Lowes

“Ive got eyes on Donita, she’s currently umm- shopping?” The engineer informed Martin slightly confused she then continued “You and Martin should go and confront her-“ she pointed at the older Kratt then Aviva.

“Sounds good, I’ll go get ready- so I look more touristy..” He darted towards his room and carefully pulled the metal door shut and let out a heavy sigh, he let himself melt into the door now looking at his brother’s neat bed unused..his brother allwase fixed his bed in the morning- unlike his older brother who’s side of the room was unkept and messy, that was usually what they argued about..it’s been too long since he last saw him.

Aviva nocked twice then waited for a reply, she knew he wasn’t going well- when no reply came she softly asked “hey you ok Mk? Look I know you’re hurt and frustrated- but there was nothing you could do, so don’t beat yourself up..” she had now sat down back to the door.

“I know..I know, but- I miss him..” His voice was shaky, he was falling apart by the days- reassuring himself that Chris wasn’t dead was hard enough he realized after a month had passed he couldn’t do this alone.

Martin stood up and opend the door, to his surprise the whole damn crew was standing there- “you know..you don’t have to do this alone.. we are here for you Mk.” The brunet scientist blurted out before embracing him- Koki and Jimmy followed.

“I know, and I apologize.” The older Kratt sheepishly admitted.

“So, your mission should you choose to accept it is to succeed in gaining information on Donita’s relationship with Elizabeth.” Jimmy broke away from the hug and joked, referencing to a movie he saw once.

—————————

Martin and Aviva disappeared in the croud of tourists, desperately searching for their target they figured she would be around fashion shops and such. Then a large croud gathered near a grassy field, so likewise the two gravitated towards the commotion.

“Yes, yes, darling here’s my autograph-“ Donita paused upon seeing a familiar shade of blue among the crowd, ugh what dose he want.

“*Pfh* Likewise, Anywase we need to get though this crowd Mk-“ Aviva’s cocky voice as she saw the villain was cut off, for the two were now getting pushed from all sides.

“Yea-“ Martin started to reply when Donita interrupted.

“Everybody, this is my one of my best models Martino!” She had stepped off the small stage and pushed though the crowed and began to pull The blue Kratt towards the stage, then eventually up on the stage.

“Wha-“ His voice was cut off mostly by the crowd’s eruption in screams, though Martin was confused he had a mission and he wasn’t going to give up.

“Martin!” The engineer desperately called out as he was dragged up onto the stage, though he’d quick thinking pushed her though the crowd and up onto the stage now standing inches from the two.

“Umm-“ He was trying to whisper but it was hard, lucky Aviva had grabbed the crowdes attention for long enough for Martin to get some words in with Donita “Look I really need to talk to you-..in private”.

“Yes, yes, darling-“ She mimicked his tone before turning to the crowd, “Unfortunately darlings I have to talk with my special client, thank you all!-“ She had to practically yell while still maintaining a good impression on her fans.

And just like that she snapped orders at Dabio and headed for some black stairs, Dabio on the other hand was now cleaning up the area scooped up both Martin and Aviva along with some chairs and carried them to the pinkish jet.

—————————

5-10 minutes later everyone who had attended left and it was now just the four of them, (Aviva, Martin, Dabio, and Donita) Five minutes had passed since the two were pulled into her jet, so Donita tried to break the uncomfortable silence that seemed to choke out any and all words directed her question towards Martin, “So,- what do you need.. I haven’t endangered any animals.”

“How do you know Elizabeth.” The Older Kratt’s stern voice snapped back, though it wasn’t his tone that made the fansionist’s face turn pale.

“E-Elizabeth..w-we-“ Her voice seemed shaky unstable, it was unlike her but nevertheless she continued. “Did Ivan send you here.”

“Ivan? Who’s Ivan?!” Aviva practically blurted out intruding in the conversation.

“..” she was hesitant but given the two truly looked confused- and since Christopher wasn’t with them she could only imagine how the blind Russian was involved, “You ask how I know Elizabeth, she came to one of my fan meetups by accident- she needed help since her brother Ivan was angry at her..Obviously I helped her, though I was repaid with a visit from Ivan.”

“So that’s the voice on the radio most likely..” Martin pondered out loud, processing the information.

“What happened when he visited you?” The brunet sitting next to the Older Kratt asked in a soft voice given she could viability see Donita’s fear in her eyes.

She hesitated for a moment, now still looking down at her shoes Dabio had pulled up a chair by now and just like the fashion designer he too looked upset.

“He tried to kill me just for helping, he said something like if you tell anyone I’ll kill anyone you ever care about.” Her hands ran though her hair, avoiding eye contact she couldn’t bare the thought of anyone seeing her like this.

“Thank you for telling us, you don’t know how much this means to us.” Martin replied trying to cover up the silence that filled the room, he nodded at Aviva as they stood up.

“..thank you Donita..” As they began to descend down the stairs the scientist looked back and softy commented before closing the door.

—————————

Hours later the two returned to the Tortuga with news to tell, after about 5 minutes of explaining and piecing together information they could at least form an idea of their component was not alone.

“The man’s voice I heard on the radio has to be Ivan’s- and as for the true plan and why they need rabbits..” The Older Kratt along with the crew were huddled around a table that stood in the middle of the ship.

“Well, you said she was a scientist- and apparently Elizabeth just keeps testing trays lying around” Koki attempted to crack a joke while everyone fell silent pondering, and again a awkward silence fell upon the room.

“Martin- you’ve met with two villains so far who have all been involved with Elizabeth’s mess..so Ivan must have been punishing her and attempted to teach her a lesson but-” The pilot continued then paused having tried form an understanding of the situation.

“The villains got in the way, so he had to..teach them a lesson..”Aviva interrupted, they were all trying their hardest but the fact was Chris was gone- and it’s all beginning to unravel into a much deeper problem.

