Venus

by ShadowCake

Summary:

An alien had been captured by the toons who inhabited the planet where his ship crashed.

The captain of the exploration team doesn't trust this being, but the captain of the research team convinces him to give it a chance.

Chapter 1

Local news reports that an unknown spacecraft crashed into one of the city's largest artificial plantations, and that living beings unlike ordinary Toons were spotted, fleeing upon sighting. The craft was sent to the Center of Gardenview for analysis.

As for the beings who escaped… only one of them was captured and taken to one of the best space troops for examination.

They assure us that we are all safe!

 

The sun rises on the horizon of Gardenview, waking up all the citizens of the city so they can start their own routines, sunlight hits the window of Captain Sprout's apartment, an important Toon for all citizens, he begins to groan and put the blanket more on his face so the sun doesn't hit his face and he continues sleeping.

Suddenly, a loud noise echoed through his room, causing him to get up in irritation and find the source of the annoying noise. It took him a moment to figure out it was the living room phone, and he got up irritably to answer it.

"I hope this is important…”

“Of course it is, Seedly... look, a toon was seriously injured when he tried to get DNA from that... uh... thing... we found last night…”

Her coworker's robotic voice made Sprout even more irritated. She's not part of Sprout's exploration team, she's the captain of the communications team, but since they're captains, they're forced to work together when major problems occur in the city along with the other captains from different sectors of the space facility they work in.

But Sprout is too tired and irritable to solve this problem, not to mention that he is on vacation and wanted to enjoy being a bum until the vacation is over and he can go back to work.

"And what's it got to do with me? It wasn't me or my team who captured this thing! If you want to solve this problem, I recommend talking to Shelly's team, the group that captured it and brought you the report! Now... if you'll excuse me... I'm going to spend my vacation doing something useful!”

“Sleeping late and doing nothing is not useful, I called you because one of your team members almost lost his arm because of this thing!”

Sprout is silent during the call, he wondered what his team was doing near an unidentified life form and what led this being to want to attack one of his members, this time he would obey Vee... not because she ordered him to, but because he is worried about the injured member of his team.

"Alright, I'll be there shortly."

With that, he puts the phone down, causing the call to drop. He walks to his room to grab his uniform and then leaves his apartment, changing into his uniform along the way.

 

Sprout tries to look at himself through the elevator glass. His uniform was all wrinkled, his scarf was dirty. He doesn't blame himself, because he was so comfortable on his vacation that he didn't even need to wash and iron his uniform. But at least he managed to fix his leafs a little... they weren't perfect, but It's okay.

The elevator doors open, and he sees that all the Toons are agitated, either by the occurrence of a new life form invading Earth or by the attack one of his team members suffered.

‘I wonder who it was…’

Sprout tried to move in the tight corridor, bustling with toons who kept moving. He finally saw in the background a Toon in a navy blue uniform and wearing a sleeping cap on his head. When he turned around, that moon-looking Toon was the captain of the health team, meaning he knows who was hurt. Sprout reached out his hand to try to reach the familiar Toon's shoulder even with the current movement in the work environment.

Finally, Sprout touched his shoulder, giving the toon a start, but he was soon relieved when he saw Sprout.

"Captain Sprout! You look awful... did you sleep well? I thought you were on vacation..."

"Good morning, Captain Astro... I was, until a certain computer woke me up and said one of my members was attacked by the new life form."

"Oh... Okay... come on, I'll show you where Looey is..."

"Wait... LOOEY IS THE ONE WHO GOT HURT!?"

Sprout shouldn't have been surprised by this. On every mission his team went to unknown planets, Looey was the first one to volunteer to distract any threat on that planet and was the first to set foot on unknown lands. But even so, what was Looey thinking, getting close to the new, unknown life form? He was going to find out anyway.

"Come... follow me..."

Sprout followed Astro down a corridor lined with glass cages. Some were empty, while others held living creatures from other planets for study.

Sprout was certain what happened to some of them when they misbehaved, and she didn't care one bit whether they were returned to their home planet, kept in captivity, or euthanized. The only thing that mattered to the exploration captain was that all the toons were safe.

Even so, he continued to see the cages. It was incredible how each life form had its own cage, each with features reminiscent of its own planet.

