Chapter Text
Zimelu looked out of the window of the bus as it drove along the highway, like most of the other kids in his grade, he was excited for this field trip out of town. They were visiting a neighboring city for one of its historical events, something about how it’d teach the children about history or something. But even with that weak explanation it didn’t keep everyone from being excited about exploring Dubwoofer city. For example, the yellow teen next to Zimelu was almost vibrating from excitement.
“Man this is gonna be awesome! I can’t wait to try the food, I heard this place has some really nice crepes and stuff, Zim! Zim Zim Zimmy you gotta try stuff with me! I got cash!” Haym was lightly shaking Zimelus arm as he spoke, his eyes sparkling much more than usual. The red teen looked over and chuckled. Half heartedly shoving him off.
“Alright alright sure, cant say no to free food” Haym was already cheering, though another voice from the seat behind them spoke up.
“You should probably make sure Haym doesn’t eat too much, last thing we need is him getting sick” Purl-Hew says while looking up from his book, next to him Rin shrugged.
“Relax Hew, Haym knows his limits. Right Haym?” Rin grinned over at Haym who only gave him a few beats of silence as a response, which caused Rin’s smile to falter.
“Haym? Come on man back me up”
Zimelu broke into a laugh as everyone knew Haym would not be able to control himself when he found good food. From the seat in front of them Eloni turned around and rested his arms on the back of the chair.
“I think we’re almost there guys!” Eloni stayed with a smile.
“We’re sticking together right? I really don’t wanna get lost.” The teachers had encouraged the class to stick together in groups, even assigning known loner kids to groups to be safe, though these colorful teens didn’t need any of that. They already had a habit of sticking together after all. The boys slipped into casual conversation as the bus reached its destination.
“-And remember to stick together, each group has the number of a chaperone in case of emergencies, and please stay within the city limits if you go out and explore. The event starts at the plaza at 1 o'clock sharp! So be sure to head that way from whatever you’re doing”
the History teacher stated, she was the head of this field trip. The teens nodded or made sounds of acknowledgement before they all dispersed around the city. With Haym leading the way the boys headed towards the street food area. Haym and Zimelu were excitedly discussing the foods they wanted to try, it wasn’t until Rin noticed Eloni being oddly quiet that he spoke up.
“Hey, Loni, something bothering you?” He questioned, matching pace with the green teen. He looked up briefly and shoved a hand into his sweatshirt pocket,
“...do you think Vinyl city will be okay without us?” He mumbles, though not quiet enough for the rest of the group to miss, the pace slowed down to a stop. Zimelu turned around and put an arm on elonis shoulder.
“Hey, don’t worry so much, J man said if anything came up he’d handle, besides he’s got the factory, and Marcie and Sven can help if things get really bad. The city will be fine for a day.” The red teen reassured, Rin nodded in agreement and added in,
“Yeah I’m with Zim, Captain J was able to protect the city himself for a long while before we came in, he can handle it himself for a day.”
“Worst case scenario he can’t, but I’m sure that Space DJ would come and help, he always seems to show up when needed”
purl hew added in with Haym nodding eagerly. All this seemed to help reassure eloni who gave a small smile and a nod.
“Right, you’re right. Thanks guys” Zimelu grinned and started walking again, he was in the lead with the rest of the group following. When he spoke again he looked back at the group
“Besides, J man told us to have fun today. And there’s no monsters in Dubwoofer city, what could possibly go wrong?”
And as if the universe wanted to answer him, suddenly a voice yelled over to them.
“Zimelu!!!!” And before the red teen could turn to see who called for him he was tackled to the ground in a tight hug. The rest of the group made startled exclamations as Zimelu tried to get a grip on what just happened. He looked down and was met with bright blue eyes, a girl with light pink skin and purple pink hair tied up in twin buns looked back at him, a huge smile plastered on her face. Wait a minute... he recognized that smile.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were in town??? It’s so good to see you again!” She exclaimed while hugging onto him. Rin looked between the red and pink teens in confusion before settling on Zimelu
“Hold on, Zimelu, do you know this girl?” He asked.
Zimelu could barely believe it, he hadn’t seen her in years, but there was no denying it.
“Zoe??”
[into plays, guess who’s back again!]
“Hold on, Zimelu, do you know this girl?” Rin asked. Zimelu blinked in shock.
“Zoe??”
The pink teen grinned and finally pulled away from the hug,
“You do remember me! I thought you forgot about me for a while there.” She laughed though there was a slight sadness to it. She stood up and offered Zim a hand to help him up. He took it. Purl-Hew fixed his glasses and spoke up.
“Okay so you do know her, care to enlighten us on your relation?” Zim jumped looking at the group before rubbing the back of his neck.
“Uh yeah, guys, this is Zoe... she’s my sister”
“SISTER?!” The rest of the group said in unison. Haym pointed at both of them
“Since when did you have a sister??? And why didn’t you say anything!?”
