Well, I'm glad I finally got another chapter out. I'm sorry it took so long. I'm still having trouble with the creative flow when it comes to this story. But I'm still here and trying so no worries.
Back at home, Petunia sat in the living room with Ty's costume, her eyes focused in concentration as she made adjustments to the prince outfit. Abby burst into the house, effectively startling her. "Abigail!" "Whoa, sorry mom! I was just in a hurry to get home." "I can see that." Petunia said as she laughed, bringing a smile to Abby. She was glad to see her mother wasn't as stressed as her. "Maybe talking to her will help?" The girl pondered before sitting next to her mom. "Mom, how's Ty been today?" "Ty? Oh, he's still sick but I think he's getting better. I'm sure by the time Halloween rolls around next weekend, he'll be fine." Abby nodded before her eyes fell onto the constume. "What're you doing with his costume?"
Petunia perked up at the question. "I'm fixing it up! It came in the other day and I thought it looked a little too plain. It originally looked like this." She held up the improved costume for Abby to see along with the image on the box it came in. Originally, it was very simple; a long sleeved red top that had golden cuffs and a golden collar, black slacks, and a white sash. Abby cocked her head to the side, confused at the sash and how much it looked like a bell hop's uniform. Petunia nodded, understanding what Abby was thinking since she thought the same thing. "I know. So, I turned it into this! What do you think?" Abby smiled at the costume's new additions. Her mother had removed part of the front of the costume and used it to help make the coat tails of the top as well as added more small details to make the top less simple. Golden buttons on the shirt, cuffs, and collar, as well as adding small details to the back of the jacket.
"Wow, mom! You really did a great job." Abby couldn't help but be impressed by the change. "Thank you sweetie. I also fixed the pants up a little. They were very baggy but now they should fit him well." "Yeah." Abby glanced up towards Ty's bedroom upstairs. "Abby." Her mother's voice startled her; it was filled with gentle concern. "Yes?" She asked. Her mother was staring at her, no longer smiling. "I know you're worried about him but he will be fine. You're so young and you need to learn to worry about yourself as well." "Me?" Abby asked. "Why would I need to worry about myself? I wasn't the one who was attacked by a monster! I wasn't the one who almost got his leg ripped off because his sister who dragged him out with her, disregarding any of his protest! I..." She trailed off once she felt the hot tears touch her cheeks.
The next thing she knew, her mother had pulled her into an embrace, gently stroking her hair. "I know you blame yourself for what happened but it's alright. He's alright and the beast has already been caught by authorities It's okay now sweetie. It's okay." Abby sniffled before wiping her eyes. "Okay." She said and her mother pulled away to cup her face. "C'mon, give me a smile." It took a moment but, despite everything, she did feel better and gave a genuine smile. "Now, if you would, could you take this plate up to your brother. You can take your own and eat up there with him if you want. I already ate a little while ago." "I will." Abby said as she grabbed the two plates and headed upstairs.
Back in the Gag Lab, Lab Rat was still studying up on samples he'd gotten from Ty before he left and the samples the Bereau had received from the hospital. Nothing new was coming up and he was starting to consider giving up since the Chimera had already been caught. Sighing, he leaned back to let his mind rest.
Hermes squeaked before curling up and trying to nap on Lab Rats shoulder, closing his eyes. But, not a moment after, he twitched and perked up, looking behind Lab Rat towards the entrance to the lab. The rodent continued to stare before jumping off the hermit scientist and skittering towards the door, not disturbing Lab Rat who had falling into a light sleep.
Once at the door, the rat gave another squeak, sniffing at the door and looking around it. He had the over whelming sense that someone or something was just beyond it but he couldn't know for sure. Hermes gave a couple more calling noises to see if whatever was there would respond and waited. At first, there was nothing but soon, the sound of nails scraping across the door slowly could be heard. The pet rat, startled at the sound that was akin to cat claws at a door, squeaked in fear and ran back to his owner, climbing back to his shoulder and waking up Lab Rat as he jumped onto his face. "Hm? What's wrong buddy?" Lab Rat held his pet in his hands before the scratching sound caught his attention too.
"What is that?" He asked himself aloud, standing. "A cat couldn't have gotten in here." The scratching paused and he considered that maybe a cat had gotten in here and was now scared off. He waited, glancing at Hermes whose ears twitched as the Rat listened intently. Suddenly, the heavy silence was broken by the the sounds of heavy clawing at the door, as if a monster was trying to get in!
Lab Rat, thinking fast, grabbed a goop shooter and was ready to fight whatever was outside the door, though he was scared out of his mind. He wasn't one for actually fighting the bad guys himself. After what felt like forever waiting to see if the force of the beast would knock the door down, it stopped. The scratching just abruptly stopped followed by the sound of hurried footsteps away. Lab Rat quickly opened the door to see if you could catch a glimpse of who was leaving. "Hey!" He shouted down the hall but it was empty now except for the echoes of the footsteps. "Fuck." He muttered to himself before looking at the door. It was definately going to cost a pretty penny to fix it. "I swear, if this comes out of my paycheck..." The scientist trailed off before going back inside.
