It came like the night; slithering in, expeditiously yet silently. Each one of its abhorrent pseupods, horrifically swift, was curling in its wrathfulness. Possessing the aptitude of a thief, it slipped into the peaceful cup shaped home. Extending a slimy pseudopod, it took the sleeping figure in a deadly embrace. The unsuspecting victim hardly uttered a single scream before being smothered into the jelly-like mass. Food vacuoles satisfied, the carnivorous ameba slithered away, disappearing as quickly as it came. Outside, a figure chuckled, stroking his pet with a lime green flagellum.

Gone. Hidra knew it before she had even opened her ruby eyespot. Cilina was gone. Some may call Hidra clairvoyant; but she wasn't. Everyone had dreams, but Hidra was unique in the fact that she comprehended them. It didn't take magical powers, just skill; skill, practice, and time. This dream had been peculiar though. It was a great deal stronger then any other had been. Maybe because it was close, extremely close. Cilina had gone and Hidra had been plunged into darkness. A pitch black that shrouded her attempts to see and photosynthesize. She ached with hunger and a need to see. But there, like a light at the end of a tunnel, was a dim spot of light. The protist waved one of her whip-like flagellum in order to propel herself towards the small bead of hope, nearly tearing her flagella out of the pouch that held them at the end of her body. She reached for it with her other flagellum, but couldn't grasp it. She called out for her twin, but to no avail. Cilina was gone; it was too late...too late...

Hidra woke with those two words echoing through the cytoplasm in her; with those two words plaguing her nucleus. In spite of everything, she refused to believe that Cilina was gone. Knowing but not believing, Hidra hastily sped out of her corner of her cup-shaped home, and made a search around her house. Since it was only usually used for detecting light, Hidra's eyespot was not very sharp. She had never before moved so fast. She had never been so desperate.

"Cilina!" she screamed frantically, "Cilina! Come out PLEASE! CILINA!" Hidra began sobbing with terror. "CILINA! CILINA!" Hidra paused to catch her breath. That is when she discovered it. Since she lived underwater, it had almost been completely washed away. The slick trail left by the ameba. The wretched, horrible, protist-eating ameba. Completely eradicated, Hidra felt the first stirrings of cold anger rise up in her.Beware ameba, vengeance shall be mine.

Part 1

"Ms. Hidra, I understand that you have a request to send the hunting party in search of," at this point, the judge looked at the audience, "an Ameba." Some of the audience gasped. Others tittered worriedly. An ameba?

"Yes, your honor," Hidra responded to the dinoflagellate. He was fearsome looking, a sturdy orange colored robust veteran to the battles of Thelits. His cell wall seemed to be plates of armor; his flagellum, like a long, powerful whip. He fairly seemed to glow. Hidra trembled; not because of her fear of the judge, but of the fear of speaking in front of so many protists. Normally, she wouldn't have spoken here for a million sun coins. But anger and sorrow drove her onward.

There were over five thousand plantlike protists assembled at this meeting, of all different types. There were Euglenas, Diatoms, and Dinoflagellates. Hidra herself was a Euglena. There were even diversities within each group. Euglenas came in many shapes. Many, like Hidra, were oval shaped. Others were heart shaped or triangular. The beautiful diatoms were even more different from each other. They resembled Christmas ornaments, glassy and full of elegant patterns. Color was the difference in the dinoflagellates. They ranged from yellow-green to red brown.

"Ms. Hidra, please take your place on the elevated step. Thank you, you may begin." Commanded the diatom next to the judge.

"Euglenas, diatoms, and dinoflagellates I would like for you to keep in mind that I am in no way discriminating against animal-like protists. As a matter of fact I own a paramecium and would, in no way, wish to do its reputation damage." began Hidra. That was a stupid thing to say, thought Hidra, it's not like they care if I own a pet or not. It looked fine on the page but sounded unintelligent when she said it. Hidra shook it off and continued with her speech. "But this is different. This ameba poses a grim threat to this community of plant-like protists."

"Please explain," the judge put in unexpectedly.

"Yes, your honor. All animal-like protists are heterotrophic; they can't help it. They don't have the ability to make their own food the way we autotrophs do. They must hunt. As a result, most of them consume bacteria in order to obtain energy. But this ameba is a different matter: it seems to have developed a preference for plant-like protists." The audience began to mutter. If what the protist said was true, then this could mean serious trouble. Hidra whipped around one of her flagellum uncertainly, but the judge brought everyone to silence by slamming the small stone on the desk top.

