The fear made him sick to his stomach.

Saturn watched as Thomas’ expression twisted into one of alarm and betrayal. He hated his reaction. He hated it.  He hated doing this. But he knew he had to. Thanks to Roman and the other two, Thomas wasn’t taking him seriously. He wasn’t listening to his warnings, how else was he supposed to make Thomas understand?  How else was he supposed to make Thomas realize that this danger was real? Though he wasn’t acting with ill intentions, Jupiter and Uranus would. This was the only way to keep any of them alive. He had to make them think he was the true villain.

“Saturn!” Roman shouted, face twisting with rage, “Stop this at once!”
    Saturn ignored him, the ship continuing to shake. He ignored Thomas’ shout as he fell to the ground. He ignored Giovanni popping up and flashing red as the alarms began to wail. He ignored the sounds of distant screams echoing through the halls. He had to focus, even if doing this was horrifying for him. The scene building around him was chaotic, red washing over everything and distant cries of terror sounding throughout the entire ship. He wasn’t going to let anyone die or truly be injured, but they would be scared. They had to be. Thomas stared up at him as he tried to rise to his feet, but Saturn refused to meet his eyes. Shame covered him. Thomas had asked him if he was threatening him or warning him, and he had now his answer.

So what if they thought he was the bad guy? He might as well use that to his advantage.

A shout snapped him out of his thoughts, and he fell back as he felt Roman run into him. Phasing out, they disappeared through the floor and hurtled into space. Saturn grunted as he regained his balance and righted himself. The sounds that could be heard in the ship vanished, and they were thrust into the silence that covered the expanse of space. Good, Saturn preferred quiet anyhow. 

He looked around at his surroundings and saw that they hadn’t traveled far; the ship was still within their sight, and any human who looked out a window would be able to see them. That was a problem, enough humans knew about them already! The ringed Planet faced Roman, whose eyes glowed bright in anger.

Okay, first things first: get him out of view of the ship.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Roman demanded, holding his hand up and calming the ship, before he returned to signing. Saturn didn’t bother to begin terrorizing them again; he made his point and any more damage would be unnecessary. “I knew it!! I knew you were going to attack them!”

Good. That was what he wanted him to think. If Roman knew that, truthfully, Saturn was only going to scare them, and would never let any member of the ship be injured from that, then he could tell them. Thomas would know. Thomas had to think that they were truly being attacked; after all, it was his job to keep his crew safe. He needed to think their lives were in immediate danger, and then they would turn around. If they feared Saturn’s attacks, they would leave.

Then, they would be safe from the real threat. 

“And what are you gonna do about it?” Saturn taunted, smirking. Roman scowled. Good, that was good. He lifted his hands and continued to sign, “They’re alone out here. You know we don’t want them this far out, and they’re better off dead anyhow.” The lie stung, but he continued. “If you truly cared about them, why do you put them in danger?”

“The only one putting them in danger here is you!” Roman glared, rushing at him. Saturn dodged, but only just barely; Mars was much faster than him. However, Saturn was stronger. He could defeat him easily if he needed to. That had already been proven once, billions of years ago. A distant memory for even them, but it was there.

The only problem was that he didn’t want to. Fighting was not his goal. If he did defeat him, then what? Mars would expect him to attack and kill the humans if he won. If he didn’t, then he might figure out the truth… Okay, that was doubtful, but if he recounted the story to Mercury then his plan would definitely be discovered. Or maybe Mars would surprise him and figure it out, that Planet was unpredictable sometimes. It didn’t really matter who would be the one to actually figure it out... If Mars was defeated then his plan was ruined. Thomas would find out why he was actually scaring them, and they would gain a false sense of security. If he won and did actually hurt them… well that would have just made all of this pointless.

He couldn’t win.

Dodging Roman’s next attack, he flew below the ships. Roman followed him. They were out of sight of the humans now…  Perfect.  He turned back to face him.

