Slowly, we walked out of the spaceship, a brief moment of nausea passing over us. Gold dirt immediately covered our boots and took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the vast brightness that was Everett. Skyscrapers literally scraped the sk with how tall they were, their silver surfaces reflecting the sun. Grand walls the color of sand stood more than two hundred feet above rich green ground, guards standing stiffu, In less than ten seconds, the large extravagant gates opened for our arrival.

Feeling inferior compared to the bright, strong looking men standing on and around the wall, I tried to brush the gold dirt off of my shoes inconspicuously. It didn't work, to say the least. Nerves jumped along my body and I fingered my dagger. Too many thoughts were zipping through my mind, some thoughts I didn't want to admit existed. But they were there to stay.

I stepped up into the immaculate line with the other specials. We started forward, no one glancing to the side, our eyes trained on our prey. Captain took a step past our solid ranks and his small army (Less than a hundred men) took up neat rows behind us.

"Gramps!" Captain called to a man standing stoicly in the still opening fates. I couldn't see much of his features because of how bright the reflections of the sun were on the buildings behind him, making him backlit and giving him a mysterious air.

"Cap. What a pleasant surprise," the man said in a voice that showed just how pleasant it was. He emerged from the finally fully open gates and little by little, I saw more of his face. He had a goatee that was slightly graying, a mustache that curved at the ends, bushy eyebrows that hung over dark eyes in deep sockets. He wore a sort of red cup-looking cap on top of thinning black hair. He looked friendly enough but he sounded anything but.

"Thank ya for 'avin' us, Gramps. Appreciated. He won't be long just a look around, maybe buy a few things, an' then we'll be on our way." Captain walked toward the man and clapped his hand on his back. The man's frown grew deeper as he stuffened beneath Captain's firm grip.

"I do not give you false pretense that my people will welcome you much. And to be completely honest, which is more than I can say to you, I would encourage them to be hostile to the likes of you." The man spat on the ground next to Captain's shoe and there was a dangerous shift in the shades of the special's sking color, mood darkening. "Monsters, you are. I implore you to leave as soon as you can and, if at all possible, to keep the destruction to a minimum." In all his immaculate gold and red robed glory, the an spunm his black cape billowing behind him as he led us into the city gates.

He acted as our guide for only a momentt before Captain let us break ranks and we split up around the city. With Deathslinger, our first destination was always the same on new planets: the food.

The city was much like that of other ones we had visited but also very unique. The ground even looked expensive, the soil turning from red to gold and marble stepping stones littered the path to many open stalls filled with beautiful trinkets, food, clothes, books and more. The stalls were made of simple wood with golden decorations. Past the city square, there were humble abodes of some of the civilians, small apartments and two level houses and though they were for the less rich, they were still fancier than most I had seen on other planets. The buildings rose higher and far more expensive the further from the town square they got. The planet Everett was one of the richest planets ever. Gold was found deep in the ground and came up as the weather got warmer, giving some of the soil the gold sheen. It did cause some inflation, but the people were good enough to keep things fairly cheap.

Deathslinger and I stood in line for food behind a couple that was nervously looking at us out of the corners of their eyes and keeping their three children close to them. Prepubescent kids from Everett had green skin that slowly tanned as they grew older. Hair didn’t vary much, it was either black or brown with a few blondes in there if they had an extra lucky gold harvest that year. The environment of their world affected how a generation of children were born. The only thing the environment decided for that generation on my old planet was if there was going to be a generation, or if they were all going to drown in a flood. Life was grim.

As the rest of the team spread out along the town square, and even a few went into the small neighborhoods to wander, the crowds slowly dispersed. I found that Deathslinger and I came up at the front of the line far sooner than we should have as people came up with random excuses to leave the line. The stall owner eyed us warily.

“What may I get you?” He asked, trying–and failing–to hold in his look of contention.

“A spice roll,” I said simply, reading the menu etched on the old board hanging above the man’s head.

“I’ll take a pot pie.” Deathslinger rested his elbow on the counter of the stall and faced me casually as we waited for our food.

Remembering the fragment of a thought that I didn't really ever forget, I sucked in a breath. And before I knew it, the first step of a plan presented itself and before I could stop myself, I blurted out, “I’m deserting.”

Deathslinger, who was cleaning the inside of his nails, looked at me in surprise, his eyebrows arched so high it was shocking they didn’t just fly off his face. “Excuse me?”

