Author's Note: First off, I apologize for the delay of the release of this chapter. I had intended this to be released some time ago, but life decided to happen =(
And also, I would like to give out my uber thanks those who took the time to review the last chapter. You all are just way too awesome! Especially with the spike in the amount of readers who read the last chapter =)
Additional Author's Note: To maximize your reading experience, may I suggest using Google Maps and Street View to check the locales in the story real time, especially with streetview? =)
More Additional Author's Note: I was asked how Cameron's last name, De La Loire, is pronounced, specifically the Loire part. It can be broken down as: lo-wah (wah as in wash. Just say it together really fast and you get the blonde's last name. Or you can just type it in with Google Translate and listen to the voice).
Even more Additional Author's Note: This was originally supposed to be a super long chapter… but… I really wanted to add more to the second half and I didn't want to keep you reader's out there waiting, so I have decided to release the first half right now and the second half should be done in two weeks max if anything =)
Oh wow… it really is them…
Nate couldn't believe that he and his friends had just journeyed from Encino to Chatsworth, went up a twisty road on Plummer, are several hundred feet high above the San Fernando Valley, and now were standing in front of Dr. Light's two famous robots that he saw on TV and as model displays at UCLA, live and in person, at the Light's own home in Chatsworth.
"Whoa…" Nate had to slightly tilt his head upward as the two robots he and his friends were standing right in front of were still taller than all three of the human beings present. "You two are Rock and Roll?"
"Like, for sure, hahaha," the blonde one named Roll, dressed in a red skirt with a navy blue Roxy top, replied in a very valley girl-esque tone. "Like, that's me, Roll."
"Anyways..." the brunette droid next to the blonde cleared his throat, wearing a grey Fox Head t-shirt and pair of black shorts. "Yes, we are the same robots that you've seen on TV and the ones you saw where Dr. Light does his academic research at UCLA."
"Cool..." Nate nodded in the affirmative, but the more he heard Rock talk, the more his mind… started to make some sort of connection.
That voice… and then his eyes…
Nate rolled his eyes when he just realised how he was musing about the brunette android.
Wow Nate... you're falling for robots now, eh?
"Please, come one in," Rock gestured the three teen guests to come on into the warmth of the grand foyer, complete with a decorative chandelier hanging from the vaulted ceiling. "Dr. Light is waiting for you guys—"
"Ahem…" Judy couldn't help but to interrupt Rock when he only said guys, despite she and Roll being in the same vicinity. It was something she still couldn't get away from as she did have two dudes for best friends.
"Oh, my bad, heh…" the brunette android couldn't help but to share a chuckle, putting a hand behind his head in embarrassment. "I should rephrase that: Dr. Light is waiting for you guys and gals down in the laboratory."
"Thanks," the Wu cracked a humorous smile.
"Yeah, you would, Judes…" Cameron managed to take a shot at Judy as all of them began to walk past the grand doorway into the foyer.
"Whatever…" Judy shrugged off the French blonde.
"Oh jeez, you two…" Nate shook his head side-to-side as he saw his best friends going at it again, this time at someone else's residence. He was about to step through the grand entry way until—
SWISH
SWISH
SWISH
"What was that?" Nate suddenly froze into place, swearing he heard a rustling noise coming from somewhere either on or adjacent to the property.
"What was what?" Cameron raised an eyebrow at the Figueroa.
"Hmmm…" Rock decided to heed to the brunette's worries by going outside to see if indeed someone or something had intruded upon the Light's property. Taking a few steps around the front yard, he diligently inspected the outside premises, looking for anything out of the ordinary aside from the grass, flowers, palm tress, lawn sculptures, and the fountain on the centre of the circular driveway by the stairs. After investigating for about a few minutes under the starry skies, he began to walk back towards the front entrance. "Nope, nothing out here, dude."
"See, Nate?" Judy began to pat him on the shoulder. "It's all in your mind."
"For once, I gotta agree with Judes here, dude…" Cameron put his hands on Nate's other shoulder. "And I can't believe I just said that."
Hmmm… I guess it's just all in my mind… right?
Inhaling the scented candle aroma of Dr. Light's residence, Nate deeply sighed as he nodded in the affirmative, realising that Rock and his friends are probably right and that he's just had way too much on his mind for the past few days. "Maybe you guys are right."
"Like, it's getting cold, everyone," Roll gestured for everyone to get inside the house before the warmth of the inside could escape even more. "Like, let's all go in."
