Sylvia didn't know what to think when she came across Dominator and Wander napping together atop a picnic blanket, Dominator holding Wander as if he were some sort of orange teddy bear.
"Whirry, I'm as shocked as you are" Sylvia whispers towards Whirry beside her before a dangerous idea visits her. "Whirry, I don't know if I can do it. I don't know if I can resist!" Sylvia says with her phone out positioned to snap a pic of Dominator and Wander sleeping so comfortably. "N-no! This is wrong! They look so adorable sleeping all snug together but it would be wrong to take pictures!"
Whirry does not hesitate and snaps a number of pics of the two sleeping picnic mates.
"Whirry, you daredevil!" Sylvia comments. "Some would say it's inappropriate to take pictures!"
"Lord Wander will appreciate them later."
"That may be true but what about Dominator?"
"I'm not too worried about her" Whirry says as the two snuck away.
Later, first of the two to wake up was Wander who was quick to notice he was, in effect, Dominator's teddy bear. Wander was more than happy to help Dominator get the best sleep she could get and if that meant being her teddy bear, Wander would strive to make of himself the best teddy bear to ever snuggle up in Dominator's embrace.
Cozying up with a wide smile, Wander went back to napping with the green villainess.
Half an hour later, it was Dominator's turn to wake up to the sound of Wander's gentle breathing. Shocked by the situation, Dominator keeps her cool and carefully untangles herself from Wander hoping not to wake him.
"Di-did we just nap together!?" Dominator, holding her glowing face, wondered urgently.
"Good morning~" Wander suddenly greets waking up.
"I-is it morning?" a pink-faced Dominator asked.
"Looks and feels more like afternoon but I like to say good morning after a nap either way" Wander explains.
"Makes sense" Dominator says.
"Have a good rest?"
"Yes. That was a nice little nap" Dominator admits.
"Very good!" Wander says stretching to loosen limbs. "You stretch, right? Nothing like a good stretch after a good sleep."
"Of course I stretch. Who doesn't stretch?" Dominator asks joining Wander in stretching.
"We were gonna go for a walk before we napped" Wander recalls. "Shall we pick up where we left off?"
Dominator looks up at the Domship which was peacefully floating above the ground a distance away.
"Okay, sure" Dominator agrees. "I'd like to lend a hand in recovering lost bots once we're back, actually."
"I'm sure that would make the Dombots very happy!" Wander praises before gathering up the picnic blanket and the umbrella.
With things gathered and put away, the two begin their outing.
"...We should hold hands" Dominator suggests. "Just in case something dangerous happens or something, of course."
Wander giggles before pointing out "but this planet looks perfectly safe to me."
"But you never know. We wouldn't want to get separated or something" Dominator excuses and Wander giggles some more.
"Okay! You make a compelling argument! But we could also just hold hands for the sake of holding hands" Wander says.
"That too. Sure" Dominator admits and the two join hands.
Wander smiles Dominator's way and Dominator cannot help but smile back.
Before the two could enjoy each other's company further, an unknown ship above speeds past the two. A side of the Domship explodes presumably hit with something from the sudden newcomer. This sudden newcomer, a red spaceship shaped like an arrowhead and adorned with yellow stripes, then hovers over Wander's ship menacingly.
"Lord Dominator! Surrender to bounty hunter Red Thunder!" the red ship announces through what sounded like a loudspeaker.
-=episode title=-
THE BOUNTY
-=episode title=-
"Who's this idiot!?" Dominator growls.
"Red Thunder, a bounty hunter from the sound of things" Wander answers. "Dominator, is there a bounty on you?"
"It's not impossible but if he thinks he can just waltz in here and attack the ship or disrupt our plans" Dominator says before deploying her full armor, "he's got another thing coming!"
Dominator lifts off heading straight for the red newcomer. On her way there, the Domship's defenses come to life and fire upon Red Thunder only for Red Thunder to speed away dodging several of the projectiles.
"Intruder!" Dominator calls out in her helmet mask's robotic voice while the Domship heals. "You sought me! Now you've got me and I've got news for you! I'm more than you ever bargained for!"
"Lord Dominator! Surrender if you value your life!" the Red Thunder warns.
The two fly straight at each other and collide in mid-air. Recovering, Red Thunder fires several lasers which are blocked by the magma rock shield Dominator summons with her left arm. With her right arm, Dominator summons an ice whip which she swings at Red Thunder. Several icy lashings hit their target but the target seems to tolerate the hits sufficiently enough.
The Red Thunder launches several rockets all of which home in on Dominator. With her ice whip, she intercepts several and blocks others with her rock shield.
"Stop! Stop it you two!" Wander shouts up at the two combatants. "I'm sure we can figure this out peacefully!"
