Second Universe Tales: Universalia Fight Club
A new home
Raptor ship building wasn't, in the beginning, something that they experimented on their own. By taking the blueprints of the Kartuns of Earth 1, they built their own, but with some modifications. Raptors quickly managed to find ways to increase the travel capabilities. As such, they colonized not only nearby planets, but other systems too.
However, in time, they started to create their own designs, especially after their first defeats in space by the far stronger (or at least at the time) Kartun civilizations. In recent years, however, the travel capabilities were increased even further, especially considering that there was no major war with any Kartun civilization.
The ship that was transporting our team was a Wixawa-34, a transport ship. It had a length of 508 m, a height of 34 and a width of 100. The structure is a small squat form that when seen from above looks elliptical, like a slightly squashed circle. In the cross section from either the front or the rear however it has a distinctly rectangular shape, with a small protuberance around the bottom. There are three different sections of the ship: an upper lateral, a lower lateral and a ventro-lateral where the ship meets the ground when landing. Outside of the ship there are large foils shaped like scales forming basic armor. The various foils overlaps the others, forming a firm yet flexible defense. The foils are oval shaped with the exception of the ones on the ventro-lateral edge. Instead of being oval these formed a crescent shape, in order to help in the landing of the ship. The ventro-lateral area has twelve and seventeen spikes that serve to land on the ground. On the back of the ship there are tall structures resembling dorsal spines that run along the back in two rows, where several small jet engines could be found. The spines in the middle of the rows are the tallest. The only unarmored part of the ship was the underside where the door to exit the ship can be found. It's located roughly one fifth of the total body length from the front , and have a conical shape.
On the inside of the ship, a meter and a half long Raptor was driving it, sitting on a tall chair, with a rectangular back and apron.
He had a long tail covered in black feathers, with the exception of the longer ones on the end, which were red in coloration. Its slim body, covered in black plumage with small red dots had long legs, also black in coloration, with three long fingers, armed with sharp claws, especially the first finger. He had short arms with long red feathers with black stripes, armed with four long fingers armed with long claws. Its short neck supported a long head with the nape being red in coloration, while the rest of the head was brown in coloration.
They were relatively close to their designated location: planet Izhorigan, on the Alexandrosia system. It's an uninhabited planet, with many cold rivers, freezing lakes and a generally cold climate. The planet was claimed by the Raptor empire in their latest expansionistic stages, but never colonized to a true extent.
Cold, with few animal life and with no real resources other than poor quality timber, it was largely ignored, with the exception of a few Baggi colonists, who quickly become skilled fishermen and fisherwomen, hunting in the freezing region. However, for the most part the planet has been turned in a military base.
Many of the biggest Raptor ships and armies had been placed in the planet, where they would launch various invasions. The planet is still used as a military base, due to the fact that it is in contact with the outer territories of the Raptor empire, alongside the fact that it can be used as a base for further Raptor expansion.
The travel would have been 40 light years long if it wasn't for the hyperdrive system, which the Raptors copied from various other galactic powers such as the Galactic Republic, one of their earliest thought adversaries.
In a way, the driver was happy that they finally reached the planet, not only because he was tired, after a five hours long travel, but because of how tense the entire situation was: it almost felt like that the quiet that remained in the ship in the entirety of the travel could be broken easily by the passengers.
Raptor did not say a single world in the entire travel, which was unusual considering that he was the talkative kind of guy. It was clear that he was still not ok with having to work with Kartuns. This could be seen in his eyes: with a burning flame of hatred.
«So this is what it has come to be» he thought, looking at the Kartuns, sleeping in their seats, waiting to arrive on their new temporal home. Never would he thought that Kartuns and Raptors would end up working together. Out of all the Raptors in the universe, the elites were the most racist of all toward Kartuns. And Raptor was no exception.
The entire reason why he had retired for a while was because of how the Raptor empire, in his eyes, was starting to become weak and frail, alongside Owen becoming closer to the Kartuns. He remembered the days where simple peaceful manifestations against Raptor's rule could end up in genocide. When overpopulated planets almost became empty, and the Kartun populations going on the brick of extinction.
Those events were becoming rarer and rarer, and many times Kartuns were compensated for the damage caused by the Raptors in their expansions. For elite soldiers, used to not give any mercy to the enemy, alongside many of the veterans of the various wars, this was seen as an outrageous move.
