Other Fan Fiction ❯ Atomic Galaxy ❯ Chapter 4

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Atomic Galaxy: Solar System IV

Planet 38: A Villain's Christmas List

Maximus looked at the overly long sheet of paper he was holding, trying to decide what to write first. "Destruction of Atomic Betty," he wrote next to number one. He continued his list with the destruction of the Galactic Guardians and kept on listing things he wanted to destroy, invade or take over.

Minimus took a break from decorating the Christmas tree and walked over to Maximus to see what he was writing. "So much destruction, your evilness, I don't think Santa Claus will bring you any that."

"No one asked you!" Maximus added something else to the already long list, "new better sidekick."

"But your evilness, what about me?" Minimus half asked and half complained.

"I'll fire you as soon as I have a replacement." Maximus returned his attention to his long Christmas list.

Minimus quietly made his way back to the Christmas tree in the corner of the room. "I really don't think Santa Claus is going to bring you anything from that list."

Maximus tossed his list on the table and got up, walking around annoyed. "Well what am I supposed to ask for?" He walked to the glass window and looked into space. "Dear Santa Claus, I've been a really good super villain this year so I want universal peace!"

"That's it your evilness!" Minimus cheered. "That's what Christmas spirit is all about. I think you have a better chance of Santa Claus getting you that."

Maximus rolled his eyes, wondering how Minimus could have possibly missed the obvious sarcasm, or was he replying with some sarcasm of his own? The villain hit the sidekick over the head, just in case. "I'll write whatever I want!" Maximus sat down once again, to get to work on finishing his list.

Minimus held his spinning head still and curiously looked at the list again. This time he didn't comment on it right away. However Maximus noticed his sidekick looking at the list, stopped writing and glared daggers at him. "Don't you have a Christmas tree to decorate?" Minimus nodded. "Well go decorate it!" Maximus yelled impatiently.

"Can I make a list too?" Minimus asked, ignoring Maximus' order, at least temporarily.

"No," Maximus replied without giving it any thought.

"Can I add something to your list then?" Minimus inquired hopefully.

"No," Maximus sounded more annoyed this time.

"But it's Christmas and I," Minimus was silenced by a hit to the head.

"If you're done annoying me, go finish decorating the tree," Maximus ordered.

"It's just that I wanted to write something, then maybe I'll get something this year," Minimus' face switched to the angry one. "Besides, you never get any of the things you ask for." He changed back to his normal face, "because you're not supposed to ask for evil things, everyone knows that."

Maximus had been studying his list and completely ignoring Minimus. It was like an annoying sound he constantly heard and there came a time when he had heard it so much, he didn't notice it anymore. "No, no this is all wrong," Maximus shook his head.

Minimus blinked. Could it be? Was he actually going to try to ask for something good this year? "Your evilness?"

"This won't do, I'll have to start from the beginning and make a new list, a very different list," Maximus crumbed the large piece of paper and threw it in a trash can.

"No more destruction?" Minimus was still unsure about what was going on.

"It was wrong to ask Santa Claus to destroy Atomic Betty and the Galactic Guardians," Minimus stared at Maximus in disbelief. Did he actually just say that? "It was all wrong."

There was a pause until Minimus spoke to break the silence. "You're not going to ask for Atomic Betty's destruction?"

"No, Minimus, I won't," Maximus replied. He got another long sheet of paper, picked up his pen and began to write his list again from the beginning. "I should have never asked Santa Claus to destroy Atomic Betty for me, instead I will ask for..."

Minimus interrupted, "universal peace? Toys? Candy? To be friends with Atomic Betty and the Galactic Guardians?"

Maximus looked at him strangely, wondering were Minimus got such ideas. "I'm going to ask for large weapons of mass destruction so I can destroy Atomic Betty and the Galactic Guardians myself!" Maximus laughed evilly. "I shouldn't have asked Santa to do it; he's too busy during Christmas. Besides, I want to destroy them myself; it'll be more fun that way!" After doing his classic evil laugh once more, Maximus resumed his writing.

Minimus just stood there for a moment, before finally saying, "for a minute there, I thought you turned good."

Maximus dropped his pen, visibly offended by the statement. "How dare you!" He hit Minimus on the head as if he had spoken the biggest insult in the universe. "Go decorate that tree and don't put the star on it, I want to put the star on it!"

Minimus dizzily made his way back to the Christmas tree in the corner of the room and continued putting up decorations while Maximus continued writing his list. The two faced portable underling wondered why the feline super villain even bothered with the list anyway, none of the things listed would be found the next morning under the Christmas tree. None of the weapons he wanted could even fit under the tree, not that he would get any even if they did. Minimus shrugged, deciding not to give the matter any more thought and continued putting up decorations, everything except the star.

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Planet 39: X-5 Has a Virus

A virus, X-5 has,
Take care of him I most,
Only a robot he is not,
More than that, he is a friend.

I shall not let his life end,
Cure him of malware I shall,
Because my friend shall not fall.

Everyone gets sick at times,
Today I must make it right,
Today he must win the fight,
You can X-5, if you try.

"For the millionth time Sparky I'm a robot, I don't eat soup!" X-5 repeated as he scanned his systems, trying to find the nasty virus that had been giving him all sorts of strange glitches.

