Love During Robot Fighting Time: Chapter 20

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And now, back to our regularly scheduled nerdy romcom shenanigans!

***

Zeke

The morning of our fight with Gregson, I woke up to find Faith making pancakes, singing along to a Brandi Carlisle song as she flipped a flapjack over, swaying her hips back and forth in a way I found difficult to describe with a word other than ‘tantalizing.’

I nearly slapped myself on the spot. I resisted the urge, both urges, and simply said, “Hey. You’re in a good mood.”

“Yes indeedy,” Faith said, shining that bright smile of hers. She wore nothing but a miniskirt and a tank top, her hair up in a messy bun, no makeup, no jewelry, utterly freaking beautiful as the morning light shined on her and refracted off her big brown eyes. 

“Photoshoot yesterday go well?” I asked. 

“Oh yes, very much so,” she said. Practically sang. 

The microwave dinged, and she chirped as she opened it and retrieved a glass measuring cup filled with real maple syrup, the pure stuff from Maine, and poured it over a plate adorned with three pancakes all topped with pallets of butter. 

She carried the plate over to me and put it in my hands, then tousled my hair and spun back around on her heel and went back to the stove. I cringed when I realized I was staring at her butt as she went back to work cooking. 

“Thanks,” I managed to choke out as I sat down. A glass of orange juice and an equally tall glass of cold brew coffee awaited me at the table. “You didn’t have to do all this, though.”

“I wanted to,” she said. “How did your date with Katie go last night?”

“Good,” I said, holding the image of her cuddled up to me in the darkened movie theater in my mind, trying not to think sinful thoughts about anyone besides the girl I was currently dating. I won’t be like Dad, I won’t be like Dad, I won’t be like Dad. 

“Good,” she said, soon coming over with her own plate of pancakes. She stared at me, smiling a crooked smile and tilting her head to the side. “She say anything to you?”

“Uh… About what?”

“Oh, you know, stuff.”

“Y… Yes, Faith, she did in fact say things to me about stuff at various points, though not so much when the film was playing,” I deadpanned. “Did something happen with you two yesterday?”

She shrugged. 

OH COME ON! 

“Sh-should I be concerned?” I asked. 

“Not at all, big guy, not at all,” Faith said. She dug into her pancakes and devoured them, and I decided the best thing to do was let this one be for the time being. 

***

“You guys ready for this?” Kate asked, sitting in the back seat of the Star-Rocket Racer. She’d gotten herself dressed up in a pink floral blouse with ruffled sleeves and a light blue skirt, done her makeup and hair. Faith and I, meanwhile, were going for a look Faith described as ‘a night at the opera’- she was even wearing long white gloves to go with her stark black gown. I, in contribution, had agreed to don a monocle to accompany my tuxedo. 

Mrs. Calloway- Miranda, as she kept insisting I call her- had even done a bit of tailoring on my tux to make it fit better. Honestly, she was a miracle worker- suddenly the thing was a perfect match for my giant body, not pinching at the crotch or hanging too loose around the ankles like it had before. 

“Not remotely,” I laughed. 

“Oh c’mon, don’t be like that,” Faith said as she unbuckled herself and opened the car door. 

I followed suit. “You know I love the confidence, but I’m trying to keep my expectations in check.”

“I just don’t think that’s productive,” she said, cracking her knuckles as she opened the trunk of the car while Kate helped me lower DG out onto the sledge. “We have to believe that we can do this, otherwise, we’ve no chance.”

“She raises a good point,” Kate said. Then she grabbed a fistful of my lapel and pulled me in for a kiss, white hot lust sparking inside my chest and nether-regions at the contact and… Brazenness. “Stud,” she whispered, blatant desire shooting out her eyes and going deep into my soul. 

I chuckled, “Let’s not get carried away, babe.”

“No, please do, I encourage it,” Faith said with a wink, putting her arm around Kate and nuzzling her neck, damn near purring with affection. 

I struggled not to picture certain… Bedroom activities the two girls I cared most about in this world might do together. It was a losing battle, and all I could do was pray I wouldn’t display any… Physical evidence of this. 

