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It was an ordinary day on Copper-9. The Doorman family was currently waiting in line for the arena. The arena was a popular form of entertainment among workers and it wasn't uncommon to wait in line for hours. 

Nori was holding Uzi as the droneling had fallen asleep over time, clutching her favorite stuffed cow tightly. Nori looked up to see the enormous stadium in front of her as they moved forward to the booth.

"Khan, I’m starting to have second thoughts. Are you sure Uzi’s old enough to watch the arena games? They can be a bit...scary for dronelings her age," Nori hesitated, adjusting her arms to ensure Uzi didn't slip out of her grasp.

"I'm sure she can handle a few bloody fights. Besides, my father took me to these fights when I was her age. She'll be fine, I promise. Three tickets, please."

Eventually, the Doormans made their way to their sitting area for the fight. Thanks to Khan being an important figure, they had the best seats in the whole arena, first row. Nori placed Uzi in her own seat as the couple sat side by side. The adult gently shook the droneling awake in time for the event to begin.

“Uzi, rise and shine my little bat.” Nori whispered gently 

The droneling let out a small yawn as she began to stir from her sleep. She rubbed the sleepiness out of her optics as she opened them. Once she was fully awake, Uzi's eyes widened as she realized where she was. The child looked around to see the arena packed to the brim with workers, the center of the stadium filled with sand, and lights shining brightly from the dome above.

Uzi immediately leaned against the edge of the safety walls, clutching her plushie, as she looked around in awe. She had heard many things about this place from her peers at school, about how violent the fights were. From the way it was described, she knew that her parents would never allow her to watch something like that. But here they were, she never thought that she would be watching the games in the arena before.

“Wow! Are we actually in the arena?!” Uzi asked excitedly, turning her head to look at her parents.

“Of course, Uzi. We figured you’d be old enough to watch these matches!” Khan chuckled.

“So consider this an early birthday gift.”

“Thanks, Dad!” Uzi beamed as she turned her head back to the center of the arena.

As the child continued to look around, one of the nearby speakers came to life, static spewing out as it turned on. Startled, the little drone turned her head towards the sound in surprise.

“Ladies and gentlemen, workers of all ages! Welcome to the biannual Champion Tournament!” The voice blurted out 

The crowd wildly cheers, yelling and screaming with joyful excitement. Confused, Uzi turned towards her mother hoping she knew what was going on. 

“Mom? Who was that?” Uzi asked 

“That’s the announcer. He and his other friends are supposed to tell us what’s going to happen next.” Nori explained

“Now, you all know it wouldn’t be a proper championship without our warriors for the warmup! Who’s ready to see some action?!”

The crowd cheers as two gladiators step into the ring, ready to begin the match. One of the warriors had two long ponytails, and the other had short, puffy hair. They both take their stance, waiting patiently for the signal. Suddenly, a loud horn is blown, and the gladiators began to exchange blows.

The crowd erupts in excitement, cheering for their chosen player to emerge victorious. Uzi jumps up and down, trying to get a better view of the fight. However, by the time Uzi manages to prop herself up on the safety barrier, the match is already over, with the victor raising their opponent's tag.

Realizing that she has missed the match, Uzi sadly slumps on the ledge. 

"Aw man, I missed it," Uzi groans.

Nori places a reassuring hand on the droneling's head, ruffling her purple hair in the process. She understands how much Uzi wanted to see the action, it wasn't easy being the smallest drone at her age.

"Don't worry, my little bat. You'll get your chance. Besides, there are many matches to go before the special round," Nori says, offering comfort.

"Special round?" Uzi repeats, tilting her head slightly.

"That's where the ravenous disassembly drones are pitted against each other. You'll definitely enjoy that part," Khan says with a smile.

As the gladiators leave, a new pair emerges, and the speaker turns on again.

"Round two! Start!"

The pair fought and soon enough another winner was determined as the crowd cheered for them. This went on for a while. A pair of gladiators emerged and fought, with one ending up as the winner. Uzi started to get a bit bored; this wasn't as exciting as she thought it would be. Her parents, on the other hand, kept getting more and more excited as the match went on.

Eventually, the final round began and everyone was practically on the edge of their seats. Uzi slowly tuned out the cheering as she began playing with her toy, her focus shifting from the final match to the animal.

The final match seemed pretty intense compared to the previous one. The crowd died down quite a bit, with everyone holding their breath in anticipation. Then the fight ended, and the crowd went wild. Especially Nori, who jumped out of her seat.

“Wooo! Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about! Let’s go!!” Nori cheered as she shot her arms up in the air.

Not expecting the sudden action, Uzi jumped as she lost her grip on the cow plushie, causing it to fly in the air.

The stuffed animal immediately fell back down as soon as it had been thrown up. Uzi panicked as she rushed to catch it, only for the toy to land on the soft sand of the arena with a squeak. Unfortunately, no one had noticed the toy as the chosen warrior was being escorted to the waiting area, preparing for the murder drone match-up.

"Oh no! Daisy!" Uzi exclaimed.

She leaned over to see where her precious toy was before quickly making a run out of their seating area, unbeknownst to Nori and Khan.

Thanks to her small size, Uzi easily sneaked through the crowd unnoticed. Once she reached the lobby, she frantically looked around for a sign. Luckily, she spotted the one she was looking for: 'Arena Grounds'.

After a bit of following, she reached the 'Employees only' area. However, as luck would have it, the door leading to the arena was locked. Uzi was about to give up when she heard footsteps approaching. She quickly hid behind a nearby chair and watched the scene unfold.

"I hope those murder drones behave this time," one of the staff members sighed.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want another worker to lose an arm or worse," another said as they unlocked the door with their keycard.

As the workers entered, one turned to their colleague with concern. "Are you sure pitching N and J together is a good idea? I heard N and V are a thing now."

"He's been doing well so far. Sure, he and V have been collecting metal pieces and surrounding themselves with it, but they wouldn't risk punishment."

"Yeah, You're right. Not like last time."

The workers passed by a droneling in hiding and went their separate ways. Just as the door was about to close, Uzi quickly dashed into the room.

-Back in the audience section-

Everyone was eagerly awaiting the big event after the staff had prepared the arena grounds for the disassembly drones. Khan and Nori watched with excitement as they began munching on a bag of nuts and bolts they bought earlier.

"So, Mrs. Psychic, who do you think will win this time?" Khan asked, leaning in beside Nori, eagerly awaiting her answer.

"I'm putting my money on N."

"Are you kidding? N never wins a round. I'm sure one of the girls will beat him, as usual," Nori deadpanned, giving her husband a knowing look.

"Come on, honey, at least give the poor guy a chance."

"Every time I thought he would win, the opposite happens. Besides, we're not betting on anything! We're only here because we wanted to show Uzi the Murder Drones for the first time."

Just as Nori mentioned them, the lights in the arena dimmed and the overhead lights illuminated the center. The show was about to begin. Nori turned her attention back to the arena as the speakers came to life once again.

"Attention, audience! The moment you've all been waiting for is about to start in three minutes. Please remove any items on the edge. The safety field will now be activated."

Just as the announcement was made, a blue light began to flicker and cover the center of the dome.

“Today, we are going to pit J and N against each other. After that, we'll see who comes out on top: Worker or Disassembly Drone?”

Nori grinned and practically jumped in her seat with excitement.

“It's finally happening! Aren't you excited, my little bat?” Nori asked.

No response, had she fallen asleep again?

“Uzi? Machine gun?” Nori turned her head towards Uzi's seat to wake her daughter up, only to find it empty.

“Uzi?” Nori looked under the seat to see if the droneling had hidden there, but there was no sign of her.

“Little Bat?! Sweetie?!” Nori's voice now held more panic.

She started to panic. Where was Uzi? When had she left? How had they not noticed? As she frantically searched for Uzi, Khan noticed his wife's distress.

“Nori? Is everything alright?”

"Not really! Have you seen Uzi?" Nori replied as she continued looking for their daughter.

Khan's core dropped as he heard that question.

"She's not next to you?!"

"No! Khan, where did she go?!"

As the parents panicked, a staff member took notice of their distress.

"Excuse me, is everything okay here?" the worker asked.

Both parents turned their heads towards them with saddened and panicked faces.

"No!" Nori whimpered.

"Our daughter is missing! We can't find her!" Khan explained as he tried to calm his wife down.

Now understanding the situation, the staff member nodded before taking out their walkie-talkie. It would give the stadium a bad name if the wealthiest patrons were to sue over their missing kid.

