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kessielrg · 3 years

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[Mighty No. 9] Confined Nightmare

Summary: In which Beck nearly assimilates a fellow Battle Colosseum bot without hesitation. [action/battle practice][oneshot]

Rating: K+

Word Count: 1,954 words

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- - -

Beck could feel himself tremble as he walked out to the main arena. He was instantly greeted with heart pumping music and the crowd beating their feet in time to it. From the other side of the Colosseum arena was his opponent; a female bot named Tremus. The older bot (in both appearance and experience) calmly waved to her fans as they screamed to get her attention.

Tremus always had an air of being well in control of the environment around her. It was something that Beck had always admired about her before he started competing in the colosseum’s one-on-one duels. Even out of the arena, Tremus refused to be pushed around by anyone. Her soft side was a hard one to crack, indeed; much like the boulders she was made to crush for construction use. It was no wonder that Aviator (another one of the Mighty Numbers) tried at every chance to flirt with her.

A siren rang out through the battleground, indicating that the match had begun. Beck jumped at the sudden noise. If Tremus had flinched, she hid it behind her charge toward Beck. Her hands, once normal looking for any other xel bot, transformed into separate drills. They spun in high velocity as Tremus attempted to hit Beck with them. The squeak he made in dodging the blow was the dumbest sound he could have made- someone back at home was going to make fun of him for it later. At the moment, he had to figure out how to attack Tremus. He couldn’t stay on the defensive for too long.

She did not make it easy for him. Every now and again, Tremus would transform her hand drills into a single drill, then dive to trail along the ground toward Beck. Beck tried over and over again to calculate a way for him to get a buster shot or two on her. He found that she had enough of a recoil time after each lunge for him to get something in if he was fast enough. Even then, if he wanted to do any damage, he’d have to charge his shot up before Tremus recovered. The next time Tremus performed a drill charge, Beck started to reroute more power to his buster. He waited until Tremus made another drill-based punch at him, then released all the power in his buster before she could defend herself.

Tremus stumbled back from the hit. She looked down at one of her hand drills and realized that xel was drifting off of her. Her body was becoming destabilized. Realizing what was going on, she took a hard look up at Beck. The young robot was already rushing at her to absorb the xel she was losing. Tremus didn’t have time to react before Beck collided into her- almost phasing through as he absorbed the loose xel.

It felt worse than any punch Tremus had ever experienced during her time as a competitor. A part of her now felt permanently empty. She ran a quick diagnostic of the xel Beck had absorbed. Her artificial heart nearly stopped in realizing that Beck had taken over 20% of her total xel count. The loss wasn’t anything she couldn’t make up for, but if he kept that rate up? She’d be completely assimilated by the end of the match; if she wasn’t lucky, of course.

She wouldn’t allow this to become a reason to slow down, though. Tremus made sure she kept Beck on his toes. This wasn’t his first fight on the battlefield, but you should still see the green behind his ears. It wouldn’t take much to disorient him in some way. At the same time, she tended to forget that Beck was still powerful under the right conditions.

Tremus got careless enough that Beck was able to steal more of her xel. Another 20% of her overall xel count gone. She gave herself an annoyed tsk- this wasn’t going to work.

Using a backspring to allow herself enough room, Tremus melded her feet together into a large drill. She then used the momentum to dig underneath the Colosseum floor for an underground advantage. Beck immediately panicked. Tremus dug down far enough that he couldn’t feel the vibrations of where she was until she started to come back up. By then, it was a bit too late- Tremus popped out of the ground with enough force to nearly drill Beck in half had he not gotten out of the way. He did take a good amount of damage, though. That much was obvious.

Beck nervously bit his lower lip as he tried to think of a counter. Tremus wasn’t giving him much room to think. She was once more using her hand drills to make shots at him. For now, Beck didn’t have a choice but to circle strafe around her. He needed to do something before Tremus decided to get another underground attack in. Then he had an idea; Beck had weakened Tremus enough to absorb a lot of her xel. He likely had the data he needed to copy a part of her power. But did he actually have enough?

Based on the way Tremus was fighting, he wondered if he did.

The duo continued to fight for another 30 seconds as Beck wrestled with his new plan. He wanted to make sure he had enough xel from Tremus to allow ReXelection to actually work. A quick calculation decided that he only needed another 5%. Unfortunately, Tremus was well aware of Beck’s unique ability- even before the match started. But with over 65% her starting xel gone now, she was taking all the precautions she could to not lose any more. Every time Beck came close, Tremus immediately moved back. She dodged a lot of his buster shots by digging underground, or kicking up enough bedrock to allow the debris to take the blow instead. This wasn’t the best choice for Tremus. Her drills were her main weapons- in order to get any kind of hard hit on Beck, she had to get close to him.

Tremus ended up giving Beck the opportunity he had been waiting for. She had tried to make a single lunge at him, but Beck dodged it and got a good two hits in that disassembled enough xel for him to dash into. Feeling Beck pass through her for the fourth time today, Tremus suddenly went still in shock. It was more than enough time for Beck to turn around to face her. The young bot quickly activated ReXelection for Tremus’s battle data.

The crowd went into a frenzied roar as Beck’s hands transformed into those similar to Tremus’s hand drills. Surges of power from the ReXelection and the crowd filled Beck with an overwhelming desire to put the older contender in her place. Beck dashed toward Tremus, letting out a cry as he swiped the spinning drills at her legs. The blow effectively knocked her off her feet- the bot hitting the ground hard. Her body immediately showed distortion at the impact. Tremus had taken enough damage that she only had the energy to open her eyes. Standing above her was Beck. The hand drills buzzed in fury as he pointed them directly at her.

Tremus looked up in fear as Beck was more than prepared to give the final blow. With her body this destabilized, one more hit from Beck would make her physical form disappear entirely. It would be a miracle if anyone would be able to recover her xel data after. The tense moment was exemplified by the crowd letting out conflicting screams for either Tremus to get up, or for Beck to assimilate her for good. The youngest Mighty Number stared right back at her- all sense of emotion nonexistent in his eyes. That small realization hit Tremus suddenly and with even more distress.

Beck was the weak link of the Mighty Numbers. He didn’t have the guts to fully assimilate another bot.

...right?

A flicker crossed Beck’s eyes. He blinked at Tremus for a moment. Slowly, as if he were confused, Beck stepped away from her. He returned his hands to look as they normally did. He just looked at Tremus with dawning guilt as the announcer declared Mighty Number 9 the victor of the match. The two bots continued their unwavering stares as Miss Noelle ran onto the battlefield to give Tremus emergency support. Tremus immediately turned her attention to her creator, receiving enough xel again to be able to stand. Miss Noelle still fussed over her creation as they walked off the field.

Beck remained where he was. He looked up at the colosseum stands to see rows of spectators cheering for him. A tiny piece of the confetti fluttering around landed on his nose. Beck picked it off, stared at the colorful paper with an unreadable face, then looked back up at the spectators. He didn’t even notice when his own creator, Doctor White, came up to give Beck a gentle hand on the back before waving at the crowd for him.

Later on, Beck was idly walking around the halls leading to the preparation rooms. He had told Doctor White that he just needed some time along- a wish easily granted by his enthused creator. Beck’s win had meant that Sanda Technologies had won a lot of much needed grant money for another quarter. Doctor White just requested that he stayed near the prep rooms.

Beck just wandered until he found a rather quiet corner need a supply closet. Letting out a sigh, he leaned against the wall, then slid down to sit. Every moment of his fight with Tremus flashed through his mind. Why did he feel like he needed to review that information? He did what he was supposed to. All his functions had performed as optimally as they should have.

So why did something about the match feel off?

“You hesitated.”

“Ohuh?” was Beck’s first response before looking up. Tremus was standing over him, her current pose reminding him of a superhero. He took a moment just to admire the other bot. Tremus didn’t look very pleased.

“You hesitated.” she repeated.

It took another nanosecond or two for Beck to actually understand what she was saying. When he did, he used a hand to rub the back of his neck.

“O-oh, yeah.” he nervously laughed. “Guess I’m not used to fighting real tournaments yet.”

“No.” Tremus snapped at him. “This has nothing to do with your experience. This has everything to do with the fact that you nearly assimilated me.”

Beck blinked.

“I… I didn’t know I hurt you that much…” he finally said, unsure of what else to say. “Are you alright now?”

“I’m fine.” Tremus quickly told him. She had immediately turned her gaze away from him.

“O-oh. Okay…”

Tremus looked back at him and looked the young bot over.

“You’re different.” she eventually told him. “And yet, it’s not hard to believe you have the same ability as Trinity. Twin confined nightmares…” She shuddered at a certain thought, then gave Beck a hard stare. “Just do one thing, Mighty Number 9- the only thing you need to do so we don’t see another monster like Trinity; have a conscience every now and again. Power corrupts. Make sure White knows it too.”

Beck was about to ask what she meant, but Tremus was gone before he even could. Still sitting in his spot, Beck looked down at his hands as if they could solve the world’s mysteries.

“What does the professor have to do with it?” the bot wondered. Now confused, Beck looked up at the ceiling and let out a heavy sigh.

#mighty number 9 #mighty no. 9 #mn9 #fanfiction #fanfic #fan fiction #fan fic #writers on tumblr #beck #original character #mno9 #oneshot

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kessielrg · 3 years

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I was going through my old Mighty No 9 WIPs (because of something new i wanted to do), and came across this:

My OCs just take no prisoners, apparently 😅

#mighty no. 9 #mighty number 9 #writing #writing stuff #mn9 #mno9 #for extra reference #avi and mic both have a crush on tremus #avi just thinks she's cute #but tremus and seismic are the same 'element' so #mic is a lot more quiet about his crush than avi is #as such #tremus respects mic more #just slightly

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kessielrg · 4 years

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[Mighty Number 9] Kaberi’s Patch

Summary: In which Troilus convinces Leilani to enter Dr. White's laboratory in order to fix Cryosphere's Cabbage Patch doll Kabi.

