When we last left our bumbling BoxMore buddies, they all either got smashed up, blown up, or spent their time getting chased and now owing a lot of money to pay for extensive damages to a store, with their intended purchases nearly destroyed in the process.
In this chapter, Shannon plans to give Raymond a little reality check, possibly bringing the party itself to a halt. Will the party continue on? Will Raymond gain a sense of morality for once? Let's find out, shall we? ;)
OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes is owned by Ian Jones-Quartey and Cartoon Network. (I do not own any of its characters nor its properties. This is purely a non-profit fanfic made for fun).
A BASH AT BOXMORE'S
CHAPTER FOUR: IN WHICH RAYMOND LEARNS A LAST-MINUTE MORAL
Raymond paced around the main lobby of the factory with a worried look on his face. He had just finished cleaning the entire lobby from top to bottom to make it presentable for tomorrow, as well as having finished a secret, special project he had in store for the party, but he still looked very concerned and uppity as it was nearly 6:30 in the evening and his siblings weren't home with the supplies and food.
"Ooohhh, where are those guys?" he murmured to himself, "They couldn't have been gone for this long, especially if they were only going downtown…"
The whoosh of the front doors opening caught Raymond off-guard as he saw his four siblings shamble into the lobby, all looking burnt, battered, but trying to pull off a brave face. Raymond noticed their rather grotesque appearances and ran towards them, looking very concerned.
"Sweet mother of Voltron, what on Earth happened while you were out!?" he exclaimed, beside himself with bafflement. Ernesto groaned and stretched his sore limbs.
The others looked away nervously, all coughing and giving Raymond uneasy frowns. Ernesto cleared his thought.
"Let's just say that we each had an incident when retrieving our items…" he reasoned. Shannon rolled her eyes and tried not to snark at that comment.
'If you call an indoor fireworks show an 'incident'…' she bitterly thought to herself.
Raymond breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, at least you're all alive, so that's great...did you all retrieve the items for the party?" he asked.
The four 'bots hemmed and hawed at this question, before they decided to just show Raymond rather than tell him what happened. Shannon opened her bags to reveal smoked streamers and burnt banners, while Darrell opened his and pulled out dented soda bottles and smashed bags of potato chips. Raymond looked at the violated items in shock.
"H-H-How did this happen!?" he shrieked, at a total loss of words.
"We got our butts handed to me by a meanie biker and got our snacks smushed…" sighed Darrell shyly.
"And we got ransacked by crazy shoppers and blew up a fireworks display…" admitted Shannon dejectedly.
Raymond, at this point, looked ready to have a conniption. His party was going up in smoke and with tomorrow being the big day, they haven't even the chance to even set up the party! Raymond shuddered and sat down on a chair, trying to process what had just commenced.
"Th-Then that's it then…" he stammered shamefully, "It's all over...all the fame, the adulation, the power...it's all gone…"
The others looked at Raymond with uneasy and somewhat-concerned looks. Raymond choked back a sob and buried his head in his hands.
"...I'm ruined…" he muttered.
Ernesto gulped nervously. "Wh-What's was t-that, Raymond?" he asked worriedly.
Raymond shook violently and gripped his fingers on his head, his breathing unsteady and his Shannon, having seen something like this more than once since Raymond was built, knew what the outcome was going to be for this one.
'Oh Cob, he's gonna go straight into full diva mode, isn't h-?'
"I'M RUUUUUUUUUIIIIIIIIINNNNED!" Raymond shrieked to the heavens above, his anguish and prolonged scream echoing all across BoxMore HQ. He then fell off his chair and went into fetal position, wailing loudly as if he was dying.
Shannon rolled her eyes as the other siblings stood by, uncomfortable and worried.
'Called it…' she confirmed internally.
Raymond rolled around the floor and kept up his dramatic tantrum for a good while before his childish caterwauling finally struck a nerve with the others, especially Shannon who was already too tired and shaken up to begin with. It seems like the whole "doing this for Raymond" promise was starting to wear thin on the foursome, especially it seems like Raymond didn't even care about their well-being.
Having enough of this pettiness, she marched over to the crying android, grabbed him by the shoulders and hoisted him up to eye-level.
