During the chase for Vetvix, Calvin and Hobbes were in training. While Garzooka and Starlena concentrated on the search, they had ordered Nermal to help Calvin with his freeze power. Calvin was having trouble not freezing everything he touched.
Nermal was trying to teach Calvin how to use it right.
"You have to use willpower," said Nermal, trying to keep patient. Despite being the annoying one, Calvin was something else.
"I'm trying to, but this power is too willful!"
Nermal sighed and handed him the fifty-eighth object. It was an old boot.
"Now touch this with index finger," he moaned.
Calvin tried, but the boot froze on touch.
"Darn it!" he yelled.
Nermal tossed the chilly boot away with a bunch of other objects, which were also frozen, thawing or soaked.
"This isn't gonna work!" Calvin whined. "I'll never be able to be a living-freezer."
No kidding, Nermal thought, but he kept it to himself.
Hobbes wasn't any better off. He had the hovercraft under control, but he wasn't able to get his super-brain working. He was still having the same thoughts at the same rate, and he couldn't figure out why.
"This stinks! I should be having highly intelligible thoughts, even more so than back home, and I'm just mediocre compared to Compooky!" he'd say.
Garzooka sat up front, also grumbling. "Ah, space," he said. "Could it possibly be any bigger? If it's gotta be unending, then what's the point in looking for something new? Why can't something new find us?"
Starlena held her ears tight, trying to down out the annoyingness.
Odious wasn't taking notice of much. He was trying to figure out who the black figure was that was either on the floor or the wall (otherwise known as his shadow).
Pooky just sat there.
"We're finally catching up with Vetvix!" Garzooka announced.
"FINALLY!" Calvin said with relief.
They all hurried to the front of the Lightspeed Lasagna and saw a distant planet.
Hobbes looked at it closely, and suddenly, something clicked. He found himself thinking faster than ever, and he started speaking.
"That's the lesser-known planet, Android," he said. "All the citizens are robots, and so they're capable of killing people, and that would include us. The atmosphere is safe for us, and the locals are friendly for the most part. We need to be super careful, though, for there could be some that are hiding Vetvix, so we need to be careful who we ask."
Everyone looked up at Hobbes, all stunned.
"How do you know all that?" asked Starlena.
"I dunno," Hobbes shrugged. "It just came to me, I suppose."
"Well, that's fine and dandy," said Calvin, "but what about me? I still can't do my freeze power yet!"
"Well," Garzooka said, "you may not need it. As long as you can still make that force-field to protect us, you're still useful."
"How do I know if it works?"
Garzooka called Odious over, who stood next to Calvin. Then he had Nermal throw a book at them. Calvin threw up the force field around himself and Odious, and it bounced off.
"I think that verifies that," decided Starlena.
"Here's the plan," said Garzooka. "When we get there, Odious, Starlena, Calvin and I will go in. Hobbes, Nermal and Pooky, you'll stay here and make sure everything stays all right in the ship in case we need to make a quick getaway."
Hobbes' face fell. "What? You mean I have to miss the action?"
"Aren't you usually the one who's afraid of getting in the wagon?" Calvin teased.
"Yes, but this time, I feel urges to pounce!"
"Compooky's job is to stay on the ship, seeing as how he's the mental giant. He always stayed on the ship during battles," explained Garzooka.
"But I'm stronger than he was!" Hobbes protested. "I mean, you should see me back home! I'm the toughest being in the neighborhood!"
"It's true, I suppose," Calvin said.
"Still, you're staying here. With your super brain, you're the only one who could get the ship going in case of an emergency," said Starlena.
Hobbes finally relented and agreed.
A few minutes later, he beeped and said, "Now entering Android's atmosphere," he said.
Garzooka took the controls and they landed in a deserted area.
"Is there anyone here?" asked Nermal.
Hobbes did a scan of the planet. "Yes, but there's very little left. Apparently, there was an explosion yesterday, and some of the population was wiped out."
"What's the chance of us getting blown up?" asked Starlena.
"Well, for you, Garzooka and Calvin, it looks pretty good. As for Odious…"
They all looked at Odious who was ice skating on the drool that Calvin had frozen earlier.
"Well, I'd keep an eye on him," Hobbes finished.
"We're gonna start the search now," said Garzooka. "Keep the ship handy."
Hobbes rolled his eyes while Nermal saluted.
The ship hatch opened, and Garzooka, Starlena, Odious and Calvin stepped outside.
"It smells like metal," Starlena commented.
"The planet's called Android, Starlena," Calvin said. "Get with it."
Starlena rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to hit him.
The four of them left the ship, and Hobbes stayed behind with Nermal and Pooky.
"It hasn't been thirty seconds yet, and already, I'm bored," Hobbes whined.
"Believe it or not, you're starting to annoy me!" said Nermal.
So an argument was triggered between Hobbes and Nermal while Pooky just sat there, neutral.