One worm for the Apples

“What do you mean by ´he never came out´?” Deep inside the deeps of Heck, a powerful voice resounded with its thunderous echo across the planet´s landscapes. Its red surface and eternal lava pits, coupled with the diverse and wicked landscape did nothing to hide Evil´s anger.

The supposed to be grave for Earthworm Jim, never got its hands on the prized pray, thing that irritated Heck´s lord to no end and it showed as the shadows he spoke to, dared not make a move until the rant was finished.

Evil was breathing heavily, trying to regain composure. One moment he was savoring his victory, another he was talking to a bunch of incompetent lawyers that had failed a single task given to him.

Finally, after a few breaths, Evil calmed himself. “What happened?”

From the several lawyers and shadow demons cowering after Evil, each one of them looked between them, searching for one brave enough to speak, finally, one of the well suited horned demons, gave one step up front. “Something changed his course.”

Evil placed his paw under his chin. “Weird, no objects can enter the void without a magical door being opened.” His eyes were once again directed towards the lawyer. “Say, what was the thing that changed the worm´s course.”

The lawyer began to sweat cold, an amazing achievement, considering the high temperature provided by the numerous lava pits and volcanoes. The demon gulped, then released a sheepish smile, as he got ready to answer his master. “A...a cow?”

“A COW?!” Towers of fire and lava raised from the floor, signaling Evil´s anger and causing the several demons back away from him. The one who spoke, however, was too scared to evn move and did his best to look at his master, who now had regained visual contact with him. “You mean to tell me, a cow, somehow managed to enter the void and, somehow managed to save him before my highly powerful demons could get a hold of him?”

The demon lawyer stared blankly at him for a few seconds, before finally,, he managed to respond by a nod from his head.

“Idiot!” In a second and much to the surprise of the rest, the demon was surrounded by flames, which consumed the being until nothing was left.

The screams that went out of the fire were enough to stop the hearts of the demons, who now found themselves unable to move. After a few more seconds, silence assaulted the group, their comrade was gone and their angry master seemed to be in a berserk state, ready to finish them all, thankfully for them, Evil knew how to recover his tranquility after a fury outburst.

The cat gave a few deep breaths before he directed his next words towards the group. “Any of you knows where he went?”

Exasperation was quite a short word to describe what Evil was feeling, as he witnessed his minions staring at him blankly, not knowing Jim´s whereabouts. After a few seconds of hoping one would have an answer for him, the cat finally gave up.

Sighing in desperation, Evil placed his paw under his forehead, taking a deep breath after, then with an almost lamenting voice, he spoke. “Oh dear, what else can the universe throw at me?”

“Umm... Master?” One of the demons spoke, gaining a hopeful look from Evil. “If the worm is in another place, aren´t we free from him?”

Evil the cat got his sight fixated on the demon, causing the rest surrounding him to back away, leaving their comrade in the middle.

The lawyer was starting to feel uneasy and did his best to maintain the stare. For Evil, this was one of those moments where he certainly didn´t what to say; there would always be an idiot giving a ´brilliant´ idea.

The cat had chosen his words and proceeded to approach the demon, forcing a smile on his face. “Why? Why didn´t I think of that? It sure is a good idea, don´t you all think?” Evil directed his paws towards the rest of the group, who remained silent at the scene. The demon that spoke was frozen, waiting for the cat´s reaction, who was now in front of him.

“Interesting idea!” He began. “If the worm is gone, then he won´t be a problem to me anymore, correct?”

The demon gave a sheepish smile and noded with his head, making Evil chuckle in response, then used his paw to force the lawyer to his level and warped his arm around the demon´s shoulders. “Although, there is one inconvenience.” The lawyer began to sweat slightly. “You see, when someone bothers you, he becomes a problem and when you get rid of that problem but you do not end him, the problem may come back, now tell me.” The demon´s heart began to race. “Is Earthworm Jim, dead?”

Trying to control the shivers, the lawyer did his best to answer. “N... No?”

