Relatives, Hostile Takeovers, Soul Mates, and a Whole Lot of Other Crud,
Part 3
A huge crowd of unearthly creatures stood out in the expanse of the desert, the largest of which being a silver-plated dragon which stood towards the back of the large crowd. Most of the beasts were some type of dragon, the others being random assortments of creatures with wings or other aliens.
At the front of the group was a tall, green insect-ish alien wearing a long, black suit with a trailing skirt. Her hooved feet swerved backwards from her hips, her long fingers pressed together before her thin neck. Sharp, black eyes scrutinized Naku's vicious attack pose. (Hint: She's Lilo and Stitch's Grand Councilwoman.)
"Naku Calakis Knu'o'hu," she spoke, somehow speaking loud enough for everyone to hear her without sounding like she was yelling. "You are surrounded. Please put down your hands and ground yourself; you are under arrest."
"HA!" laughed Lilly. "The Cavalry! They got their shots! They can't get Ceti Alpha Syndrome Number 5!"
Naku snarled to himself. "I will not surrender myself!"
B-Bop floated up behind him. "Here, ALLOW ME!"
Naku turned around only to be punched in the jaw line, flying into the ground without being able to stop himself.
"Kehzi koo!" shrieked Zanna.
"Ataka!" The green alien pointed at Naku, signaling the other Higher Beings to attack! They rushed forward in a huge stampede, losing sight of the Butt Uglies as they rushed in to join the fight.
Naku was just smacking away a green haired fairy-looking thing when B-Bop sent a missile through his wing. It healed instantly, and Naku shot B-Bop back with an energy blast, not noticing the photon ray to his tail two seconds later. The infected Higher Beings fought against other ones in the Cavalry, putting up a frenzied, unfocused fight and ultimately dropping like flies.
Naku fell two small hands grab onto his tail; Lilly's hands, he could tell, because they had a slight furry texture. He snapped his tail upwards, throwing her into the air behind him, spun around in mid-air, and stopped with our favorite Higher Being in a headlock.
"GAH!" Lilly felt talons growing out of Naku's arm and brushing her neck. "LET ME GO!"
"Lil!" B-Bop skidded to a stop in mid-air, a terrified fear freezing him in his place.
"I am leaving with my bride," Naku hissed, stroking Lilly's long hair. "And there's nothing you can do to stop me."
Lilly saw something out of the corner of her eye; a bright yellow beam of energy, and it was headed right towards her! She yelped and disapparated, and the beam instead hit Naku in the jaw. He lurched backwards, and as he right himself, a large silver dragon fell from the sky right on top of him. He was pinned to the ground, flapping his wings desperately in order to escape, but he had a pair of Higher Handcuffs on him before he could say "Lemme go!".
Lilly apparated close to B-Bop and looked about to see what had hit Naku. It was Zanna, who was shaking like a leaf but wearing an expression that said "Wow.... I did something good!". She waved at her older cousin. "Cheebo tu!"
Lilly and B-Bop laughed; the expression on her little face was so adorable!
The green alien forcibly pulled Naku to his feet. "As I said, you are under arrest for multiple accounts of Higher Being endangerment, lower being endangerment, tampering with a controlled substance, and attempted murder."
Naku hissed, pulling his wings back around his neck and making them look like a cloak again. The green one pushed him towards a group of centaurs. "Take him away."
The Martians, a bit dazed and very confused, landed softly on the ground. Lilly followed them, completely silent. The green alien stepped up to the three Martians. "Hello."
The guys weren't sure how to answer; B-Bop held up his hand. "Hey."
Do-Wah pushed in front of B-Bop. "Where's Angela?"
The tall green one tapped her two long fingers on her chin in thought. "Who? Oh, the humans!" Her face suddenly became very worried. "I am afraid you will not be able to see your human friends again."
"What's wrong with them?" 2-T cried.
The woman held her hand out behind her, towards the dieing Assassin Vine. A large yellow Higher Being stood over the root of the tree, looking down upon something with a look of sadness upon his large face.
"Oh no..." B-Bop just remembered how the kids had fallen out of the tree, unconscious and unmoving.
"Angela!" Do-Wah bolted forward as fast as he could, B-Bop and 2-T following without hesitation. Lilly shivered, fearing the worst, and floated after her lower beings.
The yellow Higher Being, which remotely resembled a dinosaur with white cowboy boots and a large head (H.R. Pufnstuff), lifted Angela in his arms and shook her lightly just as Do-Wah zoomed forward. The yellow being looked right past him at the Grand Councilwoman. "Grand Councilwoman! Grand Councilwoman! They're-"
"Give her here!" Do-Wah snatched the human female out of his arms and held her tightly while the councilwoman continued.
"Death by suffocation, I presume?" she asked the yellow one.
B-Bop and 2-T had caught up with Do-Wah just in time to hear "death by suffocation". Their hearts ran cold with dread as some of the blood drained from their faces.
"That's what I'm trying to tell you!" said the yellow one, his arms flung outward for effect. "They're-"
"ACHOO!"
Mike had sneezed.
"GAH!" 2-T jumped back in fear; B-Bop responded with his usual "WOAH!". Do- Wah quivered in fear, nearly dropping Angela on the ground.
"That's what I was trying to tell you," smiled the yellow dragon. "Humans aren't like normal aliens. When they don't get enough oxygen, they go unconscious before they die. The Assassin Vine must've thought they were dead and dropped them. They'll be fine in a few minutes."
