Hell
Suggested Theme:
Main Theme- Be the One by Moby
Today was the kind of day that reminded Pulsar why it was okay for him to beat the living shit out of someone and not feel a damn thing but satisfaction. It started with a bounty on a Sklarian Raider that went by the name of Cyndra. The United Planets had a bounty of the female pirate because she is the head of this organ smuggling ring. The Legion of Super-Heroes were just kids that probably couldn't handle something as dark and bloody as organ smuggling, so the UP just issued a bounty instead to bounty hunters with grim maturity and reprehensible experience to capture the leader. The UP figured that the ring would begin to fall apart with the capture of the leader, but Pulsar doubted that since Sklarian Raiders usually have back-ups to take their place in the event of their leader's capture or demise. No point in trying to tell the UP this, especially when they are paying big bucks. Pulsar took the job, but there were other bounty hunters after the chick too. His job went from difficult (Cyndra is a very tough raider to locate) to annoyingly difficult because of the other bounty hunters. Thankfully, Lobo wasn't involved with the bounty this time. He was able to find Cyndra on a fucking mutant-infested planet. He was only able to capture her after nearly getting eaten by the flesh-eating mutants and killing most of the bounty hunters. He finally caught her after a fucking week of his life.
She went down fighting; she almost broke his trachea and made him swallow three of his teeth. Pulsar lost his cool and began to punch, scratch, and kick her like a Thanagarian until he was fairly certain that he broke most of the bones in her body. He also obtained some hearing damage from her screaming so damn much and loud. He dragged her by her hair back to his ship and back to the UP. The UP officials weren't happy about his methods, mostly because Cyndra looked like a battered woman, but they paid him for his results and took Cyndra from him. The amount of credits he got would not be able to cover the expense that the raider created. His face looked like solidified, green pus and black marks. He felt like one of those rednecks with three of his teeth missing. He had to dip into his funds and favors, once again, to repair the damage done to him. Luckily, the "good" doctor was able to pump his stomach to get the teeth out so Pulsar wouldn't have to have synthetic teeth. His face is back to normal, albeit still fairly numb, and his mouth is extremely sore which means his teeth are whole and back to normal. His hearing is back to normal, but everything will sound extremely loud for about a day. It is amazing how far medicine has progressed in the future…..
"Incoming transmission from Colu." Pulsar perks up at the sound of his apartment's voice. In the future, houses and apartments are equipped with a "voice box" that is a combination of a security system and a communication center. Typically, voice boxes are mostly used as telephones that project holographic images of the callers. When the voice box just names a planet rather than a name, it means that is from an unknown number.
"I accept the call." The voice box beeps once in confirmation of Pulsar's voice command and projects the mysterious caller. Pulsar knows he isn't exactly ready for company. His red (almost like neon blood) hair is collected at the base of his neck like a fox's tail mated with a Mohawk. His outfit is merely a black bodysuit with a grey utility belt that has disk-shaped pockets. Thankfully, the "good" doctor had his "nurses" clean his suit so there isn't any bloodstains and dirt on it. Pulsar has a feeling that he will look a lot less crazy in a clean suit.
"Hello, Pulsar, I believe it has been six years since we last saw each other. I missed you. I have always missed you." Pulsar's heart stops, his eyes froze, his body stiffens, and his "soul" screams. The voice was like a tragic angel about to have his wings clipped. The caller has green skin like all Coluans and has blonde hair like most Coluans. Yet, his hair is a different shade of blonde. The color is most like desert sand meeting beach sand. The hair is combed in a way that one side of the hair is only centimeters from engulfing the right side of the caller's face. His eyes are an unusually bright purple that borders on being considered electric purple. The caller has on a long-sleeved, white shirt with cuffs that are big enough to obscure the large, green hands of the caller. The center of the shirt has the Brainiac symbol but in a silvery color rather than metallic. He has on black pants and yellow boots that reached his knees. The face reminds Pulsar of what an angel's face would look like after being sent to Hell. He is still so breathtakingly, tragically beautiful as Pulsar remembers him to be.
"Kajz, but I guess you're Kajz Dox now since you've been married." Pulsar had many reasons to leave Colu when he became an adult (On Colu, an adult is about twenty years-old) and the main one was because of unrequited love. Kajz Dox used to be just Kajz. Depending on the age, orphans don't get last names. Pulsar was four at the time when he became an orphan and since he was not a baby he was able to keep his last name. He met Kajz there at the orphanage after Pulsar witnessed the public execution of his parents. Pulsar doesn't remember why his parents were executed, but it was probably illegally selling secrets of Colu to other planets. His parents were desert nomads and all he can remember of them was that they were quiet and moved around a lot in the desert. Kajz, on the other hand, was only a baby when his parents decided to commit suicide and left behind a baby that will forever know that his parents didn't want/love him because he was the wrong gender. Kajz only has a last name because he married "Dox" and took on her surname. Pulsar has and will always hate Dox for taking away Kajz.
"Yeah….married….I have a son now. He was just born. He looks exactly like her but he is not evil." Pulsar can feel his stomach wrench in dread like his teeth were in there again. On Kajz's wedding day, Pulsar remembers standing there and wishing/hoping that Kajz will hate her and divorce her. The dark star that he wished upon seemed to have added an unsavory twist.
"I'll never see what you wanted... love"
"Oh….." What the Hell was he supposed to say? Was he supposed to say, "Congratulation? I hope that means you're going to leave that bitch and love me!" Pulsar has always had that fantasy, but now Kajz has a kid with that woman. Kajz wasn't going to leave her because of the kid. He'll probably just complain about how stupid it was marrying the emotionally-lackluster and mentally disturbed Dox. Pulsar can only hope it was just that, but his love is tragedy by his birth, growth, and marriage.
