Title: Girls Have Germs
Author: Pixie Princess & Bunny
Date: Wednesday, March 26, 2003

Clark walked into the kitchen to see Sammy, Emma and Mouse all covered in... well, mess...

"Emma..." he sighed, lifting her gingerly.

"We were havin' fun; Mouse and Sam said it was ok..."

"Clean up this mess, you little twerps." Lex snapped, then looked at Clark. "You can take her to the hot-tub store so she can clean up."

Clark's look softened, knowing at least he wasn't yelling at his Em, and carried her off in the direction Lex was pointing...

~*~"Poor Lex..." Trudy sighed.

"You hate Tai-San."

"And, good rittance to her." Trudy admitted. "But... KC's just a little boy..."

Amber nodded. "I know..."

"I worry, because he IS so little... what's happening to all our friends?" she sniffled, laying her head in Amber's lap.

"It's going to be all right, Trudy..." Amber soothed, stroking her hair.

Trudy smiled softly as Brady reached over and patted her cheek. "No cwy, Mumma."

"No, Mumma won't cry..." Trudy sniffled, smiling through her tears at her precious little girl...

~*~

KC looked at his surroundings, skittering back when Ram came in.

"Who are you? What do you want?" he demanded.

"I am here to offer you a proposition, little one." he said, Prudence standing right behind him.

"I don't want anything from you; I wanna go HOME!"

"That's not possible at this juncture." Ram said smoothly, ignoring the frown from Prudence. "Why don't you be honest with me— and yourself— and tell me what you most desire?"

KC fidgited, then softly said, "You can't give it to me."

"I beg to differ; try me."

"I want my brother back, but, your men killed him; I saw!" he sniffled, not knowing that the tazer had only knocked Lex unconscious. "And, my sister-in-law, Zandra. I miss her. And, I wish the virus hadn't come..."

Ram's face took on a light, and Prudence watched him as he ran to the computer, piling information onto a disk. She went to KC and tried to comfort him, but he pulled away, not trusting anyone in this place, not wanting to be touched by anything here...

"All right." Ram said finally, placing a disk into a helmet. "Put this on."

"No!"

"Do it, and you shall have your heart's desire."

"I don't trust you." he said bluntly.

"You don't have to. Just put it on and see for yourself; you'll be sent into your own little Utopia— a world of your own perfections that you will never want to leave."

"That's stupid; you can't do that..." KC scoffed, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"You'll never know if you don't try." Ram said, still calm.

Prudence watched in skepticism as he put the helmet on and fell onto the bed.

"What did you do to him?!" she demanded.

"He's in a virtual world; he'll be happy there. This is what I do; I am helping people." he explained.

"You're not helping them; you're making them not face what is real." she argued.

"My way is better than what is." he said firmly. "You are trying to deny that he'll be happier this way than the other?"

"Well..." Prudence fidgited, not having a clear answer. Truthfully, she felt that he should be in the "real world", but... she could not deny that he would be safe, and happy... "How is he going to keep alive there?"

"It's easy; my people will take care of his vital needs while he is in there..."