Chapter Text
Astronaut and his friends are driving back home from Nevada after their semi-successful Area 51 raid. They got Astronaut and his rocket back, but the aliens in area 51 stay confined for the time being. They all sing to Young Folks by Peter Bjorn & John to pass the time during the last stretch of the trip home.
“And we don’t care about the young folks
Talking ‘bout the young style
And we don’t care about the old folks
Talking ‘bout the old style too
And we don’t care about our own folks
Talking ‘bout our own stuff
All we care about is talking
Talking only me and you”
“Look!” Kangaroo points towards the highway signs. “We’re only 10 miles away from Mask City!”
“After all that hullabaloo, I’m about ready to relax for the rest of the week,” Turtle yawns.
“Me, too,” Astronaut says.
As they drive towards the city, Kangaroo’s car starts breaking down before it comes to a complete stop. Chameleon gets out of the car, opens the hood, and checks on the engine.
“Looks like the engine’s overheated,” Chameleon says.
“Dammit,” Kangaroo mumbles. She turns to Astronaut and Turtle and lays the bad news. “Sorry, guys, we'll have to wait for the engine to cool down.”
“But it’s getting late.” Astronaut points to the sky, which is now turning dark. “We need a place to rest for the night.”
Kangaroo picks up her phone and asks Google “Find the nearest hotel or inn.” The results show up, and at the top is “Coverton Inn”, which is 1.5 miles away.
“Oh, God. Coverton.” Turtle groans.
“What is this ‘Coverton’?” Astronaut asks.
“Coverton is this town full of uptight, segregated humans who look down upon Mask City. I went there once. The people of Coverton made fun of me. ‘How do you sleep with that thing on?’ ‘You’re too cold-blooded to appreciate the air-conditioning of Coverton.’ Honestly, #@&% Coverton!” Turtle rants.
“We hate Coverton, too, but we need a place to stay for the night.” Kangaroo says.
“And a tow truck, too.” Chameleon adds. “Kang, ask Google if Coverton has a tow truck service.”
Kangaroo does the voice search again. “Hey, Google, does Coverton have a towing service?”
Sometime later, a tow truck comes to pick up Kangaroo’s car. A Hispanic-looking man in red coveralls comes out of the car. “How do you do?” The man greets. His smile fades as soon as he sees the inhabitants of the car. He forces the smile and asks, “Do you folks need a tow?”
“Yes, please!” Chameleon responds.
With that, the man pulls out his tow truck’s hook and attaches it to Kangaroo’s car. He puts the car on the wheel lift.
“To the garage?” The man asks.
“Actually, can you take us to the inn first?” Kangaroo asks.
“The Coverton Inn? Certainly!” The man starts up his tow truck and drives his way to Coverton.
The town looks like a perfect circle, with most of the roads and the park in the middle following suit. The town is divided into four sections, where every section has a diner and a grocery store. All four of those sections, however, have a few special buildings.
One section has a recreation center and a garage, overlooked by the government building. Another section has a school and a church, overlooked by the zoo. Between the government building and the zoo is a hospital. Another one has a library and a garage overlooked by a labratory. The section that the tow truck is going to has a clothing store and a shoe store, overlooked by the inn.
The tow truck makes it to the inn, where Turtle, Astronaut, Kangaroo, and Chameleon are dropped off. They pick up their luggage and leave the car to be towed to the garage.
“So, here’s the plan. We sleep for the night, we get our car, and then we leave Coverton as soon as possible.” Turtle says.
“Are you sure that you want to leave that quickly? I’ve still yet to explore what Coverton has to offer.” Astronaut asks.
“It offers bigotry and prejudice.” Turtle snarks. “Now let’s get inside.”
The group goes inside the Inn where a tall, Caucasian man with glasses is waiting at the reception desk.
“Welcome to the Coverton Inn!” The man greets warmly. “My name’s Jeffery Necking and I’ll be your receptionist for tonight. We offer rooms with one bed and rooms with two beds. Which one would you like?”
“We’d both like rooms with two beds, please.” Kangaroo asks, hoping to make things less awkward.
“Excellent!” Jeffery cheers. “That’ll be $60 for both rooms.”
“Wow!” Chameleon exclaims. “That’s pretty cheap!”
Jeffery rubs the back of his head. “Well, not a lot of people visit Coverton, so...”
Turtle and Astronaut make it to their inn room, where they open the door with their old-fashioned key. When they open the door, they find, to their surprise, that the room is clean and well-kept and smells of lavender, even if it looks a little retro. Turtle turns on the lamp, puts down his duffel bag and checks the bed to see if it’s full of stains or bed bugs. The sheets feel crisp and clean under Turtle’s fingers, and there were no bugs of the sort.
“This place is legit clean!” Turtle is surprised. “I’m gonna check the bathroom. You just change into your pajamas and get ready for bed, okay, Astro?”
