Foreword: Wow! The sixth episode! Be happy; I usually don't make it past the fourth. So what has motivated me to keep writing Warp Series? Viewing tons of Quantum Leap websites and listening to "St. Elmo's Fire" by John Parr for umpteen times. (What? You think I'm kidding? Shame on you!)

I've also changed Warp Series'(s?) genre to Sci-fi/Fantasy. Why fantasy? Because it has that sort of air to it, and it'll just keep adding on to that as the series goes on, trust me. (Of course, my plans could always get a bit quirky, and this could just be a regular Sci-fi/General thing, depending on whether or not I really want to play with Zero's character that much... =/)

Anywho, on with the show!

***
Episode 06--
In the Doghouse

Bill had rushed back to the lighthouse as fast as he could, disregarding any thought that Team Rocket might be waiting for him. He didn't care. He needed to know if Ziggy were alright. After all, the Rockets HAD stolen a part of her.

He passed trees, darted through the darkness, and made his way up to his lighthouse.

It was empty. Unnervingly empty.

He entered through the opened door and looked around with a sunken heart. The state of the lighthouse reminded him of what it looked like when he found it. Completely trashed. He traveled from room to room, surveying the damage. Papers and wood of unknown origin strewed floors in one room; books and pages of books littered another, and his bedroom was basically unrecognizable.

He descended into the cellar, and his heart fell further. Papers, broken devices, books, and pieces of broken PokéBalls were everywhere, not to mention those PokéBalls that were empty and survived. All of his computer discs were taken. It seemed as if the only thing which had remained untouched was the computer itself.

Quickly, he turned on the computer and, as he waited for it to boot up, began to clean everything up. Finally, as the computer was ready for operation, Ziggy appeared.

"Oh, god, Bill! It was horrible!" Ziggy cried. "Rockets! All of them in the cellar! Oh, god! And then, when they stole your laptop, they took me into a lab, put me to sleep, and hacked into my memory banks!*1* And before they did that, they were telling me all sort of things! Everything from threats to saying that you were in danger!" She literally burst into tears. "I managed to crash the computer and delete myself from it, but... It was horrible!"

"It's alright now, Ziggy," he assured her. "Now that I've learned the secret to controlling shifts, I'll be able to keep myself in my body long enough to think of a way to protect the both of us and everything else in the lighthouse." He sighed. "This might be a bit hard to do, as all of my Pokémon have been stolen..."

He paced. "I need to figure out a way to protect the lighthouse from any type of Pokémon or mechanical device Team Rocket might have..."

"Um... You DID do the meditations, right?" Ziggy asked, wiping her eyes.

Bill paused and sighed. "Not quite. I suppose you have a point there. I could shift any minute now." He looked around. "There really isn't anything they want here that they want anymore."

"I'm shutting down," Ziggy told him. Her voice was obviously a bit shaky. "Go upstairs and meditate until you've got this under control."

He nodded. "Thanks, Ziggy."

She smiled weakly. "No problem. Ciao!"

The computer screen went black.

~~~

He had picked things up along the way, placing broken things in a trash bag he carried with him and putting the salvageable items and unbroken items away. He finally reached his bedroom, cleared a space on his bed, and sat in the space, crossing his legs in a sort of lotus position and closing his eyes.

That was an hour ago.

He sighed and opened his eyes.

'How would I know if this worked?' he asked himself.

He closed his eyes again. A cold feeling came over his heart. It felt as if something were trying to break out of him, but his concentration kept it inside. The struggle inside him continued for twenty minutes before it died down. He opened his eyes and found himself once again in his room, only unusually exhausted. He fell back and stretched out, lying on his bed on his back as he breathed heavily and clutched the part of his shirt which covered his chest.

"Oh god..." He gasped. "That had to have been an attempt at a shift."

His eyes opened at the realization. It WAS a shift, but he resisted. And there he was again, still in his human body. He sat up.

"I did it..." He smiled. "I did it! I can control my shifts!"

He leaped off the bed and stormed out of his room and down into the cellar. He booted up his computer and waited in pure excitement. Ziggy appeared with a yawn.

"What?" she asked, dryly. "I was enjoying that nap."

"I did it, Ziggy!" he told her, just barely controlling his enthusiasm. "I can control my shifts!"

Ziggy yawned and raised an eyebrow. "That's great, Bill, but now you have to concentrate and shift out."

"Why?"

"Because that shift you just skipped, someone's going to be in deep trouble unless you get over there and help them. And I mean deep."

Bill sighed. "NOW you tell me..."

He closed his eyes and concentrated. Soon, he felt as if he were pushing out of his own body and as if a rush of cold water began to engulf him.

The spark of light disappeared into the ceiling.

