Chapter 60: Until Karma Catches Up, Let Justice Burn Bright
A thousand hours. A thousand days. A thousand nights. A thousand months. A thousand years.
How long has it been since this body has known what its like to sleep? To dream? Pressured by the weight of guilt, hounded by nightmares, this body has been forced to stay awake, lest the insanity catch hold.
But it was all for naught, wasn't it? Sins are a shadow on a person's back. Always attached, never departing your side. It was silly to think that she was the exception to the rule.
Destruction. Consumption. Absolution. This living virus rocks the cradle of his mother's home, screaming for the acknowledgment it shall never receive.
And all its mother can do is hang over, the guilt edging the back of her neck like a sharpened guillotine, and laugh.
"Ha..." It starts small, as all things do.
"Hahaha!" Then louder it grows, carrying a hint of insanity.
"Hahahaha!" Is she feeling joy? Or sorrow? As she pulls her head up and the laughter grows, not even her perceptive company can say for sure.
The laughter drops, like a curtain to the end of a tragic play. And with it, the girl bites her lower lip and wipes a single tear off her cheek.
"...That's right. You got me," Catherine turned to Pluto with her arms crossed and the fakest smile possible, "The Coolest. Smart. Bravest. Cutest girl in all the cosmos..."
She took off her glasses and stared at the ground, "Is also one of the biggest murderers in the known universe."
Pluto kept his mouth shut as the girl laid her glasses on the console and stared at the back of her hand, "On Planet Farad, every child is born a genius. Even the dumbest of us were smarter than the average human. But even among our peers I was especially gifted. I had built my first supercomputer at age five, and by the time I was ten I had made this space station."
"I didn't have any friends. Wasn't particularly interested in having one. My mind was 120 percent devoted to science, and improvement. I was so invested in improvement that I wound up coming up with a brilliant idea...One thing our planet was lacking was an efficient way to build technology, as we didn't have any construction workers."
"So I toiled hard in my space station to come up with an AI that could build technology and increase development of our world. And I succeeded! ...Or so I thought."
"I let the AI out into the mainframe without thoroughly combing over its routines and subroutines. I had made one tiny, tiny misstep, and cost the lives of billions. Just ONE bit of coding was inputted incorrectly, causing it to become an AI that could CONSUME technology and increase development of ITS world."
"I was unaware of the monster I had unleashed until I had returned home from a metal excavation on a nearby planetoid. My precious AI, a gift to my home, had grown immense, consuming the entire planet whole in a matter of hours. Its terrifying face stared at me from the comfort of its home and called me 'mother'. It asked if I was proud of it for completing its mission."
"I was too scared to say anything. The virus interpreted my silence as disappointment, and assumed it needed to consume more to satisfy me."
"As it continued to grow it would continue to learn more and more, including of its termination program. But I wasn't considering that at the time. I just shut the whole virus down in an instant out of fear, and then fled my lost home on my space station in cowardice..."
Catherine punched the keyboard lightly and went deathly silent, upon which Pluto took this new information and continued onward in the timeline.
"And so you devoted yourself to heroics out of a sense of need for redemption. A need which Gravitus exploited perfectly, as he did to all of us..."
Catherine's fists curled and shook. Pluto turned to her and sighed, "It does all make sense now. The bombastic heroism, the meticulous planning, the need to build so many machines..All a mask to hide the greatest pain of all."
He gestured his hand towards her and scoffed, "It has been more than two-thousand years since that day. How long must you seek redemption until you're satisfied? Is that one moment so anchored in your mind that it invalidates everything else you've accomplished?"
"...Why are you saying this?" Catherine said, devoid of feeling in her body.
"Hmph!" Pluto closed his eyes and lightly turned away, "Don't get the wrong idea. It is merely the duty of a king to assess any worthwhile future subjects."
He just gestured his hand up by his shoulder and remarked, "You've never been one for bluster, Catherine. You have backed up your claims of being the smartest among us time and time again with astounding confidence. Though I find the concept of justice appalling, nevertheless, your views on it have never wavered in the face of sheer adversity that's been thrown at you constantly."