Rating: K

Word count: 2,401 words

If you like the story, please consider donating through Ko-fi!

. . .

A cold chill ran up Leilani's spine, and it wasn't just because of the winter air. Beside her, a xel-bot that looked more like a single eye attached to a stick man body made from slim, metal piping didn't seem to notice. This bot, named Troilus, was one of Leilani's oldest friends, and he had just suggested to her one of her worst nightmares.

“Please come with me Doc, it'll be a riot with you there!” he tried to goad her, despite being distracted by a bird not far off from them.

“I think you mean a riot will break out.” Leilani retorted with a grimace. “We've talked about this Troilus- there's nothing you can do to get me into Doctor Blackwell's lab to bump elbows with the Mighty Numbers.”

Troilus turned to look at her, his eye sparkling with amusement. “Ah, but Doc, Beckie loves you. You'd make his day just by breathing in his direction!”

The young woman had to look away from her friend as she pursed her lips together. “Hard pass.” she decided in a stiff tone.

“Not my favorite photo filter.” Troilus then playfully mused. “More of a transparency kinda guy.”

Leilani let out an exasperated sigh in response.

The two continued their walk in silence for a good amount of time. It wasn't until the path led to a crossroads that they turned to look at each other again.

“Whelp, last chance Doc.” Troilus told Leilani. “I'm telling you, Beck would love to see you. Pyrogen would love you too if you gave him the chance!”

“Troilus,” Leilani then begged, taking the robot by his thin hands, “I can't enter the Mighty Numbers' lair. Just thinking about the place makes me sick- if I had to enter it, I'd probably pop a blood vessel. Don't make me enter that place unless there's something that only I can solve. Okay?”

The tall Colosseum bot gave the young woman a thoughtful blink. “Your loss.” the bot finally decided with an indifferent shrug. His eye then glittered with amusement as he gave her a little boop on the nose. “See you later Doc!”

Trying to hide her blushing face, all Leilani could do was shake her head. Troilus pretended not to notice as he gave his favorite robotist a wave before leaving for the White compound.

The main headquarters for the Mighty Numbers was a tall steel building that tended to grow with each new Number. Each Mighty had their own floor, with Doctor White's room on the floor of the current Mighty Number. It was a far fancier sight than what Troilus lived in, what with his creator and owner a mechanic than an actual robotist, but he still enjoyed coming over now and again to see the improvements done over the years.

The only thing he hated about the Mighty Numbers' compound was that he had to be buzzed in. Every. Single. Time. You would imagine that being a family friend would mean something- but nope, Troilus had to wait to be allowed into the compound as if he were the delivery man.

“Sorry for the wait.” Mighty Number One, Pyrogen, apologized to his friend as he let Troilus in.

“It's no problem.” the other bot handwaved. “One of these days I'll crack that lock and just let myself in!”

Pyrogen gave a small chuckle as he led the two into the Mighties home. On their way to Pyrogen's room, there was some activity from the other Mighty Numbers. Troilus was only able to give a small nod to each Mighty he passed- it was Cryosphere that actually came within earshot. In fact, she almost bumped into Troilus as she tried to quickly scuttle past him and Pyrogen.

“Heya Cryo.” Troilus greeted in passing.

“Hi~!” Cryosphere replied with a side wave- she had her own business to do today, and having a guest was not going to change that much. Pyrogen noted something that sat on top of Number 2's water tank, but by the time he decided to question what she was doing, Cryosphere was out of eyesight. Instead, Mighty Number One turned his attention to his friend.

“Did you notice that she had her doll with her?” he asked in a stern tone.

“I did.” Troilus cheerfully agreed. “Sure picked a good day to come over, right? If Cryo's got her little dollie with her, then trouble is sure to follow!”

Pyrogen did not seem as thrilled at the idea as Troilus was, but decided to keep silent about his opinions for now. Trouble would follow whenever Cryosphere decided to 'play' with her Cabbage Patch doll. It wasn't necessarily how she played with the doll, it was who she played with that was the most worrisome…

. . .

You would think that by now, Beck would have developed a sixth sense for when Crysosphere got out her Cabbage Patch doll. It was well known among the Mighties that he hated that thing the most- what with its half squashed face and blank brown eyes staring straight into your soul. Oh no, when Beck realized that the doll was out, it had already been too late.

What a way to find out that your worst nightmare was free when you turn around and its just sitting right there like a dead body. Suffice to say, Beck screamed.

Pyrogen was quick to react to his youngest siblings' distress; it was so quick that Troilus only blinked and Pryo was out the door. It soon became apparent that they were a bit too late to the party. Beck stared at Cryosphere with wide, fearful eyes as Mighty Number Two cradled her doll. On closer inspection, you could see that one of the doll's arms had been ripped off.

“You broke her Beck!” Cryosphere whined. “Oh my poor Kabi- she never did anything wrong! Look at what you did!”

“I… I...” Beck stammered, but couldn't think of anything else to say. All the poor bot could do was stare at Cryo's doll in shock.

“What's going on?” Pyrogen demanded once he had formed a suspicion on what had just occurred. Both Cryo and Beck flinched at his voice and immediately turned their attention to him. Beck notably became paler at seeing the older Mighty Number.

“Beck broke my doll!” Cryosphere told her brother, holding up her doll for her and Troilus to better see.

Without wasting a second, Pyrogen then asked, “And did you use it to terrorize him?”

Cryosphere shifted a bit. “Well… yes. Yes I did, but that's only because it's so much fun!”

“Not for me.” Beck grumbled under his breath. Pyrogen looked at him for a moment before turning his attention back to Cryo.

“Cryosphere,” Pyrogen then told his sister, “You know you can't go around scaring Beck with that thing. Whatever happened in the fallout is your problem.”

“But Pyro...!” Number Two started to argue, but was instantly shut down by the glare her brother gave her.

“Come on Troilus,” Pyrogen then told his friend, “There's nothing else we can do here.”

Giving his friend a skeptical glance, Troilus shrugged and started to follow the Mighty Number out. Cryo watched them in contempt- there was no way she would let this end here.

“Someone needs to fix her!” Cryosphere blurted out in a full out whine.

At the doorway, Mighty Number One hesitated. “We could ask Doctor White...” he suggested in a still, calm voice.

“But he'd never agree to it.” Beck whispered darkly under his breath. “Everyone hates that thing...”

A small silence then fell over the group in agreement. It didn't take long for that silence to be broken, however.

“I have an idea!” Troilus suddenly declared- startling Beck in particular. “I know someone who can fix Kabi!”

“You do?!” Cryosphere happily questioned as Beck gave a pitiful whimper of fear.

“I'll be right back!” the wire frame bot promised as he headed out the door.

“Hurry!!” shouted Cryo just before Troilus was out of earshot.

. . .

Something about the cafe was far too relaxing for Leilani. For once, everything just seemed at peace as she held the steaming cup of hot chocolate under her nose. But, like all things in her life, that peace was short lived as Troilus sat opposite of her.

“Heya Doc.” the bot greeted. The human gave her greeting with a small glance before turning her attention back to soaking up the hot chocolate's warmth. Troilus wasn't blind to this, so he took it as a sign to continue.

“Okay, so, Cryo was using her doll to scare Beck, see? But in the process Beck broke the doll and it's in need of a good fixer-upper. Could you do the honors Doc? Pretty please?”

Leilani made Troilus watch in slow agony as she set her cup down on the table. For a moment, she considered her words before saying, “Sounds like Number Two deserved it.”

“I'm not the judge of that,” Troilus admitted, “But one favor could lead to a better one later, and boy would Cryo be indebted to you if you help her out this once!”

To this, the human placed a hand against her chin. “I dunno...” she mused.

“You're good with your fingers Doc.” the bot then begged. “Please help Kabi!”

Leilani gave an unflattering snort. “I'm a pianist and violinist, how is any way does that translate to 'seamstress'?” she noted with a raise of her eyebrow. After a few seconds, she then questioned, “The doll has a name?”

“Well, it's full name is Kaberi Patch, but yeah. Isn't it cute?”

That was when she looked back at him in faint horror. “What does he program his bots for?” she questioned in wonder.

��Fun, obviously.” Troilus humorously suggested, completely missing the point. Leilani then took in a deep breath. There was no way he was going to stop goading her- that much was obvious.

“Fine.” she agreed. “Take me to the doll. Kaberi. Take me to Kaberi.”

Troilus's eye glittered with excitement as he dragged the human out of the cafe. Back at the Mighty Numbers' compound, Beck impatiently paced outside of Cryosphere's room. He only looked up when he heard the sound of Troilus returning- and moments after that he realized who the bot had brought back with him.

“Leilani?!” the young bot squeaked. “What are you doing here?”

“I'm about to ruin everything.” she replied with a mischievous smirk.

“She's going to help sew up Cryo's dollie.” Troilus corrected, setting his hands down on Leilani's shoulders.

“D-do you have to?” Beck nervously questioned. Noticing that Leilani had cocked an eyebrow at his fear, Beck then tried to stammer, “I-it's just that the thing's so old. You know? It… it might be able to be fixed, yeah?”

Troilus let out a loud, and incredibly amused, laugh. “It's a fabric doll Beck, not a Gateway!”

“Leilani!” Cryosphere happily squealed when she saw the human. Pyrogen was with her, and he did not look as pleased to see the young woman there. Before anyone could properly react or even greet each other, Mighty Number Two was already leading Leilani into her room. “Oh, you're perfect for fixing up Kabi!” Cyrosphere giggled. “And at the same time, there's something I've always wanted Kabi to have- you're just perfect for it!”

The girls left the boys behind; Cyrosphere not even trying to be decent by slamming the door behind her.

“Now what?” Beck asked to no one in particular.

