(Disclaimer: I do not own OK KO Let's be Heroes, all credit goes to Ian Jones Quartey and Cartoon Network; please support the official release).

Chapter 10: Times Have Changed

Enid and Red Action looked on in shock as they witnessed Yellow Technique step out of the portal, their shock was due to her appearance. Her armor was scorched and cracked in places, she wore an eyepatch over her left eye, the parts of her skin that were exposed had hypertrophic scars caused by burns and finally, just like Red Action, her left leg was replaced by a peg-leg.

"Oh my Cob, Yellow! Are you okay? What happened to you? Where's the rest of the team?", asked Red Action.

Yellow Technique slowly looked up at her, her face holding an expression of deadpanned anger. "They had to stay behind and insisted only one of us come here, things are too serious for us all to up and leave", she said in a low ominous tone.

"What do you mean? I thought after we discovered you can destroy the Borgs with organic matter, you'd have a better time defeating them. How are they still this much of a threat?", asked Enid as she walked closer while pushing Raphael's stroller.

Yellow Technique's one good eye widened as she looked at the stroller, "Red...is that a baby stroller? Did...did you have your baby already?", she asked.

Red Action smiled, happy that they found something to change the subject of their rather depressing conversation. She walked over to the stroller and reached inside, gently pulling out her sleeping infant son and cradling him in her arms.

"Yellow, this is our baby boy. His name is Raphael", said Red Action as she stared lovingly at her child. Yellow Technique's eye widened even further as she stared at the sleeping infant, then she slowly brought face to look Red Action in the eyes.

Then she let out a long sigh, "Red...I want you to know that I'm your friend and I'm sorry for what I'm about to do, just know that I only do it to protect you and the whole world", Yellow said with a saddened expression.

Enid and Red Action looked at her in confusion, not knowing what she was talking about. Suddenly, without warning, Yellow Technique lunged forward and punched Red Action in the face, causing her to toss Raphael into the air; Yellow leapt into the air and caught the now awake and crying baby boy.

She landed on the ground and held Raphael close to her as one of her hands retracted and was replaced by a syringe filled with a green liquid, "Hold still. Just one injection and you'll fall asleep, never to wake up again!", she said. Just as Yellow Technique was about to inject Raphael with this strange liquid, she was suddenly blasted by a shot of plasma.

Raphael went flying again but Enid had leapt into the air and caught him, he sobbed loudly as he tightly gripped Enid's shirt. She then turned to see Red Action pointing her plasma blaster at Yellow Technique, "Yellow, what in Cob's name is wrong with you?! I call you guys, hoping to introduce you to my son, and you come here trying to kill him?!", she shouted angrily.

Yellow Technique stood up shakily as she faced her, "You don't understand, Red! I need to do this, for the good of entire world! I know that this is too difficult for you to comprehend but for the good of everyone, your son has to die!", she shouted.

Red Action hesitated before she fired another blast at Yellow Technique, who dodged it and then fired back; Red Action flinched but didn't feel the impact, she looked up to see a shadow golem shielding her from Yellow's plasma blasts.

She turned around to see that Enid had used her Shadown Jutsu to create the golem to protect her, "Red! We need to get to the Plaza, we need the others to help!", Enid said. She then ran forward and grabbed Red Action by the wrist, both of them poofing out of existence, a small log left in their place.

Yellow Technique looked down at the log with a cold look, "I'm sorry, Red. I wish I didn't have to do this but it must be done to save the future", she said.

[Time Skip]

Enid and Red Action reappeared in the forest near the Plaza, the former panting from the exertion of transporting more than one person from one location to another. The tense silence was broken by Raphael crying loudly since he had not only been rudely awakened from his nap, but was also scared.

"If we don't quiet him down, Yellow will find us!", said Red Action.

Enid pondered for a moment before coming up with an idea, she gently adjusted Raphael in her arms before she began singing softly.

"Sleep, my child, and peace attend thee,

All through the night

Guardian angels Cob will send thee,

All through the night

Soft the drowsy hours are creeping,

Hill and dale in slumber sleeping

I my loved ones' watch am keeping,

All through the night".

Raphael stopped crying and nuzzled into Enid's chest, his eyes slowly drooping as he fell back to sleep. Red Action was astounded, "How did you do that, babe?", she asked. "It was a lullaby my Mom used to sing to me when I was a baby, it works every time", said Enid.

Just then, a plasma blast went flying passed them, just inches above their hair. They turned to see Yellow Technique running towards them, so they started running to the Plaza as fast as they could.