"Order, Order," he boomed as everyone fell silent, "Ms. Hidra, will you please explain how you know about this ameba's fancy for protists." Hidra had hoped to avoid this. In a choking voice, she told everyone the heart rendering story of the ameba that devoured her twin sister. Recalling the terror and misery of that day, and the dreadful feeling of foreboding; Hidra tried to narrate the painful antidote without sobbing. The judge, sensing a breakthrough, told her to stop; but the emotion of Hidra had an effect on the audience. Family was very important to the protists.

"Your honor," interrupted one of the council members, "I would like to make an argument on behalf of the hunting party."

"Indeed," replied the judge, "Continue."

T"Fellow plant-like protists, I believe that to send a hunting party in search of an ameba would be futile. We do not yet know enough to conclude that this ameba is after plant-like protists. And even if it is after plant-like protists, sending a hunting party would only endanger more lives. As you all know, amebas have the ability to change shape and are extremely hard to kill. We should be on defense; not attacking. The hunting party will certainly not appreciate this decision to hunt the ameba."

"I disagree," interrupted a solemn voice. It was Mercutio, another one of the council, but also in the hunting party. He, like Hidra, was a Euglena. He was a triangle shaped Euglena, with two flagellum that were unusually long. When he spoke, everyone became very surprised; not because of what he said, but because of the solemness with which he spoke. Mercutio was young, hardly any older than Hidra. He had been recruited to the hunting party and the council to keep spirits up and the moral high. He was hardly ever completely serious or dark, but was now. Hidra and Cilina had been some of his closest friends, but now...but now Cilina was gone, devoured by the detested ameba, and Hidra had been plunged into the depths of despair.

"Order, order," boomed the judge, although it was hardly necessary. Seeing the usually bright and cheerful Mercutio acting so depressed had lowered everyone's spirits. Every protist seemed to be bowing their heads in a silent prayer. "All in favor of hunting this ameba, please raise you flagella or flagellum. Diatoms, who don't have false flagella, may speak out loud." Every protist raised their flagellum.

Part 2

"No Cytri," Hidra commanded firmly, "Mercutio and I have to go with the hunting party to go find the ameba that ate Cilina." The paramecium whined and brushed up against her. "Fine," Hidra sighed, "We're going to go kill the ameba. Better?" Cytri barked and pressed against her. Hidra stroked the paramecium, the cilia, like fur, made him fuzzy. She marveled at the similarities between them. In many ways, Cytri was more like her than other plant-like protists. First of all, they both had sea green pellicles that protected their insides. They were both oval shaped, (although Cytri had more of a peanut shape to him due to his oral groove,) and they both enjoyed many of the same things, sun-coins, for example.

"Come on," Mercutio reminded Hidra, "Ameba don't catch, don't kill," he added quickly, glancing at Cytri, "themselves. We have to get going." Hidra waved goodbye at Cytri one last time before leaving on the most dangerous hunt in the history of Mercutio's hunts. Last. The word hit her like a flagellum slap. Last? It had been strong in her dream last night, but what did it mean?

"Attention," yelled the leader. Hidra stared at the leader. There was something familiar about him.

"Hey, you're the judge!" she exclaimed, rather foolishly.

"Did I give you permission to speak?" he roared, "Hello. Answer me!"

"No, I'm s-sorry," she stammered, "And I didn't answer because you said that I couldn't talk without permission..."

"There's a pond of difference between answering and blurting out," he continued, "Now, let's get moving; you're wasting my youth." Mercutio tittered and made a joke about the judge's 'youth'. The tension that had been building up in Hidra's cytoplasms eased as she smiled. Youth indeed!

Cytri had been worried about Hidra. He knew something was going to happen to his friend. Amebas were dangerous creatures, elusive enough to escape from five hunting parties of plant-like protists. He whined and scratched at the closed door. When it refused to budge, he went into the closet and took out the chainsaw. It may have seemed cute to a passerby; a paramecium using a chainsaw to get to his owner, to protect it. But to Cytri it was not. This was a serious matter; a matter of life and death. If Cytri didn't get to Hidra and Mercutio in time, they would both be slain. Cytri knew; Cytri was a seer.

Hidra was becoming extremely nervous. She and Mercutio had just discovered a trail made by the ameba. According to procedure, they had followed it as far as they could go, but it seemed to have traveled a foot. (That is using human measurements. Remember, protists are unicellular organisms and their entire world could be a pond.)

"I'm tired, let's take a break," Mercutio yawned sleepily.

