Chapter Text
Turtle, Kangaroo, and Chameleon watch their friend, Astronaut, get taken away by the Men in Black. After a silent moment, Chameleon kneels the ground and screams in anguish.
“I can’t believe it!” Chameleon growls. “Our best friend is going to be a prisoner!” He slams his hands into the ground and breaks down into tears. “It’s all my fault!”
“Don't be so hard on yourself, Chameleon.” Turtle sheds a single tear and wipes it off with his hand. “It’s my fault, too. I should have been more careful with, well, everything.”
“It doesn’t matter whose fault it is…” Kangaroo consoles both Astronaut and Turtle. “Astronaut made the choice to go after his rocket ship instead of making a new one. And Astronaut made the choice to give up his freedom to get his rocket back to us.” She bows down her head and emits tears of her own. “It’s what he would have wanted.”
“What is it about the rocket that he wants to keep it safe?” Turtle asks. He turns over to the rocket and walks up to it.
Chameleon walks up to Turtle and says, “Well, a while back, Astronaut asked me to install a few objects of interest onto his rocket ship. He wanted a car stereo to listen to some music. He also wanted me to get a ‘music player’ for his car stereo, so I gave him my old iPod Nano.”
Turtle opens the door on the rocket ship. He sees the car stereo on the cockpit alongside the iPod Nano plugged into it. He picks up the iPod Nano and turns it on. After opening the iPod Nano, Turtle goes to the music app. There, he finds the only album on the iPod Nano: “Honky Chateau” by Elton John.
“He could use more songs on this iPod.” Turtle mutters to himself. He opens the album and looks up the songs and there’s the song “Rocket Man.” He plays the song.
“She packed my bags last night, pre-flight
Zero hour, 9 a.m.
And I'm gonna be high as a kite by then
I miss the Earth so much, I miss my wife
It's lonely out in space
On such a timeless flight”
“And I think it's gonna be a long, long time
'Til touchdown brings me 'round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
Oh, no, no, no
I'm a rocket man
Rocket man
Burning out his fuse up here alone”
While listening to the song, Turtle breaks down into tears. It’s the song that Turtle introduced Astronaut to.
“He wanted to bring the music of Earth to his home planet.” Chameleon says. “He loved that song so much that he couldn’t leave it behind. He wanted to bring as much of the Earth as he could back home.”
“And now he won’t be able to leave the planet.” Turtle sobs. “We’ve got to save him! He deserves to live!”
“But how?” Kangaroo asks. “Who know what the Men in Black would do if we even tried to come close to them? Maybe they’ll erase our memories again or do something even worse.”
“Well, if that happens, we need to arm ourselves. Not with guns, though. We can’t risk it, or we’ll hurt Astronaut on accident.” Turtle responds.
“How about Nerf guns?” Chameleon suggests.
“That could work.” Turtle says. “But where are we going to get Nerf guns in the middle of nowhere?”
“Excuse me,” a mysterious voice asks. The group turns around to see a middle-aged, tan-skinned, and brunette woman. “My name’s Connie. I overheard you all saying you want to save your alien friend and wanted Nerf guns to pull it off?”
“Uh, yes?” Turtle replies.
“Luckily, for you, I have a couple of Nerf guns stored in the back.”
“Are they unused?” Chameleon asks.
“100%” Connie replies.
“Good!” Turtle responds. “We’re gonna need all the Nerf darts we can get.”
“There’s one more problem. They won’t let civilians like us into Area 51. Only government officials like the Men in Black.”
“Well, I have spare suits in the back as well. You’d be surprised by how many times the Men in Black visit this inn.”
—
Meanwhile, in the Men in Black’s limousine, Astronaut looks down at his handcuffs before he looks up at the Men in Black before asking, “So what is the purpose of the Men in Black?”
“We are an international organization that deals with anomalies.” Adam responds.
“So, why are you taking me to Area 51?” Astronaut asks.
“This place contains aliens and spacecrafts of all shapes and sizes. You would stick out like a sore thumb, but at the same time, you’d blend in with all the other aliens.” Andrew replies.
“So, which is it then? Do I blend in, or do I stick out like a sore thumb?” Astronaut is confused.
