"Firstly, how did you get in here?" Tommy demanded, still in shock.
"You gave me a key like a year ago, remember?" The ginger boy replied casually.
Tommy looked like he was searching for a comeback when he remembered that that was true. Why did he do that anyway?
"Whatever, look, this really isn't a good time-"
"I know, I know. Tommy, listen. I came to say sorry-"
"Gus! Protoboy's in my garden!" Tommy interrupted him and pointed to the window, where a superactivated Robotboy had just hit the other robot full on with a rocket.
"Oh. Woah, look at that!" Gus ran up to the window not even trying to mask his excitement at the fight. "Robotboy's really going at it!"
"I'm worried though." Tommy said impatiently. He knew that the Professor was usually ridiculously speedy when it came to visiting him when he needed him, but the seconds were beginning to feel like hours. It felt like ages since he had contacted him. "Kamikazi's out there too, so there's that to worry about even if Protoboy doesn't…"
Gus' excited grin fell once he registered how anxious Tommy looked, and remembered why he had come back to Tommy's house in the first place.
"I really wanted to apologize though, man." He continued, suddenly sounding a lot more solemn. "Not even just about today, about everything."
Lola looked on in surprise, almost distracted from the fight altogether by Gus' words. Who was this boy? Had Gus been replaced by aliens?
Tommy opened his mouth to reply, although with everything going on he couldn't even really process what Gus was saying, when Bjorn started sobbing harder and grabbed onto Gus' leg.
"Woah! What's up with him?" Gus looked down at the hysterical boy who was clinging to him like a limpet and was only met with a look of desperation from Bjornbot who was still trying to hold him steady. Seeing Bjorn in such a state ignited guilt within him; was this because of the stunt he pulled with Kurt earlier on? Was this because of him?
"Wackjob's fine. I think." Tommy said. "He's just having a moment. I think he'll be okay soon."
Of course, none of them would be okay if the battle didn't go in Robotboy's favour. Protoboy had already established that he had no problem with attacking humans. Tommy didn't want to verbalize that out loud though; the whole concept and thinking about losing his best friend was too scary. Besides, he was pretty sure that everyone was thinking it anyway.
Thankfully, an alert beep from his watch kept him from dwelling on this thought any longer. Tommy, Lola and Gus looked towards the window and saw Moshimo's hovercar lower itself into his garden, right in front of his door.
"Thank God, Moshimo's outside." Tommy breathed. "Why did he park out there?"
"Who cares? Let's go!" Lola grabbed Tommy's hand and pulled him towards the door. Neither of them cared that it wasn't guaranteed for them to be safe outside anymore; Robotboy needed to know that they were all still there for him.
Tommy glanced back nervously at Gus who still had Bjorn attached to his leg. Bjorn had started babbling in Swedish about them all being dead if they went out there.
"Don't worry, guys." Gus gave a confident smile. "I'll look after him; just go to Moshimo!"
Tommy quickly nodded gratefully and rushed out the door with Lola.
"What are you doing here, you foolish man?" They heard Kamikazi bellow from up in his helicopter. "There's nothing you can do against a machine like this!" He hadn't even considered that the Professor might show up, but this was even better! He would get to witness Moshimo's own creation bring about his downfall.
Robotboy turned his head and observed what was going on below, suddenly panicked at the sight of his creator and his two friends out in the open. He let out a frightened beep in an attempt to get them to move out of the way, but Protoboy's rage had reached maximum capacity and his weapons had begun powering up as soon as he saw Moshimo. He shoved his younger brother out of the way and within milliseconds had propelled a missile from his arm gun.
"Kids, watch out!" Moshimo quickly grabbed Lola and Tommy and ducked behind his parked aircraft, all three of them wincing as the explosion impacted the other side and shards from the hovercar and clumps of dirt came flying over the top.
"What do we do?" Tommy asked breathlessly. "He's so angry! He's not gonna stop until he destroys Robotboy!"
From their hiding spot they heard Protoboy's mechanical rumble; "MOSHIMO, COWARD. COME OUT. WITNESS MOST POWERFUL CREATION DESTROY YOUR PRECIOUS ROBOTBOY."
The Professor sighed and placed the kids down.
"You stay here where it's safe." He said quietly. "I didn't want to have to do this, but I have no choice."
