Revolutionizing a Robot
Chapter Five: Home Sweet Go To 10
Once again, thanks for all the nice reviews! I thought this fic would only be five chapters at the beginning, but it's proving me wrong. Ten chapters max, I promise. I love long fanfics, but I tend to forget about them, or lose interest. Luckily, that hasn't happened yet, though I am currently addicted to FFTA2 rather than Futurama… Someone stop me.
Anyway, continue leaving me reviews and I'll continue writing! Not that it's a thinly veiled threat, or anything.
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The television usually would have kept her attention, but Leela found herself more concerned with Fry's strange behavior. Bender hadn't been found yet (if ever, she reminded herself, and tried to play it off as if she wasn't that excited about the prospect), and Fry was taking it rather harshly. They were best friends, after all. That didn't mean he had to mope about it. "Fry, you're blocking the TV."
"Oh, sorry." Fry mumbled, and moved out of the way so Leela could watch a rerun of All My Circuits. It was a decent show, but it had really gone downhill after season eight. Anyway, Fry continued to linger about, and Leela sighed.
"What is it, Fry?" She finally asked, which seemed to be what he was waiting for. "You've been moping for days. Bender will return if he wants to. It's not like we can drag him back anyway."
"But we could use the ship's giant magnet!" Fry protested. Leela hadn't realized he was taking it that hard. Everyone knew how much Bender hated magnets, after all. "I just… I thought we were friends. I just wish I knew what caused him to run away…"
Well that seemed obvious, Leela thought. She didn't open her mouth though, figuring that it wouldn't help Fry's downtrodden mood any. And if there was one thing she hated, it was dealing with a moping Fry. And people making fun of her eye. "Well, you never know. He could be on his way back here right now…"
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"Do you mind? Your elbow's in my crotch."
"Bite my shiny metal ass!"
"Hey, isn't that the Planet Express building?"
Bender glanced up and let out a meek, "Oh." After a lot of pushing, shoving, dragging, and arguing, the two robots had made their way back somehow. Bender felt a surge of the emotion 'happiness' at seeing the building. It felt like he'd been away forever, though naturally it hadn't been that long. He'd just been through more than he had for, well, quite a while. He was used to doing nothing and watching television, after all. "Here we are." The two paused at the doorstep. Bender wasn't sure if he would be allowed back. After all, he had run off on his own in Vegas. What if they didn't let him back?
"Well?" The Robot Devil prompted, finally reaching around Bender and hitting the doorbell. The loud chimes echoed through the building, and a tense minute passed before the doors finally slid open.
"Go away! We don't want whatever you're selling! Even if it is those amazing vacuum bags…" Professor Farnsworth rambled, adjusting his glasses a moment later. "Oh, my. Bender!"
"Glad you recognized me." Bender scoffed, pushing his way in, and nearly dropping the Robot Devil, earning him a few choice words from the robotic prince of darkness. "Hey jerkbags, I'm home!"
There was immediately a flurry of activity as the Planet Express crew assembled to greet Bender. Zoidberg was first, appearing from underneath a pile of dirty laundry in the corner of the kitchen, making a joyful wooping noise. "Hooray! Zoidberg can now have more of the robot's cooking! A feast is in order, good friends!"
He was ignored, and next in was Hermes. "Bender, mon! I was hoping you wouldn't come back, so we wouldn't have to pay you—err, I mean, welcome back!"
Following him was Amy and Leela who both gave cheerful greetings, and Leela added in an undertone, "Fry's been taking it pretty hard. Try not to upset him even more, alright?" She didn't add, otherwise, I'll have to take care of him.
Finally, Bender's favorite meatbag showed his face, and Fry stared blankly at Bender for a moment. "You're back?"
"Yup." Bender replied awkwardly. Everyone was silent for a moment before robot and human embraced in a totally not-gay hug. Totally. Completely. Moving on.
"Ow!" The Robot Devil exclaimed from his place on the floor, where he'd been dropped when Bender abandoned him for Fry. "Can someone help me up? My legs still aren't properly functioning, sadly."
