Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Cosmica, look out!"

The girl turned around just in time to see another man behind her. Before she could get a good look, though, he grabbed her by the hand and started to pull her away.

"Fire at him now!" He shouted to no one in particular.

"What are you doing?!" Cosmica snapped at him. "You're gonna kill him! Leave me alone!" He ignored her and kept dragging her away from him. She screamed and cried until he finally let her go and spun her around to face him.

"Listen to me, Cosmica," he said sternly.

"How do you know-"

“That’s not important right now,” he told her. “What is important is that we need to get you away from here.”

“What? Why?”

“You’re in great danger,” he explained. “Come with me, and I’ll explain everything more in detail.”

“But what about-”

“There’s no time to save him!”

“Why not?!" She shouted. "I can go back and get him right now! Please! I love him, I can't just let him die!"

"You don't love him, for God's sake!" He yelled. Then, calmer, he continued, "You think you love him. You've been lead to believe that. Don't you see what you've been doing? You've destroyed countless amounts of spacecrafts, you've killed millions of innocent people!"

"Oh come on, there's no way I could've..." Her voice trailed off as she backtracked through the past months. It suddenly dawned upon her that she actually had killed innocent people. "Oh no," she whispered. "What have I done?"

"That doesn't matter now," he told her. "What matters now is fixing the problem."

"What about him?" She asked. "Is it possible to save him?" He shook his head.

"It's too risky. If you go back with him, he might begin to influence you again."

"Is that what he was doing?"

"It wasn't his fault. I suspect he was being controlled by the Necrostar." She didn't say anything, knowing that her love was dying as they spoke, if he wasn't already dead. Had she even loved him to begin with? Or was that just an illusion too? Her thoughts were cut off by a voice coming from the other's suit.

"Commander Cosmo, come in." Cosmo? Where had she heard that name before? He fumbled around for a second as the voice repeated itself.

"Commander Cosmo, come in. This is Space Militia 10." Cosmo finally got ahold of his walkie-talkie and spoke into it.

"Earth to Space Militia 10, this is Commander Cosmo," he said. Earth? He was from Earth?

"It's good to hear from you, Commander," The voice said. "The Astronaut has been eliminated, your plan did seem to work, sir." Cosmica's heart sunk. It was too late to save him.

"Once they were separated I got her to see reason," he said quietly, turning away from her. "She let him die."

What? No I didn't! She thought, but didn't say anything.

"What about her? Is she eliminated as well?"

They were planning to kill me?

"Don't worry about her, she's with me," he said, turning to face her again. "General, there's something out here. I'm going to need your recruit of new heroes."

"Heroes? You mean like yourself? Wh-who did you have in mind, Commander?" He paused for a second, his expression hardening. He seemed to be examining Cosmica for some reason.

"All of them," he said finally.

"All of them? Are you sure? The portals might not be able to handle-"

"Yes, I'm sure!" He snapped. "Get all of them, send them to my ship."

"...Alright. Good luck, Commander." And then a click.

"We're gonna need it," he muttered as he put his walkie-talkie away.

"Wh... who was that?" Cosmica asked. "Why do you need me? What are you even doing?" Cosmo sighed.

"Look, Necrostar is up to no good. Apparently, I wasn't enough for him, so he went after your little friend. But now that he's dead, he's gonna want someone else to bother. And all signs are pointing to you. I'm gathering a team of heroes to kill him before he can succeed in his plan. I want you to be one of those heroes."

"Me..? But I'm not heroic!" She blurted.

"What? What makes you think so?"

"Look at all I've done! I've killed so many people and ruined countless amounts of lives! I let myself be controlled by one person, and now you're trying to stop me from being controlled by another? I should be thrown right in Necrostar's path! That'd be quite a fitting punishment for someone who killed people!" She continued to ramble on as Cosmo watched. When she was finally done, he asked calmly, "Cosmica, do you believe in second chances?"

"Yeah, I guess..." She said. "Only if they deserve it, though."

"Exactly. You, in my eyes, didn't do anything wrong. You were taken advantage of. You had little to no control over what you were doing. You probably didn't even know what you were doing. That's why I want to give you a second chance. And besides, you've done heroic things before."

"Like what?"

"You might not remember them now, so I won't mention them. But you'll know soon enough. Now come on, we have to get back to the ship. We're gonna have company soon." He held out his hand, a gesture for her to take it. She simply frowned and started off on her own. Cosmo sighed. This was going to be a lot of work.

==>

When they did finally get back, there was already someone waiting for them. He sauntered around the place like he owned it, his white hat slightly crooked on his head. Cosmica didn't know him, but Cosmo recognized him immediately.

"You?!" He shouted. The other turned around to face him.

"Me!" He replied, a crooked grin on his face. "Yeah, I got some transmission through The Alexander sayin' I should come here... And you are?"

"You know who I am, Starburner," he spat, adding extra emphasis on the last word. "Who sent you here?"

"I dunno, some guy!" He said, shrugging. "What'd he say, he was from, uh... Space Army 10 or something?"

"Space Militia 10," he said, correcting him. "They seriously think you're a hero? What heroic things have you ever done?"

"Hey, hey, don't assume things so fast! You know what they say about assuming: it makes an-"

"I know what they say about assuming," he said quickly, stopping him.

"Anyways, I've done lotsa heroic things! I got Steam Powered Giraffe to go fight the Space Giant- which was freaking awesome, by the way; I got a Moon Prince to fall in love with me; hell, I even got you out of the Necrostar!" What the hell was this guy talking about?

"You blew him up!" He yelled. "And now he's on the loose because of you!"

"No, I'm pretty sure he's dead," the other replied calmly. "Blowing people up kills them, right?"

"Okay, but Necrostar is not human, okay? He's a dangerous, power-hungry, soul-sucking monster! What about that is so hard to understand?!"

"Boys, please, you're both pretty," Cosmica cut in. "Can we please act like professionals here?"

"I still don't understand why he's here..." Cosmo muttered, heading off into another room. Starburner wandered away in the opposite direction, and Cosmica decided to follow Cosmo into what appeared to be a cabin room of sorts.

"Why are you so uptight about this Starburner guy?" She asked. He sighed, sitting down on one of the cots.

"He's reckless," he explained. "If you take your eyes off him for just a second, he could do anything. Hell, he could be setting fire to the ship right now and we'd never know."

"I trust him," she said blatantly. Cosmo stared at her.

"You- what?"

"I said I trust him," she repeated. "He's got heart. I can see him being heroic." Cosmo just scoffed.

"Yeah, okay," he replied, rolling his eyes. He nodded over to another wall of cots on the opposite end of the room. "Feel free to take any one you want," he said.

Cosmica nodded in compliance and climbed up to the top bunk. It wasn't as uncomfortable as it looked. She could find herself falling asleep pretty easily on this, actually. She adjusted the blankets a little, and fluffed up her pillow. But as she was about to lie down to test it out, she noticed something purple sticking out of the side of the pillowcase.

She looked up. Cosmo had left without her noticing. She glanced around to make sure no one else was around before flipping the pillow over and taking the hidden item out. Or as it turned out, items.

She pulled out first a purple and pink box, with blue markings in the center. "VQ," it read. On closer inspection, she saw smaller words written in white on the top. "Steam Powered Giraffe: The Vice Quadrant, A Space Opera." Opera? Vice Quadrant? She had been to the Vice Quadrant before, but she didn't find anything particularly dramatic about it.

