Brain let out a tired sigh as he watched Casey tremble with fear. She was curled up in the farther corner of the room, presumably to keep as much distance between herself and her roommate. There had been little progress in coaxing her into a more relaxed state. He was starting to grow bored. He had long since finished his analysis of her physical appearance and would occasionally double-check his notes to make sure they were right. Eventually, after another five minutes of watching her shake, Brain decided that she was a lost cause for now and to continue his reading.
He had tried pretty much everything. Talking to her like a scared animal did nothing, as well as casual conversation. He tried explaining what was going on, but she would cry harder in response since he only reminded her of her difficult situation. Eventually, he kept still and stared at her, to which she stared right back to watch his every move.
He ignored how she flinched when he started to move again, sitting back down in his chair and opening his book. He had read it over a hundred times over, but the caretakers here refused to provide him with any more literature. As much as he craved for enrichment, he knew better not to fight them on this. So, he was stuck with this outdated book.
His left ear twitched at the sound of rustling. He didn't need to look behind to know that Casey was moving around. His large ears could pick up a mouse's sneeze two rooms over if not for the soundproof walls. He heard her shift over to the door and knew what was coming. With a grumble, he tried to block out her banging on the steel door. His ears gently flicked in annoyance, and he brought the book closer to his face as if that would shield him from the noise.
After a few more moments, Casey lowered her sore fist from the door and shifted into a crouched position. She still hadn't spoken an actual word since the discovery of her rooming buddy. She turned her head to make sure he was still reading before taking the time to really look at herself.
Casey lifted her claws to her face, flexing her fingers to watch how they bend. Touching her left palm with her fingertips, she noted how her claws were more like natural four-inch-long acrylic nails. She glided her fingers up her skin, feeling how leathery the texture was. It reminded her of when she handled a boa constrictor at a petting zoo when she was twelve. She felt up her arms and to her shoulders, feeling some spikes poking out. The base of the shoulder spikes hurt to touch as they were still healing from piercing through the tough skin. She looked down at her chest, carefully pulling on her romper to look inside her clothes. To her shock, her breasts were gone. Deciding not to focus too much on that, she moved onto her legs.
Her legs freaked her out the most for now. Her legs were permanently stuck in a bent position, but it was not as extreme as the other creature in the room. She examined her feet as well. It looked like she would have to walk on her tiptoes from now on. To test this, she pushed herself up onto her feet, her legs shaking slightly. Using the wall as support, she stumbled around like a newborn horse, the feeling of walking now unnatural and no longer second nature. She had to concentrate on walking correctly.
After some time of just walking back and forth across the room, with the wall still supporting her, she eventually managed to get it right. She looked over at Brain, who had not looked at her this entire time. She recalled that he seemed to possess human intelligence. Realizing that talking to him was inevitable, she took a step forward to meet the challenge head-on. However, the second she let go of the wall, she fell forward and landed face-first onto the floor. Despite the padding, it still hurt something fierce.
With a groan, she lifted her head, her nose throbbing. She could feel a warm liquid run down her lips from her nose. She had landed next to the desk and was now looking up at Brain.
"Are you finished behaving like a child and ready to talk like an adult? Hmm? Or do I need to hear you cry for the next hour again?" He was done coddling her as if she were a frightened dog. He closed his book and set it down on the table. He hopped off his chair, pulled out his handkerchief from his shirt pocket, and held it out again.
Casey scrambled to sit up on her knees, not wanting to be too close. She regarded Brain with suspicion as if he were setting a trap. After a long stretch of contemplative silence, she reached out, hesitating for just a moment before eventually taking the handkerchief. She used it to wipe the liquid from her face, her breath hitching at the sight of green blood smearing the white cloth.
This did not go unnoticed by Brain. "I am right to assume you were not always a gremlin?"
Casey looked up from the handkerchief in her hand, staring into Brain's spectacles. After another moment of tense silence, she slowly nodded, her mind slowly processing what was going on as she left her previous state of shock.
"Interesting." Brain tapped a claw on his spiked jaw thoughtfully. "That certainly explains why you don't have proper control over your legs." He cocked his head to the side inquisitively, reaching up to adjust his glasses. "May I ask your name, dear?"
