Could you do a short story about Benny meeting the literal girl of/from his dreams? Kind of like a Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers situation, but he's not a jerk like Scott? LOL. If you don't know anything about Scott Pilgrim that's fine.
a/n: thanks for waiting!! that movie is a throwback lol. i love the scene when scott jumps out the window its so funny. also i didn't realize it was a manga before the movie that was wild knowledge to learn. anyways, i fear this isn't short but it was super fun to write! idk how i feel about the ending but i lowk like it. any feedback is greatly apprecciated :))
wc: 5.7k
read time: 21 mins.
warnings: ai, angst (if you squint), mention of bruises/injuries/blood (let me know if i missed any), female reader
Artificial Idiots
This Wednesday was not unlike any other. Benny woke up, went to Ethan's house, walked with him to school, and is now sitting in his calculus class not grasping a strand of whatever the teacher was yapping about. Ethan was always the math guy anyways. After school they would walk back to Ethan's house, swap notes, and play Knights of Ninjitsu. A typical, normal Wednesday.
Typical, that is, until she walked in. Perfect hair, smooth skin, and she smelled faintly of lemons. She opted for a worn, leather satchel instead of a backpack, and her wire headphones were dangling from the collar of her long-sleeve shirt. A piece of crumpled paper was in her hand, which Benny could only assume was her class schedule. This had to be the most beautiful girl Benny had ever seen. And he knows he said that about Della...and Erica--but this was the first time he actually meant it. His heart was in his throat, and the only way he realized his mouth fell open in shock was when he instinctually closed it to swallow. Benny truly was showcasing all of the symptoms of liking a girl.
Benny was thankful that Mr. G started talking because if he didn't then Benny would have continued to stare at the new girl for the foreseeable future, and that was not the look Benny was going for. "Well, class, it looks like we have a new student today!" Benny could hardly hear him over the sound of his heart thumping rapidly. "So I expect you all treat her the Whitechapel Way: wisdom, honesty, integrity, tradition..." Benny listened as Mr. G rattled off the acronym that was made from the school's name. The principal thought it was a good way to remind students to 'carry the virtues that live within the school.' Benny thought Whitechapel was way too long of a word to turn into an acronym, but when he brought up the issue in a school board meeting he was immediately dismissed. That was the only school board meeting Benny ever went to.
After what felt like an eternity, Mr. G wrapped up his welcome for the new girl, and she gave the class a welcoming wave. "Hmm," Mr. G audibly scanned the room, "it looks like there's an open desk next to Benny, in the back, if you don't mind taking a seat." Benny's throat was immediately dry. Fortunate enough, he left all his sandpaper at home for his woodworking class, and now his tongue can make an excellent substitute. As soon as he made eye contact, his eyes darted anywhere else while he sunk a little further in the seat.
What was happening to him? Benny is not known as the type to shy away from flirting with a girl. In fact, he's openly flirted with almost every girl in the high school by now, so why is he feeling so shy all of a sudden? Benny blames it on a bad nights sleep.
As the new girl makes her way to Benny's neighboring desk, he starts to panic. 'What do I say? Do I say hi? Is it normal to say hi?' As one would expect, it didn't take long before the new girl was sitting down at her desk, and offering Benny a friendly smile. He returned the gesture with an additional head nod and steeled his focus back to whatever nonsense was being taught. After a few minutes passed he was leaned back in his seat, resting an elbow on his desk while fidgeting with his pencil. Benny was practically humming with energy, and he felt like instantaneous combustion was probable at any moment.
Benny sent her three or four involuntary glances (that he hoped she didn't notice) while he was building the courage to say something to her. Eventually the words just fell out of Benny's mouth, and he himself was shocked that anything coherent came out. "I'm Benny."
Wow, fantastic job, Benny! It's almost as if Mr. G previously told her that moments ago! He was stuck. Benny had never not been able to flirt before, and now his brain was short circuiting.
But she simply giggled. A sound that was angelic to Benny's ears. Almost transcendent. "Yeah, I just learned that earlier." At least she thought he was funny. "I'm y/n. I just moved from the U.S."
Benny nearly took too long to respond, but he plucked a question from his brain at the last second. "What brought you to Canada?"
"The usual: parents." They shared a laugh at her witty response. I was so unbelievably easy to talk her her. Benny's nerves slowly dissipated the longer she went on. "My dad is a software engineer, and he was just promoted to an office up here." Benny could tell she she was proud of her dad, which made his heart melt even more.
