SZ: So close…just one more chapter to go~
Z0: The rush to work is real!
GT: Indeed! 100 is one I am really excited for!
SZ: Same, so let's hurry with this! We don't own anything aside from original content!
Z0: YEAH! *rushes headfirst into the screen*
Kajun muttered to herself, working from her computer in her room. After so many events, she was busy working on a project she was given from Azmuth. Basics of how to use technology to harness the TURBO energy for technology, and morphological technology. It was honestly complicated, even for her…but she was one who wasn't gonna give up. Her hope was this could be used to make new gear, weapons, and tools for her friends that could empower them. But it needed to be bonded to a DNA source…Which was problematic as she couldn't just ask for DNA from her friends without proper explanation. …Not after last time…
"Mmm…" Kajun blinked, "Maybe…could I make a prototype using some sort of…hmm…" she leaned back in her chair to think, "Maybe some kind of animal?" she took a moment to think, "I'll need reliable help…" she looked at a picture of her with the duo of Blukic and Driba, "Competent help…Multitasking time." she began typing on the computer, "I think I recall this project from the time we met Maxwell….Bingo~" she rubbed her chin in thought, plans and blueprint modifications already going through her head as she looked over what she had on-screen, "Oh this shall be wonderful."
"Ahhh…" Makoto yawned, waking up early. She walked down the hall only to blink, seeing a light escaping from the crack under the door to Kajun's home lab, "...K…Kajun?" she blinked as she slowly approached the door way, slightly opening it to see her working on something, "...a…are you o-"
"HISSS~!"
"?!" Makoto tensed as she quickly closed the door, "Hoo geeze!" she knocked on it with the back of her knuckles, "Kajun, you better not be making a genetically modified snake down there! Or make Ms. Tail come back!" she quickly grabbed her tail and looked it over, "...Phew. No eyes or mouth…"
"No one sees the wizard!" she declared.
"Oh great, she's so focused that her responses are nonsense…" Makoto groaned.
"Morning," Lambda greeted as she walked down the stairs, focused on her Switch as Bluey hopped after her, a tiny nightcap on his head.
"La-chan, did you spend the whole night playing video games again?" Makoto asked.
"No…I was up all night playing games and writing lyrics to the music that didn't have any," Lambda replied, narrowing her eyes in annoyance at something on her screen, "...I forgot to fight the green one…" Makoto took it out and put it in sleep mode, "AH!"
"No," Makoto scolded, "You're gonna damage your eyes doing this, La-chan. Today is a no screen day for you, missy."
"Mmmm…" Lambda fumed.
"Don't make me make it a week if you put on your armor, missy," Makoto warned.
"...Fine…" Lambda sighed.
"Anyway, I need only one problem. And Kajun beat you to it," Makoto sighed.
"Phooey…" Lambda muttered, "Wait, what did she do this time?"
"She gone cray-cray," Makoto explained.
"That's normal…" Lambda argued.
"No...I mean even more so," Makoto clarified, "I open her door…she hisses at me!"
"...Okay, that is a little crazier…" Lambda muttered, "What do we do?"
"Well normally, I'd suggest getting her laid, but…" Makoto began before grabbing Lambda before she could go upstairs, "And where are you going?"
"To get boxing gloves."
"...Not that kind of laid," Makoto sighed, "Seriously, you keep flip-flopping on your mental maturity, missy. But you do have an idea. Go get the one person I know that can help."
"Who?"
"Tsubaki, who else?"
"Not Ben?"
"No. We need little collateral damage in this situation," Makoto replied.
"...Fair point," she nodded before she walked back upstairs.
"And no sneaking off to your room to grab a handheld!"
"...Boo…"
"I swear, we goofed letting her come with and getting influenced by those boys," Makoto muttered before looking down at Bluey as he looked up at her, "Of course, wouldn't change it since we got a cute little guy like you outta it."
"I'm coming I'm coming…" Tsubaki's voice yawned as she opened her door, her hair a complete mess with a tired look in her eyes, "Morning, Lambda…what…ahh~...What's wrong?"
"Kajun has gone crazy, locked herself in her home lab, and is hissing at people," Lambda explained simply, "Also Makoto took away my games and I'm upset." she pouted.
"...Were you up playing them again last night?"
"...Yes, but this is more important," Lambda stated.
"...I'll double check Makoto's punishment for you and see if it will stand or not after we deal with Kajun and her nonsense," Tsubaki stated, closing the door before opening it, fully dressed and her hair brushed and Excalibur on her hip, "Onwards!"
"Wow…is that Excalibur magic?" she asked Bluey, earning a light shrug from the Blupee.
"So…Kajun locked herself in her lab again," Ben muttered as he and Max met up with Makoto.
"Full on crazy!" Makoto nodded, "Hissing and nothing good happens when she's at the point she's hissing!"
=How bad could it be?= Steel asked.
"...Oh right…The last time was before you two joined," Ben recalled.
"It was not a fun day," Skurd noted, cringing.
"It…really can't be that bad," Max muttered as he knocked on the door, "Kajun, yo-"
"HISSS!"
"...Did…Did she just hiss?" Max blinked.
"...Oh lord she's hissing now," Tsubaki sighed as she walked over, "Kajun, you have to the count of three before I cut the door down and have Max carry you to the time out corner! …I'd give you to the count of ten, but you made me use 'carry you to the time out corner' as a serious threat!"
"...Okay, I am not liking this." Max sighed.
"Do we have to give her the countdown? I don't want another repeat of the sentient pizza monster," Skurd begged, "We had to call Daniel because she somehow gave it ghost powers!"
=Wait, she what?=
"We swear she had to have a ghost trapped down there once if she did that…" Makoto muttered.
"One…Two…" Tsubaki counted, unsheathing Excalibur.
"Okay okay…ugh…fine," kajun's voice groaned as she opened the door..showing her clothes were messy and wrinkled, her hair a complete mess…and the bags underneath her eyes, "What…?"
"You look horrible…" Tsubaki bluntly stated.
=You look almost as bad as Zombozo= Steel added.
"He means you look…dead…Drei buried you…dug you up again and left you on the lawn," Skurd added.
"Arf?" Drei tilted his head at that.
"...Ah…soka…" Kajun muttered as she yawned, "Sorry just….really heavy project that I…can't look away from."
"A project?" Sari repeated, raising a brow.
"No 'Speaking' with my tools," Kajun warned, "Not after…" she paused to yawn, "...after last time with…with the microwave I was using…"
"Alright, well you can get into your work…but you should really get some sleep," Max sighed, "You are not a machine, you need sleep so your brain can work."
"Yes…good point…a few minutes of sleep, then back at it."
"Can't you just get Blukic and Dri-" Ben began before Kajun gripped the doorway hard, resulting in a few cracks, "?!"
"I….am not….letting them….touch this…" she hissed before she slammed the door shut before a few steel doors slammed before it.
"...Okay, that was on you for bringing those two up," Makoto noted, pointing at Ben.
"I know…" Ben sighed, "And now she's locked back up in her lab again…"
=Damn it, woman! You are stressing us out a lot before breakfast!= Steel snapped.
=Zzz…=
=...She fell asleep?!=
"Well with any luck? She'll get a good eight hours, realize she went nuts, say sorry…and go right back to working again." Max sighed, "So who wants breakfast?"
"After that…I can go for some pancakes," Sari sighed as she got up from the couch.
"Bacon and sausage pancakes," Lambda suggested, "Separately….bacon pancakes~"
"Let's eat then!" Ben cheered.
"I'm just glad she's sleeping," Makoto sighed, "One less issue to worry about."
"We'll drag her out after eight hours." Tsubaki sighed, "Maybe more, Ben be ready to use Pesky Dust."
"Alright, but no Noel. She always tries to hug that form."
"It's a little fairy! How can I not?!" Noel argued.
"It's called 'self-control,'" Skurd replied.
"Mmm…"
"...Any chance the mechanisms in the door know something, Sari?" Ben asked.
"Nope. They also ask me to not try to do so with the machines in the lab because several of them had to be rebuilt after several fissures and fractures in their machinery," Sari replied.
"I really think the safe thing is wait 'till she's had some rest, then find out what she's doing. And why does the idea of letting the Wonder Twins help…has her react like…" Max trailed off.
"Like Gollum if you try and take the ring away?" Ben smirked.