The girl in front of him remained unresponsive for a bit, but he could see her mind race with many a thought. She slowly opened her mouth, not familiar with her new tongue and mouth now that she wasn't panicking. "C-Cassssey." Her sharp teeth provided an unintentional hiss to her name. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Casey… L-Little." She stuttered, the foreign tongue in her mouth working against her as she concentrated too hard on her words.
"Lovely to meet you, Miss Little, despite the circumstances." Brain held out his hand for a shake, determined to uphold some civility between them. "I have no chosen name, but everybody else refers to me as Brain, so you may call me that as well." His mouth upturned into a friendly smile, which looked a bit sinister given the slight reveal of his fangs.
Deciding that this creature was not going to hurt her, she reached for his hand and clasped it in hers. The feeling was quite odd, and their fingers fumbled for a comfortable grip since their hands were quite different. Without thinking, Casey interrupted the handshake to gently feel Brain's palm, counting only two fingers and a thumb-like appendage. Staring at her skin against his, she came to a shocking conclusion.
"I'm…. like you?" She asked, pushing her hand against her roommate's so that they pressed flat against each other.
"Why, yes, Miss Little," Brain allowed her to hold his hand for a moment longer, eventually retracting it before she got too touchy for his liking. "Well," he decided, "not exactly like me. You seem to have kept your original hair as well as your height," He pointed to her flaming red hair, which had some of the dark brown roots exposed.
Casey grabbed a lock of her hair to make sure he was right. For some reason, the fact that she still had her usual hair comforted her. She gripped the lock tightly, tears welling up in her eyes again. "So…. I'm a monster." Her voice was a soft whimper. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand to avoid scratching her face again.
Brain felt little to no sympathy but reached out to pat her thigh anyway. "Yes, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's not a good thing, but neither bad. You are simply a different species now." That seemed to have stopped the tears for now, thankfully.
Casey managed a smile at that and took a deep breath to ground herself. "Well, there's no point in crying, even more, I guess. I just need to focus on figuring out how to convince my dad to change me back." She decided with a determined look. However, her confidence was dashed when Brain burst out into laughter.
"Oh-ho! Miss Little, there is no changing you back, I'm afraid!" Brain giggled, holding his stomach to support his laughter. "Harvey Little is a right devil, and I'm fairly certain he was no intention of helping you." He wiped a tear from his eye, snickering at how Casey gawked at him. He eventually calmed down enough to talk properly. "It would do you some good to accept the reality of the situation. You are stuck here with me and will be experimented on for the rest of your life." He still had a rather amused grin on his face.
"How…" Casey looked hurt, which turned into anger rather quickly,"... How dare you?!" She forced herself to stand, only to stumble forward again. She quickly caught herself on the small desk, now bent over rather awkwardly. She let out a frustrated growl. "I'm a goddamn monster with an abusive dad, and you fucking laugh?!" She glared hatefully at Brain, who only rolled his eyes in response.
"Come now; you're being hysterical." He scoffed. "I am only laughing at how naive you are." Now that she was on her feet in front of him, he noted just how much taller she was. That was when an idea came to his head. He suddenly gave her a shit-eating grin. "It is such a silly idea. In fact, it's so silly that it is quite telling of your intelligence." He goaded, making sure to observe her in case she tried something.
Despite her anger, Casey had enough sense in her to know that she had no chance of actually taking on Brain. She was still struggling with basic motor skills, so she was as helpless as a newborn. The thought only frustrated her more. With a sudden roar, she raised her arm and slammed her fist down into the metal desk. It bent nearly in half on impact, which sent papers flying everywhere.
Brain watched with an excited glint in his eyes. He saw a threat, but not towards him. He did not see how Casey could snap him in half with that strength.
What he did see was an opportunity .
He had teased her to make her lash out. Gremlins are strong creatures for being small, and he needed to see if Casey's strength was proportional to her size.
And it was.
" I need to discuss this with the others ," Brain thought to himself as he watched Casey pull her hand close to her body.
Her hand throbbed painfully and all the rage she felt dissipated instantly. She realized what she had done as she stared at the ruined desk. "I-I'm sorry." She felt the need to apologize despite being egged on. She looked at Brain, tears coming to her eyes again. "I didn't mean to do that."
Brain looked quite surprised at her words. " Quick to anger, but feels compelled to apologize for her actions. A trait Harvey must have ingrained in her. That'll have to be worked on. " He waved dismissively at her. "No matter, dear. Let's take a look at that hand." He reached out and grabbed her arm without waiting for a response.
