Organized Canine Bureau Special Agent
A red and white Shinsei Industries VF-25F Messiah
Valkyrie fighter without any visible emblem on its tail or anywhere else on its body was seen flying near the city's airspace, minutes after he somehow took off for a supposed combat mission that never came to pass.
"Where the hell am I?" The pilot inside the Valkyrie noted that he wasn't in space. In fact, he's not on Earth since it was light years away from his position in the center of the Milky Way. However, the Messiah had equipment so that it can handle itself on terrestrial atmospheres without much trouble.
Good thing this Valkyrie can handle itself in both space and on the atmosphere. He looked around and saw no hostiles on the radar, not that it could be helpful if his instruments can't really detect anything beyond rogue contractors and military units with terrorists using Valkyries and the occasional space alien.
The red and white Messiah flew down a bit towards Rivermouth City's southern position to get a good look.
And hopefully scout out the city to see if there's anything out of the ordinary.
edited 27th Jul '15 3:47:42 AM by Ominae
"Exit muna si Polgas. Ang kailangan dito ay si Dobermaxx!"
frustrated artist
Morning in the Protectobot headquarters tended to be a slow burn as of late.
With the technological improvements that the Autobots provided the Earth Defense Command, as well as the training and experience fighting giant transforming robots and other assorted alien creatures gave its human and Cybertronian agents, the specialized team became less-needed for major catastrophes. These days, most of their work was what one would consider 'standard' for a search-and-rescue unit: assisting in car crashes, putting out fires, and maybe the occasional cat stuck in a tree.
Maybe that was why Hot Spot was now standing in front of their communications array console, idly tapping his foot on the metal floor and barely making a sound - a testament to how delicate Cybertronian physiology could be - while his red optics remained glued to the illuminated screen.
"Y'know Chief, staring at the video feed like that isn't gonna make something happen."
The larger powder-blue 'Bot glanced back, seeing Streetwise approach with a faint smirk on his lips. If Hot Spot was amused or annoyed by the snark, his faceplate kept it hidden. "Sorry. Guess it's just been too quiet lately. I know Optimus and Rodimus are off on diplomatic business on Nebulos, so I can't help but feel like... something should be happening here, you know?"
"Hey, this is what we've fought for for so long, right?" Streetwise replied, reaching the side of the console and leaning against it. "At least take the time t'savor the peace and quiet."
Hot Spot idly waved a hand. "Anyways, you haven't told me yet what you think of an offworld transfer for us. Get us a bit closer to where the action is now, right?"
Streetwise sighed - a habit he had picked up from human expression - and he cocked his head to one side while looking up at his leader. "Didn't First Aid and Groove veto that a while back?"
"What about you?"
The shorter grey 'Bot kept silent for a moment. "......Then make that thr-"
The sound of static filling the air cut him off. Both 'Bots glanced at the video feed, which had suddenly cut and was replaced by white noise. "...Odd." Hot Spot typed on the console keyboard, soon dividing the screen into what should have been more live feeds around Central City - and all of which were filled with static. "We've lost communication with all our cameras outside." Several more key taps later, and all the broken feeds were replaced by a rudimentary radar system, displaying dozens of moving dots. "There are still humans in the vicinity, and... I'm picking up a bunch of Cybertronian energy signatures."
Streetwise had a hand on his chin now. "Friends of ours?"
A few more key taps. "No clue; they don't match any of the signatures we have on record - Autobot or Decepticon."
"...Whaaat's goin' on, guys?" The somewhat-slurred tone of voice was soon followed by Groove, who walked into the control center with a hand on the back of his neck. With the way he was moving slowly and his rather lazy gait, it was obvious he had just woken up.
"Good timing Groove," Streetwise said, starting for the ramp to the hidden base's rear exit while motioning the confused Groove to follow him. "Something's knocked all our cameras out, and now we've got some visitors from home."
Groove's faint look of exasperation said it all. "Recon this early? Man, I knew I should'a stayed in my chamber for a few more minutes..."
"No complaining now," Hot Spot interjected, making Groove crinkle his face a little more. "We need eyes up there; Primus knows who our little 'visitors' are. I'll let Blades and First Aid know what's going on once they're awake - keep me posted in the meantime."
"Right, right..." Despite his lazy tone, Groove dutifully transformed, his frame shrinking at the same time; Streetwise transformed as well. Soon, a grey police car and a human-sized patrol motorcycle sat in the middle of the control center, holographic drivers shimmering into view in their respective drivers' seats.
True to the disguise aspect of Cybertronians, the Protectobot headquarters blended into its surroundings perfectly: a simple, late-80s apartment building that was neither spit-shine new nor decrepit, complete with a billboard advertising a popular drink called 'E Cola'. Internal shielding meant that it was invisible to nearly all radar systems, and its communications array utilized special sub-frequency ranges to further avoid detection.
Normally, the first floor section of its similarly-disguised front-facing facade would open upward to allow the Protectobots and their allies to enter and exit the base. This time though, a smaller garage door opened in the rear of the building instead, and Streetwise and Groove quietly drove out into the alleyway. As both turned onto the road, Streetwise pulled to a stop, his holographic driver glancing around with a wary eye.
"What're you doin'?" Groove asked over their shared comm link; ahead, the motorcycle pulled to the side and its holographic driver glanced back.