"Can you give me a description of what she looks like so we know what we're looking for?"

Nori was the first to speak.

"Um, she has short black overalls with brown boots. Oh! And she has a pink toy cow with her at all times, you can't miss it!"

The worker nodded again before putting the device over their mouth to inform the others that they had a situation.

"Alright, guys, I have a Code Yellow here. Wandering child, black overalls with a pink toy cow," the worker radioed.

There was a brief silence before the radio buzzed back to life. "Copy that," came the response.

The worker finished speaking and glanced over at the parents, offering them a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Mr. and Mrs. Doorman, she'll be in good hands," the worker reassured them.

The parents returned a smile of their own as the staff member turned and left. Nori slumped back in her seat, resting her head in the palms of her hands, feeling ashamed that they had lost their daughter. Khan continued to comfort her as they silently hoped that Uzi was somewhere safe.

Suddenly, the sound of chains could be heard as the cage bars were lifted. Two Disassembly Drones appeared out of nowhere, quick and precise. They flew around the arena for a moment before landing on opposite ends in their fighting positions.

"Ladies and gentlemen, workers and dronelings alike, please give our two murder bots a big round of applause!"

The crowd goes wild at the sight of the disassembly drones. N flinches at the sudden loud sounds surrounding him, J only scoffs at the crowd before shifting her focus onto her squad mate. Her pupils replaced with an X, as N did the same.

There is a moment of silence before the female takes the opportunity to strike first, lunging at N and aiming her claws at his head. Fortunately, he is able to block the blow in time with his arm, yelping in pain before retaliating with a claw attack of his own. J quickly moves out of the way and pushes the male away from her. She unfurls her wings and boosts herself up into the air, with N following suit.

As the two circled each other in the air, the Doormans grew increasingly worried. It had been fifteen minutes since the staff had formed a search party, and there was still no sign of their daughter, Uzi. Despite their desire to continue watching the match, their processors were more concerned about their missing child.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the same staff member they had met before returned. Khan approached them, hoping for any sign of their Uzi, but the worker's expression told a different story.

"Well? Have you found her yet?" Khan asked, his voice trembling.

"Please tell us you have," Nori added, looking up with hopeful optics.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Doorman, but we searched everywhere and found no sign of her," the worker replied.

Nori looked down, panic setting in. "What?! No, no, no! This can't be happening! Oh, Robo-God, I'm a terrible mom!" she wailed.

Khan gently took hold of one of Nori's hands as he began to stroke it softly. With his other hand, he gently tilted Nori's head to face him. Digital tears started to stream down her face as she sniffled.

"Hey, look at me. It's going to be okay. We just need to stay calm or else we'll only make things harder," Khan reassured her.

"Maybe she just fell asleep in a corner somewhere. You know how small she is. I'm sure she's somewhere safe and sound-"

"Hey, isn't that a kid?!"

The entire arena turned to look, and to their surprise, they saw a tiny droneling quickly walking alongside the wall. Nori and Khan's cores sank as they realized it was Uzi in the arena.

Nori swiftly dashed towards the edge and leaned over to get a better view. Uzi was walking towards her plushie, completely unaware of the danger she was in. Nori waved her hands frantically, trying to get Uzi's attention.

"Uzi! Get out of there now!" Nori shouted at the girl.

"That kid's going to get herself killed!"

"Hey! You're not supposed to be in there!"

"Quick! Someone call the trainers!"

But no matter how loudly they shouted, Uzi couldn't hear them. The disassemblers quickly realized that something was wrong as they heard the panicked crowd.

N turned his head to see what the commotion was all about, only to find a small worker in the ring. That was strange, as they usually set the match after defeating their opponent. Curiosity got the best of him, and he dove towards the worker to get a better look.

Uzi walked over to where her plushie was and picked it up, brushing off the bits of sand that covered it. She hugged it tightly, causing the toy to squeak.

"You're safe now, Daisy. I'll never treat you like that again," Uzi said with a smile as she hugged the plushie.

As Uzi turned around to leave, something suddenly landed in front of her, kicking up some dust. Uzi coughed and tried to fan the dust away. Once it settled, she noticed a pair of legs in front of her. Slowly, she looked up, examining the body until her gaze reached the figure's face, only to see a big glowing X. It was clear that this was not a worker.

The youngling let out a yelp of surprise and took a step back, only to trip and fall onto her back. Uzi stared at the creature with hollowed eyes filled with fear.

She had only heard about the murder drones in school. They were taught that these creatures would often brutally kill workers to obtain oil for survival or simply for their own amusement. Her classmates were terrified of them, but she had always been fascinated by murder drones. She never expected to encounter one up close like this.

However, this was indeed a murder drone, and murder drones killed workers for food. So the only thing on her mind right now was how she was going to die.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the murder drone approached closer. She sniffled, then closed her eyes tightly and clutched her plushie, preparing for the worst.

The creature growled before leaning its head closer to the girl, sniffing her hair. It let out a chuff before leaning back upright. The girl opened her eyes and looked up at it. The X on its visor was replaced with two yellow pupils as the male looked at her with curiosity instead of murder.

Slowly, it reached out to touch her with one of its claws, causing her to flinch. However, as soon as the tips made contact with Uzi's cheek, the claw retracted and was replaced with a gentle hand. It stroked its thumb across her cheek gently, as if trying to examine her.

Uzi calmed down as the disassembly drone continued its strange behavior, but the peaceful moment was interrupted by the crowd's screams of horror as they tried to get the drone's attention away from the girl. Khan just stared, unsure of what to do. But before he could act, Nori climbed over the fence.

"Uzi! Get away from her, you—! Hey! Khan, what are you doing?! Let go of me!" Nori shouted as Khan and a couple of others dragged her away from the railing.

"Nori! Stop! Please! We can't do anything! The safety field—" Khan was interrupted as his wife whipped her head around to glare at him.

"That's our kid, Khan! If you think I'm just gonna sit there and do nothing, you have another thing—" Nori was cut off by an ear-piercing shriek.

She turned her head towards the source, only to be met with a grey blur flying back up towards the other disassembly drone. Her optics hollowed as one of the cameras focused on the male figure, revealing Uzi in his arms.

"Uzi!!" Nori shouted.

The bastard had used the time they were distracted to get Uzi. Nori couldn’t do anything but shout out in distress as N carries the droneling away. Nori tried everything in her power to get free from the workers, but they held her firmly.

-Meanwhile…-

Uzi curled herself into a tiny ball, attempting to make herself as small as possible. She was still frightened, although not as much as before. The Disassembly drone was surprisingly kind, soft, and warm, which for some strange reason, made her feel safe.

Before long, they arrived to the other murder drone, who happened to be female. The male disassembly drone began making various chirping and trilling noises, and the female drone followed suit. This continued for quite some time, almost as if they were engaged in a conversation of sorts.

"Look, J! I found a worker!" N beamed as he held out the droneling for her to see.

"They're a bit small though..."

J gave a low hum, bending down to look at her from head to toe before leaning back upright with her hands on her hips.

"Hmm, seems like it's a droneling. And it looks like the area's getting more brutal then. Eat her," J flatly stated as her gaze went back to N.

N gave a surprised look at his squad mate. He held the small worker to his chest again, as if protecting her.

"What! Are you crazy?! It’s a baby!" N exclaimed.

"Why else would they put her in here? Besides, it'll show the crowd that we're as heartless as they think we are," J stated as she grinned maliciously.

"Eat her, N. That's an order.”

N looks at J with disbelief. Can she really be serious? N looks down at the droneling. It's so tiny. This must be a mistake, but he can't defy his boss's orders. N notices how much the little droneling is shivering, and it twisted his core in agony. He could never bring himself to harm something so young and small.

“Alright J, sorry little buddy.” N gave a pained expression as his pupils were replaced with the same terrifying X as before.

Uzi looked up at the disassembly drone, her optics hollowed. She now saw that his visor had transformed back into the terrifying X, his mouth was now agape, revealing rows of dangerously sharp teeth.

She immediately began to struggle, twisting and turning in an attempt to break free. However, when she glanced down at the ground, it became clear that struggling was futile. The droneling was positioned too high, and any wrong move could result in her death. She turned her attention back to N, who was now dangerously close, and watched as he lunged his head towards the crook of her neck.

Uzi let out a horrified, high-pitched scream as the disassembly drone made contact. The crowd gasped in shock. They knew murder drones were cruel, but this was monstrous. Nori stopped struggling when she heard Uzi's scream. She looked up to see the creature had bitten her.

