Hearing the girls screaming, Jackieboy quickly crawled out under the closet door, while Sean was rubbing at his temples, and Mark was recovering from his struggles with the boot. "Hey! Over here!" Jackieboy called out, jumping up and down.
"Mark!" Amy screamed, then hesitated to take a breath, hearing the tiny voice.
Signe had just opened her mouth to scream when she heard it too. Their eyes scanned the floor more intently than before until Signe ran to the closet and knelt down. "Jackieboy?" She smiled, picking him up.
"Signe." The hero sighed with relief. "They're in the closet. Jack hit his head." He frowned. Signe's eyes widened and she nodded.
Amy made her way over and placed a hand on Signe's shoulder, leaning forward to very carefully open the closet door. "Mark." She sighed with relief, scooping him up and stepped off to the side, allowing Signe to lift up Sean. For once, Mark didn't mind being grabbed without consent, and happily clung to Amy's hand as she pulled him close.
Signe tucked Sean against herself, watching him. "You hit your head?" She frowned.
Sean sat down, sighing as he rubbed at his temples. "Yeah. I just have a headache." He smiled up at her. "I'm fine though." He leaned down patting the palm of her hand beneath him. "I'm fine."
Nodding, Signe brought her other hand over, allowing Jackieboy to climb up with him, and the hero sat down alongside him. "Where are the others?" Signe asked.
Mark shook his head. "Everyone just... ran. We were scared." He shrugged. "He said he was going to-"
"Dissect you." Amy finished the sentence. "Google told us."
"And you thought I was crazy for worrying about being turned into a rug!" Sean suddenly yelled.
"I didn't know!" Mark shouted back.
Signe bit her lip, shifting and looked up at Amy. "I feel like I missed something."
"Yeah... me too." Amy sighed. "We should... try to find the others. Make sure they're all okay... and get out of here."
"We should call the police." Signe frowned.
Mark shook his head. "That'd go well. Yeah, uh, we brought all our egos here... those our are video clones, come to life... and then the scientist just went nuts, and he shrunk us and then tried to dissect us. That'll go over well."
Amy shrugged. "You know... it might, if it's coming from a five inch tall man and his army of look a likes." She pointed out, then sighed. "Finding the others should be the top priority though."
Sean looked up at Signe. "It was a long way down. Someone could be injured."
Signe nodded, and started to look over the floor again. "Guys!" She called. "It's Signe! Come out now!"
"It's safe, guys!" Amy chimed in, also looking around the room. "You can all come out!"
At the other end of the building, while Frederick was giving Ethan and Robin a moment to adjust, Dr. Stewart lunged forward, trying to push his way out of the building. "I don't think so Fraser!" Frederick cried out, grabbing his arm and pulled him back. Fraser Stewart turned, shoving Frederick against the wall.
In a split second decision, Robin realized that he had to choose a side and jumped in, grabbing Fraser's shoulders to pull him off the other man. "Hey!" Fraser shouted, turning on him.
Frederick leapt forward again, clumsily grabbing the man's arms and pulled them behind his back, pretty effectively immobilizing him. When he was detained, Robin let go, stepping back, not really wanting to be part of the conflict. "Thanks." Frederick panted, a little warn out from the small scuffle. "Who are you again?"
"Let go of me Fred!" Fraser screamed as he struggled against him.
Completely ignoring the man's cry, Frederick simply continued to watch Robin. Taking a deep breath, Robin glanced at Ethan, who shrugged, then looked back to the stranger. "Robin."
Frederick nodded, then gasped. "Ah! Yes... Jacksepticeye's editor, I presume?"
"Well... yes." Robin nodded, deciding not to point out that they were also friends. He didn't want to go giving away extra information in a moment like this.
The man tilted his head, watching Ethan. "You're not... CrankGameplays, are you?"
Ethan just nodded. "Uh, yeah. That's me."
Frederick smiled. "Perfect. Where the others?" Robin and Ethan looked at each other hesitantly, before looking back at Frederick, simply watching him. "Oh! Oh... I never introduced myself. How rude of me."
"That's rude?" Fraser huffed. "The lack of introduction? Let go of me!"
Shaking his head, Frederick stepped forward, pushing Fraser against the wall in the hope of quieting him down. "I am Frederick Szalinski. Dr. Frederick Szalinski. I have a PHD in Physics, and I used to work with the company who owned this building... when it was still operational."
"It ith operathional!" Fraser struggled to grunt out, with his face smashed against the wall.
