Chapter Text
It had been a nice afternoon in Rainbow Gardens, Bricksburg's local park. A young boy, who was twelve years old at the time, had been sitting on the bench under the central tree. He frantically looked everywhere he could, keeping an eye out for someone he had been waiting for. He saw kids laughing, playing, even a few inviting him to join in. The boy on the bench sadly declined. His friend was almost here, he told them, he had to stay and wait. It was only polite.
He looked left, then right, then left again. There was movement behind him, grass and leaves crunching under approaching feet. The child looked behind him and saw his friend. "Hi, Mr. V!" The boy greeted as the friend sat down beside him.
"Hello, Emmet." He was a man, looked to be about 70 or so years old, hair and long beard already graying. He always wore a tye-dye shirt under what seemed to be a white bathrobe, as well as torn jeans and crocs. Emmet didn't know why he dressed this way, he just did. He didn't mind. He always had a sucker in his mouth too. Green apple. Emmet thought it all made him look cool.
Emmet always waited here in this spot everyday for Mr. V after school. Everyone thought he was a fool to wait for a man like this, they had always been scared something would happen to him. Nothing ever did. Emmet's mother knew Mr. V. They talked every morning by the cafe before she headed off to work. Both Emmet and his mother trusted him. "How are you doing this fine afternoon?" Mr. V had asked. Emmet began to swing his feet, which were dangling over the edge of the bench.
"I'm doing good! How are you?"
"Just great! Thank you for asking."
The boy noticed him reaching into the bag hanging from his shoulder. "Your mother wanted me to give you this, since she didn't have time this morning." Mr. V said as he handed Emmet a small sheet of paper with a drawing of him on it. In beautiful handwriting, it read: 'Love you Emmet! See you tonight!' Emmet smiled.
"Your mother said she'll be working a little later than normal tonight, Emmet." The child folded up the piece of paper and stuffed it into his pocket.
"That's okay!" His smile was still spread wide across his face. "Thank you!"
Mr. V returned a smile. "You're welcome, Emmet."
There they sat for what seemed like hours, watching people come and go from the park, birds landing for some snacks, kids jumping from the swingsets. Eventually, Mr. V had noticed the sun going down and had reminded Emmet of heading home. Of course, the boy complied, as odd things had been happening around Bricksburg the past few weeks. Emmet's mother had asked him not to worry about it, and he didn't. In fact, he preferred to stay out of it entirely. The only thing he had to worry about was getting home on time.
He stood up from the bench, collecting his things. Mr. V had given him an unusual trinket, as he does. This time, it had been a dollar-sign necklace much like one you'd find at a dollar store for children. Emmet thanked him and waved as he ran back home.
Emmet memorized the path home at this point. Take a left from the park entrance, then a right at the second turn. Left at first, then right again at the third turn. Their usual spot in the parking lot had been empty, meaning Emmet's mother had still been working. It was dark out. Hopefully she would be home soon.
He reached into his pocket to find their apartment key as he walked down each hallway. Door #14. Bingo. Emmet quietly unlocked the door, making sure not to wake any other residents who may have been sleeping. Opening the door, he placed his school backpack on the floor, leaning against the wall. Luckily, it was Friday night, Emmet wouldn't need it for the next few days. Closing and locking the door behind him, he pulled the piece of paper back out of his pocket. He flipped it over.
'Emmet, I'll be home around 11.' it read. Emmet looked at the clock on the wall. 8:34. 'Please make sure you're in bed by 10, there's some leftover chicken in the fridge for whenever you get home from talking with Mr. V. Love you, honey!'
Emmet, of course, did as he was told. He didn't want to disobey his mother's instructions now, did he? Of course not! He loved his mother, there was no way he was going to disappoint her.
It was, in fact, 9:30 when he decided to head off to bed that night. He stayed awake for a little while longer, reading one of his favorite comic books. He felt his eyes starting to feel tired and set aside the book for in the morning. He turned off his lamp and snuggled up under the blankets. He felt that familiar sense of security under his blanket, the warmth of his bed slowly, but surely helping him drift off to sleep.