"So... Angela's not-?" Do-Wah lifted Angela's face towards his; despite being pale, she was smiling and breathing normally.
"She's be awake before you can say 'I want my lower beings back'."
The Grand Councilwoman chuckled. "I get your point, Mr. Pufnstuff. I will return your lower being to you as soon as I can."
Lilly sniffed the air; she smelled something familiar. "Hey, where's Christobe-EE!"
Her brother slammed into her back and pinned her to the ground, his tail wagging with the force of 40 dogs. "Lilly! I got the idea to play dead from the humans! I'm okay now, aren't you glad?"
Lilly sighed. "Never been happier," she monotoned.
She heard Zanna's airy giggle behind her and sighed again. "Maybe I should've left you in the tree."
"B-BOP!"
B-Bop turned his head just in time to see Mike tackle him to the ground. He hugged the younger teen tightly, not realizing he was crying when he did. "Mike! You're okay!"
"Do you see me up there?" asked Mike, his voice suspiciously tight. "I was fighting the tree, I wasn't scared at all! You saw it, right?"
B-Bop could feel it now; his cheek was wet, which meant Mike was crying too. He sniffled a bit, "Sure you weren't, Mike. Sure you weren't."
Michael gave B-Bop one more squeeze before letting go. B-Bop turned around to see Angela and Cedric latched onto Do-Wah and 2-T, each getting a strong hug and a worried flurry of questions. B-Bop noticed that their arms and necks were badly bruised from the Assassin Vine's ... uh... vines.
"Hey, Lilly said that they were gonna bring the Higher Being's kids back to them!" Cedric suddenly yelped. "Wanna see if they have anybody we know?"
"Oo, that'd be cool!" Angela cheered, adjusted her limp arm.
"Hey, B-Bop, where's Lilly?" 2-T nudged B-Bop's shoulder. "She should come too."
"Haven't seen her," B-Bop sadly admitted.
Do-Wah growled madly. "She's never around when we want her to be! I mean, come on, what could she be doing right now?"
"Excuse me?"
Do-Wah jumped as a little voice addressed him, followed by a tap on his shoulder. A short boy, around ten, dressed in blue pants and a pink shirt and hat stood behind him. His brown hair was a bit messy underneath his hat, but he looked cute despite his big buck-teeth.
"Uh, hi, my name's Timmy Turner. I'm here looking for my-" (he did the quotation mark things with his fingers) "Higher Beings, Cosmo and Wanda. Have you seen them?"
The six of them shook their heads, but only Cedric was smart enough to ask what they looked like.
"Cosmo's got green hair, Wanda's got pink hair, both of them are really short, have wands, wings, and floaty crowny things! Have you seen them now?!"
"Nope, sorry." Cedric shrugged.
"Come on, guys, let's go home." 2-T turned around and began to walk away before Timmy latched himself to his waist.
"PLEASE! Don't leave me!" Timmy began to sob exaggeratedly. "I was just at home trying to play video games when all of the sudden I'm here in the middle of the desert surrounded by big, tall, bulgy people who're saying that Cosmo and Wanda were in some kinda momentous battle, and I've gotta find them by myself and then they leave, and I'm alone, and lost, and-"
"Okay, okay!" 2-T pushed the boy off of him. "You can stay with us until you find your Higher Being."
Timmy grabbed into 2-T again. "THANK YOU!"
"STOP DOING THAT!"
"It's Kohaku! KOHAKU!" Lilly waved her hand strongly towards the small, white Japanese dragon. A short girl with fussy brown hair tied back in a ponytail looked at Kohaku curiously.
"Who's she?"
"Don't look at her, Chihiro, she's a snob." Kohaku pushed Chihiro away with his nose.
Lilly dropped her arms to her side. "WELL, THAT WAS UNCALLED FOR!"
"LILLY!"
Lilly turned about in midair, just barely cracking a smile. "B-Bop, there you are." She continued talking as the kids stopped before her. "I was trying to spot people I knew, but nobody seems to want to talk to me."
Do-Wah mumbled into Angela's ear, "Gee, I wonder why."
Lilly hissed at Do-Wah and kept on. "Christobe and Zanna are around her somewhere, they shoul-"
A strong, female voice boomed across the plain. "LILLY OTHALLY AMADEUS!"
"Oh no, my old name..." Lilly sighed and crossed her arms as The Grand Councilwoman strode up to the hovering Saturnian.
"Lilly, I need to have a word with you-"
The Grand Councilwoman sounded mad; it was too bad she didn't get to finish then.
The quiet of the desert was shattered by an ear-piercing roar! A ribbon of red stampeding through the large group of lower beings, stopping before The Grand Councilwoman. The red shape got dangerously close to her face.
"WHERE ARE MY LOWER BEINGS!?" roared Miles. His eyes were bugged, his nostrils flared, and his fangs bared, and yet the green one stood her ground as if she were being assaulted by a butterfly.
"We haven't found them yet, Mr. Caldwagon, but we're looking-"
"FORGET LOOKING!" Miles reared up onto his 22nd pair of legs, the others stretched out threatening to his side. "I want them NOW!"
He slammed into the ground, making the Earth shake for Miles around. The Martians all grabbed onto each other to keep from falling; The Grand Councilwoman stood as steadily as if she had grown up in California.
