Little Cato had been given the following day off after he was rescued from the cave. Gary thought it was probably better for him that way, of course, mostly on Quinn's suggestion.

He spent most of the morning just watching the news in the apartment he shared with Gary. Specifically, the apartment was Gary's and Little Cato had simply been moved in when the former adopted him 13 years ago. Regardless, it was the one haven the young Ventrexian could stay nestled in as he began the long slog through his malaise.

By the time it got close to noon, Little Cato got restless and had already gone out into the streets just for a change in scenery. There were no kids to save from bullies this time, which meant that he was running out of ways to keep doing some real good for the day. All he had instead was time to reflect on his work in Crimson Light, wondering if everything he had done was for nothing, that he had been participating in what was really a cruel business that preyed on people for no reason other than a physical trait. He wondered if Gary, Quinn, and the rest of his friends would think the same way if they knew the truth.

Little Cato felt like he wanted to quit just from thinking back to everything he saw, mostly the scene that made him rethink why he fought the Tenebri for most of his life. He remembered the Tenebri's bodily state, the fact that they ate just like regular people did, that even children were among them, seeing the Ventrexian Meowlapeño die such a miserable death from equally miserable injuries – even the fact that he and all Tenebri could die at all. And then he got the bombshell that was Governor Jack experimenting on the Tenebri, caring nothing at all for their personhood. Everything just felt unreal to him since yesterday.

Some part of him concluded that his gainful employment with Crimson Light was just one added ingredient in, what Gary liked to call, the 'corruption stew' that was the Infinity Guard. But then another part of him argued back that Gary encouraged him and actually fought on his behalf to get him in; it was even more encouraging when he did get in thanks to Governor Jack's recommendation. It couldn't have been all bad. Why would Little Cato have got in if every arrangement made supposedly in his favor was corrupt in true nature?

Little Cato scratched his head in frustrated confusion. "What would Quinn do?" he thought, "What would Gary do? ...What would dad do?"

"Hey dad, how's it going?" Little Cato greeted, kneeling down in front of the gravestone that marked the resting place of Avocato. An image of his face along with his name was etched into the shiny chrome material that composed the marker like a carving or engraving. "Things were pretty awesome for me a few days ago," Little Cato continued, brushing a hand across the gravestone's surface, once again feeling the happiness and pride from that time returning to him and showing up on his face, "I actually went up against the Mad Tenebri…actually, scratch that! I actually fought their leader, and guess what? I won! I got a medal from…Gov. Jack, and then we had a party…" he trailed off, ending with a sigh. "Yeah, and then…well…things got pretty…different in those same days."

He found himself looking away from his father's grave as he thought about what he wanted to say next. "Dad, were you proud of what you did, fighting the Tenebri?" He, of course, didn't bother to wait for an answer. "I joined Crimson Light so I could do what Gary and everyone else did, what you did…I thought I was signing myself up to be the hero I saw in you, fighting the bad guys responsible for tearing up the galaxy. I'm not saying you're really not a hero. I know I gave it my all in trying to be one, but…" he gave another sigh, speaking more quietly, "I found out some things, things that made me start to wonder who the bad guy really is in all this…I don't know if any of it's actually true, not yet anyway."

Little Cato then stood up and turned away from the grave. He remained wordless for a bit. "Dad, I really wish you were still here…What would you do if you were me? Would you understand the Tenebri, that they don't mean what they do but can't help it? Do I still have to fight them, because they destroy things and we protect them, that we're just too different to be able to live together?" He plopped back down on the grass, fully sitting down. "It feels like it's all crashing down."

Only the wind rustling against the trees could be heard. "I miss you, dad." Little Cato then looked directly into the engraved image of his father's face. "I know I have Gary, and he cares so much for me, doing so much to raise me, but…it's not the same without you…"

He lingered for a little bit, but a sign of movement from further away caught the corner of his eye, prompting him to look at the direction of the cemetery's entrance, seeing a familiar figure walking towards the same gravestone that Little Cato was currently in front of. "Gary?"

Some time yesterday…

The light from the setting sun had cast an orange tint over Avocato's gravestone, painting it with a somewhat camouflaged glint that Gary almost missed it. Gary had just arrived in front of his friend's grave marker, a bouquet of flowers held in his mechanical hand.

"Hey there, buddy," Gary greeted, sounding much more mellow than he usually was when talking to his friends. "I got these for you." He set down the bouquet in front of the marker that held Avocato's engraved image. "Sorry if these look a little too frilly for your liking, but it's a human thing, and you can roll with it…I hope." He stood in front of the grave, holding a nostalgic gaze in front of the etching of Avocato's face.

"In case you're wondering, yeah, I'm doing A-Okay." Gary snapped a pair of finger guns. "Crimson Light's been on top of the world as of late, all thanks to your friendly neighborhood son Little Cato. Little dude's got an unstoppable fire in his belly, I tell you! Really, he killed it out there, taking out a couple of top-dog terrorists and their head honcho all at the same time!" He swung a leg around while putting his hands in his pockets. "And…well, things got complicated after that. Stoney-boy and Scarlet Lance had to show up and crash the party, and then Little Cato got stuck in a rut."

Gary turned away from the grave, his face now showing a look of contemplation. "He got upset for quite a while, but I think this is the first time in a long time that I don't know what to say to him. For once, I don't know how to help." He then turned his head in a side glance back to Avocato's grave. "You know, when I talked to him yesterday, I told him if he had a problem, he could always talk to Gov. Jack. I mean, with such a high-tier friend in your pocket, why wouldn't you, right?" A tiny half-smile formed on a corner of his lips. "But then he told me that he wasn't gonna sic Jack on anyone just so he can do whatever he wants! I mean, that was really grownup of him!"

