Unnamed Fic

[Eclipse'd]

((Featuring....Booster! Yep, he deserves one.))

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Ch.1 - Shopping

It was a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon, and even Space Rangers got their weekends off work. Two of the well-known rookies of Team Lightyear were spending their day off at the Capital Planet mall. It was none other than XR, the robot ranger, and Booster, the youngest and strongest member of the team. They were sitting by the large central fountain, and XR seemed preoccupied as he scanned the crowds.

Booster, on the other hand could barely sit still. "Oh boy, oh boy!" He grinned. "The annual bunzel harvest is coming again this year, and this time I can't wait because I'll actually be able to go to the bunzel festival!" They always had a festival when the harvest was finished in celebration, but Booster always seemed to miss out to go back to work, so he hasn't been to it in a couple of years. This time he actually had to leave a day early to get back home to Jo-Ad, and he wasn't allowed to come back to Star Command until everything related to the harvest was finished under Commander Nebula's orders...lest there be another 'accident' like last year.

"Yes yes, and you are definitely going to be there on time. Which is why I'm here. I'm going to make sure you're packed and out of here before you even think about tearing me apart." XR's attention was back towards Booster and he sounded just slightly less than happy upon remembering last year. Booster frowned and looked down at the floor.

"I said I was sorry..." He muttered.

"Yes you did, pal. 283 times as a matter of fact! Believe me, I'm good at counting things." XR was back to all smiles, sometimes it was just so easy to give his big buddy a hard time.

Booster felt a little better after realizing that XR wasn't really mad at him. He looked around, then up towards the huge skylight before looking back down at the robot. "So, why are we at the mall? Shouldn't we be packing?"

"Trust me, we will get you all packed and ready to go soon enough, but for now, we need to shop around for this festival of yours." He went back to crowd-scanning.

"Shop?" Booster was confused. Festivals had lots of small tents were people could go buy things. What could he possibly get at a mall? "Oh, I know. I could look for something to bring back home to ma and pa! Maybe some souvenirs from Capital Planet, or appliances to help around the house..."

"No no no, that's not what I mean." XR shook his head and folded his robotic arms. "Look, Booster. I know this festival is on a weekend and everything, but Buzz is going to be entertaining himself by filling out reports like he does on nearly every weekend he gets off, Mira will be doing her..uh...whatever princess-y duties she does when she goes back to Tangea, and me...well I'm just not a fan of eating contests and getting mud gunked up in my wheels. Which brings us to why we're here today. What do you see an abundance of here?"

Booster turned his head from side to side, looking at everything he could in the mall. "Uh...clothes?"

"Nooo."

He looked out the glass doors to the parking lot, it was awfully full today. "Spaceships?"

"Nope. Try again."

"Hmm." What else could there possibly be? There was lots of pretty much everything in this mall, it was the biggest one on the planet. "Aha! I got it, there's an abundance of stores! Cause we're at a mall!"

XR slapped his forehead. "No, Booster." He extended his legs so he could be at Booster's eye-level. "I'm talking about girls! You know, ladies, organics of the female variety? Festivals and carnivals and celebrations are no places to be going by yourself so we are going to get you, my friend, a date."

"WHAT?!"
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[Alohilani]

ohh, XR. XDDD The incorrigible.

Does Booster even know how to be a creepy pervert stalker pick up random women? And YES, the big guy absolutely needs moar fic. -applause-

[Eclipse'd]

(( Prepare yourselves for a very strange pairing indeed! Too bad I can't think up decent fic names/chapter names. ))

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Ch.2

"N-n-no! That's okay, I can go by myself it's really not a big deal but thanks anyways!" Booster stood up and started backing away as he talked really quickly. Girls made him nervous and feel weird.

XR retracted his legs and returned to his normal height. "Aw, come on. You won't even have to do any of the work. I'll go around and do it for ya and when I come back I'll make sure to be accompanied by three lovely ladies."

"Th-THREE?!" The poor Jo-Adian was terrified at this point.

"You bet! One for you and two for me!" XR was thrilled about the idea. He enjoyed hanging around girls and couldn't think of a better way to spend his Saturday. In fact he was already rolling off to get started on his mission. "Meet back here in an hour!" He called out before zooming out of sight.

