Kaylee in Wonderland (Part One)

Chapter One: Frayed First Meetings

“WWWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Kaylee fell, down and down, further into this rabbit (or should it be dragon?) hole. The light, such as it was, above her swiftly vanished as she fell deeper and deeper. The diminishing light led to the walls of soil falling into shadow, as the darkness surrounded her.

Wait a minute, can’t I fly?

As soon as the thought crossed her mind, her Ki burst from her, stopping her in mid-air. The resultant light allowed her to see around. She looked up, trying to find the entrance to this hole. It was little more than a pin prick far above. As Kaylee began to fly upward, a most disconcerting effect took place; the walls around her started rising, as though she were still falling. No matter how fast she tried to fly up, the walls simply moved faster.

What’s going on?

Kaylee looked downward, trying to figure out what was going on. She saw a bright light rushing toward her, and before she could even cover her eyes, it enveloped her, and she whited out.

As she came to, she was in a forest, but it all seemed wrong. The trees were purple, the sky yellow, and the moon looked to be ten times its normal size as it hung in the sky. There was little grass, but many mushrooms, and beneath her feet was a cobblestone path.

“What? Where on Earth am I?”
“Who says you’re on Earth?”

The deep, suave voice came from the ground. Looking down, Kaylee saw that green dragon again! It was tapping one foot on the ground, seeming to be irritated by the gigantic schoolgirl appearing to be blocking the path they were standing on.

“It’s you!”
“Well, who else would I be? As for what is no doubt your next question, this place has no name, as no-one has ever bothered to name it. Now with that out of the way, I must be on my way. I am rather late.”

With that, the green dragon slipped around her and darted down the path!
“OI! Don’t leave! I still have questions!” Kaylee yelled as it scampered away.
“Can’t stop! I’m very, very late!” It didn’t even look behind it as it continued!

Alright then, that’s it!

Kaylee gave chase. With a blast of Ki, she propelled herself after it, overtaking it within moments. She slammed one hand down upon it, pinning it to the path.

“Look, you! I don’t know where I am and you are the only other thing around here that can talk! So, if you don’t want to take a pounding, start talking!”

It didn’t say a word; it just rolled its eyes and seemed to become something akin to jelly, running through her fingers as though it were water, its mass accumulating outside her grip. Not a moment later, it had escaped!

“You’ve delayed me more, now I’m later than ever!” It yelled as it flew away. “Oh I do hope I’m not too la-“
Before it could finish its next sentence, a much, MUCH larger dragon head sprang up and chomped it down!

“MMM, YUMMY!”

The ground rumbled as the rest of the dragon appeared. It was covered in red scales, and while it had no wings, it had three tails, each with a humanoid head with red horns!

“Who was with the snack?”
“There is another one there!”
“We shall eat that one as well!”

With that, the dragon roared, opened its jaws wide, and it dove toward Kaylee!

While it was big, it was also slow, easy to dodge. Kaylee dove to the side, before launching herself back, kicking the dragon in the cheek!

“OI! I needed that little green guy! Unless YOU know how to get back to the real world, you’d better cough him up!”

“It made a threat!”
“As it just stands there!”
“We shall make it pay!”

The dragonhead roared again, before lunging forward to try and swallow Kaylee whole once again. Once again, with a timely dodge, she avoided the attack. This time though, she countered with a flying kick to the beast’s scaled belly. It wasn’t enough though; it ate the attack before trying to eat her again!

Its belly is armored as well?

She tried to dodge again, but she was too close this time. The jaws came down on her.
In the nick of time, Kaylee was able to thrust her hands up against the roof of the dragon’s mouth. She was pinned, but it was better than being swallowed whole.

Bloody hell! What kind of strength is this?!

It was taking almost all of Kaylee’s strength to hold the jaws off. The stench was nauseating, its breath reeking of whatever it had been eating mixed with the contents of its stomach. Kaylee gagged, desperately trying to avoid vomiting.

