The Robotic Hero of Canterlot High

by TriforceAndroid

Chapter 4: Mall Battle

After arriving back at his home, Dew Drop was surprised to see that Celestia was in the kitchen wearing an apron that had a pattern of a sun on it. A sweet smell pervaded the air and Celestia came over to welcome Dew Drop home.

“How was your walk?” she asked kindly. “I was just baking some chocolate chip cookies for later. Luna has to stay at school to meet with some parents, but she should be back before dinner time.”

“Good to know,” said Dew Drop, trying to hide the fear in his voice. He calmed down as he smelled the cookies. “Well, my walk was quite… eventful.” I can’t tell her that I’ve been figuring out what the Cyber Force is up to. That’ll make her worried!

“Do you want to tell me about it?” Celestia returned to the kitchen to take the first batch of cookies out of the oven. The sweet smell intensified as the freshly baked goods were exposed to the air. “I won’t be going anywhere until all the cookies are done and I wouldn’t mind hearing a story while I bake.”

Shoot, what do I tell her? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? Dew Drop was panicking inwardly as he tried to figure out what to tell her. C’mon, Dew Drop! Think!

“Um… well… I just took a lap around some blocks,” he answered. “I n-never knew that Canterlot City was so large!” Unfortunately for him, the fear in his voice was quite evident.

Celestia seemed to catch on to it as well. “Dew Drop, is something wrong?” she asked, turning around. “Did something happen while you were outside?”

Shoot, he thought. I sound too scared. Okay, calm down, dude! You can do this! “Um… sorry,” he said. “I just had a very close encounter with a snake. I couldn’t tell if it was venomous or not, so it scared me.”

Smooth, dude! Real smooth! He thought with a mental facepalm. Tell her about your fear of snakes! Why don’t you tell her about the fact that you’re scared of being crushed by debris and closed spaces? Idiot!

“A snake?” Celestia repeated. “That would make many people jumpy. Do you remember where you saw it? I could call the pest control people to go catch it. If there’s a possibly venomous snake lurking around, it would be best to make sure it’s caught before it can bite anyone.”

She continued to make the cookies, setting a timer for the next batch in the oven.

“Um… i-it slithered back into the woods,” he said quickly. “No need to worry about that!” He let out a nervous chuckle.

“Hmm. Well, if you’re sure,” Celestia said. “Just take care the next time you go on a walk. Not every part of Canterlot is as safe as this district. There are all manner of unsavory people lurking about the outskirts, for example.”

“N-noted,” he said. He felt inwardly relieved. Too close. If she found out I was spying on the Cyber Force, she would probably give me an earful! Better try and play it safe for now!

Celestia remained blissfully unaware of Dew Drop’s anxiousness. “Tell you what, Dew Drop, why don’t you go and put together a list of things we need to pick up when we go shopping tomorrow? I’m sure you’ll be wanting to decorate your room, as well as take down Cadance’s old name plate. I’ll be here.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” he said with a small grin. He went upstairs into his new room and let out a sigh of relief after closing the door. “Well, that could’ve ended badly.” He started to write up a list for posters, shirts, sweaters, jeans, and shoes. He had been writing for a while, because Luna eventually came home, parking her car in the garage and getting out. She saw Dew Drop at the window and waved up at him.

“Sorry about the wait,” Luna said as she came inside and took off her shoes. “There was a small emergency in the cafeteria and none of the other staff knew how to fix it. But I’m home now,” she sniffed the air. “Are those cookies I smell?”

Dew Drop smiled and came down to see her. Without thinking he hugged her. “Welcome back,” he said.

Luna looked surprised at first, but soon returned the hug. “How was your first day of classes? Not too overwhelming, I hope?”

“It was quite pleasant,” he answered as he broke the hug. “I met the Rainbooms! They were quite a friendly bunch!”

“Yes, the Rainbooms certainly are a welcoming group,” Celestia said, coming over with a towering plate of chocolate chip cookies, still warm from the oven. “Believe it or not, they’ve been known to use magic to help protect the school from multiple potential disasters. CHS might not be here if not for the Rainbooms.”

“Wait, they’ve used magic?” Dew Drop asked with surprise. “So… they’re like superheroes?” Well, this changes everything!

“That’s one way to put it,” Luna agreed before taking a cookie. “Although I don’t think many of them would like to be called superheroes. From all accounts, they enjoy the ordinary life, by and large.”

“I guess that makes sense,” he said as he took a cookie. I can’t blame them. There have been several instances in which I’ve needed a break from being Android.

Luna went to help Celestia make dinner, telling Dew Drop to go pick out a movie from their collection to watch while they ate.

“Just don’t pick a romcom,” Celestia amended from the kitchen with a cheeky smile. “I don’t want to be reminded of my lack of a love life right now.”

Dew Drop rolled his eyes with a grin. “Okay,” he said. He went to the movie section and began to look through the movies. He decided to try out a superhero movie. Eventually, he found one that he loved a lot: Spiderman, Into the Spiderverse! “Sweet!”

