With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

edmantgoog · Jul 13, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
There's an Indigo Lantern version in the comic verse. In terms of his position in civilisation he's doing alright, but he's lost most of his emotional range.

If you're referring to Larry Niven's Ringworld, no, as I know nothing about the setting.

Thanks, well I'd recited the series, it's not for everyone but it's interesting

Mr Zoat · Jul 13, 2024

edmantgoog said:
Thanks, well I'd recited the series, it's not for everyone but it's interesting

I'm reasonably confident that you don't mean 'recited'. Unless you do, in which case that's an extremely impressive feat.

Ardy · Jul 13, 2024

Wait, megatron came back under truce and didn't immediately break it? This wasn't a typo right?

And I'm amused they decided to bring back the corrupt politician decepticon guy. Like, there's no way that could backfire.

Profipfreely · Jul 13, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
Slipstream hears it to and...

Think that should be a double o too, as in also.

NightmareWarden · Jul 13, 2024

That's some sorely needed hope and excitement, now that we are free from Fallout's ugliness.

Mr Zoat · Jul 13, 2024

Profipfreely said:
Think that should be a double o too, as in also.

Thank you, corrected.

Ardy said:
Wait, megatron came back under truce and didn't immediately break it? This wasn't a typo right?

Getting possessed by Unicron changed him.

And I'm amused they decided to bring back the corrupt politician decepticon guy. Like, there's no way that could backfire.

There was a general amnesty.

BrotherofaStudio · Jul 13, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
My 'Pull' body responds appropriately, the mind impulse unit turning my neural activity into giant robot motion. I haven't asked if Shockwave just happened to have a transtector body laying around or if he built it from scratch, but from the way Kyansa has described every piece of open-chassis chirurgery Shockwave has done as 'wicked cool' I'm not sure I'd like the answer either way.

So he did get a transformer body.

Mr Zoat said:
I've been acting like 'Pull' is someone distinct from me, as Decepticons aren't exactly friendly to other species and we're still recruiting for our eventual exploration team. Having someone big and strong around encourages other Decepticons to not try leaning on Slipstream, while having 'him' be a bit mentally slow prevents him seeming threatening in other situations.

Is his relationship with Slipstream common knowledge? But him apparently being the muscle of this exploration team sounds like a good idea.

Mr Zoat said:
My new body is painted in dull brown and transforms into heavy goods transport vehicle: not bright enough or unusual enough to draw the eye, but visible enough not to surprise someone in the dark. I'm supposed to be able to fit in with a crowd, and it seems to have worked so far.

That sounds slightly familiar. I think you described a bit of that as a body Pull would have if her were a Transformer.

Mr Zoat said:
Slipstream glances down towards my feet, remembers that I'm not that short any more and then looks up at Pull's face.

That'll take some getting used to. Is she going to get a sort organic body?

Mr Zoat said:
"Because you know the ratio! They hardly ever resurrect Decepticons. Particularly late-War Decepticons."Something which was generating a degree of ill-feeling, though most Decepticons weren't really expecting their friends back in any case and the few who got them back were too grudgingly grateful to make a fuss about it.

An unfortunate but understandable precaution.

Mr Zoat said:
It wasn't until the newly returned Emirate Xeon pointed out the huge advantage that the Autobots were getting and the potential threat it posed that there was any sort of organised outrage.

Why was he resurrected? Wasn't he a particularly corrupt official?

Mr Zoat said:
Relations between the two returning factions were getting dicey until Megatron came back from… Wherever he went, and negotiated with the Autobot Provisional Council for better access.

When did he get back?! Why did he come back?! That is certainly going to be an interesting story and what has he been doing since then? I'm guessing not restarting the war. Have he and Pull met and if so did Pull have something to do with his return?

Mr Zoat said:
"It's that if you keep going then Xeon is going to have someone kill you."

Again, why was Xeon brought back?

Mr Zoat said:
"Nova."

They are certainly close. I know Knockout was joking but is Pull going to have a harem?

Mr Zoat said:
The ground bridge collapses behind me and… Ah, Ratchet knows who I am. "What will she remember?"

How long has Pull had a Transformer body?

Mr Zoat said:
After assuring herself that her torso is in one piece, Nova Storm moves her hands to return Slipstream's hug. "Hey, Slippy. What in the Pit just happened?"

Boy is she in for a long story.

