"You're really getting good," Kiki commented the next day.
Gypsy smiled proudly. "Thanks. But it's mostly your teaching."
Kiki chuckled. "Still. It's been under forty-eight hours."
Gypsy nodded. "Yeah, it has. So are we going to go on mission as partners anytime soon?"
Kiki paused. "Maybe. But not for at least another day."
"Fair enough." Gypsy hesitated. "So... Why have you never gotten along with Perry?" she asked hesitantly.
Kiki stared at her. "What?"
Gypsy immediately cringed. "Sorry if it isn't my place, but...Perry told me you used to bully him. I don't want to judge you until I hear your side of the story, but I understand...if you don't want to tell me."
Kiki bit her lip and sighed. "It's...really complicated," she said finally.
"I-If you want to tell me, that's fine. I'll listen. But if you don't want to tell me, that's also fine."
"I…I don't think I can say yet. It's, like I said, complicated, and..." Kiki sighed again. "And it's also fairly embarrassing."
Gypsy giggled slightly. "Okay. If you ever want to talk, I won't judge."
Kiki raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "Well, you say that now..."
"Hey, YOU didn't judge ME," reminded Gypsy. "And I told you about my powers."
Kiki laughed weakly. "Yeah, well... You're friends with Perry, aren't you?"
Gypsy nodded. "He's like a brother to me."
She didn't mention her gigantic, ever-growing crush on the platypus.
"Then this'll be even stranger for you."
"Oh." Gypsy blinked. "Why?"
Kiki chuckled weakly. "Just... Because."
Gypsy frowned. "Okay. If you're sure you don't want to talk."
"Not right now."
"Fair enough."
Kiki cleared her throat. "So... Is there anything YOU'd like to learn?"
"Well-."
She was interrupted by a massive crash from outside. Gypsy gave a small scream. "What was that?!"
"Let's go see."
Kiki raced off. Gypsy hurriedly followed at a slower pace. She gasped when they reached the front of the building.
"What is that?!" she yelled.
"Rodrigo," Kiki snarled.
"Wh-What's the machine he's coming out of?" Gypsy asked fearfully.
"I don't know."
"You've never seen it before?"
"No, I haven't!" Kiki snapped. "Do you think I would have said that I didn't know if I had seen it before?"
"Don't snap at me; I'm trying to help!" Gypsy snapped back.
"I know you are!" Kiki breathed out deeply.
"Let's get him!" Gypsy yelled suddenly, racing towards the giant machine.
"Gypsy, wait!" Kiki called. "I don't think he's alone!"
But Gypsy ignored her and continued running. As Rodrigo turned to face her, she leapt towards him, intending to attack him. But instead, a scientist with a creepy furred arm appeared and punched her in the stomach with it, causing her to fly backwards and hit the ground hard, groaning in pain.
Kiki groaned in frustration before racing to help.
David Bringdown lifted his animal arm and slapped Gypsy hard around the face, before being tackled by Kiki. Gypsy watched in amazement as the fox held the scientist off for a large amount of time.
She backed away as she spotted more and more evil scientists coming out of the machine. Acting without thinking, she created vines around Kiki and lifted her up, out of harm's way.
"Gypsy!" Kiki hissed.
"You're safe now!" Gypsy called up to her.
"Gypsy, get me down! I can hold my own!"
"Not against so many!" Gypsy called back.
All of a sudden, she spotted two scientists coming towards her. She dropped her concentration for just a second in order to beat them, away, but then Doctor Bringdown wrapped his animal arm around her, keeping her down. She screamed and struggled, forgetting that stress could do things to natural things around her.
After a little bit, Kiki also let out a scream. "Gypsy!" she snapped.
Gypsy's concentration finally completely snapped under her terror, and the vines she had created sunk back into the ground. She screamed and struggled as hard as she could.
"Gypsy!"
Gypsy continued screaming.
Luckily, that was when help finally arrived. Perry leapt onto Bringdown's back and wrenched him away from Gypsy.
"Are you okay?!"
Gypsy started crying hysterically as she clutched Perry tightly. "I-I-I-I-I'm f-f-f-fine..."
"No, you're not. Let's get inside. The other agents can take care of the other scientists."
Glancing into the fray to vainly find Kiki, Gypsy allowed Perry to lead her inside.
"What happened?" Perry asked concernedly when she was sitting on a couch.
Gypsy was crying too hard to reply, and even if she could, how could she explain?
"Gypsy, please," Perry begged.
Gypsy shook her head. "K-Kiki," she stammered. "M-Make s-s-s-sure sh-she's okay."
