Pitball 2200: The Saga of the Terran Squad
		(Based on the PSX videogame "Pitball")

Planet Lazanilla- Desert Home of the T'charids
Game 15: Terran Squad (6-9) vs. T'Charids (10-5)
21:32 planet time

Halftime: T'Charids-18  Terrans-4


	"They're stomping our brains out!!"  I screamed at Meli in the locker room. 
"We can't afford to lose again, we've already been canned by the Slorillians
(7-8), Astarians (8-7) and Kreels (5-10) in the last three games and it don't
get any easier after this one!"
I summarized.

	We were in the middle of a tough stretch of our season and things certainly
weren't looking up.  Our team was headed to the toilet and here we stood, heads
bowed the stench of defeat permeating like a thick and dense fog.
	"Sara's right you know, we've used up as much rope as we got right now... we
can't hang ourselves anymore, so that's a plus.  Now we just gotta figure out
how to make up 14 points in seven minutes, and forget the 2 p.p.m. plan because
it won't work!"
	That's Merker our capadre, coach and team psychologist so to speak.  He's a
piece of work to say the least.  We affectionately call him "Merk", and like his
name suggests, he's a former member of the Terran Militia.  Merk's proven more
than useful to us despite have a warped Jekyll/Hyde mentality.  Meli and I call
it genius/crackpot, but that's between you and us, although I think he suspects
something.  The weird part about it is that he doesn't even PRETEND to be some
know-it-all do what I say and stay outta my way type jerk that lotsa military
people are.  He's VERY down to earth which is sooooo refreshing.
"Two-P.P.M. Plan Merk?" I asked.
	"That's points-per-minute Sara," he acknowledged.  "We gotta strike quickly
and cut into that lead.  Get it under ten points with time to spare."
	"That's easier said than done Bro.  Those insectoid chicks are all over us
tonight!  Meli's scoreless and if you've noticed, we haven't been able to cross
the middle of the damn arena!"  I said.
	"Preach on sista..."  Responded a downtrodden Meli, whose armor was sizzling
from the repeated tagging she received at the hands of the T'Charids (pronounced
Tuh-Cha-rids), an amazon Insectoid warrior race that resembles a bunch of
half-woman bees and scorpions.  However, Merk responded confidently and without
delay:
	"We can fix that..."
	This prompted me to raise an eyebrow and sashay over to where he was sitting. 
He spun around in his chair and saw me as I was walking toward him.  "MMMMM..."
He moaned.  I stopped right next to the desk with my Napalm Grenade Launcher in
one hand and my free hand on my hip; striking my best "enlighten me" pose.  Now,
I don't "sashay" at all because simply stated I'm a tomboy.  Anyway, Merk truly
LISTENS to us and tries his hardest to make sure we're taken care of, which is
tough in our universe.  Okay, this is where I should shed some light on who I
am, Meli, and what we're doing in a virtually empty military strategy room; on a
highly infertile desert planet about 512 feet underground, only 1.5 million
miles from three different suns.

Intro to the team--

	It's a lot to swallow so you'd better pay attention, have a pen handy or
simply click that "PRINT" button.  My friend Meli is short for Melanie--Melanie
de la Cruz.  She stands at only 5'5 and weighs 134 pounds.  However, she's an
exceptional athlete with a contortionist-friendly body that allows her to twist,
stretch, and angle herself in ways that would even make Spiderman or Mr.
Fantastic jealous.  She's super quick, acrobatic and blessed with an 82-inch
vertical leap. 
	My name's Sara, if you haven't guessed it already, Sara Delfino.  I'm 6'6 and
weigh 270, it's no big deal to the team, or me and to coin a phrase, I'm "strong
as an ox."  Both Meli and I are marine specialists who are riot officers by
trade.  We have no previous law enforcement, military or scientific training. 
Most of our knowledge is acquired, which is a necessity in the 23rd century;
considering what happened to our home planet Earth.
	About fifty years ago a huge planet-sized meteor crashed into it.  The
resulting disaster left a world that's 75% water--75 % flooded!  Only the
elevated mountainous regions survived the water bulge.  This and many other
cataclysms resulted in nearly 200,000 people dying and about 500 species of
animals becoming extinct.  Those that survived were mutated in strange ways:
amazons like me, werewolves and other cross-species mutates were spawned.  Most
of the upper class and corporate people escaped to the moon where they presently
reside in domed cities.

