DESCENT Chapter 9: Descent, a league of super evil fanfic

CHAPTER NINE
Descent

1991 - two years later

"Have a good night, Little Frogg!"

The campus security guard, an older French man named Mister Arthur, waved as Frogg left the Science Department for the night. It was quite the privilege for a twelve-year old boy to have a keycard to a university, and Frogg took the task seriously. He gave the door a tug to confirm that it was locked behind him before setting off.

"Goodnight, Mister Arthur! Au revar!"

The security guard laughed in good humor, correcting his poor pronunciation. "Au revoir."

Frogg knew that he was not being made fun of. This person was aware that the young student was trilingual - his mother tongue of German, his self-taught English and the Russian required from his time in East Berlin that he was quickly forgetting - and that he could learn another language if he really wanted to. It was dark outside, and Frogg pulled the collar of his jacket closer around his neck. It had taken almost three years to do it, but he had finally convinced his Professor and Gisela that he was perfectly fine going about the city on his own. There was not much that he missed from his time in dreary East Berlin, but being able to go to and from his University by himself was one of them, even if it had been a product of his father being completely absent. His breath came out in billows of steam as he began walking home, putting the University behind him.

As smart as Professor Hans Reinhart was, he was mistaken when he had made a comment to Frogg years ago, when the boy was just six years old- "At your rate, you'll have your doctorate by the time you turn eighteen."

Archibald Frogg was proving that statement wrong in all of the right ways.

He was only twelve and had a degree under his name - a double major in Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Physics - and he planned on getting his doctorate long before the age of eighteen. There was no slowing down for him.

He had plowed through a four-year program at Humboldt in two years, taking summer classes to expedite the process. It was an incredible amount of work and it was not easy by any means, but Frogg was determined. By now the entire campus seemed to recognize him as the child graduate, students and faculty alike, because he was quite the sight going to and from classes or studying in the library. Once the college paper even wrote a whole page about it, including a photo of him looking awkward as ever in the university science labs, leaning over a sample with a pipette in his hand and a deer-in-the-headlights expression as the photographer told him to 'act natural'.

Frogg wasn't done yet, either. He did not take any breaks and the first thing he did upon receiving his diploma was enthusiastically begin the next step.

So here he was working on his Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering. And it was everything he had hoped it would be... Gone were the days of lectures and tests. Now, he was taking all of the knowledge he had learned over the years and focused on its application. Frogg sometimes missed the classroom but he could not be more content. For the first time in his life, the boy was gaining confidence in his abilities, and he realized that at his rate he could become something big one day. He felt unstoppable.

Frogg always had a certain image in his head when he would imagine what graduate school would be like. He did in fact feel pretty cool when he got to wear his white lab coat (they had to order one small enough to fit him) around the labs, and he thought the rest of his team looked the same as well. But he realized quickly that he might have romanticized much of it… He had imagined that he would be working with esteemed colleagues, where they would talk seriously about their research, and they would live and breathe science at all times. But in reality, his colleagues were just like any other graduate students. There was lots of joking around in the lab, good-natured teasing, and the kind of immaturity one would expect from people in their twenties. In the end, Frogg thought he preferred it this way.

There were three other students working on the project that would earn him his Master's. There was Ishaan, the Indian immigrant who was practically a human calculator and also the funniest. Flynn was a Berlin native and came from a family of dedicated Humboldt alumni and liked to remind people of this, and then there was Emma. She had an interest in nanotechnology and liked the same kind of music as Frogg, and if he didn't have eyes for someone already, he would have been infatuated with her despite the ridiculous age difference.

This team of four was all overseen by their Principal Investigator, a confident and alarmingly intelligent woman named Doktor Fischer. She both terrified and captivated Frogg - he wanted to impress her badly, but also found himself getting so incredibly nervous when she would come by and check out their progress… This was the person who practically held his future in her hands, after all.

They were working on a laser.
At that time, in 1991, much of laser technology was just in its infancy stage. As time progressed it would soon become the norm and adopted by militaries and police forces across the globe, but it was a different story then. Almost in a manner similar to the nuclear-arms race that took place between the United States and the Soviet Union in the Cold War right in Frogg's backyard, everyone was rushing to perfect this discipline of science. It only made sense - ever since the existence of the Gargantuans and other intergalactic alien life forms came to light, with their far superior technologies, it was understandable that Earth had some catching up to do.

