Author's Note: Here's the next part. I hope next update doesn't take another few months…

The closest thing to a fancy party K.O. had ever been was the Plaza Prom Rad had hosted. People had dressed up really nice, there were snacks and drinks, and a DJ that was currently scrolling through their phone while the current song played. K.O. recognized the tune and hummed along with it; it was a soft melody that Mommy liked to play in the car on their way to the Plaza. He tried to remember the name of the artist, but K.O. still wasn't that great at names. Was it…Quartey? No. Maybe it was Sugar.

Fancy hotdogs in crust blankets came and went and K.O. managed to filch a few from a passing waiter. No one seemed to notice him, which was alright for K.O. Talking in that funny accent was exhausting. It felt strange to be going out by himself instead of having his friends by his side. Just thinking of all the cool missions they were probably doing made K.O. feel cold. He hoped he could have just as much fun as he hoped to have here.

O.K. K.O. (LET'S BE HEROES!)

Dendy, Enid and Rad were all laying down on the clean floors of the Bodega with no missions that night or any customers entertaining or annoying to distract them. Baby Teeth was snoring softly on the countertop with a plump belly, courtesy of the large helping of lightning nachos Enid gave her.

"The lack of stimuli has been deteriorating on my motor skills and has brought on a state of weariness that has me eagerly anticipating the end of our ritual service."

"Huh?" Enid and Rad said at the same time and sat up to look at Dendy better.

"I am bored," Dendy said in a bored voice.

"You could have just said that, Dendy…" Rad sighed.

"I am too bored to put in the effort for what is considered 'proper dialect'," Dendy explained, "Mr. Gar has no missions for us, save for defending the Plaza. We have completed all of our cleaning tasks for the day two hours early, and we do not even have the pleasure of K.O.'s company to help us through this dire situation."

"Nah, he'd probably be moaning on about how bored he was, too," Rad waved a hand dismissively.

"At least we would suffer through this together," Dendy countered.

"Anyone wanna play 'I Spy'?" Enid suggested.

"Let me initiate the gaming process," Dendy stared at the ceiling, "I spy with my four eyes…a blank wall…"

All three of them groaned simultaneously.

"Can't we just watch a funny video or something?" Rad rolled onto his stomach as he spoke.

"No go," Enid grumbled, "If Mr. Gar catches us on our phones, he'll tear into us and tell us to quick slacking off."

"Is this not slacking off, then?" Dendy stared at Enid from the corner of her eye.

"Trust me, Mr. Gar would come in and say we're doing a good job playing possum for the villains."

"I want Boxmore to attack us," Rad whined, "I don't care who it is. I'll even take on an entire army of Jethros if it means we have something to do!"

Just then, there was a loud sloshing sound coming from the bathroom.

"Urg!" Enid groaned, "I'd do anything except fix the toilet!"

"I will assist you," Dendy pulled herself off the floor and rambled across the Bodega with Enid close behind. Rad crawled across the floor like a snail not long after, following the girls and leaving an inexplicable trail of slime behind him as he moved. When they all reached the bathroom, they heard voices behind the door.

"See Daddy," a whiny voice said, "I was right!"

"Yes, yes, now I know rats can do that…" a harsher voice said back, "BUT THAT DOESN'T CHANGE THE FACT THAT MY OUTFIT IS RUINED!"

"Daddy, relax," a third, more feminine and equally whiny voice came in, "We'll just grab Fink and head out before –"

The door suddenly swung open and Boxman, Shannon and Darrell were walking out, dripping all over the clean floor.

"Anyone sees us…" Shannon finished meekly.

"Yay, Boxman is here!" Rad looked at his coworkers nervously for a moment, "I mean…YAY, BOXMAN IS HERE!"

"Yes, I am!" Boxman spat. He swiveled his head, "But more importantly, is Fink here?"

"Your hench rat girl thingy?" Dendy asked.

"Nu-uh!" Darrel stuck his robotic tongue out at her, "Stepdaddy's hench rat girl thingy!"

"Why would she be here?" Dendy frowned.

"Cause she came here before," Shannon answered, "Duh."