"Oh my god, I see it!" Makoto laughed.
"...Right. We make sure neither of them find out about this," Tsubaki stated
"Oh that's easy. We don't like hanging around them unless we need to," Skurd blurted out.
=Why do you think Kajun stole their job?= Steel added.
"Not stole. More…demoted after activating the Randomizer and shortening the timer on the Omnitrix during the Incursean War," Tsubaki stated.
"Do you deny that the amount of mistakes and 'problematic' repairs have diminished to near nothing thanks to Kajun now outranking and taking their former spot?" Ben asked.
"I do not, no."
"I mean, I love those two, but…let's face it, for Galvans…they are kinda…" Noel began.
"Dangerously stupid," Lambda finished, "Which is still smarter than most Earthlings, but their pride as Galvans is what makes them cause more mistakes."
"It kinda makes sense why she's acting like this in hindsight…" Makoto muttered.
"Yup…and less said about Rook at the moment, the better," Ben added.
"Well, we should still leave someone around to keep an eye on her…" Tsubaki sighed.
"Not it," the local couple spoke.
"Not it," the sisters spoke.
"Nit it," Sari added.
"N-ahh, dang it," Max sighed before spotting Mai coming downstairs, "...Wait, Mai can you…"
"Not it…"
"Aw man…" Max groaned.
=Not even fully awake and she won't do it=
"It's Kajun…I'd rather not deal with it first thing in the morning…" Mai muttered from the kitchen.
"But weren't you her roommate back at that academy you and the girls went to?" Sari asked.
"Yes…and I had to deal with her a lot…especially when she drew on various parts of my body to find certain points!" Mai snapped a bit.
"Well good thing I'm technically always wearing an indestructible alien armor…" Max sighed.
"Let's get some breakfast made and plan things out, alright?" Ben offered.
"Alright…"
=If you come home and we're not seen at all…you know we're in the lab being experimented on= Steel warned.
"Noted," Tsubaki sighed.
"Well, Ben…better get to Heatblast," Sari noted.
"Huh? Heatblast? Why?" Ben asked.
"Because whatever Kajun's been up to is drawing in all the power in the place," Sari replied, "The oven won't be able to turn on."
"Aw great…Makoto, did you…?"
"Tell them about what you did when rolling blackouts were happening in Bellwood because of Fistrick and his goons? Eeyup. It was so nice of you to do that."
"Hah…" Ben sighed, flipping through his playlists, "Good thing we got tile in the kitchen…"
"Oh! I know a good breakfast recipe for Pyronites!" Noel beamed, "I can make it for you as thanks, Ben!"
"Seriously?" Makoto asked as a green flash went off as Heatblast replaced Ben, "Which recipe was it that you were trying to make?"
"Oh! Fish tacos and I was trying to make it both sweet, sour, and salty all at once. Turned out to be a preferred breakfast for Pyronites," Noel noted.
"Well…most times when I eat as Heatblast, everything is burnt and crispy…so let's give it a try," Heatblast sighed, grabbing the frying pain in his palm to warm it up, "Anyone want hot water for tea, coffee, or cocoa?" He held a tea kettle in the other hand.
"Coffee/Tea/Cocoa," Mai, Noel, Lambda, and Tsubaki replied in unison.
"Good thing I filled it up." Heatblast nodded.
"No touching the eggs or bacon, Ben," Makoto warned as she put on an apron, "You know I know you always burn them."
"Yeah-yeah…" Heatblast rolled his head side to side, mostly since he couldn't roll his eyes in any visible manner as Heatblast.
"Oh, I kinda need him to touch what I'm cooking," Noel noted, putting her own on, "It needs that extra zest that a deep roast can give to the fish."
"That is sounding oddly delicious," Heatblast muttered as Makoto giggled.
"Honestly, Ben, you could probably eat anything Noel cooks as its intended eater if Mai wasn't here," Makoto noted.
"I'm excited for it," Mai admitted.
"I guess I'm the only other person in the world who can eat anything Noel thinks up," Heatblast chuckled, "At least as Upchuck, incase we don't know which alien that food belongs to~"
"True," Noel nodded with a smile, "I'd give you a big thank you hug for that, but you're made of fire and I'm not fireproof."
"I'll just take the thanks," Heatblast smiled, "That and get Drei to step back. I think this is the first time he's ever seen fire." he chuckled as the Corgi was entranced with the dancing flames on his noggin.
"Ah! La-chan!" Noel called.
"No, Drei," Lambda spoke, picking up the corgi, "Fire bad to touch." Drei pawed at the direction of Heatblast, "No. Fire bad."
"Genius dog he is…but also still a puppy," Heatblast sighed.
=Come on…Come on! GAH!= Steel snapped, shaking one of his limbs at the TV screen =Lousy Drillman! …Note to self: Turbo Drill Mode that does this jerk's schtick= he turned to Max =And we're not using the version on the PS4 because…?=
"My controller for it is having drifting issues and Kajun has it in her lab," Max replied, "Besides…The GameCube's a classic, man! Especially the attachment for GBA games."
=Mmm…fine…how did Lambda even find all these old attachments?= Steel muttered.
"Clockwork Time vomit," Max replied, "Doesn't just spit up Future things it turns out."
=What? He spits up stuff from the past, too?=
"Ben has a box of Vinyl records as stockpiled gifts for his Grandpa," Max smirked, "He's got Birthday and Christmas gifts for at least 10 years set up."
=Seriously?= Steel pondered before the house shook =...Please tell me Thunderpig ain't here again=
"No, I don't see anyone outside," Max replied, looking out the second-floor window, "...Kajun probably woke up? You know what happens after she wakes up from a big nap when she stays up for too many days in a row."
=Don't remind me. Can't look at a tuna casserole the same way again…=
"Let's go check on her," Max sighed as he put the game down and walked off towards the door to her home lab, "Kajun…you awake? Please tell me you are, so I don't have to break my way in there to make sure you're okay."
=...busy…=
"Okay, good. She's awake," Max sighed in relief, "But still super focused…"
=...Let's break in and pull her out= Steel suggested.
"No way."
=Oh come on, Kajun babysitting is so hard…she's so difficult when she puts her mind to it…=
"Yes, but you know how she's like when she's pulled away from a project she's put a lot of work on," Max stated.
=Hah…Kajun, if we let you go back to work, without interruptions…will you promise to come out and take care of the thing known as your health? By eating and getting a little extra rest?= Steel sighed.
=...Of course…hungry…= Kajun muttered from the speaker.
"Okay good…then c-"
=Cytro, get me something to eat please…=
"Cytro? The robot from Uncle Forge's base?" Max blinked before tensing, "Ever get the feeling you're being watched by something lurking in the shadows right behind you?"
=Now that you mention it…= Steel gulped =I'm getting that feeling right about now!=
They spun around and Steel turned on his light, illuminating the shadows behind them to reveal Cytro, his body far more armored than before. His helmet was sleeker with a 'T' shape to its green-tinted visor. On its back was a pair of cannon-like boosters while his arms were bulkier. His green visor glowed ominously…before holding up a plate of finely cut artisan sandwiches and a cup of coffee with violet foam on top.
=Excuse me. You are standing before the doorway to deliver Madam Kajun her meal= Cytro calmly informed.
"Uh…C-Cytro?" Max asked.
=That is my designation: Cybernetic Tactical Robot Operative or CYTRO for short= he replied.
=…Didn't you used to be bigger?= Steel questioned.
=My previous model design was deemed insufficient for regular interactions; as such, Madam Kajun modified my frame for a more approachable design= Cytro replied =Now, please, move aside so that I may deliver Madam Kajun her requested sustenance=
"…Uh, s-sure," Max muttered as he stepped aside, letting Cytro walk past him as the door opened, letting him inside before it closed.
=Okay, now things are just getting weird!= Steel complained.
"Hah…and here I thought she had one project…but this just smells of nonsense…" Max sighed, he then looked to the side to see Drei, Mari, and Bluey all sleeping in the same pet-bed together. He adopted a contemplative look as an idea crossed his mind.
=Oh…that's your idea face…Am I going to love or hate this?= Steel asked.
"Unsure…" Max admitted as he walked over and gently picked up Drei, who flinched away at the action before happily panting and letting his tongue hang out at the gesture, "Come on, boy. I need to borrow your super doggy brain for a second. Then it's bacon treat time."
