Other Fan Fiction ❯ Atomic Galaxy ❯ Chapter 11
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Atomic Galaxy: Solar System XI
Planet 89: Mall Adventure
"This place is so big! Look chief, look over there," Sparky ran towards the object that caught his attention, getting further away from Betty and X-5.
"Sparky, wait up!" Betty ran after him. Both Sparky and X-5 had human disguises.
"Look at the little flying earthling action figure!" Sparky pointed.
"It a Superman action figure and it's not really flying, it's tied to a string," Betty explained.
"Did it run out of batteries?" Sparky asked.
"No, dolls can't fly by themselves on this planet," Betty explained and Sparky looked disappointed. "You two need to stay close. Don't wander off or you might get lost. An Earth mall isn't like outer space. It can be filled with chaos in seconds if there's a sale."
"X-5's the one who ran off," Sparky pointed out.
Betty looked around. The robot in the human disguise was gone. "We better go find him!" This couldn't be happening; Betty thought she only had Sparky to worry about and that X-5 would be alright.
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At a clothing store, "excuse me miss, it appears that you are different from the other humans in this area. Are you the leader of this tribe?" X-5 knew that earthlings were considered in many planets to be savage hostile creatures better left alone in their pre-contact world. X-5 had the mission to collect scientific data and update the Galactic Guardian's database. Personally, he did not believe such accusations, since his captain was perfectly nice and civilized.
The girl looked at him oddly. She cold not see through his disguise, but he appeared a little strange anyway. "If you're asking if I'm the manager then no, she is," she pointing to a young woman only a few years older than herself.
The woman took the hint and came to see what this was about. Two others girls who looked a lot like her followed. "How may we help you?" They all asked at the same time.
X-5 wanted to ask them a few questions, but those three looked frightening. Oh what a great time for his emotion chip to kick in. "I'm only making observations."
"You may observe all you want," the manager voiced.
"Yes, please do," one of the girls agreed.
"Observe! Observe!" The other girl encouraged.
X-5 backed away slowly. "Thank you, I will continue with my observations."
"Is it their lack of individuality that terrifies you? Or the overly bright colors of their clothes and makeup?" The girl who looked different inquired.
The robot decided that for the sake of science, he better disable his emotions chips temporarily so as to not appear frightened. "Human, may I know if you are content in your atmosphere?"
The girl bilked and casually put a lock of purple dyed hair behind her ear. "I don't like it, but it's an honest job."
"Data storage completed; what is the purpose of having a job you dislike?" X-5 inquired.
"What is this a survey or the strangest secret shopper yet?" The girl fount it very strange, "anyway, I'm on break now so I'm out of here," she left.
Having collected a reasonable amount of data from that particular tribe, X-5 headed to another one. Unknown to him, three almost identical girls, one slightly older than the other two, were watching hidden among the clothes. "He didn't buy anything!" The three complained at the same time, their voices filled with frustration and despair. "It's all her fault!"
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Betty wasn't having an easy time with Sparky. A new cake shop had opened and Sparky's nose led him to the wide display of delicious cakes. "Sparky, no! You can't eat them. Then I'll have to pay for them and there's too many!"
"But chief, they look delicious!" Sparky was almost free from her grip. Those cakes were too much to resist.
"Would you like a free sample?" A young man with a chef hat asked.
"Yes! Did you hear that chief? They're free!" Sparky got loose and started an eating rampage, swallowing cake after cake.
"Sparky, stop! I can't pay for all those cakes!" Betty tried to stop him, but it was no use. Sparky was too exited to listen to reason.
The one who had offered the free sample stepped back and watched the scene in amazement. "Wow, this kid eats more than me, a lot more. I thought eating one cake by myself was a lot, but this kid rocks!"
"Don't say that, he'll never stop if you cheer him on!" Betty's efforts to stop Sparky were futile.
"Who cares? This is cool!" The boy tossed his chef hat into the air. "Go kid! Go! What was his name again?"
"Sparky," Betty thought he would be angry about the cakes, but he wasn't.
"Go Sparky, keep eating!" He kept on cheering, while Betty shook her head. He didn't know what he was asking for.
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X-5 was at the food court, gathering more information. "Warning circuits overloaded!"
A girl he decided to interview wouldn't shut up about the latest gossip and it was seriously filling up his memory. "But that's only half the story. Do you know what he said after that? Of course, not, because I haven't told you yet, but just wait until you hear this!"
"Have some mercy on him," another young man arrived. "Are you okay boy?"
"Overload! Overload!" X-5 yelled.
"I think that means you confused him." The human boy spoke calmly.
The girl shrugged. "Well he was the one who said he wanted to know all the information I could give him."
X-5 appeared to faint, but then he woke up after rebooting. "Are you okay?" The same guy from before asked. He could see the girl with a lot of information standing close behind him, looking worried.
"Systems rebooted, emotion chip back online. Error found during reboot. Error corrected. New session stated. All systems online," X-5 said.
"He's delirious!" The girl started to panic.
"I am not delirious, I am not programmed to be in such a state," X-5 explained.
The girl blinked. "Huh?"
"I think that means he's okay," the guy interpreted.
"I believe I have a sufficient amount of information for now. Thank you for proving all this data." X-5 went on his way, leaving the two humans very confused.
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"Wow! I never thought Sparky would eat all those cakes! High five buddy!" The soon to be fired employee from the cake shop cheered.
Sparky was very cheerful after his little snack, even if he wasn't full. "This is fun; we should come to the mall more often!"
"Ehem," The owner of the shop stood behind the soon to be ex-employee. "How did you sell all the cakes?"
"I didn't, Sparky here ate them as free samples," he dumbly replied.
"Do you expect me to believe he ate all the cakes? Did you give them away to people as free samples? You're fired!" The owner yelled.
The boy, Betty and Sparky rushed out of the cake shop. "Sorry about that, I'll pay for the cakes somehow," Betty offered.
"Nah, I already got fired, don't pay for them now. Besides, he didn't believe it." The human didn't appear to be concerned about losing his job at all.
"Sorry, you got fired. In my planet, I mean, in the part of this planet where I come from, that's not a good thing," Sparky apologized.
"Relax, I'm used to it. It happens every day." The carefree boy gave his goodbyes to Sparky the master cake eater and went on his way, without a care in the world.
"He was nice, it's good to make new friends on Earth. Too bad I forgot to ask his name. With all the cake, I couldn't think of anything else," Sparky admitted.
"I'm sure he'll remember this day for a long time," Betty saw X-5 approaching. "Where were you all this time?"
"I was collecting data and a human filled up the memory extensions I brought for that purpose. Luckily, I still have plenty of space in my primary memory, but that is my space for my own special memories with my friends," X-5 gave Betty and Sparky a group hug. The light in his eyes blinked and he let go. "Sorry about that, it happens sometimes after reconnecting the emotion chip, but it should be stabilized by now."
"I think it's time for us to return to the Starcruiser," Betty concluded.
"Aw, but we're having so much fun!" Sparky complained.
"I think that's enough for one day," Betty knew they weren't ready to handle the mall and the mall certainly wasn't ready for them.
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Meanwhile... "Dude you're supposed to be at the other side of the counter."
"Shut up human!" Someone was hiding. That was Atomic Betty out there, even with her odd clothing he recognized her. Then those other two must be her Galactic Guardian friends in disguise. "Minimus," the supposed human spoke into a holographic communicator. "Cancel the plans, Atomic Betty knows everything. We'll have to find another planet to establish the secret base in."
"Yes, your evilness," Minimus' voice came from the communicator as his normal face was displayed on the hologram. His head spun around so that his angry face appeared on the hologram and in a sarcastic tone he added, "I told you that planet was a bad idea!"
"Shut up and remind me to hit you when I get back!" Maximus ended the communication and looked from behind the counter to see if Betty was still there. There was no sign of her, but she must be somewhere, probably watching him at that very moment.
"That's a nice toy thingy you got there, dude." The 'dude' who worked there looked curious.
"It's not a toy you ignorant earthling, but I can't expect a race of pre-contact savages to understand." Maximus, still in his holographic human disguise, got up and attempted to walk away, only to slip on a skate board. But he did not fall; instead he slipped away on the skate board towards the stairs and skated down the stairs unable to stop, gaining speed as he went.
The owner of the skateboard followed on foot, watching in amazement. Finally, the skate board stopped against a potted plant but it had been going too fast and sent Maximus flying into the air. Though being a cat alien he spun in mid air and landed on his feet, terrified from the ordeal. "Dude, you're good! I tried that before but got stuck on the stairs."
"Good? You say I'm good? I'm not going to be insulted by an uncivilized creature!" Maximus yelled loud enough for everyone passing by to look at him. Before Maximus could ready his laser gun, curious people quickly formed a circle around them and Maximus panicked. "Minimus, get me out of here!" Maximus was beamed up to his ship and disappeared.
