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Robert Robertson the Third was just like his father. Shroud knew.
Mecha Man had arrived right on time, just as planned. Just as he had predicted. Robert Robertson the Third tore through the Red Ring base with a single minded focused dedication.
To avenge his father’s death.
It’s what Shroud expected of the boy. After all, he had taken so closely after his father. He hadn’t even changed the suit. He clung to the costume design like a lifeline. The boy didn’t even update the Mecha Man suit.
It was almost poetic, in a sad, pathetic way, that Robert was so affected by his father’s death he copied the man one to one.
Robert pushed through the doors to where he thought Shroud would have been sitting. And Shroud prepared for some witty one heroic one liner-
...
Robert was just. Standing there. Well. No worries. That might not have been in the plan, but whether or not Robert had a one liner had no effect on-
“Come on Elliot. At least look at me.”
Now that was not in the script. Robert was supposed to be hunting his father’s killer. He was supposed to be angry. He wasn’t supposed to sound tired. He wasn’t supposed to wait there like he had better places to be.
“All this buildup with your father’s killer and you lose your nerve?” Toxic mocked, turning the chair around.
“Ugh. Where the fuck is Shroud?”
“He’ll be here in a bit. Oh, hey. After our conversation I asked him about your dad-”
Robert pulled something from his belt and tossed it at Toxic. “Just fucking make sure he gets that. Or don’t. I don’t care.”
This wasn’t right. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. Why was Robert deviating from the script so much?
Robert turned on his heel and just started to walk out, giving a lazy two finger salute behind him as he did.
Where was he going. Where was he going and what was he doing.
The Mecha Man mech burst down from the ceiling and he climbed in. No. No no. He can’t be leaving. He hasn’t even had time to have Invisibitch plant the bomb yet.
WHERE WAS HE GOING-
The mech took off into the night. All that work to break in, just to hand him something and be on his way? Was the man insane?
The silence that permeated the building felt suffocating. The unsettling tension of a plan gone wrong. The silence stretched too long. Too quiet for a base that should have been on high alert. The Red Ring held their breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. But that never happened, only the sound of Mecha Man flying off into the distance.
“Boss... I don’t think he’s coming back,” Toxic said, standing there, still completely normal looking.
Robert had walked in, thrown something at Toxic meant for Shroud, and walked off-
No. Not meant for Shroud.
Meant for Elliot.
Shroud descended the staircase, his eyes glowing in the dark.
“What did he give you.” He demanded, not questioned.
“Uh- a usb stick. I could-”
“Give it to me,” he put his hand out expectantly and Toxic dropped it right in, “Whatever is on this USB could either change our plans completely, or just alter them slightly.”
With that Shroud left. He made sure his tone of voice didn’t show his confusion.
This wasn’t just something unexpected, this was completely out of script. There was something going on behind the scenes and Shroud was going to figure it out. And his first lead was this USB.
He ran all the data he knew on Robert. There was no way this could be a virus, the man simply wasn’t the type. It could be a tracker, but that would be too simple. A bomb? Not possible.
All Shroud needed to do to sidestep all of these things was to plug it in to a burner laptop. A dusty old thing in his lab that was going to be taken apart for parts anyway.
He walked back. He didn’t run. Even if every step felt too slow and his heart felt like it was trying to beat out of his chest. What was your game, Robert. You couldn’t outsmart him. But he would be finding out whatever game you were trying to play and he would put an end to it.
His hands were not shaking when he pulled out the shitty old laptop. He plugged the USB in first try and did not miss the USB slot three times.
There was a folder. A single folder. He clicked it.
It was filled with videos. Dated. All the way back to 2017. Except for the first one, which simply says WATCH ME FIRST.
Shroud does so. Because he had to start somewhere.
There’s a slightly younger looking Robert. He has fewer scars. But he’s tired. He’s sitting in a chair in a garage. Not some high tech garage. Just a normal garage where one would keep a car and maybe a few hand tools.
Robert pulls back from the camera and sat back in the chair.
“Hey Elliot. If you’re watching this it probably means you didn’t get out of jail the normal way. Probably broke out or some shit. Which I kind of expected, it’s why I’m making this video.”
He rubbed his face, “Yea. I know I look like shit. That’s because I haven’t slept in three days. Because three days ago my wife was released from the hospital and we took our son home.”
