Medabots Fan Fiction ❯ Brass and the Knuckle of Doom! ❯ Healing Hands ( Chapter 2 )

Notes: Thanks to all who reviewed. Don't worry, I won't have Brass face Metabee immediately. I plan to send her through training first, some of which you'll see in this chapter. But rest assured, they WILL Robattle at some point. Oh, yes. They WILL Robattle…

Summary: There's something up with Henry…and Brass begins training.

Brass and the Knuckle…OF DOOM!

Chapter 2: Healing Hands

Erika woke up to see a familiar pink Medabot bending over Brass. "What the…?"

"Good morning, Erika!" Karin sang, beaming at her.

Erika sweatdropped. "Karin…what are you doing in my room?" She glanced at her clock. "And at six in the morning?!"

Karin didn't seem to notice Erika's somewhat angry tone. "The early bird catches the worm, and the early Medafighter gets more training in with her Medabot!"

"How did YOU know we're in training?"

"Oh, I passed Henry's store on the way over and he told me all about it."

Erika gaped. "Henry's store was open BEFORE six?! But he doesn't open until eight!"

"Didn't you know?" Karin asked. "The store's open twenty-four hours now."

Erika frowned. "That's weird…"

"Enough about Henry; we're here to help you and Brass train!"

"You…are?" Erika looked around Karin to see that Neutranurse had almost totally healed Brass. "How can you help us?"

Karin smiled. "Uncle Aki just upgraded Neutranurse's shield for me. If Brass can break through it, no one else will stand a chance!"

"Except Ikki and Metabee…and Space Medafighter X and Arcbeetle…AND everyone ELSE that's better than us!"

Karin pouted. "You just can't THINK like that, Erika! Brass can do anything that Metabee can do, but only if you have faith in her." Then she noticed the large, green gauntlet on Brass's right arm. "Oooh! What's THAT?"

"It's…well…the Knuckle of Doom. We won it in a Robattle yesterday."

"That's great!" Karin proclaimed, giving her a quick hug. "See, you're winning already! But you have to sound more confident."

"Okay, fine. It's the Knuckle…OF DOOM!!!"

"AAAH!" Karin squealed, jumping back. Then she smiled. "Much better!"

Erika sweatdropped. "Let's just get started, Karin…"

* * * * *

Ikki and Metabee knew something was up when they stepped into what was once Henry's store.

Only now it was more like Henry's Voodoo House of Horror.

In fact, it WAS Henry's Voodoo House of Horror. But that only made the fact worse.

There were jungle plants everywhere, and a rather large snake perched in a tree over the checkout counter.

Ikki was about to drop his jaw until he spotted Henry.

At least, the person who had once been Henry.

Only now he was more like the Grand High Voodoo Salesman. The only part of him visible from behind the counter was a large, brown African mask with white streaks of face paint. The mask was easily taller than Izzy, and probably weighed twice as much.

Ikki swallowed. "Um…Henry…?"

"That's HENRY?!" Metabee asked in disbelief.

The mask turned towards them. "Takala mah duddy pans…"

Ikki sweatdropped. Metabee just looked afraid.

"Takala mah duddy pans…" the mask repeated, slowly coming closer to them.

"So should we take all his dirty pans or what?" Metabee whispered.

"Pans? PANS?" said Ikki. "I thought he said PANTS!"

Metabee glared at him. "Don't give him any ideas; you'll only make it worse!!!"

The mask stopped a few feet away, and what seemed to be an empty can of bean dip rolled out of the mouth and hit the floor.

Ikki was nearly covered in sweatdrops, and Metabee looked like he would rust over from all his any moment.

A hand emerged from the mouth and gripped Ikki's shoulder. "Takala mah duddy pans…" the mask hissed, pulling him forward.

"Ikki, get back here!" Metabee whispered fiercely.

"I can't! He's PULLING me!!!"

Metabee grabbed the back of Ikki's shirt and pulled.

There was a ripping sound, and Metabee came away with most of Ikki's favorite red shirt. "Um…oops."

But Ikki was too distracted to notice a little thing like that.

The hand was squeezing his bare arm, as if testing the width of it. "Tasteez…" the mask hissed. Suddenly, a saltshaker appeared in the hand, which proceeded to sprinkle Ikki's arm.

"That can't be good…" Metabee reached for his Medafighter's other arm and tried to pull him away again.

The hand pulled Ikki closer to the mouth, and there was the unmistakable sound of lips smacking behind the mask. "Tasteez…"

Ikki was practically drowning in sweatdrops and had the good fortune to slip in some. His feet flew up into the air, hitting the mask with a picture-perfect dropkick.

