Work Text:
It was a calm, clear day at Gar's Bodega, one of the first warm mornings of the year. The parking lot glistened with overnight rain, largely devoid of the armored vehicles that would be occupying it in a matter of hours.
Rad and Enid arrived at the same time, Enid flicking through her key ring while Rad fidgeted at her side. It didn't take long to find the right key, both teenagers entering together.
"... Okay dude, spill," said Enid when Rad had squirmed a little too long for her liking. "What's got you acting like Dendy's stalking you again?"
"Well, first of all, she is," Rad grumbled, narrowing his eyes at an inconspicuous aisle.
Dendy hurriedly withdrew.
"And second of all? K.O. has the day off school today, right? Something about a fur-row day?"
"You mean a furlough day?" clarified Enid. "The school district really needs to start paying those teachers better. I know they can afford it."
"Right there with you, sister," Rad agreed. "But if K.O. doesn't have class, do you think that means he'll get to clock in earlier?"
Enid's hands came to her cheeks. "Oh my Cob, I didn't even think about that! We won't have to work the morning rush all by ourselves!"
"Oh, it's better than that!" said Rad. "Look outside! There is no rush! So not only will we get more time with K.O..."
"... We won't have any customers to ignore while we hang out!" Enid finished.
"This is gonna be the best work day ever!" Rad cheered. "Look! I think that's him now!"
He and Enid pressed themselves against the windows, and sure enough, Carol's tank-car had just pulled into its usual parking space near the dojo. Seconds later, Carol herself emerged from the driver's seat, coming around the back to unbuckle her kid.
"Here he comes...!" Enid gasped.
"Let's go say hi!" Rad declared.
The teens ran outside to meet their favorite coworker, just as Carol stepped aside to let her passenger out of his seat.
However, it wasn't exactly the kid they were expecting.
"T.K.O.!" Rad and Enid cheered in unison, arms raised.
"Bwuh?!" T.K.O. grunted, having not expected such a bombastic greeting so early in the morning.
"Hey, I feel like I haven't seen you in forever, little man!" said Rad.
"Yeah! What are you doing here today, anyway?" asked Enid, no less friendly. "You never work shifts at the bodega. Aren't weekends more of your thing?"
"Yeah, well, K.O. and I traded a day," T.K.O. mumbled. "I never get to fight the robots since they only attack the plaza, and I can't fight them if I'm not in the plaza, so..."
"Oh, I see how it is," Rad teased. "You aren't here to hang out with us at all, is that it?"
T.K.O. quirked a brow. "Uh, yeah. I just told you why I was here."
A single tear ran down Rad's cheek.
"Well, happy to have you here anyway," said Enid. "Come on, let's see if we can't find any new ways to slack off until a Boxbot shows up. Or..." she shuddered, "... a customer."
"Disgusting," T.K.O. sneered.
"Alright, but don't slack off too hard, now," Carol instructed. "I know it's important for you to be able to stretch your legs every once in a while, Teeks. But don't forget, it's also important for you to earn your wage! You be good for Gene, and I'll give you an extra cookie when you get home tonight. Deal?"
T.K.O. fought to keep the look of absolute disgust off of his face. Though some time had passed since his reluctant acceptance of his mom's boyfriend, it was no secret that the two of them weren't exactly getting along swimmingly, despite Mr. Gar's awkward efforts.
It was true, though, that T.K.O.'s loyalty could often be bought with sweet bribes.
"Ugh, fiiiiiiiine," he droned, rolling his eyes hard enough that his whole head moved with them.
"Attaboy, Teeks!" Carol praised, affectionately ruffling her son's hair.
"Agh, mom! Knock it off!" T.K.O. growled, slapping her hands away.
"Oh, alright," Carol sighed, mercifully withdrawing her hand. "No touching the 'do before work, got it. But we can make an evening of it later if you want, alright? Ginger showed me a cool new brand of nail gloss the other day, and I saw a few hairstyles in a magazine that I thought we could try–"
"No!" T.K.O. shouted. He blushed when he saw Rad and Enid stifling chuckles out of the corner of his eye. "We don't make evenings, remember?! No hair, no nails, nothing! We don't do stuff like that!"
