a/n: this one actually follows canon, somewhat! (still set in 2018!)

(Cream is the tall one from Underdog vs. Overcat)

(i dont think this one is actually canon)

(...) (...)

Tubby huffed and opened his eyes. Still in a spaceship. That was real, huh?

"Stringer?" Tubby asked, trying to shake his boyfriend awake, to no avail. "Oh, boy. He must've hit his head bad…" he stood and started to walk toward the door, "Scotty! Scotty! Oh, where are you-"

He froze, just tall enough to see out of the window in the door. Outside of them stood the pure black void with white pieces of glitter in the vastness of space. Tubby clutched his chest and hitched his breathing, rushing to the control panel and trying his hardest. He hit a button on the radio and hoped to God something worked.

One click.

"H-hello?! This is the Beagles, out in space! Can anybody hear me?!"

Tubby couldn't force himself to keep his mouth closed while breathing, he was about to have a full-blown panic attack.

"Oh, hello Beagles, yes, this is Professor X calling here. Are you alright?"

"Alright?" Tubby spat back, "No, we're scared to death!"

"Ah, Tubby!" exclaimed Scotty, "Quickly, now, the Professor and I are about to hook up to a nationwide broadcast. The whole world is waiting to hear you sing your new song from outer space!"

Tubby panted, "We're lost in space and all you care about is our career?!"

"Well, Tubby-"

"STRINGER'S KNOCKED OUT!" Tubby exclaimed, tears falling and unable to hold his anger, "I can't! Get us home!"

The Professor came back then and Tubby could only imagine Scotty was actually feeling remorse for once.

"Tubby, you're going to have to steer home, I can't remote you back! Do you think you can?"

"If breaking through the atmosphere doesn't kill me first," he muttered flatly, voice shaking but emotionless.

"You won't die. The rocket's completely heat-proofed!"

Tubby wanted to shoot back about how it was controlled by nothing but a lever in the ground, no failsafe, no emergency stop but he didn't have the mental capacity to.

Hanging up, Tubby turned to the wheels and had no idea what to do. Standing up and looking through everything, he certainly saw some blue-and-green orb. Was it paler than Earth or were those his glasses. He turned the wheel that way and headed back to Stringer, picking him up and doing his best to secure him into the seat.

He hardly did it quick enough, because soon enough Tubby figured they'd entered orbit and the whole rocket was shaking. Rushing back to his seat, he tried his hardest to do any buckle, which was quite the task between his shaking hands and turbulence.

Soon enough they'd crashed again, on the ship's bottom. Tubby panted and pawed at his face, trying to calm down before leaving. From the sight of things, Tubby had landed in some sort of park, if anyone was gathering nearer he didn't see them.

Unable to calm himself, Tubby undid the poorly-put-together buckle and stood. He collapsed in front of Stringer's case and worked the locks, taking out the guitar.

"Sorry Stringer," he whispered, "Johnny's the only weapon I got."

It was suddenly so much heavier than it'd ever been. If Tubby had a bow, he would've used that, but unfortunately he didn't. Flinging open the door, Tubby stepped out into the park. He was surrounded by cream tabby cats on all sides, all wearing shorts and floral shirts like they were vacationers to Hawaii.

One tall cat in a red floral shirt stepped forward. Tubby's grip around Johnny's neck tightened.

"...hello?" asked the cat.

Tubby let out a breath, "Hello."

"What's your name, friend?"

"Tubby. You?"

"Cream. May I ask your business?"

Tubby motioned to the ship, "My uh…" he cleared his throat, "Friend and I accidently got blasted out of Earth. He hit his head pretty hard and we… need to get back and to a hospital."

Cream's eyes went wide. "Oh," he turned away and cut his arms through the air, dismissing the crowd, "Cheesecake!"

A slightly shorter cat rushed up, coconut in hands.

"...Cream?"

"Hi. Can I steal your ship for a bit? These people need to fly home."

Cheesecake took a drink of the coconut through a straw and shrugged, turning around. Cream turned back.

"Do you have anything else in your ship?"

"I do," Tubby answered softly, "Just two things but… they're kinda heavy."

"I lifted heavy things all the time," Cream laughed, "I can lift it. You carry that knocked out friend."

Tubby felt his face tighten and felt the need to start crying again. Voice cracking, he nodded, "Thank you so much."

Tubby headed back into the ship and placed Johnny back into his casing, picking up his still knocked out boyfriend in his arms. Cream didn't seem to be struggling with either instrument, though did look a bit confused at what they were. Tubby smiled at him gratefully, and Cream lead him across the grass and sand to a short rocket that looked like a cat's head.

Cream set down an instrument and opened the door before heading them in and placing them in the back.

"There's only two seats," he informed.

"Stringer's sat on my lap before," Tubby responded quietly, "I don't think he'd mind."

Cream looked at him, a bit confused, but didn't say anything. In the seat, Tubby held Stringer closer, shallow breathing against the fur of his ear strangely comforting. At least he wasn't dead, Tubby told himself.

Cream put on a suit quickly and popped his knuckles, starting to fly away.

"I assume you live on Earth, Tubby?"

"What country?"

"America. New York, Manhattan Island."

"Oh!" Cream exclaimed, "I've been to Manhattan Island. Say, does Underdog still live there?"

Tubby blinked, a bit surprised this cat from another planet knew Underdog. "Y-Yes. I believe he lives with his roommates Shoeshine and Polly in the floor below me."

Cream's eyes sparkled, "Neat! He beat up our king once, you know."

"...no I didn't know."

"Mhm! Our planet ran out of milk, and Earth was the nearest planet with milk, so we stole all your cows and then Underdog came and beat up our king and now we have a democracy!"

Tubby hummed, deciding not to comment on the state of their own.

"Well, it just became a democracy. The last royal, Overcat's sister, had a litter but she ran off somewhere."

"Mhm?"

"Yeah! So we gave Earth their cows back and we got a bunch of coconuts!"

Tubby blinked and tilted his head. "Why didn't we give you our goats."

"...goats?" Cream repeated.

"Sure. They have milk. ...not much else you can do with a goat, I don't think."

Cream's eyes shone. "Do you drink milk, Tubby?"

"I. Uh. I eat something with milk in it a few times a year," he cleared his throat, "I'll um. Buy you some goat milk and give you the recipe, as a thank you."

Cream smiled.

(...)

Tubby lived up to his promise and called Scotty as soon as he got home, who was very relieved to hear him again. Tubby changed his clothes, ordered a pizza, set Stringer on their bed, and called Professor X to apologize for leaving his ship on some strange cats-that-aren't-lactose-intolerant planet. Soon enough, Tubby had food and Stringer had woken up.

"Hi," he said, quietly.

"Stringer!" Tubby exclaimed, shooting up and hugging his now-sweatered body. "Are you okay?"

"I have a pounding headache and I'm absolutely starved and parched and exhausted, but I think I'll live. Why did I wake up in a spacesuit?"

"Because Scotty had some weird stunt and we were in space for a few hours."

Stringer tilted his head, "Did you get high when I was taking a nap? What kinda trip did you have?"

Tubby laughed and smiled, just hugging him tighter and being very glad he was okay. "Whatever. I'm glad your okay. You got real hurt in my… trip. I bought a pizza.

"Can I have some?"

"Of course you can."