Galactic Sugar Rush One-Shot

The starlight glistened in the dark night sky. Fairies danced in sync with the stars glowing from above. Their dances were peaceful and playful as they should be. No humans were around to bug them, and the woodland creatures were all soundly asleep. They would have a night of peace.

“Hey Rosethorn!” A cheerful fairy called to a dark skinned fairy with red hair. “Come over here!” She waved enthusiastically.

Rosethorn heard and sighed. She fluttered over to her friend calling her. “What now Metapeta?”

“You won’t believe this!” Metapeta’s metallic clothes sparkled brightly blinding Rosethorn. “I think I’ve finally built the perfect robot!”

Rosethorn rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Why are you so interested in building machines? We’re fairies after all. You should leave robots for the humans.”

“The humans lack my brilliance.” Metapeta bragged. She lifted a blanket revealing a robotic suit about the size of a human lying on the ground below them. “Ta-da! Isn’t it amazing? Perfect? Superb!”

“It’s kind of big….” Rosethorn pointed out in irritation. “How do you expect any of us to use this? You could probably fit like thirty fairies in there!”

Metapeta shrugged. “Well, technically we don’t have to use it.” She grinned excitedly. “But imagine how cool it will look when it’s in use!”

“And what exactly do we need this for?” Rosethorn sighed.

Metapeta stopped and thought about her friend’s question. “I dunno.” She stuck her tongue out and shrugged. “But we might need it one day.”

“Yeah.” Rosethorn echoed sarcastically. “Might.”

“Don’t doubt my genius!” Metapeta blushed furiously at her friend’s words. “One day you’ll thank me! One day….”

Rosethorn sighed. “I’m sorry Metapeta, but we’re fairies.” She hugged Metapeta to cheer her up. “We’re magical creatures. We deal with nature and magical things. Humans are the ones who deal with machines. You should leave that to them.”

“Maybe..” Metapeta wiped a tear from her eye and then smiled widely. “Or maybe you’re wrong.”

“Jeez…” Rosethorn turned away irritatedly. “You’re so stubborn, as usual.”

Metapeta shook her head. “I’m not stubborn, I’m positive.”

“You’re straight up delusional.” Rosethorn rolled her eyes.

Suddenly several flutes could be heard playing in the crowds of fairies feet away. Rosethorn and Metapeta turned to see Prince Thistle and his royal guards entering the scene. A disgusted look stuck to the prince’s face, leaving Rosethorn with utter curiosity.

“Say, what do you think the Prince is upset about?” She asked.

Metapeta shrugged. “Let’s go find out.”

The two fairies fluttered over to the flicking crowd of fairies surrounding the prince. Many were asking what was wrong, but none of them got an answer. The prince remained in a furious silence.

The suspense began to overwell Rosethorn. She soon blurted out the words, “What’s wrong Thistle?!”

The informal speech made Prince Thistle cringe. He glared irritatedly at Rosethorn and said, “Leave me alone!”

“Oh.” Metapeta commented. “He wants to be alone.”

“Maybe so.” Rosethorn was doubtful. “But I think he’s hiding something.”

“I can hear you.” Prince Thistle hissed. “And I have nothing to hide.”

Rosethorn crossed her arms with a smug smile. “If you have nothing to hide, then enlighten us on your sour expression.”

“It’s nothing.” Prince Thistle puffed his cheeks.

“Say.” A pink fairy pondered. “Wasn’t Prince Thistle just with that lover of his?”

A blue fairy nodded. “Yes, that blueish-green girl from the cosmos. They call themselves Celedons.”

“To think a fairy and alien would fall in love.” The pink fairy sang.

“How are things with her?” The blue fairy asked in curiosity.

Thistle closed his eyes and stuck out his tongue. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“What?” Rosethorn was angry. “Don’t want to talk about it?! Does your relationship with her have to do with why you’re so mad?!” She flew towards him through the crowd, grabbed his shoulders, and shook him furiously. “What is going on?!”

The sudden sound of buzzing averted the fairies’ attention to the sky. Over the horizon, dozens of flying objects were zooming towards the fairies at impossible speeds. The objects were flat and circular, and were bright glowing shades of neon purple and green. A static induced sound echoed off of each one, and the sound grew louder as each one drew closer. These weren’t made by humans.

Each fairy looked at each other realizing what was happening. Distressed eyes flooded the forest as panicked seeped into their minds.

Rosethorn let go of Prince Thistle’s shoulders and backed up. “You...you broke up with her, didn’t you….?”

“Lop, get up for school!” Called a motherly voice.

A girl lifted her head off her soft pink pillow and yawned widely. She stretched her arms and legs before springing out of bed. Her short brunette hair was soon diagnosed with bedhead. No comb would be able to slay the messy beast upon her head. The only cure was a shower. She quickly got in, washed her hair, and got right out. She looked in the mirror at her short brunette hair.

“Brunette isn’t very magical.” She rolled her eyes around the room until they landed on her collection of hair dyes. She quickly scavenged through looking for the perfect color. “What should I pick? Bubblegum pink? Hm…. No. Perhaps a neon orange. Nah…” She looked a the final dye. “Dark purple….” She grinned. “Perfect.”

