#steel mauler

[in1-nutshell]

Hey so what if the old Predacon buddy were to meet the rescue bots how would they react to the senior Predacon?

It is said that the list of 'Grandbabies' grew that day.

Hope you enjoy!

Steel Mauler meets the Rescue Bots

SFW, Platonic, Cybertronian reader

TFP

Steel Mauler was having their daily sun nap in the scrapyard.

Their joints were aching a bit more than usual and opted to stay at the yard for patrol.

Fix-it, Denny and Russel had left with the team earlier, leaving them alone in the scrapyard.

It was a peaceful morning in the sun.

Until they heard the groundbridge starting up.

It confused them as they didn’t remember Bee using the bridge for patrolling.

Out popped a little yellow drone flying around saying the words ‘Toast’ repeatedly.

Steel Mauler got curious and carefully approached the little yellow drone before it went back into the bridge.

…Now… Steel Mauler knew they shouldn’t go in…

… But they did it anyways.

They walked into some sort of building on the other side as the portal closed.

Looking around for the little yellow drone… instead they found two human children.

Steel Mauler looking down at the kids.

“…”

“…”

“…umm, hello there. My name is Steel Mauler and-”—Steel Mauler

The boy jumps up and walks up to them.

“Noble! A giant robot dragon!”—the boy

The boy looks at their insignia.

“You’re an Autobot?”—the girl

“That’s right. How do you know about Autobots.”—Steel Mauler

“We know about the Rescue Bots are Autobots.”—the boy

Steel Mauler raises an optic.

“Rescue Bots? Here? I didn’t think that many or if any were still active, after all this time.”—Steel Mauler

“That’s what Chase said.”—the girl

“Hmm, and your names are?”—Steel Mauler

“I’m Frankie.”--Frankie

“I’m Cody. And you said your name was ‘Steel Mauler’?”—Cody

“That is correct.”—Steel Mauler

The older Predacon smirks a bit before patting the two on the head with their wings.

The door opens revealing two older adults.

“… Well, this is awkward.”—Steel Mauler

The girl and boy, Frankie Green and Cody Burns introduced them to their father’s.

They bowed a bit showing respect.

Cody wanted them to meet the bots.

Steel Mauler agreed and followed the humans.

The bots were not ready to see a giant Predacon walk into base with Cody, Frankie, Doc Green, and Chief Burns.

Neither were their human partners.

Steel Mauler winces a bit at the high pitch scream coming from the orange bot.

The blue and green ones stood in front of the humans and the red one looked like he was going to fight them.

“Calm down guys! Steel Mauler’s friendly! See!”--Cody

Frankie points at the Autobot insignia.

“See!”--Frankie

The bots relax a bit but they are still on edge.

“I apologize for the sudden entrance. I was accidentally bridged here.”—Steel Mauler

“You used a groundbrigde?”—human with the glasses

“More like dragged against my will.”—Steel Mauler

Heatwave walks up to them.

“I’m Heatwave.”--Heatwave

“I am Chase.”--Chase

“I’m Boulder.”--Boulder

“And I’m Blades.”--Blades

Steel Mauler turns to Blades.

“You’re Blades? Hmm, good to finally have a face for the name.”—Steel Mauler

“Name?”—human with the orange hair

“How do you know Blades?”—human woman

“I remember Bumblebee mentioning your name quite a few times.”—Steel Mauler

Blades suddenly moves closer to the Predacon.

“Really?! Bumblebee talks about me!?”--Blades

Steel Mauler is now resisting the urge to add another bot to their collection of grandbabies.

Steel Mauler has some time to get to know the rest of the team before they decide to go back to the scrapyard.

From ‘sparing’ with Heatwave.

To helping Boulder with planting some trees.

To helping Chase archive some of the cases.

To watching some movies with Blades.

To giving the humans Dragon rides.

Blades is the one who figures out quickly that Steel Mauler is old.

As in old as dirt.

It also didn’t help that their joints were hurting and making a squeaking sound.

“Why don’t we sit down for a bit longer.”--Blades

“I’m fine Blades, see.”—Steel Mauler

Steel Mauler stretches a servo.

SSSQQQQUUUEEEEAAAAKKKKK!

“…”—both bots

“… Now I know what your thinking, but this is all normal.”—Steel Mauler

“Steel, you need more rest especially with how old you are. It’s not good for the long run.”--Blades

“I can still kick it like the other’s Blades.”—Steel Mauler

“But you aren’t invincible either.”--Blades

Steel Mauler huffs a bit.

“Please?”--Blades

Steel Mauler huffs more.

“Then you leave me with no choice. Cody!”--Blades

“Blades what are you doing?”—Steel Mauler

Cody comes in.

“Yeah Blades?”--Cody

“Steel needs to rest their joints but they don’t want to and its bad for them to strain them at this age.”--Blades

“Wait your old?”--Cody

“Yes, I’m old but not that old.”—Steel Mauler

“In human terms how old would you be?”--Cody

Steel Mauler tries to resist the puppy dog eyes.

It fails.

“…In the hypothetical situation that your bots were the human ages of 30…”—Steel Mauler

“Then you are…?”--Cody

“I’m 1500.”—Steel Mauler

“…what?”—Cody and Blades

“Cody I’m pretty sure I am the oldest Cybertronain alive.”—Steel Mauler

Soon everyone catches on, and they are swarmed Steel Mauler with accommodations for their aching joints.

Steel Mauler decides to just let them do their thing, after all the heat pads were helping a bit with the pains.

Meanwhile at the scrapyard…

Bumblebee was frantically looking for Steel Mauler until he received a picture from Blades.

It was Steel Mauler happily sleeping with the kids outside.

There was a little message saying that the older Predacon was doing just fine and would be returning home soon.

[yourfavepokemontype]

Cahara is a Normal/Dark Type!

D'arce is a Steel/Fighting Type!

Enki is a Dark/Fairy Type!

Ragnvaldr is a Ghost/Ground Type!

Crow Mauler is a Ghost/Psychic Type!

[the--firevenus]

I saw your post on who has the best tits chest. There is an easy solution! They all have the best chest for their factions.

Phraesto-Hypogean

Dionel-Celestials

Hogan-Lightbearers [it's not even a competition, I mean look at him 👀]

Brutus-Maulers

Which now raises the question. Who has the best chest for Graveborns and Wilders?

[If only this was Arena, I would say Hodgkin and Oku 😞]

YOU SO RIGHTTTT!!!!! also this just makes me realize the lack of buffy man in wilder and graveborn 😭💀

I have to go to the heroes archive in the game to inspect one by one LMAO, so here what I came out with!

Graveborn - Thoran.. NOW HERE ME OUT LET ME COOK!!! — originally I want to with Igor, yes he hunch back but out of all graveborn men he seem to be the only one with decent muscle mass, not too lean and very tall too (but again he hunch back and crouching so it's kinda hide it) ((side note: his waist is very small compare to his torso... Dev.. My eyes on you dev))

But then I looked more on Thoran and realize.. He has much more bigger torso... He hunch back A LOT and you can't see it but when he did this idle..

YOU SEE IT?? YOU SEE IT??? guy maybe old af and short but he has a unit!!! Very well hidden, this is why he's my king lmao

For the wilder I have even harder time cuz the men's are build very... Lean, I think?? There wasn't a whole lot of muscle, my original thought was to gave it to bryon cuz he's seem very fitted to me, but then I scroll to the other wilders men and got conflicted!