Both parents' hearts shattered, especially Nori's, as she roared in grief and anger. Overwhelmed with sorrow, she struggled even more, shaking the group around like ragdolls. But just as she was about to break free, she heard a sound she never expected to hear again in a million years: Uzi's giggle.

"Ehehehehehe! Hehehey, that tickles!" the girl giggled.

The disassembly drone ignored her and continued to move towards her face, nuzzling every reachable inch, causing her to squeal.

"Eheheheek! Nohohoho!"

The droneling squirmed in the creature's grasp, even pushing its face away in an attempt to escape the disassembly drone's affection.

"Aw, aren't you just the cutest thing? I might just eat you up!" N cooed as he moved down to Uzi's tummy and playfully pretended to 'munch' on it. Uzi's giggles turned into louder screams.

The crowd, especially J, looked bewildered by the sudden change in events. J snapped out of it and gave N a stern look. She flew closer to the two, causing him to stop his ticklish assault on the child.

"N! What on Copper-9 do you think you're doing?! You're supposed to be eating her, not playing!"

"Sorry, boss. I don't know what happened! I guess my parental instincts took over?"

N hung his head in shame, looking down at the ground. J huffed and snatched Uzi away from the male disassembly drone, surprising him and bringing him back to his senses.

"We still have a job to do, N! And this is free food we're talking about. If you're not going to take the chance, I will!" J stated angrily, positioning Uzi to bite her.

"Ugh, why am I always the one who has to do everything myself?"

J glared at him before turning her attention back to the droneling. N was right about one thing - she was small for her age, but that wasn't going to stop J from eating her. The female droneling displayed an X on her visor, signaling her impending demise. J succeeded as Uzi gasped in fear, trying to make herself as small as possible. Then J lunged at the same area N had targeted.

 N was about to reach out to stop J from harming the girl, but to his surprise, Uzi started giggling again.

"Eheheheh!!! Stohohop!!" 

But J didn't stop; she nuzzled and kissed the droneling affectionately wherever she could reach, causing the droneling to lightly kick her legs. After some time, J suddenly stopped tickling the girl as she went limp in her arms.

"What just happened? What did this child do?" J asked herself and looked towards N.

"I told you! It's like she hypnotized us!"

J huffed out of frustration as she realized what this meant - they had accepted the droneling into their squad as their own. It made sense, considering it was almost mating season for them and, after finding their mate, they would seek out a shell for their new baby. Since there were no baby shells available, they had chosen option two: adoption.

"What do we do now?" N asked, tilting his head at J.

"I don't care. You can keep her though," J said, throwing Uzi back to N.

"Wait, really? Thank you, J! Come on, little buddy, let me show you to V!" N smiled as he flew back towards the cage, with J following suit, knowing that she'll have to deal with a very confused and possibly angry V.

Meanwhile, the crowd died down as the two flew back into their respective cages. Nori was the first to snap back out of it as she broke free from the other workers' hold. She and Khan turned to face the employee, who flinched at the sudden movement. They couldn't blame the two for their reaction either; it wasn't every day that a disassembly drone takes off with your kid and decides not to kill them.

Nori grabbed the staff member by the collar and violently shook them, yelling, "What. Was. That?!! Where are they taking my baby?! What are they going to do to her?!! Why didn't the Disassembly Drones kill her?! Aren't they monsters?!!"

Nori was about to spew out more questions before Khan reached out to firmly but gently grabbed her shoulder.

"Nori, calm down! You're going to hurt them at this point!" Khan pleaded

Nori lets the poor worker go as they tried to recollect themselves. Once they did, they straighten themselves up to look at the couple. 

“Phew, I think I know why and where they took your child.” 

Nori and Khan perked up as they looked at the worker. They turned around and started to walk towards the staff only door. 

“Follow me.”

-Meanwhile in the cages…-

 N had arrived at the cages, where all the DDs that the arena had were kept. Each cage housed a squad of drones to prevent them from feeling lonely. However, there were exceptions to this, such as mates and rivals.

On the left side of the room, V could be seen cleaning herself inside a cage. She appeared rather bored. N quickly flown over and entered the cage.

"V! You won't believe what happened!" N exclaimed happily as he landed near his mate.

V looked up from her work, wearing a lazy smile. "Did ya finally manage to beat J in a fight?"

"Well, about that—" Before N had a chance to explain, J interrupted as she nudged N to make some space for herself in the cage.

"No, he didn't. However, there was an incident. A droneling managed to get inside the ring."

V became interested at the news, her bored expression turning into one of malice as her sharp fangs became visible. She sat up to listen attentively.

"Oh? Did ya put the brat out of its misery? Tear it apart in front of the crowd?"

"Worse..."

N proudly showed Uzi to V, just as he had done with J.

"She's been accepted into the squad!" N exclaimed victoriously.

V's eyes widened as she jumped to her feet. Of all the things that could have happened today, this was not on V's list. 

“What?!” V exclaimed 

"Here! Hold her for a bit too!"

N quickly plopped the droneling into V's arms, snapping her out of the initial shock.

"A kid?! N, what were you thinking?! J, Why didn't you stop him?!" V angrily asked as she glares at their leader, who only shrugged her shoulders.

She crossed her arms before looking away, a faint yellow blush of embarrassment visible in the corner of her visor.

"I...don't know, to be honest. That thing has a weird charm."

"Not you too, J," V whined.

"Guess I'll have to take care of this tiny pathetic excuse of a worker myself. More snacks for me!"

She lowered her head to look at the child, hissing and baring her fangs at the droneling. However, the droneling did not react. When you've had at least two disassembly drones trying to eat you, you kinda get used to it. V looked at Uzi in surprise before baring her fangs again, attempting to elicit a flinch from her. But once again, she didn't flinch. If anything, it only fascinated her more.

“Ugh, screw it! I’m eating this kid!”

V opens her mouth in preparation of eating the droneling. After doing a quick calculation, V strikes the droneling on the stomach. Uzi instantly shrieks with laughter.

"Ahahahahahahah! Nohot again!! Hahahahaha! Plehehease!!"

The child laughs gleefully as V kisses and munches all over the her belly. V abruptly stops and stares at the droneling, like she just got out of a trance. 

J walks near V with a smug grin.

“I thought you were gonna eat her.” J teased earning a small punch in the arm

"S-Shut it..” V grumbled 

"So, does that mean we can keep her?" N eagerly asks V, waiting for her response.

V hesitates before silently nodding her head in agreement. N excitedly grabs both the female disassembly drone and Uzi, twirling them around and earning a squeal from the little one.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you V! We can finally raise a family!" N exclaims as he nuzzles his mate.

V looks down at the droneling, who looks back up at her. She thinks about N's words and realizes that they had given up on ever having a child. The thought that this small, purple worker could be theirs feels like a dream, a weird one, but one she doesn't mind.

"Yeah, I guess," V smiles warmly as she hugs the droneling alongside N.

J rolls her eyes and walks to her usual corner, not wanting to witness the sight.

"Gross."

The moment was cut short as N and V perked up at a sound outside of the enclosure. Knowing who it was, N quickly placed Uzi under his wing while V went back to cleaning her claws, acting as if nothing had happened before the door opened up.

"This way. Please keep in mind not to touch any of the cages," the staff member instructed as they entered alongside the two parents. Nori and Khan looked around themselves. The thought of giant cages filled with deadly Disassembly Drones alone would give a worker a heart attack, but to see them raise their heads and look at you with hungry eyes was a terrifying experience.

Khan shuddered as he treaded closely to the group. Eventually, they made it to one of the cages, which seemed to be empty. Nori leaned forward to see if she could spot any of the disassembly drones that took her baby, only for the employee to block her with their hand.

“Don’t lean too close, miss. That’s how other workers get eaten,” the employee warned. “They could be at the back. They love dark places, especially when they sleep.”

The employee grabbed a long stick before dragging the metal tip over the bars

"Come on! Rise and shine, you three!"

The group hears a groan as they notice movement in the shadows. Soon, they see three Disassembly Drones approaching them, all lining up near the bars of their cage.

"Alright, guys, no more playing around. Where's the droneling you took?"

The trio looks at the worker before quickly turning their heads away, doing a pretty horrible job of pretending to be clueless.

"Guys, this isn't funny anymore. Give her back now."

They tilt their heads at the worker, still trying to act clueless. Suddenly, N's wing twitches a bit, then it twitches some more. That was strange. The employee focuses on the male worker's wings before realizing they were a bit misshapen. There is only one explanation as to why they were  shaped like that.

