Stan found getting to sleep while a box that carried Divine Order symbols sat in the cryochamber, wasn't as easy as Kai and Xev made it look. The scream had dissapeared as quickly as it had come; the owner was nowhere to be found. He'd passed Xev and Kai's rooms on his way to bed, and both of them were out like lights. He swore that Kai's bad habits were rubbing off, since he found himself getting dressed, and wandering off toward the galley. Stan was just relieved that he was hungry; Kai just wandered around the Lexx aimlessly. Then again, what did he expect? For someone who sleeps for days at a time normally, no wonder he was awake when even Vlad was probably asleep! Then again, no one was quite sure if she even slept; no one had seen her for weeks. Stan figured that one had to enjoy being verbally and physically abused in order to actually want to find her.

He leaned against fleshy table as the nozzle spewed food out onto it. No matter how many times the original Lexx could have reproduced, Stan was positive that if Hell still existed, this Hell of having nothing but green bug vomit to eat would be his. Keeping an alert ear out in case Vlad or the box's contents happened to come along, he ate slowly, trying to imagine something good, like a pie or ice cream. Instead all he tasted was the bitter muck that Lexx called food. That was another thing that bothered him about Kai. One would think that after six-thousand years of eating nothing, Kai would hate the slime, too. Instead, he could probably eat anyone under the table, and ate Lexx food without any complaints. The dead may be alive, but as Stan saw it, the dead were exceptionally weird, too. A few moans echoed through the hull, but Stan shook his head. He figured that Xev was just dreaming again, about how Kai could satisfy her ultra-suppressed love slave needs. The key word there, was dreaming. Kai was so distant and busy trying to be dead, he barely acknowledged that women continually threw themselves at him. Stan figured that Kai came back crazy, and one day he'd snap and that'd be that. Xev would never allow anyone to do anything about it of course, but Stan wasn't looking forward to the day when he and Xev had to sleep in shifts.

He turned to go back to his room, and nearly jumped a mile as a hand grabbed the wall in front of him; a hand with grayish-purple fingernails no less. He backed up, and his heart did flips in his chest as Zev slowly turned the corner to confront him. "How could you do that?" she asked.

Z-Zev? Do what?" said Stan.

"How could let me die like that?!" she asked angrily, blue eyes tearing up. "I asked you to come with me, and you didn't! They took me! I saved your life, but you didn't make any attempt to take me out of that beam!"

"But you're not dead anymore, Lyekka re-made you!" Stan begged, backing slowly toward the passageway as she advanced. "Please don't-"

Zev screamed like a cluster lizard, baring her teeth, and put her hands on her stomach. She then held them up to Stan, and they were covered in a custard-like orange substance. "How can you explain this?!" she sobbed through a scream.

"I know it musta hurt, but that was a long time ago!" Stan whined.

Zev suddenly vanished behind the rations dispenser, and he whirled around to see Xev step around the corner leading to the passageway, looking very pale. There was a gaping bloody hole in her stomach where Vlad's impaler had once pierced her, and blood trickled from her mouth. "It wasn't so long ago when you let her kill me," she said bitterly. "You knew Vlad was free, and yet you did nothing!"

"We brought you back!" said Stan. "What's wrong with you?! You can't be real!"

His fear got the better of him, and he pushed past her, and ran toward Xev's sleeping chamber. He had to see her if not wake her, she couldn't have died again. Vlad couldn't have killed her the same way, it just wasn't possible. Stan was seriously beginning to wonder in a small part of his mind if it was him. If he was going insane, he had to prove it somehow, unless something was incredibly wrong with the Lexx. If all else failed, he could at least blame it on Vlad or Kai. He stopped dead however, as he found several men running at him down the passageway. One of them pinned him to the wall. "It's my turn first!" he said.

"No, I saw her first! I want first bonk!"

"Hey, guys! I'm not a her, I'm a he! I'm all man!" said Stan.

"Shut up!" said one of the men. "Like we care about what you have to say!"

Unable to push his assailants away, Stan closed his eyes and did the next best thing. "KAI!!!!!!" he screamed. "HELP!!!!!!"

