Author's Note: Okay, let's see how this goes. This story is being written in the style of a TV Movie from the Series, so it will be six parts long. The story's not quite finished yet, but I'm making progress on it. I'll try to get up new chapters every two weeks at least. It's been a challenge to write, but I'm determined to get through it and move onto the next one.

Enjoy!

The twin suns rose over the planet of the Zorkan Empire. The cries of strange birds rang out across the pastures of orange grass and trees, reverberating along the neon green sky, making their way across the landscape, which was a scene of beauty, save for the large structure that made up the exact center of the empty valley.

It resembled a sort of gothic castle that towered high above all who entered and exited its massive doors. It was a garish purple color with massive flags flapping from the tiled rooftops of the many towers that were filled with imprisoned life forms that had been captured and tortured over the years – including our hero.

At the moment, there was pandemonium from within the castle. Guards were firing their blasters, attempting to strike their small yet cunning moving target. Alien curse words were bellowed within thinly disguised fury that would've normally caused any straight-thinking person to cower in a puddle of his own sweat. Thankfully, our hero was not a straight-thinking person – not by any stretch of the imagination. He was bold, heroic, vigilant and a little bit crazy. He was pretty much the only person crazy enough to attempt to overthrow the Zorkan Empire, knowing full well the likelihood of his survival was about as likely as going through bumper-to-bumper traffic without making obscene gestures at a fellow motorist.

That's right. It's Spaceman Spiff – intrepid as ever and twice as mad.

"Your reign of terror is over, alien scum!" he shouted as he fired his blaster at the guards. "The people of your planet shall be freed from tyranny and sent back to their homes! Sucks to be you!"

"You shall not defeat us, Spiff!" the leader of the empire roared. "We refuse to allow everything we've worked for to collapse because of one small pathetic human being in a blue leotard!"

"Jumpsuit!" Spiff snapped irritably, firing his blaster at him out of spite.

Showing just how cowardly he really was deep down, the leader grabbed one of the guards and used him as a shield, allowing him to die horribly as he turned and ran from the battle.

Furious, Spiff leapt over the corpse and took off after him, ducking and weaving to avoid being shot by the laser fire of the various guards. The chase took him out of the main tower and along the causeway between it and the next one. He saw the leader running for his life across it, already with a pretty decent distance between him and his pursuer.

"You won't get out of this castle alive!" Spiff shouted, firing wildly.

The leader ignored him and ducked into the doorway of the next tower, slamming the door behind him, and when Spiff arrived, he found it to be locked up, and he couldn't force it open. He slammed against it, but it was no good. He only hurt his shoulder. He growled in frustration before adjusting the setting on his blaster and firing at the door handle, blasting it off and breaking the lock, allowing him to push it open, revealing a spiral staircase.

He followed it all the way up to the top of the tower, finally arriving at the top of the structure, finding a flat floor with no roof and nowhere to hide. All he found was his enemy standing against the far wall, and he had a small vial in his hand with some strange noxious liquid in it. He smiled viciously and took a sip from it.

Spiff attempted to fire his blaster at him, but some sort of strange force field flared up, taking him by surprise when it deflected the ammo.

The leader turned, showing rows of razor sharp teeth, giggling madly as red smoke snorted out of his nostrils. "Now, Spaceman Spiff…," he hissed just loud enough for him to hear, "you shall witness what I am truly capable of."

Spiff was in the process of finding a more suitable setting on his blaster. He almost missed the transformation occurring right in front of him. His enemy was steadily growing larger, starting to tower over our hero's head. He face went from being gaunt and pointy to round and flabby. His eyes became a strange silver color, matching the strange hair that was growing on top of his head. His entire body was growing larger and rounder, and his skin was turning green with orange spots.

Spiff could only marvel for a moment before his brain finally caught up with the rest of him, and he began to aim his blaster one more time at its highest setting.

The creature loomed over him and growled angrily, with a hint of disapproval in his eyes. He pointed a great big meaty finger at him and bellowed, "CALVIN – PUT THAT RUBBER BAND DOWN AND PAY ATTENTION!"

