#Starpoint squad AU

[theramblingsofadork]

So these three art pieces have been sitting in my drafts folder for well over half a year now. The fic they were going to be attached to had to recently be scrapped, and some events and concepts have changed that no longer make them relevant to the story.

But~ I don’t want them to go to waste, so I figure I’ll at least share them with you! ✨

Feel free to make a guess to what the fic was going to be about! (If you guess correctly, I’ll make a quick sketch for you. Because why not? :D)

[theramblingsofadork]

“What do you mean we have to change the plan now?!”

Cello gets super upset and panicked if something gets changed last minute. She has to have things in order, and it throws off her entire groove if the next metaphorical tile in her path gets switched without enough time for her to restructure. (She gets it from her dad.) If it’s an emergency situation, she might even lash out or shut down entirely.

“Oh uh- uh okay! Yeah sure! Just tell me what to do!”

Lug is the type to panic before hurrying into action to try and make it work, no matter what. If he fails to do so though, he can get super depressed, thinking it somehow reflects poorly on him.

“Oh, yeah, alright.”

Hex is the most unbothered in the group by major or sudden changes. In fact, he almost expects them and already has backup plans in place. Coming from a chaotic house of siblings, he’s used to things always changing by now and prepares accordingly. Very responsible little lad.

“Sigh.. really? Greaaaat. Here we go again.”

Charge is used to having to deal with changes, but isn’t the happiest about it when it happens. He’ll go with the changes without much hassle, but will ask follow up questions along the way for clarification.

“Wish you could have said something sooner… but alright, we’ll make it work.”

Rivet can get annoyed when the plan changes, but she lets go of it pretty quickly if it’s important, and only holds it against people when it’s dumb or something they could have foreseen coming. Either way, she’ll act first and adjust on the fly.

How well can your OC handle major changes to a plan? 

[theramblingsofadork]

I’m sure some of you have already seen this from my blog banner, but I figured why not celebrate my return by sharing a WIP of the entire Starpoint Squad! ✨💫

[theramblingsofadork]

Cello hated the Metal Virus. It was a nightmare unlike any she’s ever had to experience. She lost her parents and her neighbors within minutes due to their village’s placement making them unaware of it till it was right on top of them.

She was forced to watch so many of her friends turn into mindless, metal zombies, and nearly suffered multiple breakdowns from the horror of being the last Starpoint Squad member to survive it.

Even so, when all is said and done, some good still comes out of it. While it’s not how she wanted it to happen, after everything goes back to normal, she goes home to be with her parents, and has a conversation with them that changes everything.

📘 Short Fanfic: Giving Up Grievances

🎵 Accompanying Music: Spirited Away - Day Of The River

————

Things had been weird since coming back from ground zero.

Cello hadn’t touched her chemistry set once. In fact, she had to cover it up, because even looking at it filled her with a squirming sense of depression and guilt.

She didn’t speak about chemistry anymore like she used to either. Instead, she busied herself in helping her mom with the chores and cooking, as well as aiding her dad and the miners with moving the ore from below ground to over the ridge to be processed.

Everyone had no doubt noticed her stark change, but Cello didn’t care, nor did she wish to get into the details of why. She would simply say “I’m fine,” before quickly flying off to busy herself with something else whenever anyone asked.

But she wasn’t fine. In fact, the firefly felt quite empty inside.

The Metal Virus had changed her. Wrecked her security and confidence in her efficiency as a chemist. How could she say she was going to make a real change in the world when she couldn’t even compose a formula in time to save her family and friends from the virus?

Perhaps, this was her sign that she finally needed to accept that her father might be right about her path in life. That she was meant to be a miner like the rest of them, and she needed to stay in their village, instead of gallivanting about, chasing a silly dream.

She had been stewing on this thought for over a week, and now, sitting around the dinner table with her parents, Cello found herself staring down at her mother’s mashed potatoes and meatloaf, both of which sat half-eaten on her plate. Her parents were talking about the day’s findings in the mines, but she didn’t hear a word of it.

Guess it was time. Today would be the day she would finally tell them that she was giving up everything.

