{Henry}
“Hurray, hurray, hurray!” Snips and Snails said as I was still staring at the stump.
“This will go down in the history books!” Snails cheered. “Henry and Agent Derek will be celebrated all over the In Between!”
“Wait until Leader Felix hears of this!” Snips said. “Agent Derek will become the number one agent in The Resistance! Yey!”
“Oh no!” Milton said.
“What’s wrong?” Snails asked.
“Do you know what’s going to happen next?” Milton said. “It’s bad enough Henry’s a famous experiment, and not to mention the fact that he’s the first one Lab 14 ever created!”
“Okay...” Snips tilted his head, “I’m not following you.”
“Were you born yesterday, Agent Snips?” Derek snapped. “Did you not hear a word about what Jane researched?”
“Yup,” said Milton, “not only are they going to go after Henry even more now, they’re going to go after you too Derek! And who knows what type of testing they’ll put you guys under!”
“But Agent Derek’s pretty talented in The Resistance!” Snails said. “I doubt those labs will get a hold of him! The fact that he can drill a hole in a tree in the In Between means he’s more powerful than any of those stupid labs!”
“Either way,” said Snips, “we really must inform Leader Felix about this!”
“And the top half of the tree is starting to die!” Snails said. “But the stump, however…”
For some reason, Snail felt it was necessary to tap on the tree with his hoof. Snips followed suit by putting his hoof inside the hole that Derek had drilled into it. A flash of light came from the tree and Snips quickly withdrew his hoof and fell to the ground cradling his foreleg.
"Yup,” moaned Snips as he lay on the ground, “the tree is definitely sliced and that hole isn’t going to go away either! Considering I almost got killed by it!”
“Yeah just like I said,” said Derek, “you two are about as dumb as they come!”
“But,” said Snails, “we should really inform Leader Felix about this! Hopefully, he'll be able to keep this under wraps! I’m pretty sure he’ll find a way.” Snips pulled out a small box that looked a little bit like the one Derek had that had the map of where to go to get to The Resistance. Before Derek could stop him, Snips pressed the button on the top of it and a holographic screen appeared. A man that looked older than Derek’s dad appeared on the screen, he had white hair and hazel eyes. He wore a red trench coat with a tan shirt underneath it. On his hands were short black gloves. They looked much like the glove that I wore on my right hand.
Leader Felix frowned. Snips took to firm attention.
“Agent Snips,” said Leader Felix, “I thought I told you not to contact me until you got near The Resistance! You’d better have a good reason for calling me because the data on your badge numbers say that you aren’t even close!”
Snips gave a nervous laugh and gulped, “Um, Leader Felix sir, we have something to tell you. It’s very important!”
“Yeah!” Snails cheered. “It’s something that will go down in the history books!”
“And escorting someone safely to The Resistance is an important event because?” Leader Felix said.
Snips said, "well…"
“Henry chopped down a tree!” Snails chimed, cutting Snips off.
Leader Felix did not look like he believed a word Snails just said and I don’t blame him!
“That’s impossible!” Leader Felix said. “No one’s been reported chopping down a tree here! Are you joking?”
“Nope,” said Snails, “it’s not a joke! Look, the top half of the tree is starting to die!”
Snails scanned the tree and sent the information to Leader Felix.
“Who did it?” Leader Felix asked.
“Henry did it!” Snails said. He gripped me in his magic. I struggled as he pulled me in front of the screen.
Leader Felix looked me in the eyes. “You wouldn’t by chance be the famous Experiment Henry are you?”
I grit my teeth and narrowed my eyes at him.
“Sorry, sorry, “ said Leader Felix, “I forgot the children from the labs here don’t like having 'experiment' attached to their names! I don’t blame them! Because they’re not experiments! They're children just like you are Henry!”
Just as Snips and Snails couldn’t contain their excitement, Leader Felix looked at the right side of my neck and frowned. Derek let out a small sigh of relief because Snips and Snails didn’t mention anything about him drilling the hole in the tree stump.
