Futurama Madhouse

"Good news, everyone!" The professor's voice jolted everyone awake from another one of Hermes' lectures. "I've just completed my newest invention! Come and see!" Everyone groaned as they got up to go to the professor's "secret" laboratory. Everyone knew where it was, the only person it actually remained a secret to was the professor himself. When they finally arrived at the professor's lab, he couldn't seem to find it. "I know I put it somewhere," he muttered.

Leela pointed to what looked like a red helmet with a green and red button on the right side of it. It was sitting on the table in front of him. "Could this be it, Professor?"

The professor looked down to see his invention sitting there. "Ah, here it is! Everyone, I call this invention the "Mind Switcher Helmet" or the M.S.H. for short. It switches minds you know."

The professor looked comatose for a second and suddenly snapped awake. "You use the keypad to punch in whose mind you want to switch and then you push the button. Then presto, you've switched bodies."

"I originally made it to switch minds with the President and control the world!" He laughed maniacally for a few seconds. "Then I decided to enter it in the Crazy Asylum Inventors Contest on Aquaria. First prize is a life-time supply of salt. Once I win, I'll put the mind control chemicals I made last year in it and distribute throughout the globe." He then ran off, muttering other crazy plans for controlling the world and laughing maniacally.

The others shook their heads at the Professor's crazy plan. Fry looked at the M.S.H. with curiosity. "So, anyone want to try it out?" he asked. Everybody ran off, saying they had stuff to do. Leela stayed behind.

"Oh, forget about that silly thing. You'll be busy tonight, anyway since the kids are away for the night," she said seductively.

Fry thought hard for a minute. "No, I don't remember making any plans. I'm pretty sure I'll be bored." Leela threw up her hands in exasperation. It didn't matter much anyway, he'd get her drift tonight.

"Let's. . .go home," she said, dragging Fry with her. She quickly exited the building in hopes of getting home faster.

The Insane Asylum was abuzz with excitement about the contest, if you want call it that. Most of the time, they were drugged up and comatose. The ones that weren't were excited that they would get to see something from the outside. Among these patients was Karen Michaels, who was normally sane, but when it came to "making" true love, she was insane. Such was the case two years ago. She had tried to make the perfect mate out of an amnesiac Philip Fry, but had failed in her attempts because she hadn't counted on his friend Toronga Leela foiling her plans.

"Curse that Leela! If she hadn't interfered with my plans, I would be married to the perfect man and happy. Instead, I was stuck in a loony bin and forced to eat food that was made entirely out of salt. I swear I'll have my revenge on Toronga Leela!" Suddenly, she realized that she had screamed the last words out and everyone was staring at her. "Oops, sorry!" she quickly apologized. She decided to go watch the staff members set out the tables and inventions for the contest.

She gasped in wonder at all the inventions in the room. She walked around looking at all the strange devices. Then she saw something that intrigued her. She walked over to the helmet. "I think someone already invented a bicycle helmet." She said smugly. She was about to walk off when she saw the invention's full name on a big sign next to it. She read it aloud. "The Mind Switcher Helmet." She quickly grabbed the helmet and the instructions on how to use it off the table and snuck it to her room.

Later that night, Karen got up and took the helmet from her closet. She had already read the instructions for it. "This is perfect! Using this device, I'll swap bodies with Leela. Then I'll be married to Fry and Leela will be in her rightful place, a loony bin! All I have to do is punch in Leela's name and push this button and I'll be in bed next to Fry." She punched in Leela's name and put it on her head. Unfortunately, she forgot to fasten it, so it didn't stay on and fell to the floor. She picked it up and fastened it on. Then she pushed the button and all went black.

When she awoke the next morning, she noticed she wasn't in her cell anymore. She jumped for joy in her mind. Then she turned over to look at Fry and give him a good morning kiss. There was just one teensy, tiny problem. When she rolled over, she didn't see Fry. She saw the sleeping form of Leela. "Oh no, please don't be happening. Let this be a dream," she thought to herself. She got up and walked into the bathroom, looked into the mirror and screamed. The reflection that stared back at her was Fry's.

Leela rushed into the bathroom at hearing the scream. "What's wrong honey? Are you all right?" she asked.

Karen turned to face her. "Uh, nothing! Everything's fine!" she said in a panicked tone. It was also a mixture of shock. She sounded exactly like Fry!

"Oh, well that's understandable. Should I kiss it and make it all better?" she said in a sweet tone.

"Okay, I can make you feel all better tonight, anyway," she suggested in a sexy voice.

Karen quickly shut the door and began to barf in the toilet. "This is a disaster! What I am going to do? I don't want arouse suspicions by refusing, but that's not my cup of tea. I can't switch back without the helmet and that's with my body which. . .Fry. . .is. . .in! Ahhh!"

