Mercury was shining under the rays of the nearby sun, like a golden ember suspended in the void. The air was charged with unbearable heat, but it was nothing compared to the heat of the training that its leader was undergoing, who stood in the heart of the training arena, where his body was in an exhausted state, but his features didn't reflect any fatigue.
His golden gloves gleam like a living being, while they were extending like metallic snakes, releasing dozens of sharp blades in the air in precise movements. Each strike made a sound as if it was tearing spacetime itself.
Suddenly... His blades, which tore through the rocks around him without noticeable effort, stopped in mid-air. He turned slowly, and his narrow eyes met Mars's sharp gaze.
"Ah... an expected visitor!" said the leader of the first planet with a gentle smile, while his glove was retreating to its original state with lightning speed.
Mars approached him, walking with steady steps, and smiled saying: "Intensive training as usual, you've never changed."
Mercury laughed, and answered with unwavering firmness: "And you haven't stopped wandering around the planets as I see."
The two began touring across the planet closest to the sun. The two walked through Mercury's plains covered with lakes of frozen lava, where the hot atmospheres melt even the solidified rocks.
The scene was exciting despite its harshness; the sun in its huge and bright attire fills the sky dominated by blackness and emits high heat, making everything on the celestial body pulsate as if burning from within. No winds, no clouds, just absolute silence before it disappeared with the sound of their footsteps.
But Mars wasn't here for tourism. This is what Mercury expected and the other leader confirmed by taking a fighting stance that wasn't strange like Earth's fighting stance.
Mercury froze in place, didn't utter a word. He didn't even need to ask, as he understood immediately... that Mars wanted answers to questions.
He didn't want just training, nor a friendly challenge. This is the only way in which Mercury is forced to disclose everything. Every movement, every strike, every pulse in his body would reveal what he's trying to hide.
And if he tried to lie? That would appear immediately... Mars knows this well, as he has fought countless battles with him. He saw how his composure collapses under the pressure of fighting, how his strikes lose their accuracy when he tries to cover up something.
And now... it's time to uncover what's hidden.
"I heard something..." Mars began attacking suddenly, but without using his weapon. He delivered a powerful punch directed straight towards his opponent's face and continued after the latter avoided it with agility by jumping in the air:
"Information leaking from outside the Kuiper Belt. Information that no one knows."
Mercury laughed mockingly, but before returning the attack and in the blink of an eye, two long blades emerged from his gloves. But they weren't just ordinary weapons — they were deadly masterpieces pulsating with restless energy, sharp as if they were sharpened from the heart of a burning star, reflecting any light that touches them as if they were mirrors of fire... and continued after he pounced on him with incredible speed:
"If you suspect me, so be it! But I know that the liar is discovered in the battlefield faster than anywhere else!"
Their weapons clashed with each other, yes... Mars didn't hesitate to bring out his own after the other's attack, and with each collision, they were leaving burning traces behind them, while the surrounding gravity began to play with the rocks and pull them towards the leaders.
Mars's weapon was distinguished by its unique shape and captivating design, but its shape hides an infinite energy of striking and destructive power. In the hands of their bearer, the crimson daggers intertwine like raging snakes, their blades gleaming with a color resembling blood clotting under dead skin.
Each dagger carries in its core strange inscriptions that glow with the same color when they sense danger, as if they were demon eyes watching their prey. From their gloomy black handles, black chains coated with demonic gold dangle, flexible like living intestines but solid as the laws of the universe when they strike their victim.
Each strike from Mercury was like a fleeting spark, but Mars was a wall of steel. The golden blades constantly change their shape according to the situation, while Mars's movements were heavy and decisive, as his fighting was difficult because of those chains that aren't just bonds tying the handle to the dagger, but they are deadly arms extending across dimensions, twisting in the air like predatory creatures chasing the fleeing prey.
"Who told you?!" shouted Mercury while he was pouncing like a storm.
"It doesn't matter!" replied Mars while blocking a deadly attack — not for him, but for any other monster besides him.
Mercury replied, while increasing the speed of his attacks as if enthusiasm had blinded him to the reason for this fight: "And do you accuse me of lying?"
But Mars, by delivering a strike meant to bring out everything his opponent had:
"Maybe! I'm just inquiring..."
Mercury seemed completely calm, didn't hesitate, and didn't show the slightest confusion.
"No, I haven't heard anything about that."
