jadedjada

Title: His Heart is Steel, Part 6
Summary: We look into the universe from which everyone’s favorite mechanical monster first originated. A meeting is placed and a plan is set, as we begin the series of events and inner turmoils that cause the once lovable Pollo to become the evil, vengeful villain known as Mechakara.
Characters: Pollo, Spoony, Doctor Insano.
Warnings: Angst, I guess, and mentions of death.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, all characters belong to their rightful owners.

Part 1 is here, part 2 is here, part 3 is here, part 4 is here, and part 5 is here. Enjoy!

“Where do you want this, Doc?”

Insano reluctantly looked up from what he was doing for a moment. “Hmm? Oh, just over by the chronic defibrillator, Spoony.”

Spoony nodded, and the scientist turned back to the work he was absorbed in, wiping another strand of hair from his face as he did so.

It was exactly one day before they would all make their big journey, and Insano would be able to get the supplies he needed to finish his teleporter. He was so close to being done with it, a fact he regarded with no small measure of pride, considering how little time it all took. He owed a lot to Spoony, of course, for helping him move twice as fast. Still, it had been his genius idea. As usual.

Alright, so he was conceited. So what? He felt he had the right to be, at least in this case. That in a sense was why he liked doing these things so much. His science, his inventions, were still what gave him the most comfort out of anything. When he could justify it, that is. When it was meant to be doing something good. Then he could sleep at night.

“Hey, by the way,” Spoony said to him from over by the teleporter, which was now taking up most of the left side of the room they were in, “I bumped into Linkara a few minutes ago. He said Pollo would be here soon, he just needed to brief Liz quickly over how she was maintaining the base.”

“Oh. Great. Thanks.” Insano muttered, tensing up at the mention of their leader. Don't bring it up, he willed. Don't bring it up, don't bring it up, don't bring it up...

“I'm really glad you two aren't fighting anymore.”

The fucker. He brought it up.

“Linkara and I weren't fighting,” he protested, “We just had a very frank sort of discussion, that's all. A discussion I may have over-reacted to. A little.”

“Bullshit.” Spoony retorted. Typical enough of him, Insano supposed. Even if it really was just a mere petty squabble that had occurred between him and Linkara, Spoony would stress his head off about it. He stressed about everything that happened to Insano, no matter how small it was. And there wasn't anything he could very well do about it.

He wished that Spoony wouldn't worry about him so much all the time. Not just because it could be annoying...though heaven knew it could...but because it made him feel guilty to cause him such distress. He tried telling him it was all unnecessary, that he was perfectly capable of coping with his own problems, that he didn't need him, but it was all in vain.

Because then there would be scenarios like the one a few nights ago, where he found himself a sobbing wreck in his arms, that would prove exactly the opposite to the both of them.

And he had to admit, at times, he was thankful to have him around. It was funny, remembering how little they got along before all this had happened, back when he was still, you know, a supervillain. One might say they were enemies then, albeit not in the same way that he and Linkara once were. He was a pest to Spoony, and Spoony in turn would get in the way of his schemes just often enough to irritate him. Yet they were neighbors, and they put up with each other. Tolerance. That was far as it went back then between them.

Then the outbreak happened. The outbreak that changed everything.

Insano had gotten the call from Linkara, just as Spoony did. Apparently he wanted to be able to protect everyone, never mind who happened to be his arch foe at the time. Always the hero, Linkara. So they made the journey together, from Arizona to Minnesota. They couldn't take planes, and they had to stay hidden, so it ended up being weeks before they finally got there. And they bonded, as cheesy as it sounds. There was just something about survival and constant fear that brought people together, and you could say in the time they spent hiding out and shooting robot drones in each others' company, that they became damn near close as brothers.

And then, of course, there was the incident. That affected things too, to be sure.

Insano put down his tools for a moment and took a deep, shaky breath. Spoony saw this, and looked at him with mild concern until the scientist held a hand up. “Just tired, that's all.” he muttered. “We've been at this a really long time.”

