4threset

Since Pulse follows canon up until he blows up only three years into being Mechaman, to Chase, Robert ducks him after his dad is murdered and then suddenly dies only three years into being Mechaman. So he's operated under the assumption that Robert has been dead for years.

Suddenly SDN and Blazer comes to him saying that there's a chance that this phantom villain could potentially be Robert. He helps Blazer and SDN track Pulse and when they finally haul him in, ooooguughh its ROUGH. This version of Robert is antagonistic, snarky, all teeth and fangs when he speaks, deflects questions and bids for familiarity with more subterfuge and false mirth.

Their relationship at SDN starts painfully strained because this is not the kid that Chase remembers and Robert fights tooth and nail to not be that kid.

The only people who knows that he used to be Mechaman are of course Chase and Blazer, so keeping that aspect of him is still a secret. But beyond that, the general reputation that Pulse has amongst villains and heroes alike is that he's an anonymous advanced hacker that's more akin to a ghost. If he can get someone else to do something for him, or have something done remotely then he will. No one knew what he looked like or if he was even a singular person until his capture, so thats when his identity as some guy 'Robert' becomes known to the Z-Team. Most of his time working as a dispatcher has the Z-Team heckling him in similar fashion because of this so their treatment of him doesn't change much until he gains their trust and he in turn learns to actually rely on others.

Pulse as a villain/vigilante does invoke some measure of unease amongst the Red Ring since he specifically goes out of his way to target them and Shroud.

Speaking of, how often does he take it off? Or is he too scared of being attacked and doesn't expect to live long, so he does not maintain healthy routine?

Pulse is a marginally more paranoid version of Robert. Since he's not supposed to exist and has eyes and ears everywhere, he makes it a point not to steal anything himself or do any of his own dirty work if he can help it. He doesn't take the leg off mostly out of paranoia and focuses on trying to improve it's functionality from the absolute mess that he initially started with so it's a slow uphill battle against his own janky prosthetic.

The months leading up to his capture by SDN, he's an absolute wreck since the reason SDN could catch him in the first place is because Shroud had crippled him. Suddenly all his digital eyes and ears are rendered deaf and blind so he's forced into the field himself.

He absolutely gets zooted with Golem on a regular basis. He's constantly in some form of pain so he smokes a lot and has a problem with substance abuse.

The Astral Chip being a literal super computer in his head makes it so that even in sleep, some process or other is constantly running in the background so the combination of insomnia and unholy chronic pain makes him dependent on a lot of weed. as well as sleep aids and painkillers.

bird dinosaur robert

Thank you so much! I actually drew the prosthetic without much thought behind it, but the more I draw of him and the more I write, I've slowly settled on it being a rabbit's foot! I've been thinking of properly sitting down and designing something that's more like the hind limbs of a rabbit crossed with a runner's prosthetic. (but thats a task for future Yon when he has more energy!)

Pulse Robert built 'The Rabbit's Foot' at the tender age of 18 using whatever was left from the wreckage of the Mechaman suit. It's a horribly cobbled together thing that's a miracle it works at all on the basis that Pulse built it while going through manic depression and psychosis at the time.

While Pulse is as feral as any Robert Robertson the third and can fight as well as any of them, he avoids putting himself in the field at all costs. Mostly due to having glass bones and paper skin as a result of being blown up by the Mech suit. The Rabbit's Foot is a hail mary for when he's absolutely cornered and needs to swing his glass canon. All the force of that same speeding mech behind the swing of a prosthetic.

Because the leg was built under duress, there are a few oddities in it. Namely a built in shotgun that's hidden in the shin, an open live wire under the rabbit's toes. And the visible loose cables on the leg being impossible to get rid of.

If he uses a shorter cable, the leg moves too fast. If he stuffs it in a casing, the static buildup causes it's movements to be twitchy. If he removes the cable, the leg refuses to connect to his body. If he connects the cable somewhere else, the entire leg moves backwards.

First - this is such a fun AU and I love your art for it. Thank you for the meals and sharing.

Second - There's a note about how Flambae brings Pulse into SDN. How did that go about happening? For example, was Flambae already a Phoenix so was sent on a call about him or something else?

Thank you so much!! This is very much self indulgent so I did not expect so many people to enjoy my little AU as much as they did!! I will try to answer as many questions as I'm able to!! There are so many!!

As for Flambae and Pulse :

He still worked as Mechaman for three years before disappearing, I imagine that brief period is when he cuts off Flambae's fingers, so that remains the same. Pulse rarely puts himself directly in the line of fire in all that he does, usually opting to hire people or indirectly cause havoc with his hacking and digital possession. So no one actually knows that Mechaman is alive or who 'Robert' is in this AU. Except a handful of SDN personnel who have been tracking him in the events leading up to Dispatch Canon! Them and also Shroud who equips Visi with a proximity virus, tailor made for Pulse that severely cripples his abilities. With his ability to remotely access electronics kneecapped and SDN literally breathing down his neck, he becomes more and more paranoid as he tries to navigate this weird game of chess he plays with Shroud.

They have a fraught relationship. Royd still has that history with Mechaman Astral and Robert still did three years as Blue before crashing the mech and very publically blowing himself up.

When Royd sees the Astral Pulse Chip embedded into his neck when he has to install the SDN limiter, he knows exactly what Robert went through to have that installed and it unnerves the hell out of him. While the SDN limiter is painless to attach to the Astral Chip, Royd knows that the Astral Chip itself was definitely not.

I've gotten SO many asks about my Robert Pulse AU recently I'm a bit winded and stunned! Thank you for liking the concept so much! I promise I will get to the asks soon! I am just slow and a little intimidated!!!

more stuff from my Robert Villain AU......

(I didn't expect so many people to like my villain AU but hello!!! Idk how long this hyperfixation will last, but for the time being, welcome to my cardboard box!! Feel free to pick it up and shake it with me in it!!!)

Typically I imagine he lays low when he's having a bad flare up, but if it's unavoidable, he sequesters himself behind several layers of cameras and automatic sentry guns. Just layers and layers of electronic eyes and ears, just anything to stop anyone from finding him or physically reaching him by any means.

Of course, if he's forced into a physical altercation, his mech prosthetic is still built from the salvaged parts of the mech and can swing a kick harder than any normie could. Unfortunately that also means, the force of that swinging kick could hurt him as well but if you're cornered lol who gives a shit.

Currently how far I've gotten with Pulse AU Robert, is that he started work as Mechaman at 14, got blown up at 17 and vanished along with an unsalvageable mech. Just entirely bricked.

He reappears as Pulse at 21 having used the mech as scrap for his leg and parts for his computer brain implant. Installing the Astral Pulse into his head out of sheer spite towards Shroud. So he's been running around doing morally dubious shit, skirting that line or criminal and vigilante.

While the steel mill doesn't really happen in this AU, there is an instance where Visi under orders from Shroud sends him a proximity virus that short circuits his brain computer. So that tension is still there.

But Flambae is the one who drags him into SDN and phoenix program as a dispatcher bc his constitution won't allow for long physical shifts and him being a literal Ghost in the Shell w any and all electronics is a bigger boon behind the screen than on the field.

like, yeah wtv I'm a villain again bc of a crispy chicken nugget with eyeliner. Your point? He's hot.

Relatable... Tbh when I initially drew Pulse Robert with the tech lines, it didn't go under his eyes and just stopped at his temples. But then I decided :

No. I am a Gay Man Who Knows What He Wants. Give this self destructive twink computer eyeliner implants.

Can you imagine the process of installing those implants...?