Other Fan Fiction ❯ Atomic Galaxy ❯ Chapter 2
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: MikariStar 
Miscellaneous: Other Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Comedy / Drama / Sci-fi | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.23.2012 | Pages: 5 | Words: 9.0K | Visits: 237 | Status: Completed
Miscellaneous: Other Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Comedy / Drama / Sci-fi | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.23.2012 | Pages: 5 | Words: 9.0K | Visits: 237 | Status: Completed
Atomic Galaxy: Solar System II
Planet 16: Zulia's Prologue
Zulia sat in front of the TV drowning in boredom. The silence that filled her house was almost eerie, save for the soft sounds of the TV. After changing the channel more times that she could count and possibly viewing almost every channel in the universe, if that was even possible, she turned off the TV, wondering how long she had sat there lost in boredom. There was nothing good on, or rather nothing caught her attention at the moment.
She sighed, got up from the couch and walked around the house. She was the only one there, the house felt so empty sometimes. Sparky was always out on a mission or hanging out with Betty and X-5. She knew her son cared for her very much, but he wasn't around as much as he used to be. It was a rare occasion when he would come and stay for a few hours, actually spending time with her, rather than coming to eat and leaving right after, or going straight to his room, after a quick stop at the kitchen, to sleep after a tiring mission.
Zulia now stood in the kitchen, wondering if she should cook something. Cooking was one of her favorite hobbies, but Sparky had mentioned something about having dinner with his friends. He wouldn't be here, and cooking for herself alone wasn't as fun. She decided to continue walking around the house, hoping that she would see something that would give her an idea about what to spend her time on.
Zulia walked by an old photo of her husband, may he rest in peace. She still had Sparky, but even if she tried to stay strong for the boy, even if she did all she could to always be there for him, and she was, she had to admit that she missed her husband very much. She remembered how she used to cook for him all the time, he loved her cooking. Maybe it was Martian nature to like food, since they had four stomachs, but Zulia's husband always told her that her cooking was special.
Letting out another deep breath, Zulia continued her walk, she still had no idea what she would do for the rest of the day. She could go to the mall, but somehow she didn't feel up to it. What was she going to do at the mall? Visit the stores? She knew every item sold there by memory from the many times she had been there. The employees knew her by name already. She had also, in a failed attempt to cure boredom, read every catalog she got in the mail and knew what item would be coming to what store on what date. There was nothing new to look at in the mall.
She could always sit in that bench next to the indoor fountain and watch people walk by with bags filled with their recent purchases. So happy, so full of life, so not bored like she was. They walked by in the company of their friends or family, smiling as they looked at the different stores. "Where should we go now?" One would ask. "Where do you want to go?" The other would answer the question with another question. Then they would exchange opinions; clothing, electronics, sports, arcade, movie theater. They would come to an agreement and head off to the place they decided to visit; always together.
She could go to that ice-cream shop instead. Then she would sit there all day enjoying her ice-cream or at least trying to. She would watch as people came in and out of the shop. Some wanted a big bowl of ice-cream while others only wanted a small cone. There was ice-cream in all the colors of the rainbow and more. Sprinkles, syrup, fruits and all sorts of foods accompanied the ice-cream, arranged in balls, popsicles or shaped like animals that would have to be eaten quickly before they melt and come apart. There was the classic upside down ice-cream cone with the face of a clown, there was a variety of ice-cream cakes in every flavor and then there was that ice-cream named after a day of the week. Monday was it, or Saturday, or Sunday, or was it Friday? All days felt the same for Zulia lately.
She could go outside and watch people walk by in groups or stay at home bored, hoping someone would stop by. They always walked in groups, or in couples, in the company of friends, or family, or someone. Maybe that's what she needed, someone to keep her company while Sparky was out on his missions or with his friends; someone that was there with her all the time. Someone like her husband used to be... No one could replace him, but maybe there was a chance that someone could fill that empty space, but who? How could she find him?
Continuing the tour of the house, Zulia stopped in front of the computer. Of course, the universal network, the place that holds the answers to everything, better than a crystal ball, the uninet, the union of all the international networks or internets. It had an answer for all questions. Regardless of what you're looking for, it is found on the online world, even friendship, and even love.
Zulia turned on the computer, her wallpaper picture of Sparky on display. She opened the Icefox program and clicked on one of her bookmarks. She was almost certain that the night before, while surfing Chef Bernadette's website, she had seen a banner ad for a dating service. She returned to that recipe which she was looking at before and refreshed the page until the ad she saw loaded. Perhaps those ads weren't so useless after all. Of course that wouldn't stop her from purchasing that ad blocker from the catalog she saw; it would be available at the mall in three days.
Zulia entered the dating service website and looked around. She decided to enter the chat to become familiar with the site; everyone appeared to be nice enough. After making a few friends and exchanging a few emails, she decided to sign up. The form was easy to fill and soon, she was a member. Now she could either browse around the other member profiles or wait for someone to send her a message. She choose to give the site a day or two, if she didn't receive a message from a possible candidate by then, she would browse around and find one. For now she returned to the chat just to pass the time away. Little did she know how that would end...
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Planet 17: Two is Too Many
Betty hasn't even finished chewing the first bite of her cheeseburger when her bracelet chimed. "Let me guess, the bathroom again, or did you forget something in your locker this time?" Noah anticipated the fact that Betty would leave.
"Noah, a human has natural needs," Betty gave him a nervous smile. Noah had walked to her locker with Betty before they went to the cafeteria, so the bathroom excuse sounded a little more credible this time.
"But why would you set your alarm watch to remind you to go to the bathroom?" Noah asked suspiciously.
"Because if I don't go now I'll have to leave the classroom to go later," Betty was trying to think of a logical excuse, but those bathroom and locker excuses where already old. She had been using excuses on Noah since she was twelve and now she was seventeen. But it was a little hard to think of new excuses with the constant beeping of her bracelet and her mind wondering what could possibly be happening in other planets this time.
"Fine," Noah was obviously not happy with Betty's poor excuses. "Should I put your cheeseburger in a bag and give it back in the classroom? I know you won't return."
"I will return," Betty assured him, and in her mind she added, 'I hope'. For all she knew this could take long past her last class.
"I won't stop you, but you know what I mean. You'll, return but not on time for lunch," Noah clarified.
"This time I will," Betty really hoped she could keep her promise this time. There had been too many broken promises over the past few years and Betty feared that the next one would be the last Noah was willing to take. After those words were said, she rushed out of the lunch room and finally answered the call. "Atomic Betty reporting for duty!" Betty saluted from her hiding place at an empty classroom.
"Atomic Betty, what took you so long?" Admiral Degill sounded concerned.
"Sorry admiral, I had to give a friend of mine an excuse before I left," Betty explained the truth.
Admiral Degill understood; he was well aware of the difficulties Galactic Guardians from pre-contact planets had to deal with. Atomic Betty was the best of the Galactic Guardian and the admiral knew she was willing to take that risk. Still, he knew it wasn't fair, so the Galactic Council had been trying to come up with a way to help. "I think the purpose of this call will be very useful to you and you won't have to worry about keeping your secret anymore. Come to the Galactic Guardians Headquarters right away!"
"I'm on my way!" Betty was beamed up to Starcruiser and took her usual seat. So this meeting could help her with her schedule on Earth? Could it be that she was to be allowed to reveal her secret? No, that couldn't be it. Such a process as introducing a planet to the rest of the universe is long and complicated. If that was happening, she would have noticed by now. It had to be something else, but what?
Whatever it was, it had to be secret, because Sparky and X-5 had no idea what it could be. When they arrived at the Galactic Guardians HQ, Betty was asked to wait at a conference room with the other Galactic Guardians that needed to attend the meeting. Sparky and X-5 were not to attend the meeting and she wondered why. It was obvious they were waiting for everyone to arrive before they started, so in the mean time, Betty looked around the conference room.
Betty noticed that most of the people there were humans that looked like they came from many different parts of the world. There were a few aliens there, but not a large variety of species. Then she found a connection. All those present there came from planets that had not been contacted by other planets. Suddenly her thoughts raced analyzing the possibilities. What if they were going to fire her and all the others? She loved being a Galactic Guardian, being in space and all the friends she had outside of Earth. She couldn't think of the life of an ordinary human girl, not now and not ever. Many of the other people there were also concerned about their future as Galactic Guardians, but no one knew for certain what would happen.
It appeared that everyone had arrived and Admiral Degill finally gave them the formal greeting. After a short welcoming speech and assuring them that the rumors about anyone being fired were not true, the admiral started to explain the purpose of this meeting. Everyone looked calmer by now, knowing that they could continue to be Galactic Guardians. Finally Degill revealed the first prototype. Then more of those prototypes came in. Each one looked like everyone in that room.
"As you can see, they look just like all of you and also they will be programmed to act like you. The procedure is quite simple and they have the best technology in the universe to emulate your personalities. They will take your place on your respective homes while you're out on missions, allowing you to keep up with both schedules." Degill explained. "Our scientific team is here for further explanations."
From that point on, the scientists working for the Galactic Guardians explained how the replicas worked. They had a standard artificial personality that could be altered and improved accordingly to the Galactic Guardian they were temporarily replacing. Of course the real guardians would be needed on missions as they are irreplaceable, that was made clear. There were also still a few things that needed improvements, but they thought the robotic prototypes were ready to be put to use.