“Well, look on the bright side.” Answered Spoony. “We're almost done.”

“Almost done until tomorrow, you mean.”

At this Spoony only shrugged, and turned back to tinkering with the teleporter. Insano waited until he was sure he wasn't looking, before reaching into his desk drawer and pulling out a photo. There was Insanos' son, sitting on the swivel chair he used to own back in their old house, his eyes big and cheerful. He stared at it longingly, swallowing a lump in his throat. It was the only photo he had left of the little tyke. Spoony probably had one too somewhere, knowing him. He's never come out with it or anything, but he didn't need to. Insano knew him better than that.

That was the other thing that made him feel guilty about all the charity. Spoony always blamed himself for what happened. And he always would too, no matter how many times Insano assured him that it wasn't his fault. He felt responsible for him because of it, and he really didn't need to. True, he had made that stupid Burton in the first place, but he didn't make it go rogue. He didn't make it suddenly lash out and shoot death-beams everywhere. He didn't make one of them hit Insanos' son. PAOLA did.

If anybody should be feeling responsible for the whole matter, it was Insano.

He recalled himself back in the days before the outbreak. What he was like then. In many ways he was just as bad as the men who'd built PAOLA and the rest of them, just as crazy, just as diabolical. He manipulated the works of science and technology for his own nefarious means. Even if those means rarely worked, the intent was all there. He was constantly making schemes to gain power, constantly looking for some new scientific breakthrough that would guarantee the overthrowing of the entire world. Little did he know back then that someone, somewhere would make that very scientific breakthrough come
true. And that that breakthrough would cost him the one thing he valued most in his heart. His morality pet, as it were.

His son. His little boy.

There can't have been a worse kind of grief. There can't have been. No pain in the universe could be greater than the hollow agony he felt day after day, of the hole that had been ripped out of his life, the loss of something that no one should ever, ever have to live without. Insano shuddered as quietly as he could, and thanked God for his spirally goggles hiding his tear-filled eyes.

He hated PAOLA for what it had caused everyone, but more than that he hated himself for being so akin to the evil behind it. In some other universe, he could very well have been the one to create all of this. He knew it, everyone knew it. And he was desperate to make that no longer true.

That was really all he wanted, right from the get-go. He wanted to make up for all the things he had done in the past. He wanted to show the world that he knew now right from wrong. He wanted to atone for his sins, he wanted to become a good person. A person his son would have been proud of.

Most of all, he wanted PAOLA dead. Destroyed. Obliterated. Along with any and all of those infernal AIs it had on its side. Damn the lot of them, that's what Insano thought. They were an evil he would never again come to trust, never again let himself be a part of. He was done with high end technology. Forever.

After he'd done with this teleporter.

There was a knock at the door. Insano and Spoony both turned to see who it was. Standing at the entrance to the lab...well, hovering at it anyway...was of course their oh-so-needed assistant for the day, finally rested and ready to go. Insano had to admit, it was a relief to see him. “Morning Pollo.” he said good-naturedly.

“Hey Pollo.” murmured Spoony.

Hello to the both of you. I trust Linkara told you why I'm late.

“Yes yes, it's all good. Please, come in! We could use your help over here!” Insano replied, gesturing impatiently. As the little android flew in and started examining everything, however, the scientist couldn't help but get a little anxious. It was ridiculous, he knew, but the rumors Marzgurl had been spreading around these past few days had left him somewhat weary of him. Spoony too, from the looks of it. And they liked Pollo, all things considered. He was always polite and helpful, and Lord knew Linkara spoke highly enough of him that you'd think he's warrant a knighting.

Still...he was a robot, after all.

How far are you into the process of building this device? He asked, looking up at Insano.

“Well, really we've just about finished the basics of it.” Insano explained, turning his seat around so he could face him. “There's only a few touches left, which we plan on finishing by the end of the day. Then the teleporter will be completed enough so that we can successfully beam objects from here to the house of the Nostalgia Critic.”

Objects?

