Ty had decided to meet with Kid again but all morning he'd tried to think about what to tell Lab Rat when he goes to the lab without Abby to investigate the forest alone. Lab Rat would surely be suspiscious and let Abby know. Ty had been wracking his mind all morning for an answer but decided to give himself a break while he ate breakfast. He sat at the kitchen table with a bowl of cereal and was soon joined by Abby who was dressed in white running shorts and a green t shirt.
"Are you going somewhere?" The younger of the two asked as the other poured herself some cereal.
"Yeah. Today the cheer leaders and dance groups are going to be practicing outside for their performances next week and I've been called to help decorate the stage along with the rest of the dance committee." She took a spoonful of cereal before sighing and smiling. "I heard the year book club is also going to be there taking pictures. Maybe I'll get to see Greg again."
Ty smiled at his sisters happiness. It was contagious and put him at ease. "Yeah and maybe you two will get to hang out together while you're there."
"Maybe." The girl shrugged and swallowed another mouthful of cereal. "Oh, also, some more good news is that I haven't found any more rotten roses or rotten anything. It's good but I still have this feeling like he's around." This caused Ty to pause in eating, looking up at his sister.
"What makes you think he's still around?"
"I don't know. Just a feeling, I guess." Abby had a deep set frown as she stared into her cereal. "A bad feeling, like as if he's just out of sight or something. Makes me feel like I should keep on my toes more."
"Or, or," Ty said quickly, reaching across the table to pat his sisters hand. "Maybe it was a onetime thing and he's gone into hiding to think of something else again?" The older grossologist twirled her spoon back and forth, thinking it over.
"Hmm, could be or maybe it's a bad sign. I don't know but I'm not going to think about it anymore. I need to relax for now. Don't want to get stress wrinkles or anything." She and Ty both laughed softly at that, as Abby had recently taken notice of the slightest hint at worry wrinkles between her eyebrows. A clear sign that the girl had to take it a little easier in life. She was only eighteen and wrinkles were not something she wanted to start getting just yet. "I'm going to head out before I'm late. Laters Ty."
"Laters." Ty finished up his own bowl of cereal and then got the idea to use that as his excuse for working alone today; Abby being busy with the dance committee. It's not like it hadn't happened before. With that idea in mind, he finished cleaning up his breakfast mess and left to the gag lab.
"So Abby's busy with her dance committee thing today?" Lab Rat said as he mused over Hermes who looked dreary, slumped like a pancake in Lab Rats hand.
"Yeah. So I'm just going to go and look for signs of Kid Rot around town."
"Hmm," Lab Rat hummed and put Hermes down on the table before turning and talking with Ty directly. "Alright but if you do find something, you'll need to call for back up first and not investigate further on your own, okay?"
Ty nodded, smiling at Lab Rat. "Yeah, I know." He then glanced towards Hermes as Lab Rat walked towards the back of the room to get something. The white rat looked up at Ty with a squeak and rolled onto his feet, approaching him quickly.
The grossologist knew what Hermes wanted; compensation for his silence last night. Happily, he revealed a saltine cracker with cheese added as a bonus, and gave it to the rodent. Without hesitation, Hermes chowed down on the snack, causing Ty to snicker to himself. "Someone's hungry. Don't you feed him Lab Rat?" Lab Rat glanced up at the joke and rolled his eyes good naturedly.
"He's not hungry, just fat, trust me. He's been fed twice today and it's not even noon. Right Hermes?" The rat held his own tail and squeaked in response, causing Lab Rat to pet him gently. "Hey, buddy, I'm just playing."
Ty smiled at the two of them before he left, taking his goop shooter and grossometer with him.
Back at the forest, Ty parked the GRS-1 and went in. He didn't know where Kid Rot would be waiting so he just walked around aimlessly, looking around. It was a pretty nice day, quiet other than the sounds of wind and birds around. Although he was here for a certain reason, he didn't mind just enjoying the scenery for a moment.
But after about forty minutes of doing so, he stopped at a tree. "Where is he?" the grossologist wondered aloud, leaning against the tree. It was a big tree with lots of leaves on long branches that gave a lot of shade, perfect for resting under.