Sprout stopped at a new cage. He had never seen one before; it was probably the cage of the new life form they had encountered yesterday.

The exploration team captain squinted, trying to see if the being was there, only to consider whether it was large enough or strong enough to worry about the safety of the other toons. The problem was that the planet where this life form lived apparently had a lot of fog. ‘

How do he lives in a place like this? I can't even see anything!’

“Sprout?...”

Sprout turns in fright, seeing Astro far ahead, expecting Strawberry to follow him. The captain shakes his head and runs toward the moon to continue following him.

"Oh... nothing... I just hadn't seen that cage..."

"Yes, it's from the new life form we found yesterday... Captain Shelly's group tried to collect DNA and blood samples, but it was very aggressive... that's when Looey intervened..."

Sprout frowns and huffs angrily.

"Wasn't he on vacation like the rest of my team!?"

"Yes... but he wanted to be with his friends... since they're from different teams..."

"Right..."

The captain doesn't answer. He'll give a warning for Looey... maybe a week's suspension when his team returns from vacation, just to teach him that he's part of the exploration team and not from other sectors of the facility!

They finally reach the infirmary. Astro says goodbye because he has to care for other patients, leaving Sprout to try to find the room where Looey was recovering.

Sprout went to the rooms and checked the doors for Looey's name. When he reached the last room, there was Knowledge Captain 'Shelly,' the newest captain of the Garden View Space Corps. By the look on her face, she knew Sprout was coming and was waiting for him at the door where Looey was.

Sprout huffed and tried to push Shelly away, but she was quick to put her arm on the doorframe, stopping him.

"Mr. Sprout! Please, I'd like to talk to you!"

"Another time..."

The strawberry once again tries to cross but is once again interrupted by Shelly.

"L-look... it's all my fault... I asked Looey to get the samples for me-"

"I admire your responsibility, but I have to make sure one of my members is okay-"

"P-please, just listen to me for a moment..."

Sprout lost his patience and with all his might, he forced his way into the room, startling all the sick patients and nurses. Nurse Teagan went to see what was happening and was surprised to see Captain Sprout looking as bad as could be.

"Captain Sprout?... It's a pleasure to welcome you…”

Sprout was about to answer, but he turned and saw Looey with his arm completely destroyed. He was sleeping. Blot and Yatta were standing next to the bed where Looey was recovering.

They were both startled to see the captain of their balloon friend's team. The piñata and the mime stood up straight and greeted him.

"H-hello, Captain Sprout…"

"Looey okay?"

"Oh…he was answering this morning, but he was really tired because of-"

"The 'accident'? You guys seem to know more than I do, apparently…"

Yatta lost his voice and just looked down. Sprout crossed his arms, looking at them reproachfully. He was waiting for them to come up with a good excuse for him not to do anything about it. Before Yatta could answer, Shelly appeared in front of Sprout (much to his dismay).

"Sprout, they didn't mean it... it was an accident... and also, it was my idea-"

Sprout looked at the shell and its attempts to calm him down. He analyzed her words and had a better idea.

"Okay, you're right... it wasn't Looey's or his friends' fault..."

"O-oh! Really?"

"It was that thing's fault! I'll send a report to Dandy... This thing is very dangerous... and Looey is the proof of that!"

The shell was speechless, just wide-eyed and mouth on the floor. Sprout ignored it and walked away to send the report, leaving the room now quite agitated.

 

Sprout was in the hallway, about to enter the elevator, when he heard hurried footsteps coming toward him. He turned and saw the shell running; he could have sworn she was calling him.

‘Shit…’

He quickly entered the elevator and pressed the close button several times, but unfortunately, Shelly arrived just in time to hold the doors open.

Sprout huffs in disappointment and sees the shell crouching slightly, trying to catch its breath.

"Is there a problem…?"

He finally speaks, and this catches Shelly's attention.

"Mr. Sprout… please… you don't have to execute that creature… he might be very intelligent, and we can communicate with him!"

"The only form of communication it demonstrated was violence! What can you expect from something like him-"

"Please… give him a chance! I-I read your file…”

Sprout stops and pays attention to the shell as she talks about how he was like her, that no one believed in the impossible, unlike him, and said that it was possible to explore space and unknown planets, it was only by breaking some rules and getting a few ear pulls that he managed to prove that it was possible and become captain of the exploration team.

