creatures of the night
I started writing this earlier this month or well, last month. Round about the 13th. Anyway, I was soooo soooo super bored, but in the mood to write, so finished this up. :D
Mad Science
PG-13, Venture Brothers gen, 1,500ish words
Dr. Venture creates life ... again.
The sky was becoming the color of steel, highlighting from the bottom, a waxy moon receding in the top most corner of the sky. Dawn was approaching, but it the darkest hour before, the entire house lay in shadows.
Brock knew that something sinister was afoot. Actually, it was walking in front of him, a slight gait to the steps, giddy in its pleasure.
"Can we turn on a light?" Brock asked the shadow moving in front of him. His shin banged what he suspected was the kitchen table and he glared at a head that could no more see than the glare than care about it.
Dr. Venture turned around for a moment, light from the moon through the window glinting on his glasses. "What, ruin the surprise and awake them? Of course not!"
Brock didn't know what the "them" was and was sure he was on his way to finding out.
There was a rattle of keys and a hum as Dr. Venture opened the lab door in front of them, flooding the hall with a green glow, not bright to Brock's eyes, but a curious thing.
"Here it is," Dr. Venture whispered.
He opened the lab door with his shoulder and led Brock inside.
"Here it is," Dr. Venture whispered again, "The holy grail of super science."
"You woke me up at five am," Brock muttered, shuffling behind Dr. Venture, "this had better be good."
Dr. Venture made a derisive noise. "You can nap all you want when we're rich!"
Brock pinched the bridge of his nose. "Not ag-- you woke me up from two hours of sleep. This had better be good."
Dr. Venture was turning on lights.
"What so important about a nap?"
"Do you have any idea what time it is?"
Dr. Venture didn't answer and was turning on a gigantic tube in the middle of the lab. The light was still incredibly low and even if the sun had begun to rise, it wouldn't have mattered. The blinds were shut secretively and Dr. Venture kept looking at them as if he expected someone to burst in any second and steal his glory.
"I was having a good dream. Look, you call me in here all the time to tell me stuff like this and well, sorry Doc, but--"
Dr. Venture turned and looked hard into Brock's face.
"But what?"
"It's always the holy grail of super science."
"Oh I've said that before?" Dr. Venture didn't seem too concerned with this revelation.
"A thousand time," Brock went on. "Like yesterday? You called me into your lab to show me you'd invented something that would "turn the baking world a 350."
Dr. Venture chuckled at his own cleverness.
"And you'd invented yeast," Brock finished flatly.
Holding up a finger, Dr. Venture corrected him. "Ah! A strain of yeast previously unfounded that could speed up the baking process by at least 15%."
"Yeah good, whatever, but go ahead show me. I was up all night, I kinda wanna get some rest." Brock rubbed his eyes with a finger. It felt like sand between his lids.
"What do you think I was doing all night?" Dr. Venture snapped defensively.
"I dunno, watching Ally Mcbeal?"
"I gave those DVDs back to Orpheus." Dr. Venture glared again. "Wor-king."
"We had a security breach last night," Brock muttered. "Didn't you hear anything? And those were my good shoes."
"A security breach?"
"Yeah, they said they were from the government but couldn't show me any ID. Said they'd come for something that was theirs. I couldn't think of anything they'd want --"
Dr. Venture opened his mouth to speak.
"So, I just, you know."
The doctor had now gone quiet. There was obviously something on his mind. He gave a furtive look to the closed blinds. "Security breach."
"Brock!" he said suddenly. "We are alone now, right?" He grabbed the front of Brock's shirt. "Aren't we?"
"Jeez, what's gotten into you? I killed them both."
Satisfied, Dr. Venture pulled away and said, "Something very valuable. But fine, while you were playing ninja all night. I was making us rich. Back to the matter at hand."
"Saving our asses."
Which wasn't technically true. If Brock had to rate the guys that had broken into the compound last night on a list of threats they would've been in the low seventies. There was nothing funny about them; strange things and people broke into the compound on a regular basis. That was why the Ventures had a bodyguard.
