"Those who don't build must burn." -Ray Bradbury

Prologue: Something Red This Way Comes

Up there, up there in the vastness of the canvas known as outer space, a fiery passion forever lurks among the silvery shimmering stars, high above that which is known to sentience wherever it may reside. In between the swirling brush strokes of galaxies and nebulae, individual splashes of color highlight and mark the births, deaths and rebirths of tangible thoughts, dreams, fears-life itself. Each stroke collectively brings forth shapes and names to these tangible notions—existing beyond space, time and reality.

But these notions, however tangible they may appear in the grand design of the universal painting, conceal themselves in invisible methods, shielding themselves from outsiders and the blind. Their true forms may leave themselves open to interpretation, opening the door to the imagination for every life form that exists out in the universe.

It is no easy task, for the universe has its own set of rules and complexities that can elude the conscious no matter how obvious these concepts may appear. However, those who have found a way to connect to the silent and serene beauty beyond the earthly plane are bestowed this passion and have come to a higher understanding of the universe, bringing back messages from the great beyond to improve, heal and educate their peers.

But there are some who struggle and grapple with the universe's rule in great impatience or disgust, in one world or the next. For that, they will do anything to align the stars to their own courses to search for whatever secrets are beheld behind reality, space and time…

…Even resort to repainting the universe's canvas.

It was a blue night on the planet.

As if in an orchestra, the gibbous moon led the stars in a concerto, their lights glistening innocently high above the scarce landscape by their conductor's command. No life but the howling wind could be heard through the rustling trees, a warm breeze signaling the end of a season. Towering infrastructures, normally shining and awake in the daytime, stood silently in slumber. All of the windows built in the skyscrapers and towers, save a few windows bathed in gold, mirrored the blackened night sky. Nearby, a clock tower struck eleven times, one hour before midnight.

All appeared peaceful in the night.

But the darkness was not always what it seemed.

For after the clock struck its final chime, an armored operative glided invisibly through the darkness, their flight pattern swift, sure and still. Only the humming from their jet pack could be heard through the night air and simply mistaken for a pedestrian out for a night flight or a protector overseeing everything on patrol. They flew, weaving to and fro past buildings as quickly as they could to avoid any curious or suspicious eyes.

They had a destination in mind and a goal to achieve.

Eventually, after a few moments of flying in the stars, they made it to their desired location.

That location took them to a building, no taller than its skyscraper kin, but no less magnificent in architecture and story. Its outward granite appearance was a marvel in itself. White Corinthian pillars held the weight of the portico that served as the gateway at the top of the large staircase. Two stone warriors statues of unknown species and grand statures watched over all at the bottom on short stone blocks, as if permitting entrance to visitors. The statues held two objects of great significance in their hands. A spear gripped in one hand and a star-like object floating in the other hand. At the top of the staircase, a pair of double glass doors served as the main doorway.

Landing in front of the building's threshold, they deactivated their jet pack, the humming slowly dying down. The wings attached the to the jet pack folded up, storing themselves away until the next time they were needed.

Their eyes darted right to left and then down and up.

They found, to their amusement, a surveillance camera slowly rotating and staring at everything with its glass hawk eye. They smirked; like that was going to stop them?

Stepping out of the camera's eyesight before it could even spot them, they stood under it. They then pulled out a round, yellow and tick-shaped object, small as a fly. Giving it a nasty grin, they threw the device at the camera. The device latched onto the camera and sank its short and tiny fangs into it. A spark ignited and the camera began sizzling and creating electricity. The blue electricity danced for a brief moment and then as fast as it came, it went away fleetingly. Its power was potent enough to send the camera into smoke, rendering it blind and lifeless.

Now it was time to get to work.

The perpetrator went back to the threshold. Using a long set of claws, they latched onto one of the glass doors and began spinning their claws within the glass. Around and around did they spin and create another small electrical storm. Sparks swayed to and fro, back and forth. A sharp stop later, the glass was cut.

Objective one complete.

A crash of glass, and just as they suspected, a guard was on the way to investigate.

