Chapter Text
The boy breathed in deeply, before taking a step towards the door. His heart jumping, he pushed himself to do one of the most terrifying things he'd done in a while - he knocked.
He couldn't hear very well on the outside, but he definitely heard yelling. Soon, he even heard footsteps approaching. Too light and brisk to be the one he was looking for, but not unexpected.
Unless the duo had invited someone else into their home in their years of separation, it was probably-
Before the young boy could finish his thought, his instincts told him to back away. Years of training allowed, even at his young age, for him to know to obey. Following them, he stepped back, just as the door swung open with enough force that it impacted the house, denting it. In the doorway, the culprit of that mean swing started yelling.
"Okay, what dunderbrain just-"
Fink, the henchman of Professor Venomous, stopped when she saw HIM. K.O.
The first emotion on her face was shock. While the humanoid rat and her boss had attacked the plaza on many occasions, K.O. hadn't personally come to see his father in quite some time. Honestly, it had been a good few months.
Her surprise faded, and she frowned, glaring at the boy. To his credit, his eyes didn't falter from the heat in her's. After a moment, her frown flipped into a smirk.
"Momma's boy."
K.O. shot her a grin.
"Potty Rat."
Fink chuckled at that. "Good to know you picked up some bite." Turning around, she called back into the mansion. "Hey Boss, it's for you!"
K.O. swallowed as he heard the heavier approach of his father. The man had a few more gray hairs than he'd had before, but otherwise, he didn't look too different. Making his way while wiping down his lab coat, he spoke to his little henchman. "Fink, I know I told you not to bash the door! You're going to…"
The purple man's voice caught in his throat as he made eye contact with K.O.
"Hi, Dad," the boy said simply, waving.
The two stood in silence for a moment, creating a thick, awkward air. Fink looked between the two of them, before pulling out a butter knife, and literally slicing it, catching the piece in her gloved hand. "Huh. Always thought that was an urban legend," she remarked.
She sniffed at the now solid thing, before throwing it into her mouth. "Hm. Not bad." Quickly stepping around Venomous, she grabbed the popuri dish, dumping out its contents to the side. She then placed the bowl below the awkward air, and shredded it up until the bowl was full.
Licking her lips, she flung a handful into her mouth. "You two. Talk this out," she ordered as she went inside, "I got stuff to do, videos game to play."
The father and son duo shook off their nerves. Venomous shot his son a nervous smile. "Uhh… would you like to come in?"
The two sat across from each in the professor's dining room. Venomous tapped on the table, while K.O. tugged on his wristbands.
Figuring one of them should start, Venomous and K.O. both began to speak up.
"So I-”
"It's been-"
"Oh, I'm sorry -"
"Right, you fir-"
The two glanced at each other, before bursting out laughing.
"What's wrong with us?" K.O. asked, genuinely amused by the situation.
"It is fairly pathetic. We've been blowing each other up for months now, but put us in a position to just talk, we just freeze," Venomous agreed.
The two laughed it out a bit longer, before sighing, satisfied.
"Nice to laugh."
"Yeah."
The two settled down, before falling into silence. This one was a less awkward moment, but the two still didn't know where to start.
"I DON'T HEAR ANY TALKING!"
The two turned to look at the doorway, Fink's tail a giveaway that she was outside. Professor Venomous pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fink, I know I taught you better than this! When eavesdropping, always remember to ensure that the target doesn't know where you are!"
The ratgirl yelped, grabbing her tail, and pulling it out of view. It also sounded like she tripped over onto her face. "I'm okay!"
K.O. and Venomous glanced at each other, before shrugging.
Venomous rapped on the table twice with his knuckles, before deciding to break the ice. "So… what brings you here, K.O.? Does anyone know that you're here?" He squinted nervously, looking left and right. "Does… your mother know that you're here?"
His son sputtered nervously at that. "Oh! O-of course! I was just-"
"Don't lie to me, boy. We're trying to have a discussion. So let's have a clean discussion, alright?"
The young hero sighed as he clasped his hands together. "Well," he began, "after everything that happened, with Shadowy and T.K.O., I figured that you and I should probably talk about it."
Upon saying those names, it felt like the temperature dropped substantially for all three of them. Outside the room, Fink squeezed her arm, trying to maintain herself.
Venomous swallowed, before nodding. "Of course."
K.O. licked his lips, before he admitted the truth. "I don't think the others would understand how I feel about this, not even Mom. I know she'd try, but, with everything that happened between you guys…"
Venomous cleared his throat, trying to avoid that conversation at the time. "Understood. So…," he whistled, "why would you even want to talk to me? I thought after everything, you'd be furious with me."
K.O. stared at his hands for a moment before he answered. "I'm… not gonna to lie to you. I was really angry with you about that. For a while, I barely could even handle seeing you at the plaza."
The professor looked at his hands now. He felt some guilt about this, at least. "K.O., I-"
K.O. shot up before his father could say any more. "Uh, no," he stammered, trying to pause whatever his father was going to say, "I mean…" The boy bit his lip, before voicing how he'd felt. "I'm not… mad at you… anymore."
"Hm." That was all Venomous could think to say. Internally, he berated himself. " Seriously?! He says he's not mad, and now you decide to shut down?!"
"Yeah…" the young man continued, "I thought about it. About you. And it was a… complicated mess, you know?" He chuckled lightly at that, rubbing the back of his head, before dropping the smile and lowering his eyes to look at the table.
"It might have been simpler to be angry with you. To just… reject you. But that's what I did with T.K.O.," he explained. "That's what I ended up realizing. That I needed to accept you. Even if I don't approve of all of your choices, you're still my dad. And… I want things to be okay with us. But no funny business!"
K.O. looked up at his father, dead in the eye.
"Okay?"
Venomous was silent for a moment… before he shot the boy a small smile.
"Okay."
After their discussion ran a bit longer, K.O. setting some rules to ensure his father managed to behave, it was late, and K.O. was ready to head back home.
Venomous, to his credit, escorted his son to the door. "And… you're sure you don't need a ride back home?"
K.O. nodded. "I'm getting a bit better with some of my powers. I'll be fine," he assured.
Venomous folded his arms behind his back, nodding. "Alright then."
But just before K.O. was about to take off, a thought occurred to his father. "Hey, wait!"
"Wassat?"
Venomous stared at K.O. for a moment. "You said forgiving me was where you ended up. What exactly made you decide that?"
To that, K.O. just smirked, crossing his arms. "All season 3, you messed with me, Dad. You even pushed me through the reveal. I think it's my turn for some mind games now."
And with that, the scrappy kid channeled his power to his feet, blasting off.
Venomous chuckled. "Not bad, kid. Not bad."
"HEY, BOSS! YOU GOT ANYMORE OF THAT TENSION?! IT WAS DELICIOUS!"
The villain's eyes twitched, suddenly uncomfortable at that thought.