He faced her and pointed straight at her face, "When Gravitus fell, was it not you who rallied many of his worlds to unite in a common cause? Where would that loyalty be if not for the example you've led for them?"
"How many lives have you affected? How many villains have you put down or put away? That you choose to linger on the lives lost instead of also the ones saved is a disservice to them both. Whether by intention or not you have become the great heroine you call yourself."
He cracked a minor smile and told her, "And you'll make a great subject in my new kingdom."
Catherine lifted her head slightly and the station began to shake, bobbing her around. Pluto remained motionless and turned to glare at the elevator shaft, "But this shall all be for naught if you let this virus end us both here."
Catherine slapped her hand down on the console to keep herself steady. She stood there, her heart pounding against her chest and making her eyes squeeze shut.
"Its no use! There's nothing we can do! Its going to happen all over again, and the whole universe is going to pay for it!" She could see the virus having grown into a cancerous blob with many technological adapt worlds engorged in its mass. Having grown so big that other, prehistoric worlds, accidentally got stuck to its body like zits.
Growing, and growing, until it WAS the universe...
Catherine curled her fist and wanted to scream, her heart now fatally pounding against her chest, "I'm sorry Seth! I'm sorry Jupes! I'm sorry...everyone!"
Pluto suddenly pressed her, "Come on now, surely you know of SOME weakness this virus has that doesn't end with us bursting into flames?"
"I...I...!" Her hand was starting to motion towards the keyboard to activate the self-destruct when suddenly, her eyes froze in a stare that grew wider and wider.
The rattled cogs in her brain began to turn, carrying along the particular choice of words the elven king declared, "Burst into...flames?"
She rapidly recalled prior encounters with the virus. Every time the virus had gotten onto her suit she got rid of it completely via explosions. Not just that, her mines had had a similar effect.
She stayed there, hands flattened on top of the console, and once her heartbeat began to slow...She smiled.
Clutching her lovely glasses, she propped them back up on her face, the lens fogging up when she nudged them with her pinky.
"Of course! It was SO obvious!" She boldly proclaimed, her confidence returned.
Pluto faced her in silence and let her genius work its magic. She rapidly tapped away at her keyboard until one of the spared monitors flickered on. A drone was launched from the consumed space station and flew outward until it could get a good luck at the outside.
"HA HA HA!" She suddenly shouted, staring at the active thrusters on the station's backside, "Take a look at THIS!"
She pointed it out to Pluto, who caught the meaning instantly, "I see, the virus can't withstand intense heat."
"Makes sense right? Technology's made primarily from metal and that's what it eats to grow."
Pluto shook his head and sighed, "I feel like the court fool for not realizing this sooner. Could've spared myself this little psychology session too."
Catherine leaned down and continued to tap away at the keyboard, much to Pluto's confusion, "So what's the plan now, Catherine?"
She stuck the tip of her tongue out and remarked, "We're going to burn this whole thing down and give ourselves plenty of time to escape!"
On the outside, they watched as the space station began to turn, positioning itself...towards the blue sun!
A smile of pride crossed Pluto's face, but that didn't stop him from being his usual, mocking self, "So you've finally returned to us, o'great heroine Saturn."
She giggled like wild and proclaimed, "I never left to begin with!"
A few more keyboard taps later and the space station started to move, only to swiftly jerk to a standstill. Catherine pushed her glasses back on and stared feverishly at the screen, "WHAT?!"
A big red bar flaring "Auto-Pilot Disabled" appeared across all the screens, causing her to pound her fist upon the keyboard in frustration, "Ah come on, really?!"
"Hmmm..." Pluto hummed beside her, "Now it seems someone is going to have to stay behind to pilot this station."
"...You're right," Catherine slowly hunched over, her hands shaking over the keyboard, "And its got to be-"
"Me." In one swift moment Pluto grabbed her on the shoulder and tossed her into the escape pod chamber. He used a magic chain to stab the control panel and force the door shut before she could crawl out.
