IMMATURITY DAY: ID3

Chapter Two

(c) David Willis

Walkerton and Sal were flying through the ship at incredibly speed. The gusts of air and friction rippled their clothes and hair. Their surroundings blurred past them, melting together in one big FWOOOSH! The ride was exhilirating.

"Wheeeeeeeee!!!!!!" Sal grinned widely as she expertly navigated through the corridors of the ship. Ducking occasionally for rafters and the like, the trip was rather smooth.

Except for Walkerton, who could hardly breath. He was in back, hacking and fighting off Sal's waist-length brown hair, which was whipping around and slapping his face. Finally, he took a used Doritos bag and held it over his mouth and eyes.

The hoverbike suddenly screeched to a halt. The siblings were flung forward abruptly, and then thrown back. Coughing and spitting out hair, Walkerton dropped off the craft. He looked around to get his bearings.

They were overlooking a huge drop-off, descending in one impossibly-sized chasm. Lights speckled in layers on the way down. The bottom of the drop was not visible, instead a Vertigo effect was present.

The hoverbike was jutted off the edge a bit, and Sal whiped her brow in relief.
"Fer a minute there, bro," she said, "I thought we were gonna go off inta the pit!" She hopped off the bike herself and stood beside her brother. "According to the computers, the missiles are somewhere near."

Walkerton lost his footing, and his arms despirately waved in circles. Sal caught him by his hood, and the pilot regained his balance. But not before dropping a bag of Doritos down the chasm. "NO!!' He screamed, but Sal kept him from jumping after them to his death. She slowly reeled Walkerton back onto the ledge and gave him a stern look.

"Okay, now move the human over to the left."

The twins gasped and looked upwards, in the direction of the new voice. Apparently, some aliens had just arrived on the overhang above them.

"That's good...that's good...now set him down!" continued the voice.

Sal wedged her laser gun in her mouth and grasped the wall. Walkerton followed her as they climbed up the steep, jagged metal surface. Finding crevices for his fingers and feet along the riveted steel, Walkerton managed to haul himself to the very top. With a final heave, he pulled himself over onto the platform.

Seconds later, Sal joined him. From a distance, they observed several aliens and the powerful presence of the Head Alien surrounding another object. The aliens, despite their small and weak body build, were succeeding in hauling a farely heavy object.

Sal put her finger up to her mouth, motioning for Walkerton to be silent.
Walkerton nodded and crawled stealthfully along the sleek navy blue floor. Suddenly, an eerie but familiar feeling spread through him. He vibrated slowly and tightly crossed his legs. Sal heard the noise and turned back to look at him. "H-hafta po-o-o-tty...." he moaned. His sister clutched her forehead frustratingly.

"Mhy mow?" she frowned, talking with her laser gun between her teeth. She hoped that the aliens were too engrossed in their heavy object to notice.

But then the heavy object sat up and looked around. It was Dave. "Hey! Sal, Walkerton! Why are all these aliens around me?"

The aliens spun around and looked at the two intruders. The Head Alien nearly went through the roof. "Go do something bad to them!" he commanded, jutting his finger in Sal and Walkerton's direction.

Sal gave Dave her Evil Eye, which was usually reserved for Jason. Dave, still mostly out of the real world, merely rubbed his aching temple.

But the sister pilot wasn't one to give up. She removed the laser gun from her mouth and handily blasted the rampaging aliens. They fell limp to the floor after jolting from the lasers' impacts.

The Head Alien, albeit shocked from the immediate destruction of his troops, was otherwise emotionless. He produced a notepad and jotted down a few notes. "Must remember to supply troops with guns," he said outloud as he wrote.

Walkerton didn't miss a beat. He reached for his own laser gun and pointed it directly at the alien commander's head.

The Head Alien snapped his fingers, and more aliens appeared from behind the alien structures around them. "Oh, I wouldn't do that, Earthling," he warned. "Or my aliens will have to make your friend here watch several episodes of 'Saved by the Bell' in a row!"

