Chapter Text
Solar stared as the tear ripped through the air in front of him. Purple sparks and dark lightning flew and crackled around it as Titan made himself known. The slit the portal began as started to expand as it cracked and bled radiation and dark matter.
It lit the living room walls and furniture, emanating something shadowy and evil from its core. The TV flickered and went out, and even shook on the stand slightly.
“Oh, not this again.” Sun murmured beside him, as the cats fled his lap and ran away and into the kitchen. Solar and Sun had only wanted to watch a movie—but they couldn’t go more than a few days without being bombarded or interrupted by Titan. Monty and Moon were out, and muttered something about checking out new dimensions. Sun, Solar, and the kids were home. The kids were outside, unaware of the chaos inside as they talked with Molten and Neptor. They were always given some sort of time, with a few exceptions like bedtime or coming in to eat, to spend time at those tombstones. Even TJ, who hadn’t known either of them. He was empathetic, and Jack and Dazzle told him different stories about them, way back when.
As the portal continued to expand, black, sparking-pink sleeves broke through it and pushed at the edges, as though it was a solid wall. Solar stood to leave. This was the last thing he needed. He didn’t even care to greet Titan with acknowledgement anymore.
As he turned to walk to the kitchen, he was stopped by a glitching mess of a voice.
“Solar, don’t think you can flake out on me.” Titan called over the crackling of the portal. “Stay.”
Solar stopped but didn’t turn around. He kept his hands at his sides, wanting with every fiber of his being to lash out and hit Titan. Even the smallest of strikes would have been satisfying.
“Why? Why do you have to interrupt everything?” Sun groaned loudly standing and pointing an accusing finger at Titan. “There’s hardly anyone here to antagonize anyway.”
Titan laughed—a grating, mechanical sound. “Eh, I only need one of you. Honestly, I’d have preferred if there were more people here. But it’ll be interesting to see yousquirm when you fill in the rest of your circus troupe later. Besides, I just can’t contain my excitement anymore.”
“What do you want?” Solar snapped.
“Impatient, are we? But anyway, I’m here to show you something I’ve been working on.” Titan goaded, bobbing slightly in the air. “A little project, really. I think it’s right up your interest, Solar.”
The words left his voice box and Solar already knew...
The portal widened the slightest bit more as Titan floated away from it, his grin wide as ever, intent and absolutely bent on hurting this family.
Solar’s eyes followed as plum boots, followed by heels and legs, stepped out of the swirling portal. A dark dress followed, darker than the usual navy—almost black. Then a dark purple corset and white, puffy sleeves.
Solar’s eyes followed it up to a glistening face that held the stars themselves.
Nebula found Solar’s face... her eyes were filled with distain as she stared at him, almost as if it was unwilling. Her fists were tight at her sides as she said nothing for a moment, then turned to Titan.
“Must I stand here much longer?” She asked with a sharp gaze. “I want to go back—I don’t want to see him; I hate him.”
Solar felt something twisting painfully inside him as the words wormed their way into his head, echoing. He trained his eyes on Titan. “What did you do?” He knew Nebula. She was blunt—but not to the point of being openly hurtful. Especially not to Solar—he knew he meant as much to her as she meant to him.
Titan simply flipped upside down in the air, like he was resting on a box, and rested his head in his hands. “Exactly what I said I’d do; take her away from you.”
“He rescued me.” Nebula cut in. “That was what he promised—you were there for that, you should remember. But maybe it was beyond my expectations to think you could care enough to remember.”
Weeks. Solar hadn’t seen Nebula in weeks. Then she comes back and... hates him. Hates him. Why?
“What did you do?!” Solar yelled at the floating monstrosity that plagued this family.
He was rewarded with a glitching chuckle. “Enough to make Nebula see the truth.”
“Titan, I want to leave.” Nebula stated again.
Titan twisted to flip back over to her. “Of course, Nebs. We’ve been here long enough; you got your point across; showed that you’ll never be a victim again, just like we said we would.”
Titan took Nebula’s hand to lead her back through the portal, and she refused to cast another gaze at Solar, even an angry one. He let go of her as the window began to shrink, so he could see the forlorn, angry expression on Solar’s face.