“Now we let Doctor Lei do her stuff.” Troilus replied; his eye twinkling with amusement. Beck let out a small whimper- why did that not inspire confidence in him? What upgrades could Cryo want with a fabric doll anyway?

. . .

They didn't have to, but the boys waited diligently for Cryosphere and Leilani to come back out. It was well over an hour before the door to Cryo's room opened up.

“Introducing…!” Cryosphere announced in a loud, boastful voice, “The new and improved Kaberi Patch!”

The boys turned to see what Cryosphere was talking about and saw the doll. Beck's artificial heart stopped in noticing that the old thing looked good as new; it's face no longer squashed, the painted eyes replaced with inset ones instead, the fabric of the doll's body looked cleaner and unstained. It wasn't until the doll blinked at him that Beck knew his greatest fears had been realized. Beck wasn't the only one to have seen the doll blink either- Pyrogen immediately looked at Cryo with wide, horrified eyes.

“What did you make Leilani do, Cryosphere?” he accused.

Cryo opened her mouth to happily reply, but Leilani beat her to it. “It's got an A.I. now.”

“What?!” the boys responded at the same time- Troilus notably sounding more amused than the horrified Pyrogen and Beck. Leilani gave a careful shrug of her shoulder.

“It's not a very smart A.I.” she then claimed. “A little less than the Patch units- like one of those robot toys you get for kids where you usually end up controlling it with a remote somewhere. Along with that, Kabi can walk on her own and is generally invulnerable to most blunt-force trauma.”

“Is that allowed, considering your parole?” Pyrogen questioned. Again, Leilani shrugged.

“I just followed Cryosphere's instructions.” she replied. “Your creator (or even Sanda, really) could have done it himself if he wanted to. Whatever no-good-deed related incident comes of this, it'll be reflected toward Sanda Tech more than myself.”

Pyrogen looked at her for a moment, then gave a small sound of agreement. The two brought their attention back to Cryo- the Mighty Number happily letting her rejuvenated doll dance in place. Leilani found herself giving a small smile at the display before turning to Beck. Mighty Number Nine did not look pleased in the slightest. Without a second thought, the human walked over to him and held out a small button.

“I suggest hiding this behind your ear.” she said to Beck, “Only press it when Cryo's trying to get at you with Kabi.”

Beck worryingly looked at the button and then to Leilani. As he took the button from her and did as he was told, he had to ask, “Why?”

A smile formed on the human's lips -not quite malicious but not entirely generous either- before she said, “It's Kaberi's only weakness; the off switch.”

#mighty no 9 #mighty number 9 #fanfiction #mn9 #mno9 #fan fiction #fan fic #fanfic #beck #pyrogen #cryosphere #original character #OC #original characters #short story #uploading fics on tumblr is such a chore #people who post individual chapters are the real heroes #i can barely put the effort in to post oneshots

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kessielrg · 5 years

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[Mighty No 9] Pacemaker

Summary: In which Beck and Lei have a day out together, and ask some rather uncomfortable questions.

Rating: K

Word Count: 2,131

I know I've only met you once or twice, But maybe you can help me out. 'Cause I don't really want some good advice, Just some help to shed my doubts.

-Jaws, Magnet (Even Johansen)

. . .

Beck was not ready for this. He thought he was, and he even looked ready for it, but once he stepped up to the Ladan-Blaise front door, he knew that he was so, so not ready for this. With his hand shaking, Beck reached for the doorbell and gave it a ring. The wait for someone to answer the door seemed like years, although it only took a good three minutes. At first, the person who answered the door only opened it at the tiniest bit.

“Who is it?” the voice asked. Beck immediately recognized it as the voice of Leilani Blaise, 19 year old robotic genius and child convict, now currently under the supervision of SANDA Technologies and Doctor Soichiro Sanda himself.

“I-it's me, Beck.” the little robot said. “I'm here to pick up Leilani Blaise.”

Weighing her options a bit, Leilani stepped out into full view, allowing Beck to see what she was wearing in full; she had on a light blue tunic dress paired with dark washed capri pants. Her hair had been pulled back into a loose ponytail, and wore no makeup- the lack of said makeup made her eyes look sunken in and her eyes almost lifeless.

“You look awful.” Beck told her without even considering his words.

“Been fighting a cold.” Leilani mused. “I've been enjoying a cocktail of NyQuil and sleeping pills for the past two weeks.”

“O-oh...” Beck stammered. “That... doesn't seem very… healthy.”

Leilani smirked. “It's not.” she even retorted. With a small chuckle, she started to head back inside the house. “Let me get my shoes. I'm pretty much ready when you are.”

“What about Ray?” Beck questioned, trying to still get a peak at the human as she decided on her footwear by the door.

“Sleeping.” Leilani insisted as she chose a pair of Grecian-style sandals. “Still trying to work on a new energy source that doesn't reject every xel replacement I give her. It's an uphill battle for both of us.”

Beck gave a small nod despite her not being able to see it. Once her shoes were properly on her feet, Leilani came out side- making sure that she locked the door behind her. Awkwardly, Beck gestured for her to go first for the limo waiting for them and the human didn't act twice on the idea.

“Where is Sanda taking me today?” Leilani mused as they left the Ladan-Blaise drivelane.

“No where.” Beck told her, trying to sound bold but only sounding nervous. “I thought it would a be a good idea if we just… spent the day together. I-is that okay?”

Leilani looked at him. “Where are we going?” she then asked- her tone flat and incredibly unamused. Her expression was the most horrifying part; her eyes should have shot daggers right into Beck's artificial heart and killed him right there.

“A-a cafe.” he quickly told her. “It's a little far out from here, b-but I think you'd like it.”

To the bot's relief, Leilani looked away from him to look out the window. She said nothing further to him, and at the moment, Beck believed it was a sign of approval. But it also welcomed a bitter silence between the two of them that the bot couldn't handle. He couldn't help but look over at her before turning away again, because staring was rude, and he really didn't want to step on her toes today. And there was still so many questions that were stuck in his mind that he needed to ask. And what better time to start with them than now? R-right…?

“Do you…” Beck started, faltered, but tried to press on anyway, “Do you think that if we… if we had met before… Before...”

“Before Seismic impaled my mother?” Leilani cut in, saying exactly what Beck didn't want to.

Beck looked down at his toes before agreeing. “Y-yeah. Do you think we would have been… friends?”

Leilani was silent for a long time- making Beck fear that she had shut him out. She hadn't, she was just considering her answer. “I… I don't know.” she finally admitted. “I have no idea Beck.”

The silence returned after that. It felt worse than the first time.

“A part of me wants to say,” Leilani continued, as if she were speaking a thought now, “That as long as Trinity happened, then no. We wouldn't. It just… It just wouldn't have been possible.”

Beck gave a small nod. “I understand.” he agreed. This time, Beck turned to look at Leilani and didn't look away. He was lost in the thought of when he first saw her six years ago; Trinity had already rampaged through the country, so he hadn't even gotten the chance to meet Leilani when she was truly happy. The human girl had been smaller then, while he was still the same. Same height, same voice, same ability to assimilate fellow robots...

“I wish I had the ability to grow up.” Beck spoke in thought, not meaning to have said it out loud, “Or at least be a bit taller.”

That was when Leilani snapped her head around to look at Beck as if he were going insane.

“What did you just say?” she demanded, despite hearing him well enough. Beck didn't answer- her sudden reaction was surprised him, and he would be lying if he said that Leilani didn't look scary when she was scared.

To break the tension, the driver of the limo spoke to them saying, “We have arrived at our destination.”

Neither Beck or Leilani wanted to break the looks they were giving each other, but it was the robot who turned to the driver to say, “Th-thank you.” When Beck turned back, Leilani had already left the limousine. Nervous, Beck did the same and was easily relieved when he saw that the human was waiting for him at the cafe's entrance.

“Are you ready?” Beck asked Leilani when he was close enough to her.

“I assume you're buying?” the human then asked, looking down at him. “Or say you're buying but it's really coming from your creator's bank account?”

Beck threw a hand behind his head as he nervously chuckled. Knowing the truth, Leilani raised an eyebrow at Beck for a moment before giving an amused smirk.

. . .

At this hour, the cafe was all but empty; which was exactly what Beck had hoped for. He was able to find him and Leilani a spot that was still pretty out of the way- just in case someone really loud decided to come in.

“I'll get our food.” Beck offered once he made sure Leilani was comfortable. “What do you want?”

“Hot chocolate- extra cream with half a scoop of mini marshmallows.”

“Anything to eat?”

“Do they have any powdered coffee cakes here?”

Beck nodded.

“Then maybe two of those- it depends on how wide they made them.”

“Got it.” Beck agreed. “I'll be right back.”

It did not take long for Beck to get what Leilani requested and head back to their table. The human did not object to the homemade food, immediately digging in as if she hadn't had anything to eat in weeks. Beck patiently waited for the human to finish before he finally asked the question he had been dying to ask for the past year;

“Why did you take on a pseudonym before Doctor White and Doctor Sanda found you in Maine?”

For a horrifying moment, Leilani sat so still that Beck would have assumed he had taken Cryosphere's unnerving Cabbage Patch doll out for brunch instead of a human.

“Is that why you brought me here?” she then asked in a still, dark voice. “To know why I didn't want to be found after being falsely accused at such a tender age?”

“N-no!” Beck desperately tried to disagree. “I… I just want to know. W-when you were in hiding because Ray had abducted you-”

“Not the word I would have used,” Leilani lightly snickered, “But yeah?”

“When Ray hid you, you used the name Leila Ladan to keep everyone away from you for awhile. Why that name?”

Leilani absently circled her finger around the rim of her cup. She looked Beck in the eye when she told him in an emotionless tone, “Ladan was my mother's maiden name.”

For some reason, that wasn't the explanation Beck had been expected; no, no. This one was worse. He could feel himself shrink as he let out a small, “Oh...”

“And Leila,” Leilani went on, “It's only two letters off from my real name. It's a kinda bad pseudonym in retrospect- but it worked.”

