Upon discovering that there was a man frozen in ice right where the new piling was supposed to be inserted, George Jetson, the Mane 6 and young flying leopard Vega knew that they needed to get him out of those icy caverns and back to Spacely Sprockets so they could get him thawed out.
Hopefully... it wouldn't be too late to give this stranger a fresh start.
XXXXXXXX
After the ice the man had stuck in had been been carved out into a smaller chuck of ice to be more transportable, the drillbots moved it into the rocket ship to take back to the office. “Aww... look at this poor old-fashioned fella,” Vega said sympathetically. “Frozen in ice!”
“This is some surprise, right guys?” George began to ask the ponies before gasping in realization. “Mr. Spacely said no surprises!!”
“I'm sure Mr. Spacely will have some sort of exception for this sort of circumstance,” Misty told George reassuringly. “But we need to hurry and get back to Spacely Sprockets right away.”
“Yeah! Let's go go go!” Vega chirped optimistically, but as she did this, a small spark of light emerged from her star tag, causing her to immediately tense up. “Uh... did anyone else see that?”
Unfortunately, no one else was paying attention, causing her to shrug, thinking it was her imagination before following George and the ponies back onto the rocket.
XXXXXXXX
Immediately after they returned to the office, George immediately put up several heat lamps to begin the thawing process, and while this was going on, Pipp hummed in thought as she looked at the seven foot tall man wearing a gray camouflage outfit of… some kind. “I can’t help but feel like this guy is familiar to me for some reason, but… I can’t put my hoof on where I’ve seen him.”
“Maybe he’s an influencer of some kind from our time?” Sunny whispered with a shrug. “Maybe,” Pipp shrugged, “but… I don’t think so.”
“Well, one thing I do know for sure?” Hitch panted as he continued to position the heat lamps. “This guy is taking forever to melt out!”
“Come on, come on…!!” George said impatiently, not wanting Mr. Spacely to walk in at any moment to see this. “Melt faster, melt faster!”
“Huh… what’s this thing do?” Zipp asked, pushing a button that made the heat lamp’s power increase, making the ice melt faster. Unfortunately, as the ice finally began to clear up, the man began to scream in an insanely loud voice, causing Vega and the ponies to immediately yell in shock and surprise... at least until George covered the man's mouth. “Shh... be quiet. Mr. Spacely said no surprises--”
“And you are one big seven-foot surprise!” Misty agreed, scanning the man up and down, causing the man to growl. “Would you be quiet?” George asked desperately. “You're gonna get me fired!”
Just then, the man muttered something, but George couldn't understand what he had said. “What?”
The man spoke again, but George still couldn't understand a word he was saying. “What?”
“George? Look at where your hand is,” Zipp gestured to George's hand over the man's mouth. “Oh... my bad.”
That's when the man grabbed George by the collar of the shirt and held him above the ground threateningly. “Where am I?!”
“S-Spacely Sprockets-- my office,” George stammered fearfully. “Which won't be my office much longer if you'd don't...”
“JETSON?!!”
“It’s Mr. Spacely!” Vega meowed in panic. “You gotta hide!”
With one quick push of a button, a chair from the closet swept the man into the closet (with a few bangs and bruises) just before Mr. Spacely entered the office, looking stern. “What are you all doing back?”
“Well, sie, uh... the job is done,” Sunny spoke. “So soon?” Mr. Spacely raised an eyebrow. “Any surprises...?”
“Well, that kinda builds on what you might call a surprise--” Izzy said before Hitch elbowed her into silence. “Nope! No surprises whatsoever!”
“No surprises?” Mr. Spacely looked at George, impressed. “Wow, Jetson. I should have given you a fake promotion months ago.”
“Yep! Heh heh... I-I told you that we could handle this assignment, Mr. Spacely,” Misty told George’s boss nervously before banging coming from the closet caught their attention. “What’s that noise?” Mr. Spacely asker as George rushed to the closet and leaned against it casually. “Oh, that's just Pickenpock in accounting. Little game we play.”
George tapped on the door in a pattern, only for the man they had unfroze to bang on it twice, causing George to chuckle nervously. “Well, tell him to stop it,” Mr. Spacely said as he left. “It's annoying.”
“You got it, Mr. Spacely!” Izzy saluted. “We'll get that done faster than you can say Señor Butterscotch five times fast!”
After the boss had left, the group found themselves sighing in relief-- that was way too close. As long as they got this ice man home before Mr. Spacely noticed, maybe things wouldn't go south too quickly.
Suddenly, the ice man burst through the closet, causing the group to scream before the man grabbed George by the shirt collar again. “You better tell me what's going on before I snap you in half!”
“Whoa whoa whoa! No snapping necessary!” Zipp said, trying to calm him down while Vega and Pipp tried to pull George loose. “Maybe if you could just tell us what you last remember, we can help you work this out.”
As Vega and Pipp tried to help George, the man tried to remember what last went through his mind. “Last thing I remember, I was on an airplane...”
As the man paused, George found the voice to speak up. “If you could just set me down...”