After the meeting, Betty's replica was stored in the Starcruiser in a special tank until she was needed and Betty returned to Earth just on time to finish her lunch. Noah was pleasantly surprised. "You're back," he looked as if he almost couldn't believe it at first, but he was happy that she returned on time for once.
Betty smiled, happy that everything had worked out this time. "Of course I'm back, I told you I would be back and I'm here." She took too long for a simple trip to the bathroom, but wherever she went; she came back before it was time to head to class. This time she actually kept her promise. However, the replica of Betty didn't act as expected.
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While Betty was out on a mission, her copy petted Purrsey too hard. The cat got angry and while the defective robot tried to calm him down, that only made Sir Purrsefus angrier. He knew this wasn't the real Betty. He didn't like Betty, but after living with her for so long, he could tolerate her. The real Betty he could live with, but this was too much. There was no way Purrsey was going to put up with this impostor. He jumped on the robot with his claws out, ripping off the layer of fake skin. The robot, being programmed to be completely peaceful, attempted to remove the cat from herself but didn't fight back since that option remained disabled in the prototypes for security reasons.
After discovering that the stranger was made of a metallic material, Sir Purrsefus retreated. He still remembered that crazy machine that chased him with a hammer years before. The robot followed him to the kitchen where the bowl of ice-cream Betty was eating before she got called on a mission was left to melt. Being the smart cat he is, Purrsey tried to repeat something he once did by accident so he set things up the way he remembered them then.
Purrsey took the spoon and put the large end under the bowl of melted ice-cream, then hit the other end down with his paw. The bowl of melted ice-cream went flying and landed on the robot's head, just like it had landed on Betty's head in the past. With the fake skin covers missing, a few wires were exposed to the melted ice-cream and short circuited. The robot's self defense feature was then activated when the settings failed and Sir Purrsefus was in trouble.
Lucky for the cat, the robot was a little clumsy, so he could easily get away, however it destroyed the house. By the time Betty returned, the furniture was full of holes and everything was burned or broken, it was miracle no one had called the police. To top it all up, Betty had to disable the robot the hard way, since it wouldn't respond to voice commands anymore. It was like one error caused another and soon the entire program became corrupt and violent.
Betty informed the Galactic Guardians of the situation and Admiral Degill made sure a cleaning crew was sent. Fortunately, with their advanced technology, they managed to fix the house before her parents returned and Purrsey was left as the only witness to the disaster.
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Planet 18: The Dimension Where Things Get Lost
Our story starts in the peaceful, quiet and calm depths of space. "Minimus!" A voice echoed all over the area defying the laws of physics because a sound, however loud, should not be heard where there's no air. Okay. so maybe it's not so peaceful, quiet or calm. "Where is it?" The same voice asked. It appeared to be coming from some sort of space base with a very original design. The place was known to many as Maximus IQ's Lair. "I can't find it!" The voice belonged to Maximus, who was quite upset over a lost item.
"What are you looking for your evilness?" His sidekick, the unique two faced alien, Minimus PU asked.
"Why did it take you so long to get here?" Maximus complained before even saying why he called Minimus in the first place.
"It took me a while to navigate around this mess," Minimus replied with his normal face. "I hope you get lost in it!" His angry face added.
The lair was a mess of random items that had been thrown in every direction. It looked like a hurricane had been trapped in there, but it was in fact Maximus desperately searching for a very important item he had misplaced. "I can't find the TV's remote control!" The lynx super villain made it sound as if his very life depended on it.
Minimus sighed hopelessly. "You could simply use the buttons on the TV to change channels."
Maximus looked horrified, as if Minimus had said a very terrible thing. "Are you insane? Who would do such a thing? I can't get up very time there's a boring commercial on! I need the remote control. I need it! I need it! I need it!" Maximus jumped as he repeated this over and over. A temper tantrum had started and Minimus was not looking forward to it.
"Calm down your impatientness I'm sure you can find it." Minimus desperately tried to calm Maximus. If only he used that kind of energy to fight Atomic Betty she'd be in for a real challenge.
"I already looked everywhere and it's not here," Maximus' temper tantrum appeared to quiet down a little and now he had a sad kitten look. His precious remote control was gone and he would never see it again.
"We can buy another one," Minimus suggested. That was a mistake.
Maximus had a deadly glare that would make Atomic Rodger grow hair from the scare if he saw it. "What did you say?" Maximus asked in a serious and accusing tone.
Minimus gulped and backed away slowly. "No, nothing your evilness."
"I don't want one of those hard to program generic remote controls; I want my remote control back!" Maximus yelled.
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Meanwhile on Earth, Betty heard the faint sound of the echo of someone yelling about a remote control. She gazed out the window from her classroom and curiously looked up at the sky. That voice kind of sounded like Maximus, but it couldn't be him. She shook her head and turned her attention to her notes. Today's lesson was so boring she was imagining things. She continued drawing doodles as time continued to pass painfully slow.
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Back at the lair, an explosion was heard, followed by a female scream. "It came from the kitchen," Minimus rushed over.
"What was it?" Maximus curiously followed. He postponed his remote control search for a moment to go find out what was happening in the kitchen.
Upon arriving, they found that the kitchen was covered in a strange sticky stuff. "It's ruined!" Chef Bernadette, who was also covered in the peach colored sticky stuff, cried.
"What is that stuff?" Maximus curiously inquired.
"This was going to be a masterpiece of a cake. It was going to be a true work of art. You're not supposed to make noise while it's being prepared, but I knew keeping a certain someone quiet would be impossible. So instead I put a sound shield around the oven, but it got overloaded by a certain some one and this was the result" Bernadette was obviously referring to Maximus.
"See what you did Minimus? You ruined the cake!" Maximus hit the sidekick on the head.
"Ouch! It wasn't me," Minimus complained.
"It was you!" Bernadette pointed at Maximus. She was not one bit happy about her work being ruined.
"It couldn't have possibly been me. My voice is like a song that would make the cake even yummier." There was a moment of silence after Maximus voice his narcissistic self opinion, in which both Bernadette and Minimus gave him an odd look.
"Call me when you find the remote control, until then I'm on vacation." Bernadette stomped out of the kitchen to get herself cleaned up before leaving. Maybe after Maximus found his precious remote control, his level of annoyance would go back to normal.
"But who's going to make my food?" Maximus called after the chef.
"That's not my problem!" Bernadette yelled.
With the chef gone, that left the lair with Maximus, Minimus and Maximus' army, all of which was suffering from a severe headache caused by their evil leader. "Clean up this mess!" Maximus ordered. Minimus had no choice but to start cleaning the kitchen, while listening to the insistent ringing in his ears.
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Maximus returned to the livingroom to his search for the remote control. He threw several items out of the way until he found a couch buried deep under them and sat down. He tried to concentrate and retrace his steps. What did he do with the TV's remote control? He closed his eyes and focused. His entire day played like a movie in his mind.
It all started when the alarm clock sounded off that morning. Maximus was still sleepy so instead of getting up he threw it across the room. Then Minimus came to wake him up, knowing that if he didn't Maximus would be angry. But Maximus was angry anyway and unfortunately Minimus suffered the same fate as that poor alarm clock.
Finally, Maximus got up and followed the same routine that people usually follow in the morning. Except he accidentally swallowed some tooth paste, that was certainly not a part of the daily routine. He blamed it on Minimus, who wasn't even there at the time.
Bernadette made breakfast and Maximus ate it. So far it looked like another ordinary day. After breakfast, Maximus watched some TV. He remembered he had the remote control then. He was going to watch something that afternoon and wanted to make sure he didn't lose it. What did he do with it?
"Your evilness I'm done cleaning the kitchen," Minimus was used to cleaning and finished pretty quickly.
"You idiot!" Maximus threw a near by lamp at Minimus. "I was about to remember what happened with the remote control and you made me break my concentration!"
"Sorry your evilness," Minimus' normal face apologized. "I hope you break a few bones next time," his angry face added before he could stop it.
"You!" Maximus pointing at Minimus.
Maximus's finger was so close, that Minimus took some time to notice the sharp claw attached to it, which for some unknown reason he didn't notice before. "I didn't mean to say that your evilness. I'm your loyal sidekick!"
"Shut up!" Maximus yelled. "Don't you play innocent I know why you didn't want me to remember what happened to the remote control. You took it!"
"No, I didn't!" Minimus hopelessly tried to defend himself.
"Don't lie! I know you have it. Where are you hiding it?" Maximus insisted.
"I didn't do it! Honest! I didn't take it!" Minimus tried to say.
"You will return the remote control immediately or else," Maximus aimed a laser gun at Minimus.
Minimus jumped back. "I didn't do it!"
"I'm not going to believe that!" Maximus was stubborn as always.
"But it's true!" Minimus backed away into a corner, trapped.
Then Maximus randomly remembered something, he put the remote in his robe so he wouldn't lose it. "The remote control, I know where it is!"
Minimus took a deep breath as if he has been holding it all that time. "I told you I didn't," he stopped. Saying I told you so might not be such a good idea. "I'm happy you remembered what happened to it your evilness."
"Here it is!" Maximus said as he pulled out a sunana from his sleeve. "I don't remember putting that there," he threw the fruit.
Minimus caught the sunana and ate it. It was like a combination between an orange and a banana. Then Maximus pulled countless cards out. "No wonder he always wins," Minimus grumbled.