Emmet awoke with a start. There had been loud rumbling coming from outside. What was that? Was he still dreaming? Who would be driving a big truck like that this time of night? The child looked over at the alarm clock on his bedside table. 3:42 in the morning?! Wait, that didn't sound anything like a truck! He could feel the rumbling! The walls shook and the windows rattled, and suddenly all at once it seemed to stop. While the rumbling had subsided, screaming sounds could still be heard. He scrambled out of bed and ran over to move his curtains from the window. That was odd, the moon seemed to be moving in the sky- no, that wasn't the moon! Something had been falling out of the sky, and it was on fire! It was on fire!!
Emmet panicked. Was his mother awake? How was she sleeping through this noise?! He couldn't hear his mother calling his name or even her footsteps. No, seriously, how was she sleeping through this?
Emmet just about jumped two feet in the air as the silence was quickly interrupted by a loud explosion coming from the park area.
The park! Emmet felt his heart skip a beat as he was weighing his options on what to do about this situation.
He was pacing around his room. "Okay," he whispered to himself, "what might be a spaceship just crashed into Bricksburg. Stay calm, Emmet, there's no reason to panic about this!" It was too late for that, he was already panicking and gripping at the edges of his shirt.
His night light flickered. That caught Emmet's attention. It flickered once more, then went out completely. The air conditioning stopped working, too. As well as his ceiling fan. Not to mention-
Emmet looked out the window. Several, if not all, buildings' lights have been going out! Whatever that spaceship or whatever hit, it must've been power lines or something. He weighed his options again. He could go check what crashed? No, he needed to stay home with his mother. Then again, he's only be out for a few minutes... He could take his bike.
He grabbed a flashlight, spare key, and his slippers and robe. On his way out to the living room, he gently opened his mother's door. He whispered, "Love you, Mom. Be back soon."
Bricksburg was quiet. Well, that wasn't entirely true, a few police sirens were going off near the center of the city. Emmet hoped he wouldn't run into any of the cops in town. He wasn't supposed to be out this late, as there was a curfew set by the president. He sped through the streets on his bike toward Rainbow Gardens, making sure to avoid any police lights he saw. He especially didn't wanna run into the chief, not here and not now.
There had been a few close calls, but he was slowly and surely making his way there. He saw the familiar entrance to the park and- of course, a police officer had been stationed there. Emmet hid behind a tree close to the entrance, hoping the officer would move from his spot soon. Luckily, there had been quite a few trees in the park itself that Emmet could maneuver through and hide behind as he made his way to the center.
He waited there for what seemed like forever before he heard something go off on the officer's walkie talkie.
'Jamison, you need t’ head back. Th’ president wants all cops accounted for, got it?' It was the chief. Emmet could tell from the accent. The officer did as he was told and left his position.
Emmet moved in.
Police talk.
A massive crater took up most of the park grounds. Emmet slowly inched over to it, careful of where he has been stepping. He wanted to go home to his mother in one piece after all. He nearly lost his footing when he reached where the ground had suddenly dropped, tree roots jutting from the dirt. He took the small flashlight out of his robe pocket and turned it on, struggling with the low batteries for a minute. He pointed the flashlight in the direction of the damage around him. Broken trees, uprooted trees, trees on fire. The trees took most of the damage. Not to mention one of the swingsets, and the slide and-
Oh no.
Emmet's heart sank as he ran over to where a broken bench lay in pieces. The same bench where Mr. V would wait everyday for Emmet. "No, no, no!" He repeated, just above a whisper. Emmet ran back over to the crater, fists clenched.
"Hey, what's the big idea?!" He yelled, quietly enough for no one but whatever was in the crater to hear. He slid down along the side of the crater to meet whatever was waiting within the smoke.
"You can't just go around breaking park benches, what the heck?!" As he got closer, the smoke began to clear up. “You better explain to me why you suck so much, Mr. Spaceman, because if you don't, you'll have to answer to these fists!" He raised his balled up fists as intimidation.
No answer came from the still settling smoke. Emmet scoffed and waved his hands around to disperse the smoke enough to get a clear view of what had landed in the center. "You're not even listening to me, are you?! I said, 'I'm gonna kick your-'" When the smoke had finally cleared, Emmet saw... well, what he saw certainty wasn't... human. It almost appeared to be a child . Whatever it was, it made Emmet stop in his tracks.
It may have looked like a child, but where children like Emmet had skin, they had space- actual space . Small galaxies swirled and stars dimly twinkled. From what Emmet could tell, he had been unconscious.
Emmet didn't know how long he stared at him.
"Oh..."