I sighed. Now I couldn’t take it back so the best next thing was convincing him that I wasn’t mentally unstable. “I’m going to desert. Today. Soon. Hopefully?” The last word came out of more of a question than I wanted.

“I’m really hoping you’re just talking about the delicious food we eat after dinner and not that you want to kill yourself by deserting from the team.” He had his eyes trained on mine with his unwavering stare. I hated when he did that, his dead grass colored eyes more captivating than food.

My eyes squinted as I started losing some confidence, although it didn’t show in my voice when I spoke next. “What? A team that kills innocent people and destroys planets? For what, even. Sport? ‘Cause I hate every second of it! I’m done, Deathslinger. Are you in or not?”

Before Deathslinger could answer, the stall owner walked out to us carrying two boxes with our food in it. I snatched mine away and started to walk to the neighborhood, flipping a coin behind me, knowing it would land on the counter of the stall. It probably wasn’t enough to pay for the food but it wouldn’t matter soon, what with the planet blowing up and all.

After a moment, my friend caught up with me, already digging into his food, making it sound weirdly crunchy and really delicious. We passed the line of city square to a less rich neighborhood and I was shocked at the coziness of the buildings being so close together. Deathslinger’s and my shoulders brushed as we tried to walk side by side along the house's exterior.

“Okay. Lucky for you, I didn’t actually need that much explanation, I just wanted… someone to come up with the idea before me because I’m not going to have our blood on my hands. But–”

“But if it’s my hands it makes all the difference?” I deadpanned.

He glanced at me, “Yes. But I’m in only on one condition.” I raised my brows at him curiously and he fiddled with his dagger. “It's all your fault and idea if we get caught. I was kidnapped if they ask."

“I don’t doubt you for a second, my friend.” We both gave out a sigh and started walking again. “We should split up and try to get more people to desert.”

"Okay. I'll get Heartcrusher, Shuttlewreck, Lifetorture, and Decieter. You get everyone else." He'd obviously thought of this before.

"Actually how about you get Marincrusher and I get Decieter?" He groaned loudly, throwing his head back in exasperation.

"No way, man."

"Yes. Either that or"--I snatched his food that was already halfway through eating and held it further than his arms could reach--"I eat this."

He looked at his food warily, thinking the dilemma over. I was honestly shocked that he was thinking about it that much. When it came to food, Deathslinger would do nearly anything for it. Obviously, talking to Marincrasher was something that gave him serious second thoughts.

He sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Fine. Give me my food." He probably realized that talking to her for half a second wouldn’t kill him or anything.

I brought my hand down and he snatched his food away from me. He took a bite of it and the crunch made me regret my decision. I looked at my food distastefully and threw it at the ground, stuffing my hands in my pockets on the coveralls. Deathslinger looked at me, then my food on the ground, then back again. Finally he rolled his eyes and left to go talk to his four. I left as well, walking to where I had last seen some of them.

I sauntered into the tight neighborhood nearest to the square. There was barely any space between the house and at some points I had to suck my gut in in order to fit between two especially close houses. I ran my hand on the smooth surfaces of the homes. Sometimes a kid would be walking through the neighborhood, sometimes with a friend, sometimes alone. But the moment they saw me they would scurry away as if they were rats in the light for the first time.

I exhaled slowly, relishing in the beautifulness of the doomed planet, but I was interrupted by voices whispering urgently. I had no idea how long I had been walking through the neighborhoods but it must not have been that long. I looked at my watch and saw that we only had twenty-seven minutes til destruction. I followed the voices to the edge of a house with new conviction, my steps fast. I peaked around the corner and saw Nightraider talking to Fireclaw. Great. Just what I wanted to see.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"The way they look at us… it hurts, you know?" I heard Nightraider saying. I was rightly surprised, seeing as Nightraider, at least the one I knew, only had two emotions: disgust and hate. And right now I was hearing… okay I still didn't know what I was hearing to be honest but it was an emotion she didn’t have before. She must have upgraded.

"Nightraider, come on. We've been doing this since we were kids, it's nothing new. What? Are you really thinking of deserting?" Fireclaw kind of sounded angry.

I thought this the perfect time to present myself. I started whistling and stepped around the corner pretending I hadn't seen them yet. When I “saw” them, I feigned looking shocked. Nightraider had her normal scowl on and Fireclaw looked mildly amused.