"I know it's in here," Maximus kept searching and soon there was a large pile of weapons all around him, including laser guns, light sabers, explosive devices and many other things.
How in the world did Maximus manage to carry all those things in his robe, nobody knew. Perhaps it was made of a high tech or magical material that allowed him to carry more things that could actually fit in it according to the laws of logic. Not even Minimus knew.
"No, that's not it," Maximus pulled out a Max Land plushie. "Another one?" More Max Land plushies were thrown into a pile. There was a pair of ducky slippers, a pair of bunny slippers and another pair of ducky slippers. An Atomic Betty doll with the words 'I'm stupid' written on her forehead, a crown, a toy space ship, a yoyo, a Maximus keychain with keys that he thought were long lost, a computer mouse, sunglasses, a bottle of Busy Maxx and a bag of cat treats illegally imported from a pre-contact planet called Earth.
It wasn't over, Maximus continued emptying the contents of his robe, everything except for himself. There was the head of another Atomic Betty doll, a picture of Maximus with his autograph, the headless body of the Atomic Betty doll, a melted popsicle luckily still inside it's plastic bag, a scented candle, a lighter, a few candies, a bag of lynxian chips and countless other random items. "Found it!" Maximus announced victoriously, holding up the TV's remote control.
"I didn't know you carried that many things in there," Minimus was astonished. "No wonder the laundry is so heavy," he grumbled. Minimus never really tried to empty the clothes, he just threw them in the washing machine as they were.
"Maybe I should finish emptying it and see what I need and I don't need to carry." Maximus set the remote control aside and continued puling things out of his robe. A mouse pad with his picture, a fur brush, a framed picture of himself, a few disks, a rubber ducky, a paper airplane, a pen, a pencil, a little notebook, his autobiography, a photo album full of pictures of him, some batteries and a ball of yarn.
Wait, a ball of yarn? Oh, oh, this might take a while. Maximus started playing with the yarn until he got tangled up in it and Minimus had to come to his rescue. That didn't work out very well, because Minimus got trapped as well and it took some time for them to get free.
Once they escaped from the yarn, Maximus continued taking random items out of his robe including a spoon, a bowling ball, a hammer, a package he forgot to mail and a few other things. "I think that's all of it. I wonder what kind of things I left in my other robes and jeans. I guess I'll have to empty those some day too and see what's in there. Minimus pick up these things and organize them." Something important then came to Maximus attention. "Where's the TV's remote control?"
Minimus froze, "I thought you had it."
"I put it somewhere around here," Maximus realized it must have been buried in all the junk and once again lost. "Find it quick, before the show starts!"
"What are you going to watch?" Minimus asked as he started his search.
"It's a special about Atomic Betty's greatest battles, I must be in it. Less talking and more searching, find it!"
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Planet 19: The Supreme Emperor and the Seed
Today felt like it was longer than any other day. The day endlessly dragged on and Maximus thought that night would never come. He moved towards his bed in slow small steps, trying to stay awake long enough to get there. He climbed on the bed and let himself fall on it once he was on top.
Maximus' bed was a tall mountain of soft mattresses and pillows and the galaxy was in complete silence tonight, so he should have no trouble sleeping, but there was something that kept him awake. He rolled over and tried to fall asleep, but still something bothered him. He moved the pillows away, searching for any kind of small item that didn't belong there, but found none.
Once again, Maximus tried to sleep, but no matter how much he tried he couldn't fall asleep. He was certainly tired and everything was in silence, but there was something on the bed that bothered him. He threw the pillows out of the way and pulled off the sheet. He expected to find the cause of his problem there, but there was nothing there, save for the soft mattress.
Maximus jumped off his bed and landed on his feet. The bed looked comfortable, but he felt as if there was something right in the middle poking him, except it felt more like it was stabbing him like a knife, but there was nothing there.
"Minimus!" Maximus called for his sidekick, his voice echoing in the silence of the lair.
"Yes your sleepy evilness?" A sleepy Minimus stood at the door; he thought Maximus had fallen asleep by now.
"I can't sleep!" As soon as Maximus informed him of the dilemma, Minimus came up with various alternatives to solve the problem. He tried everything from milk to lullabies, but Maximus was still awake.
"Shut up!" Maximus threw a pillow at Minimus. "You're a horrible singer! The real problem is that my bed isn't soft enough."
Minimus looked at the bed, it looked soft enough. He climbed on the bed to try it out and it was very comfortable. It was in fact so soft and comfortable that Minimus fell asleep. The sidekick woke up when Maximus kicked him and he fell on floor. "Ow! The bed is very soft, you should have no trouble falling asleep your evilness!" Than his angry face added, "rest in peace."
"There's something under it, it’s something small but hard. Get it out!" Maximus started to throw a temper tantrum.
Minimus had cleaned up the room today and for that he had to move the bed. It had been a mess because the tower of mattresses and pillows fell, but he placed everything where it belonged, so there should be no problem.
While Minimus searched for whatever was keeping Maximus awake, Maximus noticed a strange looking plant that wasn't there before. "What is this thing?"
"It's a plant your evilness," Minimus replied, "I thought it looked nice."
"I don't like it," Maximus frowned and walked over to where he bed was, or at least the bottom mattress, since his bed was all over the room at the moment. Minimus wondered why he needed that many mattresses and pillows anyway. When Minimus lifted the very last mattress to look under it, Maximus saw something. "What is that little thing there?"
Minimus picked up what Maximus was pointing at. "It's a seed your evilness, but it's so small I don't think this is the cause of the problem. I'm sure you can't even feel it."
Maximus snatched the seed from his sidekick, threw it on the floor and jumped on it many times. "How dare you keep me awake you worthless seed!" He kicked Minimus out of the room, sending him crashing into a wall. "This is your fault for putting that ugly thing here!" Maximus picked up the potted plant and threw it at Minimus, who luckily was able to jump out of the way at the last second. Then Maximus closed the door, picked a random mattress to sleep on, grabbed the first pillow he saw and finally fell asleep.
"I hope you have nightmares!" Minimus' angry face grumbled out in the hall. Then he started to clean up the mess Maximus made when he threw the potted plant. All that trouble over a seed? It couldn't be, it just couldn't, but why did the situation sound so familiar? Minimus remembered a story he heard long ago about a princess and a pea.
Maybe Maximus was the long lost prince of somewhere, maybe Lynxia? No, that couldn't be. But then how could a tiny seed keep him awake? Minimus decided not to think about it anymore. Sometimes with Maximus, things didn't make sense and there was no point in trying to make sense out of them.
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Planet 20: Sugar and Doom
The lynx super villain Maximus, also known as Max Sr., analyzed the cruel dilemma that life had presented him with. Who would have known that what possibly was someone's simple mistake, could lead to such disaster? If he acted now, this madness could be stopped and tomorrow his home wouldn't suffer what it did today. Or he could take the problem to someone else and rest easy with the satisfaction that he did something very evil. He didn't cause it directly, but he provided what was needed for it to happen.
Before the cookie factory knew that it was producing deadly weapons instead of cookies, he had obtained the key to universal take over. Sure that hurricane of chaos that was unleashed in his home appeared to be impossible to control, but he would find a way to control it. Then he would unleash his ultimate weapon on the universe. He laughed evilly thinking of his plan and for a second felt like he had an echo, a very high pitched echo that didn't quite sound like his voice.
Max Sr. looked to the floor beside him where the high pitched sound was coming from and found his three year old son laughing in an imitation of his father's evil laugh, while waiving his empty box of cookies up and down indicating that he wanted more. "Cookie!" Of course the kitten's laugh didn't sound evil at all. His father never thought that his son would later develop an evil laugh that surpassed his own. The kitten was given a new box of cookies and continued to accumulate hyperness. At this rate, tomorrow will definitely be doom's day for the universe.
Still thinking about his next evil plan, Max Sr. turned on the TV. Whatever news was on would be insignificant next to the disasters he would cause tomorrow. "And don't forget our warning," the reporter was caught mid sentence when the TV was turned on. "All 'Yummy-Yummy Sugah-Coo' sugar coated cookies by mistake were made of only sugar and no cookie dough. If you have already purchased them, bring them back to the nearest store and you will be given a replacement box of 'Yummy-Yummy Sugah-Coo' cookies. Make sure to keep them away from children or you'll have a very hyper child." Max Sr. turned off the TV.
Thanks to the cookie accident, he had discovered the most deadly weapon, sugar. Soon he would unleash the deadly hurricane upon the universe. There was no way he was the only one who would experience this chaos, he would use it to take over the universe. Soon the universe would suffer the wrath of his hyper son, too chaotic to survive and too cute to run away from.
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Planet 21: Prehistoric Betty
The story starts in a jungle environment. Some noises are heard near by. It sounds like a roar, someone or something is angry. Suddenly a human woman runs past the camera. The camera follows her, focusing on her image. She has long red hair, green eyes and some unidentified pink material tied around herself as clothing. She's holding something wrapped in a large green leaf. Why is the cavewoman in such a hurry?
A blur runs past the camera. The camera focuses on it and it looks like some sort of prehistoric feline. The colors of his fur look similar to that of a siamese cat, but this feline is a lot bigger, similar to a sabertooth. He has sharp claws and teeth and is running after the cavewoman.