Mars noticed his features immersed in the fight, his way of breathing, the rhythm of his speed attacks, and came to a conclusion he was sure of: Mercury was honest in everything he said.
But the battle continued and with it continued the sound of the two weapons creaking as they collided.
"That's enough." said Mars while dusting off his armor, then smiled: "I'm sure now that you're not the traitor."
Mercury smiled, and returned his gloves to their normal shape, although he wanted the fight to continue:
"You would have discovered that from the beginning if you had asked me directly, but I know you... you haven't forgotten the condition, Red One."
Mars laughed, then turned around leaving, waving his hand in the air:
"Goodbye, Short One."
But Mercury wasn't at ease until he asked him:
"Hey... didn't you just say that you trust me... tell me exactly what you and Earth know."
———⟡ ☽ ⟡———
But in another place, where the sky burns instead of swords, another test had already begun... At a distance of 0.39 astronomical units from here, a blue portal opened on the surface of Venus, where Earth emerged from it to find himself face to face with the leader himself.
"Finally, you appeared."
Venus was standing there, while the acidic clouds were wrapping the planet like an invisible guardian, right in front of the portal, as if he was expecting his arrival.
The visitor wasn't surprised by that, but knew that Venus is the only leader who knows the Politas of the leader who comes to him as soon as the latter enters his portal... thanks to — or because of — what happened with the leader of the second planet.
The planet's sky is covered with thick yellow clouds, preventing the view of anything behind them as if they're hiding their leader's secrets. The dying ground moans under the weight of the suffocating heat, where hot vapors rise from its cracked surface like the breaths of a huge dying monster.
The earth's crust cracked like burnt skin, leaving deep cracks from which toxic gases emanate. The place wasn't just a harsh environment... but was an embodiment of cosmic hatred. Every atom of its soil, every breeze of its air, every drop of its water... was screaming with one clear message:
"No place for life here."
Just like its master who stood in the heart of this hell asking coldly with his arms crossed:
"Why did you come?"
The other didn't answer directly, but chose to set a trap. And didn't waste time where he whispered in a calculated voice:
"There's something suspicious in the Kuiper Belt..." and continued after looking at the sky dominated by gases.
Venus remained silent for a while, then closed his eyes thinking. With his cautious and extremely fierce nature, he wouldn't easily ignore such information, then said firmly:
"We need to hold an immediate meeting to discuss this."
He extended his hand to his ear, where the 'Beta', the communication tool for everyone, was, then was about to send a call to all leaders...
But Earth's hand suddenly extended, clutching Venus's arm with surprising strength. Venus stopped in his place, his surprise clear in his wide golden eyes.
The leader of the living planet smiled a calm smile, but it carries within it something isolated...
"There's no need for that."
Venus stared at him, his eyes glowing with suspicion and anger.
"What do you mean?"
A heavy silence prevailed, like the one that precedes a storm. Then... Venus exploded like a dormant volcano just as he exploded on his planet then:
"Speak, you bastard... what do you mean?"
His voice reverberated in the burning air, and his fingers clenched before telling Earth everything he knew.
Earth didn't retreat, but took another step closer, his smile still drawn on his face.
"But the real traitor wouldn't have responded this way but would have tried to convince me otherwise..." then nodded towards his friend,
"But you flared up with anger like a dying star. And that's what I was looking for."
Venus pressed his lips until they became one invisible line, and his veins bulging on his forehead. But... he didn't utter a word.
Earth slowly turned around, heading towards his glittering golden portal. And before stepping through the portal, he turned one last time, his green eyes gleaming with mysterious intelligence:
"Thank you for your precious time, Violent One."
Then he added, and his last words echoed in space like the echo of a prophecy:
"You are... harsh... and merciless... because that's your nature... but you're not a traitor, and that's all I wanted to know since I intended to come here."
And as his image disappeared through the portal, Venus remained standing alone, his hands still trembling with anger... and Earth's words echoing endlessly in his head.
———⟡ ☽ ⟡———
After that and in the depths of space, where silence prevails and only the roars of thunderstorms are heard, Earth and Saturn stood face to face, surrounded by an aura of anticipation. This wasn't just a passing meeting, but a meeting between two wills whose weight is the size of the history of the solar system itself.
On the other side of this boundless void, Jupiter and Mars stood. As if they were in the same place where the others met but it's different. Jupiter's looks were watching the scene in silence, while Mars was looking at him with a smile of excessive confidence.
So will the two meetings with the gas giants be an agreement... or a new clash?
— End of Chapter —