It was not a weapon that they were creating, because that would certainly be ethically questionable, but rather a beam that could shrink items to a smaller size. Nothing like it had ever been made before, and Frogg was proud to say that he was part of the machine's construction - he had actually invented the mechanics of the power source. When the laser would be complete, his team would then write up their findings in a research paper that would be sent off to the most renowned peer-reviewed journals, and his name would be right on it. It was going to be his ticket into a doctorate program, and soon he would be able to actually call himself a Doktor Frogg.

The thought made him practically giddy with excitement, and sometimes he caught himself giggling when it came to mind, he was just so eager. The rest of the team teased him for it but he did not mind one bit. Finally, something to look forward to!

There were big changes in the world around him as well.

For the first time in forty-five years, Germany was reunified as one country as the Soviet Union crumbled. The long Cold War was coming to an end. The Berlin wall, which stood for close to three decades, was steadily being torn down.

He had a piece of it at home sitting on his end table - it only looked like a small, plain piece of concrete, but it was so much more than that. He and Lisbeth had gone one day to watch the demolition of some parts of the wall as they chewed on some strawberry Pop-Tarts as a snack, and there was a worker there with a big sledgehammer amongst all the larger equipment. He had gestured at them to come closer, and Frogg watched as the man hit a piece of rubble so it split in two.

"Here you go," the man had said and put a half in each of their hands, "A piece of history for you two."

With their halves, he and Lisbeth could fit them together just like a puzzle piece.

They had watched parts of the wall come down in silence, and it was surreal how the heavy machinery and excavators pulled masses of concrete wall down with such ease. As if that's all it ever was. Just a barrier. Frogg could not believe it - all those years of him being so very afraid of it and everything it represented, all ending in the night where he confronted the Death Strip and made it to the other side… It was really over.

All the while, as it seemed more and more people were permanently moving away from the East side, Frogg found himself doing something constantly, whether he wanted it or not. He was scanning the crowds as he was out and about between classes, or when he and Lisbeth would go on their day trips. It was a tremendously big city, and he knew that it was all probably pointless, but he still looked for him amongst all the people every day.

It was when he was not actively looking it finally happened.

Frogg was standing on the lawn beside the Free University's science department that day. He and Lisbeth had decided earlier that this would be their meeting spot, and then they would go off and maybe visit the closest biergarten and get something to eat. He was idly kicking a rock with his foot and humming the tune to a catchy Nena song that he heard on the radio earlier, lost in his own thoughts.

"Archibald?"

Frogg came out of his little world and found himself frozen.

It was him.

"You've grown so much..." his papa breathed.

He would never be especially tall in his lifetime - only slightly above average - and was still skinny as ever, but Frogg had gained several inches over the past three years. Still, he could not speak, his throat closing up. He was not prepared for this moment at all and did not know what to think, his head flooded with conflicting emotion, muscles taut for some kind of action he was unable to recognize or perform. It was as if he could throw himself onto his papa in a tight embrace and run away all at once.

"Is it true that you are working on a Masters?"

Whether he was aware of it or not, Frogg had immediately looked for all of the signs of his father being drunk- glassy eyes, smell of alcohol, slurred speech.. And he did not detect any of it. Still, he was wary… as time had passed and he had gotten a taste of how a normal home life should really be, he was more aware that the way his papa had treated him before was wrong… that adults should never hit children, not even their own. He became aware of how exposed his neck was.

His father repeated the question about his Master's. It certainly was no secret - when a twelve year old has a degree, everyone at his University is going to know about it, and he could have asked anyone.

"Yeah, I am.."

It occurred to him then- when he was younger he had always thought his father was so much bigger and stronger than him, and could be so frightening in his drunken anger. But with his papa standing right before him now… he was only human. His father was not the least bit intimidating at that moment. In fact, Frogg realized that he had grown to look even more like his papa as time had passed. Except now, his papa seemed so much older and more tired than he remembered.

