Never Hurts To Help

Chapter One: The Target

Disclaimer: I do not own Wander Over Yonder. I just want to explore the universe a little.

Here I am with another prequel story for this show! It does seem to be where most of my plot bunnies live. I've got at least one more of these in the works which will surface eventually. This one is my take on when Wander and Sylvia first met and their journey to becoming friends. I am doing my best to abide by the little slivers of information we get in the show, mostly stuff from "The Waste Of Time" and some clues in "The Rider."

I have seen a few 'bounty hunter Sylvia fanfics and have really enjoyed them. This is my take. There may be some unintentional similarities by virtue of adapting the same lore area, but I am striving to keep the story different from others I have read.

This is technically in continuity with my story "Traveling Companions", but obviously far in the future of that story, and I doubt any details from that story will crop up in this one. I reserve myself the option however.

Enjoy the first chapter!

Sylvia was at rock bottom. Literally.

The Zbornak was slouched in a dingy booth in the only bar in the tiny town of Rock Bottom on planet Cortex on the fringes of the galaxy. It seemed an appropriate place to be after watching her partner get swallowed by a newly formed black hole along with their ship and all of her meagre belongings.

The only thing he had left her with was a seemingly never-ending line of debts the two of them had incurred as they robbed and cheated their way across the galaxy, not to mention quite a few criminal syndicates that would love to get their claws on her now that Ryder was out of the picture.

"Well, here's to you, you son of a flapdrasser," Sylvia intoned, raising her glass. It wasn't exactly grief she felt. Ryder had caused her a fair few problems while he was alive after all. It only made sense that he'd saddle her with several more on the way out. She downed the drink in one go and slammed her glass on the counter with slightly more force than she had intended. It seemed she was already feeling the effects of the strong liquor.

She studied her empty glass for a moment before deciding not to order more. It was never good to get too drunk when there were this many people after her hide, even in an obscure dung-hole like this. She had to watch her own back, not that that was very different from when she was traveling with Ryder. Besides, she didn't have much money left, just a few crystals in her pockets she kept for emergencies, and she still needed to decide on her next move, which was probably the old move. That was the other reason she was here in the town's sole watering hole; it was where all the bounty posters tended to be displayed.

Sylvia let her eyes wander over the posters tacked up on the wall to the left of the bar. There was the usual array of scuzzy looking characters who either looked like too much trouble or had prices too low for her to bother going after them. Then there were a few she would probably consider, especially when she was desperate, like now. There was also one that stood out like a sore thumb from the rest of the posters. The picture was of some orange fuzzy guy wearing a floppy green hat that looked too big for him and a huge smile that barely fit on his face. He certainly didn't look like a typical bounty. Sylvia leaned closer to get a better look at the text under the picture and nearly fell off her stool. No way was she that drunk!

She snatched the poster off the wall and scanned it up close, then again for good measure. Nope, it wasn't the alcohol playing tricks on her. The little orange guy had the largest bounty she had ever seen. She could probably buy her own island on Resorta XII with credit like this, not to mention get a few nasty characters off of her back for good. She scanned the sparse text under the picture. No name listed, just the instruction; 'Only Alive', and information on contacting the client, some joker named Lady Infinite.

Sylvia frowned thoughtfully. The lack of information made the job more difficult, though she'd certainly worked with less before. It was the amount that really gave her pause. There had to be a reason why the little guy was worth so much. That spoke to him either being extremely dangerous or difficult to catch, or possibly both given the sheer size of the bounty. That would also make the requirement of bringing him back alive significantly harder. She looked again at the picture. He didn't look dangerous, but that didn't mean he wasn't. There was also likely to be a fair amount of competition. Sylvia knew credit like this would bring bounty hunters out of the woodwork.

Still, none of that had stopped her in the past.

Impulsively, Sylvia signaled to the bartender for another drink, toasting herself silently in the dusty mirror behind the bar. She rolled up the bounty poster, tucking it in the pocket of her sleeveless vest. She was feeling a little more like herself as she rose from her stool and headed out into the dusty afternoon. There were a few places she could check for information about her new target, and she would need transportation and supplies, both of which would eat into her meagre supply of crystals. That would really leave her stranded if she failed to land her mark, but the thought didn't discourage her. Instead, she felt a familiar thread of excitement.

This was why bounty hunting was her go-to when she needed fast cash after all; the risk, the excitement and the danger.

The galaxy was a rough place, and Sylvia was fine with that. She just had to be tough enough to survive and thrive in it. Anyone who wasn't, well that was too bad for them, her former partner included. If she wanted to move forward, she couldn't waste time looking back.

Well, it was official. Her target was either a master of evasive tactics, or traveled completely without a plan and it was driving her crazy.