"Designation N."

N jolts a bit as he looks over.

"What do you have there?" the staff points to his wing, where a big bulge can be seen, shaking a bit.

N looks at it, then back at the worker. N looks around nervously, pretending he didn't see it.

"Serial Designation N, let the child go. Now."

N stares at the worker, and the worker stares back at him. Neither of them move. As if they were engaged in a silent battle. Eventually, N looks away, turns around, walks over to his corner, and takes Uzi out of his wings. He hugs her tightly as he sits down with his back to the employee.

"Hey! You better give that droneling back right now!" the staff fumes, only for N's tail to wag angrily at him.

"Don't make me use the shock collar!"

N growls at them, his grip on the droneling becoming tighter yet still gentle on the child. Uzi looks at her "captor" before turning her head to look at her parents.

"Hey N? Can you let me go, please? I wanna go back to Mom and Dad," Uzi asks softly, tugging at N's sleeve.

N looks down at the child with disbelief. She wants to go back to her mom and dad? Why? Didn't they leave her for dead? Why would she want to go back to those horrible drones? Besides, she has a new family now, with Mama V, Papa N, and Auntie J, of course. They finally have the child they so desperately wanted, and he won't let anyone take her away so easily.

N looks over to where the group of workers was. He tries to glare at them, but his eyes widen at what he sees. He doesn't see horrible monsters that left their offspring to die. No, he sees a mother and a father with worried expressions.

N looks back at Uzi, chittering softly before biting the back straps of her overalls and carrying her near the bars. V snarls at him, as if telling him to stop, but he communicates with her, making his mate look at the ground. They both made their way towards the bars before N lets Uzi go.

The moment she is let down, Nori immediately wraps her arms around her daughter.

“Oh my baby! You’re okay!” Nori rejoices in relief.

"Don't you ever do that again, Uzi! We thought we'd never see you again!" Khan says as he joins in on the hug.

Uzi hugs her parents back tightly as they kiss and cradle her like she'll disappear the moment they let her go.

“Now please tell me, machine gun, what possessed you to do such a thing?" Nori asks tiredly.

"Daisy fell into the arena and I couldn't leave her behind! I'm sorry," Uzi explained as she lowered her head in shame.

"I know you wanted to save her, but what you did wasn't a very responsible thing. Next time you lose your toy, let us or another adult know. Okay?" Khan smiled as he put a hand on Uzi's shoulder gently. 

"Okay, Dad!"

The employee sighed a breath of relief, glad that the kid was alright and that they didn't have to deal with two wealthy parents suing the place as they opened the door back to the stadium.

"We're glad that your kid is alright, Mr. and Mrs. Doorman. But we have to go now."

"Most certainly! Come on, little machine gun, let's get away from these dangerous beasts!" Khan said as he grabbed ahold of Uzi's tiny hand.

As the family began to walk towards the exit, Uzi suddenly stopped in her tracks, causing the three adults to halt and look at her.

"Uzi? Aren't you coming?" Nori asked.

"I want to say goodbye to my friends," Uzi replied.

"Your friends? Where are they?" Khan inquired.

Uzi turned and pointed to the cage she had been in just minutes ago.

"There."

The adults took a moment to realize who Uzi was referring to.

"Oh no! Absolutely not! We are not risking your life again!" Nori exclaimed, but stopped upon seeing Uzi lower her head in sadness.

 They weren't harming the girl in the first place, it wouldn't hurt if she said goodbye.

"Ugh, just make it quick, okay? And stay outside of the cage," Nori instructed.

Uzi perked up, silently thanking her mother before turning around and running back to the cage. N and V, seeing that their droneling was returning, got as close as possible to the bars before lying on their bellies to be at the droneling's level. Uzi then grabbed their hands and squeezed them as a way to hug them goodbye.

"Bye N, bye V, bye J. I'll miss you," Uzi said.

"Come on, Uzi, we have to go," Nori called.

"Okay, Mama! I'll see you guys again one day!"

She waved goodbye as she ran up to Nori before she picked the droneling up and walked away. N whined as the door finally closes.

-Later on…-

"...and V has this, um, super cool face she makes that's super scary-looking, but she's the sweetest drone ever!" Uzi beamed as she tried to imitate the face V made.

"She does? You don't say!" Nori smiled, listening to her daughter's story.

"Yeah! And, and N was... so warm... and... comfy..." Uzi didn't even finish her sentence before she dozed off.

Nori chuckled before tucking the covers over Uzi and adjusting the toy cow so that it wouldn't slip from her grasp. She gave a kiss on the visor for the night before closing the door to discuss the situation that happened earlier with Khan, wondering if they should let her back in the stadium. Their voices faded as they walked away from the droneling's room.

Suddenly, tapping could be heard from the window, causing Uzi to stir and wake up. She rubbed her eyes as she looked at the glass pane, seeing a large, bright yellow X. Her optics lit up as she knew who it was.

"N!"

⋆｡‧˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧｡⋆ ⋆｡‧˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧｡⋆ ⋆｡‧˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧｡⋆

It was a typical snowy night in Copper-9. The abandoned buildings were covered in snow, making slight groaning noises anytime the wind blew. Rusted cars were scattered across once-busy roads, and snowflakes danced across the night sky before landing on the ground gracefully. There was no sign of life in the environment of Copper-9, except for one drone.

Uzi treaded across the snowy area with her backpack in tow, looking for anything that could help her assemble her latest project. It was a small rifle, but since school let out early, she had to do something to keep herself entertained. Uzi had already finished the shell of it; she only needed the insides to get it to work. She wasn’t supposed to be outside of the bunker since there could still be a risk of human hunters lurking around Copper-9. But the shops back inside didn’t have the things Uzi was looking for, and things outside of the bunker had better high-quality materials.

Uzi tried to get Doll to join her in sneaking out, but Doll didn’t want to go since she had to go to practice. Emily and Sam had their own things to do, so Uzi had to leave solo. At least Doll would cover for her just in case their dad came home early from his job, which Uzi was glad about.

As the rebel continued to walk the abandoned road, she found a scrap heap a few feet across from her. It wasn’t very big, but at the same time not too small; it could have some of the material necessary to make the project work!

“Aw, sweet!” Uzi cheered.

She lightly jogged towards the pile, kneeling on one knee before digging in. Uzi inspected almost every metal object carefully. Most of the scrap was perfect to work with, as if it were in mint condition, if it wasn’t for the deep scratches in the metal.

“At least I don’t have to clean it as usual when I get back,” Uzi said to herself as she started to stuff the metals into her backpack.

As the drone continued to fill her backpack, she noticed a strange, pink light in the corner of her eye. Uzi turned her head to face the light flashing in the distance. It was dim, but still noticeable from afar.

Letting curiosity get the best of her, Uzi picked up her backpack and headed for the gleam. As she got closer, the light began to shine a little brighter. Uzi started to notice that the surrounding buildings and cars had the same spotless condition as the tools she gathered. Her father had warned her and Doll that humans would use bright lights as bait for a drone to be led astray before netting them, and that it would normally take place in an open area. An area like the one Uzi was in right now.

Uzi was starting to feel a bit paranoid but pushed the thought aside. She wasn’t scared, besides, most of the humans fled back to Earth after the war or foolishly died staying here with few supplies that they had left.

“Eh, whatever, it’s probably just a coincidence that this part of the city is clean,” Uzi said to reassure herself as she continued walking, but the feeling still lingered.

Eventually, Uzi reached the source. Still tense about her previous thought, she silently went behind an open car door to hide. Uzi peeked her head from where the window had once been to check if there were any humans around. In the middle of the empty, snowed-out road, was a cockroach flashing its antennas with all its might.

Uzi relaxed, seeing that it was only a mere bug.

“Huh, just a roach,” Uzi said with a huff of relief.

Uzi came out from behind the door and started to walk toward it in a slow pace. She didn’t want to scare it off since most tend to scurry away when approached back in the bunker. The bug’s back was currently facing Uzi, so it was the perfect time for her to approach.

“You scared me, lil dude,” Uzi said now behind it.

The bug jumped and immediately turned to face the rebel. It dimmed its antennae and lowered them. Uzi was surprised that it didn’t run away from her even when it was showing signs of fear.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m not gonna hurt you.” Uzi assured.

She kneeled and offered her hand for the creature to crawl on. It hesitated for a second, but soon it placed one leg on Uzi’s palm before fully crawling into her hand.

