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wiypt-writes · 3 years

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Stark Spangled Banner

Ch23: In The Flesh Part 2: Unwelcome Distractions

Summary: The Avengers are hot on the trail of Ultron...but once again, things don’t go according to plan and a tangle with the Maximoff twins leaves the team shaken.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Warnings: Bad language, violence and crazy assed robots.

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

A/N: Huge credit to @angrybirdcr for these stunning edits which perfectly capture Steve and Katie’s visions...

Chapter 23 Part 1

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

The normal schedule at the tower was utterly disrupted the next morning. Maria had come to Katie and Steve’s floor to inform them the team was assembling in the lab and had given them both a quick briefing. The previous night they had been able to reboot most of the servers, and the environmental controls of the tower were finally online again, but there was still no trace of the sceptre or the robots. Thor was busy trying to get help from someone on Asgard, Clint was working with some old contacts to see if he could get anything, whilst Tony and Bruce were trying to track him from the lab where Katie had a suspicion they would probably had been all night

The elevator doors opened with a ding; Steve, Katie and Maria exiting and she continued her report on what she had found out about Ultron so far, following them up the stairs as she did.

“He’s all over the globe. Robotics labs, weapons facilities, jet propulsion labs. Reports of a metal man, or men, coming in and emptying the place,”

“Fatalities?” asked Steve.

“Only when engaged,” replied Hill, beginning to type on her tablet while she continued to talk. “Mostly guys left in a fugue state going on about old memories, worst fears, things moving on their own, and 'something too fast to see’.”

“Maximoffs.” Katie concluded.

“That makes sense he’d go to them. They have someone in common,” Steve said nodding as they reached the top of the stairs.

“Not anymore.” Maria replied handing the tablet over to Steve. On it was a picture of Strucker lying on his bed in his cell; dead. On the wall behind him, the word 'peace’ was painted in blood.

“Bit of a mixed message don’t you think?” Steve asked.

“Is it? I mean if it were my mission, world peace, I’d probably take out Strucker too.” Katie shrugged as Steve looked at her, before glancing back down at the tablet in my hands. “Ultron could be in any system, he could be pulling planes down out of the sky if he wanted.” she sighed, “What if he’s just doing what he’s supposed to?”

"If I thought Ultron was bringing peace I’d hang up my shield.” He shook his head, leaning against the banister.

“Would you?” Maria questioned curiously. Steve looked at her, taking a deep breath and cocking his head slightly to the right.

“Let me know if he leaves any more messages.” he said simply, ending the conversation.

Katie shot Maria a look, mouthed thanks at her and then headed after him.

As they walked towards the lab they both heard Clint talking on the phone to someone, apparently someone with authority.

“I answer to you. Yes Ma’am.”

He looked over, saw the Captain and ended the call. “I gotta go…” He looked at Katie, then Steve, waved the phone and said “Girlfriend.”

“Any of your old contacts come through?” Steve asked, seemingly on the outside accepting his explanation, although they both knew full well he had been talking to his wife. Only Steve wasn’t supposed to know that.

“Still waiting.”

“Wait faster.” Steve said simply, turning and heading off down towards the lab. Clint shot Katie a look before he glanced down his phone and headed off in the opposite direction. Katie caught up with Steve who cast a glance over his shoulder at Barton.

“Girlfriend.” He quipped and she laughed

“I know, as far as cover stories go, explaining away your wife as a girlfriend is pretty lame.” They entered the lab and immediately could her a gabble of voices as Rhodey was talking to Natasha and Tony through one of the screens.

“If you hear something we need to hear it too.” Nat said as Steve strode past towards Thor who was pacing behind where Banner sat at a computer.

“That goes for you too, watch your six.” Rhodey replied.

“Any help from on high?” Steve asked, as Thor walked down the few steps into the lower part of the lab. He shook his head.

“He’s either away from his post or he’s been ordered not to answer” Thor said, striding across the floor as they both turned to walk back towards Katie “Ultron can’t hide forever”

“He’s not exactly hiding.” Katie said, handing Thor the tablet. He glared down at the offending item and the picture it was displaying.

“What’s this?” Tony asked moving to get a closer look only to have the tablet slapped into his chest by the obviously still annoyed God.

“It’s a message,” Steve replied. “Ultron killed Strucker.”

“And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us,” Tony said sarcastically waving the tablet.

“This is good…” Nat glanced at the picture, her brows knitting together.

“No, it’s not good!” Banner shook his head as he rounded her chair

“No, Nat’s right, he’s showing us his hand, this isn’t his pattern” Katie nodded down to the tablet on the desk. “I mean why send a message when you’ve already given a speech?“

"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss” Steve concluded.

“I bet he-” Natasha mumbled searching something on the computers. “Yeah, everything we had on Strucker’s been wiped.”

“And that’s good?” Banner asked, as everyone looked at him.

“Yes because he didn’t wipe everything” Tony said suddenly.

Moments later they were all in a room where a bunch of paper files were kept, files that had been rescued from SHIELD. They pulled the boxes containing information on Strucker and it seemed from most of them that he had gone rogue long before the events a few months prior.

“Strucker had a lot of friends.” Katie mumbled as besides her Thor was throwing random files across the room after deciding they were of no use.

“Well these people are all horrible.” Bruce commented digging through his own box.

“Wait,” Tony said pointing to the file Thor was flipping through. “I know that guy. From back in the day. He operates off the African coast. Black market arms.”

Steve stopped what he was doing to shoot Tony with a glare

“There are conventions. Alright?” Tony explained “You meet people. I didn’t sell him anything. He was talking about finding something new, a game-changer. It was all very Ahab”

“What’s this?” Thor questioned, pointing towards one of the pictures of the man Tony had found. I peered over at it too.

“Uh, it’s a tattoo, I don’t think he had it,” Tony said

“No, those are tattoos, this is a brand,” Thor corrected, pointing towards a spot on the man’s neck right underneath of his left ear which obviously was a mark that had been burned there as it still looked red and raw in the picture.

“Yeah,” said Bruce as he placed himself in front of the computer, quickly searching what the mark meant. “It’s a word in an African dialect meaning 'thief’. In a much less friendly way.”

“What dialect?” Steve asked.

“Uh, Wak- wakanada – Wakandan,” Bruce said jumbling the pronunciation a few times before getting it right.

Katie swallowed and looked at Tony. “Tony, if this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trace goods…"

“I thought your father said he got the last of it,” Steve said, cottoning on.

“I don’t follow,” Bruce interjected. “What comes out of Wakanda?”

Steve, Katie and Tony all shared a look before Steve looked back at Bruce and stood to the side gesturing to his shield.

“The strongest metal on Earth”

*****

Ulysses Klaue’s warehouse was located in an old ship in a Salvage Yard off the African coast. Unfortunately Ultron, fresh from the murder of Strucker, had gotten there first, along with the Maximoffs

The fight had started, Katie and Tony both tangling in the air with Iron Legion bots and Ultron himself as everyone else took them out on the ground also trying to deal with the Maximoff twins, which was proving easier said than done.

"The girl tried to warp my mind,” Thor grunted, over the comms,“Take special care I doubt a human can keep her at bay, fortunately I am mighty.”

“Where is she?” Katie asked, looking round, her heat scanners showing her nothing.

“Thor?” Steve bellowed into his earpiece “Thor, do you read me?”

Thor didn’t answer.

Taking down another bot, Katie flew off down the hallway, in search of the god, but was knocked sideways by something into a pile of scrap metal. She stood up and prepared to take off again but, the world became dark, dim and gloomy. She paused, suddenly wary, trying to remember why she had come here in the first place.

She was in a church, at the end of the aisle. Steve was stood at the front, Bucky next to him. Both in smart suits. She frowned as she started to walk towards them when music started and everyone stood up. Katie was beyond confused, and she turned in the direction everyone was looking at to see Peggy Carter walking down the Aisle, in a beautiful white gown. She looked just as she did in the 40s photos Katie had seen.

But she didn’t belong like this, in the time. As Peggy glided past her, she turned to see Steve looking at the woman, his face smiling, features soft. And Katie felt he entire world collapse around her as Peggy reached the front of the aisle and Steve took her hands in his.

“Steve…” she managed to croak out. The Soldier looked at her from where he was stood and he smiled kindly at her.

“I hope you understand…”

“You love me.” Katie choked out and Steve shook his head.

“You could never be enough.” He said, shrugging “I’m sorry. It’s her, it’s always been her. You were merely a welcome distraction”

“No, no…that’s not fair, you said I was, you said I was yours…” she cried, dropping to her knees as the world shook around her.

Steve had seen Katie get knocked sideways out of the air, and was heading down to help when suddenly, he felt cold. Everything in front of his eyes seemed so far away, and a wave of calm spread over him. There was no rush, was there?

He was in a ballroom in the 1940s, loud jazz music hit his ears and the sounds of people laughing and joking. He tentatively stepped forward through the crowd but flinched when an explosion flashed near him. No, not an explosion, a camera. Then there was a gunshot. No, not a gunshot, a bottle being uncorked. Confused he looked around and saw a man lying on the ground, his friend dabbing at blood on his shirt, but it wasn’t blood. Steve looked again and he saw it was red wine.

All around him, people were celebrating, but all he saw was war and death.

Then, a very familiar laugh made him turn and he saw his girl in a gorgeous pink dress and she was being spun round the dance floor by Bucky. His face was creased into a wide smile, both his arms intact as he whirled Katie around the floor. She looked the same as she always had, but…she didn’t belong in this time of his life.

“Are you ready for our dance?” another familiar voice spoke as a hand tapped his shoulder. He spun round to find Peggy stood there, in a blue dress, her outfit and hair and make-up belonged here, in the 40s, in his past, but Katie didn’t. His eyes turned back to Bucky and Katie who were now swaying slowly, foreheads pressed together and he could do nothing but stare as Bucky dropped a kiss to his girl’s lips.

Then he was dancing with Peggy, but he had to stop, this wasn’t right.

She was his girl, not Bucky’s. He was with her, not Peggy. He needed to get to Katie…

“What’s wrong?” Peggy asked him. “The war’s over Steve,“ she told him smiling, "all of them.” She added. “We can go home. Imagine it.”

The party in the ballroom stopped. Everyone disappeared and the room went deathly silent.

He gave a loud gasp, it felt like he had plunged into an icy lake. He blinked, resisting the urge to vomit, taking deep breaths and slowly everything came back into focus and then he remembered where he was and why. The fight, Ultron, the warning from Thor….and Katie, where was she? He staggered to his feet, and stumbling slightly set off to find her.

She wasn’t far away, she was knelt on a walkway just below him suffering the effects of her own vision. Steve swung down a level, gently landing in front of her and knelt down on all fours.

“Katie…”

She could hear a familiar voice talking, through the fog and suddenly it cleared as if someone had poured a bucket of iced water over her head. She blinked, before she let out a groan of pain and dropped forward, grasping at the rough metal of the walkway beneath her palms- somehow and for a reason she didn’t know, she was knelt on the floor on all fours, and no longer in her suit. Every inch of her body was aching and her head felt like it was full of cotton wool and horrible lights were flashing behind her eyeballs, like she had had the worst migraine ever.

“Hey, you’re alright…” Steve said as she sat back on her heels, his hands either side of her face as she drew her eyes up to look at us.

“You’re …” she reached out to touch his chest, feeling the roughness of his uniform under my skin. “You’re still with me?”

“Yeah, baby course I am.” He said, frowning slightly, wondering what the hell the Maximoff kid had forced her to see. Deciding there was plenty of time to discuss that later he waited with her quietly whilst her breathing began to even out. She let out another groan, scrunching her eyes shut as the pain behind her eyes became too much and she lurched sharply to the left, throwing up all over the metal walk way.

Steve gently rubbed her back as she retched again, groaning in pain.

“It’s ok…” he soothed gently “I got you…” Eventually she stopped and the throbbing in her temple subsided somewhat and she wiped my mouth, sitting back down on the floor harshly. “What happened?” she whispered.

“The Maximoff girl.” Steve said gently by means of an explanation, his hand reached round to gently stroke her hair.

“It was… it was so real.” She mumbled, glancing around.

“I know, tell me about It.” Steve swallowed, kissing her clammy forehead. Katie was surprised to find he was shaking slightly as well, drops of cold sweat were beaded across his brow “We need to get back to the ship. Can you stand?”

“Yeah” she said, and together they stood. Katie was a little bit shaky at first but Steve held her up and took a deep breath, shooting a furtive glance around.

“Clint?” Steve spoke in to the coms as Katie got back into her suit.

“Cap, you back with us?”

“Yeah, how is everyone?” He asked as they made their way slowly up the stairs. Katie didn’t trust herself to fly. Instead she kept the face plate open, needing the fresh air.

“Nat’s in a bad way, she’s still not out of it.” Clint replied. “What about Nova?”

“I’m alright.” She said, shakily as they left the warehouse, blinking in the light of the sun, the light making her heave again and she bent over, emptying what little was left in her stomach on the floor. “Sorry…” she mumbled as she straightened up and turned to Steve who shook his head.

“Nothing to be sorry for, Doll.” He assured, looking at her, hands reaching out to gently stroke her face. He looked around and spoke, mopping at his brow. “Thor?”

“I’m here.” the God’s voice came, he also sounded shaky. “That witch, she warped my mind after all. Her power… I’ve never seen or felt anything like it.”

“Tony?” Steve asked as we set off walking, slowly, across the sandy stretch to where the jet was parked.

“She got to Banner.” Tony said over the coms. “And whatever she showed him… well, Hulk just levelled a local town…”

“Casualties?” Steve sighed, looking at Katie.

“I dare say a fair few.” Tony replied. “Veronica and I did our best.”

As they reached the jet Thor landed next to them bringing Clint who in turn was carrying Nat. It was clear to see that everybody, bar Clint was severely shaken. It was a blessing that at least one of them had presence of mind. Clint got the jet off the ground, tracked Tony’s whereabouts and helped get a semi-conscious Bruce settled while Tony took off the suit. It all seemed very distant to Katie and Steve, who both felt like they were watching the interior of the jet through a fog.

“It was always her,” Steve’s voice echoed in Katie’s ears, and it hurt, a deathly pain deep in her being. She tried to swallow, tried to breathe, but the sickening panic she had felt during her vision threatened to wash over her again. Besides her Steve wasn’t faring much better. Bucky dropped a kiss to his girl’s lips. He moved slightly in his seat. It was an involuntary move, almost like he had been startled by something, which he had been, and Katie spotted it. She unclipped her belt, stood up and gently sat on his lap, pressing her head into the crook of his neck, shivering. He pulled her closer, kissed the top of her head and the pair of them just stayed there, not a word uttered between them.

Katie fell asleep, and when she woke up it was dark through the front of the window, showing they’d crossed time-zones. She was still on Steve’s lap, his head was lolling against the head-rest of the chair, his arms still around her whilst he also slept. Gently she untangled herself from him, and stood up, stretching. Clint was still piloting the jet to wherever it was they were headed and Tony was looking at something on a tablet a few seats away.

“Hey kiddo.” He placed his arm round her as he settled into the seat next to him. “Feel better?”

She shrugged.

“Well you’re doing better than Nat” he said, and Katie looked over. She was sat, staring at the floor. Her eyes darting to the sides every so often.

“She still not come round?” Katie asked, laying her head on her brother’s shoulder.

“She’s with us. But she’s really shaken…hasn’t said a word.”

“Seems I got off relatively lightly” Katie mumbled as she glanced over at Steve who was still asleep.

“Wanna talk about it?” Tony asked, his chin resting on her head.

“Erm… I saw Steve and Peggy” she muttered, looking down at her engagement ring, twirling it round her finger “it sounds silly but… they were getting married and I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t with me. Then he told me…” She trailed off, swallowing, she felt sick again.

“You know none of its true, right?” Tony said, his eyes locking onto hers “He loves you, not Peggy. The Maximoff brat is messing with your head.

“I know…” The tears sprang forth into her eyes. “ But it was so real, physical, I could touch things and people. I can’t explain it.”

“You don’t need to…” Tony shook his head, gently reaching out and wiping her tears away with his thumb. “I had one, at Strucker’s base when we got the Sceptre.”

“I knew something else had happened to you” Katie sighed “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I thought it was just a funny turn but now I know it was her. I saw you all dead. I felt it. The whole world too. Because of me. I didn’t do enough.”

Katie slid her arms around him, pulling him into a hug.

“So that’s why you restarted the Ultron thing again” she said gently

“Yeah… really worked out that didn’t it.” He sighed.

“We’ll fix it.” Katie replied softly, shrugging as she sat up.

“How do you know?” Tony looked at her with eyes that were so like her father’s. She could do nothing but shrug back.

“Because we have to.”

*****

It was dawn as they all stepped off the jet and followed Clint as he confidently led them up to the porch of a large farmhouse, literally in the middle of a field. The sleep seemed to have done most people good, although Natasha was still not quite right, so Clint supported her as they walked up the path. Steve had his arm round Katie’s shoulder; hers in turn was round his waist, but not for support, for comfort.

“What is this place?” Thor asked looking around at the farmhouse and its surroundings.

“A safe house?” Tony responded unsure.

“Let’s hope.” Clint opened the door and stepped inside, with everyone else curiously following close behind. “Honey? I’m home.��

To nearly everyone’s surprise, a woman, who Katie figured was Clint’s wife, walked out from the kitchen and into the living room. She had long brown hair and was holding a bunch of colouring books in one hand, but one thing that was hard to miss was that she was very pregnant.

“I brought company. Sorry I didn’t call ahead.” Clint told the woman as he walked up to her and gave her a kiss.

“This is an agent of some kind.” Tony muttered pointing at the couple.

“Guys, this is Laura.”

“Hi,” she greeted awkwardly, “I know all of your names.”

Tony not knowing how else to react just gave a small wave that was just as awkward.

“Oh, incoming!” Clint warned as the thudding of feet and loud voices of young children hit their ears. A boy and a girl hurried into the living room, both running over to Clint as they yelled “daddy”.

Steve’s face was a picture, despite herself Katie almost laughed at the genuine-fake shock he wore across his features.

“Hi sweetheart! Hey buddy!” exclaimed Clint while kissing the top of their heads. “How are you guys doing?”

“These are smaller agents.” Tony said, adding to his previous statement.

“Did you bring Aunty Nat?” the little girl questioned.

Nat stepped forward, suddenly finding her feet. “Why don’t you hug her and find out?”

“Sorry for barging in on you.” Steve said, always one for keeping his manners.

“Yeah we would have called ahead, but we were too busy having no idea you existed.” Tony remarked with his usual sarcasm. Katie shot him a look.

“Yeah well Fury helped me set this up when I joined.” Clint explained, his arm around his wife. “Kept it off SHIELD’s files and I’d like to keep it that way. I figured it’s a good place to lay low.”

Thor, who had been extremely quiet since arriving, made to step closer to the group but a loud crunching noise stopped him. Katie and Steve looked down and he raised his boot seeing the lego house he had just crushed. He glanced upwards and caught Steve’s eye, then Katie’s as he kicked the broken pieces underneath the table. Then a toaster popped and all 3 of them glanced at it, before Thor turned and hastily left the room. Katie looked at Steve and the pair of them followed Thor out.

“Thor,” Steve said, and he stopped dead.

“I saw something, in that dream.” he explained. “I need answers, I won’t find them here.”

“Be careful” Katie said to him, he nodded and then with a whirl of his hammer he was gone.

They both turned to go back into the house when Steve stopped dead, the image of that damned vision flashing in front of his eyes.

“We can go home…imagine that”

He was home, with Katie, there was no home without her…

Katie, who had been heading back into the house, noticed Steve had stopped. She turned to look at him, his face was glazed slightly, a look on his face she knew extremely well, the one he got whenever he was thinking about his past.

