Look out, it's Robocop!

[legalcy]

Who: Ultra Magnus and YOU
When: After the Anniversary Event and beginning of May
Where: Curti Center and Safer Osu
What: Minimus gets a regain and thus a Custom Job. He now can walk around as another person.
Warnings/Notes: Ultra Magnus has a different voice from Minimus Ambus due to a voice modulator. He's also taller than Megatron now.

A. Curti Center, End of April

[A new robot emerges from Ganeshan's lab. It's not the start of a new month, so he can't possibly be a new arrival, but one would have definitely noticed a Cybertronian larger than Megatron traveling with the group. His expression is serious, but the air he carries has him appear to be pleased with something.

The suit still functions well. Some of the functionality has been lost, but Minimus can work with that. What matters is that he has a larger body capable of wielding larger weapons and intimidating criminals. At last, he isn't walking around in his irreducible form.

On the other hand, the hallways of the research center were not built for large beings, which does make sense, Miminus tells himself, as it dissuades visitors from bringing Chocobos and large suits of armor indoors.]

Excuse me.

[He squats and shuffles to the side of the walkway, allowing two interns to pass.]

Forgive me, I...am not used to accommodations of this size. [Good heavens, he ought to find a roll-up door and make his leave through the vehicle port. After some difficulty, he finds himself in the airship garage. This is familiar.

As you pass by, you can see a large blue robot have its body parts shift around to turn into a large truck]

...Hm. Something feels off. [Perhaps he has to get used to transforming after such a long time without the armor. He was certain he found nothing wrong after thoroughly cleaning the suit from the retrieval.

Oh, well. It's time to slowly ride outside.]

B. Safer Osu, Late April and May

[Said giant robot takes a walk throughout the military city, striding through the larger streets and looking over the citizens. They are all staying at least two meters away from store fronts and refraining from walking against the crowd. It helps that the residents keep clear of the large Cybertronian walking in their midst. He will enjoy working in this city.

His destination: the law enforcement department of Safer Osu. Ultra Magnus has the copy of the local laws downloaded on the Slate, his Moogle Mogsuna sits on his shoulder, waving at Heroes of Light and their Moogles as Magnus wears a deep frown, completely serious about his future employment.]

Comments

[legalcy]

I don't understand how I could have sided with Shockwave. None of that aligns with my duties.

[But that sounds about right for Shockwave's plot to end the universe - it was what allowed Megatron to ally with Bumblebee and the rest of the Autobots, leading to his "supposed" change of heart.

...Has it really been that long?]

I assure you that he and I are not the same Ultra Magnus. If Shockwave were to appear, I will rally support to stop his machinations before they begin.

[aerospacecommander]

Wouldn't be the first time I saw the two of you get close to making some sort of deal. But I can't say exactly. In any case, alternate universe or not, I've seen a lot of similarities between worlds. So how do I know you're telling the truth?

[He folds his arms across his chest. He's still annoyed that Ultra Magnus retained a greater height than he has. Somehow he'll find out how he managed that. There must be some sort of trick to it.]

[legalcy]

[He, Minimus Ambus, never made deals with criminals. There was the one time with Swindle, but that was to obtain a lead on Scorponok. Magnus doesn't view it as his finest moment.]

You should know who I am inside this armor. We cannot be so dissimilar across universes that I would collude with the enemy

[aerospacecommander]

Well you did. I couldn't tell you why, maybe you wanted to get back at Optimus Prime.

[It was bad enough having a clone, Starscream can't even begin to imagine what 'family' drama would be like.

Well ... he did have to deal with Skywarp and a general basis so maybe similar to that.]

[legalcy]

[A pause. What had Optimus Prime done recently that was a good reason for retribution?]

What happened that I should believe that he deserves to be betrayed?

[aerospacecommander]

How should I know why you and your brother hate each other? I just assume you don't like living in the shadow of him being the great Optimus Prime. I mean that is why you hide in the armor isn't it?

[And there it is.]

[legalcy]

Optimus Prime is not by brother.

[The issues are the same save for two details: the name and the fact that they would hate one another. He loved Dominus, but he was annoying at times.]

He doesn't have a sparkbrother in my universe...

[Oh no. He's already outed himself using incorrect logic.]

[aerospacecommander]

[Starscream does the Cybertronian equivalent of a squint at Ultra Magnus.]

Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime are sparktwins in mine. Under the armor they look almost the same minus color scheme.

Mostly white, red optics. That sort of thing.

[legalcy]

No, Ultra Magnus never was white. [He and Delta Magnus were simply members of the same House. They weren't sparkbrothers.]

Er, does the Tyrest Accord not exist in your universe?

[aerospacecommander]

Uhhh. Never heard of it. Why? What is it?

[Not that he fully cares, but since Magnus brought it up ...

Well, one never knows what information will prove to be useful.]

[legalcy]

It's a treatise on the code of interplanetary conflict, one that was instated by Tyrest and enforced by Ultra Magnus until recently. [Odd how he's referring to himself in the third person.] However, this was enacted due to the Great War as a measure to protect other planets from our warfare, which I had believed to be the case for you as well...

[This is going to be difficult to reveal, now that Ultra Magnus was his original self in Starscream's timeline.]