After slipping inside, they crawled to the shadows. Just in time too.

The guard, a robot, flashed its innate headlight all over the broken glass on the floor. Searching for any clues, any suspects it could find.

They found one. But at a price.

They stiffened as they felt a small but effective bite in the neck. They froze in place as they watched sparks flicker before their eyes.

In their final moments, they could have sworn they saw a white starship coming for them. It was a blissful sight to witness.

But in the waking world, the last thing they saw before they gave into the darkness was a pair of eyes, red and emotionless in the moonlight, gleaming down at them.

The robot was no more.

Objective two complete.

The figure crawled back to the shadows. As before, they looked right to left and then down and up. This time, the coast was clear.

They carefully moved like a big cat stalking its prey and as they did, they adjusted themselves to their newfound surroundings. The building's exterior size matched the interior's greatness. Tall and cream-colored pillars also dominated the inside, bearing the weight of the roofs. Golden painted wreaths curled around the pillars up to the very top, and in between pillars and on the white walls, hung beautifully colorful, woven tapestries portraying stories of various figures. Displayed below the large tapestries were assorted objects encased within glass displays, as if to act as supporting players displayed in the woven plays. But beside the glass displays, protected by silver stanchions to give a respectful space for the objects and curiosity for the outsiders, sat wooden crates; many of them were opened and contained tangled foam peanuts, and the others were completely closed. But all of them bore the building's name and address in black and bold print.

Resisting the urge to scoff in disgust, the figure simply rolled their eyes. What a shallow waste of space.

Keeping close to the walls, and using the soft moonlight painting the room with stained glass windows as their guide, they moved on through the room, an expansive Colosseum-sized room. It seemed to stretch for hours as their steps carried them, echoing through the room as the only source of sound.

They prowled deeper and deeper into the room, wary and on alert for any alarms of any kind. No one else was here but them. It wasn't exactly a large shocker to them, given that security was lax around these parts.

And yet... they felt strange. There was no one here save them, and the room was empty as a grave save for the objects. But the figure had a distinct feeling they were being fiercely watched. But by whom? Or what?

As far as they could tell, there were no other surveillance cameras watching everything, no other guards to play with, no other dangers they needed to look out for.

"Heh. Probably just nerves." They then dismissed these senses and refocused on the mission. The mission was going very well and it would stay that way. If they didn't know any better, they could have sworn that this was cheating.

That was fine. It was the way they liked it.

Finally, after what seemed like infinity, they found what they were looking for.

A large set of white curtains closing off another entryway to a room of some sorts, the entryway clothed in blackness.

Objective three complete.

They pulled aside the curtains and when they stepped inside the room...there it was.

Sitting on a short pillar, surrounded by red stanchions and standing underneath the only moonlit window in the entire room, was a relatively small and well-preserved marquise-shaped diamond. Its multifaceted surface reflected a pale golden in the moonlight. The diamond sat on a small velvet pillow and shielded with a glass dome, protecting it from damage and greed. There was a card sitting on a rack in front of the gem. On the card, there was a name and its vague description in clear but tiny black font. It read:

The Eye of the Sun, circa Sandakisian era. Creator unknown.

The goal of the assignment.

The figure scanned the area. There were no other shiny objects lying around, but there were more closed crates. And the guardians of this empty room.

Alarm sensors stitched into random areas in the walls.

The diamond was obviously meant to be the center of attention in this room, whatever this new room was going to be used for.

And that undoubtably meant there would be drastic security measures put into place, ones that required no guards or cameras.

No sweat; they had a few tricks up their own sleeves.

As if by magic, they produced a small spray can. Its nozzle was pressed, and the can sprayed out a clear mist. The mist hovered like a ghost, slowly floating and haunting. The mist eventually evaporated, but it left behind a warning.

Red beams. Red laser beams once rendered invisible were now visible to the naked eye. They radiated from the alarm sensors, surrounding the pillar, with two blocking off one path and another two blocked another path.