“It’s always been her.”

Katie tried to ignore the flash back and gently spoke to him, her voice shaky.

“Steve?”

He suddenly focussed and looked at her, smiling softly.

“Walk with me?” he said, inclining his head away from the house.

Katie nodded with a swallow, taking his outstretched hand, the pair of them heading down a worn path through the field outside the house. Neither of them said a word for a while, they just walked taking in the large fields and the various trees and shrubs and they reached a clearing which was clearly where the family spent a lot of time. There was a picnic bench to the right of a large oak tree which sported an archery target, 3 arrows currently protruding from the middle circle. 2 bikes lay propped the trunk under the target and a baseball glove lay discarded on the floor.

Frankly Katie loved the levelheadedness of it. Steve loved the normality of it.

“You know, all I ever wanted was to join the army, hold down a good job, have a wife and a family…” Steve broke the silence as they both walked towards the bench. Katie looked up at him as he glanced around. “I mean a farm was never really what I imagined but…”

“A town house in Brooklyn?” She smiled softly as she took a seat.

Steve shrugged. “It doesn’t matter where, I just want to build a life with you, whatever madness that brings with it.”

Katie turned her face away, blinking away the tears. She knew her vision hadn’t been real, she knew it was all a dream but there was part of her that would never stop wondering, whether given the chance he would go back and live his life over with Peggy. Was he settling here for second best?

“Sweetheart?” Steve asked, his voice cracking slightly.

“I’m sorry just, she really did a number on me and now my head is all over and…” she looked at him as he moved so that he had one leg either side of the seat and he was turned side on to face her.

“What did she make you see?”

She took a deep breath and told him, by the time she got to the part about him saying she wasn’t enough and was a mere distraction, she was really biting back the sobs as Steve reached out and pulled her to him. She pressed her face into his chest, breathing him in, relishing his touch and the fact he was real, and there with her.

“Seems like she got us all pretty bad.” Steve said, his voice thick.

“What did you see?” Katie asked quietly.

“She showed me a dance.” He took a deep breath his arms still around her “But it was back in the 1940s. You, me, Peggy and Bucky were there.”

“Dancing?” she frowned “In the 1940s?”

“Yeah, I know. For once you were the one out of time.” He mused gently, looking at her for a second before he carried on “But you were dancing with Bucky, you were with Bucky, and I was with Peggy and she was telling me the war was over and that I could go home…”

“Maybe my vision wasn’t that far off after all.” Katie sniffed gently.

He pulled back from her slightly, and frowned. “What do you mean?”

“No matter how much I try to ignore it, how much I love you there’s always going to be part of you that’s back there, and a wishing you and Peggy had gotten your dance…”

Steve blew out a breath through his nose, shaking his head. She’d got this all wrong “Baby that’s not what I saw, at all…”

“You know sometimes I notice that look in your eyes, that haunted look like you’re somewhere else…” she continued, looking at her hands “I convince myself I’m seeing things because the thought that you might be wishing you could be elsewhere breaks my heart…”

“Baby, I-“

“If I am second best then, fine, I get it but I need to know….” she looked at him through her tears. “If you knew then, what you know now, and had the chance to… would you do things differently?”

He took a deep breath and moved slightly, reaching into his pocket for something. When he turned round Katie noticed he had the compass with Peggy’s photo inside it in his hands.

“You will never be second best.” He shook his head as he turned the compass over, in his hand. “That dream I had was awful.” He sighed “Not because Peggy was with me but because you weren’t.”

He clicked open his compass and passed it to her. The black and white picture of Peggy was gone, and inside was a photo she instantly recognised as one they’d gotten from a photo booth in Coney Island on her birthday last year. They were both looking cross eyed into the camera, happy and carefree, joking and playing. An hour or so post the photo being taken, he’d asked her to marry him.

“I changed it over the moment we got back that day.” He said gently, “I love that photo, it reminds me of just how much you make me smile and that I can just be me around you. I don’t have to be Cap or anyone else, just Steve.” HE reached out with his still gloved hand to brush her hair behind her ear. “You wanna know what my biggest fear is? Losing you.”

She glanced up at him, her eyes searching his but even as she did she knew he was telling the truth. Steve didn’t lie.

”That part of my life with Peggy is over, and it’s okay. I can live without it, but I cannot live without you.” He sighed, his voice slightly choked and he moved his hands up to wipe the tears off her cheeks that she wasn’t even aware she had shed. “So would I do things differently? Not one fucking second.” He gently pulled her face to meet his in a soft kiss and whispered. “Please believe me, kitten.”

“I do.” She nodded as her lips met his again, melting into his hold. She kissed him back, urgently, needy and he was happy to oblige, his arms wrapping round her, pulling her into him.

“Bet I look a right state.” She pulled away, her head resting against his. He chuckled slightly.

“Well we could both probably do with a shower.” HE nodded, looking up over at the house, “Why don’t you go back in? I’ll grab us some stuff from the jet.”

She nodded and he kissed her forehead once more as the two of them headed in opposite directions. Steve watched her go heaving out another sigh as he stood up. Frankly it said something about their deep rooted issues that their visions took them both to losing one another to other people and not death. Especially after everything that had happed the last year and what was going on right around them now with Ultron. But it also made perfect sense, neither of them could face being without the other. They’d fallen in deep, real deep, and whilst in some ways it was frightening in others it was so, so right.

There was absolutely no doubt in his heart at all where Katie sat in his life. And that was forefront and centre. He just hope she realised that too.

By the time Steve had made it back she was already asleep on the bed in the spare room Clint had directed him to. Dropping the bag gently to the floor so as not to disturb her he headed into the bathroom and stripped off out of his suit. He lay his forehead against the cool tiles, the warm water was soothing as he washed away the grime of the fight. He dried off, changed into a pair of jeans and an under-armour shirt and headed back into the bedroom. Katie was still out of it, and deciding that a nap seemed like a damned good idea he slipped onto the bed besides her. Sliding one arm underneath her he pulled her back so her back was pressed into his chest, his other arm gently draped over her, his hand tangling with hers.

“I love you so fucking much.” He mumbled into her neck as he closed his eyes “So much.”

***** Chapter 24 Part 1

**Original Posting**

#stark spangled banner #steve rogers #Katie Stark #steve rogers fic #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers x original female character #steve rogers x ofc #mcu #mcu fanfic #the avengers #chris evans #chris evans characters

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writeyouin · 4 years

Text

Swerve X Reader – Changes - Chapter 5

Chapter 5 - I’m Sticking with You

A/N – Here it is to keep you all company in quarantine. Also, this reminds me of a fave song of mine: Honey by Bobby Goldsboro. As usual a special thank you to @rocksinmuffin for starting this off with the amazing prompts.

Warnings – Mentions of suicide and mnemosurgery.

Rating – T

Swerve sat at a table inside his hab-suite, holding a gun in his servo. It wasn’t fancy or large; it was little more than a pistol really, but it would do the job. He thought he’d feel something about his upcoming demise, but after spending all of his tears on you, there was nothing left to feel. Still, Swerve didn’t think he deserved a quick and painless death. That was why he was spending a short while re-watching his memories of you; it would help further twist the proverbial knife to cause a little extra pain.

“(Y/N), my dearest, my darling, my everything,” Swerve said to the paused memory that only he could see. “I always knew this day would come. I knew if we ever got together you would eventually learn that I was no good for you and that you would leave. Admittedly, I was being selfish when I married you. I hoped… I wish we could have had a bit longer together before you went away.”

He sighed, finding that he wasn’t out of tears for you as he previously thought he was. The coolant slipped unchecked down his cheek and Swerve continued his monologue, though his vocaliser was heavy with static as he did so.

“No matter what happens, or wherever I end up after this, I want you to know, I will always love you, even if you don’t love me anymore.”

With that, he played the memory he had been saving till last; it would be the last thing he saw before taking the fatal shot.

The memory was one of the many times that you had sang the Velvet Underground’s ‘I’m Sticking with You.’

Swerve’s frame shook with his final tears. He couldn’t keep his servos steady as he lifted the pistol.

‘Anything you want me too

I'll do anything for you

Oh, I'm sticking with you

Oh, I'm sticking with you.’

The song drew to an end and Swerve closed his optics. He held the pistol barrel to his helm, vented air through his systems and put his finger over the trigger.

Ultra Magnus ran to the holding cell. Only minutes ago, he had made a check on the security cameras, which was where he saw Whirl unmoving in a pool of his own energon; if he had ever thought Whirl to be suicidal, he would never have sent him to solitary confinement.

Slamming his palm against the cell’s scanner, he opened the door. He scanned Whirl, finding him alive, barely. Rushing to his aid, Ultra Magnus applied pressure to the stab wound whilst calling Ratchet and Velocity for medical assistance.

Fortunately, while Ultra Magnus was doing all that he could to save Whirl, he didn’t miss the giant note on the cell wall. His optics widened in surprise and he sent out an all-bot-alert to find out who was the closest to Swerve’s room. It was Chromedome who responded first, with a general message of curiosity.

Ultra Magnus thanked Primus that he had go in touch with one of the bots who knew just how important a Conjunx Endurae was.

“Chromedome, you must take this message to Swerve immediately. (Y/N) did not leave him intentionally. An accident must have caused the Rod Pod to malfunction. He needs to know.”

“What are you going to do?” Chromedome responded, concerned for your safety as he had been since the moment you left.

Ultra Magnus didn’t mention his priority to Whirl. Instead he simply answered, “Organise a rescue party. Now tell Swerve. Go!”

That was around ten minutes before Swerve picked up the gun that could end his life.

You pressed a servo to a dent in your helm, already regretting the damage that had come to your new body. Fortunately, it was mostly just scraped paint, but you still felt the occasional twinge of pain from another bump elsewhere. Then again, you felt you could live with a bit of minor damage to your systems. After the Rod-Pod crash-landed on the alien planet, you knew your previous human body would have died upon impact.

Orienting yourself, you stood up, feeling nauseous when the ship lurched forward. You stood as still as you could, waiting to see if it would make any more sudden movements. When you thought it was safe, you walked across the ceiling of the upside-down ship to the control panel.

“Ship,” You called, hoping it might respond. “Rod-Pod? If I say I’m Rodimus will you wake up please?”

The ship didn’t respond. You had hoped it might at least send out a warning or an error code or something, but it seemed completely destroyed. You didn’t even think there was any power left in it since the screen and lights were off.

You remained perfectly calm as you kicked at the ship’s entrance, taking a few goes before it broke open. You stumbled out into a desert comprised of fine white sand wherever you looked.

“Great, I couldn’t have landed in a city or near a town. No, I had to land on fucking Tatooine.”

‘Ugh,’ You thought dismally, ‘More like discount Tatooine. At least real Tatooine had some buildings…somewhere.’

Still, you were Cybertronian now. Maybe somewhere in your brain was instructions to repair the Rod-Pod. You looked at the crashed ship, noting for the first time that the exterior was on fire. There was no way in hell you were repairing that.

Trying to hold onto your previous sense of serenity, you thought about how Whirl had taught you to bring your optics online during your previous panic attack. If making a call was anything like that, maybe you could call Swerve. You hoped you could. Not only were you in need of rescue from the desert planet, you also needed him to know you were sorry, that you still loved him, and most importantly, that you would get back to him, no matter what.

“If Marlin the fish can get his son from a dentist in Sydney, I can do this. Uh, body, call Swerve,” You commanded.

Nothing happened.

“Please, call Swerve?”

You closed your optics and pictured your old communicator as well as Swerve’s face. ‘Please… I need him. Please don’t cut him out of my life.’

You grew both frustrated and upset when several more attempts at calling your husband didn’t work. What if it was the dent in your head causing interference? Or maybe you were too far away from Swerve for anything to happen? Was that possible? You had never thought to ask Swerve how his body worked; it had simply never come up in casual conversation. Suddenly a truly dreadful thought hit you. What if word of your departure had reached him already? He wouldn’t think you had left him, would he? He wasn’t the most stable bot at the best of times, and you knew the way his separation anxiety and fears of being inadequate could course him to self-destruct.

“CALL SWERVE!” You screamed at yourself, fearing for his well-being. “NOW! I- I need to know that he’s safe. Please…” You fell to your knees, crying and holding your head in your servos, “Please, call Swerve.”

Once again you were left with nothing but the deafening silence that surrounded you on the barren planet, but you weren’t ready to give up. At least, you thought you weren’t until you heard the rumbling of engines. Looking to the horizon, you saw five vehicles that looked like quad-bikes in the distance, the riders of which were hidden under white body armour.

Venting air through your systems in a manner that simultaneously soothed you and freaked you out, you decided to take a long walk away from the Rod-Pod. You had heard tales of the scavengers that lived on barren planets. They had probably been travelling since you crashed, hoping to steal whatever was left over from the ship. Yet, as you moved further to the left, so did the bikes. You continued moving further away from the Rod-Pod, but the bikes changed course to match yours. You prayed that they were coming to your aid, yet as they got closer, you saw the giant crossbows come up from the vehicles subspaces.

If you were still human you would have broken into a sweat. As a Cybertronian you couldn’t do that, but you still had your fight and flight response to work with. You ran. Every so often, you would risk a look behind you, hoping that you would be able to scan one of the vehicles and transform. As with your earlier attempts to call Swerve, nothing happened when you tried to transform. The only thing you did find from occasionally looking back was that the organics chasing you weren’t actually wearing white body armour; they were the armour, so to speak. You supposed it had to be some kind of exoskeleton, stretched over long bony limbs that stuck hideously outwards.

You kept on running, putting all the power in your new legs into fleeing the monstrous organics. What had started off as the Star Wars experience had quickly turned into a bad remake of Mad Max: Fury Road.

You wished that having a Cybertronian body could have been as easy as having a human body, but apparently without instructions or a mentor, you were useless. You couldn’t call for help, you couldn’t transform, and worst of all, you couldn’t outrun your hunters. That much became clear as you saw them gaining in your peripheral view. What you didn’t see was the two quadbikes behind you aiming their crossbows for your arms, though you soon felt it. Screaming in pain, you fell to your knees.

Although it was probably futile, you fought the waves of searing hot pain, forcing yourself back up and facing off against your eerily silent attackers. You pulled against the barbed hook in your left arm, trying to remove it. However, no amount of brute strength could save you from the electrical charge that both crossbow bolts emitted, coursing through your systems to temporarily shut them down. This time, when you fell to the ground, you didn’t get back up, and the raiders were free to claim you as their prize.

Chromedome pelted down the hallway, making his way to Swerve to tell him the partially good news. He couldn’t wait to see Swerve’s face when he told him that you hadn’t left him and it was only going to be a matter of tracking the Rod-Pod’s trajectory to find you and bring you home to him.

Without even bothering to knock, Chromedome burst into Swerve’s hab-suite, shocked to find Swerve holding a gun to his own helm. As quickly as he had entered the room, Chromedome wrestled Swerve to the table, which wasn’t too difficult considering how much smaller Swerve was compared to Chromedome.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Chromedome yelled in a panic.

“GET OFF ME!” Swerve cried out in a mix of anger and pleading. “I NEED TO DO THIS!”

“NO, YOU DON’T. YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT (Y/N).”

“DON’T! Don’t Mention her name please,” Swerve voice fell to a whisper and he stopped struggling against Chromedome, though he still reached for the gun which was only a short way from his grasp. “I failed her, Chromedome. I failed her and she hates me. My wife… My wife hates me.”

Chromedome had been to the emotional prison that Swerve was trapped in many times before. He had lost count of the amount of times that he had visited relinquishment clinics on Cybertron, preparing for the day he might snuff out his own spark. He knew from those experiences that Swerve wouldn’t just believe him if he told the truth about you. Instead, Swerve would think it was all an elaborate lie to stop him from ending his life. That left Chromedome with the problem of what to do.

Without thinking about it, Chromedome held Swerve down more firmly, releasing his mnemosurgery needles from the tips of his fingers. He told himself he was doing this for Swerve. After all, he was only planning to remove the memories of your departure until Swerve was in a safe place for him to explain everything. If Rewind was there, he would have told Chromedome that he was only doing it for himself, and that mnemosurgery was both addictive and evil; Primus knew they had had the argument enough times in the past, but if Rewind wasn’t around to see it, then it didn’t matter if Chromedome fell back into old habits and performed one tiny memory rewrite, did it?

“What are you doing?” Swerve asked, feeling the panic rise inside him. He began struggling again, babbling as he did so, “Chromedome, did I hear a shunk? I distinctly heard a shunk. Was that your needles? You can’t rewrite my memories. I don’t deserve to live for what I’ve done. CHROMEDOME, I MEAN IT! DON’T YOU DARE CHANGE ME! DON’T YOU DARE!”

“Shhh,” Chromedome hushed the mini-bot in a tone that was supposed to be comforting but sounded only menacing to Swerve. “It’s all going to be all right. In a few minutes, it will all be over.”

There was a quiet knock at the door, followed by Rung’s soft voice, “Swerve, are you in there?”

Chromedome cursed and covered Swerve’s mouth. Seeing the needles that were to wipe his memories only made Swerve panic more, and he was afraid that he might purge his tanks, even if his mouth his covered.

Rung continued speaking, used to being met by the silence of his patients when they had been through something traumatic, “I was just finished with work today and I thought you might like some company.”

Throwing his head from side-to-side rapidly, Swerve managed to shake Chromedome’s servo loose, “HELP! HE’S GONNA RE-WRITE-”

Chromedome pushed Swerve’s helm into the table, and whispered in his audial-receptor, “I’m helping you, idiot.”

But it was too late for Chromedome, Rung had heard enough in that cry for help and had used his all-access pass to enter the hab-suite. He took everything in, made a note to work with Chromedome to save him from his mnemosurgery surgery addiction, and called security all in the space of under a minute. For now, Swerve was safe and alive, though Swerve knew it wouldn’t be long before his second attempt to journey to the afterspark.

You woke up in a metal cell and you didn’t have to touch the bars to know they were electrified; evidently, you new body had better hearing than your previous one, allowing you to hear the hum of a strong electrical current. You wondered whether you should call for a guard to see what they were going to do with you, but what was the point? You would probably find out soon enough anyway.

Sitting up in the corner of the cell, you examined the damage to your arms. You had always thought that Cybertronians didn’t feel much pain compared to humans, but evidently you were wrong. The only difference between the two species was how resilient Cybertronians were. Whoever your kidnappers were, they knew how to get past Cybertronian resistances.

You heaved a sigh and winced as you put your arms down. You thought about trying to call Swerve again but decided against it. He was probably trying to call you, and if he couldn’t do it then you had to be too far away.

‘Swerve…’ You thought of him and all the ways he made you happy. Being without him since the first time you were married only made you morose as you sat with nothing but the hum of the fence to keep you company.

This could be the last night of your life before it came to an untimely end. With that in mind, you thought of Swerve and started to sing.

“I'm sticking with you,

Cause I'm made out of glue.

Anything that you might do,

I'm gonna do too.”

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iwouldratherprocrastinate · 5 years

Text

TroyxReader/Borderlands 3 Rewrite

Growing up on Pandora was rough to say the least, I learned early on that it was kill or be killed. Add on top of that being a Siren and I had a small chance of survival. With my tattoos being across my chest and both arms, I got accustommed to wearing my signature turtleneck long sleeve, to help combat the heat of the surrounding area, I at least cut it into a crop top. On the plus, living in constant fear of bandits attacking had kept me fit through the years.

Currently I was running for my life from some psychos and tinks who decided I was their next target. Breathing heavy, I ran around a bend and face planted into a firm body, falling flat on my ass. "Fuck!" Looking up, I saw the familiar uniform of the Crimson Raiders, 'I'm saved!! Fuck yeah!' Scrambling to my feet, I jump behind the soldier and see two more of them behind, they quickly took out their guns and dispatched the bandits after me. That my friends is how I owed my life to the Crimson Raiders.

