(Remember, I don't own Grossology or any of its characters) Enjoy!

Tri-Genetics 3 CH 3

Lance continued to laugh, his insane cackle echoing throughout the gymnasium.

"You lose my dear" He bragged, glancing at Abby, who glared back at him. But inside she was beginning to panic.

What do we do now? She thought to herself desperately. Now that Naomi's been caught, our plan won't work. She glanced at Naomi and saw fear in her face. Her eyes were watery and her lower lip trembled. Naomi whimpered in terror, caught Abby's eye, and winked!. Abby blinked in surprise. When she looked again, Naomi had looked away.

"And who have we here?" Lance leaned in toward Naomi, who whimpered in terror and tried to back away. As Lance, Roger, and the mutants all chuckled, Abby stared hard at Naomi's face. The terror was still there, but now it seemed false. What an actress! Abby mentally commented. "Relying on a civilian to do your dirty work? Shame on you." Lance scolded. Abby gritted her teeth as a new fear entered her mind. What if Lance revealed to Naomi that Abby was a grossologist? Abby had hoped to keep her secret, but all Lance had to do was address her by name and Abby might lose what trust Naomi had in her.

Not that it would matter, anyway She realized. Lance's already holding all the cards.

"So now, what to do with you?" Lance continued, walking back to Abby. "I could just mutate you, like I did to your brother." Abby winced, glancing in Naomi's direction. The blonde girl cocked her head, but kept quiet. "But, I think it would be more fitting to make you watch as I use my mutant army to take over the city". Lance continued to brag, but Abby was only half listening, because Naomi had cocked her head again, but this time more urgently. Abby realized that Naomi was trying to tell her something. Abby shot Naomi a confused look, the blonde girl glanced at her backpack, than back at Abby. Abby followed her gaze, what was she trying to say?

"Hey!" Abby jumped as Roger's voice cut through Lance's, she'd forgotten he was there. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing" Abby tried to dodge the question, but Roger's scowl told her he wasn't buying it.

"Roger! Do you mind?" Lance growled.

"I'm telling you boss, they're up to something!" Roger protested. Meanwhile, Naomi had glanced at her backpack again. Abby's blood suddenly chilled. Lab Rat's antidote! It must still be in the backpack! That must be what Naomi was trying to tell her.

"Oh please" Lance scoffed. "As if a civilian could pull anything over on me"

"Uh Boil, aren't you forgetting that you were captured by one, twice?" Abby teased, causing Lance's face to turn redder than usual. Roger's angry look faded, replaced by a confusing stare. Lance raised a remote and pressed a button and Roger groaned in pain, holding his head.

"Witty to the end, I admire that" He smiled . "But make no mistake, this is the end, for both of you."

"Hey! What are you looking at?" Abby glanced back at Roger, just in time to see Naomi glance at her backpack again. Roger followed her gaze and pounced upon the pack.

"Hey! Let go of that!" Abby yelled, struggling to break free, but the grip of her mutant captors was like iron. Roger opened the pack and rooted around inside of it, then pulled out what looked like a soda bottle.

"What is that?" Lance asked, reaching over to take the bottle, but Roger suddenly held it back, a look of alarm spreading across his face. "Give it to me" Lance demanded, holding out his hands, but Roger shook his head, opening his mouth to argue.

"I said GIVE IT TO ME!" Lance shrieked, pressing a button on his remote. Roger roared in pain and dropped the bottle. One of the mutants stooped to pick it up. Abby glanced at Naomi in horror and confusion. What was going on?

Naomi returned her gaze, and winked again. Abby gave Naomi a surprised look, and the girl mouthed something. "Make him open it"

"Well well" Abby glanced back to Lance, who was observing the bottle with some interest.

"No! Give me that!" Abby yelled, struggling to break out of his captor's grasp. With an almighty wrench, Abby broke free, tossing the bug eyes mutant over her shoulder in a Ju-jitsu move. Abby lunged at Lance, who snapped. Another mutant appeared out of nowhere in front of Abby, who slammed into him with an a bone-rattling THUD. Abby fell to the ground, winded and the mutant bent down and roughly hauled her to her feet.

"Well, now I am most intrigued." Lance said, motioning for the mutant holding the bottle, but stopped when he heard a whimper.