~~~

Bill opened his eyes and found himself in a sort of living room... with a slipper in his mouth.

A little boy's voice shrieked. "Spot! Get off! Let go! Spit it out before Mom catches you!"

A bit confused, Bill figured he was Spot and promptly spit out the slipper. (He didn't like the taste of it, anyways.) Unfortunately, it was a moment too late.

"Spot! Bad dog!" a woman's voice scolded.

A broom came down in front of him. He panicked and ran, allowing his instincts to take him through a doggy door and into a fenced-in backyard. He stopped on the porch and sat down like an animal would.

{What's going on?} he asked himself.

He looked around the yard. Picked fence all the way around with houses rising up beyond each side, tree growing in the middle of the green landscape, wooden picnic table, and a small kiddie pool nearby on the porch. He stood and crawled to this tiny, plastic pool to look at his reflection in the water that remained inside.

A Growlithe stared back.*2*

{Okay, so this explains why I was called a dog,} Bill muttered, {but it doesn't explain much else... including why this Growlithe might be called Spot, though I'm sure that's something I really don't want to know about...} He coughed slightly out of embarrassment before looking toward the sky. {Ziggy?}

Ziggy appeared, hovering in midair behind him as she sat with her legs crossed.

"Ziggy Alpha, present and accounted for!" she announced.

{Ziggy, I need a briefing,} Bill told her as he turned to face her.

"So what else is new?" She sighed and put her hands on her hips. "You make me feel so useless! All I do is give you a briefing!"

Bill groaned. {Ziggy, not now...}

"Very rarely do I do anything else important!"

{Ziggy...?}

"I mean, isn't there anything else I can do?"

{Ziggy?}

"You know, help you solve a problem? Take care of some of the exciting parts of the shift? Distract the cute men nearby...?"

{Ziggy!!}

"What?"

{The briefing?}

Ziggy sighed. "Okay, this time around, it's an odd shift. See, you're not here to help a human. That body you're in? It's a trouble-making Growlithe. Now here's the catch -- because it's so disobedient, the parents of your host's owner are planning to administer a test. If 'Spot' behaves for two days, Spot gets to stay in this house and grow up with his owner, soon helping him to become the number one Pokémon master. If Spot misbehaves, then Spot is put into a pound and is soon put to sleep, and his owner will be a thirty-year-old man living with his parents and working at a dead-end job, eventually overdosing on sleeping pills."

{Zero didn't say that last part, did she?}

There was a short period of silence.

"Okay, so she didn't say the part about the sleeping pills or Spot's owner living with his parents, but you get the idea!"

Bill narrowed his eyes. {Right.}

"Oh, by the way, if you're wondering why your host is called Spot even though there's not a single spot on him, it's because he left a spot on the rug the day he was brought home."

{Okay, I never asked to know that.}

"I know. I just wanted to see your reaction when you found out that your host isn't housebroken."*3*

Bill paused. {Wait a minute! Not housebroken? At all!?}

Ziggy giggled and disappeared, leaving Bill to glance down at his paws.

