Head Games Part II "
By: Jonathan Wright, Executive Officer, [PC]
Krystal, Hologram, [RNPC]
M'Ressha Mikaht, Fighter Pilot, [RNPC]
Teilani Dane, Chief Medical Officer, [PC]

Stardate: 58206.16 0020

Blitzer, the Commander, the Skipper and the Professor made their way through the jungle, following the sounds of the drums.

"Sir," said Blitzer softly, "someone coming," he said pointing to the left.

"Let's go check it out," said Wright.

Blitzer and Wright moved off to the left while the for some reason the Skipper and the Professor went the other way. After a few minutes they suddenly found themselves surrounded by head hunters jabbing spears at them.

There were too many for Blitzer to fend off this time.

"Sorry Commander, it looks like I fell for a trap. Blitzer unsheathed his claws and took up a fighting stance.

"Easy Blitzer," said Wright, "We are not going to be able to fight our way out of this one. Let's see where they take us." Wright doubted very seriously that this program had the logic in it to actual have the headhunters be truly savages. He also had this nagging feeling that they were going to run into the source of all their problems, and his key.

"Krystal," said Blitzer, "go tell Dane we're in trouble."

"Aye Aye!" The little pixie saluted and disappeared in a poof of golden dust.

Wright held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. Several of the headhunters prodded them with their spears. They were hearded into a makeshift camp. A large bamboo cage had been constructed in the center of the camp.

The Commander and Blitzer were tossed into the cage. Inside inside they found Ginger and the Howells.

"Hello," said Wright, "I'm glad we have found you," said Wright ignoring the fact that they were locked in a bamboo cage with them.

"Why hello, Commander and er... Mister Lion..." Mr. Howell greeted them both. Mrs. Howell was eyeing Blitzer's fur and even reached out a hand to touch it.

Blitzer rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. "excuse me..."

A commotion at the edge of the camp caught Wright's attention. A group of headhunters came into the clearing ahead of them were the skipper and the professor. They were swiftly deposited in the cage with the rest of the prisoners.

Wright greeted the new captives, "Welcome to the club."

"Oh dear..." said Mrs. Howell. "If we're all in here.... Who's going to rescue us?"

"Don't worry Mrs. Howell," said Wright, "We will get out of this."

"Oh really," said a voice all too familiar to Wright.

Wright turned to find Birkoff dressed as a headhunter standing outside the cage, "You again," said Wright, "Why not just give this up. You will not win."

The AI hologram just laughed at him, "Look around you," he said. "I have already won. Who is going to save you? That red head who cannot control her temper," his voice dripped with sarcasm, "Or that silly Gilligan who can barley walk? I don't think so."

"Don't you under estimate my little buddy," said Skipper.

"Don't worry fatso," said Birkoff, "I doubt very much that I have under estimated him." Birkoff turned to Wright, "Where is your key," he demanded absently placing his hand over one of the shrunken heads he wore around his neck.

"I haven't got the first clue," said Wright watching the hologram closely. Wright suddenly found Birkoff's necklace interesting.

"Very well then," said Birkoff. He then turned to some of his headhunters and shouted orders at them in their language.

Wright watched as they began building a large fire in the middle of their camp. The mood amongst the headhunters seemed to be celebratory. Wright did not have to think too hard to figure out what Birkoff has told them.

"Yes, they are getting ready for a dinner party, and you are the main course," he laughed again and walked away.

"What a nasty character," Mr. Howell commented as Birkoff left. Then he turned to Blitzer. "I say there, Mr. Lion... Mrs. Howell is terribly interested in your fur coat. How much will you take for it? Money is no object."

"You want my ff...? that would leave me..."

***

Teilani was tired, hot and her fingers were throbbing with pain. Then out of no where the little pixie appeared.

Krystal was talking as she appeared and her voice was almost too high pitched to understand.