Gary then went back to the gravestone and then kneeled down in front of it, trying to make it like he was trying to look at his friend at eye-level. "So, like…you think I'm still good for Little Cato, right for him? I mean, I guess it's really late to be asking that, but still, I kinda can't help but keep wondering at times." His eyes drifted downward. "I mean, I thought Jack was gonna take care of him after you…bit it…so when he told me he wanted me to take care of the kid because he couldn't, I really thought he picked the wrong guy. Not that there was a big pool to pick from, but…I was looking after an 11-year old cat when I could barely look after myself. Still…I don't think I did too bad of a job, right?"

This time, Gary seemed to look rather pensive, looking left and right even though he wasn't in any real danger. "So what I'm saying is…what do you think I should do? And for once, I could really use a sign here, man. So maybe brush the grass if I should give him space, or blow the trees if I should try harder…or something? No?"

Of course, he was going to be met with silence again, as always. Gary sighed as he got up and ready to leave. "Well, good talking to you, bud…as always." He turned to the direction of the exit. "Talk to you later, maybe tomorrow. Yeah, I think I'll talk to you tomorrow."

In the present…

"Little Cato?" Gary said as he approached the grave which Little Cato was currently in front of.

"Gary?" Little Cato said right back. "Why are you here?"

Gary raised his arms in brief bewilderment. "Same reason as you, at least I think that's why you're here…" He lowered his arms again, both his normal and mechanical hands hanging loosely by his sides.

Little Cato didn't have anything to say or add to that, so he looked back at Avocato's grave. Gary went up and sat down next to Little Cato, placing a hand on his shoulder while looking at the gravestone just as the Ventrexian was.

After a bout of silence, Little Cato thought he should speak first. He turned his head to the man next to him. "Hey Gary, do you think I'm doing the right thing?"

"Right thing? What do you think you're doing wrong here?"

"Just…everything." Little Cato ran a hand through his hair. "Fighting the Tenebri, the Mad Tenebri…making the city a mutant-free place…" When he saw that Gary didn't quite seem like he was following, he elaborated further. "I know we're only doing our job of protecting the public here, but couldn't it be that we're just dealing with another kind of people, people who are just as normal as we are?"

"Again with the deeper questions," Gary thought to himself, silently praying to Avocato to give him some kind of real wisdom. He spoke to Little Cato, "Well, I guess you wouldn't be wrong. I'd think a Tenebrus who does crime isn't different from a normal person doing the same thing, but…" he took a little moment to think, "whether these guys know it or not, whether they mean to or not, whether they're trying to or not…what they're doing hurts everyone, no matter if it's harmless or harmful. If our job is to keep that from happening, we have to do it unless we let them get us hurt too."

"Do you hate them, Gary?" Little Cato asked him more quietly. He saw Gary give him that quizzical stare again. "I mean, the reason dad died was because of a Tenebrus, which was why I wanted to join Crimson Light to begin with. At the time, I was so mad, so determined to make them pay for dad's death…but it gave me so much more purpose to my life than I've ever known, and for 13 years, I loved that." That made Gary feel a little frightened for his Spider Cat. But Little Cato wasn't done. "That was, until I actually got to meet some of them, see what life was really like for them, that they weren't really that happy with how they lived even though they tried to be." He then scooted a little closer to Gary's side. "So, if you actually met a Tenebrus and talked with them, you think you'd be friends?"

Gary turned to look at his knees for a moment, putting a hand on his head to ponder what he had been asked. "Well, when I told you before that I was very much like you, I meant it. I was 12 when my dad died in the Great Galactic Blackout, and like your dad, mine went out trying to deal with the Tenebri. I guess knowing that he was dead and never coming back blacked out my world too." He did take the time to put an arm around Little Cato to pull him in a faint side hug. "I won't forget that little comment you made about my story the last time I told it to you, how we were both 'members of the same club' and all."

"I said that to Quinn yesterday too," Little Cato added.

"Oh, Quinn too?" Gary sounded really curious. "But anyway, I guess I wouldn't know what to do if I met a Tenebrus. I could try and be friends, but we'd both have to work twice as hard to make the bond stay. Considering the way things are now, it's very easy to break." He looked down at the bouquet that still lied in front of the epitaph since the day before. "We both lost someone important because of a Tenebrus. But what mattered now is that we both had someone new we could share the love with, don't we, Spider Cat?"

"You and me?"

"…and Quinn, and Mooncake, HUE, Tribore, AVA and Fox maybe, definitely not KVN…" Gary then leaned over to Avocato's gravestone just to give it a little brush-up with his fingers. "I know it's tough for you to lose your dad because I've been there, but the moment you came under my wing, I felt I had to give you the best I could give you, only what you needed and wanted. And you should know that I've had my fair share of times when I didn't think I gave enough of my best for you."

"Gary," Little Cato whispered. He took one of Gary's hands in his own. "I know you did your best. However much of your best you gave, I loved all of it. It was more than enough for me."

Gary's eyes widened a bit at that last statement Little Cato made. It reminded him of a moment when he was a child, before the Great Galactic Blackout, that he talked to his father John regarding his then-shaking confidence:

"Just do your best, son," John gently told him.

"What if my best isn't good enough," a little Gary asked back.

John, Gary's father, gave a little smile. "It's good enough for me."

It was more than enough for me – It's good enough for me

Gary looked back at Avocato's grave, feeling much more hopeful and assured than he did yesterday. He leaned into Little Cato's side while still keeping his arm around the young Ventrexian, prompting Little Cato to return the gesture. "Thanks, Spider Cat," Gary whispered gratefully, inwardly glad for Little Cato, Avocato, his father John, and himself that he didn't fail freakin' hard after all.

Both father and son continued to sit quietly, letting only the sound of the wind and trees occupy their thoughts.