Chapter 15: Wily's Last Laugh

An hour and a half later, Proto’s repairs were completed. His arm was reattached and his internal damages were fixed. He had had a damaged motor circuit, and since he had no back-up chip somewhere in his body, unlike Mega, it’d appeared for a few minutes that he wouldn’t have been able to walk until they got him back to their home world. But Mega offered his back-up chip to replace it. Proto had argued, but Mega insisted, and his brother had been forced to give. So when both bro-bots walked back outside they shared a chip from Mega’s body.

“You didn’t have to do this,” Proto said.

“I wanted to. My back-up nor primary circuit chip were damaged, so it’s the best way.” Mega wasn’t going to tell Proto that secretly he liked the thought of his brother and him sharing a circuit. As they stepped into the snow, some of the kids came up to them; Celene, Twitch, Alcor, and some of their friends. Celene. had her hands behind her back.

“Are you feel better, Proto?” Twitch asked.

“Yeah.”

“Good,” Celene said. “We - we’ve got something to give you.”

“What?” She held out a bouquet of hand-made tissue-paper flowers on pipe-cleaner stems.

“It’s a get-well-soon gift,” Alcor explained. Proto accepted the craft.

“They’re pretty. Thanks.” The kids all smiled broadly.

“And they won’t even need water,” joked a little wolf pup beside Alcor. That got grins all around.

“Feeling better?” Zentarou asked as he and his brother emerged into the winter air.

“Yeah. Back to normal.” Proto grinned at Mega. “Well, back to reprogrammed normal.”

“Good,” Zentarou clapped both robots on the shoulder. “That was a pretty sneaky trick you pulled. Zantar told me about it.”

“Yeah, well, it had to be done.”

“Still, you’re a terrific actor,” Zantar added. “I was completely fooled.”

“So was I,” Mega said. Proto’s response was an unintelligible sound, for he felt a mix of pride in how well his plan had gone and shame at who he was hurt in the process. Mega, understanding, gave Proto a smile. Proto meekly smiled back, then handed the flowers to one of the kids to take inside for safe keeping. The four brothers began to head towards the Christmas tree, Zantar and Zentarou falling behind the silent bro-bots. Mega wanted to cheer Proto up, as any brother would, but he wasn’t sure how. And Proto, being new to his emotions still, wasn’t exactly sure how to voice his regret over the pain he’d caused.

Suddenly Proto felt something strike him in the back with some force, causing him to stumble forward a step. Mega helped to steady him, then both turned around to see Zantar and Zentarou a little ways behind them, holding one snowball each and looking intently serious and extremely playful at the same time.

“Twins against twins,” Zantar said.

“Only rules: No hitting the face or ears, and no foreign objects or sneaky weapons.” And Zentarou hurled his snowball directly at Mega, who barely had the time to dodge. Proto was struck in the shoulder, and both Cats grinned at them, tails twitching slightly.

“C’mon,” Mega encouraged, scooping up a handful of snow and packing it into a ball. “Are we going to let them show us up?” Proto couldn’t help but grin. He grabbed a handful of snow and readied a snowball of his own. With the first return throw a huge snowball fight began between the two sets of twins. All four laughed and laughed as the snow flew everywhere. It went on for a few minutes, then suddenly Mega whirled and hit Proto with a snowball.

“Hey! I’m on your side!”

“Not when it’s every bot for himself.” Proto lunged at Mega, tackling him, and the two tumbled to the snow, locked in a playful tussle. The two Cats, seeing that their plan was successful, quietly slipped away to leave the twin robots to their play.

The blue bomber and red raider rolled over and over, each trying to pin the other down. snow flew at they tussled, playing as they had never done before. They laughed and laughed, too equal in strength for either to gain the upper hand for more than an instant or two. Suddenly, they rolled too near a small slope, which they tumbled down, coming to a rest sprawled at the foot on their backs in the snow, laying still for a few moments to recover. Then Mega looked over at his brother.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. You?”

“Yeah.” Both were silent for a moment, then Mega said, “I’ll never forget the look on Wily’s face when you blasted at him.” He laughed. So did Proto.

“Yeah, it was pretty funny.” He sat up. “Look, I’m sorry about tricking you so abruptly.” Mega sat up too.

“It’s okay. I’m just glad that you were really on our side the whole time. After finally gaining the older brother I’d always wanted, I didn’t want to lose him again.” Proto didn’t have any idea what to say to that.

“Mega...” Just then they heard the rustle of fabric against snow and the crunch of footsteps. Looking forward into a clearing, they saw Zatana dancing to music only she could hear. She moved gracefully and easily, her boots well protecting her feet and her warm clothes shielding her from the cold. She seemed not to see the bro-bots as she moved, almost as if in a trance. Both robots were almost put under a trance themselves as they watched her, her movements almost seeming to be a worship of their own to the Winter Fest Day.

