Techno Angel Mackenzie Season 3, Chapter 11

CHAPTER 43


The next Earth day, the Williams family is walking near the edge of a grand mountainous ridge.  They stop to take a look of what turns out to be the Grand Canyon to admire the awe-inspiring scenery before them as the gentle breeze blows Mackenzie’s ponytail like a grand flag.
Just then, Spectra, Twilight, and Wavelander poke their heads out of the Rapunzel-esque ponytail and gasp in surprise upon examining their current surroundings.  “Oh my . . .” the Pixibat herself mumbles in awe as she flies out to get a better view.  “When you promise to show us the Earth’s natural scenery, you meant it,” she says to Mackenzie.
“Your people guys made it possible, of course,” Sam smiles amusedly as he gives a thumbs-up to the moonlings.  
“Well, our technology is what made you all into what you are now, so that counts too,” Wavelander replies while shrugging his shoulders.
Just then, Mackenzie whips out a portable camera and takes a snapshot of the beautiful scene before her.
“Whatcha doing, Mom?” Sophie asks curiously.
“Taking a picture so I can paint from when we return home,” the Moonflower Queen replies as she puts the camera in her pocket.  “Well, are you all set for the next stop?”
Everyone nods in agreement in response – and with that, Sam activates his teleporter to send them all to their next stop on the Earth tour.
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Upon arriving at their new destination, the Night Flights away-team has arrived at what turns to be a beach, with the tides coming in slowly and the sunlight glittering on the water’s surface.  Several seashells are littered along the sandy surface as well, much to Sophie and the moonlings’ curiosity.
“We’re at Ocean City, Maryland now.  My family and I used to go here a lot during the summer, and I loved to swim in the water while collecting seashells.  Speaking of which . . .” Mackenzie announces with a smile before flying over to a nearby clump of seashells and start picking up the ones that aren’t cracked.
“Yeah, I remembered coming here too.  I rightly recall having a few dates with your mom like a decade ago.  I tried surfing on the waves to impress her, only to wipe out every time – and my lovely mermaid to rescue me every time,” Sam reminisces to Sophie before looking over to Mackenzie.  “Isn’t that right, ‘Em?”
The Moonflower Queen blushes with a sheepish smile before nodding in agreement.  She then gives a conch shell to Sophie and motions her to hold it up to her ear so the newly-born Techno Angel can hear the ocean in there.
“Whoa . . .” Angelic Miracle says in awe.  “How is that possible, Mom?”
“The Lord has created many wonders on this planet.  They need no explanation, just for us to enjoy them – with responsibility,” Mackenzie replies as she then picks up some sea glass and holds it up to the sun so it would sparkle like a diamond.
Sam nods in agreement and then sees some trash along the shoreline.  “You have no idea how right you are, ‘Em,” he says sadly while shaking his head.
“Yes, I know some humans tend to be lazy and apathetic toward their own environment,” Wavelander agrees before thrusting his hand toward the litter, electrocuting it into a oblivious crisp just like that.  “There, that’s better,” he says with a satisfied smile.
“If only everyone can do that to all the trash we’ve accumulated for so long,” Sam says while patting the Graphivoice on the head.  “Impressive, by the way.”
Wavelander nods with a smile as he and the others stare out at the ocean to admire its ever-blue beauty as the sun’s rays sparkle on its sapphire-sque surface.
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Another teleportation sequence later, the away team now finds themselves in a flower field with several moon flowers lined up in rows of various colors that span hundreds of miles into the horizon.
“Dear heaven, this field is incredible!  Where are we, anyway?!” Spectra asks in amazement as her eyes turn into sparkling stars.
“We’re in the Netherlands, by my calculations,” Sam replies while looking at his communicator watch.  I sent us here because I know how much you love moon flowers, ‘Em,” Sam confirms, much to Mackenzie’s blushing surprise.  
The bashful Moonflower Queen embraces her true love in return while mumbling gratefully, “Thank you,” when she notices a crow of moonflowers on her head – with another on Sam’s.  Just then, Sophie appears between the two and glomps her parents on the spot.  “Now you two really are King and Queen of the Moonflowers!” she chuckles cheerfully.
Both newly-crowned newlyweds smile at each other before sharing a kiss and then embracing their new big bundle of joy.
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Later that Earth night, the away-team has just teleported in what appears to be another forest.  It’s almost pitch black due to the nightfall, leading everyone to fly upward to the pinnacle of the trees where the moonlight provides adequate light on the surface.  That, and Twilight’s antennae provides even more light to show the way.
