Evil Parents of DOOM! (Final Space)

Chapter 3: Bonding

Avocato was prepared to hate Gary Goodspeed. A child of the Lord Dictator and the Lord Commander had to be a despot of evil himself.

"Welcome to the ship. The Lord Commander authorized your visit," the ship's AI commented over the intercom.

"Uh huh. So, where is this Gary guy anyway?" Avocato asked, touching the sensor pad to open the door to the hallway.

"A PERSON! A real live ACTUAL person!"

Avocato jumped back a second too late. Long arms encircled him, pulling him close to a lean figure dressed in a red space suit. It was a trap! He had to get free... Wait, was this a hug? "What are you doing?" the general asked, raising a brow at the blond man hugging him.

"I haven't seen another person in, like, five years, man. And you're not one of my parents, so that's a plus. You look familiar... oh well, I'll figure it out," Gary stated, rubbing his cheek against the Avocato's neck.

"Can you let go of me now?" Avocato grunted, already feeling his fur standing on end from the unwelcome contact.

"Oh yeah, sorry about that. When you only have robots to talk to, you start going a little loopy," the human laughed, his voice taking on a manic tone.

"Ooookay." Avocato backed up a step, running his eyes over the human. He was not a teenager anymore, but he was definitely young for an adult.

"Listen buddy, I only have one thing to say to you," the blond man suddenly announced, staring intensely at Avocato.

"What?" Avocato asked, unconsciously reaching for his gun. If this guy tried anything...

"Do You Play... Cards?"

Avocato felt his mouth drop open. Wait, what?

***

"Isn't this great? I mean just us guys, sitting here, chillin', playing cards," Gary announced, leaning back in his seat. He was attempting to come off as calm and collected, but Avocato could see the excitement practically radiating from him.

"Yes... We're certainly having fun," the Ventrexian said. He normally enjoyed a good game of cards, but five hours of the same game was getting to be a bit much. Still, the little heir was clearly happy to have company.

"Oh my gosh! So tell me everything. Why are you here, AVO-KAT-OH?" Gary emphasized, finally pushing aside the game.

"The lords of the empire sent me to escort you back to Tera Con Prime," Avocato admitted.

The human's enthusiasm immediately disappeared, and he turned his gaze to the window. Beyond was an endless expanse of space and stars. "Oh, I see. I just kind of figured H.U.E. would fly the ship back, like the last time."

"Wait, the last time?" Avocato asked, raising a brow.

"Yeah. Third times the charm, I guess. Granted, this time they imprisoned me here for 5 years. I was younger the last two times, so it was, like, a month the first time, and a single year the second time," Gary informed him.

"I had no idea," the Ventrexian admitted, pondering his next words very carefully. "Do you know that your parents are..."

"Power hungry maniacs trying to open a space vortex that could potentially destroy the universe?" the young human stated, turning away from the window to give him a dead pan stare.

"Yes, that," Avocato agreed, wincing.

"Dude, why do you think I'm here? I kept trying to get away from them, but they always caught me," Gary insisted, pushing the mess of cards off the table dramatically.