Among Friends
First: Fraying
by Lady Virgo
"Don't become afraid of the unknown. Don't become comforted by the routine."
///
With a practiced pull of his wrist, Ring pulled the receiver from his ear, one hand typing on the computer as he checked the readouts. The input wire that connected to the back of the med consol coiled on the floor by his feet before it looped lazily by the examination table, snaking up to where Crash sat, facing his friend. The small panel on the back of his neck was popped open, the cable connecting to the small of his neck- blipping methodically as it transferred information to the computer.
"It's nothing serious." Ring said, scrolling over the chart. "Just a small chemical imbalance, nothing we need to worry about at the moment."
"I know it's not that bad." The older robot said, swinging his feet somewhat childishly. "I just don't want it to get /that/ /bad/ again." He emphasized the statement with a bit of a scowl. Ring groaned good naturally.
"I don't really think /anyone/ wants it to get that bad again." He smiled reassuringly at Crash before he reached around and unhooked the connection. "Stronger dose?"
The orange robot jumped to his feet. "Nah." He grinned. "Just a refill should be fine. I'll come back if it gets any worse."
"You do that." Ring's eyes suddenly became worried. "You know, I could check your output generator. See what it is that's making these imbalances and see if I can't stop it."
"No worries, Ring-o." He took a deep breath, doing a couple of stretches to prove that he was perfectly healthy- despite the fact that it wasn't a matter of physical health. "You took a Gel sample and it came out negative. Obviously it's not that big of a problem."
"It's not now. But the readouts we got when-"
"C'mon!" Crash was practically jogging in place. He never really did like being in medbay. "So long as I keep my levels down, it won't effect my performance or have to go through that crap again." He waved at Ring as he headed out the doors. "I'll see you later! Me an' Quick are meeting for lunch, come and join us!"
Ring huffed, watching as the doors slid closed. "Honestly...."
///
He tried to expel all his frustrations in a long, slow breath. It didn't quite work, but it worked some of the tension out of his shoulders. He knew that Quick didn't understand why he did this, would never truly understand it.
Sometimes, he wondered why he was doing it himself.
As he turned the corner along the stretch of hall, he passed Pharaoh who witnessed the event with crossed arms and closed expression.
"You're a natural bastard."
"Am I supposed to be flattered?"
Pushing away from the wall, Pharaoh looked at him with cool gold eyes. "I'm beginning to wonder if you actually have any feelings at all."
"Does it matter to you?"
"If this were a different situation...."
His lips pulled back in a bit of a snarl. "I don't care for your little power struggles, Pharaoh. Don't think I'm doing this for you or Wily."
"Then why are you doing this?"
"For the same reason you are."
///
Let it be known that Crash was never a very patient person. He's one of those sorts that would go to an appointment late just so that he wouldn't be waiting. Though surprising shy and mild mannered, if left alone without something- anything -to grab his attention, or kept waiting, he would become irritable and annoyingly hyperactive. If there could ever be an artificial being with ADHD, he would be the original.
He was moving around the tables, talking to others in an almost dizzying pace. When he got bored and annoyed, his extrovertedness would be off the charts. And waiting for both his brother and his food made it doubly so.
By the time Quick was ten minutes late, Crash was literally bouncing on some of the seats in the mess hall.
"Stop that." Elec said forcefully, pulling Crash to sit properly in his seat.
"Ergh! I can't help it!" Despite now being in a sitting position, Crash bounced under Elec's restraining hand. "I'm bored~! I wanna eat~!"
"Then eat. No one's stopping you." It was bad enough that Elec had to wait for Metal as it was, but being stuck with this hyperactive idiot? Elec sighed. Okay, so maybe he was a hyperactive idiot only half the time. The rest of the time he was just an idiot.
"Why don't /you/ eat?" Crash sneered back. He liked Elec, he was the role model, really. For people that actually had any sort of self- restraint but weren't completely anal as some of the more conservative Robot Masters. The only thing was, Crash really didn't care to become someone like Elec and therefore would get annoyed for not being able to freely complain- seeing as he only complained to those he felt comfortable around, anyway.
"I already ate."
"Oh." Amazingly, that succeeded in stilling Crash for a minute. And after which, he went right on back to bouncing impatiently.
Elec tried to hold back an exasperated sigh- and didn't exactly succeed. "Why don't you go look for him if you're so bored?"
"But what if he comes in after I leave? Then he'll look for me and we'll be playing some sort of grand scale, impromptu game of hide and seek!"
"But you wouldn't be giving me a headache. Besides," Elec pointed out, "if you're so worried about that, just go to a comm unit and call for him on the PA system."
Crash stopped. Crash thought. Crash decided that he didn't like Elec's brand of logic. "Nah~. He'll have to come sometime. Even Quick needs to replenish energy."
