( season 3 : episode 9 - space invaders; part 1 )

(juniper's outfit for this chapter)

Juniper was at the Man Cave one day, watching as Ray walked down the steps from the back room with a device in his hand. Schwoz was hiding up on the ceiling, how did he did up there and how was he staying there? She had no idea. But she, Ray, and Henry needed the key to his rocket to go save some astronauts that were being held captive and Schwoz wasn't letting them use his rocket. So Ray had been trying to get Schwoz down. Juniper thought there was surely a better way to get him down than this, but she didn't mention it after Ray had said that he got this.

"Schwoz...I can see you."

"Go away!" Schwoz shouted. In response, Ray aimed his device at him, trying to zap him, but he missed and part of the ceiling fell down. Schwoz laughs. "You missed me!"

"How did he get up there?" Charlotte inquired.

"I have no idea." Juniper admits. "It's honestly a little impressive."

"Come on, Schwoz, you're gonna have to come down from there eventually." Ray said, trying to coax Schwoz to come down.

"Leave me alone!" Schwoz exclaimed.

Ray chuckles and then he looks at Schwoz with a glare and demands, "Come on, Schwoz, I need it!" He aimed at Schwoz again and once again part of the ceiling fell.

"No, I'm saving it for marriage!" Schwoz defended himself.

Juniper's attention is brought over to the tubes when she saw Henry arriving and she smiles a little, her smile widening when he locked eyes with her and smiles back at her. "Hey." Henry greeted, looking around the place with furrowed eyebrows, confused at seeing why it looked like a mess.

"Hi, Henry!" Schwoz replied.

"Woah, what th-" Henry's eyes widen as he looks up at Schwoz. "Why is Schwoz-" Henry cut his own sentence off when Ray shot at Schwoz again. Henry quickly stepped back when some of the ceiling fell in front of him.

"Ha! Missed me, missed me! You are very stupid!" Schwoz taunted.

"Those are not the lyrics!" Ray angrily said and shot at Schwoz again.

"Ow, my shoe!" Schowz cried out and Juniper's eyes widened as his shoe fell down.

"Okay, what is going on?" Henry questioned, walking further into the room with confusion.

"Schwoz won't give Ray the launch key to his little rocket ship." Charlotte explained with a sigh.

"Well, why won't he-Schwoz has a rocket ship?" Henry interrupted himself as he realized what Charlotte said, looking surprised. He had no idea Schwoz had a rocket ship. Juniper didn't blame him for being surprised, that's how she felt when she first found out.

"It's called the Love Shuttle!" Schwoz revealed.

"Why did Schwoz build a Love Shuttle?" Henry questioned.

"For his honeymoon." Ray shrugged.

"Yeah, he says that when he gets married, he wants to have his honeymoon on the actual moon." Charlotte clarified and Henry shook his head, rolling his eyes.

"Don't be ridiculous, Schwoz! You're never getting married!" Ray spoke, shooting at Schwoz again and some parts of the ceiling fell near the elevator.

"It could happen! There's women out there who'll take anybody!" Schwoz replied defensively.

Ray groans with frustration and glares at Schwoz. "Gimme that key!" He yelled as he repeatedly shot at Schwoz. Juniper quickly backed away with Charlotte and Henry. Henry had even moved to stand by Juniper quickly, wrapping his arm around her and shielding her body with his own so she wouldn't get hit with the crumbling ceiling. Juniper's heart skipped a beat when he did this and she mentally cursed herself. Why did he have to do such nice and cute things for her?

Ray fell back on the couch, breathing heavily as he glares up at Schwoz. Henry pulls away from Juniper, glancing at her with concern. Juniper sends him a small smile in response, reassuring him that she was okay. He nods and smiles a little before going over to Ray, who was now standing. He puts his hand on Ray's shoulder. "I think you might be overreacting."

"May I?" Charlotte asked, walking over to Ray. She took the device from Ray and aimed it at Schwoz.

