Chapter 27
Rip Repaired

Maximus I.Q. sat at his control panel seat, playing with the Posi ceramic mallard he had retrieved from Pandora. But ducks just weren't enough. Just as he was about to stand up and put it away, his video phone beeped, and the words VIDEO CALL DETECTED flashed up on the screen. Not shifting from his deadpan expression, he pressed the button. An image of a redheaded Galactic Guardian appeared on the video screen. Maximus gasped and stood bolt upright!

"Atomic Betty!" he growled, his feline eyes narrowing with hatred, "What do you want, Guardian!?"

"Meet me on Asteroid Zero at twelve o'clock," said Betty, matter-of-factly.

"And why would I want to do that?" Maximus snapped.

"Trust me, if you don't come, it'll be no one's loss but yours," Betty assured him. The screen went black.

Maximus tilted his head in slight confusion. That had been short. He looked at his Max-Land watch, and saw that it was quarter to twelve. He wasn't doing anything evil, so he had no idea what Atomic Betty wanted with him, but he decided to go to Asteroid Zero for the sake of it.

"I still can't believe I'm doing this," said Sparky, as they stood on the surface of Asteroid Zero, beside their starcruiser, waiting for Maximus to arrive.

"I know it seems a little crazy," admitted Betty, "But we made a mistake and we need to fix it. Even if it is Maximus."

After about twenty minutes, the Guardians spotted Maximus's spaceship descend onto the asteroid. They felt the wind in their hair as it landed.

"Is this really wise?" asked Sparky, anxiously.

"Normally I'd say no," admitted Betty, "But it isn't really up to us to decide."

The black spaceship landed on the asteroid, and the Supreme Evil Overlord of the Galaxy stepped out. His eyes narrowed with loathing as he saw the three Guardians standing in front of their red starcruiser. He fixed them with an icy stare, which made them shiver. Maximus really had a way with hard stares.

"Alright," he snapped, striding forward, "I came. Now what do you want?"

Betty, Sparky and X-5 exchanged glances. "Actually," said Betty, with a smile, "It wasn't us who wanted to see you. It was someone else."

She pressed a button on her bracelet and the door of their starcruiser slid up, revealing somebody else standing there. Somebody female, with an appearance similar to Sparky, but with fluffy white hair and holding that dreaded weapon over her shoulder.

Maximus's eyes widened!

The next few seconds happened in a blur. One moment they were standing there rigid, the next Zulia hurled herself into Maximus's arms and buried her head in his chest, clutching his robe. They squeezed each other tightly, and didn't ever want to let go.

A tear managed to squeeze out of Maximus's eye and ran down his cheek, and he didn't even care that the Galactic Guardians were watching, because he was with her.

Sparky blew his nose loudly, which gave a sound like a foghorn.

"The Galactic Guardians say you can be together," said Betty, respectfully "We think you two might be good for each other."

"Oh, thank you, Atomic Betty," Zulia exclaimed! She ran over and hugged Betty tightly. Then she looked meaningfully over at Maximus.

He blinked in disbelief. "You've got to be joking me."

Zulia scowled.

Maximus sighed, deeply. "Th-thaa—ank—y-you, Atom-mm-mic—Betty," he managed to say, in a voice of unspeakable agony. Then he coughed quite violently and spat out a large hairball. He shuddered. "There. I said it."

Betty rolled her eyes, amusedly. "I'll take what I can get."

Then she thought of something. "Now I need to go home and sort out another broken couple."

Mine.

Betty strode boldly down the school corridor towards the lockers. Paloma's words from a few days ago repeated in her head as she approached.

"...I've seen you and Dylan. You two are perfect. And Dylan isn't Penelope or Duncan. He doesn't laugh when you make mistakes. He helps you up."

Dylan closed his locker and clicked the padlock shut.

"Dylan," a voice said, quietly. Dylan looked round. Betty was standing there with a nervous expression on her face.

"I thought I said we were through, Betty," said Dylan, crossly.

"I know," said Betty, gathering her courage, "But just let me say this, please."

Dylan raised his eyebrows, but agreed.

"Look," said Betty, gently, "About that phone incident. I know it was in my bag and it really looked like I'd stolen it, but I swear on my life I have no idea how—"

"Dylan!" exclaimed Penelope, striding up, "What are you doing, talking to her!" She said the word talking as if it were an offence, "You two are through! So why are you wasting your time conversing with that geek!?" She jabbed her finger at Betty.

"Penelope!" exclaimed Betty, furiously, "I'm trying to talk here!"

"Too bad, you can't!" sang Penelope, sliding in between Dylan and Betty, "Dylan's moved on from you! Now he's with the smartest, richest, most beautiful girl in school! Me!"

This was a complete lie. There was absolutely nothing going on between Dylan and Penelope, and Penelope knew it.

"Penelope, she's just talking!" said Dylan, with annoyance.

"Oh yeah!?" snapped Penelope, "Why would you talk to her when you could be talking to me! It took you long enough to realize that Betty's not worthy and that you should be with me instead, so why are you even bothering to let her talk to you!?"

"Penelope, there is nothing going on between you and me," said Dylan, irritatedly, "Now will you please leave me alone?"

"Don't you remember what she did to you!?" exclaimed Penelope, "What kind of girlfriend steals your phone for her own selfish needs!? I've never stolen anything from you! That PROVES that I am better!" She folded her arms, triumphantly.

