A little while later, Airship 3 slowly flew inside the backroom of Cooter’s store.
Hazel and Melvin watched for Sara while they slowly flew through the top of the door and headed into the store area.
“I don’t see that Air Alien. Do you?” Melvin asked Hazel.
Hazel looked around and saw Sara stocking a shelf at the other end of the store. “She’s way over there,” she replied and pointed with a fin.
“Let’s hurry up and get to Stephanie’s water world,” he said.
Hazel flew the airship down the aisle out of Sara’s view and headed to Stephanie’s old aquarium.
She flew the airship to the top of Stephanie’s old aquarium.
At the plastic top of Stephanie’s Airship 3 hovered and the landing struts extended out from the belly of the airship.
Airship 3 slowly lowered down and landed on the top of Stephanie’s old aquarium.
Inside Airship 3, Hazel and Melvin looked around and didn’t see Sara in the vicinity of the aquarium.
“No Air Aliens are in sight,” he told Hazel.
Hazel took her time getting out of her seat and floated the back wall where the airsuits hung.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go on this mission?” she asked him while she removed her airsuit off the hook.
“Yeah, you deserve it. Besides, Stephanie's probably still mad at me.”
“If you want,” she replied then got dressed in her airsuit.
Melvin started to feel a like a chicken while he watched Hazel place the glass helmet over her head and lock it in place.
Hazel waved at Melvin then she opened up the door that led into the air chamber.
She stepped into the air chamber and closed the door.
“I’m ready,” Hazel said from the radio net of the airship.
“Draining the air chamber,” he said then flipped a switch.
Water was heard draining out of the air chamber and Melvin watched a gage on the console.
“You can proceed into outer air Hazel,” Melvin replied into the microphone when the gage indicated the water was drained out of the air chamber.
On the top of Stephanie’s old aquarium, the air chamber door of Airship 3 opened and Hazel in the airsuit stood in the doorway.
“One small step for fish, one giant leap for fish kind,” she said into the radio net then stepped out onto the top of the aquarium.
There was a seaweed rope that was secured to the back of her airsuit and the other end was secured inside the air chamber.
Hazel walked over to the opening into the aquarium and the seaweed rope unreeled from behind her.
“I’m going into the water world and get Stephanie,” she said while she stood at the edge of the opening.
“Be careful, Hazel. I don’t want anything to happen to you,” Melvin replied from the radio net.
She smiled loving his comment. “I won’t,” she replied then jumped into the aquarium hole and splashed into the water.
Inside Stephanie’s old aquarium, Timmy, Mitch and Kathy all cowered behind the plastic treasure chest when they saw Hazel in the airsuit sink to the bottom with her seaweed rope trailing up to the hole in the top.
She sank to the bottom, and quickly removed her bubble helmet. “Stephanie! It’s me, Hazel,” she called out and looked over the area. “Stephanie!” she called out again.
Timmy, Kathy and Mitch came out from behind the treasure chest when they realized Hazel was a fellow fish.
Hazel saw Timmy, Kathy and Mitch while they swam over to her. “Where's Stephanie?”
“The Air Aliens took Stephanie and Carlos,” Timmy told Hazel while he looked curiously at her airsuit.
“Do you know where?” Hazel replied while she looked at the glass and the other aquariums in the store.
“We think they went somewhere far far away as they left outside the door into the grand land of air,” Kathy replied while she curiously looked at Hazel’s airsuit.
“Who is Carlos?” Hazel curiously asked.
“He’s the Latin lover otherwise known as the Mambo king of North Cuba,” Mitch replied while he did a bad impression of Mambo dancing.
Hazel smiled at the potential that Stephanie might fall for this Latin lover. “Thanks,” Hazel replied.
“What is that thing you’re wearing?” Timmy asked while he touched Hazel’s airsuit with a fin.
“It’s an airsuit that NASA developed, or I should say I developed,” Hazel bragged.
“Airsuit?” Kathy replied a little confused.
“Yes, it allows me to safely venture out into outer air,” Hazel replied.
“I remember hearing something about that when I lived in Aquadelphia,” Mitch responded.
“I hate to be short, but I need to get back up to my airship,” she said.
“Airship?” Timmy curiously said.
“Yeah, it allows us to travel in outer air,” Hazel replied.
“That’s right, we saw you recently outside our water world,” Kathy responded.
“Yep, now I must go,” Hazel said them placed her bubble helmet over her head and locked it into place.
“Melvin,” Hazel called out into her helmet.
Inside Airship 3, Melvin sat at the console.
“Stephanie’s been taken away by the Air Aliens along with some Carlos guy,” Hazel said from the speaker.
“What?” Melvin asked unsure he heard Hazel correctly.
“Stephanie's been taken away with some Carlos guy. She’s not down here,” Hazel replied.
“What? Who is Carlos?” Melvin cried out and looked worried.
