Larry opened the windows for his room, to let out some of heat that had gathered while he was gone. He placed the Medabot on the floor and lay down on his bed to examine it slightly closer. Jane had straightened out the dents, but the armour was still dull and dirty. He decided to wash and wax it after he figured out whether it actually functioned. Raising his arm, he changed the display to the damage/parts screen. It showed that the Medabot was operating at maximum efficiency, with no damage. He also noted that at the bottom, a picture of a medical cross was labelled "5"
"Okay, let's see if this thing works. Metabee, activate!"
Metabee lifted its head and looked around the room. It then proceeded to stretch out its arms. Larry saw that its eyes were a pale blue, and watched as it bent down to touch its toes.
"Ahh, it feels good to have a body again. Yo, where am I?"
Larry was surprised to hear it was a female voice, and proceeded to answer its question. "My house," It spun around and looked at him in what might be construed as surprise. "In the lovely country of South Africa. I'm Larry, your new medafighter."
"Oh, you are? You don't really look all that capable, pal."
"Well, I don't have any experience, if that's what you mean. But, I'm pretty sure that after some practice, the two of us will make a pretty good team."
Metabee hopped on top of the bed next to him and jabbed him sharply in the side. "You don't need to worry about anything. Just let me handle the robattling, okay? You won't need to help me out."
Larry felt confused. "But, I thought a Medabot and medafighter were supposed to together."
"Look, buddy. I'm one of the baddest Medabots you're ever going to meet. I DO NOT need any help."
With that, she jumped off the bed and powered down without another word. Larry was amazed at this abrupt declaration, and wondered if the medal he had found was damaged. He had been strolling by the marsh on the way to a friend's house, when he noticed something shiny sticking out of the reeds. When he bent down and pulled it out, he saw that it was a Medabot medal. He thought that it was lucky, since he was planning to go look for a Medabot the following afternoon after school.
Now, he was thinking it might not be that lucky.
Larry woke up at seven o'clock the next morning, wondering whether he could afford to skip school, so he could spend some time with his Medabot. He decided it wasn't really necessary, because it was the last day of this term and he came out at twelve. Four hours of school wasn't going to kill him, and he would have the opportunity to show Metabee to his friends.
He leaned over and activated Metabee once again, and she looked at him with a glance of disinterest.
"Morning Metabee. Ready for school?"
"Well, if it means we can have some robattles, then yeah."
"Listen, my school has a few rules about Medabots. We can bring them to school, but they have to stay outside classes. Robattling is only allowed on school grounds during break and after school, got that?"
"Yeah sure, when are we going?"
It took Larry about thirty minutes to get dressed, and then he and Metabee took off down the road to his school, which was about a ten minute walk from his house.
Final period, thank the lord. Larry thought as he tried to avoid falling asleep in the final few minutes of his maths class. His day had been pretty uneventful, so nothing new there. Metabee had impressed his friends somewhat, despite her slightly lousy attitude, and the girls thought she was just great. Now, she was sitting outside beneath the window by his desk.
"Alright class, now remember to do those examples on page fifty-three before we come back for the next semester. I hope you enjoy your holidays."
His maths teacher, Mrs. Reid shut her book just as the bell rang. Larry stepped outside and, much to his dismay, found that Metabee was gone. He looked up and down the row and found her long gone.
Finally, he spoke into his Medawatch. "Metabee, where are you? I thought I told you to wait outside the class."
The voice that responded was slightly harried. "Can't talk right now, I'm busy. Later!"
Larry was confused, until two older kids ran past yelling about a robattle. Then it struck him like a brick, and he ran off after them.
He found her in the quad, battling one of the Bills. The Bills were the three richest kids in his school, and had been some of the first to get Medabots. They were the stereotypical snobs, in their final year at school as well as also three of the worst bullies Larry had ever met.
The one she was battling was Jeff, a tall, gangly student. His red hair was always trimmed in a square cut, giving him the look of an extremely underfed Marine. Jeff's entire battle strategy was based on speed. He continually made darting attacks on his opponents, all those little bumps adding up pretty fast in heated combat.
