He glanced outside. His ship passed numerous stars and small asteroids, but no signs of an obnoxiously happy, pastel planet known as Binglebrop or whatever. If it wasn't for the fact that it was the closest planet and the fact that it's inhabitants were weaklings (he had promised his army somewhat of a break after spending the last few months almost constantly running missions. A planet like this would be a walk in the park), Hater would've skipped it, for now at least.

"Are we there yet?" he asked his crew, impatiently.

"We will arrive on the planet in just a few minutes, Sir," replied a Watchdog from his post at the controls. It wasn't that long of a wait, but the Watchdog still sped up slightly, just in case Lord Hater was in one of his 'extremely-impatient' moods.

The planet sickened him. It was just so, so - fluffy! All the bright colors and happy civilians and - was that a rainbow? Were those actually flowers growing out of their heads? 'Seriously?' he thought, feeling a bit nauseous, 'There's no way any planet can exist and be that cute.' He couldn't wait to start invading.

As they got closer, both Hater and Peepers noticed that there was some sort of celebration going on. "Looks like a festival," the Commander commented.

Hater grinned. "Perfect." As they got closer, they could hear the planet's king announce that the festival was the best one they'd had in years, and 'what a wonderful day' it was. For the first time in a while, Hater felt like having a little fun on the mission and not just conquering the planet as fast as possible.

Using his own, seat-side controls, Hater made the ship slam into the planet's surface below, promptly bringing their festivities to a screeching halt. Bringing his ship back into the air, he turned on his microphone and shouted, "WRONG!" As he chuckled, the Watchdogs began exiting the ship, weapons at the ready.

Peepers quickly took his place at the mouth of the ship, and announced as loudly as he could, "This planet is now under the control of, LOOOOOORD HATER!"

After waiting his usual three minutes or so to let the Watchdogs do what they did best - well, what they did decently, at least - Hater walked out, not bothering to step over the wilted flowers lying on the ground.

Locating the King himself, the skeleton overlord lifted him off the ground, holding him by his flower stem. "Soon," he boasted, though he was sure the king already knew of him and his goals, "Every planet in the universe will be mine! Even pathetic little specks like Banglebrop, all under the control of Lord Hater!"

"Um, it's Bingleborp," a high pitched voice corrected.

Hater's eye twitched. "I'LL CALL MY NEW PLANET WHATEVER I WANT!" he roared. The King winced, which satisfied Hater. He gave the binglebop royal a look that said 'One more word and I'll turn this place into a crater' and then walked towards the castle that stood tall a few feet in front of him.

He was able to kick down the door with ease. Laughing, he sat down in the former ruler's throne... for about a second before realizing how small it was. 'Stupid chair,' he thought, kicking it away. Luckily, he had several thrones on his ship, just in case he found somewhere and decided to place a future castle there to stay at once he became ruler.

'Much better.' Sitting comfortably, Hater amused himself by spinning the king like a yoyo while waiting for his commander to show up, which only took a few minutes.

"Most of the citizens have been detained and there doesn't appear to be any militia on the planet, Sir," Peepers stated, "What are your further orders?"

"Hmm," Hater thought for a moment, "Why don't we stay here a couple days?" He wanted to make sure these annoying little blobs wouldn't be happy again for a very long time. "I want whatever Watchdogs aren't on duty and as many binglebops as you can gather to begin building a statue of me. As for everyone else, just make sure the civilians are staying in line." Hater smirked as he said this. He didn't have to explain to the commander what he meant.

"Yes Sir. Shall I fetch the list of rules to read to the, ahem, former ruler?"

Hater resisted the urge to stick his tongue out. He just wanted to have a bit of fun playing with his new 'toys' before moving on to actual work. After what felt like forever after the incident on Tezworalta, he was starting to feel a bit more like himself. He was still strong, awesome and ruthless, so why not take the time to show that to his newest subjects? After all, that was part of why he loved taking over planets.

