trans_9 | Later, dawg [Open!]

Anyone who wishes to is invited to step forward and speak.

The pod has launched, and Punchy has rejoined the stars.

The orange glow from Splicer's cigarette burned brightly in the dark corner where he watched the pod leave to join the void. The loud music coming from his headphones drowned everyone else out of his thoughts. Instead he was simply watching, the dark shades covering his eyes making it hard to read his features.

Those who had attended the Space Prom can recognize the tracks muffled through the headphones as the songs he and Punchy put together for the occasion. Their join work making others have fun that night... His bro, his partner, his friend and more...

"Must be weird seeing yourself be tossed into space huh." he said to no one in particular... that was until you moved closer and saw a much smaller figure perched atop his right shoulder. A doll much like his others except this one was donning an outfit similar to Punchy's.

"Yeah no kiddin' dawg. Feels wack." came the voice exactly like Punchy's yet much lower and smaller.

Splicer narrowed his brows and took a deep puff from his cigarette and let out a harsh cloud of smoke that swirled violently.

"It's never easy is it... Getting close to someone..."

"You'll be alright bro?"

Splicer didn't respond at first, watching the pod disappear finally. "War will never end..."

Billy hadn't taken this news well at all. Not by a long shot. He'd dropped his project of the moment and bowed over the desk, fighting the outpouring of pain and rage that had threatened to overtake him. Laboratories are not good locations for an emotional breakdown: too much delicate equipment can be damaged.

He'd spent the entire time prior to the funeral announcement in his room, curled up on the bed. What did Rangers do when one of their own died? Zordon had never given him the answer, there had (luckily) been no need of it. Billy turned his power coin in his hand over and over, mulling over his ideas. He owed his friend, coworker, and teammate the best sendoff he could muster.

Finally, it was time. Billy arrived on the Observation Deck in his Power Ranger uniform, his helmet tucked under one arm. It was more difficult than he could have imagined, but he kept his head held high. Billy was proud of everything Punchy was, and he was going to do his best to show it.

"Losing Punchy like this is incredibly painful to me. When I first met him, I doubted we'd ever mesh. He spoke...like a rapper, and we talked past each other sometimes. But after further reflecting, I realized we'd had that in common: back in high school, I tended to be more verbose than I am even now. A friend of mine needed to translate almost everything I said."

It was almost funny. Billy chuckled, but the high-pitched and uncertain sound felt out of place. He swallowed, walking toward the pod.

"So we understood each other that way. And he was a brilliant programmer. Always supportive, and dedicated to his task. He was my late-night companion in the lab, always ready with coffee. I'm really going to miss that."

Billy reached the pod then, spreading his gloved hand on the surface. One last goodbye. "He was also my teammate: a Power Ranger, true to the end. He didn't hesitate when we needed someone to join us. He made us laugh, he was always supportive, and...I'm sorry that I didn't have longer to fight beside him, because it was truly an honor to have him as my teammate. He was more than a worthy Blue Ranger. If my mentor on Earth had known him, I'm sure he would have approved. Punchy was a real hero to the end, and better yet, he kept our spirit alive."

Time for the finale. He stepped back, balling his fists in an effort to fight tears. "Goodbye, my friend---though I suppose you would've liked me to say---oh, this is going to sound ridiculous. But it's for you. And only this once."

He inhaled, paused, and fixed his eyes on the casket. "Later, dawg. Your memory will be with us always, and may the Power always honor you."

Edited 2012-04-30 23:10 (UTC)

Billy watched the launch in silence, standing stiffly at the window. That was how a fallen soldier was supposed to be honored. He balled his fist over his chest in what must have been his first instinct for a salute.

When the moment passed, Billy sat just as stiffly on one of the many squishy chairs. He stared into space for a good few minutes, before the real reaction kicked in.

Tears. Billy bent over his knee and pressed his face into his glove, silently mourning the friend he'd come to rely on without realizing it. The lab and the Command Center would never be quite as colorful as before.