"Please" Naomi said, her voice choked with tears. "Please don't open that"

"And why wouldn't I open it dear?" Lance asked. Then his eyes lit up as a sudden realization hit him. "Ah, I see what you're getting at. Very clever. Roger!" The red-haired boy looked up. He hadn't moved during the whole encounter. The mutant tossed him the bottle and he caught it, still looking confused. "Open it!" Lance demanded.

Roger didn't move, he just stared at the bottle, turning it over in his hands. His mouth frowned in concentration, like he was struggling to remember something. "I said, open it" Lance repeated, raising his remote.

"Roger no! Don't!" Abby called out weakly, shaking her head to clear her mind.

"Please!" Naomi pleaded. Roger scratched his head, but the second he looked away, Abby glanced at Naomi and saw a smile flicker across her face.

"I said, OPEN IT!" Lance shrieked, pointing the remote. Roger flinched when he saw it and unscrewed the lid. There was a small hiss and Roger started gagging, dropping the bottle.

"What the...?" Abby stopped when she smelled a noxious odor, one she recognized. Ammonium sulfide!

"Hi-Ya!" Abby's head whipped around just in time to see Naomi copy the same move she'd used earlier, flipping her opponent above her head. As the startled mutant slammed into the ground, Naomi sprinted towards the exit door.

"St-(Cough)-Stop-Her!" Abby heard Lance's strangled yell as he started coughing. Most of the mutants were also coughign and choking from the stink bomb, but three of them leapt after Naomi.

"Oh no you don't" Abby said, then she whirled around, slamming her elbow into the upper chest of the mutant holding her. As she suspected, the mutant wheezed and loosened her grip. Still turning, Abby swept the mutant's feet out from under her, tripping her up. Abby sprinted after Naomi, catching one fo the three and tackling it. As she got to her feet, she saw that the other two mutants were lunging for Naomi, but the girl was too quick for them. She dodged one, leapt over the second and kept running. "Wow" Abby commented, impressed. Plenty of guts , a good actress, and she was athletic. What's more, she didn;t seem bothered by the Ammonium sulfide at all. "Maybe she should be a grossologist" Abby thought.

Naomi suddenly skilled to a halt by the door and glanced back, panting. Reaching up, she grasped the fire alarm control on the wall. Hope flared in Abby's eyes.

"Hey Boil!" Naomi yelled, causing Lance to look up. "Looks like you just lost, to a civilian!"

"Grab her!" He yelled, his voice muffled slightly by the cloth he was covering his mouth with.

"Time for a fire drill!" Naomi yelled back and pulled a small lever on the fire alarm. Instantly a piercing siren began to wail, causing the mutants to cover their ears and roar in pain. Red strobe lights began to flash and the sprinklers came on, unleashing a rain of liquid. Abby held her breath as she watched the liquid cover all the mutants, including Ty and Lab Rat. She crossed her fingers...Nothing happened.

"Why isn't anything happening?" Abby yelled at Naomi, who was staring up at the ceiling.

"Wait for it!" Naomi yelled back, her voice barely audible over the shriek of the siren. Suddenly, the flow of water stopped. The pipes on the ceiling of the gymnasium groaned and shuddered. Abby glanced up at the ceiling as the sprinklers resumed spraying, the this time they were spraying a purple liquid.

"Yes!" Abby cheered, feeling the liquid run down her slime suit. Glancing around, she saw the mutated students fall to the floor one by one, their bodies shrinking and warping. Their claws retracting into fingers and their teeth resetting. After a few minutes, all that remained were a large mass of disheveled teens in torn clothes lying on the floor of the gymnasium.

"NOOOOOO!" Lance Boil screamed, seeing his mutant army dissipating before his very eyes. "This can't be! I can't lose to a civilian!"

"Game's over, Boil!" Abby crowed as Naomi ran over to join her. She looked drenched, but happy. Two girls exchanged a high-five.

"Not so, fools!" Lance raised his remote. "Attack!"

"Roger!" Naomi screamed and Abby spun around. She had forgotten about him. Roger stood twenty feet away, holding an acid shooter in his hands, but he wasn't

"I said, ATTACK!" Lance shrieked, turning a dial on the remote. Roger's knees buckled as he groaned in pain.

