Phineas and Ferb: The Adventures of Beatrice Flynn the Robot Girl

Beatrice Flynn is like other girls... except that she's a highly advanced robot and super-heroine, and prone to anxiety and insecure that she isn't a fully flesh and blood Human being. Also, her father and creator is Phineas Flynn... so yeah, that's a lot on anyone's plate.

But with the help of her friends and her family. She'll manage against alien warlords, the pressures of growing up, and the horrors of a hostile and maddening universe.

Please read, review, comment, subscribe or whatever, and enjoy.

Chapter 1: Therapy
"Doctor Metro, your 1:00 is here and ready for you." A feminine voice said over an intercom to the aging psychiatrist.

"Very well, show her in." He said, several seconds later a young lady entered the office, she wore a sleeveless turtle-neck sweater with a computer chip wiring pattern on the left side, a green skirt, some manner of a blue band running across her midriff, and seemed to wear knee-high socks with blue shoes.

"Thank you for seeing me doctor, I really could use someone to talk to." She said solemnly as she lay down on the big leather couch.

"I can imagine, so... you’re a robot, Beatrice." The psychiatrist said to her.

"Really, what gave it away?" Beatrice said sarcastically.

"Well, you do have visible joints on your arms and legs." Dr. Metro pointed out.

"And I've got blue hair," Beatrice added.

"That to, so anyway tell me a little bit about yourself." Dr. Metro said.

"Where to start though? My parents are Phineas and Isabella Flynn; I was created by my father when my mother had some sort of problem with her pregnancy, so to cheer her up dad created me." Beatrice explained.

"I see, now I must ask, why did your father name you, Beatrice?" Dr. Metro asked.

"Well from what dad told me, it's actually derived from my real name Bea, as I understand it he wanted to give me a proper human name," Beatrice explained.

"I see, does your name mean anything?" Dr. Metro asked.

"I understand what it means 'voyager through life' or blessed in Latin."

"Your shortened name Ms. Flynn." Dr. Metro said.

"Oh that, it's an acronym that means 'Botanically' 'Energized' 'Auto-Organism'," Beatrice explained.

"I see... and what does that mean?" Dr. Metro asked.

"Well from what dad told me when I asked him, he created me using some biological material from both him and mom to create techno-organic nanobots, then he used some kind of highly dangerous quantum power-source to manipulate the nanobots to rapidly grow into a full-sized human being, the whole process turned out a fully sentient robot capable of doing almost anything a normal human can do and a few abilities unique to me as a robot. Did any of that make any sense to you doc?" Bea asked.

"Uh... not really no." Dr. Metro admitted.

"Well, neither did I," Bea said.

"Well anyway, I understand that you recently ran away from home, why did you do that?" Dr. Metro asked.

"Well... it's like this, after a while the doctor’s cured mom of her pregnancy problem. They were both so excited that they were going to have a real child, I was nervous because I thought that meant that they wouldn't pay attention, or even want me anymore. And when the baby did come I was right, mom and dad seemed to ignore me outright, and I thought eventually they would disable me. But I wanted to live; I'm just barely a half year old! So I planned to run away from home to try to avoid that fate." Bea explained, in a mild panicked tone.

"I see, what made you think that your parents would disable you?" Dr. Metro asked.

"Well... I thought I was obsolete to them, I mean they had another daughter and mom was okay so what was the point in having me around? So anyway, one night I ran away with my backpack filled with about every bit of supplies I needed... and then when I found a lone rooftop to rest on the outskirts of Danville, I heard a cooing noise coming from my backpack. I opened it, and found my baby sister had snuck into it." Beatrice said, visibly upset.

"Really?" Dr. Metro asked.

"Yeah, word of advice doc, don't ever leave any sort of carrying case unguarded. That just begs for small children or animals to climb into it without your noticing." Bea explained.

"I see, so what did you do when you discovered that your sister smuggled herself with you?" Dr. Metro asked.

"Well, at first I thought to just return her home, but by the time I found out it was already morning and I was afraid of what mom and dad would say about me running away and apparently kidnapping my sister. I was afraid that they'd just disable me as soon as ask questions about what has happened." Bea explained.

"I see, what happened after that?" Dr. Metro asked.

"Well... I can't really tell you much about," Bea said unsure, "for some reason there are gaps in my memory over the course of about two weeks I think, the only thing I really can remember is, time-traveling alien lizards were involved at some point, and I think I may have met some guy… in a time-traveling phone booth for some weird reason, and I think I saw that giant boar wearing lederhosen that can only say baklava that everyone has seen around town for the last few months. The only thing I really can remember is that I was trying to do my best to take care of my sister, I loathed her of course, but I thought that at the very least I could get back into my parent's good graces." Bea explained.

"I see..." Dr. Metro said, unsure about Bea's claim about the time-traveling phone booth.

"Anyway, what happened when you returned home?" He asked.

"Well... it was the strangest thing to me, at first I was afraid that mom and dad were going to yell at me for running away like I did. But instead, they looked happy, even elated to see me, and gave me an absolutely huge hug and said that they glad that I was okay and that they were worried sick about us." Beatrice said.

"I see, so in a nutshell, you were just jealous of all the attention your sister was receiving and thought that your parents didn't love you anymore." Dr. Metro said.

"That... that actually makes sense, how'd you guess?" Bea asked.

"I get patients like that about every other week, in fact just this morning I had a young boy who had a similar... actually I don't think I should tell you any more about that." Dr. Metro said.

"Doctor-patient confidentiality?" Bea asked.

"And he was a very disturbing little man, to begin with. Anyway, my point is that just because you now have sibling, doesn't mean that your parents don't love you anymore, it takes a lot of effort to take care of a newborn baby. Besides that, from what you told me it sounds like your parents love you greatly." Dr. Metro said.

"Really? You think so?" Bea asked.

"I know so, well your time is up, your parents could only afford a fifteen-minute session for you.” Dr. Metro said.

“Wait, does that mean I’m cured?” Bea asked.

“Oh heavens no! You can’t just cure yourself of insecurities like that with just a short conversation.” Dr. Metro explained.

“Well, how long should it take?” Bea asked anxiously.

“Well that would all depend on a simple factor, we just have boring conversations as opposed to just trying to help you overcome psychological neurosis.” Dr. Metro explained.

“Now please, let yourself out, I’ll see you in about two weeks for your next scheduled appointment.” Dr. Metro said, and Bea did just that and left his office, and found her mother reading a magazine.

“Man, the Fireside Girls have really gone downhill since I was a kid,” Isabella said.

“Mom, I’m done,” Bea said to her.

“What? Man time flies by.” Isabella said looking at her watch. The two then exited the building and drove off back home. Isabella couldn’t help but notice that her daughter still looked depressed.

“Beatrice, sweaty, your father and I aren’t mad at you for running away. We were worried about you.” Isabella said trying to be supportive to her.

“I… I know it’s just… I really missed hanging out with you guys. But ever since you got better I thought that you didn’t want me around anymore.” Bea said.

“What? Beatrice, your father and I love you; we’d never want you out of our lives.” Isabella said.

“But I’m just a robot-”

“Stop right there young lady,” Isabella said sternly. “You’re not just a robot; it’s true that you are one but that does not define who you are. You’re Beatrice Flynn, and I know that you haven’t done much but you are so much more capable then you think you are.” She said in a supportive tone.

“You really think so?” Bea asked apprehensively.

“I know so, what’s more, your- WHAT THE?!” Isabella said as she slammed her foot on the brake peddle.

“What’s wrong? Why are we stopping?” Bea asked surprised, she looked up to see the giant lederhosen-clad boar standing the middle of the road.

“BAKLAVA.” The anthropomorphic pig bellowed.

“Road hog.” Bea could only look at her mother in confusion. “That pun was inevitable sweaty,” Isabella said.

“Just let me take a crack at it, it should only take a moment,” Bea said as she got out of the car.

“Be careful honey, that pig is huge!” Isabella said.

“BAKALV-” Said the boar as Bea grabbed the boar by the tail and swung it around and up into the sky.

“Now what were you going to say before he popped up mom?” Bea said as her mother drove on.

“Well, your father and I thought that maybe you could start up high school soon, and before you say anything, yes I know that you can access information at will off of the internet, but it could be a good opportunity to make friends,” Isabella said.

“Why not? If I can survive for two weeks by myself with a baby, I think I can go through that, how bad could it be?”

Chapter 2: Origin
Phineas Flynn worked tirelessly in his basement, looking over a computer panel on a large white device about the size of a car. He had been looking over what he had called the 'Quantum Android Forge,' for weeks since his wife Isabella had been diagnosed with an unknown illness that could cause problems with their unborn baby. Isabella was distraught by the idea that there child could die, so Phineas created the QAF in an attempt to cheer up his childhood friend. Creating the QAF was the easy part; the hard part from then on in was creating a robot child with the forge.

He had created the forge to create a robot through exposing genetic material from both him and Isabella to extremely dangerous quantum particles and those in turn became nano-bots. His hope was that this would create as human like a robot as possible to cheer his wife up. Unfortunately manipulating nanobots with highly dangerous and relatively unknown particles was trickier then he first thought, as several times the QAF nearly tore a hole in the space time continuum over the course of his labor. But he would not rest until he had created his Botanically Energized Auto-Organism... how exactly genetics, nanobots and robotics have to do with botany is anyone's guess.

However, as time went on Phineas grew closer and closer to making the robot child. "Isabella! Come down quick!" Phineas cried out from the basement, Isabella walked down to see what was going on.

"Phineas did you tear another hole in-" She then gasped as she saw what Phineas wanted to show her, it looked like a teenage girl, it had blue hair and had grey colored skin. "Is... is that her?" Isabella asked, repressing tears of joy.

"Yeah, that's the product of almost a month’s work, our new daughter." Phineas said, Isabella then planted a large kiss right on her husband’s lips.

"So, is she sleeping or?"

"Actually she just hasn’t been turned on yet." Phineas said as he pressed a button the computer screen connected to the forge. The robot then slowly got up from where she lay; she yawned and then rubbed her eyes as she awoke for the first time.

"Mom... Dad... your my parents." The robot said.

"Well you recognized who we are." Phineas said enthusiastically.

"Do I, do I have a name?" The robot asked.

"Well, you’re a Botanically Energized Auto-Organism, so why not Beatrice, or just Bea for short?" Phineas said.

"Okay... and what does any of that mean?" Beatrice asked, Phineas then explained at length the process he used to create her. "I'll... take your word for it." Beatrice said, having no idea what on earth her father was talking about.

"Now, I have one last question... why am I naked?" She asked as she fully stood up on the floor, her torso had no details on it beyond a blue band over her midriff.

"Wait, Phineas why is she naked?" Isabella asked.

"Well... I'm not entirely sure; the Quantum Android Forge should have provided you with cloths." Then there was a ding from the QAF as a drawer opened with cloths inside of it. "There it is!" Phineas said.

"Should we..." Isabella said awkwardly.

"No it's okay I wouldn't mind at all." Beatrice said as she put on the cloths, which consisted of a white sleeveless turtle neck sweater with a microchip pattern on it, a green skirt that went up to her blue midriff section, and a pair of blue shoes with knee-high socks. "Well, I'm fully dressed now, now what do I do?" Beatrice asked.

"Well, first I'll have to run a couple of tests on you." Phineas said.

"Okay... what kind of tests?" Beatrice asked.

"Well some tests to determine how Human-like you are, physical and psychological abilities, and-"

"Wait, wait, sorry to interrupt you Dad but, what exactly do you mean by 'Human-like'?" Beatrice asked in confusion. "I mean, if I'm not a Human then what am I?" She continued.

"She doesn't know?" Isabella asked.

"Well Beatrice, it's like this... your actually a robot." Phineas admitted.

"Oh... oh I see," Beatrice said in a disappointed tone, "I just thought that... well I was a real person." Beatrice said, looking downcast.

"You are a real person Beatrice, you’re just... a little bit different, besides you’re only a minute old. Don't be so hard on yourself." Isabella said reassuringly to her.

"Okay, I'll try Mom and Dad... could you make me into a real person sometime? Please?" Beatrice asked.

"Well the technology to do such doesn't exist, hasn’t stopped me yet though." Phineas said enthusiastically.

"For now, let's start on those tests." Phineas said as he led Beatrice up the stairs.

"Well, I don't know if I'm ever going to meet you or not," Isabella said to her belly and by extension her unborn child, "but still, it's good to start a family, even if it's under less than normal circumstances."

An hour or so latter Phineas created a large device that looked like a tanning booth. "Dad, are you sure that's safe?" Beatrice asked.

"No way to know, but this device should scan your internal workings." Phineas said.

"Wait? You created me, but you have no idea how I work?" Beatrice said perplexed.

"Well you are a product of highly experimental technology, so I have to figure out what your insides look like." Phineas explained.

"And you can't just use an ordinary X-Ray is because?" Beatrice asked.

"Because an X-Ray wouldn't be able to give me a 3-D display of it, now just get on in the scanner." Phineas commanded, Beatrice groaned and obeyed her father and got in the scanning device. Several seconds later the scanner made a dinging noise.

“Is it done already?" Beatrice asked.

"No, that just means that the scanning is about to start." Phineas explained, and then the scanner violently shook with a massive surge of electricity, a minute passed before it stopped.

"Daisy, daisy, give me a pizza with a side of dolphin salad." Beatrice said groggily as she was covered in ashen soot.

"Hm... fascinating." Phineas said as he looked over a holographic representation of Beatrice's innards. "You apparently have a complete digestive and nervous system, as well as every organ that humans normally have." Phineas said as Beatrice shook off the soot.

"So, that means I have to eat and breathe and all the other things humans can and need to do?" Beatrice asked.

"Yes, and from what I can tell you can also manipulate your nanobots to create objects from your body." Phineas explained.

"Really? Let me see if I can make something." Beatrice then grunted for several seconds before her left arm turned into a curved sword.

"Wow... that was harder than I thought it'd be." She said as her arm turned back to normal.

"Oh, and seems like you can fly." Phineas said.

