Other Fan Fiction ❯ Atomic Galaxy ❯ Chapter 16
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: MikariStar 
Miscellaneous: Other Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Comedy / Drama / Sci-fi | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.23.2012 | Pages: 6 | Words: 9.4K | Visits: 331 | Status: Completed
Miscellaneous: Other Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Comedy / Drama / Sci-fi | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.23.2012 | Pages: 6 | Words: 9.4K | Visits: 331 | Status: Completed
Atomic Galaxy: Solar System XVI
Planet 103: Home
This plan was perfect, it just had to work. It was quite simple and rather logical, but it has never been done before. As effective as it might sound, it was also not very elaborate, therefore Maximus IQ, the self proclaimed greatest super villain genius in the universe, thought it wasn't worthy of him. But lately, after Atomic Betty had time and again stopped him from taking over the universe, he had come to appreciate the simplicity of this plan. To place a tracking device on the Starcruiser and see what planet the ship makes a stop at after a mission.
Placing the tracking devise was no problem. Betty and her crew were too distracted stopping Maximus from placing bomb in a random defenseless planet. All they had to do was take away the control that Maximus was going to use to detonate the bomb and he gave up and ran away. Experts in explosives arrived at the scene to assist the Galactic Guardians and assured them they could handle things from there.
xoxox xox xoxox
Today Betty was in a school fieldtrip. They were visiting an old town for historical purposes and there was also a museum there. It was a little far from Moose Jaw Height, but the trip was fun so far. The students were given some time to look around as long as they didn't go too far and stayed in groups. As she walked around along with Noah, Betty spotted an old mansion in the distance and in a clearing next to it she saw Maximus' space ship. Betty stared at it with her eyes open wide, unable to move as a million thoughts raced in her head. "What are you looking at?" Noah's voice brought her back to reality.
Betty quickly made up an excuse. "Look, a gift shop!"
"That's a grocery store," Noah wondered why Betty had started acting so strange all of a sodden after staring at the space ship next the old mansion. Of course he never thought the ship was real, it was probably there for little kids to play in.
"Well it's just as fun, let's go inside!" Betty practically dragged him by the arm into the grocery store.
"Betty, is something wrong?" Noah was a little worried by his best friend's strange behavior.
"Nothing," Betty searched for a way out of there without Noah seeing her. She spotted a mountain of apples neatly piled up like a pyramid. "I want an apple but I'm afraid I'll knock over the pile, could you get one for me, please?" She gave him her sweetest smile, which he couldn't resist.
"Sure, I'll get it." It was true that her sense of balance was better than his and he knew it, but he just couldn't say no. Feeling the guilt already building up, Betty whispered an inaudible apology and pushed the mountain of apples from the other side, then ran away before Noah saw her. The one in charge of the grocery store came running and started yelling at the boy who caused the mess. Noah believed it really was his fault and offered to pick them up. He started making a pile of apples again, only to have them fall every now and then and he had to start over.
xoxox xox xoxox
Betty ran towards Maximus' ship. She activated her bracelet to change into her Galactic Guardian uniform just in case it was a coincidence he was here. Just in case this was just another random planet he was attacking. If that was so, then she didn't want to give him any hints by wearing anything different on this planet. There didn't appear to be anyone on the ship so she decided to look around the surrounding area. She entered the old mansion to find a mummy standing behind a counter. From the inside, the mansion looked like an inn. Sure she would receive strange stares if anyone saw her dressed like that, but she would rather have people staring and pointing than the Earth blowing up. Other than the mummy, this place looked pretty normal.
"I told you I'm not going to help," that voice was Maximus, but where was he? Suddenly the door of a large grandfather clock was opened and Maximus came out of a secret passage.
"Wait, the future of this planet depends on you!" Said a man dressed with a white lab coat, black boots, black gloves and goggles on his head. His black and blond hair was spiky and messy. It looked as if lightning hit his head. It was the classic look of a mad scientist.
"Atomic Betty!" Maximus saw her.
"Maximus IQ, you are under arrest!" Betty tried to make it look as if the only reason she was on that planet was to arrest him and not because she lived there.
"Atomic Betty, Maximus IQ, nice to meet you I'm Dr. Cientifico. As I was telling this very interesting feline specimen, I am in need of assistance saving our beloved planet Earth." He sounded like a random crazy guy, the Earth wasn't in any danger other than Maximus and he couldn't be referring to him if he was asking for his help.
"Save the Earth from what?" Betty asked, just to make sure. There was a small probability there might actually be another danger besides Maximus right now.
"You see I have created some planet take over robots and your feline friend over there let them loose when he broke into my lab asking if I knew anything about Atomic Betty. Dear girl, you need to keep a better eye on your pet, the poor cat must have been lost and scared searching for his owner." Dr. Cientifico continued ranting, ignoring Maximus' deadly glare.
"I'm not a specimen, I'm not Atomic Betty's friend and I am definitely not her pet! I am Maximus IQ, the most evil super villain genius in the universe!"
"Well that's really nice and all, but I'm afraid that if you compare the planet take over potential of the planet take over robots and a mutant cat, the robots would take over the planet faster," Dr. Cientifico explained.
Maximus shook his head, wondering if all creatures from pre-contact planets were like this, insane. "I don't care about taking over this planet. It can blow up for all I care, in fact I'll blow it up as soon as I'm off it." He wasn't really going to blow it up, he kind of liked this planet except for the many insane inhabitants, but he had to sound evil. He tried to reason with the scientist; that is scare him, one last time before turning his attention to Atomic Betty. "Clearly this isn't your home planet, you might have tricked me into coming here so that I would fall into your trap and you could arrest me, but it will not work!"
Betty was relived that he didn't know that Earth was in fact her home planet. She quickly played along. "Even if you discovered my plans I'll still arrest you!"
"Aw, a girl and her cat how sweet! But in case you haven't noticed, the future of this planet is in danger! Now miss Atomic Betty since your pet started this mess, I believe it is your responsibility to fix it and you should bring him along to make sure everything's alright. I don't want him accidentally activating the doom's day devise," Dr. Cientifico rambled.
Maximus ignored him, but Betty had a question. "If you really have planet take over robots and a doom's day devise, why would you build them if you don't want to use them?"
"I'm a mad scientist, inventing such things is what I do, but that doesn't mean I have to go all evil and use them. Now shall we save the Earth?" Dr. Cientifico took a small controller with many buttons from his coat pocket and pressed a few buttons. From a door behind the counter where the mummy was, came two large robots. "R51Y and R52Y, take our guests to the lab." The scientist entered the grandfather clock, followed by the two robots; each of them picked up Betty and Maximus and carried them to the lab. "Now listen carefully," Dr. Cientifico continued while his roots pushed Betty and Maximus into a time machine. For a random mad scientist he made pretty strong robots. "The first prototype of my time machine was a little slow. It took the same amount of time to travel to the past as the amount of time back you wanted to travel and it only worked backwards. For example if it is 2:00pm and I wish to time travel to 1:00pm it would take an hour to get to the past, so by the time I get there, it would already be 2:00pm in the past; but I have modified my time machine to make it faster! It will take only a few seconds to travel to one hour in the past, once there, you must tell my past self to lock the door so random cats can't get in, that will undo the danger that was set loose today. When your mission is accomplished, you must return here and never speak of this to anyone again. Bye, bye!" Before Betty and Maximus could protest, there a bright light as the mad scientist activated the so called time machine.
Betty looked out a window of the fish shaped container that Dr. Cientifico called a time machine. It looked more like a strange old submarine with large glass windows where the fish's eyes would be. There was nothing out there, nothing but many strange colors light and randomness. The colors changed, mixing with each other, light, shadows, nothing could be identified. A few minutes passed, instead of a few seconds.
Maximus was also looking outside by the other window and saw the same thing. The fish shaped time machine shook around until the mouth opened and they were able to exit, but they were no longer in the lab. Instead they were in a strange planet. "What just happened?" Maximus was confused. He wished he had brought Minimus along to hit and blame for anything and everything, but his little sidekick was unconscious at the lair. 'I knew it was a bad idea to hit him with that hammer,' Maximus thought. 'Minimus better be awake by the time I get back or else.'
"I'm not sure," Betty admitted. That old thing couldn't have been a working time machine. Maybe it was some kind of strange space ship.
"Hello? Are you two still alive?" They heard a voice from inside the fish ship. They quickly rushed inside and saw Dr. Cientifico on the screen. "Sorry, but it appears that there was a minor short circuit that sent you two a lot further into the past then I expected. See that little thing next to the control panel, the little metal box. Pick it up and take it with you, it will display a hologram so I can call you when I repair things over here. You see the, vessel you traveled in is controlled remotely from here. Go on and look around now, but be careful not to mess up history or anything." The transmission was ended.
"I don't believe we actually time traveled," Maximus headed outside again.
"Neither do I," Atomic Betty followed. She would have to investigate about that mad scientist later. It appears that they were brought to another planet and even if this wasn't time travel, planetary travel was something not common on Earth. It was something that should be brought to the attention of the Galactic Guardians, just in case. Betty activated her bracelet to call the Starcruiser, but it didn't work. Great, trapped in strange planet with Maximus, no way of communication other than with a mad scientist, while that same a mad scientist is on the loose on Earth and Noah's probably stuck under a pile of apples.
Maximus had gone off to look around to try to determine what planet he was on and find a way of communication so someone could come pick him up. "Welcome visitors," a red haired woman identical to Betty's mother except for the hair color came to greet them. "We don't get many visitors from other planets here, who might you be?"
"I am Maximus IQ, the greatest super villain genius in the universe!" Maximus expected the woman to be scared or at least recognize him.
"No you're not," the woman sounded sure of what she was saying. "I would know Maximus if I saw him, he's pretty famous. I know you can't be him because he never goes anywhere without his sidekick Minimus and this young lady doesn't look like Minimus to me. Are you a fan of Maximus? That would explain why you kind of look like him."