"Oh no what am I going to do?" Booster felt a little sick at the idea, not realizing he was still taking a few steps backwards. "I know XR means well but I just don't think I can..." He stopped talking and moving when he felt something against his back accompanied by the sound of something thudding against the floor.

He spun around to see about ten shopping bags knocked over onto the ground. Most of the items had been held in the bag, but a few articles of clothes and shoes had spilled out. "Oh gosh I am so sorry, here let me help you with those." His helpful nature immediately kicked in and he was so busy putting everything back together he didn't even realize who they belonged to.

Until he heard a soft female voice respond "Thanks a bunch, it was mostly my fault, maybe I shouldn't have stacked all those bags in such a way that they were covering my face, huh?" followed by a giggle. He looked up at the bag's owner and felt that weird sick feeling in his stomach again, but it was a good kind of sick. The girl sitting on the floor had black sandals with little white bows at the front and black straps that criss-crossed up to her knees. She had a short (not mini) white skirt with two uneven sections to her left and right side that extended all the way down past her knees. (*Note, that's her fins but he doesn't know yet.) Her tank-top was also white with some black outline and her outfit was completed with white fingerless gloves. She had long white hair and shining green eyes.

"Wow..." He muttered. He remembered feeling something like this before, it was when he had first saw Petra. She's still on the floor! It's like a small voice snapped him out of it. "Oh right! Geez, let me help you up, I'm so sorry I guess I wasn't thinking, here.." He spoke quickly and nervously. He took her hand and lifted her up, placing her bags at her side.

She was still smiling as she dusted herself off. "Heh, you sure apologize a lot."

"S-sorry..I mean!" Too late, she was already giggling again. "I mean, do you need help carrying your bags?"

"Well sure! That would be great mister...um, I'm sorry I don't think I got your name?" She looked up at him curiously.

He felt like he melted a little inside, she was so cute when she was looking like that. "It's uh...it's...um...Pickles." He mumbled a little bit while grinning.

Her cheerful smile returned to her face. "Like the kind you put on a sandwich?"

"Ack! No no, I meant to say Booster. Booster is my name, but Becky calls me Pickles...not that Becky is my girlfriend or anything! She's just this little girl from Roswell that I know and she really likes tea parties, I-I don't actually have a girlfriend." Why did I say that? She must think I'm stupid.. He felt like he had just made a complete idiot out of himself.

"Aw, that's just too sweet! I used to love tea parties when I was little! So, I'm pretty much done shopping for the day but I've got one more stop I always make when I come here. Before we do that, do you want to head on over to the food court? I'm starving."

Come to think of it, he was getting pretty hungry, too. "Yeah, okay." He lifted up most of her bags, and she took the other two lighter ones. She used her free hand to hold onto his arm as they started walking through the mall. "Oh, almost forgot." She looked up and smiled at him. "You can call me Artemis."
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((Yeah...at this point I don't know what the flip I'm doing, but I'm just rolling with it. ))

[levy120]

Pickles... x3

"Heh, you sure apologize a lot."

Totally so *g*

Artemis was the thief, right? And as far as I can tell she doesn't know that Booster's a ranger. I wonder how this will go on xD

[Eclipse'd]

((Yes, she is. I'm also trying to establish that she's the kind of person who's not really 'mean', per se. She is fairly unethical, manipulative and deceptive, though. ))

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"Wow, that's a pretty name." He smiled back down at her. She seemed really nice. They headed over to the food court and she looked around. "Okay, we can meet over at that table over there once we get our food."

"Well, I can pay for lunch of you want.." He thought he should offer.

She shook her head. "Aww, well if you aren't just a big sweetheart. But I've got some cash that I need to get rid of and there's no better way to do it than to spend it." He was glad that his skin was red, it was much harder to tell when he was blushing. "Well, okay then."

They met up at the designated table and set their plates down. Booster's was covered with a huge sandwich, a giant pile of fries, and about a half gallon of soda. Artemis had about three slices of pizza (covered in anchovies), and a couple of sushi rolls, along with half a gallon of water.

"Oh, you like seafood?" Booster asked as he examined her plate. She chuckled and nodded. "You bet I do, this stuff is great. Is that chocolate sauce?" She pointed over to his little side dish.