“Haym don’t you have like a hundred siblings and cousins? You never tell us about them” Zimelu shot back, leaving Haym quiet for two solid beats.
“Okay fair point”
Zoe seemed to pause at that comment but was quickly back to focusing on her red haired sibling
“Oooh! It’s so good to see you again! Did you get any taller? Man, how long has it been since we’ve talked in person huh? Haha!” She smiled as she practically zipped around the teen. Zimelu looked a bit uneasy and shrugged.
“Guess it has been a while huh... time really flies?” The red teen scratched the back of his neck.
“Maybe we could have talked more if you called” Zoe huffed, lightly poking zim in the cheek.
“You know I worry about you!” She pokes again. Zimelu huffed as well.
“You say that like you aren’t the younger sibling. You really shouldn’t worry about me”
“Well I’m going to! You’re the one who got stuck with dad...” there was a sudden uncomfortable feeling in the air as both siblings went silent.
Thankfully, Haym And the others were still there, and Haym knew exactly how to remove uncomfortable air.
He slipped up between the two and hooked an arm around both their shoulders, and with a grin he asked.
“Soooo you gonna properly introduce us to your sister? Pretty sure she never got our names Zimmy '' he smiled. Zimelu gave the yellow teen a look, then rolled his eyes and lightly pushed Haym’s arm off him.
“Don’t call me zimmy, but I guess you’re right.” He was thankful for the topic change anyways. So gesturing to each as he listed them, zim stated.
“These are my friends, Rin, Purl-Hew, Eloni, And that’s Haym” each waved as addressed, with the yellow teen letting Zoe go to wave with both hands. The pink teen smiled and gave a short curtsy with her jacket.
“It’s nice to meet you all! I’m really glad my brother made some good friends.”
“Yeah, we’re glad to have him as our friend too,” Rin smiles back. Eloni nodded as well.
“Yeah! He’s uh, he’s good company you know? And reliable.” Eloni smiles, Zimelu looked to the side as to not show how he was a bit embarrassed at the flattery.
“Oh! Speaking of friends, that reminds me! Come on!” Zoe stepped forward and lightly tugged at her brothers arm
“You should all meet my friends! We’re all meeting up at a smoothie place. You’ll love em!” She squealed with excitement, Zimelu seemed apprehensive, glancing over at his own friends. Eloni And Haym gave two excited thumbs up of approval and Rin smiled.
“I don’t see the harm, we can get smoothies too,” Rin said with a shrug. Purl gave a silent thumbs up.
Realizing he was outnumbered, Zimelu sighed.
“Yeah, sure, sounds cool. Lead the way-“ Zoe let out a squeal of delight and tugged zim forward.
“Yes! This way this way! They aren’t too far, come on!” And she let go to run ahead, Haym laughed and chased after with the rest of the group quick to follow, eloni did call for them to slow down.
Zimelu was apprehensive, but jogged to keep up. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t curious.
As they passed more parts of the town they came across a sort of plaza area. And Zimelu quickly noticed a group of girls near a smoothie stand chatting amongst themselves. Zoe seemed to recognize them as she grinned when she caught sight of them.
She quickened her pase.
Once close enough, Zoe waved over at the other group of girls, notably a dusty brown haired girl in a pilot jacket covered in Buttons and patches and a blue girl with her hair in a loose braid.
“Reeeen! My brother is here for a school trip!! Come on you gotta meet him!” Zoe excitedly exclaimed while dragging Zimelu over to the group. Rin and the rest of the boys tried to keep up, Haym having the easiest time, though when the rest of the group paused to try and take in the situation, purl-hew stepped forward. He approached the girl with the cyan braids and they both looked right at each other.
“Pearl” he stated.
“Purl” she replied.
Both stood silent for a solid beat before Pearl broke into a small smile.
“It’s good to see you again” Purl-Hew responded with a smile of his own.
“Same to you. Sorry I didn’t say anything, I forgot you were in the area”
“You? Purl-Hew, the greatest mind of our generation, forgot I lived here? You’re losing your edge.” She laughed, purl-hew snorted.
“I’m allowed to have my slip ups, I’m still a human” both laughed, Haym shot a look over and exclaimed.
“And now you two know each other!? What’s going on!!??!” Eloni looked about ready to comfort Haym, who was apparently upset about not knowing stuff. But purl turned to the group.
“This is Pearl, she’s my sister. Twin sister to be exact”
“I’m the older twin,” she spoke with a smile only a (technically) older sibling could have, “You must Be Rin and company, a pleasure to meet you in person.” Pearl gave a nod in greeting.
“O-oh! Um you too” Rin blinked in surprise but managed to smile, he was a little shocked, of all the people to have a sibling he didn’t think it’d be Purl-Hew. And a twin at that.
The more you know!
“OKAY!” Haym suddenly declared in frustration, looking at his friends, practically glaring,
“Does anyone else here have secret siblings I don’t know about!?!?” Haym exclaimed, exasperated. A girl with short orange hair cautiously raised a hand.
