Part I

Chapter I: Good Times

Four years later…

"This is case 2551 of the murder of Gloria Zuniga. Let's start," Ashley began. "Will the both of you raise your right hand? Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

"Yes," Melissa agreed.

"I do," granted Caitlin.

"Ok, let's begin. Will you please state your name?" Ashley asked Caitlin.

"Mary Stuart Baxter," replied Caitlin slowly in a British accent.

"And Mary Stuart Bat—Bax—are you any relation of Salad Fingers?"

"Why we are very close I say. Well we—we aren't going out but…we're friends. We're…accomplishes."

Melissa and Ashley tried to correct her but Caitlin had already realized her mistake. Caitlin actually meant accomplices. They started giggling along with Caitlin. "Ok, and will you state your name?" questioned Ashley to Melissa.

"My name is…..Cassandra Richard," Melissa replied, not able to think of another name.

"Ms. Cassandra Richard, are you married or single?"

"I am single."

"Very nice to know. Ok let's begin."

Caitlin sighed loudly as if this had been going on for some time.

"Did you know Gloria Zuniga?" Ashley asked Caitlin.

"Why…I did, maybe I didn't. But why would you—" Caitlin was saying.

"Would you answer the question!" exclaimed Ashley pretending to be angry.

"Yes I knew Gloria Zuniga."

"How so?"

"Why we were enemi—well we were best friends all throughout middle and high school but when the years were done, we started envying each other." Caitlin's voice changed from happy to pretend anger. She was still speaking in a British accent.

"Why would you envy each other?"

"She stole my man!"

"She stole your man? Who was your man?"

"Haku."

"Hak—Haku! The guy who could turn into a dragon or so you say?" Ashley was talking about a character named Haku from "Spirited Away" that could turn into a dragon. Caitlin liked him because he seemed mysterious. But the reply made Ashley and Melissa laugh.

"We had feelings for each other. We shared a special gift."

"Sorry to interrupt ladies but Ashley, are you going to be switching between both Caitlin and Melissa or are you asking questions to just one of them for now? Because then Melissa should be sitting down until called," their teacher, Mrs. Lamona said.

"Oh ok. We kind of forgot that," Ashley said. Melissa sat down in a desk right by them.

It has been six years since Gloria, Melissa, Caitlin, Ashley, and Jessica defeated Ation and Cyberdemon and earned the title as the World's Guardians. Many things have changed since that fateful war. Duke, Leon, Orlando, Johnny, and James were now part of the group. They were the same exact creatures as the girls and were also now married to them. They all still lived in Tranquility City but had new homes and the jobs they desired, or some of them anyway. Gloria changed from lab tech to an assistant, training to be a coroner, Ashley was a doctor now, Jessica decided to become a lawyer and was still taking classes as well, Caitlin was an experienced seal trainer, a successful actress, and still taking classes to become a marine biologist, and Melissa was now a vet and was successful with her two other jobs. The men of the World's Guardians still had their own jobs.

Many enemies challenged the Guardians' powers but always failed to defeat them. The world was in much safer hands than before. No new enemies had appeared for while, giving them a big break. Today, Caitlin, Ashley, and Melissa were in one of their favorite classes called Mock Trial, a class that lawyers would most likely take, though they didn't want to be lawyers. They wanted to take it for the fun of it. They had to create their own trial and perform it to the class. "We had feelings for each other. We shared a special gift," Caitlin repeated, laughing. She couldn't remember what she was going to say and Melissa just told her to say the same thing again. "We made out in the park."

"Uh-huh…anyways, so what caused you to kill your best friend?" Ashley questioned.

"She wasn't my best friend as I told you. She was only—"

"JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION!"

"Damn," Melissa cursed in a barely audible voice when she heard how "angry" Ashley was. Caitlin just gave her a sigh. "Well, she stole him one day. I saw her…" Caitlin trailed off and pretended to cry. "This is hard for me—I saw her……at Toys 'R' Us. They—they were holding hands."

"Are you positive they were holding hands?" Ashley continued.

"Yes I'm positive, you con-flabbit woman!"