Suddenly, Dylan realized something.

"Wait a minute," he said, slowly. He looked at Penelope, who was standing with a smug expression on her face. "I never told anyone that Betty stole my phone."

Penelope's eyes snapped open!

"You didn't?" she said, in a panicked voice, "I mean...um...well...you see...um...I just...well..."

Things began to click inside Dylan's head.

"It was you," he exclaimed, "You took my phone and planted it in Betty's bag."

Penelope's eyes darted left and right in panic.

"OOOOOOH! So what if I did!?" she snapped, "I did you a favour! You're better off without that geek anyway!"

"I don't like it when people play tricks, Penelope," said Dylan, angrily.

"SO WHAT!? You should be with ME, not that dopey, idiotic space cadet! Betty is nothing but a LOSER," Penelope screamed, advancing on Dylan, "All her stupid space obsessions and stupid friends and stupid hockey and that stupid red hair and those stupid clothes she wears, and those STUPID space cadet make-believes, she's nothing but a stupid, sorry-looking LOSER!" Penelope turned round and shoved Betty roughly to the ground. Then she turned back to Dylan with a look of devils on her face. "Listen, buddy, you've got a choice to make right now, and you had better forget about that FREAK and get to dating ME, because I'm nicer, I'm smarter, I'm prettier, I'm richer, and I am BETTER than her! You should be seeing me! Not her! ME!"

Dylan's eyebrows creased into a frown. "Let me just get something perfectly clear," he said, fiercely, "I don't like you, Penelope. You're mean, you're selfish, you're vain, and not to mention you're a liar! I don't care how much money you have, or what clothes you wear or just how cool you think you are. Because Betty is perfect the way she is, and that's why I like her. I never liked you, and I never will." He strode right past the seething Penelope and held his hand out to Betty. Betty smiled as he pulled her up.

"Penelope, I don't want you to ever talk to me again," Dylan said, firmly, "Or to Betty." And with that, he and Betty walked away down the school hall, holding hands, leaving Penelope raging with fury.

"Listen, Betty," Dylan said, when they were out of earshot, "I think I owe you an apology. I should've known you would never do anything like that."

Betty smiled. "It's OK, Dylan," she said, kindly, "It's not your fault. Penelope's always playing dirty tricks."

"I noticed," replied Dylan, rolling his eyes.

Betty laughed. "Thanks for sticking up for me back there," she smiled, "That was real cool of you."

"No problem," Dylan said, "But there's just one thing I don't understand. Why didn't you just come and tell me? Then we wouldn't have had to go through all this confusion."

Betty sighed. "I was afraid to," she admitted, "I thought I might have taken your phone by accident, and that if I told you, you'd think I was a loser for making a stupid mistake."

"Why would I think that?" asked Dylan, taking her hands, "I like you, Betty. I wouldn't care if you made a mistake. Everybody makes them."

Warm, glorious relief flooded through Betty's body. "That's a relief to hear," she said, thankfully, "I guess I was just being paranoi—"

Her speech was abruptly cut off as Dylan kissed her. Her eyes widened for a moment, and then she closed them and kissed him back. Wow. This felt good.

They let go of each other's lips and instantly looked away.

"Yeah."
"Right."
"OK."
"Alright."
"Yeah."
"Cool."

There was a moment of embarrassing silence.

"So...does this mean we're a couple again?" Betty asked, shyly.

"Absolutely," replied Dylan, "I never should have dumped you in the first place."

Happiness filled up Betty's face. She leaned over and gave Dylan a quick kiss on the cheek. "Well, I'd better get to class," she said, smiling, "See you round...boyfriend."

"See you round, Betty," replied Dylan, and they headed their separate ways.

With a spring in her step, Betty skipped down the corridor down to math class. Waiting for her outside classroom were Noah and Paloma.

"Did you do it?" asked Noah.

"Yep," said Betty, "Turns out that whole stolen phone business was just a trick by Penelope. We sorted out and we're a couple again, and everything's...sort of...good now."

"Way to go, Betty," smiled Paloma.

"I'm so happy I finally get to see your citadel," said Zulia, who was sitting around the corner from Maximus at Maximus's long table, eating a plate of blindingly posh food for dinner, "I love it. It's so nice to be here."

"'Tis no trouble at all, my little death ray," cooed Maximus, tickling her chin with his finger, "It's very nice to have you here. I'm just so glad we can be together. You know," he mused, "For a group of goody two-shoes Galactic Guardians, those three can sometimes have the occasional hint of sense."

Zulia rolled her eyes. "Oh, Maxy. Now carry on with what you were saying about that Shredder you used."

"Well," said Maximus, fingering his whiskers, slyly, "When Minimus and I got sucked into the worm hole with that Betty and her friends, we—"

Suddenly, without warning, Zulia stood up on the chair on her tiptoes and kissed him full on the lips. Maximus looked a little surprised at first, but then complied. He didn't mind; after all, he was really starting to like this whole kissing thing. He closed his eyes and purred contentedly into her mouth.

Minimus pushed open the kitchen door, wearing a waiter's suit and tie, intending to take in their plates and take their orders for dessert, but when he saw them kiss, he stopped in his tracks.

Perhaps I'd better leave them to it, he thought, smiling, and headed back into the kitchen.

A/N

Well! I hope you liked it! It took centuries to write, but it was worth it! Don't forget to leave a comment!