Mr Zoat · Jul 13, 2024

BrotherofaStudio said:
Why was he resurrected?

He wasn't. It appears that rumours of his death were greatly exaggerated.

Wasn't he a particularly corrupt official?

Not for the time. He backed the early Decepticons in an attempt to have a group of reliably fanatical patsies to use for deniable operations, resulting in him actually treating his city's working class a bit better than most rulers did. Megatron took him for all he could get, and it was widely believed that Megatron killed him after the uprising.

When did he get back?!

Couple of weeks.

Why did he come back?!

Because Cybertron's being restored and 'he wants to help'.

That is certainly going to be an interesting story and what has he been doing since then? I'm guessing not restarting the war. Have he and Pull met and if so did Pull have something to do with his return?

Trying to unify a Decepticon population that was only really unified by the need to fight the Autobots.

They are certainly close. I know Knockout was joking but is Pull going to have a harem?

Probably not. Slipstream is being extremely open-minded about a lot of things.

It's not that she would mind him having other paramours, it's that the number of transformers interested in that sort of relationship with an organic is very small.

How long has Pull had a Transformer body?

About a month.

BrotherofaStudio · Jul 13, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
He wasn't. It appears that rumours of his death were greatly exaggerated.

I see

Mr Zoat said:
Not for the time. He backed the early Decepticons in an attempt to have a group of reliably fanatical patsies to use for deniable operations, resulting in him actually treating his city's working class a bit better than most rulers did. Megatron took him for all he could get, and it was widely believed that Megatron killed him after the uprising.

Alright then

Mr Zoat said:
A couple of weeks.

Have he and Pull met since that time?

Mr Zoat said:
Because Cybertron's being restored and 'he wants to help'.

I figured he would have stayed in exile but alright. Who is on the Autobot Provisional Council?

Mr Zoat said:
Trying to unify a Decepticon population that was only really unified by the need to fight the Autobots.

Finding a new purpose for the Decepticons that isn't tyranny will certainly be a challenge and a step in Megatron's favor if he wants to redeem himself.

Mr Zoat said:
Probably not. Slipstream is being extremely open-minded about a lot of things. It's not that she would mind him having other paramours, it's that the number of transformers interested in that sort of relationship with an organic is very small.

Makes sense. Is his relationship with Slipstream common knowledge?

Chaoswind · Jul 13, 2024

Can anyone link the chapter that had the autobot war end? I think Paul made the autobots realize the decepticons had already achieved all their goals besides lawful recognition of their rights and all the autobots had to do to end the war was to capitulate on that point and grant recognition.

Mr Zoat · Jul 13, 2024

BrotherofaStudio said:
Have he and Pull met since that time?

There is no 'Pull'. Pull is the name he pretends to have when he's in his transtector body, pretending to be a Decepticon.

I figured he would have stayed in exile but alright. Who is on the Autobot Provisional Council?

Emirate Xaron, Ultra Mangus, at least four other people.

Finding a new purpose for the Decepticons that isn't tyranny will certainly be a challenge and a step in Megatron's favor if he wants to redeem himself.

Tyranny was a method, not an end. Decepticons accepted it because a) it was basically all they'd known and b) it looked necessary.

Makes sense. Is his relationship with Slipstream common knowledge?

The fact that Slipstream is working with an organic is known to quite a few people. But Slipstream herself isn't exactly Shockwave. Not that many Decepticons would know who she is.

edmantgoog · Jul 13, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
I'm reasonably confident that you don't mean 'recited'. Unless you do, in which case that's an extremely impressive feat.

Sorry about that, I'm typing on a phone with fat thumbs and dyslexia, it often makes for interesting spellings and with autocorrect means I often learn new words too!

Ardy · Jul 13, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
Getting possessed by Unicron changed him

Haven't seen the show, but I'm doubtful of how much he's actually changed

BrotherofaStudio · Jul 13, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
There is no 'Pull'. Pull is the name he pretends to have when he's in his transtector body, pretending to be a Decepticon.

Have "Paul" and Megatron met since his return?

Mr Zoat said:
Emirate Xaron, Ultra Mangus, at least four other people.

Would Ratchet, Jazz, Elita-1 and Perceptor be possible members of the Council?

Mr Zoat said:
The fact that Slipstream is working with an organic is known to quite a few people. But Slipstream herself isn't exactly Shockwave. Not that many Decepticons would know who she is.