The thought made her queasy to her stomach, but her mind was made up. If she couldn’t even save people with her talents, then it would be better for everyone if she just stayed home and supported the family by working in the mines with them.

At least then, she might be able to finally make her dad happy with her life decisions. Maybe he would finally approve of her like she’d always wanted him to. Especially considering his new, long-term injury was keeping him from working as much as he’d like to.

She narrowed her eyes a bit more. Yeah... This was for the best…

“Cello? Honey?” Her mother suddenly addressed her, noticing her daughter’s apathy towards one of her favorite meals. “Are you feeling alright? You’ve hardly touched your food.”

Right. Cello swallowed hard and steadied herself. Time to face the music.

The firefly took a deep breath, then quite solemnly declared to the table as her gloved hands balled in her lap, “I’ve decided I’m giving up chemistry for good. I’m going to stay here in the village with you and Dad, and work with the others in the mines from now on.”

There. She had said it. The decision that would change her future forever had been made. She wasn’t happy, but it was what it was. And like it or not, she would have to accept this was her new lot in life.

She briefly winced as she remembered Hex and the others. They would no doubt be sad to hear the news. She would have to apologize to them later on…

The firefly then braced herself for her father’s response, no doubt that it was going to involve a callous scoff and something snarky like, “About time you saw reason!”

But, to her surprise, there was nothing but tense silence for a long moment across the table. She sensed her mother turn to glance over at her husband, and he, in turn, swallowed his food and heaved a heavy sigh. As he set down his fork, it echoed against the plate loudly with a heavy clank.

Then he spoke, and it was the last thing Cello ever expected him to say.

“…No. You should go pursue chemistry, like you’ve always wanted to.”

Cello felt herself freeze. Felt as if the breath had suddenly been stolen right out of her lungs. She lifted her head and looked at the older firefly across the dinner table. “What?” The word echoed emptily across. She couldn’t hide or hold back her confusion and disbelief. “Dad, are you… hearing me? I’m… saying I want to be a miner. That I’m not going to do chemistry anymore.” Her brows furrowed. “I’m doing the one thing you’ve always wanted me to do!!”

“But is it what you want to do?” Her father asked, making her gape and flounder for words for a moment.

No, it was true. Deep down, she didn’t really want to give up chemistry. But what choice did she have? Her failure, as well as his consistent belittlement of her passion and skills had finally brought about this perfect storm. Leading her to the skewed conclusion that she had just been fooling herself all this time.

He had been fighting her for years on this! Wanted her to follow in the footsteps of the family business for as long as she could remember! Was he simply mocking her? Why NOW would he suddenly be changing his mind?

And she couldn’t help but voice this, finally sputtering, “W-why do you suddenly care about what I want to do? You never cared before!”

“Cello!” Her mother disappointedly chided her, but her father remained silent, not responding with the normal anger and ferocity he was known for. In fact, he seemed to sag a bit, rubbing his gloved thumb over a scratch in the table’s surface, suddenly looking far older and meeker than Cello had ever seen him before.

“You’re right. I didn’t,” he agreed with her. “I’ve only ever done what I thought was best for you. But, ever since the Metal Virus, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. Don’t— get me wrong, what we do here in the mines is very important and all, but…” He dipped his head and his antenna sagged. “When everything went back to normal, I heard from one of your friends that you had managed to create a cure for the virus. And I found myself thinking, ‘my little girl…? Surely not.’“

He recalled the Mobian youth from the Restoration, firmly defending Cello’s honor against his unbelief. “But they insisted they had been there with you. That they saw the Zombot briefly return to normal thanks to your formula. But, by that time, it was much too late to mass produce it & administer it to everyone.”

He winced and shook his head. “You did what you told us you were going to. And I couldn’t help but think, that maybe if I had just… let you go, helped you pursue your interests sooner, rather than fight you every step of the way... Then maybe you would have been better equipped with the tools you needed to make the cure sooner. Maybe, you’d be a national hero right now, rather than someone who’s ready to give up.”

Cello blinked at him in utter bafflement as she regarded his words, and the memory of her last, desperate declaration to him as her family was coated with metal back in their village flashed back into her mind.