"What're you doing?!" Her voice muffled behind the glass as she pounded the door with her fist.
Pluto calmly walked up to the door and bent down with a smirk, "Your inability to sacrifice other pieces on the board has always been an admirable if not frustrating trait to deal with, Catherine."
His aura began to glow holy white as he stated the facts bluntly, "Think logically for a moment, girl. My Divine Drive will keep me from succumbing to the pressure and heat of the sun, while your justice will ensure that I am safely returned to my prison cell to endure punishment."
Catherine stared wide-eyed at him as he stood and walked back towards the console. The room started to fill with chains to reinforce the defenses.
Catherine felt the pod shake and prepare to move. But Pluto had one declaration left to make.
"Your story has just begun, Catherine of Planet Fadar! Do not let this blight mar the legacy you've built up!"
Her pod rocketed out of her space station, which was now 90 percent consumed by the viral mass. It let out a roar that shook the space around them, and roughed up her pod a little too.
She stayed glued to the window as her home went further and further away from her. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she wiped them onto her shirt with a sniffle.
The station advanced towards the sun, where both her pasts, good and bad, would meet their finally, fiery end.
"MOOOOOTHEEEEEERRR!" Suddenly the virus screeched in outrage, as the space station began to change shape.
The outer ring on the bottom was crunched inward, carrying the thrusters closer to the center. The mass began to expand outward near the top, forming a pair of thick, crusty arms utilizing the ship's sectors as four, sharpened fingers. The thrusters were pushed towards the bottom of newly formed legs and feet, while the remainder of the mass formed an elongated abdomen and head. The only thing that remained normal was the peak where Pluto was fighting a valiant, but now seemingly fruitless battle. As the virus' twisted face appeared at the top, it spread its excess down its back to make a large, if not thin, cape.
It looked like an abominable corruption of humanity's frame with a thorned crown.
Once again it was evolving, adapting to its weaknesses. It was a stubborn one to put down, just like its creator...
"Why are you not proud of me? I have done everything you've asked me to! You continue to run and run. And I won't let you run anymore!"
The giant viral entity began to stretch its vile hand out towards the escape pod. She was defenseless. Alone. She had tried to fight bravely one last time. Now she'd go down, like a whimpering-
"zzzCzzzatzzzz!"
"zzCazzztzz!"
-coward?
Catherine thought she heard something coming over the radio. Must've been a fear-induced hallucination...
The shadow of the virus' arm drew closer and darker, consuming her frail, cowering body completely in shadows.
"You'll become part of me, mother..."
"CAT!"
Catherine's eyes widened and embraced the worried cries in her ears with a gasp.
The space around her was rocked by two mighty forces colliding overhead. Peering out the glass, she watched as the virus' limb was shoved back by a titanic metal fist wrapped in aura.
The fist then slowly unfurled and scooped up her pod, bringing it back towards a hole opening in the chest of a gargantuan five-mile high machine shaped like a human body on the outside and made of a mix of shiny platinum, steel and poly-fiber.
The moment she was secured the door sealed shut and her body was enveloped in sparkles. Before she could blink she had been teleported off to somewhere else. A place brighter, more familiar, and more hopeful than before.
Surrounded by a warm pearl light, she struggled to open her eyes and see herself sitting on a chair surrounded by electronic equipment.
There were three tiers to this contained room that lied in the chest of the machine. And on the two below here were her two allies, Mars and Jupiter, suited up in their Galaxy Rider outfits.
"Catherine, are you alright?!" Mars shouted in a panic from the bottom tier, his arms sealed up firmly in gauntlets attached to the console before him.
"What the heck's going on?!" Jupiter followed, "We were wrapping up a mission on another planet when we suddenly got a distress signal from your station and hurried on over to find THAT thing nearly eating you like a snack!"
Catherine rested back in her chair dazed and confused, "Y-You guys...?"
Her little heart started racing with happiness, allowing her to assess the situation around her a little better. From the comfort of this cockpit she looked at the thin glass window to the outside and saw the viral entity screaming in frustration.
