The Golden Code of Fortune Road (with Circuit-Jay)

[SDCharm]

Deep within the cold, hardened, steel bowels of the deep slums laid the foundation of a rag-tag team of unlikely diamonds in the rough who had yet to shine their light upon the world.

What was the world? Not much different from ours, only the emphasis on what it represented beefs itself up to highlight the truth behind how most societies work.

The rich call the shots, sit at the top, and only get richer.

The ones at the bottom scavenge for what they can and hope they'll make something good of what they can get out of life.

The ones in the middle, dance for the amusement of the rich folk for the fleeting dream of one day sharing a glass of brandy with them. If any of the ones on the lower end were to ever find themselves around those that stay at the top, they'd be forced to provide services and entertainment rather than pretending at thinking they had a chance. At least those in the middle were offered the luxury of hope.

That was only in the grounds of the famed Capital City.

Anyone who escaped from the slums and found their way to Fortune Road and reached the Capital would find a country that was dominated by it's hottest main attraction.

The Wrestling Federation. It honored only the strongest and toughest of the elite. It's the biggest money maker and by far the most advertised thing about the city that produces the most merchandise and has the best celebrities. It's main building is huge and has a built in ring the size of a baseball field. It's interior, however, can be shifted and altered through a combined effort of magic and machinery. If someone wants to fight in a 3D modeled city it can create one. If someone wants to wrestle on top of a huge car going along a race track with other wrestlers and jump from car to car to take others out until one remains they can. If someone wants to wrestle on top of an airplane they can. If someone even wants to wrestle in a magiced up version of the Moon they can. The crowds will be given the means to see how the battles commence.

It was broadcasted literally everywhere. Even those in the slums who managed to get their hands on a television could witness it if they could get past all the static and find a decent antenna. Yeah, those were still around in a world with hologram technology. Most of it was thrown away and most of the garbage tumbles it's way to the rundown, seemingly abandoned, dirty city where the foragers of life stay.

No one manned the old crusty worn out supermarkets. If you found any food there it was usually expired or a lucky snag.

The banks had no money and whatever vaults were left had no passcodes to open to get to all the dough that might have been left inside. Whatever was left was most likely outdated, old, and withered.

Electricity isn't manned much at all. They barely have enough power to run their light bulbs and primitive televisions. The street lights don't even work anymore. The light at night is provided by the moon and lucky for them, it casts quite a huge ray that illuminated the aluminum foil lining the streets.

The specific city where the story begins was once known as a "All New York". The city got its name for being a combination of many derivative portrays of New York amongst a certain number of characters who no long frequent long abandoned normal cities and kick it in the Capital.

At the moment, a young black boy with a green bandana around his head, a white wife-beater, and army green shorts was trudging through the broken down streets and rushing to an old dilapidated Pizza shop. It was a place where he and all his scrappy young friends chose to hang out. No one made pizza there anymore. None of his friends could and they've even tried on numerous occasions to get the ovens working again so they could have one pizza party... but it wasn't meant to be.

Still, the idea that one day they all could made the place a favorite among their cliche to hang out.

This boy, Manzo, at age 11, was the oldest of the group of boys. He had christened himself as the official big brother of the gang due to the fact that he posed the most leadership skills and was undoubtedly the strongest. Some of his self-proclaimed "Younger bros" claimed he'd make a good fighter for the Federation. It was fun to dream about but on top of being a full country away, they had no money to live off of once they got there.

The only person who could take care of his younger bros if he left them behind was the second oldest of the group, Julawn. He was about as strong as Manzo and even won a few of their fights. Problem was, he had a bit of trouble stepping up as leader in comparison to him. It was odd because Manzo was definitely the shy one between the two. He got easily embarrassed and he was a fast crier too. Julawn on the other hand had a fiercer personality. He was never mean but he always kept a strong face and told it like it was.

Yet, Manzo was always the one who acted first and did what he could to protect everyone. He had heart and he never let it go to waste.

"Alright guys. It took me a lot of doing but I got us a TV!" Manzo said, scurrying through the crowd of 7 young boys as well as Julawn himself to plug the TV in it's socket.

He straightened the antenna and pounded his fist onto the TV to get it to work right.

"Come on. Stupid thing..." Manzo muttered, pouting as he leaned forward, hunched over the stool at the Pizzaria's bar as the TV sat on the counter top. His position made his butt stick out and the kid's giggled as they stole playful pokes at his behind while he tried to get the picture clear enough.

A match was going down at the Federation today and it was going to be one that was advertised to end the career of the loser. Both were strong and prominent fighters with a big rivalry that had been raging in fury for years but now they had gotten fed up with one another and set this match-up tonight in front of the whole world.

The loser was to be knocked unconscious, stripped naked, put into a diaper of all things, and thrown in the garbage in the middle of the ring to signal the end of his career. It sounded humiliating as hell. Being on top of the world and the respected rival of someone only to lose ONE match and have it all disappear.

They all wanted to see it though and he wasn't going to let down his family.

They were all here except for one at the moment. The 7 boys and Julawn had another brother that was a bit different from the rest of them. None of them were related by blood but he was extra special due to the fact that he was a robot.