In a moment, Evil let go of both his smile and the demon, only to grab his face with his claws, he now had lost his cool. “Of course not! And that means he will still be a problem to me as long as he exists!” Slowly, Evil tightened his grip on the demon´s face, who did his best to escape, but the cat had him held tightly. For something as small as him, Evil was quite strong and powerful, something that petrified the rest of the demon group. After a few seconds, the cat calmed his breathing and opened his mouth to speak again in a friendlier manner. “Now, let me ask you one more question.” The demon did not answer, making Evil´s frown appear full force again. The lawyer was on his last legs, something he wasn´t the only one aware of; this thought made him almost loose himself in desperation, as he felt his heart racing. Finally, Evil spoke. “Do you know who else is a problem?” The demon shook his head as much as he could, then fire appeared on the cat´s eyes. “...You!”

As soon as the words escaped his mouth, the demon was covered in flames, living the same fate as the other lawyer.

Same as before, the screamings where soon gone, followed by silence. On his part, Evil dropped the ashed that had remained in his paw, to the floor, then directed his sight towards the other demons. “Something else I need to know?” They all shook their heads in response. “Another...idiotic suggestion?” Same as before, the demons shook their heads, this time gaining a nod from Evil in response. “Good!” With that, he turned around, but before leaving, Evil gave one more command. “Clean this mess!”

Like sheeps, demons followed almost immediately the cat´s commands, who had taken the opportunity to direct his steps towards the throne.

After finally having sat on the seat, Evil sighed. “This day can´t get any worse.” It had been a tough day for him, not many time had he managed to get Jim where he wanted and now that he had, the worm, somehow, managed to escape him. Normally, he wouldn´t care much about other mortals, for his power went beyond them, but Jim? Oh! Jim was special and he deserved Evil´s wrath.

Setting this thought s aside, the Cat tried to be optimistic and expect things to go better, sadly for him, a huge, purple insectican ship entered the atmosphere.

Inside a house, a certain dog sat on the couch while eating popcorn. He wasn´t watching a T V show, he wasn´t watching a movie, he was watching two women fight.

A small struggle had erupted between the two alien women, resulting in an instantaneous brawl match, to which Peter was obviously enjoying the Heck out.

He had been originally worried about Jim´s disappearance. The thought of loosing his best friend, the one being that knew him more, was simply a something he could not tolerate, something that would never let him sleep again, should the worm truly vanished forever... But somehow to women figting had caught his full attention.

“Fat butt!” Yelled Bonikka, further infuriating What´s her name, who had her in in a head block.

“Repeat that, you slob!” The princess replied, still firmly holding the queen who had only managed to grunt, trying to get away from What´s-her-name´s strong grasp. “Sorry, I can´t seem to hear you, care to repeat that?” Once more, Bonikka did her best to speak, but same as before, was unable to.

Finally after a few struggles, Bonikka managed to get a window of opportunity and freed her mouth from the princess´ arms. “Let go of me, its enough!

Now tired of this scene, What´s-her-name released Bonikka, who made an effort to not fall to the floor. After dusting off herself, the queen looked straight at the still frowning princess. “I don´t get why Peter asked for your help, you are only going to slow us down!”

“Are you seriously telling me that I will hold you back? If Jim hadn´t gone to save your skinny behind, none of this would have happened!” She chuckled. “Talking about being useless!”

“At least my family loves me!” Bonikka backfired, instantly gaining a furious look from What´s-her-name, who gave her a kill look.

“What did you say?” She asked, getting closer to the queen, who found herself backing away.

Fortunately for Bonikka, Peter had just figured this was the time to avoid any further confrontation and decided to step in.

“Can you two stop fighting?” He said, setting himself between the two. What´s-her-name stopped her advancement. “Aren´t we going to look for Jim?”

“We would be doing that right now if this beanpole wasn´t around to make things harder.” Replied the princess, not taking her sight from Bonikka, who rolled her eyes in response.

“And what are you going to do? Simply teleport yourself and enjoy Heck´s ride? I have an army ready to back us up in our search for Jim.”

“Pff!” Replied What´s-her-name, who crossed her arms, as she relaxed herself. “I don´t an army to kick Evil´s butt, I can take care of myself and I´m sure as Heck Peter does as well!”

Bonikka shook her head, not believing the princess´ over confidence. “One does not simply walk into Heck.”

“Not if the one walking is you.” Replied What´s-her-name, making Bonikka give one step further, ready to continue the argument.

Fortunately, Peter stepped in again. “Just stop it! We need to search for Jim!” He turned to look at What´s-her-name. “And I´m sorry princess, but the queen is right, I´ve been to Heck and it is no fun, well... At least it is when watching it on a tv documentary.”