“He's called the Latin lover and he’s with Stephanie,” Hazel replied.
“Latin lover?” Melvin replied and looked depressed with Stephanie in the fins of a Latin lover.
“The fish down here don’t know where she was taken. Our rescue mission is a bust. We better go home,” Hazel said from the speaker.
“I can’t go home, Rodney's going to have me in prison for sure,” Melvin replied and looked so pathetic.
“I can talk him out of sending you to prison. Trust me,” Hazel replied from the speaker. “Bring me back up,” she added.
“Okay,” Melvin replied then he turned the “Hoist” lever to the “Up” position.
He heard the whine of the hoist from the air chamber.
Inside Stephanie’s old aquarium, Hazel, with her helmet locked in position, was slowly lifted up in the water toward the hole at the top.
Back in Airship 3, Melvin slumped in his seat while the hope of rescuing Stephanie was gone.
Then Melvin's eyes widen with concern when he saw Sara walk past the aquarium.
“Air alien in sight. I repeat. Air alien in sight,” Melvin yelled while he shoved the “Hoist” lever to the “Stop” position.
In Stephanie’s old aquarium, Hazel dangled six inches from the hole at the top and looked scared to death when she saw Sara’s body at the aquarium.
In the store, Sara looked at Airship 3 on the top of the aquarium. “That’s an interesting toy,” she said while she grabbed it with a hand.
She removed Airship 3 off the top of the aquarium then she saw Hazel while she dangled from her seaweed rope. “How cute! There’s a spacesuit that comes with the spaceship. When did Cooter order these?” she curiously talked out loud. Sara’s eyes then lit up with an idea and rushed behind the counter with the airship in her hand where Hazel still dangled below the airship and was six-inches from the floor.
Inside Airship 3, Melvin looked at the bubble and saw Sara wasn’t in sight.
“Hazel, are you okay?” Melvin quietly talked into the microphone and looked worried.
“I’m dangling underneath the airship,” she replied in a panic.
“I’ll raise you back inside the air chamber,” Melvin replied then he immediately moved the “Hoist” lever to the “Up” position and heard the hoist motor whine.
In the store area, Hazel was lifted upward to the air chamber, but then the seaweed rope broke and Hazel dropped to the floor.
Inside Airship 3, Melvin anxiously waited for Hazel to arrive back in the air chamber.
“Melvin, the seaweed rope broke. I’m at the hard bottom of Air Alien land,” Hazel cried out in a panic.
Melvin immediately moved the “Hoist” lever to the “Stop” position.
“Hazel!” he cried out in panic.
Melvin got out of seat and swam around the cockpit in a panic and wondered how to save Hazel. His eyes lit up with and idea and he rushed back to his seat.
“I’m going to suit up and come after you,” he called out into the microphone.
“Hurry up! I’m scared!” Hazel cried out in a panic.
Melvin rushed over to the airsuits on the wall.
Behind the counter, Sara talked into the phone. “Cooter, when did you order a toy spaceship?”
“What? I didn't order anything like that,” he replied from the phone then there was a few seconds of silence while Sara saw Hazel on the floor in her airsuit.
She bent down and picked Hazel up and studied the bubble helmet. Her eyes lit up when she saw Hazel inside the airsuit with huge scared eyes.
“Wait, Billy lost that spaceship he had while he played in the backyard. Maybe there were two left in the store,” Cooter replied from the phone.
“That's not all. There was a spacesuit toy tied to the spaceship with some type of seaweed rope. And it has a toy fish inside the spacesuit,” she added.
“That's weird but sounds cool,” Cooter replied from the phone.
“But that got me thinking. This would make a cool toy set. You have a spaceship with fish rescuing fish. We'll call it - Air Rescue. The kids will love it!” she excitedly said into the phone while dollars signs flashed in her eyes.
“That's a great idea! I'll check it out tomorrow. Store it back in an aquarium,” he replied.
“Okay,” she said then hung up the phone.
Hazel saw Sara’s large hand around her airsuit and was scared to death thinking this was going to be the end of her life. She watched in horror while Sara dropped her in her shirt pocket.
Inside Airship 3, Melvin got dressed in the airsuit.
“Melvin, don’t come out. I repeat, don’t come out into outer air. The Air Alien grabbed me and shoved me in some type of small cave,” she cried out in a panic from the speakers.
Melvin looked scared while he got out of his airsuit.
He rushed back to this seat. “Are you okay?” he asked into the microphone worried to death about her.
“I’m fine, it’s just dark in here,” she replied.
“I’ll try to figure out a way to rescue you,” Melvin replied.
“Hurry up!”
Melvin swam back and forth in the cockpit while he tried to figure out a way to rescue Hazel.
Then the airship moved and Melvin looked at the canopy and could see that the Air Alien was going back to Stephanie’s old aquarium.
