Wander Over Yonder: The New Galaxy

Chapter Fourteen: The Questions

Hater and Peepers have messed with the ship enough to give Sylvia and Wander a chance to escape. I'm sure it was completely intentional.

We got to meet Lady Infinite last chapter, and even get some clues to the history she has with Wander, thought there are still a lot of gaps in that area. I hope everyone likes her so far. Introducing an OC is always very nerve-wracking, and I'm really hoping she works in the show's universe. I've tried to create a villain we haven't seen before.

Let's see if we can get our buddies safely off the ship and back together again. Then, Sylvia might have some questions.

Enjoy!

It wasn't that Peepers hadn't expected the alarms. As primitive as this ship seemed, there had been alarms alerting the villain of their infiltration, so there would certainly be something similar to warn of any significant damage he caused to the ship, and messing with the main stabilizers was certainly that.

What he hadn't expected was for the previously empty corridors to suddenly become lousy with guards, running this way and that, not in a panic, but clearly trying to hunt something down; them, he could only assume. He'd thought they'd have a few minutes of leeway as the guards pinpointed the effected area, but it begun almost as soon as he and Lord Hater had left the sabotaged control room and started to make their way back towards the lower areas of the ship and hopefully a way back to the ground.

Hater had also decided that they were looking for the two nomads as well, whereas Peepers had assumed the trouble-making pare could find their own way out of the ship. They didn't have too long to get off of the thing, since the villain would likely retreat to make repairs, given how vulnerable a ship without stabilizers was, especially as there seemed to be some resistance from those on the Star Nomad below, and they needed to be gone while the ship was still hovering over Varta VII. That likely left them very little time to make their departure, and they couldn't really spare any to find two pesky do-gooders who were probably perfectly fine on their own.

But, as usual, Hater wasn't listening to him.

Peepers ducked behind a corner as a crossbow bolt struck the wall where his eye had been a moment ago.

The floor was very slanted by this time, which had probably helped to throw off the crossbow's aim, and he braced himself against the wall, Lord Hater beside him.

"Intruders!" the guard called, and Peepers blinked in confusion. The guard sounded surprised, but weren't they all running around trying to find intruders? He shrugged it away, opting to lean around the corner and return fire, with something a little more modern, thank-you-very-much! Hater was adding his own firepower to the battle, and the two of them exchanged a glance.

Peepers had to admit it was a little thrilling doing this with his boss, and if it hadn't been for Wander and Sylvia mucking up the place, it might have reminded him of back when he and Lord Hater had just been getting their start as villains.

As they used their attacks as cover and retreated into another series of hallways, that thought stayed in the back of his mind. Something to think about later.

For now, they had to focus on finding the way out and, knowing his luck, Wander and Sylvia would already have done the same.

Sylvia darted down the hallways again, as fast as the tilting ship would allow. It was times like these she was thankful for her tail, providing much needed balance and steadying her when required. She could feel Wander clinging to her back, and it was comforting to know he was with her.

She could no longer hear the villain behind them, but it was clear that, despite the crisis the ship was suffering, she wasn't about to just let them escape. Guards were converging on them from what seemed like everywhere on the ship and, although Sylvia had been able to lose the group that had been initially following them, she definitely didn't feel like they were out of the woods yet, so to speak.

She was still mad, although now that they were at least in the process of escaping, she could feel several other emotions emerging that had been hidden underneath her anger.

She felt unbalanced, and not just because of the ship tilting halfway over. There had been something going on between Wander and that villain she didn't understand, some history they had that seemed very different from Wander's rapport with other villains they'd encountered. That brief scene in the throne room had left her with a big heap of questions and very few answers, and she didn't like it.

One thing had been clear; Lady Infinite didn't want to kill Wander, the way almost every other villain who'd met him did. Sylvia loved her buddy, but he certainly had a way of angering galactic conquerors.

But she did seem pretty obsessed with him, which seemed to be standard. She had certainly been hunting him, enough to seemingly travel all the way here from one of the neighboring galaxies to find him, not to mention putting out massive bounty rewards for his capture, as Sylvia was unfortunately familiar with. And she knew him well enough to know that attacking the planet would probably lure him out.

What had she wanted with him? When had he encountered her before, and what had happened back then? And why did she seem to know him by another name that Sylvia had never heard before? The questions sent danger signals all through Sylvia from her comb to her tail.

She wanted those answers, and the little alien clinging to her back was going to give them to her, just as soon as they were both safe and she'd checked on Wander. She'd gotten weird vibes from him in the throne room. It almost seemed like he'd been unhappy by the way Lady Infinite was speaking to him, which was strange all on its own. Sylvia certainly hadn't liked the villain's tone, all gentle and full of herself with that hard edge underneath, but Wander didn't usually have that reaction no matter who was speaking to him with the most acidic manners and language. Most of the time, in Sylvia's experience, a villain could call him the most horrible names, rant and rave and threaten to destroy him in any number of gruesome ways, and he'd be smiling away and totally fine with it all.