The girl spent the next ten minutes dying her hair to a shade of dark purple. Afterwards, she got dressed putting on a blue shirt with a picture of a cartoon rabbit on it. Her pants were dark red and went past her ankles. Her shoes were blue and her socks were orange. She finished with putting on her large, circular glasses over her brown eyes. While looking in the mirror, she smiled and said, “Well Lop, today’s gonna be a great day!”

“Lop!” The motherly voice called again. “Are you getting up?”

“Yes Mom.” Lop happily ran downstairs. Her mother sat at the kitchen table texting on her phone and paying little attention to what was around her. Lop’s old sister, Lapin, however, was well aware of her sister’s presence as Lop waltzed into the room.

Lapin sighed. “Mom!” She let out an obnoxious, whiny voice. “Lop dyed her hair again!”

“Whatever Lapin.” Their Mom remained completely uninterested in her oldest daughter’s complaints.

Lop smiled enthusiastically. “Does it look good?”

“What do you think?” Lapin stuck out her tongue.

“It is!” Lop jumped about happily.

“Ugh..” Lapin looked away in irritation. “You’re too energetic for someone who just woke up.”

Lop shook her head with a smile, but said nothing.

“Lop, honey..” Their Mom spoke. “Eat some breakfast.”

Lop nodded. “Okay mom.” She pushed a chair to the fridge, hopped on it, and reached for a cereal box from the distance top of the fridge. Her hand managed to grab the box, leading her to jump to the ground in success. She grabbed a bowl and began pouring the cereal pieces.

“Frosted sugar flakes?” Lapin looked at the cereal in disgust. “Why do you need so much sugar?!”

Lop grinned. “Sugar makes me happy.”

“You are the strangest fifteenth year old in the world.” Lapin rolled her eyes.

After Lop finished breakfast, she and her sister began heading towards the door to head off to school. They were almost out the door when their mother called to them. “It’s cool outside. Wear a sweatshirt you both!”

“Okay Mom!” Lop snatched her purple rabbit hoodie and zipped it up. She turned to Lapin to see her sister wasn’t wearing a sweatshirt. “Where’s your sweatshirt?” She asked.

Lapin shook her head. “I don’t need one.”

“But Mom said-”

“I don’t care what Mom said!” Lapin growled at her sister. “I do what I want.”

They proceeded into the cool air of the outside world. The early morning sun had begun to rise promptly and brighten the otherwise dark, boring world. The streets and sidewalks were peppered with cars, people, children, all kinds of beings all in a hurry. The sisters proceeded towards the the direction of their school.

“Don’t forget our little rule.” Lapin spat.

“Yeah yeah..” Lop closed her eyes.

Lapin glared. “Once my friends arrive, stay away from me with that loser friend of yours.”

“You’re the loser, Lapin.” Retorted a voice.

The sisters turned around in surprise to see Lop’s best friend Yun standing behind them. She was a tall girl with blonde hair shorter than Lop’s. Her lips were cherry red with lipstick and purple mascara on her eyes. She wore a white shirt with red pants and black shoes. She also wore a red unzipped sweatshirt.

“Yun!” Lop gleefully cheered as she jumped and hugged her friend.

Yun stood there as Lop hugged her. “Nice to see you too, Lop.” She looked at Lapin with a sassy glare. “Lop, your older sister sure is lame.”

“What?!” Lapin’s face showed utter disgust. “Me, lame?! I’m the definition of cool!”

A sarcastic grin crept on Yun’s face. “Yeah, as in cold-hearted.”

“You litt-”

“Hey Lapin!” Called some people across the street. They turned to see a group of high school senior girls and boys. “Hey Lapin, over here!”

Lapin waved to her friends. She turned to Lop and Yun. “Later losers” She stuck her tongue out at them and began heading towards her friends.

Yun rolled her eyes. “Your sister’s a jerk.”

“Nah.” Lop closed her eyes and placed them on her sides with her elbows extended out. “She’s just confused.”

“Can’t defend her forever.” Yun pointed out as they walked to school. “So anyways, what’s new with you?”

Lop put her hand on her face and looked at the sky in thought. “Not too much...Well, actually I did finish reading the final book in the Witch’s Ravens series.”

“Ah.” Yun closed her eyes with a smile. “Another fantasy story.”

“Yes!” Lop’s eyes began to sparkle with excitement. “Oh Yun, it was so magical!”

Yun laughed quietly and asked, “Really? How did it end?”

“It was quite the twist!” Lop stuck her index finger into the air. “It turned out that the ravens the evil witch was using as his servants were the souls of all the people he and his comrades had killed!”

“Uh-huh…” Yun slowly replied. “The witch was a he?”

Lop nodded. “But that’s not all! Once the hero magician and her knight companion broke the evil witch’s magic gem, all the ravens turned back into the people he had killed!”

Yun slowly nodded. “Uh...huh…”

“So then all the people revolted against the evil witch!” Lop continued in excitement. “After the evil witch was defeated, the hero magician and the knight got married. And that’s how it ends!”

“Uh…….huh…” Yun’s interested was fading, although she tried to retain her smile.

Lop looked at Yun. “So, what’s new with you, Yun?”