"With as much as he eats, he wouldn't need to come in here for at least two days before his reserves would begin to run out." Elec eyed the younger robot a bit warily. "Unless he decides to run for those entire two days."
Sulking, Crash kicked his legs childishly and pouted. "Man, where is he?" He looked up expectantly as the doors to the mess hall opened. However, all it revealed was Ring. Ah well, Crash decided, at least it was someone he was close to. "Oi!" He called out, waving his hands energetically. "Ring!"
He looked up at the sound of his name, smiling a bit at the sight of the two blondes indicating for him to join them. However, as he approached, his appearance began to show signs of wear and weariness. Elec's brow knotted in concern.
"What's wrong, Ring?"
The Russian-made robot looked up for a second before looking down at the table as he sat. "Crash." His voice was rough.
"Yeah?"
"Quick's not coming for lunch."
Concerned and a little scared, he and Elec exchanged glances. "Why? What happened?"
"I found him in the hall by the quarters. It looked like he was just coming down the hall." He looked up, a familiar disgust in his green eyes. "From what I can see, he met Shadow on the way."
"Oh no...." Crash put a hand over his eyes and Elec groaned. "Did he say what happened?"
Ring shook his head. "No. Just said that he wanted to be alone." Ring clenched his fist, repulsing the urge to pound it against the tabletop and draw attention to them. More attention then they already got, anyway. He knew that Magnet and the Enforcers were watching them. And any sign that something bad was going on in their group just meant more power to him.
"How long ago was this?"
"About ten minutes." He cupped a hand over his mouth, trying to mask his anger. "We'll give him half an hour. He should've pulled himself together enough by then to tell us what happened this time."
After that, they sat in silence. A few minutes had passed and Elec excused himself, going to do whatever it was he deemed necessary, leaving Crash and Ring alone. With a heavy sigh, Crash hung his head, trying not to get emotionally torn up over the recent turn of events. Taking a quick peek at Ring, he saw the younger bioroid's body tense like a archer's bow, waiting to be released. Or to break.
Turning his head away to dispel the thought, Crash sat in silence, impatiently counting the minutes until he could see his brother.
///
By the time they finally went to see Quick, he had, indeed pulled himself together. Which just left one to wonder if there was a limit on how broken hearted one person could get. He was sitting at the head of his bed, arms tight around his knees, cheek cushioned as he stared blankly at the wall. Dried tears were on his cheeks and made his eyes red. Face drawn and pale, he didn't make a move as the doors opened.
Crash and Ring exchanged glances. For a moment they just stood there, wondering which approach would be the best to use this time around. Crash took a step forward, indicating he would take care of it and Ring turned away to keep Quick from seeing the rage in his expression.
"Quick!" Crash cried out happily, wrapping his older brother in a tight hug. "I was wondering where you were!"
"Oh, Crash." He turned, the enthusiasm was forced in his voice though the surprise wasn't entirely. Quick rubbed his arm across his eyes, smiling. "Sorry I couldn't make it to lunch."
"You should be! I was starving and I barely even had a thing to eat 'cause I was so mad at you!" He playfully punched Quick in the arm. But warning bells were going off in his head as he played along. His 'encounters' with Shadow always took a toll on him, and the more nonchalant he acted about the whole thing, the more the particular encounter hurt. And the less inclined Quick was to talk about it, no matter how much time had passed.
And this seemed to be happening more and more often these days. It was beginning to make Crash worry on how much more Quick would be able to take before he broke. And how much Ring was willing to let him suffer before /he/ broke.
Crash wondered if he would have to be the one to keep them together. And just how many pieces he'd be able to pick up before he would no longer be able to hold any at all.
///
Such insolence, Wily snarled in his thoughts. He couldn't let them get away with this. Any of them. They were his creations, he made them, he gave them life and they dared to defy him? He was their God. They were his lambs and they dared to spit in his face with the very wills he gave to them?
They must be punished. All of them.
And since the usual methods didn't seem to be stopping them, things would just have to get much harsher around here....
Wily reviewed the reports on those that he had shadowed. Nothing that would- superficially -warrant special attention, or an example being made out of. But he knew they were planning something on the backside, where he and his moles couldn't see. They had become more careful, more selective on those they discussed things with after the incident with Tengu. But it didn't make a difference. He was, after all, God. And he saw everything.
On his main computer, he brought up the list of 'rebels'. He wasn't stupid enough to realize that it had grown steadily over the years, those he could trust now seriously outnumbered by his paranoia, but he would keep them in check with fear. Because fear was the only way to truly be obeyed.
"Magnet." He said into the intercom, typing away on the computer. "Come here. I have new orders for you and the Enforcers." After a pause, he deliberated and then grinned. "And some of the others if they feel so inclined...."
by Lady Virgo
"Don't become afraid of the unknown. Don't become comforted by the routine."