"Miles, calm down!" Angela wailed. "You're gonna give yourself an aneurysm!"
The long dragon moaned in worry and clenched his head in his first three pairs of arms. "I can't help it. I keep getting this terrible feeling that I ate them and didn't know it. Who knows what could have happened to them when I was under the control of that lunatic!"
2-T laid his hands on Miles' nose to comfort him. "Come on, Miles, you did not eat Annabelle and Zazi, okay?"
Miles glared at him. "How do you know?"
2-T stuttered a bit. "Uh-b-um, I-I-I guess I... don't, but-"
Miles picked himself up and let loose a sorrowful roar; he sunk back down into the desert, sobbing like a baby.
The boy known as Timmy Turner patted Miles' head. "Aw, come on, it's okay. You're-" (he did the quotation marks thing again) "Higher Beings. You can just bring them back to life!"
"I don't have a license for that!" Miles wailed. "Only Higher Beings 55,000 years or older can obtain a back-to-death license!" Miles tapped his chin. "Well, either that, or you'd have to be born a fairy."
Two little puffs of smoke appeared before Miles' eyes; one was pink, and one was green.
"Did someone say fairies?" said the green haired one.
Timmy's eyes suddenly went aglow. "COSMO! WANDA!"
The two fairies gasped unbelievingly. "TIMMY!"
The three plowed into each other and hugged tightly. Angela blushed, but managed to squeeze out an "aww". B-Bop giggled and stuck out his tongue in "disgust", making Cedric and Mike laugh.
"Oh, we missed you, sport!" cried Wanda.
"Come on, Timmy, we've got an unfinished game of Crash Nebula to finish!" Cosmo pulled a wand out of his pocket, it began to glow, and POOF! They were gone.
"Well, they're home, at least." Mike tossed his hair back out of his eyes. "Can I go home now? My mom's gotta be worried sick about me."
Cedric raised his hand. "Ditto!"
The Grand Councilwoman rubbed her temples. "Not yet," she hissed, accentuating each word. "We still have matters of most urgency to discuss-"
"EXCUSE ME!"
The green one huffed and began walking away. "Forget it, I'll catch you when you get home."
"Who now?" B-Bop began to get angry; one distraction after another preventing him from going home, watching a movie, and going to freakin' bed after a big day of Easter parades, battling Higher Beings, and nearly losing some of his best friends in ages. His anger faded, though, as the owner of the voice ran into view.
"Zazini!" B-Bop held up his hand for Zazi to high-five, which she did. "My girl! How you doing?" He stretched himself taller so that he could see Annabelle hiding behind her friend. "And Annabelle, what are you doing here?"
"We're looking for Miles!" Zazi was somehow able to project this despite the fact that she was out of breath. "Have you seen him?"
"Right here!" Lilly waved at the dragon, who was currently staring into space, completely unaware of what was going on around him. "Although, he's kind of out of it, right now..."
Zazi placed her hands on his teeth. "What happened to him?"
"Depressed," 2-T stated.
"He thinks he ate you," Cedric finished.
Zazi blinked, a bit surprised by the statement, but not too shaken. "Oh."
Annabelle gave Miles' ear a soft rub. "Wake up, Miles, it's time to go to bed."
Miles' ear twitched at the touch, and slowly one eye opened at caught sight of both Zazi and Annabelle. A large, blue tear ran down his jaw line and into his fur. "You're alive."
"We know!" Zazi quipped.
"We hid under Zazi's bus." Annabelle whispered. "You didn't look for us there."
Miles stood up slowly. "I'm sure I didn't, girls." He snuggled them into his first arms. "Let's go. I'm tired."
"Okay," said Zazi. She waved to the kids still on the ground. "See you later!"
The Martians and humans and leftover Higher Being waved goodbye. "Bye, Zazi!" Cedric shouted.
Lilly appeared next to Cedric as he finished waving goodbye. He shot her an angry glance. "Why didn't we get a tearful reunion?"
Lilly glared at him. "Shut up and go home."
"Kids are all home, I'm tired, I'm leaving." Lilly began flying upwards, but stopped when B-Bop grabbed onto her tail.
"And just where are you going?" B-Bop yelled, this time genuinely angry at the tailed wonder that was Lillitai Aretha Cor Tiberius XVIII.
"I sleep on the roof," Lilly stated, thumbing towards the ceiling. "Didn't I ever tell you?"
"No."
"Hmph." Lilly phased out of B-Bop's hand. "See you later."
POP!
The Grand Councilwoman, along with Christobe and Zanna, suddenly appeared in the room with a loud bang, scaring 2-T and Do-Wah into firing at them with photon lasers (they fizzled out of existence before they even touched them).
"Lilly Othally Amadeus, I have been watching you and grading your performance!" The Grand Councilwoman swung her hand behind her. "I have thus determined you unfit to take care of your lower beings. Pack your things, I am sending you back to your parents!"
The news hit them like a ton of bricks; the Martians jumped in front of Lilly to try and protect her while Lilly shrunk in terror.
"But- but- but, you can't!" Lilly screamed. "I graduated early! I passed at the head of the class! I'm overqualified to take care of these guys!"
"You may have the grades, but you do not have the skills." The green one counted off on her fingers. "You are impatient, over-expecting, overly absent, not to mention unaffectionate. You know what to do to take care of a lower being, but you have no earthly sense of how!"
