CH 3 (Remember, I do not own Grossology or any of it's characters) Enjoy!
The next day, Ty and Abby walked out of their classroom with big smiles on their faces.
"Man, that test was a breeze" Ty exclaimed, stretching a kink out of his arms.
"Who says science is boring?" Abby agreed, winking at Ty. Both siblings laughed.
"Hey, Ty?" Ty turned to find Naomi standing behind them.
"Oh, hi Naomi" Ty felt his face begin to heat up and his hand begin to shake.
"Three's a crowd, I'll keep walking" Abby teased, moving away, ignoring the glare that Ty threw at her.
"So, uh, how'd you do on the test?" Ty asked, feeling awkward again.
"Oh, fine" Naomi replied. "Listen Ty, yesterday, you said you wanted to ask me something. What was it?"
Ty felt himself getting nervous again. "Um, well. You see, I was wondering if, maybe you'd like to...um" Oh great! Ty yelled to himself. What is wrong with me?
"Like, to, what?" Naomi repeated, raising an eyebrow.
"Like to..." Ty took a deep breath and gathered his courage. "Would you like to go out with me?" he , shutting his eyes and clenching his fists behind his back. He waited. Nothing happened.
Smooth Ty! He scolded himself. Real smooth! He peaked his eyes open. Naomi was still standing there, looking a little amused.
"Sure" She said, smiling. "I'd love to go out with you"
"Really?" Ty's eyes widened. Naomi chuckled.
"Really" She said.
"Well then" Ty said, quickly regaining his composure. "How does today after-school sound?"
Naomi's smile faded and she looked uncertain. Ty felt panic begin to rise again. Was that too soon?
"Why not?" Naomi finally answered, smiling again. "It's a date"
Ty felt super-relieved. "Meet you on the steps?" He said, smiling widely now.
"See you then" Naomi agreed, walking away.
Ty waved until Naomi turned the corner, then he pumped his fist in the air. "Yes"
"Way to go, Romeo" Ty flinched as Abby's giggling. Turning, he saw his sister smile at her. "Now was that so hard?"
"Umm, yes" Ty replied sarcastically.
"So, what exactly are you two going to do?" Abby asked as they resumed walking.
Ty snorted. "Oh, don't worry, I have everything all planned out" He boasted. But truthfully, I have no idea. He thought to himself.
"Hey, what's going on over there?" Abby asked, pointing to a crowd that was gathering by the cafeteria doors.
"Got me, let's go see" Ty replied and they squeezed their way through the crowd.
Paige and Roger were sitting behind a makeshift stand that was painted bright pink. Three trays of cookies were sitting on the stand and a nearby sign read HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES 1 for $1. GIVE FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY
"Paige? What are you doing?" Abby asked, walking up to Paige as the blonde girl handed a cookie to one of their fellow students.
"What does it look like I'm doing, Abby?" Paige snapped in reply, her trademark smile being replaced by a frown.
"Well, it looks like you're being selfless, which we all know is something you don't do" Abby retorted.
"Like you know anything about being selfless" Paige replied, smiling again. "Besides, the most popular girl at Ringworm High has to set a good example for other students".
"Excuse me?" Abby's eyes narrowed. "Since when do you... Ty, what are you doing?" Abby turned to her brother, who was standing in line.
"One big cookie please" Ty forked over a dollar bill.
Abby groaned as Paige smirked triumphantly.
"Thanks Ty" Roger replied, handing Ty a large cookie.
"Yes, Ty" Paige added. "Thanks for showing that some of us have a heart" She glanced at Abby as she said the last few words. Abby growled with anger and clenched her fists.
Paige laughed and turned to address another customer as Ty and Abby walked away. As such, they missed the smile playing on Roger's face, or seeing him pull a communicator out of his pocket and speak into it.
"Ty's taken one sir. Won't be long now" Roger smiled. Lance, who was on the screen, smiled evilly and chuckled.
"Ty, please tell me that you aren't going to eat that" Abby exclaimed as they walked down the hall.
"Relax, It;s for Naomi" Ty chided, wrapping the cookie in a plastic bag and sticking it into his backpack. "What's your problem, anyway?"
