"Look at this, Tara."

"Incredible."

On the other side of the door they found a control room. There was a keyboard connected to several monitors, all turned off except for the main one. Some rusty chairs stood guard. On one wall, there was a map of the sewer system, or at least the section related to this room, with the octagonal chamber at its center. Chad observed it carefully for a few moments before speaking.

"I have no idea what all this is."

"Do you think it's Gangreen's work?"

Tara gazed at the monitor showing the octagonal chamber from above. It seemed like a security measure to monitor the activity that took place down there. Whatever that activity was.

"I don't know. There's something that doesn't feel like him. And this room seems to have been here for a long time" he ran a finger over the keyboard, tracing a line through the layer of dust–. "Abandoned, of course, but still here."

"But what is 'here'?"

There was a metallic clinking in a corner, and both turned towards it. A trash can had been knocked over, and a dark silhouette was moving across the floor. It sounded like a water-filled balloon trying to slip away with quick movements. Before it could, Chad's flashlight managed to focus on it.

"Hey, get that thing off my face!."

"Zoltan!" Chad shouted in surprise.

"And the Fab Five!" Tara added.

Indeed, the tomatoes were there, with their eyes narrowed to protect themselves from the cone of light.

"Well, well, well, look who's here. The boy of indeterminate age and the two-time traitor."

"Indeterminate age?"

The smaller tomatoes started murmuring random numbers, but were silenced by their leader.

"We're not doing that again!"

Tara looked on in confusion, more perplexed than anyone else by this encounter. She was certain that five years ago, she had used her powers to destroy these tomatoes for good.

"I can't believe you're alive."

"Bad weed never dies, little traitor."

"Stop calling me that! I was never on your side."

"But you're a tomato. And you chose to act against your entire race." Zoltan's tone was more serious than usual, as if those words were something he had pondered for a long time. "I don't care that you betrayed the boss, we've all done that at some point. But betraying your kind like that... That was ruthless. Especially for one of the good guys."

"Boss? Are you working for Gangreen again? Talk about hitting rock bottom," Chad said, trying to change the subject.

"Hey, everyone survives as best they can. Anyway, I'd love to stay and catch up, but we have work to do."

"Work? And I thought you guys were the comic relief again."

The tomatoes sighed indignantly.

"Comic relief! Comic relief! Could a comic relief do this?"

The six tomatoes opened their mouths and spat out fat seeds that flew through the air. They exploded in front of the teenagers' faces, enveloping the room in a thick reddish dust. Chad and Tara groaned as they felt the stuff burning their eyes and nostrils. They closed their eyelids tightly while trying to disperse the burning cloud with wild swings.

Zoltan and his gang slipped between their legs and made their way to the metal platform. They threw themselves off it, deploying their tendrils and rolling them up like small parachutes.

"The boss isn't going to like finding out Tara's still alive. But at least he can't blame us for that," they landed on the floor of the chamber and made their way into the tunnel that the alligator had followed. "But he's going to blame us if we don't bring him this big guy."

Minutes later, in the control room, the red cloud had almost dissipated, and the teenagers were able to see their surroundings again. Their eyes were still irritated and tearful, but at least it wasn't bothering them as much.

"Those guys know how to be a nuisance, no matter what size they are," Chad said, leaning on the keyboard.

"At least they're not controlling the world... Even if they're working for Gangreen."

"Yeah, although it seems they've learned some new tricks."

It was then that Chad noticed a logo on the keyboard. It was hidden under a thick layer of dust, but when he wiped it away, he saw it clearly. "Hey, I recognize this. It's the Green Planet company."

"Who?"

"They had a pollution-free factory in San Zucchini years ago. Then they closed it down one day without explanation. Later, it was discovered that they produced a lot of toxic waste but knew how to get rid of it quietly."

"That's horrible!"

The young girl was disgusted. She couldn't understand how someone could act in such a way, without any consideration for the planet they shared with their fellow human beings. Thanks to her connection with the vegetable kingdom, this affected her much more than a regular human. The boy didn't notice this, as he was focused on the technological equipment present.

"And it seems they used this place to get rid of their waste."

Chad fell silent, lost in thought for a few seconds, rubbing his chin pensively. All the pieces were starting to come together in his head.

"Chad, what's going on?" Tara asked, concerned.

"Well, it sounds crazy, but I have a theory. Did you notice how pale that tomato was?"

"Yeah. That's a fruit that hasn't received enough light."

"Exactly." The young man walked over to the wall map and examined it more closely than before. "Imagine a small tomato in the sewers. Feeding on toxic waste abandoned there. And it does so for years. A killer tomato that already has the basic mutations Gangreen gave it."

"With so much toxicity, it could become a monster like the one we saw. But why is it abducting people now?"

Chad didn't take his eyes off the map. "Maybe it ran out of waste... or someone took it away."

"Someone?"

"This room is still functioning. Even if it's in bad condition. I think someone was controlling the alligator's development... to use it against San Zucchini."

Tara stood beside him, trying to understand what he saw in the map. What he was telling her sounded very bad, but possible, given the circumstances. "It would have to be a very twisted person to do something like that."

Footsteps were heard on the metal platform, and they quickly turned around. A small figure rushed over and jumped into Tara's arms.

"F.T.!" the young woman exclaimed, hugging the tomato and rubbing her cheek against him. "I'm glad to see you."

"Me too. But where's Uncle Wilbur?"

The tomato began to whimper a series of explanations accompanied by whistles and explosions.

"He and the Tomatoe Task Force are fighting the alligator on the surface. But they don't seem to be winning."

"We have to do something!"

Suddenly, FT started sniffing loudly and squirming. With a jump, he left Tara's arms and ran to the back wall. He barked at it irritably.

"What's wrong, buddy?"

"There's something on the other side of that wall that F.T. doesn't like."

Tara's eyes sparkled as her powers fell upon the wall. A red stain appeared, and it began to buzz. Soon, several bricks exploded, forming a wide circle that led to another room. Although surprised by this display of strength, Chad approached to see, illuminating the interior with his flashlight.

"F.T., I know you're not a dog, but your sense of smell is excellent sometimes."

"What's in there?"

Tara approached and discovered a long warehouse. There were some dirty transport carts and a couple of bright yellow barrels. They were vacuum-sealed but roughly stacked. At the opposite end, there was an old freight elevator.

"Those are..."

"Toxic waste." Chad looked at the map again. "And maybe a solution to our problem."

Yes, that wasn't a bad plan.