Carol, obviously, knew otherwise, but she also knew not to push it. "Oh, right! I must be thinking of Peekaboo. Silly me! He was talking about trying some ponytail styles a few days ago, and I must have gotten things mixed up. Anyway, have a good day at work, kiddo!"
T.K.O. blew a harsh breath from between pursed lips. "Like good days ever happen at work, of all places..."
"Oh, don't worry about it, T.K.O.," Enid said. "We'll find some way to make it an interesting shift."
"Heh, yeah," agreed Rad, face pinched as he suppressed his laughter. "There's all sorts of ways we can goof off, Teeks."
"Watch it," T.K.O. warned.
"Did I just hear about a conspiracy to goof off?!" Mr. Gar shouted, appearing behind his employees as if he'd materialized out of thin air. All three of them jumped. "Not on my watch! If you have time to play, you have time to... er... lay! On your hands and knees! Scrubbing the floors!"
"Ugh, scrubbing the floors?" Rad groaned. "Isn't that usually K.O.'s job?"
"That's right! K.O., why don't you go and– oh!" Mr. Gar stopped mid-instruction as he realized his bubbliest employee wasn't standing in front of him. "T.K.O.! It's, ah-herm, a lovely surprise to see you working today."
He slowly brought one hand down for a pat, fingers twisting with sheer reluctance. T.K.O. hissed, hair bristling.
Mr. Gar withdrew his hand. "Right. Well! Keep up the good work out there!" With that, he hurriedly disappeared into his office in a way that definitely didn't resemble a panicked scurry.
"But... we haven't done anything yet," said Enid.
T.K.O. groaned. "It's way too early to deal with this nonsense."
In that exact moment, the sky darkened, clouds forming a halo in the sky as they deposited a Voxmore box directly in front of the bodega.
T.K.O. grinned, his mood turning in an instant. "But it's never too early for a good battle!"
"Nice, good timing!" said Rad. "If you're itching for it, we'll let you handle this one."
"Uh, are you sure we should leave him alone when we don't know which robot is attacking yet?" asked Enid. "Venomous has been making some weird changes lately..."
Rad waved a hand. "This is T.K.O. we're talking about. He can handle it."
"That's right," T.K.O. chimed in, one hand already encased in purple sparks. "And don't you forget it!"
Enid huffed, but she relented, a small smile on her face. "Hard to argue with that. Give 'em heck, T.K.O.!"
"Heh, like you need to tell me."
With that, both Rad and Enid retreated into the bodega to presumably start their opening duties. Or, more likely, to watch the fight go down from the safety of its interior.
Once they were gone, T.K.O. focused his attention back on the box, watching with bated breath as it slowly slid open. "So, what's it gonna be this time? A Mega Darrell? A couple of Raymonds? Heck, I'd even take that weird, ugly baby. Whatever it is, this better be worth my time."
His questions were answered a moment later as the contents of the box made themselves known. It wasn't a Mega Darrell, nor a pair of Raymonds. In fact, it wasn't a robot at all, but rather...
"Heya, Lakewood Lame-o!"
T.K.O. groaned. "Ugh, seriously?! It's just that stupid rat kid!"
"Hey! Who are you calling stupid, ya big dummy?!" Fink jeered, shaking a fist.
"I'm calling you stupid, stupid!" T.K.O. shot back. "I was hoping to get an actual challenge today, not a weak little pipsqueak like you!"
For a moment, Fink looked fit to burst, steam hissing from her ears while her tail stuck straight out behind her. The moment quickly passed, however, her posture relaxing into something more confident, her fangs poking out from behind her smirk.
"Oh, don't you worry. I'll be giving you a challenge, alright."
She reached into her pocket, and from it she withdrew a small, glowing green glorb, raising it towards her collar. "I think one of these bad boys should be more than enough to wipe the floor with a mama's boy like you."
T.K.O. didn't see fit to stop her from powering up; being more than familiar with what a glorb could be capable of, especially in Fink's reckless hands, he knew that such an artifact promised an interesting fight, even if not a particularly difficult one.
It took him a second to register what she'd called him.
"Wait, what did you just say?"
