Mars stood warily, his features a mixture of anxiety and inquiry.
"I.. I sent him on a mission."
His moon fell silent for a moment, then added:
"Really? Where?"
Mars answered quickly, trying to maintain his composure:
"To planet Earth... yes, with Earth's moon on an exploratory mission."
A faint silence prevailed, broken only by a low murmur from Earth, as if Mars's words had awakened something uncomfortable within him:
"Nooooo..."
"Huh, Lord Mars, you always send him to Earth! I want to go there sometimes too."
Signs of pride appeared on the face of the mentioned planet's leader, but he didn't comment. Mars merely smiled faintly as he said:
"Alright, next time we'll all go."
"Well, I wish you luck in your meeting."
As soon as Deimos left, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They exchanged quick glances before Jupiter broke the silence, saying:
"Dude, this moon of yours is completely different from the other, he has a strange aura."
Mars smiled lightly and said:
"Yes, and that's what distinguishes them."
Mars stood surrounded by a group of beings, their features reflecting pride and arrogance.
[And here the brother delved into his memories again]
A tall figure, with a radiant blue color, spoke with excessive confidence:
"Well, well, look who fell into the trap. Of all the leaders, you caught the weakest!"
Everyone was surprised, even his assistant looked at him in astonishment. Mars himself raised an eyebrow before they all wondered in unison:
"What?"
But the other didn't give him a chance to answer, continuing sarcastically:
"Do you realize who's around you, you stupid solar planet? They are the best planets from the different triple star systems hahaha!"
Mars turned to him coldly and said with disinterest:
"Alright."
The laughter froze in this strange opponent's throat:
"Yes, you should be afra... What? Alright?! You underestimate us, all of you are like this! All of you without exception! You imposed your control over the galaxy, grew arrogant towards everyone because you are the chosen fourteen!"
Mars's expression didn't change as he answered him:
"Wrong. As usual, for cosmic centuries and centuries, you inherit nothing but hatred towards planets and their moons, seeking an imaginary revenge whose truth you ignore. Do you know who you remind me of? Heh, no, you are better than them at least..."
"Tsk! Attaaaaack!!"
The rest of his armies rushed towards him, but he moved lightly, skillfully dodging their blows. Not using his weapon, just relying on his speed and precision to take them down one by one as if playing with them.
"Damn it.. what's happening.. he's just a pawn for a solar planet!"
Then he continued angrily:
"Now! Release the Emitting Chains!"
From among them, huge chains of multiple colors indicating their great power emerged, rushing rapidly, piercing some falling stars to reach Mars, who deduced that those who attacked him were merely bait for their chains.
He raised his hand, ready to summon something strange, but...
"It seems there's no need for that."
Suddenly, the chains disappeared, two figures appeared before him, protecting each other's backs.
"Sorry for the delay, Lord Mars." The voice was familiar...
"Phobos? Deimos? You're here...!"
Deimos looked Mars over carefully and asked him:
"How did you get here, Lord Mars?"
Mars hesitated, before answering:
"I..."
But Deimos interrupted him, his features grim:
"No offense, but you're naive."
Mars blinked twice, shocked:
"No... no offense?!"
"How could you fall into a trap set by these?!"
The enemy leader seemed agitated, then shouted:
"Release more chains!"
But Deimos didn't move, just extended his right hand, into which the chains entered as if submitting to him without urging.
"Impossible... he absorbed them!"
Deimos looked at the leader, then said coldly:
"Don't interrupt us..."
A dense aura emanated from his body, flowing like an electric current among the surrounding stars, making the leader tremble.
"Yes sir...!" he said, trembling.
"Did...?"
Phobos nodded in agreement to Mars's question without him even finishing his sentence.
"We were about to withdraw when we noticed Mars was about to use his weapon."
Mars put his hand to his forehead, while Phobos let out a tired sigh, making the enemy realize he had crossed the line.
•Firstly, Lord Mars, not Mars.. Secondly..
And before he could finish his sentence, the same chains shot out from his left hand, but this time they were aimed at the star leader's stomach, then he continued:
"What's your name?!"
The recipient of the question was surprised but answered:
"My name.. Nim—..."