Fry awoke with a splitting headache. He felt something sitting on his head and removed it. How had he gotten the Professor's invention? Then he looked around the room and saw he was in a small room. He figured he'd better hide the helmet just in case. He heard footsteps approaching and the door was opened. "All right, Miss Michaels, time for breakfast!" a nurse said.

"Right, come with me Miss Michaels." The nurse led Fry down the hall and stopped in front of the women's restroom. "Do you need to use the restroom, Miss Michaels?"

"All right, Miss Michaels. It's time to stop playing around." She shoved Fry into the bathroom.

"Hmm, the men's room must be out of order." He walked into a stall to use the bathroom. It was only then he noticed that something important had disappeared. He panicked and ran to a mirror. The reflection of a woman stared back at him.

For the first time, he finally realized he had been speaking in a woman's voice. "This woman looks awfully familiar. Let's see, where did I meet her?" Then realization hit him. "That nurse called me Miss Michaels, as in Karen Michaels!" He wanted to scream, but thought it unwise since he was in a mental institution. He walked out of the restroom and was escorted down to breakfast. This consisted of salt eggs, salt bacon, and salt orange juice. While he didn't find it very appetizing, he figured it was better than nothing. While he ate, he kept thinking about what had transpired. "Karen must have used the M.S.H. to switch bodies with me. That means Leela may be in danger! Luckily, she's really smart and should be able to see the difference. Aw man, she's not going to like the fact that Leela and I have kids. That puts them in danger too! I've got to get back and stop her!"

Karen loaded the crates onto the Planet Express ship. "I can't believe this happened! I was supposed to switch bodies with Leela, not Fry. The helmet must have been broken in the fall. I also found out that they have two little brats that seem to know something's amiss. Wait a minute! Why am I complaining? I could just get rid of Leela and those brats. Then I could be with Fry in my own body." She laughed quietly to herself.

Leela was worried. Fry was acting quite strange, even for him. He had never refused a kiss before. The kids also seemed to notice something weird about their dad. "Maybe he had a bad night. He told me about recurring nightmares he'd been having. I'll try to cheer him up later," she thought to herself.

"Mommy, look what I got!" a childish voice called out. She turned around to see Brad, her youngest child of two years, rushing toward her. She smiled and opened her arms to catch him. He had one eye like his mother and orange hair like his father's. He opened his small hands to reveal a pair of glasses. "Mommy, Dave's being mean to me!"

"Give those back, you little bugger!" a more developed voice called out. This voice belonged to her adopted son, Dave. Although he was only 8 years old, he was proving himself to be an extraordinary intelligent child. Leela saw him trying to find his way to his glasses. He was not blood-related, but he shared a lot of Fry's physical traits. "Mother, Brad has stolen my glasses from me."

Leela grew mildly annoyed with their constant bickering. "All right, you two. Break it up! Brad, give Dave back his glasses and Dave, you be nicer to Brad."

They looked at each other and sighed. "Okay Mom," they said in unison. Brad handed Dave back his glasses and Dave promised not to tease Brad anymore.

"I'm going to visit him. I promise I won't get in the way." He ran off toward the loading dock. Dave always liked visiting with his dad. He would drop anything to spend time with him for a little bit. When he entered the room, Karen had just finished loading the last crate onto the ship. "Hi Dad! What up?"

Karen turned around and saw Dave heading toward her. "Great! Just what I need. A brat asking me tons of questions," she thought to herself. "I'm doing fine, uh Dave. How about you?"

"All things considered, I'm doing just fine. Are you done loading the boxes? If not, I can help."

"I'm going to make this trip with just Leela? What a perfect opportunity to follow through with my plan!" Karen laughed to herself again.

Fry was walked back to his cell by the same nurse. She had tried to give him some medication, but he refused. Once he was in his cell, he finally got a look around the room. It looked like a small hotel room with padded walls. There was no television though. As soon as he was left alone, he ran toward the closet and took out the helmet and instruction booklet. He sat down to read it and found the section he needed:

Hello, confused person. Right now you may be wondering how to get inside your correct body. The procedure requires both parties to be together and willing to switch. Then all you do is touch the person to switch. Keep in mind that if both parties are in the other's body after 48 hours, the switch will be permanent. Note: Only use this procedure if helmet does not work.

"I only have two days to find Karen and get my body back if the helmet doesn't work? I've definitely got to get out of here now." Fry grabbed the helmet and hit the return button. Nothing happened. "Why I am not surprised?" he muttered to himself. He decided he had better get some sleep since there wasn't much he could do now. He laid down on the bed and went to sleep.

"Miss Michaels, it's time for your socialization period." Fry looked up to see another nurse standing over him. He sighed as he got up. He was still not used to being a woman. He was walked down the hall to what can only be described as a waiting room with chains on the wall. He was chained down next to a guy with blond hair and blue eyes.

