Chapter 3: The Dome Experiment

Play Huey Lewis & The News Music: "Hip To Be Square"

It was the first day of CJ's new job. After the long week she had with Benson's Parkie Award celebration, CJ felt it prudent to get some long-deserved rest prior. As a result, her eyes opened wide the following day to see that the time was 7:15 AM. The instant she saw the time, CJ rose up off of the bed, letting the blanket fall off of her body. Moving her arms, CJ stretched them out to keep from "pulling her hammies". The first thing she thought of doing was a shower to perk herself up.

In the bathroom, CJ was applying shampoo on her hair and brushing it all over. After which, she lowered her head, letting the water wash it all into the drain. She moved on to the body wash, starting with her arms, and then to her legs. The shower had lasted for 3-4 minutes before she walked out in a fog of steam, taking the nearest towel and wrapping it around her, tying it over the top of her bosom. It stuck out more than it used to, the white puffy skin barely exposing her gray nipples. Her boobs' increased size was thanks to her first time with Mordecai.

I used to be a renegade

I used to fool around

But I couldn't take the punishment

And had to settle down

CJ walked out of the bathroom to pick herself an outfit for her clothes. She opened the closet and looked inside. The first things she saw in it were her usual red-orange and white-striped tank top and her small black boots beneath it, along with her dark green tank top. But there was one more thing CJ added to the closet just for this day. She had a complimentary park jacket Benson gave her the last week since the Parkies Award debacle. The humanoid cloud grinned as she dressed herself up. In two minutes, she had gotten herself ready in no time.

Next on her list was breakfast. She looked into her pantry and got out a packet of Toaster Strudel and put it in the toaster as she looked at her phone. CJ noticed a text from her city tour guide boss. The text gave her support saying, "Hope your new job goes well." followed by a thumbs up. She grinned and typed into it with a reply, "Thanks." Right at that moment, the strudel popped up out of the toaster.

By the time she walked out of the building with a confident grin, she was already down to one strudel. CJ took a bite as she began jogging on the sidewalk and running to the Park as the sun rose up.

Now I'm playing it real straight

And yes, I cut my hair

You might think I'm crazy

But I don't even care

'Cause I can tell what's going on

It's hip to be square

It's hip to be square

When CJ had arrived, Mordecai, Rigby, Pops, Skips, Muscle Man, and Hi-Five Ghost were sitting on the stairs with Benson holding his notepad. He was reading over the schedule on his list when she arrived.

End Huey Lewis & the News Music: "Hip To Be Square"

"Heya, Benson." CJ greeted with a big smile. Benson turned around with a welcoming grin.

"He-hey! Great start to the morning, CJ." Benson replied whilst shaking her hand. On the other hand, however, CJ noticed that everybody on the stairs was a bit earlier than expected, even Mordecai and Rigby.

"No way! You guys showed up early, too?" CJ wondered.

"Of course, CJ. You're part of the Park now." Mordecai stated with pride.

"Park buddies for life!" Rigby eagerly spoke.

"Park buddies!" CJ joined in with a pump of her fist.

Benson chuckled at their delivery, but he still had a schedule to keep.

"Alright, alright. Let's get on with the morning meeting, shall we?" Benson suggested. "There's gonna be a lot to do today with CJ in tow."

CJ sat down on the stairs beside Mordecai and Rigby on the bottom rung as he proceeded. CJ held her hand out for a high-five where Mordecai put his palm against hers.

"Alright. Muscle Man, Fives, you're in charge of managing the carts, make sure they're cleared for tune-up." The boss pointed to the duo with authority.

"You got it." Muscle Man responded.

"Skips and Pops, I need you guys to revisit the Park Petting Zoo and make sure the animals are cared for." Benson assigned Skips and Pops. The latter was especially excited for that part.

"Oh, I can't wait to see how the goats are taking to the place." Pops joyfully responded.

"You guys have a petting zoo?" CJ asked in interest.

"Yeah. That one's a long story." Mordecai answered with a shrug of his shoulders.

"CJ, for the most part, just keep an eye on Mordecai and Rigby. Knowing them, they're likely to cause trouble."

Rigby didn't quite like that, especially when it was the truth. He crossed his arms and grunted.

"That said, they can show you the ropes around this place. And if the trouble isn't able to be avoided, at least try to keep the damage to a minimum." Benson continued.

"I hear you, chief." CJ agreed. She was mainly excited for that part of the job because she got to spend time with Mordecai. The couple smiled at each other with a blush before Benson moved on.

"And Mordecai and Rigby, along with that, let's have you pick up the trash over by the snack bar." Benson ordered.

"Ugh! Again?" Rigby groaned immediately.

"Don't worry, this is the last time you'll be on trash duty for a while." Benson reassured Rigby.

Mordecai felt relieved to hear the news. Taking out the trash was always the worst for them, mainly for Mordecai.

"Awesome." He spoke with a grin. "Wait. We're not getting another intern, are we? 'Cause I don't know if I can handle another spy situation."

That part got CJ by surprise.

"Wait, a spy?" The cloud girl asked with a startled look.

"Yeah." Benson casually replied. "About that, it turns out Thomas was a Russian Spy working inside the park to steal it for Russian oligarchs to save his family." That information was something CJ couldn't believe. She'd seen Thomas around a few times when she was at the Park. To tell the truth, she was going to ask about his lack thereof before that rolled along.

"Whoa. And just when I was about to ask about Thomas… I'm gonna take a while to process it." CJ replied with a stunted expression.

"Anyway, it won't be the case. I've actually got some pretty big news about your dome-estic situation." Benson added emphasis to the domestic part. CJ was confused to hear Benson enunciate it with the word dome. "Hopefully it won't cause too much pan-dome-monium. 'Dome' you have any ideas about what's going to happen?"

CJ had enough of Benson's riddles and got to the point.

"Okay, what's with all the dome talk?" CJ puzzled with slight irritance.

"Maelard's decided to seal off the park in a dome to create a contained ecosystem. A group of scientists from the government are gonna study it for a month!" Benson eagerly announced.

"Bro, how would we ever have guessed that?" Muscle Man asked rhetorically. Mordecai, on the other hand, was very concerned. If the dome was in place for a whole month, what were he and Rigby to do until they were done?

"A whole month? Where are we supposed to go?" Mordecai worriedly asked.

"You'll have to move out. The dome's dropping tomorrow. Isn't that exciting?" Benson replied, still keeping a smile on his face. However, that didn't mean Pops was worried.

"Why aren't you more upset about the inconvenience?" Pops asked with concern.

"Because I don't live at the park." Benson said with a scoff. As for CJ, she knew how to solve Mordecai and Rigby's situation.

"Well, you and Rigby can crash at my place for a while. Maybe I can show you a thing or two, Mordecai~" CJ flirted at Mordecai with a grin. The bluebird bashfully blushed with a chuckle when Skips inquired to Benson about their living space.

"So we can stay at your place?" Skips asked, hoping he had a plan for their accommodations. Benson only chuckled at Skips' idea, politely dismissing it.

"Well...my place, while officially a one bedroom, feels more like a studio." Benson answered as the wind whistled. Leaves were flying past him, and there was a loud noise above their heads, forcing Benson to speak louder.

"So there isn't really any room–!" Benson looked up as he tried to finish. But to his surprise, he saw a large glass dome floating above him and descending right down onto the park! His employees saw the dome, too. They became very, very afraid. This was all too sudden for them, especially for CJ. She hadn't counted on her first day at the park to be the day the dome descended on her. High-Five shouted in panic.

"It's not tomorrow! It's today! They're sealing the park today!" High-Five screamed in realization.

Seeing the dire situation taking place, Muscle Man took action.

"Grab your valuables!" Muscle Man shouted to the rest of his peers, all of them scrambling in one direction and the other to take their belongings with them out of the dome zone. CJ glanced at her new boss, who stared bitterly at the dome descending on them.

"Uh, Benson, are you sure it wasn't today?!" CJ shouted amidst the loud volume of helicopter blades above.

"Of course I'm sure! They told me it was tomorrow!" Benson replied with a shout of his own.

"Then it looks like you got played!" CJ shouted back before she rushed into the park house to help Mordecai and Rigby move their stuff out of the house. Rigby grabbed a stack of Pizza Pouches while Mordecai and CJ grabbed the video games and the TV. Muscle Man picked up a stack of letters and stuffed them into his pants as best he could while Pops opened his safe to salvage a large supply of jawbreakers and Skips watered his plants.

A quick 2 minutes had gone by since they scrambled for their stuff. Now, they were all rushing for the park gate. But as they got there, the gang could see that the dome was rapidly descending.

"She's gonna seal! Lighten your loads!" Muscle Man cried to his friends as he discarded most of the letters in his pants. Mordecai was forced to let go of the bag full of video games and the TV, panting and grunting as he hoofed it. Rigby, all the while, was carrying his pizza pouches the whole way. And he might have gotten out of the dome altogether if he'd dropped them earlier. But in a vain attempt, he leapt to freedom, only managing to get the pouches to the other side of the dome. The moment the dome had closed, they all knew: their life was over. Muscle Man screamed in a fit of rage, banging his fists against the dome's walls.

"Live free or die!" Muscle Man roared. The park's employees all shouted for anyone to help them out of this mess while CJ watched them despair, especially Rigby.

"It's not fair!" he whined, overcome with uncertainty. All CJ could do was feel bad for them; this was surely a first for her to be stuck in a dome, too. Just then, she heard Benson's voice from behind.

"Hey, guys, let's relax, okay? Like I said, they're not sealing the dome till tomorrow." Benson spoke casually with a smile. But CJ wasn't having it.

"Dude, are you blind? Because I'm pretty sure that thing just sealed us in today!" CJ barked, her skin turning dark gray at the thought of Benson just ignoring what had happened.