On one hand, by default Kafra SHOULD be the winner here cuz his overall mass are bigger than bryon, however.... Ulmus came with a steel chair on me (I'm sorry I didn't paid attention to him.. 😭) (( HE'S A TREE PERSON... CAN HE EVEN COUNT???))

So uhh you let me know who win for the wilders side

This is a very serious discussion 😔😔😔

[pathfinderunlocked]

Heavy Blade Rabbit - CR5 Barbarian / Fighter

Little one, if you are alone in this world, then allow me to be your friend. And if you have any other friends, take this gigantic sword and go chop them into tiny pieces.

Artwork by Jwap on Twitter.

I played the demo of Rabbit and Steel, and then felt the need to make each of the characters into a Pathfinder stat block. This is the last of the five. They are rabbits that had anthropomorphic animal cast on them and made permanent with a permanency spell. As a result, she's very small and dumb and weak, although her magic items somewhat make up for this.

The tiny greatsword with effortless lace is nearly guaranteed to be useless to the PCs unless they have an improved familiar that can wield it, so at best maybe they can sell it for half its value. With that in mind, her wealth is pretty normal for her level.

This NPC uses a unique magic item, the pinksplattered ribbon wraps, which are much more likely to be useful to PCs than her sword is. The cosmetic effect is particularly fitting if they're fighting fey.

She prefers to spring attack from one enemy to the next, using her Evade Reach ability in conjunction with the Lunge feat to avoid taking attacks of opportunity when doing so. Lunge allows her to attack targets from an adjacent space instead of having to move into the target's space like most tiny creatures, and Evade Reach allows her to reduce a medium target's reach to 0 ft. (which, without Lunge, would still allow a PC to attack her as she's leaving the PC's space, but not as she's entering their space). If a target has a reach weapon, she foregoes these abilities and instead moves into its space.

Heavy Blade Rabbit - CR 5

The tiny woman with rabbit features - barely a foot and a half tall - holds what is to her a fairly massive greatsword, and is dressed in a pink and black dress splattered with glittery pink blood. Her legs are wrapped tightly in ribbons, and there's a matching bow in her hair. She hops through the grass on bare feet at a quick pace.

XP 1,600 Anthropomorphic animal (rabbit), fighter 1 / titan mauler unchained barbarian 5 N Tiny animal Init +2 Senses low-light vision; Perception +6

DEFENSE

AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 16 (+6 armor, +2 Dex, +1 dodge, -2 rage, +2 size); +4 vs. attacks of opportunity hp 56 (1d8+1d10+5d12+14) plus 14 temp hp Fort +10, Ref +5, Will +5

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft. Melee cold iron greatsword +13/+8 (1d6+2/19-20 plus 1d6 pinksplatter bleed) and bite +7 (1d3+2 plus 1d3 pinksplatter bleed) or bite +12 (1d3+2 plus 1d3 pinksplatter bleed) Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft. Special Attacks big game hunter, evade reach, pinksplatter bleed, rage (11 rounds/day, already used)

BASE STATISTICS

While raging but not in powerful stance, a heavy blade rabbit's statistics are: Melee cold iron greatsword +13/+8 (1d6/19-20 plus 1d6 pinksplatter bleed) and bite +7 (1d3 plus 1d3 pinksplatter bleed) or bite +12 (1d3 plus 1d3 pinksplatter bleed)

While not raging, a heavy blade rabbit's statistics are: AC 19, touch 15, flat-footed 18; Melee cold iron greatsword +11/+6 (1d6/19-20 plus 1d6 pinksplatter bleed) and bite +5 (1d3 plus 1d3 pinksplatter bleed) or bite +10 (1d3 plus 1d3 pinksplatter bleed); Will +3

STATISTICS

Str 7, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 5, Wis 14, Cha 5 Base Atk +6; CMB +2; CMD 15 Feats Dodge, Lunge, Mobility, Run, Spring Attack, Weapon Finesse Skills Acrobatics +10 (+14 when jumping), Perception +6, Stealth +14 Languages Common SQ rage powers (powerful stance, swift foot) Gear pinksplattered ribbon wraps, Tiny-sized mwk cold iron greatsword with effortless lace, Tiny-sized chainmail

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Big Game Hunter (Ex) A heavy sword rabbit gains a +1 bonus on attack rolls and a +1 dodge bonus to AC in melee with creatures larger than herself.

Evade Reach (Ex) As a swift action, a heavy sword rabbit may choose one creature within her line of sight. Until the end of her turn, that target’s reach is treated as if it were 5 feet shorter with respect to reaching the heavy sword rabbit.

Rage (Ex) A heavy blade rabbit can rage for 11 rounds per day. She can enter a rage as a free action.

While in a rage, a heavy blade gains a +2 bonus on melee attack rolls, melee damage rolls, thrown weapon damage rolls, and Will saving throws. In addition, she takes a –2 penalty to Armor Class. She also gains 14 temporary hit points, which disappear when the rage ends. While in a rage, a heavy sword rabbit cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skill (except Acrobatics, Fly, Intimidate, and Ride) or any ability that requires patience or concentration.

A heavy sword rabbit can end her rage as a free action, and is fatigued for 1 minute after a rage ends. She can’t enter a new rage while fatigued or exhausted, but can otherwise enter a rage multiple times per day. If she falls unconscious, her rage immediately ends.

These bonuses are already included in her statistics above.

Pinksplatter Bleed (Ex) Once per round, when the wearer of the pinksplattered ribbon wraps deals piercing or slashing damage with a weapon, she can deal an additional amount of bleed damage equal to the weapon’s base damage dice. A single creature cannot be inflicted with this bleed effect more than once per 24 hours (although, once inflicted, it takes damage each round as normal).

Powerful Stance (Ex) A heavy sword rabbit can enter a powerful stance as a move action while raging, gaining a +2 bonus on melee damage rolls. This is already included in its statistics above.

[joethetoonfanandoutcast]

This is the complete list of characters I would have cameo at a Universal Animation assemblage similar to Once Upon a Studio.

Felix the Cat: Felix the Cat

Woody Woodpecker: Woody Woodpecker, Winnie Woodpecker

An American Tail: Fievel Mousekewitz, Tanya Mousekewitz, Papa Mousekewitz, Mama Mousekewitz, Yasha Mousekewitz, Tiger, Henri le pigeon, female pigeons, Tony Toponi, Bridget, Honest John, Gussie Mausheimer, Warren T. Cat, Digit, Maus Street Maulers, Cat R. Waul, TR Chula, the Cactus Cat Gang, Miss Kitty, Wylie Burp

Land Before Time: Littlefoot, Cera, Petrie, Ducky, Spike, Littlefoot's grandparents, Chomper

Opus 'n Bill: Opus, Bill the Cat, the ducks

We're Back!: A Dinosaur's Story: Rex, Elsa, Woog, Dweeb, Louie, Cecilia, Vorb, Stubbs, Captain Neweyes, Dr. Bleeb

Casper: Casper the Friendly Ghost, Stretch, Fatso, Stinky

Babe: Babe, Fly, Rex, Ferdinand, the mice

Balto: Balto, Jenna, Boris, Steele, Muk, Luk, Nikki, Kaltag, Star, Dixie, Sylvie, Rosy

Rocky & Bullwinkle: Rocket J. Squirrel, Bullwinkle J. Moose (in their 2D/CG 2000 looks), Fearless Leader, Boris Badenov, Natasha Femme-Fatale (in their 2D 2000 looks)

Curious George: Curious George, Ted the Man in the Yellow Hat, Maggie Dunlop

The Tale of Desperaux: Desperaux, his parents, Chiaroscuro "Roscuro", Chef Andre, Boldo