Pulling out his grossometer, Ty considered calling Lab Rat to pass the time. He'd give Kid some more time, probably around an hour, to show up. He didn't mind being outside especially since he didn't have anything else to do today except some easy homework assignment. He opened the grossometer to start the call when the sound of someone clearing their throat caused him to look around.
"Up here." Looking up, he saw Kid up in the branches of the tree, sprawled over a particularly large branch in a way that reminded Ty of a lounging cat. His head was resting against one of his hands, giving him an especially relaxed look. "Hello there, down below."
"How long have you been up in the trees watching?" Ty asked as he craned his neck to look up at Kid.
"Aaah, you know me. A while already. I mean, I've been waiting here a while and then I saw you arrive and just decided to watch for a little bit." He replied before sitting up. Ty only had a minute to step aside as Kid jumped to the bottom, landing on his feet with a wide grin.
"You know that's just one of the reasons why Abby didn't return your feelings, right? Other than the obvious with you being a villain and us being the good guys, of course."
"What other reason? That I watched you two?"
"Yes!" Ty said, louder than he intended. "It's creepy being watched constantly especially by someone you don't trust and that could potentially and easily hurt the people you care about." Kid was quiet for a moment, looking around as he considered what to say in response.
"Well," he started. "Does that mean that you trust me, then?"
"Why would you think that?"
"Because you have been meeting up with me, which Abby didn't. You don't start fighting me as soon as you see me, which Abby did. Although," He glanced down at Tys goop shooter, held tightly in his hand. "It would still seem you don't trust me that much yet."
"Not even close." Ty said, shaking his head. "Someone like you isn't exactly the most trustworthy. You kill things for fun after all."
"Oooh, c'mon! I've been good lately. Only killing animals and what not, just so I would not cause trouble to your little bureau anymore." Kid Rot said, throwing his arms up in frustration. "Do you know how frustrating it is to stop doing something you like for months and months?"
"If you want anything to happen, you'd do well to stop killing anybody forever." The grossologist informed, causing Kid to sigh heavily and cover his face.
"That's been something I've just been slowly coming to terms with." He then glanced up, with a smirk. "But that at least tells me you do want something to happen."
Ty pressed his lips together in a tight frown and narrowed his eyes at Kid but it didn't stop the parasite from laughing happily and walking closer. "Oooh, no, no. You can't just deny it anymore. I mean, if you really didn't want anything to happen and weren't interested at all, you'd have me arrested and in the gag lab by now." He was now in front of the grossologist, the two only inches apart. "Right?"
He continued to stare at Kid for a moment before he sighed and looked down. "Yeah." He finally admitted, both to Kid and to himself. In a way, it was relief but at the same time, it left a bad feeling in him. Kid took notice and allowed an emotion to cross his face that Ty hadn't actually seen on him before; sympathy. Honestly, Ty didn't even think Kid could feel that emotion.
"Don't feel so down about it." Kid said with a shrug. "We all do bad things that we shouldn't do, from time to time at least." He ruffled Ty's hair and began to walk away. The other was quick to fix his hair, growling to himself, but followed behind.
"Uh, where are you going?"
"To this place I want to show you. I'm sure you'll be really interested in seeing it." Kid explained. Ty didn't exactly know what that meant but he didn't ask anything else, deciding just to see the place for himself before inquiring about it.
The two walked through the woods for a while in silence until they eventually came to the base of the mountain in this forest. Well, it wasn't an official mountain but it certainly was as tall and wide as one. Kid began climbing with ease while Ty groaned and started climbing himself.
"What? Are you tired?" Kid asked, pausing in his climb to glance down at Ty.
"No." Ty responded, quickening his pace while still trying to keep good footing. "I just don't like climbing. Abby is the one who enjoys it more. I'm pretty sure she went rock climbing with our mom once for fun." Ty shook his head, he and his sister having very different ideas of what was fun and relaxing. "Why would you climb rocks for fun when you can play a game or watch T.V. or do literally anything else? I have no clue."
