“Hey kiddo, need directions?”

The kiddo in question froze like a deer in headlights. He scampered off like one, too. The dark-haired boy continued speeding away, his heart beating faster than nine out of ten doctors recommend. He felt bad; that other star ranger probably just wanted to help out a bug-eyed, twitchy, lost weirdo, but the less people who saw him, the better.

Straight ahead, a sign pointed to various terminals. He found his destination to the left and nearly ran down the crowded path, muttering stuttered apologies to every poor soul he inconvenienced.

So this was the spaceport. A crowded, disorienting mess that would’ve sent his anxiety through the roof if it hadn’t already left the stratosphere. He saw himself in the floor’s reflection, fearful, bloodshot eyes pried open by a days-long adrenaline rush. He had to keep running. From his old life, the issues that came from it, and the weakling in the mirror. Maybe the police, too? He didn’t know for sure and didn’t want to stick around long enough to find out.

The Celestion-5 would be his ticket out. It’d give him time to transform into an independent young man his family could actually be proud of. After all, it’d be pretty tough to bring him back home when he’s gone to Neptune!

For now, nauseated and on the verge of tears from the onslaught of people and noise, he felt a far cry away from the strong man he wanted to be. He scuttled off to the side near a display case. Inside stood an intricate model of the spaceport, the very same one his brother sent him a picture of last week. Its spectacular craftsmanship went unnoticed by most passers by. A shame, really, but it allowed the new star ranger some time to calm himself until he had to leave. His new life couldn’t wait, and the model was just another reminder of his old, useless hobbies.

Luckily, not many people needed to go to military boarding areas. The crowd thinned out near his destination, with only a few people lined up at a nearby pizza place. Its smell tempted the new recruit, but one of the benefits of looking like a malnourished stray animal was that people gave him food. One of the star rangers he travelled with split her McBeefy’s McBeeffast Burrito combo meal with him. Past the pizza place, he found himself alone at his terminal. This unfortunately meant the bored receptionist noticed him right away.

He perked up, shifting into a customer service-approved posture. “Are you with the Celestion-5?”

The new recruit nodded.

“The boarding area is right this way, ma’am.” The receptionist didn’t notice him cringe, but the only thing worse than the mistake itself was the reactions after correcting it.

With a nod, he left the receptionist behind and stood by the large windows in the seating area. A lone spaceship sat on the tarmac, the star-shaped silver and gold chariot that would take him away from this world. He couldn’t believe he got this far without getting caught. It felt illegal.

Probably because it was.

The bright afternoon sun seared his eyes. Sleepless nights finally caught up with him, and if unkempt hair and dark circles weren’t enough of a sign, his pounding headache sure was. Off came his orange backpack. He collapsed into the nearest chair, fishing out a pair of headphones. Only after taking them out did he realize they were useless without the phone he ditched the night he left. He couldn’t risk having anyone track him, whether it be the police or his mother.

Still, he put on the headphones anyway, leaving the jack in his backpack to appear somewhat normal. His arms hugged the backpack. Clutching it to his chest, he closed his eyes, drifting into the last nap he’d take on Earth. Hopefully the Clipper Man would leave him alone this time.

“Oh, there you are.” spoke a voice that may or may not belong to the Clipper Man. “Hello? Helloooo? Hey, Rookie 2! No, doesn’t sound right. Rookie Jr.? He’s not his son, that’d be weird. …Dang, he must be really knocked out. Should I just–?”

A finger tapped the boy’s shoulder.

“Please don’t cut my hair!” He covered his head.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you! Don’t worry, I don’t have any scissors or anything.”

Between his fingers, a guy with tan skin and a bleached blond afro stood in front of him, wearing a grey and blue version of the Interstellar Forces dress uniform. He raised his hands up peacefully.

“I’m Emil, lieutenant captain of the Celestion-5.” The lieutenant offered his hand to shake.

“I-I’m s-sorry, sir!” The new recruit stood up and shook his hand, trying not to wince at the crushing grip. Emil still had a good six or seven inches on his height like most other guys. Interestingly, he didn’t look that much older than the dark-haired ranger.