Raptor simply sighed, knowing that complaining was pointless now. «Let's just hope it's somewhat bearable» he then thought, still looking at the window. As he kept on watching, however, he felt a soft hand touching his back. As he turned to see who touched him, he was greeted by the sight of a big eyed Kartun, looking at him. It was Vanessa
It would have been a terrifying sight for anyone else: the woman was staring at him with her large blue eyes, with her pupils having shrunk immensely, to the point they were almost impossible to see. She smiled psychotically, with her teeth showing, sometimes emitting small giggles.
Raptor simply raised an eyebrow in annoyance. «What?» he said, irritated. «Are we there yet?» she responded, with a almost childish voice mixed with a lot of insanity. Raptor then picked a gun, a M1911, and shoved it on her chin. «No, we haven't yet» was his response, «and if you keep doing this, I might as well consider you the first casualty of the team» he then said, with a cold, irritated voice.
The girl was surprised by the elite, and quickly snapped out of the phase. Rather than looking scared, however, she looked more displeased of her actions, with her smile gone, and her pupils returning to normal. «Sorry sir» she then said in a sad tone, «I hope that won't happen again.»
Raptor then put the gun away in his belt, and watched as she returned to her seat. He then sighed. He might hate Kartuns, but he was still an alpha. «Okay» he then said to himself, «time to be the Captain». He got up from the chair, and started to walk toward the seat where Vanessa was located.
She turned to see him in the face, curious to know what could have brought him to get close. He looked dead serious. «What. The fuck. Is your problem?» he then said. The girl simply sighed, knowing that her attitude wasn't normal at all.
«You…»she replied, «didn't do too much research regarding any of us, vero?[true?]». «Yes» was his response. «Mostly because I don't really give a fuck about any of you other than Jaggiskipper.»
«Wow,» she exclaimed with a low voice, «you certainly speak from the heart, don't you?».
«Funny,» he replied, shrugging his shoulders, smiling for the first time since the departure, «I thought I was speaking from my mouth. But, eh, shows what I know about biology». He then turned toward her, serious, and asked: «That hasn't yet explained why you sometimes turn into a madwoman.»
The girl then sighed, and smiled at him, this time a normal smile. «I haven't really got the opportunity to present myself other than name and surname, didn't I?» she then said. «I'm from the Italian city of Como, in Lombardia.» she started to explain.
«Once I was a normal university girl» she continued, «and I intended to become a paleontologist.». As she continued talking, however, Raptor could notice a small tear coming out of her left eye. «I lived with my mother, father and little brother, and life was relatively normal for me.» she continued. She had by now stopped smiling.
«This is where the bad part of the story begins, isn't it?» Raptor asked, obviously not caring one bit about the girl. She nodded.
«My family» she continued, with obvious sadness in her voice, «had came into conflict with a Tibetan demon. Karthman.». She started shivering a bit after pronouncing his name. She still had a deep fear of him inside. «He tried to drive me insane, so that he could use me as a vessel, and kill my family» she said, with a truly depressed tone. She then paused for a while, before continuing. «And he succeeded. Well, not entirely.»
Raptor crossed his arms, listening to her story. To his surprise, he hadn't fall asleep yet. He was still intrigued by her tale.
«Somehow» she continued, «I was able to control my madness, and I defeated him». Tears could be seen in her eyes, as she remembered in detail the hallucinations, the harassments, and all of Karthman dirty to make her go mad. «Luckily, no one of my family died, but my sanity did.».
Raptor continued looking at the girl, as she continued to quietly cry. «Just how did you avoid the looney bins?» Raptor then asked, raising his eyebrow after having listened to her brief story. She then looked at him, having calmed herself. «Well,» she responded, «remember that part of my family being in conflict with Karthman?». Raptor simply nodded to the girl.
«It's because of my grandfather.» she then said, with a serious voice. «He trained with Tibetan monks, in order to control his own madness and use it as a weapon».
Out of all emotions in the Second Universe, madness was one of the most feared. Both Kartuns and Monsters could go insane. When a living being goes mad, he becomes ridiculously strong and far more resilient to pain. As a matter of fact, he becomes unpredictable and deadly. Feared adjectives in this universe.
Problem was, it could not be directed. A mad creature would go on a rampage against anyone, without even realizing. It was the downside of it really. That, and the fact that recovering takes a long, long time. However, if you could control your madness, it would become a deadly weapon.
