Epilogue: For Now

A smoking wreckage lay where the Megacruiser’s gladiator arena had been. Half the audience stand had been obliterated, reduced to little more than rubble. The remaining seats were empty, devoid of spectators as those that did not initially perish scrambled to flee into the teleportation room.

Shrapnel was imbedded in nearly every surface, the ceiling, the remaining arena walls and a massive mountain made of solid crystal. Sheltered behind this towering structure were two figures as far apart in appearance and personality as possible. The smaller one of the pair was a young, human girl who had caused a large portion of this once grand source of entertainment to explode. She was standing behind the larger of the two who, despite his current appearance, was a fellow human.

“Well? Can you get the ship working again?” Gwen asked, trying to peer over the hulking boy’s shoulder.

“Yeah, but a lot of it is toast.” He nodded, though the disappointment in his voice was unmistakable.

“Can it get us back home?” The red-haired girl pressed, chewing on her bottom lip.

“It’ll take a while, but yeah we’ll get back home.”

Gwen sighed in relief, “Think you can maybe fix the communicators on this thing? I’d like to be able to let Grandpa and Ben know-”

“I can’t.”  He replied a bit too hastily. “Those were the first things to go when you zapped Slix. Not to mention the remaining escape pods are out of order and the teleporters are fried beyond repair.”

“Great, is there anything that’s working?”

“The engine’s working, so is the cloaking device and the living quarters of the ship looks fine.”

“At least we won’t have to sleep in the holding bay.” She shrugged mid-yawn. The fatigue and exhaustion finally catching up to her. The last of her strength gave out and her knees buckled. Pride forced Gwen to declare she just tripped as she was about to sit down beside Kevin.

With heavy-lidded eyes, she watched him work. Every so often she’d doze off, her head eventually resting against Kevin’s shoulder. The instance her skin felt fur she’d sit back up, cheeks bright crimson and rambling with apologies.

“You should go get some sleep. I really don’t need your help with this.” Kevin smirked.

Stubbornly, Gwen shook her head. “I know that. I just,” she trailed off, still looking embarrassed. “I just thought you might want some company.”

The older boy looked at her blankly before lifting Gwen into his arms. This time more aware of how delicate and small she was. And especially how well she conformed to his own mismatched body.

“Wait! Kevin! What are you doing?!” She gasped, limbs flailing.

With one hand carrying the gutted remnants of Slix, Kevin carefully cradled the struggling girl with his remaining arms. “I can’t concentrate with you interrupting me every five minutes with your apologies. So I’m going to the living quarters to work there.”

Gwen stared up at him, the apples of her cheeks blossoming pink. “You, you don’t have to carry me. I can walk fine on my own.”

“Right. And I’m supposed to believe you just tripped while sitting down. How does that even work?” He snickered.

“Okay, fine! My legs gave out earlier but they’re working now!”

“You walk too slow.”

“How would you know? I’ve only been running like crazy this whole time.”

“That wasn’t running.” He scoffed, “This is running.” And in that instant he charged down the hallway.

Gwen cried out in alarm, arms winding tightly around Kevin’s neck in surprise at the burst of speed.

He skidded to halt once they got to the living quarters. “See? I told you, you walk too slow.” He smirked before carefully setting her down on a bed.

“If I weren’t so tired I’d blast that grin off your face.” Gwen narrowed her eyes, barely able to suppress a yawn.

“Yeah, yeah, you can use magic strong enough to shut down a cruiser. Which, by the way, I end up having to fix.”

But Gwen wasn’t listening anymore as sleep finally managed to claim her. Kevin just stood there, watching the gentle rise and fall of her chest. He brushed a stray strand of hair away from her closed lids.

When she didn’t so much as flinch, the older boy allowed a wicked glee to flash across his face.

Gwen didn’t suspect a thing.

The escape pods were operational, he had shut them down. The communications were working, he shut those down too. As for the teleporters, well, he destroyed those.

He wasn’t planning on stranding her there. Far from it. He still wanted to go home. After all he still had a score to settle with Ben.

But out here in space, things were different. Out here, he could use his powers unchecked. Out here, he didn’t have to worry about hiding or keeping himself out of sight. Out here, he had Gwen.

Out here, Gwen trusted him, cared about him. And if he were to take Slix’s promise seriously, Gwen belonged to him. There were few things he could really call his own. And for as long as he could, he wanted to call the lithe, delicate girl sleeping in the bed his.

Leaning over her, he softly whispered, “Don’t worry, I always take care of what is mine.”