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Zero hadn’t been back in the band long, but he was having a lot of fun with it. He was excited to let Hatchworth use his yacht to go gold fishing, even if he wasn’t quite sure what that meant. Getting to be with the other bots was great, and he loved to get out and sing for people again! But not everyone was excited to see Zer0 as he was to see them.
“Where’d Hatchy go?” “Why’d they get a new bassist?” “He’s not as funny as Hatchworth.” The list went on and on. Comments at shows or online. No matter what he did, everyone just seemed to want Hatchworth back.
Zer0 tried not to think about it too much. He was new to them, he understood. Change was hard, especially for humans that didn’t live that long. But he was doing his best! Which was why it hurt so much when a fan stopped him after a show when he went to go get water for everyone.
“You don’t belong in the band,” said a kid with wild red hair and gold facepaint on. He was dressed like Hatchworth and had his arms crossed over his chest. “No one likes you. Hatchworth was better.”
That stung a lot. But he smiled warmly and stood up straighter, trying to be friendly. “Sorry, friend. But Hatchy went gold fishing! But I’ll do my best to keep making shows fun for everyone, promise!” And he would. He wanted the band to do well, and he always put his best foot forward!
Not that it helped matters with the fan. His nose scrunched at that. “That’s stupid. They shouldn’t have downgraded to such a stupid robot. You can’t even play your own songs! The show really sucks with you in it.”
Zer0 froze at that. Looking at the fan, he curled in on himself and suddenly felt very small. Nothing like the strong bot that could take down copper elephants on his own. Or the one that used to be famous in his own right. He was doing his best! Oil beaded in the corner of his eyes, and his billows kicked into overdrive to keep him cool as he started to hyperventilate.
“What’s going on here,” came Spine’s voice as the tall automaton walked over when he saw Zer0 freeze. “Hey, Zer0, you alright?”
The fan froze when Spine came up. “Uh, um. I was just talking with Zer0 about the new set,” he tried, fidgeting in place.
Spine narrowed his eyes at them before reaching to wrap an arm around his brother’s shoulder. “So I heard,” he deadpanned. He couldn’t help but smirk when he saw them panic. “Hatchworth went gold fishing and passed the torch to Zer0 here. It’d be rude to say he made a poor choice, wouldn’t it?” He waited for them to nod dumbly. “And Zer0’s been doing a fine job doing his job, don’t you think? Been workin’ real hard on new songs for us to sing for you.”
Which helped Zer0 perk up a little. He had been doing a lot, and he was proud of it. It wouldn’t be long until he had his own songs to sing again.
Giving Zer0’s shoulder a pat, Spine leaned forward to loom over the human, just a little. “I hope you’ll be around to hear them.”
They shrunk back. That wasn’t a threat, right? The Spine wouldn’t threaten a fan. Right? They nodded dumbly, afraid to find out before they quickly took off.
Standing up straight again, Spine adjusted his tie and sighed a long cloud of steam. “Well, that should take care of that one, at least.” Turning to Zer0, he smiled. “You alright, buckaroo?”
A small nod and, Zer0 scrubbed his face clean of oil. “Mhm! Thanks for taking care of them, Tha Spine. I’ll try to do better!” He chirped with a smile.
Spine tilted his head as he looked at Zer0 and sighed. “Don’t let them get to you, Zer0. You’re doing great. A lot of people love you already. Some people are just sticks in the mud when it comes to change. They’ll see how cool you are soon enough.”