"Calm down. Look, here comes Maelard now. I'm sure he'll clear this whole thing up." Benson pointed, knowing for sure it must be a glimmer of hope that had come to save them. A white limousine pulled up by the dome and parked itself just near the entrance. A skylight door opened up before a humanoid moon popped up. He had a pipe in his mouth, along with a dark teal scarf and a black suit. CJ blinked her eyes in confusion.

"Huh? Who's that?" CJ puzzled. Benson walked up to the dome as he spoke up to him.

"Maelard." Benson spoke. His boss shook his head and pointed at his bulbous head. Benson got the gist of what he meant: he couldn't hear him on the other side.

"Oh. Okay." Benson understood and got out his phone. CJ noticed it ringing, and she discovered there was a silver lining.

"Well, at least we still have service." CJ exhaled, her skin turning back to its white color while Benson answered the call.

"Maelard. So the test run's looking pretty successful on our end. Good fit. Yep, looks like we're in good shape for tomorrow. So, is there any way you can–?" Benson spoke into the phone. But he paused for a moment when Maelard spoke into it. He did so for a while before Benson replied.

"Oh, but I don't get dates wrong." Benson replied. There was an inaudible dialogue outside that proved otherwise. His face frowned in realization. "And the dome is gonna stay where it is for the next 30 days."

Mallard talked to him rather smugly before one of the government's scientists came up to Benson and handed him a big bag of cash. Maelard took it without complaint and retreated into his limo before the call ended. CJ had a bad feeling about what went down. The cloud girl went up to Benson with a disapproving look on her face.

"Like I said: You got played." CJ stated with a furious stare.

The first to snap was Rigby. "This isn't fair!" He shouted.

The whole park squad began to vent their frustrations and blame towards Benson.

"Man, what are we gonna do?!" Mordecai shouted. "Why didn't you tell us?!"

"There was no warning! I'm on the wrong side of my pizza pockets!" Rigby chided venomously.

For the most part, Skips just nodded with their arguments. But as all the panic got to them, CJ turned to her boss, hoping he had a backup plan. But at the moment, he was struck with disbelief.

"Got the date wrong? But I'm me, Benson." He spoke to himself in utter shock. He put his hand on his head, trying to think. But CJ snapped him out of his thoughts with a gaze towards her leader.

"So what do we do now, Benson?" CJ inquired of her boss with reverence and worry. Then it dawned on him. CJ told him before that he got played, twice, in fact. What if that was true? Then maybe Benson might prove that once and for all, and they'd be out of this mess for good! At least, that was his hope. But then, what could happen to the employees in the meantime, he thought? That's when he looked at CJ.

He hadn't officially met her until last week, but in the time she's been with him, she's proven herself dedicated to the park and its employees, even before her first day. True, it was on account of her relationship with Mordecai and Rigby, but she wasn't afraid to stand up for her boss either. If anyone could help manage the park in this situation, it's her. He broke up the panic with a furious shout.

"Emergency meeting, my office, now!" Benson roared, breaking up the chatter altogether.


Some time later, Benson, Mordecai, Rigby, CJ, Skips, Pops, Muscle Man, and Hi-Five Ghost were back at the park house for the emergency meeting.

"So I'm sure you all know why we're here." Benson began.

"To figure out how to survive in a dome for a month." Skips believed it was the assignment.

However, while Skips had the right idea, Benson had a different one in mind.

"Hopefully, it won't come to that." Benson spoke proudly, defiant with hope. "Because we're here to look at the email I got from the dome guys and prove I was right about the drop date."

Most of the employees groaned in frustration from Benson's apparent lack of priorities; Pops had a look of dread while Rigby glared at him. And CJ crossed her arms in disapproval.

"Benson, even if you're right, those dome guys aren't gonna change their minds." CJ doubted.

"They will when they see this!" Benson flipped the monitor to show the email, but suddenly, the lights and the computer went off. As it turned out, the power was cut off as a result of the dome taking effect. Another round of groans came from his employees while Benson tried to make the best of it.

"It's okay. I've got a printed backup version." Benson reassured. He went to get it out from the drawer.

"That's not what we're mad about." Mordecai grumbled.

"You really print every email?" Rigby asked in confusion.

"Yes, I do, for this exact type of situation." Benson replied adamantly. However, that got a big blush from CJ, who crossed her fingers in a manner that showed she did something guilty.

"Does that mean you've also been printing the emails I was sending to Mordecai?" CJ asked nervously, causing Mordecai to become just as bashful himself.

"Yes. And I wish I hadn't." Benson answered with wide eyes. "Anyway, it's not like you can make fun of me, because I was prepared. Yep, you can't cut off the power to my physical mail, or as I call it, my p-mail."

That said, CJ got to the heart of the matter.

"But what are we supposed to do while you try to prove them wrong?" CJ brought up the question quickly with everyone's survival at stake. Benson stopped his search for a moment, bookmarking his files with his finger so he didn't lose track.

"Actually, CJ, I've put some thought into that scenario, too. While I try to get this whole mess cleared up, you're going to help everyone figure out how to survive in the dome for the next month in the meantime." Benson responded to CJ, acting as though he'd figured the whole thing out on both counts. However, his latest hired help was understandably shocked.

"What? You're putting me in charge? But why me? I don't have a better idea of how to get through this than everyone else does." CJ responded in shock, clearly bewildered more and more over the turn of events today. Her boss put his hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"Listen, CJ." Benson softly spoke like a wise sage. "In the time you've been with us, and for a lot of times you've been with Mordecai and Rigby, you've shown a lot of courage, initiative, and leadership. Those qualities are why I hired you in the first place. And yes, while I may have gotten the date wrong, which I still maintain I haven't–" Benson paused to state for the record, getting another loud groan from the others.

"I don't believe that I'm wrong about you, CJ. And everyone else here would agree with that." Benson gestured to the others as they all glanced at him and CJ. Just then, Muscle Man entered the room.

"Do not go into the bathroom. The water has been cut off as well." Muscle Man warned. Everybody shuddered at the thought of what Muscle Man did to find out the hard way. Nevertheless, Benson proceeded to uplift CJ.

"So, CJ. What's the plan?" Benson asked with a kind of tone that a wizard would use before their comrades begin their quest. CJ looked at everybody and tried to think of the situation rationally. She sat down on the couch and put her hand on her head.

"I don't know… I've never been in anything like this before." CJ admitted worriedly. Mordecai scooched himself closer to her and wrapped his arm around her to help her out. He'd thought back to when Benson tried to reassure everybody earlier. Maelard did seem happy to take the money.

"You saw something between those scientists and Maelard, right, CJ? That's gotta mean something." Mordecai reminded her. Just then, CJ heard her phone ringing, and she looked at it. She saw a text saying, "Are you doing okay?" It came from her other manager of the crossing guard job. CJ's eyes lit up when she saw the text and thought back to that brief exchange. There had to be a reason why they were stuck in the middle of all this. And if there was no reason, there had to be some sort of work around for it. Otherwise, there would be lawsuits. The government could afford to overturn them, but even she knew that they would prefer the situation to be kept quiet.

"Well… I have a theory." CJ spoke. "They said the dome was supposed to be tomorrow, but they trapped us here a day earlier. I don't know if it's an accident or not, but either way, people outside are gonna be panicking, wondering what the heck's going on, just like we were. And I've seen enough government films to know they aren't gonna like people asking questions. So, what do you guys think they'd try to do?"

The gang all murmured, puzzled by what CJ was getting at and trying to figure it out for themselves. But CJ cut to the chase and answered.

"They'd try to make it look like it was all a part of their plan. And to do that, they'd have to send something to help us get by for the month." CJ theorized. "Like maybe a basket, or some food or clothes, or–" Before CJ could continue they heard a whirring noise outside.

"Do you hear that?" Rigby mused with curiosity.

"I think I hear it, too." CJ concurred. The group went to the window in Benson's office and looked outside. They saw a swarm of drones flying past the park house and dropping boxes to the grass

"What are those things?" Mordecai asked in intrigue.

"Looks like your hunch was right, CJ. They're dropping packages." Hi-Five replied in amazement.

CJ's eyes went wide with surprise.

"Wow, really…?" CJ spoke in astonishment. CJ turned to Benson, who gave her a confident grin on his face, knowing he made the right choice about her. CJ smiled back at him before she turned to Skips.

"Skips," CJ began to speak to Skips. "According to Mordecai and Rigby, you've had the most experience with this park. What do you think we should do?"

"Let's take a look. You might be onto something." Skips suggested.

Without a moment's hesitation, Mordecai, Rigby, Skips, Pops, Muscle Man, and Hi-Five went out of the office, leaving Benson and CJ alone in the office. CJ turned to her boss with a questioning glance.

"Are you gonna be okay on your own, Benson?" CJ asked.

"Pfft. To look at my P-Mail? Don't worry about me, CJ. I'll get us out of this mess. I promise." Benson reassured CJ with a confident look. CJ hesitated to leave her boss alone, knowing how the pressure had gotten to him.

"Well… okay. If you're sure." CJ replied with a pause. "Just come talk to me when you need help, okay? You're a part of the Park, too."

CJ walked out briskly, heading out of the office and walking down the hall. Once she was gone, Benson sighed to himself with a sad smile.

"I know…" Benson said to himself. After a short moment, though, he went back to his personal mission: to prove the date was changed on purpose so he could get everyone out of here. But when he pulled out the slip of paper, Benson was in utter shock.

"What the…? What's this?" Benson's eyes went agape when he saw the text in the letter. According to that, it said that the date was today! "No, this isn't right. It's all wrong!"

Benson slammed the paper back on the table and grunted in frustration, his face turning red as blood. He seemed likely to throw the table itself, but he stopped to take a breath.

"Keep it together, Benson. Keep it together…" Benson spoke to himself in a soothing voice. "Remember why you're doing this."

