Medabots Fan Fiction ❯ Medabots: Impossible ❯ Door to Tomorrow ( Chapter 6 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Lord Archive 
Arika finally goes to see the doctor, while Kouji goes hunting for the Rubber Robos.
Anime/Manga: Medabots Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Comedy / Drama / Sci-fi / | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 07.28.2004 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 678 | Status: Completed
Arika finally goes to see the doctor, while Kouji goes hunting for the Rubber Robos.
Anime/Manga: Medabots Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Comedy / Drama / Sci-fi / | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 07.28.2004 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 678 | Status: Completed
Medabots: Impossible
Chapter Six: Door to Tomorrow
By: Lord Archive
Medabots and most characters found here do not belong to me, but to NAS/Kodansha, TV Tokyo. Hiroshi, Megumi, Mimoji and medabot designs besides those found in the original series are mine, all mine! Muwhahahahah!
I'd do almost anything to get a copy of episode 82 'Erika to the Rescue' and the finale, episode 91 'Into the Fire.'
I have gotten a detailed synopsis of the final episode and have included a reference of that ending in this chapter. (Thank you, tvtome.com)
------------------
"Mother, you really don't have to stay," Arika pleaded as she sat on an examination table at the doctor's office.
"Of course I'm going to stay. You never ask to see a doctor unless it's something serious," replied Mrs. Amazake.
"I hope I just caught the flu again, but as I've been sick over a week it's best to make sure," Akira explained.
"And what if it's not just the flu?" questioned the doctor as he entered the room. The girl had to be one of his favorite patients. While there had been some people that came into his office with their own ideas of what their illness was, whether it was something too mild for their symptoms or far too exotic and deadly. Little Amazake, however, was usually rather accurate with her self-diagnosis.
Arika fidgeted. Even if her sickness was not the most likely cause, the other possibilities were enough to drive her mother into nervous fits. "Well, besides the flu not wanting to go away..." The girl kept glancing at her mother. "There's a possibility it could be... diabetes or... even multiple sclerosis."
Mrs. Amazake stared at the girl in shock. Those were definitely not minor illnesses.
The doctor frowned. Arika was not one to exaggerate the cause of her ailments. If the girl thought they were be a possible reason for her being sick, there was a good chance she actually had one of those problems. He paused in thought, mentally going over the list of symptoms both conditions carried, particularly the ones they shared. What else could cause her to experience stomach and bladder problems along with lethargy....
"Is something the matter, doctor?" Mrs. Amazake asked, noting the startled look on the doctor.
"Ahem." The doctor tried to straighten his demeanor. "Just trying to think of other problems that could cause similar symptoms." He turned towards his patient. "Have you done any traveling lately?"
"Well I did go to the World Robattle Championships in America almost two months ago," Arika replied.
The doctor nodded. "Can't rule out the Zimbabwe Flu strain, then. Nasty bugger there, but it will eventually run its course." He turned toward Mrs. Amazake. "To be safe we'll need to run quite a few tests on Arika. She'll have to be here for most of the day. I wouldn't want to keep you here all day as well."
"I'll give you a message when I'm done," Arika added, holding up her personal assistant electronic pad. "Besides, Brass is waiting for me out front. I'll be fine."
Mrs. Amazake had tried to muster a protest prior to her daughter's assurance. Brass would take care of Arika. Still, the woman frowned. "I do have shopping to do.... I'll stop back as soon as that's done to see how things are going."
"Of course," the doctor replied. He began writing down notes onto Arika's medical chart while the woman picked up her purse and left. Once she was gone, he asked, "For the record, what are your symptoms?"
Arika sighed. "I've been tired a lot more often lately than I should be. My stomach has gotten increasingly upset and I throw up at odd times, but then ten minutes later I don't feel ill at all. And I've been having to go the bathroom a lot more, especially during the night."
The doctor nodded. "Is there any other tests you want to run?"
Arika clenched her hands tightly together as she looked down at her lap and told the doctor
the test she wanted. Though he did his best to remain professional, the doctor's eyes still went wide with surprise.