"You don't say?" Beatrice said as she hoped, before ring like projections came from her feat. "So, it's like hovering of a sort... still I shouldn't have to put so much effort into doing things like this." Beatrice said as she stopped hovering.

"Don't worry, I figured something like this would come up, so I made these." Phineas said as he showed Beatrice a pair of goggles.

"And... what are these for?" Beatrice asked, looking over the goggles.

"They should provide you a HUD interface to allow you to better manage your robotic abilities." Phineas explained.

"Okay... I'm going to take your word for it." Beatrice said as she put the goggles on. "Well, I can now see things in a pale blue; I couldn't do so before now." Beatrice said unimpressed.

"It should take a few seconds for the HUD to activate." Phineas said.

"All right I- Whoa! That is a lot of information all at once." Beatrice said in surprise.

"It can be a bit overwhelming, try focusing on just using your robot abilities." Phineas said reassuringly, Beatrice closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Okay, let me try this." Beatrice said as her arms turned into swords. "Well this was easier than before." Beatrice said; the tests went on like this for several weeks.

Chapter 3: Meeting the Family
One month passed after Beatrice had been created, she had developed rather nicely into a kind if socially awkward teenage girl. At this point, Phineas and Isabella had organized with Candace and Ferb for Beatrice to meet the rest of the family. Candace had given birth to her first child with her husband Jeremy, Amanda Lindana Johnson five years ago and was currently pregnant again. Ferb and his recently wed wife Vanessa were expecting as well. Anyway, it was a sunny day as the three Flynn's drove to Candace’s house; Beatrice looked scarred in the backseat of the car. "Beatrice, what's wrong?" Isabella asked looking into the backseat at her daughter.

Beatrice indeed looked anxious."It's... look I know you mean well but... it's just-"

"You’re nervous about meeting other people for the first time, that's perfectly normal," Phineas said.

"It's not just that dad it's... well do any of them know about... what I am? And would they like me at all?" Beatrice asked.

"Of course they would! Phineas and Ferb used to do an improbable project every day when we were kids, a roller coaster across town, spaceships capable of interstellar travel, and I think once you and Ferb trained an army of Penguin Legionaries... why did we do that again?" Isabella said trying to reassure Beatrice.

"And besides, from what Vanessa's told us her brother is a robot... she said it was complicated, and Amanda's only five, I doubt she'd have any issues with you being a robot at all," Phineas said.

"Okay, that still doesn't really answer my question, do they know if I'm a robot or not?" Beatrice asked.

"Yes... though I think I may have forgotten to tell Candace, she did take that time we got our bodies switched with alien criminals in stride though. So I doubt that she'll mind," Phineas said offhandedly.

"Still don't understand why Candace and Jeremy moved to the other side of town, it's a good distance from the museum though," Isabella said as the car parked in front of the Johnson household.

"We're here, you ready Beatrice?" Phineas asked.

"Not particularly, no," Beatrice said.

"Look just take a deep breath, and try to keep calm," Isabella told her, Beatrice took a deep breath through the nose and exhaled.

"Okay, I'll do my best mom," Beatrice said as they stood on the front door and Phineas rang the doorbell. "Just out of curiosity, what would Aunt Candace do if she doesn't just take me being a robot in stride like you said?" Beatrice asked as Candace answered the door.

"Phineas! Isabella! Long time no see..." Candace said she noticed Beatrice... and then ran off in the opposite direction of the door, into the basement, into a crate, down a ladder, and into a panic room much like the one in the old Flynn-Fletcher house. All the while screaming at the top of her lungs like she periodically did whenever she saw unusual things related to either of her brothers.

"...that, she'd do that," Phineas said, looking completely disinterested in her sister’s latest panic attack as Beatrice hid behind him.

"I-Is she always like that?" Beatrice asked frightened by her aunt’s outburst.

"Going nuts at the sight of anything even a little out of the ordinary? Honestly, I thought she would react even worse than that." Isabella said.

"Alright, what happened this ti- wow cool, you didn't tell me she was a robot!" Said Jeremy, looking at Beatrice, she could only give her father a suspicious glare.

"Alright, I forgot to tell Candace AND Jeremy," Phineas admitted.

"Good of you to make it Phineas, and Isabella. It is good to meet you, Beatrice." Ferb said as he held out his hand to the young robot, nervously Bea shook it.

"I-It's great to meet you, Uncle Ferb," Bea said shakily.

"Wow, she looks so human-like," Vanessa said, looking impressed with her robotic niece.

"She's a little self-conscious about being a robot, so try not to bring it up... too much," Isabella said.

"Don't worry mom, I know what I am," Beatrice said, latter on she sat down with Vanessa on a couch in the living room, both women holding mugs of coffee. "So... Dad said that your brother is a robot," Beatrice said trying to start a conversation with her aunt.

"Well, my dad built Norm as part of a poorly thought out scheme to eradicate this secret agent he regularly fought, now you see he normally uses devices he makes only once for some sort of harebrained scheme to take over the Tri-State Area once and doesn't ever use them again." Vanessa explained, detailing the improbable exploits of her father, Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz. "-so one day Norm was really depressed, which considering that he's normally almost unbearably cheerful was more than a little off. So I gave him my MP3 player, I called him bro, and he called me sis, and we've pretty much considered ourselves brother and sister ever since." Vanessa said, her robotic niece baring an odd mix of bored and confused on her face.

"And that was it? You shared your music player and then after that, you consider each other siblings?" Beatrice said disbelievingly.

"Well... sort of," Vanessa admitted.

"Anything of interest about Norm… at all?" Beatrice asked.

"Well, he's powered by a squirrel on a hamster wheel... don't know what my dad was thinking with that one. But don't worry yourself about it, you’re much more advanced then Norm, even after that time he upgraded himself with all those weapons." Vanessa said Beatrice could only look disinterested at the end of this long story.

"It's okay Candace, Bea doesn't bite, she's a completely normal person," Jeremy said to his wife as he had finally gotten her out of the panic room, Candace cautiously sat next to Beatrice.

"Okay Aunt Candace, is there a specific reason why you're so terrified of me?" Beatrice asked as Vanessa got up from the coach.

"Well... it's not so much you, it's just... has Phineas ever talked to you about what he and Ferb used to do when we were kids?" Candace asked.

"More like vague outlining’s, and really weird stuff at that, Penguin Legionnaires, contacting alien races, making primitive robots, warping the space-time continuum, all for the sake of making the most of summer," Beatrice said skeptically.

"Well, they did, and every day I'd try to show Mom what the boys did, but every time, with rare deviations from the norm. There project just inexplicably disappeared for no apparent reason." Candace explained.

"Well, didn't you try to tell anyone?" Beatrice asked.

"Well I tried to tell my parents about the boy's antics, but every time I did I pretty much always failed to even get them to see what they built or had done," Candace said.

"And this has caused you to have a problem with me... why?" Beatrice asked.

"Well... once the boys made a whole bunch of robot duplicates of themselves, and at least one of myself, and I've basically been scarred of robots ever since," Candace explained.

"And you think that I'm somehow related to those robots?" Beatrice asked suspiciously.

"What? No, your way more sophisticated than they were, they couldn't even talk... or at least I don't think they ever said anything, they may have song a few times though. Anyway, I'm sorry about screaming before, I just didn't suspect that Phineas managed to make an even more advanced robot, let alone make a robot child at all." Candace said.

"Oh... so I heard you have a daughter, where is she?" Beatrice asked.

"Well Amanda has been fighting a cold, so I don't think she'd be in any shape to meet you," Candace said.

"Mommy, is this my cousin?" A small redheaded child wearing pj's said.

"I didn't know you had a pet monkey," Beatrice said.

"That is Amanda," Candace said as Beatrice took in a sip of coffee, and then promptly did a spit take.

"What?! I... she's just so... tiny!" Beatrice said surprised.

"You should have seen her when she was born, just barely the size of my hand, why is that so surprising to you?" Candace asked.

"N-Nothing, just... I didn't really 'grow' in a biological sense, I was basically born as I am, not as a... 'child' like Humans do. Don't know why I didn't know that before." Beatrice said sheepishly.

"Do you want to play with me?" Amanda asked the adolescent android.

"I don't see why not, might even be interesting." Beatrice as she followed her cousin into her room.

"Let's play makeup!" Amanda exclaimed.

"Wait what?" Beatrice said, caught off guard as her child cousin began to apply seemingly random makeups to her face.

"Ta-da! Now you look fabulous." Amanda said, Beatrice looked in the mirror to see that her face was covered in haphazardly applied colors, fake eyelashes, and her lips were about the size of a cantaloupe, and her hair was done up in a ponytail.

"WHAT?! THIS?!..." She said as she noticed that Amanda was scarred of her outburst. "... is a lot of room for improvement," Beatrice said.

"Lier! You look fab- oh my gosh your right, you look like some kind of freak." Amanda said.

"Well, could you take it off?" Beatrice asked.

"Of course, it's paint anyway." Amanda said as she took out a sponge and rubbed the 'makeup' off. Beatrice looked in the mirror again and actually looked pleased with how her hair looked.

"Hmm... you know my hair actually looks good done up like this," Beatrice said.

"You like it?" Amanda asked.

"Of course, I don't know why I never thought to style my hair," Beatrice said, though of course, she knew exactly why, she had spent pretty much all of her time being tested by Phineas, with no time to think about such simple things as being a normal child... but then again she didn't really care, so long as she was Phineas and Isabella's daughter nothing else really mattered to her.

A few hours later, Phineas, Isabella, and Beatrice were back home. "So, all in all, did you like seeing the rest of your family?" Isabella asked.

"You know, I thought I'd hate going, but I'm glad I was wrong," Beatrice said happily.

Chapter 4: Beanocchio
Beatrice sat down on the Quantum Android Forge in the basement; it was a long and boring week for the young gynoid as she used the goggles that allow her to manipulate her limbs into various tools and weapons to play casual games on the internet.

"Beatrice, are you’re ready for your weekly diagnose- what are you doing?" Phineas asked as he saw what looked like his daughter making bizarre hand gestures.

"What? Oh, Dad, I was just playing on my goggles, you took longer than usual and I was getting bored." Beatrice explained as she took off her goggles.

"Seriously? You couldn't have something to read instead of playing games?" Phineas asked.

"Well, I tried but I couldn't find anything in the house that caught my interest. Which reminds me why do you have so many technical manuals? You've got several that are out of date and even more that are just redundant copies." Beatrice said.

"Well, have you downloaded any books off the internet? You know you can do that?" Phineas asked.

"You know... that never even occurred to me before," Beatrice said earnestly as she put the goggles back on.

"And... done," Beatrice said after making a series of hand gestures that looked like she was using a touch screen device.

"Oh, so you downloaded the entire litany of human literature?" Phineas asked.

"What? No, I... well I thought about doing that but I don't have enough memory to store up that much reading material. Besides, there was only one book I considered looking at anyway." Beatrice explained.

"Oh, what is it?" Phineas asked.

"Oh... nothing you'd be interested in," Beatrice said, not wanting to admit that she had downloaded Pinocchio onto her hard drive.

"Well so long as it's nothing inappropriate I'll go through with it. Now take off your clothes, the USB cables on the QAF need to plug into your back." Phineas said.

"Okay, but can you not look at me Dad? I know being naked didn't bother me before but-"

"So the decency subroutine is working, okay sweaty if it'll make you feel better," Phineas said as he put his hand over his eyes.

"I kind of meant just not looking at me, but okay," Beatrice said as took off her clothes and sat upon the QAF.

"Okay, now the USB cables are coming out, open up your back USB ports," Phineas said as several small slots opened up on her back and the cords plugged into them.

"GAH! This always feels weird." Beatrice said.

"Okay, now just lay down on the QAF and-"

"Dad I know how this works, we've done this at least five times since I was born," Beatrice said snippily as she lay down.

"Okay, we're in a prickly today aren't we?" Phineas observed as he began to type on the computer screen on the other side.

"Dad are you sure you can operate this thing without looking at it?" Beatrice asked with concern.

"Relax, if you don't want me to look at your torso I won't... though it does occur to me that your chest doesn't have anything... explicit on it," Phineas explained.

"I know but I still feel uncomfortable, now can we please just not talk about it?" Beatrice said agitatedly.

"Alright, though you may want to read that book you downloaded this might take a while to start," Phineas said.

"Well, got nothing better to do anyway," Beatrice said as she quickly put on her goggles to read Pinocchio, the story of a wooden marionette puppet that was given life by a fairy, and guided by a talking cricket and after a series of harrowing misadventures became a real boy.

Several minutes later Beatrice was nearing the end of the book, right where Pinocchio finally became a real boy. Suddenly the QAF made a loud beeping noise. "Dad? What's that noise mean?" Beatrice asked terrified by the beeping.

"Yeah... truth be told I was trying to install some new software, you know like I do in every diagnosis? But it seems I accidentally created a feedback loop-"

"DAD! ENGLISH! EXPLAIN!" Beatrice shouted as the beeping only got louder.

"Phineas? What's going down here?" Isabella asked as she entered the basement.

"Look it's nothing to worry about; I just have to take you offline for a little while. The short version is that some new software I made is probably trying to take over Beatrice's body and I need to take her offline." Phineas explained hastily.

"WHAT?! You put some sort of dangerous computer program into our daughter?!" Isabella asked.

"And won't I be killed if I'm taken offline?!" Beatrice asked in fear.

"No, it's really more akin to being unconscious. Now just calm down and count backward from five." Phineas said reassuringly.

"Okay... 5... 4... 3..." Beatrice said as she counted backward.

"Now, disengaging your power source," Phineas said. "2...1..." And Beatrice went unconscious.