“That was a successful attack!”
“She is in our mouth!”
“We shall swallow her!”

*Those heads… If I can’t take out this big one, maybe I can beat them? *

With that thought, and a colossal heave upward, Kaylee managed to break the jaws’ pressure upon her. The upper jaw was launched upwards just enough for her to slip out from between those teeth. Wasting no time, she flew toward the tails, their human eyes widening as the giant girl bore down on them.

“She broke free!”
“She is approaching!”
“She will harm us!”

Damn right I will! Kaylee thought, as she grabbed the base of the tails, where they were closest to each other. Holding that grip, she flew forward, until she had all three heads caught.
“Look you whatever-you-are, either you puke up that dragon, or I rip these heads off!”

The big head opened its mouth as if to answer, but the tail-heads butted in first:

“That was a threat against us!”
“She is hurting us!”
“If we do not flee, we will be torn off!”

With that, the draconic head began to gag and heave. Then, with a final nauseating barf, it vomited out the curled-up body of the green dragon.
Resisting the urge to cover her nose, Kaylee gave a last order to the monster.

“Good, now get out of here!”

The beast lumbered away, the four heads arguing with each other over whose fault it was that their meal was lost.

“I told you we shouldn’t have tried new food!”
“We need to eat something!”
“Let us go eat something that doesn’t give us such indigestion!”
“I STILL HUNGER!”

Their arguing carried through the air, diminishing as they got further away.

Kaylee sighed. At least that immediate problem had been resolved. While… everything else was still wrong, not being eaten by a giant monster was an improvement.

Right, that dragon! Where is…he

Kaylee looked down at the puddle of sludge and unmentionable goop. Among half-digested carcasses, there was the curled-up body of the dragon, although it was more brown than green right now.

Is it dead? Bugger. If it’s dead, then I’ve got nothing to go on to getting out of here.

She drifted toward it, fearing the worst, but pleasantly surprised when it released a sob and began to unfurl. As she got closer, it slowly sat up, still crying. Feeling sorry for the sorry-looking creature, Kaylee reached out to it.

“Hey, are you O –”

Before she could finish, the dragon leapt onto her face, hugging her while bawling.

“WAAA! WAAAA! WAAAAA-!”

In the real world

“Hey, come on buddy, ya can’t just cry. Besides, I’m pretty sure she’d like to breath!”

Inigo comforted his construct. Gigan sniffled, turning to look at its master with tears in its little eyes. It was hugging Kaylee’s comatose body, or more accurately her face. With one paw, it wiped away its tears, before reaching up toward Inigo. He gave a sympathetic smile and reached down, letting his dragon climb into his arms.

“It’s OK, buddy, it’s OK. She’ll be up and about and punching through you before you know it!”

The pair turned to look at their unconscious classmate, seeing no external sign of acknowledgement of the hug. Beside her, the machine monitoring her heartbeat kept beeping.

Chapter Two: A Date in the Depths

“THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOOOOUUUUUU!”
The dragon bawled as it continued to thank its savior. Kaylee couldn’t breathe, both from the suffocation, as well as the stench. After momentary flailing from the sudden embrace, Kaylee grabbed the weeping dragon, gagging as she pulled him off her face. After a cough and a wheeze, she managed to speak:

“OK, OK! Just get off me! God, you stink! Just what was that thing eating? Scratch that, I don’t want to know. “

“IT WAS HORRID IN THERE! It burnt, I couldn’t breathe, and there were –”

“I SAID I DON’T WANT TO KNOW!”

The shout made the dragon cower. Kaylee felt bad; she hadn’t meant to make the poor thing feel worse than it already did.

“I’m sorry. Look, I helped you, so can you help me? I need to get out of here.”
It sniffled again, nodded its head, and floated up to her midriff, doing its best to hug around her abs and obliques.

“I’ll take that as a yes. First things first, we need to wash you.”