Everyone complied with the blonde robot's command as she finally closed the front double doors.
Meanwhile, at a nearby bush just on the down slope of the Santa Susana Mountains on the other side of the metal fences that barred outside intruders from infiltrating the Light property, a certain red and yellow-cladded robot was hiding himself from view, the golden boomerang crescent on his forehead shining under the moonlit sky.
"Hehehe… you're ears certainly heard right… Nate…" the silhouetted-figure smiled, the whiteness of his teeth contrastingly differing with the rest of his unseen figure. "Don't count on me just suddenly disappearing from your life… I will make a surprise appearance very, very, very soon…"
"And, like, here's the kitchen," Roll pointed out to said room nearby as she decided to give her guests a quick tour of the house before seeing Dr. Light. The sizable kitchen was complete with Euro-style cabinetry, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and a semi-invisible electric cook top heating up a meal.
"Wow… this is a huge house…" Cameron whistled, as he looked up at the vaulted ceiling complete with soft recessed lighting. "Must've cost a fortune and more."
"Yeah, and it looks very nice and reminds me of an art gallery too," Judy pointed out to the many paintings, portraits, and interesting sculptures and artefacts that adorned the earth-toned walls. The dark hardwood floors they walked upon definitely looked custom-made and pricey.
"So anyways, like, where are you all from?" Roll decided to get acquainted with her guests even more as they continue to walk through the rest of the house to their intended destination.
"We're from Encino," Nate replied matter-of-factly.
"Like, oh my God! Like, no way!" the blonde robot started to sound very excited.
"Like, totally!" Judy imitated the Valspeak back, although she's guilty of having those Valley Girl moments as well.
"Like, oh my God! Encino is like, so bitchin'," Roll replied back, doing several Hilary Banks-like arm and hand gestures. "There's like, the Galleria, and like, Ventura Blvd, and like… other tubular stuff…"
Nate, Cameron, and Judy's jaws almost dropped onto the floor in bewilderment. They couldn't believe how much Roll was taking on the Valley Girl persona with so much heart.
"Oh my God, I feel like we've travelled back into the 80's…" Nate whispered to his two best friends, who gave a small but hearty chuckle, trying their best to stifle it as not to be rude to Roll. "I'm surprised she's not dressed for that decade. And isn't the Galleria in Sherman Oaks?"
"Yeah, but then it's close enough to home, right?" Judy shrugged, earning a couple of nods in the affirmative.
"Like, totally…" Cameron couldn't help but to input his two cents a la Valley Girl with a thumbs up.
"Roll, I think they get your enthusiasm about Encino…" Rock rolled his eyes, but managed to put a smile at the corner of his mouth.
"Ugh, like, bag your face, Rock, like, okay?" Roll gave out a harrumph right before they reached the end of the hallway, stopping right in front of a blank wall.
Initially, the human trio just stood there quietly, not questioning why they were stopped in their tracks and just staring at nothing but the wall. However, as a couple of minutes passed by, Cameron's patience decided to halt as felt the need to ask why they were doing this.
"So... what are we doin—"
"You'll see…" Rock replied right before Cameron was able to finish, and just in time as the wall suddenly began to slide towards the right, revealing what looks to be the inside of an elevator.
"Let's all go in," Rock directed his guests to go on in right after he did. "This elevator will lead right into Dr. Light's lab."
Hmmm…. A hidden lab after all…
Nate mused to himself as he and the rest of the gang got into the fairly spacious elevator, the wall sliding back to close the door as the began their descent down below the ground.
No one would've ever known by what we saw upstairs… totally throwing unsuspecting guests.
As the elevator began to make its decent, everyone in the small square space kept to themselves, some looking either up at the ceiling, to the sides, or down on the floor as the soft whirring of the elevator motor can barely be heard, the dull and clichéd muzak playing through the speakers by the floor indicator display.
Umm… awkward much?
Luckily for them, the ride down didn't last any longer as the elevator came to a complete halt. The door began to slowly slide open on the side as a loud ding signified the party has reached their intended floor. As everyone stepped out of the confined space, the human trio froze into place, as they couldn't believe what they were now delved upon.