Casey grunted at that, not liking how Brain's mood seemed to flip on a dime. One second her was teasing her, and the next, he was taking care of her? That didn't sit right with her, but she allowed him to do what he wanted, seeing as how she broke his property.
" Passive. Another trait we'll need to fix. " Brain hummed to himself as he assessed Casey's hand for any damage. There seemed to be none, and she could flex her hand just fine despite the pain. He looked up at her with a smirk. "Miss Little, I believe there may be a way to change you back."
Casey's eyes widened at that. "R-Really? How?" She asked with a hopeful expression.
Brain let go of her hand and walked over to the bed by his desk, pulling himself up to sit on it. He picked up the papers that had landed on the bed and tossed them onto the floor haphazardly. "We can discuss it later." He sat down, patting the spot on the bed next to him. "Come over here, without using the wall, and sit."
"But… you said you knew-" Casey was immediately interrupted.
"Yes, but that is a very long discussion we will need to have with some colleagues of mine, and that can only happen tomorrow. So, come and sit." Brain's tone was impatient and left no room for arguing.
Casey was silent for several moments before nodding solemnly. She let go of the ruined desk and, with shaky legs, slowly walked over to the bed. She nearly fell over twice but managed to successfully sit down on the bed without any more clumsy mishaps. She sat up straight and stiff, nerves coming over her as she was still not entirely comfortable with the creature next to her.
"So… you said I was a gremlin? What exactly is that?" She asked, turning her head to look down at her roommate.
Brain pulled out a pipe and a lighter from seemingly nowhere, earning a curious look from Casey. He lit the pipe and took a deep inhale, blowing out smoke with a relaxed sigh. "Gremlins are what happens when you feed a mogwai after midnight." He took another puff off his pipe before continuing, knowing that what he said only brought up more questions.
"A little less than forty years ago…."
"We can't push the vivisection back just to satisfy your sick needs, Little!" Autumn slammed her hands on the desk, which was the only thing keeping her from crossing over to Harvey and slapping him upside the head.
Harvey looked disgusted at the accusation. "You're vile if you think I get off to this! We need to see how they would reproduce!"
His coworker rolled her eyes. "We already know how! With water! Toss a cup of it on them, and they multiply tenfold! You-"
"Exactly!" Harvey cut her off. "We know how they multiply, but we don't know how they reproduce . We don't know anything about how to act in the wild. This could be a part of their natural behavior."
"Whaddya mean in the wild ?" Autumn had an incredulous look on her face. "They don't exist in the wild!"
Harvey reached up to rub at his temples. "They had to at some point! All living creatures exist in a natural habitat at some point or other! Mr. Wright, don't you agree?" He turned to his very annoyed employer sitting between them.
Alan let out a sigh, folding his hands on his desk. "And what would making them reproduce prove, Harvey?"
The researcher's eyes brightened with fascination. "That not only did female gremlins existed naturally, but that perhaps they are not an asexual species. Maybe they experience pair bonding. After all, we've already documented cases of homosexuality."
"Yes, but we concluded that they did it for enjoyment, but not because of any natural pair bonding." Autumn pinched the bridge of her nose with a frustrated groan. "Gremlins have enough intellect and self-awareness to decide what is fun or not. They'll do anything for any type of pleasure, including sexual behaviors."
It was Harvey's turn to roll his eyes. "So do human beings and several other species of animals." He directed his attention back to Wright. "Look, sir, the entire point of rebirthing these things was to learn everything we can about them. And the entire point of that was so we could see a human with their DNA to create a superior form for weaponization." He glared at Autumn, who glared right back. "And we did it. We did it, sir. But what if she can't multiply with water? Then, she'll die out. We don't have the expenses to keep making more. But if she can reproduce more gremlins just like her, then we can create more weapons. Which means more money ." He smirked at Wright, whose eyes lit up at the mere thought of money.
The CEO let out a contemplative sigh, thinking over what Harvey said. After some time, he stood up to address his employees. "First and foremost, test to see if she can multiply with water. If she can, then we will move onto the vivisection." He noticed how Autumn smirked triumphantly at Harvey. " However, " He saw Harvey's visible excitement grow, "If she can't multiply, then you have my approval to push the vivisection back to get her to reproduce."
