Chapter Two
Mac sat on the porch steps to the Foster?s mansion, looking over some of the notes from the observatory closely. Two weeks had passed since he had found them there, and he was disappointed when he had gone back to the observatory one day, only to discover that it had been torn down to pieces. Mac was saddened by the loss, but he knew that there was no time to let the tears come out; he had to solve the mystery of the ?hidden planet.? Spending those two weeks looking over the notes, Mac never felt so confused in his life. Just when he thought he understood where the planet might?ve come from, there were twists that put him right back where he started. The ?hidden planet? was a mystery for sure, and Mac almost felt like he was reading a ?Whodunit?? story rather than documented information.
?Hey, Mac.? Someone said, and Mac turned his attention away from the notes for a brief moment to look back at Frankie, as she was coming out through the front door.
?Hey, Frankie.? Mac said. ?Going to that job interview at the Daily Planet??
?Yeah, and I?m really nervous about it, too.? Frankie replied. ?Bert and Ernie are supposed to be going with me.?
?They?re applying for jobs?!? exclaimed a surprised Mac. ?I hope they realize that there might not be many seats they can fill you all in.?
?Hey, if they could squeeze Bob in, I?m sure they could squeeze Bert, Ernie, and me in as well.? Frankie said, just as Bert and Ernie themselves were walking down the sidewalk and stopped as they were passing through both the mansion and the bus that was parked in front of it.
?Yoo-hoo! Frankie!? Ernie shouted. ?Are ya ready to go??
?Yeah, we?re on a tight schedule here.? Bert added. ?If we don?t get going soon, we might not get the chance to be hired for the jobs.?
?We?ll take the bus over to the Planet, guys. It should get us there in less than a second, especially with someone like me behind the wheel.? Frankie said, and she turned back to Mac, winking at him. ?I?ll see ya later, pal. Wish me luck.? As Frankie was walking down the porch steps and away from the mansion, Mac looked down at the notes that were sitting on his lap and thought hard about telling Frankie about the unknown planet that he and Nigel discovered.
?Uh?Frankie?? Mac uttered, and Frankie stopped to turn to her friend, with a smile on her face that was covering up the nervous feeling that she had in her.
?Yeah?? She said, and Mac looked long and hard at her, still wondering if he should reveal such big information to her that could ensure her a position at the Daily Planet. He really felt guilty about taking such credit away from the person who discovered the hidden planet, which he realized was not Nigel. Frankie just stood there and stared at him as he looked away from her and back at the notes, wondering when he was going to say something. Bert and Ernie were both glancing at their wristwatches, keeping up with the time they had left before their interview with Perry White (the editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet).
?Frankie.? Bert said, a little irritated. ?Could you please hurry up? We?re going to be late.?
?I?m coming.? Frankie said, getting more nervous than she already was; she turned to Mac, with an apologetic look on her face. ?Listen, Mac, could you just hold that thought for, like?ten hours? We really have to make this interview we have with Mr. White.? Mac was disappointed that he wasn?t brave enough to tell Frankie about the big information; but he was a little relieved that she was too much in a hurry to listen.
?Sure, Frankie.? Mac said, and Frankie went over to him and gave him a kiss on his forehead, just before hopping into the bus with Bert and Ernie and driving off to the Daily Planet building. Mac had gone to being relieved to becoming furious in a second, jumping up from the porch steps and hurling all of the documents across the air and scattering them across the lawn. ?Stupid hidden planet!? He began stomping all over the papers, putting nasty footprints on them and tearing some of them to pieces. ?Stupid me! I can?t believe I chickened out like that! How could I be such a stupid coward?!?!? Mac noticed some small, thin, pencil-sized, crystal object that was lying on the sidewalk and kicked it in a fit of anger, sending it flying across the air and hitting someone on the head.
?Like?OUCH!!!? Someone exclaimed, with a beatnik type of voice, and Mac got a little worried, fearing that he might?ve seriously injured someone. He ran in the direction that he kicked the object in, jumping over the fence and finding a teenaged character sitting on the sidewalk, rubbing his head in pain. The teenager closely reflected the late 1960s time era, particularly in his clothes, which consisted of a green t-shirt, bell-bottom pants, lanky and bushy brown hair, and a rough goatee. He was pretty much a modern-day hippie that was still living in the 60s.
?I?m so sorry about that. I?? Mac said, and he stopped when he recognized the beatnik, especially his pet (a brown-furred Great Dane with black spots) appeared next to him. ?Wait a sec! Shaggy?!? The beatnik smiled at Mac, just as the Great Dane jumped on Mac and licked his face, making Mac laugh a little. ?And Scooby-Doo, too!!?
?Like, I wish I can say I?m happy to see ya, Mac,? Shaggy said, and he groaned as he rubbed his fingers through his bushy hair, ?But the lump on my head is keeping me from being happy. Oh!?