Uzi stood up, now holding the roach in her hand. She was able to get a good look at the little guy. It was definitely different from the ones she encountered daily back at the bunker, starting with its pink antennae and eyes, its back legs were more like stumps instead of the usual prickly, sharp ones, and it was very fuzzy from the looks of it.

“You must be hungry,” Uzi muttered 

She reached into her pocket and brought out a hex nut, little critters love to eat nuts and bolts. The bug's antennae shot up upon seeing the treat and it reached for it with its front legs, leaning close towards the edge of Uzi's hand, but only grasping the air.

“Here you go lil guy.” Uzi chuckled out 

Uzi gave the nut to the insect, which it gladly took and began munching away. After a minute or two, the hex nut was gone and the roach began to clean itself from the remaining crumbs.

As it groomed itself, Uzi noticed that the bug’s front legs had a bit of pink fluff balls on them, it kinda resembles a cheerleader.

“Hm, your arms kinda make you look like a cheerleader,” Uzi said, gently rubbing its back 

“How ‘bout I call you…PomPom? Do you like that name?”

PomPom squeaks and runs around Uzi’s hand excitingly at the new nickname that it’s given, sounds like they agree with being called PomPom.

Uzi giggles from the tickly sensations from PomPom crawling around. A couple of seconds later, PomPom came to a halt now looking at the rebel once again. Said rebel wanted to keep the little guy, but she knows that she can’t, they belong in their environment.

“Well PomPom, I better head home before my Dad finds out that I snuck out again. I wish that I could take you with me, but you belong out here.” Uzi said  

She kneeled down again to place PomPom back on the ground. PomPom squeaked out what Uzi figured as protest, seeing that they’re not trying to crawl out of her hand. But soon, their squeaks stared to become louder, frantic even. Uzi knew from watching StringBean that this was either a sign of danger being nearby or something scared them.

“What’s wrong PomPom? Did something spooked you?” Uzi asked 

She was confused as to what had alarmed PomPom until she heard clanging from one of the cars. Uzi jolted from the sound and stood up, now gazing around her for whatever caused the sound. Was it the humans? Was this a trap all along?

Uzi’s thoughts were interrupted by another clunk and this time, it was louder.

Clunk! Clang!

“Alright, who’s there?! Show yourself!” Uzi shouted, turning her body at the source of the noise.

The source was a shiny, but rundown car. The rebel waited for what was in the vehicle to make a move. Within the darkness of the vehicle, a roach similar to PomPom crawled out to meet Uzi. 

“Oh, it’s just one of your pals.” Uzi sighed

Soon another pair of pink lights started to flicker to life in the darkness, and then another and another until Uzi couldn’t count anymore. She was taught that small critters liked to stay in groups, but this was a freaking horde! The bugs started to crawl towards Uzi, stepping back trying create space between her and the horde of bugs.

They probably smelled the hex nut that I had! Uzi thought

Uzi quickly patted her pockets for anymore treats to give, only to remember that she gave the rest to StringBean before she headed out. 

“N-now guys, I don’t have anymore treats if that’s what you’re looking for.” Uzi stuttered while still backing away 

But the swarm didn't listen and continued their pursuit. Uzi didn't know what to do in this situation. What could they possibly want? Maybe they wanted their friend back? The rebel was going to release them before, so maybe that's what they were after.

“Alright PomPom, it’s time to go home now.” Uzi said 

Uzi knelt down once more to try to get PomPom to go with them. However, instead of crawling out of Uzi's palm, the little bug quickly went up the teen's arm and into her sleeve before she had a chance to stop it.

The drone was confused before she felt the little guy starting to crawl around on the inside of her jacket. She jolted from the sudden tickly feeling before falling into a fit of giggles.

“Ah! Hehehey! Get out of thehehere!” Uzi giggled as she tried and failed to grab PomPom

“Hahahaha! Cut it out!”

Uzi's legs were starting to give out from the tickling, and she soon found herself on the ground, hugging herself to dull the tickles. She was laughing too hard to notice that the swarm of insects was getting closer. When she did, she finally put two and two together.

“Nohoho! Wahihit! WAHAHAHAIT!” Uzi shrieked 

The swarm covered Uzi almost from head to toe. Some had went in her jacket to join PomPom in skittering around her midsection, while others had stayed outside to get unreachable places like her neck and legs. 

This was a trap, but one that Uzi did not expect. Normally, hordes this big would try to eat or attack workers when they get too close to their territory, but to tickle drones? That was the first.

“PFFT-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! GUYS! STOP PLEHEHEASE!” Uzi cried out

But her pleas fell on deaf ears as they continued to tickle her. Uzi struggled not to thrash too hard while they were on top of her. She didn't want to accidentally hurt them, but it was becoming increasingly difficult.

Almost at her limit, Uzi raised her hand to activate her solver to get rid of the pesky bugs, only to shriek again and pin her arm to her side when she felt more bugs crawl up her arm.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Uzi cackled as she rolled from side to side 

All of a sudden, they stopped, giving Uzi enough time to catch her breath, her chest going up and down with every breath she took. She opened her tired eyes to look at the mischievous bugs as her body went limp.

“Ha..Ha…alright, you’ve had your fun, now get off me.” Uzi huffed

But they didn’t moved, however, one of the roaches popped up from her right shoulder as a pop up message appeared from its head.

"Scanning complete, 45% of worker drone metal has dulled! Initiating buffing sequence in 5 seconds!" 

“Do not worry! This will not hurt one bit! :]”

Buffing sequence?

Oh…

Oh no. 

Uzi didn’t have enough time to get up before she was brought back into hysterics. The bugs resumed back their ticklish onslaught, this time using their pink fluff balls to rub against her metallic skin.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHA! STOP! STAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!” Uzi cackled 

Uzi struggled to move, her previous thrashing beginning to weaken, until she eventually laid limp. She felt like she was being electrocuted as her tickle spots were being targeted all at once. The tickling was becoming too much for her to handle.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *Snort* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” 

“Hey! Leave her alone!”

The horde stopped in their tracks as they all turned their bodies to the voice, giving Uzi another breather. After regaining some strength, Uzi looked up to see a familiar figure in the air.

“J!” Uzi shouted, relieving that somebody came to save her 

The guardian swooped down to the powdery surface, scaring some of the swarm away from Uzi. Once J got close enough, she used her wings to make herself look bigger to the bugs while also shooing them off.

"Go on. Shoo! Shoo!" J said sternly as she gestured them away.

The bugs began to crawl off the rebel's body and scurried back into the safety of the abandoned buildings. One of them waved goodbye before joining the others, Uzi guessed that that last one was PomPom.

After the bugs scurried away, J offered her hand to help Uzi up, which she gladly accepted.

"Uzi, are you alright? Did they hurt you?" J asked as she placed her hand on the worker's back.

"I'm fine," Uzi huffed as she leaned against J for support. "But what were those bugs?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing. This was my first time seeing them," J replied.

"But that doesn't matter now. You look tired. Would you like to stay with us for the rest of the night?" J asked.

It was true, Uzi was tired from all the tickling she endured before J came in, but she still needed to get back to the bunker.

"Thanks for offering, but I need to get back home," Uzi said.

"Well, alright. Do you want me to fly you there?"

"Yes please."

J lifts Uzi onto her back before spreading her wings and lifting them both into the air. As they travel through the sky, Uzi decides to strike up a conversation.

"Hey J, I think I've got a name for those mischievous insects," Uzi states.

"Hm?"

"How about we call them Giggle bugs?"

Giggle bugs wasn't really suited for them since they practically tickled the young one to death, but Uzi discovered them first and she has the right to name them.

Eventually, they make it to the entrance of the bunker. J lands carefully on the ground before picking up the small drone from her back and placing her onto the snow. But now that Uzi is in the light, the guardian can't help but chuckle a bit.

"What's so funny?" Uzi asks, clearly annoyed.

"Oh, it's nothing. I have to go anyway. Bye!" J chuckles before spreading her wings and flying off.

Uzi rolled her eyes. Well, that was strange she thought. 

She walked towards the door of the bunker but stopped to check her reflection. Now she understood why J was laughing at her. She was shiny all over, one could even say she was sparkling, literally.