Elliot paused the video and gripped the edge of the table so hard his knuckles turned white. A son. It shouldn’t change anything. Robert should be just as predictable as he always as been. Robbie hadn’t cared one bit for Robert beyond making him a legacy.
Shroud continued the video.
“God- fuck. I don’t know what to say. Emotions are fucking hard, and putting emotions into words is so much harder. My wife is good at that, getting it out of me. I should have wrote a script or someshit.”
He spun in his chair once.
“Thanks for killing my dad.”
Shroud almost punched a hole right through the laptop screen. But he didn’t- he stared at it. He had to pause it and wait until his ears stopped ringing, then rewind it just to listen to what Robert was saying.
“He was a great hero. But he was a shit person, and a shit dad. He burned up everyone around him. And you didn’t deserve what he put you through... I didn’t either.”
And Robert looked so helplessly lost.
“The first time I held my son all I could think about was how fucking lucky I was. That’s my little boy. I didn’t give a single fuck about Mecha Man, or the Mecha Man legacy. And like hell was I going to name him Robert Robertson the fourth. But- that night? Laying in bed? All I could think about was my dad. Did he feel that way holding me? Or was I just The Third. God, even my legal name is a legacy- I took my wife’s last name in the marriage. By the way.”
Robert stared off into space, “I was holding my son and he was the most precious thing in the world. I would burn down all of LA if anything happened to him. And when I was lying in bed all I could think about was why wasn’t Robbie like that for me. Or was he at some point and lost it somewhere along the way? Or was having an heir to Mecha Man all that’s important? Fuck Elliot. I don’t even know my mom.”
Robert rubbed his face again. “So. Thanks. For killing that fucker. And- fuck. You’re never going to be able to meet my family. But you’re one of the most important people to my life- you’re my Uncle Elliot. I won't be putting up pictures, but I’m going to keep them. And when the kids learn who you are I’m going to tell them what kind of person their grandfather was. To try and teach them being good people is more important than being good heroes. But you get to be a part of this family. Even if it’s from a distance. Since you did technically save me.”
Robert tapped his hands against his knees, clearly thinking on what to say next.
“I’m not going to stop being Mecha Man. It’s basically in my blood to be a hero. I’m just going to pull it way back. I’m only going out there for major disasters. Something that’s an ‘all hands on deck’ situation. I learned that being a dad is more important than being a hero. It’s the one good thing I was ever taught by my dad.”
He smiled tiredly at the camera.
“We named him Noah. He’s got his mom’s eyes. My wife, her name’s Kim. She’s a second generation American. Korean, actually. It’s ironic, in a way, since I’m pretty sure my mom was Korean. I wouldn’t know. I should ask you some day.”
She was. Elliot wanted to say. He had only met the woman once or twice before she completely disappeared off the map, no doubt pushed out of the equation by Mecha Man influence and money.
Robert’s smile turned sharp, dangerous.
“If you come after them, I’m not going to be the heroic Mecha Man. I’m going to slaughter every single Red Ring member I see. I’ll completely fuck up the Mecha Man legacy by drowning it in blood if I have to. Because they’re mine.”
His face softened again, “But I hope you won’t. Bye, Uncle Elliot. Maybe one day we’ll be able to meet like people, not as Shroud and Mecha Man.”
The video shut off and Elliot felt his world tilt on its axis.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Robert was the spitting image of his father- and yet. He wasn’t. He was the exact god damn opposite. If that was the case why had he kept things the same?
Elliot clicked the second video. Robert was asleep in an armchair looking exhausted. The chair was leaned back and there was a tiny baby on his chest, who was also asleep.
Video after video of Noah. Small instances of family being family, of a boy growing older. At some point the family of three got a chihuahua which somehow got the name Beef. Elliot could only watch as the boy grew older and the chihuahua grew fatter.
“Noah-” Robert said, holding the camera and trying not to laugh, “What are you doing?”
Noah was sitting next to Beef, the boy’s hands covered in butter. And the dog was covered in butter.
“Buttering the Beef.”
Robert cracked, the camera shook violently as he burst into laughter.
Elliot stopped playing videos and buried his face in his hands. He didn’t know what to think. He didn’t know what to do.