Living with the Raiders was the best time of your life until Handsome Jack ruined it all. So now you and Lilith were on your way to meet the new Vault Hunters as they cleared out a COV post. I told Lilith I could have done it myself, but she insisted on bringing in help, her words were exactly "I get what you are saying kid, but I can't afford to lose you too." She had become like a mother to you and losing Roland hit her really hard. She was protective of me even before he got killed, but afterwards she really tightened her grip around me. Hardly letting me out alone, if I was allowed out my pet skag pup, not that he could do much really. Montag as I call him, I rescued him when his mother wandered a bit too close to Lil. Both moms got a bit aggressive, so I had to save him before he acted on instinct. Ever since he has been attached at my hip, it baffles everyone who meets us.

Enough story time, back to what you all came here for. Lil grabbed my hand and we flashed to the new 4 Vault Hunters, they were pretty impressive. The leader I presumed was a buff Siren, she was really pretty. I felt myself swooning a little and had to real myself back in. The second one was a small girl about my height who wore military gear, she looked tough as hell. The third was an older man who appeared to be slightly drunk with a hologram of himself behind him. The fourth was a robot who seemed pretty ordinary until my eyes met the skag at his side wearing a bandana. Monty ran to it and began winding through its legs making as close to a bark noise as a skag can get. Giggling, I ran forward and pet the new skag, "What is his name?" The robot seemed confused by this, "His name is Mr.Chew and I am designated FL4K" I grinned up at him, "He is cute, you all can call me Medic! I will be your mandatory healer." Lilith went a bit stern, "We never discussed this. You have to stay with me."

Grumbling, I pouted, "B-But, I can do so much more helping them! Come on, I am an adult now. I wanna help..." The buff Siren spoke up, "I wouldn't object to a healer helping out." She turned to me and smiled, "By the way I am Amara." My face turned bright red as I nodded, "Thank you and pleasure to meet you.."

Lilith sighed, "I will think about it." Looking at her with a hopeful face, 'That is the closest to a yes I have gotten! Yes!' The short one chuckled gravelly at my face and stuck out her hand for a fist bump, "I am Moze, good to meet ya kid!" I grinned and bumped her fist while the older man turned and his hologram spoke, "I am Zane, now that we have introductions out of the way, should we go inside and plan our next move?"

Lilith smirked and nodded, "Yeah, their is a space we can use further inside this place, let's go." We all followed her while Monty continued harassing Mr.Chew. Mr.Chew was surprisingly tolerant of the little one. It made you glad inside to know that Monty finally had another one of his kind to play with. He was too scared to leave your side, so he never met any skags except the ones you killed. Even those were few and far between due to not wanting to kill them in front of him.

Once we arrived at the back room, Lilith discussed with the Vault Hunters what they had to do before we coudl all leave and go onto Santuary. She remained firm that I had to stay with her or Ellie until we got to Santuary. She knew I was a Siren, but no one else did, she wanted me safe until we had a home base we could run to in case of danger. I decided to go hang out with Ellie for most of it. She has always been my favorite person to spend most of my time with, she helped me develop my tech that allowed me to be a Medic.

See, I knew I had to have another skill if I was gonna hide my powers. I needed something else to make me a good team member, so Ellie and I made some nanotech to heal others. It is similar to Hammerlock's sisters tech, We actually studied hers to make the base for mine. I am happy with how it came out, I just had to touch my hand to the persons skin to activate it. It came in handy alot, it automatically attempts to heal me. It just made me more frustrated by the fact that I couldn't leave and explore.

Anyway, at least Ellie let me hunt down bandits near her garage, she called it 'Spring Cleaning". Monty enjoyed it as well, he got to snack on the bodies. It is gross if you think about it too hard, that's why I try not to. It makes him happy, so I let him do it. By the time I got done with another Cleaning, Santuary was ready to go and Lil was transporting everyone to the ship.

We were waiting for the Vault Hunters to come through the door when suddenly it closed on them and I gripped onto Lilith's arm out of habit.

Following Lilith's eyes, we had the Calypso twins prowling around us, 'Fucking great! Just what we needed..' Lilith held onto me protectively while also gripping the vault key as tightly as she could.

Tyreen stopped on front of us and Troy behind, when I looked back to keep an eye on him, we locked eyes. I froze, both of the twins were not what I was expecting, but the taller male twin had really pretty eyes. 'Did I seriously just think about how pretty his eyes are when they are probably gonna kill us?? Get it together y/n..' He had me locked in a stare off as he smirked like he knew I was admiring him.

Tyreen spoke up snapping my attention forward, "Firehawk. Just give me the map." I looked up at Lilith worried for what she was gonna say next, "No. Way." Tyreen smirked happily, "Cool. Let's DO THIS!"

Lilith as if knowing what was gonna happen, teleported me up onto a platform to keep me safe. Just as she did that, Tyreen took advantage of her lack of focus and launched Lilith with her powers. The Vault key got launched into the air and Troy caught it doing a little trick.

'Fuck, Lilith is in trouble and I can't fucking do anything! If I show my powers, they will know I am a Siren and probably kill me..'

Then Troy sent out two surveyor bots, one to watch Lilith and Tyreen fight presumably to stream it to their followers and one to watch me. 'Why the hell is there one watching me?'

Drawing my attention to the fight, it seemed that Lilith was getting the upper hand until Tyreen punched her, by this point I was trying to hide the tears pouring down my face. Watching my mother figure get beat down like this with no way to help fucking sucked. It felt like a bowling ball to the gut.

Troy chuckled at the face Lilith made in pain, "Ohohoho, this is gold!" My eyes fixated on Lilith, I didn't notice Tyreen charging up a ball of energy until Lilith completely blocked it with a pillar of fire. Without thinking I yelled, "Yes!" and immediately shrank back when Troy smirked up at me.

Lilith took this opportunity to teleport behind him and punch him down, as he struggled to move away, she grew shocked to see Siren tattoos on his arm. Ny nouth was hung open as I gasped and covered my mouth.

"You're a Siren?" This couldn't be the case, Lilith knew of all the possible Sirens at the moment. Troy wore the smirk that seemed to be permanetly glued to his face, "Heh. Yeah... well... Runs in the family."

I looked up and barely had time to yell out, "Lilith, behind you!" before Tyreen had her by the neck. I chocked back a scream. Tyreen looked pissed, "I'm the Siren. He's just a parasite. Literally." I flinched at her choice of words, 'Wow, rude.' Lilith tried to break free as best she could, but it seemed that Tyreen was using her powers. "When we were born, our father had to cut him off of me! Now I'M the only thing keeping him alive."

Lilith looked paler than usual as she managed to speak, "What are you....doing?!" Tyreen seemed smug, "I can leech the power from any living thing. Even you, Firehawk."

"Legendary Vault Hunter, Slayer of the Destroyer, Firehawk. So many titles, so little impact!" Lilith's hand slid down from a fist to hang weakly at her side, this brought me to my knees with worry. 'Come on Lil, hang in there. I got my nanos ready.' I tried to project this into her head as best I could, she had been trying to teach me how to, but she only had time for so much teaching being the leader of the Crimson Raiders.

Tyreen shrugged, "Well, I've taken your powers--might as well finish you off." My body jolted up and yelled, "No!" She didn't even glance my way, but the tallr twin did, if only for a short second. He grunted "Ngh... Ty... Tyreen!" It seems he needed her to help him up. She groaned, "Fine.."

Dropping Lilith, she turned to grab her brothers hand and help him up. It looked like she was transferring some of her energy to him as she did so. Lilith weakly crawled towards the key, 'Stop Lil... Please... Just play dead, so I can help you...' Troy came over and kicked her in the gut before she could reach the key, "Ooooooh! Uh-uh-uh. Man, you should've seen your face. You, you, you were like, "Oh, my powers! Boo-hoo!" Ty--Ty, c'mon! We're live in three, two," You decided then that you hated these bastards. Mostly for hurting Lil, but also for that shit joke he made.

Tyreen got in position in front of the camera and put on her stage persona, you zoned out until you heard them talking about you afterwards while bandits prowled around. Tyreen pointed up at me, "Should we do something about her?" Troy shrugged, "Eh, she seemed like small fry. Leave her to the bandits." They both teleported out, or so you thought. As you jumped down from the platform, they were nearby watching you to see what your deal is.

"Fuck! Lil! Stay with me! The nanos are powered up.." Putting your hands on her stomach, you let the bots get to work as Monty ran over to you, "Shit! Fuckers are gonna pay for this.." Monty curled up against her while I healed. The Vault Hunters busted in just as some bandits were rounding up on us, while they defended us, Lilith grabbed my wrist, "We gotta get to Santuary." I nodded and helped her up while calling for Monty, "C'mon boy! Let's go."

The twins were intrigued to say the least, Tyreen smirked, "Maybe we should take her. Hmmm.." Troy smirked, he could think of some ways to play. Tyreen grabbed his hand, "Another time, we got a Vault to find."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arriving in Promethea was an insane experience for me, I had never left small parts of Pandora, let alone the entire planet. I was still worried about Lil, but my bots did as much as they could in the situation. Now that I had my chance to explore, I decided to stick close to FL4K, he was the most like me, we got along the best, plus since he is a bot, Lilith didn't mind us sharing a bedroom on the ship. The pups had a blast. Turns out he had other pets as well, they were just in a digistruct type container, he gave me one as well. He said it can only have one beast out at a time.

Every time I fight, I have to resist the urge to just fight with my powers, it would make my time easier, but it isn't a good time for people to know. My travel companions don't even know, only Lil and Ellie. I needed my powers now, especially since she had lost hers. Any time my mind drifted to that moment, my mind reminded me of Troy's eyes and how mesmerizing they were. 'Stop! You are the Medic! Keep your head in the game, he is the enemy..' I shook my head and heard a voice swearing at the bandits and shooting, for a moment I forgot about my group and fought my way over to a girl with black and turqouise hair. She was gorgeous and her accent. It sent a shiver down your spine, 'Gotta stop admiring everyone I meet..' I hated how I fangirled over any pretty face, but I couldn't help it.

She grinned excitedly at me as the rest of the bandits were taken out and my team caught up to me, "Heya! The name's Lorelai. Pleasure to meet ya!" She explained the situation to us all while walking towards her safe spot with Atlas soldiers. I have heard some stuff about the Atlas CEO, apparently he has a robot arm. I am dying to take a look at it.

Lorelai wanted us to take back a building where we could contact Rhys from. Approaching the location of the building, everyone prepped their weapons and I got my sniper off my back and peaked through it, "I see about 20 Maliwan men outside, 5 of them are heavys, hard to tell from here with the others. I can take out some of the small fry, if you all focus the heavys." Everyone was surprised at my sudden take of control, but nodded nonetheless. Amara and Moze took the front charging at the heavys while the rest provided them with cover fire. I focused on the flash troopers I could see, expertly shooting into their back chargers. When they started exploding left and right, my team whooped and started working harder with the added motivation of successs.

After they finished cleaning up the rest of the Maliwan men, I hoisted Monty into my arms and jogged over to them, "That was amazing! I have only ever fought bandits, this was so different!" I twirled in a circle holding Monty in my arms giggling. Amara smirked and patted me on the head, " C'mon kid, we gotta talk to that CEO."

Lorelai chuckled and led the way, "So Medic, why do they call you that? You seem like an ordinary Vault Hunter to me." I smirked and summoned a cloud of my nanobots, "These are my pride and joy. Healing nanobots, I touch someone skin to skin and they get healed, I have some chips inbedded in me, that activate them when I touch someone. Took Ellie and I 3 years to perfect." Lorelai seemed really impressed by this, "Damn, I didn't think you were a child protege looking at you."

Everyone laughed while I had my mouth open in shock, " I'm not a kid! I am 21!" Lorelai broke out laughing, "Oh god! I am sorry, you are just so small!" I huffed and walked over to the control panel in the building, "Let's just call Rhys.." Crossing my arms, Rhys came up on the screen, "Hello, you have reached Rhys CEO and owner of Atlas corporation. Who are you and how did you get this number!?" He freaked out a bit at the sight of the Vault Hunters, his eyes drifted to Lorelai as she spoke, "Rhys, these are Vault Hunters and they came looking for a Vault or information on it."

He looked down at us, "Well I don't know anything about a Vault, but my operative out in the field can probably help you if you seek him out." Lorelai then noticed the mustache on his face, "What is that furball on your face Rhys??" I giggled at her wording, "I think it looks okay." He smirked at my comment, "This is my seige mustache, it garners moral with the troops. Plus she likes it, who are you by the way?"

With blush on my cheeks, I smile at him, "I am the Medic, I'm with the Vault Hunters." He seemed intrigued by this, "Are you a Siren?" I jumped on the inside while avoiding the question, "I have medical nanobots. They activate on contact." He seemed impressed by this and nodded, "Huh, we might have to discuss tech sometime." My insides lit up at the opportunity to talk to more people about tech, not many people growing up were interested in it.

#troy calypso #troy calypso x reader #troyboi #borderlands 3 #rewrite

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mobius-prime · 4 years

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143. Sonic Super Special #12 - Sonic & Knuckles

Turnabout Heroes

Writers: Ken Penders and Karl Bollers Pencils: James Fry and Andrew Pepoy Colors: Josh and Aimee Ray

So this issue is a bit strange. As you can see, Zonic is up there being all sideways and whatnot, and while he doesn't actually appear in the first story, nonetheless we're invited by him to turn the book sideways to read it, as it's all rotated clockwise. We open to Sonic waking up confused in the hospital, with Dr. Quack and his friends standing over him. They ask him if he remembers anything, and he proceeds to give them a quick rundown of his life story, which seems like a strange thing to do until they hold a mirror in front of him - and, shockingly, he sees Knuckles' face! Meanwhile in Echidnaopolis a similar situation is happening with Knuckles, waking up to Julie-Su and his father and describing himself only to see Sonic's face in the mirror. Now what could have caused such a bizarre thing to occur?

Now I know what you're thinking. What the hell is original Robotnik doing up there? Well, essentially, this story exists in a really bizarre gray area in the timeline. Depending on where you look for the answer, it takes place anywhere in between StH#71 to KtE#29, which as you might have noticed, is a huge timeframe. No matter where you try to fit it in that gap, it doesn't make sense for a variety of reasons, ranging from Julie-Su's location during the plot, to Knuckles even having reunited with his father in the first place, to Sonic's growing knowledge of the new Robotnik's plans. Once Ian Flynn took over later in the comic, his opinion was that this issue couldn't have even taken place at all due to the discrepancies, but regardless, we'll be covering it and just pretending that somehow it makes sense.

The two body-swapped heroes decide they need to go to each other's homes and try to work out what has happened, so Sonic, in Knuckles' body, hops aboard a shuttle to the Floating Island with the other Freedom Fighters, while Knuckles, in Sonic's body, hops aboard a shuttle of his own with Julie-Su to Mobotropolis. However, before either of them get far, they're both shot down, Sonic's shuttle by a legion of swatbots (which look significantly upgraded from regular swatbots, but not quite like shadow-bots, though no one acknowledges their new intimidating design), and Knuckles' by the Dark Legion. Knuckles, climbing out of his downed shuttle and seeing Sonic's going down, realizes he can't glide as normal due to the body-swap, and instead picks up Julie-Su and uses Sonic's speed to race to Sonic's rescue. Everyone groups up just in time to face the combined threat of two evil fighting forces.

WhaaAAaaAAaat? You mean to say ROBOTNIK is BACK? Come on, Sonic, you've seen several different false comebacks by now, you shouldn't even be fazed at this point. Robotnik and Dimitri give the group an ultimatum - Sonic and Knuckles must surrender immediately, or else they will never swap their minds back into the proper bodies, and they'll also kill all their friends. Well that's a choice all right! Sonic and Knuckles allow themselves to be teleported to… uh… whatever facility their enemies happen to be in. Honestly, my assumption would have been that it was the orbital platform from Robotnik's comeback or something, but Sonic didn't give any indication that he'd ever seen it before when he and the others went up there to investigate the Robians' disappearance, so who knows where they actually are right now.

Sonic and Knuckles are forced to agree to go along for the moment, and are quickly teleported into the island's Chaos Chamber, with the Master Emerald (still containing a frozen Mammoth Mogul) inside. Knuckles is loathe to hand over the emerald since removing it will cause the island to fall, whilst Sonic is mostly just irritated at the idea of Knuckles getting to be in his totally awesome body forever. Robotnik and Dimitri watch a video feed of the two from their base, but just as Sonic and Knuckles touch the emerald the screen goes to static. Robotnik and Dimitri, suspecting treachery, immediately hit the button to bring the two back, and are surprised to see them holding the emerald after all. They gleefully instruct them to insert it into their Chaos-Cannon, and activate it for a test run on the Great Forest…

Who knows how the hell they faked such a large gemstone on such short notice - hell, maybe the Brotherhood made a fake copy for just such an occasion and hid it within the chamber somewhere - but the two heroes get to work beating their enemies up. Knuckles goes for Dimitri, who vanishes in a puff of smoke, and Sonic punches Robotnik only for Robotnik to explode violently, revealing himself to be a robotic duplicate. Gee, I'm sure that means that he was just a fake, and not a literal robot version of Robotnik himself, right? Sonic and Knuckles cheerfully walk out upon their victory, amiably arguing over whether it's cooler to be a hedgehog or echidna.

Zone Wars: Giant Robotno

Writers: Dan Slott and Karl Bollers Pencils: James Fry and Nelson Ribeiro Colors: Josh and Aimee Ray

We're back to the present now, with a story that actually fits into the timeline. Sonic is taking a day off to relax and get away from freedom fighting, fishing in a pond in the forest, when suddenly a shuttle emerges from an energy portal in front of him. A strangely-dressed being within informs him that she is Sally from another zone and needs his help, but Zonic then arrives and warns Sonic that this version of Sally, called Sallactor, is evil and trying to deceive him. He calls in the rest of her zone's Freedom Fighters, the Sonicaman: Chaos Ninja Team, who are basically dressed like Super Sentai heroes (fittingly, they're from the Sentai-Zone). Zonic is surprised to see Sonic sigh and walk away from the action, as the others defeat Sallactor and drag her back to their own zone, and Sonic says he's getting sick of all this inter-zone action, that he has a hard enough time keeping track of his own zone's shenanigans. He challenges Zonic, asking how he keeps track of it all and accusing him of using others to get what he wants.

Manipulative little bastard. Sonic goes along reluctantly, and finds himself in a city full of panicking Overlanders all running away from a gigantic, mutated Bunnie, fittingly called Rabbot-zilla. Of course, as soon as Sonic tries to turn around for answers, Zonic pops out of existence.

Sonic uses his super-speed to melt the asphalt under Rabbot-zilla's feet, gluing her to the ground, and this zone's version of Robotnik, who is of course just named Julian Kintobor and wears a white coat instead of red, runs up to thank him. He explains that he tried to stop her from rampaging with a robo-virus, presumably explaining her half-roboticized state, and points to a frozen, robotic Uncle Chuck looming over a different part of the city to show its prior effectiveness. He guiltily continues to recount how he had a hand in this entire disaster…

So to be clear, Knothole Island was clearly inhabited by sapient Mobians. Those aren't ordinary animals being mutated - they're wearing gloves and shoes the same as any other Mobian from Mobius Prime. This guy knowingly detonated an atomic bomb on an inhabited island, and he's trying to pretend like it was all an accident? Sorry, Kintobor, but I don't believe you one bit. He then built giant juggernauts which basically attempted to reenact Pacific Rim against the mutated creatures, but there just wasn't enough energy to power them, as the two halves of the split Chaos Emerald used in the experiment were left on the island inhabited by the mutants. Sonic decides to go along with his plan, using his own speed on a treadmill installed in one of the doctor's Jaegers, the Giant Robotno, a name which pretty much describes how I feel about this whole thing. Clearly Sonic isn't too thrilled about working with him, however.