Next, a pair of headphones. White. She smiled a little and put them aside with the space opera thing. And finally, some sort of circular device. She pressed a button, and the top part opened. Opening up the box, she found another circle thing, flatter this time. It looked like a disc of sorts. Looking back inside the first one, she noticed a hole that lined up with the thing inside the box. Curious, she put the disc inside the device, closing the top again. Then she found the hole to plug in the headphones, and put them on her ears. Finally, she pressed the little ‘play’ button on the side of the device.

Music suddenly flooded Cosmica’s ears, and she was taken a bit off guard by it. She didn’t stop it, though. She kinda liked it. She laid down on her cot, closing her eyes and envisioning the stars as the music continued on. It felt comfortable, like home. It reminded her of when she had been with him, flying around space without a care in the world. She smiled a little, remembering happy times from what seemed like so long ago. The music entranced her, and she almost found herself singing along, though she was positive she had never heard this song before.

“There must be something more to life than this vice…”

Chapter Text

Cosmica slowly opened her eyes. Had she fallen asleep? The music was still going, but it looked like she missed a lot. Someone was singing, and the music was very quiet. The voice sounded familiar.

"Even when the moon shatters the tide, I will follow you through the pain.. I can always count on you through everything..." he sang. Cosmica frowned. She knew that voice, she knew she did. But she couldn't place her finger on it.

"And you'll keep me moving on.. like a soliton, a soliton, a soliton.." Her frown grew. He sounded so sad. But it was a nice song, why was he sad?

"Cosmica!" Another voice called. Cosmica quickly stopped the music and took off her headphones.

"Y-yeah?" She called back.

"I need you right now!" The other voice said. It was just Cosmo. She sighed, stuffing the items back in her pillowcase before running into the other room.

"What's wro-" she stopped at the sight of the two people in front of her. One of them was Cosmo, that was easy enough to see. But the other one, she didn't know. He leaned against Cosmo, looking incredibly sick. In his stomach, a gaping hole.

"What happened to him?" She asked.

"This is Albert," Cosmo said. "He was brought to us through the portal system, but as you can obviously see, he's not doing so well. I need you to heal him."

"Wh- me?! Why?!"

"You can heal, can't you?" He replied, shoving Albert at her. She caught him and shot a dirty look at Cosmo before bringing him to the cabin room.

Cosmica pulled out a cot and laid the man there. "Can you speak?" She asked, moving his bangs out of the way of his eyes. "What's your name?" He coughed a few times and what looked like a mixture of blood and water came out.

"A...Albert," he said quietly. "Albert Alexander."

"Okay, Mister Alexander, tell me what you remember of what happened to you."

"It's 'Captain'," he corrected. "I.. I can't remember much of it. I remember, my ship was goin' down, and I wanted ta' stay.. c-cause a man goes down wit' his ship. An' I remember goin' down in the water.. something stabbed me. F-from the back. Then, next thing I know, I'm here." Cosmica nodded.

"Okay, I'm gonna try to fix you up, okay?" She said. Albert nodded, and she began work on surrounding him with an energy field. When she had finished, she went back into the main room where Cosmo was waiting.

"He's finished," she said. "He'll be okay. Up on his feet by tomorrow morning."

"What had happened to him?" Cosmo asked.

"His ship sank," she replied. "Something got him in the back, I'm guessing a piece of his ship. If he's from where and when I think he is, his ship would've most likely been wooden, and that splinters easily. And in big chunks like that..." It was quiet for a long time after that. Cosmica considered telling him about the album she had found in her bed, but before she said anything, Starburner sauntered in.

"Hey, what're you guys doin' looking all gloomy like that?" He asked. "C'mon, I got Booplax here!"

"Who's Boopla-" Cosmica started, but was cut off by a loud "BOOPLAX" coming from the other room. The yell was followed by a four-armed creature, who ran through the room and circled the cowboy's feet a few times before he picked it up.

"This is Booplax," he said.

"What the hell is that thing?!" Cosmo practically shrieked, standing. "What is it doing here? Why do you have it? No, wait- never mind, just get it out of here!"

"Hey! Booplax is a 'he,' got it? Not 'it.' 'He.'" Cosmo rolled his eyes in disgust. He opened his mouth to complain more, but someone else ran in. A robot. Tall, made of a silvery metal, and looking extremely worried.

"Rav, I told you bringing Booplax on the ship would be a bad idea.." He said.

"C'mon, Gidget, don't worry about it," Rav replied. "Cosmo's cool with it."

"I am not cool with it!" Cosmo shouted. "Get Booplax out of here, now."

"Fine, rude.." Rav muttered, handing the creature over to Gidget, who carried him out of the room.

"Who's that?" Cosmica asked.

"Oh, you mean Gidget?" Rav said. "He's just a robot buddy of mine. Kinda a buzz kill though." He made his way over to Cosmica, kneeling down so that he was eye level with her.

"Hey, Cosmica, wanna see somethin' cool?" He asked.

"Okay..?" She replied cautiously. A grin split across his face and he took her by the hand, leading her out of the room.

They made their way into a room at the other end of the ship, the walls lined with huge windows. Outside, you could see space for miles.

"Beautiful, ain't it?" Rav said. "All those stars... I wish I could see all of them."

"Yeah.." Cosmica sighed a little. "I never really thought about it till now. But exploring space without destroying things for once would be pretty nice."

"Wait- you blow stuff up too?" He said, turning to face her.

"Well, I did," she replied. "I don't anymore. Wait, what do you mean, 'too'?"

"Well, did you think my last name was 'Starburner' for nothing?"

"Well, yeah.."

"I blow stuff up for a livin'," Rav explained. "Mostly stars, planets, moons, stuff like that. I'm like a space assassin!"

"I thought you were a cowboy," Cosmica pointed out.

"Well, that too," Rav replied. "What is that then, a space cowboy planet-slash-star-slash-moon assassin?" Cosmica snickered.

"Yeah, I guess so," she said, smiling. "That's gotta be a mouthful, though."

"It'll strike fear in the hearts of my enemies!" He declared, doffing his hat.

"'Don't mess with Rav Starburner, he's a space cowboy planet-slash-star-slash-moon assassin!'" She joked, which earned a laugh from Rav.

"Yeah, pretty much," he said, sighing contentedly. "That'd be enough to scare Gidget, at least." Cosmica wanted to say something, but her thoughts were cut off short by Cosmo calling her again.

"What is it now?" She grumbled, turning to leave.

"Uh- Cosmica, wait," Rav said, grabbing her arm. She turned to look at him, and his grip loosened slightly. "C-could we maybe do this again sometime?" He asked sheepishly. "I like hangin' out with ya." Cosmica smiled at him.

"Sure," she replied. "Tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow," Rav agreed, nodding. He let go of her arm, and she went back into the main room to go see what was going on now.

"Where's Starburner?" Cosmo asked.

"Wh- he's in the other room," she said. "I was just with him."

"Go get him, then," he hissed. Cosmo swallowed nervously before running into the other room to get Rav.

"Mind explaining why there's two of you?" Cosmo demanded once they had returned.

"Two of me?" Rav said, confused. "Jeez, I knew I was well known, but I didn't think there'd be cosplayers of-"

"That's not what I mean!" Cosmo snapped. "He looks like you, talks like you, even acts like you to some extent, but he doesn't know you. Who is he, why is he here?"

"I dunno!" Rav replied. "I never met another one of me who didn't know me, that doesn't even make any sense!"

"Let us see him," Cosmica said. "Maybe he'll be able to know who it is if he actually met him, hm?" Her voice had a tinge of annoyance to it. She was beginning to get fed up with Cosmo's stubbornness. He sighed.

"Fine," he said, going off into the kitchen and bringing back a new person.

Cosmo was right, he did look exactly like Rav. Except taller, a harder look on his face, and much more handsome. Wait, what? Cosmica shook her head. She didn't find him handsome, nope, not at all. Rav, on the other hand, looked like he was about to explode from excitement.

