Chapter Twenty-Three: Photo Album

Chug waited for Tunneler to fully waken so he could let him know what he was going to do. Tunneler was delighted to have his drill finally cleaned after two days, and asked if he could get it to work again.

"I'll try my best. The space between the base of your drill and your head is very slim." Chug said and grabbed all the cleaning tools he had.

"What about my leg?" Blade asked, really wanting to get out of the chair and walk around.

"I don't have enough material for the bone structure, the last of it went to repairs in the engine room. Titanium steel is a popular choice but the raw material is stored away at one of my safes." Chug said, putting a sci-fi screen above Tunneler, the same kind he used on Blade back at the cabin, placed a barber's sheet around him and began his work.

He used a wide fan brush to brush first to get any fine residue left on the drill, then used a stiff brush to sweep it, and finally a compressed air duster for the finer grains before wiping him down with a damp cloth and polishing him. He fitted the air duster with a thinner nozzle and sprayed in the slim space, watching as a big poof of dust exploded from the back if Tunneler's head.

"Pray that Six didn't see that." he said, the puppets nodding. Jester covered his mouth to try and stifle his giggle until he started to shake.

"Go ahead, Jess." Tunneler sighed and Jester let loose. Jester laughed so hard he fell and rolled around, holding his stomach and kicking his feet in the air.

Chug grabbed a brush with long, soft bristles and wedged it between the slim base, getting more white dust and finally used a black needle thread to floss between. The thread suddenly caught on something and snagged.

"Um, . . ." Chug gently pulled at the thread but it didn't move. "Is there any chance that your drill can be removed?"

"Yes, but I rather you wouldn't." Tunneler said.

"How 'bout a private room?" Chug asked.

Tunneler looked thoughtful then nodded.

Chug picked up the chair Tunneler was sitting in and took him through his bedroom and through the other room. The other room revealed to be a workshop and chemical lab.

"Alright, how do you remove your drill?"

0~0~0

Jester had finally calmed down and climbed back into his chair, still giggling. "You know, I don't mind having a master that doesn't keep watch on us all the time, but . . . I don't like being left alone with nothing to do." he panted.

"Me neither, but at least you're not confined to sit on your butt all day." Blade said.

"True, but I don't see any real books anywhere. Or a sketch pad or -"

"Well then have a look around and tell me what you find." Blade suggested, getting a headache from Jester's whining. He loved Jester, he really did, but man could he whine!

Jester hopped out of the chair and looked around as Blade suggested, calling out things he spotted. "Hey! A book!" he exclaimed happily, nabbed it and scurried back up the desk and sat in his chair so that Blade could see its contents as well. "It's a photo album!"

"Finally! Something useful!" Blade said and leaned forward to get a better look.

Jester opened the book to show that it was the Brothers' baby photo album. The first picture was a small 3x3 picture framed in lace of two infants spooning, in their pajamas and sleeping. The infants looked like animals instead of aliens. One had blue hair and tail that resembled a fox's tail, long lashes, wearing a blue space nebula jammies and was spooned up behind the other one, an arm around the other's waist. The other one was smaller, had a black ringed tail like a racoon, a full bandit mask, brown hair and was wearing a pale pink onesies with white footies.

The Blue Fox and the Coon Kid was printed in fancy curls underneath it.

"Wasn't one of Kokiri's aliases The Blue Fox?" Jester asked.

"I think so." Blade answered.

Jester turned the page and found the same picture from the net. The footnote stating their age, the day and what was happening at the time. Chug was seventeen years old and Kokiri was eighteen. The date stated October 25, 1934 and that they were vacationing in New York, New York.

"1934?! That can't be right." Blade said.

"Aliens, Blade. Maybe they can time travel." Jester said and turned the page.

The next picture was monochromatic and it was of Kokiri sitting at the piano. The picture was at an angle capturing his face in perfect lighting. The details said Kokiri was eighteen, they were at one of their homes in Detroit, Michigan, also vacationing. The year was 1993.

"Yep, time travel." Jester said and turned the page.

The next picture was of Kokiri again, except they seemed to be at a castle or a hotel because Kokiri was leaning on a stone balcony, his attention at the camera and he wasn't wearing his glasses. The picture showed his eye color to be dark emerald green, and he his lashes seemed to be longer and his shirt was a dark blue. His expression looked to be either tired or bored, they couldn't tell. The footnote saying he was eighteen, and was on leave for some RxR.

The next picture was of Kokiri again, but it wasn't a close up. They were clearly at a Caribbean beach because the picture was that of Kokiri surfing a large crystal clear aquamarine wave that was curling over. The picture also showed three large black fins in the background behind Kokiri.

~Kegs surfing with the orcas.~

The next one was a profile shot of Kokiri with orange city lights blurred in the background. The next one had him again bathing in a pond and smirking at the camera without his glasses, another one where he was completely nude but his tail provided a little decency, his back was turned and he was smirking at the camera again and without his glasses again.

Most of the album's contents consisted of Kokiri. There were maybe two or three pictures that had both of them in it, one made Jester sad and nearly cry. It was of Kokiri again, in his usual black attire, but he was in bed with an old looking grey-haired woman who he held in his arms. The footnote said it was the first and last time he slept with his mom.

There was another one that was a bigger version of the small 3x3 picture, the note stating, ~Two Brothers sleeping together for the first time. Picture taken by Amanda.~

"There's no date?" Blade asked.

"Nope." said Jester and flipped the final page.

It was the brothers, the old lady and another person all sitting around a campfire. Chug was sitting next to the new person, holding an acoustic guitar, the new person held a violin, the old lady had a tambourine and Kokiri was roasting a fish over the fire, wearing his sunglasses.

"Who wears sunglasses in the middle of the night?" Blade pondered. "The guy's truly weird."

"It says they were camping at their Colorado Ranch, Amanda's last night with her adopted son." Jester said, feeling very sad.

"Does it list names?" Blade asked.

"Kegs, Chug, Amanda and Panther." Jester answered.

"Well, we know who Chug and Kegs are, Amanda must be the old lady, so that leaves Panther as the last person." Blade said.

"Well, it's clear that the Kid is very fond of his brother. The album's nearly full of him." Jester said.

Noise came from the direction of Chug's room and they looked to find Torch emerging from the room, rubbing his eyes and . . . cooing? The image burned into their brains screamed 'BABY!' and then it hit them. Torch was a baby. He was still practically an infant, and Jester cooed himself and thought Torch looked absolutely adorable he cooed loudly, almost squealing.

.

Torch looked up, eyes flashing in surprise when he heard Jester's familiar coo. "Guys! Wha . . . What are you doing here?" he asked, backing up towards the room.

"Blade needed surgery for his leg but the kid hasn't got all the parts so he went to clean Tunneler's drill and now here we are!" Jester said happily, his hands up in the air.

"Um, how are the others?" Torch asked, bringing his arms up close to his chest and backing up some more.

"Six and Pinhead are asleep." Blade said, watching Torch.

"Okay, um, where's uh, . . ." Torch began but turned and ran back in the room.

"Aw, he's shy." Jester cooed. "He really is just a baby, after all."

"Yeah, I s'pose you're right." Blade sighed and leaned back in his chair for some shut eye. "Wake me when we're back on Earth."

0~0~0

Back on Earth near the Bodega Bay coast a shooting star flew into the horizon. It was night time so the star was easy to see, but it wasn't a shooting star. It was a small alien probe crashing into the ocean.