He grinned a little sheepishly and nodded. "Yeah, I like to dip my fries in them. You can put chocolate on pretty much anything."

She raised her eyebrow. "Really? Can I give it a try, then?" He nodded and she lifted up a piece of sushi with her chopsticks, dipped it in the chocolate, then popped it in her mouth. She chewed a little, closed her eyes, shuddered, then swallowed. She paused for a moment before starting to giggle. "Wow! That was weird! Like...a good weird. So, what do you do for a living?"

"I'm a Space Ranger." He beamed a little with pride. She coughed a bit and tried not to gasp, which resulted in her making some kind of squeak. "Uh, was it something I said?" He raised his eyebrow at her.

"Nonono, it's just that Space Rangers...are about the coolest thing ever!" Her eyes shifted to the left, then back to the right before looking back at him. "So...know any neat Star Command secrets? I promise I won't tell." She lifted her hand and smiled honestly.

He sighed and shook his head. "Naw. I wish I knew some, though, but I'm still just a rookie. What about you? What do you do?"

"Well that's not very fun." She muttered as she bit down into a slice of pizza, but shrugged it off. "As for me, well I'm a freelancer. I do a little of this, a little of that. You know, odd jobs, temp jobs, pretty much whatever I want." It probably wasn't possible to make her answer any more vague, but Booster was satisfied enough with it.

It was about now that XR was rolling around the food court, with two ladies on his arms. He caught sight of Booster and wheeled on over. Booster smiled and waved when his robot buddy approached the table. "Oh hey there!" He looked over at Artemis and smiled. "This is one of my teammates, XR. He's another rookie just like me."

XR suddenly looked very nervous as the girls with him narrowed their eyes and folded their arms. "Eheheh...X-nay on the ookie-ray, pal."

"So you're a Captain, huh?"
"We are so out of here."

Both girls walked away with a hmph and XR frowned. "Wait! Ladies, come back! You, uh, have to be a captain to even be a rookie in this kind of place, it's that exclusive! ... Craters." He sighed and then finally realized Artemis sitting there. He plastered a big grin on his face and scooted himself in the seat next to her.

"Booster, who's your friend?" He asked in almost a singsong voice.

"Hi, I'm Artemis. It's nice to meet you." She smiled.

"Believe me, madam, the pleasure is mine. I am..."

"...sitting on my tailfin." She cheerfully interrupted.

"...sitting on your tail...oh! Oh! Oops, my fault, excuse me." He immediately got up and she pulled it out of the way.

"I thought that was a skirt." Booster said.

"Don't worry about it, a lot of people do."

"Say, you wouldn't to have a sister, would you?" That one came from XR, of course.

She grinned. "I have a twin."

"Happy birthday to me." He smiled to himself, and when he felt a tap on his shoulder he spun around happily in hopes of seeing another beautiful..


...ticked-off looking dude. Firey orange spiked hair, red suit, and a decent figure. He had a little muscle but he was far from ripped. He was smiling as well, the kind of smile that said 'I can't wait to hurt you'. He cracked his knuckles a little bit. "Hi there."
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[RedRage]

When you messaged me about making this fic I didn't know you would make it over night XD. Anyway I don't know much about fan fics because I don't read many, but I like this. The characters and situations seem to me right on, like the kind of you would see in the series.

[Eclipse'd]

((That means a lot to me coming from a real Booster fan. ^.^ I'm always afraid of taking them too far out of character so I'm glad I'm not messing that up so far. It usually takes me about an hour or so to write these chapters. I'm kind of making stuff up as I go. ))

[Eclipse'd]

"Well hello there, my good man...I'm in your spot, aren't I?" He nodded and XR moved to the seat next to Booster, while the man sat down next to Artemis. He reached over and grabbed a slice of pizza from her plate. "I was wondering where you went." He said as he took a bite. There was something about his voice that made it hard to find him threatening.

She narrowed her eyes a little at him, the first time today she's shown something other than cheerfulness. In this case, slight annoyance. "Well, I went here. I didn't want to wake you from your nap."

"If you didn't spend two and a half hours looking at shoes, I wouldn't have fallen asleep. *munch*"

"That's not my fault, there's way too many designs to choose from and I only have enough for like, four pairs today. Besides, I found someone else to carry my bags since you're too much of a shrimp." She pointed and smiled at Booster, who was feeling slightly uncomfortable right now.