“You can’t just leave!” Solor shouted.
“You don’t tell me what to do.” Titan countered.
“You can’t keep her forever!” Solar stormed over to Titan until he was as close as the air space allowed him. “Keep her like a bird in a cage? She doesn’t belong to anybody—least of all you!”
“I assure you, I can. And I will keep her the way she is, as long as I want.”
“F**k. You.” Solar flipped Titan the bird, a mere fraction of what he felt.
“Have some class, Solar. You’d think you just went through some kind of tragedy with that attitude.” Titan’s grinned widened as the portal closed, cutting the line between the two of them.
Solar felt both his heart cracking and his blood boiling in a mixture of complicated feelings. Like sand falling through his fingers.
He must have looked worse than he thought, because he felt a hand rest on his shoulder as Sun tried to bring some form of support.
***
Nebula sighed roughly as she came through the portal. The darkness of the dimension was comforting, in a weird way, only lit by the speckles of stars and residuestarpower. She clutched her arms and pulled her cloak closer around her.
She was ready to retire to her room for the rest of the day. She wanted to relax—no, it wasn’t relaxing here. It was just alone. That’s what she wanted—to be alone to think for herself without any peers to watch her. Though, she couldn’t be sure if Titan would allot her that right now. He was kind, sure, but he did have a bossiness to him. And even a small demand for attention. Still, Nebula felt she owed him. After all, after over a year of mistreatment from that... Eclipse... he’d brought her away from it.
Titan knew the same pain. The angry outbursts, yelling at her—at people she cared about. That was one of the reasons he’d said had made him feel for her. He knew what it was like. Even as a “Good Eclipse” Solar was still an Eclipse. He just didn’t kill people.
Titan tsked as he followed Nebula out of the portal. “So, was he everything you remember him to be?”
“He was angry. But also confused.”
“Well, that’s what happens when controlling people lose their playthings, darling.” Titan replied, easing some of Nebula’s own confusion. “He shouted something fierce as we left. Cursing like a sailor.”
“I don’t find that surprising.” Nebula waved the thought away. She knew how he could be. Such a temper on that one. He never could handle it when things didn’t go his way. That was why Cosmos and she lost their Starhood, after all. Because of Solar’s selfishness...
“Why couldn’t he have just stayed dead?” She asked, after a moment of hesitation, looking away into the void-like endlessness. If Solar was still dead, Titan wouldn’t have needed to save her from his anger... his blame... his targeting her. She could still be allowed to live at home, among the stars, away from it all. Still free to visit Terra and everyone else without worry.
“Sometimes good people want to give bad ones a second chance.” Titan answered. “I mean, their Eclipse kinda changed, didn’t he? He’s still a total douche canoe, but he gives something. Maybe they thought Solar could change... Well, everyone’s bound to be wrong at least once.”
“I did not see anybody else there, except Sun.”
“I guess the others just weren’t home. But maybe that was for the better—they didn’t have to see that side of Solar more often than they already do, didn’t they?”
“I suppose.” Nebula thought of the kids. Those kids who didn’t deserve a home with that there. Jack especially. She was fond of the boy. He was noble and with a heart of gold. She didn’t know any other kid who’d jump in front of danger to save their parent the way Jack wanted to. She was ashamed for him—ashamed that he had a father who would rather let him take the bullets than face death himself. “May I go to my room? I feel the need to cool down.”
Titan clicked his tongue in thought. “How about we have something to eat first? Just a nice dinner—you and me. Wind down a bit?” He offered, twirling a small circle in the air around her.
Nebula hesitated, but nodded. “Yes, I would like that.”
***
Solar punched his bedroom wall; his glove sank into it a few centimeters. He didn’t move for several minutes, his thoughts swirling in misery and a sweltering anger.
He can’t do this. I’m going to get her back, even if it kills me again.
Dying was a terrifying thought for Solar... that endless silence of just existing—but no thought or feeling perspired. But this was something worth dying for, if it meant Nebula would never end up with someone as cruel as Titan.
I’m going to kill Titan myself, If I get the chance. With my own hands, if I can.
Solar growled to himself and retracted his hand from the wall, then watched as it replaced and repaired the damage.
