Chapter Text
ALTERNATE *SOLARBALLS (2022)* UNIVERSE 789SOLARSECRETS987
JANUARY 2007AZ:
“You…destroyed the early rocky planets! Lied about it! Then ejected Planet X and lied about it again??!!” the Sun clenched his teeth furiously as X smirked, experiencing schadenfreude after so long.
Jupiter bowed his head and bit his quivering lower lip before looking up at him with a devastated expression. “Yes. All of this is true, Sun.”
While the others either yelled in denial or accused him of being a killer, Sol lifted his chest and frowned disappointedly.
“You are not who we thought you were,” he firmly stated. “I have no choice but to — ”
“Banish me—I understand. I-I’ll go. Just please…have Planet X take my place, and have Ganymede and Europa and the rest of my moons orbit him.”
The yellow dwarf scoffed at him. “You think you can make demands after all this?”
X hovered forward. “He brings some fair points, Sun. Ganymede and Europa’s past behavior could be attributed to Jupiter’s bad influence.” The said planet bowed his head in devastation. “I think under my orbit, they should improve their ways.”
Sol reluctantly gave in. “Fine—you two can come back.”
Ganymede and Europa smiled before Jupiter opened his mouth. “Before I go, can I — ”
“No!” the Sun cut him off as his lips trembled. “Just leave, Jupiter. I don’t want to see you. None of us do.”
The largest planet spotted his previously confused siblings, who shared conflicted expressions. Luna zipped in front of Earth just in case X’s words were completely true.
“Okay, I’ll go. I’m—I’m sorry,” Jupiter apologized in resignation as he gradually headed towards the edge of the Solar System.
Planet X glanced in his direction, almost satisfied with the end result. Once the gas giant was no longer visible to the others, he had more information to unravel.
“Hold on!” the Fifth Giant said out loud, confusing the others. “There’s more.”
Still distraught over Jupiter’s lies, the Sun forced himself to lift his head and face his long-lost planet.
“What…what is it now?” Sol asked wearily, dark circles forming under his eyes.
“Jupiter’s not the only one who’s responsible for my ejection,” he spat, causing his siblings to gasp in shock for the billionth time. “Saturn also tried to silence me as they both pulled me back, but their gravitational force was so strong that once they let go, I spiralled outward.”
Everyone turned to the smaller gas giant with mixed reactions, demanding to know if this was true, to which Saturn said yes. This earned another round of gasps.
“So…you also lied to me?” the Sun exhaled shakily as he glared at his second-largest planet. “All this time, you were complicit?”
“I…” Saturn teared up. “I was going to tell you until Jupiter cut me off. He—he’s the one who wanted to look for X after we accidentally ejected him, but — ”
“Hold on!” Sol interruped him sternly. “What do you mean by accidentally?”
“That applies to both incidents—the rocky planets’ deaths and Planet X’s disappearance,” the gas giant elaborated, a tear slipping from his left eye. “I stopped Jupiter from going after X because the Solar System was still in the process of stabilizing, and both of us leaving would—would’ve had even more catastrophic effects.”
Sniffling, he continued. “Uranus, Neptune, the dwarf planets, and their moons w-would’ve drifted away and…I don’t want to imagine what would’ve happened to ours…”
“Wait! We were there when it happened?” Dione asked flabbergastedly.
“Yes,” her planet confirmed.
“But how come we don’t remember it?” Iapetus wondered.
“I…I don’t know,” Saturn honestly stated. “I guess we don’t remember a lot of things, let alone each other. And the current rocky planets weren’t born yet.”
“Neither were Luna, Phobos, and Deimos,” Titan pointed out.
“It does make sense—considering most of us have been around for at least 4.5 billion years…” Rhea contemplated. “But I do wonder why we didn’t interact much since then.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Planet X scoffed. “Saturn still lied about both instances. Plus, he betrayed me and the Sun, so he also deserves to be punished!”
The yellow dwarf slightly hesitated, but then stood his ground. “Fair enough. Saturn, I understand your actions were unintentional, but you should have told me as soon as it happened instead of waiting billions of years to confess. So I cannot forgive either of you for that.” Inhaling sharply, he added, “You are hereby banished from the Solar System. Leave now and never come back.”
Bowing his head sadly, the gas giant resigned to his fate and gradually left the premises, unable to look back out of shame and guilt. Most of his moons weakly protested, yet it fell on deaf ears. And in an instant, Saturn was no longer visible.
“He’s…he’s really gone,” his fifth-largest moon whispered.
Tethys and Rhea wept silently, Mimas and Iapetus closed their eyes somberly, Dione and Hyperion whipped around and glared at the yellow dwarf disapprovingly, while Enceladus and Titan were at a loss for words.
Taking a deep breath, Sol said, “Alright then. It has been a long and tiring day, so…everyone get back to your orbits and — ”
“Sorry to interrupt, Sun—but I’m far from done,” Planet X smirked, glad his success was paying off.
The star squeezed his eyes tightly for a second before opening them again. “X, please—can we resume this tomorrow? I need some sleep.”
“We all do,” Luna yawned as he struggled to keep his own eyes open.
The ice giant rolled his eyes yet reluctantly obeyed. “Fine. But don’t forget—justice has to be served.”
“We’ll keep that in mind, thanks,” Dione snarked.
Everyone returned to their designated spots after a few minutes, and almost everyone fell into a deep slumber. However, the other ice giants and Saturn’s moons were wide awake.
“Cheer up guys. I’m sure you’ll find a better planet to orbit,” the Fifth Giant shrugged.
“How ‘bout you shut your mouth or I’ll give it to ya?” Hyperion growled.
X snorted in response. “Oh come on. It’s not like you cared about Saturn until he finally pronounced your names right. Despite how much I hate the guy, I witnessed how badly most of you treated him, and it’s clear that you also despised the ground he walked on—or floated above. Whatever the saying is…”
“You don’t know anything about us!” Enceladus retaliated. “Who do you think you are?”
“Oh I dunno…maybe someone who was forced into isolation for nearly four-and-a-half billion years?!” the navy blue giant snarled, causing some moons to wince uncomfortably. “None of you realize the shit I’ve been through—how many nights I’ve spent grieving over our sisters’ deaths alone because of what Jupiter did to them. So don’t you dare talk to me about what I don’t know!”
“You—you were really alone for that long? How—how did you not lose your mind out there?” Tethys asked him, astonished by the information revealed in X’s outburst.
“I focused on what was important,” he stated bluntly. “Now if you don’t mind—I need to get some shut-eye.”
As soon as X reached Jupiter’s orbit, Hyperion muttered, “Why don’t you fall into a coma while you’re at it?”
“Look dude, I’m not sure about him either—but this isn’t gonna solve anything. So let’s get some sleep,” Titan suggested calmly.
“Good idea,” Rhea nodded.