"Tomorrow," Hater finally replied, cutting the conversation short. Peepers quickly bowed and ran out of the room, probably to make sure there was no one disobeying orders. "Now, where was I? Oh yeah!" Still holding onto the flower stem, this time he decided to bounce the King's head against his fist, using him as a makeshift paddleball toy.

()()()()()()()

"Well, we're a day late, but I don't think we have to worry about missing much."

"Do you think they'll have a rollercoaster? I've always wanted to go on one of those!"

"Eh, I'm more of a 'spinning rides' person myself." The planet was starting to come into view. But while Wander started bouncing up and down on her saddle, obviously excited, Sylvia immediately noticed the eyesore sticking out of the center of the planet. It looked like a giant stone statue, its dark colors contrasting with the soft surface of the planet (though, even that looked a bit faded as if someone had sucked up some of the color).

"I think we'll get there just when it opens!" Wander pointed out, not noticing the statue, "Look! The planet's just starting to turn towards the sun!" Sylvia picked up the pace, and their orbubble floated towards the top of a grassy hill.

"Wow! What a neat little town!" Sylvia had heard him call nearly every town they had ever been to 'neat', so she was used to hearing the word, even if there was nothing spectacular about said town. But even if she wasn't, Sylvia still wouldn't have said anything. Frankly, there were bigger matters that concerned her - like the various fires and Watchdogs running around - ones that the nomad hadn't seemed to notice. "There's a little park, and cute little buildings! Games, and rides, and -"

"Rotting in one of Lord Hater's cells for the rest of our lives?" Sylvia finished for him, "Sorry Wander." Wander slid off her back as she sighed. Of course, they had been through this before, but the fact that now Lord Hater was ruining her birthday present to her best friend, Sylvia was starting to get just a little annoyed.

"Everywhere we go, he's conquering planets, taking over towns, and just bein' a flarf narblin', no fun havin', jerk!"

As his friend continued to rant, Wander looked down at the little town. The fact that they had been looking forward to the Bingleberry festival for a month now was besides the point. Wander was tired of running away from this guy, and he wanted to meet him face-to-face, and maybe even turn a supposed enemy into a new friend. The little traveler couldn't help but grin at the thought.

'Besides', he thought as he started to walk down the hall, not being noticed by Sylvia - who was still in mid-rant - 'Those little eyeball guys look pretty cool! What were they called again, watchdogs? Couldn't hurt to say hello!'

Friendly but casual, Wander happily walked up to the see of glaring eyeballs. Howdy, fellas! Folks call me Wander, and we really like your town!" He pointed at the first Watchdog he saw. "What's your name?" Instead of a reply however, he was pulled into the crowd!

"Take him to Lord Hater!" someone shouted, and the tiny creatures began pushing him towards the castle, eventually picking him up and passing him along.

Tiny fists collided with his arms and back. "Ow, ow! Uh, oof, hey!" Almost as quickly as Wander started protesting though, he stopped when he noticed the aches in his back get 'massaged' away. "Oh! Oh, oh, ohhh, ho, ho ho ho! There, there, that's the spot, ohh." Completely relaxed, Wander folded his arms behind his head and let himself be carried away while Sylvia raced towards the army.

"Thanks, fellas, my back's been killin' me for days, but, travelin' through the universe'll do that to you, right? You know what I mean? Right? Right?" He didn't receive a reply, so Wander decided to ask someone he knew would know what he was talking about. "Hey, Sylvia?" he said, sitting up, "Right?"

"Right!" Sylvia shouted back, fists at the ready. As she started making her way through the tiny soldiers her own way, Wander laid back down. "Sure, it's fun and all, but, phew! Sometimes, you just need to kick back and relax! I mean, don't you just wish that sometimes the constant-" Looking down at the soldiers, Wander finally noticed what they were actually doing.

Chanting "Hate's great, best villain," over and over, the Watchdogs were obviously on duty... and completely missing a perfect day. Wander frowned. Sure, work was important, but everyone should be allowed at least a little bit of fun at a festival. A small break couldn't hurt.