Benson stepped away from the table and looked at the window. He saw CJ walking out of the house to look at the contents with everyone else.

"Cool! Custom jackets with our names on them." Rigby said as he held one up. CJ and Skips were really impressed with the fashion.

"Hey, those are pretty sharp." Skips complimented.

"You can say that again." CJ added with a surprised grin. Still, she kept in mind what they really needed, especially since her stomach grumbled. "But what about the food supply?"

"If we keep things rationed, this should be enough food for the month." Hi-Five answered, gesturing to two boxes of white bags full of seeds. As it happened, Muscle Man was eating one bag full of seeds like popcorn.

"I don't normally like seeds, but in the dome–" Muscle Man started before Mordecai cut him off to tell him the real reason for their arrival. "Those aren't for eating. They're for planting, dude."

"Oh." Muscle Man realized. "That explains why they're unsalted."

Hi-Five went back to the matter at hand and deferred to CJ. "Hey, uh, so I was thinking," he began, "we should write up a full inventory of these supplies. Is that a good idea, CJ?"

"Yeah, that would be a good start." CJ agreed. "We'll have to tally up the bags of seeds we have and divide that by the amount of days we have, and our regular eating schedules to match them. Mordecai–?"

CJ was about to ask Mordecai about a task, but he chimed in.

"I hear you, CJ." Mordecai responded readily. "Me and Rigby can help with the tally."

"I don't have to lift those things, do I?" Rigby asked wearily.

"Nope. You just have to count them." CJ bluntly answered.

"Oh, then I'm all over it." Rigby replied with a shrug.


Meanwhile, Benson watched as CJ helped the gang put their heads together. It was an alarming display to see them getting along much better under her watch than they did with him. Granted, it was usually a disaster with Mordecai and Rigby, but CJ managed to get RIgby to help out. Rigby!

Benson didn't know how to feel after seeing such astonishing growth with CJ at the helm. He sighed with a sad smile as he turned back to the date to figure out if it was actually a mistake.

"I can't believe it. I- Was I really wrong?" Benson wondered to himself. He held the paper out in front of him and tried to look at it again. But the moment he did, he felt something off with it.

"Wait…" Benson came across a development, almost clenching the paper to get a good feel of the texture. "This paper stock…"

Benson took a piece of paper from his desk and compared it with the one he held in his other hand.

"It has a much finer tooth than mine." Benson discovered it upon investigation. "And it's slightly off-white to boot. Hmm."

He held both papers in the path of the sunlight and discovered the watermarks underneath. However, neither one of them matched the other! "Oh, what the-? I can't believe–" Benson was flabbergasted to say the least to see the alarming change in plain sight. "The watermarks aren't even the same font!"

Benson set both papers aside on the desk with a heavy slam. There was only one explanation to him for what has happened today.

"They tried to make a fool out of me. I've been so blind." Benson stated his suspicion with a sneer. He saw one of the drones fly away from the park house and saw it go past the trees. His scowl morphed into a scoffing grin. "I'm gonna blow this thing wide open…"

Benson looked out to the employees on the front lawn, seeing CJ put on the jacket that came in her package as she checked up on Mordecai and Rigby.

"So, all together, the food supply is about 30 bags." Mordecai tallied with his fingers.

"31 counting Muscle Man's." Rigby added with a pointed finger towards Muscle Man's bag.

"Good." CJ nodded to the boys. "Benson said the dome will be there for 30 days. As long as we eat a third of a bag a day, I think we can get by with what we have."

Benson grew a soft smile watching CJ help out her fellow employees. Seeing them so dedicated and working together made him think: who was he to ruin this? It was evident they were still sore at him over the date debacle. And if he were to bug them about it now, he knew exactly what they'd say: that his thing was the least of their problems. He knew Skips would definitely say that. Who was he to make it all about him when they found someone who can help them until the dome mess is gone?

"They're in good hands, Benson. They're in good hands." Benson reassured himself before he marched out of his office.


Meanwhile, as Benson snuck out, CJ had gathered everyone for another meeting.

"Okay, so far my hunch was right." CJ started to speak. "Now, we just have to plant a bag a day for our three-course meal. So, with that, we're going to need to start a new schedule here in the dome, however that goes..."

CJ thought to herself for a moment before she turned to Pops and pointed to him.

"Pops, you have some experience in gardening, right?" CJ asked.

"That I do, milady." Pops responded with innocent diligence and a gentle bow.

"Perfect." CJ said. "I'll need you to start making a makeshift garden so we can plant these seeds."

"Of course. It shall be done." Pops affirmed with a salute.

CJ turned her gaze to Skips.

"Skips," CJ said, "once Pops is done with setting up the garden, I'll be counting on you to plant the seeds and water them, so I need you to bring your watering can over here."

Skips grunted with an understanding nod before he skipped over to his shed. Her attention fell on Muscle Man and Hi-Five next.

"Muscle Man, Fives, I need you two to set up a lookout." CJ ordered.

"A lookout?" Muscle Man puzzled.

"It's to keep an eye on our progress, and for those weird drones that gave us this stuff." Hi-Fives interpreted. And he was right on the mark.

"Yeah, exactly." CJ confirmed this with her nod.

"You got it, CJ." Muscle Man and Fives gave her a thumbs up. Then she turned to Mordecai and Rigby.

"And Rigby," CJ began. "I'll need you and Mordecai to check on the bathrooms in the park. If the latrines are dirty, I'll need you to scrub them clean."

Mordecai and Rigby nodded to her as they "hm-hm'd". However, with the water cut off, it was going to be a big problem.

"Oh, but how do we scrub them without water or soap?" Mordecai chimed in. That stunted CJ for a moment before she turned to Pops.

"Actually, Pops." CJ spoke up. "Before the garden, do you know if there's any supplies in the house that could help clean the latrine?"

"Of course! There may be some supplies in the kitchen." Pops answered with a friendly smile.

"Awesome. Let's hope the equipment's good." CJ beamed. Pops, Mordecai, Rigby, and CJ all walked to the house to search for said equipment. Needless to say, Mordecai was more than impressed with CJ's skills.

"Wow, CJ. You're really getting the hang of this." Mordecai complimented.

"Really? You don't think I'll mess it up?" CJ bashfully and nervously asked.

"Of course not. You handled it really well, considering that we haven't done anything to screw up." Mordecai assured her with a pat on her back.

"To be fair, we only just started the day~" Rigby blurted out with a mischievous grin.

"You better not start, Rigby." CJ warned with a point of her finger.

"Okay, okay. I kid." Rigby retracted his comment and walked into the house. "Not like we can actually do anything else in the dome, anyway."

After Rigby walked in, CJ looked into her phone and saw her crossing guard boss's text once more. It was vibrating to let her know about its existence.

"Shoot. I forgot to send him a text…" CJ realized with a soft tone in her voice.

"Send who a text?" Mordecai asked curiously.

"Oh, just my boss for my tour guide job. Gonna be hard to go back to that in the dome…" CJ answered as she texted a reply on the phone. It said, "I'm okay. Just tryin' to survive in a dome." Once she sent it, CJ put her phone away and she turned to Mordecai. "I meant every word, Mordecai," CJ continued, "I haven't been in anything like this before. For now, I'm just getting by with these skills from my city tour guide job. What I'm doing here, it's basically the same as making sure everyone is safe on the road."

"That sounds like a lot of pressure, Ceej." Mordecai spoke with worry.

"It is," CJ agreed, "but I think as long as you manage to keep their attention and get their needs addressed, it should be manageable. That's how I got through it, anyway." CJ stopped for a moment and looked up to the window. "I just hope Benson isn't overwhelmed by all this…"

"It'll be fine, CJ." Mordecai spoke surely. "Once Benson sets his mind on something, he never lets it go."


As CJ and the gang busted their chops to make the best of life in the dome, Benson was in hot pursuit of the drone. To keep from disturbing them, he went out the back door. But he had to make sure that the drone wouldn't spot him. He hid behind the trees as he tailed the machine. When he rolled to the next one, he landed hard on the keys, and they dug into his side.

"Ah!" Benson yelled with a sharp inhale. "Rolled on my keys…"

Nevertheless, Benson continued his pursuit. The longer he followed the drone, the deeper the drone seemed to go in the park. It had gotten so deep that a moment later, the drone popped out of a bush unaware that Benson had scaled a toppled-over tree to keep surveillance on it. He jumped off of it and into the underbrush where it fell from. Benson had managed to catch up to the drone in almost no time at all. But by the time he'd tailed directly behind it, he was unaware of a branch that it was pushing as it floated forward. Suddenly, the branch swung at him. THWACK!

"Aah!" Benson screamed in agony, alerting the drone. It turned around to scan for any intruders that had followed it. He got wise and tried to mask himself.

"Uh, I mean, caw! Caw!" Benson cawed. The drone, thankfully, fell for the act and carried on with its trip. Once he got some good distance away from it, Benson chased after it again and got to the other end of the park. But when he got there… there was nothing here!

"Huh? It vanished." Benson walked deeper into the park to try to locate it. "It was right in front of me. Where on earth-?"

Suddenly, Benson collided into a dome camouflage and fell backward. The gumball machine looked up and saw the full view of the more miniature dome.

"Whoa. Another dome?" Benson stared at it in awe and shock when a falcon flew by above him. And much like him, it collided into the dome and fell to the floor. But it seemed to be of no consequence as the falcon seemed more puzzled than harmed.

"I know. I didn't see it either." Benson spoke to the perplexed aviary. Benson picked up the small aviary and cradled it in one arm as he walked around the dome.

"And why is it camouflaged?" Benson wondered until he found his answer. There was a laser gate blocking the way in. "Jeez. Pretty high security. Something is fishy here."

Benson looked up at the dome and saw a small window on it.