"Fraser, your existence in this building is trespassing! That alone is a crime, but do you understand the illegal component of running this lab after the company was shut down? Not to mention the safety violations... and the implications of running experiments on humans! And without ANY of the proper paperwork... I assume." Frederick rattled off, shaking his head before he looked back to Robin and Ethan with a smile. "I am here to fix Fraser's mess. I promise. I'm sure that your trust is skewed after things went... so... terribly wrong." He groaned. "I was contacted by the ego identity, know as Darkiplier. He told me that the youtubers and their egos have shrunk to an impossible degree."
"Oh... it's possible." Ethan mumbled. "They're tiny!"
Robin took a deep breath. "I guess we should trust him?"
Ethan groaned. "I don't want to have to make that choice!"
Robin shook his head. "I mean, neither do I... but everyone else is kind of busy right now!"
Sighing, Ethan nodded, pointing at Frederick. "Okay! We'll take you to the others... but no funny business buddy! Or else my friend Robin here is gonna take you out!" He patted a hand on Robin's chest.
Eyes wide, Robin glanced at him. "I'll what?"
"Back me up here..." Ethan whispered.
"Right!" Robin turned, puffing up his chest. "What he said!"
Frederick grinned, tugging Fraser away from the wall and shoved him forward, forcing him to walk. "No funny business, here. I'm very frightened. I am sure that people who play video games for a living... are expert fighters."
"I think he's on to us." Robin whispered.
Ethan sighed. "I'm afraid he is."
Knowing they didn't have any other options, Robin and Ethan walked back down the hall, leading Frederick as he pushed Fraser along.
Hearing footsteps, Kathryn leaned back out of the room, frowning. "Who... did you find?"
"Hello." Frederick smiled.
"Another scientist. Says Dark sent him. Uhm... he says he's here to help?" Ethan shrugged.
"And you just... believed him?" Kathryn asked, eyeing the man up as she stepped into the hallway.
Robin shrugged. "Well, he did help us catch Dr. Stewart, and we didn't think he would make it worse?"
Frederick nodded. "I am truly here to help."
"No he's not!" Fraser screamed. "He wants to... uh... blow up the world! He's a maniac!"
Kathryn rose an eyebrow. "You wanted to dissect our friends... so you hating him, just makes him more credible."
Within the office room, Amy and Signe were letting out relieved sighs as tiny men crept out from all the nooks and crannies of the room. Amy knelt down, keeping Mark close. "Is anyone hurt?"
"Is everyone here?" Signe asked, crouching down alongside her.
"Dirty Jim has gone missing." Google Red announced. "Yellow was tracking him after the fall startled him, but has lost him within the wall."
"Oh no." Amy frowned.
Signe shifted. "Dirty Jim?"
"The fucking cock roach!" Mark growled.
"Oh." Signe's eyes widened. "Hm... I more so meant... tiny... people." She tried to respond, delicately.
"Dirty Jim is pretty much apart of the family now." Ed shrugged as he brushed off his pants and walked towards Amy. "He's like our dog."
"For the last time, that roach is not like a dog!" Mark grunted.
Amy sighed, offering Signe a small smile. "Dirty Jim kind of grew on us all. Except Mark..."
"It's a cock roach!" Mark whined.
Jackieboy leaned over Signe's hand, watching as the others began to approach. A teary eyed Marvin was holding a torn cardboard mask in his hands, while Chase gently gripped his shoulder. Then there was Dr. Schneeplestein making his way through the doorway, under Kathryn's feet, guiding a very glitchy, and seemingly confused Anti by the hand.
"Where did you find him?" Jackieboy called out, drawing Signe and Sean's attention over to the glitchy being.
"Trying to climb inside ze electrical outlet in ze hall. It vas not going vell." Dr. Schneeplestein muttered.
Sean shook his head, sighing. "I didn't think I needed to teach him not to stick himself in a damn outlet."
Signe turned her head as she felt tapping on her leg and smiled down at the big wave she got from the tiny, pale Batman. "Hi Jameson." She glanced over the rest, before looking down at Sean. "I think that's everyone." She pointed out.
Sean sighed, standing up and wobbled a little as Signe frowned. "Yeah... that's them all."
"Doctor!" Jackieboy called. "Jack hit his head in the fall! Could you have a look at it?"
Nodding Signe lowered her hand onto the ground. "I guess." Dr. Schneeplestein muttered as he made his way over. Signe leaned forward, examining the burn marks in Anti's Green Lantern costume before he suddenly turned and glared up at her, sending a shiver down her spine. His body twitched dramatically as it shifted between realities and a small shock jumped from his leg to the floor.
Meanwhile, a gathering had also formed around Amy, who had stood Mark on the floor among them. "One, two, three... stay still!" Mark shouted.