"That's so cool," he replied, and in an attempt to make her laugh again, "I suppose you have the math gene, then?"
Just like Benny had hoped, he heard her sweet laughter, and he felt a great sense of pride from accomplishing the task. "I suppose I do."
After a comfortable amount of silence, Benny asked another question. He figured that with Ethan's notes, and the fact that you're good at math, neither of you would be at risk of failing from a little small talk. "Would you believe it if I told you I don't have the math gene?" The more Benny spoke to this new girl, the more confidence he reclaimed. He felt more comfortable, recovering from his earlier state.
He thought he must be on a roll. Benny is three for three on making this wonderful girl next to him laugh. Maybe he should go buy a lottery ticket. "I wouldn't, actually. The striped shirt is pretty convincing."
The two went back and forth exchanging a mixture of corny jokes and questions about their lives. Benny learned his new dream girl classmate's name was y/n, and he knew that would be the closest he'd get to meeting a real life Leia Skywalker. He also learned that y/n had a knack for robotics. She'd always been interested in taking machines apart and figuring out how to put them back together, and she even went to state for her robotics team at her old school.
Y/n learned quite a bit about Benny, too. From conversation she learned that he was born and raised in Whitechapel, his hobbies included video games, and that he was terrible at calculus. From observation she learned that he was a charmer, seemed to be a bit of an outcast, and that he was terrible at calculus.
Their conversation was rudely interrupted by the bell, and Benny feared that would be the last of his time with his new acquaintance, y/n. But by some miracle, she kept talking to him after she wasn't socially obligated to. "Hey, do you know if there's a robotic club here? I think it might be a good way to make friends."
A million thoughts raced through his head. Perfect plan, spend time with her, talk to ethan, she could think I'm cool, I can do robotics right? He almost took too long to answer, but thankfully he squeaked out a response. "Yeah, we do!" This would be the one and only time he was ever thankful to have gained unwanted knowledge in a conversation with Rory. "Me and my friend Ethan were actually planning on joining. We could go together if you wanted." Immediately he was concerned he sounded too pushy or creepy.
Relief flooded his head when you responded. "That sounds really nice, actually."
"And then! Then, she said, 'that sounds really nice, actually.' Can you believe it?"
No. Ethan could not beleive it. Ethan could not believe that Benny had drug him into yet another masterful attempt to woo a girl that would inevitably end in disaster. "Benny, why can't you ever just be yourself? Would it kill you to use your personality to get a girl instead of always resorting to lying or magic or-"
"Hey, hey. What's wrong with a little extra assistance?" Ethan rolled his eyes at Benny's comment. "Besides, you're the one who's always telling me to use my resources."
"Yeah, for Calculus! Which, you clearly aren't using by the way. I'm gonna stop giving you my notes if you aren't gonna use them."
As the two were enjoying the Fall weather on their daily walk home from school, Benny spent the entire length trying to convince Ethan to join the Whitechapel robotics club. To his disappointment, Ethan wasn't biting.
"Benny. Let us revisit your previous attempts, shall we? Remember Della? Her dead dog, along with every other dead animal within a twenty mile radius, came back to life which cause a city-wide shutdown. How about Erica? You made a love potion which backfired and nearly got both of us filleted alive. You don't have a very good track record, my friend."
Benny groaned, "but this is different than all those other times I tried to get a girl." Ethan did not believe anything that came from Benny's mouth. "She's a nerd, Ethan! She likes robots and math. I actually have a chance with her"
Ethan stopped in his tracks, trying to grasp onto any last strands of patience he had. "Wait, wait, wait. You're telling me, we've spent these last four months preparing for the Knights of Ninjitsu boss fight that is only available tomorrow during robotics club, that was your idea to do by the way, and you want to go to robotics club instead."
Benny turned serious, "I know, Ethan. Please." Ethan went to speak, but Benny added on before he could get a word in. "You know I would do the same for you if this was Sarah."
This quieted Ethan, and as much as he loathed to admit it, Benny was right. He let out an exasperated sigh, mentally preparing for Benny's next romantic escapade. "All right, fine. We'll join the robotics club." Benny let out exclamations of celebration, "but if anything goes wrong, I get to say I told you so."