"Stop it!" Naomi cried out, running to Roger's side, "Can't you see you're hurting him?"

"You're point being?" Lance sneered, but he did stop pressing the button. Abby was about to go help Naomi when a sudden movement caught her eye. Ty and Lab Rat, now normal, were struggling to stand up. Abby slowly began to move towards them.

"So, what kind of boss takes out his own failures on his employees?" Naomi demanded, looking mad.

"This particular employee and I have history" Lance answered. "Bad history" He giggled, pressing the button again. Roger screamed in pain, dropping his acid shooter and rolling around on the ground, his head in his hands. Lance laughed, louder this time. "You may have ruined my plans, but at least I'll have the pleasure of destroying the civilian who bested me last time!"

Naomi looked around helplessly, then she saw Abby standing near Ty and Lab Rat. Abby inclined her head towards Lance and mouthed "Distract him" Naomi nodded.

"Hey, what exactly do you mean by that? Do you and Roger know each other?" She called out.

"Ha!" Lance chortled. "This young man used to be my protege, but he also inhumanely imprisoned me in a cage, twice!" Naomi snorted a laugh, which made Lance glare at her. "I fail to see what is so amusing" He growled in a dangerous tone.

"I'm sorry" Naomi shook her head, laughter still ringing in her voice. "But Roger? Imprisoning someone like you, twice? I really cannot see that happening, unless Roger's either cleverer than I thought or you're not as smart as you brag"

"What?" Lance's eyes flew wide. "You little brat! Don't you know who you're talking to? I am Lance Boil, evil criminal genius, and one of the biggest minds in this entire city!"

"Oh, is that why you're head's so big?" Naomi replied sarcastically, "I thought it was because you'd had an allergic reaction to something. Maybe you should change your name to Lance Pufferface!"

While Lance and Naomi traded boasts and insults, Abby was working furiously to free Ty and Lab Rat.

"Abby, what's happening?" Lab Rat moaned.

"Shh" Abby replied as she began loosening the goop holding her two teammates down.

"uh Abby?" Ty's voice made Abby look up. Ty was staring at Naomi. "What is Naomi doing here?"

"She's helping" Abby whispered as she freed them. "I'll explain later. Can you reach your goop shooter?"

"No problem" Both boys nodded. Smiling, Abby turned back to the discussion. Naomi was laughing loudly and Lance was seething with anger.

"I mean seriously" Naomi practically yelled. "You should really have a doctor look at it, that humongous boil is obviously putting strain in your brain!"

"At least I have a brain I can use, you detention-reject!" Lance yelled back

"You know what you remind me of, a balloon" Naomi retorted.

"What? Why?" Lance looked confused.

"You both have a round shape and you're full of hot air" Naomi smirked as Lance gasped.

"Oh, ouch" Abby heard Lab Rat whisper as she tried to keep from laughing.

"You...you'll...you'll regret that!" Lance raised his remote again and spun the dial all the way. Roger screamed so loud that Abby's eardrums felt like they would pop. Pinkeye clutched his head, screaming like he was on fire.

"Roger!" Naomi darted to his side as Lance laughed.

"Foolish girl" He crowed. "You thought your meager insults could hurt me! But all you're doing is hurting your dear friend here!"

"Ready?" Abby hissed to Ty as his brother rose to his feet.

Ty nodded and aimed his goop shooter. "Hey Boil!" Both Lance and Naomi looked around. "Drop it!" He fired. Lance's eye widened, but he recovered and dodged out of the way.

"Nice try, nerdling!" He boasted as he dodged Abby's shot as well. He tapped another button and Roger began to shudder violently, like he was having a seizure. "I'm really enjoying this!" Boil exclaimed, dancing around the gymnasium, dodging shot after shot. Naomi, who was trying to calm Roger down, glared up at Lance, then her vision narrowed on the remote control.

"Give me that!" Naomi's yell made Lance turn, just in time to see the blonde girl come flying at him in a desperate leap to grab Lance's remote. Lane twisted, trying to get out of the way. Naomi missed the remote, but she didn't miss Lance, slamming into him and knocking them both to the ground. As Lance fell, the massive boil on his head ruptured, spraying everything around him, including Naomi, in pus. Lance's remote flew into the air. Naomi tried to scramble up to grab it, but her feet slipped on the pus-slicked floor and she could only watch as it fell and smashed on the gymnasium floor. Roger's screams suddenly stopped and he collapsed to the floor and lay still.

