Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter One: The Reputation

Lord Hater looked out from the surface of the secret planet at the distant stars.

A new galaxy; green, wild and growing, all thanks, apparently, to Wander and the weird flower he’d been obsessed with protecting. Naturally.

And, of course, thanks to his own destruction of Dominator’s ship, as well as all the…other stuff he’d done.

It was a perfect time for him to conquer it, according to Peepers, planets all laid out at his feet for the taking, and with most of the other villains still scattered and demoralized from Dominator’s destruction, even with the villainess herself nowhere to be seen, there would be precious little competition, at least for a while.

There were a few hitches, most notably the skull-ship, which needed some specialized materials to repair, and a new core entirely. Apparently, Skullcrusher mode both ate up power at an incredible rate, and put a severe amount of strain on the internals. Materials on this tiny planet were severely limited, even with the wreckages of several other ships that had landed here, and most of the parts they needed wouldn’t be available.

Plus, those materials were currently being utilized…elsewhere.

Some ways away, Hater could see the skeleton of a ship that was being constructed, though he could already tell it looked nothing like a traditional space-faring vessel. Small figures swarmed over the surface as Wander, Sylvia and the rest of the refuges worked on the construction. This was apparently going to be their way off planet, at least until Peepers could locate some appropriate parts and they could return to fix the skull-ship.

After the initial excitement of his victory, and the subsequent adrenaline-fueled chase across the planet, Hater had felt indescribably tired, drained of power and energy. He had lain down in his room in the ruins of the ship and slept for twelve hours or so, recovering his electricity. Since he’d woken, he’d mostly stayed inside, thinking and debating with himself, and keeping far away from the other ‘inhabitants.’

And from Wander.

Actually, it had been a little difficult to even look at Wander after everything. He didn’t know whether Wander knew, after all. He supposed that was partly why he’d tried to conquer the planet, and subsequently chased the little pest all across its circumference. He’d been trying to get things back to normal, back to a place that made sense.

A place where he hadn’t saved Wander.

He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to, now.

The biggest problem was that he knew he’d have to face Wander eventually. The little nomad just couldn’t stay away from him, and Hater’s own attention was constantly drawn to the furry nuisance. And when they did inevitably have their next confrontation, Hater wasn’t exactly sure what he’d say.

And, if they were going to be around each other for a while it would be impossible to avoid the frustrating ball of sunshine forever.

Thinking about it, Hater supposed he didn’t want to stay moping over by the ruins of the skull-ship forever. Moping was for losers. He’d have to do this sooner or later. Probably better to get it over with. So, arms crossed in a show of disapproval, the overlord left the shelter of his lopsided ship, and headed over towards the group of aliens.

It was quite a mix. Some were species’ he knew, some even from planets he’d conquered in the past, and there were even some who were former villains, something for which Hater was uncomfortably aware Wander must be responsible.

Hater tried to look in control as he approached, menacing and unapproachable. It wasn’t easy, especially as he knew what his reception would be like. He’d already had a taste of that from right after he’d destroyed Dominator’s ship.

Teeth gritted; he did his best to ignore the cheerful greetings of the aliens as he walked by.

“Ah, the noble and mighty Lord Hater! How kind you are to come and inspect our progress, my friend!”

Hater just barely managed to suppress a wince, not meeting the goat man’s eye as he stomped past.

“Hater! Look buddies, it’s Hater!”

“How you doing, Hater!”

“Good to see you!”

The overlord tried to sidestep the group of his former prisoners from the pit of ultimate pain, but found himself surrounded and slapped on the back several times before he could manage to get away.

He got through the next few groups only having to endure brief greetings and cheerful waves, and successfully tiptoed past Major Threat, who was currently occupied using his psychic powers to hold a mast in place so it could be secured.

Even so, by the time he spotted Wander, Hater’s power was boiling through his bones with fury.

He interrupted Wander’s cheerful smile and “Hiya, Hater!”, grabbing the nomad by one furry arm as he passed and pulling the pest along with him until they reached somewhere more secluded. The fact that not only did Wander go along with this happily, but none of the surrounding aliens seemed worried further soured his already grim mood, and once they were away from the crowds, he practically threw the nomad to the ground.

Wander bounced back to his feet with a smile.

“Good ta see you’re feelin’ better, buddy! I’m not surprised ya had ta lie down after all that stuff before. Didja want to talk to me about somethin’?”

“I’m not your…” Hater cut himself off with a growl. “Just what do you think you’re doing here?” he snapped.

Wander cocked his head in confusion.

“Whatcha mean, Hater?”

“Acting like everything is normal and fine and all that junk!” The skeleton lord glared down at Wander, looming between him at the planet’s sun to be as intimidating as possible, much as that had never worked on the freak.

Sure enough, Wander simply cocked his head the other way. He still looked a little confused, but not remotely frightened, much to Hater’s displeasure.

“Well, everythin’ is fine, isn’t it, Hater?” he ventured.

“NO! It’s not!” Hater snarled back. “Everything is weird and stupid now!”

“Huh.” Wander stroked his chin thoughtfully. “I admit I was a little disappointed Dominator didn’t wanna stay an’ make some new friends, an’ I still hope we’ll see ‘er again soon, an’ o’course we’re all stuck here until we can get the Star Nomad up an’ runnin’, but…”

“That’s not what I’m…” Hater paused, eyes narrowing. “What’s a star nomad?”

“Oh, well, that’s kind of a long story.” Wander waved his hand in dismissal. “But it’s also what everyone wanted ta call the ship we’re buildin’. Kinda based on an old legend some of ‘em have heard, I s’pose. What were ya talkin’ about?”

Hater shook his head, trying to bring his anger back into focus after the usual way Wander insisted on derailing his thoughts.

“I’m not talking about that stupid Lord What’s-her-face, or that lame ship out there. I’m talking about us!”

“Us?”

“Yes!” Hater felt like he was practically forcing the words out through gritted teeth. He took a deep breath, and looked the bemused nomad up and down. “You’re acting like nothing’s changed even when it totally has, and also, you’re acting weird, even for you. You didn’t sneak onto my ship even once after the battle to sing me a stupid song or start a stupid game…”

Hater trailed off, taking an uncomfortable step backward as Wander’s smile grew slowly wider until it couldn’t possibly fit on his face.

“Aw, Hater!” Wander clasped his hands to his furry chest, eyes wide and shining. “You should’ve said something if ya missed me that much. I just figured ya needed yer rest! But don’t worry, I can take some time offa building if it’s fer my best pal! I’m sure Sylvia an’ the others can do without me for a few hours.”

Wander was getting closer and Hater waved both hands frantically in an attempt to ward off the impending hug.

“No!” He denied, panicked voice squeaking, “That’s not what I meant!”

Unfortunately, he hadn’t reacted fast enough, and he found himself backed up against a tall rock, the nomad’s gangly arms looped around him more times than should be possible. Hater growled audibly, pulling at Wander’s arms until he could wriggle out of the furry embrace.

“Oh, this is gonna be great!” Wander bounced up and down in front of him, completely oblivious to Hater’s glower. “We haven’t gotten ta hang out t’gether properly in forever, ‘cept for that game a’ chase we had after Dominator’s ship blew up o’ course. Too much goin’ on lately, I s’pose. What d’ya wanna do first?”

Hater growled, thoroughly fed up and at the end of his patience.

“What I want is for things to go back to the way they were, with you annoying me and me trying to destroy you!” Wander was smiling amiably again and Hater’s eyes glowed in fury. “And stop that!”

“Stop what, Hater?” Wander blinked up at him innocently, only stoking the overlord’s ire further.

“That!” he snarled. “Stop looking at me like that! Like you know I saved you!”

Hater had been looming menacingly over the nomad, claws raised and beginning to spark as his fury grew. Now he froze, one gloved hand slapping over his mouth as he recoiled. One terrified glance at Wander was enough for Hater to see that, at the very least, he hadn’t told the nomad anything he didn’t already know.

Energy suddenly going out of him, Hater sank down on a conveniently placed rock, turning his back on Wander so he wouldn’t have to see the gentle smile the other was giving him. After a moment, he sensed Wander sitting down beside him.

Neither of them spoke for a moment.

Wander was surprisingly quiet, which made it easier for Hater to fight off the muscle memory of leaping to his feet and trying to blast the pesky doo-gooder once and for all.

Not that that had ever worked out for him in the past.

Instead of attacking Wander, Hater found himself speaking instead, voice a quiet murmur as though he didn’t really want to be heard.

“It’s just…it used to be so easy; you know? I was the bad guy, trying to conquer planets and you’d show up to distract me, and then I’d chase you around or capture you and try to vaporize you or dip you in lava. Junk like that. Then that whole stupid mess with Dominator happened, and now everyone keeps acting like I’m some kind of lame hero.”

He shot a glance at Wander over his shoulder, catching the fuzzy mop giving a small nod.

“Savin’ the entire galaxy’ll do that to ya, Hater,” he offered.

Hater glowered at the reminder.

“I’m still a bad guy,” he protested. “I still want to conquer the galaxy and plunge it into a hundred years of darkness and everything. I just didn’t want stupid Dominator to destroy it all before I could take it over. Everyone else just happened to be here when it happened.”

The excuse sounded weak, even to him. He remembered watching the drill shrieking down towards the restrained zbornak, Dominator’s sick glee at the pain she was causing, and the horror on the helpless faces of the other aliens. He remembered the fear, the genuine fear on Wander’s face and in his voice as the drill came down for the final time. Hater hadn’t even thought about it; he’d just acted.

And afterward, when Dominator’s ship had been coming apart, when Hater’s power had been sizzling through the twisting metal, fingering its way through ruptures, fire and explosions, and he’d felt those two rapid, frightened heartbeats at its center, wrapping their fragile orble in a forcefield had been the only thing he could do. Once again, he hadn’t decided to save them. It had just happened.

He didn’t know whether that made it better or worse.

Wander’s thoughts seemed to have been following a similar path to his own.

“Sylvia’s really grateful to ya, Hater. We all are.” Hearing a tremble in his voice, Hater turned sharply to see the nomad’s eyes noticeably wet. “I didn’t know what we were gonna do, an’ then you came in at the last minute an’ protected her. Ya saved my best friend. Ya saved all of us. An’ I didn’t wanna bug you while you were restin’, an’ I know ya might not want me ta say it, but I wanna thank you, whatever happens later.”

Hater looked away again, hunching his shoulders.

“Don’t…do that,” he said quietly.

He heard a sniffle from behind him.

“Sorry buddy,” Wander said, blowing his nose on a handkerchief from his hat and seeming to collect himself. “Jus’ needed ta let you know how much it means to me.”

Hater glowered into the distance. After a few moments, looking away became difficult, and he turned to find Wander giving him a somewhat watery smile that made his glare darken. He had to resist the urge to recoil again in case of another hug.

The problem was that Hater didn’t know how to backtrack to the way things used to be, and he probably wouldn’t have been able to even if Wander hadn’t realized about that whole ‘saving the life of his most hated enemy’ thing. Because, when push came to shove, that was exactly what Hater had done, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized it wasn’t as much of an outlier as he’d thought.

For quite a while now, his and Wander’s relationship had been changing. There had been lots of times when Hater could have been chasing the nomad and trying to destroy him when he hadn’t.

When Wander had his finger stuck in a hole in the fabric of space itself, Hater could have blasted the little nuisance out of existence. It was probably the only time Wander wouldn’t have been able to dodge or get away, yet the thought hadn’t even occurred to him. Yes, he’d teased and messed with the nomad relentlessly, at least until Wander had decided to find something positive in the situation and the tables had been turned on him, but how evil had his actions been really when he hadn’t even tried to zap the little freak?

And when Wander had showed up during his concert for Dominator, Hater had needed very minimal convincing to allow Wander to share the stage with him. As soon as he’d noticed the nomad’s sweet guitar skills, he’d been perfectly willing to accept Wander’s help. That didn’t exactly sound like an enemy he lay awake at night thinking about torturing into submission.

Even after the whole disaster with their music number for Dominator, when they’d barely escaped with their lives and fled their separate ways, he hadn’t really gone back to chasing after Wander. At most, the little weirdo had annoyed him when he’d shown up, but he’d still, well, worked with him and the zbornak, if grudgingly.

He’d tried to tell himself it was because Dominator was a huge threat right now, and he could always get back to destroying Wander once she was defeated once and for all. Now, she had been, but that fire of rage that used to burn in Hater’s ribcage when he saw Wander, or heard him, or even thought about him, still seemed to be missing.

“Look,” he managed after taking a deep breath. “This is really weird for me. I should want to destroy you, and I kind of do, but…” He dithered for a moment. “I’m not going to, for now,” he finished lamely. He bit his lower jaw, continuing gruffly. “I mean, we’re all stuck on this stupid rock together right now, so after we leave and I get the parts to repair my ship, I’m going right back to conquering the galaxy, and the next time I see you, I’ll destroy you, for real this time. That whole…saving thing was one time only.”

He peered at Wander critically, but was met with that soft, affectionate smile again like he’d half expected he would be. Wander wasn’t buying it.

At least he’d confronted the pest, even if he’d totally flarped up his attempt to get things back to normal. Hater stood, brushing off his cloak distractedly to give himself something to do. He could feel Wander’s smile warm against his back.

“I know what ya mean, Hater.” Wander’s voice was far too chummy for the overlord’s liking. “It’ll be nice ta get out in this brand-new galaxy an’ see what’s what. This little planet’s been real accomodatin’ while we needed it, but I could use a stretch of the ol’ legs m’self. Jes’ hard fer me ta stay in one place for too long, tell ya the truth.”

“Yeah, I bet.” Hater rolled his eyes, trying to put as much vitriol into the words as he could. “I’m going back to my ship. Don’t wanna spend any more time with you losers.” He muttered the words, but made sure they were loud enough that Wander heard them, not that he seemed bothered.

“You go get yer rest, Hater,” he said instead. “An’ don’t worry. The Star Nomad will be finished b’fore ya know it!”

Hater was already walking, trying to put the cheerful voice and wide smile out of his mind. Unfortunately, while his all-consuming hatred for Wander refused to show itself, he still couldn’t get the fuzzy mop out of his thoughts. He knew he’d be thinking about Wander’s smile, as well as his tearful gratitude, for a long time to come. It was probably going to keep him awake tonight.

He wasn’t looking forward to when they were able to finally leave this dumb planet either. If Wander somehow found a way to hang around and bother him when there was a whole galaxy between them, he hated to think how frequently the same would happen when they were forced to be on the same ship for an extended period of time.

Well, he supposed with a grim set of his jaw at his unpleasant future, if that didn’t get the evil juices flowing again, nothing would.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Two: The Roommate

It was finished.

Sylvia looked out over the completed ship from her place at the helm. It really felt like something only Wander could have thought of, from the strangely whimsical design choices, like modeling it after sailing ships of the far distant past, to the orble sails shimmering overhead in their hoops as they waited to be deployed, to the bright, multicoloured pictures painted across every surface.

It seemed strangely appropriate for their first voyage through the restored planets of the galaxy, a new type of ship to match a new outlook.

They were due to set off soon. The other aliens were busy with final preparations and making sure nothing important was being left behind. Wander and some others were off collecting any garbage that littered the surface of the tiny planet. He hadn’t wanted to leave it dirty after it had been so helpful. Sylvia was looking forward to seeing the back of it, personally, but she had to admit it had been there for them when they needed it.

And so had Lord Hater.

She still felt like she was dealing with some of the aftermath of everything that had happened, from Wander going to face Dominator alone, to her own close call with the drill, to that moment when the ship had exploded and she hadn’t known if Wander was safe.

That drill.

She almost wanted to shiver at the memory. Seeing it rushing down towards her had been frightening enough, but it had been the fear and desperation in Wander’s voice that had stayed with her afterwards. She hadn’t wanted that to be his last memory of her.

She hadn’t expected Hater’s intervention, would never have bet on it in a million years, but it was then, looking up at the overlord struggling to hold the drill back with his forcefield, protecting her from certain death, when Wander’s words from before had come back to her and finally made perfect sense.

An enemy’s just a friend you haven’t made yet.

That had always been something he said, something he lived by, and it was true that she’d seen a few enemies become friends over the course of their travels together. Grop, she was living proof of that, much as she didn’t like thinking about their first encounter. But she’d never thought someone like Lord Hater could change, could become a genuine ally, could actually be the person to save the galaxy.

That he would be the person to save everyone.

Wander had.

Hater had been moping around ever since the final battle, and she wondered what he’d been thinking about. Peepers had made it clear they were still planning to conquer the galaxy once their ship was repaired, which was about what she’d expected.

Normally, she would probably have written off Hater’s actions as a one time stop-the-galaxy-destroying-bigger-bad kind of thing, but she found herself unable to do so this time. Maybe because Hater hadn’t just stopped the drill, but he’d done it just in time to save her. Maybe it had been the look in his eyes when she got the other aliens chanting for him. He’d been so happy he’d practically been in tears. Maybe it had even been because he’d sequestered himself in the ruins of the skull-ship while they’d been building the Star Nomad. It seemed like he’d had some things to think about, and Sylvia was pretty sure she knew what some of them were.

In any case, she supposed she’d try to tone down the mockery she’d usually be tormenting him and Peepers with when they were down on their luck. If this was a new galaxy, perhaps she should give Hater a chance to be, well, maybe not good, but better.

That was also why she’d gone along with Wander’s request, much as she hadn’t loved the idea.

She gave a snort, turning back to the ship’s controls, going over them one more time.

Hater would probably share those particular sentiments once Wander told him. Maybe she should invest in some earplugs or something. Or a really big mallet.

Well, this was it.

With one final look around his tilted bedroom, Hater headed out of the skull ship, and towards the group of aliens chatting and laughing as they piled into the…thing they’d built.

He’d managed to put a leash on Captain Tim, not wanting to lose the monstrosity on the trip. Peepers and the other watchdogs had brought over his essential luggage already, but Captain Tim had resisted their attempts to move him, and Hater had felt it necessary to fetch his pet himself. Then, once the leash was on, he had needed to spend a little while hunting down his missing ribs and the hand that Tim had torn off and thrown across the room, and had spent a little longer at this task than necessary. But he was now out of excuses, and couldn’t put the boarding off any longer.

Peepers was coming too of course, along with a small contingent of watchdogs, leaving most of the soldiers behind to continue repairing the ship until Hater returned. Until then, the overlord was just going to have to put up with his changed status among the other aliens, not to mention be in close proximity to Wander for an uncomfortably long amount of time. Peepers had been staying at a respectful distance for precisely this reason, just in case Hater decided to vent his feelings with some lightning.

In actuality, Hater had felt too emotionally wrung out for any kind of violent reaction, and he was still having trouble summoning any rage towards the nomad. He wasn’t even sure what he was feeling about Wander, aside from confusion and a vague sense of dread when he thought about the voyage to come.

Now, as he approached the strange construction the other aliens had been building, Hater let his eyes rove over it, taking in every nauseating detail. Okay, he decided grudgingly, utilizing orbles as sails was at least pretty creative, given their distinct lack of working engine parts, but the rest? It looked like no ship he had ever seen, being mostly made of wood of all things, with an open deck on top protected only by railings, with feathery, bird-like wings protruding out of the sides. Then there was the paint-job, which was a chaotic mess of colours and symbols, bright and happy and indisputably Wander. Hater shuddered.

He could only hope the beastly thing managed to stay together long enough for him to get to a planet with the parts they needed. And that it had a more subdued colour scheme on the inside, though he wasn’t counting on either hope.

As he’d now come to expect, his reception when he arrived at the ship was warm and friendly, with many aliens exclaiming happily and patting him on the back. At least having Captain Tim with him gave him a bit of a buffer zone. Nobody tried to hug him at any rate, but their greetings were still just as excited and happy. Hater ignored this to the best of his ability. He had already noticed that the joyful greetings made him feel strangely warm inside, so he’d determined that the best reaction was to simply grumble and glare, keeping a lid on any confusing emotions he was experiencing. It was one thing for people to cheer after his awesome defeat of Dominator, but their insistence on acting like he was some kind of hero whenever he showed up had gotten uncomfortable fast.

Well, he supposed that would stop once he started conquering planets again. Peepers was certain that would return things to normal, and while Hater wasn’t entirely convinced, it would no doubt help to blacken his reputation a little.

And if there was a small part at his center that would miss those happy cheers, the smiles and the feeling of being wanted, well, it would be more than compensated for once he was ruling the entire galaxy and the citizens were bowing and groveling before him.

He was sure it would.

Pushing past some convenience store clerk, and stepping around the Black Cube of Darkness, much more respectfully, Hater finally saw the person he’d both been both anticipating and dreading. Wander was over by the gangplank, helping a group of hooded aliens to board, and making sure they didn’t trip on the slanted board they were walking up. He seemed to feel Hater’s eyes on him, because he looked up immediately, giving Hater one of those bright, friendly smiles that haunted the overlord’s dreams. He gave the alien he was helping a final wave, then turned and headed over to Hater, slipping deftly through the crowd.

Hater watched him approach warily. After the scene a few days before, he was feeling even more uncomfortable around the nomad. He’d decided to stick to his plan of being distant and vaguely grumpy, but Wander tended to have a way of messing up Hater’s plans, and the skeleton lord didn’t have much hope of maintaining his cool around the pest for long.

“Hater! You made it, buddy!” Wander announced happily as he stepped around the final group of aliens to stand in front of Hater. “And ya brought yer little Tim-Tim!” He bent down to coo at the arachnomorph who had started growling as soon as the nomad was in sight.

“I’m not your buddy!” Hater corrected automatically. “I’m just here because there’s no other way off this stupid rock. Now, are you going to show me to my room or what?”

“Oh, o’ course, Hater!” Wander straightened back up, just as Captain Tim’s fangs snapped shut on where his face had been a moment before. “Follow me!” He waved a furry, orange hand, leading the way through the crowd towards the ship. Hater followed reluctantly, glaring at any alien who looked like they were about to greet him or give him a high five.

Wander was still chatting as they walked up the gang plank, pointing out which parts of the garish vessel had been painted by which aliens, and talking about general aspects of the construction.

Hater was half inclined to yell at him to shut up and tell him that he wasn’t interested in how the stupid thing was put together in no uncertain terms, but he kept his jaw shut and let Wander babble on. He was supposed to be civil for now, right? And it wasn’t as though Wander would stop talking if he told him to. At least once he got to his room, he’d be able to shut the door in the annoying creature’s face and go back to sulking. He wasn’t planning to come out until they reached the next planet. That way, he’d be able to prevent himself from blowing up their only means of transport, and he wouldn’t have to deal with the uncomfortable feelings he’d been experiencing around Wander ever since the whole ‘saving’ incident had happened.

“And here we are!” Wander paused before a door made of dark wood with a star painted on it. Hater had at least been relieved to see that the interior of the ship was mostly plain wood. Maybe they hadn’t had time to paint it. “This’ll be our room for the trip.”

Hater started to nod, prepared to push past the furry pain and into the room, but then froze as Wander’s last words sunk into his skull.

“Our room?!” he demanded, whirling to fix Wander with the most threatening glare he could muster. “What do you mean, ‘our room?’” Hater straightened to his full, impressive height, looming over the nomad and casting him in shadow in the narrow corridor. Behind him, a light on the wall flickered as his power surged.

Like always, Wander didn’t seem the least bit intimidated. He didn’t even seem to notice that Hater was trying to intimidate him, which was just rude. He simply smiled.

“Well,” he started, “after ya said you were missin’ me, Sylvia an’ I had a chat.” Hater tried to interject that he’d said no such thing, but Wander didn’t seem to hear him as he continued. “Sylvia’s gonna be our pilot an’ steer the ship, on account of how she knows a bit about how ta work a helm, an’ she said she didn’t mind sleepin’ in the cabin up on deck so she can take the wheel when needed, an’ we heard Mr. Peepers was gonna be bunkin’ with the watchdogs, to look after ‘em on the ship, so I figured you an’ I can share a room an’ spend some time together.”

Hater was torn between continuing to glare, much as it wasn’t working, or recoiling in terror at the prospect. He forced an angry snarl into his voice.

“What in the whole Grop-darned galaxy made you think I’d want to spend time with you?”

“Hmmm, I dunno.” Wander was still smiling up at him, but he seemed to consider the question for a moment. “A hunch? I know a lot’s changed, an’ you can be a li’l shy an’ awkward around strangers, so I thought it’d be nice to have a friend by yer side fer the voyage.”

It felt like Wander’s smile was burning itself into Hater’s skull, and the nomad seemed uncomfortably close. Hater’s glare faltered for a moment before he could force it back on.

“I – I’m not shy or awkward,” he managed. “I’m the Greatest in the Galaxy!” He was going for menacing, but he wasn’t sure it came across. It sounded a little more petulant and sulky than he would have liked.

“Well, any-whooser,” Wander didn’t seem to be listening as he started back down the hallway again, “I’m gonna go help with the launch. Lemmie know if you need anything an’ see ya later, roomie!”

“We are NOT ROOMIES!” Hater yelled down the empty corridor. He stood for a moment uncomfortably in front of the door, tapping his foot awkwardly. Captain Tim hissed from beside him, and suddenly Hater spurred himself into action. First, he pushed the door open, nudging the arachnomorph inside before closing the door. He’d deal with that later. Then, he was off down the corridor after his nemesis. He was going to have this out with Wander now. The little nomad was crazier than he looked if he thought Hater was going to share a room with his greatest enemy.

He emerged on deck again just as the orble sails started to fill. Aliens were everywhere; pulling on ropes, securing objects on deck and calling out to each other. Hater spotted Sylvia up by the ship’s wheel, adjusting some knobs and levers, one hand on the wheel, ready to turn it. Slowly, the wings spread on either side of the ship and began to flap, and Hater felt the contraption start to lift. It was a strange sensation, not at all like the launch of a normal spacefaring vessel, and it took the overlord a moment to remember what his intention had been for coming out on deck.

When he did, he glared around, looking about for Wander. He was going to find the pest and make him understand by pounding it into his thick, furry skull, if necessary, even if it meant drawing more attention by doing it on the crowded deck. Before he could locate the nomad, however, Hater felt a heavy hand fall on his shoulder.

“Uh, how’s it going, bud?”

Hater turned, flinching slightly when confronted with the former Terror of the Galaxy.

“Oh, hey there, um…”

“Jeff,” the alien reminded him helpfully.

“Um, yeah. Hey Jeff. What do you want?”

“Well, you looked a little lost over here by yourself, man. Anything I can help you with?”

“No, no, no!” Hater waved his hands in denial. “I’m just…I’m looking for…” his voice dropped to a whisper, not entirely happy with what he would be admitting. “I’m looking for Wander, actually.” Now the glare came back full force. “Need to see him about a room assignment.”

To his surprise, Major Threat laughed.

“Oh, so you’re the one!”

“The one what?” Hater asked suspiciously. He was pretty sure he wouldn’t like where this was going.

“Well, Tumbleweed said he was going to be rooming with a friend who needed some help, and you know Tumbleweed; ‘it never hurts to help.’ I should have guessed it was you, after you were moping around down there, man.”

“We are not friends,” Hater hissed. He was getting tired of correcting people on that, and it was probably only going to get worse during the journey. He pressed a frustrated hand to his head and took a deep breath, trying to collect himself. “Look…Jeff. I may have done some…things recently; weird things, things that, under normal circumstances, I would never, ever have done, but that doesn’t make me any less of a bad guy. So, let’s get a few things strait. I’m not a hero, I wasn’t ‘moping’ and I do not need any ‘help’, and I am not his friend.”

Major Threat chuckled good-naturedly again.

“That’s, uh, totally okay, bud. You don’t have to worry about labels or anything like that. Trust me; I’ve been where you are, and it can be tough to take those steps. Just be what you wanna be, and you’ll be happier. You may have trouble finding another room though, if that’s what you’re after, man. The ship ended up being pretty full, but you’re welcome to come and bunk with me and the guys if you really want to. See you ‘round, man!”

Giving Hater one last pat on the shoulder, the former warlord set off across the deck, waving to the skeleton lord over his shoulder.

Hater stared after him, baffled and feeling vaguely unsettled, the way he always did when he ran into Major Threat lately.

Ever since meeting the former villain and learning what had happened between him and Wander, the warning had stayed somewhere in the back of Hater’s skull; the worry that the same thing could happen to him. Now, here he was, having saved the galaxy, protected several of his most hated enemies from certain doom, and was now riding on a ship filled with all the people he should be subjugating.

It certainly felt like that uncomfortable future was closer than it had ever been.

Above his head, the tips of the feathery, white wings could be seen as they rose and fell, and the orble sails glittered in the starlight; fully extended and making the vast expanse of space quiver with rainbow colours. They were well up from the surface of the secret planet now, and on their way into the rest of the galaxy.

Hater felt his shoulders slump slightly, feeling suddenly tired. He should have known trying to change his room would be a problem. Wander was certainly not going to listen if Hater told him to get out, and if the rest of the ship was full, he was probably better off staying where he was with just the furry pest than he would be trying his luck anywhere else. He couldn’t imagine staying with Peepers and the watchdogs. Evil galactic overlords did not room with their minions. And he didn’t want to end up sharing a room with a group of his new ‘fans’ either, where he would have to pretend to be pleasant and get along with them for the whole Grop blasted voyage. At least with Wander he would be able to act however he wanted, and Wander would go along with it. Hater really didn’t want to get kicked off the ship before they reached their destination.

So, this was happening, he supposed, and it was going to be another annoyance he was forced to put up with, though he still planned to give Wander a hard time about it when he finally found him.

Well, if he was waiting anyway, he might as well stay out here a little longer and watch the ship in flight. It was strangely peaceful now they were airborne, and the motion of the ship against the far distant stars was actually helping some of his pent-up tension to evaporate.

But as soon as Wander showed up, Hater was going to drag him back to the room and make some ground rules very clear. He refused to let Wander pull him around for the whole trip. He promised himself that the furry freak was going to listen to him for once.

He just hoped it was a promise he’d be able to keep.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Three: The First Day

Stars glittered overhead, stretching out farther than the eye could see; an entire blanket of them spread over and around the ship, and over and around Wander high up in the crow’s nest.

It was Wander’s favourite part of traveling; the peace and serenity, the endless distances stretching around him forever, filled with adventures, new sights to see and new people to meet.

Sylvia had once admitted that she sometimes felt lost and lonely when she looked out into space. It had been one of the things that bothered her about traveling by orble at first, but Wander found it exhilarating. Yes, he often felt small when he let those endless distances flow through him as he traveled, but in the best way possible. It was like he was being reminded that he was only one tiny part of the vastness of the universe, a tiny speck before the endless wonders of space, and that all of it would carry on forever around him. Or without him.

He felt like he needed that reminder right now.

It certainly had been a long season…of their lives.

Wander had encountered an awful lot of folks, including more than a few self-styled galactic conquerors over the course of his travels through the universe. And though he certainly wasn’t one to blame a fellow, he’d witnessed them cause a fair bit of suffering.

And most of the time, that was just something he dealt with. No one hurt others without a reason, after all. It was just a question of finding out what that reason was, and helping them work through it. It could take a long time; years sometimes, but Wander never minded. Just so long as he was helping a new friend, he was fine with waiting and going at the pace they needed. Not every problem was a quick and easy fix, and a lot of folks needed time to change, or even to realize that they might want to change.

Below him on the deck, now that the business of launching the ship was finished, and only a few hands were needed to keep it on course, most of the other passengers were gathering in small groups, chatting and laughing. There was almost a party air to the gatherings, and Wander smiled as the happy noises drifted up to him. Ordinarily, he’d love to join in, chat with his friends and make sure everyone was having a good time, but he didn’t quite feel ready to go back down yet.

A lot of things had been different this time, and he hadn’t always handled the changes well. He’d let his friends down, both those who had been counting on him, and those he’d hoped to make. He wasn’t sure how he would handle things in the future when he found others in need of help, and it left him feeling somewhat lost himself.

“How’s it going, buddy? What’re you doing way up here?”

Startled out of his thoughts, Wander glanced over to see his best friend poking her head over the edge of the crow’s nest. He smiled brightly.

“Hi Sylvia! Nothin’ much. Jus’ lookin’ at the stars.”

Sylvia chuckled, hoisting herself over the edge to settle beside him.

“Same old Wander. How’d old bonehead feel about his room assignment?”

Wander’s smile quirked slightly, fondness for the skeleton lord slipping over his face.

“Oh, Hatey’s fine. Doesn’t like ta show it, but I think he really appreciated the gesture.”

“Uhuh.” Sylvia’s tone seemed to indicate disagreement, but she didn’t say anything. There was a pause as both friends sat together and looked out at the stars. “So, how’re you doing?”

Wander raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“I’m fine, Sylvie. Just enjoyin’ the view,” he reiterated.

Sylvia gave him a look he’d only seen occasionally, when she thought he wasn’t telling her something. She turned her gaze away from him, up the blanket of lights overhead.

“You keep saying that, buddy, but if you’re ‘fine,’ why do I feel like we’ve barely talked in the last week?”

Wander wriggled guiltily.

“That’s not true. We’ve chatted plenty. We’ve been workin’ together all week. ‘S been a li’l busy what with puttin’ the Star Nomad together ‘n everythin’, that’s all.”

“Well, sure, we’ve been working on the same ship together, and you keep acting like everything’s fine, but every time I try to talk to you about what happened with Dominator, you get like this; evasive and a little too chipper. I know you, buddy, and I know when you’re trying to hide something.” Wander didn’t answer. His toes wiggled unhappily in his shoes and he found it hard to meet his best friend’s gaze when she looked back at him. Sylvia sighed.

“Listen, Wander,” she said after a moment. “I know it must have been hard for you to see me caught like that. Grop, it was no picnic on the other end either, believe me! And I get how you were feeling. I know it was scary. I didn’t even really mind when you were sticking so close to me that first night after the battle, though don’t get me wrong, having you wake me up all through the night to fluff my pillow and check if I needed everything, well, it got a little frustrating, and I was tired. I know I might have hurt your feelings by snapping, but…”

“No, no!” Wander waved his hands hurriedly. “It’s not about that! I was bein’ too clingy. Ya didn’t hurt m’ feelings, honest. It’s just…” he trailed off, thumbs twiddling in his lap now as he thought. This really wasn’t fair of him, he realized. He was just making Sylvia worried about him, and that wasn’t okay. He’d have to own up to everything sooner or later.

“I really made a mess of everything,” he said quietly. His eyes were focused on his hands in his lap. That seemed to make it easier to continue. “I put everyone in danger; I put you in danger. I thought if I could jus’ talk to Dominator, I could maybe convince her not ta be so mean, an’ we could all be friends.” His hands clenched involuntarily. “But I was wrong. I thought I’d just be riskin’ myself, but I lead ‘er right to the secret planet, to everyone, an’ I couldn’t do anythin’ ta help. Everyone coulda died. If Hatey hadn’t shown up -” Two strong, blue arms pulled him into a hug and only then did Wander realize his voice had gotten shaky, that two big tears had formed in his eyes and spilled over onto his cheeks. He melted into Sylvia’s embrace, burying his head in her chest.

“Oh, Wander.” Sylvia’s voice was soft. Her arms tightened around him, head resting on his hat. “Of course, you snuck off and tried to talk things out with Dominator. You’re you. You can’t help that. I shouldn’t have brushed you off like that at the hideout. I knew you weren’t comfortable fighting Dominator, and I should have known you wouldn’t be able to sit out the battle either. At least if you were going, I should have gone with you.”

“Sylvia!” Wander pulled back slightly so he could look his friend in the eye. “None o’ that’s your fault! You were leadin’ an entire rebellion; ya shouldn’t have ta keep an eye on me as well. Besides, if you’d gone too who knows what could’ve…” He trailed off and sighed.

Sylvia looked down at him in clear concern.

“Buddy,” she said gently. “It isn’t like you to dwell on something like this. People make mistakes. It’s not your fault.”

Wander bit his lip, looking away again.

“But what if somethin’ really bad had happened?” In his mind he watched again as the silhouette of Sylvia was decapitated, that moment before he’d realized it was only an ice sculpture. That alone, he could have gotten past, but it had come so close to actually happening. He’d watched it happening right before his eyes when the drill was shrieking down directly towards his best friend and he hadn’t been able to do anything. He didn’t want to keep thinking about it, but he couldn’t seem to stop, especially now he’d let it come to the surface. His mistakes had almost gotten Sylvia killed. What if they weren’t so lucky next time?

Sylvia must have seen something in his face. She pulled him close to her again, arms giving him a comforting squeeze where they were wrapped around him.

“Do you remember a couple of years ago when we were having that really unfortunate day?” Wander looked up at her, slightly confused at the change of subject as Sylvia continued speaking. “We kept trying to help people and it kept going wrong, over and over for hours. Finally, it started getting to you, and you wondered if we should stop helping because things were getting worse and worse, and you were worried it might lead to the whole universe being destroyed. Do you remember what I said to you that day?”

Wander nodded slightly.

“Ya said that wasn’t a universe ya wanted to live in anyway.” He felt a small, watery smile forming.

“Exactly.” Sylvia smiled back at him. “A universe where we can’t try to help people, where we always have to hurt them, that sounds like a terrible universe to me. And I always want you to try and help people, Wander, even when I don’t think it’s going to work. And even if you weren’t able to help Dominator, there are lots of people who wouldn’t have shown up to help us if you hadn’t helped them.” She paused, seeming to collect herself before she continued. “Hater wouldn’t have shown up if you hadn’t been helping him, and then we really would have been in trouble. And, who knows, maybe some day you’ll even help Dominator too.”

Wander thought back to those last moments as the ship had been exploding, when he’d finally realized why Dominator hurt others, finally seen that her bullying behavior came from loneliness. He’d finally understood where she was coming from and the kind of help she might need.

“Yeah,” he said softly. “Maybe I will.”

“That’s the spirit.” Sylvia gave his hair a ruffle and Wander could feel his smile widening, that sore spot inside him easing considerably. “Just promise you won’t leave me out next time. If you decide you have to go somewhere, tell me about it and let me go with you. I promise I’ll do a better job of listening when you do. I know you were worried about me, but I was worried about you too, buddy. I thought I’d lost you when that ship exploded. I’m still not sure how you made it out to be honest. I didn’t think orbles were that tough.”

Wander chuckled a little.

“Jus’ lucky, I guess.” He’d like to tell Sylvia about what Hater had done for him and Dominator, about how safe he’d felt when the overlord’s forcefield had wrapped itself around them, but he knew Hater was uncomfortable with all of that, so he wanted to respect his buddy and keep it to himself. Maybe someday Hatey would feel a little more comfortable and he’d be able to tell all his friends about it. Until then, he hoped Sylvia wouldn’t mind waiting for an answer.

“Then I’m grateful to your luck, I suppose.” Sylvia gave a chuckle herself, before she looked pointedly at him again. “So, how are you doing, buddy?”

Wander’s smile widened and he pulled himself close for one more hug, giving his best friend a squeeze of his own.

“I’m doin’ great, Sylvia,” he promised, and he knew that this time, she believed him.

Despite his loitering, Hater still made it back to the room before Wander. That was good; he didn’t want any surprise hugs or any junk like that when he opened the door.

Captain Tim had made himself at home by carving himself a hole and making a nest in one of the walls. He hissed at Hater in greeting but opted to stay in his refuge for now. Hater rather wished he could blast a hole in the wall and do the same, but that would be too much like hiding from the annoying pest, and that was something he absolutely refused to do. That and the walls probably weren’t thick enough on this stupid ship.

He took a few minutes to look around the room, which was more like a cabin. It was quite small, especially compared to his own massive room on the skull-ship, and there didn’t even seem to be beds, just some canvas slings hanging from the ceiling. There was also a kind of bench thing along one wall, and a small, circular window that looked out onto a nondescript patch of stars.

When he finally heard someone outside the door, Hater straightened, crossing his arms and focusing the full force of his glare on the entrance. He was all set to let the furry nuisance have it.

The door opened, and Wander slipped inside. Hater opened his mouth, taking a breath for a good, angry rant at the nomad, then paused. Wander gave him a tired, droopy looking smile.

“Hi Hater,” he said. “Glad ta see ya made yerself at home.” He seemed subdued, and his voice was quieter than Hater was used to.

Hater’s glare slipped a bit, the anger he had so carefully built up, fizzling. He wasn’t sure why, only that seeing Wander like this was…weird.

“I…guess,” he said, without the ire he’d been planning on.

Wander paused to coo softly at Captain Tim in his nest, who gave a snarl but didn’t try to bite the wiggling orange finger, and then the nomad crossed to one of the fabric slings and sat on it, pulling his knees up and wrapping his arms around them.

Hater was still standing in the center of the room, following Wander with his eyes. He felt confused, and vaguely annoyed that Wander’s strange appearance had interrupted his planned argument. He also felt like he should say something, though he wasn’t sure what.

“So, we’re on our way,” he tried, keeping is tone neutral with only his natural gruffness.

“Yeah!” Wander sat up, seeming to summon some energy, though Hater still thought he looked tired, not quite as bouncy as usual. “Should be reachin’ Technoiva in a day or two. That’ll be our first stop an’ the technohead’s should be departing, long as m’ li’l flower friend’s had time ta stitch it back together.” His smile seemed a little more natural now. “It sure will be fun ta see how that plant is doin’ an’ get a look at the planets it’s fixin’ up close.”

Hater scoffed, but with only half his attention on Wander’s rambling. He was still trying to figure out what could have happened to leave the nomad acting this way. It reminded him a little of when Wander had been using his finger to keep that tiny black hole plugged, though he didn’t look frazzled or miserable this time, just emotionally exhausted. It almost looked like he’d been crying, though he didn’t seem sad anymore. It was more like the aftermath of being sad, and Hater wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t like seeing Wander that way. Probably because it meant someone else had managed to make the furry freak sad, when he’d never been able to. Yeah, it was probably that.

“What happened to you?” he growled at last, giving up on trying to be subtle. “Why are you being so weird?”

Wander blinked over at him, seemingly surprised, then that fond smile Hater was used to slipped back over his face.

“I’m alright, Hater,” he said. “Guess I’ve been thinkin’ an’ frettin’ too much and my ol’ gal Sylvia had ta set me straight. Thanks fer askin’ though. It means a lot.”

Hater’s glare darkened to cover up the sudden heat in his cheekbones.

“It’s not like I care!” he snapped. “I just wanted to know why your stupid face looked stupider than usual, that’s all.”

“Sure, Hater,” Wander agreed easily. He seemed to have perked up considerably now, and Hater was wondering why he’d asked about the nomad at all. Why had he cared? Shouldn’t he have been happy Wander’s manic energy had been absent? He felt anxiety coil through his ribcage. He’d just been jealous that he hadn’t been the one hurting Wander. That was all, he told himself.

“What d’ya think of the room?” Wander piped up, interrupting Hater’s confusing thoughts. “I know it’s not too big, but it’s a pretty nice place ta hang yer hat. Plus, we’ve got these neat hammocks. Captain Tim sure seems ta like it too!”

“Whatever,” Hater growled, still annoyed at himself and slightly confused. He glanced at his pet, who was making his contented growl. Maybe Tim liked the change of scenery. “What are we supposed to do for food around here, anyway?” he demanded, trying to change the subject. No skull-ship meant no food court. It probably meant no to a lot of things for as long as he was stuck on this stupid ship.

“Don’t worry, Hater. We brought enough food.” Wander leaned back in his…hammock he’d called it, feet hanging off the side now. “I’ll head to the galley in a little while an’ start on supper.”

“You mean you’re going to cook?” Hater’s eyes narrowed. Now, not only did he have to share a room with Wander, the furry pain was going to force him to eat his cooking too?

His mind flashed briefly back to that breakfast Wander had left in his dining room for him and how good it had tasted before he’d realized who had made it, not to mention read a vaguely threatening note Wander had written declaring them to be ‘best friends’ if he ate any. He pushed the picture away angrily.

“Well, somebody’s got to,” Wander pointed out. He gave a little bounce in the hammock so that it swung. Hater eyed it suspiciously, not sure how Wander was balancing in the thing. He was not looking forward to sleeping in his tonight.

He drew himself up, finally finding something he could object to.

“You expect me to eat something you’ve made?” he demanded. “For all I know you’re going to fill it with love or rainbows or mushy gooey goodness, or something gross like that! Well, fat chance, pal, you’re not cooking anything without me watching you like an astral hawk!” He smirked triumphantly. That would show the furry pest who was in charge.

Hater had expected Wander to laugh or brush off his threat. He wasn’t nearly naive enough to think the nomad would actually listen to him. Instead, he drew back as Wander’s smile spread from ear to ear, getting noticeably trembly as his eyes got big and wet.

“Golly, Hater.” The skeleton lord winced at Wander’s tone, practically dripping with emotion. “I figured you’d wanna hang out here an’ rest, but if you feel like keepin’ me company, I certainly won’t say ‘no!’”

It was then, with Wander’s shining eyes and huge smile seeming far too close in the tiny cabin, that Hater realized he’d just made a huge mistake.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Four: The First Night

Lord Hater had been a powerful and feared villain for many years. He had accomplished thousands of evil deeds and spread his name far and wide throughout the galaxy. He had conquered countless planets, reduced entire civilizations to rubble and ruin and brought misery and despair to all who dared oppose him. He was the Monarch of Mayhem, the Duke of Destruction, the Greatest in the Galaxy. All of that was his mantra, what he told himself to help him sleep at night and energize himself in the morning. He’d even recently defeated the most dangerous villain ever to threaten the galaxy, completely single-handed.

Nowhere in this impressive list of titles and accomplishments did it say that he was supposed to help a furry orange pest cook supper for an entire ship of refugees.

So, what exactly was he doing here?

Hater wasn’t exactly sure how to answer that question. After his threat to keep an eye on the annoying mop while he prepared the food had somehow been twisted around into keeping the scruffy vagabond company, Wander had dragged the protesting overlord with him down to what passed for a kitchen on board ship, settled him in a chair, and proceeded to don a green apron he pulled from his hat, and start to lay out all manner of ingredients from the cupboards, chattering away happily to him the whole time.

Hater had thought about making his escape then, either by sneaking out while the fuzzy toothpick had his back turned, or by yelling, blasting something and storming his way out of the kitchen, which would be more satisfying, but ran the risk of him being ambushed and seated back in his chair. He wasn’t sure how Wander would accomplish that, but he wouldn’t put it past the freak.

He was still deciding between these options, when his eye was drawn to the wandering weirdo as he wielded a knife with impressive skill, chopping, peeling and slicing while still managing to talk the skeleton’s non-existent ears off at the same time.

Hater wasn’t impressed, of course, but it kept his attention all the same. He realized he’d never really seen someone cooking before. The one time he’d tried to watch Peepers, he’d ended up banned from the kitchen when his shouted demands and instructions had nearly caused some knife-related accidents his commander was apparently still upset over. The only other time when he’d spent a while in the kitchen had been when he was attempting to make himself breakfast, and it had been an exercise in frustration and unexplained foul smells, and ultimately resulted in an inedible breakfast.

He stood from his chair without thinking, trying to get a better look at what Wander was doing. He took a step, then another, only noticing how close he’d gotten when the nomad turned to take some of his vegetables to the stove.

Wander jumped slightly to find Hater looming over him. Then he smiled.

“Need anythin’, buddy?” he asked.

“I’m not your buddy,” was Hater’s standard response, though with less fire in the words than usual, still preoccupied as he was with what Wander had been up to. “What are you making anyway?” he ventured after a moment.
Wander’s smile widened, but Hater barely noticed.

“Well, we’ve got a lot of fresh vegetables on board, an’ some of ‘em probably need to be used early on, since I figure they won’t last, so I’m gonna make a stir-fry with some bell peppers, snap peas, lumashrooms an’ broccoli, an’ maybe throw in some water chestnuts too, along with some rice an’ some fried tempeh strips,” he explained. “Then maybe a cake or somethin’ for dessert, to celebrate bein’ off on our way an’ everythin’.”

Hater still wasn’t entirely sure what Wander was making; surly he’d just described two different methods of preparation, stirring and frying. Nevertheless, he found himself still intrigued as Wander heated a heavy, wide, metal bowl on the stove-top, drizzled some oil and then began scraping in some of the chopped vegetables, which hissed as they touched the hot metal.

“Is it hard?” Because, only to himself, Hater was pretty sure it was. “I mean, I know it can’t be too hard if you’re able to do it, but still, is it?”

“Nah, not really. Jes’ gotta learn it like everythin’ else, an’ practice o’ course.” Wander looked from the pan he was minding up at Hater, and he looked almost hesitant for a moment, though he was still smiling. “You wanna help, Hater?”

The overlord recoiled immediately, feeling rather as though he’d been lured into a trap.

“Help? You?” he snarled.

“Yeah!” Wander looked away briefly, drizzling some dark liquid into the pan from a bottle he was holding, still moving the vegetables around with a wooden spoon in his other hand. “I know you tried cookin’ before an’ it wasn’t s’great a time, but that’s ‘cause ya didn’t have anyone ta do it with! Who knows, ya might even like it!”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I won’t,” Hater declared with certainty. “And I’m not going to ‘help’ anyone, especially you. I said it was one time only.”

“Okey-doke!” Wander was grinding salt and pepper into his concoction now, flipping the grinders with a flourish afterwards so they fell back into his hat.

Hater once again thought about sneaking away and once again continued to watch. Wander was silent now, apparently concentrating on his seasoning, though he paused to add rice to the boiling pot on the back burner.

The more Hater watched, the more interested he got, and he could feel his bony fingers practically twitch with the urge to try it. Wander made it look so easy, and, more importantly, fun. Besides, Hater didn’t like the idea there was something the fuzzy mop could do that he couldn’t. It wasn’t necessarily helping Wander if he did some of the cooking. After all, he’d be eating it too.

“So, say I did want to know how to cook,” Hater began cautiously. He tried to keep his voice sounding casual. “Just in case I was lost in the woods or something and I needed to, what exactly would I do?”

“Well, I s’pose you could cut the tempeh inta strips. It’s over there on the counter.” Wander’s back was to Hater as he tended to the stove, but the overlord could still hear the smile in his voice, which he ignored with a valiant effort. Slicing something did appeal to him. And I don’t have to worry about being cut, he thought smugly.

Finding the block of off-white something on the counter, he chose the biggest, sharpest knife he could see and hacked it into rough strips. It felt satisfying to destroy something and be making something at the same time, and he found his default glare lessening slightly.

“What do I do with this?” Hater called when he was finished. He tried to put some base into his tone, to let Wander know he wasn’t asking, but demanding, but he wasn’t sure the nomad noticed.

“That gets fried separately, then we toss it in at the end,” Wander instructed. The nomad turned briefly, inspecting Hater’s uneven pieces. “Nice job!” he approved, which gave Hater a smug feeling of self-satisfaction inside. “You can start it in that pan if ya like.” He indicated a smaller frying pan off to the side, already drizzled with oil.

Hater bit his jaw, eyeing the thing with some amount of trepidation. Reassuring himself that he had no flesh to get burned, turned the pan on, then dumped his plate in once it seemed hot, jumping slightly as the oil hissed and spat. He didn’t think Wander had been looking, but the little alien moved deftly to the side to avoid the splatter, before handing Hater a spatula, turning down the heat slightly under the monster as he did so.

The cooking continued in this strange, half-social fashion. Maybe it was because Wander’s attention wasn’t all focused on him, but Hater found it fairly easy to get along with the weirdo for once. He didn’t even mind that Wander was talking to him like before. He didn’t really answer except with a grunt or an objection, but Wander didn’t seem to mind, and Hater found the chatting didn’t really bother him the way it usually would have.

The activity also served to keep his mind occupied, which meant those brooding thoughts about what he had done stayed away, for now at least, which was a welcome relief. Plus, it was maybe even kind of fun, something he planned to adamantly deny later.

When they finished the dinner and started on dessert, Hater was actually kind of glad to try his hand at another recipe, although it was disappointing that this one had less weaponry and cutting involved.

And he’d thought of a perfect excuse if anyone asked. He was just doing this to lull Wander into a false sense of security, and at the same time, get a look at his enemy’s weird little mind. It was such a good excuse, in fact, he found himself almost believing it.

Something was wrong with Lord Hater, aside from the obvious, that is.

Commander Peepers had the greatest respect for his boss, even over the past two years when the constant encounters with Wander and Sylvia had destroyed an increasing number of their evil schemes for galactic conquest and often, in the latter’s case, the skull ship.

But, despite everything; all the derailed plans, the times Hater had completely ignored planet takeovers in favour of chasing after the furry pest and the complete lack of focus the overlord often showed, when the chips had been down that final time, Lord Hater had come in like the conqueror he truly was, and proven himself to be far greater than that two-bit villain who dared to try and destroy their galaxy.

Peepers had been in awe. Even though Hater had saved the galax, and they hadn’t exactly been able to conquer it yet, their dreams had never felt so close as when Dominator’s planet-penetrating drill had been slammed back through the center of her ship, spraying lava and starting a chain reaction that finally caused the complete destruction of the awful thing.

For a moment, he’d dared to hope that Wander and Dominator had perished in the explosion, but he should have known better. It was just like the furry freak to not only survive an impossible situation, but to somehow save someone else at the same time.

At least Dominator didn’t seem like she’d be much trouble for them for a while, but Wander certainly would be.

Peepers had been trying to give his boss some space after everything. Hater had been exhausted, and the watchdog couldn’t blame him. He let the skeleton lord rest, and set the watchdogs to assessing the skull-ship and repairing what they could without the parts they were missing.

As he did so, he planned. Hater’s incredible feat had given them the perfect start to their takeover of the brand-new galaxy. He had just shown he was stronger and badder than the most dangerous villain anyone had ever encountered. The rest of the villains were still scattered and in hiding, and the citizens of the galaxy would only start returning to their planets once this weird ship had dropped them off. Then they would have to start rebuilding their homes on whatever the new planets looked like. They certainly wouldn’t have time to mount adequate defenses before the skull-ship could be repaired and the Lord Hater Empire once again arrived to subjugate them. And with all the watchdogs having witnessed Hater’s defeat of Dominator, there shouldn’t be any morale problems either.

It was perfect.

The only hitch was Lord Hater himself.

It wasn’t just tiredness, especially after almost a week resting in his room. There was something else that was making his boss anxious and pensive, especially once their departure time had been set. Sure, probably some of it was stemming from Hater’s forced proximity to his greatest enemy, but something was weird about that too. Since boarding, it seemed like that proximity hadn’t been bothering Hater nearly as much as it should.

From what he’d heard in the corridors and even from some of the watchdogs, Hater had been spending an awful lot of time around Wander lately, even some before boarding the ship, and none of it appeared to be attempts to destroy the wandering nuisance. He’d even heard the two of them had cooked supper together, although he wasn’t quite ready to believe that, and had given Jim, the watchdog who’d reported it, an official reprimand for spreading rumors and a very threatening warning to keep any similar stories to himself.

Hater also seemed a little too chummy with the other ‘passengers’ during supper. Granted, they were supposed to be pretending to get along with the galaxy’s citizens until they could get the parts to their ship and get it back in conquering shape, but Hater seemed like he was enjoying all the attention from the other aliens a little too much. The overlord had always wanted to be popular, and now he was, for the moment anyway. It was worrying, and Peepers made a mental note to have a private meeting with his boss soon and remind him not to get too friendly with the people they’d be conquering in a week or two.

Until then, he’d just have to keep his eye sharp and find ways to deal with these problems, as well as head off any others that cropped up. That had always been his job, even in the old days, and there was no reason why it should change now.

By the time they returned to their room, Hater was exhausted.

They’d finished the stir-fry, and the cake had just come out of the oven, when they’d heard noises from the dining room outside, and found that most of the ship’s passengers had wandered down in search of food.

Hater had thought he could maybe use the confusion to grab his plate and slip away to his room, but in amongst all the aliens going this way and that, serving the food and setting out plates and cutlery, he somehow ended up seated at one of the long benches with Major Threat on one side of him and, thankfully, Peepers on the other. His commander had given him a strange look when he emerged from the kitchen with Wander, but he hadn’t said anything, and Hater had figured he could always give the watchdog his excuse later.

Other aliens came and filled the spaces around and across from them, and Hater realized the seating near him was being preferentially chosen. He glared at the interlopers, but he couldn’t help the warm glow inside to know he was the most popular person in the room.

Wander set his plate before him with a conspiratorial wink and Hater flinched from habit, but as the nomad headed off to find a seat next to Sylvia, the overlord found himself following that bobbing green had with his eyes.

Okay, so spending time with Wander today hadn’t been the end of the galaxy, or even really that bad. Sharing a room with him was still probably going to be pretty awful, but at least it had started off okay.

And he felt a special kind of thrill when he looked down at his meal, knowing he’d made part of it, even if he was now realizing they hadn’t put any meat in the food. Did Wander not eat meat? That would make sense given the whole ‘wandering space hippy’ thing he had going on. But, even if it was just veggie garbage, it still smelled amazing, and tasted just as good when he ventured to try a forkful.

The other aliens were eating, chatting and laughing and, like Wander’s chatter during the cooking, Hater found he didn’t really mind them. He was used to eating alone, either in his private dining room or in his bedroom. If he ordered something from the food court, it was always brought to one of those locations.

But, despite the strangeness, the overlord found himself relaxing amid the strange company. It actually kind of reminded him of that wild party with his prisoners on the skull-ship, and there were even a few of the same faces. The energy was very similar too, and even though Hater didn’t quite let himself smile and laugh along with the others, he couldn’t help it if his glower slipped a bit, and he even ended up re-telling some of his encounters with Dominator, with some alterations, including his final victory against her, as the aliens near him listened and applauded appreciatively. And if a few smiles managed to slip through his guard, that was probably just because he was reliving that triumphant moment. Even a bad guy could be proud of and revel in his accomplishments.

Wander had gone back into the kitchen partway through, apparently to wash the dishes, and Hater had no idea how the fuzzy mop had any energy left. The cooking alone had been exhausting enough, if kind of fun, he supposed.

Now, Hater looked around the small room, tired, but oddly satisfied from everything. It really hadn’t been the worst day, all told, and he was looking forward to collapsing into bed for a well-earned rest.

Or he was, right up until he remembered he didn’t have a bed to collapse into, just that weird fabric sling he’d already forgotten the name of.

He stood next to the thing in confusion for a few moments, until Wander looked over from where he was speaking sweetly into Captain Tim’s refuge. Hater really didn’t know what that was all about. It seemed like the pest couldn’t leave his pet alone and he was honestly surprised the arachnomorph hadn’t taken the little alien’s face off with how close he kept getting.

“Everythin’ hunky-dory, roomie?” Wander asked.

“What? What does that even mean?” Hater demanded, fed up with the annoyance’s made up hillbilly phrases. “We’re not roomies, and no, it’s not…whatever you just said. “What is this stupid thing supposed to be?” He pokes at the hanging cloth with one claw, watching it sway on its ropes.

“Ya never slept in a hammock before, Hater?”

“Uh, no! Why would I do that? I have the biggest bed on the best ship in the galaxy. What kind of ship doesn’t have beds? Just because you’re a weirdo who never sleeps in one,” he muttered.