She took a look down at the dragon, as well as the…gown? She was wearing a hospital gown? Why was that? She wasn’t in a hospital, was she?

“And myself as well, it seems. There’s got to be water nearby, that thing had to drink something. Let’s find a stream or a lake or something, then we can move from there.”

He nodded, and with that, the pair took to the skies.

It didn’t take long to find fresh water. Not half a kilometer from their location, was a large lake. It was almost rectangular, with the far corners being pointed, while a small stream came out at the closer end. It almost looked like one of those fluid bags that hospitals used, but that was irrelevant.

“There we go, land over there!” Kaylee called out.

“Don’t you mean water over there?” the dragon had a smug look on its face, well aware at the awfulness of the joke. Kaylee simply rolled her eyes and descended.

The pair landed on the shoreline. The water was deep blue, completely clear at the surface, while the depths were hidden from the light. It seemed to descend forever!

“Stay close enough to the shoreline, who knows what’s down there.” Kaylee ordered to the dragon, as she scanned the water, before there was a colossal SPLASH!

Kaylee’s head snapped round, reflexively preparing for combat, only to go slack seeing the dragon frolic in the water as though it were a dog.

“COME ON IN, THE WATER’S LOVELY!”

Kaylee facepalmed, but calmed herself. It looked like it was having fun, and they needed to get clean anyway. She did a few stretches, limbered up, and dived in.

“aaaahhhhhh~!”

The dragon wasn’t wrong; the water was great! The coolness seemed to saturate her, going through her veins, giving her relief. She swam a few metres out before floating on her back, staring at the sky. Lurking beneath the pair, however, were five pairs of jealous eyes.

The pair stayed at the surface; one just floating on her back with her hair drifting around, the other playing around, doing loop-de-loops and mucking around. The dragon came up, squirted a mini geyser of water out of its mouth, and turned to talk.

“You know, I don’t think we properly introduced ourselves. My name is Gogun, what’s yours?”

“My name?” Kaylee struggled for a moment. What was her name? She should know it, but the harder she tried to recall, the further it seemed to slip away from her.

“I – I’m not sure.”

“That’s an odd name.”

The glower she gave Gogun told him she didn’t appreciate the joke.

“Well you must have taken quite the knock to the noggin to forget your own name. Did you get into a fight?”

A fight? Kaylee thought, before memories flashed before her. A giantess, taller even than her, standing over her in victory. Being thrown through a wall. A voice crying her name…

“That’s right! Kaylee, my name’s Kaylee.”

“Well, Kaylee, it’s nice to meet you.” Gogun smiled, as he reached out a hand/paw. Kaylee clasped it and shook.

“Likewise, I guess.”

“So, where do you come from, Kaylee? You talked about wanting to get back somewhere, where is that?”

“I’m not sure. I remember a bunch of places, but it’s all jumbled up. The stars, a field somewhere, a…a school. But they weren’t here, wherever ‘here’ is. What about you? You said you were late for something.”
Gogun’s eyes widened, panic setting in.

“THAT’S RIGHT! OH ME OH MY OH NO! I’M LATE, SO LATE!”

The dragon thrashed around, flailing in alarm, seeming to forget how to swim.

“I’M LATE, LATER THAN EVER!”

He suddenly remembered that he could fly, but before he could take off, Kaylee grabbed a hind leg.

“Oi! Calm down and listen! If you’re already late, then there’s no point in hurrying, as you’re late anyway! So, you might as well calm down!”

But no-one ever has calmed down upon being told to do so, and this was no exception. He struggled against her grip, but before he could pull the jelly trick again, Kaylee twisted and pulled, slamming the dragon into the water.

Kaylee waited for Gogun to surface, to (hopefully) have snapped out of it from the shock of the plunge, but he didn’t. Seconds turned into a full minute, and Kaylee got concerned. Could he drown? Best not to find out. She took a deep breath and dived down.

