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The Stars Themselves, chapter 11

“One More Light….”

Somehow…, La Superba succeeded.  She’s too weak to fight anymore, but her man’s been protected and for that she’s as thankful as ever.

“Thank you for that, La Superba; truly,” commends the man earnestly.  He takes a hold of her hand, petting it.

“I…had to,” she replies, blushing.  “It’s my job, after all, and….”  Say it!!  “I-also, I…love you.”  Good girl….

“I…figured you did,” he smiles.  Her weight finally lifts from her.  “Actually…, I was…hoping you did.”

Her heart flutters, feeling vindicated in itself.  Antares A was right, too.

They help each other up, and, with whatever’s going on now finished, they’re able to hobble from their little island amid the steaming trough of doom.  They make it off the track as many stars re-emerge from underground.

It’s time to rebuild.

            ***

Annihilator was amazed by how many showed up to see T Tauri off.  Literally thousands came, which to her was quite unexpected.

For a star to turn to stardust like this is rare; usually, they burn out in spectacular fashion becoming a dead star like Methuselah.  The stardust in the shape of T Tauri could blow away at any moment, so her seeing off is to happen right away.  A huge tent was erected to ward off any sudden gusts of wind.

“Today is a day to rejoice in victory,” speaks A* before the congregation.  “An ancient foe had returned in the hope of subduing us, but by working together we beat them back once more.

“However, now we must also mourn.”  She takes a breath for effect.  “We mourn the loss of friends and family who were lost during the attack, and here we also mourn the sacrifice of a brave-heart who was decisive in our victory.

“Some come to believe that there are unwinnable battles, that aren’t worth fighting.  They give up more easily than others, and because of that they become weak in every sense.

“Today, we got to see first-hand that it’s not because one feels weak that they lose a fight but it’s because they lost faith in their ability to win.  Firm belief in one’s ability to vanquish the Dark is the most important step towards victory, and actual skill always comes secondary.

“We saw first-hand that age and ability fall to the wayside of a heart of gold and the courage to stand for your truth.  Literally anyone can perform the act, whether great or small, which seals the fate of evildoers forever.

“Let nobody hearing my voice today forget that,” she begins wrapping up her speech.  “Never forget what you alone are capable of.  Never lose hold of what you know in your heart to be right.  If nothing else, never forget that, together, nothing can stand against us!”  At that, she falls quiet and steps aside for someone else to speak up.

Sol decides to add to the moment.

“I had the incredible honour of teaching T Tauri, who graduated very recently in fact.  She was always so selfless….

“Her first year at school, she befriended Sirius, who was on her last year at the school, despite knowing about Sirius’ Dark Side.  She couldn’t leave Sirius alone, and when the time came she, without hesitation, lost her own memories to save Sirius from one of her more destructive Dark-side fits.

“But, that was the kind of girl T Tauri was…,” Sol stops a moment to fight back tears.  “She’d gladly sacrifice herself to save anyone or everyone; it made no difference to her what she sacrificed for, so long as it was for Good.

“The school I teach at holds a special event at the end of every year, for those who are about to graduate.  She was stationed at the obstacle course part of the race, but she was more concerned with the star who got tangled up next to her.  She blew her team’s lead in order to untangle a competitor.  To her, victory lay in giving others the chance to win as well; actually winning the race was secondary.

“The star she helped that day gave her a planet as thanks.  It was probably a bit much of a token of gratitude, but she accepted it anyway so the planet wouldn’t be a rogue.

“I think it’s safe to say T Tauri will be sorely missed, even though she didn’t do much in her very short life.  What she did do was often of the life-changing variety.

“But, she’s not all gone.  Thankfully, her essence now resides within an unexpected friend.  So long as Annihilator lives on, so shall she.  Of that, I am glad.

“I think it’s only fitting, then, for her to have the last words here…,” she gives a brief smile before stepping aside as well.  Hesitantly, Annihilator assumes a place ahead of the corpse of her once-only friend.

“I’m…not sure I deserve to carry on T Tauri’s exceptionally brief legacy…,” she begins mournfully.  “I’m not sure I deserved to be the recepticle for Stellar Unity, when for the longest time I had no real place here.

“I felt unworthy of T’s friendship; I felt unworthy of the locket she gifted me; I feel unworthy of being a galactic saviour.  Once upon a time, I was what A* is now; Methuselah were my trusted companions then, but billions of years have passed and I grew old and lonely.  Back then, I was probably worthy of praise and acceptance; now….”  Her eyes water.

“And that’s exactly why you are worthy,” affirms A* honestly.  “Those who yearn to rule are never worthy of the role, while those who are worthy never yearn for the role; I suspect that’s why you left the role of galactic leader to begin with.”

“And you saved me that day, too,” adds Sirius.  “I hope my little piece of Stellar Unity is repayment enough.”

Sol gingerly retrieves T Tauri’s exoplanet, and passes it to Annihilator.  “This belongs to you, now,” she decrees.

Annihilator accepts the planet, as promised, holding it in her arms.

“A hundred billion lights in the night, and though one fades away we still mourn her passing,” says A*.  She then exhales a gust of energy upon the stardust, which then scatters away from the tent and into the sky above.

Annihilator breaks down in tears.

            ***

“What brings you here anyway, Makarian?” inquires A* after the ceremony.

“I want to introduce someone to you guys,” Makarian replies.  “Actually, I’m still kind-a indebted to Annihilator aren’t I?”

“Who is this someone?” asks A*.

“Right!  I’ll show you to them,” Makarian claps her hands together, making her boobs jiggle.  A* follows her away, to a make-shift outpost just north of them. Annihilator, meanwhile, is still staring off into the skies above, at the millions of pin-pricks of light – now added to by the minute essences of a hero.

The Stars Themselves, chapter 10

Ground zero was “scorched earth,” in nearly all senses of the phrase.

A seething gouge in the ground, ending at the old tower of a hotel Annihilator had stayed at last night, remains filled with the heat and gases swirling from the almighty attack.

Stars, in various stages of confusion or mourning, either scramble for the nearest spot of safety or look warily over upon the scar despite themselves.

