The Top 10 of the Pending Fics
Alright... now that everyone's mentioned their favorites, here's the Top Ten that made it to the next round. Together with each, I'm including a paragraph or two from the fic itself, so do read and vote for the ONE you like best. Yes, only ONE vote per person...
EDIT: Oh I should mention that the top 5 will go through the next round, along with one page of each fic, to give you a little more info about what each story's about...
Personally I'm surprised 6 is doing well, odd because it barely made it into the Top 10... I'm partial to 3 myself, mainly because Raj has started to get a little active in the headspace again... XD... I'm surprised the Twins & Streetwalkers fic hasnt done well considering the number of nominations it got in the first round.. O_O...
1. Sunstreaker and Outback are sent to the outskirts to train the Paradron refugees
"First thing tomorrow," Rodimus replied. "I'll send Outback to get you. He'll be your backup."
"You're joking, right?"
"Not at all. Outback's being transferred here for space combat training, so I figured New Paradron would be a good place for him to start before he joins the advanced ranks. Furthermore, he's a gunner. That should complement you nicely."
Sunstreaker kept to himself what he thought the Minibot could complement.
-----
2. Jazz, Prowl and the Twins investigate a 'Con weapon that transforms them into something else entirely
Sunstreaker woke to the feel of rain-water gently splashing down onto his face from the clouds above. He raised his head and blinked some of the water from his optics, uttering a low groan as he tried to move his rather sore body. The rain was not really helping matters either. He was cold and wet and he knew it was definitely not doing wonders for his appearance. Almost unconsciously, he licked some of the rain-water off his nose and mouth. His head suddenly snapped up and he froze as he played back his most recent actions in his mind. Something was not right.
Almost fearfully, he crawled towards a puddle the rain had made and looked in. instead of bright, blue optics, what he saw was a pair of liquid brown eyes, tinged with a faint hint of blue. He scrambled back from the puddle, an organic heart now pounding furiously in his furry chest, and without thinking, threw back his head and let out a long, loud, mournful howl. It roused the other three whom he hadnt noticed lying not too far from him. He took a few steps towards them and they stared at him, quite unaware of the changes to themselves. (And no, they're not wolves).
-----
3. Jazz needs to rescue Mirage from a group of aliens, but it may not be as simple as it sounds
“Subject has also been responsible for the destruction of several Decepticon installations during the war on Cybertron, and the subsequent thriving of the Autobots on Earth. Currently holds the position of Senior Autobot under the leadership of Rodimus Prime.”
“There must be some way to capture it for study.”
“All previous methods to trap the subject resulted in failure.”
“It must have some weaknesses.”
“Subject has the same sentimental weakness possessed by all of its kind - loyalty and self-sacrifice - as well as slightly below-average strength. However, the subject’s speed, agility and adaptability are used to compensate. Subject also has a tendancy to be distracted by certain cultural aspects of civilizations.”
“Could we not use that to our advantage?”
“As has been stated before, subject’s highly developed mental capabilities have allowed it to slip past all our lures and traps.”
“Then we must look to other methods. Perhaps brute force will succeed where subtlety has failed.”
-----
4. Marissa Faireborn has feelings for Jazz, but doesnt know if he returns them. She needs to find out before she commits to another man.
Prowl crossed his arms and gave him a bit of a frown. “You certainly took your time to get here, Jazz.”
“Aw, relax Prowl. Had ta help a couple o’ guys put a few panels in place,” Jazz replied. He turned back to Harper. “So what brings ya here t’visit us?”
“She sent me to find you.”
“Oh?” Jazz tilted his head in curiosity. “How is the li’l lady? She’s not in any trouble again, is she? Hope ya ain’t here to request me an’ the boys on another mission, ‘cause we kinda have our collective hands full at the moment with the city’s construction an’ such.”
“Well, it’s not trouble exactly. The message she sent was a request that you meet her as soon as you can, ‘cause the wedding’s in a week and she wants to see you again before that.”
“Wedding?” Jazz’s smile faded a little and did not go unnoticed by Prowl, who twitched an optic ridge. “She’s gettin’ married? To whom?”
-----
5. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker meet a group of streetwalkers one rainy evening
“A deal’s a deal,” Sunstreaker said. “We pay for your services and give you a ride. Isnt that how it works with you girls?”
The older woman snorted. “Something like that.”
A few of the other women who had gathered around them to see what was going on, chuckled. One of them - a dark blonde - ran a hand along Sideswipe’s flank.
“Don’t know about you girls,” she said. “But this one feels mighty fine to me…. How about it, Red? Care to give me a ride some time?”
“Hehe, I’m sure I could work you into my schedule,” Sideswipe replied cheekily.
