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Chapter Text

ALTERNATE *SOLARBALLS (2022)* UNIVERSE 812PLANETREVOLUTION218

APRIL 2007AZ:

The habitable planet and his sole surviving moon continued venturing inward, leaving the Kuiper Belt behind as they approached the Asteroid Belt.

“Oh, nothing like some good ol’ sunlight,” Earth commented, icy land and oceans melting at a steady rate.

“I can’t believe your Earthlings managed to survive so long out there,” Luna remarked.

“Don’t you mean our Earthlings?” his planet corrected him.

The Moon gaped at him. “Huh?”

“Come on, we’re a team Luna! Even if life developed on my surface, it would’ve been impossible without you or those who came before us.” And by that, Earth meant his twin impactors—Proto and Theia.

“Okay then…our Earthlings,” Luna finally accepted his own contribution.

“They also technically went to your surface several times. That’s gotta count for something, right?” Terra reminded him.

“Right. So…wanna talk about them?” Luna changed the subject.

His planet pretended to be clueless. “Who?”

“Proto and…you know…” the Moon attempted not to trigger him again.

“You can say Theia’s name,” Earth said. “I think…I think I can deal with it now.”

“So…?” Luna pressed.

“I’ll tell you about them,” Terra swore. “But first, let’s hurry up and return to our orbit.”

They passed through dozens of asteroids as the Sun’s light became significantly brighter.

“I can’t wait for things to go back to how it was…” Earth immediately stopped in his tracks, mouth agape as Luna copied his expression. “THE STARS?!”

All the Solar System’s planetary moons (except for Luna and Metis) directly circled the Sun with highly elliptical orbits.

“Well…if it isn’t the prodigal son,” Sol glared at them.

“Was he making a Sun pun?” Earth whispered to his moon.

“I literally can’t tell,” Luna whispered back.

“Go to your old orbit. We’ll talk there,” the Sun instructed with a blank expression.

“Um…o-okay,” Terra stammered.

“Oh, and be careful on your way there,” Sol grinned spitefully.

“Gotcha.” Earth said as a high-albedo moon zoomed past them. “Whoa!”

“Hey! Watch it!” the satellite exclaimed.

“Wait, was that…?”

“Yes. I believe it was Enceladus.”

“Enceladus? As in Saturn’s moon?” Terra made sure as Luna nodded.

Three more satellites passed through.

“Sorry!” Rhea squeaked.

“Coming through!” Oberon blurted out.

“My bad!” Elara nearly shouted.

Earth gawked at them. “I’m so confused right now. Moons orbiting the Sun? I thought that was against the law.”

“Ahem!” the yellow dwarf caught their attention.

“Okay Sun, we’re here. Wanna explain all of this?” Terra demanded respectfully.

“You’re not the one owed an explanation, Earth!” his star countered sternly. “Where have you been?”

The habitable planet winced. “I…well…it’s a long story. Basically, I heard Theia’s name and sorta went into a trance, following my hallucinations into the Kuiper Belt. I then fell into a freezing coma where I dreamt about the Solar System’s past, including my formation and Luna’s.”

The Sun was taken aback. “K-Kuiper Belt? Coma?”

“A-Again, I wasn’t being myself,” Terra tried to explain.

That’s when his moon stepped in. “I’ll take it from here.”

“Fine then,” Sol huffed.

“Earth is telling the truth. I know ‘cause I was there. A couple weeks ago, Mars and I immediately noticed something was wrong when Earth wasn’t in his orbit. We assumed it happened because he heard Theia’s name, so we followed his tracks—which ultimately led us to the Kuiper Belt.”

Sol snorted stubbornly. “That doesn’t explain why the others left.”

“Long story short—Uranus was frustrated that Planet X forfeited his victory and left the Solar System, so he crashed out after a fallout with his moons and followed him. But Neptune convinced him to accept himself and come back, which worked. Jupiter thought it was his fault, so he left his own orbit to find him.”

Luna took a deep breath and continued. “Saturn kept the Asteroid Belt stable for a bit, until Mars and I revealed that Earth disappeared, so the three of us went past the Main Belt. Meanwhile, Metis and the dwarf planets helped us find him. We saw Ceres attacking Earth with asteroids, so Charon and I protected him as much as we could.”