This earned a lot of stares, most of which were directed toward Bender. "Care to explain why you brought him home?" Leela asked, pointing at the Robot Devil.
"How rude!"
"Well…" Bender started, drawing back from Fry's hug, though the human remained attached to the robot. "It's a long story. I might just write it out and sell it as a book one of these days." Not really. As if he'd ever want anyone to know about all that happened? Hah, hilarious.
The excuse seemed to fly, for mostly everyone went back to what they'd previously been doing—"Zoidberg! Stop eating my bras!"—and Bender finally freed himself from Fry's grasp to pull the Robot Devil back upright.
"How kind," The Robot Devil's voice all but dripped with sarcasm. "Now then, Professor Farnsworth…" He paused, looking at Fry curiously for a moment, then finally turned his gaze to the old man. "Oh! You."
"Hmm? Oh my, yes," The Professor muttered, nodding a bit more than necessary."
"You don't remember me?" The Robot Devil's tone now conveyed hurt accurately, as he pressed a hand to his chest, expression mocking his tone. "I would have thought I would have been one of your more memorable projects…"
"Wait." Leela spread out her hands as if she were a referee, trying to figure out what the Robot Devil was implying. "The Professor… he worked on you?"
"Correct!" The Robot Devil declared, stabbing a finger in the air decisively. "Over a hundred years ago, before Mom's Corporation was the household name it is now, Mom was just a lonely woman attempting to rule the world. Farnsworth was working for her, and together, they created a robot 'devil' prototype. They were supposed to create an army of them, but I suppose they lost funding." He shrugged. "What can I say? I'm one of a kind."
Leela's jaw dropped, and Fry stated, "I'm bored. Bender, let's go watch TV. You've missed a new episode of Hypnotoad!"
"What, no way!" The robot and human left, the former once again dropping the Robot Devil on the floor.
"Oh, the agony!"
Leela pulled the Robot Devil upright, staggering a bit at the robot's weight. "Alright. Explain. The Professor created you? Why didn't he tell us?"
"Uh… wha?" The Professor asked. "Who are you? Where am I? What day is it?" With that, he tottered off to go take his daily nap.
The Robot Devil emitted what had to be a sigh. "Yes, yes, he created me. Big deal. The point is, my programming isn't quite up to date, and my legs have stopped working. I need him to fix me. That's why I'm here. As soon as my legs function again, I'll return to Robot Hell and leave you all alone. Unless, of course, you need to make a deal again, but this time, no switching hands! I've had enough with those fleshy sausages!"
Once he was done pontificating, Leela nodded a bit, as if she'd been paying attention. "Right. What did you say you needed again?"
"My legs fixed." The Robot Devil stated. No one ever listened, did they?
"Sure, right, we can get that done." Leela found supporting a robot to be far harder than expected. Especially up the three flights of stairs that took them to the Professor's workroom…
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"Man, this is great." Fry was in a much better mood, sprawled out on the couch and watching television in his underwear, while Bender hummed away, cooking in the kitchen. A kitchen, in a robot's apartment? Well, it had to be done. Humans needed food at weird times anyway.
"Sure is good to be home." Bender added happily. If there was one good thing about that chip—and there wasn't—then it had to be the fact that he could feel emotions easier than before. So now, he really did understand what happiness was. And he was happy. There was, however, a nagging feeling that he was forgetting something. Perhaps the fact that the Robot Devil was still upstairs in the Planet Express office. Yeah… that was a bit awkward.
He hadn't said anything though. That struck Bender as odd. Why wouldn't the Robot Devil gleefully tell everyone in sight of all the sins that Bender had committed? Did he forget? Maybe it wasn't all that important to him? Or maybe he really didn't think it wise to tell them? Hmm. Bender was confused, but he wasn't about to question it. If he was lucky for once, then fine, he'd accept that with arms wide open.
"Bender, that popcorn almost done?"
"Popcorn? Oh yeah, sure is." Bender turned back to the stove and frowned. Now why wasn't the corn popping yet? He wondered if he needed to pour in more water, or boil it more. So he did both.
Boom.
"Uh… forget the popcorn, Fry. I kind of blew up the kitchen."
