A Date with Destiny

by Sillycritter

There's a stranger in The City...a woman with a past...someone who could hold the key to everything possible. With AEGIS on the hunt for Miss Lint (who's gone rogue) and Superian missing, the City's in trouble... ...and one gallant superhero is going to have to come face to face with his past in order to save it.

2. Chapter 2

"HEY EVEREST!" A voice boomed out of nowhere— a voice that Arthur Everest recognized all too well. "I know your dirty little secret."

The Tick and Arthur slowly turned, suddenly finding themselves face to face with a new opponent: Ms. Lint, who was standing in her full-fledged battle garb in the center of the Flag Five breakroom. Out of the corner of his eyes, Arthur noticed Flaxon and Bronze Star fill their arms with croissants and leave in a hurry.

"Wait—" Arthur blinked, taking a step back in surprise. "Miss LINT? What…" He blinked again, fearing that he was seeing things, and half wishing it was true. "What are you doing here?" he stammered in spite of himself. "You've been banned from Flag Five Protocol and—" He glowered darkly at the woman. "We know what you've been doing–and that you're a traitor to this entire organization! Tick, hurry—go get Rathbone!"

"SILENCE," Lint bellowed, "MOTHMAN!" In an instant, she had retrieved from her arsenal what Arthur hoped (at the very least) was a stun gun, was now pointing it steadily at both of them, and Arthur instantly froze with fear. "You and the BIG BLUE BUG are under MY protocol now!"

The Tick strode right up to her, as stubbornly fearless as always, and once again reminding Arthur that at least one of them was nigh-invulnerable and impervious to bullet holes. "Is this really necessary, Miss Fuzz?" he invoked, tapping the weapon in spite of her glaring daggers in his direction.

"It's LINT!" she snapped. "And I'll have you know—I'M not the traitor here—because if anyone is the traitor, it's Rathbone—and by the way," she added with a clever sneer in the Tick's direction, "he's not the only one—because this guy—your sidekick—has, in fact, this entire time, been secretly a traitor to YOU."

Arthur froze with astonishment, and The Tick blinked with surprise. " 'Traitor'...?" The Tick echoed with confusion, then threw his head back and practically cackled. "Arthur? HA!" He clapped his sidekick on the shoulder good-naturedly, smirking at their accuser. "Not likely!" Tick declared, winking and nodding at Arthur knowingly.

Arthur, however, was finding it a little harder to react.

"Lint…" Arthur shivered as he managed to force himself somehow back into the present, "What are you talking about?"

"I know things," smiled Lint, "things that would make your blood curdle and keep you up at night….and one of those things….ARTHUR….is how YOU really got into the Flag Five." She spoke each word as though it were an achievement, but with each emission, Arthur felt his throat drop further down into his stomach, which was beginning to feel like a bottomless pit. "YOU," declared Miss Lint with a sneer, "Arthur….EVEREST…." she snickered a little at the name, "are—A SPY!"

The word seemed to make time stand still. Everything in Arthur's body froze, including his mind.

Meanwhile, the Tick was staring pointedly at him, without judgment, but rather an innocent concern. "What's she talking about, Chum?"

Arthur couldn't respond; his mouth wouldn't move, and he felt as though he were sinking—as though the floor were suddenly transformed into quicksand. He knew what Miss Lint was talking about, and he didn't want to think about it—about how right she was….

"You're wrong," he choked out instead, completely ignoring the Tick's question in spite of himself. "I'M not the traitor here, Lint: YOU are!"

"That's MISS 'Joan of Arc' to you!" Lint hissed. "And what should I call YOU, Arthur—if that even is your REAL name—?"

The Tick guffawed loudly in response at the notion. "Of COURSE it's his REAL NAME'!" he chortled. "He's ARTHUR!"

"Tick—" Arthur pushed him gently aside, "stay out of this. Lint….You can't just barge in here and take people hostage! We're not just anyone, okay? We're Arthur and The Tick….and we can TAKE YOU DOWN!"

"I'd love to see you try!" Lint cocked the gun in Arthur's direction, causing him to jump a little.

"C'mon Lint—"

"JOAN!"

"Hey," the Tick interjected, "that can't be your name! That's Arthur's MOM'S name—"

"Look—uh—Joan," Arthur corrected himself awkwardly, "You—you really don't have to do this! Seriously—" He forced himself to face her straight on, even as she was pointing the strange looking gun at his face. "What do you want?" he demanded haltingly, knowing the only way out of this was to somehow make a compromise.

"Superion's missing," Lint declared prominently (as though this wasn't already news) "and I'M going to be the one to find him. And if YOU two get in my way—" she glared daggers at them both, "there will be HELL. TO. PAY!"