Sara walked over to Stephanie’s old aquarium and lifted up the plastic top.
She reached inside her pocket and removed Hazel’s airsuit. She dropped Hazel into the aquarium. She then dropped Airship 3 into the aquarium and closed lowered the plastic top.
Hazel landed at the bottom of the aquarium then the airship smacked into her and landed on top of her. Her mechanical legs stuck out from the bottom of the airship.
Meanwhile, back in the NASA Control Room, Rodney swam back and forth across the consoles, upset.
“First I lost my wife to Air Aliens. Now I've lost both daughters. I hope they can get Airship four built soon, then I can send my own rescue mission. I'll get them all back, except for Melvin!” he talked to himself while he swam back and forth.
Outside Aquaticville, construction fish in hard hats held onto some electric eels and used their tails to weld sheets of metal to a steel frame of the larger Airship 4.
Back in Stephanie’s old aquarium, Timmy, Kathy and Mitch peeked over the treasure chest and cautiously looked over at Airship 3.
“Is that that airship Stephanie said was coming to rescue her?” Kathy asked.
“I think it is,” Timmy replied.
“That apparently didn’t work out,” Mitch replied.
They watched while Melvin swam out of the air chamber door and looked around the aquarium. “Hazel!” he cried out in a panic.
Timmy, Kathy and Mitch all felt safe so they came out from behind the treasure chest and swam over to Melvin.
Melvin saw the mechanical legs of Hazel’s airsuit sticking out from underneath the airship.
He panicked and grabbed the bottom of the airship with his fins. He strained to lift the airship up to free Hazel. He wasn’t strong enough and the airship didn’t budge.
“Help me!” he cried out the second he saw Timmy, Kathy and Mitch.
“What can we do?” Timmy asked.
“Help me lift up the airship so I can get Hazel out,” Melvin replied while he strained to lift up the airship.
Timmy, Kathy and Mitch rushed over and grabbed onto the bottom of the airship and they all lifted.
The airship slowly lifted upward and Melvin quickly grabbed one of Hazel’s mechanical legs and dragged her out from under the airship.
Timmy, Kathy, and Mitch’s fins shook while they mustered up the strength to keep the airship up.
Melvin dragged Hazel out from other the airship and Timmy, Kathy, and Mitch let go of the airship, which lowered to the bottom..
They looked relieved and exhausted.
Melvin removed Hazel’s helmet, where the bubble was cracked and saw she was out cold. He also saw that her glasses were cracked. He looked devastated. “She's dead!”
Kathy felt around Hazel’s head. “She alive. She’s just out cold.”
Melvin looked relieved while he stroked Hazel’s head.
Over in Stephanie’s new aquarium in Billy’s den, Penny, Glen, Eddie and Martin played Cuban music from conch shells.
Stephanie and Carlos danced the Mambo in front of the band.
They were a great dance couple where Stephanie had a huge smile.
Back in Stephanie’s old aquarium in Cooter’s store,
Hazel was out of her airsuit and was propped up against the airship. Melvin was by her side and rubbed her head since she was still out cold.
Then after a few minutes of rubbing her head, she finally woke up groggy and in a daze. She strained to see but everything was blurry.
“Is that you, Melvin?” she said while she looked up at Melvin.
“It’s me,” he replied.
What happened?” she asked while she cringed in pain.
“You raced with the airship to the bottom of this water world and you won.”
“That explains why I have a splitting headache.”
Melvin held her while she closed her eyes to rest and hopefully get rid of her headache.
Back in Stephanie’s new aquarium in Billy’s den, Penny, Glen, Eddie and Martin played some romantic music from conch shells.
Carlos and Stephanie slow danced and gazed into each other eyes while they started to fall in love with each other.
Back in Stephanie’s old aquarium in Cooter’s store,
Melvin and Hazel sat up against the airship and he had his fin around her while she rested her head against his body.
Timmy, Kathy and Mitch floated around and looked interested with the airship.
“So the future airships will come to the land of air in search of new water worlds free from Air Alien invasions,” Melvin told them.
“Well, I don’t think finding a water world free from Air Aliens will happen. I was talking to a fish last year, and he said he talking to a trout and this trout said that Air Aliens always visited his water world. And it was surrounded any miles and miles of Air Alien land,” Timmy told Melvin.
“I heard the same type of story from a bass I talked with,” Mitch added.
“Those Air Aliens love invading our worlds for some strange reason,” Kathy added with sad eyes.
Melvin looked sad. “Looks like our missions would be a waste of time,” he said while he looked back at the airship. “It looks like my mission is over for good,” he added.
“No matter what, I'll always be by your side,” Hazel said while she snuggled closer to Melvin.
Melvin smiled and gave Hazel a kiss on her head.
She smiled, as she was now in heaven having Melvin all to herself in this small water world.