{Oh, this is less than dignified...}

~~~

{Alright, Bill, best behavior,} Bill reminded himself as he reentered the house.

Cautiously, he walked through the kitchen where the backdoor was. He sniffed the air to get a good idea of his surroundings and continued through, stopping and cringing when a woman (the same one with the broom before) walked past.

"Hey! Don't you stop in my kitchen!" she scolded, pushing him away with her foot. "I don't want a dirty little dog like you sticking around! Shoo! Oh, why couldn't Max have wanted a Meowth or a Skitty...?"*4*

Bill stumbled out of the kitchen.

{Now I know what Milo feels like,} he muttered to himself.

He found a spot on the rug in the living room and curled up on it. He sighed.

{If that was the mother of the household, this will be some two days...}

A man in a suit and briefcase walked through the door with a smile on his face.

"Ah... It's good to be home!" he said to himself.

Bill looked up. He had the sudden urge, supposedly thanks to Spot, to jump up and attempt to knock down this man, all to lick his face.

{Best behavior,} he reminded himself as he rested his head on his front paws again.

"Well, someone's acting different today," the man observed as he bent down and rubbed Bill's head vigorously.

The man stood up as his wife came into the living room, both not noticing Bill hide his head under his front paws. The couple kissed and warmly greeted each other, just as the wife noticed the family dog on the rug.

"Oh! Get off!" The woman shooed Bill away again. "Go to the backyard! You're filthy, and you're lying on my nice, clean rug!"

Bill sighed, got up, and sauntered away.

"Marion, you shouldn't be so hard on Spot," the man told her. "He's only a pup."

"A pup we've had for a year and a half," Marion added. "He should know the rules by now!"

{I've only been in this body for a half an hour,} Bill muttered dryly, half to himself, knowing that Marion wouldn't understand him. {Give me a break.}

He pushed through the doggy door and went over to sit under the tree.

~~~

That night was spent in a dog house on the side of the house. Marion wouldn't let Bill back inside.

{And she wonders why I'm dirty,} Bill sighed. {I feel sorry for Spot, having to live this way for a year and a half...}

"Awww... Got into trouble lately? You must have been because you're in the doghouse now!"

Ziggy laughed at her own pun.

{Good evening, Ziggy,} Bill greeted wryly. {What brings you here to make an ironic joke such as that?}

Ziggy appeared, sitting on the left side of the roof on the doghouse with her eyes closed.

"I've decided to be a little more useful," she told him. "So, I came here to keep you company and give you words of encouragement."

{I need to get to sleep, and I'm afraid to hear the words of encouragement.}

"SOMEONE'S in a bad mood tonight... And this is coming from a guy who was up at four in the morning when he turned into a shifter."

{First off, it was three thirty,} Bill replied defensively. {Secondly, it's that woman! During dinner, I found out that my host's owner, who is called Max, had gotten Spot from a pound. However, Max's mother, Marion, thinks all animals from the pound are dirty and don't belong in the home, AND worst of all, she hates dogs to begin with! Her attitude alone is making me feel depressed! No wonder Spot misbehaves so often!}

"Well, ignore her. And chin up! There's only one more day to go until the end of the test!"

{One? I thought you said this was going to be a two-day test.}

"It is. It started today."

Bill groaned. {Unless I can find a way to convince Marion that there's no reason to hate Spot, I think my host is doomed.}

"Well, Bill, if you convince Marion that dogs are alright, I'd be impressed."

{Really? Why?}

Ziggy opened one eye. "Because Marion can be angry at someone or something for a long time, and after what Spot did on her carpet the day he entered her house, Marion got pretty pissed off..."

{What Spot did on...?} Bill's voice trailed off as he realized what she was talking about. {You won't let that go, will you?}

"Nope! And I still haven't forgotten your little escapade in Chansey," Ziggy said with a grin.

Bill rolled his eyes and sighed. {Good night, Ziggy.}

"Hey! Wait! Aren't you going to talk for a bit longer?"

Bill rested his head on his front paws and replied with a firm tone, {Good night, Ziggy.}