“I’ll find a way to fix this!” She had cried with tears in her eyes. “I don’t know where I’ll find the supplies, but I’ll make a cure to get you guys back, I promise!!”

Quite suddenly, she realized what was going on here. Her father, the rugged, brash, and innately stubborn man that he was; one whom never admited fault for anything, blamed himself for her failure.

A failure that, in of itself, had destroyed her self-confidence in the one thing she was great at.

And instead of just letting that be, instead of keeping his mouth shut to let her fulfill his own personal desires for her life, he was choosing to acknowledge that his stubborn desire to cling to tradition had nearly cost them everything. That if he wanted the best for his daughter, and the world, then he needed to stop being selfish, and just let her be who she was born to be.

Finally uttering the words she had so desperately been wanting to hear him say for so long.

He then pulled a white envelope out of his overall pocket. The older firefly regarded it for a moment with a sigh, then dropped it in front of her. “From me and your mom. I want you to use it to get into that fancy academy you always talk about.”

Cello, still reeling out of her mind, slowly reached out and took the envelope, still half expecting this to be one massive, mean prank. However, as she opened it up and saw what sat inside, she gasped and covered her mouth in shock. “Dad…” Her eyes began to water up.

It was a check. And not just any check. It was enough to cover her entire tuition.

Despite how her heart pounded with sudden excitement, Cello forced herself to quickly shake her head and push it back. “N-no!! I can’t take this!!” she exclaimed. “You and mom need this money for bills, don’t you?? Especially with your injury??”

Her dad rubbed the back of his fuzzy head and heaved a breath as he rubbed his injured leg. “Feh... don’t worry about it. I’ve been saving that money up for a while now so I could eventually take you and your mother on a big vacation.” His wife smiled and slipped her hand over his proudly. “But uh.. I think this will be going towards a better cause. Besides, I know you won’t forget about us when you make it big.”

Cello couldn’t hold her usual stiff face together anymore. She was steadily falling apart now, letting out a BIG OLE, UGLY SNIFFLE and practically gushing waterworks from her eyes as she clutched the envelope against her chest.

He was being serious. This was really happening!!

“Ohhh, Cello honey,” Her mom smiled softly at her daughter. It wasn’t often Cello openly cried in front of them anymore.

“Agh come on, kid— none of that now. You’re going to make your mother cry too...” Her dad grumbled, though it was more due to him getting embarrassed than anything else.

Cello fiercely sniffled and scrubbed her face clean with her arm before launching herself out of her seat to fly and tackle her father in a hug, nearly upsetting dinner in the process.

“…Thank you dad...” She mumbled into his shoulder, squeezing him tightly. “Really… You don’t know how much this means to me!”

The man grunted from the sudden embrace and chuckled a bit as he awkwardly hugged and patted her back. “Yeah yeah,” he grumbled, trying to act as if this wasn’t a big deal. “Just… get out there and go be that chemist your mother and I know you can be.”

Cello pulled back from him and flashed her confident smile again, a bright spark of light returning to her eyes. “Right! I’ll make you both proud!!” She exclaimed.

“We already are proud, dear~” Her mother chimed in lovingly.

“…But we’ll be even more proud when we get to brag about you being on the cover of one of those big, fancy science magazines,” her father added with a grin. Only to then immediately jolt as his wife prodded him in the side. “Ow! What? I was being positive…”

Despite herself, Cello couldn’t help but laugh a bit. Her father’s remark didn’t bother her one bit. On the contrary. It felt like she was floating on Cloud 9.

At last, a giant burden had been lifted from her shoulders. And for the first time in a really long time, Cello felt… happy. Like that excited little kid with super tight curls and oversized glasses, who had clumsily flown into the kitchen, excitedly exclaiming to her parents about the newest breakthrough she had read about in a scientific magazine she had received from one of the neighbors.

Except now, rather than getting a disinterested, disgruntled response from her father, he instead smiled down at her, sharing in his daughter’s joy as he picked her up to spin her around while she laughed and declared that she too, was going to do something great like that one day.