"ARF!" Drei barked happily, his stubby tail going nuts.
"Now…if I do this…then…" Kajun muttered to herself as she leaned in close to her computer, only to groan as a failure sound went off, "Gah! Another failed simulation!" she complained as she flung herself back into her chair, sending it gliding across the lab…only to stop halfway, "Ah…Thank you, Cytro…"
"Actually, the big guy's recharging." Max smiled, making Kajun jump out of her chair.
"Gah! How…How did you get in here without setting off my alarm!?" Kajun demanded.
"..." Max smiled as he held up Drei, "He figured out the code to open the door." he then reached behind him as he pulled a small plastic bag from his armor's storage and opened it to produce a dog treat, "Speaking of, your payment, my little dog friend: one bacon flavored dog treat that Noel only gives you for special occasions. Now remember this is just between us." Drei yipped happily before getting the treat and running off with it.
"I need to retest that dog…" Kajun muttered in awe.
"Pretty sure he just smelled what buttons you pressed most to open the lock," Max smirked, "Alright…Now spill it. What crazy idea has you in Mad Science Mode this time?"
=We don't really care to stop it…we just don't want you unleashing a robot apocalypse on us all. Knowing you…you would make an Ultron…by total accident no less!=
"That or a weaponized Baymax…" Max muttered.
=With or without Tadashi's chip in them?=
"Without. And, also? What is the deal with you having Cytro? I thought he was still being put through tests by Berto in California."
"The R&D sectors of the Earth bases all have a group chat for a Think Tank," Kajun explained, "Blukic and Driba do not know of it, so don't mention it to them. As to why I have Cytro? One incident too many with Roberto and Fixit, so they were ordered to have Cytro shelved…but I convinced them to send him to me instead to work on. As you've probably seen, I've made him less intimidating in appearance for the comfort of civilians but also adapted some Turbo Energy adapters into him based upon what was salvaged from Dredd's files in N-Tek on his absorber. With the right blueprints installed into him and your Turbo energy, he could theoretically assume new modes for emergencies."
=You made him with upgrades that use Turbo Energy?= Steel asked.
"Considering I live with the only being who produces it and am typically the one who makes the attachments to devices so he can use them, can you blame me?"
=Okay, fair point=
"And the current project you're working on?" Max asked.
"Well now that one is just a good bit more complicated." Kajun explained, "See as our enemies grow stronger, and more times than not dangerous beings from across space and time show up at our front door. Sometimes very literally…"
"Yeah, I knew Dungeons and Dragons night would somehow lead to chaos…" Max sighed.
"Well I have been talking to Azmuth and he has given me notes of how to make armor that runs off Turbo energy that can gift a normal being abilities. Cytro has such tech built into him as well, as I just explained; however, it has yet to be tested in full…so for now he's just a superior version."
=Didn't he break like…every ten minutes?= Steel asked.
"An easy fix…using Techadon components I was able to get from Celica," Kajun explained, "Now he is self repairing."
"...You made an even better Techadon robot," Max summed up.
"Oh now that is something I have yet to test on. Mainly for the fact I need a Techadon robot that hasn't been around Celica long enough to have developed a personality matrix. Though, Cytro does make an excellent brew of coffee and quite the filling artisan sandwiches."
"Alright…so he's basically a prototype for something you put on a living being," Max nodded, as he decided to continue with the main subject, "So…how does that work?"
"Oh! Well if all is done right, an organic being will be gifted DNA encoded armor that will change and envelop them much like Steel and allow them the use of transformations and powers, fueled by Turbo Energy of course," Kajun explained, "The obvious flaw will be that they will have limited supplies unlike you."
"Alright. Well, I guess I understand why you don't want anyone getting in the way. My Turbo Energy can get kinda…explosive…" Max muttered.
=I would just like to go on record that the idea of giving stupid regular humans this kind of power sounds like a recipe for stupidity…= Steel spoke.
"You said Stupid twice…" Max and Kajun muttered.
=Exactly!=
"And who said it would be for regular humans, hm?" Kajun frowned, "At the moment, only animal testing would be authorized but that is a roadblock in itself for two reasons: Noel and Lambda Vermillion."
"Yeah, I don't see them being okay with you slapping high powered armor fueled by explosive energy onto any critter. Least of all when any animal worth using is in their range of: Too Cute." Max sighed.
=Which is shockingly long= Steel admitted.
"Dogs, cats, rabbits, foxes, raccoons, elephants, owls…penguins.." Kajun listed.
"Well guess that's a real roadblock." Max sighed.
=Well if you're just testing things out, shouldn't you see first if a living DNA sample can bond with this thing? No technical living creature is used and should offer the evidence needed to skip to strapping some poor sap into the thing= Steel offered.
"..." Kajun groaned, facepalming, "DNA samples…of course! To the zoo!"
"Huh? Wait, the-the zoo?" Max asked.
"Of course the zoo! Noel and Lambda would murder me if I dared collect samples from their pets."
"Well you're not wrong…" Max sighed, "Drei! You're in charge of the house while we're out!"
"Arf!" Drei barked happily.
=We are not getting a gorilla, just so we're clear, alright?=
"Oh no, apes are far too unpredictable!" Kajun replied.
=Good. Because I don't want to be of what caused the Planet of the Apes to become reality=
"Oh lord no…and I refuse to go the High Evolutionary route."
"Comics High Evolutionary or from Spider-Man Unlimited High Evolutionary?"
"..." Kajun paused.
"Oh come on… Did you spoil another movie!?" Max complained.
"...It's more of a 'see' rather than tell is all I will say."
=...All for shoving all the future girls into Clockwork's sight at once later until he pukes up what she's talking about?=
"I don't want a dinosaur that Lambda decides to adopt," Max sighed, "Just get in the car." he groaned, pointing at the door while looking at Kajun.
"Right away."
=She really wanted to keep that baby Triceratops…= Steel muttered.
"We promised not to speak of it!" Max complained.
Meanwhile at HQ, everyone was in the midst of a rather boring day as there had been almost no cases for them to work. That and the couple of Ben and Makoto again got stuck with Monitor Duty due to them not paying attention to the assignment handouts. The irony is that it was Max's turn and since they left him with Cajun, he was exempt from what many considered the most boring assignment.
"Ah…Karma sure likes to auto-aim at me…" Ben sighed as Makoto leaned against him.
"Why do we end up stuck with this on the slowest days…?" Makoto groaned.
"I have no idea," Ben admitted, "Probably the universe's way of telling us when we've gotten too much action?"
"But there's never enough action," Makoto pouted.
"Hmm…Maybe we can pull off a bit of double work," Ben noted.
"Say wha?"
"We could watch the monitors and plan out some fun stuff we could do using vacation pay," Ben explained, "I mean, we've been to a few planets, but I'll be honest in that I really haven't seen everything on Earth that there is to see. Heck, with aliens now out and exposed, some amusement parks like Disney may have their space areas a lot more advanced. Could even go to places that we know the others would cause trouble at…like Hershey Park a-MMPH!"
"SHH! Careful with that last one!" Makoto hushed, keeping her tail in Ben's face as she looked around, "...Tsubaki might be listening in…"
Ben managed to get her tail out of his face, "Phwah! R-Right…"
"Still…going on a trip all over Earth does sound like a fun time," Makoto noted.
"I've seen most of North America with Grandpa, but there are still tons of places to see," Ben nodded, "Maybe going back to Japan and actually seeing stuff this time?"
"That'd be awesome!" Makoto grinned.
"Heck, it's not the biggest of continents; we could take a summer exploring all of it," Ben smirked.
"I'll have to look up a ton of festivals there," Makoto grinned.
"Sides if we get too many complaints from a certain someone, we can always tell her about the specialty chocolates, and just accept it as a group trip," Ben whispered.
"Nice," Makoto grinned before pausing, "...Uh…"
"What's up?" Ben asked.
"Rewind camera 27," Makoto replied.
"27…" Ben muttered, looking for its control and doing so, "What you see?"
"Pause it," Makoto spoke, Ben quickly doing so, and she pointed at it, "Who do you see entering the zoo?"
"...Why is Kajun going to the zoo?" Ben asked, "With Max?"
