dispatch fic ideas
loved watching the playthroughs on youtube. spoilers for several chapters of the game!! please feel free to use these ideas/turn them into longer fics if you want. this is long! gender neutral reader used.
ideas below the cut: spit! powered reader, astral pulse-powered sibling!robertson reader, reader vs shroud, phenomeman, robert x reader
thoughts about sonar (blushing, kicking my feet)
(vaguely inspired by idciminlove’s dispatch healing spit character post) powered reader, whose can mind control people for the length of one task, or 5 minutes without a task, and whose powers are triggered when they swap spit with someone. you never realized you were even powered until there was a warrant out for you, after your fourth date of the month, apparently you had told a previous date that you’d “kill for some chinese food right about now”, at the end of what you thought was a great date. you found it weird these people kept going blank and leaving at random points in the date, but you thought you were just having bad luck. once explained to the heroes responsible for your arrest, they offer to have you work at SDN, maybe as a dispatcher, maybe in the labs with Royd. You knew the ethical/consent issues with using your powers, and you weren’t into that, so you maintained your very minor/technical rap-sheet of coercion and manipulation. Blonde Blazer tried to market you as a hero, but the names were a roadblock. Sali-con (saliva-control)? Kissy? Members of the Z-Team affectionately called you Kissy (or they say it to fuck with you, unsure currently).
when sonar is cut from the team, you keep reaching out to him outside of work. he texts you to meet him at the Sardine one morning before work (you could complain about the time but you’re just happy he messaged you). being met with shroud and the rest of the red ring goons. maybe sonar told him about your powers and shroud saw a use. you just can’t get over how seemingly easy it was for victor to lie to you.
mind controlling spit? you’re knocked out and in a dentists chair so Shroud can collect it for later. not in a weird way, he’s literally using the spit collection suction machine that the Red Ring stole from a dentists office. they’ve got to keep you muzzled or gagged so you don’t command any spit-controlled people to fight back though.
when Sonar and Shroud have Robert strung up in the Sardine, maybe Sonar’s trying to keep you close to him so Shroud will forget he’s got another vulnerable hero in the room. maybe Shroud sees how stressed Robert gets when he notices you’re being held by the Red Ring, and Shroud points the gun at you instead- Sonar doesn’t like that. that earns him another pistol whip for swatting Shroud’s gun away from you.
when Mecha Man and Blazer fight Sonar, Sonar lets loose that he’s only still fighting because Shroud is personally holding you hostage, as insurance that Sonar does his job. if Sonar rebels, you die.
if you kept Sonar on your team, and cut Coupé, you and Sonar would get closer through jobs. Malevola generally approved of you, despite some of them originally considering you a bit pathetic, not being a real former villian, you do grow on them.
what about sibling!robertson, and your father implanted a secret second astral pulse into your head when you were young, effectively giving you powers?
everyone knew Robert would be more suited towards wearing the suit, you didn’t want it anyways. your father had something different for you. we all know he wasn’t the best father, but he was a damn good creator. he knew whatever housed the astral pulse would be magnificent, the Mecha man suit was magnificent, both of his children would be magnificent. he told robert that his sibling had an oral surgery, tooth extraction under anesthetic, nothing crazy, and that was the truth. what Robert Roberston II didn’t tell his children was that he was going to implant a second astral pulse in robert’s sibling, at the base of the skull.
you come out of surgery, with powers. a familiar blue crackle of energy, maybe enhanced speed (not like Chase though), enhanced strength, and stamina. a normal occurrence, children’s powers present at different ages. you and Robert were close when you were younger, and you weren’t going to let powers change that. it would be you, Robert, and Chase for long stretches without your father. maybe you knew Shroud/Elliot growing up, it wasn’t uncommon to see him and your father together. your father would never tell Elliot about your pulse, though, even when they were on good terms.
you go into the hero line of business, and robert takes up the Mecha man suit after your father dies in it. when robert and the suit are downed by Shroud, you’re closer than ever.
maybe you’re helping Blonde Blazer and working at SDN, and help the transition of Robert becoming a dispatcher.
when the Red Ring attacks the city, maybe Shroud’s already two steps ahead, he’s got you inside the spider mech with him for the final fight, under his heel. Shroud accounted for everything…
maybe you see your opportunity in the final fight, you use Punch Up’s favorite move, and punch Shroud in the dick! he didn’t account for that, he’ll be honest. you get ahold of the controls and aim that spider mech sky high, and you try to kill the psuedo-pulse he’s got powering it. you’re too focused on killing the mech that it gives Shroud the opportunity to bash your head against the windshield. you try to get your self sacrificing bullshit hero moment, to down Shroud yourself, but you don’t get it. Shroud’s got your neck under his heel again and he notices a scar and blue sparks. He didn’t know his old friend had it in him, to experiment on his own child. With a few quick and dirty moves of his knife, the second astral pulse is out of your body for the first time since your father inserted it, and you’re downed.
