Angel: I put up a poll to see which couples I've written are the most-liked and I'm surprised that Leo and Amy are in the lead, from TMNT. But then again, it is a popular franchise that I'm not even writing anymore. Maybe I should've excluded them but oh well. I was expecting Hunter and Lucila to be in the lead, but they had less episodes to develop as a couple so I can see why they're not.
Two construction workers are sitting on top of a scaffolding to have lunch. "Hey, I'll trade you my peanut butter for your salami," One of them offers to his friend.
"Yeah, sure," He holds his sandwich away. "When pigs fly."
Just then, robotic pigs fly right past them, and the two trade sandwiches. Jenny and Amy as Ms. Mecha fly right past, getting the sandwiches on their faces. "Oh, gross!" Amy exclaims in disgust at the peanut butter on her helmet.
"I hate salami," Jenny frowns and tosses it off her face.
"You don't even eat meat," Amy deadpans at her while water is splashed onto the front of her helmet, windshield wipers wiping the glass off.
"Are you doing okay? You've been acting weird lately," The robot looks at her in concern. "Didn't you have to get your suit fixed by Sheldon?"
Her eyes widen in alarm; she hasn't talked to him at all since the whole...garage incident. And she hasn't told Jenny about it either because she doesn't know how she'll take it. Suddenly it'll be about her and Sheldon dating, and that's too much for her to handle with already being a superhero. "Nothing happened with Sheldon!" She shakes her head rapidly as she realizes what she said. "I mean, we have higher priorities than some boy right now."
They fly after the robotic pigs, who all separate into groups. Brad watches from down below using a telescope. "They're splitting up. Jenny and Ms. Mecha need my help! This looks like a job for Action Brad." Suddenly the sandwiches they threw land on his face. He wipes them off with a smile and runs off, standing in front of one coming his way. However, before he can do anything, Jenny flies in front of him. "This little piggy went to market," She punches it away from him, and it lands in a grocery store. It destroys the cart of a customer, who just puts his cereal on top of it and pushes.
"I always get the cart with the broken wheels," He grumbles at this, not even noticing that it's not a real cart. Brad rushes to one flying over a house and pokes out the window, holding up a net. However, Amy lifts up the house with a smirk, not even noticing Brad.
"This little piggy stayed home!" She slams down the house onto the robotic pig, which is now stuck in the floor of the living room.
"I told you we should get insured against robotic farm animals," The woman nags as Brad storms down the stairs with an annoyed look. "But no!"
Suddenly a robotic pig soars into a deli, people gasping sharply. Brad is about to fight against them when Jenny slams down meat against one. "This little piggy had roast beef."
"And this little piggy had none," Amy smiles as she kicks off the other one, using it on her knees like a soccer ball. She head-butts it to Jenny, who punches it onto the counter.
"That's not kosher," The female customer states to the butcher.
Brad sits on the sidewalk with his hands on his cheeks. A robotic pig flies right towards him, but Amy catches it in her hands. "This little piggy went wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee..." She spins around rapidly before letting go and watching it fly. "All the way home."
"Nice work today, Brad," Jenny smiles down at him. "See ya," The two fly off together.
"Yeah, whatever," He walks off sadly.
"You think something's up with him?" Amy glances back at Brad while the girls fly side by side.
"Nah...so what is it you wanted to tell me?"
"Oh...um..." She bites her lip, laughing nervously. "Sheldon and I kissed, and then it was this whole thing, and then he told me he still has feelings for me?"
Jenny halts to a stop, causing Amy to bump into her. "What?!" The robot whips around to her.
"How can I get a real piece of the action when Jen and Ms. Mecha hog it all to themselves?" Brad laments while walking. "Nothing cool ever happens to me."
"Whoa!" Tuck exclaims from the junkyard. "This is the coolest thing that's ever happened to me!"
"What is it, Tuck?" Brad runs over to his brother, he and Piri standing next to each other. Tuck was holding a piece of paper in his hand.
"We were just digging around the garbage, and we found this," He reveals it to Brad. "A bona fide-ee treasure map!" Brad looks down at the two, Piri bouncing happily. "Come on, let's get Jenny and Amy and find the treasure."
"Yeah!" Brad then realizes something. "No, wait. I can do this myself—exploring dark caves." Tuck gulps at hearing that. "Unearthing decaying skeletons!" Then Piri shakes in fear. "Dueling bloodthirsty pirates!" The two scream their heads off.
"No skeletons for Piri Smith EVER!" Piri waves her hands in denial.
"Ah, you go ahead. We'll just stay here with my nice, safe garbage. But we get half the treasure." Piri clears her throat, crossing her arms. "Fine, one third of the treasure," He corrects himself while looking away.
