"TAKE THAT!" grunted Sylvia as she punched yet another Watchdog in the face. The Watchdog flew five feet across the battlefield before hitting another Watchdog squarely in the chest. The two of them collapsed onto the ground as more of Lord Hater's army invaded the planet.
"Syl, how long do ya think this is gonna take? You've been at it for about half an hour now," said Wander to the zbornak as she kicked another enemy into the sky.
"I actually have no idea, buddy," panted Sylvia, wiping her snout. "Ever since we received that distress signal from this planet that told us that they were being invaded –" Sylvia paused to fend off another Watchdog. "- we've been trying to stop Hater's army from taking over!"
"THAT FURRY GOOFBALL ISN'T GONNA STAND IN MY WAY TODAY, OH NO." shouted Lord Hater from his ship, which was hovering near the planet. "ATTACK, ARMY, ATTACK!"
The nearby city plunged into chaos as the surrounding army began to close in and capture the fleeing citizens.
"How many of these guys are there?" wondered Sylvia out loud as he threw a Watchdog into several other ones, knocking them all out.
"I have no idea, but I'm just gonna hope that nobody gets hurt today!" replied Wander optimistically, throwing his arms into the air and inadvertently punching a passing Watchdog in the face.
"…right." muttered Sylvia as she turned to face the upcoming onslaught of more army.
But soon after, Sylvia turned back to Wander.
"Hey buddy, how about we just get a-" started Sylvia, but she was cut off by the sight of a Watchdog running towards Wander, blade in hand! Sylvia gasped in terror, while Wander simply stared back at Sylvia, oblivious to the danger he was in.
"Yyyeeeeessss?" said Wander, looking up at Sylvia. The Watchdog was getting closer by the second. She had to do something, and fast.
"HURRY, DUCK WANDER!" yelled Sylvia as she prepared to punch the incoming Watchdog.
"What?" asked Wander in confusion, still looking up at Sylvia. "Quack?"
The Watchdog came closer and closer, so close that if the Watchdog just reached out and stabbed Wander it would all be over…
Sylvia's hand connected fast and strong with the Watchdog's chest, just narrowly missing Wander. The Watchdog flew a few meters back, hit the ground and stayed down. Sylvia emitted a loud WHEW and wiped her snout once more.
The battlefield was silent once more. Thousands of Watchdogs lay unconscious on the ground, and the citizens of the nearby city rejoiced. Commander Peepers watched the situation end from the ship and pounded his fist on one of the control panels. Another loss, at the hands of that blue pest and that furry nuisance.
"Well, I can say that was a close one, don't ya think so, buddy?" asked Sylvia, back down on the planet. But soon she realized that she had made a mistake. Wander had ducked, but he didn't duck fast enough. While Sylvia had punched the Watchdog, she had also punched someone else.
Wander stood there, with a large black eye. Sylvia gasped.
THE EYE
"Wander!" exclaimed Sylvia, picking him up. "Are you okay?!"
"Well, my face kind of hurts… but in the grand scheme of things I guess I'm fine!" replied Wander, trying to be cheerful.
"Oh Wander," sighed Sylvia, putting Wander down. "I'm so so sorry I accidentally gave you a black eye!"
"Ahhhhh, don't be sorry Syl'. No harm done!" said Wander, dusting his hat off once he was on the ground.
"What in the galaxy are you talking about? Of course I did some harm. Not only to the thousands of Watchdogs that are now lying down passed out on the ground, but to you!" shouted Sylvia, throwing her arms up.
"Sylvia, don't worry about it. I'm sure I'll be fine in about, what, two weeks?" said Wander.
"No Wander, I hurt my best buddy, and I can't just brush that off. I have to fix this. I have to make sure that I will never hurt my buddy ever again." said Sylvia. She put one of her feet on a rock and thrusted one of her hands towards the sky. "From now on, I will not use violence in any way shape or form!"
"Wow, Sylvia, are you sure about this?" wondered Wander. "This is a pretty big promise to make."
"I promise." said Sylvia softly. "Now hurry, let's get out of here before Hater blows his fuse!"
Wander nodded and got onto Sylvia's back, gripping her reins. Sylvia took out a bottle of orbble juice, formed a bubble around them and they began to take off. Lord Hater shouted obscenities from the ship, barely audible over the "later hater" that Wander shouted loudly. Sylvia ran off into space with a determined yet remorseful look on her face.
How could she had messed up so badly? She knew Wander was just shrugging it off like it was no big deal, but she thought that looked like it hurt a lot. Well, her fighting days were over now. Now was a period of peaceful negotiation and shaking hands. Hey, if Wander could do it, she probably could too. It was going to be no problem.