"What do you mean?" Perry blinked.
Gypsy pointed outside with a shaking paw. "M-Make sure sh-she's okay."
"I'm staying here with you," Perry said firmly. "If she's in trouble, another agent will see."
"PLEASE!" shrieked Gypsy, distraught. "P-P-Please!"
"Gypsy!" Perry hugged her tightly.
"Please j-j-just make s-s-s-sure sh-sh-she's okay..."
Perry exhaled. "Gyp..."
"P-P-Please..."
"Fine." Perry sighed and laid her down on the couch.
"Th-Thank you." Gypsy smiled weakly.
"Stay right here," Perry instructed.
Gypsy nodded. "O-Okay."
Perry exhaled and walked back outside. "Kiki!" he called, racing back into the battle.
He found the fox tangled up in vines. "Perry!" Kiki snapped when she saw him. "Get me out of this!"
"How did that happen?!"
"I DON'T KNOW!" Kiki gave a scream. "Please hurry-there are thorns! Ow, ow, OWWW!"
Perry immediately tried to rip the vines. They were deadened, so it was fairly easy. Kiki got to her feet, wincing at the hundreds of little cuts all over her body.
"Do you really not know how that happened?" Perry blinked.
"No!" she snapped at him, trying to hide the fact that she really did know. "How would I?!"
"Because you're normally more alert in a fight!"
"They're VINES!" Kiki yelled. "They grew from the ground!"
She growled in frustration and stormed back to the building.
Gypsy glanced up as Kiki stormed in. She reached out with her paw. "Kiki!" she called.
Kiki growled at her. "I TOLD you to try and control your powers!"
"I did!" Gypsy said defensively. "I-I did that on purpose."
"You...did THIS..." She gestured to her many cuts, "on purpose?"
"Wait..." Gypsy blinked, registering the fox's appearance. "How'd you get so hurt?!"
"Your vines grew thorns," Kiki snapped.
Gypsy's eyes widened. "They...they what?!"
"You heard me!"
Gypsy's paws flew to cover her mouth. "K-Kiki, I-I'm so sorry! It must have been when that guy grabbed me... Stress can cause my powers to get out of control..."
"Exactly!" Kiki snapped. "Get your powers under control!"
"They normally are!" Gypsy cried. "Th-This rarely ever happens! Kiki...I-I didn't mean it!"
The fox just snarled and walked away.
"Kiki, please don't be mad!" Gypsy called desperately after her.
Either Kiki didn't hear or ignored her because she kept walking.
"KIKI!"
But she was gone. Gypsy lay back down on the couch and sobbed. And that was when Perry found her.
"Gypsy...?"
She continued to cry hard, her eyes squeezed shut.
Perry sat down next to her. "Gypsy?"
"I'm the worst person ever," she sobbed.
"What...?! No, you're not!"
"Kiki hates me!"
"That does NOT mean you're a bad person!"
"I made Kiki hate me!" wailed Gypsy.
"Sh..." Perry soothed. "I doubt you did anything wrong."
There was nothing Gypsy could say to that, except the one unutterable fact that it wasn't true.
Perry hesitated. "Do you...really think you did?"
Gypsy nodded wordlessly.
"Well… What?"
Gypsy buried her head in her paws and didn't answer. How could she? What could she say?
Perry rubbed her back. "Gyp?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" she wailed.
"Okay, okay..." Perry pulled her into a hug.
"I-I'm sorry. I'm s-s-so pathetic..."
"No, you aren't," Perry said firmly.
"Wh-Why am I c-c-crying so m-m-much then?"
"Because you just went through something that hurt you," Perry soothed. "Crying doesn't make you pathetic."
Gypsy sniffled. "I-I'm sorry..."
"No, it's okay." Perry began to rock her.
"I-Is the battle over?"
"Yeah. It was practically done when I went back out there."
Gypsy inhaled shakily. "C-Can w-we go home?"
"Sure thing, Gyp."
"Th-Thanks."
Perry gently let go of his friend. "Let's go."
Gypsy nodded and got shakily to her feet.
What happened? Perry thought concernedly. His best friend could barely walk. And then there was Kiki. She had seemed EXTREMELY angry. Was it really all to do with the vines? And if so, how was Gypsy connected? WAS she connected?
He realised that this was the second natural phenomenon to occur in under twelve hours. First all the roses, then the vines. What was going on? Whatever it is, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was connected to Gypsy and the big secret he suspected she had.
Perry bit the inside of his beak. He needed to ask her about it when she was doing a bit better. He needed to put this mystery to rest.
Even if Gypsy didn't want to tell him.