Kid shrugged, not sure either. "Who knows. Just different people enjoying different things. I mean, I enjoy killing things..." He trailed off when he got a pointed look from Ty. Clearing his throat, he continued with the climb as he spoke. "It's just what I like. I'm not going to kill people anymore so there's no worries there and people kill things all the time."
"You're not supposed to enjoy doing so." Ty criticized.
"Ha! I beg to differ. Hunters enjoy when they shoot and kill deer or whatever they're hunting. The people who work at the slaughter houses enjoy their jobs, or at least some of them do, I'm sure. And some people just enjoy killing animals and things they can get their hands on. I've seen it happen."
Ty glanced up at him with a raised eyebrow, but Kid didn't notice and continued on with his tangent. "Sneaking around the town has allowed me to see a lot of things that I probably wasn't supposed to see; kids stomping cats or other small animals out, throwing rocks at dogs that are chained up. I even saw a kid just chuck a bird to the ground. Like, the way that football players throw the football to the ground when they make at touch down. You know?" The grossologist frowned. This new info about some people in this town was very alarming.
The pair fell back into silence as the climb went on, Tyler focusing on his climb while Kid just didn't feel like talking. Eventually, they were able to stop climbing and just walk as the slope of the mountain became less vertical and more diagonal.
"How much longer do we have to keep walking?" Ty asked. Although he didn't want it to come off as whining, he was honestly getting tired. He didn't expect he'd have to do this when he came here and though he wasn't exactly out of shape, his skills weren't as heightened as Abby's and he didn't have the same stamina she did.
"We're almost there. Just five more minutes. You can rest when we get there." Ty was still unsure of what the place was but he was starting to get an idea.
Finally, they got to a small opening on the side of the mountain. It was well hidden, only viewable when close enough to enter it, as the trees and shrub growing around it made for great cover. "What's this entrance to?"
"It's my main hide out." Kid said. "You know, it's one of the places where I live. I wanted to show you where it was so we could meet up here instead of in random places." He turned to Ty and gestured him inside before disappearing into the deep shadow casted by the entrance wall. Ty was about to walk in when he got a bad feeling.
''Will you walk into my parlor.' Said the spider to the fly.' The sensible part of himself whispered in the back of his mind and he was very much feeling like the fly in that story. Kid took notice of him at the entrance, rooted to his spot and looking nervous.
The parasite re-emerged and repeated his earlier gesture. "What is it? Are you scared that if you come in, you won't come back out?" What he said was meant to be teasing but only came off as malicious to Ty who was already on edge. This was shown when Kid Rot tried to approach Ty and he quickly backed away, going to the very edge of the entrance in case he needed to run.
Kid sighed. "Okay, we don't have to go inside if you don't want to. You can just stay and rest here. I'll be back in a moment." With that, he disappeared back into the darkness. Ty felt kind of bad for acting so hasty but he still wasn't 100% sure he could trust Kid. It was a good sign that Kid wanted to show him his home but what if it was just a trap?
Then his natural curiosity kicked in, wondering about what was inside. A part of him told him it could be interesting and another part told him it could be bad. He remained at his spot for a little longer before walking in, deciding just to glance inside. Unfortunately, the darkness of the cave hid it's layout well and what Ty thought would be more flat ground turned out to be a sudden dip. He pitched forward with a cry of shock and tumbled down the rest of the entrance before falling flat on his face.
"Oow..." He groaned quietly to himself. Before he could pull himself up, Kid was standing before him.
"You know, if I knew you were coming in, I would have told you about the sudden slant." The parasite said, his tone showing that he was slightly irritated but at the same time amused as he pulled Ty to his feet. "Why did you change your mind?"
"I was just curious about what it looked like inside." Ty said as he brushed himself off. "Not that my reason matters. It's pitch black in here. How do you see anything when you're in here?"
"Just like this." With that, there was a soft click followed by a buzzing sound, and lights came on, lighting up the whole cavern, if he could even call it that anymore. It looked like a room, almost, bigger than the average room, with a simple bed, a desk and a door to the side that Ty assumed was a closet.