"......Sorry," Streetwise replied, his driver sharing his momentary lapse by shaking its head. "Thought I saw something."
"Well, c'mon then - the sooner we can finish this, the sooner I can get some more shut-eye!"
Groove pulled back onto the street and continued on, with Streetwise following behind. Wasn't there a car repair shop at the end of our alley?...
edited 30th Jul '15 10:47:57 PM by Demovere
Peace. Pace. Sanity. Check out my DeviantArt! ^_^
Fear me
-With a grunt, Tychus Findlay awakes to the buzzing and beeping of dozens of alarm lights, the Odin's various sensors reporting massive changes in atmospheric conditions, gravity and starnav maps.-
Uh? We there yet?
-Tychus looks to the viewscreens indicating his exterior. To his considerable shock, the industrial and run-down hangar of the specially-fitted Zeus transport is gone, replaced by what appears to be a half-finished construction site in a city with an ocean in the distance.-
Oh, now that ain't right...
-Tychus flicks the Odin's communicator on, having turned it off to avoid detection during boarding.-
Jimmy? Pardner? Can ya read me?
-Complete silence is the only answer. Tychus quickly grabs a large handwritten sign carrying instructions on how not to leave the communicator stuck on transmit, but finds everything in accordance with the diagrams.-
-Tychus thinks hard and fast for a few seconds. How did he get here? The Dominion would have blown up the Odin rather than let it get away, Jimmy's boys... Could they have gotten him on the wrong transport? Tychus cracks a smile at the thought of chewing out Jim's buddy Horner for that big a screwup. But no, it couldn't possibly have landed him here without him noticing... Jim's Protoss buddies?-
Ahh, this ain't gettin' me nowhere.
-Tychus opens the thoughtfully-provided fridge and downs a beer. His mind now more at ease, he can move on to more pressing concerns. The first thing to do is to find out where he is.-
-Disengaging himself from the pilot's chair, Tychus exits the cockpit, grabbing his chaingun and a satchel of grenades on the way down. After the elevator ride to the access hatch, he clambers down and looks up. Even in its fully retracted state, the war machine sticks out like a sore thumb, rather like iits pilot in bright blue Power Armor and equally unsubtle minigun currently lighting a cigar. Now fully prepared to face whatever the galaxy has decided to send at him, Tychus heads out of the construction site to get some answers.-
Amuro awoke, it was dark, all he could see was the barely lit screen of the computer at his feet, where was he? Last he could recall was trying to stop the Axis from falling on the planet, killing millions, and Char fighting him one last time.
As far as Amuro could tell he was still in the Nu Gundam's cockpit, he booted up the Mobile Suit and took notice when the System listed all the addons he had given it were still there. Odd...
With the Panoramic Cockpit finally working he noticed that his Nu Gundam was slouched, in a city. This was getting werid.
Akuma Shogun
Las Gias
A giant pink-haired robot girl in armor is roaming the peaceful plains of Las Gias without a care in the world. If it weren't for the joints, you'd definitely think she's a giant.
She's humming a tune until a dark portal shows up in front of her. She gasps and tries to run away from it before it sucks her in. She fails, and gets sucked in.
Robot's cockpit
Inside of the robot's cockpit, a blonde tomboy wearing a pilot suit wakes up and looks around her new surroundings. She notices the tourists outside the robot either running away or enthusiastically taking pictures.
"Boy, this is gonna be one of those days, huh?"
Breath of the Sun
A metal cylinder rolled towards him. The great metal man that for months had lain at the Langjökull Glacier picked it up and examined it a moment.
The last piece.
It rolled up his arm and screwed itself into the side of his head, fixing his metal jaw. He moved it up and down a moment to make sure it was in place.
The Iron Giant was whole once more.
He rose to his feet, the ice melting beneath them, and blasted off into the sky. He flew up, searching for the place he had been. Searching for his friend. Hogar-
The world spun and flipped and then there was a huge splash. As he came to his senses, the Iron Giant noticed he was near the shoreline. The water he was sitting in didn't even reach his waist. In front of him was a beach, and on that beach were many humans. Some were still in the water even. Swimming. Fun.
All activity on the beach had ceased on his arrival, save for a few children trying to swim back to the beach after being knocked away by the wave he had no doubt created when landing. The Iron Giant carefully plucked them out of the water and set them safely on shore.
"Sorry... for... splash..." He told them in his great, deep voice. Rising out of the waves, he lifted into the air once more and hovered over the city, making sure not to damage anything with the exhaust from his feet.
What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?
One Brunch Man
Beachfront
A steady stream of beachgoers walked along the pier, navigating the summer heat like mosquitoes flowing through amber. The sea breeze tempered the omnipresent chatter and the constant roar of the breaking waves. People of all walks of life looked forward to the sun, sand, and sea—but for a select few, their looks veered toward something more bizarre. Plodding through people moved to and from the beachfront was an unusual sight; a blue haired boy riding in what looked like a red-framed head with arms and legs.
"S-sorry. I'm sorry. Sorry, I don't... I'm sorry..." Simon mumbled. His skin prickled under the curious stares of passerby, spearing the sweat dripping down his back like the chassis of enemy Ganmen. He didn't know how he got here, to this place with more people than he had ever seen in his life. But he knew that if he could find Kamina, his blood brother, everything would be alright.