This bothered him greatly… it's one thing to say it was possible to explore planets personally… it's another to say the beings inhabiting those planets were friends! "Okay… okay… I'll talk to the supervisors and give you a week to prove your thesis…"

"W-what? Seriously!?"

Sprout was grabbing a pen and paper to hurriedly sign a few things inside the elevator.

"Yes… you're absolutely right."

Luckily, Shelly didn't notice his sarcasm and walked out of the elevator door, saying a bunch of thanks and things Sprout didn't mind, until the doors closed and he finally descended to the facility's exit.

Sprout will indeed send the letter to the supervisors, but in his own way, of course… Shelly will have one week to prove that the new life form is indeed friendly, but if it proves otherwise… the creature could be sent to the labs for testing and even to open its body to gain further access to discoveries. Finishing writing this, he signs it and delivers it to the reception desk.

‘Good luck, Shelly…’

Now he can finally leave the facility and go home to enjoy his vacation… And of course… when he receives news that Looey is awake, he will visit him.

Chapter 2

Three days had passed since Sprout was informed about the incident that "thing" had done to one of his team members.

It was raining today, and according to the radio, it would continue to rain for the entire month.

This left Sprout very upset and bored. He had several plans for his vacation, but because of the rain, 90% of his plans were ruined!

Worst of all, he also hated being home alone. He tried calling friends, but apparently they were all busy or didn't feel like doing anything with him.

Now he was lying on the couch, eating ice cream straight from the tub while watching a cheesy romance movie on TV, since it was the only thing watchable at that time.

He hated rain so much, but he vaguely remembered a time in his life when he really liked it. He thinks he stopped liking it when he started focusing more on his work and missions.

He also became bitter even when he became captain.

Sprout stopped eating when he had this thought.

‘I-I didn't become bitter... did I?...’

It was a futile thing to worry about, so what if he was? It wasn't important; he continued with his job, position, fame, and admiration. But it really bothered him… all the cursing and lecturing he'd given his team and all the other employees at the facility had invaded his mind and made him reconsider whether he'd been too rude to them.

‘That's… t-that's because I'm so worried about everyone… I do this to protect everyone! Like a father and a son! O-or… something like that… right?...’

The memory of being mean to Shelly hits him. She was new to the team, and like it or not, she had dreams just like he had when he entered the Startime facility… and he threw her dreams in the trash like the others had thrown theirs. But then he remembered what she had told him, and his heart didn't feel any heavier.

“Pft- Giving a chance to a being who almost killed Looey!? That's like asking a fox to live in a henhouse full of chickens!”

Sprout stood up and placed the tub of ice cream on the kitchen table. He thinks these thoughts are getting the best of him because he's stuck inside alone on a rainy day. He stared at the television from afar, watching the loving couple from the movie.

He doesn't even remember how they got together and fell in love.

But that gave him an idea!

Sprout has always felt alone since he moved to this city, he has his friends and crushes but they are not available all day, he could stop inviting a random coworker to come to his house for dinner, just to have sex after the meal and the next day they both work normally, pretending that nothing happened between them.

He can take one of the flings he had at work to the movies, even if it's raining, since parks and other places should be closed, also the movies would be a nice place to meet someone beyond sex.

This made Sprout very excited, he went to the living room again and turned off the television while looking for the phone book to call someone, he had several numbers and millions of women went through his head, now he needed to select some and decide which one would be the best one to share his apartment and build a life with.

"I think this will make me less... bitter... having someone will be good for me anyway-"

Sprout's phone starts ringing, and he's startled and wonders who it could be, at most, someone from work.

"If it's someone from work, it could really be a call from beyond, giving me a sign that this is the right person for me!”

Sprout walks over to the phone and picks it up, confident, thinking of various plans to make with his future companion. But his hopes are dashed when he hears a cheerful, loud voice on the other end, making him pull the phone away from his ear.

"HI CAPTAIN! HOW'S YOUR VACATION GOING!?"

"Since you asked... Blot and I are planning a surprise get-well party for Looey with his friends! And you're invited to come. Just don't tell him, hehe..."

Sprout never considered Looey a friend, just a coworker, and he feels Looey sees the same, but he believes Yatta thought everyone on the exploration team was friends... even though everyone has their own circle of friends.