Slowly the dance ended. Zatana froze in place for a moment, then shook her head as if waking up. She turned to face the empty air, and bowed to an invisible partner. Then she turned and for the first time realized that she had an audience.

“Oh!” she gasped, freezing and blushing slightly. Then she recovered and came over. “I’m sorry, Mega, Proto. I guess I didn’t realize that you were there.”

“That’s okay,” Mega assured. “We just kinda dropped in.” Proto chuckled, and by Zatana's expression she recognized the inside joke for what it was.

“Who were you dancing with?” Proto asked.

“My mother.” Zatana turned slightly, there was a bluish glow, and they saw Zana now, as before, glowing. She smile at them and tipped her head as if in greeting. “We always get together for these little danced every now and then. She teaches me various moves that her spirit friends taught her.”

“You’re a good dancer,” Mega complimented. Zatana blushed again from his praise.

“My daughter is also very modest about her abilities,” Zana said, coming over. Zatana blushed a deeper shade of red, visible even through her fur. Zana laughed softly. “But I can see that I’m not helping matters any.” Zatana smiled fondly at her mother. Zana addressed the robots. “I can assure you that Wily won’t bother you anymore while you are in K'Tal Valley. I sent him back.” The two glanced at each other. “Don’t worry about him causing trouble in your world. He and all his followers will sleep until you return.”

“Thanks.” Zana nodded in acceptance of the gratitude, then vanished.

“So,” Zatana asked Proto, “how’d the repairs go?”

“Good. Lucky for me Mega had a spare motor circuit I could use until we return to Dr. Light’s lab.”

“Home,” Mega corrected. Proto thought about that, then nodded and smiled.

“Home,” he agreed. Zantar suddenly slid down the slope to join them.

“Ready to go to the service?” he asked, giving Zatana a quick one-arm hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Lets go.” The four took the short hike up the slope. Once a the top, Mega turned to Zantar. “That snowball trick...”

“Yeah?”

“Very sneaky. But - ” Two snowballs hit the gray-furred cat. Both bro-bots grinned. So did Zantar.

“Okay. I deserved that.” He began to jog towards the tree. “Hurry up.” The others ran after him.

Soon all were gathered at the tree as before, this time with the lost ones amongst them. Proto caught on to the various songs that Zant had gotten from Roll quickly, mostly by listening to his family around him. At last, after songs and hymns and a prayer of thanks for the three’s return (and to the eager anticipation of the youngsters), the last strains of the final hymn faded.

Zantari went to stand in front of the tree, where he could be heard by all. He looked at those he faced around the tree, noticing immediately how most of the younger kids were slightly squirming in eagerness to get to the gifts, as well as a few of the older youths who were eager to surprise their friends with what they had gotten for them. He smiled invitingly, but didn’t say the word that would break the silent, invisible hold on them, as was Half Kin tradition, playfully teasing.

“C’mon, brother,” Zant said, as he’d said every year and would for many more as he came over to shoulder against his oldest brother. “Quit teasing them.”

“Okay, okay,” Zantari laughed as Zanatos joined them, as he’d done for years, and playfully put the eldest brother in a brotherly choke hold. He grinned at the kids and nodded at the tree. “Have at it.” The youngsters scurried forward to sort out gifts while the youths and adults hung back, musing over the sight.

“Remember when we were that little, sister dear?” Zatanair asked his sister.

“Do I ever! We were just as bad, if not worse.” She laughed, recalling old times.

“I think it’s thinning out,” Wroul told them. Slowly the youths and their friends moved forward. Zatana knelt down, reached out, and called a name from one of the tags.

“Lets see... this one’s to... Zatanair.” As the elder brother stepped forward, Proto suddenly realized,

“My gifts are still inside.” Mega’s eyes widened marginally as he realized,

“So are mine.” The two jogged back towards the buildings to retrieve their gifts, Rush following, joyfully bounding through the snow.

“Race ya!” Mega challenged.

“You’re on!” The two raced through the snow towards the building that housed their temporary rooms and their gift’s hiding places.

Suddenly Proto felt a sharp stab of pain unlike anything he’d every known and fell face-first into the snow. At first Mega didn’t realize that his brother had fallen, then he glanced back. He skidded to a stop, then returned to Proto’s side somewhat cautiously, half expecting Proto to suddenly leap up and race past him. Rush followed, whimpering in concern. That was when

Mega saw Proto tremble in pain as he tried to rise.

“Brother!” Mega sank to his knees at his brother’s side. He rolled Proto over and lifted him out of the snow, holding him in his arms. Proto stirred painfully, grimacing.

“Pain - ” he whispered hoarsely. “Feels like...my circuits...burning...” Mega turned to look at the others gathered around the tree, laughing and oblivious to the scene taking place not

far away.

“Help!”