Chapter Text
” You ready, K.O?”
K.O responded with a decisive nod. He took a deep breath and readied his stance. ” Okay… Don’t let it drop!” Enid shouted as she kicked the can into the air, Rad used his telekinesis to catch it and threw it at K.O.
K.O, on instinct, pulled his arm back and then thrust it forward in a hefty punch. And he, surprisingly, resisted the urge to yell out ’power fist!’
When his fist connected with the can a loud ’BOOM’ was heard as the can combusted mid-air. Which caused the liquids contents to splatter all over them and the store.
Rad and Enid groaned as they tried to get the muck off themselves. ” S-Sorry, guys!” K.O squeaked, however it did nothing to soothe the other two.
” Oh, c’mon! You’re supposed to KICK it not PUNCH it!” Rad grunted as he wiped the muck off himself. ” K.O, this is the second time this week! What’s the matter with you lately?” Enid questioned.
K.O tensed at that.
” I- Sorry guys, I don’t know why I did that and i- it won’t happen again...” K.O scratched the back of his neck as he fumbled his way through an apology. Enid’s expression softened. ” Don’t sweat it, brush-head. We know you don’t do this stuff on purpose.” She smiled and ruffled his hair affectionately. ” BUT you are cleaning this up, ’Kay?”
”’Kay.” K.O mumbled and then ran off to fetch cleaning supplies.
He ran on over to the back of the store where he found a wayward bucket and a mop, he must’ve left them there earlier. He grabbed the mop and clutched it in his hands.
K.O grumbled to himself. ” Ugh, why does this keep happening!?”
Ever since he and T.K.O merged into one, he’s been having a hard time with his powers. He just can’t seem to regulate them anymore. It was at first a minor issue but it became more and more apparent as time went on. He even wrecked a shelf once.
K.O grabbed the bucket by its handle and made his way over to the front of the store where the mess was located. He mopped lazily, devoid of the usual vigor he poured into every task.
He could tell that the others were growing frustrated with him. After all, why wouldn’t they be? Ever since he came back he’s been nothing but a nuisance. He ruined everything and now he’s still finding new ways to suck.
Why do they even bother with him anyway? He’s not good for anything anymore.
He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of an alarm blaring. He jolted and accidentally tipped over the bucket of water that was next to him.
” Oh, for cobs sake!” He grunted.
K.O tossed aside his mop and dragged himself outside to join his two coworkers who had already gotten into position outside.
As per usual the sky was engulfed with purple clouds as a huge metal box descended from the sky.
Rad cracked his knuckles and grinned.
” I wonder what bots Boxman’s sent for us to thrash today.” Rad said, putting on his usual bravado.
” I’m thinking it might be an Ernesto this time.” Enid replied.
” Oh, yeah. That’d be a pleasant surprise.”
K.O stood behind them, not bothering to pay attention to what they’re saying.
The box landed in front of them with a loud ’THUD!’ and a crater was formed as a result of it. The box unfurled to reveal a Shannon and a Darrel. ”Greetings, Lakewood losers! ” they both say in unison. ” It is I, Shannon!”
” And me, Darrel!”
” And we’re gonna—” K.O quickly tuned them out, it’s not like they ever had anything important to say. It’s just the same song and dance every single time. Not that he didn’t usually enjoy it, he just wasn’t in the mood.
Soon enough the brawl began, Shannon launched herself towards Enid only to get flung into the air by Rad and knocked back down by Enid. They continued exchanging blows over and over again, it seemed as if they already had Shannon on the ropes.
K.O stood on the sidelines, they were doing fine without him.
He spaced out for a brief moment until he was suddenly struck from behind. And that served as an unpleasant reminder that Darrel was there too.
” OW!” K.O shrieked and then turned around to face the lanky red robot.
K.O scowled. Then he lunged at Darrel and landed a punch on his abdomen. Darrel stumbled a few steps backwards but before he could ready himself K.O lunged again, sending a barrage of merciless and unending attacks upon the robot.
Darrel grew more disoriented with every hit. Luckily for him, K.O took a two steps back, probably to prepare for his next attack.
” That’s enough!” Darrel shouted before deploying his arm cannon and launching it at K.O.
The boy couldn’t dodge in time and was forced to tank the hit. That only worked to further fuel his rage.
