For Your Pink-Eyes Only
Chapter 1:
The Next day, in art class.
All the students stood in a circle with their canvases, trying to paint realistic looking pictures of the bowl of fruit in front of them.
Sadly, art was the only (and I mean only) class Ty had difficulties with. Still, he wouldn't let that bother him. He stroked, pencilled and dotted with the paintbrush like he was dancing with it. Once he felt done, he grinned and rested his hands on his hips. "All done." However, once he actually looked at the bowl of fruit he started to see the differences between his artwork and the real thing. Namely that his painting looked like green aliens in a rowboat with orange afros and yellow tails while the real thing was a bowl with a pair of oranges, grapes and bananas. Ty frowned. "Hmm, might need some more work."
"Hey, Ty." Andy leaned closer to his best friend. "You wanna know a tip? Imagine those oranges are melons, then imagine them being on a chick." The geek giggled at his lecherous joke. "Man, art class would be so much better if we had a model."
Ty pouted but then smirked. "Then where does those bananas go? Are they supposed to sit further south on your make-believe model?"
Andy suddenly looked stomped. "Dang it. You just ruined my artistic vision."
"And here I thought your mind lacked limits." Ty mused when suddenly, their GrossWatches started buzzing.
"Our GrossWatches."
"LabRat needs us." Ty exclaimed and started waving to their teacher. "Mister Scheffer! Mister Scheffer! We need to go and-and um…"
"Take care of the class hamster?" Andy shimmed in, grinning like a kid with its hand stuck in the cookie jar.
Their middle-aged brunette teacher pouted. "I didn't know the class had a hamster."
"It's a um, dwarf hamster. It goes under most people's notice." Ty exclaimed.
"Alright then. Just hurry along and do what you need to do." Mr. Scheffer exclaimed, sounding reluctant.
"Thank you."
"Yeah, thank you." Ty and Andy said and bowed politely before heading for the door.
Roger sceptically observed as the two left the room. His red eye followed them like a predator stalking its prey. Once they've closed the door, he shot his hand up. "Scheffer, I have to go too. I need to um, drain my lizard." Roger exclaimed and clenched his thighs together as if he needed to go #1.
"The class has a pet lizard too? Wow, there is a lot I don't know about this school. Just go and do what you have to do."
"Thank you Mr. Scheffer." Roger exclaimed and ran out of the room so fast he left a dust trail behind him.
Mr. Scheffer then looked at the painting Roger had done and shook his head. "No, no. This won't do at all." Somehow Roger had managed to paint all the fruits in a formation so it looked like a giant green G. "This is way too surrealistic for my class."
Ty and Andy were walking down the corridor. Ty was cupping the back of his head while keeping his eyes closed, looking peaceful.
"Hey, Ty?" Andy spoke.
The raven haired boy opened one eye. "Yeah?"
"I think someone is following us." Andy whispered to him.
Ty gazed over his shoulder for a second, long enough to notice Roger trying to hide behind a locker. "Yeah, it's Roger."
"What do we do? Call LabRat and say we can't come?" Andy asked.
"No, I know what to do. You still got the key to that clubroom?"
"Sure. It's right here." Andy replied and fished the key out of his pocket.
"Good. Then follow me closely." Ty said and started picking up speed till he was nearly running. Andy did the same to keep up pace.
Roger meanwhile, crouch walked from one locker to the next like some sort of camouflaged soldier. Once the two Grossologists reached the aforementioned clubroom, Andy unlocked the door and the two stepped inside, closing the door behind them. Seeing this, Roger grinned deviously. He brought out his phone and set in to camera mode. "Now I got you."
Roger slammed the door open and literally jumped into the room. "Ha! Caught you red hand-uh?" The ginger haired boy was baffled to see the clubroom empty. "Huh? Where did they go?" Roger wondered. "Must be some kind of hidden entrance here somewhere."
Unbeknownst to Roger, Ty and Andy had hide behind the door. With Roger's back turned to them, the two boys sneaked out of the room, quiet as a pair of mice and closed the door.
The sound of the door slamming made Roger's spine stiffen. He turned around and ran up to the door. "What the…" He tried opening it but it wouldn't move. Roger growled in frustration before shouting, "Hey! Open the damn door! Hey, let me out!"
A few minutes later, Ty and Andy were now standing in the elevator, heading down towards the Gaglab.
"Wasn't that a little bit mean what we did to Roger right now?" Andy asked concerned.
Ty waved it off. "Nah. That room has windows that open from the inside. He can crawl out whenever he wants to."
"Still, have you ever considered just telling him the truth? I mean, he is our friend and he already suspects something. So…" Andy let the question hang in the air.
"It's complicated." Ty sighed. "I mean the guy wants to be a Grossologist but he conspired with Lance Boil against my sister."