At the root of it all, it was all she had ever wanted. Support over her dreams. Belief that she was capable of great things, and that she could accomplish them.

It was funny... Despite the Metal Virus being an absolutely vile nightmare of an event to go through, somehow, some good had still come out of it in the end anyways.

And if that wasn’t a frightfully fascinating realization, then Cello didn’t know what was.

💚🩵💛

— End

[theramblingsofadork]

Here are all of the art pieces from my Starpoint Squad AU synopsis post yesterday!

[theramblingsofadork]

Rivet stole an extreme gear when hers got totaled to stop a bad guy, but had no money to pay for the damages to it or the owner’s property when she came back to return it. (She ended up having to do free labor for like a month and a half. XD)

Charge has a lot of infractions under his belt, such as disturbing the peace and causing some property damage, but his biggest crime by far is eating incredibly weird food combinations by CHOICE. Cheese quesadilla with bananas? Not a problem. Vanilla ice cream and soy sauce? Sure. He won’t bat an eye. If it’s weird, he’s probably eaten it before. He even ENJOYS SOME OF THEM. *gasps in foodie*

Hex is guilty of taking apart the toaster for one of his robot builds. …And hacking into several secure, protected databases to access information such as leaks for upcoming Hero Mania games and encrypted blueprints of top secret government projects. 🫢

When Cello was much younger and thought she wanted to be a teacher, she let some little kids play with her chemistry set to teach about the dangers of chemistry. She nearly got the entire group blown up and set a house on fire when they mixed two incompatible chemicals together. Another had an allergic reaction to the fumes and had to be taken to the hospital.

Lug’s guilty of giving Hex parts from the junkyard he worked at for free, sure that ‘the owner would never miss them because he had way too much inventory.’ He was promptly fired when the owner found out.

What is the most illegal thing your OC has done?

[theramblingsofadork]

I like to imagine that Rivet helps teach Surge and Kit about Extreme Gear riding when they try to steal her board to go run in a race.

While her and Surge may clash at times due to their combined stubbornness, Rivet just wants the best for her and Kit.

Plus, it’s a joy for her to share a hobby that she enjoys with others.

—

Short accompanying fic below the cut! 📗

“Uh oh.” Kit froze.

“What?” Surge looked over her shoulder to see Rivet standing in the doorway. Frowning wide with arms crossed over her chest. Her frightening mama bear look.

“What are you two doing?”

“Crap!” Surge swore. They had been found out. “Tck— nothing.” She then lied with a haggard ogre expression.

Rivet rose a brow. “Is that so? Because to me it looks like you were trying to sneak out.” Her eyes narrowed dangerously. “With my board.”

Surge gulped, and Kit hid behind his ears. “See Surge? I told you this was a bad idea…” he grumbled quietly.

“Shut it Kit!” Surge snapped back under her breath. “How else are we supposed to enter the race if we don’t have a ride??”

A flicker crossed over Rivet’s eyes. “Race? What race?”

Crap! She did it again! Surge groaned in frustration.

Kit peeked out from behind his ears. “Maybe we should just tell her?”

Surge GROOOAAANED and flopped like a defeated rag doll. “…UGHH FIIIINE!”

She frowned at Rivet. “There’s this big ole Extreme Gear race going on. The whole Restoration’s even getting involved! And we want in!!”

Rivet rose her brow disappointedly. “Aaaand you thought you could just sneak off with my board to run in this race, and I wouldn’t notice?”

“Ugh see? I told you she wouldn’t understand!” Surge angrily told Kit, who hid behind his ears again due to her volume.

“Oh no, I understand perfectly.” Rivet… smiled? And chuckled?? “Actually, you two remind me a lot of myself and my brother when we were younger. We used to try stuff like this too.”

So this must have been what they looked like to Hunter when he caught them trying to be sneaky. How amusing.

The two perked up. Kit came out from behind his ears hopefully. “So… does that mean we can borrow your board then?”

“Ahaha—Absolutely not.” Rivet’s look went from cheery to cold as ice again. She knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt that they would crash it, especially with how reckless Surge could be.

“Drat.” The two sank down again.

