The teenaged Ventrexian stood in front of the large, almost ice-like barrier that somehow separated whatever was behind it from the rest of Final Space. He’d left everyone behind without saying goodbye or why he’d left - hell, he’d practically betrayed them by omission. There was no sign of the Crimson Light, & therefore no sign of any of its crew or the Titan that’d been guiding them. There was no sign of life there period. As he stood in front of that barrier, he was standing completely alone.
In his hand, he held onto a device - completely one of his own making - & he looked at it. He didn’t know if this would even work. For all he knew, this could fail completely, & he’d risk putting everything in danger only to receive nothing in return.
But he had to do this. For Gary. He couldn’t go on without him.
He took the device & quite literally stabbed at the barrier with a grunt, making sure it was lodged in there before pushing in the pump handle. He took some steps back right as the barrier slowly began to crack - first small, then growing larger & louder as it went up along the barrier. Not too long after the cracks had spread to the edges of it, pieces of it began to dislodge, the barrier eventually coming down in an avalanche of ice & debris.
Once he was sure everything had settled & nothing was at risk of falling on top of him, he began walking forwards, walking on top of the uneven chunks until he’d entered the area. Oddly enough, the area actually seemed safe to breathe in despite the open space not being too far, & once he’d entered far enough, he decided to remove his helmet.
Step one of blowing up the barrier was complete - now to just see if it was actually worth his while...
It was around that time where the chances of anyone being awake would have been slim to none. In this case, it was none - all of the lights were shut off, leaving only what little light streamed through the windows that led to the graveyard that was Final Space to illuminate the inside of the ship. If one were to look around, they’d almost feel as if the Crimson Light seemed unnaturally empty. There wasn’t even any sign of a presence of a Titan outside as there typically would have been.
But there was certainly a presence of something else. Along the metal floors of the halls, there was a tar-like substance that at first slithered across the floor as a single tendril before seeming to spread more & more into a puddle as it progressed. As well, there was ambiance that seemed to follow it - whispers, growls, rumbles - but at first it was at such a low volume that it could barely be heard by anyone at all.
The location in question was behind a door. GARY’S door. & the ‘tar’ slipped right under the door, despite it being completely sealed shut. & then, as it entered, the ambiance began to quickly grow louder, as a figure slowly began to rise from it. Clawed - & non-clawed - hands pushed through with ease, & proceeded to push the rest of itself up, slowly rising until its horns were just brushing the ceiling, bright yellow rapidly lighting the small room. By now, the ambiance had raised to a roar, & through it pierced that ever cruel voice;
“Hey, uh - dad?” Little Cato said into his communicator. “So - I got the rig in, so that’s good to go whenever, but, uhhh, I tried to use the vents to leave like I’m supposed to, & I know I’m already a couple minutes behind, but, uh-”
“-Yeah, I’m literally, like, half-stuck in the outside exit. I’m on the opposite side of the rendezvous, could you give me a hand, maybe-”
Lil Cee had asked Little Cato to keep an eye out for a poster of some sort. Cee hadn’t really said much about it other than it was a ‘motivator’ & something to ‘help him talk to his Overseer easier’. Which Little Cato had found reasonable enough, he supposed - the kid seemed nothing less than anxious, so if he found some confidence in a poster, then he was willing to do the kid a favour by looking for it.
He was walking through the hall in which Cee had gotten lost since that was where the kid had assumed he’d lost the poster as well. Surely enough, he’d found something, & picked it up. Now, the other boy had stated that it’d be folded up, & Little Cato certainly had no intention of taking a peek, but it happened to be partially unfolded, &-
His chest tightened when he saw the all too familiar image of the Lord Commander, & without even thinking, unfolded it all the way. It was a propaganda poster. For the Lord Commander. Encouraging people to join the Lord Commander. Encouraging KIDS to join the Lord Commander.
The teen’s first instincts were to destroy it - tear it up, or burn it, or toss it out into Final Space & just simply say ‘Sorry, kid - couldn’t find it’. Those instincts were ones fueled by anger, though - & he wasn’t actually angry about it. At least, not at the kid. He probably should’ve been. He probably should’ve immediately gone & confronted Lil Cee about it - tell him that he can’t just just HAVE this here, that it’ll get him in trouble, that it’s ridiculous to even have this, seriously, what is he thinking!? Was he planning on joining!? Was he out of his MIND!?
