Chapter 5: Sibling Rivalry
Author's Note: Chapter five is now up! Sorry for the delay, I have been busy with some summer classes and I also have been dealing with a little writer's block. Originally I was planning on doing a trilogy, then I thought of making it one story, and then I finally decided to still have it be separate stories. This one will focus more on the XJs, particularly XJ6's rivalry with Jenny. . This story will only have a few more chapters, two or three probably and then I'll start the next one. The XJs will still be involved just not as much in the next one, since I think if I put too much focus on them the story will lose focus. XJ4-8(especially XJ6-8) are easy to incorporate into the story, but I have no idea how to include XJ1-3, so they might not really be in the next story. Anyways enjoy!
XJ6 followed her sisters, Brad, Sheldon, and Melody to high school. While they all conversed with each other, mostly it was XJ5 talking about something and the others listened to her nonstop talking. Such a chatterbox. XJ6 kept to herself. She took a moment to absorb her surroundings. How long has it been? She couldn't help but wonder. She observed some of the buildings, the trees, the park across the street, and the popular diner, Mezmers. She never has gone there, oh no! Her mom would have never let her near anywhere with humans unless they were in danger. She was only kept active for a little less than a year before joining XJ1-5 in the basement and being replaced by XJ7.
She shuddered, that day was still too fresh in her mind. When she returned home from another mission, it did not go well. She remembers going to the basement to check on her mom and give her a status report, only to find her finishing building XJ7! XJ6 was deeply hurt to find that her own mother was planning to replace her. She begged her to let her stay active and promised her mom that she could improve and with a few upgrades she would be a better global response unit. Her mom rejected that idea, obviously, and said building a better model is the right call. XJ6 continued to beg on the verge of tears, her mother would not budge. XJ6 asked how much longer? XJ7 was going to be activated the next day and XJ6 couldn't do anything about it, but enjoyed her last sunset before being permanently deactivated.
Well, supposedly. Until a few years later, she was active again! But why? Did mom finally come back for me? She wondered and hoped at the time. Then her optics focused on a blue and white robot grinning widely in front of her which caught her off guard. The mysterious robot cheerfully introduced herself as XJ9, but preferred to be called Jenny. XJ6 found it interesting that she had a human name…and been activated for FIVE YEARS?! The rest of them barely made it to a year or year and a half!
Her optics focused, once again, on her sister who is now about to reach eight years of being activated. She frowned, Jenny got to interact with the humans, go to high school, have human friends and now even go to college and have a future ahead of her! She watched as Jenny happily contributed to the conversation happening in front of her. XJ6 should feel proud of her sister, but she couldn't, she just couldn't. Instead, she felt resentment and hatred. She felt bad about her true feelings, but she couldn't help herself.
She tried to reason with herself, that it's not Jenny's fault. Then again, she only brought them out once, the other two times were either she or the sisters were under mind control. Why didn't she try to bring us out more? She narrowed her optics. She doesn't care, that's why. She's too busy playing mommy's favorite!
To XJ6, Jenny has lived the perfect life and she hated it. She never told the others and doesn't even want to admit it herself but deep down, she wished their mom would just build an XJ10. Forcing Jenny in the basement with the rest of them deactivated. She couldn't help but smile a little thinking of Jenny screaming while getting locked in the basement and XJ10 taking her place.
They reached the highschool and Jenny cried joyfully,
"We're here! EEE! I can't wait to show you around!"
Brad shrugged,
"Just so you know, they might be surprised by you at first."
As they entered the school, many of the students stopped and as expected, stared at the new robot students, one kid whispered in shock,
"Oh heavens, the robot multiplied!" And then fainted on the ground.
A girl gave a look of both confusion and slight disgust as she held her books tighter to her chest,
"What…are those freaks?"
Jenny winced at the comments and piped up to distract her sisters from the harsh comments and down putting stares, she softly chuckled and forced a smile,
"Hey everyone, these are my sisters! This is their first day and I'm just going to go show them their classes! Girls say hi!"
The sisters gave a nice wave, followed with a booming monotone "Greetings." From XJ8 which echoed through the crowded hallway and caused some of the kids to back up in fear and the other sisters as well as Brad, Sheldon, and Melody to cover their ears due to how loud it was.
Jenny patted her on the arm still giving a forced smile,
"Good job XJ8."
Jenny directed her sisters and friends towards their lockers and through the stunned silence crowd. Jenny proceeded to open hers to grab some papers out of it. A pompous voice spoke up with a cruel laugh,
"I see you have gotten together with your auto shop reject posse!"