"How...how did you get all this in here? How did you make this?" He looked at Kid with wide eyes, wondering how Kid could have just gotten all this stuff in here without anyone noticing or how he even got electricity here.
Kid had a smile on his face that looked like he was in trouble or got caught doing something. "I, uh, I didn't get all this stuff here. I didn't make this."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, someone else made this and I took it from them." The parasite shrugged.
The grossologist brows were furrowed together as he processed what Kid did and he felt a chill crawl up his spine. "You...you stole this place from somebody...and no one noticed they've been gone? No one knows they were here? How long have you been here?"
"Hmm, since about a year after we first fought here? Yeah. I found the entrance while I was recovering and trying to find a place to hide. A guy was in here. I didn't catch his name or care at all to. Seemed like a real nut, talking about waiting out here in the forest to catch some cryptid and get rich off that. I don't know. I didn't want to hear him talk on and on about crazy stories." Kid grimaced as he remembered the guy but Ty couldn't help but feel sick.
Kid took notice and reached forward, putting his hands on Ty's shoulders to steady him. "Hey, hey, there's no point in getting worked up over it now. That guy has been dead and gone for years and no one has so much as batted an eye about it."
"That only makes it worse!" Ty snapped, pulling away. "Do you feel any guilt at all? When you tear families apart, when you kill people off as if they don't matter? Do you? Any shred of it?" Kid Rot didn't answer. He only stared with a frown. "They're not animals, Kid! They were people, like you and me, with complex feelings and emotions and families and dreams and everything that people feel! And you just wipe them out and move on!" Ty covered his face with his hands, shaking his head now. "How can you just do that? It's so-so..." He was at a loss of words to use.
"Messed up? Terrible?" Kid suggested, causing the grossologist to look up.
He wasn't feeling very well anymore, realizing that this was just one big problem with the parasite. Kid may have been acting good now but that didn't wipe away what he'd done in the past. Nothing could do that.
"I'm sorry but I'm not human, at this point. I'm an evil parasite and, thus, I lack certain human aspects such as empathy, guilt, and a compassion for most human life."
There was a long moment of pause between the two, Kids words sinking in and finally the silence was broken when Ty spoke quietly. "I think it's time for me to go home."
When the pair emerged from the cave, thet sun was setting. Just before Ty started climbing down, Kid stopped him and asked "Are you going to tell the bureau about this place? My hideout." Ty paused, thinking it over for a moment before shaking his head.
"No."
Kid smiled at that. "Goodnight Ty." And with that, the two parted ways and the grossologist back tracked to the GRS-1 to go home.
Authors Notes: I'm having a lot of fun writing this story. I am trying to write for it as much as I can while still writing for Halloween Horrors so there's a balancing going on between the two as well as still balancing in my school and personal life. Either way, I hope it is coming out well. I'm having my friends check out the chapters and should I find any issues, I'll update the chapters and may or may not change little (or big) details at certain parts.
Also, I'd like to make a response to StarSweep who left a review on this story but not logged in so I cannot reply personally. Thank you so much for your review StarSweep! It was very unexpected and a pleasant surprise. I'm glad you enjoy my story and I hope you continue to enjoy what other chapters I put out. :D Honestly, I was kind of nervous to write this story because there are no other stories (or much art for that matter) of this ship. Oh well. If you want something done, sometimes you just have to do it yourself and I am happy to do so when I can.
As a final thing, with this third chapter, a big issue is brought up that I myself am not sure how to write Ty properly dealing with it. Kid, in most fanfictions involving him, eventually moves on to killing people. I decided to keep that theme here but it gives a really big moral obstacle for Ty because he is a good person and as a hero working for an agency to protect those in need, you can't just let things like that slide without going against what you stand for. Because of this, the next chapter may take even longer to come out but hopefully not. I'll brainstorm with my friends and myself as much as possible and hopefully what comes out in the next chapter will be to both yours and my liking. Wish me luck and any reviews or comments or anything is greatly appreciated.