"It-it's you," he said quietly. "I can't believe it." The man looked down at him, a look of confusion on his face, but smiling nontheless.

"It's me," he said nervously. "And who might you be?"

"I-I'm Rav," Rav stuttered out. "Rav Starburner. I'm a huge fan, sir. No, wait- I'm your biggest fan!" The other cowboy chuckled.

"They all say that, bud," he said. "But I'll believe you. And how do ya even know me? This seems a bit... far from my hometown.."

"Oh man, you don't even know the half of it!" Rav exclaimed. "I based my whole life offa you! The hat, the cowboy thing- you're into robots and stuff, right?" He nodded. "I got myself an entire robot! A-and I know you got the robot arm thing," he continued, pointing to his own arm.

"Uh, as much as we love hearing about our new visitor," Cosmica cut in, "who exactly are you?"

"Oh- I never did introduce myself, did I?" The man said. "The name's Re-"

"Rex Marksley!" Rav said, finishing his sentence. "The rootin-est tootin-est cowboy in all the Wild Wild West!"

"Well, I wouldn't call myself the 'rootin-est tootin-est'..." Rex said modestly. Rav laughed a little, patting the other on the back.

"Shut up, you're awesome," he said under his breath.

"Well, in any case, it's a pleasure to meet ya," the other cowboy said, smiling down at Cosmica. "And you are, darlin?"

"O-oh! My name is Cosmica," she said, slightly flustered. "It's very nice to meet you, Mr. Marksley." Cosmo took this as his cue to enter the conversation.

"And I'm Commander Cosmo," he said, doing his best to remain composed among a group of people who had no idea what they were doing. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well." Rex lowered his hat slightly as he continued to watch Cosmica.

"Pardon me for staring," he said after he caught himself. "I just.. has anyone told you how beautiful you are?"

"M-me?" She stammered.

"Yes, you," he replied. "What, did you think I was talking to one of these two?" Cosmica laughed as Rav and Cosmo gave Rex offended looks behind his back.

"What do you say we get outta here?" Rex said, bending down so that the two were eye level.

"Oh- uh, sure," Cosmica said, taking his hand. "I actually know a great place here we can hang out..." Rav stood watching them as they went off, bewildered.

"Did.. did Cosmica just charm my childhood hero and steal my spot with her?" He said.

"How is it 'your spot with her'?" Cosmo said. "You went there once with her."

"And she said she'd do it again!" Rav replied, spinning around to face him. Cosmo sighed.

"Look, I don't really like you, so I honestly don't know why I'm giving you advice, but just wait a little and see if it all boils over. It probably won't last more than a day."

"Yeah, you're right," Rav said. "I'll just give it some time."

He wandered off back into the cabin room, sitting down on his bed. On the other side of the room was another column of cots, one of which was occupied by the resting captain, who was covered in a purple haze. Cosmica's work, probably. Looking up to the top of the column, he spotted her cot, blankets strewn everywhere. Her pillow was a mess as well. Yeesh, she must be a wild sleeper.

He looked down at his own pillow before flopping down on it, annoyed at the whole day. As he laid down, though, he heard a clatter noise. He sat up again and turned the pillow upside down, making its contents fall out.

A CD player. Headphones, white. A purple and pink box reading 'VQ' in big white letters.

"VQ?" Rav muttered to himself. "Isn't that the name of SPG's new..." His voice trailed off as he read the smaller white letters.

"Oh my god," he whispered. "It really is.." He hastily put the CD in the player and plugged the headphones in, pressing play as soon as they were on his head.

A single voice appeared- he recognized it as Rabbit. Soon, the other two bots joined in, and the music began. This was a little dark for them, wasn't it? Rav shrugged it off and kept listening, eagerly curling up into a ball on his bed and soaking in every word the automatons sang, as if they were written for him personally.

"And the Vice does thrive, though it's been deprived, and the Vice will gnaw with its cosmic maw... The Vice Does Tight!"

Chapter Text

"DAMN IT!" Rav shouted out and kicked his cot, which only made his foot hurt. "Ow.."

"Oi, can ye maybe not yell so loud?" Albert said, rubbing his temple. He had healed overnight due to Cosmica's magic, but he still had a raging headache for some reason.

"Sorry," Rav said, sitting down on his cot. "I'm just mad."

"Well, I can see that," the other replied. "You definitely are mad. But what's got ye so angry?" It took Rav a second to process what the sailor had said before he scowled at him.

"It's Cosmica," he explained. "She promised me we'd hang out today, but she's been off doin' who-knows-what with Rex Marksley."

"Looks like both me an' you got somethin' against her then. That girl said she'd fix my headache three hours ago!" Albert replied. "My head is killin' me!"

"Maybe Cosmo should get off his lazy butt and tell her somethin'," Rav muttered. Albert laughed inside his mouth, getting up and sitting next to him.

"Boy," he said, patting him on the back, "we got a lot in common, y'know that?" Rav smiled as Cosmica walked in.

"Oh hey there, Cosmica," Rav said, his voice dripping with sarcasm and annoyance. "We were just talkin' 'bout you!"

"I don't wanna hear it," Cosmica muttered, heading over to the far wall and climbing up to her cot.

"What's wrong, little space princess?" Albert taunted. "Busy day with your cowboy over there?"

"I said I don't want to hear it!" She shouted, her usual purple glow flashing red for the shortest of seconds. "Apparently Rex Marksley is the clingiest little... bug ever! I haven't gotten a moment of rest since I said hi to him at breakfast this morning."

"Yeah, he whisked you away faster than Cosmo was whisking that pancake batter," Rav replied, only earning a glare from Cosmica. "Ain't as great as he seems, is he then?" He continued quickly.

"No," Cosmica replied. "Though I don't know why you wanna prove that, considering he's your childhood hero."

"Wh- Crap! Why?! No!" Rav stood and kicked his cot again, ignoring the pain in his foot. "Why can't Cosmo's childhood hero be a jerk, huh?!" And with that, he stormed out of the room.

"Cosmica!" Another voice called from the main room. Cosmica groaned and sat up.

"What?!" She shouted back.

"We have a new visito- crap. Make that two!" Cosmica rolled off her cot in exaggerated exhaustion.

"Fiiiinnneeee!" She called, standing. Walking out of the room, she muttered to herself, "I'll kill him one of these days."

In the main room, Cosmo stood, holding a girl in one arm and frantically trying to patch up a boy who was leaning against the wall with the other.

"Cosmica, I could really use your help here," he said. "Neither of them are doing so good. I don't know how much longer the girl has either..." The girl in his arms was out cold, and looked deathly pale as well.

"Sh.. she has a name, y'know," the boy snapped.

"And who might you be?" Cosmica asked,taking the bandages from Cosmo and putting them to the side.

"Jimmy," he replied. "Wh-why do you care?"

"I'm Cosmica," she said, ignoring him. "I'm gonna try to make you better, okay?" She took his arm and slung it over her shoulders, taking him to the cabin room. Albert was lying on his cot, sitting up when he saw the two come in.

"What're you doin'?" He asked curiously. Cosmica placed Jimmy down on a cot and placed an energy field over him. The boy fell asleep instantly.

"Fixing Jimmy," she replied.

"Oh, so ye can fix me now then?" Albert asked.

"No," Cosmica said, already leaving the room. She returned a few moments later with the girl, who was small and light enough to carry. "I've kinda got other problems, if you couldn't tell." She put her on another cot, assessing her damage before putting up another energy field.

"C'mon, it ain't a big deal!" Albert complained. "It's jus' a headache!"