"Will ya stop?" Wander said suddenly, getting their attention. He looked at all the eyes staring up at him before continued with a smile. "So you can finally have a day off and enjoy the fair!"

The Watchdogs looked at each other. Well, Lord Hater had promised a bit of a break, and those rides did look fun...

Smiling, the soldiers quickly ran towards the festival, setting Wander down on the ground. As he watched them start to line up for various games and rides, he smiled. "Well good for them."

"Wander?" Turning his head, Wander saw Sylvia, who looked a bit shocked. She shook it off after a second though, mumbling "Only Wander," under her breath. "Come on, pal," she said, "I think I saw a cotton candy booth somewhere over here."

Grinning, Wander jogged ahead, already planning what to do afterwords. While she was calm and happy on the outside, Sylvia couldn't help but wonder how long the Watchdogs would be on their 'break'? 'And where is that bony jerk anyway?' she thought, knowing he wouldn't exactly be happy to see his troops goofing off. Then again, if they were easy to defeat, was Hater just the same?

"Sylvia! Come on! The line at the Rocket Spin is moving! We can get the next ride if we hurry up!" Shaking these thoughts away, the zbornak's smile returned. "I'm right behind you, pal!"

Despite not having a rollercoaster, the two friends were able to enjoy themselves. There was plenty of food, some fun games and plenty of enjoyable rides. Sylvia had nearly forgotten they were standing next to criminals (though she still kept her guard) while Wander treated them like old friends, saying hello and having casual conversations with them while waiting in line.

Getting off the rocket ship ride for the third time, the two walked towards an empty spot in between all the booths and rides. Fairs were fun, but they needed a bit of time to let the treats in their stomach settle. Still laughing, Sylvia grinned at her friend. "That was a blast!"

"I know, right-" Wander started to say before a small figure stopped them in their tracks.

"Halt, in the name of Lord Hater!" he screeched, surprising the two travelers. While Sylvia prepared herself to defend, Wander blinked. This Watchdog looked pretty serious, but he did look cute in his little helmet. The only bad thing was that the raygun the Watchdog was holding was blocking Wander's view of him. Moving the weapon out of the way (and effectively disarming the commander), Wander grinned at him.

"Look at you and your little hat!" He picked him up, shaking him slightly. "You're just so cute I can't stand it!" Suddenly, he got an idea. "TRADE!" In one swift move, Wander swapped hats with the Watchdog, making Sylvia laugh loudly.

"Shall we preserve the moment?" he asked, handing her his camera. Sylvia happily took it, and Wander gave a big smile while Peepers protested. As soon as the camera flashed, Peepers fell out of Wander's grasp, clutching his face.

As he screamed in pain, he started to spin around on the ground, making Wander look at him curiously. "Huh, I guess he wanted to have a dance party!" he said before starting to dance alongside him. Sylvia happily joined in while the other Watchdogs laughed and cheered.

Unfortunately, the 'dance party' didn't last long.

Unsurprisingly, Wander was so caught up in his dancing that he didn't even notice a certain skeleton appear behind him. The troops stood at attention while Sylvia made it known that she was ready to fight. "Put 'em up, bonehead! Wanna mess with me? Huh? Come on, you're not so tough!"

His anger was at the breaking point. His army had been goofing off, completely distracted by... by-!

Hater glared at the nomad. 'By a little furball with a stupid hat!' He'd had it. Raising his arms, Hater projected his energy, emitting enough force to send the two travelers across the fair. "ENOUGH!" he shouted.

Sylvia was slammed into a tent, making her stay down despite that all she wanted to do was protect her friend. As for Wander...

Staring up at the huge overlord, his anger on full display, Wander actually felt terrified. He moved a few inches backwards, but Hater just moved closer, using his height advantage to further intimidate him. Of course, Hater knew that he was scared, and while he remained serious on the surface, he was smirking on the inside. 'This, is what happens when you mess with me, hairball.'

