where this was headed. I didn’t need to read anyone’s mind to figure it out. “And you need my Dad and I to help build this… ‘time machine’.”  I sighed. “I was really hoping that you were calling just to check up on me…”

“I’m sorry, darling, I really am. But you two are the only ones who could pull something like this off.”

“We left that life behind, Steve. I’m already doing the best I can without him finding out. And, honestly, I really don’t want to do anymore than what I’m already doing. The hero thing is in our past.”

“Bailey. We could bring them back. Peter, Bucky, Sam, Wanda. Everyone.”

“But at what cost, Steve? We don’t know what the repercussions could be!” I began to get louder. I quickly went outside to the dock before I could wake anyone up. “No one has ever done this before.”

“You two are the only ones with the brains and technology to test it and figure out if it’s possible.”

I let out a heavy sigh. “I really wish that you were calling me and asking for something else. Anything else, Steve.” I looked back at the house.

“I know, B. But this could be a second chance.”

“You want me to try to convince Tony, don’t you?”

Steve hesitated for a few seconds, basically giving me the answer. “I’m getting ready to come up to the house right now with Natasha and Scott. I know that he’ll probably not say yes at first, but I need you there for after we leave.”

“If you’re coming up, he still can’t know about us. Especially after what you’re going to ask of him.”

“I know.”

“He’s not going to be happy… He promised Pep, me… Morgan. He promised he was done and he’s actually following through… He also won’t be happy that the only reason you’re coming is to ask this of him.”

“I’m sorry B. I really am. But we could get our frien— our family back. The universe back… What’s the point of being the Avengers if we don’t try?”

“We did try, Steve. All of us and we lost… What if… Steve… What if we go back in time and it changes what’s happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like…” I took a deep breath. “Like I was never rescued from HYDRA, any one of those times. Or that Morgan was never born.” A few tears began running down my face. “What if my family never became a family?”

“I won’t let that happen. I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Cap.”

“I’m still going to promise you this.”

“I can’t lose them.”

“I won’t let that happen. You’re not going to lose anyone. Even me. I promise.”

I quickly took another deep breath and wiped the tears from my face. “Text me when you’re close.” And I hung up.

I threw my phone down on the dock and buried my head in my hands. Unfortunately, I was just put in the middle of something that I really didn’t want to be in. Something that could possibly screw up my relationship with Tony and our family life. I sighed as I sat down on the edge of the dock, putting my feet in the water. The sun had risen, and it was beautiful. One of my favorite parts of living lakeside, the sun rises. I just wish I got to appreciate them more. I heard the house door open and close, then not long after footsteps coming up the dock. I moved over a little to allow Tony to sit next to me. He sat down and we both stared across the lake for a few minutes before either one of us talking. 

“What are you doing up so early?” Tony asked, finally breaking the silence.

“I was working on paperwork,” I answered. “Then I decided I need some fresh air and I wanted to watch the sun rise.”

Tony nodded in response before speaking up again. “Were you up all night?”

“Yeah,” I yawned. “I really needed to get some stuff done so that I can have a week off from going to the city.”

“Makes sense.”

“What are you doing up?”

“I woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep.” He shrugged. “I looked out the window and saw you out here. So I thought I’d join.”

I simply nodded in response. We sat in silent for a few minutes before it was my turn to break it. “Do you— Uhhh… Never mind.” I quickly shook my head.

“No, tell me what’s on your mind, kiddo. You know that I’m always here for you.”

I nodded at looked at the water before hesitantly asking my question. “Do you ever wish that you could go back and change… something?” Tony looked at me with a confused yet concerned look. “Like, if you could, would you go back and change the way you left it with your parents? Or creating Ultron?”

“What’s got you thinking about this?”

“It’s nothing. Never mind. Just forget I said anything. I should—“ I went to stand up but Tony quickly grabbed my arm and kept me seated on the dock.

“At one point, yes. Yes I would have— I did, want to go back and change how I left it with my parents. And Ultron? I don’t think I could have changed anything besides just not creating him. But I don’t think like that anymore. I can’t afford to.”

“Yeah.” I nodded along. “I guess you’re right.”

“There’s only two things that I would go back and change.” I looked over and curiously lifted an eyebrow. “One being, if I could go back and change something, trying harder to stop Thanos… The second, it would probably be finding you sooner. Or at least adopting you sooner.”

“What?” I quietly said.

“I know that you see the way Pepper and I, especially me, act around Morgan. I know you wonder about how life would have been if your parents had never given you up or if I had always been there, and I know that you get a little jealous. And that’s okay, she has the childhood you were never allowed to have… So if I could go back, the only thing that I would change was saving you and bringing you into my life sooner.” Tony looked over at me and I could see a few tears gathering in his eyes. It was causing me to tear up as well. 

“Because I wonder too,” Tony continued, “about how raising you all the way would have been. And I get mad sometimes, that I wasn’t given that opportunity and that your birth parents wasted their opportunity. But then I look at you, and the amazing woman you have become, and I realize that I had a part in that. It makes me so proud to be your father. No matter how much time we missed together. It really doesn’t matter because it got us here.” Tony reached over and took my hand in his. He never really gets like this. But this was much needed, much wanted. “So, actually, now that I’ve really thought about it and said it out loud, no. No, I wouldn’t change a thing. Our past has made us stronger, brought us closer together. I would never change how we got here.” He let go of my hand, wrapped his arm around me, and then pulled me into his side. “I love you so much, B.” He kissed the side of my head. I wrapped both of my arms around him. “I am so proud of you.” 

“I love you too, Dad.”

next >

[mocacheezy]

Transformers BW: S1, Ep. 12 - 21

(for I am but a snail when it comes to watching shows, and somehow I managed to watch 9 episodes in 2 days. No I don't understand myself either)

Ep. 12 (Victory):

aka I couldn't get past the halfway minute mark for 3 weeks because I expected no one will believe Dinobot (news flash, he didn't have to try and explain himself)

On a different note, I still can't get over the effects of when someone hits the ground. It's just, it's just the most comical Splat! Thump!

Ep. 13 (Dark Designs):

Megatron at the beginning of an episode? Well I can't say anything but ✨Yesssssssss~✨

Also am I glad I was not forcing myself to watch the fight scene because my head started pounding just from seeing all the flashing from the corner of my eyes.

I AM SORRY PRIMAL BUT YOU SAYING MEGATRON'S SIGNATURE YESSS? I AM DYING! XD

Predacon Rhinox: no.1 menace and threat

Poke the idiot and throw him into milk.

Shrapnel mention, def not my wife though...

...yea, Rhinox is terrifying. Was sure he'll snap Scorponok's and Terrorsaur's necks.