Martin being the oldest, felt he had to find Chris alone without help that included not letting anyone get hurt even if it meant blood would be shed on his hands, he would do anything to get Chris back and end this nightmare.

—————————

Whare am I- the younger Kratts mind raced blurry images that wouldn’t even seem possible flooded his memory, he almost drowned. Nevertheless realizing he was still in his “room” or holding cell of the plane he sat up rubbing his right temple olny to realize the bandage was gone and a new one appeared on his forearm- damn.

“I was going to bring you some food earlier but you were-..passed out, how do you feel?” She looked around at the darkish room before focusing on Chris, now holding some food on a tray she promptly walked over and sat it down next to him.

“What’s this-“ He sounded cocky yet sleep deprived, who could would be able to sleep after all he did just cold hearted murder an Innocent animal.

“еда, or food..umm хлеб and вода-” She tried to smile but it was hard, she wouldn’t make him get another animal right? Though on the other hand she had work to do and it wouldn’t wait on some American’s feelings.

“Huh- what type of food..” he sounded genuinely confused, and the flash cards could only teach him how to read for the most part.

“Bread and some water, here let me help you.” Elizabeth corrected herself then went to grab the flash cards.

While Chris was hesitant to eat he was starving so given no other choice he ate the food presented in front of him while the Scientist spent about 20-ish minutes going over the basics and attempting to teach him simple concepts.

“Would ты *you* like some more?” She stopped looking at the man who had finished his food and looked a bit starved, she felt bad.

“…yea..” Chris mumbled underneath his breath.

“Can you say yes in русская?” She seemed somewhat excited, hoping he would be able to say simple words in Russian.

“Umm..да?” Chris softly spoke as he ruffled through some flash cards, he sounded slightly nervous just hoping he got it right so he could eat.

“You’re a fast learner americano-“ Elizabeth joked, she generally sounded impressed so since she was satisfied she left the room to grab some more food.

Alone, again why did he feel so alone?. Maybe it was because martin was always talking about some creature- you know Chris has never really ever been alone, I mean in nature he was always interrupted by some animal or the crew calling in from his creature pod..that was gone just like his brother..

—————————

“боты- bring the americano over to the прилавок *counter*” She had placed his food on an nearby counter, so when the bots grabbed his flash cards and escorted Chris to the counter that was surprisingly clean he could eat- they then placed the cards down and returned to position.

“Спасибо-“ He attempted to say thank you but it came out a little rough this time a sandwich with one pice of bread, some type of meat, and cheese, was on his “tray”. Chris observed his surroundings it seemed to have the same setup, though this time no rabbit and more papers his eyes focused on the small black radio.

“Элизабет, I have good news.” Like before a Heavy males voice made the scientist’s face fill with fear before continuing, “Given you cannot simply just figure out the излечивать I will send some of my men to observe you within a couple of days.. and if that fails you might just have to work in my струя.”

Fear fell upon her face, how could I let this happen? What about the American? What would happen to him? It’s only been a little over a month since he arrived.. shit, shit, “дерьмо” The words escaped her mouth lucky though she wasn’t pressing the talk button, her head flung in the direction of Chris then she took deep breaths and Shakily answered.

“Да.” Was all she could muster, her voice sounded like Chris when he was asked to say yes for the first time in Russian.

The younger Kratt observed the blond’s expression he could barely make out what the man said, though to his understanding излечивать meant answer or cure (he had seen it on a paper once), as for струя he was clueless. He mustered up enough courage to ask “What dose струя mean?.”

Elizabeth quickly turned towards him, she was crying but she looked so scared after about a minute of silence she decided to answer in a soft and unstable tone, “..jet..” her eyes glued to the counter she attempted to not look so venerable.

“You’re a fast learner, why?” She didn’t dare look up she could feel his eyes on her, eventually she found out being able to tell when people were watching her turned out to be a useful skill.

“Umm..I don’t know,..” He struggled with his words, though on the other hand the only true reason the younger Kratt picked up things quickly was because if he didn’t back home in New Jersey, he wouldn’t be here- well he wouldn’t be able to pass school, wouldn’t be able to join the Tortuga, and eventually he wouldn’t be in this jet.

“Hey- umm.. can you just tell me one thing?..” Chris had hoped he would be able to get an answer that would explain his situation.

“Ya?.” Elizabeth began to calm down, her voice was still shaky though she would take anything to get her mind off of Иван.

“Why are you experimenting on animals, I heard what the man said..something about the cure?” He was really testing his luck by now but he couldn’t figure out why she was killing animals by himself so he had no outher option.

Fear returned in her eyes once more, tears started falling onto papers she was weak and vulnerable the last time she was this emotional was when Иван yelled at her all those months ago.

“Just..bring me another rabbit..alive preferably” Her face was buried in the brownish fabric that made up her uniform and all she could do was yell out orders, after all she had to get back to work.

—————————

Chris didn’t really have an option of weather he activated the suit or not, on the other hand the suit was still covered in blood and this being the 3rd-ish time it was activated within the last two months he could never really get used to the feeling.

The small brownish Oncilla moved swiftly though the forest, it definitely wasn’t the Amazon now that he got a better look- nor was it Spain, eventually he got a sense of Deja-Vu and recognized it to be somewhere in Europe..though where was still a challenge.

For reason Chris felt his body jolt backwards behind some shrubs and before he could register what happened his eyes fixed on French Lop or commonly known as a rabbit.

So I’m in France-, once again he lost control of the suit all thoughts were muted now he was watching.

A Mouther rabbit with her five children, so innocent yet so bloody. He pounced. Every single one. Dead. Except for one, one soul survivor just like the younger Kratt- designated to survive no matter what happens ??right¿¿

Slashing though the skin as blood and guts spewed everywhere, killing all except one. Then proceeding to carefully pick up the brownish rabbit with his bloody fangs to the black jet.