The Game--

	The sport of Pitball, the name of our sport was Earth's only financial savior. 
It's an unscrupulous game invented by these alien beings known as the Aurorans. 
It's basically a game in which the object is to score goals and outdo your
opponent using high-tech weapons, hand-to-hand combat and all the survival
instinct you can muster.  In your logic, it's a combo of basketball, hockey,
Ultimate Fighting Championship and military-style warfare.  You compete in a
huge steel-walled arena pit that has variable conditions including gravity, ice
and traps that make the game very interesting.  The goals are on opposite ends
of the arena.  There are no rules, timeouts, substitutions, commercials or any
other stoppages.  If you're injured during gameplay you're toast!  Special power
boosts are randomly passed onto the playing area by a computer that controls the
playing area.  Pitball features 2-on-2 team play and weapons of all type are
allowed.  If we so choose we're fitted with special projectile guns that allow
us to shoot an energized gameball everywhere in the pit.  Of course, some
competitors don't need them because of "natural" or other gifted methods.  The
Aurorans with their "spirit" weapons or those nasty Slorillians with their magma
rock are two perfect examples.
	Scoring is simple, one goal=one point.  However, you can get multiple points
by ricocheting the ball off the walls and into the goal in one shot.  The more
the merrier, or, if you're close enough, you can slam the ball home for 3
points.

Analysis and 2nd Half Adjustments--

	"Okay girls, let's go back to basics,"  instructed Merk as he switched on a VR
display device through his small laptop computer.  "Simply stated, we gotta make
'em respect the ball defensively by cornering it constantly...on the ground nice
and hard, even bouncing it some'll be a plus because of the normal G-force
levels, and it'll be harder for them to handle."
	"What about Shanilla," I replied grinning, Merk was piquing my interest and
even Meli emerged eagerly on one knee.  His focus shifted on Shanilla (pron.
Shah-nee-yah), who led the T'Charids with 12 of their 18 total points, while we
were stuck on 4 collectively.  Mostly airborne with the help of an innovative
rocketpack that they obviously purchased on the black market, she advantageously
glid over midair in the pit and pinned us back with a rapid-fire pulse machine
gun.  Its energized bullets emitted hot sparks upon impact with a target. Even
worse, they burst high enough in the air to nullify our leaping abilities and
disorientate us from the intense heat.  No matter what we tried, we were sitting
ducks.  Kareen--Shanilla's partner--took cheap shots at us, but in Pitball
there's no such thing.  She spinkicked and web-slung us to death, knocking us
into the walls and the floor.  Safe to say we were easy pickings and they
amassed 5 dunks, a ricocheted 2 pointer and a regular goal.
	Merk continued, "On the opening tip, just bash the ball to their end and then
give whomever jumps with you a nice love tap to show'em you ain't goin' nowhere. 
Don't worry about scoring, just keep 'em pinned and watch for powerups.  Another
thing...get on top of whoever has that jet--hmmm, I just noticed something."
"Take a look," he said.
	We watched the VR and he pointed out Shanilla's flight patterns during certain
points of the first half.  He then magnified the paused images and changed the
view angles.  She seemed to dip at times, leading Merk to theorize that either
the jetpack was low on fuel, turned off, or simply too heavy for her to handle.
	"Wait a minute!  Go back to that last shot, Merk."  Meli asked, "You guys see
that?"
"What?" I responded.
"Look real close..." she instructed.
"...OOOOHHHHH gross!"  Said Merk.
	I still hadn't noticed what they were gawking at until Meli sarcastically
pointed at it.  Shanilla's back appeared to be opening in the middle.  The skin
slit appeared underneath the jetpack, and I must admit that the sight was
fascinating in a nasty sorta way.  I knew almost immediately what was happening.
"She's sprouting wings."  I deduced, and before Meli or Merk could utter a
response, I quickly noticed something else.  It was Shanilla's arm, and I had
Merk change the perspective and zoom in.  My eyes lit up and my heart skipped
two beats.
"Guys..." I started, "she's mutating..."
	Merk smiled cozily and folded his arms responding, "How do you know?"  Meli
added, "Yeah girl...other than the fact she doin' the Goldblum thang wit them
wangs!"
	"Look at the arm." I began, pointing to the top of the wrist and hand areas. 
"Look at those throbbing veins and that white stuff dripping from it.  The
T'Charids usually bleed a yellow-greenish fluid.  Run the VR please Merk?"
He obliged.
	"EWWWWW--it looks like some hot corrosive stuff,"  I went on.  "That vein
could be some sorta acid shooter or something."
	Merk continued inspecting Shanilla's entire body and he noticed that her neck
was bulging at the front and sides.  "What in blazes is that?"  Asked a grossed
out Meli. 
"It looks like some major buildup of some kind and my guess is mucus!"  Merk
said.  Our insectoid opponents also had the ability to slime you with a thick
and sticky liquid they secreted in their bodies.  However, they rarely used it
tonight. They didn't have to.
	"That's why she was descending like that, and it also explains their tactics. 
One of the girls was fighting her transformation, keeping it from us so we
wouldn't discover."  Declared Merk.
	"...But that's not standard bug-gal op procedure--" interjected Meli.
	Merk gave us some more last minute strategy before the T'Chardian guard
entered our room, pointing their battle staves in our direction and speaking in
a confusing rapid dialect.  We know from past experience that when those gals
come in the door like that, as Meli always puts it, "It's time to bounce
y'all..."  so we immediately got up and departed to the arena.