Kate stroking Faith’s hair certainly didn’t help. 

Seriously, what had gotten into these two lately? I knew they were friends now but it constantly looked like they were undressing each other with their eyes and giggling at their mutual proximity to both each other and to me. 

It had to be my imagination. Had to be. 

Just my overactive imagination, trying to make me be like Dad. But I won’t be like Dad. I can’t be like Dad. I won’t be like Dad.

We entered the Pits and got ourselves situated, only for the competition to come up to greet us amidst the roar of engines and saws and blowtorches. 

George Gregson was, in a word, unassuming. Middle-aged, gray-haired, barrel-chested, average height, clean shaven, whiter than printer paper, bespectacled, clad in a black and silver Johnny Cash t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans and workman’s boots, he was not, at first glance, in any way intimidating. And yet, as he walked towards us, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up. And looked at him. Some, like Team Forest Fire, were in awe; others, like Team Flipper, were terrified; others, like Jolly Roger’s crew, just looked furious. And plenty of others, Ultimate Frisbee and Ax-Grinder and Damage Control and Rotator Cuff and Power Play, were just embarrassed, probably because Gregson had kicked their asses at various points over the years. Ax-Grinder in particular had gotten systematically dismantled by Gregson within forty-five seconds not two weeks erstwhile; the odds of them having a functional bot again by the time of their next match hovering the hazy line between slim and none.

He ignored every single one of them, and simply walked forward in the deafening silence. He stopped in front of the three of us and looked Faith square in the eyes. For her part, Faith planted her feet and didn’t flinch. 

“Good luck tonight,” Gregson said, extending a hand towards Faith. 

Faith exhaled softly, and returned the handshake. “Same to you, sir.”

He threw his head back and laughed. “Please, just call me George, I’m begging you. Feel old enough as is.” Then he offered me the same handshake, and I returned it as well. Holy shit, that was a tight grip! “Good luck tonight, young man.”

“Thank you, s… George.”

Finally, he turned to Katie, who I then realized was one step short of quivering. “As for you, young lady. I’m looking forward to our rematch. And I like your new look. Suits you better than the old one.”

Kate gulped, and finally shook his hand as well. 

“See you kids in the ring!” he said jovially as he walked off, literally everyone in the room still staring at him as he waved good-bye to us. “And remember- it isn’t personal, when I wreck your shit! It’s just business!”

A few moments passed, and auditory stimulus slowly but surely began to permeate the pits once more as everyone finished drinking in the presence of a living legend/creature of pure nightmare.

“You okay, Kate?” I asked. 

“I just… I used to want to be him, you know?” she said, turning around and putting her arms around both of us. “I think based a lot of who I used to be on who I thought he was. But I didn’t even know him, so it… It wasn’t really him, and it wasn’t really me either. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, it does,” Faith said, still smiling at her, then smiling at me as well. 

I returned their shared looks of affection. At the end of the day, Gregson was just a guy. And he had a reputation to protect, so he sure as hell wasn’t gonna go easy on us because we were the young bucks trying to prove something.

But Faith and I had a reputation to protect as well. We were the defending champions, Goddammit, and we needed this win to have a shot at making a repeat title run. 

And I had something else to defend as well. I didn’t want to see Faith cry again, not after the fight with Olivia, and not after everything that had happened. Regardless of how I felt about her, and about myself, on my honor as a man, I wouldn’t let that happen. And as for Kate… That look she’d given me before, the one that told me how much she was proud of me, how much she admired me, how happy she was to be mine… I’d defend that with all I had. 

She’d used to want to be Gregson, because she wanted to be nothing less than the best there ever was. So the nicest thing I could do for her was show her that Gregson wasn’t the best. 

Faith and I were the best. 

Time to fucking prove it.

***

“AND IN THE RED SQUARE: THIS BOT WILL BRING YOU TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PIT! IT’LL SWING YOU BACK AND FORTH ALL OVER THE BOX! IT’LL TAKE YOU THERE AND BACK AGAIN! IT’S… PENDULUM!!!!” bellowed our glorious hype man while the cameras focused on Gregson and his companions, Ben Yancy and Marjorie Hennessy. 