“Stop flirting with him Cassie, you know you’ll only break his heart,” Hannah said, then paused. “Do robots have hearts?”
-----
6. A 'Con attack leaves Optimus stranded with a wounded Sunstreaker. The two need to put aside their differences to make it back home
A low moan brought him over to where Sunstreaker lay curled, in more than a little pain. He was conscious and bleeding from several wounds where shrapnel had cut into his more delicate undercarriage. Tiny wisps of smoke curled up from burnt and shorted-out wiring, but despite all of it, the warrior was slowly trying to push himself up.
“Take it easy, Sunstreaker,” Prime said, kneeling beside him, voice a lot more gentle than it had been.
“Gonna slag ‘im,” the yellow mech growled.
“You’ll get your chance, but not now. You’re wounded and you need to be careful or you’ll cause yourself more damage. Let me help you.”
“Don’t need… fragging help.” Sunstreaker managed to push himself onto all fours, arms and legs quivering slightly as they strained to hold him up. He crawled a few feet over to a tall pine tree and used the trunk as leverage to help him stand. “There.”
Prime merely stood watching him.
Sunstreaker took a couple of steps towards him and would have fallen flat on his face had Prime not lunged and caught him in his arms, slipping one arm securely around the warrior’s waist to keep him upright.
“Save the heroics, tough guy,” he said, though not harshly.
-----
7. Prowl tries to spice up his relationship with Jazz with the help of one of Sideswipe's 'toys'.
Prowl smirked then and Sideswipe shuddered. That expression looked truly evil on the mech and he dreaded to think of the reason for it. The 2IC held up the item he had been looking for. Sideswipe’s optics widened.
“I have a perfectly good explanation for those,” he said.
“I don’t want to hear it,” Prowl replied.
“You don’t?”
“No. I want to borrow them.”
“Huh? Why?!”
Prowl quirked an optic ridge of his own. “Do I want to know why you have these?”
“Um… nope!” Sideswipe grinned weakly.
“Then you don’t need to know why I need them.”
“Need what?”
“You learn fast. Dismissed.”
-----
8. Sam, Mikaela, Jazz and Bumblebee take a roadtrip down to Mexico
Mikaela looked Jazz over and ran a hand over the blue-and-red racing stripes that stretched from his hood, all the way over his roof to his trunk.
“Please tell me you don’t share Bumblebee’s fondness for racing stripes,” she said, indicating the dual black stripes that adorned the Camaro.
“Bumblebee and I share a lot of things,” Jazz chuckled as Bumblebee shifted on his wheels. “He convinced me the stripes were cool.”
“Yeah, well it’s about time you got here, Mr Fashion Consultant,” Sam told Bumblebee as he tossed his bags into the back seat.
“I’m sorry, Sam,” Bumblebee replied as he opened his door for the boy. “It took some time to convince Optimus to let us go.”
“You were gone the whole night!”
“I also had things to… discuss… with Jazz.”
“Oh, and you couldn’t have your little discussion along the way?” Sam got in behind the wheel.
“No,” was all Bumblebee said.
-----
9. Jazz reveals the real purpose of his visor when he and Prowl have to infiltrate the Nemesis
The tactician mentally rolled his optics and lightly rubbed the arm around his waist, looking down at the other and watching the currently-dark visor for any sign of light. Sometimes it fascinated him to see his partner wake up. It would start with a flicker of light under the visor and progress to a soft blue glow before brightening to its usual pale blue shine.
The visor was an object of mystery to Prowl. For all the time Prowl had been together with him, and the even longer time Prowl had known him, he had never once seen Jazz remove it. During one of their more intimate moments together he had tried to remove it, only to find his hand firmly clasped within Jazz’s and gently guided away.
“I’m sorry, Prowl,” he’d said then. “But I need to keep at least one thing to myself.”
Prowl had never pushed the matter after that, though he had certainly been curious. He’d pondered for days after that about why Jazz wore it, until one day the saboteur just told him.
-----
10. A rouge remnant of Sector 7 are after Jazz's body. Bumblebee and the others need to get it back, but its not just Jazz's body they need to recover.
On this Monday, Bumblebee was far too tired to go exploring, and having been in car form for much of the weekend, he needed a place where he could transform and stretch out in relative peace. There was only one place that could provide such an environment, so without a second thought he turned and headed for the hill - Jazz’s hill, as he liked to call it.
Besides, he figured that maybe his old friend would like some company for a while, and he wanted to make sure his friend’s final resting place was kept in good condition.
As he neared the summit however, a sudden cold feeling came upon him and he sensed something wasn’t right at all. Normally there would be birds chirping and singing in the trees, but today there were none. The entire area was silent. Bumblebee transformed and quickly ran up the rest of the way to where Jazz’s grave was. At first glance, everything seemed normal, but his spark told him there was something so very, very wrong here.