Fair point. I guess that means that not many know that her Codex Endura is an organic then.

Mr Zoat · Jul 14, 2024

BrotherofaStudio said:
Have "Paul" and Megatron met since his return?

Yes.

Would Ratchet, Jazz, Elita-1 and Perceptor be possible members of the Council?

No. Most of them lack any real knowledge of political leadership.

Fair point. I guess that means that not many know that her Codex Endura is an organic then.

I'm reasonably certain that you don't mean 'codex', though if it does then it's probably transformer love poetry.

BrotherofaStudio · Jul 14, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
I'm reasonably certain that you don't mean 'codex', though if it does then it's probably transformer love poetry.

I meant Conjunx Endura, the Cybertronian equivalent of romantic partner or even spouse.

As for Elita-1, she was part of the high council according to the Covenant of Primus sourcebook. And in the old G1 comics Perceptor was leader of an Autobot resistance on Cybertron.

Jirachi · Jul 14, 2024

Miscellaneous brain noises!
- I wonder if Adom would be a good red lantern - he seems like a reasonable candidate to ask about, at least, and if nothing else, I wouldn't be suprised if with work the power of atum could be used to recharge the red ring they have just sort of lying around.
- I wonder what the limitations are on deputy rings, and if it's just say, a certain power allocation like subspace storage, a constant drain or what, and whatever it is if the way that the blue rings recharge themselves with ambient hope could be used to sort of bypass that
- I have to assume that e.g. Dox knows how to interdict against boom tubes due to general "If you know how to make them you know how to interdict against them" principle, though suppose it might be hard to make it infeasible to brute force past for e.g. Grayven, much less darkseid or something.
- I wonder if there's anything simpler then a power ring for manipulating orange light that illustres could make - does seem like it's skipping ahead a bit to be focused on ring application persay
- I wonder how practical it would be to use orange lanterns or empathic storage devices with any excess blue light that Alan generates to power magic, especially in a low magic enviroment. Certainly, both of those aren't nearly as ideal a tool as the star sapphire, but that doesn't mean that they couldn't be quite useful.
- Not entirely sure why Paul hasn't just tried to hondenport to an Atlantean / swamp thing?
- Considering how useful Meadlux's ring was, they probably really need to sit down and talk with the mages working w/ on the reach war effort and see what they can do
- I wonder how practical it would be for alan to use a set up like the one that paul used to contact the honden of avarice - or really any other alternative method - to keep infusing green light alongside the blue - if nothing else it seems like it might end up being more balanced out and the process could be interesting?
- tau paul is extremely adorkable. He really hits the spot for being kind and reassuring and good-thinkfully cooperative with rules with being this impressive force of change in the world.
- has paul talked about the reach war with Tyr at all? If he's going to be on side, having a war god looking over some of it seems like it might be wise.

Mr Zoat · Jul 14, 2024

14th June 2014
08:28 GMT +5:30

Phh-tchhwuhwuhwah.

Slipstream leads Nova Storm through the space bridge portal and into our quarters on Earth, left arm wrapped around her torso. Nova Storm isn't pulling back exactly, but she's obviously far from comfortable about what's happening. The sudden sunlight from the windows around the room in particular has her blinking as her eyes try to adjust from Cybertron's darkness to Earth's daytime. Her next blink has her trying to make sense of the relatively luxurious decorations of our home. That surprises her enough to make her stop walking.

"Slippy… Are you working for an Emirate?"

Slipstream stops a moment after her team mate does, left arm sliding from Nova Storm's back to her right arm as she turns to face her. "Hah! No. We own this place."

I walk in behind them, moving my Pull body towards its docking gantry.

"You and..?" She looks at me as I slot myself in and make sure that the diagnostic systems are properly connected. "Pull, was it?"

I nod. "Yes."

Nova Storm frowns in confusion. "How?"

Slipstream shrugs, giving her team mate's arm a tug to get her moving. "It's a long story, and it'll sound better in an oil bath. Come on!"

Nova Storm smiles faintly as she allows herself to be pulled to the rim of the transformer-scale Jacuzzi. Only then does Slipstream let go of her arm and drop down to sit on the rim before sliding in.

Nova Storm looks around nervously. "Are you sure-?"

"Yes!"

Nova Storm looks me over. "The big guy not joining us?"

"Don't make me pull you in." Slipstream manoeuvres over to the far side of the tub before taking a sitting position, her head only just over the top of the liquid. "I thought you were dead, Nova. Permanently dead."