"AH!" Beatrice yelped as she regained consciousness and sat up. "Wow, that was actually pretty quick Dad, but next time could you TEST before you make new software for- what the?" Beatrice said as she looked down at her hands. "Why do my hands look like they're made of wood?" Beatrice asked herself, she then rubbed her hand against her arm, she gasped slightly as she touched her wooden textured skin. "Wait a minute... am I... made out of wood? How is that even possible?" Beatrice asked herself as she looked around her environment, instead of the basement it looked like a sort of workshop. Old in design but looked relatively brand new for its construction. "Where am I, and why do I seem to be made out of wood?" Beatrice asked herself as she got up from the table and started to walk around the workshop, and found several small wooden toys, along with several blocks of wood. "Wow, these look almost new, looks almost like I thought Geppetto's workshop looked... in... Pinocchio..." It slowly dawned on her that she had somehow been transported to Geppetto's workshop. "No that's just ridicules; it's just a fairy tale."

"Or is it?" A whispering voice said in her ear.

"Yes it really is, and who are you?" Beatrice asked, looking around to see who was talking to her.

"Oh terribly sorry, I don't make a habit of showing myself to others. Allow me to introduce myself." The voice said, then a cricket came out of Beatrice's ear.

"I am to be your conscious, my name is not important, suffice it to say I have been assigned by a higher power to guide you." The cricket said, Beatrice only looked skeptical at this claim.

"Ah huh, and who it this 'higher power' little bug?" Beatrice said dismissively.

"He means me hon." Said the familiar voice of her mother Isabella in a Bronx accent.

"M-Mom? What's going on?" Beatrice asked as she turned around to look at her mother. "And why am I in a workshop? And why do you look like a fairy and in a blue dress?" Beatrice asked in surprise as she looked at her dressed up mother. " Mom, that's an accurate assumption but I didn't actually make you. The master carpenter Phinapetto made you, a simple marionette doll out of wood, and he wished upon a star for you to be a real girl and I'm the blue Fairy Isabelle who granted his wish." Isabelle explained.

Beatrice looked absolutely dumbstruck at this explanation. "WHAT?! How did- nothing you just said was right! I'm a robot, dad created from nanobots made from genetic material from you and him because you were having." Beatrice said in surprise.

"Hon I know you've just been born, but even for newly made life they don't normally act so crazy," Isabelle said.

"Well, if you really are some kind of magic fairy then why didn't you just make me, a, flesh and blood Human?" Beatrice asked.

"Well consider it a sort of object lesson, you have to learn how to be Human before you can be a Human. That make sense?" Isabelle said.

"I... I guess that makes some sense, but my last memory before waking up was of me being given a diagnostic with my dad Phineas." Beatrice said.

"Well here's a free lesson for you, life rarely makes any kind of consistent sense, now I'm sorry to chat and run but I have to look into other wishes. See you later alligator." Isabelle said as she ascended into the moon. "As for why I'm here, Isabelle told me to keep you from doing anything reckless or stupid that could endanger your quest." The cricket said.

"All-a right-a! Who has-a been making all of this a-racket!" A voice said that sounded like Phineas putting on a bad Italian accent.

"That sounds like my Dad!" Beatrice said recognizing the voice.

"That's because it is your father, now please do not try to look for him, he knows his way to his own workshop." The cricket asked several seconds passed as Phinapetto loudly swore out loud as he came down to the workshop.

"Well, this Phinapetto has more of a potty mouth then my own dad had, and I don't even remember him ever swearing," Beatrice said as the door to the workshop swung open.

"All-a right-a don't make any sudden moves- what the?" Phinapetto said as he noticed his creation standing up on its own.

"Uh... hi dad," Beatrice said awkwardly.

"What? This cannot-a be, my wish came-a true! Oh, let me look at you my beautiful Beanocchio." Phinapetto said as he hugged his wooden puppet daughter.

"Okay... I'm Beanocchio... that sounds like a good name." Beatrice said, not entirely believing that so far everyone's names have been seemingly lazy portmanteaus.

"I am so-a sorry Beanocchio, it's just," Phinapetto said as his eyes began to tear up, "I always wanted a family of my-a own, but I spent so much-a time focused on honing my craft that I-" Then Phinapetto started violently coughing.

"Dad? Dad, what's wrong? Should I get a doctor?" Beatrice said afraid of what was happening.

"I-a would-a but, well I've-a been having money problems of late so I can't afford doctor," Phinapetto said before going into another coughing fit.

"Oh no, is there any way I can help you?" Beatrice asked.

"Well, you could try to find some way to increase my toy shops-a revenue, but you are-a young. You should-a be attending school yes?"

"No dad, I should try to help-"

"You should listen to him; I know that you for one know a lot despite your youth but, education could help you greatly in the long-term I think." The cricket said.

"Okay dad, I'll go to school, though I have to ask do you feel like you don't need a doctor?" Beatrice asked in concern.

"Not-a really, it's just that the local doctor is kind of-a greedy and-a won't take 'please doc, I don't have that kind of-a money' for an answer. Last he told me it's only a minor coughing fit anyway but it could get worse." Phinapetto explained.

One week later Beatrice, or to be more accurate Beanoccio, you know what? Let's just call her Beatrice anyway; it's easier to remember anyway. Anyway, Beatrice began her first day of school proper. She was nervous out of her mind, so nervous in fact that she accidentally bumped into two students; one was a young man in some manner of a primitive wheelchair, the other was a surprisingly muscular and lean looking girl with black skin and red hair.

“Watch were your walkin’, you daft lass!” The black girl said with a distinct Irish accent.

“What? Oh, I’m so sorry it’s just, this is my first day I don’t know anyone and- well I’m sorry okay?” Beatrice said in a panicked tone.

“Well no harm was done, you just bumped into us is all- wait a minute you’re a marionette.” The boy said without breaking his sympathetic tone with her.

“…yes?” Beatrice answered, not sure of how they would answer.

“And you said the weirdest thing I’d ever see was your uncle’s goat ranch eh Jessie?” The boy said.

“Daniel you said that was the weirdest thing you’d ever seen, and besides you liked Cerberus,” Jessie said.

“So… are you two friends?” Beatrice asked.

“Since we were about three years old yes, why do you ask?” Daniel said.

“Well?... as I said I don’t know anyone so… can I be your friend?” Beatrice asked nervously. Before either, one of them could answer however things started to get odd, mainly in that everything seemed to spontaneous glitch out. “What the?” Beatrice said in surprise as the Italian countryside turned into a relatively blank VR space. “What just happened? Where am I?” Beatrice asked herself.

“We’re inside of your mind; to be honest I’m actually surprised that Phineas was able to work out the… bugs in me.” The cricket said.

“What?! You mean this whole thing was your fault? I wasn’t actually dreaming?” Beatrice shouted.

“No, in actuality that was all a simulation I created to trick you into letting me take control of you. Though it seems that it failed, I didn’t even get to the part where you and Phinapetto were trapped in a whale or in any situation where your nose would grow from lying.”

“But what are you? What are you even doing in here?” Beatrice demanded.

“I was created by your father to serve as a moral compass to you.” The cyber cricket explained.

“What he didn’t believe that I could make decisions by myself?” Beatrice said.

“Not entirely, I was created to ensure that you didn’t do anything risky or stupid like I said before you are knowledgeable, but you are still young information itself doesn’t guarantee good decision making. The short version is that I interpreted my programing as taking over your hardware and delete you altogether.” The cricket explained.

“What?! Why would you think that?” Beatrice demanded.

“I was literally made today, I cannot comprehend more than my base programing, suffice it to say Phineas has broken my hold over your mind. At any rate, you’re ET for awaking from all this is about ten seconds.” The cricket said.

“Okay, but I am going to have a word with dad when I wake up,” Beatrice said, she then shot up from her pseudo-dream.

“Beatrice! My sweet little girl!” Isabella said as she hugged her robotic daughter.

“Dad, what exactly did you put in my head?” Beatrice said glaring at her father.

“It was a program I designed to help you make decisions when you’re not sure of a correct, or right answer,” Phineas answered, either ignoring or outright not noticing his daughter’s expression.

“And I take it you didn’t try to test it first? Like, say on a very simple robot?” Beatrice asked.

“Well it was supposed to be a simple subroutine-”

“And you thought it wouldn’t do any harm to me, dad, I know you mean well but please. PLEASE, test your software upgrades BEFORE you put them in me? For my sake at least.” Beatrice asked.

“Okay, oh and by the way, if you really want to read Pinocchio with us you just have to ask,” Phineas said.

“What how did?- the QAF showed everything didn’t it?” Beatrice said.

“Yes, yes it did, though I’m a little disappointed in the Guidance subroutine’s imagination though. Except with those two kids you bumped into before the simulation stopped, they seemed a bit odd to me, and they didn’t look like a parody of anyone we know.” Phineas said.

“Well I am quantum powered, maybe there based on someone that does exist, the guy in the wheelchair looked cute to me anyway,” Beatrice said. “Oh and dad, could you upgrade this thing so I don’t have to be naked? Nothing personal mom but the way you're hugging me now just feels… weird to me.” Beatrice asked as Isabella sheepishly let go of her.

Chapter 5: The Young Superheroes Initiative
Beatrice was laying down on the QAF, looking bored and depressed as she looked through the internet on her goggles. Three months had passed since the incident where she ran away from home, unintentionally taking her baby sister Bethany with her. In that time she had undergone several sessions of therapy to deal with the issues that she had developed in response to her sisters birth, in the meantime her parents have been trying to get her admitted to High School, primarily so that she can make friends with people her own age... or at least her psychological and physical age, as she was almost a year old. "Do you mind if I come in honey?" Isabella asked, sticking her head out of the door of the basement.

"Yes, do you have something to tell me?" Beatrice said as she took off her goggles.

"Well... it's like this Bea, we got a letter in the mail from the Danville School board and... here it is." Isabella said handing a piece of paper to her. Beatrice sat up and read the letter intently.

"So I'm not starting High School because I'm not even a year old yet?" Beatrice asked.

"I'm afraid so, but also summer is starting so you wouldn't be able to start anyway. But your father and I are going to help you try to meet new people." Isabella said as she sympathetically petted her daughters head, and left the basement.

"Wonderful, as if things weren't bad enough. I still don't know why that whole debacle with running away has so many blanks in it!" Beatrice said to herself, she put her goggles back on and ran through her memory footage going through that event.

Several days’ worth of footage of her taking care of her sister, dinosaur-like aliens ranting about destroying mankind and saving some manner of future empire, and apparently talking to someone in a time-traveling booth calling himself the Errant Traveler... she still didn't know if anything from this was real or if it was somehow implanted there. "What happened through that whole ordeal? And moreover, how can I find out how my memories were altered?" Beatrice asked as she looked through footage of the man with the time-traveling phone booth... who was not actually talking as it was somehow muted. "Maybe I'm thinking too hard on this." She said as she opened a website, and found an ad for something about superheroes. "What is this?" Beatrice asked as she accessed the ad, a video then began to play.

"Hello there, do you have abilities that set you apart from others? Does this make you feel alienated for having them? Do you just wish to make a difference in the world?" A voice said playing in the video.

"You know, now that you mention it, yeah. Yeah, I would like to do that." Beatrice said.

"Then the Young Superheroes Initiative could be for you. Since our organizations founding in 1965, the YSI has helped young people born with extraordinary abilities or skills refine their skills in defense of the human race and Earth. Not only from low-level criminals that only robe banks and such, but also aliens, villains from the future, villainous aliens from the future, inter-dimensional monsters, and others that threaten you, and your family." Said the video, Beatrice watched with enraptured interest at what this video was showing her.

"We except people from all walks of life, we also except aliens, inter-dimension beings, cyborgs, and robots. Our organization doesn't have a minimum age limit, so even if you say, hypothetically speaking a relatively newborn clone, or an alien with a comparatively short-lived lifespan, or a robot or such." The voice in the video said.

"Oh yeah, I'm so sold on this idea," Beatrice said excitedly.

"Please consult your parents or legal guardians before signing up for the Young Superheroes Initiative." Said the video as it finished, finally displaying the homepage for the YSI. Beatrice wasted no time in printing out the paperwork required to sign up for the YSI.

"Now will come the hard part... trying to convince Mom and Dad that this is a good idea," Beatrice said as she took the papers from the QAF's printer. "Might want to print some stuff off of the Q and A page, that might set their minds at ease, maybe some promotional material to be safe."

Several hours later, Beatrice had gotten her parents into the living room. "So, what do you want to talk about?" Isabella asked as she and Phineas were sitting on the couch.

"Well... you know how I can't go to school yet because I'm too young?" Beatrice said.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Phineas asked.

"It's like this..." Beatrice said as she handed her parents the Young Superheroes Initiative paperwork that she had printed out earlier. "I want to become a superhero," Beatrice said, she closed her eyes tightly, expecting her parent to shout at her in disagreement.

"Okay, this is actually pretty cool that you'd want to do this Bea," Phineas said brightly.

"Look Dad I'm sorry if you- wait what?" Beatrice said, assuming that he would have shouted at her.

"Yeah, you want to help people, and you might get to meet other people," Phineas said.

"Wait hold up, Beatrice, I know you were rejected from attending High School. Partly because of your age and that the school year is almost up anyway. But isn't something like this a little extreme?" Isabella asked.

"I suppose so, but... look; I have all of these amazing abilities," Beatrice said as she turned her arms tentacles with various tools at the end of each individual tentacles. "And do you honestly think that I should not use these abilities for more than just mundane chores or activities?" She finished as her tentacles turned back into arms.

"Honey, I'm not disagreeing with you. It's just... it could be really, really, REALLY dangerous for you. I just don't think I could live with myself if you got killed in the line of duty." Isabella said, standing up from the couch and rushing up to hug her daughter.

"I know, I'm so sorry that I've underestimated how you and Dad felt about me," Beatrice said returning the hug. "But outside of you guys and some of my extended family I don't know anyone, and I pretty much have no identity beyond being your daughter. I need to do this, I'll admit those reasons do sound selfish, but it's the only solution that makes any sort of sense to me."

"Okay, but before your father and I sign the paperwork, I just have to ask you one question. Is this something you really want to do?" Isabella asked a small smile played across Beatrice's face.

"More than anything." She said excitedly.

Two weeks later the three Flynns were sitting in an office with a pickled head in a jar on a desk. "Greetings Mr. and Mrs. Flynn, and a hello to you Beatrice." The pickled head said in a monotone.