"You heard me, punk!" Fink was on him in an instant, rushing him faster than the untrained eye could follow.
T.K.O., however, was not untrained. His fist connected with hers, halting her advance. When that attack failed, she swiped with her other hand, the air sizzling between her claws as she forced T.K.O. to retreat.
Though he'd started the fight on the wrong foot, T.K.O. was quick to recover, gritting his teeth as he blocked Fink's next slash with his forearm, sweeping it wide with a wave of force. "If you've got something to say, then say it to my face!"
"Oh, I'll say it, alright," Fink drawled. "In fact, I'll even SPRAY IT!"
She thrust both hands forwards in an alternating motion, sending a volley of energy blasts T.K.O.'s way. He deftly parried them with a flurry of Power Fists, using his attack as cover to get in close.
To his surprise, Fink was ready for him. She struck quickly enough that he couldn't get his arms up in time to block, and was sent skidding back for his error. Though he was left unharmed, he growled in frustration at the attack's success.
"Pfft, is that really the best you've got?" Fink mocked. "Heh, I guess I shouldn't have expected much from a mama's boy like you."
So T.K.O. hadn't misheard her the first time. He gnashed his teeth, fingers sparking. "I thought I told you... to say it to my face!"
He charged, brandishing both hands like he had claws to match Fink's. She met him head-on, quite literally, the two of them bashing their foreheads together in an attempt to overpower one another.
"Do I gotta spell it out for ya or something?" Fink teased. "Or does your mommy usually do that for you, mama's boy?!"
"Arrgh, stop calling me that!" T.K.O. tilted his head back, then brought it forwards to make harsh contact with Fink's. To his satisfaction, it worked, sending her reeling. The effect didn't last long, and she quickly took to the air, where T.K.O. followed. However, she didn't attack again right away.
"Calling you what, a mama's boy?" Fink droned. "I'm just calling it how I see it, bub."
"Well, you're seeing things!" T.K.O. shouted. "I'm not a mama's boy!"
Fink pointed an accusing finger. "Nice try, but you can't lie to me. I know what I saw! I overheard your precious mommy fawning over you, and promising to do your nails and makeup, and saying she'd give you extra snacks and treats! D'awww, you must be looking forward to it so much, if you agreed to stay at this lame old plaza all day."
Unbidden, T.K.O. felt the heat rising to his cheeks. "N-Nuh-uh! She never said anything about makeup!"
Fink pressed the back of her hand against her forehead in a show of apologetic distress. "Oh, gosh, silly me! I must have gotten confused by all the mushy lovey-dovey stuff you were saying to each other. I definitely didn't see you denying anything, mama's boy."
If T.K.O. could have turned any redder, he would have. Instead of focusing on his mortification, he turned it into anger, fists glowing with malevolent power as he flew at Fink at full speed.
Seeing as she'd goaded him on, she was more than ready for his approach. She evaded T.K.O.'s attack by floating a couple feet higher, then kicked him back down to the ground. He barely caught himself, landing hard enough on his hands and knees that he dented the pavement beneath him.
"What's wrong?" Fink taunted, touching down much more gently than her opponent had. "Are you having a hard time keeping up, mama's boy? You going soft, or what? Gonna run home crying to mommy?"
"I told you," T.K.O. bit out, "to stop calling me that!" He charged, brandishing his fists as he got close.
Fink knew she had T.K.O. wrapped around her little finger. She smirked, blocking every blow as they came, knowing that her target was much too riled up to make a proper attack.
"My my, you really have gotten soft! What happened to little ol' me not being enough of a challenge for you? Does your mama really coddle you that much?"
"Shut up!" T.K.O. bellowed. He lashed out, the force behind that attack finally being enough to shove Fink back. "I'm not a mama's boy, and I'm not soft! You have no idea what you're talking about, and no idea who you're dealing with!"
"Aww, have I touched a nerve?" Fink crooned, finger to her chin. "Gosh, I guess I have been a little harsh. Heck, maybe I was even wrong about you. I guess you're not a mama's boy after all."
T.K.O.'s eyes narrowed. "What are you playing at now, rat?"
