Fighting The Tide

Chapter Three: The Reveal

Welcome to chapter three!

Hater is locked in battle with Lord Dominator and Wander would really like to find a way to stop all of that. Sylvia and Peepers, meanwhile, are trying to find their idiots before something bad happens. Let's see how it plays out!

It took me a little while to get this out. I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Wander pulled himself back up on the platform. He had to do something. Hater and Dominator were going to kill each other! He stood for a moment at a loss on the edge of the floating rock. He whimpered slightly, watching Hater and Lord Dominator laying into each other. Blasts of electricity and lava fought for dominance, as the two villains slashed, smashed and snarled. Hater looked to be giving it his all, but was still ending up with the majority of the damage, as Dominator hammered him with the giant lava mallets she'd created.

This was exactly the kind of thing Wander had been hoping to avoid, and he didn't know what he could do to help at this point. He didn't think his plan to grab the ring and get the villains to chase him was going to work any more either. Both of them were completely focused on each other, and Wander doubted they'd notice him taking the ring at all, supposing he could even get to it through the heated battle they were involved in.

Worse, what if Wander managed to get the ring and Hater was distracted, but Dominator wasn't? The fight was awfully fierce. His buddy could end up with his skull in pieces if Wander got his attention at the wrong time.

"Okay, new plan, new plan," he muttered to himself, fingers steeplingas he thought.

Hater delivered a crushing blow that knocked Dominator backward, though it failed to even dent her armour. Still, Wander took the opportunity to dart forward, climbing up onto his boyfriend's sloped wrapped his hands around the skeleton's neck to keep himself secure.

"Let's wait for a second, Hater," he tried. "We've gotta find a way to diffuse this. What if ya started with a friendly greeting an' built from there? Maybe we can all get along instead!"

"Wander!" Hater shot Wander an annoyed glance, though his eyes darted away again as Dominator stalked towards him. "Don't be weird! I'm going to demolish this guy and show him who's really the Greatest in the Galaxy! Now, get off of my back! You're distracting me while I'm busy being awesome and impressive!"

Wander was jostled slightly as Dominator attacked, but he managed to keep his seat. He glanced over at the ring, sparkling in its snag of rock. It had a red jewel set in its center and seemed to be made of gold. It was quite pretty. He wasn't surprised Hater wanted it. Even if it didn't have any special powers, his buddy would probably still be after the thing simply because he could use it to look impressive in front of all the other villains.

Wander didn't blame Hater for wanting all that attention from his villainous buddies, especially right now when he was feeling insecure about his evilness. All the changes lately seemed to have scared Hater a little, especially given how far he'd fallen on the leaderboard after letting all his new friends go. Wander was incredibly proud of his buddy for doing that, and he didn't think Hater regretted it, but he imagined it had left him feeling a little, well, inadequate. That had probably been what had prompted his whole message to the galaxy and coming here after the ring in the first place.

Things weren't really looking good for Hater at the moment, however. Wander knew Hater could be very strong when he was motivated, but he didn't think his buddy was going to win this one. Hater getting the ring wasn't ideal, and would probably lead to some difficulties down the line, but Lord Dominator getting the ring would likely be even more of a problem. Wander wasn't sure what she was planning to use it for, or even why she really wanted it, give how invincible she seemed, but he had a hunch it wasn't going to be anything good.

Either way, if the two of them continued fighting over the thing, someone was bound to get hurt. And though the thought of Dominator getting the powerful artifact was worrying, he couldn't see any way to stop the fight except to pull back for a little. There might be an opportunity for something later.

He leaned close to Hater's skull once more so he could talk directly into one of the skeleton's lightning bolt horns.

"Come on, Hatey! I know it's a shame ta leave when we're all jus' gettin' acquainted, but maybe we should call it a day. That ring's not worth fightin' over, even if it's real pretty. What if I got you an ice cream instead?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Hater demanded. "Of course the ring's worth fighting over. It's important! I'm not letting that guy have it!" He turned his head slightly, trying to catch Wander's eye. "Now, seriously, Wander, get off of…"

Pow!

Dominator's magma fist collided with Hater's skull, sending the skeleton lord backward where he teetered on the edge of the stone platform for a moment, then went careening over the side, landing somewhere on the rock far below.

Wander had been knocked clear when Dominator struck. He was left facing off against the armoured villain.

Suddenly alone, he gave a nervous wave.

"Hi, Lord Dominator, you remember me, right? Wander! My friends and I came onto your ship to welcome you to the galaxy! It sure is a pleasure ta see you again!"

Dominator stalked menacingly towards him. She raised one burning fist, and Wander watched neutrally as it shifted and elongated until it became a glowing, red scythe. She still didn't really seem to feel like chatting, which was a shame.

She took one more step, raising the scythe high above her head.

