Losing One's Head Based on an RP with KG, KGJ, DS, CG, & traP Adaptation by traP -=-=-=-=-=-=-

It was a cool late afternoon in late winter. The shadows sprang onto the ground, in defiance of the season, attempting to proclaim the early demise of the long winter, despite the light dusting of snow on the ground. The sickeningly sweet chirping of birds at the edge of hearing served as a counterpoint to the annoying sounds of the children and teenagers who had gathered near the field, for some unspecified reason.

Actually, Dylan noted, as he glanced down at the various kids his age, engaged in play, he knew the reason. It had been a long and arduous trip to even arrive here on the stolen starship... a trip for which his contributions had been rewarded with by being beaten senseless by one of the bigger kids. "C'est la vie," he muttered to himself, as he watched his niece tease another girl by stealing her pie. "C'est domage," he muttered, concluding the thought with it's logical end. That's life. What a shame.

Elsewhere, but nearby, the aforementioned older kids were themselves engaged in some bizarre sort of conversation. Dylan appreciated the banter of older people more than his own peers, and often would be found in hiding nearby, listening in. Today would be no exception, as he snuck through the underbrush, to find out just what was going on there.

As usual, it seemed, there were a girls and three guys present, arguing over something inane.

Kyle Gon Jinn, who seemed to be the one middle in age, was insisting that he was a Jedi Knight. While Dylan had really yet to see much evidence of such training or committment of mind... well, other than the fact that he ought to have been committed, that is... he had no real reason to dispute this.

Kenny's Goddess, the female, was purring on KGJ's lap, with a catlike grin on her face. It wasn't precisely logical... but with the lunatics the older kids had proven themselves to be, Dylan had learned to suspend his surprize. He wryly noted he had had to learn to suspend such surprize.

The oldest, and definately meanest to Dylan, was known simply as traP. Currently, he was attempting to escape from a chinese fingertrap, and having no success. Dylan smirked to himself... he always got some perverse enjoyment from seeing that one suffer needlessly. Lord knew that one would feel the same about Dylan's own travails.

The fourth, James, was the most interesting, however. He insisted that he was a dragon. Dylan didn't know much about James, except that the faint bruise on his left temple was evidence of James' ability to kick a smaller kid. Until that incident, Dylan had actually liked the guy. He had a wry sense of humor and a similar outlook on life. But, being beaten up will change your opinion pretty quickly.

"I'll prove I'm a dragon!," James exclaimed, as he began to grow larger, to the shock of all the observers except one. That one, KGJ, smirked in reply. "But I'm a dragon trainer."

"Train this, then!" James shrieked, as he grew to a large size, breathing fire onto the other three. KGJ dodged the blast with ease, but KG and traP were not so fortunate, as the were singed by the sulphurous heat.

"Damnit! This means war!" traP proclaimed... before running away as the chicken Dylan knew him to be. KG, for her part, scurried behind KGJ and ceased being a cat, apparently hoping for a quick end to the battle.

KGJ drew his lightsabre menacingly, flicking it towards the dragon James, who treated him with a second blast of heat. Angrilly, KGJ drew further into his abilities, calling upon an ice dragon to counteract the blast, and a thunder dragon in an attempt to disable the terrifying beast.

"Kids!" traP called out, from a nearby vantagepoint. Reluctantly, Dylan trudged away from the battle, knowing that, despite the fact that this couldn't be good, that particular one held some arcane power over him. It was a horrifying existance, but there it was.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Atop a small hill, traP stood, in full chain mail, attempting to persuade anyone who might happen to pass by that he was a true dragon slayer. Nevermind that the nearest dragon was nearly a full kilometer in the air away, and that he was holding his sword incorrectly. The sword, however, did mildly impress Dylan... it was either a replica of, or the authentic, Excalibur itself.

"Damnit, where's the trigger on this thing?" traP mused, causing Dylan to bury his face in his hands. How could an idiot like that acquire a mythical weapon and then not know how to use it?

"What the plan?" Ellie asked. She was a fiery redhead, thickheaded, but always up for an adventure. Aimee shot a glance at her brother, and then looked up. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Simple. I need that dragon down here, so... Ellie, I want you to shoot Dylan and Aimee with that catapult."

"WHAT?!"

"HUH?!"

"Cool!"

Ellie got that grin on her face that both Dylan and Aimee had learned to dread. If she thought something was going to be fun, it was over. Instintively, both siblings began to run. Unfortunately for them, they collided into each other, and collapsed to the ground.

