The smell hit Alan like a train. All around him, vanilla, vanilla, nothing but the same god damn vanilla. The voice he had heard was unmistakenly that of the queen of vanilla herself. Alan had expected her to try and kill him, but he hadn't expected so soon or in such a torturous way. He had to focus though. While the dome appeared to be completely sealed at first glance, there had to be a small hole somewhere, otherwise he would be safe from the neurotoxin. Alan needed to find this hole so that his mandibles would have something to rip the metal apart from. However, he wasn't sure whether or not he would be able to find it in time through touch alone. He had to figure out where it was some other way. He couldn't think straight. At least not with all this vanilla scented meta-

Alan paused. It was a long shot, and he wasn't sure if it would work, but he was desperate. Trying his best to stay calm, Alan closed his eyes and moved around his mandibles, allowing the olfactory sensors inside them to analyze each smell in each direction. Vanilla, vanilla, vanilla, vanilla; it was all giving him quite a headache. Vanilla, vanilla, vanilla, vani- there! The smell in that direction was a bit different, a more sour, what he assumed the neurotoxin seeping smelled like, if it had a smell. Feeling around the origin if the scent, Alan felt a small hole in the metal. Instantly he shoved the point of his left mandible as far as it could go in the hole and pulled at it with all his might. Slowly at first, eventually gaining speed, Alan was able to peel the metal of the dome away, opening a hole just large enough for him to fit through. Bursting out, Alan found himself falling down a flight of stairs that hadn't been there when he had entered the room. Thankful for his protective exoskeleton, Alan tumbled down several more flights of stairs, eventually coming to a small door. Getting up rather clumsily, he smashed with the door and slammed it shut, happy to hear the hiss of an airlock behind him. He was now in a large white room with several doors around the edges. The only other thing in the room was what appeared to be a bloodied unconscious Tollank. So the sinful vixen had made an attempt on his life too huh? Walking over, Alan quickly checked for a pulse and walked back, happy that no one had died at the hands of Aeria yet.

Taking out the picture of his dad from his pocket and just staring at it, Alan couldn't help but think about how lucky he had been. Lucky about the vanilla helping to contrast from the neurotoxin's scent, lucky that the neurotoxin even had a scent. As Alan finished he reflection and deposited his dad's picture back in his pocket, he knew one thing: next time he saw Vanilla Demon, he would make her pay for this. Make. Her. Pay.