"You're 100 positive?"

"Yes…and no."

"What do you mean yes and no?"

"Well you see they were clo—I—I—I'm not sure if they were exactly…holding hands as you could put it."

"What do you mean they were exactly holding hands as you say?"

"They were close! Not—well—just shut up and get on with it!"

"What did you kill Gloria Zuniga with?"

"Why, my best friend."

Ashley started to laugh. "You killed her with your best friend?"

"Yes that's right, a nine rifle."

Melissa was confused with the type of gun Caitlin had said, since she somewhat knew guns. There was no such thing as a rifle called a nine rifle. Ashley just continued. "A nine rifle? So where did you shoot her?"

"What do you think! In the face!"

"You shot her in the face. Are you positive?"

"No!" Caitlin and Melissa started laughing a little. Caitlin wasn't positive of anything. "How can you not be positive that you shot her in the face?" Ashley wondered.

"I couldn't tell if it was her face or her butt!" Caitlin answered. They all started laughing now as well as some of the class. "I'm pretty sure you can tell the two things apart," Ashley added.

"Well you should've seen it. I mean, you just can't—" Caitlin's mind just went blank, causing her to forget what she was about to say next. "You should've seen it," Caitlin laughed. She felt strange for having to say the same line again. "I mean you just couldn't tell. I mean, there was fire everywhere."

"Why was there fire everywhere?" wondered Ashley.

"Because I set it on fire."

"You set her house on fire?"

"No."

"Where on fire?"

Caitlin paused for a few seconds. "The beach!"

Ashley raised a brow. "The beach on fire. You set the beach on fire?"

"Yes! Do you have a problem with it?"

"I think it's impossible to set a beach on fire."

"Oh, not when there's gasoline, bushes, and little puppies around." Caitlin and Melissa started to laugh. Ashley was just staring at her. "Ok, um, now to the next accomplice."

Ashley finally faced Melissa and started asking her questions. Melissa moved from the desk to a chair in front of Ashley. Caitlin sat right next to her. "How did you have any relation with Gloria Zuniga?"

"I did not know her" was Melissa's reply.

"You didn't know her?"

"Nope."

"Are you positive you didn't know her?"

"Yes I'm very positive."

"How positive are you?"

"One hundred percent positive."

"So why did you help this woman kill Gloria Zuniga?"

"Because she is my friend."

"So you're saying, you've known Caitlin—I mean—Margery Stuart Baxton all these years, but you never met Gloria Zuniga?"

"Nope."

"I find that impossible—"

"Liar!" yelled Caitlin out of nowhere. "She's just trying to cover up the evidence. You—you, I trusted you!"

"Uh, you're both on the same charge for the same murder case," reminded Ashley, confused about what was going on.

"She's lying. Uh! She's lying!" Caitlin repeated.

"Obviously," Ashley added.

Then for no reason whatsoever, Caitlin said, "I know. I know Johnny. I know!" Melissa was confused. She didn't get why Caitlin did that. Ashley stared at Caitlin, just as mystified at Caitlin's sudden actions. "Well then, you need to tell the truth! You swore on the Bible!" Ashley yelled.

"I am telling the truth you dumb A'!" retorted Melissa.

"I don't believe you!" Ashley yelled.

"You never believe anybody!"

"Well right now I'm believing your friend but I'm not believing you!"

"Why not!

"Because—"

"You're racist against Mexicans!" Melissa started to laugh and Ashley began to laugh.

"No I'm not!"

"Did you know that people inside my head talk to me?" Caitlin said yet again out of nowhere. Ashley and Melissa stared at her strangely.

"Will the court take notice that the murderer might be insane," said Ashley.

"Schizophrenic! Schizophrenic! Not insane but it's...schizophrenic," Caitlin quickly corrected her.

"Scratch that. Schizo," Ashley continued. "Ms. Richard, please, oh, please tell me why you were at the crime scene and why did we find your DNA if you weren't there supposedly?"

"I was there because then I wouldn't be able to kill her!" Melissa admitted. She gave Ashley an expression that said "Duh!"

"So you're admitting to the murder!"