Knowing now how to avoid the beams, the figure retracted the spray can and pull out a grappling hook in its place. They lied down, carefully avoiding the beams. They aimed the hook at the pillar's bottom and fired. With accuracy, it hit its mark and gripped on. The hook reeled them in like a fish out of water. Slowly.

Ever so slowly to avoid accidentally touching the lowest beam that nearly hit the floor.

They approached the beam.

A steady breath was taken to keep calm and prepare themselves for what they were to do next.

Like a serpent, they hugged their body deep to the floor as they could possibly muster while the hook did the work.

Slowly did they move, trying to avoid touching the beam of difficulty. They saw the beam pass over them, barely missing them by a nose. Literally.

Closer the hook pulled them in towards the goal.

Closer.

Objective four complete.

That was difficult, but now was the easy part. Easy and rewarding.

They slowly stood up from the floor, stood in between the laser and one set of the stanchions, and retracted their hook.

They stared at the diamond for some time, marveling over its incredible appearance. It really was a fine diamond, with its well-crafted design and translucency. But as much as they admired its beauty and mystery, they couldn't have it for themselves. They had a client waiting for this gemstone for some time and they weren't about to disappoint them now.

But there was something puzzling them about this assignment. Why did their client wanted the diamond? That was a mystery all its own, especially since the information on the card didn't seem to offer much on the fine gem other than its name and what era it originated from. Plus, the client didn't exactly give a motive for them to obtain the gem. All that they were told was that the client wanted the gem for a special reason. What kind of reason would that entail?

For a personal sign of victory or power? More than likely. That was what a diamond usually represented. It couldn't have just been for a new interest in collecting gemstones.

Well, no matter. They would find out why their client sought after this specific precious stone eventually. That mystery could wait for now.

With no further delay, they proceeded on to remove the gemstone from the glass dome. Using the same pair of claws from before, they injected their claws into the class and spun it around and around until a circle was made. Once complete, they pulled out the circle and set the glass asides.

They carefully leaned over the railings, and beams, reached out a hand...

And made a grab for the diamond.

Success.

Sweet and easy success.

They lifted up the diamond from its place, opened up a large compartment in their belt and carefully placed it inside the pocket for safekeeping. Thank the stars above it was small enough to fit.

Now it was time to get out of here.

But going back through the lasers and back into that creepy room? Too tedious and they didn't feel like going back all that way just to walk out the entrance. Besides, there was another way out of this room.

And that window above the pillar would provide a perfect escape route. They stared into the window above their head for a minute, as if contemplating the moon that shone over the building and the figure.

They pulled out another gadget to aid them in their escape: a laser of their own.

A plasma one.

They aimed and fired.

The window decimated into a pile of rubble and glass. The broken pieces descended downwards towards the ground. But the figure was protected from the debris of architecture and glass and so didn't waste time leaping out of the debris' way like a frog. In fact, they were already on their way out before the alarm sensors could even trigger a response.

Leaping into the air, they sprouted their wings from their jet pack through the new manmade hole that was in place of the window. Bursting out of the hole like a bullet out of a rifle, they made it outside with their prize intact.

Down below, the alarms whined loudly, alerting the personnel of the building of the recent theft.

But the thief would be long gone before any other robot guardian, if there was one, could show up to stop them.

That was when a blue burst of energy struck them in the chest.

It knocked the wind out of them, sending them spiraling backwards towards the building's roof. They landed on their back with a great big thud.

Temporarily dazed, they shook their head to clear out the stars in their vision. Once their vision was cleared, they hopped back onto their feet and took on a battle pose, determined to protect the diamond at all costs.

For the first time since they entered the building, the thief spoke.

In gruff irritation, they snapped, "Alright, who's out there?! Come on out and show yourself!"

And they did.

A pair of white glowing eyes stared at the thief in righteous fury. Entirely cloaked in some humble and dark-colored hooded robe, the pair of glowing eyes kept close to the rooftop's edges.

The thief narrowed their eyes. Apparently whoever came close to blasting them out of the troposphere was perfectly content to keep their distance and secretive.