Annihilator follows the track outward, to its ultimate source.

            ***

“I hope Annihilator will be okay,” worries T Tauri as she files with old teachers Sol and Alpha Centauri, and thousands of other stars entering the underground sanctuary just ahead of them.

“Glad you haven’t changed,” Sol happily pats her head.  “You know, even where you are now you can still help her out.  Remember how?”

T Tauri ponders the words.  They all go down the stairs to the sanctuary itself.

“Oh, right!” she exclaims.  She then frowns, however, “I’ve never truly done it before, though.”

“That’s okay,” smiles Sol once more.  “You’re never alone, after all!”

T Tauri nods.

            ***

The haze finally gives way to an approaching army, as Annihilator reaches the end of the track beyond what was once one of the main gates to the galaxy.  The army is, indeed, led by a microquasar.

However, nothing is right with this particular army….

Not the girl…; not her army of misfits and outcasts….

What is it, though, exactly?

“How was my warm-up?” the microquasar sneers, then cackles.  “Ready for my main course, now?”

How can she withstand this next attack, be that the case?!

What ever can she do…?

If A* and her Council don’t arrive here soon….

            ***

“Where’d T Tauri go?!” blurts out Sol, freaking Alpha out.

“She’s not at your side anymore?” she fumbles.

Sol shakes her head dreadfully.  They’re safe within the sanctuary, yet somehow, at some point, T Tauri was able to escape their sights.

Alpha then goes livid, “I…think she….”

            ***

The Eta sisters look dreadfully upon the aftermath from their encroaching Argo.

“So many…,” the younger Eta trails off mournfully.  The older one can’t think of cheering her up from this one at the moment.

“We must prepare for battle,” the older one states instead.

“Yeah….”

They spot the incoming army now; hopefully the Militia is able to scramble real soon.

            ***

“Annihilator…, good,” the Methuselah stars emerge.  Other star mages follow behind, including Alcor, Mizar, Alnilam, Alnitak, and Mintaka.  “You are long overdue for rejuvenation,” the white dwarf declares softly.

“Think we’re gonna let you!” the microquasar boasts haughtily.

“You will…,” another mystical voice echoes out.  It’s Porrima; this must be vitally important, indeed, if even they are outside and present here.  The Zuben’s are also here.

But, Annihilator catches sight of A* herself.  She has her trusted members alongside her.

Methuselah’s neutron star approaches Annihilator, and lays her wand on Annihilator’s head.  “Once weak…, once again strong….”

Energy flows into her body, and she feels lit up like a lantern.  Like…, plugged into an electrical grid….  It lasts only a few moments, but she feels much younger now.

“Because of what you’ve done, and in the presence of Zuben-El-Genubi and Zuben-Aesh-Hamali, it is my duty to arrest you and subject you to Justice itself,” declares Pistol Star, who comes forward with signature pistol drawn.

“Make me,” taunts the black hole.

“What’s your name?” asks Annihilator out of the blue.

“Call me…Mag,” she replies coyly.

Pistol’s sisters also walk forward.  “Please don’t make this hard on yourself, Mag,” advises the lavendar-haired one.

“I love the feisty ones, though!” interjects the cyan-handed girl.

“Step back, my girls,” orders A*.  They turn back.  “You’re all no match for her.”

She’s right.  Annihilator’s the only one here who stands any chance, but she’s been too old for too long….  She wonders if even that rejuvenation will help much.

“What do you want, Mag?” asks Annihilator, mainly to stall her.

“Your galaxy, of course,” she replies bluntly.  “We’re celestials without a place, thanks to them stars refusing to accept us in their lives.

“They’ve implied we should exist for them, so here we are wiping them from existence instead.”  She sneers again, full of malice beyond what any celestial being should have.

“I see…,” speaks the blind Porrima.  “They don’t speak for themselves.”  Huh?

“Enough talk,” asserts Mag.  “Time for round two.”  With that, she charges her body up and even the wind is drawn toward her.  She heats from red eventually to white, when she lets loose from her mouth again.

Annihilator does all she can to deflect the blast, but this one is definitely stronger than the first one; probably twice as strong, if she had to guess.

She’s quickly spent, but the blast wave also ceases.  She falls to her knees, exhausted.

It’s the Argo.  It’s opening up on Mag, which has caused her to stop prematurely.

The firepower of the Eta Carinae sisters is surpassed only by the Council stars themselves, but to Mag it’ll only be a minor inconvenience.

“Annihilator!!” a familiar voice rings in her ears; a voice she never wanted to hear right now.

Feet pitter-patter towards her.  “Annihilator!  Please don’t give up!”  T Tauri then starts sobbing.

“T…, for crying out loud…!” quivers Annihilator.  She can’t hope to protect T in this state, and all Mag has to do is recharge which won’t take long at all.

“You saved me…, Anni…,” T Tauri whimpers.  But, she livens up, “I gotta repay you now!”  Annihilator turns her head.

Argo is now engaged with the army as it gets poked with holes from the odd black hole and neutron star.  Mag is trying to siphon from Pistol and her sisters.

T Tauri, though, lights up and her hair charges with energy.  It grows longer and spreads out, connecting to Pistol and her sisters.

They enter a meditative state, and their own hair also grows in length and intensity; force fields prevent Mag from drawing from them.  Fibres of energy strike Porrima and the mages, the Zuben’s and their judges, and then aboard the Argo, and moments later more powerful strands leave it and shoot into the Milky Way.

Sol and Alpha Centauri, standing worried just within the incinerated entranceway, are fed into the chain.  They then feed into stars standing nearby, and so on goes the flow of energy.

A hundred billion stars go ablaze with the light of the galaxy over the course of a minute, and Annihilator can’t help but marvel and be awestruck by it.

Mag, however, isn’t having any of it.  She’s already recharging, and within seconds is already rearing to fire off another shot.

But then…, all that energy…, the energy of billions of suns…, hits back home….

For a third time, Annihilator’s struck by energies beyond her ability to withstand.  But…, this energy is warm.  It’s revitalizing, in a way she never thought possible.