Gregson just roared with malice and delight, his mannerisms shifting to a cackling supervillain working the crowd before he did something very messed up but very, very cool. I think I understood what Kate meant now- she’d practically been emulating this guy from the moment she’d walked on stage last season.

“Gregson is a long-standing presence in this league, Marty- do you think he’s got anything to worry about in fighting the defending champions?” Derek Benes said. 

“Well, I asked him about it earlier,” Marty said, “All George Gregson had to say was ‘not a chance. My victory is assured like always.’”

“Hard to argue with logic like that,” Derek responded. 

And then it was our turn. 

“AND IN THE BLUE SQUARE: HOPE YOU’RE READY TO RUN SOME DRILLS! BECAUSE THIS BOT ALWAYS GETS RIGHT TO THE POINT! IT’LL MAKE YOU DO A MULTI-PRONGED ASSAULT! IT’S… DAI GURREN!!!!”

The crowd cheered, and the cameras turned towards us, and through all the noise, I heard Kate and her parents screaming louder than anybody. I noticed Faith’s hands shaking just a little bit- that confidence was evidently something she’d been practicing for all of our benefits- and I put a hand on her shoulder while my free hand punched the sky and cheered. 

After a second’s hesitation, Faith did the same. 

“Faith Watanabe and Zeke Underhill have… Not been having the best season so far, all things considered,” Marty said. “With a tied record halfway into the regular season, and one of those matches frequently being called a ‘fluke-’”

“Say what now?” Faith growled under her breath.

“Many are wondering if Dai Gurren is just a flash in the pan,” Weston continued. 

“Well, I think that’s a little unfair to Watanabe and Underhill- as a former heavyweight champion of the world, I can tell you first hand that defending a title is a massive amount of pressure for anyone, let alone two young people barely a year out of college.”

“Well, then only time will tell,” Marty said. “Let’s get ready to fight.”

My heartbeat soared, and I concentrated on breathing, in and out, in and out, in and out, as we led our bot into the battle box. Dai Gurren and Gurren were situated in our square while we climbed into our control zone. 

“ROBOTS! ACTIVATE!” intoned the mechanical overhead voice.

Just like we practiced, Faith and I had DG and G scramble, DG bearing left and G to the right. Pendulum went directly after DG, and Faith twisted DG out of the way of the first swing of the upper-cut hammer. 

She delivered the first blow, puncturing Pendulum’s armor on its left hand side and pushing against it. Unfortunately, the damn thing was just plain heavier than DG and would not budge. Gregson laughed raucously as his bot pivoted at a sharp angle and broke free of DG and launched its uppercut again. DG barely made it out of the way while I had G take Pendulum from behind and leave an incision in the back of it. 

Gregson proceeded to completely ignore me, and continued chasing after DG. Slow and steady, he chased after DG as Faith slowly led him toward the rotating screws. She had DG sit stationary in front of the screws, waiting, waiting, waiting ‘till Pendulum was right in front of her and launching its uppercut. 

DG drove out of the way at the last possible second, sustaining a slight clip on its side that made one of the wheels wobble. The uppercut collided with the screws and stopped them entirely as the rotators were torn loose and a giant cylinder of serrated metal fell onto the arena floor. 

“WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT! WHAT A DISPLAY OF PENDULUM’S RAW POWER! UNBELIEVABLE!” Marty screamed. Seriously, how much cocaine was that man on?

I drove G into Pendulum’s tract again, chipping away at it as he drove away from me yet again. “Don’t you freaking ignore me!” I grunted. 

“Hm? What was that?” Gregson said, an evil chuckle lacing his words. 

“Son of a-”

“Stay calm, Zeke,” Faith said evenly. “Just do it like we practiced. Like we planned for.”

I exhaled. “Right.”

I flanked across the side of the box while Faith led Gregson towards the overhead hammer at the other end and tried the same trick as last time, dodging more successfully. The hope was that the impact of Gregson’s uppercut against the vertical hammer’s downward assault would disable Pendulum’s primary weapon, but unfortunately it had the opposite effect of tearing the overhead hammer off of its hinges and sending it flying into the glass surrounding the box. It landed in front of the announcers and buried itself in the shield, leaving both men screaming. 

