Sly had seen the entire thing. He felt bad for the kid; he knew what it was like to feel unloved, hated, unwanted, lonely, and not good enough for anyone. He felt that every day of his life when he was stuck with Cass. The frills despised him, they hurt him, they liked to play "games". Their favorite "game" was holding Sly down and holding a lighter to his fur until it singed his skin, making him scream and yell and cry. They also liked to lock him in cupboards and closets, anywhere that it was dark and would make him scared. He couldn't remember a single happy day during his childhood. Hell, did he even really HAVE a childhood? No and neither did this kid.

So, after becoming a male again, Sly built up some courage and went to the kid's room. Ry was there, curled in a ball on his bed, his fur streaked with tears coming from eyes sporting red iris's. Ry glanced over to Sly, but didn't do anything. He looks just like I did… Sly thought to himself. We're not so different, Ry and I. But even still, Ry looked so familiar… and then it came to him.

Flashback…

Sly was about five years old, and he was running away from the frills and their stupid lighters. Sly was much faster than them, so he had no problem getting away. He quickly ducked into a room that the frills ran right past. Deciding it was safe, Sly began to wander the room. He came across the tank which held Ry.

"I see you've found my little project." said Boss Cass, who appeared from behind Sly.

And that was all Sly could remember past that. He'd forgotten all about Ry since then, and sort of felt bad about it now. Had he talked to Boss Cass a little more about Project Ry, maybe Ry could've been released early, and maybe they could've been friends.

Maybe then neither of them would've been such screw-ups…

Sly laid a tentative hand on Ry's shoulder. Though Ry was physically full-grown, his mentality was still that of a child. He was still scared, didn't know a lot of things.

"'Eye mate," Sly said. "Julius doesn't hate you, and he's not disappointed."

"Then why did he send me to my room?" The younger one growled.

"Because he didn't want you to hurt Ty. He knows you don't want to hurt anyone, and he thinks of Ty like a son…" S***, wrong choice of words.

In the simple blink of an eye, Ry was out the door and halfway down the hall. He was quick, Sly gave him credit, but Sly was slightly faster. He caught up to Ry in no time, grabbing him by the wrist. "Wait mate, where ya goin'?!" Sly yelled.

"I AM HIS ONLY SON!" Ry yelled, suddenly appearing much bigger to Sly than he had moments ago.

"Alright, alright, calm ya fur. Let's just talk bro. Can we do that before you go killing my brother?" Sly begged with pleading eyes.

Ry searched the elder tiger's face before finally giving in, letting Sly drag him back to his room. Sly smiled to himself, making sure Ry couldn't see it. Don't want to set him off again… he thought to himself. It occurred to Sly how easy it was to make him mad. All he had to do was bring up Julius.

Once they were back in Ry's room, Sly began to try to reason with him as they sat on his bed. "Alright mate…" Sly gently pressed. "Ty really ain't a bad person. And I know it's programmed in ya head that he is, but I think that maybe if ya try to press them feelins of wantin ta' kill 'im down, maybe ya two could… get along?"

Ry stood up at lightning speed, glaring hatefully at Sly. "Absolutely not! That… That THING and I can NEVER get along!"

Sly sighed. He was determined to make the two be able to bear each other, but it was going to take a lot of work…

Ry couldn't believe what the older thylacine had said to him. It just wasn't possible. Even if Ry WANTED to, he couldn't be nice to the golden tiger. The program was just wound too deeply in his brain. But then again… Ry thought to himself. If father was able to contradict my programming once, maybe I can do it too… Then he shook his head. No. That stupid jerk made father disappointed in me. Then another idea came to his head. Maybe… maybe if I befriend this Ty thing, father will be happy with me.

The thought made him smile broadly. He was going to explain his idea to his father later, without revealing his true intentions.

"You need to be willing to try again."

"Absolutely not." Ty spat back.

"C'mon mate, think of Julius." Sly tried to reason.

That got Ty's tiny little brain working. Sly was right, Julius had helped Ty in all sorts of ways all throughout his life, and it was time he returned the favor. Ty knew how much Ry meant to Julius, despite how little time Ry has actually been active, and he knew it would make Julius so happy if he saw improvement in Ry's behavior.

"Fine. But I'm not doin it for the little beast. I'm doin it for Julius."

Sly grinned to himself. His plan was working.

Julius wasn't the tiniest bit upset with his adopted son. He'd expected those results, and had actually found out something interesting. Ry's normal eye color was green. But when he got agitated and threatened to go on a killing rampage, then went red. And if was REALLY about to lose it, they just went straight red, with no pupils or iris's or anything.

Deciding he should go check on his son to make sure he was okay, Julius shuffled down the hall to Ry's room, where the cub was asleep with a small smile on his face. Smiling himself, Julius pulled a blanket over Ry and patted his head.

Well? What did you guys think of this one? Who's everyone's favorite character so far? Next chapter I think I'm going to go a little more into focus on some of the other characters, like Ty's past, hit a few other things on Sly's past, maybe go into Shazza and Naomi… Ry's had enough of the spotlight. Right?

Until next time!

XxNanamiXKinoxX