Tommy and Lola watched as the Professor quickly retrieved a large metal object and slung it over his shoulder. Lola noticed Tommy's terrified expression and reached down to hold his hand comfortingly. She hated seeing Tommy so stressed.
"Protoboy!" Moshimo shouted from on the ground, alerting the superactivated battle robot. He started down at his elderly creator and his circuits ignited with anger; his creator, who would never appreciate what a superior machine he was. His creator, who would always favor Robotboy over him. His weak creator who's first mistake was creating robots who had no other purpose other than to be, in his opinion, mellow slaves to humans; he would show him. He would show the whole world that he could be so much more than that.
"YOU FINALLY SHOW YOUR FACE, WEAK CREATOR."
The old man observed his prototype battle robot and gave a sad, remorseful smile. "I'm sorry it could not have ended better, Protoboy."
With precise speed, he pointed a black, single-barreled cannon into the sky and it automatically locked on to Protoboy's position. Before the robot had time to react in any way, he was hit in the chest by a sharp blue laser that passed through his chest plate with no visible impact.
A few seconds passed and as Robotboy stared in confusion, Protoboy gave a distorted laugh.
"IS THAT ALL YOU-"
Suddenly, Robotboy heard the sound of Protoboy's internal system shutting down and found himself watching his brother power down and deform. As quickly as he had transformed into a giant, intimidating killing machine, he now fell to the ground, completely deactivated.
Robotboy couldn't believe that it was suddenly over so quickly. Protoboy was now small and useless. He lowered himself down to the ground and, raising his powerful arm, threw a punch at his deactivated brother and shoved him down further into the earth. He continued this onslaught until he felt Tommy's small hand tap him rapidly.
"Ro, it's okay! Stop! He can't hurt anyone anymore."
The superactivated robot stopped and looked at his friend through the billowing dust and saw that he was smiling. Protoboy truly couldn't hurt Tommy anymore. Tommy looked up at the sky for Kamikazi's helicopter and noticed that he and Constantine had frantically turned tail and retreated upon witnessing Protoboy fall to the ground. Looking over at Moshimo and Lola, Robotboy was put at ease to see that his friend and father were safe too.
"It's all okay, Ro." Tommy and Robotboy shared a relieved hug as Robotboy shrank back down to his activated form.
"Tommy, Lola, alright?" The little robot asked. "Not hurt?"
Tommy laughed and Lola shook her head.
"We're fine, I promise!" Lola said.
Tommy nodded, still shaking slightly from the frightened adrenaline rush. "Everyone else is fine too. Look, even Kamikazi ran off."
Robotboy giggled and squeezed his best friend's hand. "Like always."
"Well done, Robotboy." The two looked up as they saw Professor Moshimo advancing towards them with a kind smile on his face. "I'm very proud of you for making sure your friends were safe. That could have ended very badly. Tommy, thank you for letting me know what was going on. That was a very smart move."
"I'm so happy you could make it!" Tommy babbled. "What was that gun thing anyway?"
"Ah. It's a machine that caused forced deactivation upon impact. It emits a signal that disrupts his mechanisms and forced him to shut down. I completed it after the last time we had to deal with Protoboy, as he can't just be switched off like Robotboy can." He said, gesturing Tommy's watch. Tommy looked down at the deactivated Protoboy who had been battered and hammered into the ground and realized that although Protoboy was a destructive and dangerous menace, he was still a creation of Moshimo's. He figured it must not have felt great to be forced to effectively kill one of your children, no matter how out of control they had gotten.
"Thank you, Moshimo!" Robotboy said happily. "Save Robotboy; save friends!"
"It's quite alright." The Professor smiled down at the three of them. "I'm just glad that everyone is alright and no one got hurt."
Back inside the house, Gus was still confined to the kitchen floor with no view of the window thanks to the sobbing limpet boy who was still clinging onto him for dear life. Bjornbot had been standing on the kitchen counter in front of the window and acting as their lookout, and Gus suddenly noticed that he'd become extremely animated and excited.
"BB! What is it, boy?"
"Ja!" The humanoid robot turned to Gus and made eager thumbs up signs. "Okej! Okej!"