"I'm sorry Wander but I don't think that's the case. Bounty hunters are in it for the cash, not to make friends" Dominator thought to herself as Red Thunder continued evading blasts from the Domship, blasts that subsided whenever Red Thunder approached Dominator so as to not hit the green villainess.
Red Thunder charges forward full speed to apparently mow Dominator down but Dominator counters halting the charge with a rock shield-led charge of her own.
"Evildoer! You will pay for your crimes one way or another!" the red ship threatens.
"Who put you up to this!? Who do you work for!?" Dominator demands in return. "Who's paying the bounty!?"
"Surrender! Then I will tell you" Red Thunder offers.
"You 'would' ask for that, wouldn't you? Looks like I'll have to force it out of you then!" Dominator threatens moments before laser blasts hit her armored back. "Gaah!" she lets out from the hits before quickly evading. These new attacks had come from blue and yellow ships that looked like Red Thunder suddenly flying into view.
"Brother Red! We told you not to get ahead of us!" the blue ship pilot criticized.
"Red's always been the short-tempered one" the yellow ship pilot added.
"Please stop! We can talk this out!" Wander continued to plead. "Waaah!" He then immediately lets out retreating as the yellow ship opens fire on him.
"What was that for Brother Yellow!?" Blue Pilot asks.
"The little orange fella goes by Wander" Yellow explains. "He's also wanted for aiding and abetting Lord Dominator. Big, big money, dead or alive!"
"Ooh, in that case" Blue says as his guns open on Wander as well.
"Gaaah!" Wander exclaims again running.
"Hold still! We'll make your demise quick and-" Yellow instructs before a burning-hot magma projectile hits his ship sending it tumbling away in the air half lit on fire.
"Mess with me and open fire on me all you want" Dominator growls with one arm transformed into a magma cannon, "but mess with the little orange wanderer and you've assured your own destruction!"
"Have we struck a nerve, Dominator?" Blue Pilot questions. "Is that little orange one your weakness?"
Dominator replies with several more magma blasts some of which hit their target and others are evaded.
"It's three on one now, Dominator!" Yellow Pilot threatens as the three get into a triangular formation.
"What now Lord Dominator? Surrender if you wish your life to be spared" Red Pilot offers.
"I'd stop worrying about me if I were you" Dominator advises, "and I'd start worrying about you right now."
"What? Why?" Red, Blue, and Yellow all ask simultaneously before Dominator points behind the three bounty hunters.
"You picked the wrong orange wanderer to mess with today" Dominator says as Red, Blue, and Yellow turn to look behind them to find immense swarms of Dombots angrily descending on them.
At the head of the angry swarm was Sylvia armed with a glowing sword.
"Please don't hurt them!" Wander shouts urgently. "Just capture them!"
With help of some Dombots, Sylvia lands on Yellow. She lets out a "Hiiyaaah!" as precise swings of her sword tear open the top of the yellow ship. Hopping inside, Sylvia spots a lanky gray alien clad in yellow with large head and shiny black eyes.
"G-get out!" the alien demands weakly.
"Hahaha!" Sylvia laughs. "I'll get out and I'm taking you with me!"
"Gah!" the alien gasps when Sylvia wraps her hands around the alien's thin body.
Sylvia then hops out of the ship with alien in tow, Probe Dombots there to catch her, and the now-pilotless yellow ship crashes nearby.
Meanwhile, the blue ship was being swarmed with Dombots.
"Get off!" Blue Pilot demands while his ship is increasingly weighed down with attacking Dombots.
"Defend Lord Wander!", "Defeat the intruders!", "For Lord Wander!", "You shall not hurt Lord Wander!", "Take down the enemy!" were among the many Dombot exclamations.
With the blue ship pinned down, a Dombot Knight cracks the ship open and extracts yet another gray alien clad in blue much like the alien extracted out of the yellow ship.
"Two down, one to go" Dominator directed at Red Thunder with challenge. "So? What's the plan now, red?"
Knowing he's been beaten, Red Pilot surrenders.
"Alright! Alright!... You win" Red says. "Just promise me my brothers aren't hurt!"
"Answer all our questions and I may be able to show a tiny shred of mercy" Dominator offers relishing her victory.
"Not to worry! We're all about mercy here!" Wander shouts from below.
Moments later, all three bounty-hunting aliens along with their ships had been rounded up.
"Wander. You're not supposed to offer mercy right away like that" Sylvia urgently whispers towards her best friend. "We're supposed to bluff, that's how negotiations work."
"Don't worry Sylvia. There'll be no need for negotiations" Dominator assures. "These three are going to answer our questions honestly... Unless of course, they want to tick me off!"
"I already agreed to cooperate as long as my brothers are spared so ask away" Red says.
"Very good... First question" Dominator begins.