“Um... I have some cousins in vinyl city, does that count?” Haym looked her dead on for a few beats, before pointing and exclaiming
“You! I like you! Thank you for telling me!”
“Y-you’re welcome?” She blinked, clearly she’s not prepared for this amount of energy. A girl with purple ponytails chuckled.
“I suppose we should do some proper introductions then?” She said, doing a bit of a hair flip.
“I’m Meloni. Obviously you know Zoe and Pearl. But this is Hallie” she gestured to the orange haired girl who shyly waved. “And The one who looks half ready to scream is Ren” she gestured to the girl with light brown hair. She huffed.
“Hey! You all never let me get anything out!” She complained.
“Should have spoken up faster then” Zoe giggled.
“So anyway!” Ren spoke up, clearly wanting to take part in the conversation, “you guys here for the history festival or whatever?”
Purl-Hew gave a short nod. “Yes, that's correct. Though I suspect most of the students here are just treating this as a free day off to explore the city.”
“Fair enough, the festival itself isn’t too much of a big deal” Meloni shrugged, twirling one of her ponytails between her fingers. “It’s a day dedicated to the city’s founding legend. Where an ancient warrior fought off monsters in the area, he apparently cast a spell so powerful that it prevented any malevolent force from entering the area.” She explained, hiding her enthusiasm for the topic behind a Blasé air.
“The historical accuracy of that legend aside, scientists have found evidence of some pretty powerful magic settling in the area, and it does repel corruptive magics thus the city has no monsters in it” she concluded her story with a flip of her ponytails, Haym looked invested.
“Yoooo that’s so cool though! You guys are lucky, Vinyl City still has a monster problem”
“It’s not all sunshine and rainbows though” Pearl adjusted her glasses, similar to how Purl-Hey does, before she spoke. “Monsters may not be a problem but criminals are not repelled by the ancient magic. Thanks to that this city has been having an elevated crime rate as of late” she sighed. Zoe cheerfully added onto the statement.
“But thankfully those new heroes are fighting that problem!” She grinned. The boys blinked in confusion.
“New heroes?” Eloni tilted his head
“Yeah! The 2020 Heroines!” Ren grinned excitedly.
The boys were silent for a beat. That... sounded suspiciously similar to their thing. Should they be concerned?
“Are uh, they related to our city's 1010 Heroes by chance?” Rin asked. Ren almost looked defensive before being cut off by Meloni.
“Doesn’t look like it, current theory is they were inspired by those guys.”
“W-well 1010 is awesome! who wouldn’t want to be like them???” Ren huffed while looking away. Eloni awkwardly chuckled.
“Ah, well imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” Hallie seemed to agree as she nodded as well. Ren wasn’t having it,
“Th-They aren’t copycats though! They’re just-“
Whatever tangent Ren was about to go on was suddenly cut off when something buzzed in her pocket. She pulled out her phone and looked at it and huffed
“Shit, we’ve gotta go. Hey, we'll continue this chat later, yeah?” She looked back at the boys, they seemed a bit confused but nodded. Haym speaking up.
“Yeah! See you later then!” And with that the girls quickly waved goodbye and ran off. Even Zoe, who Zimelu was expecting more of a dramatic farewell from.
Huh
“Well, that was sudden” Zim mumbled
“Hey, maybe something came up. You know how us fellow teens are?” Haym playfully elbowed Zim who gave the yellow teen a look.
“Dude. Really?”
“Okay bad joke attempt but still. I’m sure they’ll be fine-
And then there was an explosion in the distance
The ground tumbled at the reverberations, Causing the boys to stumble.
Eloni gasped.
“Guys, that was close by!”
“What?” Rin looked shocked but eloni nodded.
“Not like, close close but, it’s in the area. Could it be a monster?”
“No way! There are no monsters in Dubwoofer city!” Haym exclaimed. “Unless... that was a lie?”
“It could be a criminal. Perhaps a highly skilled one?” Purl commented.
“Well there’s only one way to find out, let's go team! Ready?”
“Ready!” The boys all exclaimed in unison, pulling out their watches and holding them high.
“1010, boots to the ground!”
[insert 1010 transformation here. We’re back babyyyyy]
“1010 White!”
“1010 Red!”
“1010 Blue!”
“1010 Yellow!”
“1010 Green!”
“Let's bring the heat!”
And after a brief superhero pose, The boys took to the skies. out of habit checking their internal radios, though it was silent only giving off a soft buzz.
Right, they were in a whole other city, neon j wouldn’t know what’s going on here, and if he did he’s way out of range! 1010 White winced.
“Okay guys, I think we might have to wing it- huh?”
Though he was cut off as the radio suddenly buzzed with static, and gradually a voice was heard, though it wasn’t neon j, instead it was a gruff yet commanding voice of someone else.
“Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?” They spoke, white blinked but nodded, then realized that wouldn’t be seen so he spoke.
“Y-yes uh.. sir?”