"Oh, you're no fun!" Ziggy pouted as she disappeared.

~~~

Dr. Crocus rushed into the lab, looked around, and spotted a blond-haired, dark-eyed assistant in a lab coat. She rushed to him and grabbed him by the sleeve.

"Chester!*5* Just the man I wanted to see!" she said with a relieved sigh.

He turned toward her. "Good evening, Dr. Crocus."

"Chester, have you gotten a lock on Agent Mondo?" Crocus asked urgently.

"I'm sorry, doctor. He's gone."

"What about the preparations for Boss Lokov's modification?"

"We've managed to tone down the Time Capsule to give Boss Lokov a smaller dose of the rays described in the document and observed in the experiment with Agent Mondo. This smaller dose might keep Agent Mondo's situation from repeating."

"I don't like the sound of that 'might.'"

"I'm sorry, doctor. It's all I can give you at this moment."

Crocus turned to a computer with a stern glance. "What about the Oracle Program?"

"Finished, doctor," Chester replied. "Would you like me to boot it up to give you a demonstration?"

Crocus looked at him and nodded. "Yes. I would like to see Oracle up close before we put it to work."

"Her, Dr. Crocus. The Oracle Program possesses feminine characteristics like that of Zigurat Alpha. Therefore, 'it' thinks it's a woman," Chester told Crocus as he pushed a few buttons on the computer keyboard. "Doctor, I'd like for you to meet... Oracle!"

Chester and Crocus turned around to see a hologram flickering behind them. Its form became clearer in the matter of seconds, revealing a girl in her late teens with long, straight, white hair and her head down, wearing a black cape, a black, sleeveless midriff with matching black mini-skirt and black, knee-high boots. A gold belt with a black-jeweled belt buckle went around her waist, matching the gold choker with the single, black stone (around which the slender strings for her cape were tied) that was around her pale neck and the gold (with similar black stone) cuffs on both of her wrists. She lifted her head and opened her dark, flashing, amthyst-colored eyes.

"My name is Oracle," she said in her hollow, cold voice. "I was programmed by the computer specialists of Team Rocket to serve the shifters of Project Antiwarp. It is my duty to provide information, guidance, and aide when needed. Good evening, programmers. How may I serve you tonight?"

Crocus smiled. "Twice as better as that Alpha character. Good job!"

"I thank you for the compliment," Oracle said with a bow. "I will do anything in my power to please my masters."*6*

"Boss Lokov will be pleased," Chester and Crocus said to each other in unison as they grinned.

~~~

The sun's rays played across the Growlithe's muzzle. He opened his eyes and, for a brief moment, forgot what he was doing outside. He blinked and remembered his mission.

{Day two in the life of the average house Growlithe,} Bill muttered to himself.

He got up, yawned, and stretched. With a shiver, he walked over to the back porch.

"Spot!" Max called. "Breakfast time!"

Bill yawned again. {Well, let's see what today has in store for me...}

Cautiously, he pushed through the doggy door to find a pair of dog bowls inside. The one on the right was filled with water; the one on the left had a mound of moist, brown chunks.

'I've always served this to Milo when I lived in Goldenrod,' he thought, 'but never had the idea of eating it crossed my mind...'

He sniffed at the mound and, attempting to look as much like a dog as he could, picked a chunk up with his mouth and began to chew on it. Perhaps it was just his Growlithe self, but it didn't taste too bad...

There was a table in the kitchen, and at this table sat Max and Max's father. Max took in a bit of cereal as his father read the newspaper.

"Daddy, is Spot broken?" Max finally asked.

"Of course not, son," his father replied as he turned a page in the newspaper. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I heard Mommy talking on the phone with the vet," Max replied. "She said something about getting Spot fixed."

Bill's eyes widened as he sat stiffly and as straight as possible.

{WHAT!?} He paused and shuddered. {I hope she's not planning on doing that today...}

~~~

At noon, Marion took Bill to the vet. Let's just say that it was a less-than-pleasant experience.

When Marion and our poor shifter/pup returned, Bill retreated to the doghouse where he curled up inside and shivered. Ziggy appeared and began cracking up.

"Oh, my poor little shifter!"*7*

Bill groaned. {Ziggy, I forbid you from saying a single bloody word.}

"And nice job at nearly biting the hand off of the vet," Ziggy commented with sarcasm as she ignored Bill's command. "You're really scoring some points with Marion."

{It was self defense!} Bill defended as he peered out of the doghouse. {I would have done it again if he went... you know...}

"So, let's see... You were forced to sleep in a doghouse, and your host was neutered while you remained trapped inside.*8* I wonder what other hilarious little experiences this shift will bring you!"

{That isn't funny!}

"That's weird. I thought it was."

There was a short period of silence.

{I feel so violated.}

Ziggy burst out laughing so hard she had to lean against the doghouse to support herself.

{Why are you here!?} Bill narrowed his eyes at her.

"Are you kidding!?" Ziggy asked through gasps for breath. "You don't actually think I'd let this pass up without my usual comments, did you!?"

Ziggy continued to laugh as Bill groaned, shuddered, and retreated back into the doghouse.

{Thanks for the moral support, Ziggy.}

"No problem!"

Ziggy turned so that she was in front of the opening to the doghouse. She then dropped down, first to her knees, then slowly until she was on her stomach so that she looked into the doghouse and stared straight at Bill.

"But seriously, you're only three-fourths of the way till you can go home," Ziggy told him. "You just need to impress Marion somehow."

Bill sighed. {I get the feeling that this will be the first shift I fail.}

"No way!" Ziggy replied as she balled her hand up into the fist and hit the ground. "I'm POSITIVE you'll finish this alright! I have confidence in you! After all, I never poke fun at your performance, only your form because, you have to admit, the Pokémon you get stuck in are hilarious one way or another."

Bill smiled weakly. {Thanks, Ziggy. But I don't know. I've been on my best behavior, and there's not really too much I can do to impress Marion without inadvertently provoking her in the process.}

"Have patience." Ziggy reached over to pat him on the shoulder, ignoring the fact that her hand was partially going through him. "Zero says something's coming tonight that might work in your favor."

Bill perked up slightly. {Thanks, Ziggy.}

She shrugged. "No problem!"

With that, she disappeared.