"Exactly."

"Then why did you say you weren't involved with the murder?"

"When did—When did I ever say I wasn't involved?"

"May I say something?" Caitlin asked.

"Go ahead," allowed Ashley.

"Me? I'm dishonest," Caitlin laughed along with Ashley and Melissa, "and dishonest men you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly... stupid."

"Why are you quoting 'Pirates of the Caribbean'?"

"I'm not quoting 'Pirates of the Caribbean'."

"Yes you are."

"I wrote that phrase!"

"No you did not!"

"I wrote it but it's true. I think the whole phrase is absolutely true. And if you can't admit it, then I'm sorry. Just say no, I am a dishonest person. She isn't honest. So who should you watch out for? Her, not me. Because I'm always gonna lie and you should know that."

"Well I think I can trust…neither of you."

"Why! God blast it!"

"Because you're on trial for murder! That's why."

"You know what I think? I think you need to shove your face up your butt!"

Melissa tried to contain her laugh. Ashley didn't say anything for a few seconds. "Anyway," she continued, "back to what I was saying. If you didn't know Gloria Zuniga, then why, oh why, did you help in the murder!"

"Because Caitlin is my friend," Melissa calmly answered. She already realized that she had called Caitlin by her real name rather than her made-up name.

"That's not an excuse."

"Yes it is."

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is!"

"No it isn't!"

"You know what?" Caitlin interrupted.

"Yes it is!" Melissa kept going.

"No it isn't!

"You know what?" Caitlin repeated. "I have a reason why. I control her. I control her mind, I control her brain, I control her drugs!" Caitlin began to laugh along with Melissa and Ashley. "The thing is I control her. So I can make her do anything I want her to."

"How do you control this woman?"

"I am stupid," answered Melissa.

"Will the court take notice that the accomplice cannot think for herself."

"Nope."

"Will the court take notice that she's answering for…the court."

"Well, you know what? You wanna know how I control her?" Caitlin asked Ashley.

"How?"

Caitlin whispered something to Melissa, which was what she was about to say might be kind of mean. "She's Mexican and I own her gardening company." Ashley instantly started laughing. "So she does whatever I say."

"Aren't you going on the stereotypical—"

"No, no!"

"Yes you are!"

"It's true! I own her gardening company and she just…does whatever I say."

"Uh, we searched her background and she does not own a gardening company."

"Yes I do," Melissa said.

"No you don't," said Ashley.

"No, I own the company! She's the worker!" Caitlin laughed, along with Ashley and Melissa.

"Yeah!" Melissa hastily agreed.

"Well you said that you owned her company," Ashley reminded.

"You know what? Don't get technical with me!" Caitlin exclaimed after a few seconds of silence.

Ashley sighed. "Well, what can we say, court? That these two are incredibly stupid and—"

"Stupid? My best friend is Jessica Simpson and you don't call her stupid. She's the most brilliant person in the world!" interrupted Caitlin.

"Jessica Simpson is not the most brilliant person in the world!" laughed Ashley. "She is a total ditz."

"You know what? You're all a total ditz. The whole—world is ditzy because they don't know. But people kill buffalo to eat their wings. How mean is that?" Melissa and Ashley were laughing again as well as the class. "I think it's very mean to tell you the truth. And you know what? You know what else? Why not meeting Harry Potter, I know mighty crazy, go and have a jolly old good time bugging Professor Snape because he is the funniest one to bug in all of London."

Ashley started cracking up. "Will the court take notice that she thinks fictional characters are real," Ashley laughed. "And will the court also take notice that she's insane and schizophrenic."

"Ins—Ins—" stuttered Caitlin, having trouble saying the word for some reason. She laughed with the other two girls. "Insane! Well the only one that's insane in this room is obviously Melissa—er—what's your name?"

Ashley and Melissa laughed. "You don't even know your own friend's name? That is very sad!" Ashley exclaimed.

"Did I say she was my friend? She was the only one to claim that she was my friend because I, of course, am the most popular lad around."

"So…you're saying that you're a boy not a girl?"