"It was all my fault!" Sparky cried, adding a waterfall of tears into the soup bowl. "Now you don't even trust my cooking and I worked so hard to make this slog worm soup for you!"

"Although your actions were quite foolish, as I've said before I already forgave you for that. I just need to scan my systems until I can eliminate the virus." X-5 regretted he had informing Sparky of the virus in the first place, but it was kind of hard to hide. Suddenly the robot's head started spinning around until it fell off. X-5 picked it up and secured it in place, but as soon as he did, his arms started spinning and he had no control over them.

"This is more serious than I thought. Maybe you need more than slog worm soup to be cured, but what?" Sparky wondered.

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On planet Earth, Betty was forced to help her mother take care of Purrsey who was sick. Ever since they came back from the veterinarian's office, after Sir Purrsefus was diagnosed with a kitty cold, she had been babying him even more so than usual. Betty's mom had even taken to wearing a doctor outfit with the white coat and a stethoscope around her neck. Betty was forced to get dressed as a nurse including, the little hat.

"Are you comfortable Purrsey?" Betty's mother made sure Purrsey's pillow, which was actually Betty's pillow, was extra fluffy.

Betty glared at the feline who was sleeping on her bed. He kept meowing in a whinny complaining tone when he was placed on the couch and wouldn't be quiet until he was allowed to stay on her bed. Betty's mother assumed she wouldn't mind sleeping on the couch for a few days, for her little brother's sake. Just when she thought she couldn't take much more of watching this, her bracelet chimed.

"Quiet in the patient's room!" Her mother eyed Betty's bracelet.

"I'll go fix it," Betty rushed out of her room and answered the call after getting away. "Sparky?" She saw the hologram, which was not of Admiral Degill as she expected.

"Chief I need your help, X-5 is sick!" Sparky continued his crying, making the rest of the narration impossible to understand.

"Calm down Sparky, I'm on my way!"

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After being beamed up to the ship, Betty discovered Sparky insisting that X-5 ate some slog worm soup. "Here comes the space ship! Aw c'mon X-5, you have to eat. It's just like mahmoola's soup; it'll make you feel better!"

"Sparky, I don't think robots need soup," Betty took the bowl from Sparky before he spilled its contents.

"X-5 doesn't trust me anymore, but I said I was sorry," more overly dramatic Martian crying came.

Betty tried to comfort Sparky, but his words were impossible to understand while he was crying, so she asked X-5. "What happened?"

"Sparky received a request for an online game on planet Arcadia's official website. Everything was alright until 'Supreme Emperor' offered to send him a download of a better version of the game. He had too little space left in the Starcruiser's harddrive because he keeps downloading games, so he asked me to save it until he deleted a few things to make room for it," X-5 explained.

"But Supreme Emperor is Maximus IQ!" Betty exclaimed.

"Really?" Sparky had no idea he had been playing an online game with a villain.

"How do you know Captain?" X-5 started spinning around randomly due to the glitches.

"I've been going online to chat lately. Earth's Internet is connected to the Universal Network. They've been connected for a while, but earthlings don't know, they think everything online originated from Earth. I should have known some of the things found online were from other planets. People assume it's a joke and play along when someone in a chat says they're an alien, but it could be true. I've been visiting Arcadia's site lately, everyone goes there," Betty explained.

"I'm 'Caramel Eater' there, what's your user name, chief?" Sparky and Betty tried to hold X-5 still before he wrecked the ship.

"I'm 'Galactic Girl'. I would advise that you block the villains from that site and be very careful not to identify yourself. Iciclea is 'Frozen Beauty', Nuclea is '3n3rgy', Infantor is 'Bratty Baby', Chef Bernadette is 'Yummy Cooking', Chameleon is 'Shape Shifter', Minimus is 'Two Face' and Maximus is 'Supreme Emperor'." Betty revealed.

"Got it!" X-5 stopped spinning at the same time that he managed to delete the virus.

"Are you all better now?" Sparky asked.

"All system are working one hundred percent," X-5 confirmed.

"Great, in that case, lets celebrate by playing some online games!" Sparky cheered. "But first let me delete the villains from my friends list."

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Planet 40: Unbelievably Cute

Maximus IQ walked by for the millionth time, turned when he reached a wall and walked by again. He looked at his guest at the lair then continued his walking. His plan was, according to him, perfect, but then again, he said the same thing about all his other plans which failed.

"What should we do your evilness?" Minimus glanced at the guest.

"I'm thinking," Maximus wanted to go with his original plan, but somehow he just couldn't. "Let's return him." He walked toward the guest and stopped to suppress the urge to say 'aw' then continued.

"But your evilness, what about your plans?" Minimus was surprised that Maximus would give up his plans so easily.

"I'll think of something else," Maximus picked up the little guest. The two year old kitten woke up and meowed sleepily.

"Did he just meow?" Minimus asked.

"No he didn't!" Maximus replied a little too loudly. Meowing was something his species had evolved out of doing generations ago and he never wanted to admit he use to do it as a child.

"Hi," they both looked at the kitten.

"I better return him now," Maximus concluded. "It's okay I'm just taking you back home, you can go back to sleep."

The confused kitten nodded and Maximus placed him in a strange machine. "Bye," then he was gone.

"So much for that plan" Maximus grimaced. Time travel technology had been banned due to the dangers it represented. However, before the last time travel devise was destroyed, Maximus managed to steal it. The machine could be aimed at any thing or person in the past or future and bring them to the present, or send a person or thing from the present to the past or future. It only had enough energy left to do this twice.

