chapter fifteen ━ a robot sensei & a broken foot
( season two, episode one )

❝ then again, i am related to rudy. ❞

𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐃. 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐒 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 of it was her own fault that she had agreed to go, but she was only now starting to regret that choice. She was lying down on the mats in the dojo, staring up at the ceiling in boredom while Rudy was trying to get Eddie to break a board despite the boy's many attempts at saying that he couldn't.

She looked over when she noticed a stuffed bunny in a karate gi being held out to her. "What's this?" she asked, sitting up on the mats.

"Another apology," Jack said, sitting down beside her as she accepted the animal with a smile. "I really am sorry again."

"Oh, you mean for inviting me to the skate park in your attempt to teach me how to skateboard but instead I broke my foot and now I'm sitting on a mat close to losing my mind?" she asked and the boy nodded.

"Yeah. That."

She chuckled softly. "I've already forgiven you, Jack," she said. "I'm the one who agreed to go. Though, I don't think anyone expected me to break a bone because of a rolling board. Then again, I am related to Rudy. The man who lost a tooth while skateboarding."

Jack tilted his head. "That's true."

Veronica looked down at the stuffed bunny sitting in her lap before furrowing her brows. "Why is it sticky?"

"Oh, I did it with Milton after going to Stickyhons with Kim."

She nodded. "Ah." She settled the animal in her hold. "Well, thank you. She's adorable. She looks like a Mopsy. You know, from Peter Rabbit."

He chuckled. "Mopsy it is."

"It must be nice." Rudy's high-pitched voice made the two teenagers look in his direction. "Just brambling about the mall, living la vida loca. I wouldn't know because I'm here twenty-four-seven. Teaching classes, paying bills, sucking the sweat stains out of these mats." Veronica wore an identical disgusted look as him. "Which reminds me... I gotta get a vacuum."

Veronica nodded. "You really do," she agreed. "Oh—uh—Bobby called earlier today and said he was coming by."

Rudy looked back at her. "What? Quick, get your gis on!" he said to Jack, Kim, and Milton.

The redhead shook his head. "I don't want to miss Bobby's big entrance."

"Oh, Bobby doesn't make those entrances anymore," Rudy said, shaking his head. "He's really starting to embrace his role as a leader, a mentor, a dignified zen master."

Veronica quirked an eyebrow upward when she heard a loud 'whoo' come from outside. She looked behind her to see Bobby walking into the dojo, coughing at the smoke surrounding him. She shifted out of the way of his stumbling and hobbled onto her crutches.

"Word to the wise," Bobby told the group while Kim held Veronica steady. "Never buy a jetpack at a garage sale!"

"I don't think that's gonna be an issue," Veronica muttered, tilting her head at the eccentric, rich man.

"Bobby." Rudy smiled at his boss. "What brings you to our dojo?"

"Oh, let me show you!" He hit the miniature gong that sat around his neck and Veronica furrowed her brows together. His ninjas wheeled in a large crate. "May I present... a teaching machine so advanced, it will revolutionize karate as we know it. Behold!" Veronica jumped slightly at a fist breaking open the crate from the inside. "I give you The Wasabitron 3000!"

Veronica's eyes widened at the robot sensei and shrunk back slightly. "Okay, if this thing has a vacuum attachment, I'm gonna plotz!" Rudy exclaimed.

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𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐎𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐘𝐄𝐃, 𝐀𝐋𝐋 of their belongings were in a storage unit until they figured out what their plan would be once he was home. "Thanks for helping," Veronica said, fiddling with the keys to the storage unit in her hands. "Dad really is the worst hoarder. This could take a while."

"No problem," Milton replied, standing next to Jack. "What exactly is it that we're looking for?"

Balancing on her crutches, Veronica took out her phone and found the text she had received from her father. "Uh—" She showed the screen to the two boys, scrolling through the message that never seemed to end. "—all of this," she said and their eyes widened. "I don't know how he will ever get all of this home when his deployment is over, but that's a problem for future me." She sighed when the keys slipped from her grip. "Really?"

Jack bent down to pick up the keys and opened the storage unit, the boys' eyes widening at the amount of belongings inside. "Wow... That is a lot of stuff."

She shrugged and hobbled her way into the unit. "This, boys, is everything that the Becker family has ever owned packed into a storage unit. There are all of the video tapes that my mom held onto—mostly baby me if I remember correctly.

"Oh, and my dad's golf clubs that he's used twice in the fifteen years that he's owned them. And..." She furrowed her brows and bent down to pick up a small container, wrinkling her nose at the contents. "Who decided to keep all of my baby teeth? You know... I'm suddenly realizing how similar my mom and Uncle Rudy are."