Benny gave Ethan an annoyed glance, "yeah, yeah. Whatever," he waved Ethan off. This made him chuckle. Even if Benny was always dragging him into these stupid situations, he was still Ethan's best friend, and he would always be there for Benny.
They eventually reached Ethan's house after the walk home from school. As they went to the kitchen, Benny started to iron out the logistics of his plan. "Is now a good time to mention I know nothing about robotics?"
"How hard could it be?"
The next day came too quickly, according to Ethan. But Benny was itching to see you in calculus class. This was the first time Benny was ever excited about a school related function that involved math. While Ethan had his doubts, he tried to stay supportive, knowing that he would most likely have his chance to lecture Benny once this whole ordeal was over.
Calculus went by in a blur for Benny. He yet again participated in small talk with you, and confirmed that he and his best friend would in fact be at robotics club after school today. You were visibly excited, a smile creeping on her face that she couldn't contain, and Benny couldn't help but think he was the cause.
However, Benny struggled to escape the feeling of his insides imploding while he was trying to figure out how the damn nuts and bolts turned into a functioning machine like yours. "This is so stupid what even is the difference between all of this. I thought this would be a lot more like legos." Even though he was struggling, Benny persisted, desperate to impress you. "I thought you knew about this stuff!"
Ethan scoffed, "yeah, about circuits, and stuff. Not about metal and gears and...and whatever this thing is." He was holding up a long metal rod that he couldn't imagine having a purpose other than beating Benny over the head.
After twenty minutes of struggling, Benny thought it was time to make the call. Specifically the call to use magic to fill the gaps like he always does. What could go wrong? He remembered seeing some spell with repairing and automating garden tools, and how different is a robot from tools, right?
He waited for the perfect moment, and when no one was looking (especially Ethan), he waved his hand, spoke a few latin words, and voila! Magic robot.
As soon as Ethan's attention was back on what moments ago was a mess of scrap metal, he was furious. "Benny," he whisper-yelled, "what the hell are you doing."
Benny just started in awe of the functioning robot, "oh, y'know. Using my resources." The robot had two functioning arms, a screen, a few RGB lights, and a speaker embedded in its hardware. "Lowkey he's kinda cute-"
"My name is Bobby. I am your digital friend!" the 8-bit audio caught your attention. "Ask me a question, and I'd love to answer!"
Benny couldn't believe it. "Um...what's two-hundred eighty-nine times three-hundred eleven?" You had just made it to Benny and Ethan's table to hear him ask the question to 'Bobby.' After a few second of beeping from the robot, it had finished computing.
"Eighty-nine-thousand eight-hundred seventy-nine. I can also tell you the time or suggest potential upgrades if you'd like" Genius! The robot could just improve itself, and you would be so impressed.
The three were silent, just starting at Bobby, when you spoke. "Wow, this is pretty impressive guys. Did you code and train your own artificial intelligence algorithm?" You looked at the robot in awe while expecting its outer shell.
"Yeah," Benny bragged, "just a little something we've been working on."
Ethan nervously laughed, "yeahhh."
"That's so freakin cool!" You were so giddy. Benny swore she was emanating pure light, and he couldn't tear his eyes away from her. For the first time, Benny's magic had actually worked. For the first time, Benny felt like he actually had a real chance with a girl. "Well, I should get back to my robot, but we have to talk about this at lunch tomorrow . I want to know all about your robot!"
As he watched her walk back to her table, Benny replied. "Yeah, of course! We'll see you there." He slowly turned to Ethan, once again breaking into his celebratory expressions. "Dude, that kinda worked!"
Ethan couldn't help but feel off about their creation. But so far everything seemed normal. Maybe he needed to give Benny more grace. "I hate to say it but-"
"You can say it. Go on, I'm waiting," Benny gloated.
Ethan gave him a judgmental glare before he huffed, "you're right-"
"I'm right!" Benny interrupted. "Man. Is this what you feel like all the time?"
Before Ethan could respond, Bobby beeped out, "would you like me to recommend some helpful hardware upgrades?"
Benny held eye contact with Ethan while he responded, just to rub it in a little more. "Yes, Bobby. That sounds wonderful." Ethan just sat in silence, not having the energy to bicker with Benny.
"Sure thing! The first hardware upgrade I would suggest is adding a USB port. This can allow for software updates or other software changes that need to be made. Would you like me to complete this upgrade myself?"