"We're sorry, Lilly," Christobe whimpered.
"Your brother is a shining example of just how to take care of more than one lower being; he's a licensed demi-god, for crying out loud!" The Grand Councilwoman patted Christobe's head. "Whereas your lower beings doubt that you even like them at all."
"Hey, don't we get a say in this?!" B-Bop roared.
The councilwoman sighed. "As ordered by the 4th Amendment to the Higher Being Lower Care Act, as soon as the lower being demands that his or her opinion be heard, the Higher Being has no choice but to listen."
B-Bop took that as a yes. "Look, I don't care what the Higher Being rules are, Lilly's our friend! Can't she stay here?"
"And I have to tell you that Higher Beings are not supposed to be 'friends'." The grand green alien peaked her fingers. "We Higher Beings took an oath that we would use our powers to bring happiness to less fortunate creatures than ourselves. We are to be..." She smiled evilly. "Lilly, would you finish?"
Lilly blushed profusely, but recited, "Higher Beings are to act as surrogate parents, soul mates, advisors, comrades in arms, and eternal watchers over their chosen lower beings with full hearted love and devotion... No exceptions..."
"Which you have not been."
B-Bop lowered his eyes in defeat. Lilly patted his shoulder from behind, her purple eyes fogged.
"Can't she get a second chance?"
B-Bop and Lilly turned around swiftly; it was Do-Wah who said it.
"But Do-Wah, you hate Lilly!" 2-T yelled.
"Yeah, but I like B-Bop!" Do-Wah smiled sheepishly. "If Lilly being here means he'll be happy, then... Nothing I can do."
"Second chance!" Zanna tugged on a lock of Christobe's fur. "Christobe, esshto te mo kuuba Big G!"
"Hey, yeah!" Christobe pulled on The green one's cloak. "We could send Lilly back to The Big G to be re-evaluated!"
The Grand Councilwoman rubbed her chin. "That is always a possibility. Lilly, come with me. You are to be re-evaluated."
Lilly let loose a breathe of relief. "There's still a chance!" Lilly looked down and gave B-Bop one last hug. "Hopefully I'll be back."
As The Grand Councilwoman led Lilly away, 2-T caught a hold on her arm. "Hey, who is the Big G?"
"I'm not at liberty to say. But I will give you a hint; look up a synonym for cherub." The Grand Councilwoman winked and disappeared.
The next day, the Martians had the painful job of explaining to the kids about Lilly. And so, the next day, it was Mike's assigned duty to look up cherub and look for clues. He read aloud to a less-than-focused audience. "Okay, so we've got 'God's messenger, archangel, celestial being, di-"
"Woah, waiwaiwaiwaiwaiwait!" Cedric waved his hands quickly to make Mike stop. "Does that mean Lilly's an angel?"
"Woah!" B-Bop yelped out of shock.
"Then that means the guy in charge is-" Angela held her hand over her mouth. "Big G! Oh my go-"
"Exactly!" Cedric shouted, confusing the Martians.
There was another loud POP, and Lilly suddenly appeared hovering above Cedric's head, looking a little blank and wearing what looked like a collar around her neck.
She smiled weakly. "Hey, guys... Girl..."
Cedric hollered in joy and hugged Lilly around her legs, the others soon piling on top of her in a likewise fashion. She stomached the hugs for a while before starting to blush.
"Okay, guys, stop. You can stop now. Stop the hugging, okay, stop, STOP!" She shook herself like a dog until her lower beings let go of her.
"What'd the guy in charge say?" B-Bop asked, his eyes hopeful.
"Well, the Big G said that I wasn't quite competent enough to take care of more than one lower being by myself, but since I had such good grades in school, he gave me this." She slipped one finger under her new, purple collar and tugged it.
"What is it?" 2-T asked, knowing he was about to get his head bitten off.
"It's a training collar," Lilly answered, calmly and sweetly smiling at the lieutenant Martian. "It restricts me from using any abilities outside of my chosen body's capabilities." She got a few blank looks. "It means I can't do anything a Saturnian can't do."
"Oh."
Lilly sighed. "The Big G said that the best way to learn how to take care of Higher Beings better is to work by experience, which is a fancy way of saying I'm STAYING HERE!"
She lunged forward, grabbed B-Bop in her arms, and lifted him into the air. "Oh, I missed you so MUCH! I thought I was never coming back! I'm so sorry!"
B-Bop was speechless; he couldn't do anything except hug her back while everyone else crowded around them. She was back... He'd almost lost her, but she'd come back because she loved them... And that's all he needed to know.
DONE!
Notes time!
Higher Beings: Supernatural beings designated to a mortal creature in order to protect, love, and nurture them. Guardian angels, perhaps? The original idea was that Lilly was B-Bop's guardian angel, but she slowly morphed into Higher Beings... And then back to both. Weird how things work out, huh?
People I believe to Higher Beings (and their lower beings): The Krazoa Spirits of Dinosaur Planet (and all of Dinosaur Planet) Cosmo and Wanda (and Timmy, and all fairy godparents and godchildren in general) H.R. Pufnstuff (and Jimmy) The Grand Councilwoman from Lilo and Stitch (and everything she watches after) Nihigiyama Kohaku Nushi aka Haku aka Kohaku from Spirited Away (and Chihiro) Lilly (and the kids, duh) And other people I didn't list here, like the dragons in the Dragon Tales show
A huge crowd of unearthly creatures stood out in the expanse of the desert, the largest of which being a silver-plated dragon which stood towards the back of the large crowd. Most of the beasts were some type of dragon, the others being random assortments of creatures with wings or other aliens.
