Hey, who could it be? (No, it's gotta be...!)

11

TWs: Aggressive behavior, threats, manipulation, restraints, hostage situation. Stay safe :)

"Neptune...?" Uranus spoke, his voice cracking as he was forcibly sat down on an asteroid. His wrists were bound with silver braces, and trying to escape or even move made him weaker, "Neptune, why are you doing this?"

The blue Celestial wouldn't dare look at him as he posed with his trident by his side.

"Neptune, come on- I thought-" Uranus huffed, tugging at the steel that hurt him, "I thought we were mates!"

"Family comes first." A voice spoke from the shadows.

Uranus averted his eyes, spotting X floating a few feet away. He scowled, "I should've known you were behind this."

"Yet here we are..." X smiled, gesturing to Neptune, "I didn't think you had it in you, brother. Good job."

Neptune merely nodded, tilting his head down.

"What have you done to him?" Uranus furrowed his eyebrows.

"Nothing- he's doing this on his own volition." X snapped his fingers, "Tell him, Nep."

A sigh erupted from Neptune's mouth as he slowly looked at Uranus, "I'm doing this of my own free will, Uranus. Everything will be-"

X placed a hand on Neptune's shoulder, squeezing it, "See? No tricks here except me getting what I want."

Neptune nodded, avoiding Uranus' eye contact.

"Now, brother, onto the next step." X grabbed the whiteboard, doodling a few pictures, "Now that we have Uranus, Saturn should be the next easy target."

"What-!? You can't-" Uranus interrupted before being silenced by Neptune's trident meeting his neck.

"Silence." He spoke.

Uranus gulped, scooting away from the points. Neptune sheathed his trident, glancing at X and nodding.

X smirked, going back to his plan.

Neptune glanced over his shoulder a few times, his core thumping deep within his chest.

« × »

"Alright, gang," Larissa spoke, "Who should we tell first?"

"We could split up? That way, we can cover more ground." Proteus suggested.

"Yeah!" Nereid bounced.

"Okay! Let's do this, guys- for Neptune!" Larissa shouted.

"For Neptune!" The others exclaimed as the satellites drifted in different directions.

"And listen to me, everyone- do not, and I repeat, do not- go into the Kuiper belt without supervision! It's dangerous in there. I'm going to try to lure the big bad planet out, but I need everyone's help to do it, alright?"

"Okay, Neptune!"

"Good! Now it's time for you to go before Triton and the others get too far." Neptune smiled, "I'll see you all soon, I promise."

Proteus, Larissa, Neso, and Nereid went up to each rocky planet, telling them about how Neptune said he might need cover in the Kuiper belt soon.

Galatea, Sao, Naiad, Despina, and Halimede explained everything to the moons of Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus.

Laomedeia, Hippocamp, and Psamathe talked to the Gas Giants, feeling intimidated by the size of the planets.

"...And that's basically it," Naiad spoke, smiling.