------------------
Ikki's glazed eyes watched as his home economics teacher went on about the advantages of making investments. Like he really had anything to worry about. His remaining winnings as a medafighter were locked into college trust funds. He had enough there to put both himself and Arika through expensive universities if he wanted to. And with Metabee's new body, he would probably win next year's championships as well.
The school bell rang, announcing the start of lunch. Ikki frowned at Arika's vacant seat before walking over to Zuru. "Care to join me for lunch?"
Zuru nodded. "Sure."
With their bento-box lunches in hand, they went outside to enjoy their food under the sunny sky.
"How's things going with you?" Ikki questioned.
"A bit hectic right now." Zuru shrugged. "My little sister just learned how to walk and she's getting into EVERYthing." The boy shook his head. His father being home more often after the kilobot troubles had produced an unexpected addition to his family. While he tried to be a good loving brother, his baby sister was a bit too inquisitive.
"Heh. Sometimes I'm glad I'm an only child," Ikki replied.
"How's Arika doing?" Zuru asked.
Ikki frowned. "She still hasn't gotten any better. She went to see her doctor today since she has been sick for over a week now. I'm surprised I didn't catch it after she threw up on my feet."
Zuru shrugged. "What exactly is wrong with her?"
"I don't think even she knows." Ikki shook his head. "She's been throwing up often and is tired a lot of the time. Been a bit moody at times as well, though thankfully not as bad as that time of the month. She was even gripping about needing to take a piss a few times a night."
Zuru stared at the boy. "Ah... right." He placed his hand on the boys shoulder. "Good luck. You're going to need it."
Ikki blinked in confusion as Zuru got up and walked away.
------------------
The doctor sat down before his patient and let out a long sigh. "Arika, I'm afraid one... possibly two of your suspicions may be correct."
Arika blinked. "TWO?!"
The doctor nodded. "You are pregnant."
Arika swallowed nervously waiting for the other verdict.
"And there are indications you may also have diabetes as your blood sugar is higher than it should be. We'll need to take a more accurate test later to make sure as your pregnancy may have thrown off the results," the doctor informed her. "You'll need to keep watch of your blood sugar levels."
Arika frowned. Why couldn't this be the Zimbabwe Flu or just about anything else?
"Now, Arika, do you plan on keeping this baby?" the doctor asked in a gentle voice.
"I... I... I don't know." The girl clenched her midriff. "That's not something I can answer easily."
"Do you know who the father is?" the doctor questioned.
Arika nodded. "It can only be Ikki. Damn, this isn't exactly the kind of souvenir we wanted from the Robattle Championships." She let out a hollow laugh. "Guess we celebrated his win a bit too much."
"So, the father is Ikki Tenryo?" the doctor asked with a note of relief. While Arika wasn't the only young girl that he discovered to be pregnant during his years as a doctor, many of the cases of teenage pregnancy he had seen were the result of girls being with older men. Not to mention that even if Ikki didn't stay with her, she could get a fair amount of support for her child from him if she decided to keep the baby.
"Yeah," Arika sighed. "Guess we should've risked those nosy American tabloids discovering we were lovers and gotten some more condoms." She then looked at the doctor. "Can you please not tell my mother about the pregnancy? She still doesn't think I'm old enough to date. Just tell her that I have diabetes. If I decide to keep the baby, I should be the one to tell her."
The doctor nodded in agreement to her request. Normally he would tell a parent about a child's illness, but pregnancy was another matter. Japan had an exceptionally poor view of teenage pregnancy, where girls were shipped off to distant relatives, forced to have an abortion against their will, or in one recent case... was murdered by her own mother. While he doubted the last possibility would happen, the other two would cause undue hardship to the girl.
The doctor placed a comforting hand on Arika's shoulder. "There are a few things you'll need to know about your pregnancy and diabetes. We'll need to set up appointments to monitor both."
------------------
Why was it that every new robattle challenge had to go after Ikki? When the kilobot battles were going on, he was bored out of his mind at his academy. Mostly as Karen didn't exactly respond to his charms then. Now rumor had it the Rubber Robos had returned and managed to defeat Metabee.