Harvey nodded eagerly. "Thank you, Sir! We'll work on it tomorrow with the others!" He turned and left Wright's office with a pleased look on his face.
"Sir," Autumn sighed, "I don't think he should be running this. That thing is his daughter. He'll be biased."
"Nonsense, Miss Overland. He wasn't biased when he changed her in the first place." Wright scoffed, sitting back down.
Autumn bristled at that. "You mean when we changed her." She corrected with a spiteful tone.
"Yes, yes. Whatever." Wright dismissed her with a wave of his hand, causing her to leave with a huff abruptly. He shook his head as he watched her go. "Too emotional, I say." He muttered to himself.
"... and the next thing I knew, I was being electrified to death."
Brain finished his story with one last exhale of his pipe, the room now filled with smoke. He examined the pipe closely, seeing that he had spent the last of his tobacco with a frown. He set his toke aside, for now, making a note to request for more.
Casey had been quiet for the past hour, her head swimming with new information. She stared down at her lap, twiddling her thumbs idly. She stopped to rub her head, now starting to hurt from everything she had learned today. "So… that was… a lot." She let out a groan. "And now I have a headache."
"Then perhaps you should sleep on this." Brain advised as he watched her closely.
"I should, but I don't really feel tired… just… kinda understimulated, I guess." Casey shrugged, leaning back to sit against the wall.
Brain nodded. "We gremlins are an active bunch and require a lot of enrichment, something that the people here provide for the normal ones. But for more intelligent creatures like us, we have to take what we get."
"Speaking of which," Casey's hand traveled to her left ear, subconsciously tugging on it, "what are they gonna do to me tomorrow? Dad said I needed to get my rest." She winced when she pulled a little too hard, now discovering the nervous tick she displayed.
Brain tapped his chin, mulling over the possible outcomes. "Most likely some bloodwork and tests to see just how similar you are to the rest of us."
Casey let out a whine and grabbed both ears, tugging them down nervously. "Fucking greeeaaat." She drawled sarcastically.
"But," Brain quickly interrupted her sulking, "you'll be able to meet my colleagues, and we can discuss turning you back into a human." He smirked when she lit up at the idea. "However, if you are not going to sleep, then we are in for a very long night."
"Uuuuuuugh." Casey collapsed back on the bed with an exasperated groan. "Then I guess I have no choice but to sleep."
"Quite." Brain mumbled. Despite the bed being relatively spacious, it was still annoying to have to share it. "I'll have to see about requesting another one." He shook his head.
Casey threw an arm over her eyes. "What did you say?" She asked as she wasn't paying attention.
"Nothing." The smaller gremlin clapped his hands twice, and the fluorescent lighting went out. He laid back beside Casey but kept himself as far away as he could.
After what felt like hours of silence, he heard Casey let out slow, even breaths. He rolled over to look at her, seeing that she was asleep. Taking the opportunity to examine her further, he reached out to touch her face. However, he never got the chance since Casey suddenly reached out, grabbed him, and yanked him closer. She wrapped her arms around him like a teddy bear.
Brain hissed and dug his claws into her flesh to wake her but found that, despite piercing her skin, she was too tired to care. He pounded on her chest, but even that did nothing. As fascinating as this was, he couldn't even appreciate it since he was so annoyed. He eventually went limp and accepted his fate, choosing to scold Casey in the morning than waste his energy fighting his fate.
With one last tired sigh, he fell asleep in her arms.
The following day, after sitting through an embarrassing talking-to from Brain, Casey was sitting on the floor with her eyes closed as she waited for him to get dressed. While he assured her that it was unnecessary, she still felt the need to close her eyes for privacy's sake. She only opened her eyes when she felt a tap on her head. She couldn't help but smile when she saw him dressed in a blue turtleneck and grey suit jacket, as well as his usual pair of glasses.
"You know," Casey moved to stand up, still using the wall as support, "for a monster, you dress pretty well. What gives?" She asked.
Brain simply shrugged. "I simply prefer to dress how I want to be approached." He turned away to grab a notepad from his destroyed desk.
"So, you wanna be approached as a civilized gentleman and not a horrifying abomination?" Casey snickered, finding herself a bit more comfortable within the gremlin's presence.
Brain slipped his notepad into his jacket's pocket. "Exactly." He said with an amused smile. "Now, I suggest you get ready to walk without any help. You won't be able to keep up with me while stuck to the wall."