"Yeah, we know he's missing…" Arthur shuffled awkwardly in place, "but—why do you even care? What's Superion's whereabouts to you?"

"I'm on a mission, Everest." Lint strode swiftly towards Arthur, who took a step back with each step forward she took. "And—as long as Superion is here on Earth, he's a distraction for humanity—which makes my mission all the more easier."

The Tick loomed forward. "And that mission would be—?"

"-none of your business," Lint snapped. "Why don't you ask Arthur what HIS secret mission is? I doubt he told you how he REALLY got on Rathbone's good side."

Meanwhile Arthur was practically trembling from a mixture of both fear and barely suppressed rage. "Why," he stammered in spite of himself, "are you doing this?"

"Because YOU TWO puny PARASITES have been NOTHING but a THORN in my SIDE!" she barked, raising her voice so suddenly it made Arthur jump, "a LEECH on my LEG….and a STICK in my CRAW!"

"Pardon Moi," inserted the Tick, his looming frame towering dominatingly over her, "but I am NOT a PARASITE!"

"YOU are a TICK!" screeched Miss Lint, "ALL TICKS are PARASITES!"

"I am NOT in fact, as you put it, 'A TICK'," the Tick recanted proudly, "But rather, I am THE TICK!"

"What," hissed Miss Lint, "in the HELL—is the DIFFERENCE!?"

"QUIET!" Arthur bellowed, startling everyone into silence, including himself. "LINT!" he barked, "EXPLAIN yourself!" His eyes met hers, however briefly, and Arthur flinched. "Please," he added, this time somewhat meekly.

Lint's cool expression didn't falter. "Rathbone told me what the deal is," she informed him steadily. "With you and the Flag Five."

"What's this all about, Chum?" asked the Big Blue Yonder, whose eyes seemed to bore straight into his skull. "What 'deal' is she talking about?"

"Yes Arthur," snickered Lint, circling him again, however this time even more slowly and calculatingly, "what 'deal' could I possibly mean?" She sneered at him. "Could it possibly be The BIG Deal you struck with Rathbone as your secret password for admission?"

"Please—" Arthur begged, but it was no use; she was on a roll.

"You're not even a Category," laughed Lint, "ARE you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded The Tick, as though he were personally offended by the accusation. "He's Arthur!"

"Yes…." Lint grinned wickedly as she continued circling. "Arthur….And WHO—exactly—IS—this 'Arthur'?

"My trusty sidekick," came the Tick's automatic response, "my faithful Chum!"

"And tell me…" Lint was peering into the Tick's eyes now. "How long have you known this— 'Arthur'?"

"Umm…" The Tick leaned his chin back, seemingly lost in thought as he tried to remember. "I dunno…a month…maybe two? I mean—we live together, so—"

"-you trust him?" Lint sneered, leaning in even closer towards the Tick with an even more devilish grin.

Arthur groaned. "Leave him alone, Lint."

"Or what?" She was inches away from him now; their noses were almost touching. "You'll tell Daddy on me?"

"WHAT? N-NO!" Arthur protested, while somewhat weakly. He tried to move away; he could smell her rancid breath and it almost made him vomit. However, he couldn't seem to move fast enough, because she beat him to it, following his every movement as though she were his shadow. "What do you want?" he managed to ask, in spite of his voice, which was shaking slightly in spite of himself.

"I want you to confess," Lint sneered. "Tell him the truth!"

"What's it to you?" Arthur croaked. He could feel the Tick's eyes bearing down on him, questioning him with unspoken words.

"Restoration of order." Lint crossed her arms with a small satisfied grin on her face. "The Flag Five needs you two gone like a big old bug smeared straight across the windshield."

She spoke the words practically into his ear; he feared that any second she might take a chomp out of his earlobe, but somehow it never happened, and Lint began to move away, and finally he could breathe—if only a little—because the Tick was still hovering. And the Tick wanted answers—answers that Arthur wasn't sure how to give.

"Arthur…." The Tick suddenly placed two big hands on either side of Arthur's shoulders—and while he did so gently, Arthur still flinched as though he were expecting a slap instead.

"Look at me Chum," the Tick instructed, and Arthur forced himself to look his innocently trustful friend in the eyes. "Is there something you need to…" For some reason, the Big Blue Yonder hesitated, and Arthur's heart did a small back-flip. "...tell me?"the Tick finished, somewhat doubtfully.

And Arthur shut his eyes, because somehow the Tick already sounded like he felt—like a balloon deflating—which really wasn't like the Tick at all—but Arthur knew then, that he didn't have any way out of this. He was simply going to have to tell him the truth.