Well, he wasn't going to stand by and not get involved. He was Kouji! One of the top five medafighters in Japan, and no ugly thugs in rubber suits would get the best of him!
Kouji smirked at hearing a laugh that tried to sound evil, but failed. Miserably. The well-groomed and expensively-dressed teenager rushed to the source of the less-than-jovial sound and saw exactly what he wanted to see.
"Stop it, please!" begged a crying girl, clutching the severed arm of a medabot. "Gimme back Angeleen's medal. PLEASE!"
Seaslug looked a little upset. "Aw, come on. I told you what you need to do to get it back."
"I can't do that!" the girl shrieked.
Kouji scowled. The Rubber Robos had better not be sinking to new lows. He brandished his medawatch and announced his presence, "I challenge you for the girl's medal!"
Seaslug jumped back nervously. Kouji was in Tenryo's league, and even with his wife's special medabots, they needed to least double-team him to ensure victory. The boy's Sumilidon was a force to be reckoned with, especially as the robot would have the latest medaparts. He then blinked. Sumilidon was a close range fighter with only the medaforce for a distance attack. As long as he kept the pair from using that, Bladerunner should be able to win! "I accept. If I win, I get your medabot's medal."
Kouji nodded. He would not lose to this loser.
The wind blew across the field, with the only sound being the girl crying.
Kouji sweat-dropped. "Isn't Mr. Referee suppose to pop up now?"
Seaslug shook his head. "The Robattle Federation just decided to banned the Neo Rubber Robos from official robattles because we officiated the World Championships years ago."
"Lovely," Kouji growled. "Transport Sumilidon!"
Shining in the sun's light stood a formidable looking humanoid robot with tiger accents. One and a half meters tall and armed with a vicious blade, the medabot looked more than ready to fight.
Seaslug frowned. "I didn't know the Sumilidon line had made a one-point-five yet."
Kouji grinned. "That's the prototype. Dr. Aki was kind enough to let me buy it." For an unreasonable price, but even when the mass production models came out in a couple months-- his would still be unique.
This didn't change anything for Seaslug. "Bladerunner!"
The gleaming steel-gray medabot, covered in nasty sharp blades, stepped forward. "I will not lose this time!"
"I will be the winner!" Sumilidon retorted.
Without another word the two medabots leapt at each other. Sword met with blade as Bladerunner blocked Sumilidon's weapon over and over again. The pair danced around each other, neither willing to give the slightest advantage to the other.
The medafighters watched in silence, analyzing each other's medabots. Each hoped to find a weak-spot to exploit and win them the match.
Kouji's frustration grew, noticing that Sumilidon's body was sporting an increasing number of scratches. Every incidental touch was causing the tiger-man robot to be paper-cut to death. This could not go on much longer. "Sumilidon, fall back!"
Immediately the robot tried to obey his master, but Bladerunner would allow no retreat. He knew his partner wanted to use the medaforce, but without gaining some distance first-- it put too much risk into using the move. Sumilidon prepped himself to leap backwards, but then screamed as Bladerunner's kick sliced through his left knee.
"Left leg 100% damage. Function ceased," chirped Kouji's medawatch. His hands clenched into fists as he watched his medabot fall to the ground.
Bladerunner wasted no time. He immediately sliced off Sumilidon's sword arm and then placed a blade at the incapacitated medabot's neck. "Do you yield?"
Sumilidon merely turned his head away. He would not reply.
"Let it not be said the Rubber Robos are not above compassion," Seaslug boasted emptily. "I'll let you buy the medals."
"Fine!" Kouji cried out as if he cursed. He grabbed a wad of cash from his pocket and threw it at the Rubber Robo.
Seaslug picked up the cash and fought to not display his excitement. There had to be a BILLION yen here. Ten times what he was going to ask for. He took a hundred thousand-yen note from the stash, crumbled it around the angel medal and threw it at the still sobbing girl. "Buy yourself a real medabot."
