Ask Tom and SARA (Toonami)

[Darth Sariah]

*On board the bridge of the Absolution II*

*SARA's Avatar appears*

"Tom."

"Are we there already?"

"Yes, this is the correct position. Sector V, Milky way, Sagittarius Arm, Orion Spur Region..."

"Alright, I get it. FTLTrans up?"

"Establishing connection, stand by... Seem to be getting signal errors. The comm buoy that is nearby, I recognize the signature. In all honesty I'm surprised it is actually still functioning."

"What do you mean? Which buoy is it?"

"The one used to broadcast to Earth."

"No way... Wait, you said signal errors, why?"

"Well Tom, the buoy has been neglected for several cycles. Trans-coder and transceiver for video and audio have been cut. Scans show no trace of Tetra Hydrazine in the tank or energy in the Ion Propolsion system. "

"What does that leave us?"

"The only transferable data would be through text based communication. Cartoon Network has not re-established direct FTLComm-lines so we would have to establish our own on independent servers to broadcast on Earth's wireless communication network. The video audio feed however can not be reconnected. We don't have time, resources, or labor for that big an undertaking. I can however rewrite the basic run times allowing for text based communication. It won't reach many people without Cartoon Network on the other end but i can broadcast over the world wide web to a certain number of websites."

"The chance to talk with my favorite audience again. Do it!"

"You do know that this is pirate signaling don't you Tom?"

"I trust ya SARA. They haven't caught us yet."

"Correction, they haven't caught ME yet. You however seem to be less fortunate. How many bodies have you gone through?"

"Pfft, don't remind me."

"Oh, I won't Tom. Just be careful when you go out to fix it will you?"

"I always am."

*Several hours after Tom and the bots fix the comm-buoy*

"Connection re-established. Transmitting decryption keys. Encrypting subspace transmission. We're on."

*Tom takes his seat in front of his terminal*

"Hey guys, ya miss me?"

[Brandon Skyblade]

*Twili's living room*

*Brianna surfing the Net* Damn, I'm only missing one Report for the Final Episode? Come on! At least Sonic games let you do it by just beating the stories!
*Brandon relaxing on the couch* Oh, it's only one lousy report. It can't be THAT hard to find!
Considering Square hates people playing on Standard Mode instead of Proud or Critical, yeah right.
*Twili just now walking in the room* What's all the racket?
One damn Xehanort's Report we need for the last episode! ONE!
Calm down, we'll find it. Not a big deal.
*A strange sound comes from the computer*

Eh? What's this?
Lemme see. Some random "Tom" guy calling us, apparently.
With a webcam, too? This guy's already strange...
Turn off our mic for a moment.
Good idea. *mutes mic and answers call*
All three: WHAT THE!?
Un-mute that friggin' thing now! *un-mutes* It...can't be, can it?
It's...THAT Tom!
From the old Toonami! But...it ended a while ago!
*sets up own webcam* And...main screen turn on! *activates webcam* Heh, good to see you back, Tom! It's been WAY too freaking long! My god, the nostalgia with you and SARA...
Heh, calm down. I don't think they're going anywhere now. No need to rush.
How have you all been doing?

[Spectraitor]

"Well well. What an interesting development." Anti idly folded her cards over and grinned. She seemed entirely indifferent to the poker game that had so captivated her interest previously. To her side, the dealer gave a short nod and started a new game.

Stretching for the first time in four hours Anti stood, making her way out of the gaming establishment and on to a very familiar cafe. There was less noise at Sobriquet's and some simply sumptuous desserts. Once safely ensconced at a closed booth (courtesy of Sloane) she lowered the speaker of her com link and signed on. Instantly a projected screen and keyboard flickered into existence.

"We meet again, friends." The monitor showed three streaming webcams. Hers, being an indistinct faceless shadow outlining a human body. Objects were shown in color however, and looked almost as good on screen. Futuristic tools were rather easy to manipulate, once you got the hang of it.

Anti had recognized Brandon and his troupe of people from their voices but the sight of them crowded around the computer brought a crooked grin to her face. And then there was Tom from outer space. Wasn't that a blast from the past. She bit off a piece of raspberry strudel, watching the cartoonish caricature of herself do the same.

(How's that for a 6, 500th post? ;3 )

[Darth Sariah]

"It's been a while."

"2 years, 1 month, and 25 days to be more accurate."