"Wow! He was right. To say he's good is an offence. He's great, better than great; he's most awesome skater I've ever seen. You are my life long idol mystery skater!" The human picked up his skate board and made his way out of the crowd. "Someday, I'll make an exit like that, someday." He went up the stairs and looked down. "First I need to master skating down the stairs. I wonder how he did it. His balance was so perfect even when he was screaming for his life. He was probably just pretending for the fun of it. Then that jump, I wonder how he landed so easily, it's almost like he was part cat or something. He was out of this world!" There was a pause. "Could he be some kind of cat alien?" He shook his head. "Nah, he was just an inhumanly good skater."
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At another store at the same mall, an ordinary human was feeling quite bored. "Sometimes I wish aliens would invade the earth or something, to cure us of our boredom." The irony was never known.
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In the Starcruiser Atomic Betty, Sparky and X-5 now out of their disguises, were heading off to find a place to eat. "Eating all those cakes made me hungry!" Sparky was the only one who could understand his own logic.
"We got lucky this time, but we should stay away from the mall for a while," Betty warned.
"I agree" X-5 gave Sparky a warning look.
"But it was fun!" Sparky complained.
"The mall is not ready for you Sparky." Betty had no idea that she saved the Earth again just by being there to be seen by Maximus, who gave up his plans thinking he would be ambushed. Betty later heard about the legendary mystery skater at the mall, but never found out who he was.
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Planet 90: More Trouble with Triplets
Today Atomic Betty was in the Galactic Guardians Headquarters. not because of an emergency mission and not because of training. Today she had been called because she received a mysterious package. The box was quite large and some claimed they heard strange noises coming from inside it. Sometimes, the box moved slightly, as if something alive was trapped inside. But this was for Atomic Betty and no one except her was allowed to open it.
The Galactic Guardians detected no weapons or bombs inside the box, but there were apparently three life forms in there. Atomic Betty was immediately called and informed. The red haired young woman approached the box and noticed an envelope attached to it. "Maybe this will have an explanation," Betty opened the letter, while Sparky curiously looked over her shoulder and X-5 tried to tell him that wasn't right.
"What does it say chief? Who is it from?" The blue haired Martian's big nose poked the paper while he tried to look over her shoulder.
"Sparky, you mustn't intrude in the captain's private mail," X-5 pulled Sparky away.
By now Betty had finished quietly reading the letter and decided that maybe it was best that her crew heard what it said. "Listen to this:"
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Dear Hated Atomic Betty,
You must be wondering what happened to those three brats (the word brats is crossed over), adorable angels that look just as horrible (again the word horrible was replaced) nice as you do. Because they were so annoying, I mean because I thought it would be best for them, I sent each of them to live with a different aunt, Optica, Destructa and Roxanne, to become their apprentices.
Now their aunts are in need of a vacation and had decided to leave the little pests, I mean the little angels with their (the word father was crossed over several times and was hard to read) cloner, creator, whatever you want to call me except their father. However, the are a big headache so I'm giving them to you. Take care of them during this weekend and return them to their aunts on Splatty on Monday. They have your DNA so they're your responsibility.
Your enemy,
Maximus IQ (the name was signed autograph style)
PS: I told them you are their mother so they would want to go with you.
PS 2: The cloning machine was defective so they didn't grow up.
PS 3: I hate you.
xoxox xox xoxox
The room was filled with silence as the three brought their ears (or sound sensors) closer to the box to listen.
"Do you think we're there yet?" Betty one asked.
"I don't think so," Betty two answered.
"Do you think we'll get there soon?" Betty one inquired.
"I don't know," Betty two replied.
"Be quiet, remember daddy said we had to be quiet if we wanted mommy to find us," Betty three reminded.
"But won't she find us faster if she hears us?" Betty one pointed out.
"I don't know," Betty two repeated.
"Shut up or I'm telling daddy you didn't keep quiet like he said!" Betty three yelled.
"You're yelling too!" Betty one also yelled.
"Only because you yelled first!" Betty three argued.
"I want my mommy!" Betty two complained.
Atomic Betty, the original, Sparky and X-5 stepped away from the box, wondering why the sibling rivalry hasn't destroyed it yet. "What should we do captain?" X-5 asked.
"I guess we can't leave them in there," Betty carefully opened the box to find three younger Bettys tied together by a strange glowing ring. That must be what absorbed their powers.
"Mommy!" The Betty with the fire powers exclaimed.
"Mommy!" Mommy!" The other two Bettys cheered.
The original shook her head, "I'm not really your mother."
"Of course you are, you look like us, but you're older, so you have to be," the stone Betty reasoned.
"I don't think they understand the concept of being clones," X-5 concluded. The three Bettys looked at the robot oddly, as if confirming his theory.
"I guess I'll have to take care of them," Betty untied the three younger Bettys, who immediately hugged her.
"Chief you're actually going to babysit them?" Sparky was surprised.
"They were cloned into this world by Maximus. It's not their fault if they turn out bratty. Besides, maybe they'll like being Galactic Guardians." This could be a good chance to turn the triplets good. If they truly believed she was their mother, they might listen to her and follow her example. However, the plan proved to be a disaster, in less than an hour, Galactic Guardians Headquarters was a mess.
The three Bettys ran wild throwing whatever they could get their hands on, pressing random buttons on the space stations controls and causing general mischief. They even stole Atomic Rodger's wig. "Atomic Betty! Are those children with you?" Admiral Degill was upset.
"Yes, kind of, I'm supposed to be babysitting them for the weekend, but they won't listen to me." They were actually nice for a little while, then a sibling argument came up over who looked the most like their mother and the fight was destroying HQ.
"Those clones need to be stopped. After they disappeared for so long, I didn't think they would be back," Admiral Degill was feeling stressed.
"They were on Splatty with Optica, Destructa and Roxanne," Atomic Betty the admiral were talking at the same time as they ran towards the source or the latest explosion. The explosions indicated that Betica was using her fire powers on something that should be kept away from fire.
Each of the Bettys had obtained a new name from their aunts. The fire Betty was Betica, the stone Betty was Betructa and the elastic Betty was Beanne. Sparky and X-5, along with many other Galactic Guardians including a bald Atomic Rodger, were trying to stop the three child Bettys, but they were very hard to catch.
Apparently, they had plenty of time to practice their mischief over the past years. Betty had managed to catch two, but when she caught the third, one of the others escaped. It went on like this for a while, until losing her patience, the original Betty yelled. "Stop!" There was a sudden eerie silence as the three Bettys froze. Making her best imitation of her mother when she was angry, Betty called them. "Betica, Betructa, Beanne, come here!" The three younger Bettys stood in a line, looking at the floor. Then suddenly burst into tears. Betty looked confused. "Why are you crying now? Is it because you regret making such a big mess?"
"No, it's because you don't want us to destroy the quarter's head!" Beanne complained.
"It's not the quarter's head, it's the head's quarter!" Betica corrected.
"Who cares what it's called. It's the source of good and she won't let us destroy it," Betructa voiced.
"Of course I won't. I wanted you three to try to become Galactic Guardians. You said you would try, but you lied, now look at this mess," Betty scolded.
"But if the quarter's head," Beanne started.
"Head's quarter," Betica corrected.
"If the Galactic Guardian's place isn't destroyed, then you'll be good and you and daddy will stay mad at each other," Beanne pointed out.
"Is that so..." Betty knew she had a big mess to clean up and Maximus was the one who started this year ago when he clones her.
"We heard that Atomic Betty, our good sister, is your favorite daughter. But that can't be true, if you liked that Betty best, then she would be here with you," Bestructa reasoned and the other two clones nodded in agreement.
"It also looks like they can't understand the concept of growing up, because they can't grow up themselves," X-5 analyzed.
"What does that mean?" Sparky inquired.
"That they think people always stay the same. That kids have always been kids and will always be kids and adults have always been adults and will always be adults," X-5 explained.
"I have an idea," the original Betty finally spoke, "I'm going to take you back to Maximus, to your father, and you can show him how mischievous I taught you to be, all of this was really practice and I've done very well. I'm sure that when he sees how much you learned from me he'll like me again," it felt odd to say it, but the plan worked as the clones looked interested. The real Betty grinned, Maximus had it coming.
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Planet 91: Common Cold
Sure they are all feeling tired and yes they all have all the basic symptoms of the common cold, but for each of them the dreaded virus has concentrated in one specific annoyance.
Maximus has a sore throat that hurts more than any other symptom. For Sparky, the thing that really annoys him during a cold is his nose, he sniffles and sneezes constantly. Betty has been coughing so much she can hardly breathe and X-5 has... Wait a minute, X-5 is a robot how did he get a cold? Oh? It's not a cold? It's a computer virus? Well that explains it. X-5 is suffering from a virus that makes his system overheat, which is similar to having a fever. Let's see how they're doing.
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Our first stop is Maximus's lair. "I hate you Atomic Betty!" Maximus screamed angrily as loudly as his sore throat allowed him to, which to Minimus' relief wasn't all that loud.
'Finally, a day without headaches,' Minimus thought. Maximus was too sick to hit him too hard and he was even too sick to complain for more than five minutes before falling asleep. But he knew this wouldn't last very long. Soon Maximus will be well enough to complain about having a cold towards the end of it.
