Memory Chip

by RibbonStarReset

Phyllis is the granddaughter of BOTH Dr. Wily & Dr. Light- a robotics genius at the ripening age of 14, but after years of working in Light Labs with her grandfathers, one goes mad with the idea of taking over the world! Unable to stop things from getting worse, things take an even bigger turn with events leading to Phyllis' disappearance and reappearance-100 YEARS LATER.

10. P 1 - Ch 10: GONE

Extra long fraction-finale! Enjoy the special~! :D

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Part 1 - Ch. 10: GONE

*Phyllis' P.O.V.*

I yawn and sit up when sleep begins to wear off on me, running a hand down my face as I blink my sleepy eyes to see someone sitting in my room with an 'E' tank at hand- staring aimlessly out the window across my bed. As soon as I move though, I see the motion of their head turning to face me.

Unable to see with the water in my eyes, I rub the corners furiously until I can make out... Zero!

"Oh!" I chirp, immediately offering him a bright smile when he watches me straighten up properly to greet him. "Good morning, Zero!"

...

"Wait... Why are you here?" I ask curiously, blinking at him before looking around my room in confusion for any sign of maybe another robot. "Weren't you with my grandfather down in the basement?"

Zero nods, pulling himself up onto his feet and fixing his long blonde hair with his 'E' easily balanced in his grip. "He was just looking through my memory files. He wanted as many shots of what I caught before he sent me out of the lab," Zero explains, watching me take a moment to absorb this before I nod in confirmation. "Afterwards, he gave me a few 'E' tanks and sent me upstairs to watch over you while you slept in case another thing came back."

My stomach twists in discomfort at that. "In case another thing came back". Just the thought alone was enough to make me tremble under Zero's blue eyed gaze. He seems curious by my physical reaction, but doesn't ask me about it like many of the robot masters would when they are first activated. Seems like Zero isn't a very vocal robot... But at least he isn't speaking Hungarian or anything- that would be embarrassing!

"I see. So... Where are the other robots?" I ask carefully, making sure to lower my voice slightly as I look past him towards the open door of my room.

Zero, oblivious to my lowered voice, glances behind himself in slight confusion before looking back at me with that ever so serious face. It doesn't seem like he gathers the situation, as he simply replies in a normal tone, "They're downstairs speaking to Doctor Light. Why are you changing the volume of your voice?"

"Shh! Don't speak so loud! I don't want them to know I'm awake yet," I whisper quickly, tiptoeing past him into the hall to peek around and make sure it's just Zero and I upstairs like he said. "Stay here, I'm gonna spy on them."

Zero seems like he doesn't understand a thing, but he obediently waits in my room (albeit with a single raised eyebrow) as I take quiet steps down the stairs with my body against the wall to keep myself as hidden as possible, the theme for the 21st century's old Mission Impossible movies playing in the back of my mind as I sneakily edge closer to the end of the steps.

I can hear the voice of Grandpa Light as he speaks to the robots in the kitchen, in the perfect location for me to listen in without leaving the confines of the stairway.

"...Important to keep Phyllis safe if what these things she's been seeing are still following her. She needs our support now more than ever, including listening to her, being on her good side, and not frustrating her," Grandpa Light pauses here, thought I'm not sure why since I can't see him, "under any circumstances."

"Question!" It's Cut's voice that speaks now. "What are we gonna do about that date of hers? Is she still going? 'Cause... I don't think dates include bringing your friends. Or robots."

"Shh!" There's a metallic bonk here that makes me roll my eyes, even though it's not Rock that is hitting him this time, but Ice. "Lower your voice or Zero'll hear you! And you already know he's young- that robot will tell Phyllis everything!"

"Sorry, sorry! Sheesh, why do we even have to keep all this planning from Doc-ette anyways? You really think she wouldn't want us around to keep her safe, Doc?" Cut speaks up again, his tone dropping slightly to express his discomfort.

"It's not that she wouldn't want us around to watch over her. It's that she might get stressed out and feel claustrophobic thinking those things are everywhere- and knowing that we're watching over her will only add another layer of those walls," Roll explains formally for Cut to understand, prompting me to make a face of annoyance. "Not to mention that if she starts thinking they might come back for her- which they very well might...!"

...

"Zero didn't tell Doc-ette we sent him up there to make sure that thing doesn't come back for her, did he?" Cut ponders quietly, causing my lips to purse at his tone of worry.

What? Seriously?! I'm not that sensitive! I think, rolling my eyes and mouthing, "Whatever," at their silly notions. Hmm... I don't hear Grandpa Wily's input. Doesn't seem like he's back home yet...

"Exactly. Thank you, Roll," Grandpa Light speaks up again. "As for her date, I'm sure she'll be fine. She'll be having that strapping young man to watch her for a portion of the day. When she comes back, then we can start worrying about her again. I'm sure a beats reporter for the digital paper like him will take care of my granddaughter."

Following a soft snort of disdain, it seems like there's a beat of silence, but Grandpa Light speaks up again and I hesitate taking the first step back up the stairs. "Oh, one more thing... Rock."

I hear a squeak, causing my eyes to widen in surprise. Did Rock just squeak? ...'Cause that's kind of adorable.

I cover my mouth when a stupid, goofy smile forms across my face, making me mentally scold myself for my idiocy. Oh, please, Phyllis, get a grip on yourself. He doesn't even like you and he's a robot, do I have to keep reminding you that?

Despite my efforts, the smile persists.

"You and Phyllis need to deal with whatever issue is going between the two of you. Even if you have to lie, I don't care. I don't want to give Phyllis any reason to run away or sneak out by herself- you know how she is when she's frustrated," Grandpa Light says, making my jaw drop in shock.

Even if he has to lie?!

"I-It's not that simple! I can't just-!" Rock stammers, but Grandpa Light isn't having any excuses.

"Yes you can, and you will. You're a smart boy, you'll figure out something," Grandpa Light audibly waves his question off. "The rest of you know your jobs. Above all though, act natural. No need to alarm Phyllis that we've planned this."

Tch! Phyllis already knows, Gramps! Phyllis already doesn't approve either!

"Well, guys... I guess it's time to cut to the chase!" Oh god. That's Cut making another stupid pun on his name... Sheesh, doesn't he ever get tired of puns?

"Stop talking, Cut. For our sake," Ice dryly grumbles in relation to Cut's manic giggling.

Now that their conversation is done, I quickly tiptoe up the stairs while the movements in the kitchen near my hiding spot, turning the corner and darting back to my room where Zero is sitting on my bed looking over my ETR with clear interest.

Thankfully, I'm in my room when my communicator goes off and dive for it before Zero can pick it up to observe it with his sticky fingers. I give him a sassy look, but get no clear reaction from it when Zero stares at me with no real expression... and eventually returns to studying my ETR. Once I'm given space, I turn on my device and scan my messages to see one new text from the Tissue.

One quick look at the time and I gawk when I read 3:30 PM in the afternoon, cursing myself for standing the Tissue up (I'm not that cold!) until I check the messages to see that he'd sent me his message way before our decided date time the night before.

Chris: "Change of plan- meet up at the restaurant at 6 pm for a reservation under Michaels."

I frown in confusion. Why a change of time? Hmm... Maybe he's tired and wants to nap more?

My fingers quickly dance across my keyboard with accurate taps, leaving me with a one word confirmation.

Phyllis: "Gotcha."

I make another irritated gesture before tossing my communicator at the bed, watching dumbly as it bounces off the edge and hits the floorboards of my room loudly with enough force that the robots downstairs- and Grandpa Light- are sure to hear.

I close my eyes and thread my fingers along my scalp to take a few deep breaths and calm myself.

I am not emotional, I am not sensitive... I am not emotional, I am not sensitive... I'm dealing JUST. FINE.

I'm definitely not dealing just fine.

I double back to my bedroom door to shut it and lock upon hearing footsteps climbing the stairs. Once I'm sure it's locked, I step back a foot with a gruff grunt of vexation. Following that is soft knocking on my door that only makes me roll my eyes much to Zero's confusion when he glances up from my ETR to see what's going on.

"Phyllis? It's Rock... Can we talk?" I hear my favorite robot inquire with carefully executed words.

At first, I almost relent and get up to open the door... Until I remember the last thing I'd said to him and feel my eyes widen in horror.

I like you.

Ohhhh, nnnooooooooooooooo...

"No!" I blurt out, crossing my arms and looking to Zero despite his attention having returned to my ETR to read my installed textbooks. Why he's interested in reading those, I have no idea, but I guess power to him if he likes that kind of stuff...

Rock is quiet for a beat, before stiffly asking, "Can I ask why not?"

I bite my lip. "B-Because! Phyllis isn't here! Phyllis went to China!" I add

I hear Rock sigh from the other side of the door. "Come on, Phyllis, we should talk! I don't want things to be like this forever," he says, before adding, "I miss you."

Ouch! I think, grabbing at my thorax as it throbs in guilt at his words. Right in the feels!

"The answer is still no. I'm not coming out of this room whatsoever for the next twenty years! Go bug Cut Man!" I say, walking back over to flop on my bed and lean back against the headboard with a scowl.

"...Phyllis, you're going to get hungry sooner or later. You love food and hate being starved. Eventually you're coming out," Rock comments rather triumphantly, making me glance over at the pile of snacks I'd collected on my night table early yesterday evening.