            ***

Annihilator’s eyes seem to adjust to the light engulfing her, but she’s no longer where she was.

She’s young, and she’s presiding inside the central hub with her Council of the most powerful stars alive at that time.

She can see out her eyes, and hear out her ears, but she can’t control herself here.  This must be a memory of hers.

They’re holding an emergency meeting.

“…If they’re in such dire need, we shall come to their aid,” she hears herself saying.  Her voice sounds so authoritative and purposeful, quite unlike how it sounds nowadays.  “I will go myself, if that’s what must be done.”

“I will accompany you anywhere, Annihilator,” a yellow-haired star announces.  A white-haired star sitting beside her, both in magician’s garbs, also nods in agreement.

“I’m glad,” she thanks them.  “One of Makarian’s escorts managed to inform me that the rogue quasar attacking them has been infected by something Dark and alien.  I think our best course is for Makarian and I to fight the quasar head-on, while our escorts focus on the army.”  The Council remains silent, though concurs with her assessment.  So it is….

            ***

The super-charge of energy causes Annihilator to go livid.  She’s on her toes, body stretched out straight skyward; yet, she somehow isn’t toppling over.

She’s never felt so much power before, yet the energies don’t stop coming in.  Her body vibrates and her senses ring, yet she can still see Mag opening up for her next strike.

Annihilator feels her body acting automatically.  Gigantic wings of energy unfurl from her back, encircling the invading army.

Mag releases, but Annihilator simply puts her hand up stalling the beam before her with ease.  The stellar energies continue to pour into her.

Mag, seemingly angered, draws in more energy to try making her beam stronger.  She even begins consuming members of her army.

Annihilator acts automatically again.  “Time to remove your chains,” she hears herself say despite never having thought such a thing.  She feels her mouth open up, and her body charge up with the energies still flowing into her.  Before long, she’s glowing brighter than Mag’s energy beam.

A burst of light of all colours and intensities of the stars issues from her, and engulfs the entire army in moments.  It quickly stifles Mag’s beam, but they’re all able to stand in place.

However, black ash soon drifts away from them as they wail in agony.  Before long, the hundreds of girls once infected are now relieved of that agony; furthermore, the failed stars receive power enough to become stars at last, the black holes become stable again, and planetary husks become lively once more.  Only Mag remains fighting.

So…, Annihilator doubles the intensity.  She focuses on Mag, who’s now struggling to stay her ground even while everyone else around her has no such troubles anymore.

The intensity doubles again, and finally Mag’s intruders are forced to leave her.  A massive cloud of black dust screams out of her, and is soon dissolved away into nothingness.  The energy then filters into her, returning her to normal again.

So much power was poured into Annihilator, that it’s still another while before she can power down enough to return to normal herself.

It finally does happen, and Annihilator, now converted into a true quasar, falls yet again to her knees in exhaustion.

“I’m…so…,” is uttered a whisper, shortly before a body collapsing.  She turns about to find T Tauri fading away before her.

“T-!”  But, her voice fails her.  T’s hair goes ashen white, with her once-peachy skin.  Her pj’s lay in tatters on her body.  Tears fill Annihilator’s eyes, “No-!  T!!”

T’s turning to stardust.  She tries desperately to feed stellar energies back into her, but A* ends up stopping her.

“It doesn’t work like that, I’m afraid…,” A* mutters somberly.  Annihilator, who never had reason to before, nevertheless suddenly bursts into tears.

The pain of the loss penetrates deep into her, even though she thought she had no such feelings for T Tauri while she was alive.  Something about her sacrifice is effecting Annihilator greatly.

“Stars sure are amazing, aren’t they?”

Annihilator, settling down after many minutes of crying, tries to face the source of the words.  Her watery eyes spot a very busty woman approaching them.

“Makarian,” A* holds out a hand, which Makarian shakes vigorously.

“It’s been so long since I witnessed a Stellar Unity, I almost forgot what it looked like,” Makarian remarks before laying eyes on T’s husk.  “I’m so sorry for your loss, by the way.”

“What’s a ‘Stellar Unity’?” asks Annihilator.

“It’s a star’s trump card,” Makarian explains.  “When in dire straits, stars can link their energies up to one another which is then fed to the galactic black hole in a beam with the power of billions of suns – strong enough to wipe out literally any enemy.”

“But…, I’m no longer-”

“Of course you are,” A* interjects, grinning for once.  “You always have been, a member of this galaxy.  That’s the only way Stellar Unity works.”  Tears form in Annihilator’s eyes again.

“I…don’t deserve to be forgiven, but I’ll apologize anyway,” Mag speaks up, coming close.  “I apologize…for not being strong enough to fight the blackness that seized hold of me.  I hope there’s a way I can repent for my crime.”  She bows deeply, holding it.

“There’s always a way,” A* walks up to her.  “All will be repaid in Time.”

“Thank you….”

Annihilator returns to T Tauri.  Her planet, which she carried everywhere in her arms, and that locket still tied about her neck, remain intact.  Annihilator palms the locket given to her by T, and clutches it momentarily.

Sol, also with tears wetting her eyes and cheeks, comes up beside Annihilator, and rests against her.

“She was always like this…,” she says.  There’s a long pause, before, “Can you please look after her planet, Annihilator?”

Annihilator nods.

The Stars Themselves, chapter 9

Rigel’s startled by a rapping of her door.  It’s her day off today, so it shouldn’t be the Militia.

Groggily, she ambles over to the door and opens it.

“Morning, Rigel,” the Methuselah mages introduce her.  Rigel spots Alcor and Mizar across the way, attending to Bellatrix’s house.  “Could you please send a message to A* as soon as possible?”

“I can,” nods Rigel after rubbing her eyes.

“Thank you,” the beginning of a smile crosses the white dwarf’s face.  “Please tell her and her kin to prepare for the fires of a thousand suns,” the white dwarf accounts.

“That all…?”

The two master mages nod affirmatively.