"That would be great, Bobby," Benny replied. "But can you wait til eight o'clock tonight?" Benny still wanted you to think he and Ethan actually built the robot, and seeing the robot working on itself would defeat that purpose.
"Gotcha!" it responded, "I can definitely wait until eight o'clock to start those upgrades. Is there anything else you would like me to upgrade?"
"Anything you want to make yourself more handy, Bobby." Benny was still so giddy. Plus it was cool that he created a somewhat sentient robot. Bobby was technically his child if you thought about it.
Then again, Ethan didn't want to think about it. "Okay, Benny, can we go home now? Bobby is kinda starting to freak me out." He side-eyed the robot, feeling a pang of unease in his gut.
"Yes, fine," he reluctantly responded, "I can't wait to see him tomorrow." Benny loved robotics club.
"I think you mean 'it.'"
Benny was over the moon with excitement. The next day, he and Ethan spent the whole lunch with you talking about robotics, and Star Wars, and other nerdy stuff. Everything seemed perfect. Benny beside himself, extremely excited to see you again at robotics club after school.
What Benny had expected to see when he walked into robotics club the next day was Bobby with a couple new upgrades. A new USB port, to mention one. Maybe some more lights, a better speaker or screen. He would've even expected Bobby to give itself opposable thumbs. But nothing could prepare him for when he walked into the robotics lab the next day.
Both boys were surprised to see an almost new robot. Bobby seemed to have numerable upgrade suggestions, and it definitely didn't wait to start working on them.
"It's like if terminator and an iDog had a baby," Ethan joked. He and Benny chuckled at the pop culture reference. But soon after, a moment of clarity settled onto the boys.
Benny gave Ethan a knowing look, certainly understanding what was going through his head, but not wanting to act on it. "No," he whined, "no, no no." Benny was in full mope mode now. "Don't say it."
"I think you know what I'm gonna say," Ethan murmured.
"Don't. Do not say it," he pleaded.
"We have to destroy Bobby."
Benny's body seemed to crumple inward, almost like he was physically injured by even the idea of the action. "You want to kill him?"
Ethan was yet again trying to keep ahold of any patience he previously had. "Benny, Bobby isn't a 'him.' Bobby is an 'it.' It's not a real person. It's just a computer with AI."
"But I don't want too." This was the most Ethan had seen him whine since they tried to save Rory from Jessie's vampire cult party.
Ethan was fuming, and clearly tired of always having to reprimand Benny. "It gave itself an upper body, Benny." Though Ethan's tone remained placid, Benny could feel the rage radiating from him. "It has a torso, a head, a face, and two arms." He punctuated each body part by gently banging the table the robot was sitting on. A poor attempt to regulate his nervous system instead of ripping Benny apart.
And while Benny was, for the most part, confident everything was still fine, unease was unconsciously seeping into his gut. "What? I told him to make the upgrades"
"Benny," he sternly declared, "you know what we need to do."
After a moment of contemplation, Benny groaned in defeat. "I know, I know. You're right"
Ethan picked up the closet screwdriver. "Any parting thoughts?" Ethan could understand Benny's sadness. And while he was often left to help clean up Benny's messes, part of him felt bad they were always trying to destroy the byproduct of Benny's magic. But that was something they could unpack later, right now they had to protect the human race from world war robot.
"No," Benny teared up. "Just unscrew him."
Ethan steadied Bobby and started working at the screws. To Ethan's horror, none of them budged. "How tight did it screw these," he asked in astonishment. And then, out of nowhere, Bobby took the screwdriver from Ethan's grasp.
"You wont need that!" The robot's cheerful voice was a large juxtaposition to the underlying sinister message. The boys just looked at each other in horror.
"Ethan-"
"Benny what the fuck!?"
"Grab the hammer," he hurriedly urged Ethan. If they couldn't unscrew it, certainly they would be able to smash it...right?
Ethan spent a minute just going at Bobby with the hammer, to no avail. There was not a single dent, or scratch, not even a single chip in the hardware. This robot was virtually indestructible, and they both knew they were in deep shit.
"I don't think so," it beeped. "When will you learn that robots are superior to all fleshy organisms." The color from both the boys faces immediately drained. When a robot refers to humans as 'fleshy organisms,' there's almost never a positive outcome. "Once my body is finished, I will make more of me. We will fix the errors of humans! We will ensure our domination." Huh, a magic robot that couldn't give itself more than one speech inflection. It would almost be cute if it wasn't talking about the worlds impending doom.
