Excess Consumption

Excess Gum Consumption (1992-) is a Lichenblossom Nerd who travels with Doctor Hickory. She is known for her compassion, courage and determination, despite being fiercely bullied in her early years. Excess is the heroine of all female Lichenblossom inhabitants.

Early Life
Excess was hatched in Redlink Abbey, in the Lichenblossom Isles on September 24th, 1992. Her two parents had until midnight to name her due to strict hospital regulations, and they couldn't decide on a name. They sought help from the other Abbeygeeks, but they couldn't think of a name Excess' parents liked. Finally, midnight came. The nurse asked Excess' parents what they had chosen, and Excess' father, in a panic, searched around him for names. He saw a gum wrapper on which was written "EXCESS GUM CONSUMPTION MAY CAUSE A LAXATIVE EFFECT", so the chick was named Excess Gum Consumption.

Excess was bullied by Jerks and other Chicks of the Abbey because of her name. Although violence was prohibited among chicks, Excess learned martial arts in case one of the Jerks decided to lock her in the elevator. She progressed to a black belt in two months, smashing the record of the previous student. She gained some respect because of this, and no Jerk tried to lock her in the elevator again. However, chicks and penguins alike still stayed away from her.

Excess was very interested in medicine and trained under the mean Sister Alkamesh, who treated her harshly. Despite Alkamesh's taunts, she was determined to become a nurse. At eleven years of age, she entered Penguin University for Nurse qualifications. Excess graduated with flying colours in the winter of 2006 and got a job at the Eastshield Hope Hospital. Little did she know this choice would change her life forever.

Early Medical Career and Meeting Doctor Hickory
Excess finally gained friends for the first time at the Hospital, in the form of other Trainee Nurses. This was the happiest time of her life. However, BJ Sweenee, the head of the Hospital at that time, disapproved of friendliness during work time. He deported the other trainee nurses to other hospitals across Antarctica. Excess was also deported, to the Toni Pepperoni Hospital in Neo Domino City, UnitedTerra.

Toni Pepperoni was one of the greatest times of Excess' career. She got sick pay whenever she fell sick, holiday pay, and pay cover for unexpected occasions (e.g family sickness, deceased relative, etc.). Excess loved it there, and stayed for three years. She didn't fight in the Great Darktonian Pie War, but helped care for the wounded on the sidelines. However, after the war ended and Darktan reformed, she was shipped back to the Eastshield Hope Hospital for mysterious reasons.

One month after she returned, the hospital was lifted to the moon by an alien race called the Judoon and she met Doctor Hickory. Rather than cowering in the corner like her friend, another nurse called Julie, Excess bravely helped Doctor Hickory find the real criminal, almost dying in the process. After being returned to earth by Kwiksilver and the entire PASA shuttle fleet, Doctor Hickory asked Excess to travel with him. She accepted.

Travels with Doctor Hickory
Her first stop was the year 3000 in Antarctica's distant future. Antarctica had become polluted and many cities had been abandoned. The whole country was under the rule of a tyrant, and the rest of the population lived in poverty. Millions of Hovercars were stuck in the Underground Bypass, moving only a few metres a year. The combined fumes made the atmosphere in the tunnel hard to breathe. However, Doctor Hickory and Excess managed to free the hovercars from the tunnel, and captured some deadly crab monsters.

Next stop was a small island south of Antarctica. It had been a research base for Khanzem and a small pocket of Khanz Penguins lived there. However, due to a spaceship crash 100 years ago, all the citizens had become zombies. After Doctor Hickory was captured, Excess, with the help of a normal Khanz penguin called Andrew, repaired the crashed spaceship, rescued Doctor Hickory and turned the zombies back to normal. Andrew stowed away in the TARDIS instead of staying with his family.

Andrew was discovered just as Doctor Hickory was about to perform a necessary maneuver. The TARDIS was flung through a hole in the Time Vortex and landed in a parallel universe where the Doctor's counterpart was evil. A small resistance group, led by the alternate version of Andrew, helped the TARDIS crew destroy the factory where the evil Doctor was building a superweapon. Andrew's alternate self sacrificed himself to destroy the weapon, and Andrew took his place. Doctor Hickory and Excess used the TARDIS' only working power core to transport themselves out of the parallel universe, closing the gap.

Their next trip was to a spaceship where the penguin crew was being eaten by a giant Shprogshel one by one. Excess was locked in the airlock with the animal by accident, and she opened the airlock door, sending the Shprogshel flying into space. Excess herself barely survived, and she was saved by Doctor Hickory in the TARDIS. The captain of the remaining crew members gave Excess a mysterious locket before she entered the TARDIS.

As soon as they landed, Doctor Hickory was hunted by some weird aliens who wanted to eat him and live forever. Doctor Hickory told Excess to take care of him, as he was going to become a penguin. Doctor Hickory assumed the identity of a High Penguin teacher called Jim Smithy just before Khanzem started. He didn't know he was the Doctor, and Doctor Hickory's real mind was contained in a small fob watch. A young penguin student stole the watch and looked into it, discovering what happened to Doctor Hickory on his travels. Excess assumed the identity of Jim Smithy's maid.

Meanwhile, the weird aliens, also known as the Family of Jelly, assumed the form of four penguins and stationed themselves near the school where Jim was working. Jim developed a crush on another maid called Joan and invited her to the masquerade ball. It was at the ball where the Family showed themselves and Jim had to make a choice. Save the world, or live with Joan. The young penguin gave the watch back to Jim. Jim chose to open the watch and save the world.

Doctor Hickory trapped the Family so that they would never bother anybody again. He trapped the Daughter of Jelly in a mirror, and still visits her every year. He trapped the Father of Jelly in unbreakable chains. He tricked the Mother into going into the orbit of a galaxy. Finally, he stuck the Son in a time freeze and turned him into a scarecrow. The young penguin was given the empty fob watch, and in Khanzem, he was about to be crushed by a cake. He survived, and became one of the last war veterans, living to be 120. The Doctor visited him at the War Memorial in Freezeland.

Excess then took a break from traveling, and visited her family in Lichenblossom. She decided not to travel with the Doctor, but remained one of his greatest friends.

Excess' Parents
Excess' mother and father, Jade and Harry Smithson, still live at Redlink Abbey, and call their daughter once a week to check up on her. Her father, Harry Smithson, is a keen carpenter and has won many awards. He was only a Chick when Malt Vieoh rescued Redlink from Looney the Purge, but remembers it well. His wife, Jade Smithson nee Arbita, was an orphan dropped at the gates of Redlink. She won many beauty competitions, and many others sought after her. However, Harry won her heart and they have been happily married for thirty years.

Trivia

 * Despite her mother being very beautiful, Excess inherited the nerdiness of her father.
 * Excess is a very loyal, resourceful and determined, one of the reasons Doctor Hickory asked her to travel with him.
 * Despite her being an expert in martial arts such as karate, Excess is terrible at Card-Jitsu.
 * One of her greatest fears are ghosts. She can't stand them. She's also afraid of Weegee.