Despicable Me: Felonious Gru, Lucy Wilde, the Minions, Dr. Nefario, Margo, Agnes, Edith, Kyle, Vector, Mr. Perkins, Silas Ramsbottom, Eduardo Perez/El Macho, Antonio Perez, Scarlett Overkill, Herb Overkill, the Nelsons, Balthazar Bratt, Dru Gru, Marlena Gru, Fritz, Clive the Robot, the Vicious Six, Master Chow, Wild Knuckles' henchmen

Hop: EB, Easter Bunny, the Pink Berets, Carlos, Phil, bunnies, chicks

The Lorax: the Lorax, the Once-ler, Ted, Audrey, Mrs. Wiggins, Granny Norma, Aloysius O'Hare, O'Hare's bodyguards, Sy the Delivery Guy, the Hummingfish, the Swommee-Swans, the Barbaloots

The Secret Life of Pets: Max, Katie, Duke, Gidget, Snowball, Mel, Buddy, Pops, Tiberius, Rooster, Chuck, Liam, Daisy, Hu, Sergei, wolves

Sing: Buster Moon, Miss Crawley, Herman, Rosita, Norman, their piglets, Gunther, Johnny, Marcus, Stan, Barry, Ash, Lance, Becky, Eddie Noodleman, Nana Noodleman, Mr. and Mrs. Noodleman, Hobbes, Meena, her mother and grandparents, Mike, Nancy, Suki Lane, Porsha Crystal, Jimmy Crystal, Jerry, Nooshy, Darius, Klaus Kickenklober, Clay Calloway, the Q-Teez

The Grinch: the Grinch, Max, Fred, his mate and calf, Donna Who, Cindy-Lou Who, Bean, Buster, Bricklebaum, Mabel, Groopert, Axl, Izzy, Ozzy

Super Mario Bros.: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad, Bowser Koopa, Donkey Kong, Cranky Kong, Kamek, penguins, Giuseppe

Migration: the duck family, Delroy, Pigeon, Erin

Characters I'm unsure would make the assemblage:

The Veggies of VeggieTales

The Jetsons, Mr. Spacely and anyone involved in Jetsons the Movie

And for real-life people:

Steven Spielberg, David Kirschner, George Miller, and Chris Meledandri as themselves.

What do you think?

[dailycharacteroption]

Hybrid Class Review: Brawler part 3

(art by Sydney Oswald on Artstation)

Archetypes

Like all hybrid classes, brawlers didn’t get a super big list of archetypes, but there are plenty of fun options.

Some archetypes revolve around having an unusual weapon choice, such as the Shield Champion being all Captain America with a shield, while the Hinyashi specializes in turning farming implements and other improvised weapons and turning them into deadly weapons.

Others specialize in altering the body to perfect their combat style, such as the Constructed Pugilists, who turn armored prosthesis into cybernetic weaponry, or the Mutagenic Mauler, that enhance their might with alchemical mixtures. Meanwhile, Feral Shifters draw upon latent shifter or druidic power to gain beastial aspects in combat, while the Venomfist has altered themselves to conduct poison through their strikes.

The vast majority of brawler archetypes, however, focus on a particular fighting style. For example, the Strong-Side Boxer is based on the dambe fighting style of Nigeria. Meanwhile, Battle Dancers blend flowing movements with their martial arts, while Living Avalanches specialize in running over foes with unstoppable crushing force. Snakebite Strikers are all about flexibility and striking with deadly blows, while Steel Breakers use precision and unrelenting force to shatter the weaponry of their foes. Others like the Winding Path Renegades sought discipline but decided it wasn’t for them, taking their skills with them.

A few others don’t really fit into other categories. Such as Turfers specializing in turning the terrain to their advantage in a mundane way while Verdant Grapplers do the same but in a more supernatural way. Meanwhile others like Bouncer and Exemplar are more defined by the roles in society they perform, the former keeping order in places of business while the latter inspire troops with their physical might. Others are defined by their favored foe, such as Ulfen Beast-Wrestlers, and the less honorable Stranglers.

It's a relatively small batch, but being both a hybrid class and one all about flexibility on top of that, it’s not surprising the list is so short. However, it’s more than sufficient to give players a nice selection when looking at this class.

That does it for today, but this week isn’t over yet! Tune in tomorrow for more!

[blood-gauge]

i've been looking for a nice sam glam since forever and finally my wish is granted... with a sleeveless turtleneck!!!!!!!!!!! it even has a mandarin collar!!!! i may have yelled a little when it was revealed during the live letter. yeah

this could easily be made a lvl1 glam usable by all jobs if the headpiece is swapped out for the new pvp techwear mask and the gloves are swapped out for the pagos field dressing!

JOB: samurai

LEVEL: 90

HEAD: makai mauler's facemask (jet black)

BODY: martial artist's sleeveless vest (jet black)

HANDS: saotome kote (jet black)

LEGS: shishu gozen hakama (jet black)

FEET: isle shepherd's sandals (jet black)

WEAPON: high steel tachi (optional)

[belliesandburps]

Hey, if you’re still open for headcanons, here’s mine:

-Aidan and Kai often like to bathe in hot, boiling lava.

-Mako’s playlist is most likely the “Jaws” theme on endless loop(cliché, I know).

-Loch, Kentaro, Adam, and Koloss get the most enjoyment out of anyone being attracted to their ravenous appetites! Hence why they often allow belly rubs and being fed by willing servants.

-Koloss and Mako tend to bite into steel-hard objects to strengthen their chompers.

-Umbark and his monster bros secretly know about Plague monster’s little “attraction” and likes to tease him every chance they get.

-Mauler acts like a puppy dog most of the time and Mako will most likely take advantage of this. Playing fetch, doing tricks. etc.

-Nara is secretly more girly than she comes out to be. She doesn’t admit it to a lot of people(other than Hakari) because she thinks it shows weakness.

Hey there! Thanks for this one, this was a lotta fun to read! I always love seeing how my OC's are interpreted by others, and these were all a blast!

Here's my general canonical thoughts on each one below, which you can skip if you'd rather I not spoil the magic. :P

Believe it or not, of the two, only Kai is physically strong enough to bathe in lava, which he DOES 100% do. He basks in lava like a spa because of the power he now possesses. Aidan can tolerate lava for a while, but it's one of the few things that can actually burn him over time. In his case, he still prefers hot springs, like the hottest springs. And as you can guess, he enjoys 'em completely in the nude. ;)

Kentaro and especially Adam are definitely the most 'flaunt-y' about their appetites. And will be the most seductive about it. Koloss loves belly rubs, but he's a bit pickier, and mostly, it's either rub his belly or ENTER it...

Loche, if I ever end up doing anything with him, actually doesn't like most people touching him. He's not a very sociable bounty hunter. He's more a blunt, no-nonsense brute...BUT, if he finds he enjoys having his blubbery gut tended to, he won't object...if a complete stranger starts rubbing his belly though...? Well, we've all seen what Marvin Martian's atomizer does...

I think Umbrak definitely is at least SOMEWHAT aware of Claudius' kinks, and even if he finds it weird, he can't resist watching the manic lil nerd get all jittery and flustered. Plus, it means he gets a good meal AND some amazing belly rubs in the process!

