How do you think the Mecha Man reveal would go in this setting?
Oh my god, they were cellmates🫢
Ok, so there are a lot of possibilities in this scenario:
Scenario 1: Robert tells Chad the same time as everyone (after bar fight scene)
Flambae already had his suspicions. He knew the guy had to be a hero, because if he had just been a villain in need for redemption, he might have been lumped in with the rest of the Z-team. To be a dispatcher is to be trusted by SDN. Robert acted like one who had experience in terms of saving and rescuing and capturing villains, like he been doing this for a long time. The possibility of Robert just going undercover in prison had been in the back of his mind, but he minimized it hard. After all, what kind of hero would actually hack the banks and get captured with his real actual real name? But if he was an actual real hero when he got imprisoned, Flambae thought he could get over it. After all, he trusts the guy.
He never thought he'd be Mechaman though. He could feel it. The anger and betrayal bursting in his chest. He could feel himself getting hotter, noticed how the other Z-teamers moved away from him. He knows, in the back of his mind, that he has gone supernova, but it felt like it didn't matter anymore.
Robert was Mechaman. Robert was the fucker that locked him up. Robert knew who he was when they shared the cell, and he acted like... he thought... he trusted the guy.
It's the guy who cut his fingers. It's the guy who gave him his desserts because he saw him cry that one time. It's the guy that locked him up and made him miss the birth of his niece. It's the guy that made him feel human in and out of that damn prison. It's the guy that made him give up on his future because fifteen years is too long to start a new life outside. It's the guy that gave him hope, made him feel like an actual hero.
He's Mechaman. He's Robert Robertson.
He couldn't stay. He couldn't fucking stay.
He glared at him. Mechaman. Robert. Foe. Friend. The reason for his despair. The reason for his possibility of a new life.
He took off. He needed to think.
Scenario 2: Flambae found out
He follows Robert. He got used to doing it in prison. Guy was weak. Scrawny. A normie in a prison full of metas. Got pushed around and let it happened. He also seemed to enjoy railing up the Red Ring, and that was fucking stupid of him. He needed protection, and Chad, Flambae, was the guy for the job. It doesn't matter that Robert doesn't know he's being followed. That little tidbit doesn't matter at all.
Even outside of the prison, he still felt that urge. There was also something else mixed in it that he didn't want to acknowledge. The need to see Robert Robertson alive and around him at all times. He's used to seeing him in his cell 24/7. When Robert got out, Chad only felt more or less fine when he visits him, because he was familiar. The day Robert disappeared one time for four months, it drove him close to insanity.
So now he was acting like something of a stalker and a secret bodyguard. And it's fucked up and he knows it but he needs this for the sake of his (almost unstable) mind. At least he doesn't follow Robert outside of the SDN (he is tempted to though, wanted to see the guy's life after prison).
He's honestly surprise the guy doesn't realize he was following him. Then again, it's one of those times he doesn't make his presence known. He's out of his suit and in casual dark inconspicuous clothing. Robert seemingly preoccupied also seemed to do the trick.
Robert went to the basement area (this the place they make those gadgets, right?) and Chad slipped through before it closes entirely. He saw Robert talking to a big guy, probably one of the tech nerds, before looking around and freezing. That more than familiar robot. It's fucking Mechaman.
He looked at the big guy again. Could he be... no. Robert would tell him if he knows Mechaman. Or maybe he won't. But this is too much not to at least tell him Mechaman was in the damn building working for SDN.
He was about to go for it. Fuck subtlety. He was going to burn the entire place down with Mechaman in it. And maybe beat up Robert just a bit for not telling him shit. And for working with the guy somehow. Fuck, he's gonna have to ask Robert about that.
But then Robert opened up the fucking Mech and sat in it, and Flambae, Chad, fuck, he froze again. This was not happening. This is not fucking happening. But it was.
Robert was controlling the Mech with ease. and the big guy, he was telling Robert to test a couple of things. This. Bitch.
Robert Robertson was fucking Mechaman.
He then saw Robert turning his way, and he didn't even bother hiding. The Mech stopped. And Chad? He turned and fucking left. He could hear the Mech opening, the bitch calling out his name.
He ignored it all. It was too much. He needed- He wanted- fuck he needed to get out of there before he does something stupid.
Scenario 3: Robert tells Flambae earlier
Flambae thought Robert was making the worst joke ever. He told him he was Mechaman. He, the scrawny Robert, sarcastic, dry humored, hacker extraordinaire, was Mechaman. He laughed, because of course he does. Robert pulled him away from the group for this? A joke?
But Robert wasn't joking. No, he looked at him with those- those big brown eyes of his, and... he looked absolutely serious. No traces of laughter, no humour at all. In fact, he was looking at him like... like he was actually worried about how he would react. Like he actually cares about how Chad thought about it.
And fuck that just made it fucking worse. Robert was looking at him, and Chad... doesn't know what to fucking say. Was everything a fucking lie? But no, he knows Robert enough. He's too fucking honest for his own good. Except for not telling him he's goddamn Mechaman.
Then again why would he ever tell the guy he imprisoned who he was? Damn it, he hates the fact he's making excuses for Mechabitch. He also hates the fact it made sense why he didn't say shit.
He could have just kept to himself in prison, they could've just been cellmates until Robert leaves. Because of course he left that fast. It made so much sense how he got out after Shroud escaped. Made sense why the guy acted so hostile when it came to the Red Ring, too.
But he had to fucking give him the dessert. He had to just visit him every month after he got out with sweets that made him feel something going soft inside him. Now that he thought about it, Robert never asked any questions about Red Ring, or about the other prisoners, or anything that could be pinned to hero work. He just asked about Chad. Only Chad. How he was, if he was doing well, what other sweets he wanted, if he wanted to send shit to his sister that he couldn't send in prison. He was just so genuine, so Robert, it made it so hard to see him as anything but.
And now he actually likes Robert. Mechaman. Mechabitch. Fuck, he actually likes the guy who cut his fingers off and locked him up. This is.... he needs to take some time off.
He told him that. And Robert, that fucker, asked him if he wanted a different dispatcher. He shut that down as soon as he said it because, knowing Robert, he'd do it. He'd quit, or transfer, to make him feel comfortable. Stop. Stop making him feel shit. Not now. Not when he needs to think.
Chad told him to not do anything stupid. He just needed time to think.
Before he left, he stopped for a bit, and, softly thanked Robert, for telling him. He didn't see how Robert reacted before flying off with his new flight license. That Robert helped him get. Fuck. He's still a bitch though.
Happy Valentines day to everyone!!!
Yes, there be plot holes. ignore them I beg, I'm kinda sick right now and brain not working as well as it should🤧 Hope you guys enjoy the possible scenarios!!