"That's what I wanna know. Kajun doesn't do willy-nilly," Makoto frowned, "We got cams in the zoo?"
"Yup…had them installed after Nyancy raided the lion, tiger, leopard, cheetah, and panther dens," Ben replied.
"Yeah…That…That was a crazy first week for Sari, huh?"
"At least you remembered the remote to control my alien forms when I ended up as Rath or Fasttrack," Ben noted.
"Yeah I…was NOT happy with that girl controlling my BF," Makoto admitted before spotting something on the screen, "...speaking of the big cat den…"
"Kajun snuck into it, didn't she?"
"Yup...going straight for the panther enclosure."
"...To be honest, I thought she'd go for the butterfly garden," Ben admitted.
"What could she be up to now? Oh god…it really is a total mad science mode, isn't it?" Makoto groaned.
"Well, it seems to me that the answer is…yes," Skurd replied, "And Max and Steel are…"
"Distracting guests and workers, yeah," Ben replied, watching Max distracting with Turbo Clone Mode, "What does she have on them for them to willingly go with this?"
"A pretty face and figure beneath the labcoat?" Skurd asked, "You human males tend to be distracted by those easily."
"Hey, we do not," Ben argued before Skurd gestured to Makoto, "..."
"Hey, that's after work hours thank you very much," Makoto huffed, "...Still what c….oohh~"
"What?" Ben blinked.
"She must've almost spoiled another movie that won't come out for a few years…" Makoto realized, "...chances are a future MCU movie."
"...Steel better not have suggested shoving all the girls, Jin, and Ragna in front of me when I'm practicing with Lambda when I use Clockwork again. The baby triceratops was a hassle and not at all like Ducktales had it," Ben noted, "I swear, I could've handled everyone else, but Ragna always causes the worst reaction for some reason!"
"Yeah…that's always the weird stuff, huh?" Makoto muttered.
"The first time was the reason why the simulation room had to be shut down for repairs for a month," Ben explained.
"Eeech…noted," Makoto cringed before looking at the screen again, "...oh lord, Kajun's in the panda exhibit…"
"Should we warn Tsubaki?" Ben asked.
"Warn me about what?"
"GH?!" the couple tensed as they quickly changed the camera to a different spot just as Tsubaki walked over, "Nothing!"
"...What's going on…?"
"Pandas…" Ben stated simply hoping this would get her to leave.
"Gh?!" Tsubaki tensed, looking around, "Where!?"
"I would've figured you'd get a handle of your fear thanks to P'li," Skrud admitted.
"Him I can tolerate at least! Other pandas…" Tsubaki paused, pulling her sword out as she eyed the area, "They are still evil incarnate…stealers of chocolate and downright vicious!"
"...Alf, You have another appointment with Tsubaki!" Skurd called out.
"What about this time?!" Alf shouted off screen.
"Pandas!"
"Oh what did P'li do this time?! He should be over at the Hong Kong base, not here!"
"Him she can tolerate and no! Normal pandas!"
"Ah…the only life form more lazy than me," Alf sighed as he walked over, "What I wouldn't give for a Panda's life…Just get rid of that horrible diet of bamboo…"
"It's a ploy! They trick you with that innocent act…and when you're not looking, they scheme and steal your chocolate!" Tsubaki declared.
"Okay, kiddo, let's get you to lie down and we'll talk it over a nice glass of hot cocoa," Alf gently took Tsubaki's hand and began leading her away, "There's no pandas. It's okay…shh…" he assured her, "Head on in and I'll be there in a minute." he motioned her towards his office, "Okay, you two lovebirds, what are you hiding?" he demanded.
"Wha…?"
"Ah save it. I've done it all in my life. You're not sneakier than the master of sneak," Alf stopped them, "Spill it, or I'm pulling strings to glue your butts here for a month. Especially during the busier times."
"..." both Ben and Makoto looked at one another for a moment, nodding in agreement before looking back at him, "Kajun's doing something fishy at the Zoo and is at the panda exhibit."
"Well that girl worries me…" Alf muttered, "Mostly because when she focuses on something, she gets mad science crazy, and most mad scientists I've met tend to lose themselves so much they zap themselves. Maybe best you check in with the Max boy. They're an item or something complicated akin to that, right?"
"...Now that you mention it…" Makoto began just as Skurd changed the screen.
"Huh…I think I've seen Noel and Mari scribbling in notebooks at times when they were nearby," Ben muttered.
"Hey, the main problem, science girl is harassing animals for something," Alf snapped his fingers, "Find out what's going on or I tell the sisters who love all things fuzzy and cute."
"Who's closest?" Makoto asked, looking at the other monitors.
"Looks like…hoo boy…"
"It's the sisters who love all things fuzzy and cute, isn't it?" Alf asked.
"...Find someone else that's almost as close," Ben ordered as he and Makoto looked.
"Oh thank the Celestialsapiens, Sari and Mai are on patrol near there," Makoto noted before quickly contacting them, "Mai, Sari, come in."
=What's up?= Sari answered.
"Kajun is over at the zoo harassing animals and Max is helping her," Makoto explained.
"We'd ask Noel, but…"
=Let me guess. What is cute and fuzzy?= Mai guessed.
"500 points to the lady," Alf joked, "Pick another category from the board."
"Find out what Kajun's doing," Ben sighed, "And don't let Noel or Lambda find out."
=Alright, we're on it. Hah…I knew I couldn't escape the nonsense for long…= Mai sighed.
=Eh, you can always request a few of your vacation days to go see your parents after this, right?= Sari suggested.
=Huh…Good point=
"And probably Taro, too~"
=ACK! M-MAKOTO!= Mai barked before they hung up.
"So are we just shipping our friends like they secretly did us?" Ben asked.
"Eeyup," Makoto smirked.
"Nice," Ben chuckled as he gave a thumbs up at that.
"Hmm…such a weirdly functional couple…" Alf muttered as he walked away.
"D'oh~! That girl…!" Mai fumed.
"Relax, Mai. You can get back at her later," Sari noted, "For now, we need to go to the zoo and deal with Kajun and her shenanigans."
"I know…" Mai sighed.
"So what do you think she's up to now?" Sari asked, "What possible reason would Kajun have for annoying animals?"
"Probably a crazy experiment," Mai groaned.
"...That girl seriously needs help," Sari sighed, "Or as Makoto would put it…get laid."
"That honestly sounds more impossible than her not going crazy over a project," Mai pointed out, "But then again she can be…wildly unpredictable. Especially since she took over R&D here in Bellwood."
"So what's the plan?"
"We go to the zoo, see what she's up to, get Max to spill the beans, then deal out her punishment," Mai replied as they headed for the zoo.
"Seems easy enough…I say optimistically…" Sari muttered.
"Hey, if it's not that bad, we don't tell Noel and Lambda. If it is? Well…I know they sell popcorn at the zoo for a good price," Mai noted.
"Ooh~ I'm game for that," Sari beamed a bit.
=That the last sample you wanted?= Steel asked as Kajun looked at the vial in her hand.
"Yes, this seems to be perfect," Kajun replied.
=Good, good…NOW GET ME OUTTA HERE~!= Steel shouted as he zipped around, trying to not be grabbed by the ring-tailed lemur jumping about to try to grab him =I am not a crown or anything for you to wear, you crazy thing you!=
"Steel, that's a girl…" Max sighed, watching this from the other side of the enclosure's door.
=HELP ME!=
"Alright, alright," Max rolled his eyes…while holding up his phone, "Just let me finish recording enough to watch for laughs later."
=I will get you for this!=
"Maxwell, we have no time. We must return home so the samples don't go bad," Kajun pouted.
"Relax, I bought a cooler for them," Max chuckled.
"Oh…that's actually helpful, thank you." Kajun smiled, "Nevermind."
=A curse on your possible joint home! And your demonic hybrid offspring!= Steel shouted as he tried to push the Lemur away.
"I think she likes you, Steel~" Max laughed.
=Unhand me, you under evolved simian…cat…rodent…thing!=
"Oh, we can agree that this doesn't get uploaded to the internet, right?" Max asked.
"True. Extranet, however, is fair game," Kajun replied, "Earth hasn't fully integrated that yet."
"...Know any good bits of knowledge on lemurs?"
=Oh don't you dare…!=
"A few actually, such as Lemurs being able to purr when feeling content," Kajun replied.
