Penny's heart sank as she listened to her teacher describe their next class project. Every student in the class was to create a family tree poster, going back three generations. She could understand the idea behind this assignment; it was intended to give the students an awareness of their family's history, and therefore, to study how historical events had directly affected their families. It was a way to make history less dry and more personal. However, in the case of Penny, whose parents had been killed by MAD six years ago, it brought up painful memories that she preferred to leave in the past. Penny thought to herself, 'Besides, I'm 12 years old now; this project is really for elementary school.'

At the end of class, Penny's teacher asked her to stay a moment. Penny usually liked and respected this lady teacher, but couldn't help but feel some resentment at this assignment. "Penny, I noticed your long face as I was describing the assignment. Does this assignment bother you in some way?" Penny nodded. "Yes, Mrs. Ross, it does. There are some things in my past that I would rather not dwell on, and certainly not share with the whole class." Mrs. Ross, unaware of what had happened to Penny's parents, gently pressed her for more details. Penny wondered for a moment how much she should share, then decided to just let it all out. "Just after my 7th birthday, my parents were killed. Violently. This is why I live with my Uncle now." Mrs. Ross was horrified. She had often wondered why Penny had her Uncle as her legal guardian, and now she could see how insensitive this assignment was to poor Penny. "Oh my dear, I had no idea! Of course, I will think of another assignment for you. I'll let you know before the end of the week." She smiled and put her hand on Penny's shoulder. She didn't mind the extra effort of thinking up an alternative assignment, since Penny was her brightest and most obedient student. She was the type of student that every teacher prays they will get.

Penny had missed the bus, which didn't bother her, because she was feeling quite down and depressed. She trudged home in the snow, with her backpack on, and her hands thrust into the pockets of her pink winter coat. As she glanced around at the blocks of homes passing by, the various Christmas decorations caught her eye. This triggered memories of helping her mother and father decorate their tree near the window of their house. Then she went outside and proudly watched as her father hung lights along their home's gutters and around the windows. Penny was surprised at the intensity of the rush of distant memories kicked loose by this assignment at school. She continued her trudging down the snowy sidewalk, and since she was preoccupied looking at the Christmas decorations, she stepped into a slushy puddle, and got ice cold water in her boot. She sighed. "Oh, crums…"

Penny arrived at home, and opened the door. Uncle Gadget had not yet returned from work, but her best friend Brain was there to happily greet her. He immediately noticed her sad face. He waited while she took off her winter hat and coat, and put them away in her bedroom. She also took off her boots and put on dry socks. When she returned downstairs, she still looked sad. Brain held up his hands as if to say, 'what's wrong?' Penny looked at him and sighed. "Oh, Brain…" She led him over to the couch. Brain was her very best friend, and even though he couldn't talk without the aid of the translator collar that Penny made for him, Penny knew that he could fully understand every word she said, and always tried his best to help her. Penny described what had happened in school, with the family tree assignment, and how it had made her feel. "Part of me feels silly for getting this upset, Brain; Mrs. Ross already agreed to give me another assignment, but… this time of year… so many reminders of how much I loved Christmas with my parents…" Brain nodded sympathetically. He didn't know what to do. Usually, it was Penny who was the cheerful light of the house; what was there to do when she felt depressed? Brain did the only thing he could think of; he lay his head on Penny's shoulder, inviting her to hug him. This usually worked like a charm, but this time, all he got was a half-hearted and very brief hug, then Penny released him and stared into the fireplace, her face still sad-looking.

At that moment, they both heard a loud crash from the garage. Uncle Gadget had misjudged the distance, and crushed the garbage can with the car again. Brain thought to himself, 'Maybe her Uncle can cheer her up.' The door from the kitchen to the garage swung open, and Uncle Gadget walked in. "Hello, Penny; how was school today?" Penny merely shrugged her shoulders and said it was fine. Uncle Gadget could tell something was wrong. He walked over and sat next to Penny on the couch. "Penny, what's the matter?" Penny had already vented the whole story to Brain, and didn't feel like going through it again. She just said, "Oh, nothing, Uncle Gadget; I just had a bad day at school, but it's fine." Uncle Gadget didn't push her, but said that if she wanted to talk about it, he's always ready to listen.

After dinner, Penny went up to her room, and from under her bed, pulled out a photo album that she rarely touched. It held the few photos she had left from her old life at her parent's home, before they were murdered by MAD. She looked at the faces of her parents, Mark and Mary Brown. There were some photos of Penny, both as a baby, and later on when she was a toddler. Her sorrow threatened to overwhelm her. Why did her parents have to die? She remembered wondering this over and over, when she had first started living with her Uncle. Now, this one school assignment had triggered a whole flashback to those years.

The door to Penny's bedroom creaked open as Brain walked in. He hopped up on Penny's bed to see what she was doing. She didn't greet him. Brain saw that she was moping over photos of her dead parents, and resolved to try to cheer her up. He nudged her elbow with his red nose, wagging his tail. This didn't work. Penny sighed with mild irritation, and turned to Brain. "Brain, I'm sorry, but I'd just like to be alone for a little while, ok?" Without a sound, Brain hopped off the bed and left her bedroom. Penny saw his drooping ears and sad expression, and part of her felt awful, but the rest was too consumed with self-pity to realize how badly she had just hurt her best friend.