Characters:
Manzo - SDCharm
Toaster Bot - CalmlyEccentric - JOBBER
King - SDCharm

New Wrestlers:
Ray Ray Lee - SDCharm - JOBBER
Midoriya Izuku - SDCharm
Takuya Katsuya - SDCharm
Inuyasha - SDCharm
X-7 - CalmlyEccentric
Sailor Moon - CalmlyEccentric
Masked Man - CalmlyEccentric

Veteran Wrestlers:
Mega Man - SDCharm
Mega Man .EXE - SDCharm
Boruto - SDCharm

Losers:
Asta - SDCharm
Goten - SDCharm
Trunks - SDCharm

Seven Warlords:
Aang - CalmlyEccentric
Soul Eater Evans - CalmlyEccentric
Shippo - SDCharm
Luffy - SDCharm
Natsu - CalmlyEccentric
Yuma - SDCharm
Kid Buu - CalmlyEccentric

Staff:
King Mickey - SDCharm
Goofy - SDCharm
Edward Elric - SDCharm
Child Emperor - SDCharm
Mokuba Kaiba - SDCharm

[CalmlyEccentric]

One may think that to see something even remotely advanced was like saying he moon was made of cheese. Or, in other words, it wasn't true because of how farfetched it was. However, in a world with so many people and with even more history, it was safe to say that there was a chance for everything. If it wasn't impossible, if would likely happen at some point.

Robots were mainly known for being a part of the Capital as that is where they were made, did their work, stored away or recycled. However, sometimes they wound up elsewhere as they were occasionally considered so inferior and useless that they basically were thrown away like garbage. That usually ended with the robot never being seen again, no doubt torn apart by the more greedy and desperate locals.

That was the case for one of the locals for the slums. Kind of.

Originally being a robot who was higher up in the capital, they had a less than good introduction to the poorer parts of the world. Hashing nearly been scrapped for parts by people who were desperate to make a few extra bucks, or who were just outright crazy. Luckily though, having not been completely shut down before being decommissioned saved the metallic being from that fate.

Their presence in the city was certainly one that stood out. It even got them a little nick name, which was simply "Toaster Bot." And surprisingly it was not that far off. Toaster Bot here used to be a service unit built for the people up top in the better off places in the world. It had a box shaped head with a display for a face, and the top of it head actually was two slots for people to toast their bread in. A body that was also basically shaped like that of a box, but more rectangular, was accompanied by two plain looking arms with vices at the end of each one, and a wheel for a way to get around. It also had a plug on its back, a bit closer to the lower portions of its torso, that was typically tucked away in a little compartment. A retro looking robot, to say the least.

Service bots, at least by Toaster Bot's model anyway, were meant to do more than just serve in one way. They'd be someone to talk to, using as a charging station, night light, and so on. Toaster Bot however, wasn't much for just doing what it was made for. (Especially the plug thing, it hated that.) It would simply do what it wanted no matter what.

What had happened to Toasted Bot that got them put in the poor parts was a little disappointing. As a service unit, the robot did have emotions as a result of being meant for more socialble interaction, despite the foul treatment that came as a result of the snobbiness from its original owner. It should have been no surprise that the little tool began to show some distaste towards their original owner. Simply burning their toast as a means of rebellion was enough to get the Bot one heck of a warning. If one considered a warning to be instant punishment that is.

Immediately following the shut down of their product line, Toaster Bot was deemed insignificant by their owner, who was looking for an excuse to get rid of them shortly after. They did not have to wait long or look hard as the robot's own coded desires and emotions lead it to being deemed "broken" and thrown into the junk pile, literally. It had not a single clue of what was going on, and when it was turned on when a coincidental piece of garbage gave it a little shock. It did not recognize the slums as home... But it certainly did not had no problems with that.

Curious, oblivious, naive. Those were three words one could use to describe the Bot in its first few days in the slums. As time went on, its simulated sentience drove it to learn and adapt, much like it was meant to do with their owner (As you can see, that didn't work out.)

Soon enough, Toaster Bot blended in pretty well with the whole poor look. Scratched up and dull hull, a mostly smooth wheel to roll around on that really sucked to have when it snowed, a somewhat cracked screen after a certain incident, and everyone's favorite part: a bad mouth joined with a somewhat bratty and bad attitude and somewhat perverted tendencies. Oh; and a whole lot of smugness. On the bright side, not only was it kind of weak for a robot (And thus couldn't always have its way.) it learned to work for itself, occasionally looking for new parts to fix itself up with, but it was kind of hard when even trash was treasured by a lot of people around town. Luckily, they couldn't hog solar power.

Toaster Bot has met this little group of humans during its many journeys around town. Having taken an immediate liking towards them simply out of habit of being a service unit, and having found the first few people who didn't try to shove a wrench in its face (Most likely because they didn't have one at the time), it grew attached a little quickly. It was a bumpy start, mainly because of the attention that was attracted, and just how different it was, but it eventually fitted in just fine! Toaster Bot had no idea what a family was, but they felt as if this was a little bit of a clue.

Nowadays, it spends most, if not all, of its time with them simply out of friendship and utility. Didn't want to get mauled by the local dogs? Send Toaster Bot in. Wanted to bad mouth a lady, and not feel the pain of getting your teeth kicked in? Send Toaster Bot in. While a bit of a scapegoat, the robot had no issues with this as it was built to serve anyway, and it was kind of fun anyway.