"All I know is Paige plus Pinkeye equals bad news" Abby cautioned.
"Roger's okay, he helped us out, remember?" Ty gave Abby a strange look.
"He tried to take my place in the Bureau, remember?" Abby's eyes narrowed.
"Okay point taken, but he was being used by Lance, remember?" Ty reminded her.
"After he had captured Lance ro find out about out secret identities, remember?" Abby countered, clenching her fists
"You know what I think?" Ty stopped walking, "I bet you're just angry at Paige"
"Her insults really did hurt" Abby admitted, hanging her head.
"Relax" Ty patty Abby on the shoulder. "Even Paige and Roger are allowed to be good, right? I mean, it's not like either of them was being used by Insectiva."
"Even if Roger could remember what happened, I doubt he'd be dumb enough to let Boil use him twice" Abby rolled her eyes.
The chime of the communicator interrupted them. They snapped it open, expecting to find the Director, but were shocked to see Lance Boil appear on the screen.
"Greetings Grossologists" He sneered.
"Lance Boil" Ty and Abby stared back at him with equally dark scowls.
"Indeed." Lance droned. "It is I, your most hated nemesis, your most devious opponent, your..."
"Spare us the gloating Boil, What do you want?" Abby cut Lance off. Ty sniggered.
Lance looked annoyed. "As I was saying, A little 'bug' told me that you like to take tests. So I've decided to arrange a little test just for you."
Abby and Ty exchanged a puzzled look. Then looked back as Lance continued.
"Tell me, Ty. Do you like wild animals?" Ty raised an eyebrow at this.
"Sure" He replied hesitantly.
"Oh, excellent" Lance's smile widened. "In that case, you are going to love what's waiting for you in the gymnasium of your school!"
Ty and Abby's eyes widened. "Boil, what are you...?"
Abby's question was cut off by the sound of breaking glass and a loud scream.
"Oops" Lance chuckled "Correction, was waiting in the gymnasium. Sounds like it got loose"
"What got loose?" Ty demanded "What kind of creature are you talking about, Lance?"
"Oh, you'll find out soon enough." Lance replied, then he looked sideways, out of the frame. "Oh, in fact, I think you'll find out right about...now"
As soon as Lance said Now, the communication was cut, and at the same time an unearthly screech echoed down the deserted hallway. Ty and Abby glanced up from the communicator to see that a classroom door at the end of the hall had burst open. Ty's friend Andy emerged from the room. But he looked different. For one thing, his clothes were ripped and his hair stuck out in a set of spikes, like he'd been shocked.
"Andy?" Ty called. Andy turned around and both siblings gasped. Andy's eyes glowed red and his face looked overgrown with hair. His fingernails had extended and looked like talons and glasses had cracked to the point that they looked like they could shatter any minute. He hissed at the siblings and fangs peaked out from behind his hairy lips.
"Andy? What happened to you?" Ty exclaimed. Abby meanwhile, had glanced around, ready to leap to anyone's rescue, but the hallway was empty.
"Where is everyone?" She wondered. Then Abby heard a sound, an angry hiss, coming from behind her. "Uh Ty" She squeaked, her voice rising and choked with fear. "There's something behind us"
"Oh yeah" Ty's voice was drenched with dread. Both siblings slowly turned. Paige was standing a few feet away. She didn't look as monstrous as Andy, but she didn't look normal either. Her eyes were bright green and her pupils slitted like a cat's. Her well-manicured nails had also warped into claws and her hair looked scruffed, like she'd been rolling on the ground. Her face was hairy too, but it was short and dense, like fur. She crouched down, arching her back and hissed like a cat, revealing sharp canines.
"Paige?" Abby exclaimed, her eyes wide. "What happened to you?" Both grossologists glanced up as Lance's laughter echoed through the hall. It was coming from the speaker system.
"Welcome to your final test, Grossologists!" His voice boomed as more mutated students appeared on either ends of the hallway. "It's more than your grades at stake now. In this test, the price of failure is, your lives!" The hallway echoed with evil laughter as the mutated students inched forward, hissing and snarling. Ty and Abby backed against the wall, glancing around fearfully, searching for a way out.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