"People call me Fry, but now I seemed to be trapped inside the body of a woman and that woman's trapped inside my body."

"You know that sounds crazy, right? Stranger things have happened though. What's the woman's name?"

"Her name is Karen. She's a psycho who's out to create the perfect man. She met me when I had a case of amnesia. She convinced me I was someone else and had it not been for my friend Leela, I would have ended up marrying her. Then, in one last desperate attempt to keep me, she tried to kill Leela."

"Now that's what I call one crazy woman. So let me guess, she somehow found a way to switch bodies with you, right?"

Fry nodded. "I fear for Leela and my kids. They are in danger as long as she remains in my body."

Robert nodded solemnly. "I know where you're coming from. You're talking to the guy who dated her."

Fry looked up in amazement. "Why didn't you say something before if you knew her already?"

"Four years is a long time. I wanted to see if she'd remember me. However she doesn't appear to be the resident anymore."

"You're the guy who caused her that heartache that made her snap in the first place."

"She's still telling that dumb-ass story? Trust me, she was just as crazy before. That's why I dumped her in the first place. She kept trying to change me, but I refused to. She kept at it until I finally told her we were through. The next thing I know, these guys show up and threw me in here. It turns out Karen had told them I was mentally unstable."

"I knew, I just avoided her as much as I could. I didn't want anything to do with her."

"I just went to my parole hearing. It turns out I'm being released today. I could try to sneak you out as well so you can save your girl and kids."

"Sure, let's formulate a plan! We've got to act quickly." They fell into quiet discussions of escape.

"Come on Fry! We're on a tight schedule." Leela yelled. She sighed. They had one more planet to go to and they were running late. It was as if Fry had never delivered a package in his life.

"I'm hurrying. How was I supposed to know the red button on the dolly released the cargo?"

"You've done this hundreds of times! How could you not know what that button was?"

"That's another thing. Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? You haven't called me a rude name in over two years."

"I could think of a few ways to cheer me up that don't involve what you're suggesting." She thought to herself. "I don't know, today has been kind of exhausting. I think I'd just like to go sleep."

"Now, I'm convinced there's something wrong. I've never known him to refuse before. I won't say anything though, I don't want to upset him anymore than he already is." Leela thought to herself as she boarded the ship. They took off for their final delivery. Leela reached to turn on the radio and was just in time to hear an urgent news broadcast.

"This just in. The romantic psycho, Karen Michaels, has escaped from the Aquaria Insane Asylum. She was last seen with a recently released patient, Robert Scott. The authorities are offering an award for her capture. More updates to come."

Leela was shocked from this disturbing update. "Did you hear that Fry? She's probably going to come after you again. I've got to hide you until this dies down."

"Foolish woman! It's not me that needs protection from Karen. It's you who needs to be protected!" Leela turns around in time to see "Fry" holding a laser gun pointed at her.

Leela was shocked beyond belief. “What are you talking about Fry?” She was scared out of her wits. The man she loved was pointing a gun at her.

“Poor, clueless Leela. I thought you were supposed to be smart. Didn’t you know I had no feelings for you at all. I loved Karen and you helped send her away to a loony bin,” Karen retorted.

“You refuse to believe your own eyes, Leela? We’re miles away from any sign of civilization. There’s no one to help you now. Good-bye Leela!” She raised the gun and prepared to fire.

“NOOO!” a familiar voice screamed. A familiar shape ran toward them. It was Dave. He ran in front of his mother and raised his arms to protect her from harm. “Why are you doing this, Dad?”

“Listen to me, Fry. Karen seems to have some sort of hold on you. You don’t want to hurt us,” Leela pleaded.

By this time, Dave had inched closer to his maddened father. He suddenly snatched the gun from his hand. He then pointed it at Fry. “Please tell us what’s going on?”

“Never!” Karen pushed the button to open the pod ship room. She quickly jumped in one of the pods and took off. Dave tried to damage the ship before it took off, but to no avail.

Leela gritted her teeth. “I don’t know, but I’ll bet Karen does. Come on, we’re headed to Aquaria.”

“Well, I didn’t expect you to trip the alarm. Every guard, doctor and nurse must have been after us,” said Robert.

“I feel a flashback coming on.” The screen gets all wavy. “Hey, cut that out! I’m getting nauseated.”

Fry was sleeping in his bed when he was awaked by a hand shaking him awake. “Hey, Faren, ready to go?” Rob asked.

“Yep, I thought I told you not to call me that,” Fry said. Faren was a name Rob had come up with to tease Fry.

“Hey, I’m just trying to distinguish between you two. You’re Faren and Karen is Kary.”

“Are you going to stand here and argue all night or are you going to escape?”

“Good, get in the bag then.” He held out a bag that looked like a small carry-on bag.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m leaving it.” He started to walk out the door.