"No!" Lance yelled. "My revenge!" Then he glared at Naomi. "This is all your fault, girl. Mark my words, I will make you pay for this!"

"I don't think so!" Lance looked up at Ty's answer, just in time to be blasted by a stream of goop. The force of the blast was so strong that if propelled Lance across the gymnasium floor tot he far wall, then cocooned him against the wall. "You stay away from her!"

"Go lover boy" Abby said under her breath. Lab Rat nodded in agreement as he knelt down to examine Roger.

"Are you okay?" He asked, helping a shaky Naomi to her feet.

"I think so, but..." Naomi looked at Lance, plastered against the wall, his swollen head deflated, then she glanced down at her soaked blouse and she gave Ty a strange look. "Is this stuff what I think it is?"

"Yep" Abby nodded from a few feet away. "You've been covered in pure undiluted puss" Ty shot Abby a glare, but strangely, Naomi didn't freak out.

"Interesting" She sniffed her hand, made a small face, then knelt down and scooped some puss off of the floor. She held it up almost like she was analyzing it. Ty and Abby exchanged amazed glances.

"She doesn't appear grossed out at all" Ty whispered to Abby, who nodded in agreement.

BANG! Everyone jumped as the gymnasium doors burst open. The detective strolled in, followed by at least five people in SWAT gear. "What happened in here?" He demanded. Ty and Abby pointed to Lance, who was glaring at them all though his cocoon of goop. "Oh, right. Take him away, boys!" The detective snapped his fingers and the SWAT men began to chip away at the cocoon, slowly peeling it off of Lance. Once he was free, he was then stuffed inside a dog crate to be transported to prison.

"Mark my words Grossologists! This is not the end of Lance Boil! I will have my revenge on all of you! and especially on your friend!" Ty and Abby could hear Lance's screams echo down the hallway as he was carried from the room.

"Nice work, Grossologists" The detective commented as the policemen that arrived began seeing to the kids, who were just now starting to come to.

"Thank you detective, but it was really Naomi here who deserves most of the credit" Abby motioned to the blonde girl, who started to blush. "We wouldn't have been able to stop Lance Boil without her"

"Really? Well, we owe you our thanks young lady" the detective smiled at Naomi, who glanced away shyly. Ty gave Naomi a big smile and placed his hand on her shoulder.

Giving her eyes a small roll, Abby turned to Lab Rat, who was scanning Roger. "How is he?" She asked as a paramedic arrived and knelt down to examine him.

"He's unconscious, but okay otherwise" Lab Rat replied. "But look at this" he handed his scanner to Abby. On the screen was an image of Roger's brain, outlined against the rest of it were a series of flashing dots.

"What are those?" Abby asked.

Lab Rat frowned. "Some sort of probes. I'm willing to bet that these probes had something to do with Roger's brainwashing"

Abby frowned as well. "Lance is lower than I thought" She growled. Just then, her communicator went off. Moving a short distance away, she flipped open the device. The Director's face appeared on the screen.

"Abby" He said. "Has Lance Boil been contained?"

"Yes sir." Abby replied, and the director seemed to visibly relax. A sudden thought flashed through Abby's mind and she smiled. "Actually Director, it's a good thing you called"

"What do you mean?" The director asked, looking confused now.

"I need to talk to you about something" Abby replied, glancing back at Naomi, who was now talking with Ty and the Detective.

The Next day:

"What am I looking at here, Lab Rat?" Abby asked in the Gag Lab the next day.

"My hunch was right" Lab Rat replied, pressing a few keys. The computer screen on the gag lab zoomed in on an image of Roger's brain, showing the probes. "Remember when Lance shrank himself and entered Ty's body?"

"Like I could ever forget that?" Ty mused, crossing her arms.

"Well" Lab Rat continued. "It turns out that he did the same thing here, then attached these probes to the portions of the brain that register pain and memory. In short, by causing Roger to feel intense pain, he could brainwash Roger and control him"

"Poor Roger" Ty sighed. "I don't know if ANYONE could withstand that kind of torture"

"Lance has sunk to an all-time low." Abby frowned, then she smiled. " Good thing you destroyed those probes Ty. Guess you're not so bad driving around someone's body after all."