“It was a nice name...” Beck tried to offer.

“Same I'll have no reason to ever need it again.” Leilani agreed with a humored snort.

“Can… can I call you Leila?” the little bot found himself asking. “A-as a nickname of course!”

Leilani cocked an interested eyebrow. “You're a really weird robot, you know that? First you say you want to grow up, and now you want to give me a pet name? If I didn't know any better, I'd almost think you had a crush on me.”

There was a solid three seconds from the time the idea was said out loud to when the truth hit her. Color drained from Leilani's face before she marveled, “My god. You do have a crush on me, don't you?”

“Maybe it's guilt...” Beck mumbled, mostly to himself.

“You really don't know?”

Mighty Number Nine refused to look at the heiress of Blaise Factories and Company. Leilani ran a shaking hand through her hair, refusing to look away from the android sitting across from her. It made so much sense- and yet, it made things so, so much worse.

“Every day, I wonder what goes through your creator's head when he designs your AI.” she soon admitted. “And every day I just grow more horrified of what he could do if he actually thought his plans through. I love Raychel -we'd give our lives for each other- but I'm worried. She can lie to herself and I hate knowing that if something went wrong, that she'd… make herself...”

“I don't know if I've ever lied before.” Beck said, purposely not letting Leilani complete her thought. This did not help Leilani's perception of the situation at the moment.

“Beck, I don't think you understand; the Mighty Numbers are the most dangerous robots in the Battle Colosseum. The only way you guys lose is if you purposely throw the fight.”

Beck must have given her a funny look, because she continued.

“I've seen Pyrogen throw a fight before. Cryosphere, Dynatron, and Brandish are known to do it too.” She gave a small pause before looking Beck right in the eye. “You have too. That last match you had that Sanda made me oversee- you threw the match because you saw me in the audience. Didn't you?”

“I...” Beck faltered, but could find that he had no answer. “I did.”

Leilani stood a bit straighter before leaning closer to Beck, as if this next part of their conversation was top secret information. “You know what the most disturbing this is about you Mighty Numbers?”

“What?”

“If Raychel is attracted to me, and you apparently are too, does that mean the others are as well? And if that's the case, what does that mean of William Blackwell when Cryosphere was activated the same year I was born?” Leilani gave a rather unnerved sigh. “I think I'm just being paranoid. Or full of myself. Maybe both. But you Mighty Numbers… You're something else. You're your own identity. The Mighty Numbers as a whole, you guys… You're all so terrifying.”

Beck hung his head in shame, almost acknowledging that he knew how dangerous the Mighty Numbers could be had it not be for several laws and a decent morality system. With her pressing issues out in the open, Leilani relaxed a little before looking down at her empty cup.

“You know how only my dad can call me Leilai?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, there's only one person in this world that is allowed to call me Leila.”

“W-who's that?”

Leilani looked at Beck- it was an expression that was trying to be hard, but it was gentle instead. That was when the realization hit the bot.

“Y-you mean it? I can?!”

“Just promise me one thing.” the young woman then told him. “Never lie to me, Raychel, and -most importantly- yourself. On anything. Got it?”

“O-of course!” Beck eagerly agreed. “Anything you say!”

#mighty no 9 #mn9 beck #mn9 oc #fanfiction #fanfic #fan fiction #fan fic #mn9 #MNo9 #orignal character #robots #nicknames #short story #flash fiction #mighty number 9 #androids #xel #fridge horror

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kessielrg · 5 years

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[MNo9] Little Sister

aka, I Want Another Little Sister! A Short Complaint Story by Cryosphere

Summary: Something I promised three-some years ago, the backstory for Cryo's 'Little Sister' in Pier Pressure: Ever since Dynatron, Cryo's been craving to have another little sister. After Avi is announced, along with the bombshell that Dr. White may not make any more female Mighty Numbers, Cryo runs away and forms a bond with the oddest of things: an old Cabbage Patch doll.

Rating: K+

Word count: 2,057 words

If you like the story, please consider donating through Ko-fi or Patreon!

Cryosphere could never explain why, but she had always liked the idea of having little sisters. It must have started after Dynatron was finished -the two had hit it off rather well on first impressions- and that helped fuel Cryo's desire for more.

Then Seismic was created. Now, don't get her wrong, Cryo really does love Mighty Number Four and his hugs are bar none. But after his first handful of Battle Colosseum wins, Mic's head started to inflate and his attitude became unbearable. For several months, Mic was not someone Cryo (or anyone else for that matter) wanted to be around; it wasn't until Pryogen's old friend, Troilus, took Seismic down single handedly at what seemed to be a curb-stomp battle in Mic's favor. (And it was, just not for Mic.) After that, Mighty Number Four calmed down a bit and became the best brother to hug in times of hugging emergencies. Cryo liked that, it worked despite Mic not being a girl.

And then Battalion was created. When Doctor White told the Mighty Numbers about Bat's basic theme, Cryo already knew that Mighty Number Five was going to be assigned as a boy. She was annoyed then, the ratio between the two genders were now in favor of the guys; and when you want more sisters than brothers, it will make you incredibly irritable. Cryo wasn't even subtle about her dismay either. She'd tell Dyna, sometimes she'd even tell Pyrogen. But when she got a hold of Doctor White himself? He'd have to force her out of the room -or tell her a lie that seemed to soothe her for the moment- before she would even remotely leave him alone.

Now the Professor was starting to shut himself away from the world again. He always did this when he was about to reveal a new Mighty Number- which means that Cryo always filled up with hope for a new sister.

“The odds are literally 50/50 Cryo.” Pyrogen told her as she paced outside the professor's door, waiting for him to come out with the blueprint for the new Mighty Number. “You need to relax a little.”

“I'm so perfectly 'chill'-ed that I'm getting goosebumps!” Cryo replied with an ecstatic giggle. “Don't tell me to 'cool' off when you're the hot head!”

Mighty Number One let out a small chuckle. “Just don't get too excited this time, you nearly blew one of your cooling regulators last time.”

But Cryo chose to ignore him, deterring the subject by asking, “'Water' you want Pyro?”

“Doesn't matter to me, I'm just glad our family is growing.” Pyrogen decided. “Besides, with current trends, at least one of us at some point will be nonbinary, so it shouldn't matter what the gender OS is.”

“Why do you have to be such a 'wet' blanket?” Cryosphere whined, making the sound of sticking her tongue out at him, despite him not being able to see it from under her helmet.

“Just trying to keep you from 'burning' out.” Number One mused with a smirk. Despite being a pun appreciator, Cryosphere let out a groan of disgust just as Doctor White came out from his private lab.

“What's the news, Professor?” Pyrogen asked his creator, smiling a little. Cyrosphere turned around and gave Doctor White a rather unexpected hug.

“So Professor,” Cyro immediately -and very sweetly- inquired, “Boy or a girl?”

It took the human a moment to realize what Number Two was asking, and with a sigh, he told her.

. . .

There was no other way to describe it: Cryosphere was pissed. And boy, she really didn't want anyone to leave her vacancy without them knowing too. After learning about the situation, Bat and Mic did their best to stay out of her way but Dyna and Pyro remained to try to soothe her.

“It isn't fair!” Cryosphere complained for the umpteenth time. “Why does the Professor have to make only boy Mighty Numbers? What's wrong with girl Numbers, huh?!”

“What izzz that one zzzaying?” Dyna teased. “You get what you get, and you do not throw a fit?”

“Shut up!” she snapped.

“Cryosphere!” Pyrogen snapped back.

“Pyrogen!” replied the irritable second Mighty Number. The two then gave each other a heated glare before Pyro finally said,

“We need to talk. Alone.”

Cryo huffed, but said nothing against it so the two bid Dyna farewell and went to find a place where they could be alone. Number Two huffed the entire way there with her arms folded in annoyance. Pyrogen wasn't falling for it in the slightest.

“Cryosphere, you have no reason to be acting like this.” Pyrogen then proceeded to chastise. “It's fine to be upset, but when are you going to realize that the Professor will design whatever he wants for us Mighty Numbers? Our genders are, for the most part, cosmetic extensions to our main purpose. We're lucky that the Professor is even able to create more of us- isn't that the most important part for you?”

Cryo looked away from her brother before letting out a defiant mumble of, “No...”

“Cryosphere,” Pyro eventually sigh in defeat, “Just… Just grow up.”

Hearing this, the second oldest Mighty Number almost broke down in tears. Of course Pyrogen would never understand he wants and desires- he never asked for anything because he was just so boring in trying to be the perfect role model for all the Mighty Numbers. He didn't know, he wouldn't understand, and knowing that made Cryosphere even more angry. After some time of trying to hold back her frustration and bitterness, Cryosphere looked at Pyrogen to darkly say,

“Now I know why my nickname's Cryo, it's because I Cryo-lot!”

Mighty Number One's expression softened. “Cryosphere, you know that's not true.”

“It is! It is!” the robot insisted before fleeing.

“Cryo!” Pyrogen called after her, but the name fell on deaf ears and Cryosphere ran as far as she could away from her family.

She wasn't even sure how she did it, but Cryo had found herself in the middle of a festival in Darlington, Maryland. It was apparently an annual thing and they made a big deal about apples, or something? Cryo didn't care, she was away from the rest of her family to even worry about whatever autumn rituals humans had. At least she wasn't far from the Susquehanna here, she could go ice skating later. Creating ice flows in active water ways always made Crysosphere feel better.

She then figured, if she was going to be near humans, then she had to remove her helmet, water tank, and replace her nozzles for actual hands before going further in. So that was what she did; her helmet and tank were tossed on the ground and she retracted her nozzles to reform into thin, but still robotic looking, hands with five little fingers. Unfamiliar to the mere idea of fingers, Cryosphere had some humor with hers by wiggling them for awhile before moving onward.

