Sorry for taking some time with this one - I had some trouble finishing it, but I hope the product is satisfactory. And I was never quite sure of whether or not King Kai can really use Instant Transmission or not, but for the sake of this story, he can.

Save for sounds of slurping, dinner was quiet. Princess Snake glared at her guests, wondering if this was such a great idea. To her left was the cricket who was using his bowl as a sauna, having sat down in the soup and used his ladle as a seat. To the left of the cricket was the monkey, jumping up and down with a few hoots escaping from his mouth each time he sipped the soup, scooping it from the bowl into his hands to get it into his mouth. And then was the short, blue man, the Kai, who was simply sitting there glumly, staring at the bowl of soup. The rest of the long table was unoccupied, able to seat another dozen people.

She tried lifting a spoonful of soup to her mouth, different from the others because of a 'stomach condition', but found it impossible. She lowered it in distaste as she saw the monkey lift the bowl to his mouth, allowing the runny broth to dribble down the sides of his chin. She set the spoon back down in the bowl with second thoughts about inviting such unruly company. Of course, at least it was company. They may not have been the most charming of guests, but they were at a diversion from her usual, boring life as Princess of Snake Way. And, if they didn't make good guests, at least they would make a good meal for later on.

Her plan wouldn't work, though, if they didn't all eat. She placed her gloved hand on the extended hand of the blue man, seeing him visibly flinch as she did so. With a fake smile on her face, baring her canine teeth rather maliciously, she asked, "Why don't you eat up? You look like you could use some food in your stomach."

"Not hungry," the Kai replied, retracting his hand from her grip. His eyes swiveled warily to the others underneath his round glasses, thinking that he should have warned them that Princess Snake was not one to be trusted. But none of them were dropping dead, which was a good sign. It was hard to keep himself distant from the soup so close to him, its scent penetrating his stolid barrier. But, no. He couldn't give in, just in case this was a trick up the princess' sleeve.

"Not hungry?" the princess asked, as if shocked. "You need to eat, anyways. I don't care how long you've been dead." She winked at him and giggled, flicking at the halo above his head. King Kai protectively grabbed the halo and scooted his chair further away from the princess, an angry pout on his face as she continued, "There's no reason that such a handsome, young man such as yourself shouldn't eat."

Now that was stretching it. To call the blue Kai handsome was to call the monkey at the table intelligent. But her smirk persisted, knowing that she had to win over this odd group. She was desperately lonely, seeing as her servants rarely talked. Even if it was just a few incoherent words from the monkey, that would be better than nothing. But King Kai was determined to come out on top, refusing to let this woman push him. "No," he snapped, getting annoyed with her persistence. And to think, Yemma had talked so highly of this blue-skinned leech.

Princess Snake patted her bouncy, orange hair, bothered by the Kai's lack of cooperation. But she couldn't show that, so she only grinned more widely. She leaned forward towards him in hope that he would be entranced by her looks, fluttering her eyelashes at the blue man. King Kai, however, wasn't one to be fooled by such lowly tactics. The lenses on his glasses gleamed suspiciously as he pushed himself from the table, standing up abruptly.

"We're going," he stated for the others to hear. But they didn't respond. When he looked at Gregory, he saw that the cricket was slumped down in the bowl of soup, his eyes closed and the smile on his face showing contentment. Bubbles, on the other hand, had his face flat in his empty bowl of soup.

King Kai scowled as Princess Snake followed his lead, standing up, too. She had a palm flat on the table to balance with as she outstretched her other hand to the two, insisting, "Look at them. They're so tired - just let them sleep here for one night. You can go on your way; I promise that I'll send them to you after a good night's rest." That was a promise that she couldn't keep, however, as she needed to kill them all as a package, lest word get out about her appetite. But she expected King Kai to refuse the deal, and she was right in that respect.

The blue Kai huffed and crossed his arms, his feelers twitching in annoyance. He contemplated just taking the monkey and cricket back to King Yemma's place to sleep for the night, but the beds there were uncomfortable on the Kai's back. And there was Grand Kai's planet that they could go to, but he was certain that West Kai would be there, somebody he didn't feel like dealing with at the moment. Earth was definitely not in question, seeing as now they were dead. So, without anywhere else to go, the Kai decided that one night in this palace wouldn't hurt. As long as he was careful of what he did, they could get through the night with minimal damage.

Princess Snake still smiled, her dazzling, white teeth shining as she did so. Her gloves were clasped together as she shrugged, her fluffy boa rising with her small shoulders. "So, what have you decided?" she asked pleasantly in hopes that he would take the bait.

And to her satisfaction, he took the bait. King Kai grimaced a little before saying, "One night won't kill us here. But we're leaving as soon as they wake up." He pointed to his two students, both having succumbed to a deep slumber. This one, small stipulation did nothing to curb her happiness, though, as she swayed joyously on the spot.

"Excellent decision!" she exclaimed, clapping twice after saying so. She turned to the brown-haired servant that appeared behind her and said, "Now, take these two to their sleeping chamber. They need a good night's rest, so I implore you be gentle!" The blue-skinned maid nodded and, with surprising strength, managed to easily lift Bubbles up from his seat. Then she picked Gregory up from the bowl of soup and shook him off, a few droplets flying as she did so. She placed the cricket on top of the monkey and disappeared down the hallway.