"Keep up?" Casey questioned. But before she could get an answer, the door was suddenly pulled open.
Two security guards stepped in with assault rifles, both standing next to the doorway on either side. "Get moving." The one on the right spoke in a curt tone.
"Where are we going?" Casey pushed herself from the wall, stumbling a bit as she carefully walked behind Brain.
"Shut it!" She was suddenly knocked in the head with the butt of a rifle, making her cry out in pain. She looked back at the guard who assaulted her, rubbing her head. "I said, get moving!" He raised his rifle again threateningly. That was when Casey heard a little voice in her head. It was different from the one she had listened to her entire life. This voice sounded scratchier and made her claws twitch.
" Kill him. Rip him to shreds ."
The girl shook her head to shake out the voice, turning around and quickly following after Brain. He said nothing as he led her through an even bigger door right next to their room. It was the opposite of where Casey was taken in, meaning that she didn't know where they were going and would be in new territory. The comfort she had felt previously left her and was replaced with biting nerves.
She gulped as they entered another hallway filled with metal doors, presumably leading to more padded rooms. At the end of this hallway was another big door. However, unlike the others, it was covered in scratches and stains. Some of the stains were of various colors, and others were a deep reddish-brown. Those stains shook Casey to her core.
The doors opened when the two gremlins approached, and Casey was met with a rather shocking sight.
The room they stepped into was massive. The ceiling was a dome with a sunny sky painted on to simulate daytime, but the painting job was ridiculously cartoony, and it wasn't fooling anyone. The room was so big that it held a small mountain that resided next to a large lake of a murky water-like liquid. There was a giant, spiral waterslide that sat in the deepest end of the lake. Besides the lake was a small forest of elm trees. In front of the forest was an outdoor restaurant set up, complete with a karaoke bar and many tables to eat at. And finally, beside of mountain and the lake was a large jungle gym.
The sight would have been wondrous if it weren't for the hundreds of gremlins running amok. Some of them were climbing the mountain and jumping off into the lake. Others were taking advantage of not only the slide but the many sunbathing chairs by the lakeside. A few gremlins were operating the restaurant's liquor bar, and some were acting as waiters for the many gremlins sitting at the tables as customers. A bunch more were scaling the jungle gym and playing on it like monkeys.
Casey's ears were filled with the gargles and chatter of over a hundred gremlins laughing, playing, and maiming together. She spotted a dead human being jumped on and ripped apart by some blood-covered gremlins. Another corpse in a tattered, white labcoat was hung by his feet and was being beaten with bats like a pinata. Casey noticed one gremlin operating the bar was wearing a bloodied lab coat, mostly haven stolen it off a corpse it killed.
"Boss'll be by in a bit, so don't run off too far." The guard who had assaulted Casey shut the door after her, leaving her to deal with the batch of monsters.
"B-Brain?" Casey started to shake. "P-Please don't leave me alone." Her eyes darted all over the room as her ears flicked about.
The shorter gremlin regarded her with slight contempt. "Don't show fear. That is the best way to get killed." He advised.
"K-Killed?" Casey squeaked out, gulping at the thought. At Brain's stern look, she took a deep inhale and exhale, grounding herself to stay calm. She forced herself to stand tall and look confident, something she had to do in ballet class. "Okay." She said once she was sure she wouldn't crack.
"Good." Brain approved. "Now, follow me." He walked forward, making sure he didn't walk too fast lest she fell behind.
Casey followed him through the crowd, her heart picking up speed when she saw that most of them stopped what they were doing to look at her. She kept her eyes forward, not wanting to draw more attention than she already did. She towered over them, and with her bright, red hair, she was like a walking LOOK AT ME sign. Luckily, their attention span was short, and they went right back to their chaotic activities after staring long enough. She and Brain stopped at the bar, and she stood on the outskirts of the little restaurant.
Brain looked back at her, seeing that she was afraid to walk by the tables despite her confident look. It was as if they surrounded her like a circle and would make her feel trapped. With a sigh, he pointed to one of the empty ones.
Casey understood and quickly rushed over to sit, watching him head inside the restaurant, presumably to talk to someone. She shifted awkwardly, the table small and clearly meant for normal gremlins. She looked around at all the gremlins stuffing their face with junk food. Her stomach suddenly growled, and without thinking, she suddenly let out a high-pitched growl. At this, a green gremlin with a red bowtie walked over with a plate of food in hand. It set the meal on the table and babbled at her incoherently.