"I am Maximus!"
"If you wish to be called that then Maximus it shall be and who do we have here?"
Betty was trying to get over her surprise to find someone that looked so much like her mother. "I'm Atomic Betty."
"My name is Okasan, nice to meet you both."
Maximus had noticed Betty was a little surprised by that woman and they looked so much alike. Could they be related? "What planet is this?"
"This is planet Palma," Okasan replied.
"Palma?" Maximus and Betty were taken by surprise.
"Yes, Palma, in the Algo solar system," Okasan explained. "Are you two lost? I know, why don't you stay and have lunch with me and my daughter. It will be nice to have some company over and my daughter will be happy to meet Galactic Guardians. Her name is Betty too and she looks a lot like you." Okasan started walking towards the house, indicating for Betty and Maximus to follow. Both of them very confused, followed her. How could this be planet Palma if they knew Palma was destroyed a long time ago? As they entered the house, they saw a little girl. "This is my daughter Betty. Betty they are Atomic Betty and Maximus. Why don't you go show our guests your space ship collection while I serve lunch?"
"Okay, mom," the little girl looked so much like Atomic Betty it was almost scary. "This way," she led them to another room where there were many toy space ships. She explained what each of them was called. "This is my favorite," she picked up a toy ship. "It's the latest in technology," both Atomic Betty and Maximus recognized that ship model and it wasn't the latest.
A hologram suddenly popped up from the small metallic box Betty was holding. "Good news, I've fixed everything here and I'll bring you back. After that, we can refuel and send you to the past that I should have sent you to. So jump on the time machine and get over here," the hologram disappeared as soon as Dr. Cientifico's message was over.
The little girl looked at the metal box curiously. "Do you have to go now?"
"Yes, we better go," Atomic Betty voiced. "Sorry we couldn't stay for lunch."
"It's okay, it's nice that you visited just for a little while. My mommy and I are alone here because daddy is in a business trip, but he will come back the day after tomorrow but I won't see him for another week. Tomorrow I get to visit the Galactic Guardians Headquarters and stay there in a training program for a week. I'm going to be a Galactic Guardian someday!" The little girl was clearly looking forward to it.
Before Maximus could say anything to criticize the Galactic Guardians, Betty spoke first. "Sounds great, have fun at headquarters. I'm sure you'll be a great Galactic Guardian someday. We have to go now."
Suddenly Maximus looked as if he just realized something. He silently followed Betty back to the fish shaped ship, lost in thought.
xoxox xox xoxox
The journey back to the lab was the same as when they got there and soon they had returned to Earth. "So good to have you back alive!" Dr. Cientifico greeted. "Guess what? I totally forgot I had a remote control that stops the robots from taking over the Earth. They returned to the lab as programmed and are now deactivated. He pointed to several small robots in a corner of the lab. "Yes, I know they look like toys, but they're dangerous. Well I guess I won't be needing your help after all, you can go now." Once again the robots R51Y and R52Y picked them up and placed them outside, then closed the door to the odd mansion.
"I know what's going on," Maximus announced and for a second Betty feared that her home planet was discovered. "We did time travel we were taken to planet Palma in the past before it was destroyed. Okasan looks like you because she's your mother and that little girl she must have been you. Yes, it all makes sense. You were spending your week with the Galactic Guardians when planet Palma was destroyed and your parents were still on the planet. The Galactic Guardians adopted you and you became Atomic Betty. I have it all figured out, I'm such a genius!" Maximus laughed victoriously.
"I guess you know the truth now," Betty sounded sad, after all her planet and family were destroyed, and she intended to take advantage of having that excuse to keep the Earth safe.
"I guess I won't be able to destroy your home planet after all because you don't have one! Too bad I wasn't the one who blew it up." The planet depended on a climate control to be inhabitable and it was the lack of maintenance that cause a short circuit so big it cause a chain reaction that destroyed the planet without a warning. "I almost feel sorry for you, almost." Maximus walked off to his ship and left.
"Just in case you're wondering," Dr. Cientifico came out of the mansion. "That fish shaped time machine was actually a suspended animation device and everything you saw was a dream." He reached into his coat pocket and took out a deactivated tracking chip. "Gotta be careful with these little things, but I don't think Maximus will be bothering to stalk you anymore."
Atomic Betty came to a realization. "You were with the Galactic Guardians all along!"
xoxox xox xoxox
With the Earth safe, Betty headed off to the grocery store where she left Noah, after she used her bracelet to change into her normal clothes.
"Hurry up kid before, I call your teacher and get you suspended." The store owner complained, while Noah tried his best to build the apple pyramid as it was before, but he kept knocking them over.
Betty snuck into the store and stood behind the pile. The next time Noah knocked them over, she pretended to fall. "Ow! My ankle!"
"Where did you come from?" The store owner looked at Betty. "You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"
"Oh my ankle hurts so much. Maybe Noah could help," Betty faked pain.
Noah immediately forgot about how angry he was because she disappeared. He thought it was entirely his fault that the apple pyramid came down in the first place, but she could have stayed to help, she was the one who wanted the apple after all. He quickly took her hand and helped her get up. The store owner looked worried. "Why don't you kids run along and don't worry about the apples."
"Afraid to be sued?" Noah had a hard time because of the store owner yelling at him every time the pile of apples came down when he was almost done. The owner laughed nervously and held the door open for them.
xoxox xox xoxox
When they were far enough from the store, Betty started walking normally again. "You were faking it," Noah concluded.
"It was the only way to get you out of there or the bus will leave without us," Betty explained. "Sorry I ran off."
"It's okay; at least you came back for me."
End of Planet 103
xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox
Planet 104: Specimen
Atomic Betty had to step back and admire the pure irony that was taking place right in front of her. A cat trying to escape a fish's deadly grip on his throat was something that completely contradicted what one would expect to see.
Then again, the possibilities of such a scene occurring are much more likely when the cat isn't Purrsey and the fish isn't Betty's gold fish from Earth. In fact, this scene reminded her more of herself and Sir Purrsefus rather than Sir Purrsefus and her fish.
She remembered that time when Purrsey had her gold fish in his mouth and wouldn't let him go, so she threatened to get him wet if he didn't. Except in this case Maximus didn't eat Degill and Pontifadora is threatening to decapitate him with her bare hands, rather than simply get him wet.
The blue color that was appearing in the oxygen-less feline's face indicated that it was time to stop admiring this work of art as far as irony goes and do something about it. "Pontifadora, let him breath a little." The request was simple, yet the fish woman was not provided with a good enough reason to accept it. "If you kill him, he can't tell you where Admiral Degill is." This different way to word the same request worked well enough.
Letting the cat fall in a corner of his room, Pontifadora repeated her question. "Where is my Gilly?"
Maximus tried to get as much oxygen as he could into his lungs after Pontifadora nearly chocked him to dead. The blue color was starting to slowly fade away from his face and his breaths, still heavy, became more even. Finally, he looked like he had captured enough air within himself to speak. He opened his mouth to say something. Pontifadora listened anxiously for him to reveal the location of her beloved Gilly, but his words were not to indicate a place but to call for help, "Guards!"
Pontifadora pushed him against the wall again, this time holding onto him firmly by the shoulders. "They can't hear you."
Maximus stared at her wide eyed for a moment, coming to a conclusion as to why the guards wouldn't be able to hear him. "You killed them. You killed them all. Even Minimus?"
"Yes..."
"Oh for crying out loud," Atomic Betty stepped forward, losing the last of her patience. "Maximus, your guards and Minimus are not dead, they are simply knocked out but alive. Now will you just tell us what you did with Admiral Degill so we can be on our way?" Atomic Betty didn't even have time to call her crew. Pontifadora had arrived at her house demanding to know where Degill was and when Betty said she had no idea what she was talking about, Pontifadora had asked her to join the search and given her little choices.
Luckily, Betty parents were away at the moment and didn't see the alien. The situation was that Degill was supposed to meet Pontifadora for a date but he never showed up. If this was his way of breaking up with her she would kill him for it and if not then she would kill the one who made him miss the date. So that brings us to their current position in Maximus' lair. Pontifadora had left in hurry and refused to get more people then necessary involved in this, even if Atomic Betty had told her time and again that if Admiral Degill was missing, then it should be reported to the Galactic Guardians, but she wouldn't have it, she wanted to find him herself.
After following a few clues, in other words rumors and gossip, they found out that Admiral Degill's ship was last seen being chased by Maximus' ship, which is why Pontifadora had decided to interrogate him, but instead ended up choking him when he refused to answer her question.
"What's a Gilly?" Maximus asked, causing Pontifadora and Betty to give him blank stares. How an intergalactic criminal managed to sound so childish sometimes was one of the mysteries of the universe. Before the fish woman had gotten a hold of his neck, he was refusing to reveal the location of this 'Gilly,' but now it turns out he was being stubborn about it without even understanding the question.
"Admiral Degill," Atomic Betty clarified. "Tell us where Admiral Degill is."
"I don't know," Maximus didn't give it much thought, which was a detail that Pontifadora noticed and she didn't like it.
"You will remember or else!" Pontifadora aimed a laser gun at Maximus' head.
It had gone a little too far and if this was going to end without someone dieing, most likely Maximus, then Betty had to do something about it. "Pontifadora calm down, why don't you let me interrogate him."
Pontifadora stepped aside, but still kept her aim on Maximus from a few feet away, "fine."
"Maximus, try to remember. When was the last time you saw Admiral Degill?" Betty took the classic, I'm not mad at you, tone that one would take with a child when trying to get him to confess having done what he was told not to do.
"It was on a planet called Earth," Maximus revealed.
"Good, now can you tell me in what part of planet Earth?" Betty tried her best to sound indifferent to the planet's name so that he wouldn't hint that she lived there.
