TWs: Injuries/migraines, sadness/crying, loss/'death', weapons, attacking/fighting/arguing. Stay safe :)

45 MINUTES

...

Everything seemed to slow down.

Neptune felt himself flying across the Kuiper belt, crashing into every asteroid, the rocks exploding on impact.

"...tune!" He barely registered a voice calling his name as he felt arms wrap around him, "Neptune! Mate-"

He tried prying his eyes open, peering up at the figure above him. He grunted, his voice failing him as his eyes shifted closed again.

"No, no, no-! Stay with me, mate." Uranus held the other close, his fingers tapping against the other's face.

"Wh..." Neptune rasped, "Where... is he...?"

"The same state that you're in." Uranus glanced up at the navy figure across the field, watching as he twitched, "What was that, anyway?"

"What was... what?" Neptune began to sit up, groaning as he felt an agonizing pressure in his head.

"Careful, mate." Uranus warned, helping him on his feet, "And I'm talking about that big beam of light that shot into the atmosphere. You could probably see it from the inner zones."

"Beam of..." Neptune trailed off upon seeing his brother waking up. He appeared to be reaching for his trident, which wasn't by his side. Instead, the weapon was floating a few units away, as well as the NovaStar.

"Oh no, Messier!" Neptune forgot about his previous pain, flying to where the NovaStar was. Upon closer inspection, Neptune couldn't believe it, "No. No, no, no, no...!"

Taking the object in his hands, the blue Celestial eyed the cracks within the surface. It was noticeably dim, no longer having its usual pristine beauty.

"Messier..." Neptune whispered, "Please. Please talk to me..."

No response. Tears welled up in Neptune's eyes.

"Please, Messier, I can't be alone." Neptune pleaded, "Not again..."

Once again, there was nothing.

Nine watched the display, his eyes unreadable. Uranus could've sworn he saw regret within his gaze.

"Ugh... ouch..." A voice spoke, causing Nine and Uranus to look over.

The navy Celestial's eyes widened at the sight of his right-hand dwarf planet, "Sedna...!?"

« × »

45 MINUTES

...

"What was that?" Spica asked, her eyes wide.

"I don't know." Sun responded, "But that's where Neptune and Uranus are..."

"Let's hope whatever it was didn't..." Spica trailed off, casting a glance at her friend.

Sun shook his head, "I still feel their resonance. They're still standing."

"That's good."

Earth frowned, feeling a sense of dread as he looked out into the atmosphere where the light came from, "I hope they're okay..."

"No kidding. I could feel that from here!" Venus spoke.

"I'm sure they're alright." Mercury said, "They're Giants, they can handle anything."

"Almost anything." Mars corrected, "They're not as powerful as Jupiter and Saturn."

"Well, yeah, but they're still strong."

Luna glanced around his surroundings, letting the others. The moon knew they had about forty minutes until they attacked, yet Luna felt the need to watch the atmosphere, his eyes hyper-fixated on the way everything shifted and moved, looking out for any sudden movements.

"Luna," Earth spoke, spooking Luna out of his concentration.

"Huh-?"

"You're tense... what's up with you?" Earth looked at his moon, eyes soft. Luna found his parent planet looking at him like that more often, never finding the reason.

"I just feel... paranoid, I guess," Luna uttered, opting to be less talkative like he usually was around the other Celestials.

"We have less than forty minutes until they attack," Earth said.

"I know, but something is telling me to keep an eye out just in case." Luna's eyes started to look away.

Earth just smiled, "Well, if you say so."

The lively Celestial returned to talking to the others while Luna went back to keeping watch.

Time seemed to go by as it was twenty minutes until the Stars attacked and Luna finally caught a movement in the corner of his eye. From the asteroid belt, a flicker of movement.

"Earth! Look out!" Luna found himself yelling as he saw a sword aimed straight at the blue and green Celestial. Luna wrapped his arms around him, protecting his guardian with every fiber in his core.

"Earth!" Everyone seemed to call out as they raised their arms.

A flash of light appeared, striking the Zweihänder into a million pieces.

Luna heard the metallic nose, wincing before opening his eyes.

Earth's eyes were already wide open, not believing what was before him.

Those brown curls, sepia and tan vitiligo skin, and the white toga with golden tassels.

'Theia...?' Earth opened his mouth, yet nothing came out.

The transparent figure turned her head, looking at Earth with golden eyes. She smiled, nodding.

And just like that, she disappeared.

"Was that...?" Luna muttered.

"Mhm..." Earth nodded, "That was her, alright."

Earth held Luna close, never letting go.

"I know you want to protect me, but putting yourself between me and a sword is not the best decision." Earth breathed, running his fingers through his moon's hair.

"I know. I just wasn't thinking..." Luna uttered.

"Are you always?" Earth smirked.