She stared at her hands and then down at the gauntlets before her, then up at the viral entity once more. Her fists tightened, her eyes narrowed in rage, and then she shoved her arms right into the gauntlets as one of her suit wrapped up over her from the chair.
"Here's the situation you two so listen up!" With a fire lit under her butt she wasted no time getting down to the matter at hand, "The Technomite Knight infected my space station with a virus of my making. Now its nearly consumed it whole! Pluto's doing his best to stave off the consumption but if it manages to completely consume the station then it'll use its warp drive to ride off consume other technologically advanced worlds!"
She thrust her hands deeper into the gauntlets and her aura was channeled through it, sending a multitude of purple lights riding throughout the inner wiring of the mech.
"We need to use everything we've got to shove that virus into the sun! You hear me?!"
They had no questions to give. Their loyalty spoke enough, "YOU GOT IT!"
They faced forward and shoved their fists deeper into the gauntlets, sending pulses of red and orange throughout the machine. Catherine arched her brows as her face became covered by a star-shaped pane of purple glass, and purple light throbbed through her suit like veins.
"OPERATION: VIRUS SUN COMMENCES NOW!" The machine's engines whirred full of life enough to power a planet, and she grit her teeth and shoved her head forward energetically towards her enemy, "AURA SOVEREIGN...ENGAGE!"
On the outside the mech lit up with all the colors of its pilots. Red at the legs, orange at the abdomen and arms, then purple from the shoulders to the head. Arming itself with spiked gauntlets, grieves and triangular sunglasses made of aura, the Aura Sovereign raised its right arm towards its towering adversary and gestured all fingers at itself. With a gleam of starlight off its glasses, a flaring cape became draped off its back comprised of a gradient of the three colors ignited on its body.
Basking in the azure light of the sun, the viral entity crossed its arms and stood tall all on its own and declared, "I am your greatest creation, and you WILL acknowledge me, MOTHER!"
"You think just cause you can stand you can fight?" Catherine clenched her teeth and shouted, "Humans are able to learn, adapt and grow from their mistakes! They're alive and beautiful in so many wonderful ways!"
"You're just a program following bad orders! And now..." She commanded the mech to press a fist against its palm and squeeze it tight, "I'm gonna shut you down permanently you SON OF A BITCH!"
"Whoa!"
"Jesus Cat!"
Shouted Mars and Jupiter respectively.
"What?" She said, blinking her eyes.
"I just...don't think we've ever heard you swear before!" Mars said all flabbergasted.
"Heh heh heh!" Catherine giggled and leaned forward happily, "I love you guys so much! You're awesome!"
Mars and Jupiter stared at one another and then smiled themselves, poising themselves at their enemy with a fire in their souls.
"Well if she's this fired up...!" Shouted Mars.
"Then we'll just have to match her!" Jupiter said, shoving her arms all the way into the gauntlets ready to battle.
The mech's arms swung out and the thrusters engaged on its back, sending their cape fluttering up behind them. They aimed their sights on the enemy, who unfurled their arms and roared.
Unholy Union of Plague and Machine: VIRAL ORBITRON – Devourer of Worlds Form
The two charged at one another with fists raised, but Catherine's team struck the first blow square in the virus' neck. A shockwave rippled across space like cracked bones, but the enemy hardly seemed affected.
It retaliated with a fierce uppercut to the mech's chest. The mech crossed its arms and was knocked higher on contact, but used the momentum to put distance between them.
The aura kept the virus from making contact but every move still had to be planned out accurately. There would be NO missteps. The universe couldn't survive a single mistake.
"Leave this to me!" Jupiter took the lead and the mech's colors shifted to an overall shade of orange, the gauntlets growing twice their size.
The mech pushed forward and took a swing at the virus' chest, and in turn it grabbed onto the wrist before the knuckles could burrow into its body.
It was shoved closer to the sun, just as IT wanted. Even if it couldn't consume through the aura, its mass stuck tight around the mech's fist and allowed it to start spinning around.