"I don't know, I'm not too familiar with planet Earth, it doesn't even have contact with other planets. The inhabitants of that planet don't know of life outside of their own little world," Maximus was starting to calm down a little even, if he was still in a corner of his room with no army or sidekick to defend him.
"In that case, you're coming with us until we find Gilly," Pontifadora was impatient.
"Alright I confess, I shot down Degill's ship on Earth but he survived the crash, I followed his ship and saw him get out. I was going to take him hostage so Atomic Betty had to surrender, but then a human picked him up and ran off with him," Maximus finally cracked and told them everything.
"You're coming with us anyway, I haven't decided if I'm letting you live," Pontifadora voiced.
xoxox xox xoxox
When they arrived on Earth they circled the planet until Maximus was able to identify the shapes of the land and remembered more or less where Admiral Degill's ship had crashed. The ship moved lower and flew over Canada with a special holographic cover that made it practically invisible by reflecting the sky. "There!" Maximus pointed at a building that appeared to be a laboratory.
Given the fact the technology in space was so much more advanced than on Earth, getting pass the security system was no problem. The laboratory appeared to be empty until they heard some one coming and quickly hid under a large desk to watch and see what clues they could get. "That was a very rare specimen you found," a man said.
"Yes, it was and if messing around with that strange craft it came in was fun, just wait till we get to experiment with the specimen!" a woman agreed.
"Could the specimen they're talking about be Gilly?" Pontifadora asked.
"Probably, but we can't act without a plan. We should," Pontifadora jumped out from under the desk before Betty could finish.
"Give me my Gilly!" Pontifadora aimed a gun at the two scientists who stared at her in surprise.
"Look Ichigo, it's a mermaid! A real fish woman, not like those silly half-fish drawings in kid's stories. This is a real one!" Guineo, the man in the lab coat, pointed at Pontifadora.
"Amazing, two specimens in one day!" Ichigo, the scientist woman, was as happy about it as her partner. "What do you suppose that futuristic looking device she's holding is?"
"It's a gun you idiots!" Pontifadora fired a warning shot to prove her point. "Where's my Gilly?" She then realized they wouldn't understand. "Where's the gold fish specimen?"
"It's in the other room," Ichigo replied. "Why don't I go get it for you and my partner here will give you a tour of the lab."
"I'm not stupid," Pontifadora growled. "Move an inch and you die. Atomic Betty, come here and keep an eye on them." No sense in hiding after this.
"Who are you and who is that mermaid creature? Did you create her in your lab?" Guineo asked.
"Don't ask questions, you'll forget the answers anyway," Atomic Betty replied.
By now Maximus had come out from under the desk and Guineo and Ichigo were staring at him. "What? Yes, I know, I'm perfect and unique."
Betty rolled her eyes. "There are plenty of people of your species Maximus, but you do have a point, you are one of the kind, I've never met anyone as annoying as you."
"I'll ignore the part about being annoying for now. There might be others of my species, but I'm better looking and smarter and, and I'm special," Maximus pouted.
Soon Pontifadora returned cuddling Degill in her arms. "It's okay now Gilly, don't you worry, I'll make sure no one hurts you," Maximus started laughing, seeing the great Admiral Degill in such a situation. "Silence!" Then he fell silent immediately.
Admiral Degill cleared his throat until Pontifadora got the message and placed him on the floor. "Well done Atomic Betty, thank you for assisting Pontifadora in my rescue. Let's not forget that certain memories need to be erased before we leave." Degill looked at Ichigo and Guineo. "As for you Maximus, why are you here?"
"No reason, just passing by." Maximus didn't feel like saying he was dragged there against his will.
Atomic Betty called Sparky and X-5 on her bracelet so they could come pick them up and bring the equipment to make sure Ichigo and Guineo didn't remember more than they should.
xoxox xox xoxox
"Aw, I missed all the action!" Sparky complained.
"Sorry Sparky, Pontifadora was in too much of a hurry to allow me to call you," Betty replied.
"Oh, well, there will be other missions," Sparky pouted. "I guess we should take you back to Earth now, right chief?"
"Let's go somewhere fun," Betty could really use that.
"Right away, chief!" Sparky set a course on the Starcruiser.
"Let me guess, we'll spend the rest of the day playing video games," X-5 concluded.
"You would have more fun if you didn't cheat," Sparky argued.
"I don't cheat, I merely adjust my senses to match the game so that I will press the correct buttons at the correct time and order," X-5 clarified.
"Well that's cheating!" Sparky insisted.
No matter how strange Betty's day had been, life in space was always fun. "Let's just go play!"
End of Planet 104
xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox
Planet 105: Pac-Robo-Betty
Noah smiled as Betty arrived. It had been several months after his birthday and Betty had spent little to not time with him. She was his best friend, but sometimes he wondered if she thought of him as her best friend as well.
The first thing Noah noticed as Betty walked was the way she walked. Her steps were a little unnatural, almost mechanical, like a robot that needed some oil. A few clicks were heard as she stopped in front of him and her eyes focused on him like a camera recording his every move. But that was silly really, this was Betty an average human girl with a bit of a disappearance problem, but a human none the less.
"Greetings Noah," she spoke in a voice reassembling Betty's but far more mechanical and monotonous. It was as if the phrase had been the product of joining two recordings, each one containing each word. The 'greetings' voice was played first then there was a short barely noticeable pause, followed by a name, spoken in a slightly different tone, as if the phrase wasn't a continuous voice but two fragments of the same voice. Not once did she blink as she continued to stare at him with her green eyes open wide, waiting for his answer.
Noah felt as if he was being watched by someone other than Betty. He felt as if everything from his nervous shifting, to the rapid rate of his heartbeats was being recorded. Sure Betty was looking right at him, but surely she couldn't perceive him in that much detail. Then why did he feel like she could? He had never felt this uneasy around her before. Her gaze was so cold and distant, as if she was there but at the same time she wasn't. It was like she was staring right through him.
"Hi Betty," Noah finally managed to push the words out of his mouth. He didn't want to look like an idiot, but he couldn't help it but to feel strange in an unpleasant way.
"Our schedule indicates," Betty's voice, or rather a voice similar to hers but not quite exactly like hers, was heard speaking sweetly. "Go to the arcade," the next phrase was spoken in a sour tone, separating the phrase in three segments 'go to', 'the' and 'arcade'. The word 'the' was hastily added before 'arcade' as if some computer program watching over her verbal grammar had suddenly determined it was necessary. "The next task is," she paused after that. Her voice sounded quite bored. The next statement came out full of anger. "Go to movies, beep the movies." Apparently whatever corrected the grammar of her spoken words didn't process the sentence fast enough that time.
Noah nodded slowly. He was feeling quite tempted to run away. He didn't know why but Betty suddenly gave him a very bad feeling, unlike the pleasant feeling he usually got from her. He shook his head and told himself he was hallucinating. This was Betty for crying out loud, he had known her since they were in elementary school. "Right..." He desperately wanted to start a conversation but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
They walked quietly until they reached the arcade. Robo-Betty continued to follow Noah without saying a single word, which he found very strange. Maybe she just didn't want to be there. That would explain way she was always disappearing. "Betty, if you didn't want to come with me, you could have said something."
"Request accepted, something," Robo-Betty mistakenly assumed he was asking her to say 'something'. A few noises that resembled R2-D2 from Star Wars were heard as her processor reanalyzed his words. "Processing answer," there was a pause and her monotonous voice drastically changed to sweet. "I want to be here." After another pause his name was added at the end in a tone full of rage, "Noah."
Noah couldn't help it but to take a step back. Betty's robotic replica tilted her head down with an odd noise like metal clashing against metal and her eyes focused on the floor as if measuring the distance between them. She then took a step forward of the exact same length as the step Noah had taken backwards.
Trying to keep his cool and ignore the feeling of impending doom that wouldn't stop looming over him, Noah looked towards one of the video game arcade machines. "Why don't you try this one? I got plenty of tokens." He inserted a token on the machine, activating the game.
"Analyzing request, request accepted, please input the secondary information," Robo-Betty spoke with her monotonous and emotionless robotic voice. X-5 definitely sounded a million times better than that prototype, regardless of the modifications that had been made.
"Um... do your best and win?" Noah was unsure. She was talking in the strangest way. He wondered if this was all part of a joke he missed or if maybe he was the joke.
"Mission accepted," Betty placed her hands on the controls with more machine sounds. She started playing the game. The pupils of her eyes occasionally grew bigger and smaller as if going in and out of focus. Her skills in the game Pac-Man were amazing, too precise to be human. A crowd of people gathered around her, watching as she cleared level after level.
Noah could have sworn he saw a red glow in her eyes as if she was looking into the codes that composed the game and quickly predicting the ghosts' next move and coming up with a perfect counter move. Not once did those ghosts come near Pac-Man.
Everyone was amazed, even for the most experienced players it was a race for survival full of close calls, but to her, it was so easy the ghosts might as well not be there. She was making it look like the maze was a simple as a straight line of power pills. The crowd continued to gather, becoming bigger level after level. The speed of the game increased, but Robo-Betty appeared to be unaffected by it.
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Unknown to them, far away, someone else was playing a similar video game. A yellow circle with a pair of yellow triangles for ears, dotted eyes and an 's' shaped line for a tail, dashed across a tri-dimensional maze, projected by a hologram in the room. Ghosts in every color of the rainbow, save for yellow so as to not cause confusion, gave chase to the yellow protagonist of the game.
The ghosts looked like a sheet thrown over a floating circle. Their dotted eyes were drawn angry by the lines above them tilted towards the middle. They also had two little triangles atop their heads as ears and an 's' shaped line sticking out of the bottom of the cloud like shape at the end of the sheets.