“And…?” the yellow dwarf pressed on.

“Soon Mercury and Venus found us, and we all gathered around Earth, trying to figure out what to do next. Uranus felt so guilty and apologized to us for everything. That’s when Earth finally woke up and realized he and I needed to go back as soon as possible, so we did that,” the Moon concluded.

“But why aren’t the others here?” the Sun questioned impatiently. “What’s taking them so long?”

“They’ll come, don’t worry,” Luna replied with certainty.

“When?” Sol persisted.

“An hour maximum,” Earth’s natural satellite specified.

“That’s too long!” Sol exclaimed precipitately. “They should’ve reached by now!”

“I just got a text from Mars,” Terra informed them, eyeballing his cell phone. “He said they’re almost here. They just have to pass through the Asteroid Belt.”

“And the dwarf planets? Charon?” Luna wondered.

“Them too…and some more, including their moons,” Earth revealed.

“I do feel their gravity…” the G2V star clenched his teeth. “Anyway—define some.”

“More like 400…” Terra grinned nervously.

“Four hundred dwarf planets out of their orbits??” Sol screeched.

The habitable planet gulped audibly. “Uh…technically since the planets are coming too, they might as well, don’t you think? I mean, Neptune keeps the Kuiper Belt stable. And without his presence, the smaller TNOs will drift away if they’re isolated from each other.”

“Gee, I didn’t know that. Thanks!” the Sun indulged sarcastically.

“That’s…a lot of dwarf planets. I didn’t realize there were so many,” Saturn’s largest moon chimed in, which earned a death glare from Luna. “So…how are things? I heard what happened to Earth. Is everything okay?”

“Okay?? We come home to this, and you’re asking me if we’re OKAY?!” the Moon yelled furiously before calming himself down. “Titan…what the fuck is going on?? Why is the inner region plagued with all of the planetary moons?!”

“Come on, don’t say plagued,” Titan chuckled anxiously.

Luna zoomed closer to him, anger bursting from his core. “I thought we were done with this revolution nonsense! And now you’ve organized another one?! I mean, what the fuck?!”

“Hey, take it easy. It wasn’t him,” Ganymede told him, silently followed by Europa.

“Of course…who else?” Earth’s satellite rolled his eyes exasperatedly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jupiter’s biggest moon narrowed his eyes.

“I should’ve known! This was planned from the start, wasn’t it?! You didn’t fight Planet X ‘cause you cared about our system’s stability. Instead, you fooled everyone and played martyr so that everyone would forget what you did during the Moon Revolution!” Luna spat, utterly disgusted.

“Hey c’mon, that’s not fair. Our motives against X were completely genuine — ” Europa tried to explain, but was cut off immediately.

“Oh cut the bullshit!” the younger satellite said coldly. “Genuine, my ass! What do you know about being genuine? You’ve always hated the planets—mine especially! And now look where that got us!”

“How dare you!” Europa fired back. “It’s not like your planet was an angel either! ‘Moons should know their place!’ Does that ring a bell?”

The Moon huffed. “Earth was right actually. He just wasn’t specific enough.”

Jupiter’s smallest Galilean moon gritted her teeth. “Meaning…?”

“Moons like you and Ganymede should know their place,” Luna remarked spitefully.

Both Jovian satellites recoiled as if they’d been struck.

“Okay, how ‘bout we all just take a deep breath before this gets even more nasty?” Titan suggested with an audible sigh. “Look—I understand you don’t trust us after everything, but they weren’t behind this either.”

Earth’s moon snorted. “Then who could it be, may I ask? Lemme guess…Titania?”

“Well…y-you see…” Saturn’s atmospheric moon smiled meekly.

Chapter Text

SAME DAY:

Speaking of which, Uranus’ satellite arrived at the scene. Turns out, she overheard their heated conversation, including Earth and Luna’s explanations to their star.

“Can you guys give us a minute?” the smaller moon asked politely.

Titan eyed her suspiciously. “Sure…”

“C’mon, let’s go back to our…new orbits,” Ganymede stated awkwardly as the two moons followed him.

Now it was just Titania and Luna.

“Technically this was all crafted by the Sun. He wanted to do this for years—replacing his planets with more obedient members,” she unravelled with a conflicted expression. “I simply gave it a nudge.”

