Chapter Text
“Come on, come on…”
The frantic clicks and clacks of a keyboard filled the Skullship’s computer room. It was entirely empty, aside from the lone Commander, who was stressed beyond belief.
Commander Peepers had been working for hours on end, trying to find something, anything, that could be of use in a plan to defeat Dominator. His research had practically served zero purpose since the day they infiltrated Dominator’s ship. He hadn’t expected the ship to absorb the ray’s powers so quickly, and he certainly didn’t think the villainess would be able to use it against them.
His hands trembled lightly as he continued to type in various codes to decipher just exactly what was going on with the overlord’s ship. Over and over, he was met with the big bright words, “ACCESS DENIED.” No code he used could bypass whatever freakishly advanced security Dominator had connected to her ship, and he’d be a fool to think any of his now outdated calculations could be of any use.
Staring at the giant screen, Peepers let out a small whine. There was no use in trying this method any longer. To make matters worse, this was his last resort. He was entirely out of ideas, and that was the most frustrating part. The frostonium ray was his Magnum Opus, and now it was gone.
He felt helpless. Small. Just like he did on Suburbon V.
The Commander grumbled and massaged his temples. His head was killing him. It probably wasn’t a good idea to stare at a ridiculously bright and giant screen for days on end, but he didn’t really have a choice at the moment. He lowered his eye to observe his surroundings. It was littered with crumpled papers, which originally had arbitrary buzzwords scrawled on them, mere fragments of now abandoned plans. Broken pencils accompanied the papers, a clear sign that Peepers’ temper got the best of him.
He needed help.
As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t shake the thought away from his mind. He couldn’t ask Lord Hater, not since their little misadventure on Suburbon V. He knew that his boss wouldn’t be able to come up with something worthwhile, and he didn’t necessarily feel like confiding in any of the watchdogs. Peepers was supposed to be the planner, with the watchdogs following his lead. Yet there he was, planless.
Pacing the floor, Peepers mumbled to himself.
“Let’s see, Dominator’s ship is currently under some sort of maintenance. That, I know. But how can I get on there without freezing to death?”
He continued to walk circles around the room while muttering to himself, squeezing his eye tight to concentrate on his train of thought. His head was still pounding, making it harder for him to focus. He probably looked like a madman, but he didn’t care. What he cared about was finding out how to defeat Lord Dominator. Even just the tiniest piece of information would go a long way.
A small win, that’s all he needed.
He could always try going on the ship by himself, but, again, there was the issue with temperature. Watchdogs weren’t exactly the most weather-resistant creatures, and he didn’t want to run the risk of getting caught by any functioning dombot, or even Dominator herself. On top of that, he’d be doing this alone. The lingering idea of him needing help continued to interrupt his train of thought, and he felt his head pound harder.
Stopping his pacing, Peepers turned back to the large computer, the giant red letters still being displayed before him. Sighing, he hung his head and pinched the area of what would be the bridge of a nose. The constant pacing had made him anxious, and he couldn’t afford to crash right now.
Slowly, he began to feel better. Taking in a long, slow breath, the Commander opened his eye back up. The room felt less stuffy, and his headache had gone from a throbbing pain to a much gentler one.
…
That was, until he heard an all too familiar voice from behind him.
“Evening, Commander.”
The headache came back.
“Elora?!” Peepers yelped, whipping his head around to see the owner of said voice standing in the doorway, her illicium bringing a gentle yellow glow to the dark room.
“What are you doing here?!” he questioned further, his voice cracking slightly.
“Oh, you know. Just bored, wanting to cause a bit of trouble. The usual.” Elora replied.
With a groan, Peepers rolled his eye.
“Of course.”
“I see you’ve been busy,” Elora commented, her gaze shifting to the heap of crumpled papers that surrounded the watchdog. “Something on your mind?”
Peepers grumbled once more. He didn’t have the time for her rhetorical questions.
“Yes,” He replied, “Not sure how you figured that one out.”
“Well, what can I say? I’m quite the clever one.”
His eye twitched at her unbothered attitude. It was very clear–at least, to him–that he wasn’t in the mood for her antics. Not that he ever was to begin with.
Elora’s eyes trailed from the watchdog to the giant monitor behind him, and she felt the end of her tail flick with curiosity. It wasn’t hard to put together that Peepers had been trying to gain access to something, but what it was, she had no idea. Whatever it was, it was certainly important enough for him to neglect his surroundings and leave it in such disarray.
Her tail flicked once more as she probed, “Do you mind telling me what that’s about?”
Following where Elora’s finger pointed, Peepers’ eye met with the giant screen for what felt like the millionth time. He growled as he balled up his small leather-clad fists.