“Alcor, Mizar, let’s move,” they call over.  Alcor and Mizar, unsuccessful, pull away from Bella’s house and join up with them.

Rigel takes time to change into her suit of armour, before heading out.

            ***

La Superba’s Militia training began very early today, for a whole set of new recruits has booked the training area for the rest of the day.  She doesn’t train too well when she’s tired….

She had to take a cool shower, to keep the water from lulling her to sleep.  She got herself a coffee upon leaving.

And…there he is….

Her heart leaps, and her skin goes warm.  She’s been thinking long and hard about Antares’ words, and her feelings about him.  She’s gotta, somehow, make the move.

With her insides fluttering, she approaches him and greets him.

“I…wanna talk with you about something…important,” she manages to tell him.  He’s patient, thankfully; he’s calm and handsome as ever.

“Yeah?” he grins.  He may already know what’s coming next.

“Yeah…; I…,” she begins.  This is it.  Just say it.  Say it, girl!  “I…,” she tries again, but now is interrupted by a light in the sky.

He notices, and turns about as well.  “Any idea what that is?” he asks.

“No…,” fades La Superba.  The light’s getting brighter by the second.

Soon, the light appears to be consuming the galaxy before them.

La Superba’s heart suddenly screams at her, and hardly without thinking she stands in front of him and raises her powers to maximum as fast as she can.  She draws her sword, and unleashes a beam at the light just as it strikes them as an incredible beam of white-hot energy.

With all her might, her beam becomes a shield; she can’t afford to fail here….

            ***

A tremour wakes Annihilator from her rest.  T Tauri is still fast asleep.

Annihilator slips out of bed, and walks towards the window.  A dazzling light greets her.

“Oh no…,” she mutters, very concerned.  She steps back and powers up fully in preparation of what’s to come.

It hits like a nigh-unstoppable force.  It melts the bricks and window of the hotel room they’re in, and T Tauri wakes with a fright as Annihilator struggles to stand her ground while also deflecting the almighty beam of stupednous energies.

Once upon a time, she might’ve been more than strong enough to stop this attack.  Now, however, it’s all she can do just to hang in there.  She is able to stop the beam, but she’ll surely be sapped dry afterward.

Sure enough….  The beam didn’t last long, but Annihilator’s on the verge of unconsciousness at its finish.

“Annihilator?!” pleas T Tauri, though she sounds so far away right now.  “Annihilator!  Please, Annihilator…!”

A blink later, Annihilator regains herself.  Doubtless, several minutes actually must’ve passed.

“Sorry…,” she stumbles to stand, addressing T Tauri.  “You’re okay?” she asks.

“Y-yes!  Thanks to you, I’m alive!” T Tauri sobs tears of relief.  Annihilator smiles.

“We gotta go, now,” says Annihilator now.  “We must muster a defense before the next attack comes.”

“The next…a-attack…?!” gasps T Tauri.  Annihilator nods somberly.

“Let’s go,” she urges.  She can’t afford for T Tauri even to take a moment to take in the carnage through the steam and smoke choking up the view outside.

            ***

Annihilator arrives in record time, with T Tauri in tow, at the central hub of the Milky Way.  Huge golden doors, shut tight, lay before them now.

“Whatever you do, T,” advises Annihilator sternly, “stay behind me at all times, and do not even think about doing anything otherwise lest you wanna be incinerated.”

“O-okay,” she accepts meekly.

“Behind those doors live the galaxy’s most powerful stars, by far,” explains Annihilator further.  “Even the ‘small’ ones could easily strip your skin off merely by standing in view of you.”

“Ah…,” Rigel enters the hallway, and apporaches them.  “I was supposed to deal with you two, wasn’t I?

“Lucky for you, I have a more important errand to run,” she glares, and then reaches for the doors.  She knocks on them, then steps aside to wait for a response.

A minute later, one of the doors creak open and a brown-skinned girl in bright blue peeks out.  Rigel’s hair suddenly whips back behind her, and she places an arm over her brow as if blocking sunlight on a bright day.  “I’m Rigel, leader of the Militia,” Rigel introduces herself cordially.  “Our galaxy has just been attacked, and I request aid from the Council’s leaders and warriors immediately.”

“We are aware of said attack,” speaks the star.  “We are presently working on a plan of action.”

“It’s a microquasar, that’s responsible,” enters Annihilator.  “Expect another, possibly stronger, attack within the next half-hour or so.”

“Noted,” nods the star.  The door then closes.

“If you’re such a respectible black hole, Annihilator, as T Tauri so-claims, then will you please aid us on the frontlines?” she instructs, though as if Annihilator had a choice.

“Fine,” she replies.  “Since I’m assuming you’ll be evacuating underground, please take T Tauri with you.”

“Fine.”

T Tauri becomes very reluctant, but on their way out she is eventually convinced to proceed with the other stars and people to the various underground entrances found regularly throughout the galaxy.

Annihilator heads towards ground zero of the attack.

The Stars Themselves, chapter 8

“Fun Day!”

“Good morning, class!” cheers Sol as she enters the classroom.  Her students are all present, by the looks of it.

She arrived a tad earlier than usual, to write down “Last Day of School!” on the board, in the most exciting way possible, while the kids were playing around outside.

“So, as I hinted at yesterday we’ll be having nothing but fun with the other classes today to celebrate another great year you all had!

“Specifically, we’ll be teaming up with the Centauri sisters’ classes and completing some fun relays together to see if we can beat some of the other teachers’ classes.

“And, then you’ll be free to go home!” ends Sol ecstatically.  Her class lights up in anticipation.

Sol teaches dwarf stars-to-be, along with Alpha and Proxima Centauri.  Altogether, they’re responsible for over a hundred protostars.  The school she teaches at also has teachers responsible for yellow and white protostars, and still others for the giant and supergiant protostars.

Yesterday, Sol and the other teachers stayed in extra late to set up the gymnasium for today’s activities.  The dwarfs will be competing against the stars who’ll compete against the giants and supergiants, for fun and to see who can come out on top.

