The Banana Milkshake Incident
Title: The Banana Milkshake Incident
Word Count: 3,000 words
Commissioned by: MirrorKhaos
Written by: @Evangeline40003
5.30.2021
This piece is PG-13 for one line of dialogue/ a joke (moderate sexual themes) toward the end of the story.
The streets of Oritilian City are alive with the festivities of Memorial Day. Apartment complexes have a plethora of music co-mingling from open window to window while the occasional pop of fireworks goes off against the still bright sky of day. Colorful candy wrappers blow about over cracks in the sidewalk and get stuck underfoot as citizens make their way to the next barbeque or get off midday shifts.
Lily Fitzroy is skipping down the sidewalk, stepping on each wrapper. She searches for any unopened candies that were not picked up from that morning’s Memorial Day Parade. Her hands are already full of little trophies, as are Alilyu Lignilart’s as he carries what she cannot. Lily’s foot meets with an intact Mars bar. It skitters across the sidewalk as she squeaks and drops to her knees to gather it.
“Who would have thought you’d have this much fun just walking to the café,” Alilyu muses.
Lily grasps the candy bar with her last free pinkie and stands up to show her cache to Alilyu. “Today isn’t just any day, it is a day of remembrance—and lots of celebration apparently. How could I not take part in the reveling?” In her bright space outfit, Lily sticks out from passersby on the street. A family holding bags of candy and streamers wear all red, white, and blue tops with khaki shorts. They glance at her with curiosity as they pass by. With candy in hand, Lily flips her hair over her shoulder and shrugs at the attention.
“Why blend in when you can have a little fun?”
Lily and Alilyu make their way to the Tilted Kettle to meet up with The Vermillion Widow and discuss possible names for their crew of super heroines. Reaching the café, Alilyu holds the door open for Lily and they step into the familiar warmth where they first established and created Alilyu’s idea of a superhero team. Why work separately if they all could join forces? Passing the front counter and occupied tables up front, they made their way to their table in the back. Ava Schulte, who is already there with a friend, stands up to meet them.
“Welcome, Lily and Alilyu—I wondered if the festivities had distracted you along the way,” Ava says.
Lily holds up her fistfuls of candy. “We got these along the way—I wasn’t about to miss one of our first meetings!” She places her stash on the table and turns to Ava’s friend, a woman wearing a periwinkle spandex two piece and small cardigan. She has fiery red hair and a gruff appearance with her muscled body and dramatic knee-high leather boots. Quite the character Ava brough along with her.
Alilyu smiles in recognition. “The Amazon Bruiser—you must be Broeunia, one of the Amazonian Warriors Vermillion Widow was telling me about. My name is Alilyu Lignilart, it’s nice to meet you!”
Broeunia waves with a smile and says hello. Lily sits next to her and presses some treasures into her hands. The two red heads are already getting along.
“I thought we could meet today to discuss some possible names for our little group. We know what we want to do and accomplish, but what should we call ourselves when we set about our tasks? What will people call us when they need our help? What name will they use when they write about us in the papers?” Ava asks.
“That’s a good point, we need that good publicity,” Lily muses.
“That’s not what I mean—”
“We know, but I think this will be fun. We do need a group name,” Alilyu chimes in before Lily can poke fun at Ava’s mention of the paparazzi and news they might attract. A superhero always needs to be mindful of the public eye, whether you like the attention or not.
“Do we have any ideas?” Ava asks.
“I think I need some tea first,” Lily says. She waves down a waitress to give our orders.
“I think we can brainstorm from what we want people to see with us. What are some good points?” Alilyu offers.
“Bravery and strength,” Broeunia says.
“That’s a good start,” Alilyu agrees. “I can add, peace, prosperity, safety, and guidance.”
“Don’t forget where everyone is from, would we all be called aliens?”
“No alien jokes,” Lily peeps.
“We have me, an elf-monk, an amazon warrior, space traveler, and from the city of Dirkbruhaven, Ava.”