“Ma’am is fine, now care to explain why you’re on this frequency?” They demanded though before White could answer a girl’s voice suddenly cut in.
“Wait wait! Hold on, I know that voice! You’re 1010 White! From 1010 heroes?? Are you in town?? That’s so cool! Commander! Commander! They can help can’t they?” The energetic girl squealed but was calmed down when another voice said.
“Easy there Cream, we don’t want to overwhelm them or the commander”
“But it’s 1010! They’re super cool and strong and-“
“Okay okay I get it!” The commander cut in again and let out an exasperated sigh. “So, you’re 1010? You’re awfully far from home” they said, addressing White, the silver robot let out a nervous chuckle,
“Yeah, my team and I were just in the area, we heard a commotion and wanted to help. Though from the sounds of it you’re this city's hero group. So you likely have it covered”
He thought he heard Cream make a noise of disappointment but the commander hummed.
“Well, you’re right for the most part. However it seems our usual enemy has stepped up his game, I’m concerned for my girl’s safety since they’re still relatively new to this hero work.”
“Hey! We can kick this guys old fashioned butt just fine-“
“1010 you’re more experienced in combat, yes? Would you be willing to assist? I’ll fill you in on your way to the scene.”
“Right” they all said in unison, and as soon as they were given the location they flew that way.
About halfway they met up with the other androids, White was almost startled at how similar their tech was, but instead of sailor suits they had army style dresses, as well as different colors. Thankfully White had picked up that their naming conventions were similar to their own (he still wonders if he should feel flattered or concerned) there was Cream, the leader with puffy hair, Purple, she had twin drill ponytails and seemed to be second in command, Cyan a serious looking girl with a long baid, Pink she had pointed twin buns on her head but the rest of her hair hung to her shoulders, And Orange she had a bob cut yet an oversized ahoge (Seemes Green wasn’t alone with the wacky hairstyle)
They briefly shared introductions, but didn’t have time to go over their own abilities, as another rumbling sound was heard.
“What’s he up to this time?” Cream grumbled, it seems they were very familiar with this villain, Calcium T had briefed the boys on this man as well.
The Tinkerer. An eccentric inventor who’s M.O. was robbery with various steampunk looking machines and gadgets.
“Fancy” Yellow had hummed. Though as fancy as he sounded he was still at large. So the teams nodded and flew down towards the scene.
A man in an steampunk style vest was looking at a tablet, it kept the progress of one of the robots, digging underground and into the vault. He tapped at the screen and the information of the other bots came into view. Namely how one drone picked up the familiar signals of the android heroines.
He smiled to himself.
“Right on time. Alright! You four with me, everyone else keep up the good work” he directed, four smaller robots nodded and went into the tunnel. The man got up and stepped out into the street to meet the arriving androids.
... wait, why were there ten of them now? But he didn’t get the chance to question it before one spoke up.
“Tinkerer! What are you up to this time?” 2020 Cream declared while pointing accusingly at the well dressed man. He looked over and grinned.
“Ah 2020! Just the girls I wanted to see- er But who’re your friends?” His grand and extravagant voice was cut of when he acknowledged the second group here. 1010 Green gave a nervous wave.
Pink giggled and stated
“That’s 1010! They’re in town so they wanted to help”
“Oh!! Well, I wasn’t prepared for that” the man looked to the side a bit, as if thinking, then nodded and mumbled, “Yeah, Yeah I can still work with this- AHA! You fools! Not even your extra friends can stop my devious plan!” And he was back to the theatrics. Red raised a brow
“He is really hamming this up...” he’d mumble, Yellow grinned.
“Hey I think he’s having fun, and at least he’s not some big threat. Easy day compared to our usual battles” he’d hum
“Easy? Well maybe for you- but no matter, I’ve brought some extra special toys with me today. Hope you don’t mind playing with them for me.” He laughed as he snapped his fingers. And suddenly four animal-like automatons emerged from hiding places.
A large bear with pipes sticking from it, steam rising from them. A small fox robot with fluffy tails and a sailors hat and scarf, a bird that landed on a nearby lamp post, and a bunny, a bright antenna pulsing from its head. The android heroes readied themselves. Cyan furrowed her brow.
“He usually doesn’t bring this many robots with him. Special occasion?” Yellow grinned to himself.
“Well then, we just have to crash his party!”
Cream punched a fist into her hands.
“Alright you all” Tinkerer gestured a hand out and his robots responded
“Divide and conquer!” And with that the animals split up. Both teams scrambled a bit, though quickly realized that was what the enemy wanted. Blue called out.
“We need to team up. Two for an opponent!”
Cyan nodded in agreement. “Cream, White, you handle Tinkerer” she called. And with that planned the groups quickly fell into teams of two and faced whatever robot was closest.
1010 Red and 2020 Pink stood back to back as they faced the bird animatronic. It was the smallest of the bunch, but very quickly was proving itself no pushover. It dropped eggs that exploded into a sticky slime substance, it would clog the hero’s joints if they weren’t careful.