In the clear water closer to the surface, there was no sign of him. Kaylee swam down into the dark depths, squinting to try and see. Before she could see him though, she could hear the struggle. Following the noise, she swam deeper, until she could see what was happening. Her eyes widened with shock.

There was Gogun, struggling with all his might, against two alien-looking women. They had blonde hair, gills on their necks, with mouths wide open and mean fangs showing. She swam down to help him, only to get blindsided by three others!

An Ambush?! They must have been hiding in the darkness!”

On instinct, Kaylee released a battle cry as she struck out at her attackers, but shouting underwater is a bad idea. She realized too late that she was out of air, even as one of the nymphs careened backwards from her blow. The strange satisfaction she got from that hit didn’t compensate for the lack of oxygen. Kaylee looked up, seeing a bizarre shark-like silhouette, before the darkness took her.

In the real world.

Nurse Weber washed Kaylee’s unresponsive face. She fussed to herself, that delinquent Inigo had been in here; she was sure of it. Such a messy student! Not to mention that construct of his. When was the last time he gave that thing a wash?
Bah, it doesn’t matter. I just need to finish this sponge bath, and I can go on break.
Her gravid belly was tiring her, but she kept her professionalism up. She got back to the wash.

Chapter Three: A Helping Hand

Kaylee groggily opened her eyes. She wasn’t dead, it seems. She was in a bed, covered by a soft fuzzy blanket. She felt heavy, but forced herself to sit up, to see where she was.

There were bizarre gadgets and gizmos all over the place. Almost every surface had some strange contraption that she couldn’t recognize. There was a curtain by the far wall, and as she processed her surroundings, a voice came from behind it.

“Ah! You’re awake!”

A metal hand pulled the curtain back, and a feminine-looking robot stuck their head in. she looked vaguely Asian, with a bob cut and maid outfit.

“Ahh, konichiwa! The masters were wondering when you would awaken! Welcome to Hirogo Creations! I am Takora, a pleasure to meet you.”

She curtsied before Kaylee, causing her to raise an eyebrow. The cyborg (or would it be an android?) continued:

“You must be confused. You see, one of the master’s other creations – Voctir – was on his patrol when he noticed that you and your companion had gotten into a conflict with those wicked nymphs, and brought you to safety. He will be more than happy to fill in the details when you meet the masters. Are you feeling better?”

Kaylee motioned to stand up, but before she could, Takora started flailing.

“Aah, please, remain in bed! Not simply for your well-being, but that your clothes have been washed!”

She turned, and returned with Kaylee’s gown washed, dried, and folded. Kaylee looked under the sheets, before pulling them up to her chin, blushing furiously.

“I shall give you some privacy, feel free to come downstairs when you are ready and able.”
With that, Takora curtsied again and left Kaylee alone.

Something is wrong. I don’t know what it is, but everything is wrong.

Kaylee ruminated on her surroundings and her situation. Now that she had some peace to think and observe, while she couldn’t put her finger on it, everything was… off. Was it the colors, the atmosphere? It wasn’t just in this building, now that she thought about it. It was everywhere in this strange place. She got dressed, thankful at least that their mission of getting clean ended up working out.

Her eyes widened. Gogun! What about him! That android hadn’t mentioned him beyond bringing him here, not his state. She finished getting dressed as quickly as possible, before rushing downstairs.

Any fear she had over the dragon dissipated, seeing him at what would have been a dinner table if it didn’t have more random gadgets on it, munching down on a stack of the fluffiest pancakes she had ever seen.

“Aah, hello! Would you also like some food?”

Unsurprisingly, the cook was the android. Kaylee thought to herself, and realized, she didn’t feel hungry. Normally after a fight she’d want to eat something, but she had had two battles almost back to back, but didn’t feel hungry at all!

Just more proof that something’s wrong. She thought to herself.

“No, thank you. I wanted some more information, especially on how we were rescued.” Kaylee turned to her erstwhile companion, who had his face buried in another pancake.