Maximus woke up again a few hours later. "Minimus, ouch!" It hurt to yell at his sidekick. How dare Atomic Betty leave him like this? It had to be her fault because she had a cold. Galactic Guardians did have germs after all. He looked across the room at several shiny little candy balls in colorful wrappers sitting on a table several feet away. If he ate one of those, his throat would feel better even if it was only temporary. But they were so far away and he couldn't yell hard enough for Minimus to hear him. He would just have to wait until Minimus came. So he stayed in bed, staring at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep from the pain.
Finally, ten minutes later he couldn't take his burning throat anymore and decided to get up, make the long trip across the room and get those candies. Dragging his feet the entire way there, Maximus crossed the room complaining quietly with each step. He thought that such an amazing super villain such as himself didn't deserve this treatment from life. He did not say it for that would hurt too much, but thinking it would have to do for now. He ate a candy and returned to bed, almost instantly falling asleep.
Of course it could not be that easy, he swallowed the candy ball and nearly chocked on it. He did manage to spit it out just as Minimus came into the room to check on his evilness. The sidekick's face was left spinning around after being hit by a candy ball which flew at him like a bullet. "Does this mean you're feeling better?" Minimus inquired.
"No, ow!" Maximus complained. "Where were you when I needed the candy from across the room? I had to walk all the way there!" He made it sound as if it was a trip across the galaxy.
"You're even lazier than you usually are!" Minimus' angry face grumbled.
"Just wait till I get better. You'll be in trouble for that," this time Maximus didn't even have the energy to try to hit Minimus. He tried to sleep again, hoping that when he woke up he was cured. Looks like Maximus isn't handling his cold very well.
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Let's see how Sparky's doing. "Achu!" Sparky's nose was so big it weighted nearly as much as his body. "Mamoolah!" He sounded quite strange with such a big nose. "I ran out of... Achu! No not that, there's plenty of sneezes. I ran out of towels," anything smaller is ineffective at blowing his nose.
Zulia rushed in with another towel. Her poor Sparky was very sick with a terrible cold and she would take care of him. "Here you go, now you rest here while Mamoolah gets you something to eat. You have to eat enough if you want to get well soon." To that Sparky did not object. He claimed that he could hardly eat because he was so sick, but he still ate plenty.
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How could Betty be enduring? On Earth we find a red haired girl, walking home while trying to put up with an annoying cough that won't go away. Everyone kept staring at her in the classroom and Penelope said she was breaking her concentration. It's not like she was paying attention anyway. Betty saw the magazine hidden behind the text book. Now she was finally going home.
Later, Betty was in her room resting. The annoying cough still persisted long after she got home. "Betty!" Her mother called. "Please stop coughing that can't be healthy. You haven't stopped since you got home. Pursey's trying to take a nap and you're keeping him awake." Without waiting for Betty's answer she left.
It's not like Betty could do anything about it. Before getting home she took a quick stop at Galactic Guardian Headquarters to see the doctor. There was not much he could do, even in the futuristic depths of space, there is no cure for the common cold. She would just have to take some cough medicine and wait for it to work. For something so sour, that medicine was certainly taking its sweet time.
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Maximus got his cold from Betty and Betty got her cold from Sparky. But how did it happen? Sparky accidentally ate some strange berries that caused the common cold. Yes, there is such a thing in a distant alien planet. He sneezed in the Starcruiser and that's how Betty got her cold. When Sparky' nose grew bigger and bigger, they decided it was best to take Sparky home to Mars, where his mother would know what to do to take care of him.
After leaving Mars, the Starcruiser received a call from Admiral Degill. They explained why Sparky was not with them and he understood. But there was no time to waste, a mission was waiting. "Maximus is trying to collect energy from the stars to power his new super weapon. The weapon will not be operational unless it's fully charged, but draining so much energy from the stars will greatly affect them. The galaxy is danger again, you must stop him right away!"
"Don't worry Admiral Degill, we'll make sure that weapon isn't used and the stars don't lose anymore energy," Atomic Betty saluted then she coughed. Her cold had officially declared war on every cell of her body. Cough or not, she still won the battle. However, she coughed enough during her light saber duel to give Maximus a cold too.
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Now Betty was on earth, in her room, trying to keep quiet and failing to do so. Why was that sour supposedly super effective medicine the doctor gave her taking so long to work? The cough was getting worse by the second. A little more and she wouldn't even be able to breathe. She remembered that when she went to see the doctor she also stopped by the robot repair area after hearing X-5 was there.
X-5 had mysteriously caught a strange virus that was causing him to overheat. The irony of all robots then took place. If the central processing unit is too hot the artificial intelligence unit will freeze. Sparky had always been confused about how heat could cause anything to freeze and didn't quite get it when X-5 and Betty tried to explain what it really meant. She hoped he was doing better by now.
There was no use in staying there and hearing her mother's complaints about Purrsey wanting to nap. Using her bracelet, Betty called the Starcruiser and returned to Galactic Guardian Headquarters. Maybe she needed a stronger medicine to get rid of the cough. It didn't matter how bad it tasted, right now she was willing to do anything to get better.
"I see that cough medicine is working as expected," the doctor noted as soon as Atomic Betty entered the office.
She wondered if he was being sarcastic, but he didn't sound that way. "But I'm" (cough) "still coughing!"
"Well of course you are! Isn't that what you wanted, to make your cough stronger? I can't imagine why anyone would want that, but if it's the in thing right now, who am I go to go against it?" The doctor replied.
"I don't" (cough) "want this!" Betty had asked for a cough medicine and that's exactly what she got a medicine to make her cough.
"You don't? Styles change quickly don't they? No problem, I have a really good anti-cough medicine and it's cherry flavored!" The doctor prepared a large spoon full of the red substance. "Open wide, here comes the space ship. This is the Starcruiser requesting permission for landing at Galactic Guardian Headquarters."
Betty ignored that she was being treated like a child and took the medicine. It certainly tasted better than the cough medicine from before and soon her cough was gone. "It worked! Thanks doctor!"
"No problem," the doctor smile. "Here's a lollipop for you. Maybe you could teach your friend Sparky to be a brave patient like you."
"I'll try," Betty mused that the endless chain of colds could stretch across the universe. If you want to get rid of a cold, give it to someone else, just make sure they don't give it back to you later.
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Planet 92: Delicious Inspiration
Maximus IQ was in the office area of his lair reviewing some evil plans that bored. He was tired of the same evil plans and felt he needed inspiration to come up with something more evil. "Minimus!"
Minimus PU, came running. "Yes your evilness?" Without a word, Maximus promptly hit his sidekick on the head. "What did I do now?" His angry face asked once his head stopped spinning.
"Nothing, I just felt like hitting something to see if that gave me an idea of something evil to do, but it didn't work," Maximus sounded bored. "Maybe I didn't hit you hard enough..."
Minimus covered his head and closed his eyes waiting for the hit that never came. Instead Maximus ignored him and was now standing by the large glass window, looking into the depths of space. He saw part of Jupiter near by and beyond that he knew there was a blue planet. The planet had a bit of white at the north and south and several green shapes that appeared to fit together like a puzzle. The living creatures of that planet had not yet established contact outside of their world or so he heard. "What was the name of that planet, the blue one that's near by?"
"Earth?" Minimus reminded.
"Yes Earth, strange name for a planet and at the same time so unoriginal" Maximus walked away from the window glancing at his desk where all the evil plans were still waiting to be approved or disapproved. Deciding that he didn't want to deal with evil plans at the moment, he left the office, "come Minimus."
Minimus obediently followed as a loyal pet would. "Where are we going your evilness?" Minimus' normal face inquired. His alter ego didn't seem to care and mentally reminded the other Minimus that regardless of the place, Maximus would be bossing him around as usual, so there was not real difference.
"Earth," Maximus replied casually, as if it was a common daily decision to go visit a planet that has no outside contact, though it was quite rare and impractical.
"But your evilness, the inhabitants of Earth will get scared and point at us and say we're aliens and there will be a huge panic, then they'll send out their primitive armies after us, win by some miracle produced by dumb luck, capture us and take us to secret underground laboratories to perform strange experiments on us!" Minimus warned.
Maximus rolled his eyes as he made his way to his ship. "Don't be ridiculous Minimus, that only happens in movies. Besides, I might get some good evil ideas by visiting new places."
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When they arrived at Earth, Maximus ordered, "beam me down; I'll contact the ship when I need to return."
"You're going by yourself your evilness?" Minimus was shocked.
"That's the problem with evil inspiration you have to find it yourself, it's not like you can send someone to get it for you. Now beam me down," Maximus was getting impatient.
Minimus beamed him down to Earth and for a moment his evil side thought about taking off and leaving Maximus stranded in this uncivilized planet, but his other half protested, claiming that he couldn't just abandon the boss in such a dangerous place. In the end, it was that half that won the argument so Minimus stayed, waiting for Maximus to contact him when he found the evil inspiration he was searching for and got over his villain block.