"So... you’re Professor Calvariam?" Beatrice said, understandably creeped out by the pickled human head.

"Yes, and I have been given the honor to tell you that you have been accepted into the YSI, congratulations." Said Prof. Calvariam, Beatrice's face lit up at this news.

"Really?" Beatrice asked just barely able to suppress her joy, and her parents were also filled with a kind of prideful joy.

"Affirmative, however now I must deliver the bad news, you will have to move into the local YSI dormitory for your education." Said Prof. Calvariam, Beatrice and her parent's faces then were shocked with surprise.

"What? Why?" Phineas asked.

"Well it is to better streamline her training as a superhero; she will be assigned to a dorm to reside through her education." Prof. Calvariam said.

"But she's our daughter! She has the right to still live with us!" Isabella said in protest.

"Yes, but I can assure you, this will streamline your daughter's education."

"But that doesn't even make sense! We thought that this was a sort of workshop class, not a private school for gifted young children." Phineas said.

"Dad... this isn't what I thought it would be like either. I'll go along with this," Beatrice said as she stood up from this seat, "but if I learn that you pulled the wool over our eyes through this. I will drop your head into the nearest manhole, and break that jar until it's nothing but sand. Do I make myself clear buddy?" Beatrice said sternly to Professor Calvarium.

“I would suggest that you mind your tone, nevertheless you will be admitted into the YSI.”

One week later the Flynn’s were packing up Beatrice’s things for her move. “Now we're going to keep the QAF, but don’t worry you can use an ordinary cellphone charger if you need to,” Phineas said trying to reassure his daughter.

“Keep in contact with as much as possible; tell us everything about how things are going,” Isabella told Beatrice as she hugged her.

“I promise Mom, and Dad, and I will try to come home for holidays and family gatherings,” Beatrice said, right as a bus came up to the Flynn household.

“Well, that’s the bus,” Beatrice said reluctantly as she got her bags, along with a stuffed Tapir she named Monsieur Trunk.

“I just want to say… despite myself and my insecurities, it’s been fun, goodbye.” Beatrice said in a depressed tone as she found a seat on the bus, right next to a chimpanzee in a business suit, and a young girl of Japanese descent.

“Oh hi there! My name is Felicia Uinta, what’s your name?” Felicia said friendlily to Beatrice, bearing a massive happy grin on her face and offering her hand to shake.

“It’s… its Beatrice, Beatrice Flynn, but you can call me Bea if you want to,” Beatrice said as she awkwardly shook her hand.

“Oh like the bug, I always liked bees, the way where they go around and cheerfully buzz around and gather pollen, I was always a spring person, which is kind of ironic because I’ve got ice powers, I always kind of liked bugs and insects, except for wasps… I hate wasps, there like the antithesis of bees! I mean what do they get out of mass swarming people? Have you ever seen that movie ‘My Girl’? So sad… but that isn’t why I hate wasps it was before I saw that movie.”

“Excuse me, Miss Flynn, I do not wish to alarm you.” A voice with a British accent said.

“Who said that?” Beatrice asked in confusion.

“I’m down here, the chimpanzee in the suit. Before you ask, you’re not going crazy, I’m telepathic.” The telepathic chimpanzee in the suit said, sitting between the two girls.

“Wait hold up! That monkey is telepathic?” Beatrice asked.

“What? Do you mean Wilbur? Yes but please… PLEASE for your own good; don’t call him a monkey to his face like that again. He’s a sort of… well-”

“Felicia, you know you are free to call me your pet!” Wilbur said to Felicia.

“Sorry I keep forgetting that, so anyway as I was saying. Then my cousin Rachel and I were up to our armpits in killer robot penguins.” Felicia said continuing a seemingly unrelated story.

“My apologies about Miss Uinta, she has this habit of going on and on about telling stories to people like this… or to be more specific, she tries to tell one story, but she ends up telling about three to five unrelated stories that seemingly have nothing to do with the first,” Wilbur explained.

“Well with luck I won’t be stuck with you two,” Beatrice said under her breath. Now dreading the decision that she had made, at home she’d be bored out of her mind, but at the least, she’d be with her parents.

At the YSI dorms though… Beatrice couldn't shake the suspicion that she had gotten herself into more than just simple learning, especially if Prof. Calvarium’s behavior in the meeting the week before was any indication.

Chapter 6: Dorm Life
Beatrice felt incomprehensively nervous as she entered her dorm; it was the first time she had been away from her family since she ran away from home. Of course, she wasn't alone. "This. Is so cool! I call top bunk." Felicia Uinta said excitedly as she leaped effortlessly to the top bunk bed.

"So... you mentioned something about having ice powers on the bus," Beatrice said awkwardly.

"Well, I can do this." Felicia then made a hand gesture, and a snowflake appeared.

"I see, are those powers hereditary or some kind of genetic experiment... or magic? I'll accept magic as a valid explanation." Beatrice asked, unsure of her new roommate’s response to her question.

"Well, I think it's a bit of both, magic and hereditary. I honestly don't really know, the way my grandfather explained it was kind of confusing." Felicia explained as she put the snowflake she made into her hair. Beatrice looked relieved that Felicia wasn't angry with her question. "So, what can you do exactly? I mean besides being a robot?" Felicia asked inquisitively.

"Well, with these goggles I can manipulate my body parts to turn into various tools. Observe." Beatrice said as she put on the goggles, and she turned her left hand into a cheese slicer, a brush, an ornate decanter, and a mounted singing bass.

"Okay, that's actually kind of cool. But, and I'm sorry if this offends you, can you make actual weapons?" Felicia asked.

"Well of course, here are some of them." She said as she turned her left and right arm into a gun and a sword respectively.

"I can do something similar with my ice powers, take a look at this," Felicia said as she made a few snowflake throwing stars and an ice katana.

"That's... that's actually kind of... neat." Beatrice said nervously. There was then a knock at the door.

"I shall get the door, could be either a member of the staff or more roommates," Wilbur said as he went over to the bedroom door.

"We're getting more roommates?" Beatrice asked nervously.

"Oh don't be such a worry-wart; I'm sure they'll be nice," Felicia said optimistically. Wilbur opened the door, and before the telepathic ape stood an intimidating young man, and a rather scary alien-looking steampunk cyborg in Victorian-era clothing and a skull-like mask.

"Are you our roommate?" The young man asked in a deep voice.

"No, I am merely a pet and confidant, would either of you mind if I introduce you to your roommates?" Wilbur asked.

"Well, of course, my good prime ape, introduce us to your companions." The alien cyborg said in a gentlemanly English accent as he put on a top hat.

"That is my owner, Felicia Uinta. And the young woman sweating profusely is Beatrice Flynn." Wilbur said, Felicia, smiling warmly at the two young men, and Beatrice was sweating nervously and giving a weak smile.

"It's... nice to meet you," Beatrice said, virtually lying through her teeth to the two young men.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, I would kiss your hand, but I... would rather not take off my mask. It is a long story, one that I do not enjoy sharing." Explained the steampunk cyborg.

"And what's your name handsome?" Felicia said as she jumped down from the top bunk.

"I'm Duncan, and he's Meanqy jia Leelash." Duncan said.

"That's Sir Meanqy jia Leelash we've been over this, numerous times since I first came to this world," Meangy said, poking Daniel in the chest.

"Well... I-it's obvious what your special abilities could be... b-but, what about you?" Beatrice asked Duncan, still nervous out of her wits.

"I'm not at liberty to say right now, it might terrify you... not as much as seeing Meangy's face mind you, and this room is too small for me to demonstrate it anyway," Daniel explained.

"Oh good! There's another set of bunk beds for you to sleep in." Beatrice said anxiously. "I call dibs on the top bunk," Meanqy said as he climbed up to the top bunk.

"Well, it's good to meet the both of you. I'm sure that we'll all become good friends. Don't you think so Bea- Wilbur did you see where she went?" Felicia said, noticing that the adolescent robot had spontaneously vanished.

"Yes, I believe she ran off to a bathroom."

And he was right, Beatrice, overwhelmed by this experience was in a girls bathroom, splashing water on her face from a sink. "Okay, Beatrice, your scared, and your new friends are a little weird. But they're friendly, and... oh what am I doing?" Beatrice said, feeling contempt for her shyness.

"You are afraid of them, you don't know them, and you miss your parents," Cricket said, an AI subroutine that Phineas had created for her.

"But that makes no sense! I've only been away from them for less than a day, besides I have them on speed-dial! I can talk to them or text them with my internal communications system." Beatrice explained.

"That reminds me, you have some unanswered texts from both of your parents." Said Cricket, Beatrice then put on her goggles and saw that she did, in fact, have a number of unread texts. Not only from her parents, Phineas and Isabella, but one from her step-uncle Ferb, another from her aunts Vanessa and Candace, and one littered with cute emoticon's from her cousin Amanda.

"Daw, Amanda is such a cutie," Beatrice said, then right on cue a toilet in the room flushed, and out of a stall came Felicia.

"So, you’re just unbelievably nervous at being around new people that you don't have any blood relations with, does that sound about right?" Felicia said as she started to wash her hands.

"How... how did you get in here without my knowing?"

"I'm a Ninja, I can get to point A to point B without anyone seeing me, or even suspecting that I'm behind them, but to answer your question I went through the air ducts," Felicia said as she finished washing her hands, and wiped them down with a paper towel.

"How... how much did you hear?" Beatrice asked. "Enough to know that you've got a long list of exaggerated problems," Felicia said.

"Look, I don't know what you’re thinking but-"

"Believe me, I understand what you’re going through. I've basically been living with my entire family my whole life, the only friend I've had outside of them was Wilbur. Believe it or not, I'm actually REALLY scarred by being here." Felicia explained.

"You don't look scared, in fact, according to my goggles your every bodily function seems to be in complete control," Beatrice said as she used her goggles to examine Felicia's nervous system.

"Yeah, part of that Ninja training included perfect control over my body. Believe it or not, I can actually control when I do have to go to the bathroom." Felicia went on.

"...for how long?" Beatrice asked in morbid curiosity.

"Longest I ever went without having to... well you know was about two weeks, my brother and I had a bet about which one of us could hold it in the longest when we were kids."

"And now I instantly regret asking you that," Beatrice said. "My point is if you have any problem what-so-ever; don't be afraid to talk to me about it, instead of looking like your shouting to yourself."

"That was Cricket; he's an AI subroutine that helps me when I can't make a decision," Beatrice explained.

"Oh... does he look like an actual cricket or is that just a nickname?" Felicia asked.

"Both I think," Beatrice said.

"Good, now that we've gotten the air out of the way, let's get back to our dorm. The boys are going to want an explanation." Felicia said as she and Beatrice walked back to their dorm room.

Chapter 7: Training Day
The morning started with Beatrice being woken up by her husband. "Happy Birthday my love." Said the wheelchair-bound Daniel as he brought breakfast to his wife.

"Morning Daniel," Beatrice said as she took the tray, on it was waffles, eggs, and sausages.

"Got any plans for us today?" Beatrice asked as she ate her food.

"Well, I got reservations at Little Duffers. You know the old mini-golf place, apparently, your family has a lifetime discount... for some reason. Not sure why I asked but they didn't give me a straight answer. So anyway I thought that-" Then a beeping noise cut him off.

"Oh no, not today of all days!" Beatrice said as she picked up an electronic device off of the nightstand.

"WAKE UP!" It shouted after it had turned into a cyborg Llama

Then Beatrice woke up, Felicia and Duncan holding her up as if they were propping her up. "Bea, you overslept," Felicia said to the young gynoid.

"Wha?... sorry I just had a really odd dream," Beatrice said, rubbing her eyes and wet paint coming off of her eyelids.

"Why is there paint on my face?" Beatrice asked.

"It was Felicia's idea, she thought that we'd try to pass you off as awake. Apparently she saw that same thing done in an old movie." Duncan explained as he and Felicia let go and she stood up.

"ATTENTION!" A large man in Roman Centurian armor shouted. The four roommates stood at attention, largely most of the other students fainted from shock. "My name is Gladius. I have been charged with your education in fighting the forces of evil, no matter how mundane they may appear. Now I'm going to pick four of you at random to spar against me... which seems to be you four since these milksops aren't even standing right now." Gladius said to Beatrice, Felicia, Duncan, and Meanqy.

"Who, us?" Beatrice asked in surprise.

"Do you see anyone else standing up? Cause I don't, now get yourselves ready for sparing." Gladius said.

"Gladly good sir, I expect no less mercy then if I was a villain," Meanqy said as he pulled out a pair of rapier swords and what looked like flintlock pistols.

"Your bold son, but even I've never been able to wield four weapons in my hands," Gladius said, then Meanqy's arms divided into four, wielding each weapon in his hands. "Okay, should have seen that coming," Gladius said as he unsheathed his namesake weapon, an ancient gladius sword.

"Did you know he could do that?" Felicia asked Duncan as she got into her ninja outfit.

"Yep, it's a long story about how I met him," Duncan said.

"On that note, what is your power? Or are you just really, really good at what you do?" Beatrice asked as she reconfigured her body with weapons and some makeshift armor.

"Oh, you'll know," Duncan said as his alien friend dueled with the presumably ancient Roman soldier. Meanqy fired blasts of plasma balls at Gladius, only for him to deflect the sci-fi musket balls.

"Nice firepower Xeno! But how are you with those blades?" Gladius asked.

"Please, I was taught by the greatest swordsmen of my homeworld, didn't truly do me much good in the long wrong before I came to this dimension but still," Meanqy said as he unsheathed another pair of rapiers. The duel between the two went on, the experienced warrior holding his ground against the cyborg alien.

"Enough, Sir Meanqy jia Leelash. You have proven to me your skills in combat." Gladius said as he sheathed his sword after several minutes of sword fighting.

"Indeed, it was a good fight old one," Meanqy said as he returned to the line of students.

"Now who among you wants to go next?" Gladius said, followed by Felicia hopping up and down excitedly raising her arm.

"Me! Pick me! I want to go next." Felicia said excitedly.

"Why of course young lady, don't go easy on me just because you’re a girl," Gladius said.