Jack chuckled softly and looked around the room. "So, what's first?"

"Um—" She looked down at her phone and shrugged. "Honestly, I don't even know. If you find a coffee maker, that's somewhere on this list." She let out a breath and fluttered her lips. "You know, Dad is gonna owe us something good for doing this for him. And it'll probably be pizza."

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𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐀 𝐒𝐀𝐓 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐇, holding her head in her hand while watching Kim train with their new robot sensei. "That was technically flawless," the robot said once they had finished sparring. "You are a model of efficiency."

Kim smirked. "Wow, you hear that, Jack?" she asked, turning to face the black belt. "It called me flawless."

"It also said so in a monotone voice," Veronica reminded her with a shrug. "But a win is a win."

She smiled at her best friend and joined her on the bench just as Eddie walked over to the robot. "My mother has a very strict no-fighting-with-robots policy," he said. "I have a note in here somewhere." Veronica furrowed her brows and glanced at Kim while watching the boy sort through a folder. "'Rabbits, rodeo clowns... rabbis?' Oh, here it is. 'Robots'."

The robot scanned the paper in his hand. "This note is a forgery," it said, taking it from Eddie and putting it through the shredder installed in itself.

"Ah!" Rudy sighed, walking out of his office and Veronica looked at him. "Most productive morning ever! Thanks to our friendly robot, I paid all my bills, filed my taxes, and now all I have to do is get rid of my junk mail."

He sent the paper through the robot's shredder and the brunette girl shook her head at Jerry's excitement of being blasted by the shreds of paper.

"Hey, Rudy, check this out," Jack said and bowed to the robot. They began sparring and Jack dodged a swing and a few kicks before pausing when the robot's fist was in front of his face, nearly punching him in the nose.

"Rotate your shoulder ninety degrees for a successful defense," the robot told him and Jack looked at Rudy who nodded.

"He's right. You didn't turn your shoulder."

The robot and Jack began sparring once more and did the same movements, but this time Jack rotated his shoulder and successfully avoided getting punched.

"Whoa! Thanks, robot."

Rudy chuckled and stepped forward. "Uh—you know what? You guys seem like you're in pretty good hands here," he said, looking around at the group. "So, I'm just gonna run out and get a couple of things done. Okay?"

Veronica shrugged and looked over at Jerry who approached the robot while Jack sat down with her and Kim. "Okay, you bag of bolts, let's do this thing."

The robot began scanning and Jerry furrowed his brows. "I am not programmed to spar with orangutans."

Veronica chuckled softly and he looked back at them. "Can you believe this thing?" he asked the three black belts. "It thinks I'm an orangutan. Hey, not cool, man." He began peeling a banana. "Not cool."

She shook her head at his seated position on the bench while eating the banana. "The robot might be on to something..." She stood up and let out a breath. "Alright, best of luck to you guys. I'm continuing my search of finding my dad's favorite sweater in our storage unit. If I don't come back, just assume that something has eaten me."

Jack and Kim looked at each other as she left, glancing briefly at the robot sensei. "She really is related to Rudy..."

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"𝐃𝐀𝐃 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐇𝐎𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐑 ever," Veronica said, her phone on speaker phone with her aunt. "Is this a Becker thing? Should I be worried that this is going to me, too?"

"Do you want the comforting answer or the other one?" Maria replied and the younger Becker paused. "That'll depend on what I tell you."

She tilted her head. "Well, I think I just got my answer then. How exactly is he supposed to be getting this home when his deployment is over? Am I going to be getting a ridiculously large package in the mail?"

"I wouldn't put it past him," Maria said and Veronica sighed. "Well, you seem to be doing better since your birthday. Are you?"

She nodded. "I am actually," she replied, digging through her fifth box of her parents' clothing—summer clothes. "I mean, I'm still sad that Mom's not here, but I'm not constantly thinking about it."

"That's good, dove!" Maria exclaimed and Veronica chuckled. "And the foot? How's the foot?"

"Still broken."

Maria huffed out a small laugh. "You really are your uncle's niece," she said and Veronica nodded in agreement. "Though it could have been worse. At least it was only your foot."

"You're telling me," Veronica answered with a sigh. "Uncle Rudy was once blown off the roof of a building. He's still alive, but it's a freaking miracle at this point."

"I'm sorry, he—he was blown off a roof?"

"Long story."