"Get your ass up here, dude!" screamed KGJ, from the sky, now riding one of his dragons into battle with the James dragon. From the sky, one of his dragons swooped down to the ground, and motioned to traP to get on it's back.

traP shrugged, and flung his helmet to the ground. It would solve the issue of how to get up there, after all.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Watching the battle from the ground, KG sighed to herself, as her boyfriend attempted to dissuade the dragon. "Why does this always have to happen?"

However, fate interveened with the next words out of her mouth. "And why can't I ever be the damsel in distress?"

Suddenly, and with no warning, the James dragon screamed down to earth, grabbing KG in one of his scaly arms, and began using the young lady as both a shield against, and a weapon against, KGJ.

"Cease fire!" KGJ screamed to his own dragons, knowing he couldn't risk hurting Cassie. In defiance, James began to swing KG by her hair, using her as a blunt object against KGJ and his dragons, as the dragon carrying traP arrived back on scene.

Had any neutral observer been present, the scene would have been completely incongruous. A huge dragon using a young lady as a weapon against several other dragons, a jedi knight, and a clown who was delusional enough to think he was a midevil knight.

Unfortunately, at this time, the most neutral observer was sitting in a catapult, tied up and gagged, next to his sister, as his own niece stared into the sky, preparing to launch the twins into the air as a projectile. Ellie stubbed out a cigarette, and screamed into the air, "now?!"

"NOW!," came the reply from the fool in armor, and Ellie shoved the lever of the catapult with all her might... with a mighty thump, Dylan and Aimee flew into the air. About half a second later, the arm of the catapult whacked both unfortunate children again, and slammed them back to Earth with a thud.

"MIERDE!" screamed Ellie. She had never missed THAT badly before with any sort of weapon.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

As blasts of fire, ice, KG and lightning traded blows in the sky, two self- proclaimed knights circled around their prey, nervously, as the third weapon in the series flew through the air, just out of reach of the trainer's dragons.

"I have another idea!" traP said, screaming to the dragon he was riding. Had that dragon known any better, he would never have let the armor clad moron aboard, but it was too late now. Although the temptation surely entered that dragon's mind to dump him off.

So it was with surprize, perhaps, that traP proposed that the dragon do exactly that. With a smirk born of getting permission to do what he really wanted, the dragon flew over the dragon James, and uncermoniously let the armor clad doofus fly into the air.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

James was fighting a tough battle here, surrounded by hostiles, and with only a hostage to protect himself from really getting hurt here. The larger threat was clearly the more competant jedi, and his blazing lightsabre, which menaced his extremities. So it was quite a shock when he felt the thump of the heavier armor-clad knight land on his scaly back, and grab hold with what little might he had.

Furious, he swung KG around, in an attempt to dislodge the hapless imbecile. Meanwhile, traP grabbed the legendary sword high above his head. "With this sword of the ages, I smite you to..."

He never got to complete the saying, as KG's flying form jostled his arm, sending the sword screaming to the ground. "DAMNIT!," traP cursed, now realizing the precariousness of his situation. Flying aboard a dragon, a mile in the air, and without the least of weapons to handle him. He reached into a pocket, frowning. There had to be SOMETHING he could use. "Stale sandwich... pocket lint... the Sports Illistrated Swimsuit edition," he said, as he catalogued what he had brought with him, pausing. "I better save that for later," he said, sticking the magazine back in his hip pocket. "Ah! A lemon!"

As James screamed through the air, continuing his attempts to fend off Matt's dragons and the intruder now climbing up his neck, he became more erratic and aggressive. Perhaps he could sense the battle had turned. Perhaps he was tiring.

Perhaps he just wanted to steal traP's magazine.

Whatever the reason, somehow traP managed to make it to the dragon's forehead, and squeeze the lemon violently, dropping citric acid into the dragons eyes.

Furiously and now blindly, the dragon lashed out, striking a blow on KGJ, and causing both KG and Cassie to fall out of the sky, screaming to the ground. Alertly, one of KGJ's dragons grabbed both humans, and flew them to the ground in safety.

In the sky above, James rained lightning blindly to the ground, as his eyesight betrayed him, showing him only a rainbow colored kalidascope effect. One of the stray blasts struck the hapless iron-clad knight, electrocuting him, and sending him flying deep into the woods. KG stared into the sky, and despite the injuries she had suffered from her own ordeal, wished a quiet prayer for KGJ, still fighting in the sky.