Then he noticed it.
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Poll
Vote away!
EDIT: Oh I should mention that the top 5 will go through the next round, along with one page of each fic, to give you a little more info about what each story's about...
Personally I'm surprised 6 is doing well, odd because it barely made it into the Top 10... I'm partial to 3 myself, mainly because Raj has started to get a little active in the headspace again... XD... I'm surprised the Twins & Streetwalkers fic hasnt done well considering the number of nominations it got in the first round.. O_O...
1. Sunstreaker and Outback are sent to the outskirts to train the Paradron refugees
"First thing tomorrow," Rodimus replied. "I'll send Outback to get you. He'll be your backup."
"You're joking, right?"
"Not at all. Outback's being transferred here for space combat training, so I figured New Paradron would be a good place for him to start before he joins the advanced ranks. Furthermore, he's a gunner. That should complement you nicely."
Sunstreaker kept to himself what he thought the Minibot could complement.
-----
2. Jazz, Prowl and the Twins investigate a 'Con weapon that transforms them into something else entirely
Sunstreaker woke to the feel of rain-water gently splashing down onto his face from the clouds above. He raised his head and blinked some of the water from his optics, uttering a low groan as he tried to move his rather sore body. The rain was not really helping matters either. He was cold and wet and he knew it was definitely not doing wonders for his appearance. Almost unconsciously, he licked some of the rain-water off his nose and mouth. His head suddenly snapped up and he froze as he played back his most recent actions in his mind. Something was not right.
Almost fearfully, he crawled towards a puddle the rain had made and looked in. instead of bright, blue optics, what he saw was a pair of liquid brown eyes, tinged with a faint hint of blue. He scrambled back from the puddle, an organic heart now pounding furiously in his furry chest, and without thinking, threw back his head and let out a long, loud, mournful howl. It roused the other three whom he hadnt noticed lying not too far from him. He took a few steps towards them and they stared at him, quite unaware of the changes to themselves. (And no, they're not wolves).
-----
3. Jazz needs to rescue Mirage from a group of aliens, but it may not be as simple as it sounds
“Subject has also been responsible for the destruction of several Decepticon installations during the war on Cybertron, and the subsequent thriving of the Autobots on Earth. Currently holds the position of Senior Autobot under the leadership of Rodimus Prime.”
“There must be some way to capture it for study.”
“All previous methods to trap the subject resulted in failure.”
“It must have some weaknesses.”
“Subject has the same sentimental weakness possessed by all of its kind - loyalty and self-sacrifice - as well as slightly below-average strength. However, the subject’s speed, agility and adaptability are used to compensate. Subject also has a tendancy to be distracted by certain cultural aspects of civilizations.”
“Could we not use that to our advantage?”
“As has been stated before, subject’s highly developed mental capabilities have allowed it to slip past all our lures and traps.”
“Then we must look to other methods. Perhaps brute force will succeed where subtlety has failed.”
-----
4. Marissa Faireborn has feelings for Jazz, but doesnt know if he returns them. She needs to find out before she commits to another man.
Prowl crossed his arms and gave him a bit of a frown. “You certainly took your time to get here, Jazz.”
“Aw, relax Prowl. Had ta help a couple o’ guys put a few panels in place,” Jazz replied. He turned back to Harper. “So what brings ya here t’visit us?”
“She sent me to find you.”
“Oh?” Jazz tilted his head in curiosity. “How is the li’l lady? She’s not in any trouble again, is she? Hope ya ain’t here to request me an’ the boys on another mission, ‘cause we kinda have our collective hands full at the moment with the city’s construction an’ such.”
“Well, it’s not trouble exactly. The message she sent was a request that you meet her as soon as you can, ‘cause the wedding’s in a week and she wants to see you again before that.”
“Wedding?” Jazz’s smile faded a little and did not go unnoticed by Prowl, who twitched an optic ridge. “She’s gettin’ married? To whom?”
-----
5. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker meet a group of streetwalkers one rainy evening
“A deal’s a deal,” Sunstreaker said. “We pay for your services and give you a ride. Isnt that how it works with you girls?”
The older woman snorted. “Something like that.”
A few of the other women who had gathered around them to see what was going on, chuckled. One of them - a dark blonde - ran a hand along Sideswipe’s flank.
“Don’t know about you girls,” she said. “But this one feels mighty fine to me…. How about it, Red? Care to give me a ride some time?”
“Hehe, I’m sure I could work you into my schedule,” Sideswipe replied cheekily.
“Stop flirting with him Cassie, you know you’ll only break his heart,” Hannah said, then paused. “Do robots have hearts?”