"Hold on..... hold on... Slow down Krystal!!" What happened?" . The little pixie drew in an audible breath and started again. "HEADHUNTERS!!!" She flitted and pointed and flew over to Dane and started tugging on her shirt. "HurryHurryHurry! They have spears and they're little and they have the Commander and Blitzer!"

"Can you show me the way?"

"YES!! HURRY!!' She tugged the woman's shirt for a second more and then darted off in the direction of where she left the men.

"Krystal WAIT!"

"Mr. Gilligan would you be so kind as to accompany me. My friends could use some help I think." Teilani said as she took up a spear.

Krystal flitted back and buzzed around them both, trying to herd them into moving. "Hurry Hurry Hurry... Headhunters.. Bad bad bad...."

"M-m-m-me?" said Gilligan visibly trembling

Teilani nodded courageously. "Of course, we are armed and we have Krystal to lead to way, so what can happen? Besides," Teilani walked up to Gilligan and looked down at him. "You do know that you will be a hero then right, Mary-Ann will love you for it."

Gilligan blushed and swayed his head back and forth in indecision, "..and Ginger too?"

"Escpecially Ginger," Teilani replied.

"Come on! Hurry!" Krystal tugged on Gilligan's shirt now in an effort to get him to hurry.

Gilligan set down his half eaten banana and stood up at attention, "Yes Ma'am"

"Yay!!!" Krystal saluted back and buzzed off in the right direction.

Krystal wait, not too fast!" Teilani called after her, starting to run in the direction Krystal had flown too.

"Come on Mr Gilligan!"

Gilligan held his hat as he ran with a banana in his other.

Several thoughts crossed Teilani's mind. Headhunters! Were the commander and Blitzer ok. They have to be, but with the alteration Birkhoff had made to the program, nobody could tell.

The trail into the jungle was difficult, twines, hidden tree trunks made following Krystal difficult. Not only that but the heat and the moisture made them all sweaty.

Krystal kept buzzing back to make sure they were following and not losing her. "Hurry, hurry hurry!" she told them. "They're right up there.."

As Dane and the group approached the encampment, they could see the head hunters gathering wood for a large fire. "They're gonna eat'em." whispered Gilligan loudly and pointing out the obvious.

"Eat them and shrink their heads," Krystal added helpfully.

"Be quiet!!" Teilani said as she pressed Gilligan's arm down "Otherwise we get captured as well."

Gilligan immediately crouched down when Dane grabbed his arm. "What are We going to do??" he asked.

Teilani frowned. "I don't know...... there so many of them. We can never get all of them. We need a diversion of some sort so that we perhaps can free the other.

"Krystal, can you go to the Commander and Blitzer and ask them what we can do?"

"Yepyepyep," Krystal nodded her head and made a "shhhh" motion with her finger up to her mouth. "I'll be *right* back," she whispered and disappeared in a glittering spray of pixie dust.

"Mr Gilligan, perhaps you can get some rocks together so that we can throw them at the head hunters?"

"Ooohh... Okay.. Coconuts maybe," Gilligan nodded and started to move away from Dane.

"Just stay low and be quiet, then they will not hear you."

"Right," Gilligan agreed and muttered to himself as he slunk away. "We're going to need a LOT of coconuts."

Krystal reappeared inside the cage and near Wright and Blitzer. "Pssst..." she whispered as she tried to keep from view of the headhunters. "The doctor lady wants to know what you think she and Gilligan can do," she told them after getting their attention.

Wright looked around and managed to catch a glimpse of the Doctor's red hair at the edge of the clearing. It was not hard to do because standing right behind her was Birkoff and he was smiling. "Tell her to look behind her," he said.

"Uht-oh...." Krystal followed his gaze. "Not good... not good..." she muttered and poofed away only to pop back into view directly in front of Dane.

"What did they say," Teilani asked when Krystal re-appeared again.

Krystal blinked and pointed behind her to Birkoff. "He said to look behind you..." she told the doctor. "I think we're in trouble...."