What´s-her-name silently looked from Peter to Bonikka, thinking about this. True, she can take care of herself, but Bonikka was right regarding Heck. The princess had never fought Evil before and his home planet was famous for being an ´avoid-at-all-costs´ place, besides, going in with an army would sped things up and they would retrieve Jim in no time.

Finally taking her decision, she sighed. “Alright, but I want her away from me all the journey!”

“Believe me when I say I would prefer sit on a cactus than to spend more than five minutes with you.” Replied Bonikka, making the princess roll her eyes, then turned to look at a now calm Peter. “We need to hurry if we want to avoid wasting more time.”

With a nod from his head, the three head out from the house and into the spaceship waiting for them outside. Around the home, multiple people were watching the scene. It wasn´t necessarily new for them but it was interesting anyways.

Bonikka couldn´t help but to think about the journey ahead, which seemed to be getting more difficult by the moment, but they would at least soon, get to Heck and help their friend.

The skies roared with fury, thunders collided against the trees and this were not machinations by the weather team. It seemed as if the sky was tearing itself apart, yet nopony noticed this weird occurrence.

Several meters away from this rupture, Rainbow found herself on sleeping duty without a care in the world... Or at least the care she could feel while being asleep. The mare had a strong sleep, yet, this depended on where she took a nap.

Two of her favorite spots where the clouds or the Apple´s acres, still, anyplace was a good place to loose yourself in lazy town.

Deal, Rainbow was very athletic and a sports mere, but that gave her more reason to enjoy some tranquility time.

“WHOA, NELLY!” A falling figure could be heard falling from the sudden rift on the sky and Rainbow... Did not wake up.

Like a striking comet, Earthworm Jim came falling, but not in a vertical way though. A flying worm passed across sweet apple acres and flew across the east orchards. If he wasn´t in a doom peril, Jim would have enjoyed the sight...

“Is that a gingerbread house? GROOVY!”

...Ok, he WAS enjoying the sight. Maybe if he wasn´t, he would realize he was just about to crash against the floor.

“Uh?”

You are going to...

CRASH!

... Nevermind.

Black, everything faded to black, as Jim had hit his head with a rock, breaking it in two pieces. As the unconscious worm remained on the ground, the sound of hooves could be heard trotting his way. His dramatic entrance had alerted somepony living close to the Everfree forest.

“Oh my!” The mystic forest guarded several weird and unknown creatures, yet nothing was even remotely similar to the creature lying on the ground just in front of Fluttershy, who remained silent as she tried to get a good look of the creature. Behind her, Angel was looking at the scene with skepticism and caution, just in case he had to protect her.

For Fluttershy, it didn´t look evil or even dangerous like most of the animals inside the forest; this one must have escaped the Everfree and barely made it out.

Fluttershy reacted by giving one step towards Jim, slowly gaining confidence. She took a look at what she assumed was the torso, when suddenly she released a loud gasp. “It isn´t breathing!” Forgetting her fears, the normally shy mare trotted closer to the unconscious figure, Angel going behind her. Once close, the pegasus quickly placed on ear close to the worm´s mouth to confirm her observation and she was surprised to find out that he was actually breathing.

Fluttershy found herself confused about this and placed her hooves over Jim´s chest... Then she got a big surprise when she tried to push.

The muscular chest did not move and it felt like touching metal, was the rest of the weird body like that? As Angel climbed the worm to inspect the head, Fluttershy took it upon herself to touch the rest of the body and much to her surprise, it all felt the same, like a very tough material.

Placing one hand on her chin, the mare began to think about this bizarre occurrence. Maybe it was some kind of armor, soon her thoughts were short cut by the calling noises coming from the white rabbit, who pointed at the section between Jim´s head and the yellow collar of the suit´s neck.

Quickly, Fluttershy inspected whatever had alarmed Angel and as soon as she noticed it, the pegasus released an almost mute. “Uh?”

Gently grabbing Jim´s head, Fluttershy began to pull, taking herself a huge surprise when the whole worm´s body came out.

The pegasus took quick peeks between the organic body and what she assumed to be some kind of magical armor. She would not be surprised if it was, this kind of wearings were quite common amongst soldiers, but Jim´s seemed a little bit more radical, as it didn´t seem to be built to protect the ´head´, but rather function as a second body.