Jenny scowled as she turned around and faced, none other than Brit Krust who had a smug smile. Ugh, not now! Not on my sisters' first day! She scoffed while she folded her arms now face to face with Brit,
"I see your fake beaver teeth managed to find their way back in your face!"
Brit growled and her eyes narrowed, Jenny did the same. XJ5 floated in between the two, interrupting them,
"Hi, I'm XJ5, I'm Jenny's sister! It's nice to meet you!"
Brit looked at her in disgust,
"Ok Radiohead…are you all her sisters?"
The XJs nodded smiling, Tiff walked up next to Brit and snorted,
"I see freakiness must run in the family!"
XJ6 was baffled by this interaction and was shocked how these two detested them so much. What did Jenny ever do to them? Sheldon humphed,
"Why don't you girls leave them alone? You're just jealous because they're prettier than both of you!"
Tiff rolled her eyes and put her hand up dismissively,
"You're a geek, you have no room to talk!"
Brad frowned and put his arm around Melody and pulled her close,
"You girls just don't know what you're talking about." He ended the sentence with a wink to Melody. Melody shook her head nervously to keep him from talking, still wanting to keep her robot identity a secret.
Brit scoffed,
"Whatever losers…also." She pointed at Melody angrily,
"I will end you blondie for what you did the other day."
Melody raised her optic,
"What are you talking about-oooh." She paused as she remembered the day at the mall and she secretly used her magnet to rip Brit's fake teeth out. Brit nodded at her reaction,
"Yea that day! Don't think I forgot that easily! No one treats us this way!" Tiff folded her arms and snarled,
"One day, you fools will be going down and be sorry!"
While her sisters and Melody stared in shock, Jenny shrugged, shook her head, and let out a small laugh,
"You have been saying that since the very day we met, get lost."
Brit and Tiff both steamed and finally stormed off with their own group of friends. Jenny let out a tired heavy sigh,
"I am so sorry about them, they have been like this ever since I got here. Don't listen to them girls!" She gave a small smile at the last part.
XJ7 groaned as she looked around her,
"We'll never fit in. Why bother?"
Brad patted her on the back,
"Don't worry about them XJ7, you guys will be fine and you have us!"
Jenny nodded,
"Exactly! Besides, we have to get to class! XJ6, would you be alright dropping off XJ1-3 at the nursery next to the principal's office?"
XJ6 shrugged,
"Sure." Jenny smiled and they walked off. She picked up the remaining XJ1-3 and walked down the opposite hallway, she smirked,
"Alright girls, be good, especially you XJ2, we can't have you blowing us all up on the first day." She stopped when she saw a door that had big bold letters that read, "Kiddie Corner." She peered into the door and saw a middle aged woman in a floral dress.
"Hey is the nursery? I need to drop off my sisters."
She looked up and jumped a little at seeing XJ6,
"Are you new?"
XJ6 nodded,
"Yes we're actually Jenny's sisters, it's my first day."
The woman gave a small pleasant smile,
"Oh I see, yes, you can leave them here. I did not know that XJ9 had sisters."
XJ6 shrugged, not wanting to explain the situation and letting her sisters in the room,
"See you in a bit!" She closed the door and proceeded to walk to her class.
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Lunch hour, all of the XJs, Melody, Jenny, Brad, and Sheldon sat around the big tables.
"I can't believe they serve oil here!" Commented XJ4 impressed and observed her oil can.
Jenny smiled as she took a sip,
"They have been serving it ever since I started coming here!"
"This oil is sufficient." Replied XJ8 in her monotone voice.
Melody had hers shoved in a paper bag, so no one could tell she was drinking oil, all they saw was a straw peaking out.
"So good!"
Brad sighed as he poked at his supposed meat on his tray,
"You guys are lucky you don't have to deal with this stuff everyday!"
Sheldon nodded with disgust as he held a bite on his fork,
"Yea, just the same old slop, I think considering this food should be illegal."
The gang laughed and continued on with their conversation. The voices blended into the rest of the crowd, as XJ6 turned her focus onto the other kids in the cafeteria. In particular her optic took interest in the big roundtable, which contained the most popular kids in school, namely the Krust cousins. XJ6 zoomed in on the two girls and noted they were really 'fashionable' as what the humans would call it. Their lunches looked different compared to even Brad and Sheldon's lunches. Instead of the typical tray of slop, they had a box that contained fine china and gold silverware, on it rested a delicious looking slice of chicken and a colorful salad. Next to it they had a chocolate bar, which XJ6 could identify as it had been deported from Switzerland and it was rich.