"No, I get half. You two get the one third."
"Aw, what?!" Tuck looks to her as she looks at her fingernails casually. "Why do you-"
"Deal, but whatever you do, don't tell Jenny or Amy. Incidentally, why were you rummaging through the dump?"
The two just stare at him in confusion. "We don't understand the question. But are you really gonna give her half?"
"Bye guys!" Brad doesn't answer the question as he runs off.
"Brad, wait!"
"Thanks, dude!" Piri smiles happily while waving at him. "You're my favorite!" Tuck grumbles while crossing his arms.
Brad puts on a pan with a flashlight attached, taking a mixer, flower vase, shovel, and toilet plunger. "Onward to adventure!" He then rushes off, following the map to find it. He gets to a bent tree, two cut rocks, a mountain top with bird poop falling off it...and then finally arrives at Grassy Grove. "X marks the spot." He takes out his shovel and bends down, starting to dig.
Eventually, he makes a deep hole and climbs out, disappointed as he hasn't found anything. "I don't get it. I followed the-wait a sec," He does a double take on the map, flipping it over to see it covered in dirt. He then dusts it off...to reveal that the map is from the back of a cereal box. "A cereal box!" He walks off, tossing the 'map' to the grass. "What a dope I am. I'll never be a heroooo!" He falls through a hole while saying that last word, his equipment flying right off. He falls through a straight line and then bumps into some turns, hitting his back and face back and forth. He falls straight through again and lands on his back. He seems to be in a secret lair as he stands up and looks up ahead. "Whoa! An underground lair." He looks around at the various hallways, a light at the end from an open door. "Now we're talking."
He rushes forward and peeks behind a piece of machinery. Someone seems to be looming over a table...making a robotic pig. Brad notices it and the man turns around, looking at him. He yelps and makes a break for it.
"Stop! Come back!" He shouts as Brad runs into some robotic pigs. He flinches in alarm and then takes out the toilet plunger. He then realizes that he has no actual weapon and runs off.
"I can't believe you guys kissed without telling me," Jenny glances down at her friend, who's told her everything.
"I can't believe he still has feelings for me," She retorts back, a hand on her forehead.
"Do you still like him?" Jenny wonders with a raised brow. "I mean...you and Sheldon...it'd be a little weird, wouldn't it? Especially since we both know how he feels about me."
"I never-!" Amy stammers with a blush as she never had feelings for him to begin with. "Since when did I ever feel that way towards him?"
"Well, you two did have your moments that seemed like it was in...that way," The robot tries to tell her gently. "And it's not the first time someone's asked about you two."
"Well...no. But at the same time I don't...know if I like him," Amy struggles to say. "Or anyone really, being in a relationship would make things complicated for me. And w-who's to say I ever will like him?" She laughs awkwardly as she just...doesn't like the feeling she has right now. Sheldon's a lot of things to her, that she can't even pin down what exactly his confession means to her.
"That's true, he's the only boy who knows who you are," Jenny murmurs to herself, leaving Amy to her thoughts. She still hasn't determined if it really means anything to her...
Tuck and Piri make a garbage snowman as the girls fly in. "Hey, guys, have you seen-" She looks down at the creation with a skeptical brow. "Is that a snowman?"
"Of course. He's made of garbage, not snow," Tuck corrects her.
"But why are you two even...never mind, I'll think about that later," Amy waves a hand. Though she's making a mental note to have a talk with Piri later about playing around in the dump.
"Right...say, do you two know where Brad is?" Jenny asks with a small smile.
"I do, but we are sworn to secrecy," Tuck points up at them. "A bond between brethren that cannot be broken!" The girls look away knowingly with smiles. "An oath written in blood!"
"We found a treasure map, and he went of seeking adventure. Guess he was bored or something," Piri tells them with a blank look. Tuck glares at her and she shrugs. "What? I wasn't sworn to secrecy, and he's not my brother."
"Crikey!" Jenny holds her head in a panic. "That could be dangerous." She flies off and Amy recoils back in alarm, taking off after her.
"Hey, half the treasure's mine!" Tuck calls out to her.
"No it's not," Piri smirks with her eyes closed and she ducks as he throws a can at her. The two go back to their garbage snowman when a mouse pops out of it. They look up with wide-eyes and then more appear.
"Jen, Brad doesn't stay away from danger, he faces danger head on," Amy reminds her friend. "What trouble could he really be in from trying to find lost treasure?"
"I guess you could be right..." Jenny looks away in thought.