The yellow circular creature opened and closed its mouth as it rapidly floated around the maze, unable to fly but a few inches from the maze's floor, certainly not enough to jump over its tall confining walls.
Above that hologram there was a 2D map of the maze, showing the position of the player's character and the ghostly enemies. It was easier to follow the map which reassembled Earth's style of Pac-Man than to attempt to follow the 3D maze not knowing when the yellow ball of hunger would turn a corned and come face to face with a ghost.
In a desperate dash, the yellow creature ate the last few cookies in that particular corridor of the large maze. The cookies were also circular with two triangles outlining the shape of the protagonist minus the tail. They had a pair of chocolate chips for eyes. "Almost there," Maximus pushed the joystick forward to its limits.
"Watch out your evilness!" Minimus called out. He had spotted a blue ghost heading right for the yellow cat like ball Maximus was controlling.
"There's a ball of yarn up ahead, I can make it!" Maximus pushed the joy stick forward even harder. The stick was already at its limits and it would soon break if he kept forcing it like that.
"You're going to lose!" Minimus's angry face sounded as if he hoped Maximus lost. Then again, he would probably get blamed for it and pay the consequences.
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Even further away, the real Atomic Betty was in a similar jam. "This guiding system should lead us out of the castle maze before it collapses. There is a fifty two point three percent chance that we'll make it out alive," X-5 informed.
"Only fifty two point three, that's it? We're not going to make it out alive! I wish I had eaten more while I still had the chance!" Sparky cried.
"Calm down Sparky, we'll make it out of here. X-5, activate the guiding system of the castle maze," Atomic Betty ordered.
By connecting himself to the main computer system of the maze castle, X-5 activated a holographic system that showed the way to exit. The white holographic dots were bright against the dull gray background of the walls floors and ceiling. The castle was like a combination between medieval and futuristic, having the gray brick alignment of a medieval castle, but the bricks were made of metal instead of stone. Their polished shiny surface gave the castle a futuristic look. "We need to follow the dots."
"Just like Pac-Man," Atomic Betty commented. The big exception was that Pac-Man never really found a way out of the mazes, he only ate all of the pills and ended up in another maze in an endless loop, or so she thought. The theory at the arcade was that the arcade version of the Pac-Man game was truly endless since no one had been able to last long enough to see it end after it got really fast, no one until that day.
Sparky took Betty's Pac-Man comment a little too literally and tried to eat the holographic dots. "At least in Pac-Man there are little white candies and in Pac-Cat there are cookies."
A screen on the wall came on by itself showing a close up of Dr. Cerebral. "You may have stopped my plans but you'll never get out of there on time. You'll be crushed by the maze castle. Don't think that simply because you found a guide in those little holographic dots it assures you'll make it out, it' not like that at all. There are many traps waiting up ahead. You'll never make it out on time and I have already made my escape!" The screen changed to show a count down. They only had a few minutes to return to the Starcruiser and leave the castle which was floating in space and was about to blow up.
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On Earth, Noah tapped Betty's shoulder. "Betty is time to go to the movies." He was amazed by her skills playing Pac-Man but didn't want to spend the entire day standing there squished by the crowd that was trying to see her play.
"Most accomplish mission," Robo-Betty repeated monotone. She was programmed not to abandon any task until it had been properly completed and he had told her to win.
"But Betty, we'll miss the movie," Noah insisted.
"Shut up kid you heard her," another boy voiced.
"Yeah let us watch!" A girl added. Clearly, they rather have Betty continue playing than leave. They all wanted to know how long she would last.
Noah sighed and let them be. He watched the screen and wondered how long the arcade game was and if it was truly endless.
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Atomic Betty kicked a robot that had attacked them, crating a deep dent on its metal armor. "The path is clear let's hurry!" They only took a few steps forwards when the floor beneath their feet began to shake. They jumped forward as the floor behind them opened up revealing a hidden compartment under it. From under the floor, a large laser cannon was brought to their level. Immediately, it opened fire, missing them narrowly as they turned a corner.
More combat robots were waiting ahead, blocking their path as their time to escape continued to run out. "Captain, we only have one minute left to escape," X-5 pointed out.
"We're going to die!" Sparky started to panic again.
Betty herself was quite worried but kept her cool. They had escaped from dangerous situations in the past and they could do it again. "We'll make it out, we have to make it out and we will!"
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"Your evilness, you have to turn back!" Minimus switched from one face to another, unable to decide which one to keep in the moment of tension.
"I'm almost there, I'm going to make it!" Maximus kept saying over and over as he pushed the joy stick harder and it began to crack.
The yellow cat-like ball known as Pac-Cat reached the red ball of yarn a spilt second before the ghost reached the protagonist. The yarn magically wrapped itself around the yellow ball turning into a cape and mask. The super powered feline yellow ball, bit the ghost, swallowing it in one gulp and chased after its ghostly companions, who were right behind the first. It ate one after the other and the last cookie was up ahead. Suddenly the power of the ball of yarn ran out and the cape and mask disappeared, but it didn't matter. The ghosts would take a moment to recover and the last cookie in the entire maze was straight ahead.
"You're going to make it your evilness!" Minimus cheered, at least he wouldn't get hit on the head because Maximus lost.
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"We have thirty seconds left to escape before the maze castle explodes," X-5 announced as their battle continued. The seconds passed quickly and they were still fighting robots, trying to make their way out. "Fifteen seconds!"
"There's the Starcruiser!" Atomic Betty called. They rushed into their ship, hoping that they could get far enough from the explosion.
The Starcruiser took off at full speed, leaving the maze castle behind. The force of the explosion shook the ship violently. "Engage stabilizers," Atomic Betty reminded and soon the ship was stabilized and all was at peace. "Dr. Cerebral might have escaped, but his new base and all the weapons in it were destroyed."
"I knew we would make it. I didn't doubt it for a second," Sparky extra hungry after the adventure. "All that excitement made me hungry!"
"Everything makes you hungry," X-5 concluded. Another mission had been accomplished.
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Maximus' lair, the joy stick the super villain held snapped, broken off the base of the control and the yellow ball on the video game hologram he was playing came to a sudden stop. "No, don't stop now! The ghosts turned into floating eyes, but they'll be back! They'll come back to eat you!" Of course the cat yellow ball didn't move. "C'mon you have to move, I've never been this close to winning before!" It was no use. The broken control didn't have any effects on the game.
Soon the ghosts returned, fully recovered and ate the yellow feline ball, a few pixels away from the very last cookie that would have marked a victory. The words 'Game Over' appeared in 3D on the hologram as the maze disappeared and the rest of the room was left in darkness. "I lost... After all that hard work I came so close and yet I still lost. Is it because I'm evil? Does that mean I can never win at this game? Why is it that I can win against myself in Atomic Betty's video game, but I can never beat a bunch of edible ghosts at Pac-Cat?"
"I knew you played her game." An angry glare from Maximus made it quite clear to Minimus that it was best to pretend he didn't hear that part. "It's too bad you didn't win at Pac-Cat your evilness," Minimus corrected himself. He switched to his angry face, which looked amused by the unexpected turn of events. "I knew you would lose one way or another." To try to avoid the inevitable hit to the head that would come, Minimus quickly switched faces again and added. "You were so close to winning that next time you'll win for sure."
"I wanted to win this time! This is all your fault!" Maximus did not stop hitting Minimus on the head with the base of the broken control until it fell apart completely.
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On Earth, the robotic Betty, actually finished the Pac-Man game, which wasn't endless after all. Pac-Man, his wife Mrs. Pac-Man and their two children Pac-Jr. and Pac-Baby, danced around the screen as people clapped and cheered. "Now I must," she paused "go to the movies."
"The movie is over," Noah informed. "Although I have to admit, winning the Pac-Man game everyone thought was endless is pretty cool. Next time we go to a movie, let's go straight there, okay? C'mon we better leave, it's late." The sun had long since sunk into the horizon and the stars shone brightly in the sky, as the boy and the robot walked back to the home of the girl who was in space, on her way to Earth. Robo-Betty did not answer. It was as if she felt very tired, exhausted, as if her battery needed to be recharged.
The Starcruiser reached Earth and beamed up the robot as it walked towards Betty's house along with Noah. The earthling boy kept on trying to have the friendly conversation he wasn't given the chance to speak during their time at the arcade. For a moment he glanced at where Betty used to be and saw nothing but empty space, while on the ship, Betty stepped into the glass where the beam would activate.
"See ya tomorrow chief!" Sparky activated the beam and sent Betty back to Earth.
"Who are you looking for Noah?" Noah jumped, hearing Betty's sudden voice. At least he didn't get that odd feeling from her anymore, as if she wasn't herself. He decided not to mention it.
"I was looking for you... Never mind. You certainly earned a name for yourself today at the arcade by winning at Pac-Man. Everyone thought the game didn't have an end," Noah commented.
The robot had actually won at Pac-Man? Betty also thought the arcade version of the Pac-Man game was designed to be endless, like Columns. Another Galactic Guardian had once proven that the arcade Columns was in fact endless. "That was fun," Betty pretended she was there. "The movie was good too. I had a lot of fun today."
"The movie? What movie?" Noah asked. "You spent all this time in the arcade remember? That Pac-Man game is really long."
"Oh right, I almost forgot." Before she made another mistake, Betty thought it was best to leave. "It's kind of late I should go inside. Thanks for walking me home." Betty dashed into her house leaving a very confused Noah standing the sidewalk.
"Sometimes she's so strange it's like she's not from Earth." Noah turned in the direction to his house and started walking.