James began to descend lower, as the barrage of uncountered incoming elemental attacks began to take its toll. With a roar, one of KGJ's dragons blasted ice, finally seeming to do James in; he fell to the ground with a thud.

traP, recovering the Excalibur sword, approached James menacingly. "I've been burned, whacked, and electocuted by you! Now you die," he screached, as he swung the sword of the ages eratticly. It made contact with the tip of James' tail, which only succeeded in triggering a reflex reaction. The sword, and it's weilder, went flying miles into the forest.

KGJ landed on his dragon, and quickly approached KG, attempting to tend to her burns. It was at this point that Dylan returned timidly to the scene of the battle, rubbing his temple in frustration. It was over, at long last. Perhaps everyone would even get to fully recover from this before there was another battle. It would be a nice change of pace, he noted, as he stared at KGJ and KG.

Deep in the forest, traP screamed in frustration. Excalibur had wedged itself into a boulder, and refused to come free. "It took me five sticks of dynamite to get you out last time, damnit! Rightful King of England my ass!" Kicking the sword one last time in frustration, he picked up a nearby hat, and trudged back off towards KGJ and KG.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In the clearing, things were not going well. KGJ was doing his best to soothe the burns and other injuries suffered by KG, but it was a long, difficult, and painful process for both. After ten minutes of voyeurism, in which all the younger kids had now gathered to watch, it was starting to get boring.

"No, I didn't mean that!," Dylan said to himself, trying to take the thought back. Too late.

traP emerged from the forest, wearing what looked like a multicolored dunce cap.. quite fitting, really. "Nice cap, dude," KGJ muttered, looking up.

"Yeah, well, I went to the middle ages and all I got was gigantis transformis felinis maximus terroris," traP replied, as a bolt of light shot offscreen from his head.

"What?"

"Huh?"

"What did you say?"

"I didn't say anything, I was just complaining about the hat."

Dylan silently screamed in frustration. Whatever language that had been, it was close enough to Latin. "big transform cat maximum terror," he muttered to himself, with a sigh. "Not good."

traP glanced at KG sidelong. "She's hurt bad, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Well maybe I can medicis santis curitis nominis," traP said, and again, a bolt of light emerged. This time, it was a soft glow, which engulfed KG, and raised her to her feet, completely healed.

"Whoa!"

Dylan had had enough of this nonsense. "It's the hat."

"What did I say?"

"This time? Something to the effect of 'cure to full health now.' Haven't you been studying your Latin?"

"Like I have time for that!", traP replied, exasperated, as a loud mew echoed in the forest.

"Cat?"

"Cat," Dylan replied, warily. "The first time, you said big cat..."

His voice trailed off, as a huge cat stuck it's head into the conversation, and bit traP's head clean off at the neck. The tell-tale rhythmic squirting of blood from traP's neck served as evidence to how clean the cut had been.

"...never mind! Bye!" Dylan said, sprawling suddenly into the underbrush. This was no time to be a hero... and moreover, he couldn't help but have a certain sense of restrained glee. As if somehow, he had been a prisoner, and a chain had come free. An irony that a cat traP had somehow summoned would be the thing to do him in.

"Libre," whispered Ellie in hushed tones, as the cat flailed about, slashing at KG and KGJ, echoing Dylan's thoughts. Yes, they were free.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

KGJ slashed his lightsabre at the enormous kitten, as it became more aggressive. A parry here, a thrust there, and the kitten was stung but not seriously hurt. Suddenly, it swung one of it's paws out, and it's claws struck their mark with viscious accuracy, severing KGJ's left leg at the hip. Wincing in pain, KGJ fell back into KG's arms, defeated.

The cat probably would have devoured both of the others at this point, had it not been for a very stupid girl.

Aimee looked up in awe at the giant cat which had set her free, and smiled, pulling out some catnip. THIS would make just TOO cool of a pet, she thought to herself, as she waved the catnip franticly. "Here, kitty kitty!"

"shut UP, Aimee," Dylan said to himself, worriedly, as the cat glanced over at the young blonde, and then slowly approached her.

Towering at at least ten times her size, the kitten purred quietly, and accepted the catnip Aimee profered with glee. Aimee giggled, and began to pet the cat as best as she could, given the size difference. She strode up to the cat's right front paw, and began to stroke it. "That's a good kitty!"

The cat bowed it's head down, and Dylan averted his eyes, unable to take witnessing what he was sure was to come. The cat's tongue dropped, and with little warning, licked the girl head to toe, causing her to giggle with glee.