“Uh…” Yun tried to think. “I read an interesting article recently about Magnesium..”

“Magnesium?” Lop asked about the slightly unfamiliar word. “What is that?”

“It’s an element.” Yun explained. “Commonly talked about in the science of chemistry.”

Lop sighed as the topic bored her. “Yun, don’t you ever do anything…..fun?”

“I find chemistry to be fun.” Yun laughed. “But to be honest, I’m not really fond of those fictional stories you love.”

“But how can you not?!” Lop gasped. “They make your imagination stronger and take you to other worlds!”

Yun nodded. “Maybe, but it’s just….”

“Just what?” Lop tilted her head.

“It’s just….those stories...aren’t very realistic….are they?” Yun slowly looked at the clouds.

Lop looked at her friend and said, “But that’s the point!”

“I know….” Yun sighed with a weak smile. “But...I just can’t make any sense out of them. I don’t understand the point of reading about something that doesn’t even exist.”

Lop puffed her cheeks as they walked to school. “One day I’ll get you to change your mind.”

Unknowingly to the innocent girls walking to school, they were being watched. Someone, or something was following them. Something tiny, like a butterfly. Glitter rained off of their wings each time they flapped them. Slowly, cautiously, they followed the two girls with wide, hopeful eyes behind the trees.

“So...what about those two?”

“I don’t know Metapeta.” Rosethorn doubted her friend. “What makes you think just any human is going to help us?”

Metapeta shrugged. “They have to right? Both their world and our world are in danger!”

“And how do you suppose we get their attention?” Rosethorn raised an eyebrow.

“Way ahead of you.” Metapeta grinned as she lifted a pebble off of the ground with ease. She fluttered feet away from Yun’s head and chucked the rounded pebble right at her head.

“Ow!” Yun felt something hit the back of her head. “What was that?!”

They stopped walking and Lop looked at her friend curiously. “What are you talking about?”

“Someone threw a rock at my head!” Yun furiously searched the area. “Who threw that?! Show yourself!”

Lop stared into the surroundings and saw no one. “Yun, there’s nobody else here.”

“Right, I bet that’s what they want us to think.” Yun grunted. “I bet it’s your sister and her rotten friends again.”

“But...weren’t they walking in front of us..?” Lop pointed out.

“Well, someone did it!” Yun angrily kept looking. “Whoever you are, show yourself!”

Lop stood there watching her friend yell at the trees in anger. She wondered what was going on. She considered the fact that maybe Yun was just imagining the entire situation.

Suddenly, two glowing butterfly-like creatures popped out of the trees. In surprise, Yun fell to the ground. “What the? Are those...fireflies?!”

“Silly Yun, we don’t have fireflies here.” Lop laughed.

Yun’s teeth were angrily clenched together. “Exactly! So what are these things?!”

“Hey! Don’t be rude!” One of the glowing creatures said. “To compare us to insects….how unpleasant!”

Yun’s eyes widened. “Th-they talk!”

“Of course we talk.” The other creature spat. “We are fairies after all.”

“Fa...faires….?” Yun couldn’t believe a word. “What the heck is happening? Is this...just a bad dream…..?”

Lop’s eyes widened with amazement. “Wow! Fairies! I’ve always wanted to meet some!”

“Meet some?!” Yun commented with surprise and frustration. “Fairies don’t exist! They’re not supposed to!”

“Denial is cruel, especially when there’s proof right before your eyes.” One of the fairies sighed. “I’m Rosethorn, and this is Metapeta.”

Metapeta waved with a cheerful smile. “Hello humans. We hope to be your friends.”

“I’d love that!” Lop cheered. “It’s one of my dreams to meet magical creatures like you!”

Metapeta giggled. “I’m charmed to hear that.”

“If only your friend there felt the same way.” Rosethorn glared at Yun, who was kneeling on the ground and shaking in disbelief.

Lop glanced at Yun. “Oh, that’s just Yun.” She smiled. “Yun’s my best friend!”

“Uh-huh….” Rosethorn listened. “And your name is….”

“Call me Lop.” She smiled.

“Lop huh….” Rosethorn repeated the name. “Well, listen. We have something very important to tell you both. We need your assistance right away! The fate of this world depends on you!”

Yun slowly stood up and kept close to Lop. “What are you talking about? The world is in danger?”

Metapeta nodded. “As we speak now, aliens from another planet are rushing to take over Earth!” If nothing is done, this world will cease to be the peaceful land we know it as. We must prevent the invasion at all costs!”

“How does this involve us?!” Yun asked in a loud, nervous tone. “I mean you’re fairies! Don’t you magic that can stop them, or something?!”

Rosethorn crossed her arms and sighed. “We aren’t really that strong truth be told. However, we have a fantastic device that Metapeta designed. If used correctly, it could easily prevent the aliens’ take over plan.”

“It’s a robotic suit.” Metapeta explained. “Well, actually we now have more than one. It has many amazing capabilities. For instance, when wearing it, the user can fly, survive in space, and even communicate with over users of the suits.” She rolled her eyes. “But...the main flaw is that it’s way too big for any of us fairies to use.”