Wander chuckled, not remotely bothered by Hater’s tone.

“No, silly! It’s ’cause We got such a big group of folks along fer tha ride. We didn’t really have all that much bedding or space to go around, so the hammocks helped with both o’ those problems. They take some gettin’ used to, but they’re pretty comfy once you get tha hang of ‘em. You want me ta show ya how to get in?”

“No,” Hater grumbled, despite his apprehension. He didn’t want any help from the furry orange pain, especially not on something as easy as getting in bed. He might have gotten along with Wander a little better this evening, but he needed to draw the line somewhere and prove to the pest they were still enemies. “I’m Lord Hater, the Greatest in the Galaxy! I’ll figure it out myself.”

“Okay, Mr. Grumpy-robes. If ya say so.”

Hater glared, choosing to ignore Wander and return to inspecting the hammock. He poked it a couple more times. It seemed very unstable. If he put one foot inside, what was to keep it from flipping over? There was silence for several minutes as Hater continued to examine the hammock while Wander’s patient smile bored into his back.

“Sooooo,” Wander ventured finally. “You gonna turn in?”

Hater was struck suddenly by an idea.

“You go first,” he instructed. “I’ve gotta go change anyway.”

Grabbing his pajama cloak, Hater hurried out of the door, but instead of going down the hallway to the communal bathroom, he kept the door open a crack and peaked in as Wander gave Captain Tim a final blown kiss, then crossed to his hammock. He watched carefully as the nomad removed his shoes and seated himself in the fabric sling before scooting backwards into its center. He lay back and stretched his legs out comfortably. It didn’t look that hard.

Hater hurriedly changed, then sauntered smugly back into the room, crossing to his own hammock and seating himself gingerly on its edge as Wander had done, holding both sides with his hands. It seemed awfully shaky.
“Lookin’ good, Hater!” Wander approved from across the way. “Now ya just ease yerself inta the middle…”

“I said, I don’t need your help!” Hater snapped. Okay, ease yourself into the middle. How hard could that be? He pushed himself back into the middle of the hammock, leaning backward as he did so, and then suddenly his feet were off the floor as the hammock swung under him and he felt himself falling. A pare of furry hands caught his shoulders and Hater found himself pushed upright again until his feet found the floor. His heart was in his mouth, but he managed to find the presence of mind to glare at Wander as the little alien straightened him and gently lifted his legs so he was lying in the thing. “I could have done that on my own, Wander,” Hater grumbled over the pounding of his heart, but he consented to let Wander lay a blanket over him with only a glare. He wasn’t quite sure how to move without tipping the thing over.

“There!” Wander patted the blanket over Hater’s ribcage. “Snug as a bug in a rug! G’night, Hater!”

“Whatever.”

Hater watched as Wander turned out the light, leaving only a faint glow of stars through their window. In the dimness, he crossed to his hammock again, swinging into it without apparent effort. In another minute, Hater could hear Wander’s soft snores. His cheekbones felt uncomfortably warm, and he pulled the blanket closer around himself, keeping his movements slow and not liking how the hammock swayed. It reminded him a little of his old water bed, before Peepers had popped it while trying to capture Wander, except that he’d never worried about falling out of that. Still, it was fairly comfortable, provided he didn’t move much, and at least he was in the thing now, and would probably be fine for the rest of tonight. And in the morning…

Hater froze as the thought trailed off. He’d been so worried about getting in the hammock, he’d never thought of the other side.

How was he supposed to get out of it?

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Five: The Scouting Party

Wander had always been an early riser.

When he fell asleep at night he slept soundly. He rested and he dreamed. Sometimes he had thousands of adventures in one night, and when he awoke in the morning, he felt restored and energetic, and ready to make those adventures a reality or, more properly, to find some real adventures that were even more exciting and fantastical than his dreams.

There were no real days or nights in space. Wander was used to going by the clock of whatever planet he and Sylvia found to camp on. Sometimes those nights were too long or too short, but it tended to average out, and you got used to it when you traveled from planet to planet the way they did.

On a ship, it was different.

They were keeping to a set amount of ‘day’ and ‘night’ to allow the various aliens time to eat and sleep and help with running the ship. Of course, there did need to be some folks awake all the time to keep the ship going in the right direction and have an eye out for supernovas and meteor showers, so they had arranged for watches during the ‘night’ time. It was certainly gratifying to see everyone pitching in to help each other out. Wander really felt like the galaxy had come together in the face of Dominator, and he was glad to see it continuing even after the danger had passed.

Hater was still soundly asleep when Wander rose, one arm dangling out of the hammock. Wander gently repositioned him, tucked the blanket around him once more, then tip-toed out of the room and down to the galley to make breakfast.

He whistled as he flitted around, getting a big pot of porridge going, starting the coffee and cutting up an assortment of fruits to make a salad.

Early risers came trickling in after a while, Sylvia among them, and Wander chatted with his friends while he ate, before popping back into the kitchen to do some dishes, brushing off his best friend’s offer to help. He knew Sylvia already had enough on her plate what with steering the ship, though he certainly appreciated the offer.

Next, Wander loaded up a tray with the different breakfast items, along with a bowl of Captain Tim’s food, which Mr. Peepers had brought from the skull-ship, and headed back to the room to see if his buddy was awake yet.
Just as he got to the door to their room, already adjusting the dishes he was carrying so he could open it, Wander heard a heavy thud from inside, followed by the unmistakable sound of an angry skeleton overlord who had fallen out of his hammock, and decided to use some rather colourful language to complain about it. This was followed by a hissing and skittering, then an acid hole formed in one wall, smoking and glowing eerily in the dim corridor, and an irate-looking Captain Tim flashed out and down the hallway.

Wander chuckled fondly at the little guy then, remembering that Hater might be hurt, and was definitely upset, he hurriedly opened the door and entered, flicking on the lights as he did so.

Well, at least some of Hater had stayed in his hammock.

The green fabric was wrapped around Hater’s legs several times, binding them together. He had probably fallen mostly out of the hammock and hit his skull on the floor, and was currently trying to push himself up with his arms, but seemed unable to free his legs from their binding.

Wander set the tray on their small wooden bench by the door and hurried over to help.

“Y’all right, buddy?” he enquired, moving to examine Hater’s wrapped legs.

A growl emanated from below him. There was a crackle as electricity built around the overlord and he began to glow a bright green, getting brighter all the time. Suddenly there was a flash and the sound of tearing fabric as Hater burst out of the hammock. He hovered above the scorched floor for a moment, glowing and crackling, before the light faded and his feet found the wooden planks once again. He stood there panting for a moment, face still twisted into a dark glare as he stared at the remains of his foe.

“Soooooo, ya feel better?” Wander asked after a moment. The response he got really didn’t bare repeating. Wander decided he might need to spend some time with his buddy talking about appropriate language. When he was feeling better of course.

“Oooooo! Look, Hater, there it is!”

The overlord peered over the ship’s railing at the distant planet. Even from here, he could tell it was very different from how it used to be, back when he’d been trying to conquer it. Wander’s flower seemed to have overgrown it completely, and even from this distance, he could see masses of huge leaves, flowers and vines winding their way across its surface.

“Hmph, doesn’t look very high tech anymore, does it?” Peepers piped up disparagingly from his right side.

“That’s true!” Wander leant on the railing next to the watchdog, giving him a friendly nudge with his elbow and not seeming to notice when Peepers flinched. “Guess tha technoheads’ll have some work to do to get their planet back to the way they’re used to. Sure is pretty though!”

“I suppose that’s a matter of opinion.” Peepers’ voice seemed to indicate it wasn’t.

Hater ignored both of them, still looking at the planet. It was wrapped all about with lush plant life, a burst of vibrant green against the blackness of space.

How had one tiny, worthless flower accomplished all of this? It seemed impossible. It was like a metaphor for Wander himself, though Hater really wasn’t that familiar with metaphors. The nomad did something similar after all, traveling through the galaxy from planet to planet, spreading sunshine and twangy, hillbilly banjo music and hugs along the way, and generally messing up any infrastructure a conquering villain had set up. Impossible to destroy, and far more effective than his size and appearance would indicate. Just the thought of all of that would have made him furious half a year ago. He didn’t feel angry now, just vaguely annoyed.

Hater glanced over at the nomad, taking in, as if for the first time, the oversized hat, skinny shoulders and spindly limbs, the messy orange fur and that stupid smile as he bounced excitedly on his heals and peered over the ship’s railing.

Wander looked so fragile, so completely flarping harmless, though Hater knew he was anything but. It seemed there was nothing the furry freak couldn’t accomplish; saving planets, stopping villains, terraforming an entire galaxy by accident.

Getting Lord Hater to stop hating him.

It wasn’t something Hater wanted to admit to and, out loud, he wasn’t planning to. He wasn’t even sure when he’d made the realization. Probably some time after saving the galaxy, and before he’d woken up in their cabin to find himself in a fight with his hammock, a fight he’d won, he reminded himself.

Still, there it was. His hatred for Wander hadn’t returned after Dominator’s defeat, even with the annoyance of having to share a room with the little pest, and there didn’t seem to be anything he could do about it.

He’d spent a long time thinking about everything last night, after Wander had fallen asleep, snoring softly and peacefully across the room from him. The nomad had never had trouble sleeping around Hater, never worried for a moment that the overlord could snuff out his life with barely a thought while he slept.

Hater had thought about that. He’d thought about how easy it would be to creep out of bed, provided he could figure out the stupid hammock, sneak across the room, stand over Wander’s helpless form and destroy the hairy nuisance once and for all. He’d played the scenario over in his mind, trying to summon the enthusiasm his dreams of Wander’s untimely death used to produce, but it wasn’t there. Now, when he thought about destroying the nomad, waking him from his peaceful slumber and seeing his eyes, wide with fear for once in his miserable life before Hater’s electricity zapped that life from him, he just felt cold inside.

After all, he’d finally seen Wander afraid, though it hadn’t been of him, and it hadn’t made Hater feel jealous or indignant that another villain had made Wander frightened. He hadn’t thought about that at all. He hadn’t really thought about anything. He’d just wanted it to stop. He’d wanted Wander not to be frightened anymore, to go back to being happy and annoying.

And afterward, even though he hadn’t admitted it to himself, or even allowed himself to think too much about it, he’d known he no longer wanted Wander to be dead, to be gone. A galaxy without that frustrating ray of sunshine bumbling his way through it would feel…empty.

Surly there must be something wrong with him. That’s what Peepers would say, what any other villain who’d run afoul of the frustrating orange toothpick would say.

And they’d probably be right.

He turned away from the railing, grumbling to himself under his breath to hopefully distract from all the uncomfortable thoughts bouncing around inside his skull. He noticed Wander waving happily to him out of the corner of his eye, and ignored it. He hated the absence of anger inside him when the nomad did something, when he talked or waved or even sang.

He hated not hating that stupid smile.

As he started down the stairs into the lower part of the ship, he became aware of Peepers next to him. Hater ignored his commander in much the same way, though he was pretty sure Peepers wanted to talk to him, probably about him cooking with Wander yesterday. At least Hater had an excuse for that incident already planned, though he wasn’t really in the mood to be interrogated by his commander right now. There was too much going on inside his own head at the moment, and much of it was stuff he wasn’t interested in sharing, especially with Peepers.

Pausing in one of the narrow, wooden hallways, Hater turned, glaring down at his commander, trying to communicate how completely fed up he was feeling at the moment.

It must have worked, because Peepers seemed to shrink into himself slightly before he straightened, giving Hater a sharp salute.

But he was still there.

“What?” Hater demanded irritably.

Peepers took a deep breath.

“Sir, I know you’re dealing with some…distractions right now,” the ‘W’ word went unsaid, for the moment, “and believe me; I get it. And I don’t want to make things any more difficult, especially while we’re stuck on this ship with a bunch of shiftless doo-gooders, but we do need to have an eye to the Plan.” He pronounced it with a capital ‘P.’

“The Plan?” Hater couldn’t help feeling that he’d missed something.

“You know.” Peepers gestured expansively with one hand, taking a moment to glance around the sparce corridor as if worried that someone might be listening. “For what to do after we wave ‘good riddance’ to this useless lot and fix the skull-ship?”

“Oh, right.” His commander’s plans for galactic domination. Hater wasn’t quite ready to think that far ahead. His mind still seemed stuck in the past and his unfortunate present, dealing with everything that had happened and everything he’d realized lately. He tried to put some enthusiasm into his voice, but wasn’t sure he succeeded. “You, uh, you want to talk about the Plan?”

“Well…not here.” Peepers’ pupil darted around guardedly once more. “But apparently a landing party is planning to do some recon on the planet to make sure it’s safe. It’s the perfect time to find a private place and do some strategizing.”

Hater shrugged. He supposed they’d have to talk about that stuff sooner or later or, more accurately, Peepers would talk while Hater pretended to listen. The overlord wasn’t particularly interested in traipsing across some wilderness while everyone else lazed around on the ship. Still, he was maybe a little curious to see the planet up close.

His day really hadn’t had the best start. Maybe getting away from the ship, and the remains of his hammock, would help to get his mind off everything.

“Fine, I guess,” he conceded with another glare. “So, uh, who’s in this ‘landing party’ anyway?”

Technoiva was truly a sight to behold up close.

The tangle of vines, leaves, flowers and huge, dangling fruits reached as high as the ship, and to dock, they simply had to hook the anchor around a thick, green stalk that had come questing up higher than most. Far below them, the ground was just as overgrown, barely visible through the densely twining plant life.

There was no sign of the devastation from Dominator’s drill, no visible mark where the planet had almost split in half. Yet the whole place looked nothing like it had a year ago, when it had been a busy city with lighted billboards, electric cars and mirrored, metal skyscrapers, and the technoheads were understandably a little hesitant to disembark. There were only a few of them who had made it to the secret Planet’s shelter and were riding on the Star Nomad, and had been hoping that more of their people would find their way back to this planet eventually.

Currently, Technovia was beautiful and wild and strange, a riot of colour, waving in the wind, tangled and full of dark paths and tunnels through the greenery.

And it kind of gave Sylvia the creeps.

Wander was in love. The moment they walked down the ramp onto a thick branch of vine, he’d begun darting here and there, climbing higher to peer across the landscape, examining the leaves and twisting tendrils that were in reach, and even beginning to hum a song to himself as though he was itching to start playing his banjo.

Sylvia could tell she was going to have to keep her eyes glued to her buddy, especially once they got down on the forest floor.

Above her head, the ramp was being retracted, glowing gently purple as Jeff steadied it. The former conqueror had elected to stay back and keep the ship under control. Sylvia had heard his band was going to perform for the children on board to keep them entertained, and the zbornak suspected that quite a few adults were planning to attend as well.

Their own scouting party was rather nostalgic in a way; herself, Wander, Hater and Peepers. She wasn’t sure why the two villains had decided to tag along, but had elected to let them, and not to worry. She’d already decided to give Hater at least a little leeway. Besides, they weren’t going to try anything while they were still passengers on the Star Nomad. If any villainy were going to occur, she knew it would be after they’d fixed their ship and were mobile once again.

Then she’d worry about whether she had to go back to caving in watchdog heads.

Quite a few others had offered to join them, but Sylvia could tell she wasn’t the only person feeling some amount of trepidation about the beautiful wilderness they’d docked beside, and she hadn’t wanted to bring anyone who was frightened, since that could lead to trouble. Besides, a small scouting party made more sense to begin with. She and Wander had a lot of experience exploring strange planets and, she grudgingly had to admit, so did Hater and Peepers.

Once they had checked things out a little and determined what potential dangers they had to watch out for, then more people could disembark to explore, resupply, and give the technoheads a hand with finding a place to make a temporary home until they could unearth whatever remained of their infrastructure.

“C’mon, buddies, let’s go!” Wander’s voice quivered slightly, rising on the end in an almost shriek of excitement. Sylvia knew if they didn’t set off soon, they’d probably lose him among the plants, not her favourite thing to have happen in unexplored territory.

“Alright, you heard him,” she instructed, over the background noise of both Hater and Peepers insisting they weren’t Wander’s buddies. At this point, she tended to just tune them out when they started protesting. To get to the ground, they were going to have to do some climbing, so she snagged Wander from the branch above her head and plonked him pointedly on the vine next to her, just in case they had to move quickly. The two villains plodded some distance behind her as she headed towards the main stalk of the vine they were on. It was like a huge, green tree trunk, but wound about with leaves and little tendrils. Yellow buds as big as her head were everywhere, and Wander was already speculating about what the flowers would look like.

When she reached the ‘trunk’, Sylvia paused, examining it for the best way down. It wasn’t perfectly straight, and the smaller vines wrapped around it seemed like they would provide decent handholds.

They started down, Wander peering down through the trees in anticipation as he climbed. She made sure to keep near him in case of accidents. Still, despite her strange feelings about the jungle and the dangers it might hold, Sylvia couldn’t help the tingle of excitement down her own back. It had been a while since she and Wander had gotten to do any exploring. Dominator’s threat had meant they’d been focused on saving people from her bots, hiding and watching the galaxy die around them. It had been a lot, and it was nice to have an honest to goodness adventure again, even with a couple of hangers on.

And who knew, the two of them might even come in handy if her instincts about this place proved true.

“Stupid jungle, stupid planet, stupid walking.”

Hater looked up from his feet briefly, glancing ahead at his three ‘companions.’ He’d started to lag behind them almost as soon as they reached the forest floor, which was just stupid. If he’d been roped into this dumb expedition, he should at least be leading it. He quickened his pace, then immediately started to stumble on the uneven ground, and looked back down at his feet again hurriedly.

Uneven wasn’t even the word. It was like every vine had specifically decided to trip him up, and had wound and slunk across the ground and into crevasses and holes, pushing up rocks, wrapping around the bases of other plants and stretching across any level ground he could see all to accomplish their nefarious purpose. And to make it worse, many of these obstructions were camouflaged by flowers, leaves and other low-lying ground cover.

Hater glanced up again, peering ahead in quick intervals and keeping most of his attention on picking his way across the forest floor. At least he was unlikely to lose sight of the aliens ahead of him. The black and red of Peepers’ uniform, Sylvia’s blue skin and pink-red crest, and of course the absolute eyesore of Wander’s bright orange fur stood out against the green background like a warning sign, although this time when he looked at them, that orange splash seemed to be missing…

“Hiya, Hatey!”

“Gah!” Hater reared back from the smiling, orange, upside down face that was suddenly far too close to his own. Failing to find purchase on the rough ground, he found himself falling backward, landing heavily in a ditch full of leaves. Standing abruptly and brushing himself off, Hater attempted to glare down the fuzzy nomad, with his usual amount of success. “Wander! What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded.

“Jus’ checkin’ in on ya, Hatey!” Wander swung himself right side up again on the branch he’d been hanging from, hat bobbing but staying on his head, then dropped down to join Hater on the ground. “Thought ya looked a little lonely back here,” he elaborated.

“What are – I’m not lonely!” Hater could feel his cheekbones getting hot and told himself it was from anger. He clenched his hands. “And I wasn’t having trouble keeping up, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m just taking my time. You got a problem with that?”

“No, sir, not at all!” Wander still seemed like he was too close, smile impossibly wide as he looked up at the overlord. “It’s real nice just to take yer time an’ enjoy the journey once in a while, an’ it’s been too long since any of us have gotten a chance to do that!”

“Yeah, well…” Hater tried to keep his voice brusk, looking away from the nomad and out through the endless greenery. Now that his initial annoyance over the shock of Wander’s appearance had faded, he was finding it hard to stay angry. Nor was he willing to admit that it was kind of nice not to be alone out here, even if that meant being with Wander. “Let’s just start walking again, and catch up to Peepers and your zbornak.”

“Sounds good!” Wander bounced out of the ditch, leaving Hater to struggle up after him. Once on relatively level ground again, the overlord paused. Wander seemed at a bit of a loss, peering this way and that, shading his eyes against the sun that filtered down through the canopy. “Hmmmm,” he mused. “Any idea which way we were goin’, buddy?”

“I’m not your…” Hater started, then cut himself off. Those patches of bright blue and black were nowhere to be seen. “You mean you don’t know?” he accused.

“‘Fraid not.” Wander chuckled a little self-consciously. “There was an awful lot ta see an’ I s’pose I wasn’t really payin’ attention. You?”

“Well, I did,” Hater claimed emphatically and untruthfully. “Right up until a hyperactive furball decided to appear in front of me suddenly and knock me over!” He glared around at the trees for a moment, then sighed, kicking at one of the roots twisted about at his feet.

“Hmmmm, maybe we should call Syl or Mr. Peepers an’ let ‘em know we fell behind.”

“We didn’t ‘fall behind,’” Hater insisted petulantly. “If anything, you knocked me behind. But fine,” he agreed grudgingly. Turning away slightly, Hater tapped his glove to activate its communicator. Instead of the usual dial tone, there was only a faint, crackly sort of static. “That’s weird.” He held his hand up, moving it around but hearing no change. “There’s something wrong with this stupid thing!” he groused.

“Now now, Hater. It’s probably just all tha trees an’ plants an’ such.” Wander came over as well, examining the glove as Hater shook his hand around. “Guess they’re not so good at lettin’ the signal through.”

“That’s stupid!” Hater snapped. “This planet is stupid! Let’s just go back to the ship.”

“Well…”

“Alright, I get it!” Hater didn’t need Wander to finish. The dense foliage extended far above their heads, blocking out any sign of the Star Nomad or the tall vine it had been anchored to.

Sudden realization sunk in, and Hater had to resist the urge to scream. He was lost in this Grop forsaken jungle, lost with Wander.

Hater decided today was shaping up to be significantly worse than yesterday.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Six: The Jungle

“I can’t believe this! You lost him! How could you lose him? He was right next to you, and he’s orange!”

“Well, you’re one to talk!” Sylvia’s voice was indignant, but she was only half listening to her companion as she scoured the forest around her for her pal. “Yours is ten feet tall, shoots lightning and is constantly yelling!”

“Okay, okay!” Peepers held his hands up, taking a deep breath in and out. “This is fine, we can figure this out.”

“Yeah, not like they haven’t ended up lost somewhere together before this,” Sylvia supplied dryly. She wasn’t even sure when Wander had vanished. She’d thought he was skipping along beside her, and she had started to focus more on noticing landmarks and ensuring she knew their way back to the ship. Then she’d looked up from making a mark on a tree trunk, and that was it; no Wander. As for Hater, the skeleton lord had been lagging behind for a while. They hadn’t realized he was missing until Sylvia had turned around and started searching for Wander, only to find that Hater was also gone. They had tried retracing their steps toward the ship, but had found nothing. “Are we even sure they are together?” she wondered aloud, struck by the sudden thought.

“Of course, they are.” Peepers’ voice was certain.

“What makes you so sure?”

“Because the furry freak can’t leave Lord Hater alone.” Peepers narrowed his eye, turning to scan the depths of greenery as well. “Grop, he probably got both of them lost in the first place.”

Sylvia ignored his griping, though she had to admit to herself that he had a point. Wander had probably noticed Hater falling behind and gone back to check on him. She just wished her buddy had clued her in before he took off.

“Well, however it happened, I’m going to go and find Wander. Are you coming, or are you just planning to stand here and complain about it all day?”

Peepers scoffed disdainfully, but fell in beside her as she started into the underbrush, Sylvia being careful to make a mark on one of the tall vines before they set off. She didn’t want the two of them to get lost as well.

Hopefully Wander and Hater actually were together, and at least she was pretty sure she no longer had to worry about the skeleton lord trying to fry her pal.

Lost with Wander.

It could be worse, Hater supposed. It wasn’t the first time he’d been stuck somewhere with the pest, after all, and that was back when the very sight of the nomad sent him into a murderous rage. Now, he was just vaguely annoyed at Wander, and really annoyed at everything else.

There was something about this planet that gave him the creeps, some oppressive, stifling feeling in the air. It was like he was being watched, which didn’t even make any sense, since Hater hadn’t seen a single bird or other animal since the ship had docked.

Wander didn’t seem to have noticed anything but, then again, he was Wander. He sometimes didn’t even notice when someone was trying to kill him. The nomad was currently examining some flowers by the base of one of the giant vines, apparently completely happy and not remotely worried that they were separated from their companions, the ship and any trace of civilization.

Hater’s eyes narrowed at this thought. He wasn’t remotely interested in hanging around in the stupid forest all day, just waiting for Peepers and the zbornak to find them. And he wasn’t about to let Wander lollygag all over the place sniffing flowers or playing his banjo for the trees, or whatever other hippy junk he wanted to do.

Stomping over to the nomad, Hater grabbed him by one arm, lifting him up to glare right at that big, annoying smile.

“Stop looking at the dumb flowers. We’re leaving,” he demanded.

“Look, Hater!” Wander didn’t appear to have heard him. He slipped out of Hater’s grasp, crouching back down again immediately and gesturing excitedly to the overlord.

“Check out these little guys!” He whispered, face close to the yellow flowers.

Hater rolled his eyes. He considered stepping on the stupid things, at the very least to get Wander’s attention off of them and back on him. Then he paused. There was a strange clicking, whirring sound, very quiet, but distinctly mechanical.

Leaning forward slightly to see over Wander’s hat, he peered into the clump of bright petals. Something was moving under the leaves and between the swaying stalks. Tiny insects, they looked like, but definitely not organic. In fact, they looked something like the book light Peepers had in his room for reading late at night. They had long, flexible black necks, and their heads flickered with light as they trundled along. He could faintly hear the click and whir of gears inside their tiny bodies.

Hater hadn’t spent too much time on Technoiva before, and he hadn’t been remotely interested in its native species, aside from those he was busy conquering, but…

“Hey, are those little techno-whosit bugs?”

“Yeah!” Wander kept his voice down, but his face was glowing with excitement. Some of ‘em must’ve survived Dominator’s drill an’ all the new plants that grew afterward!” He cooed down at the tiny things. “Hey little guys, d’ya like all the new plants an’ flowers? Must be pretty different from what yer used to, but I’m sure it’ll make a nice home fer you an’ all yer friends!”

Hater watched, unimpressed, as one of the robotic bugs hesitantly approached the orange, furry hand held out to it, then slowly climbed Wander’s outstretched finger, the nomad cooing gently to it all the while.

It took the overlord approximately five seconds to lose patience with the slow-motion nature documentary, and he narrowed his eyes, raising his hand and summoning a spark to one finger, which he fired. The bolt severed several flowers from their stalks, sizzling as it hit the moist earth beneath, the tiny insects emitting frightened beeps and scattering.

That was better.

“Alright, that’s it!” Hater announced, grabbing Wander by his slender middle and pulling him away from the flowers. “We’re not on a stupid nature hike, so come on! We’re going to find Peepers and your zbornak!”

“Sure, Hater,” Wander agreed amiably. He gave a wave to the clump of flowers, among which no bugs were visible now.

Hater wasn’t prepared to wait any longer. So, dropping Wander to the ground before grabbing the nomad by the arm once again, he set off in a random direction through the trees. Either they’d find the others, or they’d find their way back to the ship. The planet couldn’t be that big.

Okay, maybe it was a little bigger than it had looked from the air.

Hater grumbled to himself, zapping a looping vine that was in his way. It felt like they’d been walking for ages, and while Wander was still skipping along as happily as ever, Hater felt like his bony feet were about to fall off.

Worse, that looming dread and the sense of being watched he’d been feeling hadn’t gone away. If anything, it was stronger now, tinged with a faint menace that made him nervous in spite of himself.

Plus, all these stupid trees looked the same to him. He had no idea where they were going, though he certainly wasn’t about to admit to it.

Occasionally, they saw other native ‘creatures,’ robotic birds or small metal mammal- like things. They didn’t stay for long. Hater, feeling the pressure of the extra eyes, had started yelling and shooting electricity at them, which sent them beeping and whirring back into the trees.

Wander usually jumped and looked kind of sad to see them scatter, but he didn’t reproach Hater about it, and the overlord ignored these reactions. It was Wander’s fault for waving or talking to them in the first place. If he stopped doing that, maybe the flarping things would just leave them alone.

Hater paused, their progress once more blocked by vines, this time spread over the whole of what passed for a path on this stupid planet. It seemed like the plants had been getting thicker as they walked. They had to make their way around more huge, tree-like vines and pick, or in Hater’s case blast, their way through the thickening underbrush. Wander reached out to move one of the vines out of the way so he could slip past. Hater solved the problem, stepping in front of the nomad and raising both arms. Several good bolts of lightning and the sizzling ends of the vines hung harmlessly above their heads, the rest of them lying limply on the ground.

Wander tutted gently.

“Ya didn’t have ta do that, Hater. Ya catch more flies with honey, as tha sayin’ goes.”

“Catch flies? Ew! Who’d wanna do that?” Sometimes Wander said the weirdest things.

Hater moved forward through the newly cleared space. He peered through the dim greenness in front of them and his glare darkened. Past the cleared patch of vines, he could see more of them, hanging thickly, stretched from tree to tree and all the way down to the ground. It would take ages to destroy them all.

Next to him, Wander seemed to be examining them as well.

“Ya know, I don’t think Sylvia and Mr. Peepers came this way after all. They’d probably leave us some kinda sign if they did.”

“Ugh, this is so stupid!” Hater groaned. “Let’s just go back.”

He turned angrily, then stopped, confused.

Behind them, thick, green vines spread as far as the eye could see. There was no sign that Hater had burned through them at all. Moreover, the new vines looked distinctly menacing, sharp thorns gleaming darkly along their lengths.

“Ooookay, that’s pretty weird,” Hater observed, voice casual despite his sudden nervousness.

“Woah!”

The overlord turned back around at Wander’s yell.

Thick vines, without thorns, Hater noticed in the back of his mind, had wrapped around the nomad’s furry waist, hoisting him high in the air.

“Wander! What are you doing up there?”

“Not…sure…buddy!” Wander’s voice bounced along with his hat as he was hoisted higher. “These fellers seem…a li’l friendlier…than I thought!” There was a pause as Hater stared stiffly upward. The vines seemed to be wrapping more firmly around Wander, encircling his arms and legs now as well, and they had lifted him a good twenty feet in the air. “Li’l…help…Hater?” Wander managed.

“Um…” Hater dithered, watching as Wander rose another ten feet.

He wasn’t sure what to do. It had only been a couple of days ago when he’d firmly told the nomad he wasn’t going to save him any more, that that had only been a one-time thing because of Dominator. He couldn’t go back on his word so quickly. That would be like admitting to Wander that he didn’t hate him any more, that, Grop forbid, he didn’t want Wander to die.

He probably didn’t have to save him, right? Wander could probably get out of that on his own…maybe. Above his head, Wander seemed to be trying to do just that, but as soon as one furry arm was freed, the thick creepers wrapped around it again even more securely than before.

The vines seemed to get thicker as Wander was pulled higher, and soon he would be out of sight. He already looked like a small, green ball high up in the dimness, with only a few hints of orange showing through. Hater felt a flash of worry, followed by the dead weight of resignation. With a frustrated growl, he ignited both hands, their green, crackling glow lighting up his surroundings. Thorny vines seemed to have been creeping towards him as well, but at the sudden sizzle of lightning they backed off slightly.

Hater aimed for slightly above the struggling bundle, high up above him now, and sent a wave of searing electricity slicing through a whole swath of vines.

The bundle of vines that was Wander seemed to hover in the air for a moment, its cut strings falling around it, before it, too, plummeted earthward. As it fell, the creepers unwound from around it, until Hater could pick out the orange of Wander’s furry coat and the white of his smile. The nomad caught at the edges of his hat, seeming to use it like a parachute on the way down. He landed lightly and turned briefly to tip his hat apologetically to the dangling remains of his captors.

“Whew, thanks buddy!” He exclaimed, turning back to smile again at Hater. “That was a close one!”

“Just so you know, I didn’t do that because I was worried about you, or anything lame like that,” Hater hastened to protest. “I just didn’t want everyone on the ship to think I’d destroyed you so they’d leave me here and I’d be stuck on this stupid planet.” It wasn’t a very good excuse, and Wander didn’t seem to be buying it, so Hater added “When I do eventually destroy you, it’ll be because I choose to, not because of some flarfing plants!” That sounded at least a little more villainous, though Wander was still smiling at him.

Hater supposed it was a lost cause. He couldn’t even convince Wander they weren’t friends when he was trying his hardest to destroy the little freak. Now that he didn’t even believe his own threats, Wander certainly wasn’t going to be fooled.

There was an ominous sounding slithering from above and around them, and both aliens took an unconscious step closer to each other.

“Sooooo,” Wander started hesitantly. “Ya think we should…”

“Run!” Hater yelled. He dove out of the way just as a thorn-covered vine buried its tip in the ground where he’d been standing. Turning back in the direction they’d come from, Hater used both hands to blast a hole in the new greenery, practically throwing himself through it as more vines lashed towards him. He glanced to the side as he ran and felt his heart jump in his ribcage in shock at the empty space next to him. Wander was gone. The next second, he felt a weight on his back, saw the green hat bobbing in the periphery of his vision, and felt his face form back into a scowl, even as he continued running. He should have known.

Fortunately, the vines didn’t seem able to follow them far, which made sense given that they probably had roots and junk.

Barreling into a large clearing, the grasping plants seemingly far behind for the moment, Hater paused, not before swatting Wander off of his back like a pesky fly.

This done, the skeletal overlord turned, ribs rising and falling along with the rapid beating of his heart. He clenched his hands, claws digging through the thick, yellow gloves, and finally gave vent to the full force of his feelings.

“What’s with this stupid planet?!”

“Argh! What’s with this stupid planet?!”

Sylvia ducked under another barrage of needles, courtesy of the spiky, pin-cushion like plants that surrounded them. She edged a little farther out from behind the rock they’d been sheltering next to, bark shield raised in case of another volley.

“I have no idea!” Peepers peeked out from behind her shoulder, blaster raised, though it didn’t seem to do much against their squishy foes. “I thought that stupid flower was supposed to help the planets, not turn them into some kind of death traps!”

“So did I!”

Heaving one of the smaller boulders over her shoulder, she let it fly, gratified to see it land directly on one of the plants, squishing it flat. The next second, she flung herself on the ground as the other plants let loose a retaliatory assault.

At first, things had gone fairly well, with the exception of the fact that they could find no trace of their missing companions. Sylvia hadn’t been that worried once she stopped to think about it. The forest had seemed fairly benign, and the planet really wasn’t all that big, so she’d figured they were bound to find them eventually, and probably fairly soon if Hater got annoyed at Wander, and consequently, loud.

She also hadn’t found herself too worried about the fact that Wander and Hater were together. It had been quite a while since she’d felt like Hater posed a legitimate threat to her buddy. The little nomad could run rings around the skeleton lord at this point, and although Sylvia was used to barreling in to save her pal when he inevitably got captured, she’d stopped being actually worried for his safety months ago.

Now, after everything Hater had done to save them all from Dominator, not to mention Wander gushing to her all about how the overlord had actually helped him to cook supper last night, she was even less concerned. The two of them would be fine on their own. It was a little annoying that she and Peepers had to search for them all across the planet, and she supposed there was always some small amount of risk whenever you were exploring in new territory, especially given the lack of common sense both Wander and Hater could sometimes display, but she still felt like things would probably be fine.

It was the forest that was bothering her.

The two of them had walked through the green twilight under the trees for what seemed like forever, Peepers slashing vines with the collapsible blade he apparently carried, Sylvia handling the bruit force side of the equation, such as knocking down a tree to make a bridge over an unexpected ravine.

The forest was silent, but the further they went, the more it felt like they were being watched, and the more uncomfortable and jumpy she got. Peepers seemed to be feeling it to, to the point that when the plants actually started attacking them, he’d jumped several feet in the air and landed on her back, quite by accident. Which had probably been lucky. He’d managed to stay on during their first panicked dash from thorny vines and thick, grasping roots.

And now, they were cornered, at least until they could manage to take out the other three opponents surrounding them.

Peepers poked his eye above the boulder, ducking down almost immediately when he came under fire. As he pulled needles out of his helmet, muttering to himself all the while, Sylvia glanced around for more ammo.

Dropping a pile of spines to the side, Peepers met her gaze, eye narrowed.

“So then, why is it doing this?”

“No idea.” Sylvia shrugged, though half her attention was still on scouting for more launchable rocks. “No one’s landed here since it started growing. It certainly doesn’t look like it did back then.” Wasn’t that an understatement.

Edging herself slightly out from their cover, she snaked her tail along the ground and managed to hook another smallish boulder, which she dragged until she could pull it into her arms. She took careful aim at the next nearest plant.

She had no idea why this was happening, or what metamorphosis had taken place since the flower spores took root on Technoiva’s soil, and she didn’t particularly care at the moment. All she was focused on was taking the flarping things out so she could go back to looking for Wander, because now she was starting to get worried.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Seven: The Guardian

Wander was a just little too close.

He hadn’t tried to climb onto Hater’s shoulders again, but was sticking right by his side. Hater would have been annoyed at the closeness, but it was easier to keep an eye on Wander this way. Plus, he was kind of used to it after all the time the nomad spent hanging around him.

The plants were acting really weird. If they hadn’t been, well, plants, Hater would almost think there was some kind of strategy to their attacks.

After escaping their initial assault, they had worked their way deeper into the forest. Hater was thoroughly lost. He had no idea which way they’d even come after he’d realized they were lost the first time. To make things worse, they couldn’t seem to lose their attackers for long. It was like the plants were passing some kind of signal to each other. Once they’d been walking in a new area for a while they would be attacked again, and each time it was different; spiky plants, thin, whiplike ones, a giant pitcher plant thing he had to blast his way out of, resulting in its gross juices getting all over his cloak.

The other weird thing was that the plants felt like they were after Wander.

Normally, something being after Wander wouldn’t be surprising, it would just make sense. Hater might even empathize a little. This time was weird. It wasn’t so much that the plants were attacking Wander, but almost like they were trying to steal the nomad from him, which was something else entirely, and completely unacceptable. Every time his back was turned one plant or another would grab Wander and try to drag him off somewhere, and Hater was getting tired of blasting them and taking Wander back. It was almost like a dare to see how many times he could be forced to rescue the little nuisance inside of one day.

Plus, he was really started to get tired.

“Where d’ya think we should try next, buddy?”

Hater looked down at the nomad in question. He glared at the ‘buddy’ comment, but it seemed like too much energy to correct the furry pain again. At least Wander was taking this slightly more seriously now. Hater was surprised to see the nomad even had a survival instinct after all the times he’d happily gone along with the overlord’s attempts to destroy him.

Not that any of them had worked.

He didn’t like the implication that Wander was concerned about the plants, but not him. It was like saying he wasn’t even as much of a threat to the nomad as the literal background greenery.

Resolutely ignoring that thought, Hater peered into the dense underbrush.

“We’re going that way,” he decided.

“Really?” Wander followed his gaze, looking doubtfully at the dense vines and the dark shadows in that part of the forest. “It’s a li’l overgrown,” he assessed.

“Yep.” Hater glowered into those dark depths. “You might know peace and hugs and rainbow sprinkles, but I know how to take out an enemy. If that thing has a core or a heart or something, it’s probably through there where it’s most protected. We’re going to find it and kill it.”

Wander gasped. Hater took one step forward, and found his way barred by the orange nuisance, one furry finger wagging admonishingly.

“Hater,” he scolded. “Ya can’t kill the flower! It saved all the planets in the galaxy when they needed it most. An’ ya can’t blame it fer freakin’ out a little with everythin’ it’s been through. It’s prolly just been lashing out at us ‘cause it’s scared.”

“Well, good!” Hater snapped. “It should be scared if it’s going to mess with the Lord Hater, the Greatest In The Galaxy!” He shoved Wander aside, marching up to the thick green wall. He raised both hands, smirking as his electricity gathered around them, bathing him in its radiance. “If it’s scared, it should stop fighting and let us conquer it. That’s how things work.”

Wander was suddenly in front of Hater again, the electricity fizzling out of his hands as the nomad grasped them in his own. He looked up at Hater earnestly.

“We don’t wanna conquer it, Hatey! The technoheads just want ta make their home here again. There’s gotta be a way fer us all to get along!”

Hater growled, his frustration at their whole situation making him lose his patience entirely. He yanked his hands out of Wander’s, the nomad stumbling back and almost tripping when his feet got tangled in a trailing root and struck the thickening of vines.

“I don’t care what those lame tourist guys want. They can live in all this crap for all I care, but this thing challenged me, and I’m going to destroy it.” He ignited his hands again, letting the ominous green light play over the small nomad where he was struggling fully upright among the vines. “Now,” he snarled menacingly, “get out of the…”

He didn’t get to finish. Hater wasn’t even quite sure afterward how it happened. A bunch of giant leaves suddenly burst up from the ground at his feet, thick and waxy and practically suffocating, heavy on his ribcage as they tried to force him down, and pressed all around him. Hater fought his way through them, zapping, ripping and tearing. He heard Wander exclaim and let out a final blast of green light that scattered the torn shreds of his assailants.

He stood panting, emerald sparks still skittering across his robe.

The wall of vines and tangled undergrowth still loomed in front of him, but there was no orange, peace-loving hippy standing in the shadows before it.

Wander was gone.

“Flarf-nabbit! This is getting ridiculous!”

Sylvia pulled at the vines that were wrapped tight around her, and getting tighter all the time. Beside her, Peepers was barely visible, just a wriggling green ball at her feet. With a mighty effort, the zbornak burst out of her bonds. There was no time to feel triumphant, however, as more vines were already snaking over the ground towards her.

There seemed to be no end to the things, and she was already slowing, overworked muscles begging for a rest.

Bending down, she started in on the watchdog’s wrappings, working as fast as she could. They were wrapped around and around him from head to foot and layered on top of each other. She gave up on that strategy after a few moments. There were too many to tear one by one. Instead, she seized the whole bundle so she could pull at the roots of the vines.

There wasn’t enough time. She could already feel more vines beginning to wind their way around her legs again and felt the first twinges of real panic.

Then there was a boom from behind her, a shuddering in the greenery around them, and a blinding flash of electric green light, and Sylvia could smell burning plants.

The remains of the vines that were entrapping her fell limply to the ground and she was able to finally tear Peepers out of his cocoon, the watchdog gasping for air once he was freed.

She looked up at the skeleton lord. Hater was breathing heavily, one eye twitching above an incensed scowl. His cloak was ripped and stained, and he looked like he’d bathed in slime. Despite all of that, it was still a relief to see him, up until Sylvia noticed something else.

He was alone.

Where’s Wander?

She wasn’t sure if she said the words out loud or if they just resonated inside her. Hater didn’t seem to hear her, in either case. She stood, dropping Peepers to the ground as she did so, speaking more loudly.

“Where’s Wander?” Now Hater looked over at her, and his face was hard to read. She kept going, voice getting louder, if not quite frightened yet. “He was with you, wasn’t he?”

The skeleton glared, eyes sliding away from her to where his commander was still breathing heavily on the ground.

“Get up, Peepers!” he snapped. “This thing tried to make a fool out of me, and I’m going to fry it at the core!” He turned away towards the thick wall of vines and other plants, but Sylvia was in front of him before he could take a step.

“Maybe you didn’t hear me, so I’ll ask again.” Her voice was calm but deadly serious. “What happened to Wander?”

Now, Hater met her gaze. There was a strange emotion on his face, one she didn’t think she’d seen before, but it was gone in the next instant as his eye-ridges lowered, mouth twisting in anger. “Those flarf-narbling plants grabbed him, and I’m going to roast them and get him back. Nothing and no one is going to hurt my most hated enemy but me!”

Sylvia let him stomp past her to continue fighting his way through the undergrowth, before she narrowed her eyes and stepped up beside him. It seemed like she’d have some company tearing the plants to pieces, and she decided she was fine with that.

A month or two ago, she would probably have taken what Hater had said at face value. She would still probably have ended up working with him in a case like this, but she would have chalked his cooperation up to jealousy that someone else had managed to hurt Wander when he couldn’t, just like when he’d gotten Wander out of Dominator’s lava way back the first time she’d shown up.

There was something more there this time, whether Hater knew it or not, and it gave her a little more confidence as they pushed further toward the center of the forest, Peepers following behind in the trail they were clearing.

If this was how Hater had to rationalize it, that was fine, for the moment. Either way, the jungle was going to regret taking her buddy before they were done with it.

Hater was not about to let this stand.

It was the principal of the thing, he decided. It was because this whole stupid forest thought it could get the better of him; attack him, fire things at him, try to swallow him.

It wasn’t because he was worried about Wander, or anything lame like that. He wasn’t worried at all; he was angry. He was going to find Wander and teach this place a lesson. And once he found him, he was going to tell the nomad exactly what he thought of his peace and love garbage. Just look where it had gotten him!

In the mean time, he was having a little trouble meeting the zbornak’s eye, and he wasn’t even sure why. It certainly wasn’t his fault Wander had been taken. He’d spent what felt like all day fending off their attackers and a considerable amount of that time specifically freeing Wander when he was grabbed by some plant or other. Even at the end, if Wander had just stood aside and let him toast the dumb trees, they wouldn’t have been able to grab him.

Wander would probably be fine when they found him. That seemed to be what he was best at, after all. You could try to kill him in any number of creative and violent ways, and he would still somehow end up fine, while your ship, and sometimes your face, ended up toasted, scratched and smashed instead.

He supposed he was feeling a little unsettled, way way down in the marrow of his bones. It wasn’t like Wander’s apparent indestructability would have protected him from, say, being inside a massive starship when it started exploding from the inside out, and that recent event still seemed to be somewhere in the back of his mind, poking at him the longer Wander was gone.

If Hater had felt the need to save him from Dominator’s exploding vessel, were there other things he might be in danger from as well? What if Wander wasn’t actually as untouchable as he appeared? In which case, he could be in actual danger, and they needed to find him without any stupid delays. It was also probably some kind of dumb irony that he was figuring this out now, when he no longer wanted Wander to die.

But it wasn’t like he could say any of that to Sylvia, and he certainly wasn’t going to admit to the sheer amount of nomad saving he’d done today.

He wasn’t willing to waste time on any useless explanations of what had happened, or on trying to convince the zbornak if she had any doubts about him.

That was okay though, because he wasn’t interested in talking about any of it. He was going to find whatever heart was controlling this thing and vaporize it until not an atom was left, and he was getting Wander back. He’d been telling the truth in any case; Wander was his enemy, and no stupid plants were going to take what was his.

Even if he no longer wanted to hurt that enemy, and might be willing to put up with him sometimes, he didn’t really have any other way to classify Wander. And sure, they might be getting along somewhat right now, but that would change as soon as he started trying to conquer planets again. Or at least, Hater would have to change. Wander would probably keep being friendly with him like the weirdo he was.

Hater brushed that thought away. He didn’t have time to focus on it right now.

Peepers followed behind them as they headed further into the depths of the jungle. The watchdog seemed to have wisely decided to keep whatever opinions he had to himself, for which Hater was very distantly grateful.
Beside him, Sylvia was silent too. She seemed satisfied by his very brief explanation, more than he would have expected. She wasn’t even shooting him any suspicious glances.

Well, good, he supposed. Right now, all they had to worry about was getting to center, destroying this thing and finding Wander. He could figure out everything else afterward.

Hater wasn’t sure when it started happening.

It felt like he’d been frying these things forever. He was exhausted, bones aching and finger bones tingling slightly from an overuse of electricity. Only rage and single-minded purpose kept him going, when he finally noticed the forest beginning to thin.

At first, it was very gradual. He found he had to lift his hands to zap the offending vegetation less often, and the three of them were able to walk forward for minutes at a time without having to force their way through the underbrush.

Then, the plants that had been harassing them for what felt like hours seemed to be absent. There were no more ambushes, sudden volleys of needles or poison sprays, and it seemed like they were being given more space between them as they continued, the plants drawing back away from them slightly.

Normally, Hater would have taken this as a sign of weakness, and increased his attacking accordingly, just to ensure his foe knew when it was beaten, but he was so tired by this time it was probably a better idea to conserve his energy for when the other shoe dropped, as he suspected it might.

Then, suddenly, there was a path in front of them again. It was almost as though the surrounding greenery had moved out of the way when they weren’t looking.

Hater shared a glance with Sylvia and Peepers, seeing his suspicion at the change reflected in their eyes, but there didn’t seem to be anything they could do but keep going. This was almost certainly the way Wander had been taken, after all, and Hater still wanted payback for his absolutely miserable day, as well as to get the nomad back from the stupid plants that thought they could steal his most hated enemy from him.

He paused.

Before them in the foliage, an archway loomed. It almost looked constructed by hand; festooned with vines and multicoloured flowers, and looking far too inviting for Hater’s tastes. Unconsciously, electricity gathered beneath the bone of his phalanges, poised to be released.

He heard Sylvia scoff beside him and felt a strange sense of commiseration with her.

Stalking forward, ready to strike, Hater stuck his head through the archway, blinking in the sudden sunlight.

Before him lay a peaceful meadow, lush and green, with long grasses waving in the gentle breeze, and flowers unfolding like tiny, colourful stars. As soon as he stepped on the grass, there was a motion at his feet, as dozens of metallic butterflies fluttered up around him.

Hater almost released the pent-up electricity he’d been preparing at the sudden movement, but his gaze had trailed past the insects to further in the field. There, sitting on a tree trunk and strumming his banjo, apparently for a crowd of mechanical animals, was…

“Wander?!”

At Hater’s accusing yell, he had come all this way to save the little pest, after all, even if he still wasn’t willing to think too much about why, Wander started up from his seat, slipping his banjo into his hat in one motion, his grin widening to nearly blinding levels.

“Buddies!”

“Wander!”

Hater glared at the zbornak’s much happier yell, as she ran past him and threw her arms around the little nomad. This seemed a little too convenient, and he glanced over at Peepers to find the watchdog glaring at the display as well, fingering his blaster and shooting glances around at the sunlit meadow.

Hater’s momentary redirection of his attention meant he’d taken his eyes off of Wander, which, of course, meant the annoyance chose that moment to launch himself at the skeleton lord and wrap his spindly orange limbs around him in a hug.

“Hiya, Hater!” he greeted.

Hater yelled, nearly bowled over when Wander connected, and the lightning he’d been readying was released, cutting through the air and singing some of the grass, fairly harmlessly given what could have happened.

The overlord glared at the fuzzball in his arms. He grabbed Wander with one hand, pulling the nuisance off of him and holding him at arm’s length. He was boiling mad. Tricked, he felt, finding Wander like this. Naturally, the pest hadn’t been in danger. He’d just been sitting here, playing his dumb banjo and smiling his dumb smile while they toiled and fought through the underbrush looking for him.

Much like the lightning that had built up inside him, Hater’s anger had to go somewhere, and there was a very convenient target right in front of him.

“How dare you!” he roared, the wind from his yell blowing back Wander’s fur and echoing through the clearing. “Has this whole thing been a stupid game? You were never even in danger, were you?” His demand hung in the air between them for a moment as Hater practically shook with rage. Distantly, he was aware of the metallic animals scattering, and some movements in the meadow around them, but he had no attention for any of that.

Suddenly his hand was empty, Wander’s gangly arms wrapped around his neck once more.

“I’m sorry, Hater.” Wander’s voice was quiet, especially after that loud outburst, and the sincerity in it took Hater aback, deflating much of the indignant anger he’d been feeling. “I didn’t mean fer any a’ this ta happen, I promise! I’m sorry I made ya worry. Thanks fer comin’ after me.”

“Wha – I wasn’t worried about you!” Hater smacked at Wander hurriedly, knocking him to the ground. “I was angry because that thing tried to get the better of me!”

Wander was still smiling up at him, and Hater felt a strange tightness in his chest at that smile, as though his ribs were constricting. His glare darkened to cover it up. He opened his mouth to continue his tirade, but Wander bounced to his feet, leaning close to him.

“I know there’s a lot goin’ on,” he murmured apologetically, “an’ I promise I’ll explain, but fer the moment, ya may wanna try calming down a might, Hater.”

“Calming down?” Hater growled. “What do you…” he paused.

His focus had been solely on Wander, but he was suddenly aware of a menacing presence all around him, and a shadow seemed to be hanging over his head. Slowly his eyes traveled from the nomad’s gently smiling face around in a circle. Thick, spiky vines were hovering around and above him, poised to strike and quivering slightly as the sharp thorns glittered in the sunlight. Hater’s jaw hung open slightly as he took in the sight.

He wasn’t sure whether to start blasting or running, when he felt Wander take one of his hands in his own. His eyes shot back to the nomad to find his smile had softened slightly as he gave Hater a meaningful little not. He took a step, Hater finding himself following as he was led out from under the shadow of the plants. Their tips turned as though keeping an eye on him, but they didn’t follow.

“There we go!” Wander said cheerfully once they were clear. “Poor thing’s still a li’l sensitive. Ya can’t blame it after everythin’ it’s been through.”

Hater frowned, snatching his hand back, though, aware of the vines still waiting a few feet away, he was mindful to keep his voice down.

“Alright, then tell me exactly what is going on here,” he demanded.

“Well, sure!” Wander strolled a little farther back into the center of the meadow, where Sylvia and Peepers were waiting. They seemed to have been watching his and Wander’s exchange with wide eyes and Hater felt his cheekbones heating in embarrassment.

He watched Wander give Sylvia a one-armed hug, and then settle back onto the tree trunk he’d been sitting on before. He patted the space beside him in clear invitation, and Sylvia sat down. Peepers shifted his feet awkwardly, but remained standing. Hater stomped forward to join him. A glance back the way he’d come, showed the threatening vines slowly sinking back into the ground. He crossed his arms angrily, glaring at Wander to communicate his complete dislike of this whole situation.

“Alright, buddy, don’t keep us waiting. What happened to you?” Sylvia seemed to have calmed down quite a bit, but Hater could tell she was also a little impatient to hear the explanation, though he himself wasn’t sure how coherent that explanation would be, given it was coming from Wander.

“Right, sorry, Syl.” Wander smiled at the zbornak, before turning to focus on all of them. “Well, like Hatey prob’ly told you, the plants were real insistent I come with ‘em, an it was a tad worryin’ tell ya the truth. Reminded me a little of an old friend of ours, actually.” He paused, rubbing the back of his neck, Sylvia making a rueful face. Hater tapped his fingers on his arm, not getting the reference and not particularly caring.

“They carried me to this field, an’ all these little critters were hidin’ out here.” He gestured, and Hater noticed that the metallic animals he’d seen gathered around Wander when he first arrived were now moving closer again. There were thousands of them, from tiny clockwork insects, gears whirring inside them, to a big, silvery elephant thing with ears like two flatscreen TVs.

“They were all pretty scared, shakin’ and hidin’ and runnin’ this way an’ that,” Wander continued, an’ the plants were bein’ pretty high-strung. There were spikes all around the edge o’ the clearin’, an no one could get out.
Every so often a vine would arrive an’ drop another animal or two off, but that was it. I figured since everyone was so anxious, they might like some music ta calm ‘em down, an’ it did seem ta help.” He winked at some of the animals, who still seemed to be holding back from getting too close. Hater figured his glaring around at them was responsible for that, but didn’t bother to stop.

“Then, when things’d calmed down a little, I thought I’d try an’ see if m’ little flower friend was around. I thought it might be feelin’ nervous an’ that’s why it was given’ you all a hard time. And here it is!”

Bending down to a clump of leaves near his feet, Wander tenderly moved them aside to reveal a small, yellow flower.

Hater blinked at it. He hadn’t seen the flower Wander had saved, but after seeing what it had done to this planet, he supposed he’d been expecting something bigger or tougher looking. He was half inclined to blast it, since that’s what he’d been planning to do, but looking at Wander’s adoring face as he beamed down at the thing, he found himself merely huffing and looking away out over the peaceful meadow. It wasn’t like it was even worth destroying now, after Wander had already diffused the situation like he so often did.

“Not sure how much it understands.” Wander touched one petal affectionately. He sounded almost proud of the thing. “But I did tell it about all of us, an’ that we didn’t wanna hurt it, just that we were scared too, and that we just landed ta make sure the planet was safe fer our friends ta come back to.”

Hater scoffed quietly at this declaration. He, at any rate, had definitely wanted to hurt it, and he still kind of did, even though Wander had taken some of the wind out of his sails in that regard. Also, he hadn’t been scared.

“I guess it must’ve worked a little.” Hater felt Wander’s eyes on him again, and turned back to find that sunny smile aimed right at him, brighter than the yellow flower at his feet. “Seems like it let ya in, after all.”

It seemed like it had. Hater really shouldn’t be surprised at this point. Wander had managed to fix everything again. His glare faltered a little when faced with Wander’s warm smile. It was so strange. When had that smile stopped filling him with rage? When had it become hard to stay angry at the pest, even when he had every right to be.

“That’s all well and good, pal,” Sylvia was chiming in. “I’m glad you managed to work things out and get the plants to back off and stuff, but what about the technoheads? Will they be able to stay here with the whole place ready to go ballistic?”

“That’s the best part!” Wander turned to smile excitedly at Sylvia and Hater felt slightly relieved when the nomad’s attention moved off of him. “The flower’s just protectin’ the planet an’ all its inhabitants. It just needs to know they wanna live here peacefully, and it’ll protect them next time they’re in trouble.”

Hater started slightly, exchanging a glance with Peepers. That probably would make this place difficult to conquer.

“It’ll probably be a little more complicated than that,” Sylvia offered. She seemed to already be thinking about logistics in her head, as she glanced at the flower thoughtfully. “But, good enough for now!” She stood, dusting herself off. “If the flower’s okay with it, I’d kind of like to head back to the ship. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I could use a cold drink and something to eat.”

“You know, I wouldn’t mind a bite m’self!” Wander hopped onto Sylvia’s back, waving excitedly to the flower and the assembled animals.

As they headed toward the archway once more, Hater put on a little speed until he was walking level with the zbornak. Peepers walked tiredly at his side, and Hater remembered belatedly that the watchdog had wanted them to find a private place to scheme during the scouting today. He doubted even Peepers had the energy for that now.

They passed through the archway without incident, and on down the wide path through the forest that definitely hadn’t been there on their way in. It seemed like Wander had been right once again, and the flower wasn’t going to cause trouble for them any more, unless Hater started zapping things again, he guessed.

He wasn’t sure how he was feeling. He’d gotten all geared up when he thought Wander was in danger. The nomad had been fine, but that wasn’t necessarily always going to be the case. Wander was capable of being hurt, and worried, and sad. He knew that now. How was he going to react the next time the little nuisance got in trouble?

He glanced over at Sylvia, remembering storming through the forest beside her. She hadn’t hesitated to believe him when he said Wander had been grabbed by the vines. He could have been lying. He could have killed the nomad and pretended the plants had done it, but she hadn’t been at all worried about that.

Wander had always trusted him, even when he definitely shouldn’t have, but now Sylvia was trusting him too, as well as the majority of people in the galaxy from what he’d seen, and he didn’t know how to feel about that.

And he didn’t know how he felt about Wander either, now that the hatred was gone.

He needed a bath, something to eat, and a bed, he decided. And he needed not to think about weird, trusting nomads for the rest of the day.

