Please, Remember Me. Remember Us.

by ITriedWriting

Summary:

A post canon short story about what would happen if Robert had amnesia after getting into a relationship with Courtney and finding a family within Z team.

Notes:

So, this is my first time writing anything as a fanfic / short story lol, but I had an idea I wanted to share. Apologies for bad grammar, or just this being terrible in general LMAO. First time experience. But I hope someone out there enjoys it.

- BTW The name of the chapter will always be at the end.

X/Twitter if anyone is interested: @ItsRiruwrld

Chapter 1

It’s been 3 months since SDN and the Z-team defeated Shroud and the red ring. During this time, the Z-team has improved drastically. After that huge conflict, it was like the entire team enjoyed being heroes, enjoyed saving people. They had a passion to get better and better and they were determined to rise in the ranks of the SDN hero leaderboards. They’d never admit this to anyone. They might’ve not even realized it themselves, but Robert noticed, and he was proud. Proud of everyone, especially Courtney who not only was the 2nd closest to being in the top 20 on the leaderboards, but was also now his girlfriend, which definitely isn’t a strong enough word to describe their relationship. It’s what they were, no one proposed or anything, it hadn’t even been that long. But their connection was much more than that. Stronger than that. What they had was special.

During the final moments of that very intense battle with the red ring, Robert killed shroud. No mercy. He got his revenge for his loved ones and for himself. Wasn’t very heroic but shroud broke out of prison once, he could do it again. Better safe than sorry, plus he deserved it. Mecha Man isn’t Batman or Spider-Man or any other one of those comic book heroes with a “Moral code”. Shroud was dangerous. And he had to go, permanently. Everyone on the Z team remembered that moment, and it stuck to Robert especially. During these past 3 months, killing shroud with his bare hands and remembering Elliot’s fucked up face was always randomly in the back of his mind somewhere, a very tiny annoyance. But regardless, he never regretted what he’d had done.

And then it was Monday. 6am on the dot. Alarms are going off. Ruining both Courtney and Robert’s sleep as they were together in Courtney’s bed. After a fantastic weekend of love, fun and lots of sex, unfortunately it was time to clock in for work.

“Ughh fuck my life” Courtney said. in a very groggy voice. “Fuckin.. hate.. mondays”.

“Yeah just like (yawn) the entire world dork” said Robert. “Who likes mondays ?”.

“Shut up and get off me…pulse boy”, “you’re fuckin heavy” she said with a small smirk on her face.

“Pfft. Pulse boy ? That’s new.. and corny”.

“Fuck off It’s early. I can’t think straight”. “now hurry up”.

Robert slowly moved away from her to start getting ready, his hand softly glided around up her thigh, slowly making its way up her body toward her hand. He traces his fingers on her arm and goes to hold her hand. Courtney interlocks their fingers together and Roberts lips meets hers. Courtney smiled and reciprocates the kisses. She loved this guy, obsessed with him since the day she saw him half naked in that conference room months ago, and couldn’t get enough of him. He was the person who told her she could be a hero, who believed in her wholeheartedly, and who loved her like no one else has before. He was her soulmate. The one. She can’t believe how lucky she is. Robert felt the same way. They were made for each other.

Robert pulls away his lips after 30 seconds of multiple small but loving kisses.

“Good morning Courtney” he said. With a soft voice.

Courtney’s heart starts beating a little faster, and she rolls to the side of the bed to avoid looking into Robert’s face.

“Yeah… Good morning”. She said with a huge grin across her face that she thought Robert couldn’t see. Fortunately for both of them, He did. Which would ultimately make them a tiny bit late for work.

Her cute reaction triggers something in Robert. After seeing his beautiful shy girlfriend like this he wanted to devour her right there and he instantly just gets a huge boner.

He chuckles a little and says: “so yeah that little combo move u just did ? It uh… did something to me”. “super effective”.

Courtney turns around smiling, noticing his face, and then his dick. She practically jumps on top of him and starts taking off her shirt. “A little morning quickie can’t hurt right ?” She says. Robert looks at the clock on his phone. 6:15 am. They have to be in at 7:30 or Mandy will be a bit upset. (They were late all last week).

“Yea fuck it” said Robert. “We got time” he said with a grin.

———————

Torrance, LA. SDN main office, Monday at 8 am…. Rob and Courtney are leaving the conference room where Mandy was slightly raising her voice at them. Getting concerned about their recent lateness… both of them chuckle at each other, going their separate ways as it’s time to lock in and do some good hero work.

After quickly getting some shitty coffee and a Twinkie out the break room, it’s time for more dispatching. “All right, time to get to work.” He puts on his headphones and starts talking into the mic.

“Z-Team how we feeling?”

“Good. Fine”. says Malevola. She chuckles: “would be nice if you two love birds stop fucking each other early in the morning and got here on time”.

Everyone on the team laughs. They’re family, Z team knows how much Courtney and Rob love each other, so they never stop teasing them about it. Especially Mal. She’s up there with Courtney, slightly behind her on being close to entering the top 20 heroes on the SDN leaderboards. Flambae is ahead of both of them. Mal and Visi have gotten a lot closer after 3 months of trying to one up each other.

“Alright relax” Rob chuckles. “we’re sorry we’re late but it’s time to work”. “And also no more sex talk on the comms please”. “These calls are being recorded and we don’t need more HR violations on our record”.

“Ok dad”. says Sonar. He chuckles: “We’re ready, what ya got for us Bobby”.

The Z team starts getting calls, and starts getting to work, knocking down calls one by one, it’s a slow start, nothing too major happens early in the morning. It’s after lunch break where shit starts getting tough. Deciding what heroes to use, people getting spread too thin, and everyone’s mental and physical endurance is always tested.

Always.

Then like clockwork, 5pm. Shit hits the fan. Shit always hits the fucking fan. This time though, was very different from the rest.

“Jesus Christ,” said Robert pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Coop, Golem, Visi, how’s that bomb location and containment going”.

“Uhhh it’s… going”. said Courtney her breath ragged. “There’s tons of fucking red ring assholes here at this big ass building trying to get in our way.” “We’re holding our own but there’s no time to actually look for the bomb”. “Are we even sure it’s here?”

“Yes. SDN Surveillance says they picked up a unique bomb signature here so, I mean unless they just suck then their should be something there” Said Robert.

“Well Robert, this is… quite… the problem”. said Coop grunting while engaged in combat.

“We’re fucked”. Says Golem.

“You’re not fucked.” Says Robert. “Golem clone yourself as much as you can to help deal with those fucking losers”. “Visi, Coop and Golem will handle the thugs, retreat and try locating the bomb,” “I’m gonna check in with the others to see if we can get you back up but don’t get your hopes up”.

“Got it” says Visi.

“Alright, how’s everyone doing” says Robert, talking to the remaining team members.

“We’re Fucked” says literally everyone else in unison.

