Chapter Text
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When Baxter had creaked open the lab’s metal door, having to heave a bit to shove his body weight against it, he found his partner hunched over a table in the corner. He could tell Pentious was ecstatic but trying his absolute best to contain his excitement. The snake’s tail was twitching like crazy despite the rest of his body completely being still. The little demon tapped his way towards the desk, carrying a tray of tea and cookies.
“What on earth are you doing?”
His friend didn’t reply.
Below the desk Baxter found the stool he often used to gain a better vantage point, pulling it out to climb up. China clinked as he set down the tea tray, clocking a tiny flinch from Pentious. With a view of the table, he could see what Sir Pentious was staring so excitedly at. With Baxter out of the room, tinkling his way around the kitchen, the snake must’ve made it his mission to drape the bird in all the clothes that they’d owned. It tilted its head towards Baxter as he popped up, clucking softly.
“Wait a minute, is that my scarf?” He instinctively reached out to grab it when Pentious snatched his wrist to stop him in midair. “Baxxy!!” He whispered in pure excitement, letting go almost immediately. “She finally laid eggs!”
Baxter glanced back at the bird, noting now how his partner had construed a brooding nest. “Ah, I see. Have you seen them yet?”
Pentious grinned happily as the little demon tapped his way across the lab. “Yes, and they are so cute!”
“Mm.” Baxter hummed simply. His fingernails rapped against a syringe, debating. “Do you think they need another dose?”
“Another dose?” The echo.
“For good measure, yes.”
Pentious shook his head, inching closer to the mother bird. A golden, almost chicken-like creature, feathered darkly around the face. Beautiful, he thought.
“I think she’s perfectly fine,” he smiled. It clucked as it followed his movements, shoulders relaxing as lounged along the edge of the table to gaze at his nest of jewels.
“I did mean, in fact, the eggs,” Baxter corrected, coming back over. His partner like this- so enamored with such a simple thing- it soothed him almost. Glancing down at the syringe, Baxter clicked the safety cap back on, popping it into his pocket. “... How do they look?”
Sir Pentious blinked down at him and beckoned for him to look. Air was nonexistent as he whispered, “I think they’re waking up.”
Remounting his stool, Baxter found the bird had stood to nudge at the little eggs she’s been keeping warm. Pentious was practically squealing, elated and all jittery. “They’ve got little legs! They have LEGS!”
“I can see that,” Baxter grunted, although the excitement was admittedly infectious- he couldn’t help but smile. The first batch had been underway for a good few months, and they were finally arising. One of the eggs cracked open a blurry eye, sitting up to rub at its face. Baxter ducked out of the way so it would rather see Pentious, imprinting on the snake instead. It let out a coo of interest, a little voice creeping out.
“Boss?”
Before they knew it, they were all waking up and echoing each other like baby seagulls. Pentious couldn’t hold them all, but he sure was trying to. Baxter didn’t bother, merely reserved to watch. There were only five eggs in the first batch, the original brood. One wobbled its way out of the clothing nest, tripping over a puffer jacket. A little hand flashed out to support it, avoiding a particularly almost death-cracking fall. The egg, looking up in awe, gave him a wide open-mouth smile. It proved difficult for Baxter to keep his lips downturned. He reached out to pat the little one on the head, and it squeezed its eyes in contentment like a cat.
As a quadruplet of eggs followed Sir Pentious around the lab like happy puppies, Baxter unintentionally had his own little shadow. Every time he plopped the thing into the crowd of other shelly creatures, it always seemed to find its way back to Baxter. He’d hop up a stool to watch him work, ask endless questions about how the world works, and in turn, Baxter taught him. Life was precious, and the scientist seemed to be surprisingly more in-tune with the ideology than the inventor was. As the years went on, Sir Pentious had become more and more concerned with ‘rising in the ranks of Hell’- to be recognized by the Vees as a powerful demon ruler- something Baxter had no desire in.
So when the Inventor and the Scientist had a falling out, Frank was confused.