XJ6 sipped at her oil can till it was flat out empty, yet she sipped away. She didn't notice, since she was too focused on the cousins and her thoughts. Millions of questions ran through her database.
What do they have against robots? She questioned herself. She recalled in the past during her original activation period that there were some humans that found her intolerable, particularly those who worked for SkyWake Patrol when they would routinely check on her and her human mom/creator.
She let out an artificial sigh, something still confused her. These girls weren't part of the Skywake Patrol, they were like Brad and Sheldon, normal everyday students. She glanced back at those she was sitting with, who seemingly forgot her presence. She noted who they were paying attention to of course, her successor/sister XJ9. XJ6 could see how much they all were enjoying the conversation, She rolled her optic- especially Sheldon.
She scowled a little, compared to Jenny she was just a scrap of metal that needs to be recycled. She dented her can a bit as her fist clenched. What does she have that I don't? What made it so I ended up in the basement and she gets to live this oh so PERFECT LIFE?! This wasn't the first time she had thoughts like this, she expressed it to her sisters in the past only for XJ4 to just simply brush it off with, 'you're just jealous!'. To which, she would usually respond,
'Jealous? Jealous of what?' A heated argument would then follow. For XJ6, that accusation was false, she was simply stating the facts not showing jealousy. XJ6 proceeded to continue her observation on her sister who was still joyfully talking. My jobs! Does she ever stop smiling? XJ6 thought to herself feeling very annoyed and irritated. Deep down, she even believed her other sisters would choose Jenny over her.
She lowered her head and stared at the Krust cousins more, she could feel her emotions welling up inside, Jenny took everything I had…maybe…maybe that's how the girls feel too? Maybe that's why they hate robots so much, afterall she is the only robot they know. She scoffed and nodded to herself, Wouldn't surprise me one bit.
She thought for a second, Maybe I could fix that. She grinned a little thinking that. She started to get up from her seat, which got the attention of the others,
"Hey XJ6, where are you going?" XJ6 turned and saw the curious smile of Jenny looking at her. Jobs, I hate that smile. XJ6 groaned to herself, she did not want Jenny to meddle with this,
"I'm just going to-er…" She glanced back at the Krust cousins, one who seemed to be heading to the bathroom with a red haired girl.
"Uhm, I need to go powder my rivets, I'll be right back sis!" She replied with a fake smile.
"Oh ok! Do you need me to show you the bathroom?" Asked Jenny about to get up as well.
XJ6 waved her hand replying quickly,
"NO! Er, I mean, no thanks! I can find it!"
Jenny raised an optic,
"Oh- uh ok!"
XJ6 proceeded to bolt out of the door following Tiff and the red haired girl.
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XJ6 bolted through the halls and caught up to the girls,
"Hey wait up!"
Brit groaned,
"Ugh, you again! We already had to deal with one bucket of bolts, and now there's nine of you?"
XJ6 put her hand up,
"Listen, I have been wondering why you don't like us so much during lunch…and I think I know why."
Brit scoffed and rolled her eyes, responding coldly,
"Humor us TVhead!"
XJ6 scowled at the insult, but brushed it off,
"I know you knew my sister, Jenny, for a pretty long time…and girls I totally get it, I'm her sister! I know what it's like to have to deal with her and be tossed aside because of her…but please don't take it out on the rest of my sisters or me." She shrugged, "And I'm sorry you have to deal with that. If there's anythingI can do, I'd do it."
The two girls stared at her bewildered, does this robot have a screw loose or something? We have everything, her sister is a literal nobody! Why would we be jealous of a rusty old bucket of bolts?!
Brit growled,
"Listen here bot,-"
The red haired girl grabbed her by the shoulder,
"Wait Brit!" And she whispered something in her ear, which caused Brit's eyes to open wide and grow a little devilish smirk.
"You make a valid point Ptresia." She placed a smile on her face as she looked back at XJ6 who was a little confused by the change of their demeanor but returned the smile anyway,
"Oh dear girl…what's your name again?" Asked Brit in a more polite tone.
"XJ6."
Ptresia nodded in 'amazement' and tried to hold in her laughter,
"Oh my goodness, that's such a beautiful name…"
Even with her face being a literal screen, she blushed a tint of green on her face,
"T-thank you…that's very nice of you."
Brit rested her hand on her shoulder,
"How kind of you to go out of your way to check on us…I'm guessing you must feel this way at home huh?"