Bim raised a hand in the air before shouting out. "I'm Bim Trimmer!"
"I know! I just want to count!" Mark groaned. "It's easier..."
"Are we saying our names?" King called, jumping excitedly. "I'm King of the Squirrels!"
"Fuck it, close enough. I think they're all-" Mark suddenly stopped, staring out over the faces again. "No. Darkiplier and Wilford Warfstache are missing. Of course."
Amy nodded, doing a quick count in her own head. "I think they are the only ones though... except Google Yellow." She tilted her head, watching the other three Googles. "You guys know where he is though, right?"
"He is still within the wall, attempting to locate Dirty Jim." Google Green explained.
"Little did they know that Darkiplier was in the hallway, confronting a confused Wilford Warfstache, as they spoke." The Host babbled. "Or that a strange man was in the hall way. Who could potentially save the day, or threaten them all?"
Mark frowned, then turned, looking up at Amy. "Strange man?"
"The Host was fine, in case anyone had wondered. Which they had not." The Host added.
"Oh come on, you looked fine!" Mark glanced back at him. "You're alive, that's all I'm asking for right now. We've all been through shit! I got stuck inside a boot!"
Amy had gotten to her feet and gently stepped over the group, to lean into the hallway. "Uhm, hello."
Kathryn sighed. "This is apparently Dr. Szalinski." She explained, having just been filled in on a few details herself. "And apparently, Darkiplier asked him to come."
"He did?" Amy frowned. "Well, he's in this hall way, I guess ..." She leaned out, looking both ways. "So we can find out."
Kathryn turned, helping Amy look over the ground, finally seeing a few figures several feet away, in the corner. They carefully made their way over, watching the interaction.
Wilford Warfstache was backed into the corner, eyes wide, holding his makeshift razor knife in front of him. "He... he fell! I didn't push him! It was... an accident!"
Darkiplier was standing in front of him, hands out with his palms up. "I understand Wilford. I am sure that Anti is fine. You both fell... do you remember?"
"I didn't push him!" Wilford repeated.
Dark let out a deep sigh, simply nodded. "I am aware. You did not push anyone."
"He fell." Wilford mumbled.
"Yes." Dark agreed.
"It was an accident." Wilford's hand was gripped so tightly around the toothpick handle, that his tiny knuckles were white.
Dark nodded, agreeing again. "Yes."
Wilford stared at him a moment before shaking his head. "I didn't push him!"
Amy glanced at Kathryn before she knelt down. "Dark?"
Darkiplier looked up, then back at Wilford. "He is just confused."
"It's okay." Amy sighed. "Uh... there's a man here. He said you called him."
Dark nodded. "Ah. Good."
"You did?" Amy gasped. "Who did you call?"
"I will explain in a moment. We cannot leave Wilford here. I assure you, he would not still be here when we returned." Dark explained.
Amy looked up at Kathryn, then pointed down the hall. "Can you get the bucket?" Nodding in response, Kathryn jogged the short distance and grabbed the plastic pail from the ground, quickly returning it to Amy. Taking a deep breath, Amy smiled softly. "Hey Wilford..." She set the bucket down in front of him as he stared up at her, eyes wide. "You shrunk... remember? It's Amy. It's okay. Just, walk into the bucket and I'll keep you safe, okay?"
Wilford looked up at her, then over at Dark who gave a single nod of reassurance. Clutching his tiny knife close, Wilford slowly walked into the bucket and Amy gently turned it upright, at an appropriate rate so that he wouldn't fall. "There." She smiled, and the shaky man took a seat in the middle of the pail, tapping his fingers along the razor blade shard. She sighed softly, holding a hand out in front of Darkiplier. "We have Wilford." Nodding his head, Dark stepped up into her hand and she stood, carrying the pail back down the hall to where Robin and Ethan were keeping an eye on the scientists.
"Dr. Szalinski, I presume." Dark announced, his voice booming, as they got close.
"Yes." Frederick nodded. "Darkiplier?" He squinted, leaning close. "You did shrink to an impossibly small size."
"So... who is this? And why did you call him? And how? And when?" Amy asked.
Dark turned to watch her and sighed heavily. "Gather everyone. I will only answer these questions once."
"If we could find a better way of restraining Fraser here, that would be wonderful." Frederick grinned.
"I shouldn't be restrained at all!" Dr. Stewart screeched.
"And a mouth gag." Frederick added.
Ethan was quick to nod his head. "Definitely a mouth gag!"
Amy stepped back into the room, looking down at Signe, where she sat on the floor. "We need to move everyone up onto the desk." She explained.