Though he didn’t hold out a lot of hope on that last one.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Eight: The Reflections

As it turned out, it wasn’t going to be quite as complicated as Sylvia had been afraid of.

Upon returning to the Star Nomad, Wander gave a stirring, if somewhat optimistic, account of their trip to a select audience. Sylvia was content to let him handle it for the most part, only throwing in the occasional comment as she tucked into a well-deserved late lunch.

Hater and Peepers were fairly quiet as well. The watchdog commander seemed to be limiting himself to a few disparaging mutterings, while the skeletal overlord hung to the side, arms crossed and looking distinctly unhappy.
Sylvia had filed away Hater’s reactions on the planet. It had been a stressful situation and she had had too much to deal with to really think about them. Now that things had calmed down for the moment, she was wondering if he could use someone to talk to. Normally, she’d let Wander handle that, in fact, normally she probably wouldn’t have even noticed that he needed it, but she did owe him, after all, and she was starting to think she might be better equipped to tackle this particular issue.

Once they had finished discussing plans for another expedition tomorrow, with Wander acting as an intermediary, she noticed Hater stalking out of the door and decided to follow him discretely.

Heading up on deck, Hater walked to the railing, leaning on it, and apparently looking down on the forest below them.

Sylvia sauntered up, leaning on the railing next to him and shooting him a sidelong glance.

“Quite a day, huh?” she observed.

Hater seemed to start slightly, then he shrugged and looked away.

Undeterred, Sylvia pretended to watch the landscape for a while.

“You know,” she continued after a few minutes had passed, “I never thanked you for saving me from that drill, not to mention having my back in the forest today.”

Hater’s shoulders hunched defensively, but he didn’t look over at her.

“Well, don’t,” he said gruffly. “I didn’t do it for you.”

“I know.” Sylvia smiled, even though he couldn’t see it. “I think you did it for Wander.”

“What?!” Now Hater turned to face her, bristling and hands sparking slightly. “How dare you?” he sputtered angrily. “Wander is nothing to me except my most hated enemy! Don’t think that’s changed just because we worked together a few times!”

“Uhuh,” Sylvia agreed easily. Hater’s eyes narrowed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He demanded thoroughly riled up by this point.

“That I agree with you. It certainly isn’t because you worked together a few times, and I don’t think it’s that recent of a development either.”

“You dare - !” Hater started.

“Here’s the thing, Hater,” Sylvia interjected, still keeping her voice calm and friendly, but speaking loudly enough to cut through the overlord’s bubbling indignation. “I don’t know exactly when it started, and honestly, I’d be surprised if you do either, but you don’t hate Wander anymore, and you’re not fooling anyone into thinking you do. I don’t even think you’re fooling yourself.” Hater had seemed about to yell, but stopped himself, jaw swinging shut like it was on rusty hinges. Sylvia nodded to herself, expression going serious. “And believe it or not, I know a bit about how you feel.”

Hater seemed to struggle to find his voice. For a moment it looked like he was going to deny her analysis, but instead he narrowed his eyes, jaw twisting as though he was tasting something bitter.

“What, because you’re ‘best buds’ with the freak?” He spat.

“No, well, in a way, I guess.” Sylvia chuckled softly.

Hater looked at her measuringly for a long moment, then he raised his chin.

“You don’t know anything,” he decided with a sneer.

“Oh, no? Then you don’t feel frustrated, stressed and confused because you don’t understand how this could possibly have happened? It doesn’t make you feel tiny and lost in a massive, unmeasurable universe you thought you understood? It doesn’t make you come up with all these cruel, spiteful things you could do to prove him wrong, even though you know you can’t bring yourself to do any of them? And it doesn’t make you frightened, down right to-the-bottom-of-your-core terrified because you know that you just might be starting to like it?” She paused again, watching as Hater noticeably gulped. “Well, my mistake then!” she finished flippantly, and she strolled past the transfixed skeletal conqueror, giving him a condescending pat on the back as she did so.

Just before heading down the stairs below deck again, she turned for a final time, catching Hater’s eye where he still stood stiffly by the railing.

“Oh, and Hater, if you ever want to talk about all that stuff I don’t know about, you can come and find me. Later, Hater!”

Then she turned away again, leaving him to his thoughts, whatever those might be.

Wander could probably use some help with supper.

This was the problem when you stopped trying to destroy people; they got all uppity and in your face, giving you unasked for advice and slapping your back and all that junk.

Sylvia hadn’t exactly been frightened or intimidated by him before, at least once she got used to bowling over his army like they were bingleborps or something, but there had certainly been a level of animosity there, and having her charge in to rescue Wander when he got captured, at least seemed to indicate she viewed the Lord Hater empire as some kind of threat.

Now, Hater was almost missing those days.

Her smugness was infuriating, the way she’d bated him along, insinuating, accusing, flat out announcing the change in his feelings for Wander.

And Hater barely even protested. Sure, he’d denied her accusations, but he’d found himself too wound up from everything, and too shocked by her blatant declarations, to mount more than a token defense, something she must have taken note of.

Then there was the abrupt and strangely cryptic way she had ended the conversation. Hater had been expecting her to launch into whatever painfully cutesy, happy-go-lucky way the two had met and became ‘the best of buds,’ or whatever. Probably protecting puppies or bumping into each other at the check-out line, or something dumb like that.

Instead, she’d cut herself off, and practically dared him to go and ask her about it. As if he would stoop to something like that.

Even if he was a little, itty-bitty, tiny bit curious. Maybe.

Out of sheer, morbid curiosity, if nothing else.

At any rate, he was too tired to deal with all of that tonight. This whole day had been one frustration after another and he just wanted it to end.

He felt angry, annoyed and tired, but the real problem was that most of that anger and annoyance wasn’t at Wander or Sylvia, or even the stupid forest. It was at himself. He’d made a fool of himself today because, despite all his protesting and denial, he’d been worried about Wander. The little furry, orange nuisance himself, the annoying, hyperactive, goofy, perpetually smiling constant pain in Hater’s vertebrae, the creature he’d tried to destroy countless times, who’d humiliated him countless times. Hater had been worried about him.

Like he was the dumpy zbornak or something.

Like he and Wander actually were becoming…

This was so stupid! After months and months of backsliding, of losing planets, losing respect, of feeling like he’d never be able to get back to his former glory as a serious conqueror, Hater had finally accomplished something great in this frustrating galaxy. He’d beaten back the biggest, baddest threat to his power, someone who’d delighted in humiliating him and grinding his feelings into the dirt. He’d shown her what a real overlord looked like, and he’d saved the galaxy, with the understanding that he was totally going to conquer it later.

And then everything had just gotten really weird, and it didn’t seem to be stopping.

With one last glare at the peacefully swaying vines below him, Hater turned and stomped down the stairs into the underbelly of the ship. After everything he’d dealt with today, all he wanted was to collapse into bed with Captain Tim, and…

The thought halted abruptly and Hater paused, mood plummeting deeper inside him.

Of course, how could he forget? He didn’t have a bed on this stupid ship. All he had was that dumb fabric thing that he’d ripped into a million pieces when he got stuck in it this morning.

Hater grumbled to himself, continuing towards his room in a cloud of anger. He knew he was a bad guy, or at least he was supposed to be, but he just wanted something, anything, to go right for him today. Was that too much to ask?

Slamming open the door to the room, Hater clenched his hands and let loose.

“Captain Tim, this has been the worst day ev…!”

He trailed off as his eyes adjusted to the dimness inside. With one hand, he fumbled beside him for the light switch. He flicked it on, then blinked as what he was staring at leaped into focus.

The room looked pretty much the same, small and lined with unpainted wood, the round window and Wander’s fabric thing still hanging on what Hater thought of as his side of the room. But, on Hater’s side, where he’d left the shredded remains of his foe just this morning, there was now a bed.

It didn’t look like a great bed. It actually looked kind of make-shift, as if whoever had put it together had used some pillows, wooden platforms and a good deal of the cloth those sling monstrosities had been made from and cobbled it together out of all of that. It also wasn’t nearly as big as his bed on the skull-ship, which wouldn’t have even fit in this room on its own. This bed was probably twin-size, which was just large enough that it felt like it took up a little too much space in the small room, and covered with a red blanket.

Slowly, Hater walked the few steps across to it, and sat on the edge. Something crinkled and he picked up a piece of paper that had been folded on the blanket. He unfolded it to see that familiar handwriting. Flat-faced, he read “‘Sorry you had a bad day. A nap always helps me to while away my worries. Heart, Wander.’” Hearing a growl, and feeling Captain Tim’s sharp fangs scraping on his ankle, Hater set the note back on the bedspread and bent slightly, pulling his pet off of his leg with a screech of fang on bone. Slowly, he lay down on the make-shift mattress, Captain Tim in his arms, and stared thoughtfully up at the wooden boards above his head.

A nap actually didn’t sound too bad.

They needed to get off this ship soon.

Specifically, Lord Hater needed to get off this ship soon. Peepers was now convinced that spending so much time around the little orange freak was having a detrimental effect on his boss. Just look at how he’d been behaving in the forest today!

The commander frowned, examining one of the maps he’d managed to bring along. There were no computers on this pre-historic excuse for a vessel, so the map was physical, and fairly primitive, providing small snippets of information about selected planets when he pressed on them.

Of course, most of that information was probably useless, given what had happened to Technoiva.

Provided the locations of the planets had remained the same, there should be two more stops before they reached the remains of Flendar, where the king had agreed to give them any technology they needed to fix their ship, as well as provide transport back to the secret planet, if possible, all contingent on what shape his planet was in when they got there, naturally. Peepers hadn’t expected him to be so accommodating, but the king had insisted it was his honour to help their ‘savior’ Lord Hater. Peepers suspected he’d be regretting his generosity when they eventually came back and conquered him, but he wasn’t about to turn down the offer when it was something they really needed.

They would hopefully be gone from Technoiva in the next couple of days, and it would likely take them at least two weeks to get to Flendar after that, provided there weren’t any serious problems on the two remaining planets they were stopping at.

Would Hater be okay on this ship, among all his enemies, and so close to that particular enemy, for that long?

Peepers sighed, rolling the map back up and stuffing it back into his bag. He supposed the overlord would have to be.

He just didn’t understand why Hater was acting the way he was. Take today as a perfect example. He could buy Lord Hater being obsessed enough with Wander to want to get him back after he was taken by the forest, but his reactions when they finally found the furry nuisance had just been…odd.

He’d reacted with anger at first, which Peepers had been expecting, but then it had seemed to dissipate, and Hater hadn’t tried to chase after Wander, which admittedly would have been a terrible idea with the plants being so edgy. He hadn’t even stomped off to grouse quietly by himself, as Peepers might have guessed. Instead, he’d actually seemed willing to listen to what Wander was saying, and he’d been quiet and let the pest ramble on. He’d almost acted like he was relieved that Wander was alright.

It was uncanny, and Peepers could admit to himself he was worried.

He didn’t like that Wander had wormed his way so close to Hater as soon as they’d gotten on this ship, that he’d arranged it so the two of them were rooming together, that he’d somehow compelled Hater to cook with him, assuming that hadn’t been just a wild rumour, and that he’d managed to get Hater alone and lost with him as soon as they landed on a new planet.

It was strange, and because it was strange, it was suspicious. It felt like the furry mop was up to something, trying to monopolize the skeleton lord the way he was.

Peepers wouldn’t have expected Lord Hater to stand for any of it, and he didn’t like that the overlord had apparently just gone along with everything. It was completely out of character and it was giving him danger signals.

Lord Hater was probably resting right now. He’d looked exhausted when they got back to ship. Commander Peepers was feeling pretty weary himself after fighting plants alongside the zbornak for hours. He supposed he should leave things as they were for tonight and let both of them get some rest.

But tomorrow, he and Lord Hater were going to need to have a talk.

The rest of the evening was very pleasant, even if Wander was feeling pretty tired by the end of it.

Sylvia had shown up when he was just tying on his apron and starting supper, and insisted he let her help. And it had been a lot of fun. It had been a while since they’d spent some time together just the two of them, and Wander always enjoyed cooking with his buddy.

They ate with a group of the other aliens on board, and Wander found himself talking a lot about their scouting mission, since many of them hadn’t been part of the initial debriefing. Sylvia joined in, which made for a bit of a strange contrast of perspectives, but no one seemed to mind.

He did notice that Hater wasn’t among the gathering, and made a mental note to bring his friend some supper later, in case Hatey wasn’t feeling up to coming to the galley. He knew the overlord could be shy, and he liked his own space when he was having a tough day.

After supper, Wander had been about to head back to his and Hater’s room, when Jeff had suggested they play a few songs together first. The former conqueror had given him that amiable smile with made Wander’s chest slightly tight with nostalgia. He really didn’t spend enough time with his old friend.

In the end, it turned into quite a lively affair, the two of them on their banjos while the other aliens laughed and danced. The black cube of darkness had even joined in for a few songs toward the end, and Wander was proud to see all their practice had been paying off.

Finally, he bid his friends goodnight and headed off down the corridor. He felt tired, but satisfied, although it was a little strange that Hater hadn’t come looking for food by now. Wander hoped his buddy was feeling alright. He had been using an awful lot of his powers today, and that had to take it out of a fella.

Reaching the bedroom door, Wander pushed it open, covered plate of food in one hand and cheerful greeting on his lips, and paused. He smiled at the deep, rhythmic snores sounding from within.

So that was it. Hater really must have been tired.

The light had been left on, and Wander turned it off as he headed further inside. It looked like the overlord was at least enjoying his present. Wander had worried it might not be very comfortable especially as he’d had to put it together in such a hurry. He moved quietly up to the side of the bed; after placing the cloche he was carrying on the bench by the door.

Hater was lying sprawled out on the bed, used as he was to a much bigger space. His leg dangled over one side, jaw hanging open as he snored. Captain Time had probably been sleeping here earlier, judging from the shredding of Hater’s pajama cloak and some acid dribble, but the arachnomorph was absent; probably out exploring right now.

Carefully, Wander removed another blanket from his hat and covered his buddy securely, tucking it around the sprawled limbs as much as he could.

There had always been something so peaceful about Hater when he was asleep. Wander knew the overlord would have been mad at him if he’d known the nomad had been sneaking onto his ship in the mornings to hit his snooze button, but sometimes Wander just couldn’t help himself.

Hater was so relaxed in his sleep, and sometimes, like right now, Wander could tell the skeleton was having a good dream, jaw twitching into a smile as he slept.

It made his own smile widen with affection, even while he felt a little wistful. It made him wish he could see that smile more when Hater was awake, but he knew that was something he shouldn’t rush. At least Hater had seemed pretty happy during supper last night. The overlord finally seemed to be making some friends, and Wander couldn’t be happier for him.

He knew it had been a stressful day for his buddy, just as it had been for Syl and Mr. Peepers. He’d felt a little guilty for making them all worry about him. He’d intended to see how Hater was doing after all of that, but if the overlord was asleep, maybe that was a good sign.

Silently, Wander blew his friend a kiss, then crossed to his hammock and swung inside. He swept his hat off, snuggling inside it rather than getting a blanket.

Finally, he closed his eyes, letting Hater’s contented snores sooth him to sleep. Tomorrow would be another adventure, and he couldn’t wait for it to start.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Nine: The Voyage

The Star Nomad spread its wings, orble sails filling as it lifted up and away from Technoiva below.

Hater found himself with mixed feelings as he watched the planet recede behind them. He hadn’t enjoyed exploring the annoying place, and it had been the site of some uncomfortable realizations. Sure, zapping the plants had been fun for a while, but once Wander had been stolen and he’d spent several hours fighting his way through the greenery, only to find the nomad had been fine at the end of it all, it had been an exercise in frustration.

At the same time, it was hard not to have some grudging amount of respect for the place. Hater figured Wander had had no idea what he was unleashing by risking his life to protect that weird flower, but the results certainly spoke for themselves. Now that Hater wasn’t trying to fight the plant anymore, he supposed it was kind of neat to have found a planet that protected itself for once.

He had slept better over the last couple of days, whether because of his new bed, make-shift as it was, or because his chaotic emotions had settled somewhat.

Though Peepers hadn’t exactly been helping with that.

His commander had cornered him last night, and they had had a long talk about the Plan. Peepers had stressed what a good situation they would be in once the skull-ship was repaired, what with all the other villains still routed from their encounters with Dominator, and the galaxy’s citizens only just returning to their home planets, without access to any defenses they had previously controlled.

In fact, given the relatively slow speed of the Star Nomad, they might even make it to some planets before their inhabitants returned, which meant the citizens would need to submit to Hater’s rule and demands if they wanted to go back to living on their planets.

Peepers had also encouraged Hater to watch what he said to the other passengers, and to steer clear of them as much as possible to be prepared for those future conquests. Hater hadn’t been interested in doing that, and the conversation had gotten a little heated.

Hater had pointed out, fairly reasonably as far as he could see, that he wasn’t going to hide out in his room for the rest of the trip. He was the Greatest in the Galaxy, something other people were finally recognizing. If anything, he should be spending more time showing off how awesome he was. Wouldn’t that be more likely to intimidate the citizens when he showed up later? Him sneaking around and hiding in his room certainly wouldn’t add to his menacing image.

Peepers had been frustrated, but he’d seemed to have trouble finding something to say to that, and Hater had figured he’d scored a point.

The watchdog had also finally asked Hater if he’d been cooking with Wander, and that part of the conversation hadn’t gone too well. Hater had had to admit that yes, he’d maybe helped the annoying beatnik make supper, and Peepers hadn’t seemed to buy his excuse that he’d done it for research purposes only and to make Wander let his guard down, even though Hater thought it was a pretty good excuse.

Not that that was the actual reason he’d done it, but that was none of Peepers’ business anyway.

The whole discussion had left Hater feeling annoyed and confused.

He knew Peepers was right to some extent. They had spent years intimidating and overawing the inhabitants of various planets by maintaining Hater’s threatening persona, and it had been very effective, at least until Wander started showing up to completely ruin that persona. And the invasions.

At the same time, however, this was a different situation. Hater couldn’t pretend to be in charge of this ship, the lives of the galaxy’s citizens in his bony clutches. He couldn’t kick anyone off or threaten them with certain doom if he was annoyed, and if he caused too many problems, he might be the one getting kicked off the ship. Well, probably not, he mused. Wander likely wouldn’t let that happen, and most of the people on board seemed to listen to Wander.

Hater had also tried staying aloof from the others to some extent, and it hadn’t worked. His glaring and growling hadn’t made anyone back off the way it used to. They’d all still been admiring and excited to see him, which…was the other problem.

Hater was enjoying the situation.

A little, he told himself.

It made a dramatic change in attitude from his reception before that final battle. He had been at his lowest point, no planets to call his own, the watchdogs slacking off and talking behind his back, mocked by other villains and unable to strike fear into the faintest heart.

Now, the other aliens treated him like he was some kind of hero, which wasn’t exactly what he’d wanted, but he could admit to himself it was at least a tiny bit pleasant to choose a spot to sit and immediately notice others sitting near him, to tell a story and have listeners hanging on his every word, and to be the recipient of all that respect and admiration he’d long been missing.

Even years ago, back before Wander had shown up, when Hater was the most feared villain in the galaxy, he’d never felt this way. He could frighten other aliens, but he’d felt like he was always struggling to maintain their respect, and he couldn’t let his menacing villain persona slip, except when he was alone in his room. He always had to be the big bad villain.

Not to say that he hadn’t liked being an evil overlord. He’d enjoyed the invasions, the power and control. He’d enjoyed hurting others, dragging them to his torture room and making sure they feared him. It wasn’t like he’d been lying to himself about that.

And yet, he enjoyed these new feelings, as well as his new status among the other aliens.

He might even enjoy it a little more, though he planned to keep those feelings inside his head.

And as for Wander…

Hater sighed to himself. He didn’t really know how to feel about Wander.

Peepers had avoided mentioning Wander for the most part, aside from asking whether Hater had actually cooked with the fuzzy mop. He had danced around the subject a little, actually, offhandedly mentioning that they could move some of the watchdogs into Hater’s room to make space if Hater wanted to move down to the make-shift barracks.

Hater had shrugged the offer off, though he wasn’t sure why, maybe because it had turned out that it wasn’t that awful sharing a room with Wander. He’d expected the nuisance to try to smother him in hugs and annoying songs every time he went through the door, but Wander had been surprisingly respectful of his personal space for the few days they’d already been rooming. Besides, Hater didn’t like the idea of backing down, of retreating from his enemy’s presence. He could handle Wander. Peepers hadn’t pushed, but Hater could tell he wasn’t happy.

Hater sensed movement beside him, and glanced over to find the orange toothpick himself. Wander gave him a wide smile, leaning on the railing and looking up and out, through the faint shimmer of the orble sales at the distant stars.

“Isn’t this tha best part o’ travelin’, Hater?” he asked, leaning close and giving the overlord a small nudge with his elbow. “Lookin’ out at where we’ve been an’ where we might be goin’ next?”

Hater glared, shifting away slightly from the offending elbow and crossing his arms.

“No,” he scoffed. “Why would I care about that? The ‘best part of traveling’ is getting there. Traveling just takes up time, unless you’re a weirdo who ‘lives for the journey’ like you. I don’t usually even bother looking out the windows.”

Wander chuckled, not seeming bothered at Hater’s disparaging comments.

“Fair enough!” he smiled. “Only, you’re missin’ a couple of points there. I live fer all of it; the journey, the destination, an’ any other destinations that might be just over the horizon!” He tilted his head, smile widening, and Hater found himself looking away uncomfortably, not sure what he was feeling.

It seemed to be happening more and more around the pest, as though the absence of his hatred for Wander had left a hole inside him, and he wasn’t sure what emotions it was being filled with.

“Soooooo.” Wander dragged out the word, looking at him sideways so Hater could see him in his peripheral vision. “Ya thinkin’ of comin’ ashore with us when we get to Varta VII?”

Hater kept his gaze on the endless stars stretching out away from them, feeling Wander’s presence beside him like the heat of a star.

“…Maybe,” he said quietly. “If I feel like dealing with you.”

He didn’t have to look at the nomad to know what expression he was wearing. He could sense the warmth of Wander’s rapturous smile on the back of his neck.

Giving a frustrated huff, Hater moved away from the railing, heading back inside the ship. He didn’t know what he was feeling around Wander lately, but he was pretty sure he didn’t hate the feelings, at least for now.

The next few days passed fairly pleasantly.

Now that Hater was slightly more used to the other passengers on the ship, the strangest thing about being here was not having anything to do. He hadn’t been able to bring his giant T.V. or any of his video games or movies, and there wasn’t a setup for a T.V. on this dumb ship anyway. It seemed to be mostly without power, with only a very rudimentary engine controlling the wings and a few other devices, though he wasn’t really clear on how all of it worked.

Hater had already made it clear he wasn’t planning to sit in his room all the time, so he had to find entertainment elsewhere, and elsewhere ended up including some surprising places and meant he ended up doing some surprising things.

One day, he happened upon Thrax and the other former prisoners from his pit of ultimate pain, all working out in a ramshackle gym they had made, and ended up working out with them, just to pass the time. He hadn’t been too keen at first, given the unpleasant history they had together, but they were all so excited to see him and so admiring of his actions, he ended up trying out some of the exercises they’d come up with, and it was actually pretty fun.

They actually seemed like fairly cool guys, and they ended up chatting about a lot of different topics while they exercised. It was weird to think he’d once thrown them all into the worst place he could imagine. It seemed a little strange when he thought about it now.

Another day, he was taking Captain Tim for a walk, and he ended up in a long conversation about pets with that little blue alien, Beeza, he thought her name was. The two of them got into quite a heated discussion about the difficulties of raising dangerous animals, and Hater was surprised to realize he enjoyed it.

He also ended up spending quite a lot of time with Wander, though he wasn’t quite sure how that had happened. Wander just often seemed to be around, and Hater discovered he didn’t really mind having him around or running into him in various places on the ship.

One evening, he noticed Wander heading for the kitchen and, on demanding what the nomad was planning to make for supper, he decided to go along to watch and ended up doing some of the chopping again, since he was so good at it last time. Wander chatted to him as they cooked, as usual, and Hater even found himself commenting occasionally, along with his usual scoffing at the wanderer’s ridiculous perspectives.

The next night, he stumbled upon what must be the ship’s great room, where Wander and Major Threat were performing on their banjos for a few of the other passengers. Hater had stormed up on stage to put them in their places, declaring the music lame and betting that they wouldn’t stand a chance against him with a real instrument, and somehow that ended up turning into the three of them playing guitars together in front of a cheering crowd.

Hater had belatedly remembered the sweet guitar skills Wander had demonstrated during his concert for Dominator, as well as the amazing performances he used to listen to from the 90 Ounce Nihilists, but by then he was having too much fun to care that he wasn’t exactly outperforming his opponents, and he’d ended up having a great time.

The audience had been pretty enjoyable too, with aliens from all over the ship crowding in to hear them, cheering and waving their hands. Most of Hater’s band’s performances had obligatory cheering, backed up by armed watchdogs, and he hadn’t really expected the enthusiasm of the crowd, or how addictive it would be.

He’d slept especially well that night, the cheers of his listeners still echoing in his head.

Then there were the times Wander just ended up beside him, when the nomad would talk to him about something or other and Hater would growl and shrug along, times that weren’t exactly bad, even when they probably should have been.

Before Hater knew it, they were approaching Varta VII, the next planet on their way.

Unlike Technoiva, and many of the other planets the ship would be stopping off at, Hater had never controlled Varta VII, for the simple reason that it was very difficult to conquer. The entire planet was one big ocean, with its citizens tucked away in bubble cities far beneath the waves. The skull-ship was an admirable starship, possibly the best in the galaxy, at least now that Dominator’s eyesore had exploded, but it couldn’t deal with the massive pressure deep down in Varta VII’s ocean. Back when they were riding high as the most feared empire in the galaxy, Hater was sure Peepers had been working on plans to conquer the watery planet, but they had never actually managed it before Wander came along and started causing chaos.

As they drew closer, Hater found himself wondering what the planet would look like now. Dominator had destroyed it along with all the others, drilling into its core to extract the Volcanium X it contained to power her army. It must have had a massive effect on the ocean. Would it still be covered with water? Would Wander’s flower even have been able to take root if that were the case? And would it be similar to the aggressive plants he’d seen last time?

Strangely, he felt a slight thrill of excitement as he contemplated. It felt a little like when he and Peepers were just starting out, when he used to look forward to seeing the interesting planets, and conquering them, of course.

There it was.

Just like last time, quite a few passengers had arrived on deck to witness the approaching planet, and Hater heard excited exclamations from a few of them as they drew close enough to see some details.

The colour was the first detail to resolve itself. The planet still glowed blue in the vast black void of space, but it seemed to be a different shade from what Hater remembered, more of a teal, as though the water had gotten slightly greener. As they drew closer, it was easy to see the reason for the change.

The vast ocean still stretched from pole to pole, but it wasn’t the unmarred, sparkling blue it used to be. Instead, countless rafts of giant lily pads covered the surface, each one as big as a small city on any normal planet.

As they drew closer still, hovering over the changed landscape, Hater could see the stems reaching down through the clear water. There was a whirring, as huge dragonflies, themselves as large as a single-seater spaceship, zoomed over the water.

The ocean itself seemed lower than before as well, now that they had a closer look at it. Hater could see several islands, the tops of underwater mountains probably, but now poking up above the surface.

“Woooweee!” Hater glanced over to where Wander was sitting on the railing, and practically about to fall off of it with the way he was leaning out. “Just look at this place! Isn’t it amazing?” Wander’s voice was a shrill squeak of excitement.

Hater watched as Sylvia plucked Wander off of the railing, dropping him safely behind it, where he bounced just as happily.

“Sure is…different,” she commented warily. “Wonder if the aquanists’ cities are still under there somewhere.” She looked critically down through the water. “Still,” she mused after a moment, “it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. I figured all the water would have drained out.”

“I know, right?” Wander leaned over the railing again. “That would’ve been awful fer all the poor critters livin’ in the water!”

Hater realized he’d been listening to the exchange and pulled his gaze away, back to the watery planet below. He did his best to tune out the discussion. That was something he’d been doing more and more, listening when others were talking, and he wasn’t sure when it had started. He also wasn’t sure he should be doing it. He was Lord Hater, after all. People should be listening to him, not the other way around.

It was especially happening with Wander, which at least made sense, Hater supposed. The furry pain had always had a way of drawing his attention, which seemed to have persisted even after his hatred had fizzled out.

He’d at least been able to resist commenting on Wander and Sylvia’s conversation this time, something else he’d started doing lately, like he was friends with them or something. Which he definitely wasn’t. He may be unable to declare Wander as his most hated enemy after everything that had happened, but he hadn’t fallen quite far enough to consider the little fluffy pain a ‘friend.’ And as for the zbornak, Hater was still feeling vaguely unsettled from that conversation she’d forced on him a few days ago, as well as her ‘offer.’

He shrugged it off as best he could. This kind of thing was bound to happen while he was on this ship, surrounded by people at all hours of the day, especially when one of them was Wander. Things would calm down in a week or two when they reached Flendar and could get the parts for their ship. For now, it was fine.

Suddenly feeling eyes boring into his back, Hater turned from looking down at the water, and shrank slightly under the gleeful gaze of his former nemesis.

“Well, whatcha think, Hater?” Wander asked.

Hater bit his lower jaw uncomfortably. Had Wander asked him something? Maybe he should have kept listening after all.

“Ummm.” He peered past the smiling orange face to see Sylvia also looking at him expectantly. She smirked when she met his eye, raising a challenging eyebrow. Hater glared back, before looking away and back at Wander, whose anticipation seemed to be rising to unstable levels. The nomad had his hands clasped beneath his chin, and was trembling slightly, eyes huge moist pools of expectation.

Hater couldn’t bring himself to ask Wander to repeat the question, but he also found it impossible to leave the nomad hanging, especially with those eyes burning into his skull.

“Um, yeah, probably,” he managed, figuring that was the safest answer.

Immediately, he was met with a squeal like a boiling teakettle as Wander’s furry arms latched onto him.

“Eeeeee! I knew you’d want to! D’ya hear that, Sylvia? Who’s ready for a scouting par-tay? WooowooO!”

Hater stiffened in the nomad’s hug. Wander had been surprisingly hands-off lately, almost as though he had been trying to give Hater space. Consequently, Hater felt like his resistance to Wander-hugs had gone down significantly. He felt his cheekbones burn, though not from the rage that used to engulf him when the nomad did something like this. Instead, he felt uncomfortable and embarrassed, as well as some other feeling deep down behind his ribs. He pulled at Wander’s arms until he could wriggle out of the hug, whereupon, he felt a heavy hand fall on his shoulder.

Sylvia’s smirk was a little wider now, and Hater wondered in the back of his mind whether she’d noticed his confusion.

“Good on you for volunteering, bonehead,” she said. “It’ll be nice to have the firepower with us when we go ashore.”

Ah, well, Hater supposed he could have inadvertently agreed to worse things. He was kind of curious to see the planet up close, after all. It probably beat sitting on the ship while the two nomads went off to have adventures.

Wander was still beaming up at him and Hater shot the nomad a warning glare, ready to fend off another hug.

He shot another look down at the peacefully floating lily pads. All he knew was that this planet had better not have any needle spitting or Wander-stealing plants on it. He was not planning to spend another day saving the pest over and over, especially if it turned out the furry freak wasn’t even in danger by the end, or something was getting destroyed this time.

And if none of that happened, well, it might actually be kind of fun.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Ten: The Deep

Commander Peepers wasn’t quite sure how he got roped into this again.

He’d been taking some rare time for himself to plot while on this busy ship, when Hater had stomped in and demanded that he join the scouting party to the planet below, and that he’d better get a move on because they were leaving in twenty minutes.

Now he found himself walking down the gangplank next to a familiar pare of reprobates. It seemed the ‘scouting party’ was the same as before, which meant yet another day stranded with the Lord Hater Empire’s most notorious enemies, and another day putting up with their inane chatter, provided Wander didn’t manage to get himself and Hater lost again. Peepers wondered if there was a discrete kind of tracking device he could stick on Hater when the overlord wasn’t looking, just in case.

It wasn’t that he minded collecting some more data on how the planets were faring after being drained of their Volcanium X, as well as more information on how the flower was affecting them, particularly now he’d seen how destructive it could be, but he’d been really hoping he and Lord Hater could have a break from the nomads for one day. He also doubted going with them would provide any private plotting time, given the craziness that had resulted last time.

The ship had docked on one of the new islands that was sticking up out of the reduced ocean. It was mostly craggy rock with a flatter place close to the water where the Star Nomad had been able to settle. Around the island, a huge cluster of the giant-size lily pads spread out in all directions, interspersed here and there with similarly sized lilies of white touched with delicate pink at the edges.

Not that Peepers was sparing too much attention on the view.

Back before Dominator had attacked, the cities of Varta VII, safe beneath the ocean, could only be accessed by bubble ships which utilized orble technology. Peepers wasn’t certain, since it had been fifty years or so ago that orbles were invented, but he believed the inventors may have come from this planet, certainly it was one of the earliest places in the galaxy on which orbles had been utilized, and still one of the planets that relied on them the most.

He shot a glance ahead to where Hater was gesticulating animatedly, apparently complaining to Wander about something while the nomad smiled away.

…When exactly had those two gotten so chummy.

It had only been a few days since he’d vainly warned Hater about associating more than necessary with any of the other aliens on this stupid ship, including the furry pain in the neck. Hater hadn’t been very amenable to his advice, unfortunately, but Peepers had hoped once he’d thought it over, the overlord would agree with him, at least to some extent.

He’d spent most of the journey either corralling the watchdogs who had accompanied them into training, or planning for their future conquests, using the information he had recently gathered about the workings of the plant on Technoiva. He had been disturbed by several rumours he’d heard of Lord Hater ignoring his advice and hanging out with the passengers, but he hadn’t had too much time to deal with them, especially as Hater hadn’t been interested in listening to him before. He’d decided to mostly leave it alone and trust that they would get to Flendar before too much damage could be done.

He hadn’t realized it had gotten this bad though.

He felt a sinking sensation inside him, and not just because he’d stepped off the ramp and onto the spongy leaf of one of the lily pads. He hadn’t realized he’d been clenching his hands, eye narrowed on Lord Hater and the furry freak until he heard a scoff from behind him.

“Jealous, Peeps?”

Peepers turned with an uncomfortable laugh.

“What? Of you and the orange nutcase? You wish! I just can’t believe I have to deal with the two of you all day again on another strange planet!”

“Uhuh.” Sylvia gave him that smirk he hated, the one that meant he was either about to be punched into a wall, or that Wander was about to mess something up. “Well then, let’s not waste your valuable time, pipsqueak,” she decided, walking past him down the gangplank and giving him a nudge as she did, so that Peepers’ helmet slipped over his eyes. As he glowered at her, straitening the headpiece, she looked back over her shoulder pointedly. “And in any case, who said anything about you being jealous of Wander and me?”

Then she trotted down the rest of the gangplank and onto the lily pad.

With a very poor grace, Peepers followed. Wander may have been their most hated enemy, but there was also a reason Sylvia was next on the list, and when he and Lord Hater ruled the galaxy, Peepers would make sure both of them got what was coming to them.

Hater looked out over the water, then down, trying to follow the stem of the lily pad he was standing on further into the depths.

Even though volunteering had been an accident, he was feeling a little excited. He’d never been on this planet before, after all, and it was kind of thrilling to be in the advance party, braving the unknown while everyone else huddled safe on the ship. It made him feel important, kind of like how he used to feel when he and Peepers were just starting out, exploring and getting their hands dirty with the conquering, back when their army was too small to simply roll over the planets’ defenses.

Wander was practically vibrating with excitement, something about showing Hater the ‘wonders’ of the planet. Hater had one hand ready to push Wander away when the pest got too close or tried to hug him, and he was quick to correct Wander when he said something weird, but he found himself listening to the happy chatter without minding it the way he used to. Maybe he’d built up a resistance after Wander had chatted to him so much during the journey here.

Sylvia and Peepers joined them at the bottom of the ramp, and Hater glanced up as Major Threat retracted it, giving him a wave from the railing of the ship. The former conqueror still made Hater uncomfortable, just by being a reminder of what could happen to him if he wasn’t careful, but it was also kind of cool to be able to hang out with the person who’d been his idol since before he became a villain many years ago, and playing guitar next to him on the ship the other night had still been really fun.

Hater felt like he was in a pretty good mood. Things weren’t exactly all going his way, but they were going better than he’d thought they would when he first dragged himself on board the ship. It felt like he might as well enjoy being here, for now, especially as it would only be a couple of weeks until he’d have to head back to the skull-ship and get ready to start conquering again.

Even if he didn’t really like thinking about returning to just him and the watchdogs; all minions and no one to talk to. He hadn’t even realized he wanted someone to talk to until lots of them had ambushed him over the preceding days. On the skull-ship, Hater tended to keep to himself. He ate by himself, watched movies or played video games by himself and hung out a lot in his room by himself. When he had to be around the watchdogs for briefings or rallies or something, it still didn’t stop him from feeling alone. They were his army, and they existed to carry out his orders and conquer planets for him. It wasn’t like he’d ever wanted to get to know them or invite them to hang out with him.

Of course, despite all this alone time, Hater had never really felt lonely. This was what being a galactic conqueror, and the Greatest in the Galaxy was like. You were raised up above all the inferior people that you were busy ruling with an iron fist. It was just the way things were.

Things were different on this ship. He had eaten a fair few meals in the galley with a lot of other aliens hanging around, talking to him, listening to his stories and boasts and being excited to see him. They often wanted to do things for him, but without the threats of dire consequences that kept his army in line.

There were people everywhere on the stupid boat, so much so that even his relaxation and entertainment time was spent with others, and he hadn’t hated it, even though he’d been sure he would when this whole journey started.

Even when he was in his room or his bed, he wasn’t truly alone, thanks to the fuzzy nuisance he had for a roommate.

He was getting used to other people being around him, to having conversations with them, doing things with them and even just being aware of them. And he was getting used to Wander; to his chatter and his stupid songs, his dumb smiles and his annoying hyperactive energy. And to the little things he did that Hater had found he didn’t mind; how excited he was when Hater cooked with him in the kitchen and his admiration for the overlord’s rapidly growing expertise in this area, the way he fussed over Captain Tim and brought him tidbits from the kitchen, the way he greeted Hater happily each morning and said goodnight when they went to bed, even though Hater never answered him, and how he’d noticed Hater’s disgust for the stupid hammock and had gotten him a bed instead.

Maybe Peepers was right, after all. Hater probably shouldn’t be getting used to all of those things.

Pulling himself out of his musings, Hater noticed that Sylvia was speaking to all of them, and glanced over at her, doing his best to pretend he’d been paying attention.

“…and that is why it’s so important that everyone keeps their hands close to their sides as we head down. One puncture after the pressure starts building will collapse the orble and probably drown all of us, got it?”
Peepers scoffed.

“Seems like a pretty risky way to travel. Why even use the thing if its so dangerous?”

“Well, ordinarily, we wouldn’t need to!” Wander piped up from Hater’s elbow. “The folks hereabouts made their orbles a lot sturdier ta withstand alla that. Las’ time we were here, they’d actually built this real nice li’l escalator all encased in one long orble! They’re not real practical ta travel with in space though, since the toughness makes ‘em a might slow. It’d be nice if we could use ‘em now, but…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know!” Peepers cut the nomad off impatiently. “There might not even be anyone down there after Dominator, let alone bubble escalators. Let’s just get this over with.” His tone was sharp. Hater got the impression his commander was more annoyed because the explanation was coming from Wander, rather than annoyance at the situation itself.

“Sounds good, Mr. Peepers!” Wander agreed. “Now ya catchin’ on!”

Peepers practically steamed with suppressed rage at that, and Hater had to bite back an amused scoff at the watchdog’s twitching eyelid and quivering hands. Peepers had a tendency to take himself very seriously and stand on his dignity all the time, and after all his ranting about how stupid Wander was, it was kind of funny to see the nomad instructing him on something.

“Okay then,” Sylvia put in after a moment. “Let’s get going. You got the juice, buddy?”

“Right here!” Wander dunked the wand into the small blue bottle, sweeping his arm to create an orble. It was slightly larger than the ones Hater was used to seeing, with room for all four of them, although he found he didn’t have much space to move around once he was in it without bumping into the others. There wasn’t a lot of wiggle room there.

“Can’t you make it bigger?” he complained.

“Sorry, Hater.” Wander wiggled the bottle slightly so Hater could hear a soft sloshing sound, down in the bottom. “We had ta use a lot of juice on the sails fer the Star Nomad, an’ we kinda ran through our reserves.”

Hater huffed, crossing his arms and glaring through the curve of the bubble.

“I think it’s nice and cozy.” Sylvia picked Wander up, settling him on her back. “Just remember what I said, bonehead, no poking holes if you like breathing.”

“Whatever, let’s go.” The orble moved forward, Hater and Peepers following as Sylvia set the pace. Hater figured Peepers was also feeling pretty uncomfortable. Neither of them were in the habit of using this nebulous and unstable form of transport. When you had the greatest warship in the galaxy, that wasn’t usually something you needed to do.

As they entered the water, Hater half expected the bubble to rupture; it seemed so fragile. Instead, it sank silently beneath the waves, immediately casting everything in a blue-green sheen.

Wander leant over from Sylvia’s back, nudging Hater with his elbow, and Hater realized he was holding his breath, and exhaled hurriedly, doing his best to turn it into a huff of annoyance.

Wander probably just didn’t want to make the orble bigger. There wasn’t enough space in here for Hater to push him away.

Down, down they sank, into the deep, blue depths.

Next to their orble, the stem of the lily swayed in the water, as big around as a space coaster, still showing green even in the reduced light.

In the distance, unknown creatures swam, some small, some far too big, but it was hard to make out details, and none of them approached.

As the water grew darker, Hater raised one hand, a ball of green energy growing in his palm and lighting up their surroundings. He had to make it quite small so it didn’t zap anyone, but it still helped the visibility quite a bit.

“How deep is this place supposed to be, anyway?” Hater companied after they’d been traveling for twenty minutes or so.

“Deep, especially when we’re going slowly and carefully like this.” Sylvia’s voice was subdued. She seemed to be concentrating on steering the orble, and watching the distant sea creatures as they swam above and around them. Some of them seemed very large.

“Well, how much longer?” Hater shifted his feet uncomfortably. He was getting tired of standing and holding this dumb light. He didn’t want to sit down though, not so long as the others were standing, except for Wander, he supposed. He also wasn’t sure if that would slow the speed, and he didn’t want to make this tedious journey take even more time.

“Don’t worry, Hatey! Should be nearly there.”

Hater was sure Wander had been reclining in Sylvia’s saddle, but he was somehow not surprised to feel the furry arms wrap around him as Wander climbed onto his shoulders. He glared upward, but didn’t make a move to bat the pest off of him. There wasn’t a lot of space in here. Otherwise, he totally would have.

“Ooooo, I can’t wait!” Wander’s voice squeaked with excitement as he grinned down at Hater. “They’ve got the mos’ beautiful fountains an’ waterslides, an’ its all lit up with these sparklin’ crystals. I can’t believe you folks’ve never been!”

“Well, it’s not like we didn’t want to,” Peepers muttered, causing Sylvia to scoff.

“Yeah, I bet,” she agreed sarcastically. “What was it you guys wanted to do down here, anyway? Sightseeing, right Peeps?”

The watchdog glared, but didn’t rise to the bait.

“And I doubt any of that will even be left after the planet got drained…” he was continuing when he paused. Peering down into the depths, Hater saw a warm, greenish blue glow far beneath them.

After so long in the dark with only Hater’s electricity to help them see, the light from below was captivating. Hater leant over next to the others, straining to make out details of what was causing it, that is, until he felt an ominous presence from behind them.

Turning, he felt all his bones stiffen when faced with an enormous mouth with far too many teeth, surrounded by a massive, serpentine creature with many oblong fins.

Acting on instinct, Hater raised both hands, electricity crackling to life around them as he took aim…

“Don’t!”

At Sylvia’s yell, Hater just managed to stop himself from firing, the sparks fizzling out. Oh right, he couldn’t pop the bubble. He turned angrily.

“Well, what are we supposed to do, then?”

“What about getting the flarp out of here?!” Peepers’ yell echoed around the orble as the creature drew nearer. Hater had just time to note, rather abstractedly, that the pupil of its eye was about the same size as their orble, before they were off and running, the orble moving with them as they rocketed downward. Sylvia no longer seemed worried about going carefully, as the zbornak pelted along beside him. Even Wander seemed concerned. Hater felt his furry arms tighten around his neck.

He could feel the motions in the water behind them as the behemoth gave chase, eerily silent, yet rocking their ‘craft’ with every swish of its fins. However, if the beast was quiet, Hater couldn’t say the same for the rest of them. The water around them echoed with exclamations, wordless noises of panic and exertion and, in the case of three of them, a fair number of curse words.

“Oh Grop, Oh Grop, Oh Grop!” Peepers seemed to be repeating beside him, while on his other side, Hater was vaguely impressed by the string of colourful obscenities from the zbornak. He didn’t even know what some of those meant.

“Hard left!” Wander yelled, and Hater felt them all dive in that direction, just as the giant teeth snapped shut on the water where their orble had just been, shaking from the aftershock in the water around them.

“Now right!” the nomad instructed, and they all veered sharply again, once again just avoiding that terrifying mouth.

“How long are we supposed to do this for?!” Hater demanded with the very limited breath he had to spare. He was aware that the light below them had grown much brighter, but he couldn’t spend any attention to tell what it was. All of his focus was for the creature behind them.

“Just once more!” Wander’s voice, bizarrely, sounded happy. “Just go straight for one more moment, and…down!”

They dove sharply, Hater feeling the impact on the water as the teeth clashed again, and then suddenly, they hit a soft, yielding wall and were through it, leaving the remains of their orble behind as they were suddenly falling through the air. Hater, Sylvia and Peepers landed hard on a spongy green floor, while Wander floated down gently to land next to them, using his hat as a parachute.

Hater heard a distant, frustrated roar and looked up to see the monster balking at some kind of curved, clear ceiling above them, before turning and swimming away.

At first, Hater thought the gently curving bubble was covered with cracks, and he flinched in expectation of it shattering to send the water pouring in on them. However, as he looked more closely, he could see what was actually going on.

The stem of the lily pad, the plant itself far far above them at this point, seemed to connect directly to the top of the giant bubble they had landed in. And spreading out from that single point were countless, glowing green root fibers, that branched all over the surface of the bubble. Some were almost as wide as the stem itself, great woody beams that almost seemed to press into the side of the clear walls, and some were as fine as hairs, barely visible through the slight shimmer of the bubble itself, but covering it all over as though cradling it from the dangers outside.

Hater climbed to his feet somewhat unsteadily. Wander was already up, examining the same thing Hater had noticed with much more excitement, bouncing around and peering at the curve of the bubble above their heads.

“Well, hello there, strangers! Hope you all are doin’ alright. You took quite a fall. You didn’t aughta have come in that way.”

“Uhuh, recken you’re our first visitors since that whole upheaval ‘bout a month ago. How about that!”

Hater turned sharply, intending to glare at the interlopers, whoever they were, then paused, slightly taken aback. The new alien, or aliens, stood roughly seven feet tall, on two sets of legs, apparently joined at the torso. It had two heads, both with yellowish skin, and both wearing straw hats, and the rest of its body was covered with green gardening overalls and a checked shirt. It carried a rake in one hand, and a trowel in the other.

Hater opened his mouth to growl some response, still slightly confused over whether he was looking at one alien or two, but he paused as Wander strolled up to the newcomer, tipping his hat.

“Well hello to you, gentlemen! Folks call me Wander. This is m’ pall Sylvia, an’ that’s Lord Hater an’ Mr. Peepers. We’re helpin’ refugees travel back to their planets after everythin’ that happened an’ we stopped in ta see how y’all are doing!”

“Pleased to meet you all,” the head on the left answered. “I’m Nabbit and this is Abbot. Welcome to the city of Fronderus!”

Hater was struck suddenly with the thought that this was probably how things went whenever Wander arrived on a new planet, just saying hello and introducing himself. No lasers or marching armies or cries for mercy.

Weird.

“Ah, yes!” Peepers stomped up, seemingly trying to gain control of the situation. “You see before you Lord Hater; the Monarch of Mayhem, the Duke of Destruction, fresh from his defeat of the great Lord Dominator and all her vast armies!” The watchdog puffed out his chest, gesturing toward Hater, who tried to at least draw himself up a little. It was hard to make a good entrance when he couldn’t technically enter since he was already here.

“Well, how about that,” Abbot said mildly. The two of them at least seemed to perk up slightly at the mention of Dominator. “That’s real nice of you after all the trouble she caused ‘round here. Y’all want to step in for a cup of tea before heading into the city proper?”

Hater realized he’d been so preoccupied with the bubble and the weird aliens, he hadn’t looked at the rest of the area. Now, his gaze wandered past the two headed creature and he found his eyes widening.

The bubble they were in stretched above and around them, cradled by the strange roots. The ‘ground’ they were standing on seemed to be another huge leaf of the water lily above, and the bubble rested on top of it, almost like a due drop in reverse, although patches of the ground still seemed to have soil, sand or grass like plants on top of it.

Outside in the water below and beside them, Hater could see other such bubbles, some huge enough to contain tall, choral-like buildings many stories high, and some, like their own, significantly smaller, with only space for a few houses and some strange plants. The bubbles were all clustered close to each other, and seemed to be linked by the roots and the wide stems. Hater wondered if every lily leaf on the surface was connected to one, and how the flower had even done this in the first place.

Probably more dumb love magic from Wander.

The nomad himself was currently thanking the inhabitants for their invitation, and Hater followed as they started toward the low, bulbus dwelling the two seemed to reside in. Putting on a little more speed, Hater drew even with Wander, giving him a glare.

“You could have warned us about all of this,” he grumbled.

“Oh! It wasn’t like this before. There was jus’ the one bubble, a huuuuuge one, an’ no roots or anything surroundin’ it.” Wander sounded overjoyed at this fact. He hugged himself and his voice squeaked as he continued, smiling up at Hater as though expecting the skeleton to share his enthusiasm. “Isn’t this whole place amazing? I can’t wait to find out about the whole place!”

Hater grunted noncommittally, scoffing at Wander’s excitement. Still, as he watched the nomad bouncing along beside him, he felt a small tickle of warmth behind his ribs, and he tried to ignore it. He wasn’t sure he should think about why he was feeling it.

And, not that he’d ever admit it to anyone, but he was a little curious himself. He wanted to explore the bubble cities and see what they were like.

At least with Wander here, he could just act annoyed and pretend the nomad was dragging him around unwillingly. That way he might be able to fool the others, although he was probably past the point of being able to fool himself.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Eleven: The Protector

Wander swung his legs back and forth in his seat at the round table, sipping his tea and smiling.

Today was shaping up to be a pretty super day. He was with several of his best buds, doing what he loved to do; seeing the galaxy, helping others and meeting new people. Their hosts were very glad to have visitors. Apparently, the inhabitants of Varta VII had been worried that Dominator was still out there and had been staying close to home, in fact, under the water of their home, ever since the attack, and so they were very interested in everything that had happened in the rest of the galaxy.

It was also nice to see that Hater seemed to be having a good time.

Wander had been noticing how happy his buddy been over the past few days on the ship. Hater had been getting to know all of his new friends and had enjoyed hanging out with them.

And it seemed like he’d enjoyed hanging out with Wander too. They had gotten to cook together and had several relatively friendly conversations. They’d even gotten to play some music together, which had felt amazing! Wander loved playing music, and he’d gotten to do it with two of his best friends.

Wander was really proud of his buddy. He knew it was tough for Hater to break out of his shell and have some fun, and that the overlord was still feeling a little uncomfortable about saving the galaxy, and the adulation he was receiving as a result. It was nice to see Hater getting more comfortable with everyone else and not feeling the need to put on his big bad villain persona to deal with them.

All of that was why he’d asked Hater to come with them today. He’d thought his buddy might enjoy having another adventure with them, even though he knew their last expedition had been rather stressful for the skeleton lord, and Hater must have wanted to, since he’d said ‘yes.’ Wander really wanted to help his friend have fun today. He knew Hater had said he was more down for the destination rather than the journey, so he wanted to help his buddy see that the journey could be fun as well.

Wander was so excited to show his buddy all the neat things on this planet, and he hoped Mr. Peepers would enjoy them as well. Wander had noticed the watchdog seemed a little stressed today. Peepers had taken to staring at him and Hater when he thought they weren’t looking, eye narrowed and the lid twitching slightly, and Wander was pretty sure the commander was having a rough time, but didn’t want anyone to know it.

It was probably difficult for Peepers to be away from the skull-ship and the other watchdogs for so long, especially as he normally liked planning and keeping it in order so much. Maybe he should check on him later and see if there was anything Wander could do to help Peepers enjoy the journey and unwind a little while he was here.

In the meantime, maybe the tea would help. It seemed like a nice, relaxing blend, and one thing Wander knew Mr. Peepers needed, was to relax.

“What happened to this place anyway?” Sylvia put down her teacup, looking expectantly over at their hosts. “Last time Wander and I came here, it looked way different. We were actually worried you would have lost your whole ocean from that drill. How is there so much of it left, and what’s with the giant lily pads and everything?”

The two aquanists looked at each other, which was rather strange to see when they shared the same body.

Sylvia noticed that Peepers was leaning over his untouched tea, eye narrowed and expression analytical. Wander’s legs had stopped kicking as he listened, and even Hater seemed interested. This was probably something they’d all been wondering about.

“Well, I reckon it was a pretty tumultuous time,” Nabbit began after a moment. “When that drill drove down through the ocean, we could see it just outside the bubble, and we all thought it was the end of the world.”

Sylvia nodded, and a shadow seemed to pass over Wander’s face for a moment before it was gone.

“We didn’t know what to do,” Abbit continued. “There wasn’t much we could do. That giant drill dug right into the core and we couldn’t see the water starting to drain, but we knew it must be happening, especially once the core was hollowed out. The planet didn’t quite get split in half, but once the drill was pulled back up and the ship left, we all knew it was just a matter of time. If the water level didn’t go down far enough to pop our bubble and leave us without protection, we knew the cold would seep through the planet eventually without the molten core.”

Nabbit nodded, reaching awkwardly over to put a hand on Abbit’s shoulder.

“Sure was terrible,” he muttered.

“Worse still, the water got real rough.” Abbit took a gulp from his cup. “The draining water was causing some kind of suction an’ it was pulling at the bubble as well as messing with the sea beasts. They were going crazy out there, bumping into us. There was a lot of upheaval, an’ the bubble started fracturing. We thought it was going to pop, but instead it got bumped into smaller bubbles, though we did have an awful lot of damage to our infrastructure, an’ that’s a fact.”

“We were still being jostled around somethin’ fierce!” Nabbit took over again. “And the water was spinning all around us, an’ then we started noticing something swirling in the water, like little seeds or something, thousands and thousands of them. They seemed to dig inta the bubbles and started growing like crazy, spreadin’ roots all across and shooting long green stems up through the water, an’ we thought at first we were done for, that they were gonna pop the bubbles, but instead, it was almost like they were sheltering them from all the hubbub out there.”

Both aquanists turned, and Sylvia followed their collective gaze out the window to where the bubble with its cradling roots was just visible.

When they turned back to her, their faces were rueful.

“I suppose that must sound mighty crazy to y’all,” Abbit said quietly.

Sylvia shook her head.

“Believe it or not, we’ve seen something like that before. Well, not like this, but with the plants protecting the planets they take root on.”

She tapped her teacup thoughtfully. They had only been on two planets so far, but already she could see a pattern emerging with how the flower was acting, though she still had no idea why. She thought back to the fragile yellow bloom, and her and Wander’s desperate efforts to protect it and help it flourish, even once Dominator decided to destroy it.

Both of them had thought they’d failed, only to learn later that the spores from the flower had spread across the galaxy, just in time to bring life back to the planets that had been devastated by her drill.

Was it as simple as that? Could the flower be responding to their efforts to protect it, even after the original plant had died, or was it more likely that this was just something this species of plant did? It wasn’t a type of flower she’d seen before, although admittedly botany wasn’t her strong suit.

She looked across the table, meeting Wander’s eye and seeing a small smile on his face, and wondered whether he’d been having similar thoughts. It never hurts to help, the smile seemed to say.

Sylvia took another sip of her tea to cover up her own smile.

Yeah, yeah, buddy, I know.

She supposed that was one good thing that had come out of the end of the galaxy. She finally, really believed him.

Leaving the two aquanists behind, they headed off towards part of the city, which was encased in a larger bubble nearby. The roots of the water lilies seemed have really integrated with the bubbles, even creating passageways between them.

Hater glanced back at the two farmers. He couldn’t imagine living here inside the fragile shells of the bubbles, even with Wander’s weird plant helping to support them.

He also couldn’t imagine being a scrubby little farmer and digging in the dirt every day though, so maybe the two of them were just weirdos.

He supposed it had been interesting to hear what Dominator’s attack had been like from one who was actually there for it, as well as how the flower had started taking root and growing here, even if the inhabitants hadn’t seen too much, living underwater in dumb bubbles the way they were.

They crossed through the root tunnel, the world temporarily dimming as the thick, wooden walls blocked out much of the strange, blue light that seemed to emanate from the bubbles themselves.

Then, they were through it, Hater looking across the much larger bubble they’d arrived in at a thriving, if heavily damaged, cityscape.

Many of the buildings were cracked or listing to the side, windows broken, with debris littering the streets between them.

Still, the citizens themselves seemed fairly happy, and there were even a few groups of them working on fixing up some of the more unstable areas of the city.

Dominator would probably have been disappointed at how little long-term damage she’d actually done to this planet, Hater scoffed to himself. Serves her right.

It was still unpleasant to think about her.

He’d really liked her, or at least what he’d thought she was, since he supposed he’d never really known anything about her. He’d wanted to get to know her, at least after Wander’s advice had made him realize how he actually felt about her.

He glanced over at the little nomad, skipping along between him and the zbornak.

He remembered Wander trying to help him ask Dominator out, singing and dancing and helping him write a whole intricate musical number. You couldn’t say the little weirdo didn’t practice what he preached. Wander really had just always wanted to help.

Even if the person he was helping had wanted to kill him.

And Hater had known that. That was why he’d captured Wander to get his help in the first place. Wander was the one person he could go to because Wander was the one person who would genuinely want to help him. Peepers hadn’t been interested in Hater’s plans, and the watchdogs would go along with him, but only because they worked for him.

And there really hadn’t been anyone else, so Hater had thought of Wander.

Plus, the little hippy was all about that lovey-dovey junk. It had just made sense.

It certainly hadn’t turned out well, when Dominator had responded to his heartfelt song by stomping all over his feelings and threatening to destroy them both, but even after all of that, and after the pest had annoyed him into escaping Dominator’s ship, Hater hadn’t been able to pull himself back to his previous mindset, to go back to hating Wander and chasing after him the way he had before.