He blasts off, using the robot's rocket feet to fly to Knothole Island, where he encounters all his friends as mutated monsters. He has no choice but to fight them in order to search for the emeralds, and happens to spot this zone's version of himself, mutated as well, with one of the emerald halves affixed to his chest. However, at that moment he's attacked by his mutated father, also with an emerald half in his chest, and tries to shove him away and block himself from being hit at the same time, clenching his fist as he does so.

Horrified, Sonic flies away from his dead father, as the mutant Sonic approaches and cries in grief. That's right! Sonic was accidentally forced to kill an alternate zone version of his own father to save everyone. That is brutal. Later that night, Sonic stands quietly and sadly next to Kintobor as he celebrates the acquisition of the emerald, saying he can finally protect his city properly, when Zonic shows back up to check on Sonic.

Zonic congratulates Sonic on a job well done as he drops him off back in his home zone, but Sonic angrily confronts him about having known all along that he would have had to kill his own father (albeit from a different zone) to save everyone, accusing him of not understanding how it feels to him right now. In response, Zonic simply takes off his helmet.

Is anyone surprised? Anyone? Did anyone not see it coming that the hedgehog-sized being named Zonic who constantly involves himself with, well, himself, was an alternate version of Sonic? He vanishes, leaving Sonic with even more questions, but alas, we'll have to delay those for now, as it's time to jump into the comic's adaptation of Sonic Adventure!

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sonic super special 12 #writer: ken penders #writer: karl bollers #writer: dan slott #pencils: james fry #pencils: andrew pepoy #pencils: nelson ribeiro #colors: joshua d ray #colors: aimee r ray

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nneefa · 5 years

Text

fic: the way you do the things you do

fandom: xiaolin showdown

characters: kimiko/raimundo, omi, clay

summary: there was something unsettling about the bruise on raimundo's face, considering it was meant for her.

notes: i struggled really hard with this, though i had a lot of fun with it. deep, introspective writing is not my forte. regardless, i hope y'all enjoy this. dedicated to @writing-saved-my-life

♡

It was funny how things could still manage to be so lively around the temple, considering what had just transpired not even 24 hours ago.

Living and fighting through two, insanely alternate timelines was certainly one thing, but to turn around and battle against the ‘Unwelcomed Mob of Evil’ - as Dojo had so eloquently phrased it - a second time not even ten minutes after coming out of them was just too much, even for Wudai Warriors. Master Fung, thankfully, had the right mind to give them the rest of the day off. He even dismissed them from their chores, of course, putting it off for the following day. According to him, they’d earned it on account of everything they’d been through. It also helped that they’d sustained more injuries on top of what they already had, but none of them dared complain.

Instead, they fell right back into the swing of things. That was, everyone except for Kimiko.

From her position at the infirmary sink, Kimiko watched Omi flit about Raimundo’s cot with the energy of a four-year-old with a sugar rush. Despite his injuries - a knot the size of a ping pong ball on his head, a split bottom lip, and several scrapes and bruises peppered along his knuckles and arms - Omi still found a way to be energetic.

It almost got on her nerves how easily he seemed to bounce back from all of the madness, especially when she couldn’t find it in herself to do the same, but Kimiko decided not to let it bother her too much. She’d almost forgotten what it looked like to see Omi act like an obnoxious little brother to Raimundo, considering his year-long stint spent antagonizing the older boy and all. Thankfully, Raimundo never took the bait, even when Omi seemed overbearingly harsh, and if he’d felt some type of way about it, he hardly let it show. Knowing him, he probably endured it without a second thought towards the consequences. For the sake of reestablishing trust with his friend. For Omi’s sake.

That was something Kimiko could honestly say got on her nerves: not Raimundo and Omi’s endless back-and-forth banter or the time it took to repair their brotherly relationship, but Raimundo’s ability to dive in head first, regardless of the consequences. To be unconditionally kind to and for others, with no concern for himself, was something Kimiko could not, for the life of her, understand.

Like their tag team showdown against the Forces of Evil.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy with their victory or anything. She’d been just as ecstatic as the rest of the team when Omi rescued Dojo, even finding a way to jump for joy despite the sharp pain in her back. But, now that the high was over and in seeing Raimundo’s condition - the bruise under his eye, his fractured hand, the torn flesh on his arm and back, the seared skin on his chest - Kimiko was finding it increasingly difficult to be grateful about anything. A part of her was moved, touched even, that he’d jumped in on her behalf; however, another part of her was angry with him, furious. Especially when it should’ve been her.

“Oh, pleeease, Raimundo, won’t you tell me what it feels like to be Shoku Warrior?” Omi droned for what ought to be the billionth time in the last hour, snapping Kimiko from her train of thought. “I want to be mooost prepared for when I make my transition from Wudai Warrior!”

Raimundo watched him bounce up and down in front of his bed with mild amusement. “How should I know when it hasn’t even been a day yet?”

But it was as if what he said went in one ear and out the other as Omi continued his rant, holding on to the edge of Raimundo’s bed while he bounced on his toes. "Does power surge from your very body? Can you manipulate the wind, at ease, without the use of your Elemental Shen Gong Wu? Can you break the sound barrier? Can you-

“Omi, slow down!” Raimundo cut him off with a shout.

“Yeah, partner. Breathe,” Clay added, rubbing antiseptic into the grooves of his knuckles. He’d scratched his hand trying to fend off Katnappe, Cyclops and the Chameleon Bot, the first of whom he went out of his way not to harm.

Omi did as he was told and took a deep breath. Only to continue rambling again. Raimundo quickly clamped his good hand over Omi’s mouth and answered him with a grin before he could start. “Honestly, minus the robes, it still feels like I’m a Wudai Warrior, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it. No, yes, and maybe…, I don’t know yet. Now, are you done?”

Omi nodded his head vigorously and pulled Raimundo’s hand from his mouth. “Ooooh,” he chirped excitedly, clamping his hands over his cheeks, careful to avoid the bump on his head. “I cannot wait for my chance to become a Shoku Warrior! I’ll be all this and a box of cookies.”

“Uh, that’s ‘all that and a bag of chips,’ Omi,” Kimiko finally said, maneuvering away from the sink and towards Raimundo’s bed where the shorter boy stood to hand him an ice cap. “And no offense, but I think you should focus a little less on being a Shoku Warrior and more on your injuries.”

“Yeah,” Raimundo agreed with a snicker. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear you were sprouting a second head.”

“Well, at least I am not bound to my mattress,” Omi jeered with a flush of his cheeks, hiding his knot beneath his ice pack.

“That’s ‘bedbound,’ knucklehead,” Raimundo guffawed, unable to contain himself anymore, causing Omi to go from pink to red.

Before Clay could stop himself, he burst into laughter too. “Now, Rai,” he managed to say between gasps of air, “that was a low blow. Even for you.”

Kimiko tried and failed to hide her own laughter with a strain of her cheeks, knowing that Omi didn’t enjoy being the butt of anyone’s jokes, especially when it came to his head. “Yeah, Raimundo,” she said, coughing in a feeble attempt to mask her giggles. “That wasn’t very nice.”

“Sorry, Omi,” Raimundo immediately apologized, still laughing, though not quite as hard. “I couldn’t resist. I was holding that one in for a minute. No hard feelings, right?”

“None at all, my friend,” Omi huffed, sourly pulling his ice cap away from his head to reveal his bump. The action only made Raimundo erupt into laughter again. Omi looked to Clay with a sharp turn of his head, frowning as he pointedly ignored their newly elected leader. “Come, Clay. I believe it is time for supper.”

“Hoowee! Ain’t that the truth!” the cowboy yipped, slipping off his medical bed to stretch and rub his belly. “I dunno ‘bout y’all, but all this time travelin’ business then done worked up a fella’s appetite. I could eat a horse, I’m so hungry.”

“Yeah, dude that’s gross, but hey, while you’re at it, grab me a plate too,” Raimundo piped in with a wide smile, his amusement finally dying down. “After a long day of kicking evil’s butt, I could use a bite to eat.”

Omi paused just before exiting the infirmary, his hand posted on the threshold of the door, and turned to grace Raimundo with a smirk, a mischievous gleam in his little, brown eyes. “Perhaps, my second head and I will think it over. While we eat.”

Raimundo’s mouth fell open in astonishment. Clay’s hand flew to his mouth as if he’d just heard someone utter a swear word, mirth clear in his blue eye, and he looked, back and forth, between Raimundo’s crestfallen expression and Omi, who’d disappeared down the hall with a smile.

“But- but I’m your leader!” the Shoku Warrior whined.

“In name only!” Omi yelled down the hall playfully.

Raimundo blew out a puff of air, leaning back on his cot with a mock frown. “Ay, you think you know a guy.”

“Sorry, Rai,” Clay chuckled, his apology not even the least bit sincere, though all in good humor. “You got no one to blame but yourself for that one. You comin’, Kimiko?”

Kimiko, who’d been staring at Raimundo’s bandages since the boys’ little exchange, looked up to see Clay watching her. Although his smile appeared relax, even she could see the concern laced in his eye. She bit the inside of her cheek before a sigh could escape her lips, a tinge annoyed at having been caught moping, and graced him with a smile of her own. She wouldn’t put it past Raimundo if he’d noticed her mood either.

“Nah, you go on ahead,” Kimiko told him with a nonchalant wave of her hand. “I’ll join you and Omi in a sec. Just need to tidy up a bit.”

Clay looked from Kimiko to Raimundo for a split second, the barest hint of a smile on his face, before tilting his hat down at them. Kimiko didn’t bother trying to interpret what that meant, as she was sure it’d only make her angry. “Okie dokie. I’ll leave you kind folks to it, then,” he said cryptically and, without another word, left the infirmary.

Raimundo barely allowed a second to pass before he spoke up, his voice uncharacteristically serious. “Alright, girl, out with it.”

Kimiko bristled at his demand, her frown immediate as she turned from where Clay had stood to face Raimundo, who looked nothing short of confused, if not concerned. The urge to ball her fists was fierce, but she held herself back, not wanting to risk reopening the wound on her palm.

“Excuse me?”

Raimundo rolled his eyes, wincing as he sat upright in his bed. “Come on, Kimiko,” he urged, his face softening. “You look worse than Jack after he loses a showdown. You don’t think I noticed the way you’ve been looking at me?”

Heat rose to her cheeks before she could stop herself. Angrily, she asked, “And just what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Don’t play dumb, girl. You know exactly what I mean,” Raimundo responded exasperately, despite his own blush. “You’ve been looking at me like I died or something. What’s the deal?”

“It’s just that…, well,” Kimiko stumbled, fighting to find the right words to say. She had no intention of beating around the bush with this conversation, but she was finding it very difficult to verbalize her feelings: anger, guilt, worry, gratitude. She’d never felt so many mixed emotions at one time before. In the end, she deflated, gesturing weakly at his condition with a twist of her hand, and softly said, “Look at yourself, Rai.”

He relaxed a little, and gave himself a once over before looking back at Kimiko, his smile as easygoing as ever. “It’s just injuries,” he replied with a shrug, rubbing his wrapped hand. “No big deal. S’not like I haven’t had worse, y’know. Is that why you’re upset?”

Kimiko flared up again, exhaling deeply when she slammed her hands on the guardrail of his bed, startling him. She was pretty sure she just reopened her wound, as her hand throbbed like crazy, but she couldn’t bring herself to care at that moment. “Don’t tell me it’s not a ‘big deal!’ How can you smile like that when you’re stuck in a hospital bed?”

“Whoa, Kim, easy,” he said good-naturedly, holding up his hands in a placating manner. “I just smile. You should try it sometime.”

“This isn’t funny, Raimundo,” Kimiko snapped, glaring at him. His easygoing nonchalance was really starting to grate her nerves. “I’m being serious.”

“I never said it was,” he countered with a glare of his own, though his wasn’t quite as fierce as hers. “So what if I got a few bumps and bruises? At least we won. You’re acting like that’s a bad thing.”

“It is a bad thing when you almost die doing it!” she blurted, wincing when she finally pulled her hand away from his bed rail. It was bleeding. As if on autopilot, Raimundo reached towards her, green eyes filled with concern, and Kimiko jerked back, clutching her hand to her chest like a lifeline. “Don’t, Rai! Just... don't, okay?! I didn’t ask for your help!”

Raimundo blinked at her, wide-eyed, hand frozen in midair. He watched her carefully with a furrowed brow, eventually letting his hand drop in his lap, but he didn’t say anything. Kimiko took it as a sign to continue.

“I- I could’ve taken them myself. I could’ve taken all four of them, if I wanted,” she repeated matter-of-factly. Her eyes burned, but whether it was from anger or tears, she didn’t know; however, she decided she didn’t care. All she knew was that if she didn’t get the words out now, she never would. “But then you had to go and play hero, and now look at you. You got hurt because of me. Did you do it because you took pity on me? Huh, is that it? Or was it because I’m a girl?”

“Where do you even get this stuff from?” Raimundo sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Earth to Kimiko. Did it ever occur to you that I didn’t want to see you get hurt? Hannibal and his goons crowded you. I wasn’t gonna sit there and watch it happen, not without doing something about it. So, I jumped in.”

Kimiko opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off, the look in his eye firm, but gentle. Her heart beat just a little bit faster than normal, but she decided to ignore it.

“And I would’ve done the same thing, no matter who it was, whether it was you, Clay, or Omi. You guys are my friends.” He paused to flash her a toothy grin. “And I don’t regret it either. That’s just the kinda person I am, Kim.”

Raimundo’s smile was so infectious that Kimiko found herself returning it. She took a deep breath, the guilt she’d been feeling since earlier easing away like a dying flame. “You do know there’s a difference between being kind and reckless, right, Raimundo? One of these days, you’re going to get yourself killed over it.”

“I really wish you wouldn’t say things like that,” Raimundo protested in a lighthearted tone. “Master Fung said the same thing. Sooo, what?" he asked after a beat, offering her a smile. "We cool?”

Kimiko wanted so much to punch his arm, to elbow him or something, but knew it wouldn’t be appropriate, considering he was injured. So, she did the next best thing.

She hesitated at first, but she sat on the edge of his bed and reached out to him, ignoring the strange, fluttering sensation in her stomach, and wrapped her arms around him, careful to avoid his injured back. She felt Raimundo go ramrod straight beneath her, but he relaxed almost instantly, returning her hug with a squeeze of his own.

“Yeah, we’re cool,” she answered, but then she pulled back to fix him with a stern look, her hands resting on his shoulders. “But don’t you ever do anything like that again.” She jammed a finger against his collar bone with every word to emphasize her point.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Raimundo said with a grin.

Kimiko knew that it was hot air. He’d do it, without hesitance, every single time. That was just the kind of person he was, no matter how much he tried to hide it. It was his finest quality, after all.

She nodded her head, quickly sliding off his bed before things could get anymore awkward. There was something about the look in his eye that made her feel weird. “Good. ’Cause next time, I’ll kick your butt myself if you do.”

Raimundo made a noise at that. “Whatever. Just go take care of your hand already.”

“Don’t push it, Rai,” Kimiko threatened him as she made her way to the medical supply cabinet for the first aid kit. “Oh, and Raimundo?”

“Yeah, Kim?”

She faced him fully, med kit clenched tight in her hands. She seemed to look everywhere but at him, hiding behind the kit before she took a deep breath, cheeks dusted a light pink. “Thank you,” she said sincerely. “Y’know, for jumping in and all.” She grit her teeth, embarrassed, before looking him square in the eye. “It might not mean that much to you, but what you did, well, it really means a lot. So, thanks.”

With that, she hurriedly left the infirmary for the dining hall. Had she stayed just a little bit longer, she'd have seen Raimundo bury his face in his knees, face gone red.

#raikim #raimundo pedrosa #kimiko tohomiko #xiaolin showdown #omi #clay bailey #neefa writes #this is my first hurt/comfort story ever #i really hope i did this ship justice

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bonesofether · 6 years

Text

Sides of a Storm

As always, if you want to read new chapters for this story early and much more, you can do so at my Patreon.

AO3✧Patreon✧Ko-Fi

Chapter #1: Programming Introductions

He had helped save the world from alien robots that had been determined to destroy Earth and turn all of its inhabitants into ash. His car, which had started out as a cheap Camaro from a used car lot, was an alien robot that could transform at will. He had even faced down the malicious leader of the Decepticons and lived.

And yet a simple Programming course threatened to be the end of him yet.

Sighing, Sam looked over the pages of his textbook for what seemed like the hundredth time, paying close attention to highlighted parts. He had gone out of his way to buy a used copy of the book, wanting to take advantage of the fact that previous students had done a bit of work for him. Not to mention that a used copy was a little cheaper.

In the other room, Sam could hear Leo talking excitedly with two of his friends about the alien robots that were still on Earth and the problems that this “Robowarrior” guy was giving them. Finding no answers in the midst of all the highlighted, programming code gibberish, Sam grumbled in frustration and began to flip through the pages rapidly. He wasn’t getting anywhere with this, but he knew someone, a former classmate from high school, that could help him out.

Or, with enough bribing, might even do the work for him. Sam just wasn’t sure if he wanted to risk it.

“Still working on that Programming homework?” Leo called from his makeshift computer lab.

“Yeah.” Sam sighed and flipped the book shut. “I’m going to go find Sophie and get her help. She understands this stuff way better than I do.”

“Sophie?” Leo poked his head around the doorway. “You mean the blonde with the lip piercing? Didn’t you say you went to high school or something with her?”

“Yeah. She and I are in this Programming class together,” Sam explained as he crammed his book and small folder with his homework papers into his backpack. “She’s a total tech head. I’m surprised you guys haven’t asked her to work overtime for you.”

“Uh, I already asked her, bro,” Leo muttered, glancing away. “She stared at me like I was speaking Swahili. Turns out she’s also a total hermit.”

“I don’t know if I’d go that far. She just...likes to keep to herself.”

“Yeah, well, if you don’t return, I’m not sending a rescue party in after you.”

Walking briskly down the dorm hallway, shrugging under the weight of his backpack, Sam couldn’t help the small grin on his face. Mikaela had texted him this morning, wishing him a good day and how she missed him already. Of course, Sam missed her, too. He had wanted her to come with him to college, but Mikaela had refused. She had explained that she had to help her father out and work at the garage that he was managing now. And while Sam understood, it didn’t make the being thousands of miles apart any easier.

Nearing the dormitory building, Sam jogged the last bit across the green grass of one of the campus yards. He hoped that Sophie remembered him. Sure, they’d spoken some in the Programming class they shared, but it had been little more than polite conversation. And they hadn’t exactly been the best of friends in high school.

At least he’d been able to get her phone number and dorm room number.

Arriving at the door, Sam double-checked to make sure that the number was correct. Then, trying to seem as casual as possible, he knocked on the door. In the middle of the third knock, the door swung open and Sam found himself being glared at by his Programming 110 classmate.

“Uh, hey,” Sam said weakly, his composure faltering a little.

Sophie continued to frown back at him, then raised an eyebrow.

“Sam?” she asked, scrunching up her nose.

“Yeah. Sam Witwicky. We share that Programming class together, remember?”

“Yes. I remember. We had that class yesterday.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s right.”

Sam trailed off and the two stood there in silence for a couple minutes before Sophie gave Sam an expectant look. She was still holding the door halfway closed, and was thoroughly confused as to why her former high school classmate had sought her out.