"That's great... Are the Reinhart's taking good care of you?"

The twelve year old could not for the life of him figure out what he was feeling. He wanted to be angry at his abuse, he wanted to cry at how he still missed their life before Berlin after all this time. At how many nights he had laid awake trying to figure out what he ever did wrong to be treated so cruelly by his own father. When he did speak, his voice was small and he shuffled uncomfortably.

"Yeah, they take good care of me..."
"Listen, I have to say something. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for hurting you, that I lost custody of you. There is not any excuse or reason in the world to make it alright, but something about that place in East Berlin-"

Frogg then became aware of someone trotting up. It was Lisbeth, and her breath was coming out in billows in the cold from where she had been jogging and she grinned at him. "Hi, Archie!"

Becoming aware of the adult present, she looked between Frogg and his father, sensing that something was off. She assessed Viktor Frogg in a scrutinizing way.

"Is everything okay? Who is this?"

She thought that he was being bothered by a stranger. She had become very protective over her best friend, and with her powers, she could actually do some damage if it came down to it. But his father did not know that, and might not even be able to understand what they were saying in their current tongue. Frogg assured her, "It's okay, everything is fine."

"You can speak English now? Have you made a friend?"

It was Viktor Frogg saying it, and he received another timid nod in response. The son he knew never had a friend in his life.

"That's- that's very good. I'm happy for you. Archibald, I just want to tell you... I've changed. I realize that I messed up and did a terrible thing, and it is your decision but if you ever want me back in your life I will always be-"
Lisbeth was tugging on Frogg's wrist, eager to get going.
"-I'll always be here, alright?"

Frogg's fingers found Lisbeth's as she pulled, and he began taking a step away. "...yeah. Alright. I need to go now."

Then he turned to leave, Lisbeth leading the way. He took one last look behind his shoulder at his papa, who had his hands in his pockets and was watching them go, a strange expression on his face.
That was when Frogg realized what he was feeling: pity.

When they were what she thought was a safe distance away, Lisbeth's hand protectively curled around his, she finally asked, "Who was that?"

And Frogg tried hard to shake what he was feeling off - that something wasn't quite right - and instead offered her a faint smile as he picked up his pace. "No one, don't worry. Let's go, I'm hungry!"

He did not realize it, but that would be the last time he ever saw his papa.

Lisbeth's behavior was becoming more risky, and Frogg did not like it one bit.

To be fair, he supposed it could be worse. Even if he was a rather sheltered child in his own unique world of academics, he sometimes saw the older Superhero Kiddie College students sharing a cigarette behind their houses, or using their powers to be destructive (he still avoided them like the plague) towards things like mailboxes or public trash bins... at least all Lisbeth really wanted to do was just get out- to escape the place she only associated with fights between her parents as they tediously worked out their divorce. And while nervous, forever-cautious Frogg was not thrilled to be sneaking out at late hours of the night, he always made sure that Lisbeth would not be alone.

It was a promise that Frogg made her take - if she was ever going to sneak out, she would have to bring him along. Sometimes he would wake up just like he did the night that the Berlin Wall came down, to the sound of some pebbles clicking against his windowpane and she would be waiting on the sidewalk below. And no matter how tired he was, no matter how warm and inviting his bed felt when it was cold or rainy outside, Frogg would drag himself out from beneath the covers and tiptoe downstairs. He did not like sneaking around Hans and Gisela Reinhart when they had been nothing but unbelievably kind and accepting of him. And Frogg logically knew that since Lisbeth had superpowers, she was probably perfectly capable going out alone - definitely more so than him. He just could not find it within himself to let her go by herself… he cared about her too much.

Frogg and Lisbeth had gone from being small children who could barely say a word to each other with their language barrier to the closest of friends.
He really did not know what he would have done without her.

On the nights where he would abruptly wake up gasping with a cold sweat, absolutely certain there were hands around his neck again, she would be the one to help take his anxious mind off of it the next day. Following his experience in the Death Strip three years ago, she was the only one who was able to notice his acquired phobia of big dogs - not complaining one bit when they would have to cross the street to avoid someone walking their pet on a leash - or how he would jerk at the sounds of anything loud like a bang, thinking he was being shot at again. And she was always there to remind him that he was valued, to give him the confidence he lacked so much- grasping his shoulders in a way that made him correct his poor posture while exclaiming, "Archie, stop slumping! Quit trying to make yourself disappear!"