Apollo looked down at the pile of bags Booster was carrying for her, then back up at her. "First of all, I am not a shrimp, and secondly, how come he gets to carry all your normal stuff? When you made me do it, I had to carry the bags that had all your girly makeup and frilly underwear." Booster was feeling more uncomfortable by the second. He tried to finish off his lunch as they argued.

"Because it's fun to torment you." She grinned.

"So," He finally spoke up. "Is this your b...b..." Booster couldn't say it. This guy had to be her boyfriend. That fireball on top of his head even reminded him of plasma boy, oh why did he keep doing this to himself? He knew it was too good to be true.

"Yep. My one and only nerd of a twin brother, Apollo. Apollo, this is Booster, he's a Space Ranger." She smiled and Booster felt a large wave of relief wash over him. Now that she mentioned it, they both had the same green eyes. "Norbert Klerm is a nerd. I am a genius with a sense of taste." Booster felt uneasy again as Apollo stared him down in an overprotective fashion.

"Well, I'm bored now." XR interjected. This certainly wasn't getting him anywhere. "Booster, are you ready to go back yet? We need to start packing."

"Artemis said she had one more place to go, and then we can leave."

"Are you serious?" Apollo sighed in frustration. "You said that four stores ago, what other possible junk can you buy?"

"I'm not going to buy anything. It's the place I always go right before we leave the mall. And this time I'm going to make you say yes."

"Oh. There. Well I've said no almost ten times already, but if you want to try again, then let's go." Booster and XR exchanged confused looks as the twins stood up. Artemis walked around the table and clung onto Booster's free arm as he stood up. He felt his face get hot again. "Come on, Booster. We're going to the pet store!" She was tugging a little bit and they both walked a little ahead. Booster couldn't believe it, he loved the pet store.

XR wheeled behind next to Apollo, who looked less than thrilled about the idea of going to a pet store. "So, how old is she again?" He asked.

Apollo let out a sigh before answering. "Twenty-eight."

"T-twenty-eight?! Either you're joking or that girl has a few lines of code missing from her programming if you catch my drift."

"I don't really understand how machines operate but I'm pretty sure of what you're implying, robot, and you'd better watch it."

So they made it to the pet store, where Artemis immediately walked to a cage in the back. Apollo and XR stood near the front of the store. "You know, I don't think I've actually seen a machine like you before. You're actually a fascinating robot."

"Look, mister, I don't really swing that way."

He rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean it like that. Like I said before, I don't know much about machines and I'd like to learn how to build them and how different ones operate. So I figure we could kill some time if you told me more about your technical specifications."

"Well I never pass up an opportunity to talk about myself to a fan." He grinned. "I'll let you know everything I can that isn't top secret."

Apollo reached into his jacket and pulled out a wad of cash, flipping through the bills idly. "...and if you know anything that is top secret?"

"Well I'm sure we can work something out." XR said, eying the money.

Artemis stood in front of a label that said "Poodle puppies." Inside the cage were what looked like small, miniature poodles of different colors. All of them were asleep. Booster stood next to her and looked down at them. "Aww, they're so cute."

"Aren't they?" She smiled. "I want one of the blue ones. I already have a name and everything." She looked over to the clerk. "Hey, can I feed them?"

"We're not supposed to let the customers feed those particular animals."

"Aw, come on, please? I promise I'll be careful."

The clerk thought about it, he didn't really want to feed them today. He shrugged and nodded, then walked to the back and got a bowl, then brought it to her. Booster looked at the bowl and was a little confused. "Uh, isn't that raw meat?"

"You bet it is." She grinned and waved a chunk over the cage. All the puppies woke up, and it looked like they were all grinning up at her...with rows of very sharp, pointy teeth. She tossed the meat in and they all jumped at it and started tearing it apart. She walked over and washed off her hands. The part of the label Artemis had been standing in front of was the word "Piranha"

"Ack!" Booster took a startled step backwards. "Those things are just as bad as Yukaris! You think they're cute but they're just a bunch of little monsters!"

"Piranha poodles don't eat metal, silly. They just eat meat." She waited until they were done eating and reached into the cage, picking up a blue one and cuddling it. "Isn't that right, Truffles? Who's a cute little puppy? You are, yes you are!" She cooed and set it down. She called out to the end of the store. "Apollo! Can I get one?"