Starfire gravitated toward him, as she tended to at times like this. It was a sad occasion, and she'd nibbled her lip and reached for Splicer's hand---

---but the small doll stopped her in her tracks. She hovered in front of Splicer, clearly upset but uncertain.

"...Shadow, where did you obtain that small doll?"

He hadn't noticed at first, too into his thought before that familiar voice and figure came into view.

Splicer even managed to force a smile. "Hey there beautiful." he began in his usual way before looking over his shoulder. "Punchy? He just sorta hopped up there." Ok, so there was more to it, but it seemed like he was completely convinced of this.

"Then it is a likeness of him!"

Starfire was happy to hear their departed friend's voice once more, but she worried. Her past experiences with enchanted dolls had been...a little less than positive.

"How did you create him? Are there more?"

Ronnae had been standing to the side, a formal military salute throughout the entire ceremony as was standard for her troop. It was hard... fighting back the tears that tore at her.

Hey Red, what's up? You're totally cool, that was awesome... faded and mixed memories began to flow through her thoughts and it became harder and harder to hold back.

It was a part of war, she had known this ever since she was young... and still it was never easy when it was someone close. Someone you cared for.

After she saw the pod disappeared, she slowly made her way towards Billy, standing in front of him for a few moments without saying a word. She had failed at holding back her tears which now marked the streaks of wetness on her face and still, she had made no sounds. That would have been dishonoring his memory and his valor in the eyes of her kin.

No, she wept in silence.

She finally pulled Billy into a tight hug. Not saying a word and simply keeping him close.

Would he go that way too? Would she be sending him to the void of the afterlife one day as well?

He blinked a few times and cocked his head. "Truthfully? I don't know. Like I said, he just jumped up there." Amnesia perhaps?

"Hey don't worry! It's just me man."

Splicer let out a small puff of smoke away from Star and had it dissipate immediately.

"How you holdin' up Star?"

Billy knew that Punchy had been close to Ronnae too. They'd worked well together, they'd been...cute. He was really going to miss seeing her smile brought on by another silly joke.

So when he recognized Ronnae's presence, he lowered his hands. She wouldn't judge him for crying, he knew that much. Billy rose to his feet, reaching for her. Ronnae seized him at the same moment.

He held her for what felt like a long time, stroking her hair and kissing her forehead. The same thoughts were in his mind: death was real. It struck closer and closer to them. What if it ran him straight through the heart next time?

"I miss him." It was a childish cry, but it came to mind so readily because it was a simple truth.

"I miss our dear friend," Starfire started, wiping a tear. Her other hand reached for the miniature Punchy, offering him a finger.

"We did not know each other well, but he was affectionate and very kind. We have lost a wonderful person."

"I.. k-know... I do too..." came her equally small response as she held onto Billy.

Somehow, it felt as if she let go, she'd lose him right this moment. She tried her best not to crush him against her but she didn't want to let go. It was too much at the moment...

Splicer smiled at her, "He was... Probably the coolest partner I ever met, next to me of course."

"Yo dawg I'm still here. We're still gonna shoot some hoops later right?"

Splicer raised his hand and caressed Star's face affectionately.

"He was very...cool," Starfire agreed. She sounded tentative, though, as if she was still learning to use that particular word in that context and not as a reference to temperature.

She smiled weakly, curling up against Splicer. He was always so kind to her as well.

"You would require a very small hoop, my friend," she whispered to the doll.

Billy nodded, clutching her just as fiercely. Ronnae's grip did hurt him a little, it was true, but he didn't mind. When he was so close to her, held so tightly, there could be no doubt that they were alive.

Life was precious. They both needed to hold onto it. He shook with another sob, trying to muster up the wits to keep talking.

"He'd probably tell us we're being ridiculous. 'Red, Bossman, cheer up.' Huh?"

People all had their ways of grieving. With Hit Girl, there were three ways you could go. There was the being pissed off, yelling at the world and gnashing your teeth thing that you did when you were mad someone you cared about was taken away. There was the crying, sobbing and grief stricken thing when you were so sad there was nothing you could say.