"You shall pay for your foolishness! You shall suffer the full wrath of Lord Hater!" he screamed, making Wander's eyes widen in fear. The nomad continued trying to slowly get away, but Hater wouldn't let up. "I have mangled the minds of millions," he boasted, "I have tempted forth, torrential tides of tears! I have reduced the richest of republics, to revel, and ruin!"

His back pressed up against her, Wander glanced down at Sylvia. They both shared the same worried expression. 'Now I know why she never wanted us to run into him,' he thought. Obviously talking was out of the question, at least not until Hater calmed down a bit. But there had to be something, anything!

Hater suddenly bent down to Wander's level, looking him straight in the eyes. "Because I-" He let himself stand at his full height for this part. "am the GREATEST in the UNIVERSE!"

It was then Wander got his idea. While it had some different elements, it was pretty much his first plan. 'Try to turn an enemy, into a friend,' he thought. It was that idea that made him jump up - the fear on his face completely gone - and hug Hater. "Wow!" he said, "That's amazing, congratulations!"

Obviously this surprised him, but Hater simply shook it off and returned to his usual scowl. Wander quickly let go - 'Lucky for him,' Hater thought - but continued smiling at him.

"Hey, have you ever done this?" Wander asked before wiggling his arms and legs. Hater's surprised look quickly returned. "Have you ever rolled your tongue?" Wander then demonstrated the technique perfectly with his own tongue.

Looking at the orange alien curiously, Hater watched as Wander demonstrated another 'talent' - some weird dance/song thing called a ditty.

"Have you ever stood on one foot?" Wander continued, "Outrun a kitten? Been to a roller rink? Found a penny? Moved a couch? Eat a hundred hot dogs?"

While Hater could easily say he had never done any of these things - and he really didn't know what was so important or fantastic about doing them - that wasn't what was holding his attention. What was holding his attention was just how energetic and cheerful this guy was being when literally seconds earlier he was scared for his life. What would normally annoy him, Hater found... What was the word? Interesting? No, that wasn't it. Weird certainly fit, but that wasn't right either.

Whatever it was, it had knocked Hater off his guard enough to actually let Wander poke him in the chest and not get zapped full of electricity afterwards.

"Have, you, ever..." Taking off his hat, Wander reached into it and pulled out a shiny gold trophy. "Won a trophy for the Greatest in the Galaxy Contest?" Actually, Wander didn't win the trophy at all, much less from a Greatest in the Galaxy contest. He had just found it at a flea market and decided to buy it on a whim, but it would work for this situation.

Getting in on it, Sylvia stood up and pointed at the trophy. "Huh? Have ya have ya have ya?"

Hater scowled. Okay, now he was getting annoyed. No one was better than he was. He didn't care if it was something stupid like hot dog eating or dittying or whatever, he was the greatest! He growled at the two, but neither looked very impressed or effected by it. 'Fine! If he wants a contest, he'll get a contest!'

Grabbing Wander by the arm and lifting him up in the air, Hater looked at him straight in the eye. "Oh, it's, on." Surprisingly, they both grinned at each other, but for very different reasons.

"Great! Then let's go!" A little friendly competition to break the ice and get everyone in a good mood, and Wander was sure that everything would work out - both for himself and Hater, and for everyone else on the planet.

In one swift movement, he reversed the grip on his arm and ended up grabbing Hater's arm! With his feet back on the ground, Wander happily pulled him along. It was nearly lunchtime, so they would have to start their little competition quickly if they wanted to finish before then.

"You know, you really shouldn't hug people you just met," Hater mumbled, "You're lucky I didn't blast you into oblivion."

The nomad's feet stopped as his mind flashed back to a small moment that most people wouldn't even remember.

"I said, if you really want to travel the universe, you're gonna half to stop hugging people you just me and toughen up a bit."

Turning his head slowly, Wander looked up at the skeleton lord. He was a bit taller and a bit bigger now, his voice was deeper and while he had grown up and taken up the job he wanted, Wander could still see a bit of the sixteen year old in him.