Shroud still holds Beef hostage, still has you on the ground in front of him, still gets Robert out of his suit, and to surrender his pulse. Shroud couldn’t believe his luck, two pulses, he could laugh, and the cherry on top was the look on Robert’s face when he told him what his father had done to you (for better or worse). He hands Beef to Robert, and kicks you now normie body over to him. If Invisigal helps Robert, he’d get you to SDN’s infirmary where he can try yo put your astral pulse back in your body. It was clear after the removal that your body wouldn’t be able to sustain itself without the pulse, compared to Mandy, who can function without the Blazer amulet. Your breaths were shallow and choked, your skin had the hue indicating lack of oxygen, and your eyes wouldn’t stay open.
once both robertson siblings were reunited with their respective pulses, and healed from their injuries, they kept up the never ending work at SDN.
how about flambae?
you’d probably have to be a member of the z-team for him to eventually take you seriously. when he meets you, there’s the initial curiosity of wanting to know more, but then the dick personality gets in the way and he decides to stop caring.
maybe you’re old friends, and he accidentally burned you when you were both younger.
maybe you’re old enemies, and he burnt you up in a fight a while back. when he meets you, he doesn’t think much of it, until he runs into you in the gym, wearing less clothing than usual (as some gym outfits are), and noticing the burn scars draped across your body. it really does take his breath away and make him stop mid-blab.
you try not to hold it against him, knowing all of the z-team have done undesirable things with undesirable consequences, and focusing on the mission of redemption and forgiveness.
even so, maybe you can’t help but flinch whenever he flames up, and that kills him inside.
Phenomaman!
Phenomaman mentioned that his alien bits weren’t “compatible” with Blazer’s, what if you figure out how to make you and him work?
what if he meets you on the Z-Team, you were barely considered a villain, but enough to be on the team. maybe you weren’t even considered a villian and Blazer decided you’d fit well in the team anyways.
he doesn’t get love at first sight. he’s all broken up about getting broken up with, and he basically needs to relearn how to be like a human (something he didn’t really need/want to do while dating Blazer). but when you treat him like a regular guy (with some extra grace and patience), he starts appreciating your presence, and missing you when you’re elsewhere.
he likes being helpful to the Z-team when he can fly to missions quickly, but he LOVES carrying you to and from missions. except when you’re injured/unconscious, which happens a lot after gnarly missions, and stresses him out. he doesn’t comment about the flights or try to poke fun at you, just dutiful desire to be near you.
maybe you and him get maxxed out compatibility since you work well together on missions, and he eventually no longer becomes depressed after failing a mission because you’re inadvertently helping him get over Blazer.
Robert Robertson partner
you’ve been together since way before his dad was killed, and he doesn’t understand why you haven’t left him yet.
when he’s in the coma after his fight with Shroud, you’re there.
you slowly (i mean slowly) move the mangled Mecha Man suit into his apartment, knowing your injured, muscle atrophied man will try to carry it himself so he can get to work on it when he wakes up.
you’re diligently taking care of Beef, letting him cuddle Robert’s lap in the hospital bed.
if you’re a normie, you’ve likely got a job to get to eventually, so you write a bedside note for Robert letting him know how long he’s been out, and updating today’s date each day in case he wakes up without you.
you got pulled onto something un-excusable when he wakes up, so there’s nobody stopping him from getting in his suit, trying to stop a robbery, and going to Crypto Night with Blazer. he doesn’t kiss her, and he has a tipsy revelation that he hasn’t even talked to you yet, he’ll figure it out.
maybe you actually got a job at SDN, either as a dispatcher, or helping Royd in the lab. you don’t mention that Mecha Man is her boyfriend, because the number of ex-villians in the building who hate his guts is above 0, so you decide not to risk it.
Shroud will try to use you against Robert if he ever gets his hands on you. maybe he’ll give you some modded collar that electrocutes you if you’re ever further than 10 meters (30 feet) from him, a pretty short leash. that has Robert seeing red.
we know Robert would give up fighting to protect you, despite your insistence. “the mission” you keep trying to mouth to him. the mission being, keep functioning as Mecha Man, protect the city. to you, you don’t have a part in the mission. to him, you are the mission.