"What is it with you two and speakin' gibberish? I can't understand a word-"
"Is he gone?" Bjorn croaked from on the floor, his face still wet and his cheeks pink from crying.
Bjornbot nodded and grinned ecstatically. "Ja! Smash!"
"Woah! Sweet!" Gus patted Bjorn's shoulder and moved to get up. "Hear that? Everythin's okay now!"
Bjorn just groaned and made an attempt to wipe his face. He was more worn out than anything; it turned out that a combination of water and Gus distracting him by telling him stories about times his mother's cow had run away and they had been forced to go all over the town looking for her had done wonders to bring him out of his panic. Although extremely relieved that the crisis seemed to be over, he found that he was too drained to even stand up now.
"Hey, you gotta get up, dude. Tommy's parents are gonna be home soon." Gus told him and attempted to gently nudged Bjorn's head off his lap. He just earned another defiant groan in response. "If you don't get up I'll tell your mom you stayed up past midnight the other day."
Bjornbot seemed absolutely horrified at that statement and watched as his creator sat up shakily while using Gus as support.
"Don't tell anyone about this or I'll kill you. Don't think I won't." He muttered weakly and Gus just laughed.
"Your secret's safe with me!" He snickered. "In exchange for a chocolate bar. The nice ones as well, not the cheap ones I find in the trash cans at school. BB, what are they doing out there? Not to interrupt whatever tender moment's goin' on but can we eat yet?"
Bjornbot tore himself away from the window where he'd been watching them all intensely. "Uh. Robotboy…pappa?"
"Oh, Moshimo? Yeah, Tommy called him." Gus said, still thinking about food.
Bjorn felt his stomach lurch as he clung to the chubbier boy, suddenly feeling too weak to support his own weight again.
"I'b …feel ill."
"Dude, if it's that much of a big deal you don't have to get me a chocolate bar." Gus said and started patting him on the back like he was a baby. "It was just a joke-"
Realizing the error of his ways, he could only sit there while Bjorn leant his head on his shoulder and vomited down his back.
Still giddy with the excitement of witnessing Protoboy's defeat, Bjornbot couldn't hide how hilarious he found the whole situation and started outright laughing at Gus' annoyed expression.
"Hey, shut up! If I hadn't have arrived when I did that would've been you, y'know!"
"Ugh…"Bjorn just groaned as Gus shouted in his ear. "I've never been so humiliated in my life-"
"YOU? How d'you think I feel?" Gus yelled, outraged. "The G-Man's gotta keep his appearance fresh, y'know! What'd I tell you about eating that cafeteria slop? This just proves you gotta listen to the G-Man in future, B."
"What on earth are you guys doing?" Gus looked up to see Tommy and Robotboy, trying hard to stifle their laughter since they had come into the kitchen. They were closely followed by Lola and Professor Moshimo, the latter of which was carrying Protoboy's deactivated form.
Bjornbot just fell about laughing so hard he overbalanced and fell into the sink, while Gus just mentally accepted that they were going to make fun of him for the rest of his life because of this.
"Aw, Gus! You're like a mother hen taking care of her baby!" Tommy chuckled.
Lola suddenly burst out, "A mother goose!"
The entire party, bar Gus and Bjorn, all fell into hysterics. It felt relieving to finally let out all the tension that they had all been feeling. Even Gus ended up cracking a smile eventually. He was still planning on apologizing to Tommy later, but at least everyone was safe now. If it meant he got see the smiles on his friends' faces, he didn't mind being the butt of the joke.
"Here we go, sick boy. Turn around now." Still trying not to laugh, Gus lifted Bjorn's head off his shoulder and used his shirt to wipe his mouth, seeing as it was already ruined and he'd have to change it anyway.
"Ah, it sure has been a while!" Professor Moshimo greeted his former student with a small wave and an oddly fond smile. "Hello, Bjorn."
Bjorn whimpered and tried to curl up in Gus' lap again but was promptly shoved away. "I'b…I sicked on Gus."
The Professor nodded, trying his very best to keep a straight face. "Indeed you did."
"I'm…really sorry-"
"Who you sayin' sorry to?" Gus cut him off. "Because you'd better make sure it's me!"
They all dissolved into laughter once more, although Bjornbot had become confused at this point and returned to bending the spoons that he'd found in the sink.