Calvin blinked and looked at the rubber band in his fingers, all set to fire it at his teacher, Miss Wormwood. The sound of children laughing mockingly rang in his ears as he remembered where he was – in his classroom. He was back in reality, and he had to focus on that. He quickly put the offending would-be weapon away and cleared his throat. "Sorry," he said awkwardly.

Glaring at him, Miss Wormwood returned to the blackboard. "As I was saying, we still having one month of classes left before summer vacation starts and you all move on to second grade. I expect you all to not start slacking off just because you're moving on," she said, throwing one last stern glare in Calvin's direction.

The boy slumped in his chair, ignoring the mocking smirks of his fellow classmates.

"So! I will be reviewing your school work and seeing if you need to improve in any areas. I expect you all to work to your fullest potential. If you've found first grade difficult, I can assure you that second grade will be no picnic."

Calvin sighed heavily.

The bell rang, and everyone started gathering their things and leaving to catch the bus and go home. Calvin was doing the same, but he was feeling a bit down after having a perfectly good fantasy ruined because his teacher was determined to inflict education on him.

"Calvin, I'd like to have a word with you, please," she said sternly.

He froze, momentarily terrified of what that meant. He turned away from the throng of students leaving the classroom and headed for the teacher who stood with her arms crossed by her desk with a very disapproving expression.

"Yes, Miss Wormwood?" he asked anxiously.

"Calvin, you have a lot of nerve constantly daydreaming when you're supposed to be learning."

"… Thank you?"

She rubbed her eyes behind her glasses. "Calvin… you need to focus on your schoolwork – now more than ever."

"Why? What's so important about now?"

"I've been reviewing your grades, and I can tell that you're doing poorly enough to necessitate a repeat of the first grade."

"Oh… Yeah, I've done enough of that already…"

"Excuse me?"

"I said, what do I need to do to fix this?"

Miss Wormwood went to her desk and pulled out a sheet of paper. "I've taken the liberty of compiling a list of assignments that you can complete to raise your grade," she said, handing it to him.

Calvin took it and looked it over. "Wow, this is a long list," he said, skimming it before turning it over. "That continues on the back!"

"You've got a lot of work to do if you want to move onto the next grade, Calvin," Miss Wormwood said firmly. "Complete all those assignments within a month, and your grade will be high enough for you to move onto the next grade."

"Just complete them? Do I have to actually get them right?"

"You need to get one hundred percent on all of them."

Calvin gritted his teeth. "Okay…," he said slowly, going over the list. "Write a one hundred page essay about the moon landing… Complete five math worksheets… Write an argument for any given topic… Classify twenty species of animals with scientific terms and fifty word essays for each…"

"And I expect neat handwriting."

"And you expect me to have all of this done in a month?"

"There is no reason why you shouldn't be able to complete those assignments, Calvin. The rest of your classmates have managed."

"Yeah, over the course of an entire year!"

"You had every opportunity to do the work over an entire year."

"Well, I… I had… other stuff going on."

"Nothing is more important than an education, Calvin. Now run along, or you'll miss your bus."

Calvin grumbled as he put the paper in his backpack and ran out of the room, away from the tyrant of his miserable life. He had a lot of work to do.

Hobbes was laid out across the rug in the living room and enjoying a mid-afternoon slumber, dreaming of pouncing on a herd of buffalo in the Serengeti, even though he really wasn't sure where the Serengeti was and whether or not there were any buffalo in them. His nose twitched in his sleep, and he licked his lips eagerly.

Then he heard the sound of something pulling up to the house outside. He rolled over and listened to it, slowly emerging from Dream Land. He would've recognized it anywhere. It was the sound he listened for five days out of the week. His tail twitched as his senses and instincts took control of his body.

It was the sound of the school bus.

In an instant, he was racing across the house on all four feet, running up to the potted plant in the living room, peeking through the leaves, growling quietly in anticipation. His feline eyes glistened in the light from the overhead ceiling fan, showcasing his anticipation.

His acute feline hearing picked up the sounds involved in the activity outside. He heard the sound of the bus doors sliding open, someone walking down the stairs onto the sidewalk, the doors closing, the footsteps approaching the house as the bus drove away, and finally, the click of the doorknob turning. In a flash, he had jumped from the plant to the rug before the door, with his tail flicking madly.