He still told himself he hated the nomad, and he still thought about him and got annoyed at his stupid games and everything, but he thought that was probably when his feelings had started changing.

He was over Dominator now, but he still didn’t like to think about her; that condescending voice, the fake sympathy, the way he still couldn’t help finding her attractive even when he knew he shouldn’t. She’d almost undermined him in that final battle, almost gotten inside his head and caused him to lose control of his forcefield, though he wasn’t planning on admitting that to anyone else.

He hadn’t expected an intervention by the zbornak of all people, or how invigorating it was when she got everyone chanting for him. He’d been able to put Dominator’s poisonous words out of his head and focus on being the most awesome and powerful villain in the galaxy, and he’d won.

His and Sylvia’s relationship seemed to have changed, just as his relationship with Wander had. She was still vaguely and annoyingly disrespectful when she talked to him, but there didn’t seem to be that mistrust and genuine dislike she used to have. He wasn’t sure what he should do about that.

Wander was the only one who didn’t seem to have changed from all of this, if only because he’d already liked all of them from the beginning.

Hater sighed, trying to put his jumbled thoughts out of his mind, at least for now. They were heading into the city, and he was kind of interested to see what it was like, even though he was not looking forward to being around all the weird people.

When they got back to the ship, maybe he’d talk to Sylvia again. There was a part of him that had started getting very curious as to how exactly she and the furry mop met and became friends, for no particular reason, of course.

The city was lots of fun to explore!

A lot of it was still damaged from the drill of course, but Wander could see that the people had already recovered, and were working to make sure their city did the same. It was wonderful to see everyone pulling together and helping each other.

They worked their way through the downtown area, going from bubble to bubble, and stopping to chat with the local residents and see a little of the sights as they did so.

Wander was even able to convince Hater to try some of the delicacies he remembered from his last visit, including some orbazane he bought from a street vendor. Hater had been hesitant, but when he tried a bite of the skewer, teeth crunching through the candy bubbles on the outside to the pieces of fresh fruit beneath, Wander could tell he was pleased. He even managed to surprise a smile out of the overlord before Hater concealed it with a cough and looked away.

Wander could tell his buddy was feeling uncomfortable around all the strangers, and he seemed to be leaning into his former attitude a little more, keeping slightly aloof and grumbling about more things than normal. Wander didn’t mind. He figured Hater wasn’t sure how to act around the aquanists, since he wasn’t here to conquer them and he didn’t really know anything about them. He hadn’t done a lot of visiting places without attacking them first. Being the mean villain was his safe space, and if he needed it for a while, Wander understood.

He also wanted to make sure his buddy was comfortable, so he tried to stick close to Hater’s side as they explored, which Hater didn’t seem to mind, although Mr. Peepers didn’t seem too happy about it, and the watchdog kept giving Wander suspicious looks from Hater’s other side.

“This is great!” Sylvia leaned against the back of the park bench she was sitting on. “This planet is in way better shape than we expected. I mean, I know their surface bases were totally destroyed and splitting up the city really messed with the architecture, but still! At this rate, we might even get some departures after all, huh, pal?”

“You bet, Sylvia! I reckon some of the folks on board ship’ll opt ta stay, leas’ fer a while. An’ the aquanists will be happy ta have some help rebuildin’!”

That was something that had been discussed on board the Star Nomad, since at the moment they were a tad overloaded. Quite a few of the refugees were tourists or explorers by nature and had hoped to find a planet in decent shape they could make at least a temporary home on while the ship continued visiting other planets and bringing aliens back to their home worlds.

Wander could think of a few people who would be interested in staying here, and all the locals they’d talked to had been perfectly happy about the idea. Varta VII didn’t really have a monarch or anyone leading it, but Sylvia had managed to find a few members of their sparse government to discuss the matter with and it had been very promising.

“So,” Sylvia continued, glancing at Hater and Peepers to include them in the discussion. “You guys want to head back to the ship and let everyone know what we found?”

“Grop, yes,” Peepers agreed emphatically. “This has been…educational, but we’ve done more than enough sightseeing for my taste. Let’s get back and keep moving. Some of us have an empire to rebuild.”

“Sure, whatever,” Hater contributed, and Wander gave him a concerned look. The overlord seemed to have something on his mind.

He hopped to his feet as Sylvia stood. He took one step towards Hater, with the intention being close in case his buddy needed him, when all four of them froze.

It wasn’t so much a noise that they heard, but rather something they felt. A deep, ominous tremor seemed to pass through the water and slam into the giant orbles, which trembled on their water lily stems like a bundle of grapes being shaken.

As for the insides of the bubbles, it felt like an earthquake was ripping through them. Wander and his companions were knocked off their feet and they heard screaming and crashing and other worrying noises.

Then the shaking stopped as quickly as it had started, leaving the bubbles intact, probably thanks to their root shelters, but the city in turmoil, alarms ringing in many of the bubbles, and smoke rising ominously from somewhere.

Wander found himself on his knees in the waving, seaweed-like grass of the park, staring upward through the bubble and its protective roots, although there was no way he could see all the way to the surface, but then, he didn’t have to.

He was pretty sure he knew who it was.

Wander was acting weird.

Normally, that wasn’t much to remark on; Wander was always weird. But at this point, Hater was very familiar with the nomad’s normal weirdness. He had spent countless hours obsessing over it, after all.

No this was something else. This time, Wander was being…quiet.

Hater didn’t usually see Wander quiet. In fact, he hadn’t even been sure that state was something Wander was capable of. Even when he slept, Wander wasn’t quiet; he would snore softly in that particular way he had, or talk in his sleep about all the stupid adventures he was dreaming about having.

And right now, he wasn’t sleeping in any case. He was just standing there looking kind of shaken. And quiet, which Hater kept coming back to because it really did seem to catch his notice the most. Wander didn’t do quiet.

Except for right now.

After the shaking had stopped, Hater had pulled himself to his feet from where he’d fallen, all set to start yelling. He hadn’t been that comfortable being inside the dumb fragile bubble things already, and he didn’t know what had caused that, and he didn’t particularly care right now, but somebody was going to hear how upset he was about it.

He glanced over at the others, ignoring the smoking and the alarms from the city, and saw that they were all looking upward.

“That came from the surface,” Sylvia sounded worried.

Peepers nodded.

“And it wasn’t any kind of natural phenomenon I’ve heard of before. In my expert opinion, I’d say its some kind of weapon, which means there’s another villain up there.”

“Right, then we’ve got to get up there too, before it happens again,” Sylvia decided. “A couple more tremors like that could knock the whole city down, even if the roots keep the bubble from popping. Let’s go, buddy!” She turned to Wander, and that was when Hater noticed that Wander hadn’t moved. He hadn’t even stood up from where he had fallen on the weird grass stuff. He had pushed himself slightly up on his hands and was staring upwards as though he could see through the water to what lay beyond. He hadn’t even reacted to the distress of the city, which was particularly odd, since he was, well, Wander.

When Sylvia put a hand on his shoulder, Wander seemed to come back to himself. He stood and pulled himself onto Sylvia’s back. He even cast a concerned glance towards the distressed city, and Hater could hear him mentioning that they’d have to come back and help as soon as possible. Then they were off and running towards one of the stem tunnels that would bring them to the upper bubbles where they’d started.

At least, Hater started out running. He was surprised when Sylvia grabbed his and Peepers’ arms, pulling them onto her back to join Wander before putting on more speed. It wasn’t the first time they’d done this, although it usually seemed to be to escape from Dominator, and Hater found himself amazed at her strength, the fact that she could carry all of them and still move faster than all of them could running.

Hater had figured that the weirdness was over, but when he looked over at Wander again, beside him now on Sylvia’s back, it was to find that the furball had gone quiet again, and his hands on Sylvia’s reins looked like they were clenching too tightly. He wasn’t holding on to Hater either, which Wander usually seemed to do when they were riding together. Hater actually had to reach around him and grab the reigns as well to help him stay on. And he might have incidentally had to put an arm around the nomad as well, simply because there wasn’t much space to maneuver up here without falling off.

Even then, Wander didn’t hold onto him in turn.

It was strange, and anything strange about Wander was worth noticing. He may not exactly be Hater’s most hated enemy any more, but he still seemed to be someone Hater couldn’t help thinking about and taking note of, someone Hater couldn’t seem to get out of his head most of the time. That had always been the case with Wander though, and it was probably never going to change.

They reached the highest level of the bubbles and Wander fished the juice out of his hat, creating an orble around them, and pushing out through one of the bubble walls, in the space between some of the roots.

Hater held his breath in case the orble popped, but the next thing he knew, they were rising back through the dark water, more swiftly this time as Sylvia pumped her legs, and for the first time, Hater found his thoughts drifting to what awaited them above the water.

If Peepers was right, and that had been some kind of weapon, just who had been wielding it? What villain thought they could encroach on his galaxy?

And, still there, distantly in the back of his mind, floated that thought, what’s wrong with Wander?

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Twelve: The Other Villain

Sylvia pointed her nose at the water’s surface and pumped her legs as fast as she could. Their orble rose much more quickly than they had descended. It was risky underwater, but they needed to get to the surface before there was another attack or the bubble might not hold. Then they’d really be in trouble.

She knew Wander must be worried about the chaos in the city below them, Grop, so was she, but right now it was more important to get back to the Star Nomad and stop whoever was causing the tremors before even more damage was done.

In her mind, she ran through a list of suspects. She knew all of the galaxy’s most wanted had been scattered and were in hiding from dominator, but some of them might already have heard about her defeat and started heading back to conquer planets while they were still defenseless, much as Hater and Peepers were likely planning to do once their ship was fixed.

Who could this guy be?

It was hard to tell with only the effect of the weapon as a clue.

Emperor Awesome was a possibility. Sylvia knew from experience how much damage his planet ending parties could cause, but it didn’t really feel like him.

For one thing, he was a hopeless show-off, and she couldn’t imagine him starting something without first announcing it far and wide, so the only way he was the cause of this would be if he hadn’t been aware that the cities underwater had survived and had just announced himself to those on-board ship. Plus, if his music was powerful enough to reach through the deep water to the city below, and cause the level of damage they’d witnessed, she imagined they’d at least be able to hear it a little.

It could also potentially be Sourdough. She knew the evil sandwich had lost his empire as Dominator had systematically destroyed all of the planets he controlled, but she believed much of his armada was still intact when he’d fled, so she could imagine him being one of the first villains who were able to muster a powerful enough force to return.

However, it didn’t really feel like his M.O. either, since she’d never seen him use sonic attacks when invading. Of course, he could be showcasing a new weapon.

Truth was, it didn’t really feel like any of the regular villains that had been mucking around in their galaxy.

Yet, she did feel like she’d heard of a weapon like this before. The shaking had felt familiar. She tried to think back on all the planet invasions they’d ended up in the middle of, but they were hard to sort through. She and Wander had faced a lot of bad guys, or it could even be something she’d heard of back before she met Wander, back when she easily could have ended up hired by a creep like that.

Sylvia found herself frowning. She didn’t like thinking about her travels through the galaxy before the little nomad had inserted himself into her life, or especially the person she’d been back then, but this was important.

Actually, now she was thinking of that, it kind of reminded her of…

She couldn’t spare a glance behind her, not if she wanted to keep them straight at the speed they were going, so she didn’t look back, but called over her shoulder instead.

“Hey buddy, do you remember…”

That was when the second attack hit.

They were much closer to the surface this time, and with no protective roots cushioning them from the impact.

Fortunately, they were a small target, and the sonic blast seemed to be quite widespread. Even so, as it rippled through the water, then through them, Sylvia felt herself shaking all the way through to her bones.

Their orble seemed to hold for a moment, quivering, and then popped, cold water rushing in at them, and Sylvia held her breath and kicked hard, propelling them upward and finally into the air.

She could hear her companions gasping, but she didn’t look at them for the moment. Instead, the zbornak’s eyes slid over to where the Star Nomad had docked. The ship had obviously taken some damage; one of the masts was cracked and the railings were splintered in places. Sylvia could only hope the sails were still intact, and was glad they had been furled once the ship had docked. Small figures could be seen on the deck, some running this way and that, some clinging to the railing or lying slumped on the boards, but the most notable was Jeff, standing tall and backed up by a group of watchdogs and several other passengers.

As Sylvia’s gaze rose higher, up into the sky above the Star Nomad, she saw the late sun glinting off of the other ship, and she felt sudden whisper of dread swirl through her insides.

The ship was massive, many times the size of their own, and it loomed over the planet, casting everything in shadow. It was copper coloured and strangely bulbous, beetle-like almost in shape, with stumpy fins and glinting windows. Protruding from the ship’s bottom was the weapon, like a giant funnel, black and grey striped.

It was a familiar ship, though not one she’d seen in several years, and not one she’d ever wanted to see again.

The big question was, why was she here? They were far from the place Sylvia and Wander had seen her last, and even that had been slightly outside of her territory. Truly, Sylvia didn’t know too much about her, and hadn’t learned much from their brief encounter. Still, she had an unpleasant feeling she knew why this ship was here, a feeling backed up by a tattered bounty poster with far too many zeros attached.

The villain could have simply seen a weakened galaxy and decided to take the opportunity to expand her empire. It was possible, but Sylvia didn’t think it was likely, and unconsciously, she raised herself in the water as much as she could to somewhat shield the area behind her.

She’d bet a year’s worth of jellyfish pie that Lady Infinite was looking for Wander.

Hater wiped salt water from his eyes, sputtering indignantly.

As soon as they had had to go down in the stupid bubble thing, he’d known they would have to swim at some point.

He glared upwards at the intruding vessel, electricity already building in the marrow of his bones, though he’d have to be careful not to unleash it while they were still in the water, and his target was too far away in any case.
He had no idea who this upstart was, and he didn’t care. Some unknown loser of a villain was trying to muscle in on his galaxy, after he’d just gotten finished saving it, to totally conquer later, of course. Not to mention that whatever this stupid weapon was, it had clearly made his enemy act all weird and junk.

Well, he wasn’t going to stand for it. He was going to show this pathetic interloper what happened when you messed with Lord Hater.

As long as he could get up there, that is.

“We need some kind of plan.” Peepers’ voice was low, as though anything they said could possibly have been heard from way up there.

“We need to get out of sight, at least for the moment.” Sylvia sounded slightly strange, as if she’d swallowed some seawater. “Trust me, we do not want her to see us.”

“You know who it is?” Now, Peepers was a little louder.

“I’ve got a pretty good idea. Come on.” Sylvia pulled a sodden Wander around her slightly so he was on her other side. Hater had a moment to think how strange the nomad looked with his fur full of water, plastered to his skin and making his thoughtful eyes look even bigger, before they started swimming towards the small island they had docked at.

Hater would normally be complaining about the water, or the surprise villain, or any number of things he was annoyed at in this situation, but for some reason, he was quiet. Partly because of the swimming; it was difficult to get forward movement when your fingers were bone and didn’t trap a lot of water, but also because he was thinking.

It was Peepers who responded to Sylvia’s assertion. He snorted derisively.

“No doubt someone you’ve ‘foiled’ in the past?”

Sylvia was concentrating on swimming and keeping Wander level with her. He seemed to be having trouble keeping up, and Hater wondered why the zbornak didn’t just put him in her saddle the way she’d done before.

“Something like that.”

Her voice was soft, and as she didn’t turn around, Hater could barely hear her. Still, he supposed that made sense, given Wander’s reaction, although that reaction was still bothering him. The nomad seemed calm now, but he was much too quiet, as though he was still thinking about something as well.

He felt a strange tight feeling in his ribcage at that. Just how many times had Wander and Sylvia foiled this ‘other villain?’ And why was this the first time he was hearing about it. He felt bizarrely that it was kind of like cheating. Wander had been his most hated enemy, and he knew the nomad tangled with other villains sometimes, but he’d always assumed he was the one Wander foiled most often, the one Wander focused on, just as he had been focused on destroying the nomad. It reminded him of that time with the weird banana villain; that jerk, and how Wander had said he was the most dangerous villain in the galaxy, which still stung, although it probably shouldn’t at this point.

With an effort, Hater pulled himself level with Wander and Sylvia. This was made easier as they were now next to the giant lily pad they’d first disembarked onto, and would have to work their way around the edge if they wanted to stay in the water.

Shooting the furry pest a piercing look, Hater poked his shoulder with one claw.

“Who is that loser anyway?” he demanded.

Wander smiled, lifting a wet hand to push his dripping bangs out of his eyes. Hater didn’t trust the smile. It still looked a little distracted.

“I guess ya could say she’s an old friend o’ mine.”

Hater glared. He should have guessed at that answer. Wander probably introduced Hater as a ‘friend’ too.

“That’s it,” he growled. “We’re going up there and destroying that thing!”

“That’s actually not a bad idea.” Sylvia shot Hater a look past Wander’s head. “She seems pretty reliant on that weapon of hers. If we manage to disable it, she might fall back for now. You got a way up there, bonehead?”

Hater’s glare darkened.

“Maybe,” he grumbled. “But we’d have to land on that funnel-thing.”

Peepers considered, stroking the bottom of his eyelid thoughtfully.

“In that case, we should wait until after the next blast.” He lowered his voice, moving closer to Hater so they wouldn’t be overheard. “Sir, are you sure you can bring all of us?”

Hater scoffed.

“Of course I can, Peepers! I’m only the greatest villain in the galaxy!”

It wasn’t going to be easy. Hater usually only teleported himself, and then only to familiar places, usually on the skull-ship. He had to be familiar with the place he was teleporting to or things could end badly. That was why they would need to use the funnel to enter. Hater was pretty sure he could teleport up to one of the ridges on it, since he could get a pretty good view from here, but he wouldn’t be able to get inside the ship without having been in it before.

He'd also never brought anyone else with him before, but he was going to make it happen. He didn’t know who this villain was, but he could feel the fury bubbling through him and he was going to teach them a lesson.

Sylvia seemed to have been watching the funnel.

“Speaking of the next blast, duck!” The four of them pushed under the edge of the lily pad, ducking further into the water, and the funnel vibrated above them before emitting a muffled concussive rumble that shuddered through them once again.

Hater felt his bones shaking and the water was suddenly choppy around him, but he didn’t wait. As soon as the rumble stopped, he wrapped his arms around Peepers and Wander, grabbing Sylvia’s tail with one hand, and concentrated.

All four of them vanished.

Teleporting for the first time was not something Sylvia enjoyed.

At least, not this way. Normally, that is, with reliable machines doing the teleporting, it didn’t feel like much of anything. Just a quick zap, a momentary feeling of weightlessness, and you were wherever you wanted to be.

This time, being teleported by Hater’s electrical powers and without even much of a warning or a chance to prepare herself, was significantly different.

It felt almost like another attack from the cannon, except it was more like electricity was vibrating through her, zapping her every cell. For a moment, she felt like she was everywhere and nowhere, and then she was back, disoriented and with every part of her tingling as though her whole body had fallen asleep and was just waking up again. Her head spun.

She found herself clinging to the outside of the giant funnel next to Peepers, with Wander and Hater on her other side. Wander’s fur was fluffed out and looked staticky, and as she watched, he shook himself, appearing slightly dizzy. Then his dazzling grin was back, making Sylvia realize how long it had been gone for. That was a touch concerning, even with all the danger they were in right now, but she didn’t have time to think too much about it at the moment, so she filed it away for later.

In any case, Wander seemed to have weathered the teleporting itself fairly well.

The nomad threw himself at Hater, wrapping his noodly arms around the skeleton in a hug.

“Wow, Hatey!” he complimented. “I didn’t know ya could do that. I feel all tingly!”

“V-vary well done, sir.” Peepers looked as disoriented as Sylvia felt, bracing himself on shaking arms.

“Yeah, yeah.” Hater seemed to be out of breath. He looked a little dizzy himself, and possibly slightly embarrassed. “Let’s just find a way into the stupid ship,” he grumbled.

Sylvia took a deep breath, trying to ground herself. She didn’t know how long it would be before the canon fired again, and they didn’t want to be on it when it did. Peering further up the black and gray funnel, she noticed a maintenance hatch into the ship, and started making her way towards it, wrapping her tail around Wander to keep him with her. Hater and Peepers followed, and by the time they reached the hatch, Sylvia felt slightly more like herself again.

With a warning to brace themselves directed at her companions, she set her shoulders, backed up a pace, then threw herself at the hatch.

It groaned and then gave, sending her and Wander tumbling through it and into a wide corridor. Hater and Peepers scrambled in after them, and Peepers pushed the dented door closed.

They were in.

“Okay.” Sylvia stood, brushing off her hands and glancing up and down the new corridor. It was polished and gleaming, and put her more in mind of the inside of a palace than the hulking ship, even in what must be an obscure corridor fairly deep down. Pillars with gold trim stretched up to the ceiling at regular intervals, and the whole place seemed to be faced in white and pale green stone, smooth and polished until it gleamed in the light from the rounded lamps on the walls, though the wires and circuits of the ship were still visible. “Now all we have to do is find the controls for the canon,” she mused.

“They’d be on the bridge, most likely.” Peepers was peering around with evident interest, inspecting the competition, most likely. “It’s strange though, this ship.”

“What about it?” Sylvia was already making her way partially down the corridor, but carefully. She didn’t want any surprises.

“Well, it’s in excellent condition, and whoever this person is, they obviously have no shortage of money, but it’s all…well…outdated. Just look at those lights! And the wiring, and console here. This ship would have been a dinosaur even a hundred years or so ago. I’d bet they don’t even have teleport pads in this thing.”

“Oh yeah, Lady I didn’t wanna add ‘em,” Wander piped up. “She’s not a real fan of ‘new technology.’”

Sylvia shot him a glance. His tone was light, but now that she was more conscious of him, she thought he sounded nervous.

“New technology?” Peepers asked in an incredulous squeak.

“Ugh, who cares!” Hater yelled. “Let’s go destroy this thing already, and if we run into this loser on the way I’m taking her down, whoever she is.”

Sylvia found herself chuckling slightly, feeling oddly reassured by the company.

“Well said, bonehead!” Let’s get to it, but I can’t promise you won’t have company for that takedown. My ladies could use the exercise.”

Wander looked to be lagging behind again, and Sylvia caught his arm, plopping him into her saddle, where he sat smiling and peering around, though his smile still seemed a little strained.

Sylvia frowned. She didn’t remember Wander being this concerned about Lady Infinite the last time they’d encountered her, a little too unconcerned if anything from what she remembered. It had actually weirded her out at the time, back before she’d known how he usually acted around villains. It was funny to be worried about him having the opposite reaction now. She would have to talk to him about it later. She didn’t want him bottling up his concerns again, especially after their conversation on the Star Nomad.

Right now, though, she had to be on high alert. She remembered something about the troops that worked for this particular villain, and though she hadn’t gotten to tangle with them much, they had seemed pretty tough.
Besides, Wander’s nervousness was making her a little nervous. It happened so rarely. He didn’t seem frightened the way he had during certain encounters with Dominator, but he was certainly wary of the situation.

The four of them walked close together, looking for signs that would lead them to their destination.

Things went well, right up until they found a wider corridor that Peepers was pretty sure lead towards the bridge. They turned onto it, and the second Sylvia took one step forward she froze at the sound of blaring alarms, rather tinny sounding alarms accompanied with a flashing red light.

She straightened, readying her fists, and noticed Hater and Peepers taking aggressive stances as well. She wasn’t sure exactly when she’d gotten so comfortable around them, but she felt safer having them with her.

Several reptilian figures rounded the corner and, over Wander’s cheerful greeting, Sylvia charged.

Beating up some old-fashioned bad guys actually sounded pretty satisfying right about now.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Thirteen: The Old Friend

It was a strange feeling being on The Palace again. It had been quite a while since Wander had even seen the giant ship, since he’d first met Sylvia in fact, and he’d thought maybe Lady Infinite had decided to stay in the galaxy she’d been bent on conquering. She never used to stray too far from her territory.

But it seemed like she’d decided to come this way eventually, possibly after hearing about everything that had happened recently.

His name had probably spread pretty far as well in recent months, father than he was used to. Wander wasn’t a hero, and he didn’t really try to be famous or legendary or anything. He just tried to help where it was needed, sometimes in big ways, and sometimes in smaller ones. He loved helping in any way he could, and he wasn’t after recognition for doing it, although often when you were kind to people it made them kind back, and quite a few times, someone he’d helped ended up helping him and Sylvia in their travels. That was part of what was so nice about helping.

But in this case, he supposed some of the ways he’d helped others had been passed around and had traveled quite far through the galaxy, so that might explain it a little.

It wasn’t really fear he was feeling now that she was here, more a bit of trepidation, and certainly some nervousness. Which wasn’t to say he wouldn’t be glad to see her again, as well as all of his other friends on The Palace, but he’d been down this road before, lots of times, and he knew how it was likely to go. And he had a lot of other friends at the moment who needed his help, who needed him here, and he didn’t want to let them down.

He thought of his friends on the Star Nomad, trying to defend the ship and keep everyone safe, and the new friends they’d been making below in the cities of Varta VII, huddling in their homes as each new tremor hit and not knowing when it would stop. Even with the flower’s roots protecting the bubbles Wander worried about the damage the canon might cause.

And he was also thinking of the friends right beside him, all working together to keep everyone safe. He hoped they’d manage to disable the canon quickly and get off the ship again without too many problems. And he hoped he wouldn’t cause any problems for them just by being here.

All he could do was try to help, and see what happened.

The last of the soldiers dropped to the ground and Sylvia lowered her fists slightly, though not all the way. The alarms were no longer blaring, but she could hear running feet. This was the third group that had spotted them, but there were likely hundreds or even thousands of troops on a ship this big.

“Okay, which way?” she asked Peepers.

“I’m not sure.” Peepers scratched the top of his eye. “We should be getting close, but these two corridors look identical, and it’s not as though I’ve ever been on one of these fossils before.”

“Well, we’d better make up our minds quick,” Sylvia retorted. “If our luck keeps on this way, we’re going to have more company any minute!”

Peepers glanced down each hallway in turn.

“Look, I don’t love the idea, but I think we should split up. You and the furry pest go that way, and Lord Hater and I will search down here.”

“‘M not sure that’s such a good idea, Mr. Peepers,” Wander piped up from her back. “Shouldn’t we stick t’gether?”

Sylvia sighed.

“I don’t love the idea either, buddy, but I think he’s right. We don’t have a lot of time to shut down that canon before the aquanists start losing their bubbles, roots or no roots.”

“Ugh, fine! Let’s just go!” Hater growled. He still seemed to be spoiling for a fight, a sentiment Sylvia could get behind.

“I guess so.”

Sylvia could tell Wander still wasn’t happy with the decision, but she couldn’t think of a better idea.

“Alright, optic nerd. I’ll call if we find anything.”

She headed down her designated corridor, putting on as much speed as she could. She could already hear more footsteps and voices as guards called to each other, and she didn’t love the idea of facing too many more groups of them. They weren’t quite as tough as the dom bots she’d been breaking her fists against for what felt like far too long, but they were certainly sturdier than watchdogs, and packed a meaner punch too.

She’d already noticed there seemed to be several different reptilian species present, none of which she was familiar with. Some had frills, scaly green skin and wielded short sabres, some were big and purple with long snouts and seemed to favour clubs, and some were about half her size, yellowish with a pronounced underbite and carried both knives and strange looking crossbows. There was a distinct lack of lasers, blasters or any kind of advanced weaponry, which Sylvia remembered from their last encounter several years ago, but which still seemed very odd. How successful could an intergalactic villain be while her soldiers were so ill-equipped? It was bizarre.

Wander seemed to know many of the soldiers by name, and it had almost been a relief to hear him calling out happily to them like normal, after how quiet he’d been before. Still, in between these greetings, when she caught his eye, he still looked a little nervous, which she didn’t like.

The footsteps were getting closer.

Seeing a door beside her, Sylvia ducked inside, plastering herself and Wander to the wall as guards pounded by outside.

She stuck her nose out again once the noise faded, only for a muffled vibration to ripple gently under the floor as the sonic canon fired again.

“Grop,” Sylvia swore. “We’ve got to find the bridge. Come on, buddy!”

She darted back out of the room they’d been hiding in and down the corridor once more. Trying to stay ahead of the running feet and voices, she took several sharp turns one after another, heading deeper into the huge vessel.

“Hey, Syl, I don’t think we should go this…” Wander began, just as Sylvia rounded a corner and ducked through another door, then suddenly skidded to a halt inside a large room that seemed to be some kind of barracks. The room itself wasn’t what made her freeze, however, but rather the dozens and dozens of reptilian soldiers who turned as one to face her.

Chancing a glance behind her, Sylvia saw them closing ranks, cutting off their exit and, successful as their previous encounters had been, she knew there was no way she could take all of them.

“Heya, fellas,” Wander offered from her saddle, along with a friendly wave. “Don’t s’pose y’all know the way to the bridge.”

They probably did, to be fair, but as the ranks of soldiers closed in, and Sylvia dropped her fists at the growled order to ‘surrender,’ she mused grimly that this wasn’t the way she preferred to find it. At least Hater and Peepers were still out there, though that wasn’t an ‘at least’ she ever thought she’d count on. For now, she’d just have to hope the two of them were having better luck.

“Ugh, I can’t believe we’re doing this again,” Peepers muttered to himself.

“Doing what, Peepers?” Hater asked impatiently.

The overlord glanced at his third in command, who was currently trying to get one of the secure doors open, listening carefully as he turned the big wheel on the door. It wasn’t like any door lock Hater had seen before, and Peepers’ frustrated noises seemed to indicate that the watchdog was also unfamiliar with the thing.

Peepers paused in his turning.

“Sneaking through some other villain’s ship, trying to disable it. We’re bad guys! We should be focused on our own conquering, not trying to foil other villains!”

“Well, isn’t this still, you know,” Hater flapped his hand in the air, trying to remember how Peepers had put it, “‘eliminating the competition?’”

“Yes.” Peepers gave the door an ineffectual kick. “And ordinarily I’d be fine with that once in a while, but when we’re accompanied by the universe’s most annoying do-gooders, it doesn’t exactly scream ‘evil or heinous.’”

Hater rolled his eyes, gaze going back to the corridor he was watching.

Peepers had been complaining a lot about Wander and Sylvia lately, and it was starting to get annoying. Hater wasn’t completely unaware of the irony in him saying that, of course. A few months ago, he would have been ranting about Wander twice as much as Peepers was now but, well, things had changed.

Hater had been spending a lot of time with the furry pest, some of it even on purpose, and while Wander could still be annoying, the overlord found himself unable to summon the burning rage the nomad’s presence used to ignite. It had even sometimes been kind of fun.

And, though he had no intention of admitting it to Peepers, Hater had even kind of been having fun with the infiltration. It had been nice to show his power, to let loose on the reptilian soldiers who’d been attacking them, and surprisingly exhilarating to fight beside the zbornak to eliminate their enemies.

Sure, this wasn’t exactly how villainous overlords usually acted, especially ones of Hater’s calibre. If he attacked a rival villain, it had usually been with his intimidating army to the fore, himself commanding them and gloating as they crushed his enemy.

But it was kind of nice to be doing things himself, getting his hands dirty, and actually being the one to take the villain down.

It reminded him a little of his victory over Dominator.

Besides, he didn’t have his intimidating army right now. Most of them were still back fixing the skull-ship, and they had to beat Lady whoever-she-was before she destroyed the ship they were currently on. Peepers was just being overdramatic.

It was actually kind of weird now that Wander and Sylvia weren’t here, but somewhere else on the huge ship. Wander had seemed more himself once they started their infiltration, but Hater still wondered what that whole thing had been about. He’d never seen the nomad act that way before.

He couldn’t help hoping it had all just been momentary weirdness and that Wander was back to normal by now. Well, his normal weirdness, that is.

He wasn’t worried about the nomad. Hater wasn’t going to entertain that notion, even to himself. Besides, that was what the zbornak was for.

“So, what’s behind this stupid door anyway?” he asked, trying to change the subject.

“Possibly a control room,” Peepers answered distractedly. His head was pressed to the metal again, listening for something Hater wasn’t quite clear on. “The bridge would be the easiest place to stop the canon from, but I think some of the sensitive equipment might be housed here, and if I’m right, we might be able to cripple this ship even more effectively.”

“Uhuh.” Important stuff, Hater got it. He couldn’t hear any more noises of soldiers running or anything down the corridor, and wondered if they’d given their pursuers the slip. That was fine, but he hoped they wouldn’t be leaving until he found whoever this villain was and zapped her right in her stupid face. She was still owed that as far as he was concerned.

Crippling the ship would be all well and good, but it was the little pleasures in life that made it all worthwhile.

Sylvia and Wander’s chains clanked softly as they walked. It was a familiar sound. This wasn’t exactly the first time they’d been captured. They didn’t seem to be the toughest chains either. Sylvia was pretty sure she could break them, but she wasn’t about to try with so many guards around.

Not that they were acting all that menacing at the moment. Actually, the atmosphere was kind of…awkward.

Wander had been greeting and waving with his bound hands to all of the guards he could, reeling off their names without apparent effort, just as she’d seen him do to Hater’s watchdogs countless times and, like the watchdogs had gotten later in their ‘relationship,’ this lot hadn’t really seemed aggressive with him. Some had even waved or started to respond before their friends shoved them. Then they seemed a little shamefaced and didn’t make eye contact with him anymore.

Now, as they made their way through the polished corridors, Sylvia took a moment to check on her friend. He’d gotten quiet again after he’d finished saying ‘hi’ to all the soldiers, and he kept glancing around as though looking for something.

“You doing okay, pal?” She whispered.

Wander gave her a reassuring smile.

“I’m fine, Sylvia, how about you?”

“I’m alright.” The zbornak glanced ruefully around at their captors. “I mean, I’ve been better, but don’t worry. We’ll find a way out of this.”

Hopefully with a little help from their not-quite friends, though she didn’t want to say that aloud in case the guards heard. At least they’d probably taken some of the heat off of Hater and Peepers, so maybe those two would be able to complete the mission which, with some luck, would provide her with a distraction she could use to get her and Wander out of here.

Even as she had the thought, she saw a pare of ornate doors ahead of them, and stood a little straighter.

This was it.

The doors swung open, and their captors urged them through. Sylvia found herself looking down a long hall and felt her sense of danger spike dramatically. If the rest of the ship had been fancy, this hall was incredibly opulent.

The walls and floor were tiled in white with intricate designs of gold and light blue, and a rich, gold carpet ran down the center. The pillars and carvings on the walls were inset with what looked like precious stones, and elegantly manicured plants lined both walls. Delicate veils of coloured fabric hung from the ceiling, intertwined with lights that sparkled like stars.

This was not the kind of shmuck Sylvia would have robbed back before she met Wander. Rather, it was the kind she would have avoided because the rich rewards she could obtain wouldn’t be worth the danger she’d be getting herself into by trying. This was the kind of who had more galactic credit than they knew what to do with, and nothing constructive to occupy their time. She’d encountered some who threw lavish parties or took up dangerous hobbies, some who became warlords behind the safety of castle walls, and some, of course, who decided to conquer a galaxy.

Everything about the hall screamed that this was someone whose ego you did not want to mess with.

Then, she noticed its occupant.

At the far end of the hall, surrounded by more gauzy fabric curtains, sat a throne of polished crystal that glittered in the fairy lighting. It was obviously a throne, although the design was more like a couch or lounge, with golden cushions to soften it. And reclining on the throne was a being who could only be Lady Infinite.

In their last encounter, Sylvia had seen her for only an instant, when their escape ship had sped close by the windows of her ship. She’d had only that instant to register the villain’s presence, and much of the detail had been lost.

She was reptilian, some kind of snake-like creature in Sylvia’s opinion, and large, though it was hard to tell the length of her body since the scaly, sinuous coils were currently draped languidly across the long throne, tail dangling over the end. They were white, with a pearl-like shine to them which seemed to reflect faint pinks and greens in the glow of the lights.

Her upper torso swelled out slightly into thin, high shoulders, from which extended four slender arms with a seven-fingered, clawed hand at the end of each. Her face was sharp, but with a flattish nose that suggested the snake again, and large golden eyes with slitted pupils. Scales covered her all over, but smaller on her face and arms. She had a delicate frill or hood framing her face that shifted with her as she moved, the inside of which seemed to reflect those delicate colours more clearly. She wore a robe of pink and blue silk, and the long tail was decorated with several jeweled bands of varying sizes.

As they entered, the golden eyes slid over to Sylvia, then through and past her as though she didn’t exist, to finally settle on Wander.

One of the guards stepped forward and bowed.

“My lady, we’ve brought him.”

Lady Infinite’s eyes didn’t shift from Wander, and she didn’t blink. Sylvia didn’t think she had eyelids.

“Hello, Minstrel.” Her voice was sibilant, with an underlying haughtiness and a hint of a rasp at the back of her throat.

Sylvia watched her friend perk up, waving with his chained hands.

“Hi, Ms. I! Folks call me Wander around here.”

“Do they?” The eyes narrowed for a moment, then the villain seemed to relax, leaning back slightly. “It is pleasant to see you, Minstrel. It’s been a long time.” Her tone was soft, gentle almost, but there was something underneath it, an almost non-existent threat.

Sylvia could feel herself bristling. Beside her, Wander seemed to shrink for a moment. Then he chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with one hand.

“Sorry ‘bout that. I know it’s been a while, an’ I’d like ta visit more often, but y’all are pretty good at keepin’ a fella from leaving.”

“That’s because I want you to stay. I’ve missed you, little one.” She leaned forward again slightly, the pinks and greens on her pearly scales shifting as she moved. Then she smiled. “You don’t like my canon, do you Minstrel? You don’t like what it does to my planets. I thought it might bring you out of hiding.”

Her voice was still soft, but with a smug, self-satisfaction underneath, and that threat was more pronounced, a sharpness hiding just behind the words like a blade concealed behind the fringe of a cloak. It set Sylvia’s teeth on edge and she took a step forward, slightly in front of her buddy.

“Hey, scaly, back off, would ya? His name’s Wander, and he doesn’t wanna be on your flarf-narbling ship! If you’re going to threaten my buddy, you’re going to have to go through me!”

Finally, the cold eyes flicked back to land on Sylvia, and the voice was now equally chilly when the villainess spoke.

“Ah, the zbornak. The same one, I’m certain. I’ve wanted to see you as well, ever since you stole my star nomad from me.”

Sylvia glared; the confusion and danger signals in her mind overridden by her own indignation over how Lady Infinite had been speaking to Wander. She opened her mouth to retort, some very colourful language springing to mind, when she felt Wander step up again beside her.

“Hey now, I don’t reckon that’s called for! I left on my own. Syl was jus’ a friend I met along the way.”

Lady Infinite straightened, the end of her tail twitching and her frill trembling at the edges.

“Oh yes, a ‘friend,’ like the last five bounty hunters I hired to hunt you down and never heard from again, finishing with her. And then you left the Rondel Galaxy and I lost your trail. Well, I finally decided if I wanted you back, I’d have to find you myself, and here you are.” She raised one clawed hand, crooking a finger. “Come here, Minstrel.”

“No flarping way!” Sylvia growled, moving in front of her buddy again. Her metaphorical hackles were fully up by now, and she was not letting Wander go one step closer to the creep. She wasn’t sure how she was going to accomplish that; any second now, Lady Infinite would probably order her guards to grab them, and the odds of fighting their way out were still as rough as they had been when they were captured, but she was determined to do something.

Fortunately, she got a little help.

There was a sudden shudder through the tiled floor, and then the whole ship tilted sharply with a groan. A red warning light came on and a new, droning alarm sounded. Sylvia was knocked off balance, but managed to catch herself, grabbing Wander with her tail. Around them, the guards were falling and tripping over each other, trying to steady themselves, as Lady Infinite demanded to know what was going on.

Thank Grop for Hater and Peepers.

Sylvia knew this was probably the best opportunity she was going to get. She snapped her chains with one quick yank, grabbing Wander’s restraints and dealing with them the same way.

The ship was still listing over, the floor at quite a sharp angle now, but some guards were already back up and moving towards her. Sylvia gave a kick to one and a punch to another. She felt Wander settle into her saddle and gunned it for the door as fast as she could.

She could hear the guards giving chase, the villain yelling in fury behind them, but she didn’t look back. They had to find the others and get off this ship, especially if those alarms were anywhere near as dire as they sounded.

“Whew! Pretty good timing, huh?” Wander observed from her back, and Sylvia felt herself smiling, even with everything else going on.

“Yep,” she agreed, putting on more speed and darting up the slanting floor and into another hallway.

It sure was.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Fourteen: The Questions

It wasn’t that Peepers hadn’t expected the alarms. As primitive as this ship seemed, there had been alarms alerting the villain of their infiltration, so there would certainly be something similar to warn of any significant damage he caused to the ship, and messing with the main stabilizers was certainly that.

What he hadn’t expected was for the previously empty corridors to suddenly become lousy with guards, running this way and that, not in a panic, but clearly trying to hunt something down; them, he could only assume. He’d thought they’d have a few minutes of leeway as the guards pinpointed the effected area, but it begun almost as soon as he and Lord Hater had left the sabotaged control room and started to make their way back towards the lower areas of the ship and hopefully a way back to the ground.

Hater had also decided that they were looking for the two nomads as well, whereas Peepers had assumed the trouble-making pare could find their own way out of the ship. They didn’t have too long to get off of the thing, since the villain would likely retreat to make repairs, given how vulnerable a ship without stabilizers was, especially as there seemed to be some resistance from those on the Star Nomad below, and they needed to be gone while the ship was still hovering over Varta VII. That likely left them very little time to make their departure, and they couldn’t really spare any to find two pesky do-gooders who were probably perfectly fine on their own.

But, as usual, Hater wasn’t listening to him.

Peepers ducked behind a corner as a crossbow bolt struck the wall where his eye had been a moment ago.

The floor was very slanted by this time, which had probably helped to throw off the crossbow’s aim, and he braced himself against the wall, Lord Hater beside him.

“Intruders!” the guard called, and Peepers blinked in confusion. The guard sounded surprised, but weren’t they all running around trying to find intruders? He shrugged it away, opting to lean around the corner and return fire, with something a little more modern, thank-you-very-much! Hater was adding his own firepower to the battle, and the two of them exchanged a glance.

Peepers had to admit it was a little thrilling doing this with his boss, and if it hadn’t been for Wander and Sylvia mucking up the place, it might have reminded him of back when he and Lord Hater had just been getting their start as villains.

As they used their attacks as cover and retreated into another series of hallways, that thought stayed in the back of his mind. Something to think about later.

For now, they had to focus on finding the way out and, knowing his luck, Wander and Sylvia would already have done the same.

Sylvia darted down the hallways again, as fast as the tilting ship would allow. It was times like these she was thankful for her tail, providing much needed balance and steadying her when required. She could feel Wander clinging to her back, and it was comforting to know he was with her.

She could no longer hear the villain behind them, but it was clear that, despite the crisis the ship was suffering, she wasn’t about to just let them escape. Guards were converging on them from what seemed like everywhere on the ship and, although Sylvia had been able to lose the group that had been initially following them, she definitely didn’t feel like they were out of the woods yet, so to speak.

She was still mad, although now that they were at least in the process of escaping, she could feel several other emotions emerging that had been hidden underneath her anger.

She felt unbalanced, and not just because of the ship tilting halfway over. There had been something going on between Wander and that villain she didn’t understand, some history they had that seemed very different from Wander’s rapport with other villains they’d encountered. That brief scene in the throne room had left her with a big heap of questions and very few answers, and she didn’t like it.

One thing had been clear; Lady Infinite didn’t want to kill Wander, the way almost every other villain who’d met him did. Sylvia loved her buddy, but he certainly had a way of angering galactic conquerors.

But she did seem pretty obsessed with him, which seemed to be standard. She had certainly been hunting him, enough to seemingly travel all the way here from one of the neighboring galaxies to find him, not to mention putting out massive bounty rewards for his capture, as Sylvia was unfortunately familiar with. And she knew him well enough to know that attacking the planet would probably lure him out.

What had she wanted with him? When had he encountered her before, and what had happened back then? And why did she seem to know him by another name that Sylvia had never heard before? The questions sent danger signals all through Sylvia from her comb to her tail.

She wanted those answers, and the little alien clinging to her back was going to give them to her, just as soon as they were both safe and she’d checked on Wander. She’d gotten weird vibes from him in the throne room. It almost seemed like he’d been unhappy by the way Lady Infinite was speaking to him, which was strange all on its own. Sylvia certainly hadn’t liked the villain’s tone, all gentle and full of herself with that hard edge underneath, but Wander didn’t usually have that reaction no matter who was speaking to him with the most acidic manners and language. Most of the time, in Sylvia’s experience, a villain could call him the most horrible names, rant and rave and threaten to destroy him in any number of gruesome ways, and he’d be smiling away and totally fine with it all.

She didn’t like this change. And it only added to her intense desire to deck the villainess right in her scaly jaw.

But, right now, they needed to be elsewhere, and fast!

The huge ship creaked around them, tilting farther again, and then stopping abruptly. Sylvia stumbled on the sloped floor, and she heard guards exclaiming as they were knocked off their feet.

She glanced back to make sure Wander was still with her and hadn’t hopped off to go and help any of the fallen guards. He was sitting curled on her back, reigns loose in his hands, looking back, although he hadn’t made a motion to jump off. She couldn’t see what expression he was making.

Not paying attention to where she was going, Sylvia ran right into someone, knocking them over like a hard, bony bowling pin.

“Woah!” Hater yelled.

“Watch where you’re going, miscreant!” Peepes snapped.

“Buddies!” Wander exclaimed.

Sylvia stood, watching Hater do the same. The skeleton seemed to have picked up some extra baggage, two furry arms locked around his neck, but he seemed to be ignoring the hug and his passenger as he rose, grumbling.
It was oddly a relief to see Wander latching onto Hater again as though everything was normal.

Sylvia didn’t stop long enough to register much else. Once assured no one was hurt, she was off down the corridor again with Peepers and Hater following, the latter with Wander now somehow sitting on his shoulders again.
Sylvia wasn’t sure whether to be surprised or amused that Hater was letting him stay up there, but she wasn’t about to call attention to it.

She could still hear sounds of pursuit, but not as close as before. They must have shaken off the guards immediately behind them. Then, she saw the hatch they came in through.

Grabbing Hater and Peepers and pulling them onto her back, Sylvia put on another burst of speed and barreled through the hatch, the four of them tumbling downward and into the ocean below.

Just in time.

The tilted ship’s engines were already glowing. She gave a wallow in the air as though trying to right herself, then the engines seemed to light fully with a roar and the ship shot forward and away.

Sylvia felt herself breathing out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. The speed with which the ship had departed was worrying. They had gotten out very quickly and still barely made it. If they hadn’t, they would have been stuck on that ship in deep space, which was probably exactly what Lady Infinite had wanted.

Still, they had made it out. She glanced around at her bedraggled companions.

Hater was busy complaining that he hadn’t gotten to zap the villain, which Sylvia couldn’t really blame him for, as she felt much the same.

Peepers seemed to be thinking hard, likely analyzing what had happened with the limited information he had.

Wander was still sitting on Hater’s shoulders, mostly out of the water. He seemed completely relaxed and happy again, waving to the departed ship, then chatting to Hater like normal, to which the skeleton replied with a series of grunts and grumbles. If Sylvia hadn’t seen for herself how the little nomad had been acting earlier she wouldn’t have believed it.

She found herself smiling.

“Well, I’ve got to admit, Peeps,” she offered, putting a wet hand on the watchdog’s shoulder and almost giving him another dunking, “that was some first-rate sabotage!”

Pushing her hand off of him, Peepers sniffed.

“Naturally,” he said. “That is what we were there for. I notice you and the furry freak didn’t manage to find your way to a control room or do much damage to speak of. What exactly were you doing while Lord Hater and I completed the mission?”

“Meeting her ladyship.” Sylvia kept her voice flat.

“Wait, what?”

The zbornak let Peepers gape for a moment, and then reached over to grab Wander from off of Hater’s shoulders, plunking the soggy ball of orange fur onto her back. “Let’s go dry off and make sure everyone’s okay,” she decided.

She swam off, ignoring the shouted questions from behind her as Peepers tried to get information on what the villain had been like. Not that she was going to leave him hanging forever. She’d answer him eventually, but right now, she needed something to eat and a towel. She desperately wanted to feel dry.

And they had some friends to check on.

“Okay, here we go. Just ask him. He’s Wander; he’ll be fine answering.”

Sylvia paced back and forth down the wooden corridor. She glanced over at the door to Wander’s room, but found herself hesitating to knock. Normally, what she’d said would be true, and she wouldn’t be worrying about asking anything of her buddy, but she found herself a little at a loss as to how to bring up this particular subject.

When they had first gotten back to the Star Nomad and climbed abord, it had been to thunderous cheers. Their friends had all seen them escape the ship, and the subsequent retreat of the giant, metal monster, and had drawn their own conclusions. Hater had tried to act casual, but Sylvia could tell he loved the attention, while Peepers had seemed pretty uncomfortable about the whole thing.

Fortunately, there hadn’t been too much structural damage to their own vessel, though one mast was badly cracked and the railings were broken in many places. There were some repair crews working on that right now.

There also hadn’t been too many injuries, which was a relief. A few aliens had gotten injured by falling debris or been knocked about when the cannon had shaken the ship, but Lady Infinite hadn’t sent down any soldiers to attack directly, or used any more targeted or lethal weapons, which was fortunate. Sylvia still wasn’t all that sure what weapons she actually had access to, although all of them seemed to be somewhat outdated, especially according to Peepers. She might not have any other main weapons, or she might have just been using the cannon because of its effect on Wander.

Sylvia had been tired after everything, but had dutifully gone with Wander, Jeff and a few of their other friends on another trek to the underwater city to check on it and its inhabitants, and had found the place shaken and with lots of new structural damage, as well as quite a few injured parties. They’d spent a long time down there helping the citizens in the most need, and Sylvia was dropping by the time they made it back to their ship once more.
She’d slept deeply that night, despite all the questions knocking around in her head.

This morning, those questions seemed more pressing than ever, and she didn’t think they could wait much longer.

She’d picked a time when Hater was elsewhere, not wanting the skeleton lord to get in the way. He was currently off with Peepers somewhere plotting or something, which was fine. It at least gave her a little privacy for the moment.

She’d also had to make sure Wander was actually in his room, which had been harder. He always seemed to be elsewhere on the ship helping someone. She’d finally seen him head back there with a comb and brush and followed him at a distance.

Now, here she was, trying to summon the resolve to talk to her best friend about everything and, for the first time, she wasn’t sure how to go about it.

If Wander had had a past with Lady Infinite that was bothering him, she didn’t want to force him to relive any unpleasant memories. Seeing him worried and quiet had concerned her. Not that Wander never worried about things, especially when Dominator had all but destroyed the galaxy, she had seen him sad, worried, even frightened, but seeing him worrying just because of a particular villain was strange. It made her wonder what that villain had done previously, who she had hurt. She didn’t want to push her pal into talking about something he wasn’t comfortable with.

At the same time, however, she felt like she needed to know what was going on. If the villain had hurt Wander in the past and had the potential to still hurt him, she needed to be aware of that for the next time they encountered her, and she was sure there would be a next time. Lady Infinite had been pretty clear that she was after Wander, and that she was willing to attack others to get to him. She was going to keep showing up, once she got her ship fixed, and they had to be prepared before she descended on them or tried to hunt down her buddy again.

Sylvia wasn’t about to let that happen; any of it, but she needed more information. She didn’t even know why the villain was after Wander, although she’d gathered it wasn’t because she hated him or wanted to destroy him. If anything, it seemed kind of like the opposite. She seemed like she’d been trying to capture him because she wanted him for something. She’d even said she missed him, although that might have just been the way bad guys ‘missed’ their prisoners when they escaped.

The zbornak sighed.

It was useless to sit here and speculate. She had to talk to Wander.

She just hoped he’d feel comfortable enough to answer.

She stepped forward and knocked.

“Come on in!” Wander called cheerfully. “The door’s open!”

There was a spitting, scratching noise, then the hiss of acid. Sylvia pushed the door open and was almost bowled over by Captain Tim as the little monstrosity scrambled over her and fled down the corridor. Sylvia had just time to notice how glossy his spiky black fur was, as well as the yellow bow he was wearing. She shook her head and went inside, to find Wander putting the grooming items back in his hat and arranging a rug over the acid scoring in the floorboards.

“Hi Sylvia!” Wander beamed up at her, and Sylvia found herself smiling back the way she always did. His smiles were just so warm and genuine. How had there been a time before the two of them were friends, a time when she hadn’t trusted that smile? “You feelin’ better this morning?” Wander asked. “Ya looked a might tired last night.”

“I really was. Surprised you weren’t, to be honest.” Sylvia sat on the wooden bench by the door, glancing around at the small living area. It looked pretty much like the other cabins she’d seen on the ship. Not as big as hers, which had space for a table and cabinet and all the maps and tools she was using to navigate the ship, but she could tell Wander had been adding some personal touches.

There were some bright curtains framing the porthole, and a framed picture of the skull-ship, which he’d probably gotten for Hater. There was also only one hammock, and a make-shift bed was taking up one side of the room next to a basket that was certainly for Captain Tim. The bed was neatly made, by Wander, she was sure, but he almost certainly wasn’t the one sleeping in it.

“Well, I was a little tired, but there were an awful lot of folks who needed help and…” he shrugged good-naturedly.

“It never hurts to help?”

“Exactly! But I got to sleep eventually.” He sat down beside her, legs swinging as he smiled up at her from under his hat. “So, what can I do for ya, Sylvia? Do you need any help?”

“A little, I guess.” Sylvia took a deep breath before turning seriously to her friend. “I haven’t asked too much about your past, and you haven’t asked about mine, at least for the most part,” she started. “I know that’s not anything we ever agreed on, but I don’t really like talking about that time in my life, and I was always grateful that you respected that.”

Even mentioning it was a little difficult as it turned out. Sylvia hated thinking about the person she’d been before meeting Wander. She’d been in a really dark place and she hadn’t even known it; she’d just thought it was normal, that the universe was what she thought of it. And she didn’t like thinking about their first couple of days together either, when she’d been dragging him along with her, snapping at him and thinking about all the money she’d get for turning him in. Wander had never pushed her about her past, never tried to make her talk about that. He’d been ecstatic when she opened up to him about small things, or took him to meet her family, but he’d never tried to get to her tell him more than she was comfortable with.

She’d never really thought to ask him more about his past, both because it would be a little hypocritical of her, not being willing to share her own, and because she didn’t really think about it that much. It seemed like Wander had aways been the way he was, happy and helpful and chaotic, just traveling around making the universe a better place. She’d learned a few things about him, like finding out he’d actually stolen that magic hat of his and why, but she’d never tried to pry or even really wondered about all the rest; where he came from, what planet, what species, the places he’d traveled and the things he’d seen. She didn’t even know how old he was or if he had any family, but those had never felt like things she needed to know.

Both of them had been content with what the other offered as they traveled together through this crazy galaxy.

Wander’s smile was gentler now, and he put one furry hand on her arm, giving it a small squeeze.

“O’ course, Sylvia! I’ll always respect m’ best buddy’s privacy.” He seemed to think for a moment, and then his eyes got huge and glittery, as he clasped his hands under his chin. “Does this mean yer gonna tell me some childhood stories? I was really hopin’ ta hear some when we went ta visit yer family, but they didn’t seem ta wanna share. How ‘bout when ya lost yer first tooth, or saw yer first flower, or, ooooo! Mebbe a song Ms. Dorothy used ta sing when you were a li’l –”

“No, no, nothing like that!” Sylvia waved her hands desperately in denial. She should have known that was the stuff Wander was most interested in. “Actually, buddy, I kind of want to ask you some stuff, if you don’t mind, of course.”

Wander deflated momentarily at the loss of potential baby stories, before recovering.

“Well, sure, Syl! I’m always happy to share with my sister-from-another-mister!”

“Heh, yeah.” Sylvia chuckled briefly, glancing around the room again before turning back to him. She took one more deep breath, for luck.

“You know that villain we met; Lady Infinite?”

Wander nodded. So far, so good.

“She’s…quite something, isn’t she?”

Wander nodded again. His hands had found their way to his lap where he twiddled the thumbs together.

“She sure is! Ol’ Lady I always was big on decoratin’; likes ta be pretty an’ own pretty things. Thinks it makes ‘er seem more impressive ‘r regal or somethin’. I’ve tried ta tell her she doesn’t need all that stuff on the surface, but I guess she’s still pretty set on it.”

That wasn’t quite what Sylvia had meant, but she decided to roll with it and hope it would take her somewhere useful.

“You said ‘always.’ How long have you known her?”

Wander’s eyes slid away from her, around the room to settle on the hands in his lap. He hummed quietly to himself for a moment as though thinking. Now he definitely seemed quieter than before, energy dampened, and Sylvia felt herself swallow.

“Not sure how many years it’s been,” Wander said softly. “Specially as we’ll go fer a long time between seein’ each other.”

“Well, what was it like when you first met her?” Sylvia tried. She knew from experience how hard it could be to tease detailed information out of Wander, not because he was purposefully evasive, but because he didn’t always explain things the way you would expect. It was like he thought a little differently from everyone else. Details that seemed important to her would escape his notice, and he’d focus on the strangest things. In this case, he also seemed a little hesitant to talk about Lady Infinite, despite his assurances. She had to be patient and help him along.

Wander seemed to be thinking again, smile dimming and eyes going distant.

“That was an awful long time ago, an’ it might be kinda long.” His eyes flicked to the porthole, where the setting sun was painting the sea orange and pink. “I aughta start supper soon. Maybe I can tell you afterward.” He started to stand.

Sylvia wrapped one arm around his thin shoulders, keeping him sitting and causing him look back at her.

“At least tell me some of it, and then I’ll help you with supper,” she promised. At a sudden thought, she found herself asking “Why did she call you Minstrel?”

Wander chucked, but it was a strange chuckle, not as joyful as she was used to.

“Well, guess that’s as good a place as any ta start.”

Sylvia nodded, giving her buddy her full attention as he sat back and took a deep breath of his own, before beginning.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Fifteen: The Stories

“Do you know what a Minstrel is?”

Sylvia shook her head. Wander was playing with his fingers again, tapping them together distractedly while he thought.

“Well, they’re a sort of musician an’ travelin’ storyteller, leastways that’s what I heard. They don’t always travel. Sometimes they’ll stop an’ work for a king or a conqueror or somethin’, tell ‘em jokes an’ stories an’ sing songs ta entertain ‘em. Well, some years ago, I was travelin’ through the Finbarr galaxy; you know, that big swirly one you can jus’ barely see?”

“Uhuh.” Sylvia didn’t know it. Wander often pointed out particular stars, constellations and galaxies as they traveled, but she couldn’t keep them all in her head. They only stayed with her when the stories he told about them were sufficiently weird or funny. This one must not have stuck, but she wasn’t about to derail the story by telling him that, especially when it had been so difficult to get him on track to begin with.