That night, when she finally fell asleep, Penny saw in a dream the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She was dressed all in the purest white robe; so pure white that it glowed. The woman had flowing golden hair, and the most beautiful smile. "Hello, Penny! I'm your guardian angel." Penny was fully aware that she was dreaming, but still, this woman's voice was entirely real. The woman continued. "I've been watching over you, Penny, and I see you've been very sad lately, haven't you?" Penny nodded. "I miss my parents! Why did they have to die?" The angel nodded sympathetically. "It's only natural to miss loved ones who have gone before us; however, everything happens for a reason, Penny." This didn't satisfy Penny. "I still don't understand." The angel said, "Rather than just explain, I think it would be better to show you. Penny, when you wake up, you will be living as if your parents had never been killed by evil forces. Take a look around this world, see if it is better than the one you know. If you want to speak to me again, just pray for me." The angel reached out and passed her hand over Penny's head.

"Penny Brown, get your sleepy behind out of bed! You're going to be late for school!" Penny's eyes flew open, as she recognized the voice of her mother, Mary. Still in her nightgown, she leaped out of bed and ran to her mother in the kitchen, and hugged her. "Oh! Dammit, Penny, you almost made me spill the juice! Why aren't you dressed yet?" Not quite the reaction that Penny had often dreamed about, but she was so happy, it didn't matter. She then heard a man's voice behind her ask the same question. "Why aren't you dressed for school, young lady?" Penny turned, and there was her father, Mark. She leaped over and hugged him, too. Mark looked at Mary. "What's with her this morning?" "I don't know, but she seems very happy to see us, all of a sudden. What could she possibly want now?" Mark reached down, pried Penny loose from her hug, and sternly told her to go get dressed for school. As she started down the hall to her room, she heard a door open, and her mother called out, "Melissa! Time for breakfast!" Penny saw a 5 year old girl sleepily stumble out. Penny gasped. "My little sister… Melissa?" In Penny's timeline, her younger sister had never been born. Mary was still pregnant with her when MAD killed Penny's parents. The young girl barely glanced at Penny, who reached down and scooped her up in a hug. Unfortunately, Melissa was still cranky, having just woken up, and squealed in outrage. Mark hollered down the hall, "Penny! Stop teasing your sister, and get dressed for school!" She could hear the patience fading rapidly from his voice.

When Penny had finally dressed and joined the family for breakfast, her euphoria had worn off, and she really had a good look at her parents. They were much different than she remembered. Mary was at least 40 pounds heavier, and appeared to have aged 20 years, instead of only 6. Mark was very stressed, almost angrily reading the morning newspaper, wolfing down his breakfast, checking his watch, and barking out orders to Penny and Melissa. He, too, appeared far older than the actual 6 years since Penny had last seen him. After a few minutes of this, Mary looked out the window. "Penny, your bus is coming. Get your backpack. I'll see you this afternoon." No kiss or hug goodbye. Penny started to give her mother a hug, and was impatiently brushed off. "Penny, enough! Go! Don't miss the bus!" Mark lowered his newspaper and glared at Penny. Somewhat taken aback, Penny hoisted up her backpack, and walked outside to meet the school bus.

Penny watched out the window of the school bus, recognizing all the streets of her old neighborhood. When her Uncle had adopted Penny and taken her to live with him in Metro City, she had never returned to this town. She was fascinated to see all the old sights. However, when the bus turned into the school parking lot, Penny's fascination turned to horror as her eyes caught something. At the top of the flagpole, instead of the familiar red, white and blue, there fluttered a flag with the MAD logo. Was this a joke? Penny stumbled off the bus in shock. She slowly entered the school. Fortunately, her folder contained a copy of her schedule, so she knew which room to go to. Her horror increased as she entered her classroom. Above the teacher's desk was another MAD flag, and there above the chalkboard, in an ornate frame, was a photo of Dr. Claw. The inscription beneath read: THE LEADER. The class came to order, and the teacher ordered all the students to stand up. Instead of reciting the pledge of allegiance, everyone stood up, raised out their right hand, and said together in one voice: "Long live The Leader, and long live MAD. In The Leader we trust; in MAD we trust. Hail MAD, and Hail Dr. Claw." Penny was too shocked to extend her hand, but fortunately for her, no one was looking at her.

The teacher then started to call out names. "Russell, have you started your report on how The Leader saved the world from starvation with his giant vegetables?" "Yes, Mrs. Adams." The teacher nodded in satisfaction, then called on another student. "Pete, how is your report going on the tremendous drop in crime since MAD took over?" "I'm almost done, Mrs. Adams." The teacher then looked at Penny. "Penny, how about your report on the overthrow of the corrupt government of the old United States?" "Umm.. I haven't started it, Mrs. Adams." The teacher scowled as the other students giggled. "I'm surprised at you, Penny. Usually you are one of the top students. Go to the library and get started. You'll miss today's lesson, so you'll have to catch up on your own."