Prism and flambae are fighting off drug dealers on the docks, Punch up and Phenomaman are trying to stop this alien invasion, space ships and ground troops on the beach. Water boy is trying to put out a big ass house fire, while Sonar and Mal are trying to catch people that are falling out of a big ass fucking airplane.

“Great” Says Robert. “Ok (sigh) desperate times call for desperate measures”. He speaks to the whole team. “Everyone keep doing your best I’ll be there to help out soon”.

Everyone on the Z team cheers. It was rare, but whenever Rob came to help he always came in clutch, and always gave the team the credit for the win. He was the goat dispatcher in their eyes. Like an Ace in the hole that never failed.

After beating shroud, Having his suit back was great. But he wasn’t sure he’d be able to do both dispatching and being in the field, that’s tough, even for the famous hero mecha man. Plus everytime he’d get in, “That” moment of taking shrouds life popped back into his brain. Elliot and Roberts father are closely connected to the suit, there’s a ton of inner turmoil, confusion and conflict surrounding the 3 of these people. Not to mention that Robert took someone’s life for the first time. Just because the person deserved it or “needed to go” doesn’t mean it can be easily dismissed, no matter how Robert felt about it. It distracts him. So it was always a last resort type of thing, where if the team really needed him, he’d go.

“Ok, first things first I need to get to Mal and Sonar” says Mecha Man to himself. “Their mobility is key to getting around quickly and adding combat support”.

MM takes flight and heads to their location immediately, thankful that they were close by. Mal and Sonar are relieved when they see him, it’s like 40 people falling out of this goddamn plane, they’re pretty high up, but Mal’s been making portals all day and can barely keep them up, the size and duration of them are getting shorter. And Sonar can’t catch everyone.

“Fuccckkk yes” says Sonar. “Good to see you Bobby”. “Please help me catch these fucking people”.

“On it” says MM. Mecha man assists Sonar with catching people out the air, trying to carefully make sure that they don’t hurt themselves from landing on the suit. While doing this he calls Visi trying to get a grasp on the situation over there.

“Visi, how u holding up ? Find the bomb?”.

“Still looking. I’ve been searching up and down this whole building. I have no fucking idea where this piece of shit could- wait, gimme a sec. I might have something”.

Visi notices that there’s different colored wires on the ground in the corner of the room she’s in, all cut up. Red green yellow and blue, typical colors for a bomb with a timer. Bombs that you’d need to cut a specific colored wire in order for it to stop, atleast now she has an inkling of an idea of what she’s looking for.

She follows the scattered wire trail to a painting, looks confused, then moves the painting to discover a secret room, a light bulb clicks in her head that this is where they’re preparing the bomb. “Tch. fucking sloppy”. she says. She inspects the room and sees 2 guards just bullshitting waiting around, maybe awaiting instructions? And the active bomb. “YES I fucking found it thank god” she screams internally. “Robbie’s sooo gonna fuck me tonight” with a devilish smile on her face. She sneaks about and easily takes out the two guards. Similar to how she took out the guards in that jewelry store heist with Thundercuck. She takes a puff of her inhaler, then tells Mecha Man the good news.

“Pulse boy, I got the bomb”. she says “it’s active though, i don’t know how to defuse it, and there’s 20 minutes left before it detonates”.

“Good work” says MM “oh shit, I gotcha”. He says almost missing the person falling from the sky.

“Great. We’re almost done here.” “Take the bomb to the roof of the building, away from everyone below you, then go back down and help golem and coop. Make sure no else gets to it.” “I don’t have eyes on the bomb or know how it works, me telling you to cut something might make it explode. Once I can get there, me and someone with bomb experience will… figure it out”.

“Yeah. Got it.” says Visi. “We’re waiting for you”. “Be careful out there…I love you”.

“Love you too. On my way”. He hangs up the call. “What 19 or 18 minutes now? I’ll be there soon Visi”. he says to himself.

Mal, Sonar, and Mecha Man finish up catching the people and getting them to safety, Mal is drained, but she’s known for getting her stamina back quickly if she just rests a moment.

Mecha Man turns on Team comms: “Ok everything’s done here, but there’s a bomb situation at Visi’s location. 16 to 17 minute timer on it and it’s some ways out”. “Sonar go to Prism and Flambae’s position, help them finish cleaning up this drug bust, they should be relatively done by now with just a few stragglers left. You three will meet up with Phenomaman. Mal as soon as you can make a portal for waterboy and do the same. I’m gonna go to Visi’s location.”

“Finally some fuckin backup” Says Flambae.

“On my way guys” Says Sonar.

“Fuckin hurry up guys” Says Punch Up. “Who fuckin put me here”.

“You volunteered” Says Mecha Man with a small smile on his face. “Waterboy will be there soon, hopefully. Mal when everyone’s done at the beach portal everyone to my location.”

“On it boss”. says Mal huffing and coughing. “Just…just give me a minute”.

“Yeah, rest up a bit” says MM. “Waterboy, how’s it going with the house fire ?”

“Ye-Yeah!, al-almo-almost contained s-sir!”

“Great. keep at it, Malevola will come get you soon”. And Please be done when she gets there, unless she can portal flames to the bottom of hell there’s not much she can do to help you”. Chuckled Mecha Man.

5 minutes pass, Mecha man is quickly approaching the building where Golem Coop and Visi have been fighting for their lives against red ring assholes with no help. “(sigh) 11 to 10 minutes on the bomb. Things are okay, she’s okay. You got this”. “We got this” Says Mecha man with a slightly worried tone. He checks in on the bomb squad using team comms:

“Golem, Coop, Visi I’m there in like a minute, Give me updates”.

*Static Crackle noises* no response.

Nothing. Mecha Mans heart drops, then suddenly, Golem answers….

“I don’t… know how much… more I can-“

The comms cut out again.

Mecha Man focuses up, worried but determined to save his team. “Tch, it’s always these fuckin guys” He says.

Mecha Man arrives at the building, scanning the entire area with heat signature tech to know where his teammates, the enemies, and the bomb are located before just flying blindly into the building. He finds the bomb safely on top the roof undisturbed. 8 minutes left… And one gigantic heat signature, at the very first floor. There are 3 red ring fuckers left lined up in a straight line, all shooting fire, energy beams and electricity at Golem, who is shielding Coop and Visi. With his body. He’s holding on for dear life. To protect them.

BOOOOMMMM. Mecha Man charges directly into the 3 red ring fuckers straight through the building. Alll 3 of them go flying across the room, eventually flying out of the building itself. The energy and flames cease, Golem is there standing tall, borderline unconscious. Mecha Man gets out the suit to check on his 3 teammates.

“Holy shit, is everyone good ? Hey Golem, Visi, Coop Fuckin talk to me”.

“Yeah we’re okay”. says Visi coughing. “All good. The big guy stepped in front of us to shield us from ranged energy attacks.”

“We’re fine.. just fucking exhausted”. Says Coop, who looks like she’s about to faint.