But at least he could meet some new toons at this 'party,' but if not, at least he won't be alone all rainy day, and it might be interesting anyway.

"Okay... I'll be there soon…”

 

The last time Sprout had returned to the facility where he worked, he was completely exhausted, but since he was informed in advance he was able to dress appropriately for the occasion.

His clothes were pressed and freshly laundered, his leaf-like teal hair was shiny and tidy, and Captain’s face looked more open and clean. In his arms he was carrying a cake. He wasn't sure if Looey could eat it because of the nurses, but he knew the potential guests would probably eat it.

The elevator door opens, and the facility is now quieter and less crowded. He's unsure if it's because of the party Yatta and Blot are throwing or because that unknown creature was detained.

This prompts him to ask how Captain Shelly's progress is going. Her deadline is in four days. Not that he cares about her project or believes the idea of aliens being friendly is true... far from it!

It was more of a concern, she might have ideas that were too big for her, even crazy… but she was still part of the team… so Sprout set herself up as the protector of all the toons in that facility, making sure no one got hurt-

‘Oh! Right… Looey…’

Sprout snapped back to reality. He needed to go to the infirmary soon to check on him and see if the party had started. He walked down the hallway to the creatures captured and placed in cages.

"Captain! Captain! Captain Sprout!"

Sprout stopped in his tracks and looked back to see a shell coming toward him. He recognized it as Shelly.

"Good afternoon, Shelly... were you also invited to the surprise party?"

"Uh-huh... yes... but you know... I don't really like parties."

"No... I didn't know..."

"O-oh... ah! The creature!!! I wanted to show off my progress with it!”

Sprout raised an eyebrow. He's seen all kinds of creatures on different planets. He knows the results are the same regardless of species or planet, but he confesses he's very curious about the results. Whether they're positive or not.

"Right... I imagine he's in a cage where there's a lot of fog..."

"Yes! Yes! It's amazing how his vision is adapted for this!"

"Yeah... could you please give this cake to Yatta and Blot... you can have a piece if you want..."

Shelly nodded happily and took the cake from Sprout's arms before heading to the infirmary. Sprout sighed.

“Okay… I just hope he doesn’t kill me…”

 

The heavy steel door slowly opened, letting the artificial fog out and spread throughout the room. Sprout held a shock stick in his hand. Even though Shelly seemed to be making great progress with this being, he had his own doubts and personal experiences with seemingly harmless aliens.

When the door finally opened, he stepped inside and heard the loud slam of the door closing behind him.

"Oh shit... I can't see anything!"

Sprout turned on the stun baton and paced around the cage, squinting through the fog. He couldn't hear anything either, unsure if the creature was sleeping or if it was the fog that was doing this to the strawberry's ears.

"HEY!!! ANYONE!?"

It was a bit of a stupid move, since Sprout didn't even know what the creature looked like, but he'd been walking for minutes (or hours) and felt someone following him.

He stopped and saw a silhouette approaching, making him grip the stun baton tightly and prepare to fight if necessary. The silhouette came closer until it stopped and looked at Sprout.

"You're not Shelly... right?..."

Sprout's shoulders relaxed and he frowned. The fog revealed the creature a little better. He realized it was short, had greenish skin with black eyes, had a pair of antennae on its head, looked like a sweet treat... (a roll cake, perhaps?) and wore a black sweatshirt that covered its neck and hands with a pair of long, colorful socks that stopped at the his thighs.

‘I can't believe Looey was attacked by something like this…’

The creature became serious and frowned when it realized Sprout was staring at it too much.

"Is there only you here? How do you speak my language? And why did you invade Earth- or rather! Why did you attack one of my coworkers?"

The creature's expression began to sour and it moved away from the captain, its antennae twitching in discomfort.

"Where's Shelly?"

"Answer my questions first." "Huh… No? I don't even know who you are…"

"Captain of the exploration team, Sprout! In front of you…"

The lifeform raised an eyebrow and scratched its head, trying to understand what the strawberry had said.

‘Apparently he's not that smart…’

"Right… but it's a bit of a long name for a normal being, hehe…"

Sprout's gaze pierced the greenish being as he held back a laugh of him. He noticed but didn't seem to care.

"Captain is a title you earn!"

