New Assignment

As Penny ran through the halls of the palace, hitching up the folds of the dress so she didn't accidentally step on the hem and trip herself, she silently cursed herself for allowing herself to be dressed in this thing to begin with. It was true that she only had only allowed her friend to dress her up in this in order to make her smile, and Penny had to admit that she had found it to be rather fun, but now she found this dress to be acting like an anchor that was keeping her from performing the job that she'd been brought up here in the first place to do: namely protecting that same friend from those who have now come to harm her.

As she rounded the corner, Penny spotted them through the doors that led out onto the balcony: her friend was currently standing beside the prince who had captured her heart (and whose banishment from the kingdom had caused the tears that led to this game of dress-up), and together they were confronting the leader of the invaders who were currently decimating the kingdom. As this self-styled Queen casually exerted her power to drag the prince through the air towards her, and her friend leapt through the air on determination to not let her love be taken away, Penny picked up the pace. She might be able to fight as well as she could run in this thing, but she was determined that no harm would come to her friend no matter what, even if she could only serve as a human shield.

Before Penny could get close enough to the doors to clearly hear what was going on, an explosion rocked the palace and one of the massive pillars fell and knocked her down, pinning her legs beneath its weight. Though the pain was intense, Penny still tried to free herself from under the pillar. But its weight was too great for her alone to move, so she was forced to watch as the witch used her power to kill both the prince and her best friend. Her eyes swimming with tears that stemmed more from the pain in her heart than that of her body, Penny cried out in broken-hearted despair, "Princess Serenity!"

Penny sat bolt upright in her bed, breathing hard as she dabbed at the tears that were still wet on her cheeks. She sat there in stunned surprise for a moment, both at how real that dream felt and in the belief that this was not the first time she'd had that dream. Even though she could not remember the details of it before now, Penny was certain that the last time she had this dream was when she was a little more than 8 years old.

"Penny?" she heard her uncle call through the door after he knocked, "Are you alright in there?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Penny answered him, "Just a bad dream."

"Are you sure?" her uncle asked in concern, "What was it about?"

As Penny started to answer, she felt the details of the dream fading away just as quickly as they did before, leaving only the heartache behind. "I don't remember," Penny answered truthfully, "but I'm fine."

"Okay, but remember that you have school in the morning," her uncle told her, "so please try to go back to sleep."

"I will," Penny assured him, "Good night, Uncle Gadget."

"Good night, Penny," she heard her uncle say before he walked back down the hall.

As she settled back into her bed, Penny's mid reeled with questions: Why did these dreams feel real, as if they were more than mere dreams? How come was she never able to remember them mere moments after she was awake? Why had she had this dream again now, nearly 10 years after the last time she'd had it? With a sigh, Penny promised herself that someday soon she was going to invent a gadget that would allow her to record these dreams of hers. Perhaps by examining it by the light of day she would be able to solve the mystery of her aching heart.

Meanwhile, in the devastated zone known as the Negaverse…

There is virtually nothing here: no sound, no natural light, absolutely no signs of life anywhere. The only movement here is the drifting of random debris. If anyone who was here before this devastation took place were asked, then they would tell you that the way it is now is a vast improvement, much less creepy. Of course it's still creepy now, but at least now the air isn't filled with the howls of various beasts and monstrous warriors competing for the attentions of their insidious queen, who ruled this dimension from her hideous castle.

And then there is movement, as particles smaller than the finest grain of sand flow from the furthest corners of this dimension to one central location. Eventually these swirling particles take on the shape of a woman, then the static filled appearance of one. Then this woman throws her head back and howls her rage and frustration. Blast that accursed moon princess and her prince! the thoughts rage in her head, fury robbing her voice of any sound other than animalistic howls, Blast those abominable Sailor Scouts! I was so close to realizing my ambition of ruling all of the realms, and then they come along and ruin everything! Now I'm left with nothing: no army, no castle, even my own body is gone!

She then directs her attention to where she can see the planet Earth. She scowls at it as she aims her palm in that direction, but a moment later she clenches that hand into a fist. Too much of my essence is still scattered! she thinks in frustration, I don't even have enough energy to perform a simple transformation spell! I must find a way to gather more of myself together if I'm to have any chance of exacting my revenge on Princess Serenity and her Scouts, but I have neither the means nor the manpower. Who would be evil enough to fulfill my requirements? As she watches the blue orb spin, the woman's scowl slowly melts into a thoughtful, malicious smile. Yes, the woman thinks with a hint of delight, they may serve quite nicely. Then the woman vanishes, leaving the realm as barren and lifeless as before.