"Yeah! I'm gonna name you tiger!," she said, getting her gigglefit under control. It was going to be great having a pet cat like this!

Dylan glanced back, in surprize. Aimee was still there, although soaked. Hey, the cat had set them free, maybe it wasn't so bad after all.

Suddenly, the cat snapped downward at Aimee, and in one motion, swallowed the young girl whole, to the horror of her twin brother. "Nooooooooooo!," he screamed, franticly, and ran out onto the field of battle himself. He didn't know what he could do, but there had to be something!

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Injured, and pained, while the cat was distracted, KGJ winced and whispered. "KG?"

"Yes?"

"Avenge me," he said, hoarsely, handing his prized jedi weapon to his girlfriend.

KG didn't need a second invitation at this opportunity. Cat, or no, that bitch was going down. Deftly, she moved under the cat, and began to swipe furiously with the clumbsy Jedi weapon. The cat, now largely sated and under the influence of catnip, stumbled around, crushing KG under the weight of one of it's paws.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"You have to save her!" Dylan screamed, to the Jedi clutching his leg.

"I'm trying," KGJ replied, as he concentrated on lifting the cat's paws off Cassie.

"Not her! My sister!," Dylan yelled, frantic. But it was no use at this point, for KGJ. His concentration was centered solely on KG's wellbeing, in this deadly battle.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

KG crawled out from under the paw, and slashed, removing the offending appendage from the cat's body with the shining sword. Undaunted, the cat swooped down, and was rewarded with another slash, this time to the neck. With all her might, KG swung, and was rewarded with the satisfying thump of the cat's head falling to the ground.

It was over.

Or was it?

The cat's body, still flailing about under the influence of the feline equivalent of heroin, crushed KG beneath it's weight again, pinning her lower body helplessly on the ground. She screamed in pain and frustration, as the cat's movements became less animated.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"WELL?!" Dylan yelled, frowning.

KGJ moved one of his hands to the forefront, and began waving it towards the enormous cat corpse. Suddenly, it came free from the constraints of gravity, and flew into the air, landing harmlessly on it's side a dozen feet away. Weakly, he collapsed back to the ground, trying to control the bleeding from where his leg had been. On the ground, KG struggled to move.

This was it, Dylan thought. None of the bigger kids can help. One was dead, the other two were seriously injured, and the fourth was the enemy. now defeated. And they wouldn't be any help now unless at least one of them was well. With the resolve of desperation, Dylan ran over to traP's corpse, and went through his pockets.

"It's gotta be in here somewhere," he muttered, as he sorted through the odds and ends present. "Lint. Lemon rind. SI swimsuit..," he said, pausing for a moment, then throwing the magazine over his shoulder. "AH!" he said, pulling out a small device the size of a double-A battery. "Come on, turn on! Uh... activate!"

The device glowed briefly, and became attached to the shoulder of a holographic balding man in a stupid looking blue jumpsuit. "What is the nature of the medic... you know you're not supposed to play with me. What the hell is going on here?" the hologram replied, dour.

"Shut up! He's dead," Dylan said, pointing at traP. "Those two will be, if you don't act," he concluded the briefest of briefings, pointing at KGJ and KG. "Fix them."

"Pushy," the EMH muttered, rolling his eyes, as he approached KGJ. "Don't I at least get a nurse?" he called off, to the retreating child. "Damn. Well... oh, it's YOU again. We really have to stop meeting like this."

"Bite me," KGJ growled through the pain. He had the unfortunate experience of the holograms so-called bedside manner before, and wasn't exactly looking forward to ever seeing it again.

"Not until the third date," the hologram replied, undaunted. "Where does it hurt."

"Gee, maybe where my fucking LEG has been cut off?!"

"Oh. Yes," the EMH replied, shrugging. Sometimes medical cases were exactly what they appeared to be. The EMH noted in this patient's medical file the irony that the same foot he had treated just the other day now had been severed from the body. "Why am I not surprized?" he asked idly. -=-=-=-=-=-=-

As KG struggled to move closer to KGJ, despite her broken limbs, Dylan ran up to her, and swipped the lightsabre away.

"Yeah, thanks a whole hell of a lot for the help," she muttered to herself, through the pain. Dylan continued past, oblivious to everything except the faded hope that somehow Aimee had survived being swallowed. With a silent prayer, he activated the lightsabre, and clumbsily began to cut into the abdomen of the dead cat. Suddenly, with a sickening slush and smell, the contents of the cat's chest cavity came free, sliding to the ground with a dull flop.

