"And we're all done. I'll need you to hold the cotton while I get you a band aid". The nurse smiled as drew the needle out of Bubbles' arm.

"Is this really necessary? I've never had to do this before", Bubbles had never been overly fond of needles.

"It's regulation sweetie, Sabre has multiple government contracts so there are a few folks here who know stuff, the 'if I told you I'd have to kill you' kind of stuff". They both laughed. Bubbles immediately decided she liked the nurse.

"What's your name?"

"Aubrey, but my friends call me Brie"

"I'm…."

"I know who you are, call me Brie sweetie"

"OK, call me Bubbles" Bubbles replied with a smile

"Welcome to Sabre International Bubbles" Brie beamed, "You'll love it here". Bubbles left the office and went down the hall to her supervisor. Kelly seemed slightly overworked and glanced up.

"He's in meetings the entire day. We'll get you started with customer relations. Day one is always the hardest, any questions, you know where to find me".

"So, in conclusion, the Milgram study shows that you can get people to do almost anything if they think they answer to you, thanks for listening to my presentation" Blossom shut down her slides and took her seat. Her class was emptier than usual, and as always, only half the students had been paying attention. Professor Ellie James smiled as she looked around at her bored students. It wasn't exactly what she'd imagined herself doing when she'd chosen to teach psych, but she empathized with her students more than she let on. As a brilliant mind in her field, she'd graduated young and added a slew of letters after her name. Even after all that, a Monday morning was a Monday morning, everyone had been there. She took down a few notes and smiled at Blossom," You chose to report on a study designed to investigate why Nazi soldiers followed orders. Why am I not surprised?" She chuckled as she saw Blossom's exasperated expression at the lackluster interest shown by her class, "don't worry about it. Ask your dad, I'm pretty sure giving presentations to Nobel committees is the same sometimes. Keep at it"

"Soooooo..." Blossom said with a hopeful expression.

"A minus, Miss Utonium. Judging from the state of this class, that's probably the highest grade I'm going to be giving any time soon".

Blossom shrugged, "An A's an A I guess".

Blossom left her class after it ended. Ms. James had been right, though there had been a few good presentations. She wandered the corridors for a minute, then headed for the school's culinary and hospitality centre. She went straight to the café. It was where culinary students held their exams and was also a fully functioning bar and restaurant. She walked in and sat at the bar, "So what does a girl have to do to get a drink around here?"

Buttercup laughed "What can I get for Little Miss Perfect today?"

"Anything's good" Blossom wasn't picky, besides, Buttercup made awesome drinks and was a pretty decent cook too. Between her and Bubbles they could prepare a veritable banquet when they wanted to.

"One 'Anything' coming right up". It had been, so the two chatted as classes cleared at the end of the day.

"You hear from Bubbles?" Buttercup asked.

"She's still at her job, but she'll be around later. What time does your shift end?".

"I still have a few hours, stick around?"

"Like you can stop me" Blossom smiled.

Meanwhile, at Sabre, Banner came out of his last meeting and went into his office. It had run longer than expected. He hurriedly asked after Bubbles and told Kelly to send her home, before dialing his personal line.

"We obtained the sample, Mr. Banner"

"Excellent, send it down to Division 6 and start the trials"

"Well, the previous tests were a failure, and even with the new sample, it's unclear whether we can..."

"Don't give me excuses before you even try, I would prefer you give me results"

"Yes, Mr. Banner". Banner put the phone down. He turned his chair to face the window and held his chin in his hands. The new serum would need a test sample soon. He picked up his personal phone again and dialed a different number this time.

"What can I do for you Mr. Banner?"

"I need Krewe. Where is he being remanded?"

"Greenacre, sir, awaiting the trial."

"What was the bail set at?"

"Well Krewe is a repeat offender and a flight risk, sir. 2 million dollars"

"Call my accountant; arrange the payment through one of our shell corporations"

"Yes Mr. Banner".

Banner put the phone down and chuckled derisively to himself. He was pretty sure that he had just purchased the most expensive lab rat the world had ever seen. Well, it couldn't be helped. In his line of work, progress was often expensive.

In a different part of Fairbrook was the Newport State University. Widely regarded as a premier institution, some people referred to it as "the lab", due to the excellence and track record of its science programs. Eventually, the powers that were decided to throw more and more funding into the science division, so much so that most other departments, save political science, simply disappeared overnight to be replace with more and more science based courses.

Jeff Malone was new to his job. Secret service detail to the president was a dream gig to some people. When he was asked, Jeff didn't have the heart to tell anyone that an accurate description of his duties was "standing around looking menacing". Today was only slightly different. Instead of waiting on Madame President, he'd been sent to look for some professor. The guy must be important. Here was the guy pulling up now, but who, or rather what was that in the front seat?

"You work here?" Jojo said somewhat incredulously, trying to hide the fact he was actually impressed.

"Yes Jojo, I do" Utonium laughed as he slowed the car down to pull into the parking lot, "and as of next week, so will you. You're going to be my aide. I'm sure you'll love it".

"Humph. Ok, that works" Jojo huffed. He was hoping to roam the place with free rein, but on second thought, as excuses go to do so, that was a pretty good one. Jojo was distracted by Utonium frowning and sighing irritably, "Not again, still you don't get to be president without persistence". Utonium and Jojo got out of the car, to see Malone making his way over. Jojo stood apprehensively. Being in and out of almost every kind of jail or courtroom one could imagine had given Jojo the ability to smell a fed, in a way that actually had nothing to do with an actual smell. "You're a new one, I haven't seen you before", Utonium was smiling again, but it was a little strained, more for politeness' sake than anything else.

"Professor Utonium" Malone shook his hand warmly.

"Let me save you the trouble, agent….."

"Malone, sir, Jeff Malone"

"Ok agent Malone, you can tell Sara I appreciate her thinking of me for the position, but I'm not interested, now if you'll excuse me, come on Jojo". The two left a little hurriedly, with Jojo giving Malone a wide berth. The pair entered the East wing of the university, and went into the biochemical department, and into Utonium's office. A typical scientist's space, the desks were cluttered with papers, the boards with half finished equations and chemical diagrams. While the office was very spacious, the mess made the room look a little smaller than it was. A space had been cleared, well, attempted to be cleared, for Jojo.

"What was that about?" Jojo asked

"Sara wants me to be some kind of UN ambassador" Utonium sighed

"You were always good at talking in circles"

"Coming from the maestro of monologuing, I'll take that as a compliment". The two laughed heartedly. Utonium went to one of his boards and turned it over, revealing a part that was previously obscured from view. It had a long chemical string on it. One that both instantly recognised. They both grew serious. Jojo went to another board and drew furiously on it for a few minutes. The finished product looked similar to Utonium's diagram, but with a few differences. Utonium came closer and the two stood in silence.

"Brick came to see me."

"Oh?"

"He was the only one besides you to visit while I was in jail. The same happened to them"

"I remember. You told me".

"I couldn't find a link though, between them and the girls. I haven't heard from them in a while, can we track them down?"

"Well, that's why we're here Jojo. Tracking the boys shouldn't be that hard." Utonium smiled, I can ask Sara. I'll have to promise I'll actually consider taking the job, but it's worth it.

"Thanks" Jojo mumbled

"Well, we are family, in a weird way".

"The Christmas cards would be hysterical". The pair laughed harder this time. It was good to be back.