Another question lingering on Fluttershy´s mind was what kind of material it was made of, could it be something as tough as metal? Or maybe another kind of material, regardless of this questions, the most important thin now was to discover what happened to the small creature in Fluttershy´s hooves.

Angel took the opportunity to slip himself towards the suit, there, he saw the dark entrance; it was weird, as if it was calling him to enter the black hole of happiness. As the seconds passed, a wicked smile was starting to form in Angel´s mouth, as he slowly began to walk towards the suit. The small bunny was only a few steps away from it and was about to enter until...

“Angel, do not touch that thing, it´s not yours.” The small rabbit grunted in response, a big frown appearing on his face. Fluttershy got closer, carrying Jim on hi back. “We need to get it inside, it got a very nasty blow to the head, I fear the injury could be bad.” After the word left her mouth, Fluttershy precipitated to enter her cottage, Angel behind her, who occasionally took a peek behind him to stare at the suit.

The door of the big place was opened quickly, giving entrance to a hurried yellow pegasus and a rather mad bunny. Not wasting any moment, Fluttershy tossed Jim to the couch, then went to grab a blanket and placed it on top of the worm. As soon as Jim was settled, Fluttershy turned to stare at the bunny.

“I´ll be right back, Angel, look out for him until I go get his suit.” Angel rolled his eyes and gave a mock salute to the pegasus as she went out of the cottage.

Once alone, Angel proceeded to climb up the cough and analyze their newest guest. It was weird to say the least.

His small paw grabbed one of Jim´s eyelids and looked at his eye, immediately taking notice of the green iris. This wouldn´t exactly be weird if it wasn´t for the fact that Jim´s left eye didn´t have iris. Before Angle could give it any thought, Fluttershy entered, carrying the heavy suit using all of her strength.

Fluttershy struggled with the armor, dragging it in front of the couch and finally letting it go. The shy mare gave a deep breath, then ran a hoof across her forehead. “That sure was heavy, Angel.” Slowly, walking towards Jim, she took a look at him. “I wonder what happened to the poor thing.”

Suddenly, a sound caught the attention of Fluttershy, who turned to see what was happening and to her surprise, it was Jim´s suit, or rather what looked like a back back on its back.

Fluttershy approached the moving backpack carefully, then raised her hoof to open it, when suddenly something got out.

A green blur went out of the back pack with such speed, that Fluttershy was left confused, as well as startled; Angel, however, gave a small jump and placed himself in combat position while showing his teeth.

The blur went from the desk, to the couch, hiding himself from the pegasus and the rabbit, who, just before he could jump to the attack, Fluttershy placed a hoof in front of him, signaling for him to wait, then directed her steps towards the couch where Jim was sleeping. “Um, hello?” The mare asked, her voice low and peaceful to avoid scaring whatever was under the sofa. “Come out little friend, we are not going to hurt you.”

Slowly, a green... Thing could be seen going out of its hiding. A small green creature with huge eyes was staring at her, fear clearly shown in its eyes. Fluttershy was rather confuse, two strange creatures in one package, seemingly coming out of the Everfree and yet, they did not seem dangerous. Fluttershy was on a loss for words, as she took a good look at the goo covered creature. Letting out a smile, she insisted again. “Come here, buddy, you are safe.”

Snott was indecisive, he didn´t know whether to get close or run. The yellow pegasus seemed nice, but the bunny was giving him an ´I´m going to beat you´ signal with his hands.

Snott weighed his possibilities and after a few seconds, he gave one step to the front, then another and another until he was within reach of the smiling Fluttershy, who extended her hoof and waited for Snott to allow her pet him.

Finally letting out a smile, Snott stuck out his tongue in a playful manner and rubbed his head against Fluttershy´s hooves, who found herself chuckling in return. “See Angel? I knew he wasn´t dangerous.”

Snott positioned himself himself face up, letting the pegasus rub his belly. “What is your name,little friend?”

The playful creature gave a few seemingly unclear sounds with his mouth and while Angel was left scratching his head, Fluttershy was nodding. “Welcome to my house, Snott, you can stay here as long as you like.” Snott smiled and licked Fluttershy in the face, who gave a chuckle in response.

The shy mare would never let an animal suffer, it didn´t even matter what kind of creatures they were and Snott was no different.