Walkerton shuddered and lowered his weapon. Sal did as well. The Head Alien laughed as he had the troops remove their firearms and walk them toward him. "You see? My plan will work! This is the episode where I win!"

The caped commander marched over to Dave and stared him in the face. "You...I will deal with you first!"

Dave backed up and asked, "Hey, what did I do?"

The Head Alien turned, his cape whacking Dave in the head, and thought. "I'll, uhhh, think of something later." He went back into deep thought. "What can I do to this human?"

But like clockwork, Sal was already working her way out of this mess. The Head Alien suddenly felt pressure against the back of his purple helmet. "Freeze!" she ordered.

The Head Alien's arms shot up in the air. Then he slowly lowered them, saying, "Didn't I take away your weapons."

Sal was found out. "Er...maybe I made one from uh bag o' Doritos an' some pocket lint?"

Laughing again, the Head Alien turned to face her. "Funny. Too bad I'm gonna ice your human friend."

"Ice?" Sal cringed.

The Head Alien waved his arms around and added, "Well, it was YOUR idea."

"My idea?"

"Yep. I'm gonna carbon-freeze your cronie."

"Carbon-freeze my cronie?!"

The Head Alien stopped. "Is there an echo in here?"

"Well, it's certainly possible. The ceiling is quite far up," Dave informed. "I should know."

"Ah, yes, I see," the alien commander observed as he looked upwards. "But anyway, onward to the Carbon-Freeze Chamber!"

"Carbon-Freeze Chamber?" Sal frowned.

"Will you cut that out?!" the Head Alien screamed. The pilot shrugged as she, Walkerton, and Dave were forcedly marched out of the room.


A large platform that looked like an oversized metal tupperware container was their destination. After being shoved up the ladders leading to the top of the structure, Walkerton and Sal noticed that the Carbon-Freeze Chamber also overlooked the same bottomless pit as the previous area. Dave, meanwhile, was still a little dazed.

"Why?" Sal asked the Head Alien simply. "Why this Carbon-Freezing crap?"

The Head Alien carried his short body over to the chamber controls. "Oh, no reason. I'd merely put the human to sleep, but he's got a concussion, and we all know that's a no-no." He pressed a few final buttons and turned to face them, his cape smacking the computer screen. "And after I'm done freezing this human, I'll be ready to try it on you two!"

Walkerton was in one of his over-thinking modes again. "Why don't you just shoot us and save yerself the trouble?" Sal groaned.

"Oh, I need some door stops, that's all."

The alien troops pushed Dave toward the circular trapdoor in the middle of the platform. He stopped himself in front of the twins. He put his hands on Walkerton's shoulders. "Take care of her, will you?"

Walkerton, oblivious to the fact that Dave was about to get canned, grinned and shook Dave's hand readily. "Sure, Dave!"

The aliens nudged the copilot forward again, and he reluctantly stood over the trapdoor. The Head Alien slowly pulled a big lever down, and Dave lowered into the chamber accordingly. Mist and steam poured out of the gaping hole as Dave sunk, fogging up the vicinity.

"I love you!" Dave called out from behind the wall of vapor.

Sal frowned and folded her arms. "No ya don't!"

"I know," Dave said romantically. He was quite blatantly still acting strange from his bump on the head.

The Head Alien shouted, "Crap! It's jammed!"

Sal's face lit up. "Really?"

"Nope." The Head Alien slammed his claw down on the lever, and Dave disappeared into a burst of fire and ice. Walkerton and Sal screamed in horror. The Head Alien pressed another button, and a large block blasted out of the trapdoor and landed loudly on the floor.

Walkerton and Sal peered cautiously over the solid copper block. The agonizing form of Dave, frozen for posterity, was submerged in the block half-way.

"Hey, that's a pretty good likeness," Walkerton said in awe.

Sal was still partly in shock. "That's 'cuz it IS him, bro. He's frozen in carbonite, to coin a term."