Of course, it couldn't always be around them though, like dragging them all on a trip to the junkyard for parts was kind of dangerous. Sure, it'd be funny to poke of them in the butt with a piece of a rebar, but Toaster Bot wasn't much for one for dealing with whiny kids all the time, so it left that idea alone. That, and the Junkyard was kind of like a "No Mans' Land." Mainly because it was one of this allegedly haunted places, but also because it was very easy to catch something bad due to it being a dumping grounds for less than desired things in the higher distracts. Luckily, due to being a robot, this was all hardly a problem for Toaster Bot.

And that is what Toaster Bot was coming back from. A trip to and from the junkyard that ended in a small success. Specifically, a full battery to more or less suck the juice out of before the next day came along. That was always welcomed.

The usual sound of a wheel revving could be heard as the TV was being set up. A somewhat well known sound for those who were associated with the robot. Rolling right on up to the door, they rolled right on in, small battery in hand, no doubt already being sapped dry.

Not even giving them a greeting, the robot said, "Y'know, you could have asked me to look around for something to fix up the TV with. That crappy antenna makes a spoon look better." Or they could plug it into him, or use his plug. The former, he hated because it made them tired due to power draining, the latter got them all flustered and was a great way to shut them up whenever he was being mean.

Toaster Bot, at this point, was kind of the team scapegoat that was one of those sassy friends that were probably also the best one ever sometimes. Especially when they made a fool of themselves. It was probably to be expected, after all, if people only looked at age and its general personality. Toaster Bot, by the years of existing, was literally only three (Most of the time at this point was spent in the slums, however,) but they certainly acted much much older.

Anyway, they rolled up and simply sat down near the group of kids, which it basically did by just tilting back and more or less sitting with one hand against the floor and the other simply rubbing at the battery while looking at the wrestling on the screen, ignoring the poor quality of it all. It had its usual bored looking expression where the eyes were shaped like the letter "T."

"I wonder what stunt they're going to pull this time." They added with a bit of an eye roll. Not a nice guy, clearly. That, or they were a little angry, and that usually meant something happened. Judging from the slight smell of urine that clung to it, it was probably safe to say it had a run in with something a little less than clean in the junkyard. If there was one thing Toaster Bot hated just underneath something messing with their cords, it was the stray dogs...

(I'll be sure to work on the world with ya in this, by the way.)

[SDCharm]

(Cool. I'm okay with that.)

"Shush." Manzo turned and pressed a finger to his face, not really bothered but always aware of how important it is to be courteous of others. No matter how long they've been around Toaster Bot, they haven't really weaned much of that into him. The kids never really, truly, ever understood how his circuitry worked or how his character developed based on his environment and experiences. Most of them had no idea of the politics surrounding his creation or even really what his original function was supposed to be. Julawn tried to learn a bit more about it, just for the sake of being as helpful as he could, however, he eventually allowed him to be on his own considering he was able to travel to the No Mans Land and back without injury. They relied a lot on him for too much already. Sometimes it was hard not feeling as though they hadn't found the correct living arrangement if they couldn't go and confirm they'd still be okay on their own.

One of the kids plugged their noses and scooted away from Toaster Bot when they smelt the urine nearby him. That smell was never something one got used to, even in a dump like this.

Meanwhile, Manzo's own personal match with the TV had been all but fixed. The static cleared and the tension had been put on screen for them all to bare witness too.

The match on screen between the two budding rivals was of two well known and well-respected fighters. Both were on the rise but one of them was going to see their journey end right now.

In the first corner was is a guy who had to be forced awake from a nap he was taking at the side of the ring.



His name is Harlequin. However, everybody calls him King.

Fairy King Harlequin or King for short is the current Fairy King and the "Goat's Sin of Sloth" from the former traveling wrestling group of the Seven Deadly Sins. Living at a ripe old age of... at least 1300+ years. Or so he claims. Being a fairy, he resembles a young boy and overcompensates for that sometimes by drinking himself silly. It's a shame because he's not very good at holding his alcohol.

He's shown to be quite the lazy person, often choosing to levitate or float on his big fluffy blue pillow when the moment suits him. He has a bit of a mean streak and doesn't hesitate to resort to being harsh when he or someone he cares about is wronged. Sometimes he's even willing to kill them. However, he's also shown to be an affectionate person who cries very easily, mostly when he's running on pure emotion outside of events in the ring. He also tends to blush easily too, though he plays it up as though nothing is wrong.

Of course, most of the less than impressive traits about his personality are largely kept out of the ring as inside of it, he's seen as a benevolent force that practically came out of nowhere and swept away a ton of budding competition to quickly rise in the ranks? He claims it's due to his sacred weapon. A tool that he uses to enhance his already booming power. Most have tried to see what would happen should they manage to take it away from him, but he controls it through the will of his own might. No one has managed it to this day.

He stands at one side of the ring with his arms behind his back and a serious look on his face. The system of the fights worked in an odd way. The top fighters had the option of going in fully clothes while a lot of the weaker ones working their way up had to go out in those speedos and boots that the old system had every wrestler do. And if you were just a jobber who was tailored for humiliation you'd end up in far more humiliating outfits, the lowest of the low being that of a diaper probably and the thing that the loser of this match would likely end up in.

It truly was a miraculous leap, going from a respected fully clothed wrestler to one who leaves diapered and stripped of their status, dignity, money, and career.

However King absolutely had to do this. This person was getting on his nerves for being way too antagonistic to him for virtually no reason. It ended today.



