NOTICE! I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters.
Now, this is kind of a musical chapter, but the song goes in Hogarth's head, as stated here.
Hogarth worked his butt off for most of the voyage. It wasn't easy being the doctor's assistant. He had many of the jobs a cabin boy did, like scraping barnacles off the underside of the ship, cleaning needles, and swabbing the deck. As he worked, a song went through his head.
I am a question to the world,
not an answer to be heard,
or a moment that's held in your arms,
and what do you think you'd ever say?
I won't listen anyway
You don't know me
and I'll never be what you want me to be,
and what do you think you'd understand?
I'm a boy -- No, I'm a man
You can't take me and throw me away
and how can you learn what's never shown?
Yeah, you stand here on your own
They don't know me
'cause I'm not here,
and I want a moment to be real
Wanna touch things I don't feel
Wanna hold on and feel I belong,
and how can the world want me to change?
They're the ones that stay the same
They don't know me
'cause I'm not here
One night, Hogarth was unable to sleep up on deck, so he went back down into the resting quarters. He found Wapol, Mr. Turnbuckle, Hammer Bro, Salacious B. Crumb (a Kowakian Monkey-Lizard, and the only other alien aboard), Jumba and GIR around a table. Jumba was telling a tall tale, and he was very good at it with GIR's holographic help.
The next day, the whole crew came down with a disease. Hogarth and Jumba were the only ones who weren't ill, and they had to cure the crew members with needles. Or at least Jumba did. Hogarth had to stay downstairs and clean the medical supplies. When Jumba crashed a pile of needles in front of Hogarth and left without a word, Hogarth stared in the direction Jumba went in disbelief, then angrily proceeded to clean the needles, a risky business, of course.
That night, Jumba found Hogarth asleep with a clean needle nearby. He looked up and, to his surprise, he found all the supplies cleaned and placed neatly in their cabinets and things. GIR looked up at Jumba hopefully. The doctor smiled, rubbing the back of his neck, put the needle in its proper place, and placed his doctor's coat on Hogarth's back to keep him warm. Hogarth felt the sudden warmth and opened his eyes a bit to see Jumba's feet walking up the stairs. The doctor's assistant smiled and went back to sleep, thinking Jumba wasn't so bad after all.
The next day, the song continued in his head.
and you see the things they never see
All you wanted, I can be
Now you know me, and I'm not afraid,
and I wanna tell you who I am
Can you help me be a man?
They can't break me
as long as I know who I am!
And I want a moment to be real
Wanna touch things I don't feel
Wanna hold on and feel I belong,
and how can the world want me to change?
They're the ones that stay the same
They can't see me
but I'm still here!
The following evening, Jumba took Hogarth to the Jet Boat hangar. Now, Jet Boats were basically like speedboats, but you could manuever them on land, too. Jumba was teaching Hogarth to free the Jet Boats in case of an emergency. Hogarth did as Jumba told him for once. Jumba went into the boat and sped away, leaving Hogarth feeling a little sad. He remembered that day...
Hogarth woke up to the smell of smoke, and found to his horror that his house was on fire! His parents! Where were his parents!? He crawled through the burning house, calling out for them. Finally, he found his parents in their bedroom, but there was a huge wall of fire seperating them! Hogarth's parents shouted to him that it was too late to save them, and told their son to run to the Kusakabe Inn. They could take care of the boy! Hogarth didn't want to, but he did as he was told, and with tears streaming from his eyes, he fled the house to the Kusakabe Inn!
As Hogarth remembered this, the song continued.
They can't tell me who to be
'cause I'm not what they see
Yeah, the world is still sleepin'
while I keep on dreamin' for me,
and their words are just whispers
and lies that I'll never believe!
Just then, Jumba came back and invited Hogarth to jump into the boat! The boy smiled and accepted the invitation. Jumba then tried to teach Hogarth how to manuever a Jet Boat, but Hogarth already knew! He based the Rocketboard's mechanics on those of this boat's. He pulled a few switches and levers, making the boat speed off and surprising Jumba. As they followed a Blue Whale with the boat (yes, a gigantic Blue Whale!), the song finished up in Hogarth's head.
And I want a moment to be real
Wanna touch things I don't feel
Wanna hold on and feel I belong,
and how can they say I never change?
They're the ones that stay the same
I'm the one now,
'cause I'm still here!
I'm the one son still here
I'm still here!
I'm still here!
I'm still here!