“Oh, we’re in another forest?  That’s nice and all, but why – and at night?” Spectra asks in concern.
“It’s what been sighted here is what we’re looking for.  Are we in Ontario, Canada now, Sam?” Mackenzie asks her loving husband, who nods affirmatively.  “It should be here any minute now.”
Suddenly, a gigantic wave of luminous neon light sweeps across the night sky, glittering thanks to the stars shining through this ethereal glow.
“Holy Toledo!  Is this an aurora?  Like the ones we saw on our descent to Earth?” Twilight writes the above with her antenna light in wide-eyed amazement, with Mackenzie and Sam nodding affirmatively in response.
“It’s so beautiful . . . even more up close,” Spectra mumbles in awe with her eyes being starry-eyed.
“Well, neon orange and yellow aren’t appealing, especially here.  I’ll fix that, though,” Sophie says as she summons forth her crescent moon wand and shoots an aurora-like beam of neon green, purple, and blue toward the aurora wonder.
Once the beam hits the natural solar light, the aurora itself suddenly turns colors to that of the beam.  Angelic Miracle smiles with a satisfied nod, proud of the work she’s just done.
“Most impressive.  Mind if I add some more colors?” Mackenzie asks amusedly as she summons forth a crescent moon-shaped disc that’s blinking in her favorite colors and throws it right into the aurora.
Once the disc makes contact with the nocturnal spectacle, an enveloping cascade of the Moonflower Queen’s favorite colors befall on the left half, keeping her angelic daughter’s favorite colors on the right side intact.
“Well, it sure looks a lot more beautiful and gorgeous – no doubt thanks to my two favorite artists,” Sam complements with an approving nod, much to Mackenzie and Sophie’s beaming happiness.
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It isn’t long before the Earth tour continues with the last stop, as the away-team having just teleported at what appears to be the Arctic.  It’s just what you would expect it to be.
“So this is nothing but snow, water, and ice, eh?  Almost like Neptune on a miniscule scale,” Wavelander complements amusedly.
“It’s a good thing we moonlings and you Techno Angels/Knights are immune to the cold,” Spectra adds in as she lands on the snowy surface and starts rolling up a ball of snow.  “Anyone want to make a snowman?”
“Oh, you know about that?” Mackenzie asks in a mildly surprised tone.  
“I’ll join in,” Sophie insists pleasantly before following suit.
The Moonflower Queen nods amusedly and then joins in the snowman making.  Sam, Wavelander, and Twilight simply sit down and watch as the three continues rolling until the snowballs start to tower over even the icy mountains nearby.
“Wowsers, just how big a snowman is they going to make?” the Graphivoice asks nervously.
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A half-hour later, the snowman builders are done with the building.  You can tell because all the snow in the area has been gathered clean off the icy surface – so clean you can look through the ice into the water and watch the sea life.
With that, Sam walks over to the towering snowballs and proceeds to teleport the smaller snow orbs one by one onto the largest in just seconds.  “Man, I love being a Techno Knight,” he says proudly while raising his watch-equipped fist up into the air in triumph.
Once their snowman has been assembled, the Techno Angels fly up to the top and start decorating the snowman with their techno magic – Mackenzie with trimming and carving the overall structure into that of a woman, and Sophie making a beautiful dress to make the gigantic figure look like a Snow Queen.  The Moonflower Queen finishes the wintery sculpture off by giving its head a long streaming mane of silver hair with neon purple, blue, and green hearts interwoven into the strands.  With that, the Techno Angels fly back down to the away team and look up at the finished snow woman.
“Oh my, you two did a wonderful job!  If only we could store this somewhere for Christmas . . .” Lightning glitter-complements pleasantly before thinking of a way to do so.
“It’s NOT that good,” Mackenzie points out.  “And besides, it’s our first time doing a snow woman this big.  By Christmas time, we’ll do it with a lot more heart put into it.  Right, Sophie?”
“Of course . . . but what’s Christmas?” Angelic Miracle asks curiously.  “Is it something good?”
“It’s wonderful, Sophie,” the Moonflower Queen replies with a happy smile.  “We’ll explain all about it later, right Sam?”
“Oh, of course, ‘Em,” Emerald Knight replies with an affirmative nod.