"That's cute," Max chuckled, "Anyway, I should save him so we can get home. Drei and the pets might be getting hungry by now."
"Most likely…and hopefully Cytro is doing a good job taking care of the house," Kajun nodded.
"Arf!" Drei barked as Cytro was chained up and pinned to the ground as he and the other small pets sat on him.
=Observation: I seem to have upset Drei and Mari= Cytro noted =Did I forget an ingredient in their food preparations? Or mayhaps I performed an error in the sequence of delivery…=
"Arf-Arf!" Drei barked as he stood proudly, Mari and Bluey clapping for him.
=Exclamation: Oh my…they've formed a pack structure…= Cytro noted =Observation: At least they picked the smartest one as their leader and not the strongest like in must pack structures=
=I hate you…you are made of stink!= Steel complained as he was docked on Max's chest armor.
"Yeah yeah, let's just get home before something weird actually happens. You know, besides Kajun somehow losing herself in hugging a red panda," Max chuckled.
"...n…no I wouldn't," Kajun denied as she looked away.
"You are adorable when you deny the truth," Max chuckled.
"Gh?!" Kajun yelped a bit as she blushed a bit, "N…No I would not….and imagine naming it Sody Pop…" she muttered before covering her mouth, "?!"
=Soda Pop, eh?=
"No, Sody Pop!" Kajun argued before covering her mouth once more, "?!"
"Not helping your case," Max noted in amusement, "Hey, hey, hey. I'm holding the cooler with your samples. Don't slap me now."
"I am going to design you a new weapon…and it will fire Steel out of it as the ammunition…"
=Oh come on! Isn't it bad enough I'm an exploding boomerang!?= Steel complained as Max let out a small chuckle.
"So which one's gonna be first?" Max asked.
"Hmm…I'm unsure, but perhaps testing this DNA from that Jaguar," she muttered.
=You mean that Black Panther?=
"Common misconception. A Panther is not actually a real classification of big Feline. Black Panthers are just Leopards or Jaguars that mutated a dark black coat," Kajun explained, "The term comes from the fact that most all Big cats are of the Felidae Panthera Genus."
"Wha…" Max blinked.
"Lions, Tigers, Jaguars, Leopards, etc…all Panthers." Kajun sighed.
"Huh…Learn something new every day," Max noted as they walked by Mai and Sari, "..."
"..."
=...Oh no…=
"...Kajun…" Mai began, her eye twitching.
"I have done nothing wrong nor morally unethical," Kajun quickly denied.
"Then why are you here at the zoo?" Sari questioned.
"...eto….um…" Kajun whispered, trying to think of a plan to get out of this situation, 'I need something…but what…oh this is gonna bite me later…' she mentally sighed, "I am…on a date with Max."
"What?" Mai and Sari blinked at that.
"What?" Max deadpanned at that under his breath.
"Play along," Kajun whispered to him before looking back at Mai and Sari, "Yes! He…thought I was getting too stuffy in my lab, so he decided to take me out on a date to the zoo for some fresh air…and to examine the animals and such."
"Yeah, heard they had red pandas here," Max chuckled, making Kajun blush.
"Uh-huh…and the cooler?" Sari gestured to the cooler in Max's arms.
"Do you have any idea how expensive food and drinks are at places like this?" Max asked, "Nope. I brought some drinks and pizza bites and pizza bagels."
"Seriously?"
=He uses me to cook them…= Steel grumbled.
"...Fair enough," Sari muttered, "Zoo and park food can get rather…expensive…"
"Sa…Oh, I can't blame them for that either," Mai sighed before looking at Kajun, "So...you and Max…on a date, huh?"
"Y-Yes…of course," Kajun assured.
"...Okay then. Show it to me."
"Eh? Sh-show what?"
"The stuffed animal he got you from the gift shop."
""?!" Kajun and Max tensed up at that.
'Shimatta…I forgot the guy usually buys a girl a gift on dates to places like zoos or theme parks!' Kajun mentally exclaimed.
=Hey, Max tried to, but she wanted to see the red pandas. Apparently they have one named Sody Pop and she wanted to see it=
"That sounds adorable…" Sari muttered in honest interest.
"Well we only got to look for a bit…Steel almost got kidnapped by lemurs," Max added.
=It had it out for me! It's evil! EVIL!= Steel popped out and began shaking Mai rather roughly with his small size =Oh sure, it looks like a sweet little monkey…cat…rodent thing! But it tried to take me! Well I ain't going back! You can't make me!= he let loose a mad cackle =NEVAH~!=
"...Okaaaay…" Mai noted, her eyes wide in surprise before whispering to Sari, "This is almost as bad as when he reads too many sections of the SCP wiki in one sitting…"
=...Yes…= Steel spoke slowly as he floated away =It's Anomalous…I must prepare the forums for this creature…=
"Oh you have got to be kidding me…" Sari groaned before jumping as Steel was in her face, grabbing her cheeks as he pressed his face to hers with his optic going wild.
=I'm serious! ...It would also explain that hyperactive lemur girl they just added to the Sonic the Hedgehog comics…=
"Uh, Steel? That was a comic from 2018 Clockwork puked up, remember?" Max reminded, "Not even from Archie but IDW?"
=Does not mean it is not an anomalous lemur lady!= Steel declared.
'...Yeah, he would not enjoy meeting Tangle face to face,' Sari and Mai thought in unison, recalling the energetic lemur from the Zenkaiger's world.
"Ahem! I-if we're done talking, I'd like to get back to finishing my…date…with Max," Kajun spoke as she cautiously hugged Max's arm, despite the heavy blush on her face, "Please?"
"...Okay…" Mai whispered as she and Sari turned to leave...before whispering to the red head, "Maybe it really is legit…"
"And I thought the little notebooks Noel and Mari were writing in when they watched these two were just nonsense," Sari muttered before glancing over at Steel as he was muttering to himself as he scribbled in the dirt on the ground, "And may need to see if Alf has an opening for Steel sooner rather than later."
=I know you hear me, Lemur! Come out and fight me!= Steel cackled as he flew away.
"Welp, I'm gonna be banned…" Max sighed.
"I'm highly tempted to ask if you could get me a lemur plush so that I may hang it in a spot Steel won't go near anymore," Kajun noted in amusement.
"Would you settle for a red panda plush?"
"Yes…and a butterfly hairpin...and a special pen."
"Fair enough," Max agreed as they walked off…before whispering, "Oh thank god they didn't check the case."
"Yes, the samples would've been compromised."
"Nah, those would be fine…I was worried they'd want some of the pizza bagels," Max replied, causing her to do a double-take, "...What? I was serious about the pizza bites and bagels in here. Good way to hide the real stuff under them. That and the prices for food and drinks here."
"Well…I can't argue with the idea of bringing snacks for hunger," Kajun sighed, "Now we just need to get those samples home."
"Eh, I'm sure Cytro can handle the pets for a few more minutes. They are nice and harmless…to good folks." Max shrugged, "Let's not rush and draw more suspicion on us. If you have to end up telling them…they are going to meddle. That and Tsubaki will give us that very disappointed look that bores into one's soul. Like an angry mom."
"No…god no," Kajun shivered, "I've been subjected to it one too many times in the academy." She hugged his arm closer on remembering those moments.
"Okay…gift shop now it is for that red panda plush…" Max muttered, blushing.
=Observation: You have me locked in a precarious position, Alpha Drei= Cytro spoke as he stood his ground as the pets stood across the living room from him, =You are designated as: 'Do not allow any harm whatsoever under threat of being tossed into the sun by Ben Tennyson'=
"Arf!"
=Yes, your Human Male Master=
"Arf!"
=And you three are small and lack the ability to do anything to me without self inflicted harm= Cytro went on as if understanding what they were saying, =Now, as part of proper animal handling…= he produced a rubber ducky, =Bath Time is mandatory=
"Arf-Arf! Arf! Arf!"
=Declaration of War accepted…= Cytro replied.
"Grr…" Drei growled as Bluey held up some mud in his paws and threw it at Cytro's head.
=Alert! Visual capabilities have been hindered!=
"ARF!" Drei barked as he, Bluey, and Mari ran for it.
=Where did you go?! I can hear you but I cannot visually see you!=
"Arf!" Drei barked as Mari and Bluey ran off in different directions, "Arf-Arf!"