Maximus' plan was to bring his past self to the present and start his super villain training earlier. Then return his past self to the past and the result would be being more evil in the present. The only problem was that he went too far back into the past and he brought a two year old to the present. He didn't start taking interest in being a super villain until he was four or five, but that wasn't the problem.

It was never too early to be a super villain as Infantor had proven; the problem was that the small kitten was too cute. He no longer felt like training the kitten, just letting him continue napping and maybe play with him later. Clearly he had to send him back.

"How come we can't keep him," Minimus' question was too late, since the kitten had already been returned to his home on Splatty, years into the past.

"That's impossible; it'll mess up history I can't be in two places at once. Besides, the reason I'm still here is because he was returned, but I'm still the same," Maximus replied.

"I think you're still very evil, you can be more evil without cheating," Minimus commented.

"I know... I kind of miss him," Maximus admitted, it was either kind of sweet, or incredibly narcissistic.

"Me too," Minimus actually agreed.

"What's next on the agenda?" Maximus asked.

Minimus read from a holographic agenda. "Next your past self training plan."

"That will no longer be needed; my past self is already back in the past. You can delete that entry, what's next?" Maximus inquired.

Minimus deleted the entry and read the next. "Help father escape from the Galactic Guardians and prove that you're as evil as he wants you to be."

"Forget that," Maximus wasn't in the mood to deal with his father. "Seeing my past self reminded me that he didn't play with me when I was little. Who would ignore such cute little boy?"

"Only a truly evil super villain," Minimus angry face answered.

Maximus hit him on the head. "Are you saying I'm not truly evil?"

"Of course you are, your evilness," Minimus normal face replied. "It's just that your father's more evil," his angry face added.

"What does the next entry say?" Maximus decided to change the subject.

"Find out what is Atomic Betty's secret home planet and destroy it," Minimus read.

"Okay, that sounds like a good way to spend the rest of the day," Maximus decided.

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Meanwhile on Earth, Canada, Moose Jaw Heights. "Look Betty!" Her mother pointed at a large portrait when Betty returned from school. "Isn't it adorable? I gave an artist a picture of Purrsey as a kitten and he painted this!"

Great, another picture of Purrsey, as if there weren't enough already. There were more pictures of Sir Purrsefus in the house than of Betty, her mother and father put together. What was her mother trying to do, wallpaper the house in Purrsey pictures? Even so, when Betty looked at the picture she couldn't help it but to think it was cute. This was Purrsey, that cat that did everything he could to bother her, but the picture was so cute, too cute. "It's a cute portrait."

"I knew you would think so!" Her mother cheered. "I'm so happy you approve."

"Approve of what?" Betty feared the worse.

"Of my idea to have some Purrsey wallpapers made and wallpaper the entire house in pictures of your adorable little brother!" Betty's fears came true.

Betty stood there for a moment hoping it was only a nightmare that she would wake up from. But before she could say a single word of complaint, her bracelet chimed and she had to go on a mission to recover a time travel devise Maximus had stolen. Hopefully when she returned, she would be able to convince her mother not to wallpaper the house with Purrsey pictures.

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Planet 41: First Meeting

"Pay attention," Maximus Sr. repeated for what felt like the millionth time. His son appeared to be paying attention to everything except what he was supposed to be paying attention to. As he was about to blow up a planet along with all the life forms in it, a very familiar melody reached his ears. He turned around to find his son, Maximus IQ, playing a handheld videogame. "I told you to pay attention!" Max Sr. yelled, snatching the videogame from the younger lynx's hands. The words 'game over' appeared on the screen.

"You made me lose!" Maximus complained.

"You'll win next time your evilness," his sidekick, Minimus said.

"I told you to pay attention while I blow up this planet!" Max Sr. insisted.

"With what?" Maximus asked and the older super villain completely missed what he was trying to say.

Maximus Sr. tried to control his temper. Was he only wasting his breath explaining how his newest weapon worked? "I already told you. I'm not going to repeat it again so watch and learn." He was about to blow up the planet but just before he pressed the button to activate the weapon, he looked back to make sure his son was paying attention and he wasn't. "Maximus IQ, what could you possibly be looking at out the window that's more important than blowing up a planet?" He was at the end of his patience.

"Oh nothing, I was just watching how that Galactic Guardian ship got away with your new planetary destruction laser. I guess it wasn't too firmly attached to the ship after all," the younger Max was almost amused by it.

"What?" Maximus Sr. pushed him out of the way and saw the Galactic Warbler flying away with the weapon attached to the ship. "She won't get away with this!"

Maximus IQ took the distraction as a chance to leave. "Your evilness, I want to come too!" Minimus followed him to the ship's exit.

"Stay here and make sure father doesn't know I'm gone. I'll be back later." Maximus IQ put on his helmet so he could breathe in space and taking off in his spacebike. He headed towards a random planet.

"Maximus are you paying attention? This time I will destroy Beatrixo!" Maximus Sr. couldn't look to see if his son was paying attention or not, since he needed to concentrate in piloting the ship. Maximus IQ was going through a phase or so thought his father. It was the 'teenager who is too lazy to do anything evil' phase. He would grow out of it eventually and be a true evil villain, he better be.