"What do you mean she…oh, I remember now," Enid nodded, "She came in through the toilet and I got Rad a soda afterwards."

"Huh…rats can really perform such acts," Dendy put a hand under her chin ponderously, "I must remember to add that to my notes."

"Also, she ain't here," Enid said flatly.

"Then we won't be here, either," Boxman dragged his two children by the scruff of their necks and carried them back into the bathroom, "She must be at the party, then!"

It was though an alarm clock went off in their heads several moments after Boxman said this and the employees' eyes bulged with horror. This was the most entertainment that they had gotten all day ever since the last customer left the store!

"NO!" They all scrambled to grab at Boxman's leg to prevent him from leaving. Enid was using her strength to pin Boxman to the spot. Rad focused on using his telekinesis to give them a grip on the door. Dendy had claws shoot out of her backpack and plant themselves into the floor to reduce mobility.

"Please don't leave us alone with our boredom!" Rad had tears and mucus running down his face.

"Fight us!" Enid begged, "Give us an army of Jethro to battle, just don't leave us to our fate!"

"We will almost let you win!" Dendy's lower lip was trembling.

Boxman looked at the three with sympathy in his eyes before smirking evilly, "Nope! Enjoy your misery!"

He freed himself from their grip and made his way to the toilet.

"Bye, bye, losers!" Darrell cackled as he was slammed into an open toilet headfirst and went down the pipes. Shannon followed after, pulling down her eyelids at the heroes as she was flushed away. Boxman was last, laughing madly at their boredom induced misery, preparing to flush himself down the toilet next. He stood on top of the toilet as the water swirled him around as he laughed dramatically, taking his body closer and closer to the exit…

…when the toilet stopped, leaving Boxman stuck down to his wait inside of it.

"Um…do you have a plunger I could borrow?" Boxman asked feebly.

"Here," Enid grumbled as she tossed one to the villain.

"Thank you, Enid," Boxman smiled sincerely at her. And then he began to cackle madly again as he pushed the plunger down on his head, sinking deeper into the pipes until he was gone and only the plunger remained.

All three of them stared at the empty toilet.

Enid stared at her watch, "Welp, that killed a few minutes."

"May we leave now?" Dendy looked at her coworkers hopefully.

"Not for another hour…" Rad groaned. All three of them slumped to the floor in a bored mush and crawled out of the bathroom, leaving an inexplicable tail of slime behind them.

O.K. K.O. (LET'S BE HEROES!)

Carol Kicaid had just recently redefined her definition of a fussy bather. K.O., as sweet as he was as a baby, tended to squirm and cry during bath time when he was a baby. No matter how many times he was put in the bathtub, he would throw a fit and cling to his mother. His tiny fingernails had grooved into her skin so many times before Carol realized how scared he was, and a solution came to her. No matter what the circumstances were, K.O. always managed to calm down when Carol began to sing.

She had crooned to her baby boy as she bathed him, feeling the tension leave him as she gently cleaned him after a long day of play. As K.O. grew older, his tantrums over bath time faded. In fact, his tantrums dissipated altogether. Of course, he would become more diplomatic on the subject – or at least, as diplomatic as a 6-11 year old could be over baths – and argue why he should try bathing at least five times a week instead of seven. Carol always thought that it was silly behavior to engage in. That was until she officially met Fink, of course.

If K.O. was fussy as a baby, then she would have to thank Cob that it didn't carry over to the present like it seemed to with Fink. And to make matters worse, Fink had sharp nails and wouldn't hesitate at the chance to scratch at Carol when she had to drain the bathtub twice because of all the grime Fink had brought with her. Her gnarled hair required attention from Carol's hairbrush, which only seemed to make Fink excruciatingly difficult to handle.

"Hold still, Fink," Carol struggled with the rat girl, "You'll feel a lot better when we're done!"

"No, I won't!" Fink snapped and tried biting Carol in the arm. She felt as helpless as a baby as Carol turned her back around and continued to rake that darn hair torture device through her perfectly fine mane. That Old Lady Mom had stripped her of her clothes, gadgets and mittens, but Fink refused to be stripped of her dignity.