Desperately, Dylan began cutting into various organs at random, hoping to see something alive, squirming. There just HAD to be.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"I can't treat you here. I simply don't have the equipment available," the EMH noted, dourly. "I can stop the bleeding, and we can attempt to reattach your leg at a proper medical facility," he said, as he continued his examilation.

"That will have to do then," KGJ agreed, worriedly.

"Of course it would be better if we could keep the severed limb clean and cold," the EMH mused to himself.

"Not a problem," KGJ replied, nodding to one of his dragons, who quickly retrieved the leg, and encapsulated it in a block of ice.

"Fascinating," the EMH replied, having to resist the urge to scan the dragon. There was a triage situation in effect, after all. "Now, do we have any disinfectant?"

Of course, in the middle of the woods, there was none. Or was there?

Ellie sat on a nearby treestump, and from her hip pocket removed a swiped flask of blue wine from the Aluminum Falcon. As the EMH and KGJ both glared at her, she shrugged. "Hey, me celebrate be libre," she explained, as she raised the flask to her lips.

The EMH strode over and swiped the nearly pure alcohol beverage from the child's arms, and simply absorbed her reactionary attempt to inflict severe harm to his testicles with her knife. "I'm a hologram, and becides you're too young to drink," the EMH scolded, returning to KGJ with the beverage.

As Cassie arrived to hold KGJ's hand, the EMH frowned. "This is going to hurt like hell."

KGJ nodded, and gripped KG tighter, as the blue fermented liquid was poured over the wound.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"She can't be!" Dylan yelled, to no one in particular, as he continued the search through the seemingly endless collection of catgut.

"Hey," Lily said, approaching. "What's wrong?"

"My sister," Dylan replied, stiffling a sob. "She's..."

"in there?"

"Yeah," he replied, unable to restrain his tears. "What am I going to do! How am I going to explain to mom she got eaten by a cat?!"

Lily stared blankly at the guts, as Dylan flopped down amongst the maze of intestines in frustration. "I... I didn't REALLY hate her," he said, through the tears. "Maybe it's just a twin thing, you wouldn't under..."

Lily's harsh glare reminded Dylan suddenly of who he was talking to. "Sorry," he said, quietly. "But it's no use now. She's dead. What am I going to do?"

Lily sighed inwardly. "Maybe... maybe I can do something for her."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

At the makeshift hospital, the EMH had moved on from sealing KGJ's wound, leaving him at least a temporary amputee, and had begun a cursory examination of KG's wounds.

"Definately broken bones," the EMH said, clinically. "You may have suffered some serious internal injuries to your ass as well. I can't treat you here, I simply don't have the equipment."

"What do you need, doc?"

"A well stocked medical bay, or hospital. Preferably one equipped with 24th or later century materials," the EMH replied, vaguely unsure of what year it was right now. "But in a pinch, I can work with more primitive equipment."

"We need the ship, then," KGJ said, still in pain, turning to KG. "Can Lily? Or Kat?"

"I don't think Lily would be willing. And I don't think Kat would be able," KG replied, dour.

Ellie lept up. "I fly!"

The EMH shook it's head. "You're going to trust a child to fly the ship?"

"Maybe I can help," Cartman's Girl, said, arriving on scene. "What the hell happened here?"

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

As CG arrived, so had Zedichu, which Dylan didn't quite know what to make of. But the... whatever it was, had hopped over to where Lily and Dylan were.

Lily had explained that she was a witch of some sort. Ordinarilly, Dylan might have argued the point, but he was beyond caring HOW something worked, so long as it had a chance of working; a realization that he briefly felt shock over. "Ok, how can I help?

"Well, we kinda need to find her body," Lily said, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world. Of course, it probably was, but rational thought had flown out the window.

"Z! Z!", Zedichu said, clamoring for attention.

Dylan nodded, after a moment of thought, and reignighted the lightsabre. There was simply nothing to decide, here, he thought, as he swung the sword upwards, causing the contents of the cat's stomach to gush out in a torrent of liquid.

"What an incredible smell you've discovered," Dylan muttered to himself, as the liquid poured freely into the crevices and gaps between the intestines, collecting in pools. Lily and Zedichu both wrinkled their nose at the horrid stench as well, before climbing inside the cat's body to search inside there.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"We need you to bring my ship back, CG," KGJ explained. The EMH was content, at least it would be an adult who would be piloting.

"Fine, but there's still one issue left," CG said, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Wha?" KG asked.