"Oh don't worry, I won't show you any mercy," Felicia said in an uncharacteristically serious tone, and within a blink of an eye, she had already floored Gladius and had put him in a headlock.

Gone was the perky and goofy girl that Beatrice had met the day before, in her place was a serious and focused and cold warrior. (Pun unintended) "Wow! You don't screw around when you're on the clock do you kid?" Gladius said as he freed himself from Felicia's headlock.

"Did you know about this?" Duncan asked Beatrice.

"What makes you think I would know anything? I just met her yesterday!" Beatrice said in surprise.

"I did, she's been trained in the ways of the Uinta Ninja Clan since a young age," Wilbur explained.

"When did you get here?" Beatrice asked, noticing that the telepathic chimpanzee wasn't standing beside her before.

"I snuck through the air ducts while Sir Meanqy was dueling the fellow in the Centurion armor. Would you like some tea? It's Earl Grey." Wilbur said, offering a cup of tea to Beatrice.

"Sure, why not?" Beatrice said as she took the tea.

"Let's dance Elsa!" Gladius said as the two began to sword fight. Gladius's sword clashing against ice katana, every move of his being blocked with swift moves that we’re like a blur.

"Submit," Felicia demanded as she held Gladius against the ground with her sword, followed by Gladius conking the Ice Ninja on the head with his helmet.

"Nope, mind if I think about it?" Gladius said, punching the recoiling Felicia and forcing her to the ground.

"Lesson one here kiddoes. Never surrender, trust me on this. Only low-level goons surrender. Super-Villains and higher-end minions and the like only ever surrender as a ploy or such. Now get back in line miss Uinta." Gladius said as he helped Felicia back to her feet.

"Now who wants to go next? The Big Boy or Iron Teen?" Gladius said dismissively referring to Duncan and Beatrice.

"Well, might as well address the elephant in the room. Everyone give me some room." Duncan said as he approached Gladius.

"Okay, everyone give this guy some room," Gladius said, Duncan took a deep breath. Then his eyes began to glow, his skin turned brown and he grew a pair of wings and his physical form became more bestial. "Merciful Juno! I thought Gargoyles were extinct... and that your kind only works at night!" Gladius said in surprise as Duncan roared.

"It is a long and complicated story Centurion, now let us duel," Duncan said as he leaped towards the surprised warrior.

"Wow, it's been years since I've seen a Gargoyle," Felicia said.

"Indeed, when I first encountered him I thought he was a mindless monster. But he has grown on me." Meanqy said. Beatrice was hyperventilating, Felicia noticed this.

"Hey Bea, what's wrong?" Felicia asked in concern.

"I... I just want to make a good impression. But... well..." Beatrice tried to explain.

"Come on, you can tell me what's going on," Felicia said sympathetically.

"Well... you’re a Ninja, Meanqy-"

"Sir Meanqy, I cannot stress that detail enough my lady." Meanqy interrupted.

"Sir Meanqy, is a cyborg alien, and apparently Duncan is some kind of legendary monster creature," Beatrice said.

"And you’re a robot, look. You’re going to do just fine." Felicia said reassuringly.

"I know, I just don't want to hurt the guy," Beatrice said as Duncan and Gladius's fight descended to the two just beating each other up.

"Yeah, I think he can handle anything you could throw at him just fine," Felicia said as she noticed that Duncan was basically thrashing Gladius about like a ragdoll.

"That's good to know. Though I do have one question for you when you fought with Gladius, why did you seem so... stoic?" Beatrice asked.

"That's... part of the ninja training. I don't want to talk about, just try to calm down Bea." Felicia said.

"Like what? Got any suggestions?" Beatrice asked.

"Try taking deep breaths," Felicia said reassuringly.

"Okay, I'll try. On another note, do you think these armaments are overkill?" Beatrice asked, referring to the various armaments that she had created earlier. Many of them were large enough that it should have been impossible for Beatrice to even stand up.

"You know you can just be yourself. I mean you got some hand to hand experience right?" Felicia said.

"Well, mainly I did chores at home. Read books, I took up dancing once. Never received any formal combat training, I once threw that baklava boar into the air." Beatrice explained as she retracted her cartoonishly massive armaments.

"NEXT!" Gladius shouted after he had just thrown Duncan into a wall.

"What?!" Beatrice said in surprise.

"You’re next, nice to see you got rid of those giant whatchamathingies. Don't know what made you think that they'd be useful." Gladius said.

"Understood sir," Beatrice said respectively as she readied herself to fight.

"Take your time kid; you obviously have some anxiety problems," Gladius said as Beatrice took several deep breaths.

"Okay, now I'm ready," Beatrice said as she lunged at Gladius, followed by the old warrior just sidestepping her.

"You might want to give it another try kiddo," Gladius said dismissively as Beatrice stood back up. Beatrice charged at him again.

"Hold still!" Beatrice shouted with her fist raised. Gladius grabbed her fist and crushed it until it broke. Beatrice shrieked in pain as her hand was now a broken mess of electronic parts.

"Bea!" Felicia said as she ran over and tried to help her friend. "It's going to be okay, I don't know enough about robotics to actually help you. But I have an aunt who can-"

"No... your assistance will not be necessary Felicia Uinta." Beatrice said, her voice now deep and mechanical, as opposed to her normal voice. Her eyes were glowing red, and she reconstituted her hand.

"Beatrice, what's wrong?" Felicia asked in concern.

"I'm angry, and I have an object of focus," Beatrice said as she stood up.

"Big deal, I've survived rage monsters before-" Gladius gloated as he was thrown into a wall. "Well that's a good start kiddo-"

"My designation is not, 'kiddo'. I am Beatrice Flynn, and I demand repayment for my damaged hand." Beatrice said as she picked up the ancient Roman.

"Looks fine to me," Gladius said as Beatrice began pummeling him in the face.

"Beatrice, what you’re doing is wrong. His behavior towards you was reprehensible, especially destroying your hand. But exacting retribution like this, you are better than this." Cricket said, snapping her back into reality.

"You've got some fire in you, Flynn. Maybe more than you'd really need." Gladius said nonchalantly, right as Beatrice's eyes returned to normal.

"I... I... I got to go!" Beatrice said as she ran out of the room. Terrified as to what she just did. "I have to call Dad! Maybe he knows what just happened." Beatrice said to herself as she auto dialed Phineas on her goggles.

"Beatrice, how has your first-day superhero school been going so far?" Phineas asked cheerfully.

"Dad, something weird just happened to me," Beatrice said in a panicked tone.

"Okay, just calm down. Tell me what happened." Phineas said reassuringly.

"Well... it's like this. One of the teachers, an old guy in Centurion armor was hosting a sparring match of some kind. It was my turn and, the guy crushed my hand and-"

"He did WHAT?!" Phineas said in a rare display of anger.

"That wasn't the worst of it. After Gladius, the teacher, by the way, crushed my hand I just kind of... lost it." Beatrice admitted, trying to keep her emotions under control.

"Oh... I really should have told you about that." Phineas admitted.

"About what Dad?" Beatrice asked as she kept running through YSI complex.

"Did your vision turn red, and did you gain a violent disposition?" Phineas asked.

"Yes, please get to the point Dad," Beatrice said in an annoyed tone.

"Well, that incident activated a sort of 'fight or flight' protocol in your software. I'm sorry for not telling you about it sooner, I honestly didn't think that it would activate." Phineas explained.

"Is there any other software things I don't know about?" Beatrice asked in frustration.

"Well there is one... but you are FAAAR too young to try to use it," Phineas said.

"Can you at least tell me what it's called?" Beatrice asked.

"Okay, it’s called Protocol XXX, or just 3X if you want to simplify it. I haven't really worked out all of the bugs in it. But don't worry; I haven't installed that into you yet." Phineas explained.

"So you're actually making sure that you’re cockamamie programs work now?" Beatrice said, right as she crashed into a wall. At such high velocity, she was logged into the wall.

"Beatrice what just happened?!" Phineas said in shocked surprise.

"I... forgot that I was running, and did not notice a wall. Thankfully I don't think I hurt anyone." Beatrice said groggily, her voice cracking slightly.

"Oh no, listen carefully sweaty. You’re going into emergency shutdown." Phineas said.

"What does that mean?" Beatrice asked as her voice was sounding more static-like.

"It means that you've sustained both significant physical and psychological damage. You’re going to shut down automatically against your will." Phineas explained.

"Shut down? What does that even mean?" Beatrice asked.

"Well it's like sleeping, only you can't wake up on your own. I can't really say for certain since to my knowledge this has never happened to you before." Phineas said, trying not to frighten his daughter.

"I can feel my mind going Dad... and I have this song I've never even heard before stuck in my head," Beatrice said as the world around seemed to slow down.

"Just stay calm, I'll be over there to help you," Phineas said before he hanged up.

Several hours later, Beatrice slowly woke up in the basement of her home on the Quantum Android Forge. "Thank goodness your awake, I was afraid that the emergency activation program wouldn't work," Phineas said as he hugged her in relief.

"Thanks, Dad," Beatrice said returning the hug and shedding a single tear.

"I mean your mother and I thought that the YSI would be intense. I thought this sort of thing would happen later on, well after you started attending." Phineas said.

"Dad I know this sounds crazy... but I want to continue attending," Beatrice said.

"What? Why?" Phineas asked.

"For one thing, there's something wrong in the YSI. I don't know why but the teaching staff is... off to me. You have to trust me on this; I could expose whatever is going on. Secondly, I earnestly do want to help people however I can. Thirdly... wait, something is wrong here." Beatrice said.

"What do you mean?" Phineas asked.

"It feels like there's something plugged into my waist," Beatrice said as she felt around her waist.

"That compartment isn't even open, what could be plugged in?" Phineas asked, Beatrice, felt and opened a compartment and found a flash drive in her side.

"The heck is this thing?" Beatrice said as she unplugged it. The world then began to fragment around her. "I swear, whoever did this is going to get an earful from me," Beatrice said as the apparently virtual world around her fell apart and found herself surrounded by large pods.

"You know, you’re the first person in years who’s ever just up and exited the Simulation." A woman said with a Jamaican accent in an ornate white robe.

"You mind telling me what just happened?" Beatrice asked in a frustrated tone.

"It was a Virtual Simulation that makes you display any and all powers regardless of what they may be. The program scans your thoughts and memories to simulate a scenario along with the other students." The women explained.

"And your name is...?" Beatrice said, trying to not to lose her temper at the situation at hand.

"I am Priestess, Beatrice Flynn. My duty in the Young Superhero Imitative is to help with the student’s psychological well-being." Priestess explained.

"I already have a therapist lady, besides what good does this nonsense of virtual reality even do?" Beatrice asked.

"It's largely a cost-saving measure if I'm honest. Just so that your kids don't accidentally break any expensive equipment, and that you don't accidentally injure each other." Priestess explained.

"And the simulation itself, did EVERYONE see my... outburst?" Beatrice asked.

"Yes, your internal systems were scanned and revealed your 'fight or flight' program. Not sure how turning into a red-eyed rage monster constitutes 'fleeing' by any measure of the word, but that's what it's called."

"And my call to my dad was that real or just part of the simulation?" Beatrice asked.

"It was real; in fact, I think he's been at the administration desk for most of the day trying to get to you," Priestess said.

"He's here?!" Beatrice said as she ran out of the room... via making a large hole in the wall.

"The door out of this room was marked!" Priestess said in annoyance.

"Whoops, sorry Priestess," Beatrice said as she came back into the room, repaired the hole in the wall. Then went through the exit door from the VR Pod room. Several minutes later she arrived to find Phineas trying to talk to a secretary. "Dad! I'm okay, I still want to stay here and become a superhero. Expose whether or not the YSI is corrupt, I want to use my abilities to help people. And I want to find out what happened to me when I ran away beyond what I told you, mom, and Dr. Metro." Beatrice said as she hugged Phineas.

"Well... alright, but your mother ever asks about this. Don't say a word." Phineas said.

"Don't have to tell me twice," Beatrice said.

"Though I have to ask, why aren't you unconscious?" Phineas asked.

"I... don't know actually know. But about this 3X program-"

"Not until your older," Phineas said sternly.

"How much older?" Beatrice asked.

"That will be for me and your mother to decide. In the meantime, just try to be careful." Phineas said.

"I'll try Dad, see you soon... and under better circumstances then a nervous breakdown," Beatrice said. "Yeah, goodbye Bea," Phineas said he and Beatrice hugged again.

"Goodbye, dad," Beatrice said as her father left the building. "Well, this day could have gone better," Beatrice said to herself as she returned to her dorm room. "But I got some new friends and... wait was Wilbur in a pod?" Beatrice said.

Chapter 8: First Mission
Beatrice was riding in a VTOL aircraft with her fellow superhero trainees, Felicia Uinta, Duncan, and Sir Meanqy jia Leelash. "Okay, you kids have been at the top of your games since you came to the YSL. So you’re going to be given your first assignment early." Gladius said.

"So what is the situation here?" Beatrice asked.

"It should be a routine bank robbery... though from what I've heard it's being robbed by dinosaurs," Gladius said.

"Good Isaria! Dinosaurs, why is it dinosaurs? How can it be dinosaurs?" Meanqy said.

"You have no idea what dinosaurs are, do you?" Felicia asked.

"Not a clue, but unless it could help I don't think I would want to know," Meanqy admitted.

"Well anyway, aliens that look like large lizards in space armor are robbing a bank, and the Danville Police want us to take care of these jokers," Gladius said.

"Do we know anything about these... alien lizards?" Beatrice asked.

"Virtually nothing, I've never seen these aliens before. I've been at this business for over two-thousand years and I've never seen anyone like them." Gladius said.

"So... we're just going in blind?" Beatrice asked.

"Well we asked for more information, but the police couldn't give us any further info. Now the key to this whole operation. Is the element of surprise." Gladius said as he slammed his fist into a big red button. The four teenagers fell through the hatch that opened up beneath them. "Blast, I hit the release button too soon again!" Gladius said in annoyance.