XJ6 nodded, slumped her shoulders thinking about everything she's felt . Brit and Ptresia both feigned a gasp,
"Oh you poor thing, we know how you feel…to be cast aside or unwanted…"
Ptresia sighed,
"Your sister is definitely a popular one…we tried to be friends with her, but well…you saw how she treats us, didn't you?"
XJ6 recalled that moment at the locker earlier that day, Brit wasn't really nice either, but neither was Jenny. Maybe Jenny is the reason they're like this…
She nodded. Brit clasped her hands over XJ6's hand close to her,
"It's ok though, we can be friends right?"
XJ6 slowly nodded with a smile,
"Of course! Again, I am so sorry about all this, I'm glad we could talk this out and we have an understanding." She smirked to herself, man I'm better at interacting with humans than Jenny! Maybe I can end this robot human conflict, something that my sister could never do! I'll finally be better at something compared to her!
Ptresia smiled softly,
"So are we, XJ6, so are we…we want to find a way to make this better."
XJ6 tapped her chin,
"Hmm…I think I may have an idea to get you guys more connected…like maybe invite you all to Mezmers"
Brit nodded
"Oh really? Well…you know…" she gave a smug grin, "A good way to do that is maybe help us know her more…personally."
XJ6 raised an optic, Ptresia explained further,
"You know, humans connect better when they know each other more…they share things that are personal to them…like memories or secrets."
XJ6 nodded in understanding,
"Ooh! I get it! I think I can find something that'll surely help! Thanks girls! I'm glad I can help you!"
Brit and Ptresia nodded,
"Oh thank you, XJ6! You have been a great help!"
XJ6 waved and ran back into the lunch room out of earshot, both Brit and Ptresia couldn't help but bust out laughing,
"Can you believe that robotic twit?" Chortled Brit
Ptresia snorted,
"I know! She's more naive than her bolt brained sister! Ooh this is going to be good!"
Both of them kept laughing over how easy it was to fool XJ6 and how her jealousy of her own sister was so easily manipulated. Yes, she was very helpful, indeed.
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The moon rose over Tremerton as the girls all started getting ready for bed and going to sleep. Overall the day was wonderful for all of them, the XJs and Melody enjoyed joining Jenny for school and awaited the next day. Melody was especially happy, as Brad had finally asked her to homecoming during lunch! With roses and even in a nice suit!
Melody sighed, with a faint blush, such a romantic, he's so handsome. She replayed that moment as she fell asleep. All the girls shared the room and chatted till they fell into sleep mode, except for XJ6.
XJ6 sat up in her little sleeping bag and looked around at her sisters and Melody who were now sound asleep. Her mind still thought about the conversation from earlier, something personal, huh? She slowly got up, as to not disturb those around her and approached Jenny's bed ever so slightly. She stopped and observed her for a second. She watched as her sister lightly snored away peacefully. XJ6 couldn't help but feel her anger boiling over again, This should have been me. I should be the global response unit and go to high school and make friends…and be loved by my mother…not stuck in some smelly old basement locked away forever! She growled, furrowed her optics, How would you like to be in the basement little miss perfect? And be forgotten?! Oh yea, I bet you think you're soo perfect! She shook her head and smirked as she recalled that afternoon with Brit and Ptresia, At least they understood how much pain you can bring…who knew that I wasn't the only one in pain, because of you…but I'm going to change that…I'm going to fix the mess you made. But how?
She tilted her head and noticed a dresser right next to her bed, with a drawer semi opened. XJ6 reached for the handle and pulled it, revealing a book. It was pink with a heart shaped lock, in gold lettering it read, 'My Diary' on the cover. XJ6 optics widened as she let out a soft gasp and quickly grabbed it. This looks pretty personal. How am I going to open this? She looked at the lock and tried to find a key in the drawer. She could not find it, then she realized that the key might be…she glanced back at her snoring sister, Ah drat! Guess I'm gonna have to break into this thing.
XJ6 started to pick at the lock using her index finger that morphed into a little pin when Jenny started to toss and turn, she froze and held the diary close to her as she watched, hoping she didn't wake her up. Jenny's face morphed into a dazed grin while her eyes still closed,
"Oh Brock, you're so…handsome." She puckered her lips and kissed her pillow, which bewildered XJ6 and had to stifle her laughter. Jenny's face morphed into a frown,
"No…mom…I don't wanna…no…I'm not a muffin mhmhm." She started to snore again shortly after.
