Roo.F.O?

Roger Clark pushed back on his pedal, causing his bike to slow to a halt as he reached the corner of Tanner and Baker Street. He watched as a silver Camry passed by before pushing down hard, the bike leaping forward. School was out for a few more weeks - he planned to make the most of it.

Thighs pumping, he reached full speed as he reached the dirty road that cut across Baker’s Pond and into the dirt trails that created the townships limit. It wasn’t the first time he’d done this, but after today, it would be the last time. Just as he rounded the bend, something caught his eye, causing him to look to the sky. A branch, lain haphazardly across the path caught his tire, leaving the boy to soar over the handlebars and hard onto his back

With a groan, Roger pushed himself up. He looked back at the bike, front tire bent almost at 30 degree angle, before turning back to the sky. His eyes widened with terror, as a large, oval-form took over the sky, blacking out the very sun itself.

He started to scream.

“A UFO?”

Special Agent Mully lifts her eyebrow skeptically, looking over the blurry photographs spread out in her lap. Her partner, wearing a matching black suit and tie, nods his head.

“Spotted in broad daylight,” he says, taking his eyes briefly from the road to point at a blob on one of the photos.

“How many witnesses?”

“They say it must have been at least 40 feet long - that’s transportation sized…or invasion…” he starts to trail off. 

“How many people saw it?” Mully repeats. There is a long silence. “Sculder?”

“One - but he’s a very reliable witness!” the eyebrow, already in danger of bending at a full 90 degree angle, rises higher still. “Everything he says matches what we know -“ 

“A flying object that he is unable to identify?”

“Precisely,” Sculder’s excitement gets the best of him and he turns towards the files, flipping through to the folder as Mully takes control of the wheel over his shoulder. After a few moments of fumbling, he hands her the statement and once again clutches the wheel.

She reads over the paper, her head slowly turning to him before blurting out.

“He’s a child!”

“I want answers!” 

Agent Sculder grips one of Rogers ankles, the pre-teen dangling off the ground, his back pressed into the vinyl siding of the small doublewide trailer, the free leg kicking to try and achieve some sort of balance. In his other hand, Sculder holds an active water hose.

“He’s a child!” Agent Mully repeats.

“He’s holding out on me!” he yells over his shoulder before turning back to the boy, already soaked, “Answers! I want answers!”

“It’s all I remember, mister, I prom-gurg-” the agent aims the hose back towards his face causing him to sputter. His partner rushes over and pulls the makeshift water weapon from his hand.

“What are you,” he begins, one of the boys Converse finally connecting with his cheek, causing him to release his hold. Roger takes off back into the trailer, calling after his father. “You let him get away!”

“You cannot waterboard a child, Sculder!”

“I can and I did!” he shouts back. Realizing he’s in his partner’s face, he takes a step back, wiping the splattered water from his own face. “He knows something, Mully. I know it.”

“There’s better ways. Let’s check out the town…” she begins, walking towards the car. Sculder’s focus remains on the trailer.

“Better ways,” he mutters.

“Sculder?” Mully says, standing at the passenger door. She turns just in time to see her partner draw his weapon, making his way back towards the trailer. “Sculder!”

Tucking his hands into his pockets, Sculder sulks just behind his partner as they walk down the single strip of road that represents the town center. The sun slowly dips down on the horizon - their canvasing has turned up no leads. She stops, pushing the button. “Sculder? Did you hear what I said?”

“You think it’s a hoax,” he says, coming to a stop just behind her.

“It’s the most logical conclusion. The boy and his father didn’t know anything, despite your,” she cuts her eyes over her shoulder in his direction, “Persuasive strategies.”

“You shouldn’t have stopped me,” he grumbles.

“You were trying to hook his father up to his own car battery!” she shouts, whipping around to him.

“He was about to crack,” he says. She rolls her eyes, turning to the stop walk which still encourages her not to walk, but she proceeds to defy it’s expectations.

“I’m going to the hotel. If you want to keep ‘investigating’...”

Sculder watches her continue down the road, not noticing the sound of the bell as the door to the diner opens, nor the koala wearing a Hawaiian shirt and carrying a to-go container -  filled with what some would say are the world’s greatest curly fries - before bumping into a large man. He stops, turning to mumble an apology as he reaches for the hat that has been knocked from the man’s head, before his jaw drops. Standing before him is a kangaroo wearing a Rage Against the Machine hoodie and purple Jordan 1’s.

“Wait…what the hell?” Sculder shouts, looking first down at the hat and then up to the kangaroo. As Roo reaches for his hat, his paw is intercepted by the Agent’s. “Hold on a second, pal,” is what he would have said had a stiff right not connected firmly with his jaw. The next thing he sees is his partner standing over him. His face feels warm - wet.

“You okay?” she asks. 

He doesn’t respond - mostly because he isn’t quite sure if his jaw is broken. Sculder gently touches the side of his face.

“Don’t worry Sculder,” Agent Mully says, her eyes staring out into the night. Her partner looks up to her from the ground, “Your tooth is out there…”

“How’s tha sayin’ go?”

The scene opens up to the lounge of Zaza’s blimp, the PB-82. Roo has replaced his hat with the hoodies headware and balances one of the to-go trays on his belly, picking at the plate of cheese fries. The koala, Zaza, pushes his tray aside before tucking a eucalyptus cigar into his lip, lighting it. He has a surprisingly thick New York Accent.

“‘Everyone’s got a plan ‘til they get punched in the mouth’? Then it’s out the window and you’re left to wander - how far will you go? Well, sometimes it matters how hard you're hit and what your body’s willin’ to forgive. Have you had a chance to prepare, Max - are you a man with a plan?” he asks, grinning around the cigar. 

“Nah, I bet not - you don’t seem the type. Adapt, adopt - it’s about the assimilation, and someone like you - you’ve seen it all right? Ghosts, ghouls, and goblins and still you made the great escape, so what happens when you’re one-on-one with Roo? More of the same - adapt, adopt - overcome the odds and walk away, or at least that’s the plan, right?” he takes a long drag, exhaling a few rings before continuing. “Yeah: that’s the plan, alright. Adapt and overcome - the angle of evolution put to test when bone and flesh collide in a battle of not only wills but strength and the sheer determination to survive! Booked - and betted on  - as man versus monster, the boy versus the beast, but ultimately it is the test of life itself that stands for no separation!”

Roo squeezes more ketchup onto the tray.

“Pound-for-pound, it’s not about the plans but the obstacles in the way, and one-by-one, my man Roo is ready to knock them down. Max Hooper - to say you are a stepping stone would imply there is any other direction, but up is the only path worth showing proof - and from this clash you will see that Roo understands that each and every moment is a challenge and a chance to overcome and outlast.” 

Roo finishes his fries, sliding the styrofoam tray off his hoodie. He tucks his paws into it’s kangaroo pouch.

“Friday night, it’s not about adaptation - it's about evolution and the strength to survive and Max Hooper, I want you to look me in my eyes and understand I mean it when I say it, no matter what happens in that ring - it’s nothing personal, it’s just business,” Zaza says, the tone of his voice and slight grin belying his sincerity. 

“Or at least - that’s the plan.”

Zaza winks and the scene fades out just as the blimp passes over a federal agent, who points to the sky, still holding the side of his face as he is hoisted into the back of the ambulance.