"Um… thank you." Casey offered a sheepish smile. At the sound of her normal voice, the gremlin suddenly let out an aggressive screech. It knocked the plate off the table, and it shattered nearby. This caught the attention of a few others, and they rushed over to join him. To Casey's horror, they all jumped her and tackled her to the ground. She let out a scream as they slashed at her, ripping into her clothes.
Suddenly, the little voice from before grew louder and louder until it was all she could hear.
"Kill them all!"
Just this once, she gave in, and with a roar, she swung her arm and successfully knocked the gremlins off of her. She rolled onto her stomach, grabbing one by the leg and crawling over it. She pinned the gremlin by the neck with one hand and raised the other. With a monstrous cry, she brought her hand down and sliced its head clean off with her talons. Green blood sprayed the pavement below her as well as her face. She got up, holding the body high above the other gremlins that had hurt her. She reared back and threw it straight at them. The group immediately scampered off to avoid her wrath.
Breathing erratic, Casey wiped the blood from her face with the back of her hands. She looked over at the decapitated head, and the sight knocked some sense into her. She realized what had happened, and before she could try and stop herself, she bent over and vomited all over the ground. She coughed and sputtered, her body trembling.
Either no one cared or knew not to bother her because none of the other gremlins came over to investigate. They all continued to eat and babble at each other. Casey let out a groan and wiped at her mouth.
"Are you done yet?" Brain's voice broke through the haze of her mind, and she whipped around to face him. He was standing with two other gremlins that looked distinct from the rest, one brown and one green. The green one was smaller than the others and seemed rather pissed off. It had a cigar hanging from its lips. The brown gremlin was bigger than both Brain and the green one, its muscles more noticeably than the rest of the pack. It stared at Casey with a dumbfounded look and had two large, buck teeth sticking out of its mouth.
Casey stood up straight, her shaking now gone and the churning in her stomach subsiding. "I-I was attacked." Her voice strained from the stomach acid that had burned her throat. She ignored how surprised the other gremlins looked at the sound of her voice.
Brain walked over and picked up the head of the murdered gremlin. He grinned evilly and turned back to the two behind him. "See? She could be very useful." He noted, tossing the head to the side without a care. He reached up and took Casey's hand, bringing her closer to the two gremlins. "Casey, these are my colleagues, George and Lenny."
Now known as George, the smaller one looked her up and down suspiciously, clearly not willing to trust her so soon. However, the larger one, Lenny, offered a stupid-looking smile and wave of his hand, to which George rolled his eyes at.
Casey waved back and looked back down at Brain. "They seem nice." She said, to which Brain snickered at.
"I wouldn't say that so soon, dear. Now, come with me to find my other two comrades." He let go of her hand and turned to his friends. "Meet us at the table." He ordered, to which the two gremlins nodded and left to head back inside the restaurant.
Casey watched them go as she followed Brain, much less frightened now that she was capable of protecting herself if need be. They crossed the vast expanse of the indoor resort and reached the jungle gym at the mountain base.
"Daffy!" Brain called out. "Would you please come down here?" He and Casey watched as one gremlin that was currently chasing another stopped dead in his tracks. He waved to them from the top of the gym's slide and dived inside. His excited screams echoed through the slide, and with great speed and momentum, he shot out of the slide like a bullet and slammed right into Casey's stomach. She fell over and landed painfully on the concrete, letting out a soft groan.
She looked up at the weight on her chest and was faced with a gremlin that had a much brighter green skin color. His crazed, high-pitched cackling drowned out the other sounds in the room, and he stared down at her with a pair of crazed, unfocused eyes. He reached out and grabbed Casey's bright hair with an excited " Ooooh! " and started to yank on it. Casey snarled and grabbed his arm to tug him off.
Brain rushed over and suddenly smacked the hyper-active gremlin upside the head. "Enough of that, you lunatic." He snapped, shoving him off. The gremlin only laughed in response as it fell over. Brain shook his head. "Daffy, would you be so kind as to meet us at the table? George and Lenny are already there." He asked, rolling his eyes when Daffy shook his head violently. A thought came to Brain's head, and he leaned down to smirk at the hyper gremlin below him. "Greta will be there."