Some parts of the course will be easier for the bigger protostars, while others will be easier for the dwarfs to carry out.  In the end, it’s about teamwork and working to each others’ strengths while compensating for their respective weaknesses.

Which of the three teams can do those things the best will come out victorious.

Before long, the classes converge on the gymnasium eager to get started.

A relay race begins it all, using the track along the outside of the gym.  The relay runs into an obstacle course, running inside the track.  At the middle is the last leg, where contestants must go as fast as they dare while balancing a short rod on their foreheads.

The rules are explained by the teachers, and then the teams are allowed to formulate an action plan including who should start where for each leg and how to deal with any shortcomings any of their members may have.

At separate corners of the gym, the three teams huddle among themselves for many minutes on end.  Eventually, the teams feel ready as possible to partake in the event.  The protostars begin assuming positions along the entire course.

The first leg of the event selects for those with speed as a strength.  The more powerful protostars will have a leg-up here, but even they will have to watch out for Fomalhaut who’s become renowned for her speed over fairly short distances.

Then will come the obstacle course, whose ups and downs and need to crawl as well as run, will benefit more the smaller and longer-lasting protostars.

Finally, the balance-based third leg will provide equal footing for all teams.

All ready, Sol waves a school flag to begin things.

Six protostars, two from each team, will carry out the various legs of the race; the very first six are off and away right at “go.”

100 meters in, the first six slap the hands of the second six who speed off for their 100 meters.  So far, for the most part, they’re all fairly evenly matched.

By the third trade-off, the two giant teams are ahead by a couple seconds.

By the fourth and final one, the couple seconds has become a good five to seven.  But, the stars have Fomalhaut as their fourth relay contestant.  She helps her team bridge that gap, even pulling her team into the lead by a second or two.

By the time the two dwarf teams make it to the obstacle course, half of the other teams are already a third the way through it.  However, the dwarfs wisely placed their most nimble contestants here – like Iris from Sol’s class, whose flexibility is off the charts compared to the others her age.  She waits patiently at the second half of the course, for her not-quite-as-nimble sister Isis.

Iris proves her skills, and pulls through for her team by coming in first by a second when she tags off at the conclusion of that second leg.

Cheers encouraging fellow teammates have been ringing out the entire time, but now those who have already competed are watching on cheering with more gusto than before.  Especially as the last part remains, the other girls are more excited than ever about their team winning.

Four from each team are stationed on this final challenge.  Half of the teams try walking as briskly as possible while balancing the plastic rod, but as a result tend to stop more often due to the rod toppling off.

Raleigh, from Sol’s class, was clever enough just to walk at a lazy pace.  Some of the others noting her also try the same thing.  A giant and star team both remained too focused on trying to win, though.

With encouragement from the other girls the loudest it’s ever been, the final quarter of the final challenge was by far the most intense.  In the end, Sol’s class’ team won literally by a hair.

The teams swarm inward, converging on their teammates and hugging and celebrating and being happy as can be for minutes on end.  What felt like a few minutes overall was actually over an hour, with all said and done.

Six prizes were given, in descending worth.  First place received a small trophy that was just a silver goblet with the school’s name on it.  Second place, from Altair’s star class, received a school coin.  Third place, from the Centauri class, received a school ring.

Fourth place, from Algol’s giants class, received a pen set.  Fifth place, from Vega’s star class, received a commemorative badge.  Lastly, from Canopus’ giants class, Kaitos received a school lapelle pin.

While the last contestants received the prizes formally, in fact each prize was meant to be shared among the entire class.

Now it’s time for lunch!

The girls shared tales of their part to play in the contest that just ended, while munching on sandwich slices, fruit and vegetables, and cheese and crackers.  They laugh at their blunders, and reminisce on their achievements.  The teachers all watch on, never the happier for their those they teach – who will one day become accomplished stars in their own right.

Ultimately, that’s the true reason for being so proud of their students today.

The School let out right after lunchtime, and the flood of kids pours out from the main doorways.

Now, it’s time to enjoy the heck out of the Summer!

The Stars Themselves, chapter 7

“Light and Dark”

The phantom lurks on rooftops, eyeing ignorant stars on the streets below.  It hungers….

The brighter, the better.

But, the brightest yet….

She leaps an alleyway, making barely a sound.

She hasn’t fed properly in months.  She craves starlight with an unending desire now, and she endeavours to sate her lust as soon as possible.

There…:  That star will do for now.

She’s young, and should be too weak to resist.  The lurker descends from above, landing gently onto the walkway close to her target.

The girl, wearing pyjamas, starts, turns about, and jumps shrieking.

But, the stalker is jumped on.  Great Annihilator, who just returned from a shop to obtain a tonic, slams the phantom into the cobblestones.

“Snap out of it, you!” She orders angrily.  “Be a good girl, and I’ll give you a treat.  How’s that sound?”

“W-what’s g-going on?” T Tauri stutters frightfully.

“This,” replies Annihilator, “is Sirius.

“Her dark side, anyway,” she then starts dangling a tonic before Dark Sirius.

“S-Sirius?!” T Tauri’s incredulous.  Sirius is supposed to appear as a beautiful, insanely kind wolfgirl, with hair that’s white with a slight tinge of blue to it.  She’s usually going on about how beautiful and bright she is.

“Yeah…,” breathes Annihilator.  “When she eats properly, there’s no problem.  But…;

“If she doesn’t, then her dark side takes over and she becomes a monster – kinda like me.”  She tries tempting Sirius some more with the tonic, while remaining on her back which prevents her from getting back up.

“Oh…,” murmurs T Tauri.

“Come on, girl!  Fight it!” barks Annihilator.  Sirius acts up even more, trying even more desperately to break free and feed.  Annihilator’s too strong, and she remains in place despite her efforts.

A seeming eternity later, the Dark form of Sirius slowly gives way again to the form T Tauri was familiar with from school.  “Welcome back, Sirius!” she cheers tearfully.

“Here:” adds Annihilator, getting off of her and handing her the tonic.  “Please, drink that.”

Hesitantly, she does.