Hank was the thickest of the three, but not someone you wanted to mess with. Though only five foot five, he was a solid 234 pounds of pure destructive power. His strategy was simple of course. Go in fast, hit them hard...Repeatedly. He didn't care about any damage done to his Medabot, as long as he completely destroyed his opponent.
Kara was the leader. A tall girl with long red hair, she was fairly popular amongst the guys, her wealth only adding to her appeal. She was the tactician of the group, always playing her opponent's weaknesses. Larry had actually had a small crush on her when he first came to this school, but that was before he knew what they did for fun.
Their Medabots and parts were top of the line imports, and as Larry regarded Metabee's damage display, this fact was being shown quite explicitly.
Head: 68% Damage
Body: 80% Damage
Arms: 75% Damage
Legs: 60% Damage
Metabee was up against Nunchar. Nunchar was a compact green Medabot with a sword for one arm. It had a painted on mask, and a black cloak that billowed around as it dashed through its opponent's defence.
Name: Nunchar
Speciality: Sword and Shuriken attacks
Type: NJN Ninja
Medal: Ghost
Medafighter: Jeff
Larry made it through the crowd just as two of Nunchar's fired shurikens caught Metabee on her arms. His Medawatch beeped and the calm, computer voice told him "Arm parts 100% damage. Function Ceased."
"Stop fighting!"
She turned to him, despite the fact that Nunchar was bearing down on her again. "Hey, stop giving me orders. I can handle thi...GYAAH!"
"Metabee!"
Nunchar had dashed in and driven his sword right through Metabee's left leg. Sparks and the smell of burnt wires billowed out, and the leg immediately stopped functioning. Larry turned to Jeff, hoping to appeal to any sense of decency he had.
"Quit it, Jeff! She's defenceless."
Jeff merely smiled contemptuously. "Your Medabot should have thought about that before challenging me. If you could actually control her, it may have been different. Nunchar, finish it."
Nunchar tore into his mostly defenceless opponent with repeated sword strikes, before placing his shuriken launcher in front of Metabee's head.
"No! You can't do that."
"I just did."
The point-blank range of the shuriken meant it hit at full speed. Metabee's head snapped back violently and she collapsed to the ground. The hatch on her back opened up and her medal popped out onto the ground. Larry rushed over to Metabee, ignoring the gloating from the Bills.
Larry gravely examined the leg. "I can't risk activating her now. I'll have to get this fixed." Picking up his Medabot in his arms, he turned to Jeff. "Just wait, Jeff. When she's working again, I'm coming back for you."
The Bills smirked at his comment, and walked off. Larry then began his journey home, hoping his Medabot could be repaired.
Larry finally put the solder and diagram away, wiping his oil-stained hands on an old rag. He once more mentally thanked his father for having a huge collection of tools. Metabee was as good as new, but he needed to recharge her battery for a short while, as the final blow from Nunchar had knocked the primary conductor out of sync, and all her power had drained away.
Plugging her into the outlet in his room, he went into the kitchen to prepare himself some lunch. As he ate, he felt his doubts about the medal surface once again. All the magazines he had read about robattling said that the Medabot and medafighter needed to work together to succeed. If Metabee didn't try to change her attitude, the two of them would never work as a team.
"Hey, you ever hear of low-carbs?"
He turned his head and saw Metabee had recharged. She was standing in the doorway, hands laced behind her head. He smiled, despite still being annoyed.
"Glad to see you're still functioning. I was starting to think I would have to take a trip to the junkyard."
"Ha-ha, funny man." She jumped onto the chair opposite him. "Man, I can't wait until I see that guy again. And when I do..."
"Hold it right there. If you want me to keep activating you in the morning, I'm laying down the ground rules. From now on, we fight as a team...And no buts," He added, seeing she was going to interrupt. "I think what Jeff did was totally against the principles of robattling, and if we practise this weekend, the two of us will be booting his butt all over town on Monday. "
"What's the catch? Let me guess: You want me to stop talking back, and just become another toy. That's just what my previous medafighter wanted me to do."