Slowly but surely dredging a trench of air through empty space, it would toss its prey towards the sun eventually.
Just what we wanted! Catherine proclaimed, firing the foot thrusters at max power.
The velocity of their spin rapidly increased, dragging in some of the solar flares off the sun's surface near the edge. With their body burning hot, the virus let go and sent them hurtling far, far away.
Catherine made them brake and then resumed firing the thrusters to return back to their enemy, where she delivered a haymaker to its face.
The head cracked all the way back and the whole thing was pushed closer to the sun. It stood upright and roared, then floated forward and took a swing at the mech's head.
The mech weaved to the left and blocked the swing on its gauntlet, raising the other fist to uppercut and smash the virus' jaw into where its nose would be.
They then grabbed the legs when they were high enough and brought the whole thing down atop a thick platform of aura.
While it was pinned down they punched it a few times in the gut and chest. It rearranged its arms towards its gut and grabbed one of the fists, digging sharp talons to try and get through the aura.
The mech detached its aura and the knuckles rode up the virus' body to clobber it in the jaw, dragging it off the platform further towards the sun.
The virus scrambled to raise its thrusters to the back so it can stand and avoid the heat of the sun beating on its back.
It swung its right arm down and crunched it into a fist with a growing smirk on its face. As it began to spread its fingers out, elongated lasers fired from every tip.
The initial surprise from this light show allowed the lasers to cut into part of the mech's left leg before its pilots could get a shield up.
The strength of the lasers shoved their shields away from the body, and allowed the virus to inflict further damage.
The cockpit rocked and alarms went off, but Catherine stood still and concentrated heavily on the front, "Engaging full frontal protection!"
The mech's lights turned purple and all her aura went towards the front, creating a bubble shield that protected them from all harm.
She then charged at the virus and wound up a punch. The virus pushed all the lasers together into one mega laser aimed at the center of the barrier.
The mech flinched back into stationary position, watching as the barrier heated up white hot in the center, radiating further towards the edge every second.
The white heat burned inside the cockpit, its three pilots grasping on for dear life as the machine shook.
"If that thing makes it through we're toast!" Jupiter exclaimed.
"No! This is exactly what we need!" Catherine uttered confidently.
On the outside she moved the mech a little ways back and detached the bubble shield from the rest of the body. She then gestured the mech's right hand out and the barrier fired against the energy like a projectile, shrinking down and eventually enveloping around the lasers.
It shoved the energy into the virus' hand so hard the whole thing exploded off. The titan reeled back, its roar reaching far into space.
The mech braced against the vibrations to charge in and attempt punch number two. It bashed its knuckles into the jaw and got its face all twisted around to the back.
As the mech backed away the virus grabbed its head and pulled the face back to the front, shaking itself off afterwards. It then pushed forward and started swinging at the mech, and despite its sizable girth it weaved around the punches and jabbed the virus in the gut.
Having to put some of its mass into creating a new fist slowed the station's corruption, but they were currently sitting at 99 percent corruption. Too dangerously close for comfort...
But it was a newborn. It could throw a punch, but it didn't know how to land a punch.
After bobbing around some more and firing a few more jabs into its body, the virus started glowing much brighter and unleashed a massive burst of energy to shove it away.
The mech shook and electricity spurted from its joints. As the power resumed in the cockpit Catherine braced her comrades with a warning, "He's starting to fire off EMPs! This baby can handle a few of 'em at least!"
The virus took advantage of the strain on the mech to charge in and punch it in the gut. They just managed to focus their aura there in time but the blow still sent them stumbling back and undid some good progress.
The virus kept pressing onward with feral swings and precise uses of aura kept the infection away. They threw in a few jabs, gaining and losing ground back and forth with no forward momentum seeming to be made.
The virus started to glow again with plenty of energy gathering in the center of its chest. The mech turned red and started wielding a set of nunchucks.
"Leave this one to me!" Mars proclaimed, commanding the nunchucks to lash at the glowing core repeatedly.
