NegaTales || Season 1 ||

BBS Pt 2

Mark frowned, shutting the front door of his house behind him. He had to find some way to prove to everyone that he was better than Gyro. He had to invent something bigger and better than the B.U.L.L.Y. system. Mark tried to shake away his worries. It couldn't be that hard to prove he was better than Gyro. He was Mark Beaks after all.

"Markus? Are you home?"

Mark walking into the kitchen to find his mother leaning over the oven. She pulled some sort of casserole from it, the warm aroma filling the air as she set it on the counter. She smiled at Mark. "Hey, kiddo!" Emma took of her oven mitts and wiped her hands on her apron.

"Hey, mom," Mark said, moving to stand across the counter from her. He decided maybe she could help him with his problem. "So, mom, there's this issue I'm having..."

"You mean the issue where you think it's totally appropriate to climb onto a stage on public television and shout at someone about why you think what they're doing is wrong?" She smirked. "Honey, that's what the internet is for."

He turned red. "Uh, no- I mean, yes, sort of." Shaking himself, he tried not to be so flustered for being called out. "It's just, it's Gyro Gearloose! That guy gets under my skin just by existing. Did you know that he use to cop-"

"Copy off your homework when you were in science school or whatever. Yes, I did know that because you tell me all the time." Emma rolled her eyes and grabbed a knife. She began slicing through her casserole, only making the steam rise higher. "Really, Mark, how immature are you?"

"But he's up to something! I just know it!"

"Uh huh, so in the meantime, you just embarrass yourself." Mark gave her a deadpan look. She looked up from her food. Her expression changed to an innocent one. "Oh, by all means, you do you. You can do that if you want, I'm not stopping you. I just don't think that's a very good idea." She ran her hand along the countertop, making her way to Mark's side. She reached up to ruffle his hair playfully, as he had long since outgrown her in height.

"Ha ha, you're hilarious mom," Mark said dryly. He felt it was totally unfair that she was right. "Well, then what do you think I should do?" He crossed his arms.

"When I want the neighbor to know that I am a better cook than her by a million percent, do you know what I do?" She grabbed a plate from the cabinet and served a portion of casserole on it. She pushed it towards her son. "Instead of telling her I'm a better cook, I show her I'm a better cook. And then after I do that I rub it in her face." She smiled warmly at Mark, who couldn't help but smile back. "Instead of telling Gyro you're a better inventor, show him. Remember kiddo, it's not the critic that counts."

Mark nodded, thinking her words over. "Thanks mom."

"You're welcome. And, next time if you think someone's up to something, please actually have evidence instead of just climbing up a stage with your best friend and yelling about random things." She raised an eyebrow at him and he nodded, slightly embarrassed. She shrugged. "Maybe you could build a better robot suit just for fun, just to prove to yourself that you're better than him."

"I'm not just gonna do what he did. That was my whole argument, that that's a terrible idea."

"That's why you build yours better and just keep it to yourself."

Mark started to the door, grabbing the casserole plate. "Sure mom, I'll think about it."

"Bye sweetie, have fun at work. And tell Zan I said hi!"

Mark nodded and left the house. He thought about it. Maybe making a second robot suit just because could be fun. Not to mention, he could show he was better than Gyro.