They seemed to have a reason for breaking in, or at least Doc thought they did. Brock didn't bring it up further.
"This isn't a contest." Dr. Venture had finished hooking the tubes and wires. "Look, here it is! The holy ... pinnacle of super science!"
Dr. Venture scrawny form shuffled a bit in front of the glowing tube for a few more seconds, obscuring whatever it held. Brock felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as Dr. Venture moved aside and revealed what was in the tube, with an outstretched palm like a game show host.
It was eerily real.
"What the -- theme park ... is that a robot?" Brock rolled his eyes. "You called me in here because you made robots? You make robots everyday."
"That isn't a robot."
Brock's eyes stopped on a second roll half-way and widened. "Holy fu-- that thing is real?"
"Aha ha yes super science strikes again!" Dr. Venture cried, pumping a skinny fist in the air.
Its skin was mottled, like a plucked chicken, except the color was green as a lizard's and its eyes, closed, were puckered around the edges, new, whole, and alive. Brock saw its chest rising and falling ever so slightly.
"A dinosaur?" he whispered. "What the hell, you made dinosaurs?"
"I "borrowed" some DNA. No longer the stuff of cheap science fiction!" he said triumphantly. I have created ready made dinosaurs. Freaking dinosaurs, Brock, isn't that exciting?"
Brock was at a loss for words. "You've -- that's a real dinosaur? ... Hey wait!" He remembered something. "Hasn't this happened before? You know, before you became that worm thing? Few years ago?"
"These are different."
Brock watched the thing, hooked to tubes, stir ever so slightly. It was the size of an iguana now, but it was obviously a baby.
He tore his eyes away from it to narrow them at Dr. Venture. "Different how?"
"Mmm money. The damn things we had years ago would've cost the government too much. These are a dime a petri dish batch. Okay, a bit more than a dime, but with the right genes, and a drop of this water -- I said water -- we have created ready-made dinosaurs," Dr. Venture said, adding, "for whomever is willing to pay."
Brock sighed. "Doc, you don't need me to be the uh voice of reason here."
"You don't need to be the voice of reason, there's no problem I can see!"
Dr. Venture was enraptured by his creature, smiling.
"Are you kidding me? You saw Jurassic Park, you --"
"Oh how they scoffed," murmered Dr. Venture, in his own world apart from reality for the moment. "Thaddeus Venture, what will you make of yourself! Pissing away the family fortune!"
"Doc!" Brock grabbed him by the shoulders. "You can't tell me this will be good."
"Brock." Dr. Venture made to shrug off his grip. "This may be my one freaking chance for anything. Peeing on my parade will get you no where."
Brock let go, held out his hands. "Fine, fine, lose an arm feeding it cow legs."
"We won't have to buy the bargain brands anymore!" said Dr. Venture dramatically. "Real Fruit Loops!"
"Doc--"
"Wake the boys, Brock, I want them to see this! I have created life. I am God!" Dr. Venture laughed suddenly.
"You're insane. This is even more crazy bastard than usual."
"GOD!" Dr. Venture maintained. "FRUIT LOOPS."
This was getting incredibly stupid and Brock was out of reason, but struck by a sudden idea.
Casually he asked, "How is it staying alive, even?"
Dr. Venture dropped his mad scientist act, in a fit of glee at Brock's interest and began to explain. "By this tube. It doesn't eat cow legs thank you, simply oxygen at the moment and nutrients through here. Ingenious I know."
He pushed past Brock.
"I am going to make coffee, heretic, you can stay and marvel at my wonder!"
With a slam, the lab door closed and Brock was thrown into darkness, lit only by the green glow from the tube. He pressed a finger lightly against the glass. It was hot.
"Dinosaurs. Damn."
The thing inside the tube began to stir and with a twitch, it opened one golden eye.
Brock removed his finger calmly and looked at the tube Dr. Venture had indicated to in his explanation, the tube keeping it alive.
The dinosaur had opened both eyes.