"Okay," Brad continues running down the hallway. "This is a little more adventure than I-" He skids to a stop as he sees a girl with blonde hair blocking his way. "Wanted? What are you doing here? This place is rampant with robotic swine. I gotta get you out of here," He runs right past her.
"No," She grabs his arm, stopping him in place. "This way," She goes off into the other direction, and they hide in a passageway. The robotic pigs fly right past them and they peek to make sure they're not being seen.
"You did good back there, kid," He compliments her in a smooth way. "I'm Brad Carbuckle, heroic adventurer extraordinaire."
"My name's Melody," She introduces herself.
"What's a pretty girl like you doing in a dark, creepy, swine-filled place like this?"
She laughs and then grabs his hand. "I'll explain that later. Come on, I want you to meet my dad," She drags him off.
"Wow, you don't waste any time, do you? But first, I gotta get us out of here." Once he steps into light, he freezes as he's back in the lab that he escaped from!
"Daddy, this is Brad. He was lost in the tunnels."
The same man Brad saw earlier turns around with a smile. "Thank goodness you found him, Melody. I was afraid he'd be frightened off by our little experiments." He sounds actually jovial, surprising Brad, until the man has an evil grin.
"I'm not scared of you or your evil creatures," He boasts, though he grabs Melody and hides behind her. "Well, maybe a little," He glances away as she smiles at him. "They are pretty vicious-looking."
"I am Dr. Locus, a state-sanctioned geobiologist. I've been engineering bionic farm animals with special powers to make them better, stronger, faster," He gestures to a robotic cow, goat, chicken, sheep, and horse.
"So, you're not evil?" Brad questions him, since earlier, his friends were fighting those things.
"Oh, goodness, no. My sui-swine may look scary, but they're as harmless as a bioengineered nonreproductive fly," He smiles with his hands behind his back.
"But they were on the surface, wreaking havoc!" Brad points out to him.
"They were probably just enjoying their new flying ability," Dr. Locus pats one on the head. "It's not quite perfected."
"But someone could have gotten hurt. If XJ9 or Ms. Mecha hadn't intervened-"
"XJ9 and Ms. Mecha?" He wraps an arm around the boy in alarm. "Were those the robots I saw defeating my little porkers?"
"Yeah, Jenny. She's my best friend, and her partner is a friend too. I just don't interact with her often."
"They were amazing!" Dr. Locus gushes a bit over them. "Say, perhaps you could call them and ask them to come over. I'd love to uh, um, pick their brains about their more advanced functions," He leads Brad away a bit.
"Uh, actually, I kinda gotta get going," Brad dodges the question, jerking a thumb behind him. If there's one thing he knew, it was to definitely not call Ms. Mecha over for a non-emergency. Tuck learned that the hard way when he 'cried robots'.
"Aww!" Melody whines while clasping her hands.
"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way. Let me show you the way out," He pulls a lever, a cage falling over Brad.
"Daddy, what are you doing?" Melody asks in sadness and shock.
"When XJ9 and Ms. Mecha come for you, I shall steal the secrets of their weapons technology and thus enact my master plan!"
"...Which is what, exactly?" Brad raises a brow at him.
"I'm a scientist, lad, not a mad scientist. I'm not going to tell you. Come, Melody!" He grabs her arm and pulls her away.
"Daddy, no! Braaaaad!" She cries out as they both leave Brad alone in the lab.
"Some adventurer I turned out to be," He laments while sitting in the middle of the cage. "I'm a failure!"
His voice echoes loud enough to be heard by both Jenny and Amy, who were using satellites and telescopes to search for him. Both of them stop in place to get a closer listen. "That sounds like Brad's pathetic whine coming from underground."
The brunette snorts a bit in laughter from the explanation and then realizes something. "Wait, what's he doing underground?" Amy raises a brow in confusion, Jenny turning her pigtails into a drill. She digs into the road and Amy zooms after her. They land right into Dr. Locus' lab and in front of the cage that Brad's in.
"All I wanted to do was be a hero like Jenny and Ms. Mecha. Now I'm in this mess because I was jealous of them." The two peek in, feeling a bit bad as they watch him. He hasn't caught on that he's not alone. "Think, Brad. WWJD—what would Jenny do? She wouldn't give up, that's for sure," He stands up in determination. I'm breaking out of here!" He tries to ram the door open, but because it's made out of metal...he falls onto the ground. "Ow! Owie, owie! Golly wolly goshy cakes! That hurt!"
"Did he really just say that?" Amy murmurs quietly, a hand on her forehead.
"Aw, poor Brad," Jenny says sympathetically and then smiles. "He deserves to feel good about himself, even if it's completely unjustified," She stretches out her robot arm and glances at Amy. "Whatever happens, let him think he's saving the day, Amy."