The doorknob finished turning, and there was his best friend walking through the door, for some reason forgetting what he forgot every day. "I'M HOME!"

Hobbes catapulted himself off the floor and collided with Calvin, and they both went sailing out the door and into the lawn, creating a large crater in the ground that threw dirt and mud everywhere.

"Wheeee!" Hobbes cheered. "You're home! Now you can feed me! Come on!"

"Get off me, you mangy furball!" Calvin shouted, shoving his attacker off of him. "I know your ideas of how I could 'feed you'!"

"I'm aghast! I don't know what you're talking about!"

Calvin dusted himself off as best he could and headed back into the house, kicking his shoes off and heading upstairs. Hobbes shook himself off and followed.

"So what are we doing today?" the tiger asked him amiably.

"Well, thanks to the tyranny of my first grade teacher, she's just informed me that if I don't start getting better grades and complete a whole new round of extra assignments within the next month, I've got to repeat first grade."

"Really? Wow. Who would've thought that blowing off your homework and mouthing off in class would have consequences?"

"Shut up and give me a hand, will you? I need to get this finished."

Hobbes nodded quietly and followed his human friend up the stairs, curious to see what assignments he'd been stuck with tonight. They arrived in the bedroom, where Calvin tossed his backpack and books on the bed and pulled out the list of assignments, looking over them.

"So what've you got?" Hobbes asked.

"Oh, the usual amounts of pointless information – the density of gas planets, the locations and histories of various third-world countries, if a train heads north at three pm, what time will it pass an airplane flying to Moscow south by southwest?"

"Yikes," Hobbes said, taking the assignment list. "She's got it in for you, doesn't she?"

"I swear, you fire a few spitballs, rubber bands and try to run away from the building a few times, and you're suddenly marked for life!"

"So what now?"

"Now we get to work. If we work fast, we can be done in ten minutes…"

"… I'm sorry, ten minutes?"

"Come on! We have things to do later! Let's just fill in some random answers and we'll get it over with."

"But don't you have to answer the questions correctly?"

"Oh, stop being so wishy-washy! Come on! You start in on the geography, and I'll do the science stuff."

Hobbes shrugged as he took the assignment sheet and read over the appropriate tasks. "Let's see… We need to recount the basic history of the people of Africa and name all the major resources, then we need to list five facts about every president of the United States…"

"Yeah, just make something up. I'll start in on the whole life cycle of the bumblebee and the hibernation patterns of a grizzly bear."

Hobbes let out a low whistle. "Miss Wormwood sure is big on education."

"I'll say. No wonder she's so miserable."

"When is all of this due?"

"Sometime before the last day of school."

"Well, that's a month… We should be able to finish it all by then."

"I want it done now! Come on, Hobbes – get your priorities in order! I'm sure someone as smart as me can fake realistic enough looking answers that will trick her into thinking I've done them right."

Hobbes set the assignment sheet down. "Yeah… I'm just thinking back to when you had that bug collection, the leaf collection, the report on bats, the various book reports…"

"Are you making a point?"

"You're very bad at fooling people, is what I'm saying. I remember once you fell in a mud hole, and instead of admitting to your parents that you tripped, you created this entire scenario where a mad scientist attacked you and had you brainwashed into falling in the mud hole for his nefarious purposes. I seem to recall you getting grounded for tracking mud all over the house."

"It was plausible! Can you believe it didn't work?!"

"Yes, very much so. Your parents never believe you when you're telling the truth about the aliens and nefarious evildoers we have to face. What makes you think they'll buy a total lie?"

Calvin scowled. "Well, what the heck am I supposed to do? I've got so much work to complete! Miss Wormwood is out to keep me in first grade for the rest of my life!"

"I doubt that very much. I imagine keeping you in her class year after year would prove a bit taxing on her Marlboro-stained heart."

"Well, I've got do something, or else I'm in big trouble!"

"Can't you go to her for help? Maybe she can guide you through the assignments."

"Are you kidding? It's because she's a lousy teacher that I'm in this mess in the first place!"

Hobbes rubbed his eyes. "It's clear to me that you need a little extra help in these tasks. Whom can you go to?"