“You didn’t even make it close to your size?!” Yun was stunned.

Metapeta shrugged. “I originally didn’t know we’d need it.”

“So.” Rosethorn spoke. “Luckily, it’s the perfect fit for humans like you. We...no….the world needs your help. Please come with us right away in order to save the Earth!”

“Yo-you’re crazy!” Yun turned around and slowly started walking towards the school and stopped still facing away. “We can’t just skip school because some fairies told us we need to save the world from an alien invasion. It makes no sense at all and the school would never believe it. Heck, even I don’t believe it, so maybe it doesn’t matter. After all, I don’t believe in this kind of stuff. Fairies, aliens, robotic suits; it’s all so illogical! “

Metapeta stared into the back of Yun’s head. “So you’d rather allow Earth to be taken over by aliens?”

“It’s not real.” Yun shook her head while facing away. “And even if it was, I’m not into this stuff. In the end, I’m just a nerdy girl who loves chemistry. Maybe you should find someone more cut out for this, right Lop-” She looked at both of her sides to see Lop standing by the fairies watching her. Lop wasn’t leaving. “Lop…?”

Lop clenched her fist. “Don’t you see Yun? This is destiny! Two friends saving the world together! Just like in a sci-fi story!”

“And how do you expect us to be excused from school?!” Yun asked. “Assisting fairies is not a valid excuse!”

Lop grinned. “Don’t worry! Once we’ve saved the Earth, they’ll have to excuse our absences, right?!”

Yun closed her eyes as she heard what she expected. “Sometimes your optimism is too bright.”

“Come on Yun, we can do this.” Lop smiled a held her hand out to Yun. “After all, we’re best friends!”

Yun looked into her friend’s smile and at her hand. They had always been friends. Ever since the first time they met as young kids, they had been close. Prior to meeting, Yun was too shy to talk to anyone. Lop was what helped her open up to the world. Lop was what kept her day bright. Yun smiled weakly and grabbed her friend’s hand. “Yeah, we are..” She turned her head to the left to hide her blushing. “I-I g-guess I’ll come with…”

“Hooray!” Lop jumped in joy while Yun held onto her arm.

“Excellent.” Metapeta smiled and looked at Rosethorn. “We have the humans we need. Let’s report back to Prince Thistle.”

Rosethorn nodded. “Aye. I’ll summon the portal.”

Yun stood there as Lop continued to hold onto her hand. She slowly cranked her head towards the fairies and began uttering in a deadpan tone, “.....Portal..?”

Suddenly, the ground below them transformed into a glowing blue light. Sparkles fluttered out of the ground playfully around the girls’ feet. A hole swallowed the spot they stood on and Lop and Yun fell into the bright blue abyss with Rosethorn and Metapeta flying behind them. Lop was treating the fall like an amusement park ride, but to Yun it was a freefall to their demise. She tightly hugged Lop while screaming hoping it would be over soon.

A minute passed and Lop and Yun face planted on the grass of the forest they had been transported to. The fairies fluttered out of the portal as it slowly disappeared into thin air.

Lop raised her head and arms. “Woo! We should do that again!”

“Are you crazy?!” Yun’s voice shook. “That was…..terrible.” She panned her eyes around the forest to see several fairies watching them. In the center was a throne sitting on a rose. On it was a male fairy wearing a crown. “That must be the prince….” Yun whispered.

Metapeta bowed to the prince. “Prince Thistle, we have found two humans who can help us!”

Rosethorn stood by her and rolled her eyes over to Yun. “But...one of them might be more useful than the other….”

“What are your names?” Prince Thistle looked at the human girls.

“I’m Lop!” Lop happily reported. “And this is my best friend, Yun!”

Yun slowly raised her arm and awkwardly waved. “Hey..”

“Don’t you worry Prince Thistle.” Metapeta assured. “These two will be able to stop the Celedons for sure!”

“Celedons?” Lop tilted her head.

Rosethorn nodded. “That’s the name of the alien race invading Earth.”

“Why are they invading Earth, anyways?” Yun asked.

All the fairies sighed in unison and glanced at Prince Thistle who looked at them all angrily.

“Here’s what happened.” Rosethorn began. “So our leader, Prince Thistle, was dating the princess of the Celedons, Princess Wex.”

“Wow, a prince and a princess!” Lop smiled.

“Actually, he’s only a prince through marriage.” Rosethorn sarcastically laughed. “But anyways, he decided to go break her heart like some kind of hammer.”

Prince Thistle shook his head. “She was insane!”

“That’s what you get for dating an alien.” Rosethorn taunted. “Now Earth is going to be invaded thanks to you.”

Metapeta clapped happily. “Now we can test the robots!”

“Test?” Yun asked.

Metapeta nodded. “Well, no one has actually used them before…..but they should be safe!”

“Yeah…. ‘should be’....” Yun gulped.

The fairies waved them over to a lab-like setup on the ground. Small lab tables and notes were scattered about. Beakers with colorful chemicals in them lie all about. Against a tree were two robots suits with openings for a face that seemed to be around the same size as Lop and Yun.

“So these are our battle suits!” Lop observed happily.

Rosethorn nodded. “As you can tell, they’re a perfect fit for a human.”