"Ok..…" Arthur kept his eyes shut tight. Here goes. "What Lint—er, Joan? Said, back there—" He tightened his grip around his own waistband as though he could crumple at any second, "about my…you know…being a spy….?"

"...Yes…?" The Tick prompted, however hesitantly. His voice was filled with an almost paternal concern, and it made Arthur want to scream.

"I…" Arthur shivered. "I made a—a deal—with Rathbone," he stammered, "to—to get us into the Flag Five."

There was a lengthy pause, during which even the Tick seemed to hold his breath. "What deal did you make, Arthur?" The words were barely above a whisper.

"I—" Arthur winced, then blurted out all at once, "Rathbone said that—since—since I'm not a 'Category'-and that the only way I could get into the Flag Five was if I were to be of—of use, somehow and—" He winced again, but forced himself onward, "-and that the only way I could be of use would be to—to spy—on—you."

Once again, the room was silent as a tomb—not even a single breath was heard; then, the Tick filled the room with laughter. It was a strange and booming laughter—loud, but hollow.

"Rathbone asked YOU…" The Tick chortled like a schoolboy, "to….SPY…." He laughed out loud. "...on….ME!?" He threw his head back and practically cackled. "Well gosh-by-golly; that's a good one, Chum! You really had me going there for a moment!"

However, Arthur wasn't laughing this time—and fortunately, this observation was not lost on the Tick, who turned to face his sidekick with a sobering mixture of both confusion and surprise.

"...Arthur…" the Tick posed questioningly, "Are you playing a trick on me?" His eyes were painfully wide, as though it had suddenly dawned on him that Miss Lint was laughing soundlessly from the sidelines, and that he alone was the punchline.

Arthur cringed inwardly, suddenly feeling very small. "It's…" He halted, feeling slightly sick. "...true." Then he realized how bad that sounded. "Wait, no! It's—it's not a trick, Tick! It—it's…." He grimaced outwardly this time, suddenly hating the sound of his own voice. "It's…complicated," he allowed, tightly, glaring darkly, if not dangerously, at Lint from the corner of his eye; all the while, she stood there sneering at him, looking simultaneously amused and pleased with herself, as though she'd just struck gold.

" 'Complicated'?" The Tick echoed, his antennas twitching agitatedly. "What's so complicated about you, Arthur? You're my sidekick! My little Chum—"

Arthur winced openly at how accurate that was; the Tick was nothing if not sincere. "I'm not that complicated," he muttered. "Like…at all , actually—which is, well…unfortunately," he mumbled, "what got me here in the first place."

The Tick cocked his head quizzically at him, like a confused puppy. "You're not making sense, Chum!"

"He's a fraud." There it was, out in the open. She'd outed him, plain and simple.

"Arthur?" The Tick blinked in astonishment. "A 'Fraud'?" He shook his head. "Impossible! Arthur is the most genuine individual I've ever known—"

"She's right." Arthur cringed again. "I am a fraud, Tick." The entire time he spoke he stared down at his shoes. "I'm not nigh-invulnerable like you….I don't even have a superpower….I'm just plain old Arthur—"

"Poppycock!" exclaimed the Tick, facing Arthur with an unexpected sense of urgency. "You're my loyal sidekick! My partner on a mission to rid the world of Evil! Together, we fight crime and make the City a safer place to be for all humankind—" He halted when Arthur put up his hand.

"Tick—" Arthur couldn't even bring himself to face his friend. "I shouldn't be your sidekick. I—I'm not even a real Superhero! Tick: I—I shouldn't even be here!"

"Bullwinkle!" The Tick was about to open his mouth in further protest, but Arthur stopped him.

"-The Flag Five is supposed to only consist of Categories. And—and I'm not really even a Category and—" Arthur pounded his fist into his own hand with extra-firm resolve. "Really—the, the only reason I was allowed here is—is, because—" He faltered momentarily before forcing himself to go on, "-because they had to let you in since you're like a—I don't know—Category 5 and—and because of that—"

Arthur shuddered but somehow he forced himself to remain steady and somehow kept talking.

"Because of that," he continued haltingly, "Rathbone kind of, doesn't, well…trust you….Actually—he thinks that you could potentially become a—" he practically choked on the words. "-threat," he finished pitifully, finally bringing himself to look the Tick in the eyes.

Eyes that were still looking straight back at him, but now with an unusually prolonged and stunned silence.

Then came—much to Arthur's astonishment—the sound of— laughter. "Well that's ridiculous!" proclaimed the Tick, "I am not a threat'! I am THE TICK!" He paused for a moment, staring down quizzically. "You….don't think that—do you, Chum?"

"Of course not!" Arthur protested, but Lint stepped forward.

