The Vanishing Sky: Chapter 1

The Vanishing Sky: Aka a Mysterious Planetary Tale.

Chapter 1: Or, an Ominous Meeting


...I'll devour...

This can't be happening, the third planet from Sol thought. What started out as an emergency meeting between the planets of the Solar System soon turned into complete madness as the phone recording ended. From his seat, he could see Mercury pacing and twitching about the room far too quickly for his liking. Jupiter and Saturn were at each other's throats over whose responsibility it was to not have someone vanish from under their noses. Neptune was simply shivering, muttering apologies to nothing while clinging to Uranus for dear life and for once forgetting his usual "I'm not a baby brother" sthick.  None of this was normal at all. That thing can't be. What the hell did we do?!

"Quiet, all of you!" he heard his yellow-haired sibling shout in frustration from the front end of the table. "Will you just all SHUT UP?!" As the room quieted down, Venus continued, though with a faint tinge of fear in her voice. "This isn't the time to panic! We've dealt with worse things before! And if we just keep ourselves focused on t-"

"Easy for you to say, Ven!"  Neptune screamed, his deep blue eyes flowing with tears. "You didn't have to worry about having two neighbors disappear under your nose. I've known him far longer than..."

"You weren't all that close to Pluto anyway," Terry replied with a fake smile in an attempt to comfort the planet, only for his yellow-haired sister to cast a hard glare. The world knew from experience, though he usually ignored it, that it was a cue to keep his mouth shut. This couldn't get any worse

"Look. Little Johnny's already on edge. We all are! Not that it helps knowing who's behind all this…Cripes, why does it have to be that menacing freak of all people?!"

"But the better question may be why Mr. Black Hole is doing this." Jupiter asked in a deceptively innocent, though booming voice. "Not that I'm defending him, you now. I wouldn't be surprised if he keeps hitlist with all our names on it. Though it does make me curious. Why would he be trying to abduct and kill each one of us  now?"

"Hold up, Jovan!" Earth snapped, starting to feel the first signs of panic coming from the humans living on his world. Don't go all 2012 on me now… "We don't even know if Pluto or Charon are dead…at least not yet." There seemed to be a moment of awkward silence interrupted only by the young-looking gas giant's sobbing and Mercury's jittering footsteps.

Which was broken by a frustrated, though determined Venus clearing her throat. "My stupid brother's right," she began with a hint of affection. "Just have to stay positive, right? We can still save them. Neither will we let Black Hole devour us all like in those idiotic disaster movies." A self-assuring smirk entered her face. "So long as we work and stay together, even that cosmic jerk won't stand a chance! So who's with me?"

There was a look of dread and anticipation among most of their faces, Terry noticed, before being overtaken by that of firm determination. For all their sakes. Their moons, life, loved ones. We might be lucky anyway, he shrugged, only to remember something else. "Shouldn't Mars be back by now, Ven?"

--o--

Martin knew he should be back in the meeting with his findings. But for some reason, the red planet found himself locked in his own house. His fascination at his predicament was only matched by a frustrated urge to just grab a spear or grenade and tear himself an exit; after all, didn't humans see him as the God of War or something? But try as he might, nothing seemed to work. Even with his bare hands, neither the doors or windows refused to budge.

I've had worse crap, Mars reminded himself, trying to stay calm. For all he knew it was just another space fluke. But just as he was about to reach for his phone, a small piece of paper came to his view on the dining table which seemed to come out of nowhere. The scrap and the words on it seemed to have been ripped out of an old book. Cautiously yet filled to the brim with curiosity, he approached it and started reading the oddly eloquent print of the text:

"Look," whispered Chuck, and George lifted his eyes to heaven. (There is always a last time for everything.)

Overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out.

"Odd…" Martin wondered aloud, only for a mounting shock to overwhelm him. "Isn't this t-"

He felt a sudden blackness clouding his vision as something hit him from behind. Turning weakly, he manage to catch a glimpse of a vague, hooded figure before his world turned dark.  

"Y-You…"

The last thing he heard was an eerie though singsong whisper. "One after another…"

Perhaps there really was a last time for everything.