Bright green eyes looked at him, slightly weirded out. "What are you looking at?" Hater snapped.

Wander simply smiled. "Nothing. Come on, I know where to find a big pile of hot dogs with your name on it! Let me tell ya, if you haven't tried them before, you are definitely missing out!"

As they walked, Wander continued smiling. Before, he just wanted to help free the planet he controlled and maybe make a new friend along the way. But now, the friend part of the plan seemed even more important now.

He just wished they would've ran into each other sooner.

()()()()()()()()

Hater knew he was letting his emotions get the better of him again, but at that point he just didn't care!

'I just don't get it!' he thought, 'How is this guy so good?!' Even at the events like the Test of Strength and arm wrestling - which Hater thought were sure things - ended up being won by Wander! He was at his wits end! All thoughts concerning the tiny binglebops and their planet were gone. All Hater wanted was that trophy and to put that nomad in his place!

It had gotten so bad that he actually believed for a moment that the 'judge' and other various characters were real instead of just Wander in multiple costumes (though he had to hand it to him, that nomad moved pretty fast).

"And-a now, the winner of the Greatest in the Galaxy contest is..."

'Come on...' the skeleton thought, gripping his hood in anticipation while Wander stood next to him, just as anxious.

The 'judge' pointed at them. "You," he said.

"YEAH!" Hater cheered while Wander deflated slightly.

"No, I mean the one with the hat," the 'judge' told him. Hater lowered his arms, sulking while Wander happily accepted the trophy.

"Wow!" Wander said sincerely, "What a neat surprise! Thank you, thank you!" Of course, the trophy didn't matter to him. Wander had set out to simply have an enjoyable afternoon while at the same time keeping everyone happy, and as far as he was concerned, he had accomplished that. He was just about to turn and give Hater a hand shake, congratulating him on a game well played, when the skeleton yelled out.

"It's not fair!" he shouted, "I should've won the trophy! I'm the greatest in the galaxy!" Angry and embarrassed, Hater lifted up the end of his rob (the last thing he needed was to trip over his own feet) and ran towards his ship. "Gah, I hate you!"

Wander just watched, not really sure why Hater was so upset. Although, he did notice one thing. "I like your sneakers!" Wander yelled, thinking that a compliment would maybe make him feel a bit better. Hater barely noticed it, he was just concentrating on getting out of there.

Once Hater and all the Watchdogs were inside the ship, Peepers shut the ship's mouth started to drive the ship away, knowing that he should try and calm his leader down a bit - and getting away from Wander seemed like the best option. As they drove away, Hater could hear someone yelling behind them.

"Later, Hater! Sure was fun playin' with you!"

The skeleton scowled. Playing?! It was all just a game to Wander, and yet he had caused him to practically lose it. 'He made me lose focus, abandon the planet that I conquered, and, and took that STUPID TROPHY FOR HIMSELF!'

"What am I doing?!" With that, Hater promptly pushed Peepers out of the way, and took the controls himself. He spun the steering wheel and turned the ship around. As soon as he was close enough to see the two travelers and a whole group of Binglebops celebrating, he took aim.

A stream of laser beams rained down from the sky, making the tiny blob creatures panicked. Thinking fast, Wander hopped on Sylvia's back and they took off.

Not caring if his soldiers were bouncing against the walls of the ship, Hater continued flying forward, wanting nothing more than to destroy the two travelers. Seeing their fear returned, Hater grinned. Turning on his microphone, he shouted at them. "Who looks stupid now?!" He tried to hit them with the ship itself, just barely missing them. "Who's not so great now?!" Laughing, Hater continued gaining ground on his prey... before promptly running into a tree.

"Oh, come on! Who put this stupid thing here?!" As he turned the key, the engine stalled slightly, giving a certain pair of friends the perfect amount of time to form a plan.

Finally after a couple minutes, Hater was able to get the ship loose and continued his pursuit, roaring in anger.