Calvin thought long and hard about whom could help him, using so much brainpower to do so he probably could've done the assignments himself, but naturally, he didn't make the connection.

Then, a large grin split across his face. He ran to the MTM and flipped the lid open. "MTM – put in a call to Sherman's lab. I'm hiring a tutor!"

Meanwhile, things in Yellowstone National Park had been pretty quiet in recent months. There had been no strange sightings in a long time, and rumors of someone living under the park had been quelled as of late.

However, at least a mile under the ground, the person living under the park had other ideas. He was scheming his latest plot to take over the world. Things had definitely taken a change for him. His name was all over the Internet, and he had several fan clubs dedicated to his one off appearance last summer when he allegedly abducted a small boy.

Of course, Jack was quick to point out that those fan clubs were being headed by a bunch of lonely deranged weirdoes who were ready to latch onto anything that was of vague interest to them, but that didn't slow down Dr Brainstorm in the slightest. He was ready for anything.

"This is it, Jack! This is… the big one!"

"Well, just wait for me to finish my soda, and I'll join you in an instant."

"No, there's no time for that! We've got things to do! Hostages to take! Governments to topple! Candy to steal! Now come on! Stop dawdling and get over here and gawk at my genius!"

Jack heaved his usual world-weary sigh and slouched off into the testing area for Dr Brainstorm's inventions. He was fiddling around with a large computer-looking device that took up the entire far wall. He was wearing yellow goggles and a black lab coat, like he always did when he did particularly important work.

"So what's the happs, Captain?" the robot deadpanned.

"Behold, Jack!" Dr Brainstorm bellowed as he gingerly inserted rows of wires. "I am putting the finishing touches on my latest world-conquering device!"

"Oh joy. Can't wait to see how this one burns your eyebrows off."

"Shush, you! I'm just about ready!"

"To show me how it works or to gloat about how it works?"

Dr Brainstorm glared at him before he finally put some wires into their proper places. Satisfied that everything was ready, he stood back and joined Jack on the far end of the room.

"What is the single most important thing to the human race, Jack?"

"Arguing?"

"No."

"Yelling?"

"No."

"Self-righteousness?"

"Shut up and listen! It's food, Jack! The whole world is dependent on food, and they're slowly waking up to the fact that we can't rely on artificial and processed foods forever! Without homegrown fruits and veggies, not to mention wheat and dairy, we as a planet will slowly fall apart!"

"… Go on."

"Hence my new invention!" the madman exclaimed, gesturing madly at the large machine before them. "A machine that will control the speed of crop growth and allow me to manipulate all produce all over the planet! Soon, the world as we know it shall fall apart and be forced to bow down to me!"

Jack nodded absently. "Okay… What's it called?"

The question threw Brainstorm for a loop. "Eh?"

"The machine – what's it called?"

"… I don't know! I haven't thought that far ahead!"

"You've got a super all-powerful machine that can control the way food grows all over the world, and you haven't bothered to come up with a name for it?"

"Well, what's the point? What's in a name? As long as it does what I want it to, it's fine with me!"

"It needs a name."

"It does not!"

"Does."

"Why?!"

"Filing purposes."

"… What?"

"Well, you expect me to file everything you do. I can't file it if it doesn't have a name."

"That's what this is about? You're ripping my brain cells apart verbally because of filing?"

"In a nutshell, yes."

"You just can't be happy with anything, can you?! It's always going to be whining and moaning about every little detail until I'm so frustrated I can't see straight! Well, let me tell you – I'm not naming this thing just to spite you! It will forever go through its proud existence as an unnamed entity because you thought it would be adorable just to annoy me! How do you like them apples?!"

Jack thought about that tirade for a full three seconds before he turned to the machine. "I think it looks like a 'Bertram', personally."

Dr Brainstorm looked between him and the machine incredulously. "… Okay, now I know you're just messing with me."

Jack merely smirked.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, the mad scientist stood before his machine. "Look, Jack – look through your databases. Have I ever tried a plan like this?"

"Controlling the world's food supply? I don't think so…"

"Good! Just as I thought! I've finally had a new idea! I've been going around in circles for years, I tell you! Now I'm free to go ahead with minimal snarking from you or anyone else!"