Nova Storm pats her torso again. "Yeah, I… Kinda did, too. I-." She turns away from me and makes eye contact with the softly-glaring Slipstream. "Okay."

She awkwardly drops to a crouch before shifting her legs around and sliding into the oil, causing waves to slop across the tub and splash over Slipstream's face. Slipstream smiles, raising her left hand into the air and wiping the worst of it off. "See?"

"Uh…" Nova Storm remains standing for a moment, then slowly lowers herself in. "This is… Nice?"

"Come on, Stormy, is that the best you can-?"

"Why aren't I dead, Slipstream? I… I remember the attack on Moon Base One. I remember the anti-air emplacements opening fire, I-." She raises her right arm. "I got torn apart. My right arm came off, light was… Leaking out of my spark-"

Oh.

"-case! You don't come back from that!"

I can feel her distress. Not as.. intensely as I can feel Slipstream's emotions, but their bond is still functioning even after… However long it's been. And that indirectly connects her to me. I wonder if she's noticed? Or maybe she just assumed it would and my feedback feels off to her?

"I felt-!"

Slipstream leans forwards and lays her right hand on Nova Storm's torso. "That big blue and gold guy? He's called The Last Autobot. He pulled your spark out of the All-Spark and put it back in your body."

"So I… Did die?"

Slipstream shrugs. "What is death but another transformation?"

"Oh." Nova Storm finally sits down, still sounding a little stunned. "Just as long as I didn't imagine it."

"Imagine what?"

"The glowing… I was glowing, and there was.. glowing all around me, and a… Presence. I was.. part of something. Something… I made… Complete? Something… Huge. I don't… Know…"

Slipstream looks past Nova Storm to me, and I feel her worry that she's doing something wrong. I don't know if there's a right way to handle something like this, but I'll always help whenever I can.

"The All-Spark. The spark of Primus, of which all transformers possess a small fragment." Nova Storm turns her head my way. "It's where transformers go when they die."

"Oh." Nova Storm slumps slightly in the oil bath. "I thought maybe I imagined it."

"Hey." Slipstream wades across the pool and takes Nova Storm's hands in her own. "I know it's a shock, but you're alive, right? And we're here for you."

Nova Storm nods slowly. "Yeah. Ah. Just y-? Ah, just the two of you?"

"Right now? Yeah. I don't know if we'll get any of the others back. I doubt it, but then I didn't think I'd get you back."

Nova Storm nods again. "The medic was an Autobot, and the Last Autobot… I guess we lost, then."

"It was really more of a draw..?" Slipstream shrugs. "Optimus Prime died killing Unicron, and Megatron gave up. We found a way to make new energon so we don't need to starve any more… There wasn't any more reason to fight, so the War just sort of… Stopped happening."

"Oh. Well that's… That's good." Nova Storm looks around at the room again. "How did you afford this?"

Slipstream nods at me. "Like Pull says: 'one man's trash is another man's treasure'. The local species are really primitive compared to us, but there's lots of them and they're easy to keep fuelled."

"What's this planet called?"

"The locals call it 'Planet Earth', but it's really more of a layer of rock that built up over… Something else."

"Something else?"

"Let's-." Slipstream looks awkward. "Let's not worry about that right now. It's not a problem anyway. So, ah, this is-."

"Pull." Nova Storm nods. "You.. said. I guess he's your new team mate..?"

"Conjunx Endura, actually."

"Oh." Nova Storm turns back towards me, looking at me more closely. "H.. uh. I suppose with the.. War over… I though I felt something."

"But there's something else you should know about him."

"He's an Autobot? Is that why I'm-."

Tsche-chuuuu!

Pull's helmet snaps open as my plugs retract, letting me see daylight with my own eyes as I pull myself free. A bit sore as usual, but nothing a few minutes moving around-

"I think he needs the oil bath more if he's got organic parasites."

-won't fix. I clamber out onto Pull's right shoulder and wave to Nova Storm.

"Allow me to re-introduce myself. I'm Slipstream's husband." I half-turn and point to the implant in the back of my neck. "These let me mimic a normal transformer bond, and that-" I nod towards the transtector body. "-lets me mimic being a transformer."

"Oh." Nova Storm is staring, clearly unclear how to respond. "How… Interesting."