Penny walked into the library, and scowled at the massive MAD flag above the desk. How could this have happened? She pulled a book titled 'The History of MAD' off the shelf, and started reading. It had started exactly six years ago. The book said that Dr. Claw had liberated a large amount of gold from a vault that belonged to the corrupt government in Metro City. Penny gasped. That was their first mission against MAD! Penny muttered to herself, 'But, we stopped that! Brain and I, and Uncle Gadget…' The haul from that stolen gold had given MAD the financial strength that they needed to really get going. MAD expanded in leaps and bounds, gaining strength, buying elections, taking over unions, buying officials and politicians, until finally, MAD had overthrown the government of the United States, and Dr. Claw was the unquestioned Leader. There was no opposition party any longer. There was no Left Wing or Right Wing, there was only MAD. Of course, the textbook put the best possible spin on this; 'Now, there is no longer any political chaos! No more behind-the-scenes buying and selling favors from wealthy lobbyists, at the expense of the people! There is now just one clear direction, and total unity, guided by The Leader, Dr. Claw!'

Penny walked over to a computer. She logged in as a guest user, and inquired about a Metro City police chief. The report came back in seconds. Penny read it to herself. "Quimby, James. Former Metro City Chief of Police. Guilty of high treason against MAD. Sent to a MAD re-education camp." She then gasped. "Killed while trying to escape?! Oh, poor Chief Quimby!" She sorrowfully remembered that he had always been kind to her and Brain, and a close friend of the family. In the name field, Penny typed in 'Gadget.' No results found. She then muttered, "What about Brain?" She looked up the Metro City Animal Shelter, and hacked into their archives. She went back to six years ago, and looked at the dogs. The records showed a photo of each dog, and a few facts about them, and then, their fate. Either 'adopted' or 'euthanized.' She scrolled down the list of dogs, and then, one photo seemed to leap out at her. It was Brain! She could recognize him anywhere. The description read, 'Male, mixed breed, six months old. Orange/yellow fur, ears with white tips, red nose.' She then let her eyes go over to the right, to learn his fate. "Euthanized." Penny gasped, "Oh, no, Brain! No! My poor little friend…" The tears started to roll out. She buried her face in her arms on the desk. She remembered, in her timeline, when she and her Uncle had rescued Brain from the shelter, the volunteer had told them that they had adopted him just in the nick of time, because the next day, the shelter would have had to put him to sleep, due to lack of space, and the amount of new animals constantly coming in. Now, all she could think about was: in this timeline, Brain never knew any happiness. He had escaped from being born into a MAD experiment, lived on the streets, been picked up and dumped into an animal shelter, and then put to sleep. No meeting Penny, no adventures, no playing, no good times. It broke Penny's heart. She even visualized the volunteers at the shelter, reaching in and clipping a leash to Brain's collar, leading him into the back, placing him on a cold metal table, and giving him a lethal injection. Then, his body would have been placed into a crematory oven, and her dearest friend on Earth would have been reduced to a small pile of ashes.

Penny didn't want to draw too much attention to herself, so she forced her tears to be silent. She looked up, took a shaky, deep breath, and wiped her eyes. Then, the photo of Brain on the screen stared back at her. He looked sad and scared for his animal shelter 'mug shot.' This photo's expression broke her heart all over again. If only someone had adopted him! She would have been happy for him if he had been living with another family, but, that was not to be. She printed Brain's profile, pulled the sheet off the printer next to her, folded it up, and put it in her coat pocket.

Penny dried her eyes, and typed in one last name; John Brown. A listing popped up. Her Uncle was alive! He was living in Metro City. She recognized the address. It was the one bedroom apartment he had been renting when Penny had first lived with him. There was very limited information on him on this computer. She wrote down the address. After she logged off the computer and was leaving the library, she glared with hatred at the huge MAD flag above the library desk. It was enormous, and it seemed to be laughing at her.

That afternoon, Penny stepped off the bus near her house. She resolved to try harder to reconnect with her parents. Maybe they both were just having a bad morning? She walked in the front door, and her mother was sitting on the couch on the phone, furiously scribbling on a notepad. She barely glanced up as Penny entered. "Hello, mother—" "SSHHH!" Mary immediately shushed Penny, who noticed that her mother's notepad had a long list of names, addresses, and phone numbers. When Mary hung up, Penny asked her what this list was for. Mary hesitated, then said that she and Mark were assisting an organization to fight some of the wrongs that were happening. She then made Penny promise never to breathe a word of this to anyone. Penny promised that she would not. The phone rang again, Mary answered it, and went back to scribbling on her notepad. Penny then went to her room, and saw her little sister, Melissa, had made a huge mess. She had pulled all of Penny's clothes out of their dresser drawers, and now, she was sitting on Penny's bed, laughing. "Penny's clothes are all messy now!" Penny growled to herself. After the tragic news she had uncovered today, she was NOT in the mood for this. She shooed Melissa out of her bedroom, and shut the door.

Approximately 45 minutes later, when Penny had finally gotten all of her clothes straightened out, she heard her father calling for her. "Penny? Come here!" She had not heard him return home. She went out to the living room. Her father was standing there, holding the day's mail. He held it out right in front of Penny's face and demanded, "What is the meaning of this?" It was Penny's report card. Straight A's, except for one B-minus. It was in physical education. Mary stood next to her husband, looking at Penny with disappointment. Mark pointed his finger at Penny. "You aren't in elementary school anymore, Penny. The grades you get now, will determine what classes you can take in high school. The classes you take in high school, will determine whether or not you have any shot of getting into an ivy league university. Or, maybe you want to end up as nothing more than a security guard on the graveyard shift, like your uncle?" This shocked Penny, but she kept her mouth shut. Her father snatched the report card back, and shook his head. "So, you need more physical education? I think you'll spend your Saturday tomorrow shoveling snow out of the driveway, for starters, and then I'm sure we can find something else for you to do." Penny, however, had other ideas.