At the front of the group was a tall, green insect-ish alien wearing a long, black suit with a trailing skirt. Her hooved feet swerved backwards from her hips, her long fingers pressed together before her thin neck. Sharp, black eyes scrutinized Naku's vicious attack pose. (Hint: She's Lilo and Stitch's Grand Councilwoman.)
"Naku Calakis Knu'o'hu," she spoke, somehow speaking loud enough for everyone to hear her without sounding like she was yelling. "You are surrounded. Please put down your hands and ground yourself; you are under arrest."
"HA!" laughed Lilly. "The Cavalry! They got their shots! They can't get Ceti Alpha Syndrome Number 5!"
Naku snarled to himself. "I will not surrender myself!"
B-Bop floated up behind him. "Here, ALLOW ME!"
Naku turned around only to be punched in the jaw line, flying into the ground without being able to stop himself.
"Kehzi koo!" shrieked Zanna.
"Ataka!" The green alien pointed at Naku, signaling the other Higher Beings to attack! They rushed forward in a huge stampede, losing sight of the Butt Uglies as they rushed in to join the fight.
Naku was just smacking away a green haired fairy-looking thing when B-Bop sent a missile through his wing. It healed instantly, and Naku shot B-Bop back with an energy blast, not noticing the photon ray to his tail two seconds later. The infected Higher Beings fought against other ones in the Cavalry, putting up a frenzied, unfocused fight and ultimately dropping like flies.
Naku fell two small hands grab onto his tail; Lilly's hands, he could tell, because they had a slight furry texture. He snapped his tail upwards, throwing her into the air behind him, spun around in mid-air, and stopped with our favorite Higher Being in a headlock.
"GAH!" Lilly felt talons growing out of Naku's arm and brushing her neck. "LET ME GO!"
"Lil!" B-Bop skidded to a stop in mid-air, a terrified fear freezing him in his place.
"I am leaving with my bride," Naku hissed, stroking Lilly's long hair. "And there's nothing you can do to stop me."
Lilly saw something out of the corner of her eye; a bright yellow beam of energy, and it was headed right towards her! She yelped and disapparated, and the beam instead hit Naku in the jaw. He lurched backwards, and as he right himself, a large silver dragon fell from the sky right on top of him. He was pinned to the ground, flapping his wings desperately in order to escape, but he had a pair of Higher Handcuffs on him before he could say "Lemme go!".
Lilly apparated close to B-Bop and looked about to see what had hit Naku. It was Zanna, who was shaking like a leaf but wearing an expression that said "Wow.... I did something good!". She waved at her older cousin. "Cheebo tu!"
Lilly and B-Bop laughed; the expression on her little face was so adorable!
The green alien forcibly pulled Naku to his feet. "As I said, you are under arrest for multiple accounts of Higher Being endangerment, lower being endangerment, tampering with a controlled substance, and attempted murder."
Naku hissed, pulling his wings back around his neck and making them look like a cloak again. The green one pushed him towards a group of centaurs. "Take him away."
The Martians, a bit dazed and very confused, landed softly on the ground. Lilly followed them, completely silent. The green alien stepped up to the three Martians. "Hello."
The guys weren't sure how to answer; B-Bop held up his hand. "Hey."
Do-Wah pushed in front of B-Bop. "Where's Angela?"
The tall green one tapped her two long fingers on her chin in thought. "Who? Oh, the humans!" Her face suddenly became very worried. "I am afraid you will not be able to see your human friends again."
"What's wrong with them?" 2-T cried.
The woman held her hand out behind her, towards the dieing Assassin Vine. A large yellow Higher Being stood over the root of the tree, looking down upon something with a look of sadness upon his large face.
"Oh no..." B-Bop just remembered how the kids had fallen out of the tree, unconscious and unmoving.
"Angela!" Do-Wah bolted forward as fast as he could, B-Bop and 2-T following without hesitation. Lilly shivered, fearing the worst, and floated after her lower beings.
The yellow Higher Being, which remotely resembled a dinosaur with white cowboy boots and a large head (H.R. Pufnstuff), lifted Angela in his arms and shook her lightly just as Do-Wah zoomed forward. The yellow being looked right past him at the Grand Councilwoman. "Grand Councilwoman! Grand Councilwoman! They're-"
"Give her here!" Do-Wah snatched the human female out of his arms and held her tightly while the councilwoman continued.
"Death by suffocation, I presume?" she asked the yellow one.
B-Bop and 2-T had caught up with Do-Wah just in time to hear "death by suffocation". Their hearts ran cold with dread as some of the blood drained from their faces.
"That's what I'm trying to tell you!" said the yellow one, his arms flung outward for effect. "They're-"
"ACHOO!"
Mike had sneezed.
"GAH!" 2-T jumped back in fear; B-Bop responded with his usual "WOAH!". Do- Wah quivered in fear, nearly dropping Angela on the ground.
"That's what I was trying to tell you," smiled the yellow dragon. "Humans aren't like normal aliens. When they don't get enough oxygen, they go unconscious before they die. The Assassin Vine must've thought they were dead and dropped them. They'll be fine in a few minutes."