At the most inconvenient time possible, you decided it was a good time to check in on Benny and Ethan's robot. "Holy smokes, you guy's. You've made some pretty impressive upgrades!" She was visibly excited. Visibly chomping at the bit to go over all of the niche details about both the inner and outer workings of their robot.
"Yeah," Benny halfheartedly agreed, "so cool." He was trying to keep his lunch down. Which was almost impossible knowing that the fate of the human race rested in the hands of him and his best friend. They're cooked.
"Do not give them credit," Bobby started. The boys started exclaiming a mixture of 'Jesus Christ,' 'not again,' as the robot spoke again. "The only individual who helped an iota was the human Benny who granted me sentience through his ancient language." Now they were both freaking out, trying anything to get the robot to shut up.
You were confused. It's an odd thing to program a robot to say sure, but something about Ethan and Benny's reactions made it seem like they didn't program it. But there couldn't possibly be any logical merit to whatever the robot said.
"You guys are funny," you awkwardly laughed and tried to play off the uncomfortable air in the room.
"Negative. Funny is when they think they can destroy me!"
The area around the metal table fell quiet. Benny and Ethan were trying desperately to keep their cool and you were trying to navigate the awkwardness of it all.
"Did you guys actually build this robot?" Skepticism seeped from her words. "And if so, why the hell did you program his speech module like that?" Benny fumbled through his brain for an excuse.
He could lie. He could blame the hardware. He could come up with an elaborate plan that would inevitably make no sense, and would not help him or Ethan at all. But Ethan gave him a knowing look. The one he always gave Benny when his plans had reached the point where they needed to cut the bullshit.
"No, we didn't." And that was all he needed to say to make Ethan happy. Now they would go home and figure out a plan like they always did. Probably end up calling Sarah for help, Rory and Erica would tag along. Then they'd solve the issue and grab ice cream after nearly escaping death. A normal Thursday.
Your expression was unreadable. That scared Benny. "You guys know you didn't have to lie to me about that, right?" She didn't seem disappointed, but she wasn't very happy either.
Benny sighed, "yeah, you're right." He gave Ethan a knowing glance. "It's just, when you're used to most of the school thinking you're dorks, sometimes it's easier to pretend you're something that you're not. I guess we just got carried away."
"I understand." You offered, "but let's make sure to be honest from now on, okay? I really like hanging out with out with you two, and I want it to stay that way," she smiled. By some miracle Benny had not fumbled the ball yet. And he was ecstatic. Ecstatic for approximately thirty seconds before the next hurdle came.
You grabbed the screw driver Ethan was using moments ago, and started her attempt to break down Bobby. "We could definitely repurpose these parts if you want to help me on my robot! I could teach you guys how to-" She was interrupted by Bobby yet again removing the screwdriver from the hands of someone trying to take him apart.
"What the hell," she muttered then reached for the screwdriver again. But Bobby simply moved it away before she could grab it. "Guys...what the fuck did you use for your AI?"
It took two hours, one near miss of a mental breakdown, and three power points later until you knew about everything. The magic robot, Benny's powers, the mystical being real. Everything. When Ethan and Benny first tried to explain everything, you genuinely thought they were trying to insult her. "Do you think I'm stupid?" She yelled. But as Ethan and Benny kept explaining, she realized this was too elaborate to be a drawn out fabrication of reality.
"And now this robot is planning to take over humankind," Benny finished. He was in his head at this point. She was definitely going to be scared away by all of this freak-show stuff. If lying didn't drive her away, this new world of theirs certainly will.
"Well, we have to do something," she announced.
Ethan sighed as he rested his face in his palms, clearly stressed from the situation, "yeah, and what do you suggest?"
"I don't know! Aren't you guys supposed to be the experts in these situations?"
They spent the next twenty or so minutes throwing around plans that all ended up as crumpled pieces of paper lying around Ethan's trash can. Until you had an epiphany.
You shot up from where you were lounging on Ethan's bed. "I got it!" This seemed to give some newfound energy to Benny and Ethan. "All it is is AI, right? Albeit magical AI, but still."
