melodiesofeternity | The Final Loop

Oh, Minimus had plans. Over the past several loops, his attention was drawn to several criminal activities performed by the Heroes of Light other than Starscream, and in particular, someone had accidentally dropped the fact that an airship was stolen. Through investigation and interrogation, he found one of the culprits.

Kenichi Nakagawa.

He had bought an airship from O'Aka, meaning that it was likely that he knew how to pilot one. He did not have a full list of his accomplices, but addressing the ringleader was important. The short robot walked next to Kenichi, waiting for a moment when he would be unoccupied, and when he had noticed Minimus:

"Is it true that an airship was hijacked in a previous loop?"

"...I don't even get a hello, Minimus?" He placed his glass down on the nearby table. For the record, the glass only had water with a lemon slice since he did have to pilot an airship.

Kenichi really should have seen this coming. The only problem was he wasn't sure if the robot was employed as a law enforcement officer or not. "I won't deny the fact that an airship was commandeered in one loop. Plans did not pan out and so a desperate action was needed. However, that's all I'm going to say for now. If I am under an official criminal investigation, I'm going to have to ask to see your badge." There was no hint of malice in Kenichi's voice but rather calm and collected. Though right now, he thinks he'd rather be off fighting Bahamut one on one instead.

While Minimus had no jurisdiction on Vaikuntha (the Tyrest Accord never specified other universes, dead or alive), he had some authority as a concerned resident to confront his neighbors on their troublesome behavior. Stealing an airship did not impress him to believe that one was an upstanding person.

"Good afternoon, then. I am not asking that you turn yourself in, but that you explain yourself as to why you believed grant theft spaceship was a legitimate course of action."

Kenichi eyed Minimus for a second. It did seem like Minimus had no reason to lie. Besides, even if he did have any authority to arrest him, doing so now of all times would be incredibly bad timing.

"Alright. I knew having an airship, even the smallest class, could possibly help us fix events in the cycles. So of course, I tried to get in touch with O'aka. I had tried in several cycles to both understand him and to try to obtain an airship. At that point, I had become frustrated by the lack of results. Let me be clear: stealing an airship was the last resort I would use if there were no other options available. So, I carefully crafted a plan to commandeer an airship, making sure any injuries were minimal and even readjusted a few things to help improve the airship's performance. I used the airship to intercept the Pupu flying saucer that was over capacity before it could take flight and redirected them to Curti Center," he finally stopped to take a sip.

"With that rescue accomplished, I asked one them to pilot the ship back to Curti Center but to say it was abandoned when they found it. Once I did manage to crack how to get O'aka's good graces, I never pursued theft again. So now I have my own airship for us to use." He looked over at Minimus to gauge his reaction.

Minimus was a master of hiding his thoughts with a steady frown. However, his moustache bent disapprovingly as Kenichi continued to explain his actions. Theft, assault, putting workers and others in danger - on Vaikuntha, punishments were harsher if victims were below a certain age.

"You did not think to contact the PuPu pilots ahead of time nor warn the officials of the potential danger, so you put the lives and the employment of the workers at risk for this- this stunt? Did you believe the lack of consequences was the acknowledgement of permission that was needed? What if the hijacking had gone wrong? What then?"

Justified or not, he did not trust someone he barely knew to have the best of intentions, especially when committing a felony.

"Thing is, Minimus, I did try to appeal to both the Pupu pilots and passengers directly," Kenichi shook his head as he laughed bitterly. "Of course neither of them believed me when I explained it to them. We're speaking of the end of the world as they know it. Fear clouds judgment and it spreads like wildfire. Even if I could persuade some to find other airships, there weren't many options available. In other words, that saucer would've been overcapacity no matter what and we would've lost many lives. Many of them had scoffed that I had no plan since I didn't have an airship to offer flights. That is why I needed to find an airship to back them up."