=Exclamation: You are being a very bad Corgi=
"Arf!?" Drei stopped and barked at that.
=Indeed. Query: Is a good Corgi one who allows for vision impairment?= Cytro questioned as he walked around, his hands before him before he tripped over the couch =...Query: Who put this couch here?=
"Rrrr…" Drei grumbled in thought. He walked over before putting a paw on Cytro.
=So you accept surrender?=
Drei just rolled his eyes as he sat down.
=Exclamation: Good Corgi= Cytro proclaimed before the door opened and Kajun and Max entered, a red panda plush in the purplette's arms.
"Wow. What happened to you, Cytro?" Max asked.
=Exclamation: I have a good Corgi, but a very naughty Blupee and Mink=
"I blame Noel and Lambda for spoiling them," Max sighed, helping Cytro up and pulling out a rag to wipe the mud off Cytro's face, "Better?"
=Response: Indeed! Thank you, Maxwell= Cytro thanked =How was your away assignment?=
"Perfect!" Kajun replied, "More than enough samples to test the new project on."
"And she enjoyed herself," Max chuckled a bit.
=Cytro! Prepare this house for Anti-Lemur defenses! They will come by nightfall! I can sense it!= Steel declared.
=Query: Should I use barbed wire?=
"No…" Max spoke, "No…don't listen to Steel, in fact make that a rule: If Steel talks about anything related to SCP or Lemurs…ignore it."
=Acknowledged=
Makoto wheezed in her laughter, rolling around on the floor, as Ben's face was bright red while covering his face.
"Oh my…So Japan has a festival for a man's p…" Skurd began.
"Don't finish that…please…" Ben pleaded, quickly hitting the back button on the website before Makoto's badge beeped.
"Y-hahahahaha!-Yes?"
=It's Mai. Turned out to be an actual date= Mai informed.
=Is…everything okay there?= Sari asked as Ben plucked the badge from her hand.
"Just…peachy…" Ben replied, his eye twitching, "And Kajun sneaking into the habitats and taking samples from them was a date?"
=...Wait, what?= Sari asked before Mai groaned.
=The cooler…We should've checked in it…= Mai realized, =...Ahh mou…=
=S-Sorry, guys…= Sari apologized.
"Already checking the feeds," Skurd informed, having grown a Wildvine arm to control the console, "...They're back at the house. And…why did Madam Kajun have a red panda doll in her arms?"
=...Wait, was it both Kajun in Science Mode…and a date?= Sari asked.
=...What kind of kink does Max have?= Mai asked in disbelief, causing Makoto to laugh even harder while kicking her legs in the air.
=That's what you're wondering?=
=Well, you were quoting Makoto earlier!=
=Yeah, but not in that way!=
"Girls! Head over to the house, please," Ben spoke up, "I'd rather come home to a house that's intact and not a pile of debris that I'll need to use Clockwork for, thank you very much!"
=R-Right!= both replied as they hung up.
"Ahahahahaha~! I've done it! I've corrupted Mai!" Makoto cackled, slowly getting herself up using the table.
"Let's not word it like that…" Ben sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Indeed. For now…let's go back to festivals in Japan for perusal!" Skurd declared, "There may be one for women using the same area but for their…"
"SKURD!" Ben barked, blushing like mad as Makoto fell over, cackling once more.
"Well there is one for their br…"
"SKURD!"
"Ugh! I can't believe we didn't think to check their cooler!" Sari groaned as the two ran towards the street to their home.
"And talk about timing for the Groundbridge system to go under maintenance checks," Mai complained.
"Ugh! Of all the timing…!" Sari facepalmed, "Seriously…Kajun threw us a curveball with that date distraction!"
"And they actually made it so convincing, too…" Mai admitted, "I honestly thought she'd make a technorganic machine she made or something like that if she gets lonely…"
"Uh…TMI…"
"...GAH! Dang it, Makoto! You infected me with your nonsense!"
"How can you not notice the things you say?!"
"I think I've been desensitized enough to not pay attention anymore, okay? And you'll end up like this one day yourself."
"Oh Primus, I hope not…" Sari groaned.
"It will happen…" Mai declared as the two made it to the street and slowed to a jog to make it to the house.
The two then flinched when Drei barked at them from the window. The two sighed as the scare subsided, but flinched when the door was opened by…Cytro.
=Exclamation: Welcome home!= Cytro stated, the robot wearing a green apron while Drei walked under his legs =Please do not disturb Lady Kajun in her lab as she is working on a delicate experiment using Turbo energy which could explode and destroy a kilometer radius of property=
"What the…?" Sari blinked a few times, "Uh…When did we get a robot in an apron?"
"This is Kajun's doing, I just know it," Mai sighed.
=Greetings Sari Sumdac and Mai Natsume nee Hazuki. I am CYTRO= Cytro greeted as Drei waddled over to Mai and got up on his hind legs to put his front paws on her leg.
"...The giant robot from Max's uncle's base in California?" Mai blinked.
=Correct=
"Why did Kajun…bring you here?" Mai asked as she reached down and picked up Drei, "Drei, what happened?"
"Arf-Arf! Arf…Arf!" he barked, even taking a pause to bark the right thing.
"Kajun's fault, got it," Mai nodded.
"And the question about this big guy?" Sari asked.
=Due to unforeseen accidents, I was to be dismantled; however, Lady Kajun believed that I could have good potential and therefore had me sent here where she upgraded me. I will admit to my systems sporting some issues when I process how the other automaton here will react to my presence=
"Oh, you mean Robotboy. I think he'll like you so long as you're a good person, Cytro," Sari assured.
"Really glad he went to visit Jenny in Japan this week," Mai muttered, "This nonsense is not good for a kid his age to be around."
"Wait…backtracking…why would there be an issue?" Sari asked.
=My body was enhanced and retrofitted with heavily customized and altered Techadon parts, allowing me self repair functions as well as heavy alteration and modification capabilities=
"Techadon…as in the robots that Ben claims could kick our butts if not stopped in one go?" Mai asked.
"Arf!" Drei barked, getting her attention, he then gently put his paw to her face to assure her it was okay..
"...I swear, you are just so affectionate, Drei," Mai noted, petting his head, "...Wait, what is she doing with Turbo Energy?"
=Ah. Lady Kajun is developing a suit that will allow others to assume Turbo Modes with a battery system Sir Max can charge up= Cytro explained =They just came back from a fortuitous outing to collect genetic samples so as to avoid live animal testing which neither were comfortable with=
"...Okay, that makes sense…" Sari muttered, "Now it explains why there is footage of her brushing a black panther."
=Jaguar= Cytro corrected.
"Oh great…Didn't Turbo Energy make Max's animal shape shifting villain Extroyer?" Sari asked.
"No, I think it was something else…" Mai muttered, "Ugh, that trip was both a blessing and a curse because of all the new villains in the cells from him and Ro'."
"Arf!" Drei barked as he made a motion of wanting to be put down with his paws.
"Oh okay," Mai put him down as he walked into the house and motioned them to follow.
"What is it?" Sari asked as they moved to follow but Cytro still stood in their way, "Uhm…excuse us?"
=I have been ordered not to let you in the house until such a time Lady Kajun can find a way to explain…=
"What did she do?" Mai demanded.
=I am not programmed to answer that= Cytro replied.
"...Did Max teach you that?" Sari asked.
=I am not programmed to answer that=
"..." Sari's eyes glowed before flinching, "Oh great…"
"What?"
"Kajun programmed his 'voice' I can 'Speak' with doing several languages at once," Sari explained with a grimace, "At best, I can understand three languages simultaneously. She's got Cytro's doing seven at once…and two of them I don't know anything outside of how to thank someone or say hello and good-bye."
"...Kajun…" Mai facepalmed
Drei whined at this before he paused. He barked, getting Cytro's attention. The corgi then lifted one of his hind legs and aimed for the couch.
=No! Emergency Walkies Protocol Initiated!= Cytro turned around and rushed after Drei, who began running away as fast as his little legs would allow. The corgi turning a tight corner and let Cytro rush into the closet before it slammed shut on him, =Exclamation: I am lodged within the hall coat closet! My shoulders are preventing me from turning around! Please open it so that I may back out?=
Drei turned to Mai and Sari, panting happily as he sat down. Sari grinned as she picked up Drei and patted his head.