"You know what? I used to be a man. But pills and surgery fixed it," Caitlin said. Ashley, Melissa, and Caitlin were cracking up along with the rest of the class. "Funny little story, I'd tell you."

"No! We don't want to hear about it. It has nothing to do with the case," Ashley begged not to hear it, but of course it wasn't true.

"But I was with Salad Fingers one day and we just got a little friendly," Caitlin breathed. A big grin ran across her face. This made their classmates, Melissa, and Ashley laugh even more.

"I hope that doesn't mean what I think it means," said Ashley.

"Oh yes it does," Caitlin said. "Yes it does."

Ashley just stared at her. "Uh, too much information, too much information! Ms. Avalo—"

"My last name is not Avalo, its Richard," Melissa corrected her.

"Well sorry, I'm going on by old court files," Ashley apologized.

"Are you married?" Caitlin asked from nowhere. Melissa just stared at her strangely. "She's divorced! That's why her—her maiden—I mean her old, old name was Avalo," Ashley answered for Melissa.

"Yeah," agreed Melissa.

"Exactly. Um, anyway, what did you kill Gloria Zuniga with?"

Melissa paused for a while and thought of the weapon she would use. "What's the name of that thing?" she whispered.

"I don't think they heard you," Caitlin said, talking about the class.

"I know they didn't hear me!"

Melissa finally thought of the weapon. "I killed her with a battle rifle," she finally answered, referring to a gun in one of her favorite X-Box games called Halo 2.

"You killed her with a battle rifle?" asked Ashley."

"Yeah."

"Then why did you're friend say you killed her with a .9 shotgun?"

"Because a point—.9 shotgun? She said a point-9 rifle." Actually Caitlin had said a 9 rifle.

"Oh whatever! Same difference. It was a gun."

"Because a .9 rifle does not exist. And she should've meant battle…rifle."

"What are you talking about? I shot her with a dang gun. Give me a—" Caitlin yelled.

"Then you must've shot her with a pistol, not a rifle!" Melissa argued.

"For bloody hell! I shot her with a gun. Leave me alone!" ordered Caitlin.

"Ok, this is obviously going nowhere. So I think maybe the court and the jury can make a decision here," Ashley declared.

"La, la, la, la, la!" Caitlin sang. It was supposed to be the jury talking.

"Ok, the jury will be back with the verdict in a little bit."

"We'll be back right after these messages," Melissa said. Then she paused for a while and said, "30 minutes later."

"La, la, la, la!" sang Caitlin some more.

"We the jury, "Ashley said in a high-pitched voice, "have found…Margery Stuart Baxton and Cassandra Richard guilty of all charges."

Melissa literally cheered. "Lie!" Caitlin exclaimed.

"They will serve up to five years in prison!" Ashley declared, even though she knew murderers spent a lot more time in prison. She wanted to have it different.

Melissa cheered again. "Lies! I tell you. All of them. Lies," Caitlin droned her voice out when she said "lies" again.

"Well with the case—court decision made, the—the jury is…whatever—" Ashley stuttered, not sure how to end it.

"Done!" Caitlin finished.

"Yeah. The case is done," continued Ashley.

"The case is done. The case is solved!" Melissa added.

"Court is adjourned. The end," Ashley ended.

"That is the end of our beautiful court," added Melissa again.

"The end, oh the end," Caitlin sang in a little melody. "Margery Stuart Baxter was played by Caitlin Thomas. Cassandra Richard was played by Melissa Avalo and the judge and jury and everything else was played by Ashley. Thank you."

The three of them bowed in front of the class. Everyone clapped afterwards. Mrs. Lamona commented, "That was a funny trial you did. Though there were things that they wouldn't do in a real trial."

"Yeah we know Mrs. Lamona. We just thought we should kind of change it our own way," Caitlin said.

"Well that was a good, funny trial. You did well for the first project of the year," Mrs. Lamona said. "Well it's almost time to go so put everything away and I'll see all of you tomorrow."

Everyone in the class got their things ready and waited for the bell to ring. As soon as the bell rang, everyone left the classroom. Caitlin, Melissa, and Ashley met up with Gloria and Jessica and together they walked to where they normally ate for lunch. "So how was your trial?" Gloria asked when they sat down.

