Flambert because it consumes me.
Imagine after all the dust has settled, after all the buildings are repaired and bruises have faded, a new normal has set in. Mecha Man has publicly returned, partnering with SDN for his naming rights and PR but not being available for Dispatches unless it’s a Shroud/Red Ring threat. The agency doesn’t mind because the toy rights are driving MAD sales, and him speaking at ONE event about his experience with SDN led to double the new subscribers that month. Heck, he’s a BIG fan of their Phoenix Program, highlighting the Torrence Branch in being key players for the Shroud takedown.
Robert Robertson the Third still punches in 40 hours a week as a Dispatcher for the Z-Team, though, and is Mecha Man outside of those hours. Only a small number of people know who is behind the mask in the suit, and he keeps it that way. It’s chaotic, he’s exhausted many days (as if that ever changed), but he adores his work.
He also may or may not have evolved in a relationship with Flambae -or just Chad - after everything settled down. It started off as a dare, and then it was a “if you make a MechaDick appearance at my niece’s birthday party, I’ll make you lunch for a week because god knows that your diet is 90% vending machine snacks” and then, well, how it is now.
Flambae is still a rising hero. Given the Z-Team boosts by Mecha Man and their own heroics, they’re growing in fans. Flambae was absolutely GLOWING for an entire week after he got asked to be Mr. May for a Fundraiser Calendar to support a local LGBT+ initiative. Made everyone buy one (and made Robert buy three - one for the office, one for home, and one for his gym locker even though his locker is too small to hang it so it just sits in the back open to May).
Flambae is occasionally caught out by fans when with Robert. It’s not crazy paparazzi level, but there are at least a couple dozen pictures outside of Chad and the team’s socials (Robert doesn’t have a real social media presence and instead uses bots for data collection and hacking purposes).
HR had also had the two read and sign more than four dozen release wavers about their relationship. They considered moving one or both to separate teams to prevent favoritism, or spite in the event that they broke up, but the Z-Team threatened to burn down the branch if they moved Robert, and Chad and Alice were seconds from posting some deep blackmail about a few execs, a special thanks to Sonar, Malevola, Visi, and Coope for the contributions.
Chad loved the spotlight, and Robert let him, even though that, between the two in their suits, Robert was the major celeb.
Mecha Man and Flambae occasionally cross in the field, but it’s rarer. Flambae works his Dispatch job, and Mecha Man works… whenever. His schedule is chaotic, partially because Robert’s Team won’t let him meld into the suit and forget that he’s Robert first.
But then something big happens. All hands on deck situation. Robert is in the field with Blazer and the rest, Chase acting as Eyes in the Sky for the whole bunch.
Mecha Man goes into an active zone and disconnects from the system.
And Chase nearly kills himself again racing to him at that. He holds himself back, though, and instead sends in someone who can get eyes on the situation.
Flambae, their only flying hero available, is sent to support.
As it turns out, the villain Mecha Man went to counter was using EMP tech to kill the tech in the area, which included the Mech once Robert entered. The Astral Pulse was able to keep running, but the suit was reduced in functionality. With civilians threatened, Robert turned the suit into a safe zone with his force field tech and then dove in to fight the old fashioned way.
Flambae comes in, and Robert yells at him to get the civilians out. Chad does, but the building begins to crumble around them. Robert manages to disarm the villain and disable the tech, allowing the surrounding area to power back up, but he doesn’t make it out in time.
Flambae is fucking LOSING it as he digs through the ruble, unaware of cameras coming out on phones, wondering if Mecha Man will survive.
Chad claws Robert out. Robert is slightly concussed but awake, thankful that he had some additional armor and a back up force field shield after the last mech explosion. He activates the mech, which rises and has the villain in its hands.
Then Flambae grabs Mecha Man’s face. “Mecha Dick, I swear to fucking… fucking Whitney Houston that if you do that to me again, I will fucking roast your ass. I’ll murder you, get Mal to bring you back, and murder you again.”
Robert, again, a bit concussed, is just, “Kinky. Your place or mine?”
They eventually shake themselves off. The city is still in chaos, and they got work to do.
The next day, however, with the city far less destroyed, comes the headlines…
MechaBae? Is Mecha Man Gay?
Famous Hero Mecha Man in Relationship with SDN’s Flambae?
See the Moment on Video! Enemies to Lovers with Mecha Man and Flambae!
But, oh no, the Bone Zone is not to be left out, because they got some receipts and are willing to exaggerate…
“So is Flambae cheating on his SDN Dispatching BF with Mecha Man? Or is LA’s Techno Golden Boy dating multiple people? Word on the street is…”
So now Flambae and Robert contend with the possibility of Robert being forced to reveal his identity, someone else finding out and blasting his identity, and a whole slew of other consequences in between….
(In the end, they deal with it the only way the Z-Team can - Gaslighting, Gatekeeping, and Girlbossing in the chaotic way only they can. Prism and Sonar are manipulating the algorithm to spread a fuck ton of rumors, a favorite being that Flambae at the scene was clearly a shapeshifter from outer space. Visi and Coope use their black market connections to send people on wild goose chases. Royd pilots the mech remotely while Flambae and Robert are very publicly at dinner. Golem and Punch-Up have to break up a “fight” between “Mecha Man” (a Prism duplicate) and Robert in the parking lot, video tapped and leaked by Malevola.)
(There is so much shit stirring that people just lose track of the story, and eventually it circles back around to the next Super Drama. This time it’s somehow “Phenomaman Rebound with Waterboy? Two Seen on Date!”)
(Waterboy is so bright red. He’s religated himself to the showers until he can stop flooding the office. They were going to a Magic the Gathering tournament. “It-t’s not, but what-t… I mean, I would but is he-he?” Waterboy is STRUGGLING to control himself with the idea of going out with a major hero like Phenomaman. Phenomaman isn’t interested in Waterboy in that way. Not because he’s not attracted to men of this world as well as women, but because he is still learning how to be a person outside of a relationship.)
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