Teilani looked back and there stood Birkhoff grinning evilly. Slowly she stood up. "Well so much for a surprise," she said.

Two big headhunters walked out of the camp and took positions next to Dane and Krystal.

Birkoff chuckled, "Can I help you," he asked. With quick reflexes he snatched Krystal from the air and held her in his fist so she could not move. "Nice of you to pop in."

Krystal was extremely irate as evidenced by the high-pitched buzzing as she gave Birkoff a royal chewing out and struggled to get free, beating on his hand with tiny fists. Of course it was mostly likely in some obscure programming language, or binary so only he understood. She finally got frustrated enough to stick her tongue out at him.

He looked at Dane and laughed again before gesturing to his men. The headhunters lowered their spears and prodded Dane in the direction of the cage.

"Will you keep your grubby mits off of me!! "Teilani said firmly. "There is no need to shove me, I can walk on my own." she said as some of the headhunters pricked her with their spears. Teilani hoped that Gilligan had enough sense in him to keep quiet and not to get caught as well.

"Yeah! Keep your grubby mitts off us!!" Krystal echoed the good doctor's sentiments, the two sounding very much alike.

"Shut up," said Birkoff to the annoyed pixie in the same buzzing language she was using, "I have had about enough of you. Tell me where your key is."

"What key?" Krystal asked and stuck her tongue out again. "You're a bully! Maxie said so. She said bullies pick on people just because they can and because they're mean and to compensate for having a tiny donger! And she was right. You ARE a bully!" she announced with a huff.

One of the head hunters shoved Teilani into the center of the camp and into the cage with the others. "Sorry Commander,' she shrugged. "I had hoped it turned out other wise."

Wright nodded at the doctor but continued to watch Birkoff across the camp. He appeared to be talking to Krystal in some sort of strange language

"Listen, I think I know where his key is," Wright whispered.

"You do? Where," Teilani asked as she sat down.

"When I mentioned it earlier he put his hand on one of the heads on the necklace he wears," explained Wright, "We need to come up with a way to get it from him."

"Maybe we could lure him over here and grab it?" Mrs. Howell suggested as she petted Blitzer's fur.

"Maybe I could lure him..." Ginger ran a hand down her side, drawing attention to her shape and then messed a bit with her hair.

"Nah he is to paranoid to let anybody get close. However.....

"I can be *very* persuasive," Ginger smiled as she eyed Birkoff.

"Well, it can't hurt to try..." the Professor agrees and Skipper nods in agreement.

"Alright then..." Ginger smoothed down her dress and tucked her hair back from her eyes a bit as she moved to the bars. "Hey..." she called out to Birkoff, her voice a husky seductive tone. She stuck her arm out and motioned for him to come. "Why don't you drop that pretty butterfly and come here... I think maybe I have some information for you..."

Wright nearly laughed at her reference to Krystal as a pretty butterfly. He watched as Birkoff moved towards them.

"Oh, good idea..." Mr. Howell nodded and reached into his pocket. "I'll buy it from you," he indicated the pixie. "Mrs. Howell's taken a fancy to it. She thinks it'll make a good pet. How much will you take for it?"

Birkoff looked at the pathetic prisoners, "Tell me where the key is," Birkoff demanded as he tightened his grip on the tiny pixie.

Krystal squealed and her struggles to get free increased.

Gilligan's appearance was as sudden as it was explosive as he burst through the underbrush brandishing a flare gun. "Halt! Stop! Let everyone go! I HAVE A GUN AND I'LL SHOOT!!" he yelled.

"HELP GILLIGAN!! HELP!!' Krystal cried out in her little pixie voice and waved her arms to get his attention.

"Gilligan, bring that over here to me!!!" The Skipper yelled.

"Be careful, Gilligan!" The Professor told him.

Birkoff laughed at Gilligan, "Yes, put that down before you hurt yourself."