She began squirming around in the bathtub, hoping that the woman would wield and let her go. The Old Lady Mom was drenched by the time Fink was restrained again, but her determination did not waver.

"You know something, Fink? I don't get why Professor Venomous dressed you up like that. The lab coat, I guess I kind of get, but the mittens are a complete mystery to me," Carol felt a smile form on her face as she sensed the hair beginning to straighten from her administrations. Fink grumbled with her back turned to the woman, her hands twitching. "I mean, why go through all that trouble of making you wear gloves when it wasn't even close to chilly out…" Carol's voice trailed off when she finally noticed what Fink was doing in the bathtub and frowned disapprovingly, "Young rat lady, we do not make that gesture in this household!"

Maybe that was the reason her ex-boyfriend made Fink wear those mittens all the time…

"Almost done, missy," Carol said a few minutes later, "Dinner's almost ready and I think I made too much for myself. Would you like to join me after your bath?"

"So, you can poison me?!" Fink snarled defiantly, "NEVER!"

Fink's stomach grumbled in response.

"I'll have a nibble…" she conceded.

Fink was wrapped in a soft towel when she got out of the bath smelling like strawberries. The Old Lady Mom said that her clothes were being washed as she led the girl into the small dining room. It felt cluttered, but it had a worn feeling to it like putting on a favorite pair of boots. And it was colorful, too.

O.K. K.O. (LET'S BE HEROES!)

"Oh, Kanoli, there you are!" Billiam found K.O. wandering by himself in the party, "I'd like to introduce you to the rest of our community!"

Without waiting for a response, he took a hold of K.O.'s hand and dragged him over to a circle of villains chattering with each other.

"Everyone," Billiam waited for the murmurs to quiet down, "I'd like to introduce our newest member to our vile brotherhood, Kanoli! He works at Boxmore as an intern and I am confident that he will flourish under Professor Venomous' teachings."

A smattering of applause followed and Billiam continued, "Kanoli, this is Cosma, she is my coworker."

K.O. fought back a shudder as he looked at the lizard lady, hoping that she didn't recognize him. The last time they met, she had eaten Rad's home planet and spat it out later.

"A pleasure, my dear," Cosma extended a hand, smiling warmly at him, "Our hearts melt knowing that the next generation will carry on after we are gone."

"T-thatsa nice toa hear!" K.O. felt sweat beading across his forehead.

"This is Succulentus, I'm sure you saw him as you and Venomous came in," Billiam pointed to the vegetable man while K.O. prayed to Cob that he wouldn't be recognized by that villain, either. Big Bull Demon is doing karaoke at the moment, I'll introduce you to him later. That's Vormulax, she will eat you out of house and home. So, tell me, Kanoli, how did you react when you heard about what's been going on at P.O.I.N.T., huh?"

"What?" K.O. stared at Billiam blankly. Fortunately, Billiam interpreted it differently.

"My apologies, you're new around here, I forgot. P.O.I.N.T. is our arch nemesis, run by the elite of the elite among heroes." He loudly snorted suddenly, "Or at least, it was until their dirty laundry was aired."

The other villains in the group began to laugh loudly along with Billaim while K.O. felt his blood run cold. P.O.I.N.T. was in trouble? How? Elodie didn't make it sound like they were going through problems recently. In fact, the only thing she was concerned about was Chip Damage not behaving like himself ever since his breakdown during Enid's final exams.

"Whata 'dirty laundry' do youa mean?" He ventured. "Dida someone leavea theira socksa out inta rain?"

"No, dear, worse than that!" Cosma clutched her sides as she laughed, "Their top hero, Chip Damage was nothing more than a robot. Imagine learning that your role model was nothing more than an illusion built by a bunch of pathetic losers in the hopes of keeping morale up."

K.O. could imagine that if truth be told. He had thrown out all his memorabilia of Chip Damage when he learned the truth about him. He even made a video to his followers online; some of them even commented how they threw their memorabilia away when they saw the post too. At the time, K.O. felt like he had gotten through to a few people about how bad P.O.I.N.T. had messed up and lied to everyone. But hearing the villains treat it like it were some hilarious joke made him feel squeamish; it reminded him of how he had eaten all of the cookies Mommy had made in one day and wrecked the house as T.K.O.