"It gets better." Slipstream's voice comes from the back of the gantry as her purple-skinned and grey-suited proxy unit walks out of its maintenance module to lean against my back. "I had a new sub-module made so I can interact on their scale. You would not believe the things this body can feel."

I would. Shockwave knows his business.

By Primus does Shockwave know his business.

Nova Storm is staring blankly at us. "So the little one… Lives in the big guy's head… And is made of meat."

Slipstream blinks. "Yes?"

"That sounds like something Shockwave would make."

"Uhhh…" Slipstream's main head glances at me with a wince. "Funny you should say that..?"

Rebu · Jul 14, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"It gets better." Slipstream's voice comes from the back of the gantry as her purple-skinned and grey-suited proxy unit walks out of its maintenance module to lean against my back. "I had a new sub-module made so I can interact on their scale. You would not believe the things this body can feel."

Theoretically, if they could each operate multiple bodies at once, they could have a threesome or foursome with only two people.

Also, I'm trying to imagine a Transformer in a wedding dress, and the look on the pastor's face.

Ngamer11 · Jul 14, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"Slippy… Are you working for a Emirate?"

That should say 'an'.

Darko · Jul 14, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
I would. Shockwave knows his business.

By Primus does Shockwave know his business.

Nova Storm is staring blankly at us. "So the little one… Lives in the big guy's head… And is made of meat."

Slipstream blinks. "Yes?"

"That sounds like something Shockwave would make."

"Uhhh…" Slipstream's main head glances at me with a wince. "Funny you should say that

I can't help but imagine Shockwave going into the "marital aid" business if relationships between Cybertronians and humans continue to happen.

I also can't help but imagine him giving Jack a sex-ed class.

The amount of therapy that kid will need will make his therapist very rich.

Mr Zoat · Jul 14, 2024

BrotherofaStudio said:
As for Elita-1, she was part of the high council according to the Covenant of Primus sourcebook. And in the old G1 comics Perceptor was leader of an Autobot resistance on Cybertron.

In that case she might have the background, but the Decepticons would react very badly to anyone on the pre-War council getting their old job back. They went to war specifically to kill them.

Jirachi said:
Miscellaneous brain noises!
- I wonder if Adom would be a good red lantern - he seems like a reasonable candidate to ask about, at least, and if nothing else, I wouldn't be surprised if with work the power of atum could be used to recharge the red ring they have just sort of lying around.

A good Red Lantern is someone whose life is consumed by rage, but with the discipline to keep it focused and rational. The only person Adom hates like that is Jedediah, and if Adom killed him then he wouldn't be anything like as angry.

- I wonder what the limitations are on deputy rings, and if it's just say, a certain power allocation like subspace storage, a constant drain or what, and whatever it is if the way that the blue rings recharge themselves with ambient hope could be used to sort of bypass that

The limitation is that they don't exist. A sufficiently skilled Lantern could probably make a semi-functional ring construct, but that's it.

- I have to assume that e.g. Dox knows how to interdict against boom tubes due to general "If you know how to make them you know how to interdict against them" principle, though suppose it might be hard to make it infeasible to brute force past for e.g. Grayven, much less darkseid or something.

Yes, but he's not a New God. He isn't anything like as good at the magic side of their technology.

- I wonder if there's anything simpler then a power ring for manipulating orange light that illustres could make - does seem like it's skipping ahead a bit to be focused on ring application per say

No. I mean, technically speaking the shape doesn't need to be a ring, but as wearable shapes go a ring is pretty simple.

- I wonder how practical it would be to use orange lanterns or empathic storage devices with any excess blue light that Alan generates to power magic, especially in a low magic environment.
Certainly, both of those aren't nearly as ideal a tool as the star sapphire, but that doesn't mean that they couldn't be quite useful.

Pretty inefficient.

- Not entirely sure why Paul hasn't just tried to hondenport to an Atlantean / swamp thing?

Telefragging potential.

- Considering how useful Meadlux's ring was, they probably really need to sit down and talk with the mages working w/ on the reach war effort and see what they can do

They've got better things to do, and he doesn't have a corresponding need.

- I wonder how practical it would be for alan to use a set up like the one that paul used to contact the honden of avarice - or really any other alternative method - to keep infusing green light alongside the blue - if nothing else it seems like it might end up being more balanced out and the process could be interesting?

Causing them to intermingle at the most primal level would be very bad.