Mauler is as much a puppy dog as I am a reincarnated ostrich demon. If anything, MAKO'S the puppy dog, with how much of a complete doofus he is. Mauler is just way more single-minded. He IS a bit canine-like, in that he's always thinking of food, and is incredibly loyal to Mako, always by his companion's side no matter what. But throw a ball his way, and he'll just sniff it, chomp it into oblivion, then spit it out mildly annoyed that it's not an egg. :P

Nara's about as girly as I am the reincarnation of Mitch Hedberg. Through and through, she is a tomboy and lover of all things that go boom...BUT, interestingly enough, there IS a bit more vulnerability than she lets on, which she 100% refuses to show because she runs Cerberus and is less afraid of feeling weak and more just wanting to give her gang a strong anchor they can always rely on. A hint of why is inside the closed locket she keeps behind the dogtags around her neck.

Thank you again for these! I enjoyed reading your thoughts on my OC's a great deal! :)

[cryptid-quest]

Cryptid of the Day: Girt Dog (Longer)

Description : Before Chupacabra, the Beast of Bladenboro or even Dracula, there was the Girt Dog of Ennerdale. In the span of four months in 1810, this mystery mauler killed between 300-400 sheep throughout Cumberland, England. Descriptions vary, with some describing it a large canine, with brindled fur and tiger stripes on it’s back hide. Other, however, claimed the monster was a feline and resembled a lion. Regardless, the beast terrorized the English town until it was shot and killed in September of that year. John Steel, a resident of Asby, was the one who slayed the beast, and it’s hide was then taxidermied and put on display in a museum at Keswick, Cumbria. What made the deaths so mysterious, even after all these years, was the way the sheep was killed. According to the farmers, the sheep were attacked on the neck, drained of blood, and only partially eaten.

[gretelsfifthcousin]

Battle of Blood

(Transcribed directly from the game, errors included)

The Scorched Chronicles

Worn by the courageous victors of battle, these pure-white teeth were crafted into pendants that would let the world know about the warrior’s glory.

- Gretel Hawke

The Battle of Blood is a Mauler event with a considerably long history. The tough and resilient ancestors of the Maulers had to find a place to settle in the Scorched Expanse after long, arduous migrations. The natural environment of the desert was perfect for honing their senses and steeling them to the elements. Through this, they learned how to abide by survival of the fittest. They promote and advocate those who are strong, and use of force. It was here that the origins of the event took root, borne of the bloodshed and primeval culture. In ancient arena battles, the old and frail fall, and the strong and victorious are surrounded by rapturous cheers. In recent times, with the Maulers in greater contact with other peoples, this historical practice born from their culture has expanded beyond their barbaric borders and become a part of wider cultural practice throughout Esperia.

Warrior’s glory New and novel gladiatorial events are seemingly popping up throughout Esperia. Naturally, with the new combative events growing ever popular, the denizens of the realm flock to the arenas in droves. Some choose to step bravely into the arena as combatants, seeking to test their mettle against worthy adversaries, while others choose to stand meekly on the sidelines merely as curious spectators. With such a great following, the gladiatorial events have given rise to a new type of black market, a market that allows only the victors to reap its benefits. With the spoils of combat in-hand, the winners choose to trade in their glory for expensive and highly sought after commodities.

Event items

Beastly Pendant: An exceedingly sharp beast tooth that has been crafted into a pendant. This object symbolizes glory and honor to the denizens of the Scorched Expanse.

Medal of Might: A token earned by those who have proven themselves in battle, and which are bestowed upon those whom they deem worthy.

[in1-nutshell]

First offal meeting of the old buddy club and beany because he is the mascot

This will be centered around the old bots from TFP.

Hope you enjoy!

Old Bot Buddy Club

SFW, Platonic, Familial, Cybertronian reader

TFP

Takes place in AU that all TFP old bots are present in.

The club was created after the older bots wanted some time to talk to one another that didn’t concern the ‘younger generations.’

The ‘President’ was voted unanimously by the group.

They also were the eldest of the group.

Steel Mauler the Predacon.

The ‘Vice President’ would have been Boiler but was defeated by one vote.

This let Red Cross to win the position.

The club was a way to vent, ask for solutions, and to mediate any fights between them.

Red Cross was sitting in the corner with her arms crossed. Deadloop: “I said I was sorry!” Red Cross: “Sorry doesn’t cut it Deadloop and you know it!” Deadloop: “Now you’re just being—” Red Cross suddenly stands up, slightly wincing from her leg and turns around with an angry expression on her face. Red Cross: “Just being a what Loop? I suggest you choose your next words wisely before you find yourself with a bunch of eggs nestled right in your—” Boiler sitting with Steel Mauler a few feet away: “You do realize you lasses are fighting about a movie right?” Red Cross glares at Boiler: “Do you have something else to say Boiler?” Boiler looking at Deadloop: “You’re on your own boy.” Steel Mauler: “How about we just watch the movie together now?”

The club has also been used by the younger bots to get stories from.

It has also had its fair share of its ‘honorary’ members.

Agent Fowler and June were allowed to join the club when they could, being the only older humans they knew.

They don’t mind if the children join in when they are telling stories, but they do have a strict policy of no younger bots or humans on certain topics.

The children have tried in the past to eavesdrop, mainly Miko, but you can only hide for a short amount of time before two Predacon noses sniff you out.

The only other unanimous vote the club has had was for voting Beany to be the mascot.

This was mainly due to Beany’s tendency to make trouble whenever Boiler wasn’t watching him.

Especially last time…

The older bots chatting were chatting at the meeting when Steel Mauler gets a call from Raf. Steel Mauler: “Hold on Deadloop. Hello Rafael?” Raf: “Hey Steel… is there a possibility that you can get Beany’s scent?” Steel Mauler: “In the hypothetical situation yes I can. In the same hypothetical situation, why would I need to do that?” Boiler sudden jumps up. Red Cross looking at them: “Boiler, what’s wrong?” Boiler: “I don’t know how to tell ya lass, but the old joints are telling me Beany’s in trouble.” Deadloop raising an optic: “How?” Boiler: “How can you tell Red is going to have her pede cramps?” Deadloop: “…Point taken.” Steel Mauler even more nervous than before: “Raf… Where are you and the Wreckers?” Raf: “Umm…” Steel Mauler: “Raf why am I hearing wind in the background!?” Raf: “We took Beany on the ship and then he learned how to open one of the doors and we fell into an underground cave. Now Beany is chasing a lizard and the Wrecker’s have no way in getting us out because they are too big!” Steel Mauler: “Raf, Kiddo, everything is going to be okay alright? Now I need you to stay on the line with Deadloop. We’ll get you out.” Raf: “With Deadloop?” Steel Mauler: “I patched this call into the clubs comm line, they know, and we’ll be there.” Raf: “Hurry!” Steel Mauler looking over at Boiler who looked furious and scared at the same time, Red Cross stuffing her subspaces with bandages, and Deadloop with a data pad looking for their location.

Never had the group of old bots moved so fast.

Red Cross and Deadloop had to tend Steel Mauler’s back when they came back to the base.

More Red Cross tending and Deadloop distracting the larger Predacon.

Steel Mauler had gone headfirst into the cave entrance and had managed to get some pesky rocks in their sensitive joints.

Boiler was chewing the Wrecker’s out while gently holding Beany and Raf in his servos.

The old locomotive did not let go of either for a good 3 hours.

Beany after nearly sending Boiler and the older bots to the Allspark.

[firerwolf]

Forest Spirit

John's warthog bounced across the landscape of the Halo, passing by Forerunner structures and the wreckage of UNSC ships. He was trying to ignore the carnage around him, stay focused on his objective and not the loss. Particularly his own losses. He had to keep pushing forward, focusing on the communication towers. He needed to link up to a few more and network them with the head quarter's network. That would allow the pilot he'd conscripted into helping him stop the Banished to sort through the data and find some hints toward the possible location of useful targets and hopefully a cartographer.