But despite ostensibly looking for someone, old habits kicked in hard as his apologies petered out in favor of keeping his head down and moving forward. Because of that, he heard the fair before he saw it; a lilting set of calliope notes lobbed into the thick July sky like gliding seagulls. He looked up, at the carnival flashing in splendid dynamic color just a short distance away, across a boardwalk stretched before him like the mottled skin of a snake. Simon bit his lip in muted wonder as his eyes traced the path of the ferris wheel in the distance, and Lagann's stumpy leg tentatively prodded the weathered wood.
Spying an unattended beach umbrella, Simon walked Lagann over and parked it underneath, the profile of the open cockpit and the umbrella making it look like a cocktail glass. Simon gripped the drill-shaped activation key tight in his fist like a ward against evil before stepping forward into the proverbial wonderland with a smile of enchanted wonder at the mundane spectacle.
edited 25th Jul '15 10:33:47 PM by Uncandescent
If I had that kind of power, I'd have dropped a meteor on your house ages ago~
Wille Evangelion transport and support vessel Novorossiysk, Wunder Support Fleet
The entry plug was almost totally silent, the only sounds echoing through its liquid-filled interior the background hum of the life support systems. It was almost meditative, really - while the technicians and scientists were busy monitoring her sync ratio, the only thing Mari Makinami needed to do was sit there. The Princess was almost certainly incredibly bitter about it (she was bitter about a lot of things, really) but Mari had to smile. The world was in tatters, they were on the run from NERV's Evas, but the weekly sync tests went on.
Still, we must be getting close to being done... Mari sat forward in her seat, stretching her arms above her head and stretched, drawing in a deep breath and filling her nose with the tangy, metallic scent of ionised LCL. Even after seven years, it was still her favourite smell in the world.
GLUNK
The heavy noise broke the silence, accompanied by a sudden drop - Mari barely registered it, besides the sudden dip in her stomach, but it was enough to send a spike of adrenaline through her system. She reached up and opened a com line to the control room, then flicked an external camera on too. All she saw was the huge curved roof of the storage chamber, but it was better than being blind. She could see a few technicians reeling on the deck beside her Eva’s prone form - had something hit the ship?
"Guys? What's going on?" A babble of confused voices was all the reply she got, followed by a "pilot, please stand by". Mari frowned. Something was up.
Rivermouth City, beachfront
The merry beachgoers might have noticed (or, perhaps not, all things considered,) the sudden appearance of the Novorossiysk just off-shore. The massive vessel, looking roughly like an aircraft carrier with a huge metal half-cylinder embedded in its main deck, bobbed in the water for a little while, as if it had suddenly dropped a short distance into the sea.
A short while later, following a bustle of activity on the ship’s deck, the cylinder rotated open, and the huge pink-armoured form of Unit 08 vaulted out and splashed to its feet, tethered to the ship by its power cable.
Mari raised her pistol and swept it from side to side, but soon lowered the weapon as she took in the sight before her, an incredulous smile on her face. “OK, what the hell?”
edited 26th Jul '15 12:17:22 AM by Gaunt88
Rivermouth City, Southern Industrial District
Prowl wasn't lost, because being lost was something that happened to other 'bots. Prowl was just... directionally indisposed at the moment. The streets weren't particularly packed, but every so often a curious human would look up at the odd convoy and just as quickly return to whatever they were doing - tapping on their phones, lounging on benches. But then, at the same time, there seemed to be something off with the way that people were acting. Prowl hadn't spent that much time interacting one-on-one with humans (for more reasons than he cared to dig up right now) but there was something decidedly off in the way that these humans were acting. Something about the way they acted, or maybe it was the way that they talked with one another, babbling about nothing of any consequence.
Perhaps he was just imagining things. Or humans had just always been this vapid and mindless and he had never really deigned to notice it. After all, getting kidnapped and forcibly deposited somewhere on Earth didn't exactly sit well in the processor. He turned his attention away from the strange humans for a moment, and focussed his attention elsewhere. One positive note, at least: there was very little traffic on the roads, making things just that much easier for the bulky construction machines tailing him.
"You sure that..."
"... you know where we're going?" There was that unsettling thing the Constructicons had starting doing as of late, the weirdly prescient way they finished each other's sentences.
"Yes- I mean no- I mean, of course I don't know where I'm going," Prowl finally admitted. The words came out a bit more peevish than he wanted them to, but there were bigger things at stake at the moment than mere social etiquette. "I mean, we've all been abducted for some reason and dumped here, and then..." Prowl paused for a moment.
"Boss?" That was Long Haul; the dump truck butted into the conversation with all of the grace and elegance of his altmode. "I think that I'm picking up something. Something sorta familiar. You know, that kind of feeling when you see something new, but you can't shake that feeling that you've seen it before? Like that."
"He's right. I'm getting it too." Bonecrusher was never the most intelligent or mentally agile of 'bots, but if even he could figure out that something was weird than something was definitely wrong. Prowl ran another quick scan of the area, searching for any peculiar or abnormal energy signatures. Compared to the normal levels of background radiation and heat levels, there were definitely abnormal hot spots popping up all over this strange island city. And several of them seemed to belong to Cybertronians.