“So, uh… What do you want?” she asked impatiently.

“Oh, right!” Sam said. He hesitated briefly, but decided he had to at least ask. Maybe he should have texted before he showed up. “You remember how you said I could ask for help with my homework if I needed it?”

“Yeah. I was kind of expecting you to ask for help on something like the midterms or final.”

“Well, my degree isn’t in IT, you know,” Sam muttered, running through his fingers quickly. “And...yours is.”

Sighing and rolling her blue eyes, Sophie nodded and stepped aside, opening the door completely. She motioned for Sam to come inside, kicking a small pile of clothes under her bed as she went. Muttering something under her breath and combing back her bleached blonde hair with her fingers, Sophie began to move aside textbooks and papers on the college provided computer desk.

“So what’re you having problems with?” Sophie asked without looking up.

“Just the homework.”

Stopping and then slowly looking over at Sam with an incredulous gaze, Sophie started to say something, then fell quiet. She tried again, but still couldn’t find the words she was looking for. Finally, though…

“You mean the introduction to Programming 110? The absolute basics of the basics?”

“Yeah. And before you say anything, this is why I’m getting a degree in the Political Sciences field.”

“Fortunately for the rest of us.”

Giving Sophie a frustrated look, Sam decided not to comment on what had just been said and instead fished his textbook and folder out of his backpack. He had been expecting this, more or less. Sophie had always had a rather frictional personality, even with those that she called friends. At least she was willing to help him, and he certainly couldn’t complain about that.

The hangar was practically alive with commotion and orders being given on the overhead speakers as the massive C-5 Galaxies were being loaded. Decepticons had been spotted in Shanghai, and N.E.S.T. and the Autobots had to move fast to neutralize the threat before the Decepticons did any more damage.

Peering down the sight of his modified M16A4, Major Lennox gave the grip a testing squeeze. Ever since they had started engaging Cybertronian enemies, their weaponry had, understandably, gotten a major overhaul. The assault rifles hadn’t been excluded, and were now augmented with high-powered impact rounds that were supposed to penetrate Cybertronian armor. Even then, though, Lennox had seen some Decepticons shrug the shots off like they were little more than a tickle.

A loud crash that rattled through the hangar, quickly followed by two arguing voices, snapped Lennox out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Mudflap and Skids bickering, each trying to hit the other with pieces of scrap metal that they had managed to procure. Though he couldn’t hear everything that was said, Lennox was able to figure out that the twins were upset about being an ice cream van.

“Hey, where’s Prime?” Mudflap yelled, noticing Lennox.

Glancing around, the Major started to respond, but was cut off when Skids interrupted.

“Yeah. We wanna’ know why we gotta’ be some scrappy-looking ice cream truck.”

“Well-” That was as far as Lennox got.

“We wanna’ be something faster!”

“If you two went any faster,” Ironhide interjected steely, walking over to the squabbling twins, “we might mistake you for annoying gnats and blast you both.”

“Hey, hey, cool the cannons there,” Mudflap said quickly, holding up his hands as he and his sibling backed away. “We were just asking. Ice cream truck sounds good for us, though.”

Despite Mudflap’s words, the moment the twins were out of earshot of both Ironhide and Lennox, they appeared to resume their bickering. Ventilating an exasperated sigh as he shook his helm, Ironhide looked back to Lennox. The Major was watching the two squabbling Autobots with a doubtful gaze, then scoffed and grinned up at Ironhide.

“Do those two ever stop arguing?”

“Not that I have ever seen,” Ironhide grumbled, glancing over at the two. “I wouldn’t be surprised if those two have been arguing since the day they were created.”

“And yet they’re twins,” Lennox commented lightly, looking down the sights of his assault rifle once more.

“Don’t remind me that there’s two of them.”

The jet ride was fortunately smooth enough, even with the turbulence that the storm that had started to brew over Shanghai. The inside of the jet had been relatively quiet, too, with the only real noises being the creaking of the jet along with idle chit chat amongst the soldiers. The Autobots, however, had been almost completely silent, and only spoke when spoken to.

Lennox glanced around at the soldiers, mentally hoping that they all made it through the fight. They all knew what Decepticons could do, and some had even seen the devastation first hand. Decepticons didn’t view humans in the same light that Autobots did. To Decepticons, humans were little more than insects that were in the way. Yes, they were living, but they were numerous and without individuality. There was rarely a second thought given when a Decepticon ended a human life.

“Sir?”

Pulled out of his thoughts, Lennox looked over at the soldier that had spoken up. It was one of the newer recruits, one of the soldiers that, for now, hadn’t seen what Decepticons could do firsthand. Nonetheless, Lennox recognized the soldier as being one of the men that had readily volunteered. They’d been incredibly proud of the N.E.S.T. emblem that they now wore on their uniform, but there was no mistaking the obvious nervousness that was written on the young man’s features.

“Williams,” Lennox replied with an acknowledging nod. “What is it?”

“These Decepticons… We’re looking at two, right?”

“Two have been confirmed. There could possibly be more. That’s why we’re bringing our own bots to the playing field.”

Lennox grinned and motioned to where Ironhide and Sideswipe were parked in the C-5. Both Autobots had been chained down for their own benefit, so as to keep them from rolling around as the C-5 flew around. Williams looked over at the two Autobots, then gave Lennox a wary smile before sighing and slouching back in his seat. The Major watched them for a few moments before looking down at the floor beneath him. He was probably just as nervous as the recruit was, but he was better at hiding it.

With a short burst of static, one of the pilots spoke through the overhead speaker, announcing that they were entering Shanghai airspace. Lennox took a deep breath and focused, gathering up his composure as he looked up to address the rest of the soldiers. Despite how nervous he might be, he wasn’t about to let it show through.

“All right, boys,” Lennox stated firmly. “This is what we trained for and what you’re here for. It’s time to go Decepticon hunting.”

After about forty-five minutes of Sophie trying to explain the basics of programming to Sam, he realized that while she was speaking English, he hadn’t understood a word of what she’d said. Given the fact that she was repeating herself and giving Sam an exasperated look, he safely guessed that she was realizing the same thing. He’d be lucky to pass the class with a C at this rate.

“Are you sure you need this class as a prerequisite?” Sophie asked, looking over the pages of Sam’s textbook. “Could you maybe take something else? Like...something easier?”

“What would be easier than this? My advisor said this was a ‘guaranteed A’.”

“Well, technically it should be…,” Sophie commented, trailing off. She picked up one of Sam’s homework papers and glanced over the answers that he had scribbled down. After a moment, she grimaced before setting aside the paper. “But your advisor may have been stoned when they told you that.”

“Great,” Sam muttered, thunking his head down on his textbook. “I’m never going to graduate thanks to this one class.”

“Like hell you’re not. You’re passing this class if I have to drag you kicking and screaming. I just can’t promise you an A.”

The brief thought of Sophie dragging him down the hallway to his Programming class while he kicked and screamed crossed Sam’s mind, and he had to stifle a snicker. It also reminded him that Leo had managed to rope him into going to a party that evening. While Sam still wasn’t sure how and why he had agreed to go, he knew he was going, nonetheless.

Then a thought crossed his mind.

“Hey, you want to go to a party?” Sam asked suddenly, looking over at Sophie.

There was a long pause of Sophie staring back at Sam, and then she began to break into a fit of muffled giggles. The giggling eventually became full blown laughter, and Sophie had to fan herself to keep the tears at bay. When she finally composed herself, Sam was giving her a very unamused look and was now leaning back in his seat with his arms crossed.

“Are you serious?” Sophie gasped through the last bits of her giggles.

“Yeah. Yeah, I am. I’m supposed to go with my roommate, but ten bucks says that he leaves me to fly solo and I don’t really want to be stuck around a bunch of people that I don’t know.”

“So, why did you agree to go in the first place?”

“Because he asked me to.”

“So back out.”

“I can’t really do that. He’d never let me live it down and may I remind you that he is my roommate.”

There was a pause, then Sophie gave Sam a level, narrow-eyed look.

“I’m not going to pretend to be your girlfriend.”

“What? No, no, no!” Attempting to brush off the sudden outburst, Sam leaned back in the chair as coolly as he could manage. “Besides, I have a girlfriend, remember?”

“I’m trying to forget. I can’t believe you’re still with Mikaela.”

“Why don’t you like her? What did she ever do to you?”

“I don’t have a problem with her,” Sophie replied with a quick shrug. “She was just always one of those popular and pretty girls. I...was not. I don’t know what she sees in you.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“And she knows how to hotwire vehicles. I do not.”

“So you’re jealous?”

“That. And I’m afraid she might steal my car.” Sophie stopped, then grinned at Sam. “Do you still have that sleek Camaro? You know, the yellow one with the black stripes?”

Bumblebee.

Sam sighed inwardly. He missed his friend, but he hadn’t really had a choice. The college campus forbid first-year students from having vehicles. Nonetheless, he still felt bad about leaving Bumblebee behind.

“Yeah, but I had to leave it at my parents.”

“Aw, bummer.”

“But I couldn’t even though I wanted to. First-year students can’t bring their own vehicles, remember?”

“Oh, yeah. Such a bullshit rule.” Sophie shook her head. “You still should have tried to sneak it in. How do you know your parents aren’t out doing donuts or dragging main in it?”

The idea of his parents doing anything more than 5 miles per hour in a school zone while driving Bumblebee was foreign enough to be on the line of pure hilarity. Sam couldn’t help but snicker as he shook his head. To their credit, though, his parents had promised to take care of Bumblebee and let him out for a drive when needed.

“I’m pretty sure they’re leaving my car alone.”

“I don’t know. I know I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off a car like that.” Sophie was digging around underneath her bed as she spoke, obviously looking for something. “Where are-hey! There they are!”

Sophie then hoisted up a pair of combat boots, grinning as though she’d managed to catch a wild animal.

“Are those even safe to wear?”

“Ha, ha. You’re hilarious,” Sophie grumbled, setting aside the shoes. “Fine. I’ll go to this party, simply because you’re bound to get yourself into trouble and there’s probably going to be free alcohol.”

“Aren’t you kind of an aggressive drunk?”

“Maybe,” Sophie replied with a shrug.

“And weren’t you also one of the star rugby players at our high school?”

“Yeah,” Sophie answered with a smug grin.

“So I’m going to have an aggressive drunk, ex-rugby player as a party friend?”

“Do you want me to go or not?”

Sam just sighed and nodded, already beginning to wonder if he’d made a very big mistake.

In a matter of mere minutes, the construction site had been turned into a war zone that had been utterly destroyed. Debris still smoldered as ash and smoke flitted around in the air while soldiers helped carry the wounded or dead back to transport vehicles. Optimus watched with a somber gaze as two soldiers helped a wounded comrade limp to a waiting jeep, but his thoughts were on the cryptic warning that one of the dying Decepticons had given.

The Fallen.

Frowning, the Prime turned his attention back to the Decepticon’s corpse. The message had been cryptic enough, and Optimus knew that whatever the Decepticons were preparing for was only going to put more strain on the alliance between the humans and the Autobots. It was both frustrating and disheartening that as things got worse, it seemed that communications and cooperation broke down.

“You’re awfully quiet.”

Ironhide’s voice brought Optimus out of his thoughts, and the Prime glanced over at the weapons specialist. He recognized the concerned expression that Ironhide was giving him, and Optimus ventilated a short sigh as he turned his attention back to the Decepticon corpse. He had to do something to keep the human-Autobot alliance strong in the face of the oncoming threat.

“I need to speak with Sam Witwicky,” Optimus finally answered, walking back to the landing area that N.E.S.T. had designated for the C-5s.

“The boy?” Ironhide queried, sounding surprised. “What for?”

“I fear that the alliance we have with the humans is about to be tested,” Optimus answered, gazing out at the Shanghai skyline. “Sam has worked with the Autobots before, and he knows, better than most, of our resolve to help the humans. The humans in power, however, do not. The Autobots are going to need help in convincing those humans of our resolve, and I believe that Sam can help.”

Snorting slightly in muted derision, Ironhide looked back to where the C-5s were landing. Personally, he thought it would be far better to have someone with more experience, such as Lennox or Epps, speak to the humans that were in power. And if they still wouldn’t listen, then perhaps their minds would change if they were left to face the Decepticons alone even once.

But Prime was insistent that the humans needed their help, and Ironhide wasn’t going to argue.

“Alright, gentlemen,” Lennox called out as he walked up to the two Autobots. “We’re packing up and shipping out. The clean up crew is coming in and you know how picky they can get. If we’re lucky, we’ll be back at the base in time for lunch.”

“So long as you’re not cooking, Major, I’ll call it good,” Williams commented as he walked by.

“Very funny, recruit. Keep it up and you’ll be on janitorial duty for a week,” Lennox replied with a grin. Despite his threat of clean up duty, the Major was glad that the recruit had made it through the fight with only a few cuts and bruises.

Watching as Williams darted off, Ironhide shook his helm. He still didn’t understand the humans’ fascination with insulting each other’s ability to cook. It seemed rather infantile to him, but it kept the humans in good enough spirits. So, as odd as it may have been, Ironhide supposed the banter had its place.

Now to see if Sam would be willing to once more take up his place in assisting the Autobots again.

#my writing #bayformers #tfoc #ironhide #fanfiction #writing #maccadam #transformers

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bestvrsystem-com · 5 years

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Why You Should (And Shouldn't) Buy PlayStation VR in 2019

okay so I haven't really done a dedicated PlayStation VR video in a while in fact I think the last time I did one was back in 2016 when the platform originally came out and since then a lot has changed I mean it's two plus years the device is certainly matured gotten a lot better and it really is giving you the point where I think you should consider buying one and to be fair we're not going to spend ten plus minutes making this a PlayStation VR promotional campaign there's certainly some negatives and we're going to go over those as well but it is a situation where if you weren't sold on it back in 2016 maybe you will be now see the thing is back in October 2016 when PlayStation VR first came out the reservations many people felt were certainly warranted it was brand new unfamiliar tech to many that was essentially launching as a platform by itself with a steep starting price of $400 in requiring a ps4 to begin with it was easy to understand why people weren't so quick to throw money at it especially given the circumstances of virtual reality it's like asking someone to buy a car without letting them test-drive it if anything it's probably more comparable to say you're asking somebody to buy a car and they've never driven a car to begin with virtual reality is a really tough sell when you've never even tried it and this was something Sony was vehemently aware of you've got to have people actually try it firsthand to understand how immersive and incredible of a gaming experience it can be no amount of promises gameplay aware testimonials are going to relay what it's like so when you have a hurdle like that on top of a high price with requiring a ps4 and it essentially being a brand new platform with its own set of launch games it's understandable that the adoption rate has been slow going but fast-forward to the making of this video in the first half of 2019 and you'll notice that two of these hurdles have been rectified because it's been two years PlayStation VR like any platform has now matured to the point of coming in at a lower price point with a vast library of content the passing of time is indeed a gamers best friend when looking to buy into a system they've never owned it before PlayStation VR can now easily be had for as low as $250 brand-new and that's almost always going to include the necessary ps4 camera and two games bump that price up to the $350 range and you'll find retail bundles with two PlayStation Move controllers which you'll certainly want to grab at some point as they are required for some games and enhance the experiences of many more speaking of which can we just pause for a second and wreck that PlayStation Move was announced in June of 2009 10 years ago during Sony's e3 press conference and do you remember watching that press conference and gamers in the video game industry across the world everybody was just reacting to this thing and thinking off sell anyone what are you doing a PlayStation motion controller being demoed as a tennis racket and a sword and this was at the height of Nintendo Wii sales and yes PlayStation Move was probably are indeed well before Sony ever caught when to what Nintendo was doing at the week prior to its public reveal but it's the simple fact that PlayStation move came after so it never really broke that identity crisis especially when you have games like Sports Champions or being shoehorned into games like Killzone socom BioShock Infinite just never really worked out but would you believe in 2009 that we'd still be using this today 10 years later on ps4 with virtual reality mind you I think it's much better used today for that case but man I don't know if we should say like that's a true testament of time or if this thing really just needs to be updated and to be fair totally does need to be updated and it we probably will get a PlayStation Move 2.0 of some kind on PS 5 whenever Sony decides to show us that but yeah I think it's much better used today with PlayStation VR the unnoticed side-effect of PlayStation moves still being relevant 10 years later is that it's held its value because it's still being used today on ps4 with PlayStation VR you're still seeing used mini-usb Move controllers being sold regularly for more than twenty dollars people are picking these controllers up to use them today on PS VR which just as an FYI brand new Move controllers today come with a microUSB and they do not work on ps3 so if you ever find yourself buying move for ps3 specifically make sure you buy the correct one but this whole discussion of move and its retain value brings me to this greater point and that PlayStation VR itself is very valuable if you buy into it you feel that it's just not for you you can get a lot of your money back by posting it on a third-party site so at the very least you don't have to feel as though you're taking this huge risk buying something that you might not like hell if you don't mind the more personal aspect of the device by PlayStation VR used from eBay and if need be list it back on there for what you paid you'd only eat the eBay fees at that point in fact here's an extra tip assuming the sellers shipped it in a cost-effective box that wasn't overly way down keep the box and packaging materials for a little bit so if you decide you don't like it you have all the packaging ready to go I actually do this a lot as you can see we're in my living room and uh yeah I got a lot of box just in case you know Sam that's actually Melissa's house and yeah liver rooms basically turned into a storage closet at this point now monetary value aside here's the real safety net Sony had a pretty rough reputation with her PlayStation Vita support they spent the first two years releasing some first party games giving the Vita some stage time at press events and that was really about it so while Vita was a fantastic handheld with great games it was a tough sell for people when you see the manufacturer not giving it the support that it needs if there's one thing about PlayStation VR that everybody can agree on it's that Sony supports the living hell out of it to the point where it's beginning to annoy a regular ps4 users that have no interest in VR and they're tired of seeing it it's almost ironic but it really does give that reassurance that two years onward it's a great time to buy there's a ton of games on the horizon Sony has constantly filing new patents related to VR tech and most importantly the headset you buy today has recently been confirmed to be playable on Sony's next-generation PlayStation presumably PS 5 that in itself is fantastic news because while yes there will probably be a next-generation version of PlayStation VR at the very least your current headset can still be used and all the games that you buy today will still be playable but another key factor many are also overlooking as Sony's dominance in the VR space while some may say psvr isn't doing all that well it's actually the market leader in the premium line up against HTC vive and oculus with over 4 million headsets sold with sony securing all these patents and supporting VR like crazy you have to imagine that it's only going to get better from here and what does here look like we've talked a lot about the value in the future of the unit but realistically what does today get you as it stands I think you're finally seeing some prime examples of just how fun immersive and compelling PlayStation VR can be initially a lot of these games were more static experiences where you don't actually move around and all the content is seen in under an hour but today we've got games that well they're really considered more full-blown games Skyrim VR Resident Evil 7 or 2 - these are perhaps the best examples they're games that are very familiar but can be played completely in virtual reality and it's one hell of an experience to finally be inside those worlds these are the kind of games that are proof-of-concept to ease that transition of someone who initially would never care for VR because naturally people dismiss experiences they can't relate to [Music] the thing is though original VR titles are also blossoming and finding their place games like beat saver Farpoint doom VFR firewall zero our job simulator Moss Astra bot rescue mission Creed rise to glory and so so so much more and you know one thing I'm really starting to notice with PlayStation VR is that it has the same magic from 2006 you know what I'm talking about the first time you and a group of friends played a weed together you all had a blast that was the catalyst a lot of people were first exposed to we in a group setting with friends and it was just a fantastic time that social experience is what got so many people into it and ironically despite VR being an enclosed experience it's becoming social just as Sony planned it you're seeing friends together playing psvr and taking turns laughing and reveling and how cool the tech is now yes the barrier of entry is still much higher and I'm not saying PSP are suddenly going to see a massive jump in sales just like Nintendo did back in 2006 but the magic is there slowly but surely every time people try it they always have a great time geez now let's get to the negatives here's one of them the set up is a mess wires everywhere so when you're doing PlayStation VR you really have to consider where you're going to put this in terms of your play area in your room so for me I think I've found a pretty good balance here which is that I keep it on the bottom shelf of my TV and whenever I need it obviously I kind of made a mess here on purpose but basically whenever I decide to play it I keep most of that tucked under there I keep this whole area free it's a little bit dusty excuse me but I keep that whole area free and without having to think about it I just plop it in plop it out one wire just to hold it and move it around freely but for my space specifically it's a bit cramped as you can see I've got my desk right here with my computer and I do that in close proximity to do YouTube videos and gameplay recording and things like that but because of this my reach is severely limited when doing things like a PlayStation Move so I often hit the desk a lot my vertical is also a bit limited in this regard and so sometimes a lot of the games just flat-out don't work for this particular space and I have to take the whole setup out to the living room which as you can see I don't really like moving all this and then there's the general fatigue of the device even if you don't experience motion sickness you really should take a break every hour two hours and I know some people play longer than that but you do want to avoid that eyestrain that exhaustion especially if it's a move game or if it's using a lot of head tracking it tires you out a bit you do have to have the energy you do have to be in the mood for which I know sounds off-putting to want to be in the mood to move around like that but that's kind of how it is and that's actually why I've been gravitating more towards the games that just let you sit down be in that world and use a controller although it's also because of my setup like we just went over but it is a thing where once you are in the mood for it you still have a really great time so if you're on board now here's some quick tips to get you started definitely get those Move controllers you'll need them for some of the best experiences the aim controller I wouldn't buy right away until you know you're really enjoying VR but then definitely get that as well because it really feels like firing a gun and it's just a blast be sure to visit the PlayStation Store and go to the free section there's actually a lot of free viewer content you could spend all day playing with from live experiences to videos and speaking of videos if you have any 3d blu-ray movies psvr can play those and reproduce the 3d effect beautifully so try that out be conservative with your play time so you can avoid sickness or eye strain and perhaps most importantly invite some friends over who have never tried it watch how much fun you have order a pizza for the night and just have a good time thank you so much for watching this video I hope you've enjoyed it if you haven't yet of course please subscribe for the best PlayStation news reviews and updates that are here on YouTube and also follow along on twitter at mystic ryan and tweet at me let me know if you bought PlayStation VR because of this video if you didn't if I'm wrong please let me know because I'm pretty much wasting all my time on Twitter anyway so might as well have some things to read other than that though that's pretty much it I will see you on my next video and you take it easy