“I…,” she mutters, after finishing the draught.  “I…I’m so sorry.” “It’s okay,” smiles Annihilator, “you didn’t hurt anyone.”

“That’s good,” tears fill her eyes.  “I’m so glad to hear that.”

“What happened, anyway?” Annihilator asks.  “Please don’t tell me you’ve been dieting.”

Sirius bites her lip, and her skin flushes, which tells Annihilator all she needs to know.

“Well, don’t you dare do that again – okay?  Just eat properly, and you’ll never have to worry about your weight or body size.”  Annihilator then sighs.  She now has return to that shop to get another tonic, for herself.

Sirius nods sheepishly, like a child in the penalty box.

“I’ll be back shortly,” says Annihilator.  She then walks off.

“I’m sorry, T,” frowns Sirius.  “I…can’t control myself in my Dark form.  I should-a known better….”

“I forgive you!” squeaks T Tauri.  “That was quite a surprise, though!”  She then chuckles half-heartedly.

“Thank you…,” Sirius can manage to smile again.

Annihilator shortly reappears with a couple more tonics in-hand.  She downs one of them, and places the other in her bag for later.

“Well, I should probably head back now…,” Sirius rises to her feet, nodding to Annihilator and T Tauri.  “Procyon will be worrying over me.

“Nice seeing you again, T!” she waves as she heads off running.

“Bye!” waves T Tauri back.  She and Annihilator continue on their own way.

In a way, Sirius and Annihilator are alike….

The Stars Themselves, chapter 6

Who’s…”Biggest”?

“Think I might’ve grown a little bit, Zed?” La Superba asks while standing naked before a full-body mirror in the bath house.  Zeta Persei, who was just leaving the bathing area having bathed herself, stops very briefly to glance her way.

“Eh…, maybe?” she shrugs, a bit bewildered.  She then walks into the sauna.

Antares B then emerges from the toilets.  “You look the same to me,” she smirks coyly.  She grabs herself a locker to unload her clothing into, while La Superba frowns.

Antares A then also emerges from the toilets, and picks a locker beside her little sister.  La Superba eyes her.

It was for an instant, but still Antares B caught it.  “Found a boy, have we?” she smirks again.  La Superba’s normally bright pink skin suddenly turns cherry red, particularly on her face.  Antares B laughs.

“Please don’t tease, Sis,” worries Antares A.  “You’re the same size as her, after all.”  Meanwhile, La Superba clutches her breasts in shame.

“Sorry,” says B, and then heads into the bathing area.  A, now also naked, tries to console La Superba.

“I heard guys like bigger…,” she trails off, her embarassment preventing her from finishing the sentence.

“Some do,” says Antares, “while others prefer smaller.  Depends on the guy.”

“Easy for you to say….”

“I know,” Antares says back.  “But if you truly like a guy, then the only way you can win is to tell him so yourself.  Guys usually can’t pick up on how girls act when they’re crushing on them.”

“I know that, but…,” La Superba then swallows.  “I…I really don’t wanna lose….”  She goes red a second time.

“What I’ve found is that the heart never lies,” assures Antares, massaging her shoulders.  “So long as this is more than just a crush you have, then I can promise you he’ll accept you when you confess to him.  Depending on how your heart feels about him, chances are good he actually feels the same way.

“If that’s so, then you both only lose out by holding back.”  Antares then stops massaging.  “I gotta go bathe,” she informs, “why not tag along?”

“Um, okay,” peeps La Superba sheepishly.  She turns from the mirror, and follows Antares A into the bath.

“So…, do you know who’s actually the…biggest?” she asks the Antares sisters upon entering the pool.

“My sister’s pretty huge,” remarks B proudly.

“I am…,” blushes A, “but I’m actually not the biggest.  I think that honour goes to Betelgeuse, but please don’t quote me on that.”

“Nah, that honour goes to me,” pipes up Garnet, who just entered the room.  “Pretty sure I’m the biggest!”  She then teases her massive mammaries in front of them, before sitting at a nearby washing station.

“Yeah, I’d say that’s pretty big…,” remarks Antares A.

“A lot of big girls come from Cepheus, right?” wonders La Superba.

“You bet they do!” Garnet cheers proudly.

La Superba then starts washing up.  She takes a bar of soap, lathers herself, and then dunks under a couple times to remove the excess.  She then brushes away the rest of the soap, and hopefully her day’s sweat with it.

She converses with some of the other stars that have joined in, and then leaves to dry off and spend a moment in the sauna.  She approaches the entranceway, when she’s forced to make way for three girls she’s never really seen before.

Her immediate remark is how unbelievably endowed their chests are.  All three of them are bigger even than Garnet, but the painfully shy one in the center is biggest of them all.

Next, she notes their dichromia which reminds her of Betelgeuse herself.  They each have long, pure-red hair.

“Uh-Hi!” peeps La Superba nervously.

“Hi there!” smiles the one closest to her now; large angellic wings fold against her back.  “Oh!  La Superba, right?” she then realizes who La Superba is.

“Yeah…!” nods La Superba, blushing.  “What’s your names?”

“I’m V838, but you can call me Vee if you like,” winks the winged star who addressed her first.

“KY Cygni, here,” smiles the girl on the other side of the threesome.  “Call me Ky if you want!”

“And…umm…I’m Vy…,” blushes the one in the middle.  “N-nice to meet ya!”

“We decided it was about time VY Canis Majoris, here, tried the public baths for once,” Vee winks once again.

“It’s…embarassing!” Vy turns even more red; her face is almost at La Superba’s own skin colour now.

“Well, nice meeting you three at last!” cheers La Superba before rushing over to the nearest sauna room.

Guess the question of the “biggest” girl here has just been answered….

The Stars Themselves, chapter 5

“Wrong Side of the Bed…?”

“It feels like one of those days…,” sighs Annihilator after getting out of bed and dealing with her travel bag.  Something feels off for her, about this day ahead in general.  It feels like a crappy day awaits her.  Maybe she didn’t get up right this morning?

T Tauri notices none of that.  She’s upbeat and uninhibited as always.  They’re able to check out rather quickly.