Through the sunlight now streaming into the room under the blinds, Brock pulled the life support tube.
Mad Science
PG-13, Venture Brothers gen, 1,500ish words
Dr. Venture creates life ... again.
The sky was becoming the color of steel, highlighting from the bottom, a waxy moon receding in the top most corner of the sky. Dawn was approaching, but it the darkest hour before, the entire house lay in shadows.
Brock knew that something sinister was afoot. Actually, it was walking in front of him, a slight gait to the steps, giddy in its pleasure.
"Can we turn on a light?" Brock asked the shadow moving in front of him. His shin banged what he suspected was the kitchen table and he glared at a head that could no more see than the glare than care about it.
Dr. Venture turned around for a moment, light from the moon through the window glinting on his glasses. "What, ruin the surprise and awake them? Of course not!"
Brock didn't know what the "them" was and was sure he was on his way to finding out.
There was a rattle of keys and a hum as Dr. Venture opened the lab door in front of them, flooding the hall with a green glow, not bright to Brock's eyes, but a curious thing.
"Here it is," Dr. Venture whispered.
He opened the lab door with his shoulder and led Brock inside.
"Here it is," Dr. Venture whispered again, "The holy grail of super science."
"You woke me up at five am," Brock muttered, shuffling behind Dr. Venture, "this had better be good."
Dr. Venture made a derisive noise. "You can nap all you want when we're rich!"
Brock pinched the bridge of his nose. "Not ag-- you woke me up from two hours of sleep. This had better be good."
Dr. Venture was turning on lights.
"What so important about a nap?"
"Do you have any idea what time it is?"
Dr. Venture didn't answer and was turning on a gigantic tube in the middle of the lab. The light was still incredibly low and even if the sun had begun to rise, it wouldn't have mattered. The blinds were shut secretively and Dr. Venture kept looking at them as if he expected someone to burst in any second and steal his glory.
"I was having a good dream. Look, you call me in here all the time to tell me stuff like this and well, sorry Doc, but--"
Dr. Venture turned and looked hard into Brock's face.
"But what?"
"It's always the holy grail of super science."
"Oh I've said that before?" Dr. Venture didn't seem too concerned with this revelation.
"A thousand time," Brock went on. "Like yesterday? You called me into your lab to show me you'd invented something that would "turn the baking world a 350."
Dr. Venture chuckled at his own cleverness.
"And you'd invented yeast," Brock finished flatly.
Holding up a finger, Dr. Venture corrected him. "Ah! A strain of yeast previously unfounded that could speed up the baking process by at least 15%."
"Yeah good, whatever, but go ahead show me. I was up all night, I kinda wanna get some rest." Brock rubbed his eyes with a finger. It felt like sand between his lids.
"What do you think I was doing all night?" Dr. Venture snapped defensively.
"I dunno, watching Ally Mcbeal?"
"I gave those DVDs back to Orpheus." Dr. Venture glared again. "Wor-king."
"We had a security breach last night," Brock muttered. "Didn't you hear anything? And those were my good shoes."
"A security breach?"
"Yeah, they said they were from the government but couldn't show me any ID. Said they'd come for something that was theirs. I couldn't think of anything they'd want --"
Dr. Venture opened his mouth to speak.
"So, I just, you know."
The doctor had now gone quiet. There was obviously something on his mind. He gave a furtive look to the closed blinds. "Security breach."
"Brock!" he said suddenly. "We are alone now, right?" He grabbed the front of Brock's shirt. "Aren't we?"
"Jeez, what's gotten into you? I killed them both."
Satisfied, Dr. Venture pulled away and said, "Something very valuable. But fine, while you were playing ninja all night. I was making us rich. Back to the matter at hand."
"Saving our asses."
Which wasn't technically true. If Brock had to rate the guys that had broken into the compound last night on a list of threats they would've been in the low seventies. There was nothing funny about them; strange things and people broke into the compound on a regular basis. That was why the Ventures had a bodyguard.