"Help! Somebody, please help us!", Enid screamed which ended up waking up Raphael again, making him cry again.

Upon hearing the screams, Rad ran out of the bodega with KO and Mr. Gar, and Carol burst out of the dojo. Just as the two girls stopped in front of them, Yellow Technique came onto the scene, her blaster at the ready.

"All of you, move out of the way! I don't want to hit any of you!", she shouted at the four other heroes before turning to the two young mothers, "Red Action, give me the boy! The more you prolong this, the worse the future becomes!"

Red Action's eyes filled up with tears as her face contorted to a mix between fear and anger, "How can you do this to me?! You and the others were so happy for me when you found out I was pregnant, but now you came here to murder my only son?! Why?!", she shouted.

Her rantings made KO, Rad, Mr. Gar and Carol all gasp in horror. Yellow Technique sighed tiredly as she lowered her blaster, "Fine, then I'll explain. Yes, we were happy for you. To think, a cyborg being able to conceive and have children? That's a miracle in and of itself.

"As it turned out, we had met the adult version of Raphael in the future, and...he was...something was wrong with him. We have no idea what happened to him in the past to cause it, but some time after we finally defeated the Borgs, he just...snapped!

"He began attacking people and destroying everything, incinerating it all with hellish blue fire! The Hue Troop tried many times to stop him but our battles have only ended in stalemates, he was unable to stop us and we were unable to stop him", she said.

Red Action looked at her incredulously, "I don't believe you! Enid and I would never let something turn our son into such a monster, especially since the two of us are heroes. And what do you mean "hellish blue fire"? Raphael only developed one superpower at the moment, Telekinesis", she said.

Yellow Technique glared at her, "I mean that some time in the future, he will develop the power of Pyrokinesis, the ability to create and control fire with your mind! And he will use this power to cause untold destruction!

"As for you and Enid, you two disappeared shortly after he went insane. Whether you simply ran away so you wouldn't have to face the truth of failing to be good parents or Raphael killed you both, it doesn't matter! All that matters was for us to deduce what had caused him to do this.

"But since we couldn't find any information on the event that led up to it, we came to the only other solution: one of us had to go back to the past and execute Raphael before he could turn into a monster.

"We argued over this decision for several hours, none of us wanted to bring ourselves to come here and rob you of your one and only child, your miracle baby, but a decision was finally made after much deliberation: for future generations to survive, Raphael had to die.

"It fell upon me to come back and inject with a lethal toxin that would shut down his brain, which in turn would cause all his other organs to fail, resulting in his death. The toxin also contains a paralyzing agent that would've prevented Raphael from feeling any pain, he would've simply fallen unconscious while his body shut down.

"Red Action, you must understand that none of us wanted to do this but there was no other choice. It was either this or let the future be forever-"

Yellow Technique was abruptly cut off when Red Action punched her right in the face, so hard in fact that she knocked out one of her teeth. Then Red Action looked down at her with tear and rage filled eyes as she said the one thing no one would've ever expected her to say.

"F*ck you!"

Everyone present gasped in shock, with Carol covering KO's ears so he wouldn't hear the bad language being used.

"Red, listen to me-"

"No, you listen to me! All my life, I hated being a Hue Trooper! All there was to us was cheesy poses and weird helmets, and I was forced to take orders from a stupid space rock! I came to 201X to not just run from you guys after breaking the Prism Crystal, but also so I could have a real life!

"And I do! I'm surrounded by friends you care a lot about, I've got an awesome girlfriend who loves me to pieces as much as I love her, and now I have a son! That little boy is mine, I carried him inside me for nine months!

"I endured joint pain, morning sickness, exhaustion...all for him! Pregnancy and childbirth was a Hell of an experience but I kept telling myself that all the pain would be worth it in the end because I would get to be a mother, I'd get to meet my child!

"Yellow, when I woke up and saw him lying in the crib next to my hospital bed, I wept tears of joy for what felt like hours! I had never been happier in my entire life than I was gazing upon my newborn son, my heart had swelled with so much love for him.

"Becoming a parent is a truly magical experience, and while things might be difficult, I know I'm not alone as long as I have my friends and I have Enid. I love my little Raphie to pieces, so you'll know I'm being honest when I say..."

Red Action trailed off as she activated her plasma cannon and aimed it right at Yellow Technique's face, her expression suddenly going dark and menacing.

"If you come anywhere near him, I will kill you! And I'll feel no remorse in doing so!", she said in a cold voice.