“Thank god. Sorry I’m late, you guys were kinda far.” “Golem?” Says Mecha Man.

Golem didn’t talk but nods his head up and down slowly. It seems like he might run out of energy or just fucking crumble if he had taken any more damage. Thankfully he was okay, that’s all that mattered.

“Okayyy. I’m not gonna question why you’re not talking. I’m glad you’re good bud”. said Mecha Man. He patted him on the shoulder. Courtney and Coop smiled weakly at each other. Then….

Electricity, Fire and Green Energy emerges from the smoke and rubble and is aimed at Mecha man.

“Rob- Mecha Man get down!” Says Visi with extreme concern.

“Shit, they’re still up”. says Mecha Man who managed to nearly escape the three beams.

“Mal, beach team how’s it looking over there” He switches to team comms.

“Everyone’s here…We’re almost…. Done”. (Sigh) “Fuckin aliens”. says Mal. She’s extremely tired. “No ETA, we’ll be on your position soon”.

“And stay down bitch”. says Prism while coughing and gasping for air. “Robert hows the bomb…situation over there? Yall good?”

“Fuck. The bomb.” Mecha Man sighed. “Just…get here quick”. He cuts the call. It’s time to focus.

Mecha Man stands up after avoiding the energy beams. Checks his mini arm terminal to see the timer he set for the bomb. “ok, gotta take down 3 super powered shit bags and there’s 4 minutes left before the bomb goes off… great”.

“Hey Visi can yo-“ Mecha Man looks to the side to see if Visi had enough stamina to fight, but he didn’t have time to finish asking as she was already kneeling by his side, her hand on his shoulder, tired and gasping for air, focused on fighting side by side with him. Leaving Robert to fight these 3 asshats alone ? Not a fucking chance in hell.

“Yea… I’m here. Says Visi, smiling directly at him. “Let’s kick their ass”.

With Golem and Coop both unconscious and completely exhausted, that left only Visi and Mecha Man to finish this.

Though concerned, Robert smiles. It’s the final hurdle. Once this was over, Z-team would have saved damn near the entire city and gotten extreme praise for the hard work they’d done that day, Maybe even get the week off if they were lucky. Everything would be okay… or so they thought.

Robert and Visi are both locked and loaded. Together they could do anything.

Robert quickly gets back in the mech suit, while Visi gets behind him, preparing to hold her breath for just a little bit to catch atleast one of these guys off guard and KO them. The 3 goons emerge rubble injured, but pissed and 2 of them immediately rush Mecha Man.

The goons weren’t as dumb as they looked. One stood back from afar to shoot their ranged energy attack, while the other 2 got up close to finish this fight as fast as they could. If this were a solo fight, Mecha man would definitely struggle here. Luckily for him he had an ace in hole. An Invisible badass girlfriend.

Mecha Man pulls a shield out to block the incoming damage, and Visi instantly knew what she had to do once she saw the enemies position. She goes invisible and quickly moved past the 2 rushing MM, gets to the ranged attacker, jumps off the wall and kicks the shit out of them with everything she had left in the tank. The energy beams stop and the 1st goon is down, Visi reappears and punches him hard twice in the face, just to make sure he’s knocked out. She quickly pulls out her inhaler and applies the medicine, trying to catch her breath.

Robert has a shield in one hand and an energy sword in the other, fending off 2 enemies at once. He attacks the electric goon with the sword to keep him at bay, while the fire goon is blasting immense flames at his shield close range. The Electric goon is preparing to shoot out a ton of energy at Robert, who wouldn’t be able to dodge it, so he swiftly rotates the suit to switch hand positions. Blocking the electricity and using his sword to slice the hands off the Fire goon.

Robert winces and says: “Yikes, that’s..sorry”. He gets a quick flashback of doing something similar to Flambae that one time and quickly refocuses on the Electric goon.

The fire goon screams out in agony. “FUCKKK. MY FUCKING HANDS AHHHHHH YOU FUCKING BASTARD!” Before losing consciousness, the fire goon uses all the strength they have left to cauterize their wounds by heating up their body, determined to stay in the fight off pure rage alone. Attacking out of the mouth, nose, ears and turning themselves into a gigantic fire bomb if they had to… Scary.

Visi appears in front of them and knocks them out with a strong punch to the face. She hit them with all the strength she had left. Right hand slightly stinging from the heat. Right arm pulsing from the pain of overuse and muscle fatigue.
“Stay down…fucker”. she says exhausted, holding her arm and falling to the ground.

Robert successfully blocks the electricity with the shield, drops the sword and releases a strong cable-like whip with his free hand. He grabs the last enemy and throws him around and out the building. He went quite the distance. Definitely not getting up after that.

“Thank fuck” says Mecha Man. “Those guys were insane”. He checks on Visi to see her on the ground, exhausted but breathing. He looks back on his arm terminal to see the time on the bomb.

1 minute left.

“Shit” He says, He quickly flies out the building the same way he came in and goes goes upward to the roof, assessing the bomb to see what he could do.

After quickly scanning the bomb, he successfully hacks the interface, like what he does back at the office, only to find out 2 pieces of critical information. The blast radius is huge, and it has some kind of weird mechanism coded into it.

The timer would’ve never stopped regardless of any interference, and once it reached zero, it was over.

The bomb can’t be stopped.

Robert sees a quick flash of what happened at shrouds warehouse earlier that year. The same thing was happening again. Different circumstances sure but he didn’t know if he’d make it out of this one, he got lucky once…maybe the family tradition was going to continue after all… But there was no time to think, only people to save.

Determined, he grabs the bomb and flies into sky as fast as he can. He starts seeing the flashbacks again. First one of him killing shroud, fighting with the Z team at the sardine, chase, his father, blazer, beef, Galen, the hero leaderboards with his team approaching the top, him in the Mecha man suit again, and finally one of Courtney. The moment where she thanked him after assisting her with capturing thundercuck. The scene plays in his mind.

“Thanks” says Courtney.

Robert smiles, open his eyes to see the beautiful night sky and says:

“Of course”.

Everything goes white. The bomb goes off, high in the sky. Robert had diverted all the suit’s energy into the thrusters. Everyone is safe.

 

The rest of the Z-Team finally portals through to Mecha Mans location. Mal immediately collapses on the ground in front of the building.

There’s a moment of silence. Confused, Mal looked at her team, then followed their eyes into the sky.

“No”. Says Mal with a terrified expression. As the explosion fades. They see Mecha man quickly falling out the sky with a smoke trail. All of them completely stunned… and scared.

“NO!” Says Flambae Angrily with slight tears in his eyes. He and Sonar Immediately act on instinct and fly toward Roberts impact.

“Shit” says Prism. “Ok look, those two will handle Robert, hopefully he’s okay… Let’s… go get Golem, Coop and Visi outta there, as well as anyone else that needs to be helped”.

