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Once upon a time, there lived an angel amongst the stars.
The angel was perfect to the other angels but defective around others.
One day, the angel grew tired of the bullying it received in its life. It attacked those who wronged them and became selfish for themselves only.
From there, the angel had become fallen. Wandering outside from heaven into the depths of the universe alone, never to be accepted into their utopia again.
At least, that's how Tetrax remembers the story. The bedtime story he always wanted to hear. It always made the Petrosapien wonder whether he was the angel in it all. He was born perfect, yet with one defect, he became the scum of his home planet. All that bullying, threats, and gossip drove him to his pushing point.
He still remembers the promise made that day of his rebellion, promising Wise ol' Corat that he'll handle his weapons shop when the old geezer needed to eat. The minute Corat was out of sight, he stole a prized hoverboard and a powerful pistol considered illegal in the galaxy. There was no time wasted when Tetrax got a hand in the hoverboard, shooting past guards and trying to escape with one of the royals' ships.
Now here he was with his life, stuck having to do dead-end bounty hunter jobs after giving his former employer a weapon used to destroy his own home. Tetrax didn't know whether to scream or attack that day, left in silence. Watching the chunks of Petropia be blown away like pebbles in the wind. His selfishness, his need of wanting to be treated right, left him nothing but a curse.
Everything was quiet on his ship. It was an eerie peacefulness that Tetrax didn't know how to comprehend, let alone speak. It felt like bubbles of lava clogged his throat, burning every part of him if he dared to explain. The Petrosapien sighed, staring at the roof of his living quarters. There wasn't any time to mope around in bed. He needed to get up and go to work. Honestly, why did he pick bounty hunting? Sure it was a well-paying job, enough to have him living a good life, but he wasn't the one to hurt people.
There was no time to dwell on trauma, however. It was time to get to work. Tetrax sighed. His crystalline body twinkled and cracked when pushing himself off the bed, groaning at the sudden ache of pain from his back. It was his back spikes. Tetrax couldn't do much to get rid of them, however, as all he could do was a quick stretch or two once he was up on his feet.
"Hmph," Tetrax grumbled once done with his stretches, his back still ached, but it was less than when he rose from his bed. It was time to get the basics out of the way next. A nice sauna was enough to get him cleaned and awake, with a small breakfast of X'Nellian Iceberries and a Bagel to get his day started. Now all he needed was to get dressed and get to work.
There weren't many jobs on the listing once Tetrax got dressed, and it was a relief since Tetrax didn't feel like doing anything. He'd been doing so much work to take his mind off everything happening. Were this relapse and burnout? He hated it if that's the case, and Tetrax groaned again in annoyance. His hands moved to rub his temples against his chin guards, only to move away as he aimlessly stared at them. These hands that caused so much destruction, so much misery, so much hurt.
It was enough to have Tetrax wanting to punch something, but he wasn't going to use violence to steam off, at least not here. All the Petrosapien could do was grip his fists. He gently released them with a couple of deep breaths and focused back on the task. He stared at the window displaying the endless sea of stars, but the sudden belt of asteroids approaching was enough to catch him off guard. Tetrax wasted no time scrambling and trying to steer his ship away from getting hit. He did a pretty good job, but that didn't mean it was over.
A couple of asteroids had managed to snag and drag against the ships' side. The metal scraping was a noise Tetrax didn't take too well, only able to grit his teeth and duck to the floor. The Petrosapien covered his head until the noise stopped, moving up to look around once it was all over. Today was not going well for him, and it didn't help that now he could feel the orbit of the ship dipping. He was about to crash. Was this how Tetrax was going to die? He wasn't to accept it this way, not if he could help.
With what focus the ship had left, Tetrax began to steer and look around to find an uncharted planet to crash on safely. There, a glowing green ball caught his attention. It was a planet. One that Tetrax could only hope wasn't dangerous. With the last of the ships' power, Tetrax had held onto something. The rough landing was hard to pull through, but Tetrax did it anyway. Everything went silent, and the Petrosapien was too dizzy to speak.
Once out of the ship, Tetrax looked at his surroundings. Green flora and swamp water covered the land. Was this a backwater, swampy planet of the sorts? It didn't matter. All that mattered was getting some help and getting his ship fixed. But, the crash made him too dizzy. It was hard to focus with ship crash vertigo. Everything was spinning and moving around him. All Tetrax saw before falling to the green waters was a tiny, gray frog-like alien on a jetpack hovering towards the now unconscious Petrosapien.
After the angel had wandered the empty universe for a long time, they began to grow weary of their actions.
They became lonely, drowned out by their thoughts of regret and grief. Was rebelling a bad idea, given the circumstances?
It wasn't until the angel found a wise man who knew everything in the universe. There, the angel decided to ask the wise man for help.
"O holy human of wisdom and knowledge, what can I do to heal from my sinful actions of rebellion and anger?" The angel begged for an answer. The wise man stroked his beard and responded to the angel.