She didn't like this change. And it only added to her intense desire to deck the villainess right in her scaly jaw.

But, right now, they needed to be elsewhere, and fast!

The huge ship creaked around them, tilting farther again, and then stopping abruptly. Sylvia stumbled on the sloped floor, and she heard guards exclaiming as they were knocked off their feet.

She glanced back to make sure Wander was still with her and hadn't hopped off to go and help any of the fallen guards. He was sitting curled on her back, reigns loose in his hands, looking back, although he hadn't made a motion to jump off. She couldn't see what expression he was making.

Not paying attention to where she was going, Sylvia ran right into someone, knocking them over like a hard, bony bowling pin.

"Woah!" Hater yelled.

"Watch where you're going, miscreant!" Peepers snapped

"Buddies!" Wander exclaimed.

Sylvia stood, watching Hater do the same. The skeleton seemed to have picked up some extra baggage, two furry arms locked around his neck, but he seemed to be ignoring the hug and his passenger as he rose, grumbling.

It was oddly a relief to see Wander latching onto Hater again as though everything was normal.

Sylvia didn't stop long enough to register much else. Once assured no one was hurt, she was off down the corridor again with Peepers and Hater following, the latter with Wander now somehow sitting on his shoulders again. Sylvia wasn't sure whether to be surprised or amused that Hater was letting him stay up there, but she wasn't about to call attention to it.

She could still hear sounds of pursuit, but not as close as before. They must have shaken off the guards immediately behind them. Then, she saw the hatch they came in through.

Grabbing Hater and Peepers and pulling them onto her back, Sylvia put on another burst of speed and barreled through the hatch, the four of them tumbling downward and into the ocean below.

Just in time.

The tilted ship's engines were already glowing. She gave a wallow in the air as though trying to right herself, then the engines seemed to light fully with a roar and the ship shot forward and away.

Sylvia felt herself breathing out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. The speed with which the ship had departed was worrying. They had gotten out very quickly and still barely made it. If they hadn't, they would have been stuck on that ship in deep space, which was probably exactly what Lady Infinite had wanted.

Still, they had made it out. She glanced around at her bedraggled companions.

Hater was busy complaining that he hadn't gotten to zap the villain, which Sylvia couldn't really blame him for, as she felt much the same.

Peepers seemed to be thinking hard, likely analyzing what had happened with the limited information he had.

Wander was still sitting on Hater's shoulders, mostly out of the water. He seemed completely relaxed and happy again, waving to the departed ship, then chatting to Hater like normal, to which the skeleton replied with a series of grunts and grumbles. If Sylvia hadn't seen for herself how the little nomad had been acting earlier she wouldn't have believed it.

She found herself smiling.

"Well, I've got to admit, Peeps," she offered, putting a wet hand on the watchdog's shoulder and almost giving him another dunking, "that was some first-rate sabotage!"

Pushing her hand off of him, Peepers sniffed.

"Naturally," he said. "That is what we were there for. I notice you and the furry freak didn't manage to find your way to a control room or do much damage to speak of. What exactly were you doing while Lord Hater and I completed the mission?"

"Meeting her ladyship." Sylvia kept her voice flat.

"Wait, what?"

The zbornak let Peepers gape for a moment, and then reached over to grab Wander from off of Hater's shoulders, plunking the soggy ball of orange fur onto her back. "Let's go dry off and make sure everyone's okay," she decided.

She swam off, ignoring the shouted questions from behind her as Peepers tried to get information on what the villain had been like. Not that she was going to leave him hanging forever. She'd answer him eventually, but right now, she needed something to eat and a towel. She desperately wanted to feel dry.

And they had some friends to check on.

"Okay, here we go. Just ask him. He's Wander; he'll be fine answering."

Sylvia paced back and forth down the wooden corridor. She glanced over at the door to Wander's room, but found herself hesitating to knock. Normally, what she'd said would be true, and she wouldn't be worrying about asking anything of her buddy, but she found herself a little at a loss as to how to bring up this particular subject.

When they had first gotten back to the Star Nomad and climbed abord, it had been to thunderous cheers. Their friends had all seen them escape the ship, and the subsequent retreat of the giant, metal monster, and had drawn their own conclusions. Hater had tried to act casual, but Sylvia could tell he loved the attention, while Peepers had seemed pretty uncomfortable about the whole thing.

Fortunately, there hadn't been too much structural damage to their own vessel, though one mast was badly cracked and the railings were broken in many places. There were some repair crews working on that right now.

