Out of their Minds

Rae awoke, as she usually did, with a prolonged scream. Two years with the Scoobs had taught her that, generally speaking, it was wise to get all of her screaming out of the way all at once first thing in the morning, rather than gradually over the course of the day. As the echo died away, she became gradually aware that she was lying on a hard surface, and not on her feather mattress.

*Am I on the floor? Why am I on the floor?* She opened her eyes and found herself staring at an unfinished wood surface. *Yup, okay. Floor...* She sighed, wondering what dream had landed her there, and rolled over. Or, rather, she TRIED to roll over.

"What the frell?" she demanded, and her voice sounded odd to her, though not entirely unfamiliar. It took her under a microt to realize WHY her distorted voice sounded familiar. "Raegun?" It was his voice, alright, but it was issuing from her mouth.

She tried to roll over again and found that she could not, tried to wiggle her toes and found that she had none. Her frustrated oath was accompanied by a pulse-blast, and she did not even notice. She began screaming again.

Mouse woke with a yawn and stretched. Considering how late she had stayed up last night, she felt surprisingly well-rested. Sighing contentedly, she lay back, enjoying the warm sunlight that filtered through the window and flooded her face. Something told her that THIS was going to be one of the good days. She could not have been more wrong...

She wiggled slightly, trying to figure out why her bed felt... off. She groaned softly as she realized why. "This isn't my bed, is it?" Without opening her eyes, she reached out to make sure that she was, in fact, alone. Cautiously, she opened her eyes and looked around. "Um, okay... I'm in the longboat. Why am I in the longboat?" She groaned, rubbing her head and trying to remember if she had been up late drinking with Rae again. That did not make much sense, however, as the ONLY thing that could have accounted for the gap in her memory was two or three Page 103's. But she was feeling none of the distinctive morning-after symptoms of a 103.

Slowly, cautiously, she rose and started for the door. She jumped as Ragnar stepped into view, wearing only a pair of white boxers covered in little yellow duckies. He jumped at the same time as Mouse herself did. Her jaw, and his, dropped as she realized that she was staring into a full-length mirror.

"Good morning, star-shine..." Raegun warbled as he woke. His voice echoed oddly in his audio array. "Rae," he yawned, "I think my vocal synthesizer's blitzed. Can we take care of that today?" He waited expectantly. "Rae? Wake up, Rae."

He hesitated, waiting for and not receiving a response. "Wake up, Rae." he repeated, activating his ocular array. No Rae. In fact, no Rae's bed, either. He wasn't even in her room. "Oh, dear..."

"I'm in Sunny's room!" he gasped. "She's gonna kill me! Rae... get me out of here! RAE!" He suddenly realized why his voice sounded so odd. "I'm not in Sun's room... I'm in SUN!" He jumped up, nearly falling over. He grabbed onto the bed for support. "And I'm a bi-ped!" he moaned. "I can't do this!" He sighed and closed his eyes, trying to think. "This brain is TINY! I've got to find Rae! Yeah, she can fix me!"

He started towards the door and promptly fell onto his face. "How do you work this thing?" he demanded of no-one in particular, half-crawling and half-slithering towards the door. "Please open, now!" he gasped.

The door, one of the few non-sentient appliances in the mansion, obligingly slid open without argument. He crawled into the hallway and started towards the attic stairs. As he crawled, he saw Velorek trying to strangle Crais as Larraq struggled to pull the two apart. He made a mental note to inform Rae of the incident, but, preoccupied with trying to make his new body function as designed, he promptly forgot all about it. Groaning, he continued his struggle up the stairs.

Kay awoke to the sound of a male voice shrieking Sebacian obscenities. Occasional pulse-blasts punctuated the tirade. Frowning uncertainly, she sat up, struggling to untangle herself from a cocoon of blankets. She was surprised to find herself in a room other than her own, in Rae's room, in fact. The smell of dried herbs, incense, and God only knew what else was enough to make her light-headed. She looked around, dazed. She was more than a little surprised to find that the source of the cursing, and of the shooting, was none other than Raegun.

"Are you feeling okay?" She ran her fingers through her hair and yelped. "Raegun," she asked shakily, "why do I have FEATHERS on my head?"

Kay paced around the crowded ballroom, cradling the cursing pulse-rifle in her arms. Raegun lay on the floor nearby, experimenting with Sun's body. An arm or leg would jerk spasmodically, then he would lie still.

"Well, I think it's fairly obvious that we're all affected." Rae said with a sigh. "Oy, Velorek, or whoever the frell you are, could you stop trying to kill Crais's body? I've grown rather fond of it over the years."

"Listen carefully." Mouse told her. "You are in Raegun's body. He's in Sunny's. She's in Spyral, who's in Vi. Vi's in IQ. IQ is in Jila. She's got my body, I've got Ragnar's. He's got Sweetie who has Chryse. She's in Kara who's in Kay. Kay is in you. Artic is in Twig; Twig is in Artic. Crais is in Velorek. Velorek is in Larraq. Larraq is in Crais..."