"No, no, wait, Charlotte don't-" Schwoz's own scream interrupted his sentence as Charlotte shot at him and he fell down from the ceiling. Charlotte smiled proudly and nodded. Juniper chuckled a little at seeing her proud of herself and smiled. She had to admit that was a really good shot.

"Ha!" Henry couldn't help but laugh, pointing at Schwoz as he looks at Charlotte. "You...You shot his butt." Charlotte rolled her eyes, but she had a small smile on her face as she handed the device back to Ray.

"Hey, did you guys hear?" Jasper questions, rushing into the room after he arrived in the elevator. "There's a hostage situation up in space!" The four others all nod and voice their responses, telling Jasper they had already heard about it. "Well...Did you know that one of the astronauts is from Swellview?" Once again the others all nod and tell them they knew. "Oh...Well, did you know I was born with eleven toes, but only nine on my feet?"

Juniper furrows his eyebrows, staring at him with confusion. "Wait, what?"

"Eleven?" Charlotte asked with surprise.

"What?" Henry inquired, looking confused.

"What'd he say?" Ray questioned, tilting his head to the side with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah, who's got news now?" Jasper said smugly. When Schwoz groaned in pain, Henry had knelt down by him to check on him. Juniper turned her attention to the monitors when an alarm went off.

"I'll check that." Charlotte offered, walking over to the super computer.

"Thanks, Char." Juniper glanced over at her with a smile and Charlotte nodded, smiling back at her. Juniper then knelt down by Schwoz to check on him along with Henry.

"Hey, shouldn't you be up at Junk-N-Stuff, watching the store?" Ray asked Jasper.

"Well, I have to use the bathroom, but the one upstairs is broken." Jasper replied.

"That's why we told you to use the bathroom across the street at the gas station." Henry told him, taking Schwoz's hand off his arm when Schwoz grabbed him.

"I'm no longer welcome at that gas station." Jasper admitted sheepishly. Juniper rolled her eyes and chuckled lightly. She turned her attention to Charlotte when she spoke up and sounded worried.

"Uh oh, you guys...The space station's gonna be orbiting over Swellview in one hour."

"So?" Henry asked as he stood, slapping Schwoz's hand away when Schwoz reached up to touch his face. Juniper leaned over to hit Henry's ankle as a way to scold him. Henry glanced down and gave her a sheepish smile, mouthing an apology. She just rolled her eyes in response but she had a small smile on her lips as she looked back down at Schwoz with concern.

"What does that mean?" Ray inquired, walking over to Charlotte along with Henry.

"Schwoz, you gonna be alright, buddy?" Juniper inquired, placing a gentle hand on his arm.

"No, I'm dying." He dramatically replied.

Juniper chuckles and shakes her head, patting his shoulder. "You're gonna be fine, Schwoz." She then stood and walked over to where Ray , Henry, and Charlotte were.

"That if you guys don't head up there soon, you'll have to wait another twenty-four hours. And by then it may be too late!" Charlotte explained.

Henry sighs. "Come on, we have to help those astronauts...At least the one from Swellview." Henry winces when Juniper elbowed him roughly in the side. "Okay, both of them!" He corrected himself, rubbing his side.

"We have to save them both," Juniper tells him. "Not just the one from Swellview. They both have families that are probably really worried."

"C'mon, Schwoz." Ray said, walking back over to Schwoz, who had just gotten up from the floor. "Give us the key to your Love Shuttle."

"Wait," Jasper chimes in. "Why doesn't NASA just send someone up there to help the astronauts?"

"Yeah." Schwoz pouts. "Call NASA."

"No no no no no no, NASA just sent a supply rocket to the space station two days ago. It'll take 'em six months to get another one ready to send up." Charlotte clarified.

Henry groans. "Well, can't we borrow a rocket from China?"

"No!" Ray exclaims, startling Juniper. She jumps at his sudden angry yell, not expecting that to be his response. He points at Henry with a glare. "No! No! I am not getting inside a Chinese rocket ever again!"