"So few words, so unlike you. Are you weary from teaching children all day?" Pulsar moonlights (technically, daylights) as a teacher during the day. He only became a teacher out of a whim. He wanted to be that rebellious, unconventional teacher that students would love. Being a teacher is a complete opposite of being a bounty hunter. Being a bounty hunter, everyone (especially the targets) feared you. Another reason Pulsar became a teacher is that he wanted to test the limits of his sanity, so far his sanity has not cracked.
"Nah, it was just another boring day." His "boring" day was spent getting his teeth put back in his mouth and his stomach pumped to get said teeth.
"I have been doing a lot of talking and you haven't asked one question….do you want to why I called you after all these years?" Pulsar dryly swallows and feels his face trying to twitch. He doesn't want to know why because he knows how unpleasant the answer may be. Also, Kajz has that desperate look in his eyes.
"I was the hell that you needed... oh"
"Not even going to answer. That is okay because you have a practice for avoiding things with bad endings. Yet, you never avoided me even though you could have. You should have." Kajz didn't sound or seem angry, but his eyes scare Pulsar. Kajz's eyes were like an abyss to nothingness and darkness, so without the usual sadness. Kajz has eyes like someone about to commit first-degree murder.
"I would never do that. You mean too much to me." It was true but it was a fraction of what Pulsar wanted to say.
"I called you because I just wanted to see you one last time….before I die." Now, Pulsar is tragedy incarnate. Now, he is anguish made flesh. Now, he is hyperventilating.
"Dox is going to kill you, isn't she? I knew that psychotic bitch would do that! I knew!" Pulsar rambled like a mad men seeing the Devil. He needed someone to blame because he doesn't want to blame himself even though he's not at fault. Kajz is the one at fault.
"I was the one when you needed love"
"No, she will not have the chance…..but I have outlived my use to the government. They got what they wanted. They have my son." Kajz shakes his head. Pulsar knows that Kajz got broken somewhere down the line. He didn't know who or what broke Kajz. Perhaps, Kajz has been broken since birth, but Pulsar could only see what he wanted to see. Pulsar created a shadow for Kajz to have. Now, Kajz casts no shadow.
"I can get you out of there! I can come and rescue you! You and I can live here, on Earth, together." Pulsar knows he sounds hysterical, delirious, and pitiful. Yet, he has the ship to get to Colu and the skills to bust Kajz out. The only problem was time. Kajz could be scheduled to die today or in a few days.
"…..Pulsar, you will not be able to. I have made my choice." And what choice do you have in getting murdered? Pulsar was about to ask sarcastically. But then Pulsar finally sees what Kajz meant. In Kajz's hand, there is a piece of a rope and it appears that Kajz is making a knot. But the knot isn't a knot, it is a noose. Pulsar can feel himself about to faint in horror. He stays awake so he can save Kajz. Yet, Kajz cannot be saved.
"Kajz, that is not a choice. That is submission, that is settling! I can save you! It will only take a day just hold out until then." Pulsar is supplicating to Kajz. He has tears streaming down his face and onto the floor. Kajz smiles at him like he already has a gun to his head and about to pull the trigger.
"It is too late for me…too late for Querl." Now, the holograph is becoming static which meant that Kajz is fumbling to turn it off. Pulsar has perhaps a few seconds to make his feelings known for his suicidal friend.
"Kajz, I have always-" Kajz's hologram is gone before Pulsar can finish his confession. Pulsar is lost in silence for nearly a minute. It was in that time that Pulsar is sure Kajz is dead. Pulsar does not blink or breathe for another minute. He then calmly leaves his apartment and the door wide open. He goes down the steps and just….blacks out for an unknown period of time and realizes that he is on his ship. He checks the screen and can see that he is very far away from Earth. In fact, he is very far away from any living galaxies. He is on course to be with Kajz. Kajz is dead, he knows this.
"Warning, star is about to go supernova." The ship automatically halts to a stop due to its programming procedures. Ships are programmed to halt when a star is about to go supernova for the pilot's safety. Pulsar doesn't want safety. He gets up and mechanically goes to ejection hatch. The ejection hatch is used to eject material in space. Mostly, trash and waste is ejected. Yet, ejection hatches can eject a person. Pulsar programs the ejection hatch to aim at the supernova-pending star. Pulsar enters the ejection hatch. The ejection hash is the size of a large port-a-potty and almost smells like one too. Pulsar goes down on the floor and enters in a fetal position. The computer is counting down and Pulsar is able to think of one last thing. Ironically, his last name is Stargrave and a star is about to be his grave. Pulsar is launched and his body freezes like a statue. He won't be cold or alive for much longer now.
The star is humming with gases, fire, and death. The star is searing the cold off of Pulsar's frozen body. Then, the star goes dark for only a mere second before exploding. The explosion is wisps of white fire and liquid metal. Pulsar can feel his bones melt, his skin being boiled, and his eyes losing sight. Pulsar does not scream. He does not fight. He does not cry. He is silent as the supernova. Yet, he is still conscious. He should be in a dark oblivion where he just nothing. He is being reshaped by the supernova. His bones crack back into place. His skin simmers back on top of the bones. His eyes are given light again and he can see the endless void of space. His outfit has turned from demon black into bright white. His belt has turn from grey into a fiery orange of a sun. His hair is gone. He is bald. He is alive. He is not with Kajz. He will never be with Kajz. He has power of a star flowing through his veins. He is alone.
"I was the one when you needed love"