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As soon as Maximus was beamed down in a random spot, several people looked in his direction, it's not every day that a human sized cat appears out of nowhere and there happens to be a space ship hovering over him. However there were no screams of panic, instead the people had assumed the guy in the cat suit was there because of something related to publicity. Several people clapped at his entrance and wondered how it was possible that the cat looked so real.
Maximus directed an odd look at the strange people clapping at him, feeling a mayor ego boost, he concluded that even those low tech creatures knew the future ruler of the universe when they saw him. He made his way towards a building and people pointed at him as he walked and smiled. Usually, people are scared to see a super villain so close, but those primitive beings were happy? Perhaps what they lack in technology they have in instinct that allows them to sense his superior power.
Ignoring the random creatures pointing and the smaller specimens that followed him around saying 'kitty' over and over again, he made his way toward the front of the building where he saw a primitive blue vending machine. There was a picture of a bottle containing a brownish liquid. "Pepsi," he read.
The machine had a space that Maximus assumed was used to insert some sort of card. A drawing of a rectangle with some symbols and words on it was right above that space. Maybe it was some kind of primitive currency. Below that there was a space about the size of a coin and since even super villains like souvenirs, he placed a coin in the machine and waited. The coin was not of Earth's currency, but it was similar in size, so the machine accepted it and little glowing numbers appeared inside a black square that showed a zero before. Maximus placed another coin in the machine wondering how many it took for something to happen, the numbers changed once more but nothing else happened.
He placed two more coins in and noticed several buttons with colorful labels below the glowing numbers. The word Pepsi was repeated on the labels that were slightly different, followed by other words such as Diet, Twist, Blue, Max and others. He read each of the labels finally deciding to press the button labeled Pepsi Max, as if it was made for him. A can of this Pepsi substance fell at an opening at the bottom of the machine. He picked it up and looked at it. He also noticed that a large group of those low tech beings had gathered around and were carefully watching his actions. Maybe they wanted to learn something from his superior intellect.
When Maximus first saw the liquid, it had a bit of cream-white colored substance at the top with tiny bubbles, now it was gone and all that was left was the brownish liquid that appeared to be more stable at the moment. He removed the cap wondering if he should be drinking such a strange unknown substance, it might be toxic, acid, flammable or all three. He smelled the contents of the bottle, it didn't it smell like anything poisonous, but he didn't know if it was even meant to be a drink.
Then he noticed one of the low tech beings was drinking the liquid from a bottle just like that one while smiling and making strange poses. The creature appeared to be a young female of the species, about the same age as Atomic Betty. Of course, Betty couldn't possibly be related to this planet, being the best Galactic Guardian, she couldn't possibly come from such a low tech semi-uncivilized planet, besides this wasn't the only planet that had living beings similar to her species. Humans, they were everywhere.
The girl kept making posses and drinking the liquid. She had dark hair in a high pony tail and her face was painted in several colors, blue over the eyes, red in her mouth and pink on her cheeks. Maybe she was trying to communicate. Maximus' natural curiosity finally got the best of him and he drank the liquid, it tasted good, he would have to send it for analysis so that the recipe was deciphered and Chef Bernadette could prepare this drink and make it even better. People started clapping and cheering simply because he drank the liquid, which made Maximus' already big ego turn bigger. Maybe this was research enough, it was time to go home; he had an idea.
Maximus walked back to the center of the parking lot, followed by several small specimens that repeated the word 'kitty' over and over. He assumed that 'kitty' was their way of saying 'supreme ruler' or something like that. Once in position under his ship, he informed Minimus to beam him up, leaving the group of primitive beings clapping and cheering. He didn't notice that just as he was beamed up, Betty walked by and she didn't notice Maximus either.
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The next day in school, Noah told Betty about the publicity stunt Pepsi did. "It's too bad you missed it. You should have seen it, there was a guy dressed like a cat that came down to the parking lot in a helicopter that was shaped like a space ship. He went to the Pepsi vending machine and drank some Pepsi Max. Everyone was watching, I wonder if they had hidden cameras and were filming a new commercial."
Penelope walked by and overheard, "It's a good thing you weren't there or they would have to edit you out. I on the other hand will look great if they make that into a commercial. I wouldn't be surprised if they choose me as the next Pepsi star." Penelope continued walking down the hall as her annoying high pitch laugh echoed.
Noah shook his head, "Penelope kept posing and trying to get the actor's attention. She had so much make up on she looked like a clown." They both laughed at this.
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Planet 93: Unworthy
Maximus' classic evil laughed echoed all over the lair sounding particularly insane today, even more so than usual. It was the middle of the afternoon and that meant snack time. Before Maximus screamed his sidekick's name and before he had an excuse to hit him on the head, even if he did without one, Minimus rushed to Maximus' not so secret, secret lab, following the sound of his evil laugh.
The sidekick carried freshly backed cookies of a delicious secret recipe made by Chef Bernadette and a glass of milk that came from a fruit instead of an alien cow. He tried to make sure he didn't drop any of the cookies from the jewel covered little plate they were on. Last time that happened, he put them back on it, but Maximus somehow noticed the cookies had been on the floor and no longer thought they were worthy of him. In the center of the circle of cookies there was a chocolate cupcake with lots of sugary frosting.
Feeling thirsty along the way Minimus thought about drinking some of the milk. Pictures of a white fruit danced in his head as he almost tasted the cold liquid. No, he couldn't even have a small try, Maximus would notice. Why did he have to pay such close attention to every detail of his snack? He complained about everything as if he was constantly searching for something to complain about.
Minimus had asked that question before and to that Maximus answered with a speech about the importance of snacks to a super villain. To summarize, the snack had to be worthy of him. The speech was quite long, so long you'd think it was Sparky talking about food, then again Sparky would never simply talk about it, he would eat it and he wouldn't complain about food not being worthy of him. He would simply eat it, even if it wasn't edible.
As Minimus came closer to the not so secret, secret lab, he heard the insane sounding evil laugh again and wondered what could Maximus be doing that made him create another variation of his classic evil laugh. "Your evilness," Minimus placed the snack on a table and stared at it for a moment, before returning to reality and reminding himself Maximus would be very angry if he dared to try his snack. "Your evilness, I brought your snack. Don't you want it? If you don't want it, can I have it?"
"Of course I want it!" Maximus IQ came up behind Minimus, and scared him a little with a sudden, yet somehow expected hit to the head.
However, Minimus was more frightened when he turned around and didn't recognize the lynx that hit him. "Your evilness, a mad scientist broke into the lair!" Minimus ran around in circles, until he tripped over his own feet and fell flat on the floor.
"Idiot!" Maximus hit him on the head once more. "I'm not a mad scientist, I'm Maximus IQ, the greatest supreme super villain evil genius overlord in the entire universe!" He removed his goggles and placed them on top of his head.
Minimus blinked, it kind of looked like Maximus, except he was wearing a white lab coat, black boots and matching black gloves. His hair looked longer and spiky, with the classic style of mad scientist that looked like he brushed his hair with lightning. "I didn't recognize you in the mad scientist disguise. Why are you wearing a mad scientist disguise?"
"Some sidekick you are! How dare you not recognize me? It's clear you don't know anything. Every super villain should dress up as a mad scientist at least once. All the villains do it in their free time when no one is looking," Maximus explained.
"But your evilness how do you know they dress up as mad scientist if no one is looking?" Minimus reasoned.
"How do you know they don't?" Maximus countered. Minimus decided it was best to end the argument and Maximus continued, "how dare you bring me this? I told you," he said pointing to the chocolate cupcake where he had taken a bite from it. "That I wanted the one with the cream filling!" Minimus then realized he had forgotten to mention that detail to Chef Bernadette. "Where is the cream filling?" Maximus took another bite of cupcake. "This is not worthy of me!" Maximus took a bigger bite. "Not worthy!" He repeated after eating the rest. "The chocolate chips on the cookies are too small," he ate those too while complaining. "This isn't good enough, how do you expect me to eat this? I can't!" He finished the snack and drank some milk. "Make sure you get it right next time!"
Minimus was about to ask why he ate the snack if he claimed it wasn't worthy of him, but his survival instincts told him not to. "Yes, your evilness." It was, relatively, just another ordinary day for Minimus.
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Planet 94: Well Informed
Betty was working on a school project with Noah and Paloma, when her bracelet chimed, signaling that her presence was needed in outer space. "I'll go get the text book." By now Noah was used to her disappearing every time her bracelet made that sound, though he never knew why.
"Be careful not to catch a cold," Paloma warned for no apparent reason.
"Okay," Betty wasn't sure what that was about. She ran out of her room where they were working and answered the call. "Atomic Betty reporting for duty!"
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Betty returned to Earth sooner than expected that time. Maximus didn't put up much of a fight with the cold he had. He ended up giving up and going home to try to sleep it off. One thing remained a mystery though, was there was a connection between his state and Paloma's warning? Nah, it had to be a coincidence...
End of Solar System XI
Disclaimer, I don't own Atomic Betty, Superman, 6teen or Pepsi. Planet 89 is a 6teen crossover. Planet 92 takes place before the episode Pop Goes the Maxx.