“That would be thanks to me!”

A guy who looked like he had been spliced with a shark. He was tall, not at Kaylee’s mutant height, but he towered over Takora. His skin was grey, his teeth sharp, and he appeared to have gills on his cheeks.

“I’m Voctir, and I’m the one who saved you two!”

“You beat those nymphs?”

“Yep! I’m the most powerful manufacture of Hirogo Creations! They didn’t stand a chance against my power of controlling the inertia of water!”

“What does that mean?”

Voctir paused, as did everything else. It was but a moment, but Kaylee noticed it.

“I’m actually not sure. But that’s beside the point! The point is, that I saved you, and that I’m the strongest, and –”

“That’s enough, Voctir.”

The voice was almost muffled, seeming to come behind a mask. Voctir’s eyes widened, and as he turned to the voice, Kaylee followed his gaze. In walked a pair of almost comical scientists.

Donned in labcoats, safety goggles, and stethoscopes, they reflected Kaylee’s poor understanding of what most scientists looked like. One was almost hunched over, standing with poor posture, with their mouth covered with what appeared to be a construction mask. The other was almost androgynous, to the point that Kaylee wasn’t certain if they were male or female.

“Bosses! I – I mean, nothing I said was wrong! My ability of water inertia allows me to – ”

“Yes, yes, we all know how strong you are, it doesn’t need to be reiterated.”

The other one spoke this time, waving away Voctir’s protests.

“Now, for our guest. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Go, this is my associate Hiro, and I am sure you can figure out that where the name Hirogo came from! Now, let us not waste any more time.”

He She They clapped their hands and gestured to the room from which they just came. Voctir leapt to the sound of their tune, rushing in there, presumably to bring something through.

“Your friend informed us of your insistence of coming from a different realm, as well as your memory issues.” They gestured to Gogun, who simply looked up with a pancake still hanging from his mouth. He simply raised a paw in recognition before returning to his meal.

“Naturally, as scientists, such a thing piqued our interests. So we invented a device that should help!”

Kaylee raised an eyebrow. She was not one to accept help at the best of times, and while these strangers had saved her life, she was still somewhat loathe to accept a helping hand.

“Help how?”

“Why, by scanning your brain, of course!” the androgynous one declared, throwing a hand back to the door, where Voctir came grunting in, hauling yet another device. It looked like an ancient boxy TV, with a thick vacuum tube connecting it to what appeared to be a colander with a chin strap. Hiro picked the colander up, held it upside down, and stretched the strap.

“This should scan your brain and project the image onto this screen! This way, we can ascertain what’s going on in your head!”

“Is – Is it safe?”

“Of course! That’s why there’s a tube!”

Kaylee didn’t know enough to defeat that logic. Gogun finished his last pancake, gulping it down, before reassuring her.
“Never fear, Kaylee. Should something untoward occur, I shall ensure your safety!”

How comforting Kaylee thought, looking at the tiny (compared to her) creature. She sighed. It wasn’t as though she had much more to go on right now. Besides, if these weirdos meant her harm, they had a far better opportunity to do whatever they wanted when she was out.

“Fine, let’s do this. How does it work?”

“Splendid! It’s quite simple; just put this helmet on your head, and we’ll do the rest!”

They handed over the colander, and with some hesitation, Kaylee put in on her head. The two scientists then went behind the screen and started pushing buttons, spinning dials, and other such things until, with a whirring noise, the machine powered up.

It was a surprise to all when, rather than an image of her brain or some other conventional means of measuring Kaylee’s neurological health, an image of a spinning eye popped up. It was vertical, rather than horizontal like most eyes. Before either scientist could say anything, a voice emanated from the speakers. It was grainy, staticky, struggling to come through.

“Kaylee, it’s Imai. If you're receiving this, you've been in skkkkrsh for almost a week now. We're trying a new technique. We don't know where this message will end skkkkrsh but we hope it works. Please skkkkrsh, we miss you.”