“These are actually pretty awesome looking..” Yun’s eyes focused in on the details of the gear. The outsides of the suits were a white colored with a smooth surface. The metal they were made out of appeared to be magically put together with no signs of what was holding each fragment in place. A built-in gun could be seen extending out of each arm, ready to fire at targets.

“Each one has a built in communication device that allows you both to communicate with each other and us.” Metapeta explained. “We’ll be cheering you both on from the sidelines the whole time.”

The girl slowly got into their individual suits. They found them to be surprisingly comfortable and easy to move in. Once completely in, they pressed a button to turn the suits on. Both of them lit up; Lop’s light was blue, Yun’s light was green. They were ready to go to space.

“I think we’re ready.” Yun looked at Lop who nodded in agreement. 

“Good.” Rosethorn smiled. “Good luck out there. You need to destroy every spaceship that flies towards you, okay? Every single one.”

Lop nodded. “Got it!”

“Let’s go!” Yun said. 

They both leaped into the air to find the suit let them fly. After a minute of getting used to flight, they began soaring in the sky towards space.

“Good luck!” Rosethorn called to them.

“Hey..I just realized something…” Metapeta slowly revealed. “I don’t think I ever told them how to get back to Earth…”

“What?!” Rosethorn gasped. She looked at Yun and Lop who were already way above them in the sky. “Wait! Come back!” She stopped calling to them as she realized they were too far away to hear her. “It’s no use. They’re too far away now…”

Metapeta tilted her head with a shameful smile. “Say...you don’t think we’re liable if something happens to them, do you?”

Rosethorn shook her head. “I’m not, but you definitely are.”

The girls in the robotic suits were flying far through the Earth’s atmosphere. The suits protected them for the otherwise unlivable conditions of the exosphere. They could see space ahead and desperately waited to reach it. 

“Ready?” Lop glanced at Yun.

“Honestly, no.” Yun admitted. “I’d rather be at school learning.”

Lop laughed. “You can go to school all you want when Earth is saved.

They entered the empty void of space. It was dark and lonely all around them. In it they should see so many planets and stars in the distance. Perhaps other worlds just like their own existed out there.

“Well, here we are…” Yun glanced about.

Lop stared into the stars. “I can’t believe we’re in space! This is amazing!”

“Y-yeah….” Yun began wondering about the suits. “I can’t believe we’re alive…. those fairies really are good at building suits…”

“You bet we are/” A voice spoke on the communicator. It was Metapeta. “So, you made it to space okay?”

“Yeah!” Lop gladly reported.

“Good.” Metapeta sighed. “Please be careful, okay?”

Yun looked around desperately. “Where are the aliens?”

“The Celedons said the invasion would occur around noon.” Metapeta explained. “They should be there any minute now!”

“I still don’t-”

“Look Yun!” Lop interrupted and pointed in a direct. In the distance, spaceships could be seen flying towards them at an incredibly fast pace. “Those must be them, right Metapeta-”

A loud static sound buzzed through the communicator. It lasted for twenty sounds and then vanished.

“Metapeta…?!” Yun desperately called. There was no answer. Instead static buzzed intensely through their ears until a new voice enter the conversation.

“Worthless peons of Earth.” A strange voice rung through their ears. “You are foolish to oppose us, the great Celedon race.”

Yun listened to the alien voice with a horrified expression. “Who….are you?”

“I am one of many soldiers of the Celedons.” The alien responded. “Prepare to perish, foolish Earthlings!”

The spaceships were now surrounding them. Each one was the size of an airplane and larger. They came in strangely bright shades of green, orange, and purple. Each one buzzed continuously in random patterns. Lasers shot out of them to destroy whatever got in their way.

“Looks like we have to fight now.” Lop looked at the army of spaceships.

Yun nodded nervously. “However….I just realized something….”

“What is it?” Lop asked curiously.

“Well…..” Yun slowly admitted. “We never really were shown how to use the weapons on these, were we….?”

“Oh…” Lop laughed nervously. “Yeah….I guess we’ll have to try whatever we can…” She pointed her palm towards an enemy ship and concentrated. Before her eyes, a blue laser shot out of her hand and destroyed the spaceship it faced in an explosion. “Whoa!”

Yun tried to imitate this towards an enemy on the opposite side. It worked, but instead her laser was green. “I have to say….this is pretty wicked.

They both proceeded to spam lasers at passing enemies. Many of their early attacks missed, but it didn’t take long for them to get better at aiming. They took down many enemy ships with the robotic suits’ laser attack alone. The girls happily made the most of their new-found power.

“This isn’t so bad!” Yun happily sang as she shot a laser.

“Haha!” Lop spin about in space as she fired away. “This is fun! Just like a video game!”

They floated there back to back defending Earth with all their power. It seemed to be easier than they both had once believed. In the distance, a loud sound of something being fired could be heard.

Yun turned her head in the direction. “What was that?!” Before her eyes was a space missile heading right towards them. “Lop! We need to get out of the way! Come on!” She tightly grabbed Lop’s handed and tried to pull herself and her friend out of the way.

Lop glanced at the missile and noticed that the missile was still following them after they had floated out of the way. “It’s no good, Yun! It’s following us!”