She heard him yelling back "At ten thousand unibucks a pup, I think not!"

"Wow, expensive little fellas, aren't they?" Booster said.

"You're telling me." She replied and sighed as she put it down.

"Hey Artemis. Um, next week on Jo-Ad, that's where I live by the way, there's this thing..well actually the harvest is first, but then there's this festival and um...and, well...would you maybe want to go there, uh, with...um...with me?" He stumbled through his question. Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes.

[RedRage]

May 18, 2008 20:12:38 GMT -5 Eclipse'd said:

"Look, mister, I don't really swing that way."

OMAGOODNESS hahahaha, is that all he thinks about? XD

May 18, 2008 20:12:38 GMT -5 Eclipse'd said:

"So," He finally spoke up. "Is this your b...b..." Booster couldn't say it

It makes a lot of sense for Booster to think that was her boyfriend, nice.

[Eclipse'd]

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"SHE SAID YES!" Booster was practically dancing on the bridge of 42, causing the entire ship to bounce a little. "She said yes, she said yes, I can't believe she said yes!"

The rest of the crew held onto their seats until Booster calmed down a bit. With a big grin, he set his suitcase down next to his chair and took a seat. The ship was heading for Jo-Ad in order to drop him off for the harvest.

"That's great that you got a nice girl to go out with you. Just remember what I told you before about women." Buzz said as he glanced behind him at Booster. Suddenly the ship was quiet, and he saw that everyone was giving him a strange look. "Oh right...er, never mind."

"Yes, it's pretty obvious by now that Buzz is no relationship expert." XR rolled his eyes, but noticed Buzz glaring at him. "Well no offense, Captain. Anyways, Booster, if you need to know anything about girls, just ask me. I know tons about women, trust me, I've studied them extensively." He winked.

Mira narrowed her eyes. "Do you still consult that stupid 'Big book of guy things', XR? I think if Booster has any questions, he would probably get the best answers from..oh, I don't know...another girl?"

"Great, where are we going to find one?"

She glared at the robot. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."

He rolled over to her and smiled. "Aw, Mira. You know I'm just kidding. You know that I know that you are all woman."

She placed her hand on his chest cavity and pushed him back a little. "Boundaries, XR. Remember what I said about boundaries."

"Um, actually guys. I don't really need any advice right now. I think Artemis is really great. She likes chocolate and cute little animals, just like me." Booster beamed.

"Um, Booster. I'm pretty sure that nearly all girls like chocolate and cute animals." Mira replied.

"Anyways, the festival is five days from now. I know you have paperwork to fill out, Buzz, but can I ask you a favor? Artemis doesn't have her own ship yet, so she'll need a ride. She said she was going to take a cab, but I bet she's never been in a Star Cruiser before. Do you think you could drop her off, please?"

Buzz frowned a little. "Booster, I know you like her, but Star Command cruisers are not allowed to be used like taxis. I can't use this ship for personal reasons."

"But Buzz, can't you say it's like a bodyguard mission? To be honest, when I found out she lives on Tradeworld I was a little worried. That's no place for a girl like her. Could you maybe say that you're going to make sure she gets there safely?"

He sighed and nodded. It was a plausible reason for using the ship. "All right, all right."

"Yay!" Booster jumped up a little. "Thank you thank you thank you! You're the best, Buzz!" And with that, the ship landed on Jo-Ad, where Booster recieved a warm welcome from his family.

"Booster, aw just look at you! You're getting so thin! Come on, I made dinner, it's so wonderful to have you home." His mother gushed.

"All right! Bye guys!" Booster waved good-bye to his friends and went inside. It always felt great to go home.
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[Eclipse'd]

((Time for a little evil! ))

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The day had finally come. It was the day of the annual Bunzel Festival, the day Booster had been looking forward to all week. He had been up before sunrise and stayed out way after sunset, working hard to help his family bring in the crops. He loved working for Star Command and living his dream of being a Space Ranger, working alongside the one and only Buzz Lightyear, but sometimes he missed the good old days of spending time out on the farm with his family.