"You're giving me a headache," Cosmica muttered.

"Then fix me so I'll shut up," he bargained.

"I have other ways of doing that," she replied, her hands balling into fists.

"I was in the Navy," he said.

"I have magic," she contested.

"I have ties to Rex Marksley. I can get him to lay offa ya." Cosmica sighed reluctantly.

"Fine," she said. "Hold your breath." And with that, she put up yet another energy field around Albert's head. "Give it an hour or so. And you can breathe now." Albert, whose face was turning blue, let out a huge sigh.

"Thought ye were gonna make me hold my breath for an hour, heh," he said. Cosmica said nothing and left the room. She sat down next to Cosmo in the kitchen, putting her head down on the table.

"I hate you, you know that?" She said, her voice muffled.

"What did I do?" Cosmo said, immediately on the defense.

"You're making me put up multiple energy fields at once," she replied. "There's a reason they're called 'energy fields', I hope you know that. They use energy to heal the person it's surrounding. But it's gotta get that energy from somewhere, right? Where do you think it comes from, Cosmo? The source. Me. I had to put up three at once. And with Rex Marksley over there acting like a three year-old, I've never been this tired before in my life."

"Well, do you expect me to just let innocent people die?" Cosmo retorted. "I can't do that! I-I'm Commander Cosmo, damn it! It's in my blood to help people!"

"Last time I checked, you were retired," Cosmica said. "Handle your own visitors from now on. I'm getting some rest. Finally." And with that, she stood and left, heading to the cabin room. Albert was still on Rav's cot, inspecting something in his pillowcase.

"Hey Cosmica?" He said, pulling something out.

"What?" She replied, climbing up to her cot.

"Do ya know of a, uhm, 'Steam Powered Giraffe'?" Cosmica froze.

"Wh-what about them?" She asked.

"Rav's got a whole buncha stuff of theirs in his pillowcase," Albert explained. "It's some music of sorts? 'Album One', 'Two Cent Show', 'MK III'.. What's 'The Vice Quadrant'?"

"A place in space," she replied dully. "We're not too far from it, actually. And it's not important to you, or Rav, for that matter. Give me that."

"Well, what makes you all so important that ye can make me give ya this?" He said. "I'm my own independent man, an' I can do what I want wit' this! As in, not give it to you."

"Albert, give me it," Cosmica commanded.

"No," Albert replied firmly.

"Give me the pillow!" She shouted, glowing red once again. Albert swallowed dryly and handed the pillow over. Cosmica dumped all its contents out onto the bed and gave it back.

"Was that so hard?" She said, flopping down on her cot again. Without waiting for a reply, she put on her headphones and turned her own copy of 'Vice Quadrant' on, full blast. She closed her eyes and focused on the lyrics, wanting to block out the world around her.

"This is Flight Engineer Dwight- Ground Control, do you read? The explosion, it hit Walter! Hit him right in the chest!" Cosmica frowned. Who was this Walter guy? Never heard of him before... Only in that one song about the satellite. Was he important?

"Ground Control? This is Walter. I'm bringin' Dwight back home." Cosmica sat up. Something about the man on the soundtrack sounded absurdly like...

"Commander Cosmo saves the day, a hero overnight! He-”

"NO!" Cosmica yelled, throwing off her headphones. The CD player went with it, and both hit the wall and fell onto the floor.

"Cosmica, you okay?" Rav asked, resting his head on the edge of her bed. She jumped at the sound of his voice.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” she replied, sighing. “I just… need a little break from music. And Cosmo. And Albert. And Rex. And pretty much life in general.” She smiled faintly at him.

“What were ya listenin’ to?” he said, going to pick up the CD player for her and handing it over. The CD itself had fallen out, and he picked that up as well. He was about to give it to her before he realized what it was.

“Oh. My. God. You like SPG?” He seemed shocked.

“Well, I mean, yeah? Kind of? I.. only really have that album,” Cosmica confessed.

“What? You haven't heard the others?” She shook her head. “Well, then you're missing out! I gotta show you the others; you gotta get to know the bots!” He reached under his pillowcase and felt around for a second- and looked up at her.

“Wh.. where are all my albums?”

“Oh-! I, uh, I heard you're a fan of them,” she said, “And so I kinda took the others so I could listen to them… Sorry.”

“Oh, that's fine then,” Rav said, climbing up onto Cosmica's bed. “Now we can at least listen together!” He pulled out ‘Album One’ from behind Cosmica and put it in the CD player. “I have earbuds,” he said, pulling them out of his pocket. “We can share!”

They spent the next few hours listening to Steam Powered Giraffe’s entire discography. Rav even had the live albums. The look on his face was like nothing Cosmica had ever seen before. He was so excited over this. He wasn't even this happy when he brought Booplax onto the ship. Though, that didn't really last long, now that she figured it. An idea dawned upon her as the strings of ‘Turn Back the Clock’ started humming.

“Rav, can you pause this for a minute?” She asked. “I gotta do something really quick.” She hopped off the bed and left the room.

“Uh- Bring back some tissues!” Rav called after her.

Chapter Text

Cosmica sat down on the floor in the bathroom. In one hand she held the CD player; in the other, her headphones. Vice Quadrant was already inside, and ‘Commander Cosmo’ was on pause. She wanted to know. She had to know.

She put her headphones on and pressed play.

‘Mister Cosmo, you’re the best! Hello, my name is Sam!’ She laughed softly to herself. How cute... As the song went on, Cosmica found herself being entertained to some extent- she even caught herself smiling a little. But then the music slowed, and her smile started to fade. Cosmo’s voice came on over the music.

‘I just can’t bear to wade through the infinite decades, seeing all those pretty smiles, they’ll burn, they’ll burn…’ She frowned. She’d never thought of being immortal that way. She always thought it was cool- living forever, being able to regenerate, all that cool stuff. But now…

‘Decades flew by, and she would cherish him, no matter his final fate..' Cosmo had a lover? She didn’t think about that either.

‘Find peace inside the black of the dark Necrostar…’

Oh no.

By the time the last notes faded and the song ended, Cosmica had curled up into a ball and was covering her mouth with both hands. The Necrostar, the one that Cosmo had been fighting his whole life.. He let it kill him? What would drive him to that point? What would… She sighed, taking off her headphones. There was more to this. That couldn’t be it. She had to know the truth. She knew she probably shouldn’t, but, she decided she was going to talk to Cosmo.

“Who is it?” Cosmo grumbled from behind his cabin door.

“It’s me,” Cosmica replied. “Can I come in?” She heard a sigh and then a reluctant “Okay.” She opened the door slowly and stepped in. Cosmo was sitting on his bed, reading something. He closed it when she came in.

“What’s up?” Cosmica said, sitting beside him.

“Stressing,” he replied, chuckling.

“Over what?” She teased. “You don’t have anything to worry about.”

“Of course I have stuff to worry about!” He snapped, leaning back against the wall. “I can’t stop thinking about the people who have been coming to us. They’ve all been hurt, all on the brink of death… I-I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I just.. I can’t bear to see people like that. It just.. It sickens me. It’s my job to keep people safe, and seeing them like that.. It makes me feel like I failed them, in a way.” It was quiet for a minute before Cosmica spoke up.

“Wh.. why did you retire..?” She asked. Cosmo sighed.

“I… I realized that I wasn’t fit for it,” he told her. “Being immortal is something you have to really be prepared for, you know? Y-you have to be able to deal with losing the ones you love… Knowing you can’t get attached to anyone, cause no matter how many times you save them, they just…” His voice trailed off.

“...Cosmo?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you have a girlfriend?”