"I'm covered. It's like a nuclear fallout shelter in here- I don't need to come out at all," I retort with a proud smile of my own, ripping open a chocolate chip granola bar and taking a generous bite while I have my moment.

"The shower's out in the hall," Rock says.

"There's a bathtub I can use just fine in my restroom."

"Purified water's out in the kitchen."

"I'll drink the tap from my bathroom, it's purified up here too."

"The air conditioner is broken upstairs!"

"I have a ceiling fan."

"People are downstairs!"

"I have Zero in here."

"...What?! Zero?!" Rock sounds so insulted as he asks this, and I can't help the malicious grin that rises to my face.

"Yep! Zero, say something," I brightly tell my much taller android, who obeys without even looking up from my ETR.

"Something," he speaks up casually, but falls silent once more when his service is done.

"Zero, will you open the door for me?" Rock tries, but Zero doesn't even budge, other than to swipe left to turn the electronic page of my tablet. I can't help but giggle when I hear Rock groan from the other side of the door.

"Phyllis, I am begging you. Please talk to me...!" I hear Rock groan in desperation, making a thump against my door and a sound of something sliding downwards along its surface. He sounds like he's ready to give up, so I roll my eyes and stand up to walk to the door of my bedroom. Of course, just as I'm about to unlock it, I hear Rock add, "Why are you such a drama queen...?

I jerk my hand back from the handle like it's burned me and give the door an open mouthed incredulous look of disbelief. "Excuse me?!" I snarl loudly, startling Zero into jumping onto his feet at my volume. I leave him ignored, because oh my God! Rock can't call me a drama queen! Only I can call myself that!

Rock seems horrified on the other side. "N-no wait! I didn't mean it like it sounds! It's totally endearing, I swear!" He tries to save himself, but the deed is already done.

I glare at the door, in hopes of making Rock catch fire on the other side with only my mind. "Go away and come back in an hour. Maybe then I'll think about forgiving you, jerkazoid!" I snap from my side, turning away from the door and hustling back to my bed where Zero watches me carefully to see if I'm truly alright. "Word to the wise: think before you speak, so you don't exacerbate the situation!"

I hear something loud being grabbed, along with a zapping sound that makes me turn and immediately squeak in horror when I see Zero clutching the base of my night table lamp in his grip like a weapon. "Should I eliminate your stressor?" Zero asks seriously from where he stands over by my bed, causing me to jump in horror and face him with my hands up.

"Th-that a little too much, no thank you!" I stammer, horrified to hear that Zero would be easily willing to destroy one of my other robots if he feels they're a danger to me. I did install the three laws on him, so he should be good, but... Eeek!

Zero eyes my palms, making me stiffen in remembrance of the stones embedded in them- but instead of making a big deal, Zero doesn't seem to find it odd and simply nods. He sits back down and tosses my lamp on my bed as if the sight of the stones are normal, picking up my ETR to continue where he left off. For a second I blink in confusion, until I remember that Zero, despite his size and appearance, is mentally much younger than the rest of the robots in the house. How ironic, that the younger looking robots are actually older than this big lug of a 'bot...

...

I bite into my granola bar on my night table again, crumbling the empty wrapper as I listen to Rock grumble incoherently and walk back downstairs to probably report back to Grandpa Light about his progress on getting me to forgive him even if he "has to lie". Ha! Wait till he tells Gramps what he did this time.

"SHE'S KIMBERLY'S DAUGHTER, ALRIGHT!" Rock audibly barks from downstairs, making me snicker at his comment. Mom is pretty stubborn and cold when she wants to be. I guess I can see the momentary resemblance...

"What did you do, Rock?" I hear Roll demand harshly, while I snicker even more beside Zero.

"I went up to apologize and that- that BRAT wouldn't let me in! She just completely shut me down even though I was trying to be nice!"

Oh, so I'm a brat now too? Okay, FINE! They want to all be nice so I don't run away and shit? I'm leaving then! RIGHT NOW!

I get up on my feet and snatch up clean clothes from my dresser, including some dark black-blue skinny jeans and a fitted maroon red hoodie, changing clothes without even a care for Zero being in the room. Of course, he's a robot though, so I'm sure he doesn't really count as someone of the opposite gender.

I look up to see Zero still engrossed in my ETR, shrugging carelessly and pulling up my hood of my hoodie and grabbing my wallet off of my dresser to tuck into my pants pocket. I make sure to cover the bruised ring around my neck with my hair, pulling my sweater up as added concealment. No need to startle anyone if they see that.

"Hey, Zero, I'm sneaking out. Take your time and go tell everyone so we can see how fast they react. If they ask whether you know anything... Tell them you know nothing," I say casually as I quickly tuck my communicator into my pocket, pushing open my window while Zero slowly stands up and walks over to my bedroom door. A small snicker slips past my grin at his incapability of understanding the true meaning of my words due to being a new-built. While Zero heads downstairs to tell the others, I hop onto the roof carefully and slide down to a tree beside my bedroom window, quickly scaling down the branches until I hit the grassy lawn and sprint off down the street as fast as I can.

A smile of adrenaline rises up to my face as I turn the corner and spot the movement of older robots running out of my house as I turn. Thankfully, I vanish around the corner before they can see me make the turn.

HA! Take that, losers! Rebellious teenager is rebellious! Try boxing me in now!

My breath is short and coming out quickly by the time I reach the shopping district, diving into the troves of paying customers as I look around for something to pass time with before my date.

I'll just be an asshole and drop in with what I'm wearing right now, I can save my dress for something better! It's too cute to waste on a tissue! I silently say to myself, nodding as I eye the restaurant down a street towards the back of the district where I'll be meeting the Tissue up at. Besides, not like I wanted to even go on this date to begin with. I got persuaded against my better judgment!

I tuck my hair further into my hood as I walk down the street, keeping an eye out to make sure none of the robots are around here looking for me.

Like the ultimate hide and seek...! I think with a cackle, jumping when my eyes catch a familiar figure and shape somewhere ahead of me.

I turn into a tattoo parlor just in time when I spot Cut talking to people at a corner by a crosswalk just a few meters from where I am, looking around and likely asking people if they've seen me nearby. Lucky robot, he picked the correct place to search for me! Now he just has to catch me, and I certainly won't make that easy on him.

The shop is empty as I walk over to a gallery of options for tattoos, pretending to scan its contents as I keep my vision half on the lookout by the store window. As I turn the third page, I see Cut pass the shop without an attempt to glance in. Of course... Why ever would Phyllis Wily-Light enter a tattoo parlor? They know I hate needles...

...But then again, what better way to mark the rise of my rebellion?

Depending on the ink colors, the size of the tattoo, and the time spent making it, getting a tattoo would be expensive. I could always go for a piercing. Maybe a tongue piercing?

NO WAY, my brain screams, and I laugh a little at my idiocy as I close the booklet and turn to exit the store. On the way out, I feel my comm. device vibrate and frown. The robots and Grandpa Light would be able to find me using it... But on the flipside, I sort of need it on in case something serious does happen to occur.

God, I don't want to think about that. Why do these things always happen to me? Why not somebody else?! What did I do to deserve this...?

With a grimace, I pull my comm. device out of my pocket to read my new message.

LGramps: "Why. Do. You. Always. RUN AWAY?! Running away from me isn't going to solve anything, Phyllis! We should have a civil conversation about what you said yesterday without either of us pointing fingers or yelling. I promise I won't be a jerk!"

I roll my eyes and shift to tuck it back in my pocket, until another message has me pulling it back to my line of sight and waking the screen up. Now what?

LGramps: "Okay, you're not answering... Either you're excessively mad or you left your phone back at home. I'm really hoping you're getting my messages."

My communicator vibrates again.

LGramps: "Phyllis? Light of my life? Drama Queen but still my Queen? Anything? No?"

His queen?! Yeah, right! 'Cause obviously it's common practice to insult royal monarchs by calling them excessively dramatic! TOTALLY!

Screw you, Rock.

I tuck my communicator away successfully as I walk down the street and turn into a corner... only to stop and take a seat on a bench beside a gently trickling fountain, kicking my feet up across the bench entirely as I meditate on my actions.

...He's right. Running away from my problems isn't going to make them go away... They'll just keep following me around if I do that. What about Rock though? He can't always just accuse me of things just because he thinks he can fix them after! That's like spitting on somebody all the time and expecting them to continue to forgive you even though you continue to repeat the action after the initial apology. Are you kidding?! Why am I in fault for his issues? Of course I'll want to avoid the topic if he's just going to apologize and then continue to harass me for my feelings again!

I cross my arms and glare down at my lap, clicking my tongue in irritation.

Forget Rock! What about the other robots and Grandpa Light? Are they still gonna treat me like glass even after we've learned that those shadow-things are not hallucinations of my mind?! They have no right to keep things from me! They happened to me after all, not them! They're my problems to deal with!

"Phyl?"

My eyes snap open and I look up from my lap to see a tall figure standing next to me. At first, I nearly flip out of my mind thinking it's Zero or Grandpa Light, both of whom are quite tall in comparison to the robot masters. There's no gray armor color or white lab coat though, so when I catch a familiar shade of light green hair, I relax and smile.

"Peter!" I say, delighted to see him- until I remember exactly why I have my hoodie on and my hair tucked away in my hood, which causes my expression to contort into fear as I realize what might now happen. "Peter!" I repeat, this time in a much more startled tone when I jump up to my feet and swing off the bench.

"...Phyl...?" Peter repeats in slight confusion, leering at me for a moment before his eyes flick up to my hood and cringing posture. "Why do you look like you need to go to the bathroom?"