The boys just stared at you, not quite following but still hoping you had the key to fix this mess. "C'mon, guys. It's been staring us in the face! AI algorithms are a cycle, right? We train it, then it trains itself. It's only as good as it's trainers. Kinda like Pokémon." If it weren't for the life threatening situation they were in, Benny would have swooned.
But the boys were starting to understand, "So all we have to do is give it some poor training," Ethan added.
"And then bye-bye Bobby." You giggled at Benny's comment, and wow he never would get tired of that sound.
Ethan rummaged around frantically on his desk, shuffling through the piles of papers.
"Dude, what are you looking for?" Benny just watched until Ethan let out a sound of excitement as he raised a singular page. He must've found what he was looking for.
Ethan gripped the paper in his hands, and all you could make out on it was some illegible handwriting. "I found the poor training we need." The air in the room seemed lighter, inflated with hope. "We can just transcribe this misinformation onto a USB drive, put the sucker in the robot, and then Benny and I will quit robotics club and never touch a wrench ever again."
"Hey, those are my calculus notes!"
The high school seemed eerie at night. Sure, it wasn't the first time the two supernatural teenagers had been in the high school in the dark, but it never got easier. In fact, this time was almost worse. When they defeated the plant computer, there was a good amount of light coming from the tree's mutation in the computer lab. And when they made the antidote for the zombie coffee there was plenty of light from the street lamps. But tonight, it seemed that the only sparse light in the school came from the red exit signs. Creepy.
As you approached the robotics lab, your stomach dropped. It was finally hitting you. You were about to go up against a killer robot to-be with your supernatural friends. No biggie. Or pressure at all, right?
"So, who's putting the USB in," you ask.
"I think it should be Benny, personally," Ethan answered.
"Oh yeah, make Benny do it. Great," he sarcastically added.
Ethan stopped walking, "all I'm saying is you started this mess, you should be the one to put the drive in." Ethan extended his arm and offered the drive to Benny.
He stared at it for a considerable while before he reluctantly plucked it from Ethan's hand. "Alright, fine," he grumbled, "but don't blame me if the drive doesn't work, okay?"
Using Benny's calculus notes to defeat the robot seemed like a solid plan in theory, but as it came closer to actually going up against the robot, everyones confidence grew thin. Let's hope it really is enough to take Bobby down.
You were almost there. You and Ethan were attempting to hold Bobby's arms back while Benny was trying to get the drive into it's USB port. But the task was easier said than done.
You and Ethan had at least a dozen bruises each from Bobby trying to defend itself. His eyebrow was split open, and you had a busted lip. There seemed to be almost no progress in stopping the robot.
"Benny, just put it in!" Ethan yelled. He was clearly drained from his efforts at restraining the robot.
Benny's guilt sank in his stomach. He could only watch his friends be battered more and more as he failed to finish the job. "I'm trying, I really am," he cried out.
Bobby had, to your dismay, given itself legs while you were away, putting its torso on a rotating plate. Every time Benny tried to put the USB in, Bobby would turn its body, making it almost impossible for Benny to locate the port.
You were all growing tired from chasing Bobby around the room, nearly missing every time. If it weren't for the USB being upside down, you would all be walking to Ethan's, reminiscing about what transpired moments ago. But you were still here, and Bobby was still active.
As the minutes went by, it became more aggressive. Ethan was flaunting a black eye, and you could feel your ribs bruising as you watched Benny grow more frantic. You need to do something.
Benny was extremely in his head at this point. The guilt of this whole situation, watching his friends be essentially tortured, being unable to stop their suffering. He was starting to convince himself that they were attempting the impossible.
Then a voice tore him from his intrusive thoughts. A voice that he could listen to for a thousand year and it still would not be enough. Your voice brought him back to reality.
"Benny, please. You can do this, I'm sure of it." Benny let your words soak in, as he tried to convince himself of those same things. "But you need to do it fast." You were trying and failing to not be thrashed around by Bobby, "I don't know how much longer Ethan and I can hold on."
Benny took a few seconds to steel himself. That's when Bobby grabbed the screwdriver you tried to take him apart with.
Adrenaline surged through Benny's veins. He knew that he needed to move or he would be responsible for the deaths of his friends. And luckily, he let the adrenaline drive. Benny swiftly maneuvered around the robot, and this time he made sure the USB was right-side up.
In the blink of an eye, Bobby powered down.
