Plip plop plip plop. Rain slowly dripped down from the dark clouds above Harvard University. Inside the walls of the college, an old man and his son stood in their lab.
"Marvelous!" the old man cried.
"What is it Walter?" his son sighed.
"This show is even better than that talking sponge!" Walter smiled, staring at the TV set. "What is it called, Peter?"
"That's Fairly Oddparents, Walter" Peter said, resting the book he was reading against the edge of the table and glancing over to see what his father was watching.
"Well it's fantastic!" the old man exclaimed.
"Right… look, shouldn't you be doing something else? Like dissecting a frog or making some LSD?" Peter asked his father, annoyed by his excitement.
"Oh… Thank you for reminding me, son, I do need to make some more LSD," Walter said, getting down from the stool he was sitting on.
"And here I was half kidding," Peter replied. "I don't want to know what you need it for."
After standing up, Walter took the reins of the cow that had been standing next to him and walked her over to her stall.
"…You're not planning on doing something to Gene, are you?" Peter asked skeptically. "The poor cow's been through enough already."
"Of course not Peter!" Walter replied. "Not yet, of course."
Peter sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as if he was in pain. He was clearly irritated with his father. "You're not going to try to ride her again, are you?"
"I wasn't planning on doing that until Agent Farnsworth got back from the store, but-"
"No Walter, you're not going to do it at all, alright?" Peter said sternly, glaring at his father.
"Why ever not son?"
"Because-"
Before Peter could finish his sentence, they were interrupted by someone bursting through the door.
"Hurray, Agent Farnsworth is back! Now I can--"
Walter trailed off, turning to see who had come through the door, Peter doing the same. To their surprise, it was not Astrid. Instead, a tall, bald man had entered their lab, walking slowly towards them. He was wearing a black suit and hat, and had a blank expression on his face.
"Oh... what are you doing here?" Walter asked the man, talking to him like an old friend.
"Walter, I don't think we should trust this guy," Peter said, glaring at the bald man. "He's the guy who attacked me in the forest, remember?"
"Of course we can trust him Peter!" Walter told his son. "He's--"
"The time has arrived," the man said. "We need to go. Now. If we don't... terrible things will happen."
"Walter, what is this guy talking about?!"
"J-just listen to him son, he knows what he's doing."
"No Walter, I won't!" Peter replied, getting angry. "I won't move until I know what's going--"
Peter stopped mid-sentence. Walter had fallen silent, looking at the bald man. Peter turned from Walter to look back at the man, only to find that he had a gun in his hand, pointing it at Peter's head.
"I'm only trying to help," the man said. And then, before Peter could do anything, the man pulled the trigger.