Signe looked up, nodding. "Schneep is just-"
"Zere." Dr. Schneeplestein concluded his assessment, stepping back. "He has ze minor concussion, but his responses are normal. He is fine, but ve vill need to monitor him for ze next twenty four hours."
Signe let out a relieved sigh and Sean smiled up at her. "I told you I was fine, Woosher!"
"A minor concussion isn't exactly fine." Signe reminded him, gently scooping him up and held him close. She desperately missed being able to wrap her arms around him and hug him close. Sean sighed, missing the feeling perhaps even more. She forced a small smile, looking up at Amy. "Sorry, what do we need to do?"
Amy sighed softly, recognizing the pain in her expression. "It'll be over soon." She promised, without knowing if she could even make good on it. "We'll have them back." Signe gave a slight nod, and Amy glanced down at Mark, who sighed, waving at her. She leaned down, holding a hand out and he stepped into it, sitting down as she lifted him up. "We should put them all on the desk. Dark is going to explain what he did and who this guy is. He's supposed to help... I guess."
Kathryn carefully walked into the room behind Amy, Ethan hesitantly leaving Robin to guard the men in the hallway. The four made quick work of lifting all of the egos onto the desk and out of harm's way. Mark and Sean quickly did another head count each, confirming that everyone was counted for, except Wilford, who was in the pail and Google Yellow who was still chasing the trail of Dirty Jim. Amy gently set the pail beside the gathering, watching Wilford who was intently staring at the knife, for a moment before she sighed and left him. He was safe there for the moment.
"Okay!" Ethan called, and Robin motioned to Frederick, who pushed Fraser into the room. Ethan pulled the chair far out from the desk and Frederick forced his captive into it. They bound his hands in some cables they found and shoved an old cloth into his mouth to serve as a gag. Then they all gathered around the desk, everyone still a little weary of Frederick. Signe was still cupping Sean in her hands, watching him intently, while Mark was perched on Amy's shoulder, gripping to her shirt as he had become accustomed to doing.
Dark placed his hands behind his back cracking his neck and began to pace along the edge of the desk. "I knew that Mark would not be capable of fixing this mess he caused-"
"Hey! That's-" Mark began to complain and Amy hushed him.
"Just let him talk." Amy sighed. "We need to know if we can trust this guy." Begrudgingly agreeing, Mark fell silent again, glaring down at Dark.
"As such..." Dark continued. "After I was able to convince King to free me the other day, I hid, until I was sure I would not be found. I started into some research of my own and found out that this building had been owned by an R and D company... which was forced to close a few years back, due to some law suits from... unconventional experiments." He looked over to Fraser and Frederick, turning to walk back along the edge of the desk. "Then, when I was able to free the Googles, I utilized their speedy searching capabilities and access to prohibited files-"
"Access to what?" Mark muttered.
"Actually that is kind of concerning." Amy agreed.
Signe sighed. "Make a mental note. We still need to know who this guy is."
Dark paused his pacing and looked around at them, waiting until he was sure they were finished interrupting before he continued. Both the pacing and the talking. "I utilized the Googles' abilities to find further information about Dr. Fraser Stewart here." Fraser attempted to scream something, but it muffled through the cloth. "As it turns out, he was working in a close partnership with one, Dr. Frederick Szalinski. They were researching unheard of technologies... such as inter-dimensional travel. Dr. Stewart always claimed that he had designed and built the Inter-dimensional Gateway, as he called the device, though Dr. Szalinski always claimed its real name was the T-PoL, Travel Portal of Lasers. Though Dr. Szalinski never out right stated that he was the real designer of the device, only one of the men before you were ever able to properly explain how it was supposed to work. I will give you a single guess as to who that was."
Mark sighed. "It... was supposed to teleport us somewhere?" He uttered.
"Yeah. I'm more confused now than I was before." Sean groaned.
"I thought it was supposed to get rid of the egos?" Amy frowned.
Ed let out a low grunt. "I'm still sore about that!"
"Let me explain..." Frederick sighed. "We hypothesized that there are multiple dimensions nearly overlapping one another and if we could create a tear between the worlds, with a series of high powered laser blasts, reflecting at a certain angle, then we could travel freely between these dimensions. That was the design, but it never worked properly. We couldn't get the lasers hot enough, couldn't get them firing fast enough. Get them to a certain heat or speed, and they overheated, and melted any power source wiring that was connected. Are you following?"
"I think so." Mark nodded. "That's why the lasers were a one time use!"
Sean frowned. "That makes sense. I still don't get why he told us it would get rid of the egos!"