"Got it," She nods in agreement.
"Okay, can't give up. Maybe if I got more of a running start," Jenny's arm slinks into the cage behind him. Thankfully he spins around in a circle with his eyes closed, so he doesn't see her flick the door open. He rushes out and crashes into the wall. "Wow, I didn't even feel the wall that time. I must not know my own strength." He touches his arm that still hurts, though. "Ow!" He gets onto his feet, the two sneaking behind him.
A trap opens in front of him and he stops because down below are spikes. He steps back and gives a confident smile. "Ha! Trap floors. How corny can you get?"
Amy whistles as a claw emerges from behind her back, grabbing Brad from behind. "Alley-oop!" She tosses him lightly across the gap and he cheers. "Whoo-hoo!" He lands as the two jump behind him, his head stuck in the floor. He emerges...with some plaster in his mouth. He spits it out and then runs, the two still on his tail. He stops as he sees a ladder up ahead. "All right. I'm almost out."
Suddenly a bunch of the robotic pigs stop his path. "I've had it with you pigheaded pigs! Come get some, bacon breath," He waves his arms around in a rather wimpy way, the pigs just glance at each other. They fly forward, but the girls use their arms to punch all of them away. Brad looks up and gasps, seeing the pile of destroyed robots in front of him. "I did it! Wait till Jen and Amy hear about this," He jumps over the pile, the others doing the same. He attempts to jump for the ladder, but can't.
Jenny helps him up and the two smile, fist-bumping each other. However, Dr. Locus looms behind them! He puts collars over their necks, shocking the two and shutting Jenny down. Amy gasps sharply at her friend, turning around and preparing to fight. And since because she's not a robot, she can't be affected by the collar. Dr. Locus flinches back in alarm from realizing this, since it only affects robots. He then pulls out a laser gun and turns it to knock-out mode. He fires it and some mist looms over her.
She coughs as some of it seeps into her helmet and then she gets sleepy. She tries to stay awake but can't as she falls to the ground. She looks up as he cackles, her vision fading to black.
Brad gets out through pushing out the grass, knocking a squirrel away. He jumps out and walks off with a smile, only to run into Melody. "Brad!"
"What the-" He flinches in alarm to see her. "How did—what are you doing here?"
"There's no time to explain. My dad has captured your friends Jenny and Ms. Mecha."
"What?" He asks in confusion. "What were they doing there?" His eyes widen and then realizes there's no way he suddenly had the ability to do all of the things he did to escape. "Ugh, they must have been helping me all along. I'm such an idiot!"
"No, you're not, Brad. You don't have to be a superpowered robot or a human in a mech suit to be heroic. You're brave and caring, and I believe in you." She kisses his cheek and he holds her shoulders.
"Take me back to your dad's lab. I'm gonna rescue my friends...and what?! Ms. Mecha's a human? I thought she was a robot like Jenny," He says with his eyes wide.
"No," Melody shakes his head. "His collar to disable robots didn't work on her, so she can't be a robot. And what's worse, he's going to find out who she is once he takes off her helmet and searches her records!"
"Not on my watch he's not," Brad narrows his eyes in determination.
Dr. Locus is looking at the results from the scan of Jenny. "The ingenious gadgets, the intricate weaponry, the mere thought that someone was able to replicate this technology for a human! Just what my creatures need. Now that I have their secrets, nothing can stop me," He holds up the CD, which he downloaded the data of them onto. "Now to figure out who you are," He smirks as he approaches Amy, reaching out to take off her helmet.
"Not so fast, Locus. We're not gonna let you get away with it," Brad speaks up bravely.
"Melody, come here," He demands her.
"She's with me, Doc," Brad responds confidently, though Melody doesn't look as such.
"Melody, you know you must obey me. Come here."
"I'm sorry, Brad," She walks past him to join his side, to the boy's shock. "He's my father. I must obey him."
"Yeah, well, unexpected defections aside, um...release them or I'll...I'll..."
"I've got what I need," Dr. Locus interrupts in an uncaring tone. "Take them," He presses a button to wheel the girls over. Brad catches Jenny in his arms, turning around to let Amy fall on his back. Both of them wake up and Amy holds onto his back piggy-back style.
"Brad, you came for us," Jenny says in relief.
"Thanks," Amy replies almost tiredly.
"Just repaying the favors," He winks to them. "Can you guys walk?"
"Not with these inhibitors on our necks. We can't get them off," She explains to him. He tries to carry both of them, but since Jenny's made out of metal and so is Amy's suit, he can barely stand up.