“What?!” Yun turned to see the missile feet away from them.

The missile exploded and smoke flooded the depths of space. Nothing could be seen within the explosion. The fog remained in place as no wind current existed in space.

Yun opened her eyes to see nothing but cloudy smoke engulfing her. “Am...I dead….?” She looked at her feet to see some kind of bubble-like orb around her. She soon noticed that Lop was there too clinging to her. “Lop, are you okay?”

“I think so.” Lop breathed heavily. “What is this bubble that weren’t stuck in? Do you think it protected us from the blast?”

“Maybe…” Yun noticed the smoke was clearing away. Only one spaceship remained in front of them, a rather large one too. The rest had been destroyed. “Only one enemy left.”

“That one looks a lot bigger than the others.” Lop observed. “Do you think that’s the mothership?”

Yun stared into the giant spaceship as she noticed they were being sucked in closer to it. They appeared to be heading towards an opening in the ship. Soon, a realization overcame Yun. “Lop….I don’t think this orb is here to protect us….I think it’s to keep us in!”

They soon found themselves entering the ship into a dark room. They couldn’t see anything and cried in fear of the unknown. Soon, everything went black.

Yun opened her eyes out of what felt like some kind of slumber. She felt tired and much lighter than before. The harsh reality of gravity had also returned. Yun raised her head to notice bars on one side of the room. It was a prison. “Where...are we?” She looked at Lop, who was lying asleep on the cold ground. “Lop! Lop! Wake up!”

Lop slowly opened her eyes and looked at the wall. “What...happened..?”

“I think we’re prisoners.” Yun gulped nervously. She looked at her arms to see the robotic suit was gone. “Our suits are gone!”

“What?!” Lop gasped and looked at her legs. “That means we can’t fight!”

Yun sat on the floor and propped her knees up. She covered her face with her hands and quietly cried. “We’re doomed!”

“No we’re not.” Lop tried to stay hopeful. “I’m sure we’ll find a way out of here, and even if we don’t, I’m sure someone will come to save us.”

“And what if they’re too late?” Yun quietly weeped. “What if, there is no way out?”

Lop tried to think of an answer, but couldn’t. No inspirational words entered her thoughts. She couldn’t think of how they’ll escape. She couldn’t figure out what was next. She knew nothing about what fate held for them.

“We’re never getting out of here...not alive anyways…” Yun cried.

“I’ll sure everything will be okay.” Lop tried to smile. “Maybe-”

“No.” Yun interrupted. “It won’t be okay. None of it will. Why did I agree to come out this way? Why did I listen to fairies...Why would I agree to fight in a robot….why did I go out to space...to fight aliens? Why didn’t I just trust my gut and stay on Earth?!”

“Because we’re friends.” Lop tried to justify. “Because we were going to save Earth together as best friends.”

Yun glared over her shoulder. “The power of friendship means nothing….It can’t save us.”

“Of course it can, after all, we’re friends.” Lop smiled.

“Are we?” Yun’s voice got chilly. “Do friends make friends do things they don’t agree with?”

“Well…” Lop looked down. “..No….but-”

“Friends don’t endanger their friends with stuff they don’t believe in.” Yun spoke coldly.

Lop tilted her head in worry. “What are you saying?”

Yun stared at the ground and coldly muttered, “I hate you.”

Lop stared at her friend speechlessly while trying to hold back a heavy wave of tears.

“You’re too bright! You’re too optimistic!” Yun cried. “The brighter you try to make things, the darker they become! You might be living in that light, but I only see it’s shadows, and they grow larger by the minute. I’m going to die here in this alien prison because I listened to you! How could you think this would be okay?”

Lop looked away trying to hide her tears. “I thought things would work because I was with you.” Her voice was soft and sorrowful. “When I’m with you, I believe we can do anything.”

“Well, I don’t feel the same.” Yun moped. “Just leave me alone. I want to lie here until I meet my untimely demise from whatever the aliens have in store for us.”

Lop watched her friend cry on the ground helplessly as they waited for the Celedons to rid of them. However, unlike her friend, Lop had not given up. She scoped the room, looking for a way out. Her eyes soon noticed a vent. It was definitely wide enough for Lop easily fit through. She tried to take it off to find it easily opened.

“Hey Yun!” Lop excited announced. “I found a way out!”

Yun glanced over in irritation. “What are you talking about?”

“I opened this vent that we could slip through!” Lop explained. “We could sneak around, get our suits back, a escape!”

Yun shook her head. “No Lop. We don’t even know where we’d be going. Besides, they’d definitely catch us. It’s not worth it.”

Realizing her friend was not coming, Lop took a deep breath. “Then I’ll go and get the suits. I’ll come back for you, I promise!”

Yun looked over, “Lop, no-”

It was too late. Lop had slipped through the vent and had begun sneaking around the ship. All Yun could do was wait, and she was worried.

The vent led to a hallway. It was empty and poorly guarded. Lop tiptoed about looking for a potential room where the robotic suits could be. She hid behind a corner and peered over. Guards stood on the other side chatting. They were small like the fairies, surprisingly.

