"Wow! What is this place?"

Milky Way beamed as she took in her surroundings, though there really wasn't that much to take in. The space around her resembled a purple-ish void. She herself floated listlessly in a direction she considered upwards. It was as if she weighed nothing in this world. Occasionally, a sparkle of light would appear around her and streak past, disappearing before she could really focus on it. The area she was in empty, and she remembered being somewhere like here before. She didn't like this place.

She was lost again. Just a moment ago she was resting comfortably at the player lodgings, preparing for her next soccer match. Honestly, she knew that ever since she had been replaced on the team, her chances of actually playing were slim to none. But a girl can dream can't she?

What happened? She wondered. She used to be a star. An invaluable asset to the team's success. She was in a rhythm, and her music was playing louder than ever. Power was never her game, so she prided herself on letting others shine. And she had felt she had done an adequate job of it.

So then why was it that it felt all so distant now? Toward the end of her time as a starter, she was starting to lose her effect on the other players. She had done everything she could to regain her status, but it was futile. All songs had an end. And it appeared that her time as a starter did too.

Even so, she kept hope that she'd be used at least once more. Perhaps they would put her in once in a while, much like one would replay an old song they were fond of. She had kept that one hope up all the while she was on the bench. But of course it amounted to nothing. It always did.

Even so, she had friends on that team. Fellow players that she thought she had a connection with. Would they wonder where she had gone off to? Or would they already know?

Because in all honesty, she was sure that she had followed the manager's instructions. She was sure she had been told that this was the right ship. That this meant it would be the ship that would take her to the next soccer game. Well, evidently, it wasn't.

It was pretty clear what had happened. The team had gotten rid of her. She had been released. Sent away to this empty place to rot in a world she had no knowledge of. She had worn out her welcome in the team and was sent away. Really, even she could figure out that much.

It was always something that could have happened, and she had started to prepare for it. But what she couldn't figure out was why she was here, in this desolate emptiness. To her knowledge, most of the players that the team didn't need any more were told so. At her caliber, or at least what she liked to consider her caliber, the players were often asked to perform one final act of service to the team by training with one of the starters. Then they were sent on their merry way back to their planet without any questions. But she was neither asked to train nor back in any planet she knew of.

The only other explanation was that she was simply sold. The team had sent her back to the drafting boards in exchange for money.

But if that were the case, then why was she alone?

Many players were sold each day. Most of them multiple times. They were all sent back together, clumped up in a mass of bodies, ready to be sent to another team in an instant. Point being, if she was really sold...she still shouldn't be alone. Where was everyone else?

Maybe she was special. Or maybe she was so useless now that the coaches had to come up with an entirely new way to dispose her. The thought struck a painful feeling in her chest. That was it. That was what she was afraid of most. That despite everything, she'd be alone again. Something she had convinced herself would never happen again. And yet-

This void! This empty space! This miserable lonely atmosphere! Milky Way was on the verge of losing it. She thrashed around wildly, but without anything around her, no one would notice. She could scream as loud as she could and it wouldn't change a thing.

"Smile."

As if commanded by the voice in her head, Milky went limp. A smile forced its way on her face. Though from appearance, it was as natural as it got. That was all she was good at in any case. Forcing a smile, when she needed it. When she had first gotten lost, she smiled. When she met someone new, her smile had the power to get them to talk to her. When she was playing in the galaxy league against aliens, angels, and demons in a match that could possibly change the world, she smiled. And even in her most desperate time of need, she still kept that smile on her face. Pathetic. All of it was.

What good was it to smile now? It didn't matter. She started to hum. She hummed for a while. Time passed, though how much it was impossible to tell.

She caught a glimpse of a slower flash of light heading toward her. Squinting her eyes, she was able to make out that it wasn't actually any type of light at all. Some sort of freakish bear, resembling the perverted gatekeeper, was lazily drifting toward her. She continued to hum.

As it came closer, the short bear eventually focused more clearly into her view. She was able to make out an unamused looking face, tired looking eyes, and what she assumed to be a dirty, worn out toupee on its head. She gave a wide grin in its direction. The bear returned her gaze with its deadpan face.

"Are you Milky Way?"

"Hmmhmm~ Yup!"

"…Right." The bear narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her demeanor. "I am Sho Sho. Starting from today I'm your replacement, effective immediately due to the recall system."

…

Ah, so that's what it was. She wasn't being asked to train anyone or being sent back to try her luck with another team. She was just downright being replaced. With this old, dead bear. They would rather have this bear than her. And so they sent her out here. To the middle of nowhere. For the bear.

Well, if that's what they want…she mused.

SCREW EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.

They found more value in this bear? Was she that useless? Did they even realize what they did to her?

If that's how it truly was…if that's how they truly felt…maybe rotting in this world wasn't so bad.

It certainly wasn't as bad as being betrayed by the ones she trusted. Yup, she was convinced of that.

And as for the bear-

Milky Way could have done many things to it as it passed her by. It was an arm's length away. In a world where weight didn't seem to exist, she could have pushed it off its path. She could have swatted that fake looking toupee of its head. She could have punched it really hard in the gut if she wanted to.

She smiled at it.

Because what was the point in doing something different now?

"Good luck on the team~!"

Sho Sho looked at the girl, baffled the girl was as placid as she was, though his expressionless face did not show it. The normal reaction he expected was for the girl to shriek bloody curses at him. At the very least, some angry retribution. Was she in some sort of shock? Still, it was slightly unsettling. Readjusting his hair, he nervously averted his gaze.

"…Yes. Thank you."

Those were their last words as they floated on past each other. Neither turned around to look back at the other. And as for Milky Way, she happily stared off into the distance. She had no idea where she was going. But she hardly cared anymore. She floated onwards, humming to herself to pass the time. But every so often, she stopped and her eyes widened. For a second or two her smile would drop from her face. Her mouth would open in the shape of a scream. But it didn't matter. In the next second, her grin was back on her face as she bemusedly looked around.

"Wow! What is this place?"

Cover credit goes to Chupatesta on Reddit. Full version of Milky Way art here: .