"Well, at least Lance wasn't in Roger's body, but yeah, that shrinking ray was pretty fun" Ty agreed, laughing. Suddenly there was a chirping and the image vanished. The director's face appeared.

"Agents, ah good, you're all here" The director looked stern, as usual.

"What's the matter, sir?" Ty asked, looking confused. He glanced at Lab Rat, who shrugged.

"We need to discuss a very important matter that has been brought to my attention" the director replied in a serious tone, but the corners of his mouth flickerd upwards for a second.

"This, wouldn't have anything to do with what we talked about yesterday, would it sir?" Abby asked, smiling.

"Indeed, Abby" The director replied. Then he cleared his throat and continued. "Based on reports given to me by both Abby and the Detective, it is clear that our victory over Lance Boil was primarily due to luck. We allowed ourselves to become overwhelmed and understaffed. Agents, that is a situation that we CANNOT find ourselves in again. If other villains hear of how close Lance came to victory, they may employ his method against us in the future. We cannot keep relying on luck to bail us out"

"I definitely don't want that nightmare happening again" Lab Rat agreed, looking solemn.

"So, how do we prepare ourselves against this expanding kind of threat?" Ty asked.

"By expanding our own forces. We need a new Grossologist" The Director announced.

"What?" Lab Rat and Ty exclaimed at the same time, but Abby's smile widened.

"A new agent will only get in the way!" Lab Rat complained, but the Director shook his head.

"Don't worry Lab Rat, this new recruit will be working with Ty and Abby in the field."

"Okay" Ty looked thoughtful. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to have fresh blood around here, but who could we get? Roger already knows about us"

"He's in no condition to do field work!" Abby retorted "Beside, I still don't fully trust him."

"Okay, who would you recommend?" Ty snapped, looking annoyed.

"Abby has already nominated someone and I approve" The director's image vanished replaced by another one. For a few seconds no one spoke.

"No Way!" Ty exclaimed, smiling widely.

"Cool" Lab Rat added, nodding.

"Yes!" Abby pumped her fist. "This will be perfect!"

Later that day

Naomi opened her locker, jumping slightly as the latch clicked. she had been like this all day. Her memory was still fresh from yesterday's battle, but everyone acted so normally. It was as if the battle hadn't even happened.

"Oh, Hi Roger" Naomi called as Pink Eye passed by. Roger looked at her, confused, then winced and put his hand on his head. "Are you okay?" Naomi asked.

"Yeah, except for these splitting headaches I've been having." Roger replied, wincing again.

"I understand. You were in a lot of pain yesterday" Naomi mused as she reached for her bookbag.

"What do you mean?" Roger gave her a confused look.

Naomi's eye widened. "Don't you remember what happened yesterday?" She asked, sounding astonished.

"No, why? What happened yesterday?" Roger's tone suddenly grew serious and he narrowed both his eyes at Naomi.

"Um" Naomi suddenly felt scared. "you tripped over my bookbag and banged your head on my locker door." She quickly explained, laughing sheepishly.

Roger's angry face softened into a confused one. "I did?"

"Yeah, you must have hit your head pretty hard." Naomi placed a hand on Roger's shoulder. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine" Roger replied, then paused for a minute. "Thanks Naomi"

"You're welcome" Naomi smiled as Roger walked away. Then she sighed with relief. She didn't know why Roger, or anyone else for that matter, didn't seem to remember what had happened yesterday, but it didn't seem to matter.

Suddenly Naomi felt a hand grab her shoulder. Before she could scream, or even move, she felt herself being yanked backwards into her locker, which slammed shut behind her, enveloping her in darkness. Naomi glanced around, but couldn't see a thing. Besides the light that streamed through the slits of her locker door, she seemed to be surrounded by shadows on all sides. Then, suddenly, one of the shadows moved!

Naomi darted backwards, her hand over her mouth. "Greetings Naomi" The shadow spoke. Naomi's eyes widened in fear.

"H-how do you know my name?" She finally stammered. "Who are you?"

"Oh how rude of me. Allow me to introduce myself" The shadow replied, stepping into the light. "I am the Director of The Bureau of Grossology!"

"The bureau of..." Naomi gasped as realization hit her . "You're a grossologist!" She exclaimed.

