Night At the Museum

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Night at the Museum

I wasn't thrilled with the idea of having to travel to Beijing on company business. It's a very long trip, and the company wouldn't spring for anything but coach class on the plane. Plus the idea that I'd be dropped in the middle of a place where I didn't speak the language, and I really wasn't all that sure of exactly what would be expected of me when I got there. If I needed any help, well my co-workers would be 12 hours away on the other side of the planet.

There was a bright spot in the situation, however. I had some leeway in the selection of which airline flights I could take. No matter what I did, I'd have to change planes at least once, maybe twice. After juggling connections about a bit I found I'd end up with a short layover in either Osaka or Tokyo on the return flight. Now the distance between the cities of Takarazuka and Osaka in Japan is less than 10 miles as the crow flies, but traveling by rail or bus is about double that due to the geography and the way the roads are laid out. So, it appeared that if I extended that layover by a day or two I could manage a side trip to visit the Tezuka Osmau Manga Museum. Suddenly, I was actually looking forward to the adventure.

The flight to Beijing was just about as much of a drudgery as I had feared. The longest leg of the trip, a direct flight from LAX to Beijing was not comfortable in the cramped quarters of the coach cabin. Add in a long duration where the 'fasten seat belts' sign was illuminated followed by a long queue for the bathrooms and a bursting bladder, and you get the idea. To add insult to injury some of my luggage didn't make it down the conveyor belt in a timely manner. At least it wasn't lost, just sent to the wrong gate, finally found, and then reunited with me. An hour late. Murphy!

Most of the business trip was spent in a room somewhere in the factory waiting to be called in to do some testing on samples of product that had just come off the assembly line. Since by the time I had been tapped to take on this babysitting job, the line had been through several revisions of the product development cycle, nothing much actually went wrong. After a week and a half of “hurry up and waiting” the foreman on the assembly line announced that he had no more use for us engineers. Rather than reschedule our return trips earlier by a day or two, we were invited to tour the great wall and the forbidden city, which isn't so forbidden to tourists anymore. The Chinese have discovered they can sell their history and culture to the world.

So with the worst behind me, I boarded my return flight. First stop, Osaka. I was still nervous about making my way around with little knowledge of the language. I did have my guide books with me, and I had studied some travel language tapes, but I knew this was going to be more of an adventure than the Beijing leg of the trip.

The flight from China to Japan was much shorter than the one across the entire Pacific, and the pilot managed to find his way around any turbulence. The plane wasn't totally full either, I had an empty seat next to me and was able to stretch out a bit. No problems with lost luggage either. Things were looking up.

A travel agent had found me an affordable room at a small inn in Takarazuka within walking distance to the museum. It was an easy rail trip from the Osaka airport, and the JR station was only two blocks from the museum, and not far from the inn.

The next day, while sitting in the inn's small restaurant (if you could call it that) I was approached by by one of the owner's teenage daughters who had noticed me wearing a small Tetsuwan Atom pin on my jacket. The ornament was a fan collectible I'd found on Ebay some time ago.

“You're American, right?” she asked me.

“Hai” I replied nodding my head.

“Going to the Tezuka museum today?” she asked, pointing at my pin.

I again answered in the affirmative.

“I'll take you there.” she offered.

“Looking for a chance to converse in English?” I asked.

“Yes!” she answered. “I can use the practice for school.”

“Sure.” I laughed. “I could use a translator.”

We then got around to actually introducing ourselves properly. Her name was Satchiko, and she was a senior in high school.
“I can't stay with you all day at the museum,” she said, “I've got to be back here by three or so.”

We got to the museum just before they opened their doors at 9:30am. I saw that the place closed at 5:00pm. Admission was 700 yen, about $7 US. Cheap compared to some of the museums in NYC. I offered to pay Satchiko's admission, but she refused my offer, and I hoped that I hadn't insulted her by making it. Having her around to translate some of the signs in the museum for me certainly helped my enjoyment of the place, and when she excused herself to leave around 2:30pm I was on my own.