"I want to see what's going on in there." Benson thought aloud. He climbed up onto the window and peeked over. When Benson looked into it, he saw two of the government's scientists talking to each other as one of them was sitting at the coffee table. He picked up a folder and passed one to his cohort. The folder was labeled "Top Secret", and it had Benson's picture on it.

"Why do they have my picture?" He once again thought to himself aloud. Benson heard feedback close by, becoming more alert.

"Someone's coming." Benson got off of the window and hid behind the two trash cans next to the picnic table.

There were two more guards that rode on a hovercraft before they got off. They picked up their rifles and stood next to the laser-gated door.

"Armed guards and a laser-beam door?" Benson pondered, his suspicions at an all-time high. They really don't want visitors."

Benson had an epiphany the moment those words left his mouth. He remembered what CJ said before.

"People outside are gonna be panicking, wondering what's going on, just like we were. And I've seen enough government stuff to know they aren't gonna like people asking questions."

"Wait. Of course!" Benson spoke as if he had a eureka moment. "It's so obvious. That must be where they've hidden my p-mail. If I could just present it to Maelard, he'll call this whole thing off, and we'll all be free!"

Benson paused for a moment to think it over. "Well, assuming he isn't the one who put us into this… Anyway, I better go tell the guys and CJ about this. Maybe we can overpower them, and we can get out of here."

The bird nestled against him like a hatchling to its mother. Benson just couldn't resist how adorable it was. "I like you, bird." Benson admitted. "I think I'll call you… Antares."

Little did Benson know that danger came from behind. The drone he'd tailed had snuck up from behind him, ready to shoot him.

Benson turned around in fright to see the drone, and Antares screeched as it took off from him.

"Antares, you coward!" Benson screamed, just to get shot in the arm by a tranquilizer dart. It was fired from a cannon the drone used.

"Hey…" was all Benson could mutter before he fell prey to unconsciousness.


Hours later, CJ was standing out on the Park House porch. The sky was dark out, and she was staring out at the stars, moving her fingers around. It had been some time since she last saw Benson. Was he really that determined to prove the date was wrong? In any case, it worried her.

While it was true that she was managing the Park well enough for the most part, she can't help but feel that it was a little sudden for him to just… disappear. What else could be going on at the dome that kept Benson for so long? At that moment, CJ was visited by Mordecai. He'd just come out of the door.

"Are you alright, CJ?" asked Mordecai. "You've been out on the porch for a while now."

"Honestly, I don't know." CJ answered as she craned her head to him. "Benson hasn't come back since he left to who-knows-where. Did he ever do that a lot to you guys?"

Mordecai shook his head. He couldn't remember a time he actually left Mordecai and Rigby alone.

"Actually, he never did that at all." Mordecai said. "But then, we weren't trapped in a huge dome, either."

CJ looked back at the starry night sky. It was now partially obscured by the clear dome above them. It certainly wasn't something she ever thought she'd see, let alone for a whole month.

"This is not going out the way I thought it would…" CJ said with a quiet tone.

"How so?" Mordecai asked. "Apart from the dome thing, I mean."

"When I went to work at the park with you," CJ said, "I thought I'd be able to spend it working and/or goofing off with you, Mordecai. But now, with this thing above our heads, it just feels like we're being caged here. I mean, I'm glad that we're able to provide for ourselves. I know Rigby is."

At this point, Rigby's voice could be heard inside the Park House saying, "Whoa! This is even better than Pizza Pockets!"

Mordecai and CJ giggled together for a moment before she continued her somber discussion.

"Anyway, I don't know." CJ said. "Maybe it feels like I'm just doing someone else's job. Am I really right for this?"

Mordecai put his feathered hand on her back and tried to give her his support.

"Of course you are, CJ." Mordecai told her profoundly. "Benson never usually trusts anybody. So if he's trusting you to look after us, then that definitely means you're the right pick for this."

Though he meant well in telling her this, CJ still wasn't sure.

"How can you be so sure, Mordecai?" CJ questioned.

"I don't know." Mordecai said with a shrug. "I'm not usually this level-headed. I guess, maybe the dome affects us all in different ways, you know?" CJ looked out at the sky, seeing the stars beyond the layer of dome sparkle brightly. Perhaps the dome life just needed some getting used to, she thought.

"Yeah, I guess…" CJ sighed. She put her arm around Mordecai's head and brought him closer to her as they stared out together.

"Thanks, Mordecai…" CJ said softly. The Blue Jay smiled at his girlfriend and he put his hand on top of hers, holding onto it.

"Of course, CJ." Mordecai replied. CJ and Mordecai turned to each other, and gave each other a brief kiss on the lips. The couple stared at each other up close, cradling their cheeks. At that point, they heard the caw of a bird.

"Huh?" CJ turned and looked up at the sky.

"What was that?" Mordecai asked.

The cawing became louder and louder as the bird came into view. It was Antares, and the bird was flying to the Park House, landing on the bar of the porch. CJ and Mordecai looked at it with interest.

"No way, CJ!" Mordecai said. "It's a falcon!"

"We have one of those?" CJ asked.

"Not really." Mordecai answered. "It must've gotten trapped in the dome along with us."

The falcon flew up a few inches landing close to CJ. She never encountered the bird up close before, so it got her a little spooked.

"Whoa, easy now." CJ tried to settle it down, holding her hands up in the air. The falcon cooed as it stared into CJ's eyes. And likewise, she stared into them right back. After a few seconds, CJ began to get a sense that it had something on its mind.

"You… have something to tell us, don't you?" CJ pondered. As an answer, Antares flew away from her and Mordecai. CJ ran down the stairs to look at the direction it was flying. The bird flew to the left, heading farther away from the house.

"Mordecai!" CJ exclaimed. "We have to follow it!"

Mordecai wasn't sure why they should, but what he was sure of is that it mattered to CJ. Besides, it was likely that the dome was starting to affect CJ, too, he thought.

"Alright." Mordecai nodded. The couple tailed Antares to the far end of the Park, making sure that they didn't lose the bird. The chase went on for two minutes before the bird was standing over a dark silhouette, flapping its wings.

"Wait a minute," CJ realized with wide eyes. The closer they'd gotten to the silhouette, the more it looked familiar.

"Is that…?" Mordecai started. They could recognize his long nose, his gumball-like head shape. Sure enough,they knew who Antares was luring them to.

"BENSON!" they shouted.


Three Days Later

Benson groaned, trying to fend off the headache he had. He had just woken up from being tranquilized on the other end of the park, finding himself laid down on the couch. And once he sat up, his vision cleared up. It was foggy from the beginning, so he could barely make out who was sitting next to him.

"Benson! You're awake." CJ exclaimed in relief. Her boss rubbed his head and turned his legs to set them on the floor. Trying to process what happened, he stroked the small stubble on his face. But in turn, it only gave him another question.

"Huh…? CJ, How long have I been out?" Benson asked. It didn't take long for him to notice the elephant missing from the room. "And what happened to the TV?"

"You were out of it for three days. Mordecai and I found you out on the other side of the park, thanks to this little guy." CJ explained as she gestured to Antares on the table, which made a small caw sound of its beak. The gumball machine was utterly speechless to know that the bird helped them find him.

"Antares. You came back?" Benson asked. He stroked the falcon's head gently with a grin. "Good on you, Antares."

CJ turned to Benson, quite puzzled to know that he made friends with this bird in particular.

"Whoa, dude, you have a pet falcon now?" CJ asked with intrigue.

"It's a long story." Benson bluntly answered. "But how come you're here? What about everybody else?"

"Actually, Benson," she assured, "a lot's happened since you were out cold. Wanna see how we're doing?"

CJ helped Benson off of the couch and led him out of the house. Outside, Benson and CJ saw Pops raking a new garden just outside the front porch.

"Good news, Pops." CJ said. "Benson's awake.

"Oh, Benson! You're okay! We were worried about you." Pops said with his usual cheerful outlook.

"I'm fine, Pops." Benson insisted. "I just need to call a– Is that a garden?"

"Mm-hm." Pops nodded. "We ran out of food, so we're growing our own. Living off the land has been quite invigorating."

Of course, it was more than can be said for Mordecai and Rigby. They were playing in front of the TV with their video game system hooked up to it, and a car battery was powering it.

"Heh. Living off the land, huh?" Benson scoffed at the slackers. "Looks like you two are really contributing to the cause."

"Actually, we're on break." Rigby replied. CJ walked up to the two and had an enthusiastic look toward them.

"That reminds me, you guys." CJ interjected. "I appreciate you putting in the hours earlier. Getting up at dawn isn't easy, but those latrines are looking tip-top."

Mordecai blushed when CJ planted a kiss on his cheek, but he returned that kiss with a smile.

"Hey, no thanks necessary." Mordecai politely said.

"Yeah. Just happy to do our part." Rigby added.

"Whoa. You actually got Rigby to work, and do it right?" Benson asked, mainly out of disbelief.

"Turns out he's more capable than he thought about himself. Plus, there's not really a lot to do here anyway." CJ answered positively.

"Oh." Benson responded.

"Anyway, everyone's really coming to their own as a contributing member of the dome-munity." CJ said. Benson laughed lightly at the quip before she continued. "So, now that you're here, I guess you'll want this back."

Benson looked at the clipboard CJ held in her hands. From what he could see, most of them were checked up already. But as important as those tasks were normally, they still had a bigger issue to take on. And that was the fact that they were set up.

"It can wait, CJ. I have to call a meeting." Benson said. He wasted no time gathering everyone here.

"Look, everyone listen." Benson said. "I have something very important to show you pertaining to my p-mail."

"Benson, it's okay." Rigby spoke up. He knew how hard he was on Benson for the date, especially when it came to his pizza pockets. "Nobody cares about that anymore."

"Yes, Benson." Pops concurred. "We've grown quite fond of the dome."

