U4: The Space Wanderers

Chapter 2: Entering Planet Grate

Sighlan and Dirken stare at what seems to be a metallic planet in the distance. Dirken tried thinking of an explanation for the phenomenon. "Huh... I'm sure... it's one of those drifting planets that accidentally entered our star's orbit. That happens from time to time... I think." Sighlan sat in silence for a few seconds before saying "Yeah... Yeah, that's probably it. Uh, anyways, we should be entering Grate's atmosphere in a few minutes." The Ultimatum then starts heading towards the planet.

 As the crew gets closer and closer to the ground, Dirken notices something off. "... Is it just me or is everything smoggier than usual?" Sighlan looked around, commenting "Yeah, I don't remember Grate's air being this dense before." Goddard looked at how worried the two were and walked up to them. "Is everything alright?" he said, trying to reassure the two. "I'm not entirely sure..." said Sighlan in a wavering voice.

After a few more minutes, the Ultimatum finally lands on the ground. "Welp, we made it! Gotta grab that trophy before we forget." Sighlan then grabs the trophy and puts in a special compressor-package device. Dirken the pats his stomach, saying "I can't wait to get some grub!" Goddard then becomes excited. " I can't wait to see what this place is like!" Dirken then put his hand on Goddard's shoulder. "Oh you're gonna love it. The Grays are one of the few warrior races that fight for fun and sport rather than conquering and warfare. They have the best tournaments in the galaxy! I even won one when I was around your age." Sighlan cheekily rolled her eyes. "Heh, ya always try to find a way to blurt that one out, don't ya? Alright, let's get moving!"

The three then head to the hull of the ship, with Dirken opening the hatch. "Well Goddard, welcome to Planet Graaaa-" The three then stare at the desolated landscape of empty streets, burning buildings and shoddy wire fences, with Dirken holding a decreasing note the entire time. "-aaate..." They then hop off the ship and start heading towards the ruined city.

The crew walk down numerous streets trying to find any sign of life. They even went to Dirken's favorite restaurant, which had collapsed from degradation. "What in the world is going on here?" said a worried Sighlan. "Barbed fences, buildings on fire, and no one in sight... This is supposed to be the Capital!" exclaimed Dirken. "Guys... is everything alright?" Sighlan then looks at Goddard, with sunken, sorrowful eyes. "I don't know... I- I just don't know..."

"HALT TRESPASSERS! DO NOT RUN, WE ARE ARMED!"

Unfamiliar voices jolted the three. They immediately turned around, with Sighlan whipping out her lazer-pistol, and Dirken charging up some electric energy through his fists. The crew then sees two malformed soldiers with pale skin, sharp teeth, silver hair and gangly bodies, holding abstract looking weapons made out of some sort of crystal. "AS SOLDIERS OF THE ELASTIAN ORDER, WE ORDER YOU TO STAY WHERE YOU ARE! YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR TRESPASSING AN ELASTIAN COLONY WHILE ARMED, NOW RELINQUISH YOUR WEAPONS!"

Sighlan the shrugged them off, saying "Eh, I don't feel like it." She then sets her lazer-pistol to multi-shot mode and fires off a barrage of beam bullets. Unfortunately, the two soldiers' bodies warp and mold around the shots at an unusual speed, laughing at her. "KEKEKEKEKEKE, JAJAJAJAJAJA!" Dirken then uses the opportunity to sneak up on the unsuspecting soldiers, readying a pointblank electro-punch. "Get a load of this!!" Right before his fist can make contact, one of the soldiers grabbed onto his wrist, unaffected by the electricity surging through him. "Wait, what the-?" "NO, YOU GET A LOAD..." The soldier then throws Dirken at Sighlan. "... OF THIS!"

Both Sighlan and Dirken lie unconscious on the ground, leaving Goddard defenseless. "KEKEKE, WHAT PUSHOVERS, YOU REALLY THOUGHT YOU COULD OVERPOWER US!?" screamed one of the soldiers. "HEY COMRADE, DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE LITTLE ONE OVER THERE! I'M SURE HE'D LIKE TO JOIN HIS FRIENDS IN KNOCKOUT JUNCTION, JAJAJA!" The two soldiers then start walking towards a scared Goddard. "COME HEEEEERE, WE'RE GONNA HAVE SOME FUUUUUUUN~!" Goddard trips over his own feet and falls to the ground, trying to crawl away from the monstrous beings. Suddenly, he starts experiencing another vague memory...

"What the-" Goddard sees himself in his old robe, floating above an unknown planet. "Get yourself together Goddard!" said a mysterious yet familiar voice. The guy from the previous memories appears before him, floating opposite of him. "How are you gonna surpass me if ya keep shaking over there? I know the vacuum of space is freezing, but it's a good place to train. Who else is gonna look after everything after I'm gone, huh?" The guy starts moving so fast that he appears to be in three places at once. Then after a split second, the guy punches Goddard in the gut, and kicks him at himself at high speed. "What are you gonna do!? Why aren't you defending yourself!? DO SOMETHING!!"

Goddard then snaps from his memory, tears rolling down his eyes, with face transformed into a scowl. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" His body starts glowing green as the ground around him cracks open. "HEY... WHY IS THAT KID GLOWING? WHY IS THE GROUND SHAKING!?" One of Goddard's tears drop to the ground, singeing it. "Stop it..." The soldiers then look at him, confused. "WHAT, COULDN'T HERE YOU!?" Goddard then looked at them with glowing eyes. "STOP IIIIIIIIIT!!!"

Goddard then charges at them at high speed. He then knocks into one of the soldiers, immediately bouncing off of him and on to the side of a building. He then bounces towards the other soldier, jumps off him and bounces off a nearby tree. After a few seconds, Goddard becomes a blur of green light, ricocheting off of everything to inflict massive damage onto the soldiers. He then flips into the sky, above the two soldiers, and begins to store energy into his fist. Somehow, his fist begins to grow larger and shine with an unworldly shade of green. "DON'T MESS WITH ANYONE EVER AGAIIIIIN!!!" He then slams his giant fist onto the two soldiers, crushing the ground beneath them.

Goddard then lifts his fist, shrinking back to normal size. As he slowly lands back to the ground, he sees the two pulverized soldiers twitching their bodies in silent pain. He gives them a stern look, and wipes the snot dripping from his nose. Goddard then turned around with Sighlan and Dirken looking at him with their mouths agape. What he didn't realize was that his two friends woke back up in the middle of the event. "... WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT!?" the two exclaimed.

Goddard looked down at his hands. "I... don't know..."