~~~

It was late afternoon. With much persuasion, Max had convinced his parents to watch the sunset with him in the park. Of course, the family dog was permitted to go as well.

"Hold still, Spot!" Max muttered as he tried to put a collar on Bill. "The dog catcher takes any dog Pokémon that doesn't have the right tags on them!"

Bill stiffened, allowing Max to snap a dog collar around his neck. The dog tags jingled lightly as he moved, following Max around the house. Max, on the other hand, hopped around, grabbing various things, such as a hat, a leash, et cetera.

Finally, Max went outside, followed by Bill, who submissively permitted Max to put a leash on him as well. Marion and Max's father soon joined their son and their dog outside and continued to walk down the town streets. Every so often, the small family would stop and say hello to a neighbor, leaving Max to wonder whether or not they'd actually get to the park.

The sky was rose-pink when the family reached the park. Max held on to Bill's leash and continued to walk him about the park as Marion and her husband sat on a bench to watch.

Max unclipped the leash.

"Don't go too far, Spot," he warned as he put part of the leash in the pocket and went off among the bushes.

Bill cocked his head for a moment and followed. Max looked up for a bit but continued to make his way through the bushes.

"You want to come with me, Spot?" Max inquired.

Bill nodded.

Max smiled. "I'm looking for buried treasure. I hid it last week. I'm not allowed to come here by myself, and all of my friends couldn't come out and play in the park with me now, so I got Mommy and Daddy to come instead."

Max hunted through the bushes, pushing aside twigs, branches, and leaves, and occassionally getting pricked with thorns. At this point, Bill wished he knew exactly what Max was looking for so the both of them could make their way back through the bushes and onto the open pathway beside them. It was one of those moments when Bill got that odd feeling that something was going to happen and that this something wasn't good.

At that moment, Max stepped on something. A Weedle shrieked in pain under the weight of the boy. Suddenly, a swarm of Beedrill rose from the bushes, every bug eye flashing.

{Now would be a good time to run!} Bill said as he nudged Max.

Max cried out and made his way through the bushes with Bill following close behind.

It took a few moments, but soon, both Max and Bill stumbled out onto the pathway.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Max cried.

"Max?" Marion looked away from her husband and at her son. She screamed when she saw the swarm of Beedrills following him.

"Run!" Max's father yelled, pulling Marion off the bench and into a run.

Marion took her son and her husband by the hands, and the four (family dog included) ran as fast as they could toward the park entrance. However, the Beedrills were not far behind and getting closer. Especially when Max tripped and fell, slowing the party down.

Bill turned toward the Beedrills, all of whom were closing in on the four. The shifter knew there was no point in running, but what could he do to protect the--

It finally dawned on him that he was stuck inside a fire Pokémon... and fire Pokémon had the advantage over bugs.

{Let's hope Spot knows a fire attack,} Bill muttered to himself as he stepped forward and prepared to attack.

"Spot?"

The family watched with hope as their Growlithe closed his eyes for a moment, reopened them, and opened his mouth, allowing a stream of fire to erupt from it.

