Whoo, extra-long chapter for you all! More stuff that I'm sure you'll like, a bit of strange shit, and etc.

Ranma Hibiki: Hehe, find out in this chapter! As for what kind of food Yautja have... I beleive it would be a variaty of meats, fruits, and different juices and water. If any of that would taste good with hot sauce, so be it! At least it's not as bad as me mixing popcorn with chocolate or french fries with syurp... suryup... blech, I can't spell. XD

TGBBF: Thank you for your kind compliments! Hehe, my mom always yells at me for being on the computer too long, too XD Victory/Happy dances? Woo hoo!
As always, it shall be answered (dun dun dun) in this all seeing chapter of lengthy-ness!

Specialguy: Awww, but where would be the fun -aka, where would be the torturous reality that I'm used to-in that? (thinks about it) still, it would be fun to be a Yautja...

Bsdisaster: Don't ya just love plot-twists? Haha,I don't think the orb would send me to my already impending doom, but who knows? Thanks bunches!

DarkXeno: I know. But there's always hope, right? Hope is good... sometimes. But boring life is dull... Arg...
Thankee'

On, on, on with the chapter!


Third Person POV

"Jess!" Lex cried again, knowing in her heart that it was already hopeless. She had seen the light before, Jessica herself had told her about the amazing trans-dimensional abilities of the strange and mysterious sphere that had somehow appeared again in the place. Why had it chosen now to take the girl away? Why did it choose to take away the happiness that Jessica had finally begun to gain?

With a jolt the darkness vanished, leaving Lex lying in the middle of an empty arena. She looked around confusedly. Where was the Praetorian that they had been fighting? The gigantic black Xeno was nowhere to be seen, and there was an eruption of clicking growls from the area that the Yautja had been watching from. With a tired sigh Lex got to her feet, rubbing her arms in a nervous gesture that she hadn't used for weeks and approaching the bars, seeing immediately that something was wrong.

The Yautja behind had all leapt back with surprise and shock when the light had appeared, and were now staring at the area that Jess had been in with expressions ranging from incredulity to blank incomprehension. They spoke to each other in low whispers, voices so fast that Lex couldn't have understood them if she had been trying. Her focus was also on the place that Jessica had disappeared at, and she reached out tentatively to the place on the bars that the girl had been holding on to, the moist imprint of the sweat-covered hand still wrapped around the bar. It hadn't evaporated because of the humidity on the ship, and for once Lex was glad of that. She sighed and touched her fingers to the bar.

"Jessica," she whispered, shaking her head slightly. The brash girl had been one of her best friends on the ship, even at her surprisingly young age. Lex had never thought that would happen, before. She had always hated having to associate with children and teenagers, part of the reason she had been able to dedicate all of her time and energy to her job, but Jessica had been different, more adult than many of the adults she had known, and with a scathing sense of humor to boot. Plus, she had been the only other human on this ship. Without her, Lex was more alone than she ever wanted to imagine.

"Lex," Lex looked up slightly at the all too familiar voice, but she looked away quickly, not wanting to really face anyone right now, "Lex, there is a problem."

"Yeah, I know, Scar," mumbled the woman; "Jess is gone…"

"Not just Jess," Lex's eyes widened at the words, and she looked up quickly, seeing two of her friends standing there, looking as distressed as she was. She spared a quick glance at the other Yautja, seeing them all there except for…

"Chopper…" she breathed, astonished.


Falling was getting boring. Very, very boring.

I was kinda scared at first, but after the first hour or so I really didn't care anymore. In fact, I put it rather well in the simple phrase 'either let me splat on the ground or give it up, already.' I mean; I was falling through utter darkness, no one to even talk to, and nothing to do.

Well, it wasn't really as if I could play cards or anything, but I was getting tired of thinking to myself. I was going nowhere except in circles, and I didn't want to sleep because I remembered my impacting entrance into the AvP world all too well. I didn't exactly fancy being asleep if and when that happened, which with my luck I knew it would.

Thank the gods for training. I would be able to land on my feet, at least.