The girl scrambled to pick up the precious medal and hugged it tightly. "Thank you!"
Kouji muttered obscenities under his breath as he transported his medabot back home for repairs. He then stomped off.
Seaslug whistled cheerfully. "I'm not in the dog house anymore! I can sleep in my own bed!"
------------------
Red Rover stood defensively in humanoid form. His gaze focused on the blue cape of Sir Lanceabot as it loomed ever closer, falling from the sky.
"Red Rover, play dead, roll-over right, and fire!" Tak ordered.
Without question the medabot followed his partner's commands to the letter. He dropped to the ground, switched to dog form, rolled-over, and fired the canon on his back. The red dog had not expected to hit anything and he wasn't the only one surprised to see the blast strike the capeless Sir Lanceabot who had been hiding behind a slide at the park.
The blue cape crashed to the ground where Red Rover had been with a mighty thud as a trashcan had been the weight behind it.
Sir Lanceabot struggled to stand up but a second blast from Red Rover caused his medal to eject.
"Damn it! I almost had you!" Hiroshi commented bitterly.
"Yes. You just forgot there are two sets of eyes in robattles. Red Rover might not have been able to see him, but I could," Tak pointed out.
"I'll get you next time," Hiroshi promised, holding out his hand.
"I'll be waiting." Tak shook the hand firmly.
Megumi watched from behind a distant tree. She didn't understand this. Hiroshi had lost, yet he was happy. Why would he be happy at losing? When the Rubber Robos defeated him, he was an absolute wreak. True the rubber-coated freaks also took Lanceabot's old body, but that had only been a minor set back. Now he seemed happier with today's loss than he had defeating Higashi or any of the other medafighters she had him fight. Why was losing to Tak any different?
The young girl wandered off aimlessly. Her thoughts whirling around. She had done everything she could to make sure he'd never lose again, but that only made him upset at her. She just wanted him to win. Why did he hate her for trying to help?
Megumi plopped down on the slope overlooking the canal. "I'll never understand boys."
"No girl ever will," someone replied.
Megumi looked over seeing a teenage girl laying on the ground with a one-five sailor-multi sitting next to her. It took Megumi a second to recognize the girl as the one that was almost always around the 'Oh, So Great Ikki Tenryo.' Some of Hiroshi's pictures of his idol also included this girl in them.
Megumi scowled slightly at the girl, and asked, "Can you tell me why a boy would be happy to lose a robattle?"
"Well, if it's a fair fight and that the battle is just for fun, you can learn a bit from the fight. Especially if you lose," Arika replied. "Course, all Ikki ever learned was how to make new strategies to make sure he didn't lose again. He certainly never learned humility."
Megumi curled up into a ball. "All I ever wanted to do was help Hiroshi. Make sure he never lost. But all that ever did was make him more upset after I kept setting up battles he was sure to win."
Arika shook her head. "Boys want to be challenged. Being handed a win means nothing. They have to fight for what they want."
Megumi frowned. "All I wanted to do was help him. Can't he see that?"
Arika laughed. "Boys can be pretty dumb."
"What can I do now? I don't want him to hate me," Megumi questioned.
"Cheer for him when he fights, and let him choose his own battles," Arika replied. "There have been many fights I wanted Ikki to drop out of, but all I could do was be there for him."
"I guess." Megumi sighed. "Have you ever had any problems dealing with Ikki?"
Arika's hand clenched over her stomach. "Yeah."
"I got to go home. Bye." Megumi stood up reluctantly and left.
"She kind of reminds me of you," Brass commented.
Arika nodded. "I hope she doesn't go through half the shit Ikki's thrown at me."
"But you'd do it all over again for him," Brass returned.
"Yeah." Arika sighed.
"When are you going to tell Ikki about this?" Brass questioned.
"I don't know if I will," Arika replied, causing her medabot to frown.
------------------
******************
Metabee's eyes were wide in shock. "No wonder Arika's been sick?! Well, Ikki's in some DEEP trouble and he doesn't even know it yet!"
Metabee shook his head. "Coming up next chapter, Arika reflects on her situation in chapter seven, Reflections."
