Chapter Four: Stop In The Name of Groove!
"We're here. We've got to get into the castle and find the Velvet Man. Let's move, people! Move!" Renera shouted and hopped off the boat. EO, Bender, and Dr. Hook followed close behind her.
"Where's your castle, Queenie? Is it…oh, there it is!" Bender exclaimed, looking up at the towering structure. Renera looked up at her castle in shock, unable to comprehend the very sight in front of her. Before the Velvet Man came into the picture, her castle was extremely beautiful. It was once a wonderful shade of ivory white and the roof peaks were colored rose pink. Now the castle was completely black and the roof peaks were an ugly shade of dark purple.
"Sheesh, are you an evil queen or something? Your castle's completely black!" Bender declared.
"I'm not an evil queen. My castle was repainted by that stupid-headed Velvet Man," Renera said and walked up to the gargantuan double doors. She knocked on the doors and was immediately greeted by a brainwashed palace guard. His eyes were glazed over and they were glowing bright red.
"Can I help you?" he asked in a dangerous-sounding voice. EO squeaked in fright and cowered behind Bender for protection.
"Hi, I'm Belle, your neighbor from three doors down. I came to ask the king a question. Would it be all right if I spoke with him?" Renera said in a smooth and unwavering voice.
"Well…I guess it wouldn't hurt if you did. But no funny business! Got it?" the guard replied and Renera nodded in mock obedience.
"That won't be an issue. Thank you," she said and walked up the stairs to the throne room.
…..
"Renera, this is suicide! You shouldn't go in there alone!" EO exclaimed, trying to pull back the determined queen.
"EO, I have to! This is my kingdom and I plan on fighting for it by myself! Now let me go!" Renera shouted and shook herself free from EO's grip. Pushing open the throne room door, she stormed inside and looked around for the Velvet Man.
"Velvet Man! Where are you?" she called out, but only heard the clanging of the open balcony doors. He probably made his getaway already, Renera thought to herself. She walked towards the balcony and peered out over the wide black ledge. All of a sudden, something whooshed up in front of her, causing her to momentarily lose her balance. When she recovered, she saw the Velvet Man floating in front of her. A velvet-sheathed katana hung next to his waist.
"I thought I kicked you off of the planet! How dare you trespass into MY castle!" he roared at her.
"Correction; this is MY castle. Now you can either leave or we can do this the hard way. Your choice," Renera said, placing her hands on her hips.
"My choice, you say?" Velvet Man asked, reaching for his katana. Ripping off the velvet sheath, he held the pointy end out at her face. Renera jumped back in shock and anger.
"We do this the hard way!" he exclaimed and flew directly at the alien queen. Screaming in horror, Renera made a mad dash towards the rectangle that was inserted into one of the walls. After pulling it out, she whipped out a large blaster gun. It was the Blaster 5000 and it was designed to completely knock a person out. In other words, the Velvet Man wouldn't die; he would just get rendered unconscious. No harm done at all.
"Queen Renera…what is that?" Velvet Man asked, halting in his tracks. Renera turned on the blaster and aimed it directly at the villain in front of her.
"Say hello to my little friend!" she shouted and immediately blasted her gigantic gun. Velvet Man screamed and was immediately flung backwards by the powerful force that came from the blaster.
"Oh, crap! Crap, crap, crap, crap, CRAP!" Renera exclaimed and watched as he fell off the balcony ledge. She ran over to the balcony and saw the Velvet Man's mangled-up body at the bottom. No, she thought as tears ran down her cheeks. I didn't mean to kill him! I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to! Renera thought in anguish.
"RENERA!" EO's voice suddenly shouted. The traumatized queen hurried into the throne room and came face to face with her ship captain friend.
"I'm so sorry I couldn't come sooner! The castle guard wouldn't let me…," EO started to say, but then he noticed his girl friend's face.
"Renera, what happened?" he asked, gently brushing away her tears. Unable to form any words, she looked out at the balcony door to indicate her problem. EO carefully walked towards the balcony and hesitantly peered over the ledge. When he looked down, he was greeted by the sight of Velvet Man's crumpled body.
"I killed him, EO. It was an accident, but I killed him," Renera managed to choke out. EO turned back and immediately wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to comfort her.
"It's okay. You did what you had to do, even if it was an accident. You have nothing to feel bad about. Come on," he gently said in a soothing voice. Clinging onto his white jacket, Renera quietly sobbed about her grief.
"Oh, COME ON! Did you really think that you could get rid of me so easily?!" a taunting voice suddenly came. Renera jolted in shock and turned around towards the source of the voice. To her surprise, Velvet Man was standing in the entrance to the throne room. There were scratches on his face, but in the long and short, he looked all right.
"It's over, Velvet Man. You're not going to get her palace and you'll never be a part of this planet. So go back to Earth and live out the rest of eternity in solitude!" EO exclaimed, holding Renera close to him.
"Renera, get over here," Velvet Man said, putting his hand on his hip. EO shook his head, but Renera wriggled herself free. She took a few steps forward, but refused to get any closer to the velvet-clad villain.
"What do you want?" she asked, furiously wiping her naturally green cheek. Velvet Man sighed and held out his arms, his lips set in a straight line. Renera pursed her lips together and slowly walked into his outstretched arms, her mind racing with various thoughts. Before she could say anything, Velvet Man's arms were wrapped around her slender frame, his hands patting against her back. Renera awkwardly hugged him back, confusion lining her brows.
"Okay, that's it. Off now," Velvet Man said, gently pushing her off. Dazed and confused, Renera shuffled back to EO, who was standing there in total puzzlement.
"Did you just hug her?" EO asked, folding his arms across his chest. He couldn't believe it. The guy who took over his new friend's planet was a softie now? What was happening here?
"Yeah, I hugged her. Why? She was crying. I didn't want her to cry anymore. By the way, she can have her castle back. I don't want it anymore," Velvet Man crassly replied. Renera gasped at that and looked at EO with extreme happiness.
"We won. We WON!" she squealed and wrapped her arms around the muddle-headed ship captain in excitement.