This continued for several minutes, when he felt that no one was holding him down anymore, and that the voices were gone. Cautiously, he opened one eye, and looked around. The men were gone, so Stan took it as his chance to run faster than he believed he ever could. He ran in the other direction, as he saw His Divine Shadow marching toward him, preparing to let loose one of his aura blasts. "Worthless human!" he said, as he released the energy.

Stan fell face down in the passageway, and saw the energy hit the wall of the Lexx. Strangely enough, the blast just passed though; no hole or anything. He didn't try to look back to see if HDS was following, sprinted through the bridge, and into the other passageway. He'd never been so happy that the Lexx had multiple ways of getting to places.

He skidded to a halt in Xev's sleeping chamber, and rushed over to her. Sighing in relief, as he watched Xev roll over in her bed, the flimsy sheets covering only the parts of her that Stanley was always trying to get a look at. He knelt over her, trying to avert his eyes for once, and shook her gently. "Xev," he said. "Xev, wake up,"

She whimpered in her sleep and turned away from him, her blonde hair fanning out underneath her. "Xev!" he whispered sharply. "Wake up!"

Nothing. He sighed, knowing that he was probably going to loose teeth over this, but he started clapping his hands as hard as he could, right next to her ear, in hopes that her eyes would open. She didn't do anything. "Xev, come on. Weird stuff is happening, and this is your job, so come on, do your thing!"

Xev remained immobile. "That's it, you really owe me cluster lizard!" said Stan. "I hate having to wake Kai, because he might just cut off my head out of paranoia, what do you think about that?!"

Still nothing. "XEV!!!!! GET UP!!!!!" he screamed.

Stan shook his head, and turned in the other direction. The only thing that could make it any worse would be to run into someone really dangerous. He got his wish on the other hand, when Vlad came stepping out of the doorway to Kai's sleeping chamber. She wasn't wearing the containment suit from the lab, but her full Divine Executioner's uniform, and she looked extremely pleased with herself as she shot her brace and stopped it inches from his face. "It is done!" she said. "I have killed the Divine Assassin, and now his protoblood is mine,"

Stan flinched as she flicked her wrist for her impaler to come out, but before the weapon made it to him, she was gone. Unable to wake Xev, Stan quietly skirted his way around Xev's room as soon as Vlad dissipated, and into Kai's chamber. The former dead man was on his side, with his back to the doorway. Stan knew it shouldn't bother him since Kai was very much alive, but even so, Kai still looked like a corpse when he slept. He didn't look like he was breathing, and his eyes didn't move as most people's do. Stan shook his head, and went up to the side of Kai's bed.

Trying the same tactic as he had with Xev, he put his hand on Kai's shoulder, and shook him slightly. "Hey Kai," he said. "You asleep?"

He elbowed Stan in the gut lightly, and mumbled "Stan, go back to your chamber,"

"So you are awake!" said Stan, circling around the bed.

Sadly, when he saw Kai's face, he was asleep, and he'd only half-consciously spoken. Stan growled, and gave him a shove onto his back. "Kai, some really freaky stuff is going on! You gotta wake up!"

He didn't wake up, but his right arm landed face up in front of Stan, and it had moved in just the perfect way for the brace to slide up into his hand. Stan slowly backed away, knowing all too well that the brace could fire unconciously. "Kai, put your arm down," he whispered. "Put your arm down,"

Stan was holding his breath. If Kai suddenly bent his arm or his muscles twitched, Stan's "little" Stan would be a memory. He didn't want to try and move the arm himself, because then Kai'd surely get jumpy and fire the brace.

He slowly stepped to the side, and exhaled when Kai rolled onto his right side, trapping the deadly weapon between him and the bed. "Better you than me, dead man," he said quietly. "...And you can't hear me, so why am I even bothering?"

Stan took a deep breath, hopped up and down a little to prepare himself, and made sure to stay away from Kai's brace arm in case he did wake up; it was no secret that waking up a Divine Assassin required a slight death wish. "KAI!" Stan screamed again. "THIS ISN'T HUMAN, YOU KNOW! YOU ALREADY SLEEP MORE THAN NORMAL PEOPLE DO, YOU SHOULD WAKE UP NOW!"

He rolled his eyes, and headed back in the direction of the bridge. "What I wouldn't give for an electric prod," he groaned, heading back to the bridge.