“All right, Faren, we’ll push our luck,” Robert sighed. He pushed past Fry to lead the way.

“Don’t call me that!” Fry yelled as he ran after him. They continued down the hall. There were several security systems that they had to be wary of. They would wait until they moved away to inch past them. There were also a few guards patrolling the area. They attacked two of them and began to switch clothes with them. Robert stopped Fry before he could start.

“Uh, Karen and I never got to that special time in our lives, so you might want to change somewhere else.”

What the heck are you talking about?” Then realization dawns on him. “Oh, I get you.” Fry steps behind a wall and changes. When he finishes and comes out. Robert looked stunned.

“Don’t call me that!” The rest of the way was pretty easy in disguise They were almost at the door when a loud siren was heard. Robert turned around to see Fry on the ground. He had tripped over an alarm. Fry innocently said, “Whoops!”

A loud speaker announced that a patient had escaped. They saw guards looking all over the facility They decided that it was time to make a hasty exit. They quietly tried to walk out the door. A loud voice called out, “There they are!” Upon hearing this, they burst out the door. Outside looked like an escape from prison. There were search lights, dogs, and shots being fired. Not to mention all the guards, doctors, and nurses that were after them. Fry looked back just once to see the nurses were armed with hypodermic needles.

“Come on, hurry,” Robert yelled. Fry ran to catch up with him and saw where they were headed. Just a few feet ahead of them was a transport ship. To get to it they would have to get past an electrical fence. They ran up to it, wondering how to get over it.

He looks in the direction of Robert’s pointed finger and saw a switch. It had the words: PULL THIS SWITCH TO SHUT OFF ELECTRIC FENCE.

“Nah, couldn’t be it.” Robert groaned and pulled the switch. The hum of the electricity died down. They then proceeded to climb it. Upon reaching the top, they dropped down to the other side and continued their mad dash towards the transport ship. They were met by a few guards that were on patrol in the ship. All seemed lost until Robert kicked the gun out of the nearest guard’s hands. He held it on them while Fry boarded the ship and then he quickly followed suit. The ship rose into the air and took off into space.

Leela and Dave had made it to Aquaria in record time. Leela stormed angrily into the office of the Insane Asylum. “I want to see the manager!” she almost shouted at the secretary.

“Sir, there is a woman out here requesting to speak with you.” A middle aged man came out of the adjoining room and extended his hand out to Leela to shake hands with her.

“Miss Michaels? Ah yes, strange woman. She began to claim that she was Mr. Fry a few days ago and absolutely refused to take her medication. Then she escaped with a recently released patient, Robert Scott. There is a handsome reward for their capture. We should have no trouble locating them.”

“I don’t care! I want to search her room!” She slammed the manager against the wall to get her point across: she was in no mood to play games.

“Okay, please follow me,” the manager said a rather timid voice. He led Leela and Dave down the hall and unlocked a door. He pointed them inside saying, “This is it.”

Leela tore into the tiny room and started to rip everything apart. She blasted the mattress with her hand gun and rummaged through the smoldering pile. Apparently not satisfied with the result of this search, she began to tear down the padded walls. Still unable to find anything suspicious, she turned her attention to the closet. Upon opening it, she found the Professor’s Mind Switcher Helmet sitting on the top shelf. She took it down and turned around to face the manager. “Did you know this was in here?” she asked. The manager shook his head. Leela clenched her teeth. She was mad! “She obviously planned on using it. I wonder why she didn’t? I’d better take it back to the Prof. for safekeeping.” She then spoke to the manager in a sweet tone. “Thank you.” She walked out the door, taking Dave with her.

“So let me get this straight. You don’t want to download a celebrity, you want to download someone we don’t have in our files?”

“Look it’s not that hard. All I want is a lean, mean killing machine in this image.” Karen took out a picture and showed it to the guy.

“Okay, I think we can do that. You’ll have to download the personality though.”

“No problem, no problem at all.” Karen laughs evilly. This sounds strange to her since it is in Fry’s tone.

“Let’s just say it’s payback. Can you download these fighting skills too?”

Fry moaned in pain and rubbed his forehead. “Ugh! Rob, I don’t feel really great.

“That’s strange. People rarely get headaches nowadays. They found a cure for them.”

“We can’t exactly waltz into a hospital, being the two most wanted fugitives in the universe.”

“Here. . .call this number. It’s Professor Farnsworth’s number. He might be able to help.”

“There’s just one little problem Faren. He’s gonna wanna cash in on our reward that is on our heads.”

“Okay, Mr. No Fun.” He dialed the number and hit the button that would block his face from the view screen.

“Yeah, this is going to sound strange, but some wacko woman stole your M.S.H. device and used it to switch places with your Uncle.”

“Oh my!” Is this true? That is very serious. The whole world could blow up!”