You would have a being unable to feel pain of any sort, with incredible speed and strength, but at the same time, you would have full control of it. The attacks would be directed only toward the enemies, and not your friends. On top of that, with enough training, you could return to sanity in an instant.
Vanessa's grandfather, Assunto Peduto, had learned how to use his insanity, to which he was basically born, as a useful weapon. He mastered so well, that he could go insane and not even show the typical external symptoms of madness: reduction of the size of the pupil and long grins.
But for Vanessa it was different. She didn't have the time to learn how to use her gift to a full extent, before she was taken by the Raptor empire against Mutilator. As such, it was obvious that she still had difficulties controlling it. Which resulted in some….undesired side effects.
Raptor finally understood what was going on. «So» he then said, «dead sanity, huh? Yeah, that can be annoying.». «Indeed» she responded. A short awkward silence followed.
«Every day» she broke the silence, with a little bit of anger in her voice, «I pray that I can control my madness. That I'm going to learn how to control it!» she then exclaimed, with her voice being far higher than before.
«But you still got a family, thought?» Raptor then asked her, a bit afraid of her conditions. She remained silent for a few seconds. «I haven't seen them in months» she then said, expressing a strong sadness in her voice once more. «Stay at grandpa was fun?» he also asked, even more afraid of her mental conditions.
«We barely even bonded» she responded with an hit of anger, clenching her fists and teeth in a bit of rage that Raptor didn't see in the girl up to now.
He sighed, exasperated. «You sure you're up for this particular murder mission?» he asked, with a bit of desperation on his voice. She laughed a bit at Raptor question, before responding. «Funny thing is, I don't even know.». Raptor simply face palmed himself after her answer.
After a while, they both noticed that they were being stared by Teodbald, who had heard her story. Up to now, he felt sadness for the girl. She was no knight. Or mage, for that matter. Yet she had to fight a demon, with no preparation at all. But now he was a bit afraid after her latest affirmation.
After he realized that they were looking at him, he paled for a second, with a sweat drop falling from his head. «Soooo…..» he awkwardly said, «you're not going to kill us, right?».
«Dipende[Depends],» was her answer, as she resumed with her creepy smile, «do you have any daisies?». The knight looked confused as for why she would make such a question. «So I can randomly decide if I'm going to kill you or not.» she continued, her smile expanding, and her pupils shrinking in size. The boy paled at her remark, gulping in fear.
«Calm your tits down, she's messing with you.» Raptor then said. Teodbald sighed in relief. «Well, at least I'll die in battle.»
«Hey fuckers!» the whole team then heard, before turning in the direction of the voice. «We have bypassed the atmosphere. We'll be on the base in a few minutes.». It was the pilot. The team started to look at the frozen wasteland underneath them. Luz sighed. «I should have brought warmer clothes.» he said, with somewhat a feminine voice (at least for a guy) and a Portuguese accent.
«The cold is not going to bother me.» Erik responded, with a Nordic accent, looking at the frozen wasteland. «As a matter of fact,» he continued, «it reminds me of home.».
«A bloody piece of shite?» was Marsh response, with an obvious ironic voice and a strong British accent. Erik simply glared at the Brontoscorpio, who shrugged his shoulders.
«It reminds me of Skyrim.» Aulus said, with disgust in his words. He was clenching his fists as he watched the area. «Bad memories, Imperial?» Akel sarcastically asked, with a smug smile on her face. This annoyed the imperial, who simply looked at her. «Also, how's the Stormcloak rebellion proceeding?» she then asked, with a mocking voice.
The man got up with his sword unsheathed. «I dare you to ask me again, bandit!» he said, with clear anger in his voice. «Now now» Bacci calmly said, with a strong southern Italian voice, «there's no need to get upset, cumpà[pal].». «Shut your mouth, disgusting reptile!» was Aulus response, as he pointed his sword at the Scipionyx.
Soon, however, the imperial found a switchblade knife pointed at his throat. «Don't try it, guagliò[boy]». The Redguard just enjoyed the scene, smiling. Aulus calmed himself down, but still looked at the Raptor with pure hatred.
«My, my!» Cualli then said, with a somewhat exited tone. «Are we going to have a fight? With lots of blood?» she then asked, with a mocking tone. «If you want blood,» was Jules then said, with a grin on his face, «I know a couple of guys who could help you out.».
