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Post by SceneMod on Jun 7, 2012 15:18:19 GMT -5
"Do you know what it says about you that you would rather have me invisible and silently watching your every move than out in the open, where you can see me?" a flickering H-Overlord projected by the next batch of projectors asks.
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Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on Jun 7, 2012 17:02:58 GMT -5
Magnus hesitates before firing, not because he is wary of shooting again, but because he decides, resignedly, he might as well hear the answer.
"No," he says, "but I suppose you're going to tell me." What's one more fallibility? One more flaw, one more chink in the armour? He's already such a mess.
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Post by SceneMod on Jun 9, 2012 16:29:24 GMT -5
"You are avoidant," say H-Overlord, his head tilting forward to shade his optics, now the only visible moving part of him his lips and jaw.
"You would rather treat the symptoms of a problem than tackle the root."
"Because you need to feel necessary, and the only thing you bring to the table is violence. If you solved your problems, once and for all... you would feel no more reason to exist."
"So you let them fester so that you can continue to play hero for the rest of your life."
Then he looks up, optics blank, a solid red without a mind behind them, and reports, a buzz with a cheerful glow, "You have an alternative."
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Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on Jun 18, 2012 13:46:03 GMT -5
For a few seconds, Magnus stares back at the hologram, saying nothing, making no expression, as he lets this observation of his habits sink in fully. He'd love to tackle the root of his problems, assuming it would mean tackling Shockwave into a smelting pit. That brings another thought to the fore, however, and a host of haunting memories that turns his expression hard and grim. He doesn't fire, but pivots to continue walking.
"You're wrong on one count," he tells the hologram and leaves it at that. That looks like the grabber game up ahead, he thinks.
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Post by SceneMod on Jun 20, 2012 18:38:30 GMT -5
"I don't think I am," H-Overlord says, but his image flickers.
The obvious thing to expect with a grabber game is perhaps that it would attack by grabbing or perhaps that the stuffed animals piled inside might be animated and malicious.
That's not exactly what's going on here.
This grabber game is very, very large, spanning a vast crevasse rent into the walking path. The claw hangs limply above the prizes, which are down in a deep pit. If Ultra Magnus looks very, very carefully, he'll see that the prizes are resting on top of a bed of razor sharp spikes, which are mostly obscured by the prizes. If he falls down there, he'll likely end up pushing through the prizes and ending up impaled.
Grabber games are notorious for the weak strength of their claws. Does Ultra Magnus trust this claw enough to try to use it to swing across the pit, or is he going to look for a long way around?
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Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on Jun 26, 2012 13:51:32 GMT -5
The game itself earns only a low, irritated grunt as Magnus takes it in. He eyes the ravine, how far it extends to either side, crouches down to check the mess below, looks up and measures the distance across. It's just wide enough that he can't quite jump it in either mode without an unconscionably large risk of crumbling the far wall under his weight and falling to the bottom anyway. He's fairly sure he can survive a few spikes – he's survived worse – but he's useless to the other Autobots if he gets trapped or severely wounded. Losing radio contact is bad enough.
"Hn," is all he says as he looks up at the crane arm supporting the claw. He actually has no familiarity with the game or its popular problems, but he's calculating the chances of swinging across on that cable. Very briefly, he calculates. Then he decides to hang it all; his rifle vanishes into storage and he stretches his arms, pops his knuckles. He plants his feet firmly and seizes the crane arm by its base. Once his grip on the structure is secure, he heaves on it. The anchors groan loud protest of his abuse; he just pulls harder. Anchors rip free of the ground, metal comes apart with great, rending shrieks, and the crane arm make noises as welds and joins strain under the shift of its balance, Magnus tilting it so the arm stretches across the ravine.
Then he drops the whole assembly. Once the dust and the echoes of the crash settle, he has a rudimentary foot bridge. He starts across, fully prepared to make a leap for it if the whole thing gives under him – and that's a likely outcome, given his tonnage.
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Post by SceneMod on Jun 29, 2012 20:15:53 GMT -5
"Fascinating," comments the H-Overlord being projected nearby, "but do you have the self-confidence to trust your own handiwork? You already have the misanthropy to distrust the work of others."
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Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on Jul 3, 2012 16:18:11 GMT -5
The crane makes ominous creaking and popping noises as Magnus carefully puts one foot in front of the other, and he focuses on the sounds rather than H-Overlord. He listens, drawn like high-tension cable, as he walks. Part of the crane crimps under his foot.
He could jump from here. It's probably the better idea; his plans rarely turn out well. Why should this be an exception? But he keeps walking instead, if only to spite the hologram.
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Post by SceneMod on Jul 11, 2012 21:17:44 GMT -5
Will the beam hold? Will Ultra Magnus fall down into the spiked pit? Will what Ultra Magnus finds on the other side arguably be worse than falling down into the spiked pit?
Let's find out.
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Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on Jul 19, 2012 16:26:38 GMT -5
The improvised beam manages to hold until the last moment; as Magnus steps down on the very end of it, braced on the lip of the ravine, the metal frame crumples under his weight. The whole thing unbalances, structural integrity compromised, and the crane tips into the ravine with a loud crash. Magnus watches it, telling himself it's to see how badly the spikes damage it – and therefore estimate the damage he might have suffered – and ignoring the wish that he could beat H-Overlord with it.
"Next," he says, resigned, turning to resume his journey. The bumper cars can't be that much further.
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Post by SceneMod on Aug 7, 2012 17:54:42 GMT -5
OOC: I am going to suggest segueing over to the other thread and hooking up with Frenzy, because you are both ground bound. I'd even have something for you two to do together!
The bumper cars are indeed not much further.
There is a hissing noise, and perhaps Ultra Magnus can see Decepticons in the air.
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Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on Aug 8, 2012 17:42:56 GMT -5
OOC: Crossposted.
The hissing makes Magnus slow his stride, in part because he can't pinpoint the source, though it's loud. He advances, rifle in hand again, cautiously. There are glimpses of airborne shapes as the smoke from exploding and burnt bumper cars clears – one of them looks like Blast Off – and there's… a massive chasm in the ground. Magnus sees ladders and twisting chutes that, as he draws closer, just keep stretching further down.
"More insanity?" he wonders, scowling.
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