"MY BABY!", CG yelled.

The EMH frowned, and began scanning CG "I don't detect any signs of a pregn..."

"Right. Your Snorlax. He's still on the ship, so you can collect him now or later," KGJ replied.

"Okay," CG agreed. "Now how do I get there? And can I get the keys?"

As KGJ shuffled through his pockets for the keys to his starship, the EMH frowned. "I wasn't designed for continuous outdoor operation. And... with the headless hero sandwich over there," he said, refering offhandly to the corpse, "I may not get another chance to get recharged easily. Reactivate me only if there is a new emergency, or we arrive at a suitable medical facility," he said, rattling off the instructions.

"Can you fix him?" KG asked, frowning.

"No problem. I'll just put a turnip in his head or something," the EMH replied, dour. "No one will notice the difference, I bet."

"Yeah, whatever, thanks dude," KGJ said, offhandly, as the EMH deactivated himself, returning to the battery shaped capsule. KGJ shrugged, and tossed the device, out of his way for the moment.

"I need new battery," Ellie said to herself, smirking, as she picked up the EMH. Sticking the unit into her walkman, she smiled as she cranked the music up full blast. "No steal booze from me, cabron," she said to the device, as she began draining it's power contently.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"I found it!," Dylan yelled excitedly, as he pulled up something from a shallow pool of stomach juice. But his glee was short-lived, when it was revealed all he had found was one of his sister's shoes.

"Hey, that's great, that means she's gotta be in there somewhere," Lily said, after a quiet moment. "We just gotta keep looking."

Dylan grabbed for a tuft of hair, but he knew it wasn't his sister's by the color. He flung traP's head through the air in frustration. "This is going to take forever!"

With a thump, the severed head collided with KG's head, and she screamed in pain. "Hey! Watch it!"

Dylan rolled his eyes and sighed simultaneously. "Yeah, I pick now go get accurate with my curveball," he muttered, before wading into another pool of stomach juice.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In the sky overhead, CG rode on the back of one of KGJ's dragons, racing through the air. She was not content, however, given that the rough flight was starting to make her ill.

The dragon glanced back up at its passenger, and offered a bucket.

"Yeah, you just don't want me to barf on you," she noted wryly. The dragon smiled, and nodded its agreement.

Fortunately, the bucket wasn't needed however, as they arrived quickly at the villa. The starvessel was just a short elevator ride away.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Dylan waded through a pool of stomach juice, searching half-blind now because of the coating over his glasses, when he suddenly completely in facefirst.

"Zi! Zi!" Zedichu called out to Lily.

"You ok," Lily asked. She was starting to get frustrated with this particular clutz and his antics.

Dylan shook his head, spraying the diluted acid around from his hair, and spat up a small quanta of the even worse tasting than smelling liquid from his mouth, before speaking. "I found her," he yelled, then dived back underneath the surface headfirst.

Zedichu and Lily regarded each other warily, and were a little surprized when Dylan resurfaced, with almost all of Aimee's limp body. Carefully, they grabbed on, helping to lug it to 'shore.' Zedichu suddenly dropped his share of the load, and waded back into shallow water, grabbing a floating hand that was also once part of Dylan's sister's body.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

It seemed like at least ten minutes before the elevator finally "Ding'd announcing it's arrival at the hangar level. She took a brief moment to admire the dented and scortched, and most of all stolen, Aluminum Falcon, before she entered through the flight crew entry. Shooting her sleeping Snorlax a smile, she climbed up into the cockpit.

"I hope this works. I don't even have my learner's P yet!" she exclaimed to herself. KGJ's dragon shot a concerned glance, as CG ramped the trust on the starship to full power, sending it flying into the sky, after first performing some impromptu remodeling on the side of the villa's north wall.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"The ship is here. We'll do it up there," Lily said, after a brief moment of examination.

"How can you..." Dylan asked, before the roar of the Aluminum Falcon filled his ears. "Nevermind," he finished, as he idly tried to clean his glasses against his jacket. Replacing them, he found himself as blind as before, since his entire body was caked head to toe with the pungent cat fluid.

"Zi! Zi!," Zedichu said, waving Aimee's missing hand in the air.

"What's he saying?"

"Uh.. I think he wants you to put her hand back on her wrist," Lily answered, with a shrug.

"Zi!," Zedichu replied, but it was impossible to really tell whether he was agreeing or correcting her.