This episode gets 4/10.

1 point for Megatron and his yesssss',

1 point for just how terrifying Rhinox was,

1 point for everyone who said the signature yesssss

and the last point for "I am very, very unhappy indeed. Yessssssssss."

The remaining 6 points are missing BECAUSE OF THE CONSTANT EYE STRAIN.

Ep. 14 (Double Dinobot):

I would love to see you Megatron, so could your cloning process include less flashing lights. Even if I do understand the dramatic appeal.

PAT PAT! PAT PAT THE DINOBOT!

Will he push him HE PUSHED HIM.

I still can't believe their security system is called Sentinel.

Rattrap's orb ass

DINOBOT I AM INCREDIBLY AMUSED BY YOU.

Megatron's thighs. Seriously, dude needs to show his bot mode more often

... he fucking ate his clone. He FUCKING ATE. HIMSELF.

I can't with this show.

Ep. 15 (The Spark):

little cat... big cat... big bro and tiny bro.

scorponok the simp

Okay this must be Hawk guy... Damn the protoforms are weird. But at least we know how the spark looks... and that in humanoid proportions it's located in the stomach.

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS

I love how urgent they make this "protoform is dying" thing

Blackarachnia. Just her.

Why do all these robots have such nice legs?

A HAWK WIFE! Airrazor, have to remember that lovely name~

SHE HAS SUCH AN UNIQUE FACE I LOVE HER HOLY SHITNUGGETS

Rhinox was in charge of protoform rearing back on Cybertron. You can't convince me otherwise, this dude is prime dad/teacher material.

Ep. 16 (The Trigger- p.1):

You are an idiot Tigertron. I still love you though.

Seriously though, he has a very nice face.

Megatron

Illuminati island

AT THIS POINT I AM JUST ANTICIPATING EVERY YESSSSS. I almost always guess it at this point.

Also WHO TAUGHT HAWKWIFE TO SWEAR?!

Tigertron acquired a VIP pass by nearly getting slagged

My face when they try to convince the audience AirRazor died: 😒

Ep. 17 (The Trigger - P.2):

Tigertron is gonna sacrifice himself and the island isn’t he?

They really didn’t have to make that many grunts and moans for this

...Is Rhinox’s VA the same as Megatron’s?

I love how they refer to Pred’s headquarters as Pred central

Their eye effects. Oh how I love this animation.

I honestly wish we could see BW in a newer animation style, because this stuff looks really cool

Well her new color scheme is pretty

STILL NOT HAPPY WITH THE HEADACHE INDUCING EXPLOSIONS

Is Blackarachnia gonna die?

Ah, aliens. And the whole “paradise lost”

Ep. 18 (Spider’s game):

Shake that ass Tarantulas

Blackarachnia if you don’t eat him at some point of this series I will be disappointed

The ant simp? Are we getting the ant simp?

When and how did Wazzpinator grow on me?

Hawk wifey to the rescue

holy shit HOLY SHIT INFERNO IS NOT THE SIMP

HE IS HUGE

This looks very much like mating to me Tarantulas, so get yourself off her ass

YOU CAN FLY?!

Gross.

“I hunt better alone.” Yeah sure you moron

I truly missed these effects, and I didn’t even know it

HOLY SHIT THEY USED RED WITH DAMAGE

… Inferno is that easily destroyed?

Ep. 19 (Call Of The Wild):

Don’t get your bananas in a bunch - Rattrap

Thank you for the not eyestraining fight sequence

What the cheeze - Rattrap

Being a Predacon: requirement of being a backup laughter provider

Yesssss

Megatron just fucking transform

What the fuck Tigertron. Is this the were-talk 101 class?

Megatron I will fucking kick your ass for two reasons:

1. NOT TURNING INTO TREX WHEN YOU HUNT,

2. LETTING EVERYONE SUFFER THE ENERGON SURGE BCS YOU WANTED TO HUNT “IN STYLE”

Ep. 20 (Dark Voyage):

Waste of your talents as the designated Smash

What was this arrow for?

Mushroom Cloud of "They shouldn't have survived this but they sure did"

All of them are blind and out of all of them Dinobot is freaking out the most

What is this high stakes bullshit?

Good job Megatron

"There!" No one can see anything Rhinox, your acknowledgment of something moving is not gonna help

Cheetor is going to die because of Boa constrictor and Dinobot is working on cartoon logic. Love it.

What did that elephant think when a snake just suddenly smacked it in the face?

DINOBOT! BAD! NO LEAVING THE KITTY BEHIND!

Megatron will scrap us: aka we are going to get scolded and will not actually get as big a beating as we think we will.

I swear, Megatron has a completly different approach to things. Not as brutal as Prime, but also not as classy and patient as Animated. He is quite special, ✨yesssssss✨

What is it with this show and its attempts of "This is the end of them!"

Why the hell is Cheetor suddenly walking? Wasn't he close to dying like a second ago?

Do they know how to swim? Okay, Rhinox can. The other three washed up on the shore.

Why is everyone but- ah, Rhinox the meditate-and-sense-the-energy-of-your-enemy Rhinoceros

The one thing I love about this show is that the robots are actually shown glitching out and there are sparks and things like that shown

Rhinox you guys nearly died and you are sprouting wisdom. Just… yea just go smell those flowers big guy.

Ep. 21 (Possession):

Aight, a rogue protoform?

Sentinel are you any good in these later episodes/seasons?

Is it Aliens?

Welcome Predacons, enter here - RatTrap

STARSCREAM WHY THE FUCK HOW WHAT HOW

OH MY SHIT HE SOUNDS

OH MY SHIT HE IS FUCKING SPARK ONLY AND HE CAME SO FAR IN THE FUTURE

Good on you Megs for going "Can I trust you?"

I also can't believe the fact Optimus and Megatron named themselves after anchestors of Maximals and Predacons. Like… is this common? Is there a whole registry with the names? Did Autobots and Decepticons become like, CoolKidNames?

Screamer… you don't have to announce yourself to the enemies. Then again you have an ego the size of Unicron himself

Deary me, look what happens - Megatron

… Dinobot studying anything?

Starscream you truly live up to your name, and I am certain G1 is you being a child or a teen

Yes yes you are surrendering very convenient

SCREAMER! YOU SMART!

Oh your voice is horrible. I hope this is a one episode appearance

Also I hope protegee Blackarachnia is the one to kill him

XDDDD GOOD JOB PROTEGEE!

Hasta la vista Starscream - Oprimus Primal

PRIMAL WHEN HAVE YOU WATCHED TERMINATOR

No??? Megatron your catchphrase is ✨Yessssss✨

Twinkle twinkle little Starscream - Cheetor

… Listen there better be a Starscream appearance in a future BW show, set a thousand or so years after the original BW. Let's have a Starscream faceoff in WFC Kingdom!