"But it still sounds kind of pathetic. You don't seem strong or threatening enough to earn a title like that… hehe…”

Sprout's smile is clearly forced, and his hand tightens on the shock stick. He wonders if this being is stupid or just playing dumb. Sprout believes this being doesn't think very carefully before speaking.

"You're too small to provoke someone bigger than you, you know?... Besides! It was beings from this planet who captured you... so I'm sure you're not strong enough, much less intelligent enough to judge…”

Their conversation was interrupted when the front door opened, leaving them both on alert, only to calm down when they saw Shelly arrive with a piece of cake and a balloon.

"Shelly!"

The creature walked toward Shelly and hugged her. She nearly fell during the hug and looked at the two when she realized Sprout was holding a shock stick. She frowned at the sight.

"SPROUT!!! There was no need to take that with you, he might get scared if he noticed!"

"It was just to get him in line... I didn't even know what he looked like... and don't worry, if he got shocked, he'd feel it slightly..."

The being stopped hugging Shelly and looked at Sprout's hand, making a face of anger and disgust when he realized what the baton was for.

"B-but... anyway! What did you think of him? Can you believe he learned our language so quickly? Sure... he only knows a few words... but they're enough for him to communicate without resorting to violence, right?..."

Sprout didn't say anything; he just crossed his arms and looked seriously at Shelly. She immediately understood that he wasn't convinced the life form was friendly.

The being approached Shelly and whispered in her ear.

"I didn't like him very much... he's rude... and he has weird hair..."

Sprout doesn't doubt he was speaking a little too loudly for him to hear, making him angrier and hoping Shelly's deadline would be up and this creature would be sent to a lab.

"Cosmo!... he's a very, very, very important toon... please! Behave..."

Sprout's shoulders quickly eased when Shelly lectured the creature, seeing that, at least, he respected her... because he lowered his gaze and crossed his arms.

"So... his name is Cosmo?”

"Oh… yeah! There are other amazing things I discovered and he told me! Like… did you know he has his own defense mechanism?"

Shelly grabbed the long sleeve of Cosmo's sweatshirt, tugging it back to expose his hand, and cupped his palm, squeezing lightly. Small, sharp claws appeared as she did so.

"Both in canines and in… uh… nails? Claws?... Anyway! They have venom when he feels threatened and-"

"So this freak poisoned Looey?...”

Shelly swallowed hard and stared at the strawberry for a moment, noticing that its expression was more suspicious and irritated than before.

"N-no... Looey's alive! So I guess he didn't use the poison... j-just scratched Looey to defend himself."

"But he could have killed him."

"I guarantee he only defended himself because he was scared... Captain Sprout... Put yourself in his shoes..."

"Regardless, he almost killed one of us... I think that's enough to understand how this creature thinks…”

Sprout turned around, quickly staring into Cosmo's dark eyes as he embraced Shelly. He quickly shifted his gaze to the cage's exit, walking toward her, only to be stopped by Shelly grabbing his arm. He sighed and looked at his colleague.

"I still have time... right?... until then, I can prove he's friendly…”

Sprout rolled his eyes and sighed. He wanted to get rid of this thing quickly... at least his problems would disappear, but he'd given Shelly a week to prove her point... a promise is a promise, right? If possible, he'd shorten her time even further, since this creature is putting Shelly and the others in danger.

"You're right... but I have to keep watch... I'm sure you can't trust something like this!”

"Great! You'll change your mind when you get closer to him!"

Sprout nodded, but he didn't really believe in the idea himself.

‘At least no one will get hurt-’

Sprout watched Shelly approach Cosmo again and give him the balloon she'd gotten at Looey's party (which, apparently, he won't be able to attend this one). His jaw dropped silently when he saw Shelly give the cake HE made to the creature.

He really wanted to stop it; the cake was for Shelly, not the creature! But he just let it go, since it would be rude to take the cake from her hands... since he'd offered it…

"Hey! Try some, it's delicious!"

The creature looked askance but picked up the plastic fork and took a bite of cake to try. He groaned with delight and took another bite. Sprout frowned and cleared his throat with a cough.

"I made it... creature."

Cosmo coughed up the cake and pushed the plate away, making Sprout laugh. Shelly snorted at their behavior.

"Please! Don't be childish, you two are adults, not children!”

Notes:

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