The eye disappeared, and replacing it was some indecipherable code, which in turn was replaced by a map of some kind. The two scientists popped their heads out from behind their contraption, rapidly discussing the observed effects and the consequences thereof.

“Well, that was unexpected. But we expected not to expect something, so it doesn’t count.”

“Where could that message have come from? If from her mind, then how did external information get there?”

“We need to analyse this further. Alright, everybody out! Takora!”

“At once, masters!” The android responded, as she began to usher everyone out. “Come come, everyone out! Let the masters think in peace!”

“Hey! Quit shoving, Takora, we’re going, we’re going!”

Voctir, Gogun, and Kaylee were shoved through the door, into the back garden, overlooking the very lake that Gogun and Kaylee were rescued from.

“What are we supposed to do now?”

Kaylee picked up a suitable stone, walked over to the lake shoreline, and put all her power into skimming it. It disappeared across the lake with no sign of slowing.

In the real world

“Well, I did my best, Doctor. Do you think it got through to her?”

Imai looked crestfallen; he hadn’t been able to establish his usual abilities with Kaylee in her current state. Any attempt at mind reading resulted in an unusual static. He couldn’t pierce it, the most that he could do was send a message and hope that her consciousness received it.

The Doctor leaned backward, a contemplative expression on his face. “Truthfully lad, I’m not certain. There’s a lot of her physiology I find confusing, and that’s no common state for me.”

The tall Doctor looked down at the student, seeing that he looked even worse. “Ah, come come now, I’m sure your classmate will be fine. You did your best, and that’s all anyone can ask of another. Now, be on your way, won’t do any good to just mope around.”

Chapter Four: Journey to The Party of The Boys

Kaylee turned to face Voctir. It had only been a few minutes, but her unease with this world had put her on edge. She wanted to be home as quickly as possible.

“How long do you think they’ll take?” she asked, clearly bored.

“With those two? Who knows? Could be hours, could be days, could be –”

The door slammed open as Go triumphantly emerged.

“WE’RE FINISHED!”

“Or it could be right now, I guess.”

“Through a very clever method, we’ve determined the meaning of the message! It seems to be a map and means of getting back to your own world!”

Kaylee’s eyes widened. This was great! She hadn’t intended on this encounter, but if they were able to get her back to the real world, then this was a blessing!

“That’s fantastic!”

“Indeed! Come in and we can show our work!”

Inside, there was a wide array of papers, covered in notations and calculations, spread everywhere. Kaylee couldn’t understand any of it; it just looked like gibberish to her. Hiro span his chair around to join the conversation, while Go thrust their hands out, highlighting their work.

“Welcome back! As you can see, we’ve cracked your cranial conundrum!”

“It wasn’t that complex, we simply…”

The next few minutes went straight over Kaylee’s head, as high as that was. She didn’t understand any of it, and by the end of his speech, it simply sounded like mechanical beeping.

“…so you see, simple really.”

“uh, OK. So how do I get back home?”

“I was getting to that! It seems that there is a way back. Unfortunately…”

There’s always a catch thought Kaylee. “Unfortunately?”

“Yes. Unfortunately the way back is owned by… The Ultimate Warrior.”

Go looked down, Takora and Voctir gasped, while Gogun covered his hands with his paws. Kaylee was puzzled. “Who’s that?”
“WHAT?”
Everyone stared at her with incredulity; how could she not know of that feared being?
Why does this feel familiar? Kaylee thought to herself.
The android chimed in, speaking as though she were directly asked, and provided an answer that an AI would be proud of (were it able to be proud).

“They’re said to be the most powerful being in this world. Even getting to them is said to be impossible, as their keep is arcanely locked.”

"Thank you for the summary, Takora. She is quite right; none to my knowledge have even gotten inside, much less defeated them.”

“…I know one.”

Everyone’s heads turned. Gogun had spoken, offering information.

