Chapter 2
Out in space, an Earth space ship made its way along, carrying its crew of four, each in their space suits. There were two old men, a young boy, and a young woman aboard. One of the old men was at the controls of the ship.
The old man at the controls of the ship had jaw-length gray hair and a little gray moustache. He also wore glasses. He was of slender build with gentle eyes and a friendly smile. His name was Dr. Ono, the designer of the space ship he was pilotting through deep space.
The other old man had long white hair, a long moustache, and a long beard, resembling a wisened old Kung Fu master from an old Chinese Kung Fu movie. He had serious, almost enigmatic, eyes, and he held a staff in his hand. He was a bit on the slender side as well, and he appeared to be a stoic. He was Master Mitsuya, a great master of the martial arts along the caliber of Roshi.
The young boy was about half as tall as the old men, but he was a bit more muscularly built for his size than they were. He had wild black hair that reached down just past his collar, and a single lock of hair cascaded down in front of his face, almost touching his nose. He had friendly, perky eyes, and he held a sheathed sword in his hand. He appeared to be between seven and ten years old. His name was Kyoji, and he was the younger brother to the young lady.
The young lady had long, flowing locks of black hair with golden streaks running through it. She was slender and athletically built, with an attractive face. Her eyes were big blue bowls of volatility and contradiction, and she held a retractable bo staff in her hand, retracted to about eight inches in length. She seemed to be almost bored and yet somehow still amazed at the view through the front window of the space ship. She appeared to be about sixteen or seventeen years old. Her name was Yoko, and she was the granddaughter, from her mother's side, of the old man who flew the ship.
"So where are we now, Dr. Ono?" the old martial arts master inquired calmly to the scientist who flew the ship.
"Well, uh, ... let me see here," the absent-minded genius said as he seemed to be looking for something near or around his present work station. "Where's that darn map! I had it here just a second ago!"
"It's right over there, Grandpa," Kyoji informed the old scientist, pointing at a rolled up paper on the console not two feet away from the absent-minded man.
"Oh! Yes, you're right, Kyoji! Here it is!" Dr. Ono replied as he picked up the paper, unrolled it, and began studying it for a few moments. "Now, let me see here. No, we passed this point about an hour ago. No, I haven't seen this yet. Hmmm."
"A ballpark figure guess would do nicely," Master Mitsuya interjected as the scientist muttered to himself while looking at the map.
"Oh, yes! Of course, Master Mitsuya!" Dr. Ono replied as he pointed to a spot on the map. "We're right along here somewhere. There's a comet that passes along this route once every two thousand years, and it's supposed to be along right about now, but I haven't seen it yet."
As he lowered the map to look out the front window, everyone looked to see a bright comet heading right at them. They all shrieked in horror at the sight, their mouths dropping way down and their eyes growing to the size of dinner plates as they noted the approaching comet.
"There it is, Gramps!" Yoko screamed in stark terror, pointing towards the approaching comet in the front window. "It's coming right for us!"
"Yes, I can see it now, Yoko! Thank you very much!" Dr. Ono replied with a happy smile as he pulled a piece of paper out of his space suit, unfolded it, took out a pen, and marked a check mark on the paper right next to the words 'see the Borcon Comet' as the others watched him in panicked confusion. "There we go! That takes care of that!"
"What the heck are you doing, Gramps?!?" Yoko shrieked in hysterical confusion, waving her hands wildly in the air in her hyperactive panic.
"Why, marking it off my list of things I want to do before I die," the absent-minded scientist replied with a smile. "What else?"
"Well, if you intend to mark anything else off of that list, then I'd suggest you steer this thing away from that comet fast!" Yoko shrieked in a hysterical mix of terror, disbelief, and anger, prompting her maternal grandfather to once again realize the predicament they were in and scream in horror once more.
"Oh, my!" Dr. Ono exclaimed with his mouth gaping wide and his eyes bulging in their sockets. "We appear to be on a collision course with the Borcon Comet!"
""We know, grandpa! We know!" Kyoji shouted, jumping up and down fervently as everyone was sweating bullets over their plight. "Turn! Turn!"
"Quickly, Dr. Ono! You must avert us from the comet's path, or we're all doomed!" Master Mitsuya declared, not quite so stoical anymore.
"You're absolutely right!" Dr. Ono replied as he returned his hands and his attention to the flight controls. "Dear me! Where was my head at!"