Whatever. They'd be space dust in a micro second. The figure pulled out their plasma laser once more, targeting the stranger.

The stranger pulled out a weapon of their own.

A toothy and amused smirk worked its way onto the thief's face, even though the other person couldn't see it. "You've got to be kidding. You're gonna go the old-school method? A simple staff? Fine. But you'll be going down in a flash." Just to make their point clear, they fired a few rounds of red energy at the stranger.

But their opponent proved them wrong. They dodged the blasts with the greatest of ease, and in turn, they attempted to whack the thief on the head.

The thief evaded the robed fighter's advance and took off to the skies again. They lazily leaned on their back with their arms tucked behind their crown, taunting the earthbound fighter. "What's the matter, my friend? You short of a few wingspans?"

Undeterred, the silent stranger crouched down...and jumped high into the air like a spring! They jumped higher and higher into the air, catching their opponent off-guard.

And another whack was given from the stranger, and this time, it made its mark.

It sent the airborne figure into a daze again. The force of the staff sent their head spinning around in unison with another whirlpool of stars.

But they recovered quickly enough to grab the robed fighter by the wrist and hurl them downwards towards the ground.

The robed figure landed roughly on their feet and looked upwards, just in time to see their opponent firing another round at them. They ran across the rooftop, avoiding the laser blasts with ease again. Once they avoided the attacks, they attempted to jump high and hit their opponent again, but the thief sidestepped them and tried to deliver a punch to the face.

But the cloaked warrior blocked off the attempt and aimed a kick in the stomach before they descended again. The thief shot at the robed fighter's arm.

They smirked.

This time they hit the stranger.

The robed one yelled, fell down and dropped the staff.

Taking the hit as a victory, the thief also took it as a break, not for relaxation, but for a quick study of their new playmate.

Whatever reason they had for using a staff as a weapon instead of a plasma cannon or a laser gun, especially during these times of up and coming new advances in weaponry, they were good with that staff. They couldn't fly (although that was hard to tell with that rag they were wearing), but they were nimble enough to jump up to incredible heights.

With all their skills, they could have been good enough to be part of the Space Ranger Corps, but this was no Ranger working undercover for the good of the galaxy. It was probably some rogue crime fighter wanna-be desperate to have some piece of the action that the Rangers normally received, or maybe it was a greedy robber, which was a rarity around these metropolitan parts. Definitely one or the other.

The robed one, although they temporally groaned in pain at the laser mark's burn, managed to get up, pick up their staff and stare up into the thief's eyes in defiance. Their eyes flashed a warning as they held up their staff in self-defense.

Snapping out of their observations, the figure growled, already tiring of this game. Both parties poised themselves for another battle. The airborne figure with the laser blasts, the robed warrior with the staff.

Just as they were about to make their moves...

A familiar sound of jet packs could be heard in the distance. Both parties turned their heads at the source and then turned back to one another.

The Space Rangers were coming!

The thief made the first move. "Well, I don't know about you, but I don't have time to stick around. We'll finish this later, creep. Until then, see ya!" Using another gadget, they pulled out what looked to be another small object. This time, it was a red ball-shaped object.

They tossed it onto the ground and it exploded in a flash of smoky haze and they managed to escape into the night with precious stone in hand.

Final objective complete.

The smoke confused the robed fighter, causing them to cough and lose their sense of surroundings.

But once the smoke cleared, they recovered and saw they were alone. They would have stayed there had it not been for the advancing jet pack whines. Bearing the pain from their opponent's attack, they disappeared, not wanting to run into the galactic heroes of the galaxy themselves.

For the first time since they appeared out of nowhere, the robed figure vowed with the solemn tone of a witness testifying in court. "Indeed we will, agent. We will."

Their eyes flashed a furious and dead white as the ghostly moon.

Their primary objective: find the diamond and fast... and in the meantime, make sure nothing went wrong for tomorrow.

Then the clock tower in the far distance chimed midnight.

The thief could also hear the clock strike its final chord, but they paid no heed to it.