“Agent Snails?” Leader Felix said.
“Yes Leader Felix sir?” Snails said.
“How is it that Henry can chop down a tree in the In Between but lose his voice box?” Leader Felix said.
“Discord broke him out of Lab 14 and didn’t even bother to steal his voice box back for him!” Derek said.
“Agent Snails,” said Leader Felix, “pull Agent Derek into view of the screen for me!”
Derek appeared next to me wrapped in Snails magic glow as I heard him groan. It definitely looked like Derek didn’t want to talk to Leader Felix at all.
“I just had to open up my mouth didn’t I?” Derek said.
Leader Felix smiled, “Agent Derek! It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. The last time I saw you was at the Resistance HQ! And my, my you’ve grown up to be a fine young man! I do believe a lot of female agents will be throwing themselves at you when you finally return! You’ll probably get a girlfriend finally!”
At that comment, Snips and Snails fell on their backs laughing.
“What is it?” Leader Felix said.
“Agent Derek’s not into females!” Snails said.
“Well,” said Leader Felix, “then he’ll finally get a boyfriend when he gets back. He’ll be breaking a lot of hearts doing so!”
“That’s not going to be possible!” Snails said.
“Why not?” Leader Felix said.
“Agent Derek’s already chosen his lover!” Snips said. “It’s Henry!”
While Leader Felix was doubled over with laughter I could tell Derek wanted to run for the hills and run Snips and Snails over in the process. I felt the same way.
“I don’t blame Agent Derek for choosing Henry!” Leader Felix said. “Once everyone finds out that Henry’s the one that chopped down a tree in the In Between, everyone will be wanting his attention if you know what I mean. He’ll be breaking a lot of hearts when they find out he’s gay and has chosen a lover already!”
Everyone couldn’t help but laugh at me and Derek. I was biting my bottom lip trying to keep myself from strangling Snips and Snails. After everyone stopped laughing, Leader Felix looked like he was curious about something. "Agent Snails?”
“Yes,” said Snails, “Leader Felix sir?”
“I noticed that there was a hole drilled into the tree stump,” said Leader Felix, “did Henry do that too?”
“Nope!” Snails said. “It was Agent Derek over here that did it!”
“What?” Leader Felix said. “Wow, I knew he was talented but I didn't think he was that talented!”
“Thanks a lot, Snails!” Derek snapped.
“Yup,” said Leader Felix, “judging from that response he did it!”
“What?” Snails said. “I just wanted Leader Felix to know about the two people that completed the god challenge!”
“Seriously!” Derek said. “I think I’ll skin you alive after this!”
“Agent Derek,” said Leader Felix, “you definitely did it alright! You can’t tell a lie to save your own life! Especially if you know you’re guilty! Well then, I’ll have to come over there as soon as possible to do the sealing ritual! I’d never thought I’d have to do it here! Agent Derek and Henry, you two need to stay put for a while. I did talk to The Higher. I know you two have a job to do! Just don’t head out until I get there!”
“Yes sir!” Derek said. The screen went blank and Snips put away the communicator box.
“I’m going to cook you two for dinner when Henry and I get back from completing our job!” Derek snapped.
“Exactly what are you talking about?” Sarah asked.
“Oh boy,” answered Derek, “have you ever heard of an entity called The Higher?”
“Oh yeah!” Snips said. “He’s the guy that delivers messages for the gods!”
“But how do you know about him?” Snails said. “From what I’ve been told no one really sees The Higher unless…”
“You’re flatlined,” Derek said, “yeah I know. The Higher said that we were chosen to complete a job that involves Lab 14.”
“Is this true?” Moria asked.
I nodded my head and looked away. I didn’t have the heart to look everyone in the eye.
“So that’s why you flatlined when you first came to the Inn!” Moria barked. “Why didn’t anybody tell me?”
“Because you didn’t need to know!” Derek snapped.
“So you guys are going to that awful place?” Jane said. “But why?”