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Meanwhile on Earth, "mommy loves Sir Purrsefus so much!" A blonde woman petted a cat plushie. Before the real Sir Purrsefus was born, she had a plushie with the same name. A red haired little girl walked toward her and extended her arms towards the toy cat. "No Betty, this is mommy's plushie, you have our own plushies to play with."

Giving up on obtaining the toy, little Betty tried to climb on the couch instead. Once she was up she could look out the window from there. She saw someone in a strange looking motorcycle with blue fire in the back, land on the backyard. Wait, that wasn't a person, it was a plushie. She looked at the toy her mother held. Yes that's what the person outside looked like. She hopped off the couch and ran to the back door. She jumped and reached the door knob turning it to open the door. Her mother didn't know she could do this.

'What a strange planet this is,' Maximus thought as he looked around. Then a strange creature hugged him.

"Plushie!" Little Betty cheered, she found a big plushie all by herself.

"Ah! What are you?" Maximus quickly stepped away.

Betty lost her balance and fell down. Her big green eyes looked a little watery until Maximus curiously picked her up. She appeared to cheer up then. "Plushie!"

"What a strange creature you are," Maximus observed the odd being. Her red hair was in a pair of uneven pigtails, as if someone who was not an expert on hair had cut it.

"My plushie," Betty smiled.

"I am most certainly not," Maximus placing her back on the ground. He looked at the skies, wondering if he should go back now. His father would be looking for him if he didn't return and Minimus couldn't cover for him for too long. Maximus jumped back on his spacebike and picked up his helmet.

"Plushie!" That strange red haired creature with big green eyes called after him. She didn't want him to leave.

Maximus looked back for just a moment. "I know what you are. You're of the same species as Beatrixo aren't you? Father wouldn't want you around. That's too bad, because you would make a pretty good pet. Oh well, maybe I'll see you again."

"Plushie!" Betty didn't say a lot yes, but she understood most things.

"Is that all you know how to say?" The teenage lynx asked.

"Mine!" She pointing at him.

"I guess you know more than one word after all. Goodbye strange funny creature." Maximus took off and heading back to his father's ship. He probably knew he was gone by now unless, he was still chasing Beatrixo's ship.

"Bye bye plushie," little Betty watched him disappear into the skies.

"Betty, there you are," her mother came looking for her. "I wonder how the door got opened?" She picked up her daughter and took her back inside the house.

Maximus never knew that the little girl from that time would be the Galactic Guardian ruining his plans years later...

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Planet 42: Agreement

"Normal Minimus"
'Angry Minimus'

'Remind me again why you forgave him for this and everything else he has done?'

"I forgave him because he is my best friend."

'Sure he is. He treats you like you're useless and hits you on the head more times than you can count.'

"He's my best friend and I have to be there to help him get rid of stress. If he couldn't let all that energy and frustration out of his system with my help, who knows what might happen to him."

'This is too much.'

"It's not his fault..."

'Then whose fault is it, yours? You always blame yourself! It's not our fault he's like that. You should leave; go somewhere you're appreciated.'

"That's my choice. You forget that even if appearances can be deceiving, I'm the stronger side of Minimus."

'At the same time you're a wimp, isn't it ironic?'

"The point is appearances can be deceiving."

'And right now you're not trying to get over your headache. No, that's not what you're doing; it's just what it appears to be, but appearances can be deceiving. So what are you doing then?'

"I'm preparing to continue helping my best friend."

'That's some best friend you have...'

"Maximus is my best friend."

'Care to tell me why; because he kicks you and bosses you around?'

"It's alright, I don't mind."

'You didn't answer my question.'

"If we are the same then you should know why Maximus is my best friend."

'Enlighten me.'

"Don't you remember when I was just a child and Maximus was the only one who ever played with us? The others thought we were creepy, but Maximus said my spinning head was funny."

'And he proceeded to hit you on the head over and over for his own amusement.'

"The point is that he wasn't too weirded out to play with me, even if his idea of a game was a little annoying..."

'That was a long time ago, he's meaner now.'

"But you remember don't you? You remember that it was me who asked to be his sidekick and he agreed. He was the first to see me as a friend rather than a freak."

'Friend? I would have to disagree. He didn't think of you as a friend and he never will, he thinks of you as a walking, talking, punching bag; nothing but a lab experiment, not a real person.'

"Don't forget we are one, we share our thoughts and I know you're remembering those times from long ago when Maximus wasn't as famous as a super villain. His career was just starting."

'I guess he was a little bit nicer then in comparison, but still mean.'

"Let's not look at the bad side, be optimistic!"

'I can't.'

"At least try. Don't think of the bad moments, think of the good moments, like when we decorated the Christmas tree."

'You did all the work and he got to put the star on it. He doesn't appreciate you.'

"Yes he does. He thanked me for decorating the tree."

'I've never heard Maximus say than you in my entire life. I don't think those words exist in his vocabulary.'

"You know what I mean. When he looked at the tree and smiled for just a second."

'I remember that. What's your point?'

"My point is that there's more than one way to show appreciation and friendship. He's my best friend and I'm his best friend too."

Approaching agreement...

'I don't think I should put up with this.'

"I will be okay."

'Can I be sure?'

"Of course I can. Maximus is my best friend."

'Best friend...'

"Best friend..."

We have come to terms...