I managed to fill up the SD card on my camera with lots of pictures and videos. There were certainly plenty of almost life size posters of Tezuka's start system characters scattered though out the museum, and also a few life size statues of many of them. I sat though several showings of various anime films they had running, some of which I'd never seen before. Around 4 pm I was accosted by a man carrying a tray with complementary paper cups of tea. He was a tall individual, with a large forehead under which hung a pair of thick frame glasses on his nose. As I reached for one of the cups, he picked one off the tray and handed it to me. I thanked him and quickly drank the beverage as the man disappeared into the crowd.

There were a few exhibits I wanted to get another look at when my stomach began growling. I hate it when indigestion causes gas and cramps, and I quickly looked around for a restroom. I must have sat on the 'throne' for about 15 minutes, and then realized that it was almost closing time. I began to feel a bit dizzy and I must have passed out without realizing it. When I got out of the restroom I found myself in the dimly lit hall way of the museum, apparently locked in! My watch confirmed that it was now about 9pm, I'd been passed out in the john for about four hours!

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Night at the Museum

It was already dark outside as I made my way downstairs to the lobby. Sure enough, the doors were locked from the outside, I was trapped in the building until someone would show up the next morning to open the place. I checked my cell phone, but it was useless because I hadn't arranged for service in Japan, and I didn't have a signal inside of the building anyway. What had been a cheerful place during the day, now seemed rather creepy at night with most of the lights out. I could hear some strange noises in the darkness, I hoped it was my imagination. The squeaky sound of light footsteps in the distance seemed to be coming closer. I could feel the hairs on my skin standing up.

Someone or something tapped me on the back. “Hello, who are you?”

I must have jumped almost high enough to hit my head on the ceiling. I turned myself around to see who, or what had spoken, while preparing myself to run away as fast as possible.

“Gee, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you.” The voice came from what earlier had been the inanimate statue of Atom standing in the entry hallway of the museum, but now was as real as I'd imagined him in my wildest dreams.

“How the ….?” I stammered.

“It's after dark now.” Atom said. “The museum comes to life after dark, but usually there isn't anyone here to notice. I guess you must have somehow gotten yourself locked in.”

“Yes I did.” I said. “Now that I think of it, I felt really sick shortly after drinking some complementary tea that some strange looking individual was serving and I must have passed out in the bathroom for a few hours. I think I may have been the only one who drank any of it.”

“Did the guy with the tea wear glasses, and have a well trimmed mustache?” Atom asked.

“Come to think of it, yes he did.” I answered.

“Sounds like Acetylene Lamp has been up to his tricks again.” Atom sighed. “The last time he got loose in the museum we almost had an international incident.”

“But that happened before dark.” I said. “How could Lamp have been walking around the museum at 4:30 in the afternoon?”

“He must have gotten hold of the terrible time gun.” Atom said. “ I thought Ochanomizu Hakase had deactivated it, and drained its batteries of power, but maybe it might have had enough energy left to have been able to still shift time by a few hours. It looks like I'm going to have to catch Lamp and I could use some help.”

“OK.” I said. “I'll assist you. Oh by the way, my name is Alvin Peng, and it's a pleasure to meet you.”

Atom led the way back upstairs, where many of the star system characters in their posters were starting to wake up and they popped into the 3D world to roam about. We were joined by the now animated figure of the Kuro Hazama statue.

“Black Jack Sensei,” Atom asked. “Could you take a quick look at my friend Alvin here? Lamp must have slipped him a Mickey in his tea.”

The doctor quickly looked me over. “You'll recover, It was probably just some Ex-Lax and a mild sedative. Oh don't worry, I don't charge a fee unless surgery is involved.”

“Acchonburike!” I turned to see Pinoko who had just came running across the hallway to join the doctor. “You're not a manga people!”

“No Pinoko, I'm not.” I laughed.


Suddenly appearing in front of us was Tezuka Osmau himself. The animated figure that normally sat up on a raised platform in the museum's electronic anime studio instructing guests on how to draw, was now walking the halls of his museum.