"So... Angela's not-?" Do-Wah lifted Angela's face towards his; despite being pale, she was smiling and breathing normally.
"She's be awake before you can say 'I want my lower beings back'."
The Grand Councilwoman chuckled. "I get your point, Mr. Pufnstuff. I will return your lower being to you as soon as I can."
Lilly sniffed the air; she smelled something familiar. "Hey, where's Christobe-EE!"
Her brother slammed into her back and pinned her to the ground, his tail wagging with the force of 40 dogs. "Lilly! I got the idea to play dead from the humans! I'm okay now, aren't you glad?"
Lilly sighed. "Never been happier," she monotoned.
She heard Zanna's airy giggle behind her and sighed again. "Maybe I should've left you in the tree."
"B-BOP!"
B-Bop turned his head just in time to see Mike tackle him to the ground. He hugged the younger teen tightly, not realizing he was crying when he did. "Mike! You're okay!"
"Do you see me up there?" asked Mike, his voice suspiciously tight. "I was fighting the tree, I wasn't scared at all! You saw it, right?"
B-Bop could feel it now; his cheek was wet, which meant Mike was crying too. He sniffled a bit, "Sure you weren't, Mike. Sure you weren't."
Michael gave B-Bop one more squeeze before letting go. B-Bop turned around to see Angela and Cedric latched onto Do-Wah and 2-T, each getting a strong hug and a worried flurry of questions. B-Bop noticed that their arms and necks were badly bruised from the Assassin Vine's ... uh... vines.
"Hey, Lilly said that they were gonna bring the Higher Being's kids back to them!" Cedric suddenly yelped. "Wanna see if they have anybody we know?"
"Oo, that'd be cool!" Angela cheered, adjusted her limp arm.
"Hey, B-Bop, where's Lilly?" 2-T nudged B-Bop's shoulder. "She should come too."
"Haven't seen her," B-Bop sadly admitted.
Do-Wah growled madly. "She's never around when we want her to be! I mean, come on, what could she be doing right now?"
"Excuse me?"
Do-Wah jumped as a little voice addressed him, followed by a tap on his shoulder. A short boy, around ten, dressed in blue pants and a pink shirt and hat stood behind him. His brown hair was a bit messy underneath his hat, but he looked cute despite his big buck-teeth.
"Uh, hi, my name's Timmy Turner. I'm here looking for my-" (he did the quotation mark things with his fingers) "Higher Beings, Cosmo and Wanda. Have you seen them?"
The six of them shook their heads, but only Cedric was smart enough to ask what they looked like.
"Cosmo's got green hair, Wanda's got pink hair, both of them are really short, have wands, wings, and floaty crowny things! Have you seen them now?!"
"Nope, sorry." Cedric shrugged.
"Come on, guys, let's go home." 2-T turned around and began to walk away before Timmy latched himself to his waist.
"PLEASE! Don't leave me!" Timmy began to sob exaggeratedly. "I was just at home trying to play video games when all of the sudden I'm here in the middle of the desert surrounded by big, tall, bulgy people who're saying that Cosmo and Wanda were in some kinda momentous battle, and I've gotta find them by myself and then they leave, and I'm alone, and lost, and-"
"Okay, okay!" 2-T pushed the boy off of him. "You can stay with us until you find your Higher Being."
Timmy grabbed into 2-T again. "THANK YOU!"
"STOP DOING THAT!"
"It's Kohaku! KOHAKU!" Lilly waved her hand strongly towards the small, white Japanese dragon. A short girl with fussy brown hair tied back in a ponytail looked at Kohaku curiously.
"Who's she?"
"Don't look at her, Chihiro, she's a snob." Kohaku pushed Chihiro away with his nose.
Lilly dropped her arms to her side. "WELL, THAT WAS UNCALLED FOR!"
"LILLY!"
Lilly turned about in midair, just barely cracking a smile. "B-Bop, there you are." She continued talking as the kids stopped before her. "I was trying to spot people I knew, but nobody seems to want to talk to me."
Do-Wah mumbled into Angela's ear, "Gee, I wonder why."
Lilly hissed at Do-Wah and kept on. "Christobe and Zanna are around her somewhere, they shoul-"
A strong, female voice boomed across the plain. "LILLY OTHALLY AMADEUS!"
"Oh no, my old name..." Lilly sighed and crossed her arms as The Grand Councilwoman strode up to the hovering Saturnian.
"Lilly, I need to have a word with you-"
The Grand Councilwoman sounded mad; it was too bad she didn't get to finish then.
The quiet of the desert was shattered by an ear-piercing roar! A ribbon of red stampeding through the large group of lower beings, stopping before The Grand Councilwoman. The red shape got dangerously close to her face.
"WHERE ARE MY LOWER BEINGS!?" roared Miles. His eyes were bugged, his nostrils flared, and his fangs bared, and yet the green one stood her ground as if she were being assaulted by a butterfly.
"We haven't found them yet, Mr. Caldwagon, but we're looking-"
"FORGET LOOKING!" Miles reared up onto his 22nd pair of legs, the others stretched out threatening to his side. "I want them NOW!"
He slammed into the ground, making the Earth shake for Miles around. The Martians all grabbed onto each other to keep from falling; The Grand Councilwoman stood as steadily as if she had grown up in California.