“...flying out of Denver in a snow storm...”
“Over there would be great. On the ground...?”
“...and then I was standing in a puddle of water. With your hand over my mouth. So I'm gonna ask you one last time...” the man threatened George with his grip growing tighter. “...where am I?!”
George finally gulped nervously before pointing outside. “Orbit City...?”
That’s when the man finally got a good look at the world outside, causing him to drop George due to shock, and Pipp and Vega got drug down with him when the man pressed his face into the window. “Am I in… the future?!”
“Hiya, George!” a man said as he flew by with his treadmill-walking dog. “Uh, to me it's just now,” George shrugged. “But… to you?” Vega shrugged. “Probably yes.”
That’s when the man groaned and passed out right on the floor, causing the cub to meow in shock. “I really gotta get a grip on myself…”
“JETSON!!”
“Oh, no…” Hitch gulped nervously at hearing Mr. Spacely’s voice. “We gotta get this guy and ourselves outta here! Where do you guys keep the 'emergency escape from your boss' button?!”
“Uh… Hitch?” Vega cleared her throat to stop the sheriff's panicked button-pushing. “Allow me.”
She pressed her paw upon a singular button, sending the unconscious man from the 21st century through a nearby tube, just before George, Vega and the other ponies traveled through the tube behind him...
...just before Mr. Spacely entered the office. “Pickenpock in accounting says you're the one banging on the wall!”
But when he looked around, he realized that no one was in the office. “Jetson? He and those ponies aren't even here.”
That's when he turned down the hallway again, this time yelling a different name. “PICKENPOOOOOCK!!!!”
XXXXXXXX
At the Jetson family apartment, Elroy and Orion were busy watching robot wrestling on the couch with Elroy's second place science fair trophy on the table... while Jane angrily paced around the room, groaning. “I am so mad at your father!”
“Jane,” said Orion, “I'm sure George has a good reason for why he and the ponies missed the science fair.”
“He'd better.”
Rosie then came and put a blood pressure cuff around Jane's wrist. “Better cool your jets, Mrs. J,” she told her employer in concern. “Your heart rate and blood pressure are both elevated to dangerous levels.”
“Rosie,” Jane said rather calmly, “it's only going to
get more dangerous in here when George arrives.”
“But... you're not gonna be mad at Vega or the others... right?” asked Orion with worry. “No, sweetie, of course not,” Jane said to the cub. “I don't remember ever telling them, but I'm not sure George ever told them either. So, no-- they're not going to be blamed.”
“Janey! I'm home!”
The second Jane heard George’s voice, her blood pressure and heart rate went through the roof, causing the ponies to gulp nervously as they rode the moving sidewalk a bit closer.
Whatever was going on... Jane was definitely mad.
Vega hid behind George’s feet as George tried to greet his wife with a nervous grin. “Uh... happy anniversary?”
Orion slit his paw across his neck in an attempt to stop him, but the look Jane was giving him made Rosie turn to her employer. “I'll prepare the couch for you tonight, Mr. J.”
“V-Valentine's Day...?”
Jane growled at this, making Orion that much more nervous before Rosie made another remark. “I'll pack your bags for you, Mr. J.”
“Please,” George begged, “don’t let it be your birthday.”
Orion and Jane both slapped their faces at this. “How many handles would you like on your casket, Mr. J?” Rosie asked bluntly. “Um… Jane, is there something we might have missed while we were gone?” Sunny asked in concern. “Is this why you tried to call George earlier?”
“Actually, yes. George,” Jane turned to her husband, “your son won second place for his project today… at the science fair?”
“Would’ve been first,” Elroy shrugged, “except that I've never actually made anything time travel. Although, Bobby Booster never made a volcano erupt. So I'm not sure why he got the blue ribbon. Ah, the whole thing's a popularity contest anyway.”
That’s when Vega suddenly remembered, despite so many crazy things happening that day. “The science fair! Orion, Jane, Elroy! We’re so sorry!”
“Yeah, we had no idea that it was even going on,” Hitch said as the ponies all spared George a scolding look. “Way to go, Mr. J.”
“I’m really sorry about making you miss it, guys, but it just slipped my mind due to everything that went on today,” George said to the ponies before turning to Jane and Rosie again. “Speaking of which, I got a new assignment at work. And something big happened.”
“Huge, actually,” Vega shrugged. “And… well, you just have to see it for yourselves.”
That's when the man they had thawed out a few hours earlier, who revealed his name was Big Show, came through the doorway, hitting his head and breaking some of the doorway off as he looked outside. “Flying cars?”
Jane and Orion each let out a gasp at Big Show’s massive stature. “Moving sidewalks?” Big Show questioned just before Elroy flew over. “And jetpacks?!”
“Wow!” Elroy exclaimed as he landed. “He’s huge!”
“Everybody,” Sunny introduced with a smile, “this is Big Show!”
“Big Show, this is Vega’s brother Orion, my wife Jane, and my boy Elroy…” George stopped upon realizing one member of his family was missing. “Where’s daughter Judy?”