            ***

At midday, it began….  T Tauri started acting up unexpectedly, and needed Annihilator to swallow her outburst so as not to harm her planet…too much.  The ingested radiation then caused Annihilator’s body to act up in a different manner.  It wanted more…, and more….

It was all she could do to keep herself under control.  And this is why she doesn’t like being with other stars for any length of time….

Thankfully, T Tauri calmed down again.  Eventually, Annihilator’s own body quieted as well.

Last night’s storm has left the streets and rooves wet and dripping.  It was quite a storm….

            ***

Rigel and Bellatrix, leaders of the Militia, rush down the barrier wall to the nearest main gate.  They crack the door open to investigate the star hobbling over towards them.  It’s likely she came from the Large Magellanic Cloud, not far over the hills behind her.

“Who are you?” demands Rigel after slipping through the threshold.  “What’s your business?”

Rigel is one of those stars who takes their duties very seriously.  She has a soft side to her, but rarely anyone sees it.  Some think it’s because she’s afraid to….

The approaching star comes slowly ever closer.  The gleaming yellow soon gives way to a suit of armour and bright purple hair whose brilliant light is reflecting off her garment.  A face made black by her luminosity, becomes visible; she’s using her glaive as a cane, supporting her clearly-injured body.

“The LMC…was attacked,” croaks the star a minute or so after Rigel’s first inquisition, Rigel having made a couple more attempts to request answers from her since.  “The LMC…has fallen…,” the star concludes.

“Calm down, Rigel,” Bellatrix prods Rigel’s shoulder as she rushes over to the newcomer and hopefully give her aid.

A large part of the star’s armour, on her abdomen, appears to have been melted away.  A hand tries to stem stellar fluids pouring from a gash in her left side, where the gaping hole is.  Several other large slashes have been made into her suit, but only one of them appears to have cleared to her skin.

“What’s your name?” Bellatrix asks politely.

“S…Doradus,” the visitor replies, then grimaces in pain.  Bellatrix takes some of her weight, and helps her inside the main gate.

“Quick, Rigel, get Spica!” urges Bellatrix.  Sighing, but nodding dutifully anyway, Rigel runs off.  Meanwhile, S Doradus is taken to an empty room inside the wall and set down upon a table there.

“Thank you…,” breathes S Doradus with some relief.

“What happened?” inquires Bellatrix.

“A…quasar…,” she murmurs; “A…small one…, but-,” she cuts off due to another surge of pain gripping her.  She writhes about for a moment, and coughs up some fluid onto her chest.

“Just hang in there, okay?” begs Bellatrix.  “I’m sure Rigel won’t be too long….”

            ***

Annihilator’s usually pretty good at keeping a distance from stars in general.  The stars also tend to be wary of her while in public, because of the rumours about her.

Annihilator’s body tends to start getting excited when near too many stars at once.  Like in a market….

T Tauri saw it, and effectively dragged her by the hand right into it.  She got all manner of looks from the other stars as she passed them by.  She tried her best not to run into any of them.

T Tauri found a toy shop, and Annihilator begged to remain outside and out of everyone else’s way.  She took the time to settle down again; she’s hoping not to have to stay here for much longer.

T Tauri emerged from the shop almost a half-hour later, clutching her planet as well as two other objects.  “Here!” she beams upon bouncing over to Annihilator.  She holds out a trinket, a locket by the looks of it, and Annihilator reluctantly accepts it.

“Hey!  Stay back!” bellows an order from amid the market crowd.  It’s Rigel, who appears from the masses to address Annihilator and her little companion.  “She’s a black hole, little one, so stay back okay?”

“But, she’s my friend!” pouts back T Tauri.  “She’s actually helped me out so much already!”

“Great Annihilator…,” Rigel turns directly to her now, “why did you not reject her?  Are you planning on eating her up someday?”

“I don’t know what you expect me to say,” Annihilator responds, sighing.  “If you want the truth, then:  T Tauri, here, is very insistent on staying with me, and is extremely difficult to get rid of.”

“Well, too bad I have an urgent matter I’m attending to right now,” Rigel rolls her eyes.  “I’ll be sure to deal with you two as soon as I’m able, though,” she promises.  She then briskly walks off.

“She sure got off the wrong side of her bed this morning,” scoffs T Tauri.

“I knew I’d have a rough day, today…,” sighs Annihilator a second time.

T Tauri frowns, but quickly then smiles again.  “Let’s do something to cheer you up, then!” she suggests.  She gets to her feet, while somehow pulling Annihilator along with her by her hand.  “I may know a place,” she says, and with that Annihilator’s being dragged off again.

            ***

“Bella?” calls out Rigel, with Spica in tow.  Bellatrix pops out, and waves them over eagerly.

Spica enteres the room, spots S Doradus, eep’s, and then immediately starts charging her wand up.

S Doradus’ dark skin is looking pretty flushed by now; looks like she’s dying….  Bellatrix urges her to stay awake while Spica charges up.

Spica’s power slowly matches, and then surpasses S Doradus’ luminosity in order to ensure her wand will have enough to heal her target.  S Doradus, in her current state, has lost around half her original luminosity and strength.

“Okay, I’m ready!” pants Spica, and begins directing her might into her wand which opens up.  “This is gonna hurt, just so you know,” she warns her target, whose now too weak to be able to react to the pain she’s already still feeling.

A couple seconds later, Spica points the tip of her wand at S Doradus and a beam of blue-white light gushes out and strikes the gaping wound.  The dying star writhes a bit, but that’s about all she does.

Light soon starts pouring from S Doradus’ eyes and mouth, and from the cracks in her armour.  Her luminosity is returning to her, while all of Spica’s built-up energies are released.  After a couple straight minutes of healing, Spica’s beam ends and she falls to the floor in a heap.  S Doradus, though, has healed up virtually completely.

Her intense light fills the room, and Spica is blown gently to the wall by it.  Rigel and Bellatrix can easily stand their ground against such a powerful star, though their hair still whips about behind them.

“Again, thank you so much,” bows S Doradus, deeply appreciative of the aid.

