The man Cyborg loved was going to be taken away from them like that. They had dented the door to the prison, but their own metal was dented and busted. They were slumped into the corner trying to undo the damage that they had done to themselves trying to break free from this intergalactic hell they were put into.
White Choco was doing the same. She was clenching her fists together before making one last punch to the wall. The metal on her knuckles was slowly being chipped away. There was nobody there to give her strength. How could she give herself strength after losing so much energy trying to escape her cell?
The two of them heard the bells from outside. It was time.
A group of guards came into the room to round up all the prisoners, which at the moment, was only Cyborg and White Choco. Cyborg wanted oh so badly to use this opportunity to escape, but all their energy was sapped up. It was so unfair of Aloe to let go of Lemon and keep them stuck there, but they were too tired to be mad.
The two were forced into handcuffs and escorted outside. Maybe it wasn’t so bad, considering Cyborg and White Choco knew each other. They weren’t exactly close, but maybe now they could bond a little more.
“Psst,” Cyborg whispered to White Choco as they were being walked out, “So why did they lock you up in here? And why didn’t I see you get captured?”
White Choco seemed a little lost in her own thoughts before she lifted her head to face Cyborg.
“Something about not being compatible… I always assumed it was because I’m more robot than cookie now… but perhaps…”
She trailed off without elaborating which left Cyborg confused.
“...Perhaps… perhaps what?”
“If it’s not that… I believe my family ancestry has been fabricated in some way. We might be half-siblings…”
Cyborg just shook their head. Their voice raised slightly. ”Why does that matter? You’re still his sister. Look, we can figure it out later if you’re still worried about it.”
“It does not matter in these circumstances, however, it muddies things with the Old House of Raspberry…” White Choco trailed off again. “I know I shouldn’t hold onto the past but-...”
The guards shoved White Choco down slightly.
“Shut up. We’re arriving at our destination shortly.” One of them ordered. Cyborg sneered in retaliation and looked at White with a worried expression. White Choco was once again looking down at the ground, seemingly lost in thought. Cyborg wished they could try to help, but if they couldn’t get inside her head, there was no way they could know what was bothering her.
The wedding bells had rang.
Aloe and Lemon were called for the momentous occasion immediately. This was it. This was the big day. This was the day that everyone had been dreading.
What was a positive moment on Earth quickly turned negative for everyone, including Lemon.
After that talk with Starflower, Lemon could feel something going to happen. There was just a sinking feeling in his stomach. Hundreds of people once again gathered near the castle and thousands more in the plaza. Of course, Lemon and Aloe had front-row seats, courteously given to them by King Z.Starflower himself.
Aloe and Lemon sat down next to each other in the audience. Lemon lifted his hand up slightly, wanting to voice the sinking feeling underneath his circuitry, but put it back down quickly. That was something that was between Lemon and Starflower. Aloe looked just as nervous though. Their body had been slightly liquifying in real-time. They took a couple of deep breaths right before Lemon lightly put his hand on their shoulder.
“...I’m sorry, Android. I suppose I’m slightly put off by the idea of Y.Raspberry Iced Tea becoming a royal…” Aloe put their hand on top of Lemon’s, “Y.Tea has never liked his highness, Z.Starflower…”
Lemon nodded. He could only assume that Aloe was also afraid of something happening to Z.Starflower.
“Whatever happens now, I’ll be right at your side,” Lemon stated, not really thinking about what he just said, but he felt his hand squeeze slightly, indicating that Aloe was on board with it.
The two of them watched as the main lights in the castle dimmed and a spotlight turned on. A new royal emerged from the shadows, a much taller one. His hands were behind his back as he stood tall with an icy glare that could pierce through any organism alive. The crowd went wild, chanting his name.
His head wings flapped, taking in the scene beforehand. He cleared his throat. His voice boomed loudly and proudly.