The cavewoman speeds up as much as she can, but her predator doesn't give up. She slides down a cliff trying to get away. The river is in sight. Surely the feline won't be able to cross it; she knows that he doesn't like water.
The feline jumps, landing at the base of the small cliff in front of her. She stops suddenly and changes direction. It looks like she's approaching a dead end. A tall mountain of stone lies ahead and it is too stiff so she can't climb it.
With her back against the stone wall, she awaits for the feline to approach. It looks like a confrontation will be inevitable. She picks up a broken branch and holds it like a sword, but the feline easily tears it apart.
The cavewoman refuses to let go of the item she holds wrapped in a large green leaf. The feline jumps for the attack. The cavewoman drops to the floor and escapes. The feline had jumped over her and unable to stop in mid air, he crashes into the stone wall of the mountain.
The cavewoman runs towards the river. She's close to reaching it when the feline starts chasing her again. She jumps into the river and struggles to swim to the other side, still holding the item wrapped in the leaf tightly. Finally, she reaches the other side.
The feline walks back and forth on the river's edge, unsure of what he should do. It looks like the cavewoman is safe, but the feline won't let her escape that easily. He backs away a little then runs and jumps all the way to the other side of the river. How is that possible? His kind had never left their territory before. Maybe it's because of the item she carries wrapped in the leaf. It must be vital for both their groups.
She screams in a prehistoric language, warning her tribe that she is coming with an enemy in pursuit. A green cave man with a very big nose hears and notifies the others in alarm.
Two fish-like creatures swim in a near by lake. There is a small golden male and a large purple female. A bald cave man with straw simulating hair, follows the green cave man towards where they heard the woman. The fish-like creatures stay; they can leave the lake, but move very slowly on land. It would take a little more evolution for them to move as fast as the others.
A large piece of gold with two lines carved on it from the top left to the bottom right and from the top right to the bottom left is in a corner placed on top of a rock. The gold doesn't move or do anything, but it is treated as part of their group.
The cavewoman sees her allies up ahead, this time a battle would be inevitable. The three prepare to defend themselves against the feline. They hear some noises in the bushes near by. A strange creature with two head emerges from there, followed by strange blob like creatures.
The human caveman holds on to the straw above his head as a breeze begins to blow. The red haired cavewoman says something to him in an ancient language, probably warning him of the more important situation they have to deal with.
The green caveman looks worried about the enemy's presence in their tribe. The cavewoman gives them a few words of hope and removes the large green leaf that covers the item she had been protecting. It was a stone but not just any stone, this one was circular, a wheel!
She attempts to communicate with the feline pointing at the circular stone and then in direction to her tribe, indicating it belonged to them.
The feline only roared, he was determined to steal their priced possession, but they would fight for it. They would fight for it to the end... or until Betty woke up.
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The sound of her favorite song filled the room as the red haired human girl opened her green eyes. She yawned and jumped out of bed. That had to be her strangest dream so far.
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Planet 22: Voice
"Not now Minimus I'm busy," Maximus typed in the required information to blow up a planet. He had randomly chosen a populated pre-contact planet called... He didn't know, but who cares? It would be gone in no time. It was Er-something. Earth? Yes, something like that.
This new planetary destruction weapon worked with a small power source, a very powerful high tech super battery that was stolen from the Galactic Guardians. Atomic Betty had been sent to recover it and she had gotten the battery already. Maximus was too busy deciding what planet he would destroy first and didn't notice Betty and her crew sneak in and out. Minimus had seen them and tried to get Maximus' attention, but it was impossible.
"I told you not to bother me now Minimus," Maximus repeated, more annoyed this time than the last seven. Why couldn't his sidekick stand still for a moment until he was done programming his new weapon of mass destruction? "There, I think that does it." The controls were quite complicated, but it was finally working. "Now to blow up that planet," a picture of Earth appeared on the screen, but just as Maximus was about to active the planetary destruction device, Minimus pulled on his robe again. "What?" Maximus yelled impatiently.
The sidekick pointed at the generator which was located not too far from the main control area. It was an odd design, but it was made possible due to the small size of the super battery attached to the generator.
Maximus looked towards were his sidekick pointed to find that the little door, behind which the five inch tall battery was kept, was open and the battery was missing. "Where's the battery?"
Minimus pretended to press a button on an imaginary bracelet. Then he pretended to take the non-existent battery from the generator and headed towards the exit of the room. He returned to see if Maximus got the message.
"Atomic Betty? She was here? Why didn't you tell me?" Maximus hit his sidekick on the head. Without that battery, his new weapon was useless.
Minimus's head spun around changing to his angry face. The look in his eyes appeared to blame Maximus for what had happened.
Maximus, for some unknown reason, decided that he wanted to try hot sauce. However, he wasn't satisfied with what he had and ordered chef Bernadette to create a new kind of hot sauce worthy of him. The end result was quite impressive.
The hot sauce was so hot it had to be served in a special material because any other kind of dish would melt. It looked like boiling lava. As soon as Maximus saw it, he started having second thoughts about eating it. Bernadette insisted that he should try it, because it was the only hot sauce worthy of him. She had an amused grin as she made her sarcastic comment.
Minimus was the unfortunate one who ended up trying the hot sauce and burning his throat. Now his voice was gone and probably won't return for a few more days, maybe even weeks, or months, or wouldn't come back at all. That is why he couldn't warn Maximus of Atomic Betty's arrival.
"Let's call it a day," Maximus decided. Atomic Betty had already ruined is plans for today, so he might as well take the rest of the day off.
Minimus only nodded.
Maximus hated to admit it, but he was starting to miss the compliments Minimus gave him to avoid being hit on the head or kicked across the room. He was even starting to miss the sarcastic remarks that came from his other face. Maximus didn't know what he could do, but he had to do something to make his sidekick's voice return and it had to be soon.
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Planet 23: Invisible
A little girl with long red hair in a ponytail followed a woman in a garden. The woman stopped just a few feet away from the area where the honey was kept. "You need to be very careful with the bees."
The girl nodded. "I will be," there was a small pause, "Granny," she finished.
Beatrixo smiled. "I know you will." After collecting the honey and other supplies, they headed back inside the house. "Go play with Grandpa while I get dinner ready."
The girl nodded and ran off to find her grandfather, who wasn't really her grandfather, but was like a grandfather to her. Her grandmother wasn't her biological grandmother either. She had no parents and the closest person she had to a father had abandoned her.
"Are you alright?" Jim asked, seeing her sad expression.
The girl smiled, "I'm okay, grandpa." She shouldn't be thinking about the past. Atomic Betty had found her and saved her. She had a family now that cared about her.
She was floating endlessly in space protected, by a force field she generated around herself. She was defective, or so she had been told. She was created from a DNA sample of her good sister Atomic Betty and brought to this world by Maximus IQ, using cloning machine. Her three evil sisters each possessed a special power that came from the combination of Atomic Betty's DNA with the DNA of Optica the fire witch, Destructa the stone princess and Roxanne the rubber woman. The forth Betty clone's DNA was not mixed with the DNA of anyone else. Her DNA was instead modified by the machine to give her special powers.
The problem was that she couldn't control her powers. Every time she tried to use her force field power she became helplessly trapped inside it. She also had the power to become invisible, but it failed at any given moment and sometimes she would turn transparent like a glass statue instead of completely invisible. She was the forth clone with two powers instead of one. She was to be the most powerful of the Betty clones, but she wasn't.
Optica, Destructa and Roxanne were very powerful and Maximus couldn't have obtained their DNA by force. He had made a deal with them. The girls would live with him, fighting for him as his most powerful minions. After their use was done, he would send them to Splatty to become the apprentices of Optica, Destructa and Roxanne, but the forth clone was to be kept as Maximus' new sidekick.
She remembered when she first opened her eyes. She was awakened with the body of a twelve year old, even if her real age was only a few minutes. She had basic knowledge of the world around her, but didn't know not too much, that information was modified to Maximus' advantage. "Daddy?"
"Yes, come my daughter Betty Four and show me your special powers," Maximus spoke.
The forth clone's short life went downhill from there; Maximus realized that she couldn't control her powers. Her special abilities without control were a weakness instead of a strength. She remembered so clearly that moment when she stood in front of that door that led outside. Even if it was open into space, the advanced technology of the lair made the door feel like any open door in a day with no wind on the surface of a calm planet. Her 'father' had told her to walk towards that door and look. He stood behind her instructing her three sisters so stay back with uncle Minimus and not get too close to the door, but she was allowed to come close to it. She was allowed to look into the endless dark beauty of space with its millions of shining stars. So much darkness and light, it was an impressive view.
"Take a good look girl, that emptiness will be your end," Maximus informed her.
She didn't understand. Why was he calling her 'girl' in such a tone instead of Betty Four, or daughter, or something nicer? Wasn't he showing her this beautiful wonder to make her feel better about not being able to control her powers as well as her sisters? "Daddy?"
"Shut up! Don't you dare call me that!" Maximus hissed angrily. She looked scared. Her big green eyes held the fear of a confused innocent child. That look in her eyes was familiar to him somehow. He didn't know why, but he didn't like it. "You're defective, you don't belong here. You're inferior to your sisters and shouldn't be in my presence." Then he threw her out into space and watched as she floated away. He didn't know that she survived.