“Yeah,(sniffle) you’re right”. says Waterboy with tears rolling down his face.

Flambae and Sonar find Robert in a big ass crater. The suit took heavy damage, but it’s not completely destroyed, the lights of the visor are still lit up. Flickering on and off. They press the emergency cockpit release button and find Robert unconscious. Face and forehead bruised, but slowly breathing.

He didn’t die. He’s gonna be okay. Hopefully.

“Jesus Christ thank fuck”. says Flambae smiling. Sonar Smiles at Flambae, then at Robert with some small tears in his transformed bat eyes.

Robert, The 3 bomb squad heroes who were damn near unconscious, as well as the injured criminals in the building were taken to the hospital. There were police, sirens, news vans and helicopters everywhere on the scene.

The day had been saved, an extremely fucking tiresome day. But it was stellar work, the Z-team were one of the best hero teams LA has had in years. Prism called Mandy and caught her up to speed before everyone headed home to get some very much needed rest.

“Jesus… okay”. Said Mandy on the phone. “I’ll handle the paperwork bullshit and all the other little things, you guys just…go get some rest. I’ll swing by the hospital tomorrow and catch up with everyone soon”. “You guys did great, thank you. Tell the team I said have a good night.”

The next day arrives as Visi wakes up at the hospital. It’s 2pm in the afternoon. She was sharing a room with coop, who had already woken up 2 hours earlier. They were both dressed in hospital gowns with their clothes and accessories sitting neatly on a desk next to each other across the room.

“Mm…Damn I have a fucking headache”. says Visi struggling to open her eyes and reaching out to hold her right arm, which is still sore. “Ouch, where the.. hell am I ?”

“There she is”. said Coop. “Good.” “Im glad you’re awake. You’re in a hospital, recovering from the mission yesterday”.

“Right.. the mission… how’d it go ?” Visi asks with her eyes barely open. She’s still in the process of actually waking up. She usually wakes up beside Robert in the morning, so she feels kinda off, when she notices he’s not next to her, not even in the same room.

“I’d…say it went well…” coop says with a slightly sad expression. Punch up called earlier to update and check on us. The rest of the team, plus Mandy will come by a little later together to see how we’re doing. They completed their missions, and Robert… handled the bomb situation.” “So yeah… well”.

“Just well ?” Says Visi with a a little chuckle. “Sounds fuckin great to me. Another Z team win, you loveee to see it. Can’t fuckin wait to get outta here”.

“…Yeah” Says coop.

There’s a slight pause, and awkwardness in the air, the clock in the hospital is ticking, annoyingly so.

“Um-“ says coop, before Visi also starts talking at the time cutting her off.

“Oh Hey where’s Golem ? He good ? Dude is a fucking beast for protecting us against those red ring assholes”.

“He’s… Recovering”. Says Coop. The doctors put him in a type of lab room close by. You can kinda see it over there through that window. They aren’t magicians so they can’t exactly help him heal but, he’s slowly gaining his usual brownish color back. He’s kind of grayish right now but, I think he’ll be fine”.

“Cool.” Says Visi with a soft smile. “I’ll have to get the big guy a gift or something once he’s back to normal”.

There’s another slight pause with a hint of awkwardness. Coop knows something and is… struggling to say it.

But she has to say it.

“Courtney”. Says Coop. “Robert is… here also”.

Visi’s slight smile instantly fades, her eyes get wide and heart suddenly drops into her stomach. She gains a worried expression instead.

“What ?” She’s says concerned. “I-I thought he handled the bomb?” “He’s fine right?”

“He did. But according to punch up…when Malevola teleported everyone to our location, he was in the sky when…the bomb exploded.” “He couldn’t… he couldn’t defuse it so instead…”

Visi starts to feel tears well up in her eyes. Not only because of her fear of Roberts well being, but also because… this is the 2nd time. The 2nd time Mecha Man is injured by a bomb, the first time being her doing, which haunted her every single day of her life after it happened. The augment on her abdomen is a painful reminder that before she met Robert, she was a villain. A villain who ended Mecha Man’s career and put him in a coma. Sure falling in love with Robert was great, but she never stopped feeling terrible about it. And she can’t help but feel guilty hearing these words.

Visi is full on crying now, she’s using her left hand trying to wipe the tears away, but they won’t stop.

“Is… he okay”? She says sobbing.

“I-I don’t know his condition”. She says with a sad expression and small tears running down her face. “Ever since I’ve been awake no doctors have shown up. I’m only relaying to you what Punch up told me. After Flambae and Sonar got him to a hospital there’s… been no updates”.

“Fuck”. “FUCK!” she’s says while still weeping. Heartbroken, she lays down and turns to the side of her hospital bed, away from coop. She feels absolutely terrible, worried and guilty, just pure sadness washing over her like the waves on a beach.

Coop gets out of her bed and starts walking toward Courtney’s with the goal of comforting her anyway she can. She pulls up a chair and puts her hand softly on Courtney’s leg.

“He’s alive”. Says Coop. “He’s strong. One of the strongest guys we know right ? He got through this once before. Whatever his condition, he will get through it again”.

Janelle reaches for Courtney’s hand. Courtney still weeping, tightly grabs her hand back. Courtney doesn’t say anything but deep down she knew Janelle was right, Robert was tough, tougher than anyone else on the fucking planet. Her words made her feel a tiny bit better. Despite being a weirdo who put her own blood on her tacos, Janelle was a great person. And a great hero.

Suddenly someone knocks on the door, it’s a female doctor, ready to give updates on what’s going on. There’d been a lot of commotion in the hospital, so it took longer than normal to see the girls. They’re both awake now to hear everything so, that’s a plus.

“(Sniffle) Come in”. Says Coop.

“Hello you guys, sorry for the delay there’s a lot going on in the building right now”. “I have updates on your injuries. Thankfully there’s nothing major going on for either of you, you two are clear to leave later today or stay an extra day if you’d like.”

“Okay.. thank you”. says coop while still holding Courtney’s hand. “Please continue”.

“Miss Janelle you have 4 bruises. One on your left leg, right arm, your right shoulder and your ribcage.” Nothings broken or in a dangerous state, as long as you get proper rest and take pain medication you’ll be fine”.

“Miss Courtney, you have a mild concussion. As well as bruises on your left thigh, ribcage and left arm. Your right hand has slight burns near the knuckles and your right arm has a muscle contusion.” “Honestly you have more of a reason to stay an extra day if you want, but again with rest, time and pain medication. You should be okay.”

“(Sniffle) where’s Robert ? What’s… his condition?” Says Courtney.

“Robert ? Says the doctor. “Who?”-

“Fucking Mecha Man!, he was injured and sent here along with the 3 of us!” “Is he… doing okay?”

“She’s his girlfriend” says coop. “He’s my boss…If you know anything please tell us, it’s of upmost importance”.

“…yes” the doctor says with a troubled expression on her face, eyes looking downward.