It didn't take much for Cyrosphere to move with the wave of humans. Just like a tide, she moved with them as they pushed and pulled against each other as they moved across the cleared street to gather at various vendor tents. Here and there Cyro would see a fellow robot, but most of them weren't as sophisticated as she was, or the other bots she knew at the Battle Colosseum. They were simple machines, designed to make a disabled human's life easier than anything else- and those were the bots that she disliked the most. If you didn't give them a personality, then why bother making a robot?

Letting out an annoyed huff, Cyrosphere happened to look up as she walked by a vendor tent with vintage Barbies and American Girl dolls on display. She only gave it a quick glance at first, but then she looked again at a doll that didn't look like the others. The little doll was fair skinned, with rooted brown yarn for hair. The vinyl head was slightly squished near the left eye- the paint on the eyes themselves were slightly scratched and worn from many playtimes in the past. There was no denying that the eyes were colored a dark blue though, and that was what Cryosphere found that she was so drawn to. Carefully, Mighty Number 2 picked the doll up off the table and sat down on the ground to look at it further. The doll's body was made of some kind of fabric and stuffed with something super soft and squishy. After a few test pokes, Cryo found herself giving the doll a small hug.

It was nothing like Mic's hugs, but it seemed just as comforting.

That was were Cryosphere remained for a good hour after, up until her family was able to track her down again. The festival goers didn't pay much attention to her as she cooed at the doll, telling it her life story, as many thought that she was the vendor's daughter or something. The vender themselves thought that Cryo was just a lost child waiting for their parents to come back around, so they allowed her to stay there. It's not like she was doing any harm anyway. No one seemed to recognize her as a Mighty Number though. Weird; they must not have cable.

Cryo has been so enraptured by the doll that she didn't even flinch when Dr. White suddenly shouted “Cryosphere!” when he saw her, and instead scaring a few people that happened to be next to him at the time. When he was closer, Dr. White once more snapped, “Mighty Number Two!”

This succeeded in startling Cryo, making her quickly scramble to her feet and declare in shock, “Dr. White!” Her surprise was short lived when she saw that Pyrogen had joined Dr. White, and her sour attitude returned at the reminder of a broken promise that never was.

“What?” Cryosphere snapped. “No Bat?”

“I assure you that he is nearby.” Dr. White affirmed, “He can't be near this large of a concentration of humans. I'm sure you're aware of how easily he'll cause a public panic?”

“Sure, sure.” Number Two huffed before turning her attention back to the doll.

“Crysophere, stop sassing the professor!” Pyrogen snapped. To Dr. White he apologized, “I'm sorry professor, this is all my fault.”

Beyond exasperated at this point, Dr. White rubbed the bridge of his nose before saying, “This isn't your fault Number One. However, I do not see why she expects there to be more female Numbers when she's more trouble than she's worth! Even Number Three wouldn't act like this.”

Cryo flinched at this, absently tracing her fingers through the doll's hair. That was when she had remembered she was holding the old doll and making the quick decision to change the subject by presenting it to her brother and creator.

“This is my little sister.” Cryosphere told them in a matter-of-fact tone. “If you're not going to build any more female Numbers, then let me have this dollie as my sister instead. I won't go back until you say yes professor!”

For a rather long amount of time, Dr. White looked at his creation as if she had suddenly decided to speak a different language.

“How much for the doll?” Dr. White then asked the vendor as he started to get out his wallet.

“Dunno,” the vendor teased, “That Cabbage Patch Kid has been in my family for two generations- it might be worth quite a bit if you ask me.”

Dr. White raised a very unamused eyebrow.

“20 bucks.” the vendor told him.

“Thank you.” the professor agreed, getting out the cash needed. Knowing that she was going to keep the doll, Cryosphere let out an ecstatic squeal as she hugged the doll once more.

“You're all mine now!” she happily said to the doll. “Oh…! I love you so much, my new little sister! I do! I do! I do!”

“Are you happy now?” Pyrogen asked her with his arms crossed. He still wasn't amused with her, but there was little he could do about it now.

Cryosphere didn't answer because she was too preoccupied with the doll. “I'm going to call you Kaberi, Kabi for short! Cryosphere and Kaberi, Cryo and Kabi! Oh, we'd make the perfect team!!”

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kessielrg · 5 years

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[MNo9] Partners

Summary: At four months old, Pyrogen was more than familiar with the way the Battle Colosseum worked. But when the Colosseum opens up tag team matches, will Pyro be open to forming an alliance with his new partner?

Rating: K

Word count: 2,303 words

If you like the story, please consider donating through Ko-fi or Patreon!

At four months old, Pyrogen was familiar with the way the Battle Colosseum worked. Victoire was the sweet young woman that announced to the bots when their match was about to take place. Hector was the man in charge of the whole shebang, and he treated all the bots that fought there like an extended family. Pyrogen also knew that if he continued to win the battles he took part in, Dr. White would be able to finish the next in Pyrogen's line: something that the professor called the 'Mighty Numbers.' This was why, when the Colosseum announced that it would start doing tag team battles, Pyrogen was rather confused that he was to be paired with another robot during the fight.

“I thought the point of the Colosseum fights were to bring the winner's robotist a large sum of grant money?” Pyrogen had asked William White as some point.

“It is,” White agreed. “And that's why during the tag team events, the grant money would be split.” White gave a short pause before adding, “If it's any consideration, I'm not a fan of the idea myself.”

“I never said I disliked the idea,” Pryogen found himself softly arguing, “I'm just… confused, that is all.”

But Dr. White never answered him after that, because the professor's mind on gone on to more pressing matters. Perhaps Pryogen could still change the subject?

“The robot I am set to fight with isn't even from Sanda's numbers.” he decided to ask. After a short pause he even added, “Are they?”

“No.” Dr. White huffed. “CherryDyn helped create your 'partner.'”

Pyrogen gave a small nod, showing that he understood. He knew better than to ask further questions whenever CherryDyn was brought up. In some way, this help him see why Dr. White believed the tag team matches to be useless: both companies would see the grant money, instead of one monopolizing the funds from another. Dr. White -for his own reasons- just simply disliked having to share a victory (and the winning money) with Gregory Graham's robotics company.

“Good morning boys!” Victoire greeted them as they entered the preparation grounds. “You'll be in training room three today- your partner is already waiting for you Pyrogen.”

“Thank you Victoire.” both Dr. White and Pyro agreed before going on in. Sure enough, when the duo entered the training room, the simulation was already running with a robot going through basic defensive tactics.

The robot was even scrawnier than Pyrogen when he wasn't ignited- this robot looking to be nothing more but a large eye on top of a wire frame. The eye -Pyrogen had to admit- was well detailed to make sure the iris could display a range of emotion despite other limitations considering its lack of mouth or second eye. Whoever the robot's maker was was even generous enough to give them five fingered hands, despite them looking almost out of place against the thin piping that made up the robot's arms, torso, legs, and neck. The feet were not as lucky, they were designed to keep the bot upright and nothing more, and so they looked like not very creative cinder blocks.

Dr. White didn't seem very impressed by this robot, and to gain its attention, the professor cleared his throat loud enough for the bot to hear.

“Huh?” the robot questioned as it canceled the simulation. He -Pyro assumed it was a he now, based on its voice patterns- looked over at Dr. White and Pyrogen with a curious enough expression before a spark of recognition hit his circuits.

“Well I'll be bricked...” the bot mumbled to himself before shouting, “Hey Jory, look who I'm teamed up with!”

“Is it a bot without the EmoteCore?” a man shouted before coming into the room. “I told them...”

But when the robot's maker looked up, he gave a quick glance from Dr. White to Pryogen and back again before letting out a relieved -yet still stunned- exclamation of, “Well I'll be damned! If it isn't Dr. William White in the flesh! Amazing!”

In the human's moment of delighted bewilderment, Pyrogen decided to look over this human in full. The robot's maker looked more like a garage shop mechanic than a scientist. A fat man this 'Jory' was, dressed in a pair of blue overalls that had seen better days, grease stains on his hands and past his wrists, even his jet black hair looked over greased in the harsh overhead light of the preparation room. Upon closer inspection, Jory's fat seemed to be more muscle based compared to Dr. Sanda's… fluff, along with a taller stature that made the human larger than life itself. Pyrogen decided he was alright with Jory's appearance, but Dr. White looked wary.

Jory seemed to notice some on Dr. White's discontent, so he took the opportunity to give introductions.

“Dr. White, it is an honor to have your bot work with mine.” he gushed. “My name is Jory Jaxton, and my bot's name is Troilus- his serial's CDN 67-8.72.18 but I never call him that. Too formal and a pain to say when you're mad at 'em, you know?”

“No.” came Dr. White's emotionless response. The professor seemed to now that he was being a bit too frosty, so he shook his head and decided to ask, “Are you related to Graham?”

“No!” Jory snorted. “Hell no! The man just signs my checks, if that. I joke sometimes that he doesn't even know who I am- isn't that right Troilus!”

“I meant in a business sense.” Dr. White clarified, finding himself no less irked than before.

This did not distract from Jory's cheerful mood. To emphasize, with a wide smile he told Dr. White, “Like I said, I don't think the man even knows my name- he just signs the checks and I cash them in accordingly.”

“Hey,” Jory then suggested, “Let's give the bots some space to get used to each other, and we can talk more outside. What do'ya say?”

Dr. White stood a bit straighter and gave Pyrogen a dark glare. But, the professor diffused to agree with a small, “Sure.”

Cheerfully, Jory led Dr. White out of the room, leaving the two robots to their own devices.

“Whelp, let's get going.” Troilus decided, stretching his arms above his head. “We've gotta train before the match, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Pyrogen agreed with a small nod. For a brief moment, Troilus's eye flickered with light, indicating a gleeful smile.

. . .

“You do have some way of defending yourself… Do you?” Pyrogen asked as the two were about to start.

“Don't you?” Troilus teased. “Just step back a bit- it might get messy.”