"Floating aimlessly away in la-la land!" Yoko screamed in panic as the comet got nearer and everyone but Dr. Ono was getting more fearful by the second. "Now, would you please steer this stupid space winnebego out of the path of the comet before we all die in a big cosmic fireball! It'll chap my lips! Oh, for shame! To die with chapped lips, streaking through space like some oddball hood ornament on the front end of a comet I didn't even know about until now! Why me?!?"
At the last possible second, the absent-minded scientist managed to steer the space ship out of the path of the comet. Suddenly, a sparkling light show filled the interior of the space ship around the passengers, like cosmic glitter shimering in the air around them, subsiding after a few moments. Everyone finally relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief behind him, thankful for not getting hit by the comet.
"There we go!" Dr. Ono replied proudly as he looked back at the others, but they again reacted with horror as they looked out the front window of the ship. "We're safe now! I've steered us out of the path of the comet! You can all relax now!"
"Hey! Look out for that planet!" Kyoji screamed as he pointed out the front window again at the planet they were about to collide with.
Dr. Ono turned his attention back to the front window and saw the planet as well. He panicked again, this time keeping his lips tight together in the front, but his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates again. Everyone was trembling and sweating bullets once again behind him.
"Well, what a funny place to put a planet!" Dr. Ono replied in shock. "Now, who went and stuck that planet in front of us like that? It was very rude of them, whoever it was! Don't you agree?"
"We're gonna hit it!" Yoko shrieked in terror once again as she freaked out, waving her arms in the air like wings as if she was trying to fly. "Oooh, this is SO bad! We'll die looking like a wart or a zit on the face of some unknown planet! How disgusting! Oh, wait! We'll blow up after we crash! Good! Then we won't look like a big wart of a zit on the face of an unknown planet! Oh, what am I thinking?!? We'll still be dead! SO dead! Oh, I don't wanna die!"
"Would you shut up! You're makin' me nauseous!" Kyoji yelled at his sister, becoming just as animated as she was.
"Children, this is no time to be fighting amongst ourselves!" Master Mitsuya declared to the two fuming siblings. "If we don't do something fast, we're all going to die when we crash into the planet!"
"Or we could just land the ship and stretch our legs a bit," Dr. Ono replied quite calmly, causing all three of his companions to fall over in stunned disbelief with their feet sticking straight up in the air. "Hey, what's everybody doing on the floor?"
"Just land the ship!" they all shouted simultaneously at the absent-minded genius as they all three simultaneously sprang back to their feet.
"Oh, yeah!" Dr. Ono repsonded as he turned his attention back to the flight controls and the path of the ship. "Now, let's see here. Where to set her down at? What would be a nice place?"
"Just don't put us down in the water again this time, Gramps!" Yoko cried out hysterically as she waved her fists in front of herself frantically in a pleading manner.
"Hey, that was fun!" Kyoji retorted with a big grin on his face. "Hey, Grandpa! Betcha can't make a bigger splash than last time!"
"Don't encourage him, you idiot!" Yoko shouted angrilly at Kyoji in her hysterical manner. "I don't want my mascara to run or my hair to sag again!"
"What's the big deal?" Kyoji inquired none too sincerely as he regarded his sister with a miffed expression on his face. "It's nice and quiet when you're putting on your make-up and doing your hair. That's the best two hours of peace and quiet!"
"Why, you little brat!" Yoko screamed as she chased Kyoji all around the ship, prompting Master Mitsuya to work hard to keep from getting knocked down or run over by the feuding siblings. "When I get my hands on you, I'm gonna wring your little neck! Do you hear me?"
"Na-nya-na-nya-nya! You can't catch me!" Kyoji taunted as he stuck his tongue out at her, stuck a thumb in each ear, and wiggled his fingers in a mocking display as she chased him around Master Mitsuya a couple of times before chasing him around the rest of the room. "Too slow! What's the matter? All that make-up weighin' ya down? You ran much faster when you chased after that guy in the flashy car!"
"What?!? How dare you!" Yoko screamed as she continued her pursuit of her younger brother. "When I catch you, I'm gonna put make-up on you, paint your nails, put a little bow in your hair, and put you in a little pink dress! You'll look funny as a little girl, won't you?"
"Ahhhh! You wouldn't!" Kyoji shrieked in horror at the thought of her actually making good on that promise.
"Oh, wouldn't I!" Yoko replied as she continued to chase him all over the bridge cabin of the space ship.
"Children!" Master Mitsuya called out in near-desperation as he continued to work to keep from getting knocked down or run over. "Behave!"
"Nothing to worry about," Dr. Ono merrily informed them, completely oblivious to the reckless action going on behind him. "I've found just the spot to set her down at! I think this will do quite nicely! Yes, indeed!"