Courtney notices this and her heart drops.

“We do have an update on Mecha Man. Miss Courtney is the girlfriend right ? Please follow me, he’s in the room above this one on the 3rd floor.” “We’re only allowing one person into the room at the moment”.

Courtney gets out the bed like she doesn’t have any injuries and let’s go of Janelle’s hand. She’s terrified of the state he could be in, but she needs to make sure that he’s okay. She can’t lose the one person that makes her life complete. She can’t.

“I’ll see you in a bit”. she tells Janelle.

——————

“Here’s the room,” says the doctor.

Courtney wipes the tears from her eyes and breaths in and out slowly. Her heart is racing. She braces herself and is praying that Roberts condition isn’t anything too serious.

They enter the room to see Robert, eyes closed, face bruised, hooked up to the heart rate monitor, IVs injected in his left arm, and bandages covering his forehead. Courtney almost breaks down immediately seeing him in this state, but she barely pulls it together walking closer and closer to him, pulling up a seat next to him.

“He’s… seen better days”. says the doctor. “Along with a few bruises on his body, the main cause for concern is… his brain. There was a lot of force applied to the head area. The explosion and crash landing really did a number on him”.

Courtney can’t handle it anymore… she starts weeping immediately hearing those words, not being able to contain the pain of seeing her soulmate injured to this degree. Her face red, buried in both hands, her whole body shaking trying to resist the urge to just start screaming and sobbing. The doctor has tears in her eyes as well, and starts rubbing Courtney’s back slowly, in an up and down motion as to try and comfort her.

“Right now he’s in a coma, intense headaches are a guarantee, and there’s a possibility he has amnesia. Says the doctor. “We don’t know how severe it is or how long he’ll be unconscious for, it’ll take more time to figure out.”

Courtney says nothing. The doctor figures it’s best to just leave them alone.

“I hope everything ends up okay” says the doctor As she leaves the room.

The sound of the room goes quiet with nothing but sniffles and the heart rate monitor beeping. Courtney gets up and crawls into Robert’s bed next to him, there’s barely enough room. All she wants to do is be next to him. For him to wake up. For him to be safe. She uses her injured right arm to caress his face.
Her face nuzzling his.

“Please… please wake up soon…” says Courtney.

The Z team, Mandy and Chase finally arrive at the hospital some time later. They check in on and comfort Janelle, who’s crying for Courtney and Robert. They then check on golem who will recover in due time, and one by one they check on Roberts room. They see Courtney sleeping, hugging Roberts side with tears drying on her face. The doctor informs everyone what’s going on injury wise for both Courtney and Robert.

They all say something separately as the doctor can’t let everyone in at the same time.

Chase : “Get well soon… fucker” he says with one tear going down his face. “I’ll take care of beef while you… while you heal up…”

Mandy says nothing when she sees them. With tears in her eyes, she grabs both their hands slowly and with caution. She hopes they recover soon.

Janelle: …“Feel better soon Robert”

Flambae says nothing when he sees them, he has 1 tear dropping down his face as he leaves the room.

Sonar: “Keep fighting Robbie”

Prism brought some type of light sphere device. Whenever the room gets dark there are words showing on the ceiling. It says “we love you guys, get better soon,
⁃ Z-team”

Punch up: “Feel better lads”

Phenomaman: “I sincerely hope that everything turns out okay” he flies out the room depressed.

Waterboy: “I hope, e-everything turns out okay”

Last but not least is Mal

“Courtney.. Robert…I’m sorry I-…. please feel better soon” she wipes tears from her eyes and leaves her sword in the room. Out of everyone she feels partly responsible for the situation they now face. Before she leaves she mumbles to herself: “If only I-…” and leaves.

———————

2 weeks have gone by. Robert was still in a coma, Golem got cleared to leave the hospital and the Z team were back in action, with a fill in dispatcher trying to guide them. Morale was low, there was no more jokes on comms, performance was good but there were a couple of failed missions and missed calls than usual. Malevola doing the worst, trying to focus on only using her portal powers for the time being. The team would randomly check in on Robert after shifts to see how he was doing, and to talk with Courtney.

Courtney never left the hospital despite feeling better than she did 2 weeks ago. She has her right hand wrapped in bandages and has been taking care of and watching over Robert. Whispering fun memories to while smiling and laying down next to him. She was still heartbroken but the tears seem to have stopped. She had to be strong so Robert wouldn’t see her crying when he woke up. In the 3 months after the Red Ring fight they had a ton of fun, going to the movies together, saving people at work, kicking ass, staying at home cracking jokes, drinking at the bar together with the Z team, Having sex damn near all the time, it was the happiest both of them had been in their entire lives. After all, both of them had been alone for the majority it.

Then Chase arrives at the hospital. He’s been feeling down but still doing his best at dispatching. After his shift was over he wanted to check in on Robert.

“Hey Visi, can I come in ?” He asks while knocking on the hospital room door.

“Hey old man” Visi says as she opens up the door. “I’m glad you’re here”

Chase smiles and enters the room. He pulls up a chair and just starts yapping to Courtney about work, asking for updates on Robert, giving her updates on Z team etc.

“Tell them I said sorry” said Courtney. “I can’t leave him alone” “I can’t-“

“They understand, don’t worry about it” Chase says with his hand on her shoulder.

After a couple more minutes of talking, Robert starts making noises. Slight grunts like he was in pain but also like he was waking up after a good ass nap. Courtney and Chase both feel their heart drop and looked at each other, this was the first time Roberts made any noises, they get excited as Robert might finally be waking up soon. In their excitement they also feel nervousness. They say nothing and just wait, while Courtney is sitting in a chair beside his bed, holding his hand.

After a couple minutes, Robert’s eyes slowly open. He’s awake.

“Your…Thank fuck… thank… god you’re awake you asshole..” Courtney says bawling her eyes out with both hands shaking, holding Roberts.

“Bout… goddamn time you fucker“ says Chase smiling with tears running down his face. “You know how worried you had us ? I oughta knock your ass back out for that shit.”

Confused, Robert takes a look at his surroundings, gifts all around him, 2 people crying their eyes out in front of him while he’s laying down in a hospital bed. The TV in the room is on but at low volume, curtains open but it’s very gray outside like it was just raining. It’s slightly dark inside, so as he looked up, he saw Prisms message using her light sphere device.

“Hey so… could you let go of my hand ? It feels like you’re about to rip the entire thing off” Robert says. Courtney doesn’t let go but releases the insanely tight grip she had on it.

She chuckles, using her right hand to wipe off the tears on her face. “Oh shit…Sorry” she says while smiling.

“(Sniffle) I’ll… leave you two be for a bit, I’m gonna go get the doctor” says Chase who can’t stop smiling. He leaves the room.

There’s an awkward pause. Courtney can’t stop staring at him. He’s looking around the room while she just stares at him. He’s okay. 2 weeks is a pretty long time. She’s so happy he’s okay. Things can finally go back to how they were.