	The Archives Out of their Minds Raven-Kat Rae awoke, as she usually did, with a prolonged scream. Two years with the Scoobs had taught her that, generally speaking, it was wise to get all of her screaming out of the way all at once first thing in the morning, rather than gradually over the course of the day. As the echo died away, she became gradually aware that she was lying on a hard surface, and not on her feather mattress. Am I on the floor? Why am I on the floor? She opened her eyes and found herself staring at an unfinished wood surface. Yup, okay. Floor... She sighed, wondering what dream had landed her there, and rolled over. Or, rather, she TRIED to roll over. "What the frell?" she demanded, and her voice sounded odd to her, though not entirely unfamiliar. It took her under a microt to realize WHY her distorted voice sounded familiar. "Raegun?" It was his voice, alright, but it was issuing from her mouth. She tried to roll over again and found that she could not, tried to wiggle her toes and found that she had none. Her frustrated oath was accompanied by a pulse-blast, and she did not even notice. She began screaming again. "Raegun? Crais? FRELL!" * Mouse woke with a yawn and stretched. Considering how late she had stayed up last night, she felt surprisingly well-rested. Sighing contentedly, she lay back, enjoying the warm sunlight that filtered through the window and flooded her face. Something told her that THIS was going to be one of the good days. She could not have been more wrong... She wiggled slightly, trying to figure out why her bed felt... off. She groaned softly as she realized why. "This isn't my bed, is it?" Without opening her eyes, she reached out to make sure that she was, in fact, alone. Cautiously, she opened her eyes and looked around. "Um, okay... I'm in the longboat. Why am I in the longboat?" She groaned, rubbing her head and trying to remember if she had been up late drinking with Rae again. That did not make much sense, however, as the ONLY thing that could have accounted for the gap in her memory was two or three Page 103's. But she was feeling none of the distinctive morning-after symptoms of a 103. Slowly, cautiously, she rose and started for the door. She jumped as Ragnar stepped into view, wearing only a pair of white boxers covered in little yellow duckies. He jumped at the same time as Mouse herself did. Her jaw, and his, dropped as she realized that she was staring into a full-length mirror. "Oh... my... God..." * "Good morning, star-shine..." Raegun warbled as he woke. His voice echoed oddly in his audio array. "Rae," he yawned, "I think my vocal synthesizer's blitzed. Can we take care of that today?" He waited expectantly. "Rae? Wake up, Rae." He hesitated, waiting for and not receiving a response. "Wake up, Rae." he repeated, activating his ocular array. No Rae. In fact, no Rae's bed, either. He wasn't even in her room. "Oh, dear..." He looked around cautiously. Spartan furnishings, hard bed, tachyon shielding... "I'm in Sunny's room!" he gasped. "She's gonna kill me! Rae... get me out of here! RAE!" He suddenly realized why his voice sounded so odd. "I'm not in Sun's room... I'm in SUN!" He jumped up, nearly falling over. He grabbed onto the bed for support. "And I'm a bi-ped!" he moaned. "I can't do this!" He sighed and closed his eyes, trying to think. "This brain is TINY! I've got to find Rae! Yeah, she can fix me!" He started towards the door and promptly fell onto his face. "How do you work this thing?" he demanded of no-one in particular, half-crawling and half-slithering towards the door. "Please open, now!" he gasped. The door, one of the few non-sentient appliances in the mansion, obligingly slid open without argument. He crawled into the hallway and started towards the attic stairs. As he crawled, he saw Velorek trying to strangle Crais as Larraq struggled to pull the two apart. He made a mental note to inform Rae of the incident, but, preoccupied with trying to make his new body function as designed, he promptly forgot all about it. Groaning, he continued his struggle up the stairs. * Kay awoke to the sound of a male voice shrieking Sebacian obscenities. Occasional pulse-blasts punctuated the tirade. Frowning uncertainly, she sat up, struggling to untangle herself from a cocoon of blankets. She was surprised to find herself in a room other than her own, in Rae's room, in fact. The smell of dried herbs, incense, and God only knew what else was enough to make her light-headed. She looked around, dazed. She was more than a little surprised to find that the source of the cursing, and of the shooting, was none other than Raegun. "Gunny?" she asked, frowning. "Frell no!" was the emphatic response. "NOW GIVE ME MY FRELLING BODY BACK!" "Are you feeling okay?" She ran her fingers through her hair and yelped. "Raegun," she asked shakily, "why do I have FEATHERS on my head?" "I'm not frelling Raegun! I'm Rae and I want my body back now!" * Kay paced around the crowded ballroom, cradling the cursing pulse-rifle in her arms. Raegun lay on the floor nearby, experimenting with Sun's body. An arm or leg would jerk spasmodically, then he would lie still. "Well, I think it's fairly obvious that we're all affected." Rae said with a sigh. "Oy, Velorek, or whoever the frell you are, could you stop trying to kill Crais's body? I've grown rather fond of it over the years." "But I want my body back!" "SO DO I!" Rae shouted, shooting sparks from Raegun's muzzle. "But I don't think that's going to happen any time soon." "Especially if we go around arbitrarily strangling each other." Raegun groaned. "I am NOT being arbitrary. And could you STOP twitching like that?" "No. Not until I figure out how this thing works, at least..." "At least you CAN move." Rae grumbled. Spyral came storming into the ballroom and stalked straight up to Raegun. "Give me my frelling body back!" "Here we go again." Kay sighed. "Look, can someone give me a breakdown on who's who? This is making my neural chip hurt." "Listen carefully." Mouse told her. "You are in Raegun's body. He's in Sunny's. She's in Spyral, who's in Vi. Vi's in IQ. IQ is in Jila. She's got my body, I've got Ragnar's. He's got Sweetie who has Chryse. She's in Kara who's in Kay. Kay is in you. Artic is in Twig; Twig is in Artic. Crais is in Velorek. Velorek is in Larraq. Larraq is in Crais..." "And I am going to need a score-card to keep track." *** (Well, have fun guys. Only 2 rules: 1) This is a family board, so let's do our best to keep it PG-13 2) Remember not to put anyone's body into a situation you wouldn't want them putting your body into... Enjoy!!!) Out of their Minds (1)