At a castle in an undisclosed location…

"Curse that Inspector Gadget! Curse him!" Dr. Claw shouted as he ponded his desk, startling M.A.D. Cat to where he leaped into the air and screeched, "No matter how meticulously I plan, Gadget always foils it! I set the most foolproof traps, yet he always escapes unharmed! How can one man best my entire criminal organization, particularly a buffoon like Gadget!"

"Temper, temper," Dr. Claw hears a female voice chide him, "You'll never beat anyone if you lose your cool like that."

"Who said that?" Dr. Claw said as he looked around his office, "Show yourself!"

"Why, I'm right here," the voice said again as the image of a woman appeared on his monitor. She appeared to be rather beautiful, with her fair skin and her flowing red hair, but there was a harshness to her beauty, a cruel set to her eyes. She looked like the kind of woman who would lure a songbird into the palm of her hand only to twist off its head and feed it to his cat. In other words, she was Claw's kind of woman. "And as I was saying, the party who generally wins any kind of conflict is the one who can remain calm and collected no matter how dire the situation can end up being for them. Believe me, I know how hard it can be to not blow your top when the one who messes up your plans has less sense than that which was granted a goldfish. It was due to my losing my head that I ended up in this state."

"Really, and who might you be?" Dr. Claw said with an air of intrigue.

"My name is Queen Beryl," the woman introduced herself, "Ruler of the Negaverse, destroyer of the Moon Kingdom, and future conqueror of the planet Earth. And you, from what I understand, are Dr. Claw, leader of the criminal organization M.A.D. who also seeks to force the world into submission. If we work together, then we can take care of the thorns in our mutual sides and finally realize our ambitions!"

"I see," Dr. Claw said, "But even though I find it somewhat impressive that you managed to hack my terminal, I fail to see what it is that you can do for me."

Queen Beryl smiled a cruel smile, then, to Dr. Claw's amazement, she reached outside the screen and began to pull herself out of his monitor, emerging as a static filled hologram. Then, once most of her torso had emerged, she turned away from Dr. Claw and formed a small fireball in the palm of her hand and threw it. M.A.D. Cat, who was not about to be used as a living target, screeched and dashed out of the way just before the fireball burned a neat hole just where he was moments ago.

"Most of my essence was scattered during my last battle with Princess Serenity. That was what I can do with a mere 3% of my abilities intact," Beryl explained, "I had determined that most of my remaining essence had trickled through here, to Earth. With the technology and manpower your organization possesses, we can gather even more of my essence, restoring my ability to grant you power that you had never before dreamed of. When I have enough of my strength returned to me we'll be unstoppable! No more Moon Princess, no more Gadget, the world will be ours!"

Dr. Claw chuckled as he said, "Beryl, you truly are a Queen after my cold, black heart!" Then they joined together in wicked laughter.

The next morning, at Metro City High School…

"Kenny," Penny sighed as she spoke with exasperation to the big oaf blocking her way into the school, "would you get out of the way already?"

"Why should I?" the musclebound 19 year old sneered as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Penny sighed again at his predictable answer. Being the smartest kid in her school had frequently made her the target for bullies like Kenny, but compared to the goons that worked for Dr. Claw that she always secretly helped her Uncle Gadget defeat, people like Kenny ended up only being an annoyance. Of course she could have skipped several grades and ended up in college by now, but Penny wanted to be around other kids her age, she wanted to make a friend she could relate things to. However, with this being her senior year in high school, the likelihood of her finding a friend now was slim to none. Instead, she has to put up with doofuses like Kenny making fun of her due to how smart she was.

"Because," Penny said slowly, hoping that doing so will allow his limited intellect to take it in, "I'm going to be late to class, and if you keep blocking my way so will you."

"Pfft, like I care!" Kenny said as he waved away her argument, "You may think you're some sort of big shot just because your uncle is the famous Inspector Gadget, but to me you're just another geek. It's not like you're the one who puts away the bad guys!"

Penny chuckled inwardly as she thought, If only you knew. The truth was that nobody, not Dr. Claw, not Chief Quimby, not even her Uncle Gadget knew that it was through the extensive help of Brain and herself that Uncle Gadget not only survived but also solved his cases. Without her help, Uncle Gadget might have perished on his first case that involved Dr. Claw, then Penny might truly be an orphan. Of course Penny loved her uncle enough to allow him and everyone else believe that he alone was responsible for stopping M.A.D. every time, so she was not about to let someone like Kenny goad her into blowing that secret now.