"Look, I know you all still blame me for being stuck in here, so just come with me, and I'll prove it wasn't my fault." Benson urged. Mordecai was about to say something, but CJ stopped him, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Mordecai, if it's bugging Benson that much, the least we can do is hear him out. He has been out of it for a few days." CJ said. Mordecai lowered his hands and sighed. Benson had been through a lot since they all got by. Who knows what happened back then but him?

"Alright." Mordecai said. "Let's check it out."

However, when they got to the other end of the park, there was nothing there!

"This can't be." Benson said in disbelief. "It was right here. I'm telling you, there was a whole other dome, just like the big one, but little, with trees on it and lasers."

CJ went up to Benson to try to calm him down and get the whole story straight.

"Benson, was this other dome camouflaged or something?" CJ asked.

"Of course it wa–!" Benson started to reply, but he stopped once he saw the point. "Oh… maybe it's camouflaged itself again, hiding itself even better than last time! It's ingenious…!"

But while Benson seemed to have figured it out, all Hi-Five saw was Benson being overcome with the weight of guilt over getting the date wrong. He tried to help lighten Benson's burden.

"It's okay, Benson." Hi-Five assured. "Come back with us to the camp, and we'll set you up a hammock in the meditation tent."

However, Benson slapped his hand away.

"I don't need your pity hammocks." Benson snapped. "What's going on here? Why are you being all weird and supportive? Did the dome people get to you?"

CJ noticed how defensive Benson was getting. Whatever went on near Benson's smaller dome must have seriously gotten him on edge.

"Benson, chill. You can trust us." Mordecai tried to convince Benson, but CJ put her arm up in front of him.

"It's okay, Mordecai. You guys can make sure the duties are tended to, okay?" CJ assured. Muscle Man, on the other hand, wasn't sure if it was a smart choice.

"Are you sure about this, bro?" he asked. But Fives saw the point she was trying to make.

"No, she's right." Hi-Five said. "The dome affects us all in different ways."

The group murmured in agreement as they all went to their tasks. Mordecai looked back for a moment at CJ and Benson. He could tell this was a more personal thing. He went back to walking with the park gang a few seconds later. With CJ and Benson alone, she tried to get through to him past his paranoia. Though, it came with little success.

"I knew it! They HAVE gotten to you! And after I trusted you with managing the park?!" Benson shouted. He wasn't sure what to think, but he felt betrayed with what was going on. CJ knew that feeling all too well. It happened to her too many times to know that it was not worth having this feeling in her life at all. She sighed softly and tried to connect with him.

"Benson, listen, I know you don't feel like you could trust me after what you've gone through." CJ said. "And frankly, I don't know what they've done to you to make you act like this. But I want you to know… I've been where you are."

Benson's suspicion died down little by little as CJ continued. "I know it's not the same thing, but I know how it feels when you don't feel like you can trust anyone anymore. When it feels like everybody turned against you. But we haven't, Benson. I haven't. So, please. Let us help you blow this thing wide open."

Benson looked down at his hands. They were trembling, but not out of rage. It was because of conflict. He had no reason to trust that they would act this way with the dome people involved, but on the other hand, CJ was there the whole time to keep the park afloat when he went awol. He didn't know what to think anymore. Benson cautiously stepped back and looked her in the eyes.

"CJ… just keep an eye on them for me. If those dome guys come for you, don't let them get to you." Benson simply said. Then, he took off and headed deeper into the forest as CJ shouted for him.

"Benson, wait!" CJ called.

"LIVE FREE OR DIE!" Benson shouted back. CJ lowered her hands and looked at where Benson took off. In the end, all she could do was hope for the best.

"I hope you know what you're doing… boss." CJ said softly.


In the deep forest, Benson peeked out of a bush and kept his vigil for any of the people responsible for the dome.

"They'll see." Benson told himself. "These dome guys are up to something, and I'll stop it, even if it takes me all month."

And so, for all of that month, while CJ made sure everybody at the park was sustaining themselves, Benson got to work on exposing the dome scientists and, if necessary, stop them and get their freedom back. He noticed a skid mark on a patch of grass and went to inspect it. The trail extended past a field of bushes that obscured the rest of it.

Benson had a gut feeling that it led somewhere. So, he followed it to a nearby river, where he dove into it and swam upstream. He even climbed up a cliff at the end of the park to follow it. When he got to the end, he saw one of the scientists put another box inside the robot. He pushed the button, and up it went into the air. Benson kept an eye on the drone as it went away.


Meanwhile, Muscle Man and Hi-Five were keeping an eye out for any more packages. And as it happened, they caught sight of the drone the scientist had sent them. The duo called them over to the drone, which offshooted their package gently to the ground with a parachute. Inside it was a stack of pipes and a blueprint. The park gang was confused at first, but CJ looked over at the white tent beside the Park House, and she began to realize what it was for.

She gave the team instructions on how to proceed with the pipes, using the blueprint as reference. The gang understood the design and got right to work on it. As everybody got to work, Mordecai went to CJ and put his hand on her shoulder, getting her attention, as well as a look of uncertainty. He had a feeling she was worried about Benson being alone out there. It was on that day that they endeavored to find him.


Ten days later, Benson had grown a black wig of hair on his otherwise bald head. And unfortunately, he was coming down with a case of starvation. He hadn't eaten in almost two weeks since the dome got over their heads. But, as luck would have it, CJ and Mordecai were walking close to the area he hid himself in. She happened to be holding a crate of apples they'd grown from their planting.

They picked enough for Benson to satiate his hunger for a couple of days at most. CJ set the basket down by the bush and walked back to the park with Mordecai while Benson looked on at them, and he accepted their food in a hurry. He took a huge bite out of the apple before he noticed a letter from CJ. He opened it up, and it said, "You belong in the Park, too. - CJ". Benson felt touched by the letter, and he gave it a sincere smile filled with tears.


Five days later, Benson had snapped off a branch and put it on his makeshift tent. It was made out of branches with the leaves acting as a shade for him to use. As a finishing touch, he put up a "Hang in There" poster with a cat hanging on a branch. Benson stepped back and felt proud of his handiwork.


Two days later, Benson had set up his own lookout and kept an eye out on the Park Gang as they walked by him under his notice. However, he kept himself hidden. He didn't want to show himself without any proof, even if they said they didn't care about the date anymore. But while he hid, he noticed CJ looking up at the branch and at his lookout. After a moment of staring, CJ continued to walk away, leaving Benson rather conflicted. After that, he went back to his tent, and he made a custom bow and arrow.

Benson tried to do some target practice with it, and much to his dismay, he didn't get a bullseye. He snapped his fingers in defeat when Antares came along and picked up his arrow before delivering it to him. Benson was happy to see his fine-feathered friend again. This time, Benson took aim at the target and shot it right at the bullseye.


Five more days later, Benson had already mastered the ways of the arrow. The next step was to weaponize them. He got out a grenade and disarmed it. He put it on a leaf and wrapped it up like a burrito before taping it to one of his arrows. And there were still plenty more to go…


Three days later, Benson found himself staring at the other dome's security fence. He saw the laser shield go down when the robot was coming near the entrance and was allowed access. This gave him an idea. If he could hitch a ride and infiltrate their dome, he might get to the bottom of this mess after all. He went back to his tent and armed himself with a bow and arrow. His hair had grown so long, he had a mullet, and he dressed himself up in a red headband with green face paint over his eyes.

"I'm ready." said the determined Benson. Nothing was going to stop him from blowing this thing wide open. "Dome, dome-dome, dome, dome…"


Play Tangerine Dream Music: "Betrayal (Sorcerer Theme)"

Benson returned to the area where he saw the smaller dome accept the drones as they entered the building, the laser gate turning itself off each time. It was simple enough for him to find a workaround with that gate in mind.

"Time to blow this thing wide open," he told himself. Just then, one of the drones came near him. That's when he made his move. He ran on the mud behind the bushes trying to catch up with the drone. He climbed up a tree and jumped on it, hitching a ride on the machine. As it came near the laser grid, the shield went away, allowing it inside the dome, and Benson along with it.

Once he was inside, Benson jumped off of the drone and looked around. He looked near the hall and saw two scientists near the door. One of the locks had a mouth guard, which one of the scientists bit down on. After doing so, a check mark appeared on the pad, and the door opened itself. Benson walked away from the door to a dark hall and mimicked a bird's whistle to distract the remaining scientist.

"Huh? Darn birds got in again." said he as the scientist walked down the hall. Suddenly, he got jumped by Benson, who pinned him to the ground and got his face punched. Benson dragged him to the door and used his mouth to bypass the mouth guard lock. He took advantage of the way in and sneaked down the hallway, noticing a couple more scientists down the hall. But unlike the others, she had chocolate brown hair at shoulder length and glasses.

"I hear the whole thing will be blasting off in a couple months," said the male scientist.

"Well, assuming Steffen can get his act together." the female scientist joked, bumping him with her elbow on his shoulder. Benson mused over the subject.

"Blast off…? To where?" Benson asked himself in a whisper. Rather than risk being discovered, he continued his sneaky stroll down the hall and snuck past them. It didn't take long for Benson to find the secret door in this dome (primarily because it said secret on it). He opened the door and snuck into it, promptly closing the door.

Once he was inside, Benson looked all around the room, seeing the blueprints on the wall. A couple of them were skeletal figures of Mordecai and Rigby. But the blueprint that made him the most intrigued was the dome itself lifting the park off of where it used to be on the ground.

"Oh… my… gosh…!" Benson said breathlessly. The Park Manager was at a loss for words. "What is going on here…?" But as much as he'd want to get to the bottom of that mystery, he recalled what he set out to do in the first place. "My p-mail's not up there."

