COIN CATASTROPHE (Written by @DisneyNerd26) Part 2: Rescue (Music: Just Hold On - Steve Aoki & Louis Tomlinson) [TW! De@th/loss mention & flash in animation] “I can’t believe you amateurs double printed these coins!” The factory manager shouted at his workers, who all flinched. “It was only 4, sir!” One cried back, cowering behind a coworker. “4! Just like you said Lou!” Diz cheered, Louie beaming. “Still, that’s a waste of time and money! Be careful! Give me those horrid specimens, I have to go log them and lock them away.” The manager demanded, holding out a hand. The worker reached out, dropping the 4 coins into his boss’s hand. None of the group had been given even half a chance to open their mouths to stop the manager, when a young worker jumped up onto the conveyer belt, running down it towards the manager, snatching one of the coins from his hands and pocketing it. “Martin, not again! He has to have them all this time!” One worker shouted to the boy who had jumped up to grab onto the piping above the belt, and was now hugging it. “Nerp! I get this one! Here, he can have this one, call it a fair trade!” Martin triumphantly laughed back, dropping another coin from his pockets onto the conveyer. “Young man, give me back that coin this instant!” The manager roared, and Martin smirked. “You can have it back if you catch me!” He began scooting along the piping, still hanging upside down. “Isn’t that the kid that fell!?” Diz yelped, and Louie met her eyes. “That’s how the 4th penny disappears! It was melted down in the vat when the kid fell in! We have to get it back!” Louie squawked, holding his head in his hands. “Come an’ get me!” Martin taunted his coworkers, reaching out to the 2nd level metal platform railing and swinging from it, high above their heads. “You heard him! Go get him! That penny could be valuable one day!” The manager demanded, and the workers all began scrambling for the stairs. “Ooh! You guys are putting up quite the fight today! I love it!” Martin cracked, swinging himself up onto the platform and watching the two stampedes approaching him. As they neared, he launched himself off the platform, grabbing tightly onto a large overhead light, swinging back and forth from it by his fingertips. “The vat is right below him! He’s gonna fall!” Gyro screeched, and the whole group madly ran up the stairs after the workers. “Kid, you’re about to fall!!!” Louie screamed across the expanse, and Martin turned to look at him, meeting his eyes. “Uh, yeah, this is a bit of a sticky situation, ain’t it?” He laughed awkwardly, judging the distance to the next light. “No, can’t make it there…” He began to hyperventilate, looking down at the open, molten copper basin below him. “There’s no way out.” He realized aloud, tears welling in his eyes. The light cord suddenly began to fray and snap, fiber by fiber, as the whole crowd shrieked and howled. “Louie, I’ve got an idea!” Launchpad suddenly yelled over the chaos, grabbing Louie by the collar and leaning down to explain something to him. “This is one of your moments of clarity, isn’t it?” Louie laughed excitedly, looking at Launchpad in awe. “That seems like it might just work!” He grabbed Diz and Gyro by the wrists, dragging them after him, down to the time tub. He set it back to Gyro’s lab’s date and location, then switched it to shower mode. “What are you doing?!” Gyro demanded, and Louie grinned. “Following Launchpad’s plan!” He cackled, pointing the head up towards where Martin was dangling from the light fixture. "It's not his time today." Launchpad murmured, pushing the workers back to clear him a path. "I'm comin' little buddy!" The light cord suddenly gave out, and like a shot, Launchpad flung himself off the platform, catching Martin as he free fell towards the basin. Louie turned the shower head on and hit them with the time beams as they fell, then aimed it towards himself and the whole tub, all of them disappearing in a flash of light. All of the workers shielded their eyes in the glow, and with a loud splash, the light fixture hit the molten metal. They all leaned down to look, crying and screaming hysterically as the copper began discoloring. “They fell!” “They’re both gone!” “All over a penny!”