“You know someone who beat them?”

“No, but I know someone who got inside. Or, someone told me that they knew someone who got in.”

Kaylee sighed. Hearsay was largely useless, but in her current state, it was better than any other option.

“Who told you this?”

“One of my associates. Who I am STILL late to meeting with, I shall note!”

The dragon seemed to be trying to look angry, but he really just came across as cute. Kaylee ignored this and pressed her line of questioning.

“Where are they?”

“Right where we planned to meet.”

“Can you be less cryptic?”

“Not until I get there. Those pancakes were delicious, but hardly provide justification for tardiness.”

Kaylee facepalmed. This dragon was almost more trouble than he was worth. Almost.

“OK then. I’ll help you to get there, and you get them to get me in to that keep. Fair?”

“Deal.”

“Will you at least say which way we’ll need to go?”

“North.”

“Ahem”

The negotiating pair turned to Go, who had a smug look on their face.

“If you are heading North, then we can help with that! We just so happen to have a means of transportation in that direction!”

Kaylee now just felt guilty. These people had saved her life, brought her in, solved her escape problem, and were now offering even more help, without having asked anything in return!

“Oh! Thank you, but really, you’ve already helped so much –”

“Nonsense! Everyone needs help sometimes, and everyone can give help sometimes! If you don’t help where you can, you’ll never be helped when you need it!”

Yeah, I guess that’s true. Kaylee thought to herself.

That word – help – stirred up feelings in her. It was as though it reminded her of…something. Something important that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. She committed the phrase to memory; it may come up in the future.

“Excellent! Now, follow me, and I’ll show you our transport!”

Brooking no argument, Go powerwalked toward what was presumably the front door. Kaylee and Gogun followed, squeezing past countless trinkets and doodads from who-knows how many experiments, finally getting outside. There, to the side of the building, were train tracks. Go went to a large brass whistle, connected to the wall, blew it to make a piercing PRREEEEEEEPP, before calling a name.

“Shinken!”

The tracks started rumbling, as a low-pitched whistle was returned. Within a few seconds, a large steam engine crested into view. It seemed to be a tank engine, painted black, with a face where the front of the boiler would normally be.

“PEEP PEEP Hello Go!”

“Hello Shinken! Kaylee, Gogun, this is Shinken, one of our most formidable creations!”

“Peep It’s very nice to meet you two!”

Kaylee was stunned for a moment. A robot/cyborg/android? Sure. A shark/human hybrid? Why not. A talking train? Where did that idea come from? Gogun seemed to be under no such confusion, greeting the locomotive with warmth.

“It’s very pleasant to meet you as well! I see your tracks go North; would you be able to give us a ride?”

Shinken’s eyes flicked toward Go, who spoke up.

“Yes, Shinken. Our guests need to get as far North as this little one says, would you be able to get them there, as quick as you can?”

With those last words, the engine’s eyes lit up. A plume of steam shot from his funnel, as his smile stretched from cheek to cheek.

“OF COURSE! Hop in, Kaylee and Gogun, and LET’S GET GOING!”

“Wonderful!”

Go got behind Kaylee and Gogun, put a hand on their backs, and pushed them toward Shinken’s cab. Gogun needed little effort to get in, but Kaylee wasn’t so persuaded. It wasn’t until she saw Gogun already in and waiting that she relented and got in.
PEEP PEEP “Off we goooo!”
With that and a puff of smoke, the engine set off.
“Feel free to come back and visit!” Go waved, as they disappeared from sight.

“WHHHEEEEE!”

Gogun was at least having fun. This engine could move, at least, but not compared to how fast Kaylee felt that she could. Still, at least it meant she could sit back, relax, and watch this world go by. It still looked and felt wrong, but it wasn’t an ugly place. Could even be kind of peaceful, if it wasn’t for –

SCCCCCRRRRREEEEEEEECCCCCCHHH!