"It was so funny," Ashley answered. "Caitlin was like a schizophrenic person and I was supposed to be the one asking the questions. Melissa wasn't really insane or anything."

"I didn't talk as much as Caitlin did," Melissa added.

"And then you were the one supposed to be murdered," Ashley finished.

"Oh, I see how it is," said Gloria.

"So what do you think you guys got?" Jessica wondered.

"Probably an A," Caitlin answered.

"Man I'm so goddamn glad tomorrow's Friday," said Melissa.

"Oh I know! Now I can sleep in," Ashley uttered.

"Well remember you guys, tomorrow we have to be on guard for while. You know that we have to every other weekend," Gloria reminded them.

"Well technically we don't have to," Jessica said, with a mouthful of her sandwich.

"We don't but I prefer that we do. You guys do remember where and when you need to guard right?"

Everyone nodded their heads. "Good," Gloria said, satisfied. "So anything new goin' on?"

"No not much," Caitlin said, stuffing chips into her mouth.

Then a young girl slowly approached them. She was wearing all black, had black hair, and held a purse by her side. She also held her binder that was filled with pictures on the front and back. Her name was Sandra Cortes and she was one of Melissa's, Ashley's, Gloria's, and Jessica's good friends. "Hi guys," she greeted with a big smile across her face.

"Hey Sandra," Ashley welcomed her. "I see you're very happy. Anything new happening?"

"No, it's been a boring day," Sandra replied. "What about you? Any new enemies to fight?"

"No. We haven't fought for a while," Melissa answered. "But hey, we needed a break anyways."

"Jesus Christ, there's, like, nothing to do," Gloria whined. "It's so f'ing boring today."

"Hey, what's up G?" another girl said.

This one had brown hair with streaks of blonde and was wearing blue jeans with a magenta/white shirt. Her name was Zaira Canchola and she and Gloria had been really good friends since they first met. She and Gloria did their usual greeting. "What's up Zaira? Are you doing anything or are you bored too?" Gloria wondered.

"No, I'm bored too. None of my friends are here," Zaira said.

"Not even your husband Jesse?" Melissa smiled.

"No, not even him," Zaira replied. She had a fake frown on her face; Jesse Benavidez was a friend of Zaira, Ashley, Melissa, and Sandra. Zaira had a crush on him in high school, where they met, and he found out. So they pretended to be married to each other so they've been close. "Jeez, nobody has anything fun to do today," Jessica said.

They continued to talk about whatever came to mind. But they really had nothing to do. Finally the bell rang. They all separated and went to their classrooms. At long last, the day was over. The World's Guardians went their own ways, happy to finally be going home. The five girls were also cheerful to not have anyone to fight. But that would all change soon. For soon, they would be in the hardest battle of their lives.

"Master, I have succeeded in adding the Great Venom Moths to our army," Velora said.

"Excellent," Tichondrius said. "Our ever growing army is getting even more powerful. Soon I will have the most powerful army of all."

"What shall I do for you now Tichondrius?" Velora asked.

"Get the Protoss to join my army," Tichondrius replied.

"Yes Master," Velora said.

She flew away and headed towards the main base of the powerful and legendary creatures known as Protoss. Then Sylan appeared and asked, "I have successfully gotten the Cobramen to join us. What shall I do now?"

Tichondrius was silent for a few seconds. Then he turned to face Sylan. "I need you to go exactly 3, 990 miles east. Go to a city called Tranquility and retrieve me a young girl named Melissa. Use your sense of smell to detect the scent of a dragon. She will be in human form, but you will still be able to smell the scent of a silver dragon. Bring her to me…alive," he replied.

"Yes Master," Sylan said. He turned around and took off to carry out his long task.

"It's time, my child," Tichondrius said once he was alone again. His voice echoed throughout the entire room he was in. "It's time to become my apprentice and help me take over the world. I will get my revenge on you and your ancient forefathers especially that fool Darlantan! Hahahahahahahaha!"