Epilogue: His Personal Holy Trinity
This is at least the fourth epilogue I wrote for this story, and each one was radically different. Nothing seemed to hit quite the right note, and I realized I didn't want to infringe into season 3's territory/timeline. So I picked a moment where Gary and Avocato are reunited before everything goes even more to hell. Olan gave them a few seconds for their reunion. I amped it up to about a minute.
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"What in tha hell is that?"
The almost-panicked, high-pitched squawk was like music to Gary's ears. Avocato's obvious confusion and uncertainty (bordering panic, understandably) was even greater proof positive that Invictus had been exorcised than Avocato's eyes losing the magenta glow and returning to their normal yellow-gold color. The difference was visible even at a distance, in the eyes and the attitude.
He glanced up at Bolo, at that wide-eyed, unchanging expression. The Titan seemed to understand, because he extended his arm and gently lowered his massive hand right before Avocato. Gary stepped off Bolo and onto the hull of the Crimson Light, unable to look away as Avocato greeted him with a happy smile just this side of a smirk.
"It's good to have you back, buddy," Gary choked out. The words were nothing close to what he wanted to say right now, but with losing Nightfall, freeing Bolo, fighting Invictus, his mother coming to his defense, and reclaiming his best friend and husband all in a matter of minutes, his emotions were running too high to be easily expressed.
And Avocato, hale but plainly shaken, was in a similar state. Being brought back from the dead, suffering amnesia, fighting Invictus, becoming Invictus, almost killing Gary, going on a demon-possessed rampage for months, trying to kill the whole Team Squad at once, and suddenly snapping back to himself in a dimension of breathable space with a moon-eyed Titan staring down at him from above would be enough to rattle even the stoutest personalities. It was quite enough to rattle Avocato.
For Gary, it had been a mere two months since he had bid goodbye to General Avocato on Zee Secundus. The Master of Death had been unleashed on the universe as Gary and the Team Squad slipped back into their own timeline. But Avocato had waited and fought for ten years to reach this point.
Luckily, though, each of them had their best friend just a step away.
Unable to come with anything like a witty reply that would do credit to this moment of overdue reunion, Avocato resorted to a gesture he knew Gary would never misunderstand. Relaxing his defensive stance, he held out his hand. To Clasp.
Gary's cold, mechanical hand slapped into Avocato's waiting paw and each man grasped the other in a tight, confident grasp. The connection said more than words ever could. It was an eloquent gesture and they needed only this connection to reaffirm the ties that bound them together: friendship, love, marriage, family . . . sacrifice.
Gary could not hold back a happy sigh of, "Hell, yeah," before he yanked Avocato in for a hug. They crushed each other tight, neither willing to let go. Gary pressed his head close to Avocato's, breathing in that musky smell of his fur. He could feel Avocato's hands gripped tight on his leather jacket, pulling Gary in closer still. It was just as he remembered it from back on the Galaxy 1: the press of Avocato's body armor against his chest, those powerful arms, the warmth that poured off a Ventrexian frame. They fit together so effortlessly. Only now, it was better. this wasn't just his friend. This was his husband.
It was a perfect moment, and if it had lasted forever, Gary would not have a word of complaint.
"Little Cato?" whispered Avocato.
"Good. Safe. Relatively speaking," he added, feeling the need to clarify.
Avocato released a small huff of a laugh. "You?"
"Better now," he said, hiding his face against Avocato's neck. He forced himself to smile because he wanted to cry. Now was not the time.
Avocato shook slightly as he asked in a small voice, "So where am I?"
"You're with me," Gary replied simply. Everything else was far too much to explain right now. "You're back. And . . ." He laughed a little, trying not to sound too manic as he finished, "Wow, yeah, that's a loaded question, Cato."
Suddenly everyone jumped in shock as a deafening crack like ice shattering and grinding echoed through the atmosphere. It was the sound of the world ending. Gary's attention snapped upwards as the blackness enveloping them was crisscrossed by lines of what looked like lightning. Instead of fading, though, the lines got wider, spreading and splintering until the horizon started to fall away like pieces of a broken mirror. They stared in horror for a heartbeat as the very fabric of space unraveled before their eyes, and Gary looked to Bolo.
"Uh, what is that?" he cried.
A large, yellow form careened into them, wrapping his arms around Avocato and Gary's shoulders and hugging them both.
"It's KVN!" cheered the fantastically annoying robot.
"Can we leave him here?" begged Avocato, trying to break free of KVN's pincer.
Bolo's voice rose to be heard over the sound of the fragmenting dimension, his tone - and not his frozen expression - conveying his alarm. "All of you must get back to your ship right now! The blast from the dimensional keys weakened the walls of inner space. Inner space is collapsing!"
"Oh, my crap! Team Squad!" cried Gary. "Back on board!"
Wide-eyed with dread, he seized Avocato by the collar of his body armor and yanked him in, crashing their lips together in a swift, intense kiss. If they died, Gary was not going out without one last kiss, and they managed to jam a record amount of passion into a caress that lasted mere seconds. Then Avocato was moving, breaking away to push Gary ahead of him and pulling a dazed Tribore by the scarf. A harsh, cold wind that smelt of ozone kicked up as the rest of the crew started piling into the ship. Little Cato jumped straight down the hatch and Ash flew in after him. There was a brief pause as Fox wriggled down the narrow opening.
"Get to the bridge!" ordered Avocato over the roar of the wind, shoving Gary toward the hatch. "I got this, baby!"
The endearment made his heart sing. So it was with a wide grin that Gary slid down the access ladder and was scrambling out of the way as his mother landed immediately behind him. He set off at a full run for the bridge. Avocato leaned in, lowering Tribore into Sheryl's outstretched hands before climbing inside to stand on the ladder. The Ventrexian looked back, making sure there were no stragglers.
"Mooncake!"
With an enthusiastic "Chooookity!" the little planet killer came zooming out of the shattered horizon at top speed, dodging chunks of crystal raining down. Avocato reached out, caught him, and let the impact jar him free of the ladder. Dropping straight down to the deck, he slammed the control to seal the hatch, then stuffed Mooncake under his arm as he stabbed the comm button.
"Everyone sound off! I've got Mooncake!"
"I've got Tribore," called Sheryl.
"Fox and Ashy!"
"I'm heading for the engine room!" Little Cato shouted.
"Bridge!" called Gary.
"KVN is here! Hooray! Everyone's favorite survived!"
"KVN, You're delusional. HUE is ready to rumble."
"I never left," purred AVA.
"We got everyone?" demanded Avocato breathlessly.
Gary burst onto the bridge, and as he threw himself into the pilot's seat, he felt a sharp pang at the unintentional reminder of their fallen crew member. It was a valid question. One Avocato had to ask, and that he, the Captain, had to answer.
"Yeah. Yeah, Cato, that's everyone," he said, then barked, "Stations!"
He gripped the controls, loss igniting a burning anger within. Invictus. Everything came back to Invictus. The demon had taken everything - his father, Quinn, Avocato, the earth.
But he had Avocato back. Gary wasn't alone now. He had another part of his personal holy trinity back.
And if they had freed Avocato, that meant, there was hope to get Quinn.
One more piece and he'd be whole again.
Evil's victory wasn't complete.
It was time to take the fight to Invictus.
"AVA, fire up the engines!"
- Fin -