T'Charidian adjustments--

	Shanilla and Kareen were already waiting for us in the pit as we arrived. 
Merk took his customary position in a small bulletproof booth overlooking the
entire playing area topside to coach us through small undetectable codec
communication devices, implanted in our ears.  Kareen now wore the jetpack as we
expected.  I tried to size up the second half scenarios regarding my matchup
with Shanilla and our starting effectiveness as a team.  Meli shot a look at me
and then slid her glance across to Shanilla who was talking trash in her native
tongue to me.  She did capture my attention, however, when she spewed, "...You
die.." giving me a thumbs down gesture with one of her throbbing hands.  The
white acidic now spilled off her arm, and sizzled upon impact with the floor,
leaving damage spots.  I prodded one she left in between us with my weapon and
was, to say the least, terrified.
	I could now hear the loud sounds as Shanilla's skin throbbed more violently
and burst in several areas.  I couldn't watch because of the putrid smell and
the onion-like effects on my tearing eyes.  I stepped back, refocusing my gaze
to Meli while covering my nose.  She looked away for a quick second only to be
shocked when she turned back.
	"Aye-yie-yie-yie-yie-yieeeeeee carumba!  Her back's gonna blow up!"  She
exclaimed.
	I quickly turned to face Shanilla again, who now stood with her legs slightly
bent, her teeth gritted and her arms ajar from her side as her entire body now
pulsated.  Suddenly, she let out a deafening shriek and a pair of huge insect
wings exploded from her back!  They reached out to nearly seven feet in length,
dripping with blood and skin.  Their enormous width caused her to rock in her
stance, but the rest of her body caught up.  Her legs expanded from her massive
thighs, all the way down to her lengthening feet.  Her calves challenged her
three-quarter high-cloth boots.  Because of her species' exceptional training
regimen, Shanilla's transformation occurred rapidly.  Her torso spread out in
all directions and new layers of thick dense muscle stacked themselves in
between.  Her widening lats and shoulders gave her the upper body support for
her wings.  Her lower body didn't lag far behind as her feet and powerful legs
shredded the soft material boots.  Sharp talons violently emerged from beneath
her elongating toes, and her arms inflated like balloons.
	There I stood, dwarfed, in a matter of seconds.  My 6'6 height now looked
insignificant to Shanilla's 7+ft size.  The finishing touches were still
enacting themselves upon her body.  Her already sharp teeth increased their
protrusion from her bubbling gums, the stinger lodged in her tailbone
lengthened, as well as a pair of long antenna once short and dormant.  The
amazon bug's skin darkened from her species' light green pigment, and her eyes
became blood red.  I felt like one of those cartoon characters whose weapon
withers in the face of a group or a gigantic individual.
	I charged my weapon as the hulking she-bug stood upright, statuesque and
stepped ominously close to me in anticipation for action.  She crouched slightly
and repeated her threat in a deeper altered tone, "YOU DIE."
	I looked up at Shanilla and retorted in the most emphatic tone I could muster,
"Am I supposed to be scared?"  Then I took a deep pronounced breath that she
saw, and I quipped half sarcastically, "I am."  I gave her a hard forearm to her
immense chest using my mounted grenade launcher and she swayed back slightly.
	"You could PRETEND that hurt you know!"  I joked.
	Shanilla let out a rapid skittering sound and grinned, showing her pointy
whites.  She subsequently pounded the floor, shaking the entire arena, causing
several spectators to be splattered against the dome.  Even Merk wasn't safe as
he was floored.
	"EARTHQUAAAAAKE!!!!"  He yelled through the codec.
	"Chill out Merk--Shanilla's just stoked--" I said.
	"Oh." he said, "stoked.... STOKED!"
	Although Meli nearly hurled at the sight of Shanilla's growth, she composed
herself as the automated self-cleaning floor panels immediately disposed of the
gruesome skin and fluids.
	Moments later, a tall virtual image appeared in the form of a well-dressed man
in a black tuxedo holding a microphone.  Before every game and after halftime,
he does this same act where he looks around and then speaks:
	"Ladies and gentlemen aliens and terrans....lllllllLLLLLLLLETS GET READY TO
RUMBLLLLLLLLLLE!!!!!!"
	The crowd erupted into bedlam and raucous shrieks.  A more monotone automated
voice intoned, "Play ball."

