A Shiny Friendship

     The Nova was released. It flew up and bathed him and his opponent, a fierce looking Wocky, in bright light. The Wocky grunted as the attack knocked out the last of his hit points. The Gelert let out a gasp of relief when he realized the effect the Nova's light had on him was quite different, as he was being magically healed.

     And just like the end of an explosion, the light dimmed until the Nova was gone. And then there was darkness.

     ***

     He opened his eyes slowly to find darkness. He blinked a few times and looked around, trying to figure out where he was. He couldn’t distinguish much. It appeared to be an immense space, and in the distance he could make out a variety of colorful lights. He felt as if he had just woken up from a dream, but he didn’t remember falling asleep. How had he gotten here? He knew only one thing; he wasn’t anywhere near the Battledome anymore.

     Maybe he was still dreaming. He waited expectantly for something to happen, but nothing did. If this was really a dream, it was rather boring. He was disappointed.

     “Hey, Nova! Why so blue?”

     The Nova spun around, startled; he thought he was alone. The one asking was an Ultranova. She glided next to him, leaving a trail of pinkish glow.

     “Blue?” he asked, surprised. “If I’ve turned blue, I really must be dreaming!”

     The Ultranova looked at him with a mix of confusion and amusement. “I meant you seemed a bit sad. Is everything alright?”

     “Oh.” The Nova shook his head slowly. “I've never been here before. I think I’m lost.”

     “Ooh, but this place is lovely!” the Ultranova said, twirling gracefully. “I love it here!”

     The Nova wasn’t sure he agreed. “What is this place, though?” he asked.

     “This place is... well, it is... it... you know what? I've never wondered that, myself.”

     The Nova couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re funny, Ultranova.”

     The Ultranova stopped mid-twirl. Her uneducated comments had always been answered with sighs of exasperation and rolling eyes. Yet, this Nova appreciated them, even liked them. This was new for her.

     In a second, her eyes opened wider than usual and her glow grew stronger, for she felt warmer and fuzzier than she ever had.

     “I want to show you something,” she said suddenly. She grabbed the confused Nova by the arm, and led him through the space.

     He wasn’t sure where they were heading. Truth to be told, there didn’t seem to be many places to go. Everything looked the same to him. On their way, they often passed what he assumed to be other Novas, but the Ultranova was flying so fast that all he could make out were golden blurs.

     The Nova was enjoying the trip so much he closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax. It was mostly silent, except for the whooshing noise they made as they glided. It was calm, peaceful and—

     “AHHHHH!” The Ultranova’s scream pierced the air and the Nova opened his eyes, just in time to see they were heading towards a big object floating in the darkness.

     The Ultranova tried her hardest to slow down, but she was going too fast for her attempts to make any difference.

     The Nova tugged at his own arm hoping the Ultranova would release him, but she kept a firm grip, pulling him along.

     In the last possible second, the Ultranova veered right, barely missing the metallic surface they were about to crash into. The Nova found himself waiting for an impact that never came.

     The Ultranova’s speed decreased smoothly until both motes came to a complete stop. It was only then that the Ultranova let go.

     “That was FUN! Let’s do it again!” The Ultranova was smiling gleefully, as if they were playing a game.

     The Nova stared at her in disbelief. “Absolutely NOT! We could have crashed! Didn’t you see that thing in the distance?”

     “Of course I saw it, silly! That’s what I wanted to show you. Follow me!”

     Without grabbing his arm this time, and at a much slower pace, the Ultranova headed towards a glinting silver spot in the distance. She didn’t look back to see if she was being followed, and the Nova had the urge to fly off in the opposite direction. He didn’t, but only because his curiosity was piqued.

     As they got nearer, the Nova realized exactly what the thing was. The spaceship, although clearly abandoned, looked imposing. It was all silver, except for big bold red letters spelling “VIRTUPETS” on each side.

     “Wow.”

     “If this surprises you, wait until you see the inside!”

     The two friends floated around the spaceship, until the Ultranova pointed at a big hole on one side of it. It looked as if it had been caused by a collision. What had caused the collision, the Nova didn’t want to find out. The metal was pierced irregularly and it stuck out at odd angles in some places, but the Ultranova didn’t seem to care. Using the hole as an entrance, she went in.