“I think we are all quite amazing, we can be called The Wonders,” Lily suggests. The others cringe. “Hey now, we’ll have none of that, I want to hear the most ridiculous ideas as we brainstorm together. No judgement!” Lily laughs. “Let’s share some good and bad ideas.”
“Sounds good to me. I don’t know, but I thought of The Defenders or The Pillar,” Ava says.
“Like a pillar of support?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“What about,” Broeunia begins then hums in thought, “The Kick A—”
“No swearing, we don’t want to be censored on daytime TV,” Ava corrects. Everyone laughs.
“I’m sure we will be kicking lots of ass though,” Lily chirps. “I like The Mystery Heroines or Heroes Align.”
“Blazing Fists.”
“Worldly Heroines.”
“Justice Seekers!”
“Orititlan Queens.”
“Magic Defenders?”
“Team of Allies.”
The waitress comes to their table and hands out drinks among the slew of possible team names. Everyone starts throwing out more and more ideas that seem to be making less sense, but such is the effort to create something new. Locations and places close to heart start to join the fray such as The Vermillion Alliance, Amazonian Greats, and—
“Saviors of the Argonaut,” Ava says. Lily, who had been spinning her drink in her hands stops abruptly and looks at the Vermillion Widow.
“What was that?” she asks. Ava looks a little flushed as she realizes she was saying random names.
“I’m sorry, that is an important name to you, isn’t it? I was thinking about everyone, and it came to mind without me realizing it,” Ava explains.
“That’s okay, that name stirs up some rather good memories, if I’m being honest,” Lily says.
“What is the Argonaut?” Broeunia asks.
“The Argonaut is the name of the ship I commandeered. I think about it often and miss it along with my team there before Araignée took me away.”
“How did you end up here on this Earth?” Alilyu asks. He takes a sip of chrysanthemum tea. “I am not familiar with your story, if I may ask.”
“But don’t we have to come up with a name for our team? While it’s a great one, ‘Argonaut’ is not a good team name.”
Ava crosses her arms and thinks for a moment. “No Fitzroy, I think it’s finally your chance to tell us about your cosplay story.”
“Hey! Everyone believed and listened to Alilyu when he shared his stories. I would say his were a little more farfetched being from a different universe with magic and all. Out in space during a different time isn’t too bizarre—I think.”
“Wow, you know, how many places has the troublesome Araignée come and gone? Out of the many realms, timelines, and places, how did she decide to pick us out of everyone else out there?” Alilyu asks.
“She’s not on our list of ‘friendly faces’ either,” Ava says. “Why risk putting us all together in one place?”
“Yeah, I’ll teach her a lesson if I ever see her again.”
“Me too.”
“Anyways!” Ava cuts into the wandering conversation. “Wasn’t Lily going to enchant us with a story? Are we all ready to listen?”
“Sorry Lily,” everyone says. Lily gives a smile.
“That’s alright, I think I can fill in some gaps first before I begin one of my favorite tales. Before I was that ‘crazy cosplayer girl’ to everyone, I was a commander in the Earth Commonwealth Space Navy, in this present’s distant future. I completed important work such as leading missions. Our navy handled the troubles that Araignée and her sisters frequently caused while we also tracked and fought a group of alien slavers called Black Iris. In a realm of unexplored planets and asteroid corridors past every star, there were always people and individuals in need of help.
“My ship, the Argonaut was a light cruiser that frequently escorted larger ships on missions or traveled with other light cruisers and frigates in a wolfpack. It had its quirks, once one of the most high-tech and fastest ships, but it had seen better years. At the time of my story, I had been the commander for five years. Before that position, I served in two wars and was awarded my position as X/O, the first office of Dreadnought, and then was promoted to commander of the Argonaut. My story takes place on a day when our vessel’s protein re-sequencer went on the blitz and created an interesting product.”
“Excuse me, what is a protein re-sequencer?” Alilyu asks. Space travel and the technology that comes with it is something he is very unfamiliar with.