"He's lying," she sneered. "He agreed to be a spy for AEGIS so that AEGIS could keep tabs on you." She turned her single eye on the Tick as though she could stop him cold with a stare. "He betrayed you."

"NO!" Arthur protested again, eyes widening with horror at the notion. "That's not—that's NOT what happened—!"

"Come on, Everest." Lint turned her pointed stare at Arthur and his blood ran cold. "You know it's true! You agreed to Rathbone's little scheme behind his back—so YOU could get an IN—DIDN'T you?" And she cocked a smile at him, waiting expectantly for his response.

Arthur strained to keep his breathing at a steady pace. He tried to remember what Dr. Paul had told him: In, one two three….Out, one two three…. "Tick…look, I-I…." He struggled to keep his voice in check. "It was the only way to get us both into the AEGIS….and….if I hadn't agreed to it….I never would have gotten us into the Flag Five."

"You mean YOU," Lint interjected. "YOU wouldn't have gotten into the Flag Five….because YOU aren't a Category—"

"STOP saying that!" It took all of Arthur's last resolve to keep himself from exploding with fury. Meanwhile, the Tick was watching him with painfully soulful eyes….eyes that seemed to be reflecting his own pain, but with a greater sadness. "But—okay…." A sigh escaped that seemed to come from his toes. "Tick…you probably would have been able to get into the Flag Five on your own—"

"Without you, Chum?" The Tick shook his head with astonishment. "Never in a million years would I—"

"-but I wouldn't have been,"Arthur abruptly stunned him into silence. "Don't you get it, Tick? They never would have accepted me if it weren't for you. Remember, when we first came to AEGIS? I-I didn't pass any of their tests! You saw how I handled that arm wrestling test—it threw me across the room! You—you tore it out of the wall—which is a perfect example of why you are being considered 'classified' as a—a being" (he couldn't say person—or could he?)- "of interest! And me? I'm only useful if—if I keep tabs…on you!"

"You're more than that, Arthur!" The Tick's faith seemed unshakeable. "You helped us to defeat the Terror! You helped protect innocent civilians from his wrath. You stopped the Big Man in his tracks! You helped protect AEGIS from that Dr. Hobbes guy! You—"

"I'm nothing, Tick." Arthur glanced the other way. "Without that suite, I'm nothing….Lint's right….I'm just a fraud….a sham—"

"Don't admit defeat!" For some reason, the Tick was still defending him. "Don't let the face of Evil win!"

" 'Face'?" Lint threw her head back and laughed maniacally. " More like 'Evil Incarnate'! I OWN your asses! I OWN AEGIS!"

"You own NOTHING but FEAR," the Tick bellowed in response, "and FEAR is NO MATCH for the POWER OF LOVE! Right, Arthur?" He turned, but Arthur wasn't there. "Arthur?"

To his disdain, the room was empty except for himself and Miss Lint.

"Looks like Love is NO MATCH for ME." Lint sneered. "Your 'sidekick', it seems, has quite easily given up his post….Sad, really….He could have had potential."

"Oh, he's got more than potential," said the Tick, with as much of a glare as the Tick could muster, "he's got greatness and goodness in his bones! And if you gave yourself a chance, you could too, Miss Dust Bunny—"

"LINT," she snapped, "or JOAN of ARC. NOT 'Miss Dust Bunny'. And certainly NOT Miss FUZZ'! GOT IT, you BIG DUMB BLUE OX!?"

The Tick stood for a moment in contemplation before taking a few prominent steps in her direction. "I think," he declared, "you are long overdue for a HUG!"

To which suggestion Lint of Arc drew back in horror. "Over my dead body!"

"WHAT in GOD'S GOOD NAME is GOING ON IN HERE!?" bellowed the voice of none other than Agent Commander Rathbone as he burst into the room, with Flexon and Bronze Star in towe.

"Oh nothing boys." Lint smiled wanly at them. "The Tick and I were just having a nice little talk—"

"I wouldn't say 'little'-" the Tick began then cocked his head. "Where's Arthur?"

"Don't worry Rathbone." Lint secured her weapon back in its holster. "You're safe—you're all safe—at least that is—for the time being."

Rathbone, meanwhile, was nearly purple with rage. "GUARDS!" he roared, quickly pressing a big red button on a handheld device that he materialized as if from nowhere.

Unfortunately, the two guards that were closest to the break room were not fast enough. Lint's arms sprung into action, eliciting two trees of electricity shooting from both hands, which propelled her to shoot upwards at an unparalleled speed, sending her spiraling straight through the open window and out into the sun-lit atmosphere; leaving in her wake all observers agape with astonishment.

"TICK!" The Commander's bark broke the spell. "My office—NOW!"