It was then that Princess Snake turned back to her one conscious guest and asked, "So, is there anything I can get for you?"

"No," the Kai replied, determined to stay away from the princess for the rest of his visit. He didn't want her to somehow trick him into doing something foolish, or to somehow let her cast some type of charm on him that would keep him from using Instant Transmission. He could never be sure with women, a reason why he never trained them.

"You don't want something else to eat?" she inquired, placing her hand on the short man's shoulder. But he backed away, letting her glove fall back to her side.

"No," he plainly put, his arms crossed.

"Not even a dessert?"

"No."

"Would you rather do something else?"

"No."

"You don't want to jump in the spa?"

Princess Snake watched for King Kai's reaction to this offer, but his face remained stoic. "No," he simply replied as he turned away from her. She gritted her teeth with frustration, wishing that the man would just cooperate with her. But it appeared that he liked being difficult, so she would have to be difficult with him.

"You're going to do something," she ordered, grabbing him by his wrist. The Kai tried pulling away again, but he found her grip to be surprisingly powerful. Her forehead was furrowed angrily, wrinkling her flawless skin. He swore that her canine teeth had become longer, certainly more threatening. But he wasn't about to give in. If he wouldn't let West Kai get the best of him, there was no way that he would let some princess take advantage of him.

He gritted his teeth back, looking straight up at the princess. "No," he said, his small, round glasses glinting with his anger. "I'm going to go to bed now, and when I wake up, I'm leaving." Then he shook himself of her grasp, marching off in the opposite direction. He didn't care how rude of a guest he was. Under no condition would he listen to that good-for-nothing princess, the one that seemed set on somehow trapping him in that castle. He wouldn't stand her senseless blabbering for another second. He would get out of there as soon as the others woke up, they would head to King Yemma's check-out station, and they would find their new home. There was no way that he would be stuck here.

But then he heard a deeper, rougher voice boom through the large dining room. "You're going to stay here," it commanded huskily, making the Kai spin back around, startled by the sudden raise in power behind him. He gulped as he saw what was behind him now, a transformation so quick that he hadn't been able to sense and put an end to it before it even began.

Where Princess Snake had just been standing seconds before was a large snake, coiled in rings across the floor of the palace. It was a thick and scaly snake, the same teal color she had been. King Kai could only blink in shock, not recalling Yemma ever telling him of this power. But he was quickly thrown from these thoughts as the snake, its fangs bared menacingly, stood up so that its large, white belly was revealed. "If you don't plan to stay, I'm going to eat you."

The threat was enough to have the Kai jump back, realizing that he needed to get out of the palace as quickly as possible, if not quicker. He only had a second to think as the snake lunged at him, his jaws pried open with hopes of enjoying a satisfying dinner. He leapt out of the way and tried scurrying past her, knowing that he needed to get Gregory and Bubbles out of this place. But her long, flexible figure had woven itself into a nice maze for the Kai to pass through. He then remembered that he could fly, quickly hovering over her serpentine body after struggling to pass it. However, she swished her tail in the way in an attempt to stop him, only for him to dodge it and make it into the large hallway he saw the maid retreat through.

He bulleted down that corridor headfirst, managing to run into the maid, though not before Princess Snake had turned herself around, diving after the Kai. She beat her following body clumsily against the walls, leaving large cracks in them and slowing her down just enough for him to grab his two unconscious companions from the disoriented maid's grip. With his arms around the two of them, he clenched his teeth and closed his eyes, managing to disappear just as Princess Snake plunged at the three of them, determined to make an eager meal of them.

King Kai noticed that his heart beat had becoming considerably faster as he landed on solid ground, still clinging on tightly to the cricket and monkey. It wasn't until he heard something heavy drop that he dared open his eyes, now looking at a curious King Yemma peering over the edge of his over-sized desk. He had just dropped the large book of recorded deaths he had been holding on to the counter, his deep voice inquiring, "What happened to you?" He couldn't help but laugh a little, scratching his horned head in amazement. It was rare that he had seen such a squeamish expression of fear on the Kai's face, something that he knew he would be able to hold over him for a while.

The Kai quickly recovered from his shock, dropping his students on to the floor and floating up to Yemma's height. Still trying to regain his breath, he said, "I'll have you know..." He exhaled deeply here, placing a hand over his poor heart. "I'll have you know that I just got done with the most terrifying thing in this whole galaxy, I think. The most terrifying, underrated, self-serving, lying, scheming-"

"Hold on there," the red ogre chuckled, enjoying every second of the Kai's flustered face. "What exactly are you talking about?"

"What am I talking about?" the Kai said indignantly, floating a little closer to Yemma's face, his fists clenched angrily. "What am I talking about?" He shook his head, glaring at the ogre with all the ugliest glare he could give. "I'm talking about that Princess Snake woman! You said that she was bad, but she's awful! She, she..." He trailed off on his rant, though, as he saw the ogre burst into merry laughter. "What's so funny?" King Kai demanded, unable to believe that he was being ridiculed after such a frightening experience.

But King Kai could only slump his shoulders in awe, his jaw falling open, as Yemma wiped the tears from his watering eyes. He beat his huge fist upon the table and sympathized, "I warned you - my wife can be a handful at times."