"You're right," Penny said instead, "Uncle Gadget is a true hero, but I don't need his help to kick your butt. So, if you'll excuse me…" Then, before he could react, she shoved her way past him and entered the school, hearing Kenny mutter "Whatever" as he turned to follow her inside.

As Penny sat and listened to her teacher during world history, Penny could not help but notice that several of the popular girls were wearing the same hair style as she herself wore today. In fact, Penny had chosen this particular hair style anticipating that it would be in fashion now. As usual, however, it refused to draw any attention to herself beyond the occasional point and snicker.

In fact, nothing she had tried ever worked to establish friendly relations towards her. She had even tried to deliberately get just enough answers wrong on test to avoid getting 100% and making her appear not as smart. And while that tactic had indeed gotten the teachers to stop pestering her to move on to the next grade, the students were not as easily fooled.

Resigning herself to the likelihood of her senior year being just as lonely as the others, Penny opened up her notebook to "take" notes. It was not as if she actually needed to write down what the teacher was saying, as she knew the material by heart anyway. Of course neither was her "notebook" really an notebook, nor the "pen" merely a pen. The pen not only doubled as a stylus, but also had several other features that came in handy from time to time, such as a plasma cutter capable of cutting through six inches of solid steel within seconds. As for her notebook, it was actually her secret and super powerful portable computer with touchscreen capabilities.

In the beginning, when she was first helping out her uncle with his cases, she hid the computer inside a book that she carried around with her everywhere. However, as she got older and moved onto Junior High then High School, she upgraded the technology and disguised it as a notebook so as to be less conspicuous. She even designed it to have several tearaway "pages" that would permanently show the notes displayed at the time to aid in the disguise, although she had never been put in a position to utilize that feature.

As she continued to pretend to take notes, her notebook unexpectedly shifted into computer mode. Surprised by this action, as she was certain that she hadn't entered the sequence to cause the change, Penny angled the notebook so that the others couldn't see so she could change it back. As she prepared to start the sequence with her stylus, however, a brilliant light shone from the "screen" into her face.

As she blinked, Penny found herself no longer in the classroom, but instead she appeared to be standing on the surface of the moon. Additionally, she seemed to be all alone save for one other person. Dressed in an elegant white gown, this beautiful woman had her long silver hair done in two loose-hanging ponytails on either side of her head with a good length of it bunched up in spherical formations where the tails began on her head. Most curious about this woman was the strange appearance of a crescent moon marking on her forehead.

"Who are you?" Penny asked her in confusion, "I….I know you, don't I?"

"Yes," the woman replied with a kind smile, "Long ago we knew each other quite well. To me you were like a second daughter, and to my daughter you were a loyal protector, a sister, and a best friend."

The woman's words caused memories to stir of dreams that Penny had then forgotten. Shaking her head to clear it, she asked, "What is this place? How had I come to be here?"

"I'm sure that you have many questions, and the answers will all come in due time," the woman said in a soothing tone, "Suffice it to say that we are currently inside your mind, and I've appeared to you here in order to warn you of a danger that now threatens everything we both care about."

"We're inside my head?" Penny asked her, "Am I dreaming?"

"You are quite awake, my dear. Now listen," the woman responded, "The danger I speak of is an evil woman by the name of Queen Beryl. A few years ago she was defeated by my daughter and her friends, preventing her from destroying the earth the way she had my own kingdom. Now she is threatening to rise again, and she is conspiring with your uncle's arch-nemesis to become even stronger than ever."

"You mean Dr. Claw?" Penny asked in shock.

The woman nodded as she continued, "Your uncle is getting the mission to investigate this as we speak. I know that in the past you have followed him in order to help him solve his cases. Although he may attempt to be considerate and let you remain here to finish your education in the place you grew up in, for the sake of everything we both care for you must accompany him once again, even though it'll mean moving away from everything you know."

Penny nodded even before the woman had finished speaking. Even if she had anything to leave behind here that she'd end up missing, Penny would never willingly allow her uncle to go into a dangerous situation without her to secretly watch his back. The woman smiled as the space around her grew ever brighter, saying, "Good luck, my dear Penny, for the time you will realize your destiny is fast approaching. The fate of your uncle, my daughter, and the entire Earth rests squarely in your hands."

Penny blinked, then she found herself back in the classroom, where her teacher Mr. Cotter was looking directly at her, saying, "Penny?"

Quickly tracing out the reset sequence with her stylus, Penny met his gaze and responded, "Yes, Mr. Cotter?"