"Oh, nothing, nothing at all," Fink replied innocently. "Just, you know, I've been thinking all of a sudden. If you really aren't a mama's boy, then that must mean... that you... are secretly... a daddy's boy, ain'tcha?"
"T.K.O., that man... is your father."
"I didn't know, but I wondered."
"What am I?"
"I'm your power, and that means I am what I am."
T.K.O.'s fists clenched at his sides.
"You're wrong."
Fink grinned.
"Oh, am I? My mistake. I just assumed, you know, since you had so much in common–"
"Stop talking."
Fink wouldn't.
"–but what's it matter anyway, huh? Maybe you've got your mama fawning all over you, but it isn't like your daddy loves you. Not in the way someone as sappy and dumb as you wants him to. He'd probably offer you makeup and treats too, if he did. I bet you'd like that more than anything, wouldn'tcha? It's too bad, really. But, yanno, they say boys are s'posed to turn out like their daddies, right? Not that I would know anything about that, but if it's true, then I bet it'll be no time at all before you can–"
T.K.O. grabbed her by the collar.
Fink blanched. "Wh– Hey! Let go of me, you brute!"
T.K.O. didn't answer her. Instead, he lifted her high into the air, his whole arm crackling with unshed power. Fink grabbed his wrist, feet kicking and teeth gnashing, but the power T.K.O. expressed now was nothing like what he was showing off before. His grip didn't even loosen.
In fact, it tightened, shattering the collar instantly. Without a conduit with which to circulate power, Fink immediately lost her turbonic form.
Suddenly, she found herself eyeing the ground far below them with much more apprehension.
"Hey uh, time-out!"
T.K.O. spiked Fink towards the ground, hot on her heels. She lacked the ability to stop her fall, not that T.K.O. would let her, shoving her into the ground hard enough to crater it.
Winded, Fink hurriedly patted her pockets in search of more glorbs, finding none, though they would have been of little use anyway without her collar. In that moment, she realized maybe she'd needled her opponent a little too much.
T.K.O. threw another fist, which Fink barely rolled out of the way of in time. She raised an arm to guard her face against the spray of asphalt that ensued.
Frustrated at his latest miss, T.K.O. roared, slamming both fists against the ground. Massive chunks of pavement upended like he'd splashed a puddle of water, tossing Fink into the air with them. Catching herself, she scurried across the makeshift platforms in an attempt to reach flat ground, only for T.K.O. to burst through the one she was traveling down and bowl her over.
Fink slapped and scratched at T.K.O.'s arms, tears in her eyes as she realized that, without her turbonic form, she wasn't going to be able to get away unscathed. "Luh... Let go of me, you big bully!"
She made the mistake of looking into T.K.O.'s eyes, and the utter rage that boiled there assured her that she was probably going to end up worse than scathed.
He pulled a fist, the sheer amount of raw power radiating from it looking like more than enough to pummel Fink. Seeing what it had done to the ground around them, Fink hated to imagine what it could do to her.
This wasn't fun anymore.
Thinking quickly, she grabbed a fistful of dirt, throwing it into T.K.O.'s eyes. It did its job, forcing him to release her with a scream.
Taking her chance, Fink sprinted for the box she'd arrived in, hopping onto the Rat Trike contained within. She barely took the time to secure her helmet before pedaling off.
"Oh, you just wait until Boss hears about this!" Fink cried, shaking her fist as she made her hasty getaway.
T.K.O. finally recovered from the impromptu sand attack, eyes red and teary with irritation as he glared at Fink's retreating back.
She wasn't escaping that easily.
"COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT ME, YOU COWARD!" he shouted, rocketing after her.
Only to screech to a halt as purple energy so unlike his own snared his waist.
"I've gotcha, buddy!" Rad grunted, holding onto his wrist as he strained to contain his captive.
"You... Stay out of this!" T.K.O. threw himself downwards, easily shattering his restraints. Once free of them, however, he found himself trapped yet again, this time by corporeal shadows.
Enid's hands shook as she struggled to maintain her jutsu. "You chased her off, already, T.K.O... You've won...!"
"No! I'm not through with her!"
T.K.O. flexed, breaking free of his newest bonds. Enid cried out as her concentration was forcibly broken. Rad was by her side in an instant, index finger raised and at the ready.