Planet 89: Mall Adventure
"This place is so big! Look chief, look over there," Sparky ran towards the object that caught his attention, getting further away from Betty and X-5.
"Sparky, wait up!" Betty ran after him. Both Sparky and X-5 had human disguises.
"Look at the little flying earthling action figure!" Sparky pointed.
"It a Superman action figure and it's not really flying, it's tied to a string," Betty explained.
"Did it run out of batteries?" Sparky asked.
"No, dolls can't fly by themselves on this planet," Betty explained and Sparky looked disappointed. "You two need to stay close. Don't wander off or you might get lost. An Earth mall isn't like outer space. It can be filled with chaos in seconds if there's a sale."
"X-5's the one who ran off," Sparky pointed out.
Betty looked around. The robot in the human disguise was gone. "We better go find him!" This couldn't be happening; Betty thought she only had Sparky to worry about and that X-5 would be alright.
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At a clothing store, "excuse me miss, it appears that you are different from the other humans in this area. Are you the leader of this tribe?" X-5 knew that earthlings were considered in many planets to be savage hostile creatures better left alone in their pre-contact world. X-5 had the mission to collect scientific data and update the Galactic Guardian's database. Personally, he did not believe such accusations, since his captain was perfectly nice and civilized.
The girl looked at him oddly. She cold not see through his disguise, but he appeared a little strange anyway. "If you're asking if I'm the manager then no, she is," she pointing to a young woman only a few years older than herself.
The woman took the hint and came to see what this was about. Two others girls who looked a lot like her followed. "How may we help you?" They all asked at the same time.
X-5 wanted to ask them a few questions, but those three looked frightening. Oh what a great time for his emotion chip to kick in. "I'm only making observations."
"You may observe all you want," the manager voiced.
"Yes, please do," one of the girls agreed.
"Observe! Observe!" The other girl encouraged.
X-5 backed away slowly. "Thank you, I will continue with my observations."
"Is it their lack of individuality that terrifies you? Or the overly bright colors of their clothes and makeup?" The girl who looked different inquired.
The robot decided that for the sake of science, he better disable his emotions chips temporarily so as to not appear frightened. "Human, may I know if you are content in your atmosphere?"
The girl bilked and casually put a lock of purple dyed hair behind her ear. "I don't like it, but it's an honest job."
"Data storage completed; what is the purpose of having a job you dislike?" X-5 inquired.
"What is this a survey or the strangest secret shopper yet?" The girl fount it very strange, "anyway, I'm on break now so I'm out of here," she left.
Having collected a reasonable amount of data from that particular tribe, X-5 headed to another one. Unknown to him, three almost identical girls, one slightly older than the other two, were watching hidden among the clothes. "He didn't buy anything!" The three complained at the same time, their voices filled with frustration and despair. "It's all her fault!"
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Betty wasn't having an easy time with Sparky. A new cake shop had opened and Sparky's nose led him to the wide display of delicious cakes. "Sparky, no! You can't eat them. Then I'll have to pay for them and there's too many!"
"But chief, they look delicious!" Sparky was almost free from her grip. Those cakes were too much to resist.
"Would you like a free sample?" A young man with a chef hat asked.
"Yes! Did you hear that chief? They're free!" Sparky got loose and started an eating rampage, swallowing cake after cake.
"Sparky, stop! I can't pay for all those cakes!" Betty tried to stop him, but it was no use. Sparky was too exited to listen to reason.
The one who had offered the free sample stepped back and watched the scene in amazement. "Wow, this kid eats more than me, a lot more. I thought eating one cake by myself was a lot, but this kid rocks!"
"Don't say that, he'll never stop if you cheer him on!" Betty's efforts to stop Sparky were futile.
"Who cares? This is cool!" The boy tossed his chef hat into the air. "Go kid! Go! What was his name again?"
"Sparky," Betty thought he would be angry about the cakes, but he wasn't.
"Go Sparky, keep eating!" He kept on cheering, while Betty shook her head. He didn't know what he was asking for.
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X-5 was at the food court, gathering more information. "Warning circuits overloaded!"
A girl he decided to interview wouldn't shut up about the latest gossip and it was seriously filling up his memory. "But that's only half the story. Do you know what he said after that? Of course, not, because I haven't told you yet, but just wait until you hear this!"
"Have some mercy on him," another young man arrived. "Are you okay boy?"
"Overload! Overload!" X-5 yelled.
"I think that means you confused him." The human boy spoke calmly.
The girl shrugged. "Well he was the one who said he wanted to know all the information I could give him."
X-5 appeared to faint, but then he woke up after rebooting. "Are you okay?" The same guy from before asked. He could see the girl with a lot of information standing close behind him, looking worried.
"Systems rebooted, emotion chip back online. Error found during reboot. Error corrected. New session stated. All systems online," X-5 said.
"He's delirious!" The girl started to panic.
"I am not delirious, I am not programmed to be in such a state," X-5 explained.
The girl blinked. "Huh?"
"I think that means he's okay," the guy interpreted.
"I believe I have a sufficient amount of information for now. Thank you for proving all this data." X-5 went on his way, leaving the two humans very confused.
Xoxox xox xoxox
"Wow! I never thought Sparky would eat all those cakes! High five buddy!" The soon to be fired employee from the cake shop cheered.
Sparky was very cheerful after his little snack, even if he wasn't full. "This is fun; we should come to the mall more often!"
"Ehem," The owner of the shop stood behind the soon to be ex-employee. "How did you sell all the cakes?"
"I didn't, Sparky here ate them as free samples," he dumbly replied.
"Do you expect me to believe he ate all the cakes? Did you give them away to people as free samples? You're fired!" The owner yelled.
The boy, Betty and Sparky rushed out of the cake shop. "Sorry about that, I'll pay for the cakes somehow," Betty offered.
"Nah, I already got fired, don't pay for them now. Besides, he didn't believe it." The human didn't appear to be concerned about losing his job at all.
"Sorry, you got fired. In my planet, I mean, in the part of this planet where I come from, that's not a good thing," Sparky apologized.
"Relax, I'm used to it. It happens every day." The carefree boy gave his goodbyes to Sparky the master cake eater and went on his way, without a care in the world.
"He was nice, it's good to make new friends on Earth. Too bad I forgot to ask his name. With all the cake, I couldn't think of anything else," Sparky admitted.
"I'm sure he'll remember this day for a long time," Betty saw X-5 approaching. "Where were you all this time?"
"I was collecting data and a human filled up the memory extensions I brought for that purpose. Luckily, I still have plenty of space in my primary memory, but that is my space for my own special memories with my friends," X-5 gave Betty and Sparky a group hug. The light in his eyes blinked and he let go. "Sorry about that, it happens sometimes after reconnecting the emotion chip, but it should be stabilized by now."
"I think it's time for us to return to the Starcruiser," Betty concluded.
"Aw, but we're having so much fun!" Sparky complained.
"I think that's enough for one day," Betty knew they weren't ready to handle the mall and the mall certainly wasn't ready for them.
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Meanwhile... "Dude you're supposed to be at the other side of the counter."
"Shut up human!" Someone was hiding. That was Atomic Betty out there, even with her odd clothing he recognized her. Then those other two must be her Galactic Guardian friends in disguise. "Minimus," the supposed human spoke into a holographic communicator. "Cancel the plans, Atomic Betty knows everything. We'll have to find another planet to establish the secret base in."
"Yes, your evilness," Minimus' voice came from the communicator as his normal face was displayed on the hologram. His head spun around so that his angry face appeared on the hologram and in a sarcastic tone he added, "I told you that planet was a bad idea!"
"Shut up and remind me to hit you when I get back!" Maximus ended the communication and looked from behind the counter to see if Betty was still there. There was no sign of her, but she must be somewhere, probably watching him at that very moment.
"That's a nice toy thingy you got there, dude." The 'dude' who worked there looked curious.
"It's not a toy you ignorant earthling, but I can't expect a race of pre-contact savages to understand." Maximus, still in his holographic human disguise, got up and attempted to walk away, only to slip on a skate board. But he did not fall; instead he slipped away on the skate board towards the stairs and skated down the stairs unable to stop, gaining speed as he went.
The owner of the skateboard followed on foot, watching in amazement. Finally, the skate board stopped against a potted plant but it had been going too fast and sent Maximus flying into the air. Though being a cat alien he spun in mid air and landed on his feet, terrified from the ordeal. "Dude, you're good! I tried that before but got stuck on the stairs."
"Good? You say I'm good? I'm not going to be insulted by an uncivilized creature!" Maximus yelled loud enough for everyone passing by to look at him. Before Maximus could ready his laser gun, curious people quickly formed a circle around them and Maximus panicked. "Minimus, get me out of here!" Maximus was beamed up to his ship and disappeared.