“Talking about animals.” Fluttershy suddenly remembered the other guest inside the cottage. Snott came out of the Jim´s back pack, meaning there could be a chance of Snott knowing him, she didn´t hesitate to ask. “Excuse me, Snott.” The goo creature turned to look at her, the smile never leaving his face. “Is he your friend?” Fluttershy pointed with her hoof towards Jim, with Snott following her lead.

Snott let out a lud gasp as soon as he got sight of the worm and instantly ran up to the couch, climbing it and settling himself in front of Jim. Snott let out a sad expression, fearing for the safety of his friend. This was all the answer Fluttershy needed.

“I figured as much.” Snott turned to look at her with pleading eyes, to which the pegasus responded with a confident smile. “Don´t worry Snott, his injury is not that bad and he only needs to rest.” The goo creature´s face fell further, causing Fluttershy to pat his head. “I promise I will take care of your friend until he wakes up.” Snott gave a nod with his head. “Can you tell me his name?” Snott turned to face Fluttershy and gave more weird sounds, Fluttershy smiled. “Jim, uh?”

For a few seconds, the mare´s sight remained fixed on the worm, when once more, her mouth opened. “What happened to you two?” Sadly, this time Snott simply shrugged.
The mucus creature almost always remained inside Jim´s backpack during his adventures, choosing to sleep until he needed him, thanks to this, he was unaware of how exactly they arrived here.

Fluttershy was a bit disappointed about the lack of information about them, but decided to shrug it of for now. “I guess I will ask your friend once he wakes up.” Snott turned to look at Jim, until the voice of a certain pegasus caught his attention. “Are you hungry, Snott?” In an instant, the mucus creature´s face released a big smile, as his tongue went out of his mouth, saliva forming inside while he vigorously nodded with his head. Fluttershy chuckled.

“Good to know, Snott, follow me I was about to prepare some food, then I could introduce you to the rest of the animals.” Snott gave out a worried look. “Don´t worry Snott, they are friendly, like him.” She pointed towards the bunny, who had a frown on his face. “Right Angel?” The bunny grunted in response and crossed his arms, causing Fluttershy to frown. “Now, Angel Bunny, don´t be rude.”

Finally, the bunny sighed and gave a quick wave with his paw. Snott simply replied with a huge smile and a rather lively wave, a gesture that made Fluttershy smile, before she proceeded to the kitchen.

As the pegasus and Snott went away, Angel looked at the goo creature with a frown, he didn´t like Snott and not because he was evil, he was simply smelling... Rivalry. In a moment, his belly began to tremble, Angel was hungry as well, forcing him to head to the kitchen, but before he entered the place, the bunny took a look at the suit behind him. Shrugging the feeling, he proceeded to the kitchen.

Outskirts of planet Heck

Above the red planet, an enormous white ship prepared itself to cover the blood skies. Aboard it, Peter, What´s-her-name and Bonikka, found themselves inside the ship´s immense dinning room.

Both queen and princess avoided each other´s presence and stare as much as they could, trying to at least be at peace. Peter, however, was full-concentration mode eating his dish.

It was glorious to say the least, the juice, the flavor, the texture, a true delicacy. Out of the corner of his eye, Bonikka looked at Peter, releasing a small chuckle, as she saw the puppy devouring his food; her sight was then directed towards the princess, who remained silent, her hand under her chin and deep in thought. Bonikka frowned, she really didn´t like her, but at least they were not fighting, in the end, this was all for Jim. Bonikka was at least surprised What´s-her-name agreed on this journey, at least she wasn´t complete heartless.

Averting her thoughts from the duo, Bonikka concentrated on the task ahead and she was worried. If Evil had indeed teleported Jim , then it was more likely that he was sent towards Heck, where the cat could finish him and if this was true, then Jim could be in real danger, if not... She was more than sure she would take the information out of Evil. In her mind, her sole purpose, was to save her friend.

The silence between both the queen and princess, coupled with Peter´s munching, was interrupted by the door of the big white dinning room, opening, giving way for another figure. A tall Endorian male, whose pastel green skin was most covered by his royal-like blue uniform; a pair of golden shoulder pads and multiple medals were shown in the vest. His membranic hair was short and the same color as his skin. The features on his face were rougher and noticeable on his almost square chin.

In an instant, Bonikka turned to greet the new companion. “Admiral Dalus.”