Her thoughts were interrupted by Shinken slamming on his brakes. Kaylee was able to keep herself from flying forward thanks to her strong abdominal muscles, but Gogun was not so fortunate, hitting into the pipes and controls at the front of the cabin. As he pulled himself from the viscous form he splatted into, he yelled indignantly.

“WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!”

“Bust my boiler! Apologies for the sudden stop, but just look!”

Gogun and Kaylee stuck their heads out of the cabin and were shocked by what they saw. Ahead, tied to the tracks, was a girl! She had long brown hair, was wearing a long dress, and hardly seemed enthused about her situation. They couldn’t make out what she was saying, but the fact they could hear her at all at this distance showed she was yelling her head off.

“Cinders and ashes!” cried Shinken as he slowly approached the damsel in distress. “Don’t worry, we see you!”

“WELL I SHOULD FLIPPING WELL HOPE SO!” the girl yelled back. “DON’T GET ANY CLOSER, YOU WIDE-WHEELED WHACKO, I DON’T WANNA BE A PANCAKE!”

“…I don’t have wide wheels.” Shinken mumbled as he came to a halt about 15 feet away from the hogtied heroine. Kaylee hopped out and flew toward her.

“We’re in a hurry, so you’ll have to get out of the way.” She said, as she raised a hand, green energy coalescing within it.
The girl’s eyes widened, but before she could exclaim a word, Kaylee had fired her blast. The ropes were burned to ash in an instant.

“Now get off the tracks.”

“BAKA! Why would you act like that? There I am in danger, and you make me think a stranger is going to blast me away! BAKA BAKA!” The girl was furious, flailing her hands against Kaylee’s abdomen, though to no effect. Gogun came over to play the diplomat.

“Now now! I’m sure my friend here knew that she wasn’t going to hurt you! My name is Gogun, this is Kaylee, may I ask your name?”

At the politeness, the girl seemed to calm down. “Hmph. My name is Sarah. I am a bounty hunter, but my target got the drop on me, and tied me to the track.”
“How awful. Who is this target, so that we may keep an eye out for them?” Gogun was sympathetic, trying to quell the situation.
“Uhh, uuummmmmm, uhhh.” All of a sudden, Sarah’s face glazed over. Her eyes became unfocused, and her jaw went slack.
“I forgor!”
If this were an anime, Kaylee and Gogun would have fallen face-first onto the ground. As it was, they were about to admonish the sudden amnesia (any hypocrisy being lost), until an evil laugh, comical for both how cliché it was as well as its poor quality, as its source revealed itself. Coming out of some nearby trees was an angel that looked like it had flown through Hot Topic. His wings were black, and likely glued to his face, was a laughable moustache that he was twirling.

“Muhahahahaha! So Outlaw, you managed to evade death, but only for now! I shall get you next time, Outlaw! NEXT Tiiiiimmmmmeeeee….”

His voice did not match his words; he had a melodic voice that put one at ease. He came across as an edgy teenager; trying to be tougher than he was.

“Gasp! That’s him! Thank you for freeing me, now I must go!”
With that, Sarah took off, shooting at the fallen angel as his voice dwindled into the distance.

“…What was that all about?” Kaylee wondered aloud.
“Well, it seems to be no more of our business. Let’s continue on.” Spoke Gogun.
PEEP PEEP! whistled Shinken, as the trio set off once more, trying to make up for lost time.

In the real world
Noah and Sally finished their prayer. While neither were medical professionals, they had their shared faith, and if their presence could alleviate even just a bit of their classmate’s current suffering, then it was well worth their effort. They prayed for her strength, her recovery, and that she may receive the blessing of the LORD.
“Amen. May you walk in the light of the Lord, Kaylee. We await your recovery with anticipation.”
“Amen. Come on Noah, we have to leave before visiting hours end. You know how Nurse Weber gets.”
“Noah understands. Goodbye, Kaylee.”

With that, the Christian pair bowed their heads and left the room.