“Yeah, an’ that type o’ person must’ve been pretty common over there, so folks started callin’ me that.”

“They just started calling you Minstrel? And you didn’t say anything?”

Wander smiled lopsidedly at her.

“Aw, Syl, names aren’t important. That’s what people liked callin’ me, so I let them!”

Sylvia frowned at that, but didn’t risk interrupting. It was very like Wander to not care what people called him or said about him, but there was something about the admission that made her uneasy. There had been no name listed on the bounty poster when she’d first found out about the little nomad and started trying to hunt him down. Was his name actually Wander, or was that just something people in this galaxy called him? It made her feel strange to think that she might not know something about her best buddy as basic as what his name was. She didn’t voice this thought either, but kept it in her head this time. It was something she might like to ask about later.

Wander was continuing.

“Any-whooser, I came across this big ol’ pretty planet, all fulla mountains an’ towns an’ such, an’ wouldn’t ya know it, there was this army busy tryin’ ta take control of the place; makin’ all the citizens bow down an’ build this huge palace in the center of town. Well, I headed on over there ta check it out an’ see if’n I could make some new friends.”

Sylvia snorted.

“Sounds familiar.”

“Yeah! An’ that was Lady Infinite and her army, though I didn’t know that at the time. I jus’ thought maybe I could help ‘em all have a little fun an’ get along a little better. She was out inspectin’ her statue, an’ I guess she got a little upset I was interrupting, and things got a might out a’ hand.”

Wander waved his hand, and Sylvia nodded. So far, the story was about what she’d expected. It could almost be a summary of their first meeting with Hater.

“So, you distracted them and saved the planet,” she concluded.

“Kinda,” Wander admitted. “And she wasn’t too happy about it. After that, we would run into each other every now an’ then. Not all the time. There were a lot o’ conquerors in that galaxy, an’ Lady I didn’t get around too much, had her own territory she was working on takin’ over, but I guess she wasn’t too keen on me showin’ up when I did.”

It sounded, from what Sylvia could tell, as though Lady Infinite hadn’t been the villain Wander was mainly focusing on in that other galaxy. She wasn’t sure exactly when she’d noticed it in their travels together, but, while the two of them would go to the help of anyone who needed it, and had interfered with and stopped quite a few villains, they didn’t seem to run into most of them as much as they did Hater. In fact, not only had Hater actively targeted herself and especially Wander for much of the time they’d known him, sending bounty hunters after them and even hunting them down himself, Wander had often seemed to be seeking out the villain as well, sometimes to the point that Sylvia would swear he got captured on purpose just to spend time with the guy. She wondered if that was a Hater-only deal, or if there had been other villains Wander had glommed onto like that.

In any case, so far, she wasn’t seeing a reason for Lady Infinite’s obsession with Wander, so she stayed quiet and kept listening.

“Well, eventually,” Wander continued, “I ended up travelin’ out of the galaxy altogether. I’d made a lot of friends, an’ I heard about some people who needed help, an’ so I wandered that way, an’ I didn’t see any of my friends for a good long while, includin’ Lady I.”

His voice softened, as though he missed those friends, and Sylvia found herself leaning slightly closer. There was a distant, almost, sad look in his eyes that she didn’t usually see there. Sylvia hadn’t really thought about it before, but she wondered how many galaxies her buddy had traveled through. Galaxies were huge, and she’d never had the desire to stray out of their own but now, listening, it occurred to her that this probably wasn’t the galaxy Wander was originally from. He’d come here from somewhere else, which was probably why she’d never seen any other members of his species. She wondered why she’d never thought of that before. After all, Wander knew people from other galaxies; Jeff, Screwball and now Lady Infinite. She supposed Wander just seemed so at home here, so familiar with this galaxy, she’d never thought it might not be his original home.

“Well,” Wander said, soft voice breaking through her thoughts, “I’m not sure how long it was, but eventually I traveled back that way again for somethin’ or other, an’ I bumped into her again, an’ well, she was a little surprised ta see me again. I was a little surprised myself.” He gave a quiet chuckle, and Sylvia raised an eyebrow, not sure what the joke was, but Wander didn’t elaborate. He suddenly smiled up at her. “She’d gotten quite a few more planets under ‘er belt, an’ controlled a big section of the galaxy, an’ she certainly remembered me, so she managed ta capture me and had me brought to her ship an’ we got ta talkin’.”

Sylvia snorted quietly to herself. It always amazed her the understated way Wander talked about being chased, captured and interrogated. He made it all sound so harmless.

“I guess that was kinda when things changed a bit.” Wander’s fingers had stopped tapping. Sylvia watched as he squeezed his hands together in his lap. “Before, she would get annoyed when I’d show up, an’ we’d play games sometimes or she might come after me fer somethin’, try ta mount my head on ‘er wall, you know.

“After we ran into each other again, she started treatin’ me a little differently, started want’n ta see me more often, puttin’ out bounty posters an’ hirin’ folks ta find me an’ all real insistent I come back to her ship. An’ I was happy ta see her again. I thought maybe she was finally starting ta wanna be friends, but, well, seems that wasn’t quite what she had in mind. She got a little harder ta talk to, and she wasn’t s’great at listening either, an’ she got real good at keepin’ me from leavin’ once I was on the ship.” He perked up suddenly with a smile at Sylvia. “I was happy ta visit her, but I do like ta do m’ travelin’. Lots of amazing things ta see an’ lots of folks who could use a helpin’ hand. Anyway, that was about when you and I ran into each other.”

“Wait, hang on a flossing second!” Sylvia demanded. “You can’t just gloss over everything. She followed you all the way here. What exactly does she want from you?”

Wander’s smile got a little lopsided.

“Reckon she wants me ta be her minstrel,” he said.

Hater wasn’t worried about Wander. He wasn’t, he told himself.

Just because the furry weirdo had been acting strangely, being all quiet and worried-seeming and junk, that wasn’t a reason why Hater should be worried.

Besides, Wander had seemed much more like himself when they’d escaped from the ship. He was probably fine by now.

Hater wasn’t even sure whether Wander would be in their room. It was around the time when the little nuisance usually started supper, so he might be in the kitchen. Still, Hater found himself walking down the familiar corridors anyway. He didn’t really want to see anyone else right now, much as he’d enjoyed the cheering after they’d driven off Lady Whose-her-face and saved the ship, and the planet, from her stupid cannon.

Hater was still feeling a little annoyed about that. It sounded like Wander and Sylvia had gotten captured and had a face-off with the villain while he and Peepers had been stuck on sabotage duty, and while that meant he’d technically been doing the more important role, actually damaging the ship, he hadn’t even gotten to see this upstart villain, or show her what an actual galactic villain looked like. He hadn’t even gotten to throw any lightning, except at her dumb reptilian guards.

Hater decided that if Wander was out cooking, he’d wait until after supper to see him. There was no hurry. In the mean time, he’d take a nap or play with Captain Tim or something.

He was about to open the door to their room when he paused. He could hear the murmur of quiet voices from the other side. It sounded like Wander and the zbornak were talking. He tried to hear what they were talking about, but he couldn’t quite make it out, except for a curse from Sylvia when she raised her voice slightly, so he rolled his eyes and pushed the door open. It was his room too, after all.

The two nomads had been sitting together on the small wooden bench by the door. Sylvia jumped slightly when the door opened, and Wander’s smile widened as he hopped to his feet.

“Hatey!” he greeted happily. “How’re ya doin’, buddy? You’re probably gettin’ hungry, huh? I was just about ta start supper, but I’ll see you in a jiffy!” With a happy wave, he was gone.

Hater blinked after the nomad’s rapid exit, before turning to the glaring zbornak.

“Great timing, bonehead!” she scolded. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to get Wander to talk about anything serious?”

Hater glared right back.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t ‘talk’ in my room,” he snapped. “Anyway, who cares? Why can’t you just ask him again later?”

“Because I was finally starting to get some information about…” Sylvia trailed off. “Never mind,” she sighed. Standing, she moved toward the door as well.

Hater bit his jaw.

“Wait,” he said.

Sylvia paused; one eyebrow raised enquiringly.

“What?”

Hater glared, trying to keep his voice gruff and in control.

“You said to find you if I wanted to talk about…stuff.” He crossed his arms, purposefully not looking at her.

“I did.” Sylvia’s voice was quiet now, and when Hater glanced at her he noticed she’d turned to face him. “Well?” she asked.

“Well, maybe you were right, kind of, a little, about…you know, how I’m maybe feeling and junk.” Hater could feel his skull heating up and clenched his hands.

Surprisingly, Sylvia didn’t smirk, and she didn’t seem smug or condescending.

“Oh?”

Hater’s clenched hands tightened, claws digging into his bony hands through his gloves.

“I maybe don’t…hate Wander anymore,” he admitted painfully.

“Uhuh.”

“And all that other stuff you said,” Hater continued, “it’s all kind of…yeah, sometimes.” He felt like he was forcing the words out. He wasn’t even sure he should be talking to her about this at all. Peepers certainly would advise him against admitting anything like this to an enemy like Sylvia, but somehow, he couldn’t keep it inside anymore. He needed to talk to someone about this and it seemed like, impossibly, she understood. “It’s – it’s not just that I don’t hate him anymore,” he found himself blurting out. “I maybe even…like, he’s Wander, and he’s still weird and dumb and annoying, but sometimes he’s…not, and it’s kind of even…fun or something. It’s like he’s…like I’m…” he struggled to find words to describe it.

“He makes you feel good.” Sylvia sat back heavily on the bench. Her voice was quiet, and there was some almost melancholy emotion in it he couldn’t name. Hater stared at her. “He makes you feel good,” she repeated, “and at first, you didn’t want him to, because he was making it harder to see him the way you wanted to, and you were starting to see yourself differently too, and you couldn’t seem to stop. Maybe you even started seeing the whole world differently. It would be so much easier if you could keep being the way you were and if he could stay your enemy, and you feel almost helpless, almost like he stole that from you, but at the same time, it feels nice, and comforting, and you start enjoying it despite yourself, even though it makes things harder.” She paused, looking him up and down. “Am I close?”

Hater felt his heart give an unpleasant lurch. He felt rage boil up inside him even though he couldn’t quite explain why.

“How?” he growled. “How do you know all of that?!”

Now, Sylvia did smile, but it didn’t really look like a happy smile, but almost bleak instead.

“Because,” she said calmly, “the same thing happened to me.” She met his eyes, and Hater almost felt like her gaze was cutting through him. He swallowed. “Calm down, and sit down,” she ordered, “and I’ll tell you about it.”
Hater almost snapped at her again. Who was the zbornak to give him orders? Instead, he walked stiffly to his bed, the bed Wander had made for him, and sat down. He was still glaring, but more because he didn’t really trust his face to do anything else, and he looked across at her levelly.

Sylvia nodded. She looked suddenly tired, and seemed to collect herself for a moment.

“This doesn’t leave this room,” she started. “This is my business, and nobody talks about it but me.”

Hater, intensely interested by now, despite the uncomfortable prickling feeling down his spine and his still turbulent emotions, nodded.

Sylvia sighed.

“I met Wander a little over two years ago,” she started, “only a few months before we met you, actually. We met because I was hunting him. I was a bad guy, a bounty hunter, and a flarfin’ good one too.” She glared across at Hater challengingly, as though daring him to comment on that.

Hater couldn’t help himself.

“You used to be a bounty hunter?” he demanded.

“Yes.” Her eyes felt like they were burning into him. “And I was way better than those flarf-narblers you used to send after us. Mind you, I wasn’t a bounty hunter all the time; grifting, scamming, stealing, ripping off gangs and villains and warlords, I did it all. You remember Ryder?”

Hater glared.

“Yes,” he grumbled. The loss of his storage facility and all the treasures he’d stolen still smarted, though he hadn’t exactly been clear why the outlaw had been working with Wander and Sylvia back then.

“Well, he was my partner for much of that.” Sylvia grimaced as though tasting something unpleasant. “Not that either of us were very good partners. Then there was a freak black hole and I ended up alone, without our ship or any idea what to do next. I thought, bounty hunting was always a good way to make some fast cash and it just so happened I found a bounty poster for this little orange guy who was worth so much I could buy my own planet if I caught him. That probably sounds pretty familiar to you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Hater’s glare darkened. He, himself had put out bounties for Wander that were so large the little pest was still ranked the most wanted fugitive in the galaxy, not that it had done any good. “Wait.” He frowned. “You hadn’t met me yet, so who…?”

“Lady Infinite,” Sylvia supplied with a dry smile. “Our ‘friend’ from earlier today, as I’m sure you remember. I didn’t know anything about her except that she was offering a ridiculous amount of credit for the little guy, so I set about tracking him down, which wasn’t easy, but I eventually found him and managed to catch him, though I had to destroy a killbot to get him.” She shrugged as though all of that was of no consequence.

“Then, I had Wander, and all I had to do was get him to my employer and I’d be richer than I could imagine.”

Hater found himself leaning forward slightly. He didn’t know how Sylvia had known what he was feeling, but he would never have guessed that Wander’s companion, the best friend to the ‘friendliest face in outer space’ had been an actual bad guy.

“So, then what happened? Did he escape?”

“Nope.” Sylvia’s smile softened slightly. “He didn’t even try to. In fact, he didn’t even act like he was captured. He seemed happy to just go along with me, wherever I wanted to drag him, even though I’d handcuffed us together and I was pretty clear about the whole ‘turning him in to a galactic villain’ thing. He just seemed to be having fun traveling with me, and he kept helping me along the way and trying to do nice things for me like making me breakfast, not that I appreciated it.”

Her face turned grim again as she seemed to think for a moment.

“At first, he just annoyed me, which you can probably understand. He was just so nice and kind and so flarping ‘helpful,’ and he was so goofy and weird at the same time. For a little while, I wondered if it was all an act, if he was actually doing it to make me let my guard down so he could escape, but that wasn’t it, and it was pretty clear he was just genuinely like that. Then, I tried to write him off as a sucker. I figured if he was going to be stupid enough to just let himself be captured and sold, it would make my life easier, and I tried to tell myself it didn’t bother me, but, well, it was making me feel weird, even if I didn’t know why, especially since it was clear he did understand what I was doing to him, it was just that he was happy to be with me anyway.

“We traveled together for a couple of days, and everything was getting harder. It got harder to snap at him and drag him around, harder to dismiss the things he said or the way he seemed to look at the universe, and harder for me to justify what I was doing. It was like he was holding up a mirror for me, and the more I looked in it, the less I liked what I saw.”

Sylvia’s eyes were boring into him again, and Hater shifted uncomfortably.

“But I kept at it, mostly because I didn’t know what else to do at that point.” Sylvia’s voice was very grim. It almost sounded like she was angry, at who he couldn’t tell. “I tried to convince myself that what I was doing made sense. I told myself it wouldn’t do any good to let him go. After all, if I didn’t turn him in and get all that money, someone else would grab him and do the same as soon as I turned my back, so what was the point?

“And I knew Wander wouldn’t blame me. He was convinced we were friends, and he’d still have seen me as a friend even when I handed him over and left with my money; I knew he would have. So, I brought him all the way to the meeting point, and we waited there together.”

She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, and Hater shifted again, feeling almost like he’d been freed from a spell.

“Did you turn him in?” he asked, and was surprised at how soft his voice sounded.

Sylvia didn’t seem to hear him.

“I think all I wanted was for things to go back to normal,” she said. “It was so much easier when the galaxy was all dark and cruel and ugly, full of suckers and people who took advantage of the suckers to climb to the top. For a long time, I’d felt like that was the only way to live, but Wander didn’t fit with that viewpoint. He went through life trying to help others and make the universe better, but he wasn’t weighed down by that, or discouraged by all the people like me, or all the tyrants, conquerors and villains that were even worse. It seemed like he tried to help them too, and he had fun while he was doing it. It was a way of life that should have been impossible, but the more I got to know him, the more I saw and the more I wished I could live like that too, at least a little.

“I didn’t turn him in. I couldn’t. I told him to run and hide before my employer got there, but he didn’t. He asked me to come with him instead.”

Now, a softer smile formed on her face, and Hater felt a strange ache in his chest cavity that he couldn’t explain.

“We ended up both running and hiding together, and eventually we were able to get away. I still didn’t really understand how Wander managed to live the way he did but, by then I couldn’t go back to being what I was, and I knew I would miss him if I left. I wanted to be with him instead. I wanted to be friends, even though I hadn’t really believed in friends before. And as soon as I admitted that, I felt better, because I was doing what I wanted to, finally, and we started traveling together.

“Of course, we had a lot of disagreements. We still do. I’ve got my own way of doing things, as I’m sure you know. I’m not going to try to hug everyone or love every problem away. That’s Wander’s way of facing the world. I’ve got my own, and I probably always will, but it doesn’t mean I haven’t changed since we’ve been together, for the better, I think.”

Her smile widened, and it made Hater feel even more uncomfortable than before, because it felt like one of Wander’s smiles, the ones that seemed to see right through him to his innermost core.

“Being Wander’s friend and traveling with him makes me happier than I ever thought I could be. He showed me that I didn’t have to live the way I was. I didn’t have to stay trapped in my perception of the universe, and I didn’t have to leave everywhere the way I found it either. He taught me I could change it, make it better, that I could help others, but also that I could live my life the way I wanted to, and not be dragged down into the role I thought I had to play. I can choose what I want to do instead.”

Her smile softened again into a more Sylvia-like expression, and Hater exhaled, not realizing until then that he’d been holding his breath.

“But I’ve talked long enough.” Sylvia concluded. “That’s my story, and you can think what you like about it. Now, why don’t you tell me yours.”

She looked straight across at him, and Hater felt himself swallow, feeling suddenly trapped again. The expectation in the room was almost stifling.

Your turn, it seemed to say.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Sixteen: The Friendship

Sylvia looked across at Hater.

She still couldn’t believe she’d told him all of that. She hated talking about her past, about the person she used to be. She didn’t like that person anymore. She’d grown and left those beliefs behind her.

Wander didn’t really understand. To him, their meeting was a happy event. It was when he met his best friend, and he’d been her friend right from the start. He’d known who she was, that she was a bounty hunter and why she had captured him, he just hadn’t seemed to mind. He seemed to remember it as a fun adventure they’d had together; their first adventure.

It hadn’t felt that way to Sylvia.

She’d spent the first leg of their journey trying to keep Wander down; snapping at him, yanking him around with her and reminding him that she was planning to turn him over when they got where they were going.

That part was hard to think about, how she’d met his every friendly gesture with ridicule and disdain, and it made her think about all the other outlaws she’d caught and turned in for their reward money. None of them had been as innocent as Wander, but she was willing to bet a good many of them hadn’t done anything wrong either. She hadn’t cared why her employers had put out the bounty posters, she’d just caught their subjects and gotten paid. Looking back on all of that now, the guilt was almost suffocating.

The next part of their time together hadn’t been much fun for her either. That was when she’d started feeling guilty about turning Wander in, and she’d spent a lot of it wrestling with her conscience and trying to justify her actions to herself. She had started having fun traveling with Wander eventually, but at the time, that had just made her feel more guilty.

She tried not to focus on her past that much. However they had met, it had been worth it. She couldn’t imagine her life without Wander in it anymore, didn’t want to think about a timeline in which they hadn’t met, or where she’d just captured and handed him over. He was her best friend, her soulmate, and she knew he felt the same.

And she supposed the reason she’d actually made herself talk about everything; spilled the beans on that particular uncomfortable subject, was because she’d felt like she’d needed to.

Hater needed some help; some support with what he was going through. Wander was helping in his way, by being the friend he’d been all along, supporting Hater with kindness and patience and understanding.

That wasn’t Sylvia’s style. It wasn’t really her style to help Hater at all, but things had changed for all of them during that battle with Dominator, and Sylvia had seen how much Hater had started to change. So, she did want to help him, not just because she owed him for the save, or because Wander believed in him, but because of what she’d seen, because she’d started to believe in him as well.

This was her way of helping, of showing Hater he wasn’t alone, and that he didn’t have to keep making the choices that he’d been making for years. He could change if he wanted to. He could grow along with this new galaxy they were living in.

Now, she’d have to see if any of that had penetrated that thick skull of his.

He had to say something. The only problem was he had no idea what that should be.

Hater looked uncomfortably across at the zbornak who appeared to be waiting patiently for a response. She seemed to have all the time in the world and, despite the fact he’d asked her to stay and tell him about her and Wander, the skeleton lord was starting to feel a little trapped.

He really hadn’t expected any of that.

He’d known Wander had a talent for reforming villains. He’d seen enough evidence in the form of Major Threat and The Black Cube of Darkness for Hater to be uncomfortably aware of it.

And both of those examples had made him feel pretty worried.

The Black Cube had been notoriously feared for years. They had been a rising star of villainy, actually stealing the colour from the planets they conquered, and possessing an ability to suck out people’s souls that was terrifying to hero and villain alike.

Then, after that uncomfortable scene at the battle royale where they had been unable to claim the ring of invincibility, they had fallen out of the public eye, withdrawn from their planets and disappeared into some backwater. To be honest, Hater hadn’t really paid much attention to what was happening with the cube. He’d had his own problems, in the form of trying desperately to find some way to impress Dominator and ask her out, and he hadn’t really cared about anything else.

But it turned out the cube had been on the secret planet with Wander, and they hadn’t even sucked out any souls or tried to subjugate anyone under their fearsome power. In fact, Hater was pretty sure Wander had mentioned teaching them to play the banjo, though he had no idea how that was supposed to work.

That would have been uncomfortable enough, but then you had Major Threat, the Terror of the Galaxy, the villain who had inspired Hater to become who he was today. His idol. Threat had been the villianest villain to ever wear the title, and it hadn’t mattered. Wander had made friends with him anyway, had changed him, had Wanderized him until he was barely recognizable, replacing conquering with charity work and destruction with hugs and smiles.

And that had just been worrying.

Hater couldn’t hate Wander anymore. He’d tried as hard as he could, but those feelings were gone. He didn’t want to torture or kill the nomad or even banish him to a pit of ultimate pain. Thoughts of those things happening to Wander had actually started to bother him, to make an uncomfortable feeling swirl deep down in the bottom of his ribcage.

Not only that, but he was maybe even starting to enjoy Wander’s company, to have some fun with the nomad. He couldn’t help it, it had just sort of started happening. And he was enjoying his time on the ship with the galactic citizens they were transporting. They all seemed to want to be around him, and he’d found it unexpectedly pleasant being around them as well. He felt like Wander was to blame for that as well, though he couldn’t quite verbalize how.

And of course, there was that whole ‘saving’ thing that seemed to keep happening, despite Hater’s declarations that it wasn’t going to happen again.

But even while his feelings were changing and he was enjoying traveling on the ship, actually enjoying his time with Wander and the refugees, the thought of Major Threat, the Cube and the others he’d heard about had been like a warning in the back of his skull; a warning that Wander was getting to him, and if he let himself get used to everything too much he might end up just like them: Wanderized.

But he’d just heard Sylvia’s story, and it didn’t quite seem to fit with that warning.

Because she had been a bad guy. Maybe she hadn’t conquered planets or anything, but she’d been a bounty hunter and Hater was aware, as he was sure Sylvia was too, that to be a successful bounty hunter, you had to work with a lot of villains and do a lot of unsavory things. It also sounded like she’d had her fair share of other underhanded jobs, especially given what he knew about that jerk Ryder.

And she had captured Wander.

It seemed so strange to think about. In Hater’s experience, the two were inseparable. Sylvia was Wander’s protector, his helper and his friend. She’d rescued Wander from his own bony clutches countless times, and helped to foil his evil schemes just as often.

But there was an important distinction there, something that didn’t fit with his worries of what had happened to Major Threat.

Sylvia had become Wander’s friend, but she hadn’t been Wanderized. Just as she’d said, she helped Wander and protected him, but she did it her way, with a truly intimidating amount of violence, even to someone like him. She could be angry, sarcastic and used some truly creative swear words when the situation called for it. She didn’t run around singing songs and hugging everything the way Wander did.

And when he took a step back from those lurking fears and actually thought about Wander, everything seemed to make a little more sense.

Because he knew Wander.

He’d been obsessed with the nomad for over two years now, lying awake at night devising tortures for the pest or hunting him down and capturing him, not to mention all those times Wander had shown up on his ship on his own to drive him crazy.

And all of that had come with a fair amount of familiarity.

Just as he’d instinctively known when Wander was behaving strangely earlier, Hater knew how Wander usually behaved, at least so far as he himself was concerned.

The nomad was a frustrating ball of sunshine, music, games and unasked for affection. And he doled out a lot of that affection to Hater, whether Hater wanted it or not. Whether Hater had captured him or he’d just shown up, he was always eager to spend time with Hater, chatting to him, trying to distract him with games or weird ideas he came up with. He seemed genuinely happy no matter what they were doing, even when Hater spent the whole time trying to destroy him.

But he wasn’t malicious, and he wasn’t dishonest. Hater knew that in the marrow of his bones. Wander would never try to trick someone, lie to them or force them into anything.

And he liked Hater. He seemed to have always liked Hater. He’d always tried to get Hater to be friends with him, and Hater knew Wander hadn’t been lying about that either.

So, if he liked Hater and wanted to be his friend, why would he try to turn him into someone else?

Sure, he probably didn’t want Hater to conquer planets anymore or torture anyone. You only had to spend about thirty seconds with Wander to figure that out, but maybe Hater didn’t have to be worried about the nomad brainwashing him into playing a banjo for butterflies or dancing under rainbows either, both of which he’d had nightmares about.

All of these thoughts and realizations hadn’t taken up much time, and Sylvia was still waiting for him to say something.

Hater cleared his throat.

“I didn’t, um, know, about any of that.”

“Good,” she said. “You only found out now because I wanted to tell you.”

Hater shifted uncomfortably.

“It’s not the same,” he found himself saying. “I’m not some…some amateur bad guy, I’m a real villain. And I wasn’t won over after a few measly days. Wander’s been trying to get to me for years!”

Sylvia blinked across at him for a moment, then she snorted.

“Are you really trying to start some kind of villain contest with me? It’s not a competition.”

“I know!” Hater crossed his arms petulantly. “But if it was, I would have won. I’m just saying.”

Sylvia shook her head, and once again the expectant silence hung between them for a few moments.

“I hated him so much.” Hater was almost surprised to hear his own voice, as though he’d expected to only be thinking those words. His voice was quiet, barely above a whisper. He glanced across at Sylvia and she had a sad little smile on that he hadn’t been expecting.

“I know,” she said.

“No, really!” Hater protested, feeling suddenly like this was important to communicate. The words burst out of him, a growl of confused emotion. “I hated him more than I thought would have ever been possible, and I’m Lord Hater! I couldn’t stand him! He was so annoying and frustrating, and he always won, no matter what I tried, how many ways I trapped him or how many doomsday devices I used. I hated him so much it was like nothing else mattered! I thought about him all the time. It kept me awake at night, just knowing he was out there, singing his stupid songs and playing his stupid banjo and smiling his stupid smile!

“And the worst part was that he never saw it that way. He always wanted to see me again and play his stupid games with me! He was always happy to see me, even when I’d captured him, and he always wanted me to be happy too! He wanted to ‘help’ me be happy. That was why I couldn’t just kill him. I needed to make him scared, to make him hurt! I needed to make him hate me the way I hated him, or at least to make him fear me like sane creature would!”

Hater paused, voice quivering with his emotions. His hands were clenched, claws digging into the bone. He took a deep breath. It felt like such a relief to voice that to somebody, though he never would have expected it to be the zbornak. He relaxed his hands, picking at his robe and voice softening.

“I guess I had to prove him wrong, prove that he didn’t really like me, even though it never worked. I kept trying to make us enemies because I was his enemy, but he would never be mine.”

Sylvia didn’t say anything this time, she just nodded.

Hater sighed, looking away, at the little circle of sky he could see out of the porthole.

“I don’t even really know when he stopped being so annoying, or when I started hating him less. I didn’t notice.” The skeleton held his hands open on his lap, staring at the yellow of his gloves. “Grop, he’s so weird! I think he’d get captured on purpose, just so we could spend some time together, and then I’d try to destroy him and he’d just be talking to me like we were friends or something. And I think I’d forget. I’d forget about destroying him, and we’d start talking about something like guitars, or planets, junk like that. We planned that whole flarping destruction ceremony together and it was even kind of fun, until you ruined things by shoving the cake into the Disaster Blaster Five-Thousand and making the ship explode. And then he started trying to help me with all that stuff for Lord you-know-who.”

Hater grumbled to himself, not wanting to get into that whole mess.

“Whatever,” he dismissed, annoyed at where this whole conversation had gone. “I don’t hate him anymore. I didn’t even really think about it until after that big battle when I was totally awesome and everything. And I tried for a while, I tried really hard to hate him again and it didn’t work. I don’t know why. I don’t want to kill him anymore. I don’t even want him gone, I guess.”

He glared at Sylvia suddenly.

“So, now what? What am I supposed to do? Do I have to be friends with the freak?” he demanded.

The zbornak smirked, and Hater suddenly remembered why he hadn’t wanted to talk about this with her in the first place.

“Aren’t you friends?” she asked.

“How dare you…” Hater started stiffening in his seat, and then he trailed off, jaw swinging shut abruptly as his indignation stuttered to a halt.

Ever since he’d gotten on this dumb ship, he’d been spending an absurd amount of time with Wander, cooking with him, talking, playing music, even just hanging out together in their room. Not only that, but Wander seemed to always be close to him, closer than Hater would ever have stood for before. Flarp, he’d even let the pest ride on his shoulders multiple times. And he hadn’t hated it, hadn’t even thought about it half the time.

Sure, sometimes he still found Wander annoying, but far more often he’d enjoyed having the nomad around, hearing his happy chatter, doing things with him and just…having him near. It had felt comfortable, normal, and even fun in a way he could never have imagined. It was like he’d been lonely all this time without realizing it and now, suddenly, he wasn’t. He’d even gotten used to drifting off at night with Wander’s soft snores in his ears.

And all of that lead him suddenly to a terrifying realization.

“Oh Grop!” he groaned. “We are friends, aren’t we?”

Wander carefully shifted his spatula before flipping the quesadilla neatly in its pan so he could fry the other side. He’d made the salad and chopped some avocados to make fresh guacamole. Now he just needed to fry the quesadillas, which admittedly was quite a job since there were a lot of people to make them for, but he didn’t mind. It was nice to give his hands something to do while he thought.

To be honest, he was feeling a little guilty.

He knew where Sylvia was coming from. She was just worried about him, and she needed some information on the villain they were up against, information only he could give her.

What’s more, she was right.

Lady Infinite wasn’t going to stop now that she’d ventured so far outside her territory, not to mention actually found him again. She was going to keep showing up and Sylvia needed to know the kind of danger they could expect when she did.

And there would be danger. Wander was uncomfortably aware of that.

Wander paused, tapping his fingers on the counter next to him as the quesadilla hissed quietly in its pan.

The problem was he didn’t really know how to give her the information she needed.

Sylvia was never very satisfied with his explanations. She thought he left details out, and maybe he did, but never intentionally. There were just some things that caught his notice and others that seemed less important.

And talking too much about his past often seemed a little difficult. He’d had a lot of adventures, but he’d often rather enjoy the adventures he was having now then dwell on those in his past, even though all of them held a special place in his heart.

Though, this time was admittedly a little more difficult than usual.

Wander had met a lot of folks in his travels through the universe. He’d made friends with a lot of them, even if it had taken a while for some of those friendships to grow. He hadn’t minded. It had been nice just to know he was helping along the way, and he’d had plenty of time. And through those experiences, he’d worked out a lot of ways to help the people who needed it, and he usually left a galaxy happier than he’d found it.

Some folks…were harder to help.

One of those was Doctor Screwball Jones, who thought he was helping others to be happy, and hadn’t understood how damaging it could be to force that happiness on them. Wander didn’t want to think too much about the doctor at the moment, but he was certainly a puzzle, and someone Wander had to deal with a little differently.

Lady Infinite was another.

Wander spent a lot of time getting to know her and her reptoid soldiers, visiting The Palace, playing songs and hanging out. When he’d had to leave the Finbar galaxy, he’d hoped some of the friends he’d made would have been able to help her, but it seemed that hadn’t worked out. He’d wandered back eventually and she’d still been there, conquering just like before. It had been a surprise, but Wander had started trying to help once again, and he’d thought it had started to work. But once they’d gotten to know each other better, things had gotten a little complicated.

And that didn’t mean Wander didn’t care about her, or that he’d completely given up hope on helping her one day, but he’d found himself rather at a loss. It felt like he wasn’t able to reach her the same way anymore. Lady Infinite was hard to talk to. She had a way of being kind to him and dismissing him at the same time. She wasn’t interested in listening, even though she wanted him around her, and every time he ended up on The Palace, she got better at keeping him there.

It probably would have been a little easier if Wander was still traveling by himself. Then, at least, Sylvia, Hatey and all his other friends wouldn’t get wrapped up in everything. Then, at least if he got captured for a while there wouldn’t be anyone worrying about him. But that wasn’t a choice he was able to make, and not one his friends would let him make anyway.

Wander tilted the pan, turning the quesadilla out onto a warming plate and beginning to fry the next one.

Now that Lady I was back and looking for him again, there might be a few other things he’d need to talk to Sylvia about, and he really aught to figure out how to talk about them before the next time she showed up, or he might not get to make that choice either.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Seventeen: The Departure

Friends with Wander.

Friends with Wander.

It didn’t bother him as much as it should.

Sylvia was gone. Apparently, she had promised to help Wander cook, provided he hadn’t finished yet.

The small cabin seemed empty, though not really in a bad way.

Hater stood, glancing around the space at the personal touches Wander had added; the curtains and what looked like a new rug on the floor, the pictures on the wall and Hater’s bed.

He didn’t hate any of them. They were actually kind of calming to come back to at the end of the day.

And Wander was as well, Hater supposed.

It was funny; he’d spent so long chasing the nomad, hating him and trying to destroy him, and so much time agonizing over losing that hatred, but now, suddenly, he almost felt relieved. He knew what he was feeling about Wander, and knowing that wasn’t as scary as he might have expected.

It hadn’t been something he’d intended to happen. Hater had, in fact, done his utmost to make sure it didn’t, to no avail. He’d ranted and raved, denied and dodged, and tried his hardest to pretend it wasn’t happening, but now here he stood in their room, and he couldn’t do any of that anymore.

This was it; they were friends.

He was friends with Wander.

At least, he was for now. Soon they’d be reaching Flendar, provided they disembarked from this weird bubble planet on time. Then he and Peepers were planning to leave and hopefully fix the skull-ship.

Hater missed traveling in his ship. It was comfortable, even luxurious, especially when he had this place to compare it to, and it was all made to his specifications and to suit his personality. He felt completely at home on it. He could never be that comfortable on Wander’s weird sailing ship without all the modern conveniences he’d grown used to.

But still, he felt a strange tightness in his ribcage at the thought of leaving.

Perhaps because once they left, and got their ship fixed up, they were going to start conquering again.

He was going to have to go back to being the big bad villain who came down on planets with a crack of thunder, an army at his back, and spreading destruction in his wake.

He was going to have to get used to people looking at him in fear and alarm again, to crushing their hopes and dreams and enslaving them under his electric-fisted rule.

And all the people on this ship who smiled when they saw him, sat beside him at the dinner table and cheered when he played guitar, he would be conquering their planets too, eventually, and he’d lose all of that.

Except for Wander, Hater supposed. Wander liked him all the way back when he’d first met the little nuisance, when he was the most powerful villain in the galaxy, and Wander would probably go on liking him no matter what he did. The nomad was weird like that.

So, Wander would probably continue to be his friend, but Hater wouldn’t be able to be his friend anymore, and after all the agonizing he’d gone through before admitting it. He’d have to go back to trying to destroy the nomad, capturing him and throwing him in his dungeons and planning horrible tortures to inflict on him.

And Wander would still probably be fine. He’d probably just go back to distracting Hater, showing up and foiling his plans with smiles, hugs and banjo music, and the zbornak would go back to beating up his watchdogs and blowing up the skull-ship.

That status quo he’d grown accustomed to before Dominator showed up in the first place.

Rote.

And everything else would probably go back to normal eventually too. Wander would still be his friend, all the rest of them would go back to fearing him soon enough, and he’d lose everything he’d foolishly let himself get used to while on this stupid ship; their interest, their admiration, and their company.

Peepers would say he shouldn’t look at it as losing anything, but regaining what was rightfully his, as becoming the Greatest in the Galaxy once more. Hater wanted to be great; he always had. And he’d always associated greatness with ruling the galaxy, destroying all who opposed him and striking fear into the hearts of everyone who crossed his path. It was the only way he knew how to be.

If he still wanted greatness, was that what he’d have to do?

Hater brushed his unease away. He still had a little while to go until then, to figure out how to feel about all of that.

For the moment, getting used to his revelation about Wander would be more than enough. He wasn’t quite sure how he should act around the nomad now that he knew they actually were friends. He felt very uncertain about all of that.

He wasn’t even really sure how friends were supposed to act, what they were supposed to do together. If he had become friends with Wander without realizing it, did that mean he’s already been acting like the nomad’s friend?

He supposed he didn’t really have to behave any differently. Wander had been treating him like they were friends all along, after all, even when Hater was chasing him around trying to electrocute him, and he was perfectly happy with Hater’s grumbling and monosyllabic responses from more recently. In addition to that, Wander had no idea Hater had come to any kind of realization about the two of them. He wouldn’t be expecting Hater’s behavior to change.

Sylvia might decide to tell him, but Hater had a feeling she wouldn’t, even though several months ago she would have delighted in spreading something like that around. He still scowled to himself when he remembered all the videos she’d taken and posted during the aftermath from his dentist appointment.

Maybe because she’d shared her own story with him, a story she pretty clearly didn’t enjoy talking about, Hater knew she wasn’t going to tell anyone about his own secret. He felt strangely safe, despite his confidant being the aggressive blue alien who’d turned his army into bowling pins on far too many occasions.

Hater sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Whatever he decided to do, he still felt strangely at peace. Supper would probably be ready soon, but for now, he could afford to relax for a little while.

Before he saw his…friend again.

He must have fallen asleep, because when he woke it was to a delicious smell, and to find Wander setting a covered tray on the nightstand next to him.

Wander smiled when he saw the overlord was awake.

“Evenin’, buddy! Thought ya might be hungry since you missed supper.”

Hater looked sidelong at the smiling orange face, and didn’t feel quite ready to answer. To buy time, he sat up, removing the cover on his meal: a quesadilla with guacamole and salsa, and some kind of yellow rice on the side.

“Yeah,” he agreed finally. “I guess I am.”

Wander’s smile widened. He sat cross-legged on the edge of Hater’s bed, and watched as the overlord ate though, being Wander, he still chatted away happily at the same time.

Hater found himself sneaking glances at the nomad as he shoveled food into his mouth. He really had gotten hungry and, as usual, the food was so good.

It was strange looking at Wander with his new perspective. He found himself noticing things he hadn’t before; the comfortable way Wander smiled at him, like they’d known each other forever, and it almost felt like they had, the relaxed way he was sitting on the bed, the way he leaned closer to Hater at certain moments during his stories, or winked at him in that intimate way he had. But mostly, Hater noticed things about himself. He noticed that when Wander smiled, it felt warm, instead of fueling the anger and hatred inside him the way it used to, the tranquil set of his own bones, like he wasn’t sharing the space with his greatest enemy, and how when Wander leaned close to him, Hater had no desire to move back.

He finished his supper, putting the empty plate down on his bedcover.

Wander’s smile widened at this action.

“Guess ya were hungry, huh, Hater?” he observed.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Hater said again. He dithered for a moment internally. Even with his new revelation, or maybe even because of it, this seemed almost like admitting defeat. He took a deep breath, before straightening. He was still the Greatest in the Galaxy, the being who had singlehandedly saved the galaxy, even if that thought was still slightly conflicting. He couldn’t let himself be intimidated by the hairy orange spoon. Just because they were friends now didn’t mean Hater should let Wander take the lead all the time and drag him around everywhere. Even if things had changed, Hater still aught to be in charge.

“Are you…” he started, and found himself having to wet his suddenly dry mouth, “are you going to play your banjo in the common room tonight?”

Wander’s face seemed to soften slightly, smile going gentle.

“I thought I might.”

Hater looked away, out over the small room; their room.

“Maybe I’ll go with you,” he said quietly, then almost wanted to bite his tongue. Maybe it shouldn’t have seemed like such a big admission, but it was the first time he’d really acknowledged that that was what he was doing; that he was spending time with Wander and not just going wherever the nomad happened to be. When he looked back over at the alien on the bed beside him, it was to see Wander smiling at him again, of course, and the smile felt like the radiant heat of a star, warming him down to the marrow of his bones.

“Gosh, Hater, that sounds swell!” Wander gushed.

Hater rolled his eyes, crossing his arms and looking away again as though disgusted by the furry pest.

He certainly wouldn’t have put it that way, but as they stood and headed together down the corridor, he felt that warm feeling still winding its way inside him, slipping gently around his bones.

And he didn’t necessarily think Wander was wrong.

The journey was over. They had finally reached Flendar.

Hater stood again in the doorway of the room that he’d shared with his former nemesis and looked around it one last time.

It was small and simple, with a weird hammock and a make-shift bed.

And he was going to miss it, a lot, not that he was planning to say that out loud.

Some of the watchdogs Peepers had brought with them had already unloaded his luggage early this morning and so, just like when he boarded, all that was left was him and Captain Tim.

The rest of their journey had gone relatively smoothly, at least compared to the madness that had happened on the first two planets they’d visited.

After leaving Varta VII and its weird bubble cities and two-headed inhabitants behind them, something Wander had not been willing to do until he and some of the others had helped to repair the damage that lady something-or-other had caused, they’d had a pleasant week and a half of travel to get to Mixetray, famed far and wide, before Dominator, for their edible arrangements.

Unlike Varta II, Hater was pretty sure he had conquered Mixetray before, although he wasn’t completely sure. He’d conquered a lot of planets before Wander had come along and ruined everything, and he’d never been able to keep them all straight. Plus, Hater had no interest in fruit or flowers, so a lot of the planet’s fame had been lost on him.

It did look significantly more impressive now than it probably had before. Wander’s flower had wound thick, green vines around and about it to hold it together after Dominator’s drill must have split it apart. It almost looked like a giant green bow, with the flowering trees that had grown up across the planet’s slopes somehow resembling a bouquet of flowers held together with green ribbon, which Wander had pointed out with delight.

The inhabits seemed to be doing well since the attack, and more of the Star Nomad’s passengers had departed, wanting either to settle down on the new planet, or to at least find a temporary home while the ship continued its quest to deliver all its citizens safely back to their homes.

They’d spent a few days there, resupplying and exploring, and Wander had delighted in showing Hater ‘the sights.’ For his part, Hater had been fairly mollified when he found out the planet’s citizens made decorations out of cookies as well, and he’d enjoyed their time there quite a bit.

And, of course, he’d enjoyed traveling on board the ship.

Back at the beginning of this weird voyage, Hater had predicted he’d be hopelessly board without his tv and video games, and that the journey would be incredibly frustrating, especially as he knew Wander was going to be dragging him around and bugging him constantly.

As it turned out, he easily might have been bored, at least if he’d stayed sulking in his room the way Peepers seemed to have wanted him to. Instead, he’d wandered around the ship, finding things to do and meeting and talking with the other passengers, and of course spending more time than he’d ever imagined with the furry orange headcase who’d once been the chief object of his burning hatred.

That last leg of their journey, after he’d had his revelation that he was actually already friends with the weirdo, Hater had found himself taking a more active role in the kinds of things he did, and who he did them with. Instead of strolling through the corridors looking for something to do, he’d suggested activities a lot of the time, such as target practice on the deck with a few of the other passengers, even including Sylvia, as it turned out, and a rock concert in the great room, with himself on microphone, Wander as lead guitarist and Major threat rocking the base. Peepers had grudgingly agreed to play keyboard, and Sylvia had stepped in and taken over the drums. That had been a night to remember!

He'd still ended up cooking with Wander a fair amount, unsure when it had gotten so fun, but now that he wasn’t pretending to be there against his will, it was even better. He found himself coming up with his own ideas for what he thought they should make for supper, and Wander was more than willing to go along with his demands when they had the appropriate ingredients.

And, of course, he still ended up pulled into lots of activities he wouldn’t have chosen, because Wander’s enthusiasm remained a force to be reckoned with. He worked with Wander to plan a dance party, got roped into a knitting class, and even got dragged along on the pest’s helping routine a couple of times. He didn’t do a lot of actual helping, at least without complaining about it a lot, but he’d ended up moving a few things around for the nomad or holding things steady, just so long as Wander understood he wasn’t doing it to be helpful, but just because he felt like it.

And none of that had been awful. Sure, it wasn’t always stuff he was a fan of, but somehow doing it with Wander made it…bearable, he supposed.

Hater sometimes found himself wondering if that was the whole ‘friends’ thing at work. He’d never had a friend before, and he still didn’t really know what it meant to have one. Maybe they were just someone you liked being around and spending time with, who liked listening to you and doing things for you. That definition would fit the hairy toothpick pretty well, he thought, at least now that Hater’s own feelings had changed.

Wander was still acting the same around him, though he’d maybe seemed a little happier in the past week or so, if that were possible, but that wasn’t really surprising. Hater had a feeling Wander had viewed them as friends since that long ago day on Bingleborp, and nothing Hater had tried had managed to change that attitude, something for which Hater now found himself slightly, and silently, grateful.

He took one final glance around the room, then turned, closing the door behind him. Captain Tim scuttled beside him as he made his way out of the ship. The little monstrosity also seemed slightly subdued, though that might just be his imagination.

Walking down the gangplank, Hater stepped onto the soil of Flendar.

The formerly industrial planet looked quite different from the way it used to without its factories spewing smog and its organized fortifications. The flower’s touch was obvious here too, although it seemed to have taken some cues from the planet’s previous appearance; walls of sharp thorns sprouting up everywhere. According to Wander, the plant had even created filters for the water, and there were many large-leafed plants growing everywhere that apparently were helping to clean the air as well. The whole place looked fierce, but decidedly greener and far healthier than it used to.

It had already been a few days since they’d landed here, and the king of Flendar had already departed, he and his counselors spending time assessing the new state of the planet. Much of their infrastructure and technology remained, though damaged, and they had managed to get some small ships working, as well as to unearth the parts Peepers had declared to be most vital for the Skull-Ship. The king had done this perfectly happily, and it made Hater’s ribs feel strangely tight to think that he would be coming back here to conquer the planet eventually.

Everything had been ready to go for a while, and Peepers was just waiting on him.

He felt that familiar presence beside him, and turned to find Wander suddenly there, holding Captain Tim in his arms, the arachnomorph going from struggling briefly to relaxing in surrender as Wander snuggled him.

“Now, you be a good captain an’ take care of Hater an’ Mr. Peepers an’ everyone, ya hear?” Wander instructed. His voice wavered slightly, as though on the verge of tears, and Hater snorted, crossing his arms disdainfully to cover up the faint ache in his own bones.

“Well, guess I’d better go,” he managed gruffly. “Peepers said everything’s ready so…yeah.”

Wander set Captain Tim gently on the ground, and Hater didn’t even flinch when the nomad flung himself toward him, furry arms wrapping around his neck. He felt one of his arms go naturally around the skinny body for a moment before his face heated and he closed the gloved hand around Wander’s torso, prying the limpet off of him and plonking him back on the ground.

“‘S been awful nice ta travel with ya, Hater!” Wander said, big moist eyes focused on Hater’s suddenly green face. “We had a lot of fun! I’m sure gonna miss you a whole bunch!”

Hater coughed, trying to cover up the sudden rush of confusing feelings inside him. He narrowed his eyes, trying to appear merely annoyed with Wander’s antics.

“It’s not like we’ll never see each other again,” he growled.

“Yeah.” Wander gave a sniff, offering Hater a somewhat watery smile. “We’ll all still be travelin’ through the same ol’ galaxy. I’m sure we’ll run into each other now an’ again. An’ once things calm down a little, we’ll have ta plan somethin’ ta do together!”

“Sure.” Hater’s throat felt tight. He didn’t want to think about what it would look like the next time he ‘ran into’ Wander.

He straightened, forcing himself to stomp away and over to his commander, who was waiting somewhat impatiently by the ship they’d been given. It was significantly smaller than the Star Nomad, but should be faster according to Peepers. Hater chanced a glance behind him and saw Wander waving excitedly. He resisted the urge to wave back.

He could hear several other aliens calling out well wishes and it made that tightness inside him sharpen.

He and Peepers boarded the ship, and Hater sank down in one of the chairs in the cockpit. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling, but it seemed like all the energy had gone out of him all at once.

“Ugh, finally!” Peepers muttered, turning to the controls and starting the engine. “Let’s see how fast this bucket of bolts can get us to the skull-ship. Things are finally going to go back to normal!”

Hater didn’t say anything. He picked Captain Tim up, holding his pet close and running his claws through the spiky black fur.

He didn’t know how to feel about all of this, but one thing he knew was that Peepers was wrong; things would never be back to normal again.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Eighteen: The Impressions

Peepers always had been efficient; too efficient, Hater sometimes thought.

Here they were, only a week and a half out from leaving the Star Nomad, the skull-ship was fixed, for the most part, at least, and they were already poised to conquer a planet.

And Hater was frankly dreading it.

It wasn’t one of the planets he’d visited with Wander and the others. Peepers had decided to fly the other way, hoping the news would take a while to reach the others, and that they’d be able to gain a hold on several systems before anyone came to try and stop them. The watchdog had really been pushing the soldiers and repairmen. Apparently, there had been rumors that some of the other villains were starting to trickle back into the galaxy now that Dominator was gone, and Peepers had informed Hater that their best strategy would be to have as many planets as possible by the time their competition arrived; to be firmly at the head of the Galactic Villain Leaderboard right from the start.

Hater stared down at the small planet; a patchwork of spiky mountains and winding rivers. He didn’t remember the name of the place. He’d been tuning out a lot during Peepers’ strategy meetings. He didn’t need to know anything except when to make his dramatic entrance, and he didn’t really want to know anything else. Any details he overheard by accident just made him feel weird inside.

The planet looked alright, for now. The flower had certainly been active here as well, filling in the cracks from where it had been split by the drill with greenery, though it didn’t seem as aggressive as it had on some of the other planets he’d been to.

And there were inhabitants here. Hater wasn’t sure what they were called either, but they seemed to be small with bright green skin, long noses and big droopy hats. He could see that much from the eye windows. In any case, there were lots of them. Peepers had been excited about that. Much of the planet’s population had managed to survive in caves in their mountains, though the place itself had likely been decimated, and there were still large cracks cutting through its surface between the rivers that hadn’t been filled in yet. Peepers had pointed out that the more inhabited planets they conquered, the greater access to labor resources they would have, which would increase their power significantly.

It was all very logical and strategic, as usual.

And the thought of it sat like a stone where Hater’s stomach should be.

Abruptly, he felt the ship descend, with a slight hiccup as the engine kicked over; it wasn’t back to one hundred percent yet, then they dove, slamming into the planet with a concussive force that shook the ground around them and sent any nearby citizens to their knees.

By design, naturally.

The tongue shot to the ground and watchdogs marched out in a dark wave, blasters raised, eyes up and heals clicking smartly. Hater had to admit they looked impressive. Their morale problems seemed to have vanished after his impressive destruction of Dominator’s ship, and his troops once again respected him and gave off that efficient and menacing aura they once did, though he wouldn’t hold his breath on that once Wander and Sylvia inevitably started showing up to stop him again.

With an internal groan, Hater forced himself to leave the windows and head down after the troops. Part of him wanted to stay on the skull-ship for the rest of the invasion and hide from the frightened cries he was sure would be emanating from the planet’s inhabitants soon enough, but he couldn’t let himself do that. If he wanted to be The Greatest, he had to take control of planets. This was something he needed to do, and he wasn’t going to do it huddling in his room. He was still in charge, even if he wasn’t relishing being in charge right now.

He stepped out onto the tongue perfectly on time with Peepers’ ringing announcement of…

“LLLLLOOOOORRRRDDD HATER!”

There was an expectant silence as Hater took another step forward, glare dark, hands sparking menacingly, and then a sudden outpouring of noise and exclamation that froze the overlord where he stood.

Because it wasn’t the fear he’d been expecting.

“Woooo! Lord Hater!”

“He’s here! He’s really here!”

“He even beat Dominator back!

“The savior of the galaxy!”

“Lord Hater! Welcome to Trifoil!”

Hater stared around in confusion at the cheering citizens. Some were throwing flowers, some waving banners that seemed to have his face on them. The watchdog soldiers who’d gone marching menacingly out mere moments ago appeared just as baffled, guns drooping, scratching their heads, some starting to smile or blushing under the attention.

The distinct sound of a whistling teakettle drew his attention back to his commander, who appeared to have reached his boiling point.

“What are you idiots doing?!” Peepers demanded. “We’re conquering you! What don’t you understand about that?! And you!” he snapped, turning on the watchdogs. “Don’t stop! Get down there and terrorize!”

“Well, we would but…” One solider scuffed his boot bashfully.

“They’re welcoming us!” a second one added.

“I don’t care!” Peepers snatched the blaster from the second watchdog, conking him on his helmet and sending him to his knees. “It’s about time someone reminded this stupid backwards galaxy what Lord Hater is really…”

“Wait, Peepers.” Hater’s voice was quiet, but Peepers must have been surprised by his tone, because he did stop. His narrowed eye turned toward the overlord expectantly. Hater was still feeling stunned, but he felt like he had to say something, had to do something. He had to act now while he still knew what he wanted, not miss his chance and just go along with things the way he sometimes did.

He took a deep breath, putting some base into his tone to let everyone know he meant business.

“I want to hear what they have to say.”

Peepers dropped the gun, from suddenly nerveless fingers, leaving the soldier to scramble for it, rubbing his head. Hater’s commander leaned closer, one hand shielding his eye as he whispered.

“Sir, are you sure? I don’t want to contradict you, but if we don’t squash this now, it might be this way on every planet we conquer. We’ll be a laughing stock when the other villains show up. We need to make them fear you again, we need to dominate them.”

Hater moistened his suddenly dry mouth.

“I don’t care.” He narrowed his eyes, back stiffening as he looked down at his commander. He hadn’t been able to really communicate this to Peepers last when they’d been arguing about it. He’d just made excuses. This time, he was going to say what he wanted.

“I’m Lord Hater.” He fixed Peepers with his glare to emphasize it. “Why should I care what some two-bit villains think?” He felt his face heating and resolutely clenched his clawed hands. “I like this! I am impressive and…and awesome and everything, and it’s about time people started realizing that!”

“Sir…” Peepers started.

“Ahem.”

Both Hater and Peepers turned to find a rather short alien with a skin that was a brighter green than most and was dressed in bright, patchwork colours. He had a crown on his head, over his floppy farmer’s hat, thereby clearing up any confusion Hater had about who he was.

“Benevolent Lord Hater,” the king said, bowing with a sweeping gesture, “it is a great honour to welcome you to our humble planet after your recent triumphant victory. It is perhaps a little presumptuous, but we had hoped you might be persuaded to take us under your protection. We believe there may be more dangerous threats like the dread Lord Dominator in the future, and we would be much more secure as a small part of your grand empire.” Turning, he gestured at the town square, where several of the small aliens were struggling to unveil something under a massive red cloth. The cloth finally slipped off, in time with a fanfare of trumpets from what looked like a marching band, to reveal an easily fifty-foot statue of Lord Hater himself. “We took the liberty of preparing this, just in case you were willing,” the king finished, almost apologetically.

“But we’re a dangerous threat…” Peepers started.

“Yes!” Hater cut him off. He wasn’t sure what ‘benevolent’ meant, or ‘presumptuous’ either for the matter of that, but he didn’t particularly care. He shot his commander a slightly sheepish glance, then looked quickly away from Peepers’ twitching eyelid and quivering hands, squaring his shoulders to face the king. “I mean, I, Lord Hater, the Monarch of Mayhem, the Duke of Destruction, am prepared to accept your planet into my great and powerful empire.” He smirked around at the watchdog soldiers, daring them to protest, though most of them looked pretty happy too.

The crowd of citizens were cheering with renewed energy, waving their banners and lifting their children up to see him, which Hater had certainly never seen before. Usually families tried to hide themselves, and their children. He kind of liked the change, though he wasn’t going to say that.

He avoided looking at Peepers for now. He knew his commander would have some choice things to say to him later, and he wasn’t looking forward to the confrontation they were sure to have, but at the same time, he suddenly felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

Why should it matter how he took control of a planet? If the citizens happened to have heard about how amazing he was and actually wanted to join his empire, well, wasn’t that even better than marching out and terrorizing the citizens? Wouldn’t it be better to have planets under his control that were loyal? Planets that wouldn’t want to rebel? And wouldn’t it be better if he didn’t have to force the citizens to respect and submit to him? Sure, it was less evil, but Hater didn't think he minded that.

Somehow, it seemed like he hadn’t missed the screams, the cowering and the terrified silences when he marched out of the skull-ship to take command of a planet. Hearing the cheers instead, seeing the citizens and the king excited to welcome him; that felt way better. He still felt powerful, but in a different way than he used to, and he found himself having to control his face, to keep his skull locked into a look of stern authority and keep his smile from breaking through. He didn’t want to seem like he was enjoying everything too much, after all.

Peepers was clearly not okay with any of this, Hater could practically feel the watchdog’s gaze burning into his back, but at least he was staying professional and not making a scene in front of the cheering crowd. The rest of the watchdogs didn’t seem to mind, at least. And Peepers had a mind for strategy. He’d see why this would be better for the empire overall. Peepers would come around eventually; Hater was sure he would.

For now, he was going to enjoy the first planet he’d taken in this new galaxy.

Several weeks after Hater’s departure, Wander woke, confused.

They’d done a lot over that time. The Star Nomad had continued sailing, stopping at every planet she came across, and their passengers had dwindled gradually as they did so, some returning to their homes, some finding new homes with friends they’d made on the secret planet and on board the ship, and some simply deciding to stay and help with repairs and rebuilding.

Plenty of places had needed some help; the scars from Dominator’s attacks ran deep, and he and Sylvia, as well as the others, had been more than happy to pitch in and do what they could. Wander had especially loved seeing how the flower was taking to each and every planet, supporting and protecting and helping them thrive, and he’d loved spending time with all his friends on the ship and helping the galaxy together.

Wander often thought about Hater and wondered how he was doing. News still wasn’t traveling all that fast since communication lines hadn’t really been reestablished yet, but he hoped his buddy and all his other friends had made their way back to the skull-ship and gotten it fixed up.

He hoped, once things settled down a little and he and Sylvia could go back to exploring, that they’d run into Hatey again and be able to catch up and have some fun together. He’d gotten used to seeing the overlord every day and it seemed like an awfully long time since he’d headed off.

He sometimes wondered if Hater missed them as well, wondered if he was enjoying himself, eating properly and getting enough sleep.

