"Faster, pretty boy!"
"Oh, come on, Your Backstabbing Excellency. I never mess with your appearance."
"Oh, do you have something to say about my appearance?"
"Uh... Maybe?"
Igor ran through the forest with Gangreen sitting on his back.
"I don't understand why we left like that," said the henchman to change the subject. "We're going to miss the victory party and the beach trip."
"Oh, don't worry, my dear Igor. I don't think those goody-goody shoes will feel like celebrating."
And after that comment, Gangreen let out one of his characteristic evil laughs. To which Igor only responded with a "Huh?" But suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks, causing his master to lose his balance and almost fall to the ground.
"Why did you stop, you incompetent fool?"
"Hey, Doc, what do you think that is?"
Igor pointed to some bushes in front of them that were moving. There was something in them, and that something was coming their way. The bronzed giant swallowed hard, frightened.
"I hope it's not a bear. Or worse, a shark."
"No, it's not that. Igor, I think it's... "
"Hey, boss. Long time no see."
"Zoltan!"
"And the gang of five," said the tomato at the same time that five more smaller tomatoes came out of the bush, jumping.
"Wow, dude. You look different. Did you do something with your hair?"
"Actually, yes. Thanks for noticing."
"It suits you well." said giving a thumbs up.
"Igor, don't you really notice the difference in their appearance?"
A new "Huh?".
Gangreen slapped himself in the face while regretting, once again, having hired the first person who responded to his ad in the newspaper. Since he couldn't do anything about it, he was forced to explain the obvious to him.
"They've reverted to their original appearance, you bronzed buffoon."
Indeed, Zoltan and his gang no longer looked like the monstrous tomatoes from the second season. On the contrary, they had recovered their original appearance of comedic reliefs, barely larger than real tomatoes.
"But how?"
"Fascinating," said Gangreen, rubbing his chin. "Their second mutation must have protected them from Tara's powers. Only their doubly mutated bodies were destroyed, but their cores, for lack of a better term, were preserved."
"Huh?"
"The writers didn't have the guts to kill them," said the scientist, shrugging.
Zoltan jumped towards the duo.
"Hey, boss, I hate to interrupt you in the middle of your daily escape, but do you think you could take us with you?"
"Say again"
"Well, the forest is full of armed humans, and we're not exactly the most popular tomatoes."
Gangreen got off Igor and approached Zoltan and the gang of five.
"Let me see if I understand. After the betrayals, the backstabbing, the insults, the attempts to devour me... After kicking me out of my own laboratory... And leaving me in need of working with that idiot Wilbur... Do you expect me to help you?"
"Yes," said Zoltan, smiling. "Come on, boss. What are a few betrayals here and there between family?"
As a response, the rest of the gang started jumping and babbling with their tiny voices. Their creator's face remained stoic.
"Oh, I'll show you what a few betrayals in the family mean."
Gangreen approached the tomatoes with a determined look on his face. Trembling, the gang clung to Zoltan, waiting for their end, too tired to keep running. Igor, who was watching from a distance, covered his face with both hands and looked down.
"I don't want to see this."
He expected to hear the sound of tomatoes being crushed and smeared on the grass, followed by the scientist's laughter. But after several seconds, he still hadn't heard anything. He removed his hands and found Gangreen kneeling on the grass. He had wrapped his arms around the half-dozen traitorous tomatoes and was squeezing them against his chest with affection, as if they were babies. The scene made Igor repeat a "Huh?"
"Your evilness, I don't understand. Don't you hate Zoltan and the gang of five?"
"Well, Igor, I admit that I longed to see this bunch of red leeches crushed on the grass. I dreamed about it many times. But it's also true that these rotten tomatoes betrayed me for a greater evil. They were arrogant, selfish, ruthless, and treacherous. So evil that I couldn't be prouder."
And with that, he hugged his tomatoes with renewed strength.
"Aww, I love you too, dad," said Zoltan.
"Don't push your luck," Gangreen responded coldly, ending the hug and dropping them to the ground.
"Okay, okay. I can live with that. So, boss, how about some fertilizer? We're starving."
"Later. After we're far away from here. We can't risk being captured."
Seconds later, Igor was running again with Gangreen on his shoulders. Zoltan and his gang peeked out of the pockets of the scientist's coat.
"Faster, Igor. Faster. Before they start looking for us."
"Yes, oh great master of rotten vegetables."
"Like old times, right guys?" Zoltan said to his gang, and they responded with disheartened murmurs. "I know, I know. "
The scientist noticed their lack of enthusiasm.
"Don't worry, my sinister offspring. We'll have our return to power one day. And this time, no one will stop us."
Gangreen started laughing, and his creations, already resigned to their new-old status quo, soon joined in. Igor continued running towards the sunny horizon, not fully understanding what had happened that day, but happy that everyone was together again.