Author's note: This is chapter 2 of the Changing Course AU. In this chapter, Genesis will show even more of her true colors, but her plan will remain vague.
Know that I don't own Wander over Yonder or its characters! Enjoy!
Genesis's ship only took about 10 minutes of walking to reach, but the shadow managed to cover Wander and Genesis about 5 minutes earlier. As they got closer and closer to the hulking beast of a ship, the nomad had to wonder both how he hadn't seen/heard the ship earlier and why one person needed such a large, intimidating ship.
The ship appearance-wise was unnerving. The ship was about 20 stories tall, with a black, skull-like base with horns taking up about half of that. The parts that looked like eyes and a sort of mouth opening was glowing green, drawing even more attention. As the the ship went further down, red veins grew and became more and more prominent, with the wide underbelly of the ship being blood-red. Any openings in the ship also glowed bright electric green. It reminded Wander a bit like Hater's ship with the skull at the center of the craft, but Wander thought that Genesis's ship was more than 100 times bigger than the skullship.
"Welp, this is my safe haven in the deep recesses of time and space!" The green alien declared, snapping the wanderer from his observations. "Isn't it Great?"
"It's really…great!" Wander finished, his grin curving up a little bigger when he saw Genesis's eyes sparkle.
"I figured you'd love it! I know it's a big overwhelming at first, but you'll get your way around!" The girl pressed a button on a remote she seemed to produce out of thin air (but probably just took out of her pocket when Wander wasn't paying attention). Instantly, an opening appeared in the ship's underbelly with a red light that covered Wander and Genesis like a blanket. "Just stay relaxed, this'll only take a moment…"
"…Whaddya me-ANNN?!" Wander felt jolted when the world suddenly started spinning furiously around him. The colors grew unbearably bright and the sounds unbearably loud. Wander thought it would last forever, which was why he was so relieved when the experience was suddenly over, leaving him coughing on the floor.
Genesis grabbed the smaller alien by the shoulders, lifting him up onto his feet. "Sorry, should of given you a better warning. But anyways, here's the inside of my ship!"
The teleportation beam had apparently enough them to the main hallway, which resembled the outside of the ship colorwise(Wander wouldn't consider that a bad thing-The ship's interior walls and floors looked kind of pretty for such dark colors). The hallway was, at the very least, 15 feet tall and 15 feet wide, giving Wander plenty room to move about.
"Like I said, it's a bit overwhelming at first, but it isn't too hard to get the hang of moving around here. All you have to do is snap your fingers and say what room you want and the ship will do the rest! You try!"
Glancing at Genesis before starting, Wander hesitantly did what she told him to do.
"*SNAP*Bedroom?" Wander's hesitancy soon transformed into amazement as one of the walls moved And shifted as easily as wet clay until a Wander-sized hole was created in it and all of the walls behind it. "Whoa, THAT'S AMAZING!"
"I KNOW, RIGHT?! That's one of the reasons I LOVE this ship, it almost seemed linked to your mind!" Genesis tapped her index fingers against her temples to signify this point. "Well, I need to get the ship to lift off before someone spots us. Goodnight Wander!"
"Goodnight Gen!" Wander said chirply, but then asked "Can I call you Gen?"
"Sure, whatever floats your boat!"
"Thanks Gen, see you in the morning!" Wander told Genesis, jumping up and wrapping his arms around her waist in a sort of hug before bounding off to find his room, humming his theme song as he went.
Genesis simply stood there in the hallway, waiting patiently as Wander's footsteps faded away And the holes in the wall closed up. As soon as the coast was clear, Genesis burst out laughing.
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh man, I can't believe that IDIOT already put so much trust in me! He really is as gullible as he seemed on camera!" Genesis continued to laugh maniacally, her eyes gleaming with evil glee. When the laughter finally ceased, she clicked her tongue disapprovingly. "Man, it's almost sad how trusting he is! It kinda makes sense though, given what just happened to the little guy. I ACTUALLY feel bad for him-but then again, not THAT bad! HAHAHAHA…"
As the evildoer finished cackling, she took a gasp of breath and regained her composure. "Alright, now that that's done, got to get back to work! After all, I don't want that lamo Hater getting in the way!"
Genesis snapped her fingers, whispering "The Bridge" before letting herself being lifted up by the ship's floor rising under her feet, and then disappearing through the hole made in the ceiling.
Once Wander finally reached his new bedroom, he admittedly found himself pleasantly surprised. Unlike the rest of the ship, this room was bright and filled Wander with a relaxing aura. The room was small but cozy, with pastel pink walls that had multiple beautiful paintings on it and pastel green carpeting that felt good against his feet. The room also had a dark brown, wooden desk, a matching chair pulled up against the desk, a light brown dresser against the wall, a door at the corner of the room leading to the bathroom, and a twin-sized bed that has a white wool blanket covering the mattress.