If Prowl wasn't Prowl, he probably would have been on his knees right now, thanking Adaptus or Prima for the fact that they weren't completely alone in this strange human city. They didn't seem to belong to Autobots - or Decepticons, or even NAILs, but for the moment they were Cybertronian and that was what really counted. "Alright," said Prowl, knowing the Constructicons would follow him without even thinking. "Me, Hook, and Long Haul are going to try and find these other Cybertronians and see what's happened. "Mixmaster, Scavenger, Bonecrusher- you head to the other end of the city; that's where most of these new non-Cybertronian energy signatures is coming. Sing out if something happens."
If this were a normal fighting unit, there'd be a salute or a 'yessir' or some kind of acknowledgement that an order had been issued. But the Constructions hadn't been an ordinary fighting unit for years now. They didn't need things like that to understand one another anymore, for better or for worse.
Stil in vehicle mode, the mismatched combo of vehicles threaded their way through the city, trying to find the other Cybertronians. It was a perfect plan. Or at the very least, it would have been, if not for the sudden earthquake.
As earthquakes go, it was hardly a shiver on the Richter scale; a few flowerpots went vibrating across tables and smashed to bits on floors, a few pots and pans came crashing down in apartments all across the city. But it was still an earthquake, and it was an earthquake that seemed too coincide a bit too perfectly with these new arrivals. Or maybe it was nothing, thought the inhabitants of the city as they began sweeping up bits of crockery. Most of them were too preoccupied with snapping pictures of the weird new machines parading up and down the beach note to pay attention to the sudden swell of displaced water that broke along the shoreline.
Maybe things sometimes happen for no reason.
Rivermouth City, City Center
Amid towering skyscrapers and high-rises, a rather different sort of giant had emerged. Scuttling with frightening speed and gouging chunks out of the road with jagged feet, a colossal praying mantis strode through the city, flexing monstrous clawed forelimbs, chittering and shrieking all the while.
The creature known as Preytor had only minutes ago been engaged in deadly combat with a similarly oversized ape in an entirely different city, in an entirely different world. This wasn't any particular cause for concern. An insect's mind, such as it was, wasn't up to contemplating this sort of thing, and Preytor was no different. Her only drive at this moment was lashing out blindly at anything she perceived as a threat, which was anything she perceived at all.
edited 29th Jul '15 4:51:56 PM by Vox
frustrated artist
"...Groove?"
"Yeah?"
"I don't think we're in Central City anymore."
"...Oh good, s'not just me then."
The two Protectobots cruised down the street at a leisurely pace, Groove just behind Streetwise. Both internally noted how... clear the streets were, letting them drive at a slightly-slower speed than usual and take a look around. After the first two turns they made, it quickly became clear to both that none of the usual landmarks around their hidden base were around, sparking concern as to where and how their base had been moved.
More concerning was the way the humans around them were acting. Streetwise would always keep an audio receptor open whenever he did his daily patrol; while Central City was one of the safest cities on Earth thanks to the Autobots' first Earthen base having crashed been established nearby, the citizens were still ordinary citizens. Some would be talking about how stressful work was that day, while others would be celebrating their son's birthday a few blocks down; some would be annoyed by how bright and hot it was, others would be enjoying a stroll down the street with their significant other.
Here - wherever this unfamiliar city was - people were still chatting about an eclectic array of topics, but there was practically no negativity... no complaints about anything. They seemed too relaxed. Too happy. It all made even Groove, the 'Bot between the two who would clamor the loudest for such a peaceful place, feel on edge, and his driver visibly shook its head. "Okay, this is gettin' kinda creepy..."
"I've tapped into the local frequencies," Hot Spot reported over their comm links, "and it sounds like there have been 'sightings' of some kind south of where we are. Local law enforcement and ERTs have already started responding to them, and are on route."
"We'll check up on the Cybertronian folks near here before we head down there, Chief," Streetwise said, turning another corner. "You might wanna send Blades and First Aid in the meantime."
"Gotcha."
After another turn, the two Protectobots found the source of their signal. Down the street, coming towards them on the other side of the road were three vehicles: a police-decoed heavy truck* ... and a green-and-purple crane and dump truck behind it, all traveling in a convoy.
"...Should I be worried that I can see what looks like two Constructicons slowly driving towards us?" came Groove's apprehensive tone over their sub-range frequency. Behind Streetwise, the motorcycle slowed slightly, and its driver straightened his posture as if tensing up.
"Could just be a coincidence," Streetwise replied, though even he had his own twinge of concern. Still, he knew that some things were not always how they appeared; for all he knew, these could just be Cybertronians who coincidentally chose the same color scheme. And vehicle modes. And then there was the heavily-armored police vehicle apparently leading them. "What was that Earth saying: 'fortune favors the bold'?..."
Groove's driver couldn't help but show an exasperated face as Streetwise picked up some speed. He hesitated for a moment, before driving after his comrade.