He floated there with his hands behind his back as the announcer made the call for him to stay in his corner, giving out his stats and the situation that was going down today while the other one made their way out next.

"Ah. So that's King! I've heard so much about him..." Manzo said, staring at the screen.

"Hey move it Manzo!" One kid said.

"You're big butt is still in our faces!" A second boy chirped.

"Oh? Sorry!" Manzo blushed and rubbed the back of his head before climbing off the stool and backing up a bit so that they could get a good view of the opponent.

-----------------------------------



King stared ahead as the person in question came to the ring, stepping over it and landing on his feet. He was fully dressed too, dawning a red vest and a pair of dark blue shorts. He was a rough and tumble up and comer in the league, a man whose title was "Straw Hat Captain."

He went by the orthodox name of Monkey D. Luffy and he stood with his hands on his hips, eyeing King down with a glance of extreme confidence.

"So. Finally come to end this eh?" Luffy asked as they stood across from one another in the ring.

"Yes. Indeed I have. You're not going to flaunt your nonsense around me anymore. I'm not going to take it and I don't have to." King stated. The crowd around them cheered as suddenly the simulation in the ring decided to transform itself.

The technology that was coming into play now was known at Realtech. The crowd in the large stands were being pulled further and further apart from the action before the two fighters in the ring saw the ring in question expand in and of itself.

The area around them was no longer a regular stadium. Instead outside the ring, everything was being surrounded by molten lava and the ring itself was flowing down a large river of magma.

The crowds were watching everything on the large screens, able to catch a clear view of the action as the simulated, but still physically real area, finished coming to reality.

"So this is the fight you proposed? A match while floating down a river of magma?" King asked, wobbling a bit as the ring rocked and shuffled back and forth. Luffy began to grin as he too made his way around King.

"Yeah. You like it? I thought it was an awesome idea." Luffy laughed. "Loser gets diapered and all that. You know."



"Hmph. If I were you I'd have requested we split the ring up into several platforms. That way when the platforms slushed down the magma river, we could hop from each of them to disorient each other and possibly take down the opponent. Maybe knock them into the lava a few times." King grinned. The simulation made all things real except for the fatality nature of dangerous items. No matter what, if you fell in the lava, you'd feel the intense burning heat but you wouldn't die. The technology to dream up a scenario as real as this was astounding.

Manzo and the others couldn't take their eyes off it. It was barely coming through well enough since they didn't have HD but seeing the ring with the two fighters on it suddenly end up flowing down a river of lava was so cool.

The bell rang at that time and it was officially time to begin.

"Alright. So this is a humiliation driven match. Even though the rules say you've gotta knock someone out to win, MY rules say you've gotta be thoroughly humiliated." Luffy sucked in a ton of air and expanded to that of a balloon. "GUM GUM..." He then spun around a ton and pointed himself at King. "STORM!"

"Right off the bat with that eh?" King raised a brow and began dodging all the punches headed his way. He swayed around them all with tact and grace, sensing when one was about to knock his block off so that he could avoid it. He was pushed back until he saw that he was nearing the ropes. King felt it was time to stop Luffy's attack just then.

"HAH!" King reached forward and grabbed one of Luffy's fists out of the air. "Haha. Those fists only look like you're making plenty of them. But it's just two fists in real life. I know your tricks by now."

Luffy smiled at that. King raised his brow in confusion before looking over and seeing Luffy hold up King's PANTS!

"HUH!?" King blushed and looked down. His pants were indeed gone. Showing off for the crowd of onlookers for the first time ever were King's undies. A pair of light violet briefs with several white unicorns dawning them. "I... I... huh...?" His face only got more red as his mind tried to process this. The laughter of the crowd could still be heard despite where the simulation sent them. It made him flare up even more.

"You can sense when hostile attacks are coming but not stuff that's just trying to mess with you. Like removing your pants for instance." Luffy laughed.

"What...? Of course not! That's stupid!" King snapped. "Give those back and take this seriously!"

"Take you seriously?" Luffy chuckled.

"Yeah! We're rivals here to settle a score!" King snapped. Luffy belted out with a bigger hearty laugh than before.

"Come on dude. We were never rivals man. That's funny." Luffy teared up a bit. "You won some matches against me, sure, but it was just so that I could learn more about you and kick your ass today!" Luffy snapped, stomping on one end of the ring and making it sink into the lava on King's side!

King was caught by surprise and fell back into the ropes. They stretched and his butt ended up sizzling against it slightly. "HEEEEEP!" He jumped and grabbed his bottom, swishing about in mid-air before landing behind Luffy, panting and arched forward with his eyes twitching and his hair slightly messed up.

"What? Didn't that feel cool?" Luffy laughed, making a successful joke as he put his arms behind his head.

"SHUT UP!" King snapped and summoned his sacred weapon. His spear! The crowd hushed when they saw it. King was serious now.

The fairy floated up and began to swish his spear about, jabbing down at the ring with heightened blasts of wind energy and blade strikes. Luffy, of course, saw to dodge them all, the ring getting demolished more and more with each strike. Some of the blasts even ricocheted off of him and caused the rubber man to get swatted around by the energy.

"Better yet. You should have wished for a stronger ring to be simulated with us. Requesting that the regular ring be floating down this lava river was a mistake. If I destroy it, you'll fall in and have nowhere to run!" King shouted and began laying out a huge barrage of attacks.