"Species identified; Petrosapien. Name of Individual; Tetrax Shard. Occupation; Intergalactic Bounty Hunter." The sudden voice of an automated feminine robot had awoken Tetrax in surprise. He rose himself up quickly and bonked his head on a blue wall, taking a few minutes to realize that he was in an energy cell. Tetrax also noticed that he was shirtless, minus the bandages around his upper chest and back. His back pain spiked again, causing him to groan and slam the wall for comfort. To ask if this day could get any worse was asking for it to happen, so Tetrax stayed silent.
But, another voice spoke up and caught his attention. "Strange, I expected you to wake up at least a few more hours later. You must've woken up on the wrong side, have you not?" There, a tiny Galvan was standing in front of the energy cell with a digital notepad of the sort. It seems this Galvan must've been taking notes on Tetrax while unconscious. There weren't any other Galvans around. This Galvan must've been working alone. "Who-...Who are you? Where am I?" The Petrosapien asked sternly, hoping that this little alien wouldn't recognize how scared and angry Tetrax was. But even with a mask to hide his emotions, the Galvan sighed and kept taking notes.
"For a Bounty Hunter, you sure aren't good at hiding your emotions. My name is Azmuth, and you crashed landed on Galvan Prime." Azmuth took a moment to look from the digital notepad towards Tetrax. The Petrosapien stared at the surroundings outside the energy cell. If it were for the hue of the energy cell altering the color, Tetrax would've complimented it. "Let me guess. The cell is a way to prevent me from attacking you?" Hearing what Tetrax said caused Azmuth to turn around and stare back at the Petrosapien, giving a short nod before writing back in the digital notepad.
"Smarter than you look. I would turn you over into authorities due to your status and occupation, but you're just what I needed for my latest project." Azmuth spoke, pressing a button on the side of the notepad. The notepad fizzled and disappeared from his tiny hands, and now he and Tetrax stared at each other silently. "You seem tense as if I'm going to chop you up into little pieces." Azmuth said. Tetrax just scowled and sighed. He was right, not knowing if it was because he was about to be turned in or mutilated into little pieces. "...What does your project have to do with me? I'm sure there's some other alien who could help out with what you need."
Tetrax grumbled and crossed his crystal arms. He would've leaned against the wall behind him, but he's back spikes were aching too much. Azmuth took notice of this and held it as a mental note in his head. "That is true, but the aliens I've encountered already contributed to my project. Because your species is no longer around, I require your help." Tetrax's eyes widened in hearing that last part. He was ready to break out of the box and interrogate Azmuth on how he knew of Petropia's destruction, but he couldn't move. He didn't want to move. Everything was hurting, and he didn't dare to do anything but sit and listen.
"You're distressed. It's about the destruction of your planet, is it not? I am only aware that Vilgax was said to be the one for its destruction, but perhaps you were an accomplice of his?" Tetrax's head hung low in hearing what Azmuth said. He wasn't wrong, and he hated that he wasn't. It was true that Vilgax destroyed his home, but it wouldn't have happened if Tetrax hadn't stolen the key. He felt like bursting into tears, having the scene of watching Petropia blow up in his eyes. Day and Night, that's all Tetrax has ever witnessed. It stuck with him like a spider web, with no way to escape.
"...Yes, and no. I didn't care what happened to everyone around me. All my life, I grew up in a toxic environment. My people said things about me and harmed me because I wasn't like them. I wasn't perfect in their eyes, and I grew tired of it all." Tetrax said, his voice dripping with regret and sadness. Azmuth nodded, moving towards a chair to pick up so he could sit and listen to the bounty hunter. Who knew that a Galvan of all creatures was enough to make a bounty hunter honest? "Vilgax saw you at this desparate time in your life and took advantage of it to make a point."
Tetrax barely said a word, but he gave a little nod which Azmuth took another mental note. "...If I had any chance to redeem myself from my actions, to undo the curse I placed onto myself..." The Petrosapien spoke, having enough courage to look at Azmuth. The eye contact made him uncomfortable, but it wasn't for long since Azmuth turned away and began to think. "While what my project plans to achieve isn't your idea of redemption, it is a start nonetheless. I only ask for a splice of your DNA. For the rest is yet to be explained."
DNA? Those words alone piqued Tetrax's interest. DNA was the building block of life, and often it's used to clone and recreate species that are already gone. Perhaps, Azmuth could be trying to...? No, that's not possible. But if it means getting a start on a better path. "I'll do it." Azmuth looked back at Tetrax from where he was standing, stroking the tendrils that grow from his lower jaw. With no words from the Galvan after moving to press another button, the energy cell around Tetrax had begun to shrink and eventually disappear. Tetrax was free. He took no time to stand up and stretch.
"Try not to damage anything when you follow me." That's all Azmuth said as he walked past Tetrax. Before Tetrax could follow, however, a small drone had floated into view. It opened itself to reveal a black tank top, the material surely handmade. Tetrax sighed and took no time putting it on. It fit snug and comfortable, covering his bandaged chest while providing room and air for his spikes. "...Comfortable, don't get that much anymore," Tetrax mumbled to himself, only to catch up with Azmuth after the Galvan grumbled and kept walking.