The next morning was Saturday, and Penny woke before the sun. She quietly bundled up against the cold, and slipped out the front door, taking care not to let it slam behind her. Then, she crunched her way through the snow in the cold darkness to the bus stop. She walked up to a bus headed to Metro City. She deployed her 'cute little girl' eyes at the ticket agent, saying her mother was in the bathroom, but she needn't have bothered. The bored ticket agent wordlessly motioned for her to board the bus. As she sat on the bus, waiting for it to depart, she angrily noticed MAD flags everywhere. The video monitors in the seatbacks were playing news broadcasts. Penny put on a pair of headphones to listen. As it turned out, what was supposed to be a news broadcast was really MAD propaganda. The 'news anchors' talked about how wondrous The Leader, Dr. Claw, was; about how he had eliminated hunger and almost completely eliminated crime in what had been the United States, and about how he had nearly completely eliminated unemployment by building up the military so that MAD would 'be able to repel unprovoked aggression from both Canada and Mexico.' Penny quietly gasped. She was only 12, but she was a genius, and she was able to read between the lines. Dr. Claw was preparing to invade Canada and Mexico, and then, no doubt, all of Latin and South America. She had no doubt that in the end, he wanted to rule the entire world. The Third World War was about to begin. And, any who opposed him would find themselves in a MAD re-education camp, as Chief Quimby had.

The news broadcast then showed Dr. Claw, standing on a platform, reviewing a military parade. Row after row of MAD agents marched past him, military marching music played, and the adoring crowd chanted 'Hail MAD!' over and over. Occasionally, Dr. Claw would extend his right hand in salute of his loyal MAD agents. MAD flags fluttered everywhere. The image changed to another scene, a nighttime scene. Rows of MAD agents, each one holding a flaming torch, marched past the camera in endless columns, while cheering people tossed books into a huge, raging bonfire. The books were Bibles, copies of the Talmud, the Quran, and countless other religious books and artifacts, all tossed into the fire. During all of this, the announcer went on and on about how MAD and Dr. Claw had rescued the people from the former government. 'The hopelessly corrupt government of the old United States is gone! From now on, we live with One People, One Nation, One Leader! Hail Mad! Hail Mad!' Penny yanked off her headphones and turned off the monitor. She couldn't stand to watch anymore.

Finally, the bus started up, and began to drive down the road. As Penny watched the houses passing by, she suddenly noticed: not one of them had any Christmas decorations up. She checked her watch again, and the date read December 15. Only 10 days before Christmas, there should have been decorations everywhere. But, not a single one. She then noticed that her watch was a plain, ordinary store-bought watch, not her beloved video watch from the Metro City Police Department. She looked in her backpack, and her familiar blue book… was just a book. No hidden computer inside its pages. She sighed.

Two hours later, the bus arrived in Metro City. Penny started to walk down the streets that she was well familiar with. She couldn't resist passing by "her" house, that her Uncle John had purchased, before he became Inspector Gadget in her own timeline. In this timeline, however, a family of strangers lived there. She again growled with anger when she noted that they had a MAD flag on display, on the flagpole in HER yard, but she had another stop to make, so she kept walking. After another 40 minutes, she had crossed the railroad tracks into a much less attractive area of town. She remembered with a smile, her Uncle had jokingly referred to it as 'Felony Flats' when they had been forced to live there, while waiting for his home purchase to be approved. She finally found the small apartment that she had been sure she would never see again. She walked up the stairs, and knocked on the door. After a moment, the door opened. Penny barely recognized her Uncle John. He looked awful. His hair, (what was left of it) was unkempt; he had a large belly, he needed a shave and a shower. His 'wife beater' tank top was dirty, and had holes in it. His greeting was less than charming. "Who the hell are you? What do you want?" She decided not to greet this relative with a hug. "Uncle, it's me, Penny!" He squinted at her. "Penny? I haven't seen you in years! What the hell are you doing here?" Penny said, "May I come in?" John stepped back and held the door open. "Yeah, sure, I guess…" She entered the apartment, and looked around. The place looked as bad as he did. The carpet was dirty, there were pizza boxes, beer cans, and ashtrays scattered around. The sun was trying to peek through the broken blinds. Penny timidly sat on the edge of the couch, before noticing it was as dirty as everything else.

John had gone back to the bedroom, and hollered at someone. "Hey! Get your stuff and get out! I have a visitor." Penny then heard a woman's voice. "Where's the hundred bucks?" John muttered to himself, pulled out his wallet, and took out a few bills and tossed them. "There, now get going!" Penny saw the woman as she walked out of the bedroom. She wore high heels, a leopard skirt that was much too tight, and she had far too much makeup on. She glanced at Penny. "Hey there, sugar!" Penny didn't respond. John growled, "She's a kid, leave her alone!" He then opened the door and waved her out. Penny noticed that even the money had MAD logos on it now.