Wander stared up above him at the stars. Something felt off.

He was lying curled up in his hat on soft grass. It still seemed to be night and he could see the dark shadows of trees surrounding him.

Trees were alright. He and Sylvia had decided to camp out on one of the uninhabited planets they’d docked beside. They had missed sleeping under the stars, and Sylvia had thought…

Sylvia!

Wander sat up abruptly.

Sylvia wasn’t lying underneath him anymore like she had been when they’d gone to sleep. He peered around at the peaceful night. That wasn’t necessarily a reason to be worried. Sylvia would sometimes wake at night and go to get a drink or build up the campfire. She was a pretty light sleeper, unlike him, and it was really dark, which meant the campfire had definitely gone out.

Although he should still be able to smell some lingering smoke.

Wander took a deep breath. No, no smoke. Just the fresh, cool scents of a forest at night and a hint of water from the stream he could hear nearby. And something else that was odd. He didn’t think this was the forest they’d fallen asleep in. The trees seemed to be different shapes and in different places, and might even be different species, though it was hard to tell in the dark.

He stood, placing his hat back on his head and peering up and around once more.

The stars were different too. These constellations were all wrong for their little planet, and there seemed to be something between him and the stars, some invisible barrier, almost like a window or skylight.

Wander froze as realization flooded in.

He was in his garden.

A soft light flickered to life behind him and Wander heard an amused chuckle.

He turned to find Lady Infinite setting a lamp on the small stone table next to her, far enough away that he hadn’t noticed it, or her, in the darkness.

“Are you alright, Minstrel? You look a little shaken. Having trouble sleeping?”

Wander took a slow breath to calm himself. It wasn’t like he’d never been captured while sleeping before. Still, he felt like a pit was forming deep down in his belly, as he sometimes did when talking with Lady Infinite, but he ignored it as best he could, smiling a little lopsidedly.

“Guess I was jus’ a li’l startled is all,” he answered truthfully. “Seemed like moments ago we were drifting off to sleep on Lartox I, an’ then I woke up an’ didn’t know just where I was. And m’ ol’ gal Sylvia seems ta be missing. Ya’all haven’t seen her, I s’pose.” He tried not to sound worried about that.

Lady Infinite’s face seemed to pinch for a moment as though sucking on something sour, before her smile was back. She was busy arranging her coils to recline on the stone lounge she’d been sitting on. When she was satisfied, she looked over at him again.

“The zbornak? I believe my soldiers had orders to leave her be, for now. Not that it matters that much. She won’t be around for that long.” She gestured to the stone chair set beside her lounge. “Come and sit with me, Minstrel.”

Wander trotted over obligingly and sat next to her in the chair. It was familiar. They’d sat here many times together in his garden, sharing a drink and talking. The lamplight seemed to make the trees around him darker. He felt a bit of unease flicker inside him in time to the ebbing of the light, and tried to keep his breathing nice and slow.

This felt different from all those other times. He hoped Sylvia was still asleep; that she hadn’t noticed he was gone yet. And he felt himself balking at the dismissal of his friend. It was Lady Infinite’s usual sentiment, and it never sat right with him, but it rubbed him especially wrong where Sylvia was concerned.

“I don’t reckon that’s fair, Lady I,” he objected.

“I didn’t imagine that you would.” Her smile softened slightly as her golden eyes trailed over him, the way they always did when she saw him again after a while apart. Wander tried to ignore the scrutiny, though he felt his hands clasp together. He wondered how long she’d been here while he slept. She needed the light a lot less than he did.

After a moment, she seemed satisfied, though he wasn’t sure what she’d been looking for. Her coils relaxed slightly.

“Would you like some tea?” She offered. “It might help you to go back to sleep. Jones will make some for us.” She gestured, and Wander’s eyes moved past the edges of the light to where one of the guards was just barely visible on the other side of the shadowed bars. Must be Billy, though he couldn’t tell in the dark. He rubbed the back of his head self-consciously.

“That’s awfully kind of you, but I’m fine. Wouldn’t want him ta go to all the trouble.” He glanced around again at the dark suggestions of trees and plants. He could faintly hear the tinkling of his small waterfall, but all detail was lost to him. Lady Infinite seemed to notice his attention.

“A pity you’re seeing it for the first time in the dark,” she mused. “I’ll be excited to see what you think in the morning. I’ve had some new flowers added, and some fruit trees brought in. I’ll leave you to see which ones.”

“Why, thank you, ma’am.” Much as he wasn’t a fan of Lady Infinite’s forceful hospitality, she did seem to genuinely want him to be happy here, and she often added new editions to his garden to surprise him with next time she captured him. It was a shame she couldn’t be satisfied with just being friends.

Lady Infinite smiled fondly at him, sharp face relaxed and clawed hands resting in her lap. The flickering light reflected off her scales slightly.

“Well then, I should let you rest.” She slid off the lounge, straightening to her ten-foot height, though she was much longer if you were to measure her from head to tail. One long hand patted his head as she passed. “Goodnight, Minstrel. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“G’night,” Wander returned. “And g’night Billy!” No response from the guard, but Wander hoped he’d heard.

There was soft clang of the door closing behind Lady Infinite’s tail, then Wander stood, moving away from the clearing with the chairs and table and over toward the tinkle of the waterfall.

He would see her in the morning. His garden was large, a beautiful network of trees, flowering plants and finely crafted water features, and it was very well secured.

Wander felt very alone suddenly without Sylvia there beside him, or more recently Hater. He’d gotten used to sleeping among friends. It had been a while since he’d been on his lonesome at night. At least he still had his hat. It was the only companion he’d traveled with for a long time. He gave it a reassuring tilt.

Settling on a patch of soft moss by the rocks that boarded the stream, Wander climbed back inside the headpiece until the brim was tucked under his chin. He could hear the water burbling as it ran over the rocks. At least Sylvia was close to the Star Nomad and all their friends. He didn’t want her to feel alone as well.

He closed his eyes and let the sounds of the water send him to sleep.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Nineteen: The Morning

It was about time for something to go wrong for them again.

When Sylvia had first started traveling with Wander, it had become pretty clear that her life would never be peaceful for long, not that she could really say it had been before, but it was amazing how much chaos could be set into motion by simply visiting planets and trying to help random passers by.

No matter where they traveled in the galaxy, and they did a lot of traveling, they rarely went more than a few days without some villain trying to invade a planet they were on, a volcano eruption or a doom dragon attack. Not that she hadn’t had fun. Traveling with Wander was amazing, and Sylvia wouldn’t change it for the world, although sometimes she wouldn’t have minded a few more days relaxing on a beach, and a couple fewer days breaking them out of dungeons.

Things had escalated even further once Dominator came along, and it had sometimes seemed like there was no room in Sylvia’s head for anything other than helping victims of her attacks and finding places for her and Wander to hide. She’d been stressed to her limit, and even Wander had been affected. She didn’t used to even think he could be stressed that much. He had always seemed so carefree. Not that she blamed her buddy. The whole galaxy being destroyed by an apparently invincible villain was something that could get anyone down, Wander included, it seemed.

Now, after Dominator had finally been defeated, things had calmed down again. It had almost felt like a vacation, even with the planets only just starting to recover and having to pull together with people from all across the galaxy to literally build themselves a way off the secret planet. She’d felt like she and Wander had finally been able to begin to explore the galaxy a little once again, and it had been really nice. Sure, there’d still been problems; the unexpected resilience and aggression of Wander’s flower and the unexpected arrival of a new villain being pretty major ones, but it had still felt like they were getting back to some kind of normal.

Then, Sylvia woke up this morning to find that Wander was missing.

At first, that had seemed pretty normal too. Wander almost always woke up before her, and he wasn’t the best at sitting still, so it wasn’t until she’d scoured every inch of the Star Nomad and been around the circumference of the little planet they’d camped on three times that she started to get worried.

Once it became clear that Wander was actually missing, and hadn’t just gotten distracted helping everyone in the vicinity, she returned to the site of their little fire. If Wander had left on his own, she aught to have found him by now. He hadn’t been going too far afield so long as they were sailing between planets this way, partly to conserve orble juice. They had managed to get another couple of bottles from the king of Flendar, but they’d had to use some of that to do some repairs on their sails, and there wasn’t too much left. The little nomad wouldn’t have gone off planet, and there wasn’t anything nearby that could have distracted him.

If instead, as she suspected, Wander’s vanishing had been more involuntary, there might be some clues. Of course, he could have gone somewhere on his own and then run into trouble, but she wasn’t going to think about that yet.

She examined the campsite critically. She and Wander didn’t make much of a mark when they camped, and this planet wasn’t inhabited, so there was no one nearby she could ask about whether they’d seen anything in the night. If there had been an abduction, it worried her that she’d slept through it. Grop, it worried her even more that whoever had abducted Wander had just left her here. That seemed like an especially large warning. She wasn’t surprised Wander had slept through whatever had happened though. Wild thontars couldn’t wake him up when he was fully asleep.

There wasn’t anything noticeable around the actual fire where they’d been sleeping; just some disturbed underbrush which might easily have been caused by herself, but further into the trees it was a different story. Sylvia found four, round depressions in the ground, and the underbrush was crushed flat for a good twenty meters around. A ship had landed here, and recently.

She cursed under her breath. Even though she’d kind of expected something like that, she’d been hoping she’d been wrong; that Wander would show up again any minute and she’d find out she’d just missed him in her search.

Sylvia bent low, examining the landing site more carefully. She needed an idea of who had done this. Normally, she would have thought of Hater at once, but she knew it wasn’t him. Even if Peepers still believed them to be villains, she had pretty strong doubts that Hater felt the same. Besides, his days of capturing Wander were long behind him. He’d even admitted out loud he was friends with the nomad, and Sylvia knew he hadn’t been lying.

So, if it wasn’t him, who else could it be? Most of the villains they knew didn’t actively seek Wander out to try to capture him, and if they’d found the two of them asleep, they’d certainly have attacked both of them, not stolen her buddy away quietly while he was asleep. Plus, most of the usual suspects weren’t even around right now. Sourdough was the only villain she’d heard of who had actively started conquering again, and he was somewhere on the other side of the galaxy right now, according to the rumors.

That really left one option, and it was the one Sylvia’s mind had gone to first, as soon as she realized Wander was truly missing, one villain who she knew was not only obsessed with her pal, but who also knew what ship he was riding on and could probably pinpoint the direction they’d gone once her ship had been repaired from their last encounter.

Lady Infinite.

Wander’s garden was beautiful by daylight.

It wasn’t true daylight, of course, traveling as the huge ship was through deep space, but Lady Infinite had had her engineers create some kind of mechanism that harnessed the radiant energy of the nearby stars and a portion of that energy was likely what Wander felt on his face as he woke. At least it seemed real enough for the plants. Wander wouldn’t like them to be without sunlight.

Opening his eyes, he climbed out of his hat, placing it back on his head. Above him, the stars could no longer be seen; overshadowed by the artificial light. The skylight now appeared to show a blue-ish daytime sky. The stream was still burbling gently beside him, and Wander followed its current until he found the little waterfall.

He took a quick shower in the refreshing spray, singing a little song to himself as he did so, dried his fur with a towel from his hat and brushed his teeth, and then settled down on a flat rock by the falls to do his morning meditation.

Only he seemed to have trouble getting focused. He shifted, wriggled, rolled his shoulders, changed his position and settled down again, only to notice that he had an itch between his shoulder blades.

Frustrated, he hopped off the rock and did some stretches, then some sit-ups. That seemed to help, and he settled on his rock again.

He closed his eyes and tried to empty his mind, tried to relax to the sound of his breathing and the waterfall at his back, but his heart seemed to be beating a little too fast, and he only seemed able to relax for a few seconds before he’d find himself tensing up again.

Finally, he opened his eyes and stared up through the leaves at the faux daylight.

The problem was that he kept thinking about all those people he should be helping right now. His routine had changed after Dominator, but there were still lots of people on the Star Nomad and the planets they stopped on who needed a helping hand in the mornings.

He was used to waking up and popping into cabins to lay out clothes, tidy up or help find a lost item, then heading down to a nearby planet to lend a hand to repairs, replanting farm fields or whatever else needed to be set to rights.

Then he would be back on the ship making breakfast, doing dishes and all the rest of it.

Now, he couldn’t do any of that.

There was no one here to help.

Wander shook his head, standing up and clapping his hands together.

He couldn’t think about that. He would be back to help all of them eventually. In the mean time, at least he could explore the garden a little. Lady Infinite had said she’d found some new plants for him, and he aught to find something for breakfast. He felt his stomach rumble gently at the thought.

It was a beautiful morning. There was a light, cool breeze from somewhere, offsetting the warmth radiating down, and there was even a suggestion of moving shadows as though clouds were passing in front of the nonexistent sun.

Wander wasn’t sure how the whole thing worked, but there was quite a variety of weather patterns available in the garden. There was often mist in the mornings, and the sky might be overcast one day and bright and clear the next. Sometimes it would rain as well, or even hail, which was fun, although it was never strong enough to damage the plants and trees.

As he walked, Wander paused to smell the flowers, pluck a fruit from a bush or tree, and greet old friends; trees and shrubs he’d seen grow from tiny seeds, as well as admire the new additions to his surroundings.

Lady infinite had obviously stopped on some planets on the way here. He noticed several plants that were quite obviously from this galaxy, including a blorpberry bush, which made him feel a little worried again in spite of himself, even while he plucked a few of the small, yellow berries for himself. Sylvia loved blorpberries. He hoped she was doing alright, hoped she wasn’t too worried about him. He didn’t like that she would be waking up soon and wouldn’t know where he’d gone.

Wander pushed aside a tree branch and paused. He was standing at the garden’s edge, looking out. The light from above him also served to brighten the rest of the hall, and made the thin, golden bars that separated him from it glow slightly. He let the branch swing back into place and walked a few steps closer, gaze going along the length of the hall. Spying one of the reptoid soldiers standing at rather board attention by one of the doors, he leaned forward, sticking one arm through the bars to wave enthusiastically.

“Brittany! Ooooo, Brittany! Mornin’! ‘S been too long!”

Brittany started slightly as though she’d been zoning out at her post, then she turned, making her way towards him, saber swinging at her side, and her neck frill contracting almost sheepishly. She stopped just outside the bars, giving the hall a once-over with her large, black eyes, as though making sure they were alone, before looking down at him again.

“Um, hey Minstrel. Good to…you know.”

Wander’s smile widened.

“Good to see you too!”

“Yeah.” Brittany coughed. Wander knew he made the soldiers a little uncomfortable when he chatted with them, not to mention using their given names the way he did, but they also seemed to like it, so he didn’t want to stop. They didn’t have a lot of friends outside their barracks’.

Brittany straightened suddenly, frill stiffening. She seemed to be trying to appear strict, so Wander gave her his full attention.

“Her ladyship wants you when you, you know, finish breakfast and stuff. But she said not to rush you so…” She trailed off again uncomfortably.

Wander nodded. He’d expected that. Lady I would probably want him pretty close for a while after not seeing him for so long.

“Ready when you are, ma’am!” he assured.

As Brittany led him through the corridors, Wander used the time to catch up a little. He asked about how things had been on the Palace, how her marksmanship lessons were going and what she’d had for breakfast. Brittany’s answers were usually pretty short and reluctant, but Wander didn’t mind. It was nice just to see her again.

He waved with his bound hands at any soldiers they passed, shouting out greetings that were sometimes returned and sometimes not. Some were soldiers he hadn’t seen in a while, and he hoped he’d get some time to ask them some more questions about themselves later, though he knew that wasn’t always possible.

At the doors to the lounge, Brittany paused, knocking and receiving the command to ‘Enter’ before pushing them open.

Lady Infinite was relaxing on a long, stiff, purple sofa and appeared to have just finished breakfast herself, the dishes pushed aside as she read through some report printed on thick, cream coloured paper. Though they had computers and even tablets now on the Palace, Lady I wasn’t a fan of screens and preferred everything to be printed for her to peruse.

At Wander’s slightly jangly wave, she put the papers down on the marble table in front of her and turned to him. Her eyes narrowed and her gaze went from Wander’s hands to Brittany, who hastened to remove the cuffs.

“You may go, Osmo,” she said when this was done. Wander gave Brittany a final smile as she bowed and hurried out the door.

“Mornin’, Lady I!” he greeted.

The golden eyes softened. The pearly coils shifted slightly to make room, and one clawed hand patted the cushion beside her.

“Come here, Minstrel,” she instructed. “Let's talk.”

Her voice was gentle, but Wander felt uneasiness trickle through him regardless. He had an idea of what she wanted to talk about. He pushed the feeling down, hopping up onto the sofa, next to her and crossing his legs comfortably. The fire wasn’t lit this morning, but the room wasn’t chilly. Lady Infinite always kept the temperature pretty warm. Wasn’t really a fan of the cold, from what he’d seen. Wander missed the light from the fire though. The room seemed pretty dim, not helped by the dark oak walls and the black and gold tiles on the floor.

Wander settled his hands in his lap. At his back, he could feel the cool, smoothness of Lady Infinite’s scales.

He met her gaze and noticed the golden eyes had sharpened again.

“Now,” she said softly, “tell me what you’ve been up to running free through this galaxy.”

Sylvia didn’t waste any time.

Now that she had an idea of what had likely happened to Wander, she made her way swiftly back on board the Star Nomad and called an emergency meeting.

She didn’t invite everyone; just a few people she trusted to hear the news without freaking out or doing anything rash or foolish. She could inform the rest of the ship’s passengers later.

The Black Cube of Darkness had unfortunately already disembarked, having decided to stay on planet Xerax to help them rebuild, and Stella Starbella had stayed on Flendar, hoping to repair a ship she could use to once again fly across the galaxy fighting evil, but Jeff was there, which was a relief. The ex-villain was someone Sylvia had come to rely on, though she knew he wouldn’t be able to give her much help with any actual fighting, given how he felt about it now. Also in the group were Cashmere, Beeza and Demura.

Sylvia outlined what had happened and who was likely responsible, though she left any mention of Wander’s past with the villain unsaid. She didn’t think that was likely to help at the moment, especially as she had only a rough idea of what had happened herself, and Wander might not want her to discuss it, given how uncomfortable he had seemed when talking to her about the whole thing.

“So, that’s it,” she finished. “I’m going to try to get an idea of where that ship of hers might have scurried off to, and I’m going after Wander. I need all of you to keep on helping the citizens to get back to their homes and keep an eye out for any villains, including Lady Infinite. We don’t know what her next move will be.”

There was silence for a moment as her words sunk in, and then came the expected objections.

Cashmere was first.

“But, do ye not wish for some help in saving the noble Wander from such a foe?”

Sylvia shook her head. Remembering to be diplomatic with her response.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m used to doing this kind of thing.” Usually with Wander, but she had no intention of saying that. “I’ll stand a better chance alone. It’s not like we have enough of a force to challenge her in open battle anyway. She’s got a lot of troops, plus that canon thing and who knows what else. My best bet is to get in, break Wander out, and get away before we’re found.”

“It’s quite a risky plan.”

Sylvia frowned at Beeza. Not that the fleebo was wrong, but Beeza tended to look on the dark side of any situation, and it wasn’t exactly encouraging.

“I know,” Sylvia agreed reluctantly, “but any plan to deal with a galactic villain is going to be risky. I know its kind of vague right now, but I’ll be able to refine my plan once I get a look at the ship and I find out where Wander is.

“Well, bud, if that’s what you think is best. You and Tumbleweed were the ones who bumped into her last time.” Jeff also sounded pretty unhappy with her decision, and Sylvia was reminded that he was one of Wander’s old friends from another galaxy. He was probably pretty worried about the nomad as well. Maybe when Wander was safe, she and Jeff could have a talk. There was a lot about her buddy she was still wondering, and it might be a good idea to get some of those answers from someone who wasn’t him.

She put that thought on the backburner for now, however.

“Thank you! Trust me, it means a lot that you’re all here keeping the ship safe and helping everyone, and I know Wander would say the same.” She meant it. Somewhere along the way, the Star Nomad and all its passengers had become an important part of her. Besides, with Wander quietly spirited away in the middle of the night, she didn’t know what the villain would do next. She might decide to leave the ship alone, or she might try to destroy them now that she didn’t have to worry about hurting Wander in the process.

As she headed away from the meeting room, stopping briefly in her cabin to pack some essentials and a bottle of their orble juice, Sylvia found herself frowning as she thought about that.

She still didn’t know why Lady Infinite was after Wander, not really. She’d gathered the villain didn’t want to hurt him, but seemed to want to capture and keep him imprisoned. Wander had said she wasn’t satisfied with just being his friend, but Syliva didn’t know what that meant. Well, if she was right about who had taken her buddy, she supposed she’d find out soon enough.

She also found herself wishing Hater and Peepers were still with them. Somehow, on this weird little journey through the stars, she’d come to rely on the two of them, even while she didn’t necessarily fully trust them, especially Peepers. If they’d been here, she might even have asked for some of that help after all. She knew Hater had been spoiling for a fight against the arrogant villain and, more importantly, she was pretty sure he would have volunteered once he found out Wander was in trouble, even if he made a show of grumbling about it, and she was kind of surprised to realize how much she would trust him to have her back.

Creating an orble, Sylvia headed away from the Star Nomad and out into the star-studded void. She was going to find Wander and get him back. She just hoped he was doing okay out there by himself.

“I’ll find you, buddy,” she told the distant stars. “And Lady arrogant had better watch her scaly back.”

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Twenty: The Difference Of Opinion

Lady Infinite took a sip of her tea, claws tapping on the porcelain cup.

“You’ve had quite the adventure since you were here last,” she observed.

Wander nodded happily. He’d told her about a few places he and Sylvia had been to, and touched on some of their adventures. It had been a busy couple of years, and it was fun to look back on everything that had happened.

“‘S been pretty amazing!” he agreed. “I saw a whole bunch of planets an’ met all kinds a’ neat folks.”

“And put yourself in harm’s way countless times.”

“Well, yeah.” He shrugged, smile dimming only slightly at her hard undertone. “A little risk comes with the territory, I guess. Ya can’t really live without a few dangers croppin’ up.”

Golden eyes narrowed. Without further warning, one scaly arm reached out, the seven fingered hand closing around him, and he was lifted onto Lady Infinite’s lap. Her lower two hands enclosed him and Wander could feel the other two petting him gently, claws carding through his fur.

As always, he felt a little uncomfortable. Wander was a touchy-feely person. He was happy to hug his friends and be hugged by them, as well as being grabbed, tossed around and climbed without warning when they encountered aliens of different sizes.

The way Lady Infinite touched him struck a different chord with him somehow. It always felt a little too possessive. He knew she’d missed him and she worried about him getting hurt, so he tried to hold still and ignore that feeling.

“That’s what you always say,” the sibilant voice hissed, and Wander could tell she was upset. “You run out there and throw yourself into danger in every backwater in the universe. You travel to the most hazardous planets and entangle yourself with countless dangerous villains. You throw yourself into the fire and expect to always be able to pull yourself out of it. You won’t be able to do that forever. One day you’ll risk yourself trying to save some pathetic creature and you won’t be lucky enough to survive it. Then I’ll be all alone.”

The petting stopped, one hand resting on his head. Her voice was still calm, if accusatory, but Wander knew her well enough for the hint of raw emotion to stand out. He put both hands on top of one of hers, trying to be as comforting as he could.

“You won’t be alone. You’ve got all yer guards on tha palace! I know ya may not wanna think of ‘em as friends right now, but if ya just let yourself get to know ‘em you’d find out how much fun they can be! I know Annette’s a real wild card, an’ Omar cooks one heck of a soufflé. They’ve all got somethin’ ta offer. An’ there’s lots of folks out their on other planets and livin’ in other galaxies ta make friends with too! I don’t plan on dyin’, but there’s lots that c’n happen ya don’t plan on, so it’s a risk I’ve gotta take. An’ if it happens because I’m helpin’ somebody, then the risk is worth it.”

The hands holding him suddenly released and Lady Infinite moved back a little.

“You want to be helpful so badly, Minstrel?” she snapped. “Stop trying to run from me.” Her voice softened slightly, then. “Stay with me. No one else needs you the way I do, and no one else deserves you. All those creatures you travel around ‘helping,’” a note of sarcasm had crept into her voice now, and Wander felt his chest tighten, “what good are you actually doing them; any of them?” She waved a hand carelessly. “A few measly decades, a century or two at most, and they’re gone forever. What does it matter then?”

“Well now, hold up!” Wander knew why she felt that way, and he knew it came from a place of pain, but he found he needed to say something to that. “Ya can’t say it doesn’t matter just ‘cause folks don’t live as long as you ‘r me! It sure matters ta them! If I can help ‘em out, give ‘em a fair shake an’ something’ ta hope for, why’s that so bad? Gosh, I don’t want anyone ta feel scared or helpless, doesn’t matter how long they’re gonna be around.”

“Indeed.” Lady infinite narrowed her eyes, resting both sets of hands in front of her so the claws tapped together. “So, you intend to keep wandering around from one galaxy to another, helping the little butterflies learn how to flap? You make ‘friends’ with them and teach them things, maybe give them a new life they never had or show them a new way to live. You say it’s worth it, getting to know them and care for them.”

“Yeah!” Wander ignored that familiar shrinking feeling inside, squaring his thin shoulders. “There’re so many amazing folks out there, an’ I learn from them as much as they learn from me! If ya just gave some of ‘em a chance, you’d see it was worth it.”

“Oh, really.” Lady Infinite’s voice was still soft, but the bite of steel lay just underneath. “And yet, how often have you mourned someone because ‘it was their time’? How often have you held their hand as they died?” Her smile was cold as she moved closer, head tilting so Wander could see himself reflected in one golden eye. “I’ve seen you, Minstrel,” the sibilant voice continued. “I’ve found you before sitting at the grave of someone you loved, playing your banjo for them one last time. I’ve seen the pain in your eyes.” A scaled hand moved to touch his chest, one claw tracing through the fur. “How many scars run through your heart, Minstrel? How many times have you watched loved ones die before you? Yet you still think it’s worth it to get attached.”

Wander hadn’t expected the sudden ache in his chest at those words. He forced himself to take a breath, to push past the feeling for the moment.

“It is,” he promised. “O’ course it hurts ta lose someone you love. It always will. That’s how you know ya truly cared for them. But ya can’t let that stop you from gettin’ close ta people! The times ya had with them, the way they made ya feel, that all stays with you an’ keeps ‘em close, no matter how far ya travel or how many years it’s been. Ya can’t keep anyone with you forever, but s’long’s they’ve touched your life, they’ll still be with you, even when they’re gone.”

Lady Infinite smiled, and there was a twist of cruelty to it now that Wander only saw directed at him occasionally.

“And what about your ‘companion,’ that zbornak who’s started following you around. How will you feel one day when you have to leave her behind?”

“I…” Wander froze for a moment, feeling as though his chest was being squeezed as the anticipation of unspeakable grief swept through him. His eyes prickled and he clenched his hands. He knew Sylvia might not be with him one day, but it was something he didn’t really think about. He just wanted to enjoy the time they had together as friends, not focus on when it would end. But he hadn’t expected the painful emotion he’d feel just from Lady Infinite mentioning it. It cut through him to his very core, raw and frightening. He knew any grief he felt at the end didn’t make a difference. He wouldn’t trade his time with Sylvia for anything, no matter what might happen one day, but he found himself struggling to say that past the burning lump that suddenly seemed lodged in his chest.

Before he could collect himself enough to speak, Lady Infinite’s scaly arms snaked around him and enveloped him in a hug. Wander felt himself cradled close as he was pressed to her cold chest.

“Oh, Minstrel,” she murmured softly. “I know it hurts. You can lie to yourself, but you can’t lie to me. But I know you, and I know that as long as you can run free you will continue to tie yourself to these creatures even when you know you’ll lose them. You want to help them, to be with them, even when it causes you so much pain. It’s who you are. And that’s why you need me. I will never leave you, and I’m going to make sure you never leave me. You will stay here and tell me stories and play me songs and we will travel the galaxy together, the way I decide. And one day, when it’s my galaxy, and it’s no longer dangerous, I promise, you may explore it once again.”

“Lady I…” Wander found his voice finally and opened his mouth to object, but he was unexpectedly released once more and felt himself seated back on the cushions next to her. Lady Infinite gave him one last pat on the head, as though the matter was settled.

“Now, play something for me, Minstrel,” she instructed, leaning back again and settling her hands in her lap. “Something cheerful. You’ve been gone so long and I’ve missed your music.”

Wander swallowed back what he was going to say. It wouldn’t do any good; not with the mood she was in. If he tried to keep arguing, to try and explain, she was just going to get annoyed and he wasn’t very good at arguing in any case. Conflict wasn’t really his style, and usually when he got captured by someone or other he would just go along with things for the most part.

With Lady I, he really wanted to object. He knew she’d been through a lot and she had her own vision of the future and what she thought would make her happy, and she couldn’t believe she might be wrong; that there might be a better way. She didn’t want to get attached to anyone she might lose and she wasn’t willing to open herself up to that risk. Sometimes he could discuss that with her more, keep trying to help her, and just because it hadn’t worked yet wasn’t a reason he should stop trying. She was still willing to talk to him, at least, and that had to be worth something.

But right now wasn’t a good time to keep pushing, so he dug in his hat and pulled out his banjo, settling it in his lap and beginning to play.

He supposed he’d just have to go with things and see where they went.

He was probably going to be here for a while, after all.

She’d found it.

The ship hadn’t been too far away, which made sense if it had spent last night snatching her pal, but it had still taken her much of the day to track it down. She’d also had to stop on several planets to get information, and had gotten lucky in terms of finding planets that were doing decently well from the aftermath of Dominator’s attacks and could actually provide her with some.

It seemed like Lady Infinite hadn’t conquered any planets in this galaxy as of yet, but she’d definitely made her presence known on a few, almost certainly looking for Wander, and the inhabitants were able to point her in the right direction.

Sylvia found herself wondering whether the villainess was just in this galaxy to capture Wander and was planning to leave afterward, or if she wanted to stick around and conquer it as well. If she wasn’t going to stay here, it was even more important Sylvia track her down now. She wasn’t about to let her buddy be whisked away to another galaxy entirely, especially while travel in this one was so difficult.

That thought stayed in the back of her mind as she searched, but she didn’t put too much active thought into it at the moment. She’d deal with it if she had to.

And then, she was there.

She approached the huge, beetle-like ship carefully, trying to stay out of sight of any windows. From infiltrating the skull-ship all those times, she knew that orbles were impossible to detect by basically any scanning equipment. Hater and Peepers had been obsessed with trying to find ways to detect them whenever they ‘visited,’ and it had never worked. Nice to know the two of them were still helping her out, even if they were probably out there starting to invade planets again.

In any case, that meant the only way Lady Infinite and her goons would know she was coming was if the sentries actually saw her, so she was going to make sure they didn’t.

She took her time finding a way in. The ship was unfamiliar, but still seemed fairly easy to infiltrate, and the vents were very roomy, maybe because it was an older model.

Things got more complicated once she was inside, however.

The place was enormous!

Sylvia wondered whether even the soldiers got lost in a ship this big. It was like a whole planet all on its own. She was staying in the vents where possible. Her current plan was to try to find Wander and get him out without anyone noticing. Still, she had to keep poking her nose out to try to get her bearings in the endless hallways. Their previous infiltration wasn’t much help, since they’d gone through the regular hallways that time and had been much more focused on speed than stealth.

She started her way slowly downward. Prisons were usually in the lower part of a ship, so that was often the place to look for Wander when he got captured.

But suddenly, something made her pause.

She was still unclear as to exactly what the relationship was between Wander and the villain, but it was certainly different from how any other conquerors they’d met treated him. She might not have thrown him in the dungeon like a regular prisoner. Sylvia thought back to that brief meeting they’d had and the way Lady Infinite had been speaking to her buddy. Aside from the underlying threat and the smug self-satisfaction in her voice that had Made Sylvia bristle, there seemed to have been some actual affection directed towards Wander, even if it was certainly a twisted affection.

Wander had also mentioned something about that in the short conversation she’d managed to pry out of him. He’d said the villain wanted him to be her minstrel, even though Sylvia wasn’t sure what that meant. He meant something more to her than just a do-gooder she’d captured or an obstacle to her conquering. She didn’t even seem to think of him like an enemy at all.

So, she probably wouldn’t just throw him in a regular dungeon deep in the bowels of her ship.

Where would he be instead?

Higher up, possibly. If the snake lady actually valued Wander as some prize or something.

Sylvia turned resolutely that way, and started back up.

It took her a long time, winding her way through the ship’s vents, sneaking out to try to get her bearings every now and then and dodging guards when she did so. She had to stop and rest several times, but she never halted for too long. Worry about what Wander was going through poked at her every time she stopped. She wasn’t really worried he’d be killed. The villain quiet obviously had wanted him alive, but Sylvia hadn’t liked the way she’d been speaking to him. It had given her serious creeps, and she didn’t want him to be trapped her alone any longer than he had to.

It must be late evening by the ship-standard time she’d been going by lately when she finally emerged from the vents in the upper floors of the vessel. If she was right that Wander was somewhere nearby, she needed to venture out into the ship proper to actually search for him, so that was what she was doing.

Here, that opulent vibe she’d noted on their first ‘visit’ was on full display; the place practically oozed grander, but fortunately the number of guards seemed fewer. Maybe, like Hater’s watchdogs, only a select few were allowed to patrol the villainess’ private floors. They were fairly easy to dodge as she searched, provided she went slowly and listened before entering any rooms.

Sylvia made her way through gilded hallways and glittering chambers, a library with ornate bookshelves stretching up to an unnecessary height, and what seemed to be a cross between a hot spring and a spa with steaming pools and sparkling crystal decorations. Lounges, a theatre, a museum with gorgeous, and probably stolen, sculptures and art pieces. There was no sign of Lady Infinite or Wander, and Sylvia pressed on grimly. She just hoped they weren’t somewhere together. She would rather not to have to fight the villain right now, even though the lady and the duchess weren’t sold on that course of action. It was pretty late though, so with luck Wander was locked up somewhere for the night.

Finally, Sylvia entered a hall that was bigger than any she’d yet seen, though dark, with only faint lights along the edges of the floor, and a gentle radiance from above. The light seemed like that of an evening on a planet somewhere, darkening to night, but not quite there.

It stretched farther than she could see in the dimness, and the ceiling curved high over her head. It wasn’t a normal ceiling either, but seemed to be made entirely of some clear, glass-like material, though non-reflective, like a giant skylight. Through it, she could see the bright stars of space outside. The hall must be at the very top of the ship, since the zbornak doubted an old-fashioned villain like Lady Infinite would have screens sophisticated enough to the scale she was seeing.

The stone walls, so far as she could see, were carved and decorated, as she’d come to expect from this ship, and extending down the center, taking up almost the entire space of the massive hall, there was what looked like an indoor jungle, dark and shadowed. It was separated from the rest of the hall by thin, golden bars that stretched up and over the trees, vines and rock features she could see so that the area was completely enclosed, like a fancy greenhouse but without the glass panes.

The plants and trees inside were varied, and most of them were unfamiliar to her, not that she was an expert on plants to any extant. They also seemed to be separated into rough ‘zones,’ as though they came from different planets and had different soil and nutrient needs, something that wouldn’t have even occurred to Sylvia except for all the time she’d spent traveling with Wander. From what she could see, the jungle also contained many winding streams, small waterfalls and sparkling pools. She could hear the rustle of leaves in a faint breeze, and the murmur of the water. It all seemed very refreshing and green, especially after the elaborately decorated rooms she’d been making her way through.

The hall looked nice, but was ultimately unhelpful. Sylvia started to turn back to the door, but froze at a sound from behind her, somewhere inside the jungle. It was soft and peaceful, and vaguely melancholy, and as familiar to her as the sound of her own voice.

It was the gentle strum of a banjo.

Turning quickly back to the jungle once more, Sylvia scanned it more carefully. Those bars; to keep people out, or to keep someone in? She went right up to the divide, poking her nose through the bars and peering past the plants in the dusk for a hint of orange. She didn’t want to call too loudly in case there were guards patrolling nearby, so she kept her voice just above a whisper.

“Wander?”

The banjo went suddenly silent.

“Wander?” she called again, raising her voice just slightly.

There was a brief pause.

“Sylvia?”

“Oh, thank Grop!” she muttered.

There was a soft rustling, and a branch was pushed aside, and there he was. At first, he seemed nervous. Then a big smile stretched across his face and he skipped up to the bars. He stretched both arms through to grasp her hands and gave a little bounce.

“Sylvia!” he exclaimed. “I’m so glad ta see you! I was worried ya might be worried about me, since I disappeared las’ night!”

Sylvia felt as though a giant rock had been lifted off of her back. Even though they weren’t out of the woods yet by a long shot, just knowing for sure where Wander was and that he was okay was such a relief.

She squeezed his small hands in hers, looking him over as best she could. He seemed alright enough. Still smiling anyway.

“I was worried, she admitted. “Can’t say I think much of your ‘old friend.’ Now, let’s get you out of here.”

She let go of him, gripping a bar in each hand. They were only about as thick as pencils and didn’t seem like they’d take much to break.

“Wait!”

She paused, glancing down at the little alien.

“Why?”

“If ya try ta break ‘em, they’ll put you ta sleep fer a while.”

“You mean they’re trapped?” Sylvia looked at the bars more closely. She couldn’t see a mechanism on them. “All of them?”

Wander nodded.

“An’ I don’t think you can break ‘em anyway. I had this friend, an’ he came ta help me one time when I was in here…”

Normally, Sylvia would have let him keep talking, especially with how tough it had been to get any information about this villain out of him, but they might not have too much time.

“Where’s the door?” she asked, cutting him off. “This thing does have a door, right?”

“Well, sure it does! But you’ll prolly need a key. I told you, Lady I’s really good at keepin’ a fella from leaving.”

“Of course I will.” Sylvia glanced up and down the length of the bars. She felt an uncomfortable tightness inside. “What is this place, anyway?” she found herself asking. “Why’d she lock you in here?”

“It’s my garden.” Wander gave her a lopsided smile. “Lady I had it made for me. I sleep here an’ hang out here when she’s busy. She just had some new trees put in! I’d show ya, but….” He shrugged.

Sylvia felt her stomach twist, anger squeezing her chest. She’d been right that the villain wouldn’t just lock Wander up in some random cell. This place wasn’t like any prison she’d seen before. It was beautiful and lush, with fruit trees and fresh water and lots of space. You could even see the stars above as the ship traveled. Someone like Wander, who loved the outdoors, could be comfortable here, or at least that was probably what Lady Infinite was thinking.

Sylvia knew better.

Despite the beauty and the variety of plants, and despite Wander’s cheerful attitude, this place would be torture for him, simply because it kept him from wandering where he pleased, from having adventures and helping others.

It wasn’t a jungle, or a greenhouse, or Wander’s ‘garden;’ it was a cage, pure and simple.

And she was going to get her buddy out of it.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Twenty-One: The Key

Wander really should have expected Sylvia to come after him.

She always did, after all.

Before meeting Sylvia, Wander had traveled alone, except for his hat, of course. It was a wonderful companion, if not much of a conversationalist, and it had stayed with him through thick and thin, even when Wander knew his tendency to get into danger helping others stressed it out a bit.

Wander, for his part, had always tried to respect it and keep it safe from anyone who might be a little too interested in it. He’d never forgotten the circumstances it had been in when he found it, and he didn’t want it to ever end up like that again.

The hat had always been willing to help him. And Wander had gotten to enjoy the challenge that came with figuring out what it was trying to tell him and work with things he needed, rather than wanted. Eventually, they’d gotten familiar enough with each other, that he usually understood what the hat was trying to tell him without thinking about it, and they’d had their own form of inside jokes and shared experiences.

The other friends he met along the way were all dear to his heart, and he always loved getting to know them and helping them out, but they didn’t usually travel with him, or consequently hear or find out about all the times he got captured by the conqueror of the day.

Wander had grown accustomed to figuring all of that out on his own, even when times got tough. With occasional support from his helpful hat.

And that had all been fine.

In a way, it had been easy. Wander was used to it.

He got captured sometimes, thrown in the dungeon or strapped to a torture rack, ranted to and sneered at, and it always had a way of working out. Sure, sometimes it could take a while. Wander couldn’t always rush things, especially when he was just getting to know someone. It often took a little while for him to be on his way again, and that began happening even more often once Lady Infinite started taking such an interest in keeping him on her ship.

When Sylvia started traveling with him, things had changed. He wasn’t alone anymore, and that felt wonderful. There was someone traveling with him he could joke around to, go on adventures with, and relax beside in the evenings with a crackling campfire between them. It wasn’t something he’d ever really expected to happen; it was almost like a dream. Sylvia was smart and fun to be around and brave in the face of danger, and she seemed to love being friends as much as he did.

And, well, he supposed he hadn’t been the best traveling companion all the time, especially at first.

He was so used to traveling at his own pace; darting here and there on a seemingly never-ending adventure, or stopping dead to spend a whole day collecting leaves and twigs to help a group of nesting birds.

He knew it could be frustrating for Sylvia at first, and he’d rather expected her to leave after a while, the way anyone else would have. He’d had others tag along with him for a few planets before, and they had all eventually found another place to call home and waved him goodbye. The traveling life wasn’t for everyone.

But things were different with Sylvia. She got impatient or frustrated with him sometimes, but she also seemed to really enjoy the traveling, and enjoy his company, and he’d certainly enjoyed hers! As they visited more planets and had more adventures, Wander realized she was having more fun, not less, and the two of them fell into a number of routines naturally, without even needing to agree on them, like taking turns with the cooking, getting the camp ready in the evenings and Wander beginning to carry most of their stuff in his hat.

Before he knew it, Sylvia wasn’t just a friend, but his best friend. He loved traveling with her and sharing those crazy experiences he’d always run into alone. He couldn’t imagine being without her, and he knew she was starting to feel the same. They trusted each other and had fun together, and with every new adventure they shared, all that time he’d traveled by himself seemed farther away.

And one thing Sylvia always did, was come to rescue him.

Lady Infinite had seemed to have lost them, but Sylvia had been right that there were plenty of conquerors in this galaxy as well. And that meant Wander was bound to encounter them and start trying to make some new friends, which all too often lead to him getting captured again.

Only now, Sylvia was there to come and bail him out, and she always seemed to.

She’d come to bust open some prison bars, and even bust up the ships, countless times, and she was with him every step of the way when they were exploring, helping others, or encountering someone who was slightly less than friendly.

She was always there for him.

So, now that Lady Infinite had tracked him down at last, Wander really should have expected Sylvia to find him and come to his rescue.

And it was certainly wonderful to see her.

Wander had been feeling, well, a little down to be honest.

Being here, on the Palace, and especially when he was alone in his garden, always made him feel strangely listless and anxious at the same time. He couldn’t stop thinking about all the things he should be doing right now, and all the other things he’d like to be out doing. There was so much of this galaxy he hadn’t seen yet and, especially after Dominator had almost destroyed it, so many planets and people in need of help.

But he hadn’t been able to leave, so he’d tried to make the best of things for now, tried to think of things he could do to try to help Lady Infinite once again, or how best to brighten the days of the soldiers who came by.

He was sure he’d get away eventually, as long as he kept his eyes open, but Lady Infinite had been pretty confident he was staying, which meant there were probably some more safeguards in place. It meant he might be here for a while.

And he’d also been worried about Sylvia.

Leaving as he had in the middle of the night, even though he hadn’t exactly had a choice about it, he’d known she’d be so worried about him when she woke up alone.

He’d expected her to look around and try to find him.

But he supposed he hadn’t expected her to end up here, on the Palace.

And he was a little worried about it, even though he was trying not to show it.

Lady Infinite had no problem with hurting folks, especially if they were getting in her way. And she got especially angry at anyone who’d helped him escape. If she found out Sylvia was here to rescue him, Wander knew she’d be livid, especially when she’d just gotten him back. She’d seemed already annoyed at the mere mention of Sylvia when they’d been talking earlier.

The safest thing for his friend to do was to leave, but when he looked through the thin, gold bars at her determined face, felt the reassuring squeeze of her hands, he knew he couldn’t ask that of her, and he knew she wouldn’t listen to him even if he did.

Sylvia would never just leave him here; in a place he didn’t want to be. Wander knew that. He would never be able to convince her to leave him and escape, and it was hard to say those words anyway, because he didn’t want her to go. No matter how hard he tried to convince himself he was fine, he wanted Sylvia to save him, just as she had so many times before.

Just having her here, on the other side of the bars, already made him feel more like himself.

But at least he could warn her, help her understand some of the risk she would be taking. That was something he should do, even though it was usually his impulse to downplay the seriousness of the situation.

Sylvia was looking over at the garden’s gate consideringly.

“A key, huh?” she mused. “Do you know what kind of key? Are there more than one? Where can I find them?”

Wander considered, letting go of Sylvia’s hands so he could scratch his head under his hat.

“Well, prolly the elite guards have ‘em, but I’m not sure how many there’d be. Murphy’s probably got one! Did I tell ya he got promoted? An’ Brittany had one when she came ta get me earlier. But I don’t know whether they keep ‘em somewhere when they’re not usin’ ‘em. Maybe in the barracks on this floor?” He paused, feeling his voice getting quieter. “And…Lady I will have one.”

“Wander?” Sylvia’s eyes were focused on him again, concern shadowing her face. “You okay, buddy? What’d that creep say to you?”

Wander forced a smile back on. He didn’t want to distract his friend with his problems, especially right now when she needed to focus.

“I’m fine, Sylvia!” he said brightly. “Lady Infinite an’ I were chattin’ earlier, but not about anythin’ important. She’s got some pretty strong opinions, an’ she wasn’t too happy ‘bout me escaping last time, that’s all.”

“You sure?” Sylvia pressed gently. “I’m probably going to be gone for a while looking for this thing. If you need to talk, I’m here.”

Wander shook his head.

“That’s so nice of you, Sylvia, but I’m fine, really!” he assured.

“Okay.” Sylvia didn’t sound completely convinced, but she seemed willing to let it go for now. “Then I’d better get going. Probably better to steal the key while it’s night, ship-time.” She turned away slightly, and Wander bit his lip.

“Wait!”

When she looked back, Wander tried to keep his worry from showing on his face.

“Just…be careful, okay?”

Sylvia raised an eyebrow.

“Really, buddy? You’re telling me that?”

Wander smiled, he almost would have chuckled if he didn’t feel so worried. Sylvia did kind of have a point.

“Yeah, I know. Jus’ want my best bud ta be safe, that’s all.”

The zbornak reached through the bars one more time, giving his bangs a ruffle.

“Me too. Don’t worry, Wander. I’ll see you soon!”

As she slipped out of the hall, Wander felt his hands clenching and took a deep, steadying breath.

“Stay safe, Sylvia,” he whispered.

It had been a whole month since that last goodbye on the Star Nomad, and Hater could hardly believe what had been happening.

After they’d left that first planet, with contracts signed and infrastructure in progress, with watchdogs on the ground, but building alongside the citizens instead of enslaving and coercing them, it had been to cheers and happy waving.

Hater had actually been kind of sad to leave. He’d been feeling lonely without the passengers of the Star Nomad he’d been getting to know, and he’d maybe been missing Wander a little as well, and the happiness of the citizens whenever he walked by had helped with some of that. It had been nice to tour around the planet and have people smiling at him, asking for his autograph and giving him fresh-baked pies, which he guessed was a thing since it seemed to keep happening to him. It had been really nice.

Peepers hadn’t agreed. He’d gone along with the non-invasion reluctantly, but he’d made it clear he thought ‘coddling’ the citizens was beneath them, and that it wouldn’t be very helpful for the blackening their reputation would need. He’d wanted to tear down the welcome signs, throw the citizens in their dungeons and take over the old-fashioned way. Hater hadn’t ignored him, exactly, but he had started tuning his commander out a little after the fifth time he’d begun to rant about that stuff.

After that visit was over, Peepers had gotten the watchdogs back in formation and lined up for their next bout of conquering, and Hater had geared himself up to go along with it.

Neither of them had expected the same warm welcome on the next planet they invaded.

Or the next one.

Or the next.

Hater had done his best to not be overwhelmed by all of that.

He had never expected that his feet of defeating Dominator once and for all would have such a lasting effect, and such a positive one at that. He hadn’t done it for cheers or adulation, for planetary rulers bowing to him and asking to be a part of his empire. He hadn’t even done it to strike fear into his enemies or prove what a powerful villain he was. He’d done it because he’d been able to, because it was his galaxy she had destroyed and it need saving, even if he still wasn’t comfortable admitting that out loud to anyone.

And yet, he couldn’t deny how good it felt to have that warm reception when they touched down on a planet, to have the people greet the skull-ship with celebratory banners and balloons, to have them chanting his theme and lining up when his band started performing.

Peepers still wasn’t happy about it, but Hater rolled right over his objections. When the leaders of the planets asked him to take them under his protection, he made sure to agree quickly, before the watchdog could say anything. When Peepers confronted him in private about that, Hater made it clear that this was his decision. He wasn’t even sure why his third in command was so against it anyway.

After a couple of planets, it got easier, and the soldiers had started chatting happily as the ship landed, instead of standing stiffly and fingering their weapons. They all seemed much more comfortable with this new state of affairs than even Hater was, and he had an idea they hadn’t enjoyed the old burn-and-enslave procedure.

By the seventh planet, Hater suggested that maybe they didn’t need to gear up for an invasion at all.

He’d waited this long because Peepers really seemed set on the invasions, even if not one of them had been carried through so far, but to Hater it was starting to seem kind of silly to scream down and slam into the planet and have the troops march out with their guns at the ready, only to then have them stop and wind back down as the inhabitants cheered for them.

Peepers had sort of agreed. It was hard to tell between all times the commander was banging his head against the wall, as well as the weird, strangled noises he kept making, but there had probably been a nod in there somewhere.

In any case, when they got to the eighth planet, Hater told the watchdogs to land the ship and march out, but that they didn’t have to bother being all menacing and junk, which seemed to be a relief for most of them, and Peepers didn’t disagree, so that was good enough.

Hater was also starting to get used to those greetings by now. He was able to enjoy the cheers more without feeling as uncomfortable as he had been, and he’d started talking to the rulers more about what needed to be done to repair their planets, instead of just ordering Peepers to do that. If the planets were part of his empire, he should probably know something about their resources and capabilities, and what they might need to recover from Dominator. That just made sense. He wondered why he’d never bothered to do it when conquering planets before.

He felt great and powerful, and he didn’t have to frighten anyone to do it. And their empire kept growing and getting more powerful, before any other villains had even shown their pathetic faces in his galaxy once more.

Things were finally going well for the Lord Hater empire.

It was while they were approaching the twelfth planet that they were interrupted.

Hater and Peepers were in the control room. Hater was working on an acceptance speech. He didn’t want to be caught dumbfounded again, since it seemed like this willingly joining thing wasn’t a one-planet deal. He should uphold his image as an eloquent orator, even now that his speeches didn’t involve any gloating. Of course, he didn’t want to get his hopes up that every planet would be like this, but he hadn’t found any yet where he actually had to conquer them, and it was better to be prepared for the most likely scenario.

Peepers was grumbling to himself as he plotted their approach. Hater’s third in command seemed to be in a permanent bad mood lately and the overlord was getting tired of it. Yes, he knew this was all different for them from how it used to be, but as long as they were gaining planets, power and respect, why did it matter if there was no fear attached? The leaders of the planets had all been happy to join the empire, happy with the protection and improvements it would bring them, and happy to provide Hater’s army with raw resources, labor and other things. Their reach was extending and their power growing all the time. When other villains started showing up, they would be in a very strong place to withstand any attacks.

Hater hoped Peepers would stop grumbling and get used to this approach if things continued like this, as they seemed likely to.

Suddenly, the big screen in front of them beeped. Static crackled across it for a moment, then cleared, and Hater was face to face with a familiar zbornak, looking frazzled and distinctly unhappy.

“Finally!” Sylvia sounded frustrated. “What did you do, change your gloves? I couldn’t call you! I’ve been trying to track you down for a week and a half!”

Hater glared across at her, confused. He actually would have been kind of glad to see her and Wander, though he wasn’t about to admit he’d been missing the little nomad, but he didn’t appreciate how accusatory she sounded. He’d been busy, and it hadn’t even been with evil or villainy or anything. What was her problem?

Peepers had stomped forward a few paces to point a finger at the large screen, apparently finding a convenient target to take his frustrations out on.

“Of course I changed the number on Lord Hater’s gloves. We wanted some peace for a few weeks without you and the furry freak crashing in and ruining everything! Now, leave us alone and go back to your antiquated vessel and all the pathetic saps you insist on ‘helping.’ Lord Hater and I are too busy to deal with you at the moment.”

Sylvia didn’t bother to respond. She barely even seemed to see Peepers. Instead, her eyes traveled over the watchdog’s head to focus fully on Hater. The overlord once again felt pinned in place by her powerful gaze.

“I’m not hanging up.” The zbornak’s voice was quieter now, but intense, emotion quivering just beneath the surface. “I need your help, and I know you are going to help me.”

Hater glared. He took a step forward and straightened his shoulders. He didn’t know what mushy thing Sylvia was going to try to use to get him to help her, but he wasn’t about to let her spill any of his secrets to try and blackmail him into it. Just because he’d saved the galaxy, and maybe also done some more saving after that, it didn’t mean she could just assume he’d help whoever asked. It was time to remind her of exactly who he was.

“You expect me to help you? I am Lord Hater; the Monarch of Mayhem, the Duke of Destruction! You can’t just barge in here and interrupt my plotting! Do you think there is anything in this galaxy you could say to get me to give up on my plans for galactic conquest and traipse across the stars to…”

“Wander’s in trouble.”

Hater broke off abruptly, jaw wagging as though it was still going through the motions of his indignant rant, but he couldn’t find anything to say.

Abruptly, the jaw snapped shut again, and Hater took a deep breath, staring across at the zbornak. She didn’t just look frazzled, she looked exhausted, like she hadn’t slept in ages. Her comb was droopy and her eyes were red rimmed.

“What happened?” he found himself asking, and he didn’t even notice the intensity in his own voice, didn’t notice the way Peepers’ eye swiveled around abruptly to stare at him. And he knew Sylvia had been right; he was going to help her. Looked like his not-invasions were going to take a little break.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Twenty-Two: The Choice

“Sir, what do you think you’re doing?"

“I’m packing, Peepers, what does it look like?”

Hater barely looked up from where he was going through his things hurriedly, every now and then pausing to throw something or other into the duffle bag on his bed. Sylvia was going to be here soon and he had to be ready to leave when she was.

They had both decided that stealth was important, given what Hater had heard, although the zbornak had only given him an extremely abbreviated summary thus far, and he had reluctantly agreed to go with her by orble, with the skull-ship on standby. He still wasn’t a fan of traveling in the fragile things, but getting in without getting blasted out of the void was more important.

Hater was sparking mad. He already had a bone to pick with Lady whoever-she-was because of what had happened the last time they’d run into her. She’d had the nerve to come into his galaxy, and started attacking the ship he was riding on, not to mention making Wander act all weird and junk, and he hadn’t even gotten to have a standoff with her and show himself as the superior villain.

Now, as if that hadn’t been insulting enough, she’d gone and done something completely unforgivable, something so low and despicable Hater growled to himself just to think of it. She’d captured Wander, his former most hated enemy, the creature who’d been a thorn in his side for years, and his new and kind of weird friend. She’d captured him, and he hadn’t been able to get away.

In Hater’s experience, that was inconceivable. Wander always got away, despite the fact that most of the time he wasn’t even trying to. Hater had captured the nomad countless times, some of which had admittedly included Wander just showing up on the skull-ship and allowing himself to be chained to a torture rack, but the nomad had always either escaped, usually just walking off after some game or distraction, or else the zbornak had shown up, beaten up all his watchdogs, blown the ship up and absconded with him.

But none of that had happened this time, with this villain. Wander had obviously been unable to escape, and apparently Sylvia’s rescue mission had failed miserably. Wander was still stuck on that stupid ship. That was unacceptable. It was like the snake lady was saying she was better at capturing Wander than him. Even though Hater didn’t exactly want to capture Wander any more, he wasn’t going to stand for the implication that someone was more competent than him at his art.

All of that should have been what was annoying him the most about this situation. It was definitely what he would have pointed to in the past, and it certainly did niggle at him a little, but it wasn’t the thing that was causing him to practically crackle with fury-fed lightning as he packed.

That honor went to the reminder of Wander crouching in the waving seaweed-grass of that weird bubble-city, staring fixedly up at the ocean’s surface far above them like he knew who was up there, and the memory of Wander sitting silent and still on the zbornak’s back, not even acknowledging Hater beside him as they raced to stop her dumb canon.

Whoever she was, this newcomer, upstart of a villain had frightened Wander, made the bouncy, hyperactive chatterbox quiet and strange and small-looking.

And now she’d captured him, not only that, she’d had him for a week and a half according to Sylvia.

The thought of how Wander might be feeling after all that time made Hater clench his teeth, his power coursing through his marrow, begging to be used. What was taking Sylvia so long to get here anyway?

“I can see that you’re packing, Lord Hater.” Peepers’ voice cut into Hater’s impatient musings. “What I’m really wondering is why. Why did you agree to this ridiculous request in the first place? Why should you lift even a finger to rescue that annoying pest? He’s finally out of the way. Isn’t this what we want?”

“Don’t be stupid, Peepers!” Hater threw his headphones into the duffle bag, pausing to squash the bag around a little so it would close, then zipping it shut. “I’m not going to let some other villain have Wander! He’s always been my most hated enemy, remember? I’m going to go and get him back, and teach that upstart a lesson, that’s all!” He did his best to ignore the whisper of guilt behind his ribs. That wasn’t why he was going, but he didn’t know how to say that. He’d just barely come to terms with his friendship with Wander. He couldn’t let Peepers know about it, especially right now, when the watchdog was clearly already upset about all that other stuff.

Peepers sighed, stepping around the bed slightly and standing in the way of the bedroom door so that Hater had to stop and look at him. He clasped his hands in front of himself, narrowing his eye in a way Hater knew was serious.

“Lord Hater,” he said softly, “I’ve been your commander for a long time, and I’ve always worked tirelessly to help you achieve your goals. Back when we were just starting out, building our army, conquering those first few planets, I was by your side for all of it. I’ve stood by you through all the madness over the past few years with Wander and the zbornak. I’ve planned and schemed and worked myself to the bone every day to help you achieve greatness. It’s been hard sometimes, but I’ve always believed in you.”

“Peepers,” Hater started, but his third in command raised a hand to stop him.

“Please, sir, listen until I’m finished, or I’ll never get through this. Now, there have been a lot of…adjustments lately, and I’ve still done my best for this empire and for you. I’ve been here through every crazy thing that’s happened since you blew up Dominator’s ship. I backed you up during that Grop awful voyage with that bunch of do-gooders and pathetic saps, when you insisted on cooking and spending time with all of them, including, might I add, that scruffy vagabond who caused most of our problems in the first place. I went along with scouting the planets we came across, which was at least somewhat useful, I suppose, and I didn’t say anything about a certain furry freak’s inability to give anyone so much as a few inches of personal space.” He paused for a moment to give a shudder, as though the trauma from the Wander-hugs he’d experienced still lingered.