"With the ameba so near? Are you insane?" Hidra responded, stifling a yawn, "We c-c-could be eaten...on the other hand, I am pretty tired...No, it's too dangerous..." With a final yawn, she fell asleep. Mercutio decided to keep watch. Hidra was right; with the ameba so near, who knew what could happen? Plus, Hidra really needed some rest after all she had been through: losing her sister, facing the council, judge, and audience, and embarking on the most dangerous quest that she had known. Mercutio settled him self on one of the giant grains of sand and scanned the place around him. No ameba, just water. Slowly, he too began to doze, waking up only to Hidra shaking him fiercely, accusing him of not either waking her up or keeping watch.

Meanwhile, Cytri had just succeeded in breaking out of the house. It was harder for him to use the chainsaw than Hidra because he had short cilia in comparison to the long flagella that Hidra had. He had cut himself a few times, but his rough pellicle had deflected all of the cuts. But his cilia had one advantage over flagella; they were faster, much faster. He had thought that the hardest part of the journey was over, but he was wrong. Unlike the ameba, Mercutio and Hidra had left no trail. Cytri would have to find them with his own instinct.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Hidra, hoping that Mercutio would say yes. Vengeance was so close, she should almost taste it; but if anything happened to them, it would be all her fault. "It's rather hazardous. Maybe we should get the others; no two protists can take on an ameba and win."

"Sure, but not unless you don't want to," Mercutio lied. He knew how important this was to Hidra and would help his friend; even with his life at stake. Personally, he thought that they had no chance, but Hidra was set on doing this.

They were standing at the mouth of the cave that the Ameba tracks had led them to. The cave was a sandy color that was black at the opening. It felt hard and cold against Mercutio's cheek. Hesitating for just a moment, the brave duo plunged into the cave. The interior surprised them. It dimly lit by a glowing dinoflagellate-corpse lamp, and was two stories tall. Mercutio and Hidra were staring down at the lower level that seemed to house, not an ameba, but a protist somewhat similar to themselves. Ginger light glanced off the cold walls, creating an eerie atmosphere within the chamber. When any protist tried to stare at something, it would seem to disappear, reappear, and shrink. It was too dim, yet stung one's eyes; it was spooky. The floor was littered with skeletons of diatoms past, hauntingly beautiful in the light of the cadaver. Flagella were strewn across the ground or pined upon the walls, each encrusted with dried cytoplasm. An empty pellicle lay shattered on the ground while another, (heart-shaped,) served as a bed, made soft by cilia, ripped off many unfortunate ciliates. More gruesome details were not seen by Hidra for more that a milli-second. Who was responsible for this treachery? Certainly not the ameba; some protist was using it to create sorrow. Mercutio nudged Hidra in the side. He was about to tell her to get going when another voice from the far corner interrupted him. It was raspy and brittle sounding, but obviously belonged to some protist that was somewhat young.

"Come here Decius," the voice crooned, "Come, come." Mercutio and Hidra edged closer to see who was talking. Their eyespots grew wide then stared at each other in amazement. The speaker was a euglena! Obediently, the ameba, Decius, approached the euglena. "Give me the flagella, Decius," commanded the euglena. Hiccupping, the ameba obeyed, spitting out the whip-like structures. Cilina's, thought Mercutio, glancing at Hidra. Oh goodness...thought Hidra, nearly letting out a scream. Mercutio covered her mouth with a flagellum, but needn't have worried. Hidra wasn't going to scream because of her twin's flagella; she was surprised because even through the bizarre light, she had recognized the euglena's features. It was Karon: her cousin! Hidra shook Mercutio off.

"Mercutio," she hissed, "That's my cousin, Karon."

"Are you serious?" he whispered back, appalled. Family was very important to protists. "Your cousin? He killed his own cousin?" Mercutio continued to his nodding partner. "Do you have any idea what this means? You're related to a..."