When John's 'friend' had left, he pulled up a chair, and ran his fingers through his hair. He then looked at Penny. "So, why are you here, Penny? Where are your parents?" Penny didn't directly answer him. Instead, she just said, "Uncle John, what happened to you? I thought you had become an Inspector on the police force?" John laughed. "Kid, where the hell have you been? I got passed over for that, about six years ago! Then, something happened, and I, umm… left the police force." Penny narrowed her eyes. "You got fired?" John scowled. "It was a bunch of political BS. Cowards wouldn't listen to new ideas. So yeah, they gave me the boot. But, here I am, still alive, and Quimby's six feet under! I wanted to head up an operation to shut down MAD, while they were still a small group, and now look. MAD runs everything." Penny shook her head. "And now, you're a night watchman?" John sighed. "Yeah… not hard work; boring as hell, though." John looked around. "Hey, I still got a roof over my head, right? Could be worse." Penny then remembered something. "Uncle, when I rode here on the bus, I noticed something. Not a single house has any Christmas decorations up." John's eyes widened. "Kid, where HAVE you been? Christmas was banned by 'The Leader.'" He said that phrase mockingly. "Yeah, kid, all religions are banned. Most holidays, too. There is no Christmas anymore, but, there are plenty of new holidays to celebrate MAD and Dr. Claw! I heard there are some small underground religious groups here and there, but if they get caught, off they go to a MAD re-education camp. And, MAD rewards people who squeal, so watch who you hand a candy cane to." The apartment trembled as a train rolled by on the train tracks outside. Uncle John walked over and lifted up the blinds. "Come here and look at this train, Penny." She did so. "See those cattle cars, and how the windows are barred?" Penny nodded, then gasped. The cattle cars were stuffed full of people. Uncle John continued. "Those are priests, nuns, rabbis, clerics; any kind of religious people MAD can get their hands on. Also, anyone who's dumb enough to speak out against MAD. They're going to a MAD re-education camp." Uncle John let the blinds fall suddenly, and a startled Penny jumped. John continued, "Now, I can't say for sure what goes on in those camps, because I've never been to one, but I can tell you one thing: when those trains come back, headed the other way, they're always empty."

Back at Penny's home, Mark and Mary were angrily trying to find Penny. They had seen her footprints in the snow, walking away from the house, but once they merged with the countless other footprints on the sidewalk, tracking her any further became impossible. They went back inside. Mary looked at her husband. "Well, should we call the police?" Mark looked at her. "Do you want MAD agents crawling all over our property, and asking questions?" Mary shook her head. Mark said, "Me either. We can't risk MAD finding out what we are involved in. Let's just wait a little while longer."

John had excused himself to take a quick shower. Penny looked around at the apartment once again. It was the same one she remembered from her own timeline, but then, it had been far cleaner and tidier, as had her Uncle. In those days, they had often passed the time with him holding 7 year old Penny in his lap, and showing her pictures of the house that they would soon be moving to, as soon as the loan was approved. Penny at that time was still mourning the death of her parents, so he had tried his best to get her to laugh and keep her spirits up, but that didn't really happen until they adopted Brain… Penny thought to herself, "Oh, poor Brain! Why did you have to think about that, again?" She also felt sorry for her Uncle. True, in this timeline, he never suffered the horrible accident that nearly killed him, and led to him becoming Inspector Gadget. But, in many ways, he was much worse off now. Penny looked again at the pizza boxes, beer cans, and ashtrays, and estimated her Uncle would be dead inside of 10 years.

Her Uncle John stepped out of the bedroom, somewhat cleaner and more presentable. He was wearing clothes that, if nothing else, at least didn't have holes in them. He looked at Penny. "So, really, why are you here, Penny?" "Ummm… I just wanted to see how you were doing, Uncle!" John snorted. "Yeah, right. Do your parents know you're here?" Penny's guilty look told John all he needed to know. He picked up the telephone and dialed his brother's number. "Hey Mark, it's John. Yeah, so good to hear from you too, 'brother.'" (There was a great deal of sarcasm.) "Yeah, so did you know your daughter Penny just knocked on my door? Care to tell me what she's doing here?"

Several minutes later, after slamming the phone down, Mark went into the bedroom to get Mary. "She's in Metro City, at my brother's place. Come on." They nearly forgot their other daughter, Melissa.

Uncle John set the phone down. "Well, Penny, your parents are on their way. It'll take them a few hours to get here. Have you had breakfast?" Before she could answer, Penny's little stomach let out an embarrassingly loud rumble. John smiled. "Apparently not." As Penny blushed, her Uncle walked over to the fridge. He gazed inside. "Hmm… nothing in here that a kid should have for breakfast." He looked at Penny. "C'mon, kid, I know a place. It's not far."

Penny and Uncle John walked down the steps to the apartment parking lot, and stepped out onto the sidewalk. "Uncle, don't you have a car?" He jerked his thumb at a dirty looking AMC Pacer. "I have that sorry POS, but it's out of gas. I don't get a new MAD gas ration card for another 10 days. So, we're walking." Penny was very disturbed at this bit of news. MAD was already rationing gasoline? Obviously, they were anticipating needing lots of it very soon. Another sign of approaching military hostilities.