“Hello Atomu!” he smiled, and then looked at me. “How did you get in here?”

Before I could speak, Atom explained everything to his maker. “Alvin Peng was one of our guests in the museum today. It seems that Acetylene Lamp must be up to his old tricks again, handing out spiked tea.”

“We can't have that!” Dr. Tezuka sighed. The doctor reached into his pockets and his hands came up empty. “Oh dear!” Tezuka said. “My keys seem to be missing. Lamp must have taken them from me while I was asleep. Atomu, you must catch up with Lamp and get those keys back, and then see that he's confined to his manga poster again. We can't have Lamp running this museum!”

“Hai, Dr. Tezuka.” Atom answered.

“Can I help?” The voice came from a large robot standing behind us. The huge black figure with horns on the top of his head had to walk with his legs slightly bent to avoid hitting the ceiling.

“Keep an eye out for Lamp, and Skunk.” Atom told Pluto. “I'm sure the two of them have been plotting the takeover of the museum again.”

“He never learns, does he?” Pluto laughed.

“Step aside Pluto, there's a real detective on the case!” Shunsaku Ban said.

“Good evening, Teacher!” Atom said to the short balding man with the large mustache.

“Pleased to meet you, Senseii!” I said, offering my hand in greeting to the famous Tokyoite.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” he asked. “You're no member of the star system.”

“Lamp was passing out drugged tea again to the museum guests and Peng Alvin-san passed out in the facilities, getting locked in after closing.” Atom explained.

“Now he's done it!” Ban said. “When I get my hands on that slimly creep, look out!”

My initial fear and surprise at finding myself locked in the museum and vanished, I now felt rather like Alice after she entered wonderland. I had to pinch myself to make sure it wasn't a dream. However, there still was the problem of getting out of the museum and back to my hotel if I was to catch my flight back home early in the morning. I knew that Atom and I would have to find Lamp before he took over the museum or I might never get out of there.

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Night at the Museum

Suddenly the silence was broken by a squawking noise, and a ruffle of feathers. A large bird with red and gold feathers flew overhead, ridden by a small figure wearing a black cape and carrying a large scepter with a huge head. The Phoenix landed in front of us and Hosuke Sharaku dismounted from the bird's back. The bandage was missing from the boy's forehead, revealing his third eye.

“I will vanquish Lamp and Skunk back to the pages of the Manga from where they came!” he cried out. The three eyed one spoke an incantation in an ancient language and hammered the head of his scepter to the floor releasing a flash of light. As the brilliance faded, the two villains appeared, transported from wherever they had been hiding by Sharaku's magic scepter.
Both of had a look of surprise on their faces, but Lamp quickly regained his composure. Lamp was holding what appeared to be some kind of weapon, and he aimed it at the three eyed boy.

“Let's see if your magic scepter can get you out of this fix!” he laughed pulling the trigger.

The weapon emitted a hazy beam of light, and the area round Sharaku faded away as if a wormhole had been torn open in the fabric of space-time.

“Oh no!” Atom cried out. “It's the terrible time gun!”

“Yeah, so it is!” Skunk laughed. “Where did you send him, Lamp?”

“The gun was set for four hours into the future.” Lamp replied. “That's all it will do, four hours forward or backwards. If I had an atomic battery, I could power this thing up to really move though time.”

Skunk pointed toward Atom. “Astro Boy is a walking atomic battery. He's got enough atomic fuel inside of him to power that gun.”

“Yeah!” Lamp said, as he adjusted the gun and aimed it in our direction.

“Drop your weapon, or I'll run you through!”

Standing behind the two villains stood a tall female figure dressed in blue armor with a large hat and long white gloves. She wore a large scabbard on a belt about her waist, the sword from which was in her right hand, the point of its blade resting against Lamp's back.

Princess Knight repeated her demand, “I said put down that time gun!”

Lamp released his grip on the time gun, and Shunsaku Ban took possession of the device.
“I'll have Ochanomizu Hakase dispose of this thing, once and for all!” the detective said. “Now let's see who's got the keys?”