“??Did I really just do that¿¿ what is wrong with me.” His thoughts encoded he couldn’t control the suit if he tried.

—————————

“Christopher, are you ok?!” The rabbit was alive, so why was he bloody- Elizabeth’s mind frantically raced as he dropped the rabbit she quickly scooped it up, it was no-larger than her hand now cradling the animal she scanned for scars on both him, and the newly born rabbit.

“боты! Quickly help him to the bathroom.” She shouted orders then carefully followed, she attempted to wash the blood off the brown frightened baby animal, then turned her attention towards Chis, “are you okay americano?-” Now signaling for her bots to carefully drop him, she wetted a cloth and began to remove some blood from the man.

It was no use there was so much blood.

“D-did it..h-happen again..” He pointed at the rabbit that was still frightened, he felt emotionally drained as he practically snatched the cloth and began to clean himself not being able to stand it was the least he could do.

“I-I’m afraid so-..but he’s okay..” She cradled the small rabbit, tears were starting to fall from her eyes.

“Will it ever get better?” The man reached out to touch the small animal, his arm was covered in scratches from a desperate Mouther trying to save her children.

“Who knows..give me your suit..and umm can you hold him while I attempt to wash out the blood..” She extended her hand which contained the small brownish rabbit curled up in her palm in exchange for his bloody suit.

“He needs a name..untill you name him I cannot..hold him..after all I did just kill his entire family.” Chris pushed away the hand and seemed to curl into a ball, he was really fucking scared in his eyes a monster though to anyone else broken.

“Umm..” She pondered for a moment almost retracted her arm before continuing, “выживший” She wasn’t good at names, it was the only thing she could think of at the moment.

“Survivor?” The younger Kratt seemed to be questioning her response, though it wasn’t a good name he wouldn’t be able to come up with anything better.Martin would have been able to come up with something unique. The thought echoed in Chris’ mind as he reached to pull of his vest, then gloves.

“Indeed, and-“ The blond scientist caught her breath deciding wether or not she should tell him she looked down at the rabbit and corrected him, “I don’t want to hurt them, I have no choice. If I don’t find the cure for my people they will die.”

Elizabeth’s voice got louder tears were falling more often but she was persistent, so though the tears and pain she firmly stated, “Иван told me I had to fix this, he showed me a way and I had no choice but to take it. He was there when the world broke. He was there when nobody was.” And with that she stood up grabbed the vest handed him the rabbit and left him sitting alone with his thoughts.

————————

Martin had decided enough was enough, somehow he managed to persuade Aviva, Koki, and Jimmy into going to a large forest located in France his claim was “This might be are only chance to find him, Elizabeth is a smart woman- she wont be in a populated area like Paris. Please for chis’ sake..”

“Look I want to find Chris as much as you do, but we don’t know is they are even still in France,-“ The engineer objected before Aviva interrupted.

“It’s worth a try, after all like Mk said it may be are only opportunity.” The brunet scientist assured her, she had placed her hand on Koki’s shoulder as the room fell silent.

“Come on Koki, please-“ Jimmy blurted out, this caught her attention because usually Jimmy never go willingly into a forest.

“..fine, but it’s getting dark so let’s each take an mobile from the garage- and make sure your creature pod is on/charged.” She finally gave in and headed for the garage along with the rest of the crew.

—————————

They were all getting ready to descend into the forest before Jimmy paused and asked “So um..what exactly are we looking for?”

“Any trace of rabbits, a black jet, and um worst case scenario Oncilla tracks-“ Martin hated the thought of the Cps being hacked and Chris being used as a mindless puppet, after all it would be his fault for anything that happened to his younger brother.

“Report every 20-ish minutes ok?” Koki followed Martin’s reply her eyes were focused on he sun, it was getting dark and everyone knew that.

“Right!” They all said in unison, one by one they entered the forest everyone went separate paths- Martin of corse was last he stood for a moment then slowly got on his bug bike and headed North.

————————

The older Kratts mind raced, every sound, thought, feeling, they all triggered him. Scanning the floor as he flew a few feet off the ground he took every opportunity to get off and walk around, it was only about five minutes before something caught his eye.

Tracks, no claw marks, cat family, larger front claws- smaller back claws, shit this isn’t looking good. I mean let’s be rational..then why dose everything about this leads to Oncilla and they don’t live in France.

“Fuck it, if this leads me to Chris..that all that matters.” His voice echoed in the forest, he started following the tracks before deciding to take a photo and send it to the team.

“Hey-..how’s everyone doing? And Martin is that what I think it is..” Koki had come over the Creature pod stopping Martin in his tracks her voice turned to worry, the sun now lit up the forest a bright orange as it began to fall beneath the horizon.

“..Y-yea I think..I’m following it right now-“ He attempted to sound cheerful but everyone knew what this meant.

“Hey- Mk be careful ok? And I’m good nothing so far how about you Jimmy?” Aviva’s firm voice tried to reassure Martin everything was ok though it was difficult.

“I’m good, just hungry- wait!” Jimmy dug into his pockets and pulled out a plastic baggie that contained an somewhat moldy sandwich, then to everyone’s surprise he took a bite- in his defense he didn’t know it was moldy though before he could take another bite he was stopped by Aviva.

“Jimmy no!” She practically slapped him though the creature pod.

“Huh?- eww!” He realized the mold, then out of pure instinct he threw the sandwich 5-10ft into the orange forest, likewise he had gotten off the small bike and proceeded to vomit.

“Omg ima-“ Hearing Jimmy vomit Koki reached and almost threw up, “Jimmy end the call!”

“I would if I coul- *more vomiting sounds*” The pilot managed before Aviva cut him off.

“Jimmy!. There should be water and a few granola bards in the side compartment- and umm imma end this call..” She snapped trying to avoid two people throwing up at once, though she truly did find concern in martins voice- he had been quiet but she assumed he was doing something important so she paied no attention to it.

