Featherweight - Hermitcraft AU

Time Waits For No Man

Clockwork stood up, holding his finished invention up for Griandroid to see.

"All done!" He announced. The Hermitbot gave the engineer a supportive smile.

Against his better judgement, Griandroid stayed cheery. "Do you need help setting it up?"

Clockwork looked at him for a moment. "No, no. I can do it."

Griandroid gave Clockwork a thumbs-up. "Got it, boss."

Clockwork froze. A frown formed on his face. "No, don't call me that. The others can call me that, but not you." He set down the pretty sizable central core back down on the workbench before stepping over in front of Griandroid, who was sitting on top of a desk next to his own. The bot looked up at the cyborg who seemed to be studying Griandroid's face.

"You're not like the other bots, you don't have to call me boss." He spoke sweetly and took Griandroid's hand. The Hermitbot nodded, still not completely sure if he understood or not. The nod seemed to be enough for Clockwork, who smiled.

"Run along and check on the children now, would you?"

Griandroid nodded again and hopped off of the desk, but Clockwork still stood right there in front of him, blocking his way.

"Pardon me, uh...bro-" Griandroid said with hesitation. A glimmer of negativity flashed across the cyborg face, but he maintained his smile. Instead of stepping out of Griandroid's way, Clockwork wrapped his arms around him and hugged him tightly. Griandroid was surprised, but complied and hugged back.

"You're perfect." Clockwork mused softly. Griandroid looked up at the tall man. Despite his contradicting emotions, the Hermitbot grinned happily. He gave Clockwork another tight squeeze before letting go. Clockwork let him do so, and waved to him as Griandroid hurried off to check on the kids.

He cleaned up his workspace quickly and then left the workshop himself. Clockwork stared out over his small sea of robots. With just a quick glare, Clockwork was able to call the attention of his creations. Simultaneously, they all turned to look at him.

"Hello." He didn't speak relatively loud, but he knew that his robots could hear him perfectly clear. He got right down to business. "Killing a super-powered, size-changing, electricity-controlling birdman won't be easy, and so I'm asking for your help." He paused. "Well...not asking. More commanding you to aide me."

The Hermitbots nodded in unison, none of them seeming fazed by his words.

"I may be a supervillain myself, but preparations still need to be made." Clockwork pointed at robot Doc and Impulse, since they were right in front of him. "I need you two to fix the lift. Once you finish, stand guard. Anyone tries to leave? Notify me immediately ."

The two Hermitbots saluted him and hurried off to complete their assigned task.

"The rest of you? Start making yourselves useful. Become the weapons you need to be to help exterminate the pest." Clockwork said with a twisted smile.

The Hermitbots nodded once more, each hurrying off in different directions to turn themselves into tools of destruction.

The only Hermitbot that wasn't in the group, save for Griandroid, was Zedbot. He watched from behind a corner, somewhere where Clockwork wouldn't be able to see him. He watched his friends mindlessly obey their tyrannical creator, and he felt a very human emotion. Dread.

He turned around and ran back down the hallway to tell the kids of the newest development.

Zedbot barreled through the twins' bedroom door, startling them both. Sahara was with them as well, but she was asleep.