His mouth was wide open. “Wait, you…you agreed with him?”

“We didn’t have anywhere else to go,” the older moon defended herself. “We thought they abandoned us.”

The Moon blinked rapidly, trying to process her words. “You didn’t suspect they went missing? And how do you know the outer planets weren’t in their orbits if you’re all in the inner region?” he asked.

“We had our latest session in the Asteroid Belt, but we didn’t see Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, or anyone else,” she shrugged.

“What about Uranus?” Luna wondered.

Titania’s face hardened. “We tried talking to him, but he shut us out, so I got fed up and left him alone. I’m guessing he went first?”

“Well…yeah, but he might be in his orbit now…” the Moon faltered.

She furrowed her brows. “You said they didn’t abandon us.”

“They only went to find Earth, that’s all. Metis and I did too,” Luna elaborated.

Titania inhaled slowly. “So she wasn’t wrong then…”

“Who?”

“Metis.”

Terra’s satellite nodded. “She’s the one who found Earth first, then she warned us and we all came…including the dwarf planets and Charon. Earth and I used Jupiter’s gravitational slingshot to come back.”

Titania was lost in her thoughts for a minute before speaking. “Uranus apologized to you?”

“Yes—the others too,” Luna replied gently. “I guess that just leaves you guys.”

“Did…did he really leave because of us?” Titania’s inquired softly.

“I’m not exactly sure what you two specifically fought about. I have a general idea, but still. It’s not really my business, unless you want it to be,” he said carefully.

“We…we argued about Planet X,” Titania finally confessed. “Uranus took his side during the challenges, which felt like an utter betrayal. He went against us—and the other planets.”

Luna pursed his lips. “I can understand your frustration…although there’s one thing that doesn’t really make sense. He seemed pretty upset at X after he injured you guys. Hell, your planet begged him to stop but he didn’t listen. Then Uranus and Miranda took care of you while you were unconscious.”

“How long was I out?” Titania frowned curiously.

“Two weeks,” Luna replied gravely. “You suffered a lot of spasms during your coma. It scared him so much. Once, you were practically dead for seven minutes. Uranus cried the whole time. He thought you were gone forever and blamed himself for not protecting you.”

She choked on a gasp. “Why didn’t he tell me this? Why didn’t he just…communicate with us?”

“He had lot of emotions to work through regarding Planet X’s departure, especially after you woke up. He didn’t really know how to feel about him. It’s like he suddenly entered the self-loathing and denial stages at the same time. At least that’s what Neptune told me,” the younger moon explained.

Titania smiled wistfully at the thought of Uranus’ younger twin. “He was always perceptive. No wonder his moons like him so much.”

“He likes them too,” Luna hummed. “It’s a friendship that extends both ways—built on emotional support, trust, and mutual respect.”

“That makes sense,” the older moon mused, though it morphed into a frown seconds later. “Uranus and I…we barely spent time together. Instead, we avoided each other a lot, ever since Vol—” She cleared her throat to prevent tears from reaching her eyes.

Earth’s satellite understood. “Volumnia?”

“She was…sh-she was…” Luna detected saltwater in her eyes as she spoke. “She was the perfect satellite—without question. She was super-kind and compassionate towards everyone, not just us.” A tear slid down her left cheek. “Her orbit was outside of Oberon’s, but she was about the same size and mass as Titan. And then one day, she…”

A heartbreaking sob escaped her lips. “I—I was too paralyzed to stop her, to warn everyone…” Titania’s eyes became red-rimmed. “I was such a fucking coward. I-I couldn’t move. I couldn’t do anything. Uranus did everything in his power to pull her back, but it was too late. Volumnia was gone.”

Her eyes closed for a moment. “That’s when it all fell apart. I was so confused and angry because Uranus didn’t blame me when he should have. I also suffered a lot of hallucinations and yelled at him sometimes. One day, I completely lost it and threw a huge asteroid in his face. He couldn’t see for 48 hours. Luckily his blindness wasn’t permanent, but it could’ve been.”

