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Dashner blinked in confusion, handing over the chicken... Very very slowly. He shuttered, and didn't hear most of what Marceline was saying. He shrugged, and tapped the table.

"There's probably a 'nine and a half out of ten times' chance that he will ask you, this is Rory after all. Unless he cracks under the pressure!" Dashner let out a laugh with his small joke, but Marceline wasn't amused.

"... But anyway, don't worry about it. Even if you don't have a date, you can still go, right?"

"See that?" Glen whispered to Rory as the Mad Science class was currently engaged in study sessions with their lab partners, whereas Glen was giving his new partner, Rory, a private showing of his personal achievements.

Rory nodded where Glen was pointing straight up toward a sky light in the roof.

"Yeah?"

Glen nodded with a self satisfied smile, pointing towards himself with both thumbs.

"Mine! Now, that over there?"

Glen pointed across the class where several orange cones and yellow tape surrounded a rift in the air itself. It seemed to fluctuate in on itself, moving and pulsing.

"That was my final credit project last year. Opened up a hole right in time and space."

"Wow..." Rory marveled, and then looked at his cousin eagerly. "What's on the other side?"

"Search me!" Glen bit his bottom lip and shrugged helplessly. "Mister Hack won't anyone near it. Can't figure out how to close it off so he just sealed the area."

"Well that's not fair. It was your project."

"I know, right? Well anyway..." Glen turned to their beakers which were bubbling over a small flame. The eager light in Glen's eyes lit even brighter as he got set to give Rory the wealth of his Mad Science knowledge. He picked up two beakers, each filled with a powder, and handed the one filled with yellow powder to Rory. "That there is hemlock. And this...?"

Glen held up a tube filled with gray powder. "This is wolfsbane."

Rory nodded, eyeing both powders with a 'respect' for learning.

Glen continued, "These are two of the most vital ingredients in any potion for magic or Mad Science. Separately, they're pretty potent, but put `em together?"

Glen reached over and poured the wolfsbane into one of the bubbling beakers and it immediately started frothing and turned a cool blue. He then looked at Rory and nodded eagerly. Rory smiled and reached over to pour in the hemlock....


The firemoan were just exiting the school, having finally finished extinguishing the fires in the Mad Science lab. Fumes continued, however, to billow out through the doors and windows, and the fresh hole where the wall to the lab used to be.

The Headless Headmistress sighed and turned around to look out to the entire congregation of students and sighed.

"It's going to take awhile to put this one out, so while the faculty air the school out and make the usual..." She cast her gaze towards an innocent looking Glen and Rory, both who were covered in black soot and hair mussed wildly. "...repairs, school will be let out early today. Just a precaution."

She turned around and headed back inside of the school to lend a hand while Glen rolled his eyes.

"Psht! Babies..."

Well, at least this week it wasn't HIM in the line of explosive fire. He half wondered why the school continued to allow Mr Hack to teach when such accidents seemed such a common occurrence, common enough at least that nobody seemed at all surprised by Glen and Rory's current condition nor overly concerned by the billowing smoke.

He frowned deeply, well, at least the rest of the day off would give him plenty of time to catch up on all he'd missed during his circus jaunt.

He checked the time, and immediately remembered something else he was supposed to be doing. He knew full well if he didn't go talk to the ghoul, Dashner wouldn't shut up about it.

Searching the crowd, he tried to pick out Doriana.

Doriana scurried around to make sure all of her friends were okay from the explosion. She wasn't so sure about the rest of the day off, she didn't know what else she'd do! She walked around, thinking. Pacing always got her thinking better.

She passed by Ronan without even seeing him.

Glen turned and practically stuck his nose up in the air.

"I don't know what you're referring to. That worked out exactly how Rory and I planned! But you're right!"

Glen smiled and patted his cousin on the shoulder.

"I couldn't resist! If Rory's gonna learn, he might as well learn from the beast! And learn right!"

Glen's own tummy growled. It had been almost a whole hour since he last ate anything. He rubbed his stomach and looked at his cousin.

"I'm in! Um, minus the water."

Ahah! He spotted the ghoul and hastened to catch up.

"Doriana!"

He called, dodging out of the way of a pack of werewolves coming the other way.

She turned around, startled, not knowing who called her. She cleared her throat as Ronan approached.

"Yes, Ronan?"

Oblivious to her annoyance, he tried to smile but the best he managed was a strange sort of half smirk.

"Uh..."
He began, not really sure how to start.

"Listen.. about earlier... "

He took a deep breath and blurted out the question that had been buzzing around his skull all afternoon; well, up until things exploded.


"Do you want to go to tombcoming as friends or something more?"

What if Dashner had been wrong about her motivations? He lowered his head, fiddling with the cuffs of his jacket anxiously.

He nodded, speaking flatly.

"Ok."

But now what?
What'd he do now? His conversation with Dashner hadn't really covered this eventuality, and he shuffled his feet as he tried to think of what to say next. Only one question remained.

"Why?"