Final Space Oneshots

Not Again

Gunfire rained down on them from the sky in a great wave. Gary widened his eyes, quickly leaping and grabbing Little Cato to the ground.

It was all his fault.

He had only just adopted the kid, for God's sake, and was getting the papers finalised today when he decided to do something unbelievably stupid and risky.

He got into a bar fight.

He couldn't even justify it – maybe he was running off the excitement of finally adopting the kid, or maybe it was because a large alien had made a racist comment to the Ventrexian as he walked past. Either way, a few words of warning would've sorted out the situation but before Gary knew it his fist was crashing into someone's jaw.

The thing was, they were fine. Yeah, a little bruised up, but Gary was proud at the way Little Cato took on three at once, coming out victorious. It made him feel something Gary had never felt before, an undying warmth growing in his chest. Later he realised it was pride.

But Gary knew from past experiences that fights always come back to bite you, and this was no different. They were stuck on the ground as the enemy – the same racist as before, Gary noticed – was currently destroying them with wave after wave of gunfire from their hovering ship above. Unfair odds, unfair weapons. Gary only brought a small pistol, thinking that today wouldn't need such violence. Heck, he was just about to buy Little Cato his first ice cream sundae when this asshole attacked.

And the most frightening thing was that this alien was mostly aiming for Little Cato, putting him in the most danger. Fear was pounding in his chest as he constantly tried to keep the kid from harm. But he knew, without external help, that he wouldn't be able to protect him forever.

The gunfire drummed around him as he pressed his body against Little Cato, who was squashed underneath. There was a sudden, almost unbearable pain blooming in his non-robotic arm. He could feel warm blood quickly soaking his dad's old jacket. Pressing back the pain, he dragged Little Cato over to some makeshift cover as the ship paused to reload. Though small, the metal wasn't penetrated much by the new wave of bullets, giving Gary valued time to contact AVA.

"AVA, I'm sending the coordinates, please come and get us!" Gary yelled into his mic. He didn't hear AVA's reply, more focused on Little Cato, who was shaking slightly. The poor kid was shaken up at the close death experience, a contrast from his usual self. Or maybe it was the fact that Gary was bleeding over the floor.

"Your arm!" Little Cato scooted over, ducking under the gunfire. He too had only one gun. It just wasn't enough.

"It's fine, just a scratch." Gary brushed it off. Little Cato's face, despite Gary's reassurance, turned to anger.

"He shot you...you were protecting me..." Little Cato suddenly grabbed his gun, reloading. "I gotta do something!"

"Spider Cat, no!" Gary pulled him down with his robot arm, shaking his head. "Not even you could take out a whole ship!"

The Ventrexian smiled mischievously at him all of a sudden; Gary knew the look well, and felt a smile creep on his face too.

"What are you thinking?" He asked.

"We just need to take out the gun...and I think I can do that." Little Cato quickly glanced at the ship before ducking down again. "I just need to get a good enough view and kabam!"

"Oh I like that plan..." the gunfire paused again, and before Gary could say another word, Little Cato jumped out the shelter with a cry. Gary watched as the kid jumped to higher rocks, then began shooting madly from his gun. It reminded Gary of Avocato in so many ways that he couldn't help but smile, seeing his spirit passed on into his son.