The airship had a nice view of the city, and all the other Egg Bois seemed to love working for Sir Bossman, but he didn’t understand why they couldn’t just go back to the lab. It was nice there, too- he missed it. Every jerk and bonk of the ship sloshed the yolk around inside his brain (sometimes Frank wondered if it was his brain, he had deep thoughts like that). When the yellow goop seeped into the floor with a sickening crack and splat, Frank simply turned away and regarded it as life. They were fragile creatures; Baxter has instilled this in him, like solemn poetry. From the day that they were born, they were prone to cracking, and being in a place such as Hell itself didn’t help that fact.
“You there!” Sir Pentious shouted, pointing at a random egg. It startled and nearly dropped the gun it had picked up. “Make use of that before we’re utterly smoked!”
The Egg Boi gave a little salute, accidentally swinging the gun around and launching himself over the edge of the railing. Frank watched as his brother fell, but surprisingly, the gun went off before he hit the pavement below. They watched as it fired at a spider demon, who deftly dodged out of the way. “Hey, he almost did it,” one egg proclaimed, pointing. The spider kept advancing, taking cover behind abandoned cars and debris. Frank gaped in awe as he jumped, an extra set of arms uncovering themselves in order to start reining fire on the airship. The Eggs had to be pulled back before any more of them could be burst.
Alongside his brothers, Frank scurried to their battle stations, grabbing all the comically large weapons a tiny egg could ask for. At the wheel, the snake seethed, grinning. “No other demon can compare to the likes of I!”
“Gee, that was pretty swell, boss!” Number 23 congratulated.
“Yeah!”
“You really showed them ‘what for’. I liked when you shot them with your ray gun-”
23 recoiled when their boss shoved the egg away. “I wish he’d shoot me with his ray gun.”
Pentious disregarded their babble and turned his attention back to his control panel. “At this rate, I will seize entire control of the west side of the Pentagram by day's end, and nothing, not a single beast in this infernal of suffering will be able to take back this empire from my constrictive grasp!”
The Egg Bois all started cheering and celebrating, but Frank just stood there, dragging an oversized axe behind him.
“Hell will be mine, and everybody will know the name of Sir Pen-”
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Baxter practically choked on his tea when he saw the news. Claws gripped the arm of his chair so tightly that he had to pry them from the velvet, leaving pinprick divots behind.
“What in the fresh Hell is he thinking!?” he shouted at his television. Restraint had to be maintained to keep from throwing something, his mug most likely, at the damned TV. He thought they’d agree to use the eggs as a means to spread their scientific discovery, in a safe, contained way, but here that blinded snake was, engaging in catastrophe.
Something had to be done about this.
Scurrying through dimly lit hallways, he could hear the shuffle and scuttle of tiny claws. Baxter shot out a hand to grab his crab-bag. It blinked up at him innocently as he swung it out the door, banging it shut behind him, not even caring to lock it- forgotten keys in the dish. He scratched at his temples, cursing himself as he hurried. Trinkets jingled within his pockets but he disregarded it. He had to get to the West Side.
“Only that pompous snake would get himself into this kind of situation.”
Baxter hated the Vees. Every bone in his body. He hated everything they stood for, everything they promoted. A bunch of eclectic freaks, but he knew how much their approval meant to Pentious. The little demon ran hard, dodging other hellish creatures on the sidewalk, ultimately opting to travel the road.
“Outta the way, bugger!"
Baxter grit his teeth, clasping his crab-bag closer to his person.
The breeze carried the scent of rot and oil- he tried to ignore it as he scanned the streets for something in particular- there! Baxter let out a breath of relief as he slammed the door of the phone booth shut. A body slammed itself against the outer wall, a knife clean through the demon's head. Blood had that metallic taste to it as it seeped in from under the box. Baxter turned away from the scene in disdain, willing the phone to pick up. His thin clawed fingers tapped out the number he’d seen everywhere on those billboards. He hated to have to do this, but if it helped keep his friend safe- despite how much Baxter hated HIM now- then he was going to swallow his disgust and make the call.
“Vox Tech Services, this is Papermint speaking. What can I help you with today?”
“Hello- I have a, uh…” Baxter paused, coiling the phone wire around a claw before regaining his determination. “... A certain inventor I believe your boss would be especially interested in.”
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