End of Planet 105
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End of Solar System XVI
Disclaimer, I don't own Atomic Betty, Star Wars, Pac-Man, Columns. Planet 103: The scene in the inn mansion and the grandfather clock is from Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle. The robot names are from Chrono Trigger based on R66Y's (Robo) name. Planet Palma is from the original Phantasy Star game series. Why does Betty's fake mom have red hair? Because they didn't want to make her look exactly like the real one, they also gave her a different name for security and they wanted to make Betty's secret story easy to guess for Maximus. Okasan means mother in Japanese and Cientifico means scientist in Spanish. Planet 104: Ichigo is strawberry in Japanese and Guineo is banana in Spanish.
Planet 103: Home
This plan was perfect, it just had to work. It was quite simple and rather logical, but it has never been done before. As effective as it might sound, it was also not very elaborate, therefore Maximus IQ, the self proclaimed greatest super villain genius in the universe, thought it wasn't worthy of him. But lately, after Atomic Betty had time and again stopped him from taking over the universe, he had come to appreciate the simplicity of this plan. To place a tracking device on the Starcruiser and see what planet the ship makes a stop at after a mission.
Placing the tracking devise was no problem. Betty and her crew were too distracted stopping Maximus from placing bomb in a random defenseless planet. All they had to do was take away the control that Maximus was going to use to detonate the bomb and he gave up and ran away. Experts in explosives arrived at the scene to assist the Galactic Guardians and assured them they could handle things from there.
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Today Betty was in a school fieldtrip. They were visiting an old town for historical purposes and there was also a museum there. It was a little far from Moose Jaw Height, but the trip was fun so far. The students were given some time to look around as long as they didn't go too far and stayed in groups. As she walked around along with Noah, Betty spotted an old mansion in the distance and in a clearing next to it she saw Maximus' space ship. Betty stared at it with her eyes open wide, unable to move as a million thoughts raced in her head. "What are you looking at?" Noah's voice brought her back to reality.
Betty quickly made up an excuse. "Look, a gift shop!"
"That's a grocery store," Noah wondered why Betty had started acting so strange all of a sodden after staring at the space ship next the old mansion. Of course he never thought the ship was real, it was probably there for little kids to play in.
"Well it's just as fun, let's go inside!" Betty practically dragged him by the arm into the grocery store.
"Betty, is something wrong?" Noah was a little worried by his best friend's strange behavior.
"Nothing," Betty searched for a way out of there without Noah seeing her. She spotted a mountain of apples neatly piled up like a pyramid. "I want an apple but I'm afraid I'll knock over the pile, could you get one for me, please?" She gave him her sweetest smile, which he couldn't resist.
"Sure, I'll get it." It was true that her sense of balance was better than his and he knew it, but he just couldn't say no. Feeling the guilt already building up, Betty whispered an inaudible apology and pushed the mountain of apples from the other side, then ran away before Noah saw her. The one in charge of the grocery store came running and started yelling at the boy who caused the mess. Noah believed it really was his fault and offered to pick them up. He started making a pile of apples again, only to have them fall every now and then and he had to start over.
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Betty ran towards Maximus' ship. She activated her bracelet to change into her Galactic Guardian uniform just in case it was a coincidence he was here. Just in case this was just another random planet he was attacking. If that was so, then she didn't want to give him any hints by wearing anything different on this planet. There didn't appear to be anyone on the ship so she decided to look around the surrounding area. She entered the old mansion to find a mummy standing behind a counter. From the inside, the mansion looked like an inn. Sure she would receive strange stares if anyone saw her dressed like that, but she would rather have people staring and pointing than the Earth blowing up. Other than the mummy, this place looked pretty normal.
"I told you I'm not going to help," that voice was Maximus, but where was he? Suddenly the door of a large grandfather clock was opened and Maximus came out of a secret passage.
"Wait, the future of this planet depends on you!" Said a man dressed with a white lab coat, black boots, black gloves and goggles on his head. His black and blond hair was spiky and messy. It looked as if lightning hit his head. It was the classic look of a mad scientist.
"Atomic Betty!" Maximus saw her.
"Maximus IQ, you are under arrest!" Betty tried to make it look as if the only reason she was on that planet was to arrest him and not because she lived there.
"Atomic Betty, Maximus IQ, nice to meet you I'm Dr. Cientifico. As I was telling this very interesting feline specimen, I am in need of assistance saving our beloved planet Earth." He sounded like a random crazy guy, the Earth wasn't in any danger other than Maximus and he couldn't be referring to him if he was asking for his help.
"Save the Earth from what?" Betty asked, just to make sure. There was a small probability there might actually be another danger besides Maximus right now.
"You see I have created some planet take over robots and your feline friend over there let them loose when he broke into my lab asking if I knew anything about Atomic Betty. Dear girl, you need to keep a better eye on your pet, the poor cat must have been lost and scared searching for his owner." Dr. Cientifico continued ranting, ignoring Maximus' deadly glare.
"I'm not a specimen, I'm not Atomic Betty's friend and I am definitely not her pet! I am Maximus IQ, the most evil super villain genius in the universe!"
"Well that's really nice and all, but I'm afraid that if you compare the planet take over potential of the planet take over robots and a mutant cat, the robots would take over the planet faster," Dr. Cientifico explained.
Maximus shook his head, wondering if all creatures from pre-contact planets were like this, insane. "I don't care about taking over this planet. It can blow up for all I care, in fact I'll blow it up as soon as I'm off it." He wasn't really going to blow it up, he kind of liked this planet except for the many insane inhabitants, but he had to sound evil. He tried to reason with the scientist; that is scare him, one last time before turning his attention to Atomic Betty. "Clearly this isn't your home planet, you might have tricked me into coming here so that I would fall into your trap and you could arrest me, but it will not work!"
Betty was relived that he didn't know that Earth was in fact her home planet. She quickly played along. "Even if you discovered my plans I'll still arrest you!"
"Aw, a girl and her cat how sweet! But in case you haven't noticed, the future of this planet is in danger! Now miss Atomic Betty since your pet started this mess, I believe it is your responsibility to fix it and you should bring him along to make sure everything's alright. I don't want him accidentally activating the doom's day devise," Dr. Cientifico rambled.
Maximus ignored him, but Betty had a question. "If you really have planet take over robots and a doom's day devise, why would you build them if you don't want to use them?"
"I'm a mad scientist, inventing such things is what I do, but that doesn't mean I have to go all evil and use them. Now shall we save the Earth?" Dr. Cientifico took a small controller with many buttons from his coat pocket and pressed a few buttons. From a door behind the counter where the mummy was, came two large robots. "R51Y and R52Y, take our guests to the lab." The scientist entered the grandfather clock, followed by the two robots; each of them picked up Betty and Maximus and carried them to the lab. "Now listen carefully," Dr. Cientifico continued while his roots pushed Betty and Maximus into a time machine. For a random mad scientist he made pretty strong robots. "The first prototype of my time machine was a little slow. It took the same amount of time to travel to the past as the amount of time back you wanted to travel and it only worked backwards. For example if it is 2:00pm and I wish to time travel to 1:00pm it would take an hour to get to the past, so by the time I get there, it would already be 2:00pm in the past; but I have modified my time machine to make it faster! It will take only a few seconds to travel to one hour in the past, once there, you must tell my past self to lock the door so random cats can't get in, that will undo the danger that was set loose today. When your mission is accomplished, you must return here and never speak of this to anyone again. Bye, bye!" Before Betty and Maximus could protest, there a bright light as the mad scientist activated the so called time machine.
Betty looked out a window of the fish shaped container that Dr. Cientifico called a time machine. It looked more like a strange old submarine with large glass windows where the fish's eyes would be. There was nothing out there, nothing but many strange colors light and randomness. The colors changed, mixing with each other, light, shadows, nothing could be identified. A few minutes passed, instead of a few seconds.
Maximus was also looking outside by the other window and saw the same thing. The fish shaped time machine shook around until the mouth opened and they were able to exit, but they were no longer in the lab. Instead they were in a strange planet. "What just happened?" Maximus was confused. He wished he had brought Minimus along to hit and blame for anything and everything, but his little sidekick was unconscious at the lair. 'I knew it was a bad idea to hit him with that hammer,' Maximus thought. 'Minimus better be awake by the time I get back or else.'
"I'm not sure," Betty admitted. That old thing couldn't have been a working time machine. Maybe it was some kind of strange space ship.
"Hello? Are you two still alive?" They heard a voice from inside the fish ship. They quickly rushed inside and saw Dr. Cientifico on the screen. "Sorry, but it appears that there was a minor short circuit that sent you two a lot further into the past then I expected. See that little thing next to the control panel, the little metal box. Pick it up and take it with you, it will display a hologram so I can call you when I repair things over here. You see the, vessel you traveled in is controlled remotely from here. Go on and look around now, but be careful not to mess up history or anything." The transmission was ended.
"I don't believe we actually time traveled," Maximus headed outside again.
"Neither do I," Atomic Betty followed. She would have to investigate about that mad scientist later. It appears that they were brought to another planet and even if this wasn't time travel, planetary travel was something not common on Earth. It was something that should be brought to the attention of the Galactic Guardians, just in case. Betty activated her bracelet to call the Starcruiser, but it didn't work. Great, trapped in strange planet with Maximus, no way of communication other than with a mad scientist, while that same a mad scientist is on the loose on Earth and Noah's probably stuck under a pile of apples.
Maximus had gone off to look around to try to determine what planet he was on and find a way of communication so someone could come pick him up. "Welcome visitors," a red haired woman identical to Betty's mother except for the hair color came to greet them. "We don't get many visitors from other planets here, who might you be?"
"I am Maximus IQ, the greatest super villain genius in the universe!" Maximus expected the woman to be scared or at least recognize him.
"No you're not," the woman sounded sure of what she was saying. "I would know Maximus if I saw him, he's pretty famous. I know you can't be him because he never goes anywhere without his sidekick Minimus and this young lady doesn't look like Minimus to me. Are you a fan of Maximus? That would explain why you kind of look like him."
"I am Maximus!"
"If you wish to be called that then Maximus it shall be and who do we have here?"