Pacing the bridge back and forth, Stan contemplated things a bit. He didn't realize that he was talking to himself. Were 790 around, he probably would have been ignoring the bashing, and just talking to it, but now he was all alone. No Xev, no Kai, and no Vlad. Come to think of it, Vlad was starting to sound like a nice companion now. "Okay," said Stan. "Xev and Kai are asleep; I can't wake them up. I'm wide awake, but for some reason, I'm either reliving things that scare Xev, or I'm seeing a bunch of butchered people, zombies, enemies, or whatever. This isn't like that web thing Lexx crashed into, so I can rule that out. We all know exactly where we are. I can't possibly be dreaming, since I never fell asleep. Just for the record, Giggerota, are you here?!" he called out.

"Awww, is Skin Man scared?"

Giggerota had stepped out of one of the passageways, and that contiuously murderous look on her face was fixed on him as she licked her lips and lunged for him. Without thinking twice, Stan bolted down the opposite passageway that she wasn't blocking. For some reason, she hadn't followed him, so he stopped when he got to a four-way intersection, and tried to catch his breath. "Why did I have to ask that?!" he whined. "That's a rule now! Never ask stupid things that might come true, because then they always, always do!"

A buzzing noise echoed down the long passage, and Stan took that as the que to keep moving. Mantrid drones were unpredictable, so finding one was something he didn't want to do when he was the only lucid and sane person aboard the ship. A sharp pain in the head and a blurry vision of a floating arm holding a hammer later, Stan found himself waking up on the floor of the bridge, with someone staring over him.

He jumped imediately, and almost frightened the person watching him. "I'm sorry, Stanley. I didn't mean to frighten you,"

"Lyekka? Hey, I like that dress...hey wait a minute!" he said, sitting up and backing away on all fours. "You're dead! You can't be here!"

"I know I am, Stanley," she said, flashing a sad smile. "I miss you,"

He felt that he didn't have to run from this apparition, but he knew he couldn't quite trust her. "A-Are you the Lyekka that was killed by Matrid, or the one that was killed on Water, or are you that evil one? You know, the one that wanted to eat Planet Earth?" Stan asked warily.

"Does that really matter?" Lyekka asked, sitting down beside him. "I like you Stanley. I won't hurt you. Where are Xev and Kai?"

"I don't know what to do," Stan admitted, briefly burrying his head in his hands. "The whole ship's crawling with their nightmares. I mean, Xev's are pretty gruesome and suck all the joy outta you, ya know, like those rapist guys and Giggerota, but Kai's are downright dangerous!"

Lyekka circled around him, and put her hand on his shoulder, her sweet smile turning into a sad pout. "I know," she said. "He relives everything that he blames himself for. Xev on the other hand experiences her worst fears. Now they are after you,"

"Yeah, I know that, Lyekka," he said flatly. "Otherwise I wouldn't be talking to you,"

She sadly touched the side of his face. "I'm sorry I can't help you, Stanley," she said. "But all I can tell you is that nightmares can't hurt you. That part is a dream. You have to wake them,"

"Thanks for pointing out what I already know," Stan said sarcastically. "Not that I don't appreciate it, though,"

"You have to finish what they start, or this won't end," said Lyekka, standing up.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm hungry," Lyekka said brightly.

"Uh, sure...okay. Lyekka?" he asked. "If you're not one of Kai's nightmares, and you're not one of Xev's, then what are you?"

"I guess that is up to you," she said. "Wake up, now,"

Stan jumped as he felt hands on his shoulders. He screamed as Vlad looked back at him with empty eyes. "You sleep too much. Weakling human,"

"Yeah, Vlad, we have bigger problems. I'll let you verbally abuse me later. Wait a minute...how long were you watching me?"

Vlad stood up, and looked at him with that cold blank stare. "Not long. I heard your sniveling, and thought that something interesting had happened," she said.

"You can feel intrigue?" Stan asked.

"Yes. It is a most appauling experience," said Vlad.

He looked closer, to see that Vlad was caked in what seemed to be protoblood, and she proceeded to lick some of it off her arm. In her hands, was a sharp dagger-like object made of Lexx hide and bone. Stan withdrew from her slightly. "What happened to you?" he asked warily.