Red chucked another Buzzsaw at the bird but it flew out of the way. He let out a cry of frustration.
“The thing keeps moving too fast! Pink! What can you do?” He asked looking back. She reached up to one of her buns and tugged it off, with a click it was replaced with another and Red could see what was on the underside of the removed bun.
A grenade pin.
“Explosives!” She smiled. Red hummed.
“That’s good but if the bird isn’t in range it’ll be useless.” The two jumped apart as another barrage of eggs was dropped their way. More sticky slime spilling at their feet. Pink looked like she had an idea.
“Hay! Can we try and use those eggs against it?” Red looked confused then seemed to understand.
“You’re onto something Pink! I’ll keep its attention.” She nodded and they split up. Red yelled various bird themed insults at the robot and sure enough it fell for the taunt, and as it dropped another load of sticky bombs Pink tossed a grenade, it fell right between them before exploding, sending the resulting slime right back at the bird. It let out a startled squawk as it struggled to stay in the air, Red easily was able to toss a buzzsaw at it, slicing off one of its wings.
The bird animatronic fell into one of the slime puddles, still moving but very obviously stuck. Red and Pink grinned at each other.
The sound of a whip cracking echoed through the battle as Cyan was attempting to grab the fleety fox. But every time it would quickly dig another hole and escape. Blue was trying to track the movements as well but he was having some struggles.
“If I can just grab it I can keep it still for you” She grumbled, readying her whip for another attack. “I’m just not.. fast enough.” She hissed, seemingly at herself. Blue shook his head.
“I’m sure that will come with time, but since that plan isn’t working...” he looked out at the holes on the field.
“Let’s try something different.” He mumbled, afterwards giving Cyan a motion to stay still. She nodded and kept her whip at the ready.
Being deliberate with his steps, Blue walked around the various holes in the ground, he was sure the robot could hear him, so all he had to do was wait...
A digging sound, and moments later the fox jumped out, screeching as it bared its teeth to attack. Blue saw his chance. Using his staff he smacked the fox like you would a golf ball, sending it over to Cyan, she quickly whipped it, wrapping the end around the fox immobilizing it. She popped off the end of the whip to properly tie the still wiggling fox up.
“Good job, I was worried you wouldn’t have caught on as quickly” Blue hummed causing Cyan to smirk.
“I’m smarter than you give me credit for Blue.”
“YIPE!” Orange cries as she just narrowly blocked an attack.
The android was using her dual Scimitars to block a heavy attack from the bear, but she had to roll out of the way as she couldn’t hold back the robot's brute strength. Yellow knew he couldn’t use his missiles this close range, so he decided to try kicking the robot
Obviously it wasn’t working.
“Um, what do we do?” Orange asked after rolling back, the robot let off a gust of steam, making an almost harmonic chord with those pipes. Afterwards it charged again for another attack.
Yellow was starting to notice a pattern.
“Hey! I got an idea. Keep doing what you’re doing Orange!” He cheered before turning on his feet and running off. Orange looked confused and distressed, about to call out what he was doing before she yelped as the bear swiped at her. She backed up as it went still and let off another chord of steam.
... wait a minute,
“Does… does it need to let off steam every time it attacks?” She asked herself, and as if to answer, the bear charged again. She pulled her weapons together and blocked the hit, trying to hold back the robot, though just as she felt her strength giving out...
“Coby!” Yellow calles before appearing and slam-dunking various rocks into the robots pipes. The pipes gave off a metallic crunch as steam started to build up.
“Aha! Yah! Slam dunk!” Yellow cheered, Orange gave him a nervous smile.
“Um, I think we need to back up sir.”
“Oh! Yeah you’re right” he agreed as he noticed the bear looking odd, the two androids stepped away just as the pipes burst, the bear was left twitching on the floor.
“Oh poor thing...” Orange mumbled,
“I’m sure it’s fiiiine” Yellow reassures while patting her on the back.
“Get it!” Purple called as she made another lunge for the rabbit, but it slipped from her hold and bounced away. Green tried to grab it as well but had no luck either. Purple let off a frustrated huff of air.
“Little bugger keeps slipping away.” She pushed herself to her feet.
“Well, it is a prey animal, they’ve evolved to not get captured.” Green helpfully informed which only got a slightly annoyed look from Purple.
“I can’t use my drills on it if it keeps running away.” She grumbled, looking around the area.
The rabbit robot was sitting up, looking at them from a distance. Green could have sworn it looked almost smug.
“Maybe we can... lure it into my mines?”
“I’m getting the feeling it’s not heavy enough to set them off though.”
Green gave a small smirk. “That won’t matter if I set them off Manually” Purple seemed to get the idea. She then looked around, she saw an alcove that had a narrowing end, if she could lure the rabbit in there...
Green seemed to have the same idea.
“I’ll set up, you chase that rabbit” he nodded before dashing off, and with that Purple turned her attention to the robotic rabbit.