“Well, that’ll be all for the natural tour . . . for now.  Let’s go home,” Mackenzie requests, with Sam nodding in agreement before he sets the coordinates of his watch to the obvious next destination.
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When the Williams family and their tagalong friends return to Night Flights Mall, Elec-Love shows up all of a sudden and floats alongside Mackenzie.
“Welcome back, everyone.  It was nice of you to show our away-team the natural beauty of your planet.  But when I requested that you show them human technology and your way of life, you refuse without any explanation.  Is there something wrong?” the pink computer heart asks in motherly concern.
Mackenzie growls in annoyance upon hearing this and then calms down before politely saying to Sam and Sophie, “Excuse me, but I need to go to the restroom,” before walking away.
“Wait . . .” Sophie calls out before Sam politely cuts her off with a hand in front.
“Don’t press her on that subject.  Just let it go,” Emerald Knight insists in a calm, firm tone.
“What’s wrong with Mom, Dad?” Sophie asks in concern as she watches her mother disappear into the darkness.
“Let’s just say she didn’t have a good childhood – nor did she fare well growing up, either,” Sam replies sadly.  “I’m just happy and grateful that things are looking up for your mother, and in the nick of time.”
“I noticed lately that Mom acts differently from everyone else here.  I’m not judging her or anything, but is there something wrong with her?” Angelic Miracle asks with great sympathy toward her celestial mother.
“She has autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder that impairs a person’s social communication abilities – making it difficult for her to fit in with normal society.  She was born with it, and well, autistics were treated terribly back then – and still are – with contempt and disdain.  In short, she got ridiculed and bullied a lot,” Elec-Love explains briefly.
Emerald Knight nods in agreement as he embraces his wedding ring hand.  “It’s not just that though, other things factored in as well.  I’ll tell more in a later time,” he adds in sympathetically.
Sophie nods understandably and then looks over at the direction where her mother walked away with sadness and sympathy on her face.
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Meanwhile at the restroom area, Mackenzie walks out of the women’s restroom and lets out a big puff of breath to let out all the stress.  She then clicks on her earrings to activate their communicator function.  “Hello?  Sam, Sophie, where are you now?” she asks in concern.
“Hi there, ‘Em.  How are you doing right now?” Emerald Knight himself asks over the micro-speaker within those earrings.  
“A bit better.  Sorry about what happened,” a remorseful Angelic Luna replies softly.
“It’s all right, Mom.  Papa told me about what happened when you were growing up, and I totally understand.  It’s just so horrible that you were treated like you were,” a sympathetic Sophie replies over the micro-speaker as if she’s about to cry.
“The past is the past.  I need to move on with my new life here – and of course, my new family,” Mackenzie assures with a smile.  “I’m happy and grateful where I’m at now.  Where are you two now?”
“Still at the same spot where you left with Elec-Love,” Sam assures casually.  “We’ll be waiting.”
“Okay,” the Moonflower Queen replies with an affirmative nod before turning her earrings off.
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By the time Mackenzie returns to her family, they’re at a bench eating hamburgers and French fries.  Upon seeing his beloved wife approaching, Sam offers her a hamburger and fries.  The Moonflower Queen smiles and sits down beside him before joining in.
“I’m sorry about pestering you with that request earlier, Mackenzie,” Elec-Love says remorsefully with a pixel tear running down her face.  “I was happy that you were improving social-wise that I forgot that you still have a long way to go.”
“It’s over now, let it go,” the Moonflower Queen assures as she takes another bite of her hamburger.  She then smiles and asks, “How about we bring in stuff from outside such as magazine and VHS tapes so you can read/watch what’s going on in Earthling culture?”
“That’ll do, Mackenzie.  But I won’t pressure you on that either,” the pink computer heart agrees with a sniffle.
Angelic Luna smiles and brings her motherly figure in for a soft, comforting embrace to show that everything’s all cool now.
“Naturally, I’ll come with you – just to make sure no one bothers you,” Sam assures as he puts an arm around his angelic wife.
“Count me in.  We’re a family, so we’re in this together,” Sophie adds in happily as she joins in the embrace.
“We’ll leave after lunch, all right?” Mackenzie asks her family, who all nods in agreement.  She nods back and then resumes eating with everyone else to end the conversation there.
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A few Earth hours later, the Williams family has entered the mall while carrying big bags of exactly what Mackenzie promised to get – VHS tapes, magazines, hardcover novels, and other related stuff.  One heck of a shopping spree, no?