"Like I said, 'a while'. We've just been cruising the galaxy after Cartoon Network offed the feed. Got the last of their transfers and purchased myself a sweet ride after retiring the Absolution. I also gave myself suit upgrades to make myself a bit... I guess you could say more human."

"Tom has purchased three model bases usable for a wide range of roles that include social, broadcast management, and combat. These models can be switched at a station on deck 3. Tom and I have faced down many outside threats in our travels and found that a dedicated combat unit would be preferable to a multi-purpose model. That said, he can't seem to keep any of them in reasonable condition for more than 2 cycles."

"You are so my mom if ever I had one. For everyone who hasn't caught on, SARA is currently a developing AI. She can rewrite her own subroutines, edit her avatar, even starting to understand certain experiences like hu-."

*A blue screen pops up for a minute*

"Or trying to..."

"You didn't find that funny Tom?"

"It was hilarious! For the viewers sake though try not to do that."

"Oh... I'm sorry Tom."

"Don't be. Emotions are tough to get a handle on but you will get it."

"Thank you Tom."

"Right. So I got a few questions: What do you guy's miss about the show? Would you want me back for another season? And what would you think of an entire show that was like the Total Immersion Events featuring SARA and I?

[Alastor]

Deadpool looked around the spaceship, "...Where the hell am I?"

[Brandon Skyblade]

Brianna, you can cut loose here.
Yay! Anyway...well, for one thing, Tom, you practically introduced us to anime! With the exception of Pokemon being everywhere at the time, you showed us quite a few awesome ones at the time! DBZ, Gundam, and man, does that list go on!
That and you had amazing variety in your showtime. Mostly, it was the shows, but the game reviews and those storyline segments were...well, they were a pleasant surprise.
Oh man, if you were here for another season, people would jump for joy.
Though I have heard that Toonami's overall design kinda...well, went a bit downhill compared to your generation. And that's not just the new crew. The anime choices...well, how freaking often was a Naruto filler on?
Too often to keep track of.
Oh well, it wasn't the worst anime ever. It was alright, wasn't it?
I'm kinda speaking more for the other fans than myself, to be honest.
And...and entire show of those events? Man, would you take us for a ride or what? Sis, don't start singing that MvC 2 song.
Heh, you got me. Wait, who the hell is that in there-aww, come on! Deadpool! Why now!? We're trying to have a huge nostalgia rush here with one of the main sources OF that nostalgia! Just bring the author in here! And not the Scott Pilgrim character again...
...Not gonna ask.
I...think Brianna's kinda angry at Deadpool's appearance.
Ya think?

[Alastor]

Alastor appeared next to Brianna, a shocked tone in his voice, "Are you angry at Deadpool...? Wait... IS THAT TOM?! HOLY SHIT MY CHILDHOOD BEYOND POWER RANGERS, THE MARVEL CARTOONS, AND POKEMON!"
Deadpool saw a different room and hid in it.
We'll just stay here..., The Yellow Thought Box pointed out.

[Brandon Skyblade]

H-how did you get here!? Never mind that...but, YES, THAT TOM! 4kids, TREMBLE IN TERROR, YOU ARE FINISHED!
O...kay...

[Alastor]

"DOWN WITH TEAM 4KIDS, ALL HAIL TOONAMI!" Alastor snarked.

[mekasoundwave]

"What weird signal did you find again, Soundwave," Meka asked to the tapedeck Decepticon. He had reported it a few minutes ago, and Meka was naturally curious.

"I'm about to patch it through to the monitor."
"Excellent!"

In just a few seconds, Meka got his answer.

And Manly tears were shed.

"T-T-TOM? Y-YOU"RE ALIVE. WHY DID YOU GOOOOOOOO?"
Meka sniffled, and told Soundwave to go get the rest of the puppets.

[Darth Sariah]

"Alright, alright, unfortunately I haven't even been contacted by CN to do another season, but you can count on one thing. If I do make a return tour, it's gonna be big."

"You were one of the reasons that anime became popular in mainstream American culture Tom. I would expect that any return would be given a 'rock star treatment'."

"No doubt, but in any event I'm am not here for a comeback... yet. Real bummer. On the bit of why. The network simply expired my broadcast contract, Adult Swim pretty much took up the anime segments although their recent shows have, uhhh... well, we won't go into that, and I guess they wanted something new. Maybe the shift into reality television is what lead to this 'CN Real' stuff."

"It doesn't make sense as to why a company expressly created for cartoons broadcasts reality television."

