Ello govna! Er, govnas...chapter nine! Ain't got nothin' to say, so let's roll!

Chapter Nine-The Plan & Execution Part One

"Here's what we could do," B.O.B. says, proposing his seventh idea for a battle strategy, if you count all of his failures. "Doc and I go in dressed as girl scouts, and then-"

"B.O.B.!" I yell, frustrated. We've been discussing this for half an hour and still haven't come up with anything. I didn't sleep a wink last night, so I'm not in such a great mood anyway. I'm ready to tear my hair out. Derek seems perfectly fine with the chaos. He just likes to watch B.O.B. attempt to drive me insane. That's exactly what it is.

"Fine," B.O.B. says, throwing his hands in the air. "I give up. I'm out of ideas. I'm going to visit my girlfriend."

"You mean your jell-o?" Derek asks.

"Yes," B.O.B. says defensively. He shoots Derek a look and walks out. I bet I know what's going through his head right now. Well, technically nothing, but...

"What if after we whistle for Insectosaurus we find the ship and see if there's a secret entrance somewhere?" Dr. C suggests.

"Really?" I ask. "I think you've suggested that already. We don't know if there's a secret entrance up there. I've never even been inside the thing."

"Perhaps we could check," he says.

"I guess we could," I say. "What if we don't find one? Then what?"

"Then I guess it's back to the drawing board," he answers quietly, propping his head up in his hand. "I don't know, Jess. This is the worst we've ever had to deal with. We were always ill-equipped for alien crises such as this. We almost lost to Gallaxhar."

"I know," I say. I recite everything at the same time he tells it.

"We were outnumbered, probably ten thousand to four, when Susan got out and got her powers back. We escaped in time by a hair."

"How did you know that?" he asks me, eyeing me critically.

"You've only said it a billion times," I reply.

Dr. C says, "Okay, fine. I seriously suggest checking for a secret entrance before we do anything. If we can get in, set it to self-destruct, and get out, we'll be fine. We'd have to get past Nebleon and all of his guards, though, and I don't know how many there are."

"You've been inside before though, right?" Derek asks, his face lighting up like he's got a good idea.

"Well, yes, but-"

"What do you remember?" Derek asks.

"There were two for each of the three of us," he says.

"Then he's got more than the usual amount," I reason. "Which means they're on round-the-clock patrol."

"Exactly," Derek says. "That secret entrance would have to be someplace even they didn't know about."

"Like a secret place where we could take out Nebleon in private," Dr. C says. "Then the helpers have no leader, and theycrash and burn. I like where you're going with this."

"How would we ever figure out where it is if the guards don't even know?" I ask.

"You have a personal talent for manipulating people and suckering information out of them," Derek tells me. "You talk to Nebleon for five seconds and I bet you'll find out."

"Doctor Cockroach," I declare proudly, "repair the Call-Tron."

(Nice job, guys! Now let's see what Susan & Link come up with.)

I slept with my back against the bars. Susan's so weak that she can't even break out of the cage. I think Nebleon's taking her powers from her slowly. She's been shaky since their fight. At least she slept. I made sure she did so that we could wake up before Nebleon did and talk escape.

"Good news, monsters!" Nebleon says now, emerging from his pod in front of us. "I have to go discuss weapons for my takeover of Earth with some of my advisors, so you two can discuss whatever miniscule escape plan you have in mind before you're obliterated along with the rest of the human race! Ta-ta!" He wiggles his tentacles and grins evilly. If he were any closer, I think I'd smack him. He marches out, and I look over at Susan.

"Link," she says. "We have to get out of here. I had a horrible dream last night that Jessica and the others were killed."

"Does that exit look welcoming?" I ask suddenly as I point to an open hatch at the top of the ship. I can't believe I didn't notice it until now.

"Wow, Link!" Susan seems to recover more of her gusto. "Nice one."

"Just one problem: how do we get out?"

"Hang on," she says. She takes a deep breath and attempts to pry the bars apart. They actually bend. "Just...one...second..." She grunts as she struggles to bend the steel, but she finally manages to do it. "Got it!"

"Great. Don't worry. I'll get mine." I crack my knuckles and pull at the bars, but they won't budge. I try everything: kicking them, ninja-chopping them, even ramming into them. I actually resort to gnawing on them when Susan tells me that we're running out of time. I sigh. "Fine. You do it." Stupid cages. Nebleon's just trying to make ME look like a weakling. Those bars were rigged. I so could've gotten mine open if they were like Susan's.

"Okay, let's get a move-on!" Susan cheers after releasing me from my prison. "Now how can we get up there?" The hatch is just above Nebleon's pod. The ship is so huge that Ginormica can't even reach the ceiling. In all fairness, though, she's only a couple inches short.

"You boost me up and I'll pull you up?" I suggest. She cuts me a look. "No, that won't work. Is there anything you can stand on to reach?"

"I could step on you," she jokes. I cut her a look. "Okay, okay. Seriousness, I know. I don't see anything..." We both scan the vast room.

"What if you pulled my cage over here?" I ask. "You could stand on that and reach."

"Would it hold me?" she asks, tilting her head to the side.

"Ah, of course it would. It's steel."

"But I'm Ginormica," she says, raising her eyebrows.

I shrug. "Won't know until we try, I guess." She nods and pushes the cage toward the opening so that she can stand on it.

"Link, you climb up and get out. I'll pull myself up from there. Then, we go find the others and make a plan to kick Nebleon's butt."

I nod enthusiastically. "Now that sounds like a plan!" I climb up her arm and push the hatch all the way open. I can feel the breeze on my face. Finally, some fresh air. I step out onto the top of the ship, and the heat of the sunlight reflecting off the metal burns my webbed feet. "Ow, shoot! This tin is killing me!"

"What?" Susan asks. She pulls herself up onto the roof and winces at the heat. "Ow, that stings!" She pulls her hand up as she stands and blows on it. "Now we just whistle for Insectosaurus!"

I walk to the edge, stick my fingers in my mouth, and blow a shrill call to Insecto. I hear him roar, and when he gets to us, I stand in pride. Susan gasps. I open my eyes and look, and the others are already on Insecto's back.

"Link!" B.O.B. says. He climbs off and laughs at me hopping from foot to foot. "It's not that hot."

"Easy for you to say," Susan says, rubbing her hand. "You're a gelatinous mass of cool goo!"

He snorts. "Okay, let's go make a plan!"

"B.O.B., we already have a plan," Doc reminds him.

"Oh yeah!" he says. "Wait, what was the plan?"

Jessica says, "We come here, get them out, set the ship to self-destruct, and leave. It worked once, according to Dr. C." Doc smiles at Jessica.

"You forgot the part where I kill you all," I hear a familiar voice behind me say. We all turn, and Nebleon has an alien gun. He has help behind him, too. "The girl or your lives." He snickers as his sidekicks click their guns. "Or both."

Snap! MAJOR cliff-hanger! I'll update soon! I got really caught up in Christmas. I got a whole stack of Hunger Games merch that I'm just DYING to mess with! In the meantime, review and tell me what you thought of this chapter. I faced a little bit of writer's block here. Do that, eat lasagna, and I'll see you guys next update! Ciao!