Soon, they reached a small diner. It was not in the best neighborhood. The businesses surrounding it included pawn shops, taverns, tattoo parlors, used car lots, and two 'gentlemen's clubs.' Penny drew closer to her Uncle as he opened the door for her. The inside of the place was worn and run-down; however, Penny had to admit, the food was good. She ate her eggs and toast, while her Uncle wolfed down his breakfast. As they left the diner, Penny had just thanked her Uncle for paying for her breakfast, when there was a loud voice behind them. "Hey, you!" They turned around, and there were three MAD policemen, looking suspiciously at John. "Your papers, please." John fished his identification card out of his wallet. One of the policemen looked at it, and showed the other two. "Why are you with this little girl, in this neighborhood?" Penny swore she detected genuine fear in her Uncle's voice, which had never happened in her own timeline. "This girl is my niece." He nudged Penny. "Show them your card. Penny, show them your card." She definitely heard desperation in her Uncle's voice. She unzipped her backpack, opened her folder, and sure enough, there was a student ID card from her school. She had not looked at it before, and was furious to see a MAD logo on the card, right next to a photo of her face. She indignantly handed the card to the officer, but only to protect her Uncle. The officer compared the two cards, and saw that they both had the last name of Brown. He then noticed where Penny was from. He turned his suspicious gaze to Penny. "You certainly are a long way from home, Ms. Brown." Far from being intimidated, Penny was growing angrier by the second. "I came here to visit my Uncle. That's not a crime, is it?" John was now genuinely alarmed. The officer was not amused. He held out the two cards, and Penny swiped them with her hand. She gave Uncle John his card back. Just then, one of the other officers got a call on the police radio. "Hey, we gotta go. They found an underground group of Catholics, and we have to go help round them up for the next train transport." The lead officer held out his right hand in a stiff-arm salute and said, "Hail Dr. Claw!" Uncle John immediately replied with the same gesture, but Penny did not. The officer glared at her, but had no choice but to follow his two comrades to their squad car.

Uncle John turned and walked as rapidly as he could around the corner. Penny trotted to keep up. When they had gone a few blocks, John snapped at Penny, "Why the hell didn't you return the guy's salute, Penny?" She told him that she hated MAD, and could never salute them. She was surprised at the forcefulness of his reply. "Well, no shit, Penny; everyone hates MAD. I hate MAD. But if you piss them off, you'll find yourself on one of those trains I showed you." He took a deep breath and sighed. "Dammit, girl… if you don't salute MAD and play along, they see that as defiance. Some of those people on the train we saw before did nothing more than fail to return a MAD salute. You just put yourself AND me in serious danger."

When they arrived at the apartment, John glared at Penny as she sat nervously on the edge of the couch. "Look, Penny, I know you're from a small town, and things are different out there, but you have no clue what's going on, obviously. You don't know a thing about MAD taking over, you were asking about Christmas, and you damn near got us both thrown on the next train to MAD's friendly neighborhood re-education camp. Tell me what's up." Penny shook her head. "You'd never believe me, Uncle." John had to restrain himself from hollering. He realized she got enough of that from her parents, and he decided to try to be the nice Uncle. "It's ok, Penny. I've heard some really weird stuff. Hit me." Penny then gave him the shortened version of her timeline: how her parents were killed, she went to live with her Uncle, who was a police Inspector. She was adopted, they rescued Brain the dog, and then, the accident that resulted in her Uncle becoming a powerful, yet clumsy bionic crime fighter. She then told him that an angel sent her to this timeline, to 'have a look around.' John sat there, taking it all in. He was silent for a moment. "So, in your time, I'm a bionic Inspector?" Penny nodded. "And you, together with your super-intelligent dog, secretly help foil MAD's schemes?" Penny nodded again. "So, that means that MAD hasn't taken over the United States, and we're not half a step away from World War Three?" Penny smiled, and nodded. John blew a breath out. "It sounds great!" Penny nodded again, and said, "Yes… yes it does, Uncle…" John said, "Well, I'll tell you what; you better ask that angel of yours to get you out of here, because this world is about to become a very unpleasant place."

Moments later, Mark's car lurched to a halt in the apartment's parking lot in Metro City. Mark stomped up the stairs and banged on the door. The door opened, and Mark shoved his way in. John sarcastically said, "Yeah, sure, come on in, bro!" Mark stood in front of Penny and told her to stand up. He then checked her over. "Penny, are you all right?" "Yes, Dad, of course!" John held up his hands. "Hey, I never laid a finger on her!" Mark's concern for his daughter then gave way to anger. "Penny, what were you thinking, coming here by yourself? This area, who knows what might have happened to you!" He seized Penny by the wrist, hard enough to cause her pain, and dragged her to the door. He released his grip, pointed at the car, and ordered Penny, "You get in the car, NOW." As Penny went down the stairs and got in the car, Mark glared at his brother John, then left without a word. "Yeah, nice seeing ya, bro!" Then John slammed the door.