He was free to be his complete, unfiltered nerdy and awkward self around her.

He had learned so much about her too. When they first met, Frogg had taken Lisbeth to be a defensive and rather hard girl, but it was only the walls she had put up around herself that he initially saw. He felt honored to be allowed into her inner world - one where she was much more sensitive and caring than she might have liked to be. She let herself be vulnerable around him, and Frogg had no idea what he did to deserve it, how she felt safe enough to do so. He would listen to how angry and hurt she was that she had to choose between two parents to live with, and how her mother and father somehow managed to try and make her a mediator in their divorce - a job that no twelve-year old should ever have. He would listen and comfort her when she talked about how alienated she felt at school, that even if she did not particularly like her peers, it still hurt to be excluded because her powers were so different.

Even when they were not saying a word to each other, just sitting on his front porch as he read his sci-fi novels and she the fantasy books that she liked so much, he could not have been more content. She did not notice the lingering looks, or how when she would hold his hand to drag him somewhere it still gave him butterflies. The more he knew about her, about her little quirks like her bad singing when she thought he wasn't paying attention, or how she liked to write little drabbles and small stories that embarrassed her when she shared them, the more Frogg thought he fell in love.

Tonight, they found themselves walking down a street and sharing a currywurst that Lisbeth had bought from a street vendor with spare Euros. Frogg supposed it was a little after midnight by now. He was experiencing the familiar pang of guilt that came along with sneaking out of his guardian's home, never happy to betray the trust of the Professor and Gisela. Frogg ached for the comfort of his bed, and they were in a part of the city that he was not especially fond of at this late hour. It was actually a tourist-laden area without much crime, but it was some of the bars that lined the street that got to him. It put him on edge when sometimes a rather tipsy person would stumble out. Not having the worldliest view on people who drank themselves into oblivion, Frogg gloomily kept an eye out. But Lisbeth hooked her arm in his and drew closer to him for warmth, and it made things a little better.

They reached an area - a new spot in their adventures - where a music venue beyond a fence had a band playing loudly enough for Frogg and Lisbeth to clearly hear from outside. Underneath some trees was a frozen pond where a single couple skated, gently whirling together on the ice. Lisbeth directed them to a bench, and they idly sat and people-watched, listening to their free concert from the venue as they finished their food. Frogg did not recognize what the band played, and was rather particular about metal music, but he liked their melodic sound and wailing vocals. When it finished, he heard someone say into the microphone with a heavy Aussie accent, "Goodnight! I'm Rock Gothlington and it's my first tour so buy my merch you bastards! Cheers!"

Frogg took a mental note to remember the name and try to find them at a later time. For now, he was just sleepy and ready for bed, yawning into his hand. "I'm tired, Lisbeth. Let's go back."
"Just a little bit longer?"
"But we're not even doing anything…"

Frogg knew he was whining, and Lisbeth looked disappointed, but it was in times like these he wondered what was even the appeal of going out into the city so late. It was cold and damp, and they were too young to even partake in the night life. Then her eyes seemed to notice something beyond his shoulder, and she cracked a smile.

"Look! Come here."

Lisbeth abruptly got up and Frogg sighed, sure she was just trying to draw their time out together. Of course he liked spending any time with her, but laying down sounded so nice, too. She wandered over to the frozen pond where a wooden booth sat beside it. It was the place where during daylight hours an attendant would keep skates that one could rent. When he approached, Lisbeth was using her gloved fingers to play with the combination lock.

"What are you doing?"
"I want to skate," she stated as if it was the most reasonable explanation and fumbled with the lock.

Frogg nervously looked about but no one was paying any mind, not even the couple on the ice, and there was only the sound of a new band warming up at the venue. Lisbeth was trying to use her powers on the lock, holding her hand over it and furrowing her brow. It twitched several times as she seemingly tried to work with the inner mechanisms that she could not see, but nothing seemed to happen.
"Oh, come on! Piece of-"

She determinedly held her hand out again and the shut doors just banged loudly against their hinges several times. Frogg quickly reached out and grabbed her wrist, always wary, "Lisbeth stop!"