Faith turned and went at Pendulum’s left side again, perfectly matching the holes she’d already drilled, while I did some more damage to his left tread. 

Pendulum rotated. 

DG and G both rotated as well, trying to avoid the line of fire. 

That was when DG’s wheel broke off. 

“NO!” Faith screamed as DG stumbled onto its side. 

“Oh HELL! LOOKS LIKE THAT WING-CLIP DID MORE DAMAGE THAN WE THOUGHT!” Derek screamed. 

“MWAHAHAHAHAHA!” Gregson cackled. He wasted no time and aimed his weapon. 

He fired. 

DG took the hit directly to its face plate, and all of our drills shattered as its front was caved in and sent flying back. It went careening to the other end and impacted against the glass on the audience side of the box, falling in a crushed heap onto the rafters. 

I wanted to scream, to lose it as well, but I had a job to do. 

Faith looked ready to cry. 

Me? I couldn’t take that lying down. 

Pendulum’s uppercut hadn’t returned to its station yet, so I drove Gurren directly into the slot and plunged the titanium drill into the magnet propellant. I dove out as soon as I was in, finding, mercifully, that the uppercut wasn’t returning to its home. It couldn’t. The similarly-charged magnets on both ends wouldn’t let it get any closer than it already was, reducing it to a blunt instrument stuck at a forty-five degree angle. 

“OH HELL NO! The mini-bot Gurren has disabled Pendulum’s primary weapon! Without that, it’s just a mighty glacier!”

I couldn’t stop there. I went back to the point on Pendulum’s tread I’d been working on plunged back in, my hands sweating as I held the button down on my control pad, ripping apart the opposing bot’s mobility. 

It tried to move after me, but I went on the retreat. Gregson’s left tread was totally disabled, meaning it had to rely entirely on its right to haul its massive bulk. It tried to rotate to get a decent angle on me, and Gregson grunted as he poured all the power into the right tread… 

… Only for the poor balance of the stuck weapon to work against it as it turned. 

Pendulum fell onto its side, remaining stationary as it rested on its broken tread. 

“HOLY FUCKING SHIT!” Marty screamed. I wonder if the live-bleepers got that one on time. “ARE YOU SEEING THIS, DEREK?!”

“OH I’M SEEING IT MARTY!” Derek screamed. “I’M JUST NOT SURE MY AGED EYES CAN BELIEVE IT!”

I could have cried. I could have laughed. But honestly… I was too stunned to do anything besides stand there with my jaw in pieces on the floor. I can’t believe that worked. I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT FUCKING WORKED! HOLY SHIT ON A DICK THAT ACTUALLY FUCKING WORKED!!

“Gonna need to see some movement,” the referee said to Gregson. 

“Yeah, that’s a tall order right now,” Gregson said, laughing bitterly as he spun the right tread that hung above his broken bot. 

“10! 9! 8!”

The countdown continued, and elation bubbled through me as I drove G around the box for a victory lap, still incapable of closing my mouth. 

“1! That’s game!” the referee said. “Team Dai Gurren wins!”

“LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE DEFENDING CHAMPIONS!” Marty roared.

The crowd went crazy, so loud I couldn’t make out Katie’s voice amidst all the disparate sounds. Next to me, Faith held her hands over her mouth, tears streaming out her eyes, too stunned to move. I’d sworn I wouldn’t let her cry again, and I suppose I’d failed at that particular endeavor, but… From where I was standing, those looked an awful lot like happy tears. 

There was only one thing I could think to do.

I gave a bow and a flourish of my arm and said, “Fair lady. May I have this dance?”

She gulped, looking up at me like she was the happiest woman in the world. And I’d made that happen. I’d done that for her. The impossible. I’d killed a fucking giant for her. 

The post-fight interview was a blur, as was Gregson coming up and giving us both big old bear hugs, congratulating us on the win, saying we’d given him a helluva fight and that we were worthy opponents and he was looking forward to seeing us in the playoffs. Under the hammy exterior, he really was a good dude. 