«Really?» she said with a smug, irritated face, knowing that he was mocking her. «It would be appreciated if there was no blood in this.» Mungool then said, with a calm, wise voice. «We are all brothers created by the great spirit. We should not fight between each other's.».
«You're no fun.» Cualli then said, crossing her arms and putting a grimace on her face. «Hey savage!» it was Sam speaking, with a Southerner voice. «Ye forget 'ready? We're fightin' "The Great Spirit".». Mungool simply sighed at his comment, trying to maintain his composure.
«I say,» Namboni then said, defending the Thylacoleo, «have a bit of respect toward him!». She was speaking with a calm voice, but it was obvious that she was furious inside. Sam simply grinned. «And why would I?» he then asked. She sighed, exasperated. «He's an elder shaman! He's far older then you and has a deep connection with the spiritual world.» she scolded the sharkman.
After a while, the entire team found himself arguing between themselves, with the exception of Raptor and Jaggiskipper. they were mostly annoyed.
Then, Raptor had enough. «For five minutes…..» he said, clearly annoyed and pissed, gaining everybody attention, «could you not be a pain in the ass? FOR FIVE MINUTES!?». Everybody in the ship shut up after that, and got back in their seats once more.
«Screw Mutilator,» Raptor said with anger in his voice, «I've got to be careful of the INSIDE of my fucking team!». Jaggiskipper coughed after Raptor remark. Raptor just stared at him. «Fuck off.» he then said.
«That being said….» Teodbald then said, with a bit of innocence in his voice, «what's our team name?».
Raptor just starred at the boy. «We-» he started talking, before silencing himself. He paused for a while, then continued. «We don't have one.» he said, with a bit of confusion and realization.
«How about we make it up now?» Anna then asked, with a big smile on her face. «This become better than expected.» was Raptor thought. «All right then!» Raptor then announced.
«From now on,» he then continued, almost posing, «we shall be called, the S.S. Gott Mördergruppe!» he then exclaimed. The team just looked at him with a mix of pity and disappointed. No way in hell they would name themselves after the S.S. «You guys are boring.» was Raptor response, crossing his arms.
Jaggiskipper just looked him in amusement: finally! That's the Raptor he knew.
«How about something less tied with genocide?» Lucrecia requested, scratching her head in awkwardness. «What do ya even know 'bout that?» Jaggiskipper then asked her, raising an eyebrow.
«Guys!» Teodbald then exclaimed, all excited and bouncy, almost like a little kid. «I think I have a good name!».
The rest of the team turned to see him, curious about his idea. Clearly, it was better than having their name inspired after the Nazis.
«We'll call our team….Galactic Team!».
The group remained in silence for a while, looking at the knight in disbelief. «Fuck that, I'll take the Nazi name all bloody year round compared to this shite!» Marsh then said, with a loud tone in his voice.
«I believe it has a nice sound.» then Guntomor said, after having been in silence the entire trip. She got up from her seat to meet the rest of the gang. The team then started to actually think about the name idea. And after a while, they realized they didn't have anything better.
«All right.» Raptor sighed, massaging his temples. «Then our team name shall be…» he sighed even more, «Galactic Team.». The way he pronounced showed so much disappointment it could be felt miles away. «Anyone has something to say?» he then asked, turning toward his squad.
All shook their heads, willing to accept that as the squad name. «I do not care of a name for this band of idiots.» Aulus then harshly said, going back to his seat. The gang ignored him, and returned to their seats too.
The ship landed on a designated rectangular, blue landing structure, using its long spikes on the bottom to land. After that, the group was greeted by the freezing temperatures of the planet. Fortunately, the base was not far away.
It was white in coloration, rectangular shaped and with various smaller squares on top, forming sometimes small Mayan pyramids like structures. All around the large base there were small grey boxes. There was also a pen, containing several Arctodus simus, short faced bears.
These animals, native to many planet Earths, are useful traveling systems in these lands, because of their long legs, allowing them to traverse long distances. They have been breed by the Raptors to live in the freezing conditions of the planet.
All around the base there were several tall trees, taller than the base itself, with green rectangular leaves.
On the sides of the base, there were long tunnels like structure, as the base kept on growing underneath the ground. On the front of the building there was a large blue door, functioning as an entrance.