Nevertheless, Dylan shrugged, and took the proffered hand. Unable to really tell what good this was going to do, he laid the hand next to where it had been severed from.

"Ziiiiiii," the Zedichu mumbled, in frustration, and grabbed the hand back. Producing thread and needle, he began to sew the hand back on himself, to the bemusement of Dylan and Lily.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

It wasn't long before everyone was aboard the starship, including the corpses. KG idly drummed her fingers against traP's head, as she watched the goings on in the cargobay, while waiting for the hyperspace calculations to be made by the computer.

In the center of the hold, Dylan, Zedichu, and Lily gathered around Aimee's corpse. Zed seemed vaguely annoyed, and continued to clamor about.

"He's pissed off cause you didn't thank him properly for fixing her hand so well," CG said over the intercom, which finally answered the question of what the little guy was going on about.

"Yeah, dude, fine. You sewed her hand back on, but she's still dead," Dylan said, dourly. "I'm sorry, I just don't see what good that did."

"You'll see," Lily replied, enigmatically, and she ran off, before Dylan could protest.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"I need your pokemons," Lily said, in an insistant tone, practically an order given to KG.

"Why?"

"Just give them to me!" Lily said, annoyed. KG was definately one of the people in this world that she liked least of all, and she didn't want to spend a whole lot of time hear her.

"Fine, fine," KG agreed, reluctantly. Inwardly, she was curious... Lily had never shown all that much interest in her pokemons... but, then again, the pokemons wouldn't knowingly do anything against KG anyway, so there really wasn't any risk involved here. And she was a little curious... just what was that little bitch up to?

"Thanks," Lily said, the word practically spat out, as she grabbed the monsters, and headed back down.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"I don't see what good this," Dylan said, beginning his protest.

"Shut up," Lily said, quickly. "Ok, you pokemon! Cry for her!"

Cassie's collection of monsters stared at Lily, blankly, and internally conflicted... they knew better than to obey Lily blindly, and they couldn't see or hear KG to find out if it was ok with her.

"Zi! Ze! Zizized!", Zedichu exclaimed, in some alien language. The other pokemon turned to the little creature, and nodded in some sort of agreement.

As one, the entire group began wailing, to Dylan's surprize. Slowly, Aimee began to twitch.

"I think it worked," Lily said, with a small smile on her face.

Aimee batted her eyes, and suddenly turned her head, spewing the disgusting feline cat juice onto the ground briefly. "w... what?"

Dylan suddenly grabbed Lily in a tight embrace. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Lily stood, shocked for a moment, before tapping Dylan lightly. "Uh.. you're welcome."

Dylan stopped, just as suddenly as it he had begun. "Er...," he said releasing his sudden grip. "yeah. Uh.. and you, too Zed. Thanks."

"Zi!," Zedachu burbled, contently, as KG's pokemon wandered away.

Aimee glanced up, as the memory fog began to lift from her head. "Dylan?"

"Yeah?"

"I just remembered. I HATE CATS!"

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

As Lily returned upstairs with KG's monsters, she grunted something which vaguely sounded like "thanks."

KG smirked, and turned to KGJ. "I think Lily might be growing a heart."

"Lily?" Matt asked, surprised.

"Fat chance," Lily replied, gruffly, and a little embrassed. God, the last thing she needed was KG thinking she'd gone all soft on her.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Well... uh... I'm going to take a shower," Dylan said, uneasily, as the starship launched into faster-than-light velocities. He was very uncomfortable with the stench, but he was even more uncomfortable with the emotional outburst he'd displayed. He'd have to contemplate on that.

"Eech, you do that," Aimee replied, sitting up, sore. "I'll take the next one," she offered, realizing that she probably stank even worse. 'I owe you one, bro,' she thought to herself. "And you too, Lily," she said aloud, which caused the re-arriving Lily to look at her in confusion as to what she meant.

Zedichu approached Aimee's bed, glancing at her oddly.

"What are you?"

"Zedichu!", the creature said, extending his hand towards Aimee.

"He's Zed, but he's been infected with Pikachu DNA," C.G.'s voice came over the intercom.

"Eww, I don't want to get infected!" Aimee said, squealing. Lily glared at her, and Aimee sighed, sheepishly. "Oh fine," she said, shaking the creature's hand with an internal cringe. "I guess I owe you one too," she admitted.

"Hey, what ever happened to traP's head anyway?" Aimee wondered, aloud.

"Zi!", Zedichu exclaimed, and dashed up to where Cassie and Matt were.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

KG and KGJ looked into each others eyes, trying to ignore the pain they were still in, as Zedichu arrived at their side, and swiped traP's head away from KG.