K.O ran toward Darrel, jumped in the air and landed one fatal hit into Darrel’s glass cranium.
Darrel’s body fell to the ground as his pupil was replaced by a single X.
K.O looked down at Darrel’s robotic remains. He felt a sharp sting in his hand, he was bleeding.
The glass had pierced his skin and three deep gashes had formed.
K.O had finally taken notice of his own heavy breathing when he saw blood pouring from his hand. ” Owie…” he mumbled to himself, as if that actualized the pain he was feeling.
His head was pounding and there was a loud ringing in his ears.
He heard footsteps approaching from behind but his eyes were fixed on the same disturbing sight and everything started to feel distant.
It felt like floating, but not in a good way.
” You ok, K.O?” K.O yelped and turned around to see Enid in front of him. The other two bodega men were already done with Shannon by the looks of it.
” Oh! Hi, Enid.” K.O greeted.
Enid’s smile turned into a frown as she noticed his bloodied hand.
” K.O, what happened to your hand!?” Enid yelled. She knelt down in front of K.O and took his hand to assess the damage.
K.O’s expression crumpled into a chagrined frown. ” It was my fault, I should’ve been more careful…” K.O conceded.
” Dang…” Enid drawled.
”It’s no biggie, I think we have some bandages in the break room.” K.O chirped.
” Hm, well let’s go back inside so we can get you all fixed up, okay?”
”’Kay.”
The two went back into the store leaving Rad to go clean up the mess they left behind. Once they entered the break room K.O took notice of the med kit that was hanging on the wall right next to them.
” Enid, I found it!” K.O cheered. Enid snickered and rolled her eyes. ” Good job, K.O.”
She took the med kit off the wall and placed it on the table.
Inside were a few band-aids and some other medical supplies that had been haphazardly shuffled around but most importantly; bandages.
” Okay, I don’t know anything about this kind of stuff but I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to wash the wound first?” Enid said, though the statement sounded more like a question than anything.
K.O nodded and went on over to the sink and ran some warm water over his wound. He did his best to ignore the sharp stinging sensation and turned to look at Enid. ” Is this okay?” He asked.
” Yeah, I think so.”
K.O ran over to Enid and held his injured hand out to her. She took his hand in hers and wrapped it up with the bandage. Once she was done, she formed a knot at the end of it to keep the bandage in place. It looked sloppily done but it worked well enough.
” Does it not hurt?” Enid questioned, letting go of his hand. K.O dismissed her concern and waved his arms nonsensically. ” I’m fine! It stings a bit but it’s no biggie.” Enid nodded in acknowledgment ” Huh, I’m impressed with your pain tolerance.”
Suddenly, the two were met with the loud sound of a door getting kicked open.
”There you two are! I’ve been looking all over! Man, I can’t believe you two left me to clean up OUR mess and— K.O, what happened to your hand?!” Rad cried.
” I’m fine!” K.O assured. ” It doesn’t even hurt that much!”
Rad’s features scrunched up in a mix of worry and confusion.
” Darrel did that?” He asked.
K.O grimaced, his face turning and unnatural shade of red.
” I-Shouldn’t we be getting back to work anyway?” K.O sputtered.
The two teens exchanged a quick glance at each other before looking back over at the boy.
” Not you, Brush-head. Take a half day.” Enid said. ” Yeah! We’ll cover for you!” Rad interjected.
” But I'm fine!” K.O repeated. ” You two shouldn’t make such a big fuss about this.”
Enid frowned. ” We’re not making a fuss, we're just looking out for you.” She explained.
” Yeah, besides, who doesn’t like leaving work early?” Rad added.
Enid nodded. ” That and you should probably get that checked out by a doctor.”
K.O frowned as his protests fell on deaf ears. They clearly weren’t backing down.
K.O sighed. ” I don’t have a choice, do I?”
The other two nodded. ” Just go home, dude.” Rad urged.
” Fine, I’ll see myself out.” K.O mumbled as he turned to leave.
” See ya tomorrow, little man!” Rad hollered.
” Bye, Rad!” K.O chirped. K.O turned to face his other co-worker to bid farewell. ” Bye Enid!”
” See ya around, K.O.” Enid replied. ”And remember to take care of yourself, okay?” The ninja added.
K.O smiled.
”’Kay.”