“Um…” Before Andrew could respond, the limousine reaches the gates of Area 51. There, the Men in Black are greeted by some U.S. military personnel.
“ID, please.” One of the U.S. military personnel asks. The Men in Black show their IDs and their badges to the personnel. “You may pass.” The Men in Black pass with no issue. They reach one of the bases, which is the Extraterrestrial Base.
The Extraterrestrial Base is the place where aliens and space are stored. The top floor is reserved for spacecraft, while the basement is reserved for extraterrestrial life. The Men in Black head to the basement and take Astronaut to a cell. They open the cell, unlock Astronaut’s handcuffs, push him into the cell, and lock it with a code.
“Now you have a good long rest in the cell.” Matty says to Astronaut. “We’ll let you out when it’s time to experiment on you.” Astronaut gasps.
“Don’t scare him like that!” Andrew scolds Matty.
“Oh, fine,” Matty rolls his eyes. “I was just joking,” he laughs, “But we are serious about your imprisonment. Don’t worry. We’ll keep you pampered.” With that, the Men in Black leave.
Astronaut contemplates his current situation. The thought of being experimented by the Men in Black just scared him. At this point, the sacrifice wasn’t worth it, and now he just wants to see his friends again.
—
Back on the road, Turtle, Kangaroo, and Chameleon are now dressed as the Men in Black. Turtle had to get his suit modified to fit around his shell. They make it all the way to the gates of Area 51.
“ID, please.” One of the U.S. Military Personnel asks. The group shows off their IDs and some old Men in Black badges. The personnel is suspicious but lets the group through.
“Yes! We made it through!” Turtle cheers. “Now let’s find the place where Astronaut is being held!” When the group reaches the area, they find that most of the buildings are the same. They have to look close to find the right building. They check the first three buildings, which consists of a cafeteria/breakroom, a commercial building, and an airplane hangar.
They check the last building, which happens to be the Extraterrestrial Building. The building loomed ahead, its metallic structure glinting ominously under the harsh desert sun.
Chameleon tries to open the door with no luck, then he notices the electronic lock. “We don’t have a card to get inside the building.”
“Maybe we could ask someone to open up the building for us?” Kangaroo suggests.
“Yeah. We just have to make sure that no one raises their suspicion at us.” Turtle says.
Then, a scientist walks by them and opens the door with her keycard. The group follows the scientist in. They look at the spaceships that are inside the building, then they refocus on their mission, which is to save their friend Astronaut.
“Where could the aliens be?” Kangaroo asks.
“They’re stored in the basement.” The scientist replies. “Why do you need to see them?”
“Because...um...we’re doing a routine checkup.” Chameleon lies.
“Alright, then. Follow me.” The scientist walks to the elevator, with the group following her. She presses the button on the elevator and everyone goes inside. Again, she presses a button, this time going to the basement floor. At the floor, there’s tons of aliens in cells with windows.
“Holy $#!%...” Turtle stares in awe.
“I will be back in an hour to see how your routine checkup is doing.” The scientist says.
“Okay!” Chameleon responds. With that, the scientist leaves. The group then begins their search. They look at the cells for Astronaut. They eventually find him at the end of the hallway.
“Astro!” The group shouts at Astronaut.
“Turtle! Kangaroo! Chameleon!” Astronaut cheers.
“We’re here to save you, buddy!” Turtle smiles.
“But you can’t have both the rocket and me.” Astronaut looks down in sadness.
“Your sacrifice wasn’t in vain.” Turtle presses his hand on the cell window. Astronaut does the same, matching Turtle’s hand. “We’ll get you back home.” Turtle begins to cry.
“Thank you, Turtle.” Astronaut cries. “That means so much to me.”
“We’ve bonded over the rebuilding of the rocket and all those trips to those museums. I’m not going to give on you, either.” Chameleon confesses.
“Thank you, Chameleon.” Astronaut smiles.
“You’re a great roommate, and I wouldn’t have it any way.” Kangaroo says.
“Thank you, Kangaroo.” Astronaut chuckles.
“Alright,” Turtle gets up and puts his hands on his hips. “How do we get you out of this cell?”