“Welcome, all, from A to Z. I hope you all are excited to be here as I am today. As everyone is aware, our first royal wedding in a millennium is taking place at this very moment today. This auspicious day not only unites us as a planet but also is one of the very rare instances that we will be crowning one of our beloved generals as part of Bluestar Royalty.”
Starflower walked up behind Clematis and the two exchanged a bow.
“As you all may be aware, Bluestar originated with three royals. One who could grant wishes, one who was a great warrior, and the third who could generate power of their own violation. For the first time in history, we are celebrating a fourth addition after Z.Clematis and I, Z.Starflower, have been serving for eons. We hope that you will accept them with open arms.”
Cyborg and White watched the two royals give their speech. Cyborg could barely keep their head up. They just had to sit and watch.
The doors flew open to the ceremonial room as if on cue. The spotlight moved to illuminate the doorway and out-stepped one of the most composed individuals the planet has ever seen. The light shone on him as if they were a celestial being, and Cyborg could not believe their eyes.
“...Knighty…?” They whimpered out from under their breath. This was the first time they saw him after his conversion. Their eyes widened as they witnessed Knight all dolled up and regal. Arms in front of him, hands folded together so politely, head slightly tilted down in politeness. They could not believe their eyes… This wasn’t their Knighty. This wasn’t him at all…
He stopped at the podium near where Clematis and Starflower were standing. His demeanor was vastly different from both royals. Cyborg had to think that something was wrong. He must be being controlled in some sort of way, or maybe he’s been brainwashed? What if it was both? Cyborg revved up their boots and tried to push themselves to get closer.
“Knighty! Knightyy!” They got themselves off the ground for only a few seconds before getting shoved back onto the floor. Their face was planted into the ground and their arms pinned behind their back. “Get off me!!” They shrieked trying to fight the guards pinning them down. It was now or never. They needed to save Knight before anything else happened, but their strength was depleted. The NeoAzullians were much stronger than they were.
The struggling stopped once they heard the doors open again. Raspberry Iced Tea stood proudly with their hands behind their back. The moment felt so long to Cyborg, and to put salt in the wound, they could feel Tea glancing back at them with the biggest smirk.
Clematis and Starflower's words became a muffled mess in Cyborg’s processors. The whole thing was unfolding in front of their very eyes.
“Y.Raspberry Iced Tea shall be now known as…”
On the other side, Aloe's heart started sinking hearing the royal's words. They couldn't believe that Tea succeeded in their plan to become a royal on Bluestar. They clenched their fist knowing what power they had over the citizens. Over the royals.
Lemon was connecting the dots faster than Aloe. Despite not being a NeoAzullian, during his earlier spar with Tea on the spaceship he caught a glimpse of who they truly were, just by how they fought.
“...Z.Raspberry Iced Tea. They shall rule alongside their partner, Z.Mocha.”
The crowd erupted with cheering and celebration. People were waving flags and jumping for their new ruler. People clang drinks of liquid aluminum together, unknowing of either Z.Mocha's origins or Z.Tea's desire to rule selfishly. Only the four in the audience seemed to be unhappy amongst the ruckus.
“I am honored to be here today as one of Bluestar’s royalty. I could not have been here if it had not been for Z.Starflower’s kind gestures or Z.Clematis’s faith in me as his top general.” Tea looked behind themself to take a gander at all the royals behind them. “I have worked hard to obtain this position, and I will make good use of this opportunity.”
There was a nod of approval from Z.Clematis. He slightly raised his hand to end the ceremony, however, Tea interjected swiftly.
“Before this meeting is over, I would like Z.Starflower to step forward beside me…”
Aloe leaned over the railing they were sitting behind to attempt to get a closer look, “didn’t they say something about overthrowing King Z.Starflower on the spaceship?” The scientist felt panic building up within their body.
“Don’t know. I was either asleep or imprisoned at the time.”
Lemon was unsure if he should tell Aloe of the omen. Maybe this wasn’t the big event Starflower was talking about. The android could feel seeds of doubt within his circuitry, but he leaned over the rail alongside Aloe as a way of trying to comfort them.