We brought the obliterated remains of DG back into the pits. I held G in my hands, stroking like a damn bunny. I knew it was an inanimate object- that both of them were- but at that moment it felt like as much Gurren’s victory as mine. The little guy had really come through for us. We had a lot of work to do on repairs, and we could have stayed for the rest of the matches, but without even having to say a word to each other, we knew we were done for the night. So we put our equipment on a sledge and hauled it out to the Star-Rocket Racer. Kate leaned against the car waiting for us, and she ran over and planted a kiss on my lips, long and passionate. 

“I am so freaking proud of you,” Kate said to me, her arms around my neck, mine around her waist. She tilted her head and looked at Faith and said, “And you, too!”

Faith chuckled. “Does that mean I get a kiss as well?”

Kate gulped, and I expected her to laugh, but then she said, “Only if Zeke says it’s okay.”

I blanched. “Um… What?”

“Is it okay?

“W-what is happening right now?” I said, my head spinning, my heart racing, elicit images sparking in my mind, of the two of them, of all three of us. 

Faith gave Kate a shallow nod and a thumbs’ up.

“I… Faith and I talked the other day,” Kate said, pulling herself off of me but not breaking off eye contact. “And she-”

“I like Kate,” Faith said. “And I like you, Zeke. I like you both. And I know that’s true for you as well.”

For a moment, I thought my heart would stop. I wouldn’t be like my dad, couldn’t be like him, shouldn’t be-

“If you’re not comfortable with it,” Kate said, “We can forget about all this.”

“I can’t be like him,” I said, barely more than a whisper. 

“You won’t be,” Kate said, putting a reassuring arm on my shoulder. “Because… I like Faith, too.”

For once, I noticed myself crying. It wasn’t sad, though, and it wasn’t shameful, and it wasn’t envious. They were tears of relief. She… They both… They both liked me, and each other, and we all… 

The possibility had never even occurred that they could feel the same way about each other as they did about me. I don’t know why, it made perfect sense; they were both amazing, beautiful, intelligent, and so damn sweet. I didn’t want to be like my dad, but I was pretty damn sure my dad had never even talked about the possibility of this with my mom. Not that she’d have ever agreed- she was old fashioned and close-minded. They both were. 

And I didn’t want to be like either of them. 

We all liked each other. And that was okay. More than okay, that was beautiful. And I wanted it. I wanted both of them, and I wanted them both to have each other as well as me. 

“Ladies first,” I said, gesturing to Faith. 

Faith gasped, “You mean-”

She didn’t get to finish, because Kate was already locking lips with her within a second.

It was the most heartening sight I’d ever seen, the two girls I cared about more than anything else in the world sharing mutual affection for each other, and letting me have this moment with them. And when it was over, Kate pushed Faith, the nervous, shaking girl that I’d loved for so damn long, towards me. 

“You know this is gonna be complicated, right?” I said. “Lotta work from all three of us to make something like this function.”

“I know,” Faith nodded bashfully, blushing bright red. “I’m up for it if you are, though. I’m not scared anymore.”

“You know what?” I said. “Neither am I.”

She stood on her tip-toes, and I leaned over, and our lips met. She was soft and sweet, her body pressing against mine, the curve of her hips glorious as my hands ran over them. Her lipstick was thicker and waxier than Kate’s… No, no that wasn’t right. Some of Kate’s had gotten onto Faith’s lips, leaving it thicker than when she’d started. An aftermath of her grace and affection, evidence of her having been there and an extra treat for me to taste and a reminder of the affection we both had for Faith. 

That just made it better. 

I picked Faith up into my arms and held her tight, slipping tongue into her mouth as she did the same with me. Kate hugged us both, taking turns kissing us on the cheeks, and then we broke off and started kissing her as well. 

When that had run its course, we found ourselves dancing once again, all three of us together, keeping time and rhythm, delighting in each other’s company. 

Tonight, I had slain a giant. 

Tonight, I was with the two most beautiful women in the world, and they cared for each other just as much as they cared for me. 

Tonight, I was the luckiest man in the world.