He needed to get away.
He needed to escape, needed to hide.
It was gaining on him.
Lord Hater found his chest rising and falling with no rhyme or reason, as smoke blinded his vision. Everywhere he turned was fire- trees, shrubs, even patches of the very ground he treaded upon. Flames were trying to consume him, swallow him whole, just as they were eating at the forest he was trapped inside.
He couldn't be trapped-not here, not now. IT was coming!
The skeleton huffed and puffed as he finally spotted a clearing in the flames, as he charged forth. Hater had already wasted too much time- it was fast, it was cunning. If he didn't watch out, it would spring up out of nowhere and attack!
Branches scraped against bones and fabric as he ran, the sound affecting him more than the pain. The sound was like screeching on a chalkboard, the vibrations sending itself to his very core as if it would shatter him. But he couldn't worry, there was no time to worry!
It was coming.
Hater had been looking around him, keeping an eye out for large shadows among the flames and trees, that he did not notice a root sticking up hazardly from the ground. The overlord cried out as his foot caught onto it, causing him to trip and fall face-first to the ground. No no no, HE HAD NO TIME FOR THIS! Hater looked behind him, seeing a flash of a familiarly haunting shape slither some distance behind him. He screamed again, as he picked himself up and began running again.
It was too late.
Lord Hater found himself falling down once more, as something large and furry wrapped itself around his leg- yanking him off the ground and slamming him back again. Hater closed his eyes, embracing for the impact. Once he opened them again, he looked up in horror at the very thing that had been chasing him through the burning forest.
Towering over the skeleton was a fur-covered creature, the only closest way to describe it was that it was reptilian in nature- very much like a snake. Red and yellow hues of fire reflected off of its many eyes, as it took in Hater's every movement. A purple fork tongue darted out of its mouth, licking at some of the orange matted fur around it. The monster hissed softly, as it stared down at the overlord underneath him-swaying its body as the green hat upon its head bobbed along with it.
Hater found his fear combining itself with anger as the seconds ticked by-soon becoming minutes. And still, the monster did nothing but stare. What was it waiting for?!
"WELL," Hater bellowed, "WHAT'S TAKING YOU SO LONG? Don't just stay there! You're...you're taunting me! YOU ARE WAITING FOR ME TO DROP MY GUARD!"
Still the furry snake did nothing but stare.
"What do you want from me," the skeleton cried out in a frenzy, "WHY WON'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?!"
The snake came closer, leaning down towards the overlord- Hater flinched from fright, expecting an attack-what disturbed him more was when the monster suddenly began hissing in his ear.
"Haaaaaterrrrr…"
The skeleton's eyes became wide as saucers as he instantly recognized the voice.
"W-w-WANDER?!"
Hater didn't have time to question this any further, as the snake suddenly attacked-its large fangs stabbing through his hood and skull. Pain engulfed his senses as he screamed out in agony.
"HAARNGLEDON'TEATMYHEahuh?" Hater shot up in bed with a loud snort, arms shooting up to cover his head. It took a moment for his bloodshot eyes to register the fact he was staring at his bedroom wall, and not the innards of a hungry Wander snake. That he was laying in his water bed, and not in the stomach of a hideous beast. He lowered his arms slowly, and glanced around the room- good, no one had seen that. Even Captain Tim hadn't been awoken from his slumber.
A clawed hand rose up and closed cruelly on the nightcap situated atop his head. He tugged it off and whipped it onto the floor in anger. It barely made a sound as it came down, joining the rest of the miscellaneous junk that littered his bedroom floor. He fried it to ashes for good measure, but he was still angry.
"Even in my dreams!" He shouted at the ceiling. "He tortures me even while I'm sleeping!" He threw the covers off of himself, and swung his feet over the edge of his bed.
"But not for long!"
He slipped his feet into his slippers, and stood. Captain Tim had finally been stirred from sleep, and watched his master silently from his cushy bed.
"Soon, I, and the rest of the universe, will finally be RID of that monstrous little cretin!"
His arms flew up, and he grinned wickedly- but the grin was forced and did not last. He paused, arms still risen. That wasn't right.
"I said..." Hater began, annoyed. "Soon, I, and the rest of the universe, will finally be RID of that monstrous little cretin!"
He paused again. His eyes darted around the room, expectantly.
Nope, still nothing.
"Where are my thunder and lightning effects!" Hater boomed, miffed. "How am I supposed to feel good about Wander's inevitable demise WITHOUT MY THUNDER AND LIGHTNING EFFECTS! It's broken! PEEPERS!"