[silkling]

I'd like a fanfic based off of that headcanon. I actually saw a fic on DeviantArt that inspired me to ask you about Chase and his fear of thunder storms and I think Blades would understand since he's scared of heights.

Alrighty then! I’d be happy to write it! This one was fun! I like writing Chase and Blades, they’re both cute.

———————————————————————————————————

The sky flashed outside the firehouse, and then there was a loud boom that Chase swore made the air itself shake. He flinched, his armor plating pinning tight against his protoform so fast and so harshly it made an audible sound. Here in the main garage of the firehouse, the sounds thunder and flashes of lighting seemed so much closer than they probably were. He knew he was being foolish. It was just a storm, and as long as he stayed inside it couldn’t hurt him.

The windows lit up with another strike of lighting, and the thunder boomed once more. Before Chase even realized what was happening, base processor functions took over and he was folding into his alt mode, peeling backwards and away from the open garage door, and skidding to a stop on the large elevator pad that would take him to the bunker. It started lowering, and as soon as there was enough space for him to not scrape his roof he was gunning his engine, flying off the pad and landing on the floor of the bunker to skid to a harsh stop. He transformed back to his root mode, quickly making the pad lift back up, and sealing the bunker from the upper floors of the firehouse.

There was silence for a beat, and then a much more distant crash of thunder sounded. Chase flinched, his plating clamping impossibly tighter. The sounds were much more faint down here, dampened by thick, heavy stone and earth. Even so, it was just loud enough to be heard. But…Chase supposed that this was better than being in the garage. That would be worse.

It would be even worse if he was with the others. They’d gone on a camping trip to the forests of the mainland, where they were apparently going to be so far from civilization that the Rescue Bots wouldn’t have to worry about being seen. The plan had been to camp out in a large cave on on top a cliff to watch the storm, since apparently this type of storm was some for of rare meteorological event. Graham had assured him it was mostly harmless and they’d be safe as long as they stayed out of the thick of it, and even if things went wrong there was a cabin owned by Doctor Greene nearby that everyone would fit into and be safe at.

Chase had very politely opted out of that trip. He had no desire fo be out in the middle of a storm, in the middle of nowhere. Just being at Griffin Rock in the middle of it was bad enough. He’d told Chief Burns he wished fo stay behind and review human law and order systems. A lie, of course. He was too tense to focus on anything of that sort. The others had all gone, and now he was alone here. He was starting to think it would have been better to ride this out with friends.

The police bot forced himself to move, turning and walking stiffly to the couch. He fell back onto it, turning on the TV and rising the volume as high as it would go in an effort to drown out the noise of the storm. When he could hear no thunder over the sound of the human entertainment system, he finally allowed himself to relax.

“Chase? You didn’t go on the trip?”

The unexpected voice made Chase shoot to his pedes, his previously relaxed frame tensing and his armor clamping tight once more. He turned to the speaker, and it took his frazzled processor a moment to recognize the slim frame of his teammate. His vocalizer clicked several times, spitting a blaat of static before he was able to make it work.

“Blades?”

“Yes?” Blades seemed confused. “Chase, are you alright? Are you hurt? Is that why you didn’t go with the others? I can treat you if you need medical attention.” The copter bot walked closer, his hands uncurling from where they’d been tucked against his canopy to flutter nervously in front of him.

Chase took another moment to force his processor to work, and he shook his helm slowly. “I am–I am unharmed.” he stated. “I remained behind to study human law practices.”

Blades stopped in front of him, helm tilting. His audial fins only had limited movement capability, but they still twitched very slightly with his visible confusion. “You were watching one of Dani’s weird human romance movies.” he pointed out.

He felt embarrassment rush through him, and he ducked his helm. He quickly picked up the remote, turning down the volume so they could speak without having to raise their voices. “Yes. I, ah–“ he struggled to find an excuse. He had to change the topic. “Why are you here?” he blurted out. “Did you not go with the others?”

The copter shook his helm, his hands tucking up again his canopy again, as he always seemed to do when he wasn’t using them or gesturing while he talked. “Dani wanted to fly in the storm. She said it was safe as long as we stayed out of the pre-determined lightning zones and that it would just be like a theme park ride but I didn’t really want to.” he said.

“Oh.” Chase blinked, and was about to open his mouth when there was a very, very loud crash of thunder, and then bunker itself shook around them.

His optics blew wide, the blue burning so bright they practically glowed white. A high, distressed shriek left his vocalizer before he was even aware of it and he was shoving himself back into the couch, making himself as small as possible and pulling his field in tight, armor clamped so closely to his frame none of the seams were visible or individual plates were even distinguishable. Blades stared at him in alarm, then in two quick strides he was there and crouching by the couch. His field expanded to wrap around the police bot, emitting soft, soothing feelings.

“Chase, it’s alright. You’re safe down here.” Blades assured. He cast a worried glance up, then tilted his helm. “That last one felt like something nearby might have been struck. I have to go check, but I’ll be right back, okay?” he said. He waited for a response, but after a minute where it seemed it wasn’t getting one he was forced to give up and go check.

Chase was alone, then. Air squealed past his vents in harsh wheezes, and he couldn’t make himself calm down. All he could focus on was the memory of getting struck, the feeling of the bolt hitting his chest, burning so hot it scorched and melted the metal of his chestplate into a twisted mess. He hadn’t allowed himself to show how it affected him then, but he’d been terrified. Lightning couldn’t kill a Cybertronian. Not a single strike, at any rate. But for those with thinner armor or smaller frames, a single strike could do permanent, crippling damage. He’d been extremely lucky, he knew.

After the wound on his chest had been healed, it had only taken three days or so for his systems to recover from the powerful electric attack and for the pain to stop. But the fear had remained. He’d realized that if he was ever struck again, he might not be so lucky, and he could be permanently, irreparably damaged. With the risks lightning posed to Cybertronians, especially to Cybertronians of his build…he would almost prefer if the only thing he had to fear from getting struck was death. At least then, he wouldn’t have the risk of his systems being permanently crippled.

He didn’t realize that his vocalizer had started clicking with his distress until he felt a hand on his shoulder and a EM field wrap tightly around him. For a moment, his panic grew, but then he recognized the field pressing around him and his engine hiccuped. His vision was blurred and staticky, and it took a moment for it to clear enough for him to see Blades. His friend was staring at him in open concern, his rotors all but vibrating at his back with his worry.

“Chase? You with me?”

“I–What–I’m sorry–“ he gasped, only for the copter to cut him off.