"At least I don't have to stress about Lizzy comparing my metal to her trash can," Uzi said as she entered the bunker

Fin :)

  ๋࣭ ⭑ ☾ ˖° ⋆✧˖｡˚  ๋࣭ ⭑✧  ๋࣭ ⭑ ☾ ˖° ⋆✧˖｡˚  ๋࣭ ⭑✧  ๋࣭ ⭑ ☾ ˖

It was a bright, simple day in the ocean. Save for an occasional school of fish, it was idyllic paradise. Not one disturbance of water to be felt. The perfect, peaceful place to let one's mind wander.

Until the calm before the storm was no more.

The storm disrupting the tranquil silence of the sea was a pod of four orca-like drones. Uzi, the smallest of the group, was chasing her cousin Doll. It was a half-playfight, half-race with each other, only mildly controlled by Khan.

"Girls, play nice," he reminded them for the millionth time. As long as he said this every couple minutes, no one would get hurt.

"Imma get you!" Uzi yelled, propelling herself forward with great speed and colliding with Doll.

"[Ack-! Take this then!]" Doll retorted, slapping Uzi with her tail and breaking free. She dove down to avoid getting tackled again, only to nearly crash into the fourth member of the pod.

"Thinking about taking me on, eh?" Nori teased with a grimace. Doll yelped, and not wanting to be wrecked by an orca drone much larger than her, retreated to Uzi's side.

"Nori, don't be like that," Khan scolded with a light laugh. "You'll scare them. You know how they already are with humans."

"Bite me!" Nori shot back. "I'll be as much of a gremlin to them as I want!" Khan replied with a kiss, which made Uzi and Doll hold back giggles at his antics.

Nori gave a small "hmph" and kept her gaze down. She stared at the dark ocean floor, occasionally staring at something shiny or a flurry of movement; however, it wasn't until she noticed the entire floor seemed to be moving that she stopped mid-swim.

"Nori?" Khan asked, following his wife's gaze but unable to see what her attention had come to.

"The... seabed... something's off about it," Nori commented. "Er... you guys keep swimming. I'll catch up with you.

"Looking at his daughter and niece, both of whom shrugged, Khan gestured for both of them to follow him. Nori may have been a bit kooky for seemingly absurd reasons, but it came with being adventurous. He bid her a temporary goodbye and swam off, leaving Nori to investigate what piqued her curiosity.

The now lone orca drone dove down, the glints of light coming into focus better. There were dozens of them, all moving on the ground. Still puzzled, Nori held out a finger to touch one of the shiny objects. It snapped back by grabbing her hand with a pincher.

"Ouch!" She yelped, shaking the thing off her hand. It fell back on the ocean floor to rejoin its comrades. A herd of crabs! And they were in such a large, condensed group that their glimmering shells feigned the appearance of a moving ocean floor.

That was what intrigued Nori the most. She had never seen such a big herd of crabs together. And where were they going? It wasn't migration season... and there wasn't the faintest scent of food anywhere.

On the other hand, crab meals usually don't consist of oil or metal, she thought. Forgetting entirely about wanting to keep this brief, Nori followed the scuttling crabs. For such a close-knitted group that was practically walking on top of each other, not one stumbled. Not even when their travel was interrupted by a massive kelp forest. Unfortunately for the mermaid drone trailing them, she didn't notice it either until a stray piece smacked her in the face.

"Oh crud..." Nori muttered, feeling her heart stop as she looked up.

She'd gotten tangled in kelp before, and it was never a pleasant experience, especially getting out of it. She took a deep breath to calm herself down, then slowed to a near stop. Careful not to make sudden, abrupt movements with her tail, she slithered through the maze of kelp, feeling it threaten to wrap around her like fishing nets.

After several tense minutes, she saw light. A lot of it. The edge of the kelp forest! She was almost there. She just had to make it a little farther... she flicked her tail harder to push herself forward...

Then something tugged on her tail and wouldn't let go. She swerved around to see if it was a crab.

It was kelp, tangled and knotted around her tail.

Cursing under her breath for getting excited too quickly, Nori curled closer to her tail to free it from the kelp. But her hand couldn't quite reach the kelp. Her now panicky movements and desperate struggling caused her hand to get tangled too.

"Oh no... no no no, get off me!" Nori yelled at the kelp, but she would have had better luck getting cement to listen to her. She reached over to her arm, only to realize both her arms were indisposed by the restraints of the kelp. The once ubiquitous silence of the ocean strayed further into non-existence as Nori let out a scream for help.

---------------

"Race you to that rock!" Uzi challenged as she gave herself a head start.

["Hey! You're cheating!"] Doll yelled back. ["But I'll beat you anyway."]

"In your dreams!" Uzi teased. She rose higher in the water and dove down like a pelican, slowing down just before she crashed into the rock. For a moment, she thought she won, only to be poked on the head by Khan.

"I win, little torpedo!" Khan declared happily.

"HEY!" Uzi retorted. "I didn't say you were playing!"

"Ah, come on," Khan said teasingly. "Can't you let your sweet old man play for once? I get bored, too, ya know."

"Bite me!" Uzi snapped. "Doll, you're on my side!"

But Doll was no longer interested in the debacle of the game. She looked off in the distance, searching for even a glimpse of the missing member of the pod.

["Shouldn't Nori be back by now...?"] She asked.

"Huh..." Khan replied. "Yeah. Usually she isn't gone this long. Unless..."

He trailed off, lost in a sea of his own thoughts. Doll and Uzi looked at each other, unable to make heads or tails of what he was thinking. Suddenly, there was a faint scream that spooked the three of them out of their stupor.

"D-did you hear that?" Uzi asked, startled.

["Sounded like someone saying 'help'..."] Doll replied.

No further words were needed for the orca drones to realize Nori might be in trouble. They all sped off, retracing their path to where they separated from her. The yells became gradually louder, but it wasn't until the trio swam close to a kelp forest that they finally saw her. She was face up, floating on the edge of the kelp forest.

"Oh, thank robo-god!" Nori said, her voice hoarse from calling for help. "Was beginning to think you guys couldn't hear me!"

"Mom!" Uzi said happily. "We thought you were in trouble!"

"Well... I kinda am." She admitted, pulling her tail and arms up for the others to see. "The thing I saw was a big herd of crabs, you see. And they went into this kelp forest, and I uh... yeah."

Khan laughed as his wife trailed off, "You never fail to get yourself in weird trouble Nori. Now you know how we gotta free you."

"How, dad?" Uzi asked, confused at the grin spreading across her father's face. Doll tilted her head in equal puzzlement. Khan turned to his girls for a moment.

"Well, my little purple torpedo," Khan explained in a hushed voice that Nori could still hear. "Your mom used to get stuck in kelp all the time when we went on dates. And there was always one way - and one way only - to get her untangled."

To demonstrate, he reached under Uzi's chin and wiggled his fingers, eliciting a giggle."Hehehey!" Uzi snapped, suddenly realizing what Khan meant. "Hey..."

She swam over to Nori, humming thoughtfully about where to strike first as the trapped orca drone whimpered with nervous anticipation.

["Careful not to get yourself caught in the kelp Uzi,"] Doll warned.

"Bite me!" Uzi snapped.

"U-uzi, c'mon..." Nori pleaded. "You don't have to do this... I-I can free myself!"

"Too bad, you can bite me too," Uzi smirked. She dove down quickly and scribbled her fingers on her mom's sides.

"Uz-ihihihihi!" Nori exclaimed. "Plehehehease! Heheheheheeahaa!" She started wriggling around to get away from her daughter, but with little success.

Uzi replied with a snarky "too bad!" and looked very pleased with herself. A thought in the back of her head considered this an act of revenge for when her mom would flip her on her back and wreck her silly. Well, now SHE was the one who couldn't move... a healthy taste of her own medicine.

Uzi gestured for her cousin to come close and join in. Doll approached Nori apprehensively but was soon grinning mischievously. Instead of pulling Uzi away like she normally would've done, she dug her fingers into Nori's neck and wiggled them around.

"Ahhaahahha Dohohoholll!" Nori squealed. "Stahahahp! Heheheheheeahaa! Cuhuhut it ohohout!" She jerked her tail and oblivious to the fact that it was starting to free itself from the kelp.

"Hey! It's working!" Khan pointed out as he watched his girls turn Nori into a total mess of laughter. Uzi noticed the kelp on her mom's wrists was still holding her arms out quite a bit, and this gave the little orca drone an idea. She took one of her hands off her mom's side and instead positioned it under her arm and began scribbling again.

"Nohohohohoho!" Nori screeched loudly, pinning her arm to her side as best she could. "Ihihihi sahahahahaid to stAHAHAAHP! Hahahhaahaaha!"