Fry turned and screamed, “No, he means the Mind Switcher Helmet not your doomsday devices. Turn on the screen, Rob.” In a second, a huge picture of the Prof. appeared.

The Professor looked worried. “Fry, you do know after 48 hours, the switch becomes permanent?”

The professor looked really scared now. “I knew I forgot to put something in that instruction manual.”

“When you switch bodies with some one of the opposite sex, the side effect is much more serious. If you and this woman are not in your respective bodies at the end of 48 hours, your memories will be completely erased. In your mind, you will have been born a woman with no memory of your previous self. The same fate will befall the woman.”

Leela looked sadly at him. “Honey, I know you do, but this woman is a sociopath and you could get hurt.”

“Oh all right,” Dave said in a defeated voice. He trudged off the ship and began to head in the direction of home. He looked back to see the ship leave the earth’s atmosphere. Then someone jumped out of the shadows and grabbed him. Dave didn’t even have time to scream as he was carried off into the night.

Leela was busy following the homing device that the manager had given her to find the ship. He had forgotten about it when the police were there and gave it to her at the offer of living. The beeping got louder, proving she was getting closer. After about an hour she finally saw it. She clenched her teeth and rammed into it. She then shot at it, blowing up the engines. The ship began to drift towards Earth.

“Uh, I hate to burst your bubble Fry, but you don’t exactly look like yourself.”

Fry and Rob were thrown against the wall by the force of the crash. Feeling like they had broken every bone in their body, they moaned in pain. They saw the door fly open and a VERY angry Leela step inside. She walked up to the woman she perceived as Karen and shoved her against the wall. “WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY HUSBAND!” she screamed.

“Nice try, the manager told me of your delusions.” She started punching him senseless. “Now tell me what you did to him!”

“Leela, remember that time on the Titanic? We pretended to be husband and wife so Zapp would leave you alone. There’s no way Karen could have known that because I wasn’t able to tell her because of my amnesia. Look into my eyes and tell me what you see.”

Leela stared coldly into Fry’s eyes expecting to see the cold hard eyes of Karen but she saw a warmth and love unknown to these eyes. She remembered looking in to “Fry’s” eyes and seeing a coldness to them that she had ignored. She cried for joy, throwing her arms around her husband’s temporary body. “How did this happen?” she asked.

“I believe I can answer that.” Leela turned around to face Kary. “I used the M.S.H. to try to switch places with you. Unfortunately, I ended up in Fry. I knew you’d go after “me” so I didn’t tell you who I was when I attacked you. I figured what better punishment than to almost kill your beloved?”

“Stop it Karen! This has gone far enough,” a familiar voice said. Karen turned around. “What do you intend to do about, Miss Wong?”

“We didn’t agree to this! You were just supposed to get dump Leela on another planet so I could have Fry.”

Amy turned towards Leela. “I’m sorry, I just wanted another chance with Fry. When I went away to college for my two year degree in engineering, I met Karen and promised to pay her price if you were gone when I got back. I didn’t know she was a sociopath and I didn’t want her to kill you. I had heard the news that Karen had escaped and rushed home to help in the search.”

“While this is all very touching, I’m afraid I have a plan to execute.” Karen snapped. “Miss Wong, did you really believe I would hold up my end of the bargain after I realized the opportunity Fry’s amnesia presented me? I knew I would have to rid myself of Leela permanently to have Fry. Such a pity you could have had a high position in the new order, but you’re too much of a goody-two-shoes to be of any use.”

“I’m talking about a society of females. A new generation that will be taught in my ways. Men will no longer be the dominant sex, they will be reduced to their rightful place as breeding stock. I have discovered a way to mass produce females and in a few years we will control the planet. Only the ones that are strong like me will survive. In another century, women will no longer have any use for men except for Snu-Snu. My dear Fry will be the first man to have all female children. The ways will switch. Men will have babies and women will do everything else!”

Karen bent down over Fry. “My dear Fry, when I’m done with you, you’ll do anything for me. You’d even kill Leela for me.”

Karen turned around “This time I’m ready for you.” She pulled out a gun and fired. Leela found herself immobilized. “I can see the headlines now, ALIEN DROWNED IN LAKE.” She threw a big sack over her and dragged out to the nearby lake and threw her in. Then she came back on board the ship. “Now I can reveal the little toy I brought at Nappster. Leela-bot, could you come here?”

In a few minutes, an exact copy of Leela came through the door. “What is your command?”

Karen smiled. “Isn’t she an incredible likeness? I’ve removed that annoying personality and made her completely loyal and obedient to me. She’s been programmed to respond to my voice only and she has been given training in defense that exceeds the original one’s. Needless to say, you can’t win Miss Wong.” She walked up to Fry, pulled out a needle, and injected it into him. Within seconds, he slumped to the ground. Karen picked him up and slung him over her shoulder. She began to walk off, turned and said, “Leela-bot, please destroy Miss Wong.” Then she left.