"Duuudddeee…" Nate drearily stated as he and his friends began to take into the huge and open area they were delved upon. Amid the busy activity of the laboratory with several robots engaging in several tasks, one could've sworn they were inside of an airport hangar down at LAX (Los Angeles International Airport). In the room, there were numerous industrial-sized fluorescent lamps suspended above the room with steel chains, metallic pylons and arches, concrete columns, exposed air conditioning ducts snaking around the ceiling, and concrete flooring with numerous colourful line markings painted all around, seemingly to mark boundaries and different directions for certain points in the lab. Overall a very industrious ambiance one might say.
"Welcome to Doctor Thomas Light's home research lab," Rock gestured his hand to point out to the rest of the metallic and bustling space of research work going on.
"Home Lab?" Cameron raised an eyebrow as he continued to stare around the room. He definitely took notice of the change from the cozy and warm atmosphere they were in just seconds ago. "Looks more like an airport hangar lab sorta-thingamajig… sort… of… deal…"
"Well, like, that's what the Doc calls it," Roll put a hand on her hip while doing several movements with her free hand.
"How can such a sizable room fit under here?" Judy definitely wanted answers at the moment.
"Well, we are several feet under the Santa Susana Moun—"
"Looks like they've arrived about 10.7 seconds earlier than expected..."
Everyone stopped at their tracks as they heard a low, conceiting, yet irritable voice coming from their right side. Looking at the direction of the voice, they saw a purple-clad, blue-eyed robot complete with a blue, upside down triangle gem on his forehead, approaching their direction.
"Dude… is that a clock on his body and alarm bells on his head?" Cameron whispered to his best friends. "Dude, it's a giant walking clock!"
"Shhh, he might hear you!" Judy replied in a hush manner. "But, you're right… he does look like a giant clock…"
"You know, you could've utilized those 8.5 seconds of whispered insults for something better…" Cameron and Judy stared wide-eyed at the purple robot, knowing they've been caught. "Just saying... Wasting time on useless things is such a tragedy, really."
"B— b— but…" the Frenchie blonde tried to utter something coherently, but failed to do so.
"Like, hi, Time Man!" Roll greeted the purple robot. "Like, meet our tubular guests here and like, don't scare them off, alright?"
Despite giving Cameron and Judy a mini-lecture on how to utilise time efficiently, Time Man still managed to put a half smile on his face and was able to squeeze time in his busy schedule to greet the three human guests. "My apologies: Hello, I'm Time Man."
"Uhhh… hi…" Judy managed to utter out as she and the De La Loire only managed to nod with a smile. Luckily, the Figueroa was able to avoid the brunt of the purple robot's ire.
"So, Time Man… what are you built to do?" Nate was brave enough to pose a question to the android, clearing his throat as he tried to sound intelligent, not wanting to feel the robot's annoyance. "Keeping time synchronised, or something in that nature?"
"Well, first off…" Time Man wrapped his arms over the clock on his chest cavity. "What is your name?"
Oh crap, is he going to lecture me as well for wasting his time?
"M— my name is Nate Figueroa…" said dude calmly replied to the robots questions.
"Well, Nate…" Time Man paused in his speech, as everyone gawked in awe at the droid to see how he would respond. Rock and Roll seemed to brace for impact, as they knew how the purple robot always responded to even the slightest dumbest thing. "I'm actually glad you've formulated an intellectual and informative question," Time Man responded as he put a hand on his hip and the other in an open palm position, closing his eyes with a smile.
"Dude…" Rock stared in awe. "I've never seen Time Man react so… nicely, especially towards people whom he's never met before."
"Anyways," Time Man cleared his throat. "To answer your question, Nate, I've been built by Dr. Light for the purposes of the study of time travel."
"Wow, time travel, eh?" Nate nodded in fascination. "Sounds very complex and mind-boggling."
"Indeed…" Time Man nodded with a rather smug smile. "Anyways, please excuse me. I must attend to the many tasks I must adhere to with such little time to waste."
Nate nodded and watched as the purple robot walked into another room within the huge hangar-like facility of a laboratory. "Well… that was interesting…"
"Well, like, he's not like totally bad once you get to know Time Man," Roll smiled as she and Rock gestured for their guests to continue to follow along. "Like, right this way you guys."
With a simple nod, the three human guests continue to follow their two robot guides within the laboratory, at times stopping in their tracks to closely scrutinize at the various research activity going on all being conducted by automated robots.
"I feel like I'm in some sort of futuristic factory, like in the movies… or something…" Cameron mused out loud as they continued to walk towards their intended destination.
