Author's Note/Disclaimer: Same old. Don't own it, blah blah blah.

So, chapter three. I think I forgot to have something happen in this chapter. Bleah. But at least I'm pretty much done with the set up so stuff can actually start happening now. Yay? Also, to be completely honest, I really didn't want to create Sybil's baby, but I couldn't just pretend it didn't exist, so I turned it into a big ol' joke. Go me! (Headdesk)

CrazyCartoonChick236: Momma Bosco didn't so much hire her clone as rescue him and let him stay with her and do all the science he wanted. And janitor clone boy, well, let's just say he didn't choose his job. The rest of the clones'll be showing up in the next chapter. Yay!

Chapter Three- Fly Me Nearly to the Moon

It was getting late when Sam and Max returned to the lab. Darla had been picked up by her parents, promising to return the next morning to continue helping out. Momma Bosco was just closing down for the night when they arrived.

"How'd it go?" she asked.

Sam shook his head. "Let's just say, Sybil was having a bad day. We'll try again later. Maybe she'll be more receptive then."

"In the morning, dear. It's getting late."

"Really?" replied Max. "I thought it was dark outside because a giant space reptile ate the sun."

"Don't be stupid, Max," said Sam with a grin. "It wasn't a reptile, it was an amphibian."

"Oh, right."

Momma Bosco just smiled and shook her head. "I'll see you boys tomorrow."

X X X

When Sam and Max returned the next day, they found two new arrivals in the lab. Sam had sort of expected Superball to show up once he got wind of what was going on. Bluster Blaster, on the other hand, was a surprise. Superball seemed absorbed in a discussion with Momma Bosco, so he and Max wandered over to where the clone was fiddling with the arcade game.

"Hey, BB! How's my favourite psychotic game machine?" asked Max.

"NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" screamed the ex-C.O.P.S. member, startling the clone, who hadn't noticed the two approaching. He jumped, smacking his head on the casing.

"Ow…" he grumbled, extracting himself from Bluster Blaster's inner workings. "Can I help you with something?"

"Nah, we just came over to say hi. Hello," said Sam.

"What are you doing with Bluster Blaster, anyway? I do hope you're not screwing with his sparkling personality," added Max.

"Nope, just doing some routine maintenance." The clone ducked back inside Bluster Blaster's casing. "Just need to attach this wire… and done. How's that?"

"YOU HAVE FAILED TO FAIL!" was the response.

The clone blinked. "Um…okay."

Max smiled and patted the machine. "He still makes me proud."

"Oh hush," said Sam.

It was then that Superball wrapped up his conversation with Momma Bosco. The ex-secret service agent now President of the United States walked casually over to greet the Freelance Police. "Hello, sirs."

"Hello, Superball. What brings you here today?" Sam suspected he already knew the answer, but it was polite to ask, anyway.

"Doctor Momma Bosco tells me you've found the President."

"Well, not exactly found. More like, we know sort of where he is and we're going to try to find him. Why?"

"And why is he president when I should be?" interrupted Max. Superball turned to regard the lagomorph, his face its usual mask.

"Have you been sworn in, sir?"

"No, but what difference does that make? I'm still Max."

Superball shook his head. "I'm afraid that isn't enough. It's complicated, sir."

"Complicated, my fuzzy butt. You just don't want to give up the position now that you have it."

"Max!" Sam exclaimed.

"What, Sam? This chump won't let me be president in my own place because it's 'complicated'? Swear me in if that's all it takes!"

"Believe me, sir. I don't want this job any more than you want a poke in the eye," interjected Superball.

"Who says I don't?"

Superball ignored him. "You still need to be elected."

"I was!"

"No, your future self was. You never were."

"Whatever, never mind. I don't need to be the stupid president, anyway." Max crossed his arms indignantly.

"Thank you for seeing reason, sir."

Max snorted and wandered off to cause trouble elsewhere as Sam continued the conversation. "Why can't he be president for real?"

Superball's expression never changed. "I already told you, sir. This Max hasn't been duly elected."

"Fine. So why is it such a big deal to you that I bring my little pal back, anyway? You don't want the job anymore, or something?"

"Not really, no. It eats up all my spare time. I'm unable to fulfil my other obligations."

"Like what?"

"I'm afraid that's classified, sir."

Sam looked askance at him. "Really."

"Not really, no, sir. I'm just shy about my personal life."

"Fair enough."