End Tangerine Dream Music: "Betrayal (Sorcerer Theme)"

He began to conduct the research on the desk in front of him. "Come on. Come on." Benson said, trying to locate his original P-Mail, as well as plans for why the dome needed to lift the whole thing off the ground among other things. "It's true. It must all be true. I'm gonna blow this thing wide open."

Before he could finish his research, he was interrupted by a scientist with a german accent. "Benson Dunwoody!" the scientist shouted. Benson turned around in shock to see him, along with three other scientists, one of which Benson recognized from a minute earlier. "Park manager, former drummer, stick-hockey enthusiast. I...am Dr. Dome. Welcome to my domicile."

"I don't care who you are." Benson cut Dr. Dome off, getting straight to the point. "I think we both know what's going on here."

But Dr. Dome didn't seem the least bit surprised.

"I can see you've accurately surmised our plans." Dr. Dome said with a shrug. He strolled to his drawer and opened it up.

"I knew to look for your backup, for I, too, print my e-mails. Just in case." Dr. Dome explained. Once he pulled out it, Benson recognized the letter he held in his gloved hand.

"Is that my p-mail?" Benson asked.

"Our plans have surely been made apparent to you by this point." Dr. Dome explained. "Why we put a dome over the park and pumped it full of oxygen. Why we created a self-sustaining environment within it. Why we switched the date on your e-mail. Why we–"

"AHA!" Benson shouted with pride. So you admit you did change the dates! And I've got the proof right here!"

Benson laughed maniacally to celebrate, much to the befuddlement of Dr. Dome and his scientists.

"Ja. Of course we did." Dr. Dome simply said. "As you know, that's part of the test."

Benson calmed down and sighed in relief.

"Sorry." Benson said with a wave. "I just needed a personal victory this month. But why would you want to launch the park into space? Why is it that big a deal that you had to pay Maelard for all this?"

Seeing how clueless Benson was, Dr. Dome turned to one of the other scientists. The feminine one seemed rather concerned with how out of the loop Benson was.

"Perhaps the data isn't as compromised as we initially thought." Dr. Dome whispered. He then snapped his fingers, and two of his scientists, including the feminine scientist went right to Benson and held him by his arms, the other snatching his P-Mail from his hand and handing it to Dr. Dome.

"This is bigger than you, Benson Dunwoody!" he said before he shoved the paper into his mouth and he swallowed it, to Benson's horror.

"NO!" Benson cried before he was suddenly shot with a dart. But unlike the last one, he didn't pass out. "What the-?"

Dr. Dome wasn't very pleased with the scientist's poor tranquilizing skills.

"Steffen, come on." Dr. Dome griped. "It is a very simple user interface." He took the tranquilizer from him and pushed a button, causing the monitor to change from having its eye open to show that it was asleep. "Antidote dart, knockout dart. Remember what I just showed you because it is important."

Dr. Dome shot the dart at Benson, making him pass out. With the manager out for the count again, the feminine scientist turned to Dr. Dome, wondering about how he'd take the news once he was back at the park.

"Do you think he'll tell the others?" she asked.

"Only one way to find out..." Dr. Dome answered ominously.


Meanwhile, back at the park, everything was in tip-top shape. There was a water well next to the side of the park, there were meditation tents out on the front lawn of the park house, along with a campfire, and a recent addition of a treehouse next to the official one. Mordecai and Rigby were in a greenhouse just beside the treehouse installing the last of the pipes the drone brought them almost a month ago. Rigby was holding a ladder while Mordecai was plugging it in. CJ had come up to Mordecai and Rigby just as they finished.

"Hey, guys." CJ said with a smile. "How's it looking?"

"Well, we just about finished with the new irrigation system." Mordecai answered.

"That's great." CJ replied. "Wanna go for some drinks?"

A short moment later, CJ was pumping the water from the well into their cups.

"Here you go." CJ said. "I don't want you guys to get dehydrated."

"Thanks, boss." Mordecai and Rigby said. They took their cups and drank the water as CJ sighed to herself. "Boss…" CJ said to herself. "I can almost get used to that…" She looked over to Pops, who was hauling a large raking tool to create another garden. And he had a lot of gains in the process.

"Looking good, Pops!" CJ complimented.

"Thank you." Pops joyfully responded. Just then, Skips, Muscle Man, and Hi-Five came through the forest, and they had grim looks on their faces.

"You guys have any luck finding Benson, yet?" CJ asked.

"Yeah, bad luck." Muscle Man bluntly answered.

"We couldn't find him." Skips added.

"This isn't good." Hi-Five finished.

CJ held her fingers to her chin. The fact that she hadn't seen any sign of Benson for almost a month now was getting to her. Tasks aside, she used whatever free time she had to find their boss.

"I'll say. Something's definitely gotta be wrong…" CJ said

"What do you think we should do, CJ?" Mordecai asked.

"What else? We have to organize a search party and find him." CJ adamantly stated. "Hopefully, we can find out more whatever he's found out about this dome." CJ paused for a moment and spoke softly. "That, and his P-Mail, apparently… Now, remember our mantra."

"The dome affects us all in different ways." said all of the park members.

"Great. Now, let's go." CJ said with determination. "And everybody, please stick together. Who knows what those dome guys have in store for us?"

As the gang all went out in search for Benson, though, Rigby found something suspicious far away.

"Guys, I think I found something." Rigby said.

"What is it?" CJ asked. Rigby scurried over to what he saw and pointed to a target with a bullseye on it. "Right here!" Rigby said. CJ stepped up to the target and examined it.

"Man… Benson's definitely been here." CJ said. "That means he can't be far. Let's go, guys!"


As CJ pressed the search for him, Benson found himself struggling to wake up again. He could barely make out the silhouettes in front of him, but he knew they must be Mordecai, Rigby, CJ, and Skips. But something about them wasn't quite right…

"Benson?" "Mordecai" asked. "He's waking up."

"Thank goodness." "CJ" said.

"Where...am I?" Benson tried to ask, his vision still blurry from the tranquilizer.

"He's still unstable." "Skips" pointed out.

"Benson, are you all right?" "Mordecai" tried to check on him along side "CJ"

"We found you passed out in the forest. Are you okay?" she asked.

"What?" Benson was puzzled. "Yeah, I'm…"

He sat up and looked around as he listened to "Rigby's" voice.

"Is there anything you wanna tell us? Any big secrets?" he asked.

"Really cool headband, Benson." "Mordecai" commented.

"Seems like you've been through a lot." "Skips" said. "What happened?"

Benson rubbed his head, trying to ride out the second headache he got.

"Well…" Benson began before clearing his throat. "now that you mention it, I-I was doing some recon. Actually came across some very earth-shattering–"

Benson paused when he saw a mirror on the side of the wall.

"Hey, has that mirror always been there?" Benson asked the "gang".

"Oh, that old thing?" "Rigby" said. "Never mind that."

"Now, what were you saying about your time in the forest?" "CJ" asked. "Like very earth-shattering.. stuff?"

"Yeah, tell us more, sir." Rigby urged. But that was where Benson caught on to the act.

"Sir?" Benson spoke out with realization. Immediately, he grabbed the fake Rigby and throttled him. "What did you call me?!"

Once he got a closer look at "Rigby" Benson gasped with shock. He saw a dwarf-sized man poorly dressed up as him. Benson set him down as the fake Mordecai tried to check on him.

"Hey, Benson, is there something wrong?" he asked.

The fake CJ tried to help him out, setting her hands on his shoulders to ease the tension. On closer inspection, the fake CJ was none other than the feminine scientist who held him down before. She had a red and white striped tank top like her, along with cotton taped all over her.

"You've probably been through a lot, haven't you?" the fake CJ asked him.

"Maybe you should lie back down." "Skips" said. Then, the fake pops came along, holding a popsicle in his hand, not to mention in the most out-of-character voice.

"Would you like a popsicle?" the actor said.

Benson knew this was all wrong. He had to get out. But he couldn't point that out just yet. He had to trick them and make his own way out. For now, he had to play along.

"Uh, sorry, guys." Benson said. "Think I'm still feeling a bit rattled from everything. Say, remember that game we used to play that always made me really comfortable and let my guard down?"

At that moment, the actor playing Hi-Five came up, though CJ's actor caught on to it.

"Of course." said the Hi-Five actor. "What was it again?"

"The close our eyes game where we all close our eyes." Benson answered.

"Sure, sure." the Rigby actor said.

"Okay." said the Pops actor. And so, everyone all closed their eyes and let their guard down. With everyone having closed their eyes, Benson saw the opportunity to sneak out of here. But then, he flipped the table right onto the mirror, blocking the view! With almost everyone surprised, Benson ran to the door, only to find that the way out was blocked by "CJ".

"Nice try, Benson." "CJ" told him. "We don't play that kind of game."

Benson was at first worried, but "CJ" leaned to him and spoke softly. "You really need to relax outside, don't you?"

"Huh?" was all Benson could mutter when suddenly, she opened the door and shoved him outside.

"Go to a dome-cycle outside and tell them the plans. No matter what, just keep running!" "CJ" said before closing the door on him, snapping him out of his stupor. But in turn, he was puzzled by another problem. The hallway was completely white!

"What the-?" Benson said aloud. But he didn't have much time to ruminate on it. So, he did as "CJ" said and ran as fast as he could. Along the way, he saw other actors in front of him, namely Muscle Man, Techmo, and even Audrey.

"Oh, no, bro!" "Muscle Man" said before he was suddenly pushed away.

"Benson, it's me, Techmo." "Techmo" said, only to be just as quickly pushed aside.

"Oh, come on. I barely know you!" Benson argued back at him before coming across "Audrey".

"Benson, slow down." "Audrey" said. "I'm your girlfriend, Audrey!"

But Benson moved past her nonetheless.

"We broke up months ago!" Benson shouted. But after a moment he paused. "Oh, wait. Did we actually break up…?" He was tempted to go back, but then, he shook his head. "Either way, you're not her!"

