Okay this is the give away chapter, so let's see if you guessed right. If you did, feel free to gloat.


9. The Truth

The DNA tests had been done by Gohan, mainly because the Professor had not been deemed impartial enough. And he was fully aware that he'd already confused Boomer.

"So the DNA is identical… but different?" Boomer asked.

"Sort of," replied Gohan. "You see MJ, being the worlds only Spiderpuff has extremely… distinctive DNA. The sample you took from the crime is defiantly Spiderpuff, and is very similar to MJ's anyway. But…"

"But what?" Boomer was desperate to grab on to any sort of lifeline available to him.

"The Chaos energy pattern is different. I can't out my figure on it, but when we did an energy analysis, the samples didn't match. I think that might explain the different colour for the hair anyway."

Boomer scratched his head. "Is there any explanation for this?"

"Not an obvious one," replied Gohan. "We really don't know much about Chaos energy yet, and the research we're doing is slow progress. If I had a couple more weeks…"

"You've got two minutes," said Sonia from the doorway, "the police are here and they want to get going before MJ attacks again."

"Can't you stall them for a day or too?" asked Boomer. Sonia raised an eyebrow. Boomer sighed. "Okay Gohan, what's the official verdict?"


"Inconclusive?" spluttered the officer. Boomer nodded.

"That's the result," he said calmly. "I'm afraid if you want a definitive answer you're going to have to wait for a more detailed study to be completed."

"I'm sorry," said the police officer in a tone of voice that suggested that he was anything but, "but the Major is on my back about this, and I have to get that creature off the streets, positive test or no positive test."

"Creature!" spluttered Boomer, before composing himself. "You'll look like a right prick if you arrest and charge a six year old child, only for her to turn out to be innocent!"

"And I'll look even more of a prick if I don't charge her and someone else dies!" the officer bellowed. "I'm going to send a squad now to arrest MJ and I'm going to do it now. She will be charged with murder Mr. Jojo, and I'll take the risk of looking stupid thank you, if it protects innocent people, unless you have a good reason for me not too?"

Boomer desperately wanted to protest (considering Buttercup's and Sonic's threats,) but couldn't think of a "good reason," other than that he was going to have the stuffing kicked from him if she was. However Sonia stepped forward.

"How about you just arrest her for questioning," she suggested. "Then you could keep the public safe by keeping MJ locked up, yet you wouldn't have to reveal her identity to the press, and if she turns out not to be guilt, there would be no embarrassment from having incorrectly charged a child."

This suggestion rather caught the police officer off charge. "Well, I suppose that's true," he flustered, "but she'll have to be held at in prison. Good day!" and with that he stormed off.

"Thanks Sonia," said Boomer, "but now what do we do?"

Sonia shrugged dejectedly. "I suppose we just look for something in the evidence that we haven't spotted yet."


Hours passed, hours in which Boomer stared blankly at documents and into space. He tried not to allow him self to be distracted by Sonic and Buttercups death stares, or by the pale figure of Blossom, who had eventually been given leave to go home. Boomer would have been racked with guilt, if he hadn't been so busy trying to find a way out.

Eventually, he smashed his head against the table. "WHY CAN'T I DO THIS?" he shouted at no one, "I HAVE TO BE MISSING SOMETHING!"

"Or someone," said Bubbles. For the umpteenth time, Boomer jumped.

"Bubbles, you're back! How was Argentina?"

"Easy," she smiled and gave him a hug, which to Boomer felt warmer then ever. She was still giving off a healthy blue glow. "Are we going on holiday?"

"Err… sure," he replied, "as soon as I've finished this case. And assuming Buttercup and Sonic don't kill me."

"Really," Bubbles sounded confused. Sort of. She sounded more like someone who was pretending to be confused, but who actually knew everything. "You better tell me about it, maybe I can help."

So Boomer did tell her, everything he knew about the case. "You see the problem is that there is something missing from this case that will explain everything, but I just can't find it." Bubbles nodded, and thought for a moment.

"Shall we go interview MJ then," she said smugly, flicking a small blue energy ball into the air. "I'm confident that I can get that bit of information out of her."


MJ was sitting in the interview room with her Dad – since she was so young she the police had to allow a responsible adult to accompany her. Boomer was thus fairly nervous when he entered, having no idea what Eddy's reaction would be. Well, little idea.

"You proud of yourself?" asked Eddy as he walked in. Boomer shuddered.

"I'm only doing my job," he said meekly.

"At the expense of your family? I never knew you were a career man!"

"We're only here to help Eddy," said Bubbles, "please let us." Bubbles' voice flowed almost hypnotically through the air, and Boomer didn't know if it was just him that felt its power, but it shut Eddy up.

"Right," he said. "MJ, what have the police talked to you about?"

"Erm, not much," said MJ, "they just asked me about my dreams."

"Dreams?"

"Yes, I keep on dreaming that I'm a kid called SP, who is a bit like me, but with black hair and purple eyes, and she's not as strong as I am. And in the dreams I do robberies and stuff, and, and… I don't know," she finished.

Bubbles nodded. "I think we need to see these "dreams," don't you?"

Boomer was fairly sure that Bubbles was different at the moment. Different to how she'd been when they'd married. She was… more confident, and will to flash her powers around with such confidence now that she seemed to have developed new abilities. But even he was sceptical about this.

"And how are we going to do that?" asked Eddy, voicing Boomer's thoughts.

"I… I could try and fall to sleep and then tell you what I see," said MJ, "right?"

"Good enough," said Bubbles. She then reached forward across the table and put her hand on MJ's head. Suddenly, it glowed bright blue, and MJ's eyes rolled into the top of her head, and she went limp. Bubbles gently lowered MJ's head onto her hands, and she curled up in to a traditional sleeping position. Eddy and Boomer gaped.