“A lot of the same information from that last tower,” the pilot’s voice informed him over the comms.

John didn’t respond, trying to stay focused on the path ahead of him to the next tower. The pilot wasn't the worst ally that John had ever had but he was more cowardly than most he'd worked with. Once informed of the stakes the pilot had been willing to help but he was certainly not a field soldier. He would have preferred to have Linda scanning the data, using her eagle eyes to find key words. He wanted Fred watching the horizon from the rear mounted machine gun, allowing John to focus on avoiding debris. He wanted Kelly sitting shotgun with him, theorizing off of the information Linda found. He had to keep himself of thinking of his lost team. After the events on Requiem and his reunion with his family he'd hoped to never lose them again. He tried to push all the weight that their absence aside and steel himself to push on.

"Oh, here's something new," the pilot said, catching John's attention. "The Banished have a supply storage area north of here and something has been attacking their convoys. Only one soldier has survived an attack by whatever it is. Said it was invisible, attacked from all sides, and killed his team in about a minute." The pilot paused for a moment as he read more while John hit the brakes of his warthog, waiting to hear what else the man found. "The guy said it heard a bang as loud as a mauler and the other members of the patrols just dropped. He ran and I guess it let him run. Get this, they're calling it the spirit of the forest."

"You said north of that tower?" John asked, his hands gripping the steering wheel as he tried to temper his expectations.

FF.net AO3 Deviantart

[augustheart]

here are my favorites of the heroes in crisis rewrite scenes i did...thank you to @dykebettekane​ for letting me message xem with these because i didn’t really want to share them but seeing some of my friends like isa and rat posting theirs made me want to. this isn’t all the ones i wrote but again-they’re my favorites. i’m putting them under a read more because doing more than one does get really long, so sorry to anyone reading this on mobile.

******************************************************************

CINDY REYNOLDS is sitting with one knee hugged up to her chest. Her long dark hair is pulled back from her face, but she’s looking down.

CR: You know, a lot of people forget about me. Even a lot of the people I used to be friends with. It’s okay, really. There was always someone who knew me. Because-he never forgot about me, you know. J’onn J’onzz.

CINDY REYNOLDS looks up.

CR: He’s my-he loves me. He was there for me after my parents died, and before that when Hank and-I mean, when Steel and Vibe died. That means something. That means a lot. He took me seriously even when nobody else did.

CINDY REYNOLDS hugs her other knee up to her chest.

CR: But. He left me. He said that Father Teirnay, or Mauler, or whatever you wanna call him… he said that he was mine to deal with. And maybe he was. But he just-he just let me do it. He knew what was happening to me and he didn’t do anything.

CINDY REYNOLDS squeezes her hands together.

CR: It felt like being forgotten again. He just left me there. I know he doesn’t think I deserved it for being who I am. But it almost felt like it. I just wanted to find somewhere to belong. My people have been persecuted whenever we tried to settle, of course I wanted to belong with someone.

CINDY REYNOLDS pulls at her hair.

CR: I love J’onn. I really do. He’s the closest thing to a father I have. But I don’t know if I can forgive him for that. For… leaving me behind.

CINDY REYNOLDS drops her knees down from her chest and leans forward, bracing her hands on her thighs.

CR: Does that make me a bad person?

******************************************************************

CLIFF STEELE is sitting on his hands. He’s wearing a shirt that says “LIVE AND LET DIE” on it in all capital letters.

CS: Thirty-one times, I think. I’m not sure about the earlier ones. They kind of all blended together. But thirty-one times sounds right. No successes, obviously.

CLIFF STEELE looks up at the ceiling.

CS: But that’s not even what I’m here to talk about. I’m here to talk about them. Larry and Rita.

CLIFF STEELE puts his hands in his lap and squeezes them together.

CS: Everyone always misunderstands when I say I love them. They think something else is going on that they don’t want to think about. It’s not. There isn’t anything else going on. I just love them and they love me. I… I need them.

CLIFF STEELE hugs his shoulders.

CS: You know, Niles once said that he could have programmed me to do anything, and that’s why he never really trusted whatever I felt for him. About him. I don’t know if that $#!% still applies now that I’m supposed to be human.

CLIFF STEELE pulls his knees up to his chest. He’s getting progressively more and more curled up on himself.

CS: He had me for a year before they came along. He could’ve done anything to me. I know he made me manipulate them like he manipulated me.

CLIFF STEELE tucks his head in between his knees.

CS: I love them. I do. I just worry that it wasn’t my choice.

******************************************************************

SUE DIBNY is sitting with her legs crossed. Her hand is on her knee.

SD: Everybody wants to talk about what happened with Dr. Light. Sometimes I think that’s all they see when they look at me.

SUE DIBNY doesn’t move, but she does close her eyes.

SD: They don’t want to know about what happened afterward. I could tell them if they asked. About going to therapy and working through things and getting better again. They never want to know about any of that. And it was the same after Sonar.

SUE DIBNY opens her eyes again and looks off to the left.

SD: Everyone forgets I’m a detective. They don’t know that I know that’s all the information they want from me. But it’s not hard when they only listen to me when I talk about that. That, or my death. That’s it. That’s all they want to talk about.

SUE DIBNY closes her eyes again, still looking off to the left.

SD: I’m more than what happened to me. I know that. You’d think Ralph doesn’t, but he does. He’s always been my biggest supporter.

SUE DIBNY waves to someone off panel. The reader can assume that Ralph is standing just out of sight, probably giving her a double thumbs up.

SD: I’m the world’s greatest detective. I trained a superhero. I kept the damn Justice League International together on my own. And now I’m the new Mockingbird.

SUE DIBNY looks back at the “camera”, staring straight out of the panel.

SD: And I’m so goddamn tired of talking about Dr. Light.

******************************************************************

JANE MORRIS is sitting with her hands in her lap. Her eyebrows are furrowed. (The reader doesn’t know it, but she’s cofronting with Liza Radley, who forced her to come here.)

JANE: People don’t want me to be happy. They don’t want us to be happy.

JANE MORRIS crosses her arms.

JANE: Well, they think they want me to be happy. Because everyone wants us to integrate. Everyone. They wanted it so bad that Liza wanted it. Someone-&@$%, I don’t know why I’m not saying his name. Cliff wanted it for us more than anyone. He doesn’t anymore, but…

JANE MORRIS doesn’t move, but she does look down a little.

JANE: I’m used to it. We’re too much for people to handle. It confuses them and they don’t get it and they don’t like it when they try to talk to me and someone else is at the wheel. So they want us to integrate, even though we don’t want to anymore.

JANE MORRIS looks up again.

JANE: But I’m comfortable being us. We’re comfortable being us.

JANE MORRIS smiles.

JANE: We’re happy. And we don’t care what other people think about us anymore.

[whitherwanderer]

Bears in the East End have grown bold in the waning winter moons, but two in particular have wandered close to the Castrum that sits upon the Black Wolf’s Wall, preying on those who dared take the roads, be they civilian or adventurer alike. The patrols, light and sparse since the arrival of the enemy at the Ghimlyt Dark, have not seen to the beasts and Clan Centurio have little interest in them without name or legends to lay claim upon, and so it has fallen upon volunteers at the behest of the Alliance to slay the maddened bears.

One was felled at the hands of the small group of hunters, all Ala Mhigan by heritage or by creed. Though the frenzied mauler was soon made a corpse, one of their own was wounded too heavily to continue. Regretfully, the band halted their hunt.

...Leaving the second monster to terrorize the Fringes until the next hunt can be rallied.