Mr. Cotter walked over and laid Penny's notebook flat on the desk, revealing meticulously taken notes of the lecture he'd been conducting, and asked her, "I was asking if you could tell us when and where the Titanic had sank?"

"Of course," Penny answered, then recited without looking at her notes, "The RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early morning of 15 April, 1912 after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, UK to New York City, US. The sinking of Titanic caused the deaths of more than 1,500 people in one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in modern history. The RMS Titanic, the largest ship afloat at the time it entered service, was the second of three Olympic class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line, and was built by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast with Thomas Andrews as her naval architect. Andrews was among those lost in the sinking. On her maiden voyage, she carried 2,224 passengers and crew."

"Uh, thank you, Penny," Mr. Cotter said, suddenly uncomfortable, "That was rather….expansive." Then he continued his lecture as he walked away as he said, "Now many of those deaths could have been prevented…" But Penny wasn't focusing on him anymore, her mind dwelling upon what had just happened. Why did her notebook react that way? Just who was that woman? How did she know so much about her and her uncle? Did it all really happen, or was it some waking dream? And why did she get the feeling that her life was about to change forever?

As Inspector Gadget patrolled the park he whistled a tune cheerfully, absolutely content with the peace that existed in this place under his protective watch. When he passed a couple of boys playing catch near a park bench, Gadget heard a voice calling out in a whisper, "Psst! Gadget! Over here!"

Recognizing that voice, Gadget looked around and said, "Chief? Is that you? Where are you?"

"I'm right here!" Chief Quimby whispered as he lifted the flap of the trash can he was hiding inside, then he pushed out a sheet of paper as he continued, "Here's your new assignment."

Gadget took the sheet from the Chief, then he read aloud, " 'Dr. Claw suspected of setting up a new headquarters near Tokyo, Japan. Intelligence reports indicates he has a new ally he's working with on a new world domination plot. The mission is to investigate this conspiracy and stop it at any cost. Due to long term nature of assignment, temporary relocation of residence may be necessary. Caution: this message will self-destruct.' "

As he lowers the paper, Gadget scratches his head thoughtfully as he says, "I'd have to move? But Penny had just started her last year of High School, I couldn't disrupt her life like that. Hmm, maybe I can ask Mrs. Miller to watch her while I'm away. She wouldn't have to do much since the Gadget House is fully automated anyway." Gadget them began to crumble the note as she said, "Well you won't have to worry about a thing, Chief. I'm always on duty." Gadget then turned and tossed the note over his shoulder and bounced it off his shoe towards the trash can. In a panic, the Chief let go of the can's door and covered his head. As he did so, the swinging door struck the crumpled note, deflecting it off its course to land on the bench next to the can.

Realizing that the note did not make it inside the can he was hiding in, Chief Quimby breathed a sigh of relief, then began chanting in celebration. "Yes! At last I'm free! I'm free! I'm free!..."

Meanwhile, one of the boys who was playing catch went to retrieve the ball that he missed. As he picked it up from where it had rolled against the bench, the boy spotted the crumpled not in the bench. Shrugging his shoulders, the boy picks up the note and deposits it in the nearby trash can.

Inside the can, the Chief is still chanting, "…I'm free! I'm free!" when the note falls right into his hands, causing him to exclaim, "Oh no!" just before it explodes in his face. As the smoke clears, the Chief grouses, "I really hope it's a looong assignment, I'm getting too old for this!"

After having parked her bicycle in front of the house, Penny had went to her room to work on her homework. This was another point that other kids had poked fun with her about: while she took her bike back and forth to school, other kids her age were driving cars. She didn't let this one bother her as much, though, for she liked using her bike (plus she had other, faster methods for getting around, but she didn't exactly go around advertising those.)

She had programmed the kitchen to have dinner prepared and ready to serve around 8:30, as that was the time her uncle usually returned home on most days when he was just out on standard patrol. So when she heard him open the front door a little after 7 Penny knew that something was up. Leaving her work on her desk, Penny went to greet her uncle with a hug and a peck on the cheek as she said nonchalantly, "Uncle Gadget, you're home early!"

Although this greeting seemed to please her uncle, Penny could tell by the expression on his face that he was gearing himself to tell her something important, something neither he nor she would necessarily like. "Yes, well, you see, Penny, I've just been given a huge assignment," Gadget explained to her after clearing his throat uncomfortably, "Dr. Claw is up to something big in Japan, and I've been ordered to go and investigate."