“But! That being said—” The cat shut her eyes and raised her nose to the sky. “I’ve never been one to turn away someone excited about racing before.”

Her smile returned, and her green eyes sparkled as she beckoned for them to follow her. “So, come on. If you want to race, then we’re going to do this the proper way.”

The two kids exchanged a look with each other, before picking themselves up and following her out.

“Oh— and… don’t tell Starline.”

—

[theramblingsofadork]

*the tablet lets out an error noise*

Hex: “Ah come on! Why isn’t it working?”

[theramblingsofadork]

Hide and Seek~ ✨

[theramblingsofadork]

Despite being surrounded by the secluded wilderness while growing up under Hunter’s care, with a bit of hard work and luck, Rivet was able to locate and use fallen Badnik scrap to fix up and craft the items needed to be the fighter she is today.

While it certainly wasn’t an easy process, for every problem, there’s always a solution, so long as you’re willing to look for it. 💡

[theramblingsofadork]

“I’m so sorry…”

Sometimes grief can be too much to bear, even for the strong.

(Rivet goes through a lot, both in the AU and in canon.

She needs a hug. ;w;)

[theramblingsofadork]

🎵 Honey, it’s time to leave the doubt behind.

Take my hand, cause you and I are gonna shine ✨🎵

Whenever Starline starts to have doubts, whether it be at the start of the competition or all the way at the end of the Restoration Arc, Rivet’s there to encourage and keep him and the others going.

No matter how badly off the rails a plan may go, or how low he may feel on a particular day, she’ll always try to find a way to uplift spirits and find a win-win to still make it work.

She has more than enough of a go-getter attitude for the both of them, and thankfully, it’s contagious. 💖🌟

[theramblingsofadork]

R: “Ah! You got it!”

S: “It’s hard to believe that this is the thing we went through so much trouble for.”

I have a little headcanon that Rivet and Starline met once before the competition, when they found themselves searching for the same component for their individual projects.

It ends up being trickier than either of them anticipate, so amidst a series of hijinks, they end up having to work together in order to secure said component.

Unfortunately, at the end of it all, it ends up not being compatible with what Starline needed it for, so he tosses it over to Rivet as payment for saving him from being eaten by a giant cave worm.

“There. Now we’re even.”

[theramblingsofadork]

A friend introduced me to the concept of character/alignment charts, and I decided to have fun with some of my OCs (and Starline of course), and do some.

[theramblingsofadork]

Have a stupid Rivetline joke comic that I thought of a few days ago and put way too much effort into, lololol—

Bonus doodle under the cut!

[theramblingsofadork]

None of the boys on the Starpoint Squad have a professional background in engineering or chemistry, so when Starline tells them not to eat in the lab or while constructing the robot, they don’t take him very seriously.

This results in him flipping his lid (reasonably so) when he finds them doing just that, despite his warnings.

They do meekly apologize when they learn there is actually a real, scientific reasoning behind his words, and it's not just because he's being a stick in the mud.

Goes to show, Starline’s not the only one to get a slice of humble pie during the competition! XD

Accompanying fanfic below the cut!

vvvvvv

📘📙 Fanfic: A Slice of Humble Pie

Accompanying Music Track: World Trigger - 12/30

Starline stopped dead in his tracks the moment he stepped into the room. The platypus’ eyes widened when he saw Charge, Hex, and Lug standing around a table in the center.

Munching on cookies and cinnamon covered churros as they worked on the robot’s response system to Cello’s chemical mix.

Rivet immediately saw the problem too and clicked her tongue, green eyes shifting to the doctor besides her as his fists tightened at his sides. “Oh dear...” She managed to get out before Starline’s patience utterly cracked.

“GENTLEMEN!!” He exploded at the group, all of whom immediately looked up and froze like they had been caught with their hands in the cookie jar. (Ironic, because of what they were snacking on.) “WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT EATING AROUND THE EQUIPMENT?!”

The three stared at him blankly before Hex slowly crunched down on the cookie still in his mouth to reply, “Um… not to do it?” He squeaked.