The inside of the building was simple: supported by several steel pillars, the ground was grey in coloration. The gang took a large elevator and went downside, where their rooms and the operating room was placed. The operating area was large, with white walls and several monitors. There were 20 chairs, obviously each for all the members of the team. On front of the chairs there were small rectangular tables, all with their own personal monitor.
«They went easy with the design» Akel complained, sighing. She believed that at this point, after centuries of sacking other planets, they would learn how to create elegant structures. «This is a military base,» was Raptor response, «not an art exposition.».
She looked at her captain and gave him a sarcastic smile. «Fine by me. It could have been worse.». The gang simply looked at the screens of the monitors. They had received some training in how to use them, and were quick learners. Or at least, on learning the bases.
Besides, they didn't have to do much: pressing a button to start the computer, move the mouse to click a determinate image and wait for the computer to find anomalies in the known universe. But not now, as they knew where the anomaly was, and no others were still recorded.
«All right, my groovy babies,» Raptor announced, «daddy Raptor and uncle Jaggiskipper are going to visit a certain planet.». The group raised an eyebrow as they wondered why he was talking to them that way. «You baby boys and girls remain here and behave. We'll be back shortly.».
The group was surprised and outraged by this. They wanted to participate too in the mission, not to stay in the building doing nothing. Still, no one objected Raptor decision. Or at least, the majority. 99%. But the 1% complained.
«I'm coming with you.». It was Vanessa. She had determinate eyes, and her voice was serious.
«Yeah…. how about….no.» was Raptor quick response. He glared at the girl with his arms crossed. She glared at him back, and was not backing down. He wasn't that surprised.
«I've got to admit,» Raptor then broke the silence, «you lack sanity, but you have guts.». He was using a mocking tone toward the girl, smiling at her. She did not flinch. «Still,» he continued, «the answer is no.».
«Oh, andiamo, porca puttana![Oh, come on, for fuck shake!]» she exclaimed at the elite, taking him a bit by surprise, but not that much. She had a fight on her, and quite a bit, he admitted. But he wasn't that amazed: it was obvious she wasn't a damsel in dismay, otherwise she wouldn't be in a squad to defeat Mutilator.
«The entire reason why we are here it's because you need both monsters AND Kartuns to defeat Mutilator!» she said, after having calmed a bit, but with some rage in her. Raptor immediately stopped smiling after that affirmation, and the girl noticed. «That's right.» she continued, this time she being the one smiling, «we have been told about the prophecy. We know what's going on.».
Raptor was a bit pissed now. Not at her, but rather at Owen. «So he assembled the team BEFORE I even accepted. Probably before even Jaggiskipper was told to give me the message» he thought to himself. He sighed, as he watched the entire team glaring at him.
«You may come.» he responded, glaring back his team. They all stopped, and looked at the other side. He then looked at Vanessa directly in the eyes. Then, he smiled. «But no side switching.». He was obviously joking. The girl simply raised her middle finger at the elite, and started to follow them, as they walked back into the ship.
After having came out of the building, they reached the ship, with the driver being out, his back on the wall of the ship and his armed crossed. He had a smug smile on his face. «Back so soon?» he asked, with obvious irony in his voice. Raptor simply shrugged his shoulders. «Sorry, motherland calls.» he then answered.
The driver remained in silence for a few seconds. «In a planet that isn't part of the empire?» he asked, with the same type of irony as before. Jaggiskipper simply smiled in amusement. «You certainly have a sense of humor, Mr…..»
«Altan. My name is Altan.» he responded, walking forward the trio. «And the hottie who supported the blodie team name is my sister.». Raptor wasn't that surprised. They were fairly similar.
«So,» Altan continued, «what's our next stop?» he then asked. «Earth 2939, filthy commie.» was Raptor response. His smile showed that he was obviously joking.
«Is your profession being an asshole?» the Troodontid asked, slightly annoyed by the comment of the elite. «Graduated with full marks on the Asshole university!» Raptor then responded, with irony in his voice.
«Well what are we waitin' for?» Jaggiskipper then asked, going inside of the ship before waiting for the pilot answer. Vanessa and Raptor followed shortly after. Ironically, the pilot was the last to enter. Going back to the command post, he inserted the coordinates for the planet, and set up the hyperdrive.
The adventure had finally begun.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review so I can learn your opinion. I'm willing to accept suggestions, so stay tuned. Also remember to like and follow. See you on the next chapter.