Jewel pushed Finkelstein’s chair and its accompanying lifeless body up the ramp to the platform behind the tilting examination table. She furrowed her brow, looking at the table before her. 

“Carver, will you be alright sitting on the floor for a bit? I think it would be a good idea to remove these body straps before Harold wakes up.”

The pumpkin creature grunted. “Whatever. Shock will make Funkelsnort regret every choice he’s ever made if he tries to strap me down again. And once I get my vines back, the straps will be worthless anyway.” He perked up. “Oh! Speaking of which! See that vial of blue liquid on the third shelf over there? As soon as he wakes up, [i]smash it[/i]. That’s what he used to paralyze me when he stuck me in here.”

Jewel nodded, but decided to at least detach two of the straps at the hinges, just in case. She quickly retrieved a tool to leverage the long iron pins out. “There’s three more in the cabinet to your left,” she said without looking up from her work. “The desk on the west side of the room is where [i]my[/i] current project is -- or at least what’s left of it, after that entrance you made. I would appreciate it if you would leave that area alone, please.”

Carver’s widening sadistic grin broke into snickers as Barrel found the lightning switch. “Yeah, that’s the one. Might want to keep a hand on that, for when he sees Shock go to town on his [i]precious property[/i].”

Jewel stopped what she was doing and stared at him. “Wait, did [i]you[/i] teach Igor to do that?”

The pumpkin creature rolled his mechanical eyes. “[i]Obviously[/i]. I mean, [i]you[/i] clearly didn’t.”