“Where else?” Orion said quietly with a huff. “Cheerleading practice.”
“Well, at least we’ll have some time before she gets home so we can all get to know one another a little more,” Misty tried to point out something positive. But before anyone could respond to this, the sound of Astro barking came from down the hall, and they all turned to see Astro running toward them at top speed. “Welcome home, George!”
“Is that a talking dog?” Big Show asked in shock, and as Astro prepared to leap on George, Big Show grabbed the dog’s collar and prevented him from doing so. “George!” Astro yelped. “Get this crazy thing off me!”
“Get your filthy hands off of Astro, you brute!” Rosie ordered, coming forward before George could say anything. “Is that a talking robot?!” Big Show asked right before Rosie began a round of robot kung fu on Big Show, which caused Astro to bark wildly, and the ponies and George tried to separate the fight while Jane only scolded her husband. “George, see what happens when you bring your work home with you?”
As this chaos was going on, Judy entered the apartment, not paying any attention to the scene, as she was talking to her friends as she went into her room. “I can't believe Mr. Saturnson giving us a history test the day before the big space ball game. Super un-cosmic!” she spoke with agitation. “My head's so gonna be full of history there won't be room for the cheers. Oh… when are we ever gonna need to know 21st century history in real life, anyway?”
After Judy had disappeared into her room, George had decided that this brawl had gone on long enough. “That does it! Rosie! Stop with the robot kung fu! Big Show, please put my dog down! Now!”
Everyone did as asked, even though Astro did seem a little annoyed with Big Show grabbing him. “Everybody listen,” George told his family. “Big Show’s been frozen in ice for 100 years.”
“A hundred years?!” Jane asked out of shock. “A little unnerving to think about, but yeah,” Zipp nodded. “Apparently it happened while he was flying through a snowstorm.”
“So, we found him, thawed him,” Vega added, “and brought him home for dinner because he's a little freaked out about being in the future.”
“...how much dinner does it eat?” Rosie asked, causing Hitch to elbow her, but he regretted this decision upon realizing he had hit pure metal, causing him to mutter a quiet, but painful ‘Ow’. “Gee, Dad… that does explain everything,” Elroy said before taking Big Show by the hand. “Come on, Big Show. You can sit next to me at the table.”
“You have a… lovely home,” Big Show told Jane as Elroy led him away, and Rosie watched on with annoyance. “If that thing makes a mess on the carpet, I am not cleaning it up.”
“At least Big Show is polite, Rosie,” Vega pointed out. “Besides, he has nowhere else to go… a lot like me and my brother for the longest time.”
“...hey, why don’t we all go help set the table for dinner?” Sunny offered. “You too, Astro. Come on, boy!”
Astro barked a bit before following the ponies and leopard cubs away, leaving George to try and reconcile things with his wife. “Janey, I'm sorry I missed the science fair.”
“You don’t have to apologize to me,” Jane told him. “Really?” George asked in surprise… and in confusion. “Really? Because the look you're giving me makes me think I do.”
“George,” Jane told her husband seriously, “if you want to put your work before the family, that's your decision.”
“Oh, thanks, sweetie,” George kissed his wife with a chuckle, causing her to glare at him. “That's a load off. So listen. I couldn't just leave Big Show at the office. But I promise, he'll stay just for one night. Tomorrow the ponies will help me figure out what to do with him.”
And just like that, he walked off to check up on the dinner table setting, causing Jane to sigh to herself. “I really thought he’d read between the lines on that one.”
“I got the subtext, Mrs. J,” Rosie spoke with her robotic hands on her hips. “And I’m a robot.”
XXXXXXXX
Within a few minutes and with the push of a button, Jane had prepared some spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Big Show was starving, having not eaten anything during the time he was frozen, but he was confused when he saw that there was no silverware.
That's when he saw the Jetsons using buttons to pick up their food and drinks and bring them to their mouths and decided to at least give it a chance... especially when he saw the ponies attempting to do it.
But when he pushed the button, he ended up making the spaghetti go all over his face, instead of in his mouth.
The ponies cringed at this and offered him their napkins to help clean up, realizing that Big Show was probably having a difficult time adjusting to the futuristic ways of life.
XXXXXXXX
After dinner, it was time for those in the Jetson apartment to get ready for bed.
George placed Big Show on a conveyor belt to help him get washed, his teeth brushed, and get put in a new pair of pajamas-- Elroy even let Big Show borrow his teddy bear.
After getting changed, Rosie pressed a button to turn the couch into a bed, and used robotic arms to tuck Big Show into the bed tightly. “Nighty night. Sleep tight. And just remember…” Rosie said, turning off the lights, even though her eyes could be seen in the darkness. “...I got my eyes on you.”
As Big Show watched her wheel away, the nervous feeling in his gut grew to higher levels than ever-- even higher than when he was on that bedtime conveyor belt.
One thing was definitely for sure… he had to find a way out of there.
And preferably? He needed to get out of there SOON.
XXXXXXXX