Android

44

"Geez, you sure know how to give a guy a scare,"

That was the first thing Jupiter had ever said to me.

"She named me after the planet obviously, who would name their child after a cartoon dog?"

That was the first thing Pluto ever said to me.

At that time, I had the opposite impression of them that I have now. I thought Jupiter was kind, gentle, and innocent; all while I had Pluto pinned as dark, aggressive, mean, and all kinds of terrible things. After seeing Pluto slide off Jupiter's—Titan's—blade though, I realized I severely misjudged them.

As Pluto collapsed to the ground, convulsing from the currents of electricity, my world started to move in slow motion. I was fully aware of what was going on, but I felt like I couldn't move or speak or cry. I had only experienced this kind of feeling before, it was when I thought my family had died, only this time someone really did. "Pluto..." I found myself choking out, dropping on my knees next to him as he gasped for air.

Weakly then, he reached out and gripped my arm with a fuel stained hand. "A-Abigail...you..." He coughed. "You know...Venus is..." Digging my fingertips into his arm with one hand, I reached out and touched his face with the other.

"It's okay Pluto, I'll find her. I promise." I whispered, feeling tears unwillingly drip off my chin. Looking up at me, I watched Pluto's eyes glow a soft blue, almost as bright as they had in the train.

"Abigail...h-he isn't g-going to win..." The blue illuminance of his eyes then began to fade as his head fell away from my hand. Then, with one last breath, I watched Pluto fade away as his system shut down. Taking a shaky breath, a heavy current of foreign emotions filled my veins and it anchored me to the floor.

I didn't let it keep me there though, instead I rose to my feet with my sledgehammer in hand and as the light left my eyes, I locked my gaze with Titan's. "Take my sister to her supposed room, safely, and we'll talk."

With a whimper, Gemma struggled to free herself from the guards. "Abigail no! What are you doing?" Keeping my eyes fixated on Titan, I gestured for them to go.

"I'll be right there Gemma; Jupiter and I are going to have a little chat." A devilish smile then crept over Titan's features.

"I knew once I removed your distractions, you'd be more willing to converse." He gestured down the hall. "Follow me." He then began to walk, and as I followed, I fought the temptation to bury my sledgehammer in his spine. I wasn't strong enough to fight Titan yet, I wasn't strong enough to wield my weapon, but I was smart enough to know I had to play his game.

"You killed them, didn't you? The twins? Neptune?" I asked, my voice surprisingly calm.

"Doesn't matter."

Biting my lip hard, I allowed Titan to lead me back into the throne room, where droids were already working feverishly to clean and mend the broken door. Comfortably, Titan stepped over the debris and took a seat at his thrown. Once he had he gestured to the ground in front of him. "Take a seat, you don't want to strain your leg any further. I'd hate to see that cut get infected." Slowly, I sat down in a crossed legged position so I could rest my sledgehammer on my lap.

"I'm sure seeing me suffer wouldn't phase you, considering all you've done is make me suffer since you entered my home," I accused, barely managing to keep my voice at an indoor level. If I let my emotions take control of me and spiral out of control, I wouldn't be able to hear what Titan had to say and I wouldn't be able to help my family. I had to play his game; it was the only way to safely find an out.