Wander thought it was probably time for him to move, but he wasn't sure where to go on this small, empty platform.

As Dominator brought her weapon down, Wander felt something snag him by the back of his torso, and found himself tossed onto a familiar saddle, a pare of hands in red gloves gripping him around the waste. Sylvia skidded to a halt at the other side of the platform, attention on the armored villain, who had turned to face them once again, but she still found time to look Wander over for a second. He gave her a sheepish little grin.

"Thanks, buddy! Sorry fer runnin' off like that." His grin widened as he turned slightly in the saddle. "An' thanks fer comin' ta save me, Commander Peepers! That was awful nice of you!"

Peepers glared, snatching his hands away as though he'd been burned.

"Alright, stop that! This is a one-time thing only, got it?"

"Hold on, Wander," Sylvia instructed, and the nomad noticed she was eyeing the next highest platform, still quite a ways below them.

He bit his lip, eyes going from Dominator, who was stalking angrily towards them once again, to the sparkling ring in its rocky claw. He wondered whether there was still time to do something about it.

"But what if Dominator gets the ring of invincibility?"

Sylvia and Peepers exchanged a glance.

"Maybe that's for the best, buddy." Sylvia took a step to the side, apparently trying to gage her jump.

"Yeah, you win some, you lose some," Peepers put in hurriedly.

"Really?" Wander was slightly taken aback. He knew it was pretty dangerous out here, but Dominator getting that ring could cause a lot of problems for the rest of the galaxy. He'd expected Sylvia to be at least a little concerned about that, and he was really surprised Commander Peepers was okay with it. Wasn't that the whole reason he and Hater had come here in the first place?

Sylvia and Peepers looked at each other again, and Sylvia opened her mouth to say something, when she was interrupted, having to sidestep as the scythe came down again.

"Look, we'll talk about this later, okay, pal? Right now, I think we need to be elsewhere…" she prepared to leap, then paused. Wander could see that her dodging had landed her too far from the neighbouring platform. Even Sylvia couldn't make a jump like that.

Lord Dominator advanced toward them again, cackling low and menacingly through her helmet.

Suddenly, Wander heard a roar from below him, slowly growing into a thunderous challenge. Hater shot upward from the crater he'd landed in, wreathed in neon green and radiating power.

Sylvia was already ducking to avoid Dominator's attack, and Hater shot over her, fist slamming into the spiked helmet and sending it spinning across the rock. At the same time, he snatched the ring from its resting place, closing his hand around it protectively.

Wander uncurled in Sylvia's saddle just in time to see Dominator straighten from where she'd been knocked off-balance, flipping her hair back as she did so.

Worried that the battle was about to start again, Wander hopped off of Sylvia's back and started forward. Then he stopped, gaze trailing over to Hater, who was staring fixedly at Dominator. Of course, this was his first time seeing her without her helmet. It was bound to be a little bit of a surprise.

All at once, Hater's aggressive posture relaxed and he made a noise like a squeaky toy being squeezed. His eyes got big and wide and his bony mouth softened into a smile. Wander stood still, watching him. His mind seemed to go blank and sound seemed muted as though he was under water. There was a strange sensation inside him, like his chest was being squeezed as well, which didn't make any sense. They weren't fighting any more, after all.

Dominator seemed to take notice of Hater's reaction, the rest of her armor falling away to reveal her regular clothes. Wander didn't hear the gasps of the rest of the villains on the rocks below, or his friends behind him. He was still watching Hater silently.

Hater's jaw seemed to be working strangely, as though his brain was catching up.

"…Lady?" he managed after a moment.

Dominator's smirk widened and she strolled towards Hater, who was still blinking across at her. She reached out to take the ring from his loosened fingers and then suddenly Hater seemed to snap back to himself.

"Get away from this ring!" he snarled. His hands sparked with green and Dominator had just time to snap her armor back into place around her before the full force of Hater's lightning struck and carried her backward and off the platform.

Sylvia seemed to have been stunned into silence with the rest of them, but now she burst into action as well.

"Okay, time to get while the getting's good!" she declared. She charged forward, flipping Wander onto her back again with one hand, while Peepers grabbed Hater, pulling him on as well.

All of the other villains seemed to still be recovering from the shock, and Sylvia was able to avoid them easily as she zigged and zagged across the platforms. She darted into the skull-ship and the mouth snapped shut. Engines rumbled to life, and the ship lifted off. Just in time too, as the noises outside the ship seemed to be increasing in volume. Dominator might already be in pursuit, and she probably wasn't too happy.

Sylvia and Mr. Peepers must have worked something out transportation wise, and ordinarily, Wander would have been pretty proud of them for that, but he had other things to think about right now.