"Listen here, Jolly Green Gear-head!" growled Shannon, "Do you not realize the absolute HELL we've all been through to make sure this lame party would even happen!? We've all been chased, smoked, bashed, and scratched up while getting all this junk and here you are moping like a baby because you won't be able to be show everyone what a big-headed show-off you are!"
Shannon's venomous words stung Raymond's glorb, like a stake through a vampire's heart. He looked at Shannon with watery, confused eyes as the orange android kept going on with her spiteful rant.
"And do you know why we even agreed to do this to begin with!?" she questioned agrily. Raymond gulped frightfully in Shannon's grasp.
"B-B-Because you want to enslave t-the plaza and prove to the world that BoxMore i-is the best?" he whimpered.
Shannon's glare faltered slightly at the actually-accurate answer, but still kept her stance stern and serious regardless.
"Well...yeah, that's true...but we still agreed to do this party because we are a family!" she replied, "I may love mass destruction and fighting as much as the next 'bot, but if I'm gonna take over the plaza, I would at least like to do it with my brothers alongside me!"
She dropped Raymond on the ground and looked away with an annoyed pout on her face.
"You, however, don't seem to care about what we've been through to keep this party afloat, all you care about is trying to one-up Rad's dumb prom to make sure your ego stay intact!" she confirmed haughtily. She turned away from Raymond and joined the rest of her siblings.
"I know that you aren't known for your subtlety and generosity, Raymond, but this is just plain ridiculous, even for you!" she huffed, "Now...if you need us, we're going to our rooms to get cleaned up…"
And with nothing else to say, Shannon waltzed past the distraught Raymond and towards the elevator, making her point clear as day. Ernesto, Darrell, and Jethro soon followed Shannon as well, as even they felt that Raymond's bossy behavior had gone a bit too far.
Without a single word, the quartet dropped their bags on the floor and went in the elevator shaft and exited the lobby, leaving behind a heartbroken Raymond, all alone in the lobby.
Raymond looked towards his departed comrades with sad eyes, feeling extraordinarily guilty. Shannon's fiery reality check was finally enough to bring Raymond back down to Earth. Seeing the disoriented states of his siblings clearly had burned a hole in his CPU, a memory that will stick with him for quite some time.
'A-Am I really that much of a selfish brute…?' he asked himself.
Sure, he and his siblings were far from saints, but even during the times when they all tended to bicker and fight (which happened quite often), they were a family who didn't wish any harm on each other, and here was Raymond, more concerned over a stupid party than the well-being of his brothers and sister.
He then gazed at his hands, his face reflecting from the silvery shine on his fingertips. He balled his fists and tried not to sob again. Then, he noticed the discard bags of party goods and snacks laying on the floor nearby.
It was then that Raymond knew what must be done…
"I...I have to put this right...tomorrow, I need to try and make it up to them all…"
The next afternoon, Shannon, Darrell, Ernesto, and Jethro had just woken up from their tired slumber to start the day anew. Their bodies were repaired and free from any burn marks or dents, though their attitudes seemed not as cheery today, given what had happened from yesterday evening.
And of course, they hadn't forgotten that their infamous party was tonight, much to their chagrin.
They all walked down the hall to find Raymond to see what "fun" mission he would send them on, but so far, they weren't able to find him.
"I wonder where Raymond is. I haven't seen him all morning..." hummed Darrell worriedly.
"He has to be around here somewhere…" agreed Ernesto. Shannon scoffed bitterly.
"Ah, he's probably off bossing around some other robots to do his dirty work for him…" she sneered with an eye roll. Darrell frowned softly at Shannon's bad attitude.
"C'mon, Shannon, I know Ray messed up yesterday, but we still should've checked to see if he was okay…" he reasoned, but Shannon wasn't having it.
"Yeah, right...he was probably at home doing nothing while we were getting blown up and smashed to bits…" Shannon groused, speaking the truth. Ernesto groaned fretfully, the term "blown up" still ringing in his audio receptors.
"I still pray to the Gods above that Lord Boxman doesn't find out about those cost damages. He will find out sooner or later about this…" Ernesto warned, mopping his head out of fear. Shannon, however, waved off this problem.
"Eh, Raymond's the one in charge of this mess, more than likely Daddy'll yell at him for screwing up so much…" huffed Shannon as the group headed down to the elevator.