“I do mind, as a matter of fact.” Peepers spat. “This has nothing to do with you, so why don’t you just mind your own business for once?”
This earned him a frown. Elora leaned against the room’s doorway, clearly unamused. Peepers only responded by crossing his arms with his back facing her. He could be stubborn too.
“I don’t suppose this is about the frostonium ray?”
Suddenly Peepers felt his heart sink to his stomach. His head swung back to Elora, her face still holding the surly expression.
“How did you-?!”
“Sylvia told me.”
His eyelid sank to cover most of his eye as he sighed.
“Of course she did.”
With his head pounding again, Peepers began to rub his temples harshly. He could feel himself getting restless again, and of course it had to be right after he had started to feel better.
Gloved fingertips still rubbing circles, Peepers asked, almost sadly, “And what exactly did she tell you?”
“She told me that you two had a plan to freeze over Dominator’s ship by implanting it into the ship’s core.” Elora answered, quite matter-of-factly.
“...and?”
“And it backfired.”
Right.
Sighing, the watchdog turned his back to Elora, deciding to once again focus on the task at hand. He had no time for her usual mischief , especially not now. If she didn’t like that, then she’d just have to deal with it.
As Peepers walked back up to the computer, Elora asked, “What are you doing?”
He cracked his knuckles as he stated, “It’s like I said, this is none of your business.” His fingers began clicking away at the keyboard once again as he added, rather dryly, “And while you’re at it, why don’t you run back to those wandering weirdos? I’m sure they’re just dying to see you again.”
“I would, but unfortunately for you, they’re busy. Supposedly they’re reaching out to this all-wise family to see if they can help with the Dominator situation.” Elora sighed. “So! Here I am now.”
The Commander cursed under his breath.
“Lucky me.”
Peepers continued to type in calculations into the device, hoping that Elora would eventually get bored and leave him be. However, he found it rather difficult to concentrate. Though she was silent, her presence alone was still loud enough to make him fumble over his own fingers.
A few brief moments of silence passed before Peepers was eventually able to concentrate again, trying his best to tune out Elora’s attendance. Trying to start fresh, he was able to come up with a few new calculations to hypothesize just how long the frostonium’s effects on Dominator’s ship would keep it under maintenance.
And unfortunately, it seemed like he didn’t have enough time.
Peepers grumbled to himself as he let his head fall into his hands, upset at the results. He needed to find help, and he needed to find it fast.
“Huh.”
Peepers yelped in surprise, not realizing that Elora hadn’t left. In fact, she wound up standing right behind him without him noticing. It seemed like she was analyzing his calculations, her eyes narrowed in both confusion and intrigue.
“What are you still doing here?!” Peepers demanded. “What part of ‘this is none of your business’ don’t you get?!”
“Look, I’m sorry Commander, but I think this is absolutely my business. I’m a member of this galaxy too, aren’t I?” Elora retorted, “Besides, am I not allowed to be at least a little concerned after what Sylvia told me?”
Peepers lowered his eye, looking to the piles of crumpled papers. He supposed she had a point, but that didn’t mean she had any right to be snooping about the Skullship.
Elora sighed as she crossed her arms.
“Listen, I know it’s hard to believe, but I’m not here to annoy you. I just want to know what’s going on.”
The watchdog then lifted his eye to meet hers. Elora lifted an eyebrow, expecting an answer.
With defeat evident in his voice, Peepers sighed, “If I tell you, will you leave me alone?”
“Start talking and we’ll find out.”
***
Peepers had ranted for what felt like hours. He had supposed that he should start from the beginning, that being the day he and Sylvia teamed up to infiltrate the villainess’s ship. He found himself growing more and more irritated with the situation, the recollection of Hater’s dismissiveness being the cherry on top of it all.
“...So now I’m just stuck. I assume Dominator’s ship will be up and running again by the next week or so, but I could be wrong. I was wrong about the pyroregulator, so I could be wrong again.”
Elora, who had helped herself to one of the room’s swivel chairs, only hummed at his words.
“Sounds to me like you need help.”
Peepers watched as she slowly spun her chair in a circle as she spoke.
“Tch. Yeah, thanks for pointing out the obvious.”
Another spin.
“And you haven’t found it yet.”
“...Yes.”
Another spin.
“None of the watchdogs could be of any use? Not even Hater?”
“What do you think I am, dense? I already tried that! And for grop’s sake, will you stop that? You’re giving me a headache.”
Elora gave the chair a final spin before stopping to look him in the eye, stomping her heels to keep her from moving further.
“Why don’t I help?”
Peepers felt his eye twitch.
At first he thought he might have hallucinated. He was so sleep deprived and anxious, it wasn’t outrageous to assume that he heard her wrong. But, observing Elora’s body language, it seemed as though he wasn’t hearing things.
