Sound and Fury, Part 1
July 14, 2109
Detroit, Michigan
Wyatt Toys
Most little girls would love to go shopping on the week before their eighth birthday. Unfortunately, when your traveling companion is an alien robot the size of a small house, there are limits to where you can go, so Sari and Bulkhead are just window-shopping today.
"So whaddaya want for your construction date celebration?" asks Bulkhead, peering through the upper window of the biggest toy store in Detroit.
"You mean my birthday?" Sari giggles. "I dunno, maybe somethin' sweet... somethin' pretty..." Her eyes slide away from the Barbie dolls and plush toys to a display of drum kits, electric guitars, and stereo systems. "...somethin' loud."
"Attention, shoppers!"
...that wasn't the store's PA system. Sari whirls around to face... a girl on a toy unicorn? Granted, the unicorn is flying, and the girl is wearing a black mask along with her luridly pink dress, and she's pointing something that Sari doesn't get a good look at before Bulkhead dives on top of her, shielding her from the explosion as whatever-it-was shatters the shop windows.
"I'm Professor Princess!" the girl on the unicorn cries in a voice so shrill it probably could have shattered the glass without any extra help. "And I am here to save you... from all these awful, violent toys!"
Professor Princess pulls out handfuls of bright yellow daisy-heads and flings them at the shop like shuriken stars. The first handful slices through a display of Action Man figures; the next, however, is blocked by a casual swing of Bulkhead's arm. "How 'bout we take this somewhere else?" says the Autobot coolly.
Professor Princess wags a chastising finger at Bulkhead "You didn't say 'please'..." She slides a powder-puff pink bazooka off of the back of her mount and fires a series of pastel projectiles at the Autobot. The projectiles expand into plush toy kittens, which explode on impact, knocking Bulkhead back against the concrete.
"Onward, Powdered Sugar!" the pint-sized supervillain cries to her unicorn mount. "Let's discontinue this big, naughty battle toy once and for all!"
"This girl needs to cut down on sweets," mutters Sari, brandishing her Key and sprinting back to the storefront. With the windows shattered, the music display is wide open, and there's a power plug on that mixing board...
The phrase 'wall of sound' has never been quite so literal. When Sari plugs in the Key, every speaker in the window lets out a simultaneous blast of heavy metal guitar, creating a massive shockwave. It doesn't force the princess and her unicorn back, but it stops them in their tracks long enough for Bulkhead to get to his feet and put the mechanical unicorn out of commission for good.
"P-P-Powdered Sugar?" Professor Princess gasps, sniffles, then bawls over the wreckage of her toy, even as the police cars start pulling up.
"Thanks, Sari," says Bulkhead. "Couldn't have done it without ya." He drops down to one knee and offers one massive fist to his human friend. Sari bumps it, obligingly, and the massive mech reels back, making a show of being in extreme pain from the tap on his knuckle.
Sari rolls her eyes. "Puh-lease."
Detroit, Michigan
Wyatt Toys
Most little girls would love to go shopping on the week before their eighth birthday. Unfortunately, when your traveling companion is an alien robot the size of a small house, there are limits to where you can go, so Sari and Bulkhead are just window-shopping today.
"So whaddaya want for your construction date celebration?" asks Bulkhead, peering through the upper window of the biggest toy store in Detroit.
"You mean my birthday?" Sari giggles. "I dunno, maybe somethin' sweet... somethin' pretty..." Her eyes slide away from the Barbie dolls and plush toys to a display of drum kits, electric guitars, and stereo systems. "...somethin' loud."
"Attention, shoppers!"
...that wasn't the store's PA system. Sari whirls around to face... a girl on a toy unicorn? Granted, the unicorn is flying, and the girl is wearing a black mask along with her luridly pink dress, and she's pointing something that Sari doesn't get a good look at before Bulkhead dives on top of her, shielding her from the explosion as whatever-it-was shatters the shop windows.
"I'm Professor Princess!" the girl on the unicorn cries in a voice so shrill it probably could have shattered the glass without any extra help. "And I am here to save you... from all these awful, violent toys!"
Professor Princess pulls out handfuls of bright yellow daisy-heads and flings them at the shop like shuriken stars. The first handful slices through a display of Action Man figures; the next, however, is blocked by a casual swing of Bulkhead's arm. "How 'bout we take this somewhere else?" says the Autobot coolly.
Professor Princess wags a chastising finger at Bulkhead "You didn't say 'please'..." She slides a powder-puff pink bazooka off of the back of her mount and fires a series of pastel projectiles at the Autobot. The projectiles expand into plush toy kittens, which explode on impact, knocking Bulkhead back against the concrete.
"Onward, Powdered Sugar!" the pint-sized supervillain cries to her unicorn mount. "Let's discontinue this big, naughty battle toy once and for all!"
"This girl needs to cut down on sweets," mutters Sari, brandishing her Key and sprinting back to the storefront. With the windows shattered, the music display is wide open, and there's a power plug on that mixing board...
The phrase 'wall of sound' has never been quite so literal. When Sari plugs in the Key, every speaker in the window lets out a simultaneous blast of heavy metal guitar, creating a massive shockwave. It doesn't force the princess and her unicorn back, but it stops them in their tracks long enough for Bulkhead to get to his feet and put the mechanical unicorn out of commission for good.
"P-P-Powdered Sugar?" Professor Princess gasps, sniffles, then bawls over the wreckage of her toy, even as the police cars start pulling up.
"Thanks, Sari," says Bulkhead. "Couldn't have done it without ya." He drops down to one knee and offers one massive fist to his human friend. Sari bumps it, obligingly, and the massive mech reels back, making a show of being in extreme pain from the tap on his knuckle.
Sari rolls her eyes. "Puh-lease."