2ND Half--

	Kareen and Meli got ready for the vertical jostle; I retracted my weapon and
mentally readied myself.  I ignored the mutated Shanilla, who made it a point to
crowd me.  She moved into my line of vision and flexed, ripping her ragged
clothing that consisted of a sleeveless bra top and tights.  Now nude, she
leaned face to face with me and grunted.  She swooped her long warrior locks
hair to one side, and made me feel her intense body heat as sweat glistened and
cascaded over her heaving muscles.  She then fixed one of the deadliest stares
I've ever encountered since starting Pitball.  I could feel that penetrating
glare peering into the deepest recesses of my soul.  Attempting to return the
favor proved futile.  I spotted the ceiling opening to drop the energized ball. 
I looked away in order to prevent myself from revealing this to her from the
reflection in my eyes.  However, Shanilla firmly turned my head back to face her
and kept her huge hand under my chin.  So I watched the floor until I heard Meli
and Kareen jump.

	With the reflexes of a Terran Jaguar I quickly slapped Shanilla’s arm down,
leap-froged over her shoulder, gun-butted her in the temple and finished with a
double ax-handle thump to her giant Stinger.  Before she could retaliate, I was
on my horse towards the T’Charids’ goal.  She found herself fixed to the arena
floor, courtesy of her killer appendage.