There also hadn't been too many injuries, which was a relief. A few aliens had gotten injured by falling debris or been knocked about when the cannon had shaken the ship, but Lady Infinite hadn't sent down any soldiers to attack directly, or used any more targeted or lethal weapons, which was fortunate. Sylvia still wasn't all that sure what weapons she actually had access to, although all of them seemed to be somewhat outdated, especially according to Peepers. She might not have any other main weapons, or she might have just been using the cannon because of its effect on Wander.

Sylvia had been tired after everything, but had dutifully gone with Wander, Jeff and a few of their other friends on another trek to the underwater city to check on it and its inhabitants, and had found the place shaken and with lots of new structural damage, as well as quite a few injured parties. They'd spent a long time down there helping the citizens in the most need, and Sylvia was dropping by the time they made it back to their ship once more.

She'd slept deeply that night, despite all the questions knocking around in her head.

This morning, those questions seemed more pressing than ever, and she didn't think they could wait much longer.

She'd picked a time when Hater was elsewhere, not wanting the skeleton lord to get in the way. He was currently off with Peepers somewhere plotting or something, which was fine. It at least gave her a little privacy for the moment.

She'd also had to make sure Wander was actually in his room, which had been harder. He always seemed to be elsewhere on the ship helping someone. She'd finally seen him head back there with a comb and brush and followed him at a distance.

Now, here she was, trying to summon the resolve to talk to her best friend about everything and, for the first time, she wasn't sure how to go about it.

If Wander had had a past with Lady Infinite that was bothering him, she didn't want to force him to relive any unpleasant memories. Seeing him worried and quiet had concerned her. Not that Wander never worried about things, especially when Dominator had all but destroyed the galaxy, she had seen him sad, worried, even frightened, but seeing him worrying just because of a particular villain was strange. It made her wonder what that villain had done previously, who she had hurt. She didn't want to push her pal into talking about something he wasn't comfortable with.

At the same time, however, she felt like she needed to know what was going on. If the villain had hurt Wander in the past and had the potential to still hurt him, she needed to be aware of that for the next time they encountered her, and she was sure there would be a next time. Lady Infinite had been pretty clear that she was after Wander, and that she was willing to attack others to get to him. She was going to keep showing up, once she got her ship fixed, and they had to be prepared before she descended on them or tried to hunt down her buddy again.

Sylvia wasn't about to let that happen; any of it, but she needed more information. She didn't even know why the villain was after Wander, although she'd gathered it wasn't because she hated him or wanted to destroy him. If anything, it seemed kind of like the opposite. She seemed like she'd been trying to capture him because she wanted him for something. She'd even said she missed him, although that might have just been the way bad guys 'missed' their prisoners when they escaped.

The zbornak sighed.

It was useless to sit here and speculate. She had to talk to Wander.

She just hoped he'd feel comfortable enough to answer.

She stepped forward and knocked.

"Come on in!" Wander called cheerfully. "The door's open!"

There was a spitting, scratching noise, then the hiss of acid. Sylvia pushed the door open and was almost bowled over by Captain Tim as the little monstrosity scrambled over her and fled down the corridor. Sylvia had just time to notice how glossy his spiky black fur was, as well as the yellow bow he was wearing. She shook her head and went inside, to find Wander putting the grooming items back in his hat and arranging a rug over the acid scoring in the floorboards.

"Hi Sylvia!" Wander beamed up at her, and Sylvia found herself smiling back the way she always did. His smiles were just so warm and genuine. How had there been a time before the two of them were friends, a time when she hadn't trusted that smile? "You feelin' better this morning?" Wander asked. "Ya looked a might tired last night."

"I really was. Surprised you weren't, to be honest." Sylvia sat on the wooden bench by the door, glancing around at the small living area. It looked pretty much like the other cabins she'd seen on the ship. Not as big as hers, which had space for a table and cabinet and all the maps and tools she was using to navigate the ship, but she could tell Wander had been adding some personal touches.

There were some bright curtains framing the porthole, and a framed picture of the skull-ship, which he'd probably gotten for Hater. There was also only one hammock, and a make-shift bed was taking up one side of the room next to a basket that was certainly for Captain Tim. The bed was neatly made, by Wander, she was sure, but he almost certainly wasn't the one sleeping in it.

"Well, I was a little tired, but there were an awful lot of folks who needed help and…" he shrugged good-naturedly.

"It never hurts to help?"

"Exactly! But I got to sleep eventually." He sat down beside her, legs swinging as he smiled up at her from under his hat. "So, what can I do for ya, Sylvia? Do you need any help?"

"A little, I guess." Sylvia took a deep breath before turning seriously to her friend. "I haven't asked too much about your past, and you haven't asked about mine, at least for the most part," she started. "I know that's not anything we ever agreed on, but I don't really like talking about that time in my life, and I was always grateful that you respected that."