"Nobody isa perfect, though," he argued feebly, but Cosma talked right over him.

"I can't believe Chip Damage thought the public would be okay with him exposing his secret like that!" She laughed again, more cruelly this time. "I mean, why go to all the trouble of making this perfect hero if he decides to expose himself as a fraud? The news has been going on about it for weeks now!"

"But he was honest with everyone in the end! Doesn't that mean anything?!" K.O. felt himself turn to stone when he felt all eyes looking at him now.

"Your accent's slipping a little, Kanoli," Billiam observed, his eyes narrowing sharply. Cosma looked at him suspiciously, now.

"Ita comes anda ita goes sometimes," K.O. invented, feeling his suit becoming sticky with sweat. That seemed to mollify Billiam, but Cosma still looked at him like he was some fly that landed on her plate.

"Kanoli's been known to debate with the others back at Boxmore," K.O. nearly jumped when he heard Venomous behind him. "He tries to see both sides of an issue, like an adult. And I've been helping him with his accent and he is a very fast learner. Did I forget to mention that, earlier, Billiam?"

Now everyone was looking at Billiam, who seemed to be wishing he were somewhere else at the moment, "Um…I don't remember, Venomous. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Venomous placed a gentle hand on K.O.'s shoulder and steered him away from the other villains, "Now if you'll excuse me, I think my intern needs some punch."

The moment they were out of earshot, Venomous was whispering frantically in K.O.'s ear, "What do you think you were doing back there? Trying to blow your cover?!"

"It slipped out!" K.O. said hotly, "And besides, Chip Damage is a great hero!"

"You mean a great fraud," Venomous countered, "If he were honest from the beginning, P.O.I.N.T. wouldn't be facing so much backlash right now."

"But Chip Damage didn't even know he was a robot until I tried fixing him!"

"You what?" Venomous asked flatly.

"Ummm….Itriedtofixhimwithelodieshelpandmakehimbehavebutchiplearnedhewasarobotanddecidedtotelleveryonethetruthandshuthimselfdownpermanently."

"What."

"He was acting up a while ago, right before P.O.I.N.T. took over the Plaza and we had to fight them. When Elodie took over, she needed my help to fix him since Greyman wasn't around until the last minute and Chip wanted everyone to know the truth before he…retired."

"Greyman made him?" Venomous looked strangely thoughtful, "That doesn't sound like something he could screw up so easily…"

"Well…Foxtail made a few adjustments, so…"

"That explains a lot, then," Venomous shook his head in dismay, "Every time I saw her on the news since I 'left', it was like she became a completely different person. The only one who hasn't changed at all is…your mom."

It was the way he said that last word that made K.O. stop. He wasn't great at reading people, but there was something about the way Professor Venomous said it that seemed to say a lot. There was surprise, and relief and sorrow. And bitterness. He thought of when Venomous went off against his mom about how she 'lied' to him about his potential. And how quickly she seemed to give up after Venomous seemed to vanish.

It was official, this party was a bust. The villains were villains and jerks too. There was no one that K.O. could talk to without blowing his cover. The decorations were really creepy and made K.O. want to redecorate the entire place and no one seemed to be batting an eye at the shadowy figure looming in the background –

Wait.

THE SHADOWY FIGURE LOOMING IN THE BACKGROUND?!

His fists became cloaked in a blue aura and K.O. threw a punch with precision that Enid would have been envious of. The Power Fist flew so fast a blast of wind blew back at K.O. and knocked him to the floor. Professor Venomous tried to grab his arm, but he was too slow. It was strangely beautiful to watch and K.O. could feel so much power that he couldn't remember having when his ability came forth.

A large streak of blue, faster than the average eye could follow, soared across the party floor and caught Shadowy Figure square in the chest. He was sent sprawling across the floor and hit the opposite wall with a loud crack! that drew everyone's attention towards the sound.