"Yeah but only cause you were mean to him." Andy argued.
"Only Abby was mean to him and she had all right to be. Roger was the one who released that mold monster into our school just so he could uncover our secret identities."
"Okay but if that's the case then why are you even friends with him?" Andy asked.
Ty was silent for a moment as he thought of an answer. "I don't know. Maybe cause I kind of like him or maybe cause I feel like I'm the only one he has, sort of like what Abby is to Chester."
Andy smirked. "So, does that mean Roger has a crush on you or is it the other way around?"
Ty sighed begrudgingly. "I just knew you would spin it like that."
Andy tried not to giggle.
By the time the two boys reached the Gaglab, they were already suited up in their Slimesuits. The moment Ty opened the door they were in for a surprise. A teary eyed Naomi rain into Ty's arms and started crying onto his chest. "Oh Ty, it's awful."
"What? What has happened?" Ty asked concerned. He exchanged worried looks with Abby, Chester and LabRat.
"We just got word from the water treatment plant." LabRat exclaimed in a heavy tone. "It seems Naomi's mom and your dad are in danger."
Meanwhile, back at school.
"How dare they pull something like that on me? I'll get back on them, just you wait." Roger kept rambling as he walked down the corridor. His hands were trembling as he imagined crushing the skull of that spikey haired pretty-boy.
That was when he heard an odd sound coming from one of the lockers. "Weird. I feel like I've heard that noise before." Turning to the source of the sound, he saw it was coming from Ty's locker. He pressed his ear to it to listen. There was that sound again.
Roger pouted as he contemplated what to do. "Well, it isn't like I haven't crossed any lines before." He commented as he fished out a small metal string from his shirt pocket. He then inserted it into the locker's keyhole and started picketing. After a moment of fiddling, he managed to unlock it. "And they said lock picking class was a waste of time."
The first thing Roger noticed after opening the locker was a poster of a supermodel with a picture of Naomi's face taped over her head. "Man, its sad when a guy is driven by a three year long obsession instead of moving on with his life."
He reached into the locker and pulled out the thing that was causing all that noise. It was a green, hand-sized device which looked a bit like a calculator. It was a Grossometer.
"That's weird. I can't remember ever seeing this before, yet it seems kind of familiar and it got the Grossologists' logo on it." He said while thumbing the G-shaped symbol. He then unfolded it.
The Grossometer's screen was already on and it showed a map of the city. "A map? Wait, what's that?" Roger asked himself and tapped the screen to make it zoom in on a peculiar red dot.
Roger clutched his chin in contemplation. "Well, I have no idea how this device works but I know a map when I see one so that dot has to be a location of some significance." The ginger haired boy grinned. "Maybe if I follow these coordinates, it will lead me to the Grossologists. Then I can uncover their secrets." Roger exclaimed before running off.
Unbeknownst to both Roger and the Grossologists, they were both being observed by a sinister force.
LabRat's former mentor and enemy, BookWorm sat cross-legged on the floor of a poorly lit room. She had two laptops open in front of her. One that monitored the Grossologists and one that monitored Roger Pink-Eye.
"The test subjects have started moving as we predicted they would. If everything goes as planned my master will get what he wants."
GRS-2 flew thru the sky, heading towards the town's water treatment plant at full speed. "LabRat, debrief us on what happened at dad's job again." Abby requested.
LabRat could be seen on a screen at the control board. "According to the report, earlier this morning yellow slime started cropping up all over the water treatment plant. A few minutes later it had completely taken over the facility and started attacking the workers."
"Slime attacking people?" Ty raised an eyebrow. "I know I should be surprised but it's sort of routine at this point."
"So how did dad get involved?" Abby asked.
"And my mom?" Naomi added.
"Your father ordered an evacuation of the water treatment plant. He also insisted on staying behind until everyone else had made it out. While most workers got out, your father and three other employees never came out."
"Including my mom." Naomi lamented and hung her head in despair.
"Naomi?"
The girl lifted her head up, looking at her boyfriend.
Ty smiled reassuringly. "Everything will be fine. We're Grossologists, remember? Whatever has happened to your mom, we'll save her."
Naomi managed to smile a bit. "Yeah, your right. Thanks."
With his girlfriend in better spirit, Ty resumed piloting the GRS-2. Despite what he said to her, he was indeed also worried about their parents but for her sake he would act like there was no doubt.
"Thanks for the info LabRat. We call you back later."
"Alright, be careful." LabRat said before Abby turned off the intercom.
"I can see the water treatment plant right up ahead." Ty proclaimed.
Abby turned to the other three. "Everybody ready?"
"Right!" Andy and Naomi said in unison while Chester simple gave a thumbs up.