They shot past the moon's silvery face and soared higher and higher into the night sky as they broke though the troposphere. Then they passed time and entered the thermosphere. Finally, they reached outer space's edge. All was quiet up there; nothing but their jet pack's hum could be heard. Now it was time to chart a new star path and head for a new destination.

It was a good thing that their jet pack had enough juice to get them there. They'd need to refuel after this particular trip. But they weren't in any rush; they completed their task in one fell swoop.

...Well, not exactly in one swoop, but that wouldn't exactly look good on paper or to their client. Nonetheless, it was a success and they felt proud of a job well done. More importantly, they would get to find out what the deal was behind the precious Eye of the Sun.

Speaking of the sun, a yellow light reflected off their helmet visor.

They glanced over their shoulder to see what was making that light, and lo.

There was the sun peeking from the planet's horizon.

Sunrise would arrive to the planet's borders in a matter of hours.

And a new day would dawn, for their client and for everybody else. Not that the new day would make any difference for the thief. To them, a day was a day, just as a job was a job. One day, or task, ends and another begins. And as long as they were richly rewarded for their efforts, then their day was complete no matter what the hours dictated. But how richly they'd be rewarded was another matter entirely. It would depend on how generous their client was feeling. With any luck, the diamond was sure to influence the client's decision.

Now more determined than ever to claim their prize, the thief jettisoned further and further into space, their perseverance and greed rising. But the greed could take a backseat and be satisfied, for encroaching in the distance...

"There it is."

Camouflaging into space's cooler colored backdrop, a large and bullet-shaped vessel floated, hovering not too far off from the planet but not too up close and personal either. Its shark-like fins attached to its metallic purple sides seemed sharp enough to cut through space and anything else in its path. Although the ship clocked itself well, a small and dimly lit feature stood out on top of the ship, around where the cockpit was located.

A glowing pale yellow 'Z'.

Homebase. Now it was time for the star player to slide and make a home run.

The motion of gravity kicked in, a smooth contrast to the outside weightlessness of space's blanket.

The metal doors slammed from behind them after they entered the ship's belly. Once they made it inside, they folded up their wings, tucking them back inside their jet pack. They scanned the area, as if to assure themselves that they were indeed alone and safe from the outside's dangers. It was strange; the darkness outside wasn't safe and yet the darkness inside the ship, asides from the few muted red lights from the outside and out, was comforting. If only by a moment.

Only their own footsteps could be heard within earshot as they began to move.

"Stop!"

Or at least it should have been that way had something, or some things, not blocked their path.

Bugs.

Bugs called Grubs.

Several aquamarine-skinned insectoids, no higher than a few feet in length, appeared from the room's black corners and scurried over to the incomer.

The thief growled at this and groaned, "What is it?" The last thing they wanted to do right now was engage in pointless conversation when there were more important tasks to be done!

In their blood red uniforms, which would have covered them in complete red from head to toe had it not been for their blue hoods and boots, they came to a stop in front of the incomer. They stared up at them with their large dark green eyes, which would have made the nearest bug enthusiast squealing with joy and excitement. Attached to their uniforms were 'Z' trademarked ear caps, branding them under one household name. With a twitch of their twin pair of antennae, one of the Grubs spoke in a raspy and almost sickly way, "Our evil emperor is waiting for you and he has another assignment ready, sir."

So much for being rewarded heavily for his deeds. "What a complete shocker. So where is he?"

"He's at the bridge. But I should warn ya, he's been looking over his evil plans and notes all night and won't want to talk long."

That raised some interest from the thief, raising him from his gloomy mood a little. "Oh? He's been goin' over those notes again? Have you been able to figure out what evil scheme he's come up with this time?"

The Grub shook his head, much to the thief's disappointment. "He's been keeping us in the dark about it. He just wants us to do our jobs, and every time any of us makes a mistake or fail somehow-"

"He yells at ya if it's related to that plan or he just shrugs it off if it's not and goes back to whatever he was doin', I know. It's happened with me too." He crossed his arms as he frowned from behind the iron mask he was wearing. "It's weird... it's not like him to shrug off small things like that when he's busy trying to rule the universe and run his business..."

