1010 heros (nsr au)

Episode 5: Sunshine Yellow Shadow

There's the sound of rustling papers as a figure huffs in frustration. Letting out a frustrated cry they snatch up their recording device
"Log date xx/xx/20xx. This has to be a joke? Surely that couldn't be it? During my research into 1010 Yellow all I have been able to find is nothing! No first battle where he appeared! He just arrived with the rest like they were doing any other battle. Why? How? Surely that cannot be it!" They paused to take a breath and calm down "I've decided to give up this search for now. I'll return to it at a later point" and with a click they turned off the tape recorder and harshly slammed it on the desk. It was frustrating, they knew there had to be some event for a new member to be recruited, but where was it? How could they have missed it!? With a grumble they returned to digging through old records. Maybe they just overlooked it

[Into plays! You know the drill]

Purl-hew looked up at the house before him and blinked. 'It's pretty big for just one person to live in on their own.' He thought to himself, though he decided not to dwell on how Neon j spent his time or money and instead walked up to the door and knocked. Not long after Rin swung the door open and exclaimed. "Oh sweet you're here! We need your input on something, come here." And grabbed Purl-Hew by the arm, dragging him inside before he could utter any sort of comment.
Inside Zimelu was looking over a couple notebooks as well as the marked yearbook Rin had laid out earlier. He looked up and gave a slight hum of greeting when purl appeared.
"Okay Purl, we were trying to narrow down potential new teammates and we can't agree on anyone here. You're smart, maybe you can help break the tie?"
The blue teen looked over the list, then over at the yearbook, he pointed at one of the pictures circled.
"What about her? She seems like a team player."
"Yeah I know but I think we're pretty solidly in the all guys team, I'd like to try and stick with that brand image if possible" Rin crosses his arms. Zimelu looked up and gocked.
"Brand? Dude we don't have a brand, we aren't getting paid for this! ... right? Are we supposed to get paid?!" Zimelu looked over at the only other person in the room, Sven the cleaner bot, he looked back and shook his head with a slightly confused expression. Purl-Hew looked back up to Rin and blinked.
"It's far too early to be thinking about that, Rin"
"I- okay maybe but a lot of other old heros had really distinct images, I was thinking maybe it's not bad to think ahead for our team."
"If I may interject sirs," Sven spoke up. "Most heroes tried not to focus on their public image and let their actions speak for themselves. The few that were more focused on brand deals and image tended to become fixated on that instead of saving people." He helpfully explained. Rin was silent for a long moment, then let out a defeated sigh.
"Okay okay I get it, focus on helping not a brand. So, Zim what are your thoughts on her?"
"...nah, pretty sure she still hates me for hitting her with a baseball that one time" both of the other teens in the room looked at him, Zim raised his hands up in defense.
"I said sorry! Not my fault she's holding a grudge!" Rin let out a frustrated groan as his head fell into his arms in exhaustion. Zimelu crosses his arms again as purl-hew went back to reading through the list. Neon j by now had entered the room and looked over at the teens, he tilted his screen ever so slightly.
"Everything alright in here?"
Zimelu looked over and called. "We can't agree on anybody, and Rin's overthinking it"
"I am not!"
"Dude you were worried about a thing that's a non issue"
"It never hurts to be prepared!" Rin huffed. Purl hew stayed silent, reading over names and pictures. Though he gave pause when he noticed something that stood out from the rest of the names.
Purl looked up and raised a brow at Rin.
"Rin... do you have your crush on this list?"
"WHA-" Rin immediately sputtered, sifting up straight. "NO why would I do that? I just think zuke could be a valuable teammate."
"...I didn't say who it was" purl deadpanned, But he had a small smirk spreading on his face. Gotcha. Rin turned bright red.
"Okay! Okay look!"
"Dude?! DUDE!? You just wanted to spend time with your crush??? Dude!? Real shit??" Zimelu exclaimed, laughing.
"NO?? Maybe? Okay look-"
"The classic strategy of knowing your crushes secrets the rest of the world doesn't. Not the route I'd have taken. Seems a little too 'adventure romance novel' to me" purl-hew chuckled while pushing up his glasses. Neon j shook his head with a sigh and left the room before he could hear more of Rin frantically trying to deny the obvious. It didn't look like they'd be coming to a conclusion anytime soon. So he decided instead to get out of the house for a bit.