Once he was close enough, Streetwise's driver leaned out his window slightly, waving a hand to flag down the other police vehicle before coming to a stop beside it. "Hey there stranger," his driver greeted casually: an African-American man in his 30s
◊ wearing a well-pressed police uniform. "Don't think I've seen you around - "
The earth itself suddenly wanted in on the conversation, cutting Streetwise off. Behind him, Groove seemed to wobble a bit under the mild quake* before his driver dropped his kickstand with a foot* to keep him upright. Ahead, Streetwise's driver glanced around, an eyebrow raised. "I'm not the only one who felt that, am I?"
edited 30th Jul '15 2:07:36 PM by Demovere
Peace. Pace. Sanity. Check out my DeviantArt! ^_^
Fear me
-Tychus' cigar passes from one side of his mouth to the other. The commlink to the Odin in his suit warned him of the quake, but it's the complete and utter lack of response from the civilians that gets to him. Not that he minds being the center of attention, but the fact that people can see him and not want to change sidewalks, run away or prove themselves tougher than him is a new one. A new form of Zerg virus that keeps people happy and complacent, minus the mutations? And then a bug no smaller than the skyscrapers comes stomping through, looking nothing like the Zerg he'd already seen.-
Aw crap.
-No match for a monster this size, Tychus hauls ass back to the Odin, hoping the creature will be too busy eating civilians to notice him.-
edited 29th Jul '15 10:58:17 PM by Chabal2
Organized Canine Bureau Special Agent
The pilot caught sight of the Iron Giant, the Valsione R and the Lagaan at the beach when he made the Valkyrie go a bit lower.
Looks like I'm not the only foreigner from out of this place.
He caught sight of something in the water. Looked like an aircraft carrier of all things.
"Radar's working." The radar indicated their presence in the area. That was until he caught sight of Preytor. Its big size wasn't something anyone can easily miss.
What the? The pilot went to work on the radio and tried to see if he can communicate to police, civil defense force or maybe some military authority on the island.
"If anyone can hear me, my name is Yuto Kagura." The pilot announced his name on the comms. "I'm reporting the strange sighting of a bug-like creature in the city. I can't tell if it's a hostile or not."
Yuto maneuvered his Valkyrie to fly towards Preytor, except that he flew the aircraft by flying above altitude to conduct recon.
"Exit muna si Polgas. Ang kailangan dito ay si Dobermaxx!"
Amuro started up the Nu Gundam and took to the sky, he needed to observe the world around him, as he rose up he noticed something, other humanoid forms around the city, around the size of the Nu Gundam if not taller.
Perhaps they are other Mobile Suits developed here he thought. Anything was possible, he hadn't expected himself to develop Newtype abilities for one... or stop the Axis with the Nu Gundam.
Last he could recall was hearing the despair of every human on Earth as the Axis came close, the cries of pain of all the Neo Zeong and Londo Bell soldiers as they tried in vain to stop Char's plan.
How was he here, was this the afterlife? A form of purgatory?
Perhaps one of the other humanoids around would know.
An Abandoned Warehouse
This part of town rarely saw many people anymore. This was the section behind the factories where all the storage was. Aside from the few workers coming to and from the storage, there wasn't a lot of pedestrians through this area. Not all of the storage was constantly in use of course, there were some warehouses that just sat empty.
It was in one of these warehouses that King Gainer sat unmoving. The dreadlocked Overman sat with its back to the wall and head tilted downward, almost looking like it was asleep. Inside of the cockpit within its torso, the pilot was starting to stir. Gainer did not normally fall asleep inside of King Gainer's cockpit. He looked around in a bit of a fog as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Maybe he'd been tuning it for too long?
He hit a few buttons to bring King Gainer online, causing the Overman's head to lift. As the inside display kicked on Gainer's confusion grew as it became clear that he was not in Yapan's Ceiling anymore. Now very confused, Gainer moved King Gainer to stand up and walk over to the doorway of the warehouse. He pulled it open to see a city scape that looked very foreign to him. It was like something out of a history book.
The young gamer took a moment to take his jacket off, since it was much warmer here than he was used to. Then King Gainer jumped into the air, creating a ring over energy for it to pass through and begin flying upwards. The Overman soared over the buildings as Gainer tried to survey his surroundings. One thing he was sure of was that this was no where in Siberia. SO how in the world did he get here?
Unknown Location
Rei sat up. The room she'd woken up in was almost identical to her apartment in Tokyo-3, with the same spartan decor and minimal furniture.
But there was also something off about it. Like it was little more than a very realistic facsimile. Some things were off, like the lack of the persistent rumble of demolition and construction traffic in the surrounding area.
Having dressed herself in one of the many copies of her school uniform in the closet, she opened the door.
Rivermouth City
The cityscape that greeted her was definitely not the utilitarian Tokyo-3 skyline.
I do not understand. Where is this?
"Yup. That tasted purple."
Koji Kabuto was not happy.
For months after his grandfather's death he'd opposed the forces of Doctor Hell with the Mazinger Z. Until finally, he and his allies had managed to destroy them. Only for it to be revealed they had been pawns of a greater menace all along, the subterranean Mikene Empire.
Worse, the Mikene monsters were more powerful than Hell's mecha-beasts had ever been. They actually succeeded in defeating the Mazinger! (Though if asked, Koji would point out they had him outnumbered.) He only survived thanks to the interference of a new Mazinger, the "Great" Mazinger, a robot that, it turned out, had been developed by his own father, Kenzo Kabuto- who was STILL alive! His life was saved by Yuso, who used his knowledge of robotics to turn him into a cyborg.
All of this was a huge shock to Koji. While he could understand his father's motives for keeping the fact he had survived from him and his brother Shiro -he felt like a half-human freak- he still was bitter about it. And as glad as he was to have been saved, part of him was jealous of the new Mazinger's pilot, Tetsuya, whom Kenzo had raised. It was for these reasons, more than anything, that he left Japan to study in the United States, leaving Tetsuya in charge of dealing with The Mikene.