Launchpad tumbled to the ground in the lab, grunting on impact, still cradling the boy securely in his arms. They were both screaming incoherently and hugging each other as the time tub landed beside them. “Launchpad, Launchpad! Your plan worked!“ Diz shouted excitedly, jumping out the tub and grabbing him by the shoulders. He cracked open an eye, looking around cautiously. “Are we in heaven?” “No.” She laughed. A grave look came over his face. “Then…” He gulped. “Launchpad, get up. We’re still on earth. You’re alive.” Louie cut him off, walking over beside Diz and shaking his head. “How do you know? Can you prove it?!” He insisted, and Louie kicked him in the ribs, making him cringe. “Yup, I’m alive.” Launchpad got to his feet, setting the boy down on the ground. He had tan brown feathers, a mustard yellow beak, and he looked around at them with wide, wary, green eyes. “Are you guys aliens? Have I been abducted?!?” “Remember, Roswell was still a hot topic for them.” Diz quietly reminded Louie, who nodded. “We’re not aliens. We’re from the future. Welcome to 2026 kiddo.” Louie explained, and the boy slowly got to his feet, looking around cautiously. “So why would people from 2026 abduct me? Did I fall, so you guys went back to save me, and now you’re gonna use me for some experiments that’ll turn me into a robot or something?!?” “No. No robot experiments. We were actually after that coin you stole! Martin, right?” The boy nodded. “Would you mind giving it here?” Diz asked softly, and Martin dug in his pocket with a sad sigh, pulling it out and handing it over to her. “Thank you so much!” She looked over at Gyro, who was pacing the floor next to them, hyperventilating. “What’s wrong with him?” Martin asked quietly, frowning. “YOU! You’re what’s wrong! Guys, he was supposed to fall! We could have altered the whole time stream by saving him!!” Gyro squalled, pulling feathers out of his scalp. “Gyro! It wasn’t like we saved him, then left him there to grow up and have a family or whatever- we removed him from that time. It’s the same as if he had fallen! In fact, I bet he’s still reported gone…” Louie trailed off, opening up his phone. “Yup, check this out! Two unidentified workers thought to be gone after tragic accident. A paper from the next day, 1958. And that coin would have disappeared with him! We just made them disappear in a different way. The time stream hasn’t been altered at all.” Gyro frowned, tapping his foot impatiently. “You may be right. But I absolutely refuse to take responsibility for that juvenile.” He gestured to Martin, who frowned. “Juvenile? I’m 12!” He protested. “Uhh…” Diz and Louie looked at each other, both cringing. “It was my idea, I’ll take care of him.” Launchpad announced, and before anyone could protest, Gyro clapped his hands together. “Great. Now, please leave my lab. Thanks to you lot, I’ll have to keep a close eye on the space-time continuum for the next week. Good afternoon.” Gyro snapped, ushering them out his laboratory and slamming the door shut behind them. “Whoa.” Martin stumbled backwards at the sight of the city outside, eyes wide, beak ajar. “How about we get him home before his mind explodes?” Louie suggested quietly, ushering the boy towards their limo. “Imma call Huey...” He whipped out his phone, calling his brother as they all got in. “Hey Louie! Is Diz alright?” Huey immediately picked up. “Yeah, she's fine! She woke up just about an hour ago!” Louie awkwardly laughed, looking over at her. “Oh, good! So, what’s up?” Louie let his voice drop to a whisper, cupping his hand around his mouth and the phone to hide his words from the curious green eyes beside him. Diz winced as she heard Huey’s voice raise on the other end. Martin looked between them, then leaned in closer to Diz. “Is that a telephone?” He asked quietly. “Where’s the power source?” “It’s got a built in power source, a tiny battery that you charge up.” “Oh… I guess I’ve got a lot to learn if I’m goin’ to live here, Huh?” “You don’t miss your family, your home? You don’t want to go back?” Diz asked with confusion and Martin shrugged. “Pppfft. No. I’m an orphan. I didn’t have a family, or a home. This seems like a good restart for me, to be honest. The only good thing I had in 1958, was that job at the coin factory.” Martin said with a smirk, looking around. “I could get used to this.” “You know what, we’ll be home soon enough to deal with this situation.” Huey finally muttered. “Just don’t let him… Oh you! Would I attack you while you were on the phone with YOUR brother?! Sorry Louie, I’ll have to talk to you later!” “Rrawwwrrr!!!” Something screeched right as Huey hung up, and Louie slowly pulled the phone away from his ear, staring at it. Diz looked over at him, eyes wide. “I’m sure he’s fine.” Louie waved it off, offering her a small smile.