- tau paul is extremely adorkable. He really hits the spot for being kind and reassuring and good-thinkfully cooperative with rules with being this impressive force of change in the world.

One world down, 999999 to go.

- has paul talked about the reach war with Tyr at all? If he's going to be on side, having a war god looking over some of it seems like it might be wise.

No. Tyr doesn't know enough about the peoples involved.

Ngamer11 said:
That should say 'an'.

Thank you, corrected.

Rebu said:
Theoretically, if they could each operate multiple bodies at once, they could have a threesome or foursome with only two people.

If there were only two people there then it wouldn't be a threesome.

SotF · Jul 14, 2024

Darko said:
I can't help but imagine Shockwave going into the "marital aid" business if relationships between Cybertronians and humans continue to happen.

I also can't help but imagine him giving Jack a sex-ed class.

The amount of therapy that kid will need will make his therapist very rich.

If this is more based on Prime, Shockwave would be less of an issue there...he's more amoral because someone

namely, the prior "autobot" council...which if you see the RiD (sequel series), well, the last season shows the return of said jackass council. It very much takes the thing of the Decepticons and Autobots kind of ended up swapping who was in the right in the middle of the long war

excised his ability to judge right and wrong, so he's purely on what benefits most

Chojin Patriarch · Jul 14, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
14th June 2014
08:28 GMT +5:30

Phh-tchhwuhwuhwah.

Slipstream leads Nova Storm through the space bridge portal and into our quarters on Earth, left arm wrapped around her torso. Nova Storm isn't pulling back exactly, but she's obviously far from comfortable about what's happening. The sudden sunlight from the windows around the room in particular has her blinking as her eyes try to adjust from Cyberton's darkness to Earth's daytime. Her next blink has her trying to make sense of the relatively luxurious decorations of our home. That surprises her enough to make her stop walking.

Never mind the differences in atmosphere and even gravity. Cybertron is a very inhospitable place, even post-revival, and Earth... Probably seems like a paradise, if not the the fact that it isn't the homeworld.

"Slippy… Are you working for an Emirate?"

Slipstream stops a moment after her team mates does, left arm sliding from Nova Storm's back to her right arm as she turns to face her. "Hah! No. We own this place."

You'd be amazed how much money the private sector can make, especially if it's selling to different governments.

I walk in behind them, moving my Pull body towards its docking gantry.

"You and..?" She looks at me as I slot myself in and make sure that the diagnostic systems are properly connected. "Pull, was it?"

His actions probably seem a little strange to her, but there could well be 'bots who enjoy jacking into rest stations or the like. Never mind guys like Mainframe. Yes, he turns into a computer station.

I nod. "Yes."

Nova Storm frowns in confusion. "How?"

It's a curse, being terribly clever. Especially if you can think outside the box and exploit novel applications.

Slipstream shrugs, giving her team mate's arm a tug to get her moving. "It's a long story, and it'll sound better in an oil bath. Come on!"

Nova Storm smiles faintly as she allows herself to be pulled to the rim of the transformer-scale Jacuzzi. Only then does Slipstream let go of her arm and drop down to sit on the rim before sliding in.

Must feel peculiar, soaking in a slurry of organic molecules like that. Most kinds of Oil aren't exactly water-like in their fluidity.

Nova Storm looks around nervously. "Are you sure-?"

"Yes!"

Relax a little, honey. You just came back from the dead. So live it up.

Nova Storm looks me over. "The big guy not joining us?"

"Don't make me pull you in." Slipstream manoeuvres over to the far side of the tub before taking a sitting position, her head only just over the top of the liquid. "I thought you were dead, Nova. Permanently dead."

Especially if the Pull frame isn't very flexible-looking. Some 'bots just aren't that flexible.

Nova Storm pats her torso again. "Yeah, I… Kinda did, too. I-." She turns away from me and makes eye contact with the softly-glaring Slipstream. "Okay."

She awkwardly drops to a crouch before shifting her legs around and sliding into the oil, causing waves to slop across the tub and splash over Slipstream's face. Slipstream smiles, raising her left hand into the air and wiping the worst of it off. "See?"

Easy with the splash fights, ladies. That stuff's a pain to clean up once it sets.

"Uh…" Nova Storm remains standing for a moment, then slowly lowers herself in. "This is… Nice?"

"Come on, Stormy, is that the best you can-?"

No doubt warmed to just the right temperature to soothe overtaxed struts and myomers...

