Undocumented Features 2

MSTed by Thomas Wilde (editor), the Black Snotling, Nicholas Eckert, the Vidstudent, Asako Hisamatsu, James Howard, the MultiMediocre Knight, David "Ice Fenix" LaSalle, Gavin "Gavok" Jasper, Geson "Racewing" Hatchett, Signus Megido, Mua, Nippy, Mark Poa, SD Ryukage, John "Ripper Jak" Stoddert, Alicia Ashby, Rick R. Mortis and Keith Palmer

Story by Benjamin D. Hutchins, Brian D. Bikowicz, and Rob Mandeville


Read this MSTing: Part 1 and Part 2.


Fanfic: Undocumented Features 2 picks up where the original Undocumented Features left off, with the Wedge rocketing through space packed with its precious cargo of Wedge Rats. The story has changed, though. It isn't just a wacky college fantasy any more; no, it's now an Epic, and as such makes an effort to treat things more seriously. This amounts to Megazone worrying about all the people crammed into the Wedge (which just happened to save only his and Ben's gear) before Ben trumps him with the news that his mother just happened to be among the thousands of people vaporised in the destruction of Worcester.

Kei and Yuri join in the action, and a good part of the story is taken up with attempts to assume all the blame and increasingly melodramatic attempts to just get away before true love finally triumphs in a big cuddle-fest. With that, the Wedge finally arrives at Utopia Planitia, where the Wedge Rats are greeted by Lord Wolfgang Fahrvergnugen. Lord Fahrvergnugen (who Zoner swiftly dubs "Wolfgang," then gets to build an augmentation module for his flying Daytona) cheerfully tells the Wedge Rats that he created them to be really amazing people and dropped the Wedge on the Earth for them to discover in due time. They accept this because he's also promised them better toys, including a copy of the SDF-1 where everything works.

In no time at all, the Wedge Rats have turned themselves into the Wedge Defence Force, and prepare to set out in the SDF-17 Wayward Son to take on what Lord Fahrvergnugen will call only a great Evil. To get warmed up, they casually demolish a starship sent after them by Largo, but then they're stopped by his second weapon, Iczer-2. (Like everything else in this story referenced from somewhere else, if you don't know who she is before you start reading it, you won't have much more of an idea by the time you're done.) Fortunately, Iczer-1 shows up immediately afterwards and saves the Wedge Rats, largely because she just happens to have been made using Wedgetech as well, and is then escorted to the SDF-17 by Vaughn, who can get around unprotected in hard vacuum by ignoring it.

No sooner has this latest pair been set up, though, then Megazone collapses from a bad wound that he of course tried to shrug off. Gryphon assumes command of the SDF-17, and even though he'd much rather fly his new customised Veritech, he decides to head back to Earth to beat up on Largo. With that, the story comes to a close. This time, there's no play list and a much shorter list of explanations for their injokes.


Host Segments: Segment One: Arlieth and Emerald inspect the Elmer Studios apartment before Rebecca, Lynxara, and the Mystery Octagon Theater crew for the latest experiment wander in.
Segment Two: The temporary repairs to Racewing are fixed up, turning him into Mecha Racewing.
Segment Three: The All-Loon Revue sings "Benjamin Says I (With Apologies to Lou Reed)".
Part 1 Stinger: Gryphon denies himself.
Segment Four: The All-Loon Revue sings "Benjamin Says II (With Apologies To Jane's Addiction)".
Segment Five: In the best Elmer Studios tradition, the apartment's television is blown up, but with added Mystery Octagon Theater flair.
Part 2 Stinger: Vaughn's philosophy of life.


Reflections: First of all, a blanket statement to all those confused by the host segments and the general Mystery Octagon Theater vibe: I'm more confused than you are.

That said, I definitely enjoyed working with the MOT. I first became interested in them after reading their MSTing of another Eyrie fanfic, "Street Fighter: Warrior's Legacy." When they planned to start work on "Undocumented Features 2," they thoughtfully invited all those still on active MSTing status who had worked on other Eyrie fanfics in the past. I accepted their invitation almost immediately.

Pleasant memories aside, though, I found myself growing more annoyed with the second part of Undocumented Features as we worked through it. I think it had something to do with becoming fed up with Vaughn's "I'm ashamed to be human" attitude. That's a bit of a shame, because I had originally liked the way he was so utterly casual about just happening to have godlike powers. Then again, when you can make things vanish from existence by ignoring them, you can probably think whatever you want to.


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