"Oh, hey guys." I don't know why but I was not in the mood for Fireclaw so I chose to make a jab at him. "Oh, by the way, Fireclaw, did you ever ask Nightraider out?" He tried to hide it but his face started reddening.

He cleared his throat but before he could talk, Nightraider said, rubbing her eyebrows with her fingers, "Ask me out?"

"Well, um, yes?" Fireclaw said with a shy shrug. She frowned more, making me happier than she would ever understand.

"Anyways, I had a thought. Deathslinger and I were thinking of deserting. You guys want to join?" I said it as if we were talking about the weather, as if I wasn’t talking about something completely treacherous.

Immediately, Fireclaw’s face grew two tints darker and his tattoos thrummed with a glowing blue light. Nightraiders eyebrows rose and her skin lightened, but then her eyes narrowed and she became guarded.

“Are you joking?” She asked skeptically.

“Of course not,” I said, hurt by her accusation but completely understanding why she was skeptical. I would be, too, if I were in her position. “I’m serious. It’s well past time that we say no to Cap.”

She relaxed a little but kept her scowl on, saying, “Sure. But the moment things get choppy, I’m turning on you and letting them kill you.”

“At least you're honest.” I gave her a small smile but she just glowered more.

“What’s wrong with you guys? Why would you want to desert? What changed? What’s wrong with this lifestyle?” He threw his hands up in the air then let them fall, aggravated.

“Fireclaw, what kinds of people do you see out there? The ones that we’re about to go and kill. What is good about that? How can you find anything good about this lifestyle?” Nightraider exclaimed, replacing her glare with an anguished face.

“I don't know! But it’s what we’ve been doing since we were kids, we don’t know any different. Why change now? They had it coming for them” was his rebuttal.

“Yes, we do know something different! We know that we can have a life. And why did they have it coming for them? Huh? What did they do so terribly wrong that the whole planet has to be destroyed for it?” I folded my arms and stared him directly in the eye.

“How am I supposed to know? It’s just life. Some people are in power, others succumb to them. Some people live, others die. Deal with it.” He folded his arms and looked between the two of us.

“Well what makes you think we should be the ones to live, or the ones in power? I’d rather die for the right reasons than live because I’m causing other people’s deaths. If you want to join me, then follow. If not, go jump off a cliff and kill yourself.” With that, I walked out of the alleyway, hoping at least Nightraider would follow. And Fireclaw asked what was wrong with us.

After a moment, I turned around and my heart dropped when I didn’t see anyone following. I sighed and walked the rest of the way out of the neighborhood and back into the town square. But, when I turned around again just for good measure, I saw Nightraider coming slowly out of the back houses, defiance radiating off of her life fire. She walked up beside me and turned to look at the alleyways behind her. And then, there, walking much slower than she, was Fireclaw, looking defeated. His head was down and his arms were still crossed.

When he came up to us, he said, “Like Nightraider said, if things get choppy, I’m out.”

“At least you were in at the beginning.” I walked towards where I had last seen Decieter, knowing Fireclaw and Nightraider would follow. I think I had seen him lingering near the gates of the city.

We walked in silence, but I knew there were questions simmering beneath their stoic surfaces. Fireclaw bristled the longer we walked and Nightraider got twitchy, but as for me, I felt like I held the very future in my hands, I felt powerful. I couldn’t help a little smirk creep onto my face the longer we walked and when we reached the city gates and a solid, unmoving Decieter, I had a full grin on my face.

“Decieter, my man. How–” I started strong, but stopped mid sentence when Nightraider gave me a glare. She cleared her throat, stopped twitching, and spoke.

“Decieter, what are your thoughts on Captain?” She asked. Probably a smart move, seeing as we didn’t know if everyone wanted to desert like us.

“What do you mean?” He asked, turning to us, his eyes fluttering.

“I mean… Do you like him? Do you think what we’re doing is good?” She tried to explain.

“Of course I like Captain. He’s like our father, caring for us for years when nobody else would.” He looked us up and down, disgust radiating off of him in waves. “What, are you thinking of deserting?”

“No, of course not,” I said, putting on my best ‘you’re crazy’ face. “We wanted to give him… a present.” Okay, don’t blame me, my brain doesn't always work fast enough.

His eyes narrowed half an inch but he said, “Okay. Then what’s with the questions?”

“We just wanted to know if you wanted to help us with that,” Fireclaw added helpfully.

Decieter relaxed but only by a fraction and, glaring, he said, “Sure.”

We got out of there as fast as we could.