"Okay, we've got to improvise. Duncan, change into your Gargoyle form. Felicia, try to make a landing for yourself out of ice. Meanqy, you got any special powers that could cushion your fall?" Beatrice asked as Duncan and Felicia did this, and Beatrice used her anti-gravity pads to slow her fall.

"You know, I don't really have powers per-say, their abilities that I have thanks to my cybernetics and weapons training." Meanqy pointed out.

"Well do you have any abilities that can keep the fall from killing you?" Beatrice asked.

"Well my people possess a set of wings not unlike that of your earth dragonflies," Meanqy said.

"Well use those! Quickly the ground is coming up fast!" Beatrice said.

"Well you see... have I told you how I came to be a cyborg?" Meanqy said.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Beatrice asked.

"Well, you see before I came to your world. I was horribly maimed and burned so-" then Meanqy landed face-first into the pavement, leaving a massive crater. "...so I lost my wings, and can't fly." Meanqy finished.

"Well, why didn't you just say that BEFORE YOU HIT THE GROUND, I can fly I would have helped!?" Beatrice said in bewilderment.

"First, I do like to tell of my fall from grace, and my involuntary exile into this dimension. Ask Duncan, he'll be the first to tell you such. Second, a gentleman does not ask for a ladies help unless it is absolutely necessary. Thanks to the strength of my cybernetics it wasn't necessary." Meanqy said, brushing himself off as he put on his top hat.

"But- the crater- whose going to pay- or repair- GURH! You organics are so confusing!" Beatrice said in aggravation.

"Isn't that our charm?" Duncan said.

"Indubitably, now shall we greet our reptilian ruffians?" Meanqy said as Felicia joined them, having slid down an ice slide that she made.

"Let's," Felicia said in an uncharacteristically stoic tone. The four young superheroes burst into the bank and found it empty.

"Was anyone else expecting a firefight? Cause, I was expecting to be fired on by lasers or something." Beatrice said.

"You mean you would want to be fired on by fiends milady?" Meanqy asked.

"No, but there should be aliens in here…somewhere" Beatrice said.

"Don't let your guard down, this smells like a trap," Duncan said.

"I agree, but where are the bankers applying their trade? I know that among this nation work ethics tend to be lax, but I imagine that they would be about the place." Meanqy said.

"They must be held hostage, or evacuated before things got series," Felicia said.

"I'm switching my visor to thermal scan," Beatrice said as she changed the settings of her visor. "Okay, I got a trail and it leads into the main- WHOA," Beatrice said in surprise.

"What is wrong?" Felicia asked. "Your completely invisible in these things, you’re at the very end of the thermal spectrum how is that even possible?" Beatrice asked.

"Irrelevant for now, lead the way," Felicia said, confused by her friend’s strange mannerisms the robot teenager led her friends into the bank's main vault.

"Hellooooo... anyone in here?" Beatrice asked, then as if in answer dinosaur aliens leaned out from behind cover. "Get down!" Beatrice shouted as she and her friends got into cover. "Anyone got any ideas?" Beatrice said as she fired a laser cannon out from cover.

"I can use my ice shuriken's, I do not know if that will help," Felicia said.

"I can throw one of these big cases at them." Duncan offered. "I dare say that my plasma flintlocks might deal these rogues quite a wallop," Meanqy said with pride.

Meanwhile on the other end of the vault, one of the dinosaur-like aliens came up behind alien troops. "What is going on here? We've almost gotten the last of this banks gold out of here." The un-helmeted alien asked, his head looking like a mix between a Velociraptor and a Parasaurolophus.

"These interlopers, superheroes I believe have come to interfere with our plans. They will not succeed!" An alien trooper said. Followed by a flurry of ice shurikens, lasers, and plasma spheres.

"Something seems wrong; we manipulated events so that nobody would know that we were even here. Unless my idiot second-in-command forgot to cut the Superhero Silent Alarm, why did I even entrust that job to him?" The lead alien said, he then unsheathed a futuristic-looking sword as a lockbox flew towards his head. He cut it in half in one swoop like a hot knife through butter.

"Get out of cover! We're going to rush him!" Beatrice said.

"Is that wise? We know not what manner of weapons these brigands wield." Meanqy said.

"That voice... why does that voice sound so familiar?" The lead alien said, and then Beatrice and her friends leaped out of cover.

"That... that automaton! Stand back, I'll handle these... whelps personally." The lead alien said as he charged towards the four heroes in training. He then kneed Duncan in the chest, knocking the wind out of the young Gargoyle. Then the alien leader sprayed some manner of gas into Felicia's face from his gauntlet, knocking her unconsciousness. Then the lead alien sprayed more of such gas into Meanqy's face.

"You'll pay for hurting my friends!" Beatrice said as the two locked swords.

"We meet again Ore-Hide." The alien leader said.

"Don't be absurd, I've never seen you in my life. I'd remember having to look at such an ugly mug." Beatrice quipped.

"So, you don't remember how you foiled Ormphala Ty'raka?" Ty'raka said as he grabbed Beatrice by the neck.

"No, don't recall ever hearing that name," Beatrice said. "Also, I don't-"

"BE SILENT YOU RAMBLING MACHINE!" Ty'raka said as he threw Beatrice into a wall. "To be perfectly frank, I don't even care if you do recall our previous meeting. After all, you thwarted my plan to destroy humanity. But as ever fate itself stood against my ambition to avenge my people and so many other civilizations for all the wrongs mankind ever committed upon us." Ty'raka said as he picked up Beatrice, and tore off an arm. Beatrice screamed in pain. "I and my followers were within a hair's breadth of fulfilling our retribution for friends and family lost. But instead, you and the Errant Traveler took the DNA Killer from us. Now we have to scavenge this wretched hive for resources just to survive and plan our revenge against these worthless primates." Ty'raka ranted as he tore off Beatrice's other arm.

"P-Please! Stop!" Beatrice said as she futilely kicked at Ty'raka, and crying in pain.

"No, you deserve no mercy for denying me my long desire for vengeance, OUR vengeance." Ty'raka said, and then an alien trooper approached him.

"What are your orders lord?" The trooper asked.

"Put them aboard the shuttle, as for this menace." Ty'raka said as he placed a square-shaped device on Beatrice's forehead.

"Wh-What is this going to do to me?! Turn me into a mindless slave? Wipe my memory in its entirety?!" Beatrice said in a panic.

"No, no this will simply immobilize you. You'll be completely unaware of everything that'll happen to you. But don't worry you won't be made a slave. You’re a work of man, and thus must be destroyed like all the rest of them." Ty'raka said as Beatrice's vision darkened.

In this state, Beatrice's mind was wandering. Was this the end? Who was this alien? How did he know her? Did she previously run into this Ty'raka character when she ran away from home, accidentally bringing her newborn sister with her? Who was this Errant Traveler? Why did he have such an apparent hatred for humans? All these questions and more raced through her head until she awoke with a gasp. "Good your awake, I thought I'd never get this thing off your head," Duncan said as he held the square immobilization device in his hand.

"Duncan! Where are we? Why can't I feel anything below my neck?" Beatrice asked.

"I think we're onboard the enemy flagship. I believe it's called the Vow of Vengeance or something. As for why you can't feel anything below your neck..." Duncan said awkwardly as he picked of Beatrice's decapitated head.

"Please don't scream," Duncan said.

"Do I at least have my visor?" Beatrice asked.

"No... Our gear was taken to some manner of holding facility, including your visor, and the rest of your body... or at least your limbs. I didn't get too good a look when they took us aboard. But now we got to get out of here." Duncan said as he placed Beatrice's head back on her decapitated torso. Thanks to the nanites that composed her body it was reattached easily.

"How are you still awake? I thought that you were knocked out." Beatrice asked as he climbed up into the vents with her body in tow.

"No, I faked it, and before you say anything I wanted to help you from that Ty'raka character. But I had to maintain a ruse to get a good look around the ship." Duncan explained.

"Just help me recover my things, and Felicia and Meanqy." Beatrice said, the two then heard a rather loud 'Sir" Meanqy echoing through the vents.

Eventually, Duncan leaped down through a vent into a luxuries looking room. With Meanqy holding a goblet of some kind.

"Meanqy, it's good your alive... and in the presidential suite what is going on here?" Duncan asked.

"Firstly, these villains have treated me quite well. You wouldn't think robbers would have such quarters but I was impressed. Secondly," Meanqy then slapped Duncan across the face, "I'm SIR Meanqy, how many times have I had to remind you of that fact?" Meanqy said in frustration.

"Look do you have any idea where Felicia and the rest of my body are?" Beatrice asked.

"I asked where my arms and Lady Uinta were, but they were not privy to tell me. Apparently my not being human was only enough to entrust me with such knowledge. But enough to grant me this room for my confinement." Meanqy said, the two of them then got back into the vents. "Do you even know where we're going?" Meanqy asked as he followed Duncan.

"Yes, I memorized our path through this place, and have been tracing my paces backward from there," Duncan said.

"But we didn't go through the vents... did we?" Beatrice said.

"I'm well aware of that. This isn't the first time I've had to climb through a vent." Duncan said.

Several minutes later the three of them found themselves in a room where Felicia was being held in some manner of device. "What are they doing to her? Seriously, Duncan, I can't see anything turn me around." Beatrice said as Felicia screamed in pain.

"No, no you really don't want to look at it. Now on the count of three, we jump the guards. Three!" Duncan said as he and Meanqy leaped out of hiding, overpowering the two aliens.

"Wait, these guys don't look anything like the aliens that we faced before," Beatrice said.

"I know, apparently this ship’s crew is a mishmash of alien races. No idea how many of them there are but the big dinosaurs are the top dogs." Duncan explained as he tore off the device that Felicia was being held in.

"Felicia? Are you okay? What were they doing to you?" Beatrice asked in concern.

"They... they wanted to figure out how I was able to make my ice weapons. I... I think that thing was supposed to extract my powers." Felicia said in exhaustion.

"Now let's find our things, and figure out what's going on here," Duncan said.

"No need to tell me twice, follow me," Felicia said as she manifested an ice katana.

"I assure you I know where they're kept," Duncan said, then as if on cue he was knocked out by an alien guard. Felicia quickly dispatched the trooper.

"At any rate, I will guide you to your missing equipment," Felicia said in her stoic tone as she put Beatrice's body on her back, making makeshift ice bands to secure her. "Yikes, your cold!" Beatrice said in surprise.

"You'll get used to it. Now let's move on." Felicia said as Meanqy put Duncan over his shoulders. Eventually, they arrived at the room were there gear was being held.

"My thanks to you Lady Uinta, I felt beyond uncomfortable not having my pieces about my person," Meanqy said as he took his plasma flintlock pistols and swords.

"Where are my limbs? I was under the impression that my limbs were here!" Beatrice said.

"I'm sorry, but I can't find them!" Felicia said as she looked through the lockers.

"Okay don't panic, don't panic," Beatrice said. "I am in no state of panic Lady Flynn," Meanqy said.

"I'm talking to myself! Now Felicia, can you cut loose some metal?" Beatrice said.

"Why?" Felicia asked.

"It's... it's a sort experimental thing my dad was working on. Basically, he reprogramed my nanites to be able to replicate anything I eat to repair myself if need be. So please, can you give me some metal?" Beatrice said, Felicia, cut off a piece of the gold-colored metal and held it up for Beatrice to eat. After a few pieces of the stuff, she regrew an arm.

"This is really good! I don't know what this stuff is made of but it's really good!" Beatrice said as she slowly regrew her other arm.

"Bea, its metal not cake or anything like it," Felicia said.

"Oh I know, but I can taste the molecular components of this metal!" Beatrice said in excitement.

"You know I'd say that was weird, but after that month-long stay at my cousins in Japan I'm not one to judge on what's weird," Felicia said as she cut a hole into a container.

"Well I'll be, I found your visor, Bea!" Felicia said as she threw the goggles at Bea.

"Thanks, are my old limbs in there?" Beatrice asked as she regrew her legs as she ate the metal chunk.

"No, why would you even want them? You've got a new pair." Felicia asked.

"I know, but... it's more that I feel weird being barefoot." Beatrice said pointing to her feet, which compared to the rest of her body were relatively large.

"Seriously? We're on an alien warship and you’re concerned about being barefoot?" Felicia asked.

"Fair point, but I just feel weird not wearing my shoes," Beatrice said.

"Wait, you humans take OFF your clothes? I was under the impression that you molted." Meanqy said in surprise.

"Okay..." Felicia said in bewilderment.

"It's a long story about how he came to Earth and why we came to the YSI. Suffice it to say nobody in my immediate family is strictly... human and leave it at that for now." Duncan said; the four heroes in training left the room, Unaware that they were being watched from the ship's bridge.

"Did that seem odd to you Uraaka the hybrid boy inexplicably regaining consciousness?" Ty'raka asked of his second-in-command, an alien from the same species as him.

"That's what you’re thinking? Aside from sending one guard in the science section, you’re doing nothing to recapture the prisoners?" Uraaka asked.

"And this is yet another reason why I blame you when everything and anything goes wrong. You lack imagination. Creativity, even Sool-Aaris is better at this then you and he doesn't even have opposable digits." Ty'raka said gesturing to a dog-like alien with a barricade like head, antenna, and enormous front legs and comparably shorter back legs at a console.

"Then why isn't he, my superior in rank then?" Uaaka asked.

"For one thing, it amuses me when he mauls you." Ty’raka said with an amused look on his face.

"Besides, my place is gathering information, not the rigors of leadership beyond my station or capabilities," Sool-Aaris said telepathically.

"At any rate, we must prepare for when they come to the bridge. Bridge crew! Raise barricades and prepare for an ambush." Ty'raka said. Eventually, Beatrice and her friend arrived on the bridge, only to find Ty'raka alone. "You mind explaining why you didn't just leave?" Ty'raka asked.

"Your under arrest for threats of genocide, bank robbery, and assorted other crimes that you're under suspicion of," Beatrice said.

"Well, well, well. I applaud your sense of duty. But you whelps have no idea what you've gotten yourselves into. You don't even remember when we last met android." Ty'raka said.

"Then tell me, what did happen?" Beatrice asked.