“Now that we’ve captured those pathetic Earthlings, we can invade Earth.” Said one.

The other nodded. “And then we can get our revenge on those fairies for breaking the princess’s fragile heart.”

Lop listened to them squabble and watched them enter a room. The door opened automatically and they walked towards it. Inside, she could see their robotic suits hanging against the wall. She gulped as she realized she needed to get in that exact room to get out of there. With the guards in there, it would be impossible. She stared into the door as it automatically closed. She tried to think of a way in without getting caught, but couldn’t think of one.

Suddenly, she felt someone tap her shoulder. Lop jumped in shock and looked behind herself to see a small green alien looking at her. She had been found out. “Waahhh!” She cried quietly. “I’ve been found!”

The alien put her hand over Lop’s mouth. “Shh! Do you want them to hear you?”

“Huh?” Lop didn’t understand what the alien meant.

“If they hear you, they’ll know you’ve escaped.” The alien explained. “Be quiet.”

They could hear footsteps behind them as Lop tensed up. She heard the alien tell her not to move as guards headed towards them.

“Princess Wex!” Said a guard. “Are you okay?”

The name made Lop’s eyes grow wide. In her head, she asked herself, “This person is….the princess?”

“Of course I’m okay!” Princess Wex assured and smiled. “I’m just out for a walk on the ship.”

One of the guards raised an eyebrow. “Is that a human?”

Princess Wex glanced at Lop. “Ah, yes..! Just an escaped prisoner. No ways though, I’ll take ‘em right back to their cell, kayo?”

“If you insist..” The guards sighed as they walked away.

Princess Wex watched them leave with a smile and then turned back to Lop who was looking at her with confused eyes.

“Did you just...help me?” Lop tilted her head in confusion. “Or was that the truth? Are you taking me back?”

“Listen to me.” Princess Wex began. “This attack is all wrong. I only cried a little when Prince Thistle broke up with me. I didn’t want Earth to be invaded! I’m over it now.”

Lop blinked. “Have you told your people that?”

“I’ve tried..” The princess groaned. “But they insist that ‘Earth must be destroyed to mend my broken heart’. As if I would want such a thing. That’s why I need you and your friend to escape!”

The word friend triggered a reaction in Lop. “Yun….” She looked up. “I left Yun back there..She’s my best friend in the whole world, but...I dragged her into this…...I promised I’d find a way out of here...but Yun says she hates me….that we’re doomed.”

“You’re not doomed if you listen to me.” Princess Wex said. “I’ll help you get past the guards.”

Lop’s eyes lit up. “You will?!”

“Of course.” The princess nodded. “Do you really think I’d let you do this alone?”

Lop jumped in the air in excitement. “I’ve always wanted to be friends with an alien! This is so exciting!”

“Right…” Princess Wex sighed. She walked towards the room the robotic suits were in and said, “I need you to look at something.”

“What would that be?” Asked a guard.

The princess held up what Lop noticed was a watch from Earth. “This Earthling device. What purpose does it serve?”

“Well…” The other guard stared into it. “I believe that is some kind of device used to measure weight.”

“No!” Another guard disagreed. “That is clearly a laser-band!”

“Then what purpose does the numbers serve?”

“It clearly is the intensity of the lasers.”

“You’re wrong!”

The princess’s distraction was working. Lop tiptoed past them as they argued over the purpose of the watch. She grabbed her suit and quiet slipped it on. She then tried to silently grab Yun’s suit. However, the sound of Lop’s suit coming in contact with Yun’s made a loud metal noise that caught the guard’s attention.

“Hey!” Yelled one of the guards. “That Earthling is stealing the suits!”

“Get it!” The other one shouted.

Lop turned her suit on and flew above the guards. She lifted the princess in the air and flew into the hallway as the guards chased the. “We have to get this suit to Yun!” Lop declared at a loss of breath. They flew to the prison cell but soon found it was empty. Lop stared into it with broken eyes. “W-where’s Yun?”

“Oh no!” Princess Wex gasped. “They must have taken her to the torture room!”

“What?!” Lop’s eyes were full of shock.

“We have to hurry!” Princess Wex pointed to the left. “The room is that way! Hurry!”

The desperately flew down the hallway towards the torture room. Lop’s mind imagined the worst. “Please be okay, Yun..please…”

They entered the room to find Yun tied up with guards questioning her. One of the guards asked, “So, you Earthlings think you can overthrow us?”

“That’s not it at all!” Yun spat. “We were trying to protect our own planet, that’s all!”

The guard didn’t believe it. “You really think I’m going to believe that? You and your friend will be executed-”

“Stop!” Princess Wex shouted, surprising the guard and Yun. “Let her go!”

Yun looked to she Lop there. “Lop…”

“Yun…” Lop looked back. Her friend was okay.

“What’s gotten into you, princess?” The guard asked. “You’re helping the Earthlings? You’re going against everything we’re fighting for!”

“We are not fighting for anything.” Princess Wex declared. “I don’t want Earth to be invaded.”

The guard was stunned. “But that fairy-prince broke your heart! We must avenge my feelings!”

“Avenge my feelings?!” Princess Wex repeated. “My feelings are not what the galaxy revolves around. While I still love Prince Thistle, I do not wish to invite Earth because he does not feel the same. I’ve moved on.”