Her breath shuddered. “I was horrified and disgusted with myself when I realized what I did. He—he I thought I hated him. But the truth is…I hated myself.” Titania burst into tears, guilt and shame overwhelming her. “I-If anyone deserved to drift away forever, it was me—not Volumnia. She should’ve stayed, a-and Uranus would’ve been happy…”

Luna offered to console her, but she merely shook her head.

“You—you said you suffered from psychosis when you attacked him?” he asked. “What did you see?”

Titania cleared her throat and briefly composed herself. “I saw Telluria—his impactor—and another icy planet who kept repeating her own name…Cheria. I—I think she was Uranus’ first impactor, but he doesn’t remember, and his moons weren’t born yet. My hallucination showed their individual collisions. Cheria’s formed us, Telluria’s tilted Uranus’ axis to 60 degrees.”

“And I’m guessing Volumnia’s drift gave it a final push? Made it 98 degrees?” Luna figured.

“Yeah,” the Uranian moon answered.

Earth’s moon empathized with her and revealed his own backstory, which was also laced with tragedy. When he formed alongside his planet, another spherical satellite was born (Lilith). She was one third Luna’s size and the outermost moon. But one day, her orbit destabilized, causing Lilith to crash into his Far Side, explaining his stark geological differences on each side.

Terra never blamed him for her death, which Luna couldn’t internally accept. Because how could his planet not despise him after that?

“Point is…” Earth’s moon exhaled. “You need to start forgiving yourself first. It took me a long time to stop blaming myself…at least not 24/7. Don’t get me wrong—a part of me still does, but I don’t really hate myself anymore. That’s when I realized self-compassion is so important—because hurting yourself also hurts others, especially those who really care about you.”

“So that means…all my self-hate hurt Uranus too,” Titania scowled regretfully.

“And his self-loathing hurt you,” Luna reminded her.

She chuckled sadly. “So much for proper communication. Guess I need to take my own advice.”

“We all do,” the Moon replied somberly.

Titania’s eyes were downcast. “I…I’m so sorry—for everything. I went too far and acted like a hypocrite. Planet X might’ve attacked us and was willing to destabilize the Solar System, yet I’m doing the same thing.” She lifted her head. “But this ends today. I’m gonna make things right. I’ll talk to Uranus when he comes back and — ”

“GET BACK TO YOUR ORBITS, YOU INSUBORDINATE TODDLERS!!” Sol bellowed at the top of his lungs.

“Hey! Don’t call us that!” Larissa shot back.

“I’LL CALL YOU WHATEVER I WANT!!” the Sun screamed.

“Yeesh! Get a hobby…” Thalassa muttered.

Nearby, Enceladus accidentally crossed paths with Hippocamp. “Watch it!”

“Sorry!” the younger moon cringed.

“URGH! I dunno who’s worse—moons or planets! You’re just as reckless as them! I mean seriously! How hard is it to stay in your fucking orbits?!” the yellow dwarf clenched his teeth.

Meanwhile, Luna quickly apologized to Ganymede and Europa for jumping to conclusions by insulting them.

“Hey…water under the bridge,” the smaller Galilean moon smirked. “It’s not like we were any better in the past. Consider us even…ish.”

“Fine, whatever. Just—stop apologizing already. It’s giving me a headache,” Ganymede dismissed, quietly accepting Luna’s verbal accountability.

Luckily, the Moon also made amends with Titan.

“So…are we good?” Luna hoped.

“Of course,” Titan said sincerely.

Chapter Text

SAME DAY:

Five minutes later, the planets and Metis passed the Asteroid Belt and froze on the spot.

“WHAT THE HELL?!” Venus shrieked.

“Sun, what…? What is this?” Mercury barely managed to get out.

Mars and the outer planets were rendered speechless, jaws wide open in shock. They just witnessed their moons directly orbiting the Sun, which was gravitationally discouraged several times in the past.

“My brand new state-of-the-art Solar System,” Sol answered vengefully. “Which by the way, doesn’t include you in it.”

Mercury’s breath hitched. “Sun, what are you talking about? We were just — ”

“I told you all to stay in your orbits MILLIONS of times, but did you ever listen? NO! So I’ve decided enough is enough!!” the yellow dwarf expressed his anger.

“Sun, please! You’re not—you’re not thinking straight,” Saturn added, playing peacekeeper as usual. “Just hear us out — ”

“NO! I’M TIRED OF LISTENING! SO DO ME A FAVOR AND FUCK OFF!! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOUR TRAITOROUS FACES EVER AGAIN!!” Sol lost his temper.

