Haha, finally finished this! Despite the looming college threat! I actually think this is pretty good for something written by me (blasphemy!), though I anguished a bit about the ending, wondering if it was good just ending it like that or if I should've added something, but I eventually decided to leave it alone. Also, be warned, this is a bit of an emotional roller coaster. Hold on tight. There's one more chapter 'fore this is done. And don't worry, I don't think it'll be quite as philosophical.


"I can't help but think I'm going insane."

Dr. Cockroach had no way of knowing if anybody was listening to him. B.O.B., having eaten his daily ham and chatted with his friends, had sludged off to stare at the walls for a bit. Link seemed to get in the habit of exercising. A lot. Perhaps he hadn't given up all hope of escaping one day. And InvisoBill was…well…invisible.

"Fits with your image," said the man with, or so the doctor imagined, a good-humored smirk.

Dr. Cockroach simply sighed. He had stopped protesting years ago and had actually given this 'mad scientist' thing some thought and as his thought process grew towards a worrying direction, he couldn't help but notice some parallels with some of Kafka's work. "There was a Chinese philosopher, Zuangzi, I believe, who said he once dreamt he was a butterfly, and upon awakening, could not tell whether he was Zuangzi dreaming he was a butterfly or the butterfly dreaming it was Zuangzi."

The invisible man was silent for a bit, pushing around the food on his plate pensively. "Look, doc…"

"Did Jeffery Hedison ever exist," he chuckled bitterly. "Or was he a dream, a wish fulfillment for Dr. Cockroach?"

"Doc, you can't have been born with that head, right?"

"Or," the bug-eyed scientist softly continued, clenching his hands. "Is Jeffery Hedison trapped inside white padded walls, isolated, only voices in his head keeping him company?"

He imagined he could feel his companion's gaze. Bill was probably gaping in bewilderment. "…Doc, I'm real. So's Link. And B.O.B. If you pinch yourself, you feel it, right? I've bumped into you several times, haven't I?"

The problem was…Dr. Cockroach wasn't sure he wanted it to be real. He felt lonely. Even with InvisoBill, who he could really sympathize with. And if it was all just some fevered dream, there was a chance he would eventually wake up and go home and continue searching for jobs and dance once more with Laura.

He had really been thinking about Laura a lot recently. Not even the distractions of brief English lessons or creative Lego sessions or interesting conversations could keep his mind off now. Maybe he was worried because of the number of years that must have past…how many years has it been now?

…Yes, she must be around forty-seven now. Seventeen years wasn't exactly long, considering the human lifespan, but it was long enough. It was long enough to truly comprehend that there was no chance in hell he'd ever leave this damn prison, no way that someone would come in, say they made a mistake, and let him walk out, no way that he'd even get equipment to even attempt to reverse his condition.

If he wasn't insane already, then this sudden depression would surely make him so.

Dr. Cockroach smiled. He even tried to perk up his antennae. It felt strange and foreign. "You're correct. I really should ignore these rambling thoughts."

One advantage of being blind is that visual cues don't fool you. InvisoBill could probably sense the tension in his voice, but if he did, he didn't get a chance to say anything else.

General Monger came in, back straight and voice strict as ever. "Evenin'," he said.

"Is it? I hadn't noticed," Dr. Cockroach remarked dryly. He only received a cursory glance.

"Just got back from Japan," he continued as Link and B.O.B. lumbered over.

"What? Japan? Man, I wanted to go there, why didn't you take me? It would've been so cool with the…the…Japan stuff!"Link rolled his eyes as the blue blob beside him continued blathering about Japan, or at least something with the name Japan that had cowboys, time machines, and dinosaurs.

"Ah, don't cry yer hearts out, boys, I brought back a souvenir." Everybody besides the general jumped as a grating sound started up. The large door at the far end of the room was gradually opening and while Dr. Cockroach tried to steady the table, he could already see that this new creature was the largest thing he would probably ever see.

"I call 'im Insectosaurus," said Monger with a hint of pride once the entire colossal giant was revealed. It seemed drowsy, but became alert quickly enough and looked around in panic. There was really nothing much for it to be afraid of. There's nothing much that six feet tall men could do to a four hundred foot colossus.

"It doesn't have to stay in my room too, does it, general?"

Link grinned uncertainly once the silence was broken. B.O.B. quipped, "I dunno, doc, I don't think it could fit." InvisoBill chose this time to ask anxiously, "What? What is it? What's going on?"

Monger smirked in return. "We already have a room fer it. Just thought y'all should get acquainted." By this time, Insectosaurus had started roaring loudly, almost bursting the eardrums of the smaller occupants of the room, and finally shot a large glob of silk up in the far corner. "He does that sometimes. We'll clean it up after curfew. Don't worry if he starts rampagin' or something, we'll control him."