I almost face palm at his comment, but grab his wrist and drag him past the fountain and behind a nearby corner leading into a small alley out of the mall. My movements are brisk, and despite Peter having the longer legs, he struggles to keep up.

"Phyllis, what are you-?!" He begins with a growl, until I stop and look around nervously. He seems to understand and relaxes to give me a 'seriously?' look before, "You've snuck off from Grandpa Light again, haven't you?"

I scoff in offense, "No!"

...

Insert an eye roll of resignation here. "Yes... But this time it's not because I'm trying to get back at them for something! They started it!"

Peter's eyebrows rise up as he leans forward to get in my face. "'They started it' sounds exactly like you're trying to get back at them for something, baby sis..." He notifies me with narrowed eyes, causing my expression to fall with disgust.

"Don't call me that, Petey," I stress, before leaning back to get some space. "...Fine, I ran away to get back at them again. So? You know what they did? They totally-!" I cut myself off before I can finish, my brain pulling the reigns of my mouth shut as my thoughts scream at me to think about my words.

Peter doesn't know about the incident in the basement of Grandpa Wily's house. I could tell him what happened and even bring him to the basement to have Grandpa Light show him the pictures... But there's a good chance Grandpa Light won't want him to know and worry about it like me. I mean, if Gramps is willing to have the robots pretend it didn't happen to keep me from thinking about it, then I'm sure he might pretend to not know what I'm talking about in front of Peter...

What do I tell my brother then?

I should tell him the truth, obviously! Even if he doesn't believe me or I don't get Grandpa Light to show him the pictures.

...

"They totally what?" Peter asks, raising an eyebrow at my extended pause as I collect my thoughts to properly tell him.

Come on! I bite my lip as I flick my eyes around nervously. Tell him already!

...

"W-well, more like just Rock..." I stammer, suddenly feeling incredibly insecure as I delve into that issue rather than the grander scale of things. In the end... I guess I don't know how to tell him. Keeping the shadow issue from him like Grandpa Light would do is probably the best choice of action. Peter wouldn't be able to do anything anyways... Grandpa Light and the robots sure don't seem confident about dealing with the shadow incident- other than pretending it doesn't exist.

Running away from it isn't going to solve the problem.

But there's no other way, is there? Fighting can only last so long... We don't even know what they are.

Reality crashes into me like an ocean wave, pulling me under and suffocating me with the harsh truth of the situation- that there is no way out other than if they give up on trying to take me. They've waited years for this moment, right? Played around with my sanity and emotions like a yo-yo... and then got my hopes up that everything was over.

Now they're back.

"What did Rock do? Did he huwt youw feewings again?" Peter decides to mock me, snapping me out of my haunting thoughts for a moment that I'm particularly grateful for- even if it's over something completely stupid and irritating.

"Shut up, Peter, I'm allowed to be angry if we have an argument. I should apologize and stuff, yeah, but I want to release my steam a little right now," I huff with a smile twitching at the corner of my lips.

"Alright, alright, don't get mad at me now... But really, what did Rock do?" Peter inquires, making me frown and turn to face him with a snarl across my face at the memory.

"ROCK totally...! He- um..." I feel the steam within me begin to dwindle as I think back to the events back in the house, my hands dropping from a gesture I'm in the middle of making as I relax and bite my lip in contemplation. Rock didn't really do anything now that I think about it...? He just wanted to talk things out like mature adults... and I totally flipped out on him even though I already apologized for our last argument in Grandpa Wily's living room and totally flipped after that as well by scaring him with the possibility of my death. Oh shit, am I really a drama queen...? He has every right to call me that! "Heee... Did something?"

Peter slaps his palm against his face so loud I almost think he's broken his nose, until he removes it to give me a look. "Are you telling me you snuck away without even being sure about why you're mad at Rock?"

I bite my lip more, and then a thought passes my mind- which I promptly blurt out to defend myself before Peter turned on his "scolding brother-mother" mode.

"AH! He accused me of liking him!" I blurt out, watching Peter cock his head to the side slightly and reply with, "Wait, you don't like him then?"

"What? That's... That's not the issue! It's what I'm telling you he accused me of!" I say, my hand gestures at an all time speed to keep up with my fast paced memory of my issues. "He said I had a crush on him! He made a huge deal out of it! He pointed fingers and made me feel like shit with what he said!"

"...I repeat: Wait, you don't like him then?" Peter asks, causing my jaw to drop as he stares seriously at me. "I thought you did have a crush on him. If all he's done is pointed out is that you like him and he's right, then why are you so angry at him?"

I'm still in the process of bending down to pick up my jaw from the floor as Peter stares at me and sighs heavily.

"So... He accused you of having feelings for him... Because you didn't tell the truth and return his feelings or something? Is that it?" Peter asks as I immediately reattach my jaw back to my cranium.

"No! Rock doesn't have feelings for me. He said so himself! No feelings for me whatsoever," I spit out rather pointedly at the ground, watching Peter crack a smile as he takes a step closer and throws an arm across my shoulders to bring my attention back up to him from the floor.

"Phyllie, Phyllie, Phyllie... Rock has feelings for you, and if he says he doesn't, he is lying like a dog. Trust me, Rock got bit by the love bug the minute he woke up and saw you," Peter informs me, though despite how sure he sounds, my mind just rewinds back to last night in Grandpa Wily's living room.

"I'll be clear about this, Phyllis, I don't have feelings for you like that."

At the memory of his tone, his words, and his expression as he said it, I grab at my hair and release a fierce cry of frustration. "I DON'T CARE! I hate him! I hate him for hurting me!" I snap, shoving Peter's arm off of me. "I don't want to talk to him! I should have never told him to begin with! He's just a stupid robot! He's-!" I cut myself off when Peter steps back, looking at me like I'm going crazy all over again. "Can you not look at me like that?!"

"Wha- like what?" Peter asks in confusion, shaking his head like he's trying to figure me out.

"Like this!" I try to mimic his slouching posture and wide-eyed dumbo expression with added dramatization, watching as Peter's expression slowly turns up- until he begins snorting with laughter and eventually falls completely victim to the giggles. As I wait for him to recuperate, my body relaxes while he laughs and attempts to straighten himself up.

I glance around quickly to scan for any potential robots before relaxing completely and reaching up to pull my hood off.

"I'm sorry, Sis. You're just kind of scary right now- I've never seen you hung up on a boy issue as much as you're hung up on this one right now. Normally you just shoo them away and think nothing of all the hearts you've broken," Peter chuckles, smiling at me as he takes one of my arms and pulls me over to give me a hug.

"A heartbreaker?! I am not!" I say, horrified at the idea. "It's not my fault I don't have an interest in the guys that try and get at me!"

"Yeah... But this time it's Rock. Not just some random guy you can ignore. And you also like him back this time- which is even bigger. You've never been on a date before, right? I think all you need to do is step back from the situation for a while and look at the bigger picture before you get all huffy and mad at anyone. Do you agree?" Peter asks, hands sliding up from my elbows to land on my shoulders and rub my sore muscles.

"...I guess..." I mumble, feeling heat return to my cheeks at the thought of apologizing for my stupid actions and having to sit in probably the same room as Rock. "I don't really want to, but I get that I should..."

"Alright. So... What time is your date again?" Peter asks, before I glance down at my comm. device to read the time and-

5:45 PM.

"Shit!" I blurt out, pulling my hood up and taking off to a run out of the alley. "At this rate I'll be late!"

That walk home has to have been the fastest I've ever walked to Grandpa Wily's house and back out, barely finishing to put on chapstick as I nearly stumble down the sidewalk.

I walk with hurried steps into the restaurant I've agreed to meet the Tiss- I mean, Chris at in black heels that are short heeled enough to not hurt my feet as I listen to the pleasant sound of clicks against the tile as I walk in and fix the fluff of my short black and gold dress- pushing the lower wiry skirt down gently against my hips and thighs. It's pretty much a simple black dress with a sweetheart neckline and no straps, which looks like it's had its skirt half dipped in gold dust, pretty enough to be fancy, but not fancy enough to drag too much attention towards me.

My hands immediately reach up to make sure my ponytail is still tied under my black ribbon, my pink ribbon wrapped around my left wrist decoratively even though the only other pink thing I have is my purse.

I look like a joke, I grumble to myself silently, rolling my eyes before walking up to a host at the entrance of the establishment.

"Hello! How can I help you today, miss?" He asks, giving me a worker's bright welcoming smile.

"Hi, I'm here for a reservation under..." I fish my communicator out for a moment to read the name it's under, cursing myself for having to look at my comm. device rather than remember it. What can I say? Everything about the Tissue is forgettable... "Under 'Michaels'?"

The host looks down at the ledger opened on the pedestal beside him, scanning the names until he nods in confirmation and grabs a menu from beneath the ledger.

"Alright, follow me, please!" He chirps, taking to a brisk walk that I can barely keep up with even though I'm not even wearing such tall heels. Once we get to our destination, I see Chris in his seat and receive a dazzling smile that only makes me feel nauseous rather than at ease.

"Hi, Phyllis," Chris says, getting up to pull out my chair for me while the waiter sets my menu in front of me. Already, I want to go home and curl up on my bed with a fuzzy blanket and a bucket of mint 'n' chip ice cream.