The first five Beedrills were caught in the flames and fell to the ground. The others hesitated, picked up their injured, and flew away in terror.

Bill stood there, stunned. He had expected A fire attack, not THE fire attack.

{Where on earth did a young Pokémon learn Flamethrower...?}

He didn't even realize that he had been picked up by Max's father and carried home.

~~~

"So, what do you think, Marion?" Max's father inquired.

She smiled.

Night had fallen, and Max had gone to bed. Meanwhile, Marion and her husband stood in the living room, Marion in her husband's arms in such a way that her back was up against his chest and his arms went around her stomach. Neither of them realized that Bill hid near the threshold between the kitchen and the living room, eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Well?" the husband asked.

"Well, what?" Marion responded.

"This is the second day in our two-day test. Did Spot pass?"

Marion paused for a moment and spoke. "Though early yesterday, he was rowdy and wild, and what he did to poor Dr. Finn*9* this afternoon was uncalled for, I'll never forget how he saved us from those Beedrills tonight. I guess we can train him to act properly, and he can be useful around the house. He can stay."

Bill grinned.

"Max will love that," Marion's husband muttered as he kissed her on the head.

Bill took one last look at the couple before exiting through the doggy door in the back door. He walked to the middle of the back yard, turned around, and looked back at the house one last time.

{Well, Spot, take good care of Max...}

He closed his eyes and prepared to shift. However, he was interrupted by a scream. He looked up into a tree and saw a Pidgey swoop down and look him in the eyes with a frantic look.

{McKenzie,} it said with a hoarse voice. {Please, wait and listen to me! I don't have much time!}

{What...?} Bill backed away slightly. {H-how did you...?}

{It's not important right now!} the Pidgey cried. {My name is Agent Mondo. I was part of an experiment with Team Rocket called Project Antiwarp. It was supposed to duplicate your Project Warp, but something went wrong. Now, I shift randomly, and I can't go back. But...} Mondo stepped closer, making Bill uncomfortable. {Boss Lokov is planning to use himself in the experiment. They've been collecting data from you, and they now know at least three-fourths of what you know. This is a warning, Dr. McKenzie. I'm not exactly sure what they're going to do with Project Antiwarp, but I know this -- you WILL be in danger. Hopefully, you can do something before my superior goes overboard with this...}

{Why are you telling me all of this?} Bill asked with a shred of cynicism.

Mondo paused. {I was hoping... That maybe if I told you, you can help me get b--}

Mondo stopped short and screamed.

{Oh god, no! Not again!} he cried.

A dull, blue light surrounded Mondo grouped up above his head, and disappeared into the sky. The Pidgey slumped forward for a moment before waking up, getting up, and flying away. Bill remained standing in the yard, horrified and sympathetic toward Mondo.

{He wanted my help...} Bill closed his eyes. {Someday, I'll find you again, Agent Mondo. I'll thank you by returning you to your body. But for now...}

He concentrated and shifted out of Spot.

~~~

He remained still for a moment.

"Hello? You're not dead, are you?"

Bill opened his eyes. "What?"

"What's wrong with you?" Ziggy inquired.

Bill sat up. "Nothing. I was just thinking..."

"So what else is new?" Ziggy rolled her eyes. "Well, then, pig for your thoughts?"

"What?" Bill looked at her blankly.

"You know, that human saying when you ask someone what they're thinking about," Ziggy explained. "'Pig for your thoughts?'"

"Penny, Ziggy. The phrase is, 'Penny for your thoughts.'"

"Whatever."

There was a pause.

"Well?" Ziggy closed her eyes halfway. "Are you going to tell me?"

Bill paused for a moment before replying, "I was just thinking about what Zero said... about the other shifters."

"Sorry, I wasn't there for that."

"Ah! So you weren't."

"So what did Zero say?"

Bill took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Zero says that there will be other shifters soon. Shifters that will cause trouble for me. Then, there was a Pidgey who came to me just before I shifted, telling me that this is true and that I will not only be in trouble... but I'll also be in danger."

"Well, I wouldn't worry TOO much about it," Ziggy told him. "I'm sure you'll pull through."

"I only hope you're right," Bill responded with a sigh. "Well, good night, Ziggy."

Ziggy smiled and nodded. "Ciao, Bill."