Courtney asks him a question.

“Hey, how you feeling? Better”?

“I… don’t even know what happened for me to be in here. I mean I feel okay, head hurts a little but… can I just say.. something?”

Chapter 1: “Um… who are you?”

Chapter 2

Notes:

CHAPTER 2! This one’s a bit shorter than chapter 1 but I hope whoever’s reading enjoys it. More chapters are on the way!

Sorry for any bad grammar 😭

*The name of the chapter is always revealed at the end*

“….Huh?” Courtney says worriedly, looking confused.

Her heart was just starting to calm down after being excited to see Robert up again, just for it to race again once those horrifying words came out of his mouth. She stays silent for a moment, actually processes what Robert just said, then responds.

“That’s- not funny Robert… It’s me, Courtney”.

Her grip on his hand gets tighter again. She’s anxious. And scared…

Robert notices the grip on his hand getting tighter again. His hand is starting to get a bit uncomfortable but he just ignores it.

“Um..I’m sorry Courtney, no offense but I…don’t know who you are”. He says with a kind voice and straight face.

Courtney’s heart drops. She can feel the tears welling up from her eyes, he isn’t joking around. The doctors always said it was a possibility but they could never be 100% sure until he woke up. During those 2 weeks after the incident, Robert possibly having amnesia was almost disregarded in her mind. Courtney just wanted Robert to wake up and be her special person again, so they could go home, tease each other, smile, cuddle and watch trashy reality shows they hated on TV while eating their favorite pizza. That life they shared for a while was perfect. She finally, finally felt truly happy.

Now, that life seemed like it was disappearing, right before her eyes.

For a moment Courtney says nothing. Her body starts shaking slightly with tears coming out her eyes. She lets go of Robert’s hand and starts wiping her tears away, but they won’t stop. Robert forgetting who she is isn’t right. This is wrong. This was never suppose to happen. After everything that happened between them ? All the ups and downs, the chaos, the love. Why was this happening?

“How…can you just…forget?” she says with a soft but slightly trembling voice. She’s trying to keep it together, but it’s impossible. She looks up at Robert.

“After everything we went through ? After everything I put you through.. and despite that you-“

She couldn’t finish her sentence. At this point, her hand wrap she was wearing became damp from how many times she was wiping tears off her face.

Robert looked sad and slightly confused at the same time. He didn’t know this woman but something in his just chest became, uncomfortable. He didn’t know what emotion he was feeling seeing her cry, but It felt… wrong.

“I-I’m Sorry”. Robert says softly with a concerned expression.

Chase and the female doctor that’s been taking care of Robert enter the room. Chase entered with a smile on his face but it vanished almost immediately to a face of concern after seeing Courtney crying.

“Visi ?” He said. “What happened ?”

Upon entering the room and seeing Courtney crying, the doctor had an idea as to what was happening.

“He.. doesn’t remember” says Courtney sniffing.

Chase’s heart drops. The look on his face was a terrified expression. He looks directly at Robert.

“What?” He says softly with a concerned tone. He goes around the bed, sits back down on his chair and intends to ask Robert a question. But before he can, Robert shakes his head slowly left and right. Robert saw Chase and the doctor walk in, He didn’t have a clue on who they were. There was… no need to ask.

Chase sees the head motion, slowly looks away from Robert, and looks down. Chase thought he’d be happy when he came back from getting the doctor. Now he was depressed with an uneasy feeling in his chest, hands slightly shaking. There’s an awkward pause before the doctor finally says something.

“Miss Courtney and Mr.Chase, now that Robert is awake we need to examine and ask him a couple questions. Make sure he’s healthy both physically and…..” she doesn’t finish her sentence. “You’re free to wait in the lobby while we do our tests, but we do need to clear the room and start immediately.”

There’s a moment of silence and then Chase speaks. “…Sure”. He stands up, and places his hand on Courtney’s shoulder.

“Visi I…I know this tough, but we need to let the doctors do their jobs. Maybe he’ll… he’ll remember something from the tests”. He says with an optimistic tone. Courtney sniffles and doesn’t respond.

Robert’s eyes slowly look downwards after hearing chase’s words. It’s as if he’s dissapointed in himself for not knowing these people. Chase speaks again.

“Regardless… we gotta go, we’ll see him again in a bit”. As Chase is walking away he slightly smiles at Robert.

Courtney slowly stands up and they both walk towards the door. Before she leaves she gets one last look at Robert. Robert notices and looks at her as well. For him, this moment lasted an eternity. There’s something about this girl that he can’t put his finger on. Why does his heart, break looking at her ?

Courtney and Chase leave the room, leaving only the doctor left. She grabs the phone that’s in the room and notifies some other doctors that Mecha Man is awake and needs to be examined. Robert hears the call and thinks to himself…

“Mecha.. man ? Does she mean me ?”

The doctor hangs up and sits in a chair right beside Robert and starts talking to him.

“Hello, I’m Dr.Lee. I’m sure you’re a bit rattled right now after waking up so let me catch you up to speed. After a dangerous incident, you were unfortunately injured and left in a coma for 2 weeks.”

“Do you… remember anything about that incident ?”

“No.. not at all”. He says with a disappointed look on his face. “Feels like I just woke up from one of the best naps I’ve ever had to be completely honest with you”.

Dr. Lee chuckles a bit and says. “Yeah, being out for 2 weeks will do that to you”.

Her small smile disappears.

“So… unfortunately, based on the fact that you don’t remember the incident or those people who were in the room earlier it.. would seem that you have-“

“Amnesia”. Robert says cutting her off. There’s a slight pause then he speaks again. “Yeah that… that’s the only thing that makes sense right now”. He says with a slightly sad look on his face.

“Right.” Says Dr. Lee. “I know that isn’t the best news but, it seems it isn’t as severe as some other cases I’ve witnessed with other patients. I’m just guessing here as, we haven’t done any brain scans or anything yet, but you might be able to recover quickly. A certain phrase, person or familiar event might help you to remember some of your memories.

“That adds up”. says Robert. He suddenly tries to lift his body in an upward position after he’s been lying down for a while and grunts loudly. His body still hadn’t recovered from the other injuries he had since the incident.

“Ok ow, not…doing that again”.

“Give it a bit more time”. Says Dr. Lee “Compared to your brain, your other injuries were minor”.

Suddenly there’s someone knocking on the door. It’s the other doctors that were called earlier.

“Come in”. Says Dr. Lee. It’s 1 doctor and 1 nurse who enter the room.

“We’re here with the equipment”. Says the Nurse. “We’re good to go with the examination whenever you’re ready”.

“Are you ready?” Says Dr. Lee

Robert takes a slow breath before he answers.

“Yeah let’s do it… well actually, there’s one thing I wanted to ask you”.

“Ask away”. Says Dr. Lee.

