Beyond Space & Time

The creature lazily reached down and scooped Wolf up under its arm, again making him feel like nothing special. It strolled into the cockpit and plonked the two of them down into a seat, strapping them both in together. The confidence that it had that the two of them would not even try to escape was so absolute, that neither of them even dared to move. "W-W-Wolf," Atlas stammered in a whisper, feeling hazy all over again. "D-d'you know... What that is?" It sat in the seat next to them, staring at them... Dreamily? It was gross. Then the pilots fired up the engines and went at lightspeed into space. Wolfie and Elder Atlas had only just missed them. "Crap!" Elder cursed, before blasting into space after the ship. It was easy enough to keep up with it but something was wrong - why weren't their lovers fighting back?

Atlas nodded weakly and peaked over at the creature. It was still watching them. Atlas shuddered and looked away, focusing on Wolf. "I feel gross," she hissed. "It's like it's... Playing with us." The pair caught up quickly and smashed through the cargo bay doors. There were other prisoners here so they didn't want to destroy the ship, just stop it. They advanced quickly through the ship towards the cockpit, basically melting anyone who got in their way. The creature appeared to sigh in front of its captors, and got up out of its seat.

"Bad feeling?" Elder Atlas asked Wolfie. She was feeling the same, something was very wrong here. Before they could enter the cockpit, someone exited in front of them and turned to look in their direction. It had no form, but also somehow was densely dark and imposing. It trembled slightly at the sight of the other two - was it perturbed or delighted? Whatever it was, it set Elder Atlas' alarm bells screaming.

"Ssh!" Elder Atlas hissed at Wolfie. They couldn't just stand here chatting at one another, the thing was listening to them. But she agreed, this thing should definitely not be approached, even though she could sense their other halves in the room behind it. It just stood there looking at them, so perhaps they should attack first? But then Atlas had appeared at the door behind it with a scared look in her eyes. "Run!" she cried out, grabbing hold of its shadowy arm and trying to drag it back into the cockpit. She knew she and Wolf couldn't beat it - but they had agreed that they didn't want it going anywhere near their beloveds.

Oh, fun and games! The creature appeared to chuckle as it grabbed the younger two. It had no idea why they all looked so similar - perhaps they were siblings? - but it knew that it wanted to play a sick game with them. Atlas and Wolf felt it invading their minds and filling them with horrendous imagery. They were no longer cosmic beings but merely its toys to do with as it pleased, and in these imaginings it was doing just that. Atlas began crying and shaking her head, not wanting to see these things anymore. Suddenly Elder Atlas wasn't thinking about holding back anymore.

"Ah, screw this," Elder Atlas grumbled. She gave Wolfie the briefest of looks before bursting forward towards the creature. Unlike the other two who passed through it, she was able to send it flying back against the wall, releasing its younger captives. Oho! It had underestimated her and so had not anticipated such a strong hit. But that would just make this more fun for it! It appeared to laugh maniacally before slinking back towards Elder Atlas creepily. Her younger self had passed out on the floor next to Wolf.

They were still just outside the cockpit, not a pod. So shutting the doors only shut them into the cockpit alongside the pilots. This worked perfectly for the creature. It took the hits in its stride, sliding back across the floor away from Atlas and Wolf. Ooh... That tingled! It shimmied a little bit and then held its arms wide, ready to accept more attacks from the pair of them. Elder Atlas wouldn't let herself be goaded, and blasted it from a distance with cosmic force. It buckled under the pressure and flew back through the bulkhead, blasting into space and sucking all the air out with it.

A terrifying fight ensued, in which Elder Atlas and Wolfie surprisingly nearly lost. They only survived because the creature grew bored and went after the ship that was now long since gone. Elder Atlas was nearly unconscious as she drifted to Wolfie and sealed them both inside of a healing bubble. "My Wolf... I am sorry," she whispered. "Need to... Heal..." Before she could save him, she needed to save herself. But who knew how long that would take? All Wolf and Atlas knew was that their beloved godly loved ones hadn't managed to save them this time. So they would have to save themselves. But when the creature returned to them, that became very difficult...

And hold on, she did. Was it days? Weeks? Months, even? The things Atlas and Wolf saw then. The pair of them put all of their cosmic energy into a barrier around themselves to fend off the creature. It pestered them for some time, but it grew bored quickly. Besides, it had been wounded in the fight so couldn't break them with as much ease as usual. So when it was gone, they escaped. By the time Elder Atlas and Wolfie had healed themselves, Atlas and Wolf had long since escaped. But they were lost in a part of space they didn't recognise.

"I know," Atlas replied, reaching out to pat Wolf's shoulder before looking behind her at the ship they'd just abandoned. It was less a ship and more a Dyson Sphere, one of many surrounding this star and its planets. "I want to be back with Wolfie, but... There are so many people here. We can save them." Wolfie and her elder self would be able to find them, especially if they made a huge commotion by destroying this system. But would they be able to do it? Atlas had to believe they could.