“No, none of that! It’s fine.” Blades scolded gently. “Come on, you need to vent. Your frame is overheating and your fans aren’t enough. Vent, deep and slow. Follow me.” he said, venting in the pattern he needed the police bot to follow.

Chase shuddered, his armor audibly rattling with it, and he followed Blades’s lead. After a moment, his frame stopped feeling so hot, and he was able to calm. There was no thunder, not that he could hear. All he could hear were the hums of his and his teammates systems and the noise of the TV. He reset his vocalizer, remembering why Blades had left.

“Was anything damaged?”

Blades shook his helm. “No. The lightning just struck pavement. There’s a scorch mark, but no damage.”

Chase nodded. “Good, good.” he whispered, sounding distant. “Blades, I–that is, I should–I mean–“ he cut himself off, forcing himself to try again. “I…I wish to apologize.”

Blades blinked, looking startled. He shifted from where he was crouched in front of Chase, sitting next to his friend on the couch instead. “Apologize? What for?”

“I am acting foolish. The lightning cannot hurt me. It cannot even reach me. Yet…” he trailed off, ashamed of his own fear.

Blades blinked. “You’re not foolish, Chase.” he said, tone gentling.

Chase looked at his teammate, his optics just a little too bright. “My fear is irrational, Blades! It helps no one and only causes inconvenience!”

Blades didn’t flinch under the force of his yelling. “So?” His audial fins flicked. “Fear is often irrational.”

“Perhaps.” Chase seemed bitter. “But my fear makes me a liability. What if a storm occurs while we are on a mission? It could keep me from doing what is needed of me.” he stared at his lap. “The others will think poorly of me, I am sure of it.”

“Chase.” Blades’s voice was firm. “You’re not the only one with an irrational fear.” At his back, his rotors fluttered pointedly. “The team doesn’t think any less of me for my fear, do they?”

Chase turned a startled look to his friend. “Of course not! That would be foolish! Your fear does not stop you from performing your duties! We have no reason to think less of you, and you are no less of a bot just because you are scared of heights!”

Blades smiled. “So, why wouldn’t that be true for you?”

Chase froze, blinking.

“I know how guilty fear can make you feel, Chase. Believe me, I understand. And one day, you may have to confront it head on for a mission, but if that day comes I know you won’t let us down. It’s alright to have fears, and it’s alright to avoid the things that scare you if you have that option. You just can’t let your fears define you or stop you from living your life.” he said softly.

Neither bot said anything for a long moment. The only sounds in the bunker were those of two Cybertronian systems running and and mundane human commercial from the TV. Then Chase broke it.

“You are…you are correct. Thank you, Blades.”

Blades beamed, nodding. His rotors twitched happily at his back, and he settled down more comfortably. “Good! Now, how about we find something to watch and drown out the storm?”

Chase let out a huff of laughter. “I would like that.”

The copter nodded, then he shifted again, moving until he was leaning against Chase’s side. He knew his teammate wasn’t as tactile as him, so he didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. “Is this okay? Physical comfort helps me when I get scared. Back on Cybertron, if I got really nervous, my brothers would usually hug me.” he said distractedly, flipping through the channels on the TV to find something to watch.

Chase blinked. “You have brothers?” he turned that statement over in his processor. “You have spark bonded siblings? Blades, what happened…?”

Blades froze, then sagged. “Don’t tell the others.” he whispered. At Chase’s nod, he continued. “I have brothers.” he confirmed. “Four of them. I’m gestalt. I don’t know where they are. The bond was active and I could hear them before we went into stasis, but after we got out…” he trailed off, resetting his vocalizer before he was able to continue. “The bond is muted now. I don’t know if it’s because of distance and time apart from them, or because they’re–“ his voice cut off. He forced himself to finish that sentence. “Because they’re dead.”

Chase stared at his smaller teammate for a long moment, then he wrapped his arms around him and tugged him close. “Perhaps, tonight, we can comfort each other.” he said.

Blades was startled, and then he laughed weakly and nodded. He shifted, rearranging himself until he was folded and tucked neatly against Chase’s frame, and then he relaxed. “I’d like that.” he grinned.

Chase found himself smiling as well, and his contentment grew when Blades finally picked one of the humans’ true crime shows to watch and dialed the volume all the way up. The remote was set down, and then both Rescue Bots were curling even further into each other, enjoying the physical comfort they could offer one another.

Outside, the storm raged on, but it went unnoticed to the two Cybertronians in the bunker below. Neither bot had stopped being afraid of their fears, but they both knew that didn’t matter. They had each other, and in that moment, that was all that really counted.

———————————————————————————————————

And there it was! I like to headcanon Chase and Blades as Amica, so a tiny bit of that may have slipped into this. I hope everyone liked it! And for more information on the original ask that spawned this and some of the background info, click here.

I love writing for Rescue Bots. It’s the perfect medium for found family and fluffy friendship. I need more of that in my life. I’ll be posting another request fic soon, btw! And if anyone wants to shoot me an ask about one of my AUs or any headcanons I may have, I answer those pretty much as soon as I get them.

Until next time, folks!

[norcumii]

yet another sequels rewrite

UGH. I have absolutely no stamina anymore. Ok, so this might be an unholy mess especially with as little sleep I’ve managed lately, nevermind the headcold, but here we go. I want it out of my system, dangit.

Under a cut because long thing is long, and MANY MANY SPOILERS FOR THE SEQUEL TRILOGY, UP TO AND INCLUDING RISE OF SKYWALKER.

Also, apologies, you can see where I got caught up in the banter and a character hogs the screen when they’re meant to be more on the sidekick level of prominence. I should fix it, but I enjoy razzing the character too much, so. Er. Sorry?

(and then you can see about halfway through my energy levels just died and the rest is handwaving. THAT one I’m sorry for.)

Episode 7: The Legacy of Skywalker

This begins much like canon, with Poe and BB-8 getting vital intel from random old guy in the desert – it’s not about Luke Skywalker, it’s about what the First Order plans. Finn doesn’t shoot, and no Dark Side figure romping around – though Phasma IS there, and she kicks serious ass and is generally terrifying. Poe is captured, Phasma questions him, sends him off to an actual interrogation cell.

We cut to a small smuggler vessel, sleek but not top of the line, has seen some wear and tear. Inside, Kylo Ren is having just another day as a smuggler kvetching with his crew – none of them want to deliver goods to Jakku, but damn the pay is decent (and stars know business has been thin lately – something’s been riling up the smuggling underground, though no one can point to what exactly). Kylo is tall, favors dark clothes, maybe has a helmet for when going into battle but not around the ship (very similar to that of the bounty hunter Boushh). His crew are Rose and Paige Tico, mechanic and gunner respectively. The sisters aren’t happy he wants to make the delivery on his own, but he’s determined – he needs them to come to the rescue if things do go badly. Someone has a bad feeling about this, but fine, whatever. Kylo ends with a cocky grin and a swagger as he pulls on the helmet and straps on probably more guns than are necessary (attentive audience members will note there is nothing REMOTELY like a lightsaber to his gear).

