It was decided that Professor Professor and Doctor Doctor would be going on that Notting Hill date on June 25th. As if in the blink of an eye, that day came and the married duo soon found themselves heading off to Osteria Napoletana on 186 Kensington Park Rd. They'd asked Maggie and Chandler to take care of Zoë while they were off on their date.
For this date, Professor Professor was wearing the same kind of outfit he'd worn for their date in Dubai, only with a mauve tie instead of a baby blue one. As for Doctor Doctor, she had decided to wear something different this time. While her clothes were still somewhat snug and there was still something of a swell at her stomach, she figured that she could will her self-confidence back into existence by wearing a black sleeveless deep cleavage dress with a skirt that reached all the way down to her ankles and matching open-toed high heels. She also decided to accessorize with spider earrings.
"Looking good, wunderhübsch," Professor Professor said. "Which is saying something, considering..."
Doctor Doctor cut him off. "Well, it's good that you think so because I'm definitely more pear-shaped than I was before."
"There's nothing wrong with having a little more ass. In fact, if you think I'd be turned off by a bigger ass, you're sorely mistaken."
"Mmm, guess I can't argue with that." Suddenly, Doctor Doctor started staring at something behind her husband. "Professor."
Professor Professor raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Behind you..." She pointed at someone directly behind him.
Professor Professor turned around to see a man wearing a dark tattered trench coat over brown and maroon and chartreuse rags and a matching dark hat. Underneath that hat, he wore a chartreuse bandana around his head. The man was about 5'11", had dark brown curly hair, and had striking steel blue eyes.
"Rat King!" Professor Professor exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"Surprised to see me, Professor Professor?" Rat King asked back. "Thought you'd seen the last of me?"
"No, not really. Okay, I'm surprised you decided to crash Osteria, but I wasn't surprised to see you again."
"Dammit. No matter, you won't be enjoying this place much longer anyway. Before your little date with your wife is even over, my rats are going to make short work of the place."
Doctor Doctor felt it was her turn to chime in. "Doing what exactly? Rat things, I presume?"
"No. I'm going to use my telekinesis to make those rats do my bidding," Rat King replied. "No matter what I tell them, they have to obey it."
Doctor Doctor tried stifling some snickering. "Oh, wow, real original. I don't think I've ever heard that before. Oh wait, yes, I have. That's the exact same gimmick your namesake has in 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.' Was this the best motif you could go for? Out of all the baddie motifs you could go with, was the one with rats really what stood out to you most?"
"Look, lady, I didn't come here so you could judge me. Now are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way? Your choice."
Doctor Doctor appeared unperturbed. "Ooh, real threatening coming from someone who chose controlling a hive mind of rats as his claim to fame."
"Not gonna take me seriously, huh? Maybe this'll change your mind!" Rat King brandished a shiv and pointed it at her face. "What do you think of me now?!"
He then started rushing over towards Doctor Doctor, only for Professor Professor to pounce on him and headbutt him in the face. He then proceeded to somehow knock him down to the ground and pin him there while throwing the shiv aside.
"Get off of me, arsehole!" Rat King yelled out.
Professor Professor refused to do such a thing and continued pinning the Rat King to the ground despite his size.
"Doctor Doctor, now's your chance!" Professor Professor yelled. "Use your web-shooter to incapacitate this guy!"
Without hesitation, Doctor Doctor equipped herself with a web-shooter and shot some web fluid at the Rat King in order to incapacitate them. "Okay, that should do it. Now what?"
"Now I'm going to call U.Z.Z. for backup and have them come take the Rat King away."
After Professor Professor did all that, the U.Z.Z. agents pulled into the area almost as quickly as he'd contacted them and took the baddie into custody. Afterwards, the rest of Professor Professor and Doctor Doctor's date played out somewhat uneventfully as they continued to eat their food and talk some more about their day-to-day lives.
Professor Professor and Doctor Doctor eventually made it back home from their date at around 8:30 at night. Maggie and Chandler had already put Zoë to bed, so there was little else the parents could do now except send their landlady and her husband on their way.
"Thank you so much for taking care of Zoë while we were gone, Maggie," Professor Professor said. "We appreciate the help."
"Of course, Professor Professor," Maggie replied. "I'd do anything for my tenants, especially you. Hopefully, we can do this again sometime."
"Of course. Take care."
"You too."
With that, Maggie and Chandler left the flat. Once Doctor Doctor knew for sure that the landlady and her husband were gone, she turned her attention to Professor Professor.
"What were you thinking?!" Doctor Doctor practically yelled at him. "You don't just attack a shiv-wielding maniac when you don't even have a weapon on you yourself, you moron! How stupid can you be? He could've easily stabbed you anywhere. What if he'd seriously hurt you or even killed you? Then what would I do?! Do you know how hard it is to be a single parent?"
Professor Professor's eyes just darted to the ground. "Well, I wasn't about to let some barking mad baddie kill you, either. I don't think I'd ever forgive myself if I even let someone so much as lay a hand on you."
Doctor Doctor sighed. "I know. I'm still getting used to having this protective fervor. It's like every nerve is being rubbed raw, so I'm almost always on edge."
"I can only imagine. Let's..." Professor Professor started walking past her. "Let's just go to bed."
Doctor Doctor shook her head and caught up with him in their shared bathroom. They said nothing and didn't look at each other while going over their bedtime routines. When they finished their routines and entered their bedroom, they turned to face each other.
"I appreciate you going out of your way to fend off the Rat King," Doctor Doctor began to speak. "But for the love of God, next time have a weapon on you before you try that again!"
"I get it, I'm sorry," Professor Professor replied. "I should've known better than to do something that reckless. In my defense, though, having the Rat King show up on our date in the first place was the last thing I expected to happen; and I certainly didn't imagine he would actually try to kill you right then and there, and-" He just rambled on like that, only stopping when Doctor Doctor interrupted him with a kiss. "Ooh..." He hadn't noticed her growing smile as he had been rambling on and on, which he was prone to do sometimes.
She pulled away and then hugged him. "It's alright. You don't need to say much more. And I will say, you've done more for me than any of my Expendables ever did or ever could do."
He smiled and hugged her back. "Well, good night, Doctor Doctor."
"Good night."
And with that, they were off to bed. They didn't try to get too comfy, though, as Zoë was bound to wake them up sooner or later.