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Emmet had set out on his journey into space with high hopes. Well, about as high hopes as you can have when almost all of the human race have been wiped out of existence, leaving a ragtag group of four amateur astronauts to continue on Earth’s legacy. That ragtag group included Tom Thomson, Baby Bronco, Deedee Dawkins, and Emmet Ellis himself.He had grabbed some of the essential supplies in his opinion: plenty of resources, a medkit, a lighter, duct tape, and a mask. While he hadn’t grabbed many actual items, the crates of resources that he had grabbed would allow him to make the supplies he had neglected to get in the blind panic that was scavenging around in the space station for a harrowing sixty seconds. He also had grabbed ten cans of food, which would last them all a while.Frankly, Emmet hadn’t expected A.S.T.R.O. to appoint him as captain. When prompted to give the mandatory speech, Emmet had been nervous. He wasn’t the best at interacting with people, let alone giving speeches, so despite him probably being the smartest person on the ship, not one intelligent line of dialogue escaped his throat. He figured that while the speech was very embarrassing, he thought that he’d have plenty of chances to get his crewmembers to like him.
An early sign of Emmet’s bad luck came into play when he had tried to get into “the captain’s safe,” a safe that could have potentially had supplies inside. He didn’t bother trying to use his strength to get into the safe, so he decided to rely on his dexterity. Unfortunately, he was clumsy and got injured in the process of attempting to break into the safe. “You’ve gotta be more careful, Cap,” Thomson had said while dressing his wounds. Emmet had felt bad, thinking that he had already failed as a captain. It didn’t feel fair to his crewmates to use the medkit this early when the others could probably find a better use for it later, but they had insisted on him using it. All Emmet could hope is that no one else would get hurt as he prepared the crafting machine to make a medkit.As it turns out, people got hurt a few days after that. In fact, everyone had gotten hurt. While attempting to get a virus out of A.S.T.R.O. by ripping out the infected panel, they had all been given injuries in one way or another. The medkit, unfortunately, wouldn’t be ready until the next day. Emmet just prayed that they would all last long enough for four separate medkits to be used.
The next day, Bronco seemed to be in a bad mood. It was unlike the gentle giant to be this way, but when Emmet questioned him about it he huffily dismissed it, saying he didn’t have anything nice to say so he wouldn’t say anything. Judging from the glares and eye rolls sent his way, Emmet could guess what had caused Baby’s bad mood. It was himself. He didn’t blame Baby. Emmet could tell he wasn’t exactly being the best captain. It just saddened him. He had really hoped that people would like him, but apparently, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get people to like him. And having Baby of all people, probably the most forgiving person on the shuttle, to not like him? It felt like a sucker punch to the gut. He didn’t expect Baby’s anger to dissipate right away, but Emmet hoped that his peace offering, consisting of Baby having first dibs on the medkit as well as a soup can, would help to improve Baby’s opinion of him. He just hoped he wouldn’t be insubordinate for too long.A few days later, Deedee started to become insubordinate as well. Emmet was trying so hard. He was making another medkit as fast as he could. Couldn’t they understand the pain he was going through as well? Emmet felt powerless in this situation. At least Tom seemed to be understanding. Although he wasn’t loyal, at least he didn’t hate Emmet. Tom probably didn’t know how much it meant to Emmet that Tom wasn’t insubordinate.
They had crash landed on Mootopia. Thankfully no one got hurt, the only thing that seemed to be damaged was the communications console (which could be easily fixed) and the mask. The medkit was ready as well. Emmet looked around at his crewmembers. Baby had already been healed, which left Tom, Deedee, and himself. Tom was starting to look weak, so Emmet decided he’d get the medkit next. Plus, he was the only one that could be sent out on an expedition at the moment since both of the other crewmembers were insubordinate. He just had to hope that both him and Deedee would be able to last long enough for another medkit. Tom sighed in relief when the medkit was handed over to him.The next day, Tom had felt a lot better, so Emmet sent him out on an expedition so they could get some supplies. They were running low on soup cans, and he couldn’t craft more since he was busy crafting another medkit. Although, for some reason, Deedee seemed a lot less hostile that day. Emmet was glad that she wasn’t insubordinate anymore. Emmet hoped that Baby would come to like him again too.