Betty was trying to get over her surprise to find someone that looked so much like her mother. "I'm Atomic Betty."
"My name is Okasan, nice to meet you both."
Maximus had noticed Betty was a little surprised by that woman and they looked so much alike. Could they be related? "What planet is this?"
"This is planet Palma," Okasan replied.
"Palma?" Maximus and Betty were taken by surprise.
"Yes, Palma, in the Algo solar system," Okasan explained. "Are you two lost? I know, why don't you stay and have lunch with me and my daughter. It will be nice to have some company over and my daughter will be happy to meet Galactic Guardians. Her name is Betty too and she looks a lot like you." Okasan started walking towards the house, indicating for Betty and Maximus to follow. Both of them very confused, followed her. How could this be planet Palma if they knew Palma was destroyed a long time ago? As they entered the house, they saw a little girl. "This is my daughter Betty. Betty they are Atomic Betty and Maximus. Why don't you go show our guests your space ship collection while I serve lunch?"
"Okay, mom," the little girl looked so much like Atomic Betty it was almost scary. "This way," she led them to another room where there were many toy space ships. She explained what each of them was called. "This is my favorite," she picked up a toy ship. "It's the latest in technology," both Atomic Betty and Maximus recognized that ship model and it wasn't the latest.
A hologram suddenly popped up from the small metallic box Betty was holding. "Good news, I've fixed everything here and I'll bring you back. After that, we can refuel and send you to the past that I should have sent you to. So jump on the time machine and get over here," the hologram disappeared as soon as Dr. Cientifico's message was over.
The little girl looked at the metal box curiously. "Do you have to go now?"
"Yes, we better go," Atomic Betty voiced. "Sorry we couldn't stay for lunch."
"It's okay, it's nice that you visited just for a little while. My mommy and I are alone here because daddy is in a business trip, but he will come back the day after tomorrow but I won't see him for another week. Tomorrow I get to visit the Galactic Guardians Headquarters and stay there in a training program for a week. I'm going to be a Galactic Guardian someday!" The little girl was clearly looking forward to it.
Before Maximus could say anything to criticize the Galactic Guardians, Betty spoke first. "Sounds great, have fun at headquarters. I'm sure you'll be a great Galactic Guardian someday. We have to go now."
Suddenly Maximus looked as if he just realized something. He silently followed Betty back to the fish shaped ship, lost in thought.
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The journey back to the lab was the same as when they got there and soon they had returned to Earth. "So good to have you back alive!" Dr. Cientifico greeted. "Guess what? I totally forgot I had a remote control that stops the robots from taking over the Earth. They returned to the lab as programmed and are now deactivated. He pointed to several small robots in a corner of the lab. "Yes, I know they look like toys, but they're dangerous. Well I guess I won't be needing your help after all, you can go now." Once again the robots R51Y and R52Y picked them up and placed them outside, then closed the door to the odd mansion.
"I know what's going on," Maximus announced and for a second Betty feared that her home planet was discovered. "We did time travel we were taken to planet Palma in the past before it was destroyed. Okasan looks like you because she's your mother and that little girl she must have been you. Yes, it all makes sense. You were spending your week with the Galactic Guardians when planet Palma was destroyed and your parents were still on the planet. The Galactic Guardians adopted you and you became Atomic Betty. I have it all figured out, I'm such a genius!" Maximus laughed victoriously.
"I guess you know the truth now," Betty sounded sad, after all her planet and family were destroyed, and she intended to take advantage of having that excuse to keep the Earth safe.
"I guess I won't be able to destroy your home planet after all because you don't have one! Too bad I wasn't the one who blew it up." The planet depended on a climate control to be inhabitable and it was the lack of maintenance that cause a short circuit so big it cause a chain reaction that destroyed the planet without a warning. "I almost feel sorry for you, almost." Maximus walked off to his ship and left.
"Just in case you're wondering," Dr. Cientifico came out of the mansion. "That fish shaped time machine was actually a suspended animation device and everything you saw was a dream." He reached into his coat pocket and took out a deactivated tracking chip. "Gotta be careful with these little things, but I don't think Maximus will be bothering to stalk you anymore."
Atomic Betty came to a realization. "You were with the Galactic Guardians all along!"
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With the Earth safe, Betty headed off to the grocery store where she left Noah, after she used her bracelet to change into her normal clothes.
"Hurry up kid before, I call your teacher and get you suspended." The store owner complained, while Noah tried his best to build the apple pyramid as it was before, but he kept knocking them over.
Betty snuck into the store and stood behind the pile. The next time Noah knocked them over, she pretended to fall. "Ow! My ankle!"
"Where did you come from?" The store owner looked at Betty. "You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"
"Oh my ankle hurts so much. Maybe Noah could help," Betty faked pain.
Noah immediately forgot about how angry he was because she disappeared. He thought it was entirely his fault that the apple pyramid came down in the first place, but she could have stayed to help, she was the one who wanted the apple after all. He quickly took her hand and helped her get up. The store owner looked worried. "Why don't you kids run along and don't worry about the apples."
"Afraid to be sued?" Noah had a hard time because of the store owner yelling at him every time the pile of apples came down when he was almost done. The owner laughed nervously and held the door open for them.
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When they were far enough from the store, Betty started walking normally again. "You were faking it," Noah concluded.
"It was the only way to get you out of there or the bus will leave without us," Betty explained. "Sorry I ran off."
"It's okay; at least you came back for me."
End of Planet 103
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Planet 104: Specimen
Atomic Betty had to step back and admire the pure irony that was taking place right in front of her. A cat trying to escape a fish's deadly grip on his throat was something that completely contradicted what one would expect to see.
Then again, the possibilities of such a scene occurring are much more likely when the cat isn't Purrsey and the fish isn't Betty's gold fish from Earth. In fact, this scene reminded her more of herself and Sir Purrsefus rather than Sir Purrsefus and her fish.
She remembered that time when Purrsey had her gold fish in his mouth and wouldn't let him go, so she threatened to get him wet if he didn't. Except in this case Maximus didn't eat Degill and Pontifadora is threatening to decapitate him with her bare hands, rather than simply get him wet.
The blue color that was appearing in the oxygen-less feline's face indicated that it was time to stop admiring this work of art as far as irony goes and do something about it. "Pontifadora, let him breath a little." The request was simple, yet the fish woman was not provided with a good enough reason to accept it. "If you kill him, he can't tell you where Admiral Degill is." This different way to word the same request worked well enough.
Letting the cat fall in a corner of his room, Pontifadora repeated her question. "Where is my Gilly?"
Maximus tried to get as much oxygen as he could into his lungs after Pontifadora nearly chocked him to dead. The blue color was starting to slowly fade away from his face and his breaths, still heavy, became more even. Finally, he looked like he had captured enough air within himself to speak. He opened his mouth to say something. Pontifadora listened anxiously for him to reveal the location of her beloved Gilly, but his words were not to indicate a place but to call for help, "Guards!"
Pontifadora pushed him against the wall again, this time holding onto him firmly by the shoulders. "They can't hear you."
Maximus stared at her wide eyed for a moment, coming to a conclusion as to why the guards wouldn't be able to hear him. "You killed them. You killed them all. Even Minimus?"
"Yes..."
"Oh for crying out loud," Atomic Betty stepped forward, losing the last of her patience. "Maximus, your guards and Minimus are not dead, they are simply knocked out but alive. Now will you just tell us what you did with Admiral Degill so we can be on our way?" Atomic Betty didn't even have time to call her crew. Pontifadora had arrived at her house demanding to know where Degill was and when Betty said she had no idea what she was talking about, Pontifadora had asked her to join the search and given her little choices.
Luckily, Betty parents were away at the moment and didn't see the alien. The situation was that Degill was supposed to meet Pontifadora for a date but he never showed up. If this was his way of breaking up with her she would kill him for it and if not then she would kill the one who made him miss the date. So that brings us to their current position in Maximus' lair. Pontifadora had left in hurry and refused to get more people then necessary involved in this, even if Atomic Betty had told her time and again that if Admiral Degill was missing, then it should be reported to the Galactic Guardians, but she wouldn't have it, she wanted to find him herself.
After following a few clues, in other words rumors and gossip, they found out that Admiral Degill's ship was last seen being chased by Maximus' ship, which is why Pontifadora had decided to interrogate him, but instead ended up choking him when he refused to answer her question.
"What's a Gilly?" Maximus asked, causing Pontifadora and Betty to give him blank stares. How an intergalactic criminal managed to sound so childish sometimes was one of the mysteries of the universe. Before the fish woman had gotten a hold of his neck, he was refusing to reveal the location of this 'Gilly,' but now it turns out he was being stubborn about it without even understanding the question.
"Admiral Degill," Atomic Betty clarified. "Tell us where Admiral Degill is."
"I don't know," Maximus didn't give it much thought, which was a detail that Pontifadora noticed and she didn't like it.
"You will remember or else!" Pontifadora aimed a laser gun at Maximus' head.
It had gone a little too far and if this was going to end without someone dieing, most likely Maximus, then Betty had to do something about it. "Pontifadora calm down, why don't you let me interrogate him."
Pontifadora stepped aside, but still kept her aim on Maximus from a few feet away, "fine."
"Maximus, try to remember. When was the last time you saw Admiral Degill?" Betty took the classic, I'm not mad at you, tone that one would take with a child when trying to get him to confess having done what he was told not to do.
"It was on a planet called Earth," Maximus revealed.
"Good, now can you tell me in what part of planet Earth?" Betty tried her best to sound indifferent to the planet's name so that he wouldn't hint that she lived there.
"I don't know, I'm not too familiar with planet Earth, it doesn't even have contact with other planets. The inhabitants of that planet don't know of life outside of their own little world," Maximus was starting to calm down a little even, if he was still in a corner of his room with no army or sidekick to defend him.