///
With a practiced pull of his wrist, Ring pulled the receiver from his ear, one hand typing on the computer as he checked the readouts. The input wire that connected to the back of the med consol coiled on the floor by his feet before it looped lazily by the examination table, snaking up to where Crash sat, facing his friend. The small panel on the back of his neck was popped open, the cable connecting to the small of his neck- blipping methodically as it transferred information to the computer.
"It's nothing serious." Ring said, scrolling over the chart. "Just a small chemical imbalance, nothing we need to worry about at the moment."
"I know it's not that bad." The older robot said, swinging his feet somewhat childishly. "I just don't want it to get /that/ /bad/ again." He emphasized the statement with a bit of a scowl. Ring groaned good naturally.
"I don't really think /anyone/ wants it to get that bad again." He smiled reassuringly at Crash before he reached around and unhooked the connection. "Stronger dose?"
The orange robot jumped to his feet. "Nah." He grinned. "Just a refill should be fine. I'll come back if it gets any worse."
"You do that." Ring's eyes suddenly became worried. "You know, I could check your output generator. See what it is that's making these imbalances and see if I can't stop it."
"No worries, Ring-o." He took a deep breath, doing a couple of stretches to prove that he was perfectly healthy- despite the fact that it wasn't a matter of physical health. "You took a Gel sample and it came out negative. Obviously it's not that big of a problem."
"It's not now. But the readouts we got when-"
"C'mon!" Crash was practically jogging in place. He never really did like being in medbay. "So long as I keep my levels down, it won't effect my performance or have to go through that crap again." He waved at Ring as he headed out the doors. "I'll see you later! Me an' Quick are meeting for lunch, come and join us!"
Ring huffed, watching as the doors slid closed. "Honestly...."
///
He tried to expel all his frustrations in a long, slow breath. It didn't quite work, but it worked some of the tension out of his shoulders. He knew that Quick didn't understand why he did this, would never truly understand it.
Sometimes, he wondered why he was doing it himself.
As he turned the corner along the stretch of hall, he passed Pharaoh who witnessed the event with crossed arms and closed expression.
"You're a natural bastard."
"Am I supposed to be flattered?"
Pushing away from the wall, Pharaoh looked at him with cool gold eyes. "I'm beginning to wonder if you actually have any feelings at all."
"Does it matter to you?"
"If this were a different situation...."
His lips pulled back in a bit of a snarl. "I don't care for your little power struggles, Pharaoh. Don't think I'm doing this for you or Wily."
"Then why are you doing this?"
"For the same reason you are."
///
Let it be known that Crash was never a very patient person. He's one of those sorts that would go to an appointment late just so that he wouldn't be waiting. Though surprising shy and mild mannered, if left alone without something- anything -to grab his attention, or kept waiting, he would become irritable and annoyingly hyperactive. If there could ever be an artificial being with ADHD, he would be the original.
He was moving around the tables, talking to others in an almost dizzying pace. When he got bored and annoyed, his extrovertedness would be off the charts. And waiting for both his brother and his food made it doubly so.
By the time Quick was ten minutes late, Crash was literally bouncing on some of the seats in the mess hall.
"Stop that." Elec said forcefully, pulling Crash to sit properly in his seat.
"Ergh! I can't help it!" Despite now being in a sitting position, Crash bounced under Elec's restraining hand. "I'm bored~! I wanna eat~!"
"Then eat. No one's stopping you." It was bad enough that Elec had to wait for Metal as it was, but being stuck with this hyperactive idiot? Elec sighed. Okay, so maybe he was a hyperactive idiot only half the time. The rest of the time he was just an idiot.
"Why don't /you/ eat?" Crash sneered back. He liked Elec, he was the role model, really. For people that actually had any sort of self- restraint but weren't completely anal as some of the more conservative Robot Masters. The only thing was, Crash really didn't care to become someone like Elec and therefore would get annoyed for not being able to freely complain- seeing as he only complained to those he felt comfortable around, anyway.
"I already ate."
"Oh." Amazingly, that succeeded in stilling Crash for a minute. And after which, he went right on back to bouncing impatiently.
Elec tried to hold back an exasperated sigh- and didn't exactly succeed. "Why don't you go look for him if you're so bored?"
"But what if he comes in after I leave? Then he'll look for me and we'll be playing some sort of grand scale, impromptu game of hide and seek!"
"But you wouldn't be giving me a headache. Besides," Elec pointed out, "if you're so worried about that, just go to a comm unit and call for him on the PA system."
Crash stopped. Crash thought. Crash decided that he didn't like Elec's brand of logic. "Nah~. He'll have to come sometime. Even Quick needs to replenish energy."