Larry laughed. "Seems you need to get to know me better. I like your attitude, even though it's a little too much sometimes. I just want the two of us to become friends. We have to work together, because I don't want to see you in the shape you were in this afternoon, ever again. Now, There's a provincial championship in a few weeks, so you and I better get working. After Bill, it's the best medafighters in the country."
He stood up and Metabee followed him into the back yard.
"Come on, that's still too slow! Hustle, hustle!"
Metabee flipped over the first chair, landed on her hands, flipped over the second one and shot the five tins on the table over without missing a single shot.
"Man, this guy is some drill instructor...Now what?"
Larry tossed three balls into the air. "Move, Seeker Missiles. And no missing, or we start over."
Three puffs of smoke from Metabee's Seeker launchers and the three tennis balls vanished in a gust of debris.
"Evasive manoeuvres, Snake Pattern"
Larry was pelting her with more balls, and she had to zigzag through them. Finally, she reached him and collapsed.
"Geez, slow down Larry. It isn't going to help if you make me blow a fuse before tomorrow."
Larry grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I just want to beat that self important son of a..."
"Okay, I get the picture. Hey, when are your parents coming home? They out for the weekend?"
"No, they're coming back in a month's time."
Metabee sat up, shocked. "'Say what? A month? Man, you one of those abandoned, only child type of guys?"
"Not really. Sure, my parents are busy. That's what happens when you run a multi-national company. But I guess the difference is that they actually make the time they spend with me special, so I don't mind them being gone. So, let's go for one more practice and call it a night."
Metabee merely groaned in response
Larry sat at his computer, downloading more attack and evasive patterns into Metabee's memory. She sat next to his table, deep in thought. Larry finally broke the silence.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
"Huh? Oh, I was just thinking about a name."
"Name?"
"Yeah. I want to start over, leave the Metabee that lost to a stuck up brat behind, and get a new one. That and I think Metabee is a pretty common name."
"Really? Only fifty-thousand others were made."
"Cut the sarcasm Larry, I'm serious. Give me a good name, something that'll strike fear into the heart of my opponent."
Larry sat back in his chair, traversing through the mental filing cabinets. Finally, he snapped his fingers.
"What about 'Sheena'?"
"'Sheena'? Where did you get that from?"
"She's my favourite character from a fighting game called Bloody Roar. She can turn into a leopard, and is one of the most balanced fighters in the game. See, it's perfect."
"Sheena? Sheena...I like it! Guess there is something in that head besides dust balls."
"Hey, watch it pal. One tap of a button and I can download the entire series of the Teletubbies into your memory banks."
Sheena mimed shuddering, and the two burst out laughing. They finally clamed down, and Larry disconnected her from the link before going to the light switch. He flipped it, and suddenly the only light was coming from Sheena's blue eyes. She heard the springs in his bed creak, signalling he had climbed in.
"Goodnight Sheena, try not to power down too late. I'm going to need you at full strength for tomorrow"
"Okay. Larry?"
"..."
"Uh, Larry? You awake?"
Larry's sounded slightly aggravated as he replied "I am now. What is it?"
"I was just thinking...Why haven't you been able to find my medal in any of the Medabot Corporation's catalogues. I saw you looking earlier."
"I don't know, maybe it's so ancient they don't sell it anymore. Now, would you mind letting me get to sleep? Some of us don't have the luxury of a rechargeable battery."
"Larry, there aren't a whole lot of people who would have kept me around after that incident at school. Thanks."
"No problem. As long as we stick together, we'll be a hell of a team."
"I won't let you down, ever. With me, you'll never lose again. Goodnight, dude."
"'Night, Sheena."
After about five seconds, Larry's light snoring filled the room and Sheena slowly powered down, the light of her eyes growing steadily dimmer, until it finally went dark.