Meanwhile, Finn and Poe – tortured by a familiar style of interrogation bot – escape, and crash, and Finn presumes Poe is dead. He ends up meeting up with Rey, desert scavenger, and her new friend BB-8 who recognizes his jacket. In the background, we can see Kylo delivering a pallet of goods, bargaining with the locals, etc. Then the First Order swoops in, blowing shit up. The crowd scatters, Finn and Rey hauling each other to the parked ships. They run towards the closest – only to have it blow up before they get there.

The audience sees Kylo shrieking “My ship!” and gawping at the explosion, and about to be shot down (he was doing a damn good job fighting his way to the escape vehicles before then). Rey and Finn grab this idiot and drag him towards the nearest ship, aka a battered old Millennium Falcon. He shuts down a little as they sprint aboard, Finn dives towards the gunner turret while Rey works to get them the hell out of there. Things happen much like canon, though things break down in the fight. Kylo finally shakes off the shock of losing his ship and almost dying, and sprints towards maintenance to Deal With Things (by now the audience STILL doesn’t know who he is, but there should be the suspicion that he’s tied into this – he’s too familiar with things). The Falcon escapes into hyper, and Kylo is very angry about having to leave his crew behind, as is Rey about leaving in the first place.

We swap back to Kylo’s crew, waiting for word from him. As they’re scanning frequencies, they pick up a Resistance SOS. The sisters are exchanging looks, clearly not happy about this. “Aw man. Kylo won’t like this.” “I don’t like it, nevermind Kylo. Wait, play that on repeat, was that – Paige. Paige, that’s Poe Dameron’s ID squawk.” They share agonized looks, then Paige quietly says, “You know the Generals wouldn’t send him out if it wasn’t important.” “...shit. Kylo is gonna be so pissed.”

They rescue Poe, only to reveal the ladies are undercover Resistance agents, don’t tell Kylo, he cannot know. Meanwhile, they’ve gotten a space!E-mail/text from Kylo, he’s off planet and trying to get back they should get safe then contact him. So they’re off to take Poe to the Resistance.

Back on the Falcon, things break down again, dumping them back into normal space. A very crankry Kylo starts repairs, he and Rey get a bit snippy about how one does this, he’s being territorial until pushed then he’s all “you know what? Fine! You do it your way, see if I care!” Finn just wants to deliver BB-8 to the Resistance, guys, please stop this. Kylo is very against going to the Resistance for any damn reason at all. He just wants to get back to his ship, and off this stinking bucket of bolts! Rey...is speculating about Han Solo, and other legends (all of which make Kylo hunch his shoulders and be all disdainful). She wants to help Finn and BB-8, but she HAS to get back to Jakku.

They get tractored by a Resistance corvette, then boarded by Chewbacca and General Han Organa, who wants to know WTF is going on here, he hasn’t seen the Falcon in forever, not since Lando disappeared with it. And – wait. WAIT. WHO IS THE TALL SKINNY SMUGGLER IN BACK, SLINKING AROUND TRYING NOT TO BE NOTICED? WTF BEN?

(Rey and Finn: Who’s Ben? “That – that would be me, guys.” “I thought you were Kylo Ren!” Han rolls his eyes, looking embarrassed. “You’re really calling yourself that? Still? You came up with that when you were five.” Kylo gets a stubborn look and glares right back. “Hey, you know what, maybe I could’ve just named myself after the family cat, would that’ve made you happier?” Han has an agonized look. “Your mother named it after a land walker!” “And you’re complaining about Kylo Ren?? It’s not like anyone else in the family is any better! That was AT-AT the third, she has burdened at least two other animals with that ridiculous–” Finn: “Excuse me, but could we possibly save this argument for later?”)

Saved from more embarrassing family moments by the First Order attacking (unrelated to the Jakku mess, should emphasize how the First Order is getting up to more and more shit in the galay), Vice Admiral Holdo aboard the ship tells them to go, she’s got this. Off the Falcon goes to Maz Kanata’s. 

We finally see the leadership of the First Order - a cloaked figure at the head of the table (maybe a holopresence?); Hux; Phasma; another cloaked figure, slouching and apparently uninterested in what’s going on. Something something ominous plans, the Resistance is the last bastion against us, the Republic is corrupt and just as bad as its predecessors, burn away the past and let new life grow forth as we dictate it, to create something new and glorious (and altogether creepy as fuck). 

Back on the Falcon, Han and Kylo are Not Speaking To Each Other, but Han is answering basic questions about how the First Order’s been up to shenanigans, clearly someone’s paying off politicians and/or controlling them, they tried working within the system but that finally became a clear dead end so here they are. Grumbling about Luke being off on a mission and Lando’s been missing for awhile, it’s been rough. *MEANINGFUL NOT-QUITE-A-GLARE AT KYLO, who is still totally ignoring this* They’re headed to Takodana, which should be a solid neutral location - they can contact the Resistance there, then send everyone on their way. (He’s totally keeping the Falcon, though. It was his first!)

Things on Takodana go very similar to canon. The group splinters some, Rey finds the lightsaber, visions of vague betrayal, glimpses of Order 66, hints of the Big Four meeting. The First Order attacks (again) much to everyone’s shock because this is Neutral, how dare. Han and Chewie get captured instead of Rey. Leia shows up, invites them back to Resistance HQ, Kylo is...torn. He goes along with. 

Reuniting with Poe, Kylo sees the Tico sisters being far chummier with the locals than they should be, realizes his mother had spies watching him, HOW DARE, he is an ADULT why are they LIKE THIS--

“You can yell at me all you want later, but right now we have data to decrypt and a rescue to plan, especially if you want to yell at your father in person too. It was his idea.” (It was, but Leia is THE head honcho, and she was the one who had to approve it.)

Data is from a spy, most of it has insane good encryption, but what they can make out is a HQ and something about Lando (??!?). They have coordinates, Finn has intel, so off they go for a rescue.

Since travel time is a thing, we need to see actual interaction with the new heroes. The new trio sparring, talking, hanging out playing space chess. Kylo is the awkward older brother figure who totally does not know how to fit in but somehow does a little anyways (note: these moments should be in the minority. He’s a side character, not a main). Getting to know and hang out with Rose, Paige, and Connix. Leia holds regular lightsaber classes for all interested (Finn’s a natural, Rey’s interested but prefers her staff, and Poe’s been doing this for years (Kylo is almost aggressively absent)). Folks keep stumbling over Rey in the hydroponics (look, there’s an AMAZING montage here, ok?). 