The mask went crashing into the counter.

"RUN!" Metabee shouted.

Boy and Medabot took off, running until they could barely breathe.

Ikki collapsed into the grass. "Holy Medarollie, Metabee! What just happened back there?!" he panted.

"If I had to guess, I'd say our friend Henry is a closet cannibal. Only he's not so closet about it today."

"I can't believe the guy I bought you from was trying to EAT me…"

"Is there salt on your arm or not?!"

"Okay, I believe it. But what do we do?"

"Maybe we should call the cops?"

"I meant about my SHIRT!"

Metabee blinked. "Oh. Guess we better go home…and call the cops from there."

"You do have a point. I wouldn't want Mom accidentally walking in there and-"

"DON'T make me picture that, Ikki!"

"Sorry…"

* * * * *

Neutranurse stood at the ready, her shield extended and at its full power.

"We can start whenever you're ready, Erika!" Karin called.

Erika nodded and raised her Medawatch. "Okay, Brass. Rapid fire won't work, so you'll have to try a Hammer Fist."

Brass nodded and charged forward, fists raised.

Erika crossed her fingers.

But it became clear after the first few Hammer Fists that Neutranurse's shield (Karin jokingly called it the Waiting Room Wall, but Erika didn't think it was funny at all) wasn't weakening.

"Try something else!" Karin suggested in what she thought was a helpful manner.

Erika frowned. There was nothing else…except…

"Brass?"

Brass paused and lowered her fists. "You sound uncertain, Miss Erika."

"I am. We're going to try…it. The…the K.O.D."

"Whatever you say," Brass replied evenly.

A moment later, the K.O.D. appeared over Brass's right arm, dropping it to the ground like a ton of rocks.

Karin looked amused. "I wonder what they're going to do with that?"

Erika spoke quietly into her Medawatch. "Okay, Brass. This will sound crazy, but I need you to lift that thing. I don't even think that shield can stand up to the sheer weight of it."

"Yes, Miss Erika." Brass grunted and slowly dragged the K.O.D. over to Neutranurse, leaving a trail of upturned dirt behind her.

Erika's Medawatch beeped in alarm. "Warning: Right Arm, 10% Damaged."

"C'mon, Brass," Erika whispered. "I know you can do this…"

Brass slowly hoisted up the K.O.D., then brought it down in what was definitely a very effective Hammer Fist.

The shield didn't vanish, but it flickered.

Karin looked at her Medawatch in surprise. "30% damaged? That's more than I thought it would be. Maybe Uncle Aki didn't fix the shield so well…"

Erika looked pleased. "Do you think you can do it again?"

Brass grunted, but nothing happened. "I don't think so. At least, not as high as before."

That gave Erika an idea. "Hey, Brass. Can you shoot with that thing on?"

Brass looked down. Sure enough, her barrels weren't blocked. The K.O.D. seemed to have three passages just for them…only she couldn't remember them being there earlier. "In theory."

"If you kneel and shoot while propping it up, maybe you can break through. But it might damage your arms and legs…"

"I'll try," Brass replied at once. Dropping to one knee, she carefully propped the K.O.D. up with one hand, resting her elbow on her knee. Groaning with effort, she took aim and fired. The sound was more like a shotgun than Brass's normal gunfire.

"Warning: Left Arm, 15% Damaged. Legs, 20% Damaged."

Erika looked up from her Medawatch…to see that Neutranurse's shield was flickering more than ever now. "It worked? It worked! Keep it up, Brass! Try rapid fire now!"

This time it was more like a machine gun going off.

The shield held for almost a whole minute, and then Neutranurse collapsed under the strain.

Erika instantly recalled the K.O.D. and rushed over to Brass. "Are you okay?"

Brass nodded. "Just…very tired…"

Erika gave her a big hug. "I'm so proud of you, Brass! You really did it!"

Karin came over and patted Brass on the shoulder. "That was very impressive, Brass!"

"You're…not mad?" Erika asked.

Karin giggled. "Why would I be mad, silly? I came here to help you train, and that's what I did!"

"That's true," Brass said slowly. "But…I damaged Neutranurse."

"Oh, don't worry. She'll be back on her feet in a few minutes, and then she'll fix you up, too."

"In the meantime, tell me more about Henry's store never closing," Erika said.

"It was the strangest thing," Karin murmured. "He was talking to me, and all of a sudden, he got this blank look on his face. Then he said he had to redecorate before any customers got there and asked me to leave."

"Henry kicked YOU out?"

"He asked nicely, so of course I agreed!"