But T.K.O. wouldn't let him restrain him again. He raised his arms up high, and with a mighty shout, brought them back down, launching a shockwave at the teens.
Rad was ready. He used his finger beam to raise one of the upturned asphalt chunks, using it as a makeshift shield to protect both him and Enid from the crippling wave of force.
When he dropped the stone, T.K.O. was right behind it, throwing a right hook that sent Rad flying into the plaza sign with a resonating THUD!
T.K.O. froze.
A forest, almost too dark to see in.
A swampy green haze creeping in at the edges of his vision.
A large boulder, dented and spiderwebbing with cracks.
A body, big and blue, laying in a broken heap.
A hooded visage with a satisfied, crooked grin.
T.K.O.'s hands fell limp at his sides.
"... Rad?"
He sprinted for the sign, arms outstretched as Rad's form slowly peeled away from it. Enid didn't stop him when he ran past.
T.K.O. caught Rad before he could hit the ground, carefully setting him down at the base. "Come on, Rad, say something, speak to me..."
To his relief, Rad was still conscious. He groaned, clutching at his elbow. "Ow, my bones... Feel better now, T.K.O...?"
He didn't. In fact, he was mortified. Without Fink there to egg him on, it hit T.K.O. all at once what he had just done.
The parking lot was completely trashed; pieces of vehicles would have been strewn about the place if any had been present for the battle. Letters crumbled and fell off of the sign where Rad had been launched into them. Rad himself was covered in dust and debris from the impact, face tight in that way it got whenever he didn't want to let on how much pain he was in. Enid, though physically unharmed, was sweating, her pinched face a clear sign of the mental toll it took on her just to contain T.K.O. for a few seconds.
He looked down at his hands. They trembled, not with guilt, but with the muted fury still bubbling beneath the surface, seeping out of him in the form of angry purple sparks. He squeezed his fists tighter until he could feel his nails digging into his palms, muting the power that still wanted to spill over.
It happened again. He'd gone on another rampage.
It had been a while since the last one, but it was bound to happen sooner or later. It was inevitable, wasn't it?
"T.K.O.?" The boy startled, not realizing that Enid had approached him.
He quickly backed away, overcome with a feeling of dread he couldn't quite explain. "Stay away from me!"
With another moan, Rad sat up, then carefully got to his feet. "Ugh... You okay, little dude? You look a little freaked."
That funny feeling in T.K.O.'s chest only grew at his concern. "D-Don't come any closer! Or I'll... I'll hurt you again!"
Rad and Enid looked at each other.
Enid spoke up first, reaching out a hand. "Look, T.K.O. I–"
"I told you to stay away!" T.K.O. gnashed, taking another step back. "Don't you get it?! One wrong move and I'll fly off the handle, just like I always do! You saw what I did to Fink! You saw what I did to Rad! You know I'll do the same thing to you!"
Enid shook her head. "T.K.O., I don't think that–"
"Well why not?!" T.K.O. cut her off. "Why would this be different from any other time?! This is what I'm best at, isn't it?! I can't stop! I don't know how to stop! One wrong move and I'll snap, and heck, maybe I'll take out the whole plaza this time while I'm at it! You know it's true! Destroying is the one thing I'm good at, right?!"
Before he knew it, a large, blue pair of arms had wrapped around him.
It was too tight. His breathing was way too fast. He felt like he was about to shake himself to pieces.
At his sides, his fingers hooked like claws, crackling with power. He made a conscious effort to close them.
"What... What are you doing...?" he warbled.
Mercifully, Rad let him go, giving him just enough space that they could make eye contact. "Giving you a hug, dude. I know you don't like them, but you kinda looked like you needed one."
T.K.O.'s lip quivered. "But... why? After what I did... I don't deserve–"
"Ah. None of that," Enid cut him off.
"But I–"
"T.K.O., come on," said Enid. "Fink knows how to get under anyone's skin. It's not your fault she doesn't know when to stop pushing people's buttons."
"But I wrecked the parking lot!" T.K.O. cried. "I hurt Rad! I almost hurt you!"
"Uh, yeah, sure. But you stopped," Rad pointed out. "Compared to what the parking lot usually looks like after a fight with, well, pretty much anyone, this is pretty minor stuff."