"We still gotta free you, mom!" Uzi replied playfully. "It's working, but you're still stuck!" Indeed, it was working. The kelp on Nori's wrists had loosened to the point where Khan easily slipped it off.

"Alright, alright, girls, that's enough," Khan lied. "Give her a chance to breathe... no wonder you wear her out so easily."

"Aw, Daaaaad!" Uzi whined.

["Her tail isn't free, Uncle Doorman,"] Doll pointed out.

"N-no need..." Nori wheezed. "I can do it myself... I could've untangled my arms by myself too, for that matter..."

She then carefully reached over to her tail to get the kelp off, but Khan grabbed both of her arms just before she could touch it.

"I'm aware..." Khan said, smirking as he turned to the girls. "You two don't know her death spot... her absolute most sensitive tickle spot. Hold her arms for me."

Uzi and Doll did as they were told, pulling Nori's arms away from her tail. Khan positioned himself just above his wife. If gravity was prevalent here, he would've been laying on top of her.

"Khan... d-don't do it," Nori stammered nervously, her anticipation mounting.

"You know what happens here, honey," Khan replied calmly while Uzi and Doll giggled.

Nori did everything in her power at the moment to get as far away from her husband as she could, but to little avail. He grabbed her around the waist, eliciting a small yelp. Giving Nori no time to brace herself, he planted a raspberry on her belly.

"aaaaAAHHAHAHAA KHAHAHAHAN!" Nori shrieked, squirming wildly. "AHAHAHAHAAHAA! STAHAHAHAHAHAHP! IHIHIHIH HAAHAHATE IT WHEHEHEN YOHOHOHOU DO THIHIHIHIS!"

"Really?" Khan asked, pulling his head up to regain his breath and tease Nori. "I always thought you liked me doing that. And frankly, I still do."

"Well... sorry to burst your bubble," Nori began. "But I dohohoHOHOHOHNT! HEHEHEHAAHAHAHAHAH! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Khan simply ended her argument with another raspberry. Her tail flapped helplessly, but roughly enough to get the remaining kelp off.

"Hey! Look!" Uzi piped up. "She's free!"

["In what sense?"] Doll deadpanned, pointing at Khan still holding Nori hostage as he blew continuous raspberries on her belly.

"DEHEHEHEAR ROBO-GOHOHOD!" Nori howled, completely forgetting the lack of kelp on her tail. "STAHAHAHAHAHP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAA! NOHOHO MOHOHOHORE!"

Khan got the message and let up, allowing Nori to squirm away with her remaining strength and finally be out of range of the kelp forest. She let herself float limply in the water for a few moments as the others rejoined her.

"That was fun!" Uzi declared, and Doll nodded in agreement. "I didn't know you could blow raspberries like that, Dad!"

"Well, your mom's kinda scared of kelp forests nowadays," Khan chuckled. "Mostly because of me doing that. And don't 'hmph' at me, honey. I know you enjoy being tickled."

"Bite me!" Nori snapped, crossing her arms. "But... thanks for getting me outta there..."

"No problem," Khan replied. "Now c'mon, let's go find something to do." However, he didn't get very far before something grabbed him by the end of his tail. It wasn't kelp.

"Oh, you think I'm gonna let you get away that easily, huh?" Nori sneered, pulling her husband closer and inching a hand closer to his neck. "I think some revenge is in order. And not just for you."

She turned to Uzi and Doll, both of whom looked at each other nervously.

"SCRAM!" Uzi shouted as she and Doll left Khan to be wrecked silly by his wife.

The end :]

It was a typical day at the Doorman house. Khan was currently working on blueprints for a new door while Nori was reading on the couch. All was peaceful until two dronelings walked through the front door.

“Mom! Dad! We’re home!” Their daughter, Uzi, shouted 

Next to her stood her cousin Doll, who eagerly accompanied Uzi to hang their backpacks by the door. Nori glanced over and noticed them approaching the hooks, where they proceeded to hang their backpacks on the wall. With a smile, she stood up to greet the two.

“Welcome back girls! How was school?” Nori asked 

“It was good! We learned about the steam engine today in history!” Doll gushed 

“Yeah! But Doll couldn’t stop talking about it all day!” Uzi yawned out of boredom 

“I was not!” Doll retorted 

Nori couldn't help but smile. Earlier that day, the solver holder had received a call from her sister, who informed her that she and Yuri needed to attend to some important matters to discuss with their leader later on. She asked Nori if she could look after their daughter until they returned, as they didn't have a babysitter. Of course, Nori agreed to take care of Doll for the day. Hence, that's why she was with Uzi.

“Doll, you’re gonna be staying with us for the time being. Your parents have important business to attend.” Nori informed 

Doll’s face lit up at the news, no longer upset at Uzi’s comment. 

“Cool! That means we can hang out even longer Uzi!” Doll said excitedly 

“Let’s go play in my room!” Uzi grinned as she rushes out of the living room to her room 

Doll soon follows her into her room, leaving Nori alone in the room. She chuckles as she walked back to the couch and picked up her book to continue reading. A few seconds later Khan walked out of his office to join Nori, wiping his visor as he plopped down beside her with a tired groan.

“The kids are back?” Khan asked 

“Mhm.” Nori responded not looking up from her book

“Best to get as much rest am I right?” 

“Yeah…”

-In Uzi’s room-

The two lay on the carpeted floor, looking up at the ceiling, having just finished playing with the purple-clad droneling's toy cars.

"That was fun! What should we play?" Uzi asked, turning to face Doll.

The other droneling sat up, pondering the games they had created to satisfy their boredom.

"Well, we could play police and robbers, heroes and villains. Oh! And tickle bugs!" Doll suggested, but it seemed that Uzi wasn't interested in either of them.

“Eh, we’ve played those games like a quadrillion times already.” Uzi replied turning back to the ceiling 

"Then what should we play? We can't just lie down and look at the ceiling forever," Doll said.

Uzi hummed in response as it was now her turn to come up with something for the two of them to play. At first, her thoughts were hazy, but then she recalled the game they used to enjoy. Suddenly, she gasped with excitement, sitting up straight as she remembered the game they had played long ago.

"I got it! How about Safari?" Uzi suggested.

"Oh yeah! I remember that one! But..." Doll hesitated.

"But?" Uzi repeated.

"What if your dad says no? You know how the game goes," Doll remarked.

It was true, Khan didn't really like the game since he gets caught most of the time, but Uzi thought this out. She placed her arm around Doll before smirking.

"Oh, he won't say no this time."

-Back in the living room-

Khan played with Nori's hair as she continued to read her book. It had been a while since Uzi and Doll had gone to her room to play. Normally, they would rush out and greet the couple with a dozen questions about everything that came across their minds within a short amount of time, but it didn't happen,  much to Khan's relief.

He sighed contentedly as he lays on Nori's shoulder, gently touching the sleeve of her navy blue shirt before gazing at her shoulder.

"You know, it's been an hour since those rascals came home and didn't bother us," Khan said.

"And?" Nori asked, looking up from her book and at her husband.

"I have a gut feeling that at any moment, they're going to run up here and either ask the most bizarre question or if we could play a game," Khan stated.

"Well, maybe not this time, Khan," Nori replied.

"Trust me, Nori, gut feelings are never wrong."

Just as Khan said that sentence, Uzi and Doll ran out of Uzi's room and towards the couch, excited smiles greeting the two adults as they stopped right in front of them. Khan gave Nori a 'told you so' look before focusing on the girls.

"Hey Dad?" Uzi began.

"Yes, my little machine gun?" Khan asked.

"Can we play Safari?"

The male worker halted abruptly when his daughter brought up that game. Although he liked playing it, Nori always ended up being "it" in the game. The worse part of it was that the kids were the ones who decided who would be the “Beast”. He looks at Nori, who had a wide grin on her face, knowing what’s to come.

"Uh, well sweetie, I don't think we should-" Khan started, but was cut off by Uzi.

"You can be the beast this time." Uzi deadpanned.

"Wait what?" Nori asked.

Nori's grin flattened as Uzi made his statement. Meanwhile, Khan was surprised as he had never been the beast before. Nori looked at her husband, hoping that he would decline, but it seemed that luck was not on her side today.

"Deal," Khan grinned.

"Khan!" Nori exclaimed. 

The girls whooped in victory before rushing to Uzi's room to gather the necessary items for the game, giggling as they did so.