And sometimes, you wanted to do something that only you cared about the significance of, whether anyone else wanted to or not. Hit Girl shimmied to the pod, in her hand the fermented drink she picked up a few planets back. It was alcoholic, but it tasted sweet and warm enough that she wanted to save it for a good time, when it would be important.

This seemed good enough. She took a flask of the stuff and poured it over his pod, saying nothing, daring anyone to try and reprimand her.

"See ya dawg," she said, shaking her head. "You'll be missed."

And now? She was off to finish up the drink herself. While Howard and Cedric's death were a reason to be somber, Punchy had been too much of a live wire for her to want to make herself mope. He had a way of making living fun. So why not revel in it?

"YOU STUPID IDIOT!"

Rainbow Dash zipped up to the obs deck window to slam one hoof against it, hard, the way she'd be decking Punchy if he were here.

"You lied to me!" she shouted at the void beyond. "You told me you were COOL! You even acted cool!" Another punch thrown at the window.

"But THIS! Is not! COOL!" Her voice broke on the last word.

He'd punched out a tree. She remembered that, as much as she didn't want to. Or they'd punched out a tree, together, and then hung out afterwards, talking about cool things and getting along. Rainbow Dash had liked him. She'd liked him a lot.

She pushed a foreleg against the obs window, leaning her head in against it. "It was all a lie!" she said, punching the window with her over hoof again, trying desperately to keep anger dominant over tears. "You're not cool. You're not cool! You're not, you're not, you're not!"

Shoving roughly away, she dropped down to the floor, wings folding tightly to her back as she deliberately turned it on those memories. "Someone cool wouldn't have died," she said, half-heartedly flicking her tail in a gesture she hoped fooled other people into believing she was dismissing him. She hadn't fooled herself. "You wasted my time. I'm not gonna forgive you." She bit down hard on that last word against her stupid thick voice, shaking her head to clear her stupid watery eyes.

Stupid Punchy. Stupid dumb jerk. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Applejack was attending this funeral too. It was only right: paying respects to the fine fella she'd played in the mud with on one perfect afternoon. Anypony who could do that was all right in her mind.

She could understand crying. She could understand screaming. She could totally understand hitting things! Applejack almost wanted to do all three. But this reaction was entirely new to her. Maybe the strange purple-haired woman knew something she didn't.

"...what's all that for?"

"You're not gonna be the apple of people's eye, saying shit like that."

Oh look, Hit Girl's first appearance around Rainbow Dash...and she sounded like she was getting fairly inebriated, but looked as of she were drawing plans of a sort. And in this haze, this was likely the case: even when intoxicated, Hit Girl wasn't comfortable being lazy.

"'Sides, I thought he was pretty cool. Reminded me heroes like him exist to remind we can still get a laugh wherever we want."

"Big or small I can totally bounce with the best of them! Just give me a phat beat to check in with!"

Splicer chuckled and shook his head.

"Heroes don't die!" Rainbow Dash huffed, voice brittle and thin. She turned her back deliberately on the girl. "And cool guys don't go away and leave you behind! I'm just saying what --" Her voice broke again. "Whatever everyone's thinking! Or should be!"

Ronnae let out a strangled laugh and sniffed, "Y-yeah, something like that. Or be all a-awkward and s-silly..." Wow she was choking on her words trying not to cry.

"I g-guess we should h-honor that... at t-the very l-least...."

Hit Girl hid a smirk. Well, showtime. Just as well too: she'd rather grieve as her alter ego right now than having to cry and be sad on command. At least this way she could be disapproved of and it'd be totally in character.

"He was a true OG, or wanted to be," she said, shaking her head. "So the custom when a guy you respected like that bites it, you pour out some alcohol as a sign of honor. It's kind of a gangsta thing."

It still made her laugh, uttering that on Stacy of all places, but that was giving way to a choking feeling she'd suppress with a swig of this stuff.

"Ack! Who thought that something sweet would actually burn on the way down!"

Applejack had proceeded to a more depressed stage of grief. Because of this, her friend's reaction is more than a little alarming.

She shook her mane, the weight of it flopping over her neck. "I'm sorry."

Later, dawg [Open!]

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