Sylvia stopped by the sleepy and peaceful planet of For, a planet filled to the brim with nature and relaxation. It was always night there, so it was the perfect stopover for tired travelers. Sylvia popped the orbble bubble once they were on the ground. The zbornak lifted Wander off the ground and walked over to a large tree. Once they were in the shade of the tree Sylvia put Wander down softly.
"Here, you need all the rest you can get," said Sylvia.
"Aww, thanks Syl!" responded Wander, taking off his hat. He often used his hat for a sleeping bag, because it was so big.
Sylvia sighed and curled up into a ball, ready to settle in for a long and restoring sleep. She opened one eye to take one last look at Wander. He was already sleeping, a smile on his face. That guy always seemed to be smiling. Sylvia chuckled and closed her one open eye.
Sylvia woke up and yawned, stretching her limbs. She felt refreshed.
"G'morning Wander," said Sylvia, looking at Wander. But Wander wasn't there. She looked around frantically.
"Wander?" shouted Sylvia. "WANDER!"
Sylvia began walking around, calling out Wander's name, looking every which way but her companion was nowhere to be found.
"Where on earth-" began Sylvia, but she was cut off by a low moan. "What was that?"
Sylvia turned around and determined that the sound was coming from the bushes. Sylvia prepared for an attack, tensed up and peeked through the bushes.
It was Wander! But something was wrong. Wander was curled up into a ball, clutching his stomach, his perpetual grin replaced with a frown. He was squeezing his eyes shut, trembling ever so slightly. He was in pain.
"Wander? Are you okay?" asked Sylvia, coming through the bushes and stepping towards the clearing that Wander was lying down on.
"Stay… stay away from me, you… MONSTER!" yelled Wander, opening his eyes and pointing a single finger at Sylvia. She was taken aback.
"What? What's going on, Wander? What happened?" said Sylvia frantically. Wander, still clutching his stomach, slowly stood up.
"You… you KICKED me in the stomach while you were asleep. You didn't even THINK about kicking me, and you sent me tumbling down this hill where I landed!" exclaimed Wander.
"No, no… no it can't be true!" shouted Sylvia back.
"You HURT me Sylvia, and I TRUSTED YOU!" yelled Wander.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed Sylvia, taking a step back.
The ground underneath her seemed to give way, and before she knew it, she was falling down a hole, the top of Wander's head peeking through the top of the hole. He stared at Sylvia for a few seconds, and then turned away. Sylvia continued to fall, the pit getting darker and darker until nothing was able to be seen.
"GAH!" yelled Sylvia as she suddenly awoke, all her limbs tense. Thank goodness it was just a nightmare. She sighed loudly and wiped her snout.
"Good-" started the zbornak before she quickly realized two things.
One, this was not the planet For. She was in some sort of jail cell and everything was red. She was in Hater's ship! That dirty villain must have captured them while they were both asleep. This must've been revenge for foiling their plan to take over that previous planet.
Two, Wander was not there beside her. Sylvia looked around, hoping that the events in the nightmare would not unfold. She would worry about other things later, for now she had to find Wander.
Sylvia examined the bars of her cell. They were made of steel, loosely fixed to the ceiling and to the floor. No problem, she thought as she cracked her knuckles. She kicked down the cell bars with ease, escaping the prison block. This of course, triggered the alarm and the hallway Sylvia ran down flashed with red, sirens wailing.
Lord Hater watched the events unfold with pleasure from one of his chambers.
"Yes… yes… this is all going according to pla-" started Lord Hater, when he was interrupted.
"Uh… Mr. Hater? Why am I tied up and hanging from the ceiling above an acid pit?" wondered Wander from the other side of the chamber.
"You fool! Don't you see? You've foiled my plan to take over planet Bingleborp, and now you must suffer the consequences." explained Lord Hater, walking over to where Wander was hanging from. "Because NOBODY MESSES WITH THE GREATEST VILLIAN IN THE UNIVERSE!"
"Oh, I get it now. Thanks for the explanation, buddy!" replied Wander cheerfully.
"I AM NOT YOUR BUDDY," shouted Lord Hater, before storming back to the security camera monitor area.
Sylvia ran down the corridor, trying to evade all the Watchdogs that had just been deployed due to the alarm. She tried every door, but finding nothing but empty rooms, machinery and embarrassed Watchdogs. All the while she was calling out Wander's name, desperately searching for her friend.
Lord Hater laughed maniacally as he pulled the switch to lower Wander closer towards the acid pit. Wander, though usually optimistic, began to realize that something may be wrong.