Luffy took the full brunt of them... at first.

However, he eventually saw his body steaming up and sizzling red. "GUM GUM JET GATLING!" He was now in Second Gear! The blood flow in his body had increased his speed and power. He was matching King blow for blow now!

"WHAT THE-?!" King looked on in shock before his blows started to get pushed back. "My attacks are stronger though! How are you-?!"

Then King's weapon got knocked away. That's when he knew that he wasn't trying to attack him head on. He was aiming for King's spear to blast it up.

"AH!" King held out his hand to try and summon it back... but the barrage of jet engine air punches already headed his way collided into him at that point! His face and body got battered and bruised and pummeled devastatingly in front of the crowd.

Luffy huffed and puffed and sweated up a storm churning out everything he had to land all these hits! When he stopped, he quickly jumped up, away from the collapsing ring that was starting to burn away completely by the lava, and swung King's pants around his neck!

"GAAH! AAACK!" King turned blue and grabbed at it while Luffy landed on the ropes with King flopping to the deck of the ring. The lava was still eating the rest of the ring up and it was traveling towards the struggling fairy. Luffy tightened the grip and hoisted King to his feet a bit.

The choking fairy began to foam at the mouth and felt a small wet patch grow on his exposed underwear. The crowd whistled and cheered as they witnessed this. He was wetting himself! King was losing to Luffy in a way he had never lost before!

"See? This wasn't a match. This was just me finally getting a chance to show you the time where you lost to me for good. Now say uncle." Luffy laughed as he ordered, perched where he was with a cheeky smile.

King struggled about and flailed before falling to his knees, his eyes fluttering as they struggled to stay awake...

Luffy grabbed at King's top and tore it away, now leaving him bare chested for any of the ladies that for some reason still cared to see it. Luffy then swung his fist up into King's gut to make his eyes widen and spit fly from his mouth. He shot a kick to his chin that made him spin around like a ballerina and topple towards the edge of the ring that was barely still there.

King's eyes rolled in their sockets and his mouth hung open with drool clearly pooling out the side of his mouth. He saw stars, heard chirping birdies, couldn't see straight and... now was slugged across the face by another punch!

King spun and flew into the air before falling down hard into the lava river!

The crowd hollered in excitement as Luffy jumped from the ring as it finally dissolved. He landed on the grass at the sides of the river and watched as King fell over the lava waterfall...

Right smack dab into the center of the ring. The original ring. The simulation had ended. They were back where they belonged.

The crowd was back where it originally was too, cheering and applauding at Luffy's dominating win. Luffy bowed before them all before grinning stupidly and ushering his foot to roll King onto his back.

"Won't be needing these no more dummy." He said, stripping the last garment on his body, the briefs, off with his foot. Now he was naked in the ring. Luffy was then tossed a nice big, fluffy white diaper with My Little Pony designs on it.

"DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!"

Luffy smirked, unfolded the diaper, raised up King's legs, dropped his butt down on top of it, then strapped it on over his front!

DING DING DING!

That bell that King wasn't even awake to hear signaled his last fight. He was done. His career was over. His contract was to be burned away. And all his money was gone.

Luffy lifted the boy up by his diaper and swung him around before tossing him clear across the room and into the garbage can! King's diapered booty and legs dangled out of it as the crowd snapped pictures.

"YOUR WINNER AND SURVIVOR OF THE CAREER MATCH... MONKEY D. LUFFY!" The announcer shouted.

"YEAAAAAAAAH!" Luffy screamed.

[CalmlyEccentric]

Toaster Bot, not being too appreciative of Manzo pushing his finger into its screen, stared at it and debated whether it should slap his hand away or not. It didn't seem like it would have to though because Manzo wasn't a pest to it for too long. That, and it wasn't that big of a deal anyways. Still annoying though, in the end. What may have been surprising is that it wasn't offended by the kid showing disgust towards the aroma on it. No doubt because it was used to that sort of response, despite not knowing what the big deal was and having been bothered by it in the past.

Looking to the screen of the television, the Bot had to admit they were a little curious. To anyone's surprise, it did not watch the wrestling often, and perhaps even more surprising was the fact that it wasn't allowed to back then. That may have been the reason as to why it didn't exactly fully appreciate the entertainment here. Especially when the people participating just both sounded full of themselves and douchey.

However, it was when the fighting had started that the Bot, much like everyone else, got engrossed in what they were seeing pretty fast. At first, it simply heard them bantering back and fourth like teenagers expecting to win some big bet. Not too interesting, but when the arena started to change and what not is went it to pulled in. When the fighting got started, that's when it got really focused with everyone else. Mainly because it never really knew that this is what it was all about. It's seen people fight before, but it was a bit more normal... Maybe there was some changes between them and now because it certainly looked a lot better.

Despite being a robot, the white face on the display screen of Toaster Bot was bent into a constant smile. It even felt like giggling from time to time, which was pretty rare given that very few things amused it enough. Pain and humiliation was one thing, the nice butt of a woman was another. Perverted and possibly a promoter of violence, oh boy!

It had to admit that this was certainly fun to watch, as seeing King sort of get his butt handed to him was kind of a joy to watch. It was one thing to watch a street fight, and then this. This felt so much more generous with its entertainment, and it was legal!