Just then, Elec-Love and Apollo show up at the scene and notice the Williams family unpacking their newly-bought goods.  “Whoa there!  What’s with all of that stuff?” the blue computer star asks in surprise as he and his pink heart-shaped sister fly over.
“Just got some stuff for y’all to read and watch about Earthling culture,” Sam casually replies as he gets out some of the aforementioned VHS tapes and gives them to the Night Flights higher-ups.  “Here, check them out if you have any VHS players around here.”
“I’m sure the Graphic Artnavals have some of those in their store.  C’mon, E.L,” a curious Apollo says as he and Elec-Love fly off toward their destination.
“You gave them the breakdancing videos, right?” Mackenzie asks Sam, who nods affirmatively with a smile.  She smirks amusedly and adds in, “This will be interesting.”
“Considering breakdancing is BIG right now, it’s natural.  We’ll wait and see how it goes, shall we?” Emerald Knight points out, with the Moonflower Queen nodding affirmatively before they continue unpacking their bags – just as the curiosity-driven moonlings in the surrounding area run/fly over to see what’s going on.
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A half-hour later, the Williams family is about to head out into the outside world once more for obvious reasons – when they notice several flashing neon lights and crowd cheering coming from the arcade arena as they walk by - kinda like a rave in there, no?  Sam smiles amusedly and then motions Mackenzie and Sophie to go on ahead before he enters the place to see what the commotion is all about.
Upon entering, Emerald Knight sees the arcade crowd – Earthlings and Moonlings alike – crowding in a large, thick circle while waving neon glow sticks.  He flies up to the ceiling to get a good look beyond the wave of patrons and sees the source of their excitement – Trixie and Vesper breakdancing together in a frantic pace.  
The Pixicat, full of energy and excitement like she always does, gives off a stellar show, with her Holo-bat boyfriend a dandy performance as well.  He’s that determined to keep up with Trixie – still to prove that he’s a good enough guy for her.
“Totally radical dancing, Vesy!” the Pixicat complements with a chuckle.
“Thanks,” the Holo-bat wheezes as he continues doing the wild and kinetic motions to his limits to prove himself.
“Uh, you should tone down a little, Vesper.  You’re getting a bit tired there,” Trixie says in concern as she stops breakdancing.
“Nah, I’m doing fine!  Believe me, I am!” the Holo-bat insists as he continues – until he starts spinning around in the scene uncontrollably like a spinning top.
“EEK!” the Pixicat exclaims in fright before back-flipping away in a frantic manner to avoid the incoming spinning bat-top.  She then watches on nervously as it proceeds to knock out random patrons in its path like they’re targets in a pinball table.
Having enough of this, Emerald Knight opens up his communicator and presses a few buttons on it before firing glowing green sonicwaves at the bat-top.  Once they make contact, Vesper suddenly starts slowing down to a crawl in a slow-motion manner.  Sam nods in satisfaction and then flies down to his Holobat friend, holding him up to stop his spinning just like that.
“Whew, thanks,” a grateful Vesper says - while still in slow-mo garbled mode, which Sam quickly undoes with his communicator.
“You’re welcome, pal.  You went overboard with the spinning, eh?” Emerald Knight asks amusedly.
“Well, I just want to keep up with Trixie to prove that I’m a man – and a great boyfriend,” Vesper says sadly while bringing his head down in embarrassment.
“Poor Vesy,” Trixie herself says remorsefully as she lands down beside her Holo-bat husband and gives him a big, comforting embrace.  “It’s ME who should SLOW DOWN with who I am – keeping up just now is hazardous to others’ health.”
“Hey, it’s all cool, Trix.  Just slow down a little from now on – for others’ sake, especially me,” the Holo-bat assures as he sweeps his beloved wife off her feet and kisses her passionately.
“I will, Vesper.  I promise,” Trixie smiles before returning the kiss as the audience cheers with a round of applause.  “How about some more breakdancing now, love?”
“Well, I’d love to, but . . .” the Holo-bat replies just before he collapses to the ground swirly-eyed without warning.
The Pixicat giggles nervously as she gets up and shrugs her shoulders.  “Anyone got any coffee?” she asks the audience, who all shrugs their own shoulders as their response.  “To be expected.  Be right back.”
With that, Trixie sprints off from the scene for obvious reasons.  As for Sam, he bids everyone good day with a knightly salute before flying out of the arcade arena to catch up with his family.