It was at this point that the two were distracted by a sharp cry. The clone was shooing Max away from his creation, panic clear in his expression. "Don't touch that! You'll break it!"

Max scowled. "Sheesh, alright! Don't go all Ol' Yeller on us."

The thing the clone was building was beginning to resemble something Sam recognized, but he couldn't put his finger on it. It was a tower of some sort that much was clear.

Max rejoined Sam in a state of huffiness. Sam just smiled at him, which to his surprise, Max responded by glaring back. The smile slipped from his face.

"Hey, everyone!"

Sam and Max looked up. Darla had arrived, waving as she walked to the elevator. Sam saw her eyes light upon Superball, to whom she reacted with a barely noticeable jolt, as though she hadn't expected to see him, but didn't want anyone to know that. Just as quickly, she looked away, and Sam got the distinct impression that he wasn't supposed to have noticed. He wasn't really sure what was going on, though, and chose to stay silent.

Stopping short of her destination, the Geek raised a hand to her chin. "Say, I've got a heavy bag out front I could use some help carrying."

Sam was about to reply, but Superball beat him to it. "I can help, ma'am."

"Oh, could you? That would be great, thanks!"

Sam raised an eyebrow as Superball joined the Geek to head outside. Something was definitely fishy, but he had no idea what it could be.

X X X

"You didn't tell me they were basically children!"

As soon as the two were outside, Darla wheeled about and began to chew out Superball. Even this didn't rattle his outward cool, though. "You never asked."

"I so very much did! That's what a briefing is, isn't it? An overview of the mission at hand and the people involved? I have no idea what I'm doing anymore because these two doofuses are such wildcards!"

"Are you saying you can't handle the mission?"

The Geek fixed him with a death glare, begging him to try her. "Oh, I can handle it, alright. You're lucky you didn't send in Bernard. These two would have him in tears by now."

Superball actually chuckled. "You're right. That's why I chose you. I trust you can handle this, 'wildcards' or not."

Darla let out a sigh, all the fight draining out of her. It really wasn't Superball's fault she hadn't thought to ask questions. She really should have, given the information that had been provided on Sam and Max. "Thank you for the support, sir. It just would have been nice to know ahead of time exactly what I would be dealing with." She turned to the large trunk, left for her when her co-workers had dropped her off. "Now, if you could help me with this."

X X X

Darla and Superball returned in time to catch the end of the conversation Sam was having with Momma Bosco. It was obvious how eager Sam was to get on with the plan. Sybil saying no had been a big let down for him.

"So there's no way you could turn the DeSoto into a spaceship?" he was asking.

"Sorry, honey. I build computers and other like devices, not vehicles," she replied.

"Damn. What a stupid thing to get held up on. I'm so close to getting my little buddy back."

"Hey!" Max stomped his foot angrily, drawing everyone's attention. "I'm right here, dammit!"

Sam blinked in surprise, realising what he'd just said. "But Max –"

"Don't you 'but Max' me! This whole time, you've been treating me like I don't matter! Like… like the other Max is somehow better than me! Well, if that's what you really want, then you can have him!" With that, the lagomorph spun around and stalked from the lab, pushing past Darla and Superball on the way to the exit. As he reached the door, it swung open to admit Sybil. She was carrying her baby in one arm, and a baby bag in the other. She looked down as Max shoved by.

"Hello, Max," she said by way of greeting, but he only grumbled in response, heading out the door. She frowned. "Rude."

"Sybil!" Sam perked up noticeably at her arrival, all thoughts of Max and his outburst gone. "I thought you weren't coming!"

"Well, I thought it over, and realised that I don't really have much else to be doing. Abe's being a jerk, again, anyway. It's better that I have something to do than wallowing in self pity at home."

The baby started to squall, and everyone but Sybil covered their ears. The clone turned to find out what the source of the noise was, and freaked out when he spotted her.

"Oh god! Nobody blink! Blink and you're dead!"

Sybil attempted to console her child as the clone pointed at her. "How can you carry that thing around without it sending you back in time?"

"What on Earth are you talking about?" Sybil demanded. "This is my daughter, not… whatever you seem to think she is!"

The clone cocked his head, taking a closer look at Sybil's child. It was true that her skin was rough and resembled stone, and she had little wings poking through on her back, but he could see now that she was moving around quiet freely, even while being observed. His mistake realised, he backpedalled lamely. "Oh, sorry… bad joke."

Sam casually strolled over to his clone and smacked him upside the head. "You know better than that."