“Courtney…the woman who was here earlier, she called me Robert so I’m guessing that’s my name. But earlier you called me something else. So who or what exactly is a-”

 

Chapter 2: “Mecha…Man ?”

Chapter 3

Notes:

Chapter 3! Honestly this might be my favorite chapter so far. Hope whoever’s reading this enjoys it! More chapters on the way. Apologies for any grammar mistakes!

*this chapter doesn’t have much Invisimech content but expect that to change chap 4 and onward.

* as always, the chapter name is at the end. Do I have to keep putting this here every time ? Idk. I just think putting the chapter name at the end is cool lol

“Well, Mecha Man is a super hero”. “You’re him.” Says Dr. Lee.

Robert’s eyes grow wide.

“That’s..actually why you’re in here. You got injured by sacrificing yourself.. to save others”.

“Hold on, wait. Really ? A super hero ?” Robert says in an exciting tone. He’s got a small smile on his face. That part about sacrificing himself went in his left ear and out the other. There’s a slight pause, then he speaks again.

“Mecha Man huh ? The name kinda sucks but…yeah. Okay, Cool. What’re my powers ? Do I control metal or something ?”

Dr. Lee and her 2 colleagues start chuckling a bit, then Dr Lee speaks.

“No powers, actually. You fly around in a big ole mech suit kicking villain ass alllll over LA.”

Robert is a bit disappointed hearing that he has no powers, but the thought of him flying around in a robot suit saving people was also pretty damn cool.

“Here let me explain”. Says Dr. Lee.

“So, there’s been a Mecha Man protecting LA for decades now. First, it was Mecha Man ‘Prime’ your grandfather. Then, it was Mecha Man ‘Astral’ which was your dad, And next in line was you. Mecha Man ‘Blue’. You in particular have been saving people here for 15 years now..”

Dr. Lee seems very knowledgeable about Mecha Man’s Legacy. Maybe that’s why she was assigned as his doctor.

Robert’s face suddenly goes from smiles to kind of a straight face. There’s still a slight grin, but he realizes that he’s part of something big. A legacy of superheroes ? And he’s been serving the people of LA for 15 years? This was crazy, he’s the real deal. Not something he can take lightly. Even though he just woke up and remembers nothing, suddenly there’s this, weight, that falls upon him.

“Wow. Okay. Holy shit. That’s… A lot”. Says Robert.

“Yeah man, you’re pretty much a living legend. Says the nurse. “It’s an honor to help you heal up and stuff.”

Robert smiles at the nurse.

“So.. my Dad, and my Grandpa. Are they- ?”

“Yeah…they are”. says Dr. Lee regrettably.

“Oh. I…wonder what they were like”. Robert says as with a slightly sad expression on his face. Ever since he’s woken up there’s been a bit of disappointment within himself for not remembering these obviously important people in his life. Not like he could help that but, he still feels guilty about it.
__________

2 days go by, and the examination had finally finished. Besides the amnesia, his body injuries were healing and his mental state seemed normal. During the examination, the only other thing he learned was his full name. Robert Robertson III.

Dr. Lee and her 2 colleagues who treated him didn’t know this information. It came from the Hospital CEO, who told him privately. The CEO and the previous Mecha man, Astral, were acquaintances in the past. Robert couldn’t believe his name though. He thought to himself that, maybe he was bullied growing up with a name that ridiculous. But as ridiculous as it was, he liked it.

Chase and Visi left the hospital the day Robert woke up, as the doctors told them that the exam would take extra time. They wanted to be extra thorough with Robert, leaving no stones unturned with his physical and mental health. Thankfully, Robert was in the clear to leave, and ready to start his life anew. Robert arrived at the hospital 2 weeks ago with his hero suit on, so the hospital supplied him with a plain white shirt, some black jeans and some old sneakers. He looked kinda funny, but he was grateful that he didn’t have to walk around with the suit on and draw attention to himself. If he was really as legendary as Dr. Lee said, all that attention would’ve been… uncomfortable.

With his car and damaged mech suit left at SDN, unknowingly to him, he figured he could try to call someone to come get him, to which he used the hospital phone and called Chase. Robert didn’t know who this was but it was the only emergency contact that was in his records. When Robert first started at SDN and met Chase again, he immediately made sure to put his number on important documents, he was like his big brother, they weren’t going to lose contact with each other ever again.

“Hello.” Said Chase as he answered his phone. He didn’t recognize the hospital phone number.

“Hey uh… Chase. It’s me, Robert Robertson, calling from the hospital…”. Robert winced, then continued to talk.

“So, you’re…my only emergency contact here and this is gonna sound weird I mean… I don’t even know your situation, or where I live for that matter…but do you… have a car…or something to maybe come and get… me? The doctors finished my examination so..thought I’d ask”.

Robert is extremely nervous while talking to Chase. I mean asking some guy he didn’t even know to come and get him ? What if this contact didn’t even have a car ? Asking this of Chase was very embarrassing for him, to say the least. But it was this or walking to…who knows where.

“Nope, no car. See ya”. said Chase on the phone. He hung up.

“Okayyy. That’s… (sigh) Lovely”.

Robert pinches the bridge of his nose and sat down on one of the chairs in the lobby, dreading the fact that he had no where to go, and even if he did he’d have to walk there. Even so, he couldn’t stay at the hospital forever, maybe there was a hotel or something nearby, except… Robert had no money. His wallet, phone and keys, were all in his locker at SDN, so he wouldn’t be able to pay for it.

Suddenly someone appears in the seat next to Robert. Then taps him on the shoulder. Robert looks to the right.

“Well well well, look at this fucker.” “All healed up huh”. Says Chase who flew to the hospital at light speed using a combination of his super speed and Mandy’s amulet.

3 months had passed since the Red Ring incident, but there was still no solution found to keep Chase from dying, so he still had Mandy’s amulet on.

“Hey wait, you’re the guy that was in my room like 2 days ago”. Robert says with a smile.

“Look at you remembering shit, there might be hope for you after all fucker”. Chase says with a smile. “Come on, I’ll take care of you for a bit, get you back up to speed, show you where you live and.. all that extra bullshit”.

Robert is confused why this old blonde guy with a hero costume on is calling him a fucker and insulting him so many times, but he feels a familial energy around him so, he doesn’t mind it much.

“Yeah okay sure. Thank You”. Robert says sincerely, with a soft smile on his face. Chase starts slightly shaking and quickly hugs Robert. It’s firm but loving, Robert is a bit surprised but hugs him back on instinct. The brotherly hug lasts for about 6 seconds before Chase lets go.

“Alright enough with the sappy shit, let’s go.” Chase lifts Robert off his feet and starts quickly levitating out the lobby.

“Woah wait a minute, what the fuck is happening ?” Says Robert slightly concerned.

They exit the hospital and start zooming into the sky. Robert is stunned. He can’t believe what’s happening right now.