"In that case, you're coming with us until we find Gilly," Pontifadora was impatient.
"Alright I confess, I shot down Degill's ship on Earth but he survived the crash, I followed his ship and saw him get out. I was going to take him hostage so Atomic Betty had to surrender, but then a human picked him up and ran off with him," Maximus finally cracked and told them everything.
"You're coming with us anyway, I haven't decided if I'm letting you live," Pontifadora voiced.
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When they arrived on Earth they circled the planet until Maximus was able to identify the shapes of the land and remembered more or less where Admiral Degill's ship had crashed. The ship moved lower and flew over Canada with a special holographic cover that made it practically invisible by reflecting the sky. "There!" Maximus pointed at a building that appeared to be a laboratory.
Given the fact the technology in space was so much more advanced than on Earth, getting pass the security system was no problem. The laboratory appeared to be empty until they heard some one coming and quickly hid under a large desk to watch and see what clues they could get. "That was a very rare specimen you found," a man said.
"Yes, it was and if messing around with that strange craft it came in was fun, just wait till we get to experiment with the specimen!" a woman agreed.
"Could the specimen they're talking about be Gilly?" Pontifadora asked.
"Probably, but we can't act without a plan. We should," Pontifadora jumped out from under the desk before Betty could finish.
"Give me my Gilly!" Pontifadora aimed a gun at the two scientists who stared at her in surprise.
"Look Ichigo, it's a mermaid! A real fish woman, not like those silly half-fish drawings in kid's stories. This is a real one!" Guineo, the man in the lab coat, pointed at Pontifadora.
"Amazing, two specimens in one day!" Ichigo, the scientist woman, was as happy about it as her partner. "What do you suppose that futuristic looking device she's holding is?"
"It's a gun you idiots!" Pontifadora fired a warning shot to prove her point. "Where's my Gilly?" She then realized they wouldn't understand. "Where's the gold fish specimen?"
"It's in the other room," Ichigo replied. "Why don't I go get it for you and my partner here will give you a tour of the lab."
"I'm not stupid," Pontifadora growled. "Move an inch and you die. Atomic Betty, come here and keep an eye on them." No sense in hiding after this.
"Who are you and who is that mermaid creature? Did you create her in your lab?" Guineo asked.
"Don't ask questions, you'll forget the answers anyway," Atomic Betty replied.
By now Maximus had come out from under the desk and Guineo and Ichigo were staring at him. "What? Yes, I know, I'm perfect and unique."
Betty rolled her eyes. "There are plenty of people of your species Maximus, but you do have a point, you are one of the kind, I've never met anyone as annoying as you."
"I'll ignore the part about being annoying for now. There might be others of my species, but I'm better looking and smarter and, and I'm special," Maximus pouted.
Soon Pontifadora returned cuddling Degill in her arms. "It's okay now Gilly, don't you worry, I'll make sure no one hurts you," Maximus started laughing, seeing the great Admiral Degill in such a situation. "Silence!" Then he fell silent immediately.
Admiral Degill cleared his throat until Pontifadora got the message and placed him on the floor. "Well done Atomic Betty, thank you for assisting Pontifadora in my rescue. Let's not forget that certain memories need to be erased before we leave." Degill looked at Ichigo and Guineo. "As for you Maximus, why are you here?"
"No reason, just passing by." Maximus didn't feel like saying he was dragged there against his will.
Atomic Betty called Sparky and X-5 on her bracelet so they could come pick them up and bring the equipment to make sure Ichigo and Guineo didn't remember more than they should.
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"Aw, I missed all the action!" Sparky complained.
"Sorry Sparky, Pontifadora was in too much of a hurry to allow me to call you," Betty replied.
"Oh, well, there will be other missions," Sparky pouted. "I guess we should take you back to Earth now, right chief?"
"Let's go somewhere fun," Betty could really use that.
"Right away, chief!" Sparky set a course on the Starcruiser.
"Let me guess, we'll spend the rest of the day playing video games," X-5 concluded.
"You would have more fun if you didn't cheat," Sparky argued.
"I don't cheat, I merely adjust my senses to match the game so that I will press the correct buttons at the correct time and order," X-5 clarified.
"Well that's cheating!" Sparky insisted.
No matter how strange Betty's day had been, life in space was always fun. "Let's just go play!"
End of Planet 104
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Planet 105: Pac-Robo-Betty
Noah smiled as Betty arrived. It had been several months after his birthday and Betty had spent little to not time with him. She was his best friend, but sometimes he wondered if she thought of him as her best friend as well.
The first thing Noah noticed as Betty walked was the way she walked. Her steps were a little unnatural, almost mechanical, like a robot that needed some oil. A few clicks were heard as she stopped in front of him and her eyes focused on him like a camera recording his every move. But that was silly really, this was Betty an average human girl with a bit of a disappearance problem, but a human none the less.
"Greetings Noah," she spoke in a voice reassembling Betty's but far more mechanical and monotonous. It was as if the phrase had been the product of joining two recordings, each one containing each word. The 'greetings' voice was played first then there was a short barely noticeable pause, followed by a name, spoken in a slightly different tone, as if the phrase wasn't a continuous voice but two fragments of the same voice. Not once did she blink as she continued to stare at him with her green eyes open wide, waiting for his answer.
Noah felt as if he was being watched by someone other than Betty. He felt as if everything from his nervous shifting, to the rapid rate of his heartbeats was being recorded. Sure Betty was looking right at him, but surely she couldn't perceive him in that much detail. Then why did he feel like she could? He had never felt this uneasy around her before. Her gaze was so cold and distant, as if she was there but at the same time she wasn't. It was like she was staring right through him.
"Hi Betty," Noah finally managed to push the words out of his mouth. He didn't want to look like an idiot, but he couldn't help it but to feel strange in an unpleasant way.
"Our schedule indicates," Betty's voice, or rather a voice similar to hers but not quite exactly like hers, was heard speaking sweetly. "Go to the arcade," the next phrase was spoken in a sour tone, separating the phrase in three segments 'go to', 'the' and 'arcade'. The word 'the' was hastily added before 'arcade' as if some computer program watching over her verbal grammar had suddenly determined it was necessary. "The next task is," she paused after that. Her voice sounded quite bored. The next statement came out full of anger. "Go to movies, beep the movies." Apparently whatever corrected the grammar of her spoken words didn't process the sentence fast enough that time.
Noah nodded slowly. He was feeling quite tempted to run away. He didn't know why but Betty suddenly gave him a very bad feeling, unlike the pleasant feeling he usually got from her. He shook his head and told himself he was hallucinating. This was Betty for crying out loud, he had known her since they were in elementary school. "Right..." He desperately wanted to start a conversation but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
They walked quietly until they reached the arcade. Robo-Betty continued to follow Noah without saying a single word, which he found very strange. Maybe she just didn't want to be there. That would explain way she was always disappearing. "Betty, if you didn't want to come with me, you could have said something."
"Request accepted, something," Robo-Betty mistakenly assumed he was asking her to say 'something'. A few noises that resembled R2-D2 from Star Wars were heard as her processor reanalyzed his words. "Processing answer," there was a pause and her monotonous voice drastically changed to sweet. "I want to be here." After another pause his name was added at the end in a tone full of rage, "Noah."
Noah couldn't help it but to take a step back. Betty's robotic replica tilted her head down with an odd noise like metal clashing against metal and her eyes focused on the floor as if measuring the distance between them. She then took a step forward of the exact same length as the step Noah had taken backwards.
Trying to keep his cool and ignore the feeling of impending doom that wouldn't stop looming over him, Noah looked towards one of the video game arcade machines. "Why don't you try this one? I got plenty of tokens." He inserted a token on the machine, activating the game.
"Analyzing request, request accepted, please input the secondary information," Robo-Betty spoke with her monotonous and emotionless robotic voice. X-5 definitely sounded a million times better than that prototype, regardless of the modifications that had been made.
"Um... do your best and win?" Noah was unsure. She was talking in the strangest way. He wondered if this was all part of a joke he missed or if maybe he was the joke.
"Mission accepted," Betty placed her hands on the controls with more machine sounds. She started playing the game. The pupils of her eyes occasionally grew bigger and smaller as if going in and out of focus. Her skills in the game Pac-Man were amazing, too precise to be human. A crowd of people gathered around her, watching as she cleared level after level.
Noah could have sworn he saw a red glow in her eyes as if she was looking into the codes that composed the game and quickly predicting the ghosts' next move and coming up with a perfect counter move. Not once did those ghosts come near Pac-Man.
Everyone was amazed, even for the most experienced players it was a race for survival full of close calls, but to her, it was so easy the ghosts might as well not be there. She was making it look like the maze was a simple as a straight line of power pills. The crowd continued to gather, becoming bigger level after level. The speed of the game increased, but Robo-Betty appeared to be unaffected by it.
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Unknown to them, far away, someone else was playing a similar video game. A yellow circle with a pair of yellow triangles for ears, dotted eyes and an 's' shaped line for a tail, dashed across a tri-dimensional maze, projected by a hologram in the room. Ghosts in every color of the rainbow, save for yellow so as to not cause confusion, gave chase to the yellow protagonist of the game.
The ghosts looked like a sheet thrown over a floating circle. Their dotted eyes were drawn angry by the lines above them tilted towards the middle. They also had two little triangles atop their heads as ears and an 's' shaped line sticking out of the bottom of the cloud like shape at the end of the sheets.
The yellow circular creature opened and closed its mouth as it rapidly floated around the maze, unable to fly but a few inches from the maze's floor, certainly not enough to jump over its tall confining walls.
Above that hologram there was a 2D map of the maze, showing the position of the player's character and the ghostly enemies. It was easier to follow the map which reassembled Earth's style of Pac-Man than to attempt to follow the 3D maze not knowing when the yellow ball of hunger would turn a corned and come face to face with a ghost.