The next medkit had been crafted. It was down to him and Deedee. Both of them felt weak. Emmet didn’t know what to do. He wanted to give the medkit to Deedee, but his injuries hurt really badly. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could go on like this. Perhaps this was how Tom felt when he was weak? He was about to give the medkit to Deedee, but she pushed it back into his hands. “You look like you’re on your last legs, Captain,” Deedee said, “I know you’re trying hard to be a good captain, but you gotta take care of yourself.”Emmet gave her a shaky smile at that. “Thanks, Deedee.” While he felt guilty over putting himself before others, he couldn’t deny the overwhelming sense of relief he felt that his suffering would finally be over. He just hoped that Tom would bring back another medkit. He couldn’t craft another medkit at the moment since he didn’t have the materials to do so.
Baby’s anger finally seemed to die down. Emmet had given him the last soup can, putting his crewmate over himself this time. Baby seemed to feel bad about his behavior. “Sorry about how I was treating ya Cap,” he mumbled, “I guess I was… a bit frustrated with our situation, so I kinda took out on ya. I hope ya can forgive me.”“Of course I forgive you, Baby,” Emmet replied, “I couldn’t really blame you. I haven’t really been the best captain in the world…” Emmet had many other things to say, but he didn’t want to elaborate any further. He didn’t want to make Baby feel bad for Emmet having these stupid emotional thoughts.“Thanks, Cap,” Baby said, “but please don’t put yourself down like that. I think you’re a great Captain. The world just hasn’t been that fair to ya is all.” Baby opened his arms as an invitation for a hug. Emmet gladly took it. He savored Baby’s warm embrace before eventually stepping back a bit awkwardly. Emmet was really happy that Baby liked him again.
Unfortunately, Emmet’s happiness didn’t last. Deedee had died from her injuries. He felt sad, but he was also very angry at himself. Deedee could have probably survived if he had given her the medkit first. “Damn it, it should have been me…!” Emmet sobbed. It should have been him. He didn’t deserve to live. He didn’t deserve to be alive, he shouldn’t have used the medkit on himself! He felt like such a dumbass. He was starting to pull at his hair when Baby stopped him.“Cap, please calm down! Please? Emmet, get a hold of yourself!” Baby grabbed Emmet’s arm. “It’s not your fault, Emmet. There’s nothing we could have done. Deedee was the one that suggested for ya to take the medkit first. We wouldn’t be able to go on without ya, Cap. We needed ya as a leader! You’re the smartest one here, do ya really think that we could go without ya?”Emmet sniffled. “I... I don’t know. I just feel so guilty. I feel like I could have saved her, but I chose not to. I feel angry at myself for even getting us all hurt in the first place!”“Please don’t, Emmet. It’s not your fault that we all got injured, and it’s not your fault Deedee died. You’ll only drive yourself insane if ya continue thinking these things.” Baby wrapped his arms around Emmet gently. “If ya need to cry, cry. Just let it all out now. Cryin’ always helped me feel better when I was feelin’ down…”And so that’s what Emmet did. He clutched onto Baby like a lifeline, sobs making Emmet’s body shake uncontrollably while Baby held onto Emmet just as tightly, rubbing his back in what he hoped was a soothing manner. When Emmet was finally done crying, he could see that the chest area of Baby’s suit was wet from his tears. “I would offer ya a tissue if we had any, Emmet,” Baby said.Emmet wiped away his tears and other bodily fluids from his face. “It’s fine, Baby. Thank you for everything,” Emmet sighed, “Sorry for getting your suit dirty though.”“Hey, don’t worry about it! Dirtying up a suit is worth it if I get to see ya feelin’ better,” Baby smiled.