Benson got to the door and opened it up, a bright light shining on his face. He was finally out of the small dome. And beside the entrance were a set of dome-cycles. Benson hopped onto one before he looked back at the entrance.

"Thanks for the tip, lady." Benson said thoughtfully before he took off. "I've gotta find CJ. I know she'll listen to me."


As it turned out, at this very moment, CJ and the others were hot on Benson's trail in the forest.

"Benson!" Mordecai shouted with his hands near his mouth like a megaphone.

"Benson!" CJ shouted next.

"Benson, bro, where are you?" Muscle Man chimed in.

"Benson!" Mordecai shouted again. Suddenly, "Benson" popped out of the bushes.

"Hey, guys." "Benson" casually replied. Rigby jumped back, surprised by Benson's arrival.

"Whoa! Benson, why are you lurking in the bushes?"

"Benson" laughed it off as a common mistake.

"Oh, right. I don't normally do that." "Benson" said. "I guess I got mixed up and took a wrong turn. Speaking of mix-ups, now that the gang's back together and everything's back to normal, I wanted to tell you it turns out, I actually did get the date wrong on that e-mail. I apologize for making such a fuss."

Mordecai, Rigby, and CJ didn't buy it one bit.

"You apologize, huh?" Mordecai and Rigby said simultaneously as CJ crossed her arms.

"Yep." "Benson" said nervously. "After all, you know your old pal Benson's motto: 'Don't sweat the small stuff.'"

Suddenly, CJ grasped "Benson" by the body, pulling it up and revealing a puppet!

"The Benson I know would never say that." CJ said. "And I've only been here as an employee for almost a month, so that's saying something. What's going on here?! What did you do to Benson?!"

"I'll never tell." the Benson puppet said. Then, it started to do a dramatic gasp before finally collapsing. The puppeteer on the other hand looked at them anxiously.

"Please, go back to your house." the scientist begged.

"Why? Why shouldn't we look for our friend?" CJ questioned, getting more frustrated.

"Dr. Dome is not gonna– Huh?" the scientist tried to explain, but suddenly, Benson rode out of the bushes on his dome-cycle and rammed right into the scientist, knocking him into the bushes. CJ was utterly stunned to see Benson with the getup he has now. As their boss ran up to them, Mordecai and Rigby tried to make sure it was really him.

"Benson!" Mordecai shouted.

"Is it really you?" Rigby questioned.

"This whole month has been a lie." Benson answered with dread in his voice. "They're not studying the park, they're studying us! And they're trying to launch the dome into outer space!"

CJ gasped in shock. "Wait, they're what?!"

"Wait!" Rigby said. "How do we know it's really him? It's too cool to be true!"

"Also," Benson continued, "I was right about the dates, and I was right about the second dome, and you should never have doubted me!"

Mordecai knew from that statement that it was his boss.

"It's definitely him." Mordecai said.

"So, what do we do?" Rigby asked. For Benson, one thing was clear. He ran to a nearby log and bumped his fist on it, opening up a secret compartment that hid a bag of arrows.

"We're gonna take back our free-dome." Benson answered with a scowl. CJ perked up a bit from his delivery a bit.

"Okay, who are you, and what have you done to Benson?" CJ asked. "I don't remember him being so badass."

"You're looking at him." Benson said. "To the dome cycle."

Everyone hurried over to Benson's dome-cycle with Pops, Skips, Hi-Five, and Muscle Man occupying the drones behind him that were tethered to the dome-cycle. In no time at all, they hurried away from the scene. However, they were suddenly being followed by two more dome-cycles, along with two dome hovercrafts, one of which was co-piloted by the scientist who helped Benson escape. CJ turned around to see them, much to her anxious worry.

"Uh, Benson, we've got dome scientists at 6 o'clock!" CJ warned. Benson turned around and growled when he saw them gaining ground on them, especially to Dr. Dome.

"Orders from on high said compromised data must be destroyed." Dr. Dome said. "Dome let them get away."

But the approaching scientists didn't deter Benson in the slightest. He simply got out his arrow and took aim. Mordecai was rather surprised to see Benson with such a weapon.

"Is that a bow and arrow?" Mordecai asked.

"Yes." Benson simply said before he launched it at the tree in front of him. Benson used the arrow to do a roundabout. Using the rope, Benson knocked over one of the scientists in pursuit of them, causing the dome-cycle he was driving to crash into another tree. A shard of that dome-cycle came near a dome-pod and shattered the glass shield above them. The scientists in the pod ducked to avoid the flying fragment and shielded themselves from the glass that fell on them. That said, the feminine scientist was rather amazed.

"Incredible…" she simply said. Nevertheless, the pursuit continued as Benson rode on top of the small dome. But Dr. Dome wasn't giving up without a fight.

"Weather control, give me freezing rain." he ordered.

"Yes, sir." said the Weather Technician. He pushed a button on his panel that said "Freezing Rain", summoning clouds that poured on them and altering the terrain of the dome. Benson, Mordecai, Rigby, CJ, and the others could barely hang on as the dome-cycle skidded and slided. And as if they didn't have enough to worry about, they were bombarded by a tranquilizer machine gun!

Mordecai, Rigby, and CJ ducked to avoid the tranquilizers as Benson tied a rope around him and hooked the other end to the dome-cycle.

"Hold on." Benson said. Suddenly, he jumped onto the dome, sliding on his knees as he fell behind the dome-cycle with the rope tethering him to it.

"Ooh." siad Skips, Pops, Muscle Man, CJ, and Hi-Five as they watched him slide across the dome with ease. During his slide, Benson got out five arrows and shot them right at the machine gun, destroying it with a big bang. There was a large flame left behind from the destruction, and the freezing rain ended up extinguishing it. Frankly, Mordecai and Rigby were completely stumped by Benson's quick-thinking.

"Benson?" Mordecai said with stupefaction.

"Didn't– Didn't that hurt your knees?" Rigby asked with concern. Benson didn't have enough time to worry about his knees. He did a drift on the dome, launching off of the flame like it was a ramp before they flew onto the wall. Benson drove on it to get close to the exit above him: the moon. But there were still some scientists left behind that followed pursuit. A volley of tranquilizer darts came near Mordecai, Rigby, and CJ. They exclaimed with worry and tried to warn Benson.

"Behind us!" Mordecai shouted. "Look out, he's got a dart–"

Before Mordecai could finish, he and Rigby were shot in the arms, causing them to pass out.

As they snored, Benson turned to CJ.

"CJ, you take the wheel." Benson ordered.

"Got it." CJ said and went to the front seat. "But what are you–?"

As an answer, Benson suddenly jumped off of the seat and right onto the other dome-cycle, taking the dart gun from the driver and kicking him off. He switched the setting to the antidote function, firing it at Mordecai and Rigby, who suddenly gasped waking up.

"Mordecai! You guys okay?" CJ asked.

"I think so…" Mordecai replied, rubbing his head. But their troubles were far from over. The Dome-Pod rose up from the artificial clouds with Dr. Dome at the helm.

"Fire! Fire all of your darts!" Dr. Dome commanded. On cue, the two scientists fired at Mordecai and Rigby, knocking them out as they snored again, much to CJ's frustration.

"Aw, come on!" CJ shouted. The dome-cycle began to fall over, but Benson took notice of the trouble and piloted the other dome-cycle right to the one CJ was trying to drive. He managed to stop it from falling, and he called out to CJ.

"CJ, duck!" Benson shouted. She did as he directed, giving him a clear shot of Mordecai and Rigby, reawakening them with the antidote. After another sudden gasp, Benson tossed the dart gun to Rigby, and he fired at the female scientist. But it was an antidote to begin with, so it just poked her.

"Ow!" she said. Mordecai glared at Rigby.

"Dude." he said before taking the dart gun himself and reversed the setting, changing it to the knockout setting. He then fired at the other scientist and knocked him out. His partner retaliated with a knockout dart on her end, causing Mordecai to get tranquilized. CJ growled with fury and rubbed her hands together, clearly tired of the back-and-forth. Her skin was turning dark gray, and her hands were generating static electricity on her hands.

"Just…! Leave us…! Alone!" CJ shouted before suddenly letting out a burst of lightning that struck the Dome-Pod's engine. The machine began to break down and fall to the clouds below. In response, the remaining scientist picked up a parachute in the pod and jumped off of it with her partner in tow. Looking up, she stared at CJ as her hands generated electricity.

"That was beautiful…" the female scientist said, amazed by the demonstration of her powers. But CJ wasn't focused on them. She used the dart gun to awaken Mordecai again.

"You okay, Mordecai?" CJ asked.

"Yeah. Thanks, CJ..." Mordecai said with a tired expression.

Having had enough of the charade, Dr. Dome traveled with his pod to the weather control station and ran right up to the guy in charge of it. Immediately, he shoved him off of it and into the clouds.

"I thought I was doing a good job!" the Weather Technician yelled out before he passed through the clouds, never to be heard from again. Dr. Dome was pushed past his breaking point, and he wasn't going to let them get away, not after what Benson had seen. He looked at the control panel and he pushed the "Rain and Lightning" button, sending a massive storm right toward them. Pops, Skips, Muscle Man, and Hi-Five were barely hanging on to the drones, looking likely to fall off. Suddenly, a streak of lightning went right towards Mordecai, Rigby, and CJ.

Thinking quickly, CJ held her hands out, and the lightning struck her palms, making her scream out in pain as the lightning jolted around inside her body. CJ used every last ounce of restraint she had to launch it back at the artificial cloud, hitting it dead center on the metal turbine and causing it to explode before it fell down. CJ turned to her boss and tried to figure out what to do next.

"What now, Benson?!" CJ asked with concern.

"Press the moon button on your drones!" Benson replied.

