Disclaimer: I don't own OK K.O.! Let's be Heroes!
Title: Join the Dark Side, we Have Hacks
Summary: Fearing she is taking advantage of her friendship with K.O., Dendy sets out to retrieve secret info from Boxmore.
Chapter Title: Day Nine
...
When Dendy's mind is set, it is almost impossible to change it. This proves to be such a situation. She rarely speaks to anyone as she works, going straight to Boxmore after school and heading home when it gets dark.
It's Darrell who approaches her after a long few days of work and testing, hesitantly setting a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Dendy?"
Dendy quickly closed her open files. She slowly turned, determined to seem normal, only to find the entire Boxmore robot family gathered, each bearing a striking flash of color. "Have I done something unsatisfactory?"
"No, no." Raymond shook his head, unintentionally making a screeching sound that made Dendy want to clench her teeth. "We simply came to... apologize."
Shannon went next. "Daddy can be a bit... snappish. But it's not his fault, really. He's never worked with someone like you before."
Dendy's eyes narrowed. Dendy stuff? Again? Was she doomed to be treated oddly forever? "What do you mean?"
"I am Jethro," Jethro piped up.
"Well put, buddy." Darrell picked him up with a solemn nod. "Working with heroes is way different than working with robots."
"Oh," she said, pleasantly surprised.
Ernesto cleared his vocal box and stepped forward. In his hands was a flash drive. "I... got these for you. Don't tell Lord Boxman, please." He watched sheepishly as she wrapped it in her holographs, pulling up the data inside. "It just didn't seem fair. We're a lot of things here at Boxmore, but blackmailers isn't one of them."
Dendy stared at the piece of tech. There was the possibility that this was a ruse, of course, and Lord Boxman had put them up to this, but she saw nothing like that in their presentation. She took in a deep breath.
"I'm going to do something of heroic nature tomorrow," she told them. "I'd rather you not get involved."
They Boxmore 'bots exchanged glances.
"Will it hurt our business?" Ernesto inquired.
"No."
"Will it hurt Daddy?" Shannon pressed.
"No," Dendy repeated, then recalculated. "Though it may injure his pride a bit."
Day 8 Notes:
-Original Plan has Failed
-Revenge Must be Private- Can't Have Whole Town Finding Out I've Been Working for Boxmore
-Perimeters Aren't an Issue
"It's finished, sir."
Lord Boxman let out a shout of triumph as he jogged into the hallway, grinning ear to ear. "Finally!"
The villain let her lead, though he undoubtedly knew his company better than her. Metal hallway gave way to metal hallway, blending seamlessly together. Various Ernestos hurried by, busy with mundane tasks, Darrells close behind, usually with some boxes or papers. "May I speak my mind, Lord Boxman?"
He waved it off with a scoff. "Fine, fine, whatever."
Irritation wiggled in her belly at the way she was being spoken to, but Dendy forced herself to remain calm. There was no use in giving up the ruse quite yet. "The other day, you requested to know what the difference was between heroes and villains. I've given it some thought, and I believe I have a proper answer."
Lord Boxman looked surprised. Perhaps he'd forgotten about it. "Oh. That."
"That," she agreed with a nod. Dendy clasped her hands behind her back. "My main hypothesis is that villains can only exist because of heroes."
He raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"Think about it," Dendy urged, feeling a bit pleased by the conflicting emotions crossing his face. "Evil and good exist simultaneously, forever. But hero is a title for anyone who does good, whereas villain is for a specific form of evil, typically relating to the harassment of heroes. Good spins on without a name or face, whereas villainy relies on it. We're here."
Lord Boxman almost runs into a wall. She's not sure if he's just naturally clunky, or if her words have had a greater effect on him than expected. Or, more likely, he was simply taken off guard by the modifications she'd done to their piranha turned water snake, which had now been turned into what could best be described as a dragon, minus the unnecessarily complicated wings and horns. The creature's original comically large teeth had been preserved, as well as its snake body, but it now had the addition of stubby and sharp claws that shrieked and creaked as it shifted.
"It's perfect," he breathed.
Dendy made an affirming noise. "I've named her Pointy."
"I'll be the one giving out the names 'round here, thank you very much," he snapped, then settled, holding his hands up. "Come to papa, my death lizard."