"I wonder where I'm going this time," I whispered to myself, the words whipped away in the flying air all around. Well, the obvious answer was back to reality, but was that really the only place that orb could take me? I mean, who knows how many places there could be out there, if I had been able to transport from my world to the AvP universe? There could be hundreds -no, thousands!- of possibilities. And that was just looking at different movie-verses. I had managed to go to the one I had most wanted to go the first time, but the glowing orb was as mysterious as anything I had ever known, and I couldn't be sure of where it was transporting me. It was possible that I was traveling pretty far, this time, considering how long this was taking…

I squinted my eyes as I looked in the direction that I was fairly sure was ahead, wondering if either my eyes were playing tricks on me or the 'tunnel' below me was starting to get brighter. It seemed like there was some dark gray light illuminating the walls, but if I blinked it would fade and then reappear slightly seconds after. I sighed with the unfairness of it all, taking my arms from around my knees and stretching, as I got ready for whatever was coming. This time I doubted I would have the luxury of having a living creature break my fall.

"Yaaaaaaah!" I yelled as a sudden brightness opened up all around me. I had a split second to glimpse clear blue skies and fluffy white clouds above before I saw the ground approaching far too rapidly for my liking. It wasn't that great a distance, but gods, I didn't want to hit it…

"Oomph!"

So much for that wish.

I had managed to get my arms and legs under me to absorb most of the impact, but still the wind had been knocked out of me, and I lay motionless for a long moment on the thick, bristly, hay-like grass that sprouted in a thick golden field all around. It was actually pretty comfortable, feeling the warm sun on my back and the bugs' chirping resume hesitantly. I dreaded having to get up, but it had to be done, and so I struggled into a sitting position, wincing slightly as my gashed leg came into contact with the blades of grass and blinking to let my eyes adjust after being in darkness so long.

The surroundings were typical; a long, rectangle-shaped and hilly field with trees flanking all sides and a large, run-down barn standing tall in the distance. I looked around confusedly, something nagging at the back of my mind. Looking closer at the surroundings, I saw an ancient acorn tree, and behind that the remnants of a junkyard. To my far right, in the distance, was a gigantic house, one that I remembered from times in the not too distant past. My eyes squinted as I thought, mind still disoriented from the fall and the sudden change of surroundings, but suddenly it all came together in my mind with an almost audible click.

"I'm home!" I gasped, my shock forcing me to stand quickly and ignore the twinge in my leg as I tried to see more of the place, to convince myself that I really was back, and this wasn't just some dream. Somehow the thought crossed my mind that I had never before seen anything so beautiful, so peaceful… Gods, I'd had no idea how much I had really missed it before…

A loud sound echoed within the clearing, and my head snapped up as two more large forms emerged from what was best described as a glowing, purplish void in the sky, one that swirled slightly as a spiral galaxy would when it opened to drop the figures down into the field no more than a dozen yards away. With a half groan, half gasp, I instantly saw the immediate threat of the largest form, for the sinuous body, large, crested head, and flailing, bone-like limbs were clearly belonging to none other than a Xeno. And not just any Xeno, either, but the Praetorian I had been fighting earlier. I didn't even pay attention to the other form as I took up a combative stance, snickering quietly as the Xeno connected with the ground face first.

What a coincidence…

"Payback time," I growled, suddenly recognizing the threat that the creature posed to all that I cherished in this, my own world and what I called Reality. With a swelling of grim purpose taking up my mind I ran to the fore, trying to catch the creature unawares as it was still groggy and confused after being transported.

It still had my spear embedded in it's left claw –woohoo, I happen to be lucky after all!-, and I ran as fast as I could, skidding in and almost falling on the surprisingly slippery grass before firmly gripping the gory handle and yanking the spear out of the wound, cursing profusely as more blood spurted from the gash in a waterfall of green acid. Immediately, smoke began rising from the grass, and the Praetorian rose up with a jerking movement, thrashing with all its limbs as it screamed from the sudden and unexpected pain. I barely managed to get clear of the tail in time, and I found myself tiring as I dodged another flailing strike.

Either I was still drained from the fight or there was something wrong, here. I thought traveling through dark nothing for two hours might have helped me rest up a bit!

"You know what?" I gasped as I struggled to get a shot in at the beast that had rapidly recovered from disorientation, feeling as though I was fighting the Queen once more, back on the bleak ice of Antarctica. I fell back as the creature charged forward, and suddenly tripped on the slippery grass, landing hard on the ground with a grunt. The Praetorian had pinned me before I could even react, its drooling maw opening with a slow, languid movement, almost as if it was enjoying the thought of killing me.