"Of course…"

"He seemed really tired at first, too. Like he hadn't slept much. And I noticed a cast on his leg, but he couldn't remember how he broke it."

Erika suddenly remembered how the Phantom Gentleman had threatened to sue her for dropping the K.O.D. on his foot. "Broken, huh? Interesting…"

"I even signed the cast for him," Karin continued, oblivious to Erika's reaction, "and he rushed off to redecorate right after that. I do hope he's feeling better…"

"Let's go over and see," Erika suggested at once. "How he is, I mean."

"That's a great idea, Erika!" Karin chirped, beaming at her. She patted Erika's arm fondly. "You're so smart!"

Erika sweatdropped. "Um…yeah. Let's just go. Maybe we'll run into Ikki, too."

Karin let out a little giggle at the thought.

* * * * *

Ikki understandably did not want to be caught without his shirt. It was fairly hot, but that had nothing to do with it. He wasn't what anyone would call muscular, and he could only keep darting behind Metabee for so long.

"Y'know, this would be a LOT faster if you didn't keep stopping me," Metabee pointed out.

"Well, YOU don't have to worry about your shirt being snatched off, now do you?!"

"Well, YOU'RE my Medafighter, and you NEVER let me wear your clothes!"

Ikki shot him an exasperated look. "They wouldn't even FIT you!"

"Yeah, I know. But you could at least ASK!"

"Medabots don't wear clothes!"

"Oh, just because YOU wanna walk around half-naked…"

"I do NOT! SOMEBODY SNATCHED MY SHIRT OFF!"

"In an attempt to save your life," Metabee countered. "And you might want to hide again, since Erika and Karin are headed this way…"

Ikki dove behind Metabee just as Erika spotted him. "Metabee!" she called, waving.

Metabee waved back, chuckling at the thought of how much fun he was about have at his Medafighter's expense.

Erika and Karin walked over, accompanied (as usual) by Brass and Neutranurse.

"Hey, where's Ikki?" Erika asked.

"Oh, he's around," Metabee replied. "So, what are you ladies up to?"

"We're going to Henry's," Karin responded brightly.

Metabee instantly forgot about having any fun. "What?! NO! You can't!"

"Why not?" Erika asked slowly.

"Well, I'll put it like this. THIS is all that's left of Ikki's shirt after we barely escaped from there with our lives!" Metabee showed them the remnants of Ikki's shirt.

Erika looked horrified. "Ikki…no…"

Karin was too shocked to speak.

"Where is he?!" Erika demanded, grabbing Metabee. "WHERE'S IKKI?!"

"He went home to get another shirt," Metabee replied casually.

Erika paused, her cheeks turning bright red as she released him. "Oh. So…he's okay?"

"You could say that." Metabee was peering at Erika a bit more closely now. "Anyway, STAY AWAY FROM HENRY! Ikki's gonna call the cops as soon as he gets home."

"Is he really dangerous?" Karin asked.

"We think…no, we're pretty sure…that Henry's a cannibal."

Karin shrieked in fear. "And I signed his CAST!!!"

Metabee gave her a blank look.

"He could've been planning to EAT me right then!"

"Then why would he kick you out?" Erika asked.

"Maybe he doesn't have a sweet tooth," Ikki muttered sullenly.

"Well, I guess Henry just doesn't have a sweet tooth," Metabee said, ignoring the indignant sputter from behind him.

Karin giggled. "Oh, Metabee, you're making me blush!"

Metabee almost laughed with her, except he noticed the LOOK Brass was giving him. "Well, I'd better get home. Ikki's probably scared stiff without me…"

There was another sputter that was quickly muffled. Brass seemed to notice it, but no one else did.

"Thanks for warning us, Metabee," Erika said. "We'll be sure to tell everyone else."

Metabee nodded. "No problem, girls." He watched them walk off (Brass made a noticeable effort NOT to look at him when she passed) before whispering, "It's safe to come out, Ikki."

"You are SO dead, Metabee!" Ikki shouted.

"You can't kill me! You need me to Robattle!"

"Not until the World Robattle Tournament, anyway."

"You WISH. You name one week when you weren't forced to Robattle!"

"…okay, maybe you've got a point. But you WILL pay for that, Metabee! You know how I feel about Karin!"

"Maybe Karin's not the one you should be worried about."

Ikki turned bright red. "I have NO idea what you're talking about!" he insisted. "C'mon, before somebody else comes along…"

* * * * *

Continued in Chapter 3: Knuckling Up!

Erika runs into yet another member of the growing Phantom Family, the Phantom Stranger! Meanwhile, Ikki & Metabee come up with a plan to bring Henry to justice…too bad it doesn't work.