It wasn’t healthy to punch anything that shouldn’t be hit, even if it could rebuild itself. But it felt good. It felt better than anything Solar had managed to feel in the last hour. Just that small, succulent moment of relief.
He remembered Titan’s sneer as he told Solar what torture he had planned for him—for every member of the family. Making Moon lose and regain his memories—his identity. Making Sun watch as he broke every part of Dazzle. All the things he said he had planned for Monty. Then, for Solar, a wedding reception on repeat, where he took Nebula and tainted her and stole her.
He hadn’t originally imagined it to be as bad as he thought it would be now... He’d imagined Nebula’s resistance... her soul at least trying to get away. Something to show that she still loved him.
But after that... Solar reimagined her back to him as she accepted the monster as her own. Anything that wasn’t Solar. He couldn’t-
Solar spun away from the wall, clutching his rays and digging at them with his fingers. He didn’t care if he scraped the paint or the metal—he could fix it later. His fingers pressed and rubbed against the sharp edges, scratching his gloves in a distracting sensation. He shook his head slowly as he felt a simulation of hyperventilation take hold of him. His body heaved as he felt himself crumble with tears.
His hands felt around desperately for something new to grapple with, and Solar caught sight of his own shadow. He made his systems control the simulated breathing as his fingers ran up a ray. Where it should have met a corner, there was a spike. Solar knew it to be black and small, but all the more dangerous looking and needlelike. A threat to his own identity, even.
His goggles were heavy on his head and fell over his eyebrows. Solar didn’t throw them, but he tore them off and tossed them gently on his bed. As his synthetic breathing worsened, he slid against his wall—the same one he’d punched—and sat down, back pressed up against it as he cradled his face.
He didn’t know how long he was there; time both seemed to freeze and pass quickly, distorting Solar’s sense of perception.
The shadows on the floor were long stretched out, however, when Solar heard the door creak open. He could have fixed the creaking a long time ago, but it allowed nobody to sneak up on it. It let him know whether he was alone or not.
“Solar?” Moon’s gravelly, low voice asked, almost a whisper—if it wasn’t for the fact that Moon was excruciatingly bad at whispering.
Solar looked up. He couldn’t remember too much if so much time had passed. But he remembered thinking... he didn’t think he had fallen asleep. Like time had just warped around him.
“...Yeah?”
“Okay, so you are awake. It was quiet, so I wasn’t sure. Usually you mutter to yourself.” Moon casually walked in, but sat down next to Solar, then was very quiet. “...You doing okay? Sun told us what happened.”
“Doing okay?” Solar looked tiredly out into the space ahead. “Who would be okay after that?”
“I don’t know, that’s why I asked. I-... I might not know a lot about relationships, but I know that wasn’t easy.” Moon scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “I’ve seen how Monty is with Terra... Cosmo about Aires... Sun when he says he... alone.”
“Yeah? What about me and Nebula?” Solar asked, a dry chuckle in his voice.
“You guys too. I mean, every love interaction might look like a business transaction, but it’s still there, even if it’s hard to see.”
“Business transaction... really.”
“You guys clearly see something that I don’t—because that’s the vibe I get.”
Solar scoffed. “Y’know, of all the s**t this family gets into, how did I end up in this?”
Moon shrugged. “Some sadist sees something he never got, I guess. Decides to f**k it up for everyone else. The usual thing, but from a different kind of want.”
“Sure seems like it.”
They didn’t say anything for a long time. “I’m not real good at talking.” Moon eventually said. “But if you need some kind of support... you guys have shown me that, about my memories... Just let me know if I can help.”
Solar mumbled a thanks as Moon stood to give him some space again.
“I’ll, uh... I’ll let you know when dinner is done, but you don’t have to come down if you need some more time.” Moon finishes, shutting the door behind him as he left.
When Solar was sure his footsteps had faded, he buried his head in his arms and pulled his knees up to his chest. He wasn’t good at feeling... or rather, showing feeling... but he was sure it felt like his heart was cracking into starburst shards.
“I’ll find a way...” Solar murmured to nobody. Then, to... whatever divine being ruled this dimension, “Give me a way.”