—————————

“Hurry. You’re running out of time. They will all die because of you.” A firm Russian mans voice encoded in Elizabeth’s head, she was working on decoding the suit so she could organize it in such a way where it wouldn’t instantly fry the brunet lying on the floor..unconscious.. but instead so he could retrieve more animals- for her to experiment on. Oh right, she would be the reason countless animal bodies to be placed in the ground.

The sooner she figured it out the less bodies she would have bury.

“Aha!” She exclaimed loudly, having done something useful then for that feeling to be shut down when the radio that had been lying on the counter beside her lit up.

"I’m setting up another shipment of кролики *rabbits*-" The same man from earlier was interrupted by the blond.

“Don’t. I-..I’ve fixed this americano’s furry suit, h-he can not collect them for me..” Her voice full of worry not sure of how he will respond.

“Mm. I’m assuming нет *no* progress.. given your still needing кролики..you know as well as I..why we do what we do.” The radio turned off, Elizabeth’s elbows bent in such a way on the counter so her hands ran through her hair. I know . Her eyes and everything around her became blurry as small drops of water turned into tears.

—————————

Chris had woken up now chained up on a wall that wasn’t to far from the woman, Chris noticed his cps was missing, then realized it was next to the blond woman …uh oh.. the activation button was hooked up with wires that were running everywhere- Elizabeth was visibly crying and looked stressed.

“Hey-..umm you ok?..” The younger Kratt had tried to ease the situation but ended making it worse, like always.

“No-…I-..here.” She started talking though the tears before standing up unplugging the wires and walked over handing him the suit, it was grayish now and looked like the first prototype Aviva cooked up.

“Don’t just sit there- try it on, it’s not going to bite.” Her voice shaky trying to hide the fact she had been crying with humor, though it was obvious.

Chris hesitated for a moment before reaching out and taking the suit, examined it then cautiously put it on and waited for some surge of energy to electrocute him instantly- but instead it did nothing good sign so far.

“Vell what are you waiting for?-“ Elizabeth was in a hurry, she was rushed her whole life and now she had to wait.

The brunet was hesitant as he slowly pressed the button..nothing..then bam a white flash almost blinded the blond woman standing next to him- a surge of energy rushed though his body well this is how I die, how Pathetic he though to himself.

Nevertheless he had awaken, now lying on the floor his eyes adjusted to the dim room thinking it was all a bad dream. He called out “Martin?..”

“Oh- good your awake..how do you feel кот?” Elizabeth excitedly asked the small white cat, Chris now realizing it wasn’t a dream thought to himself oh shit- I lived..I’m fucked aren’t I..wait I’m a oncilla?

“Кот?” She waved her hand in front of him trying to make sure she didn’t just electrocute a man.

“What?-“ The brunet answered still his mind was fuzzy, Elizabeth glanced over and smiled then with a press of a button the suit flashed again deactivating Chris.

“It works!-.. you may get some rest now.” The blond woman’s words firm but excited echoed throughout the younger Kratts head had he felt his legs give out beneath him.

Lately he found himself passed out on the floor, after the first night though he couldn’t be sure because there wasn’t a window anywhere in sight so he couldn’t really know how long he’d been in this hellish place- time faded as minuets became hours and hours turned into days.

The numb sensation he felt when passed out or just plain drugged was calming in such a way, so that the biologist could forget about everything around him, he had no reason to fear Elizabeth though previously he tried to Ecape which landed him behind her workspace- to his knowledge she hadn’t killed any animals yet.

————————

Martin on the other had silently cried himself to sleep every night since the incident after all he knew deep down it was his fault no matter what anyone says, on top of everything he still went out into the amazon despite Aviva orders desperately looking for the mysterious black jet.

Koki and Aviva had barley gotten any sleep in the past week, not only taking care of the older Kratt but desperately searching the internet for any clue to who this mysterious woman was, or any previous records of experimenting on animals that could be remotely related to her.

“I’m sorry..it’s m-m fault- I’m so sorry..” The older Kratt continued after he got back to the Tortuga, he had lately been doing this type of thing- over apologizing that is.

“Martin- it’s not your fault, it could have happened to anyone..” Koki chimed in trying to calm him down though it often proved to be more difficult.

“We will find him- together, it’s not your burden to bare alone..” Aviva now had her hands on his shoulders as she pulled him into a hug.

“Umm- I’m going to make pizza, any special requests” Jimmy attempted to redirect the conversation trying to ease some tension.

“No-..well just no fish” Martin replied in a choked voice, he had calmed down and stopped crying.

Sleepless nights became routine in the flying turtle by now, really anything could’ve happened by now. Unlike most villains who were easily able to be tracked it was strange how this random Russian girl managed to cover her tracks so well, unless she wasn’t alone.

Sooner or later the crew knew they had to take flight and began to search the skies- Given it was a jet and it could fly or at least it should be able to.

————————

Elizabeth had been weighting down formulas and surrounded herself with papers, deciding to take a break from the mess and come back with a new conscience later she wiped up some flash cards with letters of the Russian alphabet, for the americano of corse- she didn’t trust him yet to just run off but she felt bad for the poor thing.

“Americano,..you awake?” The blond woman now squatting In front of Chris with her hands behind her back holding the small pieces of paper with letter written on them asked.

“What do you want.” His annoyed voice clearly in agony, he just wanted to go home back to the Tortuga.

“I have a gift for you..” Elizabeth extend her hand which was holding the cards towards the younger Kratt signaling him to take it.

“What’s this-“ After a moment of hesitation he accepted it now flipping though the pile.

“Flash cards..to..um h-help you learn Russian, of corse if you want..” Her usually cocky and firm voice was now soft and shaky almost.