Mustacheo searched though the pockets of both Lamp and Skunk, but Tezuka's keys did not appear to be on their persons.

“We've hidden the doctor's keys, and if you banish us you'll never get them back!” Skunk laughed. “I hardly think that you'll really use that sword on us either.” he laughed at Sapphire.

Princess Knight slipped the sword back into the scabbard. “No, I won't kill a man in cold blood.” she sighed.

Mustacheo starred at the two villains. “Looks like we've got ourselves a standoff here. Us heroes can't make threats of death, or torture against these villains, but we need those keys back.”

I looked at Atom, but I knew his programming had him in a bit of a dilemma. The real problem was that Skunk and Lamp knew this, we needed to find someone they were afraid of, someone crazy enough to do the unexpected.

“You're too soft with these flesh bags Atom! Let me handle these two!”

Atlas slowly walked into the room from around the corner where he had been sulking. The blue and red robot grabbed Lamp and Skunk by the back of their necks and lifted them off the ground.

“Now one of you is going to tell Atlas where you hid Tezuka's keys, or I'm going to pour your blood onto the floor.” The rouge robot laughed. “Don't think that any robot laws are going to protect you, my Omega factor programming can override any protection you might be counting on!”

“No Atlas, you can't!” Atom cried out.

Atlas kicked Atom across the room and he smashed into a far wall leaving a large hole in it. As Atom crawled out of the wall Atlas lifted the two thugs higher, bumping their heads into the ceiling, leaving two small impressions in it.

“Now where are those key!” he yelled.

Astro winked at me, and I thought I noticed a grin on Atlas's face directed at me as well.

“You'd better do what he says.” I told the two fools, “He's crazy!”

“The keys are in a locker, downstairs!” Skunk babbled. “Number 47”

“You IDIOT!” Lamp said smacking Skunk on the face.

“I'll get them!” Mustacheo said, running down the staircase.

Pluto tied the two villains up with some rope. Astro and Atlas high fived each other and laughed.

“You two did the 'good robot – bad robot' bit quite well” I laughed.

“Yeah we really fooled them, didn't we!” Atom laughed.

“I didn't fool anybody!” Atlas said. “I was actually hoping I'd have to rough those baka's up. They gave in too easy.”

Shunsaku Ban mounted the stairs carrying a keyring with several keys on it. “Here's your missing keys, Tezuka Sensei” he said, handing the ring back to his creator.

“Thank you.” Tezuka said. “Now I can open the doors and let you out of my museum,” the manga artist told me.

“Can I say goodbye to my friends first?” I asked.

“Certainly.”

I said my goodbyes to the star system members and Atom and Osmau led me to the front door. Tezuka Sensei unlocked the door. We walked outside into the night air as Atom and his creator led me to the street. We reached the concrete impressions of Atom's hand and foot prints.

“Are those really your's Atom?” I asked.

“Sure are!” he said, bending down and demonstrating that his hands and feet fit exactly into the impressions in the concrete.

A thought crossed my mind. “Say Atom, the Inn I'm staying at isn't very far from here. Would it be possible …..”

Tezuka smiled and nodded.

“Hai!” Atom laughed. “Hold on tight!”
Atom grabbed me about the waist and lifted me off the ground. The flight to the Inn was only a few minutes long, but the view, and the wind though my hair was delightful! We landed in the shadows behind the building.

“Good night, Alvin-San!” Atom said. “Have a good trip home!”

I waved at him as he flew back to the museum. I found my way back to my room, undressed, and got into bed. It would be a short night's sleep as I had an early flight in the morning.

When the alarm rang, early the next day I wondered if it had been a dream after all. My stomach was still a bit upset, and I quickly convinced myself that the previous night had been a strange dream.

A few days later, back at home I was unpacking my suitcases when a slip of paper fell out of the rear pocket of a pair of trousers. It contained a doodle of Atom and Tezuka done in the Manga Artist's famous style, with two signatures in Japanese. The ink on the paper was fresh. Now I wonder.......

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

You may now find this tale up on fan fiction.net

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10651617/1/