The robotic Leela edged towards Amy, a wicked smile on her face. “With pleasure!”

Leela-bot continued toward a terrified Amy. She knew she had no chance against the robotic warrior. She also knew that if she didn’t try, Leela would be doomed to a watery grave. She stood up and willed herself to move forward. Within seconds, they were squaring off, encircling each other, and studying their adversary carefully. Amy was amazed at how much the robot looked like Leela. She couldn’t hurt her friend. “No, this isn’t Leela, this is a kill-crazed robotic version of her bent on my destruction,” she thought to herself. Then, Leela-bot launched a stone cold punch that caught her off guard. She found herself knocked to the floor in seconds. She quickly maneuvered her body to avoid the kick of the robot’s leg. She quickly got up and assumed a fighting stance. Leela-bot again rushed at her with a curled back punch. This time Amy was ready as she caught the offending fist. Leela-bot proved abnormally strong she flipped Amy over with her captured arm. Turning quickly, the robot picked Amy up and flung her against the wall. Amy groaned in pain as she groggily opened her eyes. The force of the throw had caused her eyes to become unfocused. She looked ahead to see Leela-bot heading toward her. It now looked like there were three of them. The excruciating pain finally subsided as she began to fall into unconsciousness. The last thing she heard was the firing of a laser gun.

“Amy, wake up, come on, wake up,” a voice told her. It gradually began to introduce her into the world of pain again as she awoke. She slowly opened her eyes to see a man standing over her, watching intently. “Welcome back to the world of the living. My name is Robert Scott. You’ve taken quite a beating so you’ll be in quite a lot of pain.”

“Not too bad. There are a few bruises and cuts, but that’s it. You’ll have to try and shake off the pain, Leela’s running out of time and I heard Martians have a larger lung capacity than humans. You’ll probably have better luck at finding her than I did. Amy nodded and dove into the water. She saw a beautiful scene of a watery world, lit up by the moon. She looked around and saw something a little further down. As she approached it, she could see it was a large sack.

She grasped the bag and pulled with all her might, which sent her flying backwards because it was so light. She began to swim upward with her surprisingly light cargo. She was almost there when she felt a hand clamp around her leg. She looked down to see Leela-bot trying to pull her back into the water. She swung the bag with all her might and watched it sail out of the water. When it didn’t come back down, she went to work on trying to free her leg.

Rob had seen the bag fly out of the water and ran to catch it. When he didn’t think he’d make it, he slid and caught it. He opened the bag and dragged out its stiffened passenger. “Come on Leela, wake up.” Upon hearing no response, he began to shake her. “I hope you’ll forgive me.” He slapped her across the face, an action which quickly found him floored.

Leela dove into the water and Rob could hear signs of a struggle going on. Within minutes, Leela emerged from the water carrying an unconscious, dripping wet Amy. She laid her on the ground and felt for a pulse. Upon finding none, she began CPR. “Come Amy, don’t die on me!” After several attempts, Amy awoke coughing her head off. Leela gave her a joyous hug. Then she turned to face Robert “What’s going on? Why is there a robotic version of me lying dead in the lake?”

“Well, you were frozen in place by Karen’s ray gun. After tossing you in the lake, she came back and unleashed a robotic assassin in your image on Amy. I managed to pull myself from the rubble your attack on the ship caused in time to save her. I’m confused though because I pretty much obliterated that thing with my ray gun. How did it attack you in the lake?”

“It must have regenerative capabilities,” Leela observed, “we’d better get out of here before it pulls itself together again.”

They ran down the street, trying to figure out where Karen might have taken Fry. “She said something about Fry doing whatever she wanted,” Amy mused, “Maybe she’s taken him to Planet Express!” They had landed close by, so it wasn’t that far. They burst into the secret lab only to find no one there. They searched the lab looking for clues when Amy gasped. “The professor’s mind-control chemicals are gone!”

Fry awoke with a start to find himself strapped to a chair. He looked down at himself and saw his body. He was back! “Well, sleeping handsome is finally awake!” Karen said sweetly.

“How did I get back in my body?” Fry asked. “I made the switch, but not before tying your body to the chair. You’ll have to be in your body for this to work. It was just too weird the other way around.”

“I’m going to use the good Professor’s mind control chemicals on you so you’ll do whatever I say.”

“The Professor’s inventions almost never work. How do you know this will?”

“Rob was there? He must have been buried under the debris. As for Leela, she’s probably sitting at the bottom of the lake, and my robotic assassin has most likely destroyed Miss Wong. I’d say you’re out of friends.”

