Axl glanced from the sheets and other oddments in front of them to those sitting around the table. He had to admit, this was the weirdest thing he'd ever experienced, if only for how surreal it was. Due to the unusual quiet of the world at large, Octavia was able to arrange an in person 'session', though Axl was still trying to figure out what that meant. As such, a rather...eclectic group sat around the table now.
Prometheus sat to Axl's left, dressed up in white armor with gold trim that didn't look like it could stop even a single plasma shot. He also insisted on being called 'Sir Gawain', though no one was really respecting that request, since Armatige was popping in every so often and insisted on calling him by name. Apparently, this was where Prometheus and his family lived, though only he had the coordinates. The teleport signal that brought the group here had been redirected mid-transfer from his end, and onto a teleport network that no one else even had access to.
Next to Prometheus was Dynamo, dressed in what Axl could only describe as a 'pretty princess dress', and looking surprisingly good in it. Axl found it mightily disturbing, especially the blonde wig and his determination to effect a surprisingly believable feminine voice. Axl tried very hard not to think about that.
Across the table from Axl sat Octavia, wearing an all covering black robe, glow in the dark red shades under the robe, and sitting on the table behind a large screen. As this left only a shadowed pair of glowing red eyes staring over the screen at the rest of the group - and she was wearing a voice pitcher that gave her a deep, echoing, menacing voice...well, Octavia had already had to pull the hood back three times to reassure Axl that it was still her under there, and that she hadn't been eaten by a shadow monster...something that always made CiCi laugh for some reason.
CiCi sat next to Octavia, though unlike the others had no costume. Next to her sat a Reploid that had been identified as Axle the Red. As soon as he'd been introduced to Axl, Axle had reshaped his vine body until he resembled Axl and said, "Okay, one of us is going to have to change!" This had resulted in CiCi smacking Axle in the back of the head.
Axl had countered by transforming into Axle and replying, "Well it's not going to be me!" This had gotten him a hoof to the back of his head and laughter from the others.
And now Axl was being introduced to this...Dungeons and Dragons game. He was still having trouble making sense of it, and while he was trying to 'build his character', the others talked about various things...which unfortunately wound up being mostly about him.
"I hear you're back on active Navigator duty, CiCi?" Dynamo asked idly as he arranged a few of his sheets.
"Yes," CiCi agreed. "Navigating for X while Alia is on maternity leave. I'll probably be taking over for Iris before too long, as well."
"Didn't you say the new regs meant each Hunter was assigned their own Navigator for missions, even group missions?" Prometheus queried. "So how could you Navigate for two?"
"Well, we've only been able to find two new Navigators with enough skill to handle an S Rank Hunter," Octavia explained calmly, her voice echoing. "Layer and Palette seem to be settling in nicely. I just wish Axl got along better with them. They're such nice girls..."
"Mo~om!" Axl whined, burying his face in his hands. "I only just became a Hunter and a leader. I'm not ready to add a girlfriend into that mix."
"I'm not asking you to go steady right away," Octavia chided gently. "But is it really so much to ask that you go on a few dates? I mean, Palette's going to be your navigator and it's important to get along-"
"She drives me crazy!" Axl interrupted in a grumble. "I know I'm high energy, and it's hard to find a Navigator who can keep up with me, but half the time I have to struggle to keep up with her! Not to mention she's a superfan and customized her combat specs to mimic mine..."
"Yeah, dating a fan is never pleasant," Prometheus agreed. "The time it takes to get them to stop looking at the ideal and see the real you...and then they either convince themselves you're perfect or feel betrayed that you aren't what they thought. It only works out if both can stay their own individuals, and it doesn't sound to me like Palette is sticking to that."
Octavia sighed reflectively as Axl turned to Prometheus with a grateful smile. "Well, I suppose that's true," she admitted. "But what about Layer? She's a nice, quiet girl-"
"Who half the time sounds like she forgot to get an emotional processor installed," Axl complained. "Just because I can turn into other people doesn't mean I should have to to understand what's going on in their head. That's what social cues are for...if she expressed any except when she was around Zero."
"Zero?" Octavia asked, confused.
