There was absolutely nothing different about the day our story begins. Everything went as it usually did – the silence of the morning was broken by another one of Spike and Dimitri's arguments, Tiny's gentle snoring, and Grandpa Bud's hysterical laughter as he set himself on fire again. (Hey, somebody needed to work on the fireproof pants.)

The skyscrapers stretched towards a cloudless sky, transport bubbles skidded rapidly across the landscape, and the bright, shimmering world of 2037 didn't look like it was going to implode any time soon. Sweet normalcy.

Sure, today wasn't any different from the next. There was no special occasion, no nation-wide jamboree, nor any reason to celebrate. Yet Wilbur Robinson awoke that morning with joy in his heart, happiness in his eyes, and a smile so wide that his family members were afraid that it would pop right off his face.

'Morning, little buddy,' said Carl. He stared with astonishment as Wilbur sauntered into the kitchen.

'Hey, Carl,' greeted Wilbur, snatching a piece of toast and gobbling it down in two bites. 'You haven't seen my Captain Future comic books around, have you? I could've sworn I left it in the…why are you looking at me like that?'

Carl's eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets, and his mouth was agape with awe. Wilbur Robinson was awake at seven in the morning, fully dressed and uncomplaining, on a Saturday. There was something very, very wrong with this scene.

'Okay, what's up?' asked Carl.

'Up? Y-you know, the usual.' stammered the boy. As he did, his eyes darted away from Carl's gaze, and his face flushed with a shade of bright pink. 'The sky's up, and so is the ceiling…there's a list.'

Carl's eyelids narrowed as Wilbur continued to speak. Wilbur was his little buddy, his amigo, his pal' of pals - he'd never hide anything from Carl unless it happened to involve a girl...

Carl grinned, as if a lightbulb had appeared over his mechanical cranium.

'Ah.' said the robot. 'I see.'

'See? See what?' Wilbur froze.

'You're going to see her again, aren't you?'

Wilbur's cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink, making his head look very much like a strawberry with eyes. 'Her? There's no "her". Carl, you're talking crazy.'

Carl's grinned widened. He knew, without a doubt, he'd snagged the opportunity of a lifetime - a chance to tease Wilbur Robinson.

'You're going to see the girl who came over with your homework yesterday.' smirked Carl, feigning a reflective expression, 'What was her name again? Vanessa? Victoria?'

'So what if I am?' shot Wilbur. 'It's nothing special. It's only a study date –'

'A date, huh?' asked Carl.

Wilbur gulped, immediately regretting saying anything to this stupid robot. He had to admit that Carl was a fantastic friend. However, times like this - times when Carl found it a tad too tempting to taunt the stuffing out of the teenager - made Wilbur rethink their friendship.

'Sounds pretty special to me.' sang Carl.

'Come on, Carl!' huffed Wilbur.

'Okay, okay. You know I'm just kidding, kiddo,' laughed Carl, pushing Wilbur towards the exit. 'Now go on, get out of here.'

Wilbur gave Carl another suspicious gaze, wondering if he would bother to mock him even further, before wandering out of the kitchen.

Carl knew he shouldn't have done this, but it was much too tempting. He jeered, 'try not to kiss her. After all, it is the first date!'

Wilbur, surprised by Carl's sudden outburst, tripped on his own feet and stumbled towards the front door. He spun around, gave Carl (who was now laughing so hard that he was short-circuiting) another spiteful look before rushing out of the house with the little dignity he had left.

After three hours of laughing, talking, and doing anything but studying, Wilbur and Violet decided to end their "study date" with a walk to the ice-cream parlor across the street.

'You're serious,' gasped Wilbur as they ventured from the library, 'you've never been to "Earl's Amazing Ice-Cream Shop" before?' He shook his head disappointedly, 'Where have you been?'

"Earl's Amazing Ice-Cream Shop" was an ice-cream lover's heaven. There was no other place in the city - actually, in the world - that could compare to the parlor. Honestly, what other ice-cream shop towered thirty stories off the ground, had floors that were made completely out of chocolate chip, and served fourty-five thousand different flavors to its customers?

'You can't blame me, can you?' smiled Violet. 'You tend to miss a few things when you're deep-frozen in a tin can for 32 years.'

'Well then,' said Wilbur, holding the door to the ice-cream shop open for our heroine. 'Prepare yourself for the best invention that has ever been invented in the history of mankind!'

Violet entered the parlor. 'Besides the time machine, of course?'

'Er…' shrugged Wilbur, closing the door behind him, 'the time machine is a close second.'

As Violet entered the parlor – she gasped in awe. The ice-cream sundae sprinkler, the hee-uge ice cream cone that stood in the middle of the first floor, and the fountain of fudge were beyond anything she could have imagined.