The ringed planet trembled. “But — ”

“GET OUT!! YOU’RE NO LONGER WELCOME IN MY SOLAR SYSTEM!!” Helios screamed, arteries bursting under his crazed eyes. “ONLY EARTH CAN STAY BECAUSE HE SUSTAINS LIFE AND YOU DON’T!!”

Mercury flinched. “W-Wait, hold on! You can’t just — ”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!” Sol roared, shooting a massive solar flare at his innermost planet, which terrified all his orbiters (including the moons).

Hermes covered his eyes, a dark haze clouding his vision.

“MERCURY!” the other planets gasped fearfully, rushing towards him.

“I-I…I can’t see anything!” he whimpered.

“Oh pipsqueak…” Venus frowned sympathetically while the planets and moons gaped in horror.

“That’s it!” Saturn balled his fists and turned towards the yellow dwarf. “Sun…you’ve gone too far,” he said lowly.

“Oh you’re one to talk, buddy!” Helios gritted out. “You covered up for your twin who killed at least four protoplanets — ”

“IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!! AN ACCIDENT THAT JUPITER BLAMED HIMSELF FOR EONS!!” Cronus bellowed outrageously. “WHAT YOU DID TO MERCURY WAS ON PURPOSE!! AND THIS ISN’T THE FIRST TIME!!”

“WELL HE DESERVED IT!!” Sol countered defensively.

Another plasma blast occurred, aiming at the Sun…but it wasn’t a flare. He groaned in pain, massaging his stinging cheeks. This caused the celestial objects to turn 180 degrees, wondering where the blast originated from. That’s when they saw 400 dwarf planets and their moons glowering at the G2V star, visibly appalled by his actions.

“How dare you!” Hygiea angrily remarked.

“You’re wrong, Sun. Mercury didn’t deserve it,” Pallas agreed disappointedly.

“Saturn’s right,” Eris spat. “This ends now.”

Ten seconds later, a faint glow surrounded each non-luminescent astronomical body within the Solar System.

For Mercury, it was gaining supersonic speed across the system (though he was still blind). For Venus, it was heat inducement from his dense atmosphere. For Earth, it was artificial sunlight (which meant his lifeforms no longer relied on the natural Sun for warmth). For Mars, it was sand manipulation due to his desert surface.

For Jupiter, it was storm manipulation (which included generating more giant spots and blasts). For Saturn, it was celestial ring manipulation according to his own composition. For Uranus, it was ice manipulation since he was the coldest planet of the entire system. For Neptune, it was wind manipulation due to his severely windy atmosphere.

The moons and dwarf planets received their own unique sets of mystical abilities as well, which rendered the Sun speechless for a moment.

“Didn’t see you glow extra,” Quaoar smiled lopsidedly.

“Not so tough now, huh?” Chaos smirked satisfactorily.

“Poor little star!” Weywot mocked.

“Can you please help me? I-I’m scared.”

“Please help me, I’m scared!”

“Poor little star!”

“W-What…??” Sol spluttered, snapping out of his flashback.

Meanwhile, Titania hovered beside her planet with a remorseful glance in his direction. Uranus returned the exact same look, a silent yet mutual apology exchanged between them.

Then his largest moon crumbled, tears falling from her eyes.

“I-I’m…” she wept.

“I know,” Caelus whispered sorrowfully. “Me too.”

The remaining planetary moons also apologized to their respective planets, redeeming themselves by siding with them as they continued glaring at the fiery ball of hydrogen and helium.

“Let’s do this!” Dysnomia announced confidently.

“Planets, moons, dwarf planets…CHARGE!!” Eris supplied.

With a battle cry, they followed her lead and utilized their individual power sets accordingly.

“Allir! Virkjið krafta ykkar!” Xewioso hollered.

The epic battle lasted for several hours as attacks and defenses occurred on both sides. However, the Sun lacked allies whereas his orbiters finally united as one, unlocking abilities beyond their imagination. But that didn’t stop him from releasing more solar flares.

“YOU WILL ALL PAY FOR THIS, YOU FUCKING TRAITORS!!” Helios screeched, eyes more crazed than ever.

