Jack was watching the window with a blank expression. Through the thick glass, he could see Amy talking to Mark and checking his vitals. From the look on their faces, he guessed that everything except for his size was back to normal. He sighed, and suddenly he felt a presence sidle to his side.
"You did it." Jack turned to look at Signe.
"It wasn't just me," he said, "Besides, we can't go congratulating anybody until the formula's given to everybody else. We still need to figure out how the hell to get everyone back to normal size." Signe nodded and squeezed Jack's hand.
"I know," she agreed. She leaned forward and pecked her lover's cheek. Jack turned a light shade of pink and smiled at her.
"I'm glad yer ok," he murmured. Then he noticed the doctor approach them out of the corner of his eye, and he tilted his head toward him.
"Ahm." The doctor cleared his throat. "Zer iz a theoretical chemical equation zat I might be able to use in order to reverse ze effects of my little, uh, experiment."
"Thanks," Jack sighed. The doctor nodded sheepishly. His eyes kept nervously flitting from the window to the Irishman.
"I-I ahm, I just think zat maybe you should consider finding a new home, since zis place iz a little shit-hole." Jack scoffed.
"Yer right about that." Amy nodded to Mark and walked back into the lab.
"Hormone levels are stable," she said, "He's completely regained control of himself, for sure, and so have Ethan and Tyler."
"Great, so the formula works a hundred percent," Kathryn pointed out; although, relief still shined in her eyes. "And the guys Mark knocked out?"
"A few broken bones," Amy answered, "But they were all very lucky. They'll need some time to heal, but the other doctor is tending to them right now."
"Great!" Signe hugged Jack's arm. "Can we get out of here now? It's awfully cold, and we need to help everybody else." Jack chuckled.
"Yer right." He stroked Signe's hair and then looked up at the doctor. "So where's the exit?" He asked. The doctor shifted nervously from one foot to another.
"Head down ze corridor and take ze third left, zen right on ze second hallway," he answered. Jack nodded.
"Got it." He turned with the others and headed out of the lab. Ethan was sitting against the wall beside Tyler, who was just leaning against it with his arms crossed over his chest and tapping his foot, and Mark was rubbing his hand in the cold stone floor, trying to clean off the last traces of blood with a vexed expression. Jack found himself grinning, overjoyed to see Mark back to his normal self, and he ran ahead of the others to greet their large pals.
As soon as Mark noticed him, his eyes rounded, and he grunted with a relieved smile. He lowered his head and nuzzled the approaching little Irish man, and Jack giggled and hugged his nose. "Hey buddy. How ya feeling?" Mark purred and then let out a big yawn. "Me too." Jack looked up at Ethan and Tyler, greeting them both. "I'm glad you guys are okay too," he said. Ethan vocalized with an optimistic smile, and Tyler too looked hopeful.
"All righty then." Kathryn nodded. "Let's get out of here."
"Just a second." They turned to see the doctor walking up to them. "Might I see Jack for a quick word before leaving zis place?" He asked, wringing his hands. They all looked at Jack, who blinked.
"Uh, yeah, s-sure." He gave Signe a quick assuring nod before he slipped away from her and his other friends, and he followed the German doctor back into the lab. To his surprise, all of the guards had left the room, leaving a vacuum for words to be exchanged.
"So." The doctor removed his gloves and tossed them aside. "Vhat do you think vill happen vonce you leave zis place?" Jack blinked.
"What do ya mean?" He asked. "We'll-we'll get out, we'll figure out a way to mass-distribute the formula once you've made enough of it, everyone will regain their lost selves and wake up back in reality. And then everyone will be okay." The doctor muttered something under his breath, and the best Jack could think he heard was "you vont." "I don't really see what there is to question here," Jack continued, "Were you asking me how much to make? Amy could answer that for ya, she-"
"No, Jack." The doctor shook his head and looked Jack straight in the eye. "Zat iz not really vhy I brought you back in here." Jack frowned, puzzled. "Turn around," the doctor said.
"... Wwhhyyy?"
"Zer iz a mirror behind you, and I vant you to see something." Confused, Jack turned, and he saw his reflection.
"My reflection?" He asked. "I can see it, so I'm not dead or a vampire or anything."
"No." The doctor stepped out of the background. "You know better zen dat." Jack's breath hesitated. "I know you've seen it," the doctor continued, "You've seen it out of ze corner of your eye, but not enough to actually vitness it. Vell, look now." Jack's eyes widened. His reflection's didn't. Jack looked over his shoulder, and then back at the creepily calm reflection.