Walkerton's face went limp. The realization that his friend was rendered comatose indefinitely sunk into his simple mind. He lowered his head.

The Head Alien laughed at his own evil.

And Walkerton's head lifted. But the sorrowing look he had previously was gone. Determined, the pilot yanked out his laser gun. "Alright, Mr. Head Alien! You just iced my pal!" The Head Alien was taken aback. "Prepare to get yours!" Walkerton warned as he aimed his firearm at the alien commander and fired.

Ducking, the Head Alien pulled out a large utensil from his belt. Waving it back and forth menacingly, he chanted, "Come to the dark side of the Spork!"

"The Spork?" Sal asked. She too had her blaster out.

The Head Alien explained, "You know! Half spoon, half fork! You can get them at Taco Bell, I think."

"Oh!" Sal smiled. "Thanks fer clearin' that up."

Unfortunately for the Head Alien, Walkerton wasn't finished yet. He stood up from the frozen carbonite block of Dave and ran in the Head Alien's direction. He fired two shots quickly, but the Head Alien easily jumped several times his own height to a higher platform.

Walkerton glanced up at the alien commander. "Hey! That's no fair!"

"Is it?" the Head Alien asked, as he pointed his Spork at the pilot and released an energy bolt from the end of it. "Good! I'm a bad guy. Bad guys aren't supposed to be fair."

Walkerton scratched his head. "They aren't?"

The Head Alien shook his helmet. The pilot snapped his fingers in disappointment. "Woo."

Slowly, the Head Alien descended from his perch, arms outstretched. He landed softly on the narrow bridge overlooking the deep pit. Walkerton was there instantly, battling the alien with his gun as if it were a sword. The Head Alien fenced back with his Spork.

Sal stood back. She knew not to get in the way when Walkerton was actually being productive. Not to mention she didn't get the pleasure of seeing her brother at work often. Presently, a thought hit her. She saw the missiles several feet above her, ready to launch. If she could only stop them...

Meanwhile, Walkerton and the Head Alien were pretty even in their fight.
Walkerton faired well despite he was jabbing at his opponent with a laser gun. The Head Alien, though a good fencer, was slightly less effective due to his short arms and legs.

"Aack!" Walkerton gasped. "You're good!" He swung his laser back and forth desperately.

"Really?" the Head Alien asked modestly. He swung his Spork back and forth desperately.

Walkerton nodded. "But I bet there's one thing that I know that you don't."

"Yes, Earthling?"

"I--" Walkerton tossed his gun up in the air and caught it in his right hand, "--am
not left-handed!" He lunged forward with new strength.

The alien commander backstepped. "And you know what? I'm not left-handed either!"

"Figures," Walkerton frowned as he swiped ferociously, "you've got a claw on that arm."

As he continued his fighting, the pilot reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag of Doritos. He had been fighting for some time, and he was beginning to show some signs of fatique.

The Head Alien looked up between slashes. He spotted Sal high above him, climbing up the steep wall towards the missiles. He returned to the battle, and with one quick swipe of his Spork, he removed the Doritos bag from Walkerton's grasp.

Walkerton watched in horror as his beloved bag of snacks plummeted down the chasm. The Head Alien anticipated his final blow, but by the time he had brought his weapon out to where Walkerton was, the pilot had already lept down the pit after his Doritos.

"Nuts!" the alien commander cursed. "I missed!" But the caped alien's attention was returned to Sal clinging to the missiles above.

Walkerton was falling. "Falling" is putting it simply, but that's exactly what he was doing. For a very long time.

Lights along the tunneling walls of the pit blurred into each other as he fell, creating a psychodelic atomosphere. Walkerton began no not like this experience. First of all, his Doritos were falling out of reach. Second, his eyes were beginning to water from the air resistence. Third, he figured he would eventually splat on the ground very messily.

So Walkerton began to flap his arms like a bird. So that didn't work very well, but it was all he could think of at the time. He wished he had snatched Dave's jetpack before he had jumped after the Doritos.