“I’ve even deferred to your decisions about these so-called invasions we’ve been engaged in over the past couple of weeks, despite the lack of any decent cowering or fear from anyone and all the problems I’m sure we’ll eventually face by letting the planetary rulers join us willingly and making these concessions to ‘feed their hungry’ and ‘build more schools’ instead of burning their cities to the ground and conquering them the way we should, but this…”

Peepers trailed off, passing a hand over his eye, before looking back at Hater searchingly. “Sir, forgive my plain speaking, but this is a fool’s errand! Why should we care if another villain has captured Wander? The pest is finally out of our hair, and the zbornak and probably a lot of those other idiots who might try to stand in our way will be preoccupied trying to save him! This is a good thing! We’re gaining planets, we’re gaining power! I’ll admit I’m not happy with the way we’re doing it, but it’s still more power than we’ve had access to in a long time, and the pest hasn’t shown up to stop us, and now we know why! You’re finally going to become the Greatest in the Galaxy again!

“Now you want to halt the invasions, put everything on hold and go pick a fight with a villain who’s not threatening your sovereignty, not interested in our planets at all, and who has shown herself to be quite powerful, just to rescue that orange nuisance, so he can go back to interfering in our plans?”

Hater shuffled his feet guiltily, his glare faltering slightly.

“It’s not like that, Peepers.”

“Then what is it like, sir? Why are you really doing this? Why are you still so obsessed with Wander?”

“I – I’m not obsessed, per say,” Hater protested weakly.

Peepers’ eyelid lowered disbelievingly.

“With all due respect, sir, don’t even try that. You’ve always been obsessed, and it certainly hasn’t gotten better lately. If anything, I’d say it’s gotten worse.”

“Fine!” Hater threw his hands up, frustrated. “I’m still obsessed! Big, Bad Lord Hater, the Greatest in the Galaxy, is going to rescue his greatest enemy, Wander! Is that what you wanted to hear, Peepers?”

“Um, not particularly.” Peepers tapped his fingers together. “I was really more hoping for a ‘you’re right, Peepers, let’s focus on gaining planets and leave Wander to fend for himself.’”

“Yeah?” Hater snapped, officially out of patience. “Well, that’s not happening, pal! I’m not just going to let some other villain have Wander. He’s my most despised enemy, so I’m going to go get him back! Who knows what she could be doing to him?”

“You mean like dragging him to her torture room? Throwing him in her dimension of pain? Maybe setting up some sort of Doom Arena? Huh, all of those sound pretty familiar, come to think about it.” Peepers’ own frustration leaked through his sarcasm and he glared up at his boss, voice rising until he was yelling. “Oh right, those are all things you did to him! And now you want to save him from exactly the stuff you used to do! You’re acting like such a…” He trailed off, seeming to bite back the rest of his comment.

“Spit it out, Peepers!” Hater yelled back. “Finish it! I’m acting like a what?”

“Like a good guy!” Peepers’ voice echoed through the room. There was silence for a moment while they stared at each other, breathing heavily.

Hater was the first to break the stare down. He straightened up, inhaling deeply and letting out a long, slow breath.

“I don’t care,” he said quietly.

“You don’t?” Peepers’ eye was wide.

“No, I don’t.” Hater looked away for a moment before forcing himself to meet his commander’s eye. He had to say this properly. He couldn’t avoid it anymore, duck or dodge or pretend. He was still the Greatest in the Galaxy, and he needed to act like it.

“This…isn’t the first time I’ve saved Wander, Peepers. I didn’t just save the galaxy from Dominator. I saved him too, so he didn’t get hurt in the explosion.” Hater clenched his hands, forcing himself to keep going. “And he’s not my enemy any more. I was lying about that. We haven’t been enemies for a while. I don’t know when he got less annoying to me or when I stopped hating him, but we weren’t just roommates on the Star Nomad, we got to be, well, friends too. I liked spending time with him, and the cooking and everything. This isn’t new, Peepers, at least not really, and it’s not going to change. And I’m not going to just sit here and let some lousy villain hurt Wander. As soon as Sylvia gets here, we’re going to go find him.”

Peepers made a small choking noise.

“And another thing!” Hater set his jaw resolutely. “I don’t care about being a bad guy, not any more, so you can call me whatever you want. I don’t plan to go out of my way to be a good guy, and I’m still going to rule the galaxy, and be awesome and everything, but I don’t have to be all ‘rarg’ and making people scared and junk. I like doing it this way better, and, well, what was so great about being a villain anyway?”

“What was…? Sir!” Peepers stuttered. “You always wanted to be a villain! It was your passion and your drive for as long as I’ve known you! What about making sure evil and hate and darkness overtakes the galaxy? What about all our plans to make the inhabitants on all the planets in the universe tremble at your name and have you rule them with an electric fist? What about all the fun you had torturing people who got in your way and spreading your reign of terror? What about everything we’ve worked for for so many years? You were the very epitome of ‘evil emperor!’ You just want to throw all of that away?”

Hater paused for a moment as he thought about that. He thought about cruising around in his old van with Peepers, bullying and robbing suckers and dreaming about making it big. He remembered actually being big, planting his flag on a planet as his soldiers rolled over their defenses and rounded up the weeping citizens, enslaving them to his dark will. He thought about all the beings he’d tortured and imprisoned and killed, and the evil joy he used to take in their suffering before Wander came along and ruined all of that.

He didn’t miss it anymore. Any of it.

“Yeah,” he admitted. “I guess I do.”

Peepers was staring at him, pupil shrunk small as he took it all in.

There was a hesitant knock on the door, interrupting the stand off.

“What?” Hater asked.

A watchdog poked his eye around the door.

“Sorry, Lord Hater. I really really didn’t want to interrupt you and Commander Peepers, but Sylvia’s arrived and she’s not being very…patient.”

“Right.” Sylvia was probably raring to get started. Hater was feeling much the same way. The overlord grabbed the handle of his duffle bag, pulling it off of the bed. “Tell her I’m on my way.”

The watchdog withdrew, and Hater turned back to his commander. He hadn’t meant to go into all of that right now, but he had, and there was no taking it back. Peepers knew everything now, or at least the big parts. He supposed his third in command would have had to know eventually. He couldn’t have hidden all of that forever.

“Look, Peepers,” he said, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you all of this before, but it’s true, and you can think what you like about it. Wander’s in trouble, and I’m going after him. Either you’re with me, or you’re not.”

Without waiting for a reply, he hefted his duffle over one shoulder and headed out of the door towards where Sylvia was waiting. He didn’t know what Peepers was thinking, and he was sure the watchdog would have some things to say to him when he got back, but he couldn’t worry about it at the moment.

He was going to go and save Wander, and probably yell at him for staying captured by someone else for so long.

He could figure out everything else after that.

Wander was trying to keep it together, like he had been for a week and a half.

Sylvia was safe; that was the important part. Everything else would be okay. He would be okay. He’d been in this situation before, lots of times. It was just that this time seemed so much harder.

He tried to focus on his playing, fingers dancing over the piano keys. The melody was soft and light, but still with some bounce to it. The piano was a white baby grand, and was situated on a raised dais in one of the ship’s morning rooms. Columns surrounded it, carefully tended ivy winding around them. The ceiling was painted in blue with soft white clouds, and the light was gentle and warm, like an early morning just past dawn. Over the top of the piano, Wander could see Lady infinite reclining and watching him while she ate her breakfast. Wander felt like he’d seen her a lot lately. She had been keeping him especially close over the last little while, only sending him back to his garden at night.

He ended the song and began a new one, a little slower and softer, giving his thoughts a little more space in his head.

His heart wasn’t quite as in his music as he’d like it to be right now. It was somewhere out there in space with his best buddy. He wondered what she was doing right now. Was she back on the Star Nomad, helping their friends, making sure they got safely back to their planets? Wander hoped so. He hoped she was doing okay. He remembered her face the last time he’d seen it, remembered how frightened she’d seemed, not for herself of course, but for him. She’d looked so worried, so sad, so…helpless.

Wander almost played a wrong note, catching himself just in time.

He didn’t want Sylvia to feel like that anymore, didn’t like to think of her out there missing him. He knew she’d be blaming herself for not being able to get him out and that wasn’t fair! If anything, this whole situation was Wander’s fault. Lady Infinite had come here to get him back, after all. She’d attacked the Star Nomad and all their friends because of him. At least she wasn’t doing that anymore, but Wander didn’t like that him being captured would be hurting Sylvia. Maybe Jeff could help her feel better. Wander knew how reassuring the former conqueror could be. And at least she had all of their friends to support her if she ran into trouble out there.

At least she wasn’t alone.

Glancing at his reflection in the polished white surface of the piano, Wander’s eye was drawn again to the plain gold necklet he was wearing. It still made him feel faintly uneasy, even after wearing it for more than a week, but of course he couldn’t take it off. He wasn’t sure it suited him, to be honest, but naturally he wasn’t the one making that decision.

There were lots of things going on right now he couldn’t change. He couldn’t change that he was here, at least for right now, and he couldn’t change what had happened when Sylvia came to rescue him. So, he had to try not to dwell on all of that, try not to think about how trapped he felt, or how useless, or how lonely he was without Hatey and all his other friends, and especially his best friend.

How much he missed traveling with her and exploring with her and seeing her smile.

He had to be okay. He’d promised Sylvia he would be. He didn’t know whether she’d believed him, exactly, but he needed to keep that promise. Maybe it would help her to not be too worried about him.

And he was sure he’d find a way to leave eventually. He always did.

He just hoped it wouldn’t take too long.

Wander’s hands paused on the keys, the final note of the song lingering for a moment before it faded.

There was the sound of applause, and Wander’s eyes focused on Lady Infinite smiling across at him, scaled hands clapping.

“That was lovely, Minstrel! I’ve never heard that song before. What is it called?”

Wander tried to smile back at her, but it felt a little strange. His mind was still elsewhere. What had she asked? He looked down at his hands, still resting on the keys. He didn’t remember what he’d been playing. He looked up again guiltily.

“Um, ‘fraid ‘m not too sure.” His voice sounded a little strange in his ears. Wander took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Lemmie think fer a minute.” That was better.

The snake lady frowned. Rising from her bench, she approached the dais, Wander standing and moving forward to meet her when she crooked a finger. Taking his chin in her cool hand, she turned his head slightly first one way, and then the other.

“You look a little unhappy, Minstrel. Not regretting what we agreed to, I hope.”

Wander perked up slightly.

“No ma’am! It was awful kind of you!”

“I should say so.” Lady Infinite released him, crossing her arms and tapping the claws of one hand on her scales. “I believe I was incredibly lenient to that beast after what she did.”

Wander winced.

“Lady I, ya can’t call Sylvia…”

“Now,” Lady Infinite cut him off, turning and moving back to her seat. “It seems you need a break from playing. Come here and sit with me.”

Wander followed her, doing his best to ignore the heavy feeling in his belly. He stood awkwardly by the carved white table while Lady Infinite settled herself again and rang her bell for one of the servants lined up against the wall.

“Bring a chair, and some juice and cookies, Burke” she instructed. Wander watched as Rory hurried off. When he returned with the chair, setting it on the other side of the table, Wander sat down gingerly.

“Thanks, Rory,” he offered as the young lizkin darted away again, red crest bobbing.

“Why do you insist on doing that?” Golden eyes narrowed as Lady Infinite took a sip of her tea.

“Doin’ what? I’m just callin’ him by his name.” Wander clasped his hands in his lap.

“His name is Burke.” The tea cup rattled slightly as the clawed hand set it down again. “He has served me for two thousand years. Do you think I don’t know my own servant’s names, Minstrel?”

“Well, his family’s served ya fer that long. Burke’s ‘is family name.” Wander twiddled his thumbs slightly with a glance across the table. He knew she didn’t like being corrected, and he was pretty sure she didn’t really like to think about this stuff, but he couldn’t just let that stand after she’d asked him about it. He had to keep trying. “Rory’s only been old enough ta do this job for a few years. He was pretty new last time I was here.”

“That’s enough.”

Her voice was still quiet, but it cut across the table like a whip-crack.

“I know all of that, but it doesn’t matter. They are my servants, and they are here as I wish them to be.” She smiled tightly. “Burke has been a loyal footman here on my palace for a very respectable amount of time.” The slitted eyes narrowed challengingly. “Why should this other name matter?”

“Rory’s a real swell fella.” Wander smiled. He really wanted her to understand. He had a feeling if she did it would help a lot. “So’r his parents an’ grandparents. An’ they always wanted ta do the best they could for ya. Their given names matter ta them. It matters that ya know ‘em. Everyone likes ta be appreciated fer who they are, not just fer what their family’s done.”

He looked hopefully across at her to find the sharp face still as she considered. Finally, Lady Infinite sat back on her lounge, lifting her teacup again to take another sip. The tip of her tail twitched languidly.

“You haven’t changed, Minstrel,” she mused. She seemed relaxed again, no longer annoyed. “It’s a bit of a relief. You went missing for so long last time I wasn’t sure what I’d find when I got you back.”

Wander didn’t answer, but he wasn’t sure she was right about that. He had changed; he must have. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be finding it so difficult to stay here. He’d been here for far longer than this before, and it could get hard sometimes, but he’d never before had this much trouble keeping his spirits up.

And he rather thought she’d missed his point about Rory’s name. At least she hadn’t tried to forbid him from saying it. She didn’t tend to do that kind of thing as a rule, probably because it hadn’t really worked in the past. Wander didn’t want to make her upset, but if he could do something to make someone happy, he was going to do it, and he knew using their given names made the guards happy, even though they’d never say so.

In the silence, Rory returned, scaly yellow hands setting the juice glass and a plate of cookies on the table in front of Wander, who gave him a small smile in thanks. Rory returned to his post against the wall.

“We’ll be back in the Rondel Galaxy soon.” Lady Infinite’s tone was light again now. “We’re making good time. There doesn’t seem to be much interference in this galaxy, though my pilots tell me there’s quite a bit of debris. You’ll have to tell me some more about what happened here later. It seems like quite a story.” She smiled fondly across at him. “You’ll have some new things to see in my galaxy as well. I’ve added some new planets to the empire. Perhaps we’ll tour them together. I know you miss it.”

“Why, thank ‘ee, ma’am!”

Wander did his best to summon some enthusiasm. The ‘tours’ were something Lady Infinite would take him on sometimes, though only on planets she was thoroughly in control of. It was a kind gesture, since she knew he missed traveling and seeing different planets, but Wander wasn’t sure she understood why he missed doing that. On Lady Infinite’s planets, everything was ordered and controlled for the advancement of her empire. Citizens would be hard at work at some task or other instead of whatever they would like to be doing. If Wander saw people at all, he wouldn’t be able to help them with anything.

But it was still better than being cooped up on the Palace all the time, and it seemed to get Lady Infinite out of her shell at least a little bit.

“Of course! After we land at the capital city in Antell, I’m going to take you to see the ice gardens at Vitaziks. You were right when you said they were beautiful. I knew you wouldn’t like me to damage them, so I didn’t use my canon.” Her keen gaze swept over him again, and Wander had the feeling she could tell his thoughts were slightly distracted. He strove to bring his full attention back to the conversation.

“They are mighty pretty. I haven’t been in a long time.”

“I thought so.” Lady Infinite seemed pleased with herself. Her gaze fell to the untouched dishes in front of him. “Have something to eat, Minstrel.”

Wander wasn’t hungry, his stomach still felt a little tight, but he reached out, taking a cookie from the plate and giving it a nibble.

He was trying not to mind that they were leaving this galaxy. It was good in a way. That meant they would be farther away from Sylvia and Hatey and all his other friends who lived here. The snake lady wouldn’t be fighting any of them, which meant no one would get hurt.

At the same time though, it felt a little like being taken away from his home, or at least the place he currently wanted to be. There was so much to do in this galaxy still, so many things he wanted to see and so many people who needed a helping hand. At least Sylvia would still be here helping. Wander was very grateful for that. He wondered whether Hater would end up helping as well. It had seemed like he’d started enjoying it the last few times.

At least Hater had left to fix his ship before this whole thing had started. The skeleton lord was going through a lot right now, figuring out who he wanted to be and what he wanted to do, and he shouldn’t have to deal with all of this. Wander hoped he was doing well, wherever he was, and Mr. Peepers and the watchdogs too.

He hoped he’d get to see all of his friends again.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Twenty-Three: The Decision

Commander Peepers stood by the skull-ship’s eye windows and watched the orble containing his boss and the zbornak until it faded from sight.

He felt strangely like he’d never see them again, though he knew that wasn’t true.

Of all the things his boss could have said to him, he’d never have guessed this in a million years.

And maybe that was part of the problem. He’d gone complacently on his way, planning, strategizing, working tirelessly for the betterment of the Lord Hater Empire as he always had, and he hadn’t seen what was really going on here.

He’d been frustrated with the way their so-called invasions had been ending up, especially when Hater had been so quick to agree to mutually beneficial relationships with the rulers like they were forming alliances or something instead of just taking what they wanted. It had been worrying, not least because the overlord hadn’t seemed to see the problems with it, but it had still been something he could work on. They were still gaining planets after all, which increased the size of their empire and bumped them up on the galactic villain leaderboard, still pretty barren at this time. They had been expanding quickly as well, far outstripping their competitors thus far. He could work on everything else, and hopefully convince Hater to bring more force to bear on the planets who had ‘joined’ them, so they would be safely under control.

Then Wander had managed to cause a problem for them again, despite him not even being here. Peepers really should have seen that coming.

The galaxy could be almost destroyed, they could be light-years away, but still, they could defeat the most powerful rival villain in history, but Wander would remain forever the thorn in their proverbial side.

The worst part was, this didn’t have to be a problem. If Sylvia hadn’t inexplicably decided to come to Hater of all people for help, if she’d just kept working on saving her ‘best bud,’ the two of them would have continued being occupied, leaving the Lord Hater Empire free to continue with their recent, at least partial, conquests.

Grop, if Hater had just ignored the zbornak when she’d asked, laughed in her face perhaps, or zapped the screen dead, it still wouldn’t have been a problem. Wander could have remained trapped in whatever ingenious prison the villain had constructed that was somehow able to hold the slippery furball, and all of his ‘friends’ would be off trying to save him for who knew how long. If only Peepers could have said something, done something, to convince Hater to just hang back and ignore Sylvia’s demands.

Although maybe he was still being naïve.

The zbornak had known Hater would help.

When the violent alien’s face had first appeared on their monitor, Peepers had thought it was going to be the same old routine, that she had found out they were conquering planets again, if it could even be called that, or that Wander had somehow snuck onto their ship and she was coming to beat them all up.

That familiar, annoying, awful routine from before Dominator had arrived in the first place.

But it seemed some things had changed, and Peepers felt like he was the only one who hadn’t known about it.

Sylvia had said she knew Hater was going to help her because Wander was in trouble, and Hater had. He hadn’t even hesitated when she’d said that, just immediately asked what had happened to Wander and started making plans with her. He had given a token defense when Peepers questioned him, pretending he was just doing it because he didn’t want another villain to capture his greatest enemy, but that hadn’t even lasted very long before he’d admitted Wander wasn’t his enemy anymore, and hadn’t been for a while, apparently.

That they were friends of all ridiculous things!

Peepers shuddered at the thought.

That all must have happened on the Star Nomad, while Peepers was distracted with planning and marshalling the watchdogs into training. It was all because Hater hadn’t listened to him! Because he had to go along with sharing a room with Wander, and had been roped into cooking with him and putting on weird concerts together for the whole ship. Hater had been enjoying his time, not just with that furry pain, but with the whole group of vagabonds and reprobates, and his third in command hadn’t been able to stop him.

He hadn’t seen the threat for what it was. He’d been annoyed at Hater disregarding his advice and continuing to associate with the annoying pests, but he’d still thought it would be temporary, that once they were on their own, skull-ship fixed and conquests in progress, that things would go back to at least a relatively normal state.

Which obviously hadn’t happened.

And now Peepers was forced to wrestle with another unpleasant thought.

All the planets they had landed on recently, where the inhabitants had cheered and waved flags with Hater’s emblem and asked to join his empire; was this the reason why Hater had let them? Was this why he’d been so quick to agree, why he’d happily made deals to protect them from invasions, have the watchdogs dig wells and build hospitals, all over Peepers’ carefully thought-out protests?

Was all of that because of Wander?

Peepers was certain the Lord Hater from several years ago, before the furry menace had first crossed their paths, would never have agreed to such an amicable relationship with a planet they were conquering. That Lord Hater would have zapped them to within an inch of their miserable lives and laughed over their singed bodies. He would have ground their hopes beneath the heal of his shoe, unleashed a thousand years of darkness and dismay and enjoyed every minute of it.

Where was that villainous ruler Peepers had once been proud to serve, the one who’d commanded the attention of every room he entered and blown up planets on a whim? Where was the great and noble empire he’d once commanded, and what had become of their plans for Hater to rule the galaxy and spread fear and hate across the farthest reaches of space?

Peepers had been willing to follow his leader to the ends of the void, to toil tirelessly in his vast shadow and lay the universe at his feet. He’d been content to be a footnote to Lord Hater, a humble part of the greatest evil empire to ever exist. Hater would one day be the undisputed ruler of all, would destroy any who crossed him and rule the universe without an ounce of mercy in his heart; Peepers had been sure of it.

He seemed like a different person now, someone unfamiliar, with the same name but seemingly none of the ideals they’d once shared, and the watchdog had no idea if the lord he’d first sworn to follow many years ago would ever return.

It certainly seemed unlikely right now.

So that was it then. Hater had made his choice; that had been abundantly clear. He’d chosen Wander, just as he always had since that orange nuisance had first strolled up and started causing problems. Now it was up to his commander to make a decision of his own. And he should do it before Hater returned, whether or not the overlord ended up saving his former archnemesis. He needed to know what to say to Hater, not just about Wander but about everything the pest had caused. And he needed to decide what to do about it.

Peepers supposed he had some more thinking to do.

“Thanks for coming with me, bonehead.”

“Whatever.” Hater looked slightly uncomfortable, walking next to her in the orble transporter as the skull-ship receded behind them, either from the thanks or just the situation in general. “I wasn’t gonna just sit there when…you know.”

“I know.”

His glare darkened, arms crossed and fingers tapping restlessly. “Besides!” he burst out suddenly. “I totally owe lady whatever-she-calls-herself for last time anyway. It’s not just ‘cause Wander went and got captured like he always does.”

“Uhuh.”

Hater glanced across at her as though gaging her reaction, then he sighed, relaxing slightly and dropping his arms.

“So, is Wander, like, you know…” he trailed off for a moment, glancing around them at the empty void as though afraid someone would overhear, “…he’s okay, right? Like, I know he’s Wander, so I’m sure he’s being his usual dumb, annoying self and stuff, but…seriously?”

Now it was Sylvia’s turn to sigh, worry about her buddy clenching through her. At any other time, she might have found it amusing how concerned Hater was, as well as his obvious discomfort with expressing that concern. She hoped it would be something she could be amused by later, when everything was back to normal. For now, she decided on an honest response.

“He’s…okay-ish.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hater demanded suspiciously.

Sylvia ran a hand over her head, smoothing back her comb as she thought.

“It means…he was okay, relatively at least, when I found him. She wasn’t…hurting him or anything and he was still acting, you know, like Wander. But…he wasn’t having a good time, and it’s probably been worse since. I’ve never known him to get captured for that long, and he seemed to think it was, I don’t know, normal or something, like it’s expected whenever she finds him, like her specifically.”

“You mean this has happened before?” Hater’s glare sharpened again. “How many times did this upstart capture Wander, and why didn’t I know about it?”

“It wasn’t exactly a recent thing,” Sylvia frowned, though to herself rather than at Hater. “It all happened before I even met Wander, and I don’t know how often or for how long it was going on. Wander was kind of vague about it when I asked him.” She clenched her hands in frustration. “I should have tried harder to find out about her when I had the chance! Of course, you came and interrupted us when I was trying to, and then, I don’t know, I guess it was hard to get back to it after that, especially because he kept avoiding the whole thing.”

“I interrupted?” Hater looked confused.

“Oh, right. Back on the Star Nomad. I’d finally managed to pin Wander down, and we were talking about Lady Infinite, but then you came back and you wanted to talk to me and then we never really got back to it.” She sighed again, looking out over the distant stars, the blackness around and below them. It was so strange not to have Wander here, sitting on her back or walking beside her, chattering or pointing out different stars or playing his banjo. The last two weeks without him had been so silent, so lonely, she didn’t know how she’d ever traveled on her own.

“So, if she doesn’t want to destroy him or anything, why does she keep capturing him anyway?” Hater sounded vaguely offended, as though the other villain was trespassing on his turf which, from his perspective, Sylvia supposed she kind of was.

“Wander was a little evasive about that too, but from what I saw, she seemed to just want to keep him around, like he’s her pet or something.” Sylvia grimaced. She’d had this conclusion already, but saying it out loud made her insides twist. “She seems to like talking to him and listening to his music. She locks him up in this big cage with a fake jungle inside when she doesn’t want him with her, and she has this other name for him; calls him ‘Minstrel.’ I don’t know why him specifically, but she was really obsessed with him; might even give you a run for your money.”

Hater rolled his eyes, scoffing slightly under his breath.

“That sounds dumb! If she wants him around playing his weird hillbilly music, she shouldn’t even have to do anything. He’s Wander. He’s going to be around all the time anyway.”

“Not enough for her, apparently.” And probably not in the way she wanted him.

Hater shot her a sidelong glance and she wondered if he’d picked up something in her tone. She didn’t usually count on the skeleton lord being very perceptive. Maybe it was a Wander thing.

“So, why didn’t you save him? Isn’t that, like, your whole thing?”

“Usually.” Sylvia didn’t meet his eye. She’d been rather hoping he wouldn’t ask, even though she had to tell him eventually. “I told you there was a problem and I wasn’t able to.”

“Yeah, but that’s pretty much all you told me!” Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Hater had jutted his jaw out obstinately. “I wasn’t going to push it at the time because we both knew we had to hurry, but we have to walk there in this stupid thing anyway.” He poked the orble petulantly. “You owe me an explanation, especially since you admitted you need my help.”

“Alright, fine.” Sylvia’s mouth twisted as she thought. “But you’d better refrain from butting in until I’m done. And just know, if there was anything I could have done to make it out of there with Wander, I would have done it.”
To her surprise, Hater looked slightly taken aback, almost apologetic.

“I know that,” he said quietly.

Sylvia nodded soberly.

“Well, I guess the important part started after I found Wander trapped on that stupid ship…”

Sylvia resolutely didn’t look behind her as she headed out of the giant hall. She hated hated hated that she was leaving Wander here all alone. Sure, he was pretending to be okay. He had even done that thing where he talked about being captured like everything was fine and dandy. And most of the time when he did that, Sylvia believed him. Wander usually was fine being captured, threatened with torture or execution or thrown into some kind of death-trap. She still needed to come in and save him, but she wouldn’t be worried about his emotional state; weirded out a little maybe, but not worried. Sylvia had seen enough of him in those situations that she basically expected him to be happy and chipper about it at this point.

But she’d also seen enough of them that she could tell when he wasn’t.

Oh, he seemed alright enough. He’d been bouncing up and down and smiling out at her from between the bars. He’d even still been talking about his captivity casually like she was used to, but there was something different about him this time, not as though he was trying to lie to her, but more like he was putting on a brave face, as if something was bothering him she couldn’t quite figure out.

And he was worried about her. She could tell that much.

He’d gotten worried when she started to leave. He’d even asked her to be careful. When Wander asked you to be careful, that’s when you could worry.

The massive ship was still relatively silent, still in its ‘night time,’ though Sylvia still had to dodge guards as she made her way through it.

Wander hadn’t seemed sure where a key might be kept, which made sense, she supposed. That seemed like something you probably wouldn’t tell your prisoner. Unfortunately, it made her search much more difficult. The head guards probably had access to one, and Wander had seemed certain Lady Infinite would have one as well, though he had gotten weird and quiet when he’d mentioned it, probably because he didn’t want Sylvia to go near the creep which, again, really wasn’t usually something Sylvia would expect from him.

But still, she felt like she agreed with him, even if she wasn’t sure what he’d been going through that made him so worried. Much as she’d like to deck Lady Infinite in her lousy snake-face, it would probably be better to try elsewhere for a key first.

She snuck down hallways, ducked around corners and tiptoed through what seemed like endless rooms, following the occasional posted map, probably a necessity on such a big ship, and working her way gradually towards where the soldiers for this level were barracked.

She had to be careful. Since this was the floor where the villain lived and seemed to spend most of her time, these were probably the elite troops, those who were most thoroughly trained and had earned their posts. She’d already had a taste of how challenging fighting a squad of these soldiers was, and she had no interest in alerting them all to her presence.

One thing she’d been accepting by coming alone was that she couldn’t punch her way through all the troops and rescue Wander the way she always used to when he was imprisoned on the skull-ship. If she ended up getting in a fight, she would probably have to make sure to take out all her opponents, and it would be better if she could avoid fighting entirely, at least until she’d gotten the key and gotten her buddy out. She didn’t want to alert the villain to the fact that she was here, or not only would she be up to her neck in enemies, but Lady Infinite would probably put a whole bunch more guards in Wander’s room. She’d never get him out then.

Of course, taking out all her opponents would be easier if they were, say, watchdogs or something.

She was here.

Sylvia paused, back pressed to the wall outside the barracks.

From the other side, she could hear the faint murmur of voices, rising and falling in regular conversation. It didn’t really sound like guards who were changing shifts, more like the sounds you would hear from those who weren’t on duty, and were tired, but not ready to sleep yet. She heard a faint flipping noise as though someone was shuffling cards. Pressing her head closer to the wall, Sylvia tried to get an idea of how many were in there.

“…probably a good thing,” a raspy voice muttered.

“Well, I think it’s lousy!” The second voice had a feminine tilt to it, and sounded annoyed.

“Can’t say I really disagree, but you have to look at it from another perspective.” A third voice chimed in and Sylvia clicked her tongue softly. Three at least. The third voice sounded older, resigned.

“He’s so nice.” The second voice again, and Sylvia perked up her ears. Now that sounded like a certain somebody.

“He is, and that’s why you need to let this go. Do you think Minstrel would want you to get in trouble?”

A pregnant pause.

“No,” painfully.

“There you are then. Just enjoy it when it happens and don’t break any rules. He knows what’s expected of us better than you do. He’s not expecting you to respond. He’s been here a lot longer than you have.” A thump of something hitting a table. “Your deal, Brittany.”

There was silence for a moment, Sylvia craning her head even closer.

“If you don’t mind, I think I’m just going to go to bed. Early morning and stuff.” Brittany’s voice was quiet.

“Probably best I do as well,” the raspy voice joined in. Goodnight, Murphy.”

Chairs scraped and Sylvia heard movement as the two soldiers headed somewhere further into the barracks. Sylvia would have been jumping at her good fortune to have two thirds of her obstacles dealt with, but she had frozen at hearing the third soldier’s name.

It was a name Wander had mentioned a couple of times, and most recently back in his prison when he’d been listing possible key locations. He’d mentioned someone named Murphy might have one. And that he’d been promoted. Good for him.

Cracking her knuckles and drawing herself up to her full height, Sylvia stepped around the corner and pushed the door open, staring down the surprised soldier as he stood abruptly from his seat. He seemed to be one of the medium sized kind, green and scaly, neck frill open in his surprise, and his short saber leaning out of reach against the wall.

Sylvia smirked. It was about time for something to start going right for her.

“Alright, Murphy, was it? We’re going to have a little chat.”

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Twenty-Four: The Reason Part Two

The soldier stood to face her, eyes flashing up and down, assessing, then darting briefly to his weapon leaning against the wall.

“Don’t try it,” Sylvia warned quietly. “And don’t try to call out.” She was ready to tackle him if he did. The two guards who had left could no longer be heard, but they, and probably a fair few of their buddies, would likely be only a couple of rooms away. Ideally, she would have tried to get her target somewhere less populated before jumping him, but she hadn’t wanted to risk him going to bed as well. Sneaking through a room full of sleeping lizard soldiers didn’t sound like a great idea to her.

“You’re the zbornak.” The soldier, Murphy, she was pretty sure, seemed remarkably calm, though tense, despite the fact he only came up to her shoulders. His voice was also surprisingly quiet. She’d really expected him to yell for backup, regardless of her threats. “You’re here for Minstrel.”

“Wander,” Sylvia corrected. It probably didn’t really matter, but it was bothering her more than it should.

Murphy blinked, a double blink with two sets of eyelids. His neck frill fluttered slightly.

“You can’t get him out.” He sounded certain.

“Sure, I can.” Sylvia forced her voice to be light, forced herself to sound confident. That was how she used to always get by, before meeting Wander. The more sure of herself she sounded, the more it worried her opponents, and that could be very helpful. It was still a pretty good strategy. She was usually pretty sure of herself anyway, though she couldn’t help feeling slightly over her head right now. “In fact, you’re gonna help me. You’ve got a key to his ‘garden,’ don’t you?”

Murphy looked briefly surprised, then he actually scoffed slightly, shaking his head.

“I’m surprised he told you that.” His frill fluttered again as though in a breeze. “Did he tell you I got promoted? He’s been telling everyone that.” Now he sounded vaguely sardonic.

He had, but Sylvia wasn’t about to admit it. She watched the soldier suspiciously. She didn’t like how relaxed he seemed suddenly. She decided to change the subject back to important matters.

“You do have one then. Good. Give it to me, and this doesn’t have to get ugly.” Though she would have to still tie him up or something. She really couldn’t have that alarm pulled right now.

Murphy almost smiled.

“Sorry, but we’re going to have to fight.” Yeah, that’s about what she’d figured. “But don’t worry; I won’t call for backup.” He gestured to a nearby door. “Why don’t we go into the training hall. I’d rather not smash up the lounge if you don’t mind. It took us a long time to get it.”

“You seem awfully calm about this,” Sylvia observed. “Are you that confident you can take me?”

“Not really.” Murphy shrugged slightly. “But you’re Minstrel’s friend, so I’m guessing I can’t convince you to just leave, and I’d rather not wake anyone else and get them involved.”

Eyes still on the impassive, reptilian face, Sylvia pushed open the indicated door, revealing a large gym-like room, different training devices taking up one side, with a cleared area, probably for sparring, closer to the door.

She gestured for Murphy to go in first, then followed him and closed the door tightly.

He’d been right. Fighting in here would be much easier, and unlikely to wake anyone. Sylvia guessed it had pretty thick walls, since there was probably training going on here while the night shift slept nearby.

Murphy’s attitude still seemed suspicious. He appeared to be limbering up now, and definitely looked wary of her, but still pretty calm.

Sylvia had a sudden thought, spurred on by the conversation she’d overheard the guards having, as well as a couple of his earlier remarks.

“You’re not doing this because you want me to save him, are you? You like him, don’t you? And you know he’s not happy here.”

Murphy smirked, straightening. His eyes flickered away briefly, then back to her.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course I like Minstrel. Everyone does. But I would never do anything to help him escape. You don’t know what it’s like. Everything’s better when he’s here. Our Lady is happier, and much more considerate to us, and it’s nice being around Minstrel too, even if we can’t talk to him the way we want to.” He shot her a penetrating glance. “You haven’t known him for that long, but this is just something that happens. I heard the stories growing up before I even met him. Reckon he and Our Lady will be playing this game until the stars die, and probably longer.”

Sylvia frowned, feeling unbalanced suddenly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sure, she’d only known Wander for a few years, but the two of them were so close it felt like much longer. Wander had implied he’d known the villain for quite a long time, many years, presumably, but this guard didn’t look that young. How old was her buddy?

She shook the question off the next instant, annoyed at herself. It wasn’t the time for speculation. She had to focus on getting the key and getting Wander out. If she wasted time talking to this soldier and trying to get information from him, she’d have less time to rescue Wander before morning.

Once her pal was safe, then she could make him answer all the questions she had. And she wasn’t going to let the subject go this time.

She glared challengingly at Murphy.

“I’m sure I know him better than you, anyway. You probably only see him when you’re hunting him down or keeping him locked up. Of course, he’s going to be your friend and make things better for you when he can. That’s who he is. But he’s not happy here, and I’m going to get him out, and believe me, I’m quite happy to go through you to do that!”

Done talking, she raised her fists and took a meaningful step forward.

Murphy copied her. His face was more serious now as he seemed to be inspecting her fighting stance.

“Minstrel always used to travel alone,” was his last remark before closing with her. “Nice to know he’s found a good friend to travel with.”

Sylvia didn’t answer, blocking Murphy’s right hook and stepping forward into his guard. She was pretty sure he was being sincere though, and she rather hoped she wouldn’t hurt him too badly, but there was no way she was losing, and she had a feeling he knew it as well as she did.

Sylvia stood breathing heavily over the guard’s unconscious body.

It had been a pretty tough fight. You couldn’t say he hadn’t been giving it his all, though she still wondered where his heart had been in all of that. She had an idea he wasn’t as against her saving Wander as he’d said.

It made sense, though she didn’t spare much thought for it at the moment. Even Hater’s watchdogs, even the dark lord himself, had started liking Wander after he’d been around for a while. He made it pretty difficult to dislike him, as she knew from experience. In the case of this villain’s soldiers, it was probably even easier, given they didn’t have orders to hurt Wander, and weren’t trying to capture him so he could be executed or something. It had probably been pretty easy for them to get to like him, though obviously not enough that they would help him escape themselves.

Sylvia kept those quiet realizations at the back of her mind along with the ever-growing file of ‘Wander questions’ she had there. They were something to think about more later.

Quickly the zbornak fumbled through Murphy’s armored vest and other clothing, aware of how long she’d been gone already, how quickly the night was passing. Finally, her hand closed on a ring of keys, one of which looked to be gold-plated. Naturally.

Tucking the whole ring under her saddle, she stood and walked to the training hall’s door, opening it and slipping through before closing it behind her.

She didn’t bother to tie Murphy up. He’d be out for long enough, and she didn’t want to waste time trying to find a rope or something. It had been over two hours since she’d left Wander, and anxiety was coiling through her. She needed to get back there.

As it turned out, that was pretty easy. The night was getting old, but the corridors were still fairly empty, and she only had to dodge a few patrols on her way. Before she knew it, she was back at the entrance to the giant hall where Wander was imprisoned.

She felt a strange feeling of foreboding as she entered. The hall was even darker now, the only illumination from the stars glittering down through the clear ceiling. There was silence except for the distant trickle of running water, and Sylvia could smell the scents of the many trees and flowers, especially as she approached the barred enclosure once more.

It really did feel like nighttime on some distant, forested planet, the kind she and Wander were always stopping to camp on. It gave her the creeps, the idea that this villain knew how Wander traveled and camped, and seemed to have tried to recreate some kind of natural space for him here, but restricted, chained down, fake.

The thought of Wander all alone in here at night made her blood boil, and she had the desire to rush right up to the door and get it open, but that sense of trepidation made her slow unconsciously.

Going right up to the bars, Sylvia peered through them as well as she could at the darkened forest. She had kind of expected Wander to be looking out for her, but his small, cheerful figure was not in evidence. However, now that she was closer, she could faintly hear something from somewhere through the trees; the distant murmur of voices.

Wander wasn’t alone.

Sylvia swore silently.

Okay, she had to think. Someone else was in there. What did that mean? It could be another guard, she supposed, though that option seemed far too hopeful. She leaned slightly closer, resting her head against a bar and pricking up her ears.

“…awful nice of you ta come an’ check up on me, but I told ya, I’m fine.”

Wander’s voice. His tone was light, but slightly too high to Sylvia’s ear. Anyone who didn’t know him very well would think he was just his normal, happy self, but it worried Sylvia that she could detect that hint of nervousness. Especially since someone else might have noticed it as well.

Whatever the other person replied was too quiet for her to make out, but she heard the underlying hiss, that sibilance in the quiet voice which told her all she needed to know, and she clenched her hands.

This was bad. It was the middle of the night! What was Lady Infinite even doing in there?

More importantly, how long could Sylvia afford to wait and hope she went back to bed?

Not very long.

The night would be over in a couple of hours, and Sylvia needed those hours to get Wander out and find a way for both of them to escape the ship before the dayshift began their patrols and the corridors got more crowded.

Not only that, but Murphy would surely be awake by then and, whether or not he secretly wanted Wander to escape, she had no doubt he’d be sounding the alarm. This was her only chance, and she couldn’t wait around for the snake lady to get tired of obsessively hanging around her buddy and leave.

So, she guessed she was trying her luck right now.

Stealthily, Sylvia approached the door and dug out the ring of keys. The gold one fitted the lock perfectly, and she took a steadying breath and turned it as quietly as she could.

The door opened with only the softest of clicks, and Sylvia swung it outward and slipped inside.

Now, the natural illusion was almost complete. Sylvia worked her way as quietly as possible through the forest, brushing aside branches only when she couldn’t slip past them.

She paused after a few minutes, trying to get her bearings. The voices were a little more distinct now, and she didn’t want to be spotted. She could also see a faint light from somewhere ahead of her, which meant she had to make sure to stay hidden as she advanced. She took one silent step, and then another, and found herself peering out between the trees at a clearing.

The light she had seen came from a small lamp that was sitting on a stone table in the center of the clearing. Wander was sitting on a matching chair, swinging his legs and drinking something from a mug he was holding, but it was the alien next to him that drew Sylvia’s eyes.

It was only her third time seeing Lady Infinite, and just like before, she could feel herself tense as her eyes trailed over the languidly lounging figure. The villainess was stretched out on a stone bench, which was clearly here specifically for her, and the end of her tail was twitching idly.

“And what happened next, little one?”

Wander put his mug on the table.

“Well, since the flowers were back, all the li’l weedkins were pretty happy, an’ they stopped hauntin’ the poor townsfolk. They’re all pretty friendly now, or they were when I last saw ‘em. I never saw lilies that colour before! They were just the prettiest things!”

“How lovely! I may have to get some for you.”

“Oh!” Wander started slightly. He clasped his hands together in his lap. “That’s…real kind of ya, Lady I, but you don’t have ta do that.”

“Nonsense. You know I always want you to be happy.”

Sylvia’s teeth clenched. That flarf-narbling glag-muncher! There was that hint of arrogance to her sibilant voice, and the implication that she was being magnanimous, that she was doing Wander some kind of favour. It made Sylvia’s blood boil.

Wander rubbed his upper arm with one hand, definitely appearing uncomfortable now.

“I sure wouldn’t like everyone on QT-3 ta be missin’ their flowers though. Those blooms were awful important to the little fellers. Besides, there’s plenty a’ real pretty ones in m’ garden already!”

“Are you certain?” The villain leant over slightly, tilting her head as though studying the little nomad.

Wander nodded emphatically.

“I jus’ can’t believe how many new ones ya got for me since las’ time. I’m still gettin’ ta know ‘em all. It was such a nice surprise for me ta wake up to!”

“I’m so glad, Minstrel.” A clawed hand reached out, ruffling Wander’s bangs gently. “I chose ones I thought you’d like. It hasn’t been the same without you here, you know.”

A nod, followed by a yawn and a stretch from Wander.

“Don’t s’pose you’d mind if I turned in now? I’m gettin’ kinda sleepy.”

“Of course, Little one. We’ve had a lovely visit.”

Lady Infinite rose, coils stretching across the grass, the white scales looking silver in the glow of the lantern and the distant stars.

It looked like Sylvia might be able to do this undetected after all. She just needed to wait for the villain to leave, and then they’d be almost home free. That thought in mind, the zbornak took a step back with the intention of blending back into the trees behind her, only to stumble on a tree root, make a grab for a steadying branch and miss, and feel herself falling, as if in slow motion, to land with a very audible whump.

“What was that?” The villain’s voice was hard as a whip-crack.

“Hmmm, can’t say I heard any…”

Sylvia didn’t wait to see if she’d been spotted. She was pretty sure the jig was up. She pulled herself upright and barreled forward through the branches and into the clearing.

Wander was on his feet now, wide eyes locked on her and his hands over his mouth.

“You!” Lady Infinite snarled. “Stay back, or else…”

She moved forward, trying to block Sylvia’s path to her buddy, and there was no way the enraged zbornak was letting her do that. She lashed out with the duchess of wailing, and Sylvia felt her connect with the villain’s scaly jaw, sending her tumbling to the side, head over tail with a snarl of pain.

Two more strides and she grabbed Wander’s arm, slinging him onto her back as she turned in the same motion and dove back into the forest towards the door.

“Sylvia!” Wander squawked from her back. “Ya hit her!”

“She had it coming.” And even that had been very satisfying. “Right now, we’ve gotta go!”

She sensed Wander give a small nod, felt his hands tighten around her neck and put on more speed.

Just as she reached the barred door, she almost stumbled again as light suddenly flooded into the hall along with a sudden, blaring alarm, different from the one that had gone off when the ship had been damaged, more urgent-sounding somehow.

Not that she was some kind of alarm critic.

Sylvia threw herself out of the door and it snapped shut behind them abruptly, almost catching her tail. She ran for the arched doorway out of the hall, but was forced to pull up short, Wander tugging on her reigns to help her, as a set of bars slammed down over the opening like a portcullis on springs.

“Woah!” Wander commented. “That didn’t used to be here!”

Sylvia didn’t answer; too busy tugging on the bars. When that didn’t work, she backed up and gave them a savage kick. Sturdy they seemed, but they didn’t quite measure up to Dominator’s dungeons, and she felt them crack, then give under her feet, leaving a jagged hole.

As she dashed out into the hallway, she heard running feet, scores of them from every direction. Sylvia turned down the hallway and almost ran into a flying, metal net as dozens of soldiers surrounded her. She ducked under it and sidestepped a second one, and then she felt herself thrown sideways and the breath was knocked out of her as flexible, metal strands whipped around her, binding her arms and legs.

Wander had been knocked off her back at the impact, skidding across the polished floor.

Sylvia struggled in the net, pulling and prying and hearing the shriek of metal as the strands strained and began snapping. Then, a second net struck her, and a third, weighing her down and making it impossible to move. She could barely twitch. Her struggles subsided as she panted to catch her breath. She tried to peer around for Wander, but her field of view was limited.

“Vile, detestable creature!”

Sylvia heard the scrape of scaly coils on polished stone and turned her head as much as she could. Lady Infinite was livid. She was holding some kind of cloth to the side of her face with two of her hands, and Sylvia could see the edge of what looked like a giant bruise forming underneath it. Her lip seemed to be split as well, a thin line of blood on her chin.

“I could…say the same,” Sylvia managed.

The villain slid closer, slitted eyes narrowed and the claws on her free hands clenched. She bent close to Sylvia’s face.

“I tried to be generous to you,” she hissed, low and menacing. I was willing to leave you alone now that I had my star nomad back, and yet here you are. You broke into my ship to try and steal him from me again, and you dared to lay your filthy paw on me. Well, no more.” Straitening, she moved back slightly, eyes still locked with the zbornak’s. “Kill her,” she ordered, and Sylvia began to struggle again even though she knew it would be futile. Several guards stepped forward, drawing their sabers.

“Wait!”

Sylvia thought Wander must have been held back by someone before, but he’d clearly gotten loose somehow. He dove in front of her, arms out. He had his back to her and she couldn’t see his expression, but desperation made his voice crack.

“Don’t do this!” he pleaded. “Syl was just bein’ a good friend an’ tryin’ ta help me out.”

“Why should I care? I have not been so insulted in five-hundred years! I’m going to rid the universe of another useless vermin.” Her eyes darted briefly to one of the nearby guards. “Hold him.”

Wander didn’t move. When the guard started toward him, he glanced her way and she hesitated, neck frill fluttering, though Sylvia couldn’t tell if he’d whispered something or just given her a look. Wander turned back to Lady Infinite.

“Ya may not care about Sylvia, but I know you care about me, an’ I’m askin’ you. Please don’t do this.”

“Wander,” Sylvia warned. She didn’t know what he was about to do, but she had a bad feeling about it. Wander turned just enough so she could see his face and sent her a small smile, one of his smiles that said ‘don’t worry, things’ll work out’, or maybe ‘never hurts to help.’ Then he turned away and took a step toward the villainess.

“Let’s talk about this,” he offered. “If you don’t want me ta leave, then I won’t. Jus’ let Syl go, an’ we’ll go back to the Rondel galaxy if ya want.”

“Wander!” Sylvia said it louder this time.

“Silence!” Lady Infinite snapped, and the guard next to Sylvia slammed the butt of his weapon on the floor warningly. The villainess looked piercingly at Wander. “You won’t try to run away?”

“Not s’long as ya leave Sylvia alone.” Wander’s voice was light as though he was offering to make supper or tie someone’s shoes, but Sylvia wasn’t fooled. She’d seen how much he didn’t want to be here, and she knew that promise must be hurting him. She felt her own stomach clench with a feeling of worry and helplessness. All she wanted to do was tear her way out of the nets and rescue her buddy like she had countless times before.

But she couldn’t. All she could do was watch.

Lady Infinite stared at Wander for a moment longer, then she looked past him, though not at Sylvia, but the guards surrounding her.

“Take her to the hanger and throw her off the ship,” she ordered through what sounded like clenched teeth. Then, to Sylvia, venomously, “And you had better stay away if you know what’s good for you.” She turned to Wander, who seemed to have relaxed slightly. As Sylvia was dragged away, she heard the snake lady say “Come with me, Minstrel. I have something for you.”

Then the guards rounded a corner, and she couldn’t see either of them anymore.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Twenty-Five: The Same Page

“And I guess that’s it.” Sylvia wasn’t looking at him. Her eyes were on their destination, somewhere as yet invisible among the distant stars.

Hater frowned, worry mixed with indignation winding through his ribs.

“You mean you just left him there?”

“I didn’t really have much of a choice!” Sylvia clenched her hands. “By the time I got the nets off I couldn’t even see the ship anymore. I thought about trying again, but…” she trailed off for a moment, apparently trying to sort through her thoughts. “I couldn’t even get him out when I had the element of surprise. If I went right back in when they were expecting me, it might end up even worse. Wander was…still okay at least, or mostly. But I’m worried he might not try to escape anymore because of what happened to me. It sounded like he was just agreeing to stay there, and I can’t let that happen.”

Straitening her back, she shot Hater a very pointed look.

“So, I decided I needed some backup, and that’s where you come in. Just two of Wander’s friends on a mission to help him. He’ll probably be delighted about that when we find him.”

“I’m not…” Hater cut himself off, crossing his arms and glaring out at the void. He’d already admitted he was Wander’s friend to Sylvia, Grop, she’d already seemed to know it before he’d even said anything. And when he was leaving, he’d even told Peepers. There was no reason to pretend anymore, yet it still seemed like something he should deny, should fight against. He decided to change the subject, away from uncomfortable labels and back to something he was more interested in, namely Sylvia’s miserable failure to rescue Wander from the snake villain.

“So, why didn’t you just blow up the ship or something?” he grumbled. “Not like it would’ve been the first time. You used to blow my ship up so often Peepers had, like, a sign saying how many days it had been since the last explosion.”

“Okay, first off, your ship blows up at the drop of a hat,” Sylvia retorted. “You should really have your engineers take a look at that. Half the time, that happened by accident or I punched a watchdog and he fell on a self-destruct button or something. And I had no idea how to do anything to a ship like this. It’s huge and I only explored a fraction of it when I was there. You and Peepers were the ones messing with it last time, if you recall. Plus, there was no way I was going to try messing with any controls until I found Wander and got him out, and you heard how well that went.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Hater still felt annoyed at Sylvia, though he wasn’t really sure why. Aside from her usual disrespectful tone and the occasional insult, he couldn’t really find any problems with what she was saying. From her own account, she’d tried her hardest to save the little nomad, and it didn’t really seem like her fault things had gone the way they had. With all the experience she had rescuing Wander from villains, she should know what she could do in those kinds of situations, and he’d seen first hand how she was willing to risk her life for her ‘buddy’ from all the times she’d charged in to save him from the skull-ship.

But even with all of that, he still felt like she should have done something different, had a better strategy, even though he had no idea what it should have been. In any case, there was something else that was still bothering him.

“What about that villain; Lady whatchamacaller?” Hater flapped his hand in dismissal of his inability to remember the interloper’s name.

“Lady Infinite?” Sylvia’s voice was dry. “What about her?”

“You said she, like, knew Wander, from even before you met him.”

The zbornak sighed.

“Yeah, she did. Seems like they’ve been tangling for a long time, but Wander wasn’t very forthcoming with the details about all of that. He said it used to be kind of like you and him, you know; with her trying to capture and execute him and him foiling her plans, though he didn’t really describe it like that, being Wander. Then at some point things changed, apparently. He said they got to know each other better, whatever that means, and then she started wanting to capture him for different reasons, and it got harder for him to get away.”

“Oh sure, like he never had trouble getting away from me!”

Sylvia’s expression was completely deadpan.

“Did he?”

Hater felt slightly insulted. Sure, he didn’t want to capture Wander anymore, but he’d done it so many times and in so many different ways, and it kind of felt like he was being compared unfavourably to this other villain, even though he was aware that didn’t really make sense. In any case, he found himself glaring out at the stars, shoulders hunched and his crossed arms tight.

“...Maybe,” he managed after a painful moment.

“Uhuh.” Sylvia didn’t sound like she believed him.

Hater cleared his throat, moving on hurriedly.

“So, what exactly makes it so hard for him to get away from her?” he demanded.

“I…don’t know, really.” Sylvia didn’t sound happy about that. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I know part of it. She’s obviously put some precautions in place to keep him from escaping. Some kind of electrocuted bars on his ‘garden,’ an alarm, booby-trapped doors, stuff like that. But…I guess, it seemed like there was something more. Like, something she knew about him, or he knew about her. Some way she treats him that makes it harder. Ugh!” She paused, rubbing her temples in a frustrated way. “Anyway, I guess that doesn’t matter now. He’s agreed not to escape. I heard him!” She shook her head as though trying to dismiss the unpleasant image, letting out a strangled huff of breath.

“Of course he agreed,” she muttered. “I couldn’t save him and he ended up having to sacrifice himself to save me! So now he’s stuck there unless we can get him out, and you’d better Grop-darn believe we’re going to!”

“Well, duh!” That was one thing Hater whole-heartedly agreed on. Then, on a sudden thought, he stopped, shooting the zbornak a suspicious glance. “So, like, do you have a plan, or something? Because if things went that badly when you were there before, maybe we should have brought the skull-ship after all. We would at least have had some minions to charge in behind us. Not that I need any help…”

“I might agree with you if I thought the firepower would do any good.” Sylvia scoffed quietly. “That ship is basically a floating planet. It’s pretty outdated, but seemed really solid, and her soldiers are no joke, I can tell you that.” She rubbed her shoulder ruefully. “And you saw how many there are when we first infiltrated. Besides, the idea of going in directly still worries me. I don’t want her to know we’re coming until we’re already there. She’s kind of got Wander going along with whatever she wants right now. I don’t know what she could do, but I don’t want to give her an opportunity to do it.” She looked Hater’s way, determination flashing in her eyes. “And yeah, I do have a plan. And I’m sure you’ll be happy to know you’ll be playing a big part in it.” She breathed in deeply before squaring her shoulders. “So, hero of the galaxy, you ready for a rescue?”

Hater snorted. He hadn’t realized she’d heard about that ‘title’ he’d picked up recently. He himself had heard it quiet a few times on the planets he’d been visiting, enough that he’d stopped protesting when people shouted it, even though it still made him uncomfortable. He might have decided it didn’t matter if people saw him as a villain, but he really wasn’t comfortable being labeled a hero, and not just because it was the antithesis of everything any self-respecting bad guy stood for. He still didn’t feel like a hero and he wasn’t planning on being one, and he was sure Sylvia knew that.

But he guessed it wasn’t really important right now, so he just rolled his eyes, electing to ignore the insinuation for the most part.

Wander would probably be annoyingly happy about that whole thing when they found him though. Hater would have to be prepared to fend off a lot of hugs.

“So, what is this great plan then?” he demanded. “It had better be good, and it had better involve me beating that upstart’s face in. She’s been mucking up my galaxy for too long without learning a lesson from the Universe’s Ultimate Evildoer.” He jutted his jaw out, daring Sylvia to deny that.

“Don’t worry, bonehead. You’ll get plenty of action.” The zbornak gave him a rather predatory grin and Hater felt his jaw twitching into a smirk in response. “You’re not the only one who’s aching to cave a certain skull in, I can promise you that!”

After everything she’d said, Hater was sure that was true. Lady snake-something had better watch her back when the two of them arrived. It seemed strange to think that he had something in common with the zbornak. It also felt kind of exciting to be actually doing this; charging in to rescue Wander and show this villain up. And if the little pest wanted to sing some song about how they should all be friends, well, he could do that after they saved him. Hater had a feeling he wouldn’t complain too much. The fact that he was friends with Sylvia meant he must be okay with some level of violence on his behalf, at least so far as most of the watchdogs on the skull-ship could attest.

“Okay then, here’s my plan so far.” Sylvia glanced at a particular star before adjusting their direction slightly, then looked back at him again. “And if you can find any problems with it, let me know and we can figure them out. We’ve still got a ways to go to find this place.” She frowned and for a moment her confident demeanor seemed to slip and she looked tired and desperate again the way she had when she first appeared on the skull-ship’s monitor to ask for help. “This is going to work,” she affirmed. “It has to.”

Hater nodded. Normally he might have made fun of an enemy who was showing weakness, especially after Sylvia had tormented him by filming the aftermath from his dentist appointment all those months ago. He should be enjoying her desperation, but somehow he couldn’t. Maybe it was because Sylvia didn’t really feel like an enemy any more after everything that had happened, or maybe that part of him was changing as well.

Maybe he should be worried about that, but he decided not to let it bother him at the moment. There was other stuff right now he had to worry about. He had to focus on listening to Sylvia’s plan as she explained it and making sure it was as fool-proof as she’d indicated. He felt impatient. He wanted to be there now, beating up the stupid guards and zapping the snake-lady the way he’d been itching to since back at that bubble-planet. But he’d have to make himself be patient for now. At least they had time to figure out the plan and make sure it worked. No way was he leaving without Wander. And so far, working with Sylvia was going much better than he would have expected. He hoped the trip didn’t take too long though.

He was…maybe looking forward to seeing Wander again, as well as taking him back from Lady Whose-er-face. Sylvia’s story had left him feeling unsettled, especially what she’d said about how Wander was feeling. Hater hoped she was wrong about that. He hoped the little nomad was being his usual happy, annoying self. He…didn’t like to think of him any other way.

As Sylvia began to outline her plan, Hater pushed those thoughts to the back of his skull and gave her his full attention. And he was fully prepared to complain about any problems with what she was saying. After all, he agreed with her for once.

This had to work.

Lady Infinite was brushing Wander’s fur.