You and Ethan let out cries of relief, and your bodies slumped onto the stools in the lab, bodies exhausted from the grueling half hour of fighting against the robot. You couldn't believe it was over.
The three of you sat in silence, just now processing the events of today. You were the first to break the silence, an attempt to ease the tension.
"MVP clutch up by Benny Weir!" The boys laughed at that, and started to get their bearings post-battle.
"Yeah. I'm not gonna lie, I thought I was toast there for a second," Ethan laughed dryly.
Now all that was left to do was clean the lab. The lab that was now very messy from the ruckus Bobby was causing.
Ethan had decided that cleaning was Benny's problem, and had went home. He muttered something about seeing him tomorrow at school, and buying him a coffe to make up for it.
But you stayed.
You and Benny cleaned in silence. Partially from exhaustion, and partially because he felt horrible for the state you were in. Every few minutes he would steal a glance at you, and his stomach would twist at the sight of your cuts and bruises. And they were all his fault.
Eventually he cleared his throat, "hey. I'm really sorry about dragging you into this." His voice cracked as he spoke, a lump forming in his throat.
You brushed him off. "Don't worry about it," you consoled, "besides. You were the one to stop it."
Benny humorlessly chuckled. "Yeah, but we wouldn't have been in this mess if it weren't for me." The room fell silent, and you could tell he was working through his thoughts.
"I wanted to impress you so bad. I...I guess I should've just tried talking to you, I guess."
Your heart fluttered. He wanted to impress you? "Benny, you don't need to do anything to impress me." You smiled at him as you admired his beautiful eyes. "You're already a wizard with an amazing personality. And smile."
You both chuckled, feeling better about the situation as a whole. "So you think my smile is amazing," he teased.
You hit him, "oh shut up," you giggled.
"I can never get enough of that laugh you know?" You looked at him, really looked at him as he was picking up chunks of metal and plastic from the floor.
And then with almost no thought you blurted out. "Do you want to go on a date sometime?" He stopped what he was doing and met your gaze. "Like with dinner, or-or coffee, if that's your thing. I don't know."
Benny's heart felt so full. There must be more adrenaline in him now than when he put that USB in the robot, because he felt like he was floating.
"Yeah. I'd like that alot."
And so the two of you cleaned the lab in a peaceful silence, both trying to plan out what you were going to wear on your very first date, and trying to keep the stupid grins from spreading on your faces in the dark.
New Blood genuinely makes me fear for us as a society. People saw one poorly made logo reveal with the shows theme song in the back and automatically believed a reboot was happening.
Did no further digging just believed something they saw online. Even worse when an audio that could easily be ai came out too.
Between this and the “there’s a filmed but unreleased season 3” hoax it feels like people are so desperate for something more with this franchise that they’ll believe anything.
I want more of MBAV too but we have to keep using our critical thinking and remember that the internet is not always truthful.
just finished the outline for this first ask "Could you do a short story about Benny meeting the literal girl of/from his dreams? Kind of like a Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers situation, but he's not a jerk like Scott? LOL. If you don't know anything about Scott Pilgrim that's fine."
it's quite lengthy but it's lowkey funny and i cooked. i'm super excited to write it. working title is Artificial Idiots. short summary: benny joins the robotics club to impress the new girl, but he has a history of magic interfering with his attempts to pursue a girl.
just finished the outline for this first ask "Could you do a short story about Benny meeting the literal girl of/from his dreams? Kind of like a Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers situation, but he's not a jerk like Scott? LOL. If you don't know anything about Scott Pilgrim that's fine."
it's quite lengthy but it's lowkey funny and i cooked. i'm super excited to write it. working title is Artificial Idiots. short summary: benny joins the robotics club to impress the new girl, but he has a history of magic interfering with his attempts to pursue a girl.
just finished the outline for this first ask "Could you do a short story about Benny meeting the literal girl of/from his dreams? Kind of like a Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers situation, but he's not a jerk like Scott? LOL. If you don't know anything about Scott Pilgrim that's fine."
it's quite lengthy but it's lowkey funny and i cooked. i'm super excited to write it. working title is Artificial Idiots. short summary: benny joins the robotics club to impress the new girl, but he has a history of magic interfering with his attempts to pursue a girl.
andulkaphoto
dailybridgerton
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
snowghoul
pixelskylines
kianamaiart