It sat there oh so innocently, mocking her.
Purple slowly raised an arm and deployed the drill at her hand, giving the rabbit a look that could make it drop dead on the spot.
“Get over here bunny!!” She yelled and the chase began again.
As Purple chased the tricky rabbit down, trying to lead it to the alley, Green too a spot above and set his trap, tossing a dozen mines in the path, now all he had to do was wait.
“GET BACK HERE!” He heard Purple call and saw the bunny quickly bounding away, and once it was close enough to the mines.
Click
The area was filled with a green smoke as the mines went off, and when it cleared the rabbit animatronic was some feet away, twitching.
“Freaking finally!” Purple cried in exhaustion, Green hopped down from his perch and walked over to her, patting the androids back.
“You did a great job Purple.” Green hummed
“Don’t patronize me” she quipped back
The sounds of gunfire filled the battlefield as two parties shot at each other, Cream, duel wielding her pistols, almost looking like some action movie hero, and Tinkerer, he only had one revolver but with how quickly he could reload he might as well have been using two.
And then there was White, with his single sword trying hard not to get shot by either party.
So he was ducked behind some cover, though he could still hear the others' voices over the gunfire.
“Hahey! Your aims gotten better, Cream, you’ve been practicing?”
“Well duh! I got two guns, might as well use them!” She grinned though after a moment looked upset.
“Hey! We’re having a fight here, don't try to do pleasantries!”
“You kids just don’t want to talk with an old man huh?” He looked saddened. White poked his head out of the rubble to state,
“I’m glad you two can have a conversation while I’m trying not to get shot- ACH” White ducked behind a wall as another stray shot bounced off of it. That seemed to make Tinkerer pause his own shooting.
“Huh, that’s right, you don’t have a ranged weapon do you, just a sword?” He looked over at where White was, still easily dodging Cream’s gunfire.
“Just a sword sir!” White calles back
“Just a sword, no shield? You look like you could pull off that knightly look” he commented, White stayed quiet. Though Tinkerer seemed to get an idea.
“Well then, let's make things more fair!” And with a twirl he spun his revolver around his finger, and after a few clicks it turned into a short sword. And with a sudden dash he went towards White’s cover.
“Think fast boy!” White let out a startled yelp as he managed to pull his sword up just in time to block a strike. The two engaged in sword play, White trying to find an opening from the Tinkerer’s aggressive barrage of strikes, though it wasn’t made any easier when a few bullets whizzed past his head, too close for comfort. He looked at the only person using a gun and yelled.
“Cream! Be careful you could have hit me!” He might be able to take a bullet as an Android, but it wouldn’t be fun! Cream made an exasperated noise.
“I was aiming for the other guy! It’s hard to shoot when you’re so close together!” She defended, though it sounded weak. White took in a breath to try and give her advice, but Tinkerer beat him to it.
“If I’m too close then find a way to separate us. Your ranged attacks could be dangerous to your ally as well if I stay close to him” White looked confused, but didn’t have the time to question it as another strike came his way.
Cream sat there racking her brain, trying to think of some way to help her teammate.
Her hero.
She can’t keep shooting, she’s just as likely to hit White as she is Tinkerer. But what else can she...
Suddenly she remembered something her brother did to open a jammed door
She had an idea.
Metal continued to clash against metal as the two continued their sword duel, Tinkerer grinned.
“You’re pretty handy with a blade, boy! Teach yourself the trade?”
“My captain trained me sir-“ White huffed, he couldn’t help a small smile at the compliment, even if it was from a villain.
“Well! Give your captain my regards when you get back!” He emphasized his words with a strong strike, which managed to knock White down. Though instead of taking the chance to deal a critical blow, he stood there with his arms out.
“Come on kiddo get up! I know you’ve still got some fight in ya.” White gave him a confused look, “I’m sure I don’t have to remind ya that in a real fight an enemy won’t wait for you to get up.
What is with this guy? He keeps giving them pointers. White was flabbergasted, he'd never met a villain who seemed more concerned with training the heros rather than defeating them,
“What is your deal??” White exclaimed, the exhaustion from their sword fight kicking in and making him snappy.
“You’re treating this like some kind of game, do you want to actually win or not?!” Whatever response he was expecting, White didn’t get, instead Tinkerer looked serious.
“There’s going to be more dangerous criminals than me, least I can do I make sure they’re prepared”
“Wha-“ But before White could get an answer he suddenly heard a battle cry. Moments later Cream jetted in And kicked the criminal in the chest, knocking him back a good few feet.
“Yeah! Eat that old man!” Cream declares before offering a hand to White.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, just tired, nice kick there.” He chuckled a bit, a bold move like that was risky, but it was funny it worked.
Tinkerer pushes himself onto his feet, though something beeps in his pocket and he opens some tablet that was clipped on his belt.
“...ah! That’s my cue. You all did a number to my boys huh?” He laughed, grinning happily. “More work for me then!”