He was sitting on her lap, her white scaly tail coiled under him, and trying not to wriggle as the brush carded through the soft strands.

Wander had always had trouble sitting still, unless he’d found something he could focus his attention on for a long while, playing music, for example, or watching a flower bloom. Sylvia had helped with that a little since she sometimes wanted a day to relax on a beach or something, and Wander had tried to give that to her, even if she relaxed while he explored for a while.

He would probably be even more wiggly if it hadn’t been for that.

Lady Infinite had always seemed fascinated with his fur, perhaps because she and her soldiers didn’t have any. She liked to brush it and stroke it, especially when he was sitting in her lap like this. Wander wondered if she also enjoyed the warmth, being cold-blooded.

He fidgeted, shifting slightly, and heard the warning click of her tongue.

“Hold still, Minstrel. I’m almost finished.”

Wander sat back again, closing his eyes as the brush ran down his back, trying to relax and enjoy the sensation. It was kind of soothing, or it would be if he wasn’t feeling so restless, chest tight with anxiety he couldn’t seem to shake. It was so hard to stay here right now. He needed to be off traveling through the stars, seeing new planets, meeting folks, helping them out or even just wandering. It was nice sometimes to have no destination in mind, to just stroll off in whatever direction seemed right at the moment.

And he needed to be with his friends, needed to be playing with them, showing them new things, helping Hatey tune his guitar collection or giving Sylvia a hand with supper.

He pushed the pictures away as best he could, knowing they would only make him feel lonely.

Here, he needed to stick to whatever routine Lady Infinite had decided on. Right now, that meant staying on board the ship, only looking at the stars through the windows or the skylight in his garden. Lady Infinite never left her ship unless she was on a planet she was firmly in control of, and, while he was here, she wouldn’t let him go anywhere without her.

His eyes snapped open again and he let his gaze rove around the throne room, from the crystal throne they were sitting on to the golden carpet, the glittering gems embedded in the wall carvings and the hanging draperies and fairy lights.

Lady Infinite liked to be in her throne room, even when she wasn’t holding court, like now when there were no subjects supplicating or rulers to chastise.

And she liked him to be in here with her, to keep her company and entertain her. Wander knew she often got lonely by herself, since she wouldn’t talk to her guards, even though he knew they had lots of interesting things to share.

Wander wasn’t always sitting on her lap when they were here. There was a soft cushion set for him on the dais by the base of the throne, and he would often sit there in between whatever she might be asking him to do, be it playing music, telling stories or doing a bit of juggling or something. Wander actually wouldn’t mind doing something like that right now. It might keep his mind from its unhappy musings.

At least his routine would probably change a little soon. From what he’d heard, Wander knew they were nearing the farthest reaches of this galaxy and would soon be passing out of it. Once they arrived in Lady Infinite’s territory, she’d promised to take him on some tours of her new planets. It certainly wasn’t the exploration and freedom he was craving, but Wander knew she was doing it to make him happy, and at least he’d get a break from the ship and to visit some planets he hadn’t seen in a while.

That was really all he had to look forward to at the moment, and maybe it would give him some more opportunities to talk to her. If he could just help her with some of the things that were bothering her, he knew it would be better.

“There, how does that feel?”

Lady Infinite set the brush down on the arm of her throne, the pearl handle clicking softly.

“Feels nice, ma’am! Thankee!”

Wander shifted, making a move to hop to his feet. A scaly hand settled gently on his shoulder and he paused, turning to look questioningly back.

He guessed he couldn’t leave just yet.

Lady Infinite seemed about to say something, when suddenly there was a low rumble and the whole throne room started shaking, not enough to knock any of the guards lined up against the walls off of their feet, but certainly enough that Wander was sure they all felt fairly shaken. Turbulence like that wasn’t really a thing on the Palace, at least not to the point where you could feel it in Lady Infinite’s living quarters. The overhead lights flickered on and off briefly, and then the shaking stopped.

The snake lady’s eyes narrowed under her hood.

Wander shifted again, and she made no move to stop him this time when he hopped to his feet. As she rose as well, the room trembled again, lights stuttering and her eyes flashed angrily. Wander swallowed. He knew she wasn’t pleased about that. Lady Infinite hated to be interrupted with anything she was doing, and she always wanted the ship to fly smoothly. She liked it best when there was no indication they were on a spaceship at all.

“It’s prolly nothin’,” he offered hopefully. “Jus’ a bit o’ space debris. This galaxy’s lousy with it after all that fuss with Dominator.”

There was another rumble, louder this time, and the lights went dark for several seconds before they flickered back on.

Lady Infinite didn’t answer right away. Her gaze went to her guards, who looked slightly off balance after the shaking. They snapped to attention as well as they could.

“Li, Jones: go and find out what is going on,” she ordered. As Hao and Becky hurried out, she turned back to Wander. “Hopefully, that’s all it is, though someone will need to be disciplined. I do not tolerate incompetence!”
Wander winced.

“Lady I, I don’t reckon that’s the best way ta…”

Rumble.

The next tremor hit before he could finish, and Wander swayed, almost knocked off his feet this time. Lady Infinite seemed pretty unaffected, her tail keeping her steady, though her mood was definitely fraying.

“Get me the bridge!” she demanded.

Hao seemed to be trying to do just that, fumbling with the intercom next to the door. From what Wander could gather, it sounded like the power outages were messing with the communication device. Becky had already run out of the door to try and get information in person.

Wander stumbled again as the room shook. It was almost happening in a regular rhythm. The lights flickered violently and kept flickering this time when the shaking stopped.

That seemed to be the last straw for Lady Infinite’s patience.

“That is it!” she snapped. “I’ll find out myself!” Seizing Wander by the wrist, she pulled him with her as she headed for the door, the guards falling into line beside and behind her, though giving her a healthy cushion of space as well. Her anger was practically visible as a dark cloud above her head. Wander thought she might be a little nervous too, though she was masking it with fury the way she often did.

Just as they entered the hallway, the whole procession had to pause, bracing themselves as the ship shook once more, and there were several startled exclamations. Either the tremors were getting stronger, or they were more noticeable out here. Wander would have fallen if the clawed hand hadn’t still been gripping his wrist.

Lady Infinite didn’t wait for the guards to recover, but swept angrily on down the corridor towards the bridge, leaving them to stumble back into formation behind her.

Wander felt slightly unbalanced from all the shaking, but he couldn’t help the rush of interested curiosity that seemed to be dancing down his spine. This was definitely not just turbulence at this point. There had to be something else going on, and it felt like so long since something unexpected had happened. What could it be? A black hole? A living asteroid belt? A giant kitten?

He hoped they’d get to the bridge soon.

He couldn’t wait to find out what it was.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Twenty-Six: The Disruption

The bridge, when they reached it, was a buzz of panicked activity.

It actually took a few moments for the soldiers, engineers and pilots present to realize their ruler had arrived, and then their bows were very hurried. Wander was glad to see Lady Infinite was too agitated from the unknown cause of the shaking and sudden power outages to notice the breach of protocol.

“What is going on here?” she demanded, her voice ringing through the control room and making several lizkins and reptites jump. The thontars were probably too steady. They didn’t tend to jump at much. “What is the cause of this?”

“We, ah, we don’t know, My Lady.” Janice wrung her scaly hands from her spot by the security console. She looked very stressed, and Wander itched to go over and see how she was doing.

“What do you mean? Do we not have cameras? Where is it originating from?”

“Um, we think it started in sector twenty-three of deck M.”

“And why aren’t you certain?”

“Because we’ve lost contact with decks M through I!”

“What?”

The ship shook again, lights flickering wildly. When they came back on, the technician blinked down at her screen in dismay.

“Ah, make that decks M through H, My Lady,” she piped up in a small voice.

There was a brief, tense, pause.

“You mean to say it’s coming closer? Why isn’t anyone stopping it! What is going on down there?!”

Lady Infinite had let go of Wander’s wrist when they entered, she seemed to need both sets of hands for the wild gesticulating she was doing, and the nomad glanced back over his shoulder as he made his way surreptitiously over to one of the security monitors to make sure she hadn’t noticed what he was doing.

Though he figured she was unlikely to object right now, what with everything that was going on.

Normally, this might actually be a good time for him to try heading off. That was what often happened after all. When she first got him back after a while of them not seeing each other, Lady Infinite tended to keep him very close, spending time with him, but also making it more difficult for him to leave and usually, when he didn’t have all the concerns weighing on him that he did right now, it was fairly easy for Wander to go along with that and be patient. Eventually, something would happen to distract her or generally disrupt things, and there would be an opportunity for Wander to make his way off of the Palace and start his wandering again.

Of course, it sometimes took a lot longer to happen and it wasn’t usually a disruption of this magnitude.

Having the Palace actually be attacked, since that seemed to be what was happening, definitely made a change of pace. Wander couldn’t remember that kind of thing occurring for a very long time.

In any case, it would have been a good opportunity for him, except that there were two problems this time that were getting in the way of his ability to leave. The first was the necklet, which did make things a little more complicated, especially as he hadn’t really figured out how to get around it at the moment. That was no doubt why Lady Infinite had asked him to put it on, and he hadn’t really felt like he could say ‘no’ at the moment, what with Sylvia being in trouble and all. Still, he could probably figure something out if he had a little more time.

The other problem was more difficult to navigate. It was that, well, he’d promised he’d stay.

Lady Infinite knew Wander didn’t want to stay with her forever. He would have been perfectly happy to visit, if those visits hadn’t contained quite so much forceful confinement, but he just couldn’t stay in one place for as long as she wanted him to, couldn’t stop wandering and exploring and helping people. They’d had lots of disagreements on the subject, and she’d always tried to convince him to stay, but she’d seemed to know that he wouldn’t.

Wander was pretty sure she hadn’t expected him to offer.

To be honest, he’d never expected it either. He’d never thought there would be a situation where he’d need to, but then that whole mess with Sylvia had happened, and it was the only thing Wander could think of.

And it had been worth it, worth it a thousand times over! Wander knew he could be pretty careless, running into all kinds of danger and dragging Sylvia along for the ride. He knew he still tended to do that, especially when they were exploring new planets or encountering something exciting, but he’d certainly been more aware of the danger he might be putting others in after that last encounter with Dominator.

Especially Sylvia.

Wander had put everyone in danger by running away to try and talk to the villainess. He’d been trapped and helpless while they all fought for the freedom of the galaxy below him.

Everyone had been in danger because of him, and he hadn’t been able to help them. And then Dominator had decided to target Sylvia, at least partially because she was Wander’s friend. She’d pinned the zbornak down beneath that menacing drill all while Wander had watched, helpless to stop it. The only reason things had worked out had been because Hater had come to save the day.

Later, in the crow’s nest of the Star Nomad, Sylvia had assured him that what had almost happened hadn’t been his fault, that trying to help others was who he was.

He knew that, and he’d done his best to forgive himself, but he’d still made an internal promise to be a little more careful, a little more thoughtful, to try and think before running into danger.

Yet it had only been a month or so later that Wander had managed to get them into the same predicament again, with Sylvia trapped and helpless, all because of him. Lady Infinite had made it clear already that she was angry at his buddy for not turning him over two years ago, and now that she’d caught Sylvia trying to rescue him, she’d really blown that top of hers. She’d been about to kill his best friend.

So, Wander had done the only thing he could think of to help her.

He still didn’t like thinking about that moment, about the look in Sylvia’s eyes. Even with all the danger she’d been in, she was still thinking about him, worrying about him staying here. Wander knew she wouldn’t have wanted him to make the offer he had, and if she’d been free, she would have been able to save them both. Wander wasn’t able to do that, so he’d said what he’d had to.

He hoped Sylvia would forgive him for it, hoped she’d understand the choice he’d made.

He didn’t regret it, either, not even a little bit. It had been the only thing he could do, the only way he could see to help his best friend.

And it never hurt to help.

Now, Sylvia would be alright, and he would be too; he knew he would. Even if he never got to see his buddy again, just knowing she was okay, that she was out there traveling and enjoying herself and helping others was enough.

So, he wasn’t going to leave, no matter how much he wanted to.

Wander stopped beside Janice as she desperately typed at her computer, trying to connect with the missing floors. When she had a moment to breathe and glanced up at him in surprise, Wander winked, slipping one hand into his hat and producing a mug of hot chocolate, then setting it off to the side next to her workstation before he moved on.

In the next three minutes, the shaking and blackouts happened five more times, seeming to get nearer and more violent with each repetition, and Wander completed his round of the room, leaving behind hot drinks, back pillows and emotional support stuffies. He returned to Lady Infinite, who was currently bent over one of the security monitors, the tip of her tail occasionally twitching in mixed fury and anxiety. They had just lost deck C, and that last shake had been particularly rough, sending even seated personnel tumbling from their chairs to the floor. Wander was glad his hat had had the forethought to provide bottom-weighted mugs.

It seemed like Lady Infinite and the guards hadn’t been idle while Wander was engaged in his helping. The doors had been securely locked, and it sounded like several groups of elite soldiers had been sent to engage whatever was approaching. There had also been an all-call for any soldiers who could hear, directing them to the area in question. Wander did worry about them a little, as well as the troops who had been stationed on the other decks, those they were no longer in contact with. Whatever was approaching sounded pretty ferocious to him. As for the elite squads, at least they had experience, if not with this exact kind of thing. Wander wondered if it would be enough.

“Where are they now?” Lady infinite was demanding when he slid quietly up beside her.

“They should be approaching the blackout area, My Lady.” Ammon’s voice was shaking slightly, though he was doing a good job of keeping things together.

“Good. Get the commander on speaker. I want to hear what this thing is.”

There was a crackling noise from the speakers for a moment, and Wander wondered whether the electrical spikes were interfering with the connection. Then, he heard Murphy’s voice, steady and calm the way it always was, though with tension evident in the undertone.

“Squad A reporting in.”

Ammon squared his shoulders, sounding slightly more confident when he answered.

“What’s going on down there, commander?”

“No visual yet. Lights are completely dead.” Murphy’s voice crackled suddenly, and some of his words were lost before the signal cleared. “…all over the floor, and everything’s broken. Still no sign of…wait.” He paused, and in the faintly staticky silence, Wander could hear irregular thumps, then the screech of something metal being bent the wrong way, followed by a faint yell that ended suddenly, cut off by a zapping noise.

“Sounds like a fight.” Murphy’s voice was lower now, almost a whisper, and Wander leaned forward slightly to hear better, noticing Lady Infinite and the others do the same.

“Where is it coming from?” Ammon’s voice had lowered too, which wasn’t strictly necessary, since whoever it was wouldn’t be able to hear him through Murphy’s headset, but Wander couldn’t blame him. There was an ominous feeling to the distant noises, as well as to the idea of Murphy and the others creeping through the dark, destroyed corridors in search of what was causing it.

Lady Infinite seemed to feel it too.

“Tell him to get closer, but to go carefully,” she ordered. “This thing is tearing through my ship and I want information right now, not heroics.”

Ammon nodded.

“Proceed with caution, commander,” he relayed. “Tell us when you can see it.”

“Affirmative.”

Murphy stopped talking, but he didn’t sign off. Wander could still hear the faint sounds of the reptite’s footsteps, along with the rest of his squad. They were definitely trying to be quiet, and the sounds of fighting could be heard more plainly now as they continued to advance.

Lady Infinite suddenly seemed to notice the nomad standing beside her. Her mouth pursed thoughtfully, and Wander wondered if she was considering sending him back to his garden to keep him out of the way, or to keep him safe. The next moment she shook her head and looked away again, back to the monitors. She must have decided against it, and Wander was glad. He didn’t want to miss all the excitement.

If he was being honest, it was difficult for him to just stand here while all that adventure unfolded only a few floors below. He itched to go down there and see what was going on for himself, especially because he was certain some of the soldiers down there could use some help after the noises he’d been hearing.

The thumps and zapping sounds cut off abruptly, and the footsteps they’d been listening to over the microphone paused as well.

“It’s just around the corner, whatever it is.” Murphy’s voice was the faintest whisper this time. Wander could barely hear it. The soldier must be worried about being overheard. “It encountered squad D already. They’re all down. Looks like there was a lot of damage to this hallway. Wiring’s all melted.”

Several of the nearby technicians exchanged worried glances, and Wander clasped his hands.

“Alright,” Murphy’s whispering voice continued after a moment, “We’re going to round the corner now.” There was an intense silence in the bridge. Wander wondered if everyone was still breathing. “Nothing.” Murphy sounded confused, the nervous edge to his voice more pronounced. “Just the aftermath. Whatever it was must have…”

Wander jumped as there was a sudden screech through the microphone. Panicked yells and the sound of weapons firing frantically filled the room.

“It came from…behind!” The soldier’s frantic scream seemed to rip through the air of the bridge, overshadowing the sounds of combat. Then, it trailed off, and there was a sudden silence once again. The only noise from Murphy’s communicator was the faint hiss of static and echo of the empty airwaves.

“What…?” Lady Infinite swayed back slightly. “How did…. This can’t be happening!” Her wild gaze swept across the room before it zeroed back onto Ammon, who was sitting stunned and staring unseeingly at his monitor. “Call the other squads!” she demanded.

Ammon jumped, then hurried to do as she said, trembling claws fumbling to find the right buttons.

He connected the microphone to the commander of squad B, but they were met with nothing but that familiar hissing and a few faint moans of pain, presumably from some of the soldiers. Ammon tried the other squads frantically, the palpable fear in the bridge mounting as each one was found to be unresponsive.

Finally, Ammon sat back in his chair, turning with obvious trepidation to the frozen figure of his mistress, when the ship suddenly shook once more, and the lights flickered and then went out for the final time, plunging them all into darkness.

There was an immediate spike of confusion and panic all around, soldiers yelling and climbing on things, and stumbling and falling as they milled about.

Wander had jumped when the blackout descended. He felt behind him for one of the control panels, dark now and impossible to see, and pulled himself up and onto it, where he was out of the way while he figured out how best to help in this situation.

He gradually became aware of a faint light shining from behind him, and turned to find that with the lights and screens that overshadowed them disabled, the starlight could be seen shining through the bridge’s windows. It wasn’t really enough to see detail by, but he could get a sense of where folks were, and he was getting ready to hop down and try to comfort some of the soldiers, who seemed a little freaked, when that familiar quaking shuddered through the room once more.

It was closer this time. Wander tried to catch his breath from the hard metal floor he’d ended up on. All around him, soldiers were struggling to their feet. The confused exclamations had mostly died down, though the panicked atmosphere still suffused the air. Wander could hear Alyssa marshalling the troops and trying to form them into a squad of sorts.

Wander stood, brushing himself off, and looked up to find Lady Infinite standing next to him.

“Stay close, Minstrel,” she instructed, somewhat distractedly. One clawed hand fastened around his arm, tugging him towards her.

“My Lady, you need to evacuate.”

The villainess looked down at Alyssa rather wildly.

“Leave the Palace?” she snapped. “That’s ridiculous! I have never been forced off my own ship and I will not start now. Besides, we aren’t even in my territory yet!”

“But we don’t even know what this thing is…”

Boom.

Another rumble, another tremor that shook the room like dice in a cup, and even closer this time, certainly on this floor. All eyes shot to the door, even though it was too dark to really see it.

Boom.

Closer.

“Form a line! Weapons ready, and fire on my orders!”

Lady Infinite moved back grudgingly at the insistence of her soldiers as they took up fighting stances in front of her. Wander followed reluctantly, eyes on the faint outline of the door, just barely visible through the darkness.

Boom!

It was right outside. It must be. Beneath the door, Wander could now see an ominous green glow, amorphous, spectral, and somehow familiar. But that wouldn’t make any sense.

Soldiers watched the glow tensely, weapons at the ready, and Wander bit his lip, wondering if there was anything he could say to head off the impending fight.

BOOM!

The door shuddered under some outside assault. The dead lights overhead flickered briefly on again in a haunting green radiance before shattering. The glow through the cracks in the door was brighter.

Wander held his breath. He could feel Lady Infinite’s claws digging into his arm where she held it.

CRASH!

The door cracked down the middle, breaking the lock, as both sides slammed open to hit the walls. And standing in the doorway were two figures, side by side and highlighted in green electricity that was overwhelmingly bright after the darkness of a moment ago.

Wander blinked, not hearing the exclamations of those around him, not registering the startled guards aiming their weapons at the two intruders. He thought he was dreaming for a moment; why else would he be staring right at the two people he wanted to see most in the whole universe?

But he knew this couldn’t be a dream, the harsh grip on his arm was evidence enough of that. Sylvia and Hater were really here, they had torn through this ship somehow to get to him, in spite of everything that had happened and all the dangers they must have faced already.

And even though Wander didn’t know what was going to happen next, one feeling seemed to overwhelm all the dangers that were still looming in front of him.

It was so good to see them.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Entrance

Hater was exhausted, weary to the center of his marrow, but he had no intention of letting anyone know that; not the zbornak fighting beside him, not the weird lizard soldiers he had been zapping his way through, and not the annoying, nomad-stealing, inferior villain he could finally see hiding behind her troops.

And he especially wasn’t going to let Wander know. He could see Wander, actually see him after those weeks apart and everything Sylvia had told him in her story. Like the zbornak had said, he looked okay, at least from the glance across the room Hater had been able to spare. He was staring at the two of them in surprise from his place by the villainess’ side and she was gripping his arm with one clawed hand as though to keep him from moving away.

The surprise rankled Hater a little. Hadn’t Wander expected them to come and save him? At least he should have expected Sylvia. That was what she did, after all. Hater supposed it would make sense that Wander hadn’t known he was coming. So far as Wander had known, Hater had been off conquering planets on the other side of the galaxy. Still, he couldn’t help being slightly annoyed.

In any case, Wander looked mostly okay, except for the absence of the smile one might expect, but there was something about him that seemed strange. Maybe he was too quiet or too still, or maybe it was because he hadn’t called out to them or inexplicably pulled his arm free already.

Hater didn’t know what it was, but it sent a spark of worry winding down his spine and galvanized him into action.

Ignoring the ache in his bones, the skeleton lord drew himself up, electric green light making him glow and crackle as he rose a few inches off the floor. Beside him, Sylvia raised her fists, taking a step forward into the room, the guards noticeably tensing as she did so.

Hater knew that, like him, Sylvia was just shy of running on fumes. The zbornak’s plan had been a good one, and it had taken them this far, but it had required a lot of fighting, and these lizard soldiers weren’t exactly pushovers; at least, the two larger varieties weren’t.

When they’d first infiltrated the ship, somewhere on one of the middle decks of the huge vessel, they had tried to keep out of sight. The whole plan had hinged on a bluff of sorts, though backed up by plenty of power. They had to appear unstoppable, and more than that; they had to be mysterious. The snake lady probably didn’t know much about Hater, but Sylvia had insisted that they shouldn’t be spotted so no one would know who they were or why they were here. If she knew they were after Wander, Lady what-was-it-again might do something to keep him out of their reach, and certainly pile the guards in his room. Plus, they would be much less intimidating if she knew there were only two of them and was able to see how they fought and how strong they were. That just made strategic sense, so Hater had gone along with it, even though there was a part of him that wanted to just launch himself through the main windows and tear the place apart.

He was able to hold himself back with the promise that when he got to the villainess, his reveal would be all the more dramatic.

Even an outdated ship like this must have cameras, so they had taken some time exploring and located one of the security rooms. From there, after a quick knock-out of the guard, they had managed to use the cameras to locate some important areas on the ship, including the stairs and elevators that provided access between the different levels, as well as the room which controlled the power for this floor.

Those areas had been next on their tour. He and the zbornak had jammed the doors to the stairways shut, then cut the power, rendering the elevators neutralized. They had then lain in wait, knocking out soldiers as they came to investigate. Some of these were harder to surprise than others, and there had been quite a few fights in the dark, but this wasn’t a huge problem for Hater. All he had to do was channel a little electricity into his eyes which allowed him to both see in the dark quite easily, and gave his eyes an eery, green glow that seemed to be quite terrifying in the total darkness they were fighting in.

As for Sylvia, Hater figured she’d had a lot of practice fighting in the dark after all the infiltrations of his ship she’d conducted. Anyway, the darkness didn’t seem to dull the accuracy of her punches very much.

Then, when the metaphorical dust had settled slightly, they had moved on to the next deck up and repeated the process.

Wanting to create some extra chaos, Sylvia had also messed with some of the controls that regulated and stabilized the ship, as well as some of the power conduits that connected throughout. Doing it in the control center for just one floor didn’t change much, but as they continued up the levels and more controls were knocked out of sync, the ship began to shake and shudder. The power outages began to extend farther as well, making lights flicker and shatter on the upper floors as well, which Hater figured was probably at least partly because of all the lightning he was throwing around.

Not that he was planning to dial it back. Wander was up there somewhere all captured and junk. Hater wasn’t going to be satisfied until everyone on this stupid ship knew who they’d messed with by capturing the nomad, until all of them were as frightened of him as they should be and never tried this kind of stunt again.

When he saw the power surging, he threw more lightning at it. When he felt tired, he growled and glowed even brighter. He wasn’t going to rest until Wander was safe and this ship was thoroughly crippled, and hopefully until the other villain was as well.

At the same time, even through his growing weariness, he was amazed at his own power. He was wading through so many enemies, short-circuiting a ship the size of a planet. He couldn’t remember feeling this powerful since that final fight with Dominator.

He didn’t know how he felt about the fact that the two times he’d been the most impressive had been saving Wander and his friends. It was probably best to just ignore that thought for now.

For the moment, he looked away from Wander’s wide eyes and focused on the snake villain.

She was staring at them in utter disbelief, fury beginning to radiate at the edges, and fear hiding somewhere behind. She looked pretty done up, hung with finery, and she carried herself somewhat regally, Hater had to admit to himself, even from her position behind the guards. She didn’t really look like much of a fighter either, which was kind of a shame. Hater had looked forward to a good long battle where he would thoroughly crush his opponent beneath his bony heels.

Although, given how exhausted he was feeling, maybe a shorter fight would be better after all.

Either way though, he was about to charge through the guards and teach her a lesson she wouldn’t forget.

He met her gaze and narrowed his eyes challengingly.

Lord Hater was here, and he was about to show this villain who the Greatest in the Galaxy was.

Wander’s first feeling on sighting his two buddies was almost overwhelming relief. It was surprising how hard it hit. It was like everything was safe and fun again all at once. Then, the reality of the situation crept up on him slowly; the hard, cold grip on his arm, the necklet he was wearing, what he’d agreed to.

He tried to push those thoughts away, but they didn’t go quite far enough, and instead of giving his usual happy wave, he merely stayed where he was standing and gaped.

There was a part of him, hidden way in the back of his heart, that had wondered whether Sylvia would come back to save him again, a small, hidden part of him that wanted her to. He’d tried not to hope for it, tried not even to think of it. He knew it would be dangerous for her to come back, really dangerous! Lady I had been livid last time. Wander couldn’t remember when he’d seen her so angry before, and it had been directed right at his best buddy. And Wander knew the snake lady could be very good at hurting folks, especially when it was to get something she wanted. The safest thing Sylvia could do would be to go back to the Star Nomad and keep helping their friends and having fun adventures.

But…he couldn’t help wanting to see her again, wanting her to come charging in to save him the way she always did.

And now that she was here, well, Wander wasn’t entirely sure how he should feel about that, even though that moment when she’d broken through the door had felt wonderful.

Hater’s appearance was even more unexpected. The skeleton lord had been resolute that he and Mr. Peepers had to get back to the skull-ship and start conquering again. Wander had figured they were doing just that, although he hadn’t heard about it since a lot of communication lines were still severed throughout the galaxy and news wasn’t traveling that fast. He also hadn’t had a chance to go and visit his buddy and see how things were going, and they hadn’t had much orble juice to spare.

And Wander really hadn’t expected to see Hater stomp through the door next to Sylvia. He hadn’t expected that Hatey would come to rescue him too.

“You!” Wander’s gaze shot to Lady Infinite beside him. Her eyes flashed with fury as she stared across at Sylvia, and she gave his wrist a tug to bring him slightly closer to her. “You couldn’t just take the mercy you were granted, could you, beast?” she snapped.

“Me.” Sylvia met the narrowed gaze. “And if we’re calling that ‘mercy,’ you bet your scaly butt I couldn’t!” She didn’t smirk the way she often did, but she looked much more confident than the last time Wander had seen her. She and Hater stepped forward in unison to meet the advancing guards, Sylvia’s fists swinging as Hater unleased his lightning into the crowd. “Oh, and I brought a friend; hope you don’t mind.” There was definitely some bite to her tone now. Her eyes shot to Wander and they were much more tender. “How’re you doin’, buddy?” she called.

Wander was still slightly caught up in his thoughts. It took a moment for the question to penetrate his furry head. He took a half step forward, opening his mouth to say he was fine and started to raise his hand to wave at his friend, but froze as the grip on his arm tightened.

“Don’t you dare!” Lady Infinite snarled, and Wander wasn’t sure if it was directed at Sylvia or him.

In any case, she wasn’t the one who answered.

“Dare?!” Hater was glowing so brightly it was hard to look at him. He waded through the troops like they were nothing, bolts of green lightning sending them flying every which way. “It is you who should not have dared! You waltzed into my galaxy, bothered the citizens of my planets and had the nerve to capture my friend!”

Friend?

Wander gaped across at the overlord, forgetting the situation in his excitement. Hater had never called them friends before. Wander had felt like they had finally become friends back on the Star Nomad after Hater’s attitude towards him had started changing. The two of them had been doing all kinds of fun things; cooking, helping others and playing with their buddies, and he knew the skeleton had been enjoying their time together.

But he hadn’t dared to hope Hater had started to think of them that way, as friends, much less that he’d feel comfortable enough to say it out loud, especially around other people.

Wander once again forgot the danger, forgot his worries and fears about the situation. A bright smile spread over his face, one he hadn’t felt in a while, and he beamed across at Hater.

Lady Infinite seemed less impressed by the title.

Although she certainly seemed intimidated by the force Hater was exerting. The poor soldiers were being knocked aside almost before they could get up to him. The snake lady drew back, pulling Wander a step and reminding him she was still holding his arm. He glanced at her and saw that she was definitely rattled, though she seemed to be trying not to show it, masking the feeling with haughty indignation.

“And who exactly are you?” she demanded. “Some new ‘friend’ Minstrel met along his merry way? You think because you can throw some lightning around and mess with my ship along with that brutish zbornak that you can take him from me? I’ve never even heard of you!”

“No.” Hater paused in his approach, breathing heavily. He was still glowing bright green, sparks skittering off of him, and the nearby soldiers seemed hesitant to close with him after the swath he’d cut through the first line of troops. “But you will!” He walked slowly closer, towards the nervous soldiers. Wander became aware that Sylvia had stopped fighting sometime during Hater’s approach. He glanced across to see her crouched behind a console against one wall, messing with something under it. The spark of the wires she was holding went completely unnoticed, all eyes drawn to the skeleton lord as he drew himself up proudly.

“I am Lord Hater.” He took one step forward, eyes burning, lightning skittering across his cloak.

“I have mangled the minds of millions.” Hater stepped forward again, eyes bright red flames burning into Lady Infinite’s face. The guards around him took an involuntary step back.

“I have tempted forth torrential tides of tears.” Hater moved again, and again, the guards stepped back. “I have reduced the richest of republics to rubble and ruin!”

Wander felt a strange feeling well up from inside of him. He remembered these words. They had been part of Hater’s boast to him the very first time they’d met. But they sounded different this time. The first time Wander had heard this speech, it had been he who’d been backing up, Hater looming over him threateningly as he tried to use them to frighten the nomad. Wander had been a little frightened. They had just met, after all, and he didn’t really know much about his new friend yet.

But at the same time, he’d felt he was starting to understand this strange skeleton man a little. His words were threatening, but there was something behind them that spoke to Wander’s heart. Lord Hater wanted to be impressive, feared and, well, intimidating. He wanted to be the greatest in the galaxy.

But, despite his bold words, he didn’t believe that he was.

That was why he was trying so hard to convince Wander, Sylvia and everyone else. He was doing what he believed would make him great, but he wasn’t feeling it, wasn’t believing his own hype.

There was insecurity there, behind the carefully chosen cloak with its blood-drip design. There was self doubt lurking beneath that menacing face and the wildly gesticulating arms.

There was loneliness buried under that massive warship, legions of soldiers and terrifying reign of terror.

And there was someone Wander knew he could help.

This time, things were different. Hater didn’t seem like he was hiding behind the words or using them to cover up his own insecurities. He seemed more confident, more in control, and Wander couldn’t help the rush of admiration that Hater’s self-assurance had grown so much.

Hater continued advancing, slowly and purposefully, and now his words were different; a new boast, and one Wander had seen for himself. One he believed with all his heart.

“I am the one who drove a drill through the great Lord Dominator’s ship! I am the person who saved this galaxy!”

The guards shrunk to either side as he approached, and Hater strode past them without a glance, his eyes on Lady Infinite. His voice was a cold growl.

“And I am going to drive you out of it!”

“Guards! Guards!”

At the villainess’ shriek, the guards advanced once more but Hater barely noticed, sending waves of electricity through their ranks, knocking them off their feet. Lady who’s-her-face had moved backward as he advanced. She finally released Wander’s arm, fumbling behind her on the wall. Hater didn’t notice what she was doing at first, then a hidden door slid open and he sped up.

No way was he letting her get away!

She was already partially through into whatever passage lay beyond, but had turned to call for Wander again using that made-up name Hater had heard already. The nomad looked like he might be about to listen to her, turning slightly toward the open door, so Hater dove forward with a growl, sending a jolt of green lightning that should send her sprawling head over coils.

She was faster than he’d expected.

As he closed in, the lithe, white body shifted, the tail flexing more quickly than he could follow, and snaked around him, thick scaly muscles constricting and trapping him thoroughly. One loop tightened abruptly, pulling his legs together, and Hater fell onto the floor with a thump, still trapped in the coils.

He growled in anger at the villainess now above him, pulling at his arms to try and get them free. The brake in his focus also made him suddenly more aware of his exhaustion, of the ache deep in his bones that spoke of an overuse of power. The slitted, golden eyes came closer as she bent over him slightly, her coils tightening again so that Hater could hear his bones creak.

“Oh, you’ll drive me out, will you?” she hissed. “You fool. You have no idea who I am! I have seen empires rise and fall and galaxies reshape themselves and I am still here. I will still be here when your bones turn to dust on some forgotten moon! Let’s see how well you rescue your ‘friend’ with a broken spine, shall we?”

The pressure increased and Hater writhed as best he could, letting out an unwilling groan as the coils constricted tighter and tighter. He felt breathless despite not having physical lungs. His hands sparked as he tried to summon his power, but he couldn’t seem to control them properly.

Hater wheezed painfully as the tail tightened even more, fuzzy spots assaulting his vision, then suddenly the pressure subsided slightly and he gasped a big breath in.

He blinked up, the fuzzy spots fading, except for a big orange one that seemed to be hanging down in front of the snake woman’s face.

“Well, I must say this isn’t the best way ta roughhouse with new friends! Maybe we all aughta take a break an’ have some tea.” That familiar voice seemed thin in Hater’s head, and he wasn’t sure if it was because he was still pretty winded or because there was a nervous tilt to Wander’s tone that he wasn’t used to hearing. “I actually happen ta have some jasmine that’s delicious! An’ pretty calming too, since I think y’all could use it. I’ll go whip us up a pot.”

Wander hopped down out of Hater’s sight and the tail relaxed even more as the clawed white hands made a grab for him.

“Come here, Minstrel!” the furious voice snarled. “I order you to!”

Hater didn’t wait to see if Wander would listen, and if Lady whatchamacaller thought he would, Hater had his doubts how well she knew the nomad. He wasn’t going to let the momentary distraction go to waste. He made one final effort and forced his power to explode out of him, trusting that Wander was far enough away, and after all, the little pest had proven many times how good he was at avoiding Hater’s lightning.

The snake lady, not so much.

She screamed as the voltage hit her, then fell smoking to the floor, her coils going slack so that Hater could push the heavy things off of him. He wasn’t sure whether she was down for the count, but he didn’t know if he could summon any more lightning even if she wasn’t. He could barely force himself to his feet.

He stared down at the smoking villainess for a second before his glare snapped to Wander, several feet away, holding a teapot and completely un-electrocuted.

“No tea,” he gasped out. “We’re leaving now!”

As though on cue, an alarm started blaring, the floor sharply tilting, reminding Hater of the last time they were on this ship.

“Agreed, bonehead!” Hater hadn’t seen the zbornak appear. He’d been a little preoccupied what getting his breath back and taking out the main villain single-handedly. Sylvia didn’t hesitate, grabbing Wander and slinging him onto her back. “Hold on, buddy!” she instructed.

“Yeah, but maybe we should…”

Sylvia didn’t seem to have time for whatever probably tea-related thing Wander was trying to say, not that Hater blamed her. She used her other hand to grab the skeleton by his robe, yanking him abord, something Hater wasn’t about to protest since he wasn’t sure he could walk, right now, let alone run. Then the powerful legs churned and the zbornak made for the door, knocking aside any remaining guards.

“Hold on a sec, Syl…” Wander tried again, when he was once more cut off, this time by a hissing declaration from behind them.

“You’re not going anywhere, Minstrel!”

At the same time, Wander gave a yelp, as the zbornak’s steps faltered. The furry nomad fell from her tilting saddle to land hard on the floor and Sylvia skidded to an abrupt halt, turning back toward her buddy on the metal floor. Hater’s eyes were drawn to the strange way Wander was lying; flat on his stomach with his head pressed to the floor. The short, gold necklace he was wearing was touching the metal tiles.

Hater slid to the floor, doing his best to pose menacingly as the zbornak knelt beside Wander.

“We have a problem.” The grimness in Sylvia’s voice was slightly worrying, Hater had to admit.

“What problem?” he demanded.

“Sorry buddies.” Wander sounded slightly strange with his furry cheek pressing into the ground. And why wasn’t he lifting his head?

Sylvia gripped the necklace with both hands, giving a sharp tug which didn’t appear to do anything.

“Wander’s stuck,” she stated unnecessarily.

Hater stared across the two nomads through the blaring alarms to where a very singed snake villainess had pulled herself upright, then glanced around as a group of the battered guards were attempting to rally.

Somehow, he felt like they weren’t out of the woods yet.

Chapter Text

Changing Our Stars
Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Conclusion

“What’s this thing made of, tungsten?” Sylvia pulled hard on the necklet where it was pressed against the floor. She strained her muscles, groaning with the effort, then was forced to pause, panting. It hadn’t budged and it hadn’t bent, which really wasn’t a good sign.

“Hmmm, I dunno.” Wander sounded fairly calm. “Lady I didn’t mention what it was made of, just that it’d keep me from leavin’. Sure is heavy though.”

“Heavy?” Hater glanced down from where he was poised with his sparking hands held high against the remaining guards. They seemed to have rallied around the singed form of Lady Infinite, though they hadn’t tried advancing again just yet.

Sylvia was grateful he was handling the defense, though she hoped the bluff would be enough to keep the soldiers back for the moment. She had a feeling Hater was almost out of juice.

“Yeah!” Wander shifted slightly so he could look up at Hater. It seemed to be the most he could do. It didn’t look like the whole necklet was heavy, just the thick, gold ornament on the front, which was pressed tightly to the floor like it had been planted there, but with how short the thing was, that didn’t give the nomad a lot of wiggle room. Wander shrugged his shoulders awkwardly from his position flat on the metal tile. “Lady I must’ve activated it when we tried to run. She’s really not a fan of me headin’ off.

“So, it’s not magnetic? Why wasn’t it pulling you down before?”

“Must be somethin’ got shifted inside. I’m not sure. Sorry, Sylvia. I wish I knew more. We could ask, but I don’t reckon she’ll tell us.”

“Yeah, somehow I doubt it.” Sylvia’s voice was dry, but slightly distracted. She was thinking, aware she didn’t have much time for it. She shot another glance at the soldiers, who had begun slowly moving once more. They weren’t getting much closer, but they seemed to be edging around the sides of the room, threading between the consols and overturned chairs, trying to cut off the exits. No doubt, once the soldiers had finished surrounding them, they would start to draw the ring slowly inward. She and Hater couldn’t take them all, especially if the skeleton lord was as tired as she was.

Lady Infinite was still at the back. She still seemed to be recovering from what must have been a very powerful electric jolt, all four arms tucked around herself and slightly curled over as she breathed heavily.

But she was still too upright for Sylvia’s taste.

The zbornak became aware of Wander tilting his head the other way. He seemed to be watching them too.

“Lady I’s real tenacious,” he offered, contemplatively, “an’ I think she’s kinda upset at the moment.” He sounded kind of apologetic.

Sylvia looked askance at her buddy. She didn’t like how passive he was being. It didn’t quite seem like his normal ‘calm and happy’ attitude when they got caught up in dangerous situations. He seemed very quiet and thoughtful, and Sylvia worried about what was going on in that furry orange head of his. She needed to get him out of here.

“Yeah, well, she’s about to be more upset,” she returned, “because we’re not done yet!”

She glanced around the room once more, only this time she forced herself not to look at the massing guards. The room was tilted, the floor at a fairly sharp angle now, a testament to her sabotage of the control console, but as she hadn’t fully broken it, the major functions of the ship were still online; emergency power, to some extent anyway, air circulation and temperature…and artificial gravity.

“Hater!”

The skeleton glanced down at her voice, though slightly distractedly. He was visibly sweating through his glare now, and the menacing glow around his hands wasn’t quite as bright as Sylvia thought it should be.

“What?” he demanded. “We need to move! Can’t you break it or something?”

“I’m going to try something else,” Sylvia answered, sidestepping the question slightly. She couldn’t break it, and she didn’t know how they were actually going to get it off, but they might not need to, for the moment anyway. “You got any power left in those bones?” she asked.

Hater’s glare darkened.

“Of course!” he snapped.

Sylvia could tell he was putting on a brave face, but she pressed on anyway. This was probably their one shot to get out of here without another huge fight, which neither of them were in top shape for anymore.

“Do you see that console with the blue and yellow lights?” The skeleton’s eyes flickered across the room in response. “I need you to fry it!”

Hater didn’t answer. He might not have wanted to spare the breath. Instead, the green glow around him intensified once more, and he aimed one yellow gloved hand and fired.

The powerful bolt of lightning shot across the room, over the heads of some of the soldiers, who belatedly threw themselves to the ground to try and avoid it. It struck the console, green energy crackling through and around it, and the acrid smell of melting plastic began to creep into the room. A red light flashed on and off rapidly as a second, more urgent alarm sounded.

And then the artificial gravity clicked off.

Sylvia felt her feet leaving the floor, her tail floating upward, and saw, to her relief, and with some amount of internal smugness, the necklet, and Wander, begin to do the same.

Around the edges of the control room, reptilian soldiers exclaimed in shock as they also rose into the air, some flailing wildly and some clinging to desks and wires to hold themselves in place.

Sylvia grabbed Wander’s skinny arm with one hand and snagged the back of Hater’s robe with the other as he floated up beside her. She heard a snarl of rage and noticed that Lady Infinite seemed to have straightened. She had anchored herself in place with her tail, which was wrapped around a thick column. She was halfway across the room, but Sylvia still felt that it was high time they got out of dodge.

Through the flashing red light, and the remaining glow of the smoldering console, Sylvia’s eyes were drawn to the big, star-filled window at the back of the room. The windows on a starship were always both thick and sturdy, but it was still probably their best way out, especially since she had no desire to get out of the room and have to fight their way back down nine or so floors looking for an exit.

Setting her feet against a floating piece of machinery, she propelled herself and her passengers forward in the direction of the window.

“No, no, no, no! You are not getting out of here. None of you are getting out of here!”

The incensed shriek of the villainess came a second before she acted, launching herself towards them with the aid of her powerful tail, and it gave Sylvia only a second to react. She was in mid-motion, and she wasn’t able to avoid the attack without something else to push against, so she let go of her two passengers, giving them a small shove so they’d be out of the way, and braced herself as the snake woman struck her, all four hands clawing at her as they grappled.

Hater felt himself drift backward as Sylvia let go of his robe and pushed him away.

Wander was spinning in the air next to him, flailing as he tried to right himself. Hater made a grab and managed to snag one of the furry legs, yanking Wander further back just as the snake villainess collided with the zbornak.

“Sylvia!” Wander cried in alarm and Hater’s glare darkened.

He was fed up with this whole stupid thing.

First, Lady Who’s-her-face had captured Wander, and kept him from escaping, then she’d managed to beat Sylvia back when she came to his rescue, something Hater himself had never been able to do. He and the zbornak hadn’t been able to just come and tear into the ship, but had actually had to plan and strategize, and they’d spent so long working their way through this dumb, giant thing until they’d finally cornered the villainess, and now she wouldn’t even stay down after taking a very powerful bolt of lighting that really should have had her out for a while.

Not to mention he was completely exhausted. His bones ached. He almost felt like his lightning was burning his hands, which definitely wasn’t supposed to happen.

He just wanted to go home, collapse on his bed, maybe order Peepers to cook him a hot dinner, or maybe just order in a pizza or something, and then sleep for a good twelve hours.

But they had to get out of here first, and every time it seemed like they had the upper hand, something seemed to go wrong for them.

Now, to top it all, Wander was sounding all scared and junk again, and Hater was sick of that.

Gritting his teeth, he pulled Wander closer, tucking the small body under his arm. They’d come all this way to find the nomad and Hater had no intention of losing him now.

Wander gave a surprised sounding squeak, but he didn’t immediately latch on with his noodly arms the way Hater had expected him to. Which was weird, and kind of inconvenient actually, even if the little pest’s hugs normally annoyed the overlord. It would be easier to do this if Hater had full use of his arm.

“Hey,” he growled, “hold on, already!”

Wander started as though he hadn’t noticed Hater until just then.

“Hater! We gotta help Syl! Lady I’s real upset with her!”

Hater still wasn’t a huge fan of that word. It seemed like he’d done a lot of helping recently, probably too much for the greatest villain in the galaxy, if he could even still call himself that. Normally he might try to rephrase things so it didn’t sound like he was helping the zbornak. He could have claimed he was just going to teach this annoying, nomad-stealing snake a lesson, but he found he didn’t want to bother trying to make an excuse this time, either because Wander was almost certainly going to see through him anyway, or because of how monumentally tired he was.

“Ugh, I get it, okay?” he snapped. “Now, hold on so I can use my hands!” He directed a pointed glare at Wander along with the words. He might have admitted they were friends, out lout and everything, and he might not mind Wander’s hugs too much anymore, but it still seemed slightly unfair that he basically had to ask Wander to hug him, more than once even.

Finally, he felt the furry hands grip the fabric of his cloak, felt Wander climb higher until he could lock his skinny arms around Hater’s neck piggy-back style. Hater found himself glad, in the back of his mind, that Peepers hadn’t come with him on this rescue mission. He didn’t like to think what the watchdog would say if he could see Hater now.

Sylvia and the villainess were still struggling in midair, both seeming completely focused on each other. He wasn’t sure which one was angrier, but their combined ire seemed to boil around them like an invisible black cloud. As Hater watched, Sylvia avoided several claw swipes and landed a right hook to the shoulder, then another to the scaly jaw, but she didn’t seem to be able to get a good angle and the punches seemed fairly weak to Hater.

Or maybe the zbornak was as tired as he was.

Hater stared at the wrestling pair for a moment, unsure what to do. He couldn’t exactly zap Lady Something without it hitting Sylvia as well, even supposing he had another powerful shock left.

“Um, should I…” he started uncertainly.

“I’ve…got this!” Sylvia managed. “Find us…a way out!” This was followed up by a headbutt to Lady Whatever-it-was’ chest that sent the two of them floating backwards. It seemed to disorient the snake woman for a moment, but not much else. The next second they were grappling again, villainess’ tail failing as though it was trying to wrap around the zbornak’s legs the way it had done to him. She couldn’t seem to get purchase enough to constrict, but the distraction was enough that Sylvia ended up taking some claws across her chest.

Hater narrowed his eyes resolutely. Sylvia didn’t entirely seem like she had it, but at least she was keeping the villain busy for the moment.

He felt Wander’s arms around his neck tighten slightly, felt the thin chest expand with a deep breath. Then, Wander seemed to perk up slightly.

“Come on, Hater, you heard the lady! Syl knows what she’s doin’. We gotta find a way ta get that window open!”

“The window?” Oh, that made sense, Hater supposed. It probably wasn’t the best idea to try going out the way they came in.

And they had to get out soon, and not just because of the soldiers, many of whom were still trying to orient themselves in the new, weightless environment, or the villainess who seemed intent on strangling Wander’s buddy. There was an ominous smoke smell building, along with that stench of melting plastic and the overlapping alarms, which were starting to hurt his skull. This ship was damaged enough, in enough places, that some explosions were almost certainly imminent, and Hater should know! It had happened to his own ship often enough.

He was floating in the air, and he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to propel himself without anything to push against. Feeling movement, he glanced up to see Wander searching in his hat. The nomad drew his arm back out, holding a coil of rope, at the end of which was some kind of metal hook.

“Here we go, Hatey!” Wander announced, drawing his arm back and aiming exaggeratedly, tongue poking out of his mouth. He threw and the hook sailed through the air to snag on a metal pipe to one side of the big window.
Hater felt the end of the rope being dropped into his hands.

“Your turn, buddy!”

Hater scoffed quietly, but wound the rope securely around his hands and began pulling, guiding them forward through the air.

They went quite quickly after that initial yank, which Hater was familiar with from the times he’d ended up floating in the void, his ship in pieces around him. Something about inertia and momentum, not that it really mattered. At least once they got outside, they’d be able to get into one of those orble things. Hater wasn’t sure why Wander hadn’t used one already, though Sylvia had mentioned something about being short of juice, so maybe Wander didn’t have much left either.

Hater turned his attention to where the hook had attached, trying to gage their trajectory. A few of the less dazed looking soldiers threw themselves towards him and Wander, as they approached, and Hater gave a sudden stronger pull on the rope, increasing their speed and avoiding the soldiers, who collided in midair.

“Woops! Sorry ‘bout that, fellas!” Wander called.

Hater glared upwards. He might be friends with the little pest, but he had no interest in letting that kind of language stand.

“Don’t say that!” he snapped. “They’re attacking us, they’re our enemies, and we’re not sorry!”

“Aw, Hater.” Wander leaned forward around Hater’s shoulder so the overlord could see the edge of that wide smile. “They’re awful nice folks once ya get to know ‘em. Ya have ta give ‘em a chance! ‘S just a shame we can’t stop an’ chat right now, but I reckon we’ve all had a long enough visit for the moment.”

Hater probably should have expected a response like that. It was the weirdo’s usual sentiment, after all, which was actually kind of reassuring after how strange Wander had seemed when they’d first come charging in. He seemed much more like himself now.

The skeleton lord didn’t say anything in response. They were closing fast on the window, so he braced himself for impact, landing rather hard on a smashed console right below the transparent expanse.

“Okay, we’re here,” he grumbled. “Now what?”

Wander’s big eyes seemed to have been drawn back to Sylvia’s fight. Hater caught him biting his lip anxiously before he squared his shoulders, turning back and smiling once more.

“Well, I guess we’ve gotta find a way ta get it open.”

Skeleton and nomad turned as one and stared at the massive window.

“…Any ideas?” Hater asked after a moment.

Wander stroked his chin thoughtfully.

“It’d help if we had somethin’ big ta throw at it,” he mused.

A sudden thought struck Hater and he smirked wickedly.

“Good idea.”

Turning back toward the main part of the room, Hater grabbed Wander by his torso and held him up, brandishing him in the direction of the fighting aliens.

“Hey, Lady…” he still couldn’t quite remember it. “Hey, Lady Insipid! Look what I’ve got!” he called.

Both combatants paused, turning to focus on Hater and his lure, Sylvia with confusion that suddenly changed to realization, and the snake villain with enough fury that even Hater felt taken aback.

“Get your claws off of him!” she snarled, which Hater rather felt aught to be his line. That was what had started all of this, but he didn’t say that. He just smiled menacingly, raising one hand and letting his electricity grow, then aimed at the window.

It was a bluff. Hater was pretty sure he didn’t have enough power yet to break through, at least not without a little help.

But it seemed to work.

In one motion, the villainess uncoiled from Sylvia, using her tail to push off and towards Hater and Wander. The zbornak had clearly figured out what Hater was doing. She spun backward until she was up against one of the thick columns, then gave a powerful kick, sending herself flying like a torpedo across the big room. She struck Lady Whatsit in the back, and the two of them careened forward, much faster than before, and hopefully fast enough.

Hater didn’t wait. He smartly stepped aside and fired his built-up energy in a strong, steady stream, not straight at the window, but at the seal along the bottom, sweat beading across his skull as he poured power at it until the area glowed green and hot.

Then the careening ball of white and blue struck the window with a crash and burst through it, window pieces flying out into the void, prompting yells and exclamations from the soldiers in the control room. Hater took his chance as well, diving out as the window broke with Wander still in his grasp.

At the same instant, a shuddering explosion sounded from somewhere in the belly of the great ship, followed by several more, getting progressively louder, shaking the ship from top to bottom.

The snake villainess seemed to have seen what was going to happen at the last minute, and clearly wasn’t a fan of ending up out in space with her enemies. She had made a wild grab for the windowsill, just managing to snag it with the end of her tail before she was swept out with the rest of them. Fortunately, she seemed to be using all of her strength to hold on, and she wasn’t able to do anything but glare as Sylvia, Hater and Wander spun out and away from her.

For an instant, her glare seemed completely focused on Hater. Her eyes were like two hot coals burning into him, and for all that she was helpless to stop them, it was a dangerous look, and one that seemed familiar, only it had usually been on his own face, and directed at someone else.

Wander was clinging tightly onto him with one hand, but Hater noticed the nomad lift the other arm and wave at the villain as she receded into the distance. Then Wander was digging in his hat again, withdrawing the small wand and sweeping it around them to create an orble.

Sylvia had formed one of her own, and she moved closer until the two bubbles bumped and melded cleanly into each other, and then Wander was off of his shoulders and into Sylvia’s arms, both of them hugging just as hard as they could as the orble drifted slowly farther and farther away.

Fairly far behind them now, the massive vessel continued to shudder with a chain reaction of explosions. It didn’t seem to be actually coming apart, but it looked crippled enough for Hater to feel fairly satisfied about how that had gone.

He sank slowly down the inside of the large bubble, legs stretched out in front of him. If Wander and Sylvia had reached the ‘hugging’ part of the rescue, then things were probably calm enough for him to sit down for a few minutes.

The ache in his bones was a constant throb now, and his skull felt hot and heavy.

But they’d done it. Wander was safe and he was sure Lady Impotent or whatever was regretting at least some of life choices that had led her here. He felt a calm kind of triumph, not one he needed to boast about, at least not yet, but something that was like a soothing warmth inside him, that dulled the aches and pains and made every difficulty and problem he’d struggled through worthwhile. It was an exhilarating feeling.

But he should probably stay sitting and try to rest while he had a moment.

He wasn’t looking forward to all the walking they’d have to do to get back to the skull-ship.

The Palace drifted aimlessly through space.

Inside, the control room was a mess of twisted wires, melted machinery and injured reptoids, lizkins and thontars as they struggled through the debris, trying to make some kind of order out of the room.

Artificial gravity had finally been restored, as well as a few other vital systems, and the wall had been patched where the window used to be. The blaring alarms were switched off, and crews of relatively uninjured soldiers had been sent to break into the lower floors and find out what kind of shape the rest of the ship was in, as well as tend to any critically injured guards they found.

Lady Infinite sat on a blanket that had been laid down for her as the ship’s doctors looked her over meticulously. She was stiff with fury. Humiliated, she felt, beaten back by two inferior aliens. She would have preferred to be elsewhere, but had thought it best to stay in the control room so she could receive constant updates as to the state of the ship, although the worst damage was all too obvious.

Minstrel was gone, taken from her by the crude, brutish zbornak she had already spared twice. She would not make that mistake again. The next time she caught him, the little star nomad would have another friend to mourn.
As for his other ‘friend,’ Lady Infinite felt her eyes narrow in fury. She could still feel the ache of that electric shock she’d received. It had been a long time since something had hurt her that badly, and she didn’t plan to forget it, or the being who had caused her so much pain.

And Minstrel would need to learn a lesson about the kind of creatures he was spending time with.

“My Lady!”

Lady Infinite turned to find that the scouting crew had returned, along with one of her senior officers who had been leading the expedition that had been ambushed on the floor below. He looked very much the worse for wear, limping and clearly in pain, but he was at least on his feet, which was more than could be said for many.

Murphy knelt, somewhat awkwardly, as he seemed to be favouring his right arm. He, and many others, would need to be seen to as soon as the doctors had finished treating her injuries. The other soldiers could provide basic first aid, but there were a lot of serious injuries that had resulted from the attack.

The golden eyes narrowed.

“Well?”

“Forgive me! I was caught off guard. I didn’t expect them to…”

She held up a hand to forestall Murphy’s explanation, and his apology. Until her other top officers were found belowdecks or woke up from the injuries they’d received, he would need to carry out her orders and direct the rest of the ship.

“Commander.”

Murphy swallowed his words.

“Yes, my Lady?”

“Get the engineers working on whatever they need to to get this ship moving. I want the Palace back in the Rondel galaxy and back in my territory as soon as possible.”

The reptoid saluted with his good arm.

Lady Infinite hesitated. She didn’t really need to say anything else. Her commands were to be followed, not questioned, and in general, she did not share her reasoning with her subordinates. Yet after that catastrophic encounter, she felt she needed to clarify a few things. She didn’t want the soldiers getting the wrong impression, or speculating that she was giving up.

Straightening, she raised her voice slightly so all those in the control room would be able to hear her.

“If those creatures think they have beaten me, they are sorely mistaken. We are going to gather our strength and return. If Minstrel thinks he can hide in this other galaxy, I will show him there is nowhere he can escape from me. These ‘friends’ of his will not be able to protect him. And find me my data collectors. I want to know who those two are, everything about them. They will regret this transgression.” She looked around the room challengingly, as though daring one of the soldiers to object to what she’d said. There was complete silence, and she nodded, satisfied.

Her gaze trailed over the sorry state of the control room, the mess Minstrel’s miscreants had made, and she frowned.

“When we return, I’ll have a few surprises of my own. I think it’s time this ship had an overhaul.”

Her gaze sharpened, back on her commander.

“Dismissed.”

Murphy stood and bowed, not without some difficulty. As he hurried off to carry out her orders, Lady Infinite nodded to herself.

Perhaps she’d grown complacent. Her territory had been peaceful for many years, and it had been ages since she’d faced such opposition. But she would not let this humiliation stand. When she returned, it would be with the strength of a supernova, and any who tried to shelter Minstrel from her would realize the grave mistake they had made, as would her star nomad when she found him.

The window was boarded up, but her thoughts traveled past it, to where the only being who mattered in this whole vast universe floated, beyond her grasp, for now.

Enjoy your freedom, Minstrel, because it won’t be for too long.