“I’ll leave them alone when they return home!” Saturn signed, ignoring Roman’s disgust at the suggestion. Provoke him, let him think there’s a reason for you to run. You can’t really fight. “I’ll sweeten the deal for you, I’ll even help ensure they get home safely. How’s that?”

“Or I can just make sure you never touch them again!” Roman clenched his jaw and rose up higher, breathing deeply “You’re going to leave them alone!”

Okay, he was starting to get really angry now. Perfect! Time to retreat.

“Fine, good luck with that.” Saturn grinned; be ominious and make him think he would return later, that was the plan. “But you may just regret it…” He started to disappear. He would now go home, satisified that his plan worked. Thomas was scared and would want to leave. He and the rest of the ship would be safe, his plan really worked! This was a successful day.

Or, it should have been… Before he could disappear fully, Roman had flown over and grabbed his wrist harshly. Saturn looked at him in shock; he hadn’t expected that.

“Oh no, you aren’t leaving that easily.” Roman frowned, signing with the hand not being used to detain Saturn. Before the ringed Planet could react, Roman pulled him away from sight, and the two vanished.

Moments later, they reappeared. Saturn blinked, and looked around at his surroundings. They were closer to home, but not quite there - the Planets could, in the closest human term available, teleport, but not that far. It would take too much energy to get all the way back home to the Solar System in one try, especially since Saturn wasn’t cooperating and Roman was doing all of the work.

“What was that about?” Saturn demanded after he tore his wrist back, and Roman glared. “I was leaving, was that not what you wanted?”

“No, I want you to leave them alone.”

“I was literally leaving.”

“I mean permanently!”

“Ha!” Saturn mocked, scoffing. “Not today Princey.” He turned around to leave, only to feel himself being pulled back again. He faced Roman, who held his wrist uncomfortably tight… again. What was he trying to prove? He knew Saturn was stronger. Didn’t he realize he wouldn’t really be able to keep him from leaving? Didn’t he realize that at any moment, Saturn could easily break free from his grasp? What was he trying to accomplish here? 

“You really wanna try to stop me from leaving?” Saturn raised one eyebrow, “I’ve beaten you once already, and I’m prepared to do it again.”

“Then why haven’t you?” Roman asked, frowning. Oh crap, he was thinking. Most of the time, Roman was a complete moron, and Saturn didn’t generally have to worry about him. But on the rare occasion that he wanted to figure something out, he could and he would. It was just a matter of time.

Saturn didn’t answer.

“Why didn’t you just beat me again and kill them? If you think you easily could have, why didn’t you?” Roman demanded, grip tightening on his wrist. “You shook the ship, but you didn’t even try to again after I stopped it.”

Well, this wasn’t the plan. Saturn focused hard, forcing himself to keep a neutral face. He didn’t want to give away anymore than he already had, so what to do now? 

He could just refuse to answer and leave, but that was a last resort. It would surely confirm Mar’s suspicions. He could go back and attack the humans, but that was what he had been trying to prevent this whole time, so that would be counterproductive. What was he supposed to do? 

Threats. Make him regret asking that.

“Would you rather me attack them?” Saturn signed, finally yanking his wrist away from the other, “Because I definitely can and I will. Watch me.”

Something sparked in Roman’s eye, and instantly Saturn regretted his decision. He had one and only one mission, and he was about to fail, all because of one stupid mistake. He underestimated Mars. He underestiminated him, and that would be his downfall. Three simple words left the Red Planet’s mouth, and with them tumbled down every hope Saturn had of fixing this.

“Then do it.”

Neither moved for several long moments. All was still as both held their breaths, staring in horror and confusion at the other. Though stars and planets distantly moved across the horizon, neither noticed. All movement faded from their minds, and they were trapped in space and time. The clock seemed to stop, and this moment would last a lifetime.

Time began again as realization struck Roman, his eyes widening as the intensity of his gazed vanished. He stared, mouth parting in shock.

“You aren’t going to, are you?” he signed, hands moving gently. The anger was gone.

Saturn fled.