End of Solar System II
Disclaimer, I do not own Atomic Betty. On Planet 18 credits for the idea to name the orange-banana fruit 'sunana' goes to Barry, the idea about Maximus wearing jeans is from Julayla and the story was inspired by Juggalomalice, who wanted to know what Maximus carried in his robe. Planet 19 is based on the classic story about the princess and the pea. Planet 22 is in memory of the original voice of Minimus.
Planet 16: Zulia's Prologue
Zulia sat in front of the TV drowning in boredom. The silence that filled her house was almost eerie, save for the soft sounds of the TV. After changing the channel more times that she could count and possibly viewing almost every channel in the universe, if that was even possible, she turned off the TV, wondering how long she had sat there lost in boredom. There was nothing good on, or rather nothing caught her attention at the moment.
She sighed, got up from the couch and walked around the house. She was the only one there, the house felt so empty sometimes. Sparky was always out on a mission or hanging out with Betty and X-5. She knew her son cared for her very much, but he wasn't around as much as he used to be. It was a rare occasion when he would come and stay for a few hours, actually spending time with her, rather than coming to eat and leaving right after, or going straight to his room, after a quick stop at the kitchen, to sleep after a tiring mission.
Zulia now stood in the kitchen, wondering if she should cook something. Cooking was one of her favorite hobbies, but Sparky had mentioned something about having dinner with his friends. He wouldn't be here, and cooking for herself alone wasn't as fun. She decided to continue walking around the house, hoping that she would see something that would give her an idea about what to spend her time on.
Zulia walked by an old photo of her husband, may he rest in peace. She still had Sparky, but even if she tried to stay strong for the boy, even if she did all she could to always be there for him, and she was, she had to admit that she missed her husband very much. She remembered how she used to cook for him all the time, he loved her cooking. Maybe it was Martian nature to like food, since they had four stomachs, but Zulia's husband always told her that her cooking was special.
Letting out another deep breath, Zulia continued her walk, she still had no idea what she would do for the rest of the day. She could go to the mall, but somehow she didn't feel up to it. What was she going to do at the mall? Visit the stores? She knew every item sold there by memory from the many times she had been there. The employees knew her by name already. She had also, in a failed attempt to cure boredom, read every catalog she got in the mail and knew what item would be coming to what store on what date. There was nothing new to look at in the mall.
She could always sit in that bench next to the indoor fountain and watch people walk by with bags filled with their recent purchases. So happy, so full of life, so not bored like she was. They walked by in the company of their friends or family, smiling as they looked at the different stores. "Where should we go now?" One would ask. "Where do you want to go?" The other would answer the question with another question. Then they would exchange opinions; clothing, electronics, sports, arcade, movie theater. They would come to an agreement and head off to the place they decided to visit; always together.
She could go to that ice-cream shop instead. Then she would sit there all day enjoying her ice-cream or at least trying to. She would watch as people came in and out of the shop. Some wanted a big bowl of ice-cream while others only wanted a small cone. There was ice-cream in all the colors of the rainbow and more. Sprinkles, syrup, fruits and all sorts of foods accompanied the ice-cream, arranged in balls, popsicles or shaped like animals that would have to be eaten quickly before they melt and come apart. There was the classic upside down ice-cream cone with the face of a clown, there was a variety of ice-cream cakes in every flavor and then there was that ice-cream named after a day of the week. Monday was it, or Saturday, or Sunday, or was it Friday? All days felt the same for Zulia lately.
She could go outside and watch people walk by in groups or stay at home bored, hoping someone would stop by. They always walked in groups, or in couples, in the company of friends, or family, or someone. Maybe that's what she needed, someone to keep her company while Sparky was out on his missions or with his friends; someone that was there with her all the time. Someone like her husband used to be... No one could replace him, but maybe there was a chance that someone could fill that empty space, but who? How could she find him?
Continuing the tour of the house, Zulia stopped in front of the computer. Of course, the universal network, the place that holds the answers to everything, better than a crystal ball, the uninet, the union of all the international networks or internets. It had an answer for all questions. Regardless of what you're looking for, it is found on the online world, even friendship, and even love.
Zulia turned on the computer, her wallpaper picture of Sparky on display. She opened the Icefox program and clicked on one of her bookmarks. She was almost certain that the night before, while surfing Chef Bernadette's website, she had seen a banner ad for a dating service. She returned to that recipe which she was looking at before and refreshed the page until the ad she saw loaded. Perhaps those ads weren't so useless after all. Of course that wouldn't stop her from purchasing that ad blocker from the catalog she saw; it would be available at the mall in three days.
Zulia entered the dating service website and looked around. She decided to enter the chat to become familiar with the site; everyone appeared to be nice enough. After making a few friends and exchanging a few emails, she decided to sign up. The form was easy to fill and soon, she was a member. Now she could either browse around the other member profiles or wait for someone to send her a message. She choose to give the site a day or two, if she didn't receive a message from a possible candidate by then, she would browse around and find one. For now she returned to the chat just to pass the time away. Little did she know how that would end...
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Planet 17: Two is Too Many
Betty hasn't even finished chewing the first bite of her cheeseburger when her bracelet chimed. "Let me guess, the bathroom again, or did you forget something in your locker this time?" Noah anticipated the fact that Betty would leave.
"Noah, a human has natural needs," Betty gave him a nervous smile. Noah had walked to her locker with Betty before they went to the cafeteria, so the bathroom excuse sounded a little more credible this time.
"But why would you set your alarm watch to remind you to go to the bathroom?" Noah asked suspiciously.
"Because if I don't go now I'll have to leave the classroom to go later," Betty was trying to think of a logical excuse, but those bathroom and locker excuses where already old. She had been using excuses on Noah since she was twelve and now she was seventeen. But it was a little hard to think of new excuses with the constant beeping of her bracelet and her mind wondering what could possibly be happening in other planets this time.
"Fine," Noah was obviously not happy with Betty's poor excuses. "Should I put your cheeseburger in a bag and give it back in the classroom? I know you won't return."
"I will return," Betty assured him, and in her mind she added, 'I hope'. For all she knew this could take long past her last class.
"I won't stop you, but you know what I mean. You'll, return but not on time for lunch," Noah clarified.
"This time I will," Betty really hoped she could keep her promise this time. There had been too many broken promises over the past few years and Betty feared that the next one would be the last Noah was willing to take. After those words were said, she rushed out of the lunch room and finally answered the call. "Atomic Betty reporting for duty!" Betty saluted from her hiding place at an empty classroom.
"Atomic Betty, what took you so long?" Admiral Degill sounded concerned.
"Sorry admiral, I had to give a friend of mine an excuse before I left," Betty explained the truth.
Admiral Degill understood; he was well aware of the difficulties Galactic Guardians from pre-contact planets had to deal with. Atomic Betty was the best of the Galactic Guardian and the admiral knew she was willing to take that risk. Still, he knew it wasn't fair, so the Galactic Council had been trying to come up with a way to help. "I think the purpose of this call will be very useful to you and you won't have to worry about keeping your secret anymore. Come to the Galactic Guardians Headquarters right away!"
"I'm on my way!" Betty was beamed up to Starcruiser and took her usual seat. So this meeting could help her with her schedule on Earth? Could it be that she was to be allowed to reveal her secret? No, that couldn't be it. Such a process as introducing a planet to the rest of the universe is long and complicated. If that was happening, she would have noticed by now. It had to be something else, but what?
Whatever it was, it had to be secret, because Sparky and X-5 had no idea what it could be. When they arrived at the Galactic Guardians HQ, Betty was asked to wait at a conference room with the other Galactic Guardians that needed to attend the meeting. Sparky and X-5 were not to attend the meeting and she wondered why. It was obvious they were waiting for everyone to arrive before they started, so in the mean time, Betty looked around the conference room.
Betty noticed that most of the people there were humans that looked like they came from many different parts of the world. There were a few aliens there, but not a large variety of species. Then she found a connection. All those present there came from planets that had not been contacted by other planets. Suddenly her thoughts raced analyzing the possibilities. What if they were going to fire her and all the others? She loved being a Galactic Guardian, being in space and all the friends she had outside of Earth. She couldn't think of the life of an ordinary human girl, not now and not ever. Many of the other people there were also concerned about their future as Galactic Guardians, but no one knew for certain what would happen.
It appeared that everyone had arrived and Admiral Degill finally gave them the formal greeting. After a short welcoming speech and assuring them that the rumors about anyone being fired were not true, the admiral started to explain the purpose of this meeting. Everyone looked calmer by now, knowing that they could continue to be Galactic Guardians. Finally Degill revealed the first prototype. Then more of those prototypes came in. Each one looked like everyone in that room.
"As you can see, they look just like all of you and also they will be programmed to act like you. The procedure is quite simple and they have the best technology in the universe to emulate your personalities. They will take your place on your respective homes while you're out on missions, allowing you to keep up with both schedules." Degill explained. "Our scientific team is here for further explanations."
From that point on, the scientists working for the Galactic Guardians explained how the replicas worked. They had a standard artificial personality that could be altered and improved accordingly to the Galactic Guardian they were temporarily replacing. Of course the real guardians would be needed on missions as they are irreplaceable, that was made clear. There were also still a few things that needed improvements, but they thought the robotic prototypes were ready to be put to use.
After the meeting, Betty's replica was stored in the Starcruiser in a special tank until she was needed and Betty returned to Earth just on time to finish her lunch. Noah was pleasantly surprised. "You're back," he looked as if he almost couldn't believe it at first, but he was happy that she returned on time for once.