“Ah, but they are! There’s no one to stop me now! Now wait here while I go get the chemicals. Don’t go anywhere,” she said as she left the room. Fry began to sob over the loss of his two friends and his beloved wife.

Leela, Rob, and Amy were all sitting on the floor trying to figure out what to do next. Leela spoke up. “This is stupid, every minute grows closer and closer to losing Fry forever and we’re just sitting here. If they’re not here, they’re probably someplace Karen feels comfortable.”

“Amy! You’re a genius! They’re probably at her house. Does anyone know where she lives?”

“I do! Come on, I’ll lead the way,” Rob replied. They ran outside and started to head to her house. “She used to bring me to her place all the time when we were going out.” Suddenly, Leela-bot zoomed in front of them.

“I have been ordered to destroy Amy Wong. I will not fail in my mission. You should know I am programmed to take any extremes deemed necessary to destroy my target. This means I will kill you if Miss Wong is not handed over.”

“Well then, you’ll have to take me on,” Leela declared. She assumed a fighting stance.

“Very well then. Prepare for obliteration.” Leela-bot assumed the same stance. Leela ran at her opponent and leaped in the air with a flying kick. Her foot hit metal, causing extreme displeasure for her. Leela-bot didn’t even appear fazed. Leela quickly got up from the ground and tried again only to be knocked into a streetlight. Leela-bot walked over to the fazed Leela, grabbed her by the neck, and raised her above its head.

“Your proposal has been found acceptable.” She tossed Leela towards Rob, which caused him to fall. “Please come with me and I’ll begin my annihilation process.”

“Amy, what are you doing? That thing will kill you,” Leela said choking for breath.

“Leela, listen. Unless I give up, that thing will kill you. Someone has to save Fry and I’d rather it be you. Now go!” She reluctantly followed Leela-bot into the shadows. Robert grabbed Leela and ran. They stopped at least a block away. Suddenly, a soul piercing scream broke through the air. Leela sank to the ground and wept.

Rob looked on sympathetically. “It was her choice. She decided someone had to save Fry and she knew that could never be accomplished with a kill-crazed robot on our hands.”

“You’re right! We have to make sure Amy’s death is not in vain. We’re off to Karen’s house.” They head off in that direction once again.

Brad was still sitting in bed waiting for a bed-time story. He suddenly noticed an open window. “I bring story to Mommy!” He climbed out the window and toddled down the street calling for mom.

“So Fry, are you interested in how the new order will come about?” Karen asked.

“You think I’m joking? Feast your eyes on this!” She pushed a button in the wall to reveal a hidden compartment filled with syringes holding some blue substance. “I call this Pregno Helper!” What do you think of this slogan? We provide the fixings, you supply the oven. This little chemical will induce the needed reactions to start a pregnancy in a man. It is also laced with the X chromosome that is needed to produce females.” She walked over, picked up a syringe, and walked back to Fry. “You, Fry, are going to be the first pregnant man!”

“Ah, Miss Leela, I see you survived your watery grave. Rob, what a surprise! I can’t say it’s a pleasure to see you again.”

“I see Miss Wong isn’t with you. Did she meet with an unfortunate accident?”

Karen stepped aside. “Now Miss Leela, I think you’ll find hurting me will condemn your son Dave to death.” She clapped her hands and Dave appeared.

“Dave?” She stopped her assault on Karen and ran to her adopted son. “Honey, are you all right?” Dave doesn’t respond. “Honey, what’s wrong?”

“Here let me try,” Karen said. “Dave, say I’ve never felt better mother.”

“I’ve…never…felt…better…mother,” the child repeated in an almost robot-like voice.

“Why, I’ve done nothing, but you may want to hear the kid out. Dave, who is your mother?”

“Mother wants you to take the baseball bat and protect her from this mean lady who’s trying to hurt your mother.”

“Yes…mother.” He picked up the nearby baseball bat and started swinging at Leela. Leela kept backing away, right into a wall. She put up her hands to shield herself.

Everybody stopped to see Brad holding his book. Dave answered his question in his robotic voice. “This lady is trying to hurt Mother and she has instructed me to stop her.”

“That’s Mommy, right there,” Brad says pointing to Leela. “Remember the stories she used to tell us and our snack of milk and cookies afterwards.”

“Uh huh, and she’d give us huggies and kissies,” Brad said in a matter of fact voice.

Dave shook his head. “Ugh, where am I? The last thing I remember is walking home.” Leela threw her arms around her son and started weeping. Fry was sniffling too.

“How touching,” droned Karen, “the whole family back together. Pity it won’t be for long.” She clapped her hands and Leela-bot entered.

Karen was taken aback. “It’s trained to respond to Fry’s voice,” she whispered to herself. She took out a needle filled with an orange substance and injected it into Fry. She waited a few minutes then said, “Fry, tell Leela-bot to attack your family!”