"There is no way to fix the things you did, but rather to learn from them. Despite being fallen, you hold onto weights that are dragging you down." The wise man said, pointing toward the angel's wings.
"If I were to rid of my wings, will I be healed and saved?" The angel asked. The wise man shook his head but stopped the angel from saying anything further.
"You cannot heal instantly, but letting go of your past and looking to the future will be the key to your salvation." The wise man spoke. The angel finally understood and kneeled to thank the wise man.
"Where do I start, o wise human?" The angel asked. The wise man stroked his beard once again and spoke.
"While I'd only require a piece of you to work as a DNA sample, your species is no longer around except for you. So I would require more than one piece just for safety precautions in case anything fails." Now they were in a medical room of the sorts for autopsies. Azmuth was wearing a helmet that shielded his eyes. Green and Black metallic gloves covered his tiny hands, gliding against a digital screen. Tetrax laid back on the table, watching a digitalized silhouette of himself be examined and dissected. "I noticed while you were unconscious, you thrashed around uncomfortably due to your back and those spines. Perhaps you would like to..?" Now ain't that a thought, to get rid of your back spikes. That's something Tetrax wanted for a while. They were a weakness to him, a part of his past he didn't want anymore. Petrosapien spikes were something. They often were seen as the wings of the strongest. Many of the royal guards had them.
"...These spikes have been nothing but trouble since I was born. I don't want them anymore." Tetrax said, and Azmuth nodded. He pushed part of the digital screen, causing the table Tetrax was on spawned metallic tendrils from underneath. They carefully flipped him so that he was on his stomach. The tank top and bandages he was wearing were gone. "I can only warn you now that putting you under anesthetic will be unavailable. I have to make this a quick process. In other words, try not to struggle too much." Tetrax didn't have much time to react. Azmuth tapped the digital screen again, and one of the tendrils formed into a laser cutter. The laser soon shot at the bottom of the spikes. A burning, painful sensation filled Tetrax, needing so much willpower to hold back screaming. Tears pricked in the corner of his eyes, and he gripped his fists tightly.
Azmuth could feel the sweat roll down his face, carefully guiding the laser so that they would cut off Tetrax's spikes and not his body. The Petrosapien trusted that Azmuth was doing what he could and that all this pain would be over. Once the lasers had reached the end of where Tetrax's upper back was, they were gone. His spikes slid off his back, landing on the floor with a hard 'crack!', and all Tetrax could do was pant heavily, sniffling and trying to blink away any tears he had. He was tired, and that was because he just had a part of him cut off with lasers. He could feel the metallic tendrils carefully bandage and wrap his back once again, covering the scars of where his spikes once were.
Not long after, Tetrax stayed on Galvan Prime to heal up and to learn more about Azmuth's project. A device is known as the Omnitrix. It would merge with the DNA of the person wearing it, giving them the experience to experience through the eyes of another being in the galaxy. It was a device meant to bring everyone in the universe closer to each other peacefully. But, knowing those evil enough and Vilgax, Tetrax knew he could never let the conquerer take ahold of this device. Over all this time, Tetrax grew a friendship with Azmuth, much to the Galvan's dismay and paranoia.
"Where do you plan to go? You must have some plan instead of driving and drifting in space, do you not?" Azmuth said, watching some robot drones clean and finish up Tetrax's ship. Tetrax smiled, watching the drones clean before turning to look at Azmuth. "I don't, but I know I can figure something out." Azmuth shook his head in hearing Tetrax's response. Soon, the drones finished cleaning, and The Resolute was as good as new. Tetrax seemed excited seeing his ship good as new, running to the back so he could get inside through the cargo door. "Before you go, I created this special suit for you that'll allow to use your powers without having to alter anything." Tetrax turned around one last time to Azmuth, the first thinker holding a small metal cube. Once Tetrax took ahold of it, the cube changed and shifted into a bounty hunting suit. One that Tetrax was going to put on later.
"...Thank you, Azmuth." Tetrax looked back at Azmuth. The Galvan nodded and stood back so Tetrax could get his ship going. Tetrax only chuckled. With no time left to waste, Tetrax walked inside his ship, the door closed behind him, and he took no time to rush to the front. Azmuth watched as Tetrax took off into the atmosphere. The Petrosapien had a lot on his mind, but most of it was good. He was on the path of redemption, kicking back his feet to relax. No aching back pain, nothing to stress Tetrax out. There was nothing but quietness on his ship, and he could feel his eyes close in deep relaxation. His mind thought of the ending of his favorite bedtime story, what happened with the angel at the end.
"Clear your mind, let your wings fall and you'll be on the path of salvation." The wise man said. The angel cleared his mind, and for the first time felt themself become human.
Their wings withered off their back, and the angel became free.