But he wasn’t & he didn’t. He didn’t have the heart to. He knew it was wrong - so completely & utterly WRONG - for this kid to buy into what that TYRANT was selling, but that wasn’t necessarily his fault. He didn’t have anyone to tell him what was right from wrong - the kid apparently didn’t even have a DAD to really learn the harsh lesson of following that pile of crap & have it truly stick. & maybe that should’ve been him. Maybe he should’ve been the one to - more sensitively - tell him why this was wrong, that the Lord Commander was not someone he should turn to...but he didn’t have the heart to do that either.
This was probably all the poor kid had, he realized. The only chance he had, the only shred of hope - however way it was spun, it was probably ALL HE HAD. & that was anger-inducing - frightening, even - but above all, it was just saddening. & though Little Cato knew it was wrong, there was something in the softer part of his heart - the part that was sympathetic & caring - that told him he couldn’t take that away from him. That it wasn’t his to take away. Lil Cee was not of his timeline - & no matter how much he cared about him now & how much he tried to help him out, the fact was as soon as he went back home, there was nothing Little Cato could do about him there. It just was not HIS choice to take that away from him.
...But, of course, he couldn’t indulge it, either. Not only was it against his own beliefs - his own knowledge, even - but it was also a dangerous belief to have on a ship where everyone hated his idol to varying degrees. What the kid believed was his business - just NOT ON THIS SHIP.
Little Cato thickly swallowed, & though he decided against completely destroying it, he decided against returning it to the kid as well. He glanced around to make sure no one was near to see him do this, &, when the coast was clear, folded the poster up & shoved it in his belt, fixing his turtleneck so that it was hiding it. He’d find some place to hide it where Cee wouldn’t find it. & no one else, he mentally added, realizing how darn of a good thing it was that he’d found the poster before anyone else.
He wasn’t going to claim that he couldn’t find it & lie - he just wouldn’t say anything. &, whenever the kid finally managed to figure out how to get home, he’d give it back then.
“Gaaaryyy,” it said, a slight sing-song to its voice. Naturally, it was nowhere actually near the ship at this current moment - that would be too risky now that BOLO had decided to make himself some self-proclaimed guardian of the nuisances that resided in the Crimson Light - however, it sounded incredibly clear. (Benefits of having telepathy, one supposed.)
“I know you can hear me. Stop ignoring me. Why don’t you come outside? We can have a nice, civil discussion.”
Honestly, it probably had been the scent of juice that’d drawn the Ventrexian to that part of the ship, curious up until yellow eyes fell upon his guardian his dad Gary the human. & as soon as they did, his lips had curled over those over-sized fangs into a snarl.
His entire body tensed, fur standing on end, a low growl leaving him in response to the other’s words - which, frankly, were falling on deaf ears currently. His gaze was far too fixed on the metal limb in question, right now...
The teen found a chill going down his spine at the sight of those all too familiar eyes, & - despite alarms going off on his head telling him it’s not him! It’s not Gary! - felt like he’d had a knife driven through his heart. The statement hit a little too close for comfort, & it took genuine effort to force himself not to dwell on it. It’s not him. It’s not him. That is NOT him. His ears pressed against the back of his skull as he took a frightened cautious slow step back.
“Gary...” his voice caught in his throat slightly, causing the name to come out in a mere whisper, then proceeded to raise his voice; “What have you DONE with him!?”
I would kill you. ✧ I would physically hurt you. ✧ I would attack you unprovoked. ✧ I would manipulate you. ✧ I dislike you. ✧ You annoy me. ✧ You scare me. ✧ You intimidate me. ✧ I hope I intimidate you. ✧ I pity you. ✧ You disgust me. ✧ I hate you. ✧ I’m indifferent toward you. ✧ I’d like to get to know you better. ✧ I’d like to spend more time with you. ✧ I’d like to be friends with you. ✧ I’m unsure what to think of you. ✧ I’m unsure how I feel about you. ✧ You are my friend. ✧ You are my best friend. ✧ You are my mentor. ✧ I look up to you. ✧ I respect you. ✧ You are my hero. ✧ You inspire me. ✧ You are my enemy. ✧ You make me happy. ✧ I want to protect you. ✧ I would fight by your side. ✧ I consider you an equal. ✧ I think you are beneath me. ✧ I think you are above me. ✧ I would lie for you. ✧ I would lie to you. (White lies only) ✧ I would sleep by your side. ✧ I would hug you. ✧ You are family to me. ✧ I would die for you. ✧ I would kill for you. ✧ I would trust you with my life. ✧ I would trust you with my most precious belonging. ✧ I would trust you with a secret. ✧ I would trust you with my biggest / darkest secret. (Not yet, but one day) ✧ I love you (platonically).