By the end of the fight, the cameras were no doubt simply getting shots of the crowd, the person who one and all of that. Despite Toaster Bot basically being pretty darn focused on what was actually meant to be focused on here, it couldn't help but to let its mind wander a bit. Like what if they were in there... Well, obvious answers aside, it looked like it would be great- When winning of course!

Simply rolling up to a standing position, it said, "I'm starting to see why you guys like this stuff so much now... Kind of makes me wonder what would happen if one of us were in there..."

It was also by then that, despite the fact that the sky was previously clear, a little tapping sound came from the large window of the store that was surprisingly still intact. Rain, and that usually meant one thing for all of them: TV privileges were now revoked by Mother Nature. Due to the fragile signal, a simple storm scrambled everything and soon enough it would be a difficult to even make out the people's face on the darn screen.

"Aw come on..." A kid said who simply went by the name of "Danny." Or as Toaster Bot likes to call him, "Hoodie." because he was always wearing one no matter how dirty or in general bad shape it was.

[SDCharm]

Manzo shook the TV a bit to see if by some chance he could work out some sort of miracle to keep it going. However, the harshest and only mother they knew had made her judgement call. No more TV.

It didn't take long at all for the rain to turn from a light drizzle to an extreme downpour. None of the kids looked all that happy to be at the center of this thunderstorm. A few of them shook a bit with fear while a few others tried to play up how not scared they were.

Manzo could sense the tense atmosphere in the room. He always felt it whenever stormy rains fluttered by. The already dim orange lights in the pizzeria flickering on and off was enough to get Manzo to quickly try and quell the fear in their little hearts.

"Haha. Oh man. If only we were there right? I bet I could make a huge killing as one of the wrestlers there. Plus, if I got into one of those Career Matches, I wouldn't have anything to lose really." Manzo shrugged. "We should play wrestle here!"

"What?" Julawn stood with his arms crossed. "What are you talking about Manzo? There's no play mat around. This floor is too hard. One flip and we'll crack an omelette through someone's head by mistake."

"You know you're stronger than that. Don't play." Manzo smiled, stepping on the tile floor repeatedly and getting tiny little cracks into it with each stomp.

"Hey! Don't bust up the floor. What are you doing?" Julawn sauntered up to Manzo, being his usual commanding self as always. The kids chuckled as Manzo successfully egged Julawn on. They were getting a show alright.

A little provocation, a little back and forth arguing, and then boom; the two were putting on a scrappy show for the kiddies. Thing is, due to Manzo being older and stronger, despite Manzo's shy and easily embarrassed personality, he always managed to win against Julawn.

Here was no different.

"And the crowd goes wild!" Manzo roared, waving Julawn's pants above his head as he stood with his foot on the downed kid's tummy, leaving him sprawled out with swirly eyes and his old Superman tighty whities showing.

"Guhhh... you... best two outta three..." Julawn moaned, right before a kid trying to help stuck the straw from a juice box into his mouth while he was on the ground.

Manzo laughed when Julawn coughed and sputtered, only then bending down to help him sit up. He patted his brother's back and watched him regain his composure before he sighed.

"One day I'll beat you. You're a carefree butterfly whose way to peppy for your own good." Julawn said, wagging his finger.

"Hehehe. One day. Today's not that day though." Manzo's toothy grin made Julawn want to both return the smile and slap his face at the same time. That was when they heard the revving of motorbikes in the distance.

"Ah damn. The Raiders are at it again..." Julawn sighed as he snatched his pants back and tugged them on.

The Raiders were poor street gangs who often stole and did business over by the No Man's Land. Since that was the only place where the outside world of the rich met with the Slums, it was easy to see black market deals go down around there. Most of the time, the Raiders left the abandoned city markets and homes alone. There wasn't much to trade and repurpose there. Still, once every blue moon, some jagoff would get desperate enough to try and retread the places that were already searched in the hopes of finding something where there was nothing.

The more dry on resources they became the more desperate for new bartering tools some of them became. They weren't above finding children and selling them to the highest bidder they could either. They figured that, slavery or not, the rich would still take better care of them than this place.

Manzo saw Julawn go on up to the door of their hangout and lock it. Looks like they were stuck here for a bit longer.

With a sigh, Manzo sat down next to Toaster Bot. "So what were you doing out there this time? Did you finally sell a kid over at the No Man's Land just to see what it was like maybe?" He was joking and he was grateful TB was the kind of robot that could tell when he was. At least most of the time. Still, the idea of going out there and stopping the charades that happen, especially when its already thunderstorming outside, was enticing. If he could, he'd go out there and inspect the area himself...

[CalmlyEccentric]

Toaster Bot kind of just sat there and watched the group become a little fearful of the thunderstorm outside. Originally, it wasn't one to be afraid of a little bit of water as it wouldn't just instantly short circuit or anything, but full on downpours, that was a little different. Toaster Bot really hated water that was deep or plentiful, which is why the time it was nearly put in a bath tub resulted in the tub sort of being destroyed shortly after when the robot literally vaulted over the edge to get out of the water, slipped, and basically cracked the porcelain so bad that it basically broke the tub. Whether the Toaster Bot was the most afraid was up in the air, but it was obvious water would likely have the most detrimental effect on them.