"Hi, Chris," I say, touching my throat where I have on a black velvet ribbon choker with a single gold heart pendant on the front to hide the bruised ring around my neck. My voice is still scratchy, but other than a look of worry, Chris doesn't delve in to asking- much to my relief. Brownie points for him on that front.

"So... You look very pretty," he starts off, causing my lips to curl in a smile as I avert my gaze bashfully. Okay, maybe it won't be so bad...

"I actually didn't have anything else to wear, so I had to go out and buy it this morning," I confess with a small laugh, watching Chris grin when I muster the courage to look back up at him. Strange... Over messages, everything didn't seem all that promising and I sort of wanted nothing to do with him. Now that he's here in person though, something makes me want to have a good time and impress him. It might not be that I'm interested in him- and am more so interested in the process of dating itself, but it's... Nice.

I like it.

"You could have worn that red dress from yesterday. Did you get it dirty? I think it could have lasted another day being worn," he says with a chuckle, causing me to giggle at the remembrance of my worries over whether it would have been bad to wear it a second time.

"It completely wet- I fell in some water with it and it's being dried off right now at home," I explain, watching his grin twitch in amusement- and I can't help but wonder if it's got anything to do with some kind of undetected innuendo he's not making for the purpose of being decent.

It makes my own lips twitch with the need to snicker, until he finally lets out the first giggle and we start laughing amongst each other with barely understandable apologies over our immaturity.

"Well... Where have you been all my life?" He jokes, lifting up his glass of water towards his natural pink lips to take a sip. I watch with interest as his throat muscles move to bring it down inside of him- unlike the way Rock simply poured his 'E' tank past his lips and it slid down without any force or direction.

I gave Zero the reflex capabilities to swallow and move certain parts of his components in other areas of his body... I wonder if Grandpa Light may upgrade Rock once we finish building X?

Chris places his water back down, just as our server comes by with a very common smile that nearly all workers here are wearing.

"Hello, love birds~! I'm Jensen and I'll be your server for the day. Are you two celebrating anything together like a birthday?" The man asks, pulling out some silverware wrapped in cloths and placing them beside each of us.

"No, not today. Just a first date," Chris explains casually, watching the server carefully as he straightens up in his seat.

"Alright... Shall we start off with drinks then?" The server inquires, looking back towards Chris and I as Chris glances at the drinks section.

"I'll stick with my water, I think," I say, causing Chris to look up in odd surprise as I speak.

"Are you sure? You can' have whatever you want, don't worry. I've got the money for it," he says, prompting me to bite my lip and flip my menu over to scan the drinks available to young adults my age. After all, not like we could order alcohol since- "I'll take one of your oldest aged cabernet sauvignons," Chris speaks, causing my eyes to jump up to him before I glance down at my menu and in my confusion, blurt out, "I'll take a sparkling cider."

"Alright! I'll get those drinks for you and come back to take your orders then," the server says, walking off and leaving me to look over at Chris in mild astonishment.

"How old are you?" I ask curiously, watching his eyes slide over to me from his menu as he gives me a soft wink.

"Twenty-five," He says, before he frowns in confusion... and straightens when a thought suddenly enters his mind. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen... I'll be nineteen in a month," I explain, watching his tension fade with a sigh he releases as I tell him my age.

"Alright, then, that's okay," He says, but the swirling pit in my stomach only returns now that his age is out in the open.

That's nearly seven years apart from me- he's a year older than Peter...! I knew I shouldn't have gone through with this date!

I do my best to contain my unease, and if Chris senses it, he makes no sign as he makes up his mind about his order and places his elbows on the table to rest his chin in his hands. He gives me a soft smile that somewhat eases my nerves despite how old he is, but I can still feel that whirlpool inside of me.. I knew he was probably close to Peter's age, but I sort of hoped he was closer to mine at least...

"Decided on anything yet?" His presence still does a good job at relaxing me, likewise his welcoming personality, however I can't help but want to leave.

"Um..." I glance back down at my menu, and out of the need to pick something quickly to keep things from becoming too awkward, I once again, speak before thinking. "I'll do the chicken broccoli alfredo!"

"Great! I came just in time!" The server says, popping out of nowhere and making me flinch strong enough to make Chris chuckle a little before the server looks back up after writing my order down. "And for you, sir?"

Just grin and bear it, Phyl, you can do this, I promise myself, taking a soft breath as I cross my ankles under the table and look up at Chris when he gives me a bright smile.

"So... Do you have any other talents other than being a mechanic?" He picks up where we left off.

Oh my stars, help me through this...!

---

(1 and a Half Hours Later or so)

My fingers clench at the top hem of my dress, magenta eyes flicking wildly around the outdoor shopping district in case a robot is around still looking for me. I can feel Chris's hand press against the small of my back to follow him whenever I begin to slow down, but other than that, he's very respectful of where he places his hands.

We'd finished dinner a half an hour ago, so we decided to just enjoy the evening air and taking a walk. Well, more like he decided, but whatever. Not like I'm actively trying to extend our date any longer than I assume it has to be. It's already 7:45 after all... I have to go home sometime.

"Did you enjoy dinner then, Phyllis?" He asks, prompting me to look at him and nod quickly- keeping quiet and letting the cool air of the night chill my lungs as I inhale. At my silence, Chris chuckles lightly. "You don't have to be shy or anything, I don't bite."

I manage a smile up at him, reaching up to tighten my ponytail. "Sorry... I'm having a good time, really!" I insist, despite that I'm totally lying. Chris doesn't seem to notice, and smiles back down at me as we reach a familiar alley where I once stood talking to Peter at, bringing me into the shadows and towards a wall beside some well tended rosebushes that I only then notice.

My pulse jumps in surprise at the quick change of setting, taking in the dark shadows around like a deer would to car headlights. Chris is, once again, oblivious as he pulls me closer by my waist, causing my arms to sandwich against his chest as I force myself to focus on him and not the shadowed corners of the alley.

Everything about the area is trying to convince me to run through and out of the alley, but my brain refuses to cooperate as soon as I notice Chris slowly leaning down to me. My thoughts on the alley shadows dissipate as I realize what Chris is about to do.

"I'm glad. I had a good time too..." He murmurs, eyes beginning to close and lips inching closer.

THONK!

My body flinches violently just as my eyes are closing, making them snap open as I press my back against the wall. Confusion floods my brain at the sight.

Chris finishes falling backwards and hitting the ground with a heavy thud, the small metallic garbage can that's landed against his head from out of literally nowhere clattering loudly beside him as they both collapse with little to no reason.

As soon as both stop moving, with Chris barely conscious at this point, I raise a single eyebrow in disbelief.

Uh... What? I wonder, reaching up to touch my lips and only then noticing the gemmy orbs of my hands dimly blinking in my palms. Oh, what now?!

The distant snickering of a familiar rowdy robot and the sound of metal clanging against metal in relation has me frowning in disbelief as I look up at the building I'm leaning back against, scanning the side of the top corners to see if I can spot anyone. I can't see them, but oh, I know they're there...

So he doesn't like me or find me of interest... But then he goes and sabotages my date despite suggesting I go on it?! Seriously?! What the heck is wrong with him?! And I know it wasn't Cut that pushed it- Rock is the ONLY Doctor Light Number to not have the three laws installed into him!

I growl between clenched teeth, only to glance back down when the soft blinking of my gemmy palms get brighter. Not wanting those two robots (Rock and Cut) to see, I close my hands into tight fists and start to turn out of the alley, looking back one more time at Chris and grimacing.

Sorry, bud, I don't think I can carry you out of here. I'll leave clean-up duty to Rock and Cut for their incompetence... I think, walking out of the alley and back into the shopping district.

"Hey, where's that young man you were just with?" A woman standing at the mouth of the alley inquires with a raised eyebrow, causing me to look over at her and shrug.

"He passed out back there. I can't carry him- I haven't the upper arm strength," I explain, watching the woman roll her eyes.

"Must have drunk too much or something and couldn't hide it any longer." She pulls up an electric cigarette towards her lips, taking a drag and exhaling heavily with a headshake. "What a scumbag..."

I can't help but crack a smile at the woman's words. Sure, Chris drank, just not enough to pass out... That bit was all Rock's fault. Stupid robot...

Rather than stay and continue conversing, I speed walk down the street- feeling the buildup of sweat as I clench my fists tightly to keep the light from escaping my hands. Walking slow probably isn't a good idea either, especially now that Cut and Rock have found me.

"...Phyllis!"

I look up ahead from getting lost in my thoughts, just as I spot Grandpa Wily approach me and pull me into a hug I nearly return until I remember my glowing palms. Rather than give him a hug all the way, I at least wrap my arms around him and pull back quickly- keeping my hands closed while he offers me a stern glare of disappointment.

"I heard from Thomas that you snuck off earlier. Seems I caught you on your..." Grandpa Wily looks around me curiously, pulling me towards a bench to sit down and give me a leer of confusion. "Where's your date? Isn't it a little early to be going home now? Why isn't he walking you back?"

I can't help the sour tone that slips on my tongue, a much too sweet smile of understanding forming on across my lips. "Oh, jeez, I wouldn't know! One second we were having a nice walk around the shopping district, the next he passed out a block down the street. I'm sure everything will be fine though! Rock apparently thought it would be, or else I'm sure he wouldn't have dropped that metal garbage can on my date."

Grandpa Wily's expression goes flat with shock.

"...Oh," he answers, before frowning and then shaking his head a little, as if trying to understand would only confuse him even more. "Well then... Would you like a ride home?"