“Huh.” Emil looked over a paper. “Nobody named ‘Sorry’ is listed here. But there is somebody named Angelo. He looks a lot like you, don’tcha think~?”

He winked, turning the paper around to reveal his headshot. Printed next to it were the details he’d expect: Full name, Ángelo James Summers, a height and weight that barely qualified him for the IF, his rank, date of birth, among other things. A couple of the details were wrong, but this had been printed before he graduated from cadet to ranger.

“S-Sorry,” the new recruit apologized, “I’m Angelo, sir.”

“Ahhh you can drop the ‘sir’ stuff around me! Anyway, it’s nice to finally meet face-to-face after hearin’ so much about you!” Hearing what? His abysmal training records? Was this guy even real? “Everybody else’s waiting for you inside the ship, so as soon as you grab your bag, we can get going.”

Angelo put concerns on the backburner and his backpack on his back. He entered the boarding tunnel with the lieutenant, ready to leave the world behind.

“I heard you were a little shy, so I hope I didn’t scare you too bad when I woke you up.”

“It’s okay.” Wait, how did he know about Angelo’s personality?

“Glad you knew where to go. I was afraid I’d have to wander around the whole spaceport like I had to for Rookie.” The blond laughed to himself. “Did he tell you about that?”

“I don’t th-think so.” Though something about the story sounded eerily familiar to Angelo. “I don’t know anyone here yet.”

“Sure you do! You know–” Suddenly, Emil gasped. “Don’t tell me you don’t– Ohhhh, this is gonna be so good!” He rubbed his hands together, laughing way too ominously for Angleo’s comfort. Was he going to die today? “You probably think I look like a real weirdo right now, but just wait until you see. Wait until they all see!” He was definitely going to die today.

Angelo squinted when the two emerged out of the dim tunnel. August heat flooded the air. In the shimmering distance, the ship waited with its rounded silver body and golden wings.

“Say hello to the Celestion-5!” the lieutenant announced.

“Hello.” Angelo waved.

“Awh.” Emil chuckled. He continued walking forward. “It’ll take us to the end of the Solar System and back, now with a working TV!”

Angelo stopped. “Wait, I th-thought we were just going to Neptune.”

“We are. I know it’s technically not the end of the Solar System, but it is the last planet.”

“Th-That’s what I meant. I thought it was Pluto…? Wait.” He remembered something. “S-Sorry, I forgot it’s not a planet anymore.” Figures that would happen to his favorite one.

“Yeah…” Emil shared his sorrow. “Don’t worry, I used to forget a lot before this mission, but my brother makes sure to remind me.”

That made Angelo think of his own brother, as well as one of the fears plaguing him for the last few months. “Lieutenant…?”

“Galhardo, but you don’t hafta call me that.”

“Aren’t you s-scared of going so far away?” He rubbed his knuckles against each other. “How do you know for sure we’ll come back?”

“My big bro is one of the best pilots there is!” Emil pointed at himself. His orange-brown eyes glistened in the sunlight. “I know he’ll get us back safely.”

Angelo would say something like that about his own brother. “Oh, your brother’s th-the captain? That must be nice...”

Underneath the ship, they entered a metallic green room. Its door shut behind them soon after. Spooky, but not spooky enough to make him forget how much he missed his brother.

“That must be him now. You can put your backpack wherever you–” Emil noticed Angelo’s drop in mood. “Hey, what’s the matter? Havin’ second thoughts about the mission?”

“No.” Though he brought up the concern, it wasn’t for his own sake. “S-Sorry, I was just thinking about my brother. I miss him a lot.” He put his backpack near the wall beside cubby holes filled with jet shoes.

“I’m sure you’ll get to see him again.”

The lieutenant made his way back over to Angelo and shook his shoulder. Panic shot through his body on contact. His eyes darted around, and his breath quickened as he felt himself lose touch with the here and now.

Emil yanked his hand back. “Shoot! Sorry, I should’ve asked if you were cool with that first. Are you gonna be alright?”