-----
6. A 'Con attack leaves Optimus stranded with a wounded Sunstreaker. The two need to put aside their differences to make it back home
A low moan brought him over to where Sunstreaker lay curled, in more than a little pain. He was conscious and bleeding from several wounds where shrapnel had cut into his more delicate undercarriage. Tiny wisps of smoke curled up from burnt and shorted-out wiring, but despite all of it, the warrior was slowly trying to push himself up.
“Take it easy, Sunstreaker,” Prime said, kneeling beside him, voice a lot more gentle than it had been.
“Gonna slag ‘im,” the yellow mech growled.
“You’ll get your chance, but not now. You’re wounded and you need to be careful or you’ll cause yourself more damage. Let me help you.”
“Don’t need… fragging help.” Sunstreaker managed to push himself onto all fours, arms and legs quivering slightly as they strained to hold him up. He crawled a few feet over to a tall pine tree and used the trunk as leverage to help him stand. “There.”
Prime merely stood watching him.
Sunstreaker took a couple of steps towards him and would have fallen flat on his face had Prime not lunged and caught him in his arms, slipping one arm securely around the warrior’s waist to keep him upright.
“Save the heroics, tough guy,” he said, though not harshly.
-----
7. Prowl tries to spice up his relationship with Jazz with the help of one of Sideswipe's 'toys'.
Prowl smirked then and Sideswipe shuddered. That expression looked truly evil on the mech and he dreaded to think of the reason for it. The 2IC held up the item he had been looking for. Sideswipe’s optics widened.
“I have a perfectly good explanation for those,” he said.
“I don’t want to hear it,” Prowl replied.
“You don’t?”
“No. I want to borrow them.”
“Huh? Why?!”
Prowl quirked an optic ridge of his own. “Do I want to know why you have these?”
“Um… nope!” Sideswipe grinned weakly.
“Then you don’t need to know why I need them.”
“Need what?”
“You learn fast. Dismissed.”
-----
8. Sam, Mikaela, Jazz and Bumblebee take a roadtrip down to Mexico
Mikaela looked Jazz over and ran a hand over the blue-and-red racing stripes that stretched from his hood, all the way over his roof to his trunk.
“Please tell me you don’t share Bumblebee’s fondness for racing stripes,” she said, indicating the dual black stripes that adorned the Camaro.
“Bumblebee and I share a lot of things,” Jazz chuckled as Bumblebee shifted on his wheels. “He convinced me the stripes were cool.”
“Yeah, well it’s about time you got here, Mr Fashion Consultant,” Sam told Bumblebee as he tossed his bags into the back seat.
“I’m sorry, Sam,” Bumblebee replied as he opened his door for the boy. “It took some time to convince Optimus to let us go.”
“You were gone the whole night!”
“I also had things to… discuss… with Jazz.”
“Oh, and you couldn’t have your little discussion along the way?” Sam got in behind the wheel.
“No,” was all Bumblebee said.
-----
9. Jazz reveals the real purpose of his visor when he and Prowl have to infiltrate the Nemesis
The tactician mentally rolled his optics and lightly rubbed the arm around his waist, looking down at the other and watching the currently-dark visor for any sign of light. Sometimes it fascinated him to see his partner wake up. It would start with a flicker of light under the visor and progress to a soft blue glow before brightening to its usual pale blue shine.
The visor was an object of mystery to Prowl. For all the time Prowl had been together with him, and the even longer time Prowl had known him, he had never once seen Jazz remove it. During one of their more intimate moments together he had tried to remove it, only to find his hand firmly clasped within Jazz’s and gently guided away.
“I’m sorry, Prowl,” he’d said then. “But I need to keep at least one thing to myself.”
Prowl had never pushed the matter after that, though he had certainly been curious. He’d pondered for days after that about why Jazz wore it, until one day the saboteur just told him.
-----
10. A rouge remnant of Sector 7 are after Jazz's body. Bumblebee and the others need to get it back, but its not just Jazz's body they need to recover.
On this Monday, Bumblebee was far too tired to go exploring, and having been in car form for much of the weekend, he needed a place where he could transform and stretch out in relative peace. There was only one place that could provide such an environment, so without a second thought he turned and headed for the hill - Jazz’s hill, as he liked to call it.
Besides, he figured that maybe his old friend would like some company for a while, and he wanted to make sure his friend’s final resting place was kept in good condition.
As he neared the summit however, a sudden cold feeling came upon him and he sensed something wasn’t right at all. Normally there would be birds chirping and singing in the trees, but today there were none. The entire area was silent. Bumblebee transformed and quickly ran up the rest of the way to where Jazz’s grave was. At first glance, everything seemed normal, but his spark told him there was something so very, very wrong here.
Then he noticed it.
----------
Poll
Vote away!