Metabee laugh a little nervous. "There will also be an... unedited version of that chapter that goes into, ahem, much more detail. If you're under eighteen, I better not catch you reading the NC-17 version stored separately and titled Medabots: Reflection, or I'll give you a Metabee Bop you won't soon forget."
Chapter Six: Door to Tomorrow
By: Lord Archive
Medabots and most characters found here do not belong to me, but to NAS/Kodansha, TV Tokyo. Hiroshi, Megumi, Mimoji and medabot designs besides those found in the original series are mine, all mine! Muwhahahahah!
I'd do almost anything to get a copy of episode 82 'Erika to the Rescue' and the finale, episode 91 'Into the Fire.'
I have gotten a detailed synopsis of the final episode and have included a reference of that ending in this chapter. (Thank you, tvtome.com)
------------------
"Mother, you really don't have to stay," Arika pleaded as she sat on an examination table at the doctor's office.
"Of course I'm going to stay. You never ask to see a doctor unless it's something serious," replied Mrs. Amazake.
"I hope I just caught the flu again, but as I've been sick over a week it's best to make sure," Akira explained.
"And what if it's not just the flu?" questioned the doctor as he entered the room. The girl had to be one of his favorite patients. While there had been some people that came into his office with their own ideas of what their illness was, whether it was something too mild for their symptoms or far too exotic and deadly. Little Amazake, however, was usually rather accurate with her self-diagnosis.
Arika fidgeted. Even if her sickness was not the most likely cause, the other possibilities were enough to drive her mother into nervous fits. "Well, besides the flu not wanting to go away..." The girl kept glancing at her mother. "There's a possibility it could be... diabetes or... even multiple sclerosis."
Mrs. Amazake stared at the girl in shock. Those were definitely not minor illnesses.
The doctor frowned. Arika was not one to exaggerate the cause of her ailments. If the girl thought they were be a possible reason for her being sick, there was a good chance she actually had one of those problems. He paused in thought, mentally going over the list of symptoms both conditions carried, particularly the ones they shared. What else could cause her to experience stomach and bladder problems along with lethargy....
"Is something the matter, doctor?" Mrs. Amazake asked, noting the startled look on the doctor.
"Ahem." The doctor tried to straighten his demeanor. "Just trying to think of other problems that could cause similar symptoms." He turned towards his patient. "Have you done any traveling lately?"
"Well I did go to the World Robattle Championships in America almost two months ago," Arika replied.
The doctor nodded. "Can't rule out the Zimbabwe Flu strain, then. Nasty bugger there, but it will eventually run its course." He turned toward Mrs. Amazake. "To be safe we'll need to run quite a few tests on Arika. She'll have to be here for most of the day. I wouldn't want to keep you here all day as well."
"I'll give you a message when I'm done," Arika added, holding up her personal assistant electronic pad. "Besides, Brass is waiting for me out front. I'll be fine."
Mrs. Amazake had tried to muster a protest prior to her daughter's assurance. Brass would take care of Arika. Still, the woman frowned. "I do have shopping to do.... I'll stop back as soon as that's done to see how things are going."
"Of course," the doctor replied. He began writing down notes onto Arika's medical chart while the woman picked up her purse and left. Once she was gone, he asked, "For the record, what are your symptoms?"
Arika sighed. "I've been tired a lot more often lately than I should be. My stomach has gotten increasingly upset and I throw up at odd times, but then ten minutes later I don't feel ill at all. And I've been having to go the bathroom a lot more, especially during the night."
The doctor nodded. "Is there any other tests you want to run?"
Arika clenched her hands tightly together as she looked down at her lap and told the doctor
the test she wanted. Though he did his best to remain professional, the doctor's eyes still went wide with surprise.
------------------
Ikki's glazed eyes watched as his home economics teacher went on about the advantages of making investments. Like he really had anything to worry about. His remaining winnings as a medafighter were locked into college trust funds. He had enough there to put both himself and Arika through expensive universities if he wanted to. And with Metabee's new body, he would probably win next year's championships as well.