"You are a little genius. Feels like I was watching myself as a kid outsmarting Mixmaster and Scrapper when they invaded the old Autobot base on Earth," Sari giggled.
"Oh you are such a good boy," Mai sighed happily, "Now what was it that he didn't want us to see?"
Drei turned his head to the living room, mainly the dog bed they left for the pets…which was currently awkwardly occupied by a fully grown black furred Jaguar with a metallic white collar around its neck. Mai and Sari looked at it with wide eyes and slowly looked at one another. How did they miss that?!
"What's all the commotion out…here?" Kajun asked, opening her lab door to see the situation, "...I can explain."
"You stole a Black Panther!?" Mai snapped.
"No…" Kajun shook her head, "I…accidentally…cloned one…"
"Accidentally!?" both of them shouted.
"Yes….accidently," Kajun answered before motioning to the panther, "Mai, Sari…meet Nyx."
"You named it?!" Sari asked.
"Well of course I did, what was I supposed to do? She was an unintended creation of the experiment. She is fully alive and sentient, what a horrible thing it would be not to name a living creature. What horrible thing would you two have me do to her~?" Kajun gasped.
"Don't try to guilt us!" Mai complained, pointing at Kajun and then at Nyx, "How do you accidentally clone a living animal!?"
"Now see, that is a difficult explanation," Kajun nodded, "Give me a moment to find the words…Max did it."
"Oh she lies!" Max shouted from inside the lab.
"You gave me too much Turbo energy, so yes it is your fault," Kajun argued, "The test was to see if my first draft of the Turbo Armor could bond with living DNA. The first test was the Black Jaguar fur, and before I knew it? The machinery was overloaded with huge amounts of TURBO energy…and now…we have Nyx," the big black cat walked over and curled around Kajun's leg, "...She has bonded already…"
"...oh Tsubaki's not gonna like this," Sari sighed.
"We can't keep a powerful Apex Predator as a pet!" Mai declared.
"Oh please. She's as gentle as a kitten." Kajun waved off as the large cat yawned, showing off the large pearly white fangs, "What? She's new to the world and she's incredibly healthy."
"What about the other pets?" Sari asked.
"Put Drei down and watch," Kajun explained simply.
"What!?" they snapped.
"Just do it…" Kajun sighed.
Cautiously, they put Drei down, Nyx looking down at the corgi. Drei raised a paw and motioned down, the black panther plopping down and rolling onto her back. Drei walked over and began licking the big cat as it returned the affection. Kajun smirked as the two engaged in gentle playing together.
"...Wh…Why am I not surprised?" Mai sighed, facepalming, "He gets along with Funkfreed, so this shouldn't be a shock."
"I…I have to give this to Drei more than Kajun…" Sari groaned.
"Arf!" Drei barked as Nyx got up on her paws and began looking up at the two girls with big pleading eyes.
"...Oh don't tell me you want to keep the giant panther…" Mai groaned.
"Oh right…" Kajun nodded, "I should mention…she's not…JUST a cloned black furred jaguar."
"Of course not…" Sari sighed, "What else can she do?"
"Nyx…would you please conserve energy?" Kajun asked as a blue flash came from the collar before it spread across the Panther's body before she began shrinking down to the size of a jaguar cub, "See? Kitty mode."
"Meow…" Nyx replied.
"Aw~!" Sari cooed.
"How?!" Mai asked.
"Well, she's more like a Cyber Panther," Kajun explained, "Maxwell's idea…"
"And she is an adorable little kitty that has a lot of neat tricks!" Max beamed.
"Why are you still in the lab?" Mai asked.
"I'm strapped to a machine!" Max explained, "Kajun forgot to unlock me when she walked out!"
"...Oh right…I did do that…" Kajun muttered under her breath.
"And Steel's not getting him out because…?" Sari asked.
"He's working on an entry for the SCP Wiki about lemurs!" Max replied.
"Oh for…Steel!"
=I'm NOT crazy!=
"Lemurs are not SCPs!"
=Then explain why you only find them in Madagascar!=
"You just saw one at the zoo!"
=SEMANTICS!=
"Oh wow…He's broken again…" Sari sighed.
"That may have been more chaotic than planned," Kajun admitted.
"Agreed," Max muttered, "...um, can someone free me now? I just got an itch on my nose and it's….admittedly uncomfortable."
"Oh right!" Kajun ran back to the lab, "And will you please let Cytro out of the closet? He can't turn around in small spaces because of his shoulders and artillery pack!"
"Art-you armed him?!" Mai gawked.
"Well yeah…what if the house is under attack?"
=I have also been armed with blueprints to use in conjunction with a Turbo Energy-charged battery= Cytro added from the closet =Observation: I turned on my UV light in here…I will need to get some strong bleaches for the floor it seems and parts of the walls as well=
"..." Mai and Sari traded looks, knowing the two likely for the reason.
"...Why do I feel like we're in trouble somehow?" Makoto spoke up suddenly.
"I blame you," Ben replied simply.
"Wha…Bad boyfriend!" Makoto slapped his shoulder.
"Gah!" Ben cried due to the strength behind it, "Ow…Why~?"
"Well that's what you get," Makoto huffed as she turned away from Ben who was holding his arm.
"Okay…transforming Cyborg kitty…" Sari held up Nyx in her cub form, "That's the story of today?"
"Well, we stopped after her at least. Next on the list was saltwater crocodile," Max pointed out.
"...Are you practically asking for trouble?" Mai deadpanned to Kajun.
"I just wanted to see if the bonding process would work on a living creature!" Kajun complained, "I didn't think it would create life…which is honestly concerning for me as I fear this happy accident. The irony of the lessons of Mary Shelly's works is not lost on me…"
"Well at least we stopped with the super kitty…I don't think Noel could survive a giant cyber crocodile living in our bathtub," Max joked.
"...Oof…Yeah, good thinking. Lambda would've loved it, but Noel…no," Sari shook her head.
"Nope…she would freak out," Mai sighed.
"Freak out about what?" Noel asked just as she and Lambda walked in…and soon noticed Nyx, "..."
"Uh…long story…but…we now are the proud owners of…a Super Leopard Cub," Max explained.
"Meow!" Nyx replied.
"Kitty…" both sisters replied as they rushed and took her, both cuddling her a little aggressively.
"RROWR?!"
"Ah! W-Wait a minute, you two! Nyx…" Kajun began before, in a flash of Turbo energy, Nyx grew to her full size with the collar expanding to cover her in white armor with magenta and cyan detailing, sporting the Plumbers emblem on her right shoulder and Steel's design on her chest area along with a magenta blade on the end of its tail, "...can do that…."
"...Big kitty," the two sisters said in unison as they cuddled against Nyx.
"Rrrr…" Nyx just groaned in defeat at that, doing nothing to deter them.
"Hey, we're finally done with monitor duty and…" Ben greeted as he and Makoto came in…and saw Nyx, "...Kajun, did you steal a panther from the zoo and make a clone of Steel for it?"
"No…I made a clone of a Panther using data from Steel and Turbo energy from Maxwell," Kajun corrected, "If you're going to accuse me, then get the facts right." she pouted.
"...You just had to not check the cooler, you two," Ben gave Sari and Mai an annoyed look.
"Nyx…cuddle Ben," Kajun ordered as Nyx growled and pounced on Ben, pinning him to the ground, "Cat tongues have papillae, making them akin to rough sandpaper…Nyx…kisses."
"No-No-No!" Ben panicked as he was roughly licked, "Ah! It is like sandpaper!"
"...I'm a Squirrel, Noellie and La-chan have a magic ghost bunny with owl traits, a super smart Corgi, a sword that turns into an elephant, and a mutated mink that grows really sharp claws…and now we have a panther," Makoto listed, "...Sonuva…Liam was right. Our house is like a mini zoo lately…"
"Huh? Liam?" Noel asked.
"Funkfreed and Mari caught him trying to sneak into the house next door last Tuesday," Makoto replied, "I was awake at the time and made the arrest."
"...regular neighbor or Kagura's house?" Mai asked for clarification.
"Regular. I think he tried Kagura's place…but when he tried, Hibiki put the fear of god and ravens into him from what Alf told me."