“And yet, here you are, going against my very clear instructions and making an absolute mess!” Starline exclaimed angrily before he stomped over to them with balled fists. “Did it not occur to you—“ He yoinked the cookies away from Charge. “—That I had a very good reason—“ He plucked away Hex’s next. “—For telling you all not to eat in here?!”

He reached to grab the churro away from Lug, but the bulldog knit his brows together and quickly held it up out of Starline’s reach in defiance. The platypus merely gave him an unamused deadpan before a portal activated over his head, allowing Starline to easily take it from him.

The bulldog sputtered at his now empty hand and at being outsmarted, before growling deeply as the doctor continued by without so much as a second glance. “Grrrh… Well MAYBE we just thought you were being a big ole, grumpy stickler! I paid for that, you know!!”

“Well then, maybe next time, you’ll heed my words,” Starline stated with an over the shoulder frown as he crossed over to the nearest trash can to dump the confiscated goods into it.

“I don’t get what the big deal is, doc,” Charge said as he frowned and rested on his elbow on the counter.

“Clearly.” The platypus’s tone was practically dripping with sarcasm.

“…I mean, I get the whole liquids thing for obvious reasons, but is food really THAT much of a problem?”

“Yes, it is. And quite frankly, I’m surprised I even have to be saying that!” Starline exclaimed before the bag of cookies made a particularly loud ‘cur-chunk!’ as it hit the bottom of the cylinder.

Starline then spun to face them again, crossing his arms like a disappointed parent. “I understand that none of you have ever had formal training in a professional setting like this… but even so! I expected you to have SOME common sense!“

“Hey! You calling us dumb or something?!” Lug complained as he leaned atop the counter.

Starline sighed dramatically and pushed his fingers into his ivory bangs. “Your words, not mine, Lug.”

“HUHHH??”

“Regardless! Since it seems that merely believing the words of a professional isn’t enough for you, I suppose I have no other choice than to make it perfectly clear why we mustn’t eat in here.”

Gazing out to the annoyed faces watching him, Starline began to explain. “Contrary to what you all might think of me, I tell you this NOT because I am a stickler and want you all to starve. But rather because ingesting food or drink in a setting like this poses a very real and very dangerous health hazard! Not to mention it could potentially mess with the reliability of our tech!”

“‘Health hazard?’ ‘Mess up reliability?’” Lug squinted suspiciously, not buying a word of it. “How?”

Starline motioned to Charge, whose ears flattened at being singled out. “For example: Charge is currently handling the concoction Cello made, testing if the fluid is potent enough for what we need to operate the hydraulics system, is that correct?”

Charge nodded and picked up the capped glass container with the glowing blue liquid inside. “Yeah. Cello wasn't sure how concentrated it needed to be, so I’m adding it little by little to get the proper dosage. But I’m keeping it covered so it doesn’t spill and no crumbs can get inside.” He gave the bottle a little shake, causing the liquid to noisily slosh against the sides.

“A measly effort at best to prevent incident,” Starline scoffed dismissively, which earned an immediate frown. “By handling the chemicals, then eating and sharing your food with the others immediately afterwards, you’re running the risk of making yourself and the group quite sick from cross contamination!”

Charge’s grumpy attitude and expression almost immediately dropped when the realization of what he said clicked. The lemon colored cat meekly set the concoction back down on the table and dropped his gaze with it. “…Ah,” he mumbled quietly.

Starline then turned to Hex and Lug. “And you two! Even if you’re not handling the chemicals, you’re still getting crumbs everywhere! And no matter how tidy you may try to be, they’re still going to end up getting into the ports and components of whatever you’re trying to build! Which, in the long run, can and will affect connection integrity, and potentially cause a multitude of other problems down the line!”

“Oh.” Both bulldog and rat too shrank down like wet, burlap sacks in embarrassment.

“That.. might actually explain some problems I ran into back home…” Hex mumbled, scratching at a tuft of purple fur as he recalled his favorite robot struggling to work properly after a few tests. He had snacked quite a bit around that one as well. Namely, pretzels and granola bars.