https://youtu.be/0PsfotRimXs

#best vr system #virtual reality

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disrepairhouse · 5 years

Text

Chapter 31 - Brief Respite

Both Itara and Metal had expected their struggle to take a break as soon as the plane landed. They could return home, get RK down to the lab, and begin repairs. Itara would have to get her arm properly taken care of and Metal would need to look into replacement parts for RK’s missing leg, but they could manage that easily enough compared to everything else. But it was never that easy. As soon as they returned home and Metal returned the plane to the base they’d stolen it from, they faced a new series of issues trying to get RK home without alerting Lynda.

For the exact reason RK had asked her to keep a watch out for Itara, they realized, she would prove just as impossible to sneak past to reach the house. Itara suggested they do the same as she and RK had done when moving Metal to the new base, which, of course, accidentally informed the furious bot on how he’d been transported to said house. Itara barely managed to talk him out of strangling her by reminding him that there were more pressing issues but once that rage had been momentarily simmered it meant they had to get a box big enough and another rental that could fit it. Metal could have easily carried all of it, himself, but that would look equally suspicious. Luckily, Itara knew how they handled it the first time and had Metal take her to the old antique shop to ask Old Ned for help, whom Metal had yet to meet.

However, as soon as they walked in the door and called out for the old fox, who was watching his shows from the counter as he often was, he immediately screeched and toppled off his chair at the sight of Metal Sonic. Neither of them had expected such a violent reaction, or recognition at all for that matter, and it took Itara a couple minutes to calm him enough to try and talk him down. Explaining Kipper had been one thing, no one knew Tails Doll to begin with, but trying to convince an older mobian that Metal Sonic walking in his door wasn’t a sign of doom was entirely different. It wasn’t until Ned caught onto Itara’s broken arm that he finally shifted his focus away from the annoyed bot to the small girl.

“For the love of Chaos, what happened to your arm, girl?”

Itara winced at the saying and got strange look from the old fox, “It’s… a long story…” She shook her head when he cast a long sideways glance towards Metal and continued, “I need a favor, though.”

“And what is that?”

“A really big box… and, uh… do you… drive at all?”

Ned cocked an eyebrow, getting a feeling of déjà vu, and nodded slowly. Itara did her best to explain the situation without giving away the finer details, but got sideways glances from him and Metal the entire time. She got the point across enough to prompt Ned to get his keys and a box big enough loaded into the car she never even knew he had eventually, though. It was just an old flat-bed truck, but it would be enough. Metal decided to meet them at the base and ran off, leaving Itara to ride along with Ned so she could give him directions. Metal didn’t seem overly pleased about taking the fox, himself, to the base, and let Itara know before taking off, but Itara didn’t see any other way to get past Lynda.

Ned led her to the truck and helped her up into the passenger side when she struggled to do so on her own, where she melted into the old torn up leather seat, though kept a wary caution about her arms. She gave Ned their heading and closed her eyes to try and relax again once they were off. If she could just relax enough, she thought she could get the flames to simmer down. It was how her crystals worked, after all, she figured the flames would be the same. The dip in the flooding ocean cooled them down considerably, as well, they didn’t glow so badly and she didn’t think they’d melt through steel anymore. They would definitely burn a leather seat, though.

When she opened her eyes again to see where they were, she noticed the old fox glance cautiously towards her every few seconds and winced. He caught the movement and apparently decided he was done being silent.

“Alright, I want answers, little girl.” Itara sighed. She was getting tired of hearing that. But for Ned, at least, it was less frustration with him and more not wanting to reveal too much. Then again, maybe it was a bit too late for that. “I have a heap of questions, but firstly, why are you running around with Metal Sonic? Do you know what he is?”

Itara shook her head, “I… I know but he… look, you have to keep this secret, okay? Promise you won’t tell anyone.” He eyed her suspiciously, but nodded slowly, prompting her to continue, “it’s a really long story, that I can’t fully explain, but… well… he’s not… he doesn’t work for Robotnik anymore. He was badly damaged in a fight, RK and I took him in and repaired him. He’s been with us since.”

“Why on earth would you do that?”

“Well, technically I didn’t. I wasn’t around when RK brought him home, but it’s because…” She debated how to explain it but was too tired to care anymore and, quite frankly, she had a feeling none of it would matter for long, anyway. “Both of them are robots.” She looked up to watch his expression, to gauge his response. To her surprise, he looked more contemplative than shocked or even concerned. “You don’t… look surprised.”

“Girly, no normal mobian has black for the whites of his eyes.”

She almost laughed. It was just so blunt and obvious, it had always been a point of paranoia for her but no one had expressly questioned it until now. Though she did briefly wonder what everyone else actually thought. “I suppose… you’re right,” she managed and looked down again after pointing him down another street, “RK is short for Robot Knuckles, a decommissioned counterpart to Knuckles, created for the same purpose as Metal Sonic. I rescued him first, from a destroyed base. Both their loyalty chips were damaged and they’ve just been with me since. We’ve been trying to stay under Robotnik’s radar as much as possible, so he doesn’t take them back. But he… nearly did.” Her shoulders slumped and Ned glanced over at her curiously, keeping one ear turned towards her as he drove.

“If Kipper hadn’t… if I hadn’t been able to… they came to get me and they… they almost got caught. Everything we’ve worked so hard to avoid almost…” She curled up again, cringing when she accidentally moved her arm in the process and shook her head. “They came to get me, because of my stupid, stupid crystals, because I couldn’t control them… and I almost got them captured by Robotnik. I almost lost them. I… I shouldn’t have… I-.”

She stopped as she felt a hand rest on her head, rubbing it carefully, and looked up at the soft-faced fox who was watching her through the corner of his eye. “C’mon now, girly, whatever happened, I’m sure it wasn’t your fault.”

“But I-!”

“No, none of that now. You’re fine now, aren’t you? And the robots are back home, aren’t they? Whatever you’re going off about, toss it away. Everything will be okay.” Itara’s brows furrowed up at him, wanting to argue but he shook his head the second she tried. “Enough of that. Instead, why don’t you tell me what happened? Why are you so banged up and what happened to your arm?”

Itara went silent for a few minutes to think it over, but slowly explained the situation with her field trip, telling him about Sceira’s annoying persistence, the game night at the hotel, her matches against Metal, and eventually the situation at the university. She explained the attack and the strange robot from the other world and the explosion on the carrier �� even the fact that she caused it – and then RK and Metal and Kipper coming to get her. By the time they reached the hidden base with the plane, she was explaining how they had to drag RK from the water and that he was inactive and missing a leg and needed to get past Lynda. The old fox sat and listened quietly the entire time, his only reactions being that of shock or confusion once in a while, but let her go on uninterrupted.

When they pulled up to the plane and Ned helped her out, she was finally out of story to tell and Metal watched them both suspiciously when Ned gave no outwards response to either him, the base, the plane, or the inactive RK behind him. Once she had a moment to breathe and think about the ride, Itara’s eyes widened as she looked up at Ned, as well, her hand going up to her mouth though she winced at the heat and put it back down. “I talked too much! Please don’t tell anyone!” Metal shot her a scowl but Ned only smiled.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry, young’in, I already promised, didn’t I?” He looked over at the scowling Metal Sonic and studied him cautiously before he folded his arms, “As for you,” Metal shifted his glance, though his scowl went nowhere, “so long as you promise to keep the little’un safe like your partner there’s been doing, we don’t have a problem. The past is the past, right?” Metal’s expression finally shifted to confusion while Itara only stared on in shock.

Metal’s gaze became suspicious as he looked back and forth between the two, but stated, “If you expect me to Mother Hen like RK then it’s not happening. But I suppose someone has to keep an eye on the little troublemaker when RK can’t.” He crossed his arms and looked away while Ned grinned down at Itara and winked, getting a smile from her.

“That’s good enough for me, now let’s get that boy packed up and home, shall we?” He moved to the back of the truck to get the shipping crate open while Metal and Itara exchanged glances. They weren’t expecting it to be so easy to convince the old fox to help out, especially once he recognized Metal, but moved to help out after a minute of confusion. They worked to get RK packed up into the crate, closed it tightly, and secured the box to the back of the truck. Once that was done, Itara gave him directions to their house and they filed back into the truck, though Metal planned to run again. Ned rolled the window down once he got in and looked to the robot staring off in thought.

“So we’ll meet you at your house, then, and get this taken care of, but then we need to do something about the little one’s arm. I don’t know what we can do about that burning, but we need to at least get that break taken care of, it’s already been sitting long enough. May end up healing wrong at this point.” Itara frowned and looked down at her arm while Metal studied them both, nodding before taking off in a run. Ned watched the cloud of dust left in place of the robot then shook his head and started the truck to follow.

The ride was mostly silent that time, Itara lost in thought about her arm and how to get the flame to go down. It was cooling down still, at least, but she wondered if a normal doctor could even do anything about it. No one could touch her arms without getting burnt, themselves. Even trying to wrap or splint it would prove difficult, since she’d sear any bandage right back off. She had to control the flame first. She took a long, slow, deep breath, closed her eyes, and tried to reach out for the inner flame in the same way she reached for the shadows before. It had been a fruitless venture since the reset, and she doubted it would be any different now, but she had to at least try. If she could just calm down enough. She just had to calm down.

Everything would be okay.

Everything was fine.

She was fine.

Metal and RK were home.

Robotnik and Chaos were an ocean away.

Soleanna was fine.

Ned was calm.

Everything would be fine.

She felt a light tap on her head and opened her eyes again to look up at the curious fox. “We’re here, girly. C’mon, let’s get this taken care of and get you to a hospital.” Itara nodded and looked up to see Metal already waiting beside the driveway to take the RK-containing box inside. They pulled in and Metal climbed up to detach the box from the back of the truck, but they didn’t get far before all three sets of ears picked up the high-pitched screech of the human woman bolting down the sidewalk at them. Itara’s ears flattened, Metal sighed in frustration, and Ned only glanced towards the strawberry blonde curiously.

“Itara! Oh, thank heavens, you’re back! You’re okay! Where have you been?!” She barely cast the others a glance as she b-lined for the hedgehog girl, giving Metal a moment to continue his work releasing the box from the truck’s latches. Though getting it inside, he realized, was going to be more difficult than he expected.

Itara cringed at the shrill voice, shuffling uncomfortably until she had to take a quick step back to avoid getting picked up. “I…” What was she supposed to tell Lynda, exactly? What had RK told her? Luckily, Lynda wasn’t well-known for waiting for an answer before continuing on as she looked over the hedgehog girl as closely as she would let her.

“Goodness, you just look a wreck. What on earth happened? Where is RK?”

“RK is… on his way back,” Itara lied, though struggled to keep her eyes off the box Metal was staring down in debate. “Sparky found me first and brought me home, RK will be home soon.”

“Thank goodness, I’m so glad you’re alright.” However, her attention shifted soon enough to the frustrated bot standing over the box on the back of the truck. “I’m glad you were able to get her home, Sparky… what are you doing over there?”

All eyes fell to the blue bot as he mumbled incoherently under his breath and glanced back at the woman. He wasn’t sure how to answer, but more importantly, he didn’t know how to get RK inside. The box he was in was too large for the front door, by far, and the garage door was fake. If he took the echidna out in full view of the street it would only cause more problems not even he wanted to deal with right now, but he didn’t know how to deal with this in an inconspicuous manner before Lynda brought attention to him. Even if he answered, she would likely suggest just taking it through the garage door if it didn’t fit in the front door.

With a quick glance between Metal and Lynda, Itara realized the conundrum the bot faced and almost laughed with the familiarity. She resisted, though, and considered a possible answer. Before, when they were moving Metal, they had the excuse of moving houses. They didn’t have that now. Well, she was a creative liar, she was sure she could come up with something. It was the only non-power talent her father ever taught her. While she considered a reason for the box, she grabbed Metal’s attention and pointed to the gate, mumbling a soft, “backdoor.” He nodded and hefted the box up onto his shoulder, jumping down from the truck to head for the fence while Lynda watched them strangely.

“What on earth is that?”

“Um, well,” Itara stammered, looking between Metal and Lynda and Ned, though jumped when Lynda followed after Metal all of a sudden, “uh!”

Metal glanced back at them and his eyes narrowed when he realized Lynda was following him. Before he could question her motives, she piped up, “the latch is behind the gate, right? Trying to reach with that heavy box on your shoulder would be difficult, let me get it for you. You know, it’s funny, I had to help RK with the same thing when he and Itara first moved in.” Metal shot a scowl back to the tiny, flustered hedgehog while Lynda reached over the fence to unlatch it, “you mobians really are a lot stronger than you look, aren’t you? That box looks like it weighs quite a bit just on its own. I can’t imagine anything that needs something that size is all that light, either.”

Metal only grumbled in response as Itara shot Ned a look of confusion before following after the other two. The old fox shrugged in response, unsure how to deal with the nosy woman, either. Itara was hoping Metal could get the box in the back and move RK inside with the cover of the fence, but once again, Lynda was making that difficult. RK wasn’t around to deal with her and neither Itara nor Metal were all that great at dodging Lynda’s questions. Metal only knew how to threaten her and the human woman commanded a level of social dominance that Itara couldn’t ever hope to overcome. It was only when RK wasn’t around that the two realized how imperative he was for dealing with nosy women and questioned when and how the red bot managed to attain suburban mom levels of conversational power.

They would have to question him about it once they got him repaired, but for now, they had to deal with Lynda on their own.

Metal took the box to the back deck and compared the width of the back door to the width of the box, realizing quickly enough that Itara had misled him about the size. With a quick scowl at the girl, he turned to face the woman that had followed him, wanting nothing more than to be rid of her. Much to his dismay, she did her own quick survey and stated, “this is far too big for this door. Wouldn’t have been easier to take it through the garage?”

Metal mentally sighed but, for once, the tiny hedgehog came of use as she explained with her usual stutter, “I-it’s… the garage is… the door is broken. It doesn’t open from the outside so it’s easier to bring things in from the back door.”

“Oh, I see,” Lynda mused, “RK seems like such a handyman, I’m surprised he hasn’t fixed that yet.”

“Well, he… you’ll have to ask him about that when he gets back. Maybe he just forgot. We don’t need to open the garage very often, after all,” Itara offered.

“Hm, well, I suppose. In any case, you’re not fitting that box through that door. Are you going to be able to fit whatever’s inside through if you take it out? What’s even in there?”

There was silence between the three as both Itara and Metal scrounged for a satisfactory lie. It was Metal who finally answered with a simple, “A… fridge.” He knew that was a home appliance large enough to fit inside the box they’d borrowed and one that was necessary to the average household. Sure, they already had one, but it wasn’t completely out of the question that they might require a new one. Both Itara and Lynda shot him a strange look at his answer, though. Itara’s was far more accusatory as there was no reason why they would be shopping for a fridge now of all times.

“A… fridge? Odd time to be appliance shopping,” Lynda challenged, eyeing Metal suspiciously.

“It was on the way before everything happened,” Itara immediately cut in, “N-Ned owns a shop and ordered it for us. He was just already bringing it over when we stopped by.”

“Yes. Two birds, one stone, as they say,” Metal offered coolly, though was just hoping Lynda would leave soon.

“I… see. I suppose that makes sense,” Lynda muttered slowly, but turned back and questioned, “though shouldn’t getting Itara taken care of be more important than a fridge right now?”

Metal’s mouth pulled back in annoyance, before he saw his opportunity and took it, “Yes. It is. In fact, I plan to do that now. Come, Itara, we should get you to the… hospital. I’ll come back to… install the fridge later.” He waved her on rather impatiently, causing the girl to jump but once she realized it was their out, she nodded quickly and turned to walk back out to the front. Lynda, at last, seemed satisfied with their answer and followed them both back out to the front. Metal closed and locked the gate behind them while Itara returned to Ned, who was still waiting out by his truck.

“Well then let me know how everything goes when you get back. I’ll give RK a call to let him know you’re both home safe and off to the hospital. Let me know when you get home again, alright?”

Itara watched in confusion as Lynda pulled her phone out to apparently call RK, wondering when she even got his number. Her unvoiced question caught the woman’s attention as she smiled and explained, “he gave me his work number so I could let him know if you came home before him.” The confusion left Itara’s face as she realized what the ‘work’ number was and could only nod. It wasn’t exactly a cellphone and Lynda wasn’t getting anywhere with it at the moment, considering RK – and his comm units – were offline. But that was concern for later.

Instead, her focus returned to Metal, who looked back and forth between Lynda and the truck. He said he would take Itara to the hospital, but he’d originally planned to just let the fox do it while he went downstairs to start on repairs. If he didn’t go now, it opened the potential for Lynda to bother him further. He could easily run Itara to a hospital in the city and run back in no time, but that might also look suspicious on his part. As he thought over the options, he scowled as he realized his only realistic answer was to join them in the truck, on the ride over. He could run back on his own afterwards, likely get into the backyard and the house without anyone seeing him, but for now…

With a heavy, dramatic sigh, he reached over and picked Itara up and motioned for Ned to lead the way. Itara watched him suspiciously, but he said nothing as he climbed in the passenger seat of the truck next to the old fox. There were only the driver and passenger seats in the truck, meaning to fit all three of them, Itara would have to sit in his lap. As tempted as he was to tie her to the back.