"Sorry, I just thought we could have some fun-"

Frogg hesitated, but he pulled a short Phillips head screwdriver from a coat pocket and kneeled, getting to work on the hinges. It was common for him to carry a few small tools with him... despite the years that had passed since his trips to the Geisterbahn, he was not above some dumpster diving if the chance ever arose.

Lisbeth, quite humbled by his simple solution, smiled sheepishly. "Oh.. thanks. Do you always keep a screwdriver with you?"

The boy shrugged as he unhinged the top half of the door, and then the second. A part of him might have been trying to impress her, even if he would not admit it.
"You never know when you might need one. Please, can we just do this and go home?"

He began pulling the rental ice skates out and the two tried to find their size. With his kind of luck and lack of spatial awareness, the idea of having what were essentially knives on his shoes was a bit discomforting so Frogg could not help but be wary. When they ventured onto the ice, his feet immediately slid out from beneath him and he fell. Frogg had only skated once in his life before, and that was before the age of six. He had vague, flitting memories of it - him falling and crying and his father immediately scooping him up to address his hurts. When he was still kind. But before Frogg could dwell on the memory too hard and become upset, Lisbeth suddenly crashed beside him from her own sloppy fall. It probably did not feel good at all, but she was laughing and took his gloved hand in her own. "Come on, let's go!"

The two skated across the ice on their wobbly legs, falling quite often and using each other for support until they got the hang of it. Frogg was certain he would be bruised and tender in the morning, and he was making a huge fool out of himself, but Lisbeth's laughter was contagious.

"Spin me?" Lisbeth asked, and Frogg tried to recreate what he had seen other people do on the ice.

When they managed to complete the spin, albeit clumsily, Lisbeth was grinning. Frogg smiled too. It was worth it, even though he was ready for bed hours ago. That was when the band playing from the venue started up a new song, and when Lisbeth heard it, her eyes shot open in recognition. "Oh! It's your favorite song!"

They were covering Push by The Cure. He had played it for her once before, and it might not have been his favorite song, but he was just flattered that she remembered. When she skated up close and put her hands on his shoulders, he was not expecting it. He immediately flushed.

"Um.. what are you doing?"
"Let's dance."
"But I- I don't know how to."
"Me neither," Lisbeth offered, and Frogg could not tell if he was imagining it when it her face went red as well. "We can try, though.

She looked at the other lone couple wheeling about the pond and how they held each other. Frogg swallowed nervously when she directed his hands to her waist, and then hers went around his neck, imitating what she saw. He was very aware of his heart beginning to pound rather loudly in his chest, loud enough he was certain that she could hear as well.

"Are- are you okay with this?"

It was very rare for Frogg to hear Lisbeth speak with uncertainty. Was she just as nervous? He tried to smile in assurance, and it came out looking much more goofy than he would have liked, and then they began spinning in slow circles, trying their hardest not to fall. Their elbows and knees were stiff just like children who had never had a real dance before, but all Frogg cared about was that this was something new. Even though they had hugged plenty of times before and sometimes held hands to pull each other around, this was a kind of intimacy that he was not at all familiar with - something scary in its unfamiliarity, but felt good, and he didn't want it to stop. Both of them were shyly looking anywhere but each other in the eyes, spinning and awkwardly dancing and Frogg saw that she was smiling more than he'd ever seen before, and he couldn't stop his either.

When the song ended, Lisbeth suddenly pulled herself closer so that they were in a tight embrace, surprising him.

"Thanks, Archie," she breathed. Frogg could now hear his own heart thudding in his ears like kick-drums. "You've been the best to me."

When she pulled away her arms were still wrapped around his neck, and she seemed to be looking at him with such vulnerability, and it was because of him, awkward and nerdy Archibald Frogg?

It was all so perfect, it was like a dream. Seeing her smiling and shy face, his eyes were drawn to her lips and he told himself- do it, just do it. He was going to have his first kiss and he could have thrown up from his poor nerves, and he was preparing himself to lean in- but he took too long.