End POV

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Planet 43: Hypnotized

Maximus' Point of View

I hear the echo of a voice,
A voice that was to make me rich,
The echo is melodious,
But it takes freedom out of reach.

I hear the echo of a voice, the voice of a hypnotized young girl that was going to make me rich. If the new Max Land hypnotism worked on her, then it would work on anyone. It had been a few years since the last version of Max Land was opened. Atomic Betty is still stubbornly stopping my plans, you'd think she'd find something else to pass the time with than interfering with my universal take over.

But now she's been hypnotized. I managed to separate her from her team long enough to hypnotize her, they never found out what happened to her and why she went missing. It's good to know that I finally got my plans to work out exactly as I wanted. The problem is that it worked too well.

My plans had finally worked,
Exactly as I planned,
Then I realized it worked,
A little too exact.

I finally hypnotized her, turned her into my slave. This so called victory is bitter sweet. I'm getting tired of this. I'm getting tired of her going on like this every day. The way she acts, it's not her, it's someone else entirely, someone that I created for my on selfish purpose and now I regret it. She may not be out there stopping me from taking over the universe, but what good is that when I'm not trying to take over the universe.

I haven't blown up a planet since this started, I haven't had a laser fight in space with the Galactic Guardians, I haven't stolen something priceless, I've done nothing evil what so ever. She may not be out there to stop me, but she keeps me here all the time, so in a way she's still interfering with my original plans, in a very different way.

She sings her song to me,
She lives under my curse,
And a secret I keep,
That I belong to her.

I can't take this any longer. Every fake smile she directs at me is torture. But I can't tell her to go away because I made her this way. If I yell at her, she just throws a temper tantrum and glomps me like a crazy fan girl saying she's not going to let me get away. This is all my fault, the hypnotism made her this way. Then if I am to breathe again, I have to assure her I'm not going to leave her, so she loosens her grip and I can get some oxygen into my crushed lungs.

Everything was fine before she started throwing those little temper tantrums, but I got tired of having her constantly following me around. It wasn't so bad at the beginning, but I need some space now.

So close I hear you breathe,
You're living in a dream,
That day I learned true fear,
A nightmare I have here.

I can't take another day of this. I have to set her free, it's the only way I can have a little peace. Even hypnotized she can still defend herself and doesn't fall for traps. That is why destruction is not an option. I can only hope she doesn't remember anything that happened after the hypnotic reversal process is complete.

End Maximus POV

Minimus' Point of View

So it would appear,
That he reached his goal,
But now that she's near,
He just wants to be alone.

It's been over a week since Atomic Betty was hypnotized in the new Max Land. She's always following him around, he found it amusing at first and said he might consider keeping the hypnotized Betty for a pet, but then he got tired of her constant presence.

She keeps singing all the time "buy Maximus; buy Maximus," it's getting old. She's a good singer, but she just keeps repeating the same thing over and over.

His evilness told me to sell all the Maximus merchandise to Atomic Betty. Then when she ran out of money, my mission was to offer to trade a special edition Maximus action figure for the location of her secret home planet.

He told me to sell,
As much as she could buy,
But she only wanted one thing,
And the customer's always right.

But she only wanted to buy one thing. She was hypnotized literally and insisted on buying Maximus. I had no choice but to accept the silver colored coin she gave me with a picture of a head on one side and a bird on the other. It's the first time I saw a coin like this. Betty said the coin was from "another country" and she didn't give me anymore details, but it must be very rare and valuable, possibly worth billions.

She thinks he's a plushie,
And glomps him as such,
She says that he's fluffy,
He finally had too much.

Betty thinks Maximus a plushie and hugs him like a plushie until he turns blue from lack of oxygen. He tries to get away, but she runs fast and has a strong grip, she won't stop following him around claiming that he belongs to her because she paid for him. The other day she threw a temper tantrum about her property trying to run away from her. I think he's afraid of her now, but he won't admit it. I can only hope the Destructionears get her back to normal soon.

End POV

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Planet 44: Glass Ducks

Maximus IQ stared at the pile of broken glass. It was already late, but he kept coming back to that room to check on what was left of the glass ducks waiting for something, anything, to happen.

"Your evilness, do you have any evil sidekick things for me to do now?" Minimus PU asked from the door.

"Not right now," Maximus answered without taking his eyes off the glass duck pieces.

"In that case I'm going to sleep, okay boss?" It was late and Minimus was very tired.

"Fine," Maximus was still staring at the broken glass ducks. Minimus shook his head. Maximus must have really liked his collection. One side of him was sorry and the other thought it served him right. "Minimus..." He heard Maximus call just as he was about to leave.

"Yes, your evilness?" Minimus wondered just how much the events of the day had affected him. Atomic Betty ruined his plans as usual, but losing his collection of glass ducks, that must have been too much. He wondered why they were so special.

"Is there something that you used to believe as a child that never came true?" The question was unexpected coming from Maximus, the self proclaimed Evil Idol and a famous super villain, winner of many super villain competitions.

Minimus thought about it. "I believed comets could grant wishes, so I wished that someone would be my friend."

"And your wish never came true?" Maximus asked still staring at the broken glass.

"Actually it did," Minimus realized. "Maybe not exactly as I pictured it but it came true."

"My father once told me that the more glass ducks a super villain has, the more powerful he will become. He was always away and I didn't spend a lot of time with him, so I remembered that. They were my lucky glass ducks," Maximus admitted.

