Chapter 20

Pac didn't know what to do.

Ever since he came home, and learned that she was worried for her brother Bad, the family became concerned as well. His uncle Knuckle went to see first hand if he was okay, in that time, Pac remained at her side.

She refused to leave him alone, she kept nestling up towards him and just wanted to be held. But it what happened at night that took him off guard. "Stay with me!" she begged of him. "Please,"

He froze to her words, but at the same time, he had dreamed of this day. "I thought we promised Bad…"

She sniffled at his name, but she nodded in understanding. "It's just… I… I want someone with me, please" she whimpered.

It was against his better judgment, but he agreed.

It was the first night he ever shared a bed with her, it also became his first time being with her.

By the next morning, Pac was up and ready for the day. Zenko however kept a vice like grip on him, preventing him from leaving the bed. Peering about the room, he realized what had happened that night.

If Bad is okay, Pac won't be if he learns what happened between him and Zenko!

But he remained in bed, at her side until she woke up herself. When she saw Pac, her eyes shined, she smiled warmly as she nestled into him some more. "Want to do some stuff today? Shopping perhaps?" he asked.

She refused.

"Your uncle would have returned by now with news of my brother, right?" she asked offhandedly.

It was strange, for the rest of the day he hadn't seen his Uncle Knuckle. He would have returned a long time ago, after all raiding a place like the Neo Heroes is a cakewalk for him. The two dressed for the day and fed the pets before going out into the Association. There was a commotion among the heroes, but nothing solid as to what had happened in the past day.

Zenko found his uncle wondering about, since then, she had followed him around asking for news. He was reluctant to talk for the time being, but insisted that everything will be answered soon.

It didn't settle her mind the least bit.

Nor did it settle Pac's. He would stay at her side for the rest of the day, until a telepathic message came from his sister.

Bad was here!

He rushed Zenko to where his sister was, from there, she opened the door to the room. She ran in to greet her brother, but froze.

He was more machine than man.

"Oh God…" Pac whispered.

Since then, she has remained with Bad. Trying to comfort him as best as she could. "They are going to pay, big brother, I promise, they are going to pay!" she decreed.

Pac was willing to make them pay then and there. He would tear the earth apart for making Zenko cry, and for turning Bad into that. But for now, he will remain on standby just in case.

"Pac…" he heard a monotone voice call. It sounded like Bad, but not him at the same time. "Thank you for looking out for sis… and… glad to know you and your family are safe,"

He nodded his head to him. "You need anything, please, let me know. I won't let them get away with this."

Bad nodded. "I know they went overboard on me, my fighting spirit and all… they took out my heart first…" he said.

Zenko began to cry even harder. "Oh Big brother!" she wept.

"Sis, don't cry okay. Alley is going to try and fix me up."

His words offer no form of comfort, nor any emotion whatsoever. Pac still had half a mind to raid the Neo Heroes, but he also knows Alley is making a plan. Everything needs to be calculated and precise before anything happens. Also, she wants to get Bad back to normal… if that was possible.

#

"I am sick of this place! The freaks are back, we didn't get to do anything since they were gone, and we still had to follow orders!" protested Loincloth.

"We ought to see what the Neo Heroes offer," said Feather. "But I don't mind working for Alley Brawler, but checking out other options isn't a bad idea…"

"You wanna know what the Neo Heroes are offering!?" demanded Zenko.

Pac had just got her out of the room to get something to eat when she heard the heroes bad mouthing the Association. The others smiled to her. "It doesn't hurt to check other options…" Loincloth announced.

Zenko suddenly grabbed him by the ear!

She dragged him down the hall as the others followed, "Wait!" she ordered and went into the room. She came out a short time like with her arms crossed. "You want to know what the Neo Heroes are offering, talk to my brother."

When they saw Bad, their faces went white.

Bad looked at them blankly before turning to Zenko. "They want to go to the neo Heroes, don't stop them. Even if they have to learn the hard way," he said and went back into the room.

The door closed, but they were stunned silent. "My sister doesn't turn people into cyborgs against their will…" Pac said offhandedly. "You may not like us, but we at least treat you with respect and don't do anything to make you something you're not." He returned to her side. "Let's get you something to eat," he said gently.

It was an awkward walk to the cafeteria. The word soon spread to the others of the Association about Metal Bat. Those who were considering deflecting have since decided to stay. No shocker there in Pac's mind.

Zenko was oddly silent for the rest of the day though. She wouldn't speak to anyone else, if anything, she crawled on to Pac's lap, she would sit there and just want to be held, in which he did without hesitation. "I don't want to be held like that…" she said offhandedly. "Pac, can you… just do what you did before with me… when you wanted to protect me?"

He was stunned to the request, but nodded. "Of course," he said gently.

His core unraveled, there they did their coil around Zenko as she was gently tucked into him. He held her there and rubbed his distended side, he felt every bit of her stress and sadness, but hoped this would help her feel better.

"Whoa, hey what's with this?"

He looked up to see his father, curious to his action.

"Hey dad… she's stressed out and sad for Bad. She asked me to… I can see now why you did this with us. It kept everyone close and felt safe."

"Damn right," his father stated and took a seat across from him. "She's going through some shit right now, and no doubt Bad is too. Hell, I never though I would ever see him like that…"

"We got to stop the Neo heroes then…"

His father nodded in agreement. "Yet at the moment, we got to be careful, can't say they didn't time this right…"

"What do you mean?"

"Think of it, after we get taken out, or supposedly taken out. We lash out at the Neo Heroes now, the world will think we have turned against them out of rage for what happened. We do anything, it's going to be seen as retaliation. Even if we show them what happened to Metal Bat, they will have a story ready for that. At the moment, we can only bide our time and help Bad as best we can."

"So, what's Alley doing for him?" he asked.

His father shrugged. "Dunno, probably clone him a body or something. I mean, she's got Genus. Boros is getting in on this too, he's been trying to get the whole family together for something. But no one has really been able to considering the shit that just happened."

He nodded in agreement. "I hope we can help Bad…"

"Same, he's a good guy to fight. One of my favorite battles too," he said with a smirk. "But that's enough of that…" he paused and stared at Pac's bulging side. "Grow yourself up and out a little more to make her comfortable, right now I don't think she is…"

Pac nodded and took his father's advice, he grew himself up a few inches and wider. By then, Zenko appeared to have blended into him. But it was to keep her comfortable and safe. "Dad… thanks for doing this for us when we needed it." He said offhandedly.

He smirked. "Any time bud. You ought to rest up, and take care of your woman, got it!"

"Yeah," he said meekly.

A part of him lavished this, he enjoyed holding on to Zenko since he knew where she was and she was also safe from harm. But if he could only get her to smile again, but that will only happen the moment she gets her brother back…