“Oh, um..thanks-“ Not sure of how to respond but having nothing else to do here decided to study the cards, he thought mabe this could be helpful given everyone around him spoke this foreign language.

Seeing the poor thing struggling to do remotely anything with the chains and mostly because she knew whatever happened, if he tried to kill her that she would be held responsible so with a snap of fingers and a point she yelled “боты, untie the americano.”

Chis shared a confused look with the blond woman who as a pair of bots were taking his chains off he began to stand, now realizing he was at least a cuple of inches taller than her he smiled,

“you know- I could kill you at any given moment”

“Oh please, if anything you would be doing me a favor-..” she caught her breath then decided to finish her joke, “I deserve every inch of pain inflicted on me, It’s my fault. I’ve let everyone down.” Realizing what she just said fearing she scared the American she avoided eye contact by continuing to bury herself in work.

————————

Martin hated more than anything keeping track of time, time since he left his younger brother to rot with the Russian- time since he last ate..slept..showered..anything really..

“None of the villains have done anything to endanger animals lately, it’s been over two weeks since we last had word on people dealing a large number of rabbits, or an population decline-” Koki gave a general report to Aviva who wore a worried face, now noticing Martin staring at the Tv the engineer tried to hide the fact it wasn’t looking great.

“If she still is experimenting with the rabbits now, it will be at least anouther week or so before she needs to refill..on the other hand she could use Chris to gather them..” Martin pondered trying his best to contribute, his brouther would know what to do if there positions were swapped.

“Why would he do that-..unless he was forced..”Aviva pondered for a moment before her face matched the white floor, “d-do you think it’s possible..that..s-she could hack the..cps..” She couldn’t think strait, to imagine the possibility was dreadful.

“It’s possible-“ koki was interrupted when Jimmy rushed into the main room claiming one of the wk kids spotted a creepy black jet flying towards France, Aviva pulled up the report giving Jimmy a nod the Tortuga pulled up and began the hunt.

“Hey- it’s going to be ok, we will find Chris” Aviva had been saying stuff like this the past two weeks when she knew Martin was worried usually she had her hands on his shoulders, she was hugging him, or just plain holding his hands.

“Hey..Aviva- umm we have a problem”The engineer nervously asked.

“Yeah- what is it?!” The brunet scientist frantically answered her voice growing with concern.

“One of the wk kids just reported seeing Gourmand rounding up parrots off the cost of Portugal-”koki hated being the one to deliver bad news, though that kinda was her job.

Aviva looked over at Martin waiting on his opinion, this was the first clue to getting Chris back in weeks, but they wouldn’t make it back in time before he cooked up some parrot soup..they had to make a choice..and quickly..

“Let’s get this over quickly-” Martin sighed knowing this might be his olny chance to find him, but decided to hide his tears so nobody including Gourmand could see his pain.

—————————

Upon arriving to the scene of what seemed to be a failed science experiment Gourmand attempting to clean up the mess of pasta sauce while a flock of parrots swung at him, “Get off me!- Just go back to your little nests!”

Martin now noticing the eggs sitting in a basket behind him he joked, “need some help?”

“Wild Kratt’s!- er wild Kratt where’s the green one?” Gourmand now focusing on Martin noticed somthing was off he corrected himself while still being attacked.

“I think if you just returned the eggs they would go away-“ The older Kratt joked sarcastically avoiding the question.

“I’m starting to think rabbit stew would be better- but Elizabeth has been stelaing them lately..” gourmand replied trying to fight off the birds.

“..how do you know Elizabeth-..” Martins tone turned serious he was holding the chef by the collar on his shirt. The aquatic brouther’s mind was panicking yet he was so, angry.

“Woah- calm down I’ll tell you..Just help me get rid of these damn birds!” Gourmand managed to get out while still being attacked.

————————

Martin climbed up each tree while keeping a close eye to make sure the cook didn’t Escape, he kept thinking Chris is the climbing brother.. oh right he’s somewhere with that Mouther-fucking Russian..

“All done, now how do you know Elizabeth.” Hopefully this was a clue to finding his brother but he couldn’t be sure.

While continuing to clean up the spilled sauce he replied with his face focused on the counter, “About 2-3 moths ago somewhere in the Amazon, she was looking for “rabbits” and lost her jet, she had to have been lost for hours because she was hungry..” He struggled to continue.

“And?!-“ Martins panicked voice desperate to get some clues.

“Well I fed her some food I cooked, she was scared I thought it was from just being out there.. but no, she told me she was a scientist..and someone was looking for her s-she had to experiment on animals because if she didn’t many people would die-..that’s when I noticed her bloody stained hands..” The cook’s voice sounded panicked and scared he stoped cleaning and focused on the counter.

“That’s all?-“ Still trying to process the information, by this point Martin knew she wasn’t some low level, though now Elizabeth seemed to be some mad scientist much worse than his usual villains.

“..yea so..” Gourmand tried to cover up he was shook so he didn’t look so weak in front of the man he hated.

“Thanks-“ He had started walking out of the door then jumped on one of Aviva’s bug bikes and rushed back to relay this information.

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“So, France..it’s a big country-“ Koki had been talking when Martin ran though the doors his mind racing he quickly tried to inform the team.

“Gourmand said he met Elizabeth before!- She was lost and he fed her..then she told him the only reason she’s killing and experimenting on animals is because many people would die-..” The older Kratt talked fast trying to remember every detail it was obvious he was panicking.

It wasn’t supposed to happen like this he’s the older brother, it should be him who’s getting hurt not his younger brother Chris.

“What?!- Calm down, did he say whare he was when he met Elizabeth?” Aviva bounced off her chair and now had her hands on his shoulders, it pained her to see him so miserable.

“Two months ago, The Amazon Rainforest.” He calmed himself enough to answer her questions.

“So not recent..” She let go of his shoulders and started pacing, hand on her chin pondering.