However, after a few minutes of going down the shaft, once the doors had slid open, the 'bots were beside themselves with absolute shock as they saw the state of the lobby.
Beautifully-colored streamers lined the cleaned walls all across the main lobby, with balloons and banners strung up around. A food table was set up on one side the room with bowls of snacks and bottles of soda lined up on a clean red table cloth. In one corner of the lobby stood a large and somewhat-old, but fully-functional karaoke machine and mic stand, with a small table that had some board game boxes stacked on one another close by.
Shannon, Darrell, Jethro, and Ernesto gazed around the clean and brightly-colored room with amazement. They were all at a loss for words!
*CLATTER!* "OUCH! Stupid piece of junk!"
A loud clunk from the other end of the room brought the attention to the others as they were fully-shocked to see a dust-covered Raymond stepping out of another room in the lobby with some tools in his hands. Raymond coughed tiredly, now noticing his siblings enter the room.
"S-Salutations, dear sister and brothers!" he greeted, shaking away the dust off his formally-shiny finish. Darrell was the first to finally speak.
"R-Raymond...what did...did you a-actually set up all this stuff!?" asked Darrell in awe.
"By yourself!?" quired Shannon incredulously.
"Yeah, normally you detest manual labor…" pointed out Ernesto. Raymond nodded humbly.
"Indeed, but considering how peeved you all were from my childish actions last night, I figured I would give you all a breather whilst I spent the rest of the night setting all this up instead …" he confirmed. The others went wide-eyed at this blunt statement.
"You did all this overnight!?" they all cried in shock. Raymond gave them a silent nod. Ernesto fumbled with his words, unclear on how to feel right now.
"R-Raymond...this is...I don't know what to say…" he gasped. "Me neither…" squeaked Darrell. Even Jethro was silent from awe.
Shannon carefully inspected all the streamers strung around the lobby. They looked shiny, bright, and absolutely clean, weirdly considering that yesterday, these decorations were nearly charred to ash when they got them.
"...Did you buy these streamers or something? They look brand new!" she asked curiously, "These can't be the ones we bought yesterday…"
"Oh, they are the same decorations!" assured Raymond, "I found some paint in the cellar and I simply coated the burnt decorations with said paint to make them look more presentable in comparison…"
Shannon looked back at the ribbons and banners placed on the walls. Turns out, Raymond was right. These were the decorations she and Ernesto bought, and they wasn't a speck of dust or any sign of a scorch mark on them anywhere! Shannon was secretly impressed.
Darrell was next to voice his curiosity. "What about the snacks me and Jethro got? How'd you fix them?"
"Your incident was actually more fixable than Shannon and Ernesto's task, to be honest. The refreshment are still consumable and such, but because of that run-in with that boorish biker you've had, I'm afraid the potato chips are just mostly crumbs...but still, I figured it was better than nothing…" admitted Raymond, showcasing the bowl of crushed chips on the snack table next to them.
Even though as the stage was clearly set for tonight's event, Shannon still looked sort of suspicion throughout all of this.
"So...what really brought this up, Raymond? We know you ain't the one to be this productive, especially overnight!" she questioned. Raymond, understanding where she was coming from, sighed sadly and decided to come clean.
"Well...you see...last night, I kind of got to thinking about the abhorrent behavior I was showing to you guys because of this party…" he admitted softly, "Even though I did feel the need to upstage Rad and his party, I was too blind on that goal to realize that I wasn't being a good sibling…"
He paused and looked away from his surprised siblings in shame.
"I never meant to hurt you lot yesterday. I only just wanted the party to be perfect, but my selfishness got in the way above everything else…" he murmured. Ernesto walked up to Raymond and placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.
"Raymond, it's not that we didn't want this party to succeed. We just felt a tad overwhelming from the irate behavior you were displaying…" he explained carefully. Shannon scoffed quietly.
"'A tad'?" she snarked upsettingly, "He was the one who sent us out to get this stuff and looked what happened then…"
"Well, in fairness, how could we have known all that bad stuff would've happened to us to begin with?" questioned Ernesto. Shannon pursed her lips in annoyance.
"Because nothing good ever happens to us, Ernesto!" she accused negatively, "We can't takeover one stupid plaza, we stink at even the most simplest tasks, and judging from yesterday's events, we can't even set up one lousy party without screwing that up as well!"