"With as much as he eats, he wouldn't need to come in here for at least two days before his reserves would begin to run out." Elec eyed the younger robot a bit warily. "Unless he decides to run for those entire two days."
Sulking, Crash kicked his legs childishly and pouted. "Man, where is he?" He looked up expectantly as the doors to the mess hall opened. However, all it revealed was Ring. Ah well, Crash decided, at least it was someone he was close to. "Oi!" He called out, waving his hands energetically. "Ring!"
He looked up at the sound of his name, smiling a bit at the sight of the two blondes indicating for him to join them. However, as he approached, his appearance began to show signs of wear and weariness. Elec's brow knotted in concern.
"What's wrong, Ring?"
The Russian-made robot looked up for a second before looking down at the table as he sat. "Crash." His voice was rough.
"Yeah?"
"Quick's not coming for lunch."
Concerned and a little scared, he and Elec exchanged glances. "Why? What happened?"
"I found him in the hall by the quarters. It looked like he was just coming down the hall." He looked up, a familiar disgust in his green eyes. "From what I can see, he met Shadow on the way."
"Oh no...." Crash put a hand over his eyes and Elec groaned. "Did he say what happened?"
Ring shook his head. "No. Just said that he wanted to be alone." Ring clenched his fist, repulsing the urge to pound it against the tabletop and draw attention to them. More attention then they already got, anyway. He knew that Magnet and the Enforcers were watching them. And any sign that something bad was going on in their group just meant more power to him.
"How long ago was this?"
"About ten minutes." He cupped a hand over his mouth, trying to mask his anger. "We'll give him half an hour. He should've pulled himself together enough by then to tell us what happened this time."
After that, they sat in silence. A few minutes had passed and Elec excused himself, going to do whatever it was he deemed necessary, leaving Crash and Ring alone. With a heavy sigh, Crash hung his head, trying not to get emotionally torn up over the recent turn of events. Taking a quick peek at Ring, he saw the younger bioroid's body tense like a archer's bow, waiting to be released. Or to break.
Turning his head away to dispel the thought, Crash sat in silence, impatiently counting the minutes until he could see his brother.
///
By the time they finally went to see Quick, he had, indeed pulled himself together. Which just left one to wonder if there was a limit on how broken hearted one person could get. He was sitting at the head of his bed, arms tight around his knees, cheek cushioned as he stared blankly at the wall. Dried tears were on his cheeks and made his eyes red. Face drawn and pale, he didn't make a move as the doors opened.
Crash and Ring exchanged glances. For a moment they just stood there, wondering which approach would be the best to use this time around. Crash took a step forward, indicating he would take care of it and Ring turned away to keep Quick from seeing the rage in his expression.
"Quick!" Crash cried out happily, wrapping his older brother in a tight hug. "I was wondering where you were!"
"Oh, Crash." He turned, the enthusiasm was forced in his voice though the surprise wasn't entirely. Quick rubbed his arm across his eyes, smiling. "Sorry I couldn't make it to lunch."
"You should be! I was starving and I barely even had a thing to eat 'cause I was so mad at you!" He playfully punched Quick in the arm. But warning bells were going off in his head as he played along. His 'encounters' with Shadow always took a toll on him, and the more nonchalant he acted about the whole thing, the more the particular encounter hurt. And the less inclined Quick was to talk about it, no matter how much time had passed.
And this seemed to be happening more and more often these days. It was beginning to make Crash worry on how much more Quick would be able to take before he broke. And how much Ring was willing to let him suffer before /he/ broke.
Crash wondered if he would have to be the one to keep them together. And just how many pieces he'd be able to pick up before he would no longer be able to hold any at all.
///
Such insolence, Wily snarled in his thoughts. He couldn't let them get away with this. Any of them. They were his creations, he made them, he gave them life and they dared to defy him? He was their God. They were his lambs and they dared to spit in his face with the very wills he gave to them?
They must be punished. All of them.
And since the usual methods didn't seem to be stopping them, things would just have to get much harsher around here....
Wily reviewed the reports on those that he had shadowed. Nothing that would- superficially -warrant special attention, or an example being made out of. But he knew they were planning something on the backside, where he and his moles couldn't see. They had become more careful, more selective on those they discussed things with after the incident with Tengu. But it didn't make a difference. He was, after all, God. And he saw everything.
On his main computer, he brought up the list of 'rebels'. He wasn't stupid enough to realize that it had grown steadily over the years, those he could trust now seriously outnumbered by his paranoia, but he would keep them in check with fear. Because fear was the only way to truly be obeyed.
"Magnet." He said into the intercom, typing away on the computer. "Come here. I have new orders for you and the Enforcers." After a pause, he deliberated and then grinned. "And some of the others if they feel so inclined...."