"Can I help you?" a voice sneered close to them. Hidra and Mercutio turned to face Karon. He surveyed their faces with a gleaming blood red eye. "No, you may not have fries with that," he continued sarcastically. Suddenly, he lashed out, striking both Hidra and Mercutio with a single thrust. Together, they tumbled backwards, falling from floor one and crashing into floor two. Hidra, with her eyespot shut tight, skidded backwards into the mess of diatom shells. Dust rose and clouded Hidra's vision. When the dust began to clear, she spied Decius, slowly advancing on her. Where she found the strength, she never knew, but when she set eyes upon the hideous creature that had killed her twin, she quickly rolled over, to get out of its way, snatched one of the sharper shells, and swung at the ameba. Whistling, the shell dealt its first blow to the jelly-like foe. Decius acted as if nothing had happened. Quickly, jelly oozed in to fill the cut. Hidra fought the best she could, but had no way of harming the ameba. So the ameba kept advancing and Hidra continued to retreat. She now knew what last meant. It meant that this was going to be not only her most exciting quest, but also her last. But what about Mercutio? Remembering him brought Hidra to a sudden stop. She pivoted, searching for him; just in time to see him go down. She watched the blow as if in slow motion; her cousin, wielding the sharp piece of the broken diatom, Mercutio, backing up against the repugnant cytoplasm painted wall, Karon, bringing down the diatom... The spell suddenly broke when the weapon struck home. Gross as it may sound, Karon had aimed for the flagella; and he had fine aim. Horror and fear filled Mercutio's nucleus, but he could not move, now that he no longer possessed flagella. Hidra too, was transfixed at the spot; frozen, to her everlasting frustration. The ameba that had been at her side suddenly wasn't there anymore; it was adjacent to Mercutio, taking him up in a deadly embrace. Hidra cursed herself for coming to her senses too late, but Mercutio's last thoughts were not of blame or fear. They were of pity for Hidra and of hopes that she would somehow survive and return home. Hidra trembled, tears hazing her vision. Mercutio, Cilina, how many more must perish before Karon was brought to justice? She was almost sure that she would be added to the long list of victims. Karon was advancing on her now. Get up! A voice seemed to cry in her pouch. Hidra could have sworn that it was Mercutio, or was it Cilina? Hidra, get up! You must survive! Hidra backed away from Decius and Karon. Hidra! Don't just stand there; run while you've got your flagella! That was defiantly Mercutio. Sister, do something! It felt good to hear Cilina again, but what could she do? Karon and his pet Decius were almost on her.

"Stop," she panted to Karon, "You wouldn't kill your own cousin, would you?" Karon halted and stared at Hidra as if trying to recognize her.

"Cilina?" he guessed at last.

"No, Hidra," she corrected, restraining herself with difficulty from adding: you killed Cilina. "You wouldn't kill your own cousin, would you?" she pleaded again. Hidra reviled this. Here she was, practically begging for her life, to the murderer of Mercutio and Cilina!

"No," he sighed, "No I couldn't. But I couldn't let you go and have thousands of Police-protists swarming my home tomorrow, could I?"

Part 3

Cytri knew that he had to get to Hidra fast, if she was alive. Two had left, one was gone. One was left but going. The waves had told him, the sand agreed. Generations of clairvoyant paramecium's spirits had flowed through him; giving him the strength to continue. He sorted out the life lines that called out to him, and sook out Hidra's. He followed it like an invisible string, his cilia, aching. It led him to the field of darkness; probably the worst place for an autotroph to be. Autotrophs needed sun to make their food. Only with sun, would their chloroplasts be able to undergo photosynthesis. Hidra must be starving.

There was no better way to describe the field of darkness then to say it was all black. Everything was a color deeper than a raven's wing, emptier than a thousand year's old diatom's shell, and hungrier than a black hole. Worst of all, Hidra was somewhere in here. Cytri persisted to find his friend.

Karon stroked his pet. Decius was furious at him for not letting him eat Hidra.

"I am sorry, Decius," he whispered to his slimy friend, "Karon is sorry. Hidra was one of my cousins. Family is important to us plant-like protists." Decius was still fuming but had calmed down. Lying down on his cilia covered bed; Karon wondered about things that he hadn't for a long time. What had happened to Cilina? She had been the prettier and more prudent of the twins. What was Hidra doing here? Karon let out a satisfied laugh. She was as good as dead. Slowly, Karon's eyespot began to droop.

Karon awoke to Decius' growling. Leaping out of bed, the euglena called for Decius. He was astounded to see him facing off a paramecium. They were snarling at each other, testing each other's skill. Karon presumed that Decius would devour his opponent. Amebas as big as Decius ate puny parameciums for snacks; Decius wouldn't have a problem. Karon sat down and let out an evil chuckle.

"What are you laughing at?" an unmistakable reverberation questioned, none too kindly. Startled, Karon swerved around to face the speaker, whom he knew as Hidra. She was weak with hunger, but more determined. He could almost see the sparks of cold fury fly up and down her pellicle. "Not at me I hope."

Karon was flabbergasted. He had believed that Hidra had expired down at the field of darkness. Hidra took advantage of this moment to flip his bed over and trap him underneath. Then she ran over to help Cytri defeat the slippery terror.

Cytri was not faring too well with the ameba. He couldn't find any way to fend it off, even with the chainsaw. (He had grown quite attached to it.) Perhaps the best part of the fight was when Hidra rushed in and distracted it by cutting it with a diatom shell. Cytri then gave Decius a deep cut with the saw that took him over a moment to repair. This gave them enough time to attack Karon. Karon...He had slipped out from under the bed and hid one of the corners, not from fear, but was waiting for the right time to strike out at his foe. Disregarding all family ties, Karon had sunken his teeth into one goal: kill Hidra.

