That got both boys to laugh. Barrel recalled the sound of pipes running, and wondered what sort of sciencey goop Shock might have gotten caught up in. It only made him laugh harder.

"Sprung a trap too early, then?" he asked.

"In other words, you fucked up big time," Lock said with a grin. "Go big or go home, right, Carver?"

He flicked some ash and took another drag as he got a hold of himself. Barrel shrugged.

"Hey, I'm up for a field trip," he said. "Just got to buy a box of bone biscuits to get past Igor, and the frogs are basically free for the picking!"

"Later," Lock said as he blew out some smoke. He snuffed the now-dead cigarette in an ashtray on the coffee table, then lit up another one. "If Shock's pissed at [i]Carver[/i], we should probably get on her good side. We've still got forget-me-lots to collect."

"But that's no fun!" Barrel whined.

"We either do that, or we study potions," Lock said.

"...Where do we find them, again?" Barrel asked.

Lock smirked.

"We don't have to do it right this moment," he said, "but we should probably head out soon."