“...Yeah. She was my fiancée, actually. Her name was Holly. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on. She had piercing blue eyes, and long, gorgeous hair, and the sweetest smile… She was kind, too. She was friends with everyone she met. She never had a hateful fiber in her body.” He looked up at her; “You know, you remind me of her, Cosmica.”

“Wh- Me?” She was shocked. “B-but she sounds so nice!”

“And you’re just as nice!” He replied, laughing. Nervously, she started laughing too, and eventually, the two were in hysterics. When the laughter died down, Cosmica wiped a tear from her eye and asked:

“So what happened to her?”

Cosmo grew quiet.

“She, uh…” he started. “I proposed to her, right? And we were happy, but then I had to go and leave, t-to go out here… A-and then I got wrapped up in all that superhero business… The next time I saw her, she…” He sighed. “She was eighty years old and had been married off to another guy by her parents. She didn’t love him. She told me everything. She wanted to be with me. And I told her how sorry I was, but I knew that wouldn’t change anything.

“Then I came back two weeks later, and she… Sh-she…” He held his head in his hands, his voice shaking along with the rest of him.

“Uh- Hey, you don’t have to finish if you don’t wanna,” Cosmica said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Cosmo shook his head.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I shouldn’t be telling you all this.”

“It’s my fault,” she replied. “I asked.” There was a pause before she said, “Y-you know, you can cry if you want.”

“Cry..? N-no, no, I shouldn’t…” His voice trailed off, and he looked up at her. Cosmica held open her arms, offering a hug. He fell into her, sobbing.

“God, this is so unprofessional..” He said as he cried. Cosmica didn’t reply, just held him and whispered soothing things until he was finished.

“Are you okay?” She asked. Cosmo nodded.

“Yeah. Yeah.. Thank you, Cosmica.”

“Hey, it’s no problem,” she replied. The two sat in comfortable silence together for a while. No one spoke, and no one really minded. Though, this was cut short by Cosmica suddenly remembering the other reason why she came here.

“Oh-! Cosmo!” She said. “Can you do me a favor?”

“Uh, sure?”

“Can you let Booplax back onto the ship? Like, let him stay on the ship and all?”

“Okay, I know we just had a moment and all, but don’t push it.”

“No, no, no, it’s for Rav,” she explained. “I was hanging out with him before, and I realized how happy Booplax and Gidget make him. Being alone is bringing him down, Cosmo; he’s depressed!”

“Sure doesn’t seem like it.”

“You haven’t seen him when he’s happy, that’s why. His entire face lights up, it’s wonderful. He’s happy, and it makes you happy by extension. We have to bring them back on the ship. Please?” Cosmo glanced over her for a second before sighing.

“Fine, whatever.” Cosmica squealed excitedly and hugged him.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,” she whispered. “He’s gonna be so happy.” Then she realized something and sat up straight- “Crap, I gotta tell him! Be right back, okay?” And without waiting for a response, she ran off.

When Cosmica returned to the cabin room, the lights were off and the door was closed. Jeez, had she really been gone that long? She heard laughter from the room behind her, and the sound of someone talking. Was that.. Rav? Cosmica creeped up to the door and opened it slowly, peeking inside just enough to see Rav inside, on the floor next to a powered off Gidget, and a sleeping Booplax next to the robot. He snuck them on the ship? How long had they been there?

“Y’know somethin’, Gidget?” He mumbled. He sounded drunk. “How much I miss ‘im? You're nothin’ like him. He said you would be. An’ he's a damn liar.” He knocked something over with his foot, and it rolled over by the door. An empty bottle of wine. So he was drunk then. Luckily, he didn't come after it.

“He said.. he'd be back, y’know?” He continued. “He told me it'd be soon. Where is he, huh? Huh, Gidge?” He paused before speaking again, quieter now. Cosmica had to strain to hear. “I miss him so much… More than all the moons in the galaxy.” He chuckled.

“You worry like him, at least,” he said. “You sound a little like him too. But you don't… you don't look like him. Or act like him. You're not him.. You're not him!” In a fit of anger, he punched Gidget, hard as he could. But of course, the hard metal only made him hurt himself, and he yelped at the pain. He pulled his knees to his chest and started crying.

“God, I-I’m sorry, Gidge,” he said. “You don't know, do ya? Ya don't understand… You don't even know me…” He muttered a few incoherent things to himself before calming down a little. “...He's not coming back, is he, Gidge? You're all I have left, aren't ya?” He sighed, standing, and grabbed Gidget by the arm. “I'll charge ya soon, alright? Soon as I find a new power core for ya. For now, I gotta get you back on the other ship. Cosmo’ll flip ‘is lid if he sees ya here. C’mon, Booplax.” He nudged the creature with his foot, and he got up and started following him. Cosmica realized he would catch her if she didn't leave, but she didn't have enough time to get back into the cabin room. She ran around the corner just as Rav opened the door. She watched him go down the hall for a bit before she called out, “Rav!” He turned around.

“C-Cosmica? What’re ya doin’ up so late?”

“What are you doing with them?” She gestured to Booplax and Gidget.

“Oh- I, uh- uhm-”

“You don't have to put them back, Rav,” she told him. “I talked to Cosmo, he said you could keep them here.”

“Ya really did that?” He asked, his eyes lighting up slightly. “Gee, Cosmica, that means a lot to me. It really does.” Cosmica squinted at him. Something was wrong.

“Rav, how much did you drink?” She said, sounding tired.

“You saw..?”

“I saw that,” she replied, pointing to the empty bottle on the floor. Rav sighed.

“I drank too much,” he confessed. “Way too much.”

“..Rav, let me take Gidget for you.”

“What? No, no, I'm fine. It's okay, really.”

“Rav, you're gonna fall over.”

“No I'm not!”

“You're leaning against the wall, Rav.”

“S-so..?” Cosmica gave him a hard look. “Okay fine, take the damn robot if you want.”

“Thank you. I'll put him and Booplax in the cabin room, alright? There's extra beds there.”

“Thanks, Cosmica..” He started off towards the bathroom. “As for me, I think I'm gonna hurl, so…”

Chapter Text

Cosmica shut the door to the cabin room as silently as she could. She'd left Gidget and Booplax there, and didn't want to wake them, let alone anyone else sleeping inside. Today had been one hell of a day, and all she wanted to do was sleep. But first, she figured she should at least check up on Rav first. She turned around- only to come face to face with Cosmo.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“Nothing,” she replied. “But you scared the ever loving crap out of me. I caught Rav in the other room earlier. He was drunk, and he was with Gidget and Booplax. He didn't feel good, so I put them away for him. I told him you said they could stay.”

“Is Rav okay?”

“He's fine, just a little sick. He seemed really depressed before, though. He was talking about someone… I don't know who though. He said something like how Gidget was supposed to be like him, but he actually isn't? And how he doesn't think that whoever he was talking about is going to come back. I wanna help, I just don't want to be like I'm intruding on him or anything, you know?”

“I know,” Cosmo told her. “I think.. I might have an idea of who he might have been talking about.”

“Really? Who?”

“Rav used to know this moon prince,” he explained. “I think they were close friends or something. But one day, the guy just disappeared. Rav seemed heartbroken over it, though I don't know what happened to him myself. My guess is maybe the moon prince made Gidget as a replacement for him.”

“You really think so? Wait- back up a second; how do you know all this?”

“Rav never told you? Well, I guess I never expected him to. We used to be pretty close, me and him. Way back when I first got my powers, I ended up meeting him in another dimension. I even upgraded his ship so he could travel through dimensions and all.”

“He.. wow. He never told me that,” Cosmica said. “I never would've guessed- you two hate each other!”

