At the End of the Universe

Chapter 1: Mission- Royal Space

A beam of pink light flashed before the young woman's eyes. She gazed at the sight of a pastel envelope appearing from thin air and grasped by her companion's paws.

"Aw man, I hope this isn't a uniform assignment 'cuz I'm totally not wearing that friggin' get-up again," she complained to Puppycat who ignored her moaning and signed his name.

Bee held unto him as another flash of vibrant light sent them through an easy fall in space.

"I mean, how come I'm the only one with a uniform anyway? You never get one!" she went on.

Puppy cat looked at her. /I'm always in uniform./

"Dude you're never in uniform."

/Yes I am./

"No, I am! And I'm sick of it!"

[Incoming,] a low voice said as a warp hole opened.

"Hey TempBot, how come Puppycat doesn't get a costume thingy on missions?" Bee immediately asked as the two drifted toward the large floating screen.

[I'm afraid I do not understand the inquiry,] it replied in a low, smooth tone. [Puppycat is always issued a uniform alongside yourself for any and all uniform required assignments.]

/Told you/, he announced as she groaned dramatically.

[Now, there is an important assignment for you both today if you are willing to accept.]

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Bee blehed, fed up.

TempBot opened its mouth and issued them their uniforms. Bee's green, sleeveless turtle neck sweater and cotton pink shorts were swallowed up by the same light used to transport them. Left in the magical light's wake, Bee was dressed in a long, light pink gown. She studied her new clothes with a slight frown, but shrugged her shoulder and instead of complaining, gave the nice dress a compliment.

Puppycat looked her clothes over as well and only knitted his eyebrows as neither a positive nor negative affirmation to them.

Bee grabbed the end of her hair which was now in one thick braid. "What're these clothes for?"

Tempbot closed its eyes for a moment and let a small stone pendant materialize before the two workers before replying.

[This is a Starlight Crystal. They're very prized stones that are used for different important events across the universe. Though today, this stone is to be delivered to the Space King for the trimillenium celebration being held at Royal Space.]

Bee's eyes grew wider and sparkled with delight and Puppycat's narrowed at the news. The quad-point pendant floated to Bee and she put it around her neck.

[Your job,] TempBot referred to them, [is to hand carry the Starlight Crystal safely to the Space King directly before he begins the ceremony.]

Bee huzawwed at that and TempBot opened its mouth to lead a portal to Royal Space. Eagerly, Bee went through the Temp administrator's mouth while being closely, yet hesitantly followed by Puppycat.

Tempbot gagged a bit as Bee and Puppycat clambered out to stand on the Royal grounds leading to the back of the castle.

[The celebration will begin soon,] it told them. [Do not waste time.]

"Yeash, alright," Bee muttered as the portal mouth closed.

Puppycat kept an even, narrowed gaze at the sparkling castle. Bee rose a brow at that, but smiled herself at the great structure. The stone shimmered, the windows gleamed, and everything appeared to swim in beautiful hues.

"Wow…" Bee stood in awe. "There must be sooo much food in there… Holy crap!"

Puppycat glanced at her.

"I can take some pictures of them for Deckard! He'd be able to tell what they were made of and make them!"

Bee started to drool at the possibility of her friend being able to create royal sweets and dishes for her. Puppycat scoffed at that and felt that same strange heaviness in his chest that always came with Deckard's name.

/No, you can't take pictures./

"Wha? Why not?" Bee argued.

/How will you explain that you attended a Space Ball? Let alone that most of the ingredients used in the food here aren't available on Earth./

"Oh yeah," she said quietly.

Puppycat started walking toward the castle, leaving Bee behind for a moment. She shook off the frown and went after him, half tripping on her dress and kicking it up past her shins.

/Lift your dress enough to walk,/ Puppycat told her without even giving her a look.

She did so a little awkwardly and caught up to her friend.

/Listen,/ he said still focusing on the open doors leading to the ballroom. /Stick close to me and don't wander off. We're here for the job and nothing more./

She nodded and walked beside him up the stairs. The higher they went, the more was revealed until they both saw a large party filled with beautiful, graceful creatures. Bee stared unashamed at the multiple humanoids shaded the colors of the universe. White, red, blue, orange, and green heads made up a sea of dancers, flowing with the beat of star songs. The two outsiders stood out like a sore thumb, but no one paid them any mind. So they went inside.

Puppycat didn't look comfortable at all. In fact, if one didn't know him he appeared downright terrified. The look in his eyes though, reflected something dark in regards to this dazzling environment. It went unnoticed by Bee.

"Where do you think the Space King is?" she questioned.

He hesitated, but Puppycat answered, /Maybe talking to someone. Let's check the sides./

Bee nodded and they walked to the edge of the room's walls. Bee looked around but didn't see anyone that might fit the image of a king. She did however, see the large spread of exotic space delicacies. Puppycat looked down the same direction as well, and saw nothing but nobles chit-chatting. Turning away, he was about to address Bee, but found that she was not there.

/Bee?/

"Oh man, Puppycat... Look at all this," Bee turned excitedly to him.

She scrunched up her brows when she realized he wasn't there by her.

"The heck?" she wondered, not knowing that he was thinking the same thing from the opposite side of the room.

"Geez and he told me not to wander off."