"You're one to talk, Dad." Luna scoffed.

Sun furrowed his eyebrows, his eyes scanning the area. He squinted, "Gliese, I know that was you. Come out before I take extreme measures."

There was a beat of silence before a Brown Dwarf sixteen times the size of Jupiter came shifting out of the asteroid belt, "Extreme measures, eh? More extreme than what you did to me way back when?"

Sun frowned, "You can threaten me all you want, but do not go after my planets!"

"Or what? You'll whip my other eye into oblivion?" Gliese raised an eyebrow, "Give me a break, Helios."

"Appears we're right on time!" Proxima smiled, "What'd we miss?"

"Not much. Tried destroying the Earth, but it didn't work." Gliese glared.

"What...?" Proxima turned their gaze on the lively Celestial, "Odd..."

"It's nice to see everyone," Sun spoke, glancing at the Stars before him.

"Skip the formalities, Helios, you know why we're here, right?" Gliese questioned.

"Yes, and I will not give up easily. Not without-"

"See? I told you guys he wouldn't back down without a fight."

"You didn't let me finish." Sun shook his head, "I won't give up easily. Not without you guys hearing me out first."

"Hear you out...?" Proxima echoed.

"I don't want to fight anyone, let alone fail a battle I know I'll lose," Sun spoke.

Gliese scoffed, "Whatever- you're probably distracting us from an ambush."

"What...? No! Why-?"

"It's not like you can attack us, lest you want someone to get hurt." Gliese checked her nails, "The dwarf planets."

Gonggong, Quaoar, Salacia, and Orcus dragged the hostages from where they were behind the Stars.

"Can we have a break yet?" Gonggong asked.

"No. Put them over there, and keep an eye on them." Gliese ordered.

The smaller dwarf planets huffed out of breath, before pulling the hostages again.

"And where's your leader?" Spica asked.

"Leader...?" Gliese blinked.

"X, or... Nine."

"Nine isn't our leader. We chose to do this."

"Well, there has to be someone to lead the charge. It can't be all of you."

"Obviously, it's-"

"Proxima is the perfect candidate," Toliman spoke.

"What?" Gliese glared at the orange Star.

"I agree." Sirius nodded.

"Awe, thank you, guys...!" Proxima flushed.

Sun smiled, realizing what Spica was doing, "Don't worry, Gliese, it's not a big deal. After all, friends should support each other."

Gliese's eye twitched, "Right..."

« × »

10 MINUTES

...

"We have one try. Is everyone ready?" Titan whispered to the others, watching as they nodded, "Beta and Omega Team should be in their positions..."

"This should be good." One of the dwarf planets spoke, "Salacia, you and Orcus watch the back, me and Gonggong have the front."

"Yeah, yeah..." Salacia waved a hand, "Come on, Orcus."

"Y-Yes, ma'am."

Titan lifted his arm, index finger and thumb touching to make an OK sign.

"Beta and Omega are moving in." Hyperion spoke.

"Good." Titan smiled, "Phase one is in order, now to wait for phase two. Hyperion-"

"On it." Hyperion nodded, flying away to signify the man in the rocket ship.

"Now to just..." Titan squinted at the scene before him, watching as the dwarf planets were instantly distracted by the surrounding moons, "A-ha! It worked- now for phase three; the astronaut."

'Okay, no pressure...' AstroDude thought, 'You're just doing a mission that might get you killed, nothing to worry about whatsoever!'

AstroDude noticed the signal sent by Hyperion, knowing that was his time to move. Pushing the lever, the spacecraft moved forward.

He carefully maneuvered his way between the asteroids, seeing the moons distracting the dwarf planets. They had moved from their positions beside the hostages, so AstroDude seized the moment.

He pressed a button, watching as a laser shot out, cutting into the binds that held the dwarf planets.

"Huh, why haven't I used this before?" AstroDude spoke aloud.

"You didn't know it was there until I pointed it out the other day." The computer responded.

"Oh, right."

Charon sat up, feeling the binding holding her down becoming loose. She peered over her shoulder, spotting the astronaut she'd heard so much about. When she felt it get near the middle, she wiggled, tensing her arms and shoulders as the rest of the rope snapped. She let out a breath of relief, stretching her arms.

"Thank you, Mr. Astronaut! I'm sure I can get it from here." Charon went on to undo Pluto's bindings.

"Ooh, a rescue mission! This story is getting better by the second!" Makemake grinned, "I can't wait to recreate it in our game."

"Yeah, yeah, talk about the game later. For now, let's get the heck out of here." Pluto quickly untied Haumea.

The hostages and AstroDude escaped the area.

The smaller dwarf planets returned, only to realize how foolish they were.

"You've got to be kidding me..." Salacia uttered, clenching her fists.

« NOTE »

Uhm... well.

This may look bad, but at least the dwarf planets are released :)

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