Living the Quatoptian Way
Written by: Cartman's Girl

Notes: Well it continues! Some more Jumba now, and a little less Morgana. And, Jaikabi belongs to Bonnie. ^_^

~*~

Chapter Two: Not easy to be Me

I can't stand to fly
I'm not that naïve
I'm just out to find
The better part of me

I'm more than a bird, I'm more than a plane
More than some pretty face beside a train
It's not easy to be me

Wish that I could cry
Fall upon my knees
Find a way to lie
About a home I'll never see

It may sound absurd, but don't be naïve
Even Heroes have the right to bleed
I may be disturbed, but won't you concede
Even Heroes have the right to dream
It's not easy to be me

Up, up and away, away from me
It's all right
You can all sleep sound tonight
I'm not crazy, or anything

I can't stand to fly
I'm not that naïve
Men weren't meant to ride
With clouds between their knees

I'm only a man in a silly red sheet
Digging for kryptonite on this one way street
Only a man in a funny red sheet
Looking for special things inside of me

It's not easy to be me

It's not Easy (Superman)
Five for Fighting

Jumba shown Morgana out of his laboratory. Back into the too cramp elevator.

"I knew I should have made it larger…" Jumba muttered to himself as Morgana stepped inside. He sighed, and walked in after her. Quatoptian's were large by nature, so trying to fit two large aliens into a small confined area is mostly difficult. Though, he didn't really mind being up against a female. He'd never been accepted that much. Morgana stared at him, then jabbed him in the side.

"Press the button." She said, nope she wasn't one for small places either. Jumba awoke from his thinking,

"Right sorry." He pressed the button. The lights flickered slightly, and Jumba's ears lowered slightly. "Uh oh."

"Uh oh?" Morgana raised an eyebrow.

"Ehm, nothing! It's nothing…" Jumba muttered and pressed the button again. A few seconds past, and Morgana glared at him.

"We're stuck, aren't we?"

"In a way… yes." Jumba said. Morgana groaned, and managed to move to the side, and smack the button. And denting the metal at the same instance. Jumba glanced up at the ceiling.

"Maybe if we jump at the same time it'll work…" he said,

"And maybe we'll fall to our deaths on the cold hard solid ground below." Morgana said, managing to fold her arms over her chest. Jumba stared at her slightly, then looked away quickly.

"Is it just me or is it getting hot in here?" he asked quietly,

"No, it isn't." Morgana replied. Jumba then got an idea, and glanced to the ground.

"The experiments!"

"What about them?" Morgana unfolded her arms.

"They'd be able to hear us and help us, that's what." Jumba said, Morgana made an 'oh' face. "Okay then." He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "HALP!" Morgana cringed at the shouting. What an interesting day this is turning out to be… down in the lab Experiment 12, who had long hanging ears blinked it's eyes. One ear perked up.

"Doc?" she said in her own growl talk. The other experiments looked over at her, and she scrambled across the floor to the elevator door. She placed her large ear against the door, making 'Hmmm!' sounds now and then. A few of the experiments gathered around her, then she turned to them. "Doc's stuck in the lift with the lady!" she said. The experiments stared at her, then burst into immature giggles of glee. She rolled her eyes. Experiment 47 walked up, and sniffed at the elevator.

"The cables are twisted!" he squeaked in his funny little voice. Experiment 5 blinked one of it's three eyes.

"So how do we fix that?" he asked. 47 thought for a while, then looked over to Experiment 27. "27! C'mon over here!" Experiment 27 was a skinny helpless looking thing. Only difference was his arms and hands were HUGE. He walked – using his hands – over to the group.

"Wassup?" he asked. Experiment 12 explained, and winced as she heard Morgana scream something at Jumba about watching where his hands went. Jumba apologised hastily, and kept his hands to his side. He was sort of pressed against her front, yet side. He took a deep breath, and shut his eyes.

"Think unsexy thoughts, think unsexy thoughts." Why was he thinking this? Well, in Jumba's species big is beautiful. Bigger the female is, the more beautiful she is. And Morgana was both big and beautiful. Images of unsexy things – to him at least – flashed before his shut eyes. Say, Britney Spears, Pamela Anderson, Kate Moss… suddenly the elevator gave a great shove, and continued ascending. A cluster of cheers from the experiments could be heard.

"Gimmie high five 27!" Experiment 47 cried, but soon found himself flung across the room due to the huge hand. The door opened, and Jumba fell out and slammed onto the ground. Morgana stepped over him, and bent down slightly at the hips to stare down at him.