“It is a device that replaces the need for hydroponic greenhouses and a galley. It can, on its own, replicate foods such as scrambled eggs, potatoes, chicken sandwiches, meatloaf, and more. Our crew often complained that all items looked real but never tasted as they should. Little did we know, we were in for a treat when the protein re-sequencer stopped working.”
***
The Argonaut:
Space has a vast quiet that moves indecipherably beyond the windows of the argonauts’ port side view. Hours—days—could pass and the view outside looks the same—black space pinpricked by distant stars and the swirling cosmic gases and dark matter in-between. Interstellar objects such as planets, moons, asteroids, space junk, or other ships were the only break in the silent scape. There wasn’t much to mark the passing of days or time out in space except for the digital clocks registering 18 faces on the arm of Commander Lily Fitzroy’s spacesuit sleeve.
Lily tapped on her wrist to bring up the expected arrival time to Gliese 570 A. From Earth, the Argonaut was traveling at a FTL Factor of 6 and expected to arrive after 32 days of space travel. At Gliese 570 A, they were to meet with a gathering of sister ships to escort the cruiser “Lepanto” on a routine patrol. It was only day 15 of their voyage and strange sounds have been coming from the ship’s protein re-sequencer. Lily did not need anything slowing this trip down. They were low on rations, packing a light load to meet at Gliese 570 A on time, so this protein re-sequencer was key to them making it comfortably to the next port.
“X/O Commander Ineiri, come in,” Lily said into the intercom on the collar of her suit. “What’s the situation on level 4?”
The communicator buzzed a response into Lily’s ear. “Commander Fitzroy, it’s not looking good—over.”
“I’m going to need more details than that,” Lily replied. She picked up her pace and hurried to the nearest shaft to go down to the level with the protein re-sequencer and mess-hall. White panels lined the hall of the small craft, and some were crooked and even exposed wires curled near the bottom of a door frame Lily passed through. The Argonaut had seen better years, but she hoped against odds that its inevitable retirement wasn’t around too near a corner.
“Commander—it looks like the re-sequencer is unable to recreate any food. Just a liquid is produced—over,” Ineiri answered.
“Thank you, I am almost there. Comms. LT. Commander Rykari, do you copy?”
“Yes commander, I’ll meet you down there,” Rykari responded from her position at the bridge.
Deep in the hull of The Argonaut is a rec-room and mess hall where the small crew can come for meals and breaks in their shifts around the ship. The protein re-sequencer was a great tube and machine in the corner that made everyone’s meals. Lily had a plate of tasteless eggs and bacon during the morning hours on the clock, but she wasn’t sure when it stopped working.
Next to the re-sequencer, Ineiri stood up from a crouch to greet Lily. Her blue skin looked pale in the fluorescent lighting, her white hair stuck out from around the two-blue antenna on her head.
“Commander, you are much better at these things than me. Can you take a look?” Ineiri asked. She pointed to the door at the center of the re-sequencer that usually opens up so you can take out your meal once it appears. The door was closed, and a yellow liquid frothed on the inside.
“Ineiri, what strange Andorian cuisine did you try to cook up in here?” Lily asked.
“I didn’t ask for anything—I just wanted some toast! Does that look like toast to you, commander?”
Lily laughed. “Well, go ahead and open it, there is no way to know what it is if we don’t.”
Ineiri looked at Lily with a frown and raised eyebrows. “You don’t mean just open the door and let all this mystery liquid spill out? Do you want to clean up that mess? I don’t want to be held responsible for it.”
“I won’t tell if you don’t,” Lily said.
“Tell who? We are the commanders on this ship—there is no one above us.”
“Now what trouble are you two getting into?” Comms. LT. Commander Rykari said as she entered the hall. A Tiburanian, she had long red-hair tied up in a messy bun and her forked ears flared out from her head as if she is wearing ornaments in her hair, instead of her ears. She gave a troublemakers’ smile to the other two commanders—it’s a wonder anyone picked these three to work together.