Ugh, the dumb fucker. Didn't even bother to knock my weapon away. Huge mistake, especially since it had just managed to strike a very serious nerve.

"You annoy me," I snarled finally, giving the creature a sly smirk as the mouth opened enough to allow the second pair of jaws to rush forward. They stopped an inch in front of my face, and the Praetorian pulled back with a screech of agony. This time, however, I kept a firm grip on my spear and managed to rip it out of the middle section of the tongue, severing the second jaw completely in the process. The screaming was deafening, and the blood that was flying from the creature's mouth gave it a disturbing resemblance to a rabid dog as it reared, the severed extremity falling with a plop onto the grass beside me.

Liked that, did'ja? I thought venomously, watching to see if the distracted creature would give me the opening I needed to finish the fight once and for all. I had never been one for strategy, but I knew that an all out offensive at this moment could only get me burned, literally. I needed a head or neck shot without the threat of serious injury. If I tried attacking anywhere else except the claws and maybe the tail, the extremely heavy armor all over the Praetorian's body would deflect my spear fairly easily. Perhaps if I had had a Yautja's strength it would've been possible, but not with a human's abilities.

I blinked in shock as a sudden flash shot past me, spinning towards the Xeno and slicing a long, thick gash in its armored side. The shruiken whistled through the air beyond easily, arcing back towards me as it returned to its caster. With a yelp of surprise I ducked, even though it was easy to see that the weapon wasn't going to hit me anyway, as it was flying in at least a foot above my head. As the Praetorian whipped around to face the attacker, I glanced back quickly, identifying my mysterious benefactor.

"Chopper, what the fuck are you doing here?" I asked –well, yelled- as we both split different ways to avoid the Xeno's glinting claws and bony, powerful tail.

If he answered, I didn't hear it, because the Praetorian didn't seem to be too interested in the Yautja at the moment. It turned to me, hissing with green-tinged saliva dripping from its mouth, and leapt with amazing agility, almost pinning me to the ground once more as I skittered sideways. Suddenly, I was bowled over by a vicious backhand swing from its powerful claw, and I landed on the grass directly beside the creature with a surprised cry. The tail came up menacingly, the dagger-like point glinting in the sunlight as it drove towards me, cutting the air with an almost perceivable sound.

But then, there was suddenly nothing for it to impale me with except a stump, and it was fairly simple for me to twist away from the bloody appendage while the Xeno was distracted. With careful aim, I punched upwards from my new position right below the beast's head, aiming just below the jaw of the creature where the armor was weakest. Actually, I don't think there was any armor there at all, considering how my closed fist impacted into a slightly giving, almost rubbery surface. The Praetorian pulled back with a choking hack, reminding me of the battle I had won in Antarctica long before, and I sprang up from the grass with a movement that was supposed to be graceful, swinging my spear in a wide arc.

I missed where I had been aiming, though, and only managed to score a thin, jagged line across the front of the Xeno's skull. However, my attack served to distract the Praetorian enough to give Chopper an opening, and the Yautja flicked his hand downwards, releasing the deadly shruiken blade at what was almost point blank distance. There was an instant of still as I saw the Praetorian realize the mistake it had made in focusing on me, and I saw it try to dodge, to avoid the lethal strike in some miraculous way. I grimaced as the whirling disk of metal sliced into the joining between skull and body as easily as a knife through water and then erupted out of the opposite side of the armored creature's neck in an explosion of gore.

Instantly, the body of the Xeno fell to the grass, not even twitching as the head gave a last, gurgling hiss before going completely limp. I took a long, long moment to be sure that the body wasn't going to spring to life again, as these things often did, before straightening with a deep sigh. So much for that test.

"Helping you," Chopper growled at last, answering my earlier question that I had not even realized he had heard.

"Well, thanks," I replied somewhat irritably, kicking the Xeno in its crested head as I looked all around the place. The grass was torn up all to hell, and many patches were burnt or scorched by the acid blood. Heck, the place where the carcass lay was still smoking as the blood spread out and sank into the ground. I would be hard pressed to explain this sort of thing away unless we took care of it immediately…

"Jess?" I looked up to see Chopper staring at me; head tilted in curiosity as he slowly averted his gaze to take in the surroundings. I grunted as I used my spear to separate the Praetorian's head from its body, wrinkling my nose as the ground steamed up with a new vigor when the spine was severed.