Billiam was the first to move, his face now alive with panic, "Oh Cob, oh Cob, everyone stay calm! Someone find the source of that…that…unprovoked attack!"

K.O. immediately began to whistle while Venomous put a hand to his face in dismay. The whistling drew everyone's attention to the two and the song died on K.O.'s lips when he realized what had just happened.

"Um…mama mia…" he chuckled weakly and looked to Professor Venomous for help, only to find that the man had become frozen with fear.

"Some light show, huh, everyone," Professor Venomous' eyes darted left and right, hoping to find an opening that he and K.O, could use to escape. Billiam returned with Shadowy Figure leaning on him for support. Or at least it looked like it was Shadowy Figure. The hood was down, but a gloved hand covered their face as they moved.

"Dr. Blight, I am so sorry about that," Billiam was on the verge of tears, "I promise I will get to the bottom of this at once!"

"I want their head!" Dr. Blight removed her hand from her face and K.O. could see the shiny new black eye she had. He swallowed drily and felt like he was ready to lose whatever snacks he managed to eat that night.

"Kanoli chose a strange time to start whistling," Cosma observed. Billaim now had his sights on K.O. too.

"You know something?" He began, "He looks rather familiar…Professor Venomous, don't you have an enemy from the Plaza that can fire energy blasts that are shaped like fists?"

"Um…yes, but…" Professor Venomous looked lost, "The thing is…I was…just practicing an experiment while Kanoli was about to whistle and –"

"STOP, FINK!" Everyone turned towards the new voice shrieking into the night air. Boxman pushed through the thong of villains crowding around K.O. and Venomous with Darrell and Shannon close behind him. K.O. heard Venomous say something under his breath that he was sure Mommy wouldn't want K.O. repeating in public.

"IT'S NOT WORTH GETTING STEPDADDY IN TROUBLE WITH AUNTIE COSMA!" Darrell shrieked, unaware that 'Auntie' Cosma was glowering at his back.

"Yeah," Shannon looked around frantically for the hench-girl, "I mean, there's always next year or just attacking the Plaza. Wanna attack the Plaza with your favorite senior coworkers, Fink? I'll give you a five-minute head-start on attacking the Bodega chumps!" If she were human, K.O. was certain that she would have been sweating like a hog in the blazing sun.

"As you can plainly see," Billiam sneered at the new trio that just arrived, "Fink is not in my manor presently. However, I don't seem to recall inviting the likes of you here, Boxman!"

"Quick!" K.O. felt a harsh whisper against his ear and felt Venomous taking a hold of his hand, "Let's bolt it while they're distracted."

"But isn't Boxman your partner?" K.O. whispered back, looking at the fat robot chicken and his children with concern.

"Don't worry about them," Venomous reassured him as he dragged him through the crowd, "I've got it covered."

K.O. didn't have any time to argue as he and Venomous ran out of the manor while the villains surrounded Boxman and his children and began to hurl scorn at them. The moment they reached the bottom of the fancy steps, Professor Venomous pulled a remote out of his jacket and pressed the big red button on it. A moment later, he heard three cries of shock growing more and more distant by the moment.

"SEE YOU BACK AT BOXMORE, P.V.!" Boxman shouted before he was swallowed up by the night. Back on the ground, there were sounds of pandemonium as villains frantically ran all over the place.

"I am going to have to grovel to Billiam for weeks just so he can forget this whole night ever happened," Venomous sighed as he and K.O. entered the car. K.O. barely had time to buckle in before the car was in motion and they were well on their way onto the highway.

"Um…Professor Venomous?" K.O. tried. Venomous didn't spare a glance his way. K.O. cleared his throat and said a little louder, "Professor Venomous?" This time, he was rewarded with a weary look. K.O. twisted his hands together and pressed on, "I'm really sorry about what happened…"

Venomous exhaled deeply and redirected his attention to the road in front of them.

"I know I'm not a villain…" K.O. continued, "And I know you're not a hero. I just…I didn't mean to ruin your night…"

"You didn't ruin it at all."

"Huh?!"