"Miles, calm down!" Angela wailed. "You're gonna give yourself an aneurysm!"
The long dragon moaned in worry and clenched his head in his first three pairs of arms. "I can't help it. I keep getting this terrible feeling that I ate them and didn't know it. Who knows what could have happened to them when I was under the control of that lunatic!"
2-T laid his hands on Miles' nose to comfort him. "Come on, Miles, you did not eat Annabelle and Zazi, okay?"
Miles glared at him. "How do you know?"
2-T stuttered a bit. "Uh-b-um, I-I-I guess I... don't, but-"
Miles picked himself up and let loose a sorrowful roar; he sunk back down into the desert, sobbing like a baby.
The boy known as Timmy Turner patted Miles' head. "Aw, come on, it's okay. You're-" (he did the quotation marks thing again) "Higher Beings. You can just bring them back to life!"
"I don't have a license for that!" Miles wailed. "Only Higher Beings 55,000 years or older can obtain a back-to-death license!" Miles tapped his chin. "Well, either that, or you'd have to be born a fairy."
Two little puffs of smoke appeared before Miles' eyes; one was pink, and one was green.
"Did someone say fairies?" said the green haired one.
Timmy's eyes suddenly went aglow. "COSMO! WANDA!"
The two fairies gasped unbelievingly. "TIMMY!"
The three plowed into each other and hugged tightly. Angela blushed, but managed to squeeze out an "aww". B-Bop giggled and stuck out his tongue in "disgust", making Cedric and Mike laugh.
"Oh, we missed you, sport!" cried Wanda.
"Come on, Timmy, we've got an unfinished game of Crash Nebula to finish!" Cosmo pulled a wand out of his pocket, it began to glow, and POOF! They were gone.
"Well, they're home, at least." Mike tossed his hair back out of his eyes. "Can I go home now? My mom's gotta be worried sick about me."
Cedric raised his hand. "Ditto!"
The Grand Councilwoman rubbed her temples. "Not yet," she hissed, accentuating each word. "We still have matters of most urgency to discuss-"
"EXCUSE ME!"
The green one huffed and began walking away. "Forget it, I'll catch you when you get home."
"Who now?" B-Bop began to get angry; one distraction after another preventing him from going home, watching a movie, and going to freakin' bed after a big day of Easter parades, battling Higher Beings, and nearly losing some of his best friends in ages. His anger faded, though, as the owner of the voice ran into view.
"Zazini!" B-Bop held up his hand for Zazi to high-five, which she did. "My girl! How you doing?" He stretched himself taller so that he could see Annabelle hiding behind her friend. "And Annabelle, what are you doing here?"
"We're looking for Miles!" Zazi was somehow able to project this despite the fact that she was out of breath. "Have you seen him?"
"Right here!" Lilly waved at the dragon, who was currently staring into space, completely unaware of what was going on around him. "Although, he's kind of out of it, right now..."
Zazi placed her hands on his teeth. "What happened to him?"
"Depressed," 2-T stated.
"He thinks he ate you," Cedric finished.
Zazi blinked, a bit surprised by the statement, but not too shaken. "Oh."
Annabelle gave Miles' ear a soft rub. "Wake up, Miles, it's time to go to bed."
Miles' ear twitched at the touch, and slowly one eye opened at caught sight of both Zazi and Annabelle. A large, blue tear ran down his jaw line and into his fur. "You're alive."
"We know!" Zazi quipped.
"We hid under Zazi's bus." Annabelle whispered. "You didn't look for us there."
Miles stood up slowly. "I'm sure I didn't, girls." He snuggled them into his first arms. "Let's go. I'm tired."
"Okay," said Zazi. She waved to the kids still on the ground. "See you later!"
The Martians and humans and leftover Higher Being waved goodbye. "Bye, Zazi!" Cedric shouted.
Lilly appeared next to Cedric as he finished waving goodbye. He shot her an angry glance. "Why didn't we get a tearful reunion?"
Lilly glared at him. "Shut up and go home."
"Kids are all home, I'm tired, I'm leaving." Lilly began flying upwards, but stopped when B-Bop grabbed onto her tail.
"And just where are you going?" B-Bop yelled, this time genuinely angry at the tailed wonder that was Lillitai Aretha Cor Tiberius XVIII.
"I sleep on the roof," Lilly stated, thumbing towards the ceiling. "Didn't I ever tell you?"
"No."
"Hmph." Lilly phased out of B-Bop's hand. "See you later."
POP!
The Grand Councilwoman, along with Christobe and Zanna, suddenly appeared in the room with a loud bang, scaring 2-T and Do-Wah into firing at them with photon lasers (they fizzled out of existence before they even touched them).
"Lilly Othally Amadeus, I have been watching you and grading your performance!" The Grand Councilwoman swung her hand behind her. "I have thus determined you unfit to take care of your lower beings. Pack your things, I am sending you back to your parents!"
The news hit them like a ton of bricks; the Martians jumped in front of Lilly to try and protect her while Lilly shrunk in terror.
"But- but- but, you can't!" Lilly screamed. "I graduated early! I passed at the head of the class! I'm overqualified to take care of these guys!"
"You may have the grades, but you do not have the skills." The green one counted off on her fingers. "You are impatient, over-expecting, overly absent, not to mention unaffectionate. You know what to do to take care of a lower being, but you have no earthly sense of how!"