Betty smiled, happy that everything had worked out this time. "Of course I'm back, I told you I would be back and I'm here." She took too long for a simple trip to the bathroom, but wherever she went; she came back before it was time to head to class. This time she actually kept her promise. However, the replica of Betty didn't act as expected.
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While Betty was out on a mission, her copy petted Purrsey too hard. The cat got angry and while the defective robot tried to calm him down, that only made Sir Purrsefus angrier. He knew this wasn't the real Betty. He didn't like Betty, but after living with her for so long, he could tolerate her. The real Betty he could live with, but this was too much. There was no way Purrsey was going to put up with this impostor. He jumped on the robot with his claws out, ripping off the layer of fake skin. The robot, being programmed to be completely peaceful, attempted to remove the cat from herself but didn't fight back since that option remained disabled in the prototypes for security reasons.
After discovering that the stranger was made of a metallic material, Sir Purrsefus retreated. He still remembered that crazy machine that chased him with a hammer years before. The robot followed him to the kitchen where the bowl of ice-cream Betty was eating before she got called on a mission was left to melt. Being the smart cat he is, Purrsey tried to repeat something he once did by accident so he set things up the way he remembered them then.
Purrsey took the spoon and put the large end under the bowl of melted ice-cream, then hit the other end down with his paw. The bowl of melted ice-cream went flying and landed on the robot's head, just like it had landed on Betty's head in the past. With the fake skin covers missing, a few wires were exposed to the melted ice-cream and short circuited. The robot's self defense feature was then activated when the settings failed and Sir Purrsefus was in trouble.
Lucky for the cat, the robot was a little clumsy, so he could easily get away, however it destroyed the house. By the time Betty returned, the furniture was full of holes and everything was burned or broken, it was miracle no one had called the police. To top it all up, Betty had to disable the robot the hard way, since it wouldn't respond to voice commands anymore. It was like one error caused another and soon the entire program became corrupt and violent.
Betty informed the Galactic Guardians of the situation and Admiral Degill made sure a cleaning crew was sent. Fortunately, with their advanced technology, they managed to fix the house before her parents returned and Purrsey was left as the only witness to the disaster.
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Planet 18: The Dimension Where Things Get Lost
Our story starts in the peaceful, quiet and calm depths of space. "Minimus!" A voice echoed all over the area defying the laws of physics because a sound, however loud, should not be heard where there's no air. Okay. so maybe it's not so peaceful, quiet or calm. "Where is it?" The same voice asked. It appeared to be coming from some sort of space base with a very original design. The place was known to many as Maximus IQ's Lair. "I can't find it!" The voice belonged to Maximus, who was quite upset over a lost item.
"What are you looking for your evilness?" His sidekick, the unique two faced alien, Minimus PU asked.
"Why did it take you so long to get here?" Maximus complained before even saying why he called Minimus in the first place.
"It took me a while to navigate around this mess," Minimus replied with his normal face. "I hope you get lost in it!" His angry face added.
The lair was a mess of random items that had been thrown in every direction. It looked like a hurricane had been trapped in there, but it was in fact Maximus desperately searching for a very important item he had misplaced. "I can't find the TV's remote control!" The lynx super villain made it sound as if his very life depended on it.
Minimus sighed hopelessly. "You could simply use the buttons on the TV to change channels."
Maximus looked horrified, as if Minimus had said a very terrible thing. "Are you insane? Who would do such a thing? I can't get up very time there's a boring commercial on! I need the remote control. I need it! I need it! I need it!" Maximus jumped as he repeated this over and over. A temper tantrum had started and Minimus was not looking forward to it.
"Calm down your impatientness I'm sure you can find it." Minimus desperately tried to calm Maximus. If only he used that kind of energy to fight Atomic Betty she'd be in for a real challenge.
"I already looked everywhere and it's not here," Maximus' temper tantrum appeared to quiet down a little and now he had a sad kitten look. His precious remote control was gone and he would never see it again.
"We can buy another one," Minimus suggested. That was a mistake.
Maximus had a deadly glare that would make Atomic Rodger grow hair from the scare if he saw it. "What did you say?" Maximus asked in a serious and accusing tone.
Minimus gulped and backed away slowly. "No, nothing your evilness."
"I don't want one of those hard to program generic remote controls; I want my remote control back!" Maximus yelled.
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Meanwhile on Earth, Betty heard the faint sound of the echo of someone yelling about a remote control. She gazed out the window from her classroom and curiously looked up at the sky. That voice kind of sounded like Maximus, but it couldn't be him. She shook her head and turned her attention to her notes. Today's lesson was so boring she was imagining things. She continued drawing doodles as time continued to pass painfully slow.
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Back at the lair, an explosion was heard, followed by a female scream. "It came from the kitchen," Minimus rushed over.
"What was it?" Maximus curiously followed. He postponed his remote control search for a moment to go find out what was happening in the kitchen.
Upon arriving, they found that the kitchen was covered in a strange sticky stuff. "It's ruined!" Chef Bernadette, who was also covered in the peach colored sticky stuff, cried.
"What is that stuff?" Maximus curiously inquired.
"This was going to be a masterpiece of a cake. It was going to be a true work of art. You're not supposed to make noise while it's being prepared, but I knew keeping a certain someone quiet would be impossible. So instead I put a sound shield around the oven, but it got overloaded by a certain some one and this was the result" Bernadette was obviously referring to Maximus.
"See what you did Minimus? You ruined the cake!" Maximus hit the sidekick on the head.
"Ouch! It wasn't me," Minimus complained.
"It was you!" Bernadette pointed at Maximus. She was not one bit happy about her work being ruined.
"It couldn't have possibly been me. My voice is like a song that would make the cake even yummier." There was a moment of silence after Maximus voice his narcissistic self opinion, in which both Bernadette and Minimus gave him an odd look.
"Call me when you find the remote control, until then I'm on vacation." Bernadette stomped out of the kitchen to get herself cleaned up before leaving. Maybe after Maximus found his precious remote control, his level of annoyance would go back to normal.
"But who's going to make my food?" Maximus called after the chef.
"That's not my problem!" Bernadette yelled.
With the chef gone, that left the lair with Maximus, Minimus and Maximus' army, all of which was suffering from a severe headache caused by their evil leader. "Clean up this mess!" Maximus ordered. Minimus had no choice but to start cleaning the kitchen, while listening to the insistent ringing in his ears.
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Maximus returned to the livingroom to his search for the remote control. He threw several items out of the way until he found a couch buried deep under them and sat down. He tried to concentrate and retrace his steps. What did he do with the TV's remote control? He closed his eyes and focused. His entire day played like a movie in his mind.
It all started when the alarm clock sounded off that morning. Maximus was still sleepy so instead of getting up he threw it across the room. Then Minimus came to wake him up, knowing that if he didn't Maximus would be angry. But Maximus was angry anyway and unfortunately Minimus suffered the same fate as that poor alarm clock.
Finally, Maximus got up and followed the same routine that people usually follow in the morning. Except he accidentally swallowed some tooth paste, that was certainly not a part of the daily routine. He blamed it on Minimus, who wasn't even there at the time.
Bernadette made breakfast and Maximus ate it. So far it looked like another ordinary day. After breakfast, Maximus watched some TV. He remembered he had the remote control then. He was going to watch something that afternoon and wanted to make sure he didn't lose it. What did he do with it?
"Your evilness I'm done cleaning the kitchen," Minimus was used to cleaning and finished pretty quickly.
"You idiot!" Maximus threw a near by lamp at Minimus. "I was about to remember what happened with the remote control and you made me break my concentration!"
"Sorry your evilness," Minimus' normal face apologized. "I hope you break a few bones next time," his angry face added before he could stop it.
"You!" Maximus pointing at Minimus.
Maximus's finger was so close, that Minimus took some time to notice the sharp claw attached to it, which for some unknown reason he didn't notice before. "I didn't mean to say that your evilness. I'm your loyal sidekick!"
"Shut up!" Maximus yelled. "Don't you play innocent I know why you didn't want me to remember what happened to the remote control. You took it!"
"No, I didn't!" Minimus hopelessly tried to defend himself.
"Don't lie! I know you have it. Where are you hiding it?" Maximus insisted.
"I didn't do it! Honest! I didn't take it!" Minimus tried to say.
"You will return the remote control immediately or else," Maximus aimed a laser gun at Minimus.
Minimus jumped back. "I didn't do it!"
"I'm not going to believe that!" Maximus was stubborn as always.
"But it's true!" Minimus backed away into a corner, trapped.
Then Maximus randomly remembered something, he put the remote in his robe so he wouldn't lose it. "The remote control, I know where it is!"
Minimus took a deep breath as if he has been holding it all that time. "I told you I didn't," he stopped. Saying I told you so might not be such a good idea. "I'm happy you remembered what happened to it your evilness."
"Here it is!" Maximus said as he pulled out a sunana from his sleeve. "I don't remember putting that there," he threw the fruit.
Minimus caught the sunana and ate it. It was like a combination between an orange and a banana. Then Maximus pulled countless cards out. "No wonder he always wins," Minimus grumbled.
"I know it's in here," Maximus kept searching and soon there was a large pile of weapons all around him, including laser guns, light sabers, explosive devices and many other things.