Derek sighed, “Because we’re going there to destroy Lab 14 from the inside out…”
* * *
{Discord}
I can't believe Cora had the nerve to summon me after I told her I broke the contract with Lab 14! Yes I did send her a threat of violence but I knew because Agents Snips and Agent Snails had told me that Henry and Derek had completed the God Challenge, it wasn't my place to carry out any threat of violence I issued towards Cora. But even still, I had no idea why Cora summoned me. “Okay Cora! Out with it! What do you want?”
As I said that I smiled, I never thought I’d see the day that I would use the ‘what do you want’ line and on Cora of all people! Talk about karma!
“I’d never thought I’d hear the Lord of Chaos say the words ‘what do you want’ with me!” Cora smirked.
“I don’t care!” I snapped. ”Out with it! I wish I could kill you but it's not my place to do so... unfortunately. I was wondering about something. Did someone tell you about the God Challenge when you came here?”
Cora nodded. “Yes, I do remember. The challenge is to chop down a tree in one of the forests here. And so far no one’s been able to do so.”
“And I do recall,” I said, “you took on the challenge and failed right?”
“I’m going to take a wild guess,” said Cora, “this has something to do with Experiment Henry.”
I smiled. “Oh yes! Another one of your ‘experiments’ that you’ve been going after was never really an experiment in the first place! What do you refer to him as? Oh yes, that’s right, Experiment Derek?”
“Just get to the point Discord!” Cora said, clearly annoyed with me.
“Let me just say the god challenge is complete thanks to those two!” I cheered.
“So they both chopped down a tree?” Cora said in disbelief.
“No,” I replied, “Henry chopped down the tree and Derek drilled a hole into the tree stump!”
Cora’s jaw dropped, “This is a prank isn’t it?”
I shook my head, “Nope, the gods got exactly what they were looking for!”
“And what might that be?” Cora said.
“The two gods that will govern over the In Between have arrived!” I said.
“I thought there weren't any gods in the In Between!” Cora exclaimed.
“There weren’t any gods in the In Between before,” I said. “That’s why you came here in the first place? To do whatever you want to do? Isn’t that what you told me so you could do your testing in peace? Well now that the gods of the In Between are here, you’ll have your day in court! Or after. Whichever happens first!”
“In any case,” said Cora, “I don’t care if you think Experiment Henry’s a god, he will always be an Experiment, nothing more nothing less!”
“Oh I forgot, what exactly did you want from me in the first place?” I asked.
“Oh yes,” said Cora, “I know you know exactly where Experiment Henry and Experiment Derek are. So I want you to deliver a message.”
I rolled my eyes, “What am I? The Higher to you?”
“I have no idea who The Higher is,” said Cora, “and I don’t care.”
“Fine then!” I snapped. “I’ll be your little messenger boy! What’s your message Serpenta?”
“Serpenta?” Cora said. “Listen to me Discord! I want you to deliver a message. Tell Experiment Henry and especially him that if he wants a chance to kill he’ll come back to Lab 14 and get the job done! You got that?”
I laughed and I couldn’t help it because Cora looked like the stupidest person in the In Between!
“Fine by me!” I said with joy. “If you want to speed up your death sentence that’s okay and you won’t be able to steal any more children from their cribs! Goodbye Serpenta!”
“My name is not Serpneta!” Cora snapped.
“Whatever!” Just to taunt Cora even more, I made it a point to turn my tongue into a serpent's tongue and stick it out at her. Then I snapped my claw and slowly faded away while laughing wickedly as I disappeared.
* * *
{Experiment Rose}
Eventually, Discord's pet snake named Fang spit me and Experiment Sebastian out. Experiment Sebastian tried to wipe off the slime that he was covered in. After Fang spit us out, he disappeared back into the chaos realm.
“Well, that was gross!” Experiment Sebastian said.
“No kidding!” I agreed.
“I don’t know about you,” said Experiment Sebastian, “but I’m jumping into that nearby river to wash off.”
Experiment Sebastian and I both jumped into the nearby river and washed the slime off.