“Affirmative.” She picked up Brad and threw him across the room. Leela and Dave rushed to his aid. His head had banged against the wall, rendering him unconscious.

Karen freed Fry from his restraints. “Now, my dear Fry, kiss me to commemorate the imminent destruction of your family.”

Fry grabbed her arm and flung her into the chair. “I think not!” He took the rope and used it to secure Karen to the chair. Then he turned and said, “Leela-bot stop assault on my family.”

“Affirmative, standing down.” Fry ran over to check Brad. When he felt no pulse, he put his hand on Brad and worked his magic. Within a few minutes, Brad opened his eyes to look at his father.

“Don’t make me puke,” Karen sneered. Why didn’t the mind control chemical work on you?”

Fry picked up a nearby bottle and read the warning label. “Works on the delta brainwave. I don’t emit that brainwave. That’s why it didn’t work. I pretended to go along with it so you’d free me.”

“He sure is,” Leela said. She drew him into a long, passionate kiss. The boys looked on with amusement and giggled. Leela broke the kiss. “Why don’t we go home?”

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that,” a mysterious voice behind them said. They turned around to face Amy. “It doesn’t fit in with my fan’s plans.”

Leela looked at Amy in amazement. “You’re alive, but how?” she managed to stutter.

“The Leela-bot was programmed to pretend to destroy me so I could win your trust. Karen and I are both working to ensure that the desire of a big fan is met. You see, this fan comes from a world where our life is a TV series. It is this fan’s fondest wish to see me and Fry get together. The whole thing was his plan, right down to the bus that caused Fry’s amnesia. Karen was supposed break you and Fry up so I could have a chance. Unfortunately someone from his dimension found his plan and decided to thwart it. He never found that person and was forced to conceive another plan. That’s where this whole adventure comes into play.”

“Wait a minute! Are you saying our lives can be controlled by an outside force?” Fry asked.

“Yes, it was really brilliant, wasn’t it? I could have had you and we would have had many adventures, all thanks to this one fan.”

“This whole thing with Karen was nothing more than an attempt to get with me?”

“That’s right. The plan was that Karen would dump Leela on another planet. Then I’d step in and stop the nutso and win your heart. It would have succeeded too if it hadn’t been for that nosy L/F romantic who exposed the plot on the net.”

“Oh, so it’s my fault, huh? Who was the one that came out of hiding too early?”

“The boss said you weren’t following the plan. If you’ll remember you weren’t supposed to try to kill Leela, just dump her on another planet. Also, your job ended two years ago. You weren’t supposed to escape. The boss was working on another plan.”

“Oh so I was just supposed to rot in the loony bin, hmm? There was no way that was going to happen.”

“Ah, excuse me?,” Rob interrupted, “but what am I doing here? I certainly don’t seem important.”

“Wait a minute!” Leela said. “If Karen wasn’t supposed to escape, who made it happen?”

“Leela-bot, restrain Amy please,” Fry commanded. Leela-bot quickly grabbed a hold of a screaming Amy. Fry retrieved a syringe and walked over to Amy to inject it. “This will calm you down.” Upon saying that, he injected the chemical into Amy. She went limp within seconds. “Now Amy listen to me. You will not remember any of this. In your mind, you will have returned from school to continue your PE job as a technician. You will date other people until you find the right one. Do you understand?”

“Then you are no longer subject to the chemicals and will wake up.” Amy’s eyes fluttered open.

“Stay away from me with that thing!” She screamed. It was too late, he’d already injected it into her.

“Karen, listen to me. I want you to forget about all this. Forget your dreams of creating a new order thingy. Go back to being a nurse and help people. Do you understand?”

“Then wake up, free of the chemical’s control.” Karen’s eyes fluttered open. She looked at her watch.

“Oh dear! I have to be back at work tomorrow. If you complete strangers will excuse me. I must be getting to bed. I’m sure you can see your way out.” Then she walked upstairs. Fry looked at his family and smiled. He picked Brad up and put him on his shoulders.

“I do! I do!” answered Brad. Leela smiled at the father and son bonding moment. Then she noticed a piece of paper on the floor. She walked over and picked it up.

Dear Kryten:

I’m writing this in case I don’t succeed. I tried my best. I’m sorry

All the best
Amy Wong

“I wonder if this Kryten person was that fan she was talking about. I sure hope we’ve seen the last of this Kryten person” Fry shrugged and nodded his agreement.

A shadowy figure stares at his computer screen. “We shall see Miss Leela, we shall see.

The usual disclaimer that I don’t own the Futurama characters. They belong to Fox, the Curiosity Company and Matt Groening. My thanks to Kryten for inspiring me (You really are EVIL! LOL!) Also I’d like to thank Bumblebee Theta for her support. One more thing, if you’d like me to write a third and final chapter, let me know.

Futurama