Flashback

"Do you have to go away tomorrow?" The small child had gotten out of bed and walked to the living room where his father sat reviewing some plans.

"I can't past up a chance like this!" The older lynx continued reviewing the plans. "Go to sleep, Maximus."

"Will you tell me a story before you leave?" The boy got comfortable and hugged a little purple plushie that looked like an alien cat with three legs and three eyes.

The boy would not leave until he got what he wanted. "Fine, once upon a time, there was a super villain whose annoying son went to sleep and let him finish his plans so he could also get some rest and be full of energy the next day when it was time to steal a large shipment of glass ducks. The more glass ducks a super villain has, the more powerful he will become. The super villain took over the universe and destroyed the Galactic Guardians, the end."

End Flashback

"I'll glue them back together," Minimus offered without even thinking about how hard the task would be.

"Just clean up this mess and throw the pieces away, I'll get some new ones." Maximus finally stopped staring at the broken glass. "It's about time I grew out of it anyway..."

"It's okay to believe in childhood wishes..." Minimus voiced.

"I know, but it's not something expected from a super villain," Maximus started walking out of the room. "This conversation never happened."

Maximus didn't know that the glass ducks his father wanted back then were not glass statues of ducks. What he planned to steal were some powerful weapons. GLASSDUCK was short for Gun of Large Assassination Super Storm of Destruction Ultimate Chaos Killer, but Maximus never found out.

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Planet 45: Food Fight

Bernadette's Point of View

I am Chef Bernadette. I am considered to be by far the best chef in the known universe. It's not easy, trust me, it isn't. Sometimes the pressure is so much I can't take it. I fear losing my position as the best. A chef can be accepted while at the process of going up in ranks and even those who stay the same are not criticized too much. But a chef that goes down in ranks will continue to sink.

We're supposed to move up or not at all, but moving down means losing talent. I am confident most of the time, it's the image I need to project, but I would be lying if I said I never worry. That's why I'm organizing this buffet. I get to try out my recipes and people can tell me what they think.

This is very important to me; to try new things is the only way to continue improving. I also need to know what people think about it. I want to be able adjust my cooking style to anyone. Everyone must be pleased with what I cook, no matter how picky, annoying and bratty they are, like Maximus for example.

Maximus is one to complain about anything and everything. He's always saying that everything is not worthy of him. I sometimes think that some day he'll try to hold his breath until he turns blue and claim the oxygen isn't worthy of him. I wouldn't be too surprised if that did happen, it would be amusing. That's why I'm here, to have a challenge.

Sure working for a super villain isn't always the best thing when it comes to a chef's reputation, but no one will question that if I remain the undeniable best, and as much as I hate to admit it he has helped a lot in that. It's Maximus' constant complaints that make me continue to improve and it's so satisfying when he says he liked the food.

Maximus isn't one to give compliments. I don't expect him to say thanks, but if I get him to eat without complains, it's a big achievement. Then there is the very rare occasion when he actually says he liked the food, that's when I know a recipe's a real winner if it can actually get a sort of compliment out of him.

There was one time when I thought I couldn't put up with Maximus anymore. That time I quit and refused to return until I got an apology, which deep down I knew I wasn't going to get. But in the end I did return and with a better salary. Sure he has the most high tech lair in the universe and likes expensive things, but those who know him a little better, know he can be quite greedy and stingy. That means that even if he didn't say it directly, he thinks my food is worth it.

"What is that?" Maximus asks coming into the kitchen without knocking.

"You forgot to knock again," I remind him sounding annoyed.

"It's a kitchen, why would I knock? Furthermore it's the kitchen of my lair. What could you possibly be doing here that requires people to knock before coming in?" Obviously he doesn't understand.

"The atmosphere, the concentration, the delicate balance," I start to list the reasons why he should knock before entering the kitchen, but he only looks confused. "Never mind, are you here for a snack?"

"I'm not hungry right now." Maximus picks up a fork and pokes the meal I was preparing. The dish takes the fork away with one of its tentacles and Maximus quickly jumps behind me, hiding from the uncooked meal. "Why is that thing here? You know I don't like food that bites back. When I eat, I want to eat without the risk of being eaten!"

"It's not for you. The entire universe doesn't revolve around you." I take a few kitchen utensils to disarm the food. Always show your food who's boss.

"It should and it will when I become the supreme ruler of the universe," Maximus' big ego never changes.

"If you're not hungry, then why are you here?" I continue to work on the octopus dish, hitting it hard enough to knock out the creature, but not hard enough to kill it. It must be served alive or it's an insult. Maximus only stares in horror, as anyone else from the area of the universe where he was born in would do. They don't eat live things that like people from other planets do. "If it bothers you so much, then you should get out of the kitchen."

"But I'm thirsty!" Maximus complains. I look at the refrigerator, then at him, then the refrigerator again. Clearly he's not getting the hint. I guess that's a little too much to expect from Maximus, so I go get him something to drink myself. Once he has a drink that is, as he would say, worthy of him, he leaves the kitchen. Finally I can continue working on the food for the buffet.

Later...

The buffet went well. I got excellent reviews from all the critics I invited and surpassed what they expected. The good thing about this is that people can try my food and I can continue improving it. I always invite the critics at the end so by then the recipe is at its best.