Pointy shifted her head to the side, fixing one empty cylinder of an eye on him.
Dendy elaborated. "She's deciding whether to listen to you."
Lord Boxman clearly didn't like that. "OF COURSE YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO ME, YOU UGLY HUNK OF METAL! I'M YOUR CREATOR!" He flapped his hands. "I COULD'VE SCRAPPED YOU AT ANY TIME, BUT NOOOO, I TOOK PITY INSTEAD!"
"Pointy doesn't like being yelled at," Dendy told him quietly. "Lord Boxman, sir?"
He took a pointed step back as Pointy rose to her full height, jaws parting slightly. "Y-Yes?"
"Animalistic robots are not your strong suit."
She snapped her fingers.
Dendy opened the door to Gar's just as Boxmore suffered from a particularly powerful explosion, sending rubble in various directions. Dendy, who had been suppressing a smile all the way across the street, coughed into her hands to head a laugh off at the pass, feeling it to be inappropriate.
K.O. greeted her with their typical hug, staring in awe at the scene behind her. "Whoa! You really went off, huh, Dendy?"
She gave a minute shrug. "He should have known better than to try and threaten me."
"Dude, that's sick!" Rad let out a whistle as he approached. "I'm kinda shocked that you weren't followed by some vengeful Boxmore 'bots."
Another shrug. Dendy's eyes fell into their usual slit-shape. "We have an agreement."
As it turned out, Dendy had been followed, but not any children of Lord Boxman. Pointy's stubby movements weren't quite a slither or a crawl as she crossed over to the Bodega, but they were certainly movement. The dragon poked her giant muzzle into the doors and let out a hopeful chirp.
"Awww!" K.O. cooed. "She wants to stay with you!"
"Hmmm." Dendy cupped her chin, considering. "I do not believe she will fit in my room, but I'm sure I can think of something."
Enid meandered around the robotic lizard, studying the equally sleek and awkward limbs and joints. She finally came around the front with a little cackle, hands on her hips. "Wow, Dendy. And I thought I was the biggest anime nerd here. This out-animes me."
In a flash of inspiration, the kappa soulfully nodded her head. "Dattebayo, Enid. Dattebayo."
Rad choked on air.
K.O. hugged Pointy. The dragon purred. "Aww, I love you too." He smiled toothily at Dendy. "This is so cool! You're the best, Dendy!"
For the first time that day, her good mood faltered in its step. Dendy's eyes darted away when she noticed the bandage still firmly on his arm. "Yes, well..." She cleared her throat. "I'd just like to take this moment to apologize again. For being so irrational. I truly didn't mean to cause you all grief."
Enid was closest to her, and ruffled her hair accordingly. "Aww, s'no biggie. We all get a little irrational sometimes."
"I don't."
"Well, welcome to our world, then."
Dendy, trying to decipher whether that was sarcasm or an oddly-placed joke, didn't respond.
As they went back into the Bodega, Rad made a point to gently jostle her elbow. "Hey. If you're so worried about spending time, or whatever, you could help us out around here."
"I'm not very good with customer service," she admitted, though, realistically, it was something they all knew. Dendy worked best when it was just her, her notes, and maybe some snacks. "I'd just get in the way."
"You don't gotta man the counter. Besides- you're not technically an employee, so I don't think it's allowed." The alien pointed at the duster K.O. had left dangling precariously next to a pack of wafers. "But we could always use another set of hands cleaning."
"Oh," Dendy said. She shucked her backpack off, trying not to look too grateful. Or, worse- too ashamed. Why hadn't that come to her sooner? An urge to make a spectacle out of herself? Pride? A lack of proper factoring? "Of- of course."
Author's Note: Eyyyy, I finally got around to doing this! I've been pretty lazy lol. Next chapter is gonna be a short epilogue, and then we'll be done.
Fun Fact- originally, Dendy and Pointy were gonna betray Boxman in the middle of the road, but that kind of ruined the incognito thing going on. Before that, I was planning on doing it with a Voltron-type thing made up of all the Boxmore 'bots, wherein Dendy poked them in the ankle and they 'collapsed' (faked it), but that didn't feel right. Then I realized that I could use our ol' friend the water snake, and here we are!
-Mandaree1