It had gotten more lively lately, and while the change wasn't unwelcome, to someone who usually lived alone with two cleaning robots as his only companions it was a sudden change he wasn't used to yet.
So pulling on his dark blue coat he spoke to Marcie who was near the door.
"I'm heading out for a bit, Keep an eye on the boys will you?"
"Of course sir, have a safe walk" she nodded with a smile as neon j stepped outside of the house. It was a clear day, the wind made the usually sunny day a little chilly, but it was lovely weather for a walk. And that's just what neon j planned to do.
Walking along the sidewalk, he soon enough reached the streets of the bustling city. The Metro division was known for its innovative technologies, even more so than other districts. Though what made this district stand out how was practical it was. Well practical for most working folk at least. As such, metro typically wasn't as crowded compared to other districts, which appealed to Neon j enough to move here.
Unfortunately today was a horrible example of this since the city streets were much more busy than the usual fair. Neon j wasn't sure if it was due to some holiday he neglected to remember or if he just picked the worst time of day for a casual walk, either way his radar was pinging like mad with all of these people it picked up. It was overwhelming, the continuous, constant
Ping
Ping
Ping
He couldn't take it, not right now not today. Without thinking he ducked into an alleyway, trying to escape the endless
Ping
Ping
Ping
It overwhelmed his senses so much he didn't realize how far in he had wandered until the noise had died down and the area was barren.
Suddenly regaining his senses he looked around, he didn't recognize where he was. Obviously it was the alleyways behind some apartment buildings, but the lack of any clear landmarks or signs completely turned around his sense of direction. And no matter where he went everything looked the same to him.
He was hopelessly lost.
Neon j sighed to himself, this day couldn't possibly get any worse could it?
"Heya!" A voice suddenly said beside him, the universe had decided that yes his day could get worse.
Neon jumped and looked over to see a high school age boy standing next to him. His sunny yellow hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, and brown star shaped eyes looked up at him. Besides him stood a yellow and green German shepherd dog, it's tongue lolled to the side while it wagged its tail happily.
"Oop! Sorry man didn't mean to scare ya. Just thought you were cool and wanted to say hi." The teen hummed and walked a few steps ahead of J. "And look! We're heading the same way! Funny right?"
"Uh, yes funny." Neon j replied, slightly confused. He started walking, hoping maybe the teen would loose interest and head his own way. Unfortunately the yellow teen seemed determined to follow him, the whole time asking him various questions, or rambling about seemingly whatever came to mind. Neon j was tuning him out, or trying to at least. But he drifted when looking over at the dog trotting alongside him. From where neon was he could see the yellow and green markings on its back from the shape of a leaf. Odd, but not uncommon. Deciding to use a fleeting moment the kid stopped talking, he spoke up.
"So uh, this your dog? Not very many I've seen with a marking like that." And little did neon know he just opened Pandora's box, because the teen looked over and spoke excitedly.
"Oh yeah! His mine! His name's Lemon Lime, oh mine is Haym by the way nice to meet ya, anyway I found him when I was getting parts for my club house. Someone just dumped him! Can you believe that? So I gave him some of my sandwich and put a doggy bed in the clubhouse and he's been following me ever since. He's the best dog a kid could ask for! He's trained and everything, why would someone dump him??? I mean he's so friendly and helpful and-"
Neon j continued to walk as the teen, apparently named Haym, walked and rambled alongside him. By now neon had tried to escape the maze of alleyways that he was stuck in, but the more he walked the more lost he felt. Without any frame of reference he couldn't retrace his steps. Neon j hoped his slowly rising panic wasn't showing anywhere in his posture. He barely registered Lemon Lime's concerned whine before haym stepped in front of him, stopping his movement in its tracks.
"Hey, is your screen supposed to be beeping that fast? Wait- oh shit is that something you're not supposed to point out because it's rude? Sorry! I don't think" the teen exclaimed, suddenly going quiet at the end. Neon j looked down at him, sighed, and shook his head.
"No no it's fine, I'm just a bit.... uneasy. Not usually in this part of town" he admitted. Haym thought for a moment, then looked up with a small smile
"Need some help? You look like you need help." Haym spoke up. Neon j was about to say no, and argue that he could find his way on his own... but even he couldn't deny he was horribly lost. So with a sigh of defeat he nodded.