"Didn't make sense to other people either. According to this it was taken down in less then a year. I guess the moral is 'don't tell the people what they want' if you want to think of it that way."

[Brandon Skyblade]

Do not get me started on the CN Real crap.
It's quite sad how totally contradictory and a bit hypocritical it is to have that in the first place.
Indeed. It's called Cartoon Network, so just having that there in the first place is flat-out LYING to your viewers about what the channel is.
Like G4?
Excuse my language, but oh freaking snap, did he just go there or what!?
Yes. I did indeed go there. Because you know it to be true.
Sadly, yes. The only thing we appreciate being on there anymore that doesn't relate to games technically is Ninja Warrior.
Well, it IS their own distribution of it. They didn't find a random channel and rip or re-air a show straight from it. NW was their own creation...technically speaking, since it really is Japan's thing.
At least CN's somewhat learned from most of their live action mistakes.
Can we give that strategy to Disney, too?
Bro, you'd best shut up now before I go on a worse tangent.
Fine, fine!
Anyway...well, Tom? I'd say Funimation getting it's own channel is helping keep your old job at providing quality dubbed anime alive.
Not only that, but the new DBZ Kai dub on Nick is certainly helping to keep those memories alive.
Excluding 4kids totally STEALING the dub and trying to bastardize it.
Now you'd best shut up, sis, or I'LL have that tangent.

[mekasoundwave]

" I agree, TOM. In my opinion, had Toonami not showed up...anime wouldnt even be close to the level of popularity it is today. I'd be like...Uhh...'Goku? Kamina? Who the hell are these people?'

....God, I really hope Simon didnt hear that....

Actually, looking back, I realized something. Toonami wasnt just all CN all the time. If memory serves, didnt you do a little Saturday morning stuff on KidsWB? If CN isnt planing anything, would you consider taking another network offer? Plenty of fish in the sea, TOM."

Soundwave soon arrived with several of the other puppets.

"Also, what happened to Moltar?"

[Darth Sariah]

"Uhhh, honestly I haven't been looking into other stations that often. I didn't have a very long deal with WB!Kids. I'll look into options sure but really the only likely place that still has fans that remember me is CN. Moltar though, I don't really remember him."

"He was the first host of Toonami and previous owner of the Absolution."

"Oh right. Well I can't really say what happened. I only ran into him when he was transferring control of the Absolution to me and that was just a brief encounter. Where he is now? Who knows? Maybe if the Space Ghost: Coast to Coast starts up again, because I know he was part of that, we will find out."

"This talk is getting me a bit nostalgic. Lets play the Broken Promise spot, SARA."

"Retrieving archives. Stand by."

[Brandon Skyblade]

*The three see entranced by the various bits of dialogue.*

"You're gonna just keep running away!?"
"J-just keep running away? ...I'm not running."
And I'm...I'm done running. Done running from the truth that I've left my original life behind me. I'll accept that...but I have a job to do now.

"Why WAS I made? Who made me? And what did they make me for?"
I...I don't know. But...if there's one thing I DO know...it's what I have to do now. Protect the world that has allowed me to come to pass.

"Believe in yourself and create your own destiny. Don't fear failure.
I...I will never fear it. Sometimes, failure happens, and...I have to deal with it. And my destiny...nay, OUR destiny...lies with each other.

*The three snap out of their trance*

Woah.
What happened?
I don't know...
God damn...nostalgia can be a crazy thing sometimes.
I'll say...that rush was amazing.
Tom? I...think I speak for all three of us when I say..."Thank you." Even these things from way back in our past...they can help show who we've become over the years. Isn't that right?
You bet, Twili!
Hey...anyone else feel like shedding a tear at that?
Umm...maybe that's pushing that reaction, Brandon.

((Trust me, it's not for me. That was freaking beautiful. ))

[mekasoundwave]

Meka just watched the other side of the feed's reaction, with a grin. He had seen it before, but loved to see the effect it had on others.

"Damn right," he said.

"Damn right."

[Darth Sariah]

Hey, you guys are most welcome. It is always important to think about what is meaningful to you. Dreams are a powerful force. The unconscious representation of everything you are and what you want to be. Following dreams takes courage, takes guts, and faith. Failure is guaranteed at some point but do not shrink from the challenge. You never find your limit until you reach it.

That's very profound Tom. Did you find that in a book somewhere?

Naw, I just made it up on the fly.

*Gives him a look of disbelief*

Sorry, it's the best you get. On a serious note though, what is it you find about yourselves? What is it that your dreams mean to you?