"What's going on?" He exclaimed. His doppelganger grinned, and his eyes bore into Jack with a strange green glow. Jack was p̶a͜r͜a͟l̛y̵zed. He felt that he couldn't move, he couldn't tear his gaze away from t͘h̵͟o͢͟͞s͜͡͝e̕ e͏̷y͏e̴̛͝s̴̕͏.
And then he felt a small stab in his neck. Jack winced and managed to tear his eyes away from that riveting gaze, and he looked to see the doctor holding a now-empty s̷̢̀y͡r̴͢͝i͘ǹ̢g̛͘̕e̢͜͝.
"I am sorry, J̵͜à͘͘ć̵̡̛͜k̡̛," he said, "But I have to do zis." His voice quivered as he spoke. "It iz for your own good." Jack's legs wobbled. He staggered and leaned on the counter, panting. His vision hazed and wobbled with a strange 3D effect, and Jack gasped for air. He tried to speak, to ask the doctor what was going on, but his lungs felt as though they were collapsing on themselves. His limbs felt clumsy and sluggish, and when he tried to take a step toward t̨̧͘h̴҉͟e͠҉͏ d̢̧͢͠o͘͏̴̢͡c̶͘t̶̨̧͟o͢r̛̕͜, he fell. He fell through an invisible floor, entering a void of agony and directionless disorient. And all around him, a strange but familiar voice began to cackle. The l̸͞a̢̧͟͜͟ų̶҉̧g̷͘͜͏h̸̷̛̀͟ rose in volume, amplifying until it surrounded him, vibrated within him, and became ̵̡̦̹̘̖͕̰ͦͩ̈́̏͠a̛̪̗͉͖͈͔̞̣͚̿͐̚̚͠ ̶ͬ̾̏ͪͯ̇̀̋̊̾҉̱̜͓͚͚p̶̧̡̥͓̟̻͓̭̗̝̫̖̙̓ͥ̏̅ͨͣ́̎̍͋ͤͪͤ̋̒̿͑̚̚͜͜a̡͈̼͙̫̲͖͙̬͔̘̤̳̯͍͎̜̭̬͎͒̿ͬ͋̊͌͑͑ͤ̈̉́̈̒͡r̷̡̡͈̺̹͔͖̮̥̮͇͖̝̙͚͎͎̫̙̈̊̌̐ͤ̽́ͧͩ̅̉̿̌̉́̏̃̄͢͠ẗ̢́̉̿̑̏ͭ̌̉̾̓̋ͨͪ͆ͩ̚̚͏̶̦̳̳̻̙̫ ̢ͭͤ҉̦̣͚͙͍̙̳̠͓̀͢ơ̸̢̠̺͉̤̟͎̘̣̯̰̖̦͚̳̐͒́̈̿͐̽̉͟͠f̸̸̷̺̱̬̯̟̤͍̜̜͈̠͙ͥͫ̂̆ͧͮ͊̎͒ͪͬ͒͞ ͕̠͕͙̺̪̞̝͈̖͖̜̥̦̘̣̪̤̫ͧ͆̌͛ͧ̄́̊ͬ̌̽̏̑͟h̡̛̽̆͑ͪ̍͆ͫ̍͗ͭ̇ͤ̄̔̅͗̏҉̪͓̣̱̫̬̙iͭ̉ͭ̉ͨ̊̑ͥͨͪ́͛͑͡҉̗̤͍̳̳̼̫̺͍̼̻͠ͅm̢̞̬̼̮̻̼̐̏̈ͩͪ̌̒̇ͣ͑ͮ̔ͦ̂̍̾̚͠͞͝. Jack realized dimly, somewhere in the back of his mind, that he was the one laughing, yet his body felt like it was ̡͕̙̟̝̰͎̝͙ͮ͗̒ͭ̈́̚͡ơ̴̦͎̪̬̦̂̈̂́̈́̿̈̽n͎̘̤̱̣̑ͨ̇̀͠͠ ̵͍̟̱ͦ̒ͨ̃̋͐̇f̻̰̮͉̠̘̳̀͑̄͐̐ͬí̂ͭ̀͆҉̛̩͉͙̝̖ͅr̖̦̦̹͖̳̞͐̏̉̐e̶͉̳̘̰ͯͧͩ͛̍͋ͪ̔ͣ.
And that was when Jack woke up.