Starline huffed out a breath, pleased to hear their arguments silenced, though he was still just feeling plain annoyed. “Do you understand now why I was so insistent on this? One careless misstep, and our chances of winning the competition could be over before we even get the chance to show them all what we’re capable of.“

He sighed and pushed up his glasses as he pinched the bridge of his bill. “Honestly, I get being hungry on the job, but if you feel as though you MUST feast so badly, then please, for the sake of everyone here, do us all a favor and take it to the cafeteria where that stuff belongs!!”

The boys went silent, and Starline took that as a sign of their understanding. “Thank you!”

With that seemingly now settled, the platypus huffed from his long winded speech, feeling the twinge of a headache coming on. “…Augh.. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get some air… I expect this place to be spotless when I come back, do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Starline,” The three boys somewhat mutedly murmured in unison.

“Good.” The platypus shut his eyes and headed for the door, brushing past Rivet who hadn’t said a single word the entire time. “Honestly, the things I put up with...” he grumbled to himself as he walked out.

The room was deathly silent as the door closed shut behind him. Then Rivet shifted her gaze over to the group. Before she could even so much as breathe in their direction, Charge held up a hand. “Don’t say anything, sis.”

Rivet shrugged nonchalantly. “I wasn’t going to.” She paused. “…He is right though, you know.”

Charge groaned in response like he knew she was going to do that and grit his teeth. “I—!! Realize that! Ugh… Now, anyways.” He rolled his eyes sideways and slunk down.

“I didn’t mean to make him so upset…” Hex murmured softly, quietly picking at the hard plastic on his tablet. “I just didn’t want to fall behind on our tasks…”

“Augh, no, don’t blame yourself, Hex,” Lug groaned, rubbing his face with a gloved mitt. “We’re the older ones here. You were just following our example... Technically we should be the ones who are responsible..”

“Says the one who, up until a minute ago, was the most eager out of all of us to defy the doc’s instructions,” Charge pointed out.

Lug start, completely caught off guard. “WHA—! Yeah, okay, well— MAYBE I realize I was being petty… But it’s not exactly like you were any better!!” He then exclaimed.

“Yeah alright, you got me there.” Charge gave a small, sheepish huff. “I can admit I was wrong too…”

“Look, I’m sure you all didn’t mean any harm by it,” Rivet encouraged them. “But maybe from now on, just trust what he says when it comes to things like this, yeah? It’s clear to me that this competition is really important to him.” She chuckled weakly. “Otherwise, he.. probably would have kicked us to the curb about a week ago…”

The lavender cat then moved to join them at the table so she could lean back against it. “Yeah, he can be a bit arrogant, and… he’s a little rough around the edges at times. But I think he IS trying his best to work with us despite his pride. So… maybe we can do a bit more to work with him too, yeah?”

The room was quiet for a moment, then Charge nodded, seeing her point. “..Yeah. Guess it isn’t in our best interest to pull a him by ignoring his request.”

Lug grumbled and put a hand on his neck in bashfulness. “Mm.. yeah… Especially when at the end of the day, he’s just looking out for our wellbeing,” the bulldog glanced over at the trash can where their treats now lay discarded.

“We’ll apologize then when he gets back,” Hex stated, holding up his determined little fists. “Let him know we do appreciate him! And that we’ll try even harder from now on to be the best teammates he could ask for!”

Charge gave the rat a nod of approval. “Yeah, sounds like a plan. Even if he’s going to lord it over our heads for a while…”

“Better than him staying quiet and letting you accidentally poison yourselves, right?” Rivet flashed them a smile and pushed off the table to retrieve a roll of paper towels from one of the nearby counters. As she passed them to head to her own work station, she bumped it against Lug’s chest.

Lug accepted it and blinked at the roll, turning it over in his hands. “Yeah, you’re right about that,” he stated, before sighing and ripping off a square of it. “All right then.. come on guys! Let’s get this place cleaned up like the doc instructed.”

The coder and bio-electric kinetic nodded, and the three got to work on cleaning while Rivet sat down to resume work on her part of the project.

When Starline would eventually return to the group ten minutes later, their work area would be just as he expected it to be.

Bright, clean, and sparkling, with not a single crumb or drop of chemical concoction in sight. ✨