“Yes, unfortunately, only non-organic devices will be safe to go. Which of course is no good, considering what we're planning on doing. Our weapons would be fine, but no members of our crew could be there to use them on anything!”

I could. I'm non-organic.

“Well...yes, I suppose you could. But you can't complete the entire mission on your own, now can you?”

I suppose not.

“That's why we need to go out tomorrow.” Insano went on, “Once we've gathered certain chemicals and supplies I need, which we happen to know for a fact can be found in several hospitals and factories some miles away from here, I can add the last few tweaks to the teleporter and make it so people can go through. Then we'll be all set to go.”

Pollo nodded, seemingly pondering something to himself. Is there any way to come back here from Chicago once we've left? You know, in case of emergencies?

“Indeed there is!” And here Insano gestured to what he himself had been working on; a set of several bracelets with robotic-looking doohickeys attached to them. “These here bracelets will be given to each member of the team before we leave. If there's any sort of trouble, or if, Heaven forbid, our mission should fail, it gives us the ability to attach ourselves to the uranium field that will surround the house we teleport to. This means that, provided we're in the house, we can go back to our base.”

Interesting, answered Pollo.

“In the meantime, we seriously need to get this stuff done. You can start by helping Spoony over there.”

Pollo nodded and hovered over to Spoony, who then proceeded to chat him up on what they were supposed to be doing. Alone with his work once again, Insanos thoughts began to drift back to Linkara, and his magic gun.

Was he the bad guy for suggesting what he did? To Linkara, he surely was. Which sucked royally. If there was one thing he hated, it was being the bad guy.

But how in the right was he to lie to everybody? To keep secrets when they all trusted him so much? It just didn't seem fair to Insano. It was true what Linkara said, as hurtful as it was. If there was anybody that people didn't trust, it was him. Even though he was the one trying to do the right thing.

At least, he thought he was...

Insano shook his head sharply. He was a man of science, and of logic. Always had been, always would be. As such, the concepts Linkara had thrown at him about Silent Hill cults and little girls in guns sounded utterly ridiculous to him when he heard it. The truth seemed obvious enough: the trauma of what happened to Harvey and 90s Kid and the rest had driven him bonkers, which caused him to hallucinate about these wild stories of his, which he clung to now only to avoid real despair. The other option, the option that what he saw actually was real, frankly didn't seem like an option at all. At least, not when he first heard it.

And yet...stranger things had happened to them, hadn't they? Lord knew Insano had dealt with his fair share of bizarre misadventures in his life as a mad scientist. Hell, just the fact that magic guns apparently did exist was strange enough in its own right. And when it came to backstories of magic guns, what qualified as far-fetched anyhow?

Insano didn't know. Insano didn't have any.

And the last thing he wanted was to cause Linkara grief in the matter, whether it was true or not. He was close to that gun, that much was for certain. Frankly Insano was torn, conflicted on the whole matter. On one hand, what if it really wasn't causing anyone harm? On the other hand, what if it was?

He couldn't see the future. Nobody could. So he chose to let it go, for now. He would watch over Linkara, but he would do so with optimism. After all, why not be hopeful? Honestly, the only cause he might have to try and confront Linkara again would be if his attachment to the gun very directly, very avoidably caused someone to get hurt.

And really, what were the odds of that happening?

It was nighttime. Everyone else on the base was asleep, with the exception of Marzgurl, who was still in the infirmary. Creeping quietly, careful not to alert her, a small figure floated into the lab. Over to the desk it went, where it saw thankfully several bracelets still stacked neatly in a pile. They had not been moved from where they were. Silently it took the one from the top, and slowly, very slowly so as not to disturb anything else, it slid back out of the lab and down the hallway, returning to Linkaras' room.

Pollo was sorry for all of this. Sorry for lying to everyone, sorry for disobeying his master, sorry for keeping secrets. But it had to be done. He needed to get some answers.

Tonight, they would sleep.

Tomorrow, all the humans would leave this base for the day, would set out on their own little adventure.

And so would he.