Ty landed the GRS-2 outside the water treatment plant and the five Grossologists stepped out of the alt-terrain vehicle. Abby, Ty and Andy had their goopshooters ready while Naomi had her gagstaff. Chester was the only one without a weapon, for obvious reasons.
The water treatment plant's entrance was wide open. Once they had stepped inside, their intel was proven true. Yellow slime was all over the facility. It didn't seem to be dangerous thou. Weather it was hanging from the ceiling, splattered on the walls and tanks or just littering the floor, the yellow gunk was completely still. It didn't smell anything either.
"Yuk. It looks like dog vomit." Naomi stated.
"Maybe we should get a dog to eat it again." Andy joked.
Chester pointed his GrossWatch at some of the yellow slime on the floor and scanned it. The watch then generated a holographic text. "According to the GrossWatch, this is some sort of slime mold."
"Slime mold?" Ty blinked. "Haven't we dealt with that before?"
"Yeah, three years ago." Abby answered.
"We need to hurry finding the missing people." Chester exclaimed.
"Right." Abby nodded.
Naomi cupped her mouth and call out, "MOM-
Ty suddenly covered her mouth with his hand. "Naomi! Remember you are incognito."
Naomi nodded. "Right. MRS. COLLINS! MRS. COLLINS!" She shouted.
"MR. ARCHER! MR. ARCHER!" Ty called out.
They soon got a response. "HEY! SOMEONE THERE?"
The voice was manly but it was not Harvey's. The Grossologists looked around but they couldn't see anyone. Abby took a step forth and called out to them. "WE ARE HERE FROM THE BUREAU OF GROSSOLOGY! WE'RE HERE TO HELP!"
It was silent for a moment. Then a new voice echoed thru the facility. "HELP US! WE ARE OVER HERE!"
Naomi recognized that voice. "Mom." Without thinking, the female Grossologists ran to the source of her mother's voice.
"Ni, wait!" Ty called out and ran after her.
"HELP! OVER HERE, OVER HERE!" Naomi kept hearing the voices of her mother as well as two male voices she didn't quite recognize as she swiftly ran thru the facility. She accidentally stepped in a puddle of yellow goo on her way.
Then suddenly, a large mass of yellow slime sprung to life and launched itself at Naomi. Ty jumped in at the last second and pushed her out of the way but now the yellow slime stuck itself onto Ty's slimesuit. It then wrapped itself around the Grossologist like a slimy tentacle and raised him off the floor. Ty hollered in fright.
"Ty!" Naomi cried out.
"It's like getting a hug from Boogerman." Ty whinged as he writhed and twisted against his slimy binds. The yellow slime then threw him across the room and he collided head first with one of the water tanks. Ty collapsed onto the floor, completely unconscious.
"Ty!" Abby called out to him and ran to her brother's aid. Chester, Andy and Naomi followed suit. Abby kneeled down by Ty's side and checked his pulse.
"Is he…" Naomi asked with her hands clutched over her chest.
"He's fine. He's just been knocked out." Abby stated.
A sinister cackle suddenly echoed thru out the facility. The Grossologists looked up at the water tank in front of them. Atop of the tank, they could spot a long, thick string of yellow slime mold, climbing its way up to the edge. "Sorry for the sneak attack. I thought a four on one fight would be more fair." They heard a sarcastic voice muse. The yellow slime then started sprouting legs, arms and finally a head, a transparent head with a human skull inside. "Truth be told, I've wanted to test my medal against you heroes for a while." The man made out of yellow slime proclaimed as he smirked down at the Grossologists.
Abby recognized the being in front of her from a mission long, long ago. She scowled and narrowed her eyes at the literally slimy villain. "Slim Slimeman."
Author's Note:
Well, now it seems everything is set up and ready to go. The Grossologists are facing off against my new OC villain, Roger's investigation is well on its way, Harvey Archer is in need of rescuing and the Society of Drossology are lurking in the background.
As you may tell, I will try to flesh out the relationship between Roger and Ty a lot in this story. I feel like that was a missed opportunity in the show. I mean, the two are supposed to be friends and Ty does at times treat Roger as a friend yet for some reason the show focused a lot more on Roger's relationship with Abby which really wasn't that interesting. All they did was argue until they had to cooperate with each other. Its wasn't necessarily bad but I think the story would be a bit more powerful if it focused more on a broken friendship instead. I imagine Ty & Roger's relationship to be a bit like Peter Parker and Harry Osborn from the Spider-Man comics with Roger both considers Ty a friend but is also jealous over everything Ty has.
I am also experimenting a bit with new writing styles. I'm trying not to detail as much as I used to and I think it has worked out for the better. The story seem to move at a much better pace now. But that's just me.
Thank you all for the support and as always, I would appreciate any feedback you can give me.
Take care, Grossologists!