Eventually though, Koji realized he was overreacting. He returned to Japan, to find that the original Mazinger had been repaired, and together the two mighty robots finally put an end to the Mikene threat.
So now, Koji was back in the Photon Research Lab. He had taken the Z out for a test after it had some minor fixings done. As he flew in it over the countryside, however, the skies suddenly grew dark- and a storm formed around him virtually from nowhere!
"What the..?" he barely had time to say, when something- lightning?- struck the robot! Whatever it was, he felt it right through the insulated cockpit.
For a moment, the world felt like it was spinning, and then he realized they were falling! But he managed to regain control and stabilize his flight path.
And then he noticed the storm was gone.
"Okay, this is NOT normal" he mumbled aloud. He decided to ask the lab for help.
"Photon Research Lab, this is Koji. Something- strange just happened to me. Did you detect any unusual weather phenomena?"
But the only answer he got was static.
"Huh? Photon Research Lab, do you copy?"
Nothing.
He fiddled with the radio. The only thing he got was a few commercial radio stations.
That tears it, something DEFINITELY is going on, he decided. He turned the Mazinger around and flew in the direction of the lab.
...Only to not find it.
"The Hell? It should be around here!" he realized. He was flying over some land he didn't recognize.
He did spot a city in the distance. Not knowing what else to do, he flew towards it.
The city wasn't familiar either. Before he was done exploring from the air, though, he spotted a giant bug walking across the city- it reminded him an awful lot of a Mikene monster! Were they back?? Well he knew there was only one thing to do with monsters: DESTROY THEM!
And he landed the robot in the street, right in front of the creature.
edited 30th Jul '15 6:24:54 PM by Sijo
Akuma Shogun
Beach
The Valsione R spots the unusual Huckebein (aka the Nu Gundam). In the cockpit, Lune scratches her head in confusion. It sort of reminds her of the EX-Exbein during the Gaia Saber Wars, but it's white, has no back holster for a T-Link Sword, has yellow head-fins like its Huckebein predecessors, and its T-Link Sliders are hanging off one of its shoulders.
Still, it doesn't hurt to be friendly to anyone Lune encounters in this unknown planet. What may be an unknown one day, may be an ally another day, right? Lune activates the Direct Motion Link System in her cockpit, and the Valsione R waves at the Nu Gundam and speaks up.
"Hey! Mind telling me where I am?"
As soon as Lune used the Valsione R to communicate with the weird Huckebein, the radio in the cockpit activates. She listens and briefly replies, "Wait... What?! Is that thing from this world?!"
This world is beginning to look weirder and weirder by the second, and then Lune spots the robot with the jetpack landing next to the gigantic insect. Lune sighs in confusion and watches the scene play out.
edited 30th Jul '15 6:36:32 PM by josh6243
The communication system of the Nu Gundam blared to life as Amuro recieved a transmission, two in fact. It seemed Minovsky radiation didn't exist here, well not yet. The Nu Gundam still had its own Minovsky fusion reactor.
One was a greeting from a nearby Humanoid Machine. Amuro turned the Nu Gundam to the source as the computers traced the transmission, that and he started to listen for the feelings of others nearby.
The other was somewhat of a distress call for a location called Photon Labs. Odd name, Amuro wondered if it was related to Anaheim.
He approached the Insect like Mobile Suit and landed the New Gundam, shield out, he had been lured before into a few traps with a friendly greeting so he wanted to be prepared.
"Hello who goes there?"
Koji was taken by surprise by the Gundam's appearance; while the thing in front of him may or may not be a robot, the newcomer definitely was- and it was armed for battle!
Then he got the message, "Hello who goes there?"
Is this a joke? Who in Japan doesn't know the Mazinger by now?
IF he was even in Japan, he started to wonder.
While still keeping an eye on the giant mantis, Koji responded, "I'm Koji Kabuto. Who are you, and what's going on here?"
edited 30th Jul '15 8:33:51 PM by Sijo
"I'm Amuro Ray, pilot to the Nu Gundam. And I am sorry to say but I wish I knew. I don't know how I got here," was Amuro's response.
"Odd Mobile Suit you have there Kyoji... if it is even called a Mobile Suit."
The Gundam was scanning the Mazinger, noting for anything unusual. Amuro had to be careful or else he could accidentally set ofd the funnels again.
The Gundam noted that the odd red part of the crown design was actually a cockpit and seemed seperable like a core fighter. Then there were the forearms... Bits perhaps?
One Brunch Man
Beach Front
Simon had never had ice cream before, and something called “Rocky Road” certainly didn’t sound appetizing. But it had been nice of the man to let him try some for nothing more than the bits of metal and bullet casings he had in his pockets, so he felt obliged to try.
But just then then he realized he was not alone, as the Valkyrie swooped overhead and set his shirt flapping in the light breeze. “I guess it isn’t so different here after all…” Simon said quietly to himself, watching with wide eyes as the Iron Giant took to the sky. His attention was drawn to a large, pink figure in the distance when the quake hit, and the cone’s top slid like a tectonic plate.
Simon barely noticed as it hung precariously on the edge, busy drawing into himself and shaking his head as smoke thickened on the horizon. “No… there’s no reason to get involved. I’ll just get in the way.” He whispered to himself, stepping into the shadow of a nearby booth. His eyes fell to the Rocky Road in his hand, and after a moment's deliberation, made to take it.