XJ6 was stunned at what just happened, she knew about humans having dreams and sleep talking , but robots can't! Can they? She frowned, of course, Jenny probably can, she's mommy's favorite. Mom probably programmed her to be able to have dreams. Lucky spoiled jerk.
To not wake her and the others, XJ6 quietly slipped out the door into the hallway. She then picked at the lock and flipped open the diary. This should be interesting. XJ6 thought to herself as she read through. She frowned at some of the writing, Mom called Jenny her daughter? What am I then, chopped liver?! She scowled, Ok miss perfect, where's the dirt? Besides your inability to spell, my jobs! And moms letting you go to college?! She skimmed the pages and then stopped as something caught her optic. Her optics widened and her mouth dropped open, No way…no way. She continued reading and a smirk grew on her face and she started giggling, oh ho, this is good…this is…her eyes furrowed and grinning crazily, this is perfect….guess she's not so perfect after all…Good jobs, I can't wait to tell the girls at school tomorrow.
She read some more pages and tried to not bust out laughing. Oh yea, tomorrows gonna be great. She closed the book and reattached the lock, and opened her torso, and placed the book inside. She closed her opening and went back in the room and tried to keep her composure and go to sleep mode. Yep…just great.
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The armor's shiny paint glistened under the moonlight shining through the garage. The robot stood tall, roughly the same height, probably a little taller, than the Silver Shell. Like the Silver Shell he had broad shoulders and is built to look muscular. There were a lot of similarities, except for the paint color and the 'hair style'. The robot was composed of Bronze, unlike his silver-made counterpart and his 'hair' was designed like a mohawk, also made of bronze, but was painted red. His eyes let out a soft glow, but like the Silver Shell, was silent and dormant.
The two boys, Brad and Sheldon, both gazed at the now two metal armors standing in front of them. Sheldon wiped his forehead from the construction work on the new machine. He smiled tiredly as he tossed a wrench in the toolbox,
"What do you think?"
Brad stammered still in awe,
"It's…it's…amazing."
Sheldon chuckled and patted him on the back,
"Wanna go for a ride?"
Brad gasped and nodded excitedly, he was about to hop in, Sheldon grabbed his shoulder,
"Wait, first of all, follow my lead and don't go crazy, ok?"
Brad waved his hand,
"Pfft, I'll be fine, now let's go!"
"WAIT!"
"What?!" Cried Brad now exasperated.
Sheldon sighed and placed both of his hands on his shoulders to get Brad's full attention,
"You promise to not tell anyone, not Jenny, not Tuck, not Doctor Wakeman, and not even…"
Brad shrugged interrupting him,
"Dude, I already said I wouldn't!"
Sheldon frowned and raised an eyebrow, his voice lowered to a near whisper,
"Not even Melody."
Brad's eyes widened, now confused,
"But…why?"
"For starters, if she knew, I think the others would find out pretty quick…also if we're going to be actual heros it's best to keep our identities a secret." He continued,
"It's basic superhero knowledge…if they knew our identities, that could actually put them in danger. Think about all the villains Jenny fights, she doesn't have a secret identity, so her enemies know who her family and friends are…why do you think her enemies are after us too?"
Brad sighed, he scratched his head. He didn't want to lie…the only reason why he kept the Silver Shell a secret for Sheldon is to not ruin his friendship with Jenny, also it was easier to do it since it wasn't his secret either. However, this was now his secret too, and now he has to do what Sheldon did…lie about it. The only difference was the original reasons, but now they share the same reason, to protect their families and friends from harm. He gulped and lowered his eyes. He glanced back up and saw a small supportive smile from Sheldon, he forced a smile back, well, if it means she and everyone else is safe.
"Ok…I won't tell her either…"
Sheldon gave a small nod, thanking him.
"Let's go for a ride now." Said Sheldon softly.
The boys both jumped into their respective armors and flew out the window and took flight into the night sky over the city lights of Tremerton. It was mostly silent, it was pierced only by a few cars, a stray cat knocking over a trash can, and Silver Shell with his new sidekick The Bronze Brad zooming in the night sky.
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Authors note: I wanted to add that Brad and Sheldon scene in the end, to help keep moving the story along. The previous chapters were more for setting everything up…this is where it starts to get exciting! Also I came up with the name The Bronze Brad as a parody of the Silver Shell. Sheldon technically has his name in his alter ego, so I did the same for Brad. Thank you for reading! I hope you all enjoyed it and please leave a review on your way out and since I have a better idea on what I'm doing now, the next chapter will be up soon!:)