Huge thanks to those who attended the hunt tonight, run for the Ala Mhigans of the Eorzean Alliance: Crystal Regiment!

Especially huge thanks to @steel-peak​ and Ferus Ironlash, who helped organize and DM the event with great success. We’re looking forward to seeing familiar and new faces at the next one!

The EA:CR is always welcoming new members, be they established grand company members, fighters from the various free nations, or those under employ of a free company. Please check them out and join the Discord!

[lionsongfr]

Wands by Flight

Fire- Wand: Ash, Elm, Rowan, Ebony, Obsidian, Onyx, Steel/Iron, Platinum, Tungsten

Core: Phoenix/Firebird feather, Ophiotaurus horn/scale, Ignited Imp tail, Flamerest Fiendcat embers, Firestarter

Water- Mangrove, Palm tree, Willow, Cypress, Driftwood, Coral, Quartz, Shell, Lapis Lazuli, Moonstone

Core: Deeprealm/Spiney Whale spine, Bicorn horn,  Kelpie mane, Mantarune/Wavesweeper spines, Mammertee/Kelp tender horn

Wind- Bamboo, Birch, Maple, Mahogany, Reeds, Ebony, Rosewood, Jade, Jasper

Core: Roc feather, Qiriq Horn, Umbral/Gale Yarn, Cumulus Mane, Dreameater/Baku tusk, Cloud chaser fin, Hippogriff/Hippojay feather

Earth- Oak, Walnut, Cedar, Mahogany, Ebony, Chestnut, Kunzite, Azurite, Agate, Sardonyx, Andesine, Iron

Core: Cockatrice/Basilisk feather, Tunnel Hydra scale/horn, Rockback horn, Shalebuck horn, Chameleon spine, Almandine Sturgeon scale

Ice- Birch, Fir, Spruce, Pine, Alder, Aspen, Bone, Quartz, Ice Crystal, Fossils- Artifacts

Core: Snow Streak Pinion, Ice Crystal, Yeti Horn, Winter wolf fang, Rasa horn, Hoarfrost Mauler crystals

Shadow- Cypress, Pine, Maple, Ebony, Alder, Oak, Onyx, Owl feather

Core: Mossy Pohip tusk, Grave Dust, Mimic Powder/ Nocturnal Dust, Oozing Tusk, Swamphaunt Kelpie mane, whatever ooze is Shadowbinder is dripping

Light- Laurel, Olive, Myrtle Cedar, Palm tree, Birch, Sycamore, Ivory, Gold, Platinum, Sacridite, Marble

Core: Glowing Pocket Bauble, whatever is in the lightbulb apparel, glitter, unicorn horn, Greattusk ivory

Arcane- Starwood, Rhodochrosite, Chalcedony, Celestine, Amber, Sacridite, Quartz, Labradorite, Gypsum, Meteorite

Core: Fallout Streak Pinion, Chalcedony, Rhodochrosite, Kunzite, Runic bat fur,  Meteorite

Lightning- Baobab, Acacia, Palm tree, Marula, Tamboti, Fulgurite, Ironwood, Copper, Silver, Gold, Steel, Tungsten

Core: Thunderstomp horn, Ampelope horn, Charged Tungsten, Steelhound Core/Tracker Engine, Magnetite

Nature- Palm tree, Rosewood, Kapok, Teak, Banyan (Fig), Bamboo, Eucalyptus/Myrtle, Amber, Dryad branch

Core: Wildwood/Sakura Moss, Barkback tusk, Strangler fang,  Driftwood Baron spine,  Toridae stinger

Plague- Bone, Ivory, Bloodstone, Jasper, Crimson Emperor Antler

Core: Vulture feather, Nochnyr mane, Hooded dodo feather-bauble, Fungalhoof Qiriq hoof, Contaminated Featherback tusk,  Serpenta fang, whatever is in Plague mom’s cauldron

 Light, Ice, Earth, and Shadow wands are often passed down to each generation of dragon, relics imbued with the magic of the past. Fire, Lightning, Arcane, Nature, and Plague require that apprentice magicians forge/carve their own wands. Most Plague clans have young magicians make their wands from the bones of their first kill. Unfortunately, some clans have a rather barbaric practice in which hatchies fight to the death, the strongest making their wands from the bones of their nest mates.

Nature dragons prefer to harvest their wands from the oldest trees of the forest, though only clan leaders can take branches from the Behemoth.  Wind dragon preferences vary from disposable wands made from reeds and bamboo to family heirlooms and prized instruments. Water dragons do not make wands very often, when one lives a life in the sea possessions become optional. Rather it is the Maren who tend to make wands in order to bolster their own magics.

Cores for wands are typically taken from the most powerful beasts of the area or from founts of power such as Plaguebringer’s cauldron (Wyrmwound) or Shadowbinder’s pool in the Obscured Crescent. Some of the strongest cores come from god-touched familiars that appear during festivals ( aka goblins, sprites, spirits, bears). These are even more valued since one cannot slay or harm these creatures without spiritual repercussions, thus one must make friends with them in order to earn the fur, scale, or horn required for the core.  

During NOTN, Shadowbinder created false god-touched familiar with elements switched to fool the unwary and unwise. (aka Bogus Manamonger, Sundial Imposter, etc) Using the wrong elemental core will lead to a wand backfiring or exploding in the face of the would-be magician. Using the right elemental core from false familiars will let the wand work though it will be temperamental- however, during NOTN these wands become extremely powerful. 

For familiars found only during NOTN (aka Curious Kettle, Valorous Cape), it is recommended to not make cores from their components since they will always backfire. Shadow dragons love to make such wands for pranks and will often leave them as gifts for unsuspecting clan mates. 

[konggodzuko]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16269659

I’ve begun to rewrite my ff.net story “Vanguard”, the ATLA superhero AU. It’s needed a overhaul for a bit, and now I’ve gotten around to it. If I keep my motivation, I’ll even continue the story (I have so many ideas). For now I’ll be posting the chapters on Ao3, then when I catch up to where I was on ff.net, I’ll mass-update it there too, then be doing simultaneous across both platforms.

But in celebration of the first chapter, I’ll also be posting it here! It’s under the cut!

Airspace over the Si Wong desert, 22:04 UTC

The Flare cut through the night sky with unusual quiet for a large aircraft. An experimental prototype, it had been built a little over five years ago by Ogata Industries as a proof-of-concept for the National military. It had been rejected as-is for being too expensive, and a more scaled-back, cheaper model — the Ogata 1200 — was designed. The Flare was put into storage at a private airfield owned by Ogata Industries. It collected dust for two years until it was pulled from storage, given a new coat of paint and became the personal aircraft of the second Firelord, aka, Zuko Ogata.

Zuko sat with his legs folded on the bench that ran the length of the aircraft’s passenger cabin, his eyes closed, his breathing steady, as he meditated in preparation for his upcoming mission. As he breathed in and out, he could feel his chi moving as well, warming and cooling, shifting both deep within his stomach and over the surface of his skin.

As he was about to go into battle as the Firelord, Zuko was dressed appropriately; an armored red-and-black body suit with a bright gold flame at the center of his chest, a pair of dark gray boots, a black domino mask to protect his identity, and a simple hair tie to keep his shoulder-length hair up in a top-knot. His hands were bare, as gloves would interfere with fire blasts, and his boots were grated and made from a highly heat resistant material, so he could shoot fire from his feet without having to forego boots. Truthfully, the armor was mostly cosmetic, all things considered; his body was naturally durable due to his heritage, and his chi could bolster his toughness even higher. Instead of protecting his body, the armor was to protect his modesty, as his abilities meant he would burn through most materials, and the constant gunfire he faces meant that if his clothes weren't being burned off, they'd be shot off.