What are you doing, little brother?
Simon’s head perked up, and made a furtive glance in either direction.
Remember, don’t believe in yourself.
Simon looked down at the Core Drill around his neck, gathering the necklace in his palm. It glowed, faintly.
Believe in the me, who believes in you!
The cone fell to the ground top-first, sending a crack rippling upward. As Simon hurried toward the beach, kicking his feet up behind him in a heedless run, the disheveled vanilla-trimmed treat looked like nothing so much as a bolt of lightning striking a snow-covered mountain.
“H-hey! M-mister monster man!”
If the Iron Giant looked down, he would find a small red mecha about the size of its head trying to keep pace with the Giant via a booster on the tiny mech’s back. Through intermittent bursts of green flame, it would get level with the giant, making “eye” contact via the face that covered the entirety of the mech’s front.
Inside the cockpit, Simon glanced anxiously through the external cameras at the pink mech’s command base in the distance, and then at the commotion in the city. His hands tightened over Lagann’s grips, and he looked back into the Giant’s searchlight eyes. He swallowed and steeled his resolve, glancing for a moment at the Core Drill embedded in its slot.
“Where are we?” Simon challenged through his speakers. “And where are my friends?”
Southern Financial District
Amid the glimmering mirror sheen affected by the midday skyscrapers, a red giant stood motionless in one of the many plazas. Daylight sunk deep into the gigantic sunglasses mounted on the giant’s headless face-sporting torso while people flowed around and between its legs like a river around a rock.
“Modern art is so weird.” One of them said, holding his camera sideways to snap a picture.
Some feet away, where the plaza flowed back into a street, an electronics store window hosted a menagerie of televisions. They all featured different sizes, shapes, and picture resolution, with only one common trait between them: a coordinated assault on the senses in the form of an insistent but curiously redundant message.
“Visit scenic Rivermouth City!”
Inside the store, an overwhelmed employee wiped the sweat off of his brow as he considered the man’s question. “Well, let’s see, uh, I guess the fastest way to get on those TV screens would be to go to the television station. But they’re not just going to let you get on the air. I mean, who the hell do you think you are?”
Underneath a pair of spiky orange sunglasses, a manly smile erupted.
edited 30th Jul '15 9:33:29 PM by Uncandescent
If I had that kind of power, I'd have dropped a meteor on your house ages ago~
Nu Gundam? Koji wondered. He had never heard of it, and he was pretty familiar with most Mecha of his world.
"No, this isn't a 'Mobile Suit'- it's a Mazinger. They are like, THE best robots in the world, never heard of them?"
Koji was starting to think that, as he had heard people say in America, 'they weren't in Kansas anymore.'
edited 30th Jul '15 9:27:22 PM by Sijo
"No. Doesn't seem properly built for AMBAC needed for space combat," Amuro noted, "The Nu Gundam is a Mobile Suit with the Psycoframe system allowing me to control it with my mind."
Mazinger, odd name, from the way Kyoji spoke about it made it seem like it should be obvious or at the very least widely known. But in all his years of military service he had not seen a machine like that.
It's been one week since you looked at me.
The old gray boom box sits on a metal windowsill somewhere in Rivermouth City’s downtown sector, blaring music that can barely be heard over the omnipresent white noise of a city in motion. A hand reaches out and cranks up the faded plastic dial. The corroded old fire escape seems to rattle in time to the tinny music.
Cocked your head to the side and said, "I'm angry."
Pull back and look at the entire apartment building. It’s an old brownstone apartment, an ugly postwar remnant from a time when housing needed to be quickly and cheaply constructed. It’s one of a series; a whole row of apartments thinly separated by thin strips of poorly-watered grass. This is the kind of architectural sight that's almost entirely vanished from Rivermouth, an affluent city that has thrown itself wholeheartedly into the futurist revolution.
Five days since you laughed at me.
It’s a sticky, lazy morning. The kind of morning that makes even the most acclimatized residents of the city want to batten down the hatches, crank up the air conditioning, and simply roll back into bed. Below the brownstone there are taxis and busses, bikers and motorcyclists, even a few brave joggers and dog-walkers moving languidly through the hot air. In the middle of the city, where the great winding river cuts the city neatly in half, office workers scurry from cubicle to cubicle like well-dressed ants. A sleek monorail purrs over the roadway, suspended on a private elevated rail of its own.
Hold it now and watch the hoodwink
A city might never sleep, but it can definitely show up to work late and put in a half-assed effort.
This is one of those days.
Gotta see the show, 'cause then you'll know that vertigo is gonna grow
Pull back again, to the very edge of the city.
On the beaches, tourists are already putting in a hard day’s relaxation on the beaches, their silhouettes turning the white coastline into a freckled mosaic of greasy sunscreen and tanning lotion. Even if you’re standing on one of the sweltering avenues, it’s possible to hear the hypnotic clink of ice against glass from one of the many beach bars and luxury resorts that line the southern end of the island. The many refurbished coffee shops are largely empty, save for the most hardened of caffeine addicts. This is not a morning for a steaming hot cup of overpriced java.
Trying hard not to smile though I feel bad.