After the car screeched out of the apartment parking lot, John stood there in his silent apartment, alone once again. This was not to last for long. He heard men shouting as they clambered up the stairs outside, then they kicked the door in. John raised his hands in surrender, and soon found himself face to face with the MAD police officer who had checked his and Penny's ID cards earlier. Clearly, this officer had not forgotten Penny's defiance. The officer glanced at a policeman who had just searched the apartment's bedroom. The policeman shook his head. The officer leaned in close to John, attempting to intimidate him. "Where is the girl? The little niece who apparently doesn't know how to salute. Where is she?" John knew he was doomed no matter what he said, so he resolved to go out with defiance. He released a loud, disgusting belch in the officer's face. It smelled of breakfast and beer. The disgusted officer reached for his holster. Outside the apartment, the neighbors heard three sharp gunshots, but since there was a MAD patrol car parked in the parking lot, they all fled into their own apartments and locked the doors.

The three MAD officers walked down the steps of the apartment, and sat in their patrol car. The lead officer got on the police radio, and instructed that the MAD officers in a certain small town pay a visit to the home of Penny Brown.

The ride home from Metro City was quiet. If anyone tried to talk, Mark hollered at them to be quiet. This included Penny. Only when they were almost home did her father finally say, "Penny, when I stop this car, you go straight to your room and shut the door." Penny did so, and waited. After a minute, she heard her father stomping down the hall, but her mother yelled, "Mark, NO. Not that. I won't allow that in this house." Mark hollered back, "Well, why not? Maybe this belt is all she'll understand! She's not even a teenager, and already she's running off to Metro City! What do you want to do, wait until she's standing on a street corner all night, turning tricks? Or, maybe MAD has already warped her mind, and she's getting ready to turn us in!"

The argument between her mother and father out in the hall got worse, but suddenly, Penny heard the front door being kicked in. Penny peeked out of her door, down the hall, and saw her parents struggling with four MAD agents, trying to keep them away from Penny's room. "Where is the girl?" Penny knelt by her bed, and clasped her hands in prayer. She scrunched her eyes shut, and prayed with all her heart to her guardian angel, just as she heard several gunshots ring out. The screaming suddenly stopped, and Penny opened her eyes. She saw the beautiful, glowing angel once more in front of her. "Hello, Penny. We have a lot to talk about." The angel held out her hand, and Penny took it. The hand felt both soothingly cool and warm at the same time. It was impossible on Earth, but Penny felt it here.

The angel explained to Penny, "I let you visit a timeline where only one thing changed: Your Uncle did not become an Inspector. Which meant that he never rose up high enough in the police ranks to have the evil ones attempt to assassinate him, which meant that your parents were never killed, which meant that you never went to live with him. It also meant that you never adopted poor Brain, and your Uncle never proceeded to stop the evil ones, with your help. No one on the police force listened to his ideas for stopping the forces of evil, which allowed them to infiltrate and divide the police department." Penny was confused. "So… I should be grateful for the actions of MAD?" The angel laughed. "Oh, no, my dear! They are evil, unquestionably. The lesson is that we should be grateful for what we have." Suddenly, it was crystal clear for Penny. She thought that she must have been a fool to miss it before. "Oh, please, send me back to my Uncle Gadget and Brain! I miss them so much, and we still have so much to do!" The angel smiled and nodded. "I knew you would understand, Penny! Before I do, just one last thing. Don't let your memories of your poor parents be ruined by what you saw in this timeline. They both really do love you very much. They were under impossible pressures in this timeline, because they were deeply involved in the underground resistance movement. But in reality, they both watch over you from Heaven, and they are both extremely pleased and proud of what you are doing with your Uncle and Brain, to fight back against evil. And now…" The angel passed her hand over Penny's head.

Penny woke up in her familiar bedroom. She sat up, and immediately saw a lump of yellow/orange fur curled up on the foot of her bed. "Oh, BRAIN!" She scrambled over to him, and scooped him up in a huge hug, startling him awake. Even after how she had told him to leave her alone, he had come back after she fell asleep, so he could watch over her through the night. She hugged him with all her might, and since that wasn't enough, she showered him with kisses. Brain was taken aback, to say the least. He was used to Penny hugging him, but never with this much intensity. Soon, she stopped kissing his head, but kept the hug locked in, and rocked him back and forth. "Oh, Brain, my little friend…" He noticed tears coming out of both of her eyes. With concern, he said "Ruh-Roh!" Penny smiled. "Don't worry, Brain, they're happy tears!"

Penny kept her hug locked in as she told Brain all about her… was it a dream? Had it been real? Brain couldn't believe how horrible her dream was. Even if it had been just a dream, it was more terrifying than anything he had ever heard. By the end, he was returning her hug, and licked her face. She faced him, and said, "I am so, so sorry that I told you to leave me alone last night, Brain. I don't know what came over me to make me feel so depressed, and I'm ashamed for taking it out on you, even a little bit. I promise you, that will never happen again." This earned Penny another lick to the face.

At that moment, they both heard Uncle Gadget banging around in the kitchen. They heard a faint 'Wowsers!' followed by a louder crash. Penny grinned and said, "Come on, Brain!" They ran down the stairs together, even though Penny was still in her nightgown. Sure enough, Uncle Gadget was picking himself up off the kitchen floor, surrounded by pots and pans that he had dropped. Penny didn't even slow down; she ran up to him and leaped into his arms, and gave him the largest hug he had ever received from her. "OOF! My goodness, Penny! It certainly looks like you're in a better mood this morning!" Penny motioned Brain to come closer, and then she hugged Uncle Gadget with one arm, and Brain with the other. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you both last night. I love you both so much!"