"Wow, really! That sounds exciting!" Penny said as she put just enough enthusiasm into her voice, "When do we go?"

"Well, Penny, that's the thing," her uncle said as she shuffled from foot to foot, "This mission could keep me away for a very long time, and you still have school and all…"

"You mean that you don't want me to come with you?" Penny asked, letting her disappointment show on her face and in her voice.

No, no, it's not that!" Gadget said quickly, backtracking, "It's just that I know how difficult the last year of school can be, and changing schools in the middle of it doesn't help…"

"Actually, school here has been way too easy for me here," Penny reasoned, "I could actually use a challenge, and I hear that the Japanese school system is really advanced. Besides, the school year had barely started here."

"But what about your friends here?" Gadget asked, "Won't you miss them?"

"I don't actually have any friends here. Guess I'm too smart or something," Penny told him, "Perhaps I might be able to make some friends this year if I come with you."

"But what about the language barrier?" Gadget asked her in concern.

"I can actually speak and understand Japanese fluently," Penny told her uncle in perfect Japanese, "I am also very good at reading and writing Kanji and Kana."

"Uh….yeah, whatever you just said," Gadget said hesitantly, scratching his head as if he didn't fully understand what his niece just told him.

"Don't worry about it, Uncle Gadget," Penny told him with a chuckle, "I can update your translation program later. Just please, please, please let me come with you? This could be my last chance before I go off to college to actually make a friend. Please?"

After another moment of Penny giving her uncle the Bambi eyes, Inspector Gadget sighs and smiles at her as he says, "Okay Penny, if it means that much to you then you can come along."

Penny squeals and hugs her uncle tightly as she says, "Thank you, Uncle Gadget, thank you so much!" Then she gives him a big kiss on the cheek before racing off to her room and saying, "I'm going to go pack!"

As soon as she got to her room, Penny shut the door and leaned against it, sighing in relief. She hated to play on her uncle's sympathies like that, but she knew from what that woman said that she had to go with her uncle on this assignment, and she would rather avoid having to flat out disobey him if she could prevent having him put his foot down on the matter. Penny imagined that her ploy had worked due to the fact that everything she had said was the truth. She DID crave a challenge in her education and she WOULD like to make a friend, those merely weren't her primary motivations for wanting to go.

First and foremost she had to keep her uncle safe. Additionally, she had to learn more about the connection she felt with the woman who had warned her about this assignment, a connection Penny believed was related to the dreams she could never quite remember, and she felt that all the answers was waiting for her on this trip. With purpose and determination widening her steps, Penny grabbed her bags and began to pack the things that she needed to.

"Okay, this is the last one Uncle Gadget!" Penny called out as she hauled the remaining luggage out to the Gadgetmobile. After setting the bag down behind it for her uncle, Penny turned around and took one last look at the house and the surrounding neighborhood, feeling a wave of nostalgia rise up in her. This was the place that she had grown up in with her Uncle Gadget, the safe haven that they had returned to after each of the missions her uncle didn't know they'd shared. This was the place where they'd laughed together, cried together, shared countless meals and meaningful talks together. Penny realized that even if they came back after her uncle's latest mission, it would not likely be until after she was ready to move out, so this would be the last time she could call this place her home.

"Penny?" Her uncle said as he placed a hand gently on her shoulder, noticing the tear welling up in the corner of her eye, "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Uncle Gadget," Penny said truthfully, "Just saying goodbye to the old neighborhood."

"If you've changed your mind I can still call Mrs. Miller, have her keep an eye on you while I'm away," her uncle offered kindly.

"No, that's okay," Penny said brightly as she wiped the tear away, turning towards him and offering up a determined smile, "I'm ready to do this."

"If you're sure?" Uncle Gadget asked her, to which Penny nodded and headed over to the passenger door, followed by Gadget entering the driver side door. As he sat down and fastened his seat belt, Gadget said, "Safety belt on?"

Penny, already seated and buckled in, finished adjusting her belt and said, "Ready!" Gadget then turned in his seat and aimed a keychain fob back at the Gadget House as he pressed a button. Instantly, the house began folding in on itself, becoming smaller and smaller until it was about the size of a moderately-sized trailer. Then it rolled forward and hooked onto the Gadgetmobile's trailer hitch and further secured itself with several mooring lines. Finally, Uncle Gadget turned back around and shifted the Gadgetmobile into flight mode, to which the Gadget House followed suit. As they drove down the driveway and took off into the skies over Metro City, Uncle Gadget called out, "And we're off! Next stop, Tokyo, Japan!"