“Wha- Hey! You’re not getting away that easily!” Cream held up her pistol again. But Tinkerer simply pulled off his hat, oh so he keeps his hair tied up under there?
“I’m afraid I will, until next time 2020, 1010, Chou~” And suddenly a wooden coco bird spring from the top of his hat and released a thick gas bomb, completely ruining visibility.
By the time the smoke cleared the man was gone.
...
And so were the damaged robots.
“Huh?”
“Where did they?”
“Did he grab the bots when he ran?”
“....he stole my whip...”
The androids all met up soon after. Cyan looked upset but she’d be okay.
“He got away again” Cream huffed.
“What else is new?” Purple shrugged
“So does he always do stuff like that?” White asked.
“Yeah, usually he fights us to keep us distracted while he- OH SHIT!” Cream suddenly looked worried.
“What? What happened?!” Green looked around as if there was still danger. Cyan put a hand to her ear and blanked.
“Yep.. just got confirmation from the commander. He stole a large bag of cash from the vault.”
“SON OF A-“ but Cream was cut off as the commander tuned into all of their comms.
“I’ve sent word for the clean up crew to arrive, everyone return to base. Good work out there today” they state before tuning out. The androids all looked at each other, and with a nod took off. Thankfully 2020 lead the way back to their base.
They arrived at what White could only call an estate. There were fences and a large mansion with a fountain out front.
‘This commander of theirs must be stupid rich’ he thought to himself, as they landed the girl’s lead them to an underground bunker, with the various gadgets and vehicle parts laying about White felt it was safe to assume this was the commanders workshop. And sure enough, waiting there was a cyborg.
They had a radio for a head, and dark colored prosthetics on their arms and legs, they wore a no sleeved turtle neck and had a fluffy jacket tied around their waist. They turned and looked at the androids as they arrived.
“1010, it’s a pleasure to meet you in person. I am Calcium T” she introduced herself. “I’m an old colleague of Neon’s”
Wait, really? This was news to the boys, White opened his mouth to speak but before anything could be said, the radio head curtly cut them off.
“Now before anyone does anything I wish to make something perfectly clear.” They turned and pointed directly at 1010.
“You will not reveal your civilian identities to me”
The boys were flabbergasted, that possibility hadn’t even passed their minds.
Though Yellow would be a liar if he said he wasn’t about to detransform out of habit. Thankfully Green spoke up in confusion.
“I’m sorry, can I ask why you say that?”
“Gladly. It’s because it would put me at an unfair advantage.” They stated simply, crossing their arms across her chest.
“Neon j isn’t aware that I’m in this area, as far as I’m aware anyhow, and if I knew the secret identity of his team while he was still ignorant of mine, that would put me at an unfair advantage.
...
And a risk.” Despite the lack of eyes, they gave the boys a serious look.
“The more people who know of your secret identities the more likely it is for a dangerous enemy to find them and use it against you. Putting yourself and your loved ones at risk.
I refuse to put Neon though any more distress than he has already”
The room was silent. She made a noise akin to clearing their throat before speaking again.
“...if you choose to reveal your identities to each other... I suppose I cannot stop you. But I trust you’ll think over that decision.” The radio head nodded.
“Anyhow, your assistance today was greatly appreciated. I hope my girls were able to learn something from your example.”
“O-oh!” White blinked, almost thrown off by the subject change, he nodded with a smile.
“Thank you, we’re glad to be of help. Hope we can work together again sometime”
“Hmm... likewise.” Calcium T nodded. And with that they marched out of the room.
“The girls know where to find me. They can also lead you to the exits. Goodbye” and without much fanfare the radio headed commander left the room.
Leaving both android teams alone.
There was an uncomfortable silence in the air. Until Pink broke it.
“....so... what’s the call on revealing our identities to each other? Because I’m all for it” she stated with a hum. Without much else prompting other than a look from both Blue and Cyan, she explained.
“Well, my thought is we could help each other better if we knew the other was in the area. Like, we run into each other at the mall then, uh oh! Monster attack! We don’t have to come up with an excuse to disappear we just jump into action.” She shrugged.
“And it’s nice to know you’re not alone?”
“I agree with Pink” Cream nodded eagerly. “Maybe I’m a bit biased but I’m all for us knowing each others secret identities.”
“You’re just saying that because you want to know who 1010 are don’t you Cream” Purple rolled her eyes which got her a nasty glare from cream.
But before anything else could be said Red spoke up.
“I’m for it too. But we have to discuss the possible dangers of it, while unlikely, it could be possible a villain finds out one of us knows the others secret identities.... and I have a few people I don’t want to get hurt because of that” Red looked to the side briefly. Then shook his head.
“Even though in my case, I know they all can handle themselves, I don’t know any of your lives.”
Blue nodded. “I agree, it is risky. We’ve been fortunate enough not to have any fear of that exact scenario coming true. But we’d be foolish not to think ahead.” He adjusted his glasses. “If it was up to me I’d be against it.”