After Breakfast, Penny walked over to the window, and looked up at the flagpole in their yard. She smiled when she saw the red, white and blue, and not a MAD flag. She turned and said, "Uncle, let's get a Christmas tree this year!" This caught Uncle Gadget off guard. He had offered to decorate in years past, but Penny had told him in a heart-to-heart talk that it reminded her too much of time with her parents, so he didn't decorate their house. "Umm, Penny, are you sure? I remember what you told me…" She smiled and said "Absolutely, I'm sure, Uncle. I want to make NEW memories, with you and Brain." She then walked up to him and looked up at him. "Pleeease?" Gadget smiled. She could still pull off the 'sweet little girl' look, and who could say NO to that? Besides, he was so relieved that she had snapped out of her depressed mood, he would have agreed to nearly anything. He told her to go upstairs and get her coat.

Penny ran up to her room and got her coat. As she was putting it on, she froze. "Oh my gosh, Brain, look at this!" Brain walked over as she pulled out a folded piece of paper from her coat pocket. She looked scared as she unfolded it, and sure enough, it was the profile of Brain from the animal shelter that she had printed in the school library, in the other evil timeline. It even had the school banner at the bottom, complete with MAD logo. She showed it to Brain, and he read 'euthanized' next to his picture. "Yikes!" Penny sank down on the floor, and dropped the paper. "Brain, it was all real! That awful, horrible world is really out there!" She picked up the paper, folded it up again, and placed it in the album with her parent's pictures, and stuffed it deep under her bed. As she did so, she swore that she could ever so faintly hear a chorus of voices chanting, 'Hail MAD!' over and over. Brain grabbed his translator collar that Penny had made for him and put it on, allowing his thoughts to appear on the screen of Penny's watch. He said that he believed the angel gave Penny a warning, that they must keep up their struggle against MAD, or the world that Penny saw could still come true here. Penny nodded. "Absolutely, you're completely right, Brain. This was much more than just getting me to realize how good I have it here with you and Uncle Gadget. This was a warning of what will happen if we let MAD win!" Penny then had another thought, and smiled at Brain. "Well, if nothing else, it proves that we really ARE saving the world every time we go into danger to fight MAD!" Brain thought for a moment, then said with a smile, "Yeah!" Uncle Gadget then called up the stairs. "Penny, do you still want to get that Christmas tree? Let's go!" She and Brain hopped up to their feet, and scrambled down the stairs.

By the time darkness fell over the Gadget house, the Christmas tree had been raised inside, and decorated next to the living room window, and there were even lights strung along the outside of the house. Uncle Gadget bragged he would have it done in no time, using his gadget arms and legs; however, Penny and Brain had to help him up and untangle him from the strings of lights five separate times. The end result, however, was well worth it. They all stood at the edge of the yard and admired their work, glowing in the snowy darkness, as fresh snow fell. Penny reflected on what a wonderful day it had been, and how lucky she was to have this family, and this life. She also had a strong new appreciation that the flag on their flagpole was red, white, and blue, rather than a scowling MAD logo. She and Brain looked at each other and smiled, re-affirming their determination to aid their Uncle in keeping the flag of MAD off the nation's flagpoles.

Later that evening, after dinner, Uncle Gadget had fallen asleep on the couch while watching a historical documentary on tv. Penny and Brain wandered in to the living room, and Penny looked at the tv, and she saw old black-and-white footage of a Nazi party rally. She frowned as she saw endless rows of goose-stepping soldiers, and the crowd screaming 'sieg heil' over and over. "There, Brain; see that? That's just what it was like in the other world I visited. Only it was MAD instead of these idiots." She then disdainfully turned off the tv, to get rid of the image. She turned to Brain. "Every time we go out on a mission, and defeat MAD's plans, it keeps THAT from coming true here." At that moment, Uncle Gadget's top-secret gadget phone began to ring. A new mission was coming in. Penny and Brain looked at each other and smiled. "Here we go again!"

AFTERWORD

-Obviously, this is my shameless rip-off of 'It's a Wonderful Life,' more or less. I wanted Penny to be able to really move on from the death of her parents, gain a new appreciation for her Uncle Gadget and Brain the dog, and also gain a new appreciation of the importance of the work they did in fighting MAD.

-I hope it was obvious enough that the world Penny visited was basically Nazi Germany, except with MAD in the place of the Nazis, and it was in the United States. The MAD agents took the place of the SS, while MAD exerted control over the American military, just as what happened when the Nazis in power took over the German military in WWII.

-Penny's parents were so different than she remembered because they were so stressed, being major players in the underground resistance against MAD. All it would have taken was one informant to a MAD agent, (a.k.a the gestapo) and Mark and Mary would have found themselves on the next train to a MAD re-education camp. That's why the angel took time to explain to Penny, that it wasn't really their fault that they were such strict, mean parents in this timeline.

-I hope the chain of events was made clear enough. If John Brown was never promoted to Inspector, then he would have just been another cop, and therefore not important enough for MAD to target for assassination. This means Penny's parents wouldn't have been killed in the crossfire, as they were in my 'Origin of Gadget' story. Therefore, Penny never would have gone to live with her Uncle, they never would have rescued Brain from the animal shelter, and the Gadget team would never have been formed. Dr. Claw would have remained undefeated, and MAD would have overthrown the U.S. Government.