Worth Its Weight in Gold

Jessie's alarm went off, forcing her to roll out of bed. She slammed onto the ground, letting out a yelp. She rubbed her head, sitting up and groaning. With a sigh, she looked over at her alarm only to see that she was running late. Screaming, she leapt up and scrambled to get her clothes on. She slammed into her desk, knocking something off. It fell almost dramatically, bouncing on the ground once before resting on the carpet. She knelt, picking up the small piece of metal.

"Now, where do you think you're going?"

The Medabot medal was golden, engraved with a Kabuto beetle in flight and a green gem in the center for the beetle's eye. She'd found it a long time ago so her parents pretended to give it her as a present. Now, she realizes her parents were just indulging her. Nonetheless, it was a nice gesture, and it meant less money for her to spend when she got a Medabot, though the skeleton and parts weren't cheap either.

"Today, after school, we'll see what's in that box, right?"

Having wrapped it around a chord, she had constructed it into a makeshift necklace. Her outfit was completed with the necklace. Brass knocked on her door, but Jessie was quick to push passed her and jump down the stairs. She slid into the kitchen where her mother was finishing her breakfast quickly.

"Morning, Jessie," she hummed, shoving the last piece of toast into her mouth as she stood up. "Don't forget your lunch today. Your dad can't keep delivering it to you."

"Sorry, mom," yawned Jessie, dumping cereal into her milk. "How was that scoop yesterday?"

"Ongoing," she cheered, kissing Jessie on the head. "Have a good day, sweetie."

With that, her mother ran away, bag slung over her shoulder. Jessie smiled, hearing the door slam shut. Relaxing slightly, she began downing her cereal as fast as she could. Late. She couldn't be late. Brass stepped up behind her, holding her bag.

"Ms. Jessica, Nick and Electro is here," Brass offered.

"Scrap!" gasped Jessie snatching the bag and running out the door.

Nick rocked on his feet, glancing around. Electro stood beside him, holding his bag. Jessie came busting out the door, nearly taking Nick out in the process. She stopped just before hitting him, coming within an inch of his face. He stumbled back, knocking Electro down. The poor Medabot slumped on the sidewalk with a slight whine. Jessie chuckled, stepping away.

"Sorry, Electro," she mumbled, helping the Medabot up.

The Medabot nodded lightly, collecting Nick's bag from the ground. He stuck out a hand, offering to carry Jessie's as well. Electro glanced over Jessie's shoulder, seeing the bag and then receded his hand. Jessie chuckled awkwardly.

"Sorry about yesterday, by the way," whimpered Jessie, adjusting her bag over her shoulder.

"So, hopeful for today?" grinned Nick.

"About?"

"Getting a Medabot?"

Jessie groaned, heading to school. "Let's stop by the 24 Hop mart. They got some new models in yesterday."

Nick groaned, trailing behind her, and Electro trailing behind him. Jessie glanced back him, smiling.

"What do you have against the 24 Hop Mart?"

"I don't like the worker," hissed Nick.

The 24 Hop Mart was a small Medabot shop near the edge between houses and the rest of town. It was mostly rundown and rarely used but somehow managed to stay in business and remain up to date of parts. Every now and then, Jessie would stop by and browse. Outside, being a relatively sunny day, the store worker was outside setting up the shop sign and cleaning the window.

"Henry!" waved Jessie.

Henry looked up from his work, waving to her. She rushed forward, stopping in front of the window. New models for: COW-type and KLN-types. Neither were her favorite types, but she'd seen them used in the World Robot Tournament on more than one occasion. They were designed for battle, heavy hitters and big damage takers. She wasa fan of close combat fighters but nothing was quite like a laser cannon. Nick stepped up beside her, overlooking the Medabots.

"I'm not big on the flashy ones," shrugged Nick. "I'll stick with Electro."

Electro chirped. Even without a mouth, one could see his happy expression. Nick patted the mechanical cat on the head. Jessie looked over at Henry. The shop keep was setting the broom aside and coming next to them.

"Just in stock," Henry nodded. "Looks like they're trying to bring back the older styles, ya know?"

"Yeah, the COW-type looks like one of the gen 2s," Jessie grinned.

"So, saved up enough?"

Jessie groaned. Nick and Henry gave the same expression of exhaustion at the conversation.

"Even if I had enough, dad won't let me get one," grumbled Jessie.

"Funny, Ikki was as much into Medabots as you are. Happiest boy in Japan when he got Metabee."

"Metabee?" Jessie and Nick whispered, looking up at Henry.

"Yeah, Ikki's old Medabot," Henry hummed, looking at them. "He…never mentioned him?"

"The Medabot from dad's stories!" shouted Jessie, turning to Nick. "Now, I've got a name! I can look up the model type!"

"How can you look up a model type based on a name?" Nick groaned.

"I can tell you the model type," shrugged Henry.

"What!?" gasped Jessie and Nick.

"Why haven't you told me about this sooner!" shouted Jessie. "I've been coming her for years, and you haven't brought this up once!?"

Henry shrugged.

"What type washe?" Nick hummed.

"A KBT-type," Henry nodded. "A Kabuto Beetle."

"Kabuto…" whispered Jessie, fumbling with her necklace under her shirt. "I'm…I'm gonna look that up when I get to school!"

"Speaking of school," Henry spoke, looking at his watch, "doesn't it start soon?"

Nick looked down at his Medawatch. Spotting the time, he gasped loud enough to almost be a scream. Without a word, he ran off, Electro attempting to keep up. Jessie looked between Henry and the running Nick. She shrugged, chasing after.

What happened to Metabee? What's his connection to Jessie's medal? Are they one and the same? Find out next time on Medabots!