"Please, sir!" Peepers shouted in an attempt to knock some sense into his superior as he flew across the control room, "Just let them go! The planet is ours!"

"Shut up, Peepers!" Hater snapped, "Forget the planet, I want that trophy! I'm the greatest in the galaxy, and everyone is gonna know it!" He continued firing a barrage of lasers, but the swift zbornak managed to dodge every single one of them. Not only that, but they were leading him right into a trap.

"Hey! Hater!" Wander shouted over his shoulder, "Final challenge for the win!"

"Last one to town is a rotten egg!" Sylvia added.

Hater's eyes widened. Final challenge? Win? Last one to the town?

"Please, Sir!" Peepers moaned, but it fell on deaf ears. Hater slammed down on the gas, and the ship flew forward. A rush of excitement and victory filled him.

"YES!" he shouted as he was barely hanging onto the control panel, "LORD HATER, NUMBER ONE SUPERSTAR!"

In no time at all, they passed Wander and Sylvia. Hater knew there was no way they could catch up. "I did it!" he shouted, grinning. With his eyes closed, he didn't even notice the statue that they were heading towards. "I'm the greatest in the univer-!"

*Ding!* Metal hit stone and bounced off each other. While the ripples flowed through the statue, causing it to crumble, the ship flew up into the sky and crash landed on a nearby moon. It took a moment for Hater to realize what had happened, but when he did, he felt like punching himself.

"Ohhhh, Sir?" Peepers groaned, picking himself off the floor.

"Not. One. Word."

The ship was heavily damaged, and it would take at least three weeks to prepare, with the engines taking two of those weeks. Until they could get their hands on some parts though, there was nothing Hater could do.

He was exhausted, which was the main reason why he wasn't throwing a huge rage fit at that moment. Instead, he decided to just take a walk on the moon, maybe find some materials if he was lucky. Peepers decided to come along, Hater didn't really care either way - though he chose to pretend the commander wasn't there as they walked. He just focused on the ground ahead of him, silently planning the next few months. 'After this fiasco, it'll take forever to get my reputation back,' he thought, 'The next time I see that furball, I'm gonna-'

"Ahem." Blinking, Hater looked up and saw, who else, Wander - along with Sylvia, of course. If his bones weren't so sore, he would've sent them flying. Unfortunately, he would have to settle for glaring at them.

Wander on the other hand was just as cheery as ever. "Hi," he greeted, "Sorry to bother, but just wanted to stop by, and give you this." Fishing the trophy out of his hat, he happily handed it to Hater (though he had to 'help' him grab it).

After King Bingleborp and the rest of the Binglebops thanked them for saving the planet and gave them a huge feast, Wander had told Sylvia that he wanted to give Hater the trophy. "It's only fair," he told her.

Sylvia hadn't been sure at first, but then she remembered that all of Hater's forces and weapons were currently out of order. 'Besides,' she thought, 'knowing Wander he would probably feel guilty about not giving it to him.' So, as soon as they said their goodbyes, Wander got out his orbital juice, and they headed towards the moon.

"Congrats, you won that race fair and square!" Wander told Hater, giving him a sincere smile. Hater didn't return it, but Wander didn't mind.

The day hadn't quite turned out how he thought, but Wander would still consider it a good day - at least a fun and interesting one. As for Hater, he knew it would probably take a while. After all, they hadn't seen each other in five years, and they weren't even that close to start with. But even so, Wander had a feeling that eventually, he and Hater would be friends.

'And I for one can't wait for that day, Keir,' he thought.

Placing his hat back on his head, the two said their goodbyes and went on their way, not noticing the clink of a trophy and the arm that landed a few feet behind them.

The skeleton sighed. "I really hate that guy," he mumbled.

Alright! That was a long one! And yes, I did change a few of the lines/, but only by a few words. Remember, this is technically an AU (although, if anything from this story actually did become canon by some random bit of coincidence, that would be awesome!). Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please review, and I'll see you next time!