The focus should be on Rey, Finn, and Poe: Poe digs these two; Finn’s reactions to going back; Rey grappling with how she left but at the same time she’s got people around and she likes them, wants more of this.

At some point, Rey - who’s been trying to get ANY and all intel on her parents or family who might just not know where she is, corners Kylo with Finn, Poe, and BB-8’s help. It’s honestly distressing to her that he has all these things and he just...left. He left family. Just...how could he?

He doesn’t blow them off, instead sits down and is visibly pushing himself to speak. “My family...is a lot. My uncle’s a galaxy renowned Jedi, the Jedi, the man who killed the Emperor and reforged a millennia old Order. Mom’s been an outstanding politician since she was a teenager, the Rebel leader, last Princess of Alderaan, the woman who built up the new Republic and kept it together though sheer willpower. Oh yeah, AND a Jedi, too. Dad’s a war hero, and while the criminal underworld sometimes says different, he’s got the rep of some amazing criminal mastermind with a heart of gold. My grandfather was Anakin Skywalker, one of the last great Jedi, General, hero of the Clone Wars - and Darth Vader, everyone’s worst nightmare.” He looks at Rey and Finn. “You two are at the opposite end of things. You’re figuring yourselves out from the ground up. Nobody’s shoulders to stand on, and hell, that’s hard. I get it.

“But for me…. My family – the names, the history – it all has such weight to it. All this legacy. I’m not anything like any of them, and I’ll never have the skills or power that any one of them do. Hell, what’s even left for me to be good at?” Poe opens his mouth, it’s possibly an old debate between them. Kylo waves it off. “I know, I know. ‘Find something. Make something.’” He makes a face at Poe, who makes one back. He turns back to Rey and Finn. “You’ve never had anyone’s shoulders to stand on. I’ve never been Ben Organa and not in several very large shadows. I didn’t know how else to find myself, and no, I still don’t know who that is, sorry.”

Finn makes a face. “So, what, we all ought to just give up because someone’s already been the best at things?”

“Hell no. That’s my problem, not yours. Besides, you’re not in those shadows. If you want to pick up that legacy, if you’re willing and able to shoulder that burden, more power to you. It’s not for me, though. Be Jedi, be smugglers, be heroes.” Grins at Poe. “Be the best damn pilots in the galaxy. Whatever.” He pauses and smirks. “Probably not the villains, though. Galaxy’s got enough of those.” 

Leia leads the rescue team, there needs to be serious callbacks to RotJ and her saving Han then. The First Order is surprised at being attacked directly, but rallies, lots of fighting, Resistance doing well. 

Phasma leads a mixed group of “specialty troopers” which encounters Finn, Rey, Kylo, and...danggit, probably not Poe. I want to include Poe, but he’s probably air support. During the flight, when the Resistance is getting the clear upper hand, Phasma motions to the specialists, who all pull lightsabers. It’s not a total flip to the Order’s advantage, but they’re using the Force and suddenly Finn and Rey are having to tap into powers they’ve only experimented with, and meanwhile everyone’s playing keepaway. Finn probably has Luke’s old lightsaber, Rey is ALWAYS dangerous. Eventually Phasma pulls out a lightsaber and does one of those scary Force throws so it’s spinny glowy blade of DOOM heading right towards the center of the normal Resistance troops, away from a very busy Rey and Finn who don’t even see it - 

And Kylo reaches out and Force pulls it to himself, swings it around, and makes a face. “I hate these things.” (It shows. He’s adequate with it, but Phasma has another lightsaber and is kicking his ass. This should also be the first time he EVER shows any hint of being Force sensitive, and that includes he should never be pulling some Han Solo bullseye shots without looking shenanigans.)

Han and Chewie’s rescue party is fighting their way out, and then things cut to an officer running into central HQ, telling the two cloaked figures that no really, they need to evacuate, NOW, there’s too great a likelihood that the whole place is going to come down. 

Head-Honcho-Cloaked-Figure [who I now desperately want to call Head Honcho inna Poncho, but I shall try to refrain] turns to Casual-slouchy-stance-cloaked-figure. “I think it’s time to reveal the Second Order, don’t you?”

The second figure shrugs, like it’s no big deal to them, and pulls out a datapad to punch in some things. “Signal sent.”

And across the battlefield, Resistance fighters start to turn. A bunch of them are using stun blasts, but in the air there’s no such mercies. I keep playing with the notion that Holdo’s ship just up and leaves the system (and let’s face it, with the potential for an Ackbar who’s swapped sides cackling “It’s a trap!” like “and you fools have fallen into it!” appeals, then sure, him too.) Paige, wherever she is, is also one of the turncoats. And down in that messy cluster with Finn and Rey, Kylo Ren pauses, then turns and strikes down several of the Resistance fighters he just saved.

At this point, people decide it is LEAVING TIME. Rey and Finn are presumably Most Distraught, there’s some kind of retreating fight between them and Ren-and-Phasma-and-her-troopers. 

It’s not quite a rout. Not quite. There’s a lot of blood spilt on the ships they retreat onto, though. People just turned, for no reason anyone could figure. (Later, someone analyzes comm traffic, and finds another encrypted signal they can’t interpret.)

Our Heroes are Not Happy, for all that ok, they achieved some pretty significant mission goals. By the time they get back to base, everyone’s caught up with everyone else. Losses - in both senses - were significant. Finn took a nasty blow to the back, but given time he should be ok. Whether that means back to functioning as before, or he now needs some kind of mobility device AND THAT IS NOT SOME HUGE TRAGEDY, I leave up to the viewer. (In the latter case, damn well ought to later on show a number of Resistance members in similar circumstances, because representation and let’s face it, should be happening ANYWAYS regardless.)

They all get back to base to find that during the time they were away, a number of folks did the turncoat thing, but thankfully nothing too important blew up. Also, Luke finally got back from his mission. He greets the crew, and introduces them to what he went to fetch: a new medic named Kix, who had been working with some space pirates. (LET DANIEL LOGAN PLAY CLONES, DAMMIT.) They don’t know why things went strange, but they might have a few ideas.

General notes because I’ve reached the end of my patience with this plunnie, in no particular order:

I cannot emphasize enough that Kylo Ren is not, and NEVER is, the main villain here. He’s on par at MOST with Phasma, as we saw her in canon Episode 7 and 8. Quite possibly less.

