Back at the prison, Ash continued to sit silently alongside Melvin and Devlin, not having left the wounded and ailed Ventrexian's side since the first time she went to him. She continued to look at him carefully without saying another word. Watching him simply try to breathe was enough for her, and she even tried to keep him from raising his hand to her again and again just so he can save his strength.
"I still can't believe this even happened," Melvin whispered.
"There's no doubt about it," Ash whispered back. She looked back at the cell door which remained sealed. She looked around the rest of the cell to see the various other Tenebrus prisoners still standing or sitting listlessly against the walls, wordlessly waiting for something to happen. Her gaze momentarily fell on the little old alien man sitting near the door, with no expression detectable behind his orange goggles. She had talked with him a little while before, where she found out his name was Clarence.
Ash also learned the name of the Ventrexian whom she was still knelt before, courtesy of Devlin and Melvin telling it to her; it turned out that they had been acquainted with him only one other time before. His name was Meowlapeño.
From what Devlin and Melvin remembered from whatever they heard back then, Meowlapeño used to be a mechanic back on the city Tera Con Prime when said city used to exist; Ash wasn't sure if it was from all 30 years or just partway after the Great Galactic Blackout. Devlin and Melvin could assume that regardless, even when Tera Con Prime was no more, Meowlapeño somehow was able to continue being a mechanic well after relocating. Despite the trials faced by everyone since the Great Galactic Blackout, he persevered and was able to continue his old life into the one today. But now here he was, a Tenebrus badly damaged by the actions of the foundation.
Ash felt tempted to just end it all now. But she had to be patient.
Devlin leaned down until she was close enough to Meowlapeño to whisper into his ear. "You're going to be okay. Just hang in there a bit longer. Can you do that for us?" She waited as long as it took, paying close attention to the Ventrexian faintly shuffling the back of his head on the cell floor as he tried to give a little nod.
Ash averted her gaze and shut her eye, finally looking away after having enough of the scene. "Dang it," she hissed.
It was approaching sundown when Gary managed to spot Little Cato, having driven around on his bike going all over Tera Con Alpha looking for him. He knew Little Cato was just running away to be alone after what happened at Sal's restaurant, with Scarlet Lance and the Tenebrus waitress Holly. He admitted to himself that the whole thing sucked just as much for him as it did for his little Spider Cat, but even he couldn't tell what exactly Little Cato was feeling; he wasn't a mind reader after all.
He got a glimpse of Little Cato at one of Tera Con Alpha's parks near the city limits, sitting on a bench next to a canal meant to simulate a brook. "Little Cato," Gary called to him, but Little Cato didn't show any sign that he heard. Gary didn't care though. He went around the bench to see Little Cato staring at the water without moving a muscle, and then plopped down on the space next to him. "Ah, there you are, Spider Cat," Gary said in a half-joking tone, trying to sound cheerful for Little Cato's sake. "I was starting to wonder where you even were. I could've been hassling Gov. Jack on how I was gonna find you."
Little Cato still didn't say anything back. "So," Gary began awkwardly, "pretty nice park out near the city borders. You come here often, not just to, well, cool off?" Still nothing. About five or more seconds passed and Little Cato still remained silent, staring intently at the water flowing through the little canal. "Looking for a nice, big, fat, and juicy fish?" Gary whispered with mock seriousness. "I got one in the fridge I could pull out for you tonight. I think it's about…five days old. I heard Yarno fish that's aged for about a week are when they're the best…just soft and squishy, melt-in-your-mouth…probably just the stuff of alien skeevoids…"
Not a peep from Little Cato
Gary sighed. "Come on, Little Cato, talk to me. If it's still about Stoney boy and the restaurant, it's okay to be mad." He gently attempted to rub him on his slicked back mohawk, slowly brushing at it without totally ruffling it into a mess. "You're my Spider Cat, and if something bugs you, it bugs me too."
Little Cato sighed. "I just don't get it." He got off the bench and stood up, walking over and standing right at the water's edge. "What does Stone have against the Tenebri anyway?" He turned to walk alongside the canal, prompting Gary to get up and follow him. "I mean, sure the Tenebri cause major damage and the Mad Tenebri are responsible for a lot of that damage, but the ones I saw today were just so…normal." He stopped walking. "It's just not…right."
Gary got right beside him. "Yeah, some are just dumb and moody that way, my man. But hey, if you wanna make that problem go away, you could always tell Gov. Jack about it," he suggested.
"Yeah sure, but I don't want to stress him out," Little Cato said. "The other higher-ups already know about him saving my life, which is kinda a really big part of how he got to be governor. If I do something out-of-line, they'd think I'm using my relation with him to do whatever I want."
Gary looked at Little Cato for a moment, wondering how this Ventrexian, his Spider Cat, grew up to be such an upstanding hero. "I guess I'm getting something right, huh Jack?" he thought, "Hope I'm doing right by you, Avocato…" He then spoke up, getting Little Cato to lend him his ear. "Yeah bud, I get that. You know, I'm kinda like you too." That made Little Cato turn his head while Gary turned to look at some other thing in the park.
"You probably didn't know, but even before you joined us, we tended to have lots of run-ins with Scarlet Lance, which meant I kept seeing my mom a lot." Gary sighed, that solemn expression from back then returning. "And when everyone's watching, it's usually like 'John Goodspeed's wife and son are at it again' or 'John Goodspeed's son and Sheryl Goodspeed'… but not 'Sheryl Goodspeed and her husband's son' or even 'Sheryl Goodspeed and her son', thankfully.' He then looked right up at the dusk-filled sky. "Yeah, my dad's still a really big deal. But even after years of him being long gone, people still like to think I'm his cheap knockoff."
That prompted Little Cato to rapidly go around and stand right in front of Gary, who staggered a bit from the startling move. "No, Gary! You're not a 'cheap knockoff'!" he protested firmly, facing the man. "You're your own man, you're always acting like yourself, you're leading a rescue team, and…" Little Cato's face fell a bit, calming down. "…you're my dad. Even if you didn't turn out like your dad, I'm sure he'd want that for you."
Gary smiled melancholically, putting both of his hands on both of Little Cato's shoulders. "Thanks, bud. And I know you're your own cat too, but if you ask me, you're still both Little Cato and Avocato's son at the same time…and my son too, can't forget that," he laughed at himself a little.
Little Cato smiled back as he placed a hand on one of Gary's outstretched arms. "And you're both Gary Goodspeed and John Goodspeed's son too…dad." He then mused to himself out loud, "But wouldn't you also be your mom's son too? I mean, she's technically still your mom…"
"Let's work out the technical difficulties another time," Gary replied rapidly. "Come on, let's go home."
"I was kidding, Thunder Bandit," Little Cato half-chuckled. "By the way, you're not really gonna make that fish tonight, are you?"
"Trust me when I tell you, Spider Cat: Sometimes it pays to believe in what you hear."