Family Relationships: How to quickly move on from punching your daughter in the face

Vex slowly shifted awake, hearing her mother and the stranger from earlier bickering outside the bedroom. She began to struggle, trying to get free before sighing. "Mom! Get me out of here." She yelled, hoping Tika could hear her.

Meanwhile, Ven was now dodging priceless artefacts thrown by Zamtika. "You punched our Daughter in the face!?" 

"How was I supposed to know?! I haven't seen you in what? For you, like 300 years!"

"Not the POINT!" She yelled, throwing a chair at him before the two heard Vex yell for help. Tid-Bit sighed and took control of Ven's mouth. "How about you two calm down first. And we go free Vex aaaand... Not tell her Ven is her dad, huh?" Ven looked to Tika who let out a begrudging sigh. "It would make this mission easier... Fine. Just stop stealing my Ex's body." She said as she shoved past Ven, who followed behind as he took back control.

Tika struggled to get the rope undone, instead just using Vex's gun sword to cut the rope. She began hugging Vex and sighed as she pulled back. "W-Who the hell is the corpse?" Vex whispered loudly. Tika took a moment to think of the words as she scratched her horn. "He's... An old friend. Back before this city." 

Ven awkwardly waved as Vex stared at him with a confused look. "So... He's just a friend? 'cause he uses portals like you do..." She gasps in shock, seeming to realises something. Tika looked back at Ven as the two faced her awkwardly, Tid-Bit sighing, counting down with her fingers from 3. "Is... Is he..." Tika quickly began stammering to explain. "L-Look, I-I k-know it's a s-shock b-but h-he's-"

"Is he the one you ate the heart of to gain his ability?" Vex asked with a smirk, pointing her a finger gun at Ven as Tid-Bit giggled. Tika looked dumbfounded, thinking in her head that she really was as dumb as her father. "Y-Yeah... But he's revived from the dead and he's now going to help us to take down Wendy. Right Ven?" She said with gritted teeth. even though he was already going to take Wendy down, he did feel a bit intimidated by Zamtika when it came to the pressure she exerted. 

"Yeah... Lets do this." He sighed. The trio began to prepare their weapons, with a bit of playful banter between Ven and Tika. Despite it having felt like a few weeks ago for Ven, he couldn't help but feel nostalgic for him and Tika joking around. 

Once the trio was prepared, Tika opened the metal plaiting at the push of a button as she opened up a portal to a nearby rooftop. The three hopped through, quickly surveying the area. Despite how populated Devouring usually was, it looked like a ghost town. With only the sound of the occasional growl or chewing being heard. As they began hopping from rooftop to rooftop, Ven asked the question he'd been wondering for a bit. "So. What happened here?"

Tika stopped and pointed to the largest restaurant in the distance. "That's Wendy and Tophi's place. You see that news report about Wendy snapping on camera? Well, it's more then that. She's starved. And Panila wants to know why. And since Biz wanted her to owe her a favour, we're stuck on the case."

"Biz?"

"My new boss. Keep up. I thought Rabbits were fast?"

"It's mainly the rigor mortis." He shrugged, before spotting someone running down the street. "Should we help?" He asked, but Tid-Bit quickly took control, motioning for everyone to duck, which they quickly did. They peaked over to see the man get jumped by a thin, lanky deer skulled monster with ornate antlers and a thick furred wolf tail. It was Wendy. It began ripping the man apart and devouring him like a light snack. It let out a thick black ink like substance over the remains, beginning to raise the remains of the body back as a bizarre, gloopy monster. It stood up, and began walking around as Wendy continued her hunt, rushing off as she smelled her next prey.

"Holy... Mollia." Vex mumbled, looking a bit shaken up by the ordeal. But Ven and Zamtika didn't seem as phased.

"Avoid Goops?"

"Avoid Goops." They agreed, before continuing on. Their mission was simple. Get the Sub-Mind, search on what drove Wendy to this point, and, if needed, put Wendy down if needed.

After awhile of dodging the Goop monsters, and seeing that the inky substance had began to flood some parts of the domain, the trio reached "Butchers and Sweets Emporium", Wendy and Tophi's restaurant and film set. They snuck in through a vent, with Ven musing that this was like the last mission they had. Causing Tika to laugh slightly, though Vex had now become curious on what Ven and Tika's status together was. 

"Mom... Did you date this guy?" Vex asked as they all scooted there way through the vent, except Tika, who was walking leisurely through due to having Ven shrink her with a size portal. 

"No. Just really good friends." She shrugged, though Ven looked down at her with a roll of his one good eye. "Yeah. Really good friends till your mother stabbed me in the heart. Literally. She skewered it and ate it."

Vex looked confused, raising her head, only to make a loud scraping sound with her antlers. "You stabbed him in the heart? Wow... So you ate it like a meat skewer."

"No!" They both yelled in unison as Vex hopped out of the exit of the vent, with Tika jumping through a portal and back to full size as she landed. "It's complicated, okay?"

"Yeah. She stole my heart's power for herself, but didn't expect me to come back with the little devil who tried to kill me first. And hey, at least Bit let me keep my heart's power. UNLIKE someone." He sighed, beginning to explore the ruined set of Wendy's cooking show. Ven and Tika continued their bickering as they all began looking around, only finding old recipes that Tika pocketed for later.

Vex began looking in the back rooms, her ears twitching as she turned on her blade's flashlight. She let out a squeal as Tika and Ven rushed over to see an inky army of goop monsters, all going about their lives like nothing had happened to them. Tika looked stunned as Ven dragged a portal over them, quickly hiding behind cover. "W-What the hells!" Vex muttered, not being able to look at the monsters faces without feeling squeamish. Ven meanwhile, approached one of them, tapping a masculine one that's body looked like a waiters outfit, on the shoulder. "Hey buddy, uhm... What you doing?"

It didn't even face Ven, instead going around seeming to be taking orders of the 'customers'. Tid-Bit began scanning, deducing quickly what was happening. She took over Ven and went back to the others. "We don't have to worry... They can't attack us. They're just husks. Recreating the last thing they remember... It is quite sad really." She sighed as Vex looked upset. "They're d-dead? S-So if w-we get caught b-by W-Wendy, w-we'll end up..." She stared at a husk that was just staring blankly at its empty plate, a hollow body without a soul. She shuddered at the thought.

Tid-Bit began explaining that as long as they don't die near the ink, they won't end up a husk, which relived Vex a bit. But Zamtika began to wonder. "If Wendy is causing all of this, then why isn't Panila doing anything?"

"Because she can't." A somewhat masculine voice said as they made there way through the crowd of husks, walking with a candy themed cane as a familiar large burly man. It was Tophi and... Uma? Ven took control, pointing his blade at Uma. "And why are you here?"

"Simple. Rat called me in after hearing how bad this was, and I just so happened to run into mister Lollicore here."

"Enough Gentlemen. We have a far more pressing matter to attend to." Tophi said with a stamp of his cane, motioning for them to follow him. Every glanced at each other before nodding, following him into a secret room behind a picture frame. "Not even Wendy knows this is here. We'll be safe as we come up with a plan." He sighed, revealing a large room filled with many different candy themed concoctions and weaponry.

"Welcome to my delicious lair." He said with a bow to the group.