	As I bolted goalward I swiveled to look at how Meli fared with the face-off. 
She beat Kareen by getting off the floor quicker, and when I spotted Meli higher
in the air than her, I knew what to expect.  Meli batted the ball to the bugs’
goal as Merk instructed back in the room.  I looked back when I heard the
contact.  The ball zoomed towards me and I caught it near my hip pocket, never
breaking stride on my way to paydirt in the form of a thunderous right-handed
dunk.  The play took less than five seconds and the juiced up crowd was
astonished into silence.  You could actually hear Kareen barking at her teammate
who was still trying to free herself from the floor.
	“Yes!” exclaimed Merk from the booth, “Ok…we just need a few more plays like
that…Go girls go!”
	“You got that Meli?” I joked to her.  She gave one of the many fancy
handshakes that we learned or created over the years.
	“That was tight.” She mentioned with a smile.
	Now it was my turn to do the face-off, and because we were so good at it, 
Meli and I occasionally alternated at the job for change-of-pace purposes.  I
still deferred to her or Merk, letting them decide when it was appropriate for
me to handle it.  We waited for the T’Charids to get ready, but they were still
‘barbing over the last play.  In fact, Shanilla had actually stopped struggling
to unplug herself from the floor, relaxed herself and sat where she was.  That
prompted Meli to walk back to me chuckling.  “Shanilla’s so gangsta,” she
remarked.
“Really?”  I said.
“You don’t think so?” countered Meli.
“They’re ALL GANG-STA…but noone’s as gangsta as those monkeymen Ancients!”
“I don’t think so,” replied Meli.  “The bug ladies can be just as devious if
they stopped warring all the time with military artillery and use something
else.”
“What?”  I asked.
“That.”  She said, pointing to Shanilla’s exposed private area.
“Ohhhhhhhhh…Meli?!  That’s just nasty!”  I responded in sheer incredulity.
“But am I wrong?”  She laughed while speaking. 
It was highly encouraging to see her lighthearted because she was in such a
terrible slump.  She’d been shackled by our recent opponents who all but took
away her deadly aim and at times, wore her down physically.  The left me to
pickup the slack, but my inflated 9.3 points average during this tough span
wasn’t enough.  Meli did show some signs of awakening in our very last game in a
loss to the Kreels where she scored 6 points on 3 goals.  That total was more
than what she amassed in the two prior games to that one. 
The game eventually continued as the amazon insects carried their discord to the
face-off.  Kareen, still fuming, decided to jump with me, leaving Shanilla on
Meli.  That changed abruptly when Shanilla physically moved Kareen from the
center and placed her in front of Meli.
	“You just gonna take that?!”  She instigated.
Shanilla had none of that, spraying her corrosive acid in an arc line in front
of them, telling Kareen in effect, “Try something at your own risk.”
Merk was cracking up at the shenanigans, but he was sane enough to instruct Meli
to cross under Shanilla and me after face-off. He gave me the choice as to where
to hit the ball when it was dropped.  The monotone computer voice spoke, the
ceiling opened and I flinched upon seeing the ball.  I didn’t jump, however,
because I realized that it was still stationary.  Shanilla concentrated on me
and jumped when I moved.  Meli and Kareen remained patient until the ball
actually did drop.  Shanilla was further vexed when it fell idly past her and I
wasted no time in spiking it softly in the right corner of the T’Charids end. 
This gave Meli time to pick up the ball’s path and fight her way back to it as
she ran on the opposite side.
Shanilla vented on me quickly, she swooped down, grabbed me and nearly made me
human wallpaper.  Exerting her enhanced strength, she pinned my arms and
revealed a kneespike that extended through her skin.  I almost panicked until I
noticed just how frustrated she was.  The mutation, coupled with our quick
score, and heated argument with her teammate caused her to forget that they were
winning.  Although the T’Charids were notorious for killing their opponents,
they did so with a more disciplined and efficient style.  I relaxed myself and
subtly fought to make it tougher for her to attack me straight on.  I got off
two hard kicks to her ribs that made her groan and fight back prematurely.  She
scratched my inner thigh slightly but at the time, I was just elated that she
kneed the wall instead of me.  Once again Shanilla found herself stuck and
unable to move.  I kicked her opposite leg, which lessened her hold and allowed
me to escape and assist Meli.
	To my delight, she was looking to score the ball against an upset Kareen.  I
waved my arms as I approached trying not to draw unwanted attention.  Shanilla
was so caught up in escaping that she never bothered to communicate.  Meli
glimpsed me from the corner of her eye and backed off.  Merk coaxed Meli,
encouraging her to wait.
“…Don’t be fooled Mel…”  he started, “She’s GIVING you that space by the wall. 
If you take it, you’ll be a new coat of paint…don’t back off totally, keep
Kareen on edge…That’s it.” 