Abby knocked on Ty's door tentatively. "Ty?" She called. "Come in." his voice rang back, sounding very low and raspy. Opening the door, Abby saw Ty lying on his bed flat on his back, one hand over his eyes. "Still feeling sick? I brought you some lunch mom made." "Hmmm" Ty groaned before sitting up, showing Abby his face and the dark circles under his eyes. "Not sick, just really really tired. I feel drained." He lamented. Abby put the tray down on his desk before taking his face in her hands, examining it. "Geez, Ty, you look like you haven't slept in weeks. What happened?" "Well, I threw up about four hours ago for about twenty minutes and then when it was over, I just felt like all the energy had been sucked out of my body. So I came up here to sleep but I haven't been able to sleep." He leaned into her hand, taking a deep breath as he did.
"You look terrible." Abby stated. "You do too." Ty countered and on any normal day, she would have taken it as one of Ty's dumb jokes or attempts to just bug her, but she could she that was not his intent now. She glanced away, frowning. "I know I do. I've just been really stressed lately about everything; the monster, who ever is behind the monster, and you." She closed her eyes to steel herself and opened them when Ty placed his hand on one of hers. He was smiling at her and said "Well, now that monster has been caught and I'm going to get better. So you don't need to stress anymore, right?" "Right." Abby agreed. "Now, let's eat! Our food is probably really cold by now."
Just as the two had started eating, a familiar ringtone caused the younger to pull out his Grossometer. "Hello? Lab Rat?" He answered. "Ty!" Lab Rat frantically said into the communicator. "Are you with Abby right now?" "Yeah." Ty confirmed, moving Abby so that the two were in Lab Rats view. He breathed a sigh of releif. "Oh good." "Why?" Abby asked, a worried expression on her face. "Something came to the lab." Lab Rat began to explain. "I don't know what it was but from the sounds I heard, it has big claws, a lot of power in those claws, and it wanted to get into the lab!" "What?!" Ty cried. "The bearue hired some workers who are fixing the door right now but I wanted to call in to make sure you two were okay. I have a feeling that whatever came here has some kind of connection with the beast."
"What makes you say that?" Abby quirked. "I don't know. It just seems weird how the beast gets caught and then a couple of hours later, something manages to get inside the building and almost break into the gag lab, doesn't it?" The two nodded in response. "Well we're fine and are you okay?" Ty asked. "I'm fine, just a little shaken up. You know how I am with hand to hand combat." Lab Rat replied with a sigh. "You mean, that you suck at it." Abby whispered to Ty, causing the two to chuckle. "I heard that." Lab Rat griped. "And yes, that's what I mean." "You know I'm just playing." Abby said. "And we're glad to hear you're okay. Call us if there are anymore updates or if something else happens." "Okay. Bye." With that the little screen went dark and Ty put it away, going back to his lunch. But, once again, the two had just started to eat when from downstairs they heard-
"Kids! You have a visitor! She's coming up to see you since Ty still feels under the weather!" Petunia called up to the two, causing Abby to groan in annoyance. "At this rate, we'll never eat." She whispered to Ty just as the guest entered the room. The siblings turned and stared in confusion at a woman, probably in her mid or late twenties, with frizzy long brown hair, tanned skin, and a face splitting smile. It looked like it hurt and she was equipped with a pen in one hand and a note pad in the other. "Kids." Petunia said, entering in after the woman. "This is Debrah Zonoumie. She says she's here to speak with Ty about his symptoms to better understand what kind of animal the monster was. She's a zoologist!" The two siblings exchanged a look before Ty cleared his throat and spoke up. "Why don't you just ask the police about the symptoms?" "Oh, trust me, I've tried." Debrah explained. "But the police aren't letting out much information and they say that there shouldn't be anymore questions since the beast is caught and they have it 'all under control.'" She put air quotes around the last part, emphasising that she didn't really think the cops had it under control.
"Oh, well, why do you wanna know what kind of animal it was?" Abby asked. "Don't you see?" The woman said, leaning closer to the two. "If I can help find out what animal it is, then zoologist like me can study up on it and lurn how to tame and control it and no longer have to keep it as a prisoner behind bars." "Oh so you want to help it?" Ty asked. "I want to help it be understood. It's not a monster! It's probably just some kind of animal with a dna mutation caused by a birth defect." Debrah said, a sad tone in her voice. "They won't let me study the animal up close so I decided to go to the next best thing. So will you help me Ty?" She asked, looking into his eyes. A soft hum escaped his lips before he nodded. "Okay. I mean, it's just answering a few questions so why not?" "Great!" The zoologist practically jumped in excitement before sitting next to Ty and taking his face in her hands, tilting his head in all directions to get a good look at him. "Hmm, I'll have to take a look at certain part of you like your arms legs, including the damaged one. Okay?" Ty nodded, looking more tired than ever. "Yeah, let's get started."
After about an hour and a half of questions and the woman feeling a little too close for comfort, Debrah was finally satisfed and left, thanking the Archers for their help and promising to be back with an update. Once she was gone, Abby huffed. "Did she seem a little odd to you?" She asked her brother. "Well yeah but, I mean, what do you expect when she seems like one of those animal rights activist? The monster killed one person and almost killed two others and she still thinks it should be set free if studied and tamed!" "I know." Abby trailed off before sighing, happy that the two were at least now able to eat lunch, despite the setting and starting to give way to night. It was a late lunch.
Once done, the two said they're goodnights and Abby took the dishes away, leaving Ty alone to catch up with his sleep and heading downstairs to do the dishes before heading to bed herself.