The school bell rang, announcing the start of lunch. Ikki frowned at Arika's vacant seat before walking over to Zuru. "Care to join me for lunch?"
Zuru nodded. "Sure."
With their bento-box lunches in hand, they went outside to enjoy their food under the sunny sky.
"How's things going with you?" Ikki questioned.
"A bit hectic right now." Zuru shrugged. "My little sister just learned how to walk and she's getting into EVERYthing." The boy shook his head. His father being home more often after the kilobot troubles had produced an unexpected addition to his family. While he tried to be a good loving brother, his baby sister was a bit too inquisitive.
"Heh. Sometimes I'm glad I'm an only child," Ikki replied.
"How's Arika doing?" Zuru asked.
Ikki frowned. "She still hasn't gotten any better. She went to see her doctor today since she has been sick for over a week now. I'm surprised I didn't catch it after she threw up on my feet."
Zuru shrugged. "What exactly is wrong with her?"
"I don't think even she knows." Ikki shook his head. "She's been throwing up often and is tired a lot of the time. Been a bit moody at times as well, though thankfully not as bad as that time of the month. She was even gripping about needing to take a piss a few times a night."
Zuru stared at the boy. "Ah... right." He placed his hand on the boys shoulder. "Good luck. You're going to need it."
Ikki blinked in confusion as Zuru got up and walked away.
------------------
The doctor sat down before his patient and let out a long sigh. "Arika, I'm afraid one... possibly two of your suspicions may be correct."
Arika blinked. "TWO?!"
The doctor nodded. "You are pregnant."
Arika swallowed nervously waiting for the other verdict.
"And there are indications you may also have diabetes as your blood sugar is higher than it should be. We'll need to take a more accurate test later to make sure as your pregnancy may have thrown off the results," the doctor informed her. "You'll need to keep watch of your blood sugar levels."
Arika frowned. Why couldn't this be the Zimbabwe Flu or just about anything else?
"Now, Arika, do you plan on keeping this baby?" the doctor asked in a gentle voice.
"I... I... I don't know." The girl clenched her midriff. "That's not something I can answer easily."
"Do you know who the father is?" the doctor questioned.
Arika nodded. "It can only be Ikki. Damn, this isn't exactly the kind of souvenir we wanted from the Robattle Championships." She let out a hollow laugh. "Guess we celebrated his win a bit too much."
"So, the father is Ikki Tenryo?" the doctor asked with a note of relief. While Arika wasn't the only young girl that he discovered to be pregnant during his years as a doctor, many of the cases of teenage pregnancy he had seen were the result of girls being with older men. Not to mention that even if Ikki didn't stay with her, she could get a fair amount of support for her child from him if she decided to keep the baby.
"Yeah," Arika sighed. "Guess we should've risked those nosy American tabloids discovering we were lovers and gotten some more condoms." She then looked at the doctor. "Can you please not tell my mother about the pregnancy? She still doesn't think I'm old enough to date. Just tell her that I have diabetes. If I decide to keep the baby, I should be the one to tell her."
The doctor nodded in agreement to her request. Normally he would tell a parent about a child's illness, but pregnancy was another matter. Japan had an exceptionally poor view of teenage pregnancy, where girls were shipped off to distant relatives, forced to have an abortion against their will, or in one recent case... was murdered by her own mother. While he doubted the last possibility would happen, the other two would cause undue hardship to the girl.
The doctor placed a comforting hand on Arika's shoulder. "There are a few things you'll need to know about your pregnancy and diabetes. We'll need to set up appointments to monitor both."
------------------
Why was it that every new robattle challenge had to go after Ikki? When the kilobot battles were going on, he was bored out of his mind at his academy. Mostly as Karen didn't exactly respond to his charms then. Now rumor had it the Rubber Robos had returned and managed to defeat Metabee.
Well, he wasn't going to stand by and not get involved. He was Kouji! One of the top five medafighters in Japan, and no ugly thugs in rubber suits would get the best of him!