"Wow! He was right. To say he's good is an offence. He's great, better than great; he's most awesome skater I've ever seen. You are my life long idol mystery skater!" The human picked up his skate board and made his way out of the crowd. "Someday, I'll make an exit like that, someday." He went up the stairs and looked down. "First I need to master skating down the stairs. I wonder how he did it. His balance was so perfect even when he was screaming for his life. He was probably just pretending for the fun of it. Then that jump, I wonder how he landed so easily, it's almost like he was part cat or something. He was out of this world!" There was a pause. "Could he be some kind of cat alien?" He shook his head. "Nah, he was just an inhumanly good skater."
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At another store at the same mall, an ordinary human was feeling quite bored. "Sometimes I wish aliens would invade the earth or something, to cure us of our boredom." The irony was never known.
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In the Starcruiser Atomic Betty, Sparky and X-5 now out of their disguises, were heading off to find a place to eat. "Eating all those cakes made me hungry!" Sparky was the only one who could understand his own logic.
"We got lucky this time, but we should stay away from the mall for a while," Betty warned.
"I agree" X-5 gave Sparky a warning look.
"But it was fun!" Sparky complained.
"The mall is not ready for you Sparky." Betty had no idea that she saved the Earth again just by being there to be seen by Maximus, who gave up his plans thinking he would be ambushed. Betty later heard about the legendary mystery skater at the mall, but never found out who he was.
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Planet 90: More Trouble with Triplets
Today Atomic Betty was in the Galactic Guardians Headquarters. not because of an emergency mission and not because of training. Today she had been called because she received a mysterious package. The box was quite large and some claimed they heard strange noises coming from inside it. Sometimes, the box moved slightly, as if something alive was trapped inside. But this was for Atomic Betty and no one except her was allowed to open it.
The Galactic Guardians detected no weapons or bombs inside the box, but there were apparently three life forms in there. Atomic Betty was immediately called and informed. The red haired young woman approached the box and noticed an envelope attached to it. "Maybe this will have an explanation," Betty opened the letter, while Sparky curiously looked over her shoulder and X-5 tried to tell him that wasn't right.
"What does it say chief? Who is it from?" The blue haired Martian's big nose poked the paper while he tried to look over her shoulder.
"Sparky, you mustn't intrude in the captain's private mail," X-5 pulled Sparky away.
By now Betty had finished quietly reading the letter and decided that maybe it was best that her crew heard what it said. "Listen to this:"
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Dear Hated Atomic Betty,
You must be wondering what happened to those three brats (the word brats is crossed over), adorable angels that look just as horrible (again the word horrible was replaced) nice as you do. Because they were so annoying, I mean because I thought it would be best for them, I sent each of them to live with a different aunt, Optica, Destructa and Roxanne, to become their apprentices.
Now their aunts are in need of a vacation and had decided to leave the little pests, I mean the little angels with their (the word father was crossed over several times and was hard to read) cloner, creator, whatever you want to call me except their father. However, the are a big headache so I'm giving them to you. Take care of them during this weekend and return them to their aunts on Splatty on Monday. They have your DNA so they're your responsibility.
Your enemy,
Maximus IQ (the name was signed autograph style)
PS: I told them you are their mother so they would want to go with you.
PS 2: The cloning machine was defective so they didn't grow up.
PS 3: I hate you.
xoxox xox xoxox
The room was filled with silence as the three brought their ears (or sound sensors) closer to the box to listen.
"Do you think we're there yet?" Betty one asked.
"I don't think so," Betty two answered.
"Do you think we'll get there soon?" Betty one inquired.
"I don't know," Betty two replied.
"Be quiet, remember daddy said we had to be quiet if we wanted mommy to find us," Betty three reminded.
"But won't she find us faster if she hears us?" Betty one pointed out.
"I don't know," Betty two repeated.
"Shut up or I'm telling daddy you didn't keep quiet like he said!" Betty three yelled.
"You're yelling too!" Betty one also yelled.
"Only because you yelled first!" Betty three argued.
"I want my mommy!" Betty two complained.
Atomic Betty, the original, Sparky and X-5 stepped away from the box, wondering why the sibling rivalry hasn't destroyed it yet. "What should we do captain?" X-5 asked.
"I guess we can't leave them in there," Betty carefully opened the box to find three younger Bettys tied together by a strange glowing ring. That must be what absorbed their powers.
"Mommy!" The Betty with the fire powers exclaimed.
"Mommy!" Mommy!" The other two Bettys cheered.
The original shook her head, "I'm not really your mother."
"Of course you are, you look like us, but you're older, so you have to be," the stone Betty reasoned.
"I don't think they understand the concept of being clones," X-5 concluded. The three Bettys looked at the robot oddly, as if confirming his theory.
"I guess I'll have to take care of them," Betty untied the three younger Bettys, who immediately hugged her.
"Chief you're actually going to babysit them?" Sparky was surprised.
"They were cloned into this world by Maximus. It's not their fault if they turn out bratty. Besides, maybe they'll like being Galactic Guardians." This could be a good chance to turn the triplets good. If they truly believed she was their mother, they might listen to her and follow her example. However, the plan proved to be a disaster, in less than an hour, Galactic Guardians Headquarters was a mess.
The three Bettys ran wild throwing whatever they could get their hands on, pressing random buttons on the space stations controls and causing general mischief. They even stole Atomic Rodger's wig. "Atomic Betty! Are those children with you?" Admiral Degill was upset.
"Yes, kind of, I'm supposed to be babysitting them for the weekend, but they won't listen to me." They were actually nice for a little while, then a sibling argument came up over who looked the most like their mother and the fight was destroying HQ.
"Those clones need to be stopped. After they disappeared for so long, I didn't think they would be back," Admiral Degill was feeling stressed.
"They were on Splatty with Optica, Destructa and Roxanne," Atomic Betty the admiral were talking at the same time as they ran towards the source or the latest explosion. The explosions indicated that Betica was using her fire powers on something that should be kept away from fire.
Each of the Bettys had obtained a new name from their aunts. The fire Betty was Betica, the stone Betty was Betructa and the elastic Betty was Beanne. Sparky and X-5, along with many other Galactic Guardians including a bald Atomic Rodger, were trying to stop the three child Bettys, but they were very hard to catch.
Apparently, they had plenty of time to practice their mischief over the past years. Betty had managed to catch two, but when she caught the third, one of the others escaped. It went on like this for a while, until losing her patience, the original Betty yelled. "Stop!" There was a sudden eerie silence as the three Bettys froze. Making her best imitation of her mother when she was angry, Betty called them. "Betica, Betructa, Beanne, come here!" The three younger Bettys stood in a line, looking at the floor. Then suddenly burst into tears. Betty looked confused. "Why are you crying now? Is it because you regret making such a big mess?"
"No, it's because you don't want us to destroy the quarter's head!" Beanne complained.
"It's not the quarter's head, it's the head's quarter!" Betica corrected.
"Who cares what it's called. It's the source of good and she won't let us destroy it," Betructa voiced.
"Of course I won't. I wanted you three to try to become Galactic Guardians. You said you would try, but you lied, now look at this mess," Betty scolded.
"But if the quarter's head," Beanne started.
"Head's quarter," Betica corrected.
"If the Galactic Guardian's place isn't destroyed, then you'll be good and you and daddy will stay mad at each other," Beanne pointed out.
"Is that so..." Betty knew she had a big mess to clean up and Maximus was the one who started this year ago when he clones her.
"We heard that Atomic Betty, our good sister, is your favorite daughter. But that can't be true, if you liked that Betty best, then she would be here with you," Bestructa reasoned and the other two clones nodded in agreement.
"It also looks like they can't understand the concept of growing up, because they can't grow up themselves," X-5 analyzed.
"What does that mean?" Sparky inquired.
"That they think people always stay the same. That kids have always been kids and will always be kids and adults have always been adults and will always be adults," X-5 explained.
"I have an idea," the original Betty finally spoke, "I'm going to take you back to Maximus, to your father, and you can show him how mischievous I taught you to be, all of this was really practice and I've done very well. I'm sure that when he sees how much you learned from me he'll like me again," it felt odd to say it, but the plan worked as the clones looked interested. The real Betty grinned, Maximus had it coming.
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Planet 91: Common Cold
Sure they are all feeling tired and yes they all have all the basic symptoms of the common cold, but for each of them the dreaded virus has concentrated in one specific annoyance.
Maximus has a sore throat that hurts more than any other symptom. For Sparky, the thing that really annoys him during a cold is his nose, he sniffles and sneezes constantly. Betty has been coughing so much she can hardly breathe and X-5 has... Wait a minute, X-5 is a robot how did he get a cold? Oh? It's not a cold? It's a computer virus? Well that explains it. X-5 is suffering from a virus that makes his system overheat, which is similar to having a fever. Let's see how they're doing.
xoxox xox xoxox
Our first stop is Maximus's lair. "I hate you Atomic Betty!" Maximus screamed angrily as loudly as his sore throat allowed him to, which to Minimus' relief wasn't all that loud.
'Finally, a day without headaches,' Minimus thought. Maximus was too sick to hit him too hard and he was even too sick to complain for more than five minutes before falling asleep. But he knew this wouldn't last very long. Soon Maximus will be well enough to complain about having a cold towards the end of it.