"Yes, I do need help."
Haym gave a thumbs up. "Neato, where you headed? I know these streets like the back of my hand. We'll get you back to where you were headed" the yellow teen grinned as his dog gave a helpful boof in agreement.
"Metro division, I live just off of Baracca" j replied. Haym thought for a moment and spun around until he was facing the right direction and pointed.
"Righto! It's this way. Let's go robot guy!"
"I'm a cyborg not a robot" neon j sighed as he followed behind the teen.
"Yooo that's even better!" The teen looked back with a grin and a sparkle in his eye. The dog trotted ahead, sometimes circling back to walk alongside the two. Neon j chuckled to himself and shook his head, following behind the excited teen.
"So like you're a cyborg? That's so cool! Do you got like hidden weapons or powers or-" haym began to eagerly ramble, though unlike last time Neon j didn't find himself as annoyed, even answering some of the teens more reasonable questions. But soon enough they were back at the streets neon j recognized and had to part. Haym gave a wave as his loyal dog returned to his side.
"Bye! It was nice meeting you mister cyborg!" He grinned. J waved back before responding,
"Neon j, you can call me Neon j"
"Oh awesome! See ya around mister J!" And with that the two went separate ways. His walk ended up being a bit longer than he anticipated, didn't even go as planned either. He wanted to escape the noise, not end up lost with it. But for some reason he didn't feel very annoyed about that. He was left to ponder why as he walked back home.
Opening the door and stepping inside neon j's radar picked up that the boys were in the media room. And watching a movie from the sound of it. As he went to hang up his coat Sven approached him.
"Welcome home Master Neon, I'm glad your back, you were gone long enough we were getting a bit worried." J looked over almost bashful and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Yeah sorry about that, my short walk ended up taking a detour.... which reminds me I need to check something" he made his way to the kitchen, where he noted the boys had left all their notes and the list. (He'd have to remind the boys to clean up after themselves later) opening the yearbook he flipped through the pages trying to find one name.
"Haym, haym, haym.... come on things couldn't be that perfect." He mumbled to himself. Logically he knew the odds weren't that good haym also went to the same school the rest of the team went too, even less likely they were in the same grade, and even yet smaller odds he was also on the list! But neon j had this feeling he had to check. And just when he was about to give up and put an end to this wild search, he found the bright yellow smile of none other than haym in a yearbook photo.
And what would you know there was a circle around his picture.
"....well I'll be, what are the odds of that?" Neon j chuckled to himself dryly. Well the universe has apparently decided to give him this candidate, at the same time they were stuck too. Might as well see what the rest of the team thinks. So making his way over to the media room he peeks his head inside. Zimelu was draped over the arms of the rocking chair while Rin and Purl shared the couch, whatever movie they were watching sounded like some action flick, but that wasn't the point. Neon j waves to get their attention, and when Rin turned the volume down he spoke up.
"So I was on a walk earlier and ran into someone who seems to be in your grade. Does the name Haym ring any bells? Yellow hair, rambles a mile a minute?"
Rin hummed in thought, looking up as he racked his brain, though Zimelu was the first to speak.
"Oh haym? Yeah I've heard of that guy. Played tennis with him a few times. He doesn't know when to shut up but he's friendly."
"That's the kid with the star eyes right? Think he tried to talk to me while I was studying once." Purl-Hew Nodded. Rin snapped his fingers as he finally remembered.
"Oh him! Yeah he's a class clown type, but he seems to find a way to get along with everyone. Why? Do you think he'd be a good fit?" Rin questioned. Neon j stepped more into the room just to lean against the door frame, he hummed in thought.
"Maybe, I don't think it'd hurt.... but I want to make sure of one more thing before I make any decisions for sure" Rin seemed satisfied with the answer and nodded, Zimelu however-
"Dude haym sounds way more fun than these two dorks. I say hell Yeah add him to the team!"
"... i'd be offended but I refuse to give you that luxury" purl deadpanned while adjusting his glasses, Zimelu stuck his tongue out right back at him. Rin sighed and shook his head before looking up at neon j with a grin.
"I'll try to talk to him at school tomorrow, I don't think getting along with him will be too much of an issue, but it's good to make sure beforehand right?" Rin stayed as he looked between the other two boys. Zim gave a thumbs up and purl nodded. With plans made neon j nodded and excused himself.