"Wow, this place looks great." Wander stepped farther into the room, allowing the hole in the wall to fully close like the hole was never there. "Alright Wander, try to be as nice as you possibly can. This lady gave you a place to stay and is nice enough to let you travel alongside her. Things'll be fine; I mean, this isn't the first time you split up with a partner and it probably won't be the last."
Setting his hat on the desk, Wander jumped onto the bed and under the covers. He felt his body sink into the mattress like a rock in a pond, his tense muscles screaming in relief. It had been many years since Wander had slept on the mattress instead of on the floor of a planet or inside his hat.
It was easy for Wander to close his eyes and drift off into a pleasant sleep, the lights of the room automatically turning off.
The next morning, Genesis was in the ship's kitchen, still dressed in yesterday's outfit and cooking up a storm. She was cooking eggs, bacon, sausage, French toast, pancakes, hashbrowns-The whole 9 yards! She was working on flipping the pancakes while simultaneously scrambling the eggs when Wander entered the kitchen, his fur in the style of bedhead.
'Aww, he's cute even when he just slept 12 hours straight!' Genesis thought to herself, a small smile playing on her lips. Watching the small guy out of the corner of her eye, she saw him pull up a chair at the counter, rubbing his eyes with his fists.
"'Morning sleepyhead! You're just in time for breakfast!"
Wander yawned, smiling sleepily. "Good morning Gen. Do you need any help?"
"Yeah actually. Just set the table with plates and glasses and put the pitcher of juice on the table. I'm almost finished with cooking anyway" Nodding, Wander hopped from his seat and got straight to work.
Wander took only a couple of minutes to set the table, which was impressive given how he was able to make the table look like they were having brunch at a fancy restaurant rather than breakfast at home. As Genesis piled the food onto her plate, she asked him what he wanted from the feast of food.
"Oh, it's fine, I can get it myself." As the green girl poured Glorpberry juice into their glasses, she watched as Wander put two pancakes, a piece of French toast, and a scoop of hashbrowns onto his plate(a small plate in Genesis's mind!).
Breakfast was not at all silent, one or the other talking in between bites about the planets they've seen and the fun things they've done. Wander described how he had once crawled through the swamps of Kee-ton 6 looking for an Immensapede's missing contact lens, while Genesis gabbed on how she spent a whole three months living among the Agae, a race of camel-like people who lived on the unforgiving landscape of their half desert, half volcano planet. By the time breakfast was eaten and plates put in the sink, both had told practically all of their most interesting stories.
"So, Wander… Wander, Wander, Wander…" Genesis repeated, his name rolling on her tongue. "That's a really interesting name. You know, I don't think I've ever met anyone with that name before."
Y'know, that's actually a funny story. Y'see, Wander isn't my real name, it's just something the people here call me by."
"Really? You just go by whatever name people call you?" Genesis asked, unbelieving. Wander nodded, confirming this belief. "That sounds so weird, I mean I can't imagine people calling me a different name in each galaxy!"
"It wasn't too weird for me. The names were pretty simple, like in one galaxy I was named Tumbleweed and another Drifter-oh, and in one galaxy I was just called Orange because of my orange fur!"
"So, why conceal your real name? And what IS your real name?"
"Iiiii think I'll tell that story later. Now it's my turn to ask you a question!" Wander exclaimed, tapping her on the nose playfully. "So, how'd you get this ship anyways? Did ya win a bet against a Baa-hallian warrior? Did ya buy it in an Azzeb silent auction? Or maybe-"
"HEY! Calm down, give me time to explain!" Genesis told him, punching him playfully. But secretly, she knew that telling a good story would mean the difference between success or failure. Taking a deep breath, Genesis began weaving her tale.
"Now, I didn't actually get this fairly. I'm not saying I stole it, I just…took it for a good reason! Stealing is taking stuff for your own needs!
A couple of years ago, I was wandering around the Proixois Nebula when I came face to face with a villain called Lord Dominator. I don't want to…get into details about what happened, but I learned that he was using an element in some planets called Volcanium X to power his ship and his battle suit, which by doing so destroyed that planet."
Genesis paused, taking in Wander's engrossed expression before continuing on. "Eventually, I found out his weakness- Frostonium 17. I used it to defeat him and took his ship so he couldn't hurt any more people! Sometimes, I have to stop to…refuel, but I'm always careful not to hurt the planet!"
"Wow, that's a great story. So, what ever happened to Lord Dominator?" Looking into the nomad's eyes, Genesis could tell he believed every word of her story. On the inside she was squealing at the feeling of sweet success, but on the outside she remained completely calm.
"I honestly don't know. He could be dead, he could be stranded, or he could be traveling the galaxy again, I've never checked! I just know I DON'T want to met him again! Buuuttt enough about me, I think it's about time you and me went exploring! I'm thinking we could stop by the planet of Agria, famous for its gardens and good food!