Pops, Skips, Muscle Man, and Hi-Five pushed a red button near the drones' eyes. Before they knew it, they started to fly up into the sky and right toward the moon.

"We're almost out." Mordecai slurred, still recovering from the knockout dart.

Dr. Dome growled with anger and he pushed the "Close Moon Door" button. The door was closing very slowly. But at the slow speed it was going, Muscle Man didn't think it to be a problem.

"We can still make it, bros!" he told everyone. However, Dr. Dome proved them wrong. He pushed the button next to it that said "Quickly Close Moon Door". Just like that, the door was shut tight, providing no way out for them. They all groaned in defeat.

"You are our test subjects." Dr. Dome said with pride. "You cannot escape the dome. Even if you blow that thing open, you would never be able to fit. You would have to blow that thing, like, really, really wide open!"

Benson gasped. Dr. Dome basically presented him an opportunity. He took one last arrow from his bag and drew it back, aiming at the moon.

"I'm gonna blow this thing wide open." Benson said with a determined scowl. He launched that arrow right at the moon, breaking it apart, and, as aptly said, blew it wide open. Benson's success drove Dr. Dome mad to no end.

"No!" Dr. Dome shouted. "Dome you see?! This is bigger than you! This is bigger than all of us!"

Benson scowled back at Dr. Dome and snapped.

"Stuff it, Doctor!" Benson said. "We're taking back our free-dome!" Benson chucked his bow right at Dr. Dome. He flinched, afraid that Benson would've aimed for him. But when he heard the impact, he realized he must've missed, and he mocked him for it.

"You missed me!" Dr. Dome scorned. But Benson hadn't lost his smirk.

"Did I?" Benson asked smugly. As he and the others flew out of the dome, Dr. Dome looked at the control panel and realized what Benson was aiming for. His bow was lodged in the "Aim Ice Storm At Weather Control Booth" button.

"What?" was all Dr. Dome could manage to say before the artificial clouds aimed themselves right towards him!

"Dome it all to hole." Dr. Dome said. A fresh blizzard shot itself right at Dr. Dome and froze him like an icicle. Dr. Dome could only sigh in a block of ice as his tears were frozen over.


Meanwhile, outside the dome, Mordecai, Rigby, CJ, Benson, Skips, Pops, Muscle Man, and Hi-Five slid down on the dome to land outside of it. But when they got out, they found four tanks and three vans waiting for them. Muscle Man had a feeling about what to expect from a welcome like this.

"It's the final frontier!" Muscle Man shouted.

"There may be another layer of dome around this one." Benson warned everyone. They hadn't been outside of the dome in almost a month, so there was no way to know for sure if they were truly out of the woods. "Everybody, weapon up."

Benson got out his sword alongside Skips while Mordecai and Rigby got their tranquilizer darts ready and CJ rubbed her hands together to make static electricity again. A tank came near the park gang to challenge them, but instead of firing, the hatch opened up and Maelard popped out of it.

"Congratulations." Mallard said with a smile.

"Maelard?" Benson said in a mix of frustration and shock, setting down his machete.

"You finished the experiment." Maelard said. "But just barely. If you'd escaped even a minute sooner, we'd have had to start over again."

Mordecai and CJ were rather fuming over Maelard's role in it.

"So the plan was to trap us in there with no warning all along?" Mordecai asked with disdain.

"Is that why those scientists paid you?!" CJ asked with built-up apoplexity.

"I suppose there's no harm in admitting now that, yes, I played you for fools and won." Maelard smugly answered.

"But why put us through all this?" CJ asked.

"I'm afraid I can't divulge the goal of the experiment." Maelard said. Basically, he wasn't willing to tell them. But Benson refused to take no for an answer.

"No, Maelard." Benson scolded, going right up to his boss and holding his machete out to his neck.

"You tell us what this was all for. You tell us right now! TELL US!" Benson shouted, ululating at the top of his lungs. Faced with such pressure, Maelard had no choice but to tell him.

"All right!" Maelard said with panic in his voice. "The experiment was a test to see how the park and its employees would do in outer space."

CJ blinked her eyes at that part.

"Wait, Outer Space?" CJ asked.

"Seriously?" Mordecai asked in disbelief.

"That's too cool to be true." Rigby said with a cross of his arms.

"He thinks he can still play us for fools." Skips said.

"He doesn't understand how much we've all grown from this experience." Hi-Five said.

"I know. I saw those blueprints, Maelard." Benson said, causing a surprise uproar among the employees.

"Wait, what?!" CJ said with wide eyes. "He's really serious?"

"I couldn't believe it at first, either." Benson admitted. "But why was that necessary, Maelard? You owe us the truth."

"You can't handle the truth!" Maelard shouted back. But Pops had a soft look on his face. Even he didn't buy it.

"Papa, please." Pops urged. Unable to argue with his son, Maelard finally came clean.

"Eh, fine." Maelard said dejectedly. "I just felt like buying a big dome to put on the park and launch it to outer space because I'm rich."

"Finally, an honest answer." Skips said with frustration.

"I'd probably have done two domes." Muscle Man said. "You know, so it would look like a huge butt."

CJ cringed at the idea of seeing a butt in outer space.

"I did not need to know that, dude." CJ said.

"Well, back to my mansion." Maelard said, as if he didn't have a machete to his throat. He was about to go back into the tank, only for Benson to stop him.

"You're not done here, Maelard." Benson scolded. "The e-mail. Admit to everyone that you changed the date!"

"Yeah, I changed the date." Maelard simply said with a shrug. It didn't make any difference to Maelard, but for Benson, his goal was achieved.

So I was right, everyone!" Benson pointed it out before he laughed like a maniac. "I WAS RIGHT!"

But although Benson got his personal achievement for the past month crossed out, CJ was still stuck. She had her fingers under her chin, trying to think over what transpired here.

"Hey, CJ. Is something wrong?" Mordecai asked, checking on his girlfriend.

"I don't know…" CJ said. "I'm glad this experiment is over, but… I'm thinking about what Dr. Dome said before we left. About how this is bigger than all of us. What do we even need to be in Outer Space for…?"

Mordecai wasn't too sure himself. He simply stared at the dome that was placed on the park.

"I guess we'll never know…" Mordecai said, holding his hand over CJ's as they stared at the dome together.


10 YEARS LATER

The park was still to be in the dome, but there was also a door that provided exit and entrance, not that it would seem to matter. The whole thing was floating in outer space, traveling by itself in solitude. At the Park House, there were two people that were sleeping on the couch. One of them was a small Blue Jay with brown hair on his head that looked similar to Mordecai. He was playing on his phone, scrolling over the videos. And beside him was a little girl that looked similar to CJ, except her hair was long, well past her shoulder length. She was also dressed up in a pink dress with dark blue jeans that were scratched up and a silver tiara. And she also had a puffy white chest much like her companion. She was peeking over his shoulder to look at the video.

"So, what are we watching, Jake?" the girl asked.

"I don't know, Maggie." Jake said. "There's nothing here that's interesting in this galaxy."

Maggie sighed and leaned back on the couch next to her brother. Jake didn't seem to have the patience to put up with her.

"Wanna play some video games?" Maggie asked.

"You know, I wish we could, Maggie." Jake said with a hint of sarcasm. "But SOMEONE forgot to charge the console."

"We could still play while it charges, right?" Maggie asked with a shrug. Jake was about to tell her off, but as mentioned earlier, he didn't have the patience. He slumped back harder on the couch with a sigh.

"That's not the point…" Jake said sadly. "It's just not the same without dad here anymore."

Maggie hung her head down sadly, feeling just as upset as he did. But just then, they heard a loud beeping from upstairs.

"What was that?" Maggie asked.

In almost an instant, Maggie and Jake walked up the stairs and went to the boss's office, where a control panel was in front of CJ. Like Maggie, she had longer hair, but a bang was going over a part of her face, and she had an eyepatch that went over her left eye. She was not only dressed in her Park Ranger jacket, but accompanying it was a black crop top that went over her chest and she also had dark green camouflage pants.

"Maggie, Jake, get your seat belts on." the much gruffer and older CJ said. "We're about to make a stop.

"Stop where, Mom?" Maggie asked with a shrug as she and Jake sat down on the chairs.

"Where else?" CJ said with a grin. "We're going to the International Park Ranger Headquarters."


A/N: TA-DA! After a long time, the next chapter for A Cloud in the Sky is finally up! Phew. Sorry for the long wait. I'll try to work on the updates a little more frequently when I can. In any case, I made a few slight changes to the episode.

First up, I adored the ship of Benson and Pam as much as anyone. But I was a little bothered about how we've never seen Audrey or their supposed breakup. So I touched on a little theory that that memory must have been implanted in him somehow. We'll touch more on that later.

Anyway, I found Benson's single-minded goal to prove he was right to be, well... single-minded. It was humble at first, but it provided a distraction from what was really in front of him, which personally ticked me off. So, I altered his arc so it wasn't his primary goal, yet he still sought to achieve it after figuring out the main mystery. I'll say this: the guy deserved this after the blame he got from most of the staff.

I also did a little teaser of Pam's role in the Regular Show story later on. This time, she had a small yet pivotal role in helping Benson escape the dome, though she kept that discreet from the others. Her role, along with Benson's by extension, will be elaborated a little earlier than intended also.

And finally, we get to the heavy hitter that is the end. And that is Future CJ. And yes, the kids are Mordecai and CJ's, but I can't take all the credit for their design. They were made by xStepcai268x. As to their voices, Maggie would be voiced by Isabella Abiera (Hazel from Infinity Train) and Jake being voiced by Sean Giambrome (Jeff from Clarence). In any case, the next chapter will be a small love chapter between Mordecai and CJ after the events of the dome. And before you ask, yes, I intend to write a big one after the next chapter. So be sure to follow and favorite it if you want to see me MordeJay action. ;)