Lynda gave them a final wave as she returned down the street to her own house, leaving quite the lengthy voicemail for RK whenever he reactivated, and Ned started the dilapidated old truck up. Itara shifted uncomfortably in the scowling bot’s lap, unsure what to make of the situation, but the old fox could barely keep the amusement off his face. As terrified as he’d been when Metal Sonic walked in his shop door earlier, as convinced as he was that that was the end of his life, the image of the killer robot sitting, pouting, in the passenger seat of his truck, a tiny hedgehog child sat in his lap, on a ride to a hospital to get her broken arm taken care of, amused him greatly. Between RK coming in, so long ago, to buy a doll for his ‘daughter’ and now Metal Sonic riding with her to the hospital, Ned found it increasingly easy to believe the little girl about the ex-killer Robotnik robots.

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writeyouin · 5 years

Text

Swerve X Reader – A Human Crewmate - Chapter 21

Chapter 21 - A Happy Ending

A/N – I cannot believe that I’ve got to this point. I loved getting here, but I’m sad to see it go. Fine, if we must part ways then I’m glad it’s to a happy ending. Based on headcanons by @rocksinmuffin and @straightouttacybertron and starring fan art by the miraculous @bloodypoptart

Warnings – None.

Rating – T

Rodimus pouted from his position on the balcony overlooking the entire crew. This was where he usually made announcements, but no, this time you had called for an announcement and Megatron had simply agreed to whatever it was you were about to say. If you only relayed what you were going to say then Rodimus would say it for you, but no, apparently you were going to take one of the best parts of his job away. You assured him it was only going to be this once but he highly doubted that, once you found out how great it was to say anything you wanted while everyone else was forced to listen.

You glanced over to Rodimus sympathetically as if reading his thoughts. He gave a sarcastic thumbs up, indicating you were to start, although he already knew what you were going to say with Swerve stood by your side. Everyone already knew you were dating, thanks to Rewind. This was clearly an announcement to say so officially, probably to save face after the week’s earlier embarrassment. It’s not like he couldn’t say that for you. On his spot. On his ship. As Captain. But it was fine, he wasn’t jealous or anything, so long as you would hurry it up already so he could get back to actually following his quest… as Captain.

While Rodimus heaved a dramatic sigh, which you ignored, you looked at Swerve, silently affirming that he was ready. Swerve grabbed your hand, giving a small squeeze to let you know he was as prepared as he could be, though he was secretly more frightened than he’d ever been in his entire life, including all the years he’d spent in the war; war was inevitably something all Cybertronians were used to, commitment and marriage were much scarier. In war, you could choose to rely only on yourself if it was so desired, in a marriage, you suddenly weren’t alone anymore and as such had so much more to lose.

“You sure you want me to do this?” You whispered to him as the crowd below started to get restless; it reminded you of your first day on the ship, when you had to be publicly announced for the crew to assimilate to you.

“They’ll take it from you better,” Swerve said supportively, but what he really meant was that he had to hear it from you, if only to further prove the wedding was still happening and he wasn’t forcing you into it somehow.

You took a deep breath, not needing to ask for the crew’s attention as all optics were trained on you; even those who couldn’t leave their posts were undoubtedly watching you over the vid-screens. “Hi,” You waved somewhat awkwardly. Rodimus rolled his optics and came over with a microphone, thinking about how he never needed one when it was him making the speeches.

You nodded in thanks, hefting the heavy microphone that was made for Cybertronian size and was almost the same length as your torso. “Okay everyone, so it’s pretty obvious me and Swerve are dating but that’s not what I’m here to announce. Look, before I say what I’ve got to say, well… I’m- Uh, we’re not here to seek validation or for you to ask a bunch of questions or anything like that, it’s just, me and Swerve… Well, um, we’re getting married.”

You bit your lip, waiting for an uproar or maybe some cheering or even a deafening silence. You got neither the reaction you expected nor wanted, as almost the entire crew burst into fits of laughter.

You looked to Swerve for support, but he simply shrugged his shoulders, unsurprised that the crew thought it was all some kind of epic joke. You glanced at Rodimus, who was also in hysterics. Speaking into the microphone again, you said, “Hey, this uh, isn’t a joke, I’m serious, we really are getting married.”

Nobody heard you, but deep in the crowd, Rung, Chromedome, Rewind and Whirl were watching you very closely, knowing that you spoke the truth.

Whirl shook his head, deciding to take control of the situation once and for all. He blasted a loud shot into the ceiling from the one gun he’d managed to hide from Ultra Magnus and always carried around with him for such events that might be made more entertaining with bullets. The room fell silent as Whirl shouted, “THE NEXT PERSON TO LAUGH GETS VENTILATED. NOW, I DON’T KNOW WHAT (Y/N) SEES IN THAT IDIOT, FRAG, SHE’S PROBABLY JUST IN IT FOR THE FREE DRINKS BUT IT’S CLEAR THAT SHE’S NOT JOKING. YOU ALL SAW HOW SHE KISSED HIM ON THAT DAMN TAPE. SWERVE’S GOT GAME, I GUESS.”

You didn’t know what to say now that your entire speech had been derailed. You half expected things would get even crazier or that Ultra Magnus would interject, and it would turn into another debate about gun control. Instead, the entire room turned to you for confirmation and Ultra Magnus was too distracted to help as he cringed at the burn mark on the ceiling, clearly upset that his none of his Roomba armada would be able to reach the ceiling to clean it; besides that, he’d already lost far too many Roombas to the ‘secret’ fights the crew held.

“Yeah…” You said anxiously. “What Whirl said.”

Nobody said anything for a long time and finally Rodimus stepped forward, placing a comforting servo on your shoulder and smiling confidently. You thought he was the first to congratulate you in his own way, but little did you know, he was simply happy to be back in control with what he planned to do next.

“You heard the happy couple,” He beamed. “WE’VE GOT A WEDDING TO PLAN!”

Finally, there was a small cheer as everyone came to terms with what was happening. “Okay,” Rodimus said, “So I’m thinking we’ve got a lot to do and little time. Seven cycles sounds about right.”

You glanced at Swerve, seeing how everything was completely out of your hands; in seven days the two of you would be married. Everything in your life since joining the Lost Light had happened in whirlwind time, it should have been no surprise that your wedding would be no different.

“Alright,” Rodimus continued as he began pointing out people in the crowd, “Brainstorm and Perceptor, you two are on the (Y/N)’s bride outfit. Ultra Magnus, catering detail. Rewind, I want all kinds of documentation, I’m talking films, interviews with the bride and groom on their take on the love story, get everything you can. Blaster, you’re on music. Ten, Tailgate and Cyclonus, You three are on decorations.”

Cyclonus scowled, but before he could argue, Rodimus shouted his name, “HEY, DON’T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT! YOU NEVER USE THAT SWORD FOR ANYTHING USEFUL ANYMORE ANYWAY… Primus, at least use it to cut up some origami or something. What does that leave… Mirage, you’re on bartending duty since Swerve can’t be and, let’s see, um…”

Swerve stepped forward to protest his distaste for Mirage, his chief contender, serving drinks at his wedding, but you held him back, “You really wanna serve drinks at your own wedding?”

Swerve sighed, and wrapped his arm around you, “I guess not, but the reception will be at my bar, not his.”

“Whatever you need to sleep at night, handsome,” You patted his chassis.

Rodimus practically glowed as he made his final announcement, “And last but certainly not least, only I can be the priest or whatever as the Captain of th-”

“CO-CAPTAIN,” A voice from the throng called.

Rodimus leaned over the railing, curling his fist angrily, “WHO SAID THAT?!”

Nobody answered, and Rodimus straightened up, pouting. “Fine, as Co-Captain I will officiate, Megatron can… I dunno, Megatron can be Swerve’s best man I guess.”

Megatron gritted his dentae and while he and Rodimus argued it out, Swerve looked at you pitifully, “Should I even try arguing this one?”

You gave his servo a squeeze, “Honestly, I don’t think you’d win.”

“Yeah. Me neither.”

The two of you held onto one another, the calm in the eye of the storm until Rodimus said, “Till all are one,” marking that the speech was over.

“Hey,” Swerve said, “You okay to be on your own for a while? I’ve got to sort something out… It’s a surprise.”

You smiled, “How intriguing. You think you can keep a secret?”

“Every once in a while,” Swerve chuckled.

“You know, it’s bad to keep secrets in a marriage, this could very well destroy us.”

“We’re not married yet.”

“Fine,” You said playfully, “Keep your secrets. It’s just as well, I’ve got to see Rung anyway.”

Swerve kissed your head lovingly and the two of you parted ways, each on your own little mission, preparing to begin a new adventure, together.

It was taking you much longer than usual to get to Rung’s because every time someone saw you, they stopped to congratulate you, and more than once, you found your path blocked by various wedding preparations. You even heard talk that some of the bots were struggling to rearrange Swerve’s; you hoped that wasn’t true because if it was, Swerve was going to have an aneurism.

Finally, your goal was in sight and you foolishly thought you were going to make it to Rung’s office until you were once again plucked out of the air by Whirl who threw you into a supply closet, locking the door behind himself.

You remembered the days you used to be afraid of such a situation, now they had become your normal. Although breathless by the impromptu kidnapping, you decided you still had to thank Whirl for his earlier rescue in the speech, if it wasn’t for him, none of the ship’s hubbub would be happening right now.

“Whirl, I-”

Whirl waved his claw casually, “Yeah, yeah, can it fleshie, I got something important to say. ‘Kay, now I’m not saying that marrying Swerve is bad but I’ve gotta ask, you sure you don’t wanna switch to a real mech?” He pointed to himself. “I’m a real prize, y’know. Nobody can take me in a fight. Tell me, what’s better than that?”

You couldn’t help yourself as you doubled over laughing, holding onto his leg for support, “Whirl, what the hell man?”

“Don’t blow this off so easily, really think about it, this is a one-time offer, trading Swerve for me.”

You wiped your eyes with the back of your hand, still snickering. “I’m afraid I’ll have to pass, but hey, if you would do me a favour and be my mech of honour, that’d be great.”

Whirl had seen enough of the films in Swerve’s bar to know what you were asking. He rolled his optic sarcastically, “You have no idea of what we could’ve had but sure, go with the orange guy. Fine, I guess I can be the mech of honour… Does that mean I get to kill Swerve if he runs?”

“I- Um- Maybe try not to do that.”

“What about stabbing him a little?”

“I’d uh- rather have him kept whole.”

“Gotcha,” Whirl attempted a wink, which ended up being one unusually long blink. “Psychological torture and a light-beating only.”

You patted his leg in a supporting manner, “Sure, that sounds like a deal.”

Turning around, Whirl unlocked the door, letting you out first. “As your mech of honour, I’m gonna go train. Gotta get buff if that orange scumbag tries to run. Primus, I hope he runs.”

You blew Whirl a kiss, which he tried hard to ignore blushing slightly anyway, “You do that big guy; you’ll be the best mech of honour a girl could have.”

Whirl walked away, leaving you to finally get to Rung’s office. You jumped up to the door buzzer, taking three attempts before you managed to press it, silently cursing yourself for not wearing your rocket boots.

Rung opened the door, a look of surprise contorting his features. He thought he’d be the last bot you would want to see, considering his slightly strained relationship with Swerve. “(Y/N), what a pleasant surprise. Is this a professional meeting or a social call?”

He highly doubted it was the latter, becoming further shocked when you claimed it to be just that. Settling himself down in his chair, and giving you a boost to the desk, he waited for you to set the tone of the conversation, ever conscious that if he spoke first, he would blur the lines between patient and friend. Although he didn’t fully approve on your and Swerve’s hasty decision, he was determined to be supportive, afraid that if he wasn’t you would stop visiting him in both personal and professional terms.

When it became clear that you weren’t sure how to start, Rung found it impossible to ignore his processor, and spoke up quietly, “Presumably, you’re set on your decision so I’ll spare the lecture and simply ask, is this definitely what you want?”

You tucked a strand of hair behind your ear, looking Rung in the optics, “More than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life. I love him Rung. He makes me feel safe and God, so, so happy.”

Rung nodded, satisfied with you answer, “Very well. Then I suppose congratulations are in order.”

“Thank you. I um- Excuse me for getting straight to the point but I need to know something, how much do you know about human weddings?”

“Not a lot, I’m afraid.”

You paced the table, taking time to find the right words, “Right… well, me and Swerve have decided that we’re going to somehow mesh our traditions, one wedding with the Endurae Ceremony thrown in. In human weddings there’s this role I need filling and it’s super important to pick the right person.”

Rung observed you, waiting for you to ask his advice on who to pick. He sighed, deciding to intervene before things got out of hand, “(Y/N), I cannot influence your choices on who to choose during your ceremony. It would be unethical-”

You grabbed his servo, “I want you to walk me down the aisle like the father of the bride is supposed to.”

Although Rung didn’t know what the significance was behind your request, he could tell from the tone of your voice that it was an important role. He took off his glasses, wiping away some coolant, “(Y/N), you’re sure about this?”

“Rung, you’ve guided me since my first steps on this crazy ship. You’ve made me a better person, and there is nobody I’d rather have giving me away than you. You’re the closest thing I have to a dad here and I want you by my side on my wedding day.”

Graciously, Rung bowed his head, “It would be my honour and a pleasure.”

You grinned, jumping to hug his chassis, feeling the comforting warmth of his arms wrapping around you, “Thank You.”

Rung stroked your back, waiting till you pulled away from him before speaking again. “The pleasure is all mine, though if you could tell me more about my role and how I am to fulfil it, that would be greatly appreciated.”

“Yeah, sure. Well, to put it-”

You were interrupted by the sound of a gong echoing over the ship’s announcement system, followed by Rodimus’ impatient voice. “(Y/N), how many times have I gotta tell you to carry around your communicator? Honestly, it’s zero, but you’re slipping, forgetting it in your room. Do you know how rude that is? What if we needed to track you? Like we did, right now, today, for a VERY important thing.”

You stared at Rung, silently begging him to tell you your communicator hadn’t really been bugged with a tracking device like you would give a dog or child. Rung raised his servos sympathetically as Rodimus continued his rant.

“What? You think I’m gonna tell you what the super cool thing is. Guess again. But if you’re not in rec-room 2B in ten minutes- wait, scrap that, make it twenty, gotta account for those tiny little legs… so cute. Anyway, twenty minutes, or I make no promises on what I’ll do to your room. Captain out!”

You shook your head disbelievingly, “I uh, I guess I have to go. Sorry Rung, rain check?”

Rung chuckled light-heartedly, “Yes, of course. Go find out what Rodimus wants, and don’t worry about me. I’m going to do all the research I can into human weddings.”

He helped you down from the desk, wishing you well as you ran down the hallways, trying to beat the timer Rodimus had set, and cursing the entire time as a cramp formed, hitting you like a needle every few seconds.

When you finally got to rec-room 2B, Rodimus was waiting outside, tapping his pede. “Primus, did you skip leg day? I’ve been waiting here forever,” He whined.

You held your hand up, ready to argue, but quickly let it drop, still trying to catch your breath.

Rodimus shook his head, placing a servo on the small of your back and guiding you into the room where a table was waiting with three seats. Cyclonus sat on the left seat and Nautica on the right, leaving the tall, middle seat for you. With Nautica’s assistance, you clambered up, watching Rodimus as he ran out of the room.

“What’s going on?” You asked worriedly.

“Don’t know,” Nautica said. “Rodimus dragged me in here as quickly as he could. Told me if I waited long enough, he’d get me a whole set of new tools… I think that was a lie.”

You nodded thoughtfully, turning to the ever stoic Cyclonus. “Tailgate,” He answered curtly, as if that was any kind of explanation.

Rodimus, re-entered the room, placing both servos on his cheeks, his mouth forming into a socked ‘O’ as if he never knew you were there. “Why, what have we here?” He asked loudly, strutting in front of the table like a peacock. “Well, if it isn’t our table of judges for the brand new, one-time-only, mech of honour contest! Today, for our three judges, we have a line a mile long, full of hopeful contestants to be (Y/N)’S MECH OF HONOUR!” He revved his engines excitedly.

“Uh, Rodimus,” You squeaked, thinking of Whirl. “I already-”

“AND HERE’S CONTESTANT NUMBER ONE!”

Tailgate skipped in, clearly having been trained by Rodimus on exactly where to stand. His visor flashed eagerly as he waved at you.

Rodimus patted him on his shoulder, “Tailgate, why don’t you tell our panel a little bit about yourself and why you deserve to be (Y/N)’S MECH OF HONOUR!”

“Are you gonna shout that every time?” Nautica asked almost boredly, thinking of the tools she would never get.

“Withhold any comments until after the audition please, judge Nautica,” Rodimus commanded, his optics still trained on Tailgate who began his audition.

“Hi, I’m Tailgate and I’d make a great mech of honour for the same reasons I’d make a great Co-Co-Captain.”

A few other mechs peaked in from outside, trying to determine what they were supposed to say during their auditions.

“Rodimus,” You smiled awkwardly, feeling it stretch too far across your face.

“Not now judge,” Rodimus waved you off.

You sighed, seeing that there were no other options. “I already have a mech of honour!” You told the room, “I picked Whirl earlier.”

Riptide booed from outside, and Tailgate began muttering to himself, “Don’t get to be mech of honour, don’t get to be Co-Co-Captain, don’t get to be anything.”

“Look, I’m sorry, but I didn’t know you were planning any of this,” You gestured at the line of mechs who were blocking the door to listen in.

“(Y/N),” Rodimus held his helm in his palm. “(Y/N), (Y/N), (Y/N)… You know how impulsive I am, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Don’t blame me!”

“I blame you!”

You pinched the bridge of your nose, feeling the disappointment surrounding you. “Ugh, fine, I guess I can have two bridesmai- uh bridesmechs.”

Upon hearing this, Tailgate pushed Rodimus away from you, “As I was saying. I would be the best candidate for a tonne of reasons, right Cyclonus?” He winked.

“I’m not going to be a part of this,” Cyclonus deadpanned, leaving the room solemnly.

“Wha- CYCLONUS, COME BAAAACK,” Tailgate whined, chasing after him.

Nautica pulled out her datapad, making a note. “Hmm, chases after his own personal problems instead of focusing on the bride. Not a good quality in a bridesmech. Too bad, he was doing so well until then.”

You smirked, amused with how scientific she was even now; it looked like most of the decisions of the contest would be up to her for the rest of the game Rodimus had dragged you both into.

“Contestant number two, we are waiting for you,” Rodimus called, in a game-show host kind of voice.

Riptide stepped forward, “Hi, I’m Riptide, but all my friends call me… uh Riptide.”

You snickered into the palm of your hand, finally beginning to see the appeal in Rodimus’ game, even if it was to be a long one, judging by the ever-growing queue outside.

Swerve hugged you close to him, wrapping you in your blanket that he’d moved over to his berth along with an assortment of pillows. You had already told him of your long day and how it ended with you picking Nautica, Tailgate, Rewind, Chromedome, and Riptide as your bridesmechs, mainly because everyone kept complaining until you did.

“A gaggle,” You groaned. “I have a gaggle of bridesmaids.”

“Bridesmechs,” Swerve corrected you playfully.

“They’re like Gremlins! Spill water on one and it multiplies.”

“Primus, I love you,” Swerve murmured at the reference.

You peeked up at him, frowning suddenly, “Hmm, you’re awfully quiet tonight. What’s going on?”

“I’ve been talking.”