He stared off into the red glow of the light in a rare moment of thought before turning back to the little workers, deciding to get on with his job. "But hey, as long as we don't get atomized for it, who cares, huh? I won't question it. It makes my life a lot easier. So I wouldn't sweat it, pequeñines."

After all, everybody has their off-days. Maybe their employer was having one of those and it wasn't like this was the first time they were acting odd during the brainstorming process. He shrugged before releasing his interwoven arms.

"Now if you'll all excuse me from our water cooler chat, I've got an evil emperor to meet, a diamond to deliver, and some cash to collect... I hope."

"One more thing!"

His irritation grew again. "Yes?"

"...You might want to get out of that armor you're wearing. If he sees you in that armor, he'll disintegrate you on the spot. He hates seeing that uniform here."

Behind the mask, he raised a brow but thought nothing more of it. "Fine... I'll keep that in mind."

He ventured further into the belly of the hollow whale, their footsteps the only source of sound again. Clank, clank, clank did his footsteps move, against the metal floor. His feet carried him through the interiors, passing through hallways of large proportions but of even larger vacancy. The deep midnight blue walls, bordering on a deep purple color, seemed to expand the room's length and height, with red lines painted on the walls for both guidance and decorative purposes. The same was true for the yellow and black dividers that held themselves in place at the walls' foundations; they would act as guides for those lost in the dark when the lights were dimmed, which was not surprising, given the emperor loved darker colors.

The largest indicator of decor, however, was the large and familiar 'Z' shape. Branded many times in many sections of the walls, they all served as reminders about who was the absolute ruler of this ship and crew.

It was enough to make one of faint heart feel tiny and insignificant, but the thief was not one of them. He had gotten used to the imposing air long ago when he started working for the emperor.

He kept on going through.

Occasionally he would run into another Grub or another one of the species working for the emperor, the deep purple-encased Brain Pods.

Their mechanical bodies carried around the 'brains' in special glass cases while their own bodies, made of pink flesh, were entombed and protected by the encasing. Moving around on a trio of wheels, the Brain Pods' long and dark gray arms moved to and fro tapping on clipboards and gadgets and other products needed for their assigned tasks. Usually they worked within the scientific and mechanical sections of the emperor's work force. They could easily identified and told apart by the numbers branded on their backs.

Upon seeing one of them, the thief pulled them over.

"Hey, 14! What's the word?"

"Hm?" The Brain Pod in question stopped in place and looked up from reading some paperwork. It took him a second to realize whom he was addressing. "O-oh, hello! What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to know, have you or anybody else had any luck with findin' out what the big Z's up to with his latest grand master plan?"

But much to the thief's dismay again, 14 shook his head. "No, we haven't. He's been keeping his plans away from prying eyes. It's been like this all night; unless we make a mistake on something related to his scheme, he leaves us alone to do our work and doesn't bat an eye to anything else. Oh, and in case you weren't warned, you'd better change out of that armor. He doesn't want-"

"To see me in it, I get it! I don't know why I had to be told that twice, but fine, I'll remember that. Craters... " He sighed before switching topics. "So you Braid Pods haven't been able to figure out anything from what he's been planning, huh?"

14 fiddled with his papers in hesitation."Well... there is ONE thing we've found out."

"Really? Well, what is it?"

But just as 14 was ready to spill the beans, a foghorn blared through the halls over an intercom.

"AGENT Z! I KNOW YOU'RE ON THE SHIP. I WANT YOU AND THAT DIAMOND ON THE BRIDGE NOW!"

Both 14 and the agent shared knowing and slightly fearful glances.

Agent Z hastily said, "Uh... we'll talk about this later. Gotta go!"

14 watched him sprint as if he were trying out for the Galactic Games, aiming to achieve a gold medal. The Brain Pod sighed in concern. "I hope we can, for your sake, my sake and everyone else's. If not, then the Evil Emperor Zurg is going to have another victim on his hands."

A/N:

Translations:

Pequeñines: 'little ones' in Spanish.