"Unimportant.. Do you know why it's unimportant? Because you will be forgotten after this incident.."
Then he played his trump card as he began to spin around himself at insane speed, hitting all the enemies with their own chains.
After finishing, Mars and Phobos emerged from a red circle whose job was to protect them from Deimos's attack.
Mars said evasively:
"Alright, good job Deimos, so let's go."
•Thirdly.... Lord Mars
•Yes...
•They trapped you... and you almost drew your weapon on a bunch of failures.
•Yes..
•How many times do I have to tell you? You need to save your energy for bigger missions! What if it was another group, more numerous, from other planets or even black holes?
Mars smiled weakly and said:
"Alright, alright, calm down. How about we go back to Cerumi and train together?"
Deimos gave Phobos a piercing look, then exhaled in annoyance:
"Tsk, trying to tempt me? I like that."
Phobos raised an eyebrow and said:
"But... I heard them say 'the chosen fourteen'."
A short silence fell before Mars whispered:
"Yes... they don't know what happened.. in the first cosmic war."
Finally, Earth broke the thread of Mars's memories with an excited and rapid statement:
"That's why I respect Deimos, he loves you and respects you very much, but there's just one tiiiny problem..."
Mars looked at Earth, apprehensive, but said nothing until a voice came from behind the door:
"Lord Earth, I have completed my mission, have you finished your meeting?"
Everyone froze in place, exchanging worried glances. Mars looked at his friends and said in a low voice:
"Alright, let's all pray nothing happened and he didn't meet..."
"I just ran into Deimos, but he was a bit strange."
At that moment, Mars held his breath, and added nervously:
"Please, Earth's Moon, you didn't tell Deimos what happened to his brother, right?"
He paused slightly then said innocently:
"Of course... I told him."
They didn't wait long, and in a single motion, everyone started running towards the Castipis, while Mars muttered desperately:
"Oh, damn it..."
As soon as they entered the Castipas, Deimos collided with Venus trying to get out, the latter asking him coldly:
"Where do you think you're going, moon.."
Deimos replied without thinking:
"Isn't it obvious, I'm going to find who did this to Phobos and I'm going to kill him alive, even if he's hiding in a black hole.."
Venus answered him with a reply that made him realize his situation:
"Really!! How will you do that with no plan.. no investigation.. and no deduction? Will you run around the universe shouting 'Show yourself, show yourself'?"
Then he continued, glancing at Mars with incomprehensible looks:
"But I don't blame you, moon, we will wait for him to wake up and we will find out what happened to him."
Deimos fell silent and only uttered one word:
"Yes sir..."
---
Pluto's voice came out calm but carried a hidden note of interest:
"So, how did it go?"
The unknown man stopped, then let out a sharp sigh before replying sarcastically:
"Ha, if you ask me that question again, I'll kill you."
Pluto smiled, as if unbothered by the threat, then said as he slowly stepped towards the door:
"You always surprise me, or perhaps I should say... save me."
He stopped at the threshold, turned his head towards him with a look carrying a mixture of satisfaction and anticipation:
"And now, my perfect plan for revenge is one step away from completion. Finally... after fifty cosmic years of waiting."
He raised his hand to the door, and before making the gestures to open it, the unknown man said seriously:
"Listen, I have bad news.."
Pluto grumbled in annoyance:
"Tsk... here we go. What is it?"
"There's a traitor among us." That person said stiffly.
Pluto's blue eyes widened, his tense body making it clear he hadn't expected that. He took a step back, then asked in a low voice, as if trying to absorb the shock:
"What? Are you sure?"
He looked at him coldly, as if considering his question an insult:
"You're supposed to know me well."
But instead of relief, Pluto's tension increased, then he smiled with cold sarcasm as he muttered:
"Heh... after seeing your insistence on helping me with my revenge, doubt struck me... and I asked myself again and again..."
He paused slightly, then looked directly at him with eyes full of suspicion:
"Are you really *** or?!"
His friend didn't move, but his gaze became sharper:
"Or what?"
And in a fleeting moment, Pluto aimed his cosmic weapon, represented by , towards him, saying in a sharp voice:
"Or are you someone disguised as him?"
