I'm Sorry.

From the entrance of the base stepped out a masked man, who stopped about a meter before the other, leaning with one hand against the doorway, left leg crossing the right.

“That would be me. You must be one of the Space Bombers!I’m glad that you are respecting our agreement. This will make things much easier for all of us… Now, I would like to inspect the contents of that suitcase, before we proceed to make the trade. Just to make sure you are giving me the right thing.”

Of course, Strike was somewhat surprised to see only one of them. Something seemed off about it, and he was still on his guard in case another had came with. It’s not like he was alone in the base, either. If these bombers wanted to pick a fight, they were not going to get out of it so easily.

Dead hostage. God, they don’t like this guy. As they waited, Asteroid closed the suitcase and pulled it closer. They were going to make sure that no one would steal that from them. Pluto’s safety depended on it.

They felt like they were calm and handling this well until… Strike appeared, holding Pluto by the arm. They managed to hold back a scream of panic, but it still come out as a gasp. All this time, they knew things were going to be intense, but now, it was like if danger itself was right in front of Asteroid, teasing them in a deadly dance.

“I’m alone, I promise! I made sure that nobody else is here.” Asteroid exclaimed firmly, a hint of fear still escaped their voice. Slightly shaking their head, they walked closer to Strike and placed the suitcase on his hand.

Without letting go of the suitcase’s handle, they held an arm up. “The boy. Now.”

“Good! Then... take him!”

From the entrance of the base stepped out a masked man, who stopped about a meter before the other, leaning with one hand against the doorway, left leg crossing the right.

“That would be me. You must be one of the Space Bombers!I’m glad that you are respecting our agreement. This will make things much easier for all of us… Now, I would like to inspect the contents of that suitcase, before we proceed to make the trade. Just to make sure you are giving me the right thing.”

Of course, Strike was somewhat surprised to see only one of them. Something seemed off about it, and he was still on his guard in case another had came with. It’s not like he was alone in the base, either. If these bombers wanted to pick a fight, they were not going to get out of it so easily.

And so, that Strike had appeared. Just the sight of him and that mask was enough for Asteroid to feel a chill on their spine. This was a guy who had broken the arm of a child. What other messed up thing he could do? The messenger didn’t wanted to stay more and learn about this. “He better be alive.” They muttered under their breath, a little louder than they hoped.“

Asteroid was a bit hesitant to give the suitcase like that, however. There was no garantee they could trust Strike to not run away with the suitcase and order an army against them. They knelt down, setting the suticase on the floor and opening it to show the warp engine. "It’s fair that you wish to see the contents. However.. I wouldn’t like you stabbing me in the back.” 

Snarky remark as per usual. Looking inside the suitcase, it was truly the piece they had been looking for. The warp engine...

“Just a moment...”

Strike went to get Pluto out of his cell, one floor below, so that the trade could be completed. He held the child high by his good arm, making his way back to the other bomber.

“Is this what you’re looking for?”

A light chuckle. He took a few steps forward, extending his free arm and making a hand gesture to request the suitcase.

“I’ll let him go at the same time I have this hand on the suitcase. Provided there’s none of your friends hiding around here. In which case I might...”

More pressure was added to the boy’s arm, but not quite enough to break it.

Pluto jumped at the sound of the hatch slamming, it was kind of loud for him. And before he knew it the ship took off, and suddenly Pluto snapped back to reality, and he realized that he had basically been kidnapped! Slowly he walked up to Strike, while shaking a little from fear. “H-Hey um mister could we, uh, get b-back to the ship? I kinda w-wanna go back for s-something.”

Silence. Strike spoke not a single word, concentrated on driving the ship. Under his mask, an expression of satisfaction. Now that they were quite a distance, it would be difficult for others to catch up, or even figure out their location. He didn’t have to answer to the child, nor even pay attention anymore.

Putting the ship on auto-pilot, Strike stepped towards the small child, towering him. He reached for the mallet, attempting to grab it out of the kid’s hands with one of his own, the other hand placed on the boy’s arm, grabbing it firmly.

“Oooh sure! I always wanted to go onto some one else’s ship!” Pluto forgot all about how suspicious this bomber was once he suggested they checked out his ship, he imagined all of the possibilities that the ship could look like, all of them cooler than the last. “Does it have cool explosives? Does it fly around really fast? Can it drill through things?” Pluto was practically bouncing with excitement at what the other’s ship could do, and what it looked like!

“It’s pretty fast! Over here…”

Strike pointed to a ship in the very back, in a space where it would be easy to leave in a hurry. It was rather dark in color with long and sharp wings, as well as multiple boosters in the back for a quick getaway. The interior could fit quite a few people, with a trapdoor to a storage area in the center, behind the pilot’s seat. 

Slam. A loud noise could be heard from the hatch closing down harshly behind the young bomber. Strike chuckled softly, placing his hands on his hips.

“Don’t worry. It happens quite often. While were here...”

The masked bomber sat down in the pilot’s seat, starting the engine with the pull of a lever. This had been a piece of cake, but the next part of his plan was going to be much more complicated. Sure, the kid was now his hostage, but he’d need to arrange a trade for the object that he desired to obtain.

“How about a short ride around space?”

Tasked with an object to take from the Space Bomber’s base, the masked bomber infiltrated it with ease. The massive spaceship wasn’t as heavily guarded as one would expect, the most major obstacle being a few security cameras spread around halls and rooms. At least, that’s what it seemed like at first–

It was awfully strange to him, to see a child offer him alcohol. Strike knew little about the Space bombers, but this didn’t seem right. Regardless of how he felt, the masked bomber needed to act quickly.

He had a plan. This bomber seemed rather young, it was most likely he couldn’t throw bombs, right? No one seemed to be around to stop him, either.

   Kirby was albeit, shocked. Was this some sort of trick? This machine literally captured him and one of his creations, then threw him at Mechadoc, of all people. He was curious, though.

Mighty looked at the puffball below him. Gosh... he had really hurt this one? It was hard for him to believe it, but it was his own fault, for blindly following orders in the past. For not trying to understand his situation earlier...

For hurting the innocent, for protecting the villain.