     The spaceship looked creepy from the inside. Its walls were covered with posters, all featuring the same picture of Dr. Sloth, but each with a different caption underneath. The Ultranova seemed not to notice, but the Nova felt uneasy watched by a dozen pairs of red eyes.

     After a few moments, the Ultranova took a corridor to the left. “It’s just a little further!” she called. The Nova hurried to catch up with his friend. Was he imagining it, or did the walls seem closer every time, as if the passageway was getting thinner?

     Finally, at the end of the hallway, there was a door. It was ajar, but the Nova could see there was a sign hanging lopsided from it. “No Entry Allowed,” it read.

     “Here we are!” said the Ultranova cheerfully. “You go first.”

     The Nova was both nervous and excited. He was sure there was a secret inside.

     “Amazing,” said the Nova in a barely audible whisper. It was better than anything he had imagined. The room was full of panels, with hundreds of buttons of different shapes, colors and sizes. It was the control room.

     “I love coming here! It’s like my personal playground!” The Ultranova giggled. She was looking at her friend expectantly. “Come on, press one!”

     “Okay!” the Nova agreed. A smile formed as he looked around trying to find a button he liked. He wondered what each did. He couldn’t wait to find out. His eyes soon fell on a button directly in the middle of the panel that he was instantly drawn to. It was big and red, but more importantly, it was shaped like a Nova.

     Feeling giddy, he put his arm on top of it, but didn’t press it yet.

     “Help me with the countdown,” he asked.

     The Ultranova didn’t have to be told twice. “Three... two... one... GO!”

     The Nova pressed with all his might. He waited, but the excitement disappeared after a few seconds.

     “I don’t think it worked,” said the Nova, disappointed.

     “How do you know?” asked the Ultranova.

     “Well, nothing happened!”

     “How do you know?” she asked again.

     “We’d know if it did.”

     “How do you know?”

     “Okay, cut it out.” Angrily, the Nova turned his back on her and crossed his arms.

     Suddenly, an ear-splitting crash was heard. The whole spaceship shook.

     “Oh, no! What did that button do?” The Nova forgot his anger and turned to his friend, but what he saw didn’t comfort him at all. The Ultranova wore a scared expression identical to his.

     “I don’t know! This had never happened before!”

     Another loud noise was heard and the place quaked even harder than before.

     The Nova took initiative. “We need to leave this spaceship. NOW.”

     The motes held hands and flew through the spaceship as fast as they could. As they neared the hole they had used to enter the ship, the Novas were surprised to find a being much larger than they were waiting for them right outside. Panicking, the Ultranova retreated into the ship, but the Nova was frozen with shock.

     The Space Faerie took the Nova, handling him carefully, but her grip on the mote was firm and he couldn't escape. “And here I thought I wouldn’t find any Novas today,” she muttered to herself. With a smile, she added, “Kauvara will be pleased.”

     “Ultranova!” the Nova cried. The Space Faerie couldn’t hear it. Novas communicate in a language of their own.

     From the safety of her hiding place, the Ultranova was shaking. She had seen the Space Faerie lurking about several times before, but she had always been lucky enough to escape.

     “Ultranova, where are you?!” the Nova called again, his voice breaking.

     The Ultranova couldn’t stand it anymore. The thought of being caught scared her, but it couldn’t be any scarier than having a friend snatched from you while you watched helplessly. This was worse than any nightmare the Ultranova had had. She wouldn’t let go of her friend. Not ever.

     Courageously, she glided out of the spaceship. “I’m here,” she said attempting to sound casual. Her voice came out cracked and nervous, but the Nova didn’t seem to notice. He was radiant to see her again.

     The Ultranova’s glow was impossible to miss. The Space Faerie noticed her right away, and taking her carefully, placed her next to the Nova. The Ultranova could feel her friend’s warm glow close to her own, and suddenly all the anxiety she was feeling turned into comfort and relief.

     The Novas exchanged excited looks. No more words needed to be said. This was just a new adventure starting. They knew they could count on each other. Whatever happened, wherever they went, it’d be alright if they were together.

     With both Novas in hand, the Space Faerie flew off.

The End

Author’s Note: Dedicated to jockylocky. You are a superawesome Nova. Keep on shining!