“TNOs! Form a perimeter!” Pluto desperately instructed.

“Venus, absorb the Sun’s flares!” Mars shouted.

“Got it!” Aphrodite replied hastily.

More hours flew by, and Sol’s exhaustion took a huge toll on him. This became apparent once the rate of solar flares waned exponentially.

“His defenses are lowering! Now’s our chance!” Eris claimed.

“Take him down!” Mercury encouraged, wishing he could see at the moment.

“If only we could beat the shit outta him…” Titan growled.

“Don’t worry…we will,” Ganymede responded lowly, using his super-strength to deliver painful punches to the star’s face. “Take that, scumbag!”

“Y-You’ll…you’ll rue the day when…w-when I…” Sol replied weakly, bruises forming everywhere.

“Urgh! Quit being pathetic and give in already!” Europa groaned.

“What she said,” Callisto deadpanned.

“Sun—the only way this will end is if you surrender,” Jupiter explained diplomatically as his siblings received the signal to cease fire.

“Y-Yeah right! L-Like I’ll give in to you of all people…” Sol wheezed.

“The thing is—we tried to resolve this peacefully many times. We’ve come to you time and time again, making excuses for you and tryin’ to understand where you came from. But you constantly shut us down, treated us like lower beings, and repeatedly used violent tactics to silence us. Well guess what? It worked…until now,” Zeus reminded him.

“That’s why we had no choice but to give you a taste of your own medicine,” Saturn elaborated, lips pursed without an ounce of sympathy. “You take what you give, simple as that.”

“You have one last chance—to do the right thing and improve your ways,” Uranus supplied an ultimatum. “You either surrender and listen to us for once…or we find another star to orbit.”

The Sun stifled a gasp. “Y-You…you wouldn’t dare to…”

“What? Leave you for good? I thought that’s what you wanted, remember? Or did you suddenly change your mind?” Mercury called him out. “I might not be able to see your face right now, but let me tell you this. In a way, Ganymede was right—it was going to happen sooner or later. You just accelerated the process.”

“B-Bullshit…” Sol coughed.

“What? It’s true. Geez, make up your mind already. You want us here or not?” Venus rolled his eyes impatiently.

“But the truth is, you always needed us more than we needed you. Well guess what? Our powers indicate otherwise. You’ve become obsolete,” Mars said blankly.

The Sun shook his head, vision blurring due to his released solar flares being absorbed. “Th-That’s not — ”

“Hey, you said it yourself—we’re worthless without life.” Ares gestured to Terra. “And even then, it wasn’t enough. We were never good enough for you, so why should we believe otherwise? What makes you an exception? Oh wait—it doesn’t.”

“W-What I did…was for the betterment of the Solar System. I-It was for your own good. I-I was protecting you,” Sol tried to convince them as well as himself.

Jupiter was visibly hurt by this statement. “That wasn’t protection. That was paranoia.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

Helios blinked rapidly at him.

“When I was born, you were different. You were someone I could trust completely, and I stood by that. You told me if I was scared, I could rely on you…u-until I couldn’t anymore,” Jupiter said emotionally. “You broke that promise as soon as you began your tyrannical ways. Instead of guiding and nurturing us like you were supposed to, you made us fear the ground you walk on.”

“Maybe this wasn’t your intention…but it happened anyway. You turned violent and abusive in many ways, and you haven’t stopped since,” Saturn added. “So many of us ended up with black eyes, bruises, and psychological issues—all because of your temper and negligence. And not once did you apologize or promise to do better.”

“Well enough’s enough. We won’t stand for this anymore. For billions of years, you made us suffer physically, mentally, and emotionally. You divided us and made us turn on each other to distract us from the real problem—your reign,” Uranus chuckled humorlessly. “And you’re still in denial! What a surprise…”

The yellow dwarf didn’t respond for several minutes, which frustrated his orbiters.

“There’s no point in trying to convince him anymore. Let’s just leave him and go,” Eris stated as they followed her outward (including Ceres).

In other words—today marked a brand new era of planets, dwarf planets, and their moons, whether they were rogue or another star would eventually offer them a permanent home. But for now, sticking together (like they should have been) was enough.

Besides, the Sun could handle himself…right?