"You're with us, Mom! And you already know the rules!" Uzi smiled as she pointed at her, before disappearing into her room once more to get their safari outfits ready.

The adults were once again left alone in the living room. Khan stood up from the couch and went to where the starting position was. As he did so, he smirked at Nori, who still had a dumbfounded expression, and affectionately patted her head.

"Heh, don't worry, honey. I'll take it easy on you. After all, it is your first time not being the Beast. Rawr," Khan playfully teased, only to receive a smack on his arm.

"Bite me!" Nori shouted.

Later on…

Uzi, Doll, and Nori were sitting inside a cardboard box, using it as a makeshift vehicle to drive into the dense forest and vines. Eventually, they arrived at their destination, as Uzi made a horrible screeching noise to announce that the vehicle “stopped”.

"Okay, we're here. Remember to be quiet around these parts. We don't want to attract any wild animals," Uzi instructed.

"Or the Beast," Doll added.

The trio got out of the cardboard box and started to creep around the furniture, crawling on all fours as they hoped not to attract any attention. Uzi led the group, while Doll took "pictures" with the toy camera she had packed. She sometimes pointed out toy animals that they had placed all over the house, giggling as they did so.

Nori was a bit nervous. She knew how Safari worked, and it didn't end well, according to Khan at least. The "beast" would stalk the trio until it was time to pounce and eat one of them, and the other two would have to stop it. The problem was that she didn't know when or where the attack would happen.

As the group continued their journey, they made their way towards the kitchen, which they fondly called the "Twin water falls" in their small world. They crawled under one of the aisles, and Nori felt grateful for wearing shorts as the floor was damp, likely due to a sink leakage. She made a mental note to tell her husband later.

Thud!

Something was directly above them.

The group froze instantly as they continued to hear the faint taps on the table. Suddenly, it ceased, and the group collectively exhaled a breath they hadn't realized they were holding.

Nori's false sense of security was shattered when a hand abruptly seized her leg and yanked her out from beneath the table. A yelp escaped her lips as she was forcefully dragged away from Uzi and Doll.

"Mom!" Uzi shouted as Nori was being dragged away.

"Doll! We have to go after her!" Uzi exclaimed as she emerged from under the table, accompanied by her cousin.

"Way ahead of you!" Doll replied.

Both girls take out toy guns and run after Nori. The beast took many sharp turns as they pursue it, the worst thing was that it was almost too fast to keep up. Eventually, Uzi and Doll lost their track. The two try to regain their breaths as they stop to rest.

"Dang it! We lost her!" Uzi exclaimed angrily.

"What do we do now?" Doll asked, uncertain.

-In the office den-

The beast had taken its prey back into its cave. It gently threw Nori onto a pile of pillows, causing her to let out an "oof!" as she landed on the soft surface. Once the solver bearer regained her composure, she nervously glanced at Khan, fully aware of what would happen next.

"K-Khan, come on, we don't have to do this," Nori said with a nervous grin, extending her hand to create some distance between herself and Khan, who continued to advance. Each step he took only heightened her anticipation.

"Sorry, Nori, but you know the rules. Besides, you never backed down when you were the beast," Khan stated as he approached.

Nori gulped, knowing that Khan would show her no mercy. She tried to mentally prepare herself for the worst that was about to come. However, deep down, she knew she could never truly be ready.

That was when he suddenly pounced on her, pinning her down and began nibbling at her neck. Nori couldn't help but giggle and shriek as he playfully nuzzled her neck, his mustache making the ticklish sensations ten times worse. Oh, dear robot-god, why did she ever encourage him to get that mustache?

"Nahahahahaha! Kahahahan!" Nori giggled as she attempted to push his head away from the side of her neck.

"Khan isn't here anymore, only the beast! Rawr!" Khan chuckled as he persisted in tickling her neck.

“No! Ahahahahaha! Somebody hehehelp mehehe!” Nori pleaded as she continued to struggle 

Meanwhile, Uzi and Doll continued their search for Nori, but despite their efforts, they always found themselves back at square one.

“Where could she be? We looked everywhere for her!” Doll exclaimed 

“I dunno, but she couldn’t have gone that far.” Uzi replied

Suddenly, the dronelings heard laughter coming from Khan's office. 

“Is that..?” 

“I think so, let’s go Doll!”

They follow the sound of laughter and make their way to the beast's cave, peeking inside to see the beast "eating" Nori as she kicks her legs from the tickles.

“Aunt Nori-!” Doll whispered before Uzi covered her mouth, silencing her.

“Shh, he’ll hear you.” Uzi warned 

The girls glanced up to ensure that the Beast hadn't noticed them. Fortunately, he was still occupied with Nori. They exchanged another look.

"Okay, here's the plan..." Uzi started, leaning closer to Doll's audio receptors.

The dronelings move slowly and quietly towards the beast. Nori spots the girls but remains silent to avoid alerting him. However, Khan senses that something isn't right and abruptly stops the tickly attack, allowing Nori to regain composure. Realizing that Khan has stopped, the girls swiftly take cover behind the boxes in the corner. Fortunately, he doesn't turn around in time to spot them.

“Hm, I could’ve sworn I heard something.” Khan says to himself as he looks around

Nori panicked. If he finds the girls they'll all lose the game. She can't let that happen, unless…

"Actually, I wasn't a fan of your designs for the new door," Nori complained.

Khan turned his head back to Nori, surprised by her comment.

Seeing an opportunity, she continued, "Seriously, a plain white door? That's so boring. You can do better than that."

"I'm willing to bet that Heap can come up with a better design," Nori teased.

She waits for his reaction, hoping that he would take the bait. Khan stares at her in disbelief. He never expected her to say something like this, let alone taunt about his door designs.

His surprised expression soon turned into a mischievous one as he pinned Nori’s arms to her sides, earning a surprised yelp from her. 

“Oh ho ho that’s it! You have been a pain on my side for quite some time! And speaking of sides, I think it’s time for me to eat those too! Along with your belly!”

…Maybe the taunt worked too well.

“W-wait I didn’t mean it like that. Khan pleHEHEAHEHAHAHA!!” But before she could finish her sentence, she burst into laughter as Khan continued tickling her, this time targeting her stomach.

She squirmed and flailed, caught off guard by his sudden raspberries. She couldn't predict when or where he would strike next.

"AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA! NOHOHOHOHO! STAHAHAHA!" Nori's laughter echoed through the room.

Unbeknownst to Khan, Uzi and Doll had silently crept up behind him, seizing the perfect moment to strike.

“Surprise attack!” 

“Huh? Ack—!” 

The girls both tackled Khan from the side, freeing Nori. She sat back up only to see Uzi and Doll wrestling with Khan before they were finally able to create an opening.

"His back is exposed, Uzi! Shoot him!" Doll shouted.

"Your days of terror are over, beast!" Uzi declared, aiming the toy gun at his target.

And with that, Uzi fired at Khan's back with the toy gun. The projectile bounced off the man, but the impact was immediate as Khan yelped and writhed on the floor in "pain".

"Argh! Nooo! I'm dying! My life is flashing before my eyes! It's over! Aah!" Khan exclaimed, putting on a very overdramatic act before flopping onto the floor. The beast had finally been slain.

Finally recovering from the tickles, Nori sat up and opened her arms to congratulate the girls for saving her.

"You saved me! My little heroines!" Nori praised as she hugged them tightly.

The dronelings giggled and returned the hug.

"All in a day's work," Doll said, tipping her hat.

"Yeah! We saved the day!" Uzi cheered.

Khan got up from the floor and walked towards the group, placing a hand on Uzi's hair and ruffling it.

"Haha, yes you did, my little machine gun! Now, who wants to watch a movie?"

Uzi and Doll both perked up at the question, jumping up and down and raising their hands like the excited children they were.

"Me!" "Me!" "Me!"

"Alright! Go ahead and pick one in the living room! We'll be there in a minute!"

The kids sprinted to the living room, leaving Nori and Khan behind. Just as Nori was about to leave, she suddenly felt a pair of hands gripping her sides.

"And where do you think you're going?" Khan asked.

"T-to the living room where the kids are-" Nori couldn't finish her sentence as Khan pulled her into a hug.

"Oh, I'm not finished with you yet, honey. Not after that comment you made," Khan grinned, tightening the hug so that his wife couldn't escape.

"Wait! Come on, Khan, it was a joke! It was only to distract you from the—Ahahahahaha! Nohohoho nohohot agahahahihin!"

Nori spent the next couple of minutes regretting ever making fun of Khan's doors.