Robert was nothing like this father. Robert Robertson- no. That wasn’t his name anymore was it?
Robert had broken the cycle- with the help of Elliot. Fuck.
“The soup song. The soup song. We’re singing the soup song,” Kim sang, Noah standing next to her, away from the boiling water. “The soup song. What’s going in the soup?”
Noah handed Kim some tomato slices with his bare hands.
“How many tomato slices is this, Noah?”
“So many.”
“So many?”
“All many.”
Robert had a happy and healthy family. With a wife and a son and a fat dog. The very picture of the nuclear family.
He skipped ahead in the list.
“Careful Noah. She’s fragile.”
Noah peered over the edge of the cradle, “Mommy’s not big anymore. Amy came out.”
“You gonna teach her all kinds of stuff?”
“Ya.”
“Yeah? Like what.”
“Squids.”
“You gonna teach her about squids?”
“Ya.”
Elliot had to close the laptop.
Elliot needed the Astral Pulse. And he had murdered Robbie Robertson to get it. He had been planning on murdering Robert Robertson. Robert Robertson was supposed to be just like his father, bull headed, heroic to his bones, and a self righteous hypocrite.
But he wasn’t. He was the exact opposite. And Robert hadn’t wanted to leave Elliot out. For better or for worse, Robert saw Elliot as his uncle.
Elliot opened the laptop again.
“All this great food and all she wants to eat are crackers.”
“She’s one, Chase. She doesn’t know the difference between a home cooked meal and boxed snacks. She probably thinks the turkey came from the box too.”
Chase. Track Star. Of course Robert would keep him in his life. Chase was basically Robert’s elder brother. Even when the man wasn’t able to use his powers.
Chase wiggled the turkey in front of Amy, but she didn’t want it.
“She only eats turkey if you dip it in cheese.”
“That’s so damn specific. How’d you figure it out.”
“Because Noah dumped cheese all over the table one day.”
“Boy’s a mess.”
The camera panned over to Kim, who was wiping Noah’s mouth. Chase burst into laughter.
Elliot closed the laptop again. He needed to think. This shouldn’t change anything, he shouldn’t care. And yet.
And yet.
He remembered Robert Robertson getting a hole in his ear because he was so angry that his father was never home he attacked the suit. He remembered a young Robert clinging to him for any scrap of attention he could get.
And here was proof- videos upon videos of it- that Robert wasn’t following in his father’s footsteps. Mecha Man wasn’t a legacy, it wasn't some grand title. Mecha Man was a job that Robert didn’t want anymore.
Shroud needed to think. He needed a new plan. One where he could retrieve the Astral Pulse without ruining this one little slice of the world that Robert had carved out for himself.
Robert had actually come to appreciate what Elliot had done. The world may hate him, but Robert, the one most effected by Robbie, appreciated it.
Shroud needed to think. He needed to sleep on this.
Instead he stayed up for hours watching those videos and rewatching them.
“Robert?”
“Hm.”
Robert was laying on the floor, clearly only half awake, wearing slacks and an SDN shirt - interesting, Elliot filed that fact away for now. Noah and Amy had taken to using him to drive toy cars on.
He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. He knew for a fact Robert was going to make good on his threat if anything happened to his family. He had plenty of data to show that Robert was three times the man Robbie ever was.
When he finally stood from where he was sitting and left the lab the sun was already up. In fact it was already mid morning.
“Boss,” a Red Ring member said, “Sorry to interrupt. You’re going to want to see this. Mecha Man is on the news.”
Oh? Well that was interesting.
Robert- no. Mecha Man Blue stood there at the podium, addressing the general public in an empty room in city hall.
“I’ve been Mecha Man Blue for fifteen years. And I know that Mecha Man has been watching over LA for fifty, if not more. But today I am here to tell you I will be taking a step back. Not completely. If a major disaster happens I will be there. But the Mecha Man suit will not be flying in the skies of LA on patrol anymore. My father, Mecha Man Astral, was a great hero. But he spent so much time being a hero he had little time for me. And then I had lost him too young. I don’t want that for my family. I want to be able to be there for my family like my father never was for me. Thank you for everything. I promise I will be watching, it just won't be from the skies anymore.”
Robert was nothing like his father, Elliot thought.