Juniper shakes her head and crosses her arms. "I don't even wanna ask." She was curious, but she learned a while ago not to ask about some things Ray said and did.

"Hey, c'mon Schwoz." Henry says, walking over to Schwoz as he tried to persuade him. "Let us use your Love Shuttle."

"Yeah. You're never gonna need it." Ray adds, letting out an 'ow' when Juniper hit the back of his head. "What was that for?!" He complained, rubbing the back of his head.

"For not being nice." Juniper replied.

"See?" Schwoz said, pointing at Juniper. "She agrees that I will get married. I will need it for when I get married!"

"Oh, to what, Schwoz?" Ray inquires, his voice laced with annoyance. "What's gonna marry you?" Seeing Juniper getting ready to hit him out of the corner of his eye, he grabs her wrist. "Oh, no you don't!" Juniper huffed and pulled her arm back to cross her arms.

"Even that robot girlfriend you built for yourself, Gerta, even she left you." Henry spoke up. He was right, but Juniper still thought they were being a bit rude to Schwoz.

"No, we-we're just taking a break." Schwoz voiced in a defensive tone.

"Oh, come on!" Ray groaned.

"She turned herself into a bird, Schwoz!" Charlotte cut in. "Then she flew away!" Ray nodded and then made a bird flying away with his hands.

"When did that happen?" Jasper questioned, looking confused.

"Last season." Henry responded.

Jasper looks even more confused as he asks, "So you mean Winter?"

"Yeah, that's what I meant." Henry shrugged.

"Look, buddy..." Ray walked over to Schwoz with his hands outstretched.

"D'ah-don't choke me." Schwoz interrupted Ray which caused him to back up with his hands up in defense.

"Are you planning to marry someone in the next...Ten hours?" Ray inquired, putting his hands on Schwoz's shoulders.

"Well, I don't plan to, no." Schwoz admitted.

"Okay, so, just lend us your Love Shuttle and we'll bring it right back." Ray suggested, glancing back at the others with a hopeful look as Schwoz thought about it.

"You promise to be careful with it?" Schwoz asked him.

"Yeah, of course, Schwoz." Juniper reassures him with a smile. "We'll make sure it's completely unharmed."

"Now give us the launch key!" Ray demanded.

"Okay." Schwoz replies, dragging out the word. "Hold out your hand." Ray held out his hand and Juniper's eyes widen when Schwoz started gagging. Charlotte looked disgusted and looked away as she covered her face with her hand.

"I can't watch this..." Henry confesses, but he still didn't look away. "But I can't look away." He whispered the last part.

"I can." Juniper muttered, glancing away from the scene as her face scrunched up in disgust.

Ray stares at Schwoz with disbelief when he started doing the Heimlich on himself. "What are you doing?" He grimaced when the key landed on his hand. Juniper commented along with the others about how gross that was.

"That's so gross and weird you swallowed it." Juniper told him with a grossed out expression.

"That's the launch key." Schwoz pointed at the key in Ray's hand.

"Alright Jasper. Looks like Captain Man needs your help." Ray spoke.

Jasper immediately runs over to him eagerly, pushing his friends to the side. Juniper stumbles backwards, not expecting that to happen, and she tried to ignore the way her heart fluttered when Henry's arm goes around her waist to help steady her. "Sure! Anything! What do you need?" Jasper excitedly inquired. Ray grabbed his shirt and wiped his hand and the key off on it.

"You're a good boy." Ray commented.

Jasper grinned, glancing back at his friends and doesn't seem to be upset with what was going on. Juniper chuckled and rolled her eyes at him. Then she realized Henry still had his arm around her waist. Her heart beat a bit faster as she looked up at him, seeing he was looking down at her already. His eyes locked with hers and her cheeks heated up, feeling her heart skip a beat as they gazed into each other's eyes. But she quickly snapped out of her daze and reluctantly pulled away. She had to focus, now was not the time for this.

A/N juniper & henry >>>>