She then grabbed a nearby chair and slumped down on it, exhaling exhaustedly.
"Let's face it, guys...we straight up suck at everything we do…"
Shannon's brothers looked towards her with upset looks on their faces. They all joined Shannon and huddled around her, feeling just as down as she was. Raymond looked towards his downcast siblings and wiped away a tear, feeling more guilty than ever. He sighed forlornly.
"I suppose this party wasn't worth all this hassle...I am well and truly sorry, you guys…" murmured Raymond dejectedly, "...as much as I wanted this party as a way to get back at Radicles...I was still hoping to do this party as a sort of fun family-bonding event for us, but I guess that was a total bust in the end…"
With that being said, the other siblings gazed towards Raymond with sad, surprised eyes. He genuinely did want to do this party as a bonding moment? As realization sunk into their CPU's, they all walked towards Raymond, giving him sympathetic looks.
"Ah, well...live and learn, I suppose, old sport. You just had your priorities mixed up was all…" admitted Ernesto. Darrell nodded.
"Maybe so...I mean, Shannon kinda assumed you were busy doing nothing here yesterday when we were all out…" explained Darrell. Shannon gave her brother a deadpan frown.
"Oh, wow, Darrell, way to not be a snitch." she gruffed sarcastically. Raymond coughed meekly.
"Well, actually, if I may say, I was actually working on a little project for the party whilst you all were out on your missions."
That was enough to grab everyone's attention immediately.
"Little project?" Darrell and Ernesto questioned in unison.
"I AM JETHRO?" asked Jethro.
"What project?" beckoned Shannon. Raymond nodded and gestured to the others to follow him.
"Come with me…" he said, as the quartet followed Raymond to the room where he exited from earlier.
The five robots entered the dark, dusty room, unable to see what was in front of them. They all stood in the pitch-black room, not knowing what they were supposed to be looking at.
"So, uh, what was this special project again?" asked Shannon.
Raymond sighed and flicked the light switch, the room now engulfed in light.
"This is…"
Suddenly, everyone wound up losing their voices again upon seeing this project in full view! There, standing in the middle of the room, stood a large, dark purple, wheel-mounted, howitzer-like cannon. This cannon certainly didn't look like anything Lord Boxman might've created, so everyone's curiosity had peaked greatly.
"R-Raymond…?" asked Darrell, his optic gleaming with wonder, "Wh-What is that?"
Raymond cleared his throat. "It's a weapon I was planning to use for the party tonight to show to those Lakewood losers that we mean business...I called it the 'Trap N' Zap 1000'..." he explained.
"'Trap N' Zap 1000'?" repeated Shannon, more confused than awestruck, "H-How does it work?"
"Simple..." answered Raymond, grabbing a old stand fan nearby and placing it on the ground. He then went behind the cannon's control pad and aimed the crosshairs at the fan.
"This cannon has two settings; a 'trap' feature that shoots a of extra-strong adhesive at its target, immobilizing it instantly." He pressed a green button and then shot the fan with a wad of adhesive, coating the bottom with a blue-colored glue-like substance.
"With the target firmly trapped in place, I then set it to the 'zap' function," continued Raymond, now pressing a red button on the cannon's console, "And then, I would fire the cannon to shoot a photon beam that zaps said target into disintegration…"
With that said, Raymond shot the cannon again, which now fired a light-based particle beam at the fan, which caused the object to slowly deteriorate into dust. The rest of the robots looked at this spectacle with subdued amazement.
Raymond turned the cannon off and rejoined the group. "I created this weapon from scratch while you lot were out. I know it's nothing fancy or more complicated and all, but I still figured it was suffice to use for the party…"
Then, in a more quieter, sadder voice, he said, "...that is if we're still doing the party...that is…"
Silence fell before everyone at that moment, as Raymond turned away from the group, too ashamed to even look at them right now. However, Raymond could assume that the party was to be cancelled after all, he felt a kind hand gently grasp his shoulder.
"Raymond…?"
Raymond turned around to see his siblings standing behind him with soft smiles. Ernesto tugged his shoulder brotherly and gave him a proud look on his featureless face.
"Of course we still want to do this party tonight…" he confirmed.
"Yeah, we were just upset with your bossy attitude was all…" reminded Darrell, "Plus, that cannon thingy looks really cool! We'll sure to cause lots of mayhem with that for tonight!"