Lisbeth, as if suddenly aware of how close they were and becoming self-conscious, quickly dropped her face. She was red, and it was odd seeing it from the girl who was normally so self-assured.
"Oh, sorry.. I've kept you out so late."
"Hm-what? No, it's okay."

She took a clumsy step backwards on her skates so that his fingertips softly grazed her hand one last time before they separated. Frogg had missed his opportunity, but he had a bittersweet smile. Whatever just happened, he liked it a lot. Butterflies danced and swirled in his stomach. She swiped a strand of hair behind her ear, still shyly avoiding his gaze.

"Sorry. You're tired, let's go back."
"It's okay," he whispered, his stomach still fluttering, and he was more than ever aware of each of how their fingers fit perfectly together as they helped guide each other back to land.

They pulled their skates off, Frogg reattached the doors, and snow began to fall as they began the trek back home.

The next morning, Frogg groaned as he entered the land of the living. He was exhausted and felt like he could sleep for days. But when he groggily peeked over to where his clock sat and saw the time, he shot straight up and threw himself out of bed. He must have slept right through his alarm and was running late.

It was the weekend, and there technically wasn't a schedule in the lab, but he still liked to make a good impression in case his Principal Investigator came by and he did not want to keep his colleagues possibly waiting either. He rushed to get his things together, unknowingly putting his shirt on backwards in his haste and began to jog to the University. It wasn't until he was really moving that he became aware of the aches in his body from falling over and over again on the ice the night before. All the while as he hurried to the Science Department, he tried to rub the sleep from his eyes to no avail. He was running on what... maybe four hours of sleep? When he entered the lab, he was met with good-natured taunts.

"Well, look who decided to finally show up!"
"It's about time! The missing persons team was about to show up!"

"Ha Ha," Frogg rolled his eyes but he was smiling as he did so. By now, socially anxious Frogg was more than comfortable with his team in the lab, and he was relieved when he was informed that the PI had not stopped by that morning. He set his things down and went to where their signature white lab coats hung, grabbing the smallest one. That was when he noticed his backwards shirt and sighed, beginning the process of flipping it over much to the other's amusement.

"Have a late night, Frogg? I can see the bags under your eyes from here."
"Yeah, I guess so."

They had a point - it looked like he had yet to wake up. His colleague Emma offered some of her black coffee to him while saying it should help, and the boy gagged when he got his first taste of the potent drink, but still choked down several gulps. The caffeine soon kicked in, but it only gave him an accelerated heart rate on top of his tired eyes and fuzzy thoughts. And yet, when he approached his creation- the power source of the laser - with some tools, he had a soft smile on his face.

He was thinking fondly of last night's events. It almost felt like a dream - Lisbeth's arms wrapped around his neck, the two laughing as they clumsily danced on the ice…

Two hours later he was pulled out of his thoughts when his three teammates began taking their lab coats off and gathering their things.

"Lunch break! Are you coming, Frogg?"

It had become the norm to refer to each other by their last names in the lab- apparently this was common in several professional settings of their field. Whether this was true or not, he was unsure, but if going along with it meant acting more like a real scientist, Frogg was on board. At being addressed, he paused from his work. He had a panel pulled aside and was doing some soldering close to where the sharp blades of the turbine rested. It was just a minor issue he was correcting, and this part of the machine was close to completion.

"Um, no thanks. I need to do a test run and diagnostics."

It was true, he had some catching up to do from where he had been running late. Flynn, Ishaan and Emma were not very surprised. They had realized quickly that the absurdly youngest team member was quite the overachiever in his haste to become a Doktor Frogg.

"I can't believe a twelve year old is making us look bad."

"We'll bring something back for you," Ishaan offered and shot him some finger guns. "Don't work too hard over there, Frogg."

The three of them left, and Frogg sighed in the silence that followed. He wondered if they were going to go to the biergarten close to campus, where they would sometimes return feeling a bit looser from the pints they would have with lunch, and what they would bring back for him - without having had breakfast, he was famished. The boy sat up from where he had been bent over the machine, cracking his neck and letting out a long yawn.