The pitch of the aircraft’s engines changed, just as a voice rang out, “We’re above the convoy now.” Zuko’s eyes slip open just in time to see Teo Sato — alias the Mechanist, and Zuko’s best and only friend — step out from the cockpit and into the cabin. Zuko could see the slight going of Teo’s prostheses as he walked and the cuffs of his jeans shifted.

Teo ran one hand through his scruffy brown hair as the other adjusted his shirt, “You ready?”

Zuko nodded, and stood up, “What are we looking at?”

Teo took a small remote from his pocket and clicked a button, causing a section of floor in the middle of the cabin to rise to about waist-height. A flickering, light blue hologram appeared over its surface, forming into the smooth, largely featureless terrain three thousand feet below; several small dots were moving along a long, completely straight line. Teo made a gesture with his hands, and the landscape grew more defined as the line and dots grew and resolved into a poorly paved road and four vehicles.

Zuko leaned onto the table, closely watching the small convoy. An armored bus sat in the middle, with two armored cars following it, and a third leading the way.

Teo gazed at the cars for a second, before rattling off, “They’re all Imperial models from the Gan-Lan corporation. The cars are Badger 20s, top of the line models. Their armor is a steel-ceramic composite, and each one is mounted with a heavy machine gun. The bus is a 395 police bus, usually used to transport prisoners after mass-arrests.”

Zuko smirked, “Glad to see the old Sato training is still in there. Never know when I need make and models rattled off.”

Teo gave Zuko an unimpressed look, before asking, “Who do you think they’re transporting?”

“You know that I don’t know. All the Defense Ministry knows is that they’re a high-ranking Black Flame operative who is also a Fire Nation fugitive,” Zuko stood up straight, and began walking towards the front of the cabin.

Teo threw up his arms, “I know that, I was just asking if you had any ideas.”

“You know I don’t do guessing games, Teo,” Zuko said, pulling a handle and opened a small chamber near the cockpit door that he stepped into.

“Twenty mon says it’s a serial killer that managed to escape the police. Like, maybe the Miyako Mauler!”

Zuko began to close the door, before stopping and saying, “Thirty that they’re ex-military, wanted for war crimes. Black Flame likes people like that,” he then pulled the door shut, and pressed a button in the chamber. The floor dropped out from under him, and he fell.

For the first few thousand feet, he was diving head-first towards the ground, only doing minor course correction by angling his body slightly to keep on-course. The fall took him out in front of the convoy, and at about two hundred feet from the ground, he channeled chi into his hands and feet, blasting fire from them and taking control of his dive, slowing down and landing gracefully on his feet, like an expert gymnast.

Firelord raised a palm, shimmering with heat, and shot the leading armored car with an intense beam of bright golden heat energy. The car lurched forwards and flipped over, landing on its roof; behind it, the bus swerved off the road to avoid crashing into the car, its momentum too much to brake quickly, and ground to a stop in the sand off to the side of the road.

The two cars that had been following it drove around, Black Flame agents popping out from the roofs to man the machine guns. Firelord charged up his chi and channeled it into his skin and muscle, increasing his durability as a storm of bullets began to hit him. The bullets shattered as they struck his skin. Firelord grimaced and raised his arm, shielding his face, while they weren’t doing any real damage, the bullets still stung badly.

The cars drew closer, to provide the gunners with better accuracy, Firelord guessed, but that was their mistake.

Keeping his arm over his face, he moved chi to his legs and leapt forwards, landing on the hood of the closer car. He raised a hand and blasted the gunner off, before using his other hand to punch through the glass, knocking out the driver in the process, and yanking the steering wheel sideways, sending it tumbling as he jumped off and over sticking the landing once more.

The third car bore down on him. The Firelord charged his body with chi again, and as the car was about to hit him, swung a fist, stopping the car dead with his hand lodged in the engine block. His loosed a blast of fiery energy, causing the engine to ignite and explode quite dramatically.

He winced and tensed, absorbing as much of the heat energy as he could off of the explosion.

Firelord rolled his neck as the smoke cleared, partially energized, yet still drained from the explosion. He could sap away heat energy from explosions quite fine, but the kinetic energy still took a toll of the chi that kept his body strong.

He heard movement and turned around, eyes scanning the area, but it wasn’t hard to determine the source. Seven Black Flame agents were piling out of the bus, and joining them were the three survivors from the first two cars that he had dealt with. All were dressed in the pitch black body armor of their organization, and most were holding semi-automatic rifles. He spared a glance at the burned wreckage he stood next to, and determined that they were likely not to be joining this fight either.

Firelord sighed and looked at the advancing agents, “Look, I have to admit that I’d really not care about putting you guys in the ground as well, but I have to ask; do you really think like this will turn out well for you if you stay? Because you could run away, I don’t want you, I just want whatever weapon—”

One of the agents, holding a grenade launcher, hefted his weapon and aimed it at the Firelord.

He looked at the weapon, “Really? I would’ve thought that Black Flame would stop trying to blow me up, considering I can—” A grenade smacked his chest and exploded into white mist, and instantly, he knew something was wrong.

He felt a great rush of cold in his upper body, and suddenly a wave of weakness as his chi seemed to be sapped away. He down, to see that his whole torso had been encased in a thin sheen of ice.

“Open fire!” A shout said, and gunfire erupted.

Firelord staggered back. No bullet had managed to actually penetrate his flesh, but that was probably due to his suit’s durability, but he would definitely feel the bullets later as bruises.

He turned his back to them and hurdled over the smoking remains of the car and sat against it. He focused in on his body, and felt most of his chi in his torso, keeping his flesh warm and unfrozen. He moved his chi more aggressively, and the ice melted off in less than a second. With a roll of his shoulders he deemed himself in good condition, just in time for a Black Flame agent to run around the car and take aim at his head.

With a snarl, he blasted a hole through the agent, and got to his feet as the body collapsed. He grabbed onto the car wreck, lifted it, and then tossed it right at the group of agents. Two were taken off their feet by the wreck, while the remaining seven got out of the way.

Firelord zeroed in on the one who had the grenade launcher, and loped forwards. The agent began to raise his weapon, but it was snatched from his grasp and thrown away. The agent himself was grasped by the collar, and flung upwards.

Gunfire broke out and Firelord winced and bolstered his durability as he turned around. The six agents that were still standing had grouped up and were firing at him. He crouched slightly, before lunging forwards, crashing into the group. He grabbed one by their chest armor and swung around, sending them all sprawling to the ground; the one he had grabbed was slammed downwards, going limp.

One began to get up but Firelord kicked their side, sending them a good distance away. 

There was a loud thump and a short shout, and he whirled around, only to see that another of the agents had been flatted by the one he had thrown into the air a few seconds ago. He couldn’t help but grin and mutter, “Lucky.”

Another had gotten fully to their feet, but Firelord swung a fist and dropped them, before turning to the last two, who were getting up, and raised both of his hands, downing them both with heat blasts.

Quiet fell rapidly as Firelord assessed the area, making sure all Black Flame agents were down, before nodding and walking to the bus. 

He reached out and opened the door, but didn’t get a second to see inside before a fist nearly the size of a cinderblock crashed into his face and sent him tumbling across the dusty desert landscape.

Firelord staggered to his feet to see an over seven-foot tall, musclebound figure dressed in simple black clothes squeeze its way out of the bus. “Well, well, well, Firelord. We meet again.”