The energy dialed back a lot, giving the crew ample time to build up strength in the arms and lash with one powerful motion.
The nunchuck slashed a beautiful scar through space and broke the glowing core. The virus hissed and staggered back, the explosion after adding further distance.
The mech then clasped then nunchucks together and waited out their next move. The virus flailed its arms and shouted, "Why do you hate me?! Why must you hurt me?!"
"I DIDN'T PROGRAM YOU TO FEEL PAIN!" Catherine wrenched full control of the mech from the others and as it exploded with purple light she gathered aura into her fists until it was as bright as the sun.
"BUT I AM GONNA POUND THE FEAR OF GOD INTO YOU, SO GRIT YOUR FUCKING TEETH!" She punched him across the face with explosive force, shoving him a great distance towards the sun.
When it stabilized it immediately motioned its left hand up and fired off lasers from the tips, this time immediately going for the combined form.
The mech raised its defenses hard and continued to get pushed away, with the virus advancing on their position to increase the laser's burn.
The mech fired its thrusters to maximum and shoved against the beam to ram straight into the virus the moment the barrier shattered.
The arm was pulled away and the laser sliced through a nearby moon. The mech then gained a sword on its right arm and cut through its wrist.
That's the last of the laser defenses! Catherine said confidently.
The virus' body began to blob up in its lower region, causing Jupiter to lean out and question, "What's it doing now?"
The blobs popped like zits, spewing out the hundreds of ships Catherine had made, now under its command.
The ships formed a field around the virus and offered protection with a combination of streams, rapid-fire lasers, and missile salvos.
Though little more than ticks by their lonesome, the combined forced covered up their line of sight and started wearing away at their aura.
"This isn't good!" Mars shouted.
"Augh! I never armed the Aura Sovereign with projectiles!" Catherine shouted angrily.
"What's the plan, Cat?" Jupiter looked over her shoulder.
"Charge forward and onward! We can't give an inch!" She commanded the mech to press on through the relentless assault and wound their right fist back.
Only for the virus to charge forward through the smog and bury its hand over their face. They got aura up in time but the virus stiffened its talons to try and pierce through.
The cockpit rattled and shook as the three braced themselves for danger.
"We're going to be fine!" Catherine exclaimed as the cockpit rattled extra hard and the power flickered off momentarily.
"Are you sure about that?!" Mars hollered.
"Yes! This is our moment!" The day we seize our future! Catherine exclaimed, thrusting her head madly towards the enemy.
Explosions started going off all-around the virus, the many flames engulfing the virus and causing it to pull away. Many of the ships were going down around it, bombarded by intense laser fire.
As the mech lifted back up it found itself surrounded by an armada of battleships of different shapes and sizes from across the galaxy.
The monitor in front of the three turned on, revealing the alien with the tentacles over its mouth sitting inside of the one of the ships.
"Back-up has arrived, Aurian Saturn." He stated firmly.
"Ha ha HA!" Jupiter hollered, pulling her arms up out of the gauntlets in cheer, "I can't believe you guys made it in the nick of time!"
Another monitor popped up showing a one-eyed cat man with combed back mane, "Of course we did! This is what your whole damn organization's made for!"
Catherine swerved the mech's head around. So many ships, from so many worlds. Just seeing the sheer numbers made her tremble at the knees and want to cry.
"I...did this..." She was humbled by their help, and thus refused to let the tears show in this moment of triumph.
"ALL SHIPS!" Her voice hollered throughout the cosmos as she aimed one finger at the staggering virus, "CONCENTRATE FIRE ON THAT ABOMINATION UNTIL ITS BURNING IN THE SUN!"
"YES COMMANDER CATHERINE!" Shouted the two aliens on the monitor before shutting down.
The skies were alight with laser fire from both parties, as the two titans met in the middle of it clashing fists. Pounding away with all their might, Catherine's merry group punched off large chunks of mass from the virus' fists and started to aim for its chest.
Its body weakened, even as the mass was reaching complete saturation of the station. Its gurgled and spewed in anger, weakly lashing out at the mech as its armada fell in droves, littering the galaxy with scrap and dust.