“Yeah, cause he turned into a damn prick before I left!” He snapped. “I don't know what got into him, but he got it bad. He got super annoying and started bugging me all the time. Challenging me to these stupid contests.. I hated it. It just led up to one day, when I just.. left. But none of that stuff is important. Do you want me to check up on Rav for you? You look really tired.”

“I'd… actually really appreciate that,” she said. “Just don't like, probe him or anything. Okay?”

“Agreed,” Cosmo said, and headed off towards the bathroom. Cosmica sighed, leaning against the door, before going into the cabin room.

Inside, she saw Albert sleeping on the bottom bunk, Rex above him, and two empty cots on the top. On the side behind her was Jimmy, and the other girl below him. Their energy fields had worn off, which was a good sign that they'd healed. Gidget and Booplax shared a bunk above Jimmy, and an empty cot above them. Cosmica crawled up to the top one and pulled out her CD player and her copy of Vice Quadrant. She fumbled with the buttons in the dark for a second before hitting ‘play’ and hearing the last chord of ‘Commander Cosmo’ fade out.

She laid down, listening to GG the Giraffe singing her so called ‘new hit song’ titled after herself. God, she was tired. She was worried about Rav too. And Cosmo. And Jimmy and the other girl, and Albert, and Rex, and everyone. Hell, she was probably worried about people she'd never met.

Without her realizing it, the song changed and a waltz-y tune came on. Some song about ‘pulls’ or whatever. She sighed, flipping over onto her side. Then there was… him. She'd left him behind. She'd let him die. It wasn't fair. None of it was fair. She missed him. She wanted to see him again.

As Cosmica drifted into a restless sleep, he could've sworn she heard his voice singing to her.

***

“Even when the moon shatters the tide, I will always follow you through the pain… I can always count on you through everything…”

Cosmica opened her eyes. Looking around, she saw… space. Nothing but space for lightyears. She couldn't see The Cosmo. Had they thrown her off the ship? Why would they-? Had she done something wrong? She started to panic as millions of thoughts flew through her mind at once.

“Cosmica, are you okay?” A voice said. A familiar voice. She turned around to face a man in a red and white spacesuit. Two red arrows atop his helmet, and a worried look on his face. It was.. it was him.

“You conked out on me,” he said. “It looked like you were having a bad dream. You alright?”

“I-” She cut herself off. What was she supposed to say? She wasn't even sure what had happened. “Wh-what happened to The Cosmo?”

“Oh, I got you out of there,” he replied. Something wasn't right. She couldn't put her finger on it, but…

“Didn't you die?”

“That's why I got you out,” he told her. “I wanted to see you again now that I'm back. I almost died, see? But I met this guy, and he told me he could help me. I don't remember much; I think I passed out somewhere along the way. But I woke up and he'd patched me up, and given me all this power. Power beyond anything you could ever give me! Power beyond my wildest dreams.

“I'm stronger now, Cosmica. Come with me, please. I won't weigh you down anymore. We can travel the cosmos together now! No one will stand in our way!” He held a hand out for her to take. “What do you say?”

“Wh.. but Cosmo says you're no good.” She sounded like a child saying that. Ugh.

“Why would you want to listen to him?” He said, stretching his arm out a little more. “Come on, there's so much space we haven't seen yet.”

“Are we going to kill more people?” She asked quietly. His smile faltered a little.

“Uh. No,” he said. Something was definitely wrong. He wasn't acting like himself. Well, he was, but he also wasn't. There was something she was forgetting, she knew it.

“You don't sound so sure.”

“Look, sweetie, let's just go, alright?” He took her arm and started pulling her along with him. She suddenly panicked and pulled away from him.

“You're…” she looked up at him, then at her arm, and then at him again. The part where he'd touched her was cold. And green.

Then it hit her.

“You're not him, are you?”

“Took you damn long enough,” he grumbled, grabbing her arm again and starting to pull her along once more. “Let's go.” She pulled away from him again.

“N-no! Why would I?” He grumbled something under his breath and grabbed a fistful of her hair, pulling her close to him.

“You're going to come with me, whether you like it or not, sweetie,” he hissed. “And if you think you have a say in it, then you need to wake up. You hear me? Wake. Up.”

“Cosmica, wake up!”

Cosmica woke with a start, sitting up in bed. Cosmo was standing by her cot, Rav waiting a little behind him. Cosmo was saying something, but the music was too loud.

“Blackhearts rejoice, light is-” She swatted the headphones off her head.

“What were you saying?” She asked.

“You were having a bad dream,” Rav said from the back. “I was worried.” He lowered his hat a little, leaning against the doorframe.

“A dream..” she said quietly.

“Are you alright?” asked Cosmo.

“I- Yeah. I'm fine.”

“If you want to talk, you know where to find me, though?”

“Of course. Thanks, Cosmo.” He smiled a little before leaving the room. Rav followed reluctantly behind him.

Chapter Text

Cosmica had the same dream every night for the next two weeks after that, and sleep had kind of been cut out of the equation for her. It wasn't just because of the dream, either. Everyone had suddenly taken her as their personal therapists, keeping her busy when she wasn't taking care of the girl she'd come to know as Lily. Jimmy had been completely healed the day after he arrived, but Lily had caught a really bad strain of the flu, and none of Cosmica's magic would work on her. So despite Cosmica needing as much energy as she could get, it just seemed to elude her more and more as the days passed. If only she could die.

She rolled over in bed one night, too many thoughts flying through her head to sleep. Being so busy, she hadn't gotten time to listen to Vice Quadrant lately, and had forgotten a lot of what was going on. Fortunately, this gave her time now to try and listen to everything over again from the beginning. ‘Burning In the Stratosphere’ was playing, and naturally, she was thinking about Cosmo.

She considered telling him about finding the album. Would he believe her? How crazy would she sound? Maybe it was better that he didn't know. Or maybe he'd be able to help her understand it more. Why would he do that; that's stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Ugh. She was tired. She rolled over again, about to try sleeping when she heard a loud crash come from the hallway outside, followed by Cosmo yelling her name. She rolled out of bed and into the other room.

“What is it now, Cos…” Her voice trailed off. Cosmo was helping up a man dressed in the oddest clothing. Neon and legwarmers and fishnet stockings and all. He even had a ponytail-!

“I'm alright, I'm alright,” the man said as he stood with Cosmo's help. “Everything's groovy, alright?” Cosmo just stared at him skeptically.

“Wh-what made you crash?” Cosmica asked, speaking up finally.

“Nothing much, just my skates.” He glanced around. “Wait, where are my skates?!”

“Uh- are they these?” Cosmica picked up a pair of blue roller skates, handing them over.

“Yeah, that's them,” he said, putting them on as soon as he got them.

“What's your name?” she asked, smiling a little. She'd met a lot of people these last few weeks, but this one was something else.

“People tend to call me the Roller Skate King,” he replied. “Richie is my actual name, though, so you can call me that if you want!” Cosmica giggled.

“Alright, Your Majesty,” she teased, “it's a pleasure to meet you.”

“Cosmica, I heard a loud noise, what's going on?” Rav called from behind her. He glanced up and saw Cosmica standing there with their new visitor. “Oh. Okay, it's just another person. You alright?” Richie snapped his fingers, pointing them at Rav.

“Groovy,” he replied with a grin. Rav gave him the same look Cosmo had given him and walked away.

“Sorry if people aren't the friendliest around here,” Cosmica said. “They'll warm up to you eventually, I swea-”

“Cosmica!” Rav called. Cosmica flinched at this.

“I'll be right back, okay?” She said to the other, and started off. As she turned the corner, she yelled, “Rav, if your damn head isn't on fire, I swear to god!