Kouji smirked at hearing a laugh that tried to sound evil, but failed. Miserably. The well-groomed and expensively-dressed teenager rushed to the source of the less-than-jovial sound and saw exactly what he wanted to see.
"Stop it, please!" begged a crying girl, clutching the severed arm of a medabot. "Gimme back Angeleen's medal. PLEASE!"
Seaslug looked a little upset. "Aw, come on. I told you what you need to do to get it back."
"I can't do that!" the girl shrieked.
Kouji scowled. The Rubber Robos had better not be sinking to new lows. He brandished his medawatch and announced his presence, "I challenge you for the girl's medal!"
Seaslug jumped back nervously. Kouji was in Tenryo's league, and even with his wife's special medabots, they needed to least double-team him to ensure victory. The boy's Sumilidon was a force to be reckoned with, especially as the robot would have the latest medaparts. He then blinked. Sumilidon was a close range fighter with only the medaforce for a distance attack. As long as he kept the pair from using that, Bladerunner should be able to win! "I accept. If I win, I get your medabot's medal."
Kouji nodded. He would not lose to this loser.
The wind blew across the field, with the only sound being the girl crying.
Kouji sweat-dropped. "Isn't Mr. Referee suppose to pop up now?"
Seaslug shook his head. "The Robattle Federation just decided to banned the Neo Rubber Robos from official robattles because we officiated the World Championships years ago."
"Lovely," Kouji growled. "Transport Sumilidon!"
Shining in the sun's light stood a formidable looking humanoid robot with tiger accents. One and a half meters tall and armed with a vicious blade, the medabot looked more than ready to fight.
Seaslug frowned. "I didn't know the Sumilidon line had made a one-point-five yet."
Kouji grinned. "That's the prototype. Dr. Aki was kind enough to let me buy it." For an unreasonable price, but even when the mass production models came out in a couple months-- his would still be unique.
This didn't change anything for Seaslug. "Bladerunner!"
The gleaming steel-gray medabot, covered in nasty sharp blades, stepped forward. "I will not lose this time!"
"I will be the winner!" Sumilidon retorted.
Without another word the two medabots leapt at each other. Sword met with blade as Bladerunner blocked Sumilidon's weapon over and over again. The pair danced around each other, neither willing to give the slightest advantage to the other.
The medafighters watched in silence, analyzing each other's medabots. Each hoped to find a weak-spot to exploit and win them the match.
Kouji's frustration grew, noticing that Sumilidon's body was sporting an increasing number of scratches. Every incidental touch was causing the tiger-man robot to be paper-cut to death. This could not go on much longer. "Sumilidon, fall back!"
Immediately the robot tried to obey his master, but Bladerunner would allow no retreat. He knew his partner wanted to use the medaforce, but without gaining some distance first-- it put too much risk into using the move. Sumilidon prepped himself to leap backwards, but then screamed as Bladerunner's kick sliced through his left knee.
"Left leg 100% damage. Function ceased," chirped Kouji's medawatch. His hands clenched into fists as he watched his medabot fall to the ground.
Bladerunner wasted no time. He immediately sliced off Sumilidon's sword arm and then placed a blade at the incapacitated medabot's neck. "Do you yield?"
Sumilidon merely turned his head away. He would not reply.
"Let it not be said the Rubber Robos are not above compassion," Seaslug boasted emptily. "I'll let you buy the medals."
"Fine!" Kouji cried out as if he cursed. He grabbed a wad of cash from his pocket and threw it at the Rubber Robo.
Seaslug picked up the cash and fought to not display his excitement. There had to be a BILLION yen here. Ten times what he was going to ask for. He took a hundred thousand-yen note from the stash, crumbled it around the angel medal and threw it at the still sobbing girl. "Buy yourself a real medabot."
The girl scrambled to pick up the precious medal and hugged it tightly. "Thank you!"
Kouji muttered obscenities under his breath as he transported his medabot back home for repairs. He then stomped off.
Seaslug whistled cheerfully. "I'm not in the dog house anymore! I can sleep in my own bed!"
