(A/N: I do not own Duck Dodgers or Looney Tunes. That right belongs to Warner Bros.)
There were only a few days that Duck Dodgers held sacred in his heart: The day he won the championship football game at Big State University (With help from a fellow that he swear looks a lot like X-2), the day he was brought out of cryogenic sleep and the day he became a captain of the Galactic Protectorate. Now he was going to add to the list: Him getting married and officially becoming the King of Mars.
Everyone Dodgers knew were here for the occasion: Dr. I.Q., The Cadet, Star Johnson, the President of Earth and the First Lady and loads more.
Dodgers was at this moment standing at the altar, the priest standing by his side. The wedding was a beautiful sight. Located in the throne room, there were two sides that held rows of white chairs. Those chairs seated many Martian citizens, Earth citizens and representatives of many other planets as well. There was a long white carpet that stretched out from the doors of the throne room all the way down to the altar and a large diamond chandelier hanged from the ceiling. It was truly quite a view.
The former captain was dressed in his wedding robes, fashioned by the finest tailors Mars had. He had to say, he didn't look that bad in what the Martians passed off as clothes.
The Cadet and I.Q. were on the first row to the left of Dodgers. I.Q. and the Cadet were dressed in tuxedos.
"W-w-w-well sir. This i-i-is it. The Captain's finally marrying the Queen" The Cadet said.
"It seems he is. I always wondered why he never went back to her earlier when he had several chances to do so" I.Q. said.
"E-e-e-eh you know him, sir. The C-C-Captain's prideful. He probably just didn't want to admit he was wrong to leave her the way he did" The Cadet said.
"Yeah, well...hopefully this works out. A peaceful relationship between Earth and Mars depends on it" I.Q. said, recalling the time the Queen revoked a truce between their two planets when Dodgers rejected her.
"I-I-I have confidence, Dr." The Cadet said.
"Hm...I wish I had the same level of confidence you have, Cadet. If you don't mind, I have to go to the bathroom" I.Q. said, standing up and walking away from his seat.
The Cadet just dismissed the Doctor's comment and looked around. He had to admit, martian weddings were really top notch. He was very impressed with the decorations.
The pig kept looking around until he saw the former Commander, X-2, just standing on the side of the room. For whatever reason, he looked very troubled. The Cadet took this as heartbreak from seeing the queen marry anyone but him. With a smile on his face, he got X-2's attention and waved him over, inviting him to speak with him.
X-2, under the circumstances he was in, didn't really wish to speak to anyone at the present moment. He was far too anxious about his plan. However, he didn't want to be rude. He walked over to the Cadet's seat and the Cadet invited him to sit down in I.Q's seat. X-2 didn't want to be rude so he sat down.
"I-i-i-it's good to see you, Commander" Cadet said.
"Just X-2, Cadet. I'm not a Commander anymore" X-2 said solemnly.
"Oh, y-y-yes. I heard. S-s-sorry about that" Cadet said, slightly embarrassed at asking.
"Don't worry about it, Cadet" X-2 said.
There was an awkward pause between the two as they both just looked around. Cadet could sense a bit of uneasiness coming from him.
"A-a-are you alright, X-2?" Cadet asked sincerely.
"Hm? Oh, yes, yes. I'm...fine" X-2 said, hesitating on his answer.
Cadet noticed and sympathized with the short Martian. He really should be angry with him for the way he had abused his former Captain not too long ago but for whatever reason, he wasn't. Maybe it's because he had a weakness for love and knew how much X-2 loved the Queen. It must have been killing him to see him watch his love marry his arch-rival. At least that's what he believed
"I-I-I know what you're t-t-thinking, X-2" Cadet said.
X-2 suddenly looked to the Cadet with what looked like panicking eyes.
"You...you do?" X-2 asked with a worry in his tone. Cadet took little notice of this.
"Yeah...I know it must be h-h-hard, watching the love of your life marry s-s-someone else" Cadet said.
X-2 for a slight moment looked relieved.
"I know you love the Queen very m-m-much. It could be worse t-though" Cadet said.
X-2 gave a slight glare to the pig. "Really? How? If you hadn't noticed, Cadet, I'm a slave to someone who I care very little for and now I have to see him marry my beautiful queen. To top it all of, she hates me now"
"I understand it d-d-doesn't look like you're having your b-best days but you shouldn't always b-b-blame the Captain for your misfortune, X-2" The Cadet said, responding to X-2's hostility.
"What do you mean by that, Cadet?" X-2 asked with a raised eyebrow.
"W-w-well you did lie to the Captain about the methane farms...a-a-and you did...injure him after you captured him, a-a-against the Queen's orders" The Cadet explained.
X-2 couldn't exactly argue with that.
"L-l-listen, X-2. I know things h-h-haven't been looking up for you b-b-but have you seen the Queen lately? H-h-have you ever seen her so happy?" Cadet asked.
"Actually, I've been keeping my distance from the Queen. She...doesn't exactly want to see me right now" X-2 said, looking down at the floor.
"W-w-well according to most people you talk t-t-to, she's never been happier" Cadet explained.
X-2 looked up from the floor and looked at the Cadet.
"C-c-commander...it's heartbreaking for you, I k-know but isn't seeing a smile on her face...o-o-or rather a pleasant expression e-e-enough to make you happy?" Cadet asked.
X-2 didn't really say anything. He just stared at the Cadet for a few seconds. While he didn't say anything, one could tell he was doing a lot of thinking.
"P-p-people all over the galaxy k-keep saying how t-t-they've never seen the Queen this h-happy. E-even if you can't be with her, doesn't that f-fact alone warrant at l-least something to be happy about?" Cadet asked.
X-2 looked back down at the floor. "Well….I suppose"
"It's something to think about, Commander. It'll be alright in the end for you. I can tell" Cadet said.
X-2 was appreciative of the Cadet's words and he always did have a soft spot for him. However, he didn't know how much of his words were of any merit. He was slightly happy with hearing about how happy the Queen was but wasn't so sure he was happy enough not to go through with his plan with Z-9, no matter how guilty he felt over it.
"It's s-s-something to think about. Anyway, I think I.Q. is coming back so..." Cadet said, trying to find a polite way to ask X-2 to leave.
"I understand, Cadet" X-2 said, getting up from the seat and walking back to where he was before. Several things going through his mind, shifted his focus solely towards his mission
I.Q. got back from the bathroom and asked Cadet if he missed anything and Cadet just said "E-e-eh just catching up with an old friend"
I.Q. shrugged. At that moment, the organ player started playing 'Here Comes the Bride'. Everyone turned as the rooms to the throne door opened and inside came the Queen of Mars, Tyr'ahnee, looking beautiful as ever in a pearl white wedding dress. The wedding she had dreamed about for a long time was finally here.