But Peepers was elsewhere in the ship, busy researching the artifact, hoping to find answers as to why it had suddenly stopped working. Hater knew this, and he knew he'd have to deal with this on his own. He slumped and glowered at the wall as he found a yawn escape him.
"Maybe it's because I'm still tired and achy from the whole ordeal, " the skeleton mumbled to himself. Where his third in command had went straight to doing research, Hater -on the other hand- had went straight to his room. His bed had beckoned him, and nothing was going to keep him from it-not even the fact it had been taken prisoner by his pet abomination. All it took was the overlord, after changing into some nice clean pajamas, plopping face-first on his bed. Captain Tim had merely hissed at him as he scurried off to his own bed and went back to sleep.
Hater, however, hadn't been as lucky. He had tossed and turned, his body begging for the sweet release of sleep. But every time he would relax enough, he would see Wander's stupid sad face-haunting him from under his eyelids. It was as if it was imprinted there-burned and branded as a scar on his mind. It had taken him an hour or so before he had been able to finally get to sleep...And then look what happened! The idiotic nomad was there, too!
Hater growled as he looked over at the alarm clock by his bed.
"ARE YOU FREAKEN KIDDING ME! That was only like an hour and a half! You ruin everything, Wander! You ruin my wa-RELIC! You ruined my sleep! YOU EVEN RUINED THE SATISFACTION OF GETTING THAT HAPPY SAPPY SMILE OFF YOUR FACE! Ooooo, I HATE YOU WANDER!"
Captain Tim hissed from his bed- his hate for the fuzzy mop also evident.
Hater actually smiled now, a genuine smile, and he walked over to pick up his beloved pet. Tim struggled, but Hater barely noticed.
"You hate him too, don't you? Yes you do! You're such a good boy, yes you are! We're happy that Wander was so sad, aren't we? Yes we are!" He cooed to the wriggling abomination in his hands.
"No, you're not." Captain Tim said, simply.
Hater's face fell. He gaped at his pet in terror.
"Wh... what did you say?"
"Admit it, Hater; you finally got to see Wander completely crushed, and you choked. It wasn't satisfaction you felt at all, was it? Wasn't what you'd expected, was it?"
Tim was dropped, and Hater backed away, fear reflected in his eyes.
"No! Shut up! Bad Captain Tim!"
The arachnoid scurried after him and he whimpered.
"Was it really all bad? Those few days you spent with him, was it really all that bad?"
"Yes! It was!"
" Having someone around who genuinely wanted to see you happy? Someone to sing you to sleep?" The lilting tune of the nomad's lullaby drifted all around, under Tim's words, now.
"No, stop it! JUST SHUT UP!" Hater pressed his hands into the sides of his skull, where his ears would have been.
"Did you miss the way he looked at you, or did you ignore it? You were too busy looking for the fear, that you completely overlooked the obvious! Wander never feared you! He-" The words were drowned out there, the lullaby steadily growing louder, on loop, it was deafening now, and Hater screamed.
And sat up in bed for a second time.
The skeleton huffed and puffed, trying to control his breathing, as he realized it had all been another dream. Hater looked to his side, where a now awake Captain Tim had its body tilted at him-a mannerism the overlord had long figured out was his pet's way of showing he was curious. He picked Tim up, holding him at arm's length, as he skeptically raised a boney brow.
"Uh...Tim?"
No response.
"Captain Tim, as your master and the one that outranks you, I ORDER you to say something!"
When the monster instead growled and started nibbling on his hand in a frenzy, Hater sighed before happily bringing his pet to his chest in a massive hug. Good, this wasn't a dream. This was real-it had to be real! The skeleton used his free hand to pet his abomination soothingly, as his other remained a hostage chewtoy. He threw a glance towards his alarm clock, exhaling once more-this time in frustration- as he realized both his dreams and the waking world shared something in common...Still, he had only been asleep for an hour and a half.
Hater's thoughts were beginning to drift towards his dreams once more...or, more like towards a certain pest once more, when he was jerked back towards reality by the sound of his door bursting open. The skeleton screamed- for a second fearing the Wander Snake had come to attack him again- when he realized who it really was.
"P...PEEPERS?!"
Captain Tim growled, getting out of his master's grasp as he arched his legs- ready to rip apart the commander in an instant.