Preoccupied with her own problems, Hidra left Cytri to mélée Decius himself. Learning from ill-fated Mercutio's mistakes, she battled Karon carefully, never letting a flagellum stray for too long. They were fairly matched, despite Hidra's inexperience and Karon's practice. Favor switched back and forth between the two combats. They exchanged blows, all of which glanced off their tough pellicles. Around and around they went, when a sharp piercing whistle suddenly filled the air. Karon was startled but Hidra knew who it was, it was Cytri. Cytri was in serious trouble; the ameba had itself all around him, leaving him with no where to go. The beloved chainsaw laid a little ways off, coated with ameba goop. Karon grinned and Hidra cringed while Decius moved in closer to Cytri. Hidra shut her eyespot and wished that this all was just a nightmare, and that she would wake up now. From there she seemed to go into a half trance, for she envisioned Mercutio and Cilina, their features more like fog than solid, but it was them. Hidra breathed lightly, each exhale was fog, but it vanished into the sky. Her eyespot was moist as she gazed upon her twin and her friend for the last time. Last. When she was finished, she vowed, she would never leave home again. This would be her last expedition.

Reality struck like a bolt of lightning. Cilina and Mercutio vanished and were replaced by a much less welcoming sight of Karon's lair. Little did she know, she had awoken just in time to see Cytri unleash his true power. No protist had anticipated it, not even Cytri. Cytri had just begun to feel overwhelmingly desperate and terrified, when abruptly, he started shooting sharp needles (known as trichocysts) out of his body. Decius roared and backed away, in a vain attempt to escape the sudden onslaught of needles. Some whizzed right through its cytoplasm while others missed altogether; but most either got logged into the cytoplasm or struck important organs. Decius roared, reared, shuddered, and then fell still.

Karon lost all back bone and fled.

Part 4

A little ways beyond Karon's Lair lay a stretch of flat land that seemed to touch the horizon. It was a sandy color that in every way resembled a beach. Few shells were scattered across the barren landscape; most likely the skeletons of the only visitors that the land had ever seen. No one, not even Karon, knew what lay beyond the fan shaped diatom shell; but he was soon to find out. Sputtering and gasping, he made his way across the vacant terrain. Past the giant mosquito larvae skeleton, beyond the mammoth graffiti covered grain of sand, and finally, past the fan shaped shell.

Without prior notice, he brought himself to a halt and hastily retreated. Karon was the first protist to know what was beyond the fan shaped shell; a very deep valley. Truthfully, it wasn't really a valley; the place that he was used to was really a plateau-a towering plateau. One part stuck out like a cliff, and this was where Karon had ended up. A chunk of the cliff now crumbled, causing a mini avalanche.

Hidra now appeared, with Cytri standing faithfully beside her. Karon trembled with fear of his kin's wrath.

"Hidra," he pleaded, "Hidra, you couldn't kill your own cousin, could you?" Hidra now realized that she couldn't.

"You killed yours," she responded coldly, keeping, with effort, the emotion out of her voice, "You slaughtered Cilina. Do you remember?" Karon shook his head. "You sent your ameba into a cup shaped home. Do you recall?" Numbly, Karon nodded. "That house was the one Cilina and I had called home; that ameba demolished Cilina that night."

"What do you want from me?" questioned Karon.

"Revenge." Karon shuddered.

"How..."

"Go," Hidra commanded. Karon slithered towards the edge of the precipice, and then hesitated. "Go, quickly, before I change my mind," Hidra snarled, hatred pervading her voice. Without further ado, Karon plunged from the cliff to the bottom, dust rising from the thud he had formed by hitting the land. He continued on his way, looking back just once, seeing Hidra on the edge of the cliff, watching him the way an eagle eyes a rat. On that cliff, Hidra collapsed, letting waves of grief wash over her. The lump of sorrow that had been in her heart now rose to her throat and gave way to tears; tears that streamed down her face and faded into the surrounding water. Yet through her heart wrenching sobs, she continued to watch Karon, through a blurred eyespot. When Karon had finally disappeared from sight, Hidra turned and headed home.

"A glooming peace this morning with it brings.

The sun for sorrow will not show its head.

Go hence to have more talk of these sad things.

Some shall be pardoned, and some punished,

For never was a story of more woe

Than this of Hidra, Cilina, and Mercutio."*

*From Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." The original last line is: "Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."

The names Mercutio and Decius were also taken from some of Shakespeare's plays. Mercutio is a friend of Romeo's in "Romeo and Juliet," while Decius was one of the patricians who conspired against Caesar in "Julius Caesar."