"Eww! That thing was with me all this time?" she squealed

"Yeah," KGJ said, smirking a little.

"Why didn't you tell me! Eww!" KG said, trying to wipe the dried cat intestines off her hands.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Sweet!" Aimee exclaimed, in delight, at the sight of Zed holding traP's head proudly. "I really am free!"

Lily glanced over, and felt a small twang of jealousy. 'yeah, you're free,' she thought to herself. 'but I'm not.'

"Dude! We should go bowling with that! C'mon Zed," Aimee said, crawling out of bed. On the ship's bowling lanes, Zed concentrated briefly, and heaved the head roughly down the lanes, knocking ten pins down. "Strike! My turn, my turn!" Aimee squealed.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Where are we going, anyway?" KGJ asked into the intercom.

"Closest planet with a hospital capable of treating you two. You're not going to like it."

"As long as it's not the planet of the Pikachus or something, it will be fine," KGJ replied.

"As I said, you're not going to like it," CG replied, shutting the intercom off.

"Damnit."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Aimee gripped traP's head carefully, and stuck her thumb into the eye socket to get a grip. Swinging the head back then forward, she sprawled to the ground, in frustration. "Damn! It's stuck!"

Zedichu stifled a laugh, then grabbed onto the head, and tried to help Aimee remove it from her hand. With a plop, the head flew into the air, and into the hands of Ellie, who was standing nearby.

"Wow," she exclaimed, as she examined the head, with a smirk. "Me always wanted his head as ashtray," she said. With not so much as a thanks, she turned back towards her room on the ship, switchblade in hand.

Zed glanced up, a little confused. Aimee shrugged. "She did always say that," Aimee admitted. "Oh well, at least it will go to good use."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The Aluminum Falcon arrived, landing roughly on a dedicated pad. As various pokemons grabbed the stretchers containing KGJ, KG, and traP's headless corpse, and carried them to the hospital. CG looked worriedly as her friends were brought into the hospital, as she wondered whether the medical care here would suffice to bring them back to health.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In the shower, Dylan reflected briefly on the day, and how deeply he had been affected. He didn't like what had been brought out in him. He'd behaved recklessly, and selfishly. And yet, the results of the day seemed good. He was free, his sister was alive... maybe he had made a friend or two...

"This doesn't mean I'm turning into an optimist," he insisted to no one in particular, as he tried to get the cat stench out of his hair.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In her dorm room, Ellie smiled at her creation. Having removed the top one third of the skull's head, the remainder made what she would consider a work of art. Stubbing a cigarette butt into the soft flesh of traP's brain, she smirked wondered idly what adventures she would have now that she'd been set free. She shrugged, and began collecting the hair off traP's head... maybe she could make something useful out of it.

"I wonder if they let me have rest of his body," she said to herself. She could always find something to do with it too.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Aimee sat next to CG, Zed, Lily, and two of KGJ's dragons, in the waiting room of the hospital. She really didn't know KGJ or KG all that well, but hey, they weren't bad people. And maybe she could get KGJ to teach her that invisible box trick Ellie had mentioned the other day. That would be fun.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Inside the hospital, three bodies lay under the careful inspection of the doctors. It would be a difficult night for them. Humans could be so fragile and difficult to heal. After all, as one of the bodies lay evidence to... the slightest thing could sometimes make them lose their heads.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Epilogue

Dylan Steele sat half stunned, staring at the computer screen at the creative writing assignment he had completed. "Another day, another B+," he muttered to himself, knowing that despite his best efforts, grades tended to be rigged. "I really have to quit eating Mongolian Barbeque before bed."

"Did you finish that paper for Miss Dicksucker?," his sister Aimee called out, from the hallway.

"That's Choksondik. I don't see what the need for childish names is," Dylan replied, with a sigh, as he hit the icon which would send the paper off to his trusty dot matrix printer. "What was yours on?"

"I just printed up some Mark Twain story. Something about frogs. I don't think she'll even notice," Aimee replied, smirking. Dylan frowned, knowing this was indeed true. Their teacher would probably not even notice. "That is cheating, you know."

"So? Can I read yours?"

"Sure," Dylan said, smirking. "Just as soon as you get eaten by a cat." With that, he shut the door to his room in her face.

"Eaten... by a cat?" Aimee muttered to herself, completely bemused. "And he calls ME crazy?" She trudged back off to her room with a shrug.