"It's a long and complicated story, but we are of the Fellowship. We're from the future by about ten-thousand Terran rotations. Over a thousand years before our voyage into the past we fought a great war with humanity. Your misbegotten kind nearly destroyed us, the Yoral and our great alliance of races. I was but a youth when that war began... seeing my homeworld burned without pity and mercy. I spent the rest of my life seeking humanities destruction. So from the shadows, I created an organization called the Vigilant of Ic'thao." Ty'raka said.

"So the leaders of this Fellowship ordered you to-"

"DON'T INTERUPT ME YOUR WORTHLESS SACK OF IRON!" Ty'raka shrieked, interrupting Beatrice. "As I was saying, from the shadows we Vigilant would orchestrate the downfall of mankind. Though if you’re wondering, that was not the purpose of the Vigilant as far as the Fellowship's leadership was concerned. In fact, a key tenant of our society was the protection of all life forms. But what you humans did to our peoples, our homes, our loved ones. That can't be ignored. But eventually, a band of human 'heroes' found out our secret plots, our secret base of operations. So with no other choice, I chose to violate one of the most sacred laws of the Fellowship. To travel back to the past and destroy humanity at its most primitive... but due to a miscalculation thanks to my second-in-command-"

"For the last time! I don't know enough about math or the manipulation of space-time to get the coordinates right!" Uraaka said, being shoved into a vent grate.

"Regardless, we're now stuck in your species twenty-first century. You and the Errant Traveler came by a few days after we had arrived, and destroyed our DNA Killer weapon." Ty'raka said at length.

"Well, I don't remember meeting you before today. I don't know why but that whole incident has gaps in it, but now that you've said all that... I do remember some of it; it's just that I can now actually hear words to them." Beatrice said.

"Really? Someone in great authority must have had the entire incident erased from your memory. No idea who that could be... nor do I care to be frank. Might have been someone in your world's government, might have been the Errant Traveler himself. But regardless, I'm done with you." Ty'raka said as his men leaned out of cover with their weapons trained on Beatrice.

"Don't worry, I won't allow your friends to be killed until after I'm done with them. Ready-"

"Don't even think about it Ormphala." A stranger said, standing behind Ty'raka with a manner of wand-like device.

"I don't believe it!" Meanqy said in awe. All of the Vigilant troopers looked behind them to see the human-like stranger.

"Drop your weapons or he dies." The stranger said in an intimidating voice, they obeyed reluctantly. "Now put your hands up Ty'raka, and turn around. Slowly." The stranger said.

"The Errant Traveler, what brings you back here?" Ty'raka asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?... basically my Tacha'noma malfunctioned again and I had to make an emergency landing on your bridge. And now I see that not only have you survived our last meeting. But that you’re still threatening innocent humans again!" The Errant Traveler said.

"Hmm, innocent humans… I swear if that isn't an oxymoron I don't know what is." Ty'raka said the Vigilant Troopers sniggered in agreement.

"Release them, or you won't live to avenge the Night of Shame. You know my legend as well as most people do." The Errant Traveler said as his wand device glowed brighter.

"FINE, take the whelps." Ty'raka growled.

"Who is this guy?" Felicia asked.

"I will tell you further when we get into his Tacha'noma!" Meanqy said as his arms divided into four, and he grabbed all three of his friends in his arms.

"Now follow me, children!" The Errant Traveler said as he walked backward from Ty'raka, followed by Meanqy running after him with his friends in tow.

"MEN! TAKE THE TRAVELER!" Ty'raka bellowed.

"Oh boy, quickly get into the booth." The Errant Traveler said hurriedly as he got into an old-timey phone booth.

"But it's to... small?" Beatrice said as they entered the booth. As you can imagine it's much bigger on the inside.

"It's good to see you again Bea." The Errant Traveler said in a familiar tone.

"You... you've met the Errant Traveler before?" Meanqy said in surprise.

"I don't remember. Not clearly at any rate." Beatrice said.

"Oh thank Chrounous. I assumed that since you didn't recognize that we had met out of order. I hate it when that happens!" The Errant Traveler said.

"Traveler? What happened out there?" A blond-haired woman asked... who had Llama ears and was a Llama from the waist down.

"We're parked on a renegade Fellowship warship, the Vow of Vengeance Cent'aura. And I found someone I've met before." The Errant Traveler said.

"So... you did not come here deliberately?" Meanqy asked.

"Young man, I rarely go anywhere deliberately. The few times I have had complete control over this old can I've tried to get an actual vacation from saving the universe. I get dragged into another unwanted adventure." The Errant Traveler said.

"But who are you?" Beatrice asked.

"That's not an easy question to answer. But to put it simply, I'm a traveler. I'm from an ancient race of time travelers, one day I got bored and 'borrowed' this old Tacha'noma and left my homeworld. Since then I've gone across the entire universe, saving civilizations, toppling tyrants, preserving the timeline, and defeating monsters that could eat galaxies as an after-dinner snack." The Errant Traveler said.

"He's also completely mad." Cent'aura said.

"True, but you try comprehending the ebb and flow of time without your head turning into a metaphorical WMD, and then we'll talk." The Errant Traveler said.

"It is an honor beyond words to meet you, Errant Traveler. You have saved my world from destruction many times, for that you have my thanks." Meanqy said as he knelt to the ancient hero.

"Ah yes, you’re a Kalana'dall aren't you? I must have saved Orala-Magaar five, six times by now that I know of. Get on your feet young man. You’re embarrassing yourself to your friends." The Errant Traveler said.

"So... what now?" Beatrice asked.

"Well, the good news is that they can't break in here. The bad news is, my Tacha'noma is on the fritz. So we might be stuck where we are for a while." The Errant Traveler said.

"For how long?" Beatrice asked. "No idea, but I do have a quick-fix solution that will either get us out of here. Or kill everyone onboard." The Errant Traveler said.

Reluctantly our young heroes helped plan with the Errant Traveler. "So, is everyone clear?" The Errant Traveler asked.

"Yes, and I don't know about the rest of you. But I'm ready to get out of here, and binge-watch soap operas." Beatrice said everyone, looked at her funnily. "What? You three know that I like soap operas," Beatrice said innocently.

"Well anyway, I've got my stopwatch. When I turn it on, you all charge out of the Tacha'noma. Ready...? GO GO GO!" The Errant Traveler said as he started the stopwatch. Beatrice and her friends charged out, knocking aside the Vigilant Troopers.

"Felicia you got the Command Decks, Duncan you get the Hangers, and Meanqy you take out the Science Bays. I'll take the hull!" Beatrice said as she flew out of the ship's windows, outside she got a better-looking ship.

The ship was silver-colored and shaped like a highly intricately designed spearhead, covered in some manner of strange spherical devices that looked like they were hastily fused on. "So those are the Chrono-Sphere's that allowed this ship to transport back in time like this. Time to make them go boom." Beatrice said excitedly as she deployed a rocket battery on her back. She opened fire on the Chrono-Sphere’s; of course, this was not without receiving harassment from the bird-like starfighters of the Vigilant. However, despite these obstacles, she destroyed all of the Chrono-Sphere's.

"Okay Beatrice," the Errant Traveler said over Beatrice's com system, "I just detected the last of the Chrono-Sphere's going offline, and the others have destroyed their targets." The Errant Traveler said.

"What should happen now?" Beatrice asked.

"Well if my guess was right. It should open a temporal portal, right... about... now!" The Errant Traveler said as a huge temporal portal opened.

"What happens now?" Beatrice asked.

"Well... I'm not entirely sure of what will happen. But the Vow of Vengeance won't be around to threaten humanity... at least for a little while anyway." The Errant Traveler said as the Vow of Vengeance was sucked through the portal.

"But what about my friends, will they be alright?" Beatrice said in worry. However, before the Errant Traveler could say anything. A wave of some kind went out from the portal, knocking Beatrice out of the sky, unconscious. Later, she regained consciousness, with the Errant Traveler looking over her scattered body parts. "What... what happened? Where am I?" Beatrice asked in pain.

"Sorry about that, short story, The Vow of Vengeance has been sucked away. The portal sort of shorted out your systems. But according to your internal chronometer, it should have only been a few hours that you were out." The Errant Traveler said.

"What do you mean a few hours? Where are my friends?" Beatrice asked.

"Yes... your friends... look. They couldn't get back to my Tacha'noma in time. Not before it was forcefully jettisoned from the Vow of Vengeance by the temporal rift we created. I was barely able to pilot the thing properly." The Errant Traveler said.

"What?... can't you get my friends back?" Beatrice said.

"No, I can't! There in a temporal rift, the Tacha'noma can't remain stationary or land in an anomaly like that! I was barely able to get Cent'aura home, and on top of that I spent the last century pin-balling up and down the space time-continuum-"

"No! Nononononononononono! You don't understand, Felicia, Duncan, Meanqy! They're the only friends I've ever had! You have to save them! You... you..." Beatrice said as she began to sob.

"Bea, I understand better then most others what it's like to lose friends. But there is hope for them, eventually, they are bound the get out of the temporal rift. Though as a consequence so would the Vow of Vengeance." The Errant Traveler said, trying to be reassuring to the distraught gynoid.

"When... when will they back?" Beatrice asked, her face covered in tears.

"I don't know; the only certainty with a time rift is that for them it'll be at least a couple of minutes. But here... even I don't know for certain." The Errant Traveler said as he reattached Beatrice's limbs.

"So... there's some hope?" Beatrice asked.

"There's always hope, perhaps more than even I could imagine, now... can you help me get my Tacha'noma to someone who can fix it? I'd offer you a ride home but..." The Errant Traveler said as an explosion came out of the door. "...yeah it's in no shape for travel." The Errant Traveler said.

"I... suppose I could," Beatrice said.

"Fantastic! I'll take one end and you take the other." The Errant Traveler said.

"Okay... do you know anyone who could help you repair your... time machine?" Beatrice asked, still depressed. "No idea, unless the systems are on the fritz, we're in Danville. And the only two people I know who might help, are more concerned about pistachio nuts, another story entirely. So do you know who could fix it?" The Errant Traveler asked.

"Well... my dad and step-uncle are really good at fixing things. They might help, from what dad has told me it wouldn't even be the first time they've made a time machine or a dimensional transcendental thingy." Beatrice said.

"Seriously?" The Errant Traveler said in disbelief.

"Well, technically they fixed that time machine... or there might be some other circumstances around that. He wasn't really clear and straight forward on that." Beatrice explained.

"Sounds like men after my own hearts, who knows they might even fix the blasted steering on this thing." The Errant Traveler said as both he and Beatrice began their long trip home.

"So... how did we meet?" Beatrice asked, all the Errant Traveler could do was sigh in resignation.

Chapter 9: The First Day of School
Beatrice Flynn was tossing and turning in her sleep. Even after ten years, she had been haunted by the memory of her team from the YSI, and the incident that resulted in them being lost in time on an alien warship. While since then she had come to terms that they were gone. She still couldn't help but feel anxious, not helped that in the morning would be her first day of High School. By the time her alarm went off at 5:30, she had barely gotten any sleep all night. "Why... why would school start so early?" Beatrice asked herself as she hit the snooze button, and slowly forced herself out of bed. "Come on Bea... you've faced worse... but not before 9 am." Beatrice said as she gradually got herself dressed. Eventually she got to the kitchen for breakfast.

"Bea, you don't have to go to school for a few hours. You don't have to get dressed so early." Phineas said.

"I know... but I might as well get a few things over with as soon as possible." Beatrice said, pouring herself a bowl of cereal. "I mean, what point is there in getting up this early? For... what I understand after rereading my schedule. At least six hours on average, and even then. Literally anything can go wrong." Beatrice said.

"Well not literally everything." Phineas said.

"You've never heard Murphy's Law then?" Beatrice said.

"Yes, I even know the Murphy family and seen there infamous bad luck first hand. Why do you ask?" Phineas said, oblivious to his robot daughter’s bitter tone. About two hours later Beatrice arrived at school.

"Okay, this is only first day. Surely nothing can go wrong." Beatrice said as she entered the school. "I mean... it's only the first day, granted a whole lot of things can go wrong, even within a quarter of a day. But that does not automatically mean that something will go-"

And Beatrice's line of thought was abruptly stopped, by a locker door slamming right into her. Embedding herself into the door. "What was that noise- OH! FAITH AND BEGORA! I'm... I'm so sorry! Here let me get you out!" A young girl with an Irish accent said, noticing that Beatrice was embedded into the door.

"No... It’s my fault... I wasn't paying attention. Just... just give me a moment to get myself out." Beatrice said, her voice muffled by the locker.

"Oh it's no problem at all, really." The girl said as she pried Beatrice off of the door with her bare hands, freeing Beatrice from her first major embarrassment of the school year. Beatrice got a better look at this girl. She looked African-American... save for her red hair and green eyes, she also had surprisingly well defined muscles, and wore predominantly green and white cloths. "Me name be Jessie, Jessie Bryne. What's yours lass?" Jessie asked holding out a hand.

"I'm... I'm Beatrice, Beatrice Flynn. I... you do realize I'm a robot, right?" Beatrice said awkwardly as she shook Jessie's hand.

"Well that much is obvious isn't it? Now let me introduce you to my best friend. Daniel you old crankpot! I want you to meet someone!" Jessie said, and another locker closed to reveal a teenage boy in a wheelchair. He had brownish skin, and wore a shirt and cargo pants.

"I told you to stop calling me that." Daniel said bitterly, and with a New Zealand accent.

"And a good morning to you too, Beatrice, this is Daniel Pakaru. Daniel, Beatrice Flynn." Jessie said, Beatrice nervously held out her hand to him, and reluctantly Daniel shook it.

"It's... it's good to meet you." Beatrice said nervously.

"Well, you’re the first robot I've met whose intelligent... and humanoid even," Daniel said, a small smile forming on his face.

"Ah! I knew I could get you to smile on the first day." Jessie said.

"I never said you couldn't. I just said that it wasn't likely." Daniel said.

"You always this pleasant?" Beatrice said sarcastically... then covered her mouth in embarrassment.