“No, no, it’s fine!” Shaky breaths contrasted Angelo’s words. He tried to stabilize his breathing. “Sorry, I-I’m okay, really.”

“My brother’s not a big fan of being touched either.”

“No, it’s not that, it’s just… People grabbing my sh-shoulders–It’s weird.” He walked toward the spiral staircase at the back of the room, hoping to leave the conversation behind. His eyes landed on a room near the top. A perfect distraction. “What’s th-that room?”

“That’s our burner room. We use it to burn waste products, if you catch my drift. Helps save fuel on the ship!” Emil caught up to him. “You can go upstairs. There’s a button at the top that’ll let you into the next floor.”

“Thank you.” Angelo scaled the stairs and did as told. He walked up through the circular door in the ceiling, into a yellow, cylindrical room with another staircase waiting for him. Four normal doors lined the bottom. “And th-thank you for trying to cheer me up.”

“No problem!” The blond followed. “I can’t let a sad face stick around the ship for too long.”

What a sweet sentiment, though Angelo knew his presence would put those words to the test. He liked Emil so far. The lieutenant might’ve been a little strange back in the boarding tunnel, but maybe he was just excited, no reason to be afraid. Easily excited people made the world a better place to live in. Angelo appreciated their existence, even if it wasn’t enough to make him stay.

He finally joined Angelo on the base of the second floor, then passed him to go up the next staircase. “‘Scuse me, I need to go up first so I can hype up your entrance.”

“You’re really nice.” The words spilled before he realized how it sounded coming out of his mouth. “Please don’t think I’m flirting with you! I-I know you can probably t-tell I’m, y’know, but don’t think I’m hitting on you or anything! I’m s-so s-s-s–I apologize if I made you uncomfortable!”

Emil stopped in his tracks. “I’m gay.”

Angelo froze, stunned.

“It’s probably a good time for me to mention that romance is kind of a no-no on the ship, but I know what you meant.” Emil leaned on the railing. “You thought I would take any compliment as you being into me and get all grossed out, right?”

Emil read him like a book. Angelo nodded.

“You don’t gotta worry about all that here.”

Angelo marveled at Emil as he climbed the rest of the stairs. He felt bad for staring, but couldn’t look away. If he could give him a hug without being weird about it, he’d do so in a heartbeat.

The lieutenant knocked on another circular panel on the ceiling. He spoke down to Angelo. “Just making sure people aren’t standin’ up here. You can come up a little.”

Angelo did so, stopping midway up when Emil gave him the signal to. The door slid open, allowing the latter into the next floor. He still kept the lower half of himself on the second floor to keep the door open. Because of this, Angelo could hear the voices of his fellow crewmates.

“You’ve brought him with you, yes? Our new comrade?” spoke a girl’s voice. “Bring him to us!”

“Hold your horses Roxie, I gotta set the mood.”

“Ahhh! I can’t believe this is finally happening!”

That voice. Angelo knew that voice, but he had to be imagining things. There’s no way it could be him, right?

“Please bring him up? I feel like I’m gonna die of excitement before he gets here.”

No, no, it couldn’t be. Not him. Not here. Not now. Angelo’s heart desperately tried escaping his throat. He remembered thinking he would die today. He’d rather be dead than scale those steps, knowing who waited on the next floor.

“Shhhh! You’re gonna spoil the surprise!” Emil scolded, not knowing the surprise was already spoiled. He cleared his throat. “Now, for the moment we’ve all been waiting for! The final addition of the Celestion-5 has finally arriived!”

He stuck his hand down through the door, motioning for Angelo to come up. The latter could barely find the strength to move his legs.

“Give a warm welcome to–” Emil looked down through the door. “Come on up, don’t be shy!” He returned to the others. “Give a warm welcome to the new guy in town,” Emil stepped into the room as Angelo’s head poked through the door, “Angeloooo Summers!”

Angelo entered the small teal room to applause from Emil and a handful of strangers. It all faded into background noise upon hearing the surprised gasp of the one person who knew he shouldn’t be there.

“Ángie, is that you??”

He locked eyes with his older brother, Leon Summers.