"Hahaha, righ—"
"LOOK OUT, DUDE!"
"Whoa!" Judy nearly dove out of the way as a dark blue and grey object nearly ran into her in full speed, leaving a trail of black liquid in its path.
CRASH
"What the hell was that?" Nate stared in amazement as the object that nearly took out Judy crashed into a bunch of plastic barrels.
"Oil Man!" Two robots came running towards the crash site. One was orange and white coated with what looked to be scissor-shaped blades sticking out on top of its head. The smaller one next to it was a robot dressed in a baby-blue parka.
"Cut Man, Oil Man! What's going on here?" Rock questioned the new arrivals to the scene.
"Oh, hey Rock," the one named Cut Man greeted the brunette droid.
"Oil Man wanted to test out to see if the new additives in the oil would make his oil slider board run even faster," Ice Man shrugged his shoulders as he rolled his eyes towards the grey and dark blue robot getting up from the wreckage.
"Hey dude, I gotta put on a good show at the X-Games, you know…" the one called Oil Man began to brush off the paper and rubbish that he got on his exterior.
"Yeah, Oil Man, like when you start, like, controlling all the oil that you leave behind," Roll pointed out to the slick trail of black and viscous liquid left on the floor.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm working on that," Oil Man couldn't help but shrug in indifference.
"Great, now how are we going to clean all this up?" Rock pointed out to the mess that Oil Man has made, including the mess at the crash site.
Meanwhile, Nate, Cameron, and Judy just stood in place quietly, not wanting to interrupt the drama going on at Dr. Light's lab.
"Dude, now this is interesting…" Nate whispered to his friends.
"You've read my mind…" Cameron tried to stifle a chuckle.
"Agreed…" Judy nodded in the affirmative.
"How about with… BOMMMMMBBBBBBBSSSSSS!" Everyone turned around when they saw a black, orange, and yellow-cladded robot with a distinctive orange Mohawk emerge from the opposite end of where they're gathered.
"Bag your face, Bomb Man," Roll rolled her eyes to her side. "Like, we're trying to figure out how to clean up a mess, not make one like you do with your as-if parties."
"Whoa now, Roll," the one called Bomb Man joined the rest of the group. "Don't be talking smack about my parties. You know I throw some pretty bomb-ass ones."
"As-if," Roll stuck out her tongue.
"Anyways…" Rock interrupted Roll and Bomb Man's squabble about the latter's parties. "You guys, this is Nate, Cameron, and Judy. They are Dr. Light's guests."
"Hi…" the three humans shyly replied in unison as they greeted the androids they were surrounded by. They were then bombarded greetings from each individual robot.
"Hello, I'm Cut Man and I was built for the purpose of the lumber industry."
"Ice Man here, reporting for duty. I typically perform tasks that human cannot do in extreme weather conditions, like in the Antarctic. "
"Yo, I'm Oil Man, and I'm always ready to put on a show. Other than that, I typically handle maintenance issues."
"What's happenin' guys? I'm Bomb Man and I love throwing some exploding parties! And I'm also a debris-clearing robot, like with mining and construction stuff."
After the formalities have been made, Rock decided that it was time for them to continue on to where Dr. Light would be meeting them. "Okay, well we got to take our guests to meet up with Dr. Light. You guys better clean this up before he finds out."
"Alright…" the other four robots replied in unison as they began to gather all the necessary items to clean up the mess that Oil Man had made.
"They all seem pretty nice," Judy pointed out as they continued on walking.
"Yeah, they get, like, in their crazy adventures, but we love them, right Rock?" Roll smiled wholeheartedly.
"Of course," Rock replied in the affirmative.
After a few more seconds of walking, the five finally reached their intended destination where the pathway they took came into an end in a squarish sector, complete with a human in a lab coat with a protective mask welding a device together.
"Dr. Light!" Rock had to nearly yell over the noise of the welding torch was making. It took several tries before he finally achieved success in getting the doctor's attention.
"Yes, Rock?" Dr. Light's muffled voice came towards them.
"Your guests have arrived."
"Ah, yes…" Dr. Light put the torch down on the table as he removed his mask, revealing his aged face and white beard. "Welcome to my home lab, Nate, Cameron, and Judy!"
I'm crossing my fingers that I will get the next chapter out by two weeks tops. Otherwise, please don't forget to review =) You all are just way too awesome!