Joel and Mike walked somberly down stairs and into the living room where Tom and Crow were sitting. Surrounded with snack wrappers, pizza grease and soda cans, the two bots had the TV turned up uncomfortably loud as they played 'Donkey Kong Country 2'. Joel stood in front of the TV screen to catch the bots' attention.

"Hey! Move it!" Crow whined childishly as he tilted his head at odd angles to try and see around Joel.

Joel crossed his arms and stood his ground. "Guys, we need to talk. Stop playing."

Tom was just as annoyed as Crow. "We can talk later! He's almost through 'Toxic Tower!'"

Mike grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.

"Hey!" Both bots complained as they turned to look at Mike.

"What gives?" Crow hadn't seen Joel or Mike so serious since their last fateful encounter with Dr. Forrester. "What's going on?"

Joel picked up Tom and pulled Crow to his feet by pulling on Crow's net. He put the two bots down on the couch and sat next to Crow, while Mike sat on the opposite side of the couch next to Tom.

"You guys, we have a problem." Joel started off solemnly.

"Is this about the plate? I can buy you a new one!" Crow offered.

"It's not about the plate." Joel looked up at Mike who handed him Gypsy's letter. "It's about Gypsy and Cambot."

"Gypsy?" Crow repeated.

"Cambot?" Tom sounded especially confused by his involvement. "What's up? Did they get arrested or something?"

"No." Unfolding the letter Joel held it out for Crow and Tom to see. "Gypsy sent me this letter. She says that Pearl Forrester is after 'ConGypsCo.' and revenge."

"Pearl?!" Tom shuddered with fear. "Not her again!"

Mike put his hand on Tom's shoulder. "It's going to be fine. We won't let her get you guys."

"So?" Crow wasn't threatened.

"Revenge against YOU guys." Joel finished.

"Oh."

Joel continued. "Mike and I are going to 'ConGypsCo.' tomorrow morning to sort things out. While we're gone we're going to have to leave you two here."

"Alone?!" Now Crow sounded genuinely scared.

"It's not that we want to leave you alone, it'll just be simpler if you two weren't in the same area as Pearl's latest world domination focal point."

"What about Mike? He's sick! He can't go!" Crow tried to argue against being left alone.

"Uh... actually..." Joel trailed off, deciding that it was best for Mike to talk about it, not him.

Mike, calmly and casually explained what had happened earlier. "While you two were asleep I went to the hospital, got treatment and now I'm recovering. I'm okay to leave. Besides, I have more experience dealing with Pearl than Joel does."

"Yeah," Joel adamantly agreed. "I don't think she even noticed me when I arrived on the 'Satellite of Love' to repair the malfunctions for you guys."

"Consider yourself lucky." Mike laughed. "You do NOT want to be on that woman's radar!"

"Right," Joel tried to reassure the bots. "so while we're gone just stay inside and keep the doors locked. You'll be-'

A strange heavy thud shook the front door of the house. Crow wrapped his arms around Joel's chest and hung on for dear life while Tom pressed his body up against Mike. "It's Pearl!" Tom screamed. "She found us!"

"No..." Joel struggled to unwrap Crow's lanky arms and claws from his chest. "Something hit the door. Maybe a bird."

"That's one hell of a big bird!" Crow whimpered as Joel finally wrested free of his grip.

Carefully Joel approached the front door and peered out through the window. He didn't see anything unusual and didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. Slowly opening the door Joel took a step back and surveyed the area. "I don't-"

A shrill chirp caught his attention. Looking down he saw the source of the noise. A spherical metal object was laying damaged on the doorstep. "Cambot!"

Joel scooped up the dented, exhausted robot and carried him inside, slamming the door behind him.


Pearl Forrester, dictator for life of Qatar and vengeful woman who answered to no one, lounged in her private chamber watching reruns of 'Melrose Place' and giving herself a manicure. Her 'me-time' was crucial. At least that's what she told her two flunkeys.

BoBo and Brain Guy were standing outside her door silently arguing with each other about their latest problem.

"BoBo, you must tell her the truth. If she finds out we've kept this from her the consequences will be dire!"

"But the LawGiver said to never tell her bad news. If we do tell her, there will be consequences anyway!"

"Surely this punishment will be far less severe than a punishment dolled out for deception."

"I don't know Brain Guy..." BoBo was wringing his paws together nervously. "Maybe you should tell her! You're much better with words."

"True." Brain Guy found himself superior to BoBo in every way. "I am quite eloquent."

The door to Pearl's private chambers suddenly burst open. "Ah-hem!" Pearl dramatically cleared her throat. "Can I help you morons with something?"

"Oh no LawGiver!" BoBo feigned innocence. "We were... just... uh..."

"Pearl." Brain Guy tried to sound confident. "We have been updated on the status of your 'ConGypsCo.' lawsuit and it appears the board will not go to court until they receive some sort of confirmation code from Gypsy."

"WHAT?!" Pearl punched both BoBo and Brain Guy in their shoulders. "That crafty robot is better than I thought!" She returned to her private chambers with BoBo and Brain Guy following. "If they need a confirmation from Gypsy, then we can't reprogram her. Not yet anyway..."

"Then what do we do LawGiver?" BoBo asked and instinctively flinched expecting Pearl to hit him again.

"We, by which I mean, all three of us, are going to 'ConGypsCo.' tomorrow. AND we're going to tear apart that building until we find Gypsy's confirmation code."

"Tomorrow?" Brain Guy stammered. "But, tomorrow we were supposed to-"

"I know! You think I don't know? It was MY idea Brain Guy!" Pearl yelled at her two cowering stooges. "But we'll just have to reschedule with the interior decorator. I'm sorry."


Cambot was sitting on the workbench in Joel's personal lab, hidden in the basement of the house. The poor little bot was overheated, low on power and suffering significant external damage after colliding with the front door.

Tom and Crow were curiously peering at the robot while Joel pulled down the bright overhead work light and shined it on Cambot's form. Joel's trained eye as an inventor and mechanic told him that the little robot needed some serious maintenance. "Man, it looks like the poor guy was used as dodge ball!"

"Hey..." Crow looked over at Tom. "Why didn't we think of that?"

Mike answered. "Because if I saw either of you throwing him around I would've thrown you against the wall." He pulled Tom and Crow back from the bench to give Joel more room, as Joel opened Cambot's paneling revealing the high tech components contained within.

"Good point." Crow admitted to the blonde human.

Looking over Joel's shoulder, Mike stared with amazement at how intricate Cambot's internal design was. "Think you can fix him?"

"Yeah, I can fix him. It'll take a few hours..."

"What about Gypsy?"

"I have a feeling that Cambot wouldn't be here unless he had something important to tell us about Gypsy!"

...to be continued...