They seemed to have a reason for breaking in, or at least Doc thought they did. Brock didn't bring it up further.
"This isn't a contest." Dr. Venture had finished hooking the tubes and wires. "Look, here it is! The holy ... pinnacle of super science!"
Dr. Venture scrawny form shuffled a bit in front of the glowing tube for a few more seconds, obscuring whatever it held. Brock felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as Dr. Venture moved aside and revealed what was in the tube, with an outstretched palm like a game show host.
It was eerily real.
"What the -- theme park ... is that a robot?" Brock rolled his eyes. "You called me in here because you made robots? You make robots everyday."
"That isn't a robot."
Brock's eyes stopped on a second roll half-way and widened. "Holy fu-- that thing is real?"
"Aha ha yes super science strikes again!" Dr. Venture cried, pumping a skinny fist in the air.
Its skin was mottled, like a plucked chicken, except the color was green as a lizard's and its eyes, closed, were puckered around the edges, new, whole, and alive. Brock saw its chest rising and falling ever so slightly.
"A dinosaur?" he whispered. "What the hell, you made dinosaurs?"
"I "borrowed" some DNA. No longer the stuff of cheap science fiction!" he said triumphantly. I have created ready made dinosaurs. Freaking dinosaurs, Brock, isn't that exciting?"
Brock was at a loss for words. "You've -- that's a real dinosaur? ... Hey wait!" He remembered something. "Hasn't this happened before? You know, before you became that worm thing? Few years ago?"
"These are different."
Brock watched the thing, hooked to tubes, stir ever so slightly. It was the size of an iguana now, but it was obviously a baby.
He tore his eyes away from it to narrow them at Dr. Venture. "Different how?"
"Mmm money. The damn things we had years ago would've cost the government too much. These are a dime a petri dish batch. Okay, a bit more than a dime, but with the right genes, and a drop of this water -- I said water -- we have created ready-made dinosaurs," Dr. Venture said, adding, "for whomever is willing to pay."
Brock sighed. "Doc, you don't need me to be the uh voice of reason here."
"You don't need to be the voice of reason, there's no problem I can see!"
Dr. Venture was enraptured by his creature, smiling.
"Are you kidding me? You saw Jurassic Park, you --"
"Oh how they scoffed," murmered Dr. Venture, in his own world apart from reality for the moment. "Thaddeus Venture, what will you make of yourself! Pissing away the family fortune!"
"Doc!" Brock grabbed him by the shoulders. "You can't tell me this will be good."
"Brock." Dr. Venture made to shrug off his grip. "This may be my one freaking chance for anything. Peeing on my parade will get you no where."
Brock let go, held out his hands. "Fine, fine, lose an arm feeding it cow legs."
"We won't have to buy the bargain brands anymore!" said Dr. Venture dramatically. "Real Fruit Loops!"
"Doc--"
"Wake the boys, Brock, I want them to see this! I have created life. I am God!" Dr. Venture laughed suddenly.
"You're insane. This is even more crazy bastard than usual."
"GOD!" Dr. Venture maintained. "FRUIT LOOPS."
This was getting incredibly stupid and Brock was out of reason, but struck by a sudden idea.
Casually he asked, "How is it staying alive, even?"
Dr. Venture dropped his mad scientist act, in a fit of glee at Brock's interest and began to explain. "By this tube. It doesn't eat cow legs thank you, simply oxygen at the moment and nutrients through here. Ingenious I know."
He pushed past Brock.
"I am going to make coffee, heretic, you can stay and marvel at my wonder!"
With a slam, the lab door closed and Brock was thrown into darkness, lit only by the green glow from the tube. He pressed a finger lightly against the glass. It was hot.
"Dinosaurs. Damn."
The thing inside the tube began to stir and with a twitch, it opened one golden eye.
Brock removed his finger calmly and looked at the tube Dr. Venture had indicated to in his explanation, the tube keeping it alive.
The dinosaur had opened both eyes.
Through the sunlight now streaming into the room under the blinds, Brock pulled the life support tube.