How in the world did Maximus manage to carry all those things in his robe, nobody knew. Perhaps it was made of a high tech or magical material that allowed him to carry more things that could actually fit in it according to the laws of logic. Not even Minimus knew.
"No, that's not it," Maximus pulled out a Max Land plushie. "Another one?" More Max Land plushies were thrown into a pile. There was a pair of ducky slippers, a pair of bunny slippers and another pair of ducky slippers. An Atomic Betty doll with the words 'I'm stupid' written on her forehead, a crown, a toy space ship, a yoyo, a Maximus keychain with keys that he thought were long lost, a computer mouse, sunglasses, a bottle of Busy Maxx and a bag of cat treats illegally imported from a pre-contact planet called Earth.
It wasn't over, Maximus continued emptying the contents of his robe, everything except for himself. There was the head of another Atomic Betty doll, a picture of Maximus with his autograph, the headless body of the Atomic Betty doll, a melted popsicle luckily still inside it's plastic bag, a scented candle, a lighter, a few candies, a bag of lynxian chips and countless other random items. "Found it!" Maximus announced victoriously, holding up the TV's remote control.
"I didn't know you carried that many things in there," Minimus was astonished. "No wonder the laundry is so heavy," he grumbled. Minimus never really tried to empty the clothes, he just threw them in the washing machine as they were.
"Maybe I should finish emptying it and see what I need and I don't need to carry." Maximus set the remote control aside and continued puling things out of his robe. A mouse pad with his picture, a fur brush, a framed picture of himself, a few disks, a rubber ducky, a paper airplane, a pen, a pencil, a little notebook, his autobiography, a photo album full of pictures of him, some batteries and a ball of yarn.
Wait, a ball of yarn? Oh, oh, this might take a while. Maximus started playing with the yarn until he got tangled up in it and Minimus had to come to his rescue. That didn't work out very well, because Minimus got trapped as well and it took some time for them to get free.
Once they escaped from the yarn, Maximus continued taking random items out of his robe including a spoon, a bowling ball, a hammer, a package he forgot to mail and a few other things. "I think that's all of it. I wonder what kind of things I left in my other robes and jeans. I guess I'll have to empty those some day too and see what's in there. Minimus pick up these things and organize them." Something important then came to Maximus attention. "Where's the TV's remote control?"
Minimus froze, "I thought you had it."
"I put it somewhere around here," Maximus realized it must have been buried in all the junk and once again lost. "Find it quick, before the show starts!"
"What are you going to watch?" Minimus asked as he started his search.
"It's a special about Atomic Betty's greatest battles, I must be in it. Less talking and more searching, find it!"
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Planet 19: The Supreme Emperor and the Seed
Today felt like it was longer than any other day. The day endlessly dragged on and Maximus thought that night would never come. He moved towards his bed in slow small steps, trying to stay awake long enough to get there. He climbed on the bed and let himself fall on it once he was on top.
Maximus' bed was a tall mountain of soft mattresses and pillows and the galaxy was in complete silence tonight, so he should have no trouble sleeping, but there was something that kept him awake. He rolled over and tried to fall asleep, but still something bothered him. He moved the pillows away, searching for any kind of small item that didn't belong there, but found none.
Once again, Maximus tried to sleep, but no matter how much he tried he couldn't fall asleep. He was certainly tired and everything was in silence, but there was something on the bed that bothered him. He threw the pillows out of the way and pulled off the sheet. He expected to find the cause of his problem there, but there was nothing there, save for the soft mattress.
Maximus jumped off his bed and landed on his feet. The bed looked comfortable, but he felt as if there was something right in the middle poking him, except it felt more like it was stabbing him like a knife, but there was nothing there.
"Minimus!" Maximus called for his sidekick, his voice echoing in the silence of the lair.
"Yes your sleepy evilness?" A sleepy Minimus stood at the door; he thought Maximus had fallen asleep by now.
"I can't sleep!" As soon as Maximus informed him of the dilemma, Minimus came up with various alternatives to solve the problem. He tried everything from milk to lullabies, but Maximus was still awake.
"Shut up!" Maximus threw a pillow at Minimus. "You're a horrible singer! The real problem is that my bed isn't soft enough."
Minimus looked at the bed, it looked soft enough. He climbed on the bed to try it out and it was very comfortable. It was in fact so soft and comfortable that Minimus fell asleep. The sidekick woke up when Maximus kicked him and he fell on floor. "Ow! The bed is very soft, you should have no trouble falling asleep your evilness!" Than his angry face added, "rest in peace."
"There's something under it, it’s something small but hard. Get it out!" Maximus started to throw a temper tantrum.
Minimus had cleaned up the room today and for that he had to move the bed. It had been a mess because the tower of mattresses and pillows fell, but he placed everything where it belonged, so there should be no problem.
While Minimus searched for whatever was keeping Maximus awake, Maximus noticed a strange looking plant that wasn't there before. "What is this thing?"
"It's a plant your evilness," Minimus replied, "I thought it looked nice."
"I don't like it," Maximus frowned and walked over to where he bed was, or at least the bottom mattress, since his bed was all over the room at the moment. Minimus wondered why he needed that many mattresses and pillows anyway. When Minimus lifted the very last mattress to look under it, Maximus saw something. "What is that little thing there?"
Minimus picked up what Maximus was pointing at. "It's a seed your evilness, but it's so small I don't think this is the cause of the problem. I'm sure you can't even feel it."
Maximus snatched the seed from his sidekick, threw it on the floor and jumped on it many times. "How dare you keep me awake you worthless seed!" He kicked Minimus out of the room, sending him crashing into a wall. "This is your fault for putting that ugly thing here!" Maximus picked up the potted plant and threw it at Minimus, who luckily was able to jump out of the way at the last second. Then Maximus closed the door, picked a random mattress to sleep on, grabbed the first pillow he saw and finally fell asleep.
"I hope you have nightmares!" Minimus' angry face grumbled out in the hall. Then he started to clean up the mess Maximus made when he threw the potted plant. All that trouble over a seed? It couldn't be, it just couldn't, but why did the situation sound so familiar? Minimus remembered a story he heard long ago about a princess and a pea.
Maybe Maximus was the long lost prince of somewhere, maybe Lynxia? No, that couldn't be. But then how could a tiny seed keep him awake? Minimus decided not to think about it anymore. Sometimes with Maximus, things didn't make sense and there was no point in trying to make sense out of them.
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Planet 20: Sugar and Doom
The lynx super villain Maximus, also known as Max Sr., analyzed the cruel dilemma that life had presented him with. Who would have known that what possibly was someone's simple mistake, could lead to such disaster? If he acted now, this madness could be stopped and tomorrow his home wouldn't suffer what it did today. Or he could take the problem to someone else and rest easy with the satisfaction that he did something very evil. He didn't cause it directly, but he provided what was needed for it to happen.
Before the cookie factory knew that it was producing deadly weapons instead of cookies, he had obtained the key to universal take over. Sure that hurricane of chaos that was unleashed in his home appeared to be impossible to control, but he would find a way to control it. Then he would unleash his ultimate weapon on the universe. He laughed evilly thinking of his plan and for a second felt like he had an echo, a very high pitched echo that didn't quite sound like his voice.
Max Sr. looked to the floor beside him where the high pitched sound was coming from and found his three year old son laughing in an imitation of his father's evil laugh, while waiving his empty box of cookies up and down indicating that he wanted more. "Cookie!" Of course the kitten's laugh didn't sound evil at all. His father never thought that his son would later develop an evil laugh that surpassed his own. The kitten was given a new box of cookies and continued to accumulate hyperness. At this rate, tomorrow will definitely be doom's day for the universe.
Still thinking about his next evil plan, Max Sr. turned on the TV. Whatever news was on would be insignificant next to the disasters he would cause tomorrow. "And don't forget our warning," the reporter was caught mid sentence when the TV was turned on. "All 'Yummy-Yummy Sugah-Coo' sugar coated cookies by mistake were made of only sugar and no cookie dough. If you have already purchased them, bring them back to the nearest store and you will be given a replacement box of 'Yummy-Yummy Sugah-Coo' cookies. Make sure to keep them away from children or you'll have a very hyper child." Max Sr. turned off the TV.
Thanks to the cookie accident, he had discovered the most deadly weapon, sugar. Soon he would unleash the deadly hurricane upon the universe. There was no way he was the only one who would experience this chaos, he would use it to take over the universe. Soon the universe would suffer the wrath of his hyper son, too chaotic to survive and too cute to run away from.
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Planet 21: Prehistoric Betty
The story starts in a jungle environment. Some noises are heard near by. It sounds like a roar, someone or something is angry. Suddenly a human woman runs past the camera. The camera follows her, focusing on her image. She has long red hair, green eyes and some unidentified pink material tied around herself as clothing. She's holding something wrapped in a large green leaf. Why is the cavewoman in such a hurry?
A blur runs past the camera. The camera focuses on it and it looks like some sort of prehistoric feline. The colors of his fur look similar to that of a siamese cat, but this feline is a lot bigger, similar to a sabertooth. He has sharp claws and teeth and is running after the cavewoman.
The cavewoman speeds up as much as she can, but her predator doesn't give up. She slides down a cliff trying to get away. The river is in sight. Surely the feline won't be able to cross it; she knows that he doesn't like water.
The feline jumps, landing at the base of the small cliff in front of her. She stops suddenly and changes direction. It looks like she's approaching a dead end. A tall mountain of stone lies ahead and it is too stiff so she can't climb it.