Sylvia unrolled her map again on the grimy counter in the cheap inn she was staying at. She'd been searching for almost three weeks solid at this point and for whichever reason, the little orange guy from the bounty poster seemed impossible to track. It wasn't that there hadn't been sightings. On the contrary, this guy had apparently been everywhere. Every planet she visited seemed to have stories about a cheerful orange traveler in a green hat who was excited to help everyone and everything. Seriously; the most common thing she heard about the little weirdo was that, according to him, it 'never hurt to help.'

At least he didn't sound dangerous.

The problem was that Sylvia had failed to gain much useful information. The little furry guy must have some method of transport, for him to get from planet to planet so quickly. He liked to help others and he played a banjo. That was about all she got. He usually seemed to be there and gone before anyone got to know him very well.

Sylvia supposed it made sense that the huge bounty amount was attached to such an elusive target, but it didn't make the search any less frustrating. She couldn't even call it a chase, since that would imply that she had caught wind of the guy and was following him, instead of hunting for clues across the whole galactic arm. She could also tell that there were indeed others in her profession that were throwing their hats into the ring. She had spotted quite a few aliens asking questions about the little nomad and she could at least take comfort in knowing that they were likely having just as much trouble as she was.

Sylvia went to take a drink from her bottle and snorted when she found it was already empty.

"Need a refill, ma'am? On the house!"

"Seriously?" Sylvia questioned incredulously. "Who gives free refills in a…" She trailed off. Where she remembered a big, burly, green-skinned bartender with an eyepatch, she was confronted with a familiar face. A very familiar face, in fact; the face she'd been searching for for nearly three weeks now.

"Oh, well it's not the official policy here, least s'far as I know." Her target shrugged his shoulders sheepishly. "Ya just looked like you could use one. It's on me." He leant over the bar towards her, scrambling a little to get purchase, his feet quite obviously off the floor. He placed a hand on one side of his mouth to give the illusion of privacy, lowering his voice a little. "Havin' a rough day, friend? I've been there. If you'd care to share yer worries, I'd be happy to listen."

"Where's Maurine?" Sylvia managed. She hadn't noticed the bartender leaving, and usually prided herself on being observant. She let go of one side of her map so that it rolled back up and then stuffed it into her vest again. She just hoped he hadn't noticed what she'd been tracking on it.

"Lyin' down." The little alien gestured towards the back room with one furry hand. "She had a touch of the ol' headache, an' I was passin' through so I said I'd watch the counter fer a bit while she rested. Never hurts to help!" he concluded happily.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Sylvia was barely listening to the words, instead trying to observe her target without being obvious. It was definitely him; he looked pretty much exactly like his bounty poster, right down to the face-splitting grin. The only difference was that he was currently wearing an apron that was practically drowning him. He was probably only about half the size of whoever usually wore it.

"Sooooo," he walked two fingers along the bar counter towards her. "Feel like sharing?"

"Don't you have some drinks or something to be serving?"

"Surely do," he answered amiably, straightening back up and sinking down behind the bar a little as his feet found the floor again. "Jus' let me know when ya want that refill!" and he flitted off to the other end of the bar where a group of tough looking characters were growing impatient. She could hear his voice raised in a friendly greeting, somehow audible over the abuse being shouted by the new patrons.

Sylvia kept her eye on him as she played with her empty bottle. This was not how she had expected her first encounter with the little orange traveler to go. She had to figure out how much he knew. If the little guy was as clueless as he looked it would make her job much easier, but she couldn't figure out how he was still at large if he was this oblivious and friendly.

She glanced around the inn's great room. Then, too, she had the problem of competition. There were any number of shady looking characters in here who could be other bounty hunters. Even if they hadn't been specifically hunting him, the fuzzy alien was so recognizable that anyone who'd been perusing bounty posters lately was likely to recognize him. And he was just out here in the open, singing a little song to himself while he polished glasses and buffed the grimy countertop. Anyone could grab him and take off.

Well, that wasn't going to be her, she decided. Sylvia had been in this business long enough to know you never made the first move when there were others around. Anyone who made a scene in a place like this would be attracting far too much attention, legitimate or otherwise.

From Sylvia's perspective, it was much safer to wait for evening and then see if she could coax her target to somewhere less populated. She glanced around the room one more time before her gaze settled back on the green hat bobbing around behind the counter.

She supposed if she was waiting, she might at least get that free refill.

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!

Not sure whether we'll actually get to meet Lady Infinite in this story. I may keep her in the background. We will see.

Hope you enjoyed the introduction to bounty hunter Sylvia! And that you liked Wander's introduction as well. I thought it was fun.

Next chapter we will meet Sylvia's competition, and we will see if we can get Wander his name.

"Traveling Companions" or "Taking The Plunge" will be updated next most likely.

Bye for now!