"I AM JETHRO!" boomed Jethro enthusiastically.
Happy tears trickled down Raymond's now-bright and shining face, his smile genuine and thankful.
"Y-Y-You all mean that?" he asked softly. Ernesto, Darrell, and Jethro nodded back, smiling themselves.
"Indeed we do," replied Ernesto earnestly, "You're our brother and despite our questionable motives, we're still a family…"
Raymond was about ready to burst into more tears, this time out of genuine happiness. However, noticed that Shannon wasn't joining in with the group, as she stood there, expressionless and unsure of what to say.
Raymond gulped in fear, knowing that Shannon probably isn't fully-ready to forgive. He carefully walked up to his sister and swallowed his pride.
"Shannon…" he began, his tone soft and apologetic, "I am especially sorry to you for bringing you into all this. I know you and I aren't exactly that close, but I still wanted to do this party to help bring us all closer. Sure, part of me was still jealous over Rad's prom, but even then, I still wished to go through with our plan as a means to bond…"
He then went on his knees, as if to beg for mercy, looking up at the surprised Shannon with hopeful eyes.
"I'm not expecting forgiveness, dear sister, but I do want to genuinely apologize for all the trouble I put you and the others through for this to happen. Regardless if this party goes well or not, I'll do everything and anything I can to make it up to you in the end, but just please know that never wished harm on you all…"
He paused to choke back another sob, before looking back into Shannon's unwavering eyes.
"And that I love you all so very much…"
The room was silent yet again, Raymond kept gazing at Shannon with the most sincerest-apologetic face he ever made in his life. Darrell, Ernesto, and Jethro silently stood back in shock and worry, uncertain on how Shannon will react to this.
Shannon, in question, just stared wide-eyed at Raymond for a few quiet and tense minutes. Raymond gulped nervously, almost expecting Shannon to simply scream in his face again, or probably attack him, thus indicating that she didn't forgive him after all.
What he and the others didn't count on was Shannon immediately hugging Raymond on the spot, without any words said between them. The three brothers simply smiled from the sidelines as they saw Shannon tightly embrace Raymond, who was frozen stiff from the unexpected hug, but slowly eased up and hugged Shannon right back.
More quiet seconds pass by as Shannon finally broke the ice.
"Raymond...you may be a bossy, loud, and over-the-top son of a gun...but...you're still my brother...and I forgive you...for now, that is…"
Raymond broke into a grateful, loving grin as he continued hugging his sister, laughing warmly and happily.
"Thank you, dear sister...I love you, Shannon…"
Shannon smiled back. "I love you too, Raymond…" she returned, just as fondly.
The sweet moment between the two androids was enough to cause Ernesto, Darrell, and Jethro to admire and pretty much d'awwwww at the scene before them, proud that Shannon had the initiative to forgive and forget…
Or so they thought as Shannon tightened her hug painfully around Raymond and leaned into his ear to make something clear and present to him...
"But if you ever pull a stunt like this ever again, I'll smelt your body and use your head as a paperweight…" she threatened in their embrace.
The other three brothers eased up slightly and winced at that snide comment, the warm feeling in the air gone just as quickly as it arrived. Same old Shannon, I suppose…
Regardless, Raymond kept his smile and let go of Shannon's deadly grasp. "It's a deal…" he promised, exhaling from their embrace. Ernesto stepped up towards Raymond.
"So…" asked Ernesto curiously, "What's next on our agenda?"
Raymond quickly pulled out his do-to list and scrolled around for the next step.
"Well, considering I did Step Six myself, which is to set everything up for the party...that only leaves our seventh and final step on the list!" he explained.
"And what would that be?" Darrell asked carefully.
By now, Raymond broke into the widest, more biggest grin he'd ever produced. Feeling quite jazzed up and regaining his confidence again, he looked towards all his siblings and gave them the most rousing declaration to ever be said!
"My dearest siblings...our next step...is to party like never before…"
TO BE CONCLUDED…
Looks like the party will commence after all! Apologies if this chapter wasn't all that comedy-focused this time, but hey, nothing wrong with a little happy moment between siblings, amirite? Anywho, stay tuned soon, because next chapter, it's finally party time, boys and girls! :D
~Thunderbyrd