------------------
Red Rover stood defensively in humanoid form. His gaze focused on the blue cape of Sir Lanceabot as it loomed ever closer, falling from the sky.
"Red Rover, play dead, roll-over right, and fire!" Tak ordered.
Without question the medabot followed his partner's commands to the letter. He dropped to the ground, switched to dog form, rolled-over, and fired the canon on his back. The red dog had not expected to hit anything and he wasn't the only one surprised to see the blast strike the capeless Sir Lanceabot who had been hiding behind a slide at the park.
The blue cape crashed to the ground where Red Rover had been with a mighty thud as a trashcan had been the weight behind it.
Sir Lanceabot struggled to stand up but a second blast from Red Rover caused his medal to eject.
"Damn it! I almost had you!" Hiroshi commented bitterly.
"Yes. You just forgot there are two sets of eyes in robattles. Red Rover might not have been able to see him, but I could," Tak pointed out.
"I'll get you next time," Hiroshi promised, holding out his hand.
"I'll be waiting." Tak shook the hand firmly.
Megumi watched from behind a distant tree. She didn't understand this. Hiroshi had lost, yet he was happy. Why would he be happy at losing? When the Rubber Robos defeated him, he was an absolute wreak. True the rubber-coated freaks also took Lanceabot's old body, but that had only been a minor set back. Now he seemed happier with today's loss than he had defeating Higashi or any of the other medafighters she had him fight. Why was losing to Tak any different?
The young girl wandered off aimlessly. Her thoughts whirling around. She had done everything she could to make sure he'd never lose again, but that only made him upset at her. She just wanted him to win. Why did he hate her for trying to help?
Megumi plopped down on the slope overlooking the canal. "I'll never understand boys."
"No girl ever will," someone replied.
Megumi looked over seeing a teenage girl laying on the ground with a one-five sailor-multi sitting next to her. It took Megumi a second to recognize the girl as the one that was almost always around the 'Oh, So Great Ikki Tenryo.' Some of Hiroshi's pictures of his idol also included this girl in them.
Megumi scowled slightly at the girl, and asked, "Can you tell me why a boy would be happy to lose a robattle?"
"Well, if it's a fair fight and that the battle is just for fun, you can learn a bit from the fight. Especially if you lose," Arika replied. "Course, all Ikki ever learned was how to make new strategies to make sure he didn't lose again. He certainly never learned humility."
Megumi curled up into a ball. "All I ever wanted to do was help Hiroshi. Make sure he never lost. But all that ever did was make him more upset after I kept setting up battles he was sure to win."
Arika shook her head. "Boys want to be challenged. Being handed a win means nothing. They have to fight for what they want."
Megumi frowned. "All I wanted to do was help him. Can't he see that?"
Arika laughed. "Boys can be pretty dumb."
"What can I do now? I don't want him to hate me," Megumi questioned.
"Cheer for him when he fights, and let him choose his own battles," Arika replied. "There have been many fights I wanted Ikki to drop out of, but all I could do was be there for him."
"I guess." Megumi sighed. "Have you ever had any problems dealing with Ikki?"
Arika's hand clenched over her stomach. "Yeah."
"I got to go home. Bye." Megumi stood up reluctantly and left.
"She kind of reminds me of you," Brass commented.
Arika nodded. "I hope she doesn't go through half the shit Ikki's thrown at me."
"But you'd do it all over again for him," Brass returned.
"Yeah." Arika sighed.
"When are you going to tell Ikki about this?" Brass questioned.
"I don't know if I will," Arika replied, causing her medabot to frown.
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Metabee's eyes were wide in shock. "No wonder Arika's been sick?! Well, Ikki's in some DEEP trouble and he doesn't even know it yet!"
Metabee shook his head. "Coming up next chapter, Arika reflects on her situation in chapter seven, Reflections."
Metabee laugh a little nervous. "There will also be an... unedited version of that chapter that goes into, ahem, much more detail. If you're under eighteen, I better not catch you reading the NC-17 version stored separately and titled Medabots: Reflection, or I'll give you a Metabee Bop you won't soon forget."