"We're in my world, Chopper," I answered the unspoken question, "Remember when I told you and the others about the orb that brought me to your world? I know you didn't really believe me, then, but now you have to, since you got caught in it, too!"

"Yes…" Well, Chopper was pretty talkative, wasn't he? I sighed and looked at him, seeing that he was in full armor, now. Surprising, since he had only been in casual gear when I had fought him, but I guess Lex and I hadn't been the only ones to change after the elder had allowed us to leave. With a small sense of relief I saw the old, familiar mask clipped onto his belt.

"Ah, good, you have your mask," I commented. Chopper snorted and set about cleaning his shruiken, using the grass to wipe the gore off the many blades of the weapon. More smoke rose into the air, and I mentally made several rude and sarcastic comments about the relationship between smoke, fire, and dumb people that would probably come to investigate, "Put it on. I don't want to have to deal with screaming, hysterical idiots later."

No, I wasn't in a good mood. Would you be, after being attacked a simple walking distance away from your own home? I don't think so.

"You seem annoyed."

"Thanks for stating the obvious," I snapped, instantly regretting my harsh tone as it came out of my mouth. I sighed heavily, shoulders dropping from their tense position; I hadn't wanted to yell at anybody, especially not one of my best friends, "Gods, I'm sorry, Chopper. Damn, I have no idea what I'm gonna do…"

"You know much more than I do, here," Chopper said, punctuating his words with a series of reassuring clicks as he put his mask on. I almost grinned as I saw that rock star visage looking out at me once more, remembering when I had first seen it and how very entertaining I had found the mask to be. Chopper had never fully understood my amusement, "You must lead."

"No pressure, huh?" I commented dryly. Finally, I cracked a smile, though it was a weak one, at best. Contrary to what I had said earlier, I did know what I needed to do, but I really wasn't looking forward to it, as it involving facing my parents. Most specifically, facing my mom.

I'm sure they hadn't appreciated me being gone a month without warning.

I shook the Praetorian head that I had severed, draining more of the blood on the grass. It probably wouldn't be drained enough to be safe for several hours, yet, but I couldn't chance it being discovered by some idiot person trespassing on our property. The body would be hard enough to dispose of! Really, all I could do for that was thank whatever powers there were that the grass was tall enough to hide most of it.

Wait, the grass was tall? Hadn't it been cold and snowy when I had been transported to the AvP world?

And the air was pretty warm, too! How could a month have possibly changed the weather that drastically? I looked up at the trees, surprised to see small buds of beginning leaves on the branches. In fact, it seemed as if spring was starting, and as I took a deep sniff of the air blowing past in a gentle wind I could smell the fresh scent of clear, pure nature. It was invigorating, and suddenly I began to feel better about being back, and even about seeing my mom.

It wasn't that I didn't want to see my parents again; it was just the fact that the greeting was bound to be… emotional. Blech, I hated emotional stuff. Almost more than I hated being attacked by Xeno's. Really, if I had a choice, I'd say bring on the Aliens and fuck the greeting!

"Well, Chopper," I said finally, taking a deep breath to calm me, "Let's get to my house and get this over with. Don't attack anybody, even if they seem about to attack you, and for god's sake, don't take off your mask. I don't think my mom would live through the shock of that."

He grunted, and I sighed as I began to walk up the gradual incline of the hill that I knew was behind my house, heading towards the thin band of trees that separated the field from the carefully manicured grass of the yard. After a moment, I heard Chopper stand and begin to follow, his heavy bulk belying an amazingly silent tread. Well, I bet it was just the shock of being thrust into the strangeness of my world that had made him act as if he was on some sort of silent hunt, as the Yautja was normally a bit more talkative, but I knew for certain that before this little visit was over he would be suffering from the mother of all culture shocks.

At the muffled sound of a gasp, my head snapped up, and I felt my jaw hang slack as I looked straight into one of the most familiar and missed faces I had ever seen. We both stood motionless, each not daring to move any closer than the fifty feet that separated us. Finally, the other seemed to snap back, and I winced slightly as the harsh voice rang out.

"Jessica (edited)! Where in hell have you been?"

Ooh, full name, my mind said with a grimace, not good, Jess. Oi… check, please!


(shakes head and smacks self on forehead) Ugh...