Meanwhile, Buzz was riding up a creaky old elevator in what was probably the nicest apartment on Tradeworld, and that of course wasn't saying much. He had just finished his report on the theft of the Andromeda Aquamarine, a jewel that was being housed at an orbiting museum near Rhizome's moon. He estimated it would have fetched about 15 grand on the black market, and the thief (or thieves) were never caught. It was a clean job and all the security cameras and bots were frozen solid. There were no fingerprints, and no evidence.

They would be brought to justice, though. Evil never wins. He thought to himself as the elevator doors opened and he walked down the long hallway. He made it to the apartment number Booster wrote down for him, and knocked on it lightly.

He could hear yelling from inside. "Gah! Not on my bookcase! Bad doggie, BAD DOG! Ow!" Suddenly, the door opened and he saw Apollo, with his shirt partially torn up and a blue piranha poodle hanging off his arm, growling and wagging its tail happily.

"Uh, did I get the right apartment number?" Buzz looked a little confused. "I'm looking for a Ms. Artemis.."

"Yeah, yeah. You're in the right place. You know, this is going to probably sound silly, but has anyone ever told you that you look like Buzz Lightyear?"

He smiled proudly. "That's because I am Buzz Lightyear." Apollo looked terrified and the door was promptly slammed shut. Buzz looked at the door suspiciously until he heard a voice from inside. "This place is such a mess! Let me just straighten a few things up, we didn't expect someone like you to be appearing here!"

He let out a little chuckle. "It's all right, no need to worry about me."

"Okay, I'm ready!" He heard a female voice that time. "Aw, look at my wittle Truffles. Come here, into the pen you go...good girl!"

The door opened again and Buzz saw Artemis smiling at him. She was wearing a long denim skirt, a white buttoned blouse, black boots, and a black cowboy hat, complete with white gloves. She was trying to pull off a cowgirl look this time. "Well well, Booster did send Buzz Lightyear himself to come and get me. I feel honored and impressed at the same time."

"Heh, well a young lady such as yourself shouldn't be wandering around unescorted on a crooked planet like this. Your apartment is dangerously close to Killerville, you know? So, shall we get going?"

She nodded and smiled. "You bet." As they walked down the hallway, she looked up at Buzz. "Excuse me, ranger Lightyear? Do you know if Booster has any allergies?"

"Uh..allergies? No, I'm not too sure about that. Why do you ask?" He said, looking back down at her.

"Well, I have this perfume, but I don't want to wear it if he's allergic to that sort of stuff." She reached into her purse and pulled out a small perfume spritzer. "Well, even if he's not, I've never gone out with someone from Jo-Ad before. I tried to pick a scent he might like. Care to take a whiff and tell me what you think?"

She spritzed out a small cloud and Buzz breathed it in. "Hmm, that is kind of nice..like fruit...." THUD. Buzz had slid down and hit the floor, unconscious.

She smiled and put the cap back on. "Works every time." Apollo opened the door and hurried over, kneeling down next to Buzz and lifting up his arm. He had a set of deep red gloves on. "You could have told me Lightyear was coming." He said as he flipped open the ranger's communicator.

"Well I forgot to mention it." She shrugged and smiled. "But he's here now, I only gave him a small dose, so he'll be up and around in about ten minutes. You'd better hurry."

"I know how to do my job, thank you." He muttered as he took the cap off of a small device that resembled a USB flash stick. He plugged the device into a small slot on the communicator and let it do its thing. He looked up at her and grinned. "Heh, this will copy over all the data that's been passed and transmitted through this communicator for the past couple of months. And this time it's Lightyear himself, the last ranger you targeted had nothing more than the code to get into the employee lounge. Zurg will pay though the nose to get this if some good info gets through. So, what story are we going to give him when he comes to?"

She took a few steps and opened the door to the janitorial closet. "I'll tell him this hit him in the face and knocked him out."

He nodded and lifted his arm before giving Buzz a decent punch in the face while he was out cold. Artemis let out a little gasp in surprise. "What was that for? We don't want to hurt the guy."

"You'll see in a minute...and it looked like fun." He unhooked the device from Buzz's communicator and shut it, then stood up and ran back to the room just as Buzz was coming to. Artemis knelt down next to him.

Buzz's eyes opened slowly and her face as the first thing he saw. "What...what happened?"