"Not exactly' The Director replied, shaking his head. "but I do work with them. or rather, they work for me"

"Huh?" Naomi cocked her head, confused.

"I'm here because I wanted to personally thank you for assisting my field agent in defeating Lance Boil." The Director continued. Naomi winced despite herself as memories of yesterday flooded her mind.

"Well, I didn't really do that much" She replied sheepishly, looking a little embarrassed.

"That's not what she told me" The director said, smiling. "She said you not only came up with a way to deliver the antidote to all of the infected students at once, but you also proved to be a capable fighter and a brilliant strategist"

"Well, I've got three athletic older brothers, and I do take ballet, but still I..." Naomi said, looking embarrassed, but the Director cut her off.

"And to top it off, when you were fighting with Boil you ruptured his...um...boil, and was covered from head to toe in pus, and you didn't "freak out"" The Director emphasized the last two words with his fingers.

"Well it was a little disgusting, but kind of cool really. It smelled kind of interesting and was surprisingly firm to the touch It reminded me of jello" Naomi stated, but stopped when she noticed the sickened look on the Director's face. "Sorry" She quickly finished.

"Anyway" He said, straightening up and clearing his throat. "There is another reason you're here. The Bureau of Grossology is looking for new agents, and when I heard what you did, I knew you would be a perfect recruit for our organization." He smiled as Naomi's eyes lit up.

"You...you want me to be a grossologist?" She stammered, not quite believing what he was saying. "Wh-why me?"

"Simply my dear, you have the smarts, you have the skills, but most importantly, you have the stomach." The director replied. "You are perfect grossology material".

Naomi frowned, thinking. "But remember" She looked up as the director continued "Should you accept my offer and become a grossologist, you will join the few who are the front line against crimes repulsive and repellent. It will not be easy, and it will be gross. It is not a job for the faint-hearted. Choose wisely"

Naomi was silent for a minute, than looked up and smiled. "Alright, I'm in!"

"Excellent!" The Director beamed. "we must begin at once. Follow me" He turned and vanished into the the darkness of what Naomi now saw was some sort of tunnel. Naomi glanced back towards her locker door, and the light streaming through it, then turned and followed the Director into the darkness.

The tunnels twisted and turned, until Naomi lost all sense of direction. Eventually they came to a door with a keypad. The director entered a code and the door slid open. Beyond the door were clean white hallways with blue paneling. The surprise of the sudden transfer from dark tunnel to bright hallway must have been clear on Naomi's face because the director chuckled as they kept walking. Eventually the Director stopped at another door, which opened automatically and they walked in. Naomi gasped.

"Welcome to the Gag Lab" The Director announced as Naomi gazed around at the most high-tech laboratory she had ever seen. Shelves containing chemicals and gross-looking things in jars lines the walls, while a series of microscopes and other devices sat on a group of lab tables. A large screen covered the far wall and a computer terminal sat a few feet away from it. A dark-skinned boy was sitting at the computer terminal, typing away. The director cleared his throat and the boy looked up. Naomi gasped again. It was one of the boys from yesterday!

"Naomi, meet Lab Rab, out chief gross analyst" The director introduced the boy, who spun around in his chair. He was wearing a large blue hoodie and dark pants.

"Nice to meet you" Naomi said, reaching out to shake his hand, but Lab Rat simply nodded at her.

"We have met, but I was all mutated back then" he said simply, as if that was all that was needed to be said.

"So, we;ll be working together, huh?" Naomi said, glancing around again.

"Not exactly" Lab Rat replied. "I've got all the help I need already" There was a chattering noise and a large white rat hopped onto Lab Rat's shoulder. "Oh, right. Say hi, Hermes" The rat squeaked and gazed at Naomi with its clear red eyes.

"Right" The Director said, but Naomi wasn't sure if he was truly agreeing with Lab Rat or just being sarcastic. "He's right though, you won't be working with Lab Rat. You'll be working with our two other field agents"

"Really?" Naomi glanced around, but didn't see anyone. "Where are they?"She asked.