The unknown man showed no reaction, but the tension in the room became palpable, as if the air itself had grown heavier. His facial expression changed between shock and anger, before he screamed emotionally:
"Hahahahahaha!"
His laughter was hysterical, but it carried a deep-seated pain within it, then he continued in a voice charged with anger:
"Amazing... truly, all of you... all of you are no different from each other!"
He pushed Pluto's weapon aside with his own, and they stood face to face, their eyes speaking more than words.
"What do you want from me?!" the unknown man shouted.
"I just want to teach them a lesson... a harsh lesson... so they know who they're dealing with!"
Pluto didn't change his expression, but his voice was laden with a cold tone, like the frost of space:
"I don't know what they did to you, but..."
And before he could finish, memories swept through his mind like a devastating hurricane.
———⟡ ☽ ⟡———
Pluto stood amidst the darkness, his face drowned in anger, droplets of cosmic blood trickling from his ear. He clenched his fist tightly as he whispered madly to himself:
"Damn it... damn it... damn it! Why me?!"
His body trembled, not from fear, but from suppressed rage. He looked at the nothingness before him, and screamed in a choked voice:
"All that time... many, many wasted cosmic centuries... for what?! Nothing! Literally... nothing! Here you are now, you daydreamer, dreaming of developing the system bit by bit?! Heh, how ridiculous you are... so ridiculous."
But amidst the chaos, a voice came through the small earpieces implanted in his ear called Beta, a familiar voice he didn't expect to hear:
"Hello again, Pluto..."
He froze in place, staring into the void in disbelief. He raised his hand to his ear, only to find the earpiece still there. He was sure he had ripped it out earlier, but now he heard that voice clearly.
"Freezing the sun, huh? Not a bad choice..."
Pluto's eyes widened in shock, but he didn't utter a word.
"But I know you well, Pluto..." the voice continued.
"No matter how many cosmic years pass you by, you will achieve your goal... because you never back down."
Pluto closed his eyes for a moment, then asked in a low voice:
**"What do you want from me, *?"
"I want to lend a hand to those who deserve it..." came the reply, completely cold.
"And confront those who don't."
"Deserve... what?" Pluto asked in panic.
"To live, for that is ultimately one of my principles.."
———⟡ ☽ ⟡———
Pluto returned to the present moment, watching the unknown man standing before him, still holding his weapon. But this time, he wasn't smiling.
The unknown friend said in a sarcastic voice:
"The moon has woken up."
Pluto didn't seem affected, but he immediately understood what that meant. He sighed quietly, then lowered his weapon.
"How quickly he recovers. Hey, predict the outcome of this meeting, and I'll trust you again."
He looked at him then smiled a small smile carrying clear sarcasm:
"I don't need your trust or recognition, but I'll play along with your game."
He took a step back, then opened his arms and added:
"Earth will find out about..."
———⟡ ☽ ⟡———
Mars's eyes widened suddenly, and a cold shiver crawled over his body, as if something terrible had been revealed before him without warning. He said sharply, his voice carrying a mixture of anger and doubt:
"What?! Why did you reach this conclusion?! Earth!"
But Earth didn't even blink. There was no hesitation in his voice, not a shred of doubt in his features. His calmness was more terrifying than screaming.
"I don't have a single shred of doubt about it."
Then Earth continued in a steady voice, as if his words were writing an inescapable destiny:
"I don't have a single shred of doubt about it, for according to my analyses and Phobos's words, and after eliminating all possible scenarios, the only remaining possibility is the truth, no matter how harsh.."
Then he slowly raised his eyes, and his gaze met Mars's directly. There was an unshakable certainty in his eyes, as if the truth had been revealed before him and there was no longer room for denial.
"There is a traitor among us."
———⟡ ☽ ⟡———
On the other side, the unknown man smiled an evil and cunning smile and said to Pluto in a sharp and confident tone, as if he had been monitoring the conversation between the two rocky leaders:
"Exactly..."
———⟡ ☽ ⟡———
Is the unknown man the traitor Earth is talking about?
And who is the one who betrayed Pluto?
— End of Chapter —