At this, Daffy suddenly jumped to his feet and sped off to the restaurant at lightning speed, all the while screaming, " Gretagretagretagreta…. "
Casey, who was still on the ground, blew her hair out of her face. "For fuck's sake, man. Anymore freaks gonna knock me on my ass?" She growled, standing up to continue following Brain.
"Most likely, yes." He chuckled, leading Casey away from the gym and to the lake. They passed by several gremlins sitting in the chairs with metal sun reflectors in their hands and sunglasses on their heads. Brain approached a small crowd of gremlins gathered by the edge of the lake. "Excuse me, but have any of you seen Greta?" He asked, to which the crowd responded by pointing to the middle of the lake, all of them drooling with lust-filled gazes.
The lake, which held more gremlins that splashed about, was a murky grey. It wasn't water since none of the gremlins inside were multiplying. In the middle of it all was a curvaceous, green gremlin wearing a neon pink bikini. It had a face full of glamorous makeup that was punctuated by the bold, red lip. Her bright, emerald hair was wet, and it ran its claws through it, earning the whistles of the crowd of gremlins watching her.
Brain looked unamused by the show and grabbed one of the gremlins in the crowd, tossing it into the lake. "Go fetch her." He ordered. The gremlin trodded through the shallow water over to the green-haired one and spoke to it in its incoherent language with an annoyed grumble.
The bikini-clad gremlin nodded and ended her show, heading back to shore. It blew a kiss at the adoring crowd, which caused all of them to faint from the overwhelming lust. It approached Brain and Casey, still dripping wet. "You called me Brainy Boy?" Its voice came out like a gravelly purr. It snapped its fingers, and another gremlin appeared with a towel, to which it took and secured it around its chest.
"How many times have I asked you to cease calling me that?" Brain face-palmed, dragging his claws down his face in exasperation. "Greta, meet Casey. Casey, meet Greta. She is the only other female gremlin aside from you."
At this, Greta let out an excited gasp. She rushed forward to Casey and looked up at her in awe. "Oh, another girl! We can do each other's makeup and gossip about these boys! Especially Brainy." She giggled as Brain rolled his eyes. She seemed to possess enough intelligence to form actual sentences. "I absolutely love your hair! You have to let me brush it sometime!"
Casey couldn't help but feel some relief. This gremlin was the nicest she had met and reminded her of some girls back in high school. She smiled and crouched down. "I'd love to sometime. Your hair is pretty too."
"Oh, please. It's not as pretty as yours." Greta reached out to comb her fingers through the ends of Casey's locks.
Casey shook her head. "I'm serious. Mine is damaged, and yours is all sleek and pretty." She chuckled.
Suddenly, Greta pulled her hand back and gave Casey a look that really reminded her of the girls in high school. "Well, you said it, not me." She removed the towel from her body and used it to start patting her hair dry.
"Wha…?" Casey was caught off guard and suddenly felt incredibly insecure.
Brain interrupted before it could get worse. "Greta, enough. Meet us at the table, please. The others are waiting." He grabbed Greta by the shoulders and turned her around, giving her a push to get her going.
"Fine." Greta huffed as she walked off.
Casey watched her go with a confused look. "What just happened?"
"Ignore it." Brain dismissed it quickly. "Now, let's get back to the table and discuss what we're going to-" He was interrupted by someone else shouting.
Casey turned around and saw her father storm towards her. He didn't have any weapons to protect himself, but the gremlins all scattered away from his path anyway. That alone set off warning signs in her head. "Dad, what're you doing here?" She asked, moving to stand in front of Brain. She didn't really know why she instinctively tried to protect him but didn't get the time to dwell on it.
Harvey reached out and grabbed Casey by the ear, yanking it sharply. The girl whimpered and immediately followed his grip to avoid any more pain. "I've been trying to find you for several minutes! You made me look all over this hell hole! Now, get your ass back to the lab with me!" He shouted into her ear, making her wince in pain.
"B-But Dad, I-" Casey didn't get to finish her sentence since a sudden strike to the head knocked her unconscious. She fell into Harvey's arms, and he picked her up bridal style.
Brain silently watched as she was taken away, deciding that now was not the time to take any action. Instead, he turned away from the sight and headed back to the restaurant to have a critical discussion with his colleagues.
He would have to include Casey later when they figure out exactly how they were going to escape.