“Okay, Turtle.” Astronaut replies. With that, Turtle goes into the bathroom to check on it. As Astronaut takes off his spacesuit, he hears an odd scraping sound. He takes a quick look around before he continues to take of his spacesuit. He then hears the window opening. He looks back and sees a large creature crawling into the room.
Turtle looks around the bathroom for anything suspicious or dirty. Besides the outdated decor, everything looks fine.
“Alright, Astro.” Turtle gets out of the bathroom and heads back to the beds. “The bathroom’s clear - Astro?” He sees the empty spacesuit, but no Astronaut. “Did he leave the room?” Then he notices the open window. Turtle looks out the window and sees Astronaut, mouth taped shut, being carried away by a mysterious figure dressed in black, with two heads and a slithering tail.
‘I’ll save you, buddy!” Turtle shouts, his heart pounding as he lunges towards the window, knowing that he’s already too late. This catches the attention of the mysterious figure, who runs away as fast as possible. Turtle leaves the inn room and rushes out of the inn to try to catch the mysterious figure. As soon as he gets out of the inn, he finds that the mysterious figure is nowhere to be seen. He gives up and decides to go back inside. I’ll try to find Astro tomorrow, Turtle thinks.
The mysterious figure runs all the way to the back of the government building. Astronaut is confused as to why they’re at the government building. The mysterious figure presses on some bricks, opening a secret passageway. The mysterious figure goes through the passageway with Astronaut in tow. Inside the passageways are cells full of mythical creatures ranging from unicorns to dragons to even fairies and the occasional mermaids.
The mysterious figure takes Astronaut to an empty cell. They remove the tape from Astronaut’s mouth and throw him in the cell. They put up a magic barrier to keep him from getting out.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve been taken prisoner, but I’ll be certain that it’ll be my last time.” Astronaut declares.
“Silence.” A growly voice responds. “You’re here to supply us with magic.”
“Magic? What’s that?”
“Don’t play dumb with us!” A nasally voice replies. “You’re a water nymph! You should have the magic within you.”
“Water nymph?” Astronaut is confused.
“Yes.” The growly voice replies. “We have been searching for a water nymph for a long time and, wouldn’t you know, you appeared in Coverton!”
“So, get used to your new accommodations, nymph.” The nasally voice adds. With that, the mysterious figure leaves the area.
Astronaut is once again a prisoner, but he came prepared this time. He pulls out a smartphone from his boot and opens it up. He speed-dials Turtle, but the call goes directly to voice mail, so he leaves a message for Turtle.
“Turtle, this is Astronaut. I’ve been taken to a secret passageway in the back of the big, round building. I am currently imprisoned, and this two-headed figure called me a water nymph. I don’t even know what a water nymph is! Please rescue me as soon as possible.”
The next morning, Turtle wakes up and checks his phone. He looks through his notifications, when he notices one that says, “New Voicemail.” He presses on the notification and listens to the voicemail.
At the beginning of the voicemail, Astronaut mentions “the big, round building” and Turtle asks himself, “Big, round building? Does he mean the government building?” He looks out the window to view the building.
KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK
Turtle sighs. He heads over to the door and opens it, revealing two women. One woman is tall and slender, with pale skin, blue eyes, and black hair styled in victory rolls. The other woman is short and chubby with fair skin, amber eyes, and blonde hair styled in a beehive. They’re both dressed in 1940s/1950s styled clothes consisting of a top, a bow with a jewel in the middle, a skirt, tights, and high-heeled shoes. The short woman is wearing gloves.
“Good morning and welcome to Coverton!” The short woman greets, handing a gift basket to Turtle. “I’m Mayor Parsley Rosemary.”
“And I’m Sage Thyme, her assistant.” The tall woman introduces herself. “It’s very nice to meet you.” She shakes Turtle’s hand.
“Marcus and Jeffery told us about you and your friends.” Parsley says. “You’re Turtle, and there’s Chameleon, Kangaroo, and the golden astronaut. Speaking of which, where is he?” She pretends to look around.
“He got kidnapped yesterday.” Turtle explains. “He left behind his golden spacesuit.”
“Well, we don’t take too kindly to kidnappers around here.” Sage wags her finger.
“So, what are you two doing here besides visiting us?” Turtle asks.
“We just thought we’d give you a tour of the town and maybe make you our ambassadors.” Parsley responds.
“Ambassadors?” Turtle says. “Oh, no. I’m not about to become an ambassador for a town that prides itself on bigotry.”
“We’re doing our best to become an inclusive town.” Sage begs. “Maybe the tour of the town will help you change your mind.
Turtle thinks to himself, maybe this could be a chance to find Astronaut and rescue him. He looks at Mayor Rosemary and Ms. Thyme and responds with “Okay, you two. I’ll go on this tour of Coverton.”
“Excellent!” Parsley cheers. “We’ll be waiting for you outside while you get cleaned and dressed. Make sure you dress nice, but not too nice.”
“Okay.” Turtle closes the door and begins his morning routine. Mayor Rosemary and Ms. Thyme walk out of the inn with their fingers crossed on one hand.
To Be Continued...