“Well, I’ve never taken care of a child before…” Quartz stated. “But
maybe Bowyetta and I can learn together, and maybe Beep can teach us!”

“And Bonkakira can teach her to protect herself,” Bonk added.

Barrette
looked at Cat Slime, twanging her string at him with a sharp-tooth
smile. She gently placed a hand on his head. “Squish!” she suddenly
exclaimed. “Squish squish!”

“Please to being careful with Cat Slime, Barrette,” Bowyetta cautioned her gently.

Barrette
nodded, before looking back at Mr. Sir. She reached into her hair,
pulling out some sort of doll that resembled Bowyetta’s Heishi dolls,
and gave it to him. “Can play?” she asked.

Cat Slime giggled as Barrette went “squish!” Her hand tickled a little, and that added “squish” was just more than he could take.

He seemed a little disappointed as Barrette drew her hand away, but hey, it was fun while it lasted. He watched, curious as to what would happen next.

The Repairman took the doll, and after a moment’s thought, smiled.

“Sure. Let’s see how this goes!”

***

In the Corrugated City, nobody knew where the giant feline monster came from. All the people knew was they had to get out of its way, now! Countless plastic civilians ran from the beast, who thankfully seemed more interested in tearing their buildings than their bodies.

The mighty creature let out a mighty…

“SQUEEEEEE!”

The Repairman held the doll a small distance from the roaring Cat Slime.

“Oh no,” he exclaimed, in a bad falsetto, “What can we do to stop this terrible monster?”