"Metal bodies too heavy. Can't lift!"
"Struggle in vain, boy," Dr. Locus speaks up to him. "I can't let you leave now that you know my secrets."
"What secrets? You didn't tell me anything," Brad protests to the evil scientist.
"So I guess I'll have to bury you with them," He presses a button from his remote with an evil grin. The ground starts to shake as debris falls from the ceiling. Melody turns to her father in a pleading way.
"Daddy, this is madness!"
"If destroying everything I built to keep a young boy quiet is madness, I don't want to be sane!" He grins widely, pressing a button to summon a vehicle. Melody turns around, holding out a hand as they get away.
"Braaaad!"
"Did he say destroy everything he built?" Amy's eyes widen as they all realize he's rigged the place to self-destruct.
"Come on, guys. You helped me before. Together, we can still make it." He tries again to stand upright.
"But we-"
To their shock, he manages to stand up straight before rushing to the archway. A few rocks block their way, however. Brad breaks through them like it's nothing, the girls looking to each other in disbelief. He then comes across a gap, the two staring at the boy. He doesn't seem fazed at all as he jumps across and lands safely, running over to the ladder up ahead. With a free arm, he punches through several rocks to pieces! He looks up at the ladder, more debris falling over them. The ladder then breaks completely, to their dismay. The girls look to Brad, who winks as they seemingly get engulfed by debris. However, Brad leaps out of the hole, landing safely.
"Brad, Jenny, Ms. Mecha," Tuck and Piri rush over to them. "We felt the catastrophic shaking on the other side of town! So where's our treasure?"
"Sorry, guys, I didn't find any treasure," Brad reveals to the two.
"Well, that figures," Tuck grumbles at this.
"Deceiver!" Piri shouts angrily at Brad, lunging forward but Amy catches her. She then passes Piri onto the approaching Emily and Claudia. The two give a blank look as Piri struggles to break free to attack Brad. The two walk away from the field so that they can calm her down.
"I knew you were no adventurer, Brad."
"Hey, he just rescued us from the clutches of a deranged lunatic," Jenny defends the boy. "Brad is a hero."
"Yeah! If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be here right now," Amy adds in with a smile.
"It's okay, guys. You don't have to pretend. I know you guys have been helping me."
"We helped you break out, sure," Jenny starts off. "But since the doctor put this inhibitor on, we haven't been able to move a muscle." His eyes widen at this. However, a clawed hand that doesn't belong to Amy or Jenny pulls away from them. Amy glances behind her in confusion as she doesn't see anything and just passes it off as a fly or something. Brad's body wobbles and he falls to the grass. The hand goes into the hole and back all the way...to Melody.
"Their weapons systems were the most advanced I've ever seen, Melody. Once I've equipped you with them, you will no longer just be another android," Her eyes look saddened as he's not even looking at her. "No, you shall be the most powerful robot on Earth. And someday I WILL find out who Ms. Mecha is underneath that suit!"
She sighs at his antics. "Yes, Daddy."
"But I don't get it. There's no way I could have leaped over caverns and smashed rocks on my own," Brad states to the others. Tuck presses buttons from the back of the inhibitors to remove them. "I could have sworn I felt a robotic hand helping me."
"I don't know how you did it," Jenny shrugs at him. "But you came to our rescue, and the bravery was 100 percent Brad. You're our hero."
"Exactly," Amy nods in agreement, the three sharing a group hug.
"Gross," Tuck walks away in annoyance. "Give me junkyard rats any day."
"By the way," Brad pulls away from the two, pointing at Amy. "Why didn't you tell me she's not a robot?"
The two glance at each other nervously and then back at him. "How'd you find that out?" Jenny asks him in confusion.
"A little bird told me," He keeps Melody vague for now.
"Is it any of your business?" Amy retorts back, arms crossed.
"No offense, but if other people like Dr. Locus catch onto that, they can use that against you," Brad argues back and she bites her lip, as he has a point. "Are you ever going to tell people who you are?"
She glances around nervously, laughing it off. "I'm nobody! No one needs to know anything! I'm not that interested in giving that away..." She rubs the back of her neck. Brad catches on that she's not comfortable doing so and shrugs.
"Alright...but if you ask me, you're our hero too no matter who you are."
She rubs her arm, wondering if everyone else would react the same...or be upset that she kept it a secret for so long. "I'm gonna go..." She stands up, backing away from them. She then stretches before flying off, groaning. "Why did he have to go and say that to me?" She pinches her nose in frustration. First she has the whole romance drama with Sheldon and now she's questioning keeping her identity a secret...
That's just the life of being the partner of a teenage robot, she supposes.