“There’s a security lock to the left of me.” Astronaut points to the left. The group sees the security lock. “Just enter the numbers ‘0729’ and that should open the cell.” Turtle enters the code that Astronaut had said. To everyone’s surprise, it works, and the cell opens. Turtle and Kangaroo hug Astronaut in a warm embrace.
“How do you know what the code was?” Chameleon asks.
“I listened to the melody of the security lock.” Astronaut replies.
“You’ve got an incredible musical memory!” Turtle compliments Astronaut.
“Thank you!” Astronaut blushes.
“Now let’s get out of here before the Men in Black find out what happened!” Kangaroo says.
“What about the other aliens?” Astronaut comments. “They seemed miserable in their cells.”
“It’s dangerous right now.” Chameleon says. “Not every alien is like you, Astronaut.”
“I understand.” Astronaut says sadly. “Wait! Wouldn’t the Men in Black find out if I was missing?”
“Aw, crap. You’re right.” Kangaroo realizes the situation. “How do we get you out of here without the Men in Black getting on our trail?” At this point, the group comes across a room full of electronic shields.
“I have an idea…” Turtle says.
—
At the cafeteria, everyone is just relaxing, eating their food and chatting.
Turtle kicks open the door with a Nerf gun in his hands. “Everyone! Pay attention!” Turtle yells. Chameleon and Kangaroo come in with Astronaut. “We’re taking this alien with us! If you follow us, we’ll reveal the secrets of Area 51!”
“Not if we erase your memories first!” Dymon pulls out his memory gun and shoots at Turtle. Turtle blocks the dart with an electronic shield. “Crap! They broke into our shields room!”
“Let me explain the deal.” Turtle begins to speak. “If you let us take the alien with us, we won’t reveal the secrets of Area 51, deal?”
Now, the Men in Black are quite persistent in their goals, and they’re not going to let some turtle overtake them.
“Here’s a better deal.” Adam walks up to Turtle. “If you exchange either the rocket or the alien, we won’t erase your memories. We need evidence of this alien’s planet to further our goals of understanding our universe.”
“Well, if its evidence of my home planet that you want...” Astronaut says, “I may have something for you to keep. Can you take me to my rocket?”
—
At the rocket, Astronaut searches inside for a piece of his home planet that the Men in Black could use. At last, he finds a piece. “Ah-ha!” He pulls out an alien flower in a terrarium, which is shaped like an anemone with beans on the petals, and a spadix the shape of a Titan Arum. He opens the terrarium. “This is the Guillus flower, found exclusive on my home planet of Myors.”
Andrew takes a whiff at the Guilllus flower and declares, “It smells like laundry detergent.”
“Funny you should say that, because I only learned about laundry detergent on my first week on Earth. These flowers are not only fresh smelling, but they’re aesthetically pleasing as well. Please take good care of it, as it’s the only one I brought. It will multiply through self-reproduction, so plant it in a garden and care for it like you would a succulent.” Astronaut gives the Guilllus flower away to the Men in Black.
“How is a flower going to help us expand our understanding of the universe?” Andrew asks.
“Well, it won’t.” Astronaut replies honestly, “but it’ll add a bit of cheeriness to Area 51.” The Men in Black take a good look at the flower before they make their final decision.
“Alright. We’ll accept your flower.” Matty says. “And in exchange, you get to keep your rocket, your freedom, and your memories.” Turtle, Chameleon, Kangaroo, and Astronaut gasp with joy. “But if you ever reveal any of Area 51’s secrets, we’ll be coming for you, and we won’t go so easy on you.”
“Okay.” Astronaut says nervously. “I’m so glad everything worked out in the end.”
“For now...” Andrew adds. “Would you like us to fly you all the way home?”
“No, that’s okay.” Turtle rejects the offer. “We can drive all the way home.”
“Good luck!” Dymon cheers.
“By the way,” Chameleon asks, “What prompted you to take our rocket ship in the first place?”
“Oh, just some old woman who seems to complain about everything.” Andrew responds.
“Well, we’ve got a bone to pick with that old lady.” Turtle grumbles.
“Goodbye, everyone!” Astronaut cheers.
With that, the group gets in the car and drives out of Area 51. “Well, Astro,” Turtle says, “A friendship this strong will set you free.” They proceed to spend their trip home stopping at all the national parks and tourist attractions.