Maria nodded. "Okay then..." She let out a breath and paused when she heard a crash. "Ronnie? Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Veronica said breathlessly, emerging from under the boxes that fell on top of her. "Just got submerged by our winter coats. We went to Minnesota one time—by accident, too—why do we still have the coats?" She shook her head. "That's not the point. I should go, Aunt Maria. I still have seven things to find in here."

"Good luck!"

Veronica hung up her phone and looked around the storage unit. "Why does he need a bowling ball?" she asked herself. "Why does he have a bowling ball?"

After several hours of trying—and failing—to find the rest of the items on her father's list, Veronica had returned home to Rudy's apartment where she found Kim, Jack, and Jerry standing outside of the front door.

"What are you guys doing here?" she asked them and they looked back at her. "I thought you'd still be at the dojo training with the robot."

"Bobby fired Rudy and replaced him with the robot sensei," Kim told her and she raised an eyebrow upward in surprise. "We're here to talk to him."

Veronica nodded. "Oh." She pulled out her keys and unlocked the front door, opening it to hear Rudy's voice.

"Look, I already have an offer to personally train Jean-Claude Van Diesel for his next movie," he said and Veronica rolled her eyes, seeing he was talking into the TV remote. "So unless you can beat that, don't call me again."

He hung up his 'phone' and scoffed, looking at the teenagers. "Sorry. The phone's been ringing off the hook. I'm getting so many job offers, it's like, 'Give me some space, people!'"

"Um—Rudy, we know you weren't really talking to anybody," Kim told him.

"What?" he asked in a high-pitched voice and Veronica took the remote from his hand.

"You're talking into a remote—it controls the TV," she replied, setting it back down on the coffee table. He frowned and looked back at her.

"You're a remote!" he retorted and she rolled her eyes, looking around the messy apartment. He had been unemployed for three hours and the place already looked like a disaster. "How's your robot sensei?" he asked the three teenagers while his niece began cleaning up his dirty dishes and saw a pizza box stuffed under the couch cushion that Kim was sitting on. "Making you better at karate?"

Kim shrugged. "We're better," she replied before sighing. "But we're miserable."

"Rudy, we're here because we need you back at the dojo," Jack said, standing up from the couch. "We all got caught up in the excitement of that wasabi wind-up toy, but... Dude, that thing's not you."

"The robot's a better teacher," Rudy retorted and Veronica frowned. "You guys don't need me."

"Are you kidding?"

"Of course we need you!" Jack exclaimed and the brown-haired girl smiled softly. "Rudy, that thing isn't our friend. Come on, you are."

She looked at her uncle who was fanning his eyes, letting out a breath. "Compose yourself, big fella." She shook her head. "So—uh... what you guys are saying is you want me back?" he asked them.

Kim nodded. "More than anything."

"Then I'm gonna do what I should have done in the first place," Rudy said and Veronica glanced at him. "I'm gonna fight for my dojo!"

Veronica nodded. "Yeah, you are! I don't go very fast, so I'll meet you there."

Jack sighed. "Come on, get on." She quirked an eyebrow upward and he frowned. "Just get on." She shrugged and jumped on his back.

"Well, if you insist..."

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𝐁𝐎𝐁𝐁𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐑𝐔𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 door of the dojo just as the group arrived and Veronica jumped off Jack's back, landing on one foot.

"Bobby, what's wrong?" Rudy asked, stopping him from running out of the building.

"Oh, nothing much," he replied nonchalantly. "Just that that robot's trying to kill me!" Veronica glanced behind the man at the robotic sensei.

Rudy turned back to the group. "Alright, time for a plan," he said. "Let's not do anything rash."

Jerry nodded. "Going in."

Veronica shook her head and reached for him but he somersaulted before anybody could stop him. He landed in front of the robot whose eyes glowed red. "You cannot shut me off, monkey. I eliminated the power-down option."

Jerry did a backward somersault and turned back to his friends. "He—uh—he eliminated the power-down—"

"We heard!"

"Now it's time to eliminate all of you because you will never be perfect," the robot continued and got into its fighting stance.

Veronica pressed her lips together. "Word to the wise..." she said, looking at Bobby and using his own words. "Don't invent robot senseis that could kill you!"

"Stand back, mortals! We're here to save you all!"

Everybody looked over at the door and saw Milton and Eddie walking in. Veronica furrowed her brows in confusion; Milton was wearing a lab coat with goggles and his hair was sticking up in every direction; Eddie was wearing a raincoat with his backpack underneath while also limping.

"Mere flesh and blood is no match for a machine," Milton continued while the two girls glanced at each other. "For it must be a machine that takes down a machine. Prepare to meet the robot that I created that will annihilate this mechanical monstrosity."