"Injuries can be healed and airships can be replaced eventually. The lives of many seriously outweigh them both a hundred times over. So don't tell me I didn't try when my main goal was to prevent further casualties in the first place!" While Kenichi didn't raise his voice, the sharpness in it could be heard clearly. The air around Kenichi went cold as the former god looked at Minimus with a scowl. Growing up, he despised many of the gods who took their titles as their elevator for higher status and the benefits that followed. He didn't take it lightly if anyone ever tried to group him with those entitled and spoiled deities who were only gods in name only.

After a pause and a drink of water, he continued. "I spent so many damn cycles trying to memorize the schedules of all the workers, the mechanics of the specific airship, and what I needed to say to everyone. That way I could minimalize how many workers would need to be knocked out, pilot the airship safely and convince the pilots and passengers that going to Curti Center would be the best option. And if that didn't somehow work? Well, you can't say I didn't try." As for what he would've done if that didn't work? He honestly didn't have time to think up another one.

Minimus, not one to be easily swayed away from the lawn, simply frowned and crossed his arms. This was very familiar territory; pleas to lighten their sentences by seeking a loophole to justify their actions. The problem was that when you allows certain crimes to be forgiven due to personal preferences, you open the path to letting similar crimes go unpunished. A dangerous precedent is set. How far into the gray area can one traverse before they are corrupt and complacent in lawlessness? Many an Autobot acted against the Code of Interplanetary Conflict in the idea that they were working for the greater good, thus leading to a high number of war criminals on both sides of the Great War. Despite having lost his title as the Enforcer, his spark felt the call of duty to protect Vaikuntha from degeneracy.

His neck, however, was strained from looking up at the towering god. How he wished that the Magnus Armor was fully functional to wear in public so he would have the advantage of height! It had been vorns and vorns since he had to look up at others every day. His optics narrowed slightly from the stress, but the mustache hid his facial expression.

"Hijacking and assault are not accusations that can be disproved so easily. Despite your intentions, your actions brought harm to many people, and having time erased does not erase what you did. If one murdered another while dismissing the loss of life as something that would be undone by time, they would display the same irresponsibly that you and your cohorts have."

The entire situation lead to an unpleasant sensation that bled underneath his plating like thick, crude oil.

"I know that you had accomplices with whom I will speak, but ultimately, the responsibility falls onto you. Is it not true that among species with adolescent stages of development, the elders have an onus to teach the developing members of society the difference between good and bad behavior?"

"Wow," Kenichi could only say after taking a sip as Minimus railed against him. Now, he knew better than to raise a ruckus at a wedding of all places. "I mean, wow. Has anyone ever told you holding on to such a strictly black and white perspective is not very healthy? Just a little advice: you may want to pump the brakes on that mindset of yours or else it might just come around and bite back at you. I try not to judge someone by their appearance but it seems you're just as rigid and unbendable as you look." He put down his glass with a dull thud, letting the remaining ice cubes clatter around.

"For the record, I do feel guilty about what I did in terms of the assault and I do take responsibility for that but I will not stand for my actions to be judged out of context. I can clearly see that you're not satisfied with my answers. Yes, elders may teach, but you're assuming all elders are capable of that when, spoiler alert, not every elder is. However, it's ultimately up to the student whether or not they want to retain or warp those lessons if they do receive them." He did give Okuyasu and Finn several chances to walk away and they did seem to have a good head on their shoulders. Still, Kenichi made a mental note to keep in touch with those two later.

"I see we're not getting anywhere with this conversation. I did what I did and I gave you my reasons. If that is all, I'm going to get my airship's engines warmed up." The longer this conversation went on, the more clear it was to Kenichi that he was going to get nowhere on this with Minimus. By Odin's beard, not even the gods with law, logic and judgment as their domain were this uptight. Kenichi just shook his head and turned to walk away.

Minimus crosses his arms with a tight grip. His own plating was strong enough to hold against his weakened loadbearer strength to prevent denting, as had been the case when he held Rodimus back from one of his dangerous plans. So be it. Kenichi believed that he was in the right and saw no issue in his choices. Minimus simply had to keep a close watch and stop him if he were to do something reckless again.

He watched the god walk away to the fog of the part and continued observing the general area where he had disappeared for another five minutes before changing his watch duty to another location.

The Final Loop

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