Disclaimer: I don't own OK K.O.! Let's be Heroes!

Title: Hole in Yer Head

Summary: Dendy's losing her hair.

...

"Uh, Dendy?" K.O. asked.

She didn't look up from her screen. "Yes, K.O.?"

"Why are you wearing a hat?"

Dendy adjusted her cap. It was bright red, with a Pokeball etched on the front. It looked extremely out of place with her typical yellow and blue attire. "I'm covering up my bald spot."

"Okay, but really."

She sighed and took it off, turning around. A hole the size of a quarter had appeared amongst her hair. K.O. let out a loud gasp, which made her frown. "What happened, Dendy?"

Dendy returned the hat to its place. "Nothing happened."

"You're missing hair!"

"It's perfectly natural, I assure you," she said. "Kappas lose a portion of their hair to make room for their pond." Dendy squished her chin to her shoulders, a mite bit embarrassed. "I just didn't want to deal with people staring at me."

K.O. tilted his head to the side. "Pond?"

Normally, Dendy wouldn't have minded explaining, but today she simply looked at him blankly. "Every kappa has a pond, K.O. I'm sure you've noticed them by now."

"Oooooh!" He snapped his fingers. "Ponds! Right, right. I was thinking bird ponds." K.O. reached over and took the cap from her. Dendy scowled but allowed it. "Well, I think it's neat."

"Perhaps," she admitted. "But I've always been rather fond of my hair. I'll miss having it in one piece."

"Hey, Dendy?" K.O. asked, handing it over.

"Yes, K.O.?"

"How are you gonna do your bouncy move with water in your head?"

Dendy shrugged, unperturbed. "There's a multitude of solutions. The most appealing one would be to get a plate."

He squinted at her. "Like... a plate plate?"

"Yes. It's a tradition among the kappas to have a plate made." She clapped open her hologram and pulled up some photos. They reminded K.O. of things he'd seen in the antique show his mommy watched on slow days. "Most do not wear them, but they are an important reminder of our pasts." Dendy enhanced one. Etched into the corners were dragons. "Though, I do not believe these kinds of things suit me very much."

K.O. threw his hands up. "You could make a super-cool data one!"

"I could do that," Dendy agreed, looking mildly surprised. "The concept didn't occur to me."

Both children jumped when Rad and Enid appeared from the back, Rad holding fruit boxes. The teenager immediately handed them over, then got around to working on that rack of things that's been needing to be shelved for two days now. Enid went to lounge at her usual place at the counter. "Hey, dweebs." She kicked her feet up. "What's what the hat?"

"Dendy's going through kappa puberty," K.O. supplied.

Dendy turned a darker shade of green. "K.O.! Don't just say that."

Enid cracked a single eyelid. "Oh, man. Is kappa puberty anything like werepire puberty?"

"I'm going bald on a portion of my head."

"That's actually the almost perfect opposite of werepire puberty, but that still sucks."

Rad scoffed. "Ya'll've got nothin' on Planet X puberty. We get spikes and bathe in lava."

"If by spikes you mean those antennae, and by lava you mean, well, lava, then you'd be telling the truth."

"Hey, at least I didn't get covered in hair from top to bottom. And crave blood." He pointed at his neck. "I think I still got the scar, dude."

Dendy watched the two teenagers bicker, eyes darting back and forth like it were a ping-pong match. Finally, she let out a quiet, relieved sigh. "And, to think, I was just worried about getting a bald spot."

"Mommy says that'll happen to me when I'm older," K.O. said in a show of solidarity, rubbing the back of his gravity-defying mane.

Enid reached out to knock her hat askew. "Aww, we're just making fun. Trust me, Dendy. There isn't a single teen in the galaxy who doesn't relate to puberty being embarrassing."

"That is..." Dendy took it off and studied it a moment, re-calibrating. "That is nice to know."

Author's Note: While I totally get that everybody has their own ideas and concepts of a character, I'm kinda sad to see how few older Dendys I see with the kappa head-pond, so here's me adding to it.

-Mandaree1