"Uh, hey, friend, do you uh, perchance know where my buddy Sylvia is?" questioned Wander nervously.
"Huh? Oh, you mean that blue nuisance? Don't worry. She'll be here soon, and then YOU'LL BOTH BE DESTROYED TOGETHER! AHAHAHAHAHA!" shouted Lord Hater, rather loudly.
Meanwhile, Sylvia had heard Lord Hater's screams echoing down the hallway.
"He must be nearby," muttered Sylvia to herself, running down the corridor towards Lord Hater's main room.
Sylvia threw open the door, and Lord Hater was facing away from the doors. He suddenly turned around and smiled.
"Welcome TO YOUR DOOM!" yelled Lord Hater as ominous lightning flashed behind him. "WATCHDOGS! CAPTURE HER!"
Without warning, hundreds of Watchdogs began flowing into the room, lasers aimed, spears poised. They had surrounded Sylvia. Wander watched from above, watching the scene unfold.
"Don't worry Wander," reassured Sylvia. "I'll rescue you in no time!"
Sylvia raised her fist and started the motion to punch a nearby Watchdog, but then she suddenly remembered her promise and the nightmare she had earlier. She stopped dead in her tracks and stood straight up.
"Come on Sylvia, you can do this," murmured Sylvia to herself. "No violence. Think."
"Uh, hey Hater!" shouted Sylvia at Lord Hater. "Your ship is COMPLETELY ugly! Red and black are TERRIBLE colors, and you should feel bad for using them!"
Lord Hater looked slightly confused for a split second, and then rolled his eyes.
"Oh, my god. I am, so hurt right now, I should totally, retract my army, and not capture you, and then kill you." said Lord Hater sarcastically.
"Really?" asked Sylvia and Wander simultaneously.
"NO! GET HER!" shouted Lord Hater.
The Watchdogs slowly began to close in, and Sylvia found herself not able to do anything. Wander face was almost about to touch the surface of the acid pit.
"Hey, uh Syl? Could you hurry it up a little there, because I might be almost be DEAD!" shouted Wander, panicking now.
Sylvia could look on hopelessly, until she realized what she had to do. She had to break her own promise.
"Well, if it's sacrificing my promise so that my friend doesn't die," said Sylvia. "So be it."
Sylvia grabbed one Watchdog and threw it against another one, causing a domino effect that knocked down several more. Another Watchdog charged up his laser gun and Sylvia kicked it into the air, not before kicking down a few other Watchdogs. Lord Hater could only watch a few seconds more before taking action.
"Alright guys, you're done here," shouted Lord Hater, picking up his sword. "I'll take it from here."
The remaining Watchdogs of the army retreated as Lord Hater raised his sword while stepping towards Sylvia. Sylvia looked around and grabbed a loose piece of metal and held it like a sword.
"HURRY SYLVIA!" screamed Wander, as the surface of the acid pit began grazing his fur.
Sylvia looked over at Wander worriedly and tried to throw Lord Hater off, but he persisted and swung his blade, slicing the metal bar in Sylvia's hands cleanly apart. Sylvia panicked and threw herself to the ground as Lord Hater stuck the spot where Sylvia was standing just a few seconds prior. The zbornak picked up one of the pieces of metal that used to be her 'sword' and threw it at the control panel. The piece of metal hit the lever that toggled whether Wander was pulled up or down, and Wander gave a sigh of relief as he inched slowly away from the acid pit.
"Why you…!" began Lord Hater, until he realized he could still destroy Wander.
He aimed his sword at the chain that connected Wander to the ceiling. Sylvia knew what he was about to do, and cried out in denial as she tackled him, disorientating Lord Hater. Lord Hater threw the sword and it sailed through the air until it embedded itself in one of the walls of the main room
Sylvia pushed Lord Hater down and jumped towards Wander, rescuing him from his doom. Once Sylvia and Wander were both on two feet, they had a hug.
"Sylvia! I'm so glad you came to rescue me!" exclaimed Wander while he hugged his companion.
"I'm so glad I came to rescue you too," replied Sylvia. "Listen Wander… I'm sorry about the black eye I gave you. I wasn't careful and it's all my fault that we're in this mess right now."
"Sylvia, you silly billy! I'm not mad at you, people make mistakes all the time! I gratefully accept your apology." said Wander.
"Now whatdya say we getoutta this place?" asked Sylvia as she held up a bottle of orbble juice.
Wander nodded, and Sylvia drew a bubble around the both of them. They began to float into the air and out of Lord Hater's ship. Lord Hater shook his fist at the duo and Wander tipped his hat back at him.
"Later Hater!" shouted Wander and Sylvia, waving at the ship.