Violet did not doubt that "Earl's Amazing Ice-Cream Shop" was, well...amazing. However, of all the things that were in the ice-cream shop, Violet thought the creature that stood behind the counter of "Earl's Amazing Ice-Cream Shop" was the most amazing - most bizzare - thing that she had seen so far.

'Hi Earl. How's business?' Greeted Wilbur, plunking himself at the counter table. Then, patting the seat next to him, he turned to Violet.

'Ahhh, Monsieur Robinson, I didn't know zat you vould be coming today,' Replied the creature. Then, he darted over to Wilbur, leaned in close, and whispered, 'Of course, zat vould be a lie. You come into me parlor every day, my frozen-dairy loving friend.'

'Give me the usual,' said Wilbur, 'and as for my friend, she'd have a Saturday special.'

'Of course, of cou-' Earl stopped abruptly in mid-sentence upon realizing that all the blood had drained from Violet's face. 'Ehum, Monsieur, I do believe that Mademoiselle is about to have a heart attack.'

Wilbur spun around. 'Vi, are you alright?'

Violet would have answered Wilbur's question if she hadn't been gawking at Earl's bizarre appearance. Truly, she didn't mean to stare. However, it was incredibly difficult to ignore the fact that Earl had green skin, six tentacles, and feet so large that Bigfoot would've run for cover.

'Y-yeah,' coughed Violet, trying (and failing) to recompose herself.

'Earl's from Planet Mentrassus – you know, the same one Lefty's from,' grinned Wilbur. 'Apparently, the ice-cream on his planet's "out of this world"…Heh, excuse the pun.'

Earl returned soon after, whisking two large cups of ice cream before Violet and Wilbur. 'Two extra-large portions of ze Saturday special, on ze house.'

Earl darted over to Wilbur and hastily added, 'Zat vas another lie. You do know zat you haf to pay for zat, oui?'

'Bottoms up, Vi!' cheered Wilbur, completely ignoring Earl's question and devouring his ice cream.

Earl turned to Violet with a look that seemed to say "do you really want people to think that you know this guy?" before dashing away to serve another customer.

Violet laughed, reached for her spoon, and shoveled a sample of the dessert into her mouth.

Suddenly, the second the ice-cream reached her mouth, a strange, tingly sensation overwhelmed her. Then, her blood froze in her veins, her muscles tightened, and her entire body froze with rigidity.

'Hey, Vi, what's the matter?' asked Wilbur, gulping down his ice cream.

Violet tried to reply, but just as she opened her mouth to do so, flashes of pain ripped through her skull, and her entire body shook violently with discomfort. Before she knew it, Violet's hand shot into the air, knocked over her Saturday Special, and she spiraled off her chair.

'Violet! Vi, what's going on-'

Soon, everything in the ice-cream parlor melted away into a myriad of shapes, and the pain in Violet's skull burned with a greater intensity.

As she grasped her head in agony, and writhed on the floor of the ice-cream parlor, a raspy whisper filled her thoughts –

'Metamorphosis. Robinson Industries.' It hissed. 'Little Super, your abilities shall be your undoing, your powers will end your life.'

Then, everything went black.

When Violet awoke, the first face she saw was Wilbur's. As her vision cleared, she realized that she was surrounded by a sea of faces, many of which belonged to her classmates. Earl was hovering over her. His lips were puckered, his eyes were closed, and to Violet's horror, he was leaning closer to her face.

'AHHH! NO PLEASE! I'M AWAKE! I'M AWAKE!' Violet exclaimed, sitting up so abruptly that she almost gave Earl a headbutt.

'Vi, are you okay?' asked Wilbur, helping Violet to her feet. Violet attempted to stand. Suddenly, her legs gave way, and she slumped towards the ground once again.

'Metamorphosis, Powers,' murmured Violet, glancing wide-eyed at the crowd before her.

Her muttering aroused several raised eyebrows. Many of her classmates looked at each other with expressions that seemed to say, "that's it. Violet's finally cracked. Someone call the madhouse."

'D-didn't,' stammered Violet, 'didn't any of you hear the voice?'

Wilbur blinked. 'Voice?'

Violet grasped his shoulders. 'Yes, voice! Something about Metamorphosis…Robinson Industries?'

'Zere must be something vedy wrong wif ze ice-cream,' muttered Earl, 'I am truly sorry, Mademoiselle. Please do not sue me.'

'Let's get out of here, Vi,' muttered Wilbur, helping her to her feet. 'Lean on my shoulder, I think we'd better get you home.'

By the time they had gotten back to her family, and by the time Medium and Flame had stopped freaking out over the incident, Violet had managed to convince herself that the strange voice that she heard was simply a figment of her imagination.

That must be it, she thought, it's only my imagination. That voice isn't coming back again, and that's the end of that.

If only she knew, things were going to get worse.

Much worse.