Tadashi groaned and turned over in bed. Why on earth had he ever let Hiro talk him into letting the alarm sound like an air raid siren? It was even more obnoxious than the screeching sound the school's fire alarm made.

When something grabbed his shoulder, he peaked out of the covers. He focused first on his brother, then on the light flashing across the room, then back on his brother's puppy dog eyes. Green light meant first floor. Hiro was only here to hog his bed.

"We're getting rid of your stupid siren first thing in the morning," the fifteen year old muttered; his tired mind completely unaffected by the eyes.

Hiro pouted, but shrugged. "Fine."

Tadashi snorted, having no doubts that the eight year old would fight him tooth and nail for the siren once he was actually awake. Nonetheless, he opened up the covers so his little brother could climb in next to him.

"Shouldn't be much longer," the older brother yawned, wrapping his arms around the younger as he curled up against the older's chest.

As predicted, the alarm cut off a moment later, though the light continued to flash.

"Told you," Tadashi mumbled, but Hiro was already fast asleep. Tadashi pressed a kiss to Hiro's forehead before slipping off to sleep.

Moments later the door to the boys' room opened and their Aunt Cass peaked in. She smiled when she caught sight of her boys curled up together and slipped back out, shutting the door behind her. She headed towards the stairs and flicked the light switch.

Nothing happened.

Cass sighed. The idiots must have cut the power. She pulled a remote out of her pocket and pressed one of the little glow-in-the-dark buttons. The stairs lights came to life a second later. As she headed down the stairs, she hoped whatever had been done to the power was easy for her to fix. Tadashi had said the generator he had designed needed a few more upgrades before it would be able to power the cafe's appliances for long periods of time. And the last time she had allowed the boys to mess with the house's electrical system, she had ended up with not only the ceiling fan she had asked them to install, but also the plug in the middle of the cafe's wall where the flat screen now hung and multiple new outlets in the lab, aka the garage.

Once she reached the first floor and made her way into the cafe, she glanced around. Nothing appeared damaged. A few tables and chairs had been tipped over, but they were sturdy and hadn't broken. There was a bit of blood on one table, but it could be scrubbed down in the morning and any staining would be hidden by the tablecloths she used. Finally her eyes settled on the group of men in the center of the room. They were tied up and surrounded by a pack of robotic shiba inus. One of the men had injured his nose. Fool must have tried to run after the dogs had been released.

Ignoring the men's cursing and grumbling and insults, Cass grabbed a donut from behind the counter and a magazine from the rack next to the register and sat down in one of the booths.

The dogs had taken note of her the moment she had entered the room. They had identified her almost immediately and their eyes had faded from a viscous red to a cheerful yellow. Once she was seated, a handful of the robots broke away from the others and deposited three guns and a crowbar at her feet. She smiled and patted the closest dog on the head as she pressed a different button on the remote she carried. All but two of the dogs retreated, eyes glowing white as they slipped through the trap doors the boys had installed in the cafe's booths. The metal shutters covering the windows rolled up until they were hidden behind the windows' valances and the red light on the box above the door blinked green twice before shutting off, showing that the magnetic seal on the door had been disabled.

Cass began nibbling on her donut and glancing through the magazine as the two remaining dogs settled down, one at her feet and the other hoping up to sit at her side. They looked for all the world like the playful house pets they were modeled after, if you ignored the way their eyes would flash red if the men they were watching so much as twitched wrong.

When the police arrived, Cass pressed yet another button on her remote. The two dogs' eyes turned white and they shuffled off to their own hidden charging stations while she went out to greet the officers. After they had left, taking the criminals with them, Cass checked on her boys one last time before slipping off to her room, where her bed and a disgruntled Mochi awaited her.


After reading a couple "break in" stories, I couldn't help but write my own take on how it would go down. Honestly, with one boy a genius that likes bot fighting and the other an overprotective brother out to help the world, I'm pretty sure these two would design guard bots for the fun of it. The adorable puppy design was Hiro's idea.