"It's something giant, isn't it?" InvisoBill said with dread dripping off his words. "Ooooh no, I'm going t' get stepped on, I know it…" There was a small thump as, miraculously, the old man found the table and leaned heavily on it. It seemed his elbow landed in his mashed potatoes. (Or at least, it looked vaguely like mashed potatoes and it felt like mashed potatoes and it actually didn't taste very different from potatoes so that's what they called it.)

"Don't worry. If he starts wandering around, I'll lead you away." Neither dwelled on how the doctor would find him. As B.O.B. sludged towards the towering, silk-spitting beast, Link lumbered towards the table.

"He sounds like a child," said the fish-ape, looking with concern at the new inmate. B.O.B. had just been trampled under the still confused Insectosaurus, shouting from the underside of its leg, "Guys, I think he likes me!"

"What makes you say that?"

Link shrugged. "Just the way he talks. He's calling for friends. He's afraid that he got eaten by a bird or something."

"…You understand him?" Link nodded. InvisoBill was wincing every time the giant grub roared. "Do you think he'll understand you?"

"Probably understands everybody, if he were listening. I have to explain to him?" It was an unnecessary question and even the asker knew it, so he just turned and cautiously approached the wildly kicking feet. It seemed Insectosaurus finally noticed that he stepped on something sticky. Link ducked as B.O.B. shot over his head and barely avoided the kick that followed.

"Hey, uh…down here, no DOWN. HERE."

It seemed the invisible man steeled himself against his fears and got used to the very loud conversation. "Look, doc, just tell me what this is about. Maybe I can help."

"I'm afraid I haven't the foggiest idea what you're talking about." This time he got the tone right. Too bad it was too late.

"Is it about your family? I had one too. I absolutely loved my grandchildren. But you can't just mope around, you know…we need you now. You're the brains in this ragtag team. What d'ya think would've happened if you weren't here before we came? And if you need help, just ask. I mean, we're all a family now, don'cha think?"

The conversation in the background suddenly reached a fevered pitch. "What? No, I'm not – I'M. NOT. YOUR. FA….er…" Link turned from the much calmer insect, looking as embarrassed as a fish-ape could be, hoping to god that nobody heard that before returning to the conversation as quietly as possible. Which wasn't very quietly at all.

"Hey, Bill," B.O.B. called out cheerfully, having finally gotten back from the far end of the room. "The new guy is really friendly, we're best buds already! …You are here, right, Bill?"

"Yeah, right here. Don't worry." InvisoBill tapped a foot in frustration. Dr. Cockroach was still being unresponsive. He suddenly froze…perhaps… "B.O.B.," he sang out. "I think our dear doctor needs a hug."

Dr. Cockroach stiffened and his antennae stood up on end. In the short time he had, he managed to send a glare towards where the other man presumably was. "Why you evil – " And then he was tackled to the ground by a blubbering blob, who was shouting out stock phrases such as "You can't leave!" and "Don't die on me, man!" and "Take me with you!"

At least B.O.B. wasn't hugging hard enough to absorb him. "Please – get, no, stop…get off – no, I'm fine…"

"Bill, should I stop hugging?" asked B.O.B. uncertainly as the two somehow managed to get upright again without the blob losing his grip.

"No, you're doing it perfectly, just keep hugging." A few minutes later, Dr. Cockroach found himself sandwiched.

"Now really, this isn't – stop leaning on me, B.O.B. – "

"I explained everything. He's really happy that he hasn't been eaten – "

"C'mere, ya big lug! Give us all a bear hug right now!" Link, confused and not the type of man to partake in bear hugs (or any hugs really), lingered but reluctantly joined the group. He wrapped his muscled arms around the three and held them a few inches above the ground. His legs now pinwheeling in the air, Dr. Cockroach spluttered, "Now this is – this is ridiculous – you realize they're recording – " And then the whole room shook and before the group could scatter, Insectosaurus came and hugged them all as well. At least he showed great prudence, taking care not to squeeze too tightly or too loosely.

Enveloped in fur and suspended about two hundred, three hundred feet in the air, Dr. Cockroach finally decided to stop protesting. Somewhere beside him, InvisoBill moaned, "heights are so much worse when you can't see…" B.O.B. had decided to continue bawling out random things. Link desperately tried to explain to Insectosaurus once more 'I'm not your fa – er...'

He couldn't hold it in anymore and started chuckling, then just full out laughing, at their situation, at B.O.B.'s simplicity, at pretty much everything.