It may or may not be relevant, but Rose and Paige were never sent out with the primary mission to babysit him (the man is THIRTY, for the love of GODS). He was honestly just a useful cover for them to travel around a lot, make contacts, and courier stuff. (He thought they kept making deals on the side, whatevs, not his problem.)

The person in charge of the First Order was once a Jedi (probably a padawan?) who escaped the purge, gave in to the dark side, and decided fuck the Empire and the Emperor, and what they did to us - AND fuck the Republic, too! (And that’s why they have the whole “burn down the past” attitude.)

There’s technically three “Orders”: the First order is the public face, the stormtroopers and the battleships. The Second Order is the hidden agents, some actually turned, but many with control chips like what was used on the clones. The Third Order is a group of Dark Force users, building their bullshit upon old sith books and those Jedi books they’ve decided to repurpose (and that way you can tie in the books of ancient Jedi Bullshit that were almost burned in canon). 

Hux is in charge of First Order, Phasma the Third, DJ in charge of Second - he’s the reason there keep being encrypted stuff the Resistance can’t read. They go looking for someone who can slice into this stuff, and naturally this sketchy as hell guy has a reputation for being able to crack these things. No one really quite twigs to him being the likely culprit as to creating them. Or at least, that opinion gets drowned out somehow. 

Finn was being groomed to be part of the Third Order. He did not realize this.

Kix helps suss out the chips and ways to try to deal with them.

Without much useful detail, my brain supplied Episode 8: The Fall of the Republic; and Episode 9: The Resilience of Hope. Make of that what you will?

I think this would mean 8 would be about the chips, while across the galaxy assorted sleeper agents would be taking out relevant political targets, and causing general unrest to take down the Republic. It should be about the small victories, not the large ones - this person rescued here, that life skill learned over there - even as the First Order keeps making successful powergrabs. 

9 would be more about finding roots. Lando - who’s been spying within the Order, finally surfaces with intel (what intel is a very good question I do not have an answer to). I get the feeling Kylo would die somewhere in here - if so, it absolutely should not be the pivot point of either the battle OR the war, no more than Paige’s death was in canon. (Meanwhile, it’d be nice if Paige could be saved.)

No, the person behind everything is not connected to “something greater,” they remain a random padawan from the old Jedi who managed to survive.

I think that’s all I’ve got, tagging @dragonhoardsbookz for their interest, and many thanks to @dharmaavocado for egging me on and being a kind voice of reason. <3

[robertdowneyjjr]

thoughts on endgame

if you haven’t seen endgame yet please turn away now because this is full of spoilers.

seriously spoiler nation here. turn back now while you still have the chance.

are you still here?

okay then.

here i go.

it’s gonna get long.

it’s been about seven hours since i got out of the movie theatre and overall? i’m upset. and i’m fucking pissed.

also, if you don’t know this by now, i’m a tony stan. my thoughts are biased. sue me.

listen. it’s not an awful movie. overall it’s an okay film. the shots were beautiful. the actors were all excellent. there was lots of fan service and there were tons of moments where it felt really fun. we laughed. we cried. we cheered. but as much as the filmmakers would like to insist that the film is satisfying, i just don’t agree, mainly because of how they decided to end the story.

the good and the mediocre

to start off, rdj’s acting is great. of course it is. it’s rdj. he did amazing with what he had to work with and most of my crying was because of him.

tony and nebula on the ship was great. he was already so fatherly with her, teaching her how to play paper football and encouraging her. and she was looking after him too. there was so much mutual care there that i loved, and i wish that we got more interaction between the two of them throughout the movie.

that little tear he shed when he closed his eyes to go to sleep on the benatar after recording his message for pepper killed me.

when joe russo said that the film was cathartic and evans said that it’s satisfying i can only apply these words to the one scene where tony finally gets to have his outburst and tell the others off for not believing him when he said a threat was coming. he deserved that moment. his anger was completely justified. and when he called steve out specifically, saying that he said that they’d lose together but they ended up not even doing that? when he called steve a liar? that was cathartic.

nat talking about how she used to have nothing and then she got this job, got this family. when she was crying over clint and what he was doing as ronin. that hurt.

MORGAN STARK. oh my god she is a cutie and all of her interactions with tony are just the best. this is the most valid part of the entire movie and that’s that on that. tony is so soft with her and it’s clear just how much he loves her and cherishes the family that he’s managed to have despite the tragedy that happened five years ago. this relationship is perfect and instead of the rest of the movie we should have just gotten three hours of tony and morgan’s father/daughter shenanigans.

tony being domestic and doing the dishes is all i ever wanted

doctor hulk was an interesting concept and i’m glad that bruce finally managed to find a balance between bruce and hulk and melded the two together. but there were times i do feel like he was played off as a joke too much.

the stevetony content is okay, i guess. i honestly wish we got more between steve and tony settling their differences beyond tony just handing the shield back and letting steve know that he figured out the issue with time travel that they’d been having. i wish we had more of them talking and working out their differences from the past. it jumped from tony telling steve that the trust is gone to him asking steve if he trusts him a little too soon without anything ever being discussed.

like really for a film that was marketed to basically be a stevetony event it didn’t really end up with that many interactions between them so it was disappointing.

i love that in the five years since the snap the remaining heroes managed to become friends. nebula and rhodey is an especially great one. and carol and rhodey’s brief interaction at the start of the film got my carolrhodey heart fluttering.

i do like the team interactions we got, even though there weren’t as many as i expected. it does feel like they’re finally seeing each other as a team again for the first time since the party scene in aou. i especially liked when they were working together to figure out when to travel back to in order to find the infinity stones, and that scene with tony, nat, and bruce together on the conference table. i wish we got more of the tony and nat friendship throughout the mcu.

the entire travel back to 2012 new york sequence was a trip. getting to see these characters interacting for the first time again was great. to see the aftermath of the battle was fun -- how they all got drinks from tony’s bar together. they seemed immediately comfortable with each other which was nice. all of them getting into the elevator together but telling the hulk to take the stairs. and speaking of hulk, bruce pretending to be 2012!hulk and smashing things halfheartedly was kinda hilarious.

the blatant ogling of steve’s ass. oh, sorry. america’s ass. that was great. thank you for servicing the stevetony shippers. and steve’s own comment about it after he got in a fistfight with his past self was funny too.

the excessive use of the word “shit” was a great callback to aou and i enjoyed it immensely.

mark 85 is sleek af and i love a shiny gold thotty boy

the cap scenes in 2012 were nice fan service. steve getting into that elevator with the strike team -- everyone thought it was going to be a reenactment of the scene from tws. but the fact that steve said “hail hydra” instead to throw them off was genius. he looked so proud of himself for that.