She looked like she was about to cry. "It's all my fault, ranger Lightyear! If I hadn't asked you my silly questions, you would have seen that door!"

"Door?" He looked over and saw the janitor's closet door partially open. "I guess it must have hit me, then?"

She nodded, and this time a tear actually slid down her cheek. She looked so guilty. "When it hit, you fell on the floor. I was just about to call out for help, but you woke up. It had only been about five minutes."

"So...that's why my face hurts." It made sense. He stood up and helped her up, smiling. He reached over and wiped the tear off her face. "There, there, missy. Accidents happen and I'm okay."

She smiled warmly. "Please don't tell Booster about this. When we talk on the phone, he always talks about you like his hero. If he finds out that you were knocked out and it was my fault...he'll probably hate me."

Buzz shook his head and chuckled. "Booster does not hate anyone. He's the nicest fella you'll ever meet. But I promise I won't tell, simply because having a door smack me in the face is kind of well...embarrassing for me too. Anyways, he's waiting for you so let's get you on over to Jo-Ad."

She giggled. "Yes, sir."
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[Alohilani]

"Booster, aw just look at you! You're getting so thin!"

I know Booster is probably a normal weight by Jo-Adian standards, or maybe he even is thin, but I still had to snort at that.

[Eclipse'd]

(( I know. It usually a mom thing, they always think their kids aren't eating enough ))

[Alohilani]

Heh, you should see my anorexic smoker grandma.



I have an unusual extended family.

[Eclipse'd]

((Yeah, my nurse aunt is a smoker too. Sorry about this one being a little long, I'm trying to wrap things up ))

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42 landed on Jo-Ad and Artemis was the first one to cheerfully skip out. She looked around and saw Booster in his typical casual clothes, only this time he wasn't covered in dirt from working all day.

She squeaked and waved one of her arms at him. "Hey, Booster!" She ran over to him and lept up to give him a hug. Her arms couldn't fit all the way around his neck, but that didn't seem to bother her.

"Uh, hey!" The hug was unexpected, but more than welcome. He smiled and hugged her back. "Wow, you look great."

She smiled up at him. "So do you." She waited a second before adding "Booster...Sweetie, you're kind of squishing me."

He immediately let her go and she landed on her feet, stretching a little. "I'm sorry!"

"Aw, it's okay. That's a really powerful grip, I bet you're really strong, huh?" She smiled and he shuffled his feet. "A little bit." He muttered.

"Oh, yeah." She looked at Booster and grinned. "Thanks for the ride, it was amazing! I never rode in a Star Cruiser before, it went really fast and spun around, it was great!"

"That's because she activated all the extra thrusters." Buzz stumbled out of the ship and held his head. "All right, Ms. Artemis...the next time you want to know what a button does, don't push it! Just please, for the love of all that is good, please ask."

"Well that wouldn't have been much fun." She giggled. "But thank you too, Mr. Lightyear!"

"Uh huh." Once he wasn't dizzy anymore, he waved off the two. "All right, you kids have fun now. Remember, Booster, first thing tomorrow we need you back at Star Command."

"Aye aye, sir!" He saluted and then turned to Artemis. "So, where do you want to go first?"

"Hmm." She looked around at the festival. It was actually rather large, with merchant tents, and carnival-style rides and food, as well as games with big stuffed prizes and an area in the center where music was playing. There were people from all over, not just Jo-Ad, enjoying the festival as well. "It looks like Capital Planet today, doesn't it?" She remarked. "I have an idea!" She took his hand and led him to the center of the festival where all the music was. "Wanna dance?"

"What? Who, me? No, no, I can't..." He looked down at the ground again. "..I can't dance." He admitted, a little embarrased.

"What are you talking about? Of course you can! You just listen to the music and start moving around. Look around, that's what pretty much everyone else is doing. Come on, please? It'll be fun, I promise."

"Well...okay. I'll try." He moved towards the crowd with her and tried to dance. His movements were stiff and awkward, and he looked at her practically flowing gracefully and he stopped and sighed. This is stupid, I can't do this..

Remembering an earlier phone conversation, Artemis decided to try something. "Hey Booster, will you tell me the story of how Buzz Lightyear saved the air-breathing Bathyosians from their underwater dome collapsing?"

