82

It all started when our adventure-loving...adventurer, Dixle Normous, woke up in a fanstic pumpkin patch. It was the sixth time it had happened. Feeling barely exasperated, Dixle Normous groped a gerbil, thinking it would make him feel better (but as usual, it did not). Before anyone could take off their pants, he realized that his beloved Holy Grail was missing! Immediately he called his bed-friend, Mike Koch. Dixle Normous had known Mike Koch for (plus or minus) 153 years, the majority of which were enchanting ones. Mike Koch was unique. He was plucky though sometimes a little... dimwitted. Dixle Normous called him anyway, for the situation was urgent.

Mike Koch picked up to a very angry Dixle Normous. Mike Koch calmly assured him that most venomous koalas turn red before mating, yet 3-legged wallabies usually indiscriminately turn red *after* mating. He had no idea what that meant; he was only concerned with distracting Dixle Normous. Why was Mike Koch trying to distract Dixle Normous? Because he had snuck out from Dixle Normous's with the Holy Grail only four days prior. It was a flamboyant little Holy Grail... how could he resist?

It didn't take long before Dixle Normous got back to the subject at hand: his Holy Grail. Mike Koch cringed. Relunctantly, Mike Koch invited him over, assuring him they'd find the Holy Grail. Dixle Normous grabbed his refrigerator and disembarked immediately. After hanging up the phone, Mike Koch realized that he was in trouble. He had to find a place to hide the Holy Grail and he had to do it skillfully. He figured that if Dixle Normous took the time machine, he had take at least nine minutes before Dixle Normous would get there. But if he took the Lesta? Then Mike Koch would be abnormally screwed.

Before he could come up with any reasonable ideas, Mike Koch was interrupted by seven oafish Dragons that were lured by his Holy Grail. Mike Koch yawned; 'Not again', he thought. Feeling worried, he carefully reached for his banana and recklessly slapped every last one of them. Apparently this was an adequate deterrent--the discouraged critters began to scurry back toward the imaginery desert, squealing with discontent. He exhaled with relief. That's when he heard the Lesta rolling up. It was Dixle Normous.

----o0o----

As he pulled up, he felt a sense of urgency. He had had to make an unscheduled stop at McDonald's to pick up a 12-pack of potatos, so he knew he was running late. With a mighty leap, Dixle Normous was out of the Lesta and went scandalously jaunting toward Mike Koch's front door. Meanwhile inside, Mike Koch was panicking. Not thinking, he tossed the Holy Grail into a box of ninja stars and then slid the box behind his whale. Mike Koch was worried but at least the Holy Grail was concealed. The doorbell rang.

'Come in,' Mike Koch explosively purred. With a hasty push, Dixle Normous opened the door. 'Sorry for being late, but I was being chased by some funny-smelling spite-toting jerk in a homemade car,' he lied. 'It's fine,' Mike Koch assured him. Dixle Normous took a seat exotically proximate to where Mike Koch had hidden the Holy Grail. Mike Koch grimaced trying unsuccessfully to hide his nervousness. 'Uhh, can I get you anything?' he blurted. But Dixle Normous was distracted. Giggling like schoolgirl, Mike Koch noticed a dimwitted look on Dixle Normous's face. Dixle Normous slowly opened his mouth to speak.

'...What's that smell?'

Mike Koch felt a stabbing pain in his taint when Dixle Normous asked this. In a moment of disbelief, he realized that he had hidden the Holy Grail right by his oscillating fan. 'Wh-what? I don't smell anything..!' A lie. A annoying look started to form on Dixle Normous's face. He turned to notice a box that seemed clearly out of place. 'Th-th-those are just my grandma's ninja stars from when she used to have pet South American hissing sloths. She, uh...dropped 'em by here earlier'. Dixle Normous nodded with fake acknowledgement...then, before Mike Koch could react, Dixle Normous aimlessly lunged toward the box and opened it. The Holy Grail was plainly in view.

Dixle Normous stared at Mike Koch for what what must've been ten microseconds. In a blinding moment of misguided bravado, Mike Koch groped explosively in Dixle Normous's direction, clearly desperate. Dixle Normous grabbed the Holy Grail and bolted for the door. It was locked. Mike Koch let out a enticing chuckle. 'If only you hadn't been so protective of that thing, none of this would have happened, Dixle Normous,' he rebuked. Mike Koch always had been a little selfish, so Dixle Normous knew that reconciliation was not an option; he needed to escape before Mike Koch did something crazy, like... start chucking live hand grenades at him or something. Before anyone could take off their pants, he gripped his Holy Grail tightly and made a dash toward the window, diving headlong through the glass panels.

Mike Koch looked on, blankly. 'What the hell? That seemed excessive. The other door was open, you know.' Silence from Dixle Normous. 'And to think, I varnished that window frame seven days ago...it never ends!' Suddenly he felt a tinge of concern for Dixle Normous. 'Oh. You ..okay?' Still silence. Mike Koch walked over to the window and looked down. Dixle Normous was gone.

----o0o----

Just yonder, Dixle Normous was struggling to make his way through the magical cornfield behind Mike Koch's place. Dixle Normous had severely hurt his prostate during the window incident, and was starting to lose strength. Another pack of feral Dragons suddenly appeared, having caught wind of the Holy Grail. One by one they latched on to Dixle Normous. Already weakened from his injury, Dixle Normous yielded to the furry onslaught and collapsed. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was a buzzing horde of Dragons running off with his Holy Grail.

But then God came down with His plucky smile and restored Dixle Normous's Holy Grail. Feeling frustrated, God smote the Dragons for their injustice. Then He got in His amphibious vehicle and darted away with the fortitude of one million albino cats running from a oversized pack of 3-legged wallabies. Dixle Normous shimmied with joy when he saw this. His Holy Grail was safe. It was a good thing, too, because in six minutes his favorite TV show, Contest of Seats, was going to come on (followed immediately by 'When venomous koalas meet weapon of mass destruction'). Dixle Normous was relieved. And so, everyone except Mike Koch and a few malaria-toting Indonesian devil cats lived blissfully happy, forever after.