Lugia Winning Entry

Marie yelped as she swatted a Cootie off of her arm.

“Get off of me!" She screamed, frantically waving her arms to shoo it away. The Jumboyo squeezed her eyes shut and continued to flail her arms about. After a few seconds, she opened one eye slowly and glanced around herself. The cootie was gone, much to her relief, and she allowed herself to release a long sigh.

You see, Marie loved the holidays. Mistmas, Revelry, Lanturnacht - you name it, she liked it. But one holiday she had never been fond of was Infestation, what with all of the cooties and lovebugs. In all honesty, they freaked her out, usually to the point where she stayed inside for the week or so of the actual Infestation. In her scramble to get the bug away, she had dropped her clipboard and suitcase.

“There's got to be a way to keep these lovebugs and cooties away!" She exclaimed as she bent over to gather her supplies. Just as she scooped up the last paper, she felt a sharp pain in her lower back.

“Owch!" She yelped, turning around as she jumped up. The last thing she saw before collapsing to the floor of her office was a small cootie flying out of the window.

When she awoke the next morning, she stretched and stood, wobbly as if she had just come out of a coma.

“What happened?" She whispered, groggily rubbing her forehead and pushing her glasses back to eye level. A beaker of liquid had dropped to the floor and lay in shattered pieces with a pink substance pooled around them. The Jumboyo groaned as she went to get a mop to clean up the mess. Before she could begin the journey to her supply closet, though, an idea ran through her mind.

Examining her notes as she took a small sample of the spill, she laughed as the idea became more solid in her mind. An hour later, another beaker was full of the pink liquid.

“Now, let's see if this works!" She exclaimed, pouring a drop onto a spoon. She gulped at the thought of the possible consequences, but she was a determined Jumboyo and let the drop fall down her throat. Instantly a wave of nausea hit her, but it only lasted for a moment. The frame of pink around her line of vision, an effect of a cootie's bite, vanished almost instantaneously. A cheer erupted from Marie as all of the negative side effects of her bite disappeared.

“I need to tell everyone of my discovery! It's the antidote we've been looking for!" The Jumboyo whipped around and in her haste knocked over the beaker. It landed on the floor with a crash, sending glass flying everywhere. Marie winced but couldn't help to smile. She could always make another batch of the antidote, after all.

“Looks like the Cooties and Lovebugs have met their match."

The End