"That explains why he freaked out when I quoted The Raven…" Skurd muttered, "...I just thought he had bad taste in literature…"
"So how are you gonna explain…Super Cat?" Makoto asked.
"Well she listens to me, Maxwell, and Drei." Kajun explained.
"Drei?" Noel blinked before seeing a Drei who was groomed by a cat to the point his fur was poofed up.
"She knows who the alpha is."
"...Okay, but what about Tsubaki? Because…eh heh…hoo the food budget…"
"I'll just add more to what I pay for my share of the house rent," Kajun argued.
"How much more could you…?" Makoto began before flinching when Kajun held up a phone with her bank balance, "HOW!?"
"All my lab stuff is thanks to the Plumbers Research and Development division's company write-offs," Kajun explained, "Also, I save more of my check because I don't waste it on stupid nonsense…" Nyx began chuffing in amusement as she pinned Ben by laying on his chest.
"This cat is crushing me…" Ben wheezed, "Kajun, I'm sorry! Please call off the mega kitty…"
"Nyx, mini mode, please," Kajun ordered.
In another flash, Nyx was again in her small cub form. She growled adorably as she jumped off and made her way back to Kajun, climbing into her lap. Kajun giggled as she pet the feline.
"Okay…now we have a super cat…" Makoto muttered.
"Mrow!" Nyx rowled.
"Super Kitty…" Makoto chuckled.
"Mrow," Nyx sat back down.
"She's a kitty…but not a cat," Kajun smiled, "She's a Jaguar."
=Which bonded to her and Max!= Steel called out frrom the next room.
"Aw…we can't hold kitty…" Lambda complained.
"It's still adorable," Noel smiled, "Though what does a Jaguar eat?"
"Anteaters, caiman, sloths…" Kajun listed.
"Not what I meant!" Noel complained.
"What…it's what they hunt." Kajun shrugged, "If she stays small I imagine she won't need as much food as her normal sized form…or her enlarged form."
"She can get bigger!?" everyone asked.
"Dude, when she was first poofed into existence she was like a saber toothed battle cat…" Max sighed.
"But it seems that burned most of her energy, so she entered a smaller form to conserve energy." Kajun added, "I'm sure a diet of fresh meat will suffice." Nyx purred at the thought, "Okay? See the Purring? …That's not a thing big cats should do…though I guess in this form, it is possible."
"So…it's not normal…" Noel muttered.
"Alright what happened today?" Tsubaki called out as she entered, making everyone turn to her, "...Is that a cat?"
"Rrow!" Nyx complained again.
"...What happened?" Tsubaki asked Max, "And I want the full truth…"
"Kajun had a secret project to make super armor for other people, but we needed a test to ensure it could bond to living DNA and we didn't want to use actual animals, so we went to the zoo and collected samples of fur and scales from animals for the testing," Max explained.
"Oh that's much more nice than actually testing on an animal," Noel noted as Lambda nodded, Bluey in her lap.
"But…the test went out of expectations…and now we have a cloned Cyber Leopard who can change forms, adopt armor, and is more or less charged with Turbo energy," Kajun continues, "...Also I created a robot butler to do my bidding."
=Cookies are ready!= Cytro declared as he walked in, holding a tray of cookies.
"Cytro?!" Tsubaki gawked, "Kajun!"
"What? I needed a helping hand," Kajun shrugged.
"But you…I can….I…" Tsubaki stammered in disbelief.
"You let Noel keep three pets and Robotboy, you let Lambda keep Bluey…what's so bad about me having a pet as well…and a robot to help around the house?"
=I require zero maintenance. I am fully self-sustaining with regular charges of Turbo energy, and am programmed to defend this home, the people and pets living within as well= Cytro explained, =Also to not take orders from Ben, Makoto, or anyone else of questionable morality=
"Wait…us!?" the couple complained.
"Besides Nyx is a good kitty, she can be small to save space and food consumption, and her normal full grown form makes for perfect home defense." Kajun smiled, holding Nyx up to Tsubaki as the small panther cub tilted her head.
"...You're cleaning the litter box, not Cytro," Tsubaki stated with a sigh before looking over Cytro, "Will admit, he looks a lot better than how he was when we first met him in Copper Canyon. And now Robotboy will have someone he can relate with better than just us."
=Thank you, Lady Tsubaki. Double Chocolate Chip Cookie~?= he offered the tray.
"You were programmed to butter me up?" Tsubaki asked.
=...Is it effective?= Cytro questioned, tilting his head.
"...yes," was all Tsubaki got out before swiping the cookie and bit into it, "Mmm….chocolatey goodness…~"
"Alright…we have a cat and another robot," Ben sighed, holding his arms up, "I guess that's it…"
"But she's so adorable," Noel argued, "Drei, be sure to teach her good manners." She smiled at the Corgi.
"Arf!" he barked happily before turning to Nyx and patting his paw on the ground a few times. Nyx jumped down and bowed her head to him as he sat proudly and tall for a little corgi pup.
"...Good Corgi," Lambda stated.
=Oh, yes, I almost forgot! It is their mandatory weekly bath day= Cytro noted before mud covered his head =Exclamation: I have been blinded once more!=
"Cytro, we don't say the 'B' word in here!" Noel panicked as Mari and Bluey raced off, the latter turning invincible and leaving muddy paw prints behind, "We call it Bubble Time so they don't do that!"
"Arf!"
"Rrrow…"
"The Dog and Kitty didn't run…" Makoto pointed out.
"Jaguars love water," Kajun explained, "They are actually very adept swimmers."
"Really?" Makoto blinked, "Huh…neat."
"Well…it's how they hunt." Kajun added as a proud glint could be seen in Nyx's eyes.
"Normally, Drei's leading the other two," Lambda noted.
=That is because Drei is a good boy= Cytro noted, keeping his hands in front of him before Tsubaki wiped the mud off his face =Thank you, Lady Tsubaki=
"Of course," Tsubaki nodded, "...still…Kajun?"
"Hmm?"
"You can keep Cytro and Nyx…but you and Max will have to take care of the latter since it's yours."
"Yeah, I figured," Max sighed, Nyx jumping and climbing up to his shoulder, "Now let's get you kitty stuff…" he got up.
"So Kajun can keep a cyborg apex predator and metallic war machine…but I'm not allowed to keep a baby dinosaur…I see how it is," Lambda pouted at Tsubaki.
"I told you we can't…a dinosaur's tastebuds isn't capable of handling plants grown outside its time period!" Tsuaki argued.
"Hmph…" Lambda kept pouting.
"Um…There-there?" Mai patted her head, "We could get you a plushy triceratops?"
"...I accept…" Lambda muttered while still pouting.
"Oh don't pout, La-chan, reptiles are…difficult to keep," Noel offered.
"You just don't like scaly creatures…" Lambda argued.
"...It depends." Noel admitted.
"Mmm hmm…"
SZ: Well…Kajun's got a new pet now.
GT: Two if you count the big attack robot, but I don't think they will…otherwise, they'll have to call Robotboy and Jenny pets and nobody wants that.
Z0: Eh, Cytro is more a Robo Butler. Sides he's still new he's not fully emotionally advanced…yet~
GT: Yep. Give it time, folks. And prepare yourselves…because we are at…CHAPTER 100 NEXT TIME!
Z0: YEAH! *headbuts out coffee table making it cleanly split in two*
SZ: We're reaching it folks! The infamous Chapter 100…and tune in next time for the climax of the…er…rest arc? Filler arc?...no no that last one would just remind people of a certain arc from Naruto.
Z0: Look guys, we did this for a reason to help with something we worked out to control pacing in the future from here on out. We had DOZENS of plots, but with our new…kinda Arc/Season set up. We can set things up in a way that doesn't overwhelm us…and we can predict pacing etc. Look, it's all technical but we got plans to help us do better, have more fun and not overwhelm ourselves with: What do we do in between this and that major plot! And if you want us to rush and do what you want…Fuck you! Hahahahaha!
SZ: Can't rush good things ya know! AHAHAHAHAHA! And now if you'll excuse me…*puts on mining equipment*I need to go mining in the Depths…recently got Tears of the Kingdom last week and I've been having a blast with it!
Z0: Believe me Readers…he has.
GT: Please read and review, folks!
Z0: Oh no I lost the bomb flowers…
SZ: Oh shit no! Th-
*BOOM!*