With her back against the stone wall, she awaits for the feline to approach. It looks like a confrontation will be inevitable. She picks up a broken branch and holds it like a sword, but the feline easily tears it apart.
The cavewoman refuses to let go of the item she holds wrapped in a large green leaf. The feline jumps for the attack. The cavewoman drops to the floor and escapes. The feline had jumped over her and unable to stop in mid air, he crashes into the stone wall of the mountain.
The cavewoman runs towards the river. She's close to reaching it when the feline starts chasing her again. She jumps into the river and struggles to swim to the other side, still holding the item wrapped in the leaf tightly. Finally, she reaches the other side.
The feline walks back and forth on the river's edge, unsure of what he should do. It looks like the cavewoman is safe, but the feline won't let her escape that easily. He backs away a little then runs and jumps all the way to the other side of the river. How is that possible? His kind had never left their territory before. Maybe it's because of the item she carries wrapped in the leaf. It must be vital for both their groups.
She screams in a prehistoric language, warning her tribe that she is coming with an enemy in pursuit. A green cave man with a very big nose hears and notifies the others in alarm.
Two fish-like creatures swim in a near by lake. There is a small golden male and a large purple female. A bald cave man with straw simulating hair, follows the green cave man towards where they heard the woman. The fish-like creatures stay; they can leave the lake, but move very slowly on land. It would take a little more evolution for them to move as fast as the others.
A large piece of gold with two lines carved on it from the top left to the bottom right and from the top right to the bottom left is in a corner placed on top of a rock. The gold doesn't move or do anything, but it is treated as part of their group.
The cavewoman sees her allies up ahead, this time a battle would be inevitable. The three prepare to defend themselves against the feline. They hear some noises in the bushes near by. A strange creature with two head emerges from there, followed by strange blob like creatures.
The human caveman holds on to the straw above his head as a breeze begins to blow. The red haired cavewoman says something to him in an ancient language, probably warning him of the more important situation they have to deal with.
The green caveman looks worried about the enemy's presence in their tribe. The cavewoman gives them a few words of hope and removes the large green leaf that covers the item she had been protecting. It was a stone but not just any stone, this one was circular, a wheel!
She attempts to communicate with the feline pointing at the circular stone and then in direction to her tribe, indicating it belonged to them.
The feline only roared, he was determined to steal their priced possession, but they would fight for it. They would fight for it to the end... or until Betty woke up.
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The sound of her favorite song filled the room as the red haired human girl opened her green eyes. She yawned and jumped out of bed. That had to be her strangest dream so far.
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Planet 22: Voice
"Not now Minimus I'm busy," Maximus typed in the required information to blow up a planet. He had randomly chosen a populated pre-contact planet called... He didn't know, but who cares? It would be gone in no time. It was Er-something. Earth? Yes, something like that.
This new planetary destruction weapon worked with a small power source, a very powerful high tech super battery that was stolen from the Galactic Guardians. Atomic Betty had been sent to recover it and she had gotten the battery already. Maximus was too busy deciding what planet he would destroy first and didn't notice Betty and her crew sneak in and out. Minimus had seen them and tried to get Maximus' attention, but it was impossible.
"I told you not to bother me now Minimus," Maximus repeated, more annoyed this time than the last seven. Why couldn't his sidekick stand still for a moment until he was done programming his new weapon of mass destruction? "There, I think that does it." The controls were quite complicated, but it was finally working. "Now to blow up that planet," a picture of Earth appeared on the screen, but just as Maximus was about to active the planetary destruction device, Minimus pulled on his robe again. "What?" Maximus yelled impatiently.
The sidekick pointed at the generator which was located not too far from the main control area. It was an odd design, but it was made possible due to the small size of the super battery attached to the generator.
Maximus looked towards were his sidekick pointed to find that the little door, behind which the five inch tall battery was kept, was open and the battery was missing. "Where's the battery?"
Minimus pretended to press a button on an imaginary bracelet. Then he pretended to take the non-existent battery from the generator and headed towards the exit of the room. He returned to see if Maximus got the message.
"Atomic Betty? She was here? Why didn't you tell me?" Maximus hit his sidekick on the head. Without that battery, his new weapon was useless.
Minimus's head spun around changing to his angry face. The look in his eyes appeared to blame Maximus for what had happened.
Maximus, for some unknown reason, decided that he wanted to try hot sauce. However, he wasn't satisfied with what he had and ordered chef Bernadette to create a new kind of hot sauce worthy of him. The end result was quite impressive.
The hot sauce was so hot it had to be served in a special material because any other kind of dish would melt. It looked like boiling lava. As soon as Maximus saw it, he started having second thoughts about eating it. Bernadette insisted that he should try it, because it was the only hot sauce worthy of him. She had an amused grin as she made her sarcastic comment.
Minimus was the unfortunate one who ended up trying the hot sauce and burning his throat. Now his voice was gone and probably won't return for a few more days, maybe even weeks, or months, or wouldn't come back at all. That is why he couldn't warn Maximus of Atomic Betty's arrival.
"Let's call it a day," Maximus decided. Atomic Betty had already ruined is plans for today, so he might as well take the rest of the day off.
Minimus only nodded.
Maximus hated to admit it, but he was starting to miss the compliments Minimus gave him to avoid being hit on the head or kicked across the room. He was even starting to miss the sarcastic remarks that came from his other face. Maximus didn't know what he could do, but he had to do something to make his sidekick's voice return and it had to be soon.
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Planet 23: Invisible
A little girl with long red hair in a ponytail followed a woman in a garden. The woman stopped just a few feet away from the area where the honey was kept. "You need to be very careful with the bees."
The girl nodded. "I will be," there was a small pause, "Granny," she finished.
Beatrixo smiled. "I know you will." After collecting the honey and other supplies, they headed back inside the house. "Go play with Grandpa while I get dinner ready."
The girl nodded and ran off to find her grandfather, who wasn't really her grandfather, but was like a grandfather to her. Her grandmother wasn't her biological grandmother either. She had no parents and the closest person she had to a father had abandoned her.
"Are you alright?" Jim asked, seeing her sad expression.
The girl smiled, "I'm okay, grandpa." She shouldn't be thinking about the past. Atomic Betty had found her and saved her. She had a family now that cared about her.
She was floating endlessly in space protected, by a force field she generated around herself. She was defective, or so she had been told. She was created from a DNA sample of her good sister Atomic Betty and brought to this world by Maximus IQ, using cloning machine. Her three evil sisters each possessed a special power that came from the combination of Atomic Betty's DNA with the DNA of Optica the fire witch, Destructa the stone princess and Roxanne the rubber woman. The forth Betty clone's DNA was not mixed with the DNA of anyone else. Her DNA was instead modified by the machine to give her special powers.
The problem was that she couldn't control her powers. Every time she tried to use her force field power she became helplessly trapped inside it. She also had the power to become invisible, but it failed at any given moment and sometimes she would turn transparent like a glass statue instead of completely invisible. She was the forth clone with two powers instead of one. She was to be the most powerful of the Betty clones, but she wasn't.
Optica, Destructa and Roxanne were very powerful and Maximus couldn't have obtained their DNA by force. He had made a deal with them. The girls would live with him, fighting for him as his most powerful minions. After their use was done, he would send them to Splatty to become the apprentices of Optica, Destructa and Roxanne, but the forth clone was to be kept as Maximus' new sidekick.
She remembered when she first opened her eyes. She was awakened with the body of a twelve year old, even if her real age was only a few minutes. She had basic knowledge of the world around her, but didn't know not too much, that information was modified to Maximus' advantage. "Daddy?"
"Yes, come my daughter Betty Four and show me your special powers," Maximus spoke.
The forth clone's short life went downhill from there; Maximus realized that she couldn't control her powers. Her special abilities without control were a weakness instead of a strength. She remembered so clearly that moment when she stood in front of that door that led outside. Even if it was open into space, the advanced technology of the lair made the door feel like any open door in a day with no wind on the surface of a calm planet. Her 'father' had told her to walk towards that door and look. He stood behind her instructing her three sisters so stay back with uncle Minimus and not get too close to the door, but she was allowed to come close to it. She was allowed to look into the endless dark beauty of space with its millions of shining stars. So much darkness and light, it was an impressive view.
"Take a good look girl, that emptiness will be your end," Maximus informed her.
She didn't understand. Why was he calling her 'girl' in such a tone instead of Betty Four, or daughter, or something nicer? Wasn't he showing her this beautiful wonder to make her feel better about not being able to control her powers as well as her sisters? "Daddy?"
"Shut up! Don't you dare call me that!" Maximus hissed angrily. She looked scared. Her big green eyes held the fear of a confused innocent child. That look in her eyes was familiar to him somehow. He didn't know why, but he didn't like it. "You're defective, you don't belong here. You're inferior to your sisters and shouldn't be in my presence." Then he threw her out into space and watched as she floated away. He didn't know that she survived.
End of Solar System II
Disclaimer, I do not own Atomic Betty. On Planet 18 credits for the idea to name the orange-banana fruit 'sunana' goes to Barry, the idea about Maximus wearing jeans is from Julayla and the story was inspired by Juggalomalice, who wanted to know what Maximus carried in his robe. Planet 19 is based on the classic story about the princess and the pea. Planet 22 is in memory of the original voice of Minimus.