"Oh, we'll find something. Don't worry."

With a snarl, Dr Brainstorm turned around and resumed his work. "I'm going to start running some tests."

"How do you plan to do that?"

"I've set up a crop simulation in the next room. I'm going to see how it effects the vegetation."

"Crop simulation?"

"Correct."

"… Does this have anything to do with that huge pile of dirt in the kitchen?"

"Well, I had to put it somewhere!"

"I suppose…"

"Now be gone from my sight! I have work to do!"

"Okeydokey."

Jack strode out of the room all set to come back at anytime when his creator inevitably set his hair on fire or dislocated his arm. It was just one of those things that he knew he had to keep an eye out for.

He returned to his chair with the intent of getting as much television as he could before the unavoidable disaster. He still wasn't impressed with the end of the most recent season finales, but he figured everyone would either live happily ever after or die horribly for the sake of drama.

The disaster occurred, but it didn't occur the way he thought it would.

It made itself known in the form of a flashing light on the console of the main control panel. He didn't notice that it was flashing for a long time, and by the time he did, it was far too late to do anything about it. His metal brow furrowed.

It was the light to indicate the elevator was in motion.

Jack knew that the trip down was a long ride, so who knew how long it had been traveling. He knew it was getting closer, though. He heaved a tired sigh and made his way to the control panel, checking to see what the readouts were saying.

It was a human life form – singular and alone. They didn't have any weapons to speak of, or at least none that could be picked up by the scanners. He didn't find any of that particularly odd, however, because he noticed one thing that did draw his attention.

The life form was female.

He quickly started running a scan on the elevator itself, but it wasn't buckling under the weight of anything particularly heavy, so that ruled out Dr Brainstorm's mother right off the bat. There were no angry shrieks emanating from the audio receptors, so it wasn't his sister either. That pretty much put a cap on all known possible suspects. Outside of his family, Dr Brainstorm didn't have much female company, and those two were the only ones who knew how to get to his lab.

Still, the readouts said the woman was unarmed, so maybe it was just a saleswoman that had gotten lost, or a tourist that had bumped into the rock that hid the entrance.

At that moment, the elevator let out a soft 'ding', and Jack turned around to see who had been vexing him for the last half a minute.

The doors slid open, and out stepped a woman who was most definitely not related to the Brainstorms. She was about five foot six, shoulder length brown hair, ruby red lipstick and a denim jacket over a black t-shirt and blue jeans. She carried a small purse, hanging from her shoulder.

Jack's eyes widened as recognition flooded him.

She looked across the room and smiled at him with just a hint of frost.

"Remember me?" she asked in a smooth tone.

Jack nodded faintly, trying not to look too surprised. "Veronica…," he said quietly. "Good grief… I never thought I'd see you again…"

"Nor I you. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yes… What are you doing here?"

"I came to see Frank. Is he home?"

"He's… Yeah, he's… working, actually. This is probably a bad time."

Veronica chuckled. "Oh, don't tell me he's still trying to take over the world," she said with what sounded like fondness.

Jack nodded again. "Yeah… He just never learns."

"Well, can you tell him I'm here?"

It was a tricky moment for Jack. He'd never felt so awkward before. Well, actually, he had, but it had been a long time ago, and Veronica had been the source of it then, too. Still, he couldn't think of a decent reason to send her away, so he simply gestured toward the kitchen table. She smiled in response and headed over to a chair, sitting down and folding her hands atop the table.

Uneasy, Jack walked back into the testing room where he found Dr Brainstorm working on the machine again.

"Hey, uh, Frank?"

"DR BRAINSTORM!"

"Yeah, whatever. I have some rather awkward news to deliver…"

"Oh, for pity's sake! What is it now?" he demanded, throwing his wrench to the floor angrily. "Why do you always have to barge in here right when I'm in the middle of something? I told you not to bother me with trivialities!"

"Veronica's here."

Dr Brainstorm froze where he stood at the mention of her name. His expression didn't change, but his entire face seemed to sag around it. He slowly tilted his head to one side in a quizzical manner.

"Veronica?" he asked.

"Yes," Jack confirmed.

"Veronica… my ex-girlfriend?"