Lab Rat chuckled as he turned back to his computer. "Oh, they're around here somewhere"

Abby chuckled as she watched from where she and Ty were handing from the ceiling. Naomi was almost right under them and had no idea they were there. She glanced at Ty and nodded, then they both dropped down to the floor behind Naomi. Abby could literally see the blonde girl jump as she raised her goop shooter and rested the point in the center of Naomi's back. "Freeze!" Abby yelled in a loud voice. "Don't move!"

"Hi-Ya" Naomi cried out as she spun, swinging her leg out in a roundhouse kick. She moved so fast that Abby barely had time to react. She grabbed Naomi's foot with her free hand and held it.

"Ha Ha! Psyche!" Naomi's eyes widened as she recognized Abby and the anger that was blazing in them a moment ago was replaced with a mixture of amusement and annoyance.

"You again!" She exclaimed as Abby released her foot.

"Come on!" Abby scolded "Is that any way to talk to your new partners?"

"Ahem!" The director cleared his throat loudly. The room grew quiet. "Naomi, say hello to your 'new partners', our current field agents, Ty and Abby Archer"

Naomi, who had been in the process of extending her hand out to them, froze when she heard their names. For a few seconds, she just stood there, eyes wide, like she'd just been shocked or stung. "Wait? What?" She finally stammered, once her brain had registered this information. Abby snorted with amusement as she reached up and removed her goggles.

"Surprise!" She exclaimed as Naomi's mouth dropped open.

"Abby?" She said softly, then glanced towards Ty, who reached up more hesitantly and removed his goggles. "And Ty?"

"Hi Naomi" Ty replied, somewhat shyly. He avoided her gaze so Naomi looked back at Abby.

"You guys are grossologists?" Naomi still looked thunderstruck, then a smile slowly crept over her face. "unbelievable!"

"Believe it, Naomi" Abby crowed, and shook hands with her. "We're grossologists and now so are you"

Naomi smiled at Abby, but then her gaze turned back to Ty and her smile faded.

"Ty, are you okay?" She asked. Ty muttered something inaudible and his cheeks tuned red.

"Oh don't worry. I think he's just lovesick" Abby joked, laughing. Lab Rat chuckled and even the director looked somewhat amused. Ty's entire face turned red and he glared at his sister, but stopped when Naomi walked over to him and took his hand.

"I think we need to talk" She said, before glancing at the others.

"Well, I assume you can take things over from here" The director nodded to Abby before walking out of the room.

"Hey Abby, come look at this" Lab Rat called from his workstation. Abby walked over as Ty and Naomi retreated to the far corner of the Gag Lab, where they began talking in low voices.

"What is it?" Abby asked, leaning over Lab Rat's shoulder. Lab Rat pulled up an image of Roger's brain on his computer screen.

"I was doing an analysis on those probes that Lance wired into Roger's brain, and I discovered a sort of side effect." He explained.

"Side effect?" Abby cocked her head.

"You see, the probes were designed to cause roger to feel intense pain when he saw memories of you guys, but they also caused Roger to momentarily forget most to he information in his brain at the time that was partially the way that Lance was able to brainwash him, by making him think that his only purpose was to end the pain by destroying us, But now that the probes are gone, his psyche has overwritten any memories that are connected with the pain, both recent and older." Lab Rat continued.

"So, you're saying that Roger not only can't remember anything that happened yesterday, but he's completely forgotten about Ty and me being grossologists?" Abby asked.

"It looks that way" Lab Rat replied.

"That makes sense" Both of them turned to find that Naomi and Ty were standing right behind them. "When I spoke with Roger in the hall earlier, he acted like he didn't know who I was." Her face fell. "Poor guy"

"It's probably for the best" Ty replied, placing a hand on Naomi's shoulder. Naomi smiled at Ty and he smiled back. Abby rolled her eyes.

"Oh Naomi, before I forget, if you're going out into the field, you'll need a slime suit like Ty and Abby." Lab Rat said, pointing towards a door in the wall. "You'll find one in there. Go change. I want to make sure we measured it right"

"Oh, okay" Naomi sounded a little hesitant but she headed into the backroom anyway.

"Well, well, looks like someone finally got over his 'sickness'. Abby teased, glancing at Ty.

"You're just jealous" Ty fired back, but he smiled.

"Right" Abby rolled her eyes.

"Now now, just be glad that Naomi didn't end up like Kid Rot did" Lab Rat jabbed, making Abby gasp. Ty burst out laughing.