Now pull back one last time and take a look at the whole island. Maybe at one point in its history it was a verdant green paradise worthy of Robinson Crusoe, but for as long as anyone can remember Rivermouth City has lived up to its namesake, a metropolis of glass, steel, and neon.
It’s the middle of July, and the heat is oppressive as ever. It’s been this way for as long as anyone can remember. The dog days of summer run into one another as they always seem to do, creating a blissful golden dream. It’s too hot to really do anything of importance. Maybe that’s why the airport has been closed for the past… week? Month? Year? It’s hard to keep track of the passage of time, and nobody knows why.
Even the ferry service, which is supposed to make regular runs to and from the mainland, hasn’t showed up for a while. Anyway, the tourists keep coming from somewhere, and as long as there’s tourism there’s money, and as long as there’s money we can pay the rent, but it would be nice if we just knew where… where… wouldn’t a glass of something cold and fruit-flavoured hit the spot right about now? It’s strange how hard it is to stay focussed these days, like you’re trying to not think about something big. Maybe it's even something sinister.
It’s probably nothing, though.
Wanna see a movie?
Prowl was in a bad mood.
This was a remarkable feat, considering that your average laybot’s interpretation of Prowl was that he was pretty much always in a bad mood, and on those rare occasions when he wasn’t in a bad mood, he was preparing to enter a bad mood or about to put somebody else in a bad mood.
The fact that he was not screaming and punching the walls was a testament to his prodigious willpower. His team had failed him. Or maybe he had failed his team. Combining was an experience that didn't lend itself well to personal pronouns. Maybe the best way to summarize is was that they had failed one another.
For a brief moment he —they— had seized their objective against all the odds. The Enigma, the whole reason why they had come to this planet, had been within their grasp... and then everything had just gone wrong. Spike had ruined the whole operation. Devastator’s rage at the mere sight of the human had overwhelmed all of them. It had taken the rest of their strike team to bring them down and in the confusion Prowl had been betrayed.
Prowl grimaced and suppressed the urge to just hit the next person he saw.
The Constructicons were off in another part of the ship, sullenly slumped together in a defeated pile of green and purple. Maybe they were just as miserable as he was and wanted to be left alone. Maybe they were just as mad at him as he was at them. Maybe it was something to do with the combination process.
Prowl wiped another clump of semi-dried energon away from his mouth and stared at the ugly smear on his hand. He just didn’t know how combiners worked, slag it, and there was nothing that made Prowl angrier than not knowing something.
For some reason, his head began to hurt. Or at the very least, his normal post-combination headache was getting worse. Something was most definitely wrong, and this was worrying enough that Prowl temporarily forgot his anger. It seemed as if the air around him was melting, time and space flowing around him, and then –
There was a horrible sensation of temporarily being turned inside out, and then Prowl was gone.
And then Prowl reappeared. Blue skies, diminutive buildings. He was on Earth; a nanosecond’s analysis told him that he had materialized inside a major settlement. Another nanosecond's analysis told him that he seemed to have popped into existence on the outskirts of an industrial sector of the city.
Years spent undercover on Earth immediately kicked in. Wheels replaced legs, armor plating shifted and reorganized themselves as he quickly resumed his police SUV alternate mode and assessed the situation from the relative safety of his disguise.
Orbital bounce gone awry? No, that couldn’t be right – there were none of the charged particles one would associate with a conventional orbital bounce. He tried to radio the Ark and found static on every channel. His global positioning system was completely offline. He had absolutely no idea where he was on Earth, and as far as he was concerned, he was completely lost.
“Boss?”
The bevy of construction vehicles beside him would have fit in almost perfectly in their grimy urban environment... if not for their garish green and purple colour schemes. Hook nervously revved his engine while Mixmaster’s drum spun in what looked like agitation.
“You’ve got a plan for this, right boss?” Scavenger was always the most nervous of the Constructicons, always the quickest to defer to Prowl’s leadership even before they had started regularly combining. Now all of them had been abducted and thrust back on Earth, their internal systems compromised. For all intents and purposes they were completely adrift in a potentially hostile location, and possibly more alone than any Cybertronians had been in a long time.
And Prowl, however angry he was at them, was their de facto leader, and he had to come up with a plan. Some way to find their way home.
“Just follow me,” he said, tires squealing as he pulled out of the vacant lot. With his sirens on and holomatter avatar behind the wheel, he could pass for a local law enforcement officer escorting a convoy of slow-moving construction machinery. Not the most effective or believable disguise, but it was the best he could do for the moment.
Then, after a brief hesitation, “I always have a plan.”
He just needed to come up with one first.
Today was the perfect day for a Long Island iced tea, a comfy wickerwork chair, and a chance to gossip. At least, that was what the young couple currently lounging on a beachside veranda thought. Their chatter was lighthearted, innocent. The cheery guitar track over the radio buoyed their spirits… as did the not-entirely modest amounts of vodka and rum they were currently consuming. Just as one of them was about to finish telling an entirely indecent, rather scandalous, and decidedly slurred narrative about a close friend, one of them stopped. Rubbed his right ear for a moment.
“Did you feel that?”
“Feel what?”
“I think something big just moved.”
Perhaps it was coincidence, perhaps it was some sinister design, but over the suddenly dampened mood it was still possible to hear a radio, obliviously broadcasting its music.
edited 24th Jul '15 7:55:53 PM by Locoman