?I?m really sorry about that, Shag.? Mac said, as Scooby-Doo jumped off of him. ?I was looking over these notes that I?d found in the old Metropolis observatory, and I?? Mac stopped in mid-sentence again to look around for someone or something. ?Hey, if you here in Metropolis, then that could only mean that my good, old cousin is here as well, right??
?Velma?? Shaggy said, and he chuckled. ?She?s over there with Fred and Daphne, talking to Big Bird.?
?Really rig rird.? Scooby said, just before he let out a big chuckle.
?You got that right, Scoob. Big Bird is a lot bigger in person.? Shaggy said. ?Hey, Mac, did you know that Big Bird knows Superman personally??
?So he tell us.? said Mac, who seemed non-impressed. ?You know a lot of people know Superman personally, mostly because he saves a lot of butts everyday.?
?Well, Big Bird?s story is different.? Shaggy said. ?He says that he has known Superman since he was a teenager himself.? Mac seemed to have suddenly gained some true admiration in Big Bird?s claim. ?Isn?t that something else? The only person I figured would know Superman in that way would be his own mother?that is, if he has one.? As Shaggy spoke, Mac looked down on the ground, spotting the object that he kicked and picking it up; it was at that moment when he got a little confused. That crystal was nowhere near the mansion or any other part of Sesame Street until the moment that he angrily threw the documents down on the ground.
?Where did this come from?? Mac uttered, and when Scooby and Shaggy noticed how he was glancing at the object that hit Shaggy in the head, Shaggy just laughed and Scooby stared at him oddly.
?Oh, don?t worry about what happened, Mac.? Shaggy said. ?I get conked on the head all of the time. Just ask Scoob here.? Scooby smiled and nodded in agreement with that fact, just as Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, and Velma Dinkley (the other members of Mystery Inc.) arrived at the scene, with one of the most popular characters in the neighborhood, Big Bird. Unexpectedly, Velma scooped Mac up off the ground, nearly making him drop the rystal in his hands, and gave him a big hug.
?How?s my precious little cousin doing today?? Velma asked, with a smile.
?I?m fine.? Mac replied. ?Now will you put me down? I?m right in the middle of solving an important mystery right now.?
?Aw, isn?t that cute?? Daphne said. ?He?s got a mystery on his little hands.?
?I guess that urge to solve mysteries just runs in the family, doesn?t it, Velma?? Fred queried, and Velma blushed as she set Mac back down on the ground.
?That?s the crazy thing about genetics,? Velma said, ?You never know who else might have the same love of things that you have.? Mac was a little annoyed by how much of a baby the Mystery Inc. gang was treating him, which was a bit common, considering the fact that they had known him since he was an infant (and they were known as the ?Scooby-Doo Detective Agency?).
?What kind of mystery are you trying to solve, Mac?? Big Bird asked.
?A couple of weeks ago, while I was visiting the old observatory that once stood outside the city, I discovered these really old notes in this drawer.? Mac said, as he led them back to the mansion?s front yard, where Bloo (Mac?s imaginary friend) was making paper airplanes out of the documents that Mac scattered all over the yard, much to Mac?s displeasure. ?Bloo! What?re you doing?!?!?
?What?? Bloo said, as he threw the last paper airplane that he made across the air, making it do a complete loop right into his face. ?I just found these papers lying all over the yard, with no one even bothering to pick them up, so I figured that I just, you know, make some neat airplanes. See?? Bloo revealed some of the paper planes that he made, which he had perfectly formed into models of actual planes.
?Now there?s one creative imaginary friend!? Shaggy exclaimed, and Bloo gave him a confident look.
?That?s what I?ve been telling everyone, ever since I moved in.? Bloo uttered.
?Bloo!? yelled an angry Mac. ?These papers were not for making airplanes!?
?Then what are they for?? Bloo asked.
?They were notes on a hidden planet that?s beginning to form in our solar system!? Mac shouted, and Big Bird & the Mystery Inc. gang were stunned by that news.
?Hidden planet?!? They exclaimed, just before Velma picked up one of the paper airplanes and unfolded it reveal some strange writings on the sheet. She recognized the writings, which were almost alien, and grinned a little.
?Cousin, it looks like you?ve found more than just notes on a hidden planet.? Velma said. ?If I?m right, and I almost always am, then you may be uncovering one of the biggest phenomenons that our universe has to offer.?
?What?re you saying, Velma?? Mac asked.
?I?m saying that whoever documented these notes probably discovered a new Kryptonian planet that has been evolving in our galaxy for centuries.? Velma informed. ?Mac?you might?ve not only found out where Superman could be, you probably discovered a new civilization of Kryptonians in our own solar system!? Until that moment, Mac knew that the discovery was huge; but now it seemed that it had become extraordinarily colossal.
?Is that all?? uttered Bloo, who was the only one that didn?t seem too impressed over the discovery and just rolled his eyes in disgust. ?I expected something bigger than that, like the cure for cancer or something.?
?Bloo.? Mac uttered, with a shocked look on his face.
?Yeah, buddy??
?Shut up.?
END OF CHAPTER TWO