And that is why the robot was so grateful when Manzo decided to start up his usual shenanigans as means of cheering people up. Having taken its eyes off from the windows being assaulted by harsh rains, the robot sort of giggled and smirked as it watched the two sort of duke it out in the middle of the pizzeria. It liked seeing people have fun too, mainly when they were friends. However, it seemed like this moment and clarity didn't last too long because the sound of motors weren't too far off. That was not a sound that Toaster Bot was clueless about. Much like the sound of s thunderstorm, that worried the Bot quite a bit too.

It wasn't that then simply being bad and child traffickers got to the robot, but rather that it knew they would probably snatch it immediately and sell it faster than anything else. Toaster Bot didn't exactly like the thought of being forcibly separated from the others. A dreadful thought to keep it simple. That all in mind, the robot wanted to play it safe, so it turned away from the front of the store and dimmed the lighting of its display so it didn't give itself away while they no doubt made their passing. Hopefully it didn't take too long. Toaster Bot may have not expressed fear quite yet, but it didn't want to, but this was a little trying on its part...

Having its attention removed from its own fear, the robot said, "Eh... I was kind of trying to find a new motor to fix myself up with, but, well, I couldn't find one so I just settled for a battery." One that it had yet to discard. Either it had a little more juice or Toaster Bot simply never got around to tossing it. "I would have stayed a little longer, but stray dogs peeing on me is kind of annoying, but nowhere near as bad as them trying to maul me." It stated with a short lived chuckle as it remembered the time it's fragile little frame nearly lost an arm because a big dog attacked it.

Looking out the window for a second, "Maybe we should go a little deeper into the shop so they don't see us or something..." the robot suggested. "I kind of... You know, don't like dealing with those guys..."

That is where the whole incident involving a cracked screen came in. When the robot first learned that this part of the world was pretty darn bad. First few moments in the slums, it had been approached by these raiders, and they were already devising their little plan to sell the poor thing. Originally, Toasted Bot did not recognize the danger and even went as far as offering suggestions to benefit them further, but then they got mad, called it annoying and promptly whacked it in the head with a tire iron. Having only been briefly stunned from the rather harsh hit, it was able to quickly escape from their waiting hands when the raiders started arguing over "damaging the merchandise," and, "wasting time on trash." Some pretty hurtful things to think about that lead to its change.

But, despite that, it still added in a bit of a joke, "It would be kind of fun to mess with their bikes though while they're not looking.." And probably get their behinds kicked afterwards. "Buuuut I'm not about to get washed out, or trash compacted." It'd wash away that urine smell on their body though, but one must guess that was probably the least of worries here.

[SDCharm]

Manzo looked over at Toaster Bot as he laid his case out before looking back over to the windowed shops with the rain pounding against it. Eventually he stood up and opened his mouth to put his position forth. "Hey guys. You should all hurry into the back room. Including you Julawn. They'll see us through the window if they happen to get desperate enough to search through Park Avenue." Manzo said as he put his hands out and started to push the kids into the back.

"Aww man. Come on Manzo. It's smelly and weird back there." A young boy with blonde hair with a blue eye and a green one, known by the name he found on his necklace when he was young, Ivory, fidgeted as he was pushed back.

"I'm sorry Ivory. I'm sorry guys. We just need to make things as safe as we possibly can." Manzo said as they moved back. "I'll stay behind the counter and keep watch. I'm not going to let them hurt us if they do show up."

Julawn sighed but did as he was told. "Alright. They usually don't come by here anyway so I'm mostly worried you'll throughout your back staring at the window door, slumped over it for a few hours...

Manzo looked over at him and sighed before putting a hand to his cheek. "Yeah. Well... we can't be too careful. As much as I'd like to do what TB suggested and blow out their tires and junk, we can't stir the pot too much or we'll end up in a worse situation than ever..."

Julawn looked at Manzo's face and studied it for a bit.

Then he punched him over his head and watched it smack against the table.

"OW!" Manzo shot up, rubbing the knot on his forehead with tears in his eyes. "What are you-?"

"I'm not stupid. You're planning to go out patrolling for them aren't you?" Julawn snapped.

"Wha...? N-No... I wasn't... gonna do that." Manzo said, looking to the side and making a whistling motion with his lips, sweat already covering his face.

"You can't even look me in the eye when you're lying. You suck so bad at it dude." Julawn growled.

"C-Come on now. E-Even if I was, I wouldn't be stupid enough to face them. Just to make sure they weren't out to get us." Manzo said.

"If we have no reason to confront them then we shouldn't. You're smarter than that. I know that wrestling show stirred the fire in your belly but you can't go around pretending to be hot shit. It's a matter of life and death!" Julawn shouted which made the kids in the back wince. They couldn't hear what the arguing was about but they could tell it was serious. The crackling of thunder always made it worse too.

Manzo frowned a bit. "Alright... I'm staying put. Still, you should head to the back with the others... a-and if you don't trust me, TB can stay out with me. He's valuable to them, sure, but he's also small and hard to pick out of a cluttered mess like this Pizza Place. They won't spot him if they just look into the window. Especially with so much rain."

Julawn pondered this for a second. "Alright. Fine." He turned and went to the back as Manzo nursed his forehead.

"Okay TB. It's you and me on patro- I mean on watch." Manzo said.

[CalmlyEccentric]

Toaster Bot didn't exactly need to be ushered to the back given that it kind of was the one who came up with the idea to hide. You know, because why offer and idea and not follow up on it? Kind of counter-productive, really. It was rolling into the back with the other kids, tempted to tell the kid who complained about the smell to shut up, but that'd be mean... Although likely entirely expected because it was who the robot was.