"I don't know how I'm gonna explain the garden to my parents when they get home." Tommy stared out of his bedroom window at his back yard that now looked more like a warzone. Worst comes to worst, his mom would just assume that his dad was somehow responsible.
"It's sad that the Professor couldn't stay for dinner." Lola commented. "But I suppose Miumiu was wondering where he'd got to."
The Japanese inventor had left their house an hour ago, wishing them well and promising that they would talk more about what happened in the near future. He could see that they were all tired and could do with some rest. Since Bjorn was knocked out from a combination of exhaustion and humiliation, Moshimo had told Tommy that he wasn't angry at him, like Tommy had expected, and "whatever it is that you're doing to Bjorn; keep at it."
The Professor was initially going to take Protoboy back to his lab with him and make sure he was destroyed for good this time, but Robotboy had practically pleaded his father to let him take him and do it himself. After all that time spent battling his tyrant brother, Moshimo understood that he would need closure. He allowed Robotboy to take the deactivated Protoboy to destroy at a later date.
Robotboy took his brother and decided to keep him by his charging station so he could keep an eye on him at all times. Even though there was no way he could become active again, as his power had been completely drained during the forced deactivation, Robotboy still wanted to make sure that he watched over his brother. He wasn't taking any chances.
"Ro, you're sure it was a good idea taking Protoboy back here? Why not just let the Professor destroy him?" Tommy asked him softly.
"Protoboy, still brother." The little robot stared down at the table they were sitting at, his ears drooping sadly. "Make much trouble, always. Robotboy know. But, still brother. Want be one to destroy Protoboy."
Tommy and Lola exchanged looks of sympathy.
"I understand, buddy." Tommy gave him a gentle pat on the head. "You can do it whenever you're ready."
Robotboy nodded gratefully. He was so happy that he had such supportive friends.
"Yo! Here comes your local 5-star chef!" Gus burst into the room carrying a stack of pancakes on a tray.
"Gus, did you steal those?" Lola asked in disbelief.
"Nah, I made 'em just now!" Gus placed the tray down on the table to Lola, Tommy and Robotboy's amazement. "I mean, normally I'd have eaten them all by now, but, uh, think of this as an apology."
Tommy and Lola exchanged amused glances.
"That's so like you, to apologize with food." Tommy chuckled. "Thanks, dude. And I'm sorry I yelled at you in the street today, I was just really stressed about loads of things and-"
"Don't worry, man. I totally deserved that. You were right, I gotta check myself every once in a while. Doesn't mean I'm gonna cut down on drinking the chocolate milk in your fridge anytime soon, though."
Tommy grinned and punched his arm playfully. "Yeah, well, you're my friend. Wouldn't have it any other way."
As he watched his friends tuck into their pancakes, Robotboy beeped happily with the knowledge Tommy and Gus were okay again. Everything felt right again, seeing them laughing and joking with each other like how it usually was.
They heard Bjorn stir from where they'd carried him to sleep in Tommy's bed and mutter something incomprehensible.
"Hey, Wackjob! Are you awake?" Tommy called out to him. "There are pancakes here! I think you should eat something; it'll help you feel better."
Bjorn glared at the three human kids and Robotboy who were sitting around the little table and eating pancakes. He looked back at Bjornbot who had been sitting next to him and holding his hand since he'd carried him up to Tommy's room.
"Brother, I had such a bad dream." He muttered. "First of all, I sat on Gus' lap. Then, Moshimo was in Tommy's kitchen and I then puked on Gus in front of him-"
"That wasn't a dream." Tommy snickered, watching Bjorn's face fall in horror. "That happened like an hour ago. Sorry, man."
"No worry!" Robotboy added cheerfully. "Tommy give you spare sweater! All clean."
The rest of the kids turned to face the wall, trying hard not to splutter with laughter at the fact that that was what Robotboy assumed Bjorn was most stressed about. Bjorn just pulled the covers over his head in silence upon realization that that nightmare had actually happened and started whimpering while Bjornbot delivered comforting head pats.
"He'll be okay." Tommy reassured the others, trying not to laugh out of respect for any remaining strands of Bjorn's dignity. "I think."
Gus just grinned and seized the opportunity. "More pancakes for me."