“I’m in agreement with Blue” Cyan spoke up. “But I suppose a majority vote is in order,”
“It seems the most fair” White agreed. “All in favor of revealing our identities to each other, knowing the risks involved, raise their hands”
And after a pause, six hands out of ten went up.
Purple, who had her hand down, shrugged.
“Suppose that settles it then” she didn’t seem all that phased.
“I think the risk is worth knowing the face of new allies.” Green lowered his hand now that the vote was over.
“So, on three then? We all detransform” Cream asked, and after the others nodded White counted,
“Ready, one”
“Two...”
“Three.”
“1010: at ease!”
“2020: stand down!”
And the room was briefly filled with a bright light at ten separate android hero’s returning to their civilian form.
And when Rin opened his eyes.
He saw Ren and her friends standing across from them.
A beat passed.
“HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS WERE 1010!” Ren exclaimed with shock and excitement, Haym immediately yelled afterwards,
“YOU GUYS WERE 2020!! FOR REAL???”
“WHAT THE F-“ several of the teens erupted into excited squeals. Maybe even a few laughs at the odds of this happening.
Meloni though, went over to Eloni and grabbed his shoulder.
“Okay I feel the need to apologize about my behavior with that rabbit...”
“A-Ah no it’s okay, you were frustrated” Eloni waved his hands, reassuring her it was okay. Besides, he didn't want to get on her bad side.
Among all the excited chatter, Zoe scooter over to her sibling.
“Sooooo super heroing huh?” She grinned at him. Zimelu shrugged.
“Eh, Captain did me a solid, and I was on board, how’d you get involved anyhow?”
“Ren asked me if I wanted to join the team, we were friends so I said yes!” She hummed. Zim raised a brow then shrugged when he realized that sounded like something she’d agree to.
They were both quiet for a moment.
Then another.
Zimelu sighed.
“I’m... sorry for not staying in contact. A lot of shit happened and, well I might have been using the hero thing as an excuse not to try and reconnect...” he looked down, Zoe looked over at him, she had an understanding look on her face. She pat his arm.
“Hey, it’s okay. Dad sucks, but I’m glad you got some good friends” she said, looking over at the other teens. Zimelu nodded with a chuckle.
“Yeah, these guys are cool. And the captain lets me stay at his place sometimes so...” Zoe grinned at hearing that.
“Oh that’s awesome! You'll have to tell me all about him! You’ll do that right?” She asked, bouncing eagerly.
Zimelu smiled. “Yeah, I promise I’ll keep in contact from now on too. I’ve uh, missed talking to you.” Zoe let out an excited squeal and hugged him.
“Yay!! Mom will be so glad to hear that!”
Zimelu flinched. “Uh, no promises on talking to mom though, I’m uh... not ready for that.” Zoe pulled away and nodded.
“Okay, but when you are let me know. There’s no rush, promise.”
Zimelu nodded, the two siblings relaxing now that things have worked out.
Soon enough the teens left the estate and returned to their usual day, the boys catching up with the teachers and making it in time for the history thing.
Compared to the excitement just hours before this felt pretty bland in comparison, at least Haym seemed into it.
But soon enough, it was over and it was time to leave. Just as the boys thought they wouldn’t have seen the girls again, a familiar voice called out.
“Hey Rin!!” Ren was waving them down, her friend group trying to keep up.
“Oh! Ren! Hey, coming to see us off?”
“You bet!” She nodded, then pointed behind her.
“Also wanted to let you know, if you want any of our numbers ask Pearl, she has them all”
“We have a group chat” Pearl deadpanned. Haym snickered,
“Oh sweet! I’d love to talk with you all more!”
Though the conversation was brief, they all said their goodbyes as they were called to board the bus.
As the students were filed into the bus. Zimelu looked back to see his sister waving him off. He gave a smile and waved back before climbing onto the bus himself.
As the school bus drove away he watched out the window as Dubwoofer city disappeared in the distance. While the academic side of the trip wasn’t all that interesting, he’s sure he’d remember this trip fondly.
He looked down at his phone as it buzzed. He got a text;
Zster sent a photo:
And attached to the message was the group photo everyone had taken together. Zoe herself being the one to hold the phone out.
The red teen chuckled. As he opened up another message to let Tux know the bus was heading back to the school he thought over the events of today,
He supposed there were worse ways to reconnect with family.
...
He hoped to see Zoe again soon, and the rest of her friends.
He’s sure neon would find them amusing at least,
And he no doubt would be curious about 2020.
He’ll have to let him know when he gets to his place. But until then, Zimelu tried to take a nap, zoning out the noise of various students chatting or singing to sleep the rest of the ride.
[Fade to black roll credits]
“Next time on 1010 Heroes: while the team is away a new monster comes out to play! Neon j and an old friend must team up to defeat it, with the help of an unexpected ally, will they be able to defeat the slithery serpent? Find out on the next exciting episode of
1010 Heroes!”