In a desperate dash, the yellow creature ate the last few cookies in that particular corridor of the large maze. The cookies were also circular with two triangles outlining the shape of the protagonist minus the tail. They had a pair of chocolate chips for eyes. "Almost there," Maximus pushed the joystick forward to its limits.
"Watch out your evilness!" Minimus called out. He had spotted a blue ghost heading right for the yellow cat like ball Maximus was controlling.
"There's a ball of yarn up ahead, I can make it!" Maximus pushed the joy stick forward even harder. The stick was already at its limits and it would soon break if he kept forcing it like that.
"You're going to lose!" Minimus's angry face sounded as if he hoped Maximus lost. Then again, he would probably get blamed for it and pay the consequences.
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Even further away, the real Atomic Betty was in a similar jam. "This guiding system should lead us out of the castle maze before it collapses. There is a fifty two point three percent chance that we'll make it out alive," X-5 informed.
"Only fifty two point three, that's it? We're not going to make it out alive! I wish I had eaten more while I still had the chance!" Sparky cried.
"Calm down Sparky, we'll make it out of here. X-5, activate the guiding system of the castle maze," Atomic Betty ordered.
By connecting himself to the main computer system of the maze castle, X-5 activated a holographic system that showed the way to exit. The white holographic dots were bright against the dull gray background of the walls floors and ceiling. The castle was like a combination between medieval and futuristic, having the gray brick alignment of a medieval castle, but the bricks were made of metal instead of stone. Their polished shiny surface gave the castle a futuristic look. "We need to follow the dots."
"Just like Pac-Man," Atomic Betty commented. The big exception was that Pac-Man never really found a way out of the mazes, he only ate all of the pills and ended up in another maze in an endless loop, or so she thought. The theory at the arcade was that the arcade version of the Pac-Man game was truly endless since no one had been able to last long enough to see it end after it got really fast, no one until that day.
Sparky took Betty's Pac-Man comment a little too literally and tried to eat the holographic dots. "At least in Pac-Man there are little white candies and in Pac-Cat there are cookies."
A screen on the wall came on by itself showing a close up of Dr. Cerebral. "You may have stopped my plans but you'll never get out of there on time. You'll be crushed by the maze castle. Don't think that simply because you found a guide in those little holographic dots it assures you'll make it out, it' not like that at all. There are many traps waiting up ahead. You'll never make it out on time and I have already made my escape!" The screen changed to show a count down. They only had a few minutes to return to the Starcruiser and leave the castle which was floating in space and was about to blow up.
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On Earth, Noah tapped Betty's shoulder. "Betty is time to go to the movies." He was amazed by her skills playing Pac-Man but didn't want to spend the entire day standing there squished by the crowd that was trying to see her play.
"Most accomplish mission," Robo-Betty repeated monotone. She was programmed not to abandon any task until it had been properly completed and he had told her to win.
"But Betty, we'll miss the movie," Noah insisted.
"Shut up kid you heard her," another boy voiced.
"Yeah let us watch!" A girl added. Clearly, they rather have Betty continue playing than leave. They all wanted to know how long she would last.
Noah sighed and let them be. He watched the screen and wondered how long the arcade game was and if it was truly endless.
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Atomic Betty kicked a robot that had attacked them, crating a deep dent on its metal armor. "The path is clear let's hurry!" They only took a few steps forwards when the floor beneath their feet began to shake. They jumped forward as the floor behind them opened up revealing a hidden compartment under it. From under the floor, a large laser cannon was brought to their level. Immediately, it opened fire, missing them narrowly as they turned a corner.
More combat robots were waiting ahead, blocking their path as their time to escape continued to run out. "Captain, we only have one minute left to escape," X-5 pointed out.
"We're going to die!" Sparky started to panic again.
Betty herself was quite worried but kept her cool. They had escaped from dangerous situations in the past and they could do it again. "We'll make it out, we have to make it out and we will!"
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"Your evilness, you have to turn back!" Minimus switched from one face to another, unable to decide which one to keep in the moment of tension.
"I'm almost there, I'm going to make it!" Maximus kept saying over and over as he pushed the joy stick harder and it began to crack.
The yellow cat-like ball known as Pac-Cat reached the red ball of yarn a spilt second before the ghost reached the protagonist. The yarn magically wrapped itself around the yellow ball turning into a cape and mask. The super powered feline yellow ball, bit the ghost, swallowing it in one gulp and chased after its ghostly companions, who were right behind the first. It ate one after the other and the last cookie was up ahead. Suddenly the power of the ball of yarn ran out and the cape and mask disappeared, but it didn't matter. The ghosts would take a moment to recover and the last cookie in the entire maze was straight ahead.
"You're going to make it your evilness!" Minimus cheered, at least he wouldn't get hit on the head because Maximus lost.
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"We have thirty seconds left to escape before the maze castle explodes," X-5 announced as their battle continued. The seconds passed quickly and they were still fighting robots, trying to make their way out. "Fifteen seconds!"
"There's the Starcruiser!" Atomic Betty called. They rushed into their ship, hoping that they could get far enough from the explosion.
The Starcruiser took off at full speed, leaving the maze castle behind. The force of the explosion shook the ship violently. "Engage stabilizers," Atomic Betty reminded and soon the ship was stabilized and all was at peace. "Dr. Cerebral might have escaped, but his new base and all the weapons in it were destroyed."
"I knew we would make it. I didn't doubt it for a second," Sparky extra hungry after the adventure. "All that excitement made me hungry!"
"Everything makes you hungry," X-5 concluded. Another mission had been accomplished.
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Maximus' lair, the joy stick the super villain held snapped, broken off the base of the control and the yellow ball on the video game hologram he was playing came to a sudden stop. "No, don't stop now! The ghosts turned into floating eyes, but they'll be back! They'll come back to eat you!" Of course the cat yellow ball didn't move. "C'mon you have to move, I've never been this close to winning before!" It was no use. The broken control didn't have any effects on the game.
Soon the ghosts returned, fully recovered and ate the yellow feline ball, a few pixels away from the very last cookie that would have marked a victory. The words 'Game Over' appeared in 3D on the hologram as the maze disappeared and the rest of the room was left in darkness. "I lost... After all that hard work I came so close and yet I still lost. Is it because I'm evil? Does that mean I can never win at this game? Why is it that I can win against myself in Atomic Betty's video game, but I can never beat a bunch of edible ghosts at Pac-Cat?"
"I knew you played her game." An angry glare from Maximus made it quite clear to Minimus that it was best to pretend he didn't hear that part. "It's too bad you didn't win at Pac-Cat your evilness," Minimus corrected himself. He switched to his angry face, which looked amused by the unexpected turn of events. "I knew you would lose one way or another." To try to avoid the inevitable hit to the head that would come, Minimus quickly switched faces again and added. "You were so close to winning that next time you'll win for sure."
"I wanted to win this time! This is all your fault!" Maximus did not stop hitting Minimus on the head with the base of the broken control until it fell apart completely.
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On Earth, the robotic Betty, actually finished the Pac-Man game, which wasn't endless after all. Pac-Man, his wife Mrs. Pac-Man and their two children Pac-Jr. and Pac-Baby, danced around the screen as people clapped and cheered. "Now I must," she paused "go to the movies."
"The movie is over," Noah informed. "Although I have to admit, winning the Pac-Man game everyone thought was endless is pretty cool. Next time we go to a movie, let's go straight there, okay? C'mon we better leave, it's late." The sun had long since sunk into the horizon and the stars shone brightly in the sky, as the boy and the robot walked back to the home of the girl who was in space, on her way to Earth. Robo-Betty did not answer. It was as if she felt very tired, exhausted, as if her battery needed to be recharged.
The Starcruiser reached Earth and beamed up the robot as it walked towards Betty's house along with Noah. The earthling boy kept on trying to have the friendly conversation he wasn't given the chance to speak during their time at the arcade. For a moment he glanced at where Betty used to be and saw nothing but empty space, while on the ship, Betty stepped into the glass where the beam would activate.
"See ya tomorrow chief!" Sparky activated the beam and sent Betty back to Earth.
"Who are you looking for Noah?" Noah jumped, hearing Betty's sudden voice. At least he didn't get that odd feeling from her anymore, as if she wasn't herself. He decided not to mention it.
"I was looking for you... Never mind. You certainly earned a name for yourself today at the arcade by winning at Pac-Man. Everyone thought the game didn't have an end," Noah commented.
The robot had actually won at Pac-Man? Betty also thought the arcade version of the Pac-Man game was designed to be endless, like Columns. Another Galactic Guardian had once proven that the arcade Columns was in fact endless. "That was fun," Betty pretended she was there. "The movie was good too. I had a lot of fun today."
"The movie? What movie?" Noah asked. "You spent all this time in the arcade remember? That Pac-Man game is really long."
"Oh right, I almost forgot." Before she made another mistake, Betty thought it was best to leave. "It's kind of late I should go inside. Thanks for walking me home." Betty dashed into her house leaving a very confused Noah standing the sidewalk.
"Sometimes she's so strange it's like she's not from Earth." Noah turned in the direction to his house and started walking.
End of Planet 105
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End of Solar System XVI
Disclaimer, I don't own Atomic Betty, Star Wars, Pac-Man, Columns. Planet 103: The scene in the inn mansion and the grandfather clock is from Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle. The robot names are from Chrono Trigger based on R66Y's (Robo) name. Planet Palma is from the original Phantasy Star game series. Why does Betty's fake mom have red hair? Because they didn't want to make her look exactly like the real one, they also gave her a different name for security and they wanted to make Betty's secret story easy to guess for Maximus. Okasan means mother in Japanese and Cientifico means scientist in Spanish. Planet 104: Ichigo is strawberry in Japanese and Guineo is banana in Spanish.