Disclaimer: I don't own OK KO!

Title: I Feel Alright

Summary: Enid, Rad, K.O., and Dendy take a pilgrimage to the local volcano to trash-talk Chip Damage.

...

"The till," Gar said.

"Hmm," Enid said.

"It's fine," Gar continued.

"Hmm," Enid continued.

"Keep up the good work," Gar finished.

"Hmm," Enid finished.

He plunked the cash drawer down and thudded away with steps a bit harder than technically necessary, even for Mr. Gar. Enid watched him leave, set the drawer into the register, closed it, and promptly slammed her face into the counter.

K.O. looked up from his diligent mopping. "You okay, Enid?"

"He hates me."

"Awww, no he doesn't."

"He's disappointed in me."

"Welllll…."

"If it was literally anyone else, I wouldn't mind. But Mr. Gar is cool." Enid let out a long groan. "Guess it's my fault. Going off to P.O.I.N.T. Prep like that."

K.O. blew a raspberry. "You tried something new! Mommy says that's always a good thing."

"I mean, I guess?" The ninja retrieved her face from the counter, setting her chin on her hand. "It doesn't really feel like it, though, does it? I was only gone, like, a month."

"It felt like a year!" K.O. had left his cleaning behind completely- which, for the boy, was a rare form of concern- and hopped onto the counter, dangling his legs off the edge. "Don't downplay it, Enid. It was a big month."

Enid snorted.

"'Suuuuuup, party peeps," Rad crowed as he rounded the shelves with a box of lightning nachos to share. He took one look at the two of them, awkwardly staring back at him, and rolled his eyes. "Oh, great. This is getting feelsy, isn't it?"

"No," said Enid.

"Yes," said K.O., with a stern glare. "It felt like longer than a month that Enid was gone, right, Rad?"

"Dude, soooo much longer."

"But nothing changed," Enid stressed.

"We busted Chip Damage! How much more change d'ya want?"

"We didn't 'bust' anything. That all got covered up." She pointed at a rack displaying his newest cards- limited edition gardener Chip Damage, complete with trowel and shovel. "And even if it did get out, he's a robot. It's not hard to fix up a robot. So he's back to the darling of P.O.I.N.T."

"Wow," K.O. said. "You're... really mad at him, aren't you?"

Enid shrugged, but she couldn't meet his eye any longer. "I don't like being tricked."

Rad's mouth was covered in blue gunk at this point, tossing more and more nachos into his maw. "Oooh, I get it. You're salty because this reminds you of Elodie."

"Elodie and I are cool. That's whatever. It just sucks that I got over that just in time to get a new Elodie."

K.O. stared at his feet quietly. He had a lot of thoughts on Chip Damage. A lot of feelings. Most of those he didn't like to think about. It was easier to not think about these things- Chip Damage, Shadowy Figure, the looming fear of his future, etc. But Enid was his best friend, and if Enid needed help, then by Cob was he gonna help. "Why don't we go torch Chip's cards?"

Rad's jaw dropped. "Excuse me?"

"Why not? If it feels like nothing has changed, then let's change it." K.O. tried to smile, but it didn't quite work. "It could be a funeral ditch!"

"Dirge, K.O. I think." Enid put a hand to his head. "You alright, man? You love POW Cards."

"I do," he said. "But I don't like having Chip Damage's face all over my room anymore." He shuddered. "His outstanding dental hygiene was the biggest trick of all."

"That is the biggest of the moods," Rad told him. "Whataya say, Enid? Quick trip up to the volcano?"

"Sure, why not? S'better than waiting on customers." Enid went to stand up, then reconsidered and plopped back down. "We should probably wait 'til tommorrow. Unless you want to make stops at all our houses."

"The rage isn't that big," Rad said, handing her the chip box. It was almost empty. "But, if we pace ourselves, I'm sure the rage'll still be there by then."

Enid flicked a chip at him.

They eventually settle on making it a whole thing. K.O. had been the one to suggest going on their day off, but it was basically impossible for all three of them to get time off at once (Gar wouldn't have anyone to run the bodega, and they've been around long enough to know that Plaza peeps go nutty without their daily magazines and gum). But it's not like the bodega has to be open all day- it rarely is, with Gar having missions and them being, well, teenagers- so they eventually decide to go early in the day and stay later that night to make up for it.

Summer heat is nothing to joke about in Lakewood Plaza. By the time Enid trudges up to Rad's van with some old, half-bent Chip Damage cards. Sweat is making some serious pit stain headway through the bright blue fabric of her uniform.

"I regret everything," she greeted Rad, clutching a lunchbox under her arm. A moan of agreement came from inside the van. "Was that Dendy?"

He nodded. "Little twerp snuck into my van again. But she's, like, frogish or whatever, so I figure I can't kick her out."

"Darn loopholes."

"They're the worst, dude."

K.O. enters stage-right, hefting a twenty pack of Gar's Bodega Brand Electrifying Hero Water above his head. Rad pops the door open, and K.O., ever subtle, chucks the entire thing inside.

Dendy isn't one to show her more base instincts, not like T.K.O., but there's something oddly intimidating as the kappa comes scuttling out of a dark corner, eyes a strange orange-ish glow. She yanked a thin cap off and doused herself. A shudder at the temperature, a shake to free herself of the excess, and Dendy was Dendy again, sighing pleasantly. "Thank you, K.O."

Rad let out an explosive sigh. "You're just lucky it's water and not, like, pop or something. Don't think I won't have you pay for cleaning."