“Wait- didn’t you mention she knew Donita?!” Jimmy practically blurted out, he had been listening in on the conversation.

“Yea-.. wait! Where is Donita right now.” Koki now pulling up a map of the villains last known locations replied, to there knowledge her bright pink jet was last seen near Bordeaux- a city in France

“Let’s go- maybe she has some clues to where Elizabeth is or is heading.” Aviva chimed in giving Jimmy the signal to lift off.

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Let’s just hope I don’t fuck up again, Elizabeth thought as she prepared a syringe hopefully this time she had her formulas right. The scientist went over the steps withdrawal the virus from its container, inject into the animal then withdrawal the “cure” and see if it works.

She began to inject various syringes into the small brownish animal when Chris looked up from his flash cards and focused on what she was doing, she wasn’t really going to do anything right?

Last step, inject the “cure”. It was obvious she was panicking, her hand shakily pressed the needle into the rabbit and waited

Nothing, now pressing against the animals neck No pulse

“дерьмо *shit*” the words escaped her lips, every scenario ran though her head getting caught in a panicked state she glanced at the now dead rabbit.

Chris creeped closer to the woman whose head was in her arms on the counter, he glanced at the animal what the actual fuck just happened.

Noticing footsteps she lifted her head picked up the limp rabbit and carried it to the closest door, grabbed a nearby shovel and left.

Talking his chance the younger Kratt observed the notes and formulas before noticing a small mistake, should I tell her? What if I do..?

A moment of silence before the blond woman walked slowly back in. “You americano- do you have a name?.” Pointing at Chris her eyes already forming tears, Elizabeth’s shaky voice asked.

“Chris..” concern was imminent in his voice, nothing could hide it.

Wiping her tears that fell onto her cheeks she then activated the man’s suit.

“Khris..can you please get me anouther rabbit, alive.” It wasn’t a question more like a demand. Not wanting upset the already broken woman if she kills animals, who knows what she will do to humans he headed for the door before she added “don’t do anything rash- I would hate for you to get hurt.”

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He lingered though the forest, it was different he wasn’t in the Amazon..why should I hunt animals… His thoughts were muted as the suit got into position upon seeing a rabbit stalk was his olny instinct. Kicked into a void unable to escape he could only wach as he hunted a small animal, the biologist wached as he slashed though its skin after he pounced. “what the fuck!..” His terrified voice spoke before blacking out.

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“That wasn’t supposed to happen-“ Elizabeth’s calm voice almost drowned out by the ringing in his ears, instead of collecting the animal he killed it.

Now looking down at his blood stained hands and open further inspection he noticed some brownish fur underneath his fingernails, his vision; still blurry cleared, he realized was covered in blood..his mouth especially stayed a blood red, though it wasn’t his own.

“Chris?..americano hello?..I’m going to try and help you ok-“ He was alive but the same couldn’t be said for what she assumed was a rabbit, one notion later two bots picked him up and carried him towards a enclosed room. There they held him over a sink while the blond woman helped wash his mouth and hands given he was unresponsive..

“What happened.” Now looking down at the woman cleaning his hands, the biologist looked at a unkept version of himself Martin wouldn’t approve- oh right he’s not here.

“I’m not sure, you came though the side door barley awake covered in blood and rabbit fur. Not to mention when I deactivated you- let’s just say it wasn’t for the faint of heart” She pointed to the scar on his arm then she snapped her fingers and the bots dropped him, lucky though he caught himself on the sink counter.

“Woah!-“ She stoped cleaning his hands and instead sat on the toilet lid next to the sink in the dimly lit room looking up at him as if he was some deranged monkey, then stood up now realizing he had a cupple of inches on her the scientist left the room.

Alone, still wearing this damn bloody suit. The younger Kratt washed his face hoping it was some dream that he hadn’t killed an animal his head ached now suddenly gaining a memory though the cracked mirror. His mind felt like it was playing tricks, he stared blankly at his reflection before blacking out.

Slashing though the animals tender skin it tried to fight but it was no use, tearing it limb for limb blood and guts spewed across the forest floor leaving nothing but pieces of what used to be a rabbit. When the suit was satisfied he left.

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“Chris- wake up! It’s ok you’re not a кот-…why is it allwase my fault…” The blond woman had practically shook the man awake, he had passed out in the bathroom shortly after she left

“Martin?…Koki?..Aviva-…” For a moment he forgot about the pain, where he was who he was with.

“They are not here, unfortunately I cannot just hand you back. Someday not to far from now I promise..I will fix this, fix everything I’ve done.”

The conversation had shifted to a calmer tone, she knew Иван would never forgive her if she just let Chris go, though she didn’t care if he forgave her. He would end up killing somebody close to the man which was far worse.

Her death would mean nothing, Иван would replace her within days and the americano most likely would be used for far worse than collecting animals.

“I-I remember..everything..” Chris managed though his tears. He remembered his brothers screaming before he disappeared, drowning in the days. slashing though the tender skin as blood dripped from his vest.

“I’m going to fix this.” She wrapped her arms around him then shut her eyes to keep the tears from falling, Chris on the other hand sat in the dim bathroom eyes open staring at the sealing while his tears rolled down his cheeks and onto his vest.

The blondish man wearing a blue vest clearly showing a confused expression she corrected herself, though her English wasn’t that good her voice still with a heavy accent she managed to say “hello. Your friend is safe and unharmed-” before being interrupted by the man sitting in the chair.

“who are you?! What did you do with my brother! Where is he-“ Martin blurted out trying to process the situation and eager to make sure his little brother is alive and well.

“I can assure you he is safe.. if you wish to see him clam down and stop yelling for gods sake it gets really Annoying” Her cocky yet firm voice somehow made Martin’s wish to see his brother even more urgent, though he complied.