i like the rhodey and nebula team up. their dynamic is really great and rhodey has some of the best lines in the movie tbh. i love him.

i’m iffy on this but i don’t like that they validated howard stark’s shitty parenting. call him abusive and leave it at that. sure, he admitted that he didn’t want to turn out like his dad, but uhh i guess he did because look how his relationship with tony turned out. but i mean i’m happy for tony that he sort of got the closure he needed?? idk. i’m not sure about this.

it was really touching getting to see thor be able to talk to his mother again. i love frigga.

tony’s version of the gauntlet is fucking badass. it’s ten times sleeker than thanos’ gauntlet and just cool as hell. and dude! think about it. thanos had to travel to nidavellir to get a gauntlet made that could harness the power of the infinity stones. tony didn’t need to do that. he made his own gauntlet with his own tech and he didn’t need to go to any other planet for that. i love one genius.

steve wielding mjolnir was amazing in that moment. it was super cool, you know. he seemed so natural with it and he was even able to call lightning with it. awesome! but once we got to the ending i was like 😒 was he really that worthy. i’m really salty, okay.

the scene when all the undusted come back, and the other heroes scattered around the world join in, and they appear at the compound for that final battle -- it was incredible and very moving. thanos thought he was gonna win but nah!!! avengers assemble!! dope.

RESCUE. we waited so long and finally we were fed.

peter and tony’s hug got me bawling like a baby. i’m so distraught.

that scene with carol coming in and getting the gauntlet from peter, and all the women coming together and saying, “she has help”?? i nutted. that was amazing.

the bad and the ugly

THE SUPREME LACK OF TONY AND RHODEY CONTENT, WHAT THE FUCK. when they landed back on earth and rhodey didn’t get a chance to hug tony...hm. did not like that! let these best friends hug, ffs. and why didn’t we get to see rhodey interacting with morgan?? this is fake as hell.

it was kinda shitty that steve and co. had to show up right when tony was having a good time with his daughter to deliver the news about the quantum tunnel and time travel to tony. because of course tony would never sit idly by when there’s a problem he can solve. especially not when he’s reminded that he lost peter in that awful decimation five years ago. it’s not in his nature to not help. so that’s what he does. he solves a problem and he goes to suit up again because he would never forgive himself if he didn’t even try.

thor......they really turned him into a depressed alcoholic that’s just playing fortnite at home instead of a ruler looking after himself and the people he was supposed to protect.....they really just erased all his development from ragnarok huh. i’m mad.

also, a lack of tony and bruce interaction?? where are my science bro moments?? they were supposed to be the two biggest brains of the team working on mechanics of time travel but we really couldn’t have seen even a brief montage of them working together to science things out? wow fake!

also now that i think about it, where were dum-e and u?? where???? where were the best bots in the world?????

idk why clint and nat were the ones to go to vormir. definitely was not expecting this at all, but fuck. okay. this is where the anger really starts. okay. i get it. i get that nat sacrificed herself so that clint would have the chance to reunite with his family after this shitshow was all over. but nat had family too. she said it herself. she found her family with the avengers. but they really decided to throw another woman off the cliff to fuel more man pain. great! just great!!

seriously, nat deserved better.

they really. they really fucking killed off tony. they really did that and they had tony sacrifice himself. and all for what? shock factor? it wasn’t necessary. they didn’t need to kill him to end his arc. he could have been permanently injured instead, to the point where he wouldn’t be able to suit up again. he would have happily accepted this as his last mission. his priority was always to get home to his wife and daughter. despite the trauma he went through over the last ten years, the ptsd he came away with after sending a nuke through a wormhole, his team’s falling out, watching his best friend fall from the sky, being betrayed by someone he thought was a friend, getting stabbed by his own weapon on an alien planet, and losing a kid that he treated like his own, he managed to find a sliver of happiness with pepper and morgan. he had a happy ending. the happy ending he had wanted for the last several years. but the filmmakers took that away from him. they took away his happiness, and not just that. they took away a woman’s husband. they took away a little girl’s father. it was unnecessarily cruel and it sends a shitty message. it’s a disservice to tony, a disservice to the iron family, and a disservice to the fans that have stuck with the mcu from the very beginning, when iron man first came out and we decided to hop on for the ride.

tony deserved better.

also, rhodey should have been able to say something to tony before he drifted off for the last time. i was glad that he was the first to find tony, but they should have had their moment. this man had been with tony through thick and thin and he deserved to say his proper goodbyes.

or at the very least, they should have had a moment during tony’s funeral where the important people delivered their eulogies and spoke the words that needed to be said about tony. an explicit acknowledgement from the characters about how much tony had done, how integral he was to their success and survival, and how he made the ultimate sacrifice to get rid of their biggest threat so that the world could be put back together.

the only consolation i get from this is that tony made that sacrifice and died on the battlefield where the rest of the team could see. that the undusted and the living both are aware of how selfless tony is (and has always been), and he gave up his happy ending to make sure that the rest of them got theirs.

well his “i am iron man” was badass too so i’m glad he got to go out with that.

TONY DESERVED BETTER.

MORGAN DESERVED BETTER.

IRON FAMILY DESERVED BETTER.

(cheeseburgers broke me)

speaking of happy endings, lmfao what the fuck @ steve? i’m pissed at this ending. that was honestly the most selfish thing that steve could have done, all because the russos have always had a permanent boner for steve’s story with peggy. it’s just so sad. they won’t let him move on. his character development is stifled. it’s so backwards. peggy had a family and lived a full life without steve, but after seeing her for thirty seconds while he was in the past, he really decided that he needed to go back and spend the rest of his life with her. he threw away everything he worked for in the present -- his teammates, an unfrozen and recovered bucky, his running buddy and overall great guy sam -- for a relationship with a woman that he shared one single kiss with and that he knew for, what, like two or three years? jesus. let him move on! let him find happiness in the present! he never gave love another chance just because he thought he thought he met the love of his life 70 years ago. who’s to say he wouldn’t have found love in the present, huh??

they did him dirty. they did peggy dirty. and tbh they did sharon dirty from the very beginning. but that’s salt for another day.

so here we have tony, dead at 53 who really only experienced true happiness for five years with the woman he had been in love with for over a decade. then we have steve, who was on this earth for 105 years, then went back in time and got another 40 or so odd years of happiness with a woman he had only known for a few short years.

sure. that sounds fair. totally fair.

fuck no, it’s not. it’s a terrible fucking ending.

that’s just shit storytelling and if this was done all for the shock factor to make sure that we couldn’t guess what happens to these characters then it was a poor decision and it completely ruins tony and steve’s story arcs.

what kind of shit ending is this.

i didn’t like it.