"She has a fan crush on Zero," CiCi translated. "She won't act on it, since he's married...but she's not going to accept any other propositions in the meantime."
"You didn't catch that, Mom?" Axl asked in surprise. "Is that carelessness or just Mom-blindness desperate to hook me up?"
As that got more laughs from around the table, Octavia crossed her forelegs and huffed. "Fine then. Why don't you tell me what sort of girl does appeal to you?"
"Because you'd go out and get Gate to construct a custom girlfriend for me," Axl snapped back playfully.
Octavia facehoofed, sighing. "I'm just trying to look out for your happiness, Axl..."
Sighing, Axl leaned back. "Well...thing is if I say anything, I think Uncle Zero's gonna kill me..."
"Don't tell me you've got the hots for Iris," Dynamo teased playfully.
"N-not exactly," Axl murmured, cheeks red as he rubbed his nose with one finger. "But...someone like her, maybe...?"
"What do you mean?" CiCi asked curiously.
"Well...someone kind, gentle, supportive..." Axl slowly began to warm to his subject. "Someone who could keep up with me, but wouldn't run ahead...would be there to catch me if I fell. Someone...who would listen to all my stories. Not necessarily because she enjoyed them, just because she knows how much I like telling them. And someone with a real core of steel, not afraid to stand up for what she believes in...and absolutely terrifying to her enemies when she wants to be."
Octavia chuckled softly. "You're right, that does sound a lot like Iris. But you said she's 'not exactly' your type?"
Axl shrugged thoughtfully. "Well...maybe if she were blonde-"
Prometheus and Dynamo both burst into uncontrollable laughter...though for some reason Dynamo's eyes were glowing blue.
"What's so funny?" Axl demanded crossly. Octavia also glowered at the pair.
Dynamo's eyes returned to normal. "I...I don't know."
"It's a private joke," Prometheus explained. "It would take too long to explain." Still he thought back...
The one female bot Dr. Light had built - Roll - had been blonde. Rock had fallen for Kalinka. X had Alia. And now Axl... So all Light's like blondes, huh? he thought to himself, glancing over as Armatige - his own blonde-haired, blue-eyed wife - walked in with some snacks and their three kids clinging to her. Makes me wonder if Octavia follows that pattern...
"What about you, Octavia?" Armatige asked as she set down bowls. "I hear talk of romantic interest...what traits do you like?"
Octavia was silent for a time. "...well, I haven't really thought about emotionally," she explained. "Every time I start to think about romance for myself...it feels like something is missing." She glanced towards Dynamo. "...I've always liked blue hair though, for some reason..."
As Dynamo started to get excited, Prometheus put his hand on his shoulder. "Out of idle curiosity, Octavia...what do you think of dubstep?"
"The music?" Octavia asked, confused. "Honestly, I've never much cared for it...but any time I hear it, I find myself feeling oddly nostalgic. Why do you ask?"
Prometheus sat back, saying nothing.
REFERENCES!
7688755
I prefer
Seems it's all coming together...
7688758 NOPE. *laserfire and spears*
Prometheus finally beginning to wonder or has the wonder always been there that there MIGHT be a connection?
Personally, I've always thought that these two got relocated due to a new music system that Vinyl came up with.
....................
OH Cinnamon hate to take you away from Marino......actually with Marino's hypermode......
I always thought Armatige was a red head.
edit: just did a quick look up and I was wrong. Don't know where I got the red head thing though.
I see watcha did thar.
7688794 redhead may have been from a bad tv/monitor. I know that certain arcade machines came with an inability to show any colours that weren't red, green or blue and yellow was kinda lumped in with red for some reason
7688758 I see you ship them.
Hey, Dynamo! I was wondering where you went after you dropped off the face of the earth!
Also... Is Dynamo displaying as princess peach?
7689008
He's dressed up as Lady Astarell, his D&D character.
So Prometheus has made the connection. I wonder how he feel about Octavia dating his younger sister. I mean technically she is dating her own aunt from a certain point of view.
Funnily enough, I can't think of any puns after listening in to that video that 7688758 posted. It felt like it wiped my mind for some reason.
