Welcome to chapter two of this strange and wonderful story. Hope you are all enjoying it so far. Just in case you were wondering, yes, experiment 604 is Houdini from the cartoon series, but less wimpy. And he is a boy! Contrary to what TV Tome says. Anyways, read on...

604's claws clicked on the metal floor, as he paced about the lab, searching for Kale's whereabouts. In the distance, shouting was heard, and Jumba had now arrived, but the sound was distorted and eerie in the empty corridors. The rabbit-like experiment had now reached an old, unused part of the laboratory. Dust covered crates lay scattered all around, and the lights flickered on and off, casting orange glows across the ground.

As he turned a corner he was stopped as the way had been blocked. It looked as though the walls had caved in, but there were gaps. He scratched a little at one of the holes, and eventually squeezed through. He appeared to be in an old experiment containment room, where they were kept before they grew large enough to be let free. Well as free as you can get when you're a permanent prisoner. 604 shuffled around with his ears pressed firmly against his back. Something about this place gave him the creeps. The lights were completely un-operational here, and it looked as if the power supply had been savagtaged. Bright sparks fizzled from a severed wire and slightly lit the room.

Towards the back of the room, there were about fifteen to twenty large cages, most of them with the doors ripped from their hinges. Rust covered all the bars. As 604 checked in all of them, he froze in fright as he saw a still figure, curled up, almost like a statue, if it wasn't for the fact it was moving: slowly. Up and down: unsteady breaths. 604's eyes opened wide.

"Kale?" he asked, quietly, unsure. There was no response at first, and then the creature twisted around, its face hidden by the shadows.

"604?" a voice answered. It was coated in guilt, and was shaky, jumpy. The creature moved towards the front of the cage, and the light flickered across its features. It was definitely Kale. Something was different though. The fur under his eyes was stained, and damp, and around the mouth and stomach it was glistening with fresh blood, but smudged, as it was almost tried to be brushed away.

"604," cried Kale with more confidence, he leapt out of the cage and hugged 604, who hugged back, comforting the quivering experiment.

"I don't understand it. I didn't mean..." he faded away in sobs, and 604 held him closer, stroking the back of his head.

"It's ok. I know you didn't really mean to do it, but -"

"But nothing!" shouted Kale, pushing away, tears streaming. "I don't even know why I did it! Something just came over me! I should have just left it alone, walked away, but I attacked back! I'm just as bad as they are!" 604 crouched as the little gold experiment picked up an empty cage and chucked it across the room, shattering it against the wall. His fur had seemed to have lost its shine.

"It wasn't your fault Kale, you were just protecting yourself, defending yourself. He attacked first. Jumba will understand."

"I'm not bothered what Jumba thinks, it's just the fact I hurt someone! For all I know, he could have bled to death by now! I've killed someone!" Kale broke down again in a corner, hiding himself under a dirty sheet.

"But he's fine. Well he might be in the surgery for a little while, but Jumba's got him now, so everything will be ok." 604 slowly walked over to the little lump, and peeked under the blanket. "Trust me."

605 wiped his eyes, and stared up into his friends. They were full of truth and understanding. Sympathy and love. He did trust him. He stretched out his paw, his blood covered claws, hidden beneath his skin. He was met with another paw, warm and welcoming. He was pulled out of his depressive state.

"Thank you." The silence was broke with a statement that meant more to Kale than he could have ever imagined. The two experiments stood side by side for a while, thinking over past events, relaxing a little, and taking in their surroundings.

"So..." said 604. "Don't you find this place a little freaky?" They walked though the lines of cages, into another room. This was obviously used as a storage room. Boxes had been tipped over and their contents scattered across desks and shelves. Kale leapt onto a wooden worktop, long neglected and eaten away by small insects. He flicked through piles of sheets.

"Yeh it is a bit. I never knew about this place. I thought Jumba had always been in the lab he has now. I wonder if some of the older experiments remember this place." He chucked the paper aside and climbed onto one of the shelves, which started to creak as soon as he put weight on it. It was filled with files. "Hey, look at these," he said in awe. "They're all of Jumba's old records. It has information about all of the experiments, right up to number... 342. What happened to this place. Why did Jumba leave all his notes? Wouldn't you think he'd come to get them?"

604 clambered onto the shelf and flipped through the folder, stopping occasionally to read random comments. Kale walked along the edge of the shelf, leaving foot marks in the dust. This whole place was like a treasure cove of information. One particular file caught his eye. It had faded slightly thanks to age, but it could still be made out as being shiny. It almost appeared to glow and as Kale neared, writing seemed to emerge on the spine. It was written in a language that Kale could not recognise. He put one hand on top of the file and started to pull. It wouldn't budge.

"Hey 604. Can you help me get this?" He was still struggling.

"Sure," he replied, willing to help. He shut the experiment folder and chucked it to the floor. He stood up, and walked over to Kale, the shelf groaning with every step. He put his hands around the sides of the file, and pulled. Still it wouldn't shift. Kale put his feet up against the other folders, and pulled with all his strength. There was a crack, and they felt the file shift. Then the shelf collapsed, splitting apart in the centre, the supports snapping, and Kale and 604 fell. They hit the floor with a huge amount of force, just before the entire contents of the shelf landed on them.

Hmm...hope that was descriptive enough. I was trying to get the image of the abandoned lab across to you and I hope I did it well. Might have the next chapter up later today, if I can be bothered writing it. Please review! Bye for now!