Venomous looked back at him, smiling this time, "You made it through most of the party without breaking a sweat. You blew your cover in the end, but I honestly didn't expect you to get that far. Plus, you ruined Billiam's night by crashing it, so it worked out in the end."

"I thought villains got along with each other," as soon as he said this, K.O. realized how silly it sounded.

Venomous seemed to agree, "Scamp, if all the villains got along perfectly, there'd be no heroes to stand against them. Or that's what I'd like to think. Speaking of villains, though…why did you attack Dr. Blight out of the blue?"

"Oh, um…" K.O. looked down at his lap and said simply, "Well…I thought she was Shadowy Figure."

"Shadowy Figure…" Venomous murmured, "Shadowy…Figure…?"

"Yeah!" K.O. nodded eagerly and pulled the jacket over his head as best as he could to show what the villain looked like, "He wears a big hood over his head and has a creepy voice and sells glorbs and keeps trying to get me to harness T.K.O. like a madman and –"

"Woah, woah, woah, woah," Venomous looked at him incredulously, "T.K.O.? What is Cob's name is T.K.O.?"

"Hesmyinnerdarknessthatcomesoutwhenimhelplessandangryandstressedandwreckshavokoneverythinginsightbuthesontimeoutnowbecauseicanttrusthimanymore."

"Again," Venomus sighed, "This time, slower."

"Well," K.O. began, hating how funny his tummy was feeling at the thought of explaining to Venomous, "Shadowy Figure offered me a way to get power faster cause I wasn't even Level 1 at the time –"

"That POW card system doesn't make sense," Venomous interjected with irritation, "Seriously, stealing candy from a baby is a -2 on your POW card rating but destroying public property isn't worth anything at all?"

"I know!" K.O. agreed vehemously, "My friend, Dendy, she's a Kappa and her species couldn't get a POW card cause they were considered bad, but wouldn't that have made them villains instead? That POW car President is crazy –"

"As much as I love how we found common ground on something, we need to get back to this T.K.O. thing."

"Oh, right. Anyways, he said the key to my hidden power was anger and how I could draw on it to get stronger. That's when T.K.O. came out and I got locked into my head in some cage that he was in before. He wrecked the Plaza and hurt my friends, Mr. Gar, even Mommy!"

"He tried to hurt your mother?!" Venomous' eyes grew saucer-plate wide at this. "If he was you, then that shouldn't have happened! Why would you be mad at your mother?!"

"I guess I was mad at her for getting my hopes up with 'path to greatness is long and hard' for a bit," K.O. mumbled sadly, "She never made me feel sad or hurt or scared and that's the only thing I could think of that could have been why T.K.O. would have wanted to hurt her. Oh, and for thinking I was going through a phase as him. Everyone thought that it was a phase until T.K.O. attacked them."

"What stopped him?"

"I did," K.O. explained, "I dragged him back into my mind and managed to get him back in his cage. When the Plaza got attacked by Boxman Jr, we came to a better deal with him not being in a cage. He'd channel his anger inward and allow me to control it in the real world. That's how I beat Boxman Jr and got to Level 1."

"You said he was put on time-out?"

"Well, we were starting to get along and I even build him a house – long story – and we managed to learn how to fight as one and get even stronger. But one day, he tricked me into staying in his house while he took control on my body and made a big mess! I couldn't trust him anymore and I had to send him into my subconscious, and he's been there ever since." K.O. smiled nervously at the end to take the sting away.

Venomous gaped at him, "This whole time…you had that much power?! How do his abilities differ from yours?"

"Well…he's got this lightning aura around him, like Fink does when she uses a glorb and –"

"He can harness glorb energy without an outside source?! K.O., do you have any idea how powerful that is? You – or he – can harness glorb energy naturally!"

"But I can't control myself as T.K.O." K.O. countered, "Ever since I threw him into my subconscious, he's tried taking control a few times…like when…" He trailed off, thinking back to the day that everything changed, when Professor Venomous put on Laserblast's helmet and revealed himself as K.O.'s father.

"Oh…" The passion that Venomous had seemed to dwindle, "So…that day…you didn't want to…free the beast…"

"No."