"Why aren't I dead, Slipstream? I… I remember the attack on Moon Base One. I remember the anti-air emplacements opening fire, I-." She raises her right arm. "I got torn apart. My right arm came off, light was… Leaking out of my spark-"

Oh.

The joy of hyper-detailed memory banks. And an experience like that would be really significant in your short-term logs.

"-case! You don't come back from that!"

I can feel her distress. Not as.. intensely as I can feel Slipstream's emotions, but their bond is still functioning even after… However long it's been. And that indirectly connects her to me. I wonder if she's noticed? Or maybe she just assumed it would and my feedback feels off to her?

Such is the nature of cybertronian bonds. I'm impressed it reconnected after her revival. Like an old network link firing back up...

"I felt-!"

Slipstream leans forwards and lays her right hand on Nova Storm's torso. "That big blue and gold guy? He's called The Last Autobot. He pulled your spark out of the All-Spark and put it back in your body."

So that feeling of awe? It's completely natural. So is the deep, frame-shuddering existential terror of knowing that your God is real and he takes action in the universe.

"So I… Did die?"

Slipstream shrugs. "What is death but another transformation?"

A very philosophical way of looking at it, but she's not wrong, either. One rationale for Sparks is a way for Primus to experience the world through a billion different viewpoints.

"Oh." Nova Storm finally sits down, still sounding a little stunned. "Just as long as I didn't imagine it."

"Imagine what?"

Ooh... memories of her time away from her frame?

"The glowing… I was glowing, and there was.. glowing all around me, and a… Presence. I was.. part of something. Something… I made… Complete? Something… Huge. I don't… Know…"

Slipstream looks past Nova Storm to me, and I feel her worry that she's doing something wrong. I don't know if there's a right way to handle something like this, but I'll always help whenever I can.

For some cybertronians, that is Heaven itself. I wonder what they would think of sparks being pulled away from primus' embrace and shoved back into material frames...

"The All-Spark. The spark of Primus, of which all tranformers possess a small fragment." Nova Storm turns her head my way. "It's where transformers go when they die."

"Oh." Nova Storm slumps slightly in the oil bath. "I thought maybe I imagined it."

It's one thing to have been told that you're part of something larger. It's another entirely to remember being part of it. There's a reason ''Till All Are One' turns up in the continuities as a simple well-wishing phrase...

"Hey." Slipstream wades across the pool and takes Nova Storm's hands in her own. "I know it's a shock, but you're alive, right? And we're here for you."

Nova Storm nods slowly. "Yeah. Ah. Just y-? Ah, just the two of you?"

Turns out most cybertronians would rather rebuild Cybertron than tool about on another planet right now...

"Right now? Yeah. I don't know if we'll get any of the others back. I doubt it, but then I didn't think I'd get you back."

Nova Storm nods again. "The medic was an Autobot, and the Last Autobot… I guess we lost, then."

Talking like she's trying to arrange a reunion of school friends. And honestly, some familiar faces would probably make both of them more comfortable.

"It was really more of a draw..?" Slipstream shrugs. "Optimus Prime died killing Unicron, and Megatron gave up. We found a way to make new energon so we don't need to starve any more… There wasn't any more reason to fight, so the War just sort of… Stopped happening."

This is where uploading a data dump would save so much exposition. Or maybe she is sharing while she talks.

"Oh. Well that's… That's good." Nova Storm looks around at the room again. "How did you afford this?"

Slipstream nods at me. "Like Pull says: 'one man's trash is another man's treasure'. The local species are really primitive compared to us, but there's lots of them and they're easy to keep fuelled."

And they're rather interested in Cybertronian technology. I doubt the crew plans to sell weapons, but those would be a popular seller. And damn if I don't expect Swindle to get in on that stuff sooner or later.

"What's this planet called?"

"The locals call it 'Planet Earth', but it's really more of a layer of rock that built up over… Something else."

Let's just keep that little surprise under your hood for a bit. Knowing the world you're walking about on is wrapped around the frame of the Chaosbringer might be a hell of a shock.

"Something else?"

"Let's-." Slipstream looks awkward. "Let's not worry about that right now. It's not a problem anyway. So, ah, this is-."

Good plan. Best to keep that secret a bit longer. Because sooner or later, some nutter is going to want to try and wake him up again.

"Pull." Nova Storm nods. "You.. said. I guess he's your new team mate..?"