"Wait, really? I've always wanted to visit that planet!"
"That's great! I know all of the best places to go, you're going to love them! Just give me a minute to get dressed and then we'll get moving!"
"Great, I'll go get dressed too!"
The two then proceeded off to their rooms, both excited at the prospect of exploring…
Five hours later, the pair found themselves running for their lives from Evil Sandwhich's guards and Evil Sandwhich themself. Genesis carried Wander on her back and held him as tight as possible as she struggled to avoid the lasers being blasted at them. She was successful for the most part, but one or two of the lasers grazed the green girl scarily close, which made her run even faster.
"MOVE FASTER YOU IDIOTS! WHY ARE YOU MOVING SO SLOW, EVEN A TODDLER COULD MOVE FASTER THAN YOU!"
"WANDER, WHAT DID YOU DO TO THIS SOCIOPATHIC SANDWHICH?!"
"I HONESTLY DON'T KNOW!" Wander told Genesis before ducking his head to very nearly avoid being blasted by a stray laser. "WHADDYA THINK WE SHOULD DO?! THEY'RE GAININ' ON US!"
"DON'T WORRY, I HAVE AN IDEA! GIMME YOUR HAT!" Hesitantly, Wander hands Genesis his hat, and the girl immediately rips it from his hands. Twisting and turning through the thick plants of Agria, Genesis sprinted towards a cliff a few feet away. "HANG ON!"
With the guards right behind them, Genesis let out a loud war cry and jumped off the the cliff's edge.
And then proceeded to scream as she falls down the cavernous hole, having completely missed the opposite clearing.
The guards and Evil Sandwhich stop at the edge, watching as the aliens disappeared into the darkness, their screams fading to nothing.
"Well, looks like they're both dead!" Evil Sandwhich finally said after a few moments of silence. "Come on men, let's go and continue conquering this garden planet!"
The guards obeyed this, all of them walking away from the cliff like nothing had even happened.
At the bottom of the pit however, Wander and Genesis are alive and well thanks to landing on the blown-up blow-up mattress that Genesis had pulled from the hat. Realizing they had actually survived (mostly) unharmed, he loosened his grip on the girl and fell onto the mattress.
"Good thinking Gen, I don't think I would've thought of that!"
"Eh, I was actually hoping to use the hat as a parachute or something, though that probably wouldn't have worked. This worked out, like, WAY better!" As Genesis got off of the mattress, she looked down at her sleeveless, crimson red sun dress that was now in tatters. "And this dress is definitely ruined. Great…"
Genesis took a couple of steps forward, only to wince in pain when her bare feet (she lost her sandals while running through that stream) hit the sharp, gravel-like rocks. Naturally, Wander went straight into helper mode.
"Oh, are-are you okay?"
"What do you think?!" Genesis snapped, hopping over to the mattress and once again sitting down. She surveyed the damage, finding that she had laser burns on her arms and a particularly large burn on her thigh. Lifting her feet up, she winced when she saw her feet was caked in dirt and covered in scratches and bruises.
As soon as Wander saw this, he gasped. "Oh, you poor thing! I can't believe you got hurt because of me!"
The green girl scoffed at that notion. "It isn't your fault that sandwich had a bone to pick with you."
"But you still helped me! Don't worry, I got exactly what I need to fix you right up!" Grabbing his hat, the wanderer proceeded to search his hat for a first-aid kit. Unbeknownst to him, Genesis was watching with amusement, a smirk finding it's way on her lips. She wasn't nearly as hurt as she conveyed herself to be; these injuries were like a papercut due both to her powerful regenerative ability and her high pain threshold.
But hey, who was she to complain about the attention Wander was giving her! After all, this would only serve to further her plan even more quickly.
Eventually, Wander said "AHA!", confirming that he had found what he was looking for. As soon as Wander did this, Genesis changed her scheming face to a straight, annoyed face, trying to act as genuinely embarrassed as possible.
"I found the first aid kit! Now, let's dress up your wounds!" Oh so tenderly and with a surprising amount of precision, Wander cleaned her feet with rubbing alcohol and wrapped them tightly with gauze. Then, he started to address her burns, first cooling them with a bag of ice before applying ointment to them and covering it with gauze.
At one point, Wander glanced up at Gen, only to see her face had turned bright green right before she looked away, suddenly finding the sky to be very interesting. The nomad choose not to say anything, something he rarely had the willpower to do, and continued to dress her wounds in silence.
Secretly, Wander knew that he and Genesis had started bonding, but in a way he never felt before.
And that's the end of chapter 2! Things are going a little slow, but I assure you that the plot will still remain interesting.
So, what do you want to happen next? Tell me in the reviews or just PM me! Thanks!