	I turned and headed straight for the ticked off insect gaining speed as I
went.  Meli stepped closer to her, juked a coupla times, and moved laterally at
half speed.
	Shanilla bashed the wall repeatedly, trying to extricate herself from her
self-imposed trap.  Pitball arenas, most of which were designed by the Aurorans
, have walls that are a minimum of 5 ft. thick all-around, with allowances for
technological and natural advances.  The T’Charids, like many of the renegade
competitors made their own unique design, resembling their desert hives. 
Complicated networks of petrified wood, combined with the computerized features
and outfitting of standard pitball arenas, highlight the insectoids’ home. 
Shanilla busted a 3-ft long crack about 2 yds deep that extended from the small
hole she created with her knee.  Upon gaining freedom, she flew at superspeed
across the arena, shrieking loudly.  Meli continued her lateral movement,
deliberately setting Kareen up for the upcoming onslaught I was bringing in the
form of a vicious pick.  She continued to shadow Meli unaware of me,  when Meli
stutterstepped and took off, Kareen hastened to beat her to the middle.
Shanilla’s deafening frantic shrieks didn’t go unheard, Kareen took a look at
her airborne teammate attempting to decipher the frenetic message.  However, by
the time she understood it and finally turned to see me—
		“OHHHHHHHH……OUCH!!”  Agonized Merk.
	I slammed into her at top speed and continued on into the adjacent wall with
my forearm jammed into her jaw.  Kareen’s jetpack was damaged on impact, and,
she also hit her head.  Meli broke to the goal and went up for the finish. 
Shanilla stayed the course in her pursuit to stop the score.  I carefully
watched just in case she tried something.  When she put her arms straight out in
front of her, I feared a web or acid attack.
		“Sara!! Mutated wasp chick on Meli’s six!”  Hollered Merk over the codec.
		“I’m on it…”  I answered.
	I immediately picked Kareen up by her neck and flung her in front of her fast
soaring teammate.  Meli stylishly dunked with two hands, with the T’Charids
collided like two rapidly approaching asteroids and slammed into the wall.
		“Alllrrrriiight-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!”  Laughed Merker.
	Only 12 more seconds elapsed, and we scored another 3 points, trimming the
lead down to eight and an 18-10 score.  He acknowledged our effort.
“Sixteen seconds and we’re on fire!!  Let’s keep that drum rolling gals…stay    
in the middle Sara, and Meli, roll behind her for a basketball tap.”
	I raised my arms in celebration, hugging Meli when she landed.  We jogged back
to the center of the pit, anxiously awaiting the next jump ball.  The T’Charids
slowly made their way back to the center, starting with an infuriated Shanilla,
who pounded the wall again in anger.  Kareen followed staggering woozily to the
center, and using the wall for support.  She looked like easy pickings, but Merk
warned us.  He referred to the desperate nature of injured people and how they
can do their best or worse damage when you underestimate them.  We know about
this all too well because heart and resiliency are our unit’s biggest attribute. 
However, there was no doubt in my mind that Kareen was hurt bad, and it showed. 
She was bruised, bleeding in the face and internally as she spat drops of blood.
	Merk took this into consideration when he gave us our next play. It worked
excellently as I finished Kareen off into the wall near the exact spot her
teammate ensnared herself.  I was eventually rewarded with another dunk as Meli
outsmarted Shanilla by leaping in the air, forcing her to commit and feeding me
with a righteous bounce pass for the alley-oop.
		“Rollin-Rollin-Rollin-Rollin…keep Rollin-Rollin-Rollin…”  sang Merk  as his
excitement level was now at a fever pitch.  Shanilla let out another deafening
roar that shook the foundation of the entire arena.  Chips fell off the walls
and even more of the insectoid spectators were toppled against the domed
ceiling.
	Meli and I were now more confident than ever having scored 9 straight points
in less than 30 seconds.  Merk’s adjustments were paying colossal dividends the
way we were going, a rout suddenly became a slight possibility.
	However, as Meli, Merk and I talked strategy over the codec line, we were
interrupted by, grunts, groans and mixed speech:
		“Co-ke-ko-ka-joq-bla…”
		“IT’S MY TURN NOW!!”
		“Ka-Ka-Ti-Ak-Do-Sa—“
		“YOU WILL YIELD TO THE POWERRR!”
	Kareen was spazing out, having some sort of schizo episode.  “Oh crap…You
lookin’ at that girls?!”  Said a stunned Merker.
		“Daaaaamn,” replied Meli, as the both of us looked on at another bug
transformation.  Kareen’s body began swelling with muscle, just like Shanilla’s. 
She flexed, and her rapid growth challenged the straps of the junked jetpack. 
Her height increased and her eyes began flashing pitch black.
		“THIS HAS GONE ON LONG ENOUGH!”  She declared in a deep voice.
		“AT-AT-KO-T’K-EE-YI-YA-URRRRRRGH!!”
	Kareen seemed to be trying to fight the change as best she could, grasping her
head in excruciating pain.  The most ominous sign occurred when the giant winged
amazon Shanilla backed off in sheer fright.  Kareen continued to struggle when
suddenly, the growth stopped and she dropped to her knees.  We watched concerned
and scared, not bothering to venture over her and check.  Seconds later. Her
eyes flashed open, and the dormant body sprang back to life.
		“KAREEN IS NOW THE ONE, THE ALMIGHTY, THE OMNIPOTENT,
		 THE INVINCIBLE……THE QUEEN!!!”
	Totally shocked out of our minds, Meli looked up at me in disbelief and asked,
“Can I wake up now?”


To be continued…