Soon all three of them were sitting in front of the TV with dinner in hand, watching one of the most amazing Spider-man movies of all time. It was hard to be worried about anything now, even the Cyber Force.
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Early the next morning, Dew Drop was gently shaken awake by Luna.

“Rise and shine,” Luna said, having turned on the lights. “It’s time to go shopping!”

“Awesome,” said Dew Drop as he got and yawned. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and went to brush his teeth. He was very excited to go to the mall! Oh, all the amazing things he hoped would be there! Shirts with Zelda, My Hero Academia, and other franchises! Nice warm shoes! Finally, some nice jeans that were not tattered like his current pair!

After getting dressed and eating a quick breakfast, Dew Drop, Luna, and Celestia got into the bigger car and were on the way to the mall. On the way, they passed Canterlot High.

There was someone standing in front of the broken horse statue, dressed in mostly white and purple with black and gold accents, and a raised hood. Celestia, who was driving, didn’t seem to notice, and Luna was busy twiddling with the radio and wasn’t looking. As the car passed by, the figure turned their head to watch them go.

Huh? Thought Dew Drop as he thought he saw someone. He looked back at the statue, but saw no one. Strange! I thought I saw someone. Hmm…

“The school looks quite somber without all the students around and in it,” Luna commented, having found her radio station.

“Schools are meant to be for the people, Lulu,” Celestia pointed out, not taking her eyes off the road. “Without them, the building loses its purpose.”

“Yeah, I have to agree there,” said Dew Drop. He smiled excitedly as they were close to the mall.

Since it was still quite early, there weren’t as many people at the mall as Dew Drop had been expecting. Celestia parked the car in the parking lot and the three of them entered the mall.

Dew Drop had never seen so many stores all gathered like this. The mall was five stories tall, and each floor looked like it had hundreds of things to offer. A fountain stood in the center, the jets of water sparkling in the light.

“Well, Dew Drop,” Luna placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’re the one with the list. Where should we go first?”

Dew Drop looked around until he saw the clothing department with My Hero Academia shirt on display. He eagerly pointed at it! “There! Definitely there!” He exclaimed excitedly.

“Lead the way,” Celestia chuckled as the three of them entered the store.

They spent a good hour and a half just getting the clothes and shoes. The mall was starting to become more populated by the time Luna, Celestia, and Dew Drop stopped by the fountain, each of them carrying numerous bags.

“I’d forgotten how exhausting clothes shopping can be,” Celestia said as she sat down on the edge of the fountain. “Should we stop for lunch, or is there another shop you want to visit first?”

Fluttershy’s words from the day before came to mind.

“Actually, I’ve heard from Fluttershy that there is a store that sells pop culture merchandise,” he said excitedly. “I’d like to go there, please! Maybe I can find a poster for My Hero Academia!”

Luna reached out with her arms. “Give me your bags and I’ll take them to the car. Meet me in the food court when you’re done; I’ll buy us some lunch while you browse this pop culture shop.”

“Awesome,” said Dew Drop as he walked over to the pop culture shop. He felt like a kid in a candy store as he saw multiple posters of franchises he loved! The Legend of Zelda! My Hero Academia! Shantae! It was all there!

In one corner of the shop was a station for making customized name plates. The staff member on duty carefully explained the instructions, as well as showing off the different styles of name plates there were.

“I have an idea,” Celestia said, bending down to look Dew Drop in the eye. “Why don’t you design name plates for all three of us? It’ll be fun, and I can’t wait to see what you come up with.”

Dew Drop nodded excitedly. “All right! So, before I do that, what franchises do you both like?”

“Me, I’ve always been kind of a fan of that one game where you go around catching critters and putting them into balls. I used to be quite a card collector when I was in high school,” Celestia recalled fondly. Then she whispered in Dew Drop’s ear, “Lulu doesn’t like me talking about it in public, but she absolutely loves the Batman comics. She never grew out of it from when we were kids.”

“So, Pokemon and Batman,” he whispered to her. “Got it.” He went to the nameplate section and began to work on the three nameplates. Suddenly, there was a loud crash coming from the center of the mall. What followed was the sound of people screaming in fear! Dew Drop heard the crash and ran to investigate from a distance. He felt scared at what he saw: A familiar dragon-like cyborg with a fiery aura. Cyber Dragon, the Cyborg of Greed! He roared in fiery fury and began to charge into some of the apartments, going forthe multiple cash registers!

“Mine!” He yelled. “It’s all mine!”

The sight of everyone running in fear made Dew Drop feel rage. He quickly raced into a secluded area, unaware that Celestia and Luna saw him run and decided to check on him. Quickly, he slapped a button on his robotic wrist. Slowly, his body started to get covered by green robotic armor due to little nanites that he kept stored in his arm. After thirty seconds, the armor finally covered him from head to toe: Gleaming green armor with a big red letter “A” on the chest and a sword going through the letter; a light green helmet with a blue lens over half of his face, digital lines on the lens to represent eyes, and a pair of antennae on either side; and a glowing white sword powered with pure energy in his right arm. Now, he was Android, the Hero of Courage! “No one is gonna ruin everyone’s day, here!” He said boldly.