"You put her to sleep?" gasped Boomer.

"Is she alright?" asked Eddy with typical parental concern.

"She's fine," said Bubbles, "now watch."

A strange gas started to rise out of MJ's ear. No, it was too fluffy for a gas. It formed a cloud above her head, and suddenly, an image appeared in it. As MJ snoozed below, the two blue puffs and Eddy watched…

"…So you get that?" asked Mojo. SP scratched her head briefly, but interpreting Mojo's speeches was a skill that she'd had to learn.

"I think so," she replied, as she ran her fingers through her black hair. "I attack the arms shop on 19th street and take all the guns, and then come back here… and I try not to have another accident."

"Good, good!" said Mojo delightedly, "and then your experimental run will be over, and I will be able to use the data to perfect more clones, stronger clones that aren't defective, and then…"

"My brothers and sisters," said SP excitedly, cutting Mojo off in his stride. "What are we going to call them?" she asked as Mojo tried to work out what had just been said.

"I will call them," said Mojo angrily, "by a logical naming system, just like you were. And don't interrupt me while I'm detailing my evil plan for world domination and for the destruction of all my enemies so that I can achieve my goal, which is world domination for me, Mojo Jojo, as it's hard enough, that is to say sufficiently difficult to construct theses long sentences without it!"

"Oh yeah, logical system," said SP happily, not really understanding what the words meant. "As in the original was MJ, the five failures were NK, OL, PM, QN, and RO, and then I'm SP."

"The sixth failure," said Mojo to himself, but it just seemed to bounce off SP.

"So my first sister or brother will be TQ. That's not a very good name."

"FINE, NAME THEM YOURSELF!" Mojo said grumpily, as he walked away. "It will do you no good." As he left, SP did a little happy jig. She was going to be a good older sister. Now, names…"

Bubbles ended the vision. As MJ stirred, and Eddy thoughtfully cleaned out his ear, for Boomer everything suddenly made sense.

"Of course," he said, "it's so obvious!"

"Is it?" asked Eddy.

"Yes, it is! Mojo must have cloned MJ, and used it to commit the crimes. Remember when she went missing and Mojo found her, no wonder he helped us beat Him, he must have been trying to lure us into a false sense of security so that he could have plenty of time to put his cloning plan into operation. And it's brilliant," continued enthusiastically, "as MJ is probably stronger then us normal puffs anyway – when she's crazy that is – so if he could find a way to improve the clone then he'd easily be able to destroy us."

"You sound very happy about that," said Eddy, but he was ignored.

"But why has she got Black hair, and purple eyes," asked Bubbles, "If she's a clone she should be identical."

"Mojo mentioned that SP was defective," Boomer declared, "so that must be the reason," he finished. "But the thing I want to know is how come MJ can see here thought's when she sleeps?"

"Probably a Chaos Energy thing," suggested Bubbles.

"Is that how the author's going to explain very plot hole in these stores," asked Eddy.

"Pretty much."

"Okay," said Bubbles, so we need to capture this "SP," and then attack Mojo and get rid of all these new clones before he creates them. So we need to act fast."

"Can I help?" asked MJ, with an air of excitement. "I mean, she is my evil clone, maybe this could be my first superhero thing? Please?"

"I don't think so," said Eddy, "you're coming straight home with me, and your staying there safely till this is over."

"Actually," said Bubbles, "I think MJ should spend the night here."

"WHAT!"

"Well, if she's free and we fail to capture this SP thing, then we have no proof that MJ's innocent. But if she's locked up, then she will be innocent, whether we get her or not."

"That's rubbish," protested Eddy, but Boomer didn't think he was going to have any luck with the police on this. MJ would spend the night inside.


Boomer's assumption for the reason of SP and MJ's hair and eye colour difference was a bold one. It was also wrong. The defectiveness of SP was explained by her inferior strength to MJ. The hair and eye colour had a different reason.

Two people in the obscure country of Britain were aware of the real reason, and only one of them was the author. The other was a bartender in a London Pub. He was actually a student, who was working there for a summer job. However, he'd entered into conversation with a rather bizarre client, and was now desperately hoping that his boss would come down and tell him to move on to something else.

"How interesting," he said for the umpteenth time. Butch – who'd given up his search for a motel ages ago in return for a country where you could drink all day (thanks to some new laws to try and stop binge drinking) nodded unsteadily."

"So there's this little kid," he rasped, waving his glass around wildly, "running around with my energy, and my wife's energy, and she's killing people – hiccup – and I get thrown out! What have I done? I didn't kill anyone, no one at all. But I get thrown out! ME! Not the poor little murder kid." He sipped his pint again.

"You must be very proud parents," said the bartender, and he immediately mentally slapped himself for showing an interest; that was only liable to encourage the freak. To his surprise how ever, Butch immediately stopped, and put the glass down."

"Pardon," he said, surprisingly soberly. The bartender hesitated.

"Well, I mean, if the kid's "energy" is half from your wife and half from you, that would make you its energy parents, right?"

"Chaos energy, that's what we are…" said Butch airily, (completely freaking out the bartender.) "I CAN GIVE HER WHAT SHE WANTS!" he suddenly declared, and with the bar stool still spinning behind him Butch shot off, leaving a trademark green energy trial, a very disturbed bartender, and an unpaid tab.


Okay, thanks for reading. I hope you're all enjoying it. If not please tell me why, as any useful comments will help me with the next story. This ones nearly done – only two more chapters to go – and I hope to be finished by the end of the week. Okay, please review, thanks.