It simply listened to the two of them and what not chat it up outside of the room they were somewhat stuffed in, and did feel a little bit of worry, but not yelling had happened. Just the sound of some having their clocked wiped clean, practically anyway, followed by someone being a little angry... Even though the robot hadn't known them forever and ever, it couldn't help but find that funny like it was two child hood siblings bickering back and fourth. It was adorable.

The robot was quite curious and decided to peek from the back room, but it kind of did that just as Julawn was making his way back. Having to duck back out of the way as to let him into the back, the robot would roll right on out shortly after. Judging from the small grin on its face, it was probably safe to say that it was kind of amused by their little argument or fight or whatever. Just a little humorous. Some people probably wouldn't see that as a laughing matter, but Toaster Bot didn't have that whole family bond thing so... Yup.

Anyway, approaching Manzo, the robot would say as it rolled up, "Watch huh?" Then it leaned forwards a little, hands behind its back, "Lemme guess, you're not going to actually do as he says, are you? The opportunity is too easy to pass up and we can easily, you know... Take a little bit of an advantage about this." Uh-oh, the robot was pulling that "Better safe than sorry" card.

"It's not like we're going to, you know, get brutalized or anything." The robot didn't know how bad the raiders could be even to their own kind. It had simply assumed they bashed its face in because they saw it as nothing but a tool or whatever, but it never seen them actually doing anything too bad. Basically: It pretty much thought those knives were for show...

[SDCharm]

Manzo sat there with his head resting in his arms before looking to the side over at Toaster Bot. He had that half-eye opened expression on his pouty face, which gave off the signal that he wasn't all too happy at the moment. He shifted his gaze back at the window doors as the rain pounded against it before speaking up again.

"Well... you know... Julawn is right..." Manzo admitted, before continuing. "Unfortunately, he's younger and weaker than me so it's not ultimately up to him. That's the lot the universe drew for us. Oh well." Manzo suddenly placed his hands on the counter and got up, leaving the stool and going around the front, smiling as he strutted on over.

Yeah, he was going. Toaster Bot could see right through him. Sometimes he swore his metallic brother here was the only one who seemed to truly get him. It was great having him around, specifically for a selfish sense of peace of mind when it came to his more fanciful decision making.

Manzo walked up to the door, unlocked it and opened it up, hearing the loud SHAAAAA of the rain and eyeing the sky as it was only illuminated by the moonlight and lightning. No streets lights meant a mixture of streaking white, black, and blue was in their line of sight. For some reason Manzo found it to be very pretty. It was always a weird feeling, staring at the rain.

He loved staring at the rain. Like a lot. Especially over the rooftops and such. He didn't know why. It was relaxing. The sky always looked really cool and he always got a little excited looking at it. The thunder was scary but he could deal...

Manzo stuck his hand out and let the water pelt the palm of his hand. The droplets were thick and fast. It was going to be quite the trip for them both.

"You cool to come TB? I think we have an umbrella over at the side if you need it." Manzo said. He was going to have to go out without one since it was their only current one at the moment. Finding one in some of the abandoned shops and stores wouldn't be too hard but there wasn't much time to go searching at the moment. Plus, the instant Manzo left and came back there'd be no hope of him hiding what he did since he'd be soaking wet. But so what. He'd... figure out how to deal with Julawn's protests later.

A good distance away at the No Man's Land, criminal activity was going down. The revving of the motor bikes being so close was disconcerting considering how hefty a walk it was from here to there. They had to have been close by for a reason...

[CalmlyEccentric]

At first, Toaster Bot was showing a bit of disappointment on the virtual expression on its screen. Manzo hacking down that easily over a bit of yelling? The robot knew he could be sensitive, but this was a little out of character. Luckily, however, the little robot would be relieved to find out that it was kind of just an act. It even chuckled at his reasoning.

Already, the robot was considering following, despite its previous statement on how it didn't want to get "washed out." When there was fun to be had and less tense situations to deal with as a result of bickering, it was all for it!

So, that in mind, the robot had already been going to grab an umbrella and a back pack. For the most part, the back pack wasn't used for much else other than just storing stuff it found out there. Despite it not really fitting its body well, Toaster Bot had still found a way to use it. So, simply opening its less than cooperative top zipper, it would grab a nearby, somewhat holey, umbrella and stick it in there. Now it had mobile protection.

Standing with Manzo at the door and simply looking down at the rain for a second, Toaster Bot did think about the situation for a bit. Without a result that would make it really second guess itself coming to mind, it saw no problems with this. Although, the robot did notice the sound of motors nearby and they didn't sound like they were getting too far away.

"Huh..." The robot started before looking towards Manzo, "Are we gonna head towards the No Mans' Land, or are we gonna head towards the Raiders?" The robot, personally, was leaning more towards heading to No Mans' Land rather than straight for the raiders, mainly because they may have a little more cover from being spotted thanks to all the junk over there. Buuuut, that was kind of risky given the less than ideal conditions, that, and Manzo could get a little sick.

The robot hadn't considered that there was a possibility that they, they being the Raiders, could be waiting for them or something. After all, a big group of kids hanging out in a pizza place, without any discretion, wasn't exactly hard to keep an eye on...