Then it is plausible that the original Ultra Magnus of your universe was not killed as the Ultra Magnus of my universe.

[aerospacecommander]

Nope. Never heard of anything of the sorts. Though Prime does seem to try and keep the humans out of our conflict. Not that it matters though, they involve themselves anyway.

[Like dropping attempting to drop that bomb on all of them. And the mind control. Though that ended up really poorly for the humans involved there]

And so this must mean you're nothing but a pretender. Personally I think you could have better taste in people to impersonate.

[legalcy]

I was given this role by Chief Justice Tyrest to enforce the rulings for all Autobots and Decepticons across the galaxies, and I am honored to be part of the group of mechs that have taken up his mantle.

[Hm.]

Surely, Starscream, you should know why I was selected for this role of import.

[He walks to a nearby building, out of side of passer-bys that may try to take a peek at the true identity of the giant blue law enforcer. Starscream will know eventually, and he may as well spare him the effort of finding out on his own.]

[aerospacecommander]

What rules are you even babbling about anyway? Not attacking other planets? Because after Earth you should know the Decepticons aren't going to stop there. And they certainly aren't going to listen to you.

[Starscream only follows because no one just up and walks away fro. him like that.]

[legalcy]

[Ultra Magnus sits down, one leg at a time, careful to have his back lean against the wall. Arms to the side, perfectly symmetrical. Thankfully, there are some stones surrounding the building, so cleaning of grass from his backside will be minimal.]

That is included in the code. There is also the restriction of selling Cybertronian technology to other planets. Much of it was to prevent casualties to civilizations that were not involved in the conflict.

Now, if you're excuse me.

[His optics dim as Minimus shuts down the armor piece by piece.]

[aerospacecommander]

[Starscream just stares. What is Magnus even doing?]

The Autobots share tech with the humans all the time. Even were going to take a few back to Cybertron with them.

I see no point in sharing with other species ... Though Megatron must have with the Quintessons at some point.

[Otherwise how'd he get that drone army from them? And those blasted fish ...]

1/2

[legalcy]

[Ultra Magnus' arms slacked, but before he went into recharge, he spoke one last time:]

Autobots are not to share technology with other civilzations.

[His eyes go dark.]

[legalcy]

[The chest armor opens, revealing Minimus Ambus wearing the same expression as Magnus did. He takes his time in removing his arms and legs from their harnesses, careful not to scratch the metal, then steps out of the suit.]

Hello, Starscream. It's about time that we meet under more professional circumstances.

[aerospacecommander]

[Starscream was about to say something along the lines of how he should release the schematics of a fusion cannon to the network when Ultra Mangus just opened his chest like that.

And out popped Minimus.

That was not who he expected. Starscream had slightly taken a step back out of surprise.]

...

At least this means the Autobot numbers didn't multiply.

[He's sort of not sure how to take this.]

Does this mean you killed the original and stole his armor? Or did someone else do it ...

[legalcy]

There was no theft involved. Chief Justice Tyrest appropriated the armor of the original Ultra Magnus, which have been worn by loadbearers prior to my use.

[They have loadbearers in Starscream's timeline, right? He wonders where their universes diverged if they also had the Great War but Ultra Magnus was Optimus Prime's spark brother. Perhaps someone had manipulated the hotspots, leading to this difference.]

He was killed in battle, if you are wondering how he came to his end.

[aerospacecommander]

[Almost everything Minimus went on about Starscream found to be slightly confusing. So many people he didn't know. So much he just didn't understand.

All of it was slightly frustrating. Not that he needed to know all of this, but eh, it might be useful someday. It was better to be 'in the know' about things than out of the loop.]

Loadbearer? I have no idea what you are talking about. Look, as far as I know Ultra Magnus' armor was just regular outer plating. Cosmetic or something. It wasn't anything special.

[Not that he could ever see anyway.]

[legalcy]

[Confusion: a unacceptable distraction tactic. Why purposefully muddle your intention when describing everything in detail is much more helpful to the listener? To be fair, Minimus will not hold himself responsible for Starscream jumping to conclusions in order to shame Minimus.]

Plating? I would think that a full body suit of armor would be more practical and durable.

[aerospacecommander]

[Starscream will most likely jump to conclusions no matter what. It was one of his flaws.]

Probably. I never said it was an intelligent thing to do, just that I assume he wears it to disconnect himself from the great Optimus Prime.

[legalcy]

[He can sympathize. When one is repeatedly compared to a brother that they resemble, frustration and a desire to differentiate oneself becomes a major component of their behavior. Minimus threw himself into the Primal Guard to hide from those living on Cybertron, and he wore the Magnus Armor specifically to gain a different identity.]

...But you say that he sided with the Decepticons? He would go so far as to betray his own morals?

[To be fair, "Minimus Ambus the Decepticon" was a striking contract to "Dominus Ambus the Autobot sympathizer", but he could not live with himself if he had defected.]

[aerospacecommander]

And technically betray his own brother. But I honestly don't know how Shockwave got to him. I only arrived after ol' one-eye took over Cybertron. It wouldn't be the first time he tried to form a deal with that purple freak though.

[Though the last time, Starscream tried to have Ultra Magnus assassinated, but sadly Motormaster missed his shot.]