I nod wordlessly, losing the tension in my muscles as we get up and start walking down the street side by side again. I can see a few pedestrians shooting us nasty looks- obviously they've heard of Grandpa Wily's work on his controversial war machines...

"Are you alright?" I jump at Grandpa Wily's query, but immediately smile once I note the honest concern in his eyes.

He's not as bad as people think he is. I just wish they wouldn't see him for just his unethical work. If only they knew that he helped make the amazing Light Numbers...

"I'm okay," I honestly reply, giving Grandpa Wily a bright smile. "I'm better now that I get to spend time with one of my awesome grandfathers."

I watch as Grandpa Wily sighs with a bashful grin, scratching the back of his head as his cheeks dust red. "Don't be a suck up, Phyl. I'm already planning out all the chores you're going to be in charge of at home."

"Aww, whaaat?" I complain dramatically, prompting Grandpa Wily to laugh and look me up and down once.

"You look very nice by the way. I'm sure you knocked that boy's socks off when you walked in," Grandpa Wily compliments me.

"Boy, huh...? He told me he was twenty-five," I blurt without even thinking, causing Grandpa Wily's smile to vanish with the wind. To save myself, I quickly add, "I wouldn't have gone on that date if I knew he was seven years older than me- honestly. I'd prefer someone my own age."

My grandfather relaxes again, looking at me with a smile as we walk into the parking lot towards his car. "Of course, Phyllis. I know," he replies warmly.

Once we reach his car, we both pile in and latch our seatbelts on, Wily hesitating to put the vehicle in reverse. Confused, I look over at him curiously in an attempt to spot whatever seems to be bothering him.

"...You know you're the most important person in my life, right, honey?" He asks, reaching over to brush a stray lock of my bangs out of my face. I shoot him a look at my nickname, but all he does is laugh at my reaction.

"Whatever, Gramps..." I grumble, touching my throat at the scratchy way I sound. "You're important to me too, you know?"

Grandpa Wily grins at my answer and moves to put the car out of neutral, until my hand reaches out and stops him before he can. At my interruption, he looks back at me.

"...Hey." The serious look on my face seems to mellow Grandpa Wily out, but as soon as the moment of hesitation passes, I continue with, "Can we get some ice cream on the way back?"

I watch with a snort as his expression shifts to annoyance. "We have ice cream at home," he dryly comments, turning the car into reverse and pulling out of the lot.

"Ew! But all you have in your freezer is that nasty non-fat french vanilla!" I whine, crossing my arms and keeping my hands buried in the wiry skirt of my dress.

"Plug your nose and it'll taste better," He adds, watching my face scrunch up in disgust that only has him laughing more. "It's not that bad, no need to be dramatic. It's not like it's the end of the world. We can just pick some up tomorrow-"

"Why tomorrow? I wanted ice cream now..." I trail off like a spoiled child, watching my grandfather's lips twitch in amusement.

"Well... Tomorrow's a special day anyways," His eyes flick over to me momentarily, twinkling in excitement as he drives off from the shopping district and towards our home. "We can pick some of your favorite flavor up to celebrate."

I cock my head slightly to the side, studying him for any hints. "'Special day'? What are we celebrating?"

He brings a finger up to his lips and winks at me. "It's a secret! You'll have to wait until tomorrow," he teases, watching me leer at him and lean back against my seat casually.

"Okay... I'll wait," I answer, looking out the window and scanning my brain for all special dates in our calendars.

Once we reach home and I jump out of the car, I'm still at a loss for whatever Grandpa Wily is planning on celebrating, and even as I mull it over a bit more upon entering the house (Grandpa Wily studying me in amusement as I try to figure it out), all I can scrape it down to is: Something to do with that business trip he went on.

Well, as long as I get some edible ice cream in this here joint and Grandpa Wily is happy, I guess it doesn't really matter, I think, opening the front door and flicking on a light to-

"PHYLLIS!" I jerk backwards with my fists flying up to defend myself, eyes wide and body as tense as a taxidermed rabbit. It isn't until I register the handful of glares from the robots and my Grandpa Light that I immediately relax against the doorway to calm down my racing heart.

"Oh my stars..." I mutter, turning away to take a few deep breaths before turning to face the now worried and sheepish expressions on my family's faces.

"Are you guys trying to scold my sister or put her into cardiac arrest?" I hear Peter ask from somewhere in the kitchen while I glance over at Rock at Cut- both of whom are whispering to each other and trying (failing) to look innocent.

"Phyllis, why did you sneak out earlie-!" Grandpa Light begins, until I cut him off with, "I thought I was late for my date."

Grandpa Light frowns. "Oh... Well, why did you go out our bedroom window then?" He asks in pure confusion, his tough and intimidating stature toning down as I speak.

"I didn't want to see Rock. He's a jerk!" I comment, watching Rock's casual expression drop into a look of offense as he turns to face me.

"Hey!" He barks, but I don't even look at him.

"I figured the best way to leave without his face ruining my day was to climb down the side of the house. Simple as that," I reply, digging my hands into my skirt more when I feel the buzzing of my orbs blinking faster.

...

"Zero, is she telling the truth?" Grandpa Light asks, causing me to glare at the back of his head before looking at Grandpa Wily and scrunching my nose in distaste at Grandpa Light's mistrust in me. I mean, yeah, of course I'm totally lying through my teeth, but still! Grandpa Wily just rolls his eyes with a grin.

Zero looks up from my ETR (oh my god, is he still reading through that thing?!), glancing at Grandpa Light and then at me before settling back on Grandpa Light.

"I know nothing," He replies like the good android he is, prompting Grandpa Wily to blink in surprise and gravitate over to him in interest. Zero barely acknowledges him, returning to my ETR silently while my grandfather circles him with a gaping mouth.

"...Incredible! Who-?" Grandpa Wily asks, looking up only to see everyone pointing a finger at me. I shrug easily when his eyes jump over to me, smiling sheepishly at his incredulous stare.

"I was hoping to activate him after finishing his armor, buuut... I was forced into powering him on sooner rather than later," I answer shifting my weight from either foot before I pull back a leg to slide one of my heels off. "I'm gonna go change out of this stuff- especially this dumb itchy dress."

"I'll help!" Roll chirps randomly from out of the blue, following me when I take another step towards the stairs and pull off my other heel. Seems like I picked some good shoes, as despite wearing heels, my feet have seem to have come out unscathed.

My eyes catch the red triangular dots that mark my heels, ever so apparent whenever I'm barefooted. Present since the day I had my last encounter (or so I had assumed) with the shadow creatures.

"Alright then. Meanwhile, Albert..." Grandpa Light speaks up, catching Grandpa Wily's attention and leading him towards the kitchen. "I need to talk to you about something that happened yesterday night. I've told Peter, but you flew out the door before I could..." His voice trails off as they go down the basement, leaving just the robots around the locked front door.

"Okay, we'll be over here then~!" Cut suspiciously replies with Ice, the two jumping on either side of poor confused Rock before they grab his arms and haul him backwards towards the family room for whatever they're plotting. Somehow, I have a strange feeling that Roll is also involved in this same scheme, and watch her carefully as she walks up the stairs past me. She glances back when I hesitate to follow.

"You still coming?" She asks innocently, giving me time to mentally note the way her body shifts around in excitement. I frown slightly at her despite continuing to climb the stairs, though she says nothing about my expression at all. If poker facing was an Olympic Sport and Roll was human, that robot would be swimming in medals...

This definitely has something to do with Rock and I. I can flipping smell it, I think, noting how Zero moves to follow us as soon as he sees me going upstairs. Whatever, I don't need Rock. I have Zero! So ha!

As soon as we reach the room, Roll locks my bedroom door behind us and Zero relocates to a chair next to my bed. Instead of running over to my dresser like she always does whenever I give her the option to pick out my clothes, Roll runs straight over to me and grabs my hands much to my alarm. I pull back a bit, only allowing her to hold my fingers as I give her a nervous smile to try and hide my discomfort.

"So? How was the date? Did you... kiss him?" Roll asks, her eyes sparkling so bright that I'm worried they'll blind me more than the greenish-blue blinking of my orbs. A quick glance to the floor though, and I relax when I note the lack of blinking light against the carpet.

Why did they start blinking to begin with anyways? I wonder, only to see Roll lean in more to show her impatience for my retelling of the date. At that, I pull my head out of the clouds and scourge my brain for the night's events.

"Oh, um... We ate dinner at a fancy place. He seems to have a bit of a sense of humor, but I don't think he's the one for me. I felt like he was trying to win me over by the amount of money in his wallet..." I reply, thinking back to the expensive necklace he'd tried to buy me once we left the restaurant. It took so much begging to convince him not to- and now I'm thankful I refused. "He was going to kiss me too-" Roll breaks into a squeal of excitement, but I immediately crush her dreams when I add, "-but Rock and Cut sabotaged the date by knocking the guy out cold. They threw a garbage can from the rooftop of a building we were standing below."

Roll's smile turns into a frown of shock. "Rock and Cut did what?" She demands, but I can't help but note how odd it looks in comparison to the other times I've surprised her in the past. Is she faking it? Is she...? Is she a part of this scheme too?! A scheme that suddenly seems to stretch back to my date with the Tissue?! Were they all planning to sabotage it?!

...

"Roll, you can stop pretending to not know what I'm talking about," I bluff with a convincing smirk, watching the Phylbot flinch guiltily before plastering a visibly fake smile on her face.