Pyrogen had no reason not to oblige and took several generous steps back. Troilus let out a small snicker before going almost dead silent in concentration. Just as the Mighty Number was going to ask if the CherryDyn bot was alright, several pores in Troilus's framework started to leak a thick, and incredibly black oil. Pyrogen was just too mystified at this to be worried first- he watched as the oil started to coat against Troilus's frame in enough layers that more than tripled the initial framework's width.

The process took only five minutes, and within that time Troilus had a silhouette far more dangerous than his initial frame. His singular eye was even coated in a way that it looked like the robot wore a welding helmet; the eye acting at the visor.

Seeing Troilus completely covered in oil, and just now realizing how it reflected the light in an amusing rainbow-like pattern, Pyrogen found himself impressed by his partner's defensive ability.

“Amazed yet?” Troilus teased when he noticed that Pryo was looking at him. The single eyed bot even gave a smug blink that substituted for a wink.

“Partially.” Mighty Number 1 found himself admitting. “I suppose it's my turn now...”

“Please do.” Troilus mischievously agreed.

Now, Pyrogen's fire abilities were far quicker to activate- the Mighty Number only having to pound his fists together hard enough to spark a combustion in his burners that instantaneously covered his body with live flames. With his defensive abilities active, Pyrogen too looked like a completely different robot, and Troilus too took a moment to appreciate his new partner's abilities.

“Not bad.” Troilus snuffed. “Let's see what trouble we can get into now.”

Pyrogen offered a small smile. “After you.” he admitted with a trickster gleam in his eye.

As the two become familiar with each other and their powers, Pyrogen had to admit that he was having some fun. He was the one that suggested Troilus lay a layer of oil down to barricade them from an opponent, but Troilus was the one who had the idea of creating a whole ring around the opponent so the two could lay further traps on the battlefield. It was admittedly a rather dangerous move, since Troilus would have to be fairly close to their opponent, but after many a trail and error, the two were able to nail it down in no time.

“Can we take a break?” Pyrogen asked after several hours of work. “My systems need to cool off.”

“Sure!” Troilus agreed. “I think I need a bit of a recharge myself, you know?”

And with that decided, the two canceled their defensive and offensive powers (Troilus took longer, obviously, than Pyrogen to do so) and went back inside the preparation room.

“You know,” Troilus randomly decided to say after Pyrogen had given them each a decent bit of xel to process, “You really helped inspire the new gen of Battle Colosseum fighters. Even this generation is taking cues from your programming.”

“Huh?” the Mighty Number mumbled, not sure if he was hearing his fellow robot right. Where was this introspection coming from? But Troilus was serious -or as serious as a one eyed robot with no other face could get- and continued on in a grave voice.

“Pyro, I'm a whole year old, you know that? But I've only had the EmoteCore for 9 days- almost two months after Sanda Tech let it become public domain. And you know why? It's because you happened. Because the EmoteCore inside you is so impressive, every robotist and their mother wants their robots with it now. Without you, the rest of us would just be… lifeless. Without you, I wouldn't be me. You follow?”

“I'm trying...” Pyrogen admitted. There was just something about this conversation that seemed to evade his logical processors. The one eyed robot could see this in his friend, and gave a hard sigh before trying again.

“It's obvious Jory's a mechanic, right? Well, before you stepped onto the scene, I didn't have much of a personality to go off of, you see? He made me to be the endless supply of oil he needed so he didn't have to carry around a heavy bucket back and forth, and risk getting sick if some of it got on him. I wasn't meant for the Colosseum fights- Jory just didn't want that for me. He built me, and loved me, just because I was a tool he needed to make his life more simple.

“But then you came along with your first fight. You did something that none of the previous battle bots have done before: you showed mercy.”

“It wasn't that impressive.” the Mighty Number muttered under his breath- embarrassed all the same.

“Did you not hear me? You gave your opponent mercy- you didn't kill them in a torrent of blood and fire in an arena known for its blood and fire. That is impressive Pyro.”

Troilus then recoiled, now truly noticing how perplexed Pyrogen had been since the discussion started. “You… you really don't get how special you are in the field of robotic developments… do you?” he whispered. He looked away before adding, “Without you, I wouldn't be… me. You know?”

Pyrogen, still confused, gave a small nod of agreement.

“You already said that.” he pointed out, if only to keep the conversation going.

“I know.” Troilus agreed- the spirit of defiance coming back to him again. “And until you get it through your circuits, I'm going to keep repeating it!”

“I have no doubt about that.” Pyrogen muttered under his breath. Troilus gave him a rather hard look as his positronic brain tried to find a way to get the message through the bot's head. When no results came up, the CherryDyn bot came up with a new idea- and it was, unarguably, a much better thought.

“Hey Pyro, let's make a bet.” he suggested- his eye once more gleaming a rather mischievous and excited way.

“What kind?” the Mighty Number carefully questioned.

“If we win all our battles tonight, let's meet up after and get to know each other better- yeah? Maybe even swindle Hector to let us fight exclusively by each other's sides 'til one of your creators grants us a sibling. Whatcha say?”

The Mighty Number looked back on the CherryDyn bot with some thought. In his case, Pyro knew that he was going to have other robots in his line eventually- Dr. White had promised that much. But he would admit to be just slightly lonely at the time too...

But, in truth, Pyrogen didn't really know Troilus enough to trust him completely with… well, anything. But there was something about this bot that he did like. Maybe they could be (what was that word Dr. White used to describe his and Sanda's relationship?) friends? Pyro wouldn't have minded some friends that were not Dr. White or Dr. Sanda...

“Sure.” Pyrogen finally agreed. “But only if we win all the battles.”

If Troilus had the power to smile, it would have been a rather wide and bright one indeed.

#mighty number 9 #mn9 #mno9 #fanfiction #fan fiction #fan fic #fanfic #mn9 pyrogen #pyrogen #mn9 dr white #dr white #william white #original characters #and yes #they did win all the battles that night #as is expected when one half of the team consists of a mighty number #mighty no. 9 #mighty no 9

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kessielrg · 6 years

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[Mighty No 9] High

Summary: My only regret about not finishing Heaven's Door (yet, if ever) was not fully realizing in story how gay Leilani and Ray were for each other. And yes, they were, it was in my notes. After two years, here's something to rectify that. MAJOR time skip and spoilers for Heaven's Door and its maybe sequel: Leilani is 18, and Ray is “mostly” stable. Rated T for some slightly obvious reasons, title stolen from the Whethan & Dua Lipa song 'High'.

Rating: T

Word count: 2,427 words

If you like the story, please consider donating through Ko-fi or Patreon!

Four years. Four years in a prison for a crime she did and did not commit.

Her trial had been cut short by a small, teensy little uprising that she hadn't been aware of at first. Her friends, however misguided, did not want her in that jail anymore so they fought to make a statement. They were defeated by someone whose maker she had no respect for. It was his fault she had been in prison for four years, wasn't it? It was his fault that her mother died during the Trinity Disaster, wasn't it?

Thankfully for her, the youngest of his creations had sympathy for her and now she was home. She could pretend nothing had changed -that these past four years were unadventurous and spent with friends and family- but that would have meant ignoring what he had done to her. How he messed up her life. How he couldn't look truth and cold facts in the face to publicly proclaim 'Yes, I was wrong about everything. I'll take the blame, if only this once at the hands of a young innocent.' But he never did and he never will; that was how Doctor William Blackwell worked.

A small growl emitted from the 18 year old's lips as she sliced her apple. She wasn't particularly hungry at this hour, but she skipped out on breakfast and lunch so she figured she had to eat something before she ultimately skipped out on dinner too. As she finished cutting the apple and was about to place the knife in the dishwasher, the young woman heard a sound. Something, or someone, was walking across her roof.

She ignored it, just like everything else that has happened to her so far.

Eventually, the noise did die down as Leilani made her way back to her room. The sliced apples on a plate that she ended up sitting on her bedstand. What nearly startled her this time was another knock, this one coming from the balcony door. Leilani raised an eyebrow and went to the door. She didn't even flinch when she opened the door to a red and orange robot with dark tan skin. The robot did not look pleased, maybe even uncanny to the wrong eye: to the world, this was Ray, the Vermillion Destroyer, but to Leilani that robot was as good as a girlfriend to her.

“Well hello there, Lamb Chop.” Leilani teased, ushering the robot inside.

“There are reporters everywhere outside this prison.” the robot replied in a dark voice. “It's as if they're waiting for a reason to convict you again.”

“Don't act so surprised.” the human yawned as she moved to her bed to sit. “You're the one that started that little revolution.”

Ray let out a small growl, following Leilani before standing right in front of her and looking her in the eye.

“I'll never forget it.” Ray vowed before pulling Leilani in for a fierce kiss.

. . .

The trial had been put on a permanent hold once Ray had stolen the young woman. In the glory of the moment, Ray had listened to Leilani's suggestion of going to Maine, and it wasn't until after when the two knew they were safe that the robot took a good look at the young woman. They were the only ones in that safe house, after all, and there was nothing else to do but stew upon their decisions and watch them unfold. What Ray hadn't counted on was the human aging process.

“You've changed.” Ray noted, the idea sounding a bit idiotic out loud. Of course humans change!

“Four years in juvie will do that to you.” Leilani retorted.

“No. Not that.” Ray hissed. “Your physical appearance has changed...”

The human raised a questioning eyebrow. “What of it?” she inquired.

Ray said nothing to retaliate, instead moving closer to the human. Leilani's skin seemed more… soft, inviting even. Without realizing it, Ray ran a curious hand down the side of Leilani's face. The human closed her eyes and held her breath; for what was something she didn't want to contemplate at the moment, not if Ray wasn't aware of what she was doing, anyway. There was no way that Ray could tell that the moment had become tense. Could she? Whatever the case, Ray could feel Lei's body clench. Weird… that never seemed to happen before.