Slowly, he slid off of Sylvia's back, standing on the polished floor of the entrance hall. Hater and Peepers seemed to be arguing, but Wander wasn't sure what it was about. There was a lot of yelling and accusations. He heard the words 'reckless,' 'stupid' and 'bone-headed' from Peepers, the last of which seemed slightly insensitive, but he didn't listen too closely. His mind still seemed to be having trouble catching up with everything.

Sylvia turned to look back at him, and must have seen the thoughtfulness in his face.

"You alright there, Wander?" she asked.

Wander smiled brightly.

"'Course I am, Syl!"

Sylvia didn't quite look convinced, but before she could say anything, Hater turned abruptly from his argument.

"Great!" he announced, and Wander felt his arm seized in a bony grip. "Just do it, Peepers!" he snapped and, to Sylvia, "Do whatever you want as long as you don't bother us! 'Kay, thanks, bye!"

Wander found himself following as the skeleton ran across the hall and out into the corridors. The ship shook around them as they ran, and he wondered absently if Dominator was firing at them. She was probably a little annoyed at all of them at the moment.

Hater wasn't looking at him. The skeleton's face was set, jaw tight and eyes narrowed as he marched along. He didn't even seem thrown off by the jolts and shudders the ship was still experiencing. Wander wasn't sure what was going on, but he guessed he'd go along with it for now. Hater did seem awfully determined about something, and he supposed he'd find out what it was when the overlord was ready to tell him. Right now, he needed to put what he'd seen out of his mind. It wasn't going to help anyone for him to dwell on it.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing? bring him back!"

Sylvia started forward indignantly after the nomad stealing skeleton, only to be stopped by an ominous rumble and a jolt to the skull-ship. Peepers, who had almost been knocked off his feet by the blow, straitened his helmet, narrowing his eye meaningfully at her.

"Much as I'd rather they weren't alone together at the moment myself, I rather think the two of us are needed in the control room, unless you'd like to take your chances with that!" He gestured out the window, where Dominator's ship was focusing its lasers for another attack.

"Argh, fine!" Sylvia acquiesced with a groan. But as soon as we're clear, we are tracking those two down!"

She just hoped it wouldn't be too late by then, and that Hater's inability to destroy Wander in a timely fashion would translate into an inability to propose to Wander before she could get there to stop it.

Maybe she'd even get lucky and Hater would think twice about the whole thing for now. There was certainly enough drama going on without adding another helping.

As she and Peepers made their way to the ship's controls and took over from the inexperienced watchdogs who were currently piloting, she tried to put any thoughts of her buddy and the skeleton lord together out of her head.

She'd have to deal with all of that soon enough.

That could have gone a lot better.

It could have gone worse, Hater supposed, but it could have certainly gone better.

Things had started out okay, with him managing to reach the ring first and knocking over lots of other villains on the way, but then everything had gotten complicated. He hadn't gotten to do his romantic proposal, and in the end had basically had to run after fighting Lord Dominator who…had actually been really pretty underneath her armour.

Hater shook the thought away, annoyed with himself. She'd still caused a lot of problems, and tried to upstage him while he was trying to be all impressive and stuff.

Then, as soon as they were back on the ship, Peepers started berating him about the plan and trying to convince him not to go through with it.

Even worse, Hater was now wondering if he was right, at least for now.

His initial idea for a big impressive proposal had clearly not worked out, and that left him feeling pretty nervous about the whole thing.

He glanced down at Wander walking beside him, felt the warmth of the furry hand in his.

What if he asked Wander to marry him now, and the nomad wasn't impressed enough to say 'yes'? That was what he'd been the most worried about in the first was the whole reason for his big show claiming the ring. He didn't really have a backup plan and he couldn't just ask Wander with no build up. That would just be lame.

Hater felt in the pocket of his robe, running his fingers over the outline of the ring. At least he still had it, despite the surprisingly large amount of competition he'd had. Even Dominator seemed to have wanted it, not that he'd been about to give it to her, even if it had been a surprise to see her without her armour.

"Where're we goin', Hatey?"

Right, where were they going? Hater hadn't really thought beyond grabbing Wander and getting away from Peepers and Sylvia for the moment.

"Um, you'll see," he managed, not meeting the nomad's eyes.

"Okey-doke!" Wander agreed happily.

There was silence for a few minutes as they walked along, Hater turning various destinations around in his head. None of them seemed romantic enough, or were even prepared. The ship shuddered again, reminding him there probably weren't a lot of spare watchdogs that he could use to fix up any of the rooms either.

Suddenly, he became aware of a pare of wide eyes focused on him and looked down to find Wander looking strangely hesitant.

"There sure was a lot goin' on out there, huh Hater?"

"Yep," Hater agreed absentmindedly.

"Well," Hater noticed distantly that Wander had moved to hold the bony hand in both of his smaller ones. The nomad was playing with the skeleton's long fingers, something that finally pulled Hater's attention fully back to the little alien. "Ya got yer ring of invincibility…"

Oh, right. Hater had almost forgotten the story he'd spun about the ring to get Wander to come and stop him. It seemed like a long time ago that he'd come up with that plan.

