NOTICE! I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters, one of which was introduced, the other still to come.
"I don't like her," Chopper muttered as he and Hogarth walked down the stairs to the doctor's office, escorted by Mud. The reindeer was currently in his Brain Point form. "She's mean," he continued, "Doesn't she know who she's working for?"
"I know," Hogarth said, "I mean, it's MY map, and she's got me polishing needles--"
Mud grabbed each boy by the shoulder. "I'll not tolerate a cross word about our captain!" he said angrily, "There's no finer officer in this world."
As the group entered the office, they saw a large, wide figure at the far side of the room. He had dark purple skin and a mostly bald head, save for three long hairs standing on his head. He was singing "100 Bottles of Beer", albeit in a strange language the two never heard before, and in a deep (though not baritone) voice.
Meegota beestas da reeb o teelah
Meegota beestas da reeb
Queesta nod, see-patalla
Nuveta beestas da reeb o teelah
Nuveta beestas da reeb o teelah
Nuveta--
"Dr. Jookiba!" Mud called.
The character, Dr. Jookiba (first name, Jumba, as stated by Midna in the first chapter), perked his head up when he heard Mud. "Oh! First Officer Mud!" Jumba exclaimed in his vague Eastern European accent, turning around to reveal a very odd face; it wasn't dark purple, like most of his body, but light brown. He had a dark purple, koala-like nose, a wide mouth, and oddest of all, he had FOUR eyes! No, he wasn't wearing glasses, literally had two eyes on each side of his head!
"You should have called ahead," said Jumba, "and told me you were bringing such fine, distinguished guests."
"BAKA!" Chopper said suddenly, dancing around with a pleased look on his face, "I DON'T ACCEPT YOUR COMPLIMENTS! KUNURA! KUNURA! KUNURA!"
Jumba and Mud gave Chopper a strange look.
Hogarth didn't pay attention to Chopper. He was staring at Jumba's strange features; the 2 skin colors on the same body (which wasn't SO important), the wide mouth, but most of all, the two sets of eyes! He remembered what George Liquor warned him about.
"An alien!" Hogarth whispered.
Just then, Mud put a hand on Hogarth's shoulder. The boy looked up.
"Is, er... Is your friend all right?" Mud asked, concerning Chopper, who was still dancing.
Hogarth looked at Chopper. "Oh," he chuckled, "he gets that way whenever he's flattered."
Mud arched his eyebrow. "Hmm... Well," he said, turning to the alien, "may I introduce Dr. Chopper, the financieer of our voyage."
Chopper stepped forward. "Hello!"
"Ah, good!" Jumba said, "Someone to help me and my patients!" He leaned forward. "It's not easy being a ship's doctor, you know."
"I know," Chopper replied, "Oh! This is my friend, Hogarth Hughes." He brought Hogarth in front of him.
"Ah, pleased to meet you, Hogarth," said Jumba, holding out a large hand.
Hogarth didn't do anything but glare at the alien doctor.
"Ah, don't be put off by my size," said Jumba, "I'm a doctor. It would be malpractice to hurt my patients. Oh! I've got something for you. Wait here." He turned and grabbed some Tupperware bowls (which were filled with something) from a nearby cot and gave them to the two in front of him. "Pleakley told me to give these to the financieer and his companion."
Hogarth and Chopper took the lids off the bowls to reveal a chunky, brown soup in each bowl. "He calls it Quadralope Soup," Jumba explained.
Chopper tested the soup in his bowl, putting his tongue in the soup. "...It's not bad," Chopper said, smiling a little, "It's pretty tangy, but also kinda strong."
"It's an old family recipe of his," Jumba explained. Suddenly, an eyeball popped out of Chopper's bowl! The reindeer screamed and ran behind Hogarth, dropping the bowl and spilling its contents. "In fact," Jumba chuckled, "that was part of his old family!" The alien then burst out in laughter, scaring Chopper. "Oh," Jumba laughed, "I'm only joking, junior doctor." He picked up the eyeball and popped it into his mouth. "They say laughter is the best medicine." He walked over to Hogarth, who seemed hesitant to eat the soup. "Come, Hogarth, try some."
But Hogarth still didn't eat. Understandably, he didn't trust chunky fluids or odd-colored foods. Just then, he felt the spoon being pulled in the direction to his right! He let go of the spoon and watched it fly into the mouth of a small robot with a large head. It also had big, green, lamp-like eyes, a small antenna on top of its head, and a moronic expression on its face when it closed its mouth.
"Mmm..." the robot murmured, then shouted suddenly, "I LOVE QUADRALOPE SOUP!"
"GIR, you mischeivious prototype!" Jumba exclaimed, "There you are!" The robot, GIR, then opened its mouth again and sucked in the bowl, soup and all. It then patted its tin belly.
BURP!
Then, without warning, it ran over to Hogarth and hugged him, surprising the boy! "Wh-Who are you?" Hogarth asked.
"Hmm..." GIR pondered this a minute. "...I don't know!"
"He's ... a GIR," explained Jumba, "I believe it stands for Generic Information Retrieval. I bought him off of two Invaders at a seaport." GIR then ran up to and hugged his master, Jumba. "Heh," the alien chuckled, "He's very social, and followed me wherever I went. He also at least TRIES to befriend other people."
A bell sounded outside. Mud knew what that meant, of course. "We're about to get underway," said Mud, "Would you like to observe the launch, Dr. Chopper?"
Chopper's eyes started to sparkle. "Would I?" Chopper exclaimed, "I'm with you!" He then bolted up the stairs.
Mud went to follow the excitable young doctor. Hogarth was going to, as well, but Mud stopped him. "Young Hughes will stay here, in your charge, Dr. Jookiba."
Jumba spit out the soup he was eating. "Wait a minute, Officer--"
"Captain's orders!" Mud said, "See to it the new doctor's assistant's kept busy."
Both stammered, trying to stop Mud, but he left. The boy and alien sighed.
Jumba looked at his new assistant. "So, the captain put me in charge of you?"
Hogarth simply sighed, "Whatever."
"...Well, she IS in charge," Jumba digressed, "I can't argue with her, unfortunately."
"Yeah..." Hogarth said, picking an apple out of a nearby barrel, "...Y'know, these apples are kinda like the ones back at the inn my family used to work at ... IN JAPAN. Ever been there?"
"Hmm... I don't believe so," the alien doctor answered.
Nuts. That didn't get him. "...Come to think of it," Hogarth continued, taking a bite out of the apple, "just before I left, I met this old guy. He was, uh, looking for an alien buddy."
"Really?" Jumba said, not sounding at all suspicious.
"Yeah. Uh, what was that old coot's name? ...Oh, yeah. Liquor. George Liquor?"
"Liquor?" Jumba asked, "Liquor!? ...What an unfortunate name. Poor man. Well, I don't know anyone by that name. Must've been a different alien. There have been many alien encounters. Some may be happening in the port right now."
A whistle blowed up on deck. The two heard the First Officer's voice shouting, "Prepare to cast off!"
Jumba smiled. "Go now, my boy," he told Hogarth, "Watch the launch."
Hogarth walked out, all right, but he still gave Jumba a suspicious look on the way out.
When the boy left, Jumba looked up the stairs in suspicion. "...We should keep an eye on this one, GIR. It would be impolite to see or hear anything he shouldn't..."