"You guys ever do barrel rolls?" Wander asks causing Blue to groan and Yellow to chuckle.
"Just couldn't resist could you?" Sylvia laments.
"Sorry! I just had to!" Wander admits grinning.
"A couple times, when necessary" Red answers.
"Of course we barrel roll! Why not when they're fun!?" Yellow adds.
"They're inane is what they are" Blue condemns.
"You're no fun!" Yellow counters.
"You're a child!" Blue bickers back.
"Silence!" Dominator demands. "Next question! I understand there's a bounty on our heads. Who's paying that bounty?"
"Only the hottest newcomer in the villain leaderboards" Red answers.
"Doom Moon" Dominator and Red both say in unison.
"I should have known" Dominator says. With help from a Dombot, Dominator takes a look at the current villain leaderboards revealing the Doom Moon at the top as expected and its conquered planets only increasing.
"I'm suddenly curious" Sylvia remarks, "how much are they offering for us?" she asks before browsing her phone. "That little for me!? I don't know if I should feel relieved or insulted."
"They're offering a lot for you, Dominator" Wander points out.
"I'm honored" Dominator says. "Guess my days of embarrassing them all haven't been a total waste."
"And they're offering as much for me as they are for you, Syl" Wander mentions.
"Is that good or bad?" Sylvia questions.
"No, I think you've got extra zeros" Dominator notes.
"Oh! I think you're right. My mistake, Syl" Wander says.
"And I still don't know how I should feel about that" Sylvia said annoyed.
"Question 3. How'd you track us here?" Dominator asks.
"You've left many things behind during your campaigns of conquest" Red explains.
"We studied one of your bot minions and learned to track your ship through it" Blue admits.
"Lord Wander, we've found this" a number of Dombots report carrying the damaged remnants of a Dombot found in Blue's ship.
"Oh no! Poor thing! Let's get it fixed up" Wander says.
"We have tried" reports a Dombot, "we suspect it has been altered so that it can no longer repair itself."
"H-how cruel!" Wander gasps.
"Why would you do that?" Dominator demands of the bounty hunters.
"We tore it apart as part of our tracking you down" Blue answers. "If you want to learn something, sometimes you gotta take things apart."
"..True..." Dominator agrees. "Last question... What have you told the Doom Moon?"
"Nothing" Blue answers.
"Really?"
"Your bounty was very high" Red says. "The last thing us bounty hunters would want is to have to fight off other bounty hunters for the reward money. Or worse: split the dough!"
"That makes sense" Sylvia chimes in while Dominator examines the remnants of the altered Dombot.
"...You did a number on this Dombot" Dominator comments.
"What's done is done. And if the questions are done, we'll be on our way now" Red says impatiently.
"...Gonna fix the damage you three did. If we have more questions, we'll be sure to ask" Dominator says.
To their dismay, the three bounty hunters soon find themselves behind bars inside one of the Domship jail cells. With that done, several Dombots begin scanning the bounty hunter ships to retrieve additional information while Dominator sets off to fix the damaged Dombot.
"How can I help?" Wander asks Dominator who was placing the damaged Dombot atop one of her work tables.
"I wanna lend a hand too" Sylvia says.
"Damage is extensive. So extensive that this poor bot's ability to mend itself has been lost thus I must fix it myself. Just stand back and watch me work. If I need an extra set of hands, I'll let you know" Dominator says pulling out a large tool box. "Now put these on and stand back" she says handing Wander and Sylvia welding masks.
Dominator starts by putting on a welding mask of her own and then turning her middle and index finger into a very bright blowtorch. With this powerful flame, she welds open the Dombot's body exposing complex-looking wiring and circuitry.
For Wander and Sylvia, it was almost like watching a surgery though certainly not as likely to induce nausea. Neither were entirely certain of what lay inside a Dombot but they recognized that Dominator had an expertise in robotics and machinery that was beyond their understanding.
"Whoa!" Wander emits.
"Neat!" Sylvia adds before snapping a few pics with her phone.
Both Wander and Sylvia were transfixed by the swift movements of Dominator's hands as Dominator stripped with wire strippers, gripped parts with tiny pliers, extracted pins and spark plug-like components, adjusted locking pliers of various shapes and sizes, pulled out various cables, employed drills to loosen what looked like screws, and made use of several tools that looked very alien.
"I don't know what's happening but it looks really interesting!" Wander whispers Sylvia's way.
"I know what you mean" Sylvia says eating from a bag of popcorn while Dominator fastens an eyepiece to herself and begins to snip away at what looked to be the galaxy's tiniest wires with a pair equally tiny wire cutters.
"I saw a show on spaceship mechanics once. This reminds me exactly of that" Sylvia whispers.
"Sounds interesting. Gonna have to look that up next chance I get" Wander whispers back.