Maximus woke up again a few hours later. "Minimus, ouch!" It hurt to yell at his sidekick. How dare Atomic Betty leave him like this? It had to be her fault because she had a cold. Galactic Guardians did have germs after all. He looked across the room at several shiny little candy balls in colorful wrappers sitting on a table several feet away. If he ate one of those, his throat would feel better even if it was only temporary. But they were so far away and he couldn't yell hard enough for Minimus to hear him. He would just have to wait until Minimus came. So he stayed in bed, staring at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep from the pain.
Finally, ten minutes later he couldn't take his burning throat anymore and decided to get up, make the long trip across the room and get those candies. Dragging his feet the entire way there, Maximus crossed the room complaining quietly with each step. He thought that such an amazing super villain such as himself didn't deserve this treatment from life. He did not say it for that would hurt too much, but thinking it would have to do for now. He ate a candy and returned to bed, almost instantly falling asleep.
Of course it could not be that easy, he swallowed the candy ball and nearly chocked on it. He did manage to spit it out just as Minimus came into the room to check on his evilness. The sidekick's face was left spinning around after being hit by a candy ball which flew at him like a bullet. "Does this mean you're feeling better?" Minimus inquired.
"No, ow!" Maximus complained. "Where were you when I needed the candy from across the room? I had to walk all the way there!" He made it sound as if it was a trip across the galaxy.
"You're even lazier than you usually are!" Minimus' angry face grumbled.
"Just wait till I get better. You'll be in trouble for that," this time Maximus didn't even have the energy to try to hit Minimus. He tried to sleep again, hoping that when he woke up he was cured. Looks like Maximus isn't handling his cold very well.
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Let's see how Sparky's doing. "Achu!" Sparky's nose was so big it weighted nearly as much as his body. "Mamoolah!" He sounded quite strange with such a big nose. "I ran out of... Achu! No not that, there's plenty of sneezes. I ran out of towels," anything smaller is ineffective at blowing his nose.
Zulia rushed in with another towel. Her poor Sparky was very sick with a terrible cold and she would take care of him. "Here you go, now you rest here while Mamoolah gets you something to eat. You have to eat enough if you want to get well soon." To that Sparky did not object. He claimed that he could hardly eat because he was so sick, but he still ate plenty.
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How could Betty be enduring? On Earth we find a red haired girl, walking home while trying to put up with an annoying cough that won't go away. Everyone kept staring at her in the classroom and Penelope said she was breaking her concentration. It's not like she was paying attention anyway. Betty saw the magazine hidden behind the text book. Now she was finally going home.
Later, Betty was in her room resting. The annoying cough still persisted long after she got home. "Betty!" Her mother called. "Please stop coughing that can't be healthy. You haven't stopped since you got home. Pursey's trying to take a nap and you're keeping him awake." Without waiting for Betty's answer she left.
It's not like Betty could do anything about it. Before getting home she took a quick stop at Galactic Guardian Headquarters to see the doctor. There was not much he could do, even in the futuristic depths of space, there is no cure for the common cold. She would just have to take some cough medicine and wait for it to work. For something so sour, that medicine was certainly taking its sweet time.
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Maximus got his cold from Betty and Betty got her cold from Sparky. But how did it happen? Sparky accidentally ate some strange berries that caused the common cold. Yes, there is such a thing in a distant alien planet. He sneezed in the Starcruiser and that's how Betty got her cold. When Sparky' nose grew bigger and bigger, they decided it was best to take Sparky home to Mars, where his mother would know what to do to take care of him.
After leaving Mars, the Starcruiser received a call from Admiral Degill. They explained why Sparky was not with them and he understood. But there was no time to waste, a mission was waiting. "Maximus is trying to collect energy from the stars to power his new super weapon. The weapon will not be operational unless it's fully charged, but draining so much energy from the stars will greatly affect them. The galaxy is danger again, you must stop him right away!"
"Don't worry Admiral Degill, we'll make sure that weapon isn't used and the stars don't lose anymore energy," Atomic Betty saluted then she coughed. Her cold had officially declared war on every cell of her body. Cough or not, she still won the battle. However, she coughed enough during her light saber duel to give Maximus a cold too.
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Now Betty was on earth, in her room, trying to keep quiet and failing to do so. Why was that sour supposedly super effective medicine the doctor gave her taking so long to work? The cough was getting worse by the second. A little more and she wouldn't even be able to breathe. She remembered that when she went to see the doctor she also stopped by the robot repair area after hearing X-5 was there.
X-5 had mysteriously caught a strange virus that was causing him to overheat. The irony of all robots then took place. If the central processing unit is too hot the artificial intelligence unit will freeze. Sparky had always been confused about how heat could cause anything to freeze and didn't quite get it when X-5 and Betty tried to explain what it really meant. She hoped he was doing better by now.
There was no use in staying there and hearing her mother's complaints about Purrsey wanting to nap. Using her bracelet, Betty called the Starcruiser and returned to Galactic Guardian Headquarters. Maybe she needed a stronger medicine to get rid of the cough. It didn't matter how bad it tasted, right now she was willing to do anything to get better.
"I see that cough medicine is working as expected," the doctor noted as soon as Atomic Betty entered the office.
She wondered if he was being sarcastic, but he didn't sound that way. "But I'm" (cough) "still coughing!"
"Well of course you are! Isn't that what you wanted, to make your cough stronger? I can't imagine why anyone would want that, but if it's the in thing right now, who am I go to go against it?" The doctor replied.
"I don't" (cough) "want this!" Betty had asked for a cough medicine and that's exactly what she got a medicine to make her cough.
"You don't? Styles change quickly don't they? No problem, I have a really good anti-cough medicine and it's cherry flavored!" The doctor prepared a large spoon full of the red substance. "Open wide, here comes the space ship. This is the Starcruiser requesting permission for landing at Galactic Guardian Headquarters."
Betty ignored that she was being treated like a child and took the medicine. It certainly tasted better than the cough medicine from before and soon her cough was gone. "It worked! Thanks doctor!"
"No problem," the doctor smile. "Here's a lollipop for you. Maybe you could teach your friend Sparky to be a brave patient like you."
"I'll try," Betty mused that the endless chain of colds could stretch across the universe. If you want to get rid of a cold, give it to someone else, just make sure they don't give it back to you later.
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Planet 92: Delicious Inspiration
Maximus IQ was in the office area of his lair reviewing some evil plans that bored. He was tired of the same evil plans and felt he needed inspiration to come up with something more evil. "Minimus!"
Minimus PU, came running. "Yes your evilness?" Without a word, Maximus promptly hit his sidekick on the head. "What did I do now?" His angry face asked once his head stopped spinning.
"Nothing, I just felt like hitting something to see if that gave me an idea of something evil to do, but it didn't work," Maximus sounded bored. "Maybe I didn't hit you hard enough..."
Minimus covered his head and closed his eyes waiting for the hit that never came. Instead Maximus ignored him and was now standing by the large glass window, looking into the depths of space. He saw part of Jupiter near by and beyond that he knew there was a blue planet. The planet had a bit of white at the north and south and several green shapes that appeared to fit together like a puzzle. The living creatures of that planet had not yet established contact outside of their world or so he heard. "What was the name of that planet, the blue one that's near by?"
"Earth?" Minimus reminded.
"Yes Earth, strange name for a planet and at the same time so unoriginal" Maximus walked away from the window glancing at his desk where all the evil plans were still waiting to be approved or disapproved. Deciding that he didn't want to deal with evil plans at the moment, he left the office, "come Minimus."
Minimus obediently followed as a loyal pet would. "Where are we going your evilness?" Minimus' normal face inquired. His alter ego didn't seem to care and mentally reminded the other Minimus that regardless of the place, Maximus would be bossing him around as usual, so there was not real difference.
"Earth," Maximus replied casually, as if it was a common daily decision to go visit a planet that has no outside contact, though it was quite rare and impractical.
"But your evilness, the inhabitants of Earth will get scared and point at us and say we're aliens and there will be a huge panic, then they'll send out their primitive armies after us, win by some miracle produced by dumb luck, capture us and take us to secret underground laboratories to perform strange experiments on us!" Minimus warned.
Maximus rolled his eyes as he made his way to his ship. "Don't be ridiculous Minimus, that only happens in movies. Besides, I might get some good evil ideas by visiting new places."
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When they arrived at Earth, Maximus ordered, "beam me down; I'll contact the ship when I need to return."
"You're going by yourself your evilness?" Minimus was shocked.
"That's the problem with evil inspiration you have to find it yourself, it's not like you can send someone to get it for you. Now beam me down," Maximus was getting impatient.
Minimus beamed him down to Earth and for a moment his evil side thought about taking off and leaving Maximus stranded in this uncivilized planet, but his other half protested, claiming that he couldn't just abandon the boss in such a dangerous place. In the end, it was that half that won the argument so Minimus stayed, waiting for Maximus to contact him when he found the evil inspiration he was searching for and got over his villain block.