She didn't want to waste time searching endlessly for Puppycat in such a large crowd, but she also didn't want to waste valuable taste testing time either. The mission kicked itself out of her thoughts and Bee grinned widely as she neared the table of food laid out in an array of choices.

"Ooo, this one looks good. Oh! And you and you," she picked out, stuffing her face.

She absorbed herself in eating as many different kinds of treats as she could, never bothering to pay attention to the fact that one of the aliens had taken interest in her.

/Well, I hope you're enjoying yourself here?/ a voice asked.

Bee could've sworn it sounded like Puppycat, but just a lot deeper.

"Uh," she started to answer with a full mouth. "Yeah, it's good."

The alien smiled and she finished chewing the rest of the food.

/Hm, you remind me of my late daughter./

"Wha? Really? Like, in a good way?" Bee tittered.

The alien laughed and he nodded. /Of course! She was the star that lit up my life, he told her with sad eyes, but a warm smile./

"Oh gosh," Bee snorted cutely and blushed.

/What is your name?/ he asked suddenly.

"Ah, yeah, my name's Bee."

The alien bowed his head and responded, /I am King ^-^-^, ruler of the great galaxies. It is a pleasure to meet you Bee./

Bee's mouth fell and she began to make nervous movements.

The King, she thought.

"Oh your majesty! I'm here on a job! Um, uh, here!" she struggled to take off the pendant and show the now startled alien king the starlight crystal. "For you!"

/Oh my, the starlight crystal,/ he said surprised. /Why thank you, Bee-/

/Bee?/ Puppycat called out, emerging from the still dancing crowd.

"Oh, hey Puppycat! I found the king!"

The cat-like, dog mixed creature looked to the Space King and bristled the angry face he wore.

/Outlaw…/ the royal alien said slowly. /You, Monster!/

Bee flinched at the king's loud voice in her ear and drew back away from him. Puppycat's ears flicked and noticed the music and the crowd's dancing had died down.

/Guards! Warlocks! Seize and destroy the creature!/ the Space King ordered in a commanding voice.

Bee's eyes grew wide and stepped backwards more, instinctively holding the starlight crystal close to her chest. The sound of robes, armor, and boots loudly approached them as the king stepped away in disgust and rage. Puppycat glanced around the room and saw the way they had entered was mostly clear.

/Bee! Let's go!/ Puppycat called out before grabbing a mouthful of her dress to pull her towards the exit.

She immediately understood and scooped up him and her dress to run for the open back doors. They pushed past shocked and confused party goers and prepared to run down the stairs. Halfway down, flames shot close to Bee's feet making her jump and fall down the rest of the flight. The starlight crystal flew out of her hand and soared through the air with Puppycat right behind it. Catching the space gem in his mouth, Puppycat landed hard on his feet, stumbling as he tried to regain his balance.

A shadow then loomed over his sight of the ground. Looking up, he saw a dark cloaked figure wielding a staff with a flaming green stone atop it.

"Puppycat!"

His eyes flitted to the worried voice of his friend, watching her get up to come to him, only to fall with a wince of pain.

/Stay back!/ he yelled to her through gritted teeth.

To his horror, he watched as three more ominous figures surrounded her. His heart dropped to his stomach, not seeing nor caring when the warlock before him lowered its staff to his face. Puppycat moved his feet to run to Bee.

She looked up at the strange magicians with a mix of fear and annoyance.

/Bee!/ Puppycat warned her.

She looked back to him, just as his body was engulfed in the green flames of powerful magic. Her shoulders shook as the fire grew bigger and the warlock moved to join the others around her.

"You—BUTTS! I'll friggin' kill you all!" she threatened as she made herself rise through the pain.

On one knee, she was prepared to kick, scream, and bite her way out of their circle and was about to, when they all heard coughing and muffled cursing.

Bee looked around the robe of a warlock to see her Puppycat was replaced by one of the aliens from the ballroom.

The warlocks appeared confused and startled by this and she took it upon herself to yank one of the staves away to hit its owner.

The alien surrounded in smoke breathed heavily and stared at his shaky hands before turning to Bee and seeing her fight off the perplexed warlocks. He got up, crystal still in his mouth, and stumbled a bit before running to her. He pushed aside the last warlock she hadn't hit before quickly picking her up bridal style. The staff fell out of her hands and she grabbed his short, white shirt to hold herself steady. Then, she punched him. Her fist hit his chin and he clamped down hard on the starlight crystal, grinding his teeth on it. Bee raised her fist again, with tears in her eyes, and threw another punch. This time missing, as he dodged her lithe fist.

/Bee,/ he told her, /It's me!/

She recognized the voice, now a tad bit deeper and gasped in shock.

"Puppycat?"

He frowned slightly, and sharply turned mid-step making Bee grab on to his shoulders. He took the starlight crystal from his mouth and threw it hard up to a balcony above the back doors of the castle. He immediately turned back and jogged to a face on the ground that opened its mouth. Puppycat held on tighter to the woman in his arms and dropped down through the portal.

On the balcony, the Space King narrowed his eyes and frowned deeply. Then, he looked at his feet. There the starlight crystal laid before him, shinning and sparkling without a scratch. He clenched his fists and glanced back at where the outlaw had disappeared with his cohort.

/Bee and Puppycat./

[AN: New story featuring Bee and Puppycat!]