"I'm off now, I'll return as soon as I can with the first batch." With that she left, leaving Jumba on the ground. Soon Jumba got to his feet, dusting his lab coat off.

"Well… that was interesting…" he said to himself, then walked to one of the bare walls and pressed his hand up to it. His hand sunk into the wall, and then it opened! Wow, secret entrance. He walks into it, and the door shuts behind him. Soon enough Jumba walks out into another laboratory. This one was smaller then the one which held all the experiments, and darker. He walked up to a large monitor and sat on a specially fitted seat for his body.

"Back to work…" he muttered, and hit an ON button. The screen flickered to life with what looked like E-Bay, but was Scientist Bidding. This was where scientists the galaxy over found the right equipment. "Now.. Nutron Blaster Corbon System X30…" Jumba said to himself as he typed it into the search engine. He waited, "Stupid slow modem." He cursed. Jumba was working on something big, something that would make his work much more easier. Since he had started his work, he'd been forced to get selected DNA and mix them together and grow them within eggs. A few times he had even included some of his own DNA, to fill in empty links and what not.

What he was working on, was what he was to call the Jumbatron 6000. After himself, and because 6000 is a big number. In it would be a database of all the DNA Morgana would collect for him, and organic matter which will all combine with a flick of the switch. Then he wouldn't waste so much time on so many failures. It hurt him, more then they realised, when he watched a new creation die before it could even properly live. That had happen one too many times for him, because of it he had been kicked out of numerous Schooling Facilities. No one ever appreciated his genius, and his idea of creating ultimate life forms. A creation to have at your beck and call and have them do whatever you wanted.

Some life forms had asked him, those who knew of his work, why he was doing this. It was simple, but Jumba would never really say why. Revenge. Back when Jumba was only a few cycles old he used to live happily on his home planet Quainst. His species lived, but one day that peace was disrupted. The Sleekers attacked, for no reason other then wanting their planet for their own. War raged for years, and Jumba lost most of his family. His Mother smartly left the planet, but his Father was in the war. They'd plan to meet on Turo once he'd be able to leave the platoon.

It still upset Jumba when he thought of it, the day his Mother was told that his Father had perished when the planet had died. There had been stress put onto the planet, far too much then it was able to handle. It had already been under pressure due to the heavy gravity. Quainst was no more now, and Jumba wanted his ultimate creation so it wouldn't happen again. Sure the Galactic Council was around, but they were back then… and they did nothing.

He blinked out of his thoughts and sat up. There was no time to just sit there wasting time. Jumba had a lot of work to do, he was far away from his ultimate creation, he knew that much. But many years of preparing will not go unfulfilled. He wouldn't allow fate to ruin his dream, it was about time he'd get a mark to his name. It was about time.

~*~

Morgana was looking down the barrel of a triple Y Gontage blaster. One of the latest technology fetes for the Bounty Hunter market. It was long, silver, with red streaks along the base and nozzle. She smiled to herself and nodded. She'd take this one, she knew she'd need it for the Xytharian of all things. She made her way up to the counter, there an octopus-like alien was at work.

"Is that all Ms. C?" he asked. He knew Morgana well, she'd been looking into purchasing her weaponry from his store since she was old enough to get her pass. Morgana nodded,

"That's all for today Widge." She said, searching for some money in her belt compartment. "I'm off on a big job, for big cash." She just said as she handed him the space money. He took it with one tentacle, and gave her change with another.

"Good luck then." He said.

"I'm not the one who needs luck, Widge." She picked up her new 'toy' and shoved it into her laser holder which was strapped to her back. "It's my prey who needs luck." With that she turned and walked from the store. Outside aliens were reading a few newspapers, and she made her way past an Entertainment Store. Sshe stopped, and looked at the news flash.

"…and so Jaikabi the 'Planet Killer' is still at large. If anyone has any information leading to the capture of this menace please contact your nearest Council District." The news had been ablaze ever since that girl had set off bombs and had sent her planet's moon hurtling into her home planet. Morgana shook her head,

"What is the galaxy coming to? I could have hunted game there." She muttered, then continued on her way. She was now on her way to the Space Port. She'd have to rent a Space Cruiser, cause there was no way in the galaxy she'd walk to where she was expected to go. It'd take her a million or so years to reach it.

Course, there'd go all the cash from her last job. She hated parting with her money, it hurt. Without money she couldn't afford food, shelter or anything. But, it wouldn't be long. It wouldn't take her that long to bag a few of the aliens Jumba wanted, return, get some deposit then go off again. He wanted a lot, and I mean a lot of DNA samples.

This was gonna be some job. And she knew she was going to love it.

[To be continued!]