"W-what? I'm not lying," she replies flatly. Wow, there goes her poker face... I guess I better revoke those gold medals I said she'd have earned in Olympic Poker Facing.

"Right. Nice to meet you, 'not lying'. I'm 'extremely suspicious'," I retort easily, watching her resolve begin to waver until she eventually exhales heavily with a pout.

"You're no fun... We're just trying to help you and Rock regain your friendship again," Roll admits, shrinking back slightly in shame. At this, I smile sympathetically and reach forward to rub the back of her head warmly.

"That's okay. I understand you're only doing this because of how Rock and I are at the moment. Don't worry, I'm sure he'll fix his attitude before we know it," I say, prompting Roll to huff and frown up at me.

"'He'? Just Rock? You don't think you're acting a little out of the ordinary as well?" Roll dryly questions, giving me a look of annoyance that only makes me giggle slightly as I shrug and smile.

"Of course I'm at fault too, you think I don't know or understand when I do something wrong? I just..." My smile falls and I pull my hand back to bury it back in my skirt, even though it's not necessary anymore. "He hurt me. And I don't want to feel that pain again. I wish Grandpa Light never would have brought such a stupid issue up... But I know it's not his fault either. Gramps was just looking out for my best interest."

Roll seems surprised by my reflective thinking, taking a seat on my bed so that I sit down next to her and Zero. Zero seems to have lost interest in my ETR, as his gaze is solely focused on Roll and I now.

"...I always thought you and Rock would be great together. When you started acting all funny around him, I thought my ship would come true," she admits somberly, only to make a scowl towards her feet. "Leave it to that righteous dummy to ruin it by being the idiot he is..."

I can't stop the laugh that finds its way out of me from her insult towards her brother, prompting me to shake my head and grin back at her.

"Yeah. That righteous dummy... He's still a great friend though. I miss talking to him and playing games with you guys," I say, only to blink in surprise and bite my lip. "I miss telling jokes and teasing him like we used to do to each other. We haven't had a movie night with you, Ice, or Cut in such a long time since my mom tried to keep me locked away at home... I remember that jump scare game we used to all play on each other whenever we watched a scary movie- and how I was usually the one to jump the most since I'm..."

...If I talk to Rock, we could have that again. Even if it hurts me, it will only hurt for a moment and I'll feel better eventually in the long run. I just need to be honest one more time with myself and give him the chance to be honest as well.

"...Phyllis?" Roll asks when I trail off and fall silent, staring blankly at my feet before I look up at her.

"I'll talk to Rock. For real. Even if it hurts me," I state firmly, watching Roll's expression brighten as she jumps to her feet and bounces in place.

"Oh! Really?! I don't have to beg you or anything! YES! My part's complete! Now to go get Rock and-!" I grab Roll's arm before she can run off.

"Hold on! Tomorrow. Not tonight, I wanna sleep on it first before I decide how to go about the talk," I explain, prompting Roll to take a deep breath and calm herself with a smile.

"Okay, okay... I'll go tell them. Are you going to sleep right now?" She asks, as if she's excited beyond belief. Over this though? Rock told her he didn't like me, right? What's she so excited for? My crushing rejection? ...Sadistic.

Roll wraps me in a firm hug that nearly bruises me before she races for my bedroom door, closing it after offering me a last wave and shutting the bedroom light off. Once it's just Zero and I, I turn on my lamp and stand up to look at my palms, walk towards my dresser to find something comfortable to wear.

They're not blinking anymore, I think, flexing my hands curiously as I stare at the gemmy green-blue orbs.

"Phyllis..." I look up at the sound of Zero's voice, watching his expression shift around with several levels of confusion as he brings his blue eyes up to look at me from where he sits on the side of my bed. "You said you are hurt... But I fail to see any wounds on your physical body."

I smile at Zero and move to sit down next to him again, taking his hand in mine. "Well, of course you can see it. At least not in the way you're thinking of." Zero blinks his blue eyes at me, waiting for my elaboration. "Some wounds are invisible to the naked eye. You can see them, but it's not so easy to spot it- and they can be hidden with a smile. They're the kind of wounds you get inside that aren't physical."

Zero still seems confused, so I try and come up with an example.

"Okay, let's say you're reading my tablet again and I come up to you and tell you I'm going to deactivate you and turn you into scrap metal because you're worthless-" I begin, causing Zero to immediately stand up and take a step back with my tablet. "Did you feel that?"

Zero's eyebrows are knit together in betrayal, but all he does is stare at me cautiously- like I'll pounce at him if he takes his eyes off of me.

"You're wondering why I'd do that to you, right? What could you have possibly done to make me call you worthless and want to deactivate you... That feeling right there is the kind of wound you can't see running across the skin. It hurts, I know, but on that note though, you are not going to be deactivated. Ever. Trust me, I'm protective of my robots. As for turning you into scrap metal, we don't have the technology here in our labs- and you are most certainly not worthless."

I watch as Zero relaxes and inches closer towards my bed until he sits down next to me again.

"Rock said something to me before- something that hurt in that same sense. Unfortunately, his words were true, but they way he said it wasn't well executed, and as a result it ended up hurting me more than it would have if he'd said it properly. It's nothing to be mad about though... I didn't say anything better. Once we talk, I'm certain it won't hurt so much anymore," I explain, watching Zero look down at his feet to contemplate my words.

When he makes no other query, I stand up and walk over to my dresser, pulling my dress off and changing into a blue tank top and black basketball shorts. With that, I dim my lamp light and crawl in bed, snuggling into my pillow comfortably.

"Night, Zero..." I murmur, flexing my hands one more time in an attempt to make my gems glow again.

They do not.

It can't be a good sign that they were blinking, right? I wonder, closing my eyes and pulling my pillow closer against me. Thinking about it won't do me any good if I don't have any other indications to plug into the mystery.

That's like trying to solve a Sudoku puzzle without starting numbers to begin with.

My mind grows distant and my thoughts begin to mix together into a slowly drifting mess, giving me a weightless feeling despite not moving from the bed. I melt into the air, allowing it to lift me up and leave all my worries behind.

"...Good night, Phyllis," I hear Zero's voice through the colors that gently dance behind my eyelids.

---

(6 AM in the Morning)

I jerk awake with a strangled gasp at a jarring sensation of the Earth shaking, causing me to lose balance and roll out of bed so that I nearly bonk my head against the corner of my night table. I can hear my communicator going off like crazy somewhere, and the feeling of arms helping me up before I hit the floor or my head has me looking around with blinking eyes.

What? Where...? What is that...? When...?

My brain eventually registers my room at Grandpa Wily's house and I glance up to see Zero scanning the bedroom with worry. It's early morning, the blue-red hues of dawn paining my room with just enough light to make out the open window, which I'm sure had been closed the night before.

"Zero...? What is it?" I ask with my scratchy and tired voice, but Zero refuses to release me or stop looking around when the Earth shakes again. Now I'm wide awake, inhaling sharply and peeling myself away from Zero to look out the window at the redness of the dawn sky. This red color is odd though- as if there's... a fire in the city.

"What in the-?" I begin, just as my communicator goes off on my night table once again. I snatch it up immediately and check who's calling before I answer. "I'm awake, I'm awake!"

"Phyllis! It's Rock, are you still at Wily's house?! Get out of there!" Rock's voice blares loudly through the speaker, causing me to pull it back from my ear and shoot it an exasperated glare. Since Rock's speaking so loud, I look at Zero to see if he's heard everything.

Instead of changing clothes, I simply pull on some sneakers and briskly make my way out of my room with Zero, only to feel my eyebrows knit together at the emptiness of the house. Where is Grandpa Wily? He can't be sleeping through all this, can he?

I run over to his bedroom and open the door, but before I can open my mouth to try and wake him up, I realize his bed is already empty and made. He doesn't usually leave the house without telling me- even back when I used to spend the night for fun with Peter or Pate. He would always let us know if he was going out, even if it was just around the corner to get some groceries.

I shut the door and climb down the stairs two at a time, clinging to the phone and only then remembering that Rock is still on the line- shouting for my attention through the speaker like crazy.

"Ah- sorry! I'm still here! I'm sorry, I'm just looking for... Is Grandpa Wily over there?" I ask, shutting Rock up as soon as I blurt out my millions of apologies. I gasp again when Zero hugs me against him over another earthquake, keeping me stable and on my feet. "God damn it, what is it with those-?"

"Phyllis, you need to get over here to Doctor Light's immediately. Forget everything and just get over here now. If you see Doctor Wily or a robot master, RUN. Do you understand?" Rock snaps, causing my eyebrows to furrow in confusion.

"R-run? What are you talking abo-?" I flinch again at another quake, one hard enough to send my communicator flying out of my hand and against the floor with a clatter that visibly cracks the screen much to my chagrin. "...Oh, come on!"

I move from Zero to pick it up and attempt turning it on, but once I note that it's definitely broken, I toss it back to the ground and grab my keys beside the front door. No time to waste, I guess...? I still don't understand what's going on. Is Mega City under attack or something? Is that the cause of the fires and quakes? Or is it more of a natural disaster?

"Well, I guess it's time to go. Come on, Zero, let's hurry. I don't really get what's going on, but if Rock says we gotta get out of here, it's probably in our best interest," I say quickly, pulling my hair back in a ponytail to keep it out of my face.