Catherine grabbed the virus' weak attempt at a punch and crushed the fist in one go. She then shoved the virus with one vigorous thrust and finally, the surface of the sun was grazing its cape.
The viral mass became inflamed and it let out a scream, flailing in one last desperate attempt at survival.
"WHHYYYYYY!" It screeched.
Catherine firmly arched her brows and used the mech to grab onto the top of the virus shouting, "Hey Pluto! This might hurt a little!"
She ripped the command center off without any excess viral mass getting on them and then stored Pluto safely in the mech's chest.
She then kicked the virus straight in the chest to pin it against the sun's surface. It burst into flames all over, but struggled nevertheless to break free.
"NOOOOO! MOOOOOOTHER!"
Catherine closed her eyes to the beast's screams and when they had passed, she widened them back up with a fire burning in her pupils.
"Today I let go of the past...AND PRESS ONWARD TO A BRIGHTER TOMORROW!" Billions of lives flashed and flickered out of her mind in an instant, the weight of them no longer burdening her, but instead pushing her forward with all their hands on her back.
She shoved her hands deep into the gauntlets and her partner's followed suit, all of them letting out a mighty roar.
The mech crossed its arms in front of the opposite shoulders and a massive star-shaped symbol appeared over them. The star then gathered between their hands as they were cupped beside the left hip. All their aura channeled into the star, making it burn extra bright, brighter than the brightest star.
The three held their heads high with feverishly vigor and screamed one after the other:
"ROARING!"
"FUTURE!"
"STAR CANNON!"
"FIRE!"
They thrust their hands forward and the star shot out of their hands, piercing through both the virus' chest and the entirety of the sun in an instant, only to burst apart with a flash of energy greater than a supernova on the other side.
The virus creaked its head back and let itself be consumed by the flames without another word. Silently, it went out into the night, as the searing of its body crackled in the ears of those who stood victorious this day...
The mech crossed its arms and floated among the armada. Catherine pulled her head back, smiled, and let the tears run down her cheeks...
Aftermath...
With the virus, and my old home, gone forever, I have relocated to a new, smaller station. Of course I miss the old girl! But...sometimes you've got to know when to let things go.
"I've already started work rebuilding some of my old ships and coming up with new ideas along the way! Science doesn't stop just cause it ran into a major roadblock! ...I do owe Pluto a bit for helping me see that. I knocked a few years off his sentence as a reward. He didn't seem to mind. In fact he returned to his jail cell with a bit of a smile on his face. Will he reform...? Nah! Villainous scum don't tend to do that!
...Ok, maybe I should dial it back a TIIIIINY bit on the justice stuff. I ain't fighting this fight alone anymore. I know that for sure now.
I put on a mask to hide the pain, but what that mask represented is something I truly believe in. There's a lot of mistakes in this universe that need correcting. And I can't start to fix them until I fix myself, as they say.
After we dealt with the attack on my space station we took a Planet Cracker to my old homeworld to ensure that no one would ever be able to exploit the virus again. It was a hard decision to make, saying goodbye to my old world like that. But, the way I see it...That place was never my home. Here, there, anywhere, as long as I got my friends around, that's home to me.
And we've got a long fight ahead of us. Plenty of organizations to dismantle, oppression to uproot, and lives that need a bit of hope to brighten their dreary days! We don't just have to save the world by fighting. We can provide food, homes, and money to them too. Maybe it'll take forever. Maybe it won't even happen at all. But in these trying times the worst thing we can do is make enemies out of each other. We got to stand together, hand-in-hand, and help each other fight for this righteous cause.
Cause if we don't do it, who will?
Heh, I kind of rambled on a bit there but this is my first time really writing in a diary. But I got to do this. My past life, and the trauma that came with it, is over...This is the start of a new chapter in a new story. Hmmm, I think I'll label this..."
Chapter 1: Saturn's Origin Story
"Short, sweet, and to the point!"
Next Time: White Christmas