“Do I scare you now?” the robot questioned, tilting her head rather methodically.

“No.” Leilani immediately declared. She hesitated for a moment, but she then added, “But I… I'd really like it if you… if you'd...”

“What?” Ray now demanded. She was standing even closer to the young woman now- the thing wasn't even sure if she was breathing anymore.

“I… I want you to… to touch me.”

“Am I not doing that already?” Ray growled, not seeing the point. Leilani's cheeks flushed such a deep shade of red that the robot wondered if it was normal. In feeling the increasing pulse rate of the human, it was likely that the answer was 'no.'

“In… intimately.” the young woman finally said. “I want you to… to touch me, intimately. Like… Like a kiss.”

“A kiss?”

Leilani swallowed back dry saliva as she gave a small nod. Ray cocked a curious eyebrow at this suggestion. The robot knew what kisses were, of course, first introduced to the concept four years prior by Leilani herself. Hmm… Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss…

Taking the decision to heart, Ray leaned forward just slightly and pressed her lips against the human's. They both immediately reeled backwards in surprise at the shock that passed through them. But Ray wasn't finished her investigation of the matter yet, she pulled Leilani into another kiss and pushed past that initial shock. Holding them there for quite some time, Ray pulled them away after some seconds had passed. She had learned what she wanted from the kiss, and it had left her… underwhelmed.

“You taste… different.” observed the Vermillion Destroyer in some way to say something about the current situation.

“That's because I'm not made out of xels.” Leilani teased. Ray growled before going in for a much deeper kiss this time. The taste of this young woman… it was indescribable. Not as filling as a xel, of course, but it seemed so much more alluring…

With each passing moment Ray was craving more and more of this woman. Her hands firmly griped at Leilani's waist, bringing her closer to Ray herself. The human retaliated by wrapping her arms around Ray's neck- she liked this, but it wasn't enough. There must have been something, anything, to make this growing desire be fulfilled. But what?

“Raychel...” Leilani gasped when she had the breath to do so. Hearing her name through the young woman's lips caused the robot to immediate freeze. That tone… It was different. It was new.

“What?”

Leilani, in between excited gasps, questioned to the robot, “Do you… do you know what lust is?”

. . .

Ray watched as Lei softly slept on her bed, properly tired from their… activities. The Vermillion Destroyer titled her head at the human; Leilani laid in such a way that made Ray notice her more womanly figure again. The thought of touching the human's rib and sliding her hand down to the hip made Ray flinch. Instead, the android got off of the human's bed and did the most menial thing she never would have considered doing otherwise; getting the mail.

Such an odd activity this was- thankfully the mail box was near the front door and not across the street, not that the Blaise family had much in way of neighbors in this area; not even paparazzi seemed to venture that far. As she went back inside, Ray looked at the mail to see what was delivered: a paid magazine for robotic creations showcased at the Battle Colosseum, some small adverts for local food joints, and a letter addressed to Leilani herself. Ray took an interest in this letter, now taking a closer look at the sender address.

SANDA Technologies, United States of America Division

Pleasanton California

She hadn't been aware of it, but Ray had stormed back to Leilani's bedroom. With the letter being crushed in one hand, Ray shook the human awake.

“Hmm…?” the flower slurred as she finally came to. “What's wrong?”

The Vermillion Destroyer did not answer directly, instead she presented the letter to Leilani. The human attempted to sit up, but opted against it, and took the letter from the robot. The first thing she noticed was the sender, a grimace painted itself on her face before she opened the letter. As she read its contents, her expression changed to a softer one but it still held some amount of disgust. Once she was done reading, she carelessly tossed the letter aside and flopped back on her bed.

“Magnus is fighting in the Colosseum soon.” she explained to Ray. “Sanda wants me to come for the match.”

“Why?” the robot immediately questioned.

“I don't know.” the human said, rolling over to her side. “Because it's been six months since the trial? Because he wants to see how the crowd will react when a child convict makes a public appearance? It's not like I have a choice- it's part of the sentence that the jury hath wrought upon me.”

“You're not going alone.”

Lei looked over at Ray. The robot had been firm in saying so, and although Leilani wasn't going to go alone anyway, the request had been genuine.

“You can't enter the Colosseum.” Lei reminded the Vermillion Destroyer.

“I'm aware.” came the prudent answer. At this, the human cocked an eyebrow in skepticism.

And just as she suspected, Ray started to backpedal on the idea once the day came. Sanda hadn't come yet, so the two hid themselves in an alleyway.

“I don't want you here.” Ray told the human with a growl. “We don't belong here.”

“Raychel,” Leilani softly purred, knowing this game all too well by now, “You know why I'm here and what it means to Magnus. You're not my only android friend you know...”

Ray gave another growl before forcing the human into an assertive kiss. With that last bit of defiance, the Vermillion Destroyer dashed out of sight. Leilani let out a sigh before adjusting herself a bit more to be scrutinized by the spectators in the colosseum today. Her head held high and a blank expression, Leilani entered the colosseum.

Ray knew her usual place in the Colosseum- high above everyone else in the rafters where only the birds tended to roost. From here, Ray could soak up any loose xel that came off the contestants. But most importantly, she could keep tabs on her flower as well. From here she could see all the nasty stares Leilani received from the other spectators; some even paid more attention to the flower than on the match itself. Justifiably so, but they did not stare because they found her as fascinating as Ray found her. They stared because they believed she was a public menace.

“And now the bot you've all been waiting for!” the announcer boomed over the speakers, “Mighty Number 9, BECK!!”

At the same time, both Ray and Leilani got an awful shock of disgust. Small and timid, said Mighty Number walked out into the main colosseum, waving at the crowd and blushing at the mere sight of so many spectators in the stands. Then Ray's processors froze when she realized that the Predator had located and stared directly at the flower in the stands. She could even see, so perfectly well, that the two had made direct eye contact and held it for an uncomfortable amount of time. The Predator's face paled; he knew. He knew what his family had done to the flower's life.

Beck shook his head, remembering where he was and what he was about to do, and allowed the match to continue on. He won the fight -no surprise from either Ray or Leilani- as waved at everyone as they cheered praise and threw various things at his feet. One thing in particular, a bouquet of roses, was caught by Beck and for a moment, he stood there as if he had never encountered a bouquet before. Beck looked back up at the stands before slowly starting to work his way over to the spectators.

The Vermillion Destroyer watched with increasing fury as the Predator made his way toward the flower, making his intent known by the paling in his face. What stopped the robot from doing down to destroy the Predator herself was Leilani's own frosty attitude toward the approaching Mighty Number.

Once he was close enough, Beck humbly offered the bouquet to Leilani. With his head bowed he tried to give an apology, but the spectators near the two had gotten louder- some were mad that he was giving the bouquet to her, others just wanted Beck's attention. Leilani refused the bouquet but Beck kept insisting she take them; his eyes held a desperate need to apologize, but hers were frosty and unwavering.

Perhaps knowing this made Leilani finally accept the bouquet; it wasn't Beck they were mad at, after all. The youngest Mighty Number gave her a small bow of thanks and quickly made his way out of the stands. When the crowd was allowed to leave the stands, Leilani tossed the flowers in the nearest trash receptacle, not caring in the slightest on who saw her. Ray looked on with a certain glee- she vowed that the next time she and the flower met up, she was going to give her gratitude quite generously.

Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long.

Leilani had to talk with Sanda after the match, but once she was finished with him she returned to the alleyway where Ray had been waiting. Immediately, the robot pinned the flower to the wall.

“He tried to apologize…” Ray mumbled as she buried herself in Lei's neck. “But you didn't listen.”

“Nope.”

“He thought he could make it better?” continued to bot, now trailing her lips across the human's collarbone for a certain spot.

“Never.” Leilani murmured, fidgeting slightly to help Ray.

“I'll kill anyone that gets near you.”

Leilani let out a gasp as Ray bit into her neck. The rush of pain mixed with adoration made the young woman moan. Regaining her composure as the Vermillion Destroyer lapped up the blood, Leilani replied with a soft, rather dark tone, “Good.”

#this fandom's so tiny #that i end up being the one writing near smut for it #not that i'm disappointed or anything #okay so maybe i am disappointed #but not at myself #take of it as you will #mighty number 9 #mn9 #MNo9 #mighty no. 9 #mn9 oc #mn9 ray #Ray #raychel

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kessielrg · 6 years

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Kessie's Top Read Fics of April 2018

1. Metempsychotic 2. Starcross 3. Maverick 4. Pieces of Solaris 5. Heaven's Door

Read all these fics and more on my FanFiction page!

#fanfiction #fanfic #fan fiction #fan fic #mega man zx #megaman zx #rockman zx #mmzx #care bears #megaman x #mega man x #rockman x #mmx #sonic the hedgehog #sonic 06 #mighty number 9 #mighty no. 9 #mn9 #mno9

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kessielrg · 5 years

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[Mighty Number 9] Synergy

Summary: In which Doctor White and Leilani work together to repair a Patch unit.

Rating: K+

Word count: 2,309

If you like the story, please consider donating through Ko-fi or Patreon!

Today, William and Leilani are set to work together to repair a Patch unit that has gone out of commission. There will be a small observation team with them that consists of myself, Call, Raychel, Beck, and whomever else is interested in such a feat (which I anticipate would not be anyone, honestly). They have unlimited time to do what they need- and they will need all the time they have. This is not because they are idiots (far from it!), but they… they tend not to get along very well… I worry about this project, but it must be done.

William and Leilani are far more alike than they think.

-From Doctor Soichiro Sanda's personal notebook

. . .

The only sound in the room was the soft hum of the LED lights above them and Call preparing the workstation. There were quite a few tools out that she knew William White liked to be in a particular location, along with making sure that the disabled Patch unit had the parts it needed to be repaired to begin with. From the observation deck, Doctor Soichiro Sanda was messing around with the room's intercom system to make sure that it was still in working order.

