OBSIDIAN

CHAPTER ONE: SNOWFLAKE

Dust curled up in slight plumes around Hammerface's feet as he made his way down to the hardware store; it was October, and the town had been a bit windy. Regardless, he still rolled his eyes at the plumes, kicking against the occasional mat placed outside a store on his journey.

He...didn't enjoy dust, to say the least. Being a household experiment caused that dislike. Even with his program gone, he still hated the sensation on his fur.

The store was just in sight; he needed to come there to pick up more supplies for renovations on the spa. Although he didn't have a defined "One True Place" yet, volunteering to clean up and refurbish the spa near Clip's salon was a good start.

That was, until he heard a very...familiar tune from an alleyway.

He knew it well-Earthlings would never understand it; to them, it'd be alien...and it was. It was from Kweltikwan, an older song that he supposed would qualify as Soul if it were an Earth tune.

Hammerface squinted down the alley. It was rare for an experiment to play a song like that, and few early series really cared to go back to their time in the old lab-himself and Clip included.

Something felt...off about this.

He bit his lip and cast a glance back towards the store; the possibility this could be Gantu or some other attacker was there, but...why this song specifically? Gantu didn't know him that well, and a new experiment wouldn't understand either…

Could this be another 0-series manipulated by Gantu?

He glared at the alleyway. If it was...then...he had little choice in this-he'd have to intervene. He knew all the members anyways-even the control experiments were easy to fend against…

Hammerface took a deep breath and stealthily made his way down the alley, making sure to keep his head straight forward. He focused on the ground; a few early series could hypnotize with eye contact, so this was in case he was facing one of them…

He peered out into the clearing behind the alley and stopped dead, quickly refocusing his gaze from the spot.

"...21?"

The yellow experiment spun around and jumped right off the wall she'd been sitting on, letting out a small scream at his words. Hammerface stepped back in astonishment at the reaction and threw his hands up, antenna flattening at the noise. "Sorry!"

021 held a hand up to her chest, trying to calm herself. She gripped a flute in the other; it was a small plastic one, probably taken from a school. Strange, but maybe not all that surprising given they'd both once been thieves.

"Sorry-you scared me 033…" 021 explained, taking a deep breath, "I...don't-well-I…"

"...I don't get a lot of visitors." She finished halfheartedly, offering him a sheepish smile.

...Hammerface couldn't help but notice it was a sad one.

He let his hands fall back to his sides, "Oh...well-I didn't mean to startle you 21. It's nice to see you again."

021's sad smile deepened, "Ah...it is?"

He nodded, "Yeah-do you wanna come to the hardware store with me or…? Because it's been a long time. We should talk."

021 bit her lip and shook her head, "Ah-no. I uh. I have stuff I need to take care of. I uh-I should go, actually. Right now."

She quickly turned around and began to sprint away from him, the flute gripped so tight in her claws it almost seemed to splinter. Hammerface followed, near tripping over himself to try and stop her.

"021, wait-!"

She froze and turned back, ears back, "What?"

Hammerface withdrew his hand-he hadn't realized he'd thrown it out to try and stop her. "Do you-do you have a name?"

She paused and shrugged, ears down, "...It's Twang now."

"Okay...bye Twang. I guess…"

She gave him a curt nod and sped off, disappearing into the bushes of the forest.

Hammerface watched her go, antenna drooping as he crossed his arms. He knew why 021-Twang now-had done that, but the way she'd behaved around him was still a little upsetting. He sighed before turning back down the alley, coming out onto the main street.


Slick was standing outside the store when Hammerface walked up, boxes of cookies piled up next to him. He must've just restocked, as he was leaning against the pile and fanning himself with his hat. Hammerface waved and offered a smile as he walked up, but Slick wasn't fooled. He raised his eyebrows at the younger 0-series' expression, placing his hat back on and straightening up to greet him.

"Hey Hamm?" He asked, "Something wrong?"

He nodded and Slick sucked in a breath, placing a hand behind his head, "Ooookay-wanna say what it is or…?"

"You don't have to do that."

"I think I will. You're always gonna be a baby to me Hammer, sorry."

Hammerface snorted, "Fine. But it is serious."

"Alright, alright-I'll stop. Tell me what's going on."

He sighed, "I...saw 021."

Slick's eyes widened at his words-so much so he couldn't help but take his hat right back off and hold it to his chest in shock. "Oh-man. Where'd you see her?"

"Behind the alleyway, about two stores down."

Slick glanced towards the area Hammerface mentioned and sighed, "...Right. She's been...well."

"She's...she's still a hermit Hamm." The sales experiment explained, "You know, how she got in the lab. She's been isolating herself for a long time-no one even knows if she has a home or a One True Place. Even I've tried to contact her and she blew me off, and we were friends back there."

Hammerface felt his jaw drop at Slick's words; the incident with him was so long ago by now-to see Twang still stuck in this pattern was beyond concerning…

"So-did you ever find out why or…?" He asked, but Slick shook his head, "Far as I can tell? It's still over what she did to you."

Hammerface squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, "Oh no…"

"Is there anything we can do?" He asked, "Because...we both know this has gone on long enough. She needs to stop if it's gotten to this point."

Slick shrugged, "You like scheming. Wanna invite some of us over? I'll spread the word for ya-I have to head to Hasagawa's later on anyways, so I'll start with Hocker."

He nodded, "Yeah-thanks Slick."


Hammerface and Clip were setting dinner on the spare tables when the knock came at the door. Opening it revealed Slick, with Poki, Checkers, Hocker, Fibber, Backhoe and Pop in tow behind him. Hammerface smiled and stood aside, letting the group of early 0-series into the house, "Thanks for this Slick."

"Heh. You don't have to do that." Slick said, shrugging...and tilting his hat in Clip's direction, "If anything I should be thanking you two-especially the little lady right there-"

"Don't even think about it, 20." Clip's sarcastic voice sounded out from the kitchen, but she still stood in the doorway with a smile as she wiped her claws with a washcloth, "But seriously-aloha guys, we're glad you're doing this."

Slick nodded, Hocker stepping up beside him as the 0-series seated themselves around the couch. "So," The acid experiment began, crossing his arms, "I'm the newest activated, but I'll say, this was pretty disappointing to hear. She's still doin' this and we're literally on a different planet."

"Hocker, come on-you know why." Fibber signed, curling up on the couch, "You weren't there, but I was. She was really shaken up by what she did."

Hocker sighed, "Yeah, but still…"

The remaining members fell silent at his words; the incident was so long ago that most of them had moved on-but then again, they hadn't been the ones involved. Hammerface held a hand up to his nose and closed his eyes, thinking back to the old lab...