"Oh I love that story! So there we were, me and Buzz, in the underwater-dome, investigating what was going on in the fusion crystal mines..." It wasn't before long that Booster was dancing very well with her. The soft ground absorbed most of the impact, but when him and a bunch of other Jo-Adians danced, the ground still shook a bit. Artemis timed her footing and managed to lift her feet when it happened, avoiding falling over.

"...and that's when Buzz swung across..." He took her hand and twirled her around. "...and melted the glass back before it could crack open!"

"See? You're a great dancer when you're not so busy worrying about it." She smiled and they both moved out of the way.

"Hey, I was dancing wasn't I? That was pretty fun, but sure took a lot out of me. That reminds me, the bunzelberry pie eating contest is going to start in just a little bit. It's my favorite event, you wanna go?"

"I'd love to go! I can be your cheerleader and everything!"

"Gee, I never had my own cheerleader before.." He blushed a little bit as they walked over there. There were three places at a table, and three towers, as big as small buildings, of pies. It would make sense, a Jo-Adian could easily eat about 20 in one sitting.

She looked up at it in awe. "Wow...that's the biggest pile of pies I've ever seen."

The contest was soon underway, and a crowd had gathered to watch. Booster was leading, and when it came down to the end, it was a contest between him and Buster. Artemis was hopping up and down in the front, yelling "Come on, Booster! You can do it!"

The last pie had been eaten, and it ended up being a tie. The two friends smiled at each other and struggled to get up. "I almost beat you this time, Booster."

"Yeah, you did a great job, Buster." Booster got cleaned up and went back to Artemis. She was grinning. "That was really cool! You sure packed those away like they were nothing!"

By the end of the day, Artemis was riding on Booster's shoulders, and a stuffed horse-like bird was on her shoulders that he had won for her. They found a nice, quiet place on a hill and sat down next to each other.

"This day was really fun. Now I know why I've missed those festivals so much." He said as he looked up at the stars.

She looked up as well. "I had a great time, too. You know, when I grew up, I didn't even know there were other planets to visit. I'm usually glad I left home, but places like this make me miss it."

He looked over at her again, wondering where in the galaxy she could have come from to not know about the other planets. But there was something else he couldn't shake. He wished he had Mira or XR to consult with right now, but there was only one person next to him.

"Hey, Artemis?"

"Yeah?"

"Um...this is kind of hard to say. When I first met you, I really liked you." He looked down at the grass, avoiding eye contact. "Like, really liked you. I mean, you're pretty and fun to be around and we get along great so...I'm confused."

She smiled warmly. "Cause you don't like me the way you thought you did?"

He nodded. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything, what if he made her mad?

She continued. "Today when we were hanging out, you were really comfortable around me. I bet I can guess how you felt, cause I think I'm good at things like that. Today, being with me felt like you were with Becky, or XR, am I right?"

He thought about it. She was right. She had the charm that he thought was so cute, it reminded him more of Becky than Petra. And he was really comfortable, like he could tell her almost anything, like XR. Then he realized that was it, and there wasn't any more to it, or anything extra. Oh gosh! He just wanted to be friends! But XR said that that's the most horrible thing he could say!

She noticed he was looking a little worried and kept talking. "It's okay if you just want to be friends, Booster." She stood up and walked in front of him, then leaned over, gave him a little kiss and smiled. "Nothing?"

He blushed again. "It was...really nice?" It was actually the nicest thing he ever felt, but again, it felt like something was missing, or off.

"Just checking."

"I'm really sorry." He frowned. "Are you mad at me?" He wasn't sure how she had felt about him.

"I think you're really a loveable guy. But to be honest, I couldn't feel any spark, either. I think that when you do find the right person, that person is going to be very lucky to have someone as caring as you."

She paused and sighed. "We can be friends if you want, Booster. I actually was surprised though, today. I didn't think that when I left here I would actually feel bad if we ever were in a battle."

He raised his eyebrow. "Why would we be in a battle?"

"Hopefully we never do, but all I can say is this, when it comes to me and having my fun, I don't exactly let rules and regulations get in the way." By now, the cab had arrived to take her home and she started walking towards it.

"I still don't really understand, but I'm glad you came with me today."

She nodded and smiled as she climbed in. "You've got my number if you need anything."

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