“Rykari, can you please explain to Ineiri why we should not open the door to the protein re-sequencer until we know what is inside and so we do not make a mess in the process?”
“Ineiri, what in the name of exploration are you doing? If you don’t open that door any faster, we won’t know what this strange stuff is,” Rykari said. Ineiri smiled and bent down to grasp the handle of the protein re-sequencer before Lily could stop her. She tugged and the door came open with a splash, the yellow liquid poured out, frothing with bubbles, and smashed onto the floor. The puddle spread to cover the girls’ boots as the heavy aromatic smell of bananas filled the room.
“Ineiri! What the heck?” Lily gasped. She stepped backwards and slipped in the process. Rykari grabbed onto Lily’s arm to steady her while Ineiri laughed until her cheeks turned pink.
“What in the cosmos is this?” Rykari exclaimed. Ineiri was pushing the door shut as more banana-smelling liquid continued to pour from their overproducing sequencer.
“It looks like some kind of liquified food.”
“I hope it’s food, is this what we’ve really been eating this whole time?”
“I don’t remember my chicken ever tasting like bananas. Nothing really has any taste to begin with.”
The women regarded the liquid for a while. No one really knew what to make of it. Ineiri, ever the curious reached out and stuck her finger into the puddle.
“Ew!” Lily shouted.
The yellow liquid collected on the tip of her nail and coated down to her first knuckle with a single drip rolling down to her palm. “I’m going to try it. Science,” Ineiri said.
“What if it puts you on the toilet for days?” Lily asked.
“Then that’ll give me something to fill up my time on this boring voyage.”
“You can’t be serious.”
Ineiri’s eyes were fixed on the yellow goop on her finger. She swallowed and brought it closer to her blue lips. “Wish me luck,” she whispered. She popped her finger in her mouth and tasted the banana concoction. Her eyes lit up and she broke into a smile. “It tastes like a banana milkshake!”
“Do you mean it is a banana milkshake?” Rykari and Lily both try some and soon share in Ineiri’s excitement.
“Go get some cups! We have to have some of this!” Cups and napkins are gathered from the mess room while sticky yellow footprints cover the floors as the girls hurry to and fro. Ineiri opened the door one more time and the protein re-sequencer sputtered as more banana milkshake poured out and into their waiting cups.
“Man, I wish we had some curly straws,” Lily said. They all took a seat on the floor by one of the windows showing out to the stars with their milkshakes in hand.
“Who knew we would find some food that tastes like it’s supposed to.”
“Maybe even better!”
“What a perfect mistake this is, I don’t think we will need to fix the re-sequencer for a while, right?” They sip their fruity drinks and find new joy in the stars outside. They started making faces and shaking the drinks as laughs and jokes are shared.
Lily, while the lead commander, was known to be a playful troublemaker. She shook her milkshake at the others and shared a joke. “Do you guys know what the virgin said to her boyfriend?” she asked. She took a big sip of the banana milkshake.
The others thought for a minute then shook their heads. Lily puckered her lips and went to spit her drink at them. “I Lov—”
“Holy asteroids Lily!” Rykari slapped a hand over Lily’s mouth, making her swallow the drink and nearly choke with laughter. “You’re disgusting!”
While reports should be gathered and preparations for the continuation of the voyage should be made, Lily, Rykari, and Ineiri celebrated the moment in space.
***
Lily finishes her story with a grand flourish. The table is loud with laughter as the others enjoy her tale.
“Lily, always the troublemaker,” Ava says.
“While I’ll call it a night then after that. Should we get banana milkshakes next time?” Alilyu asks.
Lily laughs. “Absolutely. I can always use another. What say we actually finish picking a name for our group during our next meeting then?”
The heroes finish up their drinks and make their way back out into the night after Lily’s humorous story. Outside, they join the crowds gathering for the night’s firework shows.
Another fun piece for MirrorKhaos ! Wonderful and lively characters.