After turning the corner into a new cluster of houses, we each relaxed and shared glances. We dodged a bullet, thanks to Nightraider. If she hadn’t stopped me from speaking, we would probably already be dead. I looked down at my watch and saw that we only had nineteen minutes left.

“We gotta hurry, guys,” I said, sweat breaking out along my body at the thought of not getting out in time.

“What are we even going to do after recruiting everyone?” Fireclaw asked, finally letting one of his questions out. Nightraider looked at me, the same question obvious in her eyes. Do you even have a plan?

“Of course I have a plan. We’re going to take the ship.” Fireclaw snorted, put his hands behind his head and paced back and forth between the houses.

“Oh, yeah, ‘cause it’s just that easy.” He makes his voice a notch higher. “‘Guys, don’t worry, I have a great plan and we’re gonna hijack the ship Captain owns, the very same captain that has a hundred men on his side plus Decieter and there might be more than three of us that end up actually deserting so that chances of us surviving is three percent higher than it used to be! No need to worry.’”

I bristled at that but instead of snapping back, I said, “At least four, and yeah, basically.”

Fireclaw shouts and swears his head off, using curse words I didn’t even know before then. “You’ve got to be joking! I’m out, man, I’m out. I’d rather jump off a cliff and die than follow you to our own deaths. Goodbye, Batcatcher.” He throws another curse my way and walks away.

I turn to Nightraider, choosing to ignore the last thing he said, hope in my eyes. She looked at Fireclaw walking away, then at me. She looked worried, her brows scrunched together, her body twitching again.

“What’s the whole plan, Batcatcher? If you even have one?” She asked quietly, uncertainty lacing every word.

“I’m the one who fixes the ship, aren’t I?" It was true. I was. "I know how to override it, how to work it. The plan is to sneak onto the ship and fly away as soon and secretly as possible. Minimum deaths on both parts, especially ours.” I gave a wink at the end but she didn’t look amused. I sighed. “Listen, even if we end up dying, at least we did something good in our last minutes. Speaking of last minutes, if we're gonna do this, we have to go quick. We only have a few more minutes before destruction and chaos." I held out my hand to her and she stared at it for a moment debating whether to join me or not. To tip the teapot, I said, "Remember? You can kill me if it all goes south."

She shook my hand, stopped twitching and led the way, walking fast so as to not run out of time. I grinned and followed after her.

“So who else are we condemning?” She asked, flipping her hair back.

“Brains,” I said as she took turns at random.

"Ew." Her face scrunched up in disgust. "Any idea where the guy is?"

"Not. A. Clue. Probably wherever some weird store for dead things is or something like that," I answered helpfully.

"Oh, wait, actually. That might be helpful. I saw one around the corner of one of these really run-down houses over here." How she kept all the houses and squished walkways straight in her head, I had no idea. But thank goodness.

I shrugged and let Nightraider lead me to wherever Brainsucker was hidden. And, unsurprisingly, we found him. He was staring intently at a yellow slime filled jar with something floating in it. Two the creaky door opening and closing to the apothecary, Brainsucker didn't move an inch. Along with the owner of the store who was staring at Brainsucker to make sure nothing weird happened.

After tapping him eight times on the shoulder, Brainsucker finally turned to us with a surprised look on his face. "Oh," he said, shoving his glasses higher on his nose. "Is it time to go already? I thought I still had thirteen minutes and twenty two seconds."

I looked at my watch and shouldn't have been surprised when he was exactly on point with it. I shrugged at Nightraider and she took over.

"No, Brains. We were wondering if you wanted to desert with me, Batcatcher, and Deathslinger and probably a few more?" Nightraider asked. It was always the best option to get straight to the point when talking to Brains.

He squinted for half a second and I held my breath. Then he said, "The probability of us surviving is very low. But if we do survive, then I want to be there to see what happens. So, yes, I'm in!"

"Great. Now, let's go find Deathslinger." Best not to spend too much time around Brains and his... brain.

Seeing that time was seriously of the essence, the three of us ran out of the shop, much to the owners relief. We ran around corners, twisting and turning our bodies in ways we didn't know were possible, until we reached the town square (which I totally thought was in the other direction...). There, we saw Deathslinger, Shuttlewreck, Heartcrusher, Lifetorture, and a very giddy Marincrasher.

"Okay, you guys. Let's get this show on the road," I said, clapping my hands and rubbing them together.

And thus started the destruction and chaos.