“Fine- can I please see my brother now” though his annoyed voice was thankfully calm enough in her opinion given she walked out of the room hearing the door click and now being met with utter silence he began to worry and hope the Tortuga had noticed their absence and started looking for them.

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Chris who silently observed his situation trying to form a idea and what really was going on, he knew that escaping wouldn’t be easy so instead he sat patiently and waited for the answers to come to him.

Likewise he heard a door click, turning his head to the sorce of the sound he noticed the blondish woman who had been standing near a counter last time he remembered-

His thoughts were interrupted when two of the “bots” as the younger Kratt refers to them as lifted him up and out of the room into a dark empty room, then another click later he was placed down gently his eyes now adjusting to the light he saw a familiar shade of blue though his blurry vision.

“Chris!- are you ok?! Are you hurt?!” Martin exclaimed seeing his little brother tied up as well now noticing a purplish bruise on his right temple, he couldn’t help but feel responsible for their situation.

“Martin!? I’m ok- I just have a mild headache but nothing too serious, are you ok?” The younger of the two desperately answered as he was now about 15 feet from his brother scanning his body he couldn’t visibly see any scars.

Martin now turning his attention to the blond woman standing slightly in the shadows, how Pethedic of him.. he let his brother get hurt by some low level nobody..

“I do not intend for anybody to get hurt-“ the Russian woman’s heavy accident trailed.

“Who are you- why are you experimenting on animals?! What do you want from us..” Chris blurted out at least trying to get some answers, he couldn’t be sure of her intentions- given she would willingly hurt innocent animals anything could happen.

Her attention now focused on Chris she began to open her mouth, though no words were spoken.

“..Tell me this Американский *american* , who are you and what do you want with me?..” Her cocky voice made Martin even more annoyed.

“First of all he asked first. Second of all we are The Wild Kratts and you are endangering innocent animals which is why we are here-” Martin replied his voice clearly showing annoyance, he would continue but she interrupted again.

“Voild Kratts?- I remember that name..” She pondered for a second before exclaiming “oh!- my friend Donita talked about you once-..” She stoped before continuing “..as for the animals they are a mere sacrifice that must be made in order for..” her voice stoped realizing her eyes gravitated toward her shoes, now looking up she continued, “Elizabeth.. my name is Elizabeth.”

Martin now realizing how much time has passed he began to panic, looking over at his brother only made it worse seeing how the younger Kratt started showing signs that he might pass out, his thoughts were interrupted when a radio lying on a nearby table went off.

“Did you kill them yet-“ a thick heavy male voice came from the radio, like the woman’s accent it was also Russian.

The woman quickly rushed to grab the radio, “..No- I have a better plan..”

Chris noticed her worried expression, he noticed her Demeter changed when talking to this man- and not in a good way.

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Back at the Tortuga Aviva was the first to ask questions, “It’s been too long they should be back by now- koki where were they last?!”

“I’m sure they are fine, they probably just found some animal and lost track of time” Jimmy chimed in attempting to calm Aviva down while Koki pulled up a map on the main screen.

“Uh oh-..” Koki blurted out, she tried to hide it but her face looked panicked which didn’t help Aviva.

“Tf you mean uh oh?! What’s wrong?? What happened!” The brunet scientist already panicking on and on top of the news she just received wasn’t helping her situation.

“Just try and calm down-“ The orange haired pilot interrupted trying to de-escalate the situation.

“How can I be calm?! The two boys are out there with an unknown villain who for all we know killed them!” Aviva’s panicked tone snapped back.

“Aviva calm down! Their transmitters stoped reviving 20 minutes ago, Thier last known location is roughly 3miles from here- it appears Thier is a clearing near by that we can land the Tortuga at it’s going to be ok.” Koki got out of her chair and now had her hands on Aviva’s shoulders as she gave jimmy a nod, then the aircraft began to ascend and head toward the marked area.

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“Donita said I could override one of the newer versions of the suit..” Elizabeth continued talking to herself out loud, Chris aredy knew what was going to happen looked over at Martin who’s face which was now pale and thought to himself how Pathetic.

“So. I have no use for you americano, боты dispose of it. And please this time don’t harm the poor thing-” The woman continued as one of the bots picked Martin up and began to carry him out.

“CHRIS-! ELIZABETH I SWARE WHEN I FIND YOU AGAIN AND I WILL IF YOU HURT HIM ILL PERSONALLY MAKE SHURE YOU WILL PAY!-” His voice disappeared the further he was untill it became muted, Chris had tried to say something but his pleas were drowned in the yelling.

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The bots had knocked Martin out before he had left the plane and carried the blond man for about 5-10 minutes then abruptly dropped him in some bushes by the Tortuga.

“Martin!- wake up!” Aviva had just descended from the turtle when she saw a familiar blue poking out of the bushes.

“Huh, what happened?..” His eyes stated adjusting to the darkness before panic kicked in, “Chris!..

h-he.. I left him..eliza-..” His head had a large gash on it that was now loosing blood, he couldn’t speak nor could he stand on his own so Koki and Aviva practically carried him back to the ship and dropped him on the center table.

“I need some pain killers, and the first aid kit-” Aviva demanded as she thankfully got his wound to stop bleeding before inspecting the rest of his small

cuts/bruises, wether it was bandaging his leg or pouring some peroxide as he let out painful groans she would find out the story one way or another.

“Tell me what happened- Where is Chris?” She demanded his small groans didn’t answer her question which only made her panic.

“Eliz-beth..t-took..russian..m-mmy fault…” The older Kratt had started crying his mind only thinking of the worst, not concerned about his own heath and more about his brother he had tried to get up before his legs gave out, the team quickly attempted to catch him but they ended up bumping into each other.

“It’s going to be ok, don’t blame yourself well find Chris.. togeather-” Koki had attempted to cheer him up she also tried to his the fact she was worried, it was no use everyone could tell something bad had happened.