“I see…”The guard seemed disappointed. “I’ve always wanted to invade Earth...this was the perfect excuse, princess!”

“Excuses, excuses.” Princess Wex sighed. “We must not invade planets over petty feelings.” She glanced at Yun. “Now let the girl go.”

The guard untied Yun and watched her slowly walk over to Lop. Their reunion was awkward.

“Yun, I’m glad you’re okay.” Lop smiled happily.

Yun looked at Lop with guilty eyes. She then looked down at the floor. “Lop...listen….I’m sorry that I said I hated you...that’s not true at all..” She lifted her head and looked Lop in the eyes. “The truth is, I-”

A beeping sound interrupted Yun’s apology. It was Lop’s robotic suit. She looked at it curiously. “Oh no..I think my suit’s running out of power…”

“Eh?!” Yun grabbed her suit from Lop’s arms. “That means mine probably is low on power too. We need to hurry back!”

“Please take care of Earth.” Princess Wex smiled as Yun put on her suit. “I promise we’ll never invade Earth again.”

Lop faced the princess and nodded. “Thank you for helping me.  I never would been able to get my suit back if it wasn’t for you.”

“No problem.” Princess Wex replied. She pressed a button that revealed a door to space. “Take care, Earthlings!”

As Lop and Yun flew out the door, they waved and in unison replied, “Thank you!”.

The mothership began disappearing from sight and soon it was just a tiny dot in the distance. Lop and Yun watched it vanish into space and then they turned to Earth.

“I guess it’s time to finally go home, huh?” Lop looked at Yun and smiled.

Yun smiled back. “Yeah..”

“Say, Metapeta never did tell us how to get back down to Earth, did she?” Lop realized and laughed ignoring the obvious difficulties.

“What?!” Yun gasped. “They didn’t even tell us how to return to Earth?!”

“Calm down.” A voice rang on the communicator. It was Metapeta.

Yun’s expression changed. “Metapeta! We can hear you again!”

“The communication device had some kind of error earlier.” Metapeta explained. “It’s funny. You couldn’t hear us, but we could hear you!”

“Eh?! Really?” Yun’s eyes were wide.

“Does that meant you heard that the invasion’s over?” Lop asked.

“Yes.” Metapeta replied. “You can finally go home.”

Yun’s eyes became slants. “Yeah...about that...How the heck do we get home?!”

“Right…” Metapeta seemed to know about the situation. “We forgot to tell you…”

“There’s a button on the robotic suits you can use to teleport back to Earth.” It was Rosethorn’s voice. “That’s the only safe way to return. Trying to fly back through Earth’s survive would kill you.”

“Ahh good to know…” Yun sighed. She looked at Lop as they hovered their hands over the buttons in unison. They pressed it together.

In a flash of light, Lop and Yun had returned to Earth in the spot by MetaPeta and Rosethorn. Their human bodies were stuck to the ground like magnets.

“What is this intense weight…?” Yun managed to moan.

“Silly Yun.” Lop’s voice laughed. “You should know it’s gravity.”

Yun lifted her head off the ground. “I do...but I don’t remember it being quite this strong..”

The fairies gathered around the girls and congratulated them.The crowd cheered and rejoiced at the knowledge that Earth had been saved.

“Thank you for your help.” Metapeta thanked. “If we ever need your help again, can we rely on you?”

Lop was about to answer, but stopped herself and looked at Yun for assurance. Yun nodded and looked at the fairies. “Yes, you can.” She managed to pull herself to her knees. “we can finally go back to school…”

“I wonder if they’ll throw a party for us since we saved the world.” Lop grinned.

“I can’t believe we have detention.” Yun sighed in boredom as they sat in the near empty room with their other classmates. “I never get detention..This isn’t right!”

Lop shrugged. “I guess they didn’t believe our story. Lapin said it sounded like some kind of day dream.”

“But it wasn’t!” Yun lowered her face to the surface of her desk. “The fairies, the robotic suits, the aliens; it was all so real!”

Lop checked to see if the supervisor was watching them. “I guess most people just don’t believe in fairies, robots, and aliens.”

“That’s crazy..” Yun sighed in agony. “It was all so real too...we saved everybody, and here we have detention..”

“Speaking of crazy.” Lop looked at Yun. “I decided to take chances and put a note in my crush’s locker.”

“You, what?!” Yun gasped in surprise. She noticed the supervisor didn’t seem to care that they were talking. “Well, did they notice? What happened?”

“I don’t think they’ve seen it yet.” Lop replied.

Yun looked at Lop suspiciously. “Who are they?”

“It’s a secret.” Lop grinned as the supervisor let them leave.

“It’s not like it’s going to be a secret once they find out.” Yun puffed her cheeks in irritation.

As they walked to their lockers, Lop stopped at the drinking fountain as Yun continued ahead. She wondered if they’d ever have any more encounters with the fairies and other supernatural things. Upon reaching her locker, she noticed some paper sticking out of the top. A note. A love note.

Yun felt her face flush with the color red as she realized what was going on. She turned her head to see Lop smiling as her.

Yun smiled back.