After giving the mic a few taps (and getting the feedback from it), Sanda then cleared his throat to say into it; “How do things look down there Call?”

“Everything is already for the repair Doctor Sanda.” Call decided in her usual toneless voice, directing herself to the observation deck because looking away from him while answering would have been rude.

“Good!” Sanda declared as he clapped his hands together. “Very good! Now we just need to wait for the two of them to arrive. Here's hoping that it goes just as smoothly...”

“I will contact Beck to let him know that we are ready.” Call nodded.

“Yes please.” agreed Sanda. “I'll get into contact with Leilani.”

As the duo contacted their respective contacts, Beck was calmly walking through Sanda Technologies while waiting. He knew he had arrived too early, but it was better than waiting around at home. Doctor White was in the facilities as well, Beck just couldn't tell you where exactly.

“Beck,” Call's voice suddenly said from over his headphones, “Do you read me? We are ready to begin the repair.”

“Alright.” the bot agreed. “Meet you there soon.” and without further ado he started in that direction. Beck knew the layout of Sanda Tech well enough that all he had to do was keep walking down the corridor he was in, make a right at the crossroads, and then the training room would be the tenth door on the right. When Beck reached the crossroads, he saw someone come from the opposite direction; when he realized who it was, he froze.

Leilani Blaise walked down the hall of Sanda Tech with the attitude of a snobbish movie star. Her hair was tied up tightly behind her, a pair of sunglasses hid her eyes from the public, and if it weren't for her sneakers, you would have assumed that she had dressed for an important business meeting. Not far from her was Ray- the older looking bot was fully decked out in her vermillion armor. The scowl on her face easily illustrated to everyone that if they dared to even speak to Leilani, Ray was going to serve their head on a silver platter post haste. Beck wondered for a moment if her weapons were even active at the moment, and then he shook the thought away. He didn't want to know that. It was easier not thinking about it.

“Hey Beck.” Leilani greeted in passing. For a moment, it utterly surprised the little bot. Leilani had acknowledged him? And without a snarky comment?! So, it was true that she did have some respect for Beck and not for Doctor White, his creator, but it certainly wasn't normal for her either. By the time he could stutter out a reply, she was already gone. Without meaning to, Beck gave a sigh of relief before remembering that she was heading to the same place he was going. With a small flinch, he continued to the training room.

Turns out, he was the last one to arrive in all said and done. Doctor White was already in the training room making sure that everything was where it should be for him to start. Call and Doctor Sanda were in the observation deck to ensure that they had covered all the bases needed for the repair. Ray and Leilani were in a corner with Ray giving the human many possessive kisses around Leilani's jawline and her neck. Beck stared at them for a bit too long- Leilani noticed him and in giving a genuinely guilty looking expression, she shied Ray off of her. The little robot looked away when Ray kissed the human before Leilani left to enter the training room with Doctor White.

Once everyone was settled in their positions, Doctor Sanda tested the intercom system one more time before asking, “Are you two ready?”

“Yes sir.” Leilani and Doctor White answered at the same time, each giving a bow of reverence.

“Good. Now, as you can see before you,” Sanda started, “This Patch unit has been decommissioned. At the moment, the cause of its failure is still unknown; it will be your job to find the error, correct it, and successfully reactivate the Patch unit. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes sir.” the two agreed once more.

“Well then, you may begin.”

“Sounds easy enough.” White mumbled to himself as he looked over the unit. “The first thing to do would be-”

“To crack it open.” Leilani interrupted with a smirk.

“What?” White snapped. “No! We give it a charge to see if it's a battery failure.”

“You can find that out by taking it apart too.” came the counter argument. “Remove the battery and you can test it separately. If it's an error that's causing the battery to short out (say, oh I don't know, corrosion), we would know by taking it out of the unit.”

“No. We charge the unit and see how it responds to the stimulus. If the unit does not turn on, then we will know that there is an internal issue. If it does turn on for a moment or two, then it is likely that the cause is the battery.”

“And what if it fries the unit more, nimrod?” Leilani snorted. “Ever have a faulty laptop charger that killed the battery off too?”

White started to give a reply, but Leilani cut him off.

“What am I talking about?” she mused. “You don't know anything about batteries- I've been trying to fix one of yours for the past five years!”

“You're not fixing anything- you're illegally modifying my design.”

“And making it better. Perfect, even. Who knows, if I modify it enough I could patent it as my own creation.”

Hearing this, all the color drained from William White's face as he got dangerously close to the young woman. “You. Wouldn't. Dare.” he hissed.

To this, Leilani smirked. “Try me.”

That was what inspired them to glare at each other directly in the eye for a rather long amount of time. At the same time, they both snapped their heads to look up at the observation deck. “Sanda!” the two of them even whined in unison.

“I can't work like this!” White declared.

“I'm 19, sir.” Leilani mused, not even looking at White. “I have a reason to be an ass, but he's, like, 69 and not any better.”

“I'm 41.” grumbled White under his breath.

“I-I'm sorry you two,” Sanda tried to argue, “But you can not leave until the Patch unit is fixed. We all agreed to that. R-remember…?”

“Faintly.” Doctor White muttered.

“That's 'cuz you're ancient.” Leilani mused back.

Back at the observation deck, the others were starting to get annoyed at the duo's antics.

“If they keep arguing, that Patch unit is never going to fixed...” Beck noted with some sadness mixed in his voice.

“I will admit,” Call sighed, “I am very glad they are not working on me.”

“Rest assured Call,” Sanda then told her, “Only I am authorized to change your programming. Anyone else will have to go through me.”

“Although it would not be much of a fight,” noted Call, “I do appreciate the attempted reassurance Doctor Sanda.”

“No one but the flower is allowed to touch me.” Ray grumbled under her breath. “Not even Will.”

Beck looked at Ray curiously before looking back at the professor and Leilani. No one was allowed to modify his code either expect for his own creator. Leilani had been able to fix him after a fight with Ray, but she hadn't changed him. Did he want her to? In his own opinion, Leilani seemed just as skilled as Doctor White. In that moment Beck decided that he would let Leilani change his code if it needed to be done. Maybe if -for whatever reason or another- Doctor White was no longer able to fix him, Leilani would be his next and only choice.

“Fine,” Doctor White finally gave in, “We'll open up the Patch and separate the battery from the unit.”

Leilani did not object, instead giving a wide smile filled with attitude as she reached for a screwdriver.

“I need the allen wrench.” White then opposed.

“We're supposed to be working together.” Leilani objected. “And I want to work with this.”

White gave a roll of his eyes and let her do it. Her watched her with scrutinized eye as she opened the back of the unit to reveal its battery compartment. As Leilani worked to get the battery out of its wiring, she noticed something.

“Hey,” she said to White while swinging an overhead lamp into the open crevice, “Check this out.”

Annoyed for a moment, White looked at the area she was pointing too and easily saw the issue as well.

“The Auto-Dispense Motor is jammed.” he noted.

“That's not all,” Leilani agreed, showing him the wires around the motor. “The overload shorted out the Item-Projector and battery wires. If we had gone along with charging the unit beforehand-”

“It would have likely exploded...” White finished. “Between the Auto-Dispense Motor being jammed and the influx of rerouted power to the battery, it would have caused a level 6 xel implosion.”

“I've never seen the inside of a Patch look this messed up before.” Leilani said, mostly to herself. “Is there any safe way to fix it?”

“We'd have to gut it.”

The young woman bit her lip. She wasn't used to gutting out robots to make them work again. Doctor White sensed this and located a small drill to use.

“We have to start with the faulty wires.” he told her. “But carefully. As I take out the motherboard, could you handle the item index chip?”

“Sure.” Leilani nodded. After making sure that each of them had the tools they needed, Leilani and Doctor White moved in unison as they removed the components inside the Patch unit. Despite arguing only ten minutes before, the duo moved as a single unit while removing everything inside the Patch. Their observers could barely believe their eyes.

“Sizzling synergy!” Sanda exclaimed. “Look at them go!”

Beck peered a bit closer, just to make sure he was seeing it right. He would admit that they didn't truly work together like, say, a pair of old friends would. But, it felt more like the two shared a very similar mindset that enabled them to work together. They weren't friend or foe, but just… geniuses. Equal geniuses that had finally found a way to cooperate.

The stunned silence of the observation deck continued as Doctor White and Leilani then reassembled the Patch unit. Leilani was now moving a bit faster than Doctor White -as this was how she learned robotics, after all- and her memory of where everything went was even more impressive. Everyone watched as the two placed a new battery in the Patch and everyone held their breath as they waited for the unit to turn back on again.

As the lights on the Patch's face started to light up and its side arms rose, Beck almost felt the need to cheer.

“We did it.” Leilani marveled. Doctor White seemed to stiffen a little at the idea, but it was true. Sucking up much of his pride, he turned to her and offered his hand out to her.

“Good work.” he said, toneless and without any love lost. Or earned, for that matter.

Leilani looked at his hand before looking up at him. With an amused grin, she took hold of his hand and shook it. “You could have done better.” she teased. White didn't even bother to respond before the two turned to the observation deck and gave a finishing bow to their observers.

“Excellent job you two!” Sanda congratulated over the intercom. “Since you have done what I requested, you may leave.”

“Beck, I'm going home.” Doctor White immediately said back and without further note he left.

“Raychel, don't go anywhere, I'm coming up to get you.” Leilani then said. Ray gave a firm nod and stepped back a bit. Beck eased back a little as well.

“Call, can you recover the Patch unit?” Doctor Sanda requested. “Take it to R&D and have them run the usual productivity tests.”

“Yes sir.” the robotess agreed. Beck watched her and then looked back at Sanda. Why would he want the Patch unit to be looked over? Was it to make sure that it was completely operational again? As Leilani entered the observation deck to greet Ray, Beck had a sudden, random thought.

What was Doctor Sanda planning between Leilani and Doctor White?

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