A very awesome chapter, and even better since it involved Dungeons and Dragons.
Now I'm really cheering for Axl/Cinnamon, I get the feeling he'd be good at showing her the world she hasn't gotten to see and she'd support him when he needed help.
Another enjoyable chapter. Great job.
heh.... is Octavia.... feeling the wub?
Oh yeah~! I forgot that Octavia had sort of a crush on Dynamo. All he needs is a tail
Well then. There is that. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the great work. Deus tecum.
Well, if that's not a setup for Command Mission, I don't what is.
They should present Colonel to Layer maybe that will help her to get over her crush....
Also I cannot help but think in Cinnamon with Axl descrition... Interesting...
Trying to remember but who was Dynamo previously? I get the feeling that he may know more then he should and is the reason for the unique personality.
7689564
Skull Man.
7689596
Thanks!
Ah, I remember that little code. Found it and used it to mess with my brother. Fun times.
Speaking of which, any plans for the two operators to go out on the field?
Yup, no coincidence there
7688758 my new favorite is the one with Lightning Bliss, Thespio,Keyframe and Finn the Pony
Other than Prometheus's wife, who is Armitage again?
And who are the kids?
7689157 Good God! We actually have a defense! I want mass production started on the double!
7690256
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armitage_III
7689777 wow,
when is the next update (sorry i only have 3 long term stories and this is one of the irregular ones
however i actually really really am interested in the long term effects or octavias reaction to the news including the fact that her suiter is on mars (also is vinyl long lived or not? because it would make sense if she was however I don't know. ALTHOUGH it would be really intresting if vynal was still alive and she came back to earth.
7691349
This story updates every Tuesday and Friday.
7691363 Noooo!! it's Wednesday this is worse than blackroseraven and hectates orphanage, at least there we get two chapters a day.
ah well i will have to wait, quickly putting it on the callender.
i will be checking on Friday then also do you have a specific time brr does it between 11:30-12:00 noon eastern standerd time if not that's ok it just gives me a window to sit here and hit refresh until the new chapter pops up.
Yes i do sit for a half an hour every day just hitting the refresh button (I know I have no life)
i am very determined
7691386
No specific time. It's whenever I get around to writing it.
7690704 Oh, neat.
7691404 understood
Well with the finish of Wiley's wittle wub All Eyes now look at this story with laser focus.
Well... Vynul is gonna to do so much catch up with tech...
7693312
Well considering that mars had a large scientist and robot population, and didn't have all thier tech bluescreened after a huge war, and all of earths advanced technology is based on X. Mars is probably more advanced by this point.
Although I do wonder what vinyl is doing these days, is she in some sort of stasis? or has she discovered a way of prolonging her life indefinitely? Have the scars of the past healed, or is she still bitter about the loss of her best friends?
7693613
...at the end of "Wily's Wittle Wub", Vinyl went back to Equestria.
7693640 She did?
*Quickly reads the last chapter again*
Huh, guess I missed that detail, whoops.
7693613
The unicorn didn't stay on Mars she left after causing the Cataclysm
Splash Woman?
7709310
Read the rest of the sentence.
7709344 Oh, hey, I forgot Roll existed at one point. It's not like she was a useful character. Didn't have her own suit of armor at all...
Oooo, so our Octavia and Vinyl were (presumably) in a relationship before their stories. Makes sense given how the two story pairing has worked, but that could always have just been a friendship or fellow musical ponies connection or something like that.
Mmph.... Honestly, after watching this, v
(Skip to 5:19 for the important part) I just can't ship Vinyl and Octavia. It's officially my headcanon that they're siblings, and I just cannot do incest. I know it's not really, since it's not officially confirmed, but it just feels that way in my mind.
Not trying to attack or offend anyone, by the way. Just wanted to give my opinion on it.
Hmm okay.
Vinyl.
Ya know? We didn't really hear anything of Roll at the end of WWW. I think she was mentioned as being in the chapel for the wedding, but that's it. Did she die there? Did she go with Mikhail to Mars? Did she go with Vinyl to Equestria? We never had a concrete answer for her, and quite a few other people at that. What did happen?