Even mentioning it was a little difficult as it turned out. Sylvia hated thinking about the person she'd been before meeting Wander. She'd been in a really dark place and she hadn't even known it; she'd just thought it was normal, that the universe was what she thought of it. And she didn't like thinking about their first couple of days together either, when she'd been dragging him along with her, snapping at him and thinking about all the money she'd get for turning him in. Wander had never pushed her about her past, never tried to make her talk about that. He'd been ecstatic when she opened up to him about small things, or took him to meet her family, but he'd never tried to get to her tell him more than she was comfortable with.

She'd never really thought to ask him more about his past, both because it would be a little hypocritical of her, not being willing to share her own, and because she didn't really think about it that much. It seemed like Wander had aways been the way he was, happy and helpful and chaotic, just traveling around making the universe a better place. She'd learned a few things about him, like finding out he'd actually stolen that magic hat of his and why, but she'd never tried to pry or even really wondered about all the rest; where he came from, what planet, what species, the places he'd traveled and the things he'd seen. She didn't even know how old he was or if he had any family, but those had never felt like things she needed to know.

Both of them had been content with what the other offered as they traveled together through this crazy galaxy.

Wander's smile was gentler now, and he put one furry hand on her arm, giving it a small squeeze.

"O' course, Sylvia! I'll always respect m' best buddy's privacy." He seemed to think for a moment, and then his eyes got huge and glittery, as he clasped his hands under his chin. "Does this mean yer gonna tell me some childhood stories? I was really hopin' ta hear some when we went ta visit yer family, but they didn't seem ta wanna share. How 'bout when ya lost yer first tooth, or saw yer first flower, or, ooooo! Mebbe a song Ms. Dorothy used ta sing when you were a li'l –"

"No, no, nothing like that!" Sylvia waved her hands desperately in denial. She should have known that was the stuff Wander was most interested in. "Actually, buddy, I kind of want to ask you some stuff, if you don't mind, of course."

Wander deflated momentarily at the loss of potential baby stories, before recovering.

"Well, sure, Syl! I'm always happy to share with my sister-from-another-mister!"

"Heh, yeah." Sylvia chuckled briefly, glancing around the room again before turning back to him. She took one more deep breath, for luck.

"You know that villain we met; Lady Infinite?"

Wander nodded. So far, so good.

"She's…quite something, isn't she?"

Wander nodded again. His hands had found their way to his lap where he twiddled the thumbs together.

"She sure is! Ol' Lady I always was big on decoratin'; likes ta be pretty an' own pretty things. Thinks it makes 'er seem more impressive 'r regal or somethin'. I've tried ta tell her she doesn't need all that stuff on the surface, but I guess she's still pretty set on it."

That wasn't quite what Sylvia had meant, but she decided to roll with it and hope it would take her somewhere useful.

"You said 'always.' How long have you known her?"

Wander's eyes slid away from her, around the room to settle on the hands in his lap. He hummed quietly to himself for a moment as though thinking. Now he definitely seemed quieter than before, energy dampened, and Sylvia felt herself swallow.

"Not sure how many years it's been," Wander said softly. "Specially as we'll go fer a long time between seein' each other."

"Well, what was it like when you first met her?" Sylvia tried. She knew from experience how hard it could be to tease detailed information out of Wander, not because he was purposefully evasive, but because he didn't always explain things the way you would expect. It was like he thought a little differently from everyone else. Details that seemed important to her would escape his notice, and he'd focus on the strangest things. In this case, he also seemed a little hesitant to talk about Lady Infinite, despite his assurances. She had to be patient and help him along.

Wander seemed to be thinking again, smile dimming and eyes going distant.

"That was an awful long time ago, an' it might be kinda long." His eyes flicked to the porthole, where the setting sun was painting the sea orange and pink. "I aughta start supper soon. Maybe I can tell you afterward." He started to stand.

Sylvia wrapped one arm around his thin shoulders, keeping him sitting and causing him look back at her.

"At least tell me some of it, and then I'll help you with supper," she promised. At a sudden thought, she found herself asking "Why did she call you Minstrel?"

Wander chucked, but it was a strange chuckle, not as joyful as she was used to.

"Well, guess that's as good a place as any ta start."

Sylvia nodded, giving her buddy her full attention as he sat back and took a deep breath of his own, before beginning.

Thanks for reading!

Sylvia's in an unfamiliar situation with her buddy.

Hope you enjoyed some of the aftermath of our villain encounter. I'm sure she'll show up again soon, and hopefully we will get to learn a little more about her.

Next chapter, we will likely get some information from Wander, but we'll have to see how much he's able to share.

I will probably be updating Fighting The Tide next. We're in the middle of a party over there!

See you soon!