“...Excuse me?” He choked.
Elora straightened her posture, throwing one leg over the other.
“I said, why don’t I help?”
“You can’t be serious,” Peepers almost whispered, shock dripping from his voice. “You’re joking.”
“What makes you think I’m joking?” Elora frowned, eyebrows furrowing. “Is it so unbelievable that I actually want to contribute something to the galaxy?”
Peepers began to chuckle. Then, he felt himself giggling involuntarily, mostly out of exhaustion. He buried his head in his hands as the giggle-fit carried on, frantically shaking his head as he did so.
Lifting his head back up, the watchdog then pointed at her, wagging his finger lightly.
“You’re funny,” he sneered, “And what makes you think I want your help? All you’ve done is pester me about things that don’t even involve you, and you come here just to mock me over it!”
Peepers could feel his irritation growing, days of pent-up rage threatening to escape.
Elora only stared back, now holding an annoyed expression.
“I am not mocking you, I’m simply pointing out that you clearly need assistance!” She replied snobbishly, sticking her nonexistent nose to the sky. “I mean, just look at you. Have you seen how disheveled you look?”
“NO!” Peepers snapped, “And I don’t need your help, I don’t need anything! Even if I did, you wouldn’t even fit the qualifications!”
Elora’s eyes widened in shock. “Qualifications! What qualifications could you possibly be talking about?”
“Any qualifications that don’t describe you!”
Peepers started to pace around the room again as he rambled, all ability to control his anger slipping out of his fingers.
“What I need is someone stealthy! Someone who can sneak past Dominator’s robots with minimal effort!”
A scoff escaped Elora.
“I need someone who’s quick-witted, able to outsmart anything that grop-darned ship might throw their way!
“And- And I need someone crafty, someone that’s able to look through any available devices so that I can get my hands on any information that Dominator’s hiding!”
Peepers finally came to a stop as he yelled, “And I need someone who can handle the grop-darned freezing temperatures!”
He then turned his back to Elora, facing the large screen that stood before the two of them. He ignored the second scoff that came from behind him as he tried to wrack his brain for ideas of who could possibly handle the challenge.
It seemed nearly impossible. An individual with the capability of sneaking onto Dominator’s subzero ship without notice? They couldn’t be real.
He supposed he could try asking Lord Hater, but deep down he knew it’d only turn into a disaster, and the watchdogs certainly couldn’t manage.
So who could?
Peepers mumbled to himself as he pondered.
“I need someone…” He trailed off mindlessly as he slowly began to process each attribute necessary for the job.
Someone sly.
Someone crafty.
Someone with extraordinary weather resistance.
“I need someone like…” Peepers muttered to himself.
He tried painting a picture in his mind of someone that could have all the capabilities necessary for this job. The image was vague at first, but slowly, a clearer one found its way into his mind.
Then, he felt his stomach drop as the realization came to him.
Elora did fit those qualifications.
Like a glove. Like a stupid, frilly, perfect glove.
Peepers swallowed harshly as his shoulders tensed. Elora seemingly took notice of the shift in his demeanor, as Peepers heard a low hum come from behind him.
“I suppose beggars can’t be choosers, hm?”
Taking in a long but sharp breath, Peepers prepared himself for a good bruising of the ego as he turned to face her again.
“...It seems there has been a lapse in my judgement.”
“Oh,” Elora said, “Has there now?”
“Come on, Elora, I’m kind of in a time crunch here!” Peepers countered. He was clearly flustered, both from the embarrassment of needing Elora’s help, and her willingness to make him wallow in it if it meant she could get entertainment out of it.
Examining her nails, Elora sighed thoughtfully. Her tail flicked playfully as she spoke, “Hm. I don’t know, Commander. I thought I wasn’t good enough for the job!”
“Good grop, can we not do this right now?!” Peepers groaned, “Elora, I’m serious, we’re running out of time! By the time you’re finished with whatever this is, the galaxy might not even be around anymore! Is that what you want? A destroyed galaxy?”
“What I want is an apology,” Elora replied, “And then I’ll consider joining your little scheme.”
The commander’s fists clenched in frustration. She wasn’t going anywhere until she got what she wanted, as per usual.
Grumbling, Peepers avoided eye contact with Elora, who was staring expectantly at him.
“Fine,” He spat, “I’m…sorry.”
He shuddered lightly at the apology, his voice dwindling slightly as he did so. It certainly wasn’t his proudest moment, but it was the only way to get the ball rolling when it involved her.
A brief moment of silence passed before Peepers finally asked, “Now can we please figure out how to stop Dominator?”
Elora smiled as she stood up from her seat, evidently satisfied with the watchdog’s apology.
“Alright,” She said gently. “Let’s go save the galaxy.”