“What the hell is it, Starburner?” She snapped, coming into the room. She'd been here twice before. Once with Rav, the other with Rex. She'd been wanting to come back, but after she started having those dreams, she'd decided she wasn't so keen on open space much anymore. At least not for a while.

“Look,” Rav said, pointing out the window. “Y’see that?”

“Rav, I'm really not in the mood for stargazing right now,” she told him.

“No, no, come here,” he said, waving her over. Cosmica reluctantly complied and approached the window. “Do you see that little patch of green out there?”

“..Yeah. What is that?”

“I dunno. But considering where we are, there shouldn't be any green nebulae around here.” Something about this was familiar to Cosmica.

“Rav,” she said, “isn't.. isn't The Necrostar green?”

“I…” He paused to think a second before swearing under his breath. “We should tell Cosmo.”

***

”He's here?” Cosmo exclaimed. “Now?”

“Yes, now!” Rav replied. “We gotta get everyone together and kick his butt!”

“No, no, no, no! We're not ready!” He started pacing the room. “There's too little of us! Space Militia 10 said there were supposed to be sixteen of us. Does this look like sixteen? No! It looks like six! Six! What are we supposed to do with six people?!”

“I can go,” Cosmica said. Cosmo stopped pacing.

“You- what?”

“I said I can go,” she repeated.

“Cosmica, y-you don't know what you're getting into,” Cosmo said.

“Yes I do,” she replied. “I know what he's like, Cosmo. He was possessing my.. boyfriend for a while, wasn't he? He's been haunting my dreams and everything! I've experienced him firsthand. So I can handle him.”

“Cosmica…” Cosmo placed a hand on her shoulder. “He's manipulative. He'll lure you into a sense of false security, and right when your guard is down, he snatches you up and you're never to be seen again.”

“Then I just won't let my guard down,” she told him.

“I…” He sighed. “Look, I'm scared, alright? You're valuable to me. To us. If you go out there and something happens to you, we're done for.” She looked him up and down, thinking. She was going to try something.

“Cosmo,” She said. She had stars in her eyes as she took his hand gently in hers. "I will return," she sang. "I will return..." Cosmo seemed to tense up at this.

“Nothing’s gonna happen to me,” she said. “I promise I'll be back soon. Before you know it.”

“How do you-” He shook his head. “Never mind. You promise you won’t get hurt?”

“I promise,” she replied, squeezing his hand a little.

“Then go!” He said, waving her off. “Go before he finds a way to get in here!”

***

Cosmica stood in the airlock, peering outside the window. She couldn’t see Necrostar from here. This was a good idea. Right? In any case, it was too late to turn back now. She sighed and turned off the oxygen before opening the door. Glancing around, she realized she didn't see anyone around at all.

“Hello?” She called out. “Anyone there?”

“Cosmica!” A voice said from behind her. Startled, she whipped around- and found him there.

“What do you want?” She grumbled.

“I was looking for you,” he replied. “We have to go.”

“Let's cut the crap, Necrostar. Why are you here?”

“I.. Look, sweetie, I'm going to be blunt with you here. You're not safe.” Cosmica laughed.

“No, no, I mean it!” Necrostar said. “Cosmo isn't what he seems. He's going to try to hurt you. I'm trying to help, Cosmica. We have to get out of here.”

“And do what, kill more people?”

“No! Well, maybe. Just not immediately afterwards.”

“Why should I trust you?”

“You shouldn't! Just please believe me on this. I trust Cosmo as much as you trust me. He's going to hurt you. He's…” He paused, sighing a little. “Cosmica, you're going to die.” Cosmica squinted at him, suspicious.

“Is that so,” she murmured. Then, louder, she continued, “Well, Mister Know-it-all, if you're so sure, leave me off with with a warning.” Necrostar looked up at her; she didn't notice the smile forming on his face. “When is this all going to happen?”

“Oh, sweetie..” He said quietly, moving closer to her. “How does right now sound?”

It took Cosmica a second to process what was happening. Before she had a chance to say anything, she felt a strange sensation in her chest- a pain. A really bad pain. She looked down at herself. All she saw was Necrostar's arm… was that blood on it? She could bleed? Wait a second-

She suddenly realized what had happened.

“You- You lied to me,” she said. Necrostar only laughed as he wrenched his arm out of her chest.

“Oh sweetie,” he said, “I would never lie to you. After all, I said you were going to die, right?”

“You… You asshole!” Cosmica shouted in a fit of rage, and took a swing at Necrostar, socking him right in the face. He reeled backwards, taking a moment to recollect himself, as Cosmica processed what she'd done. She could fight. She could fight! She laughed triumphantly to herself, not realizing Necrostar approaching her, looking angrier than ever.

“You pack a punch, huh?” He said. “Ah, that doesn't matter now, I guess. You've got to go now anyways. So this was fun and all, but we'll have to continue this some other time.” He moved close to her again, and pushed her away. Disoriented and hurt, Cosmica couldn't get a hold on her surroundings. She tumbled and twirled, not knowing where The Cosmo was, and near certain she was going to die.

And then she hit a wall.

She looked up. It was The Cosmo! Did he mean to send her back? Well, it didn't matter, really. She was back anyways; she could get help now. The only problem was, she still didn't know where she was or how to get back inside. She looked back down at herself. Blood marked the trail of where she'd been, slowly floating off through space. Some of it was already frozen. She looked back up. A silhouette was approaching, a faint light surrounding it. Was that…

“Cosmo,” She croaked. Cosmo grabbed onto her shoulders, starting to pull her along towards the entrance.

“You're such an idiot,” he said.

“Sorry…”

“Don't be.”

They reached the entrance soon enough, and Cosmo pulled her inside, shutting the airlock behind them before coming inside.

“Wh-what happened?” Rav said, rushing over once he saw Cosmica.

“H-he tricked me,” Cosmica replied, reaching out for support from Rav. He came over and slung her arm over his shoulder.

“We can put her in my room,” Cosmo told Rav, who nodded in compliance.

“Rav,” Cosmica said. “Wh-when all this is over. Me and you and everyone else.. we're gonna go out there. And we're going to kill him. Got it?”

“O-okay,” Rav replied, not entirely sure what to think of that. “But first ya gotta heal up.”

Cosmo opened the door to his bedroom and helped Rav get her onto his bed.

“I'll get the emergency kit,” he said, “you stay with Cosmica.” Rav nodded and kneeled down by Cosmica.

“Okay, number one rule here is to stay awake, alright?” He told her. “Just stay with me, and you'll be fixed up before you know it.”

“Rav..”

“What?”

“I'm curious… Did you buy Vice Quadrant?” He was taken off guard by this.

“Did I what?”

“Vice Quadrant,” she repeated. It was getting harder to breathe now. Rav better not ask much more questions, she thought. “D-did you buy it, is it yours.”

“Well, I mean- It's mine, yeah. But I didn't buy it. I, uh…” he chuckled nervously. “This is gonna sound crazy, but I actually found it under my pillow like, a day or two after I got here.”

“So it happened to you too then..” she murmured.

“What do you mean?” His voice sounded faint. Where was Cosmo?

“Oh Rav, I'd-... I'd love to explain.. But I don't th-think I have the time right now.” Something deep inside Cosmica knew she shouldn't be so low as to just letting herself die, but the rest of her was just so tired…

“M-maybe some other time, okay?” She said, her voice barely above a whisper, as her eyes slipped shut.

The last thing Cosmica heard was Rav's panicked voice calling for Cosmo before her world went dark.

Chapter Text

Cosmica slowly opened her eyes, groaning at the bright light that instantly met them. What the hell had happened? Where was she? What was she doing there? She blinked a couple times before her eyes focused completely. This was Cosmo's room. Why was she in Cosmo's room? She tried sitting up and was instantly met with a sore, dull pain in her chest. She winced, looking down at herself. Bandages?