"I brought doubles of all my Chip Damage cards," she replied. "I'm very fond of my doubles. The water is the least you could do."

"I brought a disposable backpack!" K.O. cheered as he slung the tattered thing inside. It was covered in stickers of the man. "That way, I can chuck a lot of things in without being too specific!"

Enid settled in on top of the now-opened water package. She carefully hefted K.O. over the backseat so he could take shotgun; it was clear that Dendy would need to stay hydrated, and for that it was best to stay away from the weapons board. And Enid liked riding in back. "I brought a few, or whatever."

"Hey, I'm driving this funeral ditch. I don't gotta brought anything." Rad slid into his typical seat and twisted the key. "I guess I could tell some Cob stories if you're lookin' for some religious ambiance."

"Dirge," Dendy corrected. "And if you're referring to Cob's son, Corny Joe, becoming popcorn for our sins over the heat of the volcano, then we're all fully aware."

Enid sent her a finger gun. "The real question is what kind of popcorn he turned into. I've always had my money on buttered."

"Buttered smells bad when burnt. Bad impression to give to the broccoli." Dendy hummed. "Kettle?"

"I'm a bit worried how much we know about popcorn flavors," said K.O. "Seeing how our creator is a giant husk of corn."

"Corny Joe died so we could enjoy him, K.O. Not so we could spurn him."

Enid spluttered. "Dude, did you just paraphrase My Chemical Potato Fryer?"

"As if!"

"I know there's a My Chemical Potato Fryer song out there with lyrics like that."

"That can be said of basically anything that sounds deep."

"Okay, true."

The bubbling lava did very little to help the never-ending sweat pouring down all their faces. It wasn't long before they were all taking turns, dousing themselves with water bottles and guzzling the remains. The need to pee was steadily rising.

"This seemed cooler in my head," K.O. admitted.

"Dude, everything seems cooler in your head. Your head is, like, a coolness liar."

"Inspiring commentary, Rad." Enid reluctantly twisted the back knob and pushed the door open. A wave of heat and rotten egg smell flooded the van almost instantly, inspiring the quartet to groan. She sipped out and held the door for Dendy. "Let's finish this ditch up and return to civilization."

"Aren't we gonna do speeches?" the youngest worker asked. "Because I worked on mine while I did homework last night."

"I mean... if you want?"

"I don't," Dendy said, and promptly sprinkled the lava with cards. They were quickly sucked below, leaving nothing but burnt paper smell and victory in their wake. "I only had triples on most of those cards. That is sacrifice enough."

"We all grieve differently, I guess." Rad pulled a card out of his pant pocket. He held it out, sniffling almost instantly. "You're a buttface, dude. A really ugly buttface." He let go. "Get wreckt."

"Ooh, ooh! My turn!" K.O. sucked in a rotten-egg-and-burnt-paper breath and let it go with only a slight cough. "I know I'm just a kid, and I know there's lots'a stuff I don't get yet. But I know that P.O.I.N.T. has caused more trouble than it has good. They kicked out Mr. Gar! And then there's what happened to mommy... it just doesn't seem fair." His fingers clenched tight around the pack, unintentionally wrinkling a half-peeled sticker. "I believed in you, Chip. I thought you made up for everything else they did. But you didn't." K.O. reeled back, aimed, and tossed the pack as far as it could go. He watched with unwavering determination as it was eaten by flame and disappointment. "You didn't."

"...Dang, K.O." Enid affectionately ruffled his hair. "Nice speech. I give it an A."

"Awww, really?"

Rad reached out, lifting the boy onto his shoulder. "Heck yeah! Here's to chucking out heroes who don't hero right!"

Dendy tapped Enid's hand. "May I try something? I intended to coat my cards with a chemical for testing, but the heat has made me forgetful." Enid handed her one, watching without speaking as she drew a squeeze bottle and put some droplets on. They immediately disappeared. "We may want to get back for this one. There's a high chance it will cause an explosion that could kill all of us."

"You have such a way with words, Dendy."

"Thank you. I practice."

Enid studied the doctored card a moment, shrugged, and held it out, much like Rad had prior. "I mean... I could say a buncha stuff, I guess. I could say that I hate being tricked. I could lecture ya'll about my trust issues. I could go on and on about how much it hurt to meet someone I thought saw something special in me, only for him to betray me. How hard it was to face my dreams head-on and... fail. Because I wasn't prepared for it. Because I wasn't made out for it. And that Chip knew that, probably, and instead of stepping in to help he tried to hurt so many other students." She took a moment to gather herself, shoulders tightening and loosening. "But I won't. It's not my thing. But I will say this-"

She let go.

"Your afro is dumb."

"YOU'RE LATE!" Gar bellowed as they entered. "AND ON FIRE?"

"Only on fire," Dendy returned, disappointed. She was chewing on Enid's lunch- a hagfish, made special by her mom. "My mixture wasn't as potent as I assumed."

Enid stopped in front of the man, holding her arms behind her head. "We were up at the volcano. Burnin' Chip Damage cards." Her eyes slid over to him. "I mean, why hold on to those P.O.I.N.T. jerks? They aren't real heroes."

(Behind them all, K.O. winced.)

Mr. Gar let out an awkward laugh. "Yeah, you're right." He reached out and patted her arm. "Glad to, uh- glad to have you back, Enid."

Enid cracked a smile. "Glad to be back."

Author's Note: I've been re-watching some OK KO and I have A Lot of Feels about this arc.

-Mandaree1