"I was attacked by my former self," said Vlad. "I killed her, and protoblood was my reward,"

"You mean you can see these things too?!" said Stan.

"Of course," Vlad said haughtily. "I'm not blind. They provide a decent hunt, with much to kill,"

"So you can hurt them?" said Stan. "Even though they're not real,"

"Have you heard nothing I've told you?" said Vlad, her nose crinkling slightly in anger. "I enjoy slaughtering them too much to allow them to escape me,"

"Uh, Vlad, can I ask you one more question? I mean...i-if it's okay with you" Stan asked warily, backing up slowly, in case he had to run, holding his hands up in defense.

"I am feeling charitable," she said distastefully, crossing her arms. "Ask your question,"

"Have you had any...visions so to speak about this?" he asked.

"Visions assail me constantly, mortal," said Vlad. "Speaking of which, there is a diminished Divine Shadow behind you. It's best you kill him quickly before he devours your miniscule brain,"

Sure enough, one of the zombies that Stan recognized from Ruuma made a lunge for him, and nearly fell foreward. "What do I do?!" said Stan.

"I have no intention of giving you the luxury of instruction," said Vlad, sitting down on the bridge, prim and stiff as ever.

"Vlad!" said Stan, as the zombie proceeded to pursue him around the bridge.

"Oh," she said. "If you insist on showing your limitations,"

The ex-Divine Executioner stood up and grabbed the zombie by the shoulder. She then buried the knife, deep into it's neck and yanked it out after twisting in around a little. Black slime spurted from the wound, spattering Vlad as she smiled evily in Stan's direction. Stan backed away. "You're sick, you know that?!" he sputtered. "Really, really sick!"

Vlad dropped the body to the ground, and it vanished as it made a dull thud against the floor. "Your point is?" she asked "At least I'm not a simpering coward who flees at the first whiff of confrontation,"

"You know Vlad, if it wasn't for the fact that we need to help Xev and Kai," said Stan, heading down the passageway.

His only company followed after him, cleaning her knife on her skirt as she went. "You would what?" she asked. "Beg for mercy? Were it not for the fact that helping your crew intrigues me, simply because it is my duty to kill Kai, and no one else's, you would be slaughtered on your beloved bridge,"

"Vlad, between you and the robot head, I actually preferred the robot head. I really, really did," Stan mumbled.

They stopped in the cryochamber, as Kai leaned against the stone box, holding his side. Blood was slowly seeping from the wound. Stan rushed over, wheras Vlad just looked on in fascination. "Hey, when did you wake up?!" said Stan.

"Wake up?" Kai asked weakly. "I was never asleep,"

"Uh...okay. Uh, what happened to you, anyway?" Stan asked.

Kai didn't have the chance to answer, as Vlad came up behind him, yanked his head back, and slit his throat without a moment's notice. "What did you do that for, you-" Stan started.

Vlad dropped the lifeless body, and it too vanished. "He wasn't real," said Vlad. "Even someone as worthless as Kai would never allow themselves to be injured in such a frivalous way. The foolish whore has irrational fears,"

"Uh-huh, yeah, be that as it may, but I'm setting some ground rules," said Stan. "Number one, let's be a little more choosy about who you maim,"

"But why?" said Vlad. "My desire to kill him outweighs your decision to set my boudaries,"

"For now, can ya just listen to me?!" said Stan. "You said you wanted to help me help them right? So, if you kill the real Kai, then you won't be helping me,"

Vlad thought a bit on the subject, and then nodded. "For now I promise not to kill anything that does not assail us. However, my promise is decent while we are trying to help them. Is that clear?"

"Yeah, I get that," said Stan, rolling his eyes. "You hate us, we hate you, so this is rule number two: Verbally abusing each other is strictly illegal until your promise expires, got that?"

Stan could see she hated that rule, but reluctantly agreed. "Well good," said Stan. "Now come on. If you can hurt these things, then we just gotta figure out how to get rid of them for good,"

"You mean you haven't figured out the puzzle yet?" said Vlad.

"Well no!" said Stan. "Have you?"

"Of course," Vlad said pridefully. "Finish what they start. You have to scare them awake. It makes perfect sense,"

"How did you-"

Vlad simply tapped her temple. "Yeah," said Stan. "That's good...that's really good, Vlad,"