Yellow Technique looked at her incredulously, "I can't believe you're being so selfish! You've only been a mother for a week, in that short amount of time, there's no way you could've developed a loving bond with your child. And you're willing to risk the future and the lives of billions of people just to protect this one infant?", she said.

Then something unexpected happened: Red Action fired her cannon, but she hit Yellow Technique in her arm instead of her face. Yellow shouted in pain as she grabbed her now bleeding arm, looking up desperately at the cold expression on Red Action's face.

"Yellow, are you familiar with this famous quote: "A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path"? My first shot was a warning shot, next time it'll be your head that I hit.

"Yellow, because of what you had just tried to do to not only me, but to my son...our friendship is over! You and the rest of the Hue Troopers are now my enemies, and if you ever come here to try and murder my son again, I will slaughter all four of you without remorse!

"And don't forget that I have many friends, so you're completely outnumbered. So I suggest you leave now while you are still breathing!", Red Action said darkly.

Knowing she wasn't going to get out of this situation alive if she tried to continue her mission, Yellow Technique sighed as she activated another time portal to take her back to 301X. "Fine, be that way if you're so inclined. But just remember this: your stubborn and selfish devotion to your child will lead to the destruction of everything! And you will probably suffer more than any of the poor souls who burned to death!", she called out.

Red Action stared at her hard as tears rolled down her cheeks, "I'll make sure that never happens, and if it does, I'll deal with it my way! No leave, and don't ever come back!", she shouted back. Yellow Technique looked at her one last time before stepping into the portal. When it disappeared, Red Action fell to her knees and began sobbing uncontrollably.

The others all rushed towards her, with Carol wrapping her arms around her in a comforting manner, similar to a mother consoling her child.

[Time Skip]

Red Action woke up several hours later, finding herself lying on KO's living room couch. Speaking of KO, he walked over to her holding a glass of water. "Here you go. Mom said you might be thirsty", he said handing her the cup.

Sighing, Red Action took it and drank all the water down in one gulp. "Thanks. How long was I out?", she asked.

"Almost all day. Mom went to you're house with Rad, Dendy and Mr. Gar so they could install a security system, that way you'll be safe. Enid's here but she's asleep in my Mom's room with Raphael, she's really tired from earlier. Are you hungry? Mom made lots of spaghetti before she left", said KO.

Upon hearing that, all the memories of what happened earlier came flooding back to Red Action and she began crying again only softer this time.

"Red Action?", KO asked in concern.

"Oh KO, I just can't believe Yellow Technique would do something like this! That the rest of the Hue Troopers would think this is the best way to save the future and actually go through with it! I don't believe a word of what Yellow said, I will never let anything turn Raphael into a monster!

"Enid and I will make sure he grows up to be a hero just like us, and if they don't think so, then they can all rot inside a Danger Zone Sandworm's belly for all I care! I did mean every threat I made to Yellow about what would happen if she came back, and I did mean it when I said our friendship was over...

"Anyone who would gladly try to kill a helpless infant, my only son, just to save the world is no friend of mine. But at the same time...I feel terrible for threatening her life, I feel terrible for ending our friendship, and I feel terrible for all the death and destruction I'll cause on the off chance she was right! Does...does that make me a bad person?

"Am I wrong for feeling some remorse for threatening my former friends? Or am I wrong for choosing to save my child over the world?", said Red Action.

She sat there silently crying for a few minutes before she felt something gentle touch her face, she opened her eyes to see KO looking right at her while holding her cheeks in his hands.

"I don't know if I can answer that question for you, Red Action. Because that sounds like something only a grownup would know, but I can tell you one thing: you did a good thing protecting Raphael. He's your baby, your family, and a hero is supposed to protect everyone, especially those they love!

"And I know you feel sad for ending your friendship with the Hue Troop but its okay...", KO trailed off as he began to tear up, "Its okay to be sad because of that. It doesn't mean you're a bad person, it just means you have a good heart and you know where your loyal really lies. Its okay to be sad...you can be sad now, so you can be happy again later".

Red Action as she hugged KO close to her, "You speak words of wisdom sometimes, KO. Other times, you can be real naive but that's okay. I envy your naivety, everything is so simple...so cut and dry...so black and white. When you're as young as you are, everything has an easy solution. That's the true beauty of childhood, unlike being an adult, you never have to ask yourself difficult questions", she said.

KO hugged her tighter as Red Action looked at him one more time before shutting her eyes and continuing to cry silently, uncertain of what would come next for her, her friends, Enid and especially Raphael.

[End of Chapter 10]