Leadfoot's Unsightly Growths
Gustavo Wombat
the best espionage agent the Autobots had, second to none, despite
what Bumblebee might think. He looked down at the unsightly bumps on
his body, and cursed them for changing everything.
He’d been waiting 22.8 microvorns. He knew that Optimus was busy, but
that didn’t make the waiting any easier. He tried to imagine that it
was something else -- perhaps he had brought back some bad
information, or rubbed Ironhide the wrong way again.
After 27.4 microvorns, Optimus Prime arrived. Leadfoot had met him
countless times before, but he had never quite gotten used to it -- he
always expected the Prime to be taller, and it was always a bit of a
letdown that he wasn’t.
“I have a new mission for you,” Optimus began, “one of the most
important missions an Autobot can take on.”
“I’m not ready for this.” Leadfoot blurted out without thinking. As
soon as he said it, he felt bad for interrupting the Prime.
“Primus would beg to differ, given your obvious … development.”
Leadfoot tried to maintain a stoic face. It was so horrible that even
the Prime tried to avoid saying it, but there was no denying it.
Connection ports had formed on him.
Leadfoot had been able to hide the mini-con ports pretty well -- they
both tucked away -- but the limb ports almost glowed with their bright
blue. He had considered painting himself bright blue, so they would
blend in and he could pass for normal, but Bumblebee had seen them.
Besides, it didn’t work for Stakeout.
“What... what if Primus is wrong?” Leadfoot asked.
“To be honest, Leadfoot, I envy you,” Optimus said, reassuringly.
“You’re about to embark on a mission that that I can only dream of.”
“I don’t want it,” Leadfoot said. “I just want things to go back to
normal. Maybe we can do this in a couple of deca-cycles.”
“Fate rarely calls upon us at the time of our choosing.”
“So that’s that?” Leadfoot said, “I don’t have a choice?”
“You always have a choice, Leadfoot, but you have responsibilities
that are bigger than yourself.”
Leadfoot said nothing. Optimus was right, of course, but he didn’t
like it. That’s what Primes did -- they were right, and they made bots
own up to it.
“Come,” Optimus said, somewhere between a request and a command. He
led Leadfoot into a well defended area of the base.
“I am entrusting you with our greatest treasure, Leadfoot, our
future.”
Others who had similar experiences described it as love at first
sight. That wasn’t how Leadfoot would have described it though.
“He’s so small,” Leadfoot said, “barely more than a protoform. And
he’s still so young that his body has barely taken form. He’s still
clear in spots.”
The mini-con looked up at him and squeeked out a hello. It pained
Leadfoot that he could understand it.
“No, no, no, Prime, no.” Leadfoot said. “I just can’t do this. You
need me behind enemy lines, and I can’t take this with me.”
“His name is Pinpoint,” Optimus said.
The mini-con chirped, approached Leadfoot with its arms outreached,
touched his leg and then backed away.
Leadfoot bent down on one knee, and reached out to the mini-con. As he
touched Pinpoint, he felt a surge of energy through his entire body.
“Sorry little guy, it’s just too dangerous. I can’t do my job and be
responsible for you.”
The mini-con chirped a sad chirp.
“There are no safe places now, Leadfoot,” Optimus said. “The mini-con
will make you stronger, and faster, and better at your job. He needs
your experiences, so he can grow to become an Autobot as valuable as
you.”
“What if I get captured?” Leadfoot asked. “What will become of him? I
don’t want to be responsible for that.”
“We all depend on you already, Leadfoot, him included. Even now, if
you get captured, the information you fail to bring back could lead to
countless lives lost. You’re already responsible for more than you
think.”
Leadfoot stared at the unsightly growths disfiguring his body and
cursed them quietly. He didn’t want this. He just wanted to be normal.
“Fine,” he said quietly, and exposed his mini-con port.
Pinpoint hesitated momentarily, and then climbed onto his chest and
connected with him. Leadfoot hoped he made the right choice, and
Pinpoint understood.
----------------------------------------------------
I’m pretty sure that this doesn’t actually contradict anything in the
Power Core Combiners backstory, but mostly because the line has almost
no backstory other than the combiners being pitied as freaks before
the combiner technology appeared. It’s not even clear what continuity
it is in -- Movie, Prime or its own thing.
So here you go -- PCC Mini-con ports are nipples, and nothing will
convince me otherwise until they get some real fiction.
(And now, I shall go back to the sprawling “Optimus Prime and the
Curse of Bab Jaga”, where characters other than Optimus Prime keep
trying to grab the spotlight...
“Mr. Cooper,” Mr. Lincoln said, “do my new mechanical eyes deceive me?
Is the quality of your workmanship suspect? Or have we been following
a small cottage perched upon the leg of a chicken?”)
Zobovor
> So here you go -- PCC Mini-con ports are nipples, and nothing will
> convince me otherwise until they get some real fiction.
Wow. You grow nipples and you get a Mini-Con? Primus works in
mysterious ways, truly.
This is such a good portrayal of movie Prime. He's so
sanctimonious.
>“There are no safe places now, Leadfoot,” Optimus said. “The mini-con
>will make you stronger, and faster, and better at your job.
I was totally expecting this to go, "stronger, faster, and more
alive." Thank you for not playing that note.
Zob
robo_rob
continuity, I believe Hasbro said it was in modern continuity, which
is Prime. According to the Q&A answer, Smolder and Chopster appearing
in movie continuity is something along the lines of 'guys from regular
continuity appear in it'. So since modern continuity is an amalgam of
everything, I'd say your fic fit right on in :)
Zobovor
> Leadfoot stared at the unsightly growths disfiguring his body and
> cursed them quietly.
So, I went to look at the Leadfoot toy today to get a better mental
picture of him, and he doesn't seem to have any nipples in evidence,
at least insofar as I could discern from the packaging. Are they
hidden or something? Do they stow away when a Mini-Con isn't suckling
them?
Zob
Gustavo Wombat
The minicon nipples do stow away!
http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/attach/1/Combiner-2-Pack-Leadfoot-w-Pinpoint_1266124908.jpg
You can see one on the nose, tucked down, and the white lines around
the edge of the panel on his cockpit, which lifts up to expose another
nipple.
The blue blocks end up hanging behind his hands, and as heel spurs.