“Woah holy shit, you can fly!?” “This is insane”. Robert says. Chase smiles while doing all types of tricks and swirls in the air. They’re both very much enjoying this. Chase stops midair and asks Robert a question.

“Hungry?” Says Chase.

“Starving”. Says Robert with a grin.

Chase and Robert once again speed off into the distance. They pick up 2 medium pizzas from a pizza shop and Chase takes Robert to a roof of one of the tallest buildings in LA. The view is fucking incredible. They get comfortable on the edge of the building, open their pizza boxes and start eating and talking.

“So… I forgot to ask you this but.. what’s your name ?” Says Robert while chewing on his pizza.

“I’m Chase fucker.” “I thought you started remembering shit already”.

Robert stops chewing and realizes who hung up on him like 15 mins ago. He starts laughing a bit.

“Wait, you’re Chase ? Sorry. I’m such a dumbass, I didn’t realize the voice on the phone was yours”. Robert eats a bite of his pizza slice, swallows it, then continues speaking. “It was like I didn’t need to question anything once you helped me out”.

Chase smiles hearing this then responds.

“Yup now you know”. “By the way I do have a car, I was just fucking with you. Plus flying is way cooler.” Robert laughs.

“Flying is indeed cooler. Very true”.

They both continue to eat a bit, then conversation resumes.

“So what’s our relationship, close friends?” Says Robert.

“Mm, more like brothers”. Chase says looking into the distance and elbowing Robert in his arm softly.

Robert obviously noticed they aren’t blood related due to the differences in their skin color, but he understood what Chase meant immediately. They had to have grown up together or… something along those lines. Been friends so long that they developed an unbreakable bond. That type of brother. Robert chuckles a bit, then says.

“Yeah.” Robert smiles. “That adds up”.

After finishing his pizza, Robert decides to probe more answers out of Chase, he seemed like he wouldn’t mind answering questions anyway, Robert thought to himself.

“Sooo, my dad. Did you know him ? Could you tell me what he’s like ?.. or was.. like. After the doctor told me that I’m Mecha man and that I come from a legacy of heroes, it’s kinda been on my mind.”

Chase starts talking.

“Robbie Robertson II, Mecha Man ‘Astral’. He was a good guy, with kind of a dickish personality. He founded the superhero group the ‘Brave Brigades’. Went around saving folks, had you, was a bit of a science nerd that made science shit. Then he died.”

Robert Responds. “Okay. Not exactly inspiring but, cool.”

“To tell you the honest truth, based on what you told me in the past, he wasn’t around you much. He was a busy guy. I was actually your babysitter when you were a kid, since your dad wasn’t around. Then I joined the Brave Brigade as the speedster hero Track Star, and that’s why we became close. After that your dad died and you became Mecha Man at a young age and stopped talking to me for 15 years… fucker.”

“…Got it”. And I’m sorry… about that.. I guess. Why’d I do that ?” Robert asked sincerely.

“You said you weren’t in the right headspace after your dad died. I get it, It’s all water under the bridge. We’re back again and you weren’t in a coma for more than a month this time so, yeah. It’s fine.”

“Wait… I was in a coma before this recent coma ? Jesus christ is my life just terrible ?” Robert says with a grin on his face and a surprised voice.

Chase laughs then responds. “Yup. you’re a piece of shit ragdoll who’s always gettin hurt”. There’s a pause, then Chase continues.

“But there’s one thing I forgot to tell you. Your dad loved you..” says Chase. “We all do”.

Robert smiles. Then he says “wait who’s we”?

“Everybody who works at SDN Torrance, that includes the team of evil superhero fuckers. The Z- team”. Says Chase.

Robert laughs and says “The Z- team huh ? Actually they sent me a light sphere show thingy while I was in the hospital, along with a bunch of other extremely heartwarming messages. Would “evil” superheroes do that ?” Robert asked with a grin on his face knowing that these people were probably the nicest people he’s ever known.

“Yup.” Says Chase.

Robert Laughs and shakes his head a bit.

“Sure. By the way, whats SDN mean”.

“Superhero Dispatch Network”. Says Chase. “That’s where you worked at after losing your Mecha Man suit and goin into your first coma. In exchange for fixing up your suit, we at SDN had you dispatch ex villains in the field with the hope of rehabilitating them into proper heroes. You were pretty good at it.”

“Tomorrow if you’re interested I’ll set things up so you can see the Z- team again. Obviously they’ve been worried about you. We might even get you back dispatching if you want”.

“Oh. Uh I don’t know yet… to be completely honest. Shouldn’t I be getting back to hero work or.. something ? My suit works yeah?” Robert Asks.

“That’s… gonna take a bit of time champ”. Says Chase. “It got damaged again and you’d have to relearn how to use the shit. Just take it slow for right now, no need to rush”.

“Yeah. Makes sense” Robert says in low disappointed tone.

“Alright. You got food and some answers for your questions. Ready to see what kinda shithole you living in ?”

“Shithole ? Please tell me it’s not an actual shithole”.
__________

They both arrive at Robert’s apartment. Chase grabs the spare key from under the mat and unlocks the door.

“Ok that’s… not safe”. Says Robert.

“You’re right, I don’t know why your dumbass leaves it there”. Says Chase.

They go in and his apartment is indeed, a shithole. Robert explores the place and is immensely disappointed.

“What the fuck is this Chase?” Says Robert. “The only shit in here is a bunch of lamps, a soggy couch and a…plastic chair”.

Chase starts laughing. “Told you your place was a shithole. I’m sure you spent every last dime you had fixing up that Mecha man suit everytime it got damaged. Didn’t have money for shit else.”

Robert rolled his eyes.

“No bed either ? Great.”

“Oh yeah, you got a dog too.” Says Chase. “Names beef, love that little guy. He’s over at my place sleeping. I’ll bring him over at work tomorrow… Unless… you don’t want him…I’ll gladly-“

“Beef is probably the only thing keeping me sane here so, yeah I think I do want my dog back”. Robert says smiling.

Chase smiles. “Yeah yeah Sure”. “Oh I will see you at SDN Torrance tomorrow, 7:30 am Yeah ?”

“Unless you’re gonna fly me there, probably not”. Robert says with a deceptive smile on his face. Flying was now his preferred method of travel. But he also just didn’t wanna walk there.

“Fucker”. Chase says smiling. He starts walking towards Robert’s door. “Be ready at 7am sharp… I’ll see you tomorrow”.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow”. Robert says. Chase smiles then leaves the apartment.

Robert smiles at the door, looks at the couch and lays down on it. He starts thinking to himself about Chase.

“I just met him today and it feels like we’ve known each other for ages… well, I guess we have known each for ages huh ?”.

Robert gets into that mode where he’s again disappointed with himself for forgetting such a cool person. An important person. But he quickly snaps out of it and just becomes entirely grateful. He smiles then closes his eyes, with one last thought before he goes to sleep.

Chapter 3: “Thank you, Chase”