—————————

Chris was now left with the scientist, he was going to get out of here- feeling cocky he asked, “what are you going to do with me- use me into a lab rat.”

“Vell that idea crossed my mind, it would be too dangerous.. you would die so soon-“ Elizabeth continued, she had killed countless animals in the name of science the worst part about it was sitting holding the small limp animal in her arms knowing she was the reason it’s dead.

“You know.. experimenting on animals is wrong- and I think you know that.” Chris mumbled loud enough so the blond could hear it but firm enough to be cocky, all the younger Kratt could do was wait.. maybe his brother will pounce though the door and save him the time- though his mind weighed the possibility he could be dead.

“Enough. боты *bots*-..” The scientist looked worried after she shouted some command, he knew nothing about her- don’t let this Pathetic vild Kratt’s words distract you, you’ve come so far and have made so many sacrifices.. she kept telling herself, Elizabeth had a bad habit of suppressing everything down until it became unbearable and when that happens she usually distracted herself until she forgot about it.

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The pressure was overwhelming at first, she used to work her self to the point she figured it would be best to inject herself with a “antidote” that she knew would never work.

The crisp blue sky only visible above the thick green trees, and through the trees a small uninhabited grassy area was whare Jimmy the red-headed pilot decided to land the Tortuga.

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“Yo Chris whare are you?! You win okay!” Martin the older of the two called out in an exhausted tone as he landed on a branch of a tall Amazon tree.

The two brothers had been testing out the new creatures Aviva programmed by playing a little game of “cat and mouse” in the thick jungle or in this case Martin as a Blue Macaw, and Chris as a Oncilla commonly known as the Amazon’s smallest cat.

The small cat who had followed the macaw for a while now took his chance to finally pounce-

“AAaAhH!!” Martin screamed as he and the cat fell from the branch deactivating their suits and landing in a pile of what he assumed could only could be described as animal shit.

“Eww..” Chris exaggerated before quickly making his way out of the animal droppings then pulling his blond haired brother out of the mess while trying to get the brown substance off of him, though he noticed his brother squatting back down to then further examine the sample.

“Too small to be some type of large animal, snakes don’t poop-“ Martin began before being interrupted by his younger brother.

“Bro what?! Snakes have to poop how else are they supposed empty thier stomachs?” Chris exclaimed as he exchanged a confused look with the blonder of the two, just when Martin was about to open his mouth his creature pod lit up- to their knowledge it was just another villain trying to harm some animal usually ending with them running away though either way they had to hurry.

As the two rushed back to the Tortuga jumping over trees and such, Chris noticed a small tooth lying on the ground he decided to pick it up and quickly shove it into his pocket before trying to catch up with his brouther who hadn’t stoped.

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Back at the Tortuga Koki had pulled up the distress call on the main screen, apparently it was suspected to be a exchange for animal testing Aviva informed the two the signal was near by but it was difficult to be precise, Chris on the other hand realized the tooth he was holding belonged to an Oncilla.

“Hey- Aviva got another Oncilla disk?” The biologist eagerly asked.

“In fact I just finished anouther one for Martin just in case- why?” The scientist confused handed the disk to Martin.

“Great!” He pulled out the tooth and activated his suit, the older of the two decided to follow.

“The small size and flexibility is perfect for a stealth mission!” He explained, though Aviva had her doubts Koki had aredy pushed them out the door.

“Be careful it’s getting dark!” Aviva yelled nervously as the two entered the forest with the sun on the horizon Martin couldn’t help but feel a little anxious.

After a cupple of minutes of sneaking though the forest the two brothers came upon a small black plane, to their knowledge it looked liked Zach’s plane just smaller Martin now feeling a little less anxious looked at his brother and whispered “let’s go”.

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They climbed in though a window being overly cautious given they could only assume who was involved, once they had climbed into the building they noticed was pitch black.

“I can’t see a thing-” Chris said in a hushed voice given there circumstances.

“Naw really?” Martin joked sarcastically copying the same tone as his brother.

Part of the room suddenly lit up when a blond figure appeared standing in front of what seemed to be a research station with an operation table in the middle, upon further inspection the two noticed a Russian flag hung from the wall behind her- then suddenly a radio taht had been lying on a counter lit up,

“Did вы get the Кролики?”

*did you get the rabbits?*

The blond woman Responded in a heavy Russian accent, “yes.”

Martin the bolder of the two looked at his brother and said “you ready-” As he jumped from the boxes creating a loud crash, Chris on the outher hand jumped off his pile just before it came crashing down.

Chris feeling a little hazy after regaining balance with his only instinct being fight, but seeing his brother run strait at the woman he saw a human like bot about to tackle his brother he pounced and managed to push his brother out of the way, though Chris was now trapped under this bot which oddly resembled one of Donita’s manikins, his eyes now blurry he kept telling himself to stay awake and fight, but it was no use.

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When Chris had finally woke up he was met with a sharp pain in his right temple, while attempting to soothe the pain he realized that he was no longer an Oncilla and he had in fact been tied up, it didn’t help he couldn’t see so in a desperate attempt to locate his brother he yelled out into the pitch black

“Martin?!” No response This was bad

He waited for a minute or so until an single overhead lightbulb flickered on, Chris’s eyes immediately began searching for his brouther or at least a clue to where he was- since he couldn’t find anything just by desperately searching he decided to listen.

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Martin on the other hand having seen his little brother knocked out and dragged away into the shadows found himself tied up, he had been practically screaming demands into the shadows in attempt to hopefully get some answers though it seemed unlikely in a final attempt he shouted

“If you hurt my brother I Swear I’ll will fucking kill you.”

Just then the blond woman from before had entered the dimly lit room, older Kratt now getting a closer look at her he noticed she was wearing what looked to be an old Russian soldier uniform fitted to her shape with black platform boots, though he assumed they were still in the Amazon she still wore a Russian snow cap which confused the older Kratt.