Poor Gilligan, distracted by everything and everyone else, didn't see the coconut until his foot actually stepped on it. It was too late for him to catch himself, or dodge the thing and his arms and legs started to cartwheel as he tried to keep himself from falling. The gun accidentally went off in the process, and the burning flare headed straight for Birkoff's chest.

The flare struck one of the shrunken heads he wore around his neck and started it on fire. Birkoff began slapping at the fire now spreading to the other heads on the necklace. It wasn't long before the necklace broke and fell to the ground where Birkoff began stomping on it.

"Get the necklace," shouted Wright as he and Blitzer began shattering the bamboo bars that held them captive. "Gilligan get the necklace, it is the key," he said again this time rushing headfirst into Birkoff knocking them both to the ground.

All the Castaways began to yell at Gilligan then, adding their instructions to Wright's. Even Krystal yelled at him to get the necklace as she wiggled and struggled to get out of his hand. "Let me GO!!" she squealed out and bit him. Hard. Right in the web of his thumb and index finger.

"I GOT IT!! I GOT IT!" Gilligan yelled and tossed the smoldering necklace from hand to hand after managing to snag it when Wright tacked Birkoff to the ground. "Hot!! Hot! Hot! Hot!" He danced around, trying to keep hold and not drop it, while trying to keep from getting burnt at the same time.

The Castaways started crawling out of the cage while the Professor turned to Dane and motioned for her to go first. "After you, Doctor..." He was such a gentleman.

"Thank you Professor," Teilani said as she crawled out the cage. However, one of the head hunters tried to prevent them from escaping. "Duck Professor," Teilani yelled. Using the Professor as a support she managed to use her long legs to kick the head hunter right under the chin. It knocked him out.

Teilani had managed to dodge all the head hunters and had reached the edge of the Jungle. She threw her arms up in the air. Waving....... it was like playing the old earth game of football. She hoped someone saw her, perhaps she could prove that jogging every morning paid off.

"Ouch," shouted Birkoff letting go of the pixie and turning his attention to Wright. He kicked Wright off of him and to his feet.

"I'M FREEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!" The pixie squealed and flittered around happily, buzzing everyone and staying totally away from Birkoff.

"Over here, Gilligan!" The Skipper held up his hands for Gilligan to toss him the necklace. Poor Gilligan was more than willing to get rid of the thing and threw it at him. Unfortunately Birkoff and Wright were between them and had it not been for Wright's quick thinking, Birkoff would have managed to snag it out of midair.

"I got it!!" The Skipper held up the necklace, which made him Birkoff's primary target.

Birkoff lunged at the fat sailor but fell to the ground as Wright grabbed him by the legs. The Hologram yelled in frustration and kicked Wright in the face.

Skipper dodged a headhunter and tossed the necklace to Ginger.

"OH! OH! OH!!!" Ginger caught the necklace and held onto it like she didn't want to get dirt on her hands. She looked around for someone else to toss it to. "Oh dear...." She spotted Mr. Howell and threw it at him. "Oh! Catch Mr. Howell..."

Mr. Howell held out his arms to catch them but Ginger's throw was wild and the necklace flew over his head and landed on the ground right at the feet of Maryann, who had wandered into the camp with a angry look on her face. She bent down and picked up the charred necklace and held it up. "I have been waiting back at camp with supper and all you guys are doing is playing games?" Frustrated, she threw the necklace as far as she could.

Time seemed to stand still as everyone watched the necklace soar through the air.

"WHOOPS!!!" Krystal fluttered around seemingly helpless for a moment or two until she shouted, "I GOT IT!!!" just as she poofed into a full-sized human and looking rather like an Amazon warrior.... with wings and antennae... which totally spoiled the affect. But she did snatch the necklace out of the air and went to work on the key.

After a moment she held it up triumphantly with a "Yay! WE did it!" And as she did, the island setting disappeared and Krystal faded away in a sparkling shower of pixie dust.