The only trouble I had was with Atomic Betty's green little friend, Sparky. I told him he could sample the food, but he wanted to eat it all. Then a gang space bickers stopped by and started a food fight. Those trouble makers!

Fortunately, Atomic Betty and her robot friend arrived looking for Sparky and saved the buffet. It was still a close call, because I had to have everything clean and presentable for the critics, but Sparky ate all the food from the fight that was all over the place and left it spotless. Then Atomic Betty took him back to their ship to prevent him from eating the freshly cooked food I made for the critics.

End POV

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Planet 46: Desire

He looked at her with pleading eyes, but he spoke no words. They had been sitting in silence for far longer than he had ever sat with his mouth closed. They had been assigned to be part of the security of a royal ship. This time they didn't have the Starcruiser on the mission. This time they were on the ship that they were to protect.

Space pirates were a very common thing these days. They surrounded the ships, forced their entry and stole anything they could get. If they were to get inside, it was Atomic Betty's job to give them a taste of her light saber and protect everyone and everything on that ship. Other than that, there were a few Galactic Guardian ships in the surrounding area to keep any pirates from getting inside in the first place. Even so, King Rturmex felt a lot safer with Atomic Betty and her crew on board.

Sparky continued to stare at her while X-5 tried to get his attention. The green big nosed alien looked like he was in another dimension staring at Atomic Betty. Her only reaction was to smile with mild amusement.

X-5 tapped Sparky on the shoulder, finally getting his attention. The robot then moved his hand over his mouth as if telling Sparky he had something there. The green alien noticed that he was drooling and hoped Betty didn't see it. After he had cleaned his face, Sparky resumed his staring.

Betty randomly cleared her throat, she was starting to feel a little uncomfortable with the silence. That look in Sparky's face was so hungry. If he wanted food, why didn't he just say so? Maybe he had sudden burst of shyness and didn't dare to speak of his need to eat. "Should we have a snack now?" Betty finally asked.

Sparky smiled at the mention of food and nodded his head so quickly you'd think it was going to fall off. "Yes!"

Betty reached for the bag of cookies that were sitting beside her the entire time, which had fascinated Sparky.

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Planet 47: Video Phone

"With this control, I shall activate the time bomb that will detonate in exactly ten minutes and destroy a planet full of innocent people and you can't stop me!" Maximus did his classic evil laugh and thought Minimus ended the call transmitting the message to Atomic Betty's ship after he stopped laughing. "That went well," he was satisfied with the message.

"But your evilness, that's not a time bomb control, there is no planetary destruction time bomb, you never even finished the blueprints," Minimus reminded.

Maximus hit his sidekick again. "I know that, but Atomic Betty doesn't. She'll never find that planet that has the bomb and will be all worried over nothing."

"What if a random planet blows up for no reason? Then you'll get blamed for it," Minimus pointed out.

"That's not going to happen and if it does, I don't mind taking the credit," Maximus replied.

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Atomic Betty set the communication to receive only, so that Maximus wouldn't hear them or see them on the screen and notice the call link was still open.

"Did you hear that chief? He tried to trick us!" Sparky pouted.

"We should watch and see if we can learn something about his real future plans," Betty suggested.

On the screen, Maximus used the control and the toy it really belonged to was activated. A little white robot mouse, slightly different from Earth mice, started running around the floor of the ship. A little black fur ball followed the toy. "I believe that specimen is of the same species as Purrsey from Earth but in a different color." X-5 pointed at the black kitten on the screen.

"I wonder how did Maximus get him?" Sparky asked.

"I gave that kitten to him," Betty admitted receiving odd looks from X-5 and Sparky. "The kitten needed a home and I thought it would be okay since Maximus liked Purrsey so much."

"They appear to be getting along well," X-5 admitted.

"The strangest part isn't the chief giving Maximus a gift, but Maximus actually accepting it," Sparky was confused.

"Actually, I was wearing a disguise. I looked like a regular Martian girl," Betty explained.

"Cool!" Sparky was curious about how she would look as his species. "Show me later, okay?"

"Sure," Betty replied and they continued watching.

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Eventually, Maximus picked up the kitten. "Let's watch TV," but nothing came on the screen. "Minimus, fix it!"

Minimus sighted. He knew what came next. Wearing a helmet for oxygen he headed out of the ship holding a small but powerful satellite antenna. "Can you see it now?" He asked standing outside the ship holding up the antenna.

"Not yet!" Maximus yelled.

"How about now?" Minimus pointed the antenna in a different direction.

Maximus could hear something but there was no image to go along with it. "Sound only, keep trying and hurry! Wait, that's it don't move!"

"But your evilness this position is very uncomfortable," Minimus complained from outside.

"Shut up and don't you dare move!" Maximus yelled back.

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After the show ended... "Can I go back inside now?"

"Fine you can come back," Maximus agree. "You complain too much."

"Look who's talking," Minimus' angry face retorted as he came back inside the ship.

"What was that?" Maximus glared.

"Nothing your evilness," normal Minimus quickly said. By now Betty, Sparky and X-5 were very amused, well at least the first two were.