The commander's dire message died in his throat and he cowered behind the papers he'd printed out, as he stared down the monster about to pounce.
"S-sir, I uh... I discovered a vital bit of information regarding the artifact, and why it's not working, but I won't be able to tell you if my face is being eaten." Peepers spoke quickly, some of his words running together.
"What? Oh." Hater reached a hand out to pet Captain Tim, and the creature spun around and hissed and spat at him, before scurrying off and hiding behind his nightstand.
The watchdog sighed and slumped with relief, then immediately straightening- reclaiming the posture of a dignified commander- and clearing his throat, he looked over the papers in his hand.
"Now then! It seems the Morning Star is... pretty much useless, without a battery to charge it. Like most things these days, am I right, sir?" Peepers chuckled uneasily.
"Then get a battery! What's the problem!" Hater boomed. Peepers jumped and fumbled the papers.
"Uh! Well you see, it has to be a very special kind of battery. This thing runs on positive energy. It needs a pure heart."
The overlord said nothing, he just sat and stared blankly, features set in incomprehension. He blinked.
"In other words, it needs to absorb Wander's life energy for it to work." Peepers replied, flatly. Hater's expression didn't change much, but he nodded once.
"And Wander? What happens to him?" he mumbled.
"Uh well... without life energy, I guess... he'll die?" Peepers shrugged. "Isn't that what you wanted all along, sir? He'll finally be out of our way! We- er, YOU can finally take over the universe!"
"Yes! Yes! That's exactly what I want!" Hater shouted, his eyes darting to his nightstand, as if daring Captain Tim to disagree with him again.
"Then good! Great, even! NOW, all we have to do is find Wander and Salvia and lure them into a trap. Dispose of the zbornak, capture Wander, drain him of his energy- and BOOM badda bing! No more Wander, no more Sylvia, and the universe is yours!"
The watchdog found himself stopping his excitement as he mumbled to himself- enough so his lord couldn't hear him.
"Too bad, though, I never DID get those spices from them."
Before Hater could order his commander to speak louder, the skeleton was startled when his ship began blasting an alarm- all rooms and hallways on the ship flashing red. Peepers, who was also startled, found himself giving a shrill cry as he dropped his papers-adding themselves to the rest of the garbage on the overlord's floor. The soldier ran to the side of Hater's bed, where he knew the remotes were, as he pointed one of them at the giant monitor. The screen came to life, static dispersing and disappearing as the likeness of two familiar nomads looked back at them.
"Scratch looking for them, sir," Peepers said excitedly, " they seem to be heading right towards us! WELL, that certainly saves US the trouble. What would you like us to do, sir? Should we snatch them up now, oooor...?"
They were coming...here? And now? But why? Hater looked at the monitor, taking in the live footage of his nemeses. The skeleton could only take in the zbornak's death glare as she rushed towards the screen- Wander's face completely hidden by this hat. Hater couldn't help but find himself wondering what the nomad was hiding under there. Was he...was he still sad? Was he just as angry as he companion, furious that he was tricked by the overlord's cunning? Or did he already bounce back, and he had that stupidly annoying carefree grin again?
UGH, it probably was the last one, wasn't it? Stupid Wander...couldn't even stay upset for more than five minutes! And here he had been obsessed- MILDLY CONTEMPLATING! He had only SLIGHTLY been thinking about him, after all! But no, all of it was for nothing, apparently, because it would be as if NOTHING ever happened!
Hater was interrupted from his thoughts, as his commander stared at him quizzically.
"...Sir?"
"Huh, wuh- Oh. Right. Uh, just...just let them come! Prepare the ship, get out the biggest weapons- the most dangerous ones that we have! Enough to hurt them- But nothing more! I need Wander alive, huh? Then fine! I'll play by those rules. Let him come to me!"
"Sir, yes sir!"
Peepers scurried out of the room, already shouting orders into his communicator- no doubt waking up the army from their own slumber. Hater found himself standing straight until his door was closed, and sighed as he slumped. He...he could do this. He was ready to do this. He WANTED to do this!
Captain Tim crawled out from behind the dresser as he sat in front of it-merely watching his owner. Hater noticed and glared at him.
"Don't you start, again! Soon, Wander will be dead and I will have everything I need to be finish ruling the galaxy. And finally, with him out of the way, I'll have everything I always wanted! I'll be happy! So loooong, Waaaandeeer, I'm going to enjoy your demise!"
Now to actually make himself believe everything he said...