“The pleasure’s mine,” crows Spica, still winded from her healing spell.

“Now, can we get an account on what’s going on?” asks Rigel.

“Of course,” S Doradus smiles.  She sits up on the table, and begins with her tale….

            ***

T Tauri towed her over to a nebulaic cloud.  “Now you can suck stuff up without worrying about hurting anyone!” cheers T Tauri, clearly proud of her idea and accomplishment.

Annihilator hasn’t chewed on a nebula for a very long time….

“Thanks…, I guess…,” shrugs Annihilator.  She’s here, so she may as well oblige her.

A few minutes later, Annihilator’s body’s tinkling with pleasure through-and-through and she’s never felt so happy in the absolute longest time ever.  T Tauri turned out to be so right with this, despite it most certainly being a wild guess on her part.

Annihilator would love just to lay here as long as possible….

But, all good things must come to an end.  At least that should satisfy her body for a while.  Hopefully, she won’t have to fight herself when near too many stars…at least for a while.

Wonder what Rigel has in store for us…?

The Stars Themselves, chapter 4

“Stormclouds gathering…”

“That was some cool aurorae last night,” Eta Car-B reminisces happily about yesterday’s light show while lazily pulling on a mast rope.

“You know how forboding they are, though, right?” Eta Car-A, manning the wheel, is more serious.  Yet, a grin creeps onto her face seeing her cute little sister doing what she does.

“Yeah…,” sighs B.  She finishes her task, and picks up the scope to scout the area ahead of them.

Their ship, the Argo Navis, is well-known in the Milky Way.  Powered by the two Eta Carinae sisters, it flies through the sky ferrying goods and people all across the galaxy.  There’s nowhere they don’t go.

Due to the extreme energies latent within the sisters, only the Argo crew are allowed on top deck.  Anyone else hitching a ride has to do so within one of the covered lower decks.

A, in particular, has lacked her power limiter for quite some time, and so is especially prone to energetic outbreaks that can easily strip most other stars right to their bones.

“Wind’s picking up,” notes A, “all sails full, mates!”  The handful of crew mates then scramble to drop down the Argo’s magnificent sails to take full advantage of the incoming gale.

“Approaching storm off port,” informs B, “far on the horizon.”

The heads of humongous clouds can just be seen poking over the hilltops that roll off far into the distance, which encircle much of the galaxy.

“That’s in the direction of the Large Magellanic Cloud,” says A.  Soon, they’ll have to return to the Milky Way and prepare to ride out the coming storm.

Today, the sisters are ferrying goods from the farmlands; but, they have five more trips to make for the day.

“A storm’s coming?” Spica repeats incredulously while helping the Argo crew unload the produce.  “After an aurora night?  That’s a first for me.”  She then sets some crates down by the side door of a market shop, and Vindemiatrix appears at that doorway to pick the crates up and bring them inside.

“Yeah, the sisters aren’t fully sure about the nature of the clouds either,” one of the crew members shrugs.

After a few minutes of quick moving, the Argo lifts off again to gather the next load.  In the meantime, Spica moves to the next market shop in anticipation of the next unloading.

Stars of Virgo tend to specialize in farming, produce, and/or supporting positions in the Militia.

Spica, for example, is foremost a healer and shield for the Militia, but she also helps out with the market shops and open markets in the galaxy.  It’s a great way to pass the time outside of Militia duties, which are very few during peacetime.

The Stars Themselves, chapter 3

“I’m T Tauri!  Can we be friends?” the little stargirl peeped in anticipation.  Her oversized eyes locked intently on Annihilator as she picks out some items from a vendor.

In her arms is a planet, which appears to have just finished forming as well.

“You must be new…,” sighs Annihilator as she finishes her business, obtaining a shoulder bag to replace the one she has that’s falling apart on her.

“Yeah, I just reached Main Sequence!” she cheers elatedly.  “I’m still a bit moody, though….”

Which means she’s prone to erratic outbursts of energy….

“I’m a black hole, you know…,” says Annihilator.

“I know,” nods T Tauri.  “You can eat up my outbursts; we’ll be great together!”  She’s a bit too hyper….

“Don’t you have parents to tend to you?”

“No…,” she frowns momentarily.  “I’m an orphan, and now I’m stuck on the street.”  Looking at her short stature, and orangy hair, Annihilator guesses she’s an orange dwarf – in personification.

She shouldn’t expect to be very powerful, as an adult….

“I’m an old quasar-like entity, also prone to…accidents of my own,” murmurs Annihilator.  “But, guess I won’t be rid of you easily so….”

“Thank you!” bounces T Tauri.  She then presses her slender little body against Annihilator’s side.  They walk along together….

Annihilator stays at any given hotel only a couple nights in a row, before moving on to another one.  Tonight, she chooses an older-looking place seven stories high though not that wide nor long:  The Needle Inn.  Apt name….

“Three nights for two, please?” Annihilator implores of the attendant at the front desk.  He nods, and retrieves two keys for a room #314.

On the third floor, near the end, they check into their assigned room.  The room looks medieval, with its stone floor and walls.  Well-done paintings of various marvels of the galaxy hang on the wall over the two single beds.  An oil-burning stove can be turned on to supply heat to the room, while the stones themselves absorb excess heat to keep the room cool if need be.  The bathroom is simplistic and tiny.

The hotel houses a restaurant on its main floor, perfect for them to eat at while staying here.

T Tauri proved to be a surprisingly big eater…; almost as big as Annihilator….

An impressive aurora greeted them just after sunset, while they were preparing for bed.  T Tauri’s hyper-activity is still a tad bothersome…; she was ecstatic as ever seeing them, pressing her freckled face against the window pane even while clutching her exoplanet.  She claims she’s never seen aurora before.

Indeed, it’s been a long time since Annihilator herself saw an aurora and even longer since she saw one this magnificent.  Usually, it’s a harbinger of something big to come….

For now, Annihilator is tired and in need of some sleep.  She tucks into bed, and nods off by the time T Tauri also peels herself from the glass and jumps into bed for the night.