The clone flinched before slinking back to his project to hide in shame. Sam almost felt bad about it, but he was distracted as Sybil joined him.

"So, what was it you wanted help with, anyway?" she asked. Her baby was squirming about in her arms, having calmed down to a state of relative quiet.

"Well, the thing is, we think Max survived, but he's out in space and we need to convert the DeSoto into a spaceship so we can go get him. …or at least to find out why something out there is reading as Max."

"Pfft, that's easy. You know, I was going to be an astronaut once, but the program was shut down before I ever got into space. It shouldn't be difficult at all to convert the car, and I've got some leftover spacesuits in storage. I'm sure those will come in handy."

Sam couldn't keep the grin from his face. Things were finally starting to come together. "Great, that'll be a big help. Thank you, Sybil."

"No problem. I'll be coming along, too, though. Spaceship controls are complicated, but I already know how to use them. It'll save a lot of time if I don't have to teach you how to use them."

"But what about your baby?"

"Oh, right. Abby can't come into space, and Abe's taken off to who knows where… not that I'd want to leave her with him, anyway." Sybil cast about the lab, her eyes lighting on Superball. She glanced at Sam. "You and Max seemed to be pretty good friends with him, and he seemed like an okay guy when I was interviewing him. Think he'd be willing to watch her?"

"I dunno. Maybe Momma Bosco would be a better idea?"

"Oh no, honey!" Momma Bosco waved her finger at the two. "I did my time raising kids."

"Superball it is, then."

Sam Jr. came crawling down Sam's arm, crossing over to Sybil and from there climbing onto Abigail's hand. Abby giggled as the cockroach said, "Hello."

Twisting her hands around, Sam Jr. crawled onto her palm, tickling her. She giggled again and clapped her hands together. Both Sam and Sybil were taken off guard, neither one even managing an exclamation of shock before Abby pulled her hands apart. Sam Jr. was still in her palm, none the worse for wear. "I'm okay, papa!" Both parents let out a sigh of relief.

The display served to remind Sam he couldn't take his own kid into space anymore than Sybil could. It also showed him just how tough his adopted cockroach son really was. He'd be a great playmate for Abigail, since she couldn't really hurt him.

"Well, I can't take Sam Jr. either. Let's go ask Superball, then," said Sam. He collected his son and followed Sybil over to Superball. The ex-secret service agent was helping the Geek move her large crate of stuff to a better, more permanent location. They waited until he was finished before broaching the subject.

"Hey, Superball, do you think you could do Sybil and I a huge favour?"

"What is it, sir?" Superball was all business.

"Do you think you could babysit for us?"

For a moment, Sam was worried that Superball was going to refuse, as the man just stared at him in silence for several moments. It was a surprise when he actually cracked a smile. "Gee, sir. I'd love to. Children have always seemed to love me."

"Thanks, Supes."

Sybil handed Abby and the baby bag off to Superball. He took the baby girl and smiled at her. Abby responded by blowing bubbles back which was, according to Sybil, a sure sign that she would be just fine staying with him for an extended period of time.

Even though she was fully aware of the fact that Superball had raised a child of his own, Sybil still went into painstaking detail about how to care for Abby, not stopping until he assured her everything would be just fine. Sam, meanwhile, simply allowed Sam Jr. to climb from his hand onto the ex-secret service agent's shoulder, telling him to be good for Uncle Superball.

Once that was taken care of, Sam and Sybil let Momma Bosco know they were ready to convert the DeSoto. She, with the help of the clone, was busy pulling the rocket boosters out of storage and checking to make sure they were still in working order. For some reason, Bluster Blaster was bundled with them.

Sam raised an eyebrow, gesturing to the arcade game, and the clone answered the unspoken question with a shrug. "He said he wanted to help, so…"

"THIS WILL BE TOTALLY AWESOME!" agreed Bluster Blaster.

"Eh, whatever. Let's get these rockets hooked up," said Sybil. With that, they took them outside and got to work on the DeSoto.

X X X

Sam was shocked at the speed with which Sybil completed the job. He'd expected the work to take at least a couple days, but with his help, the DeSoto was now ready for space flight, and it was only late afternoon.

Sybil stood back to admire her work. Hands on her hips, she smiled. "One of my better jobs, if I say so myself."

Sam patted the side of the DeSoto turned spaceship affectionately. "It's perfect. What do you think, Max?"

The lack of a response surprised Sam, and he, along with the others, began to look around. There was no sign of the lagomorph.

"Max?"