The screen went blank. Bill stood and sighed once more before ascending toward his bedroom for a good night's rest.

"I hope you're right, Ziggy..."

~~~

In the lab, Loki watched the scientists make the final preparations for his modification process. Finally, Crocus approached him.

"Sir, are you sure you want to do this?" she asked.

"What kind of stupid question is that?" Loki hissed. "Is everything ready, Crocus?"

She hesitated for a moment before replying, "Yes, sir."

Loki smiled like the Cheshire Cat before approaching the Time Capsule.

"Sir, I must warn you, there may be unpredictable side effects!" Crocus warned.

"Like I care," Loki responded as he stepped inside. "Initiate!"

"Chester, please, don't!" Crocus begged.

"Sorry, doctor, but his word overrides yours," Chester told her as he pressed the button to start the machine.

Light bathed Loki. He stood there, as if it were water and as if he were in a shower. Finally, he began to laugh maniacally, just before he vanished.

His laughter echoed in the lab before fading away.

~~~

End episode 6*10*

---
Footnotes:

*1*: If you want to know how Ziggy can be on two computers at once and come back to tell Bill all about what happened in the other computer (and I'm sure you REALLY want to know *sarcasm ends here*), it's simple. Ziggy is activated anytime someone calls her, no matter where she is. So, just like how she can transfer her hologram to wherever Bill may be, she can transfer herself to whichever computer she chooses. When Dr. Crocus called for her using Bill's laptop in the fifth episode, Ziggy chose to appear in the other computer right when she had disappeared to see what was going on.

*2*: Originally, the title of this episode was "St. Elmo's Fire" (after the song), and the Growlithe was supposed to be named St. Elmo. (Get it? Growlithe's a FIRE type? "St. Elmo's FIRE"? Ah, never mind...) But then I thought the puns were too much and changed both the dog's name and the episode name. (There's still a joke about Spot later on, but you'll have to wait for it. ^_-)

*3*: This really doesn't have much to do with the story, so you can just ignore it. I just thought this would bring up a humorous scene. Because I'm one of Bill's major fans (If you don't think Warp Series is enough proof, check out my Masaki webshrine... by e-mailing me for the locations, as for some reason, they won't show up here. =|), I'm not going to degrade him further by using this point often in this chapter. =/

*4*: Skitty is a new cat-like Pokémon in Ruby/Sapphire. If you want pictures of it, raid IGN.com because I don't have any on me right now. Sorry!

*5*: Chester is yet another familiar name I put in here. I named him after one of Rick Cramer's kisekae dolls (electronic paper dolls), though Chester is one of my less favorite ones. (Rick Cramer is AWESOME as is; it's just that I really wasn't fond of Chester. By the way, to check out Rick's dolls, e-mail me for the location, and I'll send it to you.) Zero, on the other hand, was my favorite because he (Yes, the Zero doll is a he.) has much more of a story to him than the others. (That and I disapprove of animal cruelty... to an extent. You'll see what that has to do with Zero if you download the doll. Not the Zero's Nightmare one, though; the Zero Mirror one at the bottom of Rick's kisekae page.) And just to answer any other questions, yes, I'm planning on naming more characters after Rick Cramer dolls, including Nigel, Reno, Jamie, Hazael, etc., etc. ^_-

*6*: She means shifters and/or programmers. However, unlike Ziggy, who sees Bill as her friend and equal, Oracle sees both the shifters and programmers she serves as her betters, hense why she calls them her masters (and mistresses).

*7*: Um... Yeah. I remember what I had said about hostees in episode two. Just throw that out the window because I don't think I'm ever going to use it. =/

*8*: Hey, I said I wasn't going to degrade Bill any further by making jokes about Spot not being housebroken. I never said anything about Spot getting neutered while Bill was inside. Yep. I'm in sadist mode for this chapter. Be afraid! XD

*9*: This refers to the vet.

*10*: Aren't you glad that THIS is over? I mean, if I went any further... Heh, let's just say we'd all have to throw a pity party and a half for poor Bill. (I mean, even I feel sorry for him for what I did to him in this episode. ^_^;) Anywho, if this at all seemed rushed, sorry, but I wasn't really concentrating while writing this episode. (I don't even remember writing HALF of this episode, but apparently, I did... O_o;)