Frederick sighed, glancing at Fraser and shook his head. "I told him it wasn't ready. I told him that without reaching a proper temperature and speed, the theory wasn't even testable. But you wouldn't take no for an answer, would you Fraser?" He glanced back towards the others, taking a deep breath. "He decided to run a test of the machine, without my knowledge... on a person. One of the lab assistants. He was, of course, unable to stand the heat..." He shook his head. "Fraser hid the body and tried to cover up his mistake. He told me he had adjusted the lasers, and thought he had them working, and tested it out himself. He never told me there was someone in the chamber. That he had murdered a man, and covered it up. So I fixed my lasers... and just as I was hitting a break through, a police investigation halted my work! You see Fraser..." Frederick turned back, glaring at the man tied to the chair. "When you kill a man, and hide his body in your laboratory... people come looking for him!"
"Dr. Szalinski?" Amy shifted. "I'm really sorry... clearly there's... issues here. What does this have to do with us?"
Nodding, Frederick sighed. "Ah, yes. Fraser was always watching your channels. He enjoyed video games and he enjoyed your commentary. I have to admit, you're entertaining, that's for sure."
"Uh, thanks." Mark mumbled.
Sean smiled, chuckling softly. "Great. Always good to meet fans. Yup."
"Fraser got me into watching your channels." Frederick explained. "He was obsessed. He pointed out that the growth of these characters you portrayed, the... egos as he called them, was too linear. Like they took on a life of their own. He watched for signs of them in the videos and your social media accounts. While your fan base theorized about hints, claiming that you were creating new videos for your dark alters and calling attention to it... Fraser believed they had become real beings. That they had been brought over from other dimensions, and you were simply covering up for them interfering with your channels. I didn't buy into these ludicrous ideas at the time, but they were an interesting thought puzzle to say the least. I helped him develop the theory of a hive mind created by the millions in your fan base, that could have helped these beings to slip between dimensions." Frederick sighed. "I don't think Fraser realized that your strong connection to your alternative selves, or the dispersion among so many would allow you to survive the heat of the blast. I believe that he aimed to let the device kill you, so that he could study you more closely." Fraser squirmed in the chair, shaking his head as he screamed into the cloth.
Mark's face dropped. "You brought us here to kill us?!" He shrieked.
Dark glanced up at him. "Offended by that. Are you?"
Mark sighed. "I apologized! I regret it!"
"Of course." Sean mumbled. "It's the crazy scientist with death lasers who's part of the super tiny, terrible outlier corner of my wonderful community."
Signe giggled slightly, tucking him close. "There might be nice scientists too." She offered.
Frederick nodded. "I do consider myself a fan by this point. I continued to watch your videos after Fraser introduced me." He smiled. "They offer a nice break from my work. Something goofy to offset serious calculations." He took a deep breath. "And unlike Fraser here... I have some theories as to why you have all shrunk."
"You do?!" Mark gasped.
Sean shifted, and scrambled to his feet, Signe putting a hand up, paranoid about him falling. "Can you reverse it?"
"I may be able to." Frederick sighed. "I will need to take a look at what he may have done to my machine first, run some calculations... build a new device." He shook his head. "We're talking days to weeks, and at least a few tests so that I can ensure your safety before exposing you to it."
"Days..." Sean stared at him.
"To weeks?!" Mark finished his thought.
Frederick sighed. "I am sorry. Real science, takes time." He frowned. "And that is a very hopeful estimate."
"I'll take weeks over never." Amy blurted out.
Signe was quick to nod. "I second that!"
"You all need to get out of here." Frederick sighed. "I will study the device and then call the police. We will have Fraser arrested, but the police cannot know of you. If the government were to find out about any of this..."
Mark nodded. "They'd want answers that we don't have." Amy sighed, turning her face to kiss the top of his head.
"Precisely. Whatever Fraser attempts to tell them, will sound like the ravings of a mad man. He'll be locked away for sure this time." Frederick turned to glare at him.
"Why isn't he already in prison?" Robin asked. "If he... killed a man?"
"There was never enough evidence that Fraser caused the man's death." Frederick explained with a sigh. "So it was taken out upon the whole company. Everyone who worked here gained a strike against their name, as unstable and immoral." He shook his head. "I've had to continue my career in my home lab. That is where I will continue to work on this problem."
Sean sighed. "Are we trusting this guy? I mean... this all sounds more believable than the last story, but still... we've been here before."
Mark smiled. "He wants to take time to test this machine." He shrugged. "And we don't have any other options."
With a groan, Sean sat down, then laid in Signe's hand, nodding. "Alright."
Frederick attempted to give them a reassuring smile before they began to trade information and work out more of a plan going forward.