“Lemon… I…” Aloe started, but they weren’t able to finish their sentence before their attention snapped back to the ceremony at hand.
Tea raised their hand and created a spark of electricity out of their hand. Several flashes started forming around them in a circle. Their shiny new cape flowed in the wind that was created by the vortex of bolts. Their eyes under their visor narrowed as they smirked.
“Augh-!” The king kneeled down on the ground after being struck with what felt like a taser. He looked up at Tea who was now standing over him. With a swift kick, Starflower was down laying on his side. His leg started to drip into a puddle of liquid metal. The crowd gasped, along with Aloe and Lemon rushing out of their seats to go down to see what happened. Clematis stomped towards Tea but was quickly stopped by Tea holding up their arm as a warning sign for Clematis to stay back.
“Sire! Sire!” Aloe pushed through hordes of people to the stairs to try to get Starflower some help. For once in his life, Lemon was behind them getting pushed by the crowd panicking. The scientist was too fast for him to keep up and the two got separated quickly.
By the time Aloe got down there, Starflower was reduced to a head and an arm. Aloe dipped their hands in the puddle of metal of their previous king with tears welding up in their eyes. “S-Sire… I can fix you…! I can save you…! Just like Cyborg! And Lemon! Don’t die on me please!”
Starflower simply shook his head.
“V.Aloe… Need not to worry…” His arm started to submerge in the large puddle.
Aloe kept trying to gather the liquid on the ground back into one mass hurriedly but to no avail. They tried picking up his head, but the puddle had the consistency of water. Starflower’s eyes finally closed as Aloe could feel the matter slipping away through between their fingertips. The only thing left of the great king was his long coat on the ground, beaten and dirtied by Tea’s boots as they smirked down at the scientist.
“Good riddance… Finally,” They looked proud of their work and looked up towards the panicking crowd again. “Things are going to be run differently around here now. Better than how Starflower used to run things.” They turned towards Clematis who was in the shadows now, feeling slightly ashamed. That was his general who just assassinated his co-worker. Tea just simply looked at their hand in amusement as Clematis shied away from his throne.
“Z.Clematis shall be known as… hm… X.Clematis now.” Tea chuckled to themself. “Thus, making it so I'm the only one in charge other than poor little Mocha over here…”
“How could you do this to him?!” Aloe shrieked at Tea as tears welled up in their eyes.
Tea didn’t even look at the V-class as they laughed at them. “It was about time he kicked the bucket! This planet was going to die if he was in control any longer!”
“Is this what you wanted all along? For Z.Starflower to die?! What would that even accomplish? What do you gain from that?!” The scientist stood up and stumbled. They looked into Tea’s visor with contempt. Their voice shook from the emotional turmoil that they had to endure. “I’ve lost a lot of lives up until now, but all of them I could fix, but this one…”
Aloe growled and clenched their fists before charging towards the new Z-class. Tears were streaming down their face and were starting to form rust on the sides of their eyes.
Tea simply just moved out of the way as Aloe tried their best to throw a few punches, even mocking them as they moved their matter away from Aloe’s fists. They laughed as they kicked them right in the core, causing them to stumble backward.
“You’re pitiful, you know?” Tea mocked them, even attempting to scare them with a bolt of electricity, “It’s no wonder we left you on Earth for so long! You make Bluestar look bad with your fighting abilities. How are you even a V-class?”
Aloe stepped back heaving in rage after seeing Tea’s electrical abilities activate. “L-Lemon! I need you!”
Lemon tried to catch up to Aloe as best as he could, but he was lost in the crowd now. He felt a tap on his shoulder before whipping around to face the individual who tapped him. He couldn't identify the person through his sensors since there were many bodies, but before he could get a good look, his optics were shut off suddenly. “Wait- What are you-”
After no response from Lemon, Aloe looked at their opponent before dropping their fighting stance. This was a calculated retreat.
They looked at Starflower’s puddle one last time before running away from the scene. They needed to find Cyborg fast.