"We're sorry, Lilly," Christobe whimpered.
"Your brother is a shining example of just how to take care of more than one lower being; he's a licensed demi-god, for crying out loud!" The Grand Councilwoman patted Christobe's head. "Whereas your lower beings doubt that you even like them at all."
"Hey, don't we get a say in this?!" B-Bop roared.
The councilwoman sighed. "As ordered by the 4th Amendment to the Higher Being Lower Care Act, as soon as the lower being demands that his or her opinion be heard, the Higher Being has no choice but to listen."
B-Bop took that as a yes. "Look, I don't care what the Higher Being rules are, Lilly's our friend! Can't she stay here?"
"And I have to tell you that Higher Beings are not supposed to be 'friends'." The grand green alien peaked her fingers. "We Higher Beings took an oath that we would use our powers to bring happiness to less fortunate creatures than ourselves. We are to be..." She smiled evilly. "Lilly, would you finish?"
Lilly blushed profusely, but recited, "Higher Beings are to act as surrogate parents, soul mates, advisors, comrades in arms, and eternal watchers over their chosen lower beings with full hearted love and devotion... No exceptions..."
"Which you have not been."
B-Bop lowered his eyes in defeat. Lilly patted his shoulder from behind, her purple eyes fogged.
"Can't she get a second chance?"
B-Bop and Lilly turned around swiftly; it was Do-Wah who said it.
"But Do-Wah, you hate Lilly!" 2-T yelled.
"Yeah, but I like B-Bop!" Do-Wah smiled sheepishly. "If Lilly being here means he'll be happy, then... Nothing I can do."
"Second chance!" Zanna tugged on a lock of Christobe's fur. "Christobe, esshto te mo kuuba Big G!"
"Hey, yeah!" Christobe pulled on The green one's cloak. "We could send Lilly back to The Big G to be re-evaluated!"
The Grand Councilwoman rubbed her chin. "That is always a possibility. Lilly, come with me. You are to be re-evaluated."
Lilly let loose a breathe of relief. "There's still a chance!" Lilly looked down and gave B-Bop one last hug. "Hopefully I'll be back."
As The Grand Councilwoman led Lilly away, 2-T caught a hold on her arm. "Hey, who is the Big G?"
"I'm not at liberty to say. But I will give you a hint; look up a synonym for cherub." The Grand Councilwoman winked and disappeared.
The next day, the Martians had the painful job of explaining to the kids about Lilly. And so, the next day, it was Mike's assigned duty to look up cherub and look for clues. He read aloud to a less-than-focused audience. "Okay, so we've got 'God's messenger, archangel, celestial being, di-"
"Woah, waiwaiwaiwaiwaiwait!" Cedric waved his hands quickly to make Mike stop. "Does that mean Lilly's an angel?"
"Woah!" B-Bop yelped out of shock.
"Then that means the guy in charge is-" Angela held her hand over her mouth. "Big G! Oh my go-"
"Exactly!" Cedric shouted, confusing the Martians.
There was another loud POP, and Lilly suddenly appeared hovering above Cedric's head, looking a little blank and wearing what looked like a collar around her neck.
She smiled weakly. "Hey, guys... Girl..."
Cedric hollered in joy and hugged Lilly around her legs, the others soon piling on top of her in a likewise fashion. She stomached the hugs for a while before starting to blush.
"Okay, guys, stop. You can stop now. Stop the hugging, okay, stop, STOP!" She shook herself like a dog until her lower beings let go of her.
"What'd the guy in charge say?" B-Bop asked, his eyes hopeful.
"Well, the Big G said that I wasn't quite competent enough to take care of more than one lower being by myself, but since I had such good grades in school, he gave me this." She slipped one finger under her new, purple collar and tugged it.
"What is it?" 2-T asked, knowing he was about to get his head bitten off.
"It's a training collar," Lilly answered, calmly and sweetly smiling at the lieutenant Martian. "It restricts me from using any abilities outside of my chosen body's capabilities." She got a few blank looks. "It means I can't do anything a Saturnian can't do."
"Oh."
Lilly sighed. "The Big G said that the best way to learn how to take care of Higher Beings better is to work by experience, which is a fancy way of saying I'm STAYING HERE!"
She lunged forward, grabbed B-Bop in her arms, and lifted him into the air. "Oh, I missed you so MUCH! I thought I was never coming back! I'm so sorry!"
B-Bop was speechless; he couldn't do anything except hug her back while everyone else crowded around them. She was back... He'd almost lost her, but she'd come back because she loved them... And that's all he needed to know.
DONE!
Notes time!
Higher Beings: Supernatural beings designated to a mortal creature in order to protect, love, and nurture them. Guardian angels, perhaps? The original idea was that Lilly was B-Bop's guardian angel, but she slowly morphed into Higher Beings... And then back to both. Weird how things work out, huh?
People I believe to Higher Beings (and their lower beings): The Krazoa Spirits of Dinosaur Planet (and all of Dinosaur Planet) Cosmo and Wanda (and Timmy, and all fairy godparents and godchildren in general) H.R. Pufnstuff (and Jimmy) The Grand Councilwoman from Lilo and Stitch (and everything she watches after) Nihigiyama Kohaku Nushi aka Haku aka Kohaku from Spirited Away (and Chihiro) Lilly (and the kids, duh) And other people I didn't list here, like the dragons in the Dragon Tales show