"Go away now, go do something useful I need to be alone to plot my next evil plan," Maximus ordered and as soon as Minimus was gone to another section of the ship, he placed his kitten on the floor and pressed a button on the ship's controls to open a secret storage compartment. He took several action figures out and began to 'plot'. "I will take over the universe but first I'll destroy Atomic Betty!" Maximus said hitting the Atomic Betty action figure with an action figure of himself. He stopped when he felt something on his foot or rather felt nothing on his foot. "Mini Max, give me back my shoe!"

The kitten was bored already and had stolen one of Maximus's shoes. Even X-5 had to admit that it was amusing how Maximus named everything after himself. He chased after the kitten, hopping on the one foot where he still had a shoe, until he tripped and fell.

"Mew," the kitten came running to him and set the shoe on the floor.

"How dare you do this to me?" Maximus angrily got up and put his shoe back on. "You little chaos fur ball," he picked up the kitten who only meowed softly. "Aw, I can't stay angry at you," he cuddled the little kitten. "I'll go take it out on Minimus, you wait here." He placed the kitten on the floor and went off to find his sidekick and hit him on the head for something he didn't do. The kitten ran around then jumped on the controls, pressing random buttons and ending the transmission.

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"Aw, the show's over," Sparky frowned.

At least it was funny while it lasted," Atomic Betty said.

"I recorded it," X-5 knew they would want to watch that video again and share it with a few people.

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Planet 48: Cleaning the Attic

The weekend was finally here. Betty smiled as she finished bushing her hair and tied it in a pony tail. Today would be a great day. She was allowed to sleep in until noon, had a great lunch and now she would go spend the afternoon with her friends.

She didn't have any plans, but she knew she could find either Dylan or Noah and one of them had to be free for the afternoon. If not, then someone in the universe must be unoccupied, she would just call Sparky or any of her friends from space. She realized she had more friends outside of Earth than on Earth, but that was perfectly natural since there were more people in the universe than on Earth alone.

She was about to leave when her mother called her. Wondering what she could want and why her voice came from the attic, Betty made her way up the stairs to find her mother. "Yes?"

"Betty, look at this place." Her mother was looking at the piles of old things in boxes found there. "We're running out of room here and in the garage, we need to decide what we're keeping and what has to go. Will you help me?"

Fearing for her comic book collection, which was still growing, Betty knew she would have no choice but to accept if she wanted to keep them, so much for going out that afternoon. "Yes, I'll help." At least she hasn't actually made plans so she wouldn't leave anyone waiting this time.

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Meanwhile in Maximus lair, coincidently the supreme super villain was up in the attic, ready to throw away the old things he no longer needed and had no room for. "Minimus, bring me that box over there," Maximus was currently sitting on a chair with a glass containing a drink similar to lemonade. He wanted to decide what to keep and what to throw away, but he wasn't going to do the work.

Minimus pushed the large box until it was in front of Maximus. He let himself fall sitting on the floor with his back resting against the box as he tried to catch his breath. Pushing around boxes that were bigger than him was a lot of hard work.

"Don't just sit there, open it and show me the items one by one and I'll tell you what I'm keeping and what I'll throw away." Maximus took a sip of the lemonade-like refreshment while Minimus started showing him the items contained in the box.

There was an old laser gun that no longer worked, which he decided to throw away. Some old pictures of Atomic Betty and her team from when they were not as well known as they are today and he needed to show his minions what they looked like, which of course he also threw away.

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As if it wasn't enough of a coincidence already that Betty and Maximus were both cleaning their attics, it just so happens that Sparky was helping Zulia clean the attic also.

"Sparky, X-5 look!" Zulia squealed as she found another one of Sparky's many baby picture albums.

Sparky sighed, "another one?" This would take forever to finish.

"Come here you two, let's sit down for a moment and look at it." Knowing they had no choice Sparky and X-5 sat on some boxes and listened to Zulia's endless speech about Sparky when he was a baby.

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On Earth, Betty had found nothing but a lot of old junk. The only things worth finding were a few comic books she thought were lost, other than that, she didn't find anything interesting.

Betty had managed to save her comics and of course her mother kept all of Purrsey's old things, so they ended up throwing away her father's old things. Betty didn't want to, since her dad was currently at work and it wasn't fair that he couldn't be there to defend his old possessions, but there was no way her mother would throw away her or Purrsey's old things and Betty just had to save her comics. At least she convinced her mom not to throw all of it away.

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In a planet far, far away covered with ice, there was a castle made of ice where Iciclea was currently, you guessed it, cleaning the icy attic. Most of the things there were frozen solid so Dingleberry had to break the ice, then Iciclea would decide what to keep and what to throw away.

Iciclea was currently looking at the contents of a box Dingleberry had opened a few seconds ago. "I wondered were I put this." She picked up some lipstick. She looked at her reflection from the icy walls, which were like a mirror, and tried on the makeup. "Beautiful!" She also found an old group picture of her with Nuclea and Pontifadora.

Flashback

"Stay still I want a picture" A much younger Iciclea she set up the camera. The camera stayed in mid air with an anti-gravitational devise and was programmed to automatically take a picture in a few seconds. "Come on stand together and stay still for a few seconds."

"Iciclea, we've been standing still for ages!" Pontifadora complained.

"Come on just let her have the picture," Nuclea added.

"Just a few seconds," Iciclea joined the others in front of the camera.

"Montigo berry!" They all said at the same time as the camera took a picture.

End Flashback

End of Solar System IV

Disclaimer, I don't own Atomic Betty.