Cyber Dragon jumped from apartment to apartment, grabbing money from the registers and scorching everything in sight! Eventually, he started to approach the electronics section when he saw a family of three standing in the way. He growled as fire surrounded him and smoke poured from the nostrils on his helmet.

“Get out of the way, filthy humans,” he growled. “Before I turn you into a human barbeque!” The family was too scared to move. Cyber Dragon growled again. “Fine! You had your chance!” He raised his claw up as it was now covered in flames. The little boy trembled and held onto his parents. They prepared for the worst!

“WHOOSH!”

“BZZZZZZZZZT!”

But the fiery claw never hit them. They slowly looked up and gasped in awe at a marvelous sight: Android had jumped in front of them and blocked the claw with his sword. With a brave smirk, he kicked Cyber Dragon away and stood in front of the family protectively.

“Cyber Dragon,” he yelled boldly. “Leave this mall now! Before I slice off that ugly tail of yours!”

The Cyborg of Greed turned around and saw Android. He gasped in horror. “No,” he cried. “It can’t be you! You died with Metal City!”

“The rumors of demise were greatly exaggerated,” said Android bravely! “But now, I’m back and ready to kick some Cyber butt!”

Cyber Dragon roared with rage and charged at Android! The hero charged at the fiery foe and the two cyborgs clashed their weapons with each other. Positive energy sword met against fiery metal as the two opponents struggled against each other with determined glares in their eyes.

As he continued to fight Cyber Dragon, he was unaware of Celestia and Luna staring at him. The two sisters had taken cover inside one of the side passages that led to the bathrooms, and were watching the fight with amazement and shock. They couldn’t believe it! Dew Drop, the young cyborg they had basically adopted, was the long lost hero of Metal City.

“This… this was unexpected,” Luna commented once she picked her jaw up off the floor.

“You said it, Lulu,” Celestia agreed.

Android continued to fight his fiery foe, continuously blocking the fiery swipes of the monster. That is, until Cyber Dragon succeeded in getting a good swipe at him, causing a little bit of his armor to get scorched.

Android growled in annoyance. “Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to fix this armor?” As he blocked another attack, he looked around for a water source. Soon, he saw a fire alarm. Bingo, he thought. He quickly kicked his opponent away and charged at the fire alarm, dodging fireballs that were thrown at him from the dragon-like cyborg’s snout on the helmet. Quickly, he pulled the alarm! A loud sound echoed throughout the building followed by sprinklers letting some water out. Soon, all the fire in the mall was put out, especially on Cyber Dragon. Now that his fiery aura was quenched, Cyber Dragon was powerless. He tried to make his claw catch fire, to shoot a fireball, and emit smoke from his mouth. But nothing was working. Android marched towards him and punched him in the jaw, knocking him down. Then he picked him up by the tail.

“This is the last time you destroy a building just to steal money for your own greed,” he said. With that, he dragged him away to the front of the mall while calling the police.

The crowd that was left watching began to cheer. Celestia and Luna pushed their way to the front of the masses and stood there, watching Android.

“Dew Drop, how long have you been Android?” Luna whispered quietly, not even loud enough for Android to hear her.

Android was unaware of the two women watching him as he tied up Cyber Dragon. The Cyborg of Greed looked up at him and scoffed. “Wow,” he said. “So, you fail to keep Metal City safe and now you’re trying to be a hero to people you don’t know?”

“At least I can still keep my promise to the man who gave me the purpose to defeat both you and the ACG,” Android snapped.

“Ha,” mocked Cyber Dragon. “Even if you do defeat us, that won’t wash away your guilt! You’re still the same pathetic cyborg who couldn’t fit in anywhere. Always will be!” He started to laugh only for Android to kick him on the head with a very angry glare.

“Shut up, hot head,” he snapped angrily. “My past doesn’t matter!” He started to march away angrily to turn back into Dew Drop while he muttered angrily. “Stupid greedy lizard cyborg and his obsession for wealth!” He gave the villain one last look and said, “What a hot head!” With that, he raced away to the restroom, and turned back to Dew Drop. “Well, that went well!”

Celestia and Luna came around the corner, looking worried and wary. Celestia knelt down to Dew Drop’s level and said, “I think we have to talk. Back at home.”

And refusing to say another word on the matter, both sisters took Dew Drop by the shoulders and walked him back to the car.
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The police loaded Cyber Dragon into an armored van, keeping the restraints that Android had tied him up with.

“You wait!” Cyber Dragon growled. “I will escape and come back to burn you all!”

The van started towards the station and Cyber Dragon settled down to sulk. Suddenly there was a burst of fractured light inside the van and a figure wearing a white coat and a hood appeared before Cyber Dragon.

“Who are yo-” he managed before the figure raised both their arms and their forearms unfolded, extending a pair of glowing blades.

With two quick slashes, Cyber Dragon’s chest was sliced open like butter, sparks flying all over the interior of the vehicle. Retracting one blade, the figure plunged their hand into his torso, pulling out the black core. With the one remaining blade, the back doors to the van were carved open and the figure jumped out, vanishing into another burst of fractured light.

In the back of the van, the powerless body of Cyber Dragon sat there, cold and unmoving.