I open the door and allow Zero to hurry out after me, locking the front door behind myself as I take to a comfortable jog that Zero effortlessly keeps up with. It isn't until we reach the shopping district that I note the lack of people on the streets, which unnerves me immensely. Sure it's early, but lots of people like walking around before business hours since it's such a nice area to jog around for exercise. The mere fact that no one is walking around has my nerves squirming in discomfort.

"Phyllis," Zero speaks up, halting in his steps so quickly that I nearly stumble in trying to do the same, catching a lamp post before I can fall over like a klutz.

"What? What is it?" I ask puzzled, looking at him only to see his trained gaze focused on something standing against a store front on the sidewalk across the street. Rubbing my eyes, I struggle to focus on the figure until the blurriness in my eyes completely dissolves. "...Cut man? What are you doing here? I thought you'd be at Light Labs with..."

I trail off when Cut's hand slowly reaches up towards the removable scissors atop his orange head, plucking them off easily and flipping them around in his hand with interest as his eyes silently flick over towards Zero and I.

This behavior is unusual for my robot, one who usually ran up to greet me with a mischievous grin and a jabbing comment. The fact that he isn't even answering me after such a pause makes my stomach swirl. Not to mention that he's fiddling a little too much with those scissor blades of his, blades that function as a boomerang sharp enough to cut through tree stumps and even metal as if it were paper.

"So, Doc-ette..." Cut stops flicking his scissor blades around, holding them stationary in his hand as he pushes off of the building wall. "Going off somewhere?"

I blink in confusion, eyes flicking around for some kind of answer for his odd behavior. When he patiently waits in place, I cough into my hand and try to relax myself. Everything is okay, right? It's just Cut and... Cut's probably just playing a joke to scare me. That sounds about right!

I laugh awkwardly, staring back at him uneasily. "Um... I got a call from Rock to head over to Grandpa Light's house. You can stop whatever intimidation prank you're trying to pull, I'm not scared."

Cut smiles and brings his blades up to his mouth, nibbling the edge of the blade as his eyes glint with malicious amusement. "Are you sure? Not even a little bit?"

Zero shifts closer towards me while I swallow a thick block of ice in my throat, unable to answer since even I know how stupid it is to try and lie when I really am sort of unnerved by Cut's behavior. Cut seems to catch Zero's small movement, and before I can even blink, Cut's hand snaps out with his boomerang blades.

One moment, I'm watching the blades make their way towards Zero- the next he's rolling out of the way with me tucked in his larger form, forcing my body to fold to his movements until he's running off down an alley with me half tucked under his arms like a football.

Cut doesn't seem to chase us, and just as we are about to race out of the shopping district, someone drops down in our path from out of nowhere. A chilly air hits my skin and I slide out from Zero's arm onto my feet, backing away beside Zero in an attempt to get away from the freezing air. My arms cover my face and neck, and once the chill subsides, I look up only to feel my stomach sink further.

Ice man stands in our way with a huff that expels a visible puff frigid hoar frost from his lips, glaring sharply at Zero.

"It's okay, blondie. We're just here to see our creator, so you'd best make your way out of here. We wouldn't want anything to happen to our new little brother, right?" Ice inquires brightly with mocking kindness, grinning at Zero just as the sound of someone landing behind us has me looking back to see Cut standing at the other end of the alley.

We're trapped.

"...Um, is anyone going to tell us what the heck is going on here?!" I finally blurt out, throwing my hands up and then quickly noticing the way they are blinking slowly- just like they'd been doing the night before during my date.

My two elder robots immediately zero in on the orbs, frowning in confusion at the sight of them when I bring them down to my line of sight in surprise. Why are they blinking again?

The Earth shakes, and I'm thrown slightly off balance into Zero, who's easily rooted to his spot and steadies me effortlessly.

Above us the sky is a mix of blue and red, but I can see the red beginning to take over more of the sky than it had previously. My stomach growls with the need for food, but I settle for giving it a small rub to calm it down as I look from Ice to Cut and back. Neither are making a move to attack, but nor are they making a move to join Zero and I.

This is super weird. Why did Rock demand that I avoid Grandpa Wily and the robot masters? Did he mean himself and Roll as well? Are their processors malfunctioning? Is there some kind of glitch going on with them? If so, why are Cut and Ice so fluid in their motions and actions? Sure, they're not acting like their usual selves, but they aren't visibly moving like there's an issue or twitching like some of the other robot masters had during their first trial runs.

I jump when the sound of pulsating sound waves emit from above, only to glance towards the sky when a shadow falls over Zero and I. My jaw immediately drops when I see a flying saucer hover past us and towards the other end of the alley, landing outside of the shopping district behind Ice's spot and opening to reveal Grandpa Wily jumping out of the top pod casually and giving me a grin when he turns to look at me.

"Phyllis!" He greets me brightly, walking past Ice easily and over towards me. When Ice makes no move to snap or heckle Grandpa Wily, my eyebrow raises in confusion. So what, only I'm getting the cold shoulder? Are they mad at me or something? What did I do?

What the heck is going on? I wonder, looking around Grandpa Wily at his... Flying saucer... Before he pulls me into a warm hug. At least that's still normal.

He pulls back after a moment, giving me that good-natured smile he always wore when he had good news to tell me. I relax at the look, wondering if he's going to make things better- or at least make sense now that he's here. Zero seems to still be tense, but Grandpa Wily pays no attention to him.

"Well... What do you think?" He asks, gesturing back towards his flying saucer and grinning brightly as if... Nothing's wrong about this whole situation.

Sheesh, and here I thought the only thing I'd be dealing with this morning was a soul crushing talk about my feelings with Rock.

"What?!" I blurt out, before noting the surprise on his face and shaking my head quickly at the poor choice in words. "I mean, well, yeah your flying saucer is totally awesome, but I just woke up to earthquakes, a frantic call from Rock that makes no sense and I still don't get, and some serious attitude from two of my four robots!"

I spin around in confusion until I spot the blinking orbs in my palms. If Grandpa Wily notices, he says nothing about them, which I can't help but mentally question about as well. They're in no way inconspicuous, easy to notice like neon signs in the night. So why isn't he questioning them?

"Gramps, I am so lost right now. What am I supposed to be doing?" I ask honestly as he smiles and walks the rest of the way over to me with a laugh of delight.

"Well for one, you're supposed to be talking to me. I have something to tell you..." He says, taking my hands while Zero eyes Cut, Ice, and my grandfather as if any one of them will change their minds and attack us.

"Okay... What is it?" I inquire, trying to shove my confusion about my blinking palms aside if only for just a moment while I talk with my gramps. Everything is still extremely confusing... But whatever Grandpa Wily has to say probably has something to do with the weirdness going on, right?

"Phyllis, after I lost my credentials, I was at a loss of what to do... I thought I was doing the right thing- all I really wanted to do was earn more money to take care of our family. I never meant to lose the freedom to engineer robots and technology," Grandpa Wily says, releasing my hands and walking around as he explains whatever he's trying to tell me.

"I understand. I don't blame you," I agree despite my unease, forcing my body to refrain from twitching or jumping with the jitteriness of my nerves. At my words, Grandpa Wily spins around to give me a big smile, pointing at me in barely restrained excitement.

"That's what I love about you, Phyllis! You're forgiving. You're willing to give others a chance even when they fail at the first shot. You still look at me like I'm the most important person in the world... And I love you so much for that."

I blink and offer him an awkward smile in return, glancing over at Zero hesitantly for his thoughts on Grandpa Wily's behavior. I don't think I've ever seen Grandpa Wily so upbeat... Alas, Zero wears no expression pertaining to his current emotions or thoughts regarding Grandpa Wily. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised though, they weren't exactly formally introduced to each other.

"That's when I realized what I had to do. That's when everything became clear." Grandpa Wily closes the distance between us and places his hands on my shoulders, causing a sensation of entrapment to instill within me despite it being from my grandfather. "I want to give you the world, Phyllis. I want the best of everything for you..."

I stare in surprise as Grandpa Wily beams down at me, causing my cheeks to dust red in embarrassment as he continues to sing his praise and devotion to me, which is abnormal- at least in this amount -during such a short period of time.

"So I'm going to take this world and make it ours together," he finishes, pulling his hands back and nodding at me in satisfaction before leaning forward to press a kiss against my forehead.

Something about it immediately unsettles me.

Why does it feel... Like he's saying goodbye to me...?

"Phyllis... We won't be apart for long. Everything I do, I do for you, my precious granddaughter... Without you, I have no purpose and I promise we will build robots together in the future- just like you told me you wanted," Grandpa Wily says, pulling me into one last hug before he moves back and turns away to walk on over to his flying saucer again. He doesn't look back as he jumps in and pulls the domed glass top closed behind him.

...Why is he talking like that? Is he going somewhere else? Is that why he's saying goodbye? Argh! I don't understand, why is everyone except Zero acting so weird?! I don't get it! What's going on?!

Next thing I know, Zero and I are watching Grandpa Wily's flying saucer fly off into the distance, Zero silently looking back and forth from Ice and Cut carefully like he's still expecting an attack. Surprisingly, neither of my elder robots seem to let up on whatever they're playing at- Ice giggling from his end of the alley. Hearing him, I face my small ice breathing robot, watching his expression shift to a bright grin.

"I guess our job's done here! Bye-bye, Phyllis! See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!" Ice chirps, turning and running away from his location so quickly that I can barely get a word in when I start to reply with, "H-hey, wait-!"