It took a second, but the hulking man’s large sideburns and cocky smirk summoned a face from a few years ago. He grimaced, before saying “I should’ve known Black Flame recruited you,” he straightened up, rolling his shoulders, “You’re just their type.”

Zhao smiled, “I am indeed; ambitious and strong-willed, the two defining traits of Black Flame.”

“Strange, I thought it was being power-hungry and cruel,” he looked at Zhao, “What did they do to you?”

Zhao grinned and flexed an arm, “Impressive, isn’t it? The eggheads back at Black Flame cooked up a serum for me, said it was based off a sample of you, but tweaked a bit. I didn’t get the whole fire powers, though. It’s a shame, I would’ve loved to burn your face off after beating you unconscious. Guess I’ll just settle for crushing in your skull,” with this charming statement, he sprinted forwards at superhuman speed.

Firelord raised his hands and unleashed a sustained blast of fiery energy. The blast connected with Zhao, but instead of being knocked off of his feet, he was just stopped in his tracks, bracing himself against the stream of power. Then, alarmingly, he began to walk forwards, against the blast. Firelord cut off the blasts, instead sending chi into his feet and flying forwards.

He stopped flying just as he got near Zhao, slamming a foot into the ground and using his momentum to spin around and kick Zhao in the face. It staggered the larger man, and Firelord pressed his advantage by closing in and rapidly punching him in the gut. Up close, Firelord could feel the height difference far more, coming up to Zhao’s pectorals.

However, Zhao powered through, and caught both of Firelord’s fists, pulled them towards him, and head-butted the smaller man with a loud crack. Zhao then threw him to the ground, slammed a knee onto Firelord’s chest, and began punching his face with all of his strength.

Black spots began to dance in Firelord’s eyes and blood began to leak profusely from his nose before he charged up enough chi and let loose a huge explosion from his entire body. It sent Zhao flying upwards, and gave him a moment to think.

‘Based off a sample of you’. That’s what Zhao had said. Firelord believed it, he had felt — like a distant echo — Zhao’s chi moving within him, powering up his attacks and defense. It wasn’t like his own chi, which he moved with deft control, instead it seemed to be something Zhao was taking for granted, spirits, Zhao may not even know about his chi at all. He just couldn't use it to make fire. He needed to neutralize Zhao’s chi if he wanted to take him out, because otherwise, he’d need to fly Zhao into the stratosphere and drop him in order to generate enough force to overcome his chi-enhanced durability. But how—

The idea struck Firelord at the same moment that Zhao struck the earth a few yards away, and began to shift and get up almost immediately.

Firelord turned and sprinted towards the cluster of vehicle wrecks on the road.

He heard Zhao yell and begin to pound after him.

His eyes flicked around rapidly, trying to find — there. He dove at his prize, picked it up, and turned around.

Zhao was about twenty feet away. He grinned as he saw the weapon, and continued to run towards him, “You really think a grenade can—”

The Firelord pulled the trigger.

The grenade exploded against Zhao’s left shoulder, ice encasing his upper arm and left side of his chest and neck instantly. He staggered, and Firelord pulled the trigger again, this grenade exploding at Zhao’s feet.

The massive man fell to his hands and knees, and Firelord threw aside the grenade launcher and casually strode over. “You know, when going into battle with a team, its useful to remember what they’re equipped,” He stopped right in front of Zhao, “Otherwise you end up making stupid mistakes,” he raised a fist, poured a massive amount of chi into it, then punched Zhao across the face, downing him.

He stared at Zhao for a few seconds, before he reached into his belt and pulled out an earpiece, putting it in and turning it on at the same time, “Mechanist?” He asked, using Teo’s codename.

There was a beat before his friend responded, “That was a wild fight, dude, who was that big guy?”

“Ma Zhao, a former lieutenant of the National navy. A few years ago — a few months before I recruited you — the ship he had been stationed on was patrolling Yu Dao waters, and an Imperial pleasure cruise accidentally strayed in. He incited a mutiny, took over the ship, sunk the cruise, then went into Imperial waters to ‘retaliate’ for the ‘invasion’. The Fire Nation asked me to stop Zhao and bring him back for a court-martialing before he caused the Second Great War. I managed to stop him before he did, obviously, but after he was court-martialed, he just vanished. Only to turn up here, mutated and working for Black Flame.”

“Wow, that’s wild.”

Zuko hummed, before saying “Yes, so I guess you owe me thirty mon.”

“Wha- aww, man, he is the agent you were sent to get, isn’t he?”

“I highly doubt that this convoy has another high-profile Fire Nation fugitive,” Zuko said dryly, “Now bring the Flare in to land, we need to secure him for transport.”

International Superhuman Penitentiary, aka “the Boiling Rock”, 00:12 UTC

Warden Takeshi Treung tapped his foot as he watched the skies, “The Firelord is twelve minutes overdue.”

“I’m sure everything is fine,” said Chit Sang, head of security.

Treung pursed his lips, “That’s even worse, Sang. I despise tardiness, especially when there is no good reason for it.”

Chit Sang opted to chew his lip rather than say anything else. The warden seemed to be intent on feeling irritated. Granted, ‘irritation' was Treung’s default emotion.

No more than a minute later, a dark shape emerged from the night sky, approaching with speed. It was a sleek, black-and-red aircraft unlike any Chit Sang had seen before. It held a strong resemblance to the Ogata 1200s, but larger and lacked the impressive armaments of the 1200s. It descended almost vertically, turning around as it did, and landed on the vast metal platform with grace that belied the aircraft’s size.

Warden Treung began to walk to the aircraft, and Chit Sang motioned with a hand as he strode forwards as well, and the small guard team he had brought began to follow him.

The back of the aircraft lowered, turning into a ramp, and a tall figure strode down the ramp.

The Firelord.

The superhero met Treung and Chit Sang at the base of the ramp and the three men bowed curtly.

“You could stand to learn punctuality, Firelord,” Treung wasted no time in leveling his complaint at the taller, masked man.

The Firelord let out a short sigh, “Always a pleasure too, warden,” he looked at Chit Sang, “Zhao’s at the top of the ramp. You prepared a grade three cell, right?”

Chit Sang motioned for his men to collect the new prisoner, “Yes, we did. With the low-temperature defenses, like you asked,” he answered as his men moved around them and up the ramp, one was wheeling a gurney.

Firelord nodded, “Good.”

At the top of the ramp, the guards had secured a figure to the gurney and had begun to wheel it down. Chit Sang had to marvel at the unnatural size of the man strapped to it.

“How are the prisoners? Any trouble?”

Treung raised an eyebrow, “Sentimental? I could get one out if you wish to beat their heads in.”

The Firelord’s eyebrows knitted together, “I was trying to be polite, Treung.”

“Then get here when you say you will.”

The Firelord pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked past the warden and Chit Sang, “Well, the prisoner is in your hands now. Good day, warden, Sang,” he bowed to each of them in turn before striding back up the ramp and into his ship. The ramp raised behind him, and the engines roared to life as it closed and the aircraft’s wheels began to leave the platform. Within five minutes, it had vanished into the night sky.

Undisclosed Location, 01:24

“Sir!” A Black Flame agent clicked his heels and bowed.

Eyes narrowed, “Well?”

“Lieutenant Zhao was captured by the Firelord sir. And, the entire unit was lost, Kawaji survived just long enough to radio in a report before he died. We have a clean-up crew on the way to retrieve the bodies.”

A hand waved lazily, “Dismissed.”

The agent left hastily.

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A wide, wicked smile appeared on a pale face, “Always the fool, Zuzu.”