"Uh, yeah, about that." Hater looked away uncomfortably. "You don't…have to worry about that. I'm not gonna take over any planets or anything with it."

"Oh! Really?"

Hater felt that searching gaze turned on him again, and resolutely refused to look back at the nomad.

Impulsively, he turned to the side and opened a random door off of the corridor, walking inside and pulling Wander with him. It was a fairly small room, and dark; possibly some kind of storage room, as Hater could sense piled furniture and boxes. That didn't seem to matter right now.

He hadn't seen Wander since before the whole thing with Major Threat, though he'd certainly been thinking about him. Seeing him again now that the adrenaline of the fight had worn off made Hater feel strange.

It felt right to have Wander here again, next to him, feeling his small, soft hands, that earnest look in his eyes that Hater found it hard to meet and those happy smiles that he used to find so infuriating.

He found himself standing there in the semi-darkness, just inside the door with Wander's warm presence close beside him. He heard a chuckle that seemed to wind its way around his bones.

"Why Hater," Wander whispered, and there was that implication in his voice again that seemed to pull at Hater's insides. "Didja miss me?"

He had. The realization crashed over Hater like a streak of lightning, bringing everything inside him into sharp relief. He, Lord Hater, the Greatest in the Galaxy, had been missing Wander, the person who used to be his most hated enemy. Maybe it shouldn't have been such a revelation what with everything Hater had been thinking about lately, plus his plans to ask the nomad to marry him, but for some reason Hater hadn't really thought about it that way. He'd been missing Wander when he was gone. The skull-ship had seemed big and empty without him. He was glad to see him again.

He could feel the warmth of Wander's grin against his face, and his mind stumbled over itself slightly as he searched for something to say. He wasn't about to tell Wander he'd missed him. That was going too far. Instead, maybe he could turn the question around on the little furball.

"Um, did you miss me?" he asked. He'd intended the question to sound more confident, he was sure Wander had missed him, after all, but his voice ended up sounding nervous instead, making him grit his teeth at his failed attempt to be smooth.

"A'course I did, Hatey." Wander was still whispering, and the husky sound made Hater's throat tight. Furry fingers seemed to be walking their way up his ribcage. Hater could feel them brushing against his bones through his cloak. He found himself struggling to catch his breath, heart beating a mile a minute. "I missed everythin' about you," Wander continued in almost a purr, and suddenly, Hater couldn't take it any more.

His nervousness, frustration at the failure of his plan, his uncertainty about what to do next, Peepers' arguing and his confusion about Dominator were all pushed abruptly to the side. The only thing that mattered was the burning desire that seemed to engulf him from the inside out.

He took two strides forward so that Wander was backed into a corner of the small room. Then Hater wrapped both arms around the nomad, lifting him completely off the floor. He felt Wander's hands tangle in his cloak as the nomad's arms wrapped around him as well. Hater ran the fingers of one hand through Wander's fur the wrong way, stroking up his back to cup the back of his head. He could feel a shiver go through the small body as Wander gasped, the sound twisting through Hater's insides. Then they were kissing, though he wasn't sure which of them had started it.

Wander's lips were warm and eager against his, and they parted obligingly when Hater touched them with his tongue. Wander tasted so sweet, like their last real kiss, in front of the fire in smooching room number three, and his body shuddered against Hater's, heart beating rapidly in his thin chest. Hater curled his tongue along Wander's, feeling like a spark was traveling all the way up his spine to the top of his skull. Wander's tongue was dancing around like the nomad himself and Hater pressed them more into the corner, pushing into Wander's mouth as though trying to capture him all over again.

When Hater finally pulled back to stare down at Wander's sparkling eyes, he could feel his ribcage rising and falling with his own deep breaths. Here was where it would all normally be too much for him, and he'd pull away, but he found himself holding the nomad closer instead. There was something in Wander's eyes, in the curve of his smile and the warmth and softness of his body that made Hater want to keep kissing him and holding him, and even though it was a little frightening, it was exhilarating too.

He leaned in again, feeling Wander's furry smile against his mouth.

Right now, this was all that mattered.

Thanks for reading!

I spent a lot of time debating certain things in this chapter. You can probably guess what some of them were. I really hope everything came out well in the end.

All of the episodes I reference from here on out will likely be very altered since we have some very different plot points developing.

We should get a couple of more relaxing chapters before we start the action again. Some people need to think and probably talk about some things. And we will have a little more aftermath from The Battle Royal, as well as give Hater and Wander some time together. I think they need some. They should probably do some talking as well, so we'll see if we can get them there.

Next up is probably a chapter for The New Galaxy, but we shall see.

See you soon!