Venomous took a deep breath and sighed heavily, "Then…I'm glad I stepped in without realizing it."

"I wanted to spend time with you because…I thought you could help me understand my dark side, since you're a villain and all…" K.O. felt tears welling in his eyes now, but he wiped them away before they could fall.

"How does T.K.O. come out?" Venomous' voice was in a hush whisper now.

"When I'm angry," K.O. answered quietly, "Or feeling helpless…"

A warm hand gently touched his shoulder and he looked up at Venomous.

"That's part of growing up, I'm afraid," he said softly, "I know it sounds scary now, but you'll be able to get this problem under control eventually."

Nothing more was said as they drove back to Boxmore. But Professor Venomous' hand didn't leave K.O.'s shoulder for the rest of the ride.

"It's definitely past your bedtime, buddy," Venomous helped K.O. out of the car. His hand was on K.O.'s shoulder again, but K.O. didn't brush it aside as they walked into the building, "We can grab something to eat tomorrow before your mom picks you up."

K.O. yawned and Venomous gently guided him to his bedroom.

"You've given me a lot to think about, K.O." Venomous said as he helped K.O. into the bed, "Thank you. And get a good night's rest or your mother will gut me."

The moment he shut the door, Venomous heard the bell door ring. Who could be calling him at this hour? He was certain Boxman, Shannon and Darrell got back safely while the villains were distracted by the fire. Venomous opened the entrance expecting to see Boxman frazzled about something. He wasn't expecting to see Silver Sparks holding Fink's hand.

"Hey…Professor…" Silver Sparks said awkwardly, "Fink was at my place, and I didn't know how to reach you. I don't know if you knew this or not, but she tried to attack me."

"Thank you, Sparks, I really appreciate you doi – wait, what."

"Boss!" Fink was leaning heavily against Silver Sparks' leg, and her voice was slurred, "You're back!"

"And you made a new friend," Venomous smiled, reaching down to pick up his minion, "Did you have a nice time?"

"Heck no!" Venomous tried not to roll his eyes at her dramatic tone, "She took away my toys and made me eat vegetables!"

"And spaghetti and meatballs," Silver Sparks smiled at this, "Three helpings, I think."

"PV, HAVE YOU SEEN FINK?!" Boxman came pelting in just now, smelling like he came out of a sewer.

"Yeah, she's right here," Venomous gestured to Fink, who had crawled into his awaiting arms.

Boxman sniffed a few times and said, "What is that smell?"

"You?" Venomous looked at his partner drily, "What, were you in the sewers or something?"

"Yes," Boxman nodded eagerly, "Darrell told me this and I think you should know too, but –"

"Rats can really do that, I know, Boxy, I've known Fink longer."

"Oh," Boxman sagged and sniffed again, "What's that other smell?"

"Strawberry soap," Silver Sparks said proudly, "K.O.'s favorite."

Venomous looked at her with surprise, "You got Fink to take a bath?"

Boxman's jaw gaped open, "What are you, an exorcist?!"

"Nope!" Silver Sparks smiled, "Just used to fussy bathers."

"I'm gonna get…you...you…hag…" Fink's eyes closed, and she began to snore softly.

"Thanks for looking after her, Sparks…" Venomous began, but found himself being poked in the chest.

"Why did she come all the way to my house for company?" Silver Sparks demanded, "Where were you? And what have you been feeding her; she ate everything I put in front of her like it was her last meal."

"I can't cook that well…" Venomous trailed off hopelessly.

"We get takeout mostly," Boxman added helpfully, "And my children don't need to eat."

"Alright," Silver Sparks raised an eyebrow, "But you still didn't tell me where you were this whole time? I kept expecting you to call asking me about your minion."

"I was…at a party with K.O…" Venomous gulped, trying to keep his legs from rattling at the glare he was getting.

"I'm letting you off the hook this time, mister," Silver Sparks glowered at him, "But I don't want her getting hurt running off by herself, got it?"

"Yes ma'am." Venomous and Boxman said in unison.

Author's Note: More groundwork has been laid out for the story and I apologize again for the incredibly long absence...