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As soon as Maximus was beamed down in a random spot, several people looked in his direction, it's not every day that a human sized cat appears out of nowhere and there happens to be a space ship hovering over him. However there were no screams of panic, instead the people had assumed the guy in the cat suit was there because of something related to publicity. Several people clapped at his entrance and wondered how it was possible that the cat looked so real.
Maximus directed an odd look at the strange people clapping at him, feeling a mayor ego boost, he concluded that even those low tech creatures knew the future ruler of the universe when they saw him. He made his way towards a building and people pointed at him as he walked and smiled. Usually, people are scared to see a super villain so close, but those primitive beings were happy? Perhaps what they lack in technology they have in instinct that allows them to sense his superior power.
Ignoring the random creatures pointing and the smaller specimens that followed him around saying 'kitty' over and over again, he made his way toward the front of the building where he saw a primitive blue vending machine. There was a picture of a bottle containing a brownish liquid. "Pepsi," he read.
The machine had a space that Maximus assumed was used to insert some sort of card. A drawing of a rectangle with some symbols and words on it was right above that space. Maybe it was some kind of primitive currency. Below that there was a space about the size of a coin and since even super villains like souvenirs, he placed a coin in the machine and waited. The coin was not of Earth's currency, but it was similar in size, so the machine accepted it and little glowing numbers appeared inside a black square that showed a zero before. Maximus placed another coin in the machine wondering how many it took for something to happen, the numbers changed once more but nothing else happened.
He placed two more coins in and noticed several buttons with colorful labels below the glowing numbers. The word Pepsi was repeated on the labels that were slightly different, followed by other words such as Diet, Twist, Blue, Max and others. He read each of the labels finally deciding to press the button labeled Pepsi Max, as if it was made for him. A can of this Pepsi substance fell at an opening at the bottom of the machine. He picked it up and looked at it. He also noticed that a large group of those low tech beings had gathered around and were carefully watching his actions. Maybe they wanted to learn something from his superior intellect.
When Maximus first saw the liquid, it had a bit of cream-white colored substance at the top with tiny bubbles, now it was gone and all that was left was the brownish liquid that appeared to be more stable at the moment. He removed the cap wondering if he should be drinking such a strange unknown substance, it might be toxic, acid, flammable or all three. He smelled the contents of the bottle, it didn't it smell like anything poisonous, but he didn't know if it was even meant to be a drink.
Then he noticed one of the low tech beings was drinking the liquid from a bottle just like that one while smiling and making strange poses. The creature appeared to be a young female of the species, about the same age as Atomic Betty. Of course, Betty couldn't possibly be related to this planet, being the best Galactic Guardian, she couldn't possibly come from such a low tech semi-uncivilized planet, besides this wasn't the only planet that had living beings similar to her species. Humans, they were everywhere.
The girl kept making posses and drinking the liquid. She had dark hair in a high pony tail and her face was painted in several colors, blue over the eyes, red in her mouth and pink on her cheeks. Maybe she was trying to communicate. Maximus' natural curiosity finally got the best of him and he drank the liquid, it tasted good, he would have to send it for analysis so that the recipe was deciphered and Chef Bernadette could prepare this drink and make it even better. People started clapping and cheering simply because he drank the liquid, which made Maximus' already big ego turn bigger. Maybe this was research enough, it was time to go home; he had an idea.
Maximus walked back to the center of the parking lot, followed by several small specimens that repeated the word 'kitty' over and over. He assumed that 'kitty' was their way of saying 'supreme ruler' or something like that. Once in position under his ship, he informed Minimus to beam him up, leaving the group of primitive beings clapping and cheering. He didn't notice that just as he was beamed up, Betty walked by and she didn't notice Maximus either.
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The next day in school, Noah told Betty about the publicity stunt Pepsi did. "It's too bad you missed it. You should have seen it, there was a guy dressed like a cat that came down to the parking lot in a helicopter that was shaped like a space ship. He went to the Pepsi vending machine and drank some Pepsi Max. Everyone was watching, I wonder if they had hidden cameras and were filming a new commercial."
Penelope walked by and overheard, "It's a good thing you weren't there or they would have to edit you out. I on the other hand will look great if they make that into a commercial. I wouldn't be surprised if they choose me as the next Pepsi star." Penelope continued walking down the hall as her annoying high pitch laugh echoed.
Noah shook his head, "Penelope kept posing and trying to get the actor's attention. She had so much make up on she looked like a clown." They both laughed at this.
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Planet 93: Unworthy
Maximus' classic evil laughed echoed all over the lair sounding particularly insane today, even more so than usual. It was the middle of the afternoon and that meant snack time. Before Maximus screamed his sidekick's name and before he had an excuse to hit him on the head, even if he did without one, Minimus rushed to Maximus' not so secret, secret lab, following the sound of his evil laugh.
The sidekick carried freshly backed cookies of a delicious secret recipe made by Chef Bernadette and a glass of milk that came from a fruit instead of an alien cow. He tried to make sure he didn't drop any of the cookies from the jewel covered little plate they were on. Last time that happened, he put them back on it, but Maximus somehow noticed the cookies had been on the floor and no longer thought they were worthy of him. In the center of the circle of cookies there was a chocolate cupcake with lots of sugary frosting.
Feeling thirsty along the way Minimus thought about drinking some of the milk. Pictures of a white fruit danced in his head as he almost tasted the cold liquid. No, he couldn't even have a small try, Maximus would notice. Why did he have to pay such close attention to every detail of his snack? He complained about everything as if he was constantly searching for something to complain about.
Minimus had asked that question before and to that Maximus answered with a speech about the importance of snacks to a super villain. To summarize, the snack had to be worthy of him. The speech was quite long, so long you'd think it was Sparky talking about food, then again Sparky would never simply talk about it, he would eat it and he wouldn't complain about food not being worthy of him. He would simply eat it, even if it wasn't edible.
As Minimus came closer to the not so secret, secret lab, he heard the insane sounding evil laugh again and wondered what could Maximus be doing that made him create another variation of his classic evil laugh. "Your evilness," Minimus placed the snack on a table and stared at it for a moment, before returning to reality and reminding himself Maximus would be very angry if he dared to try his snack. "Your evilness, I brought your snack. Don't you want it? If you don't want it, can I have it?"
"Of course I want it!" Maximus IQ came up behind Minimus, and scared him a little with a sudden, yet somehow expected hit to the head.
However, Minimus was more frightened when he turned around and didn't recognize the lynx that hit him. "Your evilness, a mad scientist broke into the lair!" Minimus ran around in circles, until he tripped over his own feet and fell flat on the floor.
"Idiot!" Maximus hit him on the head once more. "I'm not a mad scientist, I'm Maximus IQ, the greatest supreme super villain evil genius overlord in the entire universe!" He removed his goggles and placed them on top of his head.
Minimus blinked, it kind of looked like Maximus, except he was wearing a white lab coat, black boots and matching black gloves. His hair looked longer and spiky, with the classic style of mad scientist that looked like he brushed his hair with lightning. "I didn't recognize you in the mad scientist disguise. Why are you wearing a mad scientist disguise?"
"Some sidekick you are! How dare you not recognize me? It's clear you don't know anything. Every super villain should dress up as a mad scientist at least once. All the villains do it in their free time when no one is looking," Maximus explained.
"But your evilness how do you know they dress up as mad scientist if no one is looking?" Minimus reasoned.
"How do you know they don't?" Maximus countered. Minimus decided it was best to end the argument and Maximus continued, "how dare you bring me this? I told you," he said pointing to the chocolate cupcake where he had taken a bite from it. "That I wanted the one with the cream filling!" Minimus then realized he had forgotten to mention that detail to Chef Bernadette. "Where is the cream filling?" Maximus took another bite of cupcake. "This is not worthy of me!" Maximus took a bigger bite. "Not worthy!" He repeated after eating the rest. "The chocolate chips on the cookies are too small," he ate those too while complaining. "This isn't good enough, how do you expect me to eat this? I can't!" He finished the snack and drank some milk. "Make sure you get it right next time!"
Minimus was about to ask why he ate the snack if he claimed it wasn't worthy of him, but his survival instincts told him not to. "Yes, your evilness." It was, relatively, just another ordinary day for Minimus.
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Planet 94: Well Informed
Betty was working on a school project with Noah and Paloma, when her bracelet chimed, signaling that her presence was needed in outer space. "I'll go get the text book." By now Noah was used to her disappearing every time her bracelet made that sound, though he never knew why.
"Be careful not to catch a cold," Paloma warned for no apparent reason.
"Okay," Betty wasn't sure what that was about. She ran out of her room where they were working and answered the call. "Atomic Betty reporting for duty!"
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Betty returned to Earth sooner than expected that time. Maximus didn't put up much of a fight with the cold he had. He ended up giving up and going home to try to sleep it off. One thing remained a mystery though, was there was a connection between his state and Paloma's warning? Nah, it had to be a coincidence...
End of Solar System XI
Disclaimer, I don't own Atomic Betty, Superman, 6teen or Pepsi. Planet 89 is a 6teen crossover. Planet 92 takes place before the episode Pop Goes the Maxx.