T.K.O. glared at his bruises. "Doesn't look minor to me..."
"Oh, for crying out loud, T.K.O.," Enid groaned. "We're trying to tell you we're not mad at you, okay?"
"Huh? You're... not?" T.K.O. mumbled. He shook his head. "I don't get it. After everything that's happened, everything I did, why wouldn't you be–?"
This time, two sets of arms were around him. He froze, not entirely trusting himself to move.
"Because you're our friend," Enid replied, squeezing just a little tighter.
"Yeah," Rad agreed. "We love and appreciate you, dude."
T.K.O. frowned at that. He'd heard that same sentence half a million times by now, and he knew what it meant. "You love and appreciate K.O., you mean."
"No!" Rad yelled, scandalized. "Well... Okay, yeah, of course we do. But we love and appreciate you, too."
"Right," Enid added. "We know you didn't mean to do any of this. Sure, you've got a pretty nasty temper, but we're figuring out how to work around it, right? It isn't your fault if Fink decided to mess around and find out."
"... Even though I hurt Rad?"
"Even then, little buddy," Rad affirmed. "Besides, you only hit me once this time. I'm not even hurt that badly, see?"
To prove his point, he gave a thumbs-up with his injured hand. The gesture brought tears to his eyes.
It was such a strange feeling.
T.K.O. was used to being shut down. He knew his presence was generally tolerated now, but he remembered fully well how things used to be. Fights escalating too quickly for anyone to keep up, including himself. K.O.'s friends and family gathering around, appealing to K.O.'s affections until he found the strength to hold T.K.O. back. K.O. was the one people really wanted, and who could blame them? He was easier to stomach than T.K.O. was.
He was prone to outbursts. He knew it. Everyone knew it. His tantrums were the stuff of legend, and nobody had any hope of taming him, no matter what anyone said. T.K.O. had yet to see anyone pull it off, at any rate. At least not before he was done riding it out.
Although, he supposed, that was happening sooner and sooner. It had taken a good bit of goading from Fink to really get him going, even though the ease with which she did so was admittedly pretty humiliating. The reminder alone was enough for his fingers to start itching to hit something again.
Once again, T.K.O. forced his hands into fists, cutting off the flow of energy before it could get loose.
... Oh.
T.K.O. had never thought about it before. Not in earnest, at least. But it really was getting easier to reign in his anger, wasn't it? Rad had said so himself; T.K.O. only hit him once before stopping. T.K.O. would have preferred not to at all, but it was definitely a far cry from shattering his skeleton twice over.
He wasn't accustomed to having this sort of restraint. He didn't think he would ever get it completely right, and today didn't help that notion. But he was doing much better than he once would have, wasn't he?
T.K.O. had never wanted to be a villain. He'd never considered himself one, even when everyone else wanted to paint him that way. But lately, he felt like he had a better reason to convince himself that wasn't true.
He wasn't sure who he would be if he didn't have people like Rad, Enid, and his mom in his corner. He didn't really get why they were, and he would never dare to admit it out loud, but he was very glad he had them.
For once in his life, he didn't feel like he was being condemned for who he was. He'd destroyed most of the parking lot, and Enid understood exactly why. He'd lashed out at the people who only wanted to comfort him, and received immediate forgiveness from Rad in return. He wasn't ignored. He wasn't told to leave, or treated as a burden for expressing himself in the one way he knew how. Even K.O. hadn't tried to stop him at any point, during the fight nor after.
At the thought of his alter, a word popped into T.K.O.'s head, putting a name to the feeling he'd felt roiling in his chest, so different to the blend of apathy and fear and anger and hatred that usually churned there.
Trust.
For the first time, T.K.O. felt like he could trust in the people who insisted on staying by his side. Or maybe he felt like they trusted in him.
No, not trusted. Not just that.
He felt seen.
Fink had called him soft. Maybe that wasn't the awful thing she'd tried to make it seem.
T.K.O. opened his arms, and neither Rad nor Enid hesitated to return the embrace.
"... You do know you're cleaning this up, though, right?" said Enid.
"Ugh. Yeah, that's fair."