“Yeah, talking but not babbling. What’s with that? I mean- Wait!” You sat up, “Are you trying to keep your secret thing quiet by not talking.”

Swerve blushed, going ridged, “NO!”

You slapped his chest, grinning idiotically, “You totally are. What is it? Come on, tell me!”

Swerve mimed zipping his lips and throwing away the key.

“So that’s how it’s gonna be?”

He nodded vigorously.

“I bet I can get those lips open.”

He shook his head. You placed a single finger under his chin, drawing him close to you and kissing him, slipping your tongue in to rub against his metal one. He moaned into your mouth, accepting defeat, even when you pulled away.

The two of you laid down again, and Swerve finally spoke, albeit quietly, “Are you happy?”

“Of course, why do you ask?”

“It’s just… in Mork and Mindy, they waited four years for the slow burn until Mork proposed to Mindy. Four seasons, that’s like four years for you guys. Are you sure I’m not rushing you?”

You stroked Swerve’s cheek, “I think this is more like a Sam and Diane kind of thing in Cheers.”

“Sam and Diane… (Y/N), are you breaking up with me?”

“What? No, they get together in like, season one.”

“And then they repeatedly break up and they finally stop seeing each other after breaking off their engagement in the season four finale.”

“Really? God, I have got to see more of that show.”

Swerve let go of you, “You haven’t seen all of cheers?!”

“Save it for the honeymoon babe. What I meant was, they spend ages beating around the bush until they’re finally together and then it’s a full-on relationship, in season one at least. Now come on, no more Cheers talk, tell me at least a little bit about your day, pretty please.”

“Fine,” Swerve huffed, “But the Cheers thing isn’t over, it’s just on hold.”

You nodded agreeably.

“What to tell you, what to tell you… Oh, I chose our song for the first dance.”

“Is it one of those funny ones where we pretend to slow dance then pick out a hip-hop number?”

“W—well, not uh, not really,” Swerve stammered, feeling heat rise to his cheeks as his cooling fans kicked on. “I-I mean we could do that if you want, but I was thinking something more traditional?”

“Really? I thought you’d like an opportunity to show off.”

“I uh- I guess we could. I’d have to pick a different song but if that’s what you want then…”

Seeing how much Swerve wanted his traditional dance made your heart flutter. You pecked his lips, “No, whatever you’ve picked will be perfect, I just know it.”

“I’m still not telling you what song it is,” Swerve smiled.

“Oh, come on,” You pouted, “I’d tell you. Man… I cannot believe you can keep a secret.”

“Speaking of secrets… I’ve been thinking about how to integrate the four acts of The Conjunx Rites into a human wedding and, uh… how much do you know about the Conjunx Rites, by the way?”

“Between my vast knowledge of everything? I know… nothing.”

Swerve vented his fans anxiously, “Um, the first act is the act of intimacy.”

You bit back a laugh, thinking of the night before with Swerve between your legs. Reaching over and tracing your fingers lightly over his interface panel, you winked, “Pretty sure we already got that one covered.”

Swerve blushed and stammered on, “I-I was thinking we c-c-could just hold hands or something, for the crowds.”

You giggled, and stopped teasing him, keeping your hands to yourself, “Alright, then what?”

“I’m gonna save Act 2 for last because I dunno, we’re rebels and kinda screwing with tradition as it is, so next is the act of profference. We have to give each other a gift of some kind.”

Reaching behind him, Swerve pulled a small orange metal box from underneath the mountain of pillows. “I want to give you this officially on the day, but I think you should see it now.”

Wordlessly, you took the box, opening it to find a plain purple ring, the likes of which you’d never seen before. While you stared at it, Swerve started explaining.

“I don’t know if you’ll get it, but it’s made out of my innermost energon… Percy found a way to stabilize it into a metal, so, uh, well, it’s important to me and I’ll explain if you need me to.”

As it happened, you didn’t need Swerve to explain; you already knew that receiving inner-most energon was the highest form of love and respect you could receive from a Cybertronian.

“I get it,” You said quietly, wiping your eyes free of tears.

Trying to alleviate the sombre, yet joyous mood, Swerve said, “Brainstorm wanted to make it, but he was planning to inscribe it with ‘One Ring to Rule Them All.’ There’s still a good chance, he’ll put something like that on your dress.”

You bit your lip, trying not to laugh. Closing the box gently, you handed it back to him, “I don’t know what I can possibly give you that could ever match up to that.”

“You’ve already given me something though (Y/N).”

“Please do not say that boxset of ‘Three Men and a Baby’ I found.”

“(Y/N), you’re exempt from act three because you’ve already given me something nobody else could; a reason to live.”

You looked up, shocked and afraid, despite his happy tone. You were about to say something when Swerve got the ball rolling again with act four. “The final act is the act of devotion, which is to perform a spectacular demonstration of love. I think we can both agree that’s the wedding.”

“So, then what’s act two?” You whispered, feeling an almost electric atmosphere once you asked.

“The Act of Disclosure, which I think we should do here and now, otherwise it kind of defeats the object of telling an intimate secret… We can’t really do that in front of a crowd.”

Swerve waited with bated breath to see your reaction; asking someone who wasn’t prepared to reveal something intimate about themselves wasn’t exactly comforting.

“I…” You took a deep breath. “On Earth, there was always so much pressure to find someone who you’re meant to be with. They don’t really show it on TV, but we are told all the time that we have to find somebody or die alone, there’s never any time to relax or be free under so much damn pressure and it is terrifying to think that we- that I was brainwashed into it just like everyone else. ”

“I never trusted anyone enough to think of them as someone I’d want to be with. When I got here, I acted more confident and mature and, I um, guess it was kind of a clean slate for me. I never actually expected that I’d find someone to spend my life with but suddenly, when the pressure to fall in love was off, I met you. Swerve, you are my happy ending, when I didn’t think I could have one anymore. I don’t um- Is that what you were thinking? Is it intimate enough? I don’t really know what I’m supposed to be do-”

Swerve pulled you into a hug, his entire body convulsing in silent sobs. Suddenly, you knew why this step was so important, and so you held him, until he was ready to share his secret.

Swerve shook himself, as if trying to physically shake his nerves away, though it was evident he couldn’t as his vocaliser filled with static when he spoke. “Um, I’ve… Let’s face it, I’ve lived through a war. I’ve seen horrible things, done worse sometimes but that’s no secret of any Cybertronian. My secret is- W-What I’m trying to say… When war lasts that long, you have to expect that people, even the most desperate are going to be pushed into relationships, some of which last, most of which break. Some are intimate, but a lot were purely sexual… My point is, that even though I looked for anything in either of those categories, nobody ever loved me- Scrap, nobody even liked me enough to well… Y’know, uh- You were my first.”

Swerve half-expected you to laugh, despite the sober atmosphere. Instead you drew him close once again, staring into his visor, “Then all those others were idiots and I got lucky. I love you and I am so damn proud to be your first.”

Swerve looked away, “You’re not embarrassed by that?”

You shook your head, feeling your way over to his interface panel, a misty glint to your eyes. Swerve grabbed hold of you gently, still not meeting your gaze,

“Then… Then you won’t be embarrassed if I ask to wait till after the wedding? I know we already did it before but now… I want to wait till we’re married, and you are Mrs. Swerve.”

You drew back scowling, “What the hell, Swerve?”

He shrank back from you, wrapping his arms around himself.

“Why? Why would I be Mrs Swerve? You don’t even have a last name, if anything, you’d be Mr (L/N).”

Swerve’s jaw dropped as he stared at you, soon grinning goofily. “Is this how it’s gonna be from now on?” He asked. “You giving the orders and me just obeying like the mindless idiot who worships you?”

“Pretty much.”

“Thank Primus,” He laughed, grabbing you and rolling back onto the berth so you were on his chassis again.

You woke up, with a nauseous stomach, finally afraid now it was your wedding day. How had seven days passed so quickly?

“Swerve?” You mumbled. “You awake?”

You turned over, finding the berth empty, aside from a note that had been messily scrawled over the rest of the berth.

Hey fleshbag, it’s bad luck to see the groom on the wedding.

Swerve will be returned, mostly in one piece at the wedding.

- M. O. H. (MECH OF HONOUR)

You smiled, the message alleviating your nerves slightly. All the same, you wanted to call Swerve and make sure he wasn’t getting cold pedes. Had it not been for a banging on the door, you would have.

“Who is it?” You called, falling off the berth ungracefully and hissing as you rubbed your sore hip.

“It’s your fairy godmother,” Brainstorm answered cheerily. “With your carriage and might I say, a very glamorous ensemble for you.”

You opened the door wide, “…Does it have your face on it?”

Brainstorm gasped, covering his faceplate playfully. “Y/N, this is your big day and you think I would make it about me? How dare you? I’ll have you know that this is a traditional Earth wedding outfit that I have lovingly synthesized with you in mind.”

“So Perceptor wouldn’t let you?”

“Not even when I offered to put his photo on it too, talk about selfish.”

You nodded almost mournfully, playing along with his game, “That prick.”

“Yeah… Anyway, here it is,” He stepped outside, bringing your outfit back with him. It was in the traditional white, but instead of being a dress or a tuxedo, it was both. There was a small white zip for you to tear away either the skirt or the pants so you could choose your style. You teared up slightly.

“Yeah,” Brainstorm said sympathetically, “I mean it is good, but I’d cry too if my face wasn’t on it, where it clearly should be. No time for that now though, your carriage awaits.”

You tore your eyes away from the outfit, peeking through the door to see a giant truck with a bow on it; the bow had Brainstorm’s face on it.

“Magnus?” You asked, somewhat dazed.

“(Y/N), it’s almost time for your wedding and you have not even done your hair yet? This is going to throw everything off schedule,” Ultra Magnus reprimanded, proving that it was indeed him. He sighed, switching to his communicator, “Rodimus, (Y/N) isn’t ready yet… I already told you- No I will not use those ridiculous code names and furthermore- You will refer to me as Ultra Magnus or else- Fine,” Ultra Magnus said defeatedly, apparently losing whatever argument he was in with Rodimus. “Flaming Cupid, Princess Perfect is running late. Keep Lucky Orange calm and where he is, we will be there soon.”

You giggled quietly to yourself.

“I heard that Princess- I mean (Y/N). Get inside and get ready. Schedules wait for nobody.”

“Okay, I’m going, but real quick, are you comfortable doing this? You’ve never driven me anywhere before.”

“(Y/N), this may well be the most important day of your life, I would not be here if it wasn’t.”

Brainstorm leaned over to you, covering his mouth-plate and whispering, “He was afraid anyone else would speed.”

“Speed laws are to be obeyed,” Ultra Magnus warned you exasperatedly.

With that, you skipped back into your room to get ready for the first day of the rest of your life.

Swerve waited at the end of the aisle with shaking legs, the only thing that kept him from pacing was Megatron’s servo on his shoulder; the action was supposed to be supportive, but coming from Megatron, it only felt intimidating.

“I’m gonna purge my tanks,” Swerve whimpered.

“Do it glitch, I dare ya,” Whirl warned from opposite him, throwing a metal, painted bouquet at Swerve and hitting him square on the head, much to Megatron’s chagrin.

“Hey!” Rodimus picked up the bouquet, shoving it at Whirl’s chassis. “Remember, we’re here for (Y/N).”

“And me too, right?” Swerve squeaked, feeling faint.

Rodimus rolled his optics, “Yeah, yeah, you too, whatever you need to tell yourself.”

Suddenly, music began playing, and everyone stood up as they’d been told to do. Nautica, Rewind, Chromedome, Riptide and Tailgate ran to the front where they were supposed to be just in time for Ultra Magnus to drive around the corner and let you out. Ultra Magnus transformed, spotting his Brainstorm bow for the first time and tearing it off in disgust. He took his place in the back, while Rung went to your side in his holo-form, so he could link arms with you.

You barely had time to look around at all the intricate decorations as you were walked down the aisle towards Swerve who looked completely dumbfounded that you’d actually showed up.

“Are you nervous?” Rung asked you quietly.

“Absolutely,” You whispered back.

“Don’t be, from everything you’ve told me over our messages this past week, you’ll do great.”

You squeezed his arm in thanks.

“I believe it is customary for the ‘father of the bride’ to offer a compliment. I may not be your creator, but I must say, you are glowing. I am truly happy for you (Y/N), ah, but here is where we part ways.”

Rung went to take his seat, but you pulled him back slightly, pecking his cheek, “Thank you. For everything, I mean. I wouldn’t be here without you.”

Rung put a hand over his spark, bowing his head humbly and leaving your side, as you went to join Swerve.

“Finally,” Rodimus groaned, “That took forever.”

Chromedome nudged him warningly, giving Whirl just enough time to lean close to you, “Told you I’d get the glitch here in one piece.”

You nodded, holding back a laugh at the already unconventional wedding.

“Alright,” Rodimus boomed, “Let’s get on with it so we can get to the P-A-R-T-Y!”

Megatron glared at Rodimus, silently telling him to tone it down, but Rodimus didn’t care as he went into a full-on impression of an over-the-top-preacher. “I have been told that Act two of the Conjunx Rites has been completed, can I get a HALLELUJAH?!”

The entire room cringed and Rodimus scowled, “Ugh fine.” He grew semi-serious, facing you and Swerve with a smile, “Swerve, (Y/N), if you would like to initiate Act One of the Conjunx Rites?”

You reached out for Swerve’s servo, smiling radiantly the entire time. Thankful that you had made the first move, Swerve grabbed your hand gratefully, squeezing a little too tight, though you didn’t mention it.

“Very good, and I believe you have something to give one another?”

Once again, you surprised Swerve by holding out an orange metal box, identical to his. He reached out carefully, “(Y/N)… What-”

“Open it,” You said.

He did, finding a locket that would fit perfectly in one of his sub-spaces. He flicked open the locket, finding a lock of hair inside. He stared at you, mouth slightly agape at the unexpected gift.

“I may not have any inner-energon, but I figured this is close enough.”

Rewind leaned forward to get a better view, his camera displaying a live-feed to all the vid-screens on the ship, including two large ones for all the attendees.

“Ha ha,” Riptide laughed, “Gross.”

Nautica nudged him and Swerve ignored the pair as he tucked the locket delicately into his subspace, offering you his own box shortly afterwards, letting you put on the energon ring yourself because his servos were shaking so badly.

“Great,” Rodimus clapped his servos together, “Then that leaves act four, Swerve, I believe you’ve prepared some vows but I looked at them and they were long, so here’s a queue card that I wrote and believe me, it’s an improvement.”

He pulled a card from behind him which Megatron firmly snatched away, glaring the entire time, “Let. Him. Speak.”

Rodimus grumbled, stepping back, “Fine. Bet he doesn’t say ‘Till we are one’ though.”

All optics and Rewind’s camera went onto Swerve who stood dumbly, unsure of what to say now that he didn’t have his datapad with the speech on it. “I um-” His voice filled with static and he had to wait a minute to clear it. Ratchet creeped behind him, turning a fan on in case he overheated; you withheld a wry smile.

“(Y/N),” Swerve began, “You- You’re the Monica to my Chandler. You listen to me even when I get crazy and I know I’m not good enough for you, Primus, this whole ship does, but you’re here anyway. I want to spend every nano-click with you, in the non-creepy way. You’re my universe.”

The static began again and Swerve had to take a small step back, though he still held onto you, more for support than anything else.

“(Y/N),” Rodimus said, “Care to add anything to that?”

“What can I say other than what I’ve already said?” You mused. “You’re my happy ending Swerve, and if you can deal with all my gross human stuff, that’s good enough for me. I love you, you’re my lucky star… and I’m totally in it for the free drinks,” You laughed and the crowd chuckled along with you.

“Then by the power vested in me,” Rodimus went back to his preacher voice, “as Co-Captain of this ship, I present to you, these Rodimus stars for the Lost Light’s first ever interspecies marriage.” Seemingly from nowhere, he pulled out two gold stars, passing the human-sized one to you and handing the other to Swerve. “I now pronounce you Conjunx Endurae and mech and wife.” He looked at Swerve, “What are you waiting for? Kiss your lady love!”

You didn’t wait for Swerve as you jumped into his open arms, kissing him while the crew cheered.

The two of you were broken up by a loud shot from another gun Whirl had managed to smuggle in. Once again, Ultra Magnus stared mournfully at the ceiling, wondering exactly where Whirl had got the other gun from; he had confiscated last week’s after the first incident.

Whirl picked you up, “FIRST ONE TO THE PARTY GETS A PRIZE KISS OFF (Y/N).”

A mass of Cybertronians transformed, each trying to beat Whirl to the bar while Swerve was left alone, wondering how he was still left competing with the crew over you, even now that you were married.

After you’d given a victory kiss to Whirl, the party kicked off to a roaring start, with you being dragged off in every direction while Swerve tried to catch up. Finally, you managed to reach him at the bar, which he glared at enviously, hating that Mirage was serving drinks, even on the happiest day of his life.

“Hello, Mr (L/N),” You bowed graciously.

“Hello, Mrs Swerve,” Swerve curtsied. He offered you his arm, “If I may ask you for a dance?”

“How courteous of you,” You smiled, then paused to listen to the current song. “Yep, I always wanted my first dance to be to Wrecking Ball.”

Swerve snickered, “I’m afraid not.”

He led you to the dancefloor then waved at Blaster, who instantly switched the song off. Frank Sinatra’s ever sweet melody, ‘I Love You Baby,’ played instead and you bit your lip, fearing your face would practically split open from smiling too much. Swerve led, matching the pace of the song, and gazing at you adoringly the entire time.

“This was your big surprise?” You asked.

He nodded vigorously, not trusting his voice to match the lie he’d just told; so long as you thought the song was his secret, he was fine.

You leaned into his chassis, ignoring the faster pace of the chorus so you could simply hold onto him, spinning slowly, “I love you too.”

“Not as much as I love you,” Swerve responded ecstatically, picking you up bridal style. You squealed, letting him twirl around, helpless to stop him anyway. All around, the night was perfect and you would never dream of asking for anything more.

Later on, when you were distracted once again by many a bot who wanted to congratulate you, Swerve received a comm on his private channel. He checked his messages, finding a text from Brainstorm and Perceptor, telling him his request was ready. Checking on you once again, Swerve slipped out, transforming so he could be at Perceptor’s lab in record time.

He let himself in, finding the two bots talking about you and the ethics of the project Swerve had asked them to complete. “It’s ready?” Swerve asked. “And you’re sure it will work?”

“Of course,” Perceptor said almost offendedly. “We invented it. It works.”

“Can I see?”

Brainstorm grabbed a remote control, pressing it with flair so one of the flooring panels lifted up as well as thick plumes of smoke.

Perceptor waved the smoke away casually, “Was the smoke machine really necessary?”

“Well you wouldn’t let me have the laser show,” Brainstorm explained. “Where’s your sense of presentation?”

Swerve didn’t listen to either of the pair, he was too focused on what had come out of the floor to care.

Perceptor turned his attention to Swerve as the orange mech stroked a lifeless mini-bot model that looked remarkably like you yet worlds different at the same time. “Are you sure (Y/N) will agree to this? We are talking about moving her consciousness from one body to another.”

“Human life is too short,” Swerve said as if it was an answer. “She doesn’t have to say yes today. Primus! I want her to stay human as long as she can but… But I just got her, I’m not losing her in the blink of an optic. Make sure this will work, I’ll get her to agree. She’s everything to me.”

He walked out of the lab, transforming so he could get back to the party. Finally, things were going his way.

THE END.

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#more than meets the eye #MTMTE #transformers #transformers idw #Transformers MTMTE #maccadam #The Lost Light #ll #swerve #swerve x reader #swerve x human reader #reader #reader insert #every bot ever known to man #chapter 21 #part 21 #a happy ending

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