Eddie smiled. "Yes, yes, yes."

Veronica blinked at the two boys. "Have we somehow entered Mary Shelley's mind?" she asked to nobody in particular.

"I give to you... the Milton-ator!" Milton announced and everybody looked down at the small robot that rolled in with unimpressed expressions. It barely reached their knees and was instantly crushed by the robot sensei.

"Really?" Eddie asked, turning to the redhead with a frown. "Really? That's it."

Milton pressed his lips together. "What do you want? I spent all my money on jumper cables."

Rudy walked forward and shook his head. "This has gone on long enough," he said. "I'm throwing you out of my dojo."

Veronica clapped. "Alright, Rudy! You got it!"

Every kick and punch that Rudy threw at the robot was blocked until the man was kicked in the stomach, falling to the ground. "Someone dispose of your sensei," the robot said to the group.

"I'm not done." The robot looked back at Rudy. "I'm just getting started."

"The chances of you defeating me are over 22.8 million to one," the robot told him. "Why do you continue?"

"Because I have something you don't," he replied breathlessly. "Internal bleeding, a fractured tibia, and a spleen with some of my own teeth in it..." Veronica furrowed her brows; not relevant. "But more importantly... I got heart. It's why I'll never quit."

Veronica smiled. "Yeah, Rudy! Come on!"

She winced when Rudy ran at the robot and was immediately kicked down to the floor. "That's it." She looked over and Jack ran at the robotic sensei, getting punched and kicked in the stomach before getting flipped over, and crashing into the bench.

Kim followed after him, her kicks and punches getting blocked, and getting kicked to the ground. Jerry ran at the robot but was immediately punched in the stomach and he fell to the ground in a heap. Eddie's punch was caught and he was tossed aside. Milton's leg was caught and flipped over

Veronica sighed. "Somebody's gonna have to get me some ibuprofen after this..." she muttered before tossing aside her crutches and kicking the robot in the back. The robot caught her punches and threw her to the ground making her wince when she put pressure on her foot. "Okay, maybe a whole bottle..."

She looked over when she heard Bobby's 'battle cry' to see the robot move out of his path and crash into the wall. Kim helped her off the floor and they faced the robot.

"Yo, how many more times do we have to do this?" Jerry asked.

"As many times as it takes," Rudy answered.

Eddie shook his head. "I didn't want to do it the first time."

"These continued attacks are illogical," the robot told them.

"Not to us," Jack said. "We live by the Wasabi Code. That's something that Rudy taught us."

They all put their hands together. "We swear by the light of the dragon's eye to be loyal and honest and never say die. Wasabi!"

"Impossible code. Wasabi code. Impossible..."

"Milton, what's going on?" Jerry asked, all of them watching as the robot began to malfunction.

"It can't process the fact that we know we can't win, but we'll never give up," he replied and Veronica jumped when she saw sparks come from the machine.

"Unable to compute. Unable to compute. Unable to..."

Rudy stepped forward. "There's something else about us humans," he said to the robot. "We don't hit a man when he's down. But the thing is... you're not a man."

He kicked the robot in an area that would hurt and they all winced. "Oh, that would be painful if it wasn't a machine..." Veronica muttered, balancing against Jack.

"I've got to hand it to you, Rudy, that was a classy move," Bobby said. "I mean, fighting to get your dojo back, not kicking the robot in the motherboard. You know what? I should probably have the other robots destroyed. Rudy, can I have my jetpack?" He frowned and Bobby whined. "Fine, I'll take the bus!"

Rudy smiled and looked at the teenagers. "Guys, I just want you to know that... as long as you're a part of this dojo, it'll always be worth fighting for."

Veronica tilted her head. "We love you, too, Uncle Rudy. Now, I wasn't kidding. I really do need some ibuprofen. Remind me not to fight robots with a broken foot."

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"𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐊𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐄 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 this to the post office, guys," Veronica said, glancing behind her at Jack and Rudy who were struggling under the weight of the box that she had packed for her father. "Are you sure you don't want a hand?"

"Ronnie, we're both black belts, I think we can handle a silly box," Jack replied and she raised her eyebrows.

"Really?" she questioned, tilting her head. "Because Rudy's turning red..."

"So. Heavy..." he huffed before collapsing under the weight and she and Jack both sighed. The brunette girl pulled out her phone.

"I'll call Kim..."

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━ author's note:

and welcome to act two!

I've got some fun things in store for this act and I think you'll all enjoy it. I've been rewatching season two so the ideas are fresh in my mind :)

anyway, since it's coming up soon-ish, ronnie and jack need a ship name...