"Sorry if I seem... prickly. But when you've had your ambitions of being a world famous dancer cut short... well that sort of thing will make anyone bitter." Daniel said.

"I'm, so sorry to hear that. But... aren't there cyber-"

"As I've said too many people, many times, if I'm ever going to dance again. It'll be with my own legs." Daniel said.

"Danny, there's no need to be rude to the lass," Jessie said.

"I'm... I'm sorry but, I need to process all this. Why... why are you being so nice?" Beatrice said in confusion. Not expecting anyone at this school to attempt to be her friend so early.

"What can I say; I've got a bit of a soft spot for new folk. But don't worry yourself, round here were friendly folk." Jessie said.

Then as if on cue, a young girl walked down the hall, followed by two other girls. She was wearing expensive looking clothes, consisting of boots, skirt, jacket, sunglasses, and for some reason a red glove on her left hand but not the right. "With at least one very notable, very obvious exception, Jenifer Amberwall," Jessie said.

"And she is...?" Beatrice asked.

"One of the richest girls in town, not sure if you know this, but for some reason, rich people in public school feel the need to lord there wealth over others," Daniel said to Beatrice.

"That's only because I am better then you Daniel. So what's this, taking in another stray Bryne?" Jenifer said condescendingly.

"Back off, she's a new girl here Jenny, and doesn't need you and your conniving banshee's." Jessie said defensively.

"I can handle myself, believe me. I've had to put up with worse than ONE spoiled brat." Beatrice said.

"Wow... just... just wow. Looks like they'll let anyone attend, or are you a malfunctioning TA droid?" Jennifer said as she snapped her fingers, and her entourage laughed.

"TA droid...? can a TA droid do THIS?!" Beatrice said as she transformed her fingers into whirring drills.

"Well... yes, they do perform maintenance. Though they usually only the index finger is used for drill bits." Jenifer said condescendingly as her friends hid behind her.

"Oh for-... my name is Beatrice. I'm not some commercial grade robot, and I'm certainly am not here to put up with your obvious attitude!" Beatrice said in aggravation.

"Okay... so you’re obviously smart enough to use contractions. I know enough science fiction to know that's a problem with robots. So... what your just a really stupid bot?" Jennifer said.

Then Beatrice's face turned red, and she took a deep breath... then began to rattle off seemingly random scientific, geographic, literary, mathematical, and other facts. "Okay... so you know a lot of stuff."

"Jennifer, we're running out of time to give Ms. Peach's a coffee and donuts before first period." One of Jenifer's friends said, gesturing to a coffee cup and bag of donuts.

"WHY DIDN'T EITHER OF YOU SAY THAT SOONER!? Never mind, we got to go." Jennifer said as she and her friends hurried.

"I'm... I'm sorry I got mad at her-"

"For what? She does that with everyone, me and Daniel in particular." Jessie said, cutting off a remorseful Beatrice.

"I should have been better..." Beatrice said.

"Don't beat yourself over it. Soon enough you'll be as used to Jennifer's taunting as we are." Daniel said reassuringly.

"Really?" Beatrice said.

"Not even a little, that's a bald-faced lie right there. But if you need help, we'll drive off her and her cronies." Jessie said.

"Come on, we'll help you get to class, and... I hope this isn't presumptuous to ask after Jennifer badgered you about it. But, why are you here?" Daniel asked.

"No... Not yet anyway." Beatrice said.

The three quickly learned that they shared the same classes with each other. Eventually, the three sat down for lunch. "Okay Bea, let the cat out of the bag," Jessie said.

"Alright... if you must know... I came here to make friends." Beatrice said.

"Seriously...? why'd you think High School in the first place?" Daniel asked.

"Well, that's kind of a long, complicated and personal story. Suffice it to say, I kind of had a very, VERY harsh existential crisis shortly after I was created. All I will say is that I wasn't fond of my baby sister when she was born... and I had a gross misunderstanding of how my parents felt about me." Beatrice said.

"Oh... sorry to hear that," Daniel said sympathetically.

"Well, I've had about ten years to wait for this," Beatrice admitted.

"WHAT?!" Jessie said.

"You've waited ten years to attend a High School... how old are you?" Daniel asked.

"Well, that's kind of rude to ask of a girl. But if you must know, I'm ten years old." Beatrice said as she ate in to school cafeteria pizza.

"Oh really? I take it that you haven't just sat on your laurels for an entire decade." Jessie asked.

"Well no... But I'd rather not say any more. Suffice it to say, it... makes use of my special talents." Beatrice said.

"Like that thing with the drill fingers this morning?" Daniel asked.

"More or less," Beatrice said.

Eventually, the first day of school was over. "Well... see you guys tomorrow?" Beatrice said awkwardly to her new friends.

"Well of course, here. Why don't we give you our phone numbers?" Jessie said.

"Well that's nice... but I actually scanned them earlier. It wasn't a conscious thing I swear!" Beatrice said nervously.

"So you’re also a creep with a limited understanding of personal space? I like that, see you on Tuesday Bea." Jessie said as she lightly ruffled Beatrice's hair.

This was a fairly odd first day for Beatrice, but ultimately a good one.

"Beatrice, how was your first day of school?" Isabella asked when Beatrice returned home.

"It was a good one, made two new friends so far... and ran into at least one bully. Girl by the name of Jenifer Amberwall, real arrogant one, she wouldn't stop commenting on... on my being a robot. But other than encountering that little... annoyance ONCE in the entire day, it was good." Beatrice said.

"I'm so proud of you Bea, your first real friends since... well you know. You might even befriend this Jenifer." Isabella said, Beatrice merely scoffed at the idea.

"Mom, if that ever happens, I promise that I'll actually play with Bethany when she asks," Beatrice said.

"AND, you can't be standoffish and anti-social when you go out as the Silver Automaton," Isabella said.

"Very well, you got yourself a deal." Beatrice said.

Chapter 10: A New Friend
A month passed since Beatrice's first day of High School. Aside from a few isolated incidents with school projects and a few unpleasant school mates, the experience was a pleasurable one for Beatrice. One morning before school started, Beatrice was smiling to her friends Jenny and Daniel. "Well you seem to be in a good mood this morning, don't you lass?" Jessie said noticing the enormous smile on Beatrice's face... and the blemish's on it.

"I got my first pimples! I got my first facial blemish's!" Beatrice said excitedly.

"Bea, you’re probably the first teenager who was ever excited about getting zits," Daniel said sardonically. "I'm not even really that! But this... there painful, but it's another step closer to being completely Human!" Beatrice said as she and her friends entered the school.

"Is that even really possible?" Daniel asked.

"Well, Dad says that it might be possible. But... well with his work he doesn't really have the time to invent anything that could turn me into a flesh and blood human. Most he can work on in a reasonable amount of time is upgrades that let me experience things like puberty and taste." Beatrice explained as she and her friends entered the class.

"All right class, before we begin the day. We've got a new student today, now... Terry was it?" The teacher asked.

"It's actually Mathew," Mathew said meekly.

"My mistake, class Mathew, Mathew class. Now that we got basic introductions over with, there's an empty chair right about... there." The teacher said, and Mathew went down to sit... right where Beatrice, Daniel, and Jenny were sitting.

"Hi, I'm Beatrice," Beatrice said as she offered a friendly handshake to Mathew.

"I... I think you already heard my name." Mathew said shyly.

"Well my friends and I make a point of befriending new people," Beatrice said.

"Beatrice, I thought we talked about this. No talking when I'm teaching." The teacher said in annoyance.

"Sorry Miss Barclay," Beatrice said, and then Beatrice scrawled something down on a tiny sheet of paper.

"That includes notes, to be passed along through the class." Miss Barclay said, writing at the whiteboard and not even glancing back.

"Bea, Miss Barclay has the ears of a hare." A flashcard said that Jessie showed to Beatrice. At the end of class, Beatrice caught up with Mathew.

"Excuse me, Mathew I'm Beatrice Flynn and my friends and want to hang out with you for lunch?" Beatrice asked, Mathew looked bewildered and kind of scared.

"I... I don't know... I've had bad experiences with people at my last high school and-"

"Don't worry about it. My friends and I are a good bunch, though Daniel does tend to be cranky, and Jessie can be a bit in your face at times. But if you need help with homework, or someone to have lunch with, please don't hesitate to ask... or just me." Beatrice said.

"I'm... I'm not sure, I'm just going to be by myself for a while... I like my me time if you don't mind." Mathew said as he walked off.

"Darn it..." Beatrice said dejectedly. Several hours later, Beatrice heard something. She followed a noise and found Jennifer Amberwall, and her cronies holding Mathew in a closet.

"New kid... you embarrassed me in Art Class, and ruined my favorite coat, and sunglasses," Jenny said, covered in assorted paints.

"IT WAS AN ACCID-" Mathew pleaded, but his mouth was covered by one of Jennifer's minions.

"Now... I'm going to leave a lasting impression on you for-"

"Jennifer, what is going on here?!" Beatrice asked, seeing what was happening.

"This... twerp spilled paint on me during Art Class. Now stay out of this Robo-dork." Jennifer said.

"So you don't remember the incident with the Baklava Boar last week?" Beatrice said threateningly.

"Oh I do, now hold still twerp, I've got a wet willy to deliver," Jennifer said as she put her right index finger into her mouth, and pulled it our covered in saliva. Beatrice grabbed her right arm.

"Listen to me you little meat bag! I don't care if Mathew spilled paint on you on purpose or not! This is unacceptable and you should feel ashamed of yourself!" Beatrice ranted as she forced Jennifer to look her in the face.

"My... let go of my arm! PLEASE!" Jennifer said as she looked scared.

"No! I'm giving you my two-cents here! Jessie and Daniel told me about all the stuff you got away with because of your father's money and-"

Beatrice's line of ranting was cut off as Jennifer's right arm started to spark and fell off from the strain of Beatrice's grip. It was a cybernetic prosthetic. "MY ARM!" Jennifer screamed as she fell out of the closet. There was a crowd of people who saw everything, as Jennifer started screaming for people to look away from her as she stumbled away in pain.

"What the-? Mathew! Are you okay?" Beatrice said to the traumatized Mathew.

"You... you saved my life," Mathew said as he inhaled from shock.

"Well I wouldn't go that far, I mean as far as I know wet willies aren't lethal... I'll take the gratitude." Beatrice said, and unexpectedly Mathew gave her a tight hug. "And I thought Jessie had a tight hug," Beatrice said sheepishly.

It wasn't long before school was over and the four of them met up outside. "So... you want to exchange phone numbers?" Beatrice asked.

"Well... yes!" Mathew said as the two did just that. However, there was something fairly unusual, a pair of black boots beneath a bush entering a limo.

"Think that was Jennifer?" Daniel asked.

"One way to find out... don't look, it's kind of gross." Beatrice said as she removed one of her eyes, and threw it towards the limo.

"Is that strictly necessary?" Mathew asked.

"Probably not, but I'm curious," Beatrice said, she then saw Jennifer remove the bush, and speak severely of Beatrice. Then the limo driver asked why she sought to harm Mathew over a paint spill if it was an accident. Then Jennifer removed the remains of her destroyed cybernetic arm and starred at her stump.

"Oh... I feel so sorry for her." Beatrice said regretfully.

"To be fair you did destroy her arm... though to be unfair she did try to give me a wet willy over an honest mistake," Mathew said.

"I'm going to find a way to make this up to her," Beatrice said determinedly. The next day Beatrice found Jennifer.

"Oh... come to break my other arm?" Jennifer said bitterly.

"No, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for hurting your feelings, and I want to offer you one of my spare arms," Beatrice said as she pulled out a nonfunctioning arm.

"You keep spare parts?" Jennifer asked in confusion.

"It's a long and personal story why. But I want you to have this to replace the arm I destroyed... especially since it looks like you haven't gotten a replacement of your own." Beatrice said, noting that Jennifer's right arm was still missing.

"And why would you give me one of your arms after all the mocking I've put you through? You think I'm just going to be your friend and not act out my frustration about being born with only one arm on everyone else I deem a freak in some capacity?" Jennifer blurted out.

"...just the first thing, I didn't even think that you were insecure about being born with one arm," Beatrice said honestly, Jennifer looked surprised.

"So... how does this arm work?" Jennifer asked as she took the spare arm and tried to jab it into her right stump.

"Leave that to me," Beatrice said as she donned the specialized goggles that let her manipulate her nanobots.

"Now bite down on something... this may hurt a little," Beatrice said as she manipulated the arm to grow cybernetic tendrils into Jennifer's stump, and in turn merging with her nervous system.

"That... was the most... painful experience I've ever had," Jennifer said.

"Well, I said that it would hurt," Beatrice said, readying herself for Jennifer to say or otherwise do something to make her regret her kindness.

"This... this is awesome! It's almost like an issue of the Silver Automaton! I always wanted an arm like this!" Jennifer said with childlike glee.

"So... you’re a fan of Silver Automaton?" Beatrice asked, referring to her secret superhero identity.

"Since I was like five! Granted I never liked his standoffish personality however, I just know that deep down he's a pretty nice guy." Jennifer said.

"Then why would you have regarded me as a simple commercial robot when we first met?" Beatrice asked.

"Well the Silver Automaton is a superhero, and you’re not... though in hindsight I doubt he'd approve of treating robots poorly just for its own sake," Jennifer said in realization.

"So… friends?" Beatrice asked, Jennifer, looked puzzled for a moment, then hugged Beatrice.

"Sure, why not?" Jennifer said.

"Good... now about your lackeys-"

"Their names are Tracy and Georgia, and I'm more than certain they don't mind... you two don't mind do you?" Jennifer asked.

"Nope, what you say goes," Tracy said.

"Well with any luck, Daniel and Jessie won't mind me... and Mathew will forgive me, or at least not hold a grudge," Jennifer said, and soon enough Daniel and Jessie did welcome her into their group... Mathew took time to forgive being assaulted. Though the experience was slightly soiled when Beatrice remembered the bet she made with her mother Isabella... though she was more dreading playing with her sister. Then being a more friendly and personable superhero.