He bowed with his head and smile. “You majesty, we are about to arrive planet Heck, I have the troops ready to enter its atmosphere and search for the worm, another group of soldiers will be escorting you and our guests throughout the surface.”

Bonikka smiled. “Thank you, admiral.”

“With all due respect mistress, but isn´t this a little risky for you?” Bonikka raised an eyebrow at Dalus´ statement. “This isn´t a simple planet, this is Heck.”

Bonikka opened her mouth to object, when...

“I would listen if I were you, Bonikka.” What´s-her-name interrupted. “We don´t want a weakling like you breaking her nails and aborting the entire mission.” Upon hearing this, the queen shot daggers at the princess, who simply shrugged in response. “Just saying.”

Bonikka released a loud sigh and returned her sight to the already nervous Dalus. “Worry not ,admiral, I want to do this, besides, if something happens,” she turned to look at the princess, “at least I have friends that will miss me.”

What´s-her-name rolled her eyes and shrugged the comment off, something that calmed Dalus, who was expecting the two of them to fight. She would not let Bonikka risk herself, and he would protect her even against the princess, but What´s-her-name´s strenght was something to be feared and the more he could avoid confrontation, the better. Finally returning to the matter at hand, he nodded at the queen´s orders, although he was concerned about her decision. “very well, you majesty.”

Bonikka nodded, leaving Dalus to leave the kitchen, but instead of stepping out, he noticed Peter, who was still eating regardless of the the two royalties butting heads. He was really enjoying his food.

Getting closer to the puppy, Dalus scratched his head. “You really have huge appetite.”

“You kidding?” Peter answered. “This is great!”

Dalus couldn´t help but to chuckle at this. “Glad you are enjoying it.”

“Say.” Said Peter, as he finished swallowing another chunk of the delicacy. “What is this anyways?”

“It´s a typical dish in Endos.” Peter looked at him, curiosity assaulting him. “Made from the heart, lungs and liver of an earthling sheep and boiled in its own stomach.”

Peter´s happiness would not last, as soon as the words left Dalus´ mouth, the puppy´s face went completely blank. A horrible déjà vu assaulted the puppy, whose face began to get a sick coloration of green. Dalus, who was watching the scene, grew concerned about Peter´s sudden change and was about to ask what had happen, until...

“Why! WHY!” Peter screamed at the top of his lungs, while raising his hands to the air, lamenting his existence, then, with another scream which caught the attention of What´s-her-name and Bonikka, the puppy stood up from his chair and went full on speed towards the closest bathroom, leaving a confused Dalus behind.

“Um... What?”

“Peter hates haggies,” answered Whet´s-her-name, “even if it has another name.”

Dalus turned to look at the princess. “Is he going to be okay?”

“Yeah, Peter has a strong stomach.”

Not long after, huge cries of pain could be heard coming out of thee bathroom. “Oh! The pain! The horrible, horrible pain!”

Dalus raised a finger. “Um... I...”

“Death sounds so good right about now!” After several more cries, the admiral and Bonikka remained staring blankly at the small horror room, with only What´s-her-name remaining as stoic as ever.

Finally, Dalus recovered his voice and directed his gaze towards Bonikka. “Ten minutes to arrive and ten more minutes to set the ships on the ground.”

“Yeah! Thank you, Dalus.” Answered the queen, who had just recovered from the bizarre sight.

With that, the admiral turned to leave the room, but just before he touched the door, his head was directed once more towards the two royalties. “You should really check on Peter.”

Bonikka smiled. “Will do, admiral.” Dalus nodded with his head, then went out of the room, leaving the queen and the princess alone once more.

Not wanting to remain so close to What´s-her-name, Bonikka stood up from her place adn walked towards one of the windows, which gave sight to the monstrosity that was planet Heck.

There were many rumors and myths across the universe referring to the nature of the feared place. Some thought it was simply a very scary looking place, others thought it was the realm of the afterlife for bad folks and there were others that thought it was the gate to another realm entirely. For Bonikka, it was simply an obstacle...a very frightening and terrifying obstacle.

She wasn´t too sure about this mission and she sometimes had second thoughts about risking her life for someone, but then again, that someone was Jim and the universe needed that idiot worm. Bonikka chuckled at her thoughts, remembering the times where she and Jim talked. With a shake from her head, Bonikka regained her senses and got ready for the small journey into Heck.