Every time he blinked or closed his eyes, he still saw behind his lids images of Lisbeth holding on to him as they skated, his hands at her waist. He remembered her lips, and how he had wanted to have his first kiss with her so badly, and how nervous he had been…

Daydreaming, Frogg went to where a bulky computer sat next to the power source, jammed a floppy disc into its slot, and booted it up for diagnostics run. Then going back to the laser, he flipped the power switch and the machine began to softly hum to life. He wondered what it would be like to have a freundin, how it would feel to hold Lisbeth's hand in a way that was more than just friendly. How it would feel to know that she might think of him the same way that he had secretly thought of her for years...

He made up his mind- he had to tell her how much he liked her. To be confident for a change, just like how she always encouraged him to be… even thinking about it made him so terribly nervous, but last night had just been perfect and he had to do it before he could miss his opportunity again-

"Scheisse!"

That was when Frogg realized he had left the soldering iron right in the turbine, he was so out of it. He quickly rushed over and reached in. That could have been a disaster… if it had booted up before he got to it, he could have severely damaged his contribution to the laser. He could not come in to work around such an expensive machine when he wasn't in the right state of mind, and he berated himself for such a careless mistake.
"Such an idiot-"

Frogg abruptly went to turn, but was yanked back with enough force the soldering iron flew from his grasp and clattered to the ground. At first he did not understand what happened. He tugged on his arm. His sleeve was caught on something just past the blades of the turbine, maybe a screw? He could not see. He gave his arm a few more experimental tugs, and that was when he became aware of a long beep, the one in the powering sequence that signaled that the machine was warmed up and ready. The emergency stop button was just out of reach.
"Wait-"

He pulled harder but was caught good, and next he struggled to take the coat off. He realized that snagged as he was, the fabric of the coat was pulled so tightly against his wrist that he was caught in the sleeve, and that was when the panic really began to set in. He went for the emergency stop again, straining to reach, but it was too far. The humming of the power source grew louder as it came to life.

"Wait, no,no,no, hold on!"

He used his other hand to reach into the turbine, fingers desperately searching for what he was caught on, and he was not even aware that he was pleading with the machine as if it could somehow hear him and understand, begging in his panic. All the while as his free hand searched beyond those blades as well, just being able to feel the shape of a screw that he could not turn without the use of a tool, he pulled so hard it hurt, putting all of his weight into it, gritting his teeth from the exertion-

The tension broke, and Frogg was thrown back to the floor.

The machine was steadily running in the background, but Frogg could not hear it. There was a high-pitched ringing in his ears, and from where he laid on the floor of the lab, he could only stare up at a single point of the ceiling tiles with fluttering eyelids. Frogg felt sick, a pit of utter dread in his stomach.

He could not look.

A cold sweat began to coat him, clammy against his sickly whitening face. From where he had drawn his hands up close to his chest, the crimson that bloomed there was violent against his white lab coat. Frogg's shallow, uneven breaths came out faster and faster as he willed himself to look at what he had done. Whimpering, he dared to lower his eyes…

"Oh my God."

They were gone.

"Oh my God. Oh my God,OhmyGod,OhmyGod-"

His voice rose frantically in his dawning horror. Then the pain came.

Frogg screamed like never before, vision going white and writhing in his own blood, cradling his hands - where they once were - close to his body. It was cold electricity rushing up into his arms, straight into his core and and shocking him, bone exposed to air and flesh tattered, the blood was everywhere, there was so much of it-

He had to get help.

Tears were streaming down his frightfully white face. He could hardly function through the sheets of agony. Frogg's ears still ringing so deafeningly loud and vision pulsing, the room lurched when he tried to stand, and he came within a hair of blacking out when he grazed a severed wrist against the floor. Frogg's wails had grown eerily quiet by now and each gasping breath was shallower. The boy was drenched in sweat but had never felt so cold. From where he used the wall for support, holding his mutilated wrists close to him, blood trailed behind him. The lab looked like the scene of a violent crime, so much red from such a small boy.

He only made it a few steps. He did not feel the bones of his face shatter when he dropped. With one last groan, Frogg's fluttering eyes rolled back and the boy collapsed in an unconscious heap, his world going black.