Several minutes pass during which many Dombots join in on the viewing as Dominator was tapping tiny metal rods out of tiny metal holes on an internal component of some sort. At some point, Dominator extracts a tiny chip and sets it aside with the greatest of care.
"Ooh, is that part important?" Wander asks.
"Yes" Dominator answers. "It's the brain."
"The brain!" Wander and Sylvia repeat impressed.
"It's so tiny" Wander comments.
"You callin' them dumb?" Sylvia jokes.
"No! Goodness! Not at all!" Wander defends. "Great, big things can come in small packages!"
"With brain out, we're on easy street now" Dominator reveals.
More drilling, pulling, stripping, hammering, soddering followed. Replacing clearly damaged parts with new ones, Dominator's hands moved skillfully. In short time, the bot's exoskeleton had been put together and was looking like new.
"Now all we need is-" Dominator says while inserting the Dombot's brain back in. At once, the Dombot's lens lights up with the word "rebooting" displayed on it briefly.
"...Lord Dominator" the revived bot soon speaks up with a salute.
"You did it!" Wander celebrates before Dominator snaps the Dombot's antenna off causing Wander to scream in terror.
"Relax. Just testing out the bot's healing" Dominator says as the antenna quickly repairs itself. "Now we know it worked!"
"A little warning next time" Wander asks.
"Sorry" Dominator apologizes. "Name's not really Lord Dominator anymore" Dominator confesses to the revived bot. "Just call me Dominator. Lord Wander's the one who's in charge now."
"Hiya!" Wander greets.
"Lord Wander?" the bot attempts.
"Just call me Wander" Wander says, "and what might your name be?"
A question mark is displayed on the bot's lens.
"Don't you have a name?" Wander asks.
"Negative" the bot answers.
"It's probably a number of some sort" Sylvia comments flatly. "Right Dominator?"
"They're numbered because it was an easy way to name them when I built them, okay?" Dominator clarifies.
"You don't have amnesia do you?" Wander asks the Dombot.
"I doubt an amnesiac would know the answer to that question" Dominator says grabbing the bot and hooking it up to a laptop. "...Let's see here... Bot 72. That's the name."
"Well hello there Bot 72!" Sylvia greets. "Nice to meet ya."
"Bot 72? But that's so boring!" Wander criticizes. "Bot 72, how would you like a new name?"
Bot 72 contemplates for a moment then nods its head.
"Great! Dominator, I'd like for you to do the honors" Wander said.
"Me!?"
"You saved it so you should do it" Wander explains.
"Please" Bot 72 adds.
"Oh, now I feel I'm being punished for doing a good deed" Dominator jokes. "Alright... Dee? No, that's sort of my name... Erm, Deedee?"
"Deedee" Bot 72 repeats.
"You like it?" Wander asks and Deedee nods. "Great! Your name henceforth is Deedee! Congratulations!"
"That's a girl's name isn't it?" Sylvia observes.
"It could also be unisex" Dominator shrugs while Wander giggles.
"Oh, grow up!" Sylvia chastises pulling Wander's hat down over his face playfully.
"...Check this out" Dominator says typing away on her laptop and soon, Deedee's name appears on the side of Deedee's body much like the numbers displayed on the side of a typical Probe Dombot.
"Neat! I had no idea you could do that!" Sylvia acclaims.
"Check this out too" Dominator says typing away. "Deedee, what's your name?"
"Deedee" Deedee replies with a feminine voice.
"Too cool!" Wander praises.
A couple more taps on her laptop and Deedee began to change colors: from orange to purple to yellow then red then blue followed by green.
"Dominator, why didn't you show us this sooner?" Wander asks. "This is too cool!"
"Not sure. Why didn't I show this off sooner?" Dominator asked aloud.
"Me next!", "No me!", "I want to glow blue!", "Name me Shade!" different Dombots now crowding the room began to demand.
"Oh, that's why. Do one, they're all gonna want it" Dominator remarks.
"I don't envy you Dominator" Sylvia says patting the green villainess' shoulder. "Good luck."
"Yeah, thanks" Dominator answers sarcastically. "Alright! One at a time! No pushing!" Dominator shouts at the unruly crowd.
"Thanks Dominator! This is all very nice of you" Wander celebrates giving Dominator a hug. "You know, there was a time when I'd expect you to just trash a bot that needed so much repair. And now here you just went the extra mile to help Deedee out!.. I'm very proud of you!"
"...Thanks Wander" Dominator says feeling a warmth in her chest.
It was not a common feeling for her but it was one she could definitely get used to.
Author's note: Oof! Another long one! Hope you don't mind. I don't know about everyone else but I love slice-of-life in stories but not to worry, the Doom Moon looms soon! In the meantime, try saying 'Doom Moon looms soon' five times fast!