“Drat!” I growled. “At this rate, I’ll never find my future husband!”
“Speak for yourself!” Experiment Sebastian said.
I rolled my eyes, “Yeah I know!”
Before we could say or do anything a small black dot appeared on our foreheads. The dot glowed green and took us by surprise. A holographic screen appeared before us with a woman in her late 20’s. She wore a white lab coat that said the name Leader Freya on the right side of it. When Experiment Sebastian and I saw her we gasped.
“Yes, yes,” said the woman, “I know, I know! You two haven’t had a message from me in ages!”
“Leader Freya!” I said.
“Yeah,” said Experiment Sebastian, “if you’re delivering a message something big must be going down!”
Leader Freya nodded. “You guessed it! It concerns Experiment Henry! It’s very possible that Experiment Henry will be coming back to Lab 14 very soon! And it’s also possible that Experiment Derek will be with him.”
“What?” Experiment Sebastian gasped. “You mean my lover Experiment Derek and Experiment Rose's future husband are coming back to Lab 14 willingly?”
“Willingly I’m not so sure about that part,” said Leader Ferya, “But yes, they will be coming back to Lab 14 that is if they want to kill Head Cora!”
My jaw dropped, “Is this a joke?”
“No joke,” said Leader Freya, “but those are Head Cora’s wishes and we must respect them. As far as you two go, you’re being called back to HQ. You’ll be assisting Head Cora in battling Experiment Henry and Experiment Derek! With you two fighting by her side, there’s a good chance we can capture them and have them at Lab 14 where they belong!”
“This just keeps getting better and better!” I said.
“What do you mean by that Experiment Rose?” Leader Ferya asked.
I exhaled slowly, “It was difficult enough to track Experiment Henry to the Inn where Experiment Derek lives, but now the Inn’s deserted and I’ve lost Experiment Henry’s trail!”
“And don’t forget about being eaten by Discord’s pet snake, Fang!” Experiment Sebastian said.
Leader Ferya doubled over in laughter, “That does make sense that Discord would have a pet snake! Why did Discord’s pet snake eat you?”
“Apparently,” said Experiment Sebastian, “Discord hadn’t fed him yet! And that stupid snake likes to eat its food alive sometimes!”
“Yeah and Experiment Sebastian over here,” I teased, “decided to entertain Earnest and Discord by turning into a tiny Garter Snake! At least if you were to put up a good fight, you probably should’ve changed into a bear instead, Experiment Sebastian!”
Once again Leader Ferya doubled over in laughter. “Yeah, Experiment Rose is correct on that one. Why did you change into something so small?”
“You know changing into a bear wouldn’t have helped the situation either!” Experiment Sebastian growled.
“That’s right I forgot!” Leader Ferya said. “Bears are usually pretty shy creatures. It usually works to trap certain experiments so you can take them to Lab 14.”
“And it worked until you got to Experiment Derek, right Experiment Sebastian?” I said.
“And considering we’ll assist Head Cora this time!” Experiment Sebastian said. “I'll have Experiment Derek for sure!”
“One more thing I need to mention,” said Leader Ferya, “Leader Felix has gotten involved in this.”
“Why would Leader Felix get involved?” I asked. “He’s never gotten involved with Experiment Henry before?”
“I can’t tell you the information on that,” said Leader Ferya, “only Head Cora and her assistant Eleanor know that information. The sooner you get back to Lab 14 the sooner you can capture Experiment Henry and Experiment Derek! That’s all I can say right now, I’m signing off.”
“Yes, Leader Freya!” Experiment Sebastian and I said. After that, the green dot disappeared back into our foreheads.
Experiment Sebastian changed into a horse and I couldn't help myself. I laughed because I was just way too funny. “A horse? Really! You know maybe you should try your hand in show business!”
“This is not the time for that!” Experiment Sebastian said. “Maybe I’ll consider it later. Right now we need horsepower and I got that down!”
I had to brace myself on Sebestian to prevent myself from falling over in laughter.
Experiment Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Now hop on and let’s go!”