He ignores me, and once he's out of sight, I spin around to look at Cut with Zero. Cut's still there, much to my relief, but he doesn't look like he's here to stay.

Cut places his scissors back atop his head with a dark smirk aimed towards us. "What he said," is all my usually witty robot replies as he turns away to stalk back out of the alley from where we came.

"What? CUT! Where are you going?! Why are you being so-?" It's no use trying to follow, since Zero catches my arm and stops me from pursuing. As Cut dissolves behind a few buildings and the hazy smoke that's beginning to spread throughout the city, I stop talking again and groan loudly.

With that, it's just Zero and I left in the alley, and we share a look of confusion until I remember Rock's advice over the phone. I lick my chapped lips and look around one more time. "We should get going to Grandpa Light's place... Rock should have some answers for us," I decide, earning a firm nod from Zero before we turn to start jogging out of the alley, and the Earth gives a violent shake. This time, even Zero nearly loses balance.

"I wish they would have at least told us what was happening!" I grumble as I straighten up and feel a cool chill travel up my spine. Zero stiffens up as soon as our eyes take in the foggy nighttime esque environment, the world becoming a familiarly eerie washed out violet and blue as we spin around and inch closer towards each other. "No..."

"Don't panic. We need to move," Zero speaks up before I can lock up with fear, taking my wrist and urging me on when he starts jogging in the initial direction we were originally heading for. This is the same way the world looks whenever those shadowed creatures appear. Of course my luck would be terrible enough to warrant meeting up with a shadow when I'm already flustered and confused...

Meanwhile, the blinking of my hand orbs are in no way slowing down, only increasing in speed as Zero forces me to jog after him, practically dragging me along. A shiver wracks my body when I glance around for any sign of the creatures, but the silence permeates and there's no one around except for Zero and myself.

Please tell me I'm dreaming- everything will make complete sense if I'm dreaming. Rock telling me to avoid Grandpa Wily and the robot masters, Cut and Ice's behavior... This has to be a dream, this has to be one big nightmare!

I cling to Zero like he's my last lifeline, the only comforting variable in this nightmare- until I feel a pulse of unnatural energy and stop running when Zero's body pitches forward lifelessly without any legitimate reason. I jump in surprise, but rather being spooked and running away like I initially want to, the sight of a malfunction possibly present in Zero makes me gasp and drop down to turn him over in panic.

"Zero?! Zero!" I shout, watching him shake and struggle to get up as he blinks his glassy eyes in confusion. My eyes drag over his body until I notice the smoke gently wafting from his internal chest area, prompting me to try and crack him open with my fingernails as a makeshift flathead screwdriver. Unfortunately, that only makes my nails split and bleed when the metal resists against my nails leverage.

I curse in frustration when I'm unable to open him up, pulling him into a sitting position against a wall and allowing him a moment to see if he can open himself up like I knew he could. Unfortunately, Zero can barely lift his limbs, raising one arm a foot off the ground only to fall back down immediately with a heavy thud.

"Come on, you can do it!" I encourage him, but when he struggles to try again, his arm falls after rising half of what it was before. I exhale with worry, taking his hand in mine and lifting it for him so it lines with a screw. "Alright, I'll hold your arm up. Can you do the rest?"

Zero barely manages a nod, but as soon as the tip of his finger opens to slide a flathead out, the mechanisms of his hand seem to malfunction, causing the flathead screwdriver end to get stuck inside- making it impossible to even attempt pulling it out. I grimace and lower his down as I see this, looking around for some other way to help open him up.

"...Go..." He manages to mumble, but instead of heeding his orders, I take it as a suggestion and promptly ignore it. When I start pulling at my shoes and rip a metal button off the side of it, he shivers again. "...Go..." he repeats weakly.

At his words, I roll my eyes and scoff, pushing the button against the screws and smiling in relief when I see them begin to turn under the force of my button. "Haven't you heard how stubborn I am? I'm not leaving you here. I don't care what it takes, I'm going to do this and then we'll go to Grandpa Light's house together, I swear."

A chill runs up my spine as I open Zero's chest up, cursing when I see the sparks of his internal "stomach" leaking, causing my expression to twist in panic. All his energy fuel from past 'E' tanks are leaking from him, getting all over the rest of his mechanisms by a stressed hole at the bottom that I spot immediately, making me turn Zero to lay him down entirely to keep the rest of his fluids from flowing out. I have to stop the leak and patch that hole up, but I don't have any tools here...

...It'll have to be something temporary until we reach Grandpa Light's house- whether in normal time, or in this freaky realm (or whatever this dark version of our city is).

I reach back to untie my pink ribbon from my wrist, tying it around my ponytail and standing to look around for something to use. Upon my frantic search, I eventually catch sight of a bunch of sticker tags on the side of a metal garage to an unfamiliar building, prompting me to run over and carefully peel the biggest ones off. I struggle to keep as much of the bonding particles on the sticker as possible, but once I have five, I run back over to Zero and slap them use my shorts to clean around no longer leaking hole (due to his position), slapping a sticker over the hole as soon as it's dry. I stamp four more over and around it, until I take Zero's hand and move him to sit up and see if he can sit up without leaking anymore.

I sigh in relief when the fluid doesn't run out of him, taking his hand and pulling to urge him onto his feet. "You can do it, don't worry! We'll make it!"

Zero trembles more as his systems continue to run against the internal spillage, not bothering to close his system as he stands on shaking legs and confidently clings to my hand. I give him an encouraging grin and pull him along with me.

"Nearly there, Zero. We can keep going..." I insist, pulling Zero along as I look around to make sure there's nothing threatening following us or in the immediate vicinity. As we progress with slow steps due to Zero's state, all I can think about are two things- whether this whatever place will fade away after some time... Or whether we're going to run into a shadow creature eventually. Neither thought makes me feel any better after everything that's been going on since the morning, and the dreadful silence that emphasizes the sound of only our footsteps makes me want to hide.

We sound loud. We sound easy to find.

It's alright, I just need to help Zero above all else. I don't want anything else to happen to him- I need to fix him up again!

My body begins to sway when the environment blinks back to the normal blue-red dawn with another earthquake, making me half smile in slight relief as we struggle to keep our balance on our way to Grandpa Light's home. My stomach growls as we turn into some familiar streets, passing the over head bridges on careful and quickening feet as our walking soon speeds up into a steady jog- in desperate hopes of getting to Grandpa Light before anything happened again.

Thankfully, those stickers on Zero are holding out enough to keep the fluids inside of him, but the dark brown color of the oil is beginning to stain the paper of the sticker. It's only a matter of time until Zero is leaking fuel again...

Just as we're jogging down Grandpa Light's street, I glance down at my free hand to see my gemmy orbs blinking rapidly, buzzing with an energy that I don't truly understand as the Earth shakes yet again, momentarily plunging us in that foggy night version of Mega City before it reverts back to normal just as the quake subsides. My heart jerks violently, but I don't stop jogging beside Zero for any reason. Our hands refuse to let go of one another.

Who even knows if things will be better once we get to Grandpa Light's house? It might still happen anyways, but at least I'll have my family with me if it does... Maybe we'll figure something out!

I'm out of breath by the time I reach Grandpa Light's home with poor shaking Zero, throwing myself against the door with a loud thud and a shout of relief... Closing my eyes as I knock on the door with my pounding fist. I step back to catch my breath and immediately regret blinking when fog and darkness coat my world once more.

I yelp when Zero's body gives a violent shake and keels over onto his knees, using his hands to catch himself from completely hitting the floor as his fuel begins to leak again. Right when I turn to bend down to help, my body locks up as something touches my shoulder from behind, my eyes wide as I stare at my kneeling android and wait for whatever is evidently going to happen. Zero can barely lift his head, but when he manages, his expression flashes with fear. I don't have to see his face to know something is behind me- that hand on my shoulder is enough evidence.

The hairs on my back prickle up with the tension of my muscles as my breathing begins to quicken. I'm hyperventilating at this point, and it doesn't seem like anyone is in a hurry to open the door to Grandpa Light's house. Can't they hear us out here?!

This is it, isn't it? I can't help but wonder as the hand tightens on my shoulder, giving the prominent sensation of long, unnatural claws digging into my collarbone as I try and calm myself to no avail.

I almost cry with relief when a quake has me stumbling out of the clawed grip, but as I bolt down to grab Zero when he throws a hand out to try and grab hold of mine, a large tar-like hand clamps against my entire face, digging it's claws around my jaws from atop my head and yanking me back with a painful jerk that makes me scream under the hand. My finger tips brush Zero's, barely making contact.

Breathing so quickly and suddenly no longer being able to breathe at all makes me struggle and claw at whatever is grabbing my face, dropping my weight to make an effort to get air back into my lungs. This does nothing at all, and before I know it, everything goes back to that violet and blue foggy darkness.

No, wait...! Not yet! I haven't fixed things yet...! I have to apologize to Rock! I have to help Zero! I have to find what's... What's going... on...

My body grows heavier, the tar against my face clogging up my nostrils and mouth.

I just want to...

The sensation of something being driven violently between my shoulder blades and out through my chest makes my body shake rigidly, my vision becoming dark as I watch Zero's outstretched hand drop and his body eventually fall against the ground as he finally leaks enough that he can no longer keep himself powered on. Something else other than the brown fuel covers the ground... It's a small series of dots the color of maroon blending with the brown fuel that flows out of Zero's "stomach".

My vision is black.

...Sor...Ry...

---

End of Part 1

A/N: It's time.