"That was uncalled for!" She exclaimed, shooting Lab Rat a look.

"Right" he replied, rolling his eyes.

"Looks like I've got it, and you don't" Ty bragged, sighing happily. Abby shook her head, but smiled anyway.

"Ahem. How do I look?" Naomi's voice made everyone look up. She was dressed in a dark pink slimesuit with dark purple highlights and had just fastened a pair of slop goggles over her eyes.

"Nice" Ty said, blushing again.

"I'll say" Lab Rat spun in his chair and even Hermes stopped what he was doing to look at her.

"Pink is definitely your color" Abby commented.

"You think so?" Naomi asked, looking herself over. Abby and Ty both nodded. Then Ty walked over and handed Naomi a communicator.

"Welcome to the grossologists" He said, stepping back.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Everyone jumped as an alarm began ringing. The director's face appeared on the screen.

"Grossologists! Sloppy Joe is attacking a flower market! You need to stop him!" He shrieked, before flickering out.

"Sloppy Joe?" Naomi asked.

"Big, stinky, stench-obsessed bad guy" Ty explained.

"I've got the coordinates" Lab Rat announced.

"Right, let's roll!" Abby and Ty sprinted for the exit, but stopped when they noticed that Naomi wasn't following them.

"Naomi, you coming or not?" Abby called.

"Come on, I'll let you sit up front with me!" Ty offered, jingling the keys of the GRS-1. Naomi giggled as Abby sighed.

"Okay, I'm coming!" She said before sprinting after Ty and Abby.

Ten minutes later

Ten minutes later the GRS-1 touched down outside an outdoor flower market. As soon as Abby emerged from the GRS-1 she winced.

"Yep. Joe's been here all right" She commented. Naomi sniffed the air and started coughing.

"Sounds like he still is" Ty added as a loud toot sound came from inside the main area of the market.

"Come on" The three agents crept through the flowered archway entrance and ducked behind a line of boxes. Peeking over the top of them, they saw Joe spraying gas onto a row of flowers about ten feet away, as they watched, the flowers started to wilt.

"Those poor flowers" Naomi whispered, clenching a fist.

"Any ideas Ty?" Abby asked, readying her goop shooter.

"I think it's time to introduce Joe to our new friend" Ty replied, glancing at Naomi, who smiled eagerly.

"You ready?" Abby asked.

"Oh yeah" Naomi replied as she cocked her own shooter.

Ty nodded, then stood up. "Hey Joe!" She yelled. The stinker looked up as Ty aimed his shooter at him. "What did flowers ever do to you?"

"Bah, I hate flowers!" Joe replied. "Almost as much as I hate Grossologists!"

While Joe was yelling, Abby and Naomi each snuck around a row of flowers to attack from different sides.

"Step away from the flowers, Joe!" Abby yelled as she rose up from hiding, her goop shooter ready. Joe whirled to face her, eyes narrowed.

"Make me!" He bellowed, raising a spray bottle, but suddenly the bottle and Joe's hand were covered in goop.

"Hey!" Joe spun around to face Naomi, who had risen from cover and fired a perfect shot. froze, looking dumbfounded. "What the-? Who are you?" He asked.

"I'm new" Naomi replied, firing again, this time at the ground. Sloppy Joe stepped backwards and slipped on the goop, and fell with a THUD.

Joe growled as he glanced up at Ty, Abby, and Naomi. The three teens smiled down at him.

"Sloppy, Joe" Naomi scolded, shaking her head. "Really sloppy" Ty and Abby snickered.

"Oh yeah?" Joe replied, then gave an almighty belch, spraying the threesome with spit. While they shielded their faces from the spray, Joe heaved himself to his feet and ran.

"Okay, that was gross" Naomi admitted, wiping droll off of her mouth.

"That's our job" Ty replied, taking aim at Joe's retreating figure.

"Still feeling ready?" Abby teased.

Naomi smiled. "Shoot on three?"

Abby smiled back at her. "One"

Ty gave Naomi a playful nudge on the shoulder. "Two"

Naomi smiled and took aim. "Three" She fired. Three streams of goop shot through the air. There was a loud splatt, followed by a yell from Sloppy Joe. Ty and Abby almost didn't hear Naomi's happy sigh.

Almost.

THE END