But Dave was frozen. "Dang," he frowned. He stretched out his arms and legs and decided to enjoy the view while he could. But then he remembered the missiles, which were set to launch on Denver at any moment. And the other missiles around the world, ready to destroy every major city on Earth. That would not be a good thing.

So he fell. It was all he could do at the time.

Several miles below, the bottom to the pit opened abruptly, and the downtown of Denver was displayed. Walkerton gasped at the sudden awareness of how high he actually was, and shrieked.

With the sense of time running out as he careemed toward the bottom of the alien ship, the next few miles to the opening above the city cruised by. Before he knew it, Walkerton was practically out of the ship itself. He mentally said goodbye to all his friends, and a second later, he was done. He closed his eyes tight and waited for the imminent end.

"YEE-OWW!!!" Walkerton yelled as he was whip-lashed by his sudden halt. He reluctantly opened his eyes, and he saw the skyscrapers down below him. He screamed again, but remembered he wasn't falling anymore. He looked up, and saw that he was caught on what looked like a television antenna sticking out of the bottom of the ship.

Walkerton quickly pulled himself upright so he was sitting precariously on the structure. He wished Sal were there. She always knew what to do.


WHAM!! And Sal was there. She was a bit shaken, as would be expected. She opened her eyes and gazed around. She recognized her brother, and cheered up a bit.

"What happened?" Walkerton asked.

Sal gasped for breath. "I tried ta dismantle the missiles, but the Head Alien gots to me first." She lowered her head. "Things don't look too good, bro'."

Walkerton looked up into the belly of the ship. The missiles were too far up to be seen. "How're we going to get out of here, sis? Those things are going to launch any minute!"

"Yeah, an' you without yer Doritos."

Walkerton blinked. "Hey, I was going to say that!"

Sal shrugged. "Twin intuition."

At that moment, the stealth bomber appeared beneath them.


"How'd you find us?!" Walkerton asked in awe as he took the flight controls.

Jason fixed his bow tie. "Oh, a mix between skill, luck, and instinct."

Sal frowned as she took a seat in the back. "In other words, I radioed them on the way down."

Jason shrugged.

Mike glanced out the window. "You know, we don't have much time left! Those stupid missiles are going to destroy this retched town any second!" He folded his arms as he stood behind Walkerton's chair.

"Where's Dave?" Jason asked, looking around the cockpit. Sal glanced at the floor.

"Er...let's just get outta here," Mike frowned.

Sal stared the soldier down. "I don't think so, mister! There's mill-yin's o' people out there countin' on us to stop these darn aliens!"

Mike frowned. "Oh sure. Whatever."

She faced front again, commanding, "Alright! Now swing back up by the top of the ship!" Walkerton pressed the "GO" button and the ship jolted forward.

Static burst through on the radio. Walkerton fumbled around with his hand, searching for the receiver. He picked it up and answered, "Yeah? Yo? Hello?"

"Sstttscckk...He--Scchtitiifiksxxssksttssssssss...."

"Woo," Walkerton replied, "I think you should do something about that cold. You
sound terrible!"

"Walkerton! This is Pilot Joyce, Squadron 128!" The voice came through loud
and clear.

The Doritos-loving pilot grinned widely. "Yeah? Hi, Joyce!"

Joyce's voice was shaky. She didn't sound very happy. "Walkerton, the alien's are going to fire! Has anyone on your team in Denver done anything?"

Walkerton swung the control yoke back and approached the other side of the aliens' ship. "Er, not as such. Not really."

"Nope!" Mike sulked. "As if."

Joyce paused. "Well in that case, I suggest--"

The radio deadened.

The belly of the alien ship glowed with intensifying brightness.

In slow motion, Walkerton turned to look out the cockpit window. The entire city radiated green, reflecting off the ship's light.

And all too soon, a horrible thick ray of destruction bore into the core of the city...

TO BE CONTINUED...