Oh, yeah. Crap.

“Cosmo?” She called. Her voice sounded tired, raspy. Like she hadn't used it in a while. When no one replied, she lowered herself down onto the pillow again, not sure what to do now. She was pretty sure she couldn't get up yet, and Cosmo wasn't nearby. How was everyone else getting by? Had it gone to complete chaos without her? Had Necrostar shown up again? Had he shown up and killed everyone?

“Cosmo?” She called again, more urgently this time. This time, he seemed to hear, as she heard his voice from down the hall, followed by footsteps.

“Cosmica?” He said, turning the corner into the room. “You're awake.”

“Yeah, I… I am,” she said. He laughed a little, coming over to her and kneeling by her bed.

“H-how long have I been out?” She asked.

“Over two weeks now,” he told her. “We were, uh.. We were starting to worry you wouldn't wake up.”

“Oh. Sorry..”

“Don't be.” She took his hand in hers, staring at the two for a while. Cosmo hummed a little tune, an oddly familiar one. After a while, it came to Cosmica that she should speak up.

“How have things been without me?” She asked him.

“Not so bad,” he replied. “Lily is finally better. I explained everything to her, and she started visiting you pretty often. I guess it's kind of like repaying you for watching after her… I don't know.

“Rav and I have been worried sick about you, though. I don't know who's visited you more often. I'm glad you're better now, though.

“Oh, and we also got a new visitor! He's not so keen on telling us his name, but he seems to be content with us calling him the Suspender Man. He has a banjo, and he carries it wherever he goes. So, now we have music. Trust me, things haven't gotten any less lively around here.” Cosmica laughed a little.

“Well, it's nice to know things aren't in complete chaos,” she said.

“Nah,” Cosmo replied. “I've kinda been keeping everyone in check. I guess I did a pretty good job.”

“Of course you did,” she told him, patting his hand gently. “So about Rav then.. How's he doing?”

“He's doing okay,” he said. “I mean, he's been worried about you, but he's been pretty good otherwise. He spends most of his time in the cabin room nowadays. Listening to some weird music… I forgot the name. Something about robot giraffes.”

“Steam Powered Giraffe,” she muttered.

“Yeah, that. What, did he brainwash you with them or something?”

“No, no. I just know of them and all.” There was an awkward pause before she said, “D-do you think he'd want to see me?”

“Oh yeah-! You're right. Do you want me to get him?”

“If you can,” she said. Cosmo nodded and ran out of the room. A minute or so later, Cosmica heard hushed voices right outside the room.

“What am I supposed to say?” One voice hissed. It was Rav.

“I don't know!” the other whispered back. Cosmo. “Just… talk to her. She wants to see you, so you better act like you want to see her.”

“F... fine.” Then the door opened.

“Hi, Rav,” Cosmica said quietly, waving. A fake grin spread on Rav's face.

“Cosmica..! It's so nice to see you! Y’know, especially awake and all… heh.” He sat down next to her. “How are ya feeling?”

“Better,” she replied. “Tired, strangely.” He patted her hand gently before holding it.

“Yeah, you gotta get out of that bed soon. Cosmo told you how long you were out, right?”

“Yeah…” There was a silence. It wasn't exactly awkward, but it definitely wasn't comfortable.

“You, uh.. Before you passed out,” Rav said, “you told me something weird.”

“I… oh yeah.”

“About Vice Quadrant. What were you going to say?”

“I, uh… W-well, uh, how much have you heard of it?” Rav chuckled.

“Cosmica, this is my favorite band we're talking about,” he said. “I've heard it a thousand ways to Sunday.”

“So you know what it's about, then?” Rav was quiet. “Rav?”

“...It's about something?” He said finally.

“Jeez, Rav..” she muttered under her breath. “Rav, it's about us.”

“It- what?”

“Us, Rav, us! The whole story is about me, and Cosmo, and you, a-and Peter-! It's about all of us! And I don't know how they know so much about us, or why, or if this ‘Steam Powered Giraffe’ is even who you think they are!”

“Th-they’re the Singing Musical Automatons,” Rav said quietly. “I know them, okay? I do. They wouldn't-...” His voice faded off, and the two sat in silence. This time it was awkward.

“R-Rav..?” He looked up at her, having been staring at his hands for a while now.

“Hm?” God, he was going to hate her for this. But she knew if she didn't ask, she'd hate herself for missing her chance.

“Where did… Who is Gidget? Like, really?” Rav chuckled nervously, faking another smile.

“Wh- He's just my robot buddy, is all,” he said.

“Rav.. I mean, like, besides that,” she told him. “Who built him? Where did he come from? Who.. is he?” Rav's smile faltered a little as he laughed again.

“Boy, you're… you're really askin’ the tough questions here, aren't ya?” He said, taking off his hat and running his fingers through his hair. “Look, uh…” he seemed to be trying to get his words together.

“S-so there was this moon prince, right?” He started. “I liked him, he liked me, that's all there really was to say on the matter. We were cool. He was.. he was really cool.” He blushed a little as he fiddled with his hat.

“But, uh, one day, uh.. He, um, he told me that his home wasn't safe anymore. He lived in the same solar system as the Necrostar, and for whatever reason, it wanted his planetoid. Some experiment or whatever, I don't know.

“I wanted to help him get out, really. He said he had to stay with his subjects until it ended. I wanted to be with him at least… If I was gonna die, I wanted to die with him. He said he'd get out in time though.. And I believed him.” Under his breath, he whispered, “Goddamn idiot…” Then, louder now, he continued.

“He, uh… H-how do I say this?” He laughed once more, though this time it wasn't as much of a nervous laugh than a sad one. “Th-the next time I heard from him, there was a package sent to the Alexander. A huge box; like, the size of a human. And, uh, there was also a note.

“Without, uh, going into too much detail, it basically said, ‘Hey, I don't know when I'm coming back, but I will, I swear. In the meantime..’” He paused, refusing to look at Cosmica. “‘...I-in the meantime, take this robot. His name is Gidget. He'll take care of you while I'm gone.’” He put his hat back on, lowering it over his eyes.

“I tried going back to find him, but Jumbo had already set up this whole dimensional fortress and everything.. I couldn't get in, no matter how hard I tried. My ship just didn't have the capabilities.

“It's just… H-he was gonna be the king soon, y’know? A-and I was.. I was gonna be right there with him, too…”

“...When did-”

“Three years,” he breathed, his voice cracking a little. He cleared his throat and said, “I, uh.. I'm starting to lose faith in his promise.” He looked down.

“Rav, I…” Cosmica didn't know what to say. “I-I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry.”

“I don't need your pity,” he mumbled.

“D-do you wanna talk about-”

“No,” he said, a little harsher than necessary. “No, I don't.”

“Rav…”

“What?” Cosmica didn't really know what to say. She just wanted to help, but he wouldn't let her in. This was all her fault. Why did she have to ask about Gidget?

“...Yeah, that's what I thought,” Rav muttered. “Look, uh..” He glanced around awkwardly, trying to regain his composure. “L-look, I gotta go, uh, feed Booplax and stuff. I'll, uh, I'll talk to you later, okay?” He forced yet another smile before heading for the door.

“Rav-” She was cut off by the door slamming. She groaned and rolled over, covering her head with her pillow. Why did men have to be so difficult? No, no, it was her fault. She shouldn't blame it on Rav. She asked about Gidget; she was the one who made Rav upset. This was her fault. She groaned again, louder now, ignoring the lump in her throat. How could she make this right?