"Conjunx Endura, actually."

And Nova is probably thinking 'Really? I guess there's no accounting for taste...'

"Oh." Nova Storm turns back towards me, looking at me more closely. "H.. uh. I suppose with the.. War over… I though I felt something."

"But there's something else you should know about him."

Best to be upfront about the whole binary-bonding thing. If she's got a dislike of organics, better to learn now before you formalise any kind of working relationship.

"He's an Autobot? Is that why I'm-."

Tsche-chuuuu!

Just had to fit in the classic sounds, didn't you?

Pull's helmet snaps open as my plugs retract, letting me see daylight with my own eyes as I pull myself free. A bit sore as usual, but nothing a few minutes moving around-

"I think he needs the oil bath more if he's got organic parasites."

HA! I like her sense of humour.

-won't fix. I clamber out onto Pull's right shoulder and wave to Nova Storm.

"Allow me to re-introduce myself. I'm Slipstream's husband." I half-turn and point to the implant in the back of my neck. "These let me mimic a normal transformer bond, and that-" I nod towards the transtector body. "-lets me mimic being a transformer."

Quite an experience, being that big, I bet. No wonder the bad guys usually look down on Humans...

"Oh." Nova Storm is staring, clearly unclear how to respond. "How… Interesting."

"It gets better." Slipstream's voice comes from the back of the gantry as her purple-skinned and grey-suited proxy unit walks out of its maintenance module to lean against my back. "I had a new sub-module made so I can interact on their scale. You would not believe the things this body can feel."

Oh, that is going to be an interesting thing for cybertronian society to discover.

I would. Shockwave knows his business.

By Primus does Shockwave know his business.

I wonder if he'll let the rest of Cybertron know that particular business.

Nova Storm is staring blankly at us. "So the little one… Lives in the big guy's head… And is made of meat."

Slipstream blinks. "Yes?"

And what's wrong with being made of meat? It's just another kind of frame driven by a spark.

"That sounds like something Shockwave would make."

"Uhhh…" Slipstream's main head glances at me with a wince. "Funny you should say that..?"

Nova Storm:

"You didn't..." Yeah, I bet that's going to be a hilarious moment when they share just how closely they've worked with the formerly heartless scientist.

Ah, catching up with old friends and new. And the surprises are just beginning for Nova Storm. On the upside, she can live quite the luxurious lifestyle here on Earth. Whether she'll want to, that remains to be seen. It's always fun to see the butterflies adding up from the little interactions Pull and Slipstream have had with the TF

rime cast, and how it'll transform future events.

The spark of Primus, of which all tranformers possess a small fragment.

The spark of Primus, of which all transformers possess a small fragment."

haralo99 · Jul 14, 2024

Hey, how many thundercats crossovers are there? And what are they called?

Mr Zoat · Jul 14, 2024

Chojin Patriarch said:
The spark of Primus, of which all transformers possess a small fragment."

Thank you, corrected.

haralo99 said:
Hey, how many thundercats crossovers are there? And what are they called?

Like, in the world? It doesn't appear to be a particularly popular property for crossovers, but it wouldn't surprise me if there were a couple of hundred.

haralo99 · Jul 14, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
Like, in the world? It doesn't appear to be a particularly popular property for crossovers, but it wouldn't surprise me if there were a couple of hundred.

No, what are the thundercats crossover called in your story?

Mr Zoat · Jul 14, 2024

haralo99 said:
No, what are the thundercats crossover called in your story?

Some here:
Day 297
Lantern Corps, Ho!
Lantern Corps, Ho!
Lantern Corps, Ho!

Doccer · Jul 14, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
So the little one… Lives in the big guy's head… And is made of meat."

Shoulder technically

Mr Zoat · Jul 14, 2024

Doccer said:
Shoulder technically

No, the head opened and he stepped out onto the shoulder.

With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

Not too sore, are you?

Dedicated ragequitter

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Verified Pun

Versed in the lewd.

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Know what you're doing yet?

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